Pop Artifact! Corridors of Blood movie poster

Pop Culture Update Oct. 31, 2007

The Washington Post looks at "Gods of Asgard," a non-Marvel Comics take on the Norse gods.

"Gods of Asgard" is a perfect way to introduce people to these ancient accounts of war, love, avarice, joy and deception — in other words, stories about things modern people will still recognize as being all-too-human and not always superheroic.

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers may star in a live-action Mandrake the Magician film.

Mandrake will be an updated version of the Hearst comic book and will be the first joint production by Omega Entertainment and Baldwin Entertainment Group.

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The pilot episode for season 4 of "Veronica Mars," which would've placed the title character in the FBI academy and might have saved her for the horribleness of what was season 3, is now online.

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The UK's Telegraph looks back at the first Hammer Horror "Dracula" film starring the great Christopher Lee.

This was the first Dracula to be shot in colour, the first to emphasise the theme of sexual awakening, and – surprisingly – the first to feature a British actor in the title role.

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The Golden Age of Comic Book Stories blog has a great series of horror film and comic book images in celebration of Halloween. Jon's Random Acts of Geekery also has been posting lots of cool Halloweeny images from the realms of pop culture.

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Comic Book Resources has images from this weekend's episode of "The Batman," which pairs the Caped Crusader with the Flash.

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Sharity: Spooky Sound Effects.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

New comics Oct. 31, 2007

See complete lists:
DC Archives
DC Showcase
DC Trade Paperbacks
Marvel Masterworks
Marvel Essentials
Marvel Trade Paperbacks


Comics shipping Oct. 31, 2007

DARK HORSE COMICS

SEP070032 APOCALYPSE NERD #6 (OF 6) $2.99
JUL070028 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER LONG WAY HOME TP $15.95
AUG070121 TALES OF THE FEAR AGENT 12 STEPS IN ONE (ONE SHOT) $2.99

DC COMICS

AUG070219 52 AFTERMATH THE FOUR HORSEMEN #3 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG070236 ACTION COMICS #858 (NOTE PRICE) $3.50
JUN078155 ACTION COMICS VAR ED #858 $3.50
AUG070228 BATMAN #670 $2.99
APR070165 BATMAN BATMAN AND SON HC $24.99
JUN078156 BATMAN VAR ED #670 $2.99
AUG070287 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #38 $2.25
AUG070201 COUNTDOWN LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS #1 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG070200 COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #3 (OF 8) $3.99
AUG070198 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 26 $2.99
AUG070199 COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #2 (OF 8) $3.99
JUL070246 CREEPER WELCOME TO CREEPVILLE TP $19.99
AUG070212 CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #1 (OF 5) $2.99
AUG070221 DC INFINITE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL #1 $5.99
AUG070211 DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #2 (OF 8) $3.50
JUL070247 FLASH WONDERLAND TP $12.99
APR070192 GREEN LANTERN WANTED HAL JORDAN HC $19.99
AUG070250 JSA CLASSIFIED #31 $2.99
AUG070251 JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #10 $2.99
AUG070252 JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA VAR ED #10 $2.99
AUG070301 KING OF CARDS VOL 2 $9.99
AUG070306 MIDNIGHTER ARMAGEDDON #1 $2.99
AUG070229 ROBIN ANNUAL #7 $3.99
JUL070275 SAMURAI COMMANDO MISSION 1549 VOL 2 $9.99
DEC058090 SANDMAN VOL 1 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES TP $19.99
AUG070304 SEIMADEN VOL 10 $9.99
SEP070225 SHOWCASE PRESENTS TEEN TITANS VOL 2 TP $16.99
AUG070257 SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #35 $2.99
JUL070223 SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #8 $2.99
AUG070322 SUPERNATURAL ORIGINS #6 $2.99
AUG070292 TEEN TITANS GO #48 $2.25
JUN070212 TRIALS OF SHAZAM #9 (OF 12) $2.99
FEB058406 WATCHMEN TP $19.99

IMAGE COMICS

AUG071991 ACCELERATE VOL 1 TP $14.99
JUN071891 ART OF GREG CAPULLO SC $24.99
AUG072002 BRIT #3 $2.99
AUG072060 CONSUMED #4 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY071902 DARKNESS NOVEL VOL 01 $6.99
AUG072006 DYNAMO 5 #8 $2.99
AUG072059 JOHNNY DELGADO IS DEAD #2 (OF 2) $3.99
JUL071994 KISS 4K #4 $2.99
JAN071943 SAVAGE DRAGON #133 $2.99
AUG071995 SPAWN ARMAGEDDON COMPLETE COLLECTION TP $29.95
JUN071870 SPECIAL FORCES #1 (OF 6) $2.99
APR071881 TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD IMAGE ED #9 $3.50
JUN071937 WITCHBLADE #111 $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

JUN072203 ANITA BLAKE VH FIRST DEATH #2 (OF 2) $3.99
AUG078126 ANITA BLAKE VH FIRST DEATH #2 (OF 2) ZOMBIE VAR $3.99
AUG072303 ANNIHILATION BOOK 2 TP $24.99
AUG072206 ANNIHILATION CONQUEST QUASAR #4 (OF 4) $2.99
AUG072215 DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1 $3.99
AUG072313 ESSENTIAL WEREWOLF BY NIGHT VOL 2 TP $16.99
AUG072223 IRON MAN #23 $2.99
AUG072246 MYTHOS FANTASTIC FOUR $3.99
AUG072261 NEW X-MEN #43 $2.99
JUL051924 RUNAWAYS VOL 4 TRUE BELIEVERS DIGEST TP $7.99
SEP041814 SHE HULK VOL 1 SINGLE GREEN FEMALE TP $14.99
AUG072251 SUB-MARINER #5 (OF 6) CWI $2.99
JUL072135 ULTIMATE POWER #8 (OF 9) $2.99
STAR18173 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 5 ULTIMATE WAR TP $10.99
AUG072258 X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE SHOT MC $3.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

SEP073255 WIZARD MAGAZINE AVENGERS INVADERS ROSS CVR #194 $5.99
SEP073256 WIZARD MAGAZINE DC VILLAINS CVR #194 $5.99
SEP073254 WIZARD MAGAZINE SPIDER-MAN 4 PHOTO CVR #194 $5.99

COMICS

AUG073507 ARMY OF DARKNESS FROM ASHES #3 $3.50
AUG073387 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #179 $2.49
AUG073388 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #80 $2.25
JUN073584 DISNEYS DUCKTALES BY MARV WOLFMAN SCROOGES QUEST TP $15.99
AUG073563 FORGOTTEN REALMS HALFLINGS GEM SEELEY CVR A #2 $5.50
AUG073564 FORGOTTEN REALMS HALFLINGS GEM WALPOLE CVR B #2 $9.50
AUG073558 GI JOE DATA DESK HANDBOOK COLL A-M $5.50
JUL073487 GI JOE STORM SHADOW #5 $3.50
APR073319 HAUNTED MANSION #7 $2.95
AUG073392 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #135 $3.69
JUN073240 KADE SHIVAS SUN #0 (OF 4) $0.25
STAR09903 LENORE VOL 1 NOOGIES TP $11.95
AUG073501 NEW BATTLESTAR GALACTICA PEGASUS ONE SHOT $4.99
JUN073208 PARIS COLLECTION TP $10.95
AUG073394 SABRINA VOL 2 #89 $2.25
JUL073248 SLOW NEWS DAY $12.95
SEP073524 SWORD OF RED SONJA DOOM O/T GODS #2 $3.50
AUG073911 TALES FROM THE CRYPT #3 $3.95
JUN078045 X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE SHOT PX SKETCH ED PI

MAGAZINES

AUG073650 COMICS JOURNAL #286 $11.95
AUG074136 NEWTYPE ENG ED NOV 2007 $12.98

Pop Artifact! The Mummy movie poster

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 30, 2007

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the new DVD The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965.

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Alanis Morisette has joined the cast of "Radio Free Albemuth," an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick work.

The Canadian pop singer plays Sylvia, a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive named Nick (Jonathan Scarfe) as a glamorous singer.

In reality, she's an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who, after appearing in Nick's visions, gets a job as his secretary. She becomes his soul mate thanks to the pair's shared spirituality and visions.


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Director Guillermo del Toro is producing a TV mini-series based on Neil Gaimin's Death comic book character and wants Gaimin to direct.

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Shout! Factory is releasing DVDs of Johnny Cash's 1976 and 1977 Christmas TV specials.

Johnny and June Carter Cash went to their homes in Bon Aqua, and Hendersonville, Tennessee to tape Johnny Cash Christmas 1976. After opening the show, Johnny takes guest Tony Orlando for a ride around his property, teasing him about country versus city life, and promising that "June makes the best snake and potatoes around." In addition to several stellar performances, including "Christmas As I Knew It," the special includes a medley of songs from Stephen Foster, "a man from the North," Cash says, "who wrote such great things about the South." Johnny Cash Christmas 1976, which originally aired December 6, 1976, on CBS, also features special guests Roy Clark, Merle Travis, Barbara Mandrell, and Billy Graham.

Johnny Cash Christmas 1977 includes an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley, who had passed away two months prior. Taped at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House, fellow Sun Records labelmates and rockabilly pioneers Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison join Cash on "This Train Is Bound For Glory" in memory of Presley, whose affinity for such sacred music was well known. In addition to a selection of Christmas songs, many hit singles are performed on this special, including Perkins's "Blue Suede Shoes," Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman," and Lewis's 1957 Sun smash "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On." Cash goes on to recall a life-changing holiday season he experienced while stationed in Germany in the early 1950s. "I was lonesome, homesick and had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life," he explains. "But one day I walked four miles through the snow to a little pawn shop where there was a guitar in the window with a five-dollar price tag."

DVD new releases Oct. 30, 2007

Spider-Man 3 (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Scrubs - The Complete Sixth Season

CSI Miami - The Fifth Season

Spider-Man 3 (Widescreen Edition)

Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Five

My So-Called Life - The Complete Series (w/ Book)

The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934-1936

Dark Shadows: The Beginning Collection 2

Barbara Stanwyck - The Signature Collection (Annie Oakley / East Side, West Side / My Reputation / Executive Suite / Jeopardy / To Please a Lady)

Family Affair - Season 4

The Real McCoys - Season 2

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, Vol. 1: Get a Clue

New CD releases Oct. 30, 2007

CD new releases Oct. 30, 2007

Wedding Album by Leon Russell and Mary Russell

Americana by Leon Russell

Life & Love by Leon Russell

Live Album by Leon Russell and New Grass Revival

Goffin & King Song Collection 1961-1967

Dirt Farmer by Levon Helm

That's Swift: Instrumentals From the Norman Petty Vaults by Various Artists

Spirit of St Louis by Ellen Foley

Feeling the Blues by The Chambers Brothers

Knee Plays by David Byrne

In Concert by Gene Clark

Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967 by Vashti Bunyan

I Wanna Go Backwards by Robyn Hitchcock

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Superman, Supergirl costume ad

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 29, 2007

TV alert: "American Masters" on PBS profiles Peanuts creator Charles Shulz.

Like the new Schulz biography by David Michaelis (an interviewee and consultant here), the program makes illuminating use of panels from a half-century’s worth of “Peanuts” to illustrate the biographical sketch being supplied by friends and family. It’s a savvy approach that makes you realize that his sparse style wasn’t so simple after all, that beneath any given strip may have lurked Mr. Schulz’s real-life loneliness, lost love or broken marriage.

Along the way you meet the inspiration for Linus, an early art-instruction colleague of Mr. Schulz named Linus Maurer; the actual little red-haired girl, Donna Wold; even, in some photos, Charles F. Brown, the man whose round head Mr. Schulz immortalized. You learn that “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the 1965 special that is among the most beloved pieces of television ever made, might easily have been ruined by CBS, except that Mr. Schulz by then had enough power to impose his vision.


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A live-action Green Lantern movie is planned.

When they went in to pitch, Berlanti had a concept artist draw up 30 images of key scenes and images to help sell to the studio the movie he wanted to direct. He also pitched Warners brass a series of movies, with the first being an origin of how Jordan becomes a member of the intergalactic police force.

The biggest challenge in setting up "Lantern" was waiting for the technology to become available to create fantastical worlds as well as overcoming the prejudice of a ring-bearing hero.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Vintage Halloween card

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 26, 2007

A 16-CD box set collecting the entire studio works of Pink Floyd is out Dec. 4.

Oh By the Way, due Dec. 4 internationally. For the time being, the limited pressing of 10,000 will only be available as an import in the United States.

The box spans Pink Floyd's 1967 debut, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," to its 1994 swan song, "The Division Bell," with a new portrait collage from longtime visual collaborator Storm Thorgerson. Also included is a 20" by 30" poster.

Each album is a reproduction of the original vinyl release, with the "Dark Side of the Moon" cover appearing on CD for the first time since the early 1990s.




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The "Lost" curse strikes again: Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin, is the third cast member to be busted for driving under the influence in Hawaii.

In December 2005, the Hawaii Five-O snagged a twofer, busting then Losties Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros on separate DUIs on the same highway within 15 minutes of each other. Both pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence, with Rodriguez even serving a brief jail stint for the offense. Both actresses met their demise by season's end.

Less than a year later, in September 2006, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was arrested on charges of driving without a license and disobeying an officer.


Best Lost Sites.

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The Milt Caniff estate is selling an exclusive online DVD collecting four episodes of the 1958-59 live-action "Steve Canyon" TV series. Profits from the disk will help fund restoration of the entire series, including all 34 episodes. More info here.

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Manga publisher Tokyopop names its 10 best-selling titles during its first decade of operations.



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The New York Times reviews a new documentary about director David Lynch.

Whether you dig “Lynch,” a feature-length video visit with the director David Lynch, will largely depend on your views of his work and whether you think there’s something instructive and characteristically wonderful and weird about him telling an assistant, “I want a one-legged 16-year-old girl.”



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Dial B for Blog wishes you a Bizarro Halloween.

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Cate Blanchett talks about playing Bob Dylan.

After watching the important Dylan documentaries and studying the press conferences he held during his 1966 tour (the footage supplied by Dylan's manager Jeff Rosen), Blanchett turned the singer into an asexual, creative imp. "He was a creature. You see him jumping around in Don't Look Back [the 1967 documentary] and he's completely androgynous." She was captivated by his defiant, occasionally cruel playfulness, behaving "like a cat with a mouse, with this girl in a French hotel room" and drawing a fake moustache on his own face.



Best Bob Dylan Sites.

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The Museum of Jewish History in Paris is presenting a Superman exhibition.

230 original drawings and printed works by major cartoonists and graphic novelists will be shown. The core of the exhibition will be the artists living and publishing in New York and their influence on European graphic storytelling as far as Jewish Memory is concerned.



Best Superman Sites.

Vintage comic book ad

Pop Artifact! Halloween ad

Not sure really what this is for, but I like the graphic.

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 25, 2007

The London Times interviews Richard Lester, director of the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" The latter is now out as a remastered double DVD.

“If the film holds up,” Lester says of Help!, “it’s probably because silliness doesn’t date.” It was a silliness that, certainly during the filming of Help! in the Bahamas, was assisted by the Beatles’ consumption of vast quantities of the local herb.

“I didn’t demand a standard of professionalism and get stroppy with them,” says Lester. “If they wanted to indulge in certain substances, well, that’s fine.”


Best Beatles Sites.

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Comic book writer/editor Bob Greenburg has details on his upcoming "Essential Batman Encyclopedia."

The book will "...cover the whole history. Excepting comics based on Batman media properties, this should cover Batman's appearances across the DC Universe from 1939 through last month's titles.

I do my best to clearly explain all appearances on the parallel worlds, post-Crisis, post-Infinite Crisis, the new Multiverse, etc. Stuff that seems contradictory (the new Joker origin anyone?) is mentioned but being an encyclopedia, no analysis or judgment is made.


Best Batman Sites.

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Via Journalista!: See rare strips Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson drew in his college days.

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Love and Rockets cartoonist Jaime Hernandez provided this nifty promotional poster for Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour program on XM.



Vintage comic book ad

New and upcoming action figures Oct. 24, 2007


New Teen Titans Action Figures from DC Direct
See Below

Complete List of Marvel Legends Action Figures
Complete List of DC Direct Action Figures

Here's a look at action figures available via your local comics shop or via the TIP!-supporting links below:

DC Direct Action Figures

DC Direct New Teen Titans Figures
--Jericho
--Robin
--Deathstroke
--Terra

DC Direct New Gods Figures
--Darkseid
--Lightray
--Mister Miracle
--Orion

DC Direct Matt Wagner Trinity Action Figures
--Superman
--Wonder Woman
--Batman
--Ras Al Ghul

DC Armory Action Figures
--Aquaman
--Batman
--Flamebird
--Nightwing

Superman Last Son Action Figures
--Last Son Superman
--Ursa
--Bizarro
--Zod

Shazam Action Figures
--Dr. Sivana
--Captain Marvel Jr.
--Mary Marvel
--Billy Batson and Hoppy
--Captain Marvel

Superman Vs. Doomsday
Doomsday
Lex Luthor and Robot
Solar Suit Superman
Superman

Batman and Son
Batman
Ninja Man-Bat
Robin and Daimin
The Joker

DC Direct Reactivated Action Figures
--Batman
--Wonder Woman
--Lobo
--Superman

DC 13-inch Figures
Green Lantern
Martian Manhunter
Nightwing
Classic Batman
Batgirl gray costume
Batgirl black costume

Elseworlds Action Figures Series 3
--Supergirl
--Batgirl
--Nightstar
--Kingdom Come Aquaman
--Red Son Green Lantern

First Appearance Series 4
--Blue Beetle translucent
--Blue Beetle
--Brave New World Atom
--Warlord
--Brave New World Martian Manhunter
--Brave New World Aquaman

Infinite Crisis Action Figures Series 1
--Powergirl
--Omac
--Mongul
--Earth Prime Superboy
--Alexander Luthor

JSA Action Figures
--Mr. Terrific
--Hawkgirl
--Dr. Midnite
--Hourman
--Golden Age Atom 2-pack

DC Direct Wonder Woman Series 1 Action Figures
--Wonder Woman
--Agent Diana Prince
--Circe
--Donna Troy as Wonder Woman

DC Direct New Frontier Series 2 Action Figures
--Batman
--Dr. Fate
--The Flash
--Martian Manhunter

Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer action figures
Battle Stretch Mr. Fantastic
Fire Blast Human Torch
Raging Thing
Force Field Invisible Woman
Silver Surfer
Lightning Attack Dr. Doom
Blast-off Human Torch
Super Strength Thing

Hanna Barbera Series 3 Action Figures
--Fred Flintstone Quittin' Time
--Twinkle Toes Fred Flintstone
--Great Grape Ape
--Huckleberry Hound
--The Jetsons
--Secret Squirrel
--Snagglepuss

McFarlane Lost series 3 action figures
--Sayid
--Desmond
--Claire
--Ben/Henry

Marvel Legends Action Figures

Hasbro Marvel Legends Fantastic Four Action Figures
--Mr. Fantastic
--Invisible Woman
--The Thing
--Human Torch
--Silver Surfer
--Dr. Doom
--Mole Man
--Sub-Mariner

Hasbro Marvel Legends Spider-Man Action Figures
--Sandman
--Venom
--Spider-Man (black costume)
--New Goblin
--Mary Jane
--Green Goblin
--Dr. Octopus

Hasbro Marvel Legends Figures Series 3
--Bucky Barnes
--First appearance Captain America
--Marvel Girl Rachel Grey
--Heroes for Hire Black Knight
--Hydra Soldier
--X-3 Colossus
--Astonishing X-Men Cyclops
--Danger

Hasbro Marvel Legends Series 4
--Nova
--Astonishing X-Men Beast
--Black Bolt
--Tigra
--First-appearance Daredevil
--Punisher

Hasbro Marvel Legends Icons 12-inch Action Figures
Series 4
--Cyclops
--Magneto

Marvel Legends Masterworks Sets
--Spider-Man Vs. Green Goblin
--Fantastic Four Vs. Mole Man
--Hulk Vs. The Thing
--Galactus Vs. Everybody

Marvel Select Figures

Best of Marvel Select Figures
--Grey Hulk
--Thanos
--Ultimate Spider-Man
--Green Goblin
--Mephisto

Marvel Sideshow Toys Figures
--Venom
--Black costume Spider-Man
--Spider-Man
--White Queen
--White Queen Exclusive