Raiding the 20th Century

The Internet-only release megamix “Raiding the 20th Century” by DJ Food is now ancient history/12 years old. But it’s still the best ever.

And the best news is that it’s still available on UToob or here.

Two thousand

For over one hundred years “Punch” would regularly print letters from readers moaning that the magazine wasn’t as good as it used to be. I have been saying the same thing about 2000AD for the last thirty years. I guess there was nothing wrong with either magazine really. It’s just that reader’s tastes change as they get older.

Anyway, in a few weeks 2000AD will reach Prog 2000, which no doubt will be a bumper-sized issue. But hasn’t there already been a Prog 2000 published at the beginning of the millennium?? And Progs 2001 to 2015 which were double-sized issues produced each Christmas for the past fifteen years. Are they going to skip straight to Prog 2016????? There are magazines with larger totals such as DC Thompson’s Commando and the Beano etc, but even so it is an achievement. After almost forty years the mighty Tharg doesn’t look a day older. And they even resisted changing the name to 3000AD sixteen years ago!!

They are currently reprinting the entire saga of Judge Dread in book form as a monthly part-work. And they’ve also recently published a book containing the episodes from 1978 (various progs between 71 and 79) that were part of the “Cursed Earth” saga that resulted in 2000AD’s then publisher being threatened with legal action for the negative depiction of a number of “Fast Food” companies. At the time it was said that there was an undertaking that they would never ever be reprinted. I recall that there was even an apology of sorts included in a later issue as a half-page strip. So until recently those were some of the very few issues of 2000AD that had some value in the collector’s market. Most other issues (apart from the first half-dozen?) still seem to be available at bargain basement prices.

PS: However, if you do happen upon a stack of 2000ADs in a charity shop or car boot sale keep an eye out for Prog 1208. Due to distribution problems many copies of this issue failed to reach the newsagents and it is consequently sought after by grexnix earthlets aiming to become Seto Thargos.

Twenty nine

Unfortunately I’ve been to an increasing number of funerals over the last year or so. Friends. Relatives. Neighbours. The services have all varied immensely. Some were standing-room-only church services with hymns and speeches by family members. Most were brief crematorium-only affairs. One was a five-minutes-at-the-graveside with only a handful of people standing there including the two guys waiting just to lower the coffin down.

The crematorium services all had one thing in common. Pop songs were played rather than hymns. And more often than not, the pop songs were obviously chosen by younger relatives. I’m pretty sure the deceased wouldn’t ever have heard Paul Carrack singing Eyes of Blue (“You know life is too short for compromising. Take a hold of your dream and realize it”).

But it got me thinking. What song/songs would I want playing at my funeral? Black angel’s death song by the VU? The 15 minute version of “Wish Someone would care” by Irma Thomas?, anything by the Dead Kennedys?, “Johnny Reggae”, “Return to sender”, “My Way” (the Sex Pistols version natch)??  

PS: I wrote the above a few weeks ago and it’s only today that I’m clicking “Publish”. This week the Co-operative Funeral Services (no doubt in search of some free publicity) issued a press release listing the Top 10 funeral pop songs. This was quickly picked up on by the newspapers (as it is still “silly season”). So now it looks like I’m copying from the papers when I’m not!

PPS: Of course I realise which song I’d like played. Its got to be “You’re History” (like a beat up car, like an old film star, like the dead sea scrolls etc etc) by Siobhan and Marcella. And perhaps that wonderful piano instrumental version of “Mad World” currently gracing a TV advert.

PPPS: Gosh I nearly forgot what this post was supposed to be about. For my 29th music medley is here if anyone’s interested. Numbers 1 – 15 have been deleted but the rest are still round and about here somewhere. Even Number 16 which has the distinction of having only been clicked on once in four years (and that was probably me) !?!

Cool World

I’ve recently been watching this strange film from 1992. A mix of live action and animation it’s not as good as, but more “adult” than “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”. Holli Would is every bit as sexy as Jessica Rabbit. I’m not going to give a resume of the plot because it’s so bonkers you couldn’t make it up. After reading about all the behind-the-scenes machinations it’s a wonder it got made at all. Costing $28 million to make, it lost $millions.

.

DC comics produced a four issue mini series roughly based on the characters in Cool World (which I believe was issued before the film was released) and then a one-shot comic version of the film itself.

.

Nuff Said 59

Batman paperbacks

Before the advent of the TV series, Batman books were few and far between. The Atlas annuals weren’t very easy to locate. Once Batmania took hold Batmerchandise was everywhere. The first Batman paperbacks I saw were these from 1966 which featured a handful of fun late 1940s/early 1950s stories at one or two panels per page.

There was another New English Library/4 square Batman paperback at the time featuring The Penguin along with a novel entitled “The three villains of Doom”.

These English paperbacks had front covers that were slightly different to the American versions upon which they were based.

Not so Jolly Roger

Filmed in February and March 1966 mostly in the studio but also partly on location at the Red Sands forts, which was then currently the home of pirate Radio 390 this episode of “Danger Man” was the last one in Black and White. There would just be two final episodes in colour before Patrick McGoohan turned his attention to his pet project “The Prisoner”.

The scary catwalks joining up the various towers have now been dismantled.

Last year there were even rumours of plans to renovate the forts and turn the whole thing into a luxury hotel. Or perhaps it was an April Fool.

More odd comics

Comics don’t come much odderer than pretty much anything published by “Slave Labor”. Over the last 30 years they’ve released more than 1000 different comics across hundreds of titles, most of which are so obscure they don’t even have cover images at the Grand Comic Database.

The first four issues of “Milk and Cheese” comics are all number ones. So the fifth issue is of course the first number two!?!

Slave Labour have comics with titles like “I feel sick” and “Love in Tights”. You couldn’t make it up.

This issue of “One fisted tales” features the legendary Cherry Poptart.