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Vintage Star Trek cast pictures

Star Trek cast pictures: William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy

Remembering Apple Records

On the heels of remastered reissues of most of the Apple music catalog, The Independent recounts the story the Beatle-spawned label and related businesses.

"We've got all the money we need," Paul McCartney, then a worldly wise 25-year-old, told me at the time. "I've got the house and the cars and all the things that money can buy. So instead of trying to amass money for the sake of it, we're setting up a business with a social and cultural environment where everyone gets a decent share of the profits. I suppose it'll be like a sort of Western communism."

First sketch of Wonder Woman?

Via Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool: A 1946 letter from cartoonist H.G. Peter to Wonder Woman writer William Marsten Moulton, containing Peter's early sketches of the Amazon princess.

Marvel Comics January 2011 solicitations

Highlights from Marvel's January releases:

THE X-MEN OMNIBUS VOL. 2
Written by ROY THOMAS, ARNOLD DRAKE, GARY FRIEDRICH, JERRY SIEGEL, DENNIS O'NEIL & LINDA FITE Penciled by NEAL ADAMS, JIM STERANKO, WERNER ROTH, DON HECK, GEORGE TUSKA, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH, JOHN BUSCEMA & SAL BUSCEMA Covers by JOHN CASSADAY & GEORGE TUSKA
Marvel's merry mutants are coming at you again with another massive Omnibus! It's the original X-Men--Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman and Marvel Girl--in their first adventures as Professor X's mutant teen team supreme. Featuring page after page of X-Men milestones--from the team's new costumes, to the death of Professor X, and the first appearances of Havok, Polaris and Sunfire, this volume chronicles a turbulent era for mutantdom. But for every problem there is a solution: Enter Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, and True Believer, you had better grab onto your hat and get ready for one of the most amazing evolutions in Marvel history! These two titanic talents threw caution to the wind with sensational stories that brought the X-Men in sync with the thriving youth culture of the late '60s. Adams' lavish and dynamic visuals merged with Thomas' challenging and contemporary stories to create a comic book series that throbbed with the pulse of the times like none other. Featuring bonuses galore, not to mention the original letters pages, this collection is one for the ages, so reserve your copy today, True Believer! Collecting X-MEN #32-66, AVENGERS #66, KA-ZAR #2-3, MARVEL TALES #30 and NOT BRAND ECHH #4 & #8.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: DOCTOR STRANGE VOL. 5
Written by STEVE ENGLEHART & FRANK BRUNNER with MIKE FRIEDRICH Penciled by FRANK BRUNNER & GENE COLAN Cover by FRANK BRUNNER

Entering the good Doctor Strange's world like a bolt from above, Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner teamed up to take the Master of the Mystic Arts to new heights of cosmic consciousness and other-dimensional adventure--and now you can experience it all in one amazing MARVEL MASTERWORKS edition! From the conclusion of the Shuma-Gorath saga and death of the Ancient One, to Stephen Strange's assumption of the mantle Sorcerer Supreme; from the time-lost Sise-Neg Genesis with Baron Mordo, to the classic Silver Dagger epic--these are Marvel comics at their very best! Brunner's art mixes a deliriously lush line with psychedelic stylings, while Englehart's scripting plumbs the depths of Strange's soul to create a strikingly personal epic that's just as challenging today as the first day it hit the racks. And with Gene Colan waiting in the wings for a massive Dormammu/Umar attack on Earth, there's no question what you have here is something special -- a true MARVEL MASTERWORKS! Collecting MARVEL PREMIERE #9-14 & DOCTOR STRANGE #1-9.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5 TPB
Written by STAN LEE Penciled by JACK KIRBY Cover by JACK KIRBY & DEAN WHITE

Stan The Man called it the World's Greatest Comic Magazine, and he wasn't kidding. If Lee and Kirby set the comics world on fire in 1961 with the debut of The Fantastic Four, in 1965 they burnt the house down. Letting loose an unmatched burst of rapid-fire creativity, they gave birth to the Frightful Four, the Inhumans, Galactus, the Silver Surfer and even pulled off the first super-hero wedding while they were at it, and all in just 11 issues. With incomparable embellishment by Joe Sinnott, guest-appearances by everyone in the Marvel Universe, there's no denying that this is the essential volume for any and every Marvel fan! 'Nuff Said! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #41-50 and ANNUAL #3.

THOR: THE WARRIORS THREE UNLEASHED PREMIERE HC
Written by STAN LEE, JOHN LEWANDOWSKI, TOM DEFALCO, RON FRENZ & WALT SIMONSON Penciled by JACK KIRBY, KEVIN KOBASIC, RICH YANIZESKI, HERB TRIMPE, MARK TEXEIRA, JOE BARNEY & DEODATO STUDIOS Covers by JOE BARNEY & JACK KIRBY

Sometimes even the God of Thunder needs a little help from his friends! When Thor is off on Midgard, and Balder is fraternizing with the Queen of the Norns, who's left to protect Asgard? The Warriors Three! Fandral the Dashing! Hogun the Grimm! Volstagg the Voluminous! Three unlikely allies prepared to face any and all threats -- even the trickster god Loki, the savage Ulik the Troll, the magical Enchantress and the indestructible Destroyer! Collected here, the epic battles of the Warriors Three! Collecting THOR ANNUAL #2 & #17; THOR (1966) #400, #410 & #415-416; MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (1988) #66; MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (1990) #15 and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #-1.

Super Weisinger!

Mort Weisinger: Kind of a lousy guy, but he produced a fun, huge-long run of Superman comics under his iron fist. The Comics Journal presents a detailed look at where you can find various about Mort and the Weisinger Era of Super comics, including this interesting 1946 Life magazine article attributed to the man himself.

Beatles red and blue album video

There's a promo video celebrating the release of the group's remastered "red" and "blue" compilations on the official Beatles site. The albums are out now. Apart from a "cold start" version of "A Day in the Life," all songs are the same as those appearing on the Beatles' remastered 2009 albums. These comps, originally released in the 70s, introduced my generation to the band, since we were too little to know what we were missing in the 60s!

"Boy" from Tarzan films dies

Johnny Scheffield, who played Tarzan's sidekick "Boy," opposite Weismuller has died at age 79 after falling out a tree in his backyard (I'm not making this up), reports Variety. Scheffield also starred in several "Bomba, the Jungle Boy" films.

Green Hornet movie poster

Deal alert: The Alfred Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection $50.99

Today only on Amazon. The set includes: "Saboteur," "Shadow of a Doubt," "Rope," "Rear Window," "The Trouble With Harry," "The Man Who Knew Too Much," "Vertigo," "Psycho," "The Birds," "Marnie," "Torn Curtain," "Topaz," "Frenzy," and "Family Plot."

Hear Bryan Ferry's new album on NPR

The Roxy Music singer's new release, Olympia, is currently streaming here.

DC Comics January 2010 solicitations

Highlights from DC's January offerings:

YOUNG JUSTICE #0

Written by Greg Weisman and Kevin Hopps, art and cover by Mike Norton.

Based on the upcoming animated show from Warner Bros. debuting on Cartoon Network! Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash and Aqualad star in this explosive issue kickstarting an all-new ongoing series! They're four young superheroes learning how to be a teamÉand maybe doing a bit of growing up along the way -- but only just a little bit!

32 pages, $2.99, in stores on Jan. 19.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA VOL. 5 TP

Written by ROBERT KANIGHER, MIKE FRIEDRICH, DENNIS O'NEIL, GARDNER FOX and LEN WEIN Art by DICK DILLIN, JOE GIELLA and MIKE SEKOWSKY Cover by NICK CARDY

In this value-priced volume collecting stories from issues #84-106, The JLA battles BLACKEST NIGHT villain Solomon Grundy, meets Deadman, faces a cosmic vampire, and teams up with both The Justice Society of America and The Seven Soldiers of Victory.

528 pages, black and white, $19.99, in stores on Feb. 16.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS ARCHIVE VOL. 7 HC

Written by STEVE ENGLEHART and others Art by KEITH GIFFEN, DAVE COCKRUM, GEORGE PEREZ, STEVE DITKO, MURPHY ANDERSON, JERRY ORDWAY and others Cover by GEORGE PEREZ

In the mid-'80s, classic 1960s heroes The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents returned for WALLY WOOD'S T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1-5. In these new tales, the team traveled the globe to battle international terrorism, including super-strong Dynamo, super-speedster Lightning, otherworldly NoMan, femme fatale Raven and more.

256 pages, $59.99, in stores on June 29.