Death: The Time Of Your Life #1-3 (Complete)

Death: The High Cost Of Living #1-3 (Complete)

Harrow County, Vol.1: Countless Haints

Usually my friend Gerg is the one recommending titles to me, but this time it was my friend Jas who told me about this terrific title his co-workers were praising, and, knowing my love for books like Sandman and the like, thought I might want to check it out.
 When i got to the comic store to check it out, though, I'd FORGOTTEN what the title of the comic was! the two salesguys said "Can you remember anything about the title?" and I stuttered, " the title sounded like "Hallowed Ground" or something?" but they came up blank.
As I was walking out, I looked on the "new release shelf and yelped out "Oh! Here it is...it's called Harrow County!" One of the guys rolled his eyes saying "Hallowed Ground?" but HEY, I think the words sound close enough that me saying "a new release that came out this week with a title like Hallowed Ground" should have at least gave thema HINT as to what i was talking about, right?
Oh well. At least i managed to get the bnook and YEAH, it rocked! Just like Jas assumed, the pure halloweeney vibe of a peculiar girl who is friends with the "countless haints" in her forest totally enthralled me!!!

An Awesome BLONDIE Release!

Just got the latest release from enduring rockers BLONDIE, a 3 disc set called “BLONDIE 4(0) EVER" (so named in celebrating 40 years of music) that is a treasure trove for any fan of Deborah Harry and the Boys! In this box, you get the latest album from the group, “Ghosts Of Download”, a “Deluxe Redux” Greatest Hits package, and most importantly of all, an amazing DVD featuring a complete 1977 performance of the group at CBGBs!!!!

Ghosts Of Download

I’ve been faithfully purchasing Blondie’s releases throughout all the various line-ups, from their first album “Blondie”to “the Hunter”, from “No Exit” through to “Panic Of Girls” and have loved ‘em all, and “Ghost of Download” is another great album proving that no matter what, these guys have what it takes! Man, how can they still rock so great?!

Deluxe Redux Greatest Hits

 The “redux” Greatest Hits CD is, as the title might suggest, remade versions of some of their best loved Blondie classics over the years- while nothing can compare to the original songs, it’s fun to hear them performed “afresh”! Interestingly enough, the tracklist order is almost exactly the same as their impeccable 1981 Greatest Hits release, with “In The Flesh” and “I’m Always Touched by Your Presence Dear” replaced by later hit “Maria”.

1981 GHits and Redux GHits Tracklisting

 And then we have the Concert DVD, WOWWW!!!! So amazing seeing the band in their ferocious young days when it was all about raw in-your-face performances! My favorite live Blondie Concert DVD is the Musikladen Extra performance from 1978, and if I had one complaint it was that a lot of great songs off the first album weren’t performed, songs like “Shark In Jets’ Clothing”.“Kung-Fu Girls” (a personal fave you may recall I had fun with here), “Rifle Range”, and the great Blondie anthem “Rip Her To Shreds”…

Musikladen and CBGBs Set Lists

Happily, ALL these songs are included in the CBGB’s set!!! In fact, I think the only song they didn’t do was “Attack of the Killer Ants”and while that may seem like a silly song to miss, I can’t help but wonder how they’d do that one live!
After the concert, they even added a really cool bonus for a “Plastic Letters’ fan like me: footage of the band rehearsing “Denis”. I mentioned many times before how much I love Debbie’s look from this era, and seeing them in the studio going through this song was a nice way to end the disc!
If THAT wasn’t enough, I did get around to mentioning all the unbelievable GOODIES the DVD came with: FIVE photos taken by Chris Stein himself, and an awesome fold out poster of a beautiful 1979 Blondie flyer!!! SO SWEET!

Live at CBGBs CD with Amazing Bonus Goods!

Okay, going back to re-watch the concert again…and I think I’ll top this evening off by re-watching the Musikladen Concert, too!

My Blondie Collection!

Since I had dug out all my Blondie stuff, I though some of you might be interested in seeing what I’ve got in my Blondie Collection, all my CDs and DVDs… (sadly my VINYL Blondie stuff never survived my many moves, sigh, would be great to still have them now…)

My Blondie CDs 1

My Blondie / Deborah Harry CDs 2

My Blondie DVD Collection

Oh, and don’t forget my official Barbie collectable Deborah Harry “Plastic Letters” Figurine!

It was when I got this that I realized my obsession with Blondie had gone "Beyond the Pale" LOL

Spider-Gwen, Vol.1: Most Wanted

Gerg gushed about this comic so much that i picked it up this past week, but I have to say that I am just about done with these "hip, young" Marvel comics which do absolutely nothing for me. Really didn't like this. Gerg says he'll try not to immediately recommend superhero stuff anymore, but laughingly doubts he'll be able to resist, LOL

Sandman #1-75 (Complete Run)

Mary Fahl Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House

My autographed Mary Fahl CD!!!

 As you all may know, I am a HUGE fan of Singer/Songwriter Mary Fahl- from the first moment I heard her mesmerizing voice back in 1993 with October Project, I have loved every thing she’s ever done, from October Project and on towards her solo ventures! They’re pretty good about keeping her webpage up to date, so I make sure visit frequently so I always know when there is a new exciting Mary Fahl release out!

 Going onto her webpage a few weeks ago, I was thrilled to see that she had a new release out: Mary Fahl Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House –YES!!! This was a new double CD LIVE album featuring selections from the very best of Mary’s impressive career- both October Project and Solo favorites are ALL here, songs from October Project’s first album, their second album “Falling Further In,  her Epic Records solo album “The Other Side of Time”as well as tracks off of her excellent “Dark Side Of The Moon” and Love and Gravity” albums! I’ve got ALL of Mary’s releases on CD and have been dying to hear how some of these songs might sound performed live… and now I finally would!!!!

 So I was already pretty excited about it when I realized that Rimar Records was having a very special promotion…If I ordered through them, not only could I get my copy AUTOGRAPHED by Mary, I could even get it PERSONALIZED!!! WHOA!!! This had to be one of the most AMAZING specials EVER and I wasted NO TIME plunking down those greenbacks and sending my order in!

Well, just today, my package arrived and OH MY GOSH… it is BEAUTIFUL!!! No illegible scrawlings here, just perfect penmanship whose signature actually ADDS to the beauty of the cover!!!! Holy COW, this is surely one of the GREATEST things to go into my Mary Fahl Collection!

And the songs? Mary’s voice is a haunting and powerful as ever, and she’s assembled a stellar band to accompany her, the music swirling and throbbing around Mary’s vocals…MAN! When she began the concert with the October Project classic “Deep as You Go”, I just broke out in goosebumps,  I knew this was gonna be just as AWESOME as I expected!

So many highlights stand out for me- getting to hear all the songs from Love and gravity pefromanced live for the first time, and emotional and heartfelt renditions of classic Mary Fahl songs like  "Ben Aindi Habibi and the aching "Going Home"...And for October Project fans, Mary even closed the concert with “Be My Hero”, that rocking anthem that used to end the best October Project concerts of old! Just an excellent album all around!

Mary Fahl Live at Mauch Chunk Opera House:

Deep As You Go

Like Johnny Loved June

Gravity: Move Mountains Turns Rivers Around

Return To Me

Ben Aindi Habibi

Siren

Falling Farther In

Wild Is The Wind

Us And Them

Brain Damage/Eclipse

Going Home

Bury My Lovely

The Station

Both Sides Now

Take Me As I Am

Dream Of You

Exiles (The Wolves Of Midwinter)

Nessun Dorma

Dawning Of The Day  

Meant To Be  

Everything's Gonna Be Alright  

La Vie En Rose

Be My Hero

Order your own copy at Maryfahl.com!

Outcast, Vol.1-2

Favorite Halloween Stories: Dennis The Menace All Year Round

I already mentioned this in an older post about Halloween comics, but I thought this time I’d dust off and scan my copy of the excellent Fawcett comic “Dennis The Menace: All Year Round”, a seasonal special comic featuring that mischievous Hank Ketcham character that has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember!

  This 1967 Giant Dennis the Menace Special was divided into 12 chapters, one for each month, and its respective holidays, New Years, Groundhog Day, Easter, Mother’s day. Thanksgiving and Christmas each had its own tales to tell, but of course the one that I loved most was the chapter for October which focused on HALLOWEEN!
 The story of how Dennis and his pals “trick” grouchy old neighbor Mr. Wilson when he won’t “treat” them may not be recommended to impressionable youths to follow, but this story’s rustic, homey feel and good old 1950’s imagery totally captures the “feeling” of being a child and running around trick or treating with your friends in the crisp autumn evenings of October and whenever I read it I’m instantly filled with the nostalgic memories of my childhood!

The Crying Babies of Gil Kane

Gil Kane is one of the GREATS of the Marvel Silver Age of comics, but judging by his covers, it might not have been too thrilling to be a child in the world of his illustrations as most of them ended up abandoned and crying on the ground as the heroes duked it out!

The Authority, Vol.1-3

 The series that reinstated my belief that comics COULD be good again! By the time my friend Gerg handed me The Authority, I was already a bitter, jaded comic book reader who thought that most of the new comics stuff was mere flash written by high schoolers, but WOW this series just blew me the HELL away!

Best Of Neal Adams: Eerie #125

My friends and I started collection comics around 1978, starting with friendly titles like Star Wars and Godzilla, by 1979 we were totally into superhero genre titles like X-Men, Avengers and the like, and by 1981, we were card carrying frothing at the mouth rabid fans of everything comics related, and  one of our HUGE favorite artists was the incredible Neal Adams! 
 We loved both his Marvel and DC work, from X-Men to Avengers, to Green Lantern/Green Arrow and his Deadman series, and I guess there was a general buzz in the air that year, for that summer EERIE magazine released a special BEST OF NEAL ADAMS issue which ALL of us grabbed!
MAN, this issue BLEW US AWAY- For one thing, not only was the Neal Adams art superb, he used so many different techniques for his story depiction- (from straight pencils, to charcoal, to painting and washes, no two stories looked the same) and Two: Holy COW, the STORIES THEMSELVES were so freaking GREAT! Samples from some faves:

" The Curse of the Undead"

Always been a huge fan of Neal Adams ladies, and we start things off right with this story where a man has fallen in love with a beautiful countess whom the town believe is cursed to awake as one of the undead. Look at that pic of the woman sleeping, man what awesome artwork!

“Goddess from The Sea"

Oooooh, MAN, how I lusted after the illustrations in this story! This story tells the tale of a man who meets a lusciously curvy blue-skinned woman who claims she is from the lost undersea world of Atlantis and needs his help protecting her from warriors who want to take her back. What’s a poor boy to do!!!

“Thrill Kill”

Two Police Investigators try and find the motive behind ayoung lad’s seemingly senseless shooting spree in the middle of town. Though the crime seems at first to be no more than a frivoulus and callous attack, the more they delve, the more they feel the boy may have had other reasons…

 

“The Terror Beyond Time"

What, a myserious cave that goes to deep into the earth and comes out in a lush, prehistoric apradise where dinosaurs roam free? Where have I seen this story before? Oh Yeah., in Neal Adams’ X-eMen stories where the gang goes to the Savage Land! LOL, Neal sure does love drawing those Pterosaurs…

 

“A Curse Of Claws”

And I’ve been putting out fire with gasoline! Sorry, I’ve had David Bwoie’s “Cat people” song gojg through my mind as I re=read this tale of a safari man who crosses paths with a sultry feline- a woman part human and part cat! Makes me wondeer what it would have looked like if Neal had illustrated Hellcat!

“Fair Exchange”

I love this one because out of all of these stories, it’s the most like those traditional ‘spooky Comics” like House of Mystery, etc, and Neal's art is more like his Marvel work. The tale of a rich old man who trades his body for a young, healthy one is a tale oft trodden, in fact, I have another similar story in GHOSTS that Neal illustrated as well! Of course, these body-switching things never seem to work out…

Man,,all of these stories were so captivating, we read and re-read these over and over! And the Neal Adams renaissance continued when DC shortly released a  "Best of GHOSTS" comic in their DC Digests format, which gave us even MORE new Neal Adams art and more freaking  terrific stories! I'll have to dig THAT one out and scans some of THOSE as well!