Comics and books

Starting this month IDW is releasing the comic book "official continuation" of the Transformers movie. Transformer Movie Sequel: The Reign of Starscream picks up where the movie left off says co-writer Chris Ryall: "The movie left fans with some questions at the end, and we get a chance to answer them herel. We pick up on what happened at the end and reveal the fates of some of the surviving film characters. Take Starscream - we find out where he was headed and what he was doing. We also introduce new characters. In doing so, we bridge the gap between the last movie and the next movie, coming in '09." Written by Chris Ryall and Chris Mowry, and illustration and cover art by Alex Milne and Gabriel Rodriguez.

Hugh Jackman, Marc Guggenheim and Virgin Comics are teaming up to make Nowhere Man, a comic book series that will later be turned into a Jackman vehicle. The story will be about “a futuristic world where mankind has traded privacy for safety.” John Palermo, Jackson’s Seed Productions partner, said, "This is our first comic, and we feel the concept is transferable to other arenas, perhaps first as a videogame, and then a movie."

Father and son, Stephen King and Joe Hill will collaborate for the first time on Throttle, a novella in upcoming Richard Matheson tribute anthology, He Is Legend. The anthology, which is being assembled with Matheson's cooperation, will be a collection of stories that take place in his fictional universes. Throttle is set in Duel's world (the same Duel that was adapted by Steven Spielberg). With an introduction by Ramsey Campbell, other contributors include: Richard Christian Matheson, F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale, Whitley Strieber, William F. Nolan, Gary Braunbeck, Thomas Monteleone, John Shirley, and Ed Gorman. It'll be published by Gauntlet Press February 2009.

The BookOff Corporation, Japan's largest used bookstore chain with at least nine overseas stores in the US, France, Canada, and South Korea, has reportedly offered to pay 100 million yen (about $1 million US) to the Copyright Network for Comic Authors in the 21st Century, The Japan's Writer's Association, and other creator associations. According to newspapers, the offer is to appease these organizations who have complained that used bookstores affect new book sales. Protected by the first sale doctrine in Japan, the United States (though recently the doctrine has been tested in court and legislation in the US), and other countries, is the right to resell used books and other items without paying fees. BookOff has said it cannot comment.

Nominees for the Hugo Awards and the John W. Campbell Award. (Submitted by Sitting Duck)

Shojo Comic magazine will celebrate its 40th anniversary with posting over 4,000 pages from 400 manga for free browsing on the Yahoo! Comic Japan website. Titles include: Yuu Watase's Absolute Boyfriend, Fuyumi Soryo's Boyfriend, Chie Shinohara's Red River, Kotomi Aoki's Boku wa Imōto ni Koi o Suru, Kazuko Fujita's Rising!. The site also hosts a free online version of Shojo Comic with additions made on the 5th and 20th of every month.