More Beatles U.S. picture sleeves

Here's another batch of Beatles 45 rpm picture sleeves from Capitol Records:



















Pop links

Comic Book Galaxy has links to some well worth reading pieces relating to comics scribe Steve Gerber, who died earlier this week.

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There's a new strip by Gilbert Hernandez on the Dark Horse Comics MySpace page.

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From ComicMix: Steve Ditko's revenge.

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The Coen Brothers next film will be an adaptation of Micheal Chabon's "Yiddish Policemen's Union."

In the book, Chabon follows a group of Jewish settlers who are about to be displaced by U.S. government's plans to turn the frozen locale of Sitka, Alaska, over to Alaskan natives.

The book is a noir-style murder mystery with a rogue cop investigating the murder of a heroin-addicted chess prodigy


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The Frank Frazetta fest continues at Golden Age Comic Book Stories. The blog has been sharing some fabulously illustrated romance stories Frazetta did back in the 1950s. Gorgeous stuff.

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TV Guide talks to "Lost" producer Carlton Cuse about his plans for the show now that the writers strike is over.

What came out of your meeting with ABC today?
Cuse: Damon [Lindelof] and I are going to try to make five more episodes before the end of May, which is ambitious. But we've found ourselves in a situation where we had eight episodes of story planned, and we're going to try to fit that into five hours of the show. Even though it's going to be very hard to execute, we felt like any less would be doing a disservice to the story we had planned. We really want to give the fans the best possible experience and ending... to Season 4.

Any chance that the first of the five episodes will air the week after that last pre-strike episode — thus eliminating any scheduling gap?
Cuse: No, there's probably going to be four weeks between the airing of the first batch of episodes and our new episodes.

What will happen to the three "lost" episodes? Will they roll over into next season's 16, or will they vanish forever?
Cuse: Damon and I remain committed to producing the 40 additional hours of the show that we promised. We haven't figured out exactly when we'll put those other three on, but we're not eliminating them from the show. You will get those three episodes downstream.

14 Days of Love: Crazy romance comic book covers

Counting down to Valentine's Day, here's entry 13. Time to buy some sticky chocolate for your loved one, you lazy bum!

New comics Feb. 13, 2008

Here's what will be in shops this week. Click links to order items from Amazon.

DARK HORSE COMICS

DEC070024 BPRD 1946 #2 (OF 5) $2.99
DEC070041 EVIL DEAD #2 (OF 4) $2.99
NOV070020 GOON #21 $2.99

DC COMICS

NOV070256 APOTHECARIUS ARGENTUM VOL 04 $9.99
DEC070276 ASTRO CITY THE DARK AGE SPECIAL #2 BEAUTIE $3.99
DEC070200 BAT LASH #3 (OF 6) $2.99
DEC070261 BATMAN STRIKES #42 $2.25
DEC070197 BOOSTER GOLD #0 $2.99
NOV070225 CONNOR HAWKE DRAGONS BLOOD TP $19.99
DEC070184 COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS 11 $2.99
NOV070255 DOKKOIDA VOL 01 $9.99
JUN070198 DR THIRTEEN ARCHITECTURE AND MORTALITY TP $14.99
DEC078059 FREDDY VS JASON VS ASH #2 (OF 6) 2ND PTG $2.99
DEC070282 GEN 13 #17 $2.99
DEC070192 GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #5 (OF 9) $2.99
DEC070198 GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #5 $2.99
DEC070229 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #21 $2.99
OCT070196 GREEN LANTERN VOL 01 THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR $24.99
DEC070233 JLA CLASSIFIED #52 $2.99
OCT060202 JUSTICE VOL 02 $19.99
DEC070264 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES IN THE 31ST CENTURY #11 $2.25
NOV070260 PALETTE OF 12 SECRET COLORS VOL 02 $9.99
DEC070193 SALVATION RUN #4 (OF 7) $2.99
NOV070243 SHOWCASE PRESENTS ENEMY ACE TP VOL 01 $16.99
DEC070212 SIMON DARK #5 $2.99
DEC070203 SUICIDE SQUAD RAISE THE FLAG #6 (OF 8) $2.99
JUN070210 SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION THE DOMINATOR WAR TP $14.99
DEC070217 SUPERMAN #673 $2.99
NOV070242 TIME MASTERS TP $19.99
DEC070260 TINY TITANS #1 $2.25
FEB078231 TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 03 YEAR OF THE BASTARD $12.99
OCT058076 TRANSMETROPOLITAN TP VOL 06 GOUGE AWAY $14.99
NOV070262 VENUS IN LOVE VOL 02 $9.99
DEC070242 WONDER WOMAN #17 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

SEP071980 BRIT #4 $2.99
DEC072050 GUTWRENCHER #1 (OF 3) $3.50
DEC072093 JACK STAFF #14 $3.50
OCT071967 NEXT ISSUE PROJECT #1 $5.99

MARVEL COMICS

DEC072170 AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL #17 $2.99
NOV072129 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #550 BND $2.99
NOV072141 BLACK PANTHER #34 $2.99
NOV072139 CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 (OF 5) $2.99
DEC072174 CIVIL WAR CHRONICLES #8 $4.99
DEC072274 EXILES 16 STARTING OVER $19.99
DEC072181 FANTASTIC FOUR #554 $2.99
DEC078057 FANTASTIC FOUR #554 BIANCHI VAR $2.99
NOV078183 FANTASTIC FOUR #554 MEGACON SUYDAM SKRULL VAR PI
NOV078182 FANTASTIC FOUR #554 SUYDAM SKRULL VAR $2.99
DEC072182 FANTASTIC FOUR LOST ADVENTURE $4.99
DEC072183 GHOST RIDER #20 $2.99
NOV072149 IRON MAN ENTER MANDARIN #5 (OF 6) $2.99
DEC072191 IRON MAN POWER PACK #4 (OF 4) $2.99
DEC072194 MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #8 $2.99
DEC072197 MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #36 $2.99
DEC072201 MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #6 $3.99
DEC072206 NEW AVENGERS #38 SII $2.99
DEC072229 NEW EXILES #2 $2.99
DEC072209 NOVA ANNUAL #1 $3.99
DEC072212 PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL #16 $2.99
FEB041621 RUNAWAYS PRIDE AND JOY DIGEST $7.99
DEC072270 SPIDER MAN BACK IN BLACK $24.99
DEC072169 SPIDER-MAN FAMILY #7 $4.99
DEC072272 SUB-MARINER REVOLUTION $14.99
DEC072164 ULTIMATE IRON MAN II #3 (OF 4) $2.99
DEC072225 WOLVERINE #62 DWS $2.99
DEC072224 X-FACTOR #28 DWS $2.99
DEC072221 X-FORCE #1 DWS $2.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

DEC073289 TOYFARE TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED CVR #128 $4.99

COMICS

DEC073401 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #116 $2.25
DEC073406 BETTY & VERONICA SPECTACULAR #81 $2.25
DEC073340 DEAD EYES OPEN $12.95
DEC073586 FORGOTTEN REALMS THE LEGACY #1 (OF 3) SEELEY CVR A $5.50
DEC073587 FORGOTTEN REALMS THE LEGACY #1 (OF 3) WALPOLE CVR B $9.50
DEC073583 GI JOE AMERICAS ELITE #32 $3.50
DEC073841 HERO BY NIGHT ONGOING #2 $3.99
SEP073336 POSE FILE ULTIMATE EDITION SUPERSIZE $34.95
DEC073972 RAMAYAN 3392 AD RELOADED #4 (RES) $2.99
DEC073411 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #185 $2.25
DEC073582 SPOOKS #1 ARCHER CVR B $5.50
DEC073581 SPOOKS #1 STAPLES CVR A $3.50
MAY042161 STRANGERS IN PARADISE PKT TP VOL 01 $17.95
DEC073413 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #27 $2.49

Jack Kirby photo collage page

Up for bid on eBay, this is an example of Jack Kirby's photo-collage work, seen sporadically in comics he illustrated throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

This isn't the collage itself, by a photostat made of the original, mounted on standard comic book art paper with a caption blurb attached to it.

Due to the relatively primitive printing in comics of that time, the collages never looked quite as they should've in published stories, but they still looked pretty cool. They are yet another aspect of Kirby's super-imaginative and innovative work.

According to the auction details, this example appeared in DC Comics' Weird Mystery #3 published in 1972, but was originally created for the unpublished second issue of Kirby's Spirit World magazine.

Pop links

As he wished, a quote from The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" will grace the late BBC DJ John Peel's tombstone.

He was quoted as saying he would like the song's line "our teenage dreams so hard to beat" on his tombstone.

The DJ is buried in St Andrew's Church, in the village of Great Finborough, Suffolk, where he lived for 33 years.

Peel's widow, Sheila Ravenscroft, said: "We have put the words on the stone that he would've wanted. I wouldn't dare do anything else!"


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Deal alert: Amazon is offering 50 percent off lots of DVD box sets, including the "James Bond Ultimate Collectors Set," "Planet of the Apes Legacy Collection," and more.

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There will be a new "Star Wars" film in theaters this summer.

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" opens Aug. 15, and it's a feature length animated prologue to the all-CGI series coming this fall on Cartoon Network and TNT.


More.

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Jon's Random Acts of Geekery rounds up a bunch of Marvel Comics Slurpee cups.

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Journalista reports on the death of comics scribe Steve Gerber and Gerber's recent difficulties with Marvel Comics over rights to his creations.

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Via Occasional Superheroine, here's the coolest tribute to Steve Gerber I've seen today.

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On a more serious note, the Comics Reporter has a very nice and detailed overview of Gerber's life and career.

Lost Feb. 28 episode preview

Highlight the hidden text for a teaser of the Feb. 28 episode of "Lost."

UPDATED: See a full description of this episode with clues and observations here!

Also see a trailer for the episode and hear the official "Lost" podcast.

DESMOND EXPERIENCES SOME STRANGE SIDE EFFECTS ON THE WAY TO THE FREIGHTER, ON ABC'S "LOST"

"The Constant" - Sayid and Desmond hit a bit of turbulence on the way to the freighter, which causes Desmond to experience some unexpected side effects, on "Lost," THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet, Terry O'Quinn as Locke and Harold Perrineau as Michael.

Guest starring are Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday, Rebecca Mader as Charlotte, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Sonya Walger as Penelope "Penny" Widmore, Graham McTavish as sergeant, Darren Keefe as Billy, Edward Conery as auctioneer, Marc Vann as doctor, Fisher Stevens as George Minkowski, Kevin Durand as Keamy and Anthony Azizi as Omar.

"The Constant" was written by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof and directed by Jack Bender.

Also see:

Lost Season 4 Episode Guide
The Best Lost Sites on the Web
Lost: What we STILL don't know


Fresh Iron Man movie pictures

Here are a few recent pics from the upcoming Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr., Gyneth Paltrow, Terence Howard and others.













This season of Lost to have 13 eps instead of 16

The recent writers strike has had probably a bigger impact on "Lost" than on most other TV dramas,given the fourth season's late start.

Only eight episodes were scripted before the strike. And, now that the strike looks as if it's resolved, there won't be enough time for cast and crew to do the expected eight more. Instead of 16 episodes this season,it looks as if the show will have no more than 13.

More details in this Hollywood Reporter interview with "Lost" producer Carlton Cruse.

Cuse said he's happy with the outcome of the strike and can't wait to go back to his day job on "Lost."

"We're going to have to hit the ground running, go from zero to 100 mph in a matter of days to make as many episodes as possible," he said.

The goal for Cuse and co-showrunner Damon Lindelof is to produce five more episodes this season, a tall order given the time constraints and the scope of storytelling and production on "Lost." Even with five additional hours, Cuse and Lindelof will be three episodes short of the premapped fourth season.

"We will have to condense some stories," Cuse said.

14 Days of Love: Crazy romance comic book covers

Counting down to Valentine's Day, here's entry 12:

Steve Gerber passes away

Comics writer Steve Gerber, creator or Howard the Duck and other characters, has passed away.

Comics writer/historian Mark Evanier has a nice remembrance here.

CD new releases Feb. 12, 2008

Click titles to order from Amazon.


The Rise & Fall of Ruby Woo by The Puppini Sisters




The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie/Flo & Eddie by Flo & Eddie



Superman Was a Rocker by Robert Pollard



The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 9: 1969



Not Fade Away: Buddy Holly 1957 Complete Recordings



Ectoplasm by Raymond Scott



Cinnamon Girl: Women Artists Cover Neil Young for Charity

DVD new releases Feb. 12, 2008

Click titles to pre-order from Amazon.


Dallas - The Complete Eighth Season



Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 4 (Charlie Chan in Honolulu / Charlie Chan in Reno / Charlie Chan at Treasure Island / City in Darkness) (4DVD)



George of the Jungle: The Complete Series



Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (40th Anniversary Edition)



Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees



Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - The 15 Winners



Stanley Kramer Film Collection (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner / Ship of Fools / The Member of the Wedding / The Wild One / The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T)



Route 66: Classic Episodes

New action figures January 2008

Here's a list of action figures released recently. Click links to order from Amazon:


DC Armory Action Figues Series 1: Aquaman



DC Armory Action Figues Series 1: Batman


DC Armory Action Figues Series 1: Supergirl as Flamebird


DC Armory Action Figues Series 1: Powergirl as Nightwing



Ame-Comi Action FiguresHeroine Series: Batgirl PVC


Ame-Comi Action FiguresHeroine Series: Catwoman PVC


DC Universe Classics Action Figures Wave 1: Orion


DC Universe Classics Action Figures Wave 1: Classic Detective Batman


DC Universe Classics Action Figures Wave 1: The Penguin


DC Universe Classics Action Figures Wave 1: The Demon Etrigan



DC Universe Classics Action Figures Wave 1: Red Tornado



Justice League Alex Ross Action Figures Justice Series 7: Aquaman


Justice League Alex Ross Action Figures Justice Series 7: Gorilla Grodd


Justice League Alex Ross Action Figures Justice Series 7: Green Lantern


Justice League Alex Ross Action Figures Justice Series 7: Superman


DC Direct 13 Inch Deluxe Collector Action Figures: Power Girl


The Godfather Action Figures: The Godfather

After the writers strike: When will my favorite show return

The writers strike has thrown a wrench in the 2007-2008 TV season, that's for sure. But, now that it looks like things are close to resolution, production on many programs is expected to begin soon.

Will your favorite shows have new episodes before the end of the year? Here's a status report from TV Guide:

24
Expected to return this fall or January ’09.

30 Rock
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

Back to You
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future TBD*.

Battlestar Galactica
Returns April 4 with first half of 20-episode final season. Production on second half could start as early as March. Airdate for those TBD.

The Big Bang Theory
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Big Love
Expected to go into production on Season 3 in March. Airdate info is TBD.

Big Shots
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bionic Woman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Bones
Four pre-strike episodes left. Unclear whether additional episodes will be produced for this season.

Boston Legal
Expected to shoot 4 or 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Brothers & Sisters
One pre-strike episode remains. Expected to shoot 4 or 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Burn Notice
Production on Season 2 expected to get underway in late April. New episodes could start airing as early as July.

Chuck
No new episodes until fall.

The Closer
Expected to kick off its fourth season this summer.

Cold Case
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Criminal Minds
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

CSI
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

CSI: Miami
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

CSI: NY
Expected to shoot 4 to 9 new episodes to air in March/April/May.

Desperate Housewives
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Dirty Sexy Money
No new episodes planned until fall; three remaining pre-strike episodes will undergo some tweaking and kick off fall run.

ER
TBD.

Everybody Hates Chris
Twelve pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Friday Night Lights
No new episodes expected for this season. Future TBD.

Ghost Whisperer

TBD.

Gossip Girl
Expected to shoot up to 9 new episodes to air in April/May/June.

Greek
Kicks off second half of Season 1 on March 24. Still awaiting Season 2 pickup.

Grey’s Anatomy
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May

Heroes
TBD.

House
Expected to shoot 4 to 6 new episodes to air in April/May.

How I Met Your Mother
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Jericho
Seven episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Journeyman
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Las Vegas
Two pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected for this season.

Law & Order
TBD.

Law & Order: CI
TBD.

Law & Order: SVU
Production resumes in early March. Remains unclear whether episodes produced will be for this season or next.

Life
No new episodes expected until fall.

Life Is Wild
No new episodes expected. Ever.

Lost
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Six additional episodes could air this season.

Medium
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot additional episodes for this season.

Men in Trees
Eleven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Moonlight
No new episodes expected until fall.

My Name Is Earl
Expected to shoot 8 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

NCIS
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

The New Adventures of Old Christine
Seven pre-strike episodes remain. No additional episodes expected this season.

Nip/Tuck
Season 5 concludes Feb. 19. Production on the show’s eight-episode sixth season expected to start up this summer. Airdate TBD.

Numbers
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes, only three of which may air this season.

October Road
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

The Office
Expected to shoot 5 to 10 new episodes to air in April/May.

One Tree Hill
Six pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Prison Break
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Private Practice
Slim chance it could return with 4 or 5 new episodes this season. Either way, it’ll be back in the fall.

Pushing Daisies
No new episodes until fall.

Reaper
Three pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Samantha Who?
Three remaining pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot an additional 4 to 8 episodes to air after the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

Saturday Night Live
Could be back on the air as early as Feb. 16.

Scrubs
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Four additional episodes will likely be shot; unclear whether they’ll air on NBC or go straight to DVD.

Smallville
Four pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Supernatural
Two pre-strike episodes remain. Expected to shoot 3 to 5 additional episodes to air in April/May.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Five pre-strike episodes remain. Future beyond that TBD.

Two and a Half Men
Expected to shoot 5 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Ugly Betty
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Without a Trace
Expected to shoot 4 to 7 new episodes to air in April/May.

Women’s Murder Club
Back on the critical list. I’m now hearing ABC is thisclose to shutting down Club for good.

Spectacular Spider-Man animated series preview

Spidey's latest 'toon series debuts March 8 on the CW with two back-to-back episodes. Here are details:

"Survival of the Fittest" (10:00 a.m. ET/PT), summer is over for Peter Parker and school's ready to start -- both literally (it's his junior year of high school), and in the real world of crime-fighting -- as Spider-Man faces his first real challenge (The Enforcers) and his first real super-villain (Vulture). Peter Parker is voiced by actor/musician Josh Keaton, and Robert Englund ("A Nightmare on Elm Street") voices Vulture. Victor Cook directed the script, which was written by Greg Weisman.

"Interactions" (10:30 a.m. ET/PT), Peter Parker and Spider-Man both try to make connections. Nerdy Pete attempts to tutor the popular Liz Allan, while Spidey reaches out to stop a new menace: Electro. Alanna Ubach ("Legally Blonde," "Waiting") and popular video game and voiceover specialist Crispin Freeman provide the voices of Liz Allan and Electro, respectively. Troy Adomitis directed the script by Kevin Hopps.



"Lost" Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four story previewed

Wasn't Marvel Comics promising us this eons ago? At any rate, it looks as if this book will finally see release this week.

Here are the details:

Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure #1
WRITER: STAN LEE
PENCILS: JACK KIRBY
JOHN BUSCEMA
INKS: JOE SINNOTT
COLORED BY: CHRIS SOTOMAYOR
LETTERED BY: DAVE LANPHEAR

IT'S THE COMIC BOOK EQUIVALENT OF A LOST BEATLES TRACK! Together, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby produced 102 consecutive issues of FANTASTIC FOUR. But there was a 103rd story they'd begun in 1970, but never finished—until now! Working from copies of Jack's penciled pages, Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott have reunited, to complete the work they started almost four decades ago! Plus, this super-sized issue includes reproductions of Kirby's unlinked penciled pages, with border notes and analysis by John Morrow, and a complete reprint of FANTASTIC FOUR #108 by Stan Lee and John Buscema, which incorporated some of the material from the lost story as a flashback.
Rated A …$4.99

IN STORES: February 13, 2008


And here are some page previews.

14 Days of Love: Crazy romance comic book covers

Counting down to Valentine's Day, here's entry 11: