Christmas Covers - December 23

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Even the manga gets into the Christmas spirit on Mario Kaneda's cover for Girls Bravo vol. 6.

Come back tomorrow for our penultimate Christmas cover of the year.


Just 2 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: All-New Collectors' Edition #C-53)
(2004: Impulse #34)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Best DC Cover Ever

In this week's DC Nation, art director Mark Chiarello is asking readers to vote for their favorite DC cover ever.

Now I know that there are a lot to choose from, what with all the wonderful monkey covers and all. But once you stop and think, I'm sure you'll agree that there is only one possible choice: the cover to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #141 by Jack Kirby:




David Campbell agrees with me, and you know he's never wrong about these sorts of things. Brendan McKillip does too.

So I call on all of my fellow comic bloggers and readers to do the only sensible thing and cast your vote at DCNATIONCOVERS@dccomics.com for Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #141. (Votes must be sent in by 12:00am on January 5, 2007).

Christmas Covers - December 22

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Dumbo goes caroling with Mickey, Donald, Goofy and the rest of the Disney crew on Tony Strobl & Norm McGary's cover to 1959's Dell Giant #26.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 3 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2005: Man-Thing #3)
(2004: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #9)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip; and Kevin Melrose does it all in one post.)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

Review: A.L.I.E.E.E.N.

A.L.I.E.E.E.N.
by Lewis Trondheim
First Second, $12.95

The conceit of Trondheim's A.L.I.E.E.E.N. is that the book isn't of his own devising, but rather an artifact from an alien culture that he found left behind from presumably a UFO landing. This conceit is carried forward in the high class packaging that we've come to expect from First Second, with the cover and interior pages having faux wear and singeing. The dialog is written in an alien language, making this effectively a silent comic, the type that Trondheim excels at.

There are several short stories, each of which features cute little alien creatures doing rather disturbing things to themselves and each other. Eyes get poked out, body parts get swallowed, and in one case momentous defecation commences. The separate stories turn out to be interlocked, so seemingly random events in one story turn out to have relevance in another. Trondheim is definitely channeling Jim Woodring here, and with good results; fans of Frank will find a good deal to enjoy here.

The conceit of this being an alien comic adds another level to the proceedings. We don't know what the intended audience for this book is in its native culture. Is this typical children's humor for little aliens? Or is this a subversive comic akin to the underground comix of our own culture? Is this what the aliens look like, or is this their version of funny animals? Would this book be banned or embraced? Is this high art or low? Reading through this comic with different sets of assumptions can radically change how we react to the material, and brings in question how we react to all those other comics where we know--or think we know--the context in which it should be read.

Rating: 4 (of 5).

Christmas Covers - December 21

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Wacky Squirrel has a very different idea on the usage of mistletoe on Jim Bradrick's cover to 1987's Wacky Squirrel #2.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 4 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Archie Giant Series Magazine #15)
(2004: DC Comics Presents #67)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)
 

10 Fave Christmas Albums

I was considering calling this post "The 10 Best Christmas Albums Evah!" But since this list reflects my personal tastes--which quite frankly can change from day to day--I decided instead to call it a favorites list instead.

The Christmas Mood: Original Recordings of the Alfred Burt Carols - The Columbia Choir and Ralph Carmichael Brass Ensemble (1954)
Growing up in our house there were all the regular Christmas carols. But every so often Mom or Dad would pop in a tape of this recording of the 'other' carols, choral arrangements of Al Burt's songs. "Caroling, Caroling," "The Star Carol," "This is Christmas" and others that so perfectly capture the holiday season. Out of print and rare for many years, it was finally remastered in 1995 and released on CD. (You can order it from the Alfred Burt Carols Website).


Merry Christmas - Johnny Mathis (1958)
This was the album that my parents put on every December when we put out the Christmas decorations and trimmed the tree, and as such it's the music that means Christmas to me. The combination of Percy Faith's arrangements and Mathis's smooth tenor can't go wrong. (iTunes link)


A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio (1965)
Without Vince Guaraldi's wonderful jazz score, A Charlie Brown Christmas probably would not be the enduring holiday classic that it is today. This album succeeds not only as a soundtrack album, but as a Christmas album as well. The original song "Christmastime Is Here" has over the past few years become a holiday standard, but there's plenty of great jazz improvisations on classic carols as well. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Mannheim Steamroller (1984)
Sure, over the past decade or so Chip Davis has turned his Christmas-themed albums into a veritable industry, along with a rapid decline in quality into treacliness that has marred all his recent works. But this first Christmas album shares the same winning combination of classical & new age electronica that was evident in the first three Fresh Aire albums. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Festival - Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops (1987)
A collection of orchestral carols from the group's classic Arthur Fiedler days, it's a one-stop shop for all your classical pop Christmas needs. Their version of "Sleigh Ride" is still the gold standard. (iTunes link)


Christmas - Bruce Cockburn (1993)
Perhaps an unlikely candidate for a Christmas album, progressive Canadian folk singer-songwriter nonetheless sucessfully brings his style to this set of religious carols, pulling from the familiar and also from more rare songs like "Riu Riu Riu" and "Jesus Ahatonnia". His uptempo take on "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" is fantastic, as is the call-and-response version of "Mary Had a Baby". (iTunes link)


Hallelujah, He Is Born - Sawyer Brown (1997)
Normally a mediocre-at-best mid-level pop county act, Star Search winners Sawyer Brown somehow managed to find exactly the right combination on their album of religious-themed carols and songs. The original title track, with full backing of a gospel choir, is a winner, as are their original "Glory to the King" that opens the album and their take on "Little Town of Bethlehem" that closes the disc. (iTunes link)


A Christmas Story - Point of Grace (1999)
This first seasonal album by the CCM quartet opens with a bang, a 10+ minutes medley of "Joy to the World", "When Love Came Down" and "Angels We Have Heard on High", complete with backing choir and orchestra. The rest of the album fares well too, with both secular and religious carols in the mix as well as a few new compositions. (iTunes link)


Brand New Year - SHeDAISY (2000)
With just one previous album under their belt, the sisterly trio SHeDAISY bucked tradition by making their second album a holiday album, and knocked it right out of the park. Innovative melodies and harmonies enliven traditional classics. (iTunes link)


Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (2006)
This collection of five Christmas EPs from Stevens is not only full of great takes on classics and wonderful new compositions, the packaging is also a work of art: a box set including extensive liner notes, stickers, and a comic mini-poster! (iTunes link)



Those are my choices for holiday listening--what are yours?

Christmas Covers - December 20

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

Batwoman has a gift for Nightwing on J. G. Jones's cover to 52 week 33, due out today at your local comic shop!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 5 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2005: Strangers in Paradise #70)
(2004: The Amazing Spider-Man #314)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
(Two newcomers this year: ShadZ and Brendan McKillip)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Holiday Music 2006 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

(Please support our Third Annual CBLDF fund drive!)