Last night I finished reading “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: The Making of the Classic Film” by John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto (2023, Titan BookLast night I finished reading “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: The Making of the Classic Film” by John Tenuto and Maria Jose Tenuto (2023, Titan Books). An excellent behind the scenes book about what many consider to be the best of all of the Star Trek films (and planned to have come out in 2022 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the film’s release in 1982).
There are many books out there already about both the making of the Star Trek films in general and about Star Trek II specifically already. This being a “coffee table” style book, it’s not as text heavy as some of the other books because of all of the wonderful pictures, but it still covers all of the basics in terms of how the film got made. Especially nice are its numerous profiles on not just the more well known figures behind the film (like writer/director Nicholas Meyer and producer Harve Bennett) but also seldom covered people who were just as important to the making of the film like production designers, costume designers, hair and make up supervisors, stunt performers, camera operators, film editors, sound and visual effects artists, etc.
They also give detailed descriptions of all of the script drafts that had been written prior to Nicholas Meyer coming aboard as director. And scenes that were shot and then not included in the final picture, or were reshot (like the initial “fight scene” between Kirk and David).
I also was very happy to see a full page sidebar about the Star Trek II movie novelization written by Vonda N. McIntyre, which was one of the very first Star Trek novels I ever read, launching me into a being a lifelong Star Trek reader (it and the Star Trek comic books from DC Comics that started just after Star Trek II’s release).
“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: The Making of the Classic Film” is a good standalone book for more casual fans of the film and of Star Trek in general. I think it’s even better as a compliment to the already existing books on the subject, like Nicholas Meyer’s “The View From the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood” (2009), Edward Gross and Mark Altman’s “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek” (2016), William Shatner’s “Star Trek Movie Memories” (1994), and Leonard Nimoy’s “I Am Spock” (1995).
(I should also point out that there was already another “The Making of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” nonfiction book released in 1982 by Pocket Books as a tie-in to the release of the film, written by Allan Asherman. I’ve had a copy of that book for many years now but have not read it yet.)
Again, I highly recommend this new book by the Tenutos. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads.
(Titan Books also released another book, “Star Trek: First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film” (2022) by Joe Fordham in the same size and general format. I highly recommend that book, also.)...more
Finished reading this one last night. Not much I really need to say about other than that it’s a really good book about one of my top favorite tv showFinished reading this one last night. Not much I really need to say about other than that it’s a really good book about one of my top favorite tv shows growing up, “The Greatest American Hero” (1981-1983). The book is “The Greatest American Hero Companion” by Patrick Jankiewicz (BearManor Media, 2023).
Jankiewicz has written several books about shows like this from the late 1970 and 80s (my particular “golden age” of all things pop culture), including “You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry!: A Hulk Companion” (which I am also in the process of reading) and “Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century: A TV Companion”, as well as “Just When You Thought It Was Safe: A Jaws Companion”.
Jankiewicz really does his homework, not only detailing the creation of the show by Stephan J. Cannell and the casting of series leads William Katt, Robert Culp, and Connie Sellecca, plus the obligatory complement episodes guide. He also has loads of interviews with everything, some conducted by him specifically for this book, others conducted earlier (for Cannell, the actors, and other significant people who had died).
This is a pretty definitive book resource about the making of this short lived but still widely remembered television series, one which came out in a lull period in terms of superhero pn TV (“The Incredible Hulk” was just finishing it’s run at the time that “Hero” was beginning). But it was a sign of things to come. I highly recommend “The Greatest American Hero Companion” to all fans of the series. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. (Copy read checked out from the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library.) ...more
“Star Trek: Lower Decks” Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writer: Ryan North. Artist: Chris Fenoglio (including the colors, I’m assuming, as no separate c“Star Trek: Lower Decks” Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writer: Ryan North. Artist: Chris Fenoglio (including the colors, I’m assuming, as no separate color artist credited). Reprints: Star Trek: Lower Decks #1-3 (September 2022 to November 2022). Read: 08/21/23 to 08/30/23. Opinion: Very good. If you like the animated “Star Trek: Lower Decks” Paramount+ series then I think you will like this comic book mini-series. (Although I saw one reviewer on GoodReads give it only two stars because he doesn’t like “holodeck stories”. Oh, well.) The ensigns accidentally create a sentient version of Dracula (that looks exactly like Boimler), similarly to what happened with Moriarty on “The Next Generation” (and, this being “Lower Decks”, they make numerous references to that earlier episode). While this is going on, the captain, chief of security, and doctor all embark on a second contact mission that ends them up, at first, about to be burned at stakes for being “witches”. Then, they are put on trial for (accidentally) violating that planet’s leading government’s own version of the Prime Directive (for their accidental encounter with the planet’s other, primitive, culture). They face execution for it, and a fleet of warships will destroy the Cerritos (if they can’t get out of it). Lots of fun Star Trek in jokes (just like on the series) and the artist does a very good job of making this appear visually like just another episode of the animated series. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. I would like to see IDW do more “Lower Decks” comics....more
**spoiler alert** “Star Trek Volume 1: Godshock” Hardcover (IDW, 2023). Writers: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing. Artists: Ramon Rosanas, Oleg Chudak**spoiler alert** “Star Trek Volume 1: Godshock” Hardcover (IDW, 2023). Writers: Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing. Artists: Ramon Rosanas, Oleg Chudakov, Joe Eisma, Erik Tamayo. Color art Lee Loughridge. Reprints: “Star Trek #400” (“A Perfect System” story, September 2022) and Star Trek #1-6 (October 2022 to April 2023). Read: 08/19/23 to 08/21/23. Opinion: Very good. This is the start of a new ongoing “Star Trek” series featuring a combination of characters from several separate series: Captain Benjamin Sisko from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, Data and Doctor Beverly Crusher from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, and Tom Parris from “Star Trek: Voyager” (plus, at least for awhile, Worf, from “TNG” and “DS9”). Oh, yeah, and a certain chief engineer with a Scottish accent. Plus a couple (younger) new characters. The time frame is, I believe, 2378. Soon after the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager made it safely back to Earth in the same year, and three years after the events of the TNG film, “Star Trek: Insurrection” and the end of the “Deep Space Nine” series. Something very powerful is killing the known “god like” beings of the galaxy. (The teaser short story from the “Star Trek #400” special issue shows this happen to Gary Mitchell, James Kirk’s friend from the original series second pilot episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.) The Prophets return Benjamin Sisko to his corporeal form to stop this. He goes to Captain Picard for a ship and Picard sets him up with a brand new experimental ship, the U.S.S. Theseus. He insists that Sisko take Data on as his first officer on this mission (and Dr. Crusher eagerly volunteers to go along too as Sisko’s return is a medical mystery). The others I mentioned are already part of this new crew or join up along the way. I really liked this. It’s very “comic booky” in all the right ways: the whole “crossover” element of blending characters from the separate series, and the universe threatening circumstances and powers that are much larger than life. The art (a tag team of alternating artists to keep the book on its original monthly schedule) is very appropriate for the type of story being told here. (My one real gripe is that the artist who draws the issue where Worf comes aboard apparently either cannot draw a Klingon that looks anything even remotely resembling Michael Dorn, or perhaps didn’t get the memo that it was supposed to be him. I swear, when we see him I immediately thought Sisko was meeting an entirety different Klingon character and was somewhat shocked when Sisko called him Ambassador Worf. The artists in the following issues do manage to draw him better though.) These first six issues (plus the teaser) did exactly what it should do, which is make me look forward to the next collected edition later on this year. (Worf goes on his own part way through the story, by the way, leading into a second series titled “Star Trek: Defiant”, which has its own “all star” blending of characters: Worf, Spock, Lore, and Ro Laren. That will also be getting its first collected edition soon, as well.) I gave “Godshock” four out of five stars on GoodReads....more
“Star Trek: Picard: Stargazer” Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writers: Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson. Artist: Angel Hernandez. Color art by J.D. Mettle“Star Trek: Picard: Stargazer” Trade Paperback (IDW, 2023). Writers: Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson. Artist: Angel Hernandez. Color art by J.D. Mettler. Reprints: Star Trek: Picard: Stargazer #1-3 (August 2022 to November 2022). Read: 08/16/23 to 08/18/23. Opinion: Okay/average. Story takes place (and came out between) seasons two and three of the Paramount+ “Star Trek: Picard” series which this is obviously a tie-in to. Story is basically supposed to be about Seven of Nine, carrying her from where we see her at the end of season two to her being back in Starfleet already at the start of season three. Here, she still has her doubts about joining Starfleet and sticks with being a Fenris Ranger despite Picard’s attempts to lead her likewise. But then a mission to check up on a planet that Picard once visited decades earlier while Captain of *his* U.S.S. Stargazer (traveling there aboard the new version we saw in season two of the show) unexpectedly brings him and Seven back together again in a life or death situation, one that Picard is at least partially responsible for due to his actions the last time he was there (and involving Romulans). I thought it was an okay enough little story but pretty forgettable in the end. I don’t know if I would have thought differently if I read it back when it first came out, in between the two tv seasons, or not. I think I still would have felt it was a mostly irrelevant “filler” story. Everything was “okay” but not exceptional, including the art by Hernandez. (I felt his depictions of Seven were very inconsistent, though.) And my main “gripe” with this series is, why did they name this story “Stargazer”? Yes, the two versions of the Starfleet ship and their crews both appear, but not nearly enough to make the story about them. Again, while a fun little side adventure for Jean-Luc Picard, this is clearly a Seven of Nine story. I ended up giving it three out of five stars on GoodReads....more
“Hawkeye: The Saga of Barton and Bishop” (a.k.a., “Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja: The Saga of…”) Trade Paperback (Marvel, 2021). Writer: Matt Fraction. “Hawkeye: The Saga of Barton and Bishop” (a.k.a., “Hawkeye by Fraction and Aja: The Saga of…”) Trade Paperback (Marvel, 2021). Writer: Matt Fraction. Artists: David Aja, Javier Pulido, Steve Lieber & Jesse Hamm, Francesco Francavilla, Chris Eliopoulos, Annie Wu, Alan Davis & Mark Farmer. Color art by Matt Hollingsworth, Francesco Francavilla, Jordie Bellaire, Paul Mounts. Reprints: Young Avengers Presents #6 (August 2008), and Hawkeye #1-22 and Annual #1 (October 2012 to September 2015). Read: 7/22/23 to 8/16/23. Opinion: Excellent! First Marvel material that I’ve read from this period in a very long time, so I was a bit unfamiliar with Hawkeye’s (Clint Barton’s relationships with the other Avengers (including Black Widow, Mockingbird, and Spider-Woman, who all appear here), but it didn’t take long to figure out that this was an entirely “side thing” to whatever else was coming out at the time. Barton here is a complete slacker and loser, relationships wise, here, although he fiercely protects the building he’s bought and lives in along with its fellow residents from the “Tracksuit Maffia” and their underworld bosses who desire to own the building. Meanwhile, Barton at least for a time takes fellow Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, on as a partner (although partway through the series she gets fed up with him and goes off to California on her own for awhile). This series is the basis for the 2021 “Hawkeye” Disney+ series and shares a few common scenes but the two are very different from each other as the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Clint Barton played by Jeremy Renner is a family man and no where near the loner loser figure that this version of the comics Barton is. And also because the tv version (which I also loved) is about establishing the character of Kate Bishop, while, in the comics, Bishop was introduced separately from Clint Barton prior to this material, in the first “Young Avengers” series that started in 2005 on the heels of the controversial “Avengers: Disassembled” story line. (This collection does start off with the first time the already established as “Hawkeye” Kate Bishop first meets Clint Barton (at the time going by his “Ronin” identity) in Young Avengers #6.) Again, I really liked this, especially the issues drawn by David Aja. Unfortunately, it becomes very apparent as reading this collected edition that Aja couldn’t keep up with a monthly schedule because there are numerous fill in issues by other artists, including the whole “Kate in California” side plot (which are all enjoyable but not nearly as much as the Matt Fraction and David Aja issues). I ended up giving this one four out of five stars on GoodReads. (Would have been five stars if Aja could have drawn more than half of the run, and the at times disjointed effect that had.)...more
Just finished reading volume two (“April Through June”) of Adam Nedeff’s massive “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and Celebrations” Just finished reading volume two (“April Through June”) of Adam Nedeff’s massive “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and Celebrations” four-volume series (Bear Manor, 2014), checked out from my local public library, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, who added them to their circulating collection upon my request (although they are also available on Kindle from Amazon and I’m assuming also eBook format from the other usual retailer sites).
(Note: My review here for Volume 2 is the same as what I wrote for Volume 1: January Through March with only the few necessary changes to make it about Volume 2.)
I first heard about “This Day in Game Show History” while recently listening to old episodes of Stu Shostak’s “Stu Show” podcast.
This is a treasure trove of tv history for aficionados like myself. Since it’s one entry per day of the month for three months, the bill entires (or chapters) are almost all very short. Most are two to three pages, some a bit longer.
The entry are generally of two basic types: dates on which a notable game show first aired, last aired, or had some other significant moment like changing its name, format, or network it was airing on, or a significant change in its host or announcer. And the other being significant game show figures’ “born on this day” (or “died on this day”) entries (some clearly to round out the days of the month not already filled).
The game show program specific entries give details of how that show got on the air, who the notable people working on that show were, the rules of the game, how long it ran for, and any subsequent revivals of that show. The “born/died on this date” entries generally give a broad overview of that person’s entire career (focusing on the game shows if that person was also an actor or had some other field he or she is just as well known for), although some of the figures entries are very short because their time in game shows was likewise short.
If you are into game shows, or television history of the 1950s to today (but especially 1950s-1980s), I highly recommend this book and its other three volumes. (There is quite a bit also about the infamous game show fixing scandals of the 1950s that nearly killed the genre.)
The only caveat is that it probably is a bit better to have all four volumes at the same time rather than one at a time like I am from the library because Nedeff often has notes within or at the end of an entry saying “See November 11” (or some other date) for a related other entry.
Also, due to the format, the entries jump all of the place in terms of what decades the events happened in. One entry 1950s, the next entry 2000s, the next 1960s, the next about someone born in the 1920s, and so on. That’s just the nature of these calendar style “what happened on this day” books. Which is fine, especially for reading only one or two entries a day. Me, I’m a very chronological thinker. So, if I had one suggestion it would have been for Nedeff to have included among the works cited and index sections in the back also an entries in chronological order guide so that a reader could read all of the 1950s entries, then the 1960s, etc. Of course, that would still be just for the entries in this one particular volume, not all four, so maybe not very many other people would find that all that useful.
Anyway, I gave “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and Celebrations” Volume 2: “April Through June” four out of five stars on GoodReads, just as I did for Volume 1: “January Through March”....more
Finished reading this one last night: “Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians” by Jillian Rudes (ALA Editions, 2023). This one checks off duaFinished reading this one last night: “Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians” by Jillian Rudes (ALA Editions, 2023). This one checks off dual boxes, both “work related” and “personal interest”.
A nice brief overview—only 136 pages, and I didn’t even read the two appendices in the back, the longer of which is a guide to conducting webinars on manga in libraries, the shorter being additional manga book lists—of the Japanese form of graphic literature (or comics) called “manga” (pronounced as mahn-gah, not main-gah, although I must admit I still have trouble with that sometimes) specifically in relation to its place in library collections and library programming.
Me giving here the table of contents chapter names is probably the best way of summarizing it: Chapter 1 “Manga 101”, Chapter 2 “Manga Collection Development”, Chapter 3 “Representation in Manga”, Chapter 4 “Social-Emotional Learning and Manga”, Chapter 5 “Manga Programming”, Chapter 6 “Teaching With Manga”, and the two aforementioned Appendices (both under the heading, “Manga Sparks Joy”), “Manga in Libraries Webinars” and “Manga Book Lists”.
As a high school media specialist who is also a life long comic book reader, I have put a lot of emphasis on building and maintaining a large comics/graphic novels and manga section ever since I started at my current school twelve years ago. My background is in the American comic books (superheroes, media tie-ins like Star Wars and Star Trek comics, and general fiction and nonfiction graphic novels). My personal knowledge and experience with manga was (and still is) virtually nil. However, it was immediately apparent that the manga volumes already in the library collection when I arrived were pretty much the most popular books in the place. Some kids would come in multiple times in the same day to swap them out.
Not being knowledgeable of that various titles beyond what we already had (and cognizant that there are manga titles for all ages, including ones for adults that are not appropriate for a public high school library media center; one of the things this book goes into are manga publisher generated suggested audience age and content ratings and where to find those), I have generally taken a pretty conservative approach by mostly just replacing lost copies and buying the next newer volumes of the titles we already have. Occasionally I would order one or two volumes of a title we didn’t already have upon requests from students.
However, beyond the really good explanations given in “Manga in Libraries” of *why* so many young people enjoy reading manga (especially young girls but boys too), how manga characters are written and drawn so that boys and girls can empathize with those characters, their emotions, situations, etc., the next most valuable thing to me is its section on the very wide range of fictional genres available in manga, including samples of each. This is something that I will definitely look into doing better with resources like this, to try to diversify my school library media center’s manga collection to be more than the mostly boys and girls fantasy warrior/superhero type of stories that currently make up the bulk of what we have.
There are chapters that give detailed descriptions of manga programming the author has done with the students at her school, including manga related clubs, classes, volunteers/assistants groups, and even how to put on a manga comics convention. (Her school is in or nearby New York City so she also has field trip suggestions but obviously not all of those would be available or practical in all locations.)
She also spends an entire chapter, as can be seen in the listing of chapters, on social-emotional learning and how manga is a good place for young people to be able to identify positive traits in relation to one’s own social-emotional health and well being. And she also goes into the natural side interest in Japanese culture in general that oftentimes also becomes appealing to readers of manga.
While I can’t promise that I will personally use every suggestion the author makes in her book, I do value the wealth of examples she gives and will indeed be checking this book out again a bit later, after the start of the school year, to be able to at the very least review her book title and genre suggestions, and her additional resources lists.
Which brings me to one other thing I should probably mention. I already had this book last year on buying lists I’d put together but kept moving it to a “buy later” list because of its price. It’s actually a pretty expensive book (generally $50 or higher). I assume this is because it is published by ALA (American Library Association) Editions, and is therefore considered to be a professional/scholarly publication.
I could never justify spending that much on a professional development book that only I would read instead of using the money on more books for the students. But then one day when I was in my local public library branch of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library (Florida), there it was. A copy of “Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians” sitting on their “NEW BOOKS” shelf. (And for once I hadn’t even been the person to request for them to buy a copy!)
So, I immediately checked it out. The moment I saw it and how small a book it is, page count wise and also just physically small, I was glad that I’d never bought a copy. But I highly recommend this book to any and all librarians interested in providing manga as part of their library’s books collection and programming, to try to do as I did and check out a copy from somewhere. After reading it, they might decide to buy their own copy if funds allow.
I gave “Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians” a four out of five stars on GoodReads....more
Just finished reading volume one (“January Through March”) of Adam Nedeff’s massive “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and CelebrationJust finished reading volume one (“January Through March”) of Adam Nedeff’s massive “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and Celebrations” four-volume series (Bear Manor, 2014), checked out from my local public library, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, who added them to their circulating collection upon my request (although they are also available on Kindle from Amazon and I’m assuming also eBook format from the other usual retailer sites).
I first heard about “This Day in Game Show History” while recently listening to old episodes of Stu Shostak’s “Stu Show” podcast.
This is a treasure trove of tv history for aficionados like myself. Since it’s one entry per day of the month for three months, the bill entires (or chapters) are almost all very short. Most are two to three pages, some a bit longer.
The entry are generally of two basic types: dates on which a notable game show first aired, last aired, or had some other significant moment like changing its name, format, or network it was airing on, or a significant change in its host or announcer. And the other being significant game show figures’ “born on this day” (or “died on this day”) entries (some clearly to round out the days of the month not already filled).
The game show program specific entries give details of how that show got on the air, who the notable people working on that show were, the rules of the game, how long it ran for, and any subsequent revivals of that show. The “born/died on this date” entries generally give a broad overview of that person’s entire career (focusing on the game shows if that person was also an actor or had some other field he or she is just as well known for), although some of the figures entries are very short because their time in game shows was likewise short.
There are a few entries that don’t fit either of those two types like an entry on game shows that won Emmy awards, game shows and their hosts who showed up on scripted television shows (like “Let’s Make a Deal” on “The Odd Couple”, “Family Feud” and memorable episodes of “Mama’s Family”, “The Golden Girls”, and “Cheers” where characters appeared on “Jeopardy!” (“Mama’s Family” also on “Family Feud”, in one of my favorite episodes.)
If you are into game shows, or television history of the 1950s to today (but especially 1950s-1980s), I highly recommend this book and its other three volumes. (There is quite a bit also about the infamous game show fixing scandals of the 1950s that nearly killed the genre.)
The only caveat is that it probably is a bit better to have all four volumes at the same time rather than one at a time like I am from the library because Nedeff often has notes within or at the end of an entry saying “See November 11” (or some other date) for a related other entry.
Also, due to the format, the entries jump all of the place in terms of what decades the events happened in. One entry 1950s, the next entry 2000s, the next 1960s, the next about someone born in the 1920s, and so on. That’s just the nature of these calendar style “what happened on this day” books. Which is fine, especially for reading only one or two entries a day. Me, I’m a very chronological thinker. So, if I had one suggestion it would have been for Nedeff to have included among the works cited and index sections in the back also an entries in chronological order guide so that a reader could read all of the 1950s entries, then the 1960s, etc. Of course, that would still be just for the entries in this one particular volume, not all four, so maybe not very many other people would find that all that useful.
Anyway, I gave “This Day in Game Show History: 365 Commemorations and Celebrations” Volume 1: “January Through March” four out of five stars on GoodReads, and have Volume 2 “April Through June” already waiting among those in my “to read next” pile....more
I last night finished reading Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria’s “The Annotated Abbott and Costello: A Complete Viewer’s Guide to Their 38 Films” (I last night finished reading Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria’s “The Annotated Abbott and Costello: A Complete Viewer’s Guide to Their 38 Films” (2023, McFarland & Co.).
Prior to this book, there was essentially just one “Abbott and Costello must have book” for fans, that being Bob Furmanek and Ron Palumbo’s “Abbott and Costello in Hollywood” (1991, Pedigree Trade) (which I read back in 2017-2018 as I was watching the films for the first time on DVD). Well, there are now *two* “must have” books.
Like Furmanek and Palumbo, Coniam and Santa Maria look at each Abbott and Costello film, from 1940’s “One Night in the Tropics” all the way to 1956’s “Dance With Me, Henry”, plus solo Lou Costello “The Thirty-Foot Bride of Candy Rock” (1959) and the later “The World of Abbott and Costello” (1965) compilation film (released six years after Lou Costello’s death).
They also include an appendix section titles “The Ultimate Abbott and Costello Top Ten”, in which they surveyed thirty-three “Abbott and Costello experts, fans, comedy buffs, film historians, and the authors of previous books about Bud and Lou” as to their personal top ten favorite A&C films, out of which they derived their “ultimate top ten list”. Among those surveyed were Coniam and Santa Maria themselves, Furmanek and Palumbo, Lou Costello’s daugher Chris Costello, filmmakers Joe Dante, John Landis (who also write the Foreword), and Michael Schlesinger, and noted film historian Leonard Maltin.
One thing I really enjoyed about “The Annotated Abbott and Costello” was that the two authors, Coniam and Santa Maria, split the thirty-eight films up, Coniam covering nineteen and Santa Maria the other nineteen. So instead of a single reference book co-written by two writers (like the previous Furmanek and Palumbo book), you get to experience two distinctly different voices as you make your way chronologically through the films.
The two decided on who would write about which films largely simply by personal preference, each choosing the ones they preferred to write about. And the two authors, while united in their love of Abbott and Costello, definitely have differing opinions in some cases (Coniam, for instance, is not as wild about “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” as Santa Maria, and seemingly most other fans, are. Coniam much more prefers the more down to Earth 1940s A&C films with their truer to life situations and abundance of humorous talking routines from A&C’s burlesque shows.)
The other thing I really like about this book is how each of the chapters is laid out. First (roughly half of the chapter) there is an overview of the film (its production background, its cast, a plot summary, etc.) written by Coniam or Santa Maria, along with two or three black and white photos including the official film poster and usually a film still or promotional photo from the production of that film.
Then the second half of the chapter is a break down of the key Abbott and Costello routines and any other notable scenes in that film complete with DVD time stamps so that readers can find them easily. The authors also note where else the same routines can be found, in other Abbott and Costello films and also in what episodes of the comedy team’s two-season “Abbott and Costello Show” television series and their episodes of “The Colgate Comedy Hour” tv series.
(I must add here that I found the information about the “Colgate Comedy Hour” programs especially interesting as I can’t recall Furmanek and Palumbo’s book going into very much detail on those. While their tv series don’t get separate chapters of their own, they definitely are covered at the points in the timeline where they intersect with A&C’s film work, and it is described as work the two comedians evidently enjoyed much more than the films they were making at the time, largely because the “Colgate Comedy Hour” was done before a live audience, and their own syndicated series was something they had complete control over and, again, consisted largely of their tried and true old burlesque routines.)
Finally, each chapter ends with a single paragraph by the other author (the one who didn’t write the bulk of the chapter) giving his personal opinion of that film (so both authors do say at least a bit about every one of the thirty-eight films).
In addition to the thirty-eight, they also include a few “Abbott and Costello adjacent” films, like 1944’s “A Wave, a WAC, and a Marine”, “Mail Call” (also 1944), “10,000 Kids and a Cop” (1948), and “Fireman Save Our Child” (1954). (Some of these are short films produced by Lou Costello’s production company. “Fireman” is a film that had been written and planned for Abbott and Costello to act in but then Lou Costello came down again with rheumatic fever and was sidelined for a year, something which happened several times over the course of those years. The film was shot with Hugh O’Brian and Buddy Hackett instead.)
As in the cases of Lou Costello’s serious health ailments and the impact it had on the two comedians working schedules (longer than usual gaps between films), Coniam and Santa Maria do cover that and other personal events, including a couple times when Budd Abbott and Lou Costello were not getting along with each other, but only as those things impacted upon their films (for instance, one particularly bad spat between them seems to have led to a couple of their films featuring the two actors almost entirely separate from each other, although apparently by the time they were actually shooting those films they had mostly put their animosity behind them). And, of course, certain major events are also covered like the tragic drowning death of Lou Costello’s infant son, Lou Jr. (called “Butch”), an event that understandably had a great impact upon Lou Costello going forward after that (but also bringing Costello and Abbott together again, off screen, in the founding of the Lou Costello Jr. Youth Center in Costello’s hometown of Patterson, New Jersey (which still exists today).
Anyway, yes, I highly recommend “The Annotated Abbott and Costello” by Matthew Coniam and Nick Santa Maria to all Abbott and Costello fans. And also to fans of other classic film comedians like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, or the Marx Brothers. (Matthew Coniam also wrote “The Annotated Marx Brothers”, which I’m sure is also a great book.) I gave “The Annotated Abbott and Costello” five out of five stars on GoodReads....more
I finished reading Joe Fordham's "Star Trek: First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film" (2022) a few days ago. A very entertaining behind the scenI finished reading Joe Fordham's "Star Trek: First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film" (2022) a few days ago. A very entertaining behind the scenes look at what is (I think) pretty much universally regarded as the best of the four Star Trek films based on the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" tv series cast. (Although, I have to say that referring to it as "the classic film" doesn’t feel quite right to me because, even though this book was intended to be released in 2021 in time for "First Contact's" twenty-fifty anniversary, it still doesn't seem that "First Contact" (1996) is quite old enough yet to be called a "classic film". Then, again, it could just be that it makes *me* feel very OLD to see it put that way.)
The book is divided into chapters based on the development and major elements of the movie: the development of the script, the design of the new Enterprise-E, the casting of the major new characters, designing the Montana of 2061 locations as well as redesigning the Borg for the big screen, etc. Much of the information will already be familiar to the diehard Star Trek fans who read lots of behind the scenes Star Trek books, magazines, websites, etc., but there are still many interesting quotes from the actors, writers, producers, and director Jonathan Frakes to make it still worth while reading for them, and the book is written in such as way as not to overwhelm the casual Star Trek fan.
My one slight complaint is that while there are loads of pictures in this book from the film and also of behind the scenes development art--indeed, there are pictures on pretty much every page--a lot of the pictures from the actual film (and even some of the promotional stills) have a blurry look to them, as if taken from film screenshots or stills that have been enlarged. The reaction is often one of, "that's a great picture, I just wish it was in better focus". And since the pictures often dominate each two page spread, it can overtime detract a bit from what one is reading.
Still, even with that small complaint, I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it for fans of the Star Trek movies, "Next Generation", and "Star Trek: First Contact" in particular. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. (Copy read was checked out from the Tampa/Hillsborough County Public Library which added it to their collection upon my request.)...more
Wonderful book! “Direct Conversations: Talks With Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators” by Paul Kupperberg (Crazy 8 Press, 2023). A sort of follow up Wonderful book! “Direct Conversations: Talks With Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators” by Paul Kupperberg (Crazy 8 Press, 2023). A sort of follow up to his “Directs Comments: Comic Book Creators in Their Own Words” book also self-published by the author through Crazy 8 Press in 2021).
Kupperberg joined DC Comics in 1975 as a freelance writer and then went on staff there (the first of a couple times) two years later in 1977. But he was already a familiar name and face for many working at DC’s New York City offices because of his many visits there for the DC weekly office tours open to the public, his activity in the very active comics “fandom” (those who not only read the comic books but also created amateur “fanzines” and who attended the early comic book conventions), and because of his older brother, Alan Kupperberg, who was hired onto DC’s production staff in 1971 straight out of high school.
“Direct Conversations” is a book of ten newly conducted interviews by Kupperberg with his fellow comics creators (writers, artists, letterers, colorists, and editors) who were not only all but one co-workers with him at one point or another at DC, but who all were part of that first great influx of new comic book creators and editors to come in at the start of the 1970s who had all started out as comic book readers and collectors. The older artists, writers, and editors already there at DC that they would be joining (and learning from) had basically been the same ones from the start of the American comic book industry in the late 1930s and 1940s on up to the beginning of the 1970s. There were a few exceptions, like artist Neal Adams, and writer, Roy Thomas, but for the most part DC Comics was a “closed shop” (very difficult for anyone new to come into it) throughout the 1950s and 1960s. But the changing nature of the industry—including the drying up of the traditional newsstand distribution system in favor of what would become the direct market system selling most comic books through dedicated comic book shops, which resulted in expanded line ups and the short term return of anthology type titles requiring as many as four to six additional “back-up stories” per issue—as well as the inevitable aging out of the older generation opened the doors to many young new faces like Kupperberg and those he interviews here.
His interview subject’s (following an introduction by Robert Greenberger, who also came to work at DC but just a bit too late to qualify as one of the ten subjects interviewed) are, in the order they appear, Paul Levitz, Anthony Tollin, Steve Mitchell, Joe Staton, Bob Rozakis, Jack C. Harris, Howard V. Chaykin, Bob Toomey, Tony Isabella, and Michael Uslan. I’m not going to go into who all of these people are here but for anyone who regularly read DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s, many if not most of these names are very familiar. As are the legendary figures they reminisce about working with and for back in those early years: Julius Schwartz, Sol Harrison, Carmine Infantino, Jack Adler, Murray Boltinoff, Joe Kubert, plus many many less familiar names and those that only they who worked there would have any reason to know, like the various secretaries, proofreaders, reprints editors, etc.
Some of the ones interviewed here were unofficially known at the time as “the Junior Woodchucks” (after Disney’s Huey, Dewey, and Louie comic books). Others, including Kupperberg, escaped that particular label, but they all share a very interesting bond in the shared experiences at DC during what later became known as comics “Bronze Age”.
(I was born in 1972 and was reading comic books by the end of the 1970s, so this was my own personal entry point into comic books, the later part of the Bronze Age, late 1970s/early 1980s. And at that time, older issues from the early 1970s were still quite plentiful and easy to acquire.)
I give “Direct Conversations: Talks With Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators” my highest recommendation for all of the Bronze Age DC Comics fans out there, plus anyone in general who likes to read about comic books “behind the scenes”/history. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. (Checked out from my local public library, Tampa/Hillsborough Public Library, which added it to their collection upon my request.)...more
“The Orville Season 2.5: Digressions” (published by Dark Horse Books, March 2022). Written by David A. Goodman, art by David Cabeza, colors by Michael“The Orville Season 2.5: Digressions” (published by Dark Horse Books, March 2022). Written by David A. Goodman, art by David Cabeza, colors by Michael Atiyeh, lettering by Richard Starkings and ComiCraft’s Jimmy Betancourt.
Dark Horse Books (a.k.a., Dark Horse Comics), third and last (so far) trade paperback collection of comics they released based on the Seth McFarlane sci-fi television series, “The Orville” (which ran on Fox for two seasons, 2017 to 2019, and a third season exclusively streaming on Hulu, June to August 2022).
Dark Horse released their “Orville” comics as mini-series, one or two per year in 2019, 2020, and 2021. They released some of these mini-series with somewhat confusingand contradictory titles, some with both an overall “The Orville” series title (numbered issues #1-4) but at the same time also titled as “The Orville: [First two-issue story title] Part 1 of 2” and “Part 2 of 2”, followed by “The Orville: [Second two-issue story title] Part 1 of 2” (as seen in the two Orville trade paperbacks that came out prior to this one, "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" (which contains two separate two-issue stories, "New Beginnings" and "The Word of Avis") and "The Orville Season 2.5: Launch Day" (which contains the stories "Launch Day" and "Heroes).
This third Orville trade paperback, “The Orville Season 2.5: Digressions” (2022), reprints “The Orville: Digressions” #1-2 (May 2021-June 2021) and “The Orville: Artifacts” #1-2 (October 2021-November 2021).
"Digressions" is by far the more interesting of the two stories in this collected edition as it follows upon the events of the season two Orville episode, "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow", in which a younger version of Commander Kelly Grayson (played by Adrianne Palicki) is accidentally brought through time to the show's present day and learns all of the things that has happened to her in the intervening years before the crew finally figures out a way to send her back to her proper time. As seen at the end of that episode, however, the "mind wipe" that was supposed to make her forget everything she has learned prior to being sent back fails and she remembers everything.
"Digressions" continues this story by showing how different decisions she makes in her life based on that knowledge have far reaching consequences, ones that ultimately threaten the survival of the Union and all of those on Earth when the inevitable Kaylon invasion occurs. This is a very well done two-issue story which, unfortunately, ends abruptly at the end of the second part with a note saying, "Continued in 'The Road Not Taken'..." (which isn't the second story in this collected edition but instead is where the story picks up on the television series). "Digressions" is basically a "filling in the gaps" bridging story between those two episodes, something which I didn't realize when I first started reading it (and therefore couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when I realized it wasn't a complete story in and of itself).
The second story in this collection, "Artifacts", is a decent enough (if at the same time very forgettable) story of an old academy professor of Captain Mercer's convinces Mercer to take his ship into a dangerous region of space obscured from the rest of the galaxy by a unique four-star phenomenon, inside of which may be hidden an ancient legendary fleet of warships from a now extinct species. The professor has ulterior motives, however, that only perennial goof-off Orville helmsman, Gordon Malloy, seems to be suspicious of.
I ended up giving this Orville collected edition (as I did the previous two) three out of five stars on GoodReads.
(For those who might be interested, Dark Horse has also released a more expensive “The Orville: Library Edition” hardcover collection that is an omnibus of all three of the trade paperbacks (containing all of the Dark Horse “Orville” stories in one volume.)...more
I finished reading last night the “Star Trek: Picard” novel, “Rogue Elements” (2021), by John Jackson Miller. It is the third tie-in novel to that parI finished reading last night the “Star Trek: Picard” novel, “Rogue Elements” (2021), by John Jackson Miller. It is the third tie-in novel to that particular series.
Like with the previous two (“The Last Best Hope” and “The Dark Veil”), “Rogue Elements” is another prequel novel taking place entirely prior to the events of the first season of “Picard”.
This one focuses on the character of Cristóbal Rios right as he is acquiring his cargo freighter, La Sirena.
He is immediately in debt to the previous owner, though, and has to pay them off. Those owners just happen to be Iotians, from the same planet that Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise discovered a century earlier that had patterned their entire civilization on a book about the Prohibition era mobs of Earth’s history. Which makes this more of a Star Trek the original series sequel in many ways than a Picard prequel (although we do get scenes of Rios communicating with Raffi, another “Picard” character, and Jackson does indeed fit bits of Jean-Luc Picard into the novel as well, even though Rios and Picard don’t actually meet until in the streaming tv series).
But then there are also TNG elements (a particularly nasty nemesis from a very memorable episode of TNG is a major character here), and there are also call backs to “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”.
I’m not going to go into any more detail than that here so as not to give away everything. I will say that I enjoyed this novel a lot. Aside from the very ending being a tad bit contrived (where Miller brings all of the various plot threads together and reveals what’s really been going on), this is a real fun read. Miller weaves the TOS and TNG callbacks in expertly and, more importantly, manages to make Rios a much more interesting character than we saw most of the time on the actual “Star Trek: Picard” series. Enough so that I’d actually like to see another Captain Rios novel by Miller (although that’s very unlikely at this point).
I gave “Rogue Elements” four out of five stars on GoodReads.
My next two Star Trek novels that I plan on reading are also by Miller. His “Star Trek: Discovery” novel, “The Enterprise War” (2019), which shows up what Captain Pike and the Enterprise were doing during the Federation-Klingon war in “Discovery” season one, and the first “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” novel, “The High Country”, which just came out this year. So, I’m on a bit of a John Jackson Miller marathon here. ...more
Last night, I finished reading "Batman '89" (2022, published by DC Comics), by Sam Hamm (writer), Joe Quiñones (artist), Leonardo Ito (colorist), ClayLast night, I finished reading "Batman '89" (2022, published by DC Comics), by Sam Hamm (writer), Joe Quiñones (artist), Leonardo Ito (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer).
Reprints material originally released in single issue comic books format as "Batman '89" #1-6 (October 2021-September 2022). (Was originally announced to be a DC "Digital First" release starting in July 2021 and to run for twelve digital comic book chapters in that format prior to appearing in print, but the smaller digital release chapters apparently didn't end up happening.)
This hardcover collected edition has a cover by Joe Quiñones, and also original issues cover art by Joe Quiñones, Jerry Ordway and Steve Oliff, Taurin Clarke, Mitch Gerads, Lee Weeks, Babs Tarr, Adam Hughes and Julian Totino Tedesco. Also includes a nine page "Batman '89 Sketchbook" by Joe Quiñones.
Buoyed by the success of recent newly released original comic book series based on the 1966-1968 Adam West "Batman" television series (under the title "Batman '66") and 1975-1979 Lynda Carter television series ("Wonder Woman '77"), DC Comics took things to the next logical step and ventured in 2021 into telling original adventures of their two greatest motion picture renditions of their Superman and Batman characters, namely the Christopher Reeve "Superman: The Movie" (1978) and Michael Keaton "Batman" (1989) versions.
Prior to this, DC's only comic books featuring the Reeve and Keaton versions of their characters were single issue movie adaptations of "Superman III" (1983) and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987)—there were no comic book or novel adaptations of "Superman: The Movie" (1978) or "Superman II" (1980) due to the deal made between Warner Bros. and original movie story writer, Mario Puzo—and single issue comic book adaptations of "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992) (and also the two subsequent Batman sequels that didn't star Michael Keaton, "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman and Robin" (1997). (These single issue comic book adaptations all came out in the same years as their respective movies.)
"Batman '89", this new story by Hamm, Quiñones, et al., clearly takes place after the events of "Batman Returns" (as not only is Selina Kyle--the Michelle Pfeiffer version of the character--a major character in this story but they also make reference to events that occurred in "Batman Returns"). However, this must take place in a universe or timeline where events then led directly into this story rather than into the following two Joel Schumacher directed Batman films, "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin", as will become clear in my plot summary.
Before that, however, I should mention that Sam Hamm, who wrote this, is the same Sam Hamm who co-wrote the screenplay for the Tim Burton directed "Batman" 1989 film. (Or, rather, wrote the initial draft chosen to be filmed. The script then received rewrites by Warren Skaaren and other writers.) So, unlike the "Superman '78" comic book, "Batman '89" does actually have a creator who has direct ties to the actual film. (Hamm also received a story credit on "Batman Returns" for two early script drafts he wrote but director Burton then replaced Hamm with script writer, Daniel Waters, and little of Hamm's story contributions remained in the final film.)
Hamm's "Batman '89" story focusses on one of the plot points he had included in his early unused "Batman Returns" scripts, that of Harvey Dent's (played by Billy Dee Williams in the first movie) descent into the villain, Two-Face. Here, he is still Gotham's district attorney, and he is leading a campaign to capture and prosecute the Batman as an out-of-control vigilante, and for removing Jim Gordon as Police Commissioner (despite Dent at the same time being in a romantic relationship with Jim Gordon's daughter, police sergeant Barbara Gordon). Dent is friends with Bruce Wayne, who Dent (of course) does not know is Batman.
At the start of the story, Wayne (as Batman), makes a serious mistake, leading to the death of an innocent teenager (the police accidentally shooting the teen while firing at him). This leads to additional anti Batman sentiments. Another masked vigilante protecting the poorer denizens of Gotham, this one a black teenager named Drake Winston, at first is antagonistic towards the Batman. (He wears a version of the Robin costume although the only reference to anyone calling him that is two kids in the background discussing what Batman had called him. One says he heard Batman call him "Robin", like in Robin Hood. The other says, "Naw, dumbass! He said the dude was robbin' the store." "Oh... that makes sense." And, at the end, Bruce asks him what he should call Drake and Drake replies, "Well... You're a bat guy, I'm a bird guy... So, I'm think'... The Avenging Eagle." Bruce: "'The Avenging Eagle'..." Drake: "It's not final. I'm still deciding...")
Dent, (again, of course), has an accident that freakishly disfigures the left side of his face, this time in an automobile repair garage fire (that I've already forgotten just who set on fire, just that there were a lot of bombs going off all over Gotham) that Dent runs into to try to same Winston, who Dent believes is still inside. There are also scenes prior to this showing Dent already fixated with tossing a coin (although it's a trick coin with two "heads" sides).
I'm not going to try to summarize the story past this point except to say that Selina Kyle is also present in the story as both Kyle and as Catwoman, that Barbara Gordon is most of the time being pulled in various directions (her love for Harvey Dent, for her father, and her duty as a police sergeant).
There are some nice moments in this story, like showing how Bruce ends up with a giant penny in the Batcave (as in the comics), and his scenes with Winston at the mansion and in the cave.
The Harvey Dent stuff isn't as interesting (despite my always having been at least a bit curious as to how things would have gone with they'd stuck with Billy Dee Williams as Dent in the movies instead of re-casting the part in "Batman Forever" with Tommy Lee Jones). For one thing, we've seen the origin of Two-Face story told so many times by this point both in the comics and also in the various animated television series and films ("Batman Forever" and "The Dark Knight") that it's very hard to bring much of anything new that that story. And the seeds here to Dent's dual personality both prior to the accident and also after it are just not particularly convincing.
(There is an interesting moment, however, during a hallucination sequence where Dent believes it is many years later and he is governor and Barbara Gordon is the new Gotham police commissioner. She explains to him that he was right, that "Bruce Wayne flipped" and admitted to being the money man behind "a small army of mercenaries" playing as Batman. She shows him four photographs of men in the Batman costume without their masks and they are clearly meant to resemble fellow Batman film actors Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck.)
So, the story comes across as pretty average due to this and also due to Hamm trying to fit too much into it (Two-Face, Catwoman, the introductions of both Barbara Gordon and Drake Winston/Robin).
The art is what I would call "good overall but not great". Quiñones art here is more of a traditional movie adaptation style in the sense that it's drawn pretty much like he would draw any comic (I'd imagine) just with the faces just generally (sometimes vaguely) resembling the actors (unlike the "Superman '78" art by Wilfredo Torres which looks so much like the Superman movies that he had to have been making extensive use of photo references for the facial likenesses and even for characters posing like when showing Superman in flight).
I generally like both styles. Torres's "Superman '78" comes across as more visually exciting to me, though, than Quiñones's does. For one thing, Hamm's plotting is much "denser" here than Robert Venditti's "Superman '78's", as Quiñones' pages are crammed full of lots of little panels (many of them six or seven panels to a page). So, there's a lot more going on per page here than in "Superman '78", but there are also fewer exciting moments, visually speaking.
And, I hate to say it, but Quiñones' art is done no favors by how dark the artwork comes across in this story, the fault I suppose I have to put upon color artist Leonardo Ito. Now, I get that he was probably going for a tone reminiscent of the 1989 "Batman" film. However, his colors are *so* dark here in the many exterior night scenes and while taking place in the Batcave as to make much of Quiñones line art nearly impossible to make out. It's possible that this is some sort of production issue and not that of Ito's coloring (there are also a couple panels showing computer screens that are so small that it is impossible to read what's on the screen; I suspect this is a hold-over from when they thought this was going to be a "Digital First" release, where one would be viewing the story panel-by-panel enlarged to the size of one's phone or computer screen).
There is a lot of potential here and I suppose that "Batman '89" is probably a must read for die hard fans of the 1989 Tim Burton "Batman" movie. (Comic book direct market sales charts were still coming out at the time the first issues of "Batman '89" and "Superman '78" were coming out and, according to what I saw there, "Batman '89" #1 was ordered by comics shops and online comics retailers by around one hundred thousand copies more than they did "Superman '78" #1. Both first issues had many variant covers, so I have to presume it was just the general "Batman is cooler than Superman" mentality driving this, plus the fact that the Christopher Reeve Superman movies are cultural touchstones for comic book readers roughly my age (I turn 51 in three weeks; I was six years old when "Superman: The Movie" came out in 1978 and eight when "Superman II" in 1980) while the Michael Keaton "Batman" serves the same for a slightly younger generation just turning forty and I have to assume there are probably more forty-year-olds still buying monthly comic books than there are fifty-plus-year-olds. (I was seventeen years old when the 1989 "Batman" movie came out, so part way through high school. To me, the Michael Keaton "Batman" was a really cool new film but I never really thought of Keaton as *the* Batman actor of my generation as I had earlier with Christopher Reeve and Superman).
I gave "Batman '89" three out of five stars on GoodReads. I really hope that we get to see more of these "Batman '89" and "Superman '78" comics as both have potential for even better stories going forwards (and both have their own built-in audiences, the fans of the films). However, based on the previous similar tie-ins DC has done ("Batman '66", "Wonder Woman '77", and the CW "Arrowverse" tie-in series), they all seem to have pretty short runs. I believe "Batman '66" ran for the longest and most issues, including quite a few crossover mini-series with other tv characters like the Green Hornet, Steed and Mrs. Peel (the 1960s tv "Avengers"), the "Man from U.N.C.L.E.", and Lynda Carter's "Wonder Woman '77"....more
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