Comic art: John Romita and Frank Giacoia original cover art for Amazing Spider-Man #100


So long, Jerry Van Dyke

Comic actor, musician Jerry Van Dyke died Friday at age 86. He was the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke and made several memorable appearances on the "Dick Van Dyke Show" in the 1960s. Later, he starred in the the ABC series, "Coach." I always got a kick out of his guest appearances alongside his brother. Variety has a full story here.






Marc Bolan of T. Rex interviews Stan Lee, 1975

This is a radio interview, unfortunately, but captures Stan interviewed by one of the UK's biggest pop stars during a visit to promote Marvel's UK branch.

Video find: Jim Henson on making Muppets



Thirty Minutes with Stan Lee (circa 1975)

Video find: Jim Henson "Munchos" ad



New music releases: Beach Boys

Notable releases. Click the links to order from Amazon.











Pop Culture Roundup: DC Comics 1978; Rick Hall; Rose Marie; Stretch Armstrong

Via Bully: DC Comics' 1978 calendar, which may be all too relevant in our current times.


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NPR remembers Rick Hall, great producer at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

Hall [produced] some of the most indelible soul and R&B recordings of the century: Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," Etta James' cover of "Tell Mama" (the original version of which was also recorded at FAME), Otis Redding's "You Left the Water Running" and Wilson Pickett's cover of "Mustang Sally" among them.

Duane Allman, co-founder of The Allman Brothers, famously camped out near Hall's studio in the hopes of catching a break — which he did when Hall put him on Wilson Pickett's album Hey Jude, which drew international attention for Allman.


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I was on break when the sad news about Rose Marie's passing arrived. Her friend Mark Evanier has this nice remembrance of the "Dick Van Dyke Show" star.


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Via Diversions of the Groovy Kind: Did you get any of these toys for Christmas?


Video find: DC Comics promotional film from 1984

Via Mark Evanier. If you read DC Comics at the time, there will be a lot of familiar names here, and faces to put them to.

Coming up: Ron Wood & Ronnie Lane "Mahoney's Last Stand" soundtrack


Out Feb. 2. Order from Amazon now.

Details:

What do two Faces do when their lead singer (bon vivant Rod Stewart) doesn’t show up for the Ooh La La recording sessions? They work on a soundtrack for an obscure film by actor and friend Alexis Kanner (most famous for his guest roles on the late-‘60s TV series The Prisoner), and draft the uppermost rank of British rock royalty to play on it!

Indeed, given the pedigree of the personnel on this project, it is rather stunning how obscure this 1976 album from Faces members Ron Wood and Ronnie Lane remains, having only been issued on CD abroad and for a brief time at that; one suspects it has much to do with the flop of the film (which appears to have only been screened at the Canadian Film Festival), and the fact that the original LP was released four years after it was recorded in 1972.

Just listen to the roll call of session men on Mahoney’s Last Stand, which was produced by Glyn Johns, himself a British rock and roll noble of good standing and fresh from producing Paul McCartney and Wings’ Red Rose Speedway when he worked on this album: Pete Townshend (guitar and “special electronic effects”), Blind Faith and Family member Rick Grech, fellow Faces Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, soon-to-be fellow (for Wood) Rolling Stones habitués Ian Stewart, Bobby Keys, and Jim Price, Micky Waller (Wood’s fellow member in the Jeff Beck Group of the late ‘60s), and Grease Band member Bruce Rowland to name but a few.

As for the music, much of it has a rustic, rural feel in keeping with the film’s setting, which follows the misadventures of a recluse who rents a ramshackle farm in the Canadian countryside, with some nods (“Woody’s Thing”) towards the blues-rock Wood would explore with Keith Richards in the Stones. But without a doubt the highlight is Lane’s “Just for a Moment,’ which is here in both vocal and instrumental versions; it’s a prime example of the wistful roots-rock that made Lane’s post-Faces solo career so compelling. Richie Unterberger’s liner notes examine this little-known detour in the careers of two British rock legends…fascinating for Faces and Stones fans! 


New "Black Panther" featurette


Stan Lee with Roy Thomas, 1976

Video find: Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band, Cannes 1968

Time Capsule: Cool images from January 1968


Video find: Jim Henson "Wheels, Flutes and Crowns" snacks ad



Review: "Silver Surfer: A Power Greater than Cosmic"


This new collection brings to an end a uniquely whimsical and heartwarming chapter in Marvel Comics history.

The Dan Slott-Michael Allred run on Silver Surfer has essentially been a love story between Galactus' former herald and Dawn Greenwood, a woman from Earth. Over the course of the story, the Surfer opens the cosmos to Dawn as she opens his heart.

Slott's writing is funny, fresh and hugely imaginative, even while key influences, such as the classic and modern "Doctor Who," show through. Allred's art, created in collaboration with his wife, the colorist Laura Allred, is equally imaginative, conveying humor, beauty and wonder with ease.

Throughout his history, the Surfer has generally been a gloomy Gus, and with good reason. To spare his world from Galactus, he became the Planet Eater's advance man, leaving his home and his loved one to surf the stars, scouring new worlds for the cosmic giant to consume. The Surfer lives with the knowledge that he's responsible for billions of deaths across the universe as a result of his work for Galactus. And then, when he leaves the giant one's employ, the Surfer is trapped on Earth, left to dwell on all that he's done. Good times.

To take such a depressed (and sometimes depressing) character and place him in a cosmic romantic comedy is a weird step, but Slott makes it work. His Surfer is a guy getting back in touch with simple joys of life, knowing that he needs to, and wants to, move on. He's regained his ability to travel the universe (actually, he did quite some time ago) and now he has someone to share it with.

Dawn is another fully realized character. She's quirky - always dressed in ladybug patterns - funny, feisty, smart and charming. As with the Doctor's companions on "Doctor Who," she is the series' humanizing factor. She's the one who channels our wonder and brings an earthly perspective to a lead character who might otherwise not be so relatable.

In this collection. Surfer and Dawn, among other things, gamble away the Surfer's board at a cosmic casino, get swallowed by a giant space whale and deal with tragedy back on Earth. And, yeah, they finally profess their love for one another.

In the end, it's sad to bid these characters, at least temporarily, goodbye. I hope, as Michael Allred says in a written piece in the back of this book, that "the old team" will get together again soon. Slott and the Allred are a fantastic pairing (tripling, if you count Laura. Which you should). It's rare to see, especially in American comics published by one of the Big Two, a creative team provided with the support and freedom to work for this long, and this well, together. The result has been truly special.