Deal alert: Batman TV series on Blu-ray for $71.49

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More Batman and Superman deals, too!

Pop Artifacts: Vintage Superman board games














Pop Artifact: Vintage DC Comics comic book rack

Super cool. Pics via Hake's Auctions.












May comics solicitations: Doctor Strange Omnibus; Hulk Epic Collection; Batman and Superman Golden Age omnibi and more

Upcoming collected editions of note. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.

Doctor Strange Omnibus Vol. 1
A vain man driven by greed and hubris, Dr. Stephen Strange was a world-renowned surgeon until the night a car accident crippled his hands. Broken and destitute, he journeyed to Tibet to seek a cure from a legendary healer. He found not a man of medicine but the venerable Ancient One and the path to the mystic arts! Stan Lee and Steve Ditko reinvented the super hero with the Amazing Spider-Man, but from Dr. Strange's eerie house on a Greenwich Village corner they created new dimensions and otherworldly terrors. These stories remain as influential today as they were on 1960s' counter-culture. Marvel is proud to offer this Omnibus collection of the complete Lee/Ditko Doctor Strange run.
COLLECTING: STRANGE TALES (1951) 110-111, 114-146; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) 2

Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Man or Monster?
Dr. Robert Bruce Banner may look like a mild-mannered scientist, but after being caught in a gamma bomb explosion, he became the unstoppable engine of destruction known as the Hulk! Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's atomic update on the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde paradigm mixed the might of giant monsters with Cold War intrigue and added a heavy dose of psychological drama. Decades later, it's a formula that still has readers clamoring for more!
COLLECTING: VOL. 1; INCREDIBLE HULK (1962) 1-6; FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) 12, 25-26; AVENGERS (1963) 1-3, 5; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) 14; TALES TO ASTONISH (1959) 59; JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1952) 112

Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 18
The Fantastic Four have split up! Having gone their separate ways, you might worry that we'll have to come up with a new title for this book, but no, the evil machinations of Doctor Doom will reunite the First Family of Super-Heroes for the FF #200 extravaganza! All Johnny Storm's hot-rod racing, the Thing's demon bashing, Sue's dalliances with Namor and Reed's soul-searching culminate in a massive five-part saga that pits the FF against their nemesis in the series' greatest tradition! Who is Doom's son? How does he have the FF's powers? It's a fight to the finish in Latveria. Also featuring an outer-space adventure with the Inhumans, the return of the Mole Man and Quasimodo the Living Computer!
COLLECTING: FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) 192-203, ANNUAL (1963) 12-13

Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu Omnibus Vol. 2
Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu easily ranks as one of the most iconic series in Marvel history. Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy's blend of kung-fu action and globe-trotting espionage raised the already high standard set by the title, and in this second volume, believe it or not, it gets even better! The cinematic Hong Kong showdown with Shen Kuei, the Cat; the tense "Oriental Expediters;" the mystery of MI-6's mole; the sweeping scale of "The Return of Fu Manchu"; the epic "Saga of War-Yore"; each effort is a masterpiece of action, intrigue and drama, and none has ever looked better than in this painstakingly restored Omnibus.
COLLECTING: MASTER OF KUNG FU (1974) 38-70; MASTER OF KUNG FU ANNUAL (1976) 1


Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 2
This second BATMAN: THE GOLDEN AGE OMNIBUS includes dozens of stories from the early 1940s in which the Dynamic Duo battle evildoers including the Penguin, the Joker, Two-Face, the Scarecrow and many more. These tales were written and illustrated by such luminaries as Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, Jerry Robinson and more!
Collects DETECTIVE COMICS #57-74, BATMAN #8-15 and WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #4-9.


Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 1
This thrilling volume collects the earliest adventures of the Flash--police scientist Barry Allen, who is the star of the hit TV series The Flash on the CW! These stories, from the late 1950s, relate the origin of the Flash, his discovery of his incredible super-speed, and the introductions of the first of his "Rogues Gallery" of super-villains, including Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd and Weather Wizard, all of whom have been featured on the TV series, as well as the Pied Piper, Mirror Master and Mr. Element. Also in this volume, witness the debut appearances of fellow heroes Kid Flash and the Elongated Man.
Collects SHOWCASE #4, #8 and #14, and THE FLASH #105-112.


Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 2
The earliest adventures of Superman, from 1940 through 1942, are collected for the first time together in one massive hardcover. In these early stories, Superman battles social injustice and political corruption, fighting for the common man, taking on crooked land developers, spoiled socialites and much more.
Collects ACTION COMICS #32-47, SUPERMAN #8-15, WORLD'S BEST COMICS #1 and WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #2-4.


Barnaby Volume Three
The long-lost comic strip masterpiece by legendary children’s book author Crockett Johnson (Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Carrot Seed), collected in full and designed by graphic novelist and Barnaby superfan Daniel Clowes (Ghost World). Volume Three collects the postwar years of 1946–1947, continuing five-year-old Barnaby Baxter and his Fairy Godfather J.J. O’Malley’s misadventures. Bumbling but endearing, Mr. O’Malley rarely gets his magic to work―even when he consults his Fairy Godfather’s Handy Pocket Guide. The true magic of Barnaby resides in its canny mix of fantasy and satire, amplified by the understated elegance of Crockett Johnson’s clean, spare art. In its combination of Johnson’s sly wit and O’Malley’s amiable windbaggery, a child’s feeling of wonder and an adult’s wariness, highly literate jokes and a keen eye for the ridiculous, Barnaby expanded our sense of what comics can do. This volume also features essays by comics historians Nathalie op de Beeck and Coulton Waugh, as well as Johnson biographer Philip Nel. Black and white with over 50 pages of color.

Video find: Frank Zappa plays the Bicycle 1963

Best quality I've seen of this classic.


Pop stuff: Deadpool, Hail Caesar!, 11.22.63

What I've been reading, watching, hearing, etc.


Deadpool isn't a film I'd likely ask a friend to go see. I'd be a little embarrassed. And, certainly, from the get-go, I'd know better than to ask my wife. She doesn't even care for normal superhero movies, let alone profane, hyper-violent parodies thereof.

So it's fortunate that I have a teenage son. When he asked if I wanted to go, I didn't say no - but I also didn't have to say it was my idea. Best of all worlds.

I've never read a Deadpool comic, and probably never well. But I was curious to see how Marvel pulled off a raunchy comedy and how it fit in with the rest of their on-screen universe. Not badly, it turns out.

The story of a super-powered sociopath on a revenge kick, "Deadpool" contains numerous jokes and scenes that made me twinge a bit - but I figure that's my deal. I knew what I was getting into. There are also a fair number jokes and scenes that made me laugh despite myself.

It's good to see Marvel taking some of the wind out of its own sails. The opening credits, which spurn star's names for labels such as "CGI superhero," "hot chick" and "gratuitous cameo" were inspired, as were all the fourth wall breaks. In one scene, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool jokes about the mediocre acting abilities of ... Ryan Reynolds.

The film is also able to integrate the X-Men's Colossus (the "CGI superhero" voiced by Stefan Kapičić) into it's insane world while not disturbing the notion that it's the same, serious Colossus from the X-Men movies. A tricky thing to do.

If you're remotely offended by anything - anything at all - stay far away. But if you're not above a brief wallow in vulgar silliness, you may get a kick out of this film. Despite yourself.


Hail Caesar! is a film my wife DID want to go see with me - and it was a lot of fun.

Set during the heyday of studio-system Hollywood, it's the wittily written-and-directed romp you might expect from the Coen Brothers. Josh Brolin plays Eddie Mannix, the stoic minder charged with keeping everything on the up and up at the fictional Capitol Pictures. It's not an easy task.

A pair of gossip columnists (twins, played by Tilda Swinton) is on the prowl for a scandalous scoop and one of the studio's biggest starlets, played by Scarlett Johansson, has got herself in the family way - without a family. Eddie also needs to decide whether he wants to take a different, less stressful but less interesting job.

But then Eddie's bad day gets worse. The studio's biggest male star, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), is kidnapped off the set right before filming of the final scene of a big budget epic. The longer Baird stays missing, the more it's going to cost.

If you're a lover of the Coens, old movies and Hollywood history, it's a magical, hysterical blend. The film's two big musical numbers, which simultaneously lampoon and pay tribute to the movies of old, are worth the price of admission. But there's plenty more movie for movie lovers to love here, too.


11.22.63 is a J.J. Abrams-produced original mini-series on Hulu based on a Stephen King book about a creative writing teacher (James Franco) who travels back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination.

As you can tell - James Franco as a creative writing teacher! - the whole thing is pretty preposterous. But with storytellers like Abrams and King behind it, I was curious enough to give it a try and am now too curious to give it up.

By entering what my son aptly described as a "time closet" - nothing fancy or trans-dimensional, just a closet - Franco's character, Jake Epping travels back to 1960 where he does his best to blend in while trying to figure out a way to prevent JFK's death.

Every nerd and/or drunken undergraduate has speculated about the ability to prevent JFK's death, or to kill Hitler, and all the potential risks and ramifications involved, so it's fun to see a mind like King's take up the prospect.

There are numerous funny, entertaining and thought-provoking moments in the series, along with some downright perplexing ones, such as Jake's 1960s sidekick, Bill, getting the hots for Oswald's wife, Marina. There's something creepy and weird about fictionalizing an extramarital love interest involving a still-living, real person.

All the period details - the clothes, the cars, the music - are nicely realized. In fact, those details are what I like about so the show most of all. I'm curious to see if Jake is successful in his mission, but mostly I like hanging out in early 1960s America. Sort of makes me wish I had my own time closet.