Archive for the ‘Reading’ Category

It might not come as a terrible shock to discover that I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. Seen all his movies, from Clerks to Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Read all the comics. Read the books. Even read the scriptbooks of the movies. Bought his three live DVDs. Seen him in person several times, met him at MegaCon, watched him answer questions for 6 hours at a screenwriting seminar. Followed his blog and his Twitter feed.

And he'll talk about anything. No topic is too personal, every aspect of his life gets put out there for everyone to see.

So by now you'd think I'd have a pretty good handle on what he was like in person, right?

I came in late to the SModcast, the weekly podcast Smith records with his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier, mostly because I never listened to podcasts of any kind until fairly recently and besides, I'd heard all his stories, right? But I got a better car stereo, and an iPod Touch, and I started working out and needed something to distract me from the unpleasant chore of making my body move around, and so when I did look for podcasts his was the first I grabbed. And I learned two valuable lessons.

First, the polished storyteller Kevin I saw on stage telling oft-told tales of Hollywood with the confident ease of long practice did not prepare me for the giggling Kev spinning wild and almost unspeakably deviant fantasies which he then hilariously acts out, with Mosier and other familiar View Askew faces like Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson and Malcolm Ingram. His remarkably tolerant wife Jen and daughter Harley even make appearances. Smith is more than a little like his character Randall in the way he pushes and pushes at a situation, making it worse and worse until you finally give in, whereupon he makes it worse.

Second, it's a really bad idea to be holding a lot of weight over your head at the Y when Kevin starts doing Harry Potter's voice, explaining to a panicky Ron that screaming "Forgeticus!" after fumbling with a half-awake Harry under the covers in the Hogwarts dorms really doesn't work. (Mosier: It's called "being on the down low, Ron") Nor will the average elderly Y-goer understand why you're trying desperately not to lose it as "Harry" tells Hermione to try gulping some gillyweed before oral sex to hold her breath longer.

This is Kevin Smith at his most raw, when he's coming up with ideas right there in the company of the people who make him laugh. And his new book, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith: The Best of SModcast," on sale tomorrow, is a transcript of some of the best segments. You do lose some of the impact without the sound effects, the fake voices and the background music, but it's still funny and utterly wrong as hell.

Did Helen Keller have a sex life? Did Smith recently have sex with his wife's leg? How long would Smith and Mosier last on the Lost island before they started looking good to each other? Would Scott Mosier perform a sexual act on a dying fan, at the fan's request? What if the Make-A-Wish Foundation forced him to do it? What's up with the Godzilla Jesus movie, or Stalin's monkey soldier army, or bukkake eggs, or why Kevin was willing to let Alanis Morrisette get mugged.

In his previous book, New York Times bestseller "My Boring Ass Life," Smith gave us a peek into his life. This time he lets us into his brain.You might want to wear waders, but don't miss the trip.

Get it from Amazon, or order a signed one from Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, or take a shot at winning a free copy in my "Which Kevin Smith Character Would You Nail?" contest.

NSFW excerpt after the jump:

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When it was time to bring Drusilla into the highly successful Angel comics by IDW, who better to write her than… herself?

Angel issues #24 and 25 were written by Juliet Landau and Brian Lynch with art by Franco Urru, and Drusilla's in rare form. She's also in an asylum, but they don't seem quite up to the task of containing her. Assuming that's the plan, anyway…

Reportedly Landau provided a great deal of input and reference material for the artwork, and it shows. Urru captured her graceful unearthy movements beautifully, which of course makes her all the more horrifying.

And now Juliet Landau is offering autographed versions of both comics, in any of the four variant covers done for each. $30 each, and you can even specify a personalized message (up to 200 characters). Click here to check 'em out.

(If you just want the comics, try TFAW.com)

Demented horror comedy may be one of the toughest genres to do convincingly, but Jeff Strand makes it happen, Author of How to Rescue a Dead Princess, Single White Psychopath Seeks Same, Graverobbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary) , The Sinister Mr. Corpse, (and many others), he has stepped away from his frivolous roots to produce a serious psychological thriller, Pressure.

Good: it did really well and was a finalist for the 2007 Bram Stoker Award. Bad: this is a problem, because it might encourage him to wrote more serious stuff, and you know how I feel about that. Fortunately, judging from the helpful video above, that "serious" thing hasn't taken a firm hold yet…

Strand will be signing at the Books-A-Million in Cassleberry, FL, tomorrow from 1 to 3 pm. Can you and your homicidal impulses dare not to go?

Check out more of his ravings here.

10 years. 10 years to get out 27 issues of a comic. Taking your time, people?

OK, granted, Planetary creators Warren Ellis, John Cassaday and Laura Martin were interrupted several times by illness and other projects. And OK, out of 26 previous issues every one was a hit. And OK, they never promised a regular schedule and then went back on it, they were always upfront about delays and hiatuses. And OK, I can't exactly bitch since my own webcomic went on two hiatuses in a year…

The thing is, is it worth the wait? 3 years since the last one?

Haven't read it, beyond the preview pages at the Wildstorm blog. But I'll be buying it the day it comes out, and so should you. And if you haven't read the rest of them, go get them. I'll wait.

If you were living in a world full of superpowered people, how would you find out what they've been doing? Especially if they didn't want you to know? You build a group like Planetary; three archeologists uncovering 100 years of secret superhero activity.

The three have their own abilities — Jakita Wagner is strong, fast and tough, The Drummer can detect and manipulate information streams, new recruit Elijah Snow can extract heat from nearby substances at will — and there is a hidden Fourth Man running the show as they search for clues to what really happened in the last century. It's fast, subversive, thought-provoking, and often hilarious (the DC crossover special where they encounter every version of Batman that's been seen, from the original to the Dark Knight to the 70's hero to Adam West must not be missed) and features barely concealed and not-very-flattering references to almost every other iconic hero like Superman, Captain Marvel, Sherlock Holmes, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Nick Fury, Godzilla, the Justice League, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk.

The art by John Cassaday is breathtakingly believable, and Laura Martin's colors ground it even further into reality. Also, Warren Ellis is a sick, sick man.

With any luck the release of this will trigger a new edition of the whole series, but for now we'll make do with the collections. Planetary #27 will be an oversized issue, with a 3-piece wraparound gatefold cover drawn by Cassaday, coming out sometime in October.

Jeanne Robinson — dancer, choreographer, Soto Zen monk and wife of Spider Robinson, with whom she co-authored the multi-award-winning book Stardance and its sequels — has been diagnosed with a rare and virulent form of biliary cancer. She's beaten it back so far but now will require therapy, dietary changes, and a stress-free lifestyle, and none of those are cheap. So her friends are helping her out.

A benefit concert and silent auction is happening on Bowen Island, BC, at the Cates Hill Chapel at  7:30 pm, Friday, Sept 18  (see above). There's also  an eBay auction here (with more stuff coming). You can donate items to auction off or send money by check or PayPal, head to WeDreamForJeanne for more details.

Spider Robinson has been one of my favorite authors for many years now (only for about as long as he's been writing) and Stardance remains one of those books I have to pull out and reread every year or so. There's a different kind of depth and, in places, a tranquility in Stardance that isn't in his other works, and I have to assume that's Jeanne. They're one of science fiction's great and lasting love stories and it shows in their work.

You can see what Jeanne's done towards finally realizing zero-G dance in the Stardance Project, and you can hear Spider and Jeanne talk about their collaboration (and their courtship) here.

If you can, please do what you can to help out. Thanks.

New World War Hulks series, major Hulk character to die, yadda yadda. New Dethlok series, new Spider-Man webcomics, new Lizard series, maybe a new Alpha Flight series, yadda yadda.

Marvel bought the rights to "Miracleman."

Yadd.. wait, what?

Fans of the original "Marvelman" series by Alan Moore and its continuation by Neil Gaiman (known as "Miracleman" on this side of the pond) were stonkered by the announcement made at the San Diego Comic-Con's "Cup o' Joe" panel. This series,  a seminal work that takes the existence of superheroes to its extremes long before it became vogue (and frankly still stands head and shoulders above most subsequent attempts; it still has the most chilling images yet of what happens when someone with Superman-level powers goes on a rampage) has been in legal dispute for decades and fans assumed it would stay there. Apparently not:

(Marvel publisher Dan) Buckley stated that Marvel was talking with several creators who did Marvelman stories in the ’80s and ’90s. Both Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman are among those creators, but nothing has been announced beyond the acquisition.

So, no idea if the existing comics will be reprinted or remastered, or if previous characters will show up again, or if this means a movie deal is coming that Alan Moore will have to quickly distance himself from. But I'm excited to see what happens.

Titan Books has released a bit of info and the cover of their 3rd Firefly Companion book, "Firefly: Still Flying." They're keeping some stuff a secret for now, but we know it'll be the same format as the previous two.

In Still Flying, we’ll be uncovering even more secrets from the series, stuffing the book full of unseen material, including new photos, props, behind-the-scenes secrets and much more besides.

The first two were excellent resources (reviews here and here), as all Titan tie-in books tend to be, with plenty of new interviews, insider tidbits, and full-color photos even hard-core fans haven't seen. I'm hopeful this will be a worthy addition.

Titan's on a roll this year. In addition to this they're also working on the official movie novelization and official Visual Companion for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's upcoming movie "Cabin in the Woods." And the collection of Kevin Smith SModcasts, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith." And the movie book for Mark Millar's "Kick-Ass."

If you've been listening to Kevin Smith's podcast with Scott Mosier (the SModcast) you know what to expect. Hell, if you've ever listened to Kevin Smith for more than 2 minutes you know what to expect.

If you haven't been listening (and why not? they're hilarious) you can read the best of the worst in Titan Books' new release, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith:The Best of the SModcast". An excerpt has been posted online, and vistors to the Titan Books booth at Comic-Con this week (booth #5337) can get a free sampler.

After the jump, a NSFW bit from the excerpt on Kevin and Scott lost on the "Lost" island:
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Terry Moore has signed a deal with "Watchmen" producer Lloyd Levin to make an "Echo" movie.

This doesn't mean there'll be one, of course. Movie deals are delicate, frail things that fall apart for all sorts of reasons. But I'm really hoping to see it (assuming it's done right) and I'm glad to see Moore,  getting the recognition (and the six-figure option amount).

Of course, I'd rather see a well-done "Strangers in Paradise" movie…

"Echo" tells the story of a photographer who is preoccupied with her personal problems until she gets doused by liquid metal from a military experiment gone awry. She discovers she can now harness the power of a nuclear bomb, and soon the military wants its walking weapon.

If you're not reading it, you really should be. Check out the first collection, "Moon Lake", at Amazon.

The North American Discworld Convention is coming! September 4 – 7, 2009, in Tempe, Arizona, it will feature a Guest of Honor talk, a Maskerade, a Gala Banquet, a Seamstress Guild Party, a Charity Auction, book signings, panels, and more.

Guests will include Discworld author Terry Pratchett himself, Terry's agent Colin Smythe, Jennifer Brehl and Anne Hoppe from Harper-Collins, the cunning artificer Bernard Pearson and his wife Isobel, and fellow authors Diane Duane, Esther Friesner, Peter Morwood.

If you've never encountered Terry at a con, you're in for a treat. Very friendly, very fan-friendly, and instead of staying safely behind an autograph table or in his room he'll walk around talking to people all over the place. To give him a bit of free time, the UK cons have developed an evil twin for him, so be aware of that fellow if you go.

The next Discworld book will be "Unseen Academicals," and is due to come out Oct. 6. And apparently he's taking on sports.

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