Marvel Comics April 2009 solicitations

Marvel has announced its releases for April 2009. Here's what look interesting to me.

SUB-MARINER COMICS #1 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Written by ROY THOMAS
Pencils and Cover by MITCH BREITWEISER
Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN
Sketch Variant Cover by MITCH BREITWEISER
The second of a series of celebratory specials commemorating Marvel’s 70th Anniversary and its rich history and characters! It’s the year 1940, and thanks to policewoman Betty Dean, the young Namor the Sub-Mariner has momentarily halted his jihad against the surface world. But now, an envoy from the Axis powers attempts to sway the undersea prince to the Nazi cause! Can the less worldly Sub-Mariner be tempted? Plus, a second never-before-seen Namor story by Mark Schultz and Al Williamson, and a reprint of Namor’s first appearance from 1939!
48 PGS./One-Shot/All-New & Reprints/Rated A …$3.99


CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Penciled by MARCOS MARTIN
Cover and Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN
Sketch Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN
Leading off a series of celebratory specials commemorating Marvel’s 70th Anniversary, James (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) Robinson and Marcos (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) Martin bring you an untold story of the living legend. In the days before he becomes Captain America, a scrawny kid from Brooklyn named Steve Rogers shows the world that you don’t need a super-soldier serum to be a hero. Plus a classic Captain America tale from the Golden Age by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
48 PGS./One-Shot/All-New & Reprints/Rated A…$3.99


MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Written by JOHN RHETT THOMAS
50/50 Covers by ALAN DAVIS
Seventy years of Marvel history calls for a SPOTLIGHT super-spectacular! We're pulling out all the stops with this giant-size extravaganza befitting the milestone of seven decades of comic-book classics. This triple-sized issue revisits Marvel's most memorable moments - and plenty you may have missed - along with as many of its greatest creators as we can cram into 100-plus pages of coverage! We'll also include several classic reprints that will look better than ever, along with the inside scoop on how Marvel restores its comics in Masterworks and Omnibus volumes! This is a commemorative issue you'll not only want for your own reading library, but one you'll want to share with anyone who is ready to stand up and say, "Make Mine Marvel!"
104 PGS./ Rated T+…$9.99
FOC - 2/26, On-Sale - 4/29, Order using code: JAN092442


PRIDE & PREJUDICE #1 (of 5)
Written by NANCY BUTLER
Penciled by HUGO PETRUS
Cover by SONNY LIEW
IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife...
Tailored from the adored Jane Austen classic, Marvel Comics is proud to present PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! Two-time Rita Award-Winner Nancy Butler and fan-favorite Hugo Petras faithfully adapt the whimsical tale of Lizzy Bennet and her loveable-if-eccentric family, as they navigate through tricky British social circles. Will Lizzy’s father manage to marry off her five daughters, despite his wife’s incessant nagging? And will Lizzy’s beautiful sister Jane marry the handsome, wealthy Mr. Bingley, or will his brooding friend Mr. Darcy stand between their happiness? "This project has been like a dream come true for me as a writer and as a former graphic designer—not only am I adapting a book I love, I am doing it in the one forum, comics, where words and pictures carry equal weight." Nancy Butler, two-time RITA winner and multiple RT Reviewer's Choice winner in Regency
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99


OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #4
Written by AL SJOERDSMA, CHRIS BUCHNER, RONALD
BYRD, MICHAEL HOSKIN, ERIC MOREELS, BOB SODARO, JEPH YORK & STUART VANDAL
Continuing the chronicle of the Marvel Universe, starting with Spider-Man (from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #170 on), Iron Man (from IRON MAN #70 on) and the X-Men (from UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #7 on). Follow the history of the Marvel universe as it unfolds month by month with the All-New Official Index to the Marvel Universe. Each issue provides synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips, introducing you to the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within, providing vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next!
64 PGS./Rated A ...$3.99


MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE YOUNG ALLIES VOL. 1 HC
Written by STAN LEE, OTTO BINDER & VARIOUS
Penciled by AL GABRIELE, JACK KIRBY, CHARLES NICHOLASWOTJKOSWKI, JACK ALDERMAN & VARIOUS
Cover by JACK KIRBY The Young Allies, comics’ very first boy-adventure team, leap into four-color action once more with their debut MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume! Super-hero sidekicks unite when Captain America’s pal, Bucky and his Sentinels of Liberty team up with the Human Torch’s protégé, Toro, and take on the Axis! And they won’t waste a second getting down to business. Right from issue #1 they take the fight straight to Berlin and, rest assured, the Red Skull, and even Hitler himself, won’t be walking out of this one without a bloody nose. Next up, the Black Talon returns from the pages of CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS to terrorize the Young Allies, or maybe that should be the other way around? There are 5th Columnists, Nazis, Imperial generals, spies, and action galore in each of these Timely classics.
The Golden Age of Comics packed in cover-to-cover adventure, but there are few that can compare to the massive, 60-pages plus, issue-length adventures of the Young Allies! Collecting YOUNG ALLIES #1-4
288 PGS/All Ages ...$59.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2876-2


MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AVENGERS VOL. 1 TPB
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY & DON HECK
Cover by JACK KIRBY & DEAN WHITE
Pick up the adventures of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from day one with the MARVEL MASTERWORKS! Comicdom’s greatest assemblage of super heroes burst onto the scene in 1963 as Marvel Comics revolutionized the comic-adventure art form. Gathering together to face the evil Loki, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp and the Mighty Thor formed the improbable core of the ever-changing super-team. But it was three issues later when, from the ice of the northern Atlantic, Captain America returned from the frozen depths that the Avengers truly took form. Illustrated by Jack Kirby and Don Heck, and written by Stan “The Man” Lee, you’ll find the first appearances of Kang the Conqueror,
Wonder Man, the Space Phantom and Baron Zemo, the debut of the Masters of Evil and the Hulk’s departure from the team and "subsequent team-up
with the Sub-Mariner to take down his former comrades. They’re Marvel Masterworks one and all! Collecting THE AVENGERS #1-10
248 PGS/All Ages ...$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3706-1

DVD and music new releases for Jan. 20, 2009

Here's what looks interesting this week. Click title links to order discounted items from Amazon. Proceeds help support this site!

DVDs:


Repo! The Genetic Opera


Emergency!: Season Five


The Rockford Files: Season Six


My Three Sons - Season One, Vol. 2

Music


The Crying Light by Antony and the Johnsons


The Mountain by Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band


The Crawling Distance by Robert Pollard


Drop by Soft Machine


Whipped Cream & Other Delights (Picture Disc) by Herb Alpert (vinyl)


The Impulse! Albums, Vol. 3 by John Coltrane

See more recent new releases

Bionic Woman Ryan the next Doctor Who companion?

Word is that British actress Michelle Ryan--who, very briefly, starred as the new "Bionic Woman" on U.S. television--is the new companion on "Doctor Who."

Michelle, 24, will star with previously little-known actor Matt Smith, 26, who was announced as the 11th and youngest Time Lord earlier this month.

A source on the show said: "Michelle's been in secret talks with BBC bosses.

DC Comics April 2009 solicitations: Warlord returns, Showcase Presents Super Friends, Golden Age Starman Archives, more

DC Comics has released its offerings for next April. Here's what looks interesting to me (click the title links to pre-order discounted items from Amazon):


THE WARLORD #1
Written by Mike Grell
Art by Joe Prado & Walden Wong
Cover by Mike Grell
At the Roof of the World in Tibet, a team of paleontologists and adventurers has made the find of the century: perfectly preserved dinosaur specimens that appear to have died mere days before! Their expedition takes a deadly turn when they uncover an impossible portal to another world – an unbelievable country at the hollow center of the Earth, the mythical land of Skartaris! But they’re not the first surface-worlders to find themselves stranded in Skartaris, and their arrival in his peaceful home triggers an unforgettable new adventure for the hero who has taken the land as his own: Travis Morgan, the Warlord! This new ongoing series marks the return of creator Mike Grell to the fantasy saga that made him famous! Reunite with Tara, Shakira, Tinder and the rest of the cast in a story that continues the adventures of the Warlord but opens up a new era where any reader can jump aboard.
Along with Grell’s scripts – and lushly painted covers – comes the art of rising star Joe Prado (ACTION COMICS, SINESTRO CORPS SECRET FILES)! DC’s finest fantasy franchise is reborn!
On sale April 8 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US


BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #5
Written by Mike Kunkel
Art and cover by Mike Kunkel
Strange things are happening, and Captain Marvel is pretty sure it has something to do with a certain crazy doctor! With the help of two sentient cockroaches, Dr. Sivana has recently escaped from Fawcett City Penitentiary and set out to take over the world. Using the one skill he has – being a mad scientist – Sivana creates a robotic mayhem on the city of Fawcett. But he needs more power, and it would appear that his archenemies Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel might be just what the doctor ordered.
On sale April 29 • 32 pg, FC, $2.50


SHOWCASE PRESENTS: MARTIAN MANHUNTER VOL. 2 TP
Written by Jack Miller and others
Art and cover by Joe Certa
The 1960s adventures of J’onn J’onzz are collected in this new volume featuring stories from DETECTIVE COMICS #305-326 and HOUSE OF MYSTERY #143-173!
Advance-solicited; on sale May 13 • 592 pg, B&W, $16.99 US


SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPER FRIENDS VOL. 1 TP
Written by E. Nelson Bridwell and Dennis O’Neil
Art by Ric Estrada, Vince Colletta, Ramona Fradon, Bob Smith and Kurt Schaffenberger
Cover by Alex Toth
The superstars of the 1970s animated adventures star in this new, bargain-priced volume collecting SUPER FRIENDS #1-24!
Advance-solicited; on sale May 27 • 448 pg, B&W, $9.99 US


GOLDEN AGE STARMAN ARCHIVES VOL. 2 HC
Written by Gardner Fox, Alfred Bester, Don Cameron, Joe Samachson and others
Art by Jack Burnley, Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Emil Gershwin, Sam Citron and others
Cover by Jack Burnley
From the Golden Age of Comics comes this second hardcover collecting tales of the original Starman from the pages of ADVENTURE COMCIS #77-102.
Advance-solicited; on sale June 24 • 272 pg, FC, $49.99 US

Inauguration Day music

Goodbye and good riddance Bush/Cheney.

Monsters Vs. Aliens movie pictures

Here are some images from Dreamworks upcoming "Monsters Vs. Aliens." looks fun.

Pop links: So long Dial B for Blog, Frankenstein fumetti

One of my favorite comics blogs, Dial B for Blog, is closing up shop. It was a great ride and, I believe, every "back issue" of the blog will still be available for viewing, which is a good thing, cuz there are some gems.

All the best, Robby and good luck with your future projects!

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Golden Age Comic Book Stories presents a 1939 photo-comic ("fumetti" as the Italians call 'em) adaptation of "Son of Frankenstein."

Spidey/Obama update

so, did anyone out there actually get a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #583? I went to my neighborhood comics shop and it turns out--due to ordering logistics/conditions far beyond my mere consumer understanding--they didn't even get a single of the Obama cover. I was told a second-printing of the ish would be in next week. I checked a couple other stores and no Obama funnybook there, either.

Now I read that Marvel is actually doing a third printing of the issue.

At any rate, I'm sure I'll eventually see the story. I've actually been following Amazing over the past few months and want to see the ish just to keep up on Spidey's happenings, not just his interactions with the president-elect. It's been a good comic of late, for reasons which I hope to write about in detail soon.

Pop links: George Herriman site, DC snubs Darwyn Cooke Wonder Woman comic, Sherlock's violin, fighting for Asterix

Via The Comics Reporter: Here's a really nice new site focusing on the work of the brilliant George Herriman, creator of Krazy Kat.

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Via Occasional Superheroine and Journalista: For crying out loud, did DC Comics really turn down an all-ages Wonder Woman proposed by Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone?

I really enjoy the kid-oriented book DC does put out. My 5-year-old daughter loves DC Super Friends and the new Supergirl comic. And I get the brilliant Billy Batson/Shazam book for my 11-year-old son (and me). But, man, I would have loved to see a Wonder Woman comic by Cooke and Bone. It'd be great. And where's the kid-oriented Superman book?

Most likely the reason for the Wonder Woman rejection is that DC is waiting for a TV show, movie, toy line to tie a new title to. But why wait? There are comics to sell now. And if they produced a good one, people would buy it. I think it's encouraging that DC didn't wait on other product to publish Supergirl and Shazam comics, so why wait for Wonder Woman?

My personal experience as a parent is that kids today LOOOOVE comics. In addition to the titles already mentioned above, both my kids love Donald Duck comics. And my son reads Asterix, Tintin, my old Mad magazines, DC Showcase books and Archives, what have you.

Getting kids to read comics is a simple matter of publishing comics for kids and putting them where parents (non-geek parents who don't realize you need to go to comic shops, or live near a comic shop, to find most of 'em) and kids will see them.

And turning down the likes of Cooke and Bone smacks of outright insanity.



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An ailing tree that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used to sit beneath as a child has been cut down and used to create a violin in tribute to Conan Doyle's fiddling creation Sherlock Holmes.

The house in Liberton, on Edinburgh's South Side, in which Conan Doyle was brought up, is now a special school and the teachers and pupils, upset at the need for the tree to be felled, have decided to use £1,200 raised by volunteers for an instrument to be created by Steve Burnett, a self-taught craftsman living in the City. He plans to fashion a violin based on a design which the great violin-maker, Giuseppe Guarneri, provided for Nicolo Paganini in about 1740.

Although the finished instrument will be priceless, Dunedin School has no intention of allowing it to gather dust in a glass box. Instead, it may be used by pupils in music lessons. The school, which now occupies Liberton Bank House, also hopes to transform the remaining tree stump into a sculpture, designed by the pupils and honouring Holmes.

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The daughter of Asterix co-creator/artist Alberto Underzo says her dad is wrong to sell off the rights to produce Asterix comics to others, the BBC reports.

Sylvie Uderzo accused "a handful of shadowy advisers" of persuading her father, 81, to sell his 60% stake in Asterix publisher Editions Albert Rene.

..."It's as if the gates of the Gaulish village had been thrown open to the Roman Empire," she wrote.

"I am entering resistance against perhaps the worst enemies of Asterix, the men of finance and industry."

Prisoner actor McGoohan dies

Sad news: The BBC reports that actor Patrick McGoohan, 80, has died in Los Angeles.

The actor, who was born in New York and raised in England and Ireland, came to screen prominence in TV series Danger Man, in which he played a secret service agent. The programme later aired as Secret Agent in the US.

He was later considered for the role of James Bond for the movie Dr No.

But McGoohan was chiefly associated with cult ITV drama The Prisoner, writing some of the episodes himself under a different name.

His character spent the entire time attempting to escape from The Village and finding out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One.

Pop links: Milt Caniff mini-doc, musical Peanuts punchlines, classic Marvel Comics calendars

Sancum Santorum Comix takes a look at vintage Marvel Comics calendars here, plus more recent Marvel calendars here. (I had that 1975 calendar.)



And, if you like this sort of thing, head over to the Mighty Marvelmania Museum.

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Via Mark Evanier, here's a mini-documentary Ohio State University created to celebrate Ohio native Milt Caniff:



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For those who read music, there are hidden punchlines in Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" strip featuring kid musician Schroeder, The New York Times reports.

In a strip from 1953 Schroeder embarks on an intensive workout. He does push-ups, jumps rope, lifts weights, touches his toes, does sit-ups (“Puff, Puff”), boxes, runs (“Pant, Pant”) and finally eats (“Chomp! Chomp!”). In the last two panels he walks to his piano with determination and begins playing furiously, sweat springing from his brow.

The eighth notes above Schroeder’s head are from the opening bars of Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata (Op. 106), a piece so long, artistically complex and technically difficult that it is referred to as the “Giant” Sonata. When Beethoven delivered it to the publisher in 1819, he is believed to have said, “Now you will have a sonata that will keep the pianists busy when it is played 50 years from now.”

Batman: Brave and the Bold features Deadman, Gentleman Ghost, Green Arrow and Kamandi!

The Cartoon Network has released details and pics from this Friday's episode of "Batman: Brave and the Bold," which features loads of DC Universe guest stars.

Deadman and Batman team up as spirits to stop Gentleman Ghost from raising an army of undead criminals. Green Arrow and Speedy join in the battle to save London. In this week’s teaser, Batman and Kamandi outrace a horde of monsters from the future.

New comics Jan. 14, 2009: Spidey and Obama, Wonderful Wiz, more Bone, early Ditko

Here's what looks interesting to me this week. Click on links to order discounted books from Amazon.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583 This is the one with the Obama cover.

WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #2 I'm waiting for the trade on this adaptation by Eric Shanower and Scottie Young, but I've snuck a peek and the individual issues and they looks fabulous.

BONE VOL 09 CROWN OF HORNS The color reprints of Jeff Smith's great series continue.

STEVE DITKO EDGE OF GENIUS Black-and-white reprints of early Ditko comics work. Published by Greg Theakston's Pure Imagination.

See other recent comics new releases.

Pop links: Stan Lee profiled, Billie Holliday sings

Stan Lee talks to the Financial Times.

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Billie Holliday sings "Strange Fruit."

43 years and STILL not on DVD: The Batman TV series

It's come to my attention (via Fred Hembeck) that this week marks the 43rd anniversary of the Adam West "Batman" TV series. Fred wasn't crazy about the show. Me? I was CRAAAAAAZZZZZZY about it. The cool Batparaphernalia, the wacky sound effects, the insane cliffhangers and all those crazy, bright colors.

I'm 43 myself, and watched the show obsessively when it was in reruns when I was 5 or 6. Goofy as it was, it turned me into a lifelong Batfan and, along with the Beatles and other obsessions, is likely why I'm doing this silly blog at all.

And I continue to think it's ridiculous Warner Bros. and Universal can't get it together, strike a deal and get it out on legit DVDs. But maybe they just want the bootleggers to continue making money off it.

Any way, it's been a while since I've run any photos from the show, so here's a fresh batch:















More Batman TV Series posts and pics

DVD, CD new releases Jan. 13, 2009:

Here are DVDs and CD new releases of interest this week. Click links to order disounted items from Amazon (proceeds help support this site).

DVDs


Patti Smith Dream Of Life


John Lennon - In Performance


Paul McCartney - In Performance


Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business Of America

CDs


Doctor Who: Series 4


Love Live: Whisky a Go-Go 1978 Love


Arthur Lee Arthur Lee

Other recent New Releases

Pop links: Marianne Faithfull 60s videos, comic sales up

Bedazzled presents a whole slew of 1960s Marianne Faithfull performances on video: Here, here, here and here.

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It just seems like the entire economy's gone to hell: USA Today reports that sales of comics and graphic novels rose 5 percent in 2008.

Upcoming book: Marvel Comics in the 1960s

Here's additional info an cover art for a great-sounding new book due in August from Twomorrows Publishing:

Marvel Comics In The 1960s: An Issue-By-Issue Field Guide To A Pop Culture Phenomenon
By Pierre Comtois

After being relegated to the realm of children's literature for the first 25 years of its history, the comic book industry experienced an unexpected flowering in the early 1960s. A celebration of that emergence, Marvel Comics in the 1960s: An Issue-by-Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon presents a step-by-step look at how a company that had the reputation of being one of the least creative in a generally moribund industry, emerged as one of the most dynamic, slightly irreverent, and downright original contributions to an era when pop-culture, from Tom Wolfe to Andy Warhol, emerged as the dominant force in the artistic life of America. In scores of handy, easy-to-reference entries, Marvel Comics in the 1960s takes the reader from the legendary company's first fumbling beginnings as helmed by savvy editor/writer Stan Lee (aided by such artists as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko), to the full maturity of its wild, colorful, offbeat grandiosity. With the history of Marvel Comics in the 1960s divided into four distinct phases, author Pierre Comtois explains just how Lee, Kirby, Ditko, et. al. created a line of comic books that, while grounded in the traditional elements of panel-to-panel storytelling, broke through the juvenile mindset of a low brow industry and provided a tapestry of full-blown, pop-culture icons.