Earlier this week we announced the release of the third and final chapter in The Secretist, the Return to Ravnica e-book series starring blue planeswalker Jace Beleren. In there I told you to watch for a review of it later in the week. Well, it’s later and much like the second book, Gatecrash, I’ve got a Major Spoliers book Review waiting for you after the jump.
Category Archives: book
GAMING: Gatecrash, The Secretist Part 2
Gatecrash is currently happening and the Return to Ravnica block is nearing its completion as Dragon’s Maze approaches. As with most of the Magic: the Gathering products, there is a story behind the cards, and this one is called The Secretist and stars Jace Beleren. For some more info, such as how to get and an actual synopsis, take the jump.
COSPLAY: HEROES, VILLIANS, & JEDI
Are you a fan of cosplay, photography, and free stuff? Oh, you are? I figured as much. Well this should make your day. Heroes, Villians, & Jedi is a photography book about cosplay and it’s free! Take the jump to learn more.
CLOCKWORK STORYBOOK: One in a Million – Chapter 7
Me Want: Space Oddity Picture Book
For those of you out there who feel there’s not enough David Bowie-themed children’s literature you can pick up “Space Oddity” an illustrated book based on the lyrics of the song of the same name.
Take the jump for some images from the book.
Carter Beats Pre-Pro Hell
One of my favorite books to be released in the last ten years is Glen David Gold’s Carter Beats the Devil. It’s one of those pseudo-historical works of fiction that finds real life magician Charles Joseph Carter (Carter the Great) wrapped up in the murder of Warren G. Harding, the invention of television, and a rival that wants nothing less than Carter’s defeat. If you haven’t read the book, it’s a great time to dig up a copy and enjoy the exploits. This is especially true now that Warner Bros. has reacquired the rights to the book that was once in pre-production at Paramount before it descended into Pre-Pro-Hell (PPH, not to be confused with the PCH, although once you’ve driven Highway 1 in L.A. at rush hour, the two are pretty much the same).
This time writer Michael Gilio will write the script with Jon Shestack, Ginny Brewer, and Jeremy Stein producing. The only thing that makes me wonder if Carter will beat Pre-Pro Hell this time is the fact that we’ve already had two period magician movies come out in the last couple of years that didn’t come on like gangbusters, even though they ere acclaimed.
Fluorescent Black arrives in July
Press Release
Heavy Metal Magazine will publish and distribute the graphic novel Fluorescent Black in July of 2010. A hardbound limited edition will be sold at San Diego and New York Comic Con. The novel is nearly 200 pages long and was written by MF Wilson, illustrated by Nathan Fox and colored by Jeromy Cox. Fluorescent Black is one of the most popular stories featured in the adult illustrated magazine and has a massive cult following. “We are very excited to be publishing Fluorescent Black. This book is like nothing else out there! It’s crazy, original and totally punk,” says Kevin Eastman, Editor-in-Chief of Heavy Metal Magazine.
The Other Word Book: Soon I Will Be Invincible
As I promised at the beginning of the year, I’m going to spend more time reading through the various texts and tomes that have accumulated on the tables and shelves over the last couple of years, that I always wanted to read, by never had a chance to.
January’s Book was Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman.
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
Doctor Impossible – evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator – languishes in a federal detention facility. He’s lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress.Over the years he’s tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind-control. He’s traveled backward in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He’s commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Or rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it’s going to be different.
Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world’s most famous superteam. She’s a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.
This weekend, I’ll be recording a special episode of The Major Spoilers Podcast where I’ll be offering up my thoughts on the book. Here’s your chance to be a part of that podcast – send your emails to podcast@majorspoilers.com, call the Major Spoilers Hotline at 785 727 1939, or use the comment section below to share your thoughts on the book.
Tomorrow, I will announce February’s Other Word Book
The Other Word Book: Soon I Will Be Invincible
There is another source of entertainment that doesn’t have funny pictures, is not the theatre of the mind, doesn’t require you to buy an $11 ticket to get kicked in the back of the head, while some moron talks loudly on their phone. I’m talking about books, and this year I want to make it a habit of reading more prose instead of my over abundance of four color fun. Each month, I’ll be picking up a new book, reading it, and then devoting a special episode of the Major Spoilers Podcast to it. Think of it as a Book of the Month event, without calling it a Book of the Month, because there are plenty of people who will get pissy if I use that phrase.
I hope you will be a part of this as I get closer to the show.
January’s Book:
Soon I Will Be Invincible
by Austin Grossman
Doctor Impossible – evil genius, diabolical scientist, wannabe world dominator – languishes in a federal detention facility. He’s lost his freedom, his girlfriend, and his hidden island fortress.Over the years he’s tried to take over the world in every way imaginable: doomsday devices of all varieties (nuclear, thermonuclear, nanotechnological) and mass mind-control. He’s traveled backward in time to change history, forward in time to escape it. He’s commanded robot armies, insect armies, and dinosaur armies. Fungus army. Army of fish. Or rodents. Alien invasions. All failures. But not this time. This time it’s going to be different.
Fatale is a rookie superhero on her first day with the Champions, the world’s most famous superteam. She’s a patchwork woman of skin and chrome, a gleaming technological marvel built to be the next generation of warfare. Filling the void left by a slain former member, Fatale joins a team struggling with a damaged past, having to come together in the face of unthinkable evil.
There’s plenty of time for you to pick up the book and get it read before January 31, 2010.
NBM announces Boox Expo America plans
Press Release
Graphic-novel house NBM Publishing is debuting new books at Book Expo America. BEA, the leading American book-industry trade show, will take place May 29-31 at New York City’s Jacob Javitz Center.
Yea! or Nay!?
It’s been announced that Artemis Fowl creator and writer Eoin Colfer is writing a sixth book for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.
Before his 2001 death, Adams had stated that he wanted to write a sixth book, “to finish Hitchhiker on a slightly more upbeat note.†The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of essays, short stories, and letters by Adams and other writers, was published in 2002.
Even though fans think they know Douglas Adams, I really have misgivings about this announcement. While Colfer says this will be the best thing he’s ever written, I was not all that impressed with the first Artemis book, and unless And Another Thing… is using notes and plot points from Adams’ notes, I’ll probably not be adding this to my collection.
What about you?
New Comics to Film Book Now Available
This week on the Major Spoiler Podcast, we discussed comic book themed courses at various universities, and the books being used in them. A new book by Thomas J. McLean looks like it could be a great text to add to future comic to film adaptation courses.
Mutant Cinema: The X-Men Trilogy from Comics to Screen is the definitive unauthorized study of the popular movie saga, including:
• The history of X-Men comic books;
• Previous adaptations, including early cartoon appearances, the successful 1990s animated series, and initial attempts to bring the mutants to the big screen;
• The development process for each film, including behind-the-scenes stories, interviews with the screenwriters, and details on omitted scenes and storylines;
• Detailed scene-by-scene examinations of each film and the comic book stories that infuse every aspect of the movies;
• Critical and fan receptions of each film, plus box office performances;
• What the future may hold for the franchise; and
• Tips on some essential X-Men reading.
Mutant Cinema is available now through various online retailers.
via Sequart