John Byrne's "Next Men" is Back!!

So my friend and I were browsing through a Comic Store In Town, primarily to see what “old” comics were up on the wall for sale. While we waxed nostalgic looking at all the old classic silver age covers, my eyes dropped down to the current comics, and I almost had a heart attack when I saw THIS sitting on the new release shelf:

WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS?  Was this a reprint of the old NEXT MEN Strips? Was this a clever repackaging made to promote the "Trade Edition" collections that IDW was releasing? Or….Hope ABOVE HOPE…Did John Byrne FINALLY get around to CONTINUING his Next Men series after ALL THESE YEARS?!

I couldn’t believe THAT possibility, and decided that when I got home, I was going to have to go online and find out just WHAT the heck it was that I saw at the comic store! I felt SURE that they were only reprints, but why did Bethany and Jasmine have new costumes on the cover? Dare I hope that it was something NEW?

Going onto Wikipedia, I quickly scrolled through the fact page…and…HOLY CRAP! Unbelievably, It WAS a NEW SERIES! Byrne had FINALLY picked up where he’d left off and STARTED IT UP AGAIN! HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS THING COME OUT WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE?! It was already up to issue 7...that meant SEVEN WHOLE MONTHS that it was out and I never had an INKLING of its existence!

Oh My GOSH, you best bet I RAN my BUTT back to that comic store and SCOOPED up those issues, but QUICK! Took a lot of driving and visits to three (!) comic stores before I finally got all 7 back-issues, but once I did, it was WELL WORTH IT! Diving in, reading NEXT MEN again was like slipping on a comfortable old show-I felt at home!

Now, truth be told, I’m not sure exactly WHERE the storyline is going, and there’s admittedly a lot of “it was only a dream/illusion” jerking around going on, but like I’ve stated before, the characters have always been more important to me than the actual storyline, and in THIS regard, Byrne is moving along SWIMMINGLY! Not only have we been reintroduced to the characters, but he’s made great strides developing Federal Agent Toni Murcheson and the continued story of Jack’s religious awakening!

The others are there as well, with both Nathan and Jazz storylines involving them fighting their way out of the muddled past and nice developments for my beloved Bethany. In fact, at the moment, Danny’s the only one who still hasn’t been covered yet…wonder if there’s gonna be some big secret unveiled soon?

We’ll have to read and find out! Byrne has stated that he’s got about 50 issues worth to tell the whole story, and I sincerely hope the comic can LAST up until then- I would HATE to have the Next Men pulled out from under me AGAIN!

Gene Colan 1926-2011

Just heard From Mark Evanier's POV Site that Gene "The Dean" Colan has passed away.

Truly one of the GREAT Marvel Artists and one of my personal faves growing up...

One of my very, very favorite covers from The Dean.

R.I.P., Gene, You'll Be Missed!

Usagi Yojimbo Characters Think It's Their Imagination.

All too often in the brilliant Usagi Yojimbo strip, characters think they're imagining things when they hear sounds of a threat approaching. Tragically, in each and every one of these scenes, they WEREN'T!

"But It Was Just My Imagination...Running Away With Me"

Signs You're In a John Byrne Comic!

Belligerent People with Unpleasant Attitudes get their Minds Zapped!

Avengers #181

Alpha Flight #26

About “Signs That You’re In a John Byrne Comic”:

Like many of you out there, I am a HUGE fan of John Byrne, and have voraciously read just about every title he’s done over the years, from Marvel to DC, Dark Horse, and Beyond!

And as any fan of Byrne can tell you, there are many things that are BOUND to happen in a any given tale of his, and the “Signs That You’re In a John Byrne Comic” entries are just fun captures of similar links between his wonderful stories that give you a sense of Deja Vu!

The Sexy As Hell Jessica Alba.

Just spent an evening re-watching the classic Robert Rodriguez/ Frank Miller movie SIN CITY again. It’d been quite a while since I’d last seen it, and my GOSH, I’d forgotten how goddamn GORGEOUS Jessica Alba is in this movie, she is just this sultry, SMOKING HOT bundle of SEX!

You know, all you ever see of Jessica Alba in the last three or four years is paparazzi shots of her being pregnant with her first child (and now her second), so it was a nice reminder of how DEVASTATINGLY BEAUTIFUL she can be when she wants to!

Karin Dor in "Topaz"

Was watching the awesome 1969 Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller Topaz the other night, and was simply blown away by how unbelievably gorgeous actress Karin Dor was in it! She was SO achingly beautiful in every scene she was in, I could hardly stand it!


This is kind of funny in that I’m a HUGE James Bond fan, and yet for all the times I’ve watched “You Only Live Twice”, Karin (as agent Helga Brandt) never seemed to me to be more than another one of those agent-babe-who’s-going-to-get-killed-early-on-in-the-film throwaway characters. Little did I know how she’d set my senses on fire later!

TOPAZ was an espionage movie centered around the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 60’s, and Karin plays Juanita de Cordoba, a beloved widow of a famous hero of the people who is secretly working with the French to keep tabs on the Russian going-ons in Cuba. Karin (a German actress who easily slips into other ethnicities like Indian and Latino) breathes lush life into the very “Evita-Peron”-ish Juanita character, making her both feminine, refined and strong hearted. When Juanita is first introduced, you are IMMEDIATELY captivated by those EYES of hers- sensual AND commanding at the same time!

My attraction for her only grew as the scenes went by- MAN! I'm ALL about 60's fashion, and she displayed it very well. Looking so classy, I didn’t think things could get any better, then suddenly there she was in front of me with her luscious hair down, looking ALL KINDS OF SEDUCTIVE in this smoking, sexy, lacey nightgown!!!!

YE GODS, I couldn’t TAKE IT! I had severe Babe-Overload!!!


Ah, yet ANOTHER actress falling into my category of “Distractingly Beautiful”, Karin Dor really DOES IT for ME, at least in THIS movie!

*  *  *  *  Addendum, *Spoiler Alert*  *  *  *  *

Thought I’d said all I had to say on the subject, but just HAD to mention this one INCREDIBLE scene in Topaz that I just can’t stop thinking about.

Working as an undercover spy in Cuba is, as one would suspect, a deadly occupation with a high mortality rate, and in the end Juanita is one of the many who end up sacrificing her life for the cause, and here Hitchcock directs probably one of the most beautifully shot deaths ever put to celluloid- Juanita is held in an embrace and is shot at close range. As she slowly slumps down to the ground, her velvety purple gown pools out across the floor like blood pouring out of her, this is such a haunting and MESMERIZING scene to behold!!

My Herb Trimpe Commission!

As readers of this blog know well, when I was a wee lad growing up, my favorite, favorite comic was Marvel Comics’ take on the Toho Productions Japanese monster series GODZILLA. Godzilla was the very first comic I started collecting, and it was through this strip that I was first introduced to the world of the Marvel Universe. It was here I first met Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones and S.H.I.E.L.D., The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and even other monsters like Devil Dinosaur!

Out of the entire run of the strip, my all-time favorite story has to be the arc where Dum Dum and his gang get Henry Pym (AKA Yellowjacket) to create a gas that will shrink Godzilla to the more easy to handle size of a household pet! This epic storyline started in issue #17 and in fact ran the entire remainder of the series, which concluded with Issue #24.

I’ve always loved all the covers in that run, and even had fun illustrator Fred Hembeck recreate the cover of Issue #17 for me, and he did in true Hembeck flair! But the one thing I always wanted was a recreation of issue #18, my very favorite Godzilla cover of them all!

On this cover, a shrunken Godzilla is beneath the streets of New York and is battling one of the Big Apple’s own style of monster: that of a huge sewer rat! This to me was always the quintessential Godzilla Cover, and I knew who I wanted to recreate it for me: The man himself, Godzilla Artist Herb Trimpe!

I didn’t know quite how to go about getting this done, til I was directed by an original art collector to Jeff Jaworski’s site, COMICBOOK-ART.COM. Jeff hosts a BUNCH of artists from that magic time called the Bronze Age, including (among many others) Keith Pollard, Bob Budanski, Ron Wilson and YES!!! Herb Trimpe!

For only a modest fee I was able to request a Pencil reproduction of my favorite cover, and in less than a month, I had the AWESOME Godzilla #18 cover commission in my hands!!!! WOW!!! Will you look at that sketch!!! Ah, Truly a dream come true!!!

Barbie Collection, Debbie Harry Style!

Mattel recently released a limited editon BARBE series entitled “Ladie Of The 80’s”, where they fashioned Barbie with the style and look of several famous icons of the eighties, including Cyndi Lauper, Joan Jett, and, unbelievably, a PLASTIC LETTERS era Debbie Harry!

Plastic Letters has long been my favorite album from Blondie, and the look that Debbie was rockin’ during this time is my hands down favorite look from her as well (feathered, billowy two-toned hair- blonde with black streaks), so you can BET I was THRILLED to see this album honored like this!

It’s kind of unusual that they’d choose Plastic Letters to recreate, one would think that they would have chosen one of Blondie’s more well-known releases like “Eat To The Beat” , or “Parallel Lines”… perhaps they wanted to dress Debbie’s Barbie likeness with a more “extravagant” dress than the white dresses she wore on Eat To The Beat or Parallel lines. What’s even more unusual is the fact that while this series is called “Ladies Of The 80’s”, “Plastic Letters” came out in 1978! HAHAHA

In any case, as soon as I saw that Debbie Harry doll, I IMMEDIATELY got on the ball and ordered myself a copy! The package just arrived today, and I have to say it looks even better than I thought! Look at the detail in that dress, the transparent heels, etc- they even got the two-toned feathred hair right! And it’s so cute how they really managed to get Debbie’s sexy and smouldering features onto the doll’s face!

Looking at the back of the box, they even managed to get ahold of an exciting alternative shot of the famed Plastic Letters album cover, a picture that not even the digital release of the album included!

Barbie Doll Liner Notes:

“The Platinum, Punk Goddess of a decade, Debbie Harry is singer, songwriter, and frontwoman for Blondie. She took her band away from the Bowery to Superstardom with her tough and pretty persona, beautiful voice, and witty, ironic music. Mixing New Wave, Reggae, Rap and Disco, Debbie created an unforgettable landmark of pop culture. The Debbie Harry Doll captures the singer’s sassy spirit and famed beauty. This is the first doll in the Ladies of the 80’s collection.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Traffic "John Barleycorn Must Die" Deluxe Edition!

Also re-released this past month is the latest in the awesome Universal Music DELUXE EDITION series- the Classic Album JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE by Steve Winwood group TRAFFIC.

Booklet

I’ve always loved these DELUXE EDITION releases (other albums I’ve picked up have been releases from the Who and Moody Blues, among others) because besides  the beautiful packaging and sonic remastering, they always manage to dig up a whole slew of interesting rarities for their Bonus disc, and this release is no different!

John Barleycorn Must Die has always been my favorite TRAFFIC album, and I couldn’t wait once I found out it was FINALLY getting the Deluxe Edition Treatment!

Gatefold 1

Gatefold 2

The remastered disc is great- crisp pinging highs and droning lows (especially in the opening track GLAD), but the treat of this disc is the BONUS stuff- from alternate takes of songs like STRANGER TO HIMSELF, JOHN BARLEYCORN and EVERY MOTHER’S SON to selections from the legendary live 1970 FILLMORE EAST concert sets:

Medicated Goo

Empty Pages

Forty Thousand Headmen

Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?

Every Mother’s Son

Glad

Freedom Rider

Booklet liner notes

Been playing this disc in the car the past few days and have been subjecting all who ride along with me the wonder of Traffic, including one friend who commented (when hearing Freedom Rider), “I thought this was Blind Faith”. HAHAHAHA, seems he’d gotten his Steve Winwood groups mixed, and it’s kind of funny in that this was a guy whose favorite single in 1980 was “While You See A Chance”! LOL

PS: One thing different about this Deluxe Edition is that unlike earlier releases, this one didn’t come with a plastic slipcase, and instead had the “Deluxe Edition” banner stuck directly onto the packaging! YIKES! I had to carefully peel THAT one off, fearful that I’d tear the cover!

Yet Another Princess Enters The Canon

Well, just finished watching “Tangled”, the latest movie offering from the folks over at Disney, (in fact, their big 50^TH RELEASE!), and it looks like they’ve succeeded in creating yet another gorgeously adorable heroine, this time in the form of pure, giddy, (and slightly granola-ish) Princess Rapunzel.

While I was expecting a bit more out of this movie ‘s end than what they gave me, I can’t deny the appeal of their lead character, and already feel like watching it again, just to see her doing her thing: singing, sashaying, painting, dancing…oh, and hitting lots of dudes on the head with Frying Pans. Yes.

 I've always been a sucker for those Disney Girls (Cue Bruce Johnson's song here) and it's great that they've managed to make the transfer from the good ol' traditional animation to computer graphics retaining the same awesome princess-creating powers that they've had since Snow White all those years ago! And every time I watch the latest movie and fall in love with the latest princess, those Bruce Johnson lyrics always go though my head:

"Oh reality, it's not for me

And it makes me laugh

Oh, fantasy world and Disney Girls

I'm coming back"

"Black Swan"

Wow, Just finished this one and I have to say that it was pretty damn good!
Natalie Portman's over-the-top transformation from the nervous and regimented dancer into the explosive and destructive Black Swan was amazing to watch, and the those oft-discussed dance scenes just KLLED!

Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011

Elizabeth Taylor in one of my favorite movies from her, the 1949 movie Little Women, 

as the adorable Amy March. Farewell, Liz, You'll be missed!

Good Girl Art Covers starring those Fighting Force Girls

It’s that time once again where I take a classic GOOD GIRL ART comic cover and remake it, inserting my own FIGHTING FORCE Gals into the excitement! This time we’ve got my homage of FIGHT COMICS #35, with Wendy getting  a surprise from Barry (Lockjaw) and Sam (Jupiter Jr.), with Karen and Jamie looking on...

Fight Comics #35

Fighting Force featuring Wendy #210, Art by Z

HaHaHa, I really had a BLAST recreating this one! So much detail in the original artwork...

Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" 40th Anniversary

Got my Deluxe 40^th Anniversary Edition release of Simon and Garfunkel’s classic 1970 album BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER the other week, and what a package it is…besides sounding terrific as ever, this CD set comes with double gatefold packaging, a informative booklet and a bonus DVD that includes not only the controversial SONGS OF AMERICA S&G TV Special, but an additional special featuring the makingof the album, with new 2010 interviews with Paul and Art as well as thei others involved with the production. The former was fun to see (a real capsule of the early 70’s, to be sure) but it was the latter that really opened my eyes…such interesting tales and backstories about the songs we’ve come to love!

Here’s a weird quirk I’ve always had with the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. As a lad of about…oh, 13, the first Simon and Garfunkel Album I bought was their awesome 1972 Greatest Hits, and I must have played that collection of hit singles and live performances over and over that summer! Soon I realized that my love for the Folk Rock Duo was more than just  a passing thing, and I began to purchase all of their other albums, some of which (like Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme and Sounds Of Silence) have become my favorite albums of all time!

By the time I got around to purchasing what was Simon and Garfunkel’s final album, I had been playing that Greatest Hits so much that when I realized the first three tracks of Bridge Over Troubled Water were Bridge, El Condor Pasa and Cecilia, I decided to skip over them because I’d already been listening to them so much! So for me, the song “Keep The Customer Satisfied” became like the first track on the album, and I'd always listen to it that way after that! Even later, when I made a cassette of the album to listen to on my walkman (and, much, MUCH later, for the car), I kept that song first, and what I’d do was tack Bridge Over Troubled Water, El Condor Pasa and Cecilia at the END of the tape.

 So my Song Order was always like this:

1. Keep the Customer Satisfied

2. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

3. The Boxer            

4. Baby Driver       

5. The Only Living Boy in New York

6. Why Don't You Write Me

7. Bye Bye Love

8. Song for the Asking

9. Bridge over Troubled Water           

10. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

11. Cecilia           

This always seemed the most perfect setlist to me. “Keep The Customer Satisfied” is SUCH an AWESOME opening track, a spirited song talking about the ups and downs of BEING Simon and Garfunkel! Even the opening lines “Gee, But It’s Great to be Back Home!” sounds like they’ve just arrived, a PERFECT intro to the album! 

And since the 1972 Greatest Hits also ended with Cecilia, it always seemed like an “Album Closer” to me, a fun foot-stomping track having the band go out with a bang! I know it’s a wacky configuration, but I’ve been listening to it in this order for over 30 years now!

So it was kind of funny- as soon as I got the 40^th Anniversary disc, I threw it in the car and took a long ride to immerse myself in the good Simon and Garfunkel vibes, and was actually surprised when it didn’t start with Keep The Customer Satisfied! As it opened with “Bridge Over Troubled Water, I had to say to myself, “Oh Yeah…the way I listen to is ISN”T the correct way!” AHAHAHAHAHAHA! But I thoroughly enjoyed blasting that wonderful album…everything sounded great, and my GOD, is “The Only Living Boy In New York” just one of the sweetest and greatest S&G songs EVER? *Sigh* Just beautiful!

"FreakAngels" Graphic Novel #5 comes in!!!!

As one may have guessed by the entries I write, I'm mostly a fan of the Silver and Bronze age of comics, but every now and then there will be a new book out that will grab my interest, and Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield's FREAKANGELS is such a title! Such an awesome tale with ENGAGING characters, thoughtful dialog and beautifully styled artwork!


Freakangels is an online comic which collects issues into trade book form every so many chapters, and though it's probably easier to order it direct from AVATAR Press. I try to support my local comic dealer and pick my books up at the store. So when Avatar Press announced the release of Book Five, I knew I would have to wait a while before my dealer got it. Not that it's really a problem since I'm able to read every issue online! But it's always nice to have the actual book in your hand, plus I've turned a few freinds onto FREAKANGELS and some haven't quite gotten used to the whole "online" thing and will refuse to read it in any way other than a printed book!