Showing posts with label Pop culture books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pop culture books. Show all posts

Coming Up: 'Best of DC War - Artist’s Edition'


Out Nov. 19 and available for pre-order now from Amazon.

Details:

DC Comics produced some of the very finest war comics ever, by some of the best artists in the field. This spectacular Artist’s Edition includes an amazing selection of stories by the best of the best: Heath, Kirby, Kubert, Severin, and Toth—a veritable pantheon of classic war artists doing what they do best.

Measuring 12" × 17", these complete stories are scanned from the original artwork and reproduced to the exacting standards that have garnered IDW numerous Eisner Awards for the Artist’s Edition series. If you are a fan of classic DC war comics, you cannot afford to miss this incredible book!

Coming Up: 'Zowie! The TV Superhero Craze in ’60s Pop Culture'


Out in July from TwoMorrows Publishing.

Details:

Holy phenomenon!

In the way-out year of 1966, the action comedy “Batman” starring Adam West premiered and triggered a tsunami of super swag, including toys, games, Halloween costumes, puppets, action figures, and lunch boxes. 

Meanwhile, still more costumed avengers sprang forth on TV (“The Green Hornet,” “Ultraman”), in movies (“The Wild World of Batwoman,” “Rat Pfink and Boo Boo”), and in animation (“Space Ghost,” “The Marvel Super Heroes”). 

Zowie! traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since. 

This 192-page hardcover, in pop art colors that conjure the period, spotlights the coolest collectibles and kookiest knockoffs every ’60s kid begged their parents for, and features interviews with the TV stars (West, Burt Ward, Yvonne Craig, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Julie Newmar, Van Williams), the artists behind the comics (Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella), and others. 

Written and designed by Mark Voger (“Monster Mash,” “Holly Jolly”), Zowie! is one super read!

 

New Pop Culture Books: Paul McCartney, Sherlock Holmes, the Flash, Barbie, More!

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

Taken with a 35mm camera by Paul McCartney, these largely unseen photographs capture the explosive period, from the end of 1963 through early 1964, in which The Beatles became an international sensation and changed the course of music history. Featuring 275 images from the six cities―Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami―of these legendary months, 1964: Eyes of the Storm also includes:
• A personal foreword in which McCartney recalls the pandemonium of British concert halls, followed by the hysteria that greeted the band on its first American visit
• Candid recollections preceding each city portfolio that form an autobiographical account of the period McCartney remembers as the “Eyes of the Storm,” plus a coda with subsequent events in 1964
• “Beatleland,” an essay by Harvard historian and New Yorker essayist Jill Lepore, describing how The Beatles became the first truly global mass culture phenomenon
Handsomely designed, 1964: Eyes of the Storm creates an intensely dramatic record of The Beatles’ first transatlantic trip, documenting the radical shift in youth culture that crystallized in 1964.
“You could hold your camera up to the world, in 1964. But what madness would you capture, what beauty, what joy, what fury?” ―Jill Lepore

Eddie Muller, aka the “Czar of Noir,” is the host of TCM’s Noir Alley, and the prolific author of novels, biographies, plays, films, and movie histories, including Dark City: Revised and Expanded Edition and the children's book Kid Noir. He also programs and hosts the Noir City film festival series, curates museums, and provides commentary for television, radio, and DVDs. As founder of the Film Noir Foundation, Muller has been instrumental in restoring and preserving dozens of lost noir classics. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

The greatest popular songs, whether it’s Aretha Franklin singing “Respect” or Bob Dylan performing “Blind Willie McTell,” have a way of embedding themselves in our memories. You remember a time and a place and a feeling when you hear that song again. In Holding the Note, David Remnick writes about the lives and work of some of the greatest musicians, songwriters, and performers of the past fifty years.
    He portrays a series of musical lives and their unique encounters with the passing of that essential element of music: time. From Cohen’s performing debut, when his stage fright was so debilitating he couldn’t get through “Suzanne,” to Franklin’s iconic mink-drop at the Kennedy Center, Holding the Note delivers a view of some of the greatest creative minds of our time written with a lifetime’s passionate attachment to music that has shaped us all.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from it.
    Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.
    Magnificent, terrifying, and “spellbinding…packed with glorious flights of imagination and characteristic tenderness about childhood, Fairy Tale is vintage King at his finest” (Esquire).
    “Good, evil, a kingdom to save, monsters to slay—these are the stuff that page-turners are made from.” —Laura Miller, Slate

The history of Warner Bros. is not just the tale of a legendary film studio and its stars, but of classic Hollywood itself, as well as a portrait of America in the last century. It’s a family story of Polish-Jewish immigrants—the brothers Warner—who took advantage of new opportunities in the burgeoning film industry at a time when four mavericks could invent ways of operating, of warding off government regulation, and of keeping audiences coming back for more during some of the nation's darkest days.
    Innovation was key to their early success. Four years after its founding, the studio revolutionized moviemaking by introducing sound in The Jazz Singer (1927). Stars and stories gave Warner Bros. its distinct identity as the studio where tough guys like Humphrey Bogart and strong women like Bette Davis kept people on the edge of their seats. Over the years, these acclaimed actors and countless others made magic on WB’s soundstages and were responsible for such diverse classics as Casablanca, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Star Is Born, Bonnie & Clyde, Malcolm X, Caddyshack, Purple Rain, and hundreds more.
    It’s the studio that put noir in film with The Maltese Falcon and other classics of the genre, where the iconic Looney Tunes were unleashed on animation, and the studio that took an unpopular stance at the start of World War II by producing anti-Nazi films. Counter-culture hits like A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist carried the studio through the 1970s and '80s. Franchise phenomena like Harry Potter, the DC universe, and more continue to shape a cinematic vision and longevity that is unparalleled in the annals of film history. These stories and more are chronicled in this comprehensive and stunning volume.

Celebrate the 60th anniversary of Please Please Me, the Beatles’ first studio album, with rare and never-before-seen photographs of the Fab Four by legendary British photographer Terry O’Neill from their early days in Liverpool through their prolific solo careers.
    This one-of-a-kind book also features exclusive interviews and profiles of the band, as well as commentary from O’Neill and notes and annotations from renowned art curator Terrence Pepper. The Beatles By Terry O'Neill includes hundreds of gorgeous photographs—many of them previously thought to be lost or never before seen—from their earliest recording sessions and backstage shots to portraits of the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania. In addition, candid shots of their post-Beatles lives throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s give an insider’s view into their personal lives. Whether feeling like you’re backstage at one of their first stadium concerts to being a guest of Paul playing piano at Ringo’s wedding or part of the photography team from a 1991 portrait session with George Harrison, this collection of spectacular photography is a treasure trove for any Beatles fan.

eatured within these pages are 17 Spirit stories all from Eisner’s peak period, 1946 – 1950, generally regarded as his best work on The Spirit. Eisner is also considered to be the founding father of the Graphic novel, with the publication of A Contract with God in 1978. He is also the namesake of the Eisner Awards, the “Academy Awards of the comics industry, held each year at Comic-Con International.
    An Artisan Edition collects stories, covers and pages that have been reproduced from the original art. While appearing to be in black and white, these images have been scanned in color, allowing the reader to view them as closely as possible to the original art. Ink gradients, blue pencil, corrections, and more are all clearly visible, all the wonderful subtle nuances that make original art so special and unique. The only way to better view these pages if you were standing over the artist’s shoulder as they were drawn.

For over fifty years, SCOTT SHAW! has been writing and drawing allegedly funny stuff for mainstream comics sold on spinner racks (including Sonic the Hedgehog, Captain Carrot and The Simpsons), underground comix sold in head shops -- and almost everything in between. Finally, here's the first collection starring the award-winning cartoonist's most notorious characters (including Scott himself!), with over 200 pages of offbeat stories, plus surprises and silliness from the depths of his archives!

Hailed as possibly the most comprehensive oral history of Superman to be committed to print, Voices From Krypton combines over 85 years of Superman's legacy into a sweeping tale of how the champion of the oppressed became one of the world's most recognizable pop culture icons. 
    Not only does this epic collection include interviews with Superman favorites like Henry Cavill, Tom Welling, and Zack Snyder, Voices From krypton also dives into the Tim Burton directed Nicholas Cage movie that never happened. You might think you know Superman, but you haven't yet read Voices From Krypton.

Hold on tight as historian Christopher Irving explores the origins of the first on-screen superheroes and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life. CLIFFHANGER! touches on the early days of the film serial, to its explosion as a juvenile medium of the 1930s and ‘40s. See how the creation of characters like Superman, Captain America, Spy Smasher, and Captain Marvel dovetailed with the early film adaptations. Along the way, you’ll meet the stuntmen, directors (Spencer Bennett, William Witney, producer Sam Katzman), comic book creators (Siegel & Shuster, Simon & Kirby, Bob Kane, C.C. Beck, Frank Frazetta, Will Eisner), and actors (Buster Crabbe, George Reeves, Lorna Gray, Kane Richmond, Kirk Alyn, Dave O’Brien) who brought them to the silver screen―and how that resonates with today’s cinematic superhero universe.

If you’ve ever had a Barbie doll, or you know someone who did, chances are that Barbie was dressed in one of the thousands of designs created by Carol Spencer during her unparalleled reign as a Barbie fashion designer spanning more than thirty-five years.
    Illustrated with more than 100 full-color photographs, including many never-before-seen images of rare and one-of-a-kind pieces from Spencer’s private archive, Dressing Barbie is a treasure trove of some of the best and most iconic Barbie looks from the early 1960s until the late 1990s. Along with behind-the-scenes stories of how these designs came to be, Spencer reminisces about her thrilling time at Mattel working with legendary figures such as Ruth Handler, Barbie’s creator, and Charlotte Johnson, the original Barbie designer, for a full, inside look into life with the beloved doll. Over the course of her career, Spencer won many accolades. She was the first designer to have her signature on the doll, the first to go on a signing tour, the first to design a limited-edition Barbie for collectors, and the designer of the biggest-selling Barbie of all time. Now, she is the first member of the inner circle to reveal the fashion world of the quintessential California girl as never before.

BLAB!—the Harvey Award-winning anthology of cutting-edge comics, art, and culture—has returned to its comics roots with a stellar lineup of contributors.
    Noah Van Sciver depicts the tragic demise of Crime Does Not Pay editor Robert Wood. Ryan Heshka recounts the rise and fall of Superman creators Siegel and Shuster. Sasha Velour portrays the making of film director F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu. Children’s book illustrator Giselle Potter examines Peter Rabbit author Beatrix Potter’s passion as a naturalist. Illustrated articles include the history of the gorilla and a report on UFOs.
    All this and much more in Comics and Stories That Will Make You BLAB!

In 1940, Kharis the Mummy was added to Universal’s family tree of monsters when The Mummy’s Hand inaugurated a popular new franchise. While the film followed a current Hollywood trend of adding double-doses of comedy to mystery and horror pictures, it played its monster scenes for full-on fright: Our heroes (and she-ro) change their laugh-a-minute tune when they realize that some ancient curses are still terrifyingly potent, and that the sand is running out for them. Here, for the first time in over 3000 years, is complete Mummy’s Hand coverage, excavated by the best team of Universal Horror archaeologists this side of the Scripps Museum.

Miss Marple Complete Mysteries Series Books 1 - 14 Collection Set by Agatha Christie:
Titles In This Set:
  • The Murder at the Vicarage
  • The Body in the Library
  • The Moving Finger
  • Sleeping Murder
  • A Murder is Announced
  • They Do It With Mirrors
  • A Pocket Full of Rye
  • 4.50 from Paddington
  • The Mirror Crack’d From Side to Side
  • A Caribbean Mystery
  • At Bertram’s Hotel
  • Nemesis
  • The Thirteen Problems
  • Miss Marple's Final Cases
First published in 1942, this reissue is one of Carr's most tense and enjoyable game of cat and mouse pitting detective Gideon Fell against the "chief" suspect.
    When police arrive at Justice Ireton's holiday bungalow to find a man killed by gunshot and the high court justice brandishing a pistol, the case seems as straightforward as it is scandalous. But, with physical evidence that doesn't add up, the justice's vehement denial of wrong doing, and recent events in his daughter's love life turns the deceptively simple case on its head.
    Stumped, the local force calls in the larger-than-life sleuth Dr. Gideon Fell, who just yesterday contended with Ireton over a brutally challenging game of chess. With Fell and the judge now facing off as detective and suspect, a new battle of wits begins in this fiendishly plotted masterclass of the mystery genre.

A rediscovered, outstandingly prescient crime novel written in the lead-up to World War II, by one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called “the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.”
    England, 1935: Phyllida Shiffer’s marriage has just ended in divorce. She heads home, expecting to be welcomed with open arms by her father, a brilliant (if slightly distracted) scientist. But her father’s house is locked up; he is nowhere to be found; and there are suspicious men who seem to think that Phyllida herself might hold the key to her father’s latest scientific discovery. . . .



In 2015, the first three volumes of The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories arrived, containing over 60 stories in the true traditional Canonical manner, revisiting Holmes and Watson in those days where it is "always 1895" . . . or a few decades on either side of that. That was the largest collection of new Holmes stories ever assembled, and originally planned to be a one-time event. But readers wanted more, and the contributors had more stories from Watson's Tin Dispatch Box, so the fun continued. Now, with the release of Parts XXXVII, XXXVIII, and XXXIX, the series has grown to over 800 new Holmes adventures by over 200 contributors from around with world. Since the beginning, all contributor royalties go to the Undershaw school for special needs children, located at one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former homes, and to date the project has raised over $110,000 for the school.
    These new collections feature Holmes and Watson carrying out their masterful investigations from the early days of their friendship in Baker Street to the post-War years during Holmes's retirement. Along the way, Our Heroes are involved in dozens of fascinating mysteries - some relating Untold Cases, sequels to Canonical adventures, and a number or others that progress along completely unexpected lines.

Keep pace with The Fastest Man Alive with this compendium of facts and incredible images from the Super Hero’s first appearance in comics and TV to the upcoming landmark film debut! The Flash™: The Official Visual Companion satisfies your need for speed on every page, covering the entire history of The Flash and featuring making-of details and behind-the-scenes profiles of the characters, locations, and artifacts seen on screen. Interviews with key cast and crew members offer a one-of-a-kind look at the creation of the highly anticipated new film. It’s the perfect gift for every Barry Allen, Jay Garrick, and Wally West fan.
DETAILED HISTORY: Follow the history of the iconic super hero from his first appearance in the 1940's comics to 2023’s upcoming solo film, The Flash
GO BEHIND THE SCENES: Features never-before-seen images, interviews, insights, and more from The Flash
STUNNING ART AND IMAGES: Photos from the comic series, television show, and film and gorgeous illustrations capture the fast-paced world of The Flash for a closer look!
FAVORITE MOMENTS SPOTLIGHTED: Revisit the comic series, television show, and movie’s most iconic scenes, from super-speed action to the return of Michael Keaton as Batman
EXPLORE COSTUMES, SETS, AND EFFECTS: Recall comic book origins and discover how the 2023 film’s unique look came to life

New Pop Culture Books: KISS! Milton Glaser! Paul Weller! Marvel Value Stamps! More!

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

You wanted the best, and you got the best. This extraordinary edition of LIFE traces KISS from the band's improbable origins 50 years ago through their rise to rock and roll immortality. LIFE's inside storytelling and remarkable photographs illuminate rock's greatest live band in all their makeup majesty. The original foursome of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss, as well as the latter-day band members, all thrive in these pages. Taste the show, the shtick, and of course the songs that lifted KISS to greatness and influenced a generation of Grammy winners, from Lady Gaga to Metallica to Garth Brooks and so many more. Rock and roll all night, party every day, and embrace KISS in their full glory. Please note that this product is an authorized edition published by the Dotdash Meredith Corporation and sold by Amazon. This edition is printed using a high quality matte interior paper and printed on demand for immediate fulfillment.

Leon Russell is an icon, but somehow is still an underappreciated artist. He is spoken of in tones reserved not just for the most talented musicians, but also for the most complex and fascinating. His career is like a roadmap of music history, often intersecting with rock royalty like Bob Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles. He started in the Fifties as a teenager touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, going on to play piano on records by such giants as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector, and on hundreds of classic songs with major recording artists. Leon was Elton John’s idol, and Elton inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Leon also gets credit for altering Willie Nelson’s career, giving us the long-haired, pot-friendly Willie we all know and love today.
    In his prime, Leon filled stadiums on solo tours, and was an organizer/performer on both Joe Cocker’s revolutionary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Leon also founded Shelter Records in 1969 with producer Denny Cordell, discovering and releasing the debut albums of Tom Petty, the Gap Band, Phoebe Snow, and J.J. Cale. Leon always assembled wildly diverse bands and performances, fostering creative and free atmospheres for musicians to live and work together. He brazenly challenged musical and social barriers. However, Russell also struggled with his demons, including substance abuse, severe depression, and a crippling stage fright that wreaked havoc on his psyche over the long haul and at times seemed to will himself into obscurity. Now, acclaimed author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz shines the spotlight on one of the most important music makers of the twentieth century.

March 2023 marks fifty years since the release of Pink Floyd's classic album The Dark Side Of The Moon. Designed by Pentagram to high specifications, this celebratory publication brims with rare and unseen photographs and reveals the visual conception of the original iconic album artwork. It will be a covetable package for the legions of Floyd fans out there―new and old. 

From 1954, when he co-founded the legendary Push Pin Studios, to the late ’70s, Milton Glaser was one of the most celebrated graphic designers of his day, whose work graced countless book and album covers, posters, magazine covers, and advertisements, both famous and little-known. Glaser largely defined the international visual style for illustration, advertising, and typeface design and interest in his legacy continues unabated, with modern creatives acknowledging his influence; for example, in 2014 Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner enlisted Glaser to design the ad campaign and branding for the show’s final season.
    His renowned work garnered solo exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Creator of the iconic ‘I love NY’ logo (featuring a heart symbol in place of the word ‘love’) and cofounder of New York magazine, Glaser received numerous accolades and lifetime achievement awards. Across thousands of works across all print media, he invented a graphic language of bright, flat color, drawing and collage, imbued with wit. This collection of work from Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of his design that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.

When blues master Robert Johnson’s little-known recordings were rereleased to great fanfare in the 1960s, little was known about his life, giving rise to legends that he gained success by selling his soul to the devil. Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey is musicologist Mack McCormick's all-consuming search, from the late 1960s until McCormick’s death in 2015, to uncover Johnson's life story. McCormick spent decades reconstructing Johnson's mysterious life and developing theories about his untimely death at the age of 27, but never made public his discoveries. Biography of a Phantom publishes his compelling work for the first time, including 40 unseen black-and-white photographs documenting his search.
    While knocking on doors and sleuthing for Johnson's loved ones and friends, McCormick documents a Mississippi landscape ravaged by the racism of paternalistic white landowners and county sheriffs. An editor's preface and afterword from Smithsonian curator John W. Troutman provides context as well as troubling details about McCormick’s own impact on Johnson’s family and illuminates through McCormick’s archive the complex legacy of white male enthusiasts assuming authority over Black people’s stories and the history of the blues.
    While Johnson died before achieving widespread recognition, his music took on a life of its own and inspired future generations. Biography of a Phantom, filled with lush descriptive fieldwork and photographs, is an important historical object that deepens the understanding of a stellar musician.

See how these artefacts, and many more, impacted key characters and events. From revered heirlooms such as Darth Vader’s mask and the Skywalker lightsaber to a Tusken gaderffii stick and a clone trooper’s helmet, each carefully chosen object has its own compelling story to tell.
    Presented chronologically, full-color images illustrate every entry, while the accompanying essay explores the background and resonance of each piece. Star Wars: 100 Objects provides an exclusive glimpse at props from the Lucasfilm Archives and is a unique, wonderful way to experience the richness of the timeless Star Wars saga.

As one of the most innovative and remarkable songwriters of the last 50 years, Paul Weller has proved to be the ultimate shapeshifter, moving from The Jam’s punk sensibilities to the genre-defying Style Council, and later through a remarkable 30-year solo career. Alongside Lennon and McCartney, Weller is one of few artists that has attained a UK number one album over five consecutive decades, and has also received career defining awards from the BRITs (Lifetime Achievement Award), NME Awards (Godlike Genius Award) and a GQ Award for Songwriter of the Year. 
    Magic: A Journal of Song is the definitive book of Weller's songwriting career from founding The Jam in his teenage years, to creating The Style Council, through to his years as a solo musician. Offering unprecedented insight into Weller’s creative process, his lyrics are accompanied by more than 450 photographs and items of memorabilia, and an illuminating commentary of over 25,000 words. As told to journalist and author, Dylan Jones, Magic is Paul Weller's most candid and intimate account of his musical life to date.

The story about the Beatles Fan Club in North America has never been told in over 50 years. This book tells the story of The Beatles fan clubs in the United States and Canada from 1963-1972. The Beatles had a lot of love and respect for their fan club members and frequently met them while they were touring North America. The stories of fan club members who met The Beatles are shared. The Official Beatles Fan Club in New York City did not meet the fans' expectations, so many quit and started independent fan clubs. When The Beatles stopped touring, the fan club members traveled to London, and many met John, Paul, George, and Ringo outside the recording studio and their homes. The Official Beatles Fan Club changed hands and threatened to sue the independent clubs, which was quite controversial. The fan club continued even after The Beatles had broken up and has impacted Beatles fans today.
    There have been thousands of Beatles books written since 1964. Their music and lives have been analyzed and dissected more than any other group of four men in history. However, this book differs from all other books on the market. This book does not focus on the Beatles' music or lives. Its focus is on the fans and how while being teenagers, they were able to organize and run successful fan clubs for The Beatles. The stories of how they were innovated to arrange an in-person meeting with The Beatles while on tour or in London have never been told.
    The story of the Beatles fan club in the United States has never been told before, and most Beatle fans are unfamiliar with this part of the Beatles' history. The story of how the Official Fan Club attempted to sue the independent fan clubs has yet to be spoken about since it occurred over 50 years ago.

Even since the 2000s, Marvel's greatest band of intergalactic outlaws have become ever more crucial to the comic book Marvel Universe and its key story lines, ultimately inspiring their inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Fans all over the world have enjoyed their comics and movie adventures, and many will be wondering how the Guardians came to be the galaxy's most wanted crew of cosmic rogues.
    This new, updated, and expanded edition of the Guardians of the Galaxy Ultimate Guide gives the lowdown on the motley team's entire story, from their earliest incarnations to their latest story lines and future legacy. Chronicled by Marvel-approved comics experts and illustrated with stellar comic artwork, this is a must-have guide for die-hard fans and newcomers alike.

In 1974 Marvel Comics publisher Stan Lee devised an ingenious promotional campaign—Marvel Value Stamps, which appeared on the letters pages of their monthly comics. Readers could cut out all 100 of these super hero and super villain stamps and place them in a special mail-order booklet. Once complete, these stamp books could then be redeemed for special discounts and exclusive merchandise. The program was so successful, a second set was released in 1975. And now, for the first time, these original stamp books, stamps, and all of the surrounding ephemera and source material are collected into one must-have volume for collectors and fans, along with text from Marvel Comics historian Roy Thomas and an all-new cover by Alex Ross.

Kevin Nowlan is a true “artists artist.” He has won the coveted Eisner Award for his art on “Jack B. Quick”, in collaboration with Alan Moore, as well for inking Batman: Sword of Azrael, over Joe Quesada. This volume will contain a selection of Nowlan’s best works for Marvel comics—Covers, pages, and two complete stories, most notably his fully painted, 62-page Man-Thing graphic novel, written by Howard the Duck creator Steve Gerber. A true labor of love, the graphic novel took Nowlan 25 years to complete.
    An Artist's Edition collects stories, covers and pages that have been reproduced from the original art. While appearing to be in black and white, these images have been scanned in color, allowing the reader to view them as closely as possible to the original art. Ink gradients, blue pencil, corrections, and more are all clearly visible, all the wonderful subtle nuances that make original art so special and unique. The only way to better view these pages if you were standing over the artist’s shoulder as they were drawn.

The history of comics has centered almost exclusively on men. Comics historians largely describe the medium as one built by men telling tales about male protagonists, neglecting the many ways in which women fought for legitimacy on the page and in publishers’ studios. Despite this male-dominated focus, women played vital roles in the early history of comics. The story of how comic books were born and how they evolved changes dramatically when women like June Tarpé Mills and Lily Renée are placed at the center rather than at the margins of this history, and when characters such as the Black Cat, Patsy Walker, and Señorita Rio are analyzed.
    Comic Book Women offers a feminist history of the golden age of comics, revising our understanding of how numerous genres emerged and upending narratives of how male auteurs built their careers. Considering issues of race, gender, and sexuality, the authors examine crime, horror, jungle, romance, science fiction, superhero, and Western comics to unpack the cultural and industrial consequences of how women were represented across a wide range of titles by publishers like DC, Timely, Fiction House, and others. This revisionist history reclaims the forgotten work done by women in the comics industry and reinserts female creators and characters into the canon of comics history.

1932 saw the launch of Disney’s second-ever original comic strip, the full-color weekly Silly Symphonies, and with it came the debut of Bucky Bug, a daring, rhyming, mischievous squirt whose escapades took him from brutal birds of prey to the terrifying trenches of the Great Flyburg War! With his brave lady friend June and bumpkin pal Bo, Bucky even travels to a mixed-up Mother Goose Land… where a not-so-merry Old King Cole has mayhem on his mind!
Now in this latest stand alone Disney reprint collection, readers can follow all of Bucky’s adventures and the Symphonies Sunday sagas that followed, which also includes Donald Duck’s debut as the barnyard’s spoilt brat in “The Wise Little Hen”… and further tales of golden age Silly Symphony cartoon stars: egotistical Max Hare, slow-but-sure Toby Tortoise, and that awful bandit Dirty Bill (who “never took a bath, and he never will!”).

The idea of creating a tv series about a wacky rock group similar to The Beatles had been unsuccessfully kicked around Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures since 1962, but by 1965, The Beatles were on their second tour, and their Help! album, single, and tour created a popularity wave called Beatlemania. The enormous success of their A Hard Day’s Night album and single convinced Screen Gems to green light the tv series idea, and The Monkees were born.
    A fake band seemed odd in the real world still reeling from race riots, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and the Vietnam War, but delightful Davy Jones, peppy Peter Tork, madcap Micky Dolenz, and comparatively serious Michael Nesmith were too busy singing to bring anybody down. Fake became steak by late 1966, and with help from super musicians Tommy Boyce, Bobby Bart, Neil Diamond, Chip Douglas, Carole King, John Stewart, and others, the series skyrocketed to hit status along with #1 music albums and hit singles, such as “The Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone,” and “I’m a Believer.”
    Authors Michael A. Ventrella and Mark Arnold now analyze all The Monkee’s songs and albums produced over 50 years. Discover the band’s detailed history, a listing of all live performances and TV appearances, and a listing of all of their singles and albums that made the Billboard charts.
    Come and watch them sing and play. Discover the secrets of their recordings: which of The Monkees played what instruments on each song, when it was recorded, how well that song did on the charts, whether there were any interesting cover versions of the song done, and when it first appeared on a record.
    Profusely illustrated with album covers, single covers, live performance pictures, and trivia pictures. Index.

“Bitchy, glib, fun and shrewd.”―Daily Telegraph Black Vinyl White Powder is the definitive story of five decades of British Pop―now in paperback Whether penning hits for Dusty Springfield, discovering Marc Bolan or managing a series of stellar acts ranging from the Yardbirds to Wham! – Simon Napier-Bell draws on his wealth of contacts and personal experience to give an enthralling account of a business that became like no other. From the debauchery of rock megastars like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin to the ecstasy culture that shaped dance music in the 1980s, Napier-Bell charts the growth of a world in which bad behaviour is not only tolerated but encouraged; where drugs are as important as talent; and where artists are pushed to their mental and physical limits in the name of profit and ego. Filled with the voices of artists, producers, managers and record company execs, Black Vinyl White Powder is a raucous, entertaining and revealing history of British pop.

Set centuries before the Skywalker Saga, this book is the ultimate in-universe guide to Star Wars: The High Republic, providing fascinating insight into a time of valiant heroes, terrifying monsters, and daring exploration. Featuring stunning original illustrations, this striking book is an essential collectible that will transport you to the galaxy’s golden age.

New Pop Culture Books: Disney! Leon Russell! Lou Reed! Beatles!

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

The Walt Disney Company honors its 100th anniversary in 2023. As part of the festivities, this must-have coffee table book showcases the company's history and rich legacy―past, present, and future―through vibrant voices and rare Disney concept art and photographs.
    On October 16, 1923, Walt Disney and his brother Roy founded what we now know to be The Walt Disney Company. Walt’s passion and vision continues to inspire creative development across the company. As a result, Disney characters―and their stories―have touched the lives of generations of fans. They encourage a belief that dreams really can come true.
    As the official companion to the touring exhibition by Walt Disney Archives and SC Exhibitions, this gorgeous coffee table book serves as a treasure trove for pop culture enthusiasts, artists, art collectors, and Disney fans.

Leon Russell is an icon, but somehow is still an underappreciated artist. He is spoken of in tones reserved not just for the most talented musicians, but also for the most complex and fascinating. His career is like a roadmap of music history, often intersecting with rock royalty like Bob Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles. He started in the Fifties as a teenager touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, going on to play piano on records by such giants as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector, and on hundreds of classic songs with major recording artists. Leon was Elton John’s idol, and Elton inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Leon also gets credit for altering Willie Nelson’s career, giving us the long-haired, pot-friendly Willie we all know and love today.
    In his prime, Leon filled stadiums on solo tours, and was an organizer/performer on both Joe Cocker’s revolutionary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Leon also founded Shelter Records in 1969 with producer Denny Cordell, discovering and releasing the debut albums of Tom Petty, the Gap Band, Phoebe Snow, and J.J. Cale. Leon always assembled wildly diverse bands and performances, fostering creative and free atmospheres for musicians to live and work together. He brazenly challenged musical and social barriers. However, Russell also struggled with his demons, including substance abuse, severe depression, and a crippling stage fright that wreaked havoc on his psyche over the long haul and at times seemed to will himself into obscurity. Now, acclaimed author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz shines the spotlight on one of the most important music makers of the twentieth century.

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney’s career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that’s always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney’s post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

Lou Reed was a musician, singer, songwriter, poet, and founding member of the legendary rock band the Velvet Underground. He collaborated with many artists, from Andy Warhol and John Cale to Robert Wilson and Metallica. Reed had a groundbreaking solo career that spanned five decades until his death in 2013.
    Reed was also an accomplished martial artist whose practice began in the 1980s. He studied with Chen Tai Chi pioneer Master Ren GuangYi. This book is a comprehensive collection of Reed’s writings on Tai Chi. It includes conversations with Reed’s fellow musicians, artists, friends, and Tai Chi practitioners, including Julian Schnabel, A. M. Homes, Hal Willner, Mingyur Rinpoche, Eddie Stern, Tony Visconti, and Iggy Pop.
    Including over 150 photos, ephemera, and a color photo insert, The Art of the Straight Line features Reed’s unpublished writings on the technique, practice, and purpose of martial arts, as well as essays, observations, and riffs on meditation and life.

In 1964, Beatlemania flooded the United States. The Beatles appeared live on the Ed Sullivan Show and embarked on their first tour of North America—and they spent more time in Florida than anywhere else. Good Day Sunshine State dives into this momentous time and place, exploring the band's seismic influence on the people and culture of the state.
            Bob Kealing sets the historical stage for the band's arrival—a nation dazed after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and on the precipice of the Vietnam War; a heavily segregated, conservative South; and in Florida, recent events that included the Cuban Missile Crisis and the arrest and imprisonment of Martin Luther King Jr. in St. Augustine. Kealing documents the culture clashes and unexpected affinities that emerged as the British rockers drew crowds, grew from fluff story to the subject of continual news coverage, and basked in the devotion of a young and idealistic generation.
            Through an abundance of letters, memorabilia, and interviews with journalists, fellow musicians, and fans, Kealing takes readers behind the scenes into the Beatles' time in locations such as Miami Beach, where they wrote new songs and met Muhammad Ali. In the tropical environs of Key West, John Lennon and Paul McCartney experienced milestone moments in their friendship. And the band dodged the path of Hurricane Dora to play at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, where they famously refused to perform until the city agreed to integrate the audience.
            Kealing highlights music legends the Beatles inspired; rock-and-rollers like Tom Petty who followed the Fab Four's lead in their path to stardom. This book offers a close look at an important part of the musical and cultural revolution that helped make the Beatles a worldwide phenomenon.

Out Now: Taschen Collects 'The Complete Little Nemo'


Order now from Amazon and help support PCS!

Details:

Meet Little Nemo, a diminutive hero of comic narrative, but one of the greatest dream voyagers of the 20th century. The master creation of Winsor McCay (1869–1934), restless sleeper Nemo inspired generations of artists with his weekly adventures from bed to Slumberland, a realm of colorful companions, psychedelic scenery, and thrilling escapades.

Nemo’s creator Winsor McCay was a founding figure in the modern American entertainment industry, above all with his revolutionary comics, which set standards for panel layout and storytelling technique, timing and pacing, and architectural and other detail that left an inestimable influence on subsequent artists, including Robert Crumb and Federico Fellini.

TASCHEN’s sumptuous Winsor McCay – The Complete Little Nemo collects, in full, glorious color, all 549 episodes of Little Nemo. In the illustrated essay, art historian and comics expert Alexander Braun places Winsor McCay’s life and work within the cultural history of the U.S. media and entertainment industry, and explores the immense art historical value of McCay's dream narrative. At once an adventure story, visual delight, and piece of cultural history, this publication is a tremendous monument to one of the most innovative pioneers―and one of the most intrepid explorers―of comic history.