New Comics Day: Basil Wolverton
Slim pickins' in our recommendations this week.
This is Vol. 2 of the biography of the legendary midcentury cartoonist, who created the comically grotesque "Lena the Hyena."
This volume continues Sadowski's biography of the famed Mad cartoonist. It includes scores of letters between Wolverton and his editors and publishers and excerpts from his personal diaries, providing documentary insight not only into Wolverton's day-to-day life and career, but also the inner workings of the early comic book industry. It is also chock full of Wolverton's comics stories from this period, including 17 science-fiction and horror tales fully restored and never before collected in a single volume.
This volume continues Sadowski's biography of the famed Mad cartoonist. It includes scores of letters between Wolverton and his editors and publishers and excerpts from his personal diaries, providing documentary insight not only into Wolverton's day-to-day life and career, but also the inner workings of the early comic book industry. It is also chock full of Wolverton's comics stories from this period, including 17 science-fiction and horror tales fully restored and never before collected in a single volume.
Coming Up: The Band 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe
Out Nov. 15. Order from Amazon now.
Details:
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Band’s sophomore album, The Band a limited edition Super Deluxe version will be released on November 15th, 2019. The Super Deluxe package features a new stereo mix of the album by Bob Clearmountain from the original analog masters. The package also features the previously unreleased complete “Live At Woodstock” performance from 1969,Classic Albums: The Band documentary, and thirteen bonus tracks. Bonus tracks include six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions. The exclusive book features a new essay by Anthony DeCurtis and classic photos by Elliott Landy. The new stereo mix is also cut at 45RPM and available on 180-Gram 2LP alongside a reproduction of The Band’s 1969 7-inch vinyl single for "Rag Mama Rag" (b/w “The Unfaithful Servant”). Lastly, there is a 5.1 surround mix and 96/24 high res audio on Blu-Ray.
Coming Up: House of Secrets: The Bronze Age Omnibus Vol. 2
Out Dec. 31. Order from Amazon now.
Details:
As one of the most celebrated anthology titles of the Bronze Age of Comics, THE HOUSE OF SECRETS cemented its iconic status in the 1970s under the transformative leadership of editor Joe Orlando, whose impeccable instincts yielded a cornucopia of devilish delights in every intriguing issue.
Now these classic tales of the mysterious and the macabre are gathered for the first time in a handsome hardcover edition. HOUSE OF SECRETS: THE BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS VOL. 2 collects issues #112-154 of the acclaimed series and features tantalizingly terrifying work from a host of comics' greatest talents, including writers Gerry Conway and Michael Fleisher and artists Alex Toth, Alex Niño, Alfredo Alcala and many more.
New Music Friday: Kim Gordon; Booker T and the MGs; Dukes of Stratosphear; Steve Miller Band; Frank Sinatra; Link Wray; Yazz Ahmed
Our picks. Click the links to order vinyl, CDs or downloads via Amazon.
Pop Culture Roundup: Micronauts; Bugs Bunny; Joe Kubert
ITEM! The Micronauts were the last ties I got into as a kid. I was too old for 'em, but they were cool. Plus, then Marvel launched a great Micronauts comic! Monster Island News brings it all back home.
ITEM! Check out the Bugs Bunny Show...in the funnies!
ITEM! The Rochester of Institute of Technology plans to open a Joe Kubert Library of Comics & Popular Art in honor of the famed comics artist and educator. Very cool.
ITEM! Check out the Bugs Bunny Show...in the funnies!
ITEM! The Rochester of Institute of Technology plans to open a Joe Kubert Library of Comics & Popular Art in honor of the famed comics artist and educator. Very cool.
Pop Life: Ken Burns' "Country"'; Alex Toth
What I've been watching, reading, hearing etc.
Ken Burns' "Country Music." I finally finished streaming my way through Ken Burns' most recent portrait of America, this one through the lens of country music from its beginnings to the present.
As with most of Burns' documentaries, it's mostly well done with lots of great old photos and clips - and a few egregious flaws.
The flaws? Well, for starters, there's no discussion of "Hee Haw," the hugely popular syndicated show that, for most Americans, was THE face of country music from the late 60s through the 1970s. Noting this, along with the fact that many country musicians and fans hated the show because it presented a derogatory and stereotyped view of the genre and of rural life, would've contributed valuable perspective to why many Americans still see country music as the soundtrack of bumpkins, not as real art or music, which it most certainly is - or, at least, can be.
Also, no discussion of of Glen Campbell, one of the genre's biggest crossover stars, who also had a TV show in the late 1960s and early 1970s that was country's other major face to the world.
And, finally, what's Wynton Marsalis doing here? Yes, Burns' including him in his jazz documentary made sense, even though Marsalis was way overused there. But including him here makes no sense at all. Not only is Marsalis not a country musician (although he's performed with Willie Nelson) he's possibly the most narrow-minded musician of all time. His jazz policing of the 1980s, during which he disparaged his more progressive elders non-stop, ruined careers and led to a forgotten generation of musicians who created far more interesting music than the corporate-delivered frozen-in-time hard bop he purveyed. And here he's supposed to be the guy with open ears. Just weird.
Nearly as weird is the inclusion of Darius "Hootie" Rucker who also once performed with Willie Nelson. But why is he here? Just because he's a familiar face? It's dumb. He certainly doesn't come across as an expert and offers nothing in terms of insight.
But, like I said, there are still lots of great old photos and many great musical clips.
If you're a person interested in learning more about country, the series may expose you to artists and songs you didn't know and it will give you a basic history of the genre. But it's imperfect and only the beginning of your journey.
UPDATE: From the comments section - sounds like some "Hee Haw" discussion must've slipped by me. Apologies to moptop Ken. I'll need to go back and look. Stand by the rest of this though! In particular, the commentators. Marsalis and Rucker are odd choices when there are so many other possibilities. Marty Stuart and the other genuine country musicians featured as commentators were great, and we're fortunate that Merle Haggard was interviewed before his passing. I wonder if they tried getting Tyler Mahan Coe, whose excellent Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast present an excellent history of country music - better than Burns'!
Treasures Retold: The Lost Art of Alex Toth. After three huge picture-packed volumes recounting the life, comics and animation work of the brilliant Alex Toth, IDW follows up with a huge supplementary collection of rare Toth works - both from his years in comics and his later days working as character designer and storyboarder for Hanna-Barbera.
As you might expect - given that we're talking about Toth - it's all beautiful stuff. The comics work - in black-and-white and color spans genres, from romance and sci-fi to suspense and high adventure. There are two long film adaptations, which are a wonder to behold. This is an artist who loved aircraft and it shows in his beautiful scenes of planes in flight. Somehow, he makes the rotors of helicopters appear like they're in motion. He was a master of the form.
The book is a real grab-bag - in the best possible sense of the phrase. Along with character designs for "The Herculoids" and some storyboards near the back of the book, there are also some rare promotional/educational pieces on the history of flight and...the history of milk! Who but Toth (except maybe Jack Kirby or Will Eisner) could make something like that beautiful and interesting?
This isn't the place to start if you want more Toth on your bookshelf (I'd go with the other three books first) but it's a glorious addition, beautifully presented (although the type is a little small, and I don't think it's just because I'm getting older). Highly recommended.
As with most of Burns' documentaries, it's mostly well done with lots of great old photos and clips - and a few egregious flaws.
The flaws? Well, for starters, there's no discussion of "Hee Haw," the hugely popular syndicated show that, for most Americans, was THE face of country music from the late 60s through the 1970s. Noting this, along with the fact that many country musicians and fans hated the show because it presented a derogatory and stereotyped view of the genre and of rural life, would've contributed valuable perspective to why many Americans still see country music as the soundtrack of bumpkins, not as real art or music, which it most certainly is - or, at least, can be.
Also, no discussion of of Glen Campbell, one of the genre's biggest crossover stars, who also had a TV show in the late 1960s and early 1970s that was country's other major face to the world.
And, finally, what's Wynton Marsalis doing here? Yes, Burns' including him in his jazz documentary made sense, even though Marsalis was way overused there. But including him here makes no sense at all. Not only is Marsalis not a country musician (although he's performed with Willie Nelson) he's possibly the most narrow-minded musician of all time. His jazz policing of the 1980s, during which he disparaged his more progressive elders non-stop, ruined careers and led to a forgotten generation of musicians who created far more interesting music than the corporate-delivered frozen-in-time hard bop he purveyed. And here he's supposed to be the guy with open ears. Just weird.
Nearly as weird is the inclusion of Darius "Hootie" Rucker who also once performed with Willie Nelson. But why is he here? Just because he's a familiar face? It's dumb. He certainly doesn't come across as an expert and offers nothing in terms of insight.
But, like I said, there are still lots of great old photos and many great musical clips.
If you're a person interested in learning more about country, the series may expose you to artists and songs you didn't know and it will give you a basic history of the genre. But it's imperfect and only the beginning of your journey.
UPDATE: From the comments section - sounds like some "Hee Haw" discussion must've slipped by me. Apologies to moptop Ken. I'll need to go back and look. Stand by the rest of this though! In particular, the commentators. Marsalis and Rucker are odd choices when there are so many other possibilities. Marty Stuart and the other genuine country musicians featured as commentators were great, and we're fortunate that Merle Haggard was interviewed before his passing. I wonder if they tried getting Tyler Mahan Coe, whose excellent Cocaine and Rhinestones podcast present an excellent history of country music - better than Burns'!
As you might expect - given that we're talking about Toth - it's all beautiful stuff. The comics work - in black-and-white and color spans genres, from romance and sci-fi to suspense and high adventure. There are two long film adaptations, which are a wonder to behold. This is an artist who loved aircraft and it shows in his beautiful scenes of planes in flight. Somehow, he makes the rotors of helicopters appear like they're in motion. He was a master of the form.
The book is a real grab-bag - in the best possible sense of the phrase. Along with character designs for "The Herculoids" and some storyboards near the back of the book, there are also some rare promotional/educational pieces on the history of flight and...the history of milk! Who but Toth (except maybe Jack Kirby or Will Eisner) could make something like that beautiful and interesting?
This isn't the place to start if you want more Toth on your bookshelf (I'd go with the other three books first) but it's a glorious addition, beautifully presented (although the type is a little small, and I don't think it's just because I'm getting older). Highly recommended.
Time Capsule: Comic book covers from October 1969
Publication date info from Mike's Amazing World of Comics, cover images from the Grand Comics Database.
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