December 2, 2024

Chapter By Chapter> Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image chapters 17 & 18

Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapter for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

And we’ve reached one of those multiple chapter ones…which is probably going to end up a mistake on my part. While chapter 17 is only two pages long, chapter 18 is SIXTEEN PAGES! That’s a lot for this book. Had I known this I would have included 17 with last week’s chapter, that featured the upcoming return of our hero…unless they find some way to keep Paul from the action. That will make me sad. If you’re going to do that, just leave him on vacation with his family. This book would have the cleanest proverbial cutting room floor ever if it were a movie.

Both of these chapters are taking place in Washington, DC, so I just figured they belonged together. Again, chapter spacing in these books is weird. I only have one more novel in this series and one from later in the NetForce series, so we’ll see if this every changes should the site be updating that long.

So if both chapters are in DC, are both chapters taking place in Op-Center? I’m assuming at least one is. I won’t mark the locations because you already know where they are, just the times that start the chapter. At least we have chapter numbers this book. That makes it easier on me to keep track for review purposes.

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Posted by on December 2, 2024 in Chapter By Chapter, Op-Center: Mirror Image and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

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December 2, 2024

“Yesterday’s” Comic> Solitaire #2

There’s going to be a lot of logo destroying in this crossover event, aren’t there?

Solitaire #2

Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (December, 1993)

“Moon Madness”

(I hope they coordinated on these titles. There are only so many puns you can make about the moon and people going crazy.)

WRITER: Gerald Jones

PENCILER: Jeff Johnson

INKER: Barbara Kaalberg

COLORING: Keith Conroy (designer) and Foodhammer!

LETTERER: Tim Eldred

EDITOR: Hank Kalanz

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Posted by on December 2, 2024 in Yesterday's Comics and tagged , , , .

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December 2, 2024

BW’s Daily Video> The Dark Magic Of Spellbound

Catch more from Disparu on YouTube

 

Posted by on December 2, 2024 in Animation Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Streaming Spotlight and tagged , , , , , , .

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December 1, 2024

Jake & Leon #621> Ultimate Hollywood Showdown

Considering how often they get a movie, you’d think it would be movie alchemy.

For the record, I chose the bland colors on purpose.

Over at The Clutter Reports this week I took on a new chart, a project priority chart. It also helped me learn some tricks with my spreadsheet program I can use later on. I need to learn how to do cool stuff in my software more. Will this help me get organized in my creative projects? If I can stop getting tests, which won’t be this week. Of course it’s the same week as our monthly bulk shopping trip AND getting Christmas decorations up. *sigh*

So, remember how I originally planned to do a final Saturday Night Showcase when DC Heroes United was done? (Refresher article.) Well, episode two dropped on Friday and they actually include the videos of the paths not taken. Obviously they don’t affect the running narrative post-voting, and I still don’t want to be disappointed my vote didn’t make it so I’m still not playing the connected game. However, it felt like fun to explore how those unchosen paths would have impacted things and how the choices that won might affect what will come. So we’ll start that this week while continuing the Chapter By Chapter review of Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image and (I think) the penultimate installment of Star Trek: Pitch & Guide.

Plus this is going to be a distracting week (and I’m getting tired of so many of those), so I’m hoping to at least get those and the comic reviews going. We’ll see how it goes. Have a great week, everyone!

Posted by on December 1, 2024 in Jake & Leon, Movie Spotlight and tagged , , , , , , .

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November 30, 2024

Saturday Night Showcase> Rogue Elements

One of the more childish pushbacks by modern Hollywood creators is that you can’t really critique them because you don’t create anything yourself, because only the opinion of their entertainment peers matters to them. “You can’t possibly know what goes into making the things we do so you can’t properly judge my works.” This is bullcrap. I don’t need to be an artist to know I don’t like the art, and don’t have to be a writer to know I don’t enjoy the story. Before I became either of those things I was a fan, and fans know what they like and don’t like, and vote accordingly with their time and wallets.

So what happens when a critic actually makes something? Will their opinion matter now or will there be a new way to ignore any negative critique? Will Jordan can now claim to find out. He’s written a novel series featuring CIA secret operative Ryan Drake, and he’s also made and co-wrote a pilot, or a “proof of concept” as he calls it, for a TV series (or possibly streaming series) starring the character he created, titled Rogue Elements.

He’s also known online as The Critical Drinker, scourge of the current Hollywood culture. I’ve used a few of his videos for the Daily Video or occasional filler, so let’s see what happens when he puts his words into action.

In this crowdfunded pilot, Drake and his team have to extract a captured informant who has information that could stop the Russians taking back control of parts of Eastern Europe, the former USSR. However, it’s also personal as the Russian agent who took him also tortured and killed one of his friends…and he’s not the only one out for revenge. For readers of the books, and I have not had the opportunity, the short film takes place between the second and third books in Jordan’s “Ryan Drake” series. Perhaps you can also tell me why Drake doesn’t sound American and what the deal is with the blond lady. (No spoilers in the intro.) This has all the violence and language of an R rated movie, so heads up on that. If you’re okay with that, enjoy.

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Posted by on November 30, 2024 in Book Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight, web series and tagged , , , , , .

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November 30, 2024

BW’s Saturday Article Link> Reading To Newborns

Here’s one that’s been sitting in my archives waiting to be used. In an article from Aleteia, contributor Theresa Barber makes a good case for reading to your newborn to help connect with your child and start a love of reading. I don’t know if my mom read to me that early, but she is one of the reasons I love reading today.

Plus a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, Himself a great storyteller, is a good way to kick off our push into the Christmas season.

Posted by on November 30, 2024 in Book Spotlight and tagged .

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November 29, 2024

Continuity Vs Anthology

The Literature Devil showed this clip on Wednesday’s Morning Nonsense stream, and that got my waking brain going.

The above clip and corresponding tweets on X-Twitter (hopefully it’s coming up for you since the rebrand has messed with embeds) features James Gunn basically stating that because story is fiction canon is “whatever you want it to be”. Remember, this is the guy creating an entire universe, has had trouble deciding whether or not his DC movies and shows will or won’t be canon to the new movie continuity (they’re his so of course they are, even recently stating they’ll be using the recon bomb to force season one of Peacemaker into the new Gunniverse of movies and animated series to explain the Snyder Justice League cameo), and will be in charge of this universe going forward. He does not believe in a set canon according to that clip. I don’t know what podcast is from so I can’t confirm the context, but if accurate this does not bode well for Warner Brothers’ latest attempt to challenge Disney on the superhero front as the new DC Studios seeks to go head to head with Marvel Studios, who have themselves ditched respecting the comics like they did with the MCU first began and Paramount was doing the distribution.

There are times I’m worried the horse is so beaten that the glue factory can’t work with the remains, but then some necromancer pops up and restores the horse. The debate over canon has more resurrections than Optimus Prime at this point, as many writers out there are more interested in stories than continuity. Canon is the cohesion of a continuity for a series or a shared universe. That’s not what they want to make, though. What they’re really asking for isn’t a shared or even ongoing universe, but an anthology, something more akin to The Twilight Zone or even Golden Age comics than what a series or franchise is supposed to be. Marvel Studios is forgetting that, DC Studios seems poised to never learn that lesson, and both of the comics that spawned the movie studios that spurn their parent media are losing the ability to do this as well. Stories do not a series make. I think we need to learn the difference.

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Posted by on November 29, 2024 in Book Spotlight, Comic Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Television Spotlight and tagged , , , .

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