Sammy

 

A new comic book series, Sammy, has seen the light of day in Sweden. First album is out now from a new publisher with origins in Denmark, Mooz Förlag AB. Sammy has been a hit in Denmark for a long time so my guess is that they will print both editions at the same time and make some profit that way. One source suggests three albums a year, which is interesting.

Sammy is created by Jean-Pol & Cauvin and takes place in Chicago in the 30´s. I like it, it is a reminder of better days (not Chicago in the 30´s, but comics wise). I just hope that it will find an audience in this country.

Advertisements

The media blitz that killed Sweet in Sweden

 

Rock´n´Roll Magazine 5 2014 popped up today and it sports a long overdue piece on the media assault on Sweet in Sweden back in 1976 that actually killed their career in this country. Turns out that it was all a bunch of lies, even Mats Olsson (one of the worst so called music journalists of the day) admits as much when he says that he actually never saw the things he said had happened himself. This really is one of the best articles that I have seen in Swedish media regarding the sad state of affairs of rock journalism in the Communist Prog & Punk infested 70´s, early 80´s in this country. Great investigative journalism, the reporter (Jörgen Holmstedt) has tracked down several people who were there, including the surviving members of Sweet (Andy Scott and Steve Priest). The 7 page piece is full of great stuff from the archives as well, this really is a great moment in the history of this publication.

A job well done.

(I should add that the Prog scene in Sweden really was highly politicised, it was nothing like the UK scene etc)

Tex Willer 592

 

In a kiosk near you, if you live in Norway… Tex Willer 592 has landed, and once again they present us with a fantastic cover. The title of the adventure is “Unge mordere”, or “Young  Murderers”.

Tex is so cool he even looks good in a yellow shirt. The only man in the world – or comic book character if you want to be picky about it – that could actually pull that off…

The Winter Soldier

 

I liked the first Captain America film but for some reason I avoided the second when it hit the big screens a few month´s ago. Now I can say that I made a mistake – they bloody well know what they are doing. “The Winter Soldier” has an interesting plot – one that can be viewed from real life situations and debates (Marvel is good at this sort of thing) – and we all know that our digital fingerprints gives away much of our lives to any big brother type of organisation. Dealing with this subject matter is actually rather perfect for this character, since he has lost a few decades of his life and can view our time from another perspective. Freedom is a tricky thing these days.

Captain America will be back in the next Avengers film, so who knows how long this will last this time around? Marvel is doing a great job though, keeping this universe alive. There is plenty of stuff to dig into, they could do this for decades and they probably will. Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson are doing a good job for now, and will be sadly missed some day.

Also, I do enjoy the “spot Stan Lee” bit, that is so cool. And well deserved.

Nouvelle France

 

The cover of Swedish comic book Fantomen – issue 17 2014 – is the best that I have seen in years. It was created by Sal Velluto and Eugenio Mattozzi for an adventure called “Nouvelle France”, written by Dag Frognes (great story). And artist Kari Leppänen did his 100th adventure for the Magazine here, which is worthy of note. The adventure takes place in France and the North America´s in 1689. First western related adventure I have seen in decades in a major publication over here.

Good job.

Commando 4735

 

Commando 4735 – out tomorrow in the UK – has a certain vibe to it. Think “Where Eagles Dare”… I like it.

Manuel Benet cover.

Ride like the wind

 

Just added this book to the old collection, “Blood ´n´Thunder – Guide To Pulp Fiction” (Murania Press, 2013), by author Ed Hulse. 418 pages and well illustrated. Lovely cover as well. I own plenty of Swedish stuff from back in the day, but very little from the States. Some of the covers I see in this book are quite amazing to behold, it was a wonderful scene.

Tarzan, Conan, Buck Rogers, Zorro… Hell, it will never go away.