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| 1684052769
| 9781684052769
| 1684052769
| 3.32
| 25
| Aug 21, 2018
| Aug 21, 2018
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really liked it
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"G.I. Joe A Real American Hero vs. The Six Million Dollar Man" by Ryan Ferrier (writer), S.L. Gallant (artist (penciller)), Brian Shearer (inker), Jam
"G.I. Joe A Real American Hero vs. The Six Million Dollar Man" by Ryan Ferrier (writer), S.L. Gallant (artist (penciller)), Brian Shearer (inker), James Brown (colorists), Robbie Robbins (letterer), John Cassiday (collection cover artist) (IDW Publishing in conjunction with Dynamite Entertainment (G.I. Joe comic book license owner being Hasbro, IDW the publisher then licensed by Hasbro to publisher G.I. Joe comic books), 2018; originally released in single issue format as "G.I. Joe A Real American Hero vs. The Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man" #1-4 (February 2018 to May 2018). Thoughts: I haven't read a G.I. Joe comic book in probably twenty years. However, I found that I really enjoyed this mini-series as primarily a G.I. Joe story/adventure guest-starring Steve Austin (a Steve Austin brainwashed to be a tool of Cobra!). That being the set-up, it works well. There is lots of action and the G.I. Joe characters are handled well, from what I can tell. This is *not* a particularly authentic-to-his-own-source-material Steve Austin, but in this case that's okay as right from the start thanks to the art style and the story it's clear that this is a "G.I. Joe universe version" of Steve Austin. I gave this four out of five stars on GoodReads.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 26, 2022
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Dec 28, 2022
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Dec 26, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1524103721
| 9781524103729
| 1524103721
| 3.64
| 141
| Oct 18, 2017
| Oct 31, 2017
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really liked it
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"Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman" by Andy Mangels (writer), Judit Tondora (artist), Michael Bartolo, Stuart Chaifetz, Roland Pilcz (colorists)
"Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman" by Andy Mangels (writer), Judit Tondora (artist), Michael Bartolo, Stuart Chaifetz, Roland Pilcz (colorists), Tom Orzechowski, Lois Buhalis, Katherine S. Renta (letterer), Cat Staggs (original primary covers artist), Alex Ross (variant original cover and collection cover artist) (Dynamite Entertainment in conjunction with DC Comics, 2017; originally released in single issue format as "Wonder Woman '77 Meets The Bionic Woman" #1-6 (December 2016 to September 2017). Thoughts: Without a doubt, the best of the seven Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman comics trade paperbacks I read this week. Andy Mangels is a recognized Wonder Woman expert and also is really good with the Bionic Woman characters and does a great job of tying this story into what has already happened on both the 1970s "Wonder Woman" and "Bionic Woman" television series. Lots of familiar characters from both shows (Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's mother and fellow Amazons, Drusilla/Wonder Girl, Oscar Goldman, Rudy Wells, Max the bionic dog, the Fembots and their creator, several enemy robot makers from earlier "Wonder Woman" episodes, etc.). If anything, there may be a bit *too* much in the way of cramming in as many robots related villains from the previous two tv series as Mangels does (I even started to lose track of who some of them were) but it's okay because it's still just such a fun overall experience, this series. The artist is the best (Judit Tondora) is the best of all of the Dynamites mini-series in terms of getting actor resemblances (the drawings looking like the actual actors). And Mangels knows exactly what fans would want to see: Diana doing her "magic spin" to change to Wonder Woman, Diana in her blue scuba diving outfit, Diana and Jaime in the invisible jet, Paradise Island and the Amazons, flashbacks to Jaime's origin with Steve Austin (and addressing how both characters have important relationships with men named Steve!), Diana vs. fembots, Diana being outmaneuvered at a critical moment to prevent her usual way of escaping injury from gun fire, etc. I've heard one peson describe this as primarily a Wonder Woman story guest-starring Jaime Sommers (rather than an equal "team-up"), which is probably a valid observation. But it's still a lot of fun. I gave this four out of five stars on GoodReads.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 24, 2022
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Dec 26, 2022
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Dec 24, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1524102768
| 9781524102760
| 1524102768
| 3.56
| 25
| unknown
| Apr 18, 2017
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liked it
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"The Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man" by Van Jensen (writer), Ron Salas (artist), Mike Atiyeh and Caitlin McCarthy (colorists), Taylor Esposito (l
"The Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man" by Van Jensen (writer), Ron Salas (artist), Mike Atiyeh and Caitlin McCarthy (colorists), Taylor Esposito (letterer), Ron Salas (original primary covers and collection cover artist) (Dynamite Entertainment, 2016; originally released in single issue format as "The Six Million Dollar Man: Fall of Man" #1-5 (July 2016 to November 2016). Thoughts: Completely ignores story in "Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six" (released prior to this one). I bit of a darker, more "adult" story dealing with an enemy trying to convince Steve Austin that Oscar Goldman and the OSI have secret plans to create an army of bionic soldiers, causing Steve to go rogue. Also, Steve starts hearing an unknown "voice in his head" spurring him on to normally uncharacteristic actions. Barney Hiller appears here (again, completely ignoring what happened to him in "Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six". The art is good for the story being told but, again, is a bit too "out there" for a "Six Million Dollar Man" story. I gave this three out of five stars on GoodReads.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 20, 2022
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Dec 24, 2022
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Dec 20, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1606908650
| 9781606908655
| 1606908650
| 3.85
| 20
| Apr 06, 2016
| Apr 19, 2016
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liked it
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"The Bionic Woman: Season Four" by Brandon Jerwa (writer), David T. Cabrera (artist), Sandra Molina (colorist), Joshua Cozine (letterer), Sean Chen (o
"The Bionic Woman: Season Four" by Brandon Jerwa (writer), David T. Cabrera (artist), Sandra Molina (colorist), Joshua Cozine (letterer), Sean Chen (original primary covers and collection cover artist) (Dynamite Entertainment, 2016; originally released in single issue format as "The Bionic Woman: Season Four" #1-4 (September 2014 to December 2014). Thoughts: This "Bionic Woman: Season Four" is completely separate/unrelated to the previously released "Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six" (which is pretty much how all of Dynamite's Six Mill and Bionic Woman minis are, completely separate and self-contained). This mini-series has decent art (much better covers, though) and a likewise interesting story as Jaime is drawn into a mystery involving a hidden and unknown city with a mysterious cult like leader that turns out to (spoilers) be made up entirely of robots. When Jaime tries to escape, she realizes they are much further away from sunny southern California than she first realized. Again, an okay story but the repeated use of robots or other cyborgs (as in both "Six Mill: Season Six" and "Six Mill: Fall of Man" as well as here in this one) makes these first three Dynamite series a bit too "way out there" to be taken seriously as supposed continuations of the two for-the-most-part action/adventure-with-occasional-touches-of-sci-fi 1970s television series. I gave this three out of five stars on GoodReads.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 18, 2022
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Dec 20, 2022
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Dec 18, 2022
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| 1606906070
| 9781606906071
| 1606906070
| 3.91
| 47
| Jan 06, 2015
| Jan 06, 2015
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liked it
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"The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six" by James Kuhoric (writer), Juan Antonio Ramirez and David T. Cabrera (artists), Fran Gamboa (colorist), Joshu
"The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six" by James Kuhoric (writer), Juan Antonio Ramirez and David T. Cabrera (artists), Fran Gamboa (colorist), Joshua Cozine (letterer), Alex Ross (original primary covers and collection cover artist) (Dynamite Entertainment, 2014; originally released in single issue format as "The Six Million Dollar Man: Season Six" #1-6 (March 2014 to September 2014). Thoughts: This mini-series is cool on so many levels yet at the same time left me a bit disappointed. It's a good story and has decent art, and has *loads* of cool call backs to the 1970s television series. It brings back a lot of the familiar characters (Jaime Sommers, Barney Hiller the "Seven Million Dollar Man") and even introduces the characters of Oliver Spencer (Steve's government boss in the very first "Six Million Dollar Man" pilot movie played by Darren McGavin, replaced without any explanation by Richard Anderson's Oscar Goldman when it went to series) and "Maskatron" (the robot villain toy only existing prior to this as a Kenner action figure). It is an interesting story but has *too* much going on in it (Maskatron, Barney Hiller, Oliver Spencer, aliens infiltrating a NASA installation, etc.) The story literally switches from being primarily about Maskatron to the aliens story partway through (and the aliens seem way too out there for a series supposedly picking up from where the "Six Million Dollar Man" televison series left off. Also, Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers often speak and act out of character here (as they do in several other of the Dynamite series below), and Jaime especially is drawn in a very "young, generic pretty blonde woman" fashion (delivering karate kicks and hanging all over Steve Austin when they first meet up again after over a year apart, which does reflect how the two characters could no longer team up the last year of their respective tv series because "Bionic Woman" moved to a rival television network from "Six Mill". Most disappointing (not the fault of the author necessarily but he had to have known it would be a possibility) is that this mini-series set up *three* teasers "epilogues" for significant stories he wished to follow in subsequent mini-series (one involving a newly built Venus "Death Probe"), only to have Dynamite choose for their subsequent Six Million Dollar Man minis to have nothing to do with this one (see below). Still, it was a good/interesting overall package even with these criticisms (and the Alex Ross painted covers are wonderful, spot on renditions, as usual for Ross, of Lee Majors, Lindsay Wagner, Richard Anderson, etc. I gave this three out of five stars on GoodReads.
...more
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Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 17, 2022
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Dec 18, 2022
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Dec 17, 2022
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Paperback
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| 0593185838
| 9780593185834
| 0593185838
| 4.02
| 4,659
| Oct 18, 2022
| Oct 18, 2022
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it was amazing
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Today I finished reading Ralph Macchio’s recently released memoir, “Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me” (2022). I really enjoyed this book. A relatively Today I finished reading Ralph Macchio’s recently released memoir, “Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me” (2022). I really enjoyed this book. A relatively short book (241 pages), I think this is one of the quickest reads I’ve had in awhile (twelve days of off and reading, alternating with another book I am also still reading, which for me is quick). Now, first off, this is one of those kinds of books that goes like this: “if you really like X, then you’ll really like this book about X”. In other words, if you are the right age to have grown up with (as I am) or just generally love (even if you are older or younger than that demographic group) the Ralph Macchio-Pat Morita “Karate Kid” movies (1984-1989), then you will probably also really enjoy reading “Waxing On”. Likewise, if you are a fan of the current “Karate Kid” universe sequel series, “Cobra Kai”, you will probably also enjoy it. If you’re not into either of those, I don’t know. You might still enjoy it for Macchio’s friendly and engaging writing style. And also as another perspective on Hollywood filmmaking of the 1980s and 90s. The thing I like best about this is that Macchio starts off right with his attending a “sneak preview” screening of the first “Karate Kid” movie (the very first time he saw it; no advance screenings for him) at a local New York movie theater on May 19, 1984 (the official full U.S. release was on June 22). He was very anxious going into seeing the movie with an audience (his only prior big movie he had been in at that point being Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders” (1983)). That experience of the audience’s complete embrace of the film and its characters (especially his young Daniel LaRusso and Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi), became one he would never forget. The audience cheered at moments like when the big payoff of all of those chores Miyagi had been putting Daniel through (“Show me wax on, wax off. Show me sand the floor. Show me paint the fence.” Etc.) And, of course, the big climactic moment in the tournament when the “crane kick” became a universally recognizable thing (one he saw the audience members emulating as the left the theater). Macchio then moves back to how he got the part (including his recollections of scriptwriter/creator Robert Mark Kamen, director John Avildsen, and producer Jerry Weintraub). Then separate chapters on meeting and working with Pat Morita (Miyagi), Elizabeth (“Lisa”) Shue (“Ali with an I”), and William (“Billy”) Zabka (Johnny Lawrence). Then a chapter on the famous “crane kick” (and how it was impossible for anyone, even professional martial artists brought in to train Macchio, Morita, Zabka, and the others, to actually *do* the kick as described by Kamen in his screenplay. (Kamen had Daniel kicking up on his plant leg as seen in the film—his other leg, the lifted one, being his injured leg—striking Johnny with the plant leg and then landing back on the same leg. No one could do it. Eventually, they had to “cheat” a bit and have Daniel (Macchio) land briefly on his injured leg and quickly shift back over to the good leg. There are subsequent chapters about the two Macchio-Morita “Karate Kid” sequels and other work he did during the rest of the 1980s. (Why did he do the much less well regarded “Part III”? Because he had to. They insisted he sign a three-picture deal to do the first one. And it ended up costing him the River Phoenix part in Sidney Lumet’s “Running on Empty” (1988). Although, he does say that while he himself has always had issues with “Karate Kid: Part III”, it did eventually provide them with a wealth of backstory to mine later on in “Cobra Kai”.) One thing I didn’t know about was that he did a Broadway show with Robert De Niro called “Cuba and His Teddy Bear” in 1986 (the same time that “Karate Kid: Part II” was in theaters). He talks about getting typecast in the Daniel LaRusso part, and being cast in 1991 in the Joe Pesci comedy, “My Cousin Vinny”. (Words of a studio exec to the filmmakers when they inquired as to Macchio’s availability: “You don’t want him, he’s the Karate Kid”. He discusses his reactions to learning of both of the “Karate Kid” films that he was not a part of: Pat Morita and Hillary Swank’s “The Next Karate Kid” (1994) and the Will Smith produced, Jaden Smith-Jackie Chan “The Karate Kid” remake (2010). He goes into how he resisted suggestions and half-baked ideas to return to the Daniel LaRusso part, and then how eventually he began to consider it, especially after a memorable guest appearance on “How I Met Your Mother” (the comedy series in which Neil Patrick Harris’s character insists that Johnny Lawrence is the true hero in the original “Karate Kid” movie and that Daniel LaRusso was the villain who moved to town, stole Johnny’s girl, and beat Johnny with an “illegal” kick in the tournament). Macchio and Zabka would go on to guest star on the series. He goes into how, after resisting it for so long, the creators of “Cobra Kai” were able to sell him on being part of their “Karate Kid” follow-up series. (He was the last one they approached after every one else had agreed because they had heard that he had always been hesitant.) He talks about reconnecting with Zabka (who he really wasn’t close with at the time of shooting the first film or for decades after, not until just a few years prior to “Cobra Kai”). He talks about enjoying working with both the “OG” original actors like Zabka, Martin Kove (Kreece), Elizabeth Shue (in a noteworthy guest-appearance by her), Yugi Okukoto (Chosen, from “Karate Kid: Part II”, and Thomas Ian Griffith (from “Karate Kid: Part III”) again as well as with all of the younger teenage and twenty something actors. How he would find himself now playing a version of the Mr. Miyagi character now to the younger actors, some scenes and situations very similar to the ones Pat Morita played with him back in 1983. He talks about some things he wishes he could get a “do over” on, the biggest one being turning down being a presenter along with Morita at the 1984 Academy Awards. He said no, but later greatly regretted it because Morita was one of the actors nominated for best supporting actor for his part as Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid”. He realized, sitting and watching it at home with his girlfriend (later to be his wife, who he is still married to today) and his parents that he should have been there in support of Morita. He later got a chance to make up for it, though, decades later, when he got to introduce Morita at the Asian Excellence Awards in New York City where Morita received a lifetime achievement award in 2006. They had a great time, he says, reconnecting after having not seen each other in a couple years (and not together at a public event in around a decade or more). One year later (almost exactly to the day, Macchio says), Pat Morita passed away. There is more I could go into, but I shouldn’t spoil everything. Again, I highly recommend “Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me” to all fans of “The Karate Kid” films and “Cobra Kai” Netflix streaming television series. I gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 29, 2022
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Dec 10, 2022
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Nov 29, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 9781629339306
| 4.00
| 23
| unknown
| Jun 22, 2022
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really liked it
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Just finished reading last night Randy West's very entertaining tome, "TV Inside-Out - Flukes, Flakes, Feuds and Felonies: The backstage blunders, blo
Just finished reading last night Randy West's very entertaining tome, "TV Inside-Out - Flukes, Flakes, Feuds and Felonies: The backstage blunders, bloopers and blasphemy of celebrities in search of success" (BearManor Media, 2022). Randy West has spent his entire adult life working in the entertainment industry, first on radio and then, after being mentored by the famous Johnny Olson (the original "Price Is Right" "COME ON DOOWWWWN" announcer), began his long career in 1988 as a game show announcer, audience warm-up personality, and voice performer. West has worked with or at least interacted with many of the television and motion picture celebrities, and has had the ear of even more actors, writers, producers, directors, and other figures who have worked in television going all the way back to the 1950s who could share with West stories that West himself could not have personally witnessed himself. After a lengthy introduction in which West expounds upon the nature of being a celebrity and how some people react to the pressures of fame and success (and stresses to continue to succeed) differently than others, West begins telling his stories of television game show hosts and producers, actors who off screen couldn't stand each other, morning show and late night show hosts, news announcers, talk show hosts, etc. How deals were agreed upon and then broken. Personality clashes. Hosts who were warm and friendly--accept when the cameras weren't rolling. Friendships and professional partnerships that splintered apart over sometimes real, sometimes only perceived, betrayals. Tales of personal life travails that derailed successful television careers. And, likewise, stories of others who overcame great obstacles. I read this book very slowly over several months, just a chapter or two at a time (sometimes even only part of a chapter) as West's style of jumping from one anecdote to another encouraged me to read it this way. His chapters are short and most of them discuss two of three different celebrity tales or stories from different television shows, although a few chapters do focus on one particular celebrity like Johnny Carson and Betty White. I learned of this book by Randy West's appearing on Ed Robertson's "TV Confidential" radio show/podcast and immediately asked my local public library to get a copy, which they did. I recommend if for anyone who loves reading about old tv shows and celebrities "behind the scenes" stories (although it's not just "classic TV" figures and events West shares about, he also includes tales of celebrities, as well, right up to the year this book came out). Many of the stories are ones that have been told before, but that's okay. There are most likely just as many if not more that most readers have not heard before. And it's a book that some can read as I did, the entire thing, cover to cover, while others jump around in, reading about only the celebrities or genres of television that they personally are interested in. I gave "TV Inside-Out" four out of five stars on GoodReads. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 12, 2022
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Mar 11, 2023
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Nov 12, 2022
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Paperback
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| 1506711359
| 9781506711355
| 1506711359
| 4.01
| 136
| unknown
| Apr 06, 2021
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liked it
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“The Orville Season 2.5: Launch Day” (published by Dark Horse Books, March 2021). Written by David A. Goodman, art by David Cabeza, colors by Michael
“The Orville Season 2.5: Launch Day” (published by Dark Horse Books, March 2021). 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), has so far published three four-issue comic book mini-series (or two four-issue and two two-issue, depending on how you look at it) 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 these “Orville” comics basically as four-issue mini-series, one per year (in 2019, 2020, and 2021), but in turn split each of those four-issue mini-series into two separate two-issue stories, and branded the comics both as “The Orville” issues #1-4, and also as “The Orville: [First story title] Part 1 of 2” and “Part 2 of 2”, followed by “The Orville: [Second story title] Part 1 of 2”, etc. Dark Horse then released three trade paperback reprint collections, one for each four issues. The first such collection was “The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings” (2020), reprinting the 2019-2020 first four-issue mini-series, also titled “The Orville: New Beginnings” #1-2 and “The Orville: The Word of Avis” #1-2. I read and reviewed that collection in June 2022. Next comes this one, “The Orville Season 2.5: Launch Day” (2021), reprinting the 2020 second four-issue mini-series, also titled “The Orville: Launch Day” #1-2 and “The Orville: Heroes” #1-2. Both of these stories share a common element (besides taking place between seasons two and three of the television series), and that’s that both start off with a scene showing one or more of the characters on a prior mission years ago (twenty years ago in “Launch Day” and five years ago in “Heroes”). “Launch Day”, which I like best of the two stories here, features the crew investigating a planet that broke away from the Planetary Union twenty years ago that suddenly is showing signs of some mysterious powerful new weapon about to be launched. Captain Ed Mercer doesn’t necessarily believe that it is indeed a weapon and leads a team to seek out the truth. However, the Krill has also detected the powerful energy signature and sent eight warships across into Union space to attack the planet and destroy their “weapon”. Bortus is left in charge of the Orville with orders to stall the Krill from attacking while Mercer and company are away from the ship investigating (leading to some cool Bortus squaring off against the Krill moments). “Heroes” starts with security officer, Talla, in a mission to a peaceful, low tech world five years ago. She is there investigating if the Union should make contact with this civilization (who physically resemble her own Xelayan species but without her species’ increased strength and resilience) to mine a valuable mineral names Dysonium. Talla has been staying with a family with a young girl named Aki. She recommends to her captain that the Union not pursue relations there, that any attempts to mine would negatively impact the native population. The story then jumps to the present (five years later) and the Orville (with Talla) is now investigating the presence of a Quantum Drive ship there. They discover that another alien species, a non Union affiliated one named the Nazh, has since arrived and enslaved the natives, using them to mine the Dysonium. Due to the precarious position the Union is in at the moment with several hostile forces threatening war (the events at the end of season two of the tv series), the crew is ordered not to interfere and to move on. Talla isn’t willing to abandon Aki, her parents, and the rest of her people to the Nazh. Both stories are enjoyable enough although “Heroes” is a bit predictable. Right from the start of that story we see that there is a female Zorro like storybook character who it’s pretty obvious Talla will dress up as at some point in the story. Goodman continues to write these characters well (as he should since he was a co-producer on the television series along with Seth McFarlane), and David Cabeza again captures the actors’ likenesses perfectly. Yes, there is a bit of a “Photoshop” like feel at times, the likenesses are so spot on. But the appeal of “The Orville” is often about the interactions of the lead characters combined with standard “Star Trek: The Next Generation” type plot set-ups (usually with a twist at the end) and Cabeza’s art works perfectly for these types of stories. Since I liked “Launch Day” a bit more than I did “Heroes”, I ended up giving the combined trade paperback collection a three out of five stars on GoodReads. The third (and perhaps final) trade paperback is “The Orville Season 2.5: Digressions” (March 2022), reprinting the 2021 four-issue mini-series also titled “The Orville: Digressions” #1-2 and “The Orville: Artifacts” #1-2. I will be reading and reviewing that third trade paperback collection once my local public library can get a copy. There is also a more expensive “The Orville: Library Edition” hardcover collection just recently released (I believe) that is an omnibus of all three of the trade paperbacks. (So, containing all of the Dark Horse “Orville” stories in one volume.) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Nov 06, 2022
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Nov 09, 2022
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Nov 06, 2022
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Paperback
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| 9781613472828
| 4.28
| 119
| Jun 2021
| Jun 2021
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it was amazing
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None
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Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jul 14, 2024
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Oct 24, 2022
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Hardcover
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| 1605491128
| 9781605491127
| 1605491128
| 4.25
| 8
| Oct 18, 2022
| Oct 18, 2022
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it was amazing
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Finished reading Michael Eury's "The Team-Up Companion" (TwoMorrows, 2022) around a week ago. I absolutely loved this book. Now, this is another one of Finished reading Michael Eury's "The Team-Up Companion" (TwoMorrows, 2022) around a week ago. I absolutely loved this book. Now, this is another one of those types of books that I call an "If you like X, then you will really like this book about X" type of book. If you love the "team-up" comic books of the 1960s, 1970s, and/or 1980s, then you will most enjoy this issue-by-issue breakdown of those wonderful late Silver Age and Bronze Age comics. If those types of comic books weren't among your favorites (or if you have no idea what I'm talking about), then this book is probably not for you. Eury begins with clearly differentiating a "team-up" comic book (or comic book series) from a "crossover" comic, a "buddy book", and a "super-team" book. For the purposes of this companion, a team-up book is whenever you have an issue (or an entire series) which features "two different heroes join[ing] forces, with their logos appearing together on the cover". (A crossover is when a hero guest-stars in another hero's series, such as the Flash or Batman guest-starring in an issue of "Superman". A buddy book is similar to a team-up but the two lead characters don't ever change, such as the Superman and Batman that appeared in just about every issue of "World's Finest Comics", or when "Captain America" became "Captain America and the Falcon" for a stretch of issues, same with "Green Lantern" becoming "Green Lantern/Green Arrow" and "Daredevil" temporarily becoming "Daredevil and Black Widow". A super-team book/series is "a collective, a club of heroes that gathers routinely to tackle dangers generally too intimidating for a single superhero". The Team-Up Companion is broken up into the following chapters: "The Brave and the Bold" (begun in 1955, the series that became comics' very first regular team-up comic with issue #50 (1963); at first featured two different characters each issue but became a "Batman and another character" team-up series with #59 (1965) and remained a Batman team-up book throughout the rest of its 200 issue run which ended in 1983), "World's Finest Comics" (focusing on the brief period from 1970 to 1972 when it became a "Superman-and-someone-not-necessarily-Batman team-up series), "Marvel Team-Up" (the long-running Spider-Man team-up series (except for a few issue headlined by the Human Torch or the Hulk instead of Spidey) that ran for 150 issues from 1972 to 1985), "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" (the 1972-1973 season of "Scooby-Doo" Saturday morning cartoons that featured guest-stars like Batman and Robin, Don Knotts, Josie and the Pussycats, the Three Stooges, Sonny and Cher, and the Harlem Globetrotters), "Marvel Two-In-One" (the long-running Ben Grimm/"The Thing" team-up series that ran for 100 issues from 1974 to 1983), "Western Team-Up" (1973), "Super-Villain Team-Up" (1975-1980), "Super-Team Family" (1975-1978), "DC-Marvel Team-Ups' (covering "Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man" (1976), "Superman/Spider-Man" (1981), "Batman vs. the Incredible Hulk" (1981), and "The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans" (1982)), "Harvey Team-Ups" (various Harvey Comics character team-ups like Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost), "DC Super-Stars" (1976-1978), "DC Comics Presents" (the long-running Superman team-up series that ran for 97 issues from 1978 to 1986), and "The 'Superman vs.' Team-Ups" (covering the "Superman vs. Wonder Woman", "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali", and "Superman vs. Shazam!" specials, all in 1978), followed by an extensive "Team-Up Companion Index". In addition, Eury also features "Creator Spotlights" on "Brave and the Bold" writer Bob Haney, artist Jim Aparo, and writer Charlie Boatner, "Marvel Team-Up" writer Mike W. Barr and cover designer Eliot R. Brown, and a "Fan Spotlight" on "DC Comics Presents" fan contest winner Mark Teichman, whose prize was to be an actual guest-star in an issue of "DC Comics Presents". And also loads of cool little sidebar blurbs of notable team-ups from both comics and also various other mediums besides comic books, like the "Six Million Dollar Man" and "Bionic Woman" team-up episodes, "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein", Saturday morning's "Shazam!" and "The Secrets of Isis" team-ups, "Godzilla vs. Megalon", and Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny meeting in "Who Framed Roger Rabbitt?". Much of the interview quotes throughout "The Team-Up Companion" are taken from the long run of "Back Issue Magazine", a comics nostalgia magazine that Eury edits that has been published since 2003 and that is now at issue #140 as of the time I'm writing this review plus other magazines published by TwoMorrows like "Alter Ego" and the first "Comic Book Artist" magazine series. But Eury did also conduct new interviews via phone and email specially for this book, too. Again, I highly recommend "The Team-Up Companion" to anyone who, like me, grew up reading and loving the team-up comic books of the 1960s through 1980s. I gave this five out of five stars on GoodReads. ...more |
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Oct 20, 2022
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Dec 17, 2022
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Oct 20, 2022
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| 1506724507
| 9781506724508
| 1506724507
| 3.67
| 741
| Jun 15, 2021
| Mar 01, 2022
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it was amazing
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Just finished reading “Adora and the Distance”, a graphic novel written by Marc Bernardin, with art by Ariela Kristantina, colors by Bryan Valenza, an
Just finished reading “Adora and the Distance”, a graphic novel written by Marc Bernardin, with art by Ariela Kristantina, colors by Bryan Valenza, and letters by Bernardo Brice. Originally released digitally by ComiXology (a “ComiXology Original”) in 2021. Softcover print trade paperback published by Dark Horse Books in March 2022. A beautifully drawn graphic novel about a nine-year-old girl living as a princess in a fantasy kingdom who has frightening dreams. The dreams are said to foreshadow the coming of “the Darkness”, a mysterious malevolent force coming for her that will destroy all around her. Once she discovers this, she elects to go on the hero’s journey (with her best friend and a small group of protectors) to confront the Darkness. I won’t go into the ending (which anyone who has heard or read of Marc Bernardin’s comments on why he wrote this story in the first place), other than to say that it comes from a very personal place for the author. I enjoy Bernardin’s writing (having listened to him as co-host of the Kevin Smith “Fatman on Batman”/“Fatman Beyond” podcast). But I even more enjoyed the beautiful art of Ariela Kristantina’s art and Bryan Valenza’s colors. It is a very slim graphic novel, one I intentionally read slowly to prolong enjoying it. I read a few reviews that passionately did *not* like it (in particular it’s ending). I can’t argue with those whose personal experiences feel like Bernardin treated a serious issue in a trivial or inaccurate way if that’s their genuine reactions. However, I very much enjoyed “Adora and the Distance”, and gave it five out of five stars on GoodReads. ...more |
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Oct 17, 2022
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Oct 29, 2022
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Oct 17, 2022
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| 1302928635
| 9781302928636
| 1302928635
| 3.14
| 144
| 2020
| Mar 30, 2021
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really liked it
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“Fantastic Four: Antithesis Treasury Edition” (2021). Reprinting “Fantastic Four: Antithesis” #1-4 (October 2020-January 2021). Writer, Mark Waid and
“Fantastic Four: Antithesis Treasury Edition” (2021). Reprinting “Fantastic Four: Antithesis” #1-4 (October 2020-January 2021). Writer, Mark Waid and penciler, Neal Adams (credited together as “Storytellers”). Inker, Mark Farmer. Color artists, Laura Martin with Andrew Crossley. Letterer, “VC’s Joe Carramanga”. I have to say that I ended up really enjoying this one. Aside from a few really oddly drawn depictions of Ben Grimm (the Thing)—I think Adams was trying to show Grimm’s emotions through exaggerated facial expressions, as is per Adams’ usual style, but Grimm’s rocky exterior makes that very difficult—this is a beautifully drawn book. Now, I should say that this is clearly “later Adams” (the style he had developed into and used on all of his projects from Batman: Odyssey (2010-2012) onwards. Hyper detailed. Hard lined figure outlines. Exaggerated facial expressions. Some long time Adams fans dislike this change (or development) of Adams’ style, so they might also not like it here. However, I felt it was perfect for a story of this scope (and especially in this larger “treasury” sized format. Adams page layouts are dynamic, much of the story taking place in outer space or in the “Negative Zone”, and the characters all benefit from the larger page size (especially “cosmic” alien characters like the heroic and noble Silver Surfer, creepy/scary Annihilus, gigantic Galactus, and the new villain character here, Antithesis). The story is a pretty standard but sufficient one to warrant the Neal Adams visual fireworks. Gateways begin to open between Earth and the Negative Zone, allowing Annihilus to attack at the start of the story. The Fantastic Four successfully repel his attack and send him back to the Negative Zone but then discover (from the Silver Surfer, who crash lands on Earth, injured) that a new threat, Antithesis, has seemingly destroyed the Surfer’s master, Galactus, and threatens the Earth next. (One thing I’m not too sure of is the actual timing of when this story is supposed to take place. The Silver Surfer is still (or again) serving as Galactus’s herald and guide during this story. Yet Reed and Sue’s daughter, Valeria, is very young, not yet speaking. I’m not familiar enough with Fantastic Four continuity to know if those two things line up, or if it doesn’t even matter if Waid and Adams maybe considered this story to be out of the established continuity all together?) As someone who has read all of Neal Adams’ material, I think, from “Batman: Odyssey” through this and “Batman vs. Ra’s al Ghul” (“Antithesis” and “Batman vs. Ra’s al Ghul” being the last two things he did prior to his death in April 2022), I can say that while I enjoyed much of Adams *art* in pretty much all of those stories (which also included “The First X-Men” (2012-2013), “Superman: The Coming of the Supermen” (2016), and “Deadman” (2018)), I think I enjoyed “Antithesis” more than any of the others (which is saying a lot coming from a big DC guy like me). And I attribute this to Mark Waid’s involvement in the writing of it. Yes, Neal Adams’ renditions of his classic DC characters like Batman, Superman, and Deadman will always *look* awesome. However, Adams’ plots (and especially his dialogue and characterizations) when he was both writing and drawing, as he was in all of these except for “Antithesis” and scripting assistance from Christos Gage on “The First X-Men”, were often quite, well, wacky at best, head-scratchingly bad at others. So much so that his final Batman stories are widely criticized as being nonsensical and difficult for longtime readers to get through. Waid is very familiar with the characters of the Fantastic Four as he wrote their regular monthly title from 2002 to 2005. Therefore his (presumably) plot and dialogue here keep this story a quintessential Fantastic Four adventure and the characters all their familiar selves. (For Adams, this is the first time he ever drew a full length Fantastic Four story or for anything more than a quick cameo. But his Reed Richards, Sue Storm, and Johnny Storm are all excellent here, as is his Ben Grimm except for the aforementioned odd facial expressions here and there. This “Treasury Edition” reprint collection (which, for those not familiar with treasury or tabloid sized comic books, measures at 8.75” x 13.3”) also includes two bonus stories from the Marvel archives, the first drawn by Neal Adams, a classic February 1970 X-Men issue (#65) written by Denny O’Neil and inked by Tom Palmer). And, second, the first issue of Mark Waid’s 2002-2005 Fantastic Four run (#60 [#489], October 2002), penciled by the late great Mike Wieringo and inked by Karl Kesel. Both good choices to bring back in the treasury sized format. Another trade paperback reprint collection of “Fantastic Four: Antithesis” is due out in January 2023. This will be in the more standard comic book size/format and will, presumably, only include the “Antithesis” mini-series (not the two bonus stories). Again, I really liked the “Fantastic Four: Antithesis Treasury Edition”. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. ...more |
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Sep 22, 2022
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Sep 29, 2022
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Sep 22, 2022
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| 1368092632
| B09Z76NZRH
| 4.27
| 963
| Jul 19, 2022
| Jul 19, 2022
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** “The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil” (2022) by Seth McFarlane (creator, show runner, and star of “The Orville” television series) i
**spoiler alert** “The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil” (2022) by Seth McFarlane (creator, show runner, and star of “The Orville” television series) is a novella McFarlane wrote based on an unused script or story idea from the third (and possibly final) season of the television series. Plot spoilers… I had a hard time deciding how I felt about this novella and how to end up rating it. This is because it is very much like two separate yet interlinked stories, and while interesting both had something pulling it back from being really good. The first half of the novella takes place from 1914 to sometime in World War II (1939-1945) and follows a young German named Otto who is dropped off as an infant at a posh New York City hotel by a mysterious couple. The baby is given to a German couple staying in the hotel who then returns to Germany. Otto, as he grows up, becomes enamored with the rising Nazi party, much to the concern of his Jewish adopted father and mother, and eventually rises to a position of some authority himself, given command over one of the Jewish concentration camps. Over the course of his life, Otto chooses the Nazi ideology over all else, including his own parents. Which is a very compelling story, yet the entire time I kept wondering at what point this would become an *Orville* story? Well, that happens at the midway point, when two new figures enter the story, Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson, supposedly representatives of the American Red Cross there to inspect the camp. Otto tries to make it look like the camp is a positive and nourishing environment for those Jews living there (covering up the atrocities actually taking place there). Things go wrong, however, and in the middle of a tense scene, Mercer ends the simulation. At which point, the reader discovers that, no, this isn’t a time travel story, this is a virtual simulator (in Star Trek, it would be a holodeck) story. The twist here is that Otto’s parents had been enjoying the simulator, in the 1914 New York City simulation, along with baby Otto when their facility was attacked by Krill soldiers. Giving themselves up, Otto’s parents turned Otto over to the characters in the simulation hoping that the Krill will look no further and just take the two of them, which they did. Otto then was raised from infancy to adulthood within the continuing to operate simulator which continued to simulate Germany of the early to mid twentieth century. At this point the novella becomes an “Orville” story, and focuses on Dr. Claire Finn trying to counsel the traumatized Otto to make him understand the truth, that his life up to this point (including his wife and child) aren’t real, and to try to get through Otto’s entrenched Nazi beliefs in regards to race, that those racist beliefs are wrong and anachronistic now in 2422, the year “The Orville” takes place in. Meanwhile, Captain Ed Mercer and his superiors have to decide what will ultimately become of Otto (a 20th Century Nazi officer living in normal, everyday 2422 society?), and if a man can be held accountable for evil actions he carried out while on a simulator (while not realizing that he is in one but instead believes everything he is doing is real). It is an interesting twist on the usual holodeck/simulator gone awry storyline. And as with a lot of “The Orville” stories does present a bit of a moral dilemma. However, my problems with this as a novella (making it “okay” rather than “really good” or “great”) is that once it becomes an “Orville” story it really doesn’t do a very good job in that transition. This is the very first “Orville” prose tie-in. McFarlane does try to give quick character background moments to all of the major characters, but there really isn’t much room for more than cursory descriptions. Suddenly the story is now about Dr. Finn, a character we are just “meeting” halfway through the novella, trying to help Otto. And, also, suddenly we are jumping from Otto to Claire to Ed Mercer, and back, when for the entire first half of the novella our focus was entirely on Otto. It just makes for a disjointed reading experience, and it also does not feature most of the Orville characters as much as one would hope (although there is a nice little moment at the very end where it jumps even further into the future). I think this would have made for a very interesting episode of the tv show, where sudden switches from one setting to another with little necessary transition can happen easier than in prose, and where it is not necessary to spend time introducing the usual cast of characters when they show up for the first time halfway through the episode. I know it sounds like I didn’t like this. I actually did. I think I was just hoping as I was reading the first half of “Sympathy for the Devil” that there was some big time travel reason for spending so much reading time on Otto in Germany, and that when I realized it was a simulator story instead then it made the rest of the story a bit predictable (while at the same time not the best showcase for the regular “Orville” characters aside from Dr. Finn). As an “Orville” fan, I still am glad that I bought this novella and read it. I ended up giving it three out of five stars on GoodReads, although I probably would have given it a three and a half if half-stars were allowed. ...more |
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Sep 08, 2022
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Oct 02, 2022
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Sep 08, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| 9798836630218
| B0B4S868N2
| 3.67
| 3
| Jun 17, 2022
| Jun 17, 2022
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liked it
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I finished reading “Zorro’s Exploits” (Bold Venture Press, 2022, edited by Audrey Parente) last week. I read the first half from September to November I finished reading “Zorro’s Exploits” (Bold Venture Press, 2022, edited by Audrey Parente) last week. I read the first half from September to November 2022, then took a break before reading the second half between January and the first week of February 2023. (My individual story reviews are more detailed on the first half.) First we get two introductions (one by journalist Jan Zabiński and the other by noted Disney television historian, Bill Cotter). “The Alcalde’s Last Try” by Tekla Cichocka (illustrations by Sora Almasy). The only story in the book taking place in the 1990-1993 New World/Family Channel television series continuity (despite the front cover featuring this version of Zorro, as played by Duncan Regehr). Following soon after where the tv series left off. Alcalde Ignacio de Soto faces arrest and possibly execution for killing the Spanish king’s emissary (on the tv final episode). De Soto’s desperate last scheme to save himself is to force tavern keeper, Victoria Escalante (known to be Zorro’s love) to marry someone by the following day or lose her tavern, in hopes of drawing Zorro into a trap (hoping that capturing Zorro will outweigh everything else). Don Diego steps in to foil de Soto’s plans. “Courage by Firelight” by Aaron Rosenberg (illustrations by Steve Shipley). Poor farmers and peasants in the tavern are stirred to stand up for themselves by a stirring story of one of Zorro’s exploits by a mysterious friar. “Fray Felipe’s Dilemma” by Michael Kurland (illustrations by Steve Shipley). Fray Felipe knows of a plot by some pueblo officials that he can’t reveal the details of but tells Don Diego and Don Alejandro Vega enough to set Zorro out to foil the plot. (In this story Don Alejandro knows his son is Zorro.) “A Fox in the City” by Jim Beard (illustrations by Perego). Probably my favorite of the stories in the first half of the book. Don Diego and his father (who does not know his son is Zorro in this tale) are both visiting New York City for the inauguration of the United States first President under their new Constitution, George Washington. Diego discovers a plot to kill Washington, forcing him to assume his role of Zorro far from home. “Out of the Night” by John L. French (illustrations by Michael Grassia). A beast is first mauling cattle and horses around Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Don Diego has married his love, Lolita, and sworn to her to retire as Zorro. When the beast turns to killing people (and turns out to be a different sort of evil, the supernatural kind), it puts pressure on Diego to go back on his vow. (Don Alejandro knows Diego is Zorro in this story, and also in the next one.) “The Shepherd” by Susan Kite (illustrations by Rick Celano). Another favorite of mine. A simple tale of an old shepherd who lives in the mountains outside of the pueblo with his young son who makes one of his rare visits to town for supplies on a day that Zorro also makes an appearance. The old shepherd tells Sargent Garcia in the tavern that he once took care of a beautiful black horse that looked exactly like Zorro’s horse, Tornado. The shepherd and son know nothing of Zorro, just that the wealthy don they were watching the horse for years ago came back from schooling in Spain and taken possession again of the horse. The shepherd senses he shouldn’t tell Garcia too much, but, unbeknownst to him, is overheard in the tavern by two greedy men who deduce the truth and plan to use this information to blackmail Zorro. “Life and Death” by Scott Cranford (illustrations by Phil Latter). A man that the town soldiers all fear due to his fierce reputation attacks Don Diego’s servant, Bernardo, at the tavern, putting him at death’s door. The attack enrages Diego, who immediately confronts the man as Zorro. “Fox Hunt” by Bobby Nash (illustrations by Phil Latter). Probably my third favorite of the first half of the book. A boisterous and wealthy man from Spain who is a hunter has trained to hunt the most dangerous prey in Spanish California: el Zorro! Announcing his intentions at a party thrown by Don Alejandro (who again in this story does *not* know is his son), Diego decides he must confront this man in his den, a mansion he has bought alongside a deep ravine. “Los Hombres Buenos” by Patricia Crumpler (illustrations by Aleena Valentine). Two old schoolmates of Diego’s from their years studying in Spain arrives in town just as a group of bandits are raiding the local rancheros. One is now a priest on a special mission for the Monsignor of Madrid, going ahead of a religious relic touring the area. “M For Murrieta” by Francisco Silva (illustrations also by Francisco Silva). The only story in this collection featuring the Alejandro Murrieta version of Zorro played by Antonio Banderas (and his wife, Elena, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) in the films “The Mask of Zorro” and “The Legend of Zorro”. The city’s collected taxes are stolen by a bandit said to be Alejandro’s dead brother, Joaquin. “The Road To Penance” by Ron Fortier (illustrations by Steve Shipley). The local church mission is robbed by bandits and the priest is kidnapped to be held for ransom. “Zorro and the Red Devil” by Teel James Glenn (illustrations by Francisco Silva). A group of pirates has been raiding the rancheros and settlements along the California coast. They take a group of wealthy land owners (including Don Diego and his father Don Alejandro) hostage. Diego has to get away and then take out the pirates one by one. (I really liked this story.) “The Gold Bell of Canfield Featherstone” by James Mullaney (illustrations by Francisco Silva). A bell made out of solid gold being donated by a rich plantation owner from Georgia to the local mission becomes a target for every bandit in the area, laying in wait to hijack the carriage secretly carrying it. However, not all is as it seems in regards to the reported “Gold Bell”. “A Lovely View” by Keith DeCandido (illustrations by Aleena Valentine-Lopez). Vandals hired by a wealthy don harass and pillage an orphanage set up in a mansion along the coast that the don’s wife desires. The don’s pressure prevents Capitan Monastario from stepping in. Zorro most therefore come to the sisters who run the orphanage’s aid. “A Wolf in the Land” by Don Everett Smith Jr. (illustrations by Michael Grassia). A very good story about Zorro vs. a werewolf that has killed the local doctor and a soldier and threatens to continue killing others in the area. The first encounter between Zorro and the werewolf does not go well. “The Kindness of Strangers” by Patrick Thomas (illustrations by Rob Davis). Zorro must reach a witness who can clear an innocent man from being executed by the Alcalde. The Alcalde’s soldiers stand between Zorro and the witness. “Z” by Bret Bouriseau (illustrations also by Bret Bouriseau). Zorro encounters a beautiful seniorita in a carriage being chased by another carriage and about to be driven over a cliff. But, this encounter takes a supernatural turn. An enjoyable range of stories. In general, I am enjoying the longer stories a bit better than the shorter ones (and, generally speaking, the stories in the second half of the book are a bit better than in the first half). Some might find it jarring that these stories seem to take place based all on different versions of Zorro, many seemingly based on the original Johnston McCulley pulp stories, others seemingly from the 1957-1959 Disney television series (the Guy Williams version), the aforementioned story featuring the Duncan Regehr and Antonio Banderas versions, etc. I didn’t really have a problem with this (other than the back and forth about if his father, Don Alejandro, knows his secret or not; ironically, the opening story based on the New World tv series Zorro, which ended with the clear indication that Diego was just about to reveal his secret to his father right as the end credits rolled, does not address whether Alejandro knows or not, focusing entirely on Diego and Victoria instead). My only real complaint is that this book really needed another proofreading prior to publication. I’ve found the frequent misspellings (and usages of incorrect words) distracting. In one case it happens twice, in two back-to-back sentences (something like “So I would seem ” when it should have said, “So it would seem”, followed by in incorrect use of “too” in the next sentence instead of “to”). In another story Zorro is actually written as “Zero” twice in the middle of a passage. Easy things to catch if one has enough live “eyes” going over the text prior to printing (and not an over reliance on spell-checking software). But this is a small press outfit, so perhaps Parente didn’t have any editorial assistants to help go over it. Still, I enjoyed this book and plan to read the other Zorro novels and story collections published by Bold Ventures Press. Short story collections are almost always an uneven experience, and ”Zorro’s Exploits” is no exception. Therefore I ended up giving it three out of five stars on GoodReads (but definitely recommend it to Zorro fans). ...more |
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Sep 06, 2022
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Feb 06, 2023
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Sep 06, 2022
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| B09NNZYQQY
| 3.97
| 639
| Feb 22, 2022
| Feb 22, 2022
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really liked it
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Just got done listening to “Star Trek: Picard: No Man’s Land” (2022) full cast audio drama, written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, and performed b
Just got done listening to “Star Trek: Picard: No Man’s Land” (2022) full cast audio drama, written by Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson, and performed by Michelle Hurd and Jeri Ryan (“Raffi” and “Seven” actresses) and a number of other actors. Its run time is 1 hour 39 minutes. It is available on Amazon, Audible, and OverDrive (which your local public library might give you access to check it out from, as I did). This is the equivalent of a short story though it is not an audio adaptation of a print release, this was written and produced specifically for the full cast audio drama format (there is no print version). The story takes place between seasons one and two of “Star Trek: Picard”, the streaming television series that ran on CBS All Access for season one and Paramount+ for seasons two and (in 2023) season three. The focus is entirely on Raffi Musiker and Seven of Nine, picking up on the very brief moment at the end of the “Picard” season one finale episode that indicated that they might be starting a relationship with each other and where the characters later are picked up with at the start of season two. The story here is good if a bit predictable, especially the sub-plot about an old professor who has lost his wife many years ago and is still expecting to return to her eventually, and why he is so important to a Romulan warlord. Seven, in her role as one of the Fenris Rangers, is called upon to try to save the population and cultural artifacts secreted on the planet the professor is also on before the Romulan warlord can get there, and Raffi goes along with her to assist (and also because the two of them are still trying to determine what the extent of their relationship will actually be). The main draw here is having Hurd and Ryan here to reprise their characters. I love full cast audio dramas (more so than single reader/narrator audiobooks) but I don’t tend to listen to them very much these days as I’m usually listening to podcasts while driving in the car or working out. I need to eventually get back to listening to more of them again. I gave “Star Trek: Picard: No Man’s Land” four out of five stars on GoodReads. (Oh, and for those not aware, author Kirsten Beyer is not only the author of numerous Star Trek tie-in novels, including many of the post tv series “Star Trek: Voyager” ones, she is also co-creator and executive producer on the “Star Trek: Picard” tv series and a staff writer on “Star Trek: Discovery”. Mike Johnson is the writer of oodles of Star Trek comic book series, everything from classic Star Trek to the J.J. Abrams “Kelvin Timeline” version and the current “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard”, all for comics publisher, IDW.) ...more |
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Sep 03, 2022
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Sep 05, 2022
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Sep 03, 2022
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Audible Audio
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| 140121942X
| 9781401219420
| 140121942X
| 3.82
| 1,570
| 1982
| Dec 16, 2008
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really liked it
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I finished reading "Camelot 3000: The Deluxe Edition" (2008) by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland. Originally released in individual comic book issues fro I finished reading "Camelot 3000: The Deluxe Edition" (2008) by Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland. Originally released in individual comic book issues from DC Comics as "Camelot 3000" #1-12 (December 1982-April 1985). Writer: Mike W. Barr. Penciller: Brian Bolland. Inkers: Bruce Patterson, Terry Austin, and Dick Giordano. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letterer: John Costanza. "Continuing Legends Chronicled by Sir Thomas Mallory." "Camelot 3000" was a big deal when it came out. It was DC's first "maxi-series" (a year-long--well, it was intended to run for only one year--twelve-issue long limited run series three times as long as DC's four-issue "mini-series" up to that point). It was also DC's first series distributed exclusively to the "direct market", not available on newsstands and in drug stores, etc. Instead, it was sold only in comic book stores. DC had done a few single issue direct market only releases prior to this (the first being an all reprints "Superboy Spectacular" one-shot giveaway in 1980) but this was the first DC monthly series testing the idea of releasing to the direct market exclusively. (Marvel Comics got their first, though, with monthly direct market only titles like "Dazzler" and "Ka-Zar the Savage" in 1981.) Releasing "Camelot 3000" direct market only also allowed it to be released without the Comics Code and to allow the material to push the boundaries of what would probably not be allowable in a standard newsstand title. (The beautiful villainess of the story, who I will talk about in a bit, is basically naked throughout the series aside from a cape and a tiny backless two-piece bikini.) This was also the first regularly monthly work by British artist, Brian Bolland, on an American comic book title. Bolland got his start in the U.K. comics scene and worked in that area for most of the 1970s—including being an early regular artist on the “Judge Dredd” series and drawing the first three "Judge Death" stories in 1979-1980. Discovered by DC in 1979, Bolland did a few covers and fill-in stories for various DC titles in 1980-1981. Bolland's art in "Camelot 3000" is beautiful and really established in the U.S. as a popular artist. Unfortunately, he also proved to not be a fast enough artist to keep up with a monthly schedule and as a result "Camelot 3000" suffered from several delays over the course of its twelve issue run (and is largely remembered for these delays as much as for how good a series it was): there were three-month delays between issues five and six, eight and nine, and nine and ten, four months between ten and eleven, and an incredible nine-month delay between issues eleven and twelve. Reading the entire story now in a collected edition like the 2008 "Deluxe Edition" hardcover (like I did) or in the 1988 or 2013 trade paperback editions (or digitally via comiXology/Amazon or the DC Infinite digital comics service), none of that really matters, of course. But at the time it was originally coming out in the 1980s it was a major issue to comics retailers, the late shipping issues. And it was a sign of things to come as late shipping issues would become quite frequent in the "hot artist" dominated late 1980s and 1990s. However, back to "Camelot 3000". According to Barr, he had the basic story idea (which he was calling "Pendragon") in college. The basic gist is that according to the legend of King Arthur, he didn't actually die but instead "slumbers" until one day that he would return, when his beloved England is in its most desperate hour (or some such). Well, Barr's twist is that "Camelot 3000" is basically a sequel to the Arthur legend as in Barr's tale Arthur does indeed awaken (is discovered and his tomb opened) in the year 3000, right as the entire Earth is being invaded by vicious lizard like aliens. Reuniting with Merlin (who is basically eternal) and awakening the memories of Queen Guinevere, Launcelot, and his other knights of the round table who have all been reincarnated in the bodies present day men and women (one of the knights, Sir Tristan, reincarnated in the body of a woman, much to his consternation). Behind the alien invasion is Arthur's half-sister, sorceress Morgan le Fey. Arthur must lead his queen and knights against the forces of Morgan le Fey, her trickery and magicks as well as the alien troops subjugating this wildly futuristic world that Arthur now finds himself in. Regardless, Arthur is still a charismatic leader, able to create hope to a population that had seen all as lost just prior to his sudden return. I'm not going to go into any other plot specifics here, but just say that it's still holds up today as a fun science fiction/fantasy tale. And Bolland's art is still what really sets this series apart. There are, of course, some moments where the age of the material creeps in. Bits of dialogue, character motivations, and even caricature like political figures based on real life 1980s politicians as is typical of many comics that came out in the era of Ronald Reagan and the last decade of the U.S.-Soviet Union "cold war". (Oh, and yes, one of the political figures seen in the story is the Soviet Union premier, Barr of course having no idea in 1982 that the Soviet Union would crumble and be no more as of 1991.) A recurring plot element is that of Tristan hating his new life in a woman's body and trying to find whatever magical method possible to become a man again (first seeking out Merlin, who rejects his plea, and then even considering betraying Arthur to le Fey when the sorceress approaches her promising to do as Tristan wishes). This plot point was pretty ground breaking at the time in the early 1980s when it first came out, an early story dealing with what is now recognized as "gender identity". However, I'm sure that Barr would write Tristan a bit differently today than he did back then if he was writing the tale today, both in some of Tristan's thoughts and statements when decrying his situation and also perhaps in not doing it in every single issue. When "Camelot 3000" was being written and coming out, the notion that comics would start to be collected in trade paperbacks and hardback books to be sold in book stores after the original release of the single issues was not something Barr could have foreseen yet. As a result, Tristan's constant emoting does become a bit repetitive and tiresome after a bit. Regardless, "Camelot 3000" is a wonderful series that I missed the first time it came out (at age ten I'd just started buying comic books and was all into superheroes and tv/movie tie-in titles like Star Trek, "V", Star Wars, and Indiana Jones). Despite hearing how good it was, it took me thirty years to get around to reading it finally. I recommend others who enjoy comics (especially fantasy or just plain adventure stories) to give it a try in one of the various print or digital versions available. I gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. Addendum: Something else I forgot to mention is that I believe this was the first series DC ever published on the heavier and brighter “Baxter” paper (which made the colors a lot brighter than on the traditional newsprint). This was why the cover price was $1.00 (and starting with issue #7, $1.25) while most standard length DC and Marvel comics were $0.60. DC would expand on their deluxe Baxter paper titles in the following years with brand new “Legion of Super-Heroes”, “New Teen Titans”, and “The Outsiders” titles on the higher quality paper. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 23, 2022
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Sep 05, 2022
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Aug 23, 2022
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Hardcover
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| B0015Z7WKK
| 3.92
| 110
| 2004
| unknown
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #12. "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 6:
**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #12. "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment") by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2008). The sixth of a six-book series of ebooks (still not available in print form as of this time) released in 2007-2008 as part of Pocket Books' commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series. Each of the books in this series is written by a different author (or team of authors), and they all take place in the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (so, following the film "Star Trek Generations", in which the Enterprise from the tv series, NCC-1701-D, was destroyed, and prior to the following film, "Star Trek: First Contact", in which its replacement, the Enterprise NCC-1701-E, was introduced). I will say right off the bat that I really enjoyed this installment in the "Slings and Arrows" series. Easily my favorite of the six, and if I had to say "if you can only read one book in the series", this would one hundred percent be it. Part of it is that Keith R.A. DeCandido is one of those authors whose works (his Star Trek tie-in writing especially) very rarely disappoint. Truthfully, I've bought many more of his books over the years than I have so far had the opportunity to read yet but that's still a plus in my book as I know I still have so many really great reads of his to get to. Sadly (and frustratingly), the editorial powers that be at Simon & Schuster (the publisher of the official Star Trek novels) for unknown reasons haven't had DeCandido back to write a Star Trek tie-in novel since 2009 ("A Singular Destiny"), which is a crime shame. C'mon, Margaret Clark and Ed Schlesinger (and any one else who is editing the Star Trek novels at Simon & Schuster (formerly under their Pocket Books imprint, now under their Gallery Books one), get with the program! I know you already have lots of really good authors writing for you right now and only so many new novel slots per year, but DeCandido is one of your best authors and did a ton of work for you between 2000 and 2009, and now you haven't had him back in thirteen years! It really is a mystery to me as to why that is, and it should be rectified soon. (It's not like he doesn't *want* to write any more Star Trek novels.) Anyway, as I said, I loved "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment", and large because it's one of those wonderful "crossover" stories between characters from usually separate series. Me being a lifelong comic book reader, I have always loved "team-ups" and "crossovers". Here, we pick up with Picard and the Enterprise-E as they arrive at space station Deep Space 9 (the journey to which was briefly seen in the previous book, "Slings and Arrows Book 5: A Weary Life" by Robert Greenberger; these two books occur concurrently with each other, "A Weary Life" detailing Will Riker, Geordi La Forge, and Padraig Daniels' away mission to intercept a Maquis equipment transfer, which is why none of those characters are present in this book). As seen on episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" that take place around this same time, the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been in a state of hostilities with each other at the same time that the Dominion is threatening the entire quadrant (and, also out there, is the ever looming threat of the Borg). One of the Federation's priorities is to resume their peaceful mutually beneficial relationship with the Klingons. To which, they have received a communique from a high ranking admiral in the Klingon Defense Force that Chancellor Gowron wishes to meet with Captains Jean-Luc Picard and Benjamin Sisko. Having worked with both of those particular Starfleet captains in the past, he will meet only with them and in person at a location deep in the dangerous area of space known as the Badlands (which is rife with powerful and erratic plasma storms; the Badlands is the region where the Starfleet vessel, the U.S.S. Voyager, had just recently been lost in). Picard and Sisko both suspect it is a trap but still know that it is a risk they have to take if it can restore peace between them and the Klingons. So the two of them board Deep Space Nine runabout and venture off together to their meeting with Gowron. Which gives us the first real instance of Picard and Sisko having to interact with each other very much since their very awkward meeting in the first episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (titled "Emissary"), in which Picard gives then Commander Sisko his orders to take command of the station orbiting the non aligned world of Bajor, and Sisko confronts Picard with the knowledge that they had in actuality already met prior to that, "In battle" (Sikso having been the first officer of the U.S.S. Saratoga when it was one of the vessels sent to try to stop the Borg at Wolf 359, the assimilated Picard as "Locutus" leading the Borg against them; Sisko's wife, Jennifer, being on of the many who died in that battle). Sisko and Picard begin their long journey in the runabout still very awkward with each other but gradually become more comfortable in each other's presence (first keeping conversations to details of their current mission and instances involving Starfleet officers that both have worked with like Chief O'Brien and Worf). But, eventually, their history with each other and with the Borg does come up, too. As does the realization, when they arrive at the Badlands, that, indeed, things are not as they had been led to be in regards to their planned meeting with Gowron. Almost immediately, Picard and Sisko find themselves in a dire situation where they must count on each other to survive long enough for help (in the form of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E under the command of Lt. Commander Data) to arrive. Not wanting to into any more specifics than that, plot wise, I do want to say that "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" also gives us an excellent "epilogue" scene. Namely, the much needed moment when Captain Sisko and his officers at Deep Space 9 are informed that a fleet is being mobilized to defend against another Borg invasion, and that the U.S.S. Defiant has been assigned to join that fleet. But under the command of Worf, not Sisko. Sisko, in a scene very much like what we saw in the film "Star Trek: First Contact", is ordered to remain at the station, along with the rest of this senior staff, as he is deemed too personally involved with the Borg (having had lost his wife to them at Wolf 359) to be in command of their most powerful warship in another battle against them. Angry, Sisko realizes, however, that orders are orders and wishes Worf well as the Klingon prepares to depart. Sisko also brings up a list of the ships assigned to the defense of Earth and takes note that Picard and the Enterprise-E have also been purposely sent away from the action (as seen in "First Contact"). Sisko muses that both he an Picard have essentially been "benched" as Starfleet prepares once more to make a defensive stand against the Borg. (And we all know how that ended up in regards to Picard and the Enterprise-E.) Again, I highly recommend "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" to fans of both "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and also "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". DeCandido is an expert at capturing the voices of just about any established Star Trek character (and the actor portraying them) and does so again here with Picard, Sisko, Worf, Dax, Data, et al. He is also one of the top "Klingon authors", having written stories featuring the Klingons extensively (including the short lived "I.K.S. Gorkon" series, the only Star Trek novel spin-off series entirely focused on Klingon characters). I gave this book four out of five stars on GoodReads. (Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007); #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition); #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon (2007); #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition); #8: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office" by William Leisner (2007); #9: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 4: That Sleep of Death" by Terri Osborne (2008); #10: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue") by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin (2001); #11: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 5: A Weary Life" by Robert Greenberger (2008); #12: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2008); #13: "The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe" by Tara Bennett (2021) (two volume slipcased hardcover set; book one read June 12-July 24; starting on book two next now, in mid August). This will be the end of my posting these reviews specifically as "Summer 2022 Reading Log" entries (which is why I'm going ahead and including the "Making of Marvel Studios" on the final completed list now since I started it in the June and have finished reading the first half of it). It's now the middle of August and I, a high school teacher, am now back back to work at students here are back to school (so, for me at least, "Summer 2022" is officially over.) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 09, 2022
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Aug 13, 2022
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Aug 09, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B0015YEQRI
| 3.67
| 94
| Feb 01, 2008
| unknown
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liked it
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Summer 2022 Reading Entry #11. "A Weary Life" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 5: A Weary Life") by Robert Greenberger (2008)
Summer 2022 Reading Entry #11. "A Weary Life" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 5: A Weary Life") by Robert Greenberger (2008). The fifth of a six-book series of ebooks (still not available in print form as of this time) released in 2007-2008 as part of Pocket Books' commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series. Each of the books in this series is written by a different author (or team of authors), and they all take place in the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (so, following the film "Star Trek Generations", in which the Enterprise from the tv series, NCC-1701-D, was destroyed, and prior to the following film, "Star Trek: First Contact", in which its replacement, the Enterprise NCC-1701-E, was introduced). "A Weary Life" focuses on a side mission given to U.S.S. Enterprise-E first officer Commander Will Riker, chief engineer Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, and security/tactical operations chief Lt. Pádraig Daniels to intercept a delivery of some unknown contraband items between cells of the outlaw insurgent group, the Maquis. They are to take possession of the shipment and to capture the Maquis operatives. The Enterprise, already on a high priority mission to Deep Space Nine (the story of which is told in "Slings and Arrows, Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" by Keith R.A. DeCandido, which most takes place concurrently with "A Weary Life"), continues on its way, and Riker, La Forge, and Daniels take a shuttle to the system where the exchange is supposed to happen. Arriving there, they immediately find two Maquis ships being attacked by Cardassian fighters. Not willing to sit idly by while the Cardassians destroy the two much smaller Maquis vessels, he instead joins them in fighting off the Cardassians long enough to escape. Confronting the Maquis, he claims possession of the cargo and begins to uneasily work with the leaders of the Maquis to evade the Cardassian ships that are still in the system looking for them. While doing this, he, La Forge, and Daniels all get very angry treatment from most of the Maquis, who see the Federation and Starfleet as the ones who betrayed them instead of the other way around. (There is a whole back story to just who the Maquis are and why they broke off from the Federation, their hostilities towards the Cardassians and why, etc., that I don't want to go into here. Suffice it to say, all of this comes directly from episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine', and "Star Trek: Voyager".) In addition to opposing political ideologies, Riker spends most of the story pondering on why his transporter "twin", Thomas Riker (a duplicate of Will Riker that was created in a transporter accident on an episode of "Next Generation") was one of those Starfleet officers who quit and joined the Maquis. One of the Maquis Riker is forced to spend time with here also spent time with Thomas and is able to tell him a bit about why Thomas secretly joined the Maquis, hijacked the U.S.S. Defiant (in an episode of "Deep Space Nine") disguised as Will and used it as part of a Maquis terrorist attack (only to surrender back the ship and himself to the authorities). That's about as deep into the plot as I want to get here. My thoughts on "A Weary Life" are that there are parts that I liked about it and there were parts that I found a bit, well, wearingly. I liked the parts of the story where Riker, La Forge, and Daniels were doing what they do best, figuring out ways to survive in combat and hide-and-seek style pursuit from superior enemy attack craft (some of it in an asteroid field). Riker in those circumstances can be very effective, the experienced command officer issuing orders and formulating strategy. La Forge is, as always, the expert engineer (not really happy to be helping repair the damaged Maquis ships but doing his duty without complaint) and Daniels brings a different viewpoint to everything since he's the recent addition to the crew and also the only one of the three with a wife back home. What I found a bit wearing was Riker's constant worrying. When Picard at the start of the story orders Daniels to join him and La Forge on the mission, he tries to talk Picard out of it because he doesn't feel that he's had a chance to really get to know Daniels yet, how he will perform on a mission like this. He then discusses this with his closest friend on the ship, Counselor Deanna Troi, and she sees right through it, realizing that what's really bothering Riker is the Maquis and his "twin" Thomas. Then, on the mission, Riker keeps circling back to thoughts or discussion about Thomas. Quite frankly, I started to get tired of all of the attention that was getting. And I felt that the character of Will Riker didn't come across very well in this story (aside from the scenes I mentioned above, where he had to put the political issues and confusion over Thomas's motivations aside in evading the Cardassians). To me, the best Riker stories and scenes are the ones where he is confident and capable of leading. There are moments of that here but interspersed with others where he comes across as tentative, overly concerned about things that really shouldn't concern him. There is also the constant "glares" and "angry looks" from the Maquis that "say" various things (without actual words, except what the narrator is telling us and that Riker, La Forge, and Daniels get the message quite clearly). That also gets a bit repetitive. Then, again, I think I just don't care too much in general about the whole Maquis continuing sub plot from around this time period. In all, I have to say I thought this was a pretty average Star Trek story, not great or especially memorable but not bad either, and, again, it did have some interesting moments. I ended up giving it three out of five stars on GoodReads. Next up, the last in the "Slings and Arrows" series, the aforementioned "Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" by Keith R.A. DeCandido (who was also the editor over the entire "Slings and Arrows" series). (Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella); #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition); #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon); #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition); #8: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office" by William Leisner (2007); #9: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 4: That Sleep of Death" by Terri Osborne (2008); #10: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue") by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin (2001). ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 2022
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Aug 08, 2022
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Aug 01, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B000FC0TLI
| 3.81
| 846
| Jun 2001
| unknown
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really liked it
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**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #10. "Section 31: Rogue" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue") by Andy Mangels and Michael
**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #10. "Section 31: Rogue" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue") by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin (2001). One can ignore the "Book 2" in the title as given on GoodReads. "Rogue" is one of four "Section 31" themed books released in 2001 (not one long continuing story but instead four separate stories all dealing with the shadowy covert Section 31 black ops agency operating unknown to most people within Starfleet itself, as revealed on the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" television series). "Rogue" and "Star Trek: Voyager: Section 31: Shadow" by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch both came out first (on the same release date, May 22, 2001) . They were followed on July 1, 20001, with "Star Trek [The Original Series]: Section 31: Cloak" by S.D. Perry and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Section 31: Abyss" by David Weddle and Jeffrey Lang. The main story here (aside from a framing story at the beginning and end of the novel that takes place after the events of the "Star Trek: First Contact" film) also takes place between (but unrelated to) books four and five of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows" ebooks series (2007-2008), which is why I'm reading it at this time (having just finished book four of "Slings and Arrows"). All of preamble finished, I have to say that I enjoyed "Rogue" quite a bit. After reading four shorter novellas ("Slings and Arrows" books one through four), it was nice to be back into a full length Star Trek: TNG novel (one released six years prior to "Slings and Arrows"). As I mentioned, it opens after "First Contact", with Picard reflecting on the officers lost during their battle with the Borg. One of these officers (as seen in the film) is Lt. Sean Hawk, who is also one of the characters featured quite a bit in "Slings and Arrows". (There is also a Lt. Daniels in "Rogue" that is also in both "First Contact" as well as in "Slings and Arrows", the latter of which is where his full name is given as Pádraig Bréanainn Daniels.) Reflecting on Hawk's death causes him to remember the ship's mission to Chiaros IV, a barely habitable planet in the Geminus Gulf (a three sector wide part of space considered by all to be otherwise completely empty and without any real strategic value except that it is near both Federation and Romulan space). The native species on Chiaros IV is about to vote whether or not to pursue membership in the Federation or to spurn it in favor of siding with the Romulans. The official government is siding with Federation membership while a group of rebels hiding out on the permanent "night side" of the planet staging attacks on the sitting government is anti-Federation and is working with the Romulans. Early in the book, another Starfleet vessel, the U.S.S. Slayton, arrives at Chiaros IV and sends a group of officers down to meet with the ruling government. Immediately after they have left the ship, the Slayton leaves to investigate a spatial disturbances nearby in the Geminus Gulf and is destroyed. The Enterprise-E is then assigned to follow up on the Slayton's original mission (as well as try to determine what became of the Slayton). Included on the mission are Admiral Marta Batanides. She and one of the Slayton officers (one of those that went down to the planet only to be captured by the anti-government rebels), Cortin Zweller, are old friends of Captian Picard's from their Starfleet Academy days (both having been introduced in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode, "Tapestry"). Batanides and her fiancé, Federation ambassador Aubin Tabor, are aboard to lead the diplomatic mission to Chiaros IV. Just prior to a delegation going down to the surface to meet with the ruling government officials, Aubin approachs Lt. Hawk aboard the Enterprise, revealing himself to be a member of a highly secret intelligence agency named Section 31 and inviting Hawk to join them as their agent aboard the Enterprise. Hawk is convinced by Aubin enough to at least consider it and to keep Aubin's secret. However, things quickly take a turn when rebels attack at the time that the Enterprise's delegation is meeting with the pro Federation government, resulting in the capture of Commander Will Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi and the death of Aubin. This is as deep as I think I'll go in regards to my plot summary as I don't want to give too much of the book away. Suffice it to say that Picard and his crew must A) find a way to rescue Riker, Troi, and the captured U.S.S. Slayton's captured group of officers, B) determine what happened to the Slayton (and the mystery of the repeating spatial anomalies in the Geminus Gulf), and C) do what they can to sway public opinion on Chiaros IV to vote in favor of seeking membership in the Federation rather than siding with the Romulans (which would give the Romulans control of the entire Geminus Gulf region). There is a *lot* going on in this book, perhaps a bit too much at times. And it probably would have helped if I'd seen "Tapestry" recently as I really didn't remember much about Batanides and Zweller, who are both major characters in this along with Picard (and Hawk, Riker, and Troi). Add in the Section 31 angle and what is hidden in the Geminus Gulf and I did occasionally find myself jumping around a bit too much, I felt. Still, overall, I enjoyed "Rogue" and gave it four out of five stars on GoodReads. Next up: "Slings and Arrows Book 5: A Weary Life" by Robert Greenberger and Slings and Arrows Book 6: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment" by Keith R.A. DeCandido (both 2008). (Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella); #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition); #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon); #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition); #8: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office" by William Leisner (2007); #9: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 4: That Sleep of Death" by Terri Osborne (2008). ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 07, 2022
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Jul 31, 2022
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Jul 07, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| B0013OE6EI
| 3.15
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| Jan 14, 2008
| unknown
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liked it
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**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #9. "That Sleep of Death" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 4: That Sleep of Death
**spoiler alert** Summer 2022 Reading Entry #9. "That Sleep of Death" ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 4: That Sleep of Death") by Terri Osborne (2008). The fourth of a six-book series of ebooks (still not available in print form as of this time) released in 2007-2008 as part of Pocket Books' commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series. Each of the books in this series is written by a different author (or team of authors), and they all take place in the first year of service of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E (so, following the film "Star Trek Generations", in which the Enterprise from the tv series, NCC-1701-D, was destroyed, and prior to the following film, "Star Trek: First Contact", in which its replacement, the Enterprise NCC-1701-E, was introduced). This fourth book in the "Slings and Arrows" series centers entirely on Dr. Beverly Crusher. As mentioned briefly in the previous book in the series ("The Insolence of Office"), Crusher is attempting to restart the on-ship theater company she once had going on the Enterprise-D before that ship was destroyed. The new, Enterprise-E, company is in rehearsals for "A Christmas Carol", with Data playing the narrator and Reginald "Reg" Barclay playing Scrooge. (Will Riker is reluctantly also in the play, playing Jacob Marley.) At the same time, the Enterprise-E crew has its very first diplomatic mission aboard the new ship, to carry a Kendarayan envoy to a summit meeting so that the envoy can share important information regarding the Dominion (the only thing that really ties this story in with the overarching theme that runs through all six books, the impending war with the Dominion). This particular species, the Kendarayan, their skin secretes an iridescent layer of "sebum" that protects them. However, as soon as the Kendarayan envoy comes aboard, members of the crew starting first with Deanna Troi start to lapse into deep comas during nighttime hours and Crusher has to find the cause. Signs point to the Kendarayan envoy as he has either been in direct contact with each of the fallen crewmembers or they in turn have apparently spread it to the others. Crusher is stymied, however, by the enjoy's refusal to allow her to take a sample of the sebum because, as he explains, is in actuality, a separate life form that each Kendarayan lives in coexistence with. Crusher is also forced to have to activate the Emergency Medical Hologram that is being field tested aboard ship--something she recalls regretting agreeing to when the hologram program's creator, Dr. Louis Zimmerman asked her to when his first test ship, the U.S.S. Voyager, went missing--to assist her in monitoring the patients in the comas while she seeks out a cause and a cure. (Curiously, this book seems to indicate that Crusher is activating the Emergency Medical Program for the first time when it is also briefly seen in the previous book, "The Insolence of Office".) This is the first of the books in the "Slings and Arrows" series that left me feeling not overly impressed. Osborne's writing is fine, but it just doesn't feel like there's enough story here with the Kendarayan envoy/crewmembers falling into comas plot alone. As I mentioned about "The Insolence of Office", that book felt like two separate "B-plots" from a typical "Next Generation" episode put together (and satisfyingly so). Here, it feels like we are missing either a secondary B-plot to go along with the Kendarayan one, or that the one we get isn't given enough room to be fully developed. As a result, "That Sleep of Death" feels like a decent long-ish short story (or "novelette") rather than a fully fleshed out novella/short novel. And the page count, a mere forty-four pages, by far the shortest of the six "Slings and Arrows" books, would seem to bear that out. (And the page count would have been even shorter if not for the scenes of the "Christmas Carol" rehearsals, which, aside from giving us some nice moments to get back into Beverly Crusher as a character, don't really add anything to rest of what's going on.) There is one minor thing that bothered me. At one point during the story, Captain Picard is one of several who have fallen into one of these comas that Crusher is still trying to determine what is causing. Crusher immediately contacts Data and asks him to bring the Kendarayan envoy to sickbay right away. As soon as she has done this, Will Riker also falls into a coma in sickbay right in front of her, Nurse Ogawa, and the Emergency Medical Hologram. What bothers me is that Crusher didn't immediately contact Data again to inform him that with both Picard and Riker medically incapacitated, Data, as second officer, is now officially in command of the ship. It would seem to me that that would be something regulations would have required of her. (Granted, Data was already on his way to the envoy's quarters to bring him to sickbay, but still.) Again, the writing is good here. Osborne gets the character of Beverly Crusher well. However, due to the Kendarayan plot being a rather simple one (it's obvious the envoy is in some way causing the comas), what we are primarily left with is Crusher reacting to the escalating problem (and the in between scenes at the play rehearsals). Perhaps if we could have followed the enjoy to his meeting with Troi early in the story, and later on his tour around the ship with Picard, it would have felt like a fuller, more fleshed out story (although that would have meant shifting away from Crusher as the sole point of view character). As it is, "That Sleep of Death" is an enjoyable enough "Next Generation" short story or "novelette", but I have to say that it's not really necessary to read in order to enjoy the other books in the "Slings and Arrows" series. And, unlike the other books I've read in that series so far, it doesn't really "fill in" anything of any real importance between "Star Trek Generations" and "Star Trek: First Contact", aside from that Crusher does not end up liking the personality of the Emergency Medical Hologram. I believe that's what Osborne was going for, to explain why Crusher in "First Contact" says she had "sworn never to use one of these things" right before activating the EMH to distract the Borg drones while she and her staff and patients escaped. But there really isn't enough interaction here between her and the EMH (or scenes with the EMH actually treating patients) to really make that come across here in this story. As a result of all of the above, I gave "That Sleep of Death" a three out of five stars on GoodReads. Next up: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Section 31: Rogue", one of four "Section 31" novels that came out in 2001. I'm reading it in between books four and five of "Slings and Arrows"as the editor of the latter series, Keith R.A. DeCandido, says the last two "S&A" books take place simultaneously with each other and following the events of "Rogue". (Previous Summer 2022 Reading Entries: #1: "Star Trek: Avenger" by William Shatner (1997; novel); #2: "Batman vs. Ra's Al Ghul" by Neal Adams (2019-2021, six-issue comic book limited-series; 2021 collected hardcover edition); #3: “Superman: Birthright” by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Wu, and Gerry Alanguilan (twelve-issue comic book limited series; 2003 to 2004; read on DC Universe Infinite, also available in hardcover and softcover editions); #4: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows Book 1: A Sea of Troubles" by J. Steven York and Christina F. York (2007; novella), #5: "The Orville Season 1.5: New Beginnings" by David A. Goodman and David Cabeza (2019, four issue comic book limited series; 2020 collected trade paperback edition), #6: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 2: The Oppressor's Wrong" by Phaedra Weldon), #7: "Superman: Secret Origin" by Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, and Jon Sibal (2009-2010, six-issue comic book limited series; 2019 "Deluxe Edition" collected hardcover edition), #8: "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings and Arrows, Book 3: The Insolence of Office" by William Leisner (2007). ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jul 06, 2022
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Jul 07, 2022
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Jul 06, 2022
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Kindle Edition
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| 3.32
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really liked it
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Dec 28, 2022
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Dec 26, 2022
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| 3.64
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really liked it
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Dec 26, 2022
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Dec 24, 2022
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| 3.56
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liked it
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Dec 24, 2022
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Dec 20, 2022
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| 3.85
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liked it
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Dec 20, 2022
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Dec 18, 2022
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| 3.91
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liked it
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Dec 18, 2022
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Dec 17, 2022
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| 4.02
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it was amazing
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Dec 10, 2022
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Nov 29, 2022
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| 4.00
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really liked it
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Mar 11, 2023
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Nov 12, 2022
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| 4.01
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liked it
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Nov 09, 2022
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Nov 06, 2022
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| 4.28
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it was amazing
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Jul 14, 2024
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Oct 24, 2022
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| 4.25
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it was amazing
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Dec 17, 2022
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Oct 20, 2022
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| 3.67
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it was amazing
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Oct 29, 2022
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Oct 17, 2022
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| 3.14
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really liked it
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Sep 29, 2022
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Sep 22, 2022
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| 4.27
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liked it
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Oct 02, 2022
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Sep 08, 2022
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| 3.67
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liked it
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Feb 06, 2023
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Sep 06, 2022
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| 3.97
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really liked it
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Sep 05, 2022
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Sep 03, 2022
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| 3.82
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really liked it
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Sep 05, 2022
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Aug 23, 2022
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| 3.92
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really liked it
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Aug 13, 2022
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Aug 09, 2022
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| 3.67
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liked it
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Aug 08, 2022
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Aug 01, 2022
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| 3.81
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really liked it
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Jul 31, 2022
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Jul 07, 2022
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| 3.15
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liked it
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Jul 07, 2022
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Jul 06, 2022
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