The Creature Commandos

 

The Monster of Frankenstein by way of Marvel Comics and Toei Animation

Animated Tomb of Dracula

Marvel's Tomb of Dracula as animated by Toei Animation

Halloween Countdown 2013 - A Cartoon Break with Camp Mini Mon

Art of Evil prints available

Most of you know I have a sweet spot for cartoon villains and so, under the banner of Art of Evil I've come up with prints for sale

Skeletor and the Minions of Snake Mountain

Evil Horde

Snakemen of Eternia

The Foot Clan

The Berserkers

The Lunataks

T-Ray and Captain Bizzarly

The Inhumanoids

Escalation of Evil in the Realm of Dungeons and Dragons

Uneven Balance of Power

Now all of these prints and some others can be bought here

Remembering Frankenstein Jr

To long time readers of this blog, you know I have an unnatural love of monsters and cartoons so when you combine the two I'm there in a heartbeat. The focus of this post though is Hanna-Barbera's classic Frankenstein Jr.


Premiering on September 10, 1966 the cartoon was part of the then current Hanna-Barbera formula of pairing two cartoons together on a single show and in this case the other cartoon was a humorous superhero show called the Impossibles. Frankenstein Jr told the story of boy genius Buzz Conroy and his super robot creation Frankenstein Jr as they protected Civic city from all manner of villainous plots.

Critics have compared the cartoon the Japanese cartoon Gigantor, also about a boy and his giant robot and there are many similarities however Gigantor doesn't speak with the fantastic voice of TV's Lurch Ted Cassidy  or wear a stylish mask so take that Testujin 28.


1 The Shocking Electrical Monster Dr. Shock uses his Master Mix Monster Machine to turn his assistant Igor into an electricity-absorbing monster.
















2 The Spyder Man Professor Conroy and Buzz unveil the blueprints for the Spy Detector XK-00-7 at a Maximum Security Building. Unfortunately, the blueprints are targeted by Spyder Man.
3 Menace from the Wax Museum Upon an encounter with Buzz at the wax museum, Mr. Menace uses his monsters Gadzonka, Gorillis, and Cyclaws in an attack upon San Francisco.




4 Alien Brain from Outer Space Part 1 A giant alien brain arrives on Earth and captures Buzz and Professor Conroy.
5 Alien Brain from Outer Space Part 2 A giant alien brain arrives on Earth and captures Buzz and Professor Conroy
6 UFO: Unidentified Fiendish Object The alien Zargon unleashes his warrior Destructo in his plans to conquer Earth.




7 Unearthly Plant Creatures Plant Man thaws the last three prehistoric plant creatures (consisting of Carnivorous Chewer, Creeping Crusher, and Fire-Breathing Snapdragon) from a glacier and then sprays them with his Obedience Ray in a plot to eliminate Buzz and Frankenstein Jr.




8 Deadly Living Images The Mad Inventor has invented the Double Identity Duplicator Projector to make copies of whatever pictures he inserts in it.


















9 Colossal Junk Monster Junk Man creates the Colossal Junk Monster in a plot to eliminate Frankenstein Jr.
10 The Incredible Aqua-Monsters Buzz and Frankenstein Jr. guard the Navy's new Hydrotomic Submarine to prevent Dr. Hook and his aquatic monsters from stealing it.

11 Gigantic Ghastly Genie Zorbo the Great creates a genie and plans to use its three wishes in order to defeat Frankenstein Jr. and conquer the world.














12 The Birdman Birdman and his robotic birds Vulturo, Rodantus, and King Condor abduct two astronauts and holds them for a ransom of $1,000,000.






13 Invasion of the Robot Creatures Sertano the Satellite King, an alien from Galaxy X, uses a gravity ray in order to get Earth to surrender. Buzz and Frankenstein Jr. must defeat Sertano's robots in order to defeat him.




14 The Manchurian Menace Manchurian Menace steals a Space Camera Capsule that has just returned with photos from Mars.

15 The Mad Monster Maker To perform a crimewave in London, Baron Von Ghoul creates robotic versions of horror movie monsters Electroflying Firefly, Menacing Mummy, and the Wicked Werewolf.







































16 The Monstermobile The Mad Inventor has invented the Monstermobile and uses its many gadgets to commit crimes.






17 Pilfering Putty Monster Mr. Menace uses his putty monster to steal a $1,000,000 coin collection and even kidnaps Buzz. It is up to Frankenstein Jr. to rescue Buzz and defeat Mr. Menace.
18 The Spooktaculars Dr. Spectro creates three giant ghoulish ghosts in order to take over Penciltrainia.

Dinosaucers the Cartoon and Toys

 Back in the late 80's (88 -89) I used to start my morning before High School watching a cartoon about alien dinosaurs that came to Earth to check on a colony of their kind that had been sent here centuries ago. The show was a production of DIC called Dinosaucers and followed the adventures of the heroic Dinosaucers -

Allo is an evolved Allosaurus and the leader of the Dinosaucers. Allo is calm, collected and serious. He wears blue and teal armor, a teal helmet, and has brown skin. He has a wife named Vera and a daughter named Alloetta. He is the nephew of the Dinosorceror and Dinosorceress (rulers of Reptilon).


Dimetro is another member of the Dinosaucers and Allo's assistant. Dimetro is the scientist/mechanic of the group. He wears brown and red armor, a blue mask on his head, has aqua green skin and speaks with a slight Scottish accent. Dimetro is an evolved Dimetrodon, which is a synapsid or mammal-like reptile, rather than a dinosaur.

Bronto Thunder is an evolved Apatosaurus. Often considered to be the second-in-command of the Dinosaucers, he usually takes command when Allo is away from Lava Dome. Bronto Thunder has a girlfriend back on Reptilon named Apatty Saurus, and was a "rep" for a ceramic tile shop before he became a Dinosaucer. Physically considered the strongest of the Dinosaucers.

Stego is an evolved Stegosaurus and a rather dim-witted recruit when compared to the rest of the team. He tries to be brave, but is prone to panic attacks and general cowardice. However he often manages to get through this and has come to the rescue of his friends.

Tricero is an evolved Triceratops. He had a history for doing investigative work back on Reptilon, and provides a voice of calm reason. Tricero was a member of the law-enforcing Tricerocops on Reptilon before he became a Dinosaucer. Tricero has a vibrational super power that emanates from his 2 brow horns. He is a mortal enemy to Styraco.

Bonehead is Allo's nephew and, as his name suggests, is not particularly bright. Has a baby brother named Numbskull (Nummy). Mother Bonehilda is a famous scientist, and Allo's sister. Bonehead is an evolved Pachycephalosaurus. He is good natured and innocent, without a doubt the stupidest Dinosaucer, even though he has great combat ability as a Pachycephalosaurus.

Ichy is an evolved Ichthyosaurus, a prehistoric aquatic reptile. He has a pointed beak, a tail with fins or flukes, grey skin and wears green armor. He also wears dark greenflippers on his feet, rather than boots. Ichy (and Plesio) can talk to sea creatures.

Teryx is the only female Dinosaucer. She is an evolved Archaeopteryx. She has white, blue, and salmon-colored plumage and unlike the other Dinosaucers, wears a simple backpack in lieu of armor. Teryx has a crush on Ichy, but fears it won't work out because she is a flying creature, while Ichy is aquatic. Teryx used to be an actress on Reptilon's daytime television before she became a Dinosaucer, but shows other talents and abilities during the course of the show.

in their battles against the villainous Tyrannos - 

Genghis Rex or usually referred to as simply "Rex", is the leader of the Tyrannos, as well as Allo's evil counterpart. He is an evolved Tyrannosaurus, has red skin and wears orange and blue armor. His first name is based on Genghis Khan the famous mongol. Living up to his species' reputation, he is brutal and tyrannical, and has a violent temper. Typically, Rex will insult his compatriots with plays on dinosaur words or names, such as idiot-tops or tail-for-brains, whenever things do not go according to his plans. In exchange, Rex endures being called many flattering and important sounding names by the other Tyrannos, such as Bossasaur and Your Scaliness. As a villain, he tends to be staggeringly inept, always losing to the Dinosaucers in the end.
Genghis Rex had deep feelings for Teryx and even attempted to kidnap and marry her, but she resisted since she was in love with Ichy. Rex also has an equally evil sister residing on Reptilon, named Princess Dei. His name is a reference to Genghis Khan

Ankylo is Genghis Rex's dimwitted, sycophantic assistant and is another member of the Tyrannos. Ankylo bears a resemblance to a warthog and exhibits porcine characteristics, often snorting when he speaks. He wears grey armor, has red skin and has a special weapon called the Anklebuster which creates a chain made out of energy, often used to disable the Dinosaucers. Ankylo is an evolved Ankylosaurus.

Quackpot is an evolved Hadrosaurus. Quackpot is the practical joker of the group, much to the ire of the other Tyrannos. Like Ankylo, Quackpot is red. Quackpot makes a quacking sound like a duck in comparison to his appearance. Quackpot was the star of a children's television show back on Reptilon called Duckbill's Playhouse, under the stage name T.B. Duckbill.

Brachio is an evolved Brachiosaurus. Brachio is the archetypal thug of the gang and is gray. Brachio is the evil counterpart of Bronto Thunder.

Styraco is an evolved Styracosaurus. Styraco is the evil counterpart of Tricero and was formerly a dentist working at the office of Pinchem, Pullem & Yankem before joining Genghis Rex on Earth.

Plesio is an evolved Plesiosaurus, a prehistoric aquatic reptile. Plesio is cunning and shifty, looks like a pink dragon, and is the evil counterpart of Ichy. Like Ichy, Plesio can talk to sea creatures. Plesio used to work for Slither, Slither & Shark, Attorneys at Law on Reptilon before becoming a Tyranno. He once had a romantic relationship with the Loch Ness Monster. He serves as the scientist/inventor of the group.

Terrible Dactyl is the flying member of the Tyrannos and the evil counterpart of Teryx. He speaks with a British accent. He wears a pilot mask, purple armor, and a white scarf and has orange skin. Terrible Dactyl is an evolved Pteranodon.

The Dinosaucers operated out of their base the Lava Dome while the Tyrannos used a base beneath a Tar pit and through 65 episodes the two factions battled with the heroic Dinosaucers having the upper hand thanks to their ability to Dinovolve into the primitive state of the dinosaur they resembled, The Tyrannos did not have this ability but instead were in the possession of Devolver raygun which could force anything shot with it to devolve to their primitive state.
Galoob planned to release a toy line based on the cartoon, going as far as to make prototypes of the 8" figures and the 2" figures with vehicles and a Lava Dome playset to show at the '87 and '88 toy fair. The line was never produced but the molds were sold to a Brazillian toy company that made knock off toys of the line.

Unproduced 8" Figures

Ankylo

Bronto Thunder

Genghis Rex

Plesio

Stego

Allo

Bone Head

Quackpot

2" Figures and Ships

 

 Lava Dome Playset

All in all it was a good 80's cartoon and those toys would have looked sweet on the shelf, if only they had been produced.