Publishers Weekly articles from January 2005

Publishers Weekly archives from January 2005

Editors'-eye view.(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... At the beginning of 1998, PW sat down with publishing's next generation of editors to gauge their station-and, by extension, the future state of publishing. As a new year opens, we've uncovered a new class of young editors (all under 35 years...

Nonfiction up, fiction down over holidays: God blessed 'America' in 2004.
January 3, 2005... THE BESTSELLING BOOK of the 2004 holiday season was Jon Stewart's America (The Book), and it helped record the best nonfiction holiday sales tally in the past five years. America's sales, however, did not break the holiday record, set in 1999,...

Bloomsbury buys Walker Publishing.(News)
January 3, 2005... BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING TOOK an important step in expanding its presence in the U.S. market late last month with the acquisition of Walker Publishing Company. Walker will operate as a division of Bloomsbury's U.S. subsidiary, Bloomsbury USA, with...

Startup denies competition Charles, but will close.(On Display)
January 3, 2005... READER'S CHOICE BOOKS, the display marketing startup that was sued by Books Are Fun in November (News, Nov. 15), has denied BAF's charges of unfair competition and filed its own counterclaims against the company, which is owned by Reader's...

Harry VI coming July 16.(Mark Your Calendar)(Harry Potter)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Word that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released in the U.S. July 16 was quickly followed by announcements from Borders, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million that customers who order the sixth installment of the Potter series...

Penguin, Dorchester press online initiatives.(Happy Customers)
January 3, 2005... WHILE RANDOM HOUSE and Simon & Schuster contemplate selling directly to consumers through their Web sites, Penguin Group USA CEO David Shanks said the publisher's year-old online sales operation "has lived up to expectations." The online...

Hyperion upgrades online club.(Marketing)
January 3, 2005... HYPERION IS BUILDING on its experience with online reading groups to launch the Hyperion Select Online Book Club. The new site, which will go live January 10, is designed to promote the publisher's fiction titles and to draw attention to its...

Viz debuts Shonen Jump Advanced.(Advanced Manga)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Manga publisher Viz, which publishes a variety of family-friendly manga, is starting a new imprint under its Shonen Jump line called Shonen Jump Advanced, which will release "edgier" manga titles aimed at older teens and young adults. The...

Akashic's punk novel strikes a chord.(Breakout Book)
January 3, 2005... WITH THE HELP of a catchy title and striking cover, the inaugural title in Akashic Books' new Punk Planet imprint, Hair-styles of the Damned, has followed a forked road to success. Released in September and now in its fourth printing with...

DK.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... DK Beth Sutinis, formerly a senior editor, has been promoted to punishing director, children's books.

Harcourt.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... HARCOURT Amanda Marples, formerly trade marketing manager for children's books, has been named associate director of marketing, children's books.

HarperCollins.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... HARPERCOLLINS Michael Stearns, formerly director of paperback publishing at Harcourt, has been named editorial director and foreign acquisitions manager at HarperCollins Children's Books.... Leslie Hulse, senior director, Internet development,...

Thomas Nelson.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... THOMAS NELSON Laurie Whaley, formerly director of New Century Version, TN's contemporary Bible translation division, has been promoted to v-p, NCV Translation.

Cook Communications Ministry.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... COOK COMMUNICATIONS MINISTRY Mike Nappa, an editor for several CBA publishers as well as a published author, has been named an acquisitions editor for nonfiction books.

Holt.(people)(Holt Amy Geduldig)(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... HOLT Amy Geduldig, formerly senior publicist at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, has been named publicity manager.

Viz.(people)(Dudley Jahnke, M.E. Sharpe Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... VIZ Dudley Jahnke, formerly director of sales at M.E. Sharpe, has been named director of sales for publishing.

Chrysalis Books Group.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... CHRYSALIS BOOKS GROUP Jane Rose, formerly marketing director at HarperCollins, has been named marketing and communications director.

Bloomsbury.(people)(Kathryn Belden, Four Walls Eight Windows)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... BLOOMSBURY Kathryn Belden, formerly senior editor at Four Walls Eight Windows, has been named executive editor, responsible for acquiring both fiction and nonfiction.

Yale University Press.(people)(Pearson Education Inc.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS Lara Heimert, formerly executive editor, has been promoted to publisher of trade books.... Heather McCallum, formerly editor-in-chief, humanities, at Pearson Education U.K., has been named publisher, trade, London.......

Harvard University Press.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS Michael Fisher, formerly executive editor for science and medicine, has been named editor-in-chief.

Penguin, USA.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... PENGUIN USA Nancy Perlman, formerly v-p, director of hardcover and juvenile operations, has been promoted to the newly created position of v-p, director of intergroup business development and corporate products, responsible for overseeing...

Nicholas Brealey Publishing.(people)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... NICHOLAS BREALEY PUBLISHING Carmen Mitchell, formerly associate editor for Justin, Charles & Co. Publishers, has been named to head publicity and promotions.

Big Guy Books.(people)(Bernadette M. Baillie, Advantage Publishers Group)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... BIG GUY BOOKS Bernadette M. Baillie, formerly associate director of marketing and publicity at Advantage Publishers Group, has been named sales and marketing director.

Kidsbooks consolidates, adds educational imprint.(Children's Publishing)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... PROMOTIONAL CHILDREN'S BOOK publisher Kidsbooks is consolidating its sales, marketing and editorial departments in new offices in Newburyport, Mass. The move entails closing its New York editorial and design office as well as its sales and...

Barstow joins Chelsea Green.(people)(JOHN BARSTOW)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... JOHN BARSTOW, formerly with W.W. Norton, has been named editor-in-chief of the Vermont-based environmental publisher Chelsea Green. While at Norton, Barstow was editor of its Outside Books imprint and, over the course of his career, has...

Mrkonic resigns from borders.(people)(Borders Group )(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... GEORGE MRKONIC, who served as vice-chairman of Borders Group from 1994 to 2002, and who has been a director since 1994, resigned as a board member at the end of 2004. Mrkonic had been a Kmart executive and moved to Borders when Kmart spun off...

Calamari moves to Pantheon.(People)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... FARRAR, STRAUS & GIROUX director of publicity Elisabeth Calamari is leaving for Pantheon, where she'll take on the role of publicity director. Calamari has been at FSG for 12 years. She'll be replaced by Sarita Varma, who has been with FSG for...

Digital download deals proliferate.(Audio)
January 3, 2005... PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN AUDIOBOOK publishers and digital delivery companies are on the rise. In a deal announced last month, MediaBay, which earlier this fall teamed with MSN Music to be exclusive distributor of audiobooks for that service, said...

New ECPA director outlines objectives.(Religion Publishing)(Evangelical Christian Publishers Association)
January 3, 2005... AT NOVEMBER'S PUBLISHING University and in an interview with PW, Mark Kuyper talked about some of the challenges and opportunities facing the religion publishing market. This summer, Kuyper took over as president of the 66-member Evangelical...

Kiplinger inks book deal with Dearborn Trade.(Outsourcing)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... AS PART OF its decision to get out of the book business, Kiplinger Washington Editors Inc. has reached an agreement with Dearborn Trade Publishing for the Chicago publisher to publish and distribute 10 Kiplinger personal-finance titles....

Richard Flanagan, 52.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
January 3, 2005... RICHARD FLANAGAN, who was Borders's president of store operations from 1994 to 1999, died December 19. The 52-year-old Chicago native lived in Chapel Hill, N.C., after his retirement from Borders, which he joined in 1991 as v-p, finance and...

Peter Bedrick, 76.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
January 3, 2005... PETER BEDRICK, former publisher of Schocken Books and the founder of Peter Bedrick Books and Enchanted Lion Books, died December 8. He was 76. Bedrick's publishing career began in 1963, when he joined the Schocken sales staff. He left Schocken...

William G. Tarbox, 84.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
January 3, 2005... WILLIAM TARBOX, former president of Children's Books USA, died December 6, at the age of 84. Tarbox graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1942 and received his master's degree in 1949. He joined the Combined Book Exhibit that year, where...

Kudos to workman.(behind the bestsellers)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... As you dream of a tropical vacation, perhaps you're wondering: What was the bestselling travel title in 2004? The winner is Workman's 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz, published in September 2003. The publisher reports 26...

Rick Warren matters.(behind the bestsellers)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life--the bestselling book of 2003 and 2004--was named by Time magazine as one of the 16 "People Who Mattered in 2004." What made him matter was not the 20.5 million copies his book sold in two years in...

Indy favorites.(behind the bestsellers)
January 3, 2005... There are a number of Book Sense fiction bestsellers that have come close to making the national charts. They are certainly worth noting because if they follow in the footsteps of other indie top-sellers that never made a national hardcover...

More good times.(behind the bestsellers)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Former president Jimmy Carter has certainly kept busy in the 23 years since he left the White House. His 19th book, Sharing Good Dines, lands on the list with a first printing of 350,000 copies. Publisher Simon & Schuster felt lucky that he was...

Something about Mary: still popular despite a seven-year break, Mary Doria Russell returns with a WWII novel.(book news)
January 3, 2005... Unlike the Mary in the Farrelly brothers' film, whose attraction was primarily physical, what has made writer Mary Doria Russell so appealing to readers and book groups is that "there's so much meat for thought in her books," said Becky...

Avon and Harper add value.(what's popping)(global branding initiative, Avon Books Div. and HarperCollins)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Those curious about HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman's recent announcement of a global branding initiative can glimpse one of its elements this month, when Avon launches its Little Black Book program. Starting with Meg Cabot's novel Every Boy's...

Hearst and Cosmo update a sexy classic.(what's popping)(Cosmopolitan, Hearst Books/Business Publishing Corp. and Sterling Publishing Co.)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Thought there wasn't another way to repackage the Kama Sutra? Leave it to the editors of Cosmopolitan, in conjunction with Hearst Books and Sterling Publishing to find a way to freshen it up for Valentine's Day. The Cosmo Kama Sutra (Jan.;...

It's a Mac world.(what's popping)(Brief Article)
January 3, 2005... Three weeks after its October 2004 release, The Cult of Mac, from technology publisher No Starch Press, returned to press after selling out its 10,000-copy first printing. The book's following is sure to grow as author Leander Kahney, a...

Narrators of the year: Simon Prebble and Simon Jones: two English actors with velvet voices take the mic in 2004.(audio)
January 3, 2005... Adult Simon Prebble Behind the Mic: Before coming to the U.S. in 1989, Prebble lived in west London and tried his band at being a radio journalist, a BBC announcer, a voiceover artist and an actor. He even toured with Ian McKellen in...

Celebrities sound off.(audio)
January 3, 2005... Audiobook narrators don't just read--they perform. And what better way is there to experience the full drama of a story or chronicle than to hear it enacted by familiar voices the big screen? The following are some of the year's most notable...

Listen Up Awards 2004.(audio)(recording industry)
January 3, 2005... FICTION Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, read by Simon Prebble (Audio Renaissance). The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, read by Kimberly Schraf (Listen & Live Audio). Eventide by Kent Haruf, read by Susanna...

Life Studies: Stories.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
January 3, 2005... LIFE STUDIES: Stories SUSAN VREELAND, READ BY KAREN WHITE. Penguin Audio, unabridged, nine C Ds, 10.5 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-14-305717-0 Like her novels, Vreeland's short stories make one consider what it means to create art and what role art...

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
January 3, 2005... JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL SUSANNA CLARKE, READ BY SIMON PREBBLE. Audio Renaissance/Bloomsbury Publishing, unabridged, 26 CDs, 32 hrs., $59.95 ISBN 1-59397-741-7 * There may be no better marriage of talents than that of Clarke and...

Immortal in Death.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
January 3, 2005... IMMORTAL IN DEATH NORA ROBERTS WRITING AS J.D. ROBB, READ BY SUSAN ERICKSEN. Brilliance Audio, unabridged eight CDs, 10 hrs., $33.95 ISBN 1-59355-823-6 The third, and arguably best, book in Robb's futuristic In Death series here receives...

London Bridges.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
January 3, 2005... LONDON BRIDGES JAMES PATTERSON, READ BY PETER J. FERNANDEZ AND DENIS O'HARE. Time Warner AudioBooks, unabridged, seven CDs, 8 hrs., $39.98 ISBN 1-58621-712-7 In his 10th adventure, Alex Cross, now working full time for the FBI, is...

Whiteout.(Brief Article)(Audiobook Review)
January 3, 2005... WHITEOUT KEN FOLLETT, READ BY BARBARA ROSENBLAT. Penguin Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-14-305707-3 In Follett's latest Le Mans-paced thriller, doses of the possible antidote to a deadly virus are stolen from a small...

Wolves Eat Dogs: an Arkady Renko Novel.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... WOLVES EAT DOGS: An Arkady Renko Novel MARTIN CRUZ SMITH, READ BY RON MCLARTY. Simon & Schuster Audio, abridged, four cassettes, 6 hrs., $26 ISBN 0-7435-3834-X Tenacious Senior Investigator Arkady Renko is on another tough case, and this...

Downtown: My Manhattan.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... DOWNTOWN: My Manhattan PETE HAMILL, READ BY THE AUTHOR. Time Warner AudioBooks, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs, $31.98 ISBN 1-58621-729-1 Hamill has spent most of his life in New York City, and he knows its history and its pulse intimately. In...

Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... MARK TWAIN'S LETTERS FROM HAWAII MARK TWAIN, READ BY MCAVOY LAYNE. AudioEditions, abridged, three CDs, 3 hrs., $24.95 ISBN 1-57270-428-4 Hearing Layne read Mark Twain's newspaper dispatches from Hawaii gives one the invigorating sense of...

Audio bestsellers.
January 3, 2005... Audio Bestsellers PUBLISHERS WEEKLY[R] Available online the Friday before issued date at: www.publishersweekly.com Fiction Nonfiction 1 The Da Vinci Code (unabr. CD). 1 My Life (abr. CD)....

The next young thing(s): today's Turk editors came of age in a time of vast cultural and industry change. They'll preside over a lot more of it.(PW 2005 Outlook)
January 3, 2005... SCHOLASTIC EXECUTIVE EDITOR David Levithan was about to join some young colleagues at the photo shoot for this piece when he was asked why the dress code seemed to be more formal than at a previous gathering. "Because this time," replied...

Veterans weigh in.
January 3, 2005... The changes in the industry over the last decade have had a profound effect on many publishing roles. Some established players offer their analysis of how it's been good and bad for editors. WHAT'S CHANGED MOST The industry is more...

Holy Skirts.(book review)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... HOLY SKIRTS RENE STEINKE. Morrow, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-688-17694-1 Literary Review editor Steinke's second novel (after The Fires) is a lively, sympathetic fictionalized account of the true adventures of Baroness Elsa von...

By the Grand Canal.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... BY THE GRAND CANAL WILLIAM RIVIERE. Grove, $24 (272p) ISBN 0-8021-1793-7 The lapping waters of the canals of Venice transport readers to 1920s Italy in this quiet, richly atmospheric novel by Riviere (Kate Caterina, etc.). In the aftermath...

Blood Memory.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... BLOOD MEMORY GREG ILES. Scribner, $24.95 (512p) ISBN 0-7432-3470-7 Iles's previous thriller, 2003's provocative The Footprints of God, featured an omnipotent supercomputer and an on-the-run duo racing around the globe from North Carolina to...

The Chrysanthemum Palace.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE CHRYSANTHEMUM PALACE BRUCE WAGNER. Simon & Schuster, $21 (224p) ISBN 0-7432-4339-0 * In his Cellular Trilogy, novelist Wagner gleefully excoriated Hollywood vanity and pretense. Obviously his hunger for butchering Tinseltown's sacred...

The Train to Lo Wu: Stories.(book review)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE TRAIN TO LO WU: Stories JESS Row. Dial, $23 (190p) ISBN 0-385-33789-2 No one quite understands anyone else in Row's Hong Kong, a city suffused by a pervasive sense of alienation. In the seven stories of this debut collection, Row's...

Rosie Dunne.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... ROSIE DUNNE CECELIA AHERN. Hyperion, $22.95 (448p) ISBN 1-4013-0091-X Ahern (PS, I Love You) uses letters, notes, e-mails and instant messages to narrate her poignant second novel about thwarted love and missed opportunities. Plucky Rosie...

The Falcon of Palermo.(book review)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE FALCON OF PALERMO MARIA R. BORDIHN. Atlantic Monthly, $25 (480p) ISBN 0-871-13880-8 Bordihn's scrupulously researched debut brims with drama, passion and personalities ranging from the scandalous to the sublime. After the untimely...

The Lost Mother.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE LOST MOTHER MARY MCGARRY MORRIS. Viking, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 0-670-03389-8 "They said it was bad for everyone, but nobody else the boy knew had to live in the woods." Thus begins the harrowing story of 12-year-old Thomas and...

The Seventh Beggar.(book review)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE SEVENTH BEGGAR PEARL ABRAHAM. Riverhead, $25.95 (368p) ISBN 1-57322-285-2 * Those looking for successors to Isaac Bashevis Singer (whose short stories were published by the Library of America this summer) should read Abraham's novel...

Tropical Animal.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... TROPICAL ANIMAL PEDRO JUAN GUTIERREZ, TRANS. FROM THE SPANISH BY PETER LOWNDS. Carroll & Graf, $24 (320p) ISBN 0-7867-1499-9 Gutierrez's first book published in the U.S., Dirty Havana Trilogy, was a series of loosely connected vignettes...

The Virgin.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE VIRGIN ERIK BARMACK. St. Martin's Griffin, $12.95 paper (244p) ISBN 0-312-33513-X In Barmack's glib, ironical debut, Joseph Braun, a lost, unemployed slacker, transforms himself into Jeb Brown, a more confident and less ethnic version...

Yeshiva World.(PW Talks with Pearl Abraham)(Interview)
January 3, 2005... PW: You grew up in a Hasidic household. Was it difficult, in a community that assigns traditional roles to women, to become a writer? Pearl Abraham: Let's begin by saying that, in the Hasidic world, women aren't subordinated. It's true that...

Gimme an O!(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... GIMME AN O! KAYLA PERRIN. Avon, $12.95 paper (384p) ISBN 0-06-058709-1 Perrin (Tell Me You Love Me; Say You Need Me; etc.) brings together two very different people in search of the very same thing. Gynecologist turned sex therapist Lecia...

Ordinary Springs.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... ORDINARY SPRINGS LENORE HART. Berkley, $14 paper (384p) ISBN 0-425-20005-1 Dory Gamble's mother disappeared when Dory was just two, leaving Dory and her father in tiny Ordinary Springs, Fla., where lovelorn town ladies circled like...

The Pushcart Prize XXIX, 2005.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE PUSHCART PRIZE 2005 XXIX EDITED BY BILL HENDERSON. Pushcart, $35 (560p) ISBN 1-888889-40-3; $16.95 paper ISBN 1-888889-39-X Henderson is right on the mark when he writes in his introduction that it has been a "vintage year" for this...

The Widow's Husband.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE WIDOW'S HUSBAND SHEILA EVANS. Permanent, $24 (221p) ISBN 1-57962-111-2 Evans, who proved herself expert at plumbing midlife issues of self-doubt and self-discovery in 2003's Stanley, California, tackles similar ground in her third...

Home Away from Home.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... HOME AWAY FROM HOME LORNA J. COOK. St. Martin's, $22.95 (196p) ISBN 0-312-30819-1 Cook takes a careful but sometimes smothering look at grief in her second novel (after 2004's Departures), as a 30-something Michigander mourns the untimely...

Tenor of Love.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... TENOR OF LOVE MARY DI MICHELE. Touchstone, $13 paper (336p) ISBN 0-7432-6692-7 The legendary tenor Enrico Caruso is the center of the romantic universe for three women in this sensually written but occasionally overwrought novel. The young...

Living with Fred.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... LIVING WITH FRED BRAD WHITTINGTON. Broadman Holman, $12.99 paper (256p) ISBN 0-8054-3158-6 In this sequel to the Christy Award-winning Welcome to Fred, Whittington improves on his earlier novel with a more cohesive, confidently written...

Tahn.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... TAHN L.A. KELLY. Revell, $12.99 paper (336p) ISBN 0-8007-5999-0 Kelly pens a novel with a medieval setting, writing under her initials to distinguish it from her historical Depression-era inspirational fiction under the name Leisha Kelly...

Black or White.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... BLACK OR WHITE JOHN AUBREY ANDERSON. Broadman & Holman, $14.99 paper (336p) ISBN 0-8054-3168-3 Guardian angels slug it out with demons of darkness in a debut novel that's long on supernatural suspense, plot tangents and characters but...

The Palace of Heavenly Pleasures.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE PALACE OF HEAVENLY PLEASURES ADAM WILLIAMS. St. Martin's, $25.95 (640p) ISBN 0-312-31566-X Lavish in the manner of James Clavell and Leon Uris, this capacious and compelling saga centers on the Boxer Rebellion, a peasant uprising...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 3, 2005... Correction: The name of the agent for Gary Hardwick's The Executioner's Game is Sarah Lazin at Sarah Lazin Books (Forecasts, Dec. 6).

Infinite Ryvius, Vol. 1.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... INFINITE RYVIUS: VOL. 1 HAJIME YATATE, YOUSUKE KURODA AND SHINSUKE KURIHASHI. ComicsOne, $9.95 paper (208p) ISBN 1-58899-008-7 Stories about being lost in space are nothing new, but this tale stands out. Based on the popular anime, it's the...

Ultraman Tiga Volume 2: Past Sins, Future Dangers.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... ULTRAMAN TIGA VOLUME 2: Past Sins, Future Dangers TONY WONG AND KHOO FUK LUNG. Dark Horse, $19.95 paper (200p) ISBN 1-59307-315-1 Since its origin as a live-action Japanese TV show in the 1960s, the Ultraman franchise has proved extremely...

Zippy: from Here to Absurdity.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... ZIPPY: From Here to Absurdity BILL GRIFFITH. Fantagraphics, $19.95 paper (128p) ISBN 1-56097-618-7 For all of Griffith's jeers at the predictability of the funny pages, he hints a few times in this collection of strips from 2003 and 2004...

May Faith in Frankie.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... MY FAITH IN FRANKIE MIKE CAREY, SONNY LIEW AND MARC HEMPEL. Vertigo, $6.95 paper (112p) ISBN 1-4012-0390-6 This delightful, theological satire-as-romantic comedy follows Frankie Moxon, an adorable 17-year-old with a religion of her own....

Tales of the Vampires.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... TALES OF THE VAMPIRES JOSS WHEDON AND VARIOUS AUTHORS. Dark Horse, $15.95 paper (144p) ISBN 1-56971-749-4 Although Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel have both ended, new stories set in creator Whedon's "Buffyverse" continue to...

The Sign of the Book: A Cliff Janeway Novel.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 3, 2005... THE SIGN OF THE BOOK: A Cliff Janeway Novel JOHN DUNNING. Scribner, $25 (368p) ISBN 0-7432-5505-4 As an antiquarian book dealer and sometime private investigator, Cliff Janeway is unique in contemporary crime fiction, and no doubt that...