Crisis on Infinite Earths

Back in the day, comic books were straightforward things. Superman or Batman would fight crime, tie up the bad guys and finish the story in twenty or so colourful pages. However, it wasn’t long before the writers realised that these characters lived in the same universe and so they could boost sales by having characters show up in each others comics as crossover stories. They would also reboot characters from time to time, to reset the numbering and retell the origin stories for a new generation of readers as well as moving the time period forward so they wouldn’t have to explain why the characters had been around since the 1940s with getting any older.

By the sixties and seventies things got even more complicated with multiple versions of characters running around, explained away by convenient parallel universes that could be visited by the super speedster Flash running fast enough to jump between them. Thus the original Golden age characters could co-exist on one Earth, with the newer versions on another, as well as multiple other alternate realities (including one where the Nazis won the war). To say it was a convoluted mess is something of an understatement.

In 1985 writer Marv Wolfman pitched the idea of collapsing the multiverse into a single Earth to give a fresh start, as well as writing the ultimate crossover featuring just about every version of every DC character, even if just for a single panel background cameo.

The high concept is that a character called the Monitor has been watching the multiverse from the beginning of time in anticipation of the moment where he needs to summon a band of heroes (and villains) to counter the ultimate threat of his opposite number - the Anti-Monitor from an anti-matter universe.

Needless to say say there are plenty of fights and twists as the multiverse collapses, with many characters meeting their doom including the iconic cover picture of the death of Supergirl although presumably she got better in time for the recently released film. This is an essential series for comics nerds with great artwork by George Perez showing hundreds of different characters ranging from cavemen to cowboys, and super beings of every variety.

Leaves, Hot Tea

Arthur wants hot tea
The nutrimatic machine
Gave him dried leaves, boiled

I've Got a Tiger By the Tail by Buck Owens & His Buckaroos

What an unexpected treat for a Saturday morning! This is a great example of the Bakersfield sound with distinctive Telecasters backed up with some gorgeous pedal steel guitars. This is really a stripped down version of the classic Western Swing style from the 30’s and 40’s, and as well as some great original songs Buck Owens pays tribute to the legendary Bob Wills with a cover of A Maiden’s Prayer.

Perhaps the most notable song on here is Cryin’ Time which was covered by Ray Charles and became a top ten hit, as well as earning two Grammy awards. The bonus tracks on this are worth a listen, especially a live version of Act Naturally which inspired the Beatles to record their own version with Ringo on vocals.

Great stuff!

Valerian

Gary Anthony Webb
Called himself Valerian
Then became Numan

Superunknown by Soundgarden

I never really understood grunge back in the 90s. To me, it just sounds like 1970s hard rock with baggy jumpers and greasy hair, and certainly not a worrying youth trend that warranted a moral panic about cob nobblers and lame stains. I remember playing Black Hole Sun on Rock Band and enjoying it, but there’s nothing really new here.

The only difference really is that the lyrics tend to be somewhat more introspective and depressing than their 1970s counterparts, which is I guess the root of their appeal. Sadly lead singer Chris Cornell was another victim of the rock lifestyle who struggled and didn’t get the help that he was crying out for judging by his songs.

Fall Colours

Dear daily haiku
It is only just August
No fall colours yet

Heroes by David Bowie

Picking a favourite Bowie album is a little bit like being asked to name your most loved child. For me, the Berlin trilogy is like a set of triplets - they all have their quirks and individual personalities but they also have a unique bond between them. If Lodger is the cheeky outsider and Low the introspective, arty one, then Heroes is the confident middle child that gets the balance right.

This was the only album of the trilogy that was entirely recorded in the famous Hansa studios in Berlin and this was the point that Bowie pulled all of the threads together of the artistic process that drove Low. We have Brian Eno’s electronica (and oblique strategies), Carlos Alomar is joined on guitar and boosted by Robert Fripp’s unique sounds, and not forgetting producer Tony Visconti, doing more on this record than most people think.

Whilst I probably wouldn’t pick this as my all time favourite Bowie album (please don’t make me choose) this does have my favourite single song in the title track that always, without fail, sends a shiver down my spine no matter how many times I hear it. There’s just something about the way his voice starts to crack that evokes so many emotions.