A LEVAR BIZARRE

If LeVar Burton knew what he did in this comic, he’d have sued.

Rarely have we seen so recognizable an appropriation of a celeb’s image as on this 1981 cover of the Italian fumetto Terror Blu. Usually the comic featured near-naked women on its covers, being assaulted or dismembered by robots, or perhaps stabbed and beheaded by aliens, so we can’t figure out what happened here. Maybe the publisher was sick and his niece was running the show that day. But even if the cover is out of character, the interior pages remain as unrepentantly misogynist as always. Cartoon LeVar (though the interior illustrations don’t look like him) brutally beats on several women, literally using them to train for a big fight. We have a few pages below, helpfully translated into English, but we’ve refrained from uploading the more offensive examples. Considering how carefully celebs safeguard their images, we can’t imagine why LeVar didn’t call up Terror Blu and say, “Bon giorno, sono LeVar Burton, and you fuckers are so sued.” But then again, since we know nothing about copyright law, maybe Terror Blu didn’t infringe. Or maybe Burton never knew. Guess we’ll learn the legal ropes when Pulp Intl. gets sued. Should be any day now.

Italy, Terror Blu, LeVar Burton, comic art

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

March 15

1937—H.P. Lovecraft Dies

American sci-fi/horror author Howard Phillips Lovecraft dies of intestinal cancer in Providence, Rhode Island at age 46. Lovecraft died nearly destitute, but would become the most influential horror writer ever. His imaginary universe of malign gods and degenerate cults was influenced by his explicitly racist views, but his detailed and procedural style of writing, which usually pitted men of science or academia against indescribable monsters, remains as effective today as it was eighty years ago.

March 15

2011—Illustrator Michel Gourdon Dies

French pulp artist Michel Gourdon, who was the less famous brother of Alain Gourdon, aka Aslan, dies in Coudray, France aged eighty-five. He is known mainly for the covers he painted for the imprint Flueve Noir, but produced nearly 3,500 covers during his career.

March 14

1964—Ruby Found Guilty of Murder

In the U.S. a Dallas jury finds nightclub owner and organized crime fringe-dweller Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby had shot Oswald with a handgun at Dallas Police Headquarters in full view of multiple witnesses and photographers. Allegations that he committed the crime to prevent Oswald from exposing a conspiracy in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have never been proven.

March 13

1925—Scopes Monkey Trial Ends

In Tennessee, the case of Scopes vs. the State of Tennessee, involving the prosecution of a school teacher for instructing his students in evolution, ends with a conviction of the teacher and establishment of a new law definitively prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The opposing lawyers in the case, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, both earn lasting fame for their participation in what was a contentious and sensational trial.

March 12

1933—Roosevelt Addresses Nation

Franklin D. Roosevelt uses the medium of radio to address the people of the United States for the first time as President, in a tradition that would become known as his “fireside chats”. These chats were enormously successful from a participation standpoint, with multi-millions tuning in to listen. In total Roosevelt would make thirty broadcasts over the course of eleven years.

BABE IN THE WOODS

This idyllic scene for Folco Romano’s 1958 novel Quand la chair s’éveille was painted by Alain Gourdon, aka Aslan. You'd never suspect a book with a cover this pretty was banned in France, but it was.

PERMANENT VACATION