Download a preview of Fantagraphics' Complete Pogo Vol. 1

The first installment of Fantagraphics' complete collection of Walt Kelly's Pogo comic strips is out later this month. You can download a 27-page preview here.

Details of the book:

Pogo - Vol. 1 of the Complete Syndicated Comic Strips: "Through the Wild Blue Wonder"

Walt Kelly started his career at age 13 in Connecticut as a cartoonist and reporter for the Bridgeport Post. In 1935, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Walt Disney Studio, where he worked on classic animated films, including Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia. Rather than take sides in a bitter labor strike, he moved back east in 1941 and began drawing comic books.
It was during this time that Kelly created Pogo Possum. The character first appeared in Animal Comics as a secondary player in the “Albert the Alligator” feature. It didn’t take long until Pogo became the comic’s leading character. After WWII, Kelly became artistic director at the New York Star, where he turned Pogo into a daily strip. By late 1949, Pogo appeared in hundreds of newspapers. Until his death in 1973, Kelly produced a feature that has become widely cherished among casual readers and aficionados alike.
Kelly blended nonsense language, poetry, and political and social satire to make Pogo an essential contribution to American “intellectual” comics. As the strip progressed, it became a hilarious platform for Kelly’s scathing political views in which he skewered national bogeymen like J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and Richard Nixon.
Walt Kelly started when newspaper strips shied away from politics — Pogo was ahead of its time and ahead of later strips (such as Doonesbury and The Boondocks) that tackled political issues. Our first (of 12) volume reprints approximately the first two years of Pogo — dailies and (for the first time) full-color Sundays.
This first volume also introduces such enduring supporting characters as Porkypine, Churchy LaFemme, Beauregard Bugleboy, Seminole Sam, Howland Owl, and many others. And for Christmas, 1949, Kelly started his tradition of regaling his readers with his infamously and gloriously mangled Christmas carols.
Special features in this sumptuous premiere volume, which is produced with the full cooperation of Kelly’s heirs, include a biographical introduction by Kelly biographer Steve Thompson, an extensive section by comics historian R.C. Harvey explaining some of the more obscure current references of the time, a foreword by legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin, and more.


BBC radio this week

 Click the links to stream the listed programs:

Herge's The Adventures of Tintin Available on BBC iPlayer
Adaptations of Herge's classic cartoon adventures

James Bond - You Only Live Twice Available on BBC iPlayer
Agent 007's latest mission sparks a fatal encounter in a Japanese garden of death.

Pulp Fiction Available on BBC iPlayer
Readings of stories from the classic era of crime fiction

Sherlock Holmes v Dracula Available on BBC iPlayer
The Baker Street sleuth takes on the sanguinary Count.

Crying Waiting Hoping: The Story of Buddy Holly's Last Tour Available on BBC iPlayer
Steve Harley tells the story of the ill-fated Winter Dance Party.

Laurel Canyon Available on BBC iPlayer
Mickey Dolenz reflects on the LA area which became home to a diverse mix of musical stars.

Maria Elena Holly: My Life with Buddy Available on BBC iPlayer
Maria Elena Holly talks to Don McLean about her eight-month marriage to Buddy Holly.

Pete Townshend: Before I Get Old Available on BBC iPlayer
Documentary about the Who guitarist.

The John Peel Lecture Available on BBC iPlayer
6 Music presents this annual discussion on music and music-related media.

Read the full text to Pete Townshend's John Peel lecture

The BBC has begun presenting an annual "John Peel Lecture," named after the late ground- and act-breaking disk jockey. The first such speech was delivered the other day by The Who's Pete Townshend, who celebrated Peel's wide-open ears and willingness to give the new a chance.

But Townshend added that iTunes and online music distribution doesn't have the same power as radio to introduce new music. In fact, he thinks iTunes is downright bad.

You can stream the lecture here, or read the full text here.

Stream the Beach Boys Smile

You can hear the full, 40-track Smile Sessions here.

Video: Brian Wilson sings Surfs Up

From the new Smile Session box set:


New comics Nov. 2, 2011

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon:

Things I'll buy:

Action Comics #3

Amazing Spider-man #673

Other items of interest:


Hellboy: House of the Living Dead


Absolute Sandman Vol. 5


Batman: Noel

 
Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider


Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Volume 13 

Review: Brian Wilson - In the Key of Disney

The sunny Beach Boys harmonies of Brian Wilson and the bright, nostalgic tunes of Disney films would seem like a natural match. Wilson's new release In the Key of Disney demonstrates how well it works in practice.

Featuring Wilson's distinctive vocal harmony arrangements and band arrangements by Wilson and his band member Paul Von Mertens, the album feels a little more casually put together than Wilson's recent set of George Gershwin tunes and, with a couple of notable exceptions, the pair doesn't take too many liberties with the tunes. But, still, Wilson sounds engaged and his vocals are very, very good, maybe the best I've heard them on any of his solo albums.

The album starts with a lively take on Randy Newman's "Toy Story" tune, "You've Got a Friend in Me," which sets the warm, casual tone of the songs that follow. Young children with no clue as to Wilson's history and pop genius will like this record just because it sounds friendly and fun -- and it includes tunes they know. My 8-year-old daughter was singing along from the start.

Myself, I was hoping for more old classics and fewer songs from more recent films -- there are so many great songs in the Disney catalog -- but I'm sure commercial concerns were involved. The album is on Disney's own label, after all.

Still, the performances of the newer songs are mostly good. A version of "Colors of the Wind" from "Pocahantas" is pretty dull and features some awful, cheesy backing vocal. It's just not a very good tune. But that's the low point.

Wilson's vocal on another weak song, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," an awful, saccharine tune if ever there was, elevate it to a higher standard. And the biggest surprise is "Kiss the Girl," from "The Little Mermaid." It works in the film as a goofy showpiece, but Wilson strips away the calypso-lite arrangement and substitutes it with a classic mid-60s Phil Spector sound. The result sounds like a lost Beach Boys nugget.

Also fun is a mash-up of "Heigh Ho," "Whistle While You Work" and "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)," that sounds like a Smile outtake -- bonkers vocals, odd percussion sounds and all.

Also charming are Wilson's takes on "The Bare Necessities," featuring a great xylophone arrangment, and "Stay Awake," the gorgeous lullaby from "Mary Poppins." And Brian Wilson singing "When You With Upon a Star" sounds as lovely as you'd imagine.

Note that the Amazon version of the CD features a bonus song, "Baby Mine," from "Dumbo," while the MP3 download includes a further bonus track: "Peace on Earth," the Christmas song from "Lady and the Tramp." I bought the Amazon CD and downloaded "Peace on Earth."

All in all, another nice Brian Wilson record. Who would have thought during his dark days of pretty much 1967 to the mid 1990s that we'd ever see a whole series of Brian Wilson solo albums and that they'd all be pretty darn good? Let alone that we'd see him release Smile (both his and now the Beach Boys' versions) and a children's album? He's a walking testament to hope and human beings' ability to overcome enormous challenges.


Hear David Lynch's new album on NPR

NPR is streaming director David Lynch's new album Crazy Clown Time here.

Written, performed and produced by Lynch with engineer Dean Hurley, Lynch's first solo album finds him meandering through a series of dark dreams and visceral meditations on modern life and society. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs supplies guest vocals for the opening track, but otherwise Lynch is front and center.
When it comes to the music, he stays inside a few heady realms of exploration: moody electronic dance beats, yowling blues slide guitar and a heavy use of delay, thick reverb and slow, creeping chord progressions.

Music new releases Nov. 1, 2011

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon:


The Smile Sessions (2CD) - Beach Boys


Achtung Baby (Super Deluxe Edition) - U2


The Smile Sessions Box Set - Beach Boys


The Smile Sessions Vinyl (2LP) - Beach Boys


Their Last Time Out - Dave Brubeck Quartet


Insight Out (Deluxe Expanded Mono Edition) - The Association


Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams - Various Artists


DVD new releases Nov. 1, 2011

Click the links to order discounted releases from Amazon:


Cars 2


6 Ed Sullivan Shows Starring The Rolling Stones / [2 DVD]


Transformers Beast Wars: The Complete Series


Rawhide: The Fourth Season, Vol. 2


Magic Trip


Christmas Carol: 60th Anniversary Diamond Edition (Blu-ray + DVD)