Music Week

Archie Andrews has always been quite the musician, and there are several stories involving him pursuing his dreams of rock stardom --- but his friends and family (and Reggie) have been in the musical spotlight too. For this playlist based on the current incarnation of the monthly Archie series by Mark Waid, Thomas Pitilli, Ryan Jampole, Joe Eisma, Veronica Fish et al, I decided to look at all the most beloved characters (and Reggie) and choose one song that fits each of them.

Mark Batson is known for producing some of the biggest hits for major artists like Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Eminem, 50 Cent, The Game, James Blunt, Dave Matthews Band, Nas, Maroon 5 and more. Now the music veteran is trying his hand at graphic novels with his series, Loaded. The first book of the series, The Story of Ghost, follows the title character; a James Bond-esque assassin in the making. The second part, The Story of Sin, is also slated to be adapted into a television series --- with Dr. Dre set to produce the music. We spoke with Batson about the Loaded, moving from music to comics, the adaptation, and also have a sneak peek at the first volume.

Music and comics have a long history of influencing one another, whether it’s story titles borrowing lyrics, band names taken from dialogue, or that one time that Matt Fraction had a Britney Spears analogue punch a bear in The Order. Sometimes, though, that connection goes beyond nods and winks, and a band or artist releases their very own licensed comic. It happens more often than you probably realise. It’s no secret that, say, My Chemical Romance have their own official comic. (A comic, lest we forget, featuring a villainous cravat-wearing Grant Morrison.) But there are plenty of other artists with comics you may have never even known existed. Artists like, oh, I don’t know…

Gig posters have a long and beautiful history. Moving from simple block lettering in the '50s and psychedelic text in the '60s, modern gig posters are often gorgeous pieces of illustration and places to experiment with the weird and wonderful. In this gallery, we've pulled together a collection of gig posters by a variety of comic artists, from small indie artists such as Inés Estrada and Maré Odomo to some big names like DeForge and Adrian Tomine. Feast your eyes!

Shade The Changing Girl --- part of DC's Young Animal imprint --- tells the story of Loma, a rebellious alien who steals a magic coat of madness, runs away to Earth, and possesses the body of a comatose teenage Earth girl. Along with Cecil Castellucci's trippy script, the space-bending, psychedelic visuals from artists Marley Zarcone and Kelly Fitzpatrick are a core part of what makes Shade the Changing Girl so fantastic. When planning the playlist, I wanted to find weird, intense tech/pop songs, less focused on the lyrics and more on the mood of each song.

When superheroes make the transition from comics to TV animation, it's always interesting to hear what kind of theme music they get. Songs with lyrics that explain who the heroes are can be fun, but they can also go awry. Instrumental tracks can be boring if you're not careful, but if they're well-executed, they can do a great job of creating just the tone you want for your cartoon. I've put together a chronological list of nine memorable theme songs from TV superhero cartoons. Obviously I can't include them all, but I expect to see in the comments which of your favorites I've left out.

Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson’s Phonogram is a very special comic where music is literally magic and the right song played at the right time can take you to new dimensions or ruin your life forever. There isn’t a single comic that has had as much of an effect on the shape and direction of my life as Phonogram, and as ComicsAlliance celebrates all things music and Phonogram heads into its tenth year, I wanted to talk a bit about how important this book has been over the last decade.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned from our years on the Internet, it’s that there’s no aspect of comics that can’t be broken down and quantified in a single definitive list, preferably in amounts of five or ten. And since there’s no more definitive authority than ComicsAlliance, we’re taking it upon ourselves to compile Top Five lists of everything you could ever want to know about comics. In celebration of the unique relationship between comics and music, we've put together five of the best fictional musical acts in mainstream comics.

Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love is a superhero book, a haunted house story, and a romance comic. In assembling a playlist to accompany the comic, we've attempted to strike a similar balance, highlighting queer artists, and including a love song or two, while creating a spooky, haunted atmosphere. This playlist incorporates dark mansions, and perhaps forbidden love, and at least one dead man.

First published in the defunct Weekly Young Sunday magazine, the introspective and shoegazey Solanin by Inio Asano is a slice-of-life seinen (teen/adult male) manga about the role that music can play in a young person's life, and the promises and heartbreak that music can represent.