Rare James Bond: You Only Live Twice pictures

Beatles Magical Mystery tour and documentary to air on PBS

PBS will air the recent BBC making-of documentary about the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" film, plus the film itself on Dec. 14 as part of its "Great Performances" series. The film was released in remastered form on DVD last month.

From the press release:

The documentary chronicles the behind-the-scenes story of the making of the film and provides context for “the summer of love” era that set the scene for its production. This greatest Beatles story never told is packed with unseen footage and features contributions from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Martin Scorsese, Peter Fonda and Terry Gilliam, among others.

 

Rare James Bond: Thunderball pictures

Pop stuff: What I'm reading, watching, hearing, etc.

James Bond: Skyfall. My son and I had a chance to see this (in Big-D!) last weekend and it was a blast! Not as grim as Daniel Craig's first Bond outing, not as silly as those of Roger Moore, this serves up everything in the proper  proportions: Action, humor, suspense and -- still something a bit new for Bond -- deeply felt emotion. More than any Bond film, we get under OO7's skin as he copes with problems he can't simply shoot away (although, he can still dispatch with many of his challenges that way). We also get a better sense of what makes him tick.

Along the way we get a wild opening chase sequence that I won't ruin by trying to describe, other to say it's hilarious, jaw-dropping and goes on and on (in a good way); a new Moneypenny; great performances by Dame Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney; and a delightfully creepy villain played by Javier Bardem, who seems to adopt a new, weird hairdo in every film he's in these days.

Everyone likes to list his or her favorite James Bond actors. On my list, I'd put Sean Connery first, followed closely by Craig. He's great in this role and has many of the same characteristics that made Connery so attractive: He's funny, charming, tough and lethal.

"Skyfall" is also among the better Bond films I've seen. It's certainly one of the best post-Connery entries in the series.

Seeing as how this is 007's 50th year on screen, it was also nice to see a few tributes to the old films in this new one. I won't spoil those, either.

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Russ Cochran's Sunday Funnies. I'm sure you can all  relate: What with being a husband and dad and having a full-time job and other projects on my plate, it sometimes takes a while to get around to reading some of the great stuff that piles up around here. But lately, I've had a chance to dive into these bundled treasures of vintage Sunday comics compiled by famed comics historian and collector Russ Cochran.

This is great stuff that really gives one a sense of what it must've been like to be a kid in the 30s and 40s, when the Sunday newspaper delivered beautifully illustrated adventures and humor in the form of Tarzan, Frank Goodwin's Connie, Buck Rogers, Alley Oop, Frank King's Gasoline Alley and more.

Drawing on the legendary Bill Blackbeard archives and other sources of vintage comics, Cochran has printed well-chosen selections from these strips and more in a huge broadsheet format. If you sit in a chair and open up these pages, you'll disappear behind them. And that's what's so cool, you really get enveloped in the strips and can appreciate, say Hal Foster's Tarzan art, up close as never before.

Each "issue" of the Sunday Funnies includes three broadsheet sections bundled in plastic. The paper is durable and the art and colors are nice and clear, yet shot from original newspapers. I have two issues, not sure if the third is out, yet, and I've purchased them online via my comics retailer.  But you can order directly from Russ here.

Coming up: Steve Canyon Volume 3: 1951-1952

Out March 12, 2013

336 pages.

Coming up: Fall Guy For Murder And Other Stories by Johnny Craig

Out April 20, 2013: The first collection to ever showcase the chronological run of Johnny Craig’s crisp, elegantly drawn Crime SuspenStories adds noir to the EC Comics library.

Surrounded by the ornate, retro, proto-splatter horror graphics of Jack Davis and Graham Ingels and the slick, futuristic sci-fi stylings of Wally Wood and Al Williamson, EC Comics superstar Johnny Craig stood out with his elegant, crisp, contemporary graphic style. And nowhere did this style work more beautifully than in the dozens of superb crime comics he wrote and drew for EC, mostly in Crime SuspenStories (for which he handled the cover and lead-story duties for most of its run).

Featuring escaped convicts, murderous husbands and wives, blackmailing maids, scheming nurses, executioners, time bombs, private dicks, and the occasional hatchet killer, the 22 stories in this book—all written and drawn by Craig—comprise a perfect encapsulation of the very best kind of noir writing, stunningly executed (in more than one sense of the word!) by one of the great cartoonists of his (or any) era. And all in eight pages per story! Fall Guy For Murder and other Stories is the first collection to showcase the chronological run of Craig’s Crime SuspenStories tales in one criminally convenient package, supplemented with several fascinating essays and informative historical notes on the stories.

BBC specials highlight Kinks and Stones radio appearances

The BBC is presenting some of its vintage recordings of pop groups performing, and being interviewed, live in the studio. Click the links to listen. The Kinks show is available now, but will vanish in a couple of days. The Stones show isn't up yet, last I checked.

Kinks on the BBC.

Rolling Stones on the BBC.

And now a word from Captain Marvel

Rare James Bond: From Russia with Love pictures

New comics 11/14/12: Classic Iron Man figure; Crime Does Not Pay Archives 3; Savage Sword of Conan 12; Fantastic Four Masterworks 14; Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking; Fantagraphics Mickey Mouse; Donald Duck Christmas for Shacktown

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.


Dark Horse Deluxe Classic Marvel Characters Statue #3: Iron Man


Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 3


The Savage Sword of Conan Volume 12


Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four - Volume 14


Charlie Brown's Christmas Stocking


Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Vols. 3 & 4 Collector's Box Set (Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse)


Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 4: "House Of The Seven Haunts!" (Vol. 4)  (Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse)


Walt Disney's Donald Duck Vol. 2: "A Christmas For Shacktown" (Vol. 2)  (The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library)

DC Comics February 2013 solicitations

Highlights from DC Comics' February releases. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.


THE JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS VOL. 2
Written by JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON, MICHAEL FLEISCHER, JOEY CAVALIERI and others
Art by JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON, MIKE ROYER, WALLACE WOOD and others
Cover by JACK KIRBY
On sale APRIL 17 • 624 pg, FC, $39.99 US
• Collecting more of Jack Kirby’s epic tales from the 1970s and 1980s starring The Sandman, The Justice League, Atlas and many more.
• Collects BLACK MAGIC #1-9, 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL #1, 5 and 6, KUNG FU FIGHTER #3, THE SANDMAN #1-6, DC COMICS PRESENTS #84, SUPER POWERS VOL.1 #1-5 and SUPER POWERS VOL. 2 #1-6, and KOBRA #1.


CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 6
Written by GERRY CONWAY and ROY THOMAS
Art by GEORGE PEREZ, KEITH POLLARD, DON HECK and others
Cover by GEORGE PEREZ
On sale MARCH 20 • 208 pg, FC, $19.99 US
• The JLA meet the JSA in this new collection in which the teams face Gorilla Grodd and the Secret Society of Super-Villains and battle the Crime Syndicate and the the Crime Champions of Earth-1.
• Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #195-197, 207-209 and 219-220.
  

THE NEW TEEN TITANS OMNIBUS VOL. 3
Written by MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PEREZ
Art by GEORGE PEREZ, ROMEO TANGHAL, DAN JURGENS, MIKE DeCARLO, STEVE RUDE, AL GORDON, CARMINE INFANTINO, RICH BUCKLER, BOB SMITH, DICK GIORDANO, RON RANDALL, CHUCK PATTON and JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ
Cover by GEORGE PEREZ
On sale APRIL 3 • 792 pg, FC, $75.00 US
• In this third massive collection of the hit 1980s series from the acclaimed team of writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, the Teen battle the villainy of H.I.V.E., face the evil Dr. Light, witness the trial of Deathstroke, and try to rescue the dark hero known as Raven from her own father, Trigon.
• Collects TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #45- 61 and 66-67, NEW TEEN TITANS #38, NEW TEEN TITANS #1-6 and SECRET ORIGINS ANNUAL #3. 

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF TOMORROW ARCHIVES VOL. 3
Written by OTTO BINDER, JERRY SIEGEL and others • Art by WAYNE BORING, CURT SWAN and others • Cover by CURT SWAN
Advance solicit • On sale JULY 24 • 408 pg, FC, $75.00 US
• In these tales from the 1960s, Superman meets a super outlaw from Krypton, fights Titano the Super-Ape, battles Lex Luthor and more!
• Collects SUPERMAN #132-139 and stories from ACTION COMICS #255-266. 


SHOWCASE PRESENTS: SUPERMAN FAMILY VOL. 4
Written by OTTO BINDER, ROBERT BERNSTEIN, JERRY SIEGEL and others
Art by CURT SWAN, KURT SCHAFFENBERGER and others
Cover by CURT SWAN and STAN KAYE
On sale MARCH 20 • 520 pg, B&W, $19.99 US
• In these 1960s stories, Jimmy Olsen becomes “The Giant Turtle Man of Metropolis” and more. Plus, Lois Lane marries Astounding Man!
• Collecting SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #45-53 and SUPERMAN’S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE #17-26.