The Munsters and Fantastic Four have SO MUCH in common!
Did the monster family sitcom actually borrow elements from the first Marvel Comics series?
Revealing the uncanny similarities between the influential comic book legacy and the monstrous (but beloved) television sitcom!
Back in the early 1960s, Marvel Comics kicked off with the debut of the Fantastic Four comic book series. Just a couple of years later, The Munsters TV show also launch. Were the creators behind The Munsters influenced by the breakthroughs at Marvel? I talk over the parallels with Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Hulk, and more that make me wonder…
When the original show was cancelled, Star Trek was going to come back a cartoon. Outlining the shaky beginnings—and surprising victory—of the 1974 show Star Trek: The Animated Series.
Holmes’ new novel blends historical fiction with Southern gothic psychological horror. “We survive and thrive in little pockets—but it’s always temporary when oppression is the rule of the day.”
Over his long career, the famed comedy storyteller’s works have included 1974’s Young Frankenstein, 1987’s Spaceballs, 1995’s Dracula: Dead and Loving It, plus so much more.
How the woman who wrote for Wonder Woman rethought the world of Sword & Sorcery. “I’ve been a fan of strong female characters and pulp and fantasy and all of that forever.”
What if a made-up story about invading alien snails comes true? “The challenge was cradling a bunch of little stories inside a few medium stories inside one overarching story. They all had to work together.”
If this is true, actor Dwayne Johnson tried working behind the scenes with his Black Adam movie. And his schemes to run the show made the whole DC movie series come crashing down…
A mind-bending sci-fi western bearing shades of The Murderbot Diaries: “Bad things are happening, BUT I don’t want to write about a hopeless world.”
Was He-Man actually made from canceled Conan the Barbarian toys? Investigating just how much the original sword-wielder Conn the Barbarian really influenced He-Man.
The author talks about an intergalactic art heist by a group of underqualified misfits. What can go wrong? “At its heart, the novella is a meditation on ‘the culture of the copy.’”
The doc Shopping for Superman shares the history—and influence—of comic book stores. “See just how necessary support will be in keeping these shops open and available for future generations.”
The award-winning author known for writing zombies, outer space epics, thrillers, and more, now turns his attention to a different kind of hero. “He’s a civilized man pushed out of every aspect of his comfort zone.”
Japanese film director Ishirō Honda is one of the key figures who brought the world Godzilla—and the launch of kaijus as a whole movie category.
A private detective that has to face crooks, corruption, and—well, gods, vampires, wizards, elves, centaurs, and the like. These fantasies are totally for fans of detective fiction.
Want books that mix urban fantasy and crime fiction? Including books from Charlaine Harris, Kevin J. Anderson, plus Hellboy, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, X-Files, Supernatural—and more.
Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.
Sword & sorcery icon Conan the Barbarian debuted in a 1932 issue of Weird Tales. In the decades since, Conan has appeared in more books, plus movies, comic books, and more.