While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Published sometime during the late 90s in Bastrop, TX, the mini-comic Jumbo Shrimp #1 was apparently meant to be a companion piece to the full sized comic Jumbo comics short stories(sic) #5. Since I don’t have the big Jumbo, I don’t know if this mini was an excerpt from the main book or additional stories.

Typical of most small press anthology titles, this small comic offers some slice-of-life, gratuitous sex and violence, and just some odd stories. None of it produced particularly well. Contributors include Rick Howe, Timothy Markin, Mark L. Stinson, Bobby Tran Dale, and Jim Conatser. The whole shebang appears to be edited by painter Liam Brooks (I can only assume the cover was painted by him. No credit is give).

Timothy Markin & Mark L. Stinson

Bobby Tran Dale

Jim Conatser

While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Over a three year period in the 1990s, artist Chris Cilla and writer Greg Petix (of the Weird Lovemakers) produced the daily strip "Swonk" for The Arizona Daily Wildcat. The cartoons were initially collected in The Pocket Swonk and the Howling Swonk.

But what is a swonk? The duo attempts an explanation.

Um.. ok…

Like many college strips, the subjects range from college life to politics to life observations.

And like most strips, the humor is hit and miss.

As with many of us raised in the seventies and eighties, their works were heavily influenced by Marvel comics of the era, as evident by the back covers of each volume.

Eventually, the duo compiled a third collection "A Moon, A Girl… Swonk."

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

Jack Kirby’s The Demon Written by Jack Kirby; Art and cover by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer

Promo copy:

One of Jack "King" Kirby’s most memorable creations returns in this title collecting the entire, original 16-issue series from the early 1970s! Part man, part elemental fury, Etrigan the Demon was bound to Jason Blood by Merlin to defend Camelot, only to become a demonologist in the modern-day DC Universe.

I’m a huge Kirby fan, owning more collections of his work than any other individual artist. The quirky, supernatural tales of Etrigan are among my absolute favorites.

Much like the excellent Fourth World reprints, DC wisely chose a non-glossy paper stock to emulate the originals paper quality. What DC did not do wisely was promote the fact that previously unpublished pages of Demon art are included in this package. I’ll let Mark Evanier explain from his introduction.

As if all 16 issues in one hardcover wasn’t enough! At $50, this tome is a steal. Beat up copies of any of the original issues for a minimum of $2. In this kind of immaculate condition, you’re talking at least $5 an issue. You do the math.

Starfist: Wings of Hell by David Sherman and Dan Cragg

Promo copy:

No one captures the action and sacrifice of war better than real combat vets David Sherman and Dan Cragg. Now their blazing space epic Starfist continues as Marines of the Confederation’s Thirty-fourth Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) go head-to-head against the deadly Skinks. Of course, Company L’s third platoon has fought these aliens before, but never before in these numbers. . . .

Planet Haulover has been invaded by Skinks. Until now the aliens’ existence has been kept confidential. But Force Recon’s shocking report leaves the Confederation no choice but to mount a military campaign and reveal to the public its biggest secret: the threat of fierce alien predators bent on human destruction. What’s no secret is that the four army divisions and two Marine FISTs sent to Haulover aren’t nearly enough to defeat the well-entrenched aliens, who have a tunnel system second to none.

Back home, the Confederation’s president is being denounced as a warmonger bent on exterminating “harmless” aliens. And if she loses the upcoming elections, the Confederation will have a lot more Skinks than those on Haulover to worry about.

Newly promoted Lieutenant Charlie Bass and his third platoon have more pressing concerns, such as staying alive. But what would be a suicidal mission for most–whether it’s raiding a well-defended Skinks base or destroying the enemy’s most lethal weapons during a desperate firefight–is for them just another job.

Dr. Grave: The Unholy Twelve by Ed Clayton

Promo copy:

Collecting issues #1-4 of the original comic series, DR. GRAVE: THE UNHOLY TWELVE contains an illustrated cover by Guy Davis and an introduction by fellow comic creator Rob Schrab. Grave fights to prevent the Unholy Twelve from unleashing his greatest nemesis, Satan. No matter the amount (or quality) of booze he imbibes, women he seduces, or indignities his manservant Shandar suffers, Dr. Grave will stop at nothing to save us all!

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

Dexter – The First Season

Promo copy:

Dexter is based on the compelling novel "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay. Orphaned at the age of four and harboring a traumatic secret, Dexter Morgan (Dexter Morgan (Emmy- and Golden Globe- nominated actor Michael C. Hall from "Six Feet Under") is adopted by a police officer who recognizes Dexter’s homicidal tendencies and guides his son to channel his gruesome passion for human vivisection in a constructive way – by killing those heinous perpetrators that are above the law or who have slipped through the cracks of justice. A respected member of the police force, a perfect gentleman and a man with a soft spot for children, it’s hard not to like Dexter. Although his drive to kill is unflinching, he struggles to emulate normal emotions he doesn’t feel, and to keep up his appearance as a caring, socially responsible human being.

Yeah, I know this isn’t exactly new, but I just got it. I saw these discs several years ago, but never owned them. I reviewed the Season Two set a few months back, where I made comments about the first season.

(For those with Blu-ray, watch for Jan. 6 release of that format’s Dexter Season One.)

Traitor

Promo copy:

Academy Award® nominee Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) star in Traitor, a taut international thriller set against a puzzle of covert counter-espionage operations. When straight-arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Pearce) investigates a dangerous international conspiracy responsible for a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn(Cheadle). But a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his suspect is a disaffected former military operative—or something far more complicated.

Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue. Traitor is written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenwriter of The Day After Tomorrow).

Special Features:
Audio Commentary Featuring Director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Actor Don Cheadle
Action! The Stunts And Special Effects of Traitor
International Espionage: An In-Depth Look at Traitor’s Exotic Locations

That Was The Year That Was. Part One.

Our final five selections will be announced in the January 1 column.

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

Veeps: Profiles in Insignificance by Bill Kelter (writer) and Wayne Shellabarger (artist)

Promo copy:

It’s a tired but true cliché that every American Vice President is just a heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the world … a job they’ve often never really interviewed for. Who are these people? We all know about the one who shot his hunting partner in the face, but how about the tavern owner who once married one of his slaves and then sold her at auction when she tried to leave him? Or the one whose President went to his death regretting that he hadn’t had his Vice President hanged? Or the one who was too frequently inebriated to serve out the whole of his term? Over more than 200 years, the American voters have sent a platoon of rogues, cowards, drunks, featherweights, doddering geriatrics, bigots, and atrocious spellers to Washington D.C. to sit one bullet, cerebral hemorrhage, or case of pneumonia away from the highest office in the land. VEEPS tells the sordid, head-scratching, perversely-entertaining stories of these men we’ve chosen to ride shotgun in the biggest rig in democracy, without ever seriously considering the possibility that they might have to take the wheel.

With short (3-4 pp), educational, and humorous essays about every Vice-President and notable VP candidates, Veeps makes for the perfect bathroom book. A thoroughly enjoyable romp through the history of the strangely contradictory position: one heartbeat away from the most powerful job in the US and at the same moment wielding absolutely no power.

Starship: Rebel by Mike Resnick

Promo copy:

The date is 1968 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now. The Republic, dominated by the human race, is in the midst of an all-out war with the Teroni Federation.

Almost a year has passed since the events of Starship: Mercenary. Captain Wilson Cole now commands a fleet of almost fifty ships, and he has become the single greatest military force on the Inner Frontier.

With one exception. The Republic still comes and goes as it pleases, taking what it wants, conscripting men, and extorting taxes, even though the Frontier worlds receive nothing in exchange. And, of course, the government still wants Wilson Cole and the starship Theodore Roosevelt. He has no interest in confronting such an overwhelming force, and constantly steers clear of them.

Then an incident occurs that changes everything, and Cole declares war on the Republic. Outnumbered and always outgunned, his fleet is no match for the Republic’s millions of military vessels, even after he forges alliances with the warlords he previously hunted down.

It’s a hopeless cause…but that’s just what Wilson Cole and the Teddy R. are best at.

[  Mood: Very Sad ]
I just received this note:

I never actually met Bettie. We exchanged a few emails through her agent and her responses were always polite and cordial. She always spoke highly of my family in general and my grandfather in specific. Her legacy to not only my family name but to the world of pop culture is incalculable. She will be missed.

A very sad day indeed.

As if I couldn’t get more excited about the March DVD release of the third season of The Venture Brothers, I saw the sensational Atari 2600 packaging!

Think these boys know their market or what?

(Thanks to Cullen Bunn for the Twitter shout.)

While "researching" the latest Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom contains many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I’m taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

A wordsmith very familiar to these environs, Mark Finn first plied his trade from within the wilds of the Waco, TX indie comics scene. He along with John Lucas, Micheal Washburn, William Traxtle, Bill Haney, and the other denizens that made up Absolute Comics produced several quirky comics throughout the nineties. Finn and Traxtle co-created Punk, the anarchy-fueled, humor-driven adventures of the title character and cast of quirky characters. Mid-decade, Finn produced a series of "micro-comics" starring the supporting actors. Klops! relates the tale of the Punk’s addled brained one-eyed sidekick and his adventure to find Punk some beer. Hilarity and chaos ensue.

Actual size

Finn supplied the script, letters, and the breakdowns. Washburn finished the art with an ink assist by Traxtle.

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

Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald

Promo copy:

Ian McDonald’s River of Gods called "a masterpiece" by Asimov’s Science Fiction and praised by the Washington Post as "a major achievement from a writer who is becoming one of the best SF novelists of our time" painted a vivid picture of a near future India, 100 years after independence. It revolutionized SF for a new generation by taking a perspective that was not European or American. Nominated for the Hugo Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and winning the BSFA Award, the rich world of the novel has inspired McDonald to revisit its milieu in a series of short stories, all set in the world of River of Gods.

Cyberabad Days is a triumphant return to the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas.

Cyberabad Days is a collection of seven stories, one Hugo nominee and one Hugo winner among them, as well as a twenty-five thousand word original novella. As with everything Ian McDonald does, it is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year.

City Without End: Book Three of The Entire and The Rose by Kay Kenyon

Promo copy:

-Book three of the critically acclaimed epic series.

-The first book in the series, Bright of the Sky, was named among Publishers Weekly‘s top 150 titles for 2007.

-Author plans extensive tour of bookstores and conventions.

-Stephan Martiniere’s cover illustration won the prestigious Silver Spectrum award.

In this series Kay Kenyon has created her most vivid and compelling society yet, the universe Entire. Reviewers have called this "a grand world," "an enormous stage," and "a bravura concept."

On this stage unfolds a mighty struggle for dominance between two universes. Titus Quinn has forged an unstable peace with the Tarig lords. The ruinous capability of the nanotech surge weapon he possesses ensures detente. But it is a sham. In what the godwoman Zhiya calls a fit of moral goodness, he’s thrown the weapon into the space-folding waters of the Nigh. This clears the way for an enemy he could have never foreseen: the people of the Rose. A small cadre led by Helice Maki is determined to take the Entire for itself and leave the earth in ruins. The transform of earth will begin deep in a western desert and will sweep over the lives of ordinary people, entangling Quinn s sister-in-law Caitlin in a deepening and ultimate conspiracy.

In the Entire, Quinn stalks Helice to the fabled Rim City, encircling the heart of the Entire. Here he at last finds his daughter, now called Sen Ni, in the Chalin style. Outside of earth-based time, she has grown to adulthood. He hardly knows her, and finds her the mistress of a remarkable dream-time insurgency against the Tarig lords and more, a woman risen high in the Entire’s meritocracy. Quinn needs his daughter’s help against the woman who would destroy the earth. But Sen Ni has her own plans and allies, among them a boy-navitar unlike any other pilot of the River Nigh a navitar willing and supremely able to break his vows and bend the world.

Quinn casts his fate with the beautiful and resourceful Ji Anzi who sent on a journey to other realms holds the key to Quinn’s heart and his overarching mission. But as he approaches the innermost sanctuary of the Tarig, he is alone. Waiting for him are powerful adversaries, including a lady who both hates and loves him, the high prefect of the dragon court, and Quinn’s most implacable enemy, a warrior whose chaotic mind will soon be roused from an eternal slumber.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Two-Disc Special Edition) (1951)

Promo copy:

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Special Edition DVD is presented in full screen format (1.33:1 aspect ratio) with English Mono, English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish and French Mono, plus English and Spanish subtitles.

• New: Exclusive First Look At The New Movie The Day The Earth Stood Still Starring
Keanu Reeves And Jennifer Connelly
• Commentary by Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer
• New: Commentary by Film & Music Historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg and Nick Redman
• New: Isolated Score Track
• New: The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin
• New: The Day The Earth Stood Still Main Title Live Performance By Peter Pringle
• New: The Making of The Day the Earth Stood Still
• New: Decoding “Klaatu Barada Nikto”: Science Fiction as Metaphor Featurette
• New: A Brief History of Flying Saucers Featurette
• New: The Astounding Harry Bates Featurette
• New: Edmund North: The Man Who Made the Earth Stand Still Featurette
• New To Disc: Race To Oblivion: A Documentary Short Written And Produced By Edmund North
• New To Disc: Farewell To The Master: A Reading By Jamieson K. Price Of The Original
Harry Bates Short Story; Audio Only
• New: Interactive Pressbook
• Fox Movietonews from 1951
• Original Theatrical Trailer & Teaser Trailer
• Advertising Gallery
• Behind-The Scenes Gallery
• Portrait Gallery
• Production Gallery
• Spaceship Construction Blueprints
• Shooting Script

This double disc edition of the classic film offers all the bells & whistles: Informative documentaries, a reading of Harry Bates’ short story "Farewell to the Master" (the basis for the movie), audio only tracks of the soundtrack, two commentary tracks, and a ten minute trailer for the forthcoming remake. If the Keanu Reeves’ film was titled damn near anything else, I’d more accepting of this pretty decent trailer. From what I can gleam, outside of the name Klaatu and a brief appearance of Gort, this has nothing to do with the original The Day The Earth Stood Still. Perhaps calling it The Day the Earth Blew Up would be more apropos.

For more Day the Earth Stood Still coolness check out this Roy Thomas and Ross Andru seventies adaptation of "Farewell to the Master" in Worlds of Unknown #3.