Category: Uncategorized (Page 117 of 763)

This week we go back to November, 2007, for a show that featured the Radio Free Charleston debut of Mark Bates, who has recently become a full-time member of The Carpenter Ants. In this classic show, he’s heard solo, recorded at the old Unity Church, during one of Ron Sowell’s open mic nights. This is one of the shows that I just got around to remastering a few months ago, after it had been offline for way too long.

Our other musical guests were most of The Voo Doo Katz, recorded live at the La Belle Theater in South Charleston, and RFC regular John Radcliff, performing in the kitchen at LiveMix Studio. We also feature animation and the first installment of “The Android Family.”

You can read the original production notes, bum links and all,  for this episode right HERE.

The PopCulteer
June 16, 2023

The above headline does not indicate that your humble blogger has been harboring some secret identity or non-de-plume and is finally set to reveal his true self to the world.

That’s a topic for another column. Today I’m talking about how, finally, after three years and three months, I feel comfortable going without a mask in public. Sometimes. I’ll still keep one on my arm in case it gets crowded or folks start coughing or sneezing around me.

I still don’t feel that the pandemic is entirely over, but I think the risk is low enough that even someone like me can shed the mask as long as I’m up to date on my boosters and remain careful.

What I mean by “someone like me” is that I’m a high-risk person. I have Myasthenia Gravis, an auto-immune disorder, and the treatment is for me to take a heavy-duty immuno-suppressant. Also, I’m now past the age of 60, and dealing with a couple of other medical issues that are COVID warning flags.

I have been very careful, and I have not had COVID. In fact, since I started masking up and going out less, I’ve barely had a sniffle or sinus infection. Seasonal allergies got me this Spring, but aside from that, it’s been smooth sailing.

Like everyone else, I got tired of wearing the mask, but I had good reason to stay masked up: I don’t want to die.

When Mel and I went to the Lexington Toy & Comic Show back in March, I stayed masked up. was glad to see we were not the only folks there wearing masks.

Two months later when we went to New York to see Gavin Lee at Birdland, I was newly-boosted and felt comfortable going without my mask on the train and at the famed Jazz club. In the ensuing weeks, Mel and I both cut back on wearing masks everywhere we go. We still keep them nearby, just in case, but for the most part, if you see us out now, you’ll probably get to see our full faces.

Last Tuesday Mel and I ate in a restaurant in Charleston for the first time since March, 2020. I’m not going to name the restaurant because we were basically only there for a FestivALL event, and only ate because it was handy, but it was nice to dine out in our hometown again.

Not eating out so much has actually been very good for both of us, so I don’t expect to do this more than once a month or so, but it’s nice to have the option again.

Since the pandemic began, when I’ve run a STUFF TO DO column, I’ve included a disclaimer asking people to be kind to those of us wearing masks. This will not change. There never was any excuse to act like an asshole to people who are wearing masks. They’re obviously doing it because they feel the need, and they know way more about their personal situation than you do. That disclaimer will continue to run here in PopCult.

Passings

It’s been a rough week for culturally-important icons. Over the past few days the world has bid farewell to Cormac McCarthy, John Romita Sr, Treat Williams and Glenda Jackson.

I don’t have enough space here to properly eulogize these folks, so I’ll just briefly summarize their amazing lives and offer condolences all around:

Cormac McCarthy was, according to the NY Times, “a formidable and reclusive writer of Appalachia and the American Southwest, whose raggedly ornate early novels about misfits and grotesques gave way to the lush taciturnity of All the Pretty Horses and the apocalyptic minimalism of The Road” I have to admit that aside from the movies based on his work, I was most familiar with McCarthy due to his depiction as a Centaur in the cartoon, Mike Tyson Mysteries.

“Jazzy” John Romita was a legendary Marvel Comics artist who basically defined Marvel’s “house style” following the exits of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. He had a long career and was Stan Lee’s “go-to” artist from 1966 to his retirement in 1996. Many people think of Romita’s art when they think of Marvel Comics, post-Kirby.

Treat Williams was a gifted actor who went from being a leading man to establishing a long career as a versatile character actor who brought depth to every role he touched.

Glenda Jackson was a phenomenal actress who transitioned to politics in her fifties and then back to acting late in life. Mel and I were very lucky to see her on stage twice, in Three Tall Women and in King Lear, where she played Lear. Despite being a multiple OSCAR, BAFTA, Olivier and Tony award-winner, she remained down-to-Earth, and even insisted on getting a photo with Mel when we met her in New York back in 2019.

And that is it for this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for our regular features, plus notes on special programming on The AIR next Monday and Tuesday.

This blog will be running on autopilot for a few days because the Marx Toy and Train Collector’s Show is happening again this year, and the dates are this Friday and Saturday at  The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling.  Your PopCulteer is thrilled to be going back to this toy show, which is one of the most enjoyable in the country and something your humble blogger and his lovely wife look forward to every year.

This year, we’re running up for the first day of the show (and the evening before), and then we’re bypassing the second day so we can go have some kind of retail misadventures in the wilds of Canton, Ohio.

I’ve been covering the Marx Toy Convention for more than a decade, and you can find an index to most of that coverage HERE. You can see our coverage of2021’s show HERE and HERE. Last year’s coverage was spread across a few posts, HERE, HER E, HERE, and HERE.

You can expect a lot of photos and video next week in PopCult.

Anybody who grew up with Marx Toys, or anybody interested in West Virginia industries, or just folks who love toys, should make it a point to go to this show and check out the wonders of The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum. It’s a real gem.

Here’s the video from last year’s show…

Okay, it’s time once again for your guide to things you can do in and around Charleston and the Mountain state as we enter the second weekend of FestivAll along with, for West Virginians, a four-day weekend and a big old baseball-slide into Summer. In this week’s edition of STUFF TO DO, we’re going to start off with a radio note, and then just skim a few of the hundreds of things going on in town. There is so much STUFF TO DO in Charleston this weekend that your PopCulteer is sorry that he won’t be here for any of it. I’ll be telling you about the Marx Toy Show in Wheeling tomorrow.

Wednesday afternoon’s Curtain Call on The AIR is the radio note I mentioned. This week Mel Larch presents her annual highlights show featuring the Tony Award winner for Best New Musical. In this case, as awarded just last Sunday, it’s Kimberly Akimbo.

The musical comedy Kimberly Akimbo stars the 60-plus-year-old Victoria Clark as a teenage girl with a medical condition that causes rapid aging. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, the show features music by Jeanine Tesori, the Tony-winning composer of Fun Home; a book and lyrics by Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his play Rabbit Hole; and direction by Jessica Stone, a longtime actress making her Broadway directing debut.

In addition to winning for Best New Musical, Kimberly Akimbo also picked up Tony’s for  Best Lead Actress in a musical,  Best Book,  Best Score and  Best Featured Actress in a musical.

So Wednesday at 3 PM, Curtain Call will let you sample this acclaimed Tony-winner.  You can tune in at the website, or you could just stay right here and  listen to the convenient embedded radio player lurking elsewhere on this page.

In Charleston, FestivALL wraps up this weekend, and rather than repeat the many, many things I’ve written about this cool arts festival in Charleston over the years, I’m just going to point you to their website, and let them do all the heavy lifting.

Part of FestivALL is the Charleston Light Opera Guild production of Little Shop of Horrors, at the Guild workshop on Charleston’s West Side. Mel and I got to see this production on Sunday, and it’s loads of fun and very well done. Mel gives the show her stamp of approval, which is no small honor since Mel was the Guild’s first Audrey, back in 1987. You have three more chances to catch this show.

Live Music is back at Taylor Books. There is no cover charge, and shows start at 7:30 PM. They’re bringing in the big guns this weekend. Friday it’s The Carpenter Ants. Saturday Spencer Elliott entertains the crowd at Charleston’s beloved Bookstore/Coffee Shop/Art Gallery.

The World Famous Empty Glass Cafe has some great stuff through the week to tell you about.  Thursday from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, Swingstein and Robin play fiddle and piano and sing swing and early jazz standards. Each week they donate their tips to a local nonprofit or worthy cause.   Later on Thursday, at 10 PM, Kenny Booth hosts “Shred Night” so metallically-inclined peoples can come out and jam and not worry about upsetting the folk singers. Friday Tim Courts plays during happy hour.   Check the graphics below for other cool shows at the Glass.

Please remember that the pandemic is not over yet. It’s still a going concern. And now there are seasonal allergies, the flu, raging wildfires, global climate castrophes, alien invasions, disgraced former presidents and other damned good reasons to be careful. Many people who have very good reasons are still wearing masks, and many of us, understandably, are still nervous about being in crowds, masked or not. Be kind and understanding  while you’re out.

If you’re up for going out, here are a few suggestions for the rest of this week, roughly in order, but with some theater stuff listed first…

Continue reading

RFC blasts forth with a thematically organizized collection of music this week on The AIR  as we premiere three full hours of new Radio Free Charleston! You simply have to point your cursor over and tune in at the website, or you could just stay here and  listen to the cool embedded player elsewhere on this page.

Rather than revive some of our pre-2020 programming this week, we decided to just build a new three-hour show that you can hear at 10 AM and 10 PM Tuesday. We have lots of new music, lots of local and independent stuff and some mystery bonus tracks at the end that have to be heard to be believed.

The show opens with newly-released music from Scarlet Revolt. In advance of the new lineup of the band, with Johnny Compton stepping in as frontman, the band has remixed their Cold Town album from 2017.  This new remix is out now, and includes two songs featuring their former lead singer, Eve Marcum Atkinson that were previously unleased. We’ll bring you the other hidden gem in our next episode and of course we’ll bring you the new music from the reconstituted band as soon as we have it.

We also have some great artists making their RFC debuts this week, Joey Ferris, BRRO and Puddles Pity Party show up for the first time. Plus we have new tracks from Buni Muni, Golden, Matt Mullins & The Bringdowns, Novelty Island and M.

This week I made an effort to present the music in themed sets, so that we have an Americana set, a soulful set, a rockier set, a more elctronic set, and by the third hour I just gave up and returned to my normal method of thowing stuff against the wall.

Due to the holidays next week, RFC will probably present a marathon of recent episodes Monday and Tuesday. So the next new show will be in two weeks.

Check out the playlist below to see all the goodies we have in store (links will take you to the artist’s pages)…

RFCv5 134

hour one
Scarlet Revolt “Casualty of You”
Joey Ferris “Wild Side”
Annie Neely “Old Scratch”
The New Relics “Until It Feels Right”
Paul Callicoat“Clown Face”
Bob Dylan “The Wicked Messenger”
Sierra Ferrell “Made Like That”
The Heavy Hitters Band “Lie To Me”
David Bowie “Right”
Hybrid Soul Project “Ain’t Nobody”
Buni Muni“Peaches + Dynamite”
The MFB “Thigh Gap Mishap”
Lady D “Times Like These”
Greta Van Fleet “Sacred The Thread”

hour two
BRRO “Geek”
Matt Berry “Devil Inside Me”
The Wearing Hands “Venom”
Dave Strong “Little Girl”
The Dirteez “Strong”
Payback’s a Bitch “If You Don’t Love Me…(Johnny Dazz live at Wembley, 1977)”
The Inmates “Tell Me What’s Wrong (live)”
M “Maniac”
Bane Star “The Aperture”
Kylie Minogue “Padam Padam”
David Synn “Dali’s Kaleidoscope”
Linfinity “Miles”
M “Close The Window”
John Bunkley & His Secondhand Souls “Heavyweight Champion”

hour three
Matt Mullins and The Bringdowns “Homesick”
Golden “Ocean Size”
Novelty Island “Over & Over”
The Anchoress “Tender”
The Aquabats “Baby Baby”
Puddles Pity Party “Crazy Train/Let It Go”
Verdeant “Don’t Tell Him”
The Polkamaniacs“Ride On The Weinermobile”
Ann Magnuson “Old Enuff 2 B Yer Mom”
The Heavy Editors“You’re Breaking Up With You”
Logical Fleadh “Banish Misfortune”
Weezer “Mr. Blue Sky”
Ben Folds “Exhausting Lover”

You can hear this episode of Radio Free Charleston Tuesday at 10 AM and 10 PM on The AIR, with replays Wednesday at 9 AM, Thursday at 2 PM, Friday at 9 AM, Saturday at Noon and Midnight,  and  Monday at 11 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Now you can also hear a different episode of RFC every weekday at 5 PM, and we bring you a marathon all night long Saturday night/Sunday morning.

I’m also going to  embed a low-fi, mono version of this show right in this post, right here so you can listen on demand.

Then at 1 PM we have MIRRORBALL, followed at 2 PM by Curtain Call. At 3 PM two classic episodes of The Swing Shift arrive.

You can hear The Swing Shift Tuesday at 3 PM, with replays Wednesday at 8 AM, Thursday at 9 AM, Friday at 8 PM and Saturday afternoon, only on The AIR . You can also hear all-night marathons, seven hours each, starting at Midnight Thursday and Sunday evenings.

Today’s art is another look at Manhattan, inspired by a recent whirlwind trip to The Big Apple.

This week is a really quick, sloppy rough watercolor of what I think is the New York Times building. It was a bit of an oppressive presence leaning over our right shoulders as we gazed out on our panoramic view of New York City from within the famed skyline.

I mean, we were on the 44th floor, and that giant lummox of a building was just looming over us, standing in our way of having a clear view of everything.

Still, I can’t stay mad at it. After all, that’s where they keep all the Wordle.

This was done in watercolor and cheap markers that bleed too much. of course I also used a straight-edge and photo reference. The painting itself is rather tiny, so if you click the link below on a computer screen you’ll probably see it larger than actual size. This is a study that I may revisit someday on a larger canvas.

To see it bigger try clicking HERE.

Over in radioland, Monday at 2 PM on The AIR, we bring you a classic episode of Psychedelic Shack, and then at 3 PM a classic edition of Herman Linte’s weekly showcase of the Progressive Rock of the past half-century, Prognosis.  You can listen to The AIR at the website, or on the embedded radio player elsewhere on this page.

Psychedelic Shack can be heard every Monday at 2 PM, with replays Tuesday at 9 AM, Wednesday at 10 PM, Friday at 1 PM,  and Saturday at 9 AM. You can hear Prognosis on The AIR Monday at 3 PM, with replays Tuesday at 7 AM, Wednesday at 8 PM, Thursday at Noon, and Saturday at 10 AM. You can hear two classic episodes of the show Sunday at 2 PM.

At 8 PM you can hear an hour of ranuchy 1950’s comedy from famed nasty old broad, Rusty Warren, on The Comedy Vault.

Tonight at 9 PM the Monday Marathon presents ten hours of progressive rock courtesy of Herman Linte and Prognosis.

A little birdie tells me that an upcoming episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat will be devoted to the legendary American New Wave band, Wall of Voodoo. Since I am a big fan of both incarnations of the band, the first one fronted by Stan Ridgeway, and the revamped line-up fronted by Andy Prieboy, this week we’re going to give you a preview of sorts by bringing you two short concert videos…one from each version of the band.

Above you see the band performing at the US Fesitval in 1983, with Stan Ridgeway on vocals.

Below you see the band, fronted by Andy Prieboy, live in Munich in 1986.

The WoV episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat will probably debut a week from Friday.

We continue along with our chronological run through The RFC Flashback with Radio Free Charleston episode 29, “Pirate Outfit,” from October, 2007. This was our second Halloween special,

This classic RFC features appropriately scary music from legendary Charleston band Big Money (featuring Michael Lipton) and local rapper Lil Guy from South Park Enterprise. Plus, we have scenes from the Radio Free Charleston 2007 Halloween party at the late, lamented Capitol Roasters Cafe, where we hi-jacked a Whistlepunk show.

Our host segments were taped that night, which was chock full o’ costumed frivolity. On top of that, you’ll find our usual mind-hurting weirdness and animation, with a sinister holiday bent. The party was quite loud, and you can barely hear our host in some segments.

In this episode you will also hear a snippet of Whistlepunk during the end credits. We did hi-jack their show and turn it into the RFC Halloween party, so we couldn’t very well leave them out of the episode. You’ll hear them doing the song “Lost.”

There’s more than just music on the show. You’ll also get to see a commercial that loudly promises “Shrunken Heads for all occasions!” A lovely Geisha (Kitty Killton) and a Japanese robot (Sean Richardson) introduce our animation, which was created by mystery men.  Also, an evil puppet turns Rudy into Jared Leto.

Right at the beginning of the show Raymond Wallace nearly destroys Rudy and RFC camera-person Melanie Larch by delivering a two-word ad lib that we had to try desperately to ignore. A Gladiator and a Ghostbuster walk into a coffee shop.  Subtitles take on a life of their own. This episode was remastered in October, 2013. Original production notes can be found HERE.

The PopCulteer
June 9, 2023

Mel Larch returns Friday with a new episode of MIRRORBALL devoted to a group of guys who made a huge mark on pop culture, The Village People.

In a bit of a nod to Pride Month, Friday at 2 PM on The AIR, Mel Larch devotes a full hour to the music of The Village People on the Disco Showcase, MIRRORBALL. The AIR is PopCult‘s sister radio station. You can hear these shows on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found elsewhere on this page.

Rising up from the underground Gay scene of New York’s Greenwich Village, the Village People took their music and their message into the mainstream.

Conceived by Jacques Morali and his business partner Henri Belolo, The Village People sparked to life with the discovery of lead singer, Victor Willis. Soon Willis, dressed as a cop, was joined by The Indian, The Construction Worker, The GI, The Cowboy and The Leatherman, and a pop culture legend was born. Appearances on all the top TV shows, as well as a Bob Hope USO Tour, were groundbreaking in bringing Gay awareness into the average American’s living room.

In addition, their catchy tunes had a good beat, and man could you dance to them.

Check out the playlist…

MIRRORBALL 077

The Village People
“In The Navy”
“Can’t Stop The Music”
“San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)”
“Hot Cop”
“Macho Man”
“I Am What I Am”
“Milkshake”
“Village People”
“Medley “Just A Gigalo/I Ain’t Got Nobody”
“Fire Island”
“Go West”
“YMCA”

You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays throughout the following week Monday at 9 AM and Tuesday at 1 PM.

This weekend MIRRORBALL will trade places with Mel’s other show, Curtain Call, and will have a six-hour marathon, anchored with this new episode, Sunday night beginning at 6 PM.  Curtain Call will take over the Saturday 9 PM timeslot, so that it won’t be running opposite this year’s Tony Awards on CBS.

At 3 PM we bring you an encore of a classic episode of Sydney’s Big Electric Cat from January, 2018.  This was special show where Sydney Fileen devoted her entire two hours to the music of Talking Heads. Sadly, the playlist for this one is not readily available, so you’ll just have to tune in and write down all the songs yourself.

Sydney’s Big Electric Cat is produced at Haversham Recording Institute in London, and can be heard every Friday at 3 PM, with replays Saturday afternoon, Monday at 7 AM, Tuesday at 8 PM, Wednesday at Noon and Thursday at 10 AM, exclusively on The AIR. Two classic episodes can also be heard every Sunday, starting at 10 AM.

And that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back every day for fresh content.

We have three cool Kickstarter projects to tell you about today.  Let’s see what happens when a comic book, a surf-guitar album and a trading card set walk into a PopCult post.

Two are from proven creators that we’ve plugged here in the past, while the third is long-awaited launch of a comic book based on a toy I’ve told you a lot about lately. That campaign just launched today, while the other two have less than two weeks left, so let’s just jump in, because these are really nifty things, indeed.

Super Joe Unlimited

Originally introduced in 1977 as “…a new team: the SUPER JOE ADVENTURE TEAM answers the call anywhere in the galaxy,” Super Joe was the amazing, but short-lived follow-up to the 12 inch G.I. Joe.

It consisted of eight different figures: Super Joe Commander (white and black); Super Joe Adventurer (white and black); The Night Fighters (Shield and Luminos); and Darkon and Gor (the enemies of the Super Joe team). Each figure came with features new to action figures at the time, the “1-2 Punch” and “light-up action.”

I’ve been telling you about the toy revival of Super Joe for months, and I’ve mentioned the comic book, back when the preview poster of the cover of the first issue was sold at ToyLanta. Now the time has come to launch the campaign to get this book into the hands of the collectors. From Power Comics, the folks who brought us The Masters, comes Super Joe Unlimited.

First, the premise:

The year is 2100, and the world has been at peace for decades due to the success of the previous generation’s superheroes. These mightiest of Earth’s mortals achieved what no other generation could; decades-long peace and harmony amongst all it’s people.

That time of peace and harmony was so successful that superheroes became obsolete; a thing of the past, resigned to the subject of bedtime stories parents tell their children at night. As the world’s greatest super heroes grew old, retired, and passed away, there were no new superheroes coming up to take their place. There was simply no need.

But nothing lasts forever. We all know that the universe abhors a vacuum, and one fateful day the peace and tranquility that humankind had grown so accustomed to was shattered.

Out of nowhere emerged Darkon, a creature of unknown origin leading an army of summoned monsters called Gors. Darkon and his Gor army attacked the peaceful people of Earth. Civilians, police and the military forces of Earth rose up in defense, but years of peace and the unprecedented power of this invasion rendered the defenders nearly powerless.

While the defenders of Earth tried to hold back Darkon’s army, the world’s greatest minds gathered in a desperate attempt to understand the attackers, and figure out how to save humanity. No consensus could be reached as to what the attackers really were; transformed humans? Demons? Aliens? Something else? Evidence for and against each explanation was produced to no final agreement.

While the nature of the attackers was unclear, what was clear was Earth was losing this battle. So desperate was the situation that one scientist was forced to speak up and reveal a deep secret that might present a solution. He revealed a secret project he ran years before, not sponsored or sanctioned by any government.

The project was a study in the nature of the superheroes of old; the genetic markers in humanity that could lead to the development of super powers, and the environmental factors that would drive such development. Using carefully-hoarded samples of superhero blood, and samples of the general population, the team was able to find the links, isolate them, and use them to create first clones of famous super heroes of the past, and with later refinements, a new generation of super heroes with even more versatile powers and intelligence. The Super Joe project, as it was code-named, had created a small army of superior clones; an entire army of Super Joes.

While the scientist and others on the Super Joe project team felt they had achieved success, they also had strong ethical concerns about what they had done, as well as concerns about potential safety risks to the non-enhanced populace. This caused the team to place the Super Joes into cryogenic suspension, where they remained until now, held in reserve in case of an insurmountable threat to the people of Earth.

Now, with the armies of Darkon threatening the remaining free nations of Earth, the scientist revealed the secret Super Joe army, realizing that only they could turn the tide of this war. The Super Joes would now be awoken and called upon to save the world. Their time had arrived!

The creative team includes some classic Bronze Age artists, alongside some talented newcomers:  Bob Hall, Steven Butler, Geoff Isherwood, Netho Diaz, James Brown, Austin Hough and more have all contributed to this title.

There are loads of add-on rewards, in addition to the comic book. You can get limited edition figures, new Super Joe Unlimited figures, vintage figures and accessories, reduced-price admissions to JoeLanta (in August), collector coins, Randall Wall-designed ArtLab playsets, original art from the comic book and more. Kick in early, some of the higher tiers are limited.

Guitarmy of One  The Wave Files

Next up we have the second album from Scott Helland’s Guitarmy of One project, The Wave Files.  Scott is also known as “The Punk” of “Frenchy and” fame, and his first Guitarmy of One album kicked at least three dozen distinct and impressive kinds of ass.  Here’s what Scott says about the new album:

This new record will feature 10 brand new original songs that have more of a surf guitar influence than my 2021 ‘The Spy Detective Collective’ record. The Wave Files theme is espionage on the open sea and the song titles reference 60s and 70s spy and detective shows like Kolchak the Nightstalker in the song ‘Kolchak meets the Sea Mobster’, Hawaii 50 in ‘Jack Lord of the Sea’, Soylent Green in “Soylent Seafoam Green’ and The Saint in ‘Seance for the Saint’, as well as real life mobsters like Legs Diamond in ‘Sea Legs Diamond’.

I want this record to be your new favorite instrumental Surf Spy guitar album!

There are 12 days left in this campaign, and it’s well past the halfway point in terms of funding.  Scott’s offering a variety of reward tiers, from getting a single tune to racking up the whole album on CD, USB Flashdrive, or just the files. At higher tiers you can get t-shirts, hoodies, patches, beach towels, tote bags, Notebooks and even UNDERWEARS!

Check out the video below, then go pledge. We all want to hear this album!

Fearsome Weirdos Haunted Heaps

Robert Jimenez is back with the latest entry in his Fearsome Weirdos trading card series, Haunted Heaps.

For the last few years Jimenez has been producing his own really cool trading card sets and successfully funding them on Kickstarter. He’s built up a huge fanbase for his Fearsome Weirdos, Ghouls of Yule, Startling Lineup and other cool sets. Now he’s turned his focus on hot rods.  Fearsome Weirdos Haunted Heaps is a 24 card set, with an additional 8 card product parody subset. This is Jimenez taking on the world of Weird-Ohs and Nutty Mads, only with his own macabre twist.

Haunted Heaps is the 5th Fearsome Weirdos set. It’s a collection of Macabre Motorists and their Vile Vehicles.

The base set is made up of a Wrapper/Checklist, 15 Character Cards, 8 Devilish Delivery Vehicles and an 8 card subset, Gruesome Groceries, which highlights those products being delivered. The set also includes a lenticular card, a holographic sticker and a promo card, all packaged in a tuck box! Also available as rewards and add-ons are sketch cards, past Fearsome Weirdos sets, original art, a coloring book and more!

The set is written and illustrated by Jimenez with some writing assists by Paul Harris and Peter Zeis.

With eleven days left to go in the campaign, this project is already hella-funded, exceeding its goal by a factor of five, so you know you’ll get your rewards.  Aside from pointing you to the campaign page and posting the video below, I can’t write much more here because I’ve got a short piece on this set coming up in the next Non Sport Update magazine.  So go support it. You know what to do.