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SILVER SCREEN HEROES BY JOE PHILLIPS

Vintage Batman For those of you not familiar with his work, let me just say that Joe Phillips is a Californian based comic book artist best known for his work on such mainstream titles as Superman (for DC) and Silver Surfer (for Marvel). Fortunately enough, last year (well, I think it was last year) he also managed to find sometime to sit down and re-imagine a number of superhero characters, as if they were being portrayed by superstars of yesteryear. So, if you want to see Gregory Peck's version of Superman, Elizabeth Taylor's version of Wonder Woman, or better yet, Cary Grant's Batman, then sit back, relax, and here, check this out, baby. Complemented by a number of celebrity facts.


Newkadia Comics


Wonder Woman featuring Elizabeth Taylor as the Amazon Princess and Paul Newman as Steve Trevor
The Batman featuring Cary Grant as the Caped Crusader and Katharine Hepburn as Catwoman


WONDER WOMAN featuring Elizabeth Taylor as the Amazon Princess and Paul Newman as Steve Trevor:   Back in 1958 Elizabeth Taylor had a lot of trouble making 'Cat On The Hot Tin Roof' with Paul Newman. Not because of anything Paul did. No. Of course not. It's because she contracted a virus that made her weaker than normal, plus the fact that her husband Mike Todd died in a plane crash during production, a flight she refused to travel on due to her ill health. 

THE BATMAN featuring Cary Grant as the Caped Crusader and Katharine Hepburn as Catwoman:   Cary and Katherine are best known for starring together in the classic 1940's rom-com, 'The Philadelphia Story'. Yet little is it known, that the story behind 'The Philadelphia Story' was based on the life of Katherine and the rest of her clan back in Connecticut. So basically, Katherine is playing Katherine despite being thematically called Tracy. 

Teen Titans featuring Mickey Rooney as Robin and Judy Garland as Wonder Girl
Doctor Strange Featuring William Powell as the good Doctor himself and Carole Lombard as Clea
TEEN TITANS featuring Mickey Rooney as Robin and Judy Garland as Wonder Girl:   Despite both of them being married numerous times to other people -- Mickey: eight, and Judy: five -- in reality Mickey and Judy were kindred spirits, and never thought about marrying each other because they thought of themselves as brother and sister. 

DOCTOR STRANGE Featuring William Powell as the good Doctor himself and Carole Lombard as Clea:   Carole Lombard was married to William Powell for three years, and never blamed their separation on his age, even though he was sixteen years older than her. What she blamed their divorce on was the diversion that brought them together in the first place. Their film careers. 

Superman featuring Gregory Peck as The Man of Steel, Rosalind Russell as Lois Lane, and Yul Brynner as Lex Luthor
Power Girl featuring the one and only, Marilyn Monroe

SUPERMAN featuring Gregory Peck as The Man of Steel, Rosalind Russell as Lois Lane, and Yul Brynner as Lex Luthor:   If you're ever playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, and want to know what actor could link together Gregory, Rosalind, and Yul, then let me help you with the answer. It's Deborah Kerr. She co-starred with Yul Brynner in the 1959 drama, 'The Journey'. Then in the same year Deborah also co-starred with Gregory Peck in another drama called 'Beloved Infidel'. Plus back in the day, she co-starred with Rosalind Russell on stage in the musical, 'Gypsy'.   

POWER GIRL featuring the one and only, Marilyn Monroe:   Billy Wilder, who directed Marilyn Monroe in the 1959 comedy classic, 'Some Like It Hot', called her a seven year old girl who liked being mean. Little did he know, though, that at the time Marilyn was suffering from depression, and took drugs to repress her woes. Woes, that stemmed back to her childhood days due to an absent mother and issues to do with her self confidence.  

Vision of The Witch featuring Tyrone Power as the Vision and Lucille Ball as the Scarlet Witch
Joker's Wild featuring Danny Kaye as The Joker and Shirley Maclaine as Harley Quinn

VISION OF THE WITCH featuring Tyrone Power as the Vision and Lucille Ball as the Scarlet Witch:   Did you know that Lucille Ball owned the rights to all of her TV shows, namely, 'I Love Lucy' and 'The Lucy Show', and had to buy out her husband share of the rights, when Ricky Ricardo lost most of his money at the race track? Ay Caramba!

JOKER'S WILD featuring Danny Kaye as The Joker and Shirley Maclaine as Harley Quinn:   Now this is a really weird fact that even I'm surprised about. In real life my Dad is a massive Danny Kaye fan, whereas my Mother is the spitting image of Shirley Maclaine. Oh! You'd like another fact, would you? How about this then... Danny Kaye starred with Peter Sellers live on stage at the London Palladium, whilst Shirley Maclaine starred with Peter Sellers in the 1979 Hal Ashby film, 'Being There'. Sorry. It was the only other fact that came to mind. 

Aquaman featuring Buster Crabbe as the King of The Seven Seas and Rita Hayworth as his wife, Mera
Hulk featuring James Cagney as the Green Goliath and Claudette Colbert as Betty Ross

AQUAMAN featuring Buster Crabbe as the King of The Seven Seas and Rita Hayworth as his wife, Mera:   I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that Rita Hayworth is quite a lady. I mean, just ask her husbands, the five of them, as I'm sure they'd tell you the same thing. Husband number one was a car-salesman called Edward C Judson, and his marriage to Rita lasted for five years, from 1937 to 1942. Her next marriage to the world renowned Orson Welles lasted for only three years, from 1943 to 1947, whereas her marriage to Prince Aly Khan (yes, he was a prince) lasted one extra year, 1949 to 1953. Producer Dick Haymes, on the other hand, could only stay married to Rita for two years, 1953 to 1955, whilst James Hill, another producer, lasted three, from 1958 to 1961. 

HULK featuring James Cagney as the Green Goliath and Claudette Colbert as Betty Ross:   Even though he's best known for playing a tough guy in films such as 'White Heat' and 'The Public Enemy', back when he first started in the business, James Francis Cagney put on a dress and danced around with the other showgirls on stage. The reason why he did this is because he fancied one of them, Frances Vernon, and would eventually marry her. The sly dog. Ha!

Hellboy featuring Humphrey Bogart as the red one himself and Peter Lorre as Abe Sapien
Iron Man featuring Clark Gable as Tony Stark, Ingrid Bergman as Pepper Potts, and Bill Robinson as James Rhodes




















HELLBOY featuring Humphrey Bogart as the red one himself and Peter Lorre as Abe Sapien:   In total, Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre starred in five films together. These were: 'The Maltese Falcon' made in 1941, 'All Through the Night' also made in 1941, 'Casablanca' made in 1942, 'Passage to Marseille' made in 1944, and 'Beat the Devil' made in 1953.

IRON MAN featuring Clark Gable as Tony Stark, Ingrid Bergman as Pepper Potts, and Bill Robinson as James Rhodes:   Ironically enough, Clark Gable was the human template Siegel and Shuster used when they originally came up with the idea of Superman. Whereas in Iron Man's case, Stan Lee used Howard Hughes, the industrialist / aviator / film director who Bob Kane also used for Batman.

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Now if you want to see more of Joe's art-work, please feel free to click on over to his websitefacebook, or twitter pages. Or better yet, why not pick up some of his stuff on Amazon?

SILVER SCREEN HEROES BY JOE PHILLIPS SILVER SCREEN HEROES BY JOE PHILLIPS Reviewed by David Andrews on January 21, 2016 Rating: 5
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