Comic Book Art: Neal Adams and Dick Giordano page from "Batman: Stacked Cards" Power Records set



Music new releases March 9, 2018: David Byrne; Brad Mehldau; Leonard Bernstein

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.



Pop Culture Roundup: Retro-Fan mag; NME; comics artist Billy Graham

The New York Times spotlights Billy Graham  (not that Billy Graham), the first black comics artist to draw Black Panther and Luke Cage.


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I love the various mags from TwoMorrows Publishing - Alter-Ego, Back Issue, The Jack Kirby Collector. Now there's a new one in the stable: Retro-Fan, which focuses on pop culture of the 60s-80s.

Here a description of the first issue:

Issue #1 cover-features an all-new interview with TV’s Incredible Hulk, LOU FERRIGNO, and introduces a quartet of columns by our regular celebrity columnists: MARTIN PASKO’s Pesky Perspective (this issue: The Phantom in Hollywood), ANDY MANGELS’ Retro Saturday Mornings (Filmation’s Star Trek cartoon), ERNEST FARINO’s Retro Fantasmagoria (How I Met the Wolf Man—Lon Chaney, Jr.), and The Oddball World of SCOTT SHAW (the goofy comic book Zody the Mod Rob). Also: Mego’s rare Elastic Hulk toy; RetroTravel to Mount Airy, NC, the real-life Mayberry; an interview with BETTY LYNN, “Thelma Lou” of The Andy Griffith Show; the scarcity of Andy Griffith Show collectibles; a trip inside TOM STEWART’s eclectic House of Collectibles; RetroFan’s Too Much TV Quiz; and a RetroFad shout-out to Mr. Microphone. Edited by Back Issue magazine’s MICHAEL EURY.

You can see a preview and order the first issue here.


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Meanwhile, vanishing from print is Britain's long-running music weekly,  The New Musical Express. A Shroud of Thoughts remembers.



This year's Record Store Day releases - my picks


As I've probably mentioned, I love record stores, but have some issues with Record Store Day. Mainly, I think the event is exploitative of have-to-have-everything collectors. So, you'll get silly releases on green vinyl and limited-edition, seven-inch singles that cost $25. And many of the vinyl pressings I've purchased at RSD over the years have been sub-standard or defective.

Yet, there's sometimes good stuff, too: releases of material that's actually desirable and otherwise rare, presented in a thoughtful manner in high quality.

So, I peruse the list each year, looking for items that might be of interest. Below are my choices for this year. You can see the complete list here. RSD 2018 is on April 21. You can find participating record shots here.

Pop Pics: Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson


New comics collections March 7, 2018: Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus; Daredevil by Waid & Samnee Omnibus; Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan; Batman & Superman in World's Finest; Batman by Neal Adams Book One; Burne Hogarth - Tarzan and the Adventurers

Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.







Time Capsule: Comic book covers from March 1968

Comics on the newsstand in March 1968 info and images from Mike's Amazing World of Comics and the Grand Comics Database.