Boo(m) T(u)bes

I've added a few links over there to the left - sorry, your right, my left - for the betterment of mankind. Under comics is a link to the very good and getting better Newsarama blog, which is a companion piece to the exceptional comic book news source that you will occasionally find the Mole expounding within (you'll know when by the resounding silence from fellow posters). Under the music category is one apparently everybody but me knew about, which is the music review-and-news site Pitchfork which is also apparently becoming the critical knees of the bee, as twere. And finally, down under the ....whatever category, there is What What, which is apparently a couple of Brits who are hawking their unique graphic design wares and want you to look at the cool stuff theyve done. Especially check out the "Whatever" section of their website (how appropriate!!)

Dress warm. Write if you get work.

Intelligent Design: The Return of the Eternals

(Morning, early) I am or would like to think of myself as Eternals Fan Numero Uno - as a Kirbyist acolyte, I have studied and restudied the original 20-issue series (19 regular and 1 annual) from the '70's where the King laid out his reality of giant Celestials coming to earth and creating various strains of humanity, some beautiful, powerful and godlike (eternals), some grotesque, bizzarre and evil (deviants). It was one of those comics that I fell in love with from one issue on the comic rack and then proceeded to complete the set at comic shops and be upset when Marvel cancelled it. No matter, it is still maybe my single favorite comics series of all time; cosmic, weird, funky, all over the place, I am convinced it was way way way ahead of its time, as Kirby was in most things.

Many attempts were made to conform the Eternals to the Marvel Universe and usually they ended up looking like just another batch of gods or godlike beings (ala the Inhumans). Sersi was an Avenger for awhile; Thanos and Starfox turned out to be Eternals, etc. There were a few attempts, most notably the 12-issue miniseries of some years back, but for the most part they werent terribly good and never measured up to the level of the originals (which by the way are available for your viewing pleasure this week in a new hardcover from Marvel - you may wish to check it out at Amazon.com or some such.)

Now, the concept has arisen again, and Marvel has put it in the hands of two comics superstars to once and for all find a way to incorporate this particular batch of superbeings into the Universe. Neil Gaiman and John Romita, Jr., have taken on King Kirby's Koncept and ever since they announced this project months ago I have been nervously awaiting the first issue to see if they screw it up. In terms of visuals I havent been as concerned because a few years back JRJr. did a one-shot during the Amalgam period (where DC and Marvel concepts were "mashed up" as it were to create new hybrids) called Thorion of the New Asgods which mixed up the New Gods, Thor, and a dash of Eternals, and managed to capture some of the grandeur and scope that Kirby produced on a daily basis. No, it was what Mr. Gaiman might do - famously, he took the classic DC character Sandman and dumped everything but the name, but in the process created a new classic and helped set new standards - that worried me.

Thankfully, at least based on the first issue of the Eternals, my fears are unfounded. Basically, the core Eternals, Ikaris, Makarri, Thena, Sersi, and others, appear to have been stripped of their memory of being Eternals and are living various lives where the powers they dont even realize they have seem to manifest themselves on occasion. Ike Harris visits medical resident Mark Curry (compare to previous names) and says he has memories of 500,000 years ago and of the genetic tinkering the Celestials did with proto-humans way back when to create the divergent species. He remembers much, up until the Celestials' most recent return about 30 years ago, which would be the events accounted for in the original Kirby book. After that, well, it all gets fuzzy. Of course, Mark thinks Ike is a wacko, even after he sees Ike walk in midair away from his apartment window. And we're off.

They pack a lot of story into this first issue; there are also brief subplots that highlight Sersi and Thena and this definitely ties into the Marvel Universe - a brief vignette deals with the need for the superpowered to register with the government (see Civil War) - and by gumbo if it aint a lot of fun. The only other creator I could have seen taking the Eternals and revitalizing them would be Walt Simonson, who did that very kind of update recently in his brilliant Orion series for DC. I would definitely recommend you get down to your comic shop (if in Delaware, please go to The Comic Book Shop on Marsh Road, see link at your right) to beg for a copy.

A couple of other brief recommendations: Despite my misgivings, the first two issues of Civil War are really entertaining, remarkable comic books and worthy of the press hype they've been getting. Also, Fantastic Four #537, featuring the return (yayayayayayayay) of Dr. Doom and Thor's hammer, respectively, is a heckuva lot of fun. And Planet Hulk continues to be terrific....once again, it appears to be the Marvel Age of Comics!!!!

Roger and out, good buddy.

Postscript - (same day, later): http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/Eternals/GaimanEternals.html
Newsarama did a great and exhaustive series on the previous history of the Eternals in the MU; at the end of the above interview with writer Neil Gaiman are links to those multiple articles if you are so inclined. Its a lot of reading - why not open a nice cold beverage?

Strap on the ol' mail bag!

The Mole was pleased today to see the following in the mailbag -

Hi,

I don't normally leave comments on blogs but was surfing for commment on Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" and I don't think I've come across such an astute and resonating assesment.

Duncan Hart

Well, them sure are kind words Mr. Hart, and my immediate reaction was - what the hell is he talking about? Surely he must be mistaking me for another blog....but I searched back and yes, there it was, my thoughts on The Final Cut. Well, D, I'm glad you liked them, and I hope you'll check back again for further music notes among various and sundry other things.

And if you're interested, here's a link to the post....
http://motherbox.blogspot.com/2005/11/post-100-if-im-in-ill-tell-you-whats.html

The Mole has a busy weekend and will get back on the horse Monday. Best you and yours.

You Gonna Make Me Cry

The most unfortunate thing about Curtis Salgado is that he will forever be remembered as the guy that inspired John Belushi to create the Blues Brothers (read: Belushi stole his act.) But I shouldnt grouse; Curtis has a whole section on his website about the Belushi connection and if the Man Himself is not bothered by it, why should I be?

The best thing about Curtis is that I have had the chance to see him play live in tiny little clubs and large venues, I would estimate 30 or 40 times. Not for about 17 years and certainly since the Mole replanted hisself in the Mid-Atlantic, but it is because of that I can say that Curtis is the greatest vocalist in America that you probably have never heard. He is a blues singer, a harmonica genius, and a guy that other musicians want to work with; his first big band was with Robert Cray, he's fronted bands for Steve Miller and Carlos Santana, he was part of Roomful of Blues, and he has several albums, both with his first band, the Stillettos, and with his current lineup. If you go on his website, you will see pix of him playing with Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray and Jimmy Vaughn, Carlos Santana, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, and others.

But the best way to know Curtis is to see him live. He is a soul singer in the oldest tradition, and when you listen to him you hear bits and pieces of all the great soul and blues singers wrapped up in a voice that is still utterly original. I have heard him sing gospel that sent the hairs on the back of my head standing up; I have heard him sing Sam Cooke, John Lennon, B.B. King, and make them brand new. It is in fact a crime that the world does not know Curtis the way they know Robert Cray, who to me is the inferior performer and vocalist.

Curtis is a very important part of a very important time in my life; during my senior year in college, We Boys would go every Thursday night to the Dandelion Pub in northwest Portland to hear Curtis and the Stillettos play; we practically sat on the stage. We got to know some of the band a little bit - bassist John Mazzocco, drummer Scott Frost - and we got to hear hours of Curtis rip through songs like they were coming right out of his chest for the first time. One fine night, my roommate was allowed to bring his trumpet and play with the band, and Curtis couldnt have been more generous in his listening and his advice to my friend. We saw him many other places, too, as many of the coolest Portlanders have, and I will never forget it.

And now, once again, Curtis is getting publicity for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this year, the man was diagnosed with liver cancer and is now undergoing treatment, and awaiting a liver transplant. This, as you might expect, is bad. Curtis, like many working musicians, has no insurance and is looking at bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Recently, an all-star concert was held in Portland to raise money to help, but if you're out there, and you've heard Curtis, or just believe in paying it forward, well, a really great musician needs your help. Think about making a gift to help out Curtis Salgado, and then goddamnit watch your local music paper for when he comes to your town and see what it is you helped pay to save - a national treasure.

Here's Curtis's website: http://www.curtissalgado.com/index.html
Here's information on giving: http://www.curtissalgado.com/news.html
Here's his label where CD's can be purch'd: http://www.shanachie.com/

Juego al futbol

If you recognize the name on the photo of the football above, you are going to have a head start on the following story. It also follows on the heels of my recent posts on autographed items, though up to this point they have been signed comic books, and this is, in fact, a football.

It is not the kind of football that is currently enthralling the world as Togo and Switzerland kick a little white ball around to the joy of fans world wide - no, it is a standard, good ol' American Lucy-pull-it-out-from-under-Charlie Brown football. Those of you out there who know the Mole know that sports is not his forte; a baseball game, if anything, and few of those since the Moleson gave up sports for Emo. The only part of the Super Bowl I pay attention to is the halftime show; I am not a football fan and do not hope to be one.

As longtime listeners may remember, the Mole works an actual job, raising money for a hospital system, and in the state of Delaware. In Delaware there is a terrific organization called the Delaware Community Foundation, and a few weeks back I was one of several hundred people who attended a celebration of the DCF's 20th year of doing wonderful works in the First State.

I sat in the back with coworkers; we ate a nice lunch and heard nice speeches. The keynote that day was former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil, who I thought I had maybe heard of before but couldnt have picked him out of a police lineup. He apparently led another team to win the Super Bowl a few years back, and had taken the Eagles to the Super Bowl and lost many years ago, but is apparently, as I learned, something of a big name and a revered individual in the area. (I knew none of this beforehand).

He spoke; he was better than most highly-paid inspirational speakers and I enjoyed it. At the end of the gig, as we were getting up to go back to work, they announced that Mr. Vermeil had signed five footballs and they were going to draw names out of a hat to give out the balls. And who(m) do you think had their name drawn first - why, none but your friend the Mole, who then had to walk, embarassed (especially when I thought Dick was going to throw the ball to me from across the room and I waved him off) all the way to the front to get my prize. And so now, I have a signed Dick Vermeil football.

At least two people offered me money for it on the way out. I will keep it because, well, its kind of cool. I may even buy one of those plastic boxes to keep it in. Right now it sits up on the shelf next to my signed Cal Ripken ball, which are so common as to be used in bartering in the streets of Baltimore.

And now my autograph journey is done, for now. Where oh where might it take me next? The adventure continues.........

Atomik Nacho Pot Pourri

1. Nacho Libre: Unfortunate. Bad. Perhaps racist? Jack Black playing Jack Black with an accent. Not funny. Boring. Did I say maybe racist? Ah well. At least we have the Tenacious D movie to look forward to, and if you dont know what that is, well, you are sad. I love the Jackster, dont get me wrong, loved him in Kong, School of Rock, even Envy. This is not it.

2. A followup to the note on WizardWorld - also got to meet Sal Abbinati, creator and artist for Atomika, now on its 7th issue of independent publication. He was a bit under the weather but was gracious and gentlemanly and was kind enough to sign the Alex Ross-covered Atomika #1. Atomika is a terrific, old-school-Heavy-Metal story about the gods of ancient Russia coming to life and fighting each other (gross oversimplification) and it is far out, to use the vernacular. There's a trade that collects the first half and Sal told us that day he's going to finish up the 12-issue regular series and then do an annual with some material that didnt fit into the series. You. Should. Check. It. Out. Here's the autygraft and thanks again Sal --
3. Dane Cook on this past week's repeat of SNL - "Dude, Smell My Eyes!" Classic. Still laughing.

4. This: 5. Next: More Autographs

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Geek Moment Alpha

Regular viewers of this broadcast know that the Mole has reignited his childhood passion for what nowadays the youngsters call "comic books." In the past we have discussed, you and I, the Godhood of one Jacob Kurtzburg, aka Jack "King" Kirby, who is and was and shall be. But there is another who approaches the King in greatness, in vastness of imagination and storytelling ability, in mythmaking propensities, etc., etc., and that is why I am now pleased to institute....

Yes, Jim Starlin. Way back in 1980 or so I became particularly aware of Mr. S when I procured the first issue of Epic Illustrated, in which his Metamorphosis Odyssey first appeared. Too much to go into here, but basically the plot of this incredibly powerful multi-part cosmic epic involved the need to destroy the Milky Way galaxy, the whole magilla, so that it would not be horribly raped and pillaged from one end to the other by the most horrible aliens ever in the history of history itself.

Out of the MO, came the stories of the survivors, particularly one Vanth Dreadstar, who Starlin turned into the hero of a couple of graphic novels and then a long-running creator-owned monthly comic.

Jump forward to now, and I have been discovering the other greatness of Mr. S., that being the demi-God Thanos, who fell in love with death and sought to destroy reality in order to please his queen. Thanos routinely seeks after ultimate power and then ends up saving it so that others dont get to do what he wants to do, usually in tandem with and opposition to one Adam Warlock. Again, that's a thumbnail of over three decades of story, mostly written by Jim Starlin. But Thanos is a truly great villain, a slightly more moral version of Kirby's Darkseid who has of late (Annihilation Wave notwithstanding) been working to atone for his sins of the past. We'll see how that works out.

In any event, on my list of creators, Jim Starlin is right up there just slightly below Kirby in terms of sheer scope, cosmic power, and range of imagination. Of course, Mr. K is sadly deceased, but a couple weekends ago, Moleson and I visited the local WizardWorld Con and there, sitting unassumingly in front of pictures of his creations, was Jim Starlin.

I geeked out. I told my son, "Oh, My God, That's Jim Starlin!"

Of course, he said, "Who?"

In any event, it was a great, spine-tingly, geeky pleasure to meet Jim Starlin, to shake his hand and tell him what a fan I have been for these 26 years - he was most pleasant and friendly and I went away thrilled. Oh yes, and I had just picked up copies of Dreadstar #1 and Dreadstar Annual #1 - so I was equally pleased for him to sign those copies, which now sit but feet away from me here in the Molehole.

I will discuss more on Mr. Starlin and Mighty Thanos in the near future. In the meantime my new treasures are below for your viewing pleasure. Peace.

Ash Nazg Durbatuluk!!!!

FinnTroll's 2003 disc Visor Om Slutet ("Songs of the End") is like The Chieftains and System of a Down scoring a version of the Lord of the Rings where Sauron wins and orcs take over the world, and its not such a bad thing. As with all histories, real or otherwise, it is written by the winners, and if Frodo and Sam had screwed it all up the movie would've been different and this would be the soundtrack.

Finntroll is my proof that there is good in every genre, even death metal. They are what Conan the Barbarian would listen to today if he were pillaging Seacaucus or something. Yes, they grunt and growl their lyrics (in Swedish) and they play their drums and geetars real fast and real loud, but they also convey a sense of ancient grandeur straight out of Professor T and the Elder Edda, of frostbitten northern nights and magic in the deep woods.

Visor Om Slutet is the disc for those who even with all that cant take the heaviness of the "standard" Finntroll music. Recorded on both electric and acoustic instruments, including tubas, kazoos, and such folky stuff, this record is about medieval folk music played by a heavy metal band. It is what Zepp was trying to evoke on songs like "Battle of Evermore" and "Immigrant Song" without losing their metal edge - here, for the most part, this band of dark, hairy Finnish barbarians give up the metal sound and find its soul. Its not a long album and takes some getting used to, but by gum if it aint the perfect music to sit in the candlelit dark of your mead hall on a winters night.

If Grendel had been a rock star, this is the album he would have produced. Brilliant. Weak of heart should not find translations on the web - actually better to listen in the original Swedish to get the effect. The Mole says go forth and conquer. (Theres a link to Finntroll's website over there to your right with some old demos available for download).