27 August 2006

See Vintage Kilink Videos!



Once considered "lost" films, some of the exploits of the King of Crime are now available on DVD. Onar Films has released these gems (and many other amazing rarities) and has posted clips on YouTube for the benefit of everyone!



We've put up a few of these video clips, and much more amusement, on the Diabolikal Super Kriminal MySpace page and at goSADISTIK.com.

23 August 2006

Diabolikal Lobby Cards Unleashed!

Direct from Italy! Some teasing glimpses of the fun to come with the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal documentary currently in production.

Director SS-Sunda has crafted these images in the spirit of old movie lobby cards, a promotional tool back in the era of the King of Crime's prime!

Rare art & photos from foreign editions highlights these pieces along with a recent picture of the actors interviewed, like Erna Schurer and Rico Boido!

The documentary finally reveals the series best kept secret... who actually portrayed The Crime Genius in the photo novels? Above, you can see the moment of truth: The Diabolikal Super-Kriminal unmasked! Comicfix is so impressed with cards there may be some limited editions printed up soon, old school exploitation-style!

20 August 2006

BILL WARD & SADISTIK in CAHOOTS! The King of Pin-Ups & King of Crime Konnection!

No, "cahoots" was not a mens' magazine (though it should have been), but the King of Pin-Ups, Bill Ward, did share page space with the King of Crime, Sadistik, in the 1960s! Bill Ward's cartoons, along with those of his fellow artists, Dan DeCarlo, Bill Wenzel and others, appeared in the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal's original Italian and French editions. What's more, the writer of Sadistik, Mort Todd, worked with Bill Ward at Cracked magazine and put out Bill's first art collection W.O.W.: The World of Ward.

A fun new 352 page book about cartoonist Bill Ward with over 600 illustrations is now out! Mort has some comments in this new book, The Wonderful World of Ward, compiled by famed photographer Eric Kroll. You can click here to see more and order this book! Click here to see other pin-up cartoon collections towards the bottom of the page you are directed to.

18 August 2006

BETTY PAGE vs SADISTIK?!

As evidenced in the upcoming KILLING TIME magazine, the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal cut quite a swath through Argentina as KILING. He's such a cultural icon he still pops up here and there, and isn't it inevitable that the King of Crime would meet up with the Queen of Kink?!

This incredible art comes from the hand of Buenos Aires artist Sol Rac and more of his cool posters, featuring masked wrestlers, glamour gals, monsters and hot rods can be seen at Sol's MySpace page.

SADISTIK, in his many incarnations, has shown up in the weirdest places... from record covers to, yes, fine art! His smiling face does something to people and as he becomes more infamous in the English-speaking world, he's inspiring more artists to interpret him. Look forward to seeing more new art of the Crime Genius posted here and in our magazines. And, if you have some diabolikal art to share, send a link!

12 August 2006

The ORIGIN and DEATH of SADISTIK in BEWARE: SADISTIK #1

Available in October is BEWARE SADISTIK #1, the first comic book ever featuring the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal! This 52 page full color comic digest stars the King of Crime in his first all-new adventure in over 20 years!

The cover and lead story are written and drawn by by Mort Todd (who also adapts the SADISTIK photo novels) and is based on his TV pilot script. The publisher Comicfix is in negotiations with a production company concerning a TV series about the Imperceptible One and expects to announce news about it very soon!

The 18 page story is actually based on the opening teaser sequence from the TV script where SADISTIK is in East Berlin to steal an object of value from a degenerate Communist General. The TV series will be very true to the original photo novels and set in 1966. The first season will focus on the King of Crime's arrival in America with the beautiful Dana as he targets the scientific treasures of a corrupt industrialist who wants to crush SADISTIK. Also in the Diabolikal One's way is a joint FBI/Interpol task force dedicated to the defeat of our favorite Super-Kriminal. Thanks to his industrial espionage, SADISTIK employs technology that is fifty years ahead of his time, so he uses gimmicks we won't even see for another 10 years! An overview of the TV series is at our SADISTIK TV page where there is a heavily illustrated Top Secret Dossier on the show.

As illustrated by the page on the right, the TV show will be full of slam-bang violent action, gorgeous gals, deadly adversaries and spine-tingling suspense! The series will be like a darker James Bond or an evil Batman, set in a foreboding retro-futuristic 1960s.

Despite having a long international career in print as the star of photo novels, SADISTIK has never had his own comic book before. He has had, however, two comic stories about him printed before, featuring his untold ORIGIN and his subsequent DEATH. These rare tales appear for the first time in color and English in BEWARE SADISTIK #1!

The King of Crime had a long run in Argentina where he was known as KILING. It was so successful that after the original Italian run of photo novels was exhausted, the publisher, Ediciones Record, created new adventures with local actors and locales. They also expanded their line to include KILING paperback novels and comics. In 1974, they launched the magazine Skorpio, a black and white comics magazine featuring some of the world’s best cartoonists. Amongst strips in the first issue by Hugo Pratt and Leo DuraƱona was an adaptation of KILING written by Eugenio Zappietro (as Ray Collins, who also wrote the Argentine photo novels) and artist Ernesto Garcia.


While the artwork is fantastic, the plot, particularly the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal's beginnings, leaves a little to be desired. More of a generic Batman/revenge origin than proper motivation for someone to become the King of Crime, in this version he is more of a crime fighter than criminal. Though his true origin has not been revealed (yet), it is suffice to say he was not a groovy 70s French scientist before he donned the Mask of Death and there is no real explanation as to why he and Dana would have such an inseparable romance as depicted in the photo novels. Perhaps the story is disinformation put out by SADISTIK himself!

(Above) An ad for "The Death of SADISTIK" that appeared in Argentinian magazines.

In the second issue of Skorpio, they introduced a mysterious, masked crime buster that adopted the magazine’s title and purports to relate the death of SADISTIK. Zappietro wrote the tale with the entertaining artwork of Oswal adding to the fun. His work is at times reminiscent of American cartoonists ranging from Alex Toth and Frank Robbins to Mike Sekowsky and Jim Aparo.

For some reason, they didn’t feel like continuing KILING’s adventures in comics form, so they “killed” him off in this adventure. To see the final fate of SADISTIK (at least in the Argentinian alternate reality) you must pick up this collectors' edition!

Though the only two appearances of the King of Crime in drawn (rather than photographed) comics feature very decent art, the stories don't fully exploit the potential of the character. However, these rare comics are of great interest to SADISTIK fans worldwide and are presented for the first time in English and in color within this incredible edition.

Like other SADISTIK releases, by the end of the month Comicfix will offer a free PDF download preview of the comic book for you to check out before you buy. And the book will also be offered at a discount for the first month when you purchase from for the official SADISTIK website.

Speaking of which, don't forget: August is you're last chance to buy the Limited Edition SADISTIK book Hell Waits! and you can also purchase the new SADISTIK #1: Monster with a 1000 Masks! for $7.99. After September, #1 will sell at the $9.99 cover price, so get SADISTIK before he gets you! Download PDF previews of both books at our SNEAK PEEK page!

04 August 2006

The Hunt for SADISTIK!

COMICFIX, the publisher of SADISTIK, has received many e-mails and letters about the availability of the Diabolikal Super-Kriminal in their local comic shops. As of now we have limited distribution in select stores including places that sell comics, books, CDs and coffee!

If you would like to see SADISTIK in your favorite places, have them get in touch with us. Retailers, we offer wholesale prices and in most instances, free shipping. Contact sadistik @ comicfix.com

As word of mouth spreads and information about the upcoming SADISTIK TV show is released, we imagine a lot more outlets will be carrying the King of Crime's exploits. The plan is to ultimately get on the newsstand and in book chains where the current titles will be reissued, making these editions all the more collectible with their smaller print runs.

For hardcore fans (that means YOU if you're reading this), SADISTIK 1: MONSTER with a 1000 MASKS! is available at the SADISTIK website. During this month of August it will be on sale for $7.99 compared to its $9.99 cover price.

We're also offering a 14 page sneak peek of SADISTIK 1: MONSTER with a 1000 MASKS! as a PDF download at goSADISTIK.com.

2007 will be the YEAR OF SADISTIK with a TV show in production, the release of the DIABOLIKAL SUPER-KRIMINAL documentary and more SADISTIK photo novel releases and related publications and merchandise. Get in gear by getting a SADISTIK t-shirt night now! Comicfix is also in the early stages of preparing a new surprise for the world with the creation of a dynamic new series. Stay tuned!