New comics Jan. 13, 2010

Complete shipping list:

DARK HORSE COMICS

NOV090031 AGE OF REPTILES JOURNEY #2 (OF 4) $3.50
NOV090047 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #31 JEANTY CVR $2.99
NOV090046 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #31 JO CHEN CVR $2.99
OCT090012 CONAN THE CIMMERIAN WEIGHT OF CROWN ONE SHOT (OSW) $3.50

DC COMICS

NOV090138 ACTION COMICS #885 $3.99
NOV090136 ADVENTURE COMICS #6 $3.99
NOV090130 BATGIRL #6 $2.99
NOV090127 BATMAN #695 $2.99
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
OCT090264 BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD TP $12.99
OCT090198 BATMAN WIDENING GYRE #4 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV090146 BOOSTER GOLD #28 $3.99
NOV090117 CATWOMAN #83 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $2.99
OCT090245 DEAD ROMEO TP $19.99
Doc Savage: The Silver Pyramid
OCT090246 DOC SAVAGE THE SILVER PYRAMID TP $19.99
NOV090150 GREEN ARROW BLACK CANARY #28 $3.99
Human Target: Chance Meetings
OCT090298 HUMAN TARGET CHANCE MEETINGS TP $14.99
NOV090159 MAGOG #5 $2.99
NOV090119 POWER OF SHAZAM #48 (BLACKEST NIGHT) $2.99
NOV090161 REBELS #12 $2.99
NOV090209 RED HERRING #6 (OF 6) $2.99
NOV090202 SCOOBY DOO #152 $2.50
NOV090124 SECRET SIX (BLACKEST NIGHT) #17 $2.99
NOV090163 SHIELD #5 $3.99
NOV090197 SUPER FRIENDS #23 $2.50
OCT090316 TEARS OF A LAMB VOL 07 $9.99
NOV090162 TITANS #21 $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

AUG090405 CYBERFORCE HUNTER KILLER #4 (OF 5) BENITEZ CVR B $2.99
AUG090404 CYBERFORCE HUNTER KILLER #4 (OF 5) ROCAFORT CVR A $2.99
NOV090386 MICE TEMPLAR DESTINY #6 $2.99
OCT090385 SPAWN ORIGINS TP VOL 04 $14.99

MARVEL COMICS

NOV090545 AGENTS OF ATLAS TURF WARS PREM HC $19.99
NOV090448 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #617 GNTLT $3.99
NOV090460 BLACK PANTHER 2 #12 $2.99
NOV090462 BLACK WIDOW DEADLY ORIGIN #3 (OF 4) $3.99
NOV090544 CABLE PREM HC VOL 03 STRANDED $19.99
NOV090502 DARK X-MEN #3 (OF 5) $3.99
NOV090474 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #22 $2.99
NOV090477 MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #19 $2.99
NOV090489 MARVELS PROJECT #5 (OF 8) $3.99
NOV090490 MARVELS PROJECT #5 (OF 8) EPTING COVER $3.99
NOV090503 NATION X #2 (OF 4) $3.99
NOV090553 ODYSSEY TP GN $19.99
NOV090517 PSYLOCKE #3 (OF 4) $3.99
NOV090495 REALM OF KINGS IMPERIAL GUARD #3 (OF 5) $3.99
NOV090546 RUNAWAYS ESCAPE TO NEW YORK PREM HC $19.99
NOV090459 SPIDER-MAN AND SECRET WARS #2 (OF 4) $2.99
NOV090562 SPIDER-MAN ELECTION DAY TP $24.99
NOV090542 SPIDER-MAN RETURN OF BLACK CAT PREM HC $24.99
NOV090488 STRANGE #3 (OF 4) $3.99
NOV090482 SUPER HERO SQUAD #1 $2.99
NOV090516 SWORD (MARVEL) #3 $2.99
Thing: Project Pegasus Premiere HC
AUG090566 THING PROJECT PEGASUS PREM HC $24.99
AUG090567 THING PROJECT PEGASUS PREM HC DM ED $24.99
NOV090559 ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 22 ULTIMATUM $19.99
NOV090561 ULTIMATUM TP $19.99
NOV090521 UNCANNY X-MEN FIRST CLASS #7 (OF 8) $2.99
AUG090555 X-MEN ASGARDIAN WARS HC $34.99
NOV090522 X-MEN FOREVER #15 $3.99
NOV090524 X-MEN ORIGINS CYCLOPS $3.99

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

NOV090574 TOYFARE #151 JAKKS UFC CVR $4.99
OCT098201 TOYFARE #151 LEGO HERO FACTORY OVERSHIP CVR $4.99

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COMICS

NOV090668 ANCHOR #4 $3.99
NOV090829 ANGEL #29 $3.99
NOV090607 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #139 $2.50
NOV090609 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #205 $3.99
NOV090811 ARMY OF TWO #1 $3.99
AUG090776 BARACK THE BARBARIAN #4 (OF 4) (NOTE PRICE) $3.99
OCT090703 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #177 $3.99
SEP090996 BIG ADVENTURES OF MAJOKO GN VOL 03 (OF 5) $7.99
SEP090699 CARS #0 $2.99
NOV090684 CARS #2 $2.99
NOV090650 CODE GEASS LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION GN VOL 07 $10.99
OCT090747 CODE GEASS NIGHTMARE OF NUNNALLY GN VOL 04 $10.99
Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 9
OCT090995 COMPLETE CHESTER GOULDS DICK TRACY HC VOL 09 $39.99
SEP090682 DIE HARD YEAR ONE #4 $3.99
NOV090832 DOCTOR WHO ONGOING #7 $3.99
OCT090589 ED HANNIGAN COVERED $5.99
NOV090853 FALLEN ANGEL REBORN TP VOL 01 $17.99
NOV090673 FARSCAPE DARGOS QUEST #2 $3.99
OCT090851 GALACTICA 1980 #4 $3.50
NOV090850 GHOUL #2 $3.99
NOV090812 GI JOE MOVIE SNAKE EYES #4 $3.99
NOV090651 GUNDAM 00F GN VOL 02 $10.99
NOV090652 GURREN LAGANN GN VOL 04 $10.99
SEP090704 INCREDIBLES #4 $2.99
SEP090705 INCREDIBLES TP VOL 01 CITY OF INCREDIBLES $9.99
SEP090709 MUPPET PETER PAN #4 $2.99
OCT090804 MUPPET SHOW #1 $2.99
SEP090997 NINJA BASEBALL KYUMA GN VOL 02 (OF 3) $7.99
NOV090728 RED SONJA OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 $29.99
SEP090995 SILENT MOBIUS COMPLETE ED GN VOL 02 $14.99
OCT090706 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #208 $2.50
NOV090834 STAR TREK CAPTAINS LOG SULU #1 $3.99
NOV090738 THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY #7 $3.99
JUL090950 TORPEDO HC VOL 01 $24.99
NOV090827 TRANSFORMERS ALL HAIL MEGATRON TP VOL 04 $17.99
NOV090823 TRANSFORMERS ONGOING #3 $3.99
NOV090696 WALL-E #2 $2.99
OCT090812 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #702 $2.99
NOV090841 WEEKLY WORLD NEWS #1 $3.99
NOV090843 WEEKLY WORLD NEWS B&W NEWSPAPER EDITION #1 $3.99

Review: Monty Python--Almost the Truth

It’s a comparison that’s been made before, and it’s quite apt: Monty Python is a bit like the Beatles.

The comedy troupe was groundbreaking. The Pythons changed the territory and altered the horizons of comedy. And the group’s members hit on a creative synergy that was powerful beyond the sum of its parts.

And, like the Beatles, the Pythons created work that lives on and is continually discovered by new generations of fans. The Parrot Sketch will never cease to be…hilarious.

All of which ensures that this documentary series—essentially a funnier version of “The Beatles Anthology”—has a built-in audience of fans both young and old. And viewers won’t be disappointed.

Originally aired on the Independent Film Channel, “Monty Python: The Lawyer’s Cut” features extensive and honest interviews with each of the group’s member minus the dearly departed Graham Chapman, who weighs in with abundant archival footage.

The group’s pre-history is thoroughly detailed in the early sections, which include tantalizing clips from pre-Python TV work on various British series, such as “The Frost Report” and “Do Not Adjust Your Set.” From there, the members discuss the origins and high- and low-points of each subsequent Python project, including the “Flying Circus” TV series and all the films: “The Holy Grail,” “The Life of Brian” and “Meaning of Life,” with detours to discuss the group’s LP records (that’s how I first got into the group) and other assorted projects.

Members discuss challenges—including personality conflicts (particularly between Terry Jones and John Cleese) and Chapman’s alcoholism—but in a very honest and forgiving way. Nobody seems to be holding any grudges.

Along with the Python’s there are a number of interviews with supporting players such as Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes and, I guess for the sake of perspective, chats with current comics such as Steve Coogan (quite good) and Russell Banks (completely bonkers), Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson (???) and Olivia Harrison, who talks about husband George’s love for and financial support of the troupe.

All in all, it’s all very well done and entertaining. However, I must say I hated the cod-Python opening credits for each ep, which are far more annoying than funny. Fast forward those bits to get to the good stuff.

DVD new releases Jan. 12, 2010: Simpsons 20th, Urban Action Favorites, Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers

The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season [Blu-ray]Urban Action Collection: 4 Film FavoritesBugs Bunny's Cupid Capers

CD new releases Jan. 12, 2010: Vampire Weekend, King Crimson, Sherlock Holmes OST, Waylon Jennings, T. Rex

ContraLizardSherlock Holmes: Original Motion Picture SoundtrackWaylon/Singer of Sad SongsFolk Country/Waylon Sings Ol' HarlanLove of the Common People/Hangin' OnSpaceball: The American Radio Sessions (Dig)

Vintage comic book ad: Twinkles record


Report: Spider-Man 4 scrapped in favor of reboot

That's what The Hollywood Reporter sez:
The studio is parting ways with director Sam Raimi and "Spider-Man" stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst and is taking the webslinger's alter ego, Peter Parker, back to high school.
The new movie, which will still be produced by Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin and Marvel Studios, is eyeing a release in summer 2012.

Yoko reunites Plastic Ono musicians: Clapton, Voorman and more

Original Plastic Ono Band members Eric Clapton and Klaus Voorman will join Yoko Ono any many others at a New York annivsary gig next month. Check out the poster:



TV alert: PBS documentary on Sam Cooke

One of the best soul singers and an incredible songwriter to boot. Check it out on "American Masters" tonight. Check you local listings.

Los Angeles Times review:
After a serious car accident, Cooke started to look more closely at his life and the world, and from his experience driving through the South came up with the hit single "Chain Gang" about prisoners working on road crews. He also was profoundly influenced by the social commentary of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," and a highlight of this "American Masters" piece is the footage of him singing it, trading Dylan's folk arrangement for a rippling R&B groove.

He was so inspired about the role music could play in fomenting social change that he wrote "A Change Is Gonna Come," a song that fit hand in glove with both his efforts to empower himselfand other black musicians by creating his own small music publishing company and the record label SAR Records, and with the unfolding civil rights movement.

Valleys of Neptune collects unreleased Hendrix recordings

You'd think everything worthwhile from the vaults has appeared on myriad collections, but still new Jimi Hendrix albums keep coming. From Billboard:
"Valleys of Neptune," a 12-song collection that includes the final studio sessions of the original Jimi Hendrix Experience lineup and Hendrix's first recordings with bassist Billy Cox, is set for release on Mar. 9 on Sony's Legacy Recordings...

Taken mostly from several 1969 sessions, "Valleys of Neptune" was originally recorded and newly mixed by Eddie Kramer, the Electric Ladyland studio engineer who worked closely with Hendrix...

The title track, much craved by Hendrix devotees, delivers on the promise of the musician's legendary trove of unreleased material: a fully realized song written and recorded by Hendrix at his creative peak in 1970 that had remained unrecovered for nearly four decades. The song will be released as a single globally on Feb. 2.

Rita Hayworth/Orson Welles Lady from Shanghai publicity photos


Gumby creator Art Clokey dies at 88

The Los Angeles Times has an obituary:
Clokey and his wife, Ruth, invented Gumby in the early 1950s at their Covina home shortly after Art had finished film school at USC. After a successful debut on "The Howdy Doody Show," Gumby soon became the star of its own hit television show, "The Adventures of Gumby," the first to use clay animation on television.

Julie Newmar magazine covers


Three new Alice in Wonderland pics

Tim Burton flicks generally equal disappointment for me, but the visuals here look stunning:



Cartoon Art Museum announces Batman exhibition

If you're going to San Francisco:
For over 70 years, audiences have thrilled to the adventures of Batman, one of the most popular and enduring fictional characters of the modern age. From his first appearance in Detective Comics in 1939 to the blockbuster Dark Knight film of 2008, Gotham City's Caped Crusader has taken on many forms, from cartoonish and campy to dark and disturbed, from daring detective to grim force of vengeance.

The Cartoon Art Museum's new exhibition, Batman: Yesterday and Tomorrow, showcases six strikingly different interpretations of the Dark Knight, representing some of the boldest visionaries to illustrate the DC Comics icon. Featured artists include Bob Kane and Bill Finger, who created Batman in 1939; Neal Adams, whose detailed artistry redefined comics in the 1970s; Frank Miller, whose graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns pioneered the modern, mature concept of Batman; Pepe Moreno, whose Batman: Digital Justice was the first graphic novel with entirely computer-generated art; and acclaimed artist Paul Pope, whose Batman: Year 100 pays homage to the original Batman comics and looks ahead to Gotham City of the year 2039.
In 1960s Japan, the popularity of the Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward sparked demand for new Batman comics. The weekly magazine Shonen King secured the rights to publish original Batman manga, which artist Jiro Kuwata wrote and illustrated from 1966 to 1967. These comics were virtually unknown in the United States until author and designer Chip Kidd's award-winning 2008 book Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan. A selection of Kuwata's art from Kidd's personal collection will be featured in Batman: Yesterday and Tomorrow, marking the Cartoon Art Museum's first extensive exhibition of original manga artwork.
Programming featuring Chip Kidd, Pepe Moreno and Paul Pope is currently being planned. More details will be announced as these programs are finalized.
Info:

Cartoon Art Museum

655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 227-8666

Vintage comic book ad: Test your talent