In what I am sure was a penance for enjoying Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, I reviewed The Last Exorcism for those sadists over at Moving Pictures.

Another year, another Armadillocon. This will be my 15th Armadillocon (since 1994, save one) as programming participant. I’m on six panels where I’m sure to be pissing someone off. Plus I have a reading. Hope to see everyone there. Drop by and say howdy.

Influential Graphic Novels Not Named Watchmen
Fri 5:00 PM-6:00 PM San Marcos room

M. Sturges, Ma. Finn, R. Klaw*, A. Porter, C. Conrad
Most people agree that Watchmen significantly influenced the development of graphic novels. What others have been influential?

What You Should Have Read
Sat 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Trinity room

W. Siros, R. Klaw*, A. Sowards, L. Person

Vampires: From Folklore to Fanfic
Sat 3:00 PM-4:00 PM Sabine room

Ma. Finn*, R. Klaw, S. Cupp, N. Southard, N. Holzner, S. White
Our panelists discuss the long history of vampires and the changes they have undergone over the years.

Critics and Criticism: Should We Be Listening?
Sun 10:00 AM-11:00 AM San Antonio room

T. Wagner, R. Klaw, D. Johnson, S. Cupp, L. Person*, N. Kress
How seriously should you take critics and criticism? Should it be ignored or taken into account?

Reading
Sun 11:00 AM-11:30 AM Pecos room

Rick Klaw
(Not sure what I’m reading yet. My most recent short story is too long.)

Five Films on an Island
Sun 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Sabine room

Ma. Finn*, R. Klaw, H. Waldrop, D. Johnson, J. Lansdale
Your ship got lost on some forsaken island due to the idiot first mate. Fortunately you have coconut electric power and a coconut projector. Unfortunately, you only have five films. Which five do you want them to be?

James Bond, CSI etc.: Science Fiction or Not?
Sun 3:00 PM-4:00 PM San Antonio room

A. Porter*, P. Benjamin, Mi. Finn, R. Eudaly, R. Klaw, M. Bey
Sure, they have sf elements, but are James Bond and CSI sf or not?

One of the country’s premier literary sf conventions, Armadillocon 32 is this weekend, August 27-29, at the Renaissance Hotel Austin.

From 2003-2007, I produced the monthly email newsletter, "All the GEEK That’s Fit To Print" that kept subscribers to my GeekConfidential e-group appraised of my monthly happenings. As part of my missives, I also recounted what I was currently reading. Perhaps the most mentioned aspect of the newsletter appeared under this heading: And since what I’m reading in the bathroom fascinates many of you.

With the advent of the Geek Curmudgeon blog, the newsletter became redundant and so I let it fall by the wayside, but what books are currently in my bathroom continues to fascinate, so I’ve decided to resurrect that part of the newsletter under the heading of "Readings From the Throne Room" as a regular monthly feature here at The Geek Curmudgeon.

Without further ado, here’s the current reading contents in my bathroom:

AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga Edited by Sean Michael Wilson

This 400 page collection of alternative Japanese comic book stories represents the nearly ideal bathroom reading experience. Short stories that can be read in one sitting packaged within a paperback.

Ax reprints the stories in the traditional Japanese manner from right to left. This has become the norm for translated manga. Beggars the question though, are English-language comics that are translated into Japanese presented from left to right?

Revolver by Matt Kindt

The latest graphic novel from the creator of the excellent Super Spy recounts the flip-flopping worlds–one a post apocalyptic nightmare, the other an idealistic reality–of the unhappy Sam. Halfway through this clever exploration.

Double Play by Robert Parker

So far I’m mostly reading at this baseball novel, waiting for it to engage my full attention.

Parker: The Hunter Adaptated by Darwyn Cooke from the novel by Richard Stark

Something weird and unexpected happened over the past month. Brandy, who generally does not like her fiction "hard," discovered Donald Westlake. It started when she picked up Westlake’s final novel Memory off my best side table. She loved it and asked if I had more. In the last month she’s read 361, The Cutie, and most astoundingly the classic Richard Stark The Hunter. She loved them all and decided she wanted to read the sensational Cooke adaptation of the first Parker. And that’s how it ended up in our bathroom.

Amidst the issues of Wired, Mental Floss, MSFocus, Momentum, and Moving Pictures, lies the Fall/Winter 2010 University of Texas Press catalog. Book catalogs make for some of the best bathroom reading.

After spending most of Saturday and Sunday at my mother’s with my nephews, Alex (13) and Stan (11), I headed home with the elder nephew in tow. Alex spent the next couple of days with me and Brandy.

Visiting the Geek Compound during the summer has become a regular thing for Alex. Between playing games, watching movies, and reading comics, Brandy and I try to expose him to foods he doesn’t normally try. Last year it was Indian food (which he loved) and this year we introduced him to Vietnamese food and veggie burgers. Both proved successes.

On Sunday night we played another two games of Dominion and then we chatted. Alex and I always seem to have late night talks when he visits, primarily of a geeky nature. This time we focused on comic books.

Steve Ditko’s Spider-man

Alex innocently mentioned that Stan Lee created Spider-man and the Fantastic Four. As most serious comic book fans can tell you, Lee co-created the iconic characters. I proceeded to educate the nephew. I showed him the collections of the Ditko Spider-mans. He noted how much the they looked like the movies. (I, of course corrected him. The movies looked like the comics.) Then I told him about Jack Kirby and the Fantastic Four. He actually muttered, "Jack who?" *sigh* Teaching the next geek generation is never done.

Jack Kirby from 2001: A Space Odyssey

I attempted the impossible task of explaining The King, when I decided it’d be easier to just show him. I pulled a copy of Mark Evanier’s loving memoir Kirby: King of Comics off the shelf. Alex opened the book. His eyes went wide, and he managed a weak "Wow." He flipped through the book, stunned by what he saw. He couldn’t believe the quality; how utterly cool it was; the detail; the excitement. He’d never seen anything quite like it. It blew his young mind. The whole sequence warmed my geeky heart.

I left the stunned Alex flipping through the gorgeous book and wandered off to bed.

The following morning, we continued our game playing frenzy with Memoir ’44, but that’s a story for the next installment.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga Edited by Sean Michael Wilson

Promo copy:

With an introduction by Paul Gravett, author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics!

Ax is the premier Japanese magazine for alternative comics, heir to the legendary Garo. Published bi-monthly since 1998, the pages of Ax contain the most innovative, experimental, and personal works in contemporary manga — the flourishing underground of the world’s largest comics industry. Now Top Shelf presents a 400-page collection of stories from ten years of Ax history, translated into English for the first time.

This landmark volume includes work by 33 artists, including Yoshihiro Tatsumi (A Drifting Life), Imiri Sakabashira (The Box Man), Kazuichi Hanawa (Doing Time), Yusaku Hanakuma (Tokyo Zombie), Akino Kondoh, Shin’ichi Abe, and many many more! It’s a feast of pure creativity, and a guided tour of fascinating new directions in Japanese comics. Ready for adventure? Then grab your Ax and come on!

Game of Cages by Harry Connolly

Promo copy:

A SECRET HIGH-STAKES AUCTION

As a wealthy few gather to bid on a predator capable of destroying all life on earth, the sorcerers of the Twenty Palace Society mobilize to stop them. Caught up in the scramble is Ray Lilly, the lowest of the low in the society—an ex–car thief and the expendable assistant of a powerful sorcerer. Ray possesses exactly one spell to his name, along with a strong left hook. But when he arrives in the small town in the North Cascades where the bidding is to take place, the predator has escaped and the society’s most powerful enemies are desperate to recapture it. All Ray has to do is survive until help arrives. But it may already be too late.

Elfsorrow (Legends of the Raven 1) by James Barclay

Promo copy:

Another action-packed adventure from the new master of fantasy. The Raven travel to a new continent in search of mages to help the ruined college of Julatsa rebuild and find themselves in the midst of an ancient curse—a curse that has unleashed a plague that threatens to wipe out the elven race. Barclay excels with another tale that pitches The Raven against the clock and unseen foes. Full of desperate fights and secret betrayals, the story also fills in more of Balaia’s history and delves deeper into the ancient emnities between the colleges. Barclay has created a wonderfully appealing group of heroes, and with every book their history grows and the land they live in becomes wider and richer. This is landmark fantasy in the making.

More in Part II

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Noise by Darin Bradley

Promo copy:

This haunting debut from a brilliant new voice is sure to be as captivating as it is controversial, a shocking look at the imminent collapse of American civilization—and what will succeed it.

In the aftermath of the switch from analog to digital TV, an anarchic movement known as Salvage hijacks the unused airwaves. Mixed in with the static’s random noise are dire warnings of the imminent economic, political, and social collapse of civilization—and cold-blooded lessons on how to survive the fall and prosper in the harsh new order that will inevitably arise from the ashes of the old.

Hiram and Levi are two young men, former Scouts and veterans of countless Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Now, on the blood-drenched battlefields of university campuses, shopping malls, and gated communities, they will find themselves taking on new identities and new moralities as they lead a ragtag band of hackers and misfits to an all-but-mythical place called Amaranth, where a fragile future waits to be born.

Gears of War: Anvil Gate by Karen Traviss

Promo copy:

Continuing the saga of the bestselling game series!

With the Locust Horde apparently destroyed, Jacinto’s survivors have begun to rebuild human society on the Locusts’ stronghold. Raiding pirate gangs take a toll—but it’s nothing that Marcus Fenix and the Gears can’t handle. Then the nightmare that they thought they’d left behind begins to stalk them again. Something far worse, something even the Locust dreaded, has emerged to spread across the planet, and not even this remote island haven is beyond its reach. Gears and Stranded must fight side by side to survive their deadliest enemy yet, falling back on the savage tactics of another bloody siege—Anvil Gate.

When Blood Calls by J. K. Beck

Promo copy:

Attorney Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion—until she finds out that she must now prosecute vampires and werewolves. The first defendant she’ll be trying to put away? Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy.

When Lucius kisses a beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s hoping only to avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss ignites into an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows that Sara is determined to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not a monster. And that might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

More in Part III

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived in the mail here at the Geek Compound.

Shadowheart (Legends of the Raven 2) by James Barclay

Promo copy:

The second of James Barclay’s Legends of The Raven trilogy sees Barclay up the ante yet again and throw Balaia into a full blown war. Barclay has never been afraid of killing off favourite characters, but now in the latest of his blisteringly paced, all-action heroic fantasies he puts The Raven through a trial that all of them will be hard pressed to survive. Barclay has proved himself to be the most successful fantasy writer of his generation. With 200,000 copies in print, Chronicles and Legends of the Raven are building into landmark fantasy.

The Native Star by M. K. Hobson

Promo copy:

In the tradition of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, this brilliant first novel fuses history, fantasy, and romance. Prepare to be enchanted by M. K. Hobson’s captivating take on the Wild, Wild West.

The year is 1876. In the small Sierra Nevada settlement of Lost Pine, the town witch, Emily Edwards, is being run out of business by an influx of mail-order patent magics. Attempting to solve her problem with a love spell, Emily only makes things worse. But before she can undo the damage, an enchanted artifact falls into her possession—and suddenly Emily must flee for her life, pursued by evil warlocks who want the object for themselves.

Dreadnought Stanton, a warlock from New York City whose personality is as pompous and abrasive as his name, has been exiled to Lost Pine for mysterious reasons. Now he finds himself involuntarily allied with Emily in a race against time—and across the United States by horse, train, and biomechanical flying machine—in quest of the great Professor Mirabilis, who alone can unlock the secret of the coveted artifact. But along the way, Emily and Stanton will be forced to contend with the most powerful and unpredictable magic of all—the magic of the human heart.

Creating Animated Cartoons with Character: A Guide to Developing and Producing Your Own Series for TV, the Web, and Short Film by Joe Murray

Promo copy:

From the Emmy Award-winning creator of Rocko’s Modern Life and Camp Lazlo comes Creating Animated Cartoons with Character, a comprehensive, fully illustrated guide to creating and producing a successful animated series for television, short film, and the Web. Joe Murray offers his substantial wisdom and expertise – honed from more than twenty years in the business – in creating and producing characters adn stories in an authoritative yet conversational narrative that answers such questions as: How do you create good characters? How do you conceive the world they inhabit and tell their stories? And once you’ve breathed life into your ideas, how do you successfully pitch your series to a network?

This book won’t tell you what characters to create or how to draw them. What it will do is guide you in discovering and exploring your own creative sweet spots and help you to navigate the process that links your unique artistic vision with the realities of producing a commercial cartoon. Packed with art and photos from Murray’s many film and television projects, as well as behind-the-scenes anecdotes and insider advice from such highly successful contemporaries as Steve Hillenburg (SpongeBob Squarepants), Everett Peck (Duckman), and Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends), this book explores in detail the importance of character and story hooks; how to put together pitch materials; what goes into producing a series pilot; and how to build the best creative team to produce your show. Whether you’re an aspiring cartoonist, experienced animator, hardcore fan, or you simply like to draw and tell stories, Creating Animated Cartoons with Character is the ultimate entrée into the world of animated cartooning from a master of the craft.

More in Part I

I spent a good portion of the past week with my uber-geek-in-training nephews. As with Alex‘s (13) and Stanley‘s (11) previous summer visits, a good time was had by all.

It started on Saturday when I went to my mother’s place. Sadly, Stanley, who suffers from severe cat allergies, can’t stay at my place with my 20 lb Tortoise-Shell hellion Kali. When he’s in town, I often spend the night with him at his grandmother’s.

After greeting the nephews, my first goal was to extricate the Wesnoth-junkie Stanley from the computer. I unknowingly introduced him to the addictive Battle for Wesnoth, a turn-based tactical strategy game, when I refurbished an old pc with Xubuntu for him and his siblings.

Battle for Wesnoth image (click on image to enlarge)

Luckily for me, the boys trust my geek sensibilities, after all I introduced them to Godzilla, Dr. Who, Monty Python, Munchkin, and Sling Shot, so they eagerly followed my suggestion of Dominion. The very popular card game, currently 7th on Board Game Geek, challenges 2-4 players to build the best deck but unlike collectible card games, players all start with identical hands and the chance to attain cards from a communal set. The winner isn’t predetermined by who has previously spent the most (real) money on acquiring the best deck before the games begin but on actual skill DURING the game. At the end of the game, the cards return to the communal set and the original hands are re-dealt for a new match. Highly addictive, the fast paced game is simple to learn and entertaining.

Not surprisingly, the boys were quickly hooked and we played four games that night and then another five or so the next day. Brandy, who loves Dominion joined in the fun on Sunday afternoon. In between all that, I also showed them the classic investing game Acquire. Stanley won a vast majority of the games. That kid is an impressive game player. He has an innate ability to assess the whole game and make moves accordingly. Course, I doubt he could explain it that way. From his perspective, he’s just good at games.

On Sunday evening, Alex came home with me and Brandy, spending the next 2.5 days with us. More on that in Part II.

I wrote the review of the eagerly-anticipated, much-ballyhooed Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for Moving Pictures.

This morning I received the Fall 2010 Library of America catalog. LOA consistently produces the highest quality reprints of classic American works and I proudly own several of their volumes including Philip K. Dick: Four Novels of the 1960s, Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s, Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, Dashiell Hammett: Crime Stories & Other Writings, Raymond Chandler: Stories & Early Novels, Raymond Chandler: Later Novels & Other Writings, Zuckerman Bound: A Trilogy & Epilogue 1979–1985 by Philip Roth, and Baseball: A Literary Anthology.

As a pop culture/comics historian and critic, I was thrilled with the new book that adorns the catalog cover. Lynd Ward: Six Novels in Woodcuts collects the prominent works of this extraordinary creator. Ward pioneered the graphic novel with his wordless "novels in woodcuts." This should be on not only my shelf but any lover of comics as well.

Image from God’s Man

Image from God’s Man