Batman: Brave and the Bold Jan. 30 pics: Aquaman! Atom! Stretchy guys!

Here's info and some pics from this week's ep of the new Batman 'toon:

Journey to the Center of the Bat!
January 30th, 2009
This week Batman’s life hangs in the balance when he is poisoned by Chemo, who is under the control of the evil Brain. The Atom races to the rescue with Aquaman by shrinking down and entering Batman’s bloodstream. While Aquaman and the Atom battle the infection deep inside Batman’s body, Batman struggles to end Chemo’s rampage and defeat the Brain! This week’s teaser features Elongated Man and Plastic Man teaming up to derail a bank heist and capture the criminal Baby Face.

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Hear the BBC's Beatles on the roof documentary

"I Hope We Passed the Audition," a radio documentary about the Beatles' famed/infamous last live performance atop their Apple Corps. headquarters 40 years ago is now available via the BBC's on-demand service. Check it out here!

Don't forget Lost tonight!

Get up to speed for tonight's episode of "Lost" at the Lost Season 5 blog. Then go back there tomorrow for a roundup of observations/speculation about the show.

New comics Jan. 28, 2009

Here's what looks good to me this week. Click the title links to pre-order discounted books from Amazon.

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1966 LIVE ACTION TV SERIES BATMOBILE REPLICA Not a comic, but a die-cast replica of the TV Batmobile! Way too spendy for me, though.

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BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #1 I don't have cable and haven't seen the new Batman 'toon that sparked this all-ages comic. However, I really like the looks of it--a Batman that's not mean, dark and constipated all the time! I mean, he even smiles on occasion. Plus, his cape is blue, not black!

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DC LIBRARY SUPERMAN KRYPTONITE NEVERMORE The first entry in DC's new line of hardcovers reprinting favorite comics and storylines of the past. I'm interested to see how they look.

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SHOWCASE PRESENTS HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 3 Another big slab of spooky fun.

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MARVEL MASTERWORKS GOLDEN AGE CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 3 Continuing Cap's 1940s adventures.

IDW to collect Alex Raymond's Rip Kirby

From the press release:

Following the Eisner-award winning Terry and the Pirates, IDW’s Library of American Comics will present Alex Raymond’s modernist classic Rip Kirby in a definitive five-volume archival hardcover series.

Edited and designed by Dean Mullaney, Rip Kirby will contain every daily from the strip’s inception in 1946 through Alex Raymond’s tragic death in 1956. “It’s going to look gorgeous,” Mullaney says. “We are reproducing the strips from pristine syndicate proofs that will allow readers to see, for the first time, the full luxurious detail of Raymond’s brushwork.”

Rip Kirby was the first hip and cool detective in newspaper comics. Created by Alex Raymond when he was deactivated from the Marines after World War II, it was a fresh approach to the genre, a departure from the prevailing hard-boiled style of detective fiction. Rip Kirby was urbane and cerebral, and used scientific methods as often as he used his fists when solving crimes and mysteries. But there was still plenty of action — Kirby was an All-American athlete and decorated war hero.

Co-written with Ward Greene, Rip Kirby often addressed contemporary issues, including trafficking in black market babies and the attempt to limit the proliferation of atomic and biological weapons. The supporting cast was comprised of Rip’s valet and assistant, Desmond, and plenty of breathtaking women, particularly Rip’s girlfriend, Honey Dorian, and the raven-haired and aptly-named Pagan Lee. Highly conscious of the fashions of the day, Raymond brought post-war and early-50s chic and fashion to the comics page, dressing his female characters in ultra-chic clothes obviously inspired by Dior’s “New Look.”

The strip also signified a grand departure, both thematically and artistically, from Raymond’s first major creation, Flash Gordon. With Rip Kirby, Raymond wedded his incomparable brushwork to a sweeping approach to storytelling and camera movement that was missing in the more static Flash. He promulgated a new art style — one of cinematic photo-realism — that influenced such artists to follow as Stan Drake, Leonard Starr, Al Williamson, and Neal Adams.

Biographical and historic essays will be written by Brian Walker, author of the best-selling Comics Before 1945 and Comics After 1945. The first volume will have an introduction by Raymond biographer and authority Tom Roberts.

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New Wally Wood blog

Our pal Booksteve has started a new blog dedicated to the great comic book artist Wally Wood. Check it out here!

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Pulp picture parade: Famous Fantastic Mysteries covers

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Pop links--All-Beatles edition: Macca levitates, Gladwell's goofy Beatles theories, Beatle amp found in shed

Paul McCartney will play a benefit for director/meditation enthusiast David Lynch's Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education and Peace, which is hoping to promote world peace by teaching children how to, um, fly.

Followers...believe that enlightenment and world peace can be achieved if just one per cent of the population practise yogic flying, which they claim is a type of consciousness-driven levitation.

"Every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence-bliss – the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence which is deep within all of us," Lynch wrote on his website.


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Here's the New Musical Express on why Malcolm Gladwell is out to lunch when it comes to his theories about the Beatles and success.

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I've said it before, how come I never find anything cool in my shed? Here's the latest Beatles-related shed discovery courtesy of the Liverpool Echo:

AN AMPLIFIER discovered in a Liverpool shed was almost certainly used by The Beatles.

It was found a few streets away from George Harrison’s old home in Woolton.

A relative of Beatles memorabilia collector Stan Cargill was asked to clear the shed. To his amazement, the amp was a Vox AC30, as used by The Beatles to get their distinctive sound.

New CDs mark Buddy Holly anniversary

The airplane crash that killed rock'n'roll pioneer Buddy Holly took place 50 years ago Feb. 3, but Universal Music is marking the anniversary a week early with the release of two, long-, long-awaited compilations of the singers work today.

Yes, finally the Holly estate and Universal have patched things up enough to get more of his work back in print.

The three-CD "Memorial Collection" boasts all of Holly's hits -- including "That'll Be The Day," "Not Fade Away," "Peggy Sue" and "Rave On"-- as well as seven recordings previously unreleased in the United States.

The two-CD "Down The Line - Rarities" features home recordings dating back to when Holly was 14, widely bootlegged undubbed versions, alternate takes and informal solo tapes.

Some of the recordings -- such as "Think It Over" and "Fool's Paradise" -- have been stripped of overdubs that were added by Norman Petty, arguably the No. 1 villain in the Buddy Holly story.


I don't think this is the complete set many fans have been clamoring for (and which many of us own, courtesy of Internet bootleg label Purple Chick), but it's plenty to keep 'em happy, and a great improvement--in terms of the number of songs available--over what's been available since the advent of CDs. I think this is the first time many of these songs have been in print since MCA's big "complete" vinyl set from back in the 70s (which I've also got). So, good on Universal, at long last.



Here's Buddy and the Crickets on the "Arthur Murray Dance Party" in 1957.

CD new releases Jan. 27, 2009: Springsteen, McCartney, Steve Martin, Buddy Holly rarities and more

Click the title links to pre-order CDs from Amazon. Proceeds help support this site!

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Working on a Dream (Deluxe Version) by Bruce Springsteen

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The Crow New Songs for the 5-String Banjo by Steve Martin

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Amoeba's Secret by Paul McCartney

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Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird and the Bee

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Down the Line: The Rarities by Buddy Holly

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Singles, Vol. 6: 1969-1970 by James Brown

DVD new releases Jan. 27, 2009: Brian Wilson Lucky Old Son, Family Way, Mary Poppins Anniversary, Superfriends and more

Click the title links to order DVDs from Amazon. Proceeds help support this site!

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The Invaders - The Second Season

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Hulk Vs. (Two-Disc Special Edition) (Widescreen)

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Far from the Madding Crowd

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips

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Mary Poppins (45th Anniversary Special Edition)

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The All-New Superfriends Hour: Season One, Vol. 2

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You're A Good Sport, Charlie Brown

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That Lucky Old Sun ~ Brian Wilson

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The Secret Policeman's Balls

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A Shot in the Dark

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The Stewardesses 3D: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

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The Family Way

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Pink Panther and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection

BBC documentary marks 40th anniversary of Beatles' rooftop performance

NOTE: Thanks to Fred Hembeck who e-mailed to say my initial headline for this story was in error. It's been 40 years since the Fabs let it be, not 30. Which means you, me, Fred, everybody is older than we'd like to admit.

BBC Radio 2 will present an audio documentary about the Beatles' Jan. 30, 1969, performance atop their London Apple Corps headquarters on the 30th anniversary of the event.

You should be able to listen to it here, on-demand after it airs live.

Here's the info:

I Hope We Passed The Audition

Tuesday 27 January 2009
2230-2330

"I hope we passed the audition" were John Lennon's final words on behalf of The Beatles, at their very last public performance on the rooftop of the Apple offices in London on 30 January 1969.

Forty years later, this programme explains how the 'concert' came about, with contributions from those who witnessed the performance including Yoko Ono, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, photographer Ethan Russell, engineer Alan Parsons, technician Dave Harries and the policeman who was sent by his superiors to "turn that noise off", Ken Wharfe.

The performance was part of the recording sessions for The Beatles' album Let It Be. The original plan was for the group to play three shows in December 1968 at the Roundhouse in north London. This did not come about, and the idea evolved for a single concert at an undecided location in January 1969.

Whilst being filmed for a forthcoming cinematic release, the group began rehearsing at Twickenham Studios on 2 January 1969. A number of possible locations for the live show were discussed during rehearsal, with the leading candidates being a Roman amphitheatre in North Africa or on a cruise ship.

Everyone involved in the Twickenham rehearsals considered them to be disastrous. By the third day the group openly discussed whether they should break up. George Harrison was increasingly resentful because while he was treated respectfully by musical peers including Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton, when working within The Beatles his songs were usually either derided or ignored.

Paul McCartney's attempts to hold the band together and rally spirits came across as controlling.

Lennon had all but withdrawn creatively from The Beatles, seldom contributing even to the arrangements of his own songs. And his companion and artistic partner Yoko Ono -- who often spoke on Lennon's behalf as he sat silently by -- was a major source of tension.

The intrusive film cameras and the cold, unfamiliar settings of Twickenham Studios also contributed to ill feelings. Harrison became fed up with Lennon's creative and communicative disengagement from the band, and on 10 January announced that he was "leaving the band now". He went to Eric Clapton's house and wrote Here Comes The Sun but within a few days he was persuaded to return to the group.

The live performance took place 30 January on the rooftop of The Beatles' Apple Building at 3 Savile Row in front of a small audience of friends and employees. The Beatles' final performance was cut short by the police but several of the songs recorded made it onto the final cut of Let It Be.

New music I like: Blitzen Trapper



Pulp Picture Parade: Amazing Stories covers

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