Features three stories starring the Science Ninja Team as Mad Cave previews their new comic series starring the original version of what my childhood will always remember as Battle Of The Planets while others will remember it as G-Force: Guardians Of Space or Saban’s Eagle Riders. Those last two may not get a comic of their own while Battle Of The Planets had a great run by Top Cow years ago, which I’ve reviewed on this site. Let’s see how Mad Cave does it under the original character names. At least they have an excuse for not including 7-Zark-7 and 1-Rover-1.
Chapter By Chapter (usually) features me reading one chapter of the selected book at a 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 a read-along book club.
In our last chapter, Daniel became my favorite character in the book not part of the original cast as they prepared for the Vulcan version of a trial. This chapter sadly will not continue that but it should be good. I’ve made my biggest issue with the novel clear enough, that the murder plot and character drama could have been better mixed throughout the novel than what we got. Getting past that I have been enjoying the book. No work is perfect but we can see the flaws in good works and the good moments in bad works. It’s what my site launched on declaring and it holds true now. I can even see elements that Ncuti Gatwa and even Jodie Whittaker could have been good Doctors had the right steps been taken. They weren’t.
This is why my comic reviews for example have a “got right/got wrong” format most of the time. With a few exceptions I haven’t seen a comic that didn’t have some redeeming quality despite being terrible, or a story so good there were no flaws. Both have happened, and that’s true for novels, TV, and anything else this franchise has gone into. This book has made one mistake that as a reviewer I have to point out but as a reader hasn’t stopped me from enjoying the book. With that, let’s see what Kirk is up to. Oh right, his date. If my suspicions are true, this may not go the way Kirk wants it.
Despite showing it right there on the screen, Lee kind of ignored that Perlmutter said women and characters of color underperformed internationally–as in China. Hollywood has been courting China for the past few years, and they typically don’t care for those kinds of characters, and a few other messed up governments who hogtie their cultures feel the same way. This is why the Black Panther movie posters hid T’Challa’s race, why Finn was shoved into a small spot on the Star Wars sequel trilogy posters, why the gay kisses Disney celebrates in the US were removed in those countries, and so on. Perlmutter had nothing to do with those decisions at least.
Captain Marvel and Black Panther did decent numbers, but their sequels failed due to how the characters were treated and the current mindset at Marvel Studios about no longer caring about the source material. (Then again, neither do the current comic writers. Every comic critic I follow HATES the “Krakoa era” and is glad it’s finally dead.) That’s under Feige having unlimited control while Perlmutter had a committee (sorry, Snyder) that kept Feige on track, knowing that making the fans happy were as important as keeping it open to new viewers who didn’t read the comics when it came to pushing the merchandise. I’m not saying Perlmutter was a saint by any means (supposedly he didn’t think anyone would notice when Rhodey changed actors from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle after Howard wanted more money than they offered for his return), but this plays into the narrative Disney wanted out there when they got rid of him. It’s also under Feige’s watch where Rhodey became a Skrull, another sign of doing my first comics Iron Man dirty. When working with Paramount, Universal, and even Fox, Marvel Studios was doing pretty well. At Disney it’s been falling apart along with Star Wars and other LucasFilm properties and Doctor Who.
Finally, Ms. Marvel going mutant was a response to how badly the Inhumans movie did to the point that Disney and Marvel Studios want you to forget it exists. Lucky for them the feeling is mutual, but Ms. Marvel and Moon Girl both have spun off of the comics. Kamala had her own series, where they rewrote her powers while the Disney Junior Spidey show has her actual comic powers, and Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur has a cartoon spinoff. (Not sure if she’s still an Inhuman or another black teen supergenius like Riri “Ironheart” Williams.) Meanwhile, Disney’s Big Hero 6, a movie and series I admittedly enjoy, is NOTHING like the comic its inspired by beyond names. It’s not only the X-Men suffering at the moment.
No, he really said that. He wants to twerk a monster to death and joins Davies into wanting to make the show a musical. Any surprise the show is dying?
Over at The Clutter Reports, this week’s nonsense led to a quick report of what the next batch of projects are going to be. Then again, we have some scheduled distractions coming up, so the future is unclear. At least we know these two are coming! Anyway, was gifted new tech toys, and we got to do something with them…like figure out where to put them.
As stated, one of those scheduled distractions is coming up this week, but I hopefully have time to work around it so we don’t have BW content disrupted AGAIN! That means the next chapter of Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders for Chapter By Chapter, a week of actual reviews and commentaries on my part, and whatever else comes up. Have a great week, everyone!
Our last Showcase went on a mission to find a Doctor Who fanfilm by people who actually still cared about Doctor Who. Tonight I decided to do the same thing with Star Wars. Star Wars fan productions have gone on almost as long as the franchise has existed, so it should be easy. However, most of the offerings were better served to the Daily Video than a standout for Saturday Night Showcase, until I stumbled upon a film called Wingman – A X-Wing Story by Michael’s Basement. Here’s how they describe it:
A rebel fighter squadron attacks an imperial transport. The new guy carries a heavy load and an ace pilot on a killing spree….
…Lock S-foils in attack position and enjoy 50 minutes of Star Wars meets Top Gun!
Seven years ago we, a bunch of friends from Germany came together and asked themselves why not make a Star Wars movie. So without ANY former experience in filmmaking, VFX, animation, writing, directing and acting, we gave it a go and here we are now! Enjoy the ride.
Not sure if the “ace pilot on a killing spree refers to the PTSD ridden pilot on the Rebels’ side or the sadistic TIE Fighter pilot, but what follows is one long but amazing space battle that manages to combine drama, suspense, and the kind of space dogfighter Lucas invented technology to make right in his movies. Now we can use computers, but it’s the end product that matters. Does it succeed? Watch and find out.
BW Media Spotlight 