Our picks this month. Click the links to order from Amazon.
A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a place at the Round Table, only to find that he’s too late. King Arthur died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table are left.
The survivors aren’t the heroes of legend like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Table, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight, and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill.
But it's up to them to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance, even as God abandons Britain and the fairies and old gods return, led by Morgan le Fay. They must reclaim Excalibur and make this ruined world whole again—but first they'll have to solve the mystery of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell.
The first major Arthurian epic of the new millennium, The Bright Sword is steeped in tradition, complete with duels and quests, battles and tournaments, magic swords and Fisher Kings. It's also a story about imperfect men and women, full of strength and pain, trying to reforge a broken land in spite of being broken themselves.
This lavishly illustrated oral history of the Star Trek phenomenon covers the exploits of the original crew across three seasons of live action television, two seasons of animated adventures, and the six movies.
Featuring interview material with all seven regular cast members -- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Nichelle Nichols – this volume also includes contributions from guest stars, writers, and directors.
Highlights include:
Featuring interview material with all seven regular cast members -- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Nichelle Nichols – this volume also includes contributions from guest stars, writers, and directors.
Highlights include:
- Gene Roddenberry talking about Star Trek’s difficult start and why Star Trek had to “entertain or go off the air.”
- Story editor D. C. Fontana on shaping some of the best-loved episodes and her part in establishing the enduring character of Mr. Spock.
- Why William Shatner wanted Star Trek to “have more humor and be more fun.”
- Leonard Nimoy discussing how Spock emerged from being a co-star to a breakout iconic character.
- DeForest Kelley on how the fractious relationship between Doctor McCoy and Mr. Spock was developed.
- Nichelle Nichols on the overwhelming reaction to Uhura around the world.
- Guest star William Campbell on his role in “The Squire of Gothos” and the dangers of the Star Trek set!
- The unusual circumstances that led to a first time writer scripting the award-winning episode, “The Tholian Web”.
- George Takei on how Leonard Nimoy stood up for his crewmates during the making of Star Trek: The Animated Series and why Sulu is a pioneering character.
- Majel Barrett Roddenberry on the secret ingredient that has made Star Trek endure.
- William Shatner on the struggle to make Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The Beatles A Hard Day's Night & More covers the Beatles first film and its related soundtrack albums from the British, American and Canadian perspectives. And, as the title implies, there is much more.
The book also covers the records released from the Beatles 1961 Hamburg recordings, as well as the other singles and albums released from February through October of 1964. The book also contains chapters on the EMI recording sessions for the singles and albums, and the album covers. And, like the other books in the Beatles Album Series, the book contains chapters on the news, music and films of the era to place the Beatles debut film and its related records in their proper context.
And, of course, fan recollections of seeing the film A Hard Day's Night and listening to its music. The Beatles A Hard Day's Night & More, together with its companion book The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles, provide the full story of the records and events that fueled and maintained the first phase of Beatlemania.
It is a 9" x 9" hardcover book to match the other books in Bruce Spizer' s Beatles Album Series.
Phyllis Coates was a Texas beauty with grace and a drive to succeed. Her introduction to show business was at seven years old when she impersonated Shirley Temple on stage. As an adult, she had to change her original name (Gypsie Ann Stell) to break into the movies at the end of the studio system.
Despite over 140 film and television credits, she is best remembered for her characterization as “Lois Lane” in the first season of the Adventures of Superman--the iconic program that burst through family living rooms with action, justice, and surrealism. She is synonymous with early television in programs such as: The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Abbott and Costello Show, Topper, Death Valley Days, Lassie, Leave It to Beaver, Gunsmoke, The Untouchables, Rawhide, and Perry Mason. Phyllis also appeared in cult classic films: Superman and the Mole Men, I was a Teenage Frankenstein, Blues Busters, dozens of westerns, and the Behind the Eight Ball short film series. This biography divulges her friendship with George Reeves and her own hardships in life that would require a superwoman to get through. Feisty Phyllis stands as a true role-model and pioneer in her field, but she wasn’t all peaches and scream.
West Germany, 1968. Like everywhere else in the Western world, the young generation is pushing for radical change, still suffering the after-effects of the Second World War. Many stream out of the lecture halls and onto the streets. Some into the underground. And some into the practice basements, in search of the soundtrack of the movement.
The unique and adventurous sounds that German bands like Can, Neu!, Amon Düül, Popul Vuh, Tangerine Dream, Faust, Cluster or Kraftwerk produced back then, now known as Krautrock, are considered a blueprint for modern rock music. And the stream of their creative admirers and continuators has been constantly widening since the first fans like David Bowie and Iggy Pop: whether Blur, Aphex Twin, Sonic Youth, Radiohead or the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
In Neu Klang, Christoph Dallach interviews its pioneers, including Irmin Schmidt, Jaki Liebezeit and Holger Czukay of CAN; Neu!'s Michael Rother; Dieter Moebius of Cluster; Klaus Schulze of Tangerine Dream; Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and many others. Their answers combine to form an oral history that points far beyond the individual band histories: on the one hand, into the past, to Nazi teachers, post-war parental homes, free jazz, terrorism, LSD and extremely long hair; but just as much into the future, to global recognition, myth-making, techno or post-rock.
Holy phenomenon! In the way-out year of 1966, the action comedy “Batman” starring Adam West premiered and triggered a tsunami of super swag, including toys, games, Halloween costumes, puppets, action figures, and lunch boxes. Meanwhile, still more costumed avengers sprang forth on TV (“The Green Hornet,” “Ultraman”), in movies (“The Wild World of Batwoman,” “Rat Pfink and Boo Boo”), and in animation (“Space Ghost,” “The Marvel Super Heroes”).
“Zowie!” traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since. This 192-page hardcover, in pop art colors that conjure the period, features interviews with the TV stars (West, Burt Ward, Yvonne Craig, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Julie Newmar, Van Williams), the artists behind the comics (Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella), and others.
A 1982 DC Comics house ad for the first issue of Arion, Lord of Atlantis proclaimed, “Written by Paul Kupperberg! One of DC’s Most Versatile Writers!”
The next forty years of his career would confirm the ad’s label as the writer’s resume filled with credits that covered the spectrum of genres, mediums, and characters, from superheroes to romance, Batman to Betty and Veronica, Superman to Scooby Doo, and the Justice League to Johnny Bravo.
A one-time editor for DC Comics and the fake news tabloid Weekly World News, he is the creator of Arion, Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, as well as the writer of the Eisner and Harvey Award nominated Life with Archie series, including the groundbreaking “Marriage of Kevin Keller” and “Death of Archie” storylines. He has also written more than three dozen books of fiction and nonfiction for kids and adults, numerous short stories, humor, color and activity books, online animation...even Mad Libs.
When the young writer asked veteran DC Comics Silver Age scribe Bob Haney the trick to writing a good comic book story, the co-creator of The Teen Titans and Metamorpho told him, “There’s no trick. You just write them one page at a time, panel by panel.”
Countless panels later, Kupperberg looks back at his secret origin as a comic book fan and his Bronze Age transformation into a working comic book professional.
Featuring over 300 images of Super Heroes and Super Villains from the acclaimed Marvel Value Stamps, this 2025 daily desk calendar includes reproductions of the original 1974 and 1975 stamp series, alongside later reissues of the stamps and other related ephemera.
Comments
Post a Comment