Michael Rickard's Blog, page 14
January 1, 2019
The Western Through a Red Lens: Historiography, Propaganda, and Umfunktionierung in Red Westerns and Easterns. Part Five of Five.
Copyright 2019 by Michael W. Rickard IIEditor's Note: In 2016 I wrote a paper for my undergraduate senior project on the Red Western, a sub-genre of the Western film. Here is the paper in its original form.
The Easterns: The White Sun of the Desert and The Elusive Avengers trilogy Warsaw Pact filmmakers incorporated many elements of the Western into a film genre known as “Easterns.” These films paralleled Western elements with its frontier setting, battle between lawlessness and order but were...
The Easterns: The White Sun of the Desert and The Elusive Avengers trilogy Warsaw Pact filmmakers incorporated many elements of the Western into a film genre known as “Easterns.” These films paralleled Western elements with its frontier setting, battle between lawlessness and order but were...
December 31, 2018
Madison Square Garden Magic: "I Want Piper!" Part Three of Four
When Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka’s personal demons kept him from continuing his feud against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the WWF wrote him out with an injury storyline. Rather than abandoning the feud, the WWF introduced Snuka’s storyline cousin, the Tonga Kid to seek revenge against Piper. After a couple weeks of build-up, The Tonga Kid was established as a credible foe for “The Rowdy Scot” after his good showing in a match against Piper on the October 27, 1984 edition of Championship Wrestling.Knowing...
Celebrating 50 Years of "Hawaii Five-O"
Copyright 2018 Michael W. Rickard II 
2018 was a big year for pop culture anniversaries, but one that almost slipped away from me was the 50th anniversary of the landmark television series Hawaii Five-O. Produced by Leonard Freeman (and later by the star’s show, Jack Lord following Freeman’s death), the cop drama ran an incredible twelve seasons from 1968-1980 (Five-O would hold the record until it was finally beat by Law and Order in 2002). Hawaii Five-O told the story of a special state poli...
2018 was a big year for pop culture anniversaries, but one that almost slipped away from me was the 50th anniversary of the landmark television series Hawaii Five-O. Produced by Leonard Freeman (and later by the star’s show, Jack Lord following Freeman’s death), the cop drama ran an incredible twelve seasons from 1968-1980 (Five-O would hold the record until it was finally beat by Law and Order in 2002). Hawaii Five-O told the story of a special state poli...
December 30, 2018
Review: "Back Issue" #109 and the 40th Anniversary of "Superman: The Movie."
Copyright 2018 by Michael W. Rickard II
You’ll believe a mag can fly in BACK ISSUE #109 (84 FULL-COLOR pages, $8.95), as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Explore the Superman movies’ effects on comic books, media, and collectibles with commentary from many of their creators. Plus: CARY BATES discloses his plans for the un-produced Superman V, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN’s Superman novels, and exclusive interviews with Superman executive producer ILYA SALKIND, JACK O’HALLORAN (Non), AARON SMOLINSKI (b...
You’ll believe a mag can fly in BACK ISSUE #109 (84 FULL-COLOR pages, $8.95), as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Explore the Superman movies’ effects on comic books, media, and collectibles with commentary from many of their creators. Plus: CARY BATES discloses his plans for the un-produced Superman V, ELLIOT S. MAGGIN’s Superman novels, and exclusive interviews with Superman executive producer ILYA SALKIND, JACK O’HALLORAN (Non), AARON SMOLINSKI (b...
December 25, 2018
The Western Through a Red Lens: Historiography, Propaganda, and Umfunktionierung in Red Westerns and Easterns. Part Four of Five.
Copyright 2018 by Michael W. Rickard IIEditor's Note: In 2016 I wrote a paper for my undergraduate senior project on the Red Western, a sub-genre of the Western film. Here is the paper in its original form.
Defining the Red Western What is a Red Western? According to film historian Vincent Bohlinger, “Purists, however, distinguish between a “Red Western,” which is a film of the Western genre set in the American West, and an “Eastern,” which is a film of the Western genre set in Central Asia (w...
Defining the Red Western What is a Red Western? According to film historian Vincent Bohlinger, “Purists, however, distinguish between a “Red Western,” which is a film of the Western genre set in the American West, and an “Eastern,” which is a film of the Western genre set in Central Asia (w...
December 24, 2018
Superman and Santa Claus Fight the Axis Powers
Copyright 2018 by Michael Rickard II
The Christmas season was a grim time for many in 1942. With World War Two raging and many nations under occupation by the Axis Powers, there was little to be merry about. The war was nearly three years away from ending, and to many, there seemed no certainty of victory. The war’s impact was seen in the pages of comic strips throughout the United States, including the popular Superman comic strip. This included a 1942 story featuring the unthinkable—the Axis...
The Christmas season was a grim time for many in 1942. With World War Two raging and many nations under occupation by the Axis Powers, there was little to be merry about. The war was nearly three years away from ending, and to many, there seemed no certainty of victory. The war’s impact was seen in the pages of comic strips throughout the United States, including the popular Superman comic strip. This included a 1942 story featuring the unthinkable—the Axis...
December 23, 2018
Madison Square Garden Magic: "I Want Piper!" Part Two of Four
Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka had been (kayfabe) seriously injured in his quest for revenge against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper during their August 25, 1984 match at Madison Square Garden. Part of the match aired on the 9/29/84 edition of Championship Wrestling. Piper was delighted at what he’d done, proclaiming himself the “legend killer” after putting Snuka on the shelf. Behind the scenes, Snuka was reportedly battling “personal demons” and unable to wrestle. This put the WWF in a tough spot as they had a...
December 20, 2018
Book Review: "Aquaman: The Search for Mera"
Mera, the queen of Atlantis, mysteriously disappears, and Aquaman begins searching high and low to find her. In addition, Atlantis is in the grip of a new enemy named Narkran, a duplicitous politician with plans to rule the underwater kingdom with an iron fist. And finally, as if that isn’t bad enough, Black Manta shows up to take advantage of Aquaman’s desperate situation.Fifty years ago, writer Steve Skeates and artist Jim Aparo began their acclaimed tenure on Aquaman with this epic nine-is...
December 19, 2018
The Western Through a Red Lens: Historiography, Propaganda, and Umfunktionierung in Red Westerns and Easterns. Part Three of Five.
Copyright 2018 by Michael W. Rickard IIEditor's Note: In 2016 I wrote a paper for my undergraduate senior project on the Red Western, a sub-genre of the Western film. Here is the paper in its original form.
The Evolution of Filmmaking in the Soviet UnionRussia has a history of film-making dating back to the earliest days of the cinema. Russians loved the cinema but it was not until World War One that domestic films became common. As World War One approached, the cinema was the number one choic...
The Evolution of Filmmaking in the Soviet UnionRussia has a history of film-making dating back to the earliest days of the cinema. Russians loved the cinema but it was not until World War One that domestic films became common. As World War One approached, the cinema was the number one choic...
December 16, 2018
Madison Square Garden Magic: "I Want Piper!" Part One of Four
When a wrestler gets a coconut broke over his head and humiliated on national TV, you can be certain that there’s going to be a feud. After “Rowdy” Roddy Piper embarrassed “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka on “Piper’s Pit”, fans were anxious to see Snuka get his hands on Piper. As hot as the feud was, happenings outside the ring necessitated the WWF going to Plan “B.” Join me now as I look at the series between Snuka and Piper and the events outside the ring that led to the WWF shifting gears several ti...
