Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! #1 Review!

Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! #1 takes a reporter to find a murderer and ends up in the jungles of Peru! The Univesal Monsters series continues with the Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! fom Image Comics’ Skybound Entertainment. It focuses on one of the best monster designs from the first film, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). The Gill-man was discovered at the Black Lagoon down the Amazon River. There were two sequels, Revenge of the Creature (1954) where he was captured and taken to the Oean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida. and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956). In the last movie, the Gill-man was burned, losing his gills!, and operated to be made to live on the land. He then returned to the sea. 

The writers are Dan Watters, who also wrote The Six Fingers, and Ram V, writer of The One Hand. The artist is Matthew Roberts, who also provided art for Creepshow #5 (2024). The cover by Roberts has the Gill-man half submerged in water, bathed in pink sunlight. It opens to narration as a woman is choked underwater bubbles of air escaping as she is surrounded by darkness! There is the dark form of her attacker above her. His hands grip her throat. Another closeup shows her bloody fingers clawing at tile. Her face is seen as she emerges from the dream in bed, looking at the ceiling fan. She sits up looking at a cup, the artwork looks like Bret Blevins, and then dressed, the woman puts her revolver in her holster. 

Before Ms. Marsden leaves the hotel, a clerk says she has messages from her editor. We get hazy, almost Mad Magazine panels of the editor apologizing for being caught in the story. He mentions a lead in Peru. Her editor brings up that it might be him, the man who almost killed her! Marsden is about to leave when the clerk says she has a message fom the pharmacy. The title page has large panels of a Peruvian city by a river, the reporter rushing through a market, and at a stall, rows of clay figures in a familiar shape! At the pharmacy, she is told that the “American man” was there two hours ago. 

Marsden’s head slumps down on the counter as she says she waited thee weeks for him. The pharmacist, Maria, did capture him on the security camea and plays it. Marsden recognizes the bald man. Maria says he regularly buys medical supplies. Marsden brings up he ampthamine and gets her bottle. She says she takes them so she doesn’t have to sleep! Outside, Marsden pops in the pill and then at the riverfront she sees a bald man and gasps, “Collier?” It is another man who hugs his daughter. Marsden asks an old man about the crowd and told that there’s another body. The Creature took the victim’s air from the lungs and filled it with mud! 

Marsden doubts that it is a Creature, she’s on the hunt for a murderer. Flashback, the editor says that there were seven drowned victims. The authorities are ignoring the case and the editor suspects ex-Marine, Darwin Collier. I like the connection with Marsden, a survivor of violence, the killer, and the Creature. The woman tells Marsden that the Creature peacefully drowns the victims, a ceremony? Marsden brings a cup of coffee to the morgue. She says she has money to ask to see the body and has already tried to see murder victims. The middle aged pharmacist says he has ready taken bribes, but keeps the person secret. 

He takes her money saying the body will be picked up in the afternoon. She is smoking cigarettes at a dark cafe and sees a man take the body. She runs after him thinking that he knows Collier. On the outskirts of the city next to the jungle, Marsden follows two men carrying the body. She hears that they are loading the body to a boat. She sees the other sweaty, half-bald man who is not Collier. They ride away in the boat and Marsden falls to her knees screaming. A white heron sees her, pulls up a fish, but loses it trying to fly away. She rants about the fish walking through the jungle. 

Then, she hears a growling, and Marsden takes out her gun. The shadowy form growls again with pale blue eyes. We see a closeup of her shaking gun. Marsden lowers her gun and in a splash page of the jungle, we see her run from the growling. The gun must be her protection, but she is shaken not by Collier, but the Creature whose existence she doubted. Marsden enters a river to escape, but the current is too strong and pulls her under! Air bubbles leave as we see Marsden’s hand try to reach out. We see more air leave herr and then the last bubbles float away as she sinks in the darkness! Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives! #1 brings a modern monster tale with a lead obsessed with tracking down a murderer! 

Four Air Bubbles out of Five! 

#CreatureFromTheBlackLagoonLives, #DanWatters, #RamV, #MatthewRoberts, #Marsden, #DarwinCollier, #Creature

Abigail Review!

Abigail is an original horror film from the directing duo, Radio Silence, with compelling characters and twists! The horror aspect of the film unfolds, spoiler upcoming, but it is really a character study of who can be trusted, and the tension of who can survive the night! The directors are Matt Bettinelli-Opin and Tyler Gillett who also directed Scream VI (2023). The movie is written by Stephen Shields, the co-writer of the horror picture, Hole in the Ground (2019), and Guy Busick who worked on the directors’ films including Scream (2022). There is a rumbling and then we get footsteps as tiny ballerina slippers are seen. This is to the gentle theme of Tachaikovsky’s Swan Lake. 

We see a dark-haired woman (Melissa Barrera), she is later called Joey, takes out a lollipop. Barrrerra starred as Sam Carpenter in Radio Silence’s Scream movies. It is at night. The young ballerina, Abigail (Alisha Weir) twirls onto an empty stage. Weir played Siobhan Callahan in the horror movie, Don’t Leave Home (2018). She turns in a brilliant performance at what seems like an innocent, 12 year old girl, but with something sinister. A driver, code named Frank, played by Dan Stevens waits in a van. Stevens is having an incredible year also starring in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Joey takes out a handheld case with two syringes. These scenes are intercut with Abigail dancing around the stage lights.  

A young woman who is given the name Sammy (Kathryn Newton) uses her keypad to deactivate house cameras. Newton is also in this year’s horror comedy, Lisa Frankenstein. A man called Don Rickles! (William Catlett) is on a rooftop taking out a sniper rifle to scan the area with the scope. Catlett is in the sci fi show, Constellation. A chauffeur opens the door for Abigail in a coat over her white ballerina tutu. Underneath the car, a device blinks. A young, bald-headed man, code named Dean (Angus Cloud), asks the hacker if she has a boyfriend. Cloud played Robert DeWitt in the drama, The Line (2023). This is his last film and the movie is dedicated to him. The van pulls up and the hacker opens the gate of a house for the trio, Joey, Frank, and an intimidating man called Peter (Kevin Durand). Upcoming, Durand plays Proximus Caesar in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. 

They enter a wealthy house and Sammy says over their communication earpieces that the driver is arriving. The others enter a child’s bedroom and Joey says, “No one said it’s a kid”, her reluctance is brushed aside by Frank. The trio take cover around the room as Abigail sits on her bed answering a phone call. She talks about her performance, but hears a door. creak! Suddenly, her mouth is covered, but Frank is knocked back. Peter holds Abigail down as Joey injects Abigail with the syringe. A car arrives at the house. Abigail is stuffed in a black storage bag by Peter and she is carried away. They sneak out the front as a man calls out for Abigail. The house lights tun on as Abigail is taken into the van and they drive away.

Joey checks Abigail’s pulse and puts a blindfold on her. They reach a mansion secluded in the woods and drive up next to statue of a stag. The group is met by their boss, Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), their boss. Esposito was in the “Gray Matter” (2019) episode of the horror series, Creepshow. He tells them to find a room to hold the girl, set up a lookout, and tells them to not use names. So he dubs them after the Rat Pack; Frank (Sinatra), Sammy (Davis, Jr.), Joey (Bishop), Dean (Martin), Peter (Lawford), plus Don Rickles! It is clever and also keeps them anonymous. He collects their cellphones and Joey hesitates with a photo of herself and a boy on he phone. She pops in a pill. 

They are to hold Abigail for 24 hours so they can split the ransom money, $50 million, with $7 million for each of them! Lambert tells them not to let Abigail see their faces. At the recreation room, Peter is behind the bar, the others are seated, and Dean goes around the room telling his colleagues about their backgrounds Joey says he is wrong about all of them. She is shown a hunded dollar bill to say something about Frank. Joey says he is a cop from his stance and Glock pistol. Then, she works out that he is a detective from Queens. He is threatened by her observation and acts ready to be violent. Joey determines that Peter is from Quebec. Peter is the muscle, slower than the others, but there is a kind of Lenny from Of Mice and Men quality about him that becomes funny. 

Joey is bet twenty dollars that Sammy comes from money and is hacking just for fun. Rickles doesn’t have any money, but Joey says to him, “Semper Fi.” She tells Dean that he is not a professional criminal. Frank walks up to Joey and counters her observations saying that she is a junkie. Joey constantly eats candy and covers her arms. She is the only one appointed to check on Abigail and walks up the stairs to the room. Abigail is handcuffed and chained to the bed. Joey pinkie promises that Abigail won’t be hurt. She admits that she has a little boy. Abigail says to her, “I’m sorry what’s going to happen to you.” Ominous. 

Later, Frank walks into the room without his mask, so he lifts up his jacket to cover his face. He has his gun on Abigail to force her to reveal her father. She says he is Kristof Lazar. Frank returns to the group and explains that they kidnapped the daughter of the head of a notorious criminal empire! He says they should go and leave some food for Abigail, but they convince him to stay. In a dark hallway, Joey has a flashlight and discoves an atrium with a statue of a man in robes with a hat next to girl also in robes. Rickles finds Joey and they agree to watch each other’s backs. Sammy is in a room watching a Woody Woodpecker cartoon with a ghost. Dean surprises her with a mask and she throws him out of the room. 

#Abigail, #MattBettinlliOlpin, #TylerGillett, #StephenShields, #GuyBusick, #MelissaBarrera, #AlishaWei, #DanStevens, #WilliamCatlett, #KathynNewton, #KevinDurand, #AngusCloud, #GiancarloEsposito 

Tales of the Empire, “The Path of Fear”, Review!

 Star Wars: Tales of the Empire is the second anthology of animated shorts. Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi began streaming on Disney+ in 2022. The new series began with all six episodes streamed on May the Fourth Be With You. There was an anthology of stories in the novel, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (1997) with a similar title that is now Legends. The first episode is directed by Nathaniel Villanueva. It is written by Amanda Rose Muñoz with a story by Dave Filoni. Yoda's words about the path to the Dark Side follow the titles of the first three episodes. Reddish clouds wrap a moon and below it, an explosion, where we see the battlefields of Dathomir! This was in Clone Wars, “Massacre” (2012), GL-CW4/19. 

The fields are burning and Nightsisters loose energy bows and retreat from the droid army. One woman stands defiant loosing energy bolts against super battle droids. This is Selena voiced by Diana Lee Inosanto who played Morgan Elspeth in Ahsoka.Her daughter, Morgan (Cathy Ang) calls her name at her side. Ang, voiced the young girl lead, Fei Fei, in the Netflix animated film, Over the Moon (2020). She moves Morgan back and has several Hunters stay to hold off the droids. A Nightsister tries to get the attention of Selena when a green lightsaber blade is run through her! It is General Grievous (Matthew Wood), leader of the droid invaders! Woods recently voiced battle droids and other characters in the final season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. 

The Hunters draw their energy bows. BX-series droid commandos start to cut them down. Selena starts to chant words that activate symbols on her energy sickles. Grievous attacks and she uses her energy sickles, but he strikes down disabling them. Then, Grievous closes on her with his whirling lightsaber blades! Grievous catches hold of Selena with his cyborg foot and slams her down! The battle is also turning against the Hunters and Morgan runs from the fighting. She gets up and locks her energy sickles with Grievous’ lightsabers. Morgan watches as Selena gasps as a lightsaber runs through her! She cries out, “Mother!” as Grievous brings down his lightsabers. 

Morgan escapes as Grievous laughs and tells her to run. He repeats Darth Sidious’ line from Phantom Menace. A dramatic death like Jango Fett with his son who watched it. Morgan finds cover on a large tree branch as commando droids pass. One pauses and then blaster bolts tear into the tree branch! Morgan falls and then kicks the droid! It takes out a blade and manages to grab Morgan’s neck. She runs a vibro blade into its head. The blasted Dathomir forest is burning from droid defoilator tanks and Grievous’ laughing is heard. Morgan then collapses unconscious. We see feet of three people walking past a battle droid in the ashen aftermath of the battle. They come to Morgan’s sleeping form. 

Morgan wakens and is calmed by the Mountain Clan Matron (Lydia Look). They are in a hut lit by large blue crystals. The actress voiced Julie Chang in the cartoon, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. Morgan checks her face, her Nightsister tatoos are gone, the Matron explains that the Nightsisters are gone. She takes Morgan outside to the daylight. Morgan staggers out to see the Mountain Clan and their homes cut into the mountains. She is shown the smoldering remains of the Nightsisters. The Matron invites her to stay with them. Morgan shrugs away her hand and strikes the ground looking up with vengence. Later, at a campfire, Morgan hears the echo of Grievous’ laughter. A trio of young Mountain Clan people talk about fears that the droid army might head to their mountains. 

STAR WARS: TALES OF THE EMPIRE -- “The Path of Fear” -- CATHY ANG --  © 2024 LUCASFILM LTD. & ™. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The Matron tells them not to give into their fears. She is wise and compassionate. The Matron calls for Morgan to join the hunt with one of the trio, Nali (Daisy Lightfoot). Shuri in the animated show, Avengers Assemble, was voiced by Lightfoot. The other Mountain Clan girl, Nali, looks at her. They walk with bows until Morgan has them take cover when droid ships, HMP droid gunships soar past them. Morgan tells Nali that the droids are still hunting them. She offers to help Nali. At her hut, the Matron talks to a worried Nali, but tells her trust their way. Nali sees Morgan with the other two Mountain Clan youths. They say Morgan is taking them to weapons. Nali gives in to the peer pressure. 

They walk to a door in a mountain, it slides back to reveal steps. Morgan picks up energy sickles and tests them. The others picks up spears and Nali takes an energy bow. At the village, The Matron discovers Nali is missing and sees droid ships scanning the former battlefield. The weapon storehouse begins to rumble and Morgan runs out with the others. She cuts though battle droids dropped from a droid gunship. Super battle droids unfold and attack! The gunship blasts the door and the explosion takes down Nali. Then, they turn to see the Matron bathed in white. Their blaster bolts are absorbed by the white field she is generating and then a blast knocks them down! This appears to be simliar to Ahsoka’s journey who lost everything leaving the Jedi Temple, but was still able to find her way. A great beginning for Tales of the Empire with Morgan Elspeth’s journey leading to where we found her in The Mandalorian!  

Five Lightsabers out of Five! 

#TalesOfTheEmpire, #ThePathOfFear, #NathanielVillaneuva, #AmandaRoseMunoz, #DaveFiloni, #CathyAng, #DianaLeeInosanto, #LydiaLook, #DaisyLightfoot, #MatthewWood

Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1 Review!

Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1 has important moments found within Episode I! The writer of the issue is Greg Pak, who also writes the Darth Vader comic book, and the artist is Will Sliney, his other comic is the limited series, Star Wars: The Halcyon Legacy. The cover by Phil Noto has Anakin surrounded by Qui-Gon, Padme, and below him Jar Jar (in a tiny circle!), Shmi, and Obi-Wan. Above them is a Tusken Raider and Palpatine reddish in the background!  A title page sums up Phantom Menace about Anakin’s destiny. On Tatooine, slavers lead away Jira, the fruit stand owner who was friendly to Anakin, and his mother, Shmi, in chains. Shmi insists that her son will return. A Nikto points his blaster rifle to threaten her, but the barrel is sliced! In a splash page, we see Ankin in desert uniform with his yellow lightsaber, startling the Nikto and a Rodian! The lightsaber is used by the Jedi Temple guards, he would be a Jedi Sentinel!  

Young Anakin wakes up and tells Shmi about his dream as a Jedi freeing her. This would have been an interesting What If? Star Wars issue. An Otoga-222 maintenance droid enters to tell Anakin that he is late to work for Watto. He explains that Watto has gone to Anchorhead and that Anakin’s task is to go to the spaceport for a shipment. We get a strong likeness of Jake Lloyd in the last panel. At Mos Eisley, Anakin picks up the package, when a green landspeeder races in. Some slavers are bringing in a Tusken Raider, they show him the transmitter. Anakin works on the landspeeder and it zooms away! He frees the Tusken from its bonds and is surprised by him. He tells him to run and points out the other direction to a slaver. This is one of the best side moments for Anakin showing his cleverness and compassion. 

Anakin returns to Watto’s shop with the package which he gives to the maintenance droid. At night, Anakin returns home, and Shmi checks on him before he goes to sleep. We get the next day where we pick up the events of Phantom Menace where Anakin brings in Padme, Qui-Gon, Jar Jar, and Artoo. This is seen in panels across two pages! We see glimpses of the Podrace and Anakin’s victorious return. He meets with Qui-Gon who tells him that becoming a Jedi involves discipline and  sacrifice. We have the farewell scene with Anakin and Shmi, Anakin looks Qui-Gon and his words about discpline and sacrifice echo. We gt a splash page of Qui-Gon leading away Anakin who is very brave. This shifts to Coruscant with the Jedi Council testing Anakin. Ki-Adi Mundi says he is thinking of his mother. Yoda tells him about fear and the Dark Side. 

Anakin tells Jar Jar that the Jedi Council did not allow Qui-Gon to train him. Jar Jar’s dialogue varies from speaking complex Basic to his usual patois. At the Queen’s landing pad, Anakin speaks to Artoo, I’m not certain if he knows Binary. He overhears Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon discussing that he is dangerous. As they approach Naboo in the Royal Starship, Anakin asks Qui-Gon if he is dangerous. Qui-Gon says he must control his emotions through training. Obi-Wan listens next to them. Again we get panels across two pages showing the Battle of Naboo; the Gungans, Queen Amidala, and the duel with Darth Maul. It picks up with Anakin destroying the Droid Control Ship. Afterwards, Anakin tells Artoo that “Naboo’s safe” and they should tell Qui-Gon. In a splash page, we see Obi-Wan holding Qui-Gon’s body. Anakin returns to the hangar met by Obi-Wan. He tells him that he heard Qui-Gon died. Word travels fast since only Obi-Wan was there. 

We see in a Sith-like red about Obi-Wan saying he is dangerous. Anakin leaves, but Obi-Wan tells him to wait. He tells Obi-Wan that only Qui-Gon believed in him. An important character moment. Obi-Wan confides that his promise to Qui-Gon is to train Anakin. Then, we get the final scene where Palpatine arrives to talk with Anakin. We see Palpatine’s face in shadow with the discipline words again. Palpatine meets with Queen Amidala and the sacrifice words again, interesting text and artwork working together. Then we see Shmi say his name and a large panel of Anakin in the dream. Obi-Wan talks to him shaking him from the vision. Then, Anakin’s past words that he wants to help people. Tatooine, Shmi is at the market greeting Jia. Threepio greets her at home. A knocks at the door reveals a Tusken Raider who presents her with a black melon. I wonder about the identity of this Tusken Raider and if he was in the Book of Boba Fett. Threepio says he has a story about Anakin. The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special #1 has brilliant glimpses that fulfills an unresolved part of the story. 

Five Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWars, #PhantomMenace, #GregPak, #WillSliney, #AnakinSkywalker, #ShmiSkywalker, #QuiGonJinn, #ObiWanKenobi, #ArtooDetoo, #SeeThreepio, #Yoda, #KiAdiMundi, #DarthMaul, #Palpatine  

The Fall Guy Review!

The Fall Guy is very funny film with extreme stunts, a romance, and satire about the movie making industry! The movie is directed by David Leitch who was a stunt coordinator and was a stuntee in The Matrix Reloaded (2003).  The last film directed by Leitch was the action movie, Bullet Train (2022). It is written by Drew Pearce who also wrote Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) which was directed by Leitch. The movie is based on the action show from 1981-1986 that starred Lee Majors, as stuntman who was also a part time bounty hunter (!), and a stuntwoman played by Heather Thomas. 

The film had an intro with Leitch and Ryan Gosling where they are texting to each other, funny! They said the movie was made for the audience and also the stunt people, “a love letter to the community.” We hear the sounds of a camera set up. It starts out with scenes of action movies, Colt Severs (Gosling) narrates, “They’re in every movie.” Gosling was of course a scene stealer as Ken in last year’s Barbie. We see Colt getting ready for his stunt on a busy set. He wears a black NASA jacket. Colt manages to have a chat with Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), a camera operator. Blunt was last in the drama, Oppenheimer (2023), winning her the Academy Award. Jodie is the name of the stuntwoman played by Thomas in the tv show. 

The stunt is for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the “biggest action star”, which is send-up of actors who say they do all of their own stunts and never credit the stunt team. Johnson starred in Bullet Train. A hilarious part of the marquee actor which can never get too over the top. The producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) checks on him. Waddingham is well known for playing Rebecca Welton in the comedy series, Ted Lasso. In the lift to the next floor for the stunt, Colt talks to Jody about getting margharettas on a beach. He reaches the balcony where he is rigged for the stunt. Then, he is dropped down, and then there is darkness. 

Then, Colt is taken away on a gurney, with Jodie following him as he is moved to an ambulance. It is “18 Months Later”, Colt is at his apartment and gets a call from Gail. He is now a valet for the El Cocina Del Capitan after his set injury. Gail says she has a ticket for him to Sydney. She tells him that it is the first film for Gail and that she asked for him. Colt takes a rude customer’s car out for donuts, spinning his car in a tight circle! He puts on his Miami Vice jacket and we go to credits which are drawn from a movie script. Brilliant to bring back the classic credits at the start of the film! On the beach set, Cole meets with his friend, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), who is the stunt coordinator. Duke was in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). 

Jody is checking a prop that looks like a guitar and then explosions go off behind her. Colt pulls up to the set of Metalstorm. I remember a 3D sci fi film from 1983, Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn, don’t ask! He wears a gold cowboy outfit. Jody says to Dan that she doesn't want Cole to do the stunt, but he tells her there is no one else. Dan tells him that he is doing a cannon roll, a stunt that sets off a cannon underneath a car to send it spinning. She says it will be the shot for Comic Con, Hall H, LOL! The Hall H presentation are for big films that has fans sleeping over night to get in and clips will get the social media buzz. Jody is the lead camera car with Colt driving behind her. Dan is on walkie talkie following them. 

Colt smashes into the camera in the back of the car, but there are more cameras including on a helicopter following the chase. The cannon roll is spectacular which stunt driver, Logan Holladay, made a Guinness World Record for eight and half rolls! Colt puts his thumbs up. The next stunt is a fight that has him in a battle against aliens with cobra-like heads. Colt is thrown into a muddy pool. Then, fights and is thrown in an explosion to a wall. Jody has Colt repeat the stunt until discussing in front of the crew about their relationship, very funny! At Gail’s trailer, filled with movie posters like Bad Cop Good Dog (!), she tells Colt about the point of movies which has very funny lines of dialogue by Waddingham. Gail reveals to Colt that Tom Ryder is missing. She wants him to save Jody’s film and find him.

Colt puts his thumbs up. The next stunt is a fight that has him in a battle against aliens with cobra-like heads. It is a Mad Max apocalyptic sci fi movie with alien invaders. Colt is thrown into a muddy pool. Then, fights, is set on fire, and thrown in an explosion into a wall. Jody has Colt repeat the stunt until discussing in front of the crew about their relationship, very funny! At Gail’s trailer, filled with movie posters like Bad Cop Good Dog (!), she tells Colt about the point of movies which has very funny lines of dialogue by Waddingham. Gail reveals to Colt that Tom Ryder is missing. She wants him to save Jody’s film and find Ryder. Colt borrows a truck and sees Jodie flashing back to scenes of their relationship to Taylor Swift's "All Too Well." A bit touching and also funny!   

Five Miami Vice Jackets out of Five! 

#TheFallGuy, #DavidLeitch, #DrewPearce, #RyanGosling, #EmilyBlunt, #WinstonDuke, #HannahWaddingham, #AaronTaylorJohnson, #TeresaPalmer, #StephanieHsu, #BenKnight, #Matuse

May the Fourth Be With You and Free Comic Book Day 2024!

Today was the convergeance of two fan events, Free Comic Book Day, and Star Wars Day, May the Fourth Be With You! I had seen The Phantom Menace the previous day for the 25th anniversary, http://geektruth.blogspot.com/2024/05/star-wars-phantom-menace-25th.html, and today I headed to Star Wars Trading Post at Downtown Disney! I have visited when the store was almost empty, but Star Wars Day it was full of Star Warriors! 

The Star Wars music was blaring in the area and I heard it from Pin Traders and the LEGO Store. There was a line for the photo op holding the sign with May the Fourth Be With You. Inside the store was a display for The Phantom Menace, 25th Anniversary and Darth Maul shirts, $29.99, backpacks, mugs, and pins. For kids, there was a May the 4th Be With You 2024 shirt with the cartoon Droids image, it was also on the pin, $17.99. 

May the Fourth Be With You 2024 sippers and shirts at Star Wars Trading Post! 

There was also another Star Wars Day pin that had the Droids with an R4 unit, a Power Droid, and RX-24. I also saw a cartoon Boba Fett tumbler, $27.99, I would have liked that image on a shirt, Star Wars Holiday Special forever! I saw the Boba Fett picture on a large pin set, it was $44.99, ouch! Speaking of pins, I did get the limited edition, Admiral Ackbar with his Mon Calamari crew pin.

In the stuffie section, I saw a large Wicket Ewok Collectors Plush, no price listed, but there was a QR code. A Black Series set had Mace Windu & 187th Legion Clone Trooper. Two helmets were on display; Captain Rex Helmet, $139.99, and 187th Legion Helmet, $99.99. The LEGO Store had the life size Captain Phasma figure and also Finn and BB-8 in Legos. There was an event to help build a Lego mural with Wicket shown. 

Some of the free comics at Pulp Fiction Long Beach! 

For Pixar Fest, there was a photo op with Buzz and Woody mini-cars. The best part of Frree Comic Book Day is to visit a few stores, talk with fans, and get a good sense of the people who work there. Still, I have to give a shout out to Pulp Fiction in Long Beach, their promotion was one free comic book. There were more free comics, but it was one comic for $1 or one non-perishable food donated to the Long Beach Rescue Mission. There were barrels filled with the food items! One table had the donation box with the Cute Contest, R2-D2 or BB-8! I don't know who was the winner. 

I picked up free comics just to donate and ended up with about twelve of them. They raised $800 dollars last Free Comic Book Day. The Free Comic Book Day 2024: Star Wars #1 issue worked well with Star Wars Day. The other table had the comics for young readers. I also picked up Young Jedi Adventures/Plants vs. Zombies. I really like the magazine size Disney and Pixar’s Turning Red - Panda Problems/Disney’s Encanto Tall Tales (Free Comic Book Day 2024) book. Free Comic Book Day 2024: Blood Hunt/X-Men #1 features the preview of Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone and David Marquez! Today was a fun day of free comics and Star Wars! 

#MayTheFourthBeWithYou, #StarWarsDay, #DowntownDisney, #StarWarsTradingPost, #LegoStore, #FreeComicBookDay, #PulpFictionLongBeach, #LongBeachRescueMission, #FreeComicBookDayStarWars, #YoungJediAdventures, #TurningRedPandaProblems, #EncantoTallTales, #BloodHuntXMen 

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Review!

 It is 25 years since The Phantom Menace hit theaters, some distance from the hope of the Prequels, and seeing it over the years. So there is some perspective seeing Episode I as film entertainment and not capturing the fun of the Original Trilogy. The film grossed $64.8M opening day, in comparison, Return of the Jedi (1981) opened to $23M, and the second highest film at that year for the box office was The Sixth Sense with a $26.6M opening. The latest issue of Star Wars Insider, #225, covers the fan reaction of the movie. I do recall attending the first Star Wars: Celebration in Denver on April 30th before the May 19th release. Buying the figures at the store there. I remember the trailer, “Every saga has a beginning…”, the images of new worlds, creatures, and Jar Jar. So let’s go back to the beginning. 

It is a return for George Lucas back to writing and the director's chair, very brilliant with his early groundbreaking films, here to put a bow on his story finishing what he began with the rough draft. The opening titles drove the Star Warriors into applause, it was the first time since 18 years seeing new Star Wars on screen. Star Wars: A New Hope Special Edition was in theaters 1997. So Star Wars had changed over the years. No DEATH STAR threatened the galaxy instead there was a blockade of a planet and taxation. The main title crawl needs a better set up, tension, plus “Congress of the Republic”? I do like the Supreme Chancellor as the galactic authority. In the rough draft, Valoum was the name of a Knight of the Sith and commander of the Imperial Space Force. I love the Consular-class cruiser flying from left to right, instead of the overhead domination of an Imperial ship. 

The blue-green planet of Naboo is beautiful. Then, the voice of Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) addressing the Captain Madakor (Bronagh Gallagher), credited as Republic Cruiser Captain. A talented actress, she was in The Commitments (1991). The donut-shaped Trade Federation battleship has a distinctive profile with a nod to the flying saucer ships of 50’s sci fi. The captain’s co-pilot is played by Silas Carson who also was Nute Gunray, so he is basically looking at himself. The lip synch for the Neimoidians is a bit off, the mechanics for the alien heads were used from the flappy lips of the Mangalores in The Fifth Element (1997). I tried to ignore the awkward accents of the aliens in the movie. Inside the hangar, we get our first look at the spindly battle droids, a strange design and not threatening design. Definitely not Cylons. Then, the silver protocol droid, TC-14, was shocking with the female voice. She was voiced by Lindsay Duncan whom I recognize playing Captain Adelaide Brooke in “The Waters of Mars” (2009) Doctor Who special. 

Then, the hooded Jedi are revealed with the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). This was a mainstream role for McGregor since he broke out in the drama, Trainspotting (1996). Neeson was in the lead role of the horror themed pre-superhero movie, Darkman (1990). It is interesting to see Neeson's eyes focusing on a particular person. I do like Obi-Wan’s line that sets us back in Star Wars, “I have a bad feeling about this.” Also, he brings up Master Yoda. Then, we shift to the Neimoidians and the cowardly Rune Haako. The hologram of Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) was familiar since he was also in hologram form in the Original Trilogy. He also wore the same black, hooded robe. Since Return of the Jedi, McDiarmid was also in the “Paris, October 1916” (1991) episode of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. We find about the younger Palpatine in the Legends novel, Darth Plagueis (2012) by James Luceno. Plagueis died around the time of the Battle of Naboo. 

I kinda don’t get destroying a ship inside a hangar, but then we get the activation of the lightsabers. Qui-Gon’s Jedi Consular green lightsaber and Obi-Wan’s blue lightsaber as a Jedi Guardian, both colors used by Luke. Next, we get the goofy voices of the battle droids by Matthew Wood, the point was to have light-hearted threats. The Star Wars theme kicks in as we get our first action with the Jedi taking apart the battle droids! I love Obi-Wan taking on the droids by himself with his spinning back handed strike! The Jedi dropping down the hangar is a spotty effect, there are effects that don’t hold up, others are beautiful visuals. I do like Obi-Wan’s smile at the short negotiations. The appearance of Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) has an almost Asian design with her make-up and costume. An early role for Portman since she was in the action movie, The Professional (1994). She does have the Mid-Atlantic accent of 40’s cinema. 

Then, we get the fantastic design of Theed Palace at the edge of a cliff with waterfalls spilling around it. Senator Palpatine, also as a hologram if we didn’t get the hint, speaks to the council of Queen Amidala. One of my favorite costumes is the handmaiden’s orange robes, mysterious, and formal. Sabé (meaning “to know”) is not at her side. Governor Sio Bibble (Oliver Ford Davies) is the voice of dissession to the queen. Davies was in the first episode, “My First Adventure” (1992), of Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. This is what Palpatine may have expected of Naboo rulers. Captain Panaka (Hugh Quarshie) brings up the security volunteers that cannot defeat the battle droids. Quarshie was in the horror film, Nightbreed (1990). As a military advisor, his rank is low, I would think it should be Major or Colonel based on other SW characters. The Trade Federation landing craft with the double wings like biplane fighters is interesting. The Naboo wildlife running and smashing of trees show the destruction of this army to the natural world. 

The animation of Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) is a little crisp compared to the film stock. Best was previously in the musical performance of Stomp. I think an understanding of Jar Jar would be found in Clone Wars especially Season Four’s “Water War” (2011), GL-CW4/1. It may not change what you think of the character, but give you an understanding of him outside of comic relief. Qui-Gon pulling him out of the way of the Multi-Troop Transport does give a little more of the life debt than what was mentioned with Chewbacca. The underwater Gunga City is something we haven’t seen before in Star Wars. Boss Nass is just weird, but he is voiced by Brian Blessed who was Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon (1980). I like Obi-Wan helping to set the situation with the “symbiot circle.” It is fascinating that the Gungans have a pantheon of gods. The watery core doesn’t make sense for a planet. The occupation of Theed City is right out of the Star Wars rough draft. 

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan freeing Queen Amidala shows the purpose of Jar Jar which is to keep the movie light with the action and war. At the hangar, we see Padme acting as handmaiden to Sabé (Keira Knightley) filling in as Queen Amidala. This was three years before Knightley was in the sports movie, Bend It Like Beckham (2001). Sabé was also important in the novels that began with Queen’s Shadow (2019). She says “great danger” and then turns to Padme. The other handmaiden of note is Rabé (Karol Cristina da Silva) who announced Anakin to Padme’s room and was at the queen’s side when she addresses the Senate. The pilot, Ric Olié (Ralph Brown), seems to be too much of a side character. I think Quarshie should have been merged with the character and also act as a counter to the Jedi like Han Solo. A droid crew fixing the shield generator is confusing, rolling outside of its hull, but it does introduce Artoo Detoo. I like Obi-Wan pointing out Tatooine. His first encounter with the planet. 

Then, we get the appearance of Darth Maul (Ray Park), who just has the best design as a horned Zabrak. Park’s first movie was in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997). I like R2 presented to the queen. The droid duo were the keepers of the story of Luke Skywalker. Padme cleans up Artoo like Luke. On Tatooine, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan sense a disturbance in the Force, Anakin? Qui-Gon thinks the spaceport of Mos Espa is dangerous and takes Jar Jar, an amphibious creature in a desert? Interesting that Qui-Gon choses Watto’s shop, “one of the smaller dealers.” Watto (Andy Secombe) looks like a grizzled merchant. We find more about Toydarians with King Katuunko in Clone Wars, “Ambush” (2008), GL-CW1/1. The size of Watto and some of the CGi characters varies. Then, we get the introduction of lil’ Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). The previous film for Lloyd was the comedy, Jingle All The Way (1996). I noticed with the “Yipee!” youthful enthusiasm that Lloyd can handle the techno-babble. 

The builder and inventor parts of Anakin seems like Lucas to me. Anakin’s defense of Jar Jar from the bully, Sebulba shows his good heart. This of course sets up their rivalry at the Podrace. Next, Anakin takes the group to his house to get shelter from the storm. We get the introduction of Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August), Anakin’s mother and the best actor of Star Wars. Everything you need to know about her character and Anakin is in her short scenes. Anakin takes Padme to show him See-Threepio (Anthony Daniels). The tv movie, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen (1995) starred Daniels as the scientist, Francois. The debut of the droid duo is welcome with the Original Trilogy’s POV and humorous characters. This also shows the resourcefulness of Anakin building a protocol droid and recovering his Podracer. His covering with his silver leg in Star Wars shows his arc as a character. 

Three Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWars, #ThePhantomMenace, #GeorgeLucas, #LiamNeeson, #EwanMcGregor, #NataliePortman, #JakeLloyd, #AhmedBest, #PernillaAugust, #RayPark, #IanMcDiarmid, #HughQuarsie, #RalphBrown, #KeiraKnightley, #KarolCristinaDaSilva, #OliverFordDavies, #BrianBlessed, #AndySecombe   

Ultimate Spider-Man #2 Review!

Peter has just becoming Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #2 and the danger is just beginning! The Ultimate Univese, Earth-6160, is rebuilding after the aftermath of Ultimate Invasion. It is 2021 and Peter Parker is spending time with his family, his wife, Mary Jane, young son, Richard, and daughter, May. He works for his uncle, Ben Parker, at the Daily Bugle with is partner, J. Jonah Jameson. Harry Osbourne is speaker at the memorial of the invasion. Ben meets with Harry afterwards. The new owner of the paper is Wilson Fisk! J. Jonah quits and Ben follows him. An attack is made on Kingpin’s limo by what looks like the Green Goblin! At the Bar With No Name, J. Jonah and Ben have been putting together plans for a news organization, also they ask Peter to join them. 

After putting his children to sleep, Peter has a talk with Mary Jane. He says he needs a change and she supports him. Peter takes out a metal sphere from a box and walks with it to the snowy rooftop. This changes to “Last Night”, Peter is workign on his laptop when a voice emerges from a device. This form into the hologram of Iron Lad, Tony Stark, who has an armor that looks like it has Celestial enhancements. In Ultimate Invasion, Tony Stark discovered the truth about The Maker stopping the people from becoming superheroes. The Maker Council attacked New York and placed the blame on Tony. He explains to Peter that he left the message from six months in the future. Tony reveals the sphere from the device and says it has a biotech stealth suit. Also, it has a “bio-organic catalyst” to make transform him. 

Tony continues that twenty years in the past about the stopping of super heroes. This shifts to “Now”, the sphere releases a test tube with a spider inside! Peter says he wants to become the hero. He sees images of Ben and Mary Jane, opens the tst tube, and the spider crawls on his hand! In a splash page, we see in the dawn’s light, the shadowy form of Spide-Man with pigons flying away! The cover has Green Goblin appearing above the bearded Peter Parker on his glider with the figure of Spider-Man looming in the background. This is from Marco Checchetto who also provides the interior art. The writer is Jonathan Hickman. We see the blue New York skies with the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and it is “February.” 

We see the all black stealth suit of Spider-Man pulling on his web line with his foot extended. It looks like the black symbiote suit that appeared in Secret Wars #8 (1984), but without the white spider symbol. This is a photo is disputed by Richard at the dinner table. It upsets May, but her father says it shouldn’t matter what she thinks of the photo. She says Spider-Man looks scary so Peter tells her to also think it is Photoshopped. Mary Jane heads out for work and wondes if he is working out. We see a closeup of Spider-Man’s eyes as he recalls the past few weeks. Peter mentons that he eats 10,000 calories a day, doesn’t need sleep, and is strong. We see him lifting up a bus. He mentions his agility and “spatial awareness” as we see Spider-Man web slinging. 

Still, Spider-Man bashes into a water tower unable to stop himself!, and he notes he can’t stop himself. I like the early, awkward attempts to becoming the hero. Peter also says he can tolerate injury. Interesting details about Spider-Man’s abilities. At the Russian Turkish Baths, J. Jonah and Ben are relaxing and Jonah says he has been drinking coffee for twenty-five years. Good chit chat by Hickman. Ben brings up another attack on Wilson Fisk at the Daily Bugle building. It is the same attack by the man in green armor. Ben asks Jonah what is in the paper and he brings up the “black suit” weirdo with the photo taken by Peter. There are two masked people and Ben has Jonah work on the stories. They don’t have a name for their news organization. 

Again, we have the closeup of Spider-Man, he is web slinging and then reminds himself to work on his landing and is able to drop to a rooftop. Spider-Man notices a thief dressed with a black ski mask and armor, the scale-like arms. He charges up his gauntlets to breach a bank, but Spider-Man drops in for a chat. The villain asks who is he and Spider-Man doesn’t have an answer, yet. He compliments Spider-Man and says that he has re-thought the robbery. He reaches out his gauntled hand and introduces himself as The Shocker in the next sending out an electrical blast! The Shocker is a long time Spider villain who was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man ##46 (1967). Spider-Man’s chest is smoking as he falls into a dumpster! First villain, first fail, kinda funny. The pieces of the hero we know as Spider-Man is coming together as he clumsily encounters his first super villain!  

Five Webs out of Five! 

#UltimateSpiderMan, #JonathanHickman, #MarcoChecchetto, #PeterParker, #MaryJaneParker, #RichardParker, #MayParker, #JJonahJameson, #BenParker, #Kingpin, #TheShocker