At the time it seemed the logical thing to do

I went to Trek in the Park for the last performance of season 4. It was a lot of fun watching them perform Journey to Babel. Plus, Garret Wang showed up in the role of an extra.

Fight scene:



CBS video about the production:


-Swinebread

Random Comic Panel

ah wha...?


-Swinebread

Is A Group Of Zombies Called A "Herd" Or A "Pack?"

This is going to sound really sexist but I get worried when Zoe Saldana states that she's going to fight to have Uhura wear pants. Apparently she just doesn't get the character. This is akin to Zachary Quinto arguing that Spock shouldn't have pointy ears or Shatner playing Kirk without a hair piece. It's just wrong.

---

This io9 article on the preponderance of zombies in comics really rubbed me the wrong way. For one thing it opens with this tripe:

First, DC Comics unleashed a legion of undead characters in its Blackest Night event. Now, Marvel has announced Necrosha, an upcoming X-Men storyline that will bring back lots of dead mutants. When did zombie superheroes become the hot new thing?

Serious fans of comics of which I don't include myself will immediately see the problem with that opening statement. Put that aside there's much more history to zombies and comics, especially surrounding the comics code, that the author appears oblivious to. Don't write about something you don't know.

---

Put me in the David Tennant for Bilbo crowd.

---

Here's an interview from Comic con with the great Hayao Miyasaki. My favorite bits- Miyasaki doesn't watch movies or television and still won't commit to retirement. He's going to make movies until he drops.

---

I just finished all the League of Extrodinary Gentlemen GNs including 1910. Wonderful, dense work as usual from Moore. The only criticism I might level is that the books suffer (especially 1910) from a preponderence of too many characters who often have nothing to actually DO. It's really a minor quibble with some fine work.

---

Me and the fam are plodding through season 5 of Buffy. That's the season where Buffy's sister Dawn is introduced. The first three episodes at least have incredibly clever/ funny dialog that's still light years ahead of most stuff on television. Great show.

-----Dean Wormer
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Name This Character

UPDATE: Randal Graves wins with Al Gorn!


-Swinebread

What's been going on in blurbs.

I’ve sworn off Marvel Comics… well, at least the pamphlet kind. I refuse to pay 4 bucks for a single comic book. Considering their new pricing model now, it seems like the best thing to do. I’ve found myself really tempted by Marvel’s 70th Anniversary titles and the Marvel Pets but I held firm and it feels good. On the other hand, I’m more open to picking up Marvel trades and Hardcovers. My comic shop had a big sale a while ago with either 50% off or a straight price of 10 bucks on hardcovers.

Because of this I picked up
Annihilation: Countdown Volumes One & Two. Great, well written cosmic adventures
Annihilation Classic. I just adore all these cosmic characters especially Rocket Raccoon
Marvel Monsters. A collection of old and new Kaiju-ish stories featuring creatures from Marvel’s age of monsters. The Devil Dinosaur and Fin Fang Four stories rocked.
Marvel Westerns. A collection of old and new stories featuring characters from Marvel’s Western line. The Hurricane story is probably the best Superhero,Weird Western I’ve ever read.
Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema. His early stuff, plus a random smattering of latter stories.


Speaking of cosmic characters, I really enjoyed the Annihilation stuff so much that I went out and bought Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy trades. I got most of them used at Powell’s. (My new goal is to buy mostly used and/or "on sale" comic trades as much as possible) Reading this new Nova series has been great. I’m fan of the original Nova series from way back in the 1970s, but I have been really disappointed with how he’s been depicted since. This current series finally achieves the cosmic potential that the Nova character has always had but was always ignored.


No More My New Comics?
I kinda figured what was the point since I’ve cut down to 0-2 titles a week. I guess I could do a monthly My New Comics but I’ve since fallen out of practice of doing it… It’s just not as much fun with the same few title every month.


The wife and I just watched Dororo. It’s a live-action Japanese adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s manga of the same name. It’s pretty good with all kinds of traditional Japanese monsters and sengoku period swordplay. If you’re interested in fantasy samural stories check it out.


I did see Star Trek but never did a review. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I loved how the film brought back some of the humor of TOS. There were a few story problems especially a bunch of coinkydink stuff that I noticed after I left the theater, but all and all, a very fun film. The only thing I straight up just hated were the engine rooms… that stuff looked just like something out of MST3K. My fears for this film and the Star Trek Universe were unfounded. I’m glad I was wrong. Now Paramount, DO NOT PUT KHAN IN THE NEXT FILM. Try something new please.


Several months ago, YouTube pulled my Devo, Beautiful World, video. It lasted a little over a year.


I’ve been watching Showtime’s new show Nurse Jackie…. It’s very entertaining and Edie Falco’s character here is much more interesting than Carmella Soprano ever was. Some nurses have problems with the show but what’s getting me down is the tiredness I have for ER/hospital shows… couldn’t we have a program about park rangers or Travel agents or science fiction writers… basically the networks and cable stations are Lazy because it’s easy to find the drama in cop, law, and hospital shows.


I happened to see Vol 1 and 2 of the 1990s animated X-men show last month, so I snapped these DVDs right up. Despite the fact that we've got Gambit and Jubilee, instead of Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) on the regular team, this is as close as we are ever gonna get to good adaptions of the comics. No extra features but that's OK because all the room on the disks went to ensuring the episodes are top quality.


But most of all I've been spending my time taking care of Swinebread Jr. Wow! It's been almost a year since he was born.


-Swinebread

Star Trek Shouldn't Be Entertaining.

I know some of you guys have legitimate worries about the new Trek film but there are some that are just determined not to like it no matter what. I thought this was pretty funny.


Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

-- Dean Wormer

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More Evidence that Star Trek Will Suck?

An article here notes that Star Trek is not tracking with the 18-25 group... it doesn't look good folks.

We can't be sure at this point but this is another sign to be worried.

I don't think the film will please the old guard nor will attract a new audience.

This film is made by a man the doesn't like Star Trek for The Hills crowd. Star Trek seems to be a reimagining that dumbs it down rather than lifting up.

Hey I could be wrong but I haven't seen one thing yet that gives me any hope...

OK maybe there is some Zachary Quinto as Spock love but that's as far as it goes.

If I'm wrong I'll cop to it, but it's looking more and more like we're getting a turkey in the vein of Phantom Menace


-Swinebread

Set Phasers To Verklempt.

I know a lot of Trek fans, including the owner of this blog, see the pending new Trek movie through skeptical eyes. That's a pretty rational position considering how often Hollywood screws up established products. The odds are against any remake of anything if the grubby little fingers of Hollywood suits get into the mix.

As someone who watched the original show every day after I got home from school, pieced together models of the Enterprise and it's bridge, played with toy phasers and holds that show in the highest esteem among all things Trek I have to say I'm optimistic. With that in mind this video sort of choked me up...



- Dean Wormer

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Showcase Presents Ambush Bug. I love how DC made the big three green for this cover as they weren’t on the original Action Comics 565.


Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #6, IDW. Meh, It looks like they didn’t know how to end this thing, so they just did.

The War That Time Forgot #11, DC Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Showcase Presents Ambush Bug DC Comics. It’s Here! All the Ambush Bug goodness from the1980s and early 1990s stories. BTW, what the hell happened to issue #6 of the Ambush Bug Year None miniseries?

Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 Fantagraphics. In your face golden age stories by some of the greats of comic book history but with forgotten characters that weren’t quite so great (although I've got a special place in my heart for Basil Wolverton's Space Hawk). I love this because it’s a time of experimentation. The writers and artists are learning their craft and there aren’t any established rules yet. Sure to please fans of “I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets.” It also has an excellent introduction by Jonathan Lethem. For more see here.


Magazine:
Back Issue #33 TwoMorrows Publishing. The teen heroes issue. I’m not all the excited about this issue but it does have an article on Power Girl. Finally I’ll have some clarity on her mixed up back-story. Oh and Nova is in here too.

Update: Rob! pointed out that he had has a piece published in this issue of Back Issue #33. Its about the Teen Titans Megos. It was the first article I read and I didn't even pay attention to who wrote it! How cool and stupid is that!


-Swinebread

Star Trek Crew Review

When Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry introduced the first pilot, "The Cage," to NBC executives in it's said that the network hated much of what they saw. The network made two demands of Roddenberry if they were going to allow the show to move forward. The first was that he "lose the guy with the ears." The second was that he replace the actor playing the second in command of the Enterprise, Majel Barrett, with a man.

This was 1964 and the idea of a woman in a position of leadership, even if it was an imaginary future, was absurd to the old men who ran NBC. Roddenberry was able to keep the character of Spock but had lose Barrett's "Number One." Because Gene Roddenberry married Majel Barrett shortly thereafter she is often said to have joked about Gene's choice "kept the Vulcan and married the woman, 'cause he didn't think Leonard would have it the other way around."



IDW and writer John Byrne in particular been on a roll with their Star Trek comics this past year. Byrne is one of the first Trek comic writers in a long time that actually "gets" the original series. He has an understanding of the universe but, most importantly, an ear for the characters which makes his dialog shine.

When I heard that IDW was going to do a mini series based on the nameless first officer Majel Barrett played in the "The Cage" I was in at the premise. This comic did not disappoint.

The story follows Number One as she joins a small crew of cadets for a shakedown cruise of a new constitution class cruiser.

Of course things quickly go wrong for the these cadets and they find themselves in a life and death struggle. There's a very high body count in this story, with few of the crew making it through.

Number One is an action hero here in the Trekian sense. She works outside of regulations, operating on hunches. She kicks ass in hand to hand combat. She saves the ship and honorably gives the credit to someone else.

There's an excellent little side mystery on earth that involves the bodies of one of the cadets who died in a creative and rather horrible manner. The investigators on earth figure out what's going on about the same time Number One does back on the ship.

The artwork hearkens back to the 70's with a neat retro feel. I love the little details such as the lamp dealies hanging off the helm (see photo below) that the artist includes.

There's very little I didn't like in this comic. There is a bit of the George Lucas shrinkage problem that's been showing up in Trek in that everything has to be tied to the Enterprise in some way. Stories about other ships would be okay once in a while.

But these are minor quibbles in what was really an excellent read. Still not convinced? You can read the first four pages of the comic here.

This is a scotch n'cigar comic.

- Dean Wormer

Tribblemania!

More Star Trek news than you can shake a Klingon disruptor at.

The Star Trek Experience is reopening in Vegas. Yahoo! Now I don't have to make my own Warp Core Breach.

The upcoming Star Trek MMORPG may suck me in but I still think this Klingon "Raptor" class ship looks like crap. I prefer the old school ship look to the blah Next Gen style that's been here since the 80's. And what's with the Klingon's naming a ship? The whole thing is they're too busy kicking ass to bother with naming their ships. That's why they just use classifications like "D-7."

Bryan Fuller of "Pushing Daisies" wants to bring the Trek back to television. I'd forgottent that Fuller has a lot of Trek experience as a writer/ producer on two of the t.v. series. His vision is a retro-Trek utilizing the 60's style. I love this idea which is why it will never see the light of day.

The entire Next Gen cast including Patrick Stewart will be reuniting on an upcoming episode of Family Guy.

I love the original Trek but the idea of the series on Blu Ray makes me ill. The print/ quality of the original stock just isn't that good not to mention the fact it was shot to be displayed on the crappy tvs of the era. Under DVD quality you can see Shatner sweat under Klieg lights and easily discern where Nimoy's rubber ears are glued on.

- Dean

Star Trek: Countdown #2

I'd like to do a little mini-review of IDW's Star Trek: Countdown now that I've read the first two issues in the series. In the course of this review I'd like to compare the upcoming Star Trek and Watchmen films and their respective directors JJ Abrams and Zach Snyder. In the course of doing so I may be revealing minor spoilers to the Star Trek film and a major spoiler in Watchmen if you're not already aware of the Big Change from the book at the end of that movie that's consumed comic fans on the net over the course of the past year.

If you've managed to remain blissfully unaware about the details of both those films and want to go into them cold then read no further.

***SPOILERS***

I like to search the net for pre-information about upcoming genre films. This includes set photos from spies, designs and interviews with the creators. So if I had to summarize the "feel" I've gotten for the Watchmen and Star Trek films coming out shortly I'd have to say that I've felt for awhile that Zach Snyder, a director I haven't had much use for, "gets" his material better than Star Trek's Abrams.

In interview after interview Snyder has displayed a demonstrable love for the source material that makes it clear to me that the film's in good hands. In fact: if Snyder's recent comments on the film are true he's already saved the film from what the studio was planning before he took the director's job.

When it comes to the infamous missing giant squid at the end of the film Snyder has a pretty good reason for reluctantly removing it from the story. As they plotted it out the story was already three hours long before they even got to the climax. The squid would've taken about 15 minutes to explain, which was 15 minutes they didn't feel they had.

JJ Abrams, on the other hand, has done nothing but make comments such as "this film is not for Star Trek fans" and admits that as a child he loved Star Wars more than Trek. Blasphemy in Trek circles.

On the other hand Abrams also talks about Star Trek being about the characters and about Rodenberry's optimistic world so he does have some understanding of Trek's appeal. Whether that translates into the finished film is up in the air.

Which brings me to the Star Trek: Countdown comics. I wasn't going to read these as it seemed more like an attempt to cash in on the film than they had some story to tell. Then I came across the first 8 pages online and read them but only for a pretty geeky reason: I wanted to see if the Romulan ships that Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman designed for the film and would be included in the comic looked like the ships I loved from the original television series.

What I found was that writers Orci and Kurtzman, who are also the screenwriters for the film, have an obvious reference for Trek and can tell a good story. Forget the alternate timeline stuff we've heard about. None of that is here. Instead we have a story set solidly in "our" Star Trek universe some years after the last Next Generation film.

There's so much they get right but let me just point out one little part out of the second issue that I just finished that had me chuckling. At the end of the first comic Data appears and he's now in command of the Enterprise. If you're one of the five people that saw the last Next Gen film you know that Data was killed (he had to be since they were ripping off Wrath of Khan.) In a meeting with Spock and a throwaway line it's mentioned that they haven't met since his memory engram was installed on his double.

In one small frame of the comic they sent a delicious "fuck you" to the Braga/ Berman team that so many of us think killed Trek on television by casually undoing one of their biggest mistakes. I love this.

As for the story itself it's centered on Romulan miner Nero, who will become the villain of the upcoming film, and his attempt to stop a disaster from befalling Romulus. He's an extremely sympathetic character in these books. He's falls strongly into the Trek hero tradition of bucking the powers that be to try and prevent very bad things from happening.

Of course this won't work for poor Nero, which is the point. We get to see why he's angry and why he blames the Federation and some of it's greatest heroes for what happens.

The bottom line is that these comics are actually making me a little more confident about the upcoming Trek film, which is not what I expected. If the film's as good as the comics then we have nothing to worry about. That's still a pretty big "if."

- Dean

Future Hotties

Here's another arbitrary list - The Revised Top 20 Sexy Science Fiction Costumes.

I don't think there's a geek alive that wouldn't agree with picks at #1, #5 and #19, but once again these guys have managed to compile a list with conspicuous absences.

Notably missing-







Okay, that last one may not count technically as a "future" hottie but I really don't care. It's Raquel Welch for God's sakes. She will rule the past, present and future.

UPDATE - I meant to add this one for Swiney.



- Dean

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Solomon Kane #5.


Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #4, IDW

Solomon Kane #5, Dark Horse Comics.

Red Sonja Annual #2, Dynamite Entertainment.

Jungle Girl: Season 3 #2, Dynamite Entertainment.


-Swinebread

RO-mance

In the latest issue of The Last Generation, it's revealed that in an Alternate Universe where the Federation has been conquered by the Klingons, Ro Laren and Tasha Yar are lovers. These panels are pretty much all we get... but it's fun to imagine the possibilities which I guess is the whole point of the Star Trek Myriad Universe line.

Star Trek is so bogged down with continuity anyway you need an alternate Universe just to tell interesting story anymore it seems.

Also in this issue, Wesley goes nuts and gives himself a mohawk...



-Swinebread

My New Comics

This week’s best cover is Cthulhu Tales #10.


Solomon Kane #4, Dark Horse Comics.

Terminator Salvation #1, IDW.

Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #3, IDW.

Fall OF Cthulhu #2, Boom Studios.

Cthulhu Tales #10, Boom Studios.

Dr. Who Classics Series 2 #2, IDW.


and no, I didn't get a copy of Amazing Spiderman #583 with Obama on the Cover but this guy did:



-Swinebread

Ricardo Montalban Has Passed Away

A very versatile and talented actor that just happened to be one of the best parts of the Star Trek legacy. He will be missed. see here






Ricardo Montalban tribute part one


Ricardo Montalban tribute part two


Ricardo Montalban tribute part three


-Swinebread

My Sorta New Comics... Again

Here's the comics from two weeks ago. The comics from last week won't be at the shop until this week because of both the winter storm and Christmas.

Whatever week’s best cover is The Walking Dead #56.


Terminator: Revolution #1, Dynamite Entertainment.

Star Trek The Next Generation: The Last Generation #2, IDW. This is basically a "What If" for Star Trek. Part of the Myriad Universe line.

The Walking Dead #56, Image. Five Years!

Cthulhu Tales #9, Boom Studios.

The Age of the Sentry #4, Marvel Comics.

Conan the Cimmerian #6, Dark Horse Comics.


Trade Paperbacks:
Invaders Classic Vol 2 Marvel Comics. I was feeling a little blue about my friend Josh so I picked this up. There’s just something life affirming about Captain America and crew kicking Nazi butt.



-Swinebread

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, The Voice of Star Trek, Has Died

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry has passed away. see here. I always liked Majel in all her incarnations with Star Trek. I do wonder whatever happened to Number One though...



Funny how news of her death isn't being carried by the Major New organizations

-Swinebread

New Star Trek Trailer: Ahahahahahahaha!

It seems to me like this is some sort of reality reboot for the Star Trek Franchise. Regardless, it looks awful but at least Paramount is not pretending that this thing is gonna be any good. So we have fair warning unlike Indiana jones 4.

see trailer here


-Swinebread