At the tenth anniversary of his death, legendary Swiss painter, sculptor, and designer HR Giger (1940–2014) is once again celebrated for the haunting power and dark psychedelia that informs his objects and paintings in an updated XXL edition by Taschen. Edited by Hans Werner Holzwarth, a book designer specializing in contemporary art and photography with […]
Dirty Real: Exile on Hollywood and Vine With the Gin Mill Cowboys by Peter Stanfield (2024)
The American film industry of the 1970s was very particular and bold. The period under inspection in this title covers a style named “dirty realism” that came up in roughly the late 1960s and lasted until 1974. That period of unusual gritty esthetics was part of the American New Wave cinema. Its directors usually rejected […]
Marvel Comics Library. Avengers Vol. 2. 1965–1967 by Christopher Priest (ed.) (2024)
Again, a second installment of TASCHEN’s oversized book on a particular Marvel comic line continues the excellent analysis and development of its respective part one. Here, it is The Avengers Vol. 2 retrospective that covers the years 1965 to 1967. Not such a long time, but the Avengers would change a lot over that period, […]
Journeys into Terror: Essays from the Cinematic Intersection of …by Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin
Let’s face it, what would a travelog, either from the 16th century or last year, be worth, if one could foresee this journey’s beginning and end, as well as anything that happened in between would it be an amiable and beautiful experience, a safe travel to a secure area which read like the perfect holiday […]
The Bastard Instrument. A Cultural History of the Electric Bass by Brian F. Wright (2024)
The electric bass, an instrument that first received considerable recognition with the introduction of the “Precision Bass” by American company Fender in 1951, has left its mark on the history of popular music. That instrument, approaching the scene only very tardily and sporadically with country and jazz bands of the post WWII years in basically […]
The Monkees: Made in Hollywood by Tom Kemper (2023)
When it comes to music appreciation, originality, authenticity and the masterful use of instruments, traits and abilities associated with musicians, are usually important selection criteria for consumers, who choose by those aforementioned elements whether or not to buy the artist’s products. Usually, that is. In the case of the Los Angeles-based mid-1960s band The Monkees, […]
Negative, Nonsensical, and Non-Conformist. The Films of Suzuki Seijun by Peter A. Yacavone (2023)
While there are now fewer recent books on famous Hollywood directors – probably because criticism by now has covered almost any aspect of their work – new publications on, so far, underrated and ignored directors are being published more often. Peter A. Yacavone’s Negative, Nonsensical, and Non-Conformist is one of those books. It centers on […]
Superevil: Villains in Silver Age Superhero Comics by Anke Marie Bock (2023)
Any comic book fan probably can easily name more than a handful of superheroes of the Silver Age, the time from roughly the mid-1950s until the early 1970s. And to know the superheroes also means to know their antagonists, featured in the endless battles of Batman/The Joker, Thor/Loki, The Flash/Po-Siden, or Spiderman/Green Goblin where the […]
Through a Noir Lens: Adapting Film Noir Visual Style by Sheri Chinen Biesen (2024)
Film noir productions generally are associated with dark settings, either because action takes place at night or in unlit rooms, where street light creeps through Venetian blinds and struggles all the way to hit the protagonists on the set. Originally, such an outcome on the set in part was caused by filming conditions during wartime, […]