Slashdot Mirror

Lawrence Person writes "Locus Online has the announcement from Lucasfilms stating that they have authorized an 'adult' line of Star Wars novels. From the article: 'While the movies were still an ongoing project, it was important to portray all aspects of the Star Wars universe as wholesome family entertainment. However, now that the cycle of films is done, we can finally broaden the Star Wars franchise into marketing niches we'd heretofore avoided, and adult entertainment is at the top of our list.'" Relatedly, H_Fisher writes "In a first-of-its-kind move, George Lucas has announced that Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox will offer free 'replacement DVDs' to anyone who mails in pre-Special Edition VHS and Laserdisc copies of Star Wars episodes IV, V, and VI by April 30th. From the press release: 'This unique opportunity will help fans experience the complete and correct vision of my epic story.'"

ReverendLoki writes "The Webcomics Examiner has a story in their latest issue on The Artistic History of Webcomics, in which they examine and dissect how many of your favorite webcomics have evolved over the years and attempts to discern where they exist in the grand scheme of the webcomics universe. Expect to find some pretty insightful commentary on the likes of Sluggy Freelance, PvP, MegaTokyo, and the ever-present Penny Arcade, as well as others. An excellent analysis on how these comics work." From the piece: "The nerd's enthusiasm and experiences as an 'early adopter' of technological trends is easily translated into a revenue source for new cultural trends like the webcomic. This shows most clearly in the way that the super stars of the webcomic world have fairly consistently been the geekiest of the geekiest -- Penny Arcade, PVP, User Friendly, 8-bit Theatre, and yes, Dilbert."

Phillip31337 asks: "I've been looking online for places to buy t-shirts related to computers and gaming. The only websites I have found so far are ThinkGeek , Game-Skins , and ErrorWear. Does anyone else in the Slashdot community know of any other sites that sell game and nerd/geek related t-shirts?" Just about every online comic has some form of merchandising going on these days, and if they sell T-shirts (most do), said shirts would fit nicely into this category. What other online vendors have unique shirts that would please your average (or the discriminating) Slashdot reader?

Chromatic has done it again, with his tripartite review below -- this time, he presents a trio of books designed for easy digestion. They won't teach you to program in obscure languages, how to track down (and hopefully garrote) abusive kiddies, or make better looking web sites. But hopefully, these three books from the pens of Ian McDonald, Peter Abrams and Bill Holbrook (and all from the network-aware Plan 9 publishing house) will still lighten your day.

Three Books From Plan 9 author (Various) pages (Var publisher Plan 9 Publishing rating 8.5 reviewer chromatic ISBN (Various) summary Online comics come to real life as books; unlikely scenarios that work to loosen the old laughter mucus.

Plan Nine Publishing has done a wonderful thing for the online comic. Founded in 1996, they've helped to legitimize the medium. Dedicated (and new!) fans can now purchase printed collections of their favorite comics, bringing financial stability to a new generation of artist. The books themselves are lovingly designed, if one step below mass-market professional. Never underestimate the bandwidth of a hundred pages (and several months) of art.

Bruno Most Wanted author Ian McDonald pages 168 ISBN 1-929462-22-0 summary Witty, episodic satire about Rothland's most notorious criminal.

Ian McDonald's Bruno the Bandit chronicles the misadventures of an increasingly inept thief and his micro-dragon sidekick. In this second collection of daily strips, the appropriately named Bunkleyutz tangles with everyone from the Imperial Guard to an undead, mostly evil sorcerer turned bartender. Despite (or because of) Bruno's mind-numbing incompetence, he's always a sympathetic character.

McDonald is an extremely talented artist. His detailed drawings convey a good blend of action and humor, his gags land true, and somehow everything looks easy. Logically, the comic is naturally divided into smaller stories, generally between two and seven weeks long. This gives McDonald a chance to explore an episodic format.

Bruno doesn't shy away from controversy. This collection includes McDonald's edgiest story ever, "No Offense!" It's a sympathetic look at faith, religion, and television. Other topics include unionization, syndication, the forbidden topic, fame and publicity, and raising children. (It makes more sense in stories.) A special bonus color story of Bruno's youth rounds things out.

Lavishly illustrated and wittily plotted, Bruno Most Wanted is a clever and thought provoking collection.

Yippy Skippy, the Evil! author Pete Abrams pages 154 ISBN 1-929462-23-9 summary Aliens, vampires, robots, assassins, demons, rabbits, magic, Evil, and college students.

Pete Abrams' Sluggy Freelance continues to break new ground creatively. A simple description could not do it justice -- Abrams weaves bizarre threads into twisted patterns. What kind of evil lurks in the heart of an ordinary kitten? Attempting to unravel things even further without delving into the entire twisted history is probably NP-hard. At heart, it's a simple tale about a freelance web designer and his lovable pet bunny. Think Calvin and Hobbes meets Aliens meets Red Dwarf.

Yippy Skippy, The Evil, the fifth Sluggy Freelance, picks up with a chilling tale of Y2K disaster. Ferret-spread nanobots threaten the world, and only a rogue vampire and time traveling scientist can fix things. From there, a love spell goes wrong, leading to mishaps involving a killer robot gymnast assassin and a shotgun wedding. After a brief detour explaining half of the title (and setting events in motion for the next book), Abrams raises the question, "What happens when your alien secretary eats too many potatoes?"

What follows is a fun-filled attempt to escape an enraged rabbit. (Baywatch hath charms to soothe the savage breast. No pun intended.) From there, Adams tries his hand at mostly-straightforward horror. "The Evil" tracks the adventures of several college students on vacation in a small town. Unbeknownst to them, the devil has been there already. Who will survive? What do you serve his spawn?

Admittedly, this kind of humor is not for everyone. It can be alarmingly irreverent, and the body count is surprisingly high for not being graphic. It's terribly creative, though, and Abrams continues to tell a fine story. Book 5 may not be the best place to start, but Yippy Skippy, The Evil has the potential to recruit a new army of Sluggites.

For the Birds author Bill Holbrook pages 142 ISBN 1-929462-18-2 summary Divorced herbivore + widowed carnivore = nature's truest blended family.

The unbelievably prolific (cyborg?) Bill Holbrook writes three (cyborg!) regular strips. For the Birds is his ninth Plan 9 collection, and the fifth featuring his Kevin and Kell strips. The deceptively simple artwork and matter-of-fact tranquility belie the harsh rule of nature. (Where else would a parent's biggest dilemma be whether to raise a baby hybrid rabbit/wolf to eat meat or not?)

Through the anthropomorphism, Holbrook pokes fun at modern, geeky subjects. Where else would a hunter track prey by waiting for their cell phones to ring? The gags don't get in the way of a sweet story, though. At heart, Kevin and Kell is a gentle story punctuated with several surprises. Holbrook has created a rich world with interesting characters.

The book explores several themes, including family, responsibility, and love. Though nature can be brutal, the world is full of good "people". Holbrook examines ideas of prejudice (domesticated versus wild species, love between predator and prey) but never comes across as preachy. Throughout the several storylines, he always finds time to insert a chuckle or two. (Who else but a chameleon would stoop to typo-squatting?)

After five books, there's plenty of backstory, but the characters are compelling and the humor gentle. For The Birds should appeal to a wide audience looking for something a little more compelling than the daily comics but a little tamer than the Slugfest.

You can't currently purchase Yippy Skippy, the Evil or For the Birds and Bruno Most Wanted at Fatbrain, but you may be able to special order from there or some other vendor.

198348726583297634 asks: "Not many internet comic strips make it into the real print world. Iliad is one example of someone who was fortunate enough to pull this off. How did he do it? Obviously, sticking to his art and putting in the effort every day- but was he approached by a publisher, or did he spend time hawking his wares until he got snapped up? Does Slashdot have any recommendations on small-press publishers who'd be interested in quirky, moderately popular internet comics? Where do we turn to, the authors of these strips, when we're ready for a little bit bigger time? " another example of an internet comic gone to print is Sluggy Freelance - I wonder if some of you Sluggites or UFies out there wouldn't mind bringing Pete and Illiad in on this discussion since they should have plenty of experience in this by now.