Poor impulse control meant I was short on cash and had to leave a couple books in the box again. Also the fact that my shop actually picked up #4 of Comic Book Comics for me. With this issue featuring the post-war crime comics boom and backlash, the changeover of Atlas to Marvel (and its foundations with Lee/Kirby/Ditko) and the early days of underground "comix" in the 60s and 70s. Plus the path taken by European comics...

And new this week Kieron Gillen's ongoing S.W.O.R.D. from Marvel. Focusing on the alien defense agency that Whedon created during his X-Men run. I mostly like penciller Sanders on this. Except for his Beast. His Dr. McCoy has a really weird long face...

DMZ has the U.S. government stating their position regarding New York being a nucleur power. With Matty's dad as their spokesperson...

Fables checks in with both Buffkin's attempts to bring down Baba Yaga and the state of the Farm/Fabletown, especially the magically gifted contingent...

And in Unwritten Tommy has an inconclusive talk with VonFrankenstein's creation, survives a murder attempt and gets cornered by a journalist...

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/SI72zwnll9I/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-11-11/

A solid noir film. Frankie is a hitman back in his home town of New York for a job at Christmas. A chance run-in with a girl from his past has him considering quitting his career for the first time in forever. Wondering if he doesn't have to be alone all his life. And maybe he can quit after this one last job...

It even makes effective use of a 3rd Person narrative voice. I think its 3rd person. Kind of omniscient narrator that seems to be speaking to the lead character...

Really my only complaint would be the soundtrack. There are a few times when the jazz music would have been better replaced with no music at all I think...

In the midst of working on deadlines, I snuck in a few hours to read Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund. (The cover and blurb for it, by the way, are horrible representations of what's actually inside the book. They look like they're trying to appeal to the dark fantasy crowd -- when really, it's a science fiction story primarily of friendship and parental relationships. I'd also say it's like a boarding school novel in space, with really appealing main characters who have Issues that they have to confront -- together -- which may explain why I enjoyed it so much.)

Based on the cover, I couldn't figure out where I'd heard of it or why I'd put it on hold from the library, but once I started reading, I realized that the style reminded me very much of Sherwood Smith's (sartorias) in Crown Duel. Thus I *assume* someone on livejournal recommended it. Anybody want to take credit?

I really enjoyed it, and pass along the recommendation, whoever I got it from!

Now, back to more galley proofing...

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/lRer8R6VRAY/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-11-10/

Pam Grier to play Amanda Waller. Almost...

Also I have to agree with those calling for CCH Pounder or Patricia Belcher...

As a time travel story this anime was..well silly. The "rules" for how Makoto can make her time jumps aren't worked out very well. The movie does use the gimmick for some amusing sequences though. As a teen romantic drama it works better. Even if I thought the ending could have been stronger...

Ah the late night movie. So the set-up is this. Mickey Rourke and Liam Neeson are part of an IRA cell. One that accidently blows up a school bus full of girls instead of the military convoy they wanted. So Rourke decides he's done with killing and he's getting out...

So far, even with Rourke faking an Irish accent, not so bad. Except the forger he goes to for a passport to get out of the UK tells him that his bosses want Rourke to kill another gangster. Rourke says no. Evil Gangster Boss puts on pressure. Which makes no sense to me. Its not like Rourke is some magic ninja here. One killer won't do your job find another. I mean, they're offering 50K. In 1987 dollars. How hard is it to find a decent hitman for that kind of money?

Also the IRA is hunting Rourke because..er...

Really I can't think of a good reason for the IRA to want to kill Rourke. Its just stupid. After you blow up a school bus the last thing you'd want to waste time and people on is chasing one dude who decides to quit over it...

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/C4zAJnhHA0o/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-11-09/

Pluto vol.1 by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki

In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in the robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. INTERPOL assigns robot detective Geischt to this most strange and complex case - and he discovers that he too, as one of the Seven Great Robots of the World, is one of the targets.

Naoki Urasawa is one of the top Manga writers alive, behind critical and fan favorite works like Monster and 20th Century Boys. Which is probably why was able to convince the family of the late legendary Osamu Tezuka to re-create one of his greatest stories. "The Greatest Robot on Earth" story from Astro Boy. Urasawa and his artistic partner Nagasaki produce something greater than a simple homage. Even in this first volume can be seen the set-up and beginnings for a science fiction classic...

I rarely post here, but that doesn't mean I'm silent. Besides running two of the four largest lists for small and micro publishers, and contributing to many others, I also post to the blog I host on my own site.

Recent topics there have included:
A Typical Trade Book's P&L
Should You Sell Directly to Your Readers?
A Google Settlement I Could Support
Marion's Rules of Publishing
The 4th Part in my series on Techniques for Estimating Sales, and
Ebook Pricing.

If you go to the bottom of the main page of the blog, you can grab an RSS feed, if these sort of topics are of interest. And if you happen to know how I could get an RSS feed onto this page, I would be deeply grateful!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DilbertDailyStrip/~3/onGjUggHnJ0/

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2009-11-08/

If you read my short story on Baeg Tobar or have been following the Web comic, you've already heard a bit about the Black Queen. She reappears in this week's story, "Shadivengen" by Mark Adams, one of my co-writers on the Steampunk Musha d20 RPG (which is still in limbo somewhere). Mark is also working on the newest incarnation of Steampunk Musha, and "Shadivengen" is (I believe) his first published short story. It's exciting to see his work out there for everyone to read!

If you have a chance, please pop by, read Mark's story, and drop by the forums to say hello and let him know what you thought!

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On a completely different note, my wild selkie photos went up at Nicole Peeler's blog today. I had a lot of fun with the selkie hunt, and the shot I took of the selkie I found at Branford Point (near where I live) is one of my favorites.