The ultimate book of baby names for comic book nerds, sci-fi fans and more—with the meanings and stories behind more than 1,000 names! Having trouble finding a baby name that celebrates your favorite fandom? Whether you want your child’s name to stand out in a crowd or fit in on the playground, Naming Your Little Geek is here to save the day! This ultimate guidebook is complete with every name a geek could want to give their baby—from Anakin and Frodo to Indiana and Clark; and from Gwen and Wanda to Buffy and Xena—plus their meanings, and a list of all the legends who have borne them. Naming Your Little Geek covers everything from comic book superheroes to role-playing game icons, Starfleet officers to sword and sorcery legends with characters who have appeared on film and TV, in novels and comic books, on the tabletop, and beyond. With nearly 1,100 names referencing more than 4,400 characters from over 1,800 unique sources, it's the perfect resource for parents naming a child or anyone looking for a super cool and meaningful new name.

'Vintage Geek is Marshall Julius's super-fun trivia treasure-chest for nerds of all ages. Essential reading.' Mark Hamill The ultimate quiz book for old school nerds, Vintage Geek celebrates a splendid selection of 20th-century fandoms, from Fifties' sci fi cinema, Sixties' Star Trek and Seventies' Stephen King to Eighties' actioners, Nineties' Batman 'toons and more. What does the sign say on the gate of Kananga's crocodile farm? What's the first Thing Mary Jane Watson ever said to Peter Parker? Why does Robby the Robot rarely partake of Altair IV's high oxygen content? No matter what we're into, geeks of the world share a few common traits: intense and unconditional enthusiasm and the relentless urge to know, and then prove we know, every last thing about the objects of our affection. With a foreword from Simpsons writer Mike Reiss, Vintage Geek additionally features a fabulous fifty celebrity-penned questions from the likes of Mark Hamill, John Carpenter, George Takei, Sam Neill, Mark Millar, Tom Savini, Pat Mills, Yeardley Smith and Sam J. Jones. Vintage Geek is here to chew bubblegum and assess the limits of your trivia knowledge and it's all out of bubblegum!

'Awesome. Everything you've ever wanted to know about big-screen sci-fi' - James King, film critic 'Don't leave Planet Earth without it' - Dan Jolin, film critic 'A wonderfully accessible, fascinating, flat-out treasure chest of science fiction cinema, from an author whose love of the subject leaps off the page' - Simon Brew, Editor, Den of Geek Why do SF movies matter? What do they tell us about the interests of storytellers and the changing tastes of cinema-goers? How have SF movies evolved with filmmaking technology over the past 110 years? The Geek's Guide To SF Cinema provides an entertaining and in-depth history of the science fiction genre's pivotal and most influential movies. From the pioneering films of Georges Méliès to such blockbusters as Avatar and Inception in the 21st century, the book will explore how these key movies were made, how they reflected the mood of the time in which they were released and how they have influenced other filmmakers in the years since. Historians and experts contribute to answer questions such as: 'How important was Fritz Lang's contribution to cinema?' and 'What did Alien say about the cynical climate of the 1970s?'. Providing nostalgia for long-time SF addicts and context for those whose knowledge and love of the genre is still growing, this is a pop-culture book with depth.

The inspiration for the Netflix original film, The Perfect Date! When Brooks volunteered to be a stand-in for Burdette's cousin who got stood up for Homecoming, it was with the noblest of intentions—helping a fellow human being, free of charge. But when he gets a tip of more than three hundred bucks, word spreads quickly and Brooks seizes the opportunity to offer his impeccable escort services to super-wealthy parents who want their daughters to experience those big social events of senior year. Besides, Brooks could use the cash to hire a tutor to get admitted to Columbia University. So what if along the way he goes along with a few minor deceptions and cuts a few moral corners? What could be the harm?

Brando Mahr lost his mind when an artillery shell exploded close by. Upon returning to some form of consciousness, he found himself aphasiac and epileptic. He escaped from the hospital and found menial work in the basement of the UCLA library, where he re-learned language, unfortunately by reading mostly 18th century English penny dreadnaughts. Since the language has shifted somewhat in 200 plus years, the author has channeled the spirit of one of Brando's favorite writers from the 1700s to act as translator and sometimes commentator. Several years into his comeback finds Brando struggling on the lower rungs of Hollywood as a minor film producer and director. When his good friend Kieth Lagosi introduces him to football ex-great Ripper Brown, Brando sets out to develop Ripper's life story into a bio-pic dramatizing the player's glorious deeds. But Ripper has had a troubled past, and someone doesn't want his story told...and Brando's own difficulties begin to mount. When Rippers gorgeous blond wife is murdered, Brando is blamed by Ripper's friends and hauled in for a brutal interrogation by the Los Angeles police. It is clear that those Brando irritated in attempting to tell Ripper's story have turned against him...not one, but two sets of accomplished and deadly killers. Can Brando clear himself of the charge of murder? And, if he does, can he find the true killers and uncover why why these foul and cold-blooded killers will go to any lengths to keep their secrets hidden?

Riveting, novelistic, and startlingly candid, John T. Halliday's combat memoir begins in 1970, when Halliday has just landed in the middle of the Vietnam War, primed to begin his assignment with the 606th Special Operations Squadron. But there's a catch: He's stationed in a kind of no-man's-land. No one on his base flies with ID, patches, or rank. Even as Richard Nixon firmly denies reporters' charges that the United States has forces in Laos, Halliday realizes that from his base in Thailand, he will be flying top-secret, black-ops night missions over the Laotian Ho Chi Minh Trail. A naive yet thoughtful twenty-four-year-old, Halliday was utterly unprepared for the horrors of war. On his first mission, Halliday's C-123 aircraft dodges more than a thousand antiaircraft shells, and that is just the beginning. Nothing is as he expected -- not the operations, not the way his shell-shocked fellow pilots look and act, and certainly not the squadron's daredevil, seat-of-one's-pants approach to piloting. But before long, Halliday has become one of those seasoned and shell-shocked pilots, and finds himself in a desperate search for a way to elude certain death. Using frank, true-to-life dialogue, potent imagery, and classic 1970s song lyrics, Halliday deftly describes the fraught Laotian skies and re-creates his struggle to navigate the frustrating Air Force bureaucracy, the deprivations of a remote base far from home and his young wife, and his fight to preserve his sanity. The resulting nonfiction narrative vividly captures not only the intricate, distorted culture of war but also the essence of the Vietnam veteran's experience of this troubled era. A powerhouse fusion of pathos and humor, brutal realism and intimate reflection, Flying Through Midnight is a landmark contribution to war literature, revealing previously top-secret intelligence on the 606th's night missions. Fast-paced, thrilling, and bitingly intelligent, Halliday illuminates it all: the heart-pounding air battles, the close friendships, the crippling fear, and the astonishing final escape that made the telling of it possible.

Superman has fought for nearly seven decades to conquer radio, television, and film—but his battles behind the scenes have proved a far greater threat than any fictional foe. For the first time, one book unearths all the details of his turbulent adventures in Tinseltown. Based on extensive interviews with producers, screenwriters, cast members, and crew, Superman vs. Hollywood spills the beans on Marlon Brando's eccentricities; the challenges of making Superman appear to fly; the casting process that at various points had Superman being played by Sylvester Stallone, Neil Diamond, Nicolas Cage, Ashton Kutcher, and even Muhammad Ali; and the Superman movies, fashioned by such maverick filmmakers as Kevin Smith and Tim Burton, that never made it to the screen.

This fourth title in a unique series that combines reference and analytical qualities in chronicling the horror and science fiction genres, Horror and Science Fiction Films IV brings the earlier three volumes in the series up to date, concentrating on the period from 1984-1994, as well as updating entries from the previous volumes and adding newly-discovered titles from 1900-1983. Entries in the main list include credits, cast, synopsis, and annotation. The introduction lists 1995 releases in the genres and 1996 releases through the summer, cites the more memorable films in the genres for both the current period and 1900-1984, and serves as an index to key titles in the main list, including long-lost titles such as the -obscure silent Were Tiger and the 1931 The Phantom. Willis includes many films from around the world that are not found in any other English-language film reference work. One appendix provides thumbnail descriptions of problem and peripheral films; another updates entries in the first three books with alternate titles; and a third appendix serves as an index to the approximately 7,000 films listed in the first three volumes in the series as well as in the current volume, thus bringing the total number of films covered in this series to roughly 11,000 titles.

John Kenneth Muir is back! This time, the author of the acclaimed Horror Films of the 1970s turns his attention to 300 films from the 1980s. From horror franchises like Friday the 13th and Hellraiser to obscurities like The Children and The Boogens, Muir is our informative guide. Muir introduces the scope of the decade's horrors, and offers a history that draws parallels between current events and the nightmares unfolding on cinema screens. Each of the 300 films is discussed with detailed credits, a brief synopsis, a critical commentary, and where applicable, notes on the film's legacy beyond the 80s. Also included is the author's ranking of the 15 best horror films of the 80s.