Quick hits
Dial B pays tribute to Neal Adams' "Dead Man."
Here's a nice gallery of Tiki mugs (via PCL LinkDump).
Also via PCL, a visual history of Superman's shield symbol.
Filming on "Fantastic Four 2" is set to begin in June.
The Batusi Incident
Well, as anyone picking up "Solo" last Wednesday knows, we got Wonder Girl doing the Batusi instead. Today, blogger Heidi MacDonald points to Allred telling us why the original cover got spiked:
Until this week I wasn't even completely sure that my SOLO book would come out (it would have been strike three for DC after ELSEWORLDS TEEN TITANS and METAL MEN) since I eventually realized the tension between DC and anything relating to the 60's TV show. And my BATMAN A-GO-Go story makes up 18 of the 48 page book.
I have to say that Mark Chiarello,our editor on the project, is one of the best and most inspiring editors I've ever worked with --and with the exception of the cover and a few minor details this comic is everything I was hoping for. It's one of my favorite things I've ever been a part of.
After "Batusi Batman" was taken from me by (overly?) cautious higher ups, I struggled with a replacement--An impossible task given that the "Batusi" cover is among my top favorite covers I've ever done and, arguably, received the most enthusiastic reaction ever, when released with the soliciation.
So, I did several alternatives hoping I'd come close to an equal replacement.
No such luck. But Wonder Girl was ultimately MY choice--and she comes second only to Batman to represent my "childhood to adolescence" affection for DC comics which my SOLO book largely signifies.
And Heidi points further to this interesting missive from cartoonist Jay Stephens, whose retro-take on the Teen Titans (featuring a script by the late Bob Haney) got spiked last year:
This confirms the not-so-secret policy at Dan Didio's DC. Campy, funny, playful, all-ages or accessable versions of DC Universe characters are forbidden. Didio hates that stuff (I hear he literally HATES Metamorpho and Metal Men), and only wants to push grim & gritty superhero work. I also have it on good authority that clean-line, 'cartoony' art is definately OUT. No more Darwyn Cooke/ Mike Allred-ish stuff for Dan Didio, no siree. Call me when his ass is out the door, thanks.
Interesting. Given the awful grim'n'gritty stuff DC is churning out these days, this seems pretty accurate. But, as Heidi also notes, Darwyn Cooke did get the go-ahead to do a revived version of Will Eisner's "Spirit," so maybe Didio's attitude isn't as hard and fast as Stephens thinks.
My theory is that playful takes on DC's core superhero characters probably are discouraged, but that there's more room for experimentation with other, licensed characters such as the Spirit.
Which is why Cooke's "Spirit" is likely to be a lot more fun and creative than anything we see coming out in DC's mainline superhero titles any time soon.
Lennon titles due for remastering
Sometime... features Lennon in full-on topical songwriting mode and the creativity and listenability of the music suffers for it. Still, it's John Lennon and if you're a fan/completist, you'll probably want these tunes in their remixed/remastered form.
Walls and Bridges, on the other hand, is a pretty decent record, featuring the hit single with Elton John "Whatever Gets Your Through the Night." The remaster features a live version of that tune as a bonus track.
ZBS offers audio stories for cellphones
The titles are all penned by Flanders and Ruby creator Meatball Fulton and can be downloaded from the ZBS site. Free sound samples are available there too.
Stories include: "The Okey Dokey Swamp Thingie," "Revenge of the Tooth Fairy," "Hotel Catatonia," "The Sweet Scent of a Succubus," "Frankenstein's Finger," "Don't Eat on Twilight Street," "Zombie Al's Big Night Out," "Doctor Borneo Bob, Head Shrinker," "All My Cells Have Phones!" "Don't Eat at Igor's" and "The X Fillings, Dental Case #122, 'An Odious Extraction'."
Comic sneak peeks
Quick hits
Examining Teen Titans mania.
Amidst lots of rumors and hype, Marvel Comics announces an adaptation of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series.
Retrocrush counts down the 100 top horror movies performances of all time.
You can check out four tunes from the new Rubber Soul tribute, This Bird Has Flown here. (The Ben Harper track, for starters, is awful. Dar Williams' isn't bad at all.)
Details on how ABC is using mysterious Web sites to promote "Lost."
DVD new releases for November 2005
The Dick Cavett Show - John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Brady Bunch:Complete Fourth Season
Fox Film Noir Collection (Amazon.com Exclusive)
Fox Studio Classics Collection (Amazon.com Exclusive)
Star Trek Enterprise - The Complete Fourth Season
Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)
Steve Mcqueen Box Set
Nov. 8
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen Edition)
Remington Steele - Season 2
Doctor Who - City of Death (Episode 105)
The Partridge Family - The Complete Second Season
Doctor Who - The Claws of Axos (Episode 57)
Ducktales - Volume One Collection
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - Volume One Collection
George Pal - Flights of Fantasy
Lenny Bruce Performance Film
Live 8
La Dolce Vita (Deluxe Collector's Edition)
Tommy & Quadrophenia Live With Special Guest
Nov. 15
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Chosen Collection (40 Disc DVD Set)
Charmed - The Complete Third Season
Cheers - The Complete Seventh Season
The Flintstones - The Complete Fourth Season
Frasier - The Complete Seventh Season
Friends - The Complete Tenth Season
The Huckleberry Hound Show - Vol. 1
Madagascar (Widescreen Edition)
Murder One - The Complete Second Season
Scrubs - Season Two
Three's Company - Season Five
Tru Calling - The Complete Second Season
The Yogi Bear Show - The Complete Series
Nov. 22
The Andy Griffith Show - The Complete Fourth Season
Astro Boy:Collection Box Set (1980)
Batman Vs Dracula gift set
C.S.I. Miami - The Complete Third Season
Dark Shadows Collection 21
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - 2nd Gig, Vol. 2
King Kong (1976)
King Kong (2-Disc Special Edition) (1933)
King of the Hill - The Complete Fifth Season
Leave It to Beaver - The Complete First Season
Mighty Joe Young (1949)
The Polar Express (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
Seinfeld - Season 5
Seinfeld - Season 6
War of the Worlds (Widescreen Edition)
Nov. 29
C.S.I. - Crime Scene Investigation Season 5
Family Guy, Vol. 3
Havoc (Unrated Version)
March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition)
Sky High (Widescreen Edition)
The Tomorrow People - Set 2
Top 10 bestselling graphic novels, DVDs, CDs and action figures/toys
Graphic Novels
1. Watchmen (Absolute Edition)
2. Batman: Year One Deluxe Edition
3. Watchmen
4. Black Hole
5. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
6. Batman: The Long Halloween
7. V for Vendetta
8. Identity Crisis
9. Bone: One Volume Edition
10. A History of Violence
DVDs
1. Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)
2. Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)
3. Alias - The Complete Fourth Season
4. Cinderella (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
5. Lost - The Complete First Season
6. Firefly - The Complete Series
7. The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)
8. Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Full Screen Edition)
9. Titanic - Special Collector's Edition (1997)
10. The L Word - The Complete Second Season
CDs
1. Thanks For The Memory...The Great American Songbook IV ~ Rod Stewart
2. Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook [DualDisc] ~ Bette Midler
3. A Time To Love ~ Stevie Wonder
4. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane [Live]
5. Prairie Wind ~ Neil Young
6. Confessions on a Dance Floor ~ Madonna
7. Timeless ~ Martina McBride
8. Playing the Angel ~ Depeche Mode
9. Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled ~ Melissa Etheridge
10. Born to Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set [Original recording remastered] ~ Bruce Springsteen
Toys and Action Figures
1. Mr. Potato Head Darth Tater
2. Star Wars Build Your Own Lightsaber
3. Batman Begins Deluxe Batmobile
4. Power Rangers S.P.D. Delta Command Megazord
5. Star Wars Darth Vader Voice Changer Helmet
6. NFL Legends Figure: Barry Sanders Detroit Lions Blue Jersey
7. Batman Begins 6" Ultra Armor Figure: Laser Blaster Batman
8. Mystery Machine Ghost Patrol (Scooby Doo)
9. Batman Begins Action Cape Batman Figure
10. Power Rangers SWAT Command Truck
Comic book books: Big, old, black-and-white reprints
I still love comics of course. But that was when trips to the spinner rack took on their greatest importance. Later I got interested in records and girls and my priorities shifted.
And one of the things I loved most about reading comics back then were the great reprints. Marvel put out a bunch of reprint books each month. And stories from the 40s, 50s and 60s often appeared as backup features in regular titles. Plus there were those big 80- and 100-page giants and annuals. Not to mention those nice, tabloid-size treasuries.
But best of all were these:
"Superman from the 30s to the 70s" and "Batman from the 30s to the 70s" are still (somewhat tattered) treasures of my comics collection.
(There was a "Shazam" volume too, which I still regret not buying at the time and it still continues to elude me on eBay. I have the whole works on CD, but it's not the same...)
Sure, in 2006 we're spoiled for reprints with DC Archives and Showcase volumes and Marvel Masterworks and Essentials. But I'll never give up my "30s to the 70s" books. They're too much a part of me.
I don't know how many times I've read the stories they contain. I've loved these books to literal pieces, especially the Batman volume. The stories where Batman and Robin traveled back in time were particular favorites. Seeing the mean, gun-wielding Batman of the early tales was startling. And I loved learning there'd been a Batgirl before Barbara Gordon--not to mention a Batwoman!
There are a couple of sections in color, including Denny O'Neil and Irv Novick's classic "One Bullet Too Many," which in just a few pages (panels, really) shifted the tone and course of every Batman story to follow. All without an overpriced, overblown "event" series that promises to change everything but doesn't. It's a re-boot today's comics creators could learn a lot from.
There's great stuff in the Superman book too. It leads off with some of the "Socialist Man" tales, where the Man of Steel regularly championed the downtrodden while socking it to corporate fatcats. And from there it's on to the goofy Bizarro tales, Lois Lane's shenanigans and other assorted whimsies of the Weisinger era. The book ends with some stories from when Julius Schwartz took over the editorial reins, providing another great example of how to makeover a character on the fly.
What got me thinking about these books again and led me to pull them off the shelf is the arrival of DC's Showcase books. These are nice and thick like Marvel's Essentials, but on whiter paper and with better production. Perhaps they'll catch the attention of younger readers like the "30s to the 70s" books did mine. My 7-year-old son, for one, is excited to dig into the Showcase Superman volume I got the other day.
Younger readers will find a heap of fun stuff to read in the Showcase books. It's nice to think about a new generation of kids discovering these stories.
Quick hits
Over at the official Star Wars site, you can download wearable paper character masks.
And here's a page where you can download cut-and-fold robots (this and the Star Wars item via BoingBoing.)
Dial B pays tribute to Bernie Wrightson.
Comics artist Charles Burns and Chris Ware chat, link via Drawn.
Mystery novelist and "Dick Tracy" comics scripter Michael Kilian has passed away.
Despite objections from the publishers of the "Asterix" comics, a French mobile phone manufacturer can register the brand name Mobilix.
The revived "Doctor Who" beat out "Desperate Housewives" as most popular drama in the U.K. National Television Awards. Britons are smarter than we are.
Music downloads from the videogame based on Jeff Smith's "Bone" comic are available here.
Will "Buffy" characters live on in straight-to-DVD films?
Everyone do...the Batusi!
"Lost" tonight...
Also see the Best "Lost" Sites on the Web.
New CD releases of note
Vashti Bunyan Lookaftering
Marshall Crenshaw Downtown, Field Day, Good Evening and Mary Jean & 9 Others
Dave Edmunds Tracks on Wax 4 and Twangin'
The Fiery Furnaces Rehearsing My Choir
Rita Lee (ex-Os Mutantes) Bossa'n Beatles
Jimmy Smith Christmas '64
They Might Be Giants Here Come the ABCs
VA This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul
Nov. 1
Miles Davis The Cellar Door Sessions 1970
Nirvana Sliver: The Best of the Box
Wilco Kicking Television - Live in Chicago
DC sneak peeks: the return of Kubert, Pini and Garcia-Lopez
If you checked out the DC Comics solicitations for January released the other day, you may've noticed three comics greats have new projects set to debut that month.
Here are some preview pages of the upcoming Sgt. Rock mini-series by Joe Kubert along with a fresh Elfquest story from Wendy Pini and a Justice League Classified arc by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (inks by Klaus Janson).
Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy by Joe Kubert
Elfquest: The Discovery by Richard and Wendy Pini
JLA Classified #16 by Gail Simone and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
New comics releases Oct. 26
Available now at yer local comics shop or via This is Pop!-supporting links:
Batman Begins Camouflage Batmobile
Batman Under The Hood TP
Conan Volume 2 God In The Bowl and Other Stories TP
Elfquest The Grand Quest Vol 11 TP
Hercules New Labors Of Hercules TP
Incredible Hulk Wall Statue
Krypto And Friends Animated Series Maquette Set
Marvel Masterworks Mighty Thor Vol 4 HC Ltd.
Marvel Masterworks Mighty Thor Vol 4 New Ed
Marvel Monsters Monsters On The Prowl
Marvel Universe Astonishing Kitty Pryde Bust
Marvel Visionaries John Romita Jr
Merchant Of Dennis The Menace TP
Mister X Vol 2 Secret Life Of Mister X TP
New X-Men Academy X Yearbook Special
Rogues Gallery Mysterio Bust
Silver Age Fantastic Four Mole Man Med Statue
Spider-Man Vs The Sandman Statue
Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol 4 Inhuman TP
Uncle Scrooge #347
Vampire Buffy: 12-inch Buffy the Vampire Slayer figure
Fantastic Four movie figure assortment series 4
See the complete list of new and upcoming comics.
DVD new releases for Oct. 25, 2005
Bewitched - The Complete Second Season (colorized)
Bewitched - The Complete Second Season (B&W)
Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Three
Tales From the Crypt - The Complete Second Season
Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection:V2
The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition)
DVD cover art: "The Adventures of Superman: Complete Second Season"
Quick hits
Newsarama talks to comics writer Dan Slott, who has a continuing "Thing" series in the works.
Dial B remembers the silver age Spectre.
Details on upcoming "Teen Titans" episodes
"Snowblind" Oct. 29
While battling a mysterious creature in the wilds of Siberia, Starfire is lost in a blinding snowstorm. Red Star, a reclusive young soldier, comes to her aid and the two become fast friends. When Robin and the rest of the Teen Titans arrive, they discover Red Star hides not only a tragic past, but a destructive secret.
"Kole" Nov. 5
While in the Arctic Circle, the Teen Titans once again take on Dr. Light. And when an accident sends the Teen Titans through the ice, they discover a exotic new underworld, and two new superheroes: Kole and her caveman sidekick, Gnarrk.
"Hide & Seek" Nov. 12
With the other Teen Titans off fighting exciting battles with the Brotherhood of Evil, Raven is left with the worst task of all -- transporting three rambunctious future superheroes to safety. But this simple task turns into an adventure in babysitting as Raven and her young charges are chased through the Alps by the Brotherhood of Evil's Msr. Mallah.
"Lightspeed" Nov. 19
With Titans dispatched across the globe, members of the Hive Five figure they have it made. Unfortunately their city-wide crime spree is cut short when a new hero in town spoils the fun. Handing him over to the Brotherhood of Evil may score the Hive Five points, but actually catching this lightning-fast do-gooder is much harder than it seems.
See the Best Teen Titans Sites on the Web.
Quick hits
Turner Classic Movies plans to air nine films by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki, including "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind," "Castle in the Sky," "Porco Rosso" and "Whisper of the Heart."
CPM is offering anime downloads for iPod. Initial offerings include the upcoming "Armored Trooper VOTOMS."
The new Asterix book reportedly takes a few swipes at Bush Amerika. Those pesky Gauls...
Premiere magazine has listed the 25 most shocking moments in film.
Jason Connery will play the lead in "Stan Lee's Lightspeed," a Sci Fi channel movie.
Actress Dakota Fanning will voice "Coraline" in an animated adaptation of the Neil Gaimin book.
A "Sin City" TV series is planned.
Longtime Lone Ranger comics artist Tom Gill has passed away.