Anthony Rogers first appeared in the pages of Amazing Stories waaaay back in 1928.  He pulled a Rip Van [...]]]> My memories of Buck Rogers are of spandex white suits and disco music, courtesy of one Gil Gerard and an 80’s interpretation of the character.  But really, Buck Rogers has been around a lot longer than that.

Anthony Rogers first appeared in the pages of Amazing Stories waaaay back in 1928.  He pulled a Rip Van Winkle, passing out in a cave and waking up in the 25th century.  Gas in the cave held him in a sort of suspended animation, keeping him alive and not aging while he slept the centuries away.

Next, he was given the nickname ‘Buck’ and became the star of a daily comic strip, a radio serial and a movie serial – not necessarily in that order but work with me here.  When tv came along, so did Buck, first in the 50’s and later on in the 80’s, which is the series I grew up with.  I even had the lunch box and this iron version of Buck’s fighter complete with little orange missiles that shot out to choke little kids-er, destroy the enemy ships.

I also had a relatively fun strategy game based on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century – still do (in a box somewhere).  Think ‘Axis & Allies’, ‘Risk’ or ‘Shogun’ not ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and you’ll get the gist of the game.

I’ve been thinking for some time now that there needed to be a come back for Buck Rogers, a retelling or reboot (despite my growing distaste and displeasure for the word ‘reboot’).  I was aware of the web series in production (link?), but didn’t realize there was a comic book as well until I came across the graphic novel in a recent trip to B&N. (That’s not true. I think, now, that I remember reading something about it somewhere, sometime that I forgot about.)

Anyway, I picked it up and brought it home. Yes, yes, I paid for it first. Sheesh.  You people and your thoughts sometimes.

Buck Rogers – Volume 1: Future Shock
Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment (September 7, 2010)

Buck Rogers is a test pilot, he’s also a partner in a venture to build and test spacecraft capable of traveling faster than any ships before thanks to a new gravity drive they have in development.

Set in the ‘near future’, human’s have colonized Mars and are taking their first steps into a larger universe.  Buck and his partners, aim to take Human’s even further – hence the gravity drive.

Only, trouble is a brewin’.  The military (There’s always a military – usually with multi-billion dollar grants and seemingly endless buckets of money taking advantage of the poor scientists!) are now aware of and interested in the gravity drive and the experimental ship that only Buck can fly (thanks to genetic key codes and a slew of other safeguards built into the ships flight controls which, as a plot point, is pretty convenient).

Buck doesn’t know this, he has other, bigger concerns at the moment.  Like bad navigational data and a slew of rocks right where he’d planned a test run of the gravity drive.  He could test it anyway…

The military want New Challenger, though, and they aren’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer.  So when Buck returns to earth and tries to say ‘no’ anyway, they have a counter argument ready for him:

When he wakes up again, Buck is told about a madmen who distributed a plague on Mars, a plague that caused the people there to go mad and kill each other.  Before dying himself, the madmen launched a probe into deep space carrying genetic breakdowns of hundreds if not thousands of species from Earth, including humans.

Buck isn’t happy about being forced into Military service, but he also doesn’t see a way out and grudgingly agrees that maybe, just maybe, a probe full of earth species DNA floating around in space ain’t the best idea going.  He agrees to use the gravity drive to stop the probe before it can leave the solar system, but something goes horribly wrong.

Instead of catching the probe, Buck Rogers finds himself returned to Earth hundreds of years later, crashing into a ‘Designated Game Preserve’ where humans are hunted, killed and slaughtered for meat…

…and where he meets, Wilma Deering.

I was very excited about this title.  The cover art has a retro feel to it, like the old serials – heck, even the terminology is a throwback to the days of yesteryear (like ‘atomizer’, for example).  But while the story was compelling, the back and forth way they told it wasn’t.

I gave you only part of the beginning in my little synopsis.  Actually, they bounce back and forth between past and present in a way that almost makes you seasick.  Well, makes me seasick, anyway.

One of the things I don’t necessarily care for in this re-imagining of the character is that Buck feels, at first, to be quite one dimensional.  He’s a rebel, he ‘bucks’ the system, that is the entirety of his characters motivation in all things – okay, got it.  When things get crazy and he gets shot into the future, there’s not really an ‘Oh shit!’ moment that I think any sane person would have.  I’m reminded of John Crichton on Moya here – Buck should freak out.  Granted, there’s tons of things going on, tons of dangers threatening him, but there’s also a moment when everything calms down that we don’t really see (before the next thing happens) – I think that’s when there should’ve been a freak out moment.  A big one.

“Everyone I’ve ever known is dead!”  Something like that.  I mean, COME ON!  Give him some emotion, some depth!

Other, revisted characters include: Wilma Deering, Princess Darla & Kane and Doctor Huer – all familiar and yet different in their own respects.  They don’t do or say much to give us too much insight into who and what they are.  Yet.  Again, sort of one dimensional.  Wilma’s a dedicated soldier.  Darla & Kane aren’t to be trusted.  Doctor Huer is the crazy scientist.

There’s a twist, a good one, that I won’t reveal.  Suffice it to say, it’s the past coming back to haunt the future.  It’s thought out but also pretty easy to spot once you get a little into the book.  You see some stuff and your brain goes, “Oh. That’s why this and this is happening in the future.  Got it.”

Part of me also wonders if it isn’t all just a dream that he’s having.  Could go that way, not sure if it will.  This is just volume 1 – issues 1-5/6 and there are more after this that I don’t have yet.  This is the setup for the series – if it were a tv show, I’d call it the pilot.  As pilot’s go, it’s okay, but not great.  Maybe it builds from here, the story grows richer, the characters become more dimensional and relatable.

The artwork is clean and well done.  There’s a retro feel to the future, if that makes sense.

The volume is available in hardback with gloss interiors that make the marketing guy in me smile, and it ain’t cheap – we’re talking $25 in a brick and mortar store, sans any discounts you might receive.  Looks like you can get it for $17 online.

~P

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A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now, to the thrilling [...]]]>

The Lone Ranger

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now, to the thrilling days of yesteryear – the Lone Ranger rides again!

The Lone Ranger’s Creed:

“I believe…..

That to have a friend, a man must be one.

That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.

In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

That ‘this government of the people, by the people, and for the people’ shall live always.

That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

That sooner or later…somewhere…somehow…we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.

In my Creator, my country, my fellow man.”

The Lone Ranger is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through six of The Lone Ranger comic book series as originally published by Dynamite.

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment (June 29, 2007)

It’s not easy being the little brother. For one thing, your older brother knows everything (or thinks he does) and what he doesn’t know, your father does – and neither one of them is even a little bit shy of pointing out when you’re wrong and they’re right. This means that you are forever trying to be like them, understand them and what they do.   Lessons can be hard earned.

Worse, it’s difficult to live up to what your father and brother stand for when they send you off to school while they stay behind fighting the bad guys.

Still, you manage. So imagine your surprise when you come home from school and you’re handed a badge and told to raise your right hand, say some words and mean em, and mount up!

You are now a bona fide Texas Ranger on the trail of law breakers, riding side by side with your family.

Exciting, right? This is what you’ve always wanted. This is the begin-gun shots ring out! All around you, men start to fall, even your father and your brother. You struggle as a bullet tears through your body, then another. You fall from your horse but still the shots ring out. They don’t stop until you and everyone around you stops moving.

It wasn’t the beginning, it was the end.

You wake up, surprised. An Indian is tending to your wounds.

He’s surprised that you’re awake too. No one else survived the ambush. You bury the men who fell around you, including your father and your brother. You add one more grave for yourself.

You throw away the name you were given at birth; that man is dead now.

You take up a new name, become a new man, a masked man. Who is that masked man? Not even you know that for sure just yet, but it’s time to find out who you are…

Well. What to say about this one.  It should’ve been longer.

I really wanted to like this and I wasn’t disappointed.  It started strong enough, telling the backstory of one John Reid, youngest son of a Texas Ranger who comes home and is accepted as a Ranger in his own right.  At this point – after the ambush, it did slow down – I think I would’ve liked the pacing to be quicker – they could have told much of the middle story in 20 fewer pages and not lost a bit of quality, imho.

I remember Saturday mornings watching WGN in Chicago – The Lone Ranger, Zorro and The Cisko Kid.  This brought back that memory of sitting cross-legged on the carpet, staring up at the tv and being a kid again, dreaming of being the swash buckling hero.

Having said that, this is a more modern telling of the story and as such, is much more violent, gritty and gory.  The art style is very dark and contemporary and it doesn’t have the overly buff and muscled characters you find so often in comics these days (the Mighty Marvel style) – which is a good thing.

It feels more like a movie than a comic or a tv episode.  We learn a lot about John Reid as he becomes The Lone Ranger, but very little about Tonto, which I hope is touched upon in another volume because they lay the foundation of a very interesting character.

The Lone Ranger will run you $20 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $15.

~P

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With a name like Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, how could you not become a Wizard?

At the tender age of six years old, Harry Dresden became an orphan.  His mother, Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay McCoy Dresden, had died giving birth to Harry and his father, Malcolm, died of a brain [...]]]>

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden

With a name like Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, how could you not become a Wizard?

At the tender age of six years old, Harry Dresden became an orphan.  His mother, Margaret Gwendolyn LeFay McCoy Dresden, had died giving birth to Harry and his father, Malcolm, died of a brain aneurysm leaving Harry all alone.  For a few years, he lived in foster care until he turned ten and his ability with magic manifested itself.  Justin DuMorne, a former member of the White Council of Wizard’s, adopted Harry and a young girl named Elaine Mallory and took them as his apprentices to teach them the ways of magic.

He was a harsh Master.

When he and Elaine were in their teens, Justin showed his true colors; he enthralled Elaine to his will and attempted to do the same to Harry, all so he could used their power, combined with his own, to do terrible Black Magics.  Harry resisted.  A lot.  He killed his ‘Uncle Justin’ and was taken to the White Council to be executed for using Black Magic, one of several Laws of Magic they take very seriously.

The Seven Laws of magic are:

1. Thou shalt not kill by use of magic.
2. Thou shalt not transform others.
3. Thou shalt not invade the mind of another.
4. Thou shalt not enthrall another.
5. Thou shalt not reach beyond the Borders of Life.
6. Thou shalt not swim against the Currents of Time.
7. Thou shalt not seek beyond the Outer Gates.

Due to the circumstances and a plea for leniency on his behalf (assumed, it’s never been confirmed), the members of the White Council did not execute Harry, they instead placed him under the care of one Ebenezar McCoy and held the Doom of Damocles over his head; a strict law that gives the powerful Warden’s the right to execute Harry on the spot should they find he has turned to the Black or used it or crossed any rule or law in any way.

All grown up, Harry sets himself up in the city of Chicago and advertises in the local phone book as:

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties or Other Entertainment

Which brings us to ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.

Welcome to the Jungle is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through four of the Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle miniseries as originally published by the Dabel Brothers (subsequent titles are now published by Dynamite).  Chronologically, this story takes place prior to the first novel in the series, Storm Front.

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Del Rey/Dabel Brothers (October 14, 2008)

“Welcome to the jungle.  Like any jungle, it is a world of predators and prey. Some of the most dangerous creatures in the world live here.  Very few of them are in cages. And none of them are what they appear to be.”

This is the opening lines of Welcome to the Jungle.

There’s been a mysterious murder at the zoo.  Kind of a high profile case, too.  The son of a local official has been found dead in front of the monkey cages.  But its weird.  Weird means one thing in Chicago: time to call in Special Investigations.

Karrin Murphy, Lieutenant, head of the S.I. division and someone who likes truth and justice to go hand in hand, not always easy with ‘weird’.  Still, she does her job well and, for the most part, the higher ups leave her alone because she closes cases.  She’s a little over five feet tall and full of spunk – Harry’s words, not mine.

She closes cases because she’s not afraid to call in a ’specialist’ from time to time.

Harry Dresden; closer to seven feet and change, makes for the dashing, hero-type image.  Really, he’s a brawler, a bruiser, he’s the Wildcat to the Justice League’s Batman.  Yeah, he can bring the power but sometimes he lacks finesse.  Doesn’t slow him down one bit, though.

When Murphy calls, Harry answers.  And not just because it could mean the difference between paying the rent and not paying the rent, there’s also the helping people out thing, which Harry has to do.  Maybe it’s the whole ‘Justin tried to turn him into an evil thrall to doom the world so he has to atone’ thing or maybe it’s a deep seated need to prove to the White Council that he’s not the scum of the earth.  Either way, she calls, he answers.

Wizard’s have a lot of tools in their arsenal; one of them is the Sight.  It allows them to see for themselves the after images left behind by trauma and death.  It’s difficult to do because what they see can affect them, essentially allow them to feel the same fears, pain and anxiety of a victim.  Worse, it never goes away; once you’ve seen something with the Sight, it stays with you forever.  Still, it will give Harry an idea of what really happened at the zoo, so he dips into the Sight and takes a look.

Not everyone is impressed with Harry’s abilities.

Mockery aside, Harry sees that something from his side of the tracks is responsible for this death.  Everyone else assumes it was a gorilla who somehow managed to escape his enclosure.  They want the animal put down.  The only ones who think different are Harry and Murphy, but her hands are tied unless he can bring her evidence.

Now it’s up to Harry; find the real killer, exonerate the gorilla and try not to get killed himself while doing it…

So.  I have read all of the Dresden novels up to Proven Guilty, which is #8.  I’m a fan.  Unlike most fans, I did not read the books before watching the series on the channel formerly known as Scifi.  They made a lot of changes that angered people (no blue beetle, dark haired Murphy, short Dresden).  This graphic novel has none of that – it’s a more true representation of the characters than those were – by far.  That’s the power of the comic, of course.  No need for lengthy casting calls.

As a prequel to the novels, this is an excellent story.  It has its slow parts just as any story, but its a strong story and I like it.  Just like any Dresden story, this one starts off with a minor event of Harry doing something to help out a client, then getting mixed up in something larger – in this case, the murder at the zoo.  His ‘aw shucks’ demeanor helps him in his investigation but when he needs to, he can turn off the hick-charm routine and go right into brawler mode, whipping out his blasting rod or his runic staff to kick some butt.

The artwork is fantastic.  I really enjoyed the detail put in.  It wasn’t over-the-top, which I was glad for given the subject matter.  I cringe to think of what the Marvel hero factory would’ve done to Dresden.  Probably some super tall, massively built uber-Thunder God looking dude, which Harry is not.  He gets his ass kicked people.  A lot.

At one point we even get a glimpse at Harry throwing down with old Uncle Justin, Elaine already enthralled beside him.

So – we have Murphy who looks like Murphy, we have Dresden who looks like Dresden and we have the Blue Beetle – already doing better than the tv show, right?  We also have Bob looking like Bob.  And talking like Bob.  I half expected him to demand trashy romance novels in return for answering some questions (he does that in the books from time to time).

The last element to make any Dresden story complete?  Mister the cat, of course. (Reminds me of the new cat in my house: Dakota the lion)

All in all this was a great book.  I admit it, I’m a fan of Dresden as a character so I might be a little biased but if you don’t know the books, this is a great place to get started.  It’s an easy read and introduces you to the elements of the world very nicely, giving you a little stepping off point to dive into the novels if you so choose.

Welcome to the Jungle will run you $20 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $15.  It’s worth the extra rupees if you’re a collector/keeper because it has a nice jacket, thick hardcover and gloss interior stock paper.  Sorry, that’s the marketing guy in me shining through.

~P

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Dick Grayson was the youngest member of a circus highwire act known as ‘The Flying Graysons’.  When his family was killed right in front of him, it struck Bruce Wayne right where it hurts because it was like watching his own parents die all [...]]]> One of my favorite characters in the Batman universe is Dick Grayson.

Dick Grayson was the youngest member of a circus highwire act known as ‘The Flying Graysons’.  When his family was killed right in front of him, it struck Bruce Wayne right where it hurts because it was like watching his own parents die all over again.

Bruce felt such a kinship for the orphaned boy that he offered to take him in and become his guardian.  Dick became Robin, partner to Batman and a crime fighter in his own right.

He was 8 years old.

And that’s why I don’t want Robin in Batman 3.

Hollywood is enamored with itself and as such, likes to A) change things and B) play homage to its own past.  To Hollywood, Dick Grayson / Robin is really Burt Ward or, even worse (I know, how could anything be worse?) Chris O’Donnel.  If Robin appears in Batman 3, once again they’ll get some 30 yr old actor to portray him and then wtf was the point?

Robin is a KID.

Chris O'Donnell could have played Nightwing at his age, but not a convincing Robin.

Yes he grows up.  Yes he is replaced once in a while (what are we, on #4 right now?) but the point is still the same – he is a kid!  An 8 year old kid, and Hollywood doesn’t like that for a lot of reasons.

First and foremost – having kids on set costs more.  You can’t keep them up all day and night like you can an adult actor, and they have to go to school which means tutors.  That’s why half the time the kid you see on screen isn’t even really a kid, it’s some twenty-something who just happens to look young enough to play sixteen.

Second, I don’t think they really know what to do with Robin.  They like the silly Robin from the tv show, not the rebellious Robin struggling to figure out who he is from the comics.  Plus, you have this Dark Knight who strikes fear in the hearts of the bad guys and he’s running around with a kid wearing bright green and yellow?

They don’t know what to do with him.

And because they don’t know what to do with him, I’d rather not see him in Batman 3.

~P

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We had what became dubbed as the ‘creepy stalker Superman’ from actor Bandon Routh who, in my humble opinion, played the part [...]]]> Rumors abound regarding all of the comic books movies coming down the pipe and Superman 2 (or is it 6?) is on the list.  But the reboot of Superman didn’t do so well, remember?

We had what became dubbed as the ‘creepy stalker Superman’ from actor Bandon Routh who, in my humble opinion, played the part as stiff and unemotional as Keanu Reeves.  Who wants to see a sequel to that?

So there are a couple things I think they could so that would make the movie successful and, since I know the heads of DC and Warner Brothers are constantly trolling my little website (Uh… right.), I figured I’d lay out the changes they need to make if they want to see this next movie fly…

Get rid of silly Lex Luthor

The original Superman came out in 1978 and was great.  Christopher Reeves played the iconic part along side Gene Hackman as an over the top version of Lex Luthor as the ultimate silly supervillain.  Well, it’s thirty years later people.  Lex Luthor has been retconned into the CEO of a mega corporation and has even held the office of the President of the United States; the time for silly Lux running around in wigs and conning dying women out of their fortunes is over.  Play him straight or don’t play him at all.

Which actually wouldn’t be a bad idea at all.  Superman has other enemies just as Batman has other enemies.  Pull one of them out and dust em off for the movie treatment.  Let’s see Braniac or Darkseid give the man of steel a fight we’ll never forget.  Or better yet – since you love trilogies so much (Sorry John and Dale), let’s bring in Doomsday and do it up right, kill Superman in the first film, deal with the aftermath in the second and his rebirth/return in the third.  I’d pay to see that.

Start Fresh

Look, we love the Christopher Reeves movies, we really did.  Even 4.  Okay, not 4.  Or 3.  But we watched them because of Reeves.  They were great movies, but when Chris Nolan sat down to do Batman, he didn’t try to paint a homage to Tim Burton and look how utterly fantastic Batman and The Dark Knight turned out!  Do that with Superman.  If you want to draw from previous materials, draw from the comics, not the movies, not the tv shows, dear GOD not from Smallville – you can do it and do it well.  Chris Nolan proved it.

Drop Brandon Routh

I’m sorry, I’m sure Brandon is a great guy but when I see him, I see creepy stalker Superman.  His recent run on Chuck, one of my favorite shows on tv, was distracting because I kept thinking, “Don’t trust creepy stalker Superman! Don’t trust him!”

His portrayal of Supes was flat, unemotional.  If it was the intention of the powers that be for him to be emotionally detached then I suppose he hit the mark spot on, but it was a terrible thing to do to him and to us.  Give us some emotion in our Superman, some passion.

So.  That’s it.  My suggestions for a killer Superman flick; no more silly Lex, a different enemy for Superman to fight, a fresh break from the previous films and a new actor in the title role.

We’ll have to wait and see what they actually do, but not long.  I think they have the Superman film greenlit for 2011 or 2012…

~P

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Luke Skywalker; last of the Jedi.  Destined to return balance to the Force.  That’s a difficult legacy to be a part of.

Son of Anakin Skywalker and twin brother to Leia Skywalker, raised as an Organa, a lot was expected from Luke.  You see, the Empire had [...]]]> A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Luke Skywalker; last of the Jedi.  Destined to return balance to the Force.  That’s a difficult legacy to be a part of.

Son of Anakin Skywalker and twin brother to Leia Skywalker, raised as an Organa, a lot was expected from Luke.  You see, the Empire had overthrown the republic some years before and Darth Vader, a Sith Lord, had hunted down all of the Jedi and killed them – including Luke’s own father.  One Jedi who survived the purge was Obi Wan Kenobi, ‘Old Ben’ as Luke knew him.  He’d fought in the Clone wars, side by side with Luke’s father only to go into hiding when Vader started hunting the Jedi down.

When Luke comes of age, Obi Wan begins his training in the ways of the Force.  Before he can finish training young Luke, Obi Wan is killed, murdered by Vader.  Luke joins the Rebel Alliance against the Empire and, with the reluctant help of his new friend Han Solo, he manages to destroy the Death Star.  But that was only the beginning.  He soon found himself being trained by a second Jedi to survive the purge; Yoda.  With Yoda, he learns much more about the Force and, with his new power, sees his friends in danger on a city in the clouds.  Rushing forth, Luke falls into a trap set by Darth Vader.  He is forced to fight Vader only to lose his hand and learn that Vader was, in fact, his father and that his mentor, Obi Wan Kenobi had lied to him.

To add insult to injury, Han Solo, his best friend, is captured by the bounty hunter known as Boba Fett and taken off to Jabba the Hutt, a criminal kingpin who rules his organization from Tattoine, Luke’s home planet.  Along with his friends, they rescue Han and return to the Alliance only to learn that a new, more powerful Death Star is being built by the Emperor.  With Yoda dead, Luke is the only remaining Jedi.  He decides to confront Vader and his Emperor while the Alliance deals with the Empire.  In the end, he reaches that spark of humanity left in Vader, that little piece of Skywalker still beating deep within his heart.  Vader turns from the Dark Side, sacrificing himself to destroy the Emperor and save his son.

…the story doesn’t end there, nor does the Skywalker line.  After the Empire falls, Luke meets and falls in love with Mara Jade.  They have a son, Ben, who follows Luke into the new Jedi Order.  Luke’s sister, Leia, also has children strong in the Force who become Jedi.  The Skywalker line continues on until, 125 years after the events on the forest moon of Endor, Cade Skywalker becomes a Padawan…

Star Wars Legacy: Volume One-Broken is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through three and five through six of the comic book Star Wars Legacy originally published by Dark Horse Comics.  Apparently issue four was a stand alone that didn’t fit in with this story, which seems silly to me (for them to do in the middle of series) but, oh well.

Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse (May 2, 2007)

You can’t keep a Jedi down.  Wipe them out to near extinction and they come back.  So do the Sith.  They are two sides of the same coin, Sith and Jedi.  Over a hundred years after the fall of the Empire and the rise of the New Republic, a new purge is underway and a new Empire is surging forth to seize power.

Darth Krayt has risen to power and, with an army of Sith following him, is striking out against the Jedi to purge them from the galaxy once and for all.  He sends his Sith to Ossus to destroy the last Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi and Padawans.

Kol Skywalker and his son, Cade, are among those fighting to survive.  Master’s Skywalker and Sazen order their Padawans, Cade and Shado, to evacuate the younglings while they keep the Sith at bay.

When Master Sazen is cut down by the Sith, Cade rescues him and, enraged and afraid to lose his Master, uses the Force to heal him from the brink of death.

But using the Force this way somehow takes him dangerously close to the Dark Side.  Seeing his father cut down by the Sith sends him teetering over the edge.

He hops into a fighter to cover his Master’s escape with the younglings, eager to kill as many Sith as he can manage.  The last they see of Cade Skywalker is the destruction of his fighter.

Seven years later.  Darth Krayt is now Emperor of a divided Empire.

A second Emperor, Roan Fel, holds together a ‘loyalist’ Empire not sworn to the Sith.

The Jedi are hunted by Imperials, Sith and Bounty Hunters, a massive price on the head of each and everyone of them.

Master Sazen and Shado, two of the few remaining free Jedi, are convinced Cade Skywalker still lives and are determined to find him.

Elsewhere, Princess Marasian, daughter of Emperor Fel, travels the galaxy seeking loyal Imperials to serve her father so they can overthrow the Sith, unaware she is being hunted by Darth Talon.

She falls in with a band of bounty hunters, her only protection from the Sith hunting her.  They are good at what they do, but one may be more than he appears…

Well, what can I say about this one?

Tons of action, tons of adventure, tons of, well, everything.  You have the developing character of Cade Skywalker; part of a legacy he wants no part of, struggling to become something, but he doesn’t know what.  He’s running from his past and his future, haunted by memories and a destiny he refuses to embrace because he’s afraid that path will lead him to the Dark Side.

You have a compelling story of a galaxy in upheaval; the two Empire’s exist on top of each other with one Emperor on Coruscant and another constantly on the move.  Each is trying to solidify their position.

You also have tons of Jedi and Sith; the Empire has ‘Imperial Knights’, including the Emperor Roan Fel and his daughter, Marasian.

So even if all the Jedi are hunted down, there are still the Imperial Knights to deal with.  Gone is the ‘one master, one apprentice’ Sith rules, thrown out by Darth Krayt who sees strength in numbers as being more important.  Plus, it gives him plenty of Sith to throw around and into battle.

You can probably tell by now that I really enjoyed this.  The art was fantastic, the storytelling solid and engaging.  I’ve already bought the second volume in this series.  If you’re looking for a great Star Wars story, this is it.  You don’t really need to know any of the expanded universe stuff to get into it.

Star Wars Legacy, Volume One: Broken will run you $18 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $12.

~P

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Paperback: 152 pages Publisher: IDW Publishing (December 2, 2009)

With his Ninth regeneration, The Doctor [...]]]> This is Part 2 of my review of Doctor Who: Through Time and Space, a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together 6 one shot issues of Doctor Who originally published by IDW Publishing.  Part 1 can be read here.

Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (December 2, 2009)

With his Ninth regeneration, The Doctor found a companion to travel with him who found a special place in his hearts; her name was Rose.  He gave up one regeneration to save her life and, with his Tenth, she planned to stay with him forever.  Then came the Daleks ( managing to escape the timelock ) and the Cybermen ( bleeding through from another reality caused by the Daleks escaping the timelock ) and Torchwood ( created by Queen Victoria to act as a defense for the Empire against the alien hordes ).  Rose is transported to the alternate reality, leaving the Tenth Doctor to travel alone again.  Or, perhaps with some new companions.

Cold Blooded War by Richard Starkings and Gary Russel

The Doctor and Donna are off to a night at the opera.  Both are dressed for the occasion and ready to go.  Unfortunately, The Doctor has once again missed his landing slightly and they arrive on the planet Draconia, several million lightyears away from the opera.

They arrive in the middle of a civil war, one that many different powers throughout the galaxy have inserted themselves into in the interest of bringing peace to Draconia, a male dominated society where, for the first time in centuries, one of the royal houses has selected a female leader.

The Doctor is mistaken for an adjudicator sent from Earth to foster peace talks and Donna as a member of Earth royalty.  No sooner do they arrive than they are split apart, The Doctor kidnapped by the forces opposing the rule of Empress Adjit Kwan while Donna is whisked away to ’safety’ at the Empress’ court.

Now it’s up to them to bring peace to this world before the opposition executes the Doctor or the Empress is forced to allow Judoon troops from the Shadow Proclamation to occupy the planet as a peacekeeping force.

Ok – artwork.  Again, I don’t care for it.  Donna is drawn as a wispy thing once again.

Writing/story – if you’ve been wanting a non-human, non-London, non-Earth based Doctor story, this one delivers for you.  Though the themes and settings mirror some of the things going on in our world today, the characters are all alien.

I think the writers went overboard trying to capture the Doctor and Donna through catch phrases they’ve used in the show and they did it way too much (this is actually true of all 6 stories, imho).  Again, there are some references and tie-ins to classic Who (like the Talons reference from 2nd story).

Room with a Deja View by Rich Johnston and Eric J

The Doctor is traveling alone.  Worse, he’s sitting in a corner of the TARDIS… Sulking?

Suddenly, the TARDIS picks up a distress signal and the Doctor lands on a ship deep in the void where there are no stars.  He is arrested immediately and knocked unconscious.

When he wakes, he learns that the inhabitants of the ship are out in the middle of nowhere because they’re hiding from a plague that’s been ravaging through the galaxy.

Now that they know who he is, they want the Doctor not to help them fight the plague, but help them with a puzzling murder.

They know who the murderer us, they even know that he sent the distress signal that brought the Doctor to the ship, but they don’t know why and they aren’t having any luck interrogating the suspect.  They hope the Doctor can help.

This is my least favorite of all these stories and it has my least favorite artwork.

Let's just see how ugly we can draw the Doctor, shall we?

The Doctor does a couple of things I deem to be ‘out of character’ for him; he crosses his own time stream and he SULKS in the TARDIS.  Beyond that, the story itself, while clever, is difficult to follow.  I get what they were doing (I won’t spoil it for you), what they were trying to accomplish and it’s bold, but falls flat for me.  Again, if you’ve been looking for more non-human, non-London, non-Earth stories, this one will appeal to you.

Black Death White Life by Charlie Kirchoff and Tom Mandrake

Traveling with Martha, the Doctor plans to take her to Apple Records in January of 1969 to see the Beatles play their rooftop concert.  Alas, this is not to be as the Doctor instead lands the TARDIS in 1669 where the plague is running rampant in a small village.

Only, the plague shouldn’t be running rampant anymore.

Upon hearing that there is a faith healer in a nearby church who is able to completely heal anyone suffering from the plague, Martha and the Doctor split up (Surprise!) to investigate.

Left alone, Martha is infected with the plague by the mysterious Plague Doctors and it’s up to the Doctor to figure out what’s going on.

This is an okay story; it has its silly bits and its serious bits and the artwork, though dark, fits the themes and the time period and isn’t terrible nor does it distract from the story.

So, there.  Six stories, six very different bits of artwork, six very different plots.  The trade paperback itself is very nicely put together for a softcover.  It’ll run you $20 at a brick and mortar barring any discounts you may have or you can pick it up online for around $12.

~P

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800+ years ago, a man ran away; far, far away.  Away from his people, from the responsibilities they wanted to heap upon him and from whatever destiny they saw for him that he didn’t want for himself.  He stole a ship, a fantastic ship that allows him [...]]]>

Doctor Who: Through Time and Space from IDW

800+ years ago, a man ran away; far, far away.  Away from his people, from the responsibilities they wanted to heap upon him and from whatever destiny they saw for him that he didn’t want for himself.  He stole a ship, a fantastic ship that allows him to travel not only through space, but through time.  You see, his people, they mastered time long ago.  They are called the Timelords and they live on the planet Galifrey.

Well, they lived on the planet Galifrey.  Still do though no one can visit them and they cannot escape.  The Timelords fought in the TimeWar, the greatest war ever known, that raged across time and space and only ended because he ended it by locking it all away from the universe along with the Nightmare Child, the Skaro Degradations, The Horde of Travesties, The Could-Have-Been King and his army of Mean-Whiles and Never-Weres and, of course, his greatest enemies – the Daleks.  This left him alone, the last of the Timelords; alone to carry on their legacy.  He doesn’t like to talk about it.

From the beginning, he’s been running, is still running, whether it’s away from something as it was in the past, or to something now, we don’t know – but he is still out there, running.  Somewhere along the way, he fell in love.  Oh, not the kind of love that you and I might experience one for the other, no – he fell in love with an entire planet: Earth.

Now on his tenth regeneration, a quirk of his people that allows him to live far longer than us, the man known only as The Doctor is still running, still traveling in his stolen TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) and, if he notices you, maybe he’ll take you along for the ride…

Doctor Who: Through Time and Space is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together 6 one shot issues of Doctor Who originally published by IDW Publishing.

Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: IDW Publishing (December 2, 2009)

With his Ninth regeneration, The Doctor found a companion to travel with him who found a special place in his hearts; her name was Rose.  He gave up one regeneration to save her life and, with his Tenth, she planned to stay with him forever.  Then came the Daleks ( managing to escape the timelock ) and the Cybermen ( bleeding through from another reality caused by the Daleks escaping the timelock ) and Torchwood ( created by Queen Victoria to act as a defense for the Empire against the alien hordes ).  Rose is transported to the alternate reality, leaving the Tenth Doctor to travel alone again.  Or, perhaps with some new companions.

Doctor Who: Through Time and Space gives us six stories featuring the Tenth Doctor on his own, with Martha Jones and Donna Noble.  Since the stories are not one, cohesive plot, I’m going to talk about each separately.

The Whispering Gallery by Leah Moore, John Reppion and Ben Templesmith

Our story opens with The Doctor and Martha traveling in the TARDIS.  On a mission to find Martha some milk for her tea, The Doctor brings them to the wrong planet; Gratt.  At first, Martha believes they’ve arrived inside an art gallery, but The Doctor tells her that each picture is actually the last words of one of the Grattites, the people of this world.  They capture a piece of their consciousness and lock it away here, in The Whispering Gallery, preserved for all time.

Creepy Comic Book Doctor wants to know if Johnny Depp's Willy Wonka is hiring...

The Doctor explains that he traveled with one of the Grattites for a time, just giving her a ride really.  Her name was Grayla and she told him that no one on Gratt ever smiles or laughs or cries.  That’s why they created the Gallery, so they could say all the things in death that they never could in life.

When he finds Grayla’s portrait hanging in the gallery, her last words directed to him, telling him that the emotions she had sought in her travels were wrong, were bad, he decides to find out what could’ve possibly happened to such a free spirit since he last saw her, what could’ve changed her into the mournful, regretful creature hanging on the wall of the Gallery.

Leaving Martha in the Gallery, he goes exploring and finds that there is a very good reason the Grattites do not allow any displays of emotions, a reason that may destroy the planet ow that he and Martha have arrived, which is where our adventure truly begins…

On a close up like this, there's a lot of detail to the art - click to see it larger

A common theme for me throughout my reviews of these stories is going to be the artwork; it was very distracting.  Overall, this was a decent story, but the artwork killed it for me in a lot of ways.  Maybe I’m too set in my Marvel / DC ways where the art is pretty consistent throughout the book, I don’t know.

First – it seemed like they couldn’t decide what style of art they were going to use from panel to panel.  This resulted in one panel looking very different from the next.  In one, it looked almost like a half-finished sketch, on the next, some sort of half/real photo half/drawn/colored image.  It just really distracted me from the story and a comic book’s art shouldn’t do that.

Second – I think they were going for ‘playful’ with the art, trying to capture the essence of Tennant’s Doctor and the humor that comes through via the art, but failed to deliver.  The mish/mash of styles from panel to panel, page to page, didn’t feel playful as much as it felt ‘incomplete’ to me.  Art is subjective, of course, so you could absolutely love it, I don’t know.  I don’t, and that took away from the story for me – I couldn’t enjoy it for what it was because I was constantly thinking, “Gah! That looks terrible!”

on something like this, a 'further away' shot, they did a lot of detail on the TARDIS but Martha looks like a stick figure drawing

The Time Machination by Tony Lee and Paul Grist

The Doctor, traveling alone, brings the TARDIS to London in 1889.  Apparently, the TARDIS is in need of fuel once again, but The Doctor can’t get her to Cardiff as he did with Rose and again with Martha, so he enlists the help of H.G. Wells and John Smith, a local physicist ‘of some renown’ to try and get her going again.  Part of the trouble is that the Torchwood Institute is hunting for him under orders from the Queen, so he has to lie low and try not to be seen.

While The Doctor and John Smith discuss ways to refuel the TARDIS without actually moving her to Cardiff, The Doctor also keeps dropping hints to Wells about how he should write a book, something Wells does not seem very keen to do.  “I told you Doctor, I’m not writing a book!”

Donning an outfit that looks suspiciously familiar, the three go off exploring only to run into folks from Torchwood!

The Doctor and John Smith escape, but Wells is captured and interrogated by the Torchwood Institute where he reveals that he has been in the company of The Doctor once before, though he looked very different.

In the end… well, I won’t tell you that.  There is a twist to this story that I won’t reveal, but it’s an amusing story if a little confusing once everything is revealed.

I liked the art in this one better than the previous story.  It’s completely different from the first story but consistent throughout which helped a lot and didn’t distract from the story which is in the same vein as the historical figure stories from the recent series (Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens).  As such, it’s a lighter story, though it does have a decent twist and TWO references to Classic Who episodes that I caught – one in the middle and a nice little epilogue that ties the story to one of my favorites from the Tom Baker years; The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

The Doctor and Leela arrive in Victorian London for a little adventure.

Bonus shot - from the original and classic episode of Doctor Who-The Talons of Weng Chiang

Autopia by John Ostrander and Kelly Yates.

The Doctor and Donna travel to the closed planet Autopia.  Millennia ago, the inhabitants mastered robotics and announced they were going to make an automated utopia.  The robots would take over the task of keeping the planet going while they pursued higher goals like perfecting their minds and intelligence.  They built planetary shields to keep the rest of the universe out so they could live undisturbed.

Of course, this doesn’t keep the TARDIS out.  Together with Donna, The Doctor ventures out to explore Autopia and find its inhabitants.

First they run into robots who are definitely doing all the upkeep on the planet from gardening to security.  Essentially, they’re arrested and taken to one of the inhabitants who seems both annoyed at being interrupted in her studies and indifferent at the idea that new people are standing before her.  She simply wants to be left alone to keep ‘improving’, so she tells the robots to do to The Doctor and Donna what has been done to others who’ve managed to break through the planetary shield; kill them.

What happens next… well, that would be spoiling the story, wouldn’t it?

Of all the art throughout these stories, this one has my favorite.  It’s light, fun – feels like an animated series might look.  My only complaint is Donna herself; Catherine Tate is a, shall we say ‘curvaceous’ woman?  Far more curvy than they’ve represented her here.  I almost want to say that the comic book artist’s desire to make all women look impossibly thin and busty  won through, which is sad.  I don’t know – maybe they didn’t have the rights from Tate to her likeness so they decided to go with ‘Donna-like’ (or ‘Donna-lite’).

This is also my favorite of the stories, though I didn’t like the very last panel, which I won’t spoil here.  It had a bit of the Ood flavor to it even though the aliens were very human looking.

Okay – six stories, six very different bits of artwork, six very different plots and way too much content for one post SO, I’ve split this into two.  Part 2 will hit in a couple of days.  In the meantime (and in case you’re ready to go out and buy this right now without even reading the rest of the review) let me say this – the trade paperback itself will run you $20 at a brick and mortar barring any discounts you may have or you can pick it up online for around $12.

~P

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