Announcing: The Saturday Picture Page!

Tune in tomorrow for a big pageful of pics from the 1960s "Batman" TV series.

Pop Artifact! Walt Disney character target set



See the Best Disney Sites on the Web.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Today in gratuitous Barbara Eden pics



"I Dream of Jeannie" on DVD March 14.

Jack Kirby documentary details

Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort got an advance look at the "Jack Kirby: Storyteller" feature that will appear on the expanded version of "The Fantastic Four" movie DVD and shared some details with the Kirby-L mailing list:

It's an hour in length, covers pretty much Kirby's entire life, and
is profusely illustrated with tons of Jack's art, including pencil-
copies clearly provided by John Morrow. An all-star cast of industry greats turn
up to speak about Jack's work and their experiences with him (Barry Windsor-
Smith, Neal Adams, Steve Rude, Bruce Timm, John Romita, Joe Sinnott, Tim Sale, etc), as well as such Kirbyphiles as Mark Evanier, Steve Sherman, Mike Royer, Mike Thibodeaux and author Walter Mosley. Extensively interviewed are Neal and Lisa Kirby, who've provided dozens of family photos of Jack from throughout his
lifetime, most of which were new to me.

Drawbacks: don't know if it was a DC thing or a Marvel thing, but
none of Jack's DC artwork is shown. Kirby's work on the Fourth World books
is discussed, as is the Simon & Kirby era of NEWSBOY LEGION, BOY COMMANDOS and the like, but without illustration. And the film skips over any mention of the Kirby/Marvel artwork situation of the '80s--it gets into Jack's
feelings that he hadn't been properly compensated (Evanier points out that if Kirby
had been able to receive the standard arrangement that was in place at the major
companies by 1985, he would have been a very happy man), but doesn't dwell on the
original art situation.


The expanded/director's cut version of the "Fantastic Four" will be out in April or so.

More Jack Kirby.

"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky" The Ramrods: Today's Best Song Ever

Twangy guitars are cool. Wordless female soprano vocals are cool. Sound effects are cool. Song titles featuring needless parentheses are cool. So how could this song possibly not be on your MP3 player?

Vaughn Monroe, of course, did the great hit vocal version of this, but the Ramrods rock it up with lots of surfy guitars and loads of echo that make you feel like you're drivin' them doggies over some spooky hill in the middle of the night.

This was from the days when songs sonically evoked something: a mood, a place, a feeling. Sure, it all seems kinda campy now with those "Star Trek" theme-sounding vocalizations and the guys shouting "ha! git along!", not to mention the cattle sound effects, but you gotta love it.

Available: Rock Instrumental Classics 2

Previous Best Song Ever.

Pop Culture Roundup for Jan. 6, 2006

WFMU presents 27 MP3s of musicians saying stuff they probably shouldn't while on stage.

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Concerts on NPR: The White Stripes and M. Ward.
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Sad news: Singer Barry Cowsill is dead. He'd been missing in New Orleans ever since Hurricane Katrina struck the city.

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Datajunkie celebrates the birthday of Flash Gordon with lots of comic art and old time radio episodes.

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Drawn! discovers a whole lotta pin-up art.

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Comic Book Galaxy has a preview of Barry Windsor Smith's upcoming graphic novel featuring the Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm.

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Five souped-up James Bond movie boats are on display at New York National Boat Show.

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"The Art of Ray Harryhausen," out in March features production art, photos of props and storyboards from the stop-motion king's films.

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Richard Branson's Virgin company is launching a comics-and-animation branch.

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Singer Lou Rawls has passed away.

Top 10 graphic novels, DVDs, CDs and action figures Jan. 6, 2006

At Amazon:

Graphic Novels

1. Watchmen

2. Black Hole

3. The Walking Dead Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire

4. Serenity

5. V for Vendetta

6. The ACME Novelty Library #16

7. Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2: Dangerous

8. Girl on Girl (Y: The Last Man, Book 6)

9. Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library [Amazon.com Exclusive]

10. The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

DVDs

1. Wedding Crashers - Uncorked (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

2. Serenity (Widescreen Edition)

3. March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition)

4. Firefly - The Complete Series

5. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

6. Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0

7. Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)

8. What the Bleep Do We Know!?

9. Lost - The Complete First Season

10. The Constant Gardener (Widescreen Edition)

CDs

1. First Impressions of Earth [Explicit Lyrics] ~ The Strokes

2. Born to Run: 30th Anniversary 3-Disc Set [Original recording remastered] ~ Bruce Springsteen

3. Illinois ~ Sufjan Stevens

4. The Essential Johnny Cash [Limited Edition] [Original recording remastered] ~ Johnny Cash

5. Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast ~ Various Artists

6. Extraordinary Machine ~ Fiona Apple

7. Aerial ~ Kate Bush

8. Prairie Wind ~ Neil Young

9. Get Behind Me Satan ~ The White Stripes

10. The Legend [Box set] ~ Johnny Cash

Action Figures

1. Marvel Legends Sentinel Series Figure: Cyclops

2. Marvel Legends-Sentinel Series-Angel (Blue-White)

3. Marvel Legends Sentinel Series Figure: 1st Appearance Spider-Man

4. Kong The 8th Wonder of the World: Supreme Kong

5. Marvel Legends-Sentinel Series-Angel Blue

6. Marvel Legends Sentinel Series Figure: Mr. Sinister

7. GI Joe vs. Cobra Valor vs. Venom Heavy Assault Squad

8. The Chronicles of Narnia Action Figure: Minotaur

9. The Corpse Bride 12" Fashion Doll

10. Star Wars Episode III Battlepack Figures: Rebel Vs. Empire

Pop Artifact! Space Safari play set



DVD cover art for "Doctor Who: The Beginning"



The DVD set, which collects the Doctor's three earliest adventures, is due out March 28.

See the Best Doctor Who Sites on the Web.

Today in gratuitous pics of Barbara Eden

Final "Teen Titans" eps set to air on Cartoon Network

According to Comics Continuum, the animated series winds up with:

* "Calling All Titans" this Saturday at 8 p.m.

* "Titans Together" on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m.

* "Things Change" on Monday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m.

See the Best Teen Titans Sites on the Web.

Pop Culture Roundup for Jan. 5, 2006

Sequential Tart has an interview with the great Silver Age comics artist Nick Cardy.

Cartoonist Seth is profiled in Toronto Life.

Jon Stewart will host this year's Academy Awards ceremony.

The fifth, and final, season of HBO's "Six Feet Under" is due out on DVD March 28.

Good listening on the BBC: Brian Wilson on "Sold on Song," an 80th birthday tribute to Beatles producer George Martin, Ricky Gervais' Christmas show.

DVD Review: "Moog"



An electrical engineer with mad scientist hair, a nerd shirt and a pocketful of pens: One of the great musical minds of the 20th century. Who'dve thunk?

But that was Robert Moog, inventor of the synthesizer that bears his frequently mispronounced last name (it rhymes with "vogue"). Just flip on the radio and you'll hear his influence. His invention, for the first time, put the ability to create electronic music into the hands of the masses.

Musicians and music producers went nuts about the first Moog when it was introduced in the late 1960s--some because they thought the machine could replace expensive session musicians, others because they wanted to create heretofore unheard sounds.

And while the electronic and computerized instruments heard on songs today may not be directly Moog derived, they certainly come by it indirectly. He opened the door to both technological and musical innovation.

This film, made by director Hans Fjellstad, shortly before Moog's August 2005 death, does a great job showing how it all went down. And it doubles as a remarkable piece of history. When before have we been able to view an inventor talking directly to those who use his invention, as we see Moog doing here?

There are great scenes of Moog visiting with French composer Gershon Kingsley (remember the music from Disney's "Electrical Parade" and the hit "Popcorn"?), P-Funk's Bernie Worrell and prog rocker Keith Emerson (yeah, there was a downside to Dr. Moog's machine...)

Moog himself comes across as mildly eccentric but down to earth and humble. Scenes from his lab and his explanations of how the synthesizer works are fascinating.

There are a few missing pieces of course. It would've been nice to see more attention given to other prominent Moogists such as Walter/Wendy Carlos (whose Switched on Bach made Moog a household name), the Beatles (the Moog is all over Abbey Road) and Stevie Wonder (who made the Moog funky), but that's no reason not to highly recommend a thoroughly entertaining and informative film.

Pop Artifact! Man from U.N.C.L.E. wallet



Vintage DC Comics house ad



See the Best DC Comics Sites on the Web.

Today in gratuitous Barbara Eden pics



"I Dream of Jeannie" on DVD March 14.

DC Superheroes action figures: new and upcoming

The DC Superheroes figures are sorta DC's versions of the popular, super-articulated Marvel Legends action figures. But DC. Anyway, the first batch is out now and includes:

Bat Signal Batman
Bane
Scarecrow
Killer Croc


According to Action Figure.com, upcoming waves include:

Wave 2 in March:

Superman
Bizarro
Doomsday
Supergirl


Wave 3 in "mid 2006":

Battle-Damaged Batman
Azreal
Robin


Wave 4 in "late 2006":

Stealth Jump Batman
Batgirl
Two-Face


Wave 5, "end of 2006":

Battle-Damaged Superman
Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Darkseid

Book collects best of Harvey Kurtzman's "Help!"

A must-have solicited in this month's Previews catalog:

BEST OF HELP MAGAZINE VOL 1 TPby Kurtzman, Davis, Elder, Rorh, Wilson, Severin, and Various 160 pages of
Harvey Kurtzman insanity from this classic humor magazine. His usual gang of
idiots help out, including, Jack Davis, Will Elder, John Severin, Arnold
Roth, Gahan Wilson, Paul Coker, Gloria Steinem, and many more. Loads of
cartoons and strips by the masters of parody, and articles and features from
the top wits of the time. Also included is a rare twelve page interview with
Kurtzman done while he was editing Help! (CAUT: 4) SC, 8x11, 160pgs, B&W
SRP: $25.00


In other Kurtzman news, Fantagraphics has another of its "Comics Journal Library" volumes coming out later this year dedicated to the great cartoonist. According to Amazon, "The Comics Journal Library Vol. 7: Harvey Kurtzman," is set for publication in July.