Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Season 2 Return Preview


Today's best thing ever: Jeff Bridges' "Sleeping Tapes"



New Brian Wilson album - No Pier Pressure - out in April

A release date and details on Brian Wilson's long-awaited new solo album have emerged.

No Pier Pressure, which features guest vocals from Zooey Deschanel and M Ward,  Fun's Nate Ruess, country singer Kacey Musgraves and Wilson's former Beach Boys bandmates Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin, will be out April 6.

There's only a spendy "import" version of the album listed on Amazon U.S. We'll keep you posted when the domestic release pops up.

Here's the track list:
'This Beautiful Day'
'Runaway Dancer' [featuring Sebu Simonian]
'What Ever Happened' [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]
'On The Island' [featuring She & Him]
'Our Special Love' [featuring Peter Hollens]
'The Right Time' [featuring Al Jardine and David Marks]
'Guess You Had To Be There' [featuring Kacey Musgraves]
'Tell Me Why' [featuring Al Jardine]
'Sail Away' [featuring Blondie Chaplin and Al Jardine]
'One Kind Of Love'
'Saturday Night' [featuring Nate Ruess]
'The Last Song'
'Half Moon Bay'

Cool pics from Jack Kirby exhibition in France

The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center has posted a bunch of pics from a Kirby retrospective presented at Angoulême 42nd International Comic Festival.

We need to honor Kirby and other comics pioneers with exhibitions like this in our nation.


Pop Culture Roundup: David Tennant; Norm Breyfogle

Former Dr. Who David Tennant follows in the footsteps of Christopher Eccleson and Karen Gillan to portray a Marvel Comics villain. He'll star as Zebediah Killgrave, a.k.a. the Purple Man on the studio's upcoming Netflix series, "Jessica Jones."
Killgrave, the Yugoslavian spy, was accidentally exposed to a chemical that turned his skin permanently purple and also gave him the ability to control others at will. He first appeared as a villain to Daredevil but his history with Jessica Jones is much darker and far more controversial. He kidnapped her while she was the superhero Jewel and forced her to do terrible things.

Her life as a superhero meets a tragic end, so the series will explore Jones while she rebuilds her life as a detective. This hopefully means any references to Killgrave and Jones’ past will be just that – references. Perhaps Killgrave will resurface and become a villain again but either way the writers will have to handle this with care, given the controversial realities of Killgrave in the comics.

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Fans of comics artist Norm Breyfogle have been rallying DC Comics to release a collection of  his Batman work in hopes it will generate attention and royalties for Breyfogle in the wake of a stroke. Now such a collection is on the way.
....DC Comics appears to have rushed solicitation of Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle, Vol. 1.
 
The 54-year-old artist was hospitalized in mid-December following a stroke that paralyzed his left side, including his drawing hand. Breyfogle has no health insurance, and his savings was eaten away by the hospital stay, leading his brother and sister-in-law to launch an online fundraising campaign to help pay for months of care and physical therapy.


Fab Friday: Vintage Beatles pics

Visit our sister blog, the Glass Onion Beatles Journal, for news, reviews, perspective and history.















New music I like: Public Service Broadcasting "Gagarin"

British group puts music to news reels and educational films. It's latest focuses on the space race.




Pop Artifacts: Vintage Fantastic Four puzzles


New comics Jan. 28, 2015: Vault of Horror; Savage Sword of Conan; Eerie; Blue Beetle; Nick Fury; Love and Rockets

Of note this week. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.


The EC Archives: Vault of Horror Volume 4
Dark Horse Comics brings even more macabrely majestic stories from the Vault! This terrifying tome has been digitally recolored--using Marie Severin's original palette as a guide--and features stories drawn by all-star comic artists Johnny Craig, Graham Ingels, Joe Orlando, Jack Davis, Jack Kamen, Graham Ingels, and George Evans!


Savage Sword of Conan Volume 18
"My life is my own to live." Taken prisoner in farflung Zamora, Conan is discovered to resemble the land's demi-god of legend, prophesied to return one day to champion Zamora in war. Conan is paid handsomely to lead "his" people but may find that battle against countless enemies is to be preferred to facing the wrath of an angry god!
The Savage Sword of Conan features over 500 pages of Conan tales never-before collected and out of print for over twenty years!


Eerie Archives Volume 18
Eerie Archives Volume 18 celebrates the unique horror work of Richard Corben. In addition to running some of the best Corben shorts from the seventies, this volume also includes a new interview between Corben and longtime collaborator José Villarrubia! Horror masters Bruce Jones, Bernie Wrightson, and Alex Nino also contribute! Collects Eerie #86-#89!
•   Exclusive new Richard Corben interview!


Showcase Presents: Blue Beetle
This value-priced title collects the entire 24-issue run of BLUE BEETLE from the 1980s, including the Beetle's battles against DC Universe villains Chronos and Dr. Alchemy. Includes appearances by The Question and the Teen Titans.
Collects BLUE BEETLE #1-24.


Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Classic Volume 2
There's never a dull day at S.H.I.E.L.D. Not when there's the latest Helicarrier to launch and fresh agents to whip into shape. And definitely not when Madame Hydra lures Nick Fury and the team to her new base, where the Yellow Claw lies in wait! But it's not all bad news - not when Nick's staunchest ally, a certain death defying dependable, makes his glorious return! If the S.H.I.E.L.D. team can survive their Hydra Affair, they'll face an Apogee of Disaster in space when the nightmare named Lohan goes techno-viral. Good thing the Fantastic Four are on hand to lend their extraterrestrial expertise! The deadliest threats of all lie in wait though, when Baron Von Strucker is reborn - at the hands of the Red Skull!
COLLECTING: Nick Fury , Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1989) 12-23


John Cullen Murphy's Big Ben Bolt Volume 1
Classic Comics Press is pleased to present the first volume of Big Ben Bolt, created by John Cullen Murphy (Prince Valiant) and Elliot Caplin (The Heart of Juliet Jones, Abbie and Slats, Long Sam). Debuting in American newspapers on February 20, 1950, Big Ben Bolt appeared in more than 200 papers nationwide and garnered world-wide recognition in its 28 year run. Volume One reprints dailies from the comic strip s beginning to May 24,1952 and includes an introduction by Murphy s son, Cullen Murphy, biographical information and more!


Ofelia: A Love and Rockets Book
In the latest Gilbert Hernandez volume of the Love and Rockets library series, Ofelia threatens to write a book about Luba, and Fritz and Pipo fall in love.
In Ofelia, the sisters, the kids, and the cousins are all settled comfortably in California after leaving Palomar in Luba and Her Family. Luba and her cousin Ofelia’s relationship has always been fraught, but when Ofelia threatens to write a book about Luba, past memories, secrets, resentments, and pain resurface. Meanwhile, Luba’s children—genius Socorro, recently out-and-proud Doralis, and prickly Maricela—show that a talent for trouble may be hereditary. Luba’s sisters, Fritz and Petra, swap lovers (as usual), but . . . are Fritz and family friend Pipo sittin’ in a tree? These vividly drawn characters are charged with Hernandez’s trademark complexity; they live, love, age, fight— and die—in this sweeping, multi-generational saga. Black & white