DVD new releases Jan. 17, 2012: Merlin, Mad, Adam 12, more!

New DVD releases of note. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.


Merlin: The Complete Third Season


Adam 12: Season Six


Belle de Jour (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]


Mad: Season 1 Pt. 2

Avengers TV show chess board intro: Steed and Peel

The Avengers' Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee honored at the 1964 Royal Variety Club awards

Other honorees at this ceremony included the Beatles and Sean Connery.

Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale on "The Avengers"

Avengers TV series intro with Honor Blackman, 1962

Titan Books announces Simon and Kirby sci-fi and horror collections

Titan Books continues its awesome series of hardcover books collecting the work of comic book pioneers Joe Simon and Jack Kirby with two new editions planned for this fall and early next year.

Details:

The Simon and Kirby Library: Science Fiction will span more than 20 years, beginning with the first stories Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ever produced together (beginning in June 1940)—their ten-issue run of Blue Bolt adventures. Then the Cold War years will be represented by Race For the Moon, featuring pencils by Kirby and inked artwork by comic book legends Reed Crandall, Angelo Torres, and Al Williamson.

The introduction for the volume will be written by Dave Gibbons, the award-winning co-creator and illustrator of Watchmen.

“Joe was one of the industry’s greatest innovators—he commissioned stories from some of the greatest talents of the time,” series editor Steve Saffel noted. “Thanks to his efforts, we have exclusive access to more than 80 pages of original artwork from the 1950s. Stories by all four artists will appear in all of their stunning detail. This was a book Joe wanted the world to see.

“The first Blue Bolt story was especially important to Joe,” Saffel continued. “He did it entirely on his own—before he and Kirby began working together—yet it wasn’t included in any earlier reprints of the series. Our mission is to release their entire run, complete for the first time ever.”

Other rarities from both decades will be included, and as a bonus for readers, the volume will feature stories illustrated by Crandall, Torres, and Williamson—without Kirby.

In 2013, the fifth volume—The Simon and Kirby Library: Horror—will collect the duo’s terrifying stories from the acclaimed Black Magic title, made infamous when the series was singled-out on national television by the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. The volume will also collect the stories they produced for the title Strange World of Your Dreams.

“It’s a thrill to be a New York Times bestseller for the first time in my life,” Joe Simon said shortly before his death. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to breathe new energy into the work Jack and I did throughout our careers.”

“This is an honor for us, to be able to continue the ambitious publishing program we put together with Joe,” Titan Books Publisher Nick Landau said. “Relationships like that come once-in-a-lifetime, and we’ll make every effort to make certain these next two releases are books he would once again be proud of.”

The Simon and Kirby Library editions are restored by Harry Mendryk and produced by Titan Books under agreements with the Joe Simon and the Jack Kirby Estates. As such, they are the only restorations of these stories authorized by both. Previous editions have included The Best of Simon and Kirby, The Simon and Kirby Library: Crime and The Simon and Kirby Library: Superheroes.

UK Avengers TV show on DVD - complete list

Avengers on DVD complete list:

Complete Emma Peel Mega-Set
The Avengers '63, Set 1
The Avengers '63, Set 2
The Avengers '63 Set 3
The Avengers '63 Set 4
The Avengers '64, Set 1
The Avengers '64, Set 2
The Avengers '65 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2
The Avengers '65 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4
The Avengers '66 - Set 1, Vol. 1 & 2
The Avengers '66 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4
The Avengers '67 - Set 1, Vols. 1 & 2
The Avengers '67 - Set 2, Vols. 3 & 4
The Avengers '67 - Set 3, Vols. 5 & 6
The Avengers '67 - Set 4, Vols. 7 & 8
The Avengers '68 Set 1
The Avengers '68 Set 2
The Avengers '68, Set 3
The Avengers '68 Set 4The Avengers '68 Set 5

New Avengers on DVD

New Avengers '76
New Avengers '77

Pop culture roundup: Ringo Starr, Jim Aparo, Stan Lee, James Bond, Simonson, Kaluta!

Hear Ringo Starr promotes his upcoming album, Ringo 2012, in a BBC Radio 2 interview.

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It's cowboys vs. aliens in a 1960s Charlton Comics story by Denny O'Neill and Jim Aparo. Check it out at Diversions of the Groovy Kind.

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The president of the Royal Society of Chemistry in Britain says the evil schemes of villains depicted in James Bond movies have spoiled the progress of nuclear energy and planted fears in the public's imagination.

"It is not at all surprising that the public at home and abroad are sceptical,"David Phillips told the BBC. But he said the society believed "nuclear power has to be part of the future national energy mix, in which it plays a major role, complemented by renewable sources. Fossil fuels have to be eradicated for people to live in a healthy environment."

"Let's say yes to nuclear and no to Dr No's nonsense," he added.

On the other hand:

"Although James Bond is fiction, the truth is that nuclear power is dangerous, dirty and unsafe," Penny Kemp, spokesperson for the Green party said. "It is improbable to think that people's perceptions have been influenced solely by The World is Not Enough, but this film came after the Chernobyl disaster so the film was merely picking up on a real fear people have of nuclear power. And rightly so."

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Stan Lee will narrate two "storybook apps" for young readers based on the Marvel Comics adventures of Spider-Man and the Avengers.

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The great Walt Simonson is set to pencil a six-issue arc of Marvel Comics' Avengers series starting in April.

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The Comic Book Catacombs presents a nice adventure featuring Joe Kubert's Tor, from 1954.

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Golden Age Comic Book Stories presents some lovely, creepy splash pages done for DC Comics horror titles by the wonderful Michael W. Kaluta. We need a good, color reprint collection of this stuff.

Avengers TV show intro 1965

Avengers Emma Peel/Diana Rigg gallery 1

Best Avengers TV show sites on the Web

Here's a roundup of some of the best Avengers sites we could find!

The Avengers Forever
A comprehensive history of the show featuring the exploits of John Steed and assorted sidekicks (Emma Peel, hubba, hubba!). Includes episode guides, cast information, sets and locations, timeline, along with info and reviews/news about merchandise such as DVDs and books.

The Avengers: Dead Duck
A comprehensive look at 60s news articles about the program, along with toys and other merchandising tie-ins to the show.

The Avengers TV Show Mailing List
Sign up for regular fan dispatches here.

Avengers Wikipedia entry
A nice overview of the show's history.

The AvengersArtland
Graphic novel Avengers stories online.

Avengers Declassified
News and history about the show.

Avengers on the Radio
A history of the Avengers radio series that aired only in South Africa from 1971-73.

Avengers Deadline
Focused on press coverage and clippings about the show.

A Guide to Avengerland
Information about the various locations featured in the Avengers series, along with the Prisoner, Persuaders, Saint, Danger Man and other Britcult shows.

Avengers Fan Forum
Online gathering place and discussion board for fans of the show.

BBC Radio this week

Click the links to hear the following programs on demand:

Bassey! 
Dame Shirley Bassey, 'The Girl from Tiger Bay', tells her story to Paul Sexton

London Soundscape 
Charles Hazlewood and Mick Jones lead an impressionistic portrait of London.

Bowie at the Beeb 
Andy Peebles looks back at the many radio sessions Bowie recorded at the BBC from 1969-72.

Golden Years: The David Bowie Story 
Mark Goodier's 2000 documentary exploring David Bowie's extraordinary career.

E Nesbit - The Story of the Amulet 
Five children go back in time to solve the mystery of an ancient lucky charm.

Herge's The Adventures of Tintin 
Adaptations of Herge's classic cartoon adventures

Jungle Book 
The story by Rudyard Kipling is dramatised by Michelene Wandor

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End 
Surreal saga of a dynasty with Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band member Vivian Stanshall

The Goon Show 
Classic material from one of the all-time radio comedy greats

The Michael Bentine Show 
Comedy programme with Goon Show-founder Michael Bentine

Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman: Kinky Boots

A video created for this 1964 song by "The Avengers" stars.

Pop focus: The Avengers TV series

Over the next few days we'll be taking a look at the cult British TV show "The Avengers." Stay tuned for videos, link listings and pics of Steed, Peel, Gale and the gang!