Book News, In Brief

Steve Gerber, the irreverent, outspoken and silly creator of Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown, has died. Mark Evanier and The Comics Reporter have posted bios and obits.

Alex Cox, the writer and director of Repo Man, is releasing a sequel to that cult gem...in the form of a comic book. Entertainment Weekly has the first four pages.

Don't care for sequels? How about prequels? How about prequels written by authors that had nothing to do with the original book? Still with me? The CBC has an interview with Budge Wilson, author of Before Green Gables, the officially licensed prequel to Anne of Green Gables.

Remember yesterday's news item about the publishers becoming a bookstore's new competitor? We weren't lying. Via Reuters: "Random House Publishing Group, the world's largest book publisher, is planning to test selling individual chapters of a popular book to gauge reader demand."

The Brits are snobs. Their accents make that perfectly clear. Unfortunately, their accents also make them sound smarter. That's why, when David Hare, John Hodge, Tom Stoppard and Lee Hall talk about their work adapting The Hours, Trainspotting, Shakespeare In Love and Billy Elliot for the big screen, I say, "Bloody 'ell, why nowt click ova' fowa look-see, eh wot? I jus' might be able ta learn sump'fin, by gum."