My interview with Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone: The Official 50th Anniversary Tribute author Douglas Brode appears in the Feb. 4 San Antonio Current.

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

Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Promo copy:

Scott Pilgrim just turned 24, and things couldn’t possibly be better! This means things are about to get infinitely worse. Suddenly, TWO of Ramona’s evil ex-boyfriends are in town, and they’re playing dirty. His band is in turmoil, and his own exes aren’t making things any easier. And what’s up with Ramona, anyway? She’s been acting kinda weird ever since they moved in together. It’s the SECOND LAST VOLUME of SCOTT PILGRIM: Scott’s precious little life is coming back around to bite him in the butt, and it may not be pretty!

The eagerly-anticipated new volume of the ultimate geek graphic novel series!

For those geeks still in the dark here’s the skinny:

Bryan Lee O’Malley’s excellent Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels tells the tale of the titular character and his struggles against his girlfriend’s seven evil exes. The four published volumes (Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life 2004, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World 2005, Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness 2006, and Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together 2007) get progressively stranger as we learn more about Scott, his girlfriend Romona, and an increasingly odd cast of characters. Setting the series in Toronto, O’Malley uses comic book and pop culture tropes to illustrate his intelligently scripted stories. The unusual seems ordinary and common to the characters. When a ninja appears to challenge Scott, he opens a door and escapes into subspace, only to reappear somewhere else in the city. He takes it all in stride. It’s not uncommon for a character to relate a story and the say "then there was 50 pages of fight scenes." A movie, directed by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) and starring Michael Cera as Scott and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Romona, begins shooting soon.

Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 1 written by Alan Moore Art by Stephen Bissette and John Totleben

Promo copy:

Writer Alan Moore’s seminal horror series is now published in hardcover for the very first time — including the never-before-reprinted SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #20, in which Moore wraps up the previous storyline and sets the stage for the groundbreaking tales that were to come. Collecting SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #20-27, this first volume features the stories that put Moore on the comics map in the 1980s thanks to his unique narrative style and deconstructive storytelling. Created by a freak accident, Swamp Thing believed he was once scientist Alec Holland — but when he discovers his true nature, it shatters his universe and sends him on a path of discovery and adventure.

Featuring the art of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben, this groundbreaking work features mind-blowing, genre-defying stories starring the rich, complex character that Neil Gaiman called "The No. 1 New Classic Monster" in Entertainment Weekly.

This beautiful book collects the amazing storyline that introduced Alan Moore to American audiences. A must-read for any horror fan.

Complete with a gorgeous front board image by Bissette, whose vision of Swamp Thing may be finer than Wrightson’s. Blasphemy, I know, but there you have it.

Bissette’s front board image

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

The City & The City by China Miéville

Promo copy:

New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in an enthralling city that is unlike any other—real or imagined

When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined. Soon his work puts him and those he cares for in danger.

Borlú must travel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own, across a border like no other. It is a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen, a journey to Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma.

With shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & The City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.

Buyout by Alexander Irvine

Promo copy:

From acclaimed author Alexander C. Irvine comes a gritty near-future thriller in the paranoid, prophetic vein of Philip K. Dick and Richard K. Morgan

One hundred years from now, with Americans hooked into an Internet far more expansive and intrusive than today’s, the world has become a seamless market-driven experience. In this culture of capitalism run amok, entrepreneurs and politicians faced with rampant overcrowding in the nation’s penal system turn to a controversial new method of cutting costs: life-term buyouts. In theory, buyouts offer convicted murderers the chance to atone for their crimes by voluntarily allowing themselves to be put to death by the state in exchange for a one-time cash payment, shared among their heirs and victims, based on a percentage of what it would have cost taxpayers to house and feed them for the rest of their natural lives. It’s a win-win situation.

At least that’s what Martin Kindred believes. And Martin is a man who desperately needs something to believe in, especially with his marriage coming apart and the murder of his brother, an L.A. cop brutally gunned down in the line of duty, unsolved.

As the public face of the buyout program, Martin is a lightning rod for verbal and physical abuse–but he embraces every challenge, knowing his motives are pure. But when evidence comes to light that a felon in line for a buyout may have been involved with his brother’s death, Martin’s professional detachment threatens to turn into a personal vendetta that will jeopardize everything–and everyone–he holds dear. Inspired by today’s politics, Buyout is an unforgettable look at an all-too-believable future . . . and one man’s struggle to do the right thing.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick

Promo copy:

Scant years after a terrible war that shook empires, a six-hundred-year-old ship sets sail for enemy lands in an attempt to forge an enduring peace between the world’s two greatest monarchies. A vast city afloat, the ancient vessel bears a royal bride-to-be; a stowaway tribe of foothigh warriors; an honest young tarboy with a heritage of treason; a rat with a magical secret; and a dark conspiracy centered around the Red Wolf, a legendary and dangerous artifact.

When the conspiracy is uncovered, the voyage takes a turn into perilous waters, and the sword-wielding young bride and her quick-witted tarboy companion must face deadly assassins, treacherous mermaids, and monstrous slavers to uncover secrets at the highest levels of power—secrets that will send heroes and traitors alike careening towards a mysterious destination that could destroy both empires at a stroke.

A publishing sensation in England, The Red Wolf Conspiracy marks the debut of a remarkably gifted young writer.

On the other end of the phone, a woman with a heavy Asian accent asked me if I was the Rick who wrote Nexus Graphica for Sf Site.

"Um.. yeah. Why?"

"We’d like to promote your book."

"What?"

"In your column you feature several of your books."

"Um.. I wrote about those books. I did not write them."

"The X-men is not your book?"

*chuckle* "No. I WRITE about OTHER books."

"Well, you have a book, right?"

"Yes.. but it came out several years ago. Who are you and what do you want?"

"You were targeted by our website because of your quality writing. We would like to promote your book." She went on to tell me she was from Book Whirl and they successfully promote books, though she didn’t offer names of any clients.

The site itself is slick, though makes the common mistake of too much info on the title page, obscuring their message. And the Barnes & Noble and Amazon links near the bottom give the false impression that they are sponsored by the bookstore giants.

From their ABOUT US:

I was not very impressed. You call an author without really knowing what they do? Obviously, I don’t own the X-men and the tiniest bit of research reveals that I’ve never even written the X-men. And I’m suppose to take you seriously?

Then there’s the pricing. While not terrible, their services are way too fragmented– potentially obscuring the actual costs– and the charts offer little indication of what you get for your money.

The site only lists four clients. Is that all they have? And though they apparently focus only on newer writers, you would think if their pr was so good, I would have heard of at least one of them. I am, by reputation, very tied into the book trade. Something somewhere should have come to my attention about one of their authors.

When I asked the their telemarketer where they were located, she told me Iowa. No indication of that on their site.

Reading the fine print reveals that Book Whirl is owned by Yen Chen Support, an Asian business process outsourcing company. I’m sure Yen Chen is a fine company, but nothing on their site lends me to believe they know the first thing about the book industry on any continent. (Though apparently they use Linux, which does give them Brownie points.)

If you are an author looking for some promotional help, you are better of contacting someone like Deep Eight proprietor Matt Staggs. He may not have the whiz bang of Book Whirl, but he knows the biz and understands the various Internet marketing opportunities. Plus, Matt knows who owns the X-men.

"Rick, can I get your email so we can check in with you in a few months?"

"You can get it from the column."

"Um.. where is that?"

"Sf Site. Scroll down and click on Nexus Graphica. The new column went up yesterday."

"I don’t see it. Please tell me your email."

"Forget it. I’m not interested in your services. Don’t contact me again" *CLICK*