DVD new releases for June

June 7


Be Cool


Beyond the Sea

Dragnet '67 Complete First Season


Frasier Complete Fifth Season


Lois & Clark Complete First Season


MacGyver Complete Second Season


The Naked Truth


The Sopranos Complete Fifth Season

What's New Pussycat?


Wonder Woman Complete Third Season

June 14


The Joan Crawford Collection (Humoresque; Mildred Pierce; Possessed; Women; The Damned Don't Cry)


The Bette Davis Collection (Dark Victory; The Letter; Mr. Skeffington; Now, Voyager; The Star)


Casino Special Edition

Northern Exposure Complete Third Season

June 21


Bewitched Complete First Season (Black and White or Colorized)


Josephine Baker (Zou Zou, La Sirene Des Tropiques, and Princess Tam Tam)

June 28


The Daily Show: Indecision 2004


The Doris Day Show Complete First Season


Homicide Life on the Street Complete Seventh Season


The Twilight Zone Complete Third Season


La Femme Nikita Complete Third Season


Ultimate Billy Jack Collection

Pop Artifact! Man from U.N.C.L.E. transmitter toy



"Fantastic Four" wallpapers

Downloadable from the official film site:















Forthcoming goodies from Twomorrows Publishing

ALTER EGO #51

This issue features LEW SWAYRE SCHWARTZ, the Golden Age artist who
bore "THE MARK OF (BOB) KANE", plus THE GOLDEN & SILVER AGES-DOWN UNDER!
Behind primo 1950s cover art, LEW SAYRE SCHWARTZ-the artist who was BOB
KANE's ghost from 1946-1953-is interviewed by JON B. COOKE about his
Batman and other stellar work! Plus there's Batman art by JERRY
ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, SHELDON MOLDOFF, WIN MORTIMER, JIM MOONEY, &
others! Then, it's "The Life and Death of the Australian Comics Industry
- 1940-1962!" See Dr. Mansana-Molo the Mighty-Captain Atom (no lie!)-Sir
Falcon-The Panther-The Shadow-Catman-The Lone Avenger-Air Hawk-not to
mention the astonishing "down under" career of The Phantom-examined by
MICHAEL BAULDERSTONE, with tons of super-hero art rarely seen in the
Northern Hemisphere! Also, DAVE BERG talks about Timely/Marvel, Fawcett,
& Quality to JIM AMASH-with art from Death Patrol, Uncle Sam, et.
al.-ALEX TOTH on some comic book greats-MICHAEL T. GILBERT on the legacy
of WILL EISNER-BILL SCHELLY on comics fandom-FCA with MARC SWAYZE, et
al.-& MORE!! Edited by Roy Thomas.

The 100 page (plus cover), saddle-stitched 8 1/2" x 11" magazine with a
full color cover and black-and-white interiors retails for $5.95 in the
U.S. and ships 10 August 2005.

MODERN MASTERS DVD: IN THE STUDIO WITH GEORGE PEREZ

Have you ever wondered what the life of a comic book artist is like?
Find out as Modern Masters takes you into the studio of fan-favorite
artist George Pérez! This 120-minute documentary-style DVD companion to
the popular Modern Masters book series begins with a tour of George's
studio, and takes you through a typical day at work for the artist as he
illustrates a special issue of Top Cow's Witchblade. Also included is a
look at another aspect of the comic book artist's life: comic
conventions! Join George as he meets and sketches for his legion of fans
at one of his many yearly appearances, while many of George's peers and
colleagues-such as Marv Wolfman and Ron Marz-share their anecdotes and
personal insight along the way. Modern Masters: In the Studio with
George Pérez will make you feel like you're there!

The 120 minute, standard format DVD retails for $29.95 in the U.S. and
ships 10 August 2005.


Wind up the Victrola...

...there are lots and lots of MP3s transferred from vintage 78s here. (via BoingBoing).

The new Jack Flanders adventure

Anyone who's a fan of radio drama/comedy, or sci-fi, or fantasy or cool genre stuff in general is really missing out if he or she isn't hip to ZBS Media and its continuing audio adventures featuring adventurer Jack Flanders and others.

Since the early 70s, with "The Fourth Tower of Inverness," "Moon Over Morocco" and into the 80s and 90s with "The Incredible Adventures of Jack Flanders" and the "Traveling Jack" series, the Flanders stories by author "Meatball" Fulton (a.k.a. Tom Lopez) are filled with humor, mysticism and action. Some of the most original stuff I've ever heard. And the acting, sound effects (many recorded on location in various exotic locales) and overall production are all amazing.

So, it's exciting news to hear there's another Jack story coming: "Orchids & Moonbeams," which ZBS describes this way:

Somewhere in the tropics, yet another beach resort is being built. The developers are planning to put a road through a valley the locals consider sacred, they believe a powerful Nature Spirit dwells there. As the developers bulldoze into the jungle, and the warm tropical rains continue, the jungle is sprouting up everywhere.At Maria's Café, chairs are sprouting leaves, tables are growing roots, vines are creeping over the counter, and orchids are clinging to the walls. One morning, Mojo finds a snake coiled up on his chair, "Oops, looks like this seat's been taken."

Jaguars are seen strolling through town, while spiders, iguanas, tree frogs, etc., are hopping and crawling everywhere. There's even a parrot infestation. In the local bars, scarlet macaws snatch pretzels out of patron's fingers. Meanwhile, Jack, Mojo, and Claudine are attempting to prove the Nature Spirit not only exists, she may have just begun to "even the score."

You can order it, and other ZBS product, here. Links above are to Amazon, which stocks many of the ZBS adventures as well.



Pop Artifact! Apollo-X rocket toy

Geppi plans comic book museum in Baltimore

Comics distribution kingpin Steve Geppi, a minority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, plans and comics and pop culture museum in Cambden Station, the Baltimore Sun reports.

The stadium authority approved a 20-year lease at $346,788 a year for the 16,000- square-foot space, similar to the lease the authority approved for the Sports Legends museum. The lease must be approved by the General Assembly's Legislative Policy Committee before becoming final.

Stadium authority Chairman Carl A.J. Wright said Geppi's museum would be an ideal complement to the Sports Legends museum.

Stadium authority officials said they expect the museum to open in about a year.

Some of Geppi's collection is on display at his Timonium-based Diamond Comic Distributors. Though vintage comic books would be a major part of the museum, Geppi's collection also includes animation cels, antique toys, posters and oil paintings.

"It's a very eclectic collection of pop culture pieces," Wright said.

Pop Artifact! James Bond attache case



Upcoming Marvel Essentials volumes

Here's the schedule for the rest of 2005:

Fantastic Four Vol. 4
reprints FF #64-83, Annual #5-6
DUE 6/15

Killraven: War of the Worlds Vol. 1
reprints Amazing Adventures (Vol. 2) #18-39, Marvel Team-Up #45, Marvel Graphic Novel #7, and Killraven #1 (Marvel Knights)
DUE 7/13

Daredevil Vol. 3
reprints Daredevil #49-74 and Iron Man #35-36
DUE 8/17

X-Men Vol. 6
reprints UNCANNY X-MEN #199-213, NEW MUTANTS SPECIAL EDITION #1, X-MEN ANNUAL #9, X-FACTOR #9-11, NEW MUTANTS #46, THOR #373-374 and POWER PACK #27
DUE 8/31

Ghost Rider Vol. 1
reprints Marvel Spotlight #5-12, Ghost Rider #1-20 and Daredevil #138
DUE 9/21

Spider-Man Vol. 7
reprints Amazing Spider-Man #138-160, Annual #10, and Giant-Size Spider-Man #3-5
DUE 10/10

Werewolf By Night Vol. 1
reprints Marvel Spotlight #2-4, Werewolf By Night #1-21, Marvel Team-Up #12, Tomb Of Dracula #18, Giant-Size Creatures #1
DUE 10/19

Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1
reprints Marvel Feature #11-12, MTIO #1-? and Annual #1, Fantastic Four Annual #11
DUE 11/16

X-Factor Vol. 1
reprints X-Factor #1-16, Annual #1, Fantastic Four #286, Thor #373-375, Power Pack #27
DUE 12/7

Spider-Woman Vol. 1
reprints Marvel Spotlight #32, Marvel Two-In-One #29-33, Spider-Woman #1-?
DUE 12/21

"X-Men 3" loses director

The project is supposed to begin production soon, but director Matthew Vaughn (who took over from the departed Bryan Singer, now working on a new Superman film) is out, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Vaughn, who had planned to commute between the film's Vancouver location and his family in London, said that he'd come to realize that he would have to move to L.A. and Vancouver for a year, and he decided he did not want to uproot his family for an extended period.

"We understand Matthew's reasons for leaving, as nothing is more important than family," Fox president Hutch Parker said.

"Luckily, we have a fantastic script, the original cast is returning, and there will be some great new characters. We will decide shortly among several directors who are keenly interested in the project and are fully committed to remaining right on schedule."

"Star Wars" Q&A

USA Today has a sit down with Lucasfilm folks to discuss continuity confusion and other matters related to the new flick.

The new Holmes

Sherlock is popping up in lots of recent novels, Reuters reports.

Caleb Carr's "The Italian Secretary," a novel commissioned by Conan Doyle's estate, hit book stores last month, following Mitch Cullin's "A Slight Trick of the Mind," featuring the sleuth amid the debris of the world's first atom bomb attack.

"I think that he just embodies the modern era's belief that through reason ... we can solve all our terrible difficulties," Carr told Reuters. "That's been challenged recently by the resurgence of fundamentalist religious thinking."

Pulitzer prize-winning writer Michael Chabon's "The Final Solution" puts Holmes in 1944 Britain hunting for a parrot of a German Jewish boy, who is muted by Holocaust horror. Laurie King, in a book due in June, has Holmes tapping repressed memories of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The authors have aged Holmes accordingly in the historical novels. Holmes is 89 in the Holocaust tale. The detective is 93 as he ponders the devastation of Hiroshima.

More details on the "EC Comics Archives"

From the Yahoo! EC Comics Group, Russ Cochran further details his plans for a hard cover series reprinting the classic EC titles:

Gemstone Publishing is about to embark on a new adventure: Reprinting
the ECs in a format called the EC Archives. Similar to the DC
Archives, and the Spirit Archives, these would be hardcover volumes, sewn, not
perfect bound, in full color, approximately comic book size, and the
"new" thing about these books is that they would be aimed at the book
store trade market...the Barnes and Noble, Borders, etc, etc stores. I
have a couple of questions I would like to have feedback on from this EC
forum:

1. Should the EC Archives stick strictly to using all the EC stories,
in chronological order...or should we pick out the "best" stories?

2. DC Archives are printed on a matte finish paper. Marvels are
printed on a slick glossy paper. Which do you prefer? We plan to make new
colorings of each page of the EC art and print these by scanning the
artist's colorings, not by the old fashioned way of mechanical
separations. This would give a greater range of colors than the old way, more
subtleties in the coloring, while still sticking the the original EC
coloring theme in general.

In Comic Book Marketplace #116, as an experiment, I asked Marie Severin
to color a 7 page Wally Wood story, "Hate", from an early issue of
Shock Suspenstories. I was very happy with the result. This was printed
on glossy stock, but I can also see the validity to the argument of
using a matte finish paper of good quality but not glossy. Help me out
here, EC fans...tell me what you think!

For what it's worth, I vote matte finish paper (it's not shiny, doesn't reflect light so much and shows off the art better) and am in favor of reprinting everything chronologically.

Man, this is great news...

Pop Artifact! Electric football game



New CD releases of note

May 31
Björk Army of Me
The Impacts Wipe Out!
Terry Melcher Terry Melcher
DVD Moog
Freddie Roach Brown Sugar

June 7
Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass Going Places, SRO and What Now My Love
The Decemberists The Tain EP
Graham Parker Songs of No Consequence
Ringo Starr Choose Love
White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
DVD Marc Bolan and T. Rex Born to Boogie

Today's new DVD releases

New DVD Releases for May 31, 2005


Best of Dudley Do-Right Vol. 1

Complete James Dean Collection (East of Eden / Giant / Rebel Without a Cause Special Edition)

Dukes of Hazzard Complete Third Season

Gary Cooper Collection

Best of Mr Peabody & Sherman Vol 1

Rebel Without a Cause

New "Fantastic Four" posters

A batch of pics being used to promote the upcoming film overseas:









Will Eisner authorized biography coming

Details:

Dark Horse’s prose imprint M Press is proud to present a new authorized biography on one of comics’ true legends, Will Eisner. Will Eisner: A Spirited Life is the only authorized and extensively researched biography of Eisner over three years in the making. Chock full of entertaining anecdotes told by the comic industry’s top talents, A Spirited Life pays tribute to a true American original whose legacy will forever be felt not only in comic books and graphic novels but in commercial illustration, fine art, film, television and multimedia.

Pop culture would never have been the same without Will Eisner. Internationally recognized as the founding father of an utterly American medium—comic books—Eisner pioneered this art form in the 1940s, and continued to shape its direction until his passing at 87 in 2005. This personality-driven biography, written by Bob Andelman, explores the fascinating life of Eisner and details a career that stretched across six decades. Eisner spearheaded the cause of comics for adult readers (including 30 years spent producing comics for the U.S. Army and corporate clients such as General Motors and the United Nations) and in 1976 created the first widely accepted graphic novel, A Contract with God.

Eisner influenced some of the world’s greatest comic art talent: Bob Kane (Batman); Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four); Jules Feiffer; Dave Berg (Mad); and Joe Kubert (Tarzan). Eisner also inspired generations of modern artists and writers, including Frank Miller (Sin City), Robert Crumb, Harlan Ellison, Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Art Spiegelman (Maus).

“As Will’s authorized biographer, I spent the last three years with the artist in his studio and his home, as well as poring through his substantial archives at The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library and interviewing dozens of his colleagues, friends and family,” commented biographer Bob Andelman. “We should all be lucky enough to have left such consistent and positive impressions on so many people for so many years.”

Featuring an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and an appreciation by Neal Adams, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life arrives in stores September 2005 with a retail price of $14.95.



"Indiana Jones 4": It's a go

Creator George Lucas has approved a script for the film, to star Harrison Ford, Cinematical reports.

Jeff Nathanson's draft of the Indiana Jones 4 script has been approved by both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. All that Paramount is waiting on now is for star Harrison Ford to give his approval.

Filming would likely start in 2006.

65 CDs of Motown

That'll be the final tally of CDs included in Hip-O Records' project to issue every Motown single in box set form, according to this Billboard story.

So far, the Web-only label has issued to box sets, bringing things all the way up to 1962. The boxes are limited to 5,000 copies each, but tunes also are available for download via iTunes.

The project continues in the fall with a five-CD set devoted to the 45s of '63."So little of what is in these first three packages had made it to the CD era, or even to the LP era," Hip-O Select senior director Thane Tierney says. "It offers an unparalleled insight into probably the only label in history where, if you say the name of the label, it sets off a sound in your head."

When the project is completed in 2008 with a package covering the label's output for 1972 (the year the label moved from Detroit to Los Angeles), it will comprise 12 volumes totaling 64 or 65 CDs. To mark Motown's 50th, a complete set will be issued in 2009 -- hopefully in a scale replica of the old Hitsville USA building. "We're going to pull out all the stops," Tierney says.

Check out Hip-O Select.

Pop Artifact! Bugs Bunny alarm clock

92 and still going strong: "Lone Ranger" artist Tom Gill

The Albuquerque Tribune has a nice feature this week on Gill, who drew the Masked Man's comic book adventures for 20 years for Dell/Gold Key.

Now a consultant with New York City's School of Visual Arts and a teacher at Westchester and Dutchess community colleges in New York, Gill talks a bit about his early days. A New York native, he admits that the Western settings in his comic book work came solely from his imagination. And he reveals where he learned to draw such great horses:

"I bought a $1 book called `How to Draw Horses: It's Fun and It's Easy,' " he says. "I studied it."

First Finger award winners announced

Lifted from Mark Evanier's blog, here's the press release on the winners of this first-time award for excellence in comic book writing. The awards are named after Bill Finger, comics scribe and co-creator of Batman.

Jerry Siegel and Arnold Drake have been chosen as the first recipients of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. They were chosen by a blue-ribbon committee chaired by Jerry Robinson. The committee decided to give two awards, to honor both a deceased and a living writer who exemplify the award's criteria.

Jerry Siegel was, of course, the co-creator (with Joe Shuster) of Superman and Superboy and wrote the Superman comic books and comic strip from the character's first appearance in 1938 up through the late 1940s. He also co-created The Spectre (with Bernard Baily) for DC. After leaving DC (in a well-publicized dispute) in 1948, he continued to write comic books for a variety of companies and served as the comics art director at Ziff-Davis in the 1950s. He returned to DC in 1958, where he wrote uncredited Superman and other scripts through 1964. He died in 1996.

"There is a poetic sense of rightness that Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, and Bill Finger, the unsung hero and writer of Batman, be symbolically united after three quarters of a century after their iconic characters' debuts," says Robinson. "Although both men led tragic lives, by launching the superhero genre and the Golden Age of comics, they left legacies that have enriched our culture."

Arnold Drake's comics writing career spanned the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. His credits include Doom Patrol (creator), Deadman (creator), Batman, Superman, Plastic Man, X-Men, Captain Marvel, Star Trek, Twilight Zone, Mighty Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Stanley and His Monster (creator), Little Lulu, Space Ranger, House of Mystery, and Dark Shadows. His It Rhymes with Lust, with art by Matt Baker and Ray Osrin, published by St. John Publishing in 1950, was one of the very first graphic novels.

"Like Finger and Siegel, Drake is a consummate professional writer," says Robinson. "As the author of hundreds of stories from the Silver Age to the present, his credits demonstrate an amazing versatility, ranging from the superhero and adventure such as Doom Patrol to the wry humor of Little Lulu."

The other members of the Finger Awards jury were comics writer and historian Mark Evanier, cartoonist/screenwriter/playwright Jules Feiffer, comics writer/editor Denny O'Neil, and comics writer/editor/historian Roy Thomas.

The awards will be presented during the Eisner Awards ceremony at this summer's Comic-Con International: San Diego. Joanne Siegel will be present to accept the award for her late husband. Arnold Drake will be on hand to receive his award.

The Finger Award falls under the auspices of Comic-Con International and is administered by Jackie Estrada. The 2005 awards are being underwritten by DC Comics; sponsorship will be open to other companies in future years.

Return of Madness

Many Americans only remember the "Our House" video, but Madness was a brilliant band. They started off as part of the ska revival band and soon ended up as a wonderfully melodic pop group that incorporated funny/sad lyrics commenting on contemporary British society ala The Kinks. One of the better British groups ever. And it looks like they're back.

Billboard reports:

Esteemed U.K. ska act Madness has signed with V2, which is eyeing a July 19 North American release for an as-yet-untitled new album from the original lineup of the group. Although details are scant at deadline, the set is tipped to consist of ska, punk and reggae covers the band performed last summer when it toured as the Dangermen.

"Batman Begins" soundtrack details

It's out June 15:

a unique collaboration between two of the screen's most honored and respected composers, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, working together for the first time.

...The soundtrack contains 12 tracks composed by Zimmer and Howard and is 60 minutes in length.

"Collaborating on this project has been a lot of fun. Since 'Batman Begins' is a character driven story, we wanted to give Batman credibility through the music. We've created a score that tried to stay true to the duality of the character, capturing the motion, energy, darkness and rage of Batman," said Zimmer and Howard.


Wilson talks "Smile"

USA Today has an interview with Brian Wilson about his excellent "Smile" album and the DVD documentary on same, which is out tomorrow.

"Smile represents my most advanced and best work," Wilson says as he settles into the sofa of his family room. "If I hadn't finished it, I'd probably be in the dumps. Knowing what I created made me happy, but I wouldn't be so happy if it had bombed. I needed that love. When I die, I hope people remember Smile as a great piece of music."