Pop Artifact! The Thing movie poster

Pop Culture Roundup Nov. 2, 2007

A one-off Led Zeppelin reunion concert has been postponed due to guitarist Jimmy Page breaking his finger.

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Here's a set picture from the fourth Indiana Jones film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull":


From left to right, actor Shia LaBeouf, director Steven Spielberg, and actors Ray Winstone, Karen Allen and Harrison Ford.



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Dial B for Blog explores the Seinfeld/Superman connection.

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Big news: Comic historian Blake Bell's long-awaited book about Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko is set for release next June.

STRANGE & STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO will tell the narrative of Steve Ditko, the artist, from humble beginnings in Johnstown Pennsylvania; to the dizzying heights of co-creating Spider-Man; to the spectacular Howard Roark-like determination, and tribulations, in bringing his personal and philosophical vision to a recalcitrant audience. There's a fantastic, dramatic storyline running through Ditko's career; the artist having walked away from the Spider-Man franchise (and the billions it was to generate) as it was reaching the height of its popularity. What price did Ditko pay, and what was the impact on his work?"

..."Fans of Ditko, and comic art, will not be able to put the book down," says Bell, "as we explode many of the myths surrounding key moments in Ditko's career, as well as present reams of rare and unpublished Ditko artwork. For the comic art scholar, we also break down the "hows" of Steve Ditko as a great sequential storyteller, dissecting his work in depth for the first time, also with analysis and commentary by some of the most skilled and articulate comic creators of the day."




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Speaking of Diko: It's his 80th birthday today.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Village of the Damned movie poster

Pop Culture Roundup Nov. 1, 2007

Ain't it Cool News says NBC's "Heroes" spin-off "Heroe's: Origins" is a no-go. A potential Hollywood writers' strike is to blame. More here.

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Exciting news for "Buffy" fans: Joss Whedon is producing a new show for Fox starring Eliza Dushku--it won't be about Dushku's "Buffy" character Faith, though.

"Dollhouse," "deals with our darkest impulses and our best ones,” Whedon says. “It deals with all the things I like to deal with—strength, weakness, power and corruption.”

“Dollhouse” stars Dushku as Echo, one of a group of secret agents living in a futuristic dorm. Each has the ability to be imprinted with custom personalities and abilities for special assignments. When they return, their newly acquired memories are wiped. The show follows Echo as she takes on a variety of assignments—some romantic, some adventurous, some uplifting, some illegal—and gains awareness of her role and confinement.


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Harry Potter is gone, but J.K. Rowling can't let go of Hogwarts in her new book, a collection of five wizarding tales entitled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." However, most of us will likely never read them.

Attentive readers will recognise the title as that of the book given by Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore to Harry's friend and intellectual aide-de-camp, Hermione Granger, in the seventh and final instalment of the boy wizard's adventures, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Its contents provide clues that help Harry and his companions foil the machinations of the evil Lord Voldemort.

...Only seven copies of the book, which Rowling handwrote and personally illustrated, are being printed. Six have been given as gifts to people closely connected with the Harry Potter books over the years of their gestation; the other is being auctioned next month to raise money for Rowling's charity, The Children's Voice, dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children in eastern Europe. The volume, bound in brown morocco leather and mounted with silver and semiprecious stones, will be auctioned at Sotheby's on December 13 with a starting price of £30,000.


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A Black Canary-ish character will appear on the Superboy-ish show "Smallville."

Like her comic-book counterpart, Smallville’s version is a martial arts expert whose superpower is a “canary cry” — a high-pitched scream that can shatter objects and take down opponents. And, yes, she will sport the fishnet stockings that are a trademark of the character’s costume.

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Deal alert: TwoMorrows Publishing is offering half off back issues of its cool comics-themed publications, such as The Jack Kirby Collector, Alter-Ego and, um, Back Issue! Check 'em out.

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Hear Paul McCartney's performance at the BBC's recent Electric Proms concert.

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Daniel Craig is set to play James Bond for a long time.

Actor Daniel Craig has signed a $60m (€41m) deal to star in the next four 'James Bond' films.



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Here are a couple of new movie posters:

"I'm Not There," featuring an array of stars--male and female--playing Bob Dylan.



And a new one for Disney's upcoming "Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" adaptation.



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Heath Ledger will star in a new fantasy film by Terry Gilliam, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus."

Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Verne Troyer round out the cast.

Pic is a modern-day fantasy adventure that centers on Dr. Parnassus (Plummer), who has the gift of guiding the imaginations of others.


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Via Mark Evanier: A salute to Carl Stalling, composer/arranger of classic Looney Tunes music.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Corridors of Blood movie poster

Pop Culture Update Oct. 31, 2007

The Washington Post looks at "Gods of Asgard," a non-Marvel Comics take on the Norse gods.

"Gods of Asgard" is a perfect way to introduce people to these ancient accounts of war, love, avarice, joy and deception — in other words, stories about things modern people will still recognize as being all-too-human and not always superheroic.

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Jonathan Rhys Meyers may star in a live-action Mandrake the Magician film.

Mandrake will be an updated version of the Hearst comic book and will be the first joint production by Omega Entertainment and Baldwin Entertainment Group.

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The pilot episode for season 4 of "Veronica Mars," which would've placed the title character in the FBI academy and might have saved her for the horribleness of what was season 3, is now online.

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The UK's Telegraph looks back at the first Hammer Horror "Dracula" film starring the great Christopher Lee.

This was the first Dracula to be shot in colour, the first to emphasise the theme of sexual awakening, and – surprisingly – the first to feature a British actor in the title role.

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The Golden Age of Comic Book Stories blog has a great series of horror film and comic book images in celebration of Halloween. Jon's Random Acts of Geekery also has been posting lots of cool Halloweeny images from the realms of pop culture.

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Comic Book Resources has images from this weekend's episode of "The Batman," which pairs the Caped Crusader with the Flash.

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Sharity: Spooky Sound Effects.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

New comics Oct. 31, 2007

See complete lists:
DC Archives
DC Showcase
DC Trade Paperbacks
Marvel Masterworks
Marvel Essentials
Marvel Trade Paperbacks


Comics shipping Oct. 31, 2007

DARK HORSE COMICS

SEP070032 APOCALYPSE NERD #6 (OF 6) $2.99
JUL070028 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER LONG WAY HOME TP $15.95
AUG070121 TALES OF THE FEAR AGENT 12 STEPS IN ONE (ONE SHOT) $2.99

DC COMICS

AUG070219 52 AFTERMATH THE FOUR HORSEMEN #3 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG070236 ACTION COMICS #858 (NOTE PRICE) $3.50
JUN078155 ACTION COMICS VAR ED #858 $3.50
AUG070228 BATMAN #670 $2.99
APR070165 BATMAN BATMAN AND SON HC $24.99
JUN078156 BATMAN VAR ED #670 $2.99
AUG070287 CARTOON NETWORK BLOCK PARTY #38 $2.25
AUG070201 COUNTDOWN LORD HAVOK AND THE EXTREMISTS #1 (OF 6) $2.99
AUG070200 COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE #3 (OF 8) $3.99
AUG070198 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 26 $2.99
AUG070199 COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #2 (OF 8) $3.99
JUL070246 CREEPER WELCOME TO CREEPVILLE TP $19.99
AUG070212 CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #1 (OF 5) $2.99
AUG070221 DC INFINITE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL #1 $5.99
AUG070211 DEATH OF THE NEW GODS #2 (OF 8) $3.50
JUL070247 FLASH WONDERLAND TP $12.99
APR070192 GREEN LANTERN WANTED HAL JORDAN HC $19.99
AUG070250 JSA CLASSIFIED #31 $2.99
AUG070251 JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #10 $2.99
AUG070252 JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA VAR ED #10 $2.99
AUG070301 KING OF CARDS VOL 2 $9.99
AUG070306 MIDNIGHTER ARMAGEDDON #1 $2.99
AUG070229 ROBIN ANNUAL #7 $3.99
JUL070275 SAMURAI COMMANDO MISSION 1549 VOL 2 $9.99
DEC058090 SANDMAN VOL 1 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES TP $19.99
AUG070304 SEIMADEN VOL 10 $9.99
SEP070225 SHOWCASE PRESENTS TEEN TITANS VOL 2 TP $16.99
AUG070257 SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #35 $2.99
JUL070223 SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #8 $2.99
AUG070322 SUPERNATURAL ORIGINS #6 $2.99
AUG070292 TEEN TITANS GO #48 $2.25
JUN070212 TRIALS OF SHAZAM #9 (OF 12) $2.99
FEB058406 WATCHMEN TP $19.99

IMAGE COMICS

AUG071991 ACCELERATE VOL 1 TP $14.99
JUN071891 ART OF GREG CAPULLO SC $24.99
AUG072002 BRIT #3 $2.99
AUG072060 CONSUMED #4 (OF 4) $2.99
MAY071902 DARKNESS NOVEL VOL 01 $6.99
AUG072006 DYNAMO 5 #8 $2.99
AUG072059 JOHNNY DELGADO IS DEAD #2 (OF 2) $3.99
JUL071994 KISS 4K #4 $2.99
JAN071943 SAVAGE DRAGON #133 $2.99
AUG071995 SPAWN ARMAGEDDON COMPLETE COLLECTION TP $29.95
JUN071870 SPECIAL FORCES #1 (OF 6) $2.99
APR071881 TRUE STORY SWEAR TO GOD IMAGE ED #9 $3.50
JUN071937 WITCHBLADE #111 $2.99

MARVEL COMICS

JUN072203 ANITA BLAKE VH FIRST DEATH #2 (OF 2) $3.99
AUG078126 ANITA BLAKE VH FIRST DEATH #2 (OF 2) ZOMBIE VAR $3.99
AUG072303 ANNIHILATION BOOK 2 TP $24.99
AUG072206 ANNIHILATION CONQUEST QUASAR #4 (OF 4) $2.99
AUG072215 DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #1 $3.99
AUG072313 ESSENTIAL WEREWOLF BY NIGHT VOL 2 TP $16.99
AUG072223 IRON MAN #23 $2.99
AUG072246 MYTHOS FANTASTIC FOUR $3.99
AUG072261 NEW X-MEN #43 $2.99
JUL051924 RUNAWAYS VOL 4 TRUE BELIEVERS DIGEST TP $7.99
SEP041814 SHE HULK VOL 1 SINGLE GREEN FEMALE TP $14.99
AUG072251 SUB-MARINER #5 (OF 6) CWI $2.99
JUL072135 ULTIMATE POWER #8 (OF 9) $2.99
STAR18173 ULTIMATE X-MEN VOL 5 ULTIMATE WAR TP $10.99
AUG072258 X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE SHOT MC $3.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

SEP073255 WIZARD MAGAZINE AVENGERS INVADERS ROSS CVR #194 $5.99
SEP073256 WIZARD MAGAZINE DC VILLAINS CVR #194 $5.99
SEP073254 WIZARD MAGAZINE SPIDER-MAN 4 PHOTO CVR #194 $5.99

COMICS

AUG073507 ARMY OF DARKNESS FROM ASHES #3 $3.50
AUG073387 BETTY & VERONICA DIGEST #179 $2.49
AUG073388 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #80 $2.25
JUN073584 DISNEYS DUCKTALES BY MARV WOLFMAN SCROOGES QUEST TP $15.99
AUG073563 FORGOTTEN REALMS HALFLINGS GEM SEELEY CVR A #2 $5.50
AUG073564 FORGOTTEN REALMS HALFLINGS GEM WALPOLE CVR B #2 $9.50
AUG073558 GI JOE DATA DESK HANDBOOK COLL A-M $5.50
JUL073487 GI JOE STORM SHADOW #5 $3.50
APR073319 HAUNTED MANSION #7 $2.95
AUG073392 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #135 $3.69
JUN073240 KADE SHIVAS SUN #0 (OF 4) $0.25
STAR09903 LENORE VOL 1 NOOGIES TP $11.95
AUG073501 NEW BATTLESTAR GALACTICA PEGASUS ONE SHOT $4.99
JUN073208 PARIS COLLECTION TP $10.95
AUG073394 SABRINA VOL 2 #89 $2.25
JUL073248 SLOW NEWS DAY $12.95
SEP073524 SWORD OF RED SONJA DOOM O/T GODS #2 $3.50
AUG073911 TALES FROM THE CRYPT #3 $3.95
JUN078045 X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE SHOT PX SKETCH ED PI

MAGAZINES

AUG073650 COMICS JOURNAL #286 $11.95
AUG074136 NEWTYPE ENG ED NOV 2007 $12.98

Pop Artifact! The Mummy movie poster

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 30, 2007

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the new DVD The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965.

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Alanis Morisette has joined the cast of "Radio Free Albemuth," an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick work.

The Canadian pop singer plays Sylvia, a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive named Nick (Jonathan Scarfe) as a glamorous singer.

In reality, she's an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who, after appearing in Nick's visions, gets a job as his secretary. She becomes his soul mate thanks to the pair's shared spirituality and visions.


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Director Guillermo del Toro is producing a TV mini-series based on Neil Gaimin's Death comic book character and wants Gaimin to direct.

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Shout! Factory is releasing DVDs of Johnny Cash's 1976 and 1977 Christmas TV specials.

Johnny and June Carter Cash went to their homes in Bon Aqua, and Hendersonville, Tennessee to tape Johnny Cash Christmas 1976. After opening the show, Johnny takes guest Tony Orlando for a ride around his property, teasing him about country versus city life, and promising that "June makes the best snake and potatoes around." In addition to several stellar performances, including "Christmas As I Knew It," the special includes a medley of songs from Stephen Foster, "a man from the North," Cash says, "who wrote such great things about the South." Johnny Cash Christmas 1976, which originally aired December 6, 1976, on CBS, also features special guests Roy Clark, Merle Travis, Barbara Mandrell, and Billy Graham.

Johnny Cash Christmas 1977 includes an all-star tribute to Elvis Presley, who had passed away two months prior. Taped at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House, fellow Sun Records labelmates and rockabilly pioneers Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison join Cash on "This Train Is Bound For Glory" in memory of Presley, whose affinity for such sacred music was well known. In addition to a selection of Christmas songs, many hit singles are performed on this special, including Perkins's "Blue Suede Shoes," Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman," and Lewis's 1957 Sun smash "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On." Cash goes on to recall a life-changing holiday season he experienced while stationed in Germany in the early 1950s. "I was lonesome, homesick and had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life," he explains. "But one day I walked four miles through the snow to a little pawn shop where there was a guitar in the window with a five-dollar price tag."

DVD new releases Oct. 30, 2007

Spider-Man 3 (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Scrubs - The Complete Sixth Season

CSI Miami - The Fifth Season

Spider-Man 3 (Widescreen Edition)

Looney Tunes - Golden Collection, Volume Five

My So-Called Life - The Complete Series (w/ Book)

The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934-1936

Dark Shadows: The Beginning Collection 2

Barbara Stanwyck - The Signature Collection (Annie Oakley / East Side, West Side / My Reputation / Executive Suite / Jeopardy / To Please a Lady)

Family Affair - Season 4

The Real McCoys - Season 2

Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, Vol. 1: Get a Clue

New CD releases Oct. 30, 2007

CD new releases Oct. 30, 2007

Wedding Album by Leon Russell and Mary Russell

Americana by Leon Russell

Life & Love by Leon Russell

Live Album by Leon Russell and New Grass Revival

Goffin & King Song Collection 1961-1967

Dirt Farmer by Levon Helm

That's Swift: Instrumentals From the Norman Petty Vaults by Various Artists

Spirit of St Louis by Ellen Foley

Feeling the Blues by The Chambers Brothers

Knee Plays by David Byrne

In Concert by Gene Clark

Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind: Singles and Demos 1964-1967 by Vashti Bunyan

I Wanna Go Backwards by Robyn Hitchcock

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Superman, Supergirl costume ad

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 29, 2007

TV alert: "American Masters" on PBS profiles Peanuts creator Charles Shulz.

Like the new Schulz biography by David Michaelis (an interviewee and consultant here), the program makes illuminating use of panels from a half-century’s worth of “Peanuts” to illustrate the biographical sketch being supplied by friends and family. It’s a savvy approach that makes you realize that his sparse style wasn’t so simple after all, that beneath any given strip may have lurked Mr. Schulz’s real-life loneliness, lost love or broken marriage.

Along the way you meet the inspiration for Linus, an early art-instruction colleague of Mr. Schulz named Linus Maurer; the actual little red-haired girl, Donna Wold; even, in some photos, Charles F. Brown, the man whose round head Mr. Schulz immortalized. You learn that “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” the 1965 special that is among the most beloved pieces of television ever made, might easily have been ruined by CBS, except that Mr. Schulz by then had enough power to impose his vision.


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A live-action Green Lantern movie is planned.

When they went in to pitch, Berlanti had a concept artist draw up 30 images of key scenes and images to help sell to the studio the movie he wanted to direct. He also pitched Warners brass a series of movies, with the first being an origin of how Jordan becomes a member of the intergalactic police force.

The biggest challenge in setting up "Lantern" was waiting for the technology to become available to create fantastical worlds as well as overcoming the prejudice of a ring-bearing hero.

Vintage DC Comics house ad

Pop Artifact! Vintage Halloween card

Pop Culture Roundup Oct. 26, 2007

A 16-CD box set collecting the entire studio works of Pink Floyd is out Dec. 4.

Oh By the Way, due Dec. 4 internationally. For the time being, the limited pressing of 10,000 will only be available as an import in the United States.

The box spans Pink Floyd's 1967 debut, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," to its 1994 swan song, "The Division Bell," with a new portrait collage from longtime visual collaborator Storm Thorgerson. Also included is a 20" by 30" poster.

Each album is a reproduction of the original vinyl release, with the "Dark Side of the Moon" cover appearing on CD for the first time since the early 1990s.




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The "Lost" curse strikes again: Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin, is the third cast member to be busted for driving under the influence in Hawaii.

In December 2005, the Hawaii Five-O snagged a twofer, busting then Losties Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros on separate DUIs on the same highway within 15 minutes of each other. Both pleaded guilty to charges of driving under the influence, with Rodriguez even serving a brief jail stint for the offense. Both actresses met their demise by season's end.

Less than a year later, in September 2006, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was arrested on charges of driving without a license and disobeying an officer.


Best Lost Sites.

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The Milt Caniff estate is selling an exclusive online DVD collecting four episodes of the 1958-59 live-action "Steve Canyon" TV series. Profits from the disk will help fund restoration of the entire series, including all 34 episodes. More info here.

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Manga publisher Tokyopop names its 10 best-selling titles during its first decade of operations.



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The New York Times reviews a new documentary about director David Lynch.

Whether you dig “Lynch,” a feature-length video visit with the director David Lynch, will largely depend on your views of his work and whether you think there’s something instructive and characteristically wonderful and weird about him telling an assistant, “I want a one-legged 16-year-old girl.”



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Dial B for Blog wishes you a Bizarro Halloween.

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Cate Blanchett talks about playing Bob Dylan.

After watching the important Dylan documentaries and studying the press conferences he held during his 1966 tour (the footage supplied by Dylan's manager Jeff Rosen), Blanchett turned the singer into an asexual, creative imp. "He was a creature. You see him jumping around in Don't Look Back [the 1967 documentary] and he's completely androgynous." She was captivated by his defiant, occasionally cruel playfulness, behaving "like a cat with a mouse, with this girl in a French hotel room" and drawing a fake moustache on his own face.



Best Bob Dylan Sites.

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The Museum of Jewish History in Paris is presenting a Superman exhibition.

230 original drawings and printed works by major cartoonists and graphic novelists will be shown. The core of the exhibition will be the artists living and publishing in New York and their influence on European graphic storytelling as far as Jewish Memory is concerned.



Best Superman Sites.