E C H O L A N D S

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Shortcut links:

•Best Comics

•★All-Ages Comics!
★Young Readers
★Middle School

•Best Graphic Novels
•Best Collections + Reissues
•Where We Come From, Dept.
•Best Magazines
•Best Movies + TV
•Best Webcomics

•Rest In Power

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B E S T
C O M I C S :
2 0 2 1

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I M A G E

•Echolands,
by J.H. Williams and Haden Blackman_______⇧
Legendary from their definitive run of Batwoman, Williams and Haden have returned from exile on their own terms with their own creator-owned material.
Have your mind blown and quality standards raised with this dystopian future, in which mash-ups of all genres (and art styles) run wildly fluid.
▶ Batwoman

•The Department Of Truth,
by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds_______⇩
When all conspiracy stores turn out to be true, who and what can you trust?

•Monstress,
by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda_______⇩
Bestselling author Marjorie Liu and spectacular artist Sana Takeda take time and care to steadily unwind this epic gothic fantasy.

•Ascender,
by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen_______
The sequel to the acclaimed Descender series, about a young root struggling with survival and identity, now concludes after 18 issues.



•Gideon Falls,
by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino_______
After 27 issues, the series about the small town with dark secrets> reaches its finale.

•Compass,
by Robert Mackenzie and Dave Walker, and Justin Greenwood_______⇧
A 14th century Iranian adventurer kicks knowledge and ass in her journeys around the globe.

•Hey Kids! Comics!, Vol. 2,
by Howard Chaykin_______⇧
More trademark black comedy from Howard Chaykin (American Flagg, Black Kiss) in his tell-all/kiss-off/love-letter to the medium he still begrudgingly loves, this time with a 6-issue series hailing young creators.

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M A R V E L

•Daredevil,
by Chip Zdarsky (w), with Marco Checchetto, Mike Hawthorne, and Adriano Di Benedetto (a)_______⇧
For three years, artist Chip Zdarksy (Sex Criminals) has been dazzling with his writing chops, bringing a new golden era to Hell's Kitchen.

•Black Widow,
by Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, and Rafael de Latorre_______⇧
One of the best modern writers going, Kelly Thompson redefined Captain Marvel and Hawkeye (into the versions which we now see onscreen) and now does a fresh take on Natasha Romanoff.

•Demon Days: Mariko
and Demon Days: Cursed Web,
by Peach Momoko, Zack Davisson, and Ariana Maher_______
Writer/artist Peach Momoko recasts Marvel history as Fantasy fairy tales.

•Beta Ray Bill,
by Daniel Warren Johnson_______
A 5-issue mini-series starring Thor's alien successor.


_______________
S T A R
W A R S



Marvel is doing a splendid job making movies between the movies.


•STAR WARS, Vol. II
by Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas_______⇧
For 75 issues, Volume I of this series did excellent arcs filling in the mysteries between A NEW HOPE and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
Now it has relaunched from #1, unveiling dream movies between THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI.

•DARTH VADER, Vol. II
by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco_______
In complete parallel with these new stories of the rebels is a relaunch telling the Dark Lord's side of the same events, and how they overlap.

•STAR WARS: Doctor Aphra, Vol. II
by Alyssa Wong, Minkyu Jung, and Victor Olazaba_______⇧
The misadventures of everyone's favorite anti-Indiana Jones continue during the period between A NEW HOPE and THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.

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D C

Forget the corporation, support the creators.>


•Far Sector,
by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell_______
Bestselling afrofuturist author N.K. Jemisin and artist Jamal Campbell (Naomi, The Incredible Hadia Green webcomic>) spread their 12-issue Green Lantern arc across 20 months, and it was worth all the wait.

•The Other History Of The DC Universe,
by John Ridley, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Andrea Cucchi_______
Acclaimed writer/director John Ridley (12 YEARS A SLAVE, 'American Crime' show) witnesses the DC history from the point-of-view of once marginalized characters.

•Nubia And The Amazons,
by Stephanie Williams, Vita Ayala, and Alitha Martinez_______
Wonder Woman's sister takes the arena and the spotlight.

•Justice League,
by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez_______
Bendis almost single-handedly saved and revitalized Marvel in the the 2000s.
His mature and cinematic comics have precisely blueprinted the TV series interpretations, from 'Daredevil' and 'Jessica Jones' to 'Echo' and 'Moon Knight', and he co-invented Miles Morales along the way.
Now he's working to do the same for DC, from Superman to the premiere team.
(Already, his DC character Naomi will now helm a live-action TV series.)


•Batman: The Imposter,
by Mattson Tomlin and Andrea Sorrentino_______
A moody and intense 3 issue mini-series by the screenwriter of THE BATMAN (2022).

•Catwoman: Lonely City,
by Cliff Chiang_______
Artist Cliff Chiang (Wonder Woman, Paper Girls) essentially rethinks THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012) through a scenario told from Selina Kyle's outlook.

•Future State:
Kara Zor-El: Superwoman,
by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage_______
During the Future State event series, this 2 issue special -with art by the always excellent Marguerite Sauvage- lets Kara soar.

•Swamp Thing,
by Ram V and Mike Perkins_______
A new host for the elemental force, taking on the storied past and a new future with fresh perspective. (10 issues)

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M I L E S T O N E

•Icon And Rocket: Season 1,
by Reginald Hudlin and Doug Braithwaite_______
Filmmaker Reginald Hudlin reinvigorates the '90s Milestone counterpart to Superman.

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D A R K
H O R S E

•Barbalien - Red Planet,
by Tate Brombal and Jeff Lemire (w), and Gabriel Hernandez Walta (a)_______
A spin-off from Jeff Lemire's superheroes series Black Hammer about a very different riposte to the Martian Manhunter.

•Black Hammer Reborn,
by Jeff Lamire, Caitlin Yarsky, and Ande Parks_______⇧
A new sequel series, set twenty years into a changed future.

•Black Hammer: Visions,
by various creators_______
Black Hammer, akin to similar series Kingdom Come and Astro City, has been an alternate universe deconstruction of superheroes. Fittingly, it gets deconstructed itself here in retold takes by guest-star creators Patton Oswalt, Geoff Johns, Chip Zdarksy, Mariko Tamaki, Kelly Thompson, Cecil Castellucci, and Scott Snyder.

•Colonel Weird Cosmagog,
by Jeff Lemire and Tyler Crook_______⇧
Perhaps the hardest working writer in the comics biz (or at least busiest), Lemire goes full-on Psyche-Fi in another Black Hammer spin-off about the origins of his cosmic adventurer.

•Finder: Chase The Lady,
by Carla Speed McNeil_______
McNeil continues to expand from her indie confessional roots with her full-tilt CyberFantasy graphic novel.


Karen Berger
-----Berger Books-----
In a just universe, Karen Berger would be the one running DC Comics instead of the Corps. She helmed the original Vertigo Comics, the standard which all current Indie companies are imitating, and now she has her own imprint of creator-owned titles.

•Post York,
by James Romberger_______
A standalone graphic novel following the daily routines of a cat owner navigating NYC after the polar ice caps have melted.

•Everything Vol. 2,
by Christopher Cantwell and I.N.J. Culbard_______
The show creator of ‘Halt And Catch Fire’ charts a small town megastore's dramas as a metaphor for American consumerism.

•She Could Fly Vol. 3,
by Christopher Cantwell and Martin Morazzo_______⇧
Also by Cantwell, this direct-to-graphic-novel volume finds our soaring hero getting her balance and her direction.

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I D W

•Star Trek: Year Five,
by Jackson Lanzing and Stephen Thompson_______⇧
IDW's take on what a Fifth season of the Original Series might have been like comes to conclusion.
➤ see also: Star Trek Continues

•Star Trek: Mirror War,
by David Tipton, Scott Tipton, and Gavin Smith_______
'Star Trek: The Next Generation' didn't get to do any Mirror Universe episodes, and this mini-series fixes that. (3 issues. There's also a single issue spin-off about mirror Data.)

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B O O M

•The Many Deaths Of Laila Star,
by Ram V and Filipe Andrade_______⇧
Death is sentenced to live a life as a young woman in Mumbai. (5 issues)

•Proctor Valley Road,
by Grant Morrison and Alex Child (w), and Naomi Franquiz (a)_______
A horror series from star writer Grant Morrison, where four '70s teen girls careen through a haunted backwoods byway. (5 issues)

•Firefly,
by Grek Pak, Lalit Kumar Sharma, and Daniel Bayliss_______⇧
The continuing all-new adventures of the beloved SciFi TV series.

•Abbott 1973,
by Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivela_______
A journalist with a secret investigates the eldritch forces surrrounding a crucial election.

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V A U L T

•I Walk With Monsters,
by Paul Cornell and Sally Cantirino_______
A couple stalks monsters like monsters, but the past comes for them. (6 issues)

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A H O Y

•Second Coming: Only Begotten Son,
by Mark Russell, Richard Pace, and Leonard Kirk_______⇩
Comics' most fierce satirist Mark Russell (Prez, Billionaire Island) returns with the series Vertigo was too afraid to print; what if an ersatz Superman was roomates with a resurrected Jesus? (6 issues)

•My Bad Mark,
by James Russell and Bryce Ingman_______
A superhero spoof in the style of the Silver Age.

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B L A C K
M A S K

•Alice In Leatherland,
by Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli_______⇧
Two women explore sensuality, personal growth, and creative flow in San Francisco. (6 issues)

•Everfrost,
by Ryan Lindsay and Sami Kivela Van_______
Epic AfroFantasy in the DUNE style. (4 issues).

•Godkiller: Tomorrow’s Ashes,
by Matteo Pizzolo and Anna Wieszczyk_______
The third volume in the sexy genrepunked series. (3 issues)

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D Y N A M I T E

•Barbarella,
by Sarah Hoyt and Madibek Musabekov_______
New adventures of the galaxy's foremost sex-positive> adventurer.

•VAMPIRELLA #3, Facsimile Edition,
by many, including Billy Graham, Forrest J. Ackerman, Nicola Cuti, and Tom Sutton_______
An exact reproduction of the January 1970 magazine issue, ads and all.

•VAMPIRELLA #30, Facsimile Edition
by many, including Steve Skeates, Bill DuBray, Richard Corben, and the amazing Jose González_______⇧
An exact reproduction of the January 1974 magazine issue, ads and all.

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M E G A S C O P E

•After The Rain,
by John Jennings and David Brame_______
An adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor's short story "On The Road", an AfroFantasy tale of magical realism and identity.

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★
A L L - A G E S
C O M I C S :
2 0 2 1

"Hey, Kids!Comics!"
From the '30s to the '80s, comics unified all of the kids in the world.

Comics spinner racks were omnipresent in every grocery, newstand, and drugstore, a world of dreams in color for small change. But after 50 years, this changed.

As the fans grew older, comics grew more mature (and gradually more expensive). In the early-'80s, comics disappeared from common spaces to be sold only in individual comic stores. This was the best and worst thing that could have happened: the select stores became a lab for the medium to grow up with adult fans, but this Comics Renaissance left all the kids behind with no entry point. Now that three decades have passed, the young have moved on to games and streaming, seeing superheroes nowadays only in films that are meant for those longtime adult readers.

Roy Thomas once said, "The Golden Age of Comics is 8."

Comics should still be a fun spark for kids. Now, with the spectacular success of Raina Telgemeier's books, various publishers are finally figuring this out. A wide movement to provide more all-ages comics has risen. From single comics to trade paperbacks, there are many new entry points for young readers to join in and open up their imaginations.

★C O M I C S★

I D W

IDW prints Star Wars adventures geared especially for young readers.

•Star Wars Adventures,
by various creators_______⇧
Short, fun tales about characters from every era of the films and TV shows.

•Star Wars: Beware Vader’s Castle,
by Cavan Scott with multiple artists_______
This graphic novel reprints all of the previous story arcs about Darth's secret castle on Mustofar.


D A R K
H O R S E
•Stranger Things: The Tomb Of Ybwen,
by Grek Pak and Diego Galindo_______⇧
Naturally, the '80s gang gets their own Indiana Jones/GOONIES-style adventure (3 issues).

★G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :★

★ ★ ★Young Readers★ ★ ★

R A N D O M
H O U S E


The publishing giant partnered with DC Comics for the Step Into Reading series, with entry level books for new readers. (4-6)

•Wonder Woman: Universal Kindness
by Tennant Redbank and Pernille Orum_______⇧
•Batman: Book Crooks,
by J J Marlee and Francesco Legramandi_______
•DC Superhero Halloween!,
by Rachel Chlebowski and Red Central Ltd._______


•Raya And The Last Dragon:
The Graphic Novel,
by Alessandro Ferrari, with Schmidt, Florean, Parisis, and Di Lorenzo (Scholastic/Graphix) _______⇧
A comics adaption of the acclaimed 2021 animated film.


They also publish Screen Comix, books which combine film stills with word balloons to make comic adaptations of entire films. (8-12)

•Star Wars: The Mandalorian #1
_______⇧
The first four episodes of Season 1, featuring 'Baby Yoda'.


A B R A M S /
A P P L E S E E D


•Our Little Kitchen,
art by Jillian Tamaki_______⇧
How preparing a group feast pulls a neighborhood together.


Abrams also publishes entry level books about Marvel Comics heroes for starting readers.

•Incredible Hulk:
My Mighty Marvel First Book,
art by Sal Buscema_______

•Iron Man:
My Mighty Marvel First Book,
by art by John Romita Jr and Bob Layton_______⇧


S T O N E
A R C H
B O O K S


Stone Arch is partnering with DC Comics to create young reader books based on the Bruce Timm-era cartoon shows.
(They also do the "BATMAN and Scooby-Doo" mystery books and the "DC Superhero Fairy Tales" books.)

•DC Super Hero Adventures:
BATGIRL and the Queen of Green,
by Laurie S. Sutton and Leonel Castellani_______⇧

•DC Super Hero Adventures:
BATMAN and the Morphing Movie Star,
by Michael Steele and Gregg Schigiel_______⇧

•DC Super Hero Adventures:
SUPERMAN and the Big Bounty,
by Michael Steele and Leonel Castellani_______

•DC Super Hero Adventures:
SUPERGIRL and the Man of Metal,
by Laurie S. Sutton and Gregg Schigiel_______


D R A W N
A N D
Q U A R T E R L Y

•Little Lulu Vol. 3,
by John Stanley_______
Reprints of the timeless series.


N O B R O W
P R E S S


•HILDA:
The Wilderness Stories, Vol. 1,
by Luke Pearson____⇧
In synch with the hit Netflix cartoon adaption, a reprint of the first two HILDA books, "Hilda and the Troll!" and "Hilda and the Midnight Giant!", in one volume.


•HICOTEA:
A Nightlights Story,
by Lorena Alvarez_______⇧
(Middle School)
The sequel to Nightlights, described as "Raina Telgemeier meets Miyazaki with a Latin American twist". Win win win.


Other
Publishers:


•Super Sleepy Bedtime Stories,
by Ursula Burton and Jeff Shultz
(Binge Books)_______⇧
Done in the classic Harvey Comics style, Super Sleepy lullibies kids to dreamland with her tales.

•Where Are You, Leopold,
by Michel-Yves Schmitt and Vincent Caut
(Humanoids)_______
When Leo learns he can turn invisible, his friends' world goes inside-out.

•Young Leonardo,
by William Augel and Benjamin Croze
(Humanoids)_______
A funny 'history' of Leonardo Da Vinci as a kid.

•Barb The Last Berzerker,
by Dan Abdo and Jason Patterson
(Simon And Schuster)_______⇧
Sword And Sorcery-style comedy for kids. Who says Conan and Red Sonja should have all the fun?


B O O M !
S T U D I O S


•PEANUTS,
by Charles Schulz_______⇧
Collections of classic "Peanuts" comics strips, grouped by character: Charlie Brown, Linus, Snoopy, and Lucy.





★ ★ ★Middle School★ ★ ★

S C H O L A S T I C


•The Girl From The Sea,
by Molly Ostertag_______⇧
The celebrated author/artist (the "Witch Boy" trilogy) brings us an island teen and the mermaid she falls for.



Scholastic has partnered with Marvel Comics to create Young Adult entry books for some of their young modern heroes.

•Miles Morales: Shock Waves,
by Justin A. Reynolds and Pablo Leon and Geoffo_______⇧
The star of the universally-loved SPIDER-VERSE (2018) animated movie solves a geopolitical mystery.

•Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin,
by Nadia Shammas And Nabi H Ali_______⇧
Soon to have her own live-action show, everyone's favorite stretchy teen braves New Jersey and High School.

•Shuri: The Vanished,
by Nic Stone_______⇧
Black Panther's sister brings the brains and the bravery.


D A R K
H O R S E

•Gert And The Sacred Stones,
by Marco Rocchi and Francesca Carita_______⇧
A Fantasy tale where a teen girl becomes a brave adventurer and a deeper person.


S P A R K N O T E S

The “No Fear Shakespeare” series matches the Bard’s words to comics panels (ages 12-15).

➤ SparkNotes site


O N I
P R E S S


•Dragon Racer,
by Joey Weiser_______
In this sequel to the book Ghost Hog, animal race car drivers team together to compete with a dragon for the finish line.

•Pax Sampson: The Cookout,
by Rashad Doucet and Jason Reeves_______⇧
His family on a Fantasy planet are all superheroes, but Pax just wants to become an excellent chef.

•Star Beasts,
by Stephanie Young and Allyson Lassiter_______
A funny animal parallel to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, where a puppy joins a motley space crew to save the planet.

•Cheer Up: Love And Pompoms,
by Crystal Frasier and Val Wise_______⇧
A lesbian teen and a trans girl brave High School with their friendship in this upbeat tale.


F I R S T
S E C O N D


•Adventure Zone, Vol. 4
by Clint McElroy and Carey Pietsch_______
The bestselling series continues as our Relic rescuers search for a magic stone that causes calamity.

•Astronaut Academy, Vol. 3: Splashdown!
by Dave Roman_______
Summer vacation finds the space schoolers on Beach Planet.

•Jukebox,
by Nidhi Chanani_______⇧
Chanani ("Pashmina") crafts a time-traveling journey through music history when two girls find a magic jukebox.

•Lucy In The Sky,
by Kiara Brinkman and Sean Chiki_______⇧
Inspired by classic Beatles albums, Lucy forms her own band.

➤ BEATLESQUE Songs: 1967-esque, with Massive Music Player!

•No One Returns From The Forest,
by Robin Robinson_______
Two unlike goblin sisters learn to meet each other in the middle during a rescue quest.

•SCIENCE COMICS:
Rocks And Minerals: Geology From Caverns To The Cosmos,
by Andy Hirsch_______
The ongoing Science Comics cover different subjects with wit and exploits.


LITTLE
B R O W N
and C o .

•GOLDIE VANCE:
The Hocus-Pocus Hoax,
by Lilliam Rivera and Elle Power_______⇩
The High School sleuth scouts through her second mystery.

•HARRIET TUBMAN:
Toward Freedom,
by Whit Taylor and Kazimir Lee_______⇩
The true story of how Harriett escaped slavery, and then formed the Underground Railroad system to liberate others.



Resources:
•Comic Shop Locator
•BookShop.org

•Kidscomics.com
•School Library Journal: Good Comics For Kids
•50 Best Comics + Graphic Novels For Kids
•The Big Blog Of Kids' Comics!
•European Comics For Children
•13 Great Webcomics For Kids and Teens

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B E S T
G R A P H I C
N O V E L S :
2 0 2 1

•RUN, Vol. 1
by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (w), and Nate Powell and L Fury (a)
(Abrams ComicArts)_______⇧
Following the globally acclaimed MARCH trilogy, this sequel (written before Lewis' death) continues the true story of the Civil Rights activist who became a Congressman.



•WAKE:
The Hidden History Of Women-Led Slave Revolts,
by Rebecca Hall and Hugo Martinez
(Particular)_______⇩
Hall corrects history, with new research detailing the many revolts against slavery led by women.

•BETTER ANGELS,
by Jeff Jensen and George Schall
(Boom)_______⇩
The true story of the first female detective, who foiled the first attempt on President Lincoln's life.


•ACROSS THE TRACKS:
Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre,
by Alverne Ball and Stacey Robinson
(Abrams ComicArts)_______⇧
When the African-Americans in a 1921 Oklahoma town began to prosper, the forces of bigotry wiped them out. An expose of the infamous true event.

•THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY:
A Graphic Novel History,
by David Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson
(Ten Speed Press)_______⇧
An overview through the '60s and '70s of the legendary activist group.

•MUHAMMAD ALI,
Kinshasa 1974,
by Jean-Davide Morvan, Abbas, and Rafael Ortiz
(Titan Comics)_______
The Ali-Frazier fight brought the focus of the world to the African nation of Zaire.


•ORWELL,
by Pierre Christin and Sebastien Verdier
(SelfMadeHero)_______
A biography of the fascinating life of iconclast author George Orwell.
➤ SelfMadeHero.com

•1984:
The Graphic Novel,
by George Orwell and Fido Nesti
(Mariner Books)_______⇩
An adapatation of Orwell's timeless book, the most important dystopian warning and anti-Fascist allegory ever written.


•INCREDIBLE NELLIE BLY,
by Luciana Cimino and Sergio Algozzino
(Abrams ComicArts)_______⇧
The true story of the pioneering feminist activist and investigator.

•FOR JUSTICE:
The Serge And Beate Klarsfeld Story,
by Pascal Bresson and Sylvain Dorange
(Humanoids)_______
The French couple who have hunted down Nazis across five decades.



•ON TYRANNY:
20 Lessons From The Twentieth Century,
by Timothy Snyder and Nora King
(Ten Speed Press)_______⇧
A New York Times bestseller, this vital book used history to warn us of all present dangers of social oppression.

•BILLIONAIRES:
The Lives Of The Rich And Powerful,
by Darryl Cunningham
(Drawn And Quarterly)_______
A journalistic expose of how Bezos, Murdoch, and the Koch brothers misuse their wealth to corrupt political power.


•FAULT LINES IN THE CONSTITUTION,
by Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson
(First Second/World Citizen Comics)_______⇧
The Constitution has flaws that still presently endanger democracy, such as allowing gerrymandering or gaming the Electoral College over the actual popular vote.

•WHAT UNITES US:
The Graphic Novel,
by Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner (w), and Tim Foley (a)
(First Second/World Citizen Comics)_______⇧
A visual adaptation of journalist Dan Rather's bestselling book of essays on American unity.

•FREE SPEECH HANDBOOK,
by Ian Rosenberg and Michael Cavallaro
(First Second/World Citizen Comics)_______⇧
Using ten Supreme Court cases, the authors define what free speech actually means, and how crucial it is to maintain true freedom.



•THE WAITING,
by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
(Drawn And Quarterly)_______
Gendry-Kim (Grass) dramatizes the schism caused to families by the imposed division of post-War Korea.

•THE SECRET TO SUPERHUMAN STRENGTH,
by Alison Bechdel
(Mariner Books)_______⇧
Bechdel (Fun House, Are You My Mother?) resolves her life-long fitness mania with her realizations about true fortitude.

•GIRLSPLAINING:
A (Sorta) memoir ,
by Katja Klengel
(Archaia Studios)_______
Klengel (Kid Gloves, Waves) tackles all the mixed messages and earned wisdoms about sexual identity.

•RED ROCK BABY CANDY,
by Shira Spector
(Fantagraphics)_______⇧
Spector recalls a decade of pregnancy attempts and family loss conveyed in cascading emotional styles from ink drawings to vivid painting.



•ARTEMISIA,
by Nathalie Ferlut and Tamia Baudoin
(Beehive Books)_______⇧
Women weren't allowed to paint during the Renaissance, or to legally fight back against assailants, but Artemisia Gentileschi did. And won the test of time.

•BRONTE,
by Manuela Santoni
(Graphic Universe)_______
How the three Bronte sisters, using male pseudonyms, upended and integrated literature.

•BUNUEL
In The Labyrinth Of Turtles,
by Fermin Solis
(Selfmadehero)_______
In a creative crisis, Bunuel finds his way intuitively to become the major filmmaker we remember.

•DIEGO RIVERA,
by Francisco de la Mora and Jose Luis Pescador
(SelfMadeHero)_______
SelfMadeHero creates comics biographies of timeless creators, told in their own creative styles and methods.

•The Strange Death Of ALEX RAYMOND,
by Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh
(Living The Line)_______⇧
A metatextual masterwork or mess? Yes, and worth the trip.
Sim (Cerebus) traces the evolution of naturalistic art in comics using many of its greatest artists along the way, while also exploring every richochet rabbit hole and surreal tangent in an almost cubist narrative.



•WOMEN DISCOVERERS:
Top Women In Science,
by Christell Pecout and Marie Moinard
(NBM)_______
Bios of 20 great scientists across all branches who advanced our knowledge.

•TWILIGHT MAN:
Rod Serling and the Birth of Television,
by Koren Shadmi
(Life Drawn)_______⇧
Serling was the original Angry Young Man playwright who challenged all the social boundaries of early Television with truth, humanity, and imagination, and bore the scars for it.

•BEATNIK BUENOS AIRES,
by Diego Arandojo and Facundo Percio
(Fantagraphics)_______⇧
How the cultural scene exploded open by the legendary Beat authors transformed 1963 Argentina.

•MORRISON HOTEL
by Leah Moore and Danijel Zezelj
(Fantagraphics)_______
Leah Moore (Albion, Sherlock Holmes) and 11 guest artists tell stories about the band The Doors in this mosaic anthology.

•MPLS Sound,
by Joseph Illidge and Hannibal Tabu
(Humanoids)_______
Prince's global success with the "1999" and "Purple Rain" albums opened up the 'Minneapolis Sound' of synthfunk to all, and this fictional band's tale personifies it.



•DJELIYA,
by Juni Ba
(TKO Presents)_______⇧
A Fantasy adventure based on West African folklore from a Senagal creator.

•MALIKA, Warrior Queen,
by Roye Okupe and Chima Kalu
(Dark Horse)_______⇧
An historical fantasy by an all-Nigerian creative team.

•CYCLOPEDIA EXOTICA,
by Aminder Dhaliwal
(Drawn And Quarterly)_______
Dhaliwal (Woman World) weaves metaphors about 'otherness' in a dominant society, and how it is programmed and exploited.

•LAST BORN,
by Patrick Meaney and Eric Zawadzki
(Black Mask)_______
She crosses all of time, trying to save humanity.



•SUPERSTATE,
by Graham Coxon and Hellen Mullane (w), and Alex Lakanadel (a)
(Z2/Simon And Schuster)_______⇧
Co-writer Graham Coxon (guitarist for Blur) unveils an anthology of tales about a classist planet-state, and the hopes of those who want to topple it.

•GRASS OF PARNASSUS,
by Kathryn Immonen and Stuart Immonen
(Adhouse Books)_______⇧
When a space colony starts malfunctioning, a crazed potpourri of characters goes ballistic. Very Metal Hurlant.

•CELESTIA,
by Manuele Fior
(Fantagraphics)_______
Two telepaths from a remote island trek to the mysterious mainland, eking out a future for all.



•MONSTERS,
by Barry Windsor-Smith
(Fantagraphics)_______⇧
The lauded illustrator returns with a monstrous confectionary of etching-esque cartooning, somewhere between EC Comics and Sergius Hruby.

•Tono Monogatari,
by Shigeru Mizuki
(Drawn And Quarterly)_______
The Japanese ghost folklore tome interpreted through graphic storytelling.


•BLADE RUNNER: Origins, Vol. 1 and 2,
by K. Perkins, Mellow Brown, and Mike Johnson
(Titan Comics)_______
An origin story for the 'Blade Runners', a task force enlisted to hunt down rogue replicants.

•BUCKAROO BANZAI
Against The World Crime League,
by Earl Mac Rauch
(Dark Horse)_______⇧
The end of the cult film BUCKAROO BANZAI Across The Eighth Dimension (1984) promised a sequel. It finally arrives in this prose novel follow-up by the original screenwriter, a Doc Savage-meets-Samurai cyber-pulp adventure.

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B E S T
C O L L E C T I O N S + R E I S S U E S :
2 0 2 1

•EC ARCHIVES:

The remastered Hardcover reprints of EC Comics began winding up, printing the final titles of the line.

Frontline Combat, Vol. 3
Shock Illustrated, Vol. 1
Crime Illustrated
M D
by Multiple Creators
(Dark Horse)_______
EC Comics invented comics for adults in the early-'50s, and were crucified for it.>
After the censorship kicked in, EC bowed out with these final comics titles, retrenching into the smash success of Mad Magazine.
Stories by Feldstein, Crandell, Krigstein, Davis, Orlando, Kamen, Craig, and more.

Note: The ShockSuspenstories cover
is for a progressive anti-KKK story.
Meanwhile, the remastered EC Comics Hardcovers are now being re-released as affordable Softcover editions, starting from the beginning.

The Haunt Of Fear, Vol. 1
Tales From The Crypt, Vol. 1
Shock SuspenStories, Vol. 1
The Vault Of Horror, Vol. 1,
by Multiple Creators
(Dark Horse)_______⇧

These early-'50s comics redefined maturity in the medium, launched great writers and artists, electrified readers, and terrified conservatives. Essential.
➤ see also: "The Ten Cent Plague"

•EC Covers Artists Edition, by Various Creators(IDW)_______
IDW tracks down all the original artwork for the covers, and prints it in photographic form at full size.


•FANTASTIC FOUR #1 Panel By Panel,
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, edited by Chip Kidd (orig. 1961)
(Abrams ComicArts)_______
Noted graphic designer Chip Kidd examines and deconstructs every panel of the first FF adventure.


•Steranko:
NICK FURY, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artisan Edition,
by Jim Steranko(1967-'68)
(IDW)_______⇧
Jim Steranko's legendarily innovative run changed and advanced comics, and still informs the Marvel films and TV shows today.
(This is the previous 'Artist's Edition' reissued in softcover at a moderate price.)

•PRINCE VALIANT, Vol. 23 and 24,
by John Cullen Murphy and Cullen Murphy(1981-'82)
(Fantagraphics)_______
The reprint campaign focuses on Hal Foster's underrated successors, the Murphys.



•The Moorcock Library:
ELRIC The Eternal Champion,
by Michael Moorcock and Phillippe Druillet(1972)
(Titan Comics)_______⇧
New Wave Of Science Fiction/Sword And Sorcery meets Metal Hurlant.

•LONE SLOANE: Delirius, Vol. 2,
by Jacques Lob and Benjamin Legrand (w), and Philippe Druillet (a)(1973)
(Titan Comics)_______⇧
Druillet co-founded Metal Hurlant magazine with Moebius. Marvel at his grand psychedelic cathedrals.


•Complete Crepax, Vol. 6:
Dangerous Liaisons,
by Guido Crepax(1977-'89)
(Fantagraphics)_______
Crepax's photographer Valentina grows ever more erotic in these cinematic exploits.

•Frank Thorne’s Complete GHITA,
by Frank Thorne(1978)
(Hermes Press)_______
Thorne recast his success with Red Sonja into a more bawdy, less censored surrogate for Warren magazines.



•The Collected TOPPI: Vol. 6, Japan,
by Sergio Toppi
(Magnetic Press)_______⇧
One of the best illustrators and graphic designers of the 20th century. A master class in every page, every volume.

•Jodorowsky Library, Vol. 1,
by Alejandro Jodorowsky +(2014-'15)
(Humanoids)_______
Malcontent director Jodorowsky (EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, SANTA SANGRE) continues spinning out complex DUNE-esque mind-movies of kink, polity, and mayhem on the page.



•MADMAN:
The Madmaniverse,
by Michael Allred(1990 to ’96)
(Dark Horse)_______
An omnibus of Allred's original character, like an indie film rethinking of "Frankenstein" and Silver Age comics.


•ENIGMA:
The Definitive Edition,
by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo(1993)
(Berger Books)_______⇧
In the midst of Vertigo Comics''90s dark surrealism titles, this neglected gem snuck out. A Lynch-ian metaphor for coming out, galvanized by the astounding art of Duncan Fegredo (Hellboy).

•Art Of Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’ STARDUST,
by Charles Vess
(Titan Comics)_______
A coffee table overview of the Fantasy series by the bestselling author and the celebrated illustrator, from its origins to rarities.


•CINEMA PURGATORIO:
This Is Sinerama,
by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill
(Avatar)_______⇧
The peerless creators of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen series now dissect cinema history and its unepected backstories in a prism of varied styles.

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WHEREWE
COMEFROM,
Dept.

•REED CRANDALL:
Illustrator Of The Comics,
by Roger Hill
(TwoMorrows)_______
The EC Comics great, who got his start with Will Eisner and Lou Fine at Quality Comics.

•JACK KIRBY Collector #80:
Old Gods And New,
by Jack Kirby, and various creators
(TwoMorrows)_______⇧
'A Companion To Jack Kirby's Fourth World', this double-length trade dedicated to comic's greatest idea machine explores his '70s celestial pantheon in depth.

•MOEBIUS:
In Search Of Time,
by Jean 'Moebius' Giraud
(National Museum Of Archeology, Naples)_______
An Italian exhibition catalog showcasing the visionary artist's illustrations.

•ALAN MOORE:
A Critical Guide,
by Jackson Ayres
(Bloomsbury)_______
An acedemic review of the greatest writer in comics history.


•River Of Ink,
by Etienne Appert and Edmond Baudoin
(Humanoids)_______⇩
An overview of the history of illustration told in comics form, from Lascaux to now, examining why we delineate the world and our thoughts.

•Drawing Words And Writing Pictures,
by Jessica Able and Matt Madden
(First Second)_______
A reissue of the 2008 guide on how to create effective comics.


•American Comics:
A History,
by Jeremy Dauber
(W.W. Norton and Co.)_______⇩
A Columbia professor concisely and insghtfully tells the entire history, from early comics strips to today's cinema revolution.

•All Of The Marvels:
A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told,
by Douglas Wolk
(Penguin Press)_______⇩
He read every Marvel comic in order, every single one, to congeal for you the overarching themes, patterns, and meanings of it all.

•The Comic Book History of Animation,
by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey
(IDW)_______
Following their history of Comics told in comics form, the duo frames the winding evolution of Animation on the screen, uh, on the page.


•History Of Science Fiction,
by Xavier Dollo and Djibril Morrisette-Phan
(Humanoids)_______
The big shebang, from early authors to pulps to movements to the screen, and how it has literally recreated our future the whole way.

•STAR WARS Archives:
Episodes IV-VI 1977-1983,
by various
(Taschen)_______
The best art book company in the world compiles a treasure trove of photos, posters, props, and paraphernalia of the original Star Wars trilogy.

•STAR WARS:
Age Of Resistance,
by various
(Titan Comics)_______⇧
A chronicle of the making of the Star Wars sequel trilogy films (2015-'19).

(Note: not to be confused with the same-titled 2019 Marvel comics saga, "STAR WARS: Age Of Resistance".)

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MAGAZINES

•ALTER EGO
(TwoMorrows)_______⇧
The original '60s comics fanzine that pioneered all of modern fandom, with deep stories on the Golden and Silver Age creators, is an ongoing mag still edited by Roy Thomas.
➤ Alter Ego

•BACK ISSUE!
(TwoMorrows)_______⇧
Dedicated to the '70s and '80s renaissance.
➤ Back Issue

•ILLUSTRATION
(The Illustrated Press)_______
The best illustrators celebrated by the smartest illustration mag.
➤ Illustration


•RETROFAN
(TwoMorrows)_______
Everything pop cultural from the '60s through the '80s.
➤ Retrofan

•THE COMICS JOURNAL
(Fantagraphics)_______
The premiere scholastic graphic arts forum, now printed in an annual volume.
➤ The Comics Journal

•STAR TREK Explorer
(Titan)_______⇧
"These are the voyages..."
➤ Star Trek Explorer

•STAR WARS INSIDER
(Titan)_______⇧
"An energy field created by all living things..."
➤ Star Wars Insider

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B E S T
M O V I E S

•SHANG CHI And The Legend of the Ten Rings

•BLACK WIDOW

•ETERNALS

•SPIDER-MAN: No Way Home


➤ BEST MOVIES & TV: 2021


See Also:
➤ >Four Color Films,
THE Comic Movies Review Site!

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B E S T
W E B C O M I C S :

•SARA'S SCRIBBLES,
by Sara Andersen_______⇧
Absurdist doodles in four panels with brainy zing.

•TOM TOMORROW,
by Tom Tomorrow_______
A kind of digital love-child of Trudeau and Breathed, this long-running satire of political insanity is a panacea.

•NANCY,
by Olympia Jaimes_______
Under a psuedonym, someone is upgrading the classic strip's mindtricks for the digital age.

•PRINCE VALIANT,
by Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates_______
Schultz (Xenozoic Tales) and Yeates (Timespirits) are doing excellent work continuing Hal Foster's masterwork into the 21st century.

•The Nib_______
RESIST!
The best of contemporary editorial satire, from an array of talents.

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R E S T
I N
P O W E R

From you, we exist.
Because of you, we persist.


• S. Clay Wilson
• Frank Thorne
• Joye Hummel

by S. Clay Wilson; Joye Hummel;
John Paul Leon; Richard Donner
• John Paul Leon
• David Anthony Kraft
• Richard Donner
• Takao Saito


• Mitsutoshi Furuya
• Hiroshi Hirata

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Nuff said, pilgrim.Excelsior!


© Tym Stevens

---

See also:

▶ FourColorFilms: THE Comics Film Review Site!


•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2020
•BEST MUSIC: 2020
•BEST COMICS: 2020

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2019
•BEST MUSIC: 2019
•BEST COMICS: 2019

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2018
•BEST MUSIC: 2018
•BEST COMICS: 2018

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2017
•BEST MUSIC: 2017
•BEST COMICS: 2017

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2016
•BEST MUSIC: 2016
•BEST COMICS: 2016

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2015
•BEST MUSIC: 2015
•BEST COMICS: 2015

•BEST MUSIC: 2014
•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2014
•BEST COMICS: 2014

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2013
•BEST MUSIC: 2013
•BEST COMICS: 2013

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2012
•BEST MUSIC: 2012
•BEST COMICS: 2012

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2011
•BEST MUSIC: 2011
•BEST COMICS: 2011

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2020
•BEST COMICS: 2000-2010
•BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010


• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music!, with 3 Music Players!

• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist

---

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With 4Music Players!

C U R T I S
H A R D I N G

---

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ALL THE
REAL MUSIC!

Hard Pass all those trendy-indie
'Best Music' lists that taste like chrome!

These tunes will cross-knit your wits
and flipside your backside!

Shortcut to Music Players:
•BEST ALBUMS: 2021
•COOL SONGS: 2021
•COVER SONGS 2021
•BEST REISSUES: 2021

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Alison Krauss + Robert Plant

B E S T

N E W
A L B U M S :
2 0 2 1


BEST ALBUMS 2021
by Tym StevensThis is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.


This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.



•Curtis Harding, "If Words Were Flowers"
Psychedelic Soul.
Curtis only gets greater on each album with memorable tunes, a supple range, adventurous arrangements, and a feeling of all limits lifting.

(see also: Black Pumas, Greyhounds, Benjamin Booker)

•The Courettes, "Back In Mono"
Garage Rock and Girl Group.
'You wanted The Shangri-Las if they were also The Sonics and you got it!'... thanks to this Brazilian guitarist and Danish drummer.

(see also: The Crystals, Thee Headcoatees, The Raveonettes)

•Menahan Street Band, "The Exciting Sounds Of Menahan Street Band"
Cinematic Funk.
'Who's the headset flick who's a sex machine to all your dance floor kicks? Damn right.'

(see also: Isaac Hayes, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields)

•Bachelor, "Doomin’ Sun"
Indie Folk.
Semi-supergroup members (Jay Som, Palehound) unwind as a Folk duo with sharp lyrics, warm introspection, canny melodies, and acoustic chops.

(see also: Meat Puppets, Aimee Mann, Hand Habits)


•Fay Hallam, "Modulations"
Groovy Mod.
Like a freshly discovered Library Music album of timeless grooviness, flowing the all get-go into your swingin' Go-Go.

(see also: Alan Hawkshaw, Piero Piccioni, Chris Joss, Shawn Lee)

•Autoramas, "Autointitulado"
Garage Wave.
Like Dick Dale jamming with Devo on Deimos, the Brazil quartet brings us more startlingly distorted Garage Surf with snappy New Wave spasms.

(see also: The Spotnicks, The Rezillos, The B-52's, Polysics)

•Brian Wilson, "At My Piano"
Baroque Pop.
You thought that Brian's harmonies and arrangements for The Beach Boys were sublime enough, but wait till you hear the core beauty of them on acoustic piano.

(see also: George Gershwin, Van Dyke Parks, Paul McCartney)

•The Black Keys, "Delta Kreme"
Bruising Blues.
The Blues is the original spark of Rock'n'Roll, and the fuse is still lit.

(see also: The White Stripes, Gary Clark Jr, Joanna Connor)


•Robert Plant + Alison Krauss, "Raise The Roof"
Alt-Roots.
Following their lauded album "Raising Sand"(2007), the troubadours interpret more folk, bluegrass, blues, and N'awlins gems.

(see also: Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Gillian Welch and David Rawlins)

•Tristen, "Aquatic Flowers"
Baroque Pop.
Tristen excels at strong pop hooks with sly twists and open-hearted lyrics.

(see also: The New Pornographers, Jesca Hoop, Gabriella Cohen)


•The Limiñanas + Laurent Garnier, "De Pelicula"
Sinematic Garage.
An imaginary film noir soundtrack from the grimy Psyche duo and the dance DJ, eerie and edgy and errant.

(see also: Can, Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks, Calibro 35, L’épée)

•Robert Finley, "Sharecropper’s Son"
Rural Blues.
The roots soil is as fertile as ever, and Robert's rich soul and rural pride will regenerate you.

(see also: Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton, Albert King, Black Joe Lewis And The Honeybears)


•La Luz, "La Luz"
Baroque Surf.
The pulsing Surf ripples and dreamy Girl Group sighs grow more introspective and psychedelic this time, abetted by production wizard Adrian Younge.

(see also: The Neptunas, Susan And The Surftones, Shantih Shantih, Frankiie)

•La Femme, "Paradigmes"
ModPsycheLoungeRave.
France's coolest band pumps the dream party (and upstairs orgy) with Go-Go pop, gauzy psyche, cooing songbirds, beatnick rap, brash horns, and clang guitars.

(see also: Manfred Hübler And Siegfried Schwab, Casino Music, Air, Pepe Deluxe)

•Joel Culpepper, "Sgt. Culpepper"
Baroque Soul.
From its clever title in, this smart Soul record delivers the real feels with dynamic frills.

(see also: Imani Coppola, Liam Bailey)

•Mike Edison + Guadalupe Plata, "The Devil Can’t Do You No Harm"
Garage-abilly Gospel Noir.
The Rockabilly growler and Spanish Garagers collide in a reverb-soaked recital of hymnals, folklore, and midnight tremelo.

(see also: Link Wray, Tom Waits, The Limiñanas)



•Gary Louris, "Jump For Joy"
Singer Songwriter.
The prime mover of The Jayhawks does a rare solo turn, stripping it down to melodic folk confessionals with occasional electronic textures.

(see also: latter Beatles, America, Wilco)

•Cha Wa, "My People"
New Orleans Funk.
S U M .

(see also: The Meters, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, The Soul Rebels)

•Nicole Atkins, "Memphis Ice"
Eclectic Soul.
The Rock'n'Soul chameleon revises her acclaimed "Italian Ice"(2020) album in new mellow Memphis Soul terms.

(see also: Patsy Cline, Dusty Springfield, Gemma Ray, Hannah Williams)

•El Michels Affair, "Yeti Season"
Eerie Cinematic.
Like a moody Bollywood psychedelic soundtrack with flourishes of Turkish funk and Spaghetti Westerns, groovy and heady.

(see also: Sheila Chandra, Dengue Fever, Ikebe Shakedown, Ghost Funk Orchestra)



•Tash Neal, "Charge It To The Game"
'70s Rock Redux.
The London Souls duo made one brilliant album of timeless Classic Rock (2015). Now Tash Neal and Chris St. Hilaire are making solo work, with Tash going full Thin Lizzy while Chris pursues Calypso beats and mellow songwriter tunes.

(see also: Thin Lizzy, early Lenny Kravitz)

•Adia Victoria, "A Southern Gothic"
Alt-Roots.
The Flannery O'Connor of Americana music, getting more ambitious and complex amid the atmospheric production of T-Bone Burnett.

(see also: Lucinda Williams, Rhiannon Giddens)

•Micky Dolenz, "Dolenz Sings Nesmith"
Singer Songwriter.
Micky, the heart of The Monkees, gives a full-hearted tribute to the brainy one, covering many of his '70s solo songs. The version of "Circle Sky" with an Indian orchestra is astounding.

(see also: The Flying Burrito Brothers, Crosby Stills And Nash, Poco)

•St. Vincent, "Daddy’s Home"
Askew Soul.
Our mercurial hero relaxes on the angular art-pop in favor of a warm mid-'70s sultry Soul groove.

(see also: Laura Nyro, Annie Peacock, Rickie Lee Jones, Feist)



•Orquesta Akokán, "16 Rayos"
Cuban Mambo.
The group keeps Cuba's vibrant musical traditions alive with their vital roof-raisers.

(see also: Perez-Prado, Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra, The Souljazz Orchestra)

•Eddie 9V, "Little Black Flies"
Soul Blues.
That wonderful place between Chess and Stax where the blues shouts like sunshine.

(see also: J.B. Lenoir, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, James Hunter Band)

•Caleb Landry Jones, "Gadzooks, Vol. 1"
Art Psyche.
The cracked actor pours out more potent ideas in one song than most do in an album, a sparkling cascade of luminous delirium.

(see also: Syd Barrett, Skip Spence, Julian Cope, Crispin Hellion Glover)

•Cedric Burnside, "I Be Trying"
Gutbucket Blues.
Cedric's roughhewn strummers and tough clangers resonate like a wounded soul grown as tempered as steel.

(see also: R.L. Burnside, Elmore James, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion)



•Aaron Lee Tasjan, "Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!"
Melodic songwriter.
Tasjan is one of those singer-songwriter-showmen and crack melodicists (practically minted from a factory in 1971) who seem like they can do anything, and so far has.

(see also: latter Beatles, early Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Elliott Smith)

•Amythyst Kiah, "Wary + Strange"
Alt-Roots.
Gutpunching the roots industry with her bluegrass protest song "Black Myself", Kiah returns with wildfire sophistication, a soulful range, and palpable restlessness.

(see also: Odetta, Our Native Daughters, The Carolina Chocolate Drops)

•The Secret Sisters, "Quicksand"
Country.
In this 4-song EP, the Rogers sisters make more suprising leaps forward in song craft and harmonies with two originals, plus covers of The Strokes and Fiona Apple.

(see also: The Everly Brothers, Alison Krauss, I'm With Her)

•St. Paul And The Broken Bones, "The Alien Coast"
Art Soul.
The Alabama Soul outfit leap another light year with this mercurial extravaganza, a textural passion tour by turns moody, brash, jazzy, tough, dreamy, and finally triumphant. Wow!

(see also: Eddie Hinton, Curtis Harding, Nathaniel Rateliff And The Night Sweats)

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C O O L
S O N G S :
2 0 2 1

All theREAL MUSIC
beyond the box!

Nevermind Gloss Pop, Stepford Idols, Karaoke Choruses ("woh-oo-oh"), Ego Brats, Emo Prats, Plinky Folk, Brittle Bombast, Vegas Country, Smug Thug, Mope Noodling, De-mixed Throb, and Robot-o-Tune schlock! >

Here's the
D R E A M
J U K E B O X !
Shimmy down with more soul
than a fishing wharf!

COOL SONGS 2021
by Tym Stevens
This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.
*(The Player is limited to the first 200 songs.
Hear the unlimited Playlist here.)

This jukebox is sequenced into groups of sound, instead of randomly.
All the songs elasticize their genres.
Get your groove on in this sonic order.:
Rockabilly!Surf!Beat!Garage!

Psyche!Classic Rock!Glam!Alt-Roots!

Blues!Soul!Funk!Africana!

World!Riot Grrrl!Alt-Rock!Electro!

Alt-Rap!Alt-Jazz!Cinematic!

RESIST!Happy Holidays!

St. Vincent; Tash Neal;
Adia Victoria; Lera Lynn

13 hours of thinky, wiggly music, featuring the following fine folks in this exact order!:

• Rockabilly!• Jimmy Dale Richardson, Lily Locksmith, Miranda And The Beat, The Honkabillies, and The Courettes.

• Surf / Shindig!• Surf Zombies, Underwater Bosses, Autoramas, Mike Edison + Guadalupe Plata, Lord Huron, Shannon And The Clams, Los Mambo Jambo, Pokey LaFarge, and Las Cafeteras.

The Courettes;
Las Cafeteras; Shadow Show

• Beat / Garage!• The Courettes, Cupid's Carnival, Lindsey Buckingham, The Fratellis, Shadow Show, Triptides, David Menke, The Exbats, The Shadracks, The Tremolo Beer Gut, Ghost Woman, Night Beats, and The Routes.


• Psychedelic / Beatlesque!• Tristen, Groovy Uncle, La Luz, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Taraka, Mickey Dolenz, La Femme, The Limiñanas, Tele Novella, Crowded House, Martina Topley-Bird, Heartless Bastards, Satellite Jockey, Caleb Landry Jones, Diamond Hands, Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Gary Louris.

La Luz; La Femme;
Martina Topley-Bird; Art d'Ecco

• Classic Rock / Glam! Silver Synthetic, Reigning Sound, Tash Neal, DJ Williams + Tash Neal, Art d'Ecco, The Devils, Liz Phair, Neal Francis, Gloria, Midnight Sister, Liam Kazar, and Weyes Blood.

• Alt-Roots!• Rhiannon Giddens + Francesco Turrisi, Robert Plant + Alison Krauss, Lera Lynn, Adia Victoria, Allison Russell, Joan Armatrading, Bedouine, Nicole Atkins, Kira Skov, The Breeders, The Secret Sisters, Della Mae, Theo Lawrence, Sierra Ferrell, Sharon Van Etten + Lucinda Williams.

Nicole Atkins; Robert Finlay;
Lady Blackbird; Steve Cropper;
Delvon Lamar Organ Trio

• Blues!• Mr. Airplane Man, Buffalo Nichols, Madi Diaz, The Black Keys, Joanna Connor, Cedric Burnside, Avey Grouws Band, Robert Finley, Ghalia Volt, Eddie 9V, and Amythyst Kiah.

• Soul!• Curtis Harding, Izo FitzRoy, Nathaniel Rateliff And The Night Sweats, Ruby Velle And The Soulphonics, Black Pumas, Lake Street Dive, PM Warson, The Secret Sisters, Aaron Frazer, Lady Blackbird, The Buttshakers, Thee Sacred Souls, Anderson East, Ben Pirani, and Steve Cropper.

• Funk / Mutant Disco!• The Bamboos, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, The Grease Traps, True Loves, St. Vincent, Redtenbacher's Funkestra, Joel Culpepper, Menahan Street Band, Cha Wa, George Porter Jr and Runnin' Pardners, Orgone, Emma-Jean Thackray, Lake Street Dive, Mndsgn, Cimafunk, Gizelle Smith, Art d'Ecco, Pond, and Khruangbin + Leon Bridges.

Tony Allen; Altin Gün

• Africana!• Bacao Rhythm And Steel Band, Adrian Younge, Femi Kuti, Tony Allen, Joan As Police Woman, Mdou Moctar, Funkwrench Blues + Bombino, and Nahawa Doumbia.

• World!• Orquesta Akokán, Cochemea, Altin Gün, El Michels Affair, and La Femme.

We Are Lady Parts;
Guerilla Toss;
Django Django;
Kae Tempest; K-OS

• Riot Grrrl!• Lady Parts, Sleater-Kinney, LIINES, Mujeres Podridas, KT Tunstall/DeepVally/Peaches, Taraka, Porvenir Oscuro, SASAMI, Deap Vally, Garbage, Du Blonde, Amyl and The Sniffers, Fake Fruit, Pom Poko, Gustaf, and Bachelor.

• Alt-Rock!• Parquet Courts, Fashion Pimps And The Glamazons, White Denim, Habibi, Django Django, Martina Topley-Bird, Spoon, Gabriella Cohen, Deerhoof, Elvis Costello, Jane Weaver, CIVIC, St. Vincent, Guerilla Toss, and Superstate/Graham Coxon.

• Electro!• Working Men's Club, Fatima Al Qadiri, Stats, and Marie Davidson.

• Alt-Rap!• The Bug, Kae Tempest, K-OS, Ty Segall + Denée Segall, The Allergies, She Drew The Gun, Common + Brittany Howard, Ceramic Dog + Marc Ribot, Moor Mother, Slimkid 3, and Flying Lotus.

Ghost Funk Orchestra; Kandle;
The Limiñanas; Elena Satine

• Alt-Jazz!• Esperanza Spalding, Sons Of Kemet, The Lasso, and Terence Blanchard.

• Cinerama / Soundtracks!• Tommy Guerrero, Menahan Street Band, Ghost Funk Orchestra, St. Paul And The Broken Bones, Gizelle Smith, Gloria, Roy And The Devil's Motorcycle, Kandle, Billie Eilish, The Tremolo Beer Gut, Alan Evans Trio, The Limiñanas, La Femme, Fay Hallam, The Coral, Delaney Davidson + Neil Finn, St. Vincent, Wax Tailor + Dave Gahan, Lera Lynn, Sndtrak, Ludwig Goransson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Seatbelts + Elena Satine), Sparks + Adam Driver, and Jefferson Airplane (Marcel Dettmann and Gabriel Mounsey Remix).

Courtney Barnett; Janelle Monáe

• RESIST!!• Stereo Total, John Fogerty, Garbage, Death From Above 1979, The Jack Moves, Mexican Institute Of Sound, Gizelle Smith, Chris Isaak, Courtney Barnett, Tune-Yards, Janelle Monáe, Adrian Younge, Ringo Starr, Angelique Kidjo, Chris St. Hilaire, Monophonics, and Vivien Goldman.

• Happy Holidays!• Joel Paterson, The Pen Friend Club, and Blondie.

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C O V E R
S O N G S
2 0 2 1

All the Best
COVER VERSIONS
of the year!

Music is the throughline of the human spirit.

Singing timeless songs in times of uncertainty brings us solace, offers out support, and bonds us in communion.

In (another) year that separated us from each other, sharing songs reaffirmed us as a people, honored our origins, and lit the way for the young.

There were an abundance of cover songs in 2021. Through them, we sought reflection, revelation, and renewal. Here’s a playlist of our mutual journey.

COVER SONGS 2021
by Tym StevensThis is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.


List = Original By / Cover Artist
Songs are sequenced in the chronological order of the Originals.


• 1920s-'50s Covers•
Traditional Hymn / Rhiannon Giddens + Francesco Turrisi• Fats Waller / Archie Shepp• Cole Porter / Tony Bennett• Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal / Cat Power• Woody Guthrie / The Secret Sisters• Tampa Red / Ghalia Volt• Big Joe Williams / The Black Keys• Woody Guthrie / Liz Vice• Lil’ Son Jackson / Alabama Slim• Howlin’ Wolf / Tony Holiday + Watermelon Slim.

• '60s Covers•
Bob Dylan / Cha Wa + Alvin Youngblood Hart• The Chantays / The C33s• Henry Mancini / Messer Chups• Lou Rawls/Sam Cooke / Lady Blackbird• The Pleasure Seekers / Greg Townson• Jimmy Reed / Ronnie Wood + Mick Taylor• Bob Dylan / Carolyn Wonderland• The Beatles / Scary Pockets• The Mamas And The Papas / Omar Apollo• James Brown / Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit• Ray Charles / PM Warson• Nina Simone / Ledisi• Liz Brady / Olivia Jean• Female Species / La Luz• Velvet Underground / Iggy Pop• The Beach Boys / Brian Wilson• Buffalo Springfield / Dylan LeBlanc• The Monkees / Micky Dolenz• The Monkees / The Queers• Albert King / Harlis Sweetwater• The Delfonics / Paul Stanley's Soul Station• Glen Campbell / Black Pumas• Aretha Franklin / Jennifer Hudson• Eddie Floyd / Matt Berninger• “Sesame Street” theme/Joe Raposo / Reid Jamieson• Minnie Riperton / Bacao Rhythm And Steel Band• Joni Mitchell / Chelsea Wolfe• Bob Dylan / Bob Corritore• Bob Dylan / Eli "Paperboy" Reed• The Rolling Stones / Brad Marino• The Beatles / Violet Orlandi• David Bowie / We Are KING.

Rhiannon Giddens; Black Pumas;
The Coathangers; Angel Olsen

• '70s Covers•
Neil Young / Kandle• Paul and Linda McCartney / Fernando Perdomo• Badfinger / Susanna Hoffs + Aimee Mann• Led Zeppelin / Dylan LeBlanc• T-Rex / The Kills• Hound Dog Taylor / GA-20• Stevie Wonder / Patti Smith• War / Los Lobos• The Rolling Stones / The Band Of Heathens• Sly And The Family Stone / Dumpstaphunk• Gordon Lightfoot / Le Ren + Buck Meek• Gordon Lightfoot / Darling West• William DeVaughn / Orgone• Billy Preston / A.J. Croce• Hall And Oates / Lydia Hol• Stevie Wonder / Jon Batiste• The Runaways / Wanda Jackson• Elvis Costello And The Attractions / Juanes• Iggy Pop / The Lovely Eggs• The Jam / Las Lenguas Muertas• Kleenex / Habibi• The Cars / K-OS• Donna Summer / Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs• Wings / Scary Pockets.

• '80s Covers•
John Lennon / Marilyn McCoo And Billy Davis Jr• Blondie / The Coathangers• Gang Of Four / Gail Ann Dorsey• David Bowie / Boise Cover Band• X / Violet Grohl• X / Jesse Dayton• Yoko Ono / Japanese Breakfast• The Cyre / Marc Collin• Zapp / The Heritage Orchestra• Laura Branigan / Angel Olsen• Grace Jones / Bacao Rhythm And Steel Band• Men Without Hats / Angel Olsen• Roxy Music / Peter Frampton Band• Roxy Music / Angel Olsen• Bruce Springsteen / King Hannah• Bob Dylan / Chrissie Hynde• Bruce Springsteen / Shakey Graves• The Cars / Bleachers• R.E.M. / Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit• Peter Gabriel / Lowland Hum• Pixies / A.A. Williams, and Tkay Maidza.

• '90s Covers•
The Gories / The Shivas• Nirvana / The Dollyrots• Bikini Kill / Mike Watt• R.E.M. / Lauren O'Connell• The Breeders / Tune-Yards• Soundgarden / Brandi Carlile• Bjork / Julia Jacklin• Guided By Voices / Lauren O'Connell• Radiohead / Julian Lennon + Nuno Bettencourt• Bob Dylan / Mike Edison• Bob Dylan / Dave Gahan• Lucinda WIlliams / Robert Plant + Allison Krauss.

• '00s, '10s, and '20s Covers•
Queens Of The Stone Age / The Vaccines• Tame Impala / The Wiggles• Fiona Apple / The Secret Sisters• Paul McCartney / Phoebe Bridgers• Paul McCartney / Josh Homme.

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B E S T
R E I S S U E S :
2 0 2 1

Quality is timeless.

The Beatles,
with Billy Preston


BEST REISSUES 2021
by Tym StevensThis is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

This music player has songs from the following albums, in the same order.

•1950s•

•Various Artists, "Rip It Up: The Best Of Specialty Records"(1952-’59)
The L.A. label scorched the party with crucial artists like Lloyd Price, Little Richard, The Soul Stirrers with Sam Cooke, Larry Williams, and Percy Mayfield (and DOn And Dewey, not included here).

•Don Covay, "Hey There"(late-'50s)
Don is loved for his mid-'60s Atlantic Soul sides, but here's a fine sampling of his early Rocker platters.

•Nina Simone, "Nina Simone And Her Friends"(1959)
In the dawn of her career, Nina alternates songs with her colleages Chris Connor and Carmen McCrae.


Little Richard; Nina Simone;
Dick Dale; The Temptations

•1960s•

•The Drifters, "We Gotta Sing! The Soul Years 1962-’71"
Beyond their first wave of classic hits, The Drifters did many more stellar sides across the changing decade.

•Dick Dale and his Del-Tones, "Wild Ideas"(1963)
A collection of Dick's roaring Surf tunes from his prime era.

•Enrique Torres + Les Baxter, "Joyas Musicales del Peru"(1964)
Upbeat Peruvian romance melodies with lush 'Exotica' arrangements.

•The Temptations, "Emperors Of Soul: The Rarities"
The Motown vaults yeild more treasures with these rare B-sides and alternate takes.


•Laura Nyro, "Go Find The Moon: The Audition Tape"(1966)
In 20 minutes she nailed it: it was all already there, the songcraft, the voice, the lyrical ambition.

•Female Species, "Tale Of My Lost Love"(1966 +)
An unsung all-female Rock band gets a proper voerview, from their early Beat pop to their later country rock.

•The Who, "Sell Out" (Super Deluxe)
Theis edition unleashes all the goodies, expanding the 'radio jingle' concept album into a cornicopia of wondrous tunes and radio parodies.

•The Luv'd Ones, "Truth Gotta Stand"(1965-'67)
Char Vinnedge led the all-female band from Beatlesque pop to storming Jimi distortion. This collection of all their work is a must have.


Female Species; The Luv'd Ones;
Sly And The Family Stone; Joni Mitchell

•Johnny Cash, "Live At The Carousel Ballroom, April 24 1968"
Johnny and June setting the seeds of Outlaw Country to come, with their protest anthems, Dylan covers, and family mass.

•Various Artists, "It’s A Good, Good Feeling: The Latin Soul of Fania Records“(mid-'60s +)
Soul is Soul, and this box set showcases how artists like Ray Barreto, Willie Colón, Joe Bataan, and Monguito Santamaria spread the sunshine, the vibes, and the parameters.

•Various Artists, "Summer of Soul"(rec. 1969)
The Harlem Cultural Festival, now immortalized with Questlove's "Summer Of Soul" documentary, was graced by The Chambers Brothers, The Staple Singers, Ray Baretto, Nina Simone, and the mighty mighty Sly And The Family Stone.


•Joni Mitchell, "Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971)"
The queen of poetic introspection, quicksilver guitar, and elastic genres began her quest with these first four remastered albums, abetted by a 1970 concert.

•The Beatles, "Let It Be" (rec. 1969)
Forget the negative myths.
All of rock history's narratives about these sessions are wrong, and this deluxe box set, a comprehensive companion book, and Peter jackson's acclaimed 6-hour documentary "Get Back" have now set all the records straight.


Aretha Franklin

•1970s•

•The Beach Boys, "Feel Flows: The Sunflower and Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971"
When he got as ambitious as The Beatles in 1967 (the shelved "Smile" album), The Beach Boys initially fought Brian Wilson, damaging his spirit and esteem. Ironically, they proved him right by embracing looser experiments, cosmic consciousness, and continuous remakes of that material.

•Neil Young, "Carnegie Hall 1970"
An intimate solo acoustic show away from CSNY and Crazy Horse.

•Roberta Flack, "First Take"(1970)
The best Soul Jazz vocalist staked her claim with this classic album.

•Aretha Franklin, "ARETHA"(1956-2015)
The first box set to encompass Aretha's entire career, from the early Gospel sessions to her triumphant performace at the White House.


•Erma Franklin, "Brunswick Essentials"(1970)
Unfairly overshadowed by her sister Aretha, Erma had many fine Rock'n'Soul sides of her own.

•John Lennon, "Plastic Ono Band"(1970)
John's cathartic break from The Beatles is still one of Rock's bravest recordings, both a raw folk confessional and a grungey punk bruiser.

•George Harrison, "All Things Must Pass"(1971)
One of the best double-albums ever made, remastered with a healthy addition of unreleased demos.

•Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir, "I Shall Wear A Crown"(1971-'78)
'70s Gospel was especially soulful and funky, and here's a fine example of that.


Neil Young; Roberta Flack;
Eddie Hazel; Elvis Costello

•The Doors, "L.A. Woman"(1971)
The Door's final album as a quartet, with copious alternate takes and song sketches.

•O.V. Wright, "A Nickel And A Nail"(1971)
Besides Al Green, Hi Records had grand artists like the funky sass of Ann Peebles and the bluesy soul of O.V. Wright.

•Brainticket, "1971 Recording Session"
The multiculti Prog band, a more devious balance to Hawkwind, deserve all the limelight they can get.

•Black Sabbath, "Vol. 4"
The current remastering campaign of their catalog includes an excellent remastering of this classic album, both beautiful and brutish.


•Tony Joe White, "Smoke From The Chimney"
A trove of unreleased demos from the master of Swamp Pop.

•Muddy Waters, "The Montreux Years"(1972, '74, '77)
Muddy experienced a career renaissance after his counterculture festivals dates that carried him through the decade.

•Can, "Live In Stuttgart 1975”
Losing their singer, the motorik band returned to their intense and entrancing freeform improvs.

•Experience Unlimited, "Free Yourself”(1977)
Before E.U. became a major '80s GoGo Funk band, they debuted here as a righteous Funk prog force with Fusion chops and Rock fury.


•Eddie Hazel, "Games, Dames, And Guitar Thangs"(1977)
The Jimi Hendrix of Funkadelic, in his only solo album, nailed it with funtastic originals, and legendary covers of The Beatles'"I Want You" and The Mamas And The Papas'"California Dreamin'".

•Elvis Costello And The Attractions, "Armed Forces"(1979)
The Angry Young Punk was among the most literate, as the scathing anti-Fascist commentary, slippery chord changes, and shrewd puns in this super deluxe box set proves.


The Delmonas

•1980s•

•Various Artists, "Shake The Foundations: Militant Funk And The Post-Punk Dancefloor 1978-1984"
Concurrent with Mutant Disco in the US, the UK deconstructed dance music into an art soundscape that anticipated TechnoFunk and Industrial.

•Bush Tetras, "Rhythm And Paranoia: The Best Of"(early-'80s)
As part of that NYC scene, this PunkFunk combo married snotty swagger with bounding grooves, influencing everone from Romeo Void to Sonic Youth.

•Bob Dylan, "Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 / 1980-1985"(1980)
Bob's most maligned period gets another chance, with stripped down alternate takes.

•The Delmonas, "Hello, We Love You! The Big Beat EPs"(late-'80s)
The female Garage band's work, before they morphed into Thee Headcoatees.

•Joe Strummer, "Assembly"(1986-'02)
A synopsis of the Clash leader's solo career, as compiled for Dhani Harrison's relaunched Dark Horse label.

•1990s•

•Nirvana, "Nevermind"(1991)
This 30th anniversary bonanza includes four live concert recordings, charting the band's evolution from indie outsiders to world conquerors across four months.

•L7, "Wargasm: The Slash Years 1992-1997"
One of the greatest and most crucial grunge bands (then and now) gets their propers with this incendiary audit.

•David Bowie, "Brilliant Adventures (1992-2001)"
This box set documents David's restless style changes -often analogous to his late-'70s breakthroughs- with dance, art-rock, and ambient.

•Buena Vista Social Club, "Buena Vista Social Club"(1997)
When Ry Cooder recorded the veterans of the isolated Cuban music scene as an inpromptu group, they became a sensation triumphing on world tours.

•Supergrass, "In It For The Money"(1997)
What do you do when you make your "Abbey Road" on your second album and everybody slept on it? Supergrass kept advancing, while you rubes can just catch up now.


Sharon Jones; Goat

•2010s•

•Prince, "Welcome 2 America"(rec. 2010)
Prince's unreleased 2010 album sees official release, .

•Various Artists, "The Daptone Super Soul Revue Live at the Apollo"(rec. 2014)
Sharon Jones brought her label mates to the legendary Apollo for a classic-style revue. How lucky that audience was to experience Sharon and The Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley, Antibalas, Menahan Street Band, and The Budos Band, along with worthy stalwarts like Saun + Starr, Naomie Shelton, and The Como Mamas.

•Goat, "Headsoup"(2012-'18)
The mysterious collective radiates somewhere between AfroBeat and Psyche Prog. This collection of rarities provides an alternate map.
(The title is a pun on The Rolling Stones'"Goats Head Soup" album.)





© Tym Stevens

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"A splendid time is guaranteed for all!"

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See also:

•BEST COMICS: 2021

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2020
•BEST MUSIC: 2020
•BEST COMICS: 2020

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2019
•BEST MUSIC: 2019
•BEST COMICS: 2019

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2018
•BEST MUSIC: 2018
•BEST COMICS: 2018

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2017
•BEST MUSIC: 2017
•BEST COMICS: 2017

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2016
•BEST MUSIC: 2016
•BEST COMICS: 2016

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2015
•BEST MUSIC: 2015
•BEST COMICS: 2015

•BEST MUSIC: 2014
•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2014
•BEST COMICS: 2014

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2013
•BEST MUSIC: 2013
•BEST COMICS: 2013

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2012
•BEST MUSIC: 2012
•BEST COMICS: 2012

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2011
•BEST MUSIC: 2011
•BEST COMICS: 2011

•BEST MOVIES & TV: 2020
•BEST COMICS: 2000-2010
•BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010


• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!

• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music!, with 3 Music Players!

• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist

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The Great, The Good, and The Interesting!

M A I D

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Shortcut links:
•BEST MOVIES: 2021
•BEST DOCUMENTARIES: 2021
•BEST TV: 2021

•BEST RESTORATION: 2021NEW +!
•C R I T E R I O N


Note: This will often spotlight directors for special merit.
But Auteur Theory is a shoebox; films are a collaborative effort with everyone involved.

Because of the pandemic, some films made in 2020 got broad release in streaming formats to fill the product gap, and are included.

Spoiler-free film summations in italics.

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"And... Action!"

B E S T
M O V I E S :
2 0 2 1

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T H I N K

✭✭✭✭✭ Film Of The Year.
•BAD LUCK BANGING Or LOONY PORN (Romania) ⇧
A woman’s personal life is misused against her by a hypocritical society.

An acerbic satire in three acts, unfolding like a casual documentary. Connecting the thread between Covid-deniers and latent Fascism, it mocks the selfish as the social cancer which poisons democracy, progress, and public health.

It’s also deviously funny, whip smart, and climaxes with brazen verve.

See also:
WEEKEND (France, 1967), THE FIREMAN’S BALL (Czech, 1967), THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE (France/Spain, 1973)

__________



•JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH⇧
A true story of how the Black Panthers were infiltrated and terrorized by the FBI.

Fred Hampton was the charismatic leader of the late-‘60s Chicago branch of the Black Panther Party. This biopic traces their betrayal by an informant, and exposes to a mainstream audience the relentlessly bigoted and fascistic drive of the FBI, and their puppet cops, to destroy all populist empowerment movements.

Which makes it a precisely relevant parable for now, as the corrupt heirs to this in today’s precincts and courts and assemblies continue that persecution. Kudos to director Shaka King and star Daniel Kaluuya for bringing this crucial history to life.

Hell should exist, solely for monsters like Hoover.

See also:
COINTELPRO


•ANNETTE⇧
An unlikely romance and an unworldly wunderkind propel this postmodern musical.

The avant-popsters Sparks and director Leos Carax (HOLY MOTORS) homage -while completely deconstructing- Classic Hollywood and musical extravaganzas. A song cycle that lilts like Piaf with a punk heart, impelled by Marion Cotillard and reaching its startling pinnacle in a duet/duel between Adam Driver and young Devon McDowell.

See also:
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (France, 1964), TOMMY (1975), TRUE STORIES (1986)

•THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH⇧
The lust for royal power corrodes a treacherous couple’s souls.

Filmed in black and white, with serious debt to Orson Welles, the enduring cautionary tale writhes with a sterling cast led by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, but purloined by the unnerving performance of Kathryn Hunter as the Witches.

See also:
MACBETH (1948), OTHELLO (1951), THRONE OF BLOOD (Japan, 1957)

•THE CARD COUNTER⇧
The stealthy card shark cruising the casino circuit is haunted by traumatic secrets.

Paul Schrader's latest quietly follows a stealth nobody (the typically great Oscar Isaacs) milking from the margins as life catches up with him.

See also:
ATLANTIC CITY (1980), THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986), 'Ghosts Of Abu Ghraib'(doc, 2007)



•CLIFF WALKERS, a.k.a., Impasse (China) ⇧
The Chinese resistance undermines the Japanese occupation in the early 1930s.

Zhang Yimou, restlessly expanding outside of his stylish Wushu epics, unfurls a gripping spy thriller that rivets like a heist.

•NO SUDDEN MOVE⇧
1954 Detroit crooks recruited for a quick job realize something shadier is going on.

Steven Soderbergh unpeels levels of crime, from oppressed poor to suburban middlers to board rooms, on the heels of hoodlums Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro.

See also:
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), ‘Fargo’, Season 4 (2020)

•BERGMAN ISLAND⇧
A filmmaker couple visits Ingmar Bergman’s island locations for inspiration.

Is it an interesting postscript to a celluloid legacy by a promising new creator, or a newbie coasting on impressions? Maybe both, still works. Mia Wasikowska has an interesting turn in the film within the film.

See also:
Bergman’s SUMMER WITH MONICA (Sweden, 1953), PERSONA (1966), SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (1973)


Also:

•TITANE (France)
J.G. Ballard’s “Crash” gets high with HOLY MOTORS and BOYS DON’T CRY.

A head-fry with some admirable verve that might shock the impressionable.

•NOBODY
The bad guys just messed over the wrong nobody.

A black comedy about vengeance casting Bob Odenkirk against type, best when it parodies JOHN WICK with ‘Better Call Saul’ wit, less so when it blows out into Tarantino aggro.

•WILD INDIAN
A traumatic event in their youth splits the paths of two Native American men.

The three acts feel like short stories, each of which should have become a developed film. Chaske Spencer gives a standout performance.

•NIGHTMARE ALLEY
A carny hustler swindles his way to his big reward.

Guillermo del Toro’s languid and dreamy expansion on the 1946 noir allegory novel is a well-crafted ride, if a bit on-the-nose and overlong.
(I think the 1947 film version is more potent in less time.)

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S M I L E

•SHIVA BABY⇧
At a Jewish wake gathering, a young woman’s entire messed-up life gets grilled.

Rachel Sennott’s knack for making the awkward and uncomfortable stone hilarious is a marvel, and a crack ensemble -including Paula Draper and Fred Melamed as her parents- are so effortlessly great you’d think it’s a documentary.

See also:
ANNIE HALL (1977), A WEDDING (1978)

•PLAN B⇧
When she thinks she might be pregnant, the friends’ epic road quest begins.

An especially savvy flip on teen films by director Natalie Morales (star of ‘The Middleman’ cult TV show), zigzagging the ludicrous with the poignant.

The rollicking chemistry between stars Victoria Moroles and Kuhoo Verma could drive any film to success, hint hint.

•FREE GUY
Guy is beginning to realize there may be more to life than being a video game cipher.

Beyond all the gamer (and superhero) metatext, anyone can easily enjoy this engaging and clever farce, rolling smooth on the droll deadpan of Ryan Reynolds.

See also:
THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998), WRECK-IT RALPH (2012), READY PLAYER ONE (2018)



•THE PAPER TIGERS(2020)
Three former martial arts prodigies reunite in middle age to stop a killer.

Goofy fun in the Jackie Chan mode.

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D R E A M

✭✭✭✭✭
•NO TIME TO DIE⇧

The most radical James Bond run reaches its fearless conclusion.

A brilliant film, precisely for all the reasons that haven’t happened before.

For a more comprehensive view of this singular film, read:
➤ NO TIME TO DIE: How James Bond Advanced Beyond




•DUNE: Part One⇧
There is a power struggle on the desert world that could raze the galactic empire.

Frank Herbert’s timeless book “Dune”(1965) combined Burrough’s ‘John Carter Of Mars’ books, the galactic anthropology of Asimov’s “Foundation” series, and the haunted messiah and panoramic sweep of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962). It helped push sci-fi out of pulp into literature, sifting the electrifying into the Shakespearian.

In the spirit of the Bard (just as much as Coen’s MACBETH above), director Denis Villeneuve (ARRIVAL, BLADE RUNNER 2049) strips the saga down to its political moves and canny language, dressing it in brutalist architecture and atmospheric panoramas lensed like graphic art. This balance of soliloquy and spectacular creates a dynamic tension that feels and looks like nothing else out there. Arise, Arrakis.

See also:
Heinlein’s “Stranger In A Strange Land”(1961), Fellini SATYRICON (1969), Lynch’s DUNE (1984)
__________




•THE MATRIX Resurrections⇧
Wake up and control your narrative.

When Warner Media’s bad leadership* threatened to reboot her franchise without her, Lana Wachowski instead transhipped the script with this clever flip-off to the Machine.

Her sharp humor makes the MATRIX more relevant than ever, covertly using the elastic constructed-conformity metaphor to satirize Greedy Corporations, TechBros, sexist gamers, ageist trendies, consumer kapos, copbots, dittoheads, pop psychologists, meme media, digital classism, perpetual upgrades, cynical reboots, male messiahs, and the global brainwash of binary absolutism.
(Cue kneejerk media backlash from the guilty in 3-2-1…)

There’s also fresh inclusion, surprise revelations, a new sense of fun, and some casual spoofing of its own vaunted seriousness and cultural impact. All this and “White Rabbit”!

Along the way she gave us a lovely coda that rejuvenates as it renovates.
Re/vision, upgrade, remedy, postscript, rebirth, open sky.

✶ ➤ ”Inside the flaming dumpster fire at AT+T/WarnerMedia/HBO Max“

__________



•GHOSTBUSTERS: Afterlife⇧
Two kids in badlands nowhere discover their connection to the legendary ghost events of 1984 NYC.

Jason Reitman, the literal next generation, does a fine homage to his dad’s original, the mythos, and the fans. Laudably innovative in its fresh style, shot like a handheld indie film about homeland misfits, it folds wily into the classic mode by its climax. Good call.

•THE GREEN KNIGHT⇧
How far will Sir Gawain go to prove himself worthy of the Arthur legacy?

An oblique fable, a phantasmic odyssey, a lovely nightmare, a revelatory choice.

See also:
EXCALIBUR (1981), GRETEL AND HANSEL (2020)


•WENDY(2020)⇧
A contemporary indie reimagining of “Peter Pan”.

Shot loose and impressionistic in rustic wilds, this rough hewn tale in the U.S. backwoods with magic realism touches chases after kids on the confusing crux of maturity.

See also:
LORD OF THE FLIES (1963), WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (2009), BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012)


•LAPSIS(2020)⇧
People are lured into a strange gig spooling cable through forests to mysterious computing cubes.

A bunch of indie newcomers impress in this wry jest on tech utopianism, pyramid scams, survivalism, and the gig economy.

•NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN (Poland)
The enigmatic masseuse in an upscale community may be more than he seems.

Low-key, sardonic, ambiguous.

•UNDINE (Germany, 2020)
Who is the mysterious historian, who seems so haunted by the water?

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N I G H T M A R E

•A QUIET PLACE Part II⇧
Like semaphores, the mute rebellion against the invading aliens begins.

A smart sequel worthy of the classic original, advancing the characters and the scope.

•LAST NIGHT IN SOHO
A modern fashion student keeps dreaming her way to 1965 London, but something is wrong there.

Edgar Wright’s labor of love evokes many film classics, from the Kitchen Sink class struggle of Richardson and the Mod energy of Lester, to some Argento and Romero chills in its third reel. Special kudos for including ‘60s screen icons Rita Tushingham, Terence Stamp, and Diana Rigg.

See also:
A TASTE OF HONEY (1961), BLOW-UP (1966), TEOREMA (1968), SUSPIRIA (1977)

•COME TRUE (Canada, 2020)
The dark figures in a troubled sleep study patient’s dreams seem real.

Wide-eyed and wary Julia Sarah Stone is impressive in this smart chiller.

See also:
INK (2009)



•A NIGHTMARE WAKES(2020)
Lord Byron dares the Shelleys to a ghost story contest.

There are multiple film interpretations of the storied night that produced “Frankenstein” (and “The Vampyre”). This is another interesting one.

See also:
GOTHIC (1986), MARY SHELLEY (2017)

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G R A P H I C
I M A G E S

•BLACK WIDOW
The secret life of the mysterious spy hero, Natasha Romanoff.

Under-appreciated, this taut thriller grows surprisingly nuanced introducing her dysfunctional family, a complex history, and perpetual plot twists. If you wanted an inversion on traditional James Bond films and couldn’t get with NO TIME TO DIE, you have it all here.

➤ NO TIME TO DIE: How James Bond Advanced Beyond

•SHANG-CHI And The Legend Of The Ten Rings
The haunted son of a crime lord must face his past while saving the future.

At last, the greatest martial arts master in comics history gets global spotlight. Instead of the ‘Bruce Lee in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE’ blow-out we always wanted, here is the Wushu Fantasy we didn’t know we needed so much. Rise and advance, spirit.

•ETERNALS
They have guided humanity since its beginning, but to what ultimate celestial purpose?

Legendary artist Jack Kirby, the perpetual idea machine behind many of Marvel and DC Comics greatest concepts, gets his due. Chloé Zhao’s interpretation of his alien seraphs is a meditative epic bridging Kubrick to Malick in tone and subtext, by turns faceted and naturalistic while quicksilver and wry. Those who expected rote formula didn’t get it, but quality still lasts for the long.

See also:
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), THE FOUNTAIN (2006), THE TREE OF LIFE (2011), NOMADLAND (2020)

➤ 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY: Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture



•SPIDER-MAN: No Way Home
One day, Peter Parker fractured the Multiverse.

What if all eight Spider-Man films, with their varied actors and approaches, were actually all one long story coming to a head?
A splendid time enjoyed by all.

---

A R T F L I X

•RAYA And The Last Dragon⇧
A panoply of South Asian mythos fuses into an innovative Fantasy about empowerment and unity.

If SHANG-CHI raised the bar for exemplary action Fantasy this year, RAYA may even have surpassed it with its clever freshness, nuanced inclusivity, inspired visions, downright funniness, and its unusually brave climax. Wonderfully done in every way.

•LUCA
Two fishboys break the rules turning human to explore a forbidden Italian coastal town.

This Pixar love letter to Italia (and its cinema) is great fun, and gorgeously rendered. The pandemic kept away the movie crowds, but don’t miss out on enjoying this gem.

•ENCANTO
A magic realism fantasy about enchanted homes and haunted families.

This crowd-warmer bursts with beautiful design, always dancing fluid and fleet (if at times manic), with enough catchy songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda (‘Hamilton’) to tickle your synapses for days.



•THE MITCHELLS vs. THE MACHINES
A dysfunctional suburban family may be the key to defeating a mad Singularity from conquering humanity.

Sometimes spastic works. This chaotic tumble starts off clattering, but gradually its goofy heart and snappy wit hit lift-off.

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B E S T
D O C U M E N T A R I E S :
2 0 2 1

•NO ORDINARY MAN (Canada)
A known Jazz musician since the ‘30s was covertly transgender.

•BRIAN WILSON: Long Promised Road

A doc following Brian around on loose drives, reminiscing about the history of The Beach Boys.

•GET BACK⇧

LET IT BE (1970) miscast the end of The Beatles as an acrimonious divorce, marring Rock history. Peter Jackson’s new 6-hour mini-series recasts the early-1969 sessions in a fuller context: an emotionally varied and complex but fruitful transition from “The White Album” to “Abbey Road”, where their final triumph would allow each the confidence to go it alone.

•SUMMER OF SOUL (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

A previously unreleased doc of the 1969 Harlem Culture Festival concerts, with knock-out performances from legends like Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, The Staple Singers, and the godly Sly And The Family Stone.


•FANNY: The Right To Rock⇧
Proper respect for Fanny, the first all-female Rock band signed to a major label to make albums. As a Pinay power pioneer, leader June Millington went on to usher Womyn’s Music, and helms The Institute of The Musical Arts where young women learn to Rock.

➤ FannyTheMovie.com
➤ "Snapsnots": June’s new solo album
➤ "Land of a Thousand Bridges": June’s bio book

•1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything
It’s true. The apex of the Counterculture was a tsunami of inspiration and emancipation that has lifted all creative (and political) boats ever since.

•THE SPARKS BROTHERS
Peeling back the mystery of the Maul brothers, making malleable Art-Pop since the early-’70s as the band Sparks.

See also:
their musical, ANNETTE (2021)


•WITCH: We Intend to Cause Havoc⇧
For a too brief but vital period in the mid-‘70s, African rock bands like WITCH waved their freak flag high. But rebellion was overcome by government goons, and the scene was left only on wax and memory.

•POLY STYRENE: I Am A Cliché⇧
“Oh, bondage… up yours!”

The leader of X-Ray Spex was anything but cliched; a Somali teen with braces and mania fronting a punk band of barbed guitar with screeching sax, an alien visitor tearing up consumerism and misogyny.
Riot Grrrl 101.



•MY OCTOPUS TEACHER(2020)
A jaded filmmaker discovers an unlikely bond with a small octopus in the kelp reef.

Opens your heart and your mind.



•ATTICA
In 1971, prisoners rose up against systemic abuse.

•SABAYA
The struggle to liberate sex slaves from the terrorist group, ISIS.



•SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE (China)
3 revered writers share their lifetime overviews of China's modern evolutions.

•TENZIN
A personal tragedy exposes the abuses to Tibetans by occupying Chinese.

•76 DAYS (China/USA)
The early spread of COVID in China.

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B E S T
T V :
2 0 2 1

(The season number follows each title.)

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N E W S

Feed your mind and your activism will follow.

•The Rachel Maddow Show

•LAST WEEK with John Oliver

•PBS NewsHour

•PBS FRONTLINE

•THE DAILY SHOW, with Trevor Noah⇧

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D R A M A

•THE HANDMAID’S TALE 4 ⇧
The tide begins to turn against the oppressors in the penultimate season.

This important series, fighting valiantly against all fundamentalism and its core misogyny, has done an admirable job expanding out Margaret Atwood’s classic book.

But what if the path you’re forging starts forking into the wrong one? This season, while notably game-changing in its second-half turnaround, is troubled by a blind vengeance streak. Keeping the direct spirit of the book, our revolutionary hero should be more akin to Harriet Tubman or Ann Frank than ‘John Wick’. Consider your final steps thoughtfully.


M I N I - S E R I E S


✭✭✭✭✭ Mini-Series Of The Year.
•MAID⇧
A poor single mother struggles to support her young daughter and get forward in life.

TV suburbia never existed. Based on Stephanie Land’s true memoir, this brave series strips life to the real.

Poverty is a rigged game, designed by the high to crush the low. Survival is a daily gauntlet, which aspiring writer Alex desperately threads with her wits and a resolve driven by fierce love. It’s a familiar path to the struggling. Toxic peers, screw-up family, dead-end local, serf jobs, hell commutes, jaded aid. Living in trailers, campers, shelters, cars. Working too hard for the spoiled, indifferent, cruel. Hustling triple to get a third as far. Helplessness, anger, exhaustion, joys. ‘Maid’ feels like a documentary and rings true with every memory you have. Central star Margaret Qualley is hypnotic, and Andie MacDowell (her actual mother as her mother) has the wildest role of her career.

Most shows are fables you step out of after. This one followed my thoughts for weeks, as if I was worried about actual loved ones and our shared problems.

That’s how stories should be told and felt.

__________



•MARE OF EASTTOWN⇧
Fighting her own demons, a Phillie hamlet cop’s life becomes entwined with a devastating murder.

Numbed by grief, a tough sarge is confronted by a crime that fissures her from all sides. An intricate mystery, harrowing and constantly surprising, as funny as it is blunt, riding on a deep character play, with the excellent Kate Winslet supported by a first-class cast.
Don’t miss it.

•A VERY BRITISH SCANDAL
A treatment of the true events surrounding a royal scandal in 1963.

The scandal siege surrounding the Duchess reveals the perfect storm of hypocrisy created by a classist elite, a sleazy press, and a trashtalk public.
(Which is why you are punked by every headline narrative now.)


•IT’S A SIN⇧
The turmoils to gay liberation caused by AIDS during 1980s Britain.

Russell T. Davis (‘Queer As Folk’, ‘Doctor Who’) parallels ‘Pose’ with his memoir of his London youth. Often funny, always frank, we follow winning freespirits devastated by a stealth disease, misinformation, a lax press, a repressive government, and family bigotry. Along the way, humanity carries the day.
You’ll laugh, cry, and feel love.

•THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD⇧
An alternate history allegory where the anti-slavery escape system is not just a metaphor.

Barry Jenkins (Best Picture for MOONLIGHT) adapts Colson Whitehead’s acclaimed 2016 book. Using the device of a literal freedom railway system as a hinge, this symbolic parable follows a runaway woman through the hierarchical spaces of slavery. Bittersweet and brutal, clear-eyed and piercing (if consistently absolutist), proudly human and fiercely rebellious.

Thuso Mbedu is arresting as the tortured lead. Jenkins turns every chapter into a mesmerizing short film, cinematographer James Laxton’s lucent use of natural light evokes Hal Ashby and Haskell Wexler, all filled with ominous ache by Nicholas Britell’s haunting score.

See also:
Ellison’s “The Invisible Man”(1952), Márquez’s “One Hundred Years Of Solitude”(1967), Haley’s “Roots”(1976)



•STATION ELEVEN⇧
In a post-plague dystopia, a haunted woman in a traveling actors show is obsessed with a visionary graphic novel from before.

Like Brian K. Vaughan writing a Vertigo Comic countermanding King’s “The Stand” with a Fellini sensibility. Stitching the mysterious synchronicities of motley characters across before and after, this fresh mosaic about starting over is as startling as it is touching.

See also:
'Star Trek', "The Conscience Of The King"(S01/E13, 1966), 'Lost'(2004), 'Utopia'(UK, 2013)


•BRAND NEW CHERRY FLAVOR
A promising filmmaker comes to LA, encountering monsters real and surreal along her struggle.

Rosa Salazar notches another genre win in this demented black comedy / thriller / stylefest / nightmare / cautionary tale.

•MIDNIGHT MASS
Something terrible is rising amid a remote fishing island community.

All the foreboding and chills you expect. But also a deeper homage to ’70s horror novels, with rich world-building and actual conversations at length with depth between characters.

See also:
THE EXORCIST (1973), JAWS (1975), 'Salem’s Lot'(1979)

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D E T E C T I V E

•CLARICE⇧
The return of Clarice Starling.

As a fan of Thomas Harris’ books, “Red Dragon” and “The Silence of the Lambs”, I enjoyed Bryan Fuller’s prequel TV series 'Hannibal'(2013-’15) like everyone else. Even though it was tonally wrong.

Harris’ books were procedural thrillers more akin to “All The Presidents Men” and ZODIAC, whereas Fuller was channeling them as a Lynch-esque gothic delirium, essentially turning Lecter into a symbolist and somnambulistic version of “Dracula”. The acclaimed 'Hannibal' show entranced its admirers so much for three seasons, no one thought to challenge that. When the separate TV series 'Clarice' arrived (a sequel to “Silence”, made by other rights holders), many partisans dismissed it unfairly as an interloper when in truth it was an intervention.

Harris’ two best books balanced their sensitive profilers. If Will Graham had intuited crime investigations through a cognitive empathy with killers, Clarice Starling did so through an instinctive empathy with victims. 'Clarice' restored the sober investigative procedural tone of the books, but now infused with welcome new dimensions: her folksy warmth and mysterious past, new sensitivity to LGBTQ+ identities, an especially welcome spotlight on Ardelia Mapp, and a canny focus on wider crimes than serial killer formulas. Currently in limbo, the sharp series deserved better reception and more seasons.



Here’s how to make everyone happy. Let Bryan Fuller make Phase 2 of his original plans, adapting an expansion of “The Silence Of The Lambs”, with the star of this series, Rebecca Breeds. Then make Phase 3, where Will and Clarice team up for Fuller’s all-new finale, (while acknowledging that the 'Clarice' series fits in between them). All the fans will be happy, and the various rights-holders will get a mutually lucrative success. Balance wins the day.

See also:
‘Mindhunter‘(2017)

__________


•LUPIN 1
A modern admirer of the literary “Gentleman Burglar” uses his techniques to clear his father’s name.

Omar Sy is a charming lead in this breezy homage to the Auguste Lupin books, at its best in its stylish heist sequences.

•PROFESSOR T. (UK) 1
A hypersensitive crime historian helps Scotland Yard solve murders.

This is the fourth iteration of this series, with previous versions from Belgium, Germany, and France. A variant on Sherlock Holmes and the neurotic 'Monk'(2002), this familiar but fun mystery procedural is continually entertaining thanks to its solid leads, Ben Miller and Emma Naomi.

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A N I M A T I O N

__________
M o v i n g
A r t

For a century, the assembly-line production of traditional Animation has always been restricted to 2D characters on 3D backgrounds, essentially looking like comic book figures pinned onto a watercolor painting. It’s a shotgun wedding of two good/mismatched styles we’ve all grown used to.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1938);
Sprited Away (2001)

After two decades of SFX houses creating photorealistic CG creatures in live action films, it’s f-i-n-a-l-l-y dawning on both cel and CG animators to make the foreground look like the background. This year saw notable advances that way, by varied degrees.

'Star Trek: Prodigy';
'Star Wars: Visions'
'Arcane'

'Star Trek: Prodigy' mapped more painterly textures onto its CG characters’ faces to enliven the puppetry. Among all the slick CG in THE MILLERS vs THE MACHINES, the hands and figures of the characters often have textures like loose production art. The stunning samurai opener in 'Star Wars: Visions' unfurled like bamboo ink drawings moving. And most advanced of all, 'Arcane' unified its characters and backgrounds in one style like it had all been hand-painted in oils.

'New Gods'; 'Tintin';
'Kingdom Come'; 'Black Hole';
'The Spirit'; Pinkney's 'The Lion And The Mouse'

So let’s go forward. Make animated films that reflect the exact art styles of the original sources; for example, a 'New Gods' that duplicates Jack Kirby’s actual cubist-futurism style; a clean-line 'Tintin' that sprints like Hergé come to life; a 'Kingdom Come' adaptation in Alex Ross’ qouache naturalism; the eerily exact inking of Charles Burn’s forest noir, 'Black Hole'; a 'Corto Maltese' adventure in Hugo Pratt’s organic inks, or a 'Terry And The Pirates' in Milton Caniff’s swashes, or 'The Spirit' in all of Will Eisner’s noir glory; childrens’ tales in Jerry Pinkney’s lush watercolors; 'Fun Home' adapted in Alison Bechdel’s real hand; or Studio Ghibli crafting foregrounds as painterly as their legendary backgrounds.

And avoid the CG puppet lope underneath all these mapped textures; like AVATAR, use mo-cap of real actors making the actual moves as they act the lines instead of just reading in a booth, for more realistic actions and expressions (and vocals) to guide the animators’ finishes.

We’ve had fine harbingers.: Disney’s metatext approach on their 'Winnie The Pooh' cartoons,; the roto/shop of A SCANNER DARKLY (2006); the hand-painted oils of LOVING VINCENT (2017). Draw on the possible.

__________



•CITY OF GHOSTS 1 ⇧
A kids group investigates Los Angeles looking for ghosts, meeting friendly spirits who teach them the eclectic histories of the city.

An all-ages delight, genuinely adorable and deftly smart, with a natural voice cast and inspired music.

•DISENCHANTED 3
Matt Groening’s Fantasy spoof is more engaging for its plots than its jokes as it goes, but it’s always fun.



•ARCANE 1 ⇧
A steampunk Fantasy spiraling around spectral futures and haunted pasts.

This adaptation based on the popular online video game ‘League Of Legends’ thrills with its sumptuous world-building, painted style, and power intrigues, but what surprises is the deeply heartfelt story that catalyzes its engine.
Terrific in all regards, for casual viewers and gamers alike.

•STAR TREK: Prodigy 1
The first Star Trek geared for young viewers takes flight.

It had all the warning signs of typical CG Animation excess*, but instead turned out to be just great. A fresh and innovative All-Ages series following young space cadets that gets richer as it goes.

✶ The CG Animation Blunder List:
Over-designed, hyperbolic, frenzied, strobing, slick, faddish, no-brow, shrill, clatter-chatter.
Please stop.

•STAR TREK: Lower Decks 2

More of an ensemble approach this season instead of focused through the irrepressible Mariner, jogging then sprinting to new spaces.

---

W O N D E R

•STAR TREK: Discovery 4 ⇧

The franchise’s most radical series does the most unexpected thing of all… going conventional? Reaching a point in space and time to start over, it retools itself to tell Berman-era ship stories with all the flair of Abrams’ films still intact. Trad/Rad at the same time.


•COWBOY BEBOP 1 ⇧
A live-action amplification of the classic 1998 Anime series.

Purists reacted puerile, wanting precise literalism. Meanwhile, on the real side, the brave series jettisoned some of the original’s flaws (cheesecake, homophobia, damsel-ing, rote stoicism, noir fatalism) and revved up needed upgrades (deeper interplay, double story time, character depth beyond postures, surprise turnovers, metatextual in-jokes). Once it had its feet by the fourth episode, it was running full tilt.

The gripers won and Netflix canceled it. The quality still remains regardless, so the adults in the room see ya, Space Cowboys.



•DOCTOR WHO 13 ⇧
The third and final season of Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor.

Never mind the sexists, here’s The Doctor!

Showrunner Chris Chibnell (‘Broadchurch’) continued to bravely deconstruct and revitalize The Doctor’s secret history, liberating it from continuity constraints and twerking at the kneejerks by opening up an inclusive and infinite range of new possibilities.

Wipe the froth off, PubYobs, and get with. Next.


P H O T O
•LOST IN SPACE 3
This space-faring series was first-rate from start to finish.

The final season, always exciting and touching, wrapped up all of its bows in fine fashion.

•SNOWPIERCER 2

Sometimes, when a key character leaves, you can feel the hard rattle of an entire series straining to switch gears. (see also: 'Wiseguy', 'Misfits') This season worked to switch tracks while trying to go forward. Results varied.

•THE WHEEL OF TIME 1 ⇧

What could have been a New Age gloss on Tolkien conventions finds its own feet as an inclusive and crafty advance in Fantasy. And it has the most breathtaking scenery (drone-cam swoops) on Television.

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H E R O E S

•WANDA/VISION
In the wake of loss, the magical Wanda finds herself rotating through a sitcom reality.

Getting meta with television, film and comics continuity, and its audience’s expectations proves a fun mindwarp.

•THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER⇧
The mantle of Captain America is heavy, but who will take it on?

The films have celebrated the classic ‘60s and ’70s Marvel heroes. The comics have moved on to diverse young upstarts inheriting their mantles.

Now the shows and films are translating those transitions, bringing us a new wave of contemporary heroes that reflect the present world and the audience.

•LOKI 1 ⇧
Given a second chance, will the trickster choose a better path?

The God of Mischief has always been malleable, but now he’s beside himselves. A double buddy comedy with ‘70s futurism, alternate selves, cosmic grandeur, cool elan, and a great library.

•WHAT IF? 1 ⇧
The Watcher reveals alternate realities of how key Marvel movie events may have forked differently.

DC had 'Imaginary Stories' in the ’60s. Marvel responded with "What If?" comics (1977) where key comics events each took a different turn.
This animated series does the same for pivotal MCU film events, before becoming something much more surprising and crucial.

•HAWKEYE 1 ⇧
There’s a new archer in town and she may be better.

More mantle turnovers, as the new Hawkeye and Black Widow arrive, in this very funny action series.

Christmas! Pizza Dog! Boomerang Arrows! Combat bonding! And a shocking villain!

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C O M E D Y

•WE ARE LADY PARTS (UK) 1 ⇧
A Muslim punk band in London smashes all barriers, social and internal.

The smartest comedy on television: like 'Fleabag' smashed into 'The Young Ones', an outrageous romp taking on immigrant challenges, dogma doctrine, pub slobs, shoulder chips, social vampires, and projectile vomiting. Add great music, stir up hotheads, serve justice.

Anjana Vasan is constantly hilarious, her guitar playing chameleonic, and her a capella version of Radiohead’s “Creep” a complete jaw-dropper.


•RESERVATION DOGS 1 ⇧
Four Native Americans teens cope with wild ups and downs on an Oklahoma reservation.

The other smartest comedy on television: like Sherman Alexie trolling John Hughes, a hilarious coming-of-ager livewired by potato chip heists, Rap cousins on banana bikes, chucklehead gangs, the loopy Spirit Guide, elder nudism, and The Dear Lady in flares.

See also:
SMOKE SIGNALS (1998)

•ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING 1
Who is the killer in the elite apartment building?, ask the amateur podcasters.

Steve Martin and Martin Short reunite, abetted by Selena Gomez, for a wily spoof on murder mysteries, cliffhanger podcasts, Manhattanites, Sting, superfans, Broadway, TV detective shows, and some REAR WINDOW. Tune in.

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B E S T
R E S T O R A T I O N

•NUMBER SEVENTEEN(Britain, 1932)
Alfred Hitchcock • 4k (Kino Lorber)

•BRINGING UP BABY(US, 1938)
Howard Hawks • (Criterion)

•CITIZEN KANE(US, 1941)⇧
Orson Welles • 4K Blu-Ray (Criterion)

•PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET(US, 1953)
Samuel Fuller • Blu-ray (Criterion)

•REAR WINDOW(US, 1954)⇧
Alfred Hitchcock • 4K (Universal)

•THE HUMAN CONDITION Trilogy(Japan, 1959)⇧
Masaki Kobayashi • Blu-Ray (Criterion)


•THE CLOUD-CAPPED STAR(India, 1960)⇧
Satyajit Rey

•BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE(W. Germany, 1963)
Michael Powell

•ONIBABA(Japan, 1964)⇧
Kaneto Shindo • (Criterion)

•THE STORY OF A THREE DAY PASS
(US, 1968)
Melvin Van Peebles

•MANDABI(Senegal, 1968)
Ousmane Sembene

•THE LEARNING TREE(US, 1969)⇧
Gordon Parks • (Criterion)


•EL TOPO(Mex, 1970)⇧
Alejandro Jodorowsky • 4k (Arrow Video)

•A CLOCKWORK ORANGE(Britain, 1971)⇧
Stanley Kubrick • 4K (Warner Brothers)

•NATIONTIME(US, 1972)⇧
William Greaves • (Kino Lorber)

•HOLY MOUNTAIN(Mex, 1973)
Alejandro Jodorowsky • 4k (Arrow Video)

•TOUKI BOUKI(Senegal, 1973)
Djibril Diop Mambety • 2K (Criterion)

•THE MIRROR(Russia, 1974)
Andrei Tarkovsky


•INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS(US, 1978)
Philip Kaufman • 4K Blu-Ray (Kino Lorber)

•BLACK LIFE: Losing Ground(US, 1982)⇧
Kathleen Collins

•THE THING(US, 1982)
John Carpenter • 4K Blu-Ray (Universal)

•MISSISSIPPI MASALA(US, 1991)
Mira Nair • (Criterion)

•THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS(US, 1991)⇧
Jonathan Demme • 4K (Kino Lorber)

•MULHOLLAND DRIVE(US, 2001)⇧
David Lynch • 4K (Criterion)

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M; Boudu Saved From Drowning;
Notorious; Beauty And The Beast;
Seven Samurai; The Seventh Seal

C R I T E R I O N

Netflix is like the flashy dance club of streaming entertainment, but The Criterion Channel is for the deep cuts of real culture.

It needs to be said. Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu impress with their glossy New Now, and they do have many current gems, but they completely lack heritage classics. All width and no depth. That's all fun, but how long can you chew gum for supper? At some point, when you crave for a more well-rounded diet of substance that sustains your mind and soul, there's only one place to get serious about learning full-quality cinema... The Canon Of Great Films That Actually Matter.

A Raisin In The Sun; Lord Of The Flies;
8 1/2; Easy Rider;
Lady Snowblood; Claudine

While other streaming sites are High School, The Criterion Channel is Oxford.

The Criterion Channel film-streaming site is the best cinema from around the world and every decade since film began, along with new indie films and acclaimed documentaries. Plus, Criterion is the vanguard in restoring great films to a precision standard of picture and sound that matches the present. Restored classics now look better than the day they were struck. If you've watched Mark Cousins'"The Story of Film: An Odyssey" documentary series as a primer >, this site is the true library to expand your enjoyment into the most essential film classics. Every fine film we appreciate now branches directly from the roots of these timeless works of cinematic art, whether it's a romance, period piece, character drama, guerilla handheld, Rock film, style fest, rebel indie, or avant garde. Get the whole picture.

Later for sugar, next for substance. Subscribe today.

Repo Man; Wings Of Desire;
The Princess Bride; Y Tu Mama Tambien;
In The Mood For Love; Parasite


(also explore: Fandor, Filmatique, Mubi, Turner Classic Movies, Kanopy, Filmhub, IndiePix, IndieFlix, Ovid, BFI Player (UK), OpenCulture)

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THINGS TO CATCH UP ON, Dept.


Hey, who has access (or money) to see everything, even during a lockdown?

Films
KING RICHARD
PASSING
THE POWER OF THE DOG
THE LAST DUEL
WEST SIDE STORY

A HERO (Iran)
PARALLEL MOTHERS (Spain)
WHO IS SLEEPING IN SILVER GREY? (China)

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (Norway)
LICORICE PIZZA
THE FRENCH DISPATCH

THE CHANGED
SPACE SWEEPERS
THE SUICIDE SQUAD


TV
Pose 3

Y: The Last Man
30 Coins

Flatbush Misdemeanors
Girls5eva

Naomi 1
Batwoman 2


© Tym Stevens

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See also:

▶ Four Color Films, THE Comic Movies Review Site!


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• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music!, with 3 Music Players!

• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!


• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist


"Cut!

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The most radical James Bond run
has reached its fearless conclusion.

---

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(This article speaks generally about all Bond
films, without any specific spoilers.)

What if the revolution happened in front of you, but you failed to recognize it?


1
What JAMES BOND Was.


Hoagy Carmichael; "Casino Royale" (Swedish edition)

Ian Fleming’s 1950s books featured a hardboiled government assassin drowning his emptiness in wine and women. The Cold War man, cool demeanor, icy heart.

Cary Grant, TO CATCH A THIEF (1955);
Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner

The 1960s films, influenced by the impossibly suave Cary Grant in TO CATCH A THIEF (1955), streamlined him as a Hefner fantasy stud, macking and mocking as he fought spectral villains in Mod futurist lairs. His charm seduced, his expertise triumphed. The impact was so seismic in the mainstream that Bond-mania dominated all pop culture in the ’60s, from screen> to music> to comics>.

The Bond formulas became like cultural codexes imprinted into our collective consciousness, omnipresent and almost immutable. He was always perfect, he was always single, he would always escape in the end.

DR. NO; THUNDERBALL;
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE poster

Under all the pulp exploits and cool style we enjoyed lay a lot of macho flaws that didn’t weather well across the franchise’s passing decades (or feminism). Elite man, sexy girls, gunkill, flip quips, nationalism, explosions, in and out. (Think about how many other franchises that formula has inbred, from Matt Helm to THE KINGSMAN.)

While the enemy storyline of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. loosely threaded the ‘60s films, there was no character growth, no emotional turnover, no commitment for the man himself. Each contained adventure became a vogue of male conquest without any self-awareness for inner evolution. It’s the subliminal undertow that reminds you this is all a fantasy instead of realistic. (Contrast this against the gritty and downtempo counter-films about agent Harry Palmer, played by everybloke Michael Caine.)

To avoid being a shell, a statue, or a parody of himself, James Bond needed a radical fix that liberated him from stasis.


Diana Rigg and George Lazenby,
ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE

2
What JAMES BOND Might Be.

Diana Rigg and George Lazenby

There was a moment they tried to fix this. After Sean Connery left his breakthrough role, the producers made the bold experiment ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE(1969) with a new lead, which tried humanizing Bond as an agent, a person, a lover. It reached a shocking conclusion that no one saw coming. And, expecting the formula they’d become accustomed to, not enough patrons came to see it. Retreating from the promise of change, the franchise then reverted back into cycles of formula ever more stylish and less risky (Connery’s brief return; Moore’s ‘70s films). Bond had become a posture on a poster, interchangeable but invariable.

There are essentially two Bond films: Spy and Spectacle. Across the years, the franchise sways between the two.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE;
GOLDFINGER; THUNDERBALL;
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

After the initial light adventure of DR. NO(1962), the Bond films defined themselves with the serious Cold War spy film, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE(1963): all practical stunts and political intrigue, noir tone and sober suspicion. Spy. With the next film, GOLDFINGER(1964), they redefined themselves by going more spectacular: pulp adventure, sci-fi devices, theatrical villain, giant lair set, huge finale. Spectacle. Then the hybrid comes in, THUNDERBALL(1965). Then the ultra-Spectacle of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), which went so far so well they didn’t know how to top it, only to repeat it in variations later.

The Moore films of the ‘70s essentially remade this same arc, getting more stylish and less serious as they went. (All fine fun, by the way, to be fair.) But after THE SPY WHO LOVED ME(1977) remade YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE underwater, and MOONRAKER(1979) remade both in outer space, the cycle had played out. Stylism and trend-chasing had eaten itself and it was time to start over.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY;
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS

Fully in the spirit of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, the reset movie FOR YOUR EYES ONLY(1981) began a stealth change in Bond conventions: more realistic and less fantastic, more stunts and less effects, more flirty and less sexist. This continued with the underrated OCTOPUSSY(1983) and the first half of the wonky A VIEW TO A KILL(1985). From this decade on, the Bond franchise is trying to streamline Spy and Spectacle into one, now becoming taut intrigue thrillers with spectacular practical stunts and locations. It’s like sobriety after a long bacchanal.

Still the suave agent icon we know, he will become tougher and more shrewd as the years continue. The intense Dalton’s takeover in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS(1987) gave the franchise a chance to do a smoother variant of MAJESTY’S, flexing change again. (Note the unusual turn at the end. But also how continuity never followed up on it.) Maybe the truest seed of things to come is the brutality of Dalton’s performance in LICENSE TO KILL(1989), where he has the smooth veneer of Moore but the flinty edge always underlying Connery. This synthesis of manner and actions ushers in Brosnan, who will arc from the practical Spy of GOLDENEYE(1995) to the hybrid Spectacle of DIE ANOTHER DAY(2002). Suave while steely.

To go forward, Bond had to be more real for us to relate to him anymore.


Eva Green and Daniel Craig,
CASINO ROYALE

3
What JAMES BOND
Needed To Become.

Lee Marvin, POINT BLANK (1967);
Steve McQueen, BULLITT (1968)

During one of the Bond franchise’s periodic hiatuses, THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002) stole their car and put a kit on it, stripping the Bond archetype down to a robotic rogue agent doing astounding physical stunts which seemed real. [re: Hong Kong action flicks] Meanwhile, the current producers had finally reeled in the rights to the first Bond book, "Casino Royale"(1953), and made the brazen choice to discard all formula and start over.

If Connery/Lazenby/Moore/Dalton/Brosnan had each reflected Cary Grant, all charm and coif at embassy receptions, the new archetype was instead in the mode of Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen, all tough pug and coiled rage from street brawls. Enter Daniel Craig.

"Bond. James Bond."

BOURNE had raised the heat and the Bond creators responded with the flamewar of CASINO ROYALE(2006), a comprehensive beatdown from which the usurper never recovered: the stunts were better, the vision inspired, the story eternal. James Bond was rejuvenated in ways we had never seen or (most importantly) felt before. The film’s excellence is so universally hailed that it has become a standalone classic beyond the franchise itself.

To a fault, the love for the film is so fervent that it is held unfairly against its follow-ups, often obscuring their own merits or awareness of the progressing story they are telling. Looking closer, it was the beginning of a James Bond origin arc that would tell how he came to be the agent we know. Deeper still, it was a complete rewrite and upgrade of the man for the present, replacing the sexism and sleek perfection with vulnerability and rough realism, humanizing him as an agent, a person, a lover. And it reached a shocking conclusion that no one could get over, including him.

Vesper Lind and James Bond

The book "Casino Royale" ended on an uncensored statement that sealed Bond as a callous killer going forward, a dead-hearted gunman. The film deconstructs this, making that spoken line ironic as time -and the following film arc- reveals his conflicted soul. It’s the key to the new doorway. Now the blunt thug of the books is a front for a fractured spirit.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE;
SKYFALL;
SPECTRE

Rather than a one-off adventure like the past installments, the film began what seemed like a sly ongoing prequel arc to Connery’s ’60s run, sewing the origin seeds for everything that was fully in place in those films, but now told solely in realistic, contemporary terms. Watch how the seeds took root: the spy games, the front villain, and the (real world Ken Adam-style) hotel in the wrongly under-valued QUANTUM OF SOLACE(2008); his outcast past, M, and Q in SKYFALL(2012); and reaching familiar fruition with Eve, the proto-crater base, and the Enemy in SPECTRE(2015). All there now: the gun, the car, the suit, the demeanor, the mistrust, the jokes, the devices, the team, the enemy, paced in piece by piece.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE;
SKYFALL; SPECTRE;
NO TIME TO DIE

Look again, at what wasn’t there before in the agent: hurt by any collateral death; comforting Vesper after a trauma; working with Camille and Paloma as a colleague instead of a lover; trolling M while respecting her, while she skewers him for acting like a thug; his Scottish/French past; his absolute disdain for establishment, class, rank, arrogance, rote, red tape, falsity; saving his civility for working people; helping save the Bolivian poor instead of British standing; choosing not to kill a villain (directly); using devices like a lark; his brotherhood with Felix; intimation of wider sexual latitude; his reflexive pride, stealth loyalty, tortured mistrust, aloof loneliness, soft forgiveness; reading heavily in his off-time (including "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance"); the arc of his love, from her to them.

He’s a different guy. There’s been a stealth switch-up underneath. The hardboiled assassin transplanted from the first books now sheaths a wounded soul onscreen. A lover corrupted into a killer, looking for redemption. Daniel Craig’s Bond occupies the same conceptual space as his suave predecessors, but he is the direct counter to them in every way: appearance, motivation, subtlety, complexity, outlook, moves, edge, possibility. Beyond his buff form, always watch his eyes.

DR. NO;
NO TIME TO DIE

This is the moment where everything could have gone conventional, a fifth film wrapping the saga up in a crowd-friendly smoothie of the standard Bond we expect him to become. Though seeming to hem itself into the outlines of the vintage Bond, SPECTRE had instead ended with three things that can’t happen in continuity as we know it. The ominous implication was that the creators would have to wipe all that away to go back to what’s expected.

But, with admirable bravery, the producers instead stayed true to the course in the final Craig film. This wasn’t really just a prequel arc harkening the classic Bond. It was a five-chapter story, from beginning to end, of the new Bond beyond. NO TIME TO DIE(2021) is the yang to CASINO’s yen, the other bracket, the inevitable endgame. It sews all of the aspects (and foreshadowings) of the previous four chapters into an unparalleled climax completely past the range of any Bond film done before.

George Lazenby and Diana Rigg;
Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux

Look at how it now only echoes the past to replace or counter it. If ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE was the fledgling seed for a possible new Bond, then this film is the arboretum of its fruition. Deep fans will note the quiet use of MAJESTY’S music, locations, and inversion of key story beats in NO TIME TO DIE, a metatext for what was now replaced with what will be.

Note also how it both foreshadows and mirrors Connery’s run, if only to reconsider every allusion with other options. Not imitation, but reformation. Just as Connery’s run started with the Jamaican lilt of DR. NO (1962) and climaxed with the spectacular Japanese volcano base of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), Craig’s arc went from the Bahamas of CASINO to the Asian waters military base of NO TIME TO DIE, with the unwavering distinction of staying realistically grounded the entire span. NO TIME TO DIE’s finale may have parallels to YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, but only as a realist overwrite. Notice how the Cold War base shown -a real world surrogate for fantastic volcano bases- winks at the Connery-era history as a history that has passed, never forgotten but thoroughly rethought. The Craig arc built a new past for Bond with a different future.

This is the movement where the Bond films had the courage to grow up. Consider everything NO TIME does that hasn’t been done before. The elongated opening, the emotional break, the eerie flashbacks, the artful framing, the sober angst, the fatalism, the contrary romance, the kinship ties, the fully proactive women, the anti-villain villain, the personal reveals, his mea culpas, the formula inversions, and the epic length.

Most crucially, an unprecedented revelation in the heart of the film is the decisive moment that breaks from all formula and hinges everything straight into completely unknown territory. And it all pivots on unconditional love. From that point on, Bond has gone fully from paper doll to person, operating off-mission for personal reasons beyond any Bond we known, with motivations and outcomes that change our entire perception of what is now possible in these films. With the Craig arc, we don’t look at Bond anymore, we now fully see and feel him. All of this change culminates in a shocking conclusion that no one can get their head around.


What if re-evolution happens in front of you, but you lack insight to asses it?

15 years for an arc is a bit of a span. (More production delays.) When pop culture reviews are now often written by novices with no cultural memory for context, all trivia and no awareness, this thoroughly subversive film gets mistaken at face value as more franchise formula. But it’s been the precise opposite all along for those paying attention to the revolution. So diehards were threatened, coasters were baffled, latekids shrugged. That’s fine. Go watch the previous 20 films before Craig if you wanted the past to stay fixed. But what was before has now gone beyond.



3
Where Does JAMES BOND
Go After This?

He’s not the same guy. And realizing all Bonds are separate liberated the creators to go forward into the future.

The long-time fan theories were off-base, holding the concept hostage to formula. No, all six actors are not playing the same guy with a single continuity. No, ‘James Bond’ is not a rotating codename shared across successive agents. James Bond is a book character, interpreted like a standard song by different singers. Imagine each actor/era as a parallel earth in a Bond multiverse, each telling its one arc across every run. Craig is the unique ballad of Earth 6. Yes, James Bond will return with a seventh face, a new person. And, if the creators hold true to what they’ve just accomplished, will be more unbound, human, and believable than ever before. And hopefully do what hasn’t been done but now can.

Bond beyond.



© Tym Stevens

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See also:


•JOHN BARRY: The Influence Of The JAMES BOND Sound On Pop Music, with 2 Music Players!

•20 Most Badass JAMES BOND Women!


•THE PRISONER: Its Influence On Music, TV, and Comics, with Music Player!

•JIM STERANKO, Agent of S.T.Y.L.E.! - His Inspirations and His Influence


•2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!

•How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

•TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!


•The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist

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