Last September we found out that Guillermo del Toro and LOST showrunner Carlton Cuse were teaming up to turn The Strain—a trilogy of vampire novels written by del Toro and Chuck Hogan—into a TV series at FX. Now the cast for the show is starting to take shape.

It’s being reported that Mia Maestro has joined the cast of the show as the female lead, joining the already cast Corey Stoll as the male lead. [...]

John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood
Paperback|Kindle Edition
By Michael D. Sellers
Universal Media
370 pages
Release Date: November 28, 2012

Pity John Carter. The poor bastard never had a chance. Released several months before the summer movie deluge, Andrew Stanton‘s highly anticipated adaptation of the classic 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel A Princess of Mars had the potential to kick start a new blockbuster sci-fi adventure franchise. Unfortunately a series of idiotic marketing decisions in the run-up to the film’s debut and mounds of negative press surrounding the troubled production and its massive $250 budget effectively sabotaged any chance John Carter had of connecting with audiences and grossing enough at the box office to ensure future sequels and additional ancillary revenue. Though it was very flawed I found the movie to be one of the most entertaining of last year – you can read my review here – yet it seems I was in the minority on that front.

John Carter‘s failure to even make back its budget and marketing costs turned out to be a major strike against the Walt Disney Company; the studio was pilloried for befouling what has been long considered one of the most important (if not THE most important) genre properties in existence by hiring a director inexperienced with live action – Stanton had previously directed several major hits for the company’s computer animation division Pixar – and allowing the costs to mount to the point where the movie’s box office prospects were saddled with unrealistic expectations, and then worsening its already ineffectual reputation even more with a confusing ad campaign that had no idea how to sell the film to the general moviegoing public. [...]

Thacher E. Cleveland is a busy man. On top of a civilian life, he’s a contributing writer and columnist for PanelsOnPages.com, co-host of the Super-Fly Comics and Games PodCast, and is the writer of the surprise cult hit novella “Winston & Churchill Case” series. Available at Smashwords and Amazon, it’s a must-read for fans of supernatural and/or detective fiction.

With a new installment of the series just out, Thacher chatted with Geeks Of Doom via e-mail about “Winston & Churchill,” genre writing, the e-book market, and moving into comics writing. [...]

The deal of the day today over at Things From Another World is Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion for only $8.52 (that’s 55% off the list price of $18.95).

Note – this deal is only for today, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, until 11:59pm PST while supplies last (and at TFAW, supplies don’t last so grab this now if you want it at a discounted price).

If/when the deal runs out, you can still get Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion: The TV Series, the Movies, the Comic Books and More: The Essential Guide to the Whedonverse for the discounted price of $13.66 through Amazon [...]

Part of today’s Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon today is Clive Barker‘s Abarat for only $1.99 (that’s 78% off the print list price of $8.99).

This title is the first installent in the Abarat novel series. The paperback edition is available now also at the bargain price of $4.00.

I HIGHLY recommend grabbing this eBook. Abarat one of my favorite books of all time, and it’s one of Barker’s greatest offerings [...]

This July, Quirk Books will be releasing William Shakespeare’s Star Wars, which, as the title suggests, is a retelling of the first Star Wars film in the style of William Shakespeare. In honor of today being May The Fourth, a.k.a, Star Wars Day, the publisher organized a themed flashmob this morning on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

During the event in front of the highly populated famed museum (the “Rocky steps”), members of Urban Playground and the Drexel University’s Dragon Jedi performed three scenes from the book, using props such as placards for the opening credits (creatively used here), mock lightsabers, and an inflatable R2-D2, who of course, stole the show.

Check out the video here below, which includes the lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi!

William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will be released on July 2, 2013 in Hardcover and in ebook format for the Kindle [...]

The Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon today is a massive SALE of up to 80% off Star Wars books and graphic novels.

There’s tons of Clone Wars graphic novels for under $4, as well as novels like Star Wars: Tatooine Ghost, Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, and Star Wars: Path of Destruction for only $1.99 each [...]

Part of today’s Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon today is Richard Kadrey‘s Sandman Slim for only $1.99 (that’s 75% off the print list price of $7.99).

This title is the first installent in the Sandman Slim novel series.

I HIGHLY recommend grabbing this eBook, as it’s a great read, and the books of the Sandman Slim series have consistently topped our Best Of lists and Gift Guides [...]

Legendary director Steven Spielberg has his next movie lined up, American Sniper. The movie will be based on the autobiography of the the deadliest sniper the U.S. military has ever had, Chris Kyle, which is titled American Sniper: The Autobiography Of The Most Lethal Sniper In U.S. Military History.

Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper was the one who optioned the book, and is also set to star. Cooper set the project up with Warner Brothers, who will team with DreamWorks to make the movie. Jason Hall (Paranoia) penned the script. [...]

Do you like Lily Collins?

The young up-and-coming actress and daughter of Phil, after a stint on the newer 90210, first appeared in The Blind Side, and has since starred in movies like Priest, Abduction, and live-action take on the tale of Snow White, Mirror Mirror.

Now the actress has joined a movie that has had troubles moving forward, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie is based on the dark and twisted remixed take on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice penned by author Seth Grahame-Smith. [...]

King Aroo
Volume 2: 1952-1954
Written and Illustrated by Jack Kent
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 10, 2012
Cover Price: $39.99

King Aroo, the whimsical, surreal, and thought provoking comic strip of the mid-20th Century, now sees its second volume of collected complete daily and Sunday strips (over 700) spanning the years 1952 -1954, released from IDW Entertainment, the premiere company lauded for their extensive and detailed care in housing complete collections of comic strips in book form.

Coming off the first successful volume, this second one brings more of the same kind of sophisticated jockular hilarity from the pen and mind of Jack Kent, a cartoonist who didn’t have formal illustrative training, which in some ways added to the allure and appeal of the strip, which combines elements of Walt Kelly’s famed strip Pogo, a little bit of Al Capp’s Lil Abner, George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, and even Charles Schultz’s Peanuts (which was in its infancy during that time). [...]

Joe Abercrombie, author of The First Law fantasy series, among others set in the same world, has been working on a graphic novel based on his books for some time, and now, you can check out the first 12 pages of the first book, The Blade Itself, over at firstlawcomic.com.

New pages will be added at the site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you’d like to own the actual issues, allowing yourself to browse through the pages whenever you want, you can purchase the issues at Comixology.com. The first issue is up now for $.99 and all subsequent issues will be sold for $2.99 each.

Abercrombie has brought in some amazing talent for this project as well. The series is being published by Rich Young at Blind Ferret Entertainment, written by Chuck Dixon (G.I. Joe, The Simpsons, Punisher) and illustrated by Andie Tong (Spectacular Spider-Man, Tron: Betrayal) [...]

The Art of BioShock Infinite
Writer: Julian Murdoch
Dark Horse
Release Date: April 9, 2013
Hardcover
Cover Price: $39.99

Written by Julian Murdoch, The Art of BioShock Infinite allows fans of Ken Levine‘s BioShock series to delve deeper into design of BioShock Infinite.

This deluxe hardcover by Dark Horse features production designs and concept illustrations focusing on main characters Booker DeWitt, Elizabeth, and Songbird from the BioShock Infinite video game, as well as the city of Columbia — the fabled floating metropolis that serves as the game’s setting. BioShock Infinite takes place in 1912 during the rise of American Exceptionalism. The player assumes the identity of DeWitt, a former agent of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. [...]

Part of today’s Kindle ebook deal of the day over at Amazon is Richard Matheson‘s The Shrinking Man is on sale for only $1.99 (that’s 88% off the print price of $15.95). If you’d like to purchase a physical copy of I Am Legend, the book is also available in hardcover.

Note – this deal is valid only for today, Friday, April 5, 2013, until 11:59pm PST.

Be sure to check out this month’s Kindle deals: 100 Kindle Books For $3.99 or Less [...]

Machine Head: Inside the Machine
By Joel McIver
Omnibus Press
Release Date: April 1, 2013 (U.S. | Kindle Edition)
Available now (UK)

It’s easy to forget Machine Head has been going for over 20 years. The past five years has seen them hit a creative boon with their two finest albums one after the other: Metallica-approved The Blackening and last year’s astonishing Unto The Locust. Many of their contemporaries burst on to the scene in the 1980s then struggled to maintain what they started with. Ten years down the line many of those same acts failed to recapture that early magic and fell into the great metal chasm. Whereas Machine Head only improved with age.

British author Joel McIver has written books about almost every metal icon: from Slipknot to Slayer, Motorhead to Tool, with Metallica and Black Sabbath to boot. His latest work, Machine Head: Inside the Machine, is an interesting, honest and completely open account of the life of Machine Head. [...]