The Idol

THE IDOL was one of the first features to take advantage of laconic Michael Parks' James Dean-like appeal. He had done much episodic TV in the first half of the decade and would become fondly remembered for his motorcycle loner role in the late '60s series, THEN CAME BRONSON. In spite of the low profile he's had in the decades since, he's still working pretty steadily and has had major roles in pictures directed by Quentin Tarrentino and Kevin Smith in recent years.

Diana Ross and Groucho

A 22-year-old Diana Ross and 70-year-old Groucho Marx on the dance floor doing the frug at a barbecue at Bobby Darin’s house in Bel-Air on August 19, 1966. Photo: AP via Tumblr

Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die

KISS THE GIRLS AND MAKE THEM DIE is generally classified as a "Eurospy" flick, one of a zillion low budget 007 cash-ins generally starring US actors mixed with continental performers. Many of these were quite enjoyable when taken on their own terms. This one is one. Timing-wise, it would seem as if this might be the picture which got the former "Touch" Conners his now classic gig as Joe Mannix in that character's long-running US TV series. MANNIX is generally considered one of the best modern private eye series ever on television.

Holdover Movies

As 1966 began, here are some of the late 1965 movies still playing in theaters around the Greater Cincinnati area as on January 1st.

Ron Goulart Books

Ron Goulart today has a reputation that encompasses his work as a comic strip and comic book historian as well as being one of the innovative science fiction writers of the sixties and seventies. In '66, tough, Ron was all about the pulps. Here are two books of his from that year that pre-date his well-recieved pulp history of a few years later.

Bat Stuff # 73

Asterix in '66

Asterix the Gaul, often the world's best-selling comics character in the years since '66 according to Guinness, was still virtually unknown in the US until this 1966 syndicated article about how popular the series was elsewhere. As of this writing, the latest ASTERIX album has just been released, most likely to be ignored yet again in the US, in spite of cartoons, mega-budget live action movies, and successful video and computer games. Some things never change. :(

Captain Action

My favorite toy in '66 and for several other years beyond.

Gold Key Comics Ad

The superhero race of the 1960s left Marvel and DC vying for top position and all of the other remaining comic book companies in their dust. Gold Key, though remembered as an also-ran, was actually the successor to Dell Comics, at one time the most successful comics company of them all. It's kind of complicated because there actually still WAS a Dell Comics. too, but in essence they were created new by Dell when Western Publishing--the company that had been packaging their comics all along--split away from Dell to go out on their own under the Gold Key logo. Gold Key created many memorable comics of their own from that point but also inherited--as promoted in this ad--many of the familiar licenses previously held by Dell. The '60s version of Dell would struggle on to the early '70s while Gold Key would remain fairly successful for a decade or more beyond that before Western gave up comics to concentrate on its popular children's line of Golden Books.