'Best of TBH Politoons'
Cory!! Strode On Graphic Novels
The Fantastic Four
There have been a lot of graphic novels that have come out over the past few weeks. So many that I think I need to get out of social services and get into right wing radio in order to afford them all.
But, rather than do that, I've had to pick and choose what books are worth buying right now, and what ones will have to wait until this fall when fewer books are coming out. So, while they sit on th shelf and remind me that I can't afford EVERYTHING, I did pick up one of the reprint volumes that I have been waiting for since they day it was released, and might be of some interest for people who don't buy as many comics as I do.
OK. I know, No One Buys As Many Comics As I Do.
Still, when I saw the Fantastic Four Masterworks reprinting Fantastic Four 61 - 70, put my money on the counter and rushed home to see if the stories were as good as I remembered. The stories were originally printed in 1967 and 1968, when the "Underground Comix" movement was starting, the Batman TV show was in full swing, and all of the mainstream comic book publishers were finding ways to get Super-Heroes in their comics. It was so pervasive that Archie and the Riverdale gang dressed up in costumes and fought crime. DC was switching over their books to reflect the campy nature of the TV series. However, over at Marvel, the company reached what most consider to be their creative peak.
The Fantastic Four had slipped to being Marvel #2 in sales (behind Spider-Man), but Jack Kirby and scripter Stan Lee were turning out comics like nothing the mainstream had ever seen. In the 20 issues before the first one in this collection, there had been an explosion of new characters including The Silver Surfer, Galactus, The Inhumans, Black Panther, all of whom have carried their own comic book series at one time or another.
This collection still has Kirby's amazing creativity, and Lee's fun "we're all in a big club" style of scripting that either strikes you are amazingly fun, or a bit out of place. I grew up reading "Smilin' Stan"'s style of scripting, and find it a great way to get the reader into the story and makes it feel like you're sitting across the table from an overly gregarious friend who is excited to tell you about the great story idea he has. In the ten regular issues and one annual reprinted, we get a revamp of "Sandman", "Blastar the Living Bomb Burst", an entire issue set in the Negative Zone (one of Kirby's most visually interesting ideas), an alien race "The Kree, who would be the basis of Marvel's Captain Marvel comic), and Kirby's last great story on the Fantastic Four: The introduction of the character Warlock.
The stories are fast paced, filled with action, and filled with the classic Marvel Melodrama. Kirby's art has never been better, and every page is visually exciting and shows why Kirby was called the King of Comics. His ability to make the fantastic seem real and plausible shines. The strength of the Fantastic Four comic isn't the action filled plots and all-out action, but the strength of the characters. Ben Grimm, The Thing, a man trapped in the body of a monster; Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, the typical 50's and 60's scientific genius; Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, a teenager who gets to have all of the soap opera storylines by this point in the series; and Sue Richards, The Invisible Girl, a bit of a 60's stereotypical female who tends to be left behind when "things are too dangerous" and says, "Oh Reed" a lot.
There are cheaper ways to get the early issues of the Fantastic Four. Marvel has published 3 volumes of "Essentials" that reprint up to 25 comics in black and white on newsprint for around $15. However, the Masterworks books are nice hardcover collections, in color and on glossy paper and run about $50 each, or about $4 a comic. With comics off the stands selling for $3 each, it's certainly a decent price for 30 year old comics, printed better than they were they first time.
It's pretty much a given that I'll like any Jack Kirby drawn comic, and the FF was my favorite comic by him, but reading the stories again, it's pretty clear that these are classic stories, and well worth the money. Fantastic Four Masterworks Volume 7 gets a 5 out of 5!
Cory!! Strode (The Best Dressed Man In Comics) has written comic books, novels, jokes for comedians, Op Ed columns, the on-line comic strip
www.Asylumon5thstreet.com and has all kinds of things on his website
www.solitairerose.com
Reader Comment
John Kerry
The big mystery remains: Why didn't KE04 release these during the campaign?
Bad grades only could have helped.
~ Heather
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
BOB HERBERT: The Mobility Myth (nytimes.com)
Many in the middle class are mortgaged to the hilt, maxed out on credit cards and fearful to the point of trembling that all they've worked for might vanish in a downsized minute.
Bill Moyers: The Mugging of the American Dream (AlterNet)
Washington is a divided city -- not between north and south as in Lincoln's time, but between those who can buy all the government they want and those who can't even afford a seat in the bleachers.
LARRY NEUMEISTER: U.S. ordered to release Abu Ghraib videos (suntimes.com)
A judge has ordered the government to release four videos from Abu Ghraib prison and dozens of photographs from the same collection as photos that touched off the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal a year ago.
Grade Madness (dcmediagirl.com)
A number of recent articles have addressed the troubling topic of the madness that has gripped the American classroom.
Alicia C. Shepard: A's for Everyone! (washingtonpost.com)
In an era of rampant grade inflation, some college students find it shocking to discover there are 26 letters in the alphabet
MARGARET TALBOT: BEST IN CLASS (newyorker.com)
Students are suing their way to the top.
David Bruce: Wise Up: Free speech
Bob Dylan declined to be censored. Once, he was scheduled to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show," but during rehearsal, the producers tried to tell him that he couldn't play certain songs on the show. Mr. Dylan picked up his guitar and left. Someone else took his place on the show.
Purple Gene Reviews
Lisa Loebs' Glasses
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny & pleasant weather-wise.
This morning some dolt in Ventura County broke some laws that resulted in yet another 'high speed chase'® across the freeways of the Southland.
Eventually, the dolt was stopped & surrounded by armored police vehicles in the middle of I-10, just east of downtown LA. The dolt then pulled his gun on himself.
The stand-off lasted for nearly 6 hours, with traffic completely stopped in both directions on the 10, and pretty much fucked everywhere else.
I was trying to run out to the Valley & get back before time to carpool the kids home from school.
Listened to almost the whole Ed Schultz show while moving fewer than 10 miles.
As is the custom, the cops eventually shot the dolt around shift change.
Organizes Film Festival
Michael Moore
Director Michael Moore is bringing a film festival to this tourist town in his native Michigan that will feature free outdoor showings of classic movies on an inflatable screen.
The Traverse City Film Festival Committee, with Moore as chairman, received permission from city commissioners Monday to use a park on Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay for viewings, scheduled for July 28-31.
Moore assured the commissioners that the festival, consisting of about 30 movies, will be nonpartisan and dedicated solely to promoting art and culture.
Michael Moore
Spreads AIDS Message To The Arctic
Nelson Mandela
Aging South African peace icon Nelson Mandela will take his "46664" campaign against AIDS to the Arctic Circle this week to awaken youth in the world's far north to the disease that has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa.
A host of international stars, including Annie Lennox, former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and Peter Gabriel will perform under the midnight sun in the third Mandela AIDS concert in Tromsoe, northern Norway on Saturday.
The 86-year-old former South African president launched the campaign -- named "46664" after the prison number he was given during 27 years in jail under apartheid -- in 2003 to raise funds for the battle against an epidemic that has hit Africa harder than anywhere else.
Nelson Mandela
Museum Casts Worldwide Net
Elvis-A-Rama
A Las Vegas museum dedicated to the memory and myth of Elvis Presley has launched a worldwide casting call for impersonators of the "King of Rock," organizers said.
Elvis-A-Rama, a sprawling museum that is home to a collection of more than six million dollars worth of Presley memorabilia, is casting a global net to anyone who can pay the King the highest compliment: imitation.
The museum will hold a casting call in the desert gambling town of Las Vegas on August 8 and 9 and will then hold a series of elimination round events on four continents in a bid to find the ultimate Elvis tribute artist.
Elvis-A-Rama
'The Science Guy' Back for Older Audience
Bill Nye
Bill Nye is many things: comedian, scientist, author, inventor, TV personality.
He's back with a new TV show to help people understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work.
But unlike "Bill Nye, the Science Guy" - which won 28 Emmys during its run from 1992 to '98 on PBS - "The Eyes of Nye" is aimed at more than just kids. In it, he tackles subjects such as cloning, overpopulation, genetically modified foods, nuclear waste, global climate change, stem cell research and drug-resistant disease.
"The Eyes of Nye" uses big words with abandon, he jests.
The series has been picked up by 213 stations, covering about 72 percent of the country (check local listings).
Bill Nye
Marks 90th With New Album
Les Paul
Guitar legend Les Paul will celebrate his 90th birthday with his first new studio album since 1978's "Guitar Monsters," a collaboration with the late Chet Atkins. Les Paul & Friends' "American Made, World Played" is due Aug. 30 via Capitol/EMI.
The album will boast such collaborations as "Love Sneakin' Up on You" with Sting and Joss Stone, "Fly Like an Eagle" with Steve Miller, Eric Clapton on "Somebody Ease My Troublin' Mind," Jeff Beck on "Good News," ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on "Bad Case of Lovin' You" and Buddy Guy, Keith Richards and Rick Derringer on "Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl."
Paul will also be honored June 9 with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at New York's annual Songwriters Hall of Fame event.
Les Paul
Joins 'Lost'
Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez is getting "Lost" full-time. The 26-year-old actress will join the cast of the stranded-on-an-island drama when production resumes for its second season, ABC announced Monday.
In a flashback scene on the season finale, Rodriguez played Ana-Lucia Cortez, a passenger on doomed Oceanic flight No. 815, who flirted with Jack Shepard, played by Matthew Fox, at an airport bar in Sydney, Australia.
Rodriguez first caught the attention of movie audiences as a boxer in 2000's "Girlfight." She's also starred in "S.W.A.T.," "Resident Evil," "Blue Crush" and "The Fast and the Furious."
Michelle Rodriguez
Shares Secrets
Annie Sprinkle
Annie Sprinkle has had a long career as a prostitute, porn star and performance artist. Now she's offering to share some secrets.
In a new book, "Dr. Sprinkle's Spectacular Sex: Make Over Your Love Life with One of the World's Great Sex Experts," she offers advice on how to uncover hidden desires and how to chart a 14-step path toward a more fulfilling sex life.
In 2002, Sprinkle was the first porn star to earn a doctorate degree in human sexuality, and she teaches and lectures on the subject of sexually oriented art and media at prestigious museums and universities including New York's Museum of Modern Art and Columbia University.
Annie Sprinkle
Organizers May Face Loss
James Dean Fest
Organizers of a festival honoring James Dean could be saddled with losses topping $1 million after the event lured only a fraction of the fans officials had hoped to the late actor's birthplace.
Warner Bros. Studios lost an estimated $75,000 on the festival, said Brian Jamieson, the studio's vice president of worldwide marketing and international projects.
But he said Rocco Productions, which the company hired to promote and produce the three-day festival, lost at least $1 million - and possibly as much as $1.3 million.
James Dean Fest
Original Voices Replaced
'Los Simpson'
When Latin American audiences tune in to the new season of "The Simpsons" in July, they might notice something oddly different about the voices of Homero or Senor Burns.
That's because a labor dispute has prompted a dubbing studio to replace the program's famed Spanish-language cast members as it heads into its 16th season here.
"Los Simpson," as the series is called in Spanish, has been a huge success throughout Latin America. The big question now is how viewers will react to an entirely new cast of voice actors for the coming season in July.
Fox refuses to get involved, claiming that it is a local matter.
'Los Simpson'
Wins Battle Over WWII Fighter Plane
Lex Cralley
Lex Cralley is now the undisputed owner of a rare U.S. Navy fighter plane from World War II that he salvaged 15 years ago from a North Carolina swamp, and it took only six years and a special act of Congress to get it.
"I've been under a cloud so long, it almost seems like a dream that it's over," said Cralley, a 50-year-old Northwest Airlines mechanic.
He hopes to restore the very rare plane to flying condition, which aviation experts said could take years and cost millions of dollars.
Military aviation experts say Cralley has the only remaining Corsair manufactured by the Brewster Aeronautical Corp. of Long Island, N.Y. Brewster, now defunct, started making the fighters after the original manufacturer became overwhelmed by wartime demand.
For the rest, Lex Cralley
Secret Tips and Tweaks
TiVo
If you own a TiVo digital video recorder, you know that this magic appliance can change the way you watch TV. But, with a little work from you, your TiVo is capable of much more. With several innocent gimmicks, you can make using TiVo even slicker.
Many electronic devices and software programs have hidden features--often called "Easter eggs"--tucked away behind obscure keystroke combinations. TiVo is no different. To see a TiVo Easter egg, follow these steps:
Enable closed-captioning display on your TV. Using your TiVo remote, go to Browse by Name. Select the characters SHAGWELL. Press Thumbs Up.
You'll be presented with a short video hidden inside your Tivo.
If you look closely, there are more Easter eggs inside this one.
For a lot more, TiVo
Prime-Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for May 30-June 5. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (1) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 14.2 million viewers.
2. (17) "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 13.5 million viewers.
3. (X) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 13.1 million viewers.
4. (7) "Without a Trace," CBS, 12.6 million viewers.
5. (X) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 12.1 million viewers.
6. (X) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 11.2 million viewers.
7. (38) "48 Hours Mystery" (Tuesday), CBS, 10.7 million viewers.
8. (X) "NCIS," CBS, 10.4 million viewers.
9. (21) "60 Minutes," CBS, 10.3 million viewers.
10. (30) "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 10.1 million viewers.
11. (22) "CSI: NY," CBS, 10 million viewers.
12. (25) "NCIS," CBS, 9.3 million viewers.
13. (X) " Miss Universe Pageant," NBC, 9.2 million viewers.
14. (32) "Crossing Jordan," NBC, 9.1 million viewers.
15. (X) "Cold Case" (Thursday), CBS, 9.1 million viewers.
16. (28) "Law & Order," NBC, 9 million viewers.
17. (X) "Hit Me Baby One More Time," NBC, 8.9 million viewers.
18. (X) "Eagles Farewell Tour," NBC, 8.4 million viewers.
19. (27) "House," Fox, 8.1 million viewers.
20. (61) "20/20," ABC, 8.1 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft, who won the 1962 best actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" but achieved greater fame as the seductive Mrs. Robinson in "The Graduate," has died. She was 73.
She died of uterine cancer on Monday at Mount Sinai Hospital, John Barlow, a spokesman for her husband, Mel Brooks, said Tuesday.
Bancroft's beginnings in Hollywood were unimpressive. She was signed by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1952 and given the glamour treatment. She had been acting in television as Anne Marno (her real name: Anna Maria Louise Italiano), but it sounded too ethnic for movies. The studio gave her a choice of names; she picked Bancroft "because it sounded dignified."
After a series of B pictures, she escaped to Broadway in 1958 and won her first Tony opposite Henry Fonda in "Two for the Seesaw." The stage and movie versions of "The Miracle Worker" followed. Her other Academy nominations: "The Pumpkin Eater" (1964); "The Graduate" (1967); "The Turning Point" (1977); "Agnes of God" (1985).
Bancroft became known for her willingness to assume a variety of portrayals. She appeared as Winston Churchill's American mother in TV's "Young Winston"; as Golda Meir in "Golda" onstage; a gypsy woman in the film "Love Potion No. 9"; and a centenarian for the TV version of "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All."
After an unhappy three-year marriage to builder Martin May, Bancroft married comedian-director-producer Brooks in 1964. They met when she was rehearsing a musical number, "Married I Can Always Get," for the Perry Como television show, and a voice from offstage called: "I'm Mel Brooks."
In a 1984 interview she said she told her psychiatrist the next day: "Let's speed this process up - I've met the right man. See, I'd never had so much pleasure being with another human being. I wanted him to enjoy me too. It was that simple." A son, Maximilian, was born in 1972.
She was born Sept. 17, 1931, in the Bronx to Italian immigrant parents. She recalled scrawling "I want to be an actress" on the back fence of her flat when she was 9. Her father derided her ambitions, saying, "Who are we to dream these dreams?" Her mother was the dreamer, encouraging her daughter in 1958 to enroll at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts.
Despite all her memorable performances, Bancroft was remembered most for Mrs. Robinson. In 2003 she admitted that nearly everyone discouraged her from undertaking the role "because it was all about sex with a younger man." She viewed the character as having unfulfilled dreams and having been relegated to a conventional life with a conventional husband.
She added: "Film critics said I gave a voice to the fear we all have: that we'll reach a certain point in our lives, look around and realize that all the things we said we'd do and become will never come to be - and that we're ordinary."
Anne Bancroft
