Coming Up: New Gods by Gerry Conway

Up for pre-order now from Amazon.

Details from DC Comics:
The New Gods have starred in some of the most compelling stories in all of comics, written by masters like Jack Kirby and Gerry Conway. Now comes New Gods by Gerry Conway!

The Anti-Life Equation, a simple set on functions that would give Darkseid ultimate power over all sentient life, is exactly the type of thing the New Gods want to keep away from the Lord of Apokolips. However, the battle for the fate of the universe comes knocking on Earth's door. Six earthlings are all determined to possess a part of the equation, and the New Gods must reach them before Darkseid does.

Collects New Gods issues #12-19, 1st Issue Special #13, Super-Team Family #15, Adventure Comics #459-#460 Justice League of America #183-185.

Best Comic Book Covers of the Week

Coming Up: Soundtrack to Gerry Anderson's 1970s sci-fi live-actioner "UFO"


Out Sept. 13 from Silva Screen Records. Watch for pre-order info at Amazon.

Details from the label:
After a decade of creating pioneering puppet series made for children, Gerry & Sylvia Anderson took their first steps into live-action, with the 1969 feature film Doppelgänger (re-titled outside Britain as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun). 
This science-fiction film approached its outer space subject matter with a gritty realism, and would set the tone for what was to be their first live-action television series: UFO. 
This new series took as a starting point the pioneering work of Dr Christiaan N. Barnard, the surgeon who performed the world’s first heart transplant operation. In UFO a dying race of aliens travel across vast distances of space to harvest organs from human beings to help ensure their own survival. To combat this threat the United Nations created SHADO, a top-secret organisation utilising the latest technology available to defend the Earth. 
To complement the series, the Andersons frequent musical collaborator Barry Gray created a multifaceted score that gave the programme its own musical identity. 
Elegantly crafted and a firm favourite with Barry Gray fans, the sound of UFO, particularly its ethereal “World Music” closing credits is, quite simply, a joy. Includes a bonus track, Trampoline performed by The Spencer Davis Group from the episode Ordeal.

01 UFO Main Titles
02 S.H.A.D.O.
03 E.S.P. from “E.S.P.”
04 Flashback from “Confetti Check A-O.K.”
05 The Choice from “Confetti Check A-O.K.”
06 Space Junk from “Conflict”
07 Straker and the General from “Conflict”
08 A Rose for Sylvia from “Ordeal”
09 Harlington Straker from “Identified”
10 Alien from “Identified”
11 Travelling Home from “Ordeal”
12 The Trip from The Long Sleep
13 Taken from Ordeal
14 Crash Landing / Dreambox from Ordeal
15 The Leisure Sphere from Survival
16 Enemy my Friend from Survival
17 The Affair from The Square Triangle
18 A Day at the Studio from A Question of Priorities
19 Who Are You? / John’s Death from A Question of Priorities
20 UFO End Titles
21 Bonus Track – Trampoline from “Ordeal” - The Spencer Davis Group

Time Capsule: The Who play "Sparks" at Woodstock, Aug. 17, 1969


Saturday at the Movies: "The 27th Day"



New "Wonder Woman: Bloodlines" animated film trailer



MeTV to air "Flintstones" in primetime this fall


Over-the-air channel MeTV will start broadcasting classic Flintstones cartoons Sept. 30.

Details from the broadcaster:
Premiering on Monday, September 30, fifty-nine years to the day from its very first telecast, The Flintstones will air on MeTV weeknights, with back-to-back episodes starting at 6PM | 5C. Yes, that means Bedrock and Mayberry are now neighbors.
For the first time since the prehistoric era, Fred and Wilma, Barney and Betty and the rest of the gang are back on national broadcast network TV. So get ready to rock… Bedrock!
When The Flintstones premiered in the fall of 1960, it shook up television like a slab of dinosaur ribs slapped on the side of a car. Never before had there been a primetime, cartoon sitcom. Additionally, it was the first animated series to earn a nomination for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. The cartoon featured the voice talents of familiar MeTV faces such as Bea Benaderet (Petticoat Junction) and Howard Morris (The Andy Griffith Show).
Today, the Flintstones are global icons and the, er, bedrock of the Hanna-Barbera empire. After six seasons, the show spawned spin-offs, movies, toys, comic books, vitamins, cereals, merchandise and more.

Another "lost" John Coltrane Quartet session rediscovered


Just over a year after Impulse! Records issued a previously unreleased recording session by the John Coltrane Quartet as Both Directions at Once, another "new" Coltrane session has turned up. It'll be issued as Blue World by Impulse! on Sept. 27.

Info from NPR:
[Blue World] was recorded at Van Gelder Studios on June 24, 1964 — a few weeks after the quartet put a finishing touch on the album Crescent — as the soundtrack to a Canadian art film. Because the date had gone unnoted in session recording logs, this music has occupied a blind spot for Trane-ologists, archivists and historians.

But it's featured prominently throughout the film, Le chat dans le sac (The Cat in the Bag) — a coolly stylized, politically charged docufiction by Gilles Groulx, considered a landmark of Québec cinema. Within the first two minutes of screen time — during direct-to-the-camera intros by Barbara and Claude, the young idealists whose uncoupling provides the film with its narrative tension — you can hear Coltrane's quartet start into his exquisite ballad "Naima." 

Time Capsule: Johnny Cash TV show episode, Aug. 16, 1969


Time Capsule: Vintage ad for Crosby, Stills and Nash "Marrakesh Express" - plus bonus video!

Single hit the charts on this day 50 years ago.




New Music Friday: Sleater-Kinney; King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard; Jimmy Cobb; Tubby Hayes; Hitsville

Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.





Pop Culture Roundup: Ernie Colón; Valley of the Dinosaurs;

ITEM! The great comics artist Ernie Colón, best-known for his work on DC's Arak, Son of Thunder and Amethyst, along with an award-winning graphic novel adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report, died at age 88 earlier this week. Comics historian Mark Evanier and Colón's collaborator Roy Thomas posted tributes.


ITEM! Monster Island News remembers 1970s Saturday morning cartoon "Valley of the Dinosaurs."


Out Now: "Tarzan and the Valley of Gold" by Fritz Leiber

A long out-of-print Tarzan novel by sci-fi great Fritz Leiber is available once again. You can order it from Amazon now.

Details from the publisher:
The year 1966 saw the release of one of the most unique Tarzan films ever made: Tarzan and the Valley of Gold. Starring former NFL linebacker Mike Henry in his debut as the cinematic ape-man, the film portrayed a cultured and refined Tarzan who seemed to be molded more after James Bond than the unsophisticated ape-man of past films. The depiction surprised and puzzled some moviegoers, but fans who had read the original Tarzan novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs rejoiced at finally seeing their beloved character appear on the big screen bearing all the complexity and intelligence with which his creator had imbued him.
Enter critically acclaimed fantasy author Fritz Leiber, whose novelization of the film carried the honor of becoming the first authorized Tarzan novel to be written by an author other than Burroughs. Leiber’s tale was far from just a simple retelling of the movie; it was a faithful installment in the literary saga of the ape-man, with frequent callouts to Burroughs’ original Tarzan canon and myriad creative elements added to the storyline. Now readers can once again enjoy Fritz Leiber’s classic Tarzan and the Valley of Gold in this handsome, new illustrated edition, with an all-new forward by Burroughs scholar Scott Tracy Griffin (author of Tarzan on Film).

The Valley of Gold…and Death

The burning wreck of a passenger jet with a missing cargo of gold and a desperate plea from a friend lead Tarzan of the Apes deep into intrigue in the jungles of Brazil. Soon the ape-man finds himself facing his most deadly nemesis yet: a criminal mastermind named Vinaro, whose enemies perish in mysterious explosions of gold and flame. But that may be only the beginning of Tarzan’s challenges. For if he is to defeat Vinaro, Tarzan must confront him in the legendary golden city of Tucumai, from where no outsider has ever returned.

Fritz Leiber – Author

A renowned and award-winning author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, Fritz Leiber (1910–1992) is best known for his Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser fantasy series. He is credited with coining the term sword and sorcery and is widely considered one of the genre’s founders. A SFWA Grand Master and winner of six Hugo Awards, three Nebula Awards, and two World Fantasy Awards, Leiber stands as a giant in the field of fantastic literature.

Richard Hescox– Cover Art

Richard Hescox is one of the founding lights of the Imaginative Realism movement. He has contributed artwork to such projects as the films E.T. and The Dark Crystal, to computer games, record albums, and magazine illustrations. He has also providing cover art and interior illustrations for hundreds of books, including the limited edition of A Clash of Kings from the George R. R. Martin’s bestselling Game of Thrones series. Richard previously painted the iconic cover art for all five books of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Carson of Venus series.

Douglas Klauba – Interior Art

An award-winning illustrator, Douglas Klauba was born and raised in Chicago, and is a graduate of the American Academy of Art. His paintings have been included in the art annuals of Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the Society of Illustrators, and Imagine FX magazine. He was Artist Guest of Honor at the 2016 Burroughs Bibliophiles Dum-Dum convention, and he previously provided artwork for the books Tarzan Trilogy and Untamed Pellucidar published by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.


Watch: "Star Wars: Resistance" season 2 trailer


New Comics Day: Joker; Justice League; Wonder Woman; Lee & Ditko

Our picks this week. Click the links to order from Amazon.




Coming Up: "It’s Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers" TV sountrack

Out Oct. 4 from Omnivore

Details:

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiered on television over five decades ago. While to some it seems like just yesterday when it was brand new, it’s heartening to know how much it has been a part of the lives of countless children and adults who experienced and learned from the show over the decades.
While its staying power never lapsed, Academy®- and Grammy®-winning director Morgan Neville’s 2018 documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, reawakened our love for Fred Rogers, and introduced a new generation to him. With the upcoming November release of A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers), the beloved Mister Rogers and his neighborhood will once again be front and center in the hearts, minds, and ears of everyone.
It’s Such A Good Feeling: The Best Of Mister Rogers collects 23 songs from the beloved broadcaster (backed by long-time collaborator and pianist Johnny Costa, Carl McViker on bass, and percussionist Bobby Rawsthorne). Containing classics like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “You Are Special,” and the title track, this release also features five previously unissued tracks including the show’s original closer, “Tomorrow.”

CD packaging contains photos, an introductory note from Neville, and an essay from Pittsburgh television critic (and long-time USA Today contributor) Robert Bianco.

Two weeks after the release of It’s Such A Good Feeling, four digital-only album releases from Mister Rogers will also be made available: Bedtime, You’re Growing, You Are Special, and Coming And Going.

So, hop on the trolley for the Land Of Make Believe, because it really is such a good feeling.

Tracks:
  1. Today Is A Very Special Day*
  2. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
  3. I Think I’m Going To Like Today*
  4. Look And Listen
  5. Be Brave, Be Strong
  6. Then Your Heart If Full Of Love
  7. Pretending
  8. You Can Never Go Down The Drain
  9. I Like To Take My Time
  10. Sometimes People Are Good
  11. You Are Special
  12. I’m Looking For A Friend*
  13. Some Things I Don’t Understand
  14. The Clown In Me
  15. It’s The Style To Wear A Smile
  16. I’m Taking Care Of You
  17. It’s You I Like
  18. Once Upon Each Lovely Day*
  19. Wishes Don’t Make Things Come True
  20. You’re Growing
  21. Tree, Tree, Tree
  22. It’s Such A Good Feeling
  23. Tomorrow*
* Previously unissued.


Trailer for Showtime's "Finding Fame" David Bowie documentary


Watch: Unboxing video for Kinks' 50th anniversary "Arthur" Deluxe Edition



New Godzilla puppet series debuts on YouTube

Very frightening and/or awesome: