On This Date: April 30

1926: Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa. Nominated for an Academy Award for her role in The Last Picture Show, the comedic actress portrayed Wonder Woman’s mother Queen Hippolyta, leader of the Amazons, in the 1975 television movie The New Original Wonder Woman. (Note: Hippolyta’s name is never mentioned in the film—she is referred to simply as “the Queen.”)

1982: Kirsten Dunst is born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. She played Mary Jane Watson, the object of Peter Parker’s affection, in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spinder-Man 3 (2007). She also appeared in The Crow: Salvation based on James O’Barr’s comic book The Crow.

2005: Lions Gate Films releases Man-Thing, a direct to video film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.

Spawn Turns 20

CBR talks with Todd McFarlane about the superhero’s upcoming milestone. In addition to inspiring a line of action figures and an animated TV series, the character was adapted into a 1997 movie featuring Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Nicol Williamson, Theresa Randle, Melinda Clarke, and D.B. Sweeney.

Creators’ Corner: Javier Hernandez

Xochipilli, the Aztec god of art, must have been looking over the shoulder of Javier Hernandez when the comic book artist unveiled his latest work El Muerto: The Aztec Zombie at the 1998 Alternative Press Expo. In 2007, this story of a young man sacrified by an ancient death god and later returned to earth was adapted into the film El Muerto: The Dead One starring Wilmer Valderrama. In addition to cartooning, Hernandez teaches comic book workshops and is the co-founder of the Latino Comics Expo (May 5 and 6 in San Francisco). Check him out at javzilla.com.

How did you develop the idea for El Muerto?

It began back in the late ’90s. I had wanted to do my own comic for awhile—one that involved Aztec mythology and the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I focused on the archetype of a cursed hero and eventually spun out the story of Diego de la Muerte and his abduction and transformation at the hands of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death.

What brought about the movie?

In 2001, a reporter from NPR interviewed me about the comic while I was exhibiting at San Diego Comic-Con. The segment aired a few weeks later and caught the attention of independent filmmaker Brian Cox, who contacted me about purchasing copies of the book. He invited me to his production office, where we talked at length about the entire backstory of El Muerto. He also let me know that he was interested in developing the comic as a film and put me in contact with producer Larry Rattner, who liked the idea as well. So we had a property, a writer/director, a producer, and one cartoonist definitely willing to see how far it would go.

On This Date: April 17

1905: Arthur Lake was born in Corbin, Kentucky. Between 1938 and 1950, he starred as Dagwood Bumstead in a popular series of 28 films based on Chic Young’s comic strip Blondie. Lake later reprised the role in a 1957 television series.

1972: Jennifer Garner was born in Houston, Texas. Best known as Sydney Bristow on the TV series Alias, she portrayed the Marvel Comics character Elektra Natchios in Daredevil (2003) and Elektra (2005) and also appeared with Leslie Nielsen in Mr. Magoo (1997).

1992: Boris and Natasha: The Movie, loosely based on characters from the animated series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, debuts on Showtime with Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman cast as spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The film also features Corey Burton, John Candy, Andrea Martin, and John Travolta.

On This Date: April 16

1912: Children’s book illustrator Garth Williams was born in New York City. His most notable work may be found in Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little by E.B. White and eight Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Stuart Little would later be adapted into a live-action film of the same name in 1999 along with a 2002 sequel. Wilder’s books served as the basis for the television series Little House on the Prairie (September 11, 1974–March 21, 1983) starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert.

1965: Jon Cryer was born in New York City. The star of the television comedy series Two and a Half Men portrayed Lenny Luthor in the 1987 film Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

1976: Lukas Haas was born in West Hollywood, Calif. He played Richie Norris in Tim Burton’s 1996 science fiction black comedy Mars Attacks!

2004: The Punisher, based on the eponymous Marvel Comics character, was released by Lions Gate Entertainment. Directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, the film stars Thomas Jane as Frank Castle, a retired undercover FBI agent who seeks revenge after his family is murdered on orders from crime boss Howard Saint (played by John Travolta). Roy Scheider and Rebecca Romjin also appear.

On This Date: April 13

1923: Don Adams was born in New York City. Best known for his role as bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart in the 1960s television comedy series Get Smart, he also provided the voice for the title character in 1980s animated series Inspector Gadget and Gadget’s dog Brain in the 1999 live-action film based on the cartoon.

1935: Lyle Waggoner was born in Kansas City, Kansas. He was a contender for the lead role in the 1960s television series Batman, but lost out to Adam West. In the 1970s, Waggoner portrayed Steve Trevor in the TV series Wonder Woman.

1937: Edward Fox was born in Chelsea, London, England. He portrayed King Arthur in the 1997 film Prince Valiant.

1939: Paul Sorvino was born in Brooklyn, New York. He played Lips Manlis in the 1990 feature Dick Tracy.

1950: Ron Perlman was born in New York City. A staple of science fiction films and television since the 1980s, Perlman played Boltar in Prince Valiant (1997), Dieter Reinhart in Blade II (2002), the eponymous title character in Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) as well as Fiery Blaze in the 2001 episode “Couples” of the series The Tick.

1957: Gary Kroeger was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He played Reggie Mantle in the TV movie Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again.

1964: Caroline Rhea was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A stand-up comedian and actress, she portrayed Hilda Spellman from 1996 to 2003 on the TV series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

(Image: Selma Blair as Liz Sherman and Ron Perlman as Hellboy in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Universal Pictures)

While We Were Away . . .

Dwayne Johnson was tapped to appear in Lore, Captain America prepared to return in 2014, Sabrina the Teenage Witch became a superheroine, the sequel to Sin City inched forward, and Ben Kinglsey circled above the role of the bad guy in Iron Man 3.


(Image: Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch #9, October, 1972, Archie Comics)