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

The Hole: A Teen Fable by John Davey

Promo copy:

Like John Davey’s first novel (Blood And Souls), The Hole is another contemporarily set fantasy, this one written for what seem to be known in the book-trade as "Young Adults".

For further details, please contact JaydeDesign@CompuServe.com or:

The Nephyrite Press,
P.O. Box 57859,
London,
SE23 9AG,
England

The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton

Promo copy:

This title is from one of the world’s bestselling science fiction novelists. The Intersolar Commonwealth is in turmoil as the Living Dream’s deadline for launching its Pilgrimage into the Void draws closer. Not only is the Ocisen Empire fleet fast approaching on a mission of genocide, but also an internecine war has broken out between the post-human factions over the destiny of humanity.Countering the various and increasingly desperate agents and factions is Paula Myo, a ruthlessly single-minded investigator, beset by foes from her distant past and colleagues of dubious allegiance…but she is fast losing a race against time.At the heart of all this is Edeard the Waterwalker, who once lived a long time ago deep inside the Void. He is the messiah of Living Dream, and visions of his life are shared by, and inspire billions of humans. It is his glorious, captivating story that is the driving force behind Living Dream’s Pilgrimage, a force that is too strong to be thwarted. As Edeard nears his final victory the true nature of the Void is finally revealed.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia by Stephen J. Sansweet, Pablo Hidalgo, Bob Vitas, and Daniel Wallace

Promo copy:

THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE GUIDE TO A SPACE FANTASY PHENOMENON

The Star Wars universe, much like our own, is constantly expanding. In the ten years since the publication of the Star Wars Encyclopedia, a lot has happened in that galaxy far, far away: four new feature films, a host of official original novels, comics, video games, and more. Now, thirty years of information on all things Star Wars–ranging from science and technology to history and geography, culture and biography to ecology and cosmology–has been supplemented with an entire decade’s worth of all-new material. Abundantly illustrated with full-color artwork and photos, and now in a new three-volume edition to accommodate its wealth of detailed entries, the Star Wars Encyclopedia encompasses the full measure of George Lucas’s creation.

Here’s just a sampling of what’s inside:
• character portraits of both the renowned (Luke Skywalker, Queen Amidala, Darth Vader) and the obscure (Tnun Bdu, Tycho Celchu, Bib Fortuna)
• the natives and customs of planets as diverse as Tatooine and Hoth, Dagobah and Kashyyyk
• the rituals, secrets, and traditions of Jedi Knights and Sith Lords
• a timeline of major events in Star Wars history, from the Clone Wars and the inception of the Empire to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and the invasion of the monstrous Yuuzhan Vong

Scrupulously researched and written by leading authorities Stephen J. Sansweet, Pablo Hidalgo, Bob Vitas, and Daniel Wallace, this landmark work is the must-have centerpiece of every Star Wars library.

I received only the impressive first volume. It features beautiful full color images and well-written, interesting entries. I can only imagine the rest of the set is of similar quality.

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

Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! by Art Spiegelman

Promo copy:

The creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus explores the comics form…and how it formed him!

This book opens with Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!, creating vignettes of the people, events, and comics that shaped Art Spiegelman. It traces the artist’s evolution from a MAD-comics obsessed boy in Rego Park, Queens, to a neurotic adult examining the effect of his parents’ memories of Auschwitz on his own son.

The second part presents a facsimile of Breakdowns, the long-sought after collection of the artist’s comics of the 1970s, the book that triggers these memories. Breakdowns established the mode of formally sophisticated comics that transformed the medium, and includes the prototype of Maus, cubist experiments, an essay on humor, and the definitive genre-twisting pulp story "Ace Hole-Midget Detective."

Pulling all this together is an illustrated essay that looks back at the sixties as the artist pushes sixty, and explains the obsessions that brought these works into being. Poignant, funny, complex, and innovative, Breakdowns alters the terms of what can be accomplished in a memoir.

More Speigelamn is always a good thing.

My Brain is Hanging Upside Down by David Heatley

Promo copy:

One of the most promising young talents in cartooning makes his debut with a dazzling collection–part freakish dreamlife, part quirk-o-rama autobiography, all genius.

Long a fixture in comics anthologies, David Heatley’s deceptively crude, wickedly observant drawings have begun showing up on the New York Times op-ed pages and the cover of the New Yorker, introducing him to a vast new audience, Now, in My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (title courtesy of the Ramones song), we are treated to the full range of Heatley’s remarkable, wildly unique voice and vision.

My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down is Heatley’s life story told in six different but connected narrative threads. "Sex History" describes every sexual encounter dating back to kindergarten, with details that would make a therapist blush. "Black History" is an unflinchingly honest meditation on his own racism. "Portrait of My Mom" and "Portrait of My Dad" are beautifully paced vignettes, skewering and celebrating his lovably dysfunctional parents. "Family History" tells the story of his family from his great-great-grandparents’ lives and closes with the birth of his own children. Woven in and around the larger pieces are "dream comics" that expand on the same themes with a baffling unconscious logic. Every inch of My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down is filled with visceral art and emotionally resonant storytelling at once stunning, truthful, and uncomfortably hilarious.

Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan by Chip Kidd

Promo copy:

The two hottest genres in comics gleefully collide head-on, as the most beloved American superhero gets the coolest Japanese manga makeover ever.

In 1966, during the height of the first Batman craze, a weekly Japanese manga anthology for boys, Shonen King, licensed the rights to commission its own Batman and Robin stories. A year later, the stories stopped. They were never collected in Japan, and never translated into English. Now, in this gorgeously produced book, hundreds of pages of Batman-manga comics more than four decades old are translated for the first time, appearing alongside stunning photographs of the world’s most comprehensive collection of vintage Japanese Batman toys.

This is The Dynamic Duo as you’ve never seen them: with a distinctly Japanese, atomic-age twist as they battle aliens, mutated dinosaurs, and villains who won’t stay dead. And as a bonus: Jiro Kuwata, the manga master who originally wrote and drew this material, has given an exclusive interview for our book.

More than just a dazzling novelty, Bat-Manga! is an invaluable, long-lost chapter in the history of one of the most beloved and timeless figures in comics.

This amazing and massive collection/retrospective is a MUST HAVE for all Batman fans. A fascinating piece of forgotten Batman/manga history!

This morning began with my bi-annual MRI. For the uninformed, Magnetic Resonance Imaging takes amazingly detailed pictures of the body’s interior especially the soft tissue. Since I have multiple sclerosis and take the relatively new drug Tysabri, my doctor likes me to get a new brain scan every six months.

Basically, I am placed in a narrow tube and must remain motionless as this loud clanging noise moves around me. This device is a nightmare for claustrophobic people. The top wall of the tube is but two inches from my eyes and I can’t move my shoulders.

Thankfully, it is a relatively short procedure– about 45 minutes– and painless.

Below are some of the actual scans of my brain.

YUM! BRAINS!

EYES! Complete with stalks!

CREEPY!

[  Currently: Listening to All Things Considered ]
The prestigious University of Texas Press have announced one of the first "must have" 2009 publications Sanctified and Chicken-Fried: The Portable Lansdale.

UT’s rep goes all to hell in March, 2009.

[  Mood: Silly ]
Did anyone catch last night’s The Brave and The Bold? It activated the simian recesses of my 12 year old brain!

Plastic Man… gorillas.. dinosaurs… Grodd… gorillas RIDING FRACKIN’ pterodactyls… Dinosaur Island…

It just don’t get any better than that!

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

Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3) by Drew Goddard (Author), Joss Whedon (Author), and Georges Jeanty (art)

Promo copy:

Vampires that, at will, can transform into wolves, panthers, insects, or fog invade the Slayer base of operations in northern Scotland, and not only walk away unscathed, but in possession of Buffy’s scythe, the symbol of Slayer power worldwide. Buffy and the Slayer-legion travel to Tokyo in order to learn more about their dangerous new foes, as Xander journeys to Transylvania to solicit the only person they’ve ever known to possess such power – Dracula!
(Collects #11-15)

Heroes Volume 2 Written by Joe Kelly, Steven T. Seagle, Duncan Rouleau, Christopher Zatta, Mark Sable, Mark Warshaw, Christine Boylan, Chuck Kim, Harrison Wilcox, Pierluigi Cothran, Jim Martin, Timm Keppler, DJ Doyle and others; Art by Staz Johnson, Michael Gaydos, Tom Grummett, Ryan Odagawa, Jason Badower, Travis Kotzebue, Marcus To and 0thers

Promo copy:

The sequel to last year’s top-selling HEROES hardcover is here! This stunning new volume collects the incredibly engaging online comics based on the smash-hit, Emmy Award-nominated NBC TV series Heroes! Collecting every online chapter from Season Two, this volume features the work of top TV and comics writers. Included are the stories "TheTen Brides of Takezo Kensei," "The End of Hana and Drucker," "The Golden Goose" and many more!

I’ve read about half of this and for the most part it’s better than anything in Season Two.

The Book of Lists: Horror

Promo copy:

The phenomenally popular Book of Lists series has sold millions of copies from coast to coast, enthralling trivia aficionados with fascinating infobits about simply everything! Now the latest edition turns an evil eye toward the strange, the blood-curdling, and the macabre with spine-tingling fun facts from the dark side of entertainment. Chock-full of creepy information from the netherworlds of movies, TV, literature, video games, comic books, and graphic novels, The Book of Lists: Horror offers a blood-feast of forbidden knowledge that horror fans are hungry to devour, including:

* Stephen King’s Ten Favorite Horror Novels or Short Stories—learn what scares the master!
* Top Six Grossing Horror Movies of All Time in the United States— which big shocks translated into big bucks?
* Top Ten Horror-Themed Rock ‘n’ Roll Songs—maybe it is ‘devil’s music’ after all!
* And much, much more!

Drawing on its authors’ extensive knowledge and contributions from the (living) legends and greatest names in the horror and dark fantasy genres, The Book of Lists: Horror is a scream—an irresistible compendium of all things mysterious, terrifying, and gory . . . and so entertaining, it’s scary!

The perfect bathroom book, this entertaining collection is both interesting and insightful. Sure to send you looking for many obscure movies and books.

In case any of us were wondering how bad things really are in the print publication universe, this sad news came across the wires today.

Most likely this was in response to this disturbing information:

and

What this means is even less diversity of books and authors from the mainstream publishers. Fewer new authors or original ideas. Just rehashing of the same old shit.. over and over again. Also, fewer overall titles. This presents an even bleaker outlook than previously thought for the foreseeable future in the book world.

My review of Bradley Denton’s Laughin’ Boy appears in the latest San Antonio Current.

[  Mood: Amused ]
This parody from CollegeHumor speaks to all of us that have struggled through the Windows reality. Make sure you stay for the ending which tickled this Open Source advocate to no end.

"Our free trial of kung fu has expired!"

Over at SciFi, they’re offering up their list of the 6 Scariest Environmental Doomsday Movies.

No Silent Running? No Blade Runner?

What else is missing?