Apes on Covers (seen at KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT MONKEYS)

At last week's KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT MONKEYS we shared a popular story of how in the late 1950's DC Comics Editor Julius Schwartz discovered that gorillas-on-covers = SALES.  Eventually all the comic editors wanted apes on the cover.  But Schwartz didn't want to kill the goose (or gorilla) that laid the golden egg; he said only one gorilla cover each month.   Since then, gorillas have been a staple of comic artwork.  Below are some of those covers. (Story continues after the jump.)

NOTE: Just before the show began, I was rehearsing with M. Sweeney Lawless, who did this segment with me.  Some guy saw the color copies and introduced himself as a DC Comics editor.  (weird, right?)  We asked, "Is gorillas-on-covers true or an urban myth?"  He said "It's true. Gorillas sell."  There you have it.

Hitler & Werewolves

We all know that Hitler loved King Kong, but how did he feel about Werewolves?

He loved them.

* The Furher was very proud of his name. Athal meaning "Nobel" and Wolfa meaning "Wolf"

* He forced his sister to change her name to Frau Wolf.

* His headquarters in the Ukraine was called WEREWOLF.

* On secret phone calls he frquently used the code name: Conductor Wolf.



* But Hitler's greatest wolf-obsession came with the National Socialist resistance movement, known as Nazi Werewolves. The Guerilla bands stayed in Allied territory, performing various acts of sabotage and arson, and were plotting to assassinate General Eisenhower. The organization was formed at the end of World War II and is remembered as a "desperate defense of Nazism." The soldiers were required to be blood-thirsty and violent like were-wolves, their symbol was the Wolfsangel.

I can't help but wonder if this influenced Rob Zombie's Grindhouse Trailer:

Werewolf Women of the SS


Of course, we'll never know what Hitler would have thought of the 2008 movie trailer, because he died in 1978.

Go here to buy tickets to Friday's Werewolf night -- no service fee!