Re:tro Re:view - The Herculoids #1!

The Herculoids return in Dynamite comics in The Herculoids #1 with sci fi villians, a jungle planet, and Kaiju defenders! The Herculoids (1967-1968) was a cartoon series created and designed by Alex Toth. Eleven episodes were made in 1981-1982. He was the comic master who could create images with the fewest lines and formed masterworks with his Zorro comics work. He did comics from hs work on the Super Friends animated series in Limited Collector’s Edition C-41 (1976) and also Superman Annual #9 (1983). There was a brief comic appearence in Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes #1 (1968). Cartoon Network Presents #5 (1997), #13 (1998), #17 (1999) had The Herculoids. The recent DC series, Future Quest by Jeff Parker and Evan Shaner featured The Herculoids joining the action heroes of Hanna Barbera in issue #10 (2017)!  

The regular cover by Francesco Mattina has the Herculoids on the rocky planet surrounded by giant, winged insects and pterandon-like creatures! The first issue is by writer Tom Sniegoski and artist Craig Rousseau. Sniegoski wrote The Shadow annual #1 (2012) for Dynamite Entertainment. Rousseau has experience drawing creatures with Perhapanauts for Image Comics. We see space filled with colorful stars. A glowing gate in space and out of it comes a box-like ship. We close in on the ship as the narration explains that there is secret planet that is “rich in resources” that would satisfy a galaxy. We are never told what are these resources. We see seven capsules whose mists hide shadowy figures. Amzot is known by many legendary, but the narrator notes that it might be best called paradise. 

One of the capsules has a vampire-like, greenish man. Quen-Tel is his name and he heard rumors until reaching a planet wth rains on a town, the world called Barbera 11, clever. He offers a bottle of drink to a grizzled alien with half of his face covered in cybernetics. Quen-Tel says he is the last survivor and his encounter with a black hole took him to a “special” planet. I like that Amzot is a place that is hidden from the rest of the galaxy. It felt remote from other planets, but invaded by pirates and other threats. He flashes back to his ship landing on the planet with others in suits and bubble helmets. The artwork is simple like the cartoon. They turn to see the shadows of The Herculods raging after them! The survivor says he was allowed to live as a warning. He says he knows how to navigate to Amzot, but is keeping it a secret with his life!

Quen-tel sticks a memory device on the survivor’s cyber skull, it makes me think of The Riddler’s device in Batman Forever (1995). He leaves with the coordinates and the capsules hiss open! Quen-tel says his “sponsors” are wealthy, they might be behind all of the invasions. The ship orbits Amzot, but the crew thinks of it as a legend. Five landing craft are launched to the planet’s surface. They are observed by the binoculars of Zandor. He looks like a barbarian or jungle hero, but with a metal headpiece, blue chestpiece, and tunic. Zandor brings out a horn to warn the others. The horn blast reaches the mountains that rouses the giant rock ape, Igoo. We have had King Kong and similar Kaiju, but having him made of rocks is fantastic, love the sound effects! The horn echoes and out of a cave is the laser-ray dragon, Zok, it has three horns, and a dragon body. 

In the forest, there are strange fruit knocked out of a tree and dropped with a thunderous noise. This is the food of Tundro, a heavy plated Kaijur with a rhino-like head and a horn that sends out projectiles! I wondered how those projectiles were explosive. Each one of the Herculoids is so creative, gotta have action figures! At another treetop, the young Dorno is reaching out for some blue eggs when the horn call startles him and he falls! Dorno has a blue collar and lioncloth like his father. He is saved by the protoplasmic Gleep with black eyes that forms into a slide. It speaks in a bubbling sound effect that is perfect. The yellow blob is like the Shmoo without the strange whiskers. Dorno wonders about the call and Gleep answers, so the boy must understand it. His mother, Tara, who is beautiful with long blonde hair, blue collar, and light blue dress, arrives on Gloop. I think the family is like Tarzan, Jane, and their son, Korak. 

Five Resources out of Five! 

#TheHerculoids, #AlexToth, #TomSniegoski, #CraigRousseau, #FrancescoMattina, #DynamiteEntertainment, #Zandor, #Tara, ##Dorno, #Igoo, #Tundro, #Zok, #Gleep, #Gloop, #Quentel

Re:tro Review - The Untamed: Sinner’s Prayer #1!

The Untamed: Sinner’s Prayer #1, the first issue of the World of Asunda, is a work of dark mythology and beauty! It introduces the character of Niobe who would later co-star in the limited series; The Untamed: Killing Floor, Niobe: She is Life, and Niobe: She is Death! The first issue has a cover by interior artist, Peter Berting with a coins falling and then a red ourtline of a clawed hand reaching down. Inside it is a gate and below it is the hooded fgiure of The Stranger with a sword. There is a map of Asunda and a two page frontpiece that has a white robed boatman with a long paddle like a staff and a passenger in black, moving through starry skies on a boat like a gnarled white tree. Then, there is a prologue by writer Sebastian A. Jones, this are all additions to the trade paperback. 

The Stranger has been searching ten years through a colorless hell to find her, whom he finds at a “mist-filled room”, she was married to this killer and her love is what cursed her. I’m fascinated by Dante’s Inferno part of the The Divine Comedy. It hasn’t been adapted to film and there is only a video game, Dante’s Inferno (2010), with a animated adaptation of the game, Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010). So this reminds me of Beatrice, the symbol of his love. She was attempting to save him in life, but was killed before the birth of her second child. He goes nameless until his redemptionWe  and her name is Jenna. Then, we get The Stranger’s theme composed by Jens Englebecht and Jones which was in the back of the comic book. A bittersweet beginning that really separates this work from other fantasy comic books. 

The story is by Jones with art by Peter Bergting and layouts by Darrell May. Bergting created his own fantasy comic with The Portent (2006). May is the layout artist for Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls. A splash page of a starry sky with the narration of The Stranger who says he’s going home. A cavern is lit by the ghostly boatman. The boatman is in flowing white robes asks him where he is going and The Stranger responds the town of Oasis. Then, they reach the shore, and he is asked how long was he given and The Stranger says seven days. I love mythology recast in new forms. In this case, Charon the Boatman from Greek myths, one of the most eerie depictions was in 1981’s Clash of the Titans. The Stranger walks into a ravine, flanked by cliffs with dark men with white banners, the Tribe of the Dying Tree. They watch “between two worlds”, guardians that must drive off the living trying to enter the underworld. We see their sacred tree, leafless. 

Then, The Stranger reaches the remains of a home in the desert, he opens the door, and sees the figurine of a girl and a tear falls. Powerful. It makes me think of the moment in John Carter (2012) when he finds his wife has died. A somber figure of The Stranger, he sees the names of his wife and daughter, Ashani. He walks on, there is a bird that flies overhead like it did at the ravine, and he reaches the town at night with a crescent moon. He stands with the gate bathed in red and he thinks the gates “pass judgement upon all who enter her haven.” He walks into Oassis in what is “Day One.” All of the windows and doors slam shut. Several villagde thugs face him at the town square with one figure digging the ground with a dagger. The moments glaring in red are like samurai manga. They pull out a boy whom they about hang! We see one of the brutes is a grachukk, bald with fangs like an orc. A girl runs out, but she is slapped by the grachukk! 

This is Niobe, whose story unfolds with the rest of the series, she asks The Stranger for help with the boy, but he only asks about the blacksmith. Niobe says that he is out of town. The Stranger thinks that the grachukk and the boy are out of his past. The girl, Niobe, is a “glowing light”, but too young to remember his past. The bloody of Oasis is replaced by the purples of sundown. The Stranger meets with the blacksmith, balded with a braided bearded, and wants him to work on his sword coverd in a cloth. The blacksmith recognizes the sword as one he forged. As he works at his forge, the blacksmith notes that it had belonged to the leader fo the Kraven. The blade begins to glow blue with runes. It is called by the blacksmith “Soul of ice.” The Stranger says it came from a dead man. Music is played and the blacksmith’s eye bulges as The Stranger lops his head off with a red splash panel!

The Stranger pays the promised two gold and notes that the bargain is seven days for seven souls! A bloody arrangement that makes me think of The Crow (1994) based on the comic book, revenge for the return to life! This is Niobe, whose story unfolds with the rest of the series, she asks The Stranger for help with the boy, but he only asks about the blacksmith. Niobe says that he is out of town. The Stranger thinks that the grachukk and the boy are out of his past. The girl, Niobe, is a “glowing light”, but too young to remember his past. The bloody of Oasis is replaced by the purples of sundown. The Stranger meets with the blacksmith, baldwith a braided bearded, and wants him to work on his sword covered in a cloth. 

The blacksmith recognizes the sword as one he forged. As he works at his forge, the blacksmith notes that it had belonged to the leader fo the Kraven. The blade begins to glow blue with runes. It is called by the blacksmith “Soul of ice.” The Stranger says it came from a dead man. Music is played and the blacksmith’s eye bulges as The Stranger lops his head off with a red splash panel. The Stranger pays the promised two gold and notes that the bargain is seven days for seven souls! A bloody arrangement that makes me think of The Crow (1994) based on the comic book, revenge for the return to life! The coins also have religious significance. The Stranger returns to Oasis to find Niobe working at an inn and she reminds him of his daughter. Itt is not just the seven days, Niobe may be his path to redemption! The Untamed: Sinner’s Prayer #1 is a promising beginning to Niobe and the dark World of Asunda! 

Five Gold Coins out of Five! 

#TheUntatmedSinnersPrayer, #SebastianAJones, #PeterBergting, #DarrellMay, #WorldOfAsunda, #StrangerComics, #TheStranger, Niobe

The 4Forty2nd: The Lost Battatlion Review!

The 4Forty2nd: The Lost Battalion recounts the most decorated unit, their sacrifices, and challenges of a Japanese American regiment during World War II. A special Wondercon edition of the webcomic was available at Tony Moy’s table. The webcomic is available at Webtoon and tapas. Check the website at: www.4forty2nd.com. Moy depicts the story in beautiful water colors. He had told me at the con that he thought to use only watercolors for parts of the comic and went on to full paint the comic book. The cover features a soldier, scars on his face, in steel M1 helmet and the rest of the soldiers behind him in blue with the rain. There was a war film on the 442nd, Go for Broke! (1951) that Van Johnson as Lt. Michael Grayson. 

It begins with president Franklin Roosevelt formed the 442nd on February 1, 1943, a picture of the president at his desk, then a somber picture, washed in blue of the soldiers, made up of Japanese Americans who were sent to interment camps the year before. Executive Order 9066 sent 120,000 Japanese persons to the camps. Those who refused to serve were called the No No Boys, the subject of the novel, No-No Boy (1957) by John Okada. It refers to questions 27 and 28 on a Loyalty Questionaire asking if they will willing to serve combat duty and if they would swear allegiance to the United States and forswear allegiance to the Emperor of Japan. Moy continues the narrative noting that the segregated unit was made up of Nisei, second generation Japanese from Hawaii and the mainland Uunited States. The 100th Infantry Battalion was from Hawaii. 

We see three of the 18,000 medals of the unit. Then, the families in the internment camps, a coppery brown picture of a wife and her children behind barbed wire. World War II ended on September 2, 1945 and the last internment camnp closed on March 1946. The Civil Liberties Act in 1988 gave a formal apology and reparations for the internment. This moves to a European map rendered with greens and blues in April 21, 1945. The narrator states the U.S. 5th Army were fighting the German 10th and 14th Army in Northern Italy. There were 2,000 German positions with machine gun nests and bunkers. This focuses on the Apenninnine Moutnains in San Terenzo, Italy pointing to the top of the boot. We see a snaking black and red line that was the Gothic Line, ten miles of defense, this was the stopping point from reaching Hitler. We see the narrator, Lieutenant Inouye, recount that he  and E Company of the 442nd, are ordered there.  

Daniel K. Inouye earned the Medal of Honor and was later a senator for Hawaii until he had died in 2012. We see the Italian mountain, Mount Folgorito, and then a closeup of Lt. Inouye giving orders. What is stark is the soldiers in black and white against a blue sky with the greens and browns of a forest. Inouye is checked on by Morita, possibly Richard Morita. Actor Pat Morita was made an honorary member of the 442nd for the Karate Kid films. Morita says in da pidgin, Hawaiian slang, that the lieutenant looks on edge. Inouye is focusing on the three machine gun nests. He says intelligence say that there is a ravine they can use to approach the machine gun nests. There is some good character work with the faces. They can use grenades while the rest of the soldiers keep the machine gunners pinned down. Morita says that Inouye is troubled by something else. We see in narration that weeks ago that the Germans were in negotiations to end the war. A nice picture of Inouye gritting his teeth. 

Internally, Inouye thinks that they have fight with everything to push for the end of the war, to “go for broke.” This was the motto chosen by the 442nd from the Hawaiian phrase for going all out. We see two silver dollars, given to Inoye when he left by his father, he keeps them in his jacket pocket. The silver dollars went with him from his training in Missippii to the Italian battlefields. We see the soldiers on the move, light colors of green and browns. We see Inoye carrying his rifle in the liberation of French Villes. At a small town, possibly Bruyeres or Biffontaine. He is shot, but the bullet was stopped by the silver dollars, he calls his “personal angels”! Inouye then says two weeks ago he lost his jacket. Closeup of his face. The soldiers move on the bunker and then cxrawl through the grass. He says that in hindsight, the war would end in 18 days!, then we see a nightmare scene in very light colors of dead soldiers. 

    Tony Moy at his Wondercon table, author’s photo. 

We shift to February 6, 1943 where we see two birds, red-crested cardinals native to Hawaii, Inouye brings up the “early bird catches the worm”, but says he thinks it is persistance. This goes to the U.S. recruitment office at the Aliʻiōlani Hale Palace. It is the former home of the Hawaiian monarchs and then became capitol building of the Provisional Government. I recommend the film, Princess Kaiulani (2009) with Q’orianka Kilcher, playing the princess who composed “Aloha’Oe” under arrest at the palace. There is orangish skies above the palace with the statue of King Kamehameha. The recruitment officer is exasperated that he has returned every week. Inoye says he is healthy and works at the Civil Defense Aid Station, but the officer says he should be grateful for not being sent to war and has him marked 4F. 

Five+ Silver Dollars out of Five! 

#The4Forty2ndTheLostBattalion, #TonyMoy, #GoForBroke, #VanJohnson, #FranklinRoosevelt, #NoNoBoy, #JohnOkada, #LtInouye, #Morita 

Wondercon Saturday!

 The second day of Wondercon was busy with some great artists and a panel with some epic annuncements. One of the highlights of a con for me is to gring Hero Initiative books. The latest is the Superman 100 Project especially considering the upcoming James Gunn film. It is fun to look up the various artists who contributed artwork to the book. Norm Rapmund drew a full color Superman in heroic pose! Dustin Nguyen has a boyish Superman with blue and red colors! There is a section with wraparound covers to have full horizontal images. This is a chance to have artwork of a favorite character, get some of them signed, and most important is you value creators’ artwork, this helps them when they are in need with health care and other costs. Check out 100 Project books and other merch at: https://www.heroinitiative.org/ 

    The panel of Tarzan’s Creator Celebrates 150 Years!, WonderCon, author’s photo. 

Denys Cowan had a sketch of a powerful Superman in the Superman 100 Project! I had also brought along an issue of his series Dominque Laveau: Voodoo Child. It was written by  Selwyn Hinds and follows Domnique Levau working to rebuild Tremé after Hurricane Katrina. A supernatural creature, a Loup Garou, has killed her fellow students and now hunts her! It is also available as a trade paperback collecting the seven issue series. One of the interesting panels at Wondercon was Tarzan’s Creator Celebrates 150 Years! It featured the Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. personnel, James Sullos, president, Cathy Wilbanks, vice president of operations, and Christopher Paul Carey, vice presiddent of operations, and Wolf Larson, head of ERB Entertainment! 

Pocket Universe Productions announced that Ian McDiarmid has joined the cast of John Carter of Mars: The Audio Series. He plays the Man in the Atmosphere Factory who reveals secrets of Barsoom to John Carter. Also at the panel was the Woola stuffie which was based on artwork by John Coleman Burroughs, the son of Edgar Rice Burroughs, ten legs of furry adorableness! The OverPower card game which had a Kickstarter campaign is going to have tournaments in August! The Edgar Rice Burroughs double playmat was revealed with artwork by Joe Jusko! One of the sets is Edgar Rice Burroughs and the World Legends. Also announced is the never before published Autobiography of Edgar Rice Burroughs. 

#WonderCon, #HeroInitative, #Superman100Project, #NormRapmund, #DustinNguyen, #DenysCowan, #SelwynHinds, #DominqueLaveauVoodooChild, #TarzansCreatorCelebrates150Years, #EdgarRiceBurroughsInc, #JamesSullos, #CathyWilbanks, #ChristopherPaulCarey, #WolfLarson. 

Wondercon Day One!

Wondercon has some incredible artists and retailers who make a great convention! It is currently going on at the Anaheim Convention Center, today, and this weekend. Info at: https://www.comic-con.org/wc/. After picking up my badge, I went directly to the Golden Apple booth, also there was Nicole Maines who is in Yellowjackets and played Dreamer in Supergirl. They always have a great selection of items at the convention at their store. They offered 3 trade paperbacks, Vol. 1-3, $100 for Vol. 1 and $75 for Vol. 2 and 3, and 4 slipscase hardcovers, $300 and $400,  of Brzrkr signed by Keanu Reeves. They come with a COA. This was to benefit Golden Apples’ non-profit comic organization. Note that there is a Brzkr movie to be directed by Justin Lin for Netflix. 

    Some paintings displayed at The Art of James Mulligan booth. 

Today was the first day and the same number will be available Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. I was first in line and waited until 2 p.m. Thanks Golden Apple and Keanu! In line, a Hawkman cosplayer walked by with a great K-9 from Doctor Who! I always like to visit the Stranger Comics. They currently have a Kicksterter for four new issues; Niobe & Dura #3, Morka Moa #5, Tales of Asunda Vol. 2 #3 Confessions of a Demon, and Tales of Asunda Vol. 2 #4 Love and Death. Need to catch up on the titles and get exclusives, chekc out: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sebastianajones/niobe-and-dura-1-3-and-tales-of-asunda-v2-1-4. Later, an incredible cosplayer came dressed up as Niobe! Next, I walked over to the booth of The Art of James Mulligan, seeing logos of Disney, Lorcana, and Lucasfilm. 

I almost thought his painting of Stitch, “Hoaloha Love” was with Nani, but it was Moana hugging Stitch. There was also a Mulligan painting of Grogu, looking menacing with a lightsaber and a Darksaber! He has three Lorcana cards; Flounder - Collector’s Companion and Transformed Chef - Castle Stove, both from Ursula’s Return, White Rabbit - Royal Herald from Shimmering Skies. Check out his artwork at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Theartofmulligan. One of the best parts of Artists Alley is finding the unexpexted comic book or projecxt. In this, I was stunned to see The 4Forty2nd: The Lost Battalion by Tony Moy. The 442nd Infantry Regiment fought in World War II, made up of Japanese American soldiers who fought while their families were in internment camps.

    Niobe cosplayer at the Stranger Comics booth!, author’s photo. 

Their motto was “Go For Broke”, a Hawaiian Pidgin expression that means “Give your all.” The 442nd was assigned to the European theater and showed incredible bravery in the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy. The 1st Battlion from Texas was cut off by the Germans in 1944. The 442nd at the cost of great casualties rescued them. This is the subject of the webcomic. There is a Go For Broke Monument, a tribute to the 442nd , at Little Tokyo next to the Japanese American National Museum. There is a 1951 war film, Go For Broke!, that starred Van Johnson who would later become known for the superhero series, Green Hornet (1966-1967). Moy had at his booth, a Wondercon edition of the webcomic. Two episodes of the comic and information is available at https://www.4forty2nd.com/. Well researched and beautiful art in watercolor. There are so many fantastic creators, displays, and collectibles at this year’s Wondercon! 

#Wondercon, #AnaheimConventionCenter, #GoldenApple, #NicoleMaines, #Brzrkr, #KeanuReeves, #StrangerComics, #NiobeAndDura, #MorkaMoa, #TalesOfAsunda, #TheArtOfJamesMulligan, #HoalohaLove, #Lorcana, #FlounderCollectorsCompanion, #TransformedChefCastleStove, #UrsulasREturn, #WhiteRabbitRoyalHerald, #ShimmeringSkies, #The4Forty2ndTheLostBattalion, #TonyMoy

Jump to Lightspeed Review!

Jump to Lightspeed, the new Star Wars: Unlimited set, is out and adds pilots and ships to the Space battles! The fourth set from Fantasy Flight Games is designed by Danny Schaefer and Tyler Parrott. It was released to game stores on March 14th. It has moved away from the Two-Player Starter Set, $34.99, and into two Spotlight Decks, $24.99 each. This is Han Solo vs. Boba Fett! It may be cheaper for one deck, but I like the two player decks. Plus, it is $49.98 for both decks and the two-player has 10 exclusive cards. New for me was getting the Prerelease Box, $33.93, which has 6 booster packs, 2 prerelease promo cards, counters, and a deluxe deck box. I highly recommend getting the Prerelease Box. 

Again, this is based on opening up a booster pack, 16 cards, it had as a leader card, Admiral Ackbar: It’s a Trap!, with incredible art by Amélie Hutt. It has Admiral Ackbar at this command console with the background slightly out of focus with the colors! If there would be a card The Base is the Resistance Headquarters. Electromagnetic Pulse is unusual it deals 2 damage to a Droid or Vehicle, but I think it would Exhaust it. I really like Tandem Assault an Event card that has an attack by a space unit and gives +2/0 to a ground unit for an attack. This shows the Battle of Scarif, but I think the Battle of Endor would also apply. The TIE Bomber gives 3 indirect damage which has the player assigning the damage to base and units. An interesting mechanic. 

Jump to Lightspeed Han Solo and Boba Fett Spotlight Decks, PreRelease Box, and cards from a Booster Pack! 

Royal Security Fighter, 2/2, has Grit it get +1/0 for each damage on it! Gold Leader: Fastest Ship in the Fleet, 5/5, is Shielded which prevents damage, but you remove the Shield token placed on it. Also, attacker gets -1/0 attacking the Falcon! This is my first card of the Millennium Falcon. The artwork for the starships is stunning, it has the Falcon flying forwards, TIE fighters fire upon it, two explosions to the side. The artwork is dynamic like the space art from the top science ficition artists, in this case, EJ DelaCruz. The last three cards in a pack are Uncommon, a Rare, and a foil. The Poe Dameron: One Hell of a Pilot card was Hyperspace, borderless art and has Piloting, this is an upgrade to a friendly vehicle. In Poe’s case a +2/+3. Hutt is also the artist! 

The Rare is Lightspeed Assault, defeat a space unit to deal damage to an enemy. Then, it deals indirect damage so the player chooses base or units that take the damage, ouch! The foil is Hopeful Volunteer. This set contains most of the characters, ships, and events from the first Star Wars movie to Ahsoka which covers the first three sets. My favorite of the Leader cars is Grand Admiral Thrawn: How Unfortunate. It was in the first pack I opened from the Prerelease Box. It was also a Showcase Foil. The rarity is similar to Enchanted cards in Lorcana and I saw its price at $165! The spaceships have fantastic art; the Chimaera: Reinforcing the Center is beautiful, the same with the Razor Crest, Blue Leader: Scarif Air Support has some incredible colors, and Fireball: An Explosion with Wings is awesome! There is some errors, the Red Squadron Y-Wing card, the Red Squadron was made up of all X-Wings, Gold Squadron had Y-Wings. 

    The Grand Admiral Thrawn Showcase Foil card! 

There are concepts that need to developed with Star Wars: Unlimited. There is no Porkins in Jump to Lightspeed! The Chewbacca card is confusing to me. He is +3/+3 with the Piloting upgrade. Chewbacca’s place on the Falcon is that he is the navigator so he is adjusting the shields, moving the shields is something that I discovered with the 1993 X-Wing computer game. What Red Leader meant "Switch your deflector shields double front" is all shields to the front believing the turbo laser fire would be heavy, leaving the back undefended! I would like an Angle the Deflectors card, that adds a Shield token to a ship. The Falcon itself is a patchwork ship. There should be less to pay for Han’s crazy maneuvers. Then, it is also vulnerable to bad Events, you can search your deck for two Events, like Hyperspace Malfunction, which Exhausts the ship. A card like One of the Big Ones Asteroid can hide ships. Asteroids should be Event cards that cause +1 to +3 damage, enough to destroy TIE Fighters. Then, of course missing from the fourth set is the Space Slug called the Exogorth. 

The counter of course is Mynocks which cause +1 damage to a ship. Of course, we need Seismic Charges from Attack of the Clones, destroys an Asteroid or counters an Event. Not many missiles in the game yet or even a Proton Torpedo! Spare Parts Canisters, an Event card that saves a ship from destruction. Landing Claw enables a ship to cling to an asteroid like Obi-Wan or like Han with the Star Destroyer. So it hides there, retrieve it from the Discard pile! For the Jedi, Deflecting Blaster Fire, with a lightsaber blade. Puts a Shield on a Unit. For the Sith, Dun moch is a Sith technique to dominate the spirit. The card should Exhaust a Jedi while in play, but it could be cancelled by an Event card like Strength in The Force or until defeated. Constant attack and counter with The Force. There has to be a Rule of Two card that takes out Sith if two or more are played. Jump to Lightspeed has some of the iconic ships and characters, adding to the space arena gameplay, with brilliant art! 

Five Resources out of Five! 

#JumpToLightspeed, #StarWarsUnlimited, #DannySchaefer, #TylerParrott, #SpotlightDeck, #PrereleaseBox, #AdmiralAckbarItsATrap, #AmelieHutt, #ElectromagneticPulse, #TandemAssault, #TIEBomber, #RoyalSecurityFighter, #GoldLeaderFastestShipInTheFleet, #EJDelaCruz

#PoeDameronOneHellOfAPilot, #HyperspaceMalfucntion, #OneOfTheBigOnesAsteroid, #Exogorth, #Mynocks, #SeismicCharges, #ProtonTorpedo, #SparePartsCanisters, #LandingClaw, #DeflectingBlasterFire, #DunMoch, #StrengthInTheForce, #RuleOfTwo  

Snow White Review!

Snow White is a fantasy film with a charming performance by Rachel Zegler! It has just a touch of magic for young people, families, and those who are still open to wonder! The director is Marc Webb who also directed the brilliant rom com, 500 Days of Summer (2009), and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Erin Cressida Wilson is the screenwriter and her past credits include the thriller, The Girl on the Train (2016), It is of course based on first animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The Disney film was an adaptation of the fairy tale published in 1812 by The Brothers Grimm in Grimms’ Fairy Tales.  

We have a narrator (Andrew Barth Feldman) telling the story of Snow White and we see the white book of the fairy tale. Feldman was in Ratatouille: The Tik Tok Musical (2021) and also played Antoine in the series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2021-2023). There is a hedgehog on the cover, a little sleepy or it is Sleepy?, wakened by a squirrel, and then some bunnies. We have a king (Hadley Fraser) and queen (Lorena Andrea). Fraser was in Les Misérables (2012) and he also performed on stage for the musical. Andrea was Ariel’s sister, Perla, in The Little Mermaid (2023). There is a winter storm and their daughter is born in carriage in the middle of the snow storm. Snow White gets her name from that cold winter. A nice touch. 

In the kingdom, there is songs as the people go about gathering apples for pies, I like the introduction of apples into the beginning. This includes young Snow White (Emilia Faucher) with the song, “Good Things Grow.” Faucher played Misha in the comedy drama, CODA (2021). The catchy, uplifting new songs are by the song team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The duo has written the music and lyrics for the musical, Dear Evan Hansen (2015) and also the songs for the musical, The Greatest Showman (2017). It becomes a swirl of color with dancing in the courtyard. Impressive choreography by Mandy Moore, who worked on La La Land (2016) and also costumes by Sandy Powell, the costume designer for Cinderella (2015). 

Snow White sees that there is a shy girl peeking out from a column and goes to place a garland on her. They go to a wishing well and the king tells his daughter about being “Fearless, Fair, Brave, and True”, the words that are inside of a silver locket that he gives her. It is through the perspective of the wishing well that we see the queen disappear, the narrator says that she was ill and had died. Then, through the castle entrance comes a woman (Gal Gadot) in a black dress, Gadot is known for the lead role in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) and voiced Shank singing a song in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). It is unusual that one of the movie’s themes is about knowing a person, but we don’t get the names of the Good King and Queen nor the Evil Queen. She only cares about her beauty and consults with the Magic Mirror (voiced by Patrick Page). Pike Phillips for the movie musical, In the Heights (2021) was played by Page. 

He declares her “the fairest one of them all.” The other question is her origin, a princess for an unknown country?, what happened before she arrived at this kingdom? The queen says that there is a threat from the Southern Kingdom. The king is about to ride with his men to deal with it, but first places a silver locket on Snow White with the "Fearless, Fair, Brave, and True" words engraved inside the locket. We are told that the king has died after he left the kingdom. The Evil Queen becomes cruel and has turned “farmers into soldiers.” She doesn’t see Snow White as a problem as long as she is the “fairest one.” We see Snow White mopping the castle floor and this resolves to the adult Snow White (Rachel Zegler). Maria was notably played by Zegler in West Side Story (2021). She starred as Lucy Gray Vaird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). The narrator says, "she nearly forgot herself." 

Snow White’s attention turns to noise in the kitchen, a young man (Anthony Burnap) is in the kitchen putting a potato into a sack. Burnap starred in the drama mini-series, Under the Banner of Heaven (2022). He also starred in the play, The Inheritence, winning the Tony Award in 2020. His character, Jonathan, is similiar to Flynn in Tangled (2010), a roguish man with ideals and not a prince. Jonathan tells her, “Snow White hasn’t been seen”, which is why everyone has lost hope. He slips away, but is caught by the queen’s guards. The queen orders the guards to bind him to the gate as punishment. Later, Snow White goes to see the queen at her table while she snaps lobster legs. She asks for kindness to the people with Jonathan’s release. They go to a mirrored wall and the queen shows her a rose that she says is like kindness and the rose withers away. Snow White leaves and goes to the well singing “Waiting on a Wish”, a powerful “I want” song. 

Five Wishes out of Five! 

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