So long, Bob Dorough, jazz singer, Schoolhouse Rock composer

Jazz singer Bob Dorough, who composed a series of educational tunes beloved by the 1970s generation, died this week at age 94.

Along with collaborating with the likes of Miles Davis in the jazz world, Dorough wrote the tunes for the Saturday morning "Schoolhouse Rock!" cartoon shorts that aired on ABC during the 1970s and 80s, such as "Conjunction Junction," "Three is a Magic Number" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here."

Here's Dorough performing one of his classics:


Video: Benedict Cumberbatch's Tom Holland impression is PERFECT.

New Comics Day April 22, 2018: Bug; Captain America

Bug! The Adventures of Forager

Captain America Epic Collection: The Bloodstone Hunt

Cool! A Groot pin for Earth Day

Earth Day is this weekend and the folks at Mondo have revealed a limited-edition Groot pin in celebration, and to raise some money.

... we're thrilled to participate in the 9th Annual Austin Give 5% to Mother Earth campaign, which teams up with businesses to support local environmental non-profits. We’re donating 5% of all website sales today to help support the cause, plus we have an enamel pin of everyone's favorite music-loving, galaxy-saving, regenerating tree - Groot.
Find out more about Austin Give 5% to Mother Earth (aka Austin Give 5) hereThe Earth Day Special Edition Groot Enamel Pin is available now on mondotees.com.

New Music Friday April 20, 2018: The Who; Pete Townshend; Neil Young; Flaming Lips; Todd Rundgren and Utopia; Donna Summer

The Who - Live at the Fillmore East 1968


Pete Townshend: Who Came First 45th Anniversary Expanded Edition

Neil Young - Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live

Scratching the Door: The First Recordings of the Flaming Lips

Todd Rundgren and Utopia - The Road To Utopia-The Complete Recordings 1974-82 Original Recording Masters

Donna Summer - Summer: The Original Hits





Pop Culture Roundup: Post-punk; Spielberg's Blackhawk; Superman on Snapchat; MLK mystery artist

A cool print celebrates the graphics of the 1980s post-punk sound.


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Steven Spielberg plans a big-screen adaptation of the Blackhawk comic books series, which dates back to the early 1940s and has been revived by DC numerous times since then.

The series, which tells the story of a a wartime air squadron led by the title character, spawned a 15-chapter movie serial in 1952 that starred one-time Superman actor Kirk Alan in the title role.


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Evidently "Snapchat" is something the kids are "into" and now you can get Superman-themed "lenses"  and "emojis" for it. "Whatever."


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The identity of the uncredited artist who drew a 1957 comic book biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., is a longtime mystery, now solved.

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Former Python Michal Palin pens an essay in tribute of his comedy hero, Spike Milligan.





TwoMorrows publishes expanded, hardcover edition of "The Complete Jack Kirby Checklist"

You can order it here.

Jack Kirby Checklist: Centennial Edition
Limited Edition Hardcover (only 1000 copies)
 

Now 270 pages (more than DOUBLE the size of the 2008 Gold Edition shown with it here). We originally planned for 256 pages, but simply couldn't fit it all in, so we sprang for those extra pages at no extra cost to you. 

This is truly definitive: fully updated through Jack's 100th birthday in August 2017, with detailed listings of all of Kirby’s published work, reprints, magazines, books, foreign editions, newspaper strips, fine art and collages, fanzines, essays, interviews, portfolios, posters, radio and TV appearances, and even Jack’s unpublished work! 




Time Capsule: Cream live in Detroit


Vintage Fu Manchu paperbacks













Review: "Isle of Dogs"



Wes Anderson's films are so singular in their stylistic obsessions and quirks that it's amazing he's attained the large-ish following he enjoys today.

The key to his films' appeal, I think,  is their quirkiness but also Anderson's humor and his well-defined, oddball-but-engaging characters. Weird as they are, you like these people.

"Isle of Dogs," however, is the first of Anderson's films I can recall where the characters don't draw me in. It's not that they aren't appealing, but I didn't get to like them as much as, say, those in "Moonrise Kingdom," "The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou" or "Rushmore."

Part of the challenge is that this new film is a blend of stop-motion and traditional animation. Yet Anderson's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," also animated, had no trouble making it's characters instantly engaging and likable.

"Isle of Dogs" looks great. I was attracted to its weird mix of 1950s-60s design and modern tech and the use of what look like vintage 1960s Japanese action figure/dollls as the film's human characters. The lead human character, Atari, a boy pilot dressed in a shiny, G.I.-style astronaut outfit, looks supercool.

And I love dogs, of which there are many in this movie. They all look cute and have endearing, quirky personalities (along with voices supplied by Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson and others), yet none of them, or Atari or any of the other humans, seemed entirely real to me.

Anderson doesn't quite breathe life into his creations here and, as a result, I became fixated on the film's incredible craft. As in all his films, the director's crazy attention to detail, the trademark symmetry of his staging and camera work and the overall lovely design of everything on screen came to the fore. The story and action, however, seemed remote, like watching an extremely witty and imaginative child playing with toys. Ultimately, it's a film I appreciated more than enjoyed.