Apparently the latest Microsoft OS, Windows 7, premiered today. Lifehacker, as their apt to do, offered an overview of the release. What struck me the most were the system requirements.

That is way too much RAM and disk space. I could barely run it on my one year old 64 bit laptop with 2 GB RAM! The bells and whistles aren’t cool enough to compel me to upgrade the RAM or buy a new machine.

There are literally thousands of older machines that run perfectly well but have been shelved only because of newer, bloated OSes. The primary reason I gave up years ago on Windows (back when XP first appeared) is that I didn’t like the idea of having to buy a new machine just so I can run the latest OS. There is no reason a computer, much like your car or TV, can’t run effectively for ten years or more.

My desktop computer is at least five years old (I bought it used three years ago). It runs a 2.3 gigahertz, 32 bit processor with 1 GB RAM. Barring anything catastrophic, I figure to be happily using this machine for another 5 years.

(The monitor for said machine sadly died this morning. According to the sticker on the back, it was manufactured in Oct, 1999!)

I recently configured a 800 32 bit machine with 264 meg of RAM under Xubuntu for a friend of mine. It works just fine. Only complaint he’s had is that it sometimes lags when he uses YouTube.

My laptop is the first brand new computer I’ve ever owned and that was a birthday present.

And people wonder why I am an Open Source devotee?

As promised last week, here’s the second KandyLand installment.

Art by Troy Gonzales (aka Newt Manwich) and script and concept by me.

Click on image to enlarge

Not much to add here, except I’ve seen better days.

Last Week’s Strip

Next Week’s Strip

As the baseball season draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about what to do with my free time following the World Series. From April through early November, a lot of my time is occupied by baseball. Watching it, reading about it, etc.

Over the past few years, I developed an interest in recycling older tech for a more useful future than landfill. Most of these efforts have centered around Open Source, Linux, and older computers. I’ve rejuvenated several ten year old computers. These projects often occupied that time. But now I’m ready to up the ante.

My old Palm Vx, while still in fine running condition, has outlived it’s present usefulness. Linux can run on such small devices, and so my offseason project is to not only covert the Palm to Linux but make the pda into a functioning e-reader. While I realize it will never match the Kindle or the Sony e-reader, I should be able (in theory) to re-purpose the Palm Vx into an adequate reader. Far better than just tossing it the scrap heap.

While I haven’t found a record of anyone actually accomplishing such a conversion (if anyone knows of someone who has, please let me know. I’m not above help), I figure it’ll be fun trying.

I’ll start in on the project the week after the World Series ends. I’ll write periodic posts updating my progress.

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

Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett

Promo copy:

It is the time of the Great Depression.

Thousands have left their homes looking for a better life, a new life. But Marcus Connelly is not one of them. He searches for one thing, and one thing only. Revenge.

Because out there, riding the rails, stalking the camps, is the scarred vagrant who murdered Connelly’s daughter. No one knows him, but everyone knows his name: Mr. Shivers.

In this extraordinary debut, Robert Jackson Bennett tells the story of an America haunted by murder and desperation. A world in which one man must face a dark truth and answer the question-how much is he willing to sacrifice for his satisfaction?

Bennett is another one of that seemingly inexhaustible supply of Austin writers.

Sasha (A Trial of Blood and Steel, Book I) by Joel Shepherd

Promo copy:

SASHA IS A FIGHTER, THE LIKE OF WHICH THE HIGHLAND COUNTRY OF LENAYIN HAS NEVER SEEN.

Spurning her royal heritage to be raised by the great warrior, Kessligh, her exquisite swordplay astonishes all who witness it. But Sasha is still young, untested in battle and often led by her rash temper. In the complex world of Lenayin loyalties, her defiant wilfulness is attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Lenayin is a land almost divided by its two faiths: the Verenthane of the ruling classes and the pagan Goeren-yai, amongst whom Sasha now lives. The Goeren-yai worship swordplay and honour and begin to see Sasha as the great spirit the Synnich who will unite them. But Sasha is still searching for what she believes and must choose her side carefully.

When the Udalyn people — the symbol of Goeren-yai pride and courage — are attacked, Sasha will face her moment of testing. How will she act? Is she ready to lead? Can she be the saviour they need her to be?

Legacy by Tom Sniegoski

Promo copy:

What if your deadbeat dad was a superhero?

What if you found out your deadbeat father is a superhero? Would you leave your small-town life to take up the mantle of a father you never knew? For 18-year-old Lucas, the choice is an easy one: he’s not going to leave behind his mother and his comfortable life for a father who’s never shown any interest in him. But his father—known officially as billionaire Clayton Hartwell, and secretly as the vigilante superhero The Raptor—tells Lucas that as he is dying, evil is growing, and the world needs Lucas to become the new Raptor. When Lucas’s mother is killed by mysterious warriors, he realizes that his father is right. Once in Seraph City, Lucas is stunned by the amount of poverty and crime. But after observing his father’s “heroic” behavior up close, Lucas is left wondering about the line between good and evil. And eventually, he must decide whether to take a stand against the one man who loves him in order to defend a world that desperately needs him.

In His Majesty’s Service by Naomi Novik

Promo copy:

Together in one volume, here are the first three novels in Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, combining the gripping history of the Napoleonic era, the thrill of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books, and the excitement of Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventures. In His Majesty’s Service also includes an exclusive original Temeraire short story.

Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring most a unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.

Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?

More in Part II

Disclaimer as mandated by the goons at the FTC: All the books mentioned in this blog entry were sent free of charge by the publishers for the purposes of review. I wonder if anyone out there is reading this microscopic text?

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

Elric In the Dream Realms (Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melniboné, Vol. 5) by Michael Moorcock

Promo copy:

Kinslayer. Soul reaver. Sorcerer. Thief. And last emperor of a cruel, decadent race. Elric of Melniboné is all of these–and more. His life is sustained by drugs and magic–and energy sucked from the victims of his vampiric black sword, Stormbringer, a weapon feared by men and gods alike. Denied the oblivion he seeks, poised between a tragic past he cannot escape and a terrifying future he is doomed to bring about, Elric is a hero like no other.

Del Rey is proud to present the fifth installment in its definitive collection featuring the immortal creation of Michael Moorcock, named Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Highlights include an epic novel of Elric’s early years, The Fortress of the Pearl; the script of the graphic novel Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer; a previously unpublished proposal for a new series; and Hugo Award—winning author Neil Gaiman’s moving fictional tribute to Elric, the short story “One Life, Furnished in Early Moorcock.”

Gorgeously illustrated by Michael Wm. Kaluta, Elric: In the Dream Realms is a dream come true for sword-and-sorcery fans.

This Crooked Way by James Enge

Promo copy:

Morlock Ambrosius returns! Travelling alone in the depths of winter, Morlock Ambrosius (bitterly dry drunk, master of all magical makers, wandering swordsman, and son of Merlin Ambrosius and Nimue Viviana) is attacked by an unknown enemy. To unmask his enemy and end the attacks he must travel a long crooked way through the world: past the soul-eating Boneless One, past a subtle and treacherous master of golems, past the dragon-taming Khroi, past the predatory cities of Sarkunden and Aflraun, past the demons and dark gnomes of the northern woods. Soon he will find that his enemy wears a familiar face, and that the duel he has stumbled into will threaten more lives than his own, leaving nations shattered in its chaotic wake. And at the end of his long road waits the death of a legend.

Black Blood by John Meaney

Promo copy:

In John Meaney’s follow-up to the much-acclaimed Bone Song, a cop in a morbidly lush necropolis crosses the barrier between life and death to avenge the murder of his lover—a woman whose heart now beats in his chest.…

Tristopolitan police lieutenant Donal Riordan returned from the dead for one purpose: to stop the killer who took not only his life but his reason for living it. But first he must penetrate a secret cabal known as the Black Circle, whose stranglehold on the city’s elite is preparation for a magical coup d’état fueled by a sacrifice of unprecedented bloodshed. At the center of this ring of evil is the man responsible for his lover’s murder—a man Donal has already had to kill once before.

El Borak and Other Desert Adventures by Robert E. Howard

Info and story list from The Cimmerian:

El Borak:
– The Daughter of Erlik Khan
– Hawk of the Hills
– Swords of the Hills (aka “The Lost Valley of Iskander”)
– Blood of the Gods
– Sons of the Hawk (aka “The Country of the Knife”)
– Son of the White Wolf
– Three-Bladed Doom (short)
– Three-Bladed Doom (long)

Kirby O’Donnell:
– The Curse of the Crimson God
– Sword of Shahrazar (aka “The Treasure of Shaibar Kahn”)
– The Treasures of Tartary

Francis X. Gordon
Gordon is called “El Borak” — the Swift — by the untamed tribesmen of Central Asia and the Middle East. The nickname describes his speed with sword and revolver, the latter skill perfected in an earlier career as a Texas gunman. A freelance adventurer who occasionally hires on with the British Secret Service to foil Russia’s imperialistic designs north of the Khyber Pass, Gordon sometimes rides into trouble alone, sometimes with a small band of dedicated friends. In the fearsome Land of Ghouls, he infiltrates and shatters a resurgent band of outlaws who have attempted to revive the brotherhood of the Assassins. In the corpse-choked Pass of Swords, he throws off his disguise as “Shirkuh,” a killer for hire, to foil the sinister Black Tigers. When WW1 explodes, he follows the call of duty southward to fight alongside Lawrence of Arabia.

Kirby O’Donnell
Like Gordon, Kirby O’Donnell is a restless American who has found his true home on the far borders of High Tartary. Armed with the fighting-knife called the kindhjal and cloaked in the assumed identity of “Ali El Ghazi,” a Kurdish soldier of fortune, O’Donnell follows a legend of vast treasure to the forgotten city of Shahrazar. He finds the fortune, then consigns it to destruction so as to prevent it from igniting a conflagration across Central Asia. But another fabulous hoard awaits, the ruby-encrusted idol known as the Blood-Stained God; it is O’Donnell’s for the taking, in the rugged hills beyond the Crag of Eagles — if he can survive multiple double-crosses to claim it!

I’ve also been told by Rusty Burke (editor for this book and all others in the Del Rey series) that the original, non-supernatural version of “The Fire of Asshurbanipal” will appear in this volume.

Tim Bradstreet and the artistic team of Jim and Ruth Keegan illustrate this volume, though sadly the images were not included with the ARC I received.

More in Part I

Disclaimer as mandated by the goons at the FTC: All the books mentioned in this blog entry were sent free of charge by the publishers for the purposes of review. That’s all folks!

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

The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb

Promo copy:

From Creation to the death of Joseph, here are all 50 chapters of the Book of Genesis, revealingly illustrated as never before. Envisioning the first book of the bible like no one before him, R. Crumb, the legendary illustrator, reveals here the story of Genesis in a profoundly honest and deeply moving way. Originally thinking that we would do a take off of Adam and Eve, Crumb became so fascinated by the Bible’s language, “a text so great and so strange that it lends itself readily to graphic depictions,” that he decided instead to do a literal interpretation using the text word for word in a version primarily assembled from the translations of Robert Alter and the King James bible.

Now, readers of every persuasion—Crumb fans, comic book lovers, and believers—can gain astonishing new insights from these harrowing, tragic, and even juicy stories. Crumb’s Book of Genesis reintroduces us to the bountiful tree lined garden of Adam and Eve, the massive ark of Noah with beasts of every kind, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by brimstone and fire that rained from the heavens, and the Egypt of the Pharaoh, where Joseph’s embalmed body is carried in a coffin, in a scene as elegiac as any in Genesis. Using clues from the text and peeling away the theological and scholarly interpretation that have often obscured the Bible’s most dramatic stories, Crumb fleshes out a parade of Biblical originals: from the serpent in Eden, the humanoid reptile appearing like an alien out of a science fiction movie, to Jacob, a “kind’ve depressed guy who doesn’t strike you as physically courageous,” and his bother, Esau, “a rough and kick ass guy,” to Abraham’s wife Sarah, more fetching than most woman at 90, to God himself, “a standard Charlton Heston-like figure with long white hair and a flowing beard.”

As Crumb writes in his introduction, “the stories of these people, the Hebrews, were something more than just stories. They were the foundation, the source, in writing of religious and political power, handed down by God himself.” Crumb’s Book of Genesis, the culmination of 5 years of painstaking work, is a tapestry of masterly detail and storytelling which celebrates the astonishing diversity of the one of our greatest artistic geniuses.

Hairy Hunks: A Celebration of Shaggy Stallions by Lucy Porter

Promo copy:

From Burt Reynolds to Jake Gyllenhaall, Tom Selleck to Orlando Bloom, Hairy Hunks seduces and sizzles on every page, with the very hottest in lustrous, luxurious, and sexy hair.

In the bestselling tradition of God’s Gift, this hilarious, kitschy follow-up showcases over three decades of the most beloved actors, athletes, and musicians, with one thing in common: whether your tastes run to long manes, furry chests, or manly muttonchops, you’ll swoon for their hair.

Stuffed with pictures of gorgeous man-candy—paired with hilarious captions—in a fun and colorful package, Hairy Hunks is bound to please. Oh yeah.

Famous Players, the Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor by Rick Geary

Promo copy:

It s the early days of Hollywood, movies are just starting to come of their own and gain in popularity. New Stars are made. The movies are still silent but their stars certainly are not in the scandal sheets. Amidst this new boiling cauldron, William Desmond Taylor, a successful director at the upscale Famous Players Studio is found shot in his home.. Could it have been the star Mary Miles Minter or a former butler? But then, what about that strange past Taylor had? Another delectable mystery as only Geary can tell em!

Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel by Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett

Promo copy:

Meet Boilerplate, the world’s first robot soldier—not in a present-day military lab or a science-fiction movie, but in the past, during one of the most fascinating periods of U.S. history. Designed by Professor Archibald Campion in 1893 as a prototype, for the self-proclaimed purpose of “preventing the deaths of men in the conflicts of nations,” Boilerplate charged into combat alongside such notables as Teddy Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia. Campion and his robot also circled the planet with the U.S. Navy, trekked to the South Pole, made silent movies, and hobnobbed with the likes of Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla.

You say you’ve never heard of Boilerplate before? That’s because this book is the fanciful creation of a husband-and-wife team who have richly imagined these characters and inserted them into accurate retellings of history. This full-color chronicle is profusely illustrated with graphics mimicking period style, including photos, paintings, posters, cartoons, maps, and even stereoscope cards. Part Jules Verne and part Zelig, it’s a great volume for a broad range of fans of science fiction, history, and robots.

More in Part II.

Disclaimer as mandated by the goons at the FTC: All the books mentioned in this blog entry were sent free of charge by the publishers for the purposes of review. Does anyone out there really think I would buy *all* of these books?

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

The Umbrella Academy: Dallas by Gerard Way & Gabriel Bá

Promo copy:

The team is despondent following the near apocalypse created by one of their own and the death of their beloved mentor Pogo. So it’s a great time for another catastrophic event to rouse the team into action. Trouble is, each member of the team is distracted by some very real problems of their own. The White Violin is bedridden due to an unfortunate blow to the head. Rumor has lost her voice – the source of her power. Spaceboy has eaten himself into a near-catatonic state, while Number Five dives into some shady dealings at the dog track and The Kraken starts looking at his littlest brother as the key to unraveling a mysterious series of massacres… all leading to a blood-drenched face-off with maniacal assassins, and a plot to kill JFK!

Volume One ranked among my top five graphic novels of 2008.

Superheroes and Beyond: How to Draw the Leading and Supporting Characters of Today’s Comics by Christopher Hart

Promo copy:

Superheroes remain the most popular genre of characters in comics and comics-inspired movies. Superheroes & Beyond by Chris Hart shows aspiring artists how to create a huge array of original comic book heroes and villains. The characters found within these pages are broken down into step-by-step constructions that help the student of comics visualize the basic forms and individual features of comic book superheroes.

The subjects covered include: drawing faces, drawing the head from all angles, expressions, light and shadow and its effect on the face, heroes, villains and supporting characters, hands and fee,; foreshortening poses, the dynamics of drawing action; sexy gals; talking in speech balloons, placement of speech balloons and captions, storytelling, use of light and dark in silhouettes, superhero environments, and drawing the splash page.

Marilyn Monroe: Your Personal Fashion Consultant by Michael Feder and Karan Feder

Promo copy:

Marilyn Monroe—with her hourglass curves and blonde waves—was destined to become a Hollywood icon and the archetype for 1950s fashion. Today, whether you’re dressing for an afternoon at the ballpark or a birthday party at the White House, Marilyn’s sensual style will provide inspiration for any occasion.

This book features dazzling archival photographs and savvy fashion quips, but the fun doesn’t end there.You can “Punch Out and Play” with each fabulously dressed Marilyn Monroe to create twelve paper dolls in fantastic poses. The perfect novelty gift, Marilyn Monroe: Your Personal Fashion Consultant celebrates a timeless beauty and the reason why gentlemen prefer blondes.

Pim & Francie by Al Columbia

Promo copy:

A lavishly produced portal into the fantastic and frightful world of Pim & Francie. This gorgeous grimoire is part alchemy, part art book, part storybook, part comic book, and part conceptual art from the pen of Al Columbia, a longtime fan favorite contributor to comics anthologies like Zero Zero, Blab!, and more recently, MOME. Collecting over a decade’s worth of ‘artifacts’, excavations, comic strips, animation stills, storybook covers, and much more, this broken jigsaw puzzle of a book tells the story of Pim & Francie, a pair of childlike, male and female imps whose irresponsible antics get them into horrific, fantastic trouble. Their loosely defined relationship only contributes to the existential fear that lingers underneath the various perils they are subjected to. Columbia’s brilliant, fairytale-like backdrops hint at further layers of reality lurking under every gingerbread house or behind every sunny afternoon. Never have such colorful, imaginative vistas instilled such an atmosphere of dread, and with such a wicked sense of humor.

This is a comprehensive collection of Columbia’s Pim & Francie work, including paintings, comics, character designs, and much more, all woven into something greater than the sum of its parts, with Pim & Francie careening from danger to danger, threaded together through text and notes by the artist.

This is the first book collection by Columbia, a well-regarded talent amongst longtime fans of the alternative comic book scene, and one who will thrill an entirely new audience with the singular, inspired, fully-realized fantasies within Pim & Francie.

More in Part I.

Disclaimer as mandated by the goons at the FTC: All the books mentioned in this blog entry were sent free of charge by the publishers for the purposes of review. Does anyone really buy this variety of titles?

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

The Prisoner by Carlos J. Cortes

Promo copy:

2049. Earth’s prisons are shut down and all inmates placed in massive hibernation tanks. In the ten years since then, no one has broken out…until now.

When prisoners check into Washington D.C.’s maximum security "sugar cube," they don’t check out. Here lie suspended not just the planet’s most dangerous criminals, but also half a million so-called "center inmates"—troublesome activists whose only offense is to challenge those in power.

Laurel Cole was one of those inmates—and now she’s on the run. After pulling off a meticulously executed escape plan, she and her team must elude the police by descending into the tunnels that run like poisoned veins beneath the city. Pursued by a ruthless mercenary who knows these sewers better than anyone, Laurel seeks help from a group of renegades who live huddled in the fetid darkness. But if she ever hopes to see daylight again—and expose the government’s lies—she’ll have to go even deeper. . . and the clock is ticking.

Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 8 ) by Keri Arthur

Promo copy:

In the darkness, demons come out to play . . .
and someone must bring their sins to light.

Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . .

Star Wars: 501st by Karen Traviss

Promo copy:

The Clone Wars are over, but for those with reason to run from the new galactic Empire, the battle to survive has only just begun. . . .

The Jedi have been decimated in the Great Purge, and the Republic has fallen. Now the former Republic Commandos–the galaxy’s finest special forces troops, cloned from Jango Fett–find themselves on opposing sides and in very different armor. Some have deserted and fled to Mandalore with the mercenaries, renegade clone troopers, and rogue Jedi who make up Kal Skirata’s ragtag resistance to Imperial occupation. Others–including men from Delta and Omega squads–now serve as Imperial Commandos, a black ops unit within Vader’s own 501st Legion, tasked to hunt down fugitive Jedi and clone deserters. For Darman, grieving for his Jedi wife and separated from his son, it’s an agonizing test of loyalty. But he’s not the only one who’ll be forced to test the ties of brotherhood. On Mandalore, clone deserters and the planet’s own natives, who have no love for the Jedi, will have their most cherished beliefs challenged. In the savage new galactic order, old feuds may have to be set aside to unite against a far bigger threat, and nobody can take old loyalties for granted.

Dragonheart by Todd McCaffrey

Promo copy:

The specter of sickness looms over the Weyrs of Pern, felling fire-lizards and threatening their dragon cousins, Pern’s sole defense against the deadly phenomenon that is Thread. Fiona, the young rider of queen dragon Talenth, is about to assume the duties of a Weyrwoman when word spreads that dragons have begun succumbing to the new contagion. As more dragons sicken and die, Weyrleader B’Nik and queen rider Lorana comb Fort Weyr’s archives in a desperate search for clues from the past that may hold the solution to the plague. But could the past itself prove the pathway to salvation for Pern’s imperiled dragons? Guided by a mysterious ally from a wholly unexpected place, and trusting in the dragon gift for transcending time, Fiona will join a risky expedition with far-reaching consequences for both Pern’s future and her personal destiny.

Candle in the Storm: The Shadowed Path Book 2 by Morgan Howell

Promo copy:

The malign shadow of the Devourer has darkened the land, extinguishing life and hope. The followers of the benevolent goddess Karm are hunted mercilessly and cut down by an army of bewitched slayers led by Lord Bahl, the Devourer’s flesh-and-blood incarnation. Only two people stand in the way of an apocalyptic bloodbath that will literally bring hell to earth: a man and a woman linked by a love as strong as it is unlikely–Honus, a grim-faced warrior dedicated to Karm, and Yim, a beautiful former slave with the divine power to stop Lord Bahl.

But that power will prove a terrible curse as Yim is called upon to make a costly sacrifice–a sacrifice that will not only put her love for Honus to the test but call into question her very faith. As the evil storm descends, can the flame of hope endure?

Disclaimer as mandated by the goons at the FTC: All the books mentioned in this blog entry were sent free of charge by the publishers for the purposes of review. It’s raining paperbacks!

My review of Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are is now available at Moving Pictures.

Check it all out at Moving Pictures.

Last week, I reprinted the first appearance of LemonHead from 1994. I returned to the character and his candy-infused world for the thirteen week strip KandyLand. It appeared in the weekly XLent, a supplement to The Austin-American Statesman.

This time artist Troy Gonzales (under the nome de plume Newt Manwich) joined me for the fun.

While these stories are far from perfect, they hold up better then I remember. Interestingly as Troy’s art got stronger near the end of the run, my scripting faltered, but more on that later.

My plan is to run a strip ever Wed for the next thirteen weeks. Hope you enjoy it.

Click on image to enlarge

I don’t recall why I opted for the name KandyLand for the strip. It could have been that the Statesman was worried about me using the trademarked Lemonhead as the title for the strip or it could have been I was thinking I might want to tell other character’s stories. Most likely it was a combination of the two.

Next Week’s Strip