Video find: Nick Lowe - Cruel to Be Kind




Superman TV show pics

A random assortment of recently found images. Note: As pointed out by one of our readers, this first one depicts That first pic shows Kirk Alyn as Clark Kent, and is from one of the pre-TV Superman movie serials.







Video find: Nick Lowe and Rockpile - So it Goes 1978




Beatles remastered box sets now on sale at Amazon!

Amazon is now selling the stereo and mono Beatles remasters box sets.

Beatles in Mono limited edition box set



Beatles in Stereo box set



More info on these here.

Pop links: Owly movie! Basil Wolverton! Marx play sets! Mort Meskin!

An animated short based on cartoonist Andy Runton's delightful Owly stories is set to debut at the San Diego Comicon this month.





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Read a Powerhouse Pepper tale by the great Basil Wolverton.





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Read a couple of Basil Wolverton-illustrated horror tales!



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Plaid Stallions presents a 1975 Marx Play Set catalog.



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Read two issues of The Golden Lad, illustrated by the great Mort Meskin.

New pictures, details on Beatles remasters box sets

UPDATE: These boxes are now on sale at Amazon! Click the links or ads below to pre-order!

Capitol/EMI have released these new photos and details on the upcoming Beatles stereo and mono remastered box sets. The sets, and the individually available stereo albums are all out Sept. 9.


The Beatles (stereo box set)

U.S. MSRP: $259.98. Dimensions: 12"x6"x3".

Remastered albums in stereo -- 14 titles on 16 CDs) and one DVD with all 13 mini-documentaries. Each CD includes a unique album mini-documentary embedded in QuickTime, except "Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2'".

Description:

* Hard black glossy lift top with magnet clasp
* CDs packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos
* The stereo albums have been remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee
* Additional historical notes by Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley
* Additional recording notes by Allan Rouse and Kevin Howlett

Contents:

* "Please Please Me" (CD debut in stereo)
* "With The Beatles" (CD debut in stereo)
* "A Hard Day's Night" (CD debut in stereo)
* "Beatles For Sale" (CD debut in stereo)
* "Help!"
* "Rubber Soul"
* "Revolver"
* "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (also includes 1987 notes, updated, and new intro by Paul McCartney)
* "Magical Mystery Tour"
* "The Beatles" aka "The White Album"
* "Yellow Submarine" (also includes original U.S. liner notes)
* "Abbey Road"
* "Let It Be"
* "Past Masters, Vols. 1 & 2" (contains new liner notes written by Kevin Howlett)




The Beatles In Mono (mono box set - limited edition)

Remastered albums in mono (11 titles on 12 CDs) and an essay written by Kevin Howlett.
U.S. MSRP: $298.98. Dimensions: 5.75"x5.38"x2.63"

Description:

* Hard white glossy slip box
* Limited edition
* CDs in 'mini LP' sleeves (replica artwork, sleeves and gatefolds)
* The mono mixes have been remastered by Paul Hicks, Sean Magee with Guy Massey and Steve Rooke

Contents:

* "Please Please Me"
* "With The Beatles"
* "A Hard Day's Night
* "Beatles For Sale"
* "Help!" (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix) -- mono mix CD debut
* "Rubber Soul" (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix) -- mono mix CD debut
* "Revolver" -- mono mix CD debut
* "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -- mono mix CD debut
* "Magical Mystery Tour" -- mono mix CD debut
* "The Beatles" -- mono mix CD debut aka "The White Album"
* "Mono Masters"



Word is, from those who have heard 'em, that these remasters are phenomenally good, allowing us to hear the Fabs as never before, and much better than the CDs released in the late 1980s.

Do you need the mono box? I know I do. Why? Well, up until the late 1960s, mono is how most folks heard the Beatles. And the band itself spent much more time on mono mixes than they did with stereo. I have some mono releases on original vinyl and others via "needle-drop" CDs that have circulated among the Beatles bootleg community. I actually greatly prefer the mono versions of Sgt. Pepper and "The White Album" over the stereo versions. The mixes sound vastly different than those in stereo--if you've listened to the Beatles a lot, you can't help noticing the difference. And, to me, the mono mixes sound warmer, punchier and more direct than those in stereo.

Anyway, start saving your pennies. I know I am.

Tom Swift book covers pt. 7









Watch Spidey!

See episode 15 of the animated 1967 Spider-Man series!



Watch episode 19 of the 1970s Japanese Spider-Man live-action show!



Video find: Rockpile - Teacher Teacher 1980




Pop links: Jerry Siegel; Superman cameo in Green Lantern film?; Hollies home move movies; Bat Cycle sold!; Hear Jack White's Dead Weather! more!

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate and re-opening of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel's boyhood home will take place during a Cleveland comic book convention this weekend.

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In other Siegel-related news, attorney Brian Cronin analyzes a recent court decision in the ongoing legal battles between Siegel's heir and DC Comics/Time Warner.

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More Superman: Will the Man of Steel have a cameo in the upcoming Green Lantern movie?

Marc Guggenheim told MTV Splash Page that rumors about the movie would feature a guest spot from Clark Kent to establish a "universe," just like Robert Downey Jr.'s appearance in last year's Hulk movie, could still turn out to be true depending on the editing room:

Honestly, it changes on a daily basis. Whatever information I gave you today would be obsolete in a week, and maybe come back again in two weeks... I will say, all the Easter Eggs and the cameos that I put in, I couldn't even begin to predict at this point which ones will stay and which ones will go. I'll be as interested as anyone else to see what we end up keeping and losing by the time the picture is actually locked… and that's pretty far away from now.


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See home movies made by the Hollies back in their 1960s heyday:



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The original Bat Cycle sold for $29,500 on eBay. Lots more pics of it here.

According to the auction, the bike itself was designed and assembled by Kustomotive for the original 1966 Batman feature film and made subsequent appearances in the television series from the '60s. The seller notes that this Batcycle was based on a 250cc Yamaha Catalina with a custom sidecar featuring a removable go kart for Robin that was powered by its own 50cc engine. While it's clear that the Batcycle wasn't exactly a barnburner, it sure makes up for its lack of power with style.





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The new album by Jack White's Dead Weather is streaming online here.



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Who wouldn't want to be in the Clark Kent Fan Club?



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Read two vintage sci-fi tales illustrated by the great Gil Kane:

The Last Horse on Earth



"Terra" of the Spaceways

Tom Swift book covers pt. 6











Video find: The Move-California Man 1972




Pop links: Michael's weird sendoff; Tom Corbett; Steranko; Infantino; Beatles bootlegger quits, more!

Reviewing a memorial service is weird. But, then, this memorial service WAS weird. From Mojo:

WHILE THIS IS STILL the Official Period Of Mourning In Which It Is Not Permissible To Say Bad Things About Michael Jackson, can we be the first to ask of yesterday's Tribute gig: what the f____ was that all about?

If the vision of his not-always-supportive family dressed up in the shades'n'glove uniform and faking the solidarity they could never manage during his lifetime was not weird enough, what will be the lasting (further?) damage to his poor kids - Prince Michael, Prince Michael II and Princess Michael Of Kent (or whatever she's called) - of this garish and hypocritical wake-cum-PR-circus, this tribute to their father and (frankly) all the money he made for lots of people once upon a time?


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See a Tom Corbett View-Master reel.



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We just wrapped our own presentation of Shadow paperback covers by the great Jim Steranko. Now here's a look at some of his other book illustration work.






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Via Michael May's Adventureblog, check out this awesome home theater modeled on Captain Nemo's Nautilus!


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The first issue of DC's Wednesday Comics (see related posts below) is in shops today. USA Today is running the Superman installments online. Check out the first one here.



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Read a great interview with veteran comics artist/editor Carmine Infantino.





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Good news/bad news Dept.: Famed Beatles bootlegger Dr. Ebbetts, known for his excellent-sounding "needle drop" from-vinyl transfers of classic Beatles albums to CD, is calling it quits. This news is on good authority--from renowned Beatleg expert Doug Sulpy himself. So that's bad. The good news is why Doc Ebbetts is quitting:

Evidently, the Doc has heard samples which purport to be from the upcoming remasters, feels that these better his own work, and has decided it isn't worth it to carry on with the "core" of his collection rendered obsolete by the upcoming official releases.

Obviously, this means that the upcoming official remasters of the Beatles' albums are going to sound really, really good. Up until now, Dr. Ebbetts' releases have been the best way to hear the Fabs' output on disk, far surpassing the sound quality of the official CDs released in the late 1980s.

So, I bid a fond farewell to Doc E. and all the great work he's done tiding us over in the interim.




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Hear Sonic Youth live in concert on NPR.

Tom Swift book covers pt. 5











New comics July 8, 2009: Bat Lash! Wednesday Comics! Prince Valiant! More!

New releases of note this week. Click the links to order discounted books from Amazon.


SHOWCASE PRESENTS BATLASH I've been looking forward to this one: A collection of awesome Sergio Aragones-scripted/Nick Cardy-illustrated Western tales in beautiful black and white.


WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 I'm also eager to see this, the first issue of DC's new weekly anthology title, published in Sunday comics-tabloid format. Looks like a great roster or characters/creators.


THOR TALES OF ASGARD BY LEE & KIRBY #3 Continuing the reprints of the Lee/Kirby Thor backup strip.


PRINCE VALIANT VOL. 1 1937-1938 The first installment of Fantagraphics Books' new reprintings of Hal Foster's classic strip.

Wednesday Comics Flash preview

The first issue of the excellent-looking tabloid-format Wednesday Comics from DC hits stands tomorrow. If you've missed reports, it's a weekly anthology title, featuring serialized superhero tales in a Sunday Comics format. Here's a look at a Flash installment:

Pop links: Lost Spirit movie! Who's Batgirl? New Spinal Tap! Classic Archie reprints! Partial Python reunion! Potter pics!

What if "Exorcist" William Friedkin had followed through on plans to direct a TV movie based on Will Eisner's "The Spirit" back in the 1970s? Booksteve investigates.

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DC Comics continues the long tease: Who is the new Batgirl? If it's not Barbara Gordon, I don't care. The comic is out Aug. 19.



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Download a free new Spinal Tap tune from Mojo!

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IDW Publishing will collect classic Archie newspaper strips and comic book stories in a new line of hardcovers.

In addition to reprinting original strips by series creator John Goldwater and original artist Bob Montana, IDW will also present Best Of volumes that showcase the work of Archie artists, such as Montana, Dan DeCarlo, and Stan Goldberg. "Archie has had so many talented artists throughout its history, each with their own take on the characters," said Goldstein. "We want to offer fans the best from each of those eras, especially since much of this material has not been in print since its original publication."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with IDW Publishing on these important historical works. IDW is well known for their outstanding work and we look forward to working closely with the team at IDW to create a line that all past, present and future Archie fans will enjoy," commented co-CEO Jon Goldwater.

IDW will also publish special collections of Archie's Madhouse and Archie as Pureheart the Powerful, a comedic super hero series that ran during the 1960's. Award-winning creative director and editor Craig Yoe will oversee many of these special volumes.







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Most of Monty Python is reuniting for a musical production of "The Life of Brian."

Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam will appear in the European premiere of Idle's musical Not The Messiah (He's A Very Naughty Boy).

The oratorio, based on the film Life Of Brian, will receive its UK premiere at the Royal Albert Hall on 23 October.

Also:

A six-episode documentary, Monty Python: Almost The Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) will air on US TV in October before being released on DVD.

John Cleese and the other surviving members will all feature.

"This is a documentary I always hoped that would be made - something so complete and so faithful to the truth that I don't need to watch it," said Jones.


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Yahoo! has posted more than 100 pics from the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."

Tom Swift book covers pt. 4