As I’m sure y’all have heard by now, Guillermo del Toro has stepped down as The Hobbit director. While this causes lots of teeth gnashing within the geek community, I see this as a good… no… GREAT thing.

del Toro is not always at his best in other people’s playgrounds. The worst film he directed, Blade II practically destroyed the burgeoning franchise. The mediocre Hellboy and the nearly unwatchable Hellboy II: The Golden Army feel like something to pay the bills between his own projects.

Scene from Hellboy II: The Golden Army

His skills as both director and writer really shine in movies that he develops whole cloth. His first full length picture the creepy Cronos offered a unique take on the vampire myth. While his first large budget film, Mimic may not be fantastic, it’s still more memorable than Blade II and both Hellboys.

Scene from Cronos

del Toro’s third film introduced the first of his planned Spanish Civil War trilogy and effectively showcased his unique talents. Set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War, the terrifying Devil’s Backbone (El espinazo del diablo) moved del Toro from a director to keep an eye on to a must-see filmmaker.

For the second installment, del Toro outdid himself. Creating an exquisite fairy tale for adults, Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) propelled del Toro into the upper echelons of genre directors.

Scene from Pan’s Labyrinth

So with all this evidence, I was confused as to why people were so excited about him filming The Hobbit. Clearly, del Toro excels when working on his own creations. Personally, I welcome the third Spanish Civil War film than another adaptation.

So Guillermo, if you are reading, I’m sorry you lost the big gig (and more importantly two years of work), but I am very excited about the prospect of an original movie from you. You are among the field’s best and brightest. Let’s see some more of the stuff rattling around in your head. I’ll be among the first in line to experience it!

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

Wednesday Comics

Promo copy:

This oversized hardcover edition collects the entire critically acclaimed anthology series that reinvented the classic weekly newspaper comics section. It features 16-different stories starring the World’s Greatest Super Heroes including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash, as well as lesser known characters including Metamorpho and Metal Men written and Illustrated by the comic industry’s top talents including including Neil Gaiman (THE SANDMAN), Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo (JOKER), Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN) Eduardo Risso (100 BULLETS), Joe Kubert (SGT. ROCK) and Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR ONE HUNDRED). The 11" x 17" trim size best approximates the oversized reading experience from the weekly periodical which was spearheaded by DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello, whose past editing credits include BATMAN BLACK and WHITE, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER. The full list of featured stories and creators is as follows:

BATMAN, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso

ADAM STRANGE, by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100) METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman with Art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman)

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with Art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze

DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, Art by Dave Bullock

KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with Art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL)

SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with Art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER)

WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives)

GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with Art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!)

TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with Art by Sean Galloway

SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with Art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL)

HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces)

SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert

THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl

METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with Art by Ian Churchill (SUPERGIRL)

Acts of Violence: An Anthology of Crime Comics

Promo copy:

ACTS OF VIOLENCE is a collection of short stories in the pulp tradition. It doesn’t shy away from bullets or bloodshed. It tackles characters with flawed judgment and loose morals. The storylines are ripped from the filthy underbelly of the world in which we live. ACTS OF VIOLENCE peers into the shadows and shines a light on what scuttles on the periphery.

In THE THREE PRINCES, a trio of young friends is schooled on the alcohol and blood soaked streets of Prohibition era America.

A rookie lawman must protect a killer from the desperate and despairing parents of a murdered girl in SIX O’CLOCK NOOSE.

A drug addled ten-time loser seeks to break the chains of misery that bind him in REGGIE-TOWN.

And in THE ORCHARD, two cops take a late night drive into broken morals and violence.

Featuring the talents of Toren Atkinson, Ed Brisson, Chad Boudreau, Dino Caruso, Damian Couceiro, Todd Ireland, Kevin Leeson, Manoel Magalhaes, and Marvin Mann and cover art by Fiona Staples, ACTS OF VIOLENCE unveils a roster of new voices in hard-boiled crime comics.

Goats: Showcase Showdown by Jonathan Rosenberg

Promo copy:

Book Three of The Infinite Pendergast Cycle

God is dead, reality isn’t real, and the end of the multiverse is coming just a few short years from now. Most everyone is in agreement that this is problematic. Tech-geek barflies Jon and Phillip and their menagerie of mutant sidekicks are the only ones who can challenge the likes of goat demon Toothgnip, corporate demon One Death, and psycho chicken Oliver in order to stop the apocalypse. Which means everyone everywhere is almost certainly screwed. Goats: Showcase Showdown—the third collection of strips from the hit webcomic—continues the pandimensional party.

A God Somewhere Written by John Arcudi Art by Peter Snejbjerg

Promo copy:

After a mysterious disaster, a young man named Eric finds that he has just as mysteriously developed extraordinary abilities. He starts out trying to help people, but his solitary position in the world isolates him in ways no ordinary human could understand. This original graphic novel written by John Arcudi (B.P.R.D., WEDNESDAY COMICS) charts the arc of Eric’s evolution from man to…something else, as seen through the eyes of his family and his best friend, Sam.

The Amazon Written by Steven T. Seagle Art by Tim Sale

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One of the earliest projects from acclaimed writer Steven T. Seagle and superstar artist Tim Sale returns in a gorgeous hardcover edition! The Amazon jungle is among the most ancient and biologically diverse places on earth, but it’s being plundered for its resources and destroyed at a rate of thousands of acres a day. Reporter Malcolm Hilliard travels to this remote land of mystery to investigate the disappearance of an American worker and the subsequent sabotage of a timber company. Once there, Malcolm learns about the local cultures and myths, experiences the dark underside of industrial progress, gets drugged and left to fend for himself in the jungle, and is confronted by the Spirit of the Amazon itself in Seagle and Sale’s South American Heart of Darkness.

I reviewed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for Moving Pictures.

Be sure to check out the rest of my review.

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

The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer

Promo copy:

The award-winning short fictions in this collection highlight the voice of an inventive contemporary fantasist who has been compared by critics to Borges, Nabokov, and Kafka. In addition to highlights such as “The Situation,” in which a beleaguered office worker creates a child-swallowing manta ray to be used for educational purposes and “Errata,” which follows an oddly familiar writer who has marshaled a penguin, a shaman, and two pearl-handled pistols with which to plot the end of the world, this volume contains two never-before-published stories. Chimerical and hypnotic, this compilation leads readers through the postmodern into what is emerging into a new literature of the imagination.

One of the leading fantasists of this generation, Jeff VanderMeer’s new collection is a must have for any discerning reader.

The Stranger

Promo copy:

Steve Austin stars as a man with no name, no memory and absolutely nothing left to lose. When he finds himself hunted by both the FBI and the Russian mob, he decides to fight back. And with every beating, bullet and betrayal, he ll remember another piece of the horror that took away his career, his family and his identity. Now the puzzle is nearly complete, and one man is about to take back his past…by ending a whole lot of futures. Erica Cerra and Adam Beach star in this explosive action-thriller about collateral damage, stone cold vengeance, and a double-crossed killing machine known only as THE STRANGER.

Yes, that is pro wrestler Steve Austin. Complete with hologram cover! Really.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

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“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

More in Part II

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

Underground Written by Jeff Parker Art by Steve Lieber

Promo copy:

A conflict over Stillwater Cave forces two rangers to flee deep under the mountains, first to escape pursuers, and then the most deadliest threat – the cave itself! This volume collects the critically acclaimed mini-series by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber and includes extra material including a Wesley Fischer solo story.

Salute the Dark (Shadows of the Apt, Book 4) by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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The vampiric sorcerer Uctebri has at last got his hands on the Shadow Box and can finally begin his dark ritual – a ritual that the Wasp-kinden Emperor believes will grant him immortality – but Uctebri has his own plans both for the Emperor and the Empire. The massed Wasp armies are on the march, and the spymaster Stenwold must see which of his allies will stand now that the war has finally arrived. This time the Empire will not stop until a black and gold flag waves over Stenwold’s own home city of Collegium. Tisamon the Weaponsmaster is faced with a terrible choice: a path that could lead him to abandon his friends and his daughter, to face degradation and loss, but that might possibly bring him before the Wasp Emperor with a blade in his hand – but is he being driven by Mantis-kinden honour, or manipulated by something more sinister?

The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View by Doug Glanville

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An insider’s revealing look at the hidden world of major league baseball

Doug Glanville, a former major league outfielder and Ivy League graduate, draws on his nine seasons in the big leagues to reveal the human side of the game and of the men who play it.

In The Game from Where I Stand, Glanville shows us how players prepare for games, deal with race and family issues, cope with streaks and slumps, respond to trades and injuries, and learn the joyful and painful lessons the game imparts. We see the flashpoints that cause misunderstandings and friction between players, and the imaginative ways they work to find common ground. And Glanville tells us with insight and humor what he learned from Jimmy Rollins, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling, and other legendary and controversial stars.

In his professional career, Glanville experienced every aspect of being a player—the first-round pick, the prospect, the disappointment, the can’t-miss, the cornerstone, the veteran, the traded, the injured, the comeback kid. His eye-opening book gives fans a new level of understanding of day-to-day life in the big leagues.

Watch for my review in the next couple of weeks.

More in Part III

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

Go, Mutants! by Larry Doyle

Promo copy:

The author of I Love You, Beth Cooper returns with an ingenious contemporary satire set in an alternate universe populated by the aliens, mutants, and atomic monsters of B-movie legend.

It came to Earth . . . and now its spawn goes to high school.

Earth has survived repeated alien invasions, attacks by hordes of mutants, and the ravages of ancient beasts brought back to life. Now we’re in the blissful future…for most.

J!m, the son of the alien who nearly destroyed the planet, is a brooding, megacephalic rebel with a big forehead and exceptionally oily skin. Along with Johnny, a radioactive biker ape, and Jelly, a gelatinous mass passing as a fat kid, J!m navigates a particularly unpleasant adolescence in which he really is as alienated as he feels, the world might actu-ally be out to get him, and true love is complicated by mis-understanding and incompatible parts. As harmless school antics escalate into explosive events with tragic consequences, J!m makes a discovery that will alter the course of civilization, though it may help his dating life.

Replete with all the rock ‘n’ roll, hot-rod racing, and heavy petting of classic teen cinema—and packed with famous film-monster cameos—Go, Mutants! is fun strapped to an atomic rocket, and Doyle’s deadpan delivery and razor-sharp wit will have you laughing out loud before he even starts the ignition sequence.

Dragon Soul by Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett

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With just two novels under their belts, young writers Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett have established themselves as two of the hottest new stars in fantasy. Havemercy introduced readers to a brilliantly realized world riven by an intractable war between the kingdoms of Volstov and Ke-Han—a war in which the great dragons of Volstov—deadly hybrids of machine and magic—and their equally fierce human riders were all that kept the dark sorcery of Ke-Han at bay. In Shadow Magic, Jones and Bennett brought the common humanity of the opposing sides to life in an adventure that showcased once again their talent for creating not only fantastic settings but vivid characters to inhabit them.

Now Jones and Bennett are back with their most accomplished novel yet, featuring the return of two beloved characters, the brothers Rook and Thom. When the war was at its height, there was no fighter on either side who could match Rook for sheer arrogance and skill. Only Rook could ride the great dragon Havemercy, whose savagery and bloodlust matched his own. Thom could not be more different. Bookish, diffident, reserved, he yearns for his brother’s approval—yet fears he can never earn it.

With the war over, and an uneasy truce holding between Volstov and Ke-Han, it seems the perfect opportunity for the long-lost brothers to forge a bond by taking a trip together. At least, that’s how it seems to Thom. Rook hasn’t given a rat’s ass about anything since the end of the war, his brother included, and he’s not about to start now. Not when the one thing he loved in the world—Havemercy—lies scattered in pieces across Ke-Han.

Then Rook and Thom discover that someone is buying up bits of the fallen dragons, including Havemercy. Though the dragons are dead, the magic that powered them is not—and if that magic and the technology created to harness it should fall into the wrong hands, the fragile peace could shatter. An agent from Ke-Han, a sorceress from Volstov, and a group of desert tribesmen are all in the race, and the future rests on whoever gets there first. But all that matters to Rook is that someone is desecrating his girl, so he vows to leave no stone unturned in laying her to rest—and taking his revenge.

Yellow Rose of Texas: The Myth of Emily Morgan Written by Douglas Brode Art by Joe Orsak

Promo copy:

This book tells the fact-based story of Emily Morgan/West, the African-American woman who inspired the world-famous folk song that lends this graphic novel its title. Though almost everyone in America has heard the song, few are aware that the yellow rose of Texas it pays tribute to was a woman by the name of Emily. Her story, which has varied in the telling over the past 175 years, reveals the Texas war for independence through the eyes of a black woman who survived the Alamo and played an important part in winning the day–and the war–at San Jacinto a month and a half later. Though the story of Texas is told here with faithful attention to historical detail, the story of Emily is elevated to a romantic myth that will engage readers of all ages.

I interviewed Brode last year for the San Antonio Current and later published the excised bits in this very blog.

More in Part I

Although I’ve always loved board games, I had fallen out of the habit of playing. And even back when I was playing, most of my games consisted of Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble combined with the occasional Risk. That all changed when author extraordinare and occasional co-conspirator Paul Miles invited me to join him and his brother Jonathan for their Great Hall Games Friday night sessions.

With a friendly staff and an impressive selection, Great Hall Games functions as meeting place for a large swath of the Austin, TX board gaming community. (Incredibly, Austin also supports two other large and busy shops that feature board games: Dragon’s Lair and Battleforge Games.) The back half of the shop is two large rooms dedicated for game play. The space plays host to a variety of different types of groups depending on the day.

TUESDAY
Go Night, Host Austin Go Club, 6:30-midnight

WEDNESDAY
Chess Night, Host Gene Kohnitz, 6:30-10:00

THURSDAY
Historical Miniatures, paint & talk militaria and wargame rules, Host Lone Star Historical Miniatures, 6:30-10:00,

FRIDAY
Evening Boardgames, 6:30-Midnight

SATURDAY
Afternoon Boardgames, Host Austin Boardgame Group, Noon-8:00

SUNDAY
Historical Miniatures Battles, Host Lone Star Historical Miniatures, 12:30-6:00
1st Sunday: 20th Century
2nd Sunday: Horse and Musket
3rd Sunday: Ancients & Medievals
4th & 5th Sundays: open

By 7, the Friday night meetings are often standing room only with 10-12 games going on.

The first time I joined the Brothers Miles, they introduced me to Nexus Ops and Citadels. Soon after Paul showed me the amazing Cold War simulation Twilight Struggle. I was hooked! Before long, we were meeting twice monthly and then I joined the social networking community Board Game Geek.

BGG supplies a forum for game enthusiasts to exchange views on games including reviews, a ratings system, FAQs, hacks, and a way to record individual plays. They host contests and giveaways. (I won a copy of Frontline General: Spearpoint 1943)

Additionally, the site facilitates trades between users. I began cleaning out my closets as well as trolling used bookstores and thrift shops looking for some older games to trade. Now, I’m an almost daily visitor (my BGG profile).

As if baseball, comics, books, apes, movies, and Linux weren’t enough, I can now count board games among my obsessions. Thanks, Paul.

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

The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton

Promo copy:

Peter F. Hamilton concludes the highly acclaimed Commonwealth saga that has unfolded in The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void.

Transformers: Exodus: The Official History of the War for Cybertron by Alex Irvine

Promo copy:

For twenty-five years the colossal battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime has captivated Transformers fans around the world. Yet the full story of the conflict between the two most famous Transformers—everything that happened before Optimus and Megatron arrived on planet Earth—has always been a mystery . . . until now. Here, for the first time told in its entirety, is the thrilling saga of Optimus and Megatron before they were enemies, before they even knew each other.

“Freedom is every Cybertronian’s right!” After Megatron utters these immortal words, the caste-bound planet of Cybertron is rocked to its foundations. Megatron, an undefeated gladiator thug, gives voice to the unspoken longings of the oppressed masses—and opens the mind of an insignificant data clerk to possibilities previously unthinkable.

Long before becoming the honorable Optimus Prime, Orion Pax is a mere office underling, an unlikely candidate to answer an outlaw’s call to revolution. But Orion is determined to meet this defiant enemy of all that Cybertron stands for, no matter what he has to do, or how many laws he has to break.

What happens between Orion Pax and Megatron forever changes the destiny of all Transformers. This gripping, action-packed novel reveals all the loyalties and treacheries, trust and betrayals, deadly violence and shining ideals, as well as the pivotal roles played by other characters, including Starscream, Sentinel Prime, Omega Supreme, and one of the thirteen original Primes, the last link to Cybertron’s glorious Golden Age.

Discover how meek disciple Orion Pax becomes the fearless leader Optimus Prime; follow the tantalizing clues about the lost Matrix of Leadership and the lore surrounding it; find out why the two allies fighting a corrupt regime suddenly turn on each other, and what triggers their epic war.

Transformers: Exodus provides everything fans ever wanted to know about one of the fiercest rivalries of all time.

Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara) by Terry Brooks

Promo copy:

The Genesis of Shannara trilogy – Armageddon’s Children, The Elves of Cintra, and The Gypsy Morph – charted the fall of our own world into the hands of once-men and demons…and the escape of a few humans, Elves, and others into a remote mountain valley walled in by impenetrable magic. For five-hundred years the survivors have lived peacefully, learning to coexist and to build a new world with the limited resources and skills available to them. Now the magic that kept them safe for so many centuries is wearing down. Frightening creatures are penetrating the barriers and wreaking havoc on the valley within. It is time for the four peoples to stand together and create the new world of Shannara.

Today the popular blog /Film featured an image of Naomi Watts as Marylin Monroe from director Andrew Dominik’s forthcoming film Blonde, a biopic of legendary actress.

Watts as Monroe

While no doubt that Watts is a looker, she lacks the significant curves of Monroe. Watts official measurements are 32-25-34. Monroe measured either 37-23-36 (Studio’s Claim) or 35-22-35 (Dressmaker’s Claim).

The voluptuous Monroe

The waifish Watts

Anyway you look at it, the petite Watts will require a lot of padding to make her portrayal believable.

For SF Site, I reviewed the latest Russell Crowe/Ridley Scott collaboration Robin Hood.

Check out the entire review over at SF Site.