Saturday, December 14, 2013

Diablo, Dead, Alien, Iron Man Homer and Ender’s


Insight Editions presents five new spectacular titles that are sure to satisfy the appetite of any movie, fantasy, horror, sci-fi and animation lover. 

Leave it to Homer Simpson to write an entire book about slothfulness aptly titled: Homer Simpson’s Little Book Of Laziness

It’s the perfect handbook for the procrastinator, “I’m too busy” and I hate “honey do” lists sort of guy.

The small hardbound book comes in a two-side slipcover with a diecut window to show Homer at his laziness peak.

Inside the “Vault Of Simpsonology Series” book readers are given access to some of Homer’s “secret notes and observations” and are guided through the many undulating corridors of laziness.

My favorite section is Comic Book Guy’s Comic Book Adaptations Of Books You’ll Never Take Time To Read.

Home, work and play examples of laziness are given along with a quick identification guide to fellow ”Lazies.”

From fashion to the future Homer Simpson’s Little Book Of Laziness may be small but it tackles a big subject…mainly Homer’s lazy behind!

Marvel Comics hit it out of the park with its series of Iron Man and The Avengers movies.  Tony Stark’s mechanical alter ego was successfully brought to the Silver Screen in no small part due to incredible, practical armor created for the films by Stan Winston Studios.  Coupled with the impressive special visual effects the armor made the Iron Man and The Avengers movies rock!

Marvel Iron Man Manual is the know all and tell all book about Tony’s impressive armor.  From its introduction as the clunky and cumbersome Mach I armor it has transformed into the most sophisticated piece of personal ordinance and transport imaginable.

ALL of Tony’s armor are categorized, analyzed and spotlighted in this impressive technical manual.

Non-Iron Man armor and weapons are also given their due, as are Tony’s friends, enemies and military contacts.

A special section is also focused on some of his fellow Avengers and Loki.

If you love technical jargon and schematics as much as I do then you’re sure to love this book.  Packed with graphs, schematics, full color photos and technical how-to this handsome hardbound book is a true testament to Ol’ Shellhead.

It’s no secret that Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III video game is a huge hit.   Spectacular visual effects, an impressive storyline and amazing characters and settings all combine to make Diablo III a hit with fans.

I’m not an avid video game player.  I never personally played Diablo III but I know plenty of people who have and I’ve watched them as they delve into Diablo’s world.

After watching game play, looking over conceptual and production art and familiarizing myself with Blizzard’s topnotch character development I can understand why Diablo III is such a video game phenomenon.

The Diablo III Book OF Tyrael from Insight contains the story of the former Archangel who rallies humans to fight the forces of evil. The tome contains his personal notes and journal, illustrations and descriptions of both evil and good combatants.

Beautifully bound In faux leather, the book features an embossed image of a sword hilt with archaic symbols.  Gold leaf pages on parchment accent the time worn images within and the Times Roman text is highlighted by script-like headings.  The book appears old and almost reeks of magic and mystery.

The Ender’s Game movie, based on the popular sci-fi book, captures the essence of the book with slight cinematic liberties. Harrison Ford leads an all-star cast accompanied by a cast of new young actors and actresses in an intense story of invasion and redemption,

Adapting a novel (especially one filled with aliens, alien worlds, futuristic technology and spacecraft, to the screen is never easy.  Ender’s Game pulls it off spectacularly.

Ender’s Game Inside The World Of An Epic Adventure by Jed Alger is an encyclopedia of information about the making of the film.

Chapters include selecting the actors, pre and post production, concept art, computer modeling and special effects, physical effects and sets, the intensive physical training of the actors, character profiles, behind-the-scenes glimpses, alien creation, on location and much more.

Like the film itself the book is a sweeping vista of humanity’s last hope.

Color photos, art, sketches and informative text guide readers through the far-flung future conflict in space safely tucked betwixt its pages. 

AMC’s The Walking Dead TV series, based on the Image Comic Book series by the same name, caught everyone by surprise by its huge success.

I’ve watched it several times and its scared the heck out of me.  Talk about suspenseful and creepy!  The Walking Dead’ dead are marvels of modern prosthetics and makeup.

Insight Editions has gathered together classic scenes and posters from the series and combined them into a 40 Removable Poster Collection of high-resolution photos and art.

I dare you to hang these images on your wall.  Trust me, they are disturbing and you won’t sleep well at all. Just thinking about them sends chills up my spin. 

The show’s no-holds-barred, in-your-face action, blood and gore delights fans of the undead.
Speaking of chills, be sure to pick up a copy of Insight’s Alien Saga 40 Removable Poster Collection.  Alien is the granddaddy of outer space monster and horror films and its three sequels are just as creepy.

When the movie Alien premiered in 1979 the face of horror films changed forever.  The Alien films soon spawned three sequels all starring Siguorney Weaver (who many consider the first strong female action star).

The posters consist of pivotal scenes and poster from all four films.  They make excellent posters for display and like The Walking Dead posters they feature high-resolution images that practically ‘pop out’ at you.

Maybe ‘pop out’ is not the proper term to use when talking about the Alien movies.  Suddenly my stomach feels funny.  It’s just indigestion…sure, that’s all it is.