Emperor

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26735575

As I noted a few months back, 1950 was a major turning point in the history of EC Comics. Max Gaines had been one of the premier figures in the history of comic books in the United States, along with the development of the modern comic book format at nearly every step of the way, from the first hit comic books (which were collections of newspaper comic strips) to the launch of Superman in Action Comics #1 (HOW much Gaines was involved in that monumental point in comic book history has long been up for debate, but what isn't is that he was at least SOMEwhat involved in it), then to the launch of All-American Publications, a partner company to DC Comics, where Gaines' company introduced some of the most famous superheroes of all-time, like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Ma Hunkel. Okay, maybe not all of the heroes are world-famous...I guess not everyone knows Green Lantern the way they do Wonder Woman and Ma Hunkel.

Gaines then sold All-American to DC, and launched EC Comics, primarily focusing on Bible stories and other "educational" comics (hence the E in EC), but then he tragically died in a boating accident (he saved the life of a young boy by throwing him out of the way of the boat, but he was struck in the process. It's eerily similar to how the iconic singer, Kirsty McCall, died. In her case, she was saving her own son). With Gaines dead, his son took over the company, which was struggling at the time. Gaines wasn't exactly a comic book lover at the time, but he was a very open guy, and he became a bit of a sponge for the enthusiasm of the guys working for him. Al Feldstein got him to launch the first EC horror comic book, as I noted a few months ago, and then, in March 1950, they launched their first science fiction comic book, turning A Moon, A Girl... Romance into Weird Fantasy with its 13th issue!

As noted, Gaines was a very open-minded guy, and so Harry Harrison, who was working in an art partnership with Wallace Wood (Harrison would pencil the comics, and Wood would ink them, although sometimes the lines blurred between who was penciling and who was inking. The two had first met while both were studying with artist Burne Hogarth, but they didn't start working together until Wood had already started working at EC on his own), approached Gaines about EC doing science fiction comics. He gave Gaines some science fiction books to read, and Gaines was quickly hooked, and so he approved the new series.

The series was edited by Al Feldstein, though, who was becoming Gaines' top editor/creative partner at the company. Harrison had no control over the idea he inspired, so he and Wood would actually split up their partnership by the end of 1950, and Harrison would go off to become a popular science fiction author.

As I noted a few months back, 1950 was a major turning point in the history of EC Comics. Max Gaines had been one of the premier figures in the history of comic books in the United States, along with the development of the modern comic book format at nearly every step of the way, from the first hit comic books (which were collections of newspaper comic strips) to the launch of Superman in Action Comics #1 (HOW much Gaines was involved in that monumental point in comic book history has long been up for debate, but what isn't is that he was at least SOMEwhat involved in it), then to the launch of All-American Publications, a partner company to DC Comics, where Gaines' company introduced some of the most famous superheroes of all-time, like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Ma Hunkel. Okay, maybe not all of the heroes are world-famous...I guess not everyone knows Green Lantern the way they do Wonder Woman and Ma Hunkel.

Gaines then sold All-American to DC, and launched EC Comics, primarily focusing on Bible stories and other "educational" comics (hence the E in EC), but then he tragically died in a boating accident (he saved the life of a young boy by throwing him out of the way of the boat, but he was struck in the process. It's eerily similar to how the iconic singer, Kirsty McCall, died. In her case, she was saving her own son). With Gaines dead, his son took over the company, which was struggling at the time. Gaines wasn't exactly a comic book lover at the time, but he was a very open guy, and he became a bit of a sponge for the enthusiasm of the guys working for him. Al Feldstein got him to launch the first EC horror comic book, as I noted a few months ago, and then, in March 1950, they launched their first science fiction comic book, turning A Moon, A Girl... Romance into Weird Fantasy with its 13th issue!

As noted, Gaines was a very open-minded guy, and so Harry Harrison, who was working in an art partnership with Wallace Wood (Harrison would pencil the comics, and Wood would ink them, although sometimes the lines blurred between who was penciling and who was inking. The two had first met while both were studying with artist Burne Hogarth, but they didn't start working together until Wood had already started working at EC on his own), approached Gaines about EC doing science fiction comics. He gave Gaines some science fiction books to read, and Gaines was quickly hooked, and so he approved the new series.

The series was edited by Al Feldstein, though, who was becoming Gaines' top editor/creative partner at the company. Harrison had no control over the idea he inspired, so he and Wood would actually split up their partnership by the end of 1950, and Harrison would go off to become a popular science fiction author.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26734795

Police were called to a comedy show in Essex after a fight broke out in the audience, which reportedly led to a man being assaulted.

Inquiries are ongoing after the altercation at the end of standup comic Paul Chowdhry’s performance of his Englandia tour at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend.

Theatre management said a “small number of customers expressed their frustration” towards another customer who had been heckling the act throughout the evening.

Police officers attended the scene after reports of a disturbance. An Essex police spokesperson said: “It was reported a fight had broken out and a man was assaulted. No serious injuries were reported, officers attended and inquiries are ongoing.”

Chowdhry recorded footage on his phone while he was being heckled on stage, which he posted to Instagram. The comedian playfully swore at his heckler and said: “I’m gonna take a picture and make sure you’re never gonna get back in.”

Chowdhry also captured some of the disruption in the crowd afterwards. “Big fight is broken out after the show,” he said in the video. “It’s properly kicked off out here this evening. There was some riots here and now some people are probably kicking off tonight … I want to keep out of harm’s way because I might get jumped.”

In a statement the comedian added: “We live in a time when some people feel entitled to disrupt live performances, affecting the experience for everyone else. Let me be absolutely clear: I do not condone violence in any form.

“Live entertainment should be a space where people come together to enjoy and engage – not to create conflict. Hopefully, nothing like this happens at the O2 Arena in London this Thursday – it’s a little trickier managing 10,000 people.”

...

Chowdhry is not the only comedian to have an issue with hecklers in recent weeks. Peter Kay threw two rowdy audience members out of his show at the AO Arena in Manchester, saying the repeated disruptions had made it impossible to continue.

Police were called to a comedy show in Essex after a fight broke out in the audience, which reportedly led to a man being assaulted.

Inquiries are ongoing after the altercation at the end of standup comic Paul Chowdhry’s performance of his Englandia tour at the Cliffs Pavilion in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend.

Theatre management said a “small number of customers expressed their frustration” towards another customer who had been heckling the act throughout the evening.

Police officers attended the scene after reports of a disturbance. An Essex police spokesperson said: “It was reported a fight had broken out and a man was assaulted. No serious injuries were reported, officers attended and inquiries are ongoing.”

Chowdhry recorded footage on his phone while he was being heckled on stage, which he posted to Instagram. The comedian playfully swore at his heckler and said: “I’m gonna take a picture and make sure you’re never gonna get back in.”

Chowdhry also captured some of the disruption in the crowd afterwards. “Big fight is broken out after the show,” he said in the video. “It’s properly kicked off out here this evening. There was some riots here and now some people are probably kicking off tonight … I want to keep out of harm’s way because I might get jumped.”

In a statement the comedian added: “We live in a time when some people feel entitled to disrupt live performances, affecting the experience for everyone else. Let me be absolutely clear: I do not condone violence in any form.

“Live entertainment should be a space where people come together to enjoy and engage – not to create conflict. Hopefully, nothing like this happens at the O2 Arena in London this Thursday – it’s a little trickier managing 10,000 people.”

...

Chowdhry is not the only comedian to have an issue with hecklers in recent weeks. Peter Kay threw two rowdy audience members out of his show at the AO Arena in Manchester, saying the repeated disruptions had made it impossible to continue.

The government has accepted Donald Trump's tariffs will hit the UK economy despite efforts to try and avoid them, but is continuing talks to try and secure an exemption.

Trump is set to unveil sweeping tariffs on goods from around the world on Wednesday, an event the US president has dubbed “liberation day”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told a meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday that "nobody wants to see tariffs," and he is "keeping all options on the table" when it comes to a response.

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves also told Cabinet that "global tariffs will have an impact on the UK as an open trading economy", but she said that securing an economic deal with the US could "mitigate some of those effects".

Reeves spoke to her US counterparts on Monday ahead of the tariffs being announced on Wednesday.

Trump has already announced a 25% import tax will be introduced on all cars imported to the US, a measure which will be a blow to the UK’s automotive industry.

The levy is on top of a series of tariffs set to come into effect on April 2, which could include a general 20% tax on UK products in response to the rate of VAT, which Trump deems to be discriminatory against the US.

Kendrick Lamar’s untitled comedy won’t debut on America’s birthday after all. Paramount, the studio behind the closely guarded movie from Lamar and “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has been delayed from July 4, 2025 to March 20, 2026.

Lamar will be away for much of the spring and summer on his Grand National stadium tour, which kicks off on April 19 in Minnesota and concludes on Aug. 19 in Sweden. On its new date, the yet-to-be-titled film will open on the same day as Liongate’s faith-based “I Can Only Imagine” sequel with Dennis Quaid.

...

As for Lamar’s movie, not a single detail — not the cast, logline or title — has been revealed at this point. What is known, however, is the live-action comedy is written by comedian Vernon Chatman and follows a young Black man who interns as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum.

Chanel Tapper, 34, who has held the Guinness World Record for the longest tongue (female) since 2010, said her tongue, which measures 3.8 inches from the tip to her lips, gets her an array of reactions.

"Honestly, the best reaction I could ever get when someone sees my tongue is screaming. I actually do like when people yell or scream in shock, or horror sometimes," she told Guinness World Records. "But that's probably my favorite one because it's funny to me because it's a dramatic response."

Tapper showed off some of the tricks she has learned to perform with her tongue, including removing Jenga blocks, flipping plastic cups and holding a spoon.

"I like little fun, silly things like that. That's what makes my tongue the most fun when I can do things that are outside the box with it," she said.

Video

The UK came together (and might need a lie down and a cup of tea after that) and voted for their Lemmyvision Song Contest entry. The official winner of the selection round, and now moving forward to the finals, was.... 🥁:

"God's Country" by the Lambrini Girls

May the best song win!

A woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault says she has four days to live after a car accident.

In a post on Instagram, Virginia Guiffre said she was in a car that was hit by a school bus "driving 110km [68.3mph] as we were slowing for a turn".

Ms Giuffre then said: "I've gone into kidney renal failure, they've given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.

...

A spokesperson for Ms Giuffre told Sky's US partner network in a statement: "Virginia has been in a serious accident and is receiving medical care in the hospital.

"She greatly appreciates the support and well wishes people are sending."

She sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26685384

Following its international premiere at London's FrightFest last year and a successful festival run, Irish horror An Taibhse (The Ghost) has been picked up for worldwide sales by Toronto-based genre specialists Raven Banner and Firebook Entertainment, with a new trailer today teasing a creepy new entry into the folk horror canon.

Executive produced by six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), An Taibhse is written and directed by John Farrelly and stars Tom Kerrisk and Livvy Hill.

Marketed as “the first Irish language horror film”, the pic follows:

Amid the barren landscape of post-famine Ireland, a father and daughter struggle to survive the brutal winter as caretakers of a remote mansion, only to be driven to the edge of sanity by the horrors lurking within.

Trailer

Following its international premiere at London's FrightFest last year and a successful festival run, Irish horror An Taibhse (The Ghost) has been picked up for worldwide sales by Toronto-based genre specialists Raven Banner and Firebook Entertainment, with a new trailer today teasing a creepy new entry into the folk horror canon.

Executive produced by six-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot), An Taibhse is written and directed by John Farrelly and stars Tom Kerrisk and Livvy Hill.

Marketed as “the first Irish language horror film”, the pic follows:

Amid the barren landscape of post-famine Ireland, a father and daughter struggle to survive the brutal winter as caretakers of a remote mansion, only to be driven to the edge of sanity by the horrors lurking within.

Trailer

Declassified CIA documents claim that the mystical Ark of the Covenant was located by a psychic decades ago in the Middle East as part of one of the intelligence agency’s experimental, secret projects in the 1980s.

...

The CIA conducted experiments as part of the secret Project Sun Streak with individuals known as “remote viewers”, a type of clairvoyant, who claimed they could project their consciousness to receive information about faraway objects.

There is no credible scientific evidence that remote viewing exists, and it is generally regarded as pseudoscience.

In a remote viewing session on 5 December, 1988, remote “viewer #32” was tasked with identifying the coveted Ark, according to CIA documents recently circulating on social media. The documents were first declassified in August 2000. They allegedly did not know the object they were being tasked to find.

The psychic described a location in the Middle East that they claimed housed the object and said it was being “protected by entities”, says the CIA document.

“Target is a container. This container has another container inside of it. The target is fashioned of wood, gold, and silver,” they said, allegedly not knowing they were trying to find the Ark. “Similar in shape to a coffin and is decorated with seraphim.”

The declassified document shows several pages of drawings depicting one of the four seraphim standing out on the corners of the Ark, along with a drawing of mummies lined up on a wall.

“Visuals of surrounding buildings indicated the presence of mosque domes,” they added.

They said the object was hidden underground in dark, wet conditions.

“There is an aspect of spirituality, information, lessons and the historical knowledge far beyond what we now know,” remote viewer #32 continued.

They described the Ark as being protected by entities that would destroy individuals who attempted to damage the object.

“The target is protected by entities and can only be opened by those who are authorised to do so – this container will not/cannot be opened until the time is deemed correct,” the remote viewer continued.

“Individuals opening the container by prying or striking are destroyed by the container’s protectors through the use of a power unknown to us.”

...

Joe McMoneagle, a US Army chief warrant officer and the first person to do remote viewing for the CIA, told The New York Post that they allegedly do not know what was scrawled down and are guided through the process by another person.

However, Mr McMoneagle does not believe that this remote viewing case is worth the paper it is written on, claiming the session is “bogus”.

“If someone claims that remote viewing proves the existence of something, such as the Ark of the Covenant, they must produce the Ark to substantiate their claim,” he added.