NOT Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Awright--no show tonight, I'm afraid. Tonight's This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl was supposed to be a demonstration of why this is Radio Worth Paying For, serving up a perfect pop radio show to demonstrate why we deserve the financial support of philanthropic rockin' pop everywhere.  But the webcast is down, and so are we.  We'll try again next week, with new music from Brain Circus and Mark Bacino.  It stinks to have to wait, but we'll still be worth it.

Tonight On THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO

Radio worth paying for!  As Spark! Syracuse, the near-future FM radio home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl, prepares to intensify fundraising efforts to actually, y'know, get on the air awready, TIRnRR wants to do its part to earn your support.  Now, this ain't pledge week at PBS, so we're not gonna bludgeon you with pledge breaks and pleas for your hard-earned green; no, we're going to inspire you to donate generously, of your own free will.  How?  By being better. We've been billing this little dog 'n' pony show as The Best Three Hours Of Radio On The Whole Friggin' Planet since shortly before the dawn of time, and we've lived up to the claim.  Tonight, we show you once again why we're worth it.  Sunday night, 9 to Midnight Eastern, www.westcottradio.org

BUBBLEGUM MUSIC IS THE NAKED TRUTH: The Audio Companion

Although I've already presented my epic Goldmine history of bubblegum as a serial on this blog, I realized the other day that I never got around to collecting those chapters into one post. That will be remedied in the near future.

 

An abridged version of the above-mentioned bubblegum history was used in the book Bubblegum Music Is The Naked Truth, and I remain enormously proud to have been involved in that fine project.  While that book earned its own cachet of cool, few realize that there was initially talk of compiling an audio companion to the book, either to be sold separately or included with the book itself.  Editors Kim Cooper and David Smay invited contributors to submit ideas for what tracks could be included on this hypothetical, aborted compilation, and this was my submission: 
 

BUBBLEGUM MUSIC IS THE NAKED TRUTH

1.  THE OHIO EXPRESS:  “Try It”

Before morphing into a bubblegum kingpin, The Ohio Express was more in the mold of a traditional '60s garage-rock group.  “Try It” had originally been recorded by The Standells, whose version failed to dent the Hot 100 (either because of or in spite of the publicity surrounding attempts to ban the record for its supposedly suggestive lyrics).  The Ohio Express changed the lyrics slightly, and managed to scrape the lower regions of the chart (# 83) with this impressively super-charged reading.  Perhaps more importantly, this was the first time The Ohio Express or producers Kasenetz and Katz ever worked with the song’s co-author:  one Joey Levine, whose name would soon loom quite large in the Super K story.  (I included this tune here as an exercise in wishful thinking; the track is part of the elusive Cameo-Parkway motherlode owned by Allen Klein, who has been notoriously difficult when it comes to licensing tracks.)

2.  THE FLASHCUBES:  “Boy Scout Pin-Up”

The Flashcubes were one of the great lost power pop bands of the '70s, a group that understood the pop-punk roots that led from The Beatles, The Kinks, and Herman’s Hermits through The Sex Pistols and The Bay City Rollers.  Though not really a bubblegum tune, this unreleased new wave pop track from 1979 examines the erotic undertone of Tiger Beat idolatry with its sprightly tale of a girl fantasizing about her Shaun Cassidy poster.  (I wrote the liner notes to the ‘Cubes anthology CD Bright Lights; this track was left off due to space limitations.)

3.  THE TARTAN HORDE:  “Bay City Rollers, We Love You”

Parody?  Pastiche?  Both?  Nick Lowe’s way fab “Rollers Show” could be taken either way, though most who heard the song on his Pure Pop For Now People album probably presumed Lowe was simply mocking our lads in tartan.  The song was originally released as a single, credited to The Tartan Horde, and paired with this similarly-themed salute to Derek, Alan, Eric, Les and Woody.  It has never been issued in America.

4.  THE ROLLERS:  “Roxy Lady”

After The Bay City Rollers’ days as teen idols had passed, lead singer Les McKeown left the group.  He was replaced by Duncan Faure, as the band shortened its name to simply The Rollers and attempted to forge a post-tartan identity.  Elevator, the first album by this edition of The Rollers, was a fairly solid effort that flat-out bombed commercially.  After eventually severing ties with old label Bell/Arista, The Rollers took a cue from Paul Revere and the Raiders’ Alias Pink Puzz LP:  The Rollers released their Ricochet album anonymously to Canadian radio stations, daring folks to listen without prejudice and defying 'em to guess the artist.  Alas, the stunt did little to ignite interest in The Rollers, and Ricochet remains unreleased in the U.S. to this day.  Which is a shame, because this particular track ranks among The Rollers’ best.

5.  THE ARCHIES:  “Who’s Gonna Love Me”

By the time of The Archies’ fourth album, 1970’s Sunshine, the long-simmering rivalry between guitarist Archie Andrews and bassist Reggie Mantle had reached a boiling point.  Mantle was particularly unhappy; he was stung by criticism that the group hadn’t played on its own hit records, and was now seething with jealousy as one of The Archies’ old opening acts, Led Zeppelin, was fast becoming one of the hottest groups around.  Mantle had announced his intention to leave The Archies and form his own hard rock group, Old Man Weatherbee (flippantly named for an administrator at Riverdale High School, where The Archies had originally formed).  Andrews had already tested the solo waters with a country single, “I Need Something Stronger Than A Chock'lit Malt,” and was ready to move on.  However, in a rare show of solidarity, The Archies rallied to take control of their last record, providing the bulk of the musical backing themselves.  The highlight of Sunshine was undeniably “Who’s Gonna Love Me,” an exuberant track that inspired Andrews to give his most soulful, commanding vocal ever.  Ultimately, after all the bickering, The Archies parted as friends.  Andrews went on to his solo career (though his solo debut was credited to The Archies, to fulfill a contractual obligation); he eventually moved into artist management.  Mantle moved to England and remained a fixture on the hard rock circuit for years to come; he even produced Spinal Tap’s Shark Sandwich LP.  Drummer Forsythe “Jughead” Jones became an in-demand session player, keyboardist Veronica Lodge began a film career, and percussionist Betty Cooper retired from show business entirely.  The Archies have repeatedly turned down multi-million dollar offers for a reunion tour over the years, though they did agree to a touching, emotional on-stage reunion at Live Aid II.   And that provides a fittingly mature coda for the career of a band once described as America’s typical teens.

6. THE LOLAS:  “Feelin So Good”

Let’s face it:  anybody can cover “Sugar, Sugar” but it takes a visionary act to tackle “Feelin So Good (S.k.o.o.b.y-D.o.o),” The Archies’ failed second single (after “Bang-Shang-A-Lang” and before the smash that was “Sugar, Sugar”).  The visionary act in question is The Lolas, who included the tune on their debut album, Ballerina Breakout, which was one of the best rockin’ pop albums of 1999. 

7. 976-SING:  “Reggae Barbera”

California-based musical comedy act.  Sure, it’s obvious...but it’s funny...!

8.  THE HONEYBEES:  “You Need Us”

America’s sweethearts, Ginger, Mary Ann, and Lovey, three castaways in no danger of ever being voted off any island.  The Gilligan’s Island girls sang this song to convince the ersatz rock group The Mosquitoes to bring them back to civilization and inevitable rock 'n' roll success.  Like all of the castaways’ efforts to be rescued, the plan ultimately failed--The Mosquitoes were afraid that The Honeybees would be too much competition for ‘em, the bastards.  If nothing else, however, The Honeybees left their mark on a nation of young boys, who discovered the secret allure of gurls just by watching Ginger writhe seductively as she sang “Mmmmm, mmmmm!”  Mmmmm, mmmmm, indeed.

9.  THE CLINGERS:  “Gonna Have A Good Time”

Looks like the rest of the Yummy Yummy group has more information on this group than I do, so I’ll defer to them.  All I know is that I taped this off a rerun of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and that Dawn Eden named the single in an article on compiling an essential bubblegum tape in Mojo magazine a few years back.

10.  DOLENZ, JONES, BOYCE & HART:  “You Didn’t Feel That Way Last Night (Don’t You Remember?)”

Working under the lumbersome billing of “The Great Golden Hits Of The Monkees By The Guys Who Sang ‘Em And The Guys Who Wrote ‘Em,” DJB&H recorded one out-of-print studio album and one import live album before dissolving.  The group was dismissed as bubblegum, but Micky Dolenz immediately shot back, “Yeah, but we’re progressive bubblegum!”  Progressive or not, this ace re-write of The Monkees’ “(I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone” deserved a better fate.

11.  BLOTTO:  “We Wanna See The Monkees”

This remake of Blotto’s signature tune “I Wanna Be A Lifeguard” was originally done for a NYC radio station, and it's likely that no suitable master exists.  (Since I’ve been playing this dub-of-a-dub-of-a-dub periodically on my radio show, Blotto’s drummer has asked me if I can get HIM a copy of it, which doesn’t bode well for a clean copy turning up.)

12.  THE NEW MONKEES:  “Burnin’ Desire”

Perhaps the most universally reviled pop act of the last 20 years, so they must have been doing something right.  The New Monkees were a crass attempt on the part of Coca-Cola (ironically, “The Real Thing”) to capitalize on resurgent interest in the original Monkees in 1987 by creating--wait for it!--a NEW set o’ Monkees.  Jared, Dino, Marty, and Larry did an album and starred in their own TV series, but never achieved quite as high a profile as Micky, Davy, Peter, and Michael.  Monkees fans hated The New Monkees, and the whole ill-conceived project was doomed from the start.  However, one bright shining moment from the sole New Monkees album was this cover of a tune originally done by The Elvis Brothers, a group said to have been in the running to actually play the role of The New Monkees until The Elvis Brothers themselves realized what a stupid career move that woulda been.

13.  THE PLEASERS:  “The Kids Are Alright”

As power pop began to emerge as a post-punk movement in the late '70s, The Pleasers were the blokes in suits and bowlcuts trying to pretend that they’d never heard of The Beatles.  The Pleasers' image made them ripe for derision, but some of their records were fairly...well, fab, and this cover of The Who’s power pop classic manages to effectively sound like The Monkees sing “My Generation.”  We mean that as a compliment, and the fact that Tommy Boyce produced it just makes it seem all the cooler.

14.  BO DIDDLEY:  “Bo Diddley 1969”

Bubblegum Bo Diddley?!  YES!  A 1968 Super K single no less, and it shoulda been a freakin’ hit.

15.  THE POPTARTS:  “Poptart Theme/Happy Together”

The Poptarts, an all-female combo based in Syracuse, NY in the late '70s, were basically The Go-Go’s a few years too early.  When The Go-Go’s hit big in the ‘80s, those of us who’d followed The Poptarts in their day could only sigh and think of what might have been.  One of The Poptarts’ stated goals was to be on a lunchbox, and this little ditty could well have been the theme song to the Saturday morning cartoon show they’d have been given in a world more just than ours.

16.  THE NOW:  “He’s Takin’ You To The Movies”

Bubblegum-pop from this fake new wave group helmed by Bobby Orlando, who also wrote and produced The Flirts’ willfully stupid “Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime).”  And willfully stupid is GOOD...right?
 
2016 POSTSCRIPT:  Although this compilation wasn't meant to be, I did eventually play a part in finding homes for two of its proposed tracks.  The Flashcubes' "Boy Scout Pin-Up" was included on the companion CD for Shake Some Action, the wonderful power pop book edited by John M. Borack, and Blotto's "We Wanna See The Monkees" made its lo-fi way to the most Dana & Carl compilation, This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 3.  And yeah, I did subsequently recycle some of that Archies entry for my piece on What If The Archies Had Been A Real Band?

Blogkeeping At 20,000 Views

20,000 views, and counting. I would presume that nearly 1000 of these views have nothing to do with The Monkees or The Flashcubes, but I wouldn't guarantee it.

This silly blog's mission statement remains unchanged: to write, and to post at least one item on the blog every single day.  Some posts are long, some posts are short, and a lot of 'em are really, really long.  I can be a gabby sumanagun, can't I? And, silly or not, I take it seriously: I approach each post as if it were written for a vast audience.  That means the two or three folks who actually show up here on any given day will get the same show they'd get as part of a sold-out arena crowd. Yep, even the encores.

Mark Hughson, host of Everyone's Invited on Westcott Radio, and coming soon to SPARK!

Short-term plans for Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) will include fundraising efforts on behalf of Spark Syracuse, the near-future FM radio home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. Before Spark! WSPJ can commence broadcasting The Kinks and Toots & the Maytals at 93.5 and 103.3 FM in Syracuse, we need to raise about $5000 or so, and rather quickly.  Toward that end, this coming Sunday's TIRnRR will be designed as a demonstration of why this is radio worth paying for, and we humbly (har!) ask for your support.



As previously promised, I have a four-part Monkees series coming up pretty soon, re-assessing the group's recorded legacy in the wake of their fantastic 2016 album Good Times! Rhino Records has already announced plans for three-disc and single-disc Monkees anthologies, but we're going to ignore those to come up with our own four-disc, three-disc, two-disc, and single-disc Monkees career compilations.  Our first entry, a four-disc best-of-The-Monkees, will be titled Rows Of Houses That Are All The Same. As always, please rest assured that I'm not too busy singing to put anybody down.

 

Say, speaking of putting everybody down, I've avoided political posts thus far on the blog. My politics are no secret--I'm a left-leaning Democrat, and I'll be happy to vote for Hillary Clinton in November--but I've resisted the urge to write about my political convictions here. I have many friends to my right, and even a few to my left; the right regards me as a hapless pinko nincompoop, while the left, I think, regards me as a well-intentioned but gullible apologist for Fascism.  If I could fit that all on a T-shirt, I would, but even my preferred XXL ain't quite big enough for all them words. There is absolutely no need for anyone to waste his/her time and mine seeking to alter my planned vote.

After a long hiatus and earnest promises to return, I'm pulling the plug on Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio, my de facto autobiography of reading comic books and listening to records while growing up in the '60s and '70s.  I completed the 1960s portion, and I posted one Monkees-centric bonus chapter about The Girl I Knew Somewhere as a high school student in the '70s. But so far, I've been emotionally unwilling to commit to re-living the '70s.  That may change, but for now, it's best to walk away. I am, however, considering a new series called Spain, which would be an emotional rollercoaster itself.  I dunno.  I don't know yet.



There will be at least one more installment of The Notebook Notions, discussing some of the half-baked ideas for writing projects I used to jot down in notebooks as a teen. The next Notebook Notion will focus on my nostalgia for the '30s and '40s while living in the '70s, and will feature such luminaries as Captain Marvel, The Lone Ranger, The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, The Shadow, and The Justice Society of America. Plus The Beatles, if only in passing.  I may follow that up with a Notebook Notions on Hornet Enterprises, the publishing company I planned to build, combining comics and heroic pulp fiction with photos of naked women.  Please note that the blog itself will not contain any photos of naked women.

Oh, Carl--you're such a tease!

Comics of the past will continue to be covered in Comic Book Retroview--I promised my pal Pete Murray that there would be a post about Marvel's Not Brand Echh humor book, so dammit, there will be a post about Not Brand Echh! Also, probably, about Vampirella, Detective Comics, The Scorpion, Marvel Super-Heroes, The Mighty Avengers, Inferior Five, DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular, and Daredevil Battles Hitler.  I should likely oughtta consider writing something about my love/hate relationship with The Brave And The Bold, too.





After my above-mentioned four-part Monkees series, I've also set myself the challenge of doing a major, definitive single post about The Monkees.  That should be a lot of fun to do. I'm still thinking of returning to "It Came From The Garage!," the examination of Nuggets and the rediscovery of '60s punk that I started and abandoned while still freelancing for Goldmine in the late '90s.  All things to those who wait.

And, of course, you should still expect many previously-published gems from the ol' CC archives. Most of those would need to be--gulp!--retyped in their entirety, since I discarded the digital files a long time ago.  I work my fingers to the bone for you people...!

Once again, I thank one and all who stop by to check in on whatever the hell it is I have to say.  I appreciate your time and attention, and will continue to try to reward you with groovy, worthy commentary 'n' stuff.  Tell your friends!  We are legion, we are Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) at carlcafarelli.blogspot.com.  No solicitors, please.

So.  Six months and change.  201 posts.  20,000 views.  Still here.  Every day.  The bop goes on.

 

Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) # 200

Me 'n' my babe, Disney World, 2009.  Photo by Meghan Cafarelli

Love does not give meaning. Love can't fill in the blanks. Love can't make us taller, fitter, smarter, or prettier.

But love can give voice to the song that plays beneath our words and deeds.  Love can transform our inarticulate dreams into poetry, our vague goals into action, our imperfections into purity. Love can make us better. The love we have for others is the only thing that can make us better.

Love does not give meaning.  Love is meaning.  And love is the greatest gift we have to share during our short stay in this world.  Love is not all you need. But nothing else will matter much without it.

This 200th post on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) is dedicated to my one, my only, my meaning, my love.  Happy Anniversary, Brenda.

More Comics: ALL IN COLOR FOR 30 TO 40 DIMES! (Occasionally 50 or 60 Dimes....)

Figuring that this blog's comics coverage has been disproportionately fixated on the four-color funny books of days gone by, yesterday's exciting episode of Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) cast its dim widdle spotlight on Captain Kid and Archie Meets Ramones, two forthcoming comics that I'm awaiting with great, gleeful anticipation.  Today, let's have a quick look at some really good current comics, and some cool comics of the recent past.

I mentioned in passing that the ongoing Archie series is one of my favorites.  Reboots don't always work, but this Mark Waid-written book presents a seemingly effortless--but intricately crafted--update on the familiar shenanigans of Archie and his gang in Riverdale. I also enjoy (albeit to a slightly lesser degree) the rebooted Jughead, and have been patiently awaiting the appearance of more books in this new Archie universe.



That wait ended today with the publication of Betty & Veronica# 1, and I may like this one even more than the regular Archie title.  Writer-artist Adam Hughes strikes just the right tone, the right balance of classic Archie and more modern comics melodrama.  The artwork is gorgeous--which means Betty, Veronica, and especially Midge are especially gorgeous--and the script serves up the perfect, irresistible mix of humor and soap opera.  I can't wait to read Betty & Veronica # 2.


                            

DC Comics recently licensed the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters for their own new rebooted line of comics.  A few of them seemed so ill-conceived that I didn't even bother to try 'em out:  there may be a market for a post-apocalyptic Wacky Races, or a version of Scooby-Doo with a hipster-looking Shaggy, but I am not among the demographic. I did try The Flintstones--which has kinda been recast as Stone Age Mad Men, believe it or not--but didn't care for it.



The only HB reboot title I was looking forward to reading was Future Quest, written by Jeff Parker and drawn in part by Evan Shaner.  Parker and Shaner previously teamed on a two-part Shazam! mini that was my favorite pair of comic books in 2015.  Now, they're applying their considerable magic to a book that gathers the characters from the Hanna-Barbera adventure 'toons, led by the unforgettable characters from Jonny Quest.  Man, is this ever a fun book.  My inner child circa 1966-67 is thrilled by the notion of a book teaming Jonny Quest and company with Space Ghost, Birdman, The Herculoids, and The Galaxy Trio, with Frankenstein, Jr., The Impossibles and Mightor all waiting in the wings.  My theoretically mature adult outer shell is just as giddy, cuz this book rocks.  We even get to see artist Steve Rude give us his guest rendition of Birdman--life is good!  I haven't yet completed the Saturday morning TV cartoon connection of reading this comic while eating a big ol' bowl of Sugar-Frosted Chocolate Sumpins, but that is the only thing missing so far.



Speaking of DC Comics: I guess they missed me, cuz they've been trying to lure me back into the fold.  I've been primarily a DC fan for most of my fifty years as a comics devotee, but I had felt increasingly disenfranchised by the company's lack of interest and investment in its own legacy, and its inept inability to retain my interest and avoid just pissing me off.  I started dropping DC titles, one by one, and I even stopped reading any/all of the in-continuity Batman books.  I started buying more and more Marvels, which I was generally finding to be more engaging than the DCs.

And then:  DC Universe: Rebirth!

DC's latest attempt to clean house and reset has been a breath of fresh air.  The single-issue DC Universe:  Rebirth # 1 served as an intriguing ground zero for the project, with The Flash taking point as the project's ongoing focal point.  Prior to Rebirth, my DC Universe series purchases were down to just Aquaman and two Justice League books, and one of those JLA titles would have been next on the chopping block. But Rebirth has re-engaged me with the DCU--hey, Batman doesn't seem to be a dick any more!--and has prompted me to add The Flash, Batman, Detective Comics, Superman, Action Comics, Green Arrow, Nightwing, and Wonder Woman to my subscription list at Comix Zone. Wonder Woman (written by Greg Rucka) has been the most pleasant individual surprise, but the whole thing's been a pleasant surprise, really.  It's so good to be a DC fan again!




Um...yeah.  One of the four images seen above is a fake.

(There were two DC titles outside of the DC Universe that I kept on buying even though my Great DC Purge:  the wonderful Vertigo book Astro City, and the Batman '66 franchise, which reprises the campy universe of the mid-'60s Batman TV show.  The regular Batman '66 series has been cancelled, but survives and thrives in a series of team-up mini-series, such as the recently-completed Batman '66 Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and the current Batman '66 Meets Steed And Mrs. Peel.  If they don't get around to Batman '66 Meets The Monkees, I may haveta write it myself.)


But Marvel's not gonna let me go without a fight; let's face it, fights are what superhero comics do best!  I've had to cut back a little on my Marvel purchases so's I can afford all those additional DCs on my meager blogger's budget--we bid teary farewells to Black Widow, Sam Wilson: Captain America, Howard the Duck, Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl, Scarlet Witch, and Patsy Walker aka Hellcat--but I'm still more engaged with Marvel than I've been in...well, maybe ever.  Marvel's current Civil War II event has been fantastic, and I continue to dig Invincible Iron Man, International Iron Man, Amazing Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, All-New All-Different Avengers, Astonishing Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, The Mighty Thor, and Mockingbird.  I've also been delighting in Marvel's Star Wars and Darth Vader books.


Hey, licensed titles!  Dark Horse has been...um, slaying with Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 10, and Dynamite just finished up a rousing series starring Will Eisner's The Spirit.  I've also been picking up Dynamite's Lone Ranger Green Hornet and The Shadow:  The Death Of Margo Lane, but I've not yet decided whether to continue with them.

And that's a snapshot of my current comics buying habits.  Within the past year, I've gone from wondering why the comics industry seemed to have so little interest in retaining middle-aged fans, to just geeking out afresh over the bounty of cool comics available right now.  Face it, Tiger:  we've hit the jackpot!

Yeah. What MJ said!

Hey, kids! COMICS!

 
My love of comic books rivals my love of rock 'n' roll; I wish there were an Adventures Of Joan Jett comic book to reference here, but there ain't no such.  (Though one time a few years ago on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Dana and I each decided to have a featured act that week--I featured Joan Jett, and Dana featured The Zombies--and we billed it as Joan Jett Versus The Zombies! We further noted that hell YEAH we'd go see that flick if someone ever created it!)

Almost all of the comics-related posts thus far on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) have been about comics of the past:  Comic Book Retroviews has examined a couple of mid-'60s comic books (Batman # 180 and Superboy # 129), I went on at great length about the comics I bought in the '60s throughout Singers, Superheroes, And Songs On The Radio, I did a two-part post on the Silver Age Plastic Man, and reprinted an Amazing Heroes article I wrote in the '80s, which itself discussed Obscure DC Comics characters from the past.  My three-part post on My Two Batmen did mention the contemporary take on the character, but was dismissive of it.  Even my two posted attempts at superhero fiction, The Undersea World Of Mr. Freeze and ETERNITY MAN!, were rooted in comics of the past:  the former was an attempt to write a Bronze Age-era pulp story (a story which I first envisioned as a teen in the '70s), and the latter, while ostensibly original, drew its initial inspiration from a Captain Marvel story idea I had (also in the '70s).  (And that old Captain Marvel idea will be discussed in a near-future installment of The Notebook Notions.)

But I still read comics, and I still buy a big ol' stack of 'em each week at Comix Zone in North Syracuse.  Over the next two or three days, I just want to mention a few current, recent, and near-future comics that I've enjoyed, or expect to enjoy soon.

  

I'm very much looking forward to Captain Kid, a new book published by Aftershock Comics, with a debut issue set to hit the shelves next week (July 27th).  I've had this on reserve at Comix Zone since it was announced.  I was lured and reeled in by its concept and its creators.  I mentioned the original Captain Marvel above, a character many of you know as "Shazam," but he'll always be Cap to me.  Captain Marvel was the ultimate superhero wish-fulfillment fantasy:  a little kid named Billy Batson is granted the power to transform at will into the World's Mightiest Mortal, simply by uttering the magic word, "SHAZAM!" Yeah, I was hooked on that from the get-go, and Captain Marvel remains second only to The Batman on my list of all-time superhero faves.  An early pitch for a forthcoming Shazam! feature film compared it to the movie Big, but with superheroes.

Captain Kid turns the concept around.  As its press release hypes:  Chris Vargas is a middle-aged man with a hacking cough, an obsolete job, and a bombastic secret: whenever he likes, he can transform into the teenage superhero CAPTAIN KID! In this, his first recorded adventure, he encounters Helea, a mystery woman who knows more about him than he does, and Halliday, a mad businessman with a catastrophic weapon!

Yep.  My kinda book.

Still, a concept's only as good as the folks charged with the task of its execution.  Captain Kid is written by Mark Waid and Tom Peyer, so they should just go ahead and take my money right now.  I have tenuous connections to both writers:  Mark Waid was briefly my editor at Amazing Heroes (though I doubt he remembers me at all, since we never met, and since I was a pretty minor cog in that minor operation); I have met Tom in passing a few times--he's from Syracuse, we have mutual friends through The Syracuse New Times, we play on the same (sporadically-convened) trivia team, and he's been a fan of The Flashcubes for as long as I have--and he once worked at the same day care center as my lovely wife Brenda, years and years ago.

While you can be damned sure I'll try to figure out a way to attribute their success to their single degree of separation from, y'know...me, I guess it's possible that Waid and Peyer earned their reps just by being terrific writers.  Waid is very well-known among comics fans, with a long resume that includes just about every big-name character at DC and Marvel, from Spider-Man to The Justice League of America, Daredevil, my all-time favorite run on The Flash, and his blockbuster DC work Kingdom Come; he's worked for many other publishers as well, and has created a vast and impressive body of work.  But, for all that, even Waid has never topped Tom Peyer's work on Hourman, a brilliant late '90s DC series that is long overdue for some trade book reprint love.  (In addition to his own extensive 'n' cool comics resume, Peyer also collaborated with writer Hart Seely on O Holy Cow!, a subversively clever compilation of Phil Rizzuto quotes recast as poetry.  Beat that, Ernie Bushmiller!)

I'm one of the (relative) few who is more likely to buy a comic book based on its writers more than its artists, but Wilfredo Torres' artwork on Captain Kid looks likely to be worthy of whatever Waid and Peyer write.  As stated above:  I'm really forward to this.



The only other forthcoming comic book that inspires a comparable level of breathless anticipation outta me is Archie Meets Ramones, a one-shot announced last year, and recently given an October release date.  The regular, ongoing Archie comic book (written by...oh, Mark Waid!) may be my favorite current comic book, a reboot of the classic strip presented in a more realistic style of art and storytelling.  It has nothing whatsoever to do with Archie Meets Ramones, but I'm gonna love that, too.  Dig the official sugar-sugar Carbona hype here: 

Archie. Jughead. Betty & Veronica. Reggie. The Archies.

Joey. Tommy. Johnny. Dee Dee. Ramones.

The next must-read crossover from Archie Comics debuts in October as The Archies find themselves stuck in 1970s New York City — and face to face with the Ramones!

The oversized one-shot issue debuts on October 5th from the best-selling creative team of co-writers Alex Segura (ARCHIE MEETS KISS) and Matthew Rosenberg (We Can Never Go Home) with jaw-dropping art by Gisele Lagace (“Occupy Riverdale”) and colorist Shouri and variant covers from Veronica Fish, Francesco Francavilla, and Dan Parent!

No stranger to musical crossover comics, co-writer Alex Segura’s passion for music and comic books made writing ARCHIE MEETS RAMONES a no-brainer, “My comic fandom always ran parallel to an obsession with music, so having the chance to merge them for this project has been amazing. Not only are Matt and Gisele amazing collaborators – they’re wonderful people and friends. This is the project we’ve been waiting years to do, and I hope it makes Archie and Ramones fans happy.”

“When I was growing up Archie ignited my lifelong love for comics and Ramones are what made me fall in love with punk. As an adult, it’s a dream come true to be able to smash these two things together,” added co-writer Matthew Rosenberg.

As both a musician and comic artist, Gisele Lagace calls getting to draw ARCHIE MEETS RAMONES a dream project come true. “I’m giving this my all, Ramones style, to make sure fans of both Archie and Ramones dig the results.”

 

I never buy multiple copies of a single comic book.  Variant covers are for collectors--I'm a reader, dammit, a reader!  But I'm not gonna be able to resist getting all four of these cover variations for Archie Meets Ramones.  Again:  just take my money awready.  TAKE IT, I said!  More comics talk tomorrow.

This one's not from Archie Meets Ramones, but instead from the CD box Weird Tales Of The Ramones