Vintage Christmas 7-Up ad


Pop culture update: Who, gum, sci-fi, t-shirts, zap, OTR Christmas

Pete Townshend has created a symphonic version of the Who's Quadrophenia rock opera.
The guitarist hopes his orchestral performance - and a recording to be released next summer featuring tenor Alfie Boe - will help to encourage a new generation of classical music fans.

Pete's girlfriend Rachel Fuller has scored the production which will be given its live premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in July.

... Pete himself performed on the album along with Alfie Boe, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Oriana Choir and it is due for release by Deutsche Grammophon.

 
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Collectors Weekly spotlights the work Dorothy and Otis Shepard, whose airbrush art was used to promote everything from Pabst Beer and Doublemint Gum. The duo is the subject of a new book.


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The Golden Age displays some nice sci-fi book club art of the 1950s and 60s by Frank Frazetta, Richard Corben, Virgil Finlay and more.


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Via Dangerous Minds, one-sentence movie summary t-shirts.


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Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth discusses a new, complete collection of R. Crumb's Zap Comix.
I see Zap as part of the lineage of historically important and aesthetically ground breaking comics anthologies, the first in this lineage, of course, being Mad, which influenced all the Zap artists; next, Humbug, then witzend, then Zap. (Mid-way through Zap’s run, there was Weirdo and Raw, of course.) Each one of these comics anthologies were created by the artists themselves in opposition to the prevailing economic and creative standards of the comics industry; each one of them was created in order to give artists greater freedom to create the work they wanted to create, without the editorial restrictions placed on them by commercial dictates;  and the publishing rights and original art featured in each of them (with the exception of Mad, which was at least published by the most enlightened publisher in the history of comics to that time), was owned by the artists —collectively, they represent the long fight for cartoonists to take control of their own destinies. They are the Humbug co-op (composed of Harvey Kurtzman, Arnold Roth, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, and Will Elder) wanted the freedom to edit, write, and draw a humor magazine suitable for grown-ups; Wally Wood hated mainstream publishers, may have hated editors even more, and created witzend as a place where mainstream cartoonists (and a few young underground artists like Art Spiegelman) could do whatever they wanted, free of the suffocating editorial demands imposed on them by mainstream comics editors; and Zap, of course, created by Crumb, became a collective where the artists could do whatever they wanted. As a model of artists taking their “careers” into their own hands, it can’t be beat.
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Old time radio fans can find some cool compilations of Christmas music by the likes of Bing Crosby, Phil Harris, Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra and more here. (You'll need to scroll down a bit). Fun stuff!


Fab Friday: Vintage Beatles pics










So long, Ian McLagen

The great Small Faces/Faces organist passed away yesterday. Here he is with the rest of the Small Faces in a great episode of "Colour Me Pop" from 1968.


Vintage G.I. Joe layouts from Christmas wishbooks

We've featured these before, but I like them!




Warner Bros. announces plan to replace flawed disks in Batman 1966 TV Show set

Press release via TV on DVD:

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will provide fans with replacement discs and digital repairs to the few minor technical issues identified in its recent release of Batman: The Complete Television Series.

Amounting to less than five minutes of footage within the 50-plus hours of entertainment, the issues encompass one 60-second dropped scene in the episode entitled "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds"; a brief piece of rarely-heard William Dozier narration that originally opened the pilot episode, "Hi Diddle Riddle"; and an assembly of villain tags from the end of assorted episodes.

"The restoration process of this footage - spanning 48 years and two major studios - has been a super heroic task, and we deeply regret even the smallest of glitches occurring in that process," said Rosemary Markson, Senior Vice President, TV Brand Management & Retail Marketing, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. "We recognize our obligation to the fans of this landmark series, and we have worked diligently to identify all issues and provide resolutions as quickly as possible."

To resolve these issues for consumers purchasing Batman: The Complete Television Series, WBHE will make available complete replacement discs for the discs that originally included the episodes "Marsha's Scheme of Diamonds" and "Hi Diddle Riddle." The villain tags will be re-issued as an assembled string on one of the aforementioned discs and, as an added bonus, WBHE has acquired rights and legal clearances to both a Bat-vehicle teaser that originally aired as part of the second season-opening "Shoot A Crooked Arrow" episode, and one of the original promotional tags that aired on the original showing of the "The Duo Defy" episode. Additionally, all fixes will be made to all Digital HD versions of Batman: The Complete Television Series.

To obtain the replacement discs, consumers who have purchased Batman: The Complete Television Series are directed to www.warnerbros.com/help/customer-service.


Supercool Hanna-Barbera postes from Mondo

Oh, man, I love that Jonny Quest pic. More info here.







New Bob Dylan short film debuts online

Watch "From the Village to the Basement," a short film narrated by Jeff Bridges about Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes," below.





Beach Boys release rare 1964 material as part of annual "copyright dump" - Beatles and Dylan rarities reportedly on the way

Last year, the Beatles, Beach Boys and Bob Dylan all surprised fans with quiet releases of previously unissued material. The reason: To protect expiring copyrights overseas.

In Europe, copyright on artistic works expires 50 years after its creation, unless its "published." That means all studio outtakes and live recordings by these artists circulating via bootleg become public domain and can be "officially" released by anyone. Unless the artists establish copyright by releasing the recording themselves.

The deadline for such artist releases is Dec. 31 of each year.

Last year, Dylan went the route of protecting his 1963 recordings by releasing  a CD collection limited to just 100 copies. Word is that will happen again this year, with 1,000 copies of a vinyl compilation of 1964 material slated for release in Europe only.

The Beatles, meanwhile, put out nearly 60 tracks on iTunes as the Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 without any public announcement. Word is that also will be happening again.

And the Beach Boys today announced release of outtakes on iTunes in a 46-song  compilation called Keep an Eye on Summer. A live performance, Live in Sacramento 1964, is also now up on iTunes. The Big Beat 1963, a download-only release last year, included some of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson's unprotected 1963 recordings.

There are complete details and liner notes of the Beach Boys 1964 collections on their official site. It's notable that the band sees this as an official release, not just a copyright maneuver, and some real thought seems to have gone into it. Along with outtakes, there are new mixes of several classic tunes and montages of session tapes.

I can only find tiny pics of the Beach Boys comps at the moment. Stay tuned for news about Bob and the Beatles as it develops.



Merry Christmas from the Lost in Space crew



Vintage Jack Kirby Toys for Tots ad


New comics Dec. 3, 2014: Harvy Kurtzman; Batmanga; Invaders Complete, more

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.

Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book
Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book is considered one of the "Top 100 Comics of the 20th Century" by The Comics Journal and is widely regarded to be a lost classic. Written and illustrated by Kurtzman, Jungle Book inspired and influenced comics creators such as Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, and Terry Gilliam. Back in print for the first time in over twenty-five years, this deluxe hardcover features an essay by comics archivist Denis Kitchen; a new introduction by Gilbert Shelton; a conversational afterword between Pete Poplaski and Robert Crumb; and and a selection of Kurtzman's photographs, correspondence, and artwork. The definitive edition of this graphic novel masterpiece is not to be missed!

Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga Vol. 1
At the height the 1960's Batman television shows popularity, a shonen manga magazine in Japan serialized fifty-three chapters, starring The Dark Knight, which were all written by Jiro Kuwata. These rare Batman tales were known by relatively few outside of Japan until award-winning designer Chipp Kidd's 2008 book, Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan (Pantheon Books), introduced them to a whole new generation of Batman fans.

In BATMAN: THE JIRO KUWATA BATMANGA VOL. 1, see The Dark Knight and his sidekick Robin fight against some of his strangest villains, including Dr. Faceless and the Human Ball! DC Comics is proud to publish the complete Jiro Kuwata penned Batman Manga adventures in three painstakingly restored and translated volumes. This collection is not to be missed by both Batman and Manga fans alike!

BATMAN: THE JIRO KUWATA BATMANGA VOL. 1 collects the first nineteen chapters.

Adventures In Oz Volume 1
In the marvelous land of Oz, magic is always around the next corner. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and their many friends can't stop plunging into one adventure after another. - Wonder abounds in this collection by award-winning artist Eric Shanower.

Invaders Classic: The Complete Collection Volume 2
Published in the 1970s, set in the 1940s, the Invaders was Marvel's best and brightest retro revival of the Golden Age heroes of World War II...and now, the series is collected across two massive volumes! Captain America, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, plus scrappy sidekicks Bucky and Toro first banded together when the United States entered WWII! Now, relive the heroes' untold tales as they face the evil Axis powers, and battle Scarlet Scarab, Master Man, Teutonic Knight, Iron Cross, Super-Axis and more!

COLLECTING: Invaders (1975) 23-41, Invaders (1993) 1-4, Giant-Size Invaders 2, What If? (1977) 4