Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.
Promo copy:
Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.
Special Features
• Blu-ray Feature Film + Bonus
• DVD Feature Film+ Bonus
• Disney Second Screen
• 360 Degrees of John Carter
• Deleted Scene with Option Commentary by Director Andrew Stanton
• Barsoom Bloopers
• 100 Years in the Making
• Audio Commentary with Film Makers
I reviewed John Carter for RevSF, calling it "a lush, yet uneven film."
Building Stories
by Chris Ware
Promo copy:
After years of sporadic work on other books and projects and following the almost complete loss of his virility, it’s here: a new graphic novel by Chris Ware.
Building Stories imagines the inhabitants of a three-story Chicago apartment building: a 30-something woman who has yet to find someone with whom to spend the rest of her life; a couple, possibly married, who wonder if they can bear each other’s company another minute; and the building’s landlady, an elderly woman who has lived alone for decades. Taking advantage of the absolute latest advances in wood pulp technology, Building Stories is a book with no deliberate beginning nor end, the scope, ambition, artistry and emotional prevarication beyond anything yet seen from this artist or in this medium, probably for good reason.
I received just a teaser, but as expected it’s gorgeous.
The Land Without Stars: Valerian Vol. 3
by J. C. Mézières & P. Christin
Promo copy:
When a rogue planet threatens a new Human colony, Valerian and Laureline are sent to investigate and discover a barren, rocky surface… and a whole world beneath it! The people who live inside Zahir have never seen the stars. Divided along gender lines, torn by a senseless and bloody war, they are unaware that their planet is hurtling towards disaster. To stop it, the two agents of Galaxity will have to infiltrate both sides and force a reconciliation.
The Hive
by Charles Burns
Promo copy:
Much has happened since we last saw Doug, the Tintin-like hero from X’ed Out. Confessing his past to an unidentified woman, Doug struggles to recall the mysterious incident that left his life shattered, an incident that may have involved his disturbed and now-absent girlfriend, Sarah, and her menacing ex-boyfriend.
Doug warily seeks answers in a nightmarish alternate world that is a distorted mirror of our own, where he is a lowly employee that carts supplies around the Hive. The second part of Charles Burns’s riveting trilogy, this graphic narrative will delight and surpass the expectations of his fans.
I named the previous volume X’ed Out as my favorite graphic novel of 2010.
| Quote: |
| Burns, the creator of Black Hole and famed contributor to the legendary anthology series Raw, returns to graphic storytelling with the first chapter of the surreal X’ed Out. Doug awakens one night to find a huge hole torn out of the bricks in his room. Within his beloved dead cat Icky beckons. Doug journeys into a bizarre apocalyptic world of alien creatures, dwarves, and princesses. Equal parts Hergé and William Burroughs, Burns’ beautifully disturbing, non-linear tale leaps effortlessly from the real and unreal of the troubled Doug’s disquieting existence. X’ed Out succeeds as both a beginning and a satisfactory event unto itself. Like a good meal, the book leaves the reader contented yet longing for more. |