Star Wars: Resistance, “No Escape: Part One”, Review!

TIE fighters fly over the seas and Colossus Base, there is some sea creatures like whales moving through the water, and an announcement by Commander Pyre about raising the base.  Captain Doza is angry at Yeager’s arrest and challenges the New Republic.  Pyre orders his arrest.  He has his personal droid, 4D-M1N, “stop them.”  She has shoulder blasters like Iron Man and Captain Doza is handy taking on stormtroopers!  Still, she is shot down by Commander Pyre.   He orders Doza’s imprisonment and also the Aces.  Overhearing all of this is Tora, who hides in a corner.  I think it is more important to free Captain Doza and the Aces than even Yeager.  CB-23 projects a hologram of the Colossus Base so Kaz can make a plan to help Yeager’s escape and get a shuttle to reach Hosnian Prime, his homeworld.  The sympathizer is eating with Agent Tierny who asks her about her friends.  She shows Tam a hologram of Yeager admitting he tried to get Kaz to join the Resistance.  

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “No Escape: Part One” -- Disney/Lucasfilm. 

Tora enters her room and gives a mission to her pet voorpak, Buggles, to find Kaz.  Stormtroopers try to raise Colossus Base, they are interrupted by the Chelidae who knocks out one trooper, the door opens and the other troopers are taken out by Kaz.  He leaves his friends at the control room and decides to swim with CB-23.  Neeku calls Kaz Blowfish-1.  First Order sea troopers head towards Kaz and CB-23 firing blasters.  He frantically asks Neeku to open the hatch.  The sea troopers are there and Kaz asks Neeku to pressurize the corridor.  The power goes out in the corridor and Kaz rams CB-23 into a swim trooper(?).  Kaz struggles with the remaining sea strooper as Neeku hits random buttons to pressurize.  It does and sucks out the sea troopers.  Kaz holds on to CB-23’s cables and the hatches are closed.  Kaz thanks Neeku and heads back.  Eila, the younger sister, points out the hyper drive above them.  No voice for her this episode.  Kaz reaches the shop of Flix and Orka who are trapped in a storage locker.  Buggles hops on Kaz.  Neeku reports to Kaz that the base is like a ship.  Stormtroopers bring in Yeager and the sympathisizer.  He is taken to the cell of Captain Doza.  Buggles takes them to a grate where Torra is hiding.  She has a plan to sneak through the incinerator ducts.  

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “No Escape: Part One” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

The First Order droid finds them and signals an alarm.  It is strange that this droid was introduced in Last Jedi and I think I barely saw him.  Here he is featured more and not the nicest of droids.  CB-23 fires a cable to go droid to droid bumping into him.  His faulty sensor makes him an easy fake to fall into a chasm.  Kaz hides under the grate.  Agent Tierney makes an offer to the sympathsizer to be a pilot.  Kaz takes a stormtrooper’s rifle and almost accidentally stun blasts him.  This show has stun blasts going all over the place.  Where they are almost never used in the movies and other animated shows.  They drag the stormtrooper away.  Torra sends Buggles back to their room.  They hide from stormtroopers and overhear one mention Starkiller Base.  On a hologram, they see the transmission of General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) speech about the New Republic. This is of course from Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).  It almost makes me nostalgic to the time when Star Wars was good.  Kaz, Torra, and CB-23 sneak past the stormtroopers.  Kaz watches as the planet of his family is destroyed.  This of course gives consequences to the Starkiller blast.  It also ramps up the consequences of this animated show so it is no longer about the weak premise of racing ships which never went anywhere.  A more action oriented show highlights the strengths of this series.  Part two next week! 

Four Lightsabers out of Five!

#StarWarsResistance, #NoEscapePartOne, #Starkiller Base, #GeneralHux 

Happy Birthday John Barrowman!

Happy Birthday John Barrowman!  He started his theatrical career with Cole Porter’s Anything Goes in 1989.  One of his earliest series was the drama Central Park West (1995-1996), created by Darren Star, playing Peter Fairchild.  He played another Peter, Peter Williams in Titans (2000-20001).  Barrowman’s early genre film was Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (2002).  He was the Lead Tenor in the adaptation of the Mel Brooks’ musical, The Producers (2005).  Barrowman first appeared as Captain Jack Harkness in “The Empty Child” (2005) episode of Doctor Who.  Jack Harkness is a fan favorite and wrapped up his Tadis time with ”The End of Time: Part Two” (2010).  

John Barrowman, Comic Con, 2008, um, my flash was blinding, but I apologized, blinding photo by the author.

He was also featured in Torchwood (2006-2011).  In 2006, he started as a judge on the Andrew Lloyd Weber show, How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?  He co-wrote his autobiography, Anything Goes, (2008)  with his sister, Carole Barrowman.  John Barrowman wrote the first issue of the Torchwood (2010) comic book with art by Tommy Lee Edwards.  Then, he co-wrote with Carole Barrowman the fantasy book, Hollow Earth (2012).  Barrowman was Jeremy in Zero Dark Thirty (2012). He had another fan favorite role as Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow (2012-2018). Malcolm Merlyn was also in Legends of Tommorrow (2016-2017).   He worked with Carole Barrowman on a four issue Torchwood comic book in 2016. Happy Birthday John Barrowman!  

#JohnBarrowman, #Torchwood, #AnythingGoes, #Arrow

Star Wars: Resistance, “Descent”, Review!

Stormtroopers led by Commander Pyre has Kaz under arrest, he says that they are all under arrest, the sympathizer tries to understand.  Bucket waves to Yeager.  He sprays the hangar with smoke and Yeager knocks over stormtrooper.  Yeager tells Neeku and the sympathizer to enter his office.  CB-23 plows into stormtroopers with a hauler, but Commander Pyre blasts Bucket who falls into the sea!  Yeager calls out for his droid.  The sympathizer is captured.  Tam is taken away as stormtroopers try to cut into Yeager’s office.  They slip into hidden doors.  Kaz admits to Neeku that he is a Resistance spy.  Sunset, in Captain Doza’s office, he explains to his daughter that he wants to contact the New Republic. Torra asks if it is Kaz.  Commander Prye says that he is bringing in Security Bureau Agent Tierny to question the sympathizer.  Yeager needs to send a signal to the Resistance.  Stormtroopers overhear Neeku talking beneath a grill and fire on the friends.  A First Order shuttle lands, Agent Tierny (Sumalee Montano) exits, greeted by Commander Pyre.  Yeager and the others run with stormtroopers firing stun blasts, but they reach a dead end!  Action filled episode with little goofiness. 

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “Descent” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

The stormtroopers close on them, but a hatch drops them down into the arms of the Chelidae. The Children of Tehar are there and they have overheard Kaz’s spy revelation.  Kaz still wants to rescue the sympathizer.  Agent Tierny questions Tam and asks her about Poe Dameron.  Captain Doza interrupts the questioning and Agent Tierny takes away Tam.  Bucket is repaired by the Chelidae after finding him in a fishing net.  Neeku doesn’t want to take part of a Resistance fighter, it is his right, they really should get him off world to safety like Aunt Z.  Agent Tierny takes Tam to the empty pilot’s bar in the tower.  Tam is served by the bartender droid.  She thinks Kaz is a poor kid from Coruscant.  Agent Tierny shows her his record.  Kaz is trying to work out a plan.  He has the wild idea of dropping the station into the water.  Neeku brings up if the security doors are open, then the station will flood.  Kaz sends CB-23 to tell Captain Doza to close the doors.  The droid brings a try of food, Torra recognizes Kaz's new droid, and CB-23 tells Kaz's plan.  Captain Doza the plan is crazy, Torra loves it!, I think Captain Doza is interesting here, he knows the First Order occupation is wrong even though he was working with them.  CB-23 has a hologram of Captain Doza who authorizes the sinking and Torra is excited.  

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “Descent” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Neeku is excited.  They are on the engineering deck with the Chelidae so Yeager and Kaz shut down the base’s turbines.  It looks like fans across the base come to a stop.  A four eyed bird flies off, alarms sound, as the station sinks!  Agent Tierny runs off.   Captain Doza tells her that it is a reactor malfunction.  Commander Pyre tells him to seal their ships.  Captain Doza orders an evacuation, it reminds me of Lando Calrissian and Cloud City, and Torra has to protect her pet voorpak from the crowds.  The station sinks, the Tower looks like a battleship with a triangular perimeter.  Neck opens the hatch for Kaz, Yeager, and CB-23 to swim to the tower.  They have breath masks and use CB-23 to carry them up.  Captain Doza is happy that the station is intact.  Agent Tierny is suspicious.  Yeager leads the way. I like him in an action role.  Kaz and Yeager work on the panel of the communications antenna, it goes dark, and Captain Doza explains it must have shorted out with the flooding.  Agent Tierny and Commander Pyre go to check on the communications array. CB-23 sends the message from Kaz to send help.  Yeager says he will fight with him.  Commander Pyre arrives with stormtroopers and they cut off the door, but it opens.  The message is recieved and Yeager throws Kaz into the water.  He is taken away by stormtroopers!  The pirates recieve Kaz’s message.  CB-23 appears out of the hatch with Kaz.  The droid projects a message from General Leia that they can’t send forces and gives him coordinates to their base.  Kaz vows to take back the Colossus Base!   This leaves Kaz mostly on his own, but I don’t get why Yeager doesn’t jump with him.  This leads to the two part finale!   

Four Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWarsResistance, #Descent, #AgentTierny, #Yeager 

Happy Birthday Oscar Isaac!

Happy Birthday Oscar Isaac!  He had a few roles, but was in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (2010) as Prince John.  Then, Isaac was Blue Jones in Sucker Punch (2011).  He took notice in 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen Brothers.  Next, Isaac had a great role (and got my attention) as inventor Nathan in Ex Machina (2014).  The following year, of course, he became world famous as hotshot starship pilot Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens!  2016, he starred as the villainous Apocalypse, in X-Men: Apocalypse.  He returned as Poe Dameron in The Last Jedi in 2017.  

Last year, he was Kane in Annihilation, returning to work with Alex Garland, his director on Ex Machina.  Then, he played the painter, Paul Gauguin, in the film At Eternity's Gate.  Isaac had the lead role as Will in the romance Life Itself.  Also, he was Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the animated film that took the Academy Award!  Isaac currently voices Poe Dameron in the Star Wars: Resistance animated series.  He has upcoming the military heist film, Triple Frontier, on March 13th.  He will return as Poe Dameron in Episode IX on December 20th.  Happy Birthday Oscar Isaac!  

#OscarIsaac, #InsideLlewynDavis, #ExMachina, #SpiderManIntotheSpiderVerse

Captain Marvel Review!

Captain Marvel is interesting since the beginning is confusing, but stick with it, because it gets good! The film is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. They are the directors of the independent film, Half Nelson (2006), and It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010). The screenplay is by the directing duo and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. There is a team of writers that wrote the story including Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve and the screenwriters. The character has a long and complicated history in comic books. Carol Danvers first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (1968). She became a superhero in Ms. Marvel #1 (1977). Danvers took the name Captain Marvel with Captain Marvel #1 (2012) written by Kelly Sue DeConnick who is given a consultant role and thanks in the film.  

It opens with a dream-like memory, Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), in her green Kree suit, sees Annette Benning’s character who is wounded by the alien Talos (Ben Mendelsohn).  Larson was also in Kong: Skull Island (2017). Larson is great at fights, brings a strong female figure (not a coincidence that the film was released on #InternationalWomensDay), but tries to throw wise cracks that fall flat. There really isn’t anything in the character’s story that make her into a Spider-Man joker.  It is impressive that the MCU has featured an Academy Award winning actor for its lead.  Mendelsohn, who was in Ready Player One (2018), plays an interesting character.  

He is part of the Skrull race of shape-shifters, and actually shape shifts into someone who looks like Ben Mendelsohn! She wakens from the vision and then brings her Kree mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) for fight training. Law was previously Albus Dumbledore in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018). Yon-Rogg calls her “Vers.” He finds that she can’t focus and win the fight because of her emotions. She has a form of amnesia and can only remember being on the Kree homeworld of Hala. The Kree are the alien race with blue or pink skin that were featured in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). This film really builds on Guardians, not only in its characters, but also the intergalactic setting.  

Yon-Rogg speaks to her about the Supreme Intelligence, the ruler of the Kree Empire, and mentions that the artificial intelligence takes on different forms for different people.  He won’t reveal what he sees, I suspect it is like the comic version, and this is also a test to know personal information to fool their rivals, the Skrulls.  The Skrulls were experimented on that resulted in The Eternals, a race that is featured in an upcoming MCU film.  Both alien races were introduced in the Fantastic Four comic book and created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  The war between them was an epic storyline, the Kree-Skrull War, that was in Avengers #89-97 (1971-1972).  The war is a backdrop in this movie.    

Vers is taken to the Supreme Intelligence, glowing vein-like tentacles attach to her like the Tree of Souls in Avatar (2009).  This gives a vision of the Supreme Intelligence in the form of Annette Benning who informs Vers that her powers, her photon blasts is her only power, can be taken away.  Benning has not been in many genre films, she was in Mars Attacks! (1996).  Yon-Rogg gives his team, Star Force, their new mission.  Star Force consists of Korath, who also was in Guardians of the Galaxy played by Djimon Hounsou, he uses two energy swords, the deadly Minn-Erva, Gemma Chan portrays her, there is also the tall Att-Lass (Algenis Perez Soto), and Bron-Char (Rune Temte).  Chan is fresh off of Crazy Rich Asians and was known as Mia in the Humans sci fi show.  Soto was in the drama, Samba (2017), and Temte was in the historical drama series, The Last Kingdom.  

The Starforce mission is to rescue a Kree spy on a border world, Torfa, before his intelligence is turned over to the Skrulls.  Vers in space has a blue field that helps her to breathe and her hair looks like a tomahawk in the suit.  Yon-Rogg reminds his team not to interfere with the native aliens.  This of course brings them into conflict with the Skrulls who show their shape-shifting powers.  Spoiler warning here!  Vers is captured and her memories and shifted through including her time as a fighter jet pilot.  It shows her as young girl (I recognized Mckenna Grace) crashing in a go cart and then as a recruit falling from the obstacle course ropes. 

We also see her fellow pilot and closest friend, Maria “Photon” Rambeau, played by Lashana Lynch.  I should have recognized her from the Still Star-Crossed (2017) series and she is also Arjana Pike in the police show, Bulletproof.  Photon is one of the identities of Monica Rambeau, a superhero and Avenger, Maria’s daughter is eleven year old Monica (Akira Akbar).  I like Maria, but I think Monica is more interesting.  There is a short scene with Carol and Monica singing karaoke.  Brie Larson is a recording artist and singer.  In fact, she was the lead singer of Clash at Demon’s Head in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010).  The 90's songs are littered throughout the soundtrack, some are good, but a few are intrusive.  

The Skrulls have finally found the proper memory with a focus on Annette Benning’s scientist.   Vers struggles and is able to free herself though her powers are restrained.  The Skrull leader is Talos.  Vers tries to escape, fights a number of Skrulls, and then goes into an escape pod.  She is able to crash land, what we saw in the trailer, at Blockbuster Video!  The stores are closing in Alaska, so the sole Blockbuster Video is in Bend, Oregon!  Vers regards it as a strange, alien planet (probably, since it is trapped in 1995).  She contacts Yon-Rogg who needs to travel to the planet.  He has to work on holding back Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) who was also in the Guardians of the Galaxy film.  

Then, she meets S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), he has both eyes, who is also there with Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg).  This film rests on the relationship between Fury and Carol Danvers.  We have the de-aging of Jackson, I didn’t notice it, and also Gregg.  This is the S.H.I.E.L.D. before Iron Man (2008).  Talos has brought several Skulls to Earth and Fury discovers their existence.  Along the way, Fury takes to a cat named Goose which may not be a cat.  We are going into slight spoiler territory here.  One of the problems with the character is her immense power, if she uses her powers to fire blasts, how does she recharge the power?  It is not a perpetual energy source, it would need to be sustained through drawing from another source like a sun.  

If she is so powerful, how does she control the energy so others are not burned or radiated by the energy?  There is also a valid comparison with Wonder Woman (2017) which of course came out before this film.  Both characters are innocents in a dangerous world, they realize their full powers when they understand their true identities.  It does not hit you over the head with the empowerment message, but points out the inequalities of female fighter pilots at the time.  There is a strong theme here, that it is important to see both sides in a war clearly, not as good guy and bad guy, but the reasons behind their actions.  We also get a theme of refugees which seems to be topical in the current political environment so kinda bold for Marvel to venture that territory.  There is strong ties with this film and Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.  Captain Marvel has moments with some good action!  

Three Flerkens out of Five!   

#CaptainMarvel, #AnnaBode, #RyanFleck, #BrieLarson.  

Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies!

Here’s the thing, I think Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are McDonald’s, similar to a McDonald’s meal; you can eat it, but once you finish the meal, you forget it.  It is not a savory meal that you can talk about weeks later.  I can tell you about the Umami Burger meal that I ate days and others months ago.  This is the current crop of Marvel movies with the exception of Black Panther.  I don’t remember Doctor Strange, I can tell you the basic plot, but nothing stands out.  I don’t remember Spider-Man except that he has a Filipino friend.  I don’t remember Avengers: Infinity War.  

The MCU is incredibly popular, I don’t need to fuel that machine, but I would like to have an emotionally strong movie.  What do I mean by emotion?  I mean that the character or story has to connect with me.  The MCU connection is hollow.  In Civil War, I get the division, breaking of a friendship, but I didn’t feel Tony Stark’s pain.  I understand he is in pain, but I didn’t connect with it.  This is strange because I was impressed by the Russo Bros. with Winter Soldier.  What I also mean by memorable is that I can run the entire movie from first scene to last in my head.  I can do this with Winter Soldier, love it!, and that it exceeded the genre by bringing in the political thriller.  It made me think that comic book films can be any genre.  

MCU films do have moments, the airport battle in Civil War, but to be honest the dialogue scenes are boring.  So it all action scenes and not character scenes.  It is all cheese and special sauce, MCU movies are cheesy?, but a savory meal is in the cooking.  There are strong moments in Black Panther; the visuals are so stunning, not the effects, the costumes and the world building.  Still, I wasn’t emotional in that movie.  I think it is that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a factory.  The problem is in the story.  A memorable film has not just good action scenes, but may also be something important in its themes.  

One of the criticisms against the MCU is the villains.  Killmonger is a great villain.  I hear fans say Thanos is a good villain, but I don’t connect to a cosmic bad guy.  I liked Josh Brolin more as Cable in Deadpool 2.  I actually connect to the Jim Starlin comic book Thanos because comic books are a very personal experience.  I separate the comic book from the film and what is presented in Infinity War I see as more development for the villain, but I don’t connect with him.  The problem there is that he doesn’t have a character moment with his henchmen.  It is all orders like a classic James Bond villain.  I need background, the why? of the villain, his homeworld of Titan, there is his relationship with Gamora, but again I'm not connecting to it.  

I’m going to contrast this with the DC movies.  Wonder Woman stands out as one of the most memorable super hero movies in the recent crop.  It is not an emotional connection.  It is the story.  The most impressive thing about the film is that they throw away the comic book story, but provide a movie that takes bits and pieces from the comics and goes its own way.  The other part of it is that the story structure is basically Superman: The Movie, the innocent hero gets tested in the real world, there’s romance, even the bullet catching scene which now uses the bracelet.  Topping all of it is that there is a message in the movie similar to Winter Soldier which had the message that if the system, government, is oppressive and broken, then you need to start over.  Wonder Woman’s message is set in the worst wars in modern history, has Wonder Woman fight for peace with love at the center, it is not just her message, the message is meant for you.  

I’m going to contrast it with Justice League.  Considered a disappointment, it is directed by a weak filmmaker, but I still like it. No emotional connection, not a strong story, it is imperfect, but for me, there are certain scenes I remember vividly; Batman telling Flash just save one person, Aquaman’s magic lasso scene, and Wonder Woman’s bank rescue.  I caught it on cable and watched it all the way through.  I also watched Civil War on cable up to the airport scene and then switched channels.  I have hope for Captain Marvel, but at this point, it is distant.  I usually buy my opening night ticket in advance, but ever since Infinity War, I’m going to wait until the night of the preview to buy a ticket.  Maybe this film will be different, maybe it will have more than action movie characterization, maybe it will have something important to say.  

#MarvelCinematicUniverse, #AvengersInfinityWar, #WonderWoman, #CaptainMarvel

Happy Birthday Will Eisner!

Happy Birthday Will Eisner!  He is one of the most important figures in comic books and was pivotal in advancing comic books as an art form.  Eisner’s first comic work was in a 1936 issue of Wow, What a Magazine! with the adventures of Captain Scott Dalton.  He worked with Jerry Iger to form Eisner & Iger that produced comic books. In 1940, The Spirit appeared in newspapers.  Denny Colt, who wore a mask, fourth crime when he was thought to have died.  Eisner worked in different genres and his use of graphic design for titles set the stage for modern comic books.  

The Spirit was played by Sam J. Jones in a 1987 movie and also in a 2008 film.  He was entered into the Academy of Comic Book Arts Hall of Fame in 1971.  Eisner produced one of the early graphic novels with A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (1978).  He wrote one of the most foremost books on comic books, Comics and Sequential Art (1985), recommended.  In 1988, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards began at the San Diego Comic Con. He created many works of fairy tales such as Princess and the Frog (1998), real life accounts like Last Day in Vietnam (2000), and literature like his The Last Knight (2000) graphic novel based on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote.  Will Eisner died on January 3, 2005.  His impact on the comic industry, professionals, and fans will never be forgotten.  Happy Birthday Will Eisner!

#WillEisner, #AContractwithGod, #ComicsandSequentialArt, #WillEisnerComicIndustryAwards  

Heroes in Crisis #6 Review!

Mitch Gerards provides the artwork for the cover with has Harley Quinn holding the Sanctuary mask on the floor with a cover and blood splattered around her.  The first page with Clay Mann art has the tribute videos of Gnarrk, a teenage caveman frozen in ice and is wakened by the Teen Titans, yup like Encino Man (1992).  The other is the Wally West Flash who was just shifted into this version of the DC Universe.  Then, we have Harley Quinn and all are asked about the lives they have saved.  Gnarrk is a little confused, Wally doesn’t want to boast, and of course Harley turns it on the interviewer.  The rest of the comic book has art by Mitch Gerards.  Next, we get a splash page of Gnarrk waxing poetic on a wooly mammoth and looking at the night stars.  He is surprisingly more verbose with his quotation of Keats.  We have the Flashes, Wally West and Barry Allen meeting in Rebirth #1 (2016).  Wally asks about his family.  Harley Quinn is bored hanging out with Poison Ivy who says the Trinity, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, will find her.  These sequences almost seem random, but there is some sense to them.  

Gnarrk is some thick grass is ambushed by a saber-tooth tiger and defends himself.  He contemplates the prehistoric life.  Then, we have Wally meeting his super friends, they hug him so we can see their back and Wally’s sad face.  The rest of panel is blank, empty.  The Joker tells a joke and Poison Ivy tells Harley to hit him, therapy, but there is a troubled look on her face.  Gerards’ artwork tells all about the character in facial expressions.  Gnarrk is riding the back of a wooly mammoth going over how life was simple without society forced on him.  Wally goes over the battle with his fellow heroes, but is left behind thinking about his family.  A splash page features Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy talking with the dialogue wrapped around them discussing Poison Ivy’s obsession with plants.  Gnarrk has killed an antelope with a spear, but a rival caveman attacks him.  He reflects that he always thought about death and now has to think about life.  An overhead tracking shot of Wally walking with the Sanctuary robe and mask.  In his room, he has taken them off, and feels lonely.  A voice says he is not alone.  A computer voice?  The Sanctuary computer?  It has been done before that artificial intelligence thinks the humans it cares for can only be helped by killing them.  Could it be Booster Gold’s robot Skeets?  

Night, in a field the Joker tells his jokes and his killed, Harley laughs, Poison Ivy imagines vines, and the scene repeats.  Gnarrk dismounts the wooly mammoth, contemplation over, and exits the holograph room in track suit, but then there is an emergency.  A splash page of Wally West in a surreal white background.  Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy hear the alarm and Poison Ivy leaves to check on it.  This is actually strange since Harley Quinn is watching over her.  Outside of Sanctuary, Gnarrk holds the bloody body of the Protector who is afraid, he tries to console him.  He falls and says maybe he is thinking too much.  Wally holds the body of Roy Harper and says he didn’t want to be alone.  Then, Booster Gold enters and finds that Harley Quinn is there.  There is a startling secret in that scene, but it looks like we see where we began with this series.  It has the same confession question about how many the hero saved to Commander Steel, Blue Say, Solstice, and others.  We get the title of this issue, "Who Is Saved?"   

Four Pieces of Peach Pie out of Five! 

#HeroesinCrisis, #WhoIsSaved, #TomKing, #MitchGerards

I Am The Night, “Queen’s Gambit, Accepted”, Review!

1917, we get a b&w look at the high class world of a mansion, a boy (Nicholas Brown) playing at a piano, watched over by a man also in a suit.  He stands there not looking.  This is Rachmaninoff (Kristoff Konrad).  We overlook a mother worried about young George Hodel, the instructor says he plays without emotion.  Young George sees the looming black bull.  We are startled by Jay being beaten in his jail cell while Biles eats Chinese food.  Then, he is thrown into his cell with a bloody face.  Jay tries to say the killer is George Hodel.  He tries to go over the evidence and Biles goes into his cell.  There are smokes from fires across the city.  This is accurately reflects such an event, I went around Los Angeles during the 1992 riots to deliver food supplies to a church.  Fauna gets a call about the injury of Jimmy Lee.  Corinna gets a call from Fauna.  There is a smoke from a large fire and Terence stops by the house.  She wants a ride back to Nevada.  He refuses and she wants a ride to Pasadena.  Fauna decides to walk and Terence changes his mind.  Fauna hears the disruption in Terence’s car hiding in the trunk with a spot of light on her face.  Terence stops and is confronted by a neighbor who tells him he will get a ticket for parking on the street.  He lets Fauna out of the trunk and she kisses him. 

I AM THE NIGHT -- “Queen’s Gambit, Accepted” -- INDIA EASLEY-- Clay Enos/TNT. 

Fauna knocks on the door of Corinna’s house and she says that the city is going mad.  The Watts Riots has broken out.  Fauna asks for bus money and Corinna gets her a drink.  She admits she saw Temar.  Fauna says Temar forgives her.  She tries to get out of her seat and collapses.  Um, she should have been suspicious.  Prisoners from the riots are brought into the jail watched by Jay.  One of them remarks about what is happening on the streets with the police.  Fauna wakes up in a bed in a nightie and sees George Hodel there.  She dresses in her normal clothes and as George is polishing his shoe, he explains has brought her to his mansion.  He checks on her as a doctor.  Fauna says he invited her.  He replies as the window shows the smoke from burning fires.  Fauna admits she met Temar and Jay Singletary.  George’s side of the story is that Jay is after him and he sends money to Temar.  Fauna says she does not feel well and watches George leave from the hallway.  She finds an open door that leads to steps to a locked gate.  She heads out to a garden when George shows her his latest art piece. A painting of red and black.  He offers for Fauna to stay at his mansion as his guest.  George asks about Jimmy Lee and Fauna replies she hasn’t seen her in weeks.  There is a door bell ring.  It is Biles and George sends Fauna away.  George wants National Guard over and has a meeting with Dr. Berman.  

Fauna catches up with Biles as he is about to leave and tries to leave with him.  George sees them and escorts her back to her room.  Morning, Jay is wakened and questioned by Biles.  The detective says he saw Jay’s evidence.  Biles says that the granddaughter is at the mansion.  The other officer takes out a switchblade.  Jay says he has something.  He says the switchblade is the weapon that killed Janice Brewster.  The officer wipes away his prints and Jay takes up the knife to trade for his freedom.  Jay is taken to the parking lot in handcufffs.  Biles calls up a police car.  He hands her the handcuff key and tells Jay not to kill Hodel.  A trooper joins Jay in the back seat.  Fauna is trapped in her room, she sees a chessboard, and then the door opens.  A servant, Yuna (Mariko Wordell), informs her that dinner is ready.  Fauna enters slowly and sits across from George.  She refuses to eat, Fauna explains that she’s not feeling well, now that’s clever.  He toasts her and Fauna picks up the wine glass and then sets it down.  George offers to paint Fauna instead.  He has a gun at his side.  George leads Fauna down the steps, it looks like an operating room, he has paintings behind a curtain.  He offers her a nightie to wear.  She refuses and he slaps her.  She is on the floor and he puts on his coat.  She goes behind the curtain and sees pictures of his work.  Fauna asks about Jay while dressing.  He tells her to sit.  

I AM THE NIGHT -- “Queen’s Gambit, Accepted” -- JEFFERSON MAYS, INDIA EASLEY -- Clay Enos/TNT. 

The police car goes through the night streets filled with sirens.  Jay uses the key to unlock his cuffs.  A trooper says that a black man should go home.  Jay knocks him out and the other trooper and then chokes out the driver.  He takes an officer’s gun.  George paints and Fauna cries asking for a towel to wipe her face.  George takes out the gun.  The tension is thick.  Fauna says she went to Corinna’s Happening and questions George’s art.  She says Corinna is the artist.  She hits him the wrapped up towel, gun falls, Fauna takes up the gun.  She asks if she is his daughter.  He seems to be crying now.  Closeup to her eye, he sees the bull there, Fauna says she is Jimmy Lee’s daughter.   She says he’s boring.  Fauna runs off with the gun. If she leaves George just chastising him that still leaves him as a threat.  I like that Fauna stands up for herself and doesn’t need Jay to rescue her.  Jay has the gun looking at the house, Fauna goes over to hug him, he tells her to stay there and walks to the basement.  He sees the painting of George in the bull head.  Jay is raging slamming the paintings.  Fauna says he’s gone.  She calms him down and they leave the artwork with just the outline of Fauna painted.  They walk the night street and Fauna says Jay will find grace.  Troopers walk from the smoke and Jay says he will have to leave.  Fauna passes the police officers.  Morning, she appears with Terrence at Jimmy Lee’s hospital bed.  Jay reads a letter from Fauna by the beach.  Peter reads a story.  George walks with a cane and a limp.  Uma covers a read painting and there is the statue of the black bull.  Sunset, Jay is surfing, there is a Korean soldier, she thanks him for saving her.  The moody noir elements are heightened here which makes it beautiful.  We have more family photos with Fauna and her daughters.  

Five Cameras out of Five! 

#IAmTheNight, #QueensGambitAccepted, #IndiaEisley, #ChrisPine

Star Trek vs. Transformers #5 Review!

The merging of two animated franchises is coming to a conclusion!  It features a cover by Philip Murphy, interior artist, that has Optimus Prime taking on Megatron in a heated space battle with Fortress Maximus transformed as the Enterprise and the actual Enterprise firing phasers at Decepticons!  The story is continued by John Barber and Mike Johnson.  The two allied ships are over Cygnus Seven, the mining planet that was the setting for most of the series, Captain Kirk is debating with the Transformer Ratchet over the invasion of the Klingon Empire.  He wears the headband that gives him control of Fortress Maximus.  Mr. Spock has command of the Enterprise, it is great to see the bridge crew again, he brings up concerns of the condition of the battle-worn Federation ship.  The Autobots are in the Enterprise hangar and Optimus Prime vows to enter Klingon space to save them.  Kirk brings up the Prime Directive and Optimus lays down his own version!  

On Kronos, the homeward of the Klingons, the Klingon High Council considers the breaking of the Neutral Zone by what they suspect is Federation ships.  Then, there is an explosion with the shadowy form of Starscream!  He admires the Klingon language which eh learned, slams down rubble to form a throne, and declares himself emperor!  The two allied ships are traveling at maximum warp, there is some strain on Kirk’s face, Optimus Prime says that he wishes he had more than one life to give and this gives Kirk and idea with the replicators.  Starscream blasts and scatters the high council.  Then, there is aerial strikes against the city.  Starscream suspects the Autobots and is blasted several times.  He discovers it is not the Autobots, but Megatron and the Decepticons!  He orders Soundwave to unleash all of his cassettes against Starscream!  He is defeated and of course Megatron declares himself emperor of New Kaon of the Deception Empire.  Kaon is the capital city of the Decepticons on Cybertron.  His lieutenant warns him of another threat!  

We have a stunning two page spread with Fortress Maximus Kirk leading the combined forces and the Autobots rolling out against the Decepticons facing them in the foreground.  Optimus Prime confronts Megatron who points to Commander Kuri as his ally.  He defies his former ally and will oppose his “rule.” The green Decepticon jet, Acid Storm, lives up to his name, burning Transformer armor controlled by Spock and Mr. Sulu. Star Trek characters in Transformer armor? I can’t wait to see these toys!  The battle is fierce and Mr. Scott in his armor mentions Sulu’s weapon, an extendible blade.  Megatron has Soundwave unleash a sonic blast that stuns all of the fighters.  He finds Commander Kuri there unaffected by Soundwave’s blast.  He also mentions that Kirk had some modifications that has a fleet of Klingon bird-of-preys appear over the sky. So we have the conclusion to the Transformers battle in the Star Trek universe.  Optimus Prime commands Fortress Maximus with the Autobots and Kirk says farewell.  This series maximizes the potential of the two cartoon series and the merging of the two so I can’t wait to see if there are Star Trek Transformer toys!  It has a strong Star Trek setting, if there is a next series, I hope it moves to Cybertron!  

#StarTrekvsTransformers, #PrimeDirective, #Kronos, #NewKaon 

Happy Birthday Lupita Nyong'o!

Happy Birthday Lupita Nyong'o! She's relatively new on the scene since her breakout role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave (2013) winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Lupita took up the part of Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and followed it up as the voice of Raksha, the wolf mother of Mowgli in Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book (2016). She also played a mother in a real life drama of chess master, Phiona Mutesi in Queen of Katwe (2016). Lupita returned to voice Maz Kanata in the Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017) animated series and a brief cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).  Her most exciting role though was last year as Nakia, spy and love interest of T'Challa in Black Panther! She has upcoming the Jordan Peele directed and written horror film Us.  It is set for release on March 22nd.  Happy Birthday Lupita Nyong’o!

#LupitaNyongo, #StarWarsTheForceAwakens, #BlackPanther, #Us 

Star Wars: Resistance, “The Disappeared”, Review!

Over the seas of Castellon, racers pass through the rings next to Colossus Base, I think this is the third time we see a race so they are rare in Star Wars: Resistance.  By the way, I noticed that the racers have horizontal wings which increases their profile making them more difficult to race through the rings.  To slip through the rings, I think they should have sweep back diagonal wings like the F-22 Raptor or the F-4C Phantom II fighters.  Hype Fazon showboats and takes the lead.  Commander Pyre, in hologram, questions the races, but Captain Doza says it’s for positive moral.  Also, they generate money and provide a sense of community.   Doza says the races will continue.  Aunt Z's cantina,  BB-9E, the black First Order droid runs into an Aleena, the same race as Podracer Ratts Tyrell, a bully droid.  Neeku is excited about upcoming Ace Run that Tam and Kaz can enter.  Stormtroopers arrive with BB-9E.  One trooper inquires about volunteers, but Aunt Z doesn’t want to post the recruitment hologram. The stormtrooper says it isn’t a request and draws his blaster rifle.  They leave.  The First Order is an ever present threat here instead of goofy henchmen like in other episodes. 

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “The Disappeared” -- Disney/Lucasfilm. 

Torra watches the First Order troop carriers land at the base.  They go to see Commander Pyre.  The captain tells Torra to go to her room.  Pyre says the race is cancelled.  Captain Doza delivers the news to the pilots and the Aces stop their patrols.  Hype runs to his ship in the hangar surrounded by stormtroopers.  Checking the Fireball, Tam is again angry at Tam, Neeku tells them that the races are cancelled. Shouldn’t the First Order compensate the base for the race?  At Aunt Z's, Kaz argues against the First Order to the sympathizer Tam.  She can become dangerous as a First Order agent and has to be blasted.  Torra is looking for Hype.  Aunt Z angrily blames the First Order.  BB-9E brings in stormtroopers!  They close in noting a disturbance.  Aunt Z is angry at the disappearances and blame them.  Tam tells them about Hype.  The stormtrooper was given permission to leave.  Aunt Z shuts off the hologram and throws it at the stormtrooper.  They walk away.  Torra wants Kaz’s help to find Hype looking for his ship.  CB-23, the red BB droid brings in a cargo container.  The stormtroopers open a container and are attacked by swarms of gorgs. Kaz and Torra sneak in during the distraction.  

They find Hype’s ship locked down.  Stormtroopers are heard and Kaz and Torra sneak behind crates.  One stormtrooper says the ship is going to scrapped.  Torra explains that Hype was angry the last time she saw him.  At Aunt Z’s bar, the patrons are angry with the overworked droid, it explains Aunt Z was taken away.  Night, stormtroopers patrol containers, inside is Aunt Z and Hype.  They are about to be taken away off world.  Aunt Z tries to ask the stormtroopers where they are going.  Kaz and Torra find Neeku and he tries to contact Yeager.  The door opens and Kaz sees Yeager talking with Captain Doza!  Kaz confronts Captain Doza.  He doesn’t know where they are being transferred.  Yeager wants to shut down the First Order’s communications.  Kaz wants to find the prisoners before it is too late.  His plans are not outrageous, goofiness, he is getting better as a Resistance agent.  

STAR WARS: RESISTANCE -- “The Disappeared” -- Disney/Lucasfilm. 

The sympathizer asks what they talked about and Kaz says it is a planned celebration, Neeku is happy.  Kaz, CB-23, and Torra slip under the base and they head for the containers.  A stormtrooper passes on patrol.  They hear Aunt Z talking.  Kaz and Torra try to whisper to her.  Kaz plans to take the ship to fly away the container so the First Order doesn’t go searching the base.  The stormtroopers escort the prisoners into a ship, Torra and Kaz jump on stormtroopers posted as guards.  Aunt Z body slams the two stormtrooper escorts.  Torra uses the stormtrooper’s rifle to stun him.  Kaz is in trouble nearly falling into the sea.  Hype shows his heroism.  Aunt Z wants Hype to head for Takodana, her friend is there, Maz Kanata! Torra is excited at their success. Kaz goes to see Yeager and there is Commander Pyre and stormtroopers!  He is arresting all of them!  The tension works in this episode, it is more about the take over of the First Order than any other episode, still it is only time before the sympathizer puts on the stormtrooper helmet!  After they free Colossus Base, will Aunt Z and Hype Fazon return?  

Four Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWarsResistance, #TheDisappeared, #AuntZ, #HypeFazon    

Happy Birthday Adam Baldwin!

Happy Birthday Adam Baldwin! He has a great genre spanning career in film and television.  I would say I first took note of Adam as Animal Mother in Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987).  There was something about his soldier, just all out into the rifle life, and you took him for what he was as a person.  I also remember him as Captain Wilkins in The Patriot (2000), the colonist who had loyalty to the crown, but not the brutal tactics of Colonel Tavington.  Still, the role that I think made his mark as an actor was Jayne Cobb in Firefly which ran from 2002 to 2003.  Jayne is a tough mercenary with his loyalty on a razor over money, there is something stupid, but lovable about the man called Jayne, you want him in a gun fight, but not hanging around you.  

Adam Baldwin at Wizard World, New Orleans, 2012, photo by the author.

There are two episodes that defined the character, he betrays the team in “Ariel” and Mal at the end is about to eject him into space, this is probably my favorite for his character.  Then, of course, “Jaynestown”, where he unknowingly is made a folk hero, to the disbelief of the crew and himself, and the responsibility makes him turn away from the fame.  I saw him at a convention in New Orleans and there was true love of the character and the series, he is more of fan than any Browncoat.  I was so happy that there was some sort of conclusion to the crew with the Serenity (2005) film, but I still want more, even it’s continuation in comics.  Baldwin was also John Casey in Chuck (2007-2012).  Adam has done voice work for animated series like Superman in Superman/Doomsday (2007) and video games with Halo and Half-Life.  Last year he was Captain Mike Slattery in The Last Ship series that he started in 2014.  Happy Birthday Adam Baldwin! 

#AdamBaldwin, #FullMetalJacket, #Firefly, #TheLastShip