I have attempted to write this article several times…

It’s one of these articles which can come out in a manner of ways. The first is the obvious movie review, the other an editorial expressing my dismay of the film and giving a generous amount of grief about why I think so much went wrong. This approach, which again puts this in the line of editorial, is based on answering another site’s review of the film. Something I do on occasion when I feel something needs to be addressed. In this case, I did feel some of the buckshot that A Galaxy Called Dallas fired at the “whiner fanboys/fangirls.”

First and foremost, I want to inform you all that there are going to be spoilers in this. In order to answer any questions about this, then it has to be known up front that I need to talk about the plot of the film and the “secret” that J.J. Abrams had in store for the fans of the movie. The next point is that this is my opinion and not necessarily the opinions of the other SciFiFX members. The last point I want to bring up is a very firm message to all out there who enjoyed this film, and a great many others. If you liked it, I’m sincerely glad that you did. This isn’t meant for sarcasm or hatred. I’m saying this, because it can be construed that I believe my opinions to be stated facts. This isn’t the case. I’m not saying that you have to agree with me, or like it. I talk a lot about the facts I know and how this influences my opinion. It makes me very choosy about things when I see something out of place. If you’re not as choosy as I am about such things, then by all means enjoy it. No one should be told to like or not like something. Regardless of this, you’re here to get my opinion of this film. That means, good or ill, you’re here to find out if I liked it and get a good basis as to why. And I agree to listen to opinions, if any, as to why you agree or disagree.

This is your last chance to turn back before spoilers start flying. You have been warned.

Let’s start this by saying that I actually enjoyed the 2009 Star Trek. Story wise, they didn’t do anything that I hadn’t seen before in other mainstream stuff. The big change was that it was being done in Star Trek vs. other series. Even at that, I don’t believe that they did it particularly well. What made me want to come back for Star Trek Into Darkness were the characters. I wanted to see what sort of adventures that they would get into. In short, I saw they could get the crew down, now I wanted to see an actual story come out of it. I found that this was far too much to hope for. The argument was made that it’s because certain fans won’t allow for a new timeline. I can agree to this point, only to a certain extent. However, that’s not MY problem with it. I’m a fanboy of many tastes. The idea of alternate timelines have always been of extreme interest to me, because it can turn characters on their ears, within the scope of certain reason. In this case, I didn’t care that they changed it as long as they made a worthwhile film. I feel like I’m still waiting.

That argument expanded to how we can’t be sure how far reaching the time alteration was. To answer that, I can easily tell you how far the alteration went. We know, as of First Contact, that there was an alteration. Now we had Borg in the past, and maybe we were industrious enough to figure out to use that to our advantage and come up with ship designs far in advance to what they should have been. I know enough about Star Trek: Enterprise to know they dealt with some of the ramifications. I expect there were changes made from that, and with better writers I might even give them that they accounted for this. These writers, not so much. Barring any of this, we know that the main point of alteration was when the Narada showed up. It changed the fate of James T. Kirk. I can see where a lot of Starfleet gets changed from there as well, in the face of superior firepower like the Narada. What’s on the screen told me all I needed to know there. Any changes not on screen, cannot hold any sway. That’s a viewer writing out any discrepancy that they see. I’m not the writer of the film, nor am I its director. Much as I’ve said with Doctor Who and a great many other things, I’m not going to do their job in telling the story. That’s what THEY get paid to do.

Abrams Enterprise based on 2009 film

Now that we’ve settled that part, let’s go to the first 25 minutes of the movie. My first concern is the science behind parking the Enterprise in an ocean. This ship is bigger than Enterprise-E . From things I’ve seen, Abram’s ship is supposedly bigger than it was in the first film! Let’s ignore the fact that it’s not built for submarine activities, which it isn’t. Let’s focus in on a little physics of the situation. Trying to put a ship like that into the ocean would be devastating to any coastline. The fact that they put it so close to land in the first place means that there would have been a large ecological nightmare when they put it under the water.  Then, to make sure that they got another blast of horror, they had to get it back out! You want a good idea of how destructive part of one of these ships could be when wrecking into a planet, then watch Star Trek: Generations.  The saucer section of Enterprise- D did a fantastic job destroying many many miles of forest as is slid across the ground.  Granted it was crash landing.  Whether a controlled descent or not, the current Enterprise does not have landing capabilities for land or water. This is why the prime universe built it and the rest of the fleet in space. Science has proven that this ship is best built in the environment in which is would be used. Even if I just give it a pass to the fact that they built in on land, if you look at the scaffolding for the damn thing from the first movie, you can clearly see that this is a bad idea. It’s obvious that a shuttlecraft could have done the job nicely, if they were going to pull this little plan off. Regardless, the Prime Directive is out the window at this point.

Not the sensation you get from Cold Fusion!

Let’s add now that they are placing an ice bomb into the volcano of this planet. Yes, they said cold fusion, that’s a load of crap. This is a quick reference to cold fusion. Start here, work you way up in the reading to far more informative books. Cold Fusion will not give you the sensation of biting into a York peppermint patty. Oh, and this too is in direct violation as it interferes with the natural evolution of the planet.  In any case, instead of setting the ice bomb and preparing to beam it directly into the mouth of the volcano, they decide to use a shuttlecraft and put Spock into the towering inferno of lava. Add to that, he gets to set up the delicate equipment in an environmental suit while the lava shoots out everywhere around him. Sensor readings weren’t great, eh? So they can beam people from Earth to the Klingon homeworld, but they can’t get zoom in close enough to at least beam it into the mouth and remote detonate it? Um… what? I can use Google Maps and see my house with the car in the driveway, and they can’t use a camera to zoom in on that? No… that’s too easy. To boil this down, all this melodrama is so that Kirk can raise the ship from the water, expose it to the natives and get busted by Christopher Pike for his violations. He loses command of his ship for 10 minutes, belittles Spock for throwing him under the bus as often as he can, and then when the big bad rears his head and kills Pike he gets his ship back. To go back to the Prime Directive for a moment, I counted at least 3 violations (which I’m sure there were plenty of others that I’m forgetting offhand). 2 of which Spock was directly involved with. Moral of this part: You quote the Prime Directive, you better damn well understand what it is you’re quoting. Hypocritical quoters need not apply.

Another little tidbit for people is that Abrams and crew blatantly lied about the main villain. For those of you who haven’t guessed, or told you were wrong when you guessed right the first time, Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Khan. Yes, THE Khan. It was part of some elaborate game, and it was meant to surprise us all. There are some schools of thought on that. One is that they didn’t say because then you’re invested in finding it out, even though most people had it on the first try. Another is that they don’t say, because they want you not to make comparisons to the previous version. They hope you will get wrapped into the pace of the film and let this version grow on you. I’m sure it’s more of school 2, with a healthy blend of ducking their heads to make sure that some fans weren’t going to shred their egos on sight for this.

To put this into perspective, I don’t begrudge that in this timeline Enterprise doesn’t get to find Botany Bay. As stated, it’s a different timeline, and no guarantees that they’ll follow the same paths again in view of things that have happened. What I object to in this is that they had a perfectly great chance to tell an original Star Trek story and decided to play in the old toy box instead. Khan Noonien Singh is a nasty customer on the best of days. This is the man that stole the Enterprise away from Kirk, without the help of an outside force. He had read enough to know how to operate a great many systems on the ship. It came down to a fist fight, and if it weren’t for a lucky sucker punch with an object, then Khan would have killed Kirk. In this movie, we have an Admiral who is worried that the Klingons will make their play for Federation space. He discovers Botany Bay, finds out who Khan is, and then gives him the sum knowledge of 300 years so that he can create weapons to eradicate the threat. Do what?

Admiral Marcus is going down in the history of Thunderbolt Ross and all those like him who tried to harness raw power and couldn’t. Marcus had to have Khan’s background in front of him. If he didn’t, then why the hell go through all the trouble to name him Harrison? He created an identity for someone who is obviously in the history archives. In any case, there’s no way he couldn’t see what he was getting himself into.. Khan is marked with high intellect and learns at expedient rates, is 5 times stronger than a normal human, and has far better reflexes. Granted, in this movie you get to see the latter 2 points better illustrated, but the fact still stands for itself.

Now I know people are going to say that Marcus didn’t necessarily get to know who Khan was because of the alterations. Before we get into that argument about original vs. new timeline, stop. The Eugenics War was not changed by a damn thing. No interference from any time travel adventure on TV or film has shown to any degree that this part of Star Trek history has been altered. There is nothing that Marcus wouldn’t have known that Kirk did. He’s a ruler by nature, a predatory beast with a high intelligence to bolster it.  This Admiral, who apparently got his rank on the Wheel of Pips, puts this superhuman war criminal to work designing weaponry. This was begging to go badly.   And if all this weren’t bad enough, they try to make Khan sympathetic for a brief moment.  He’s talking about how he wants his family back.  Yeah, he wants his superhuman family back so he can take over the freakin’ planet.   Give me a break!

Credit to JUDE BAUTISTA GALLERY

I’m only going to go a little further on this, because this is far too long already. Another huge point of contention here is that Khan’s blood is now a cure for death. It cures tribbles and captains. What the hell? If any of you have seen Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan, then you’ve seen many things that have happened up to this point. The switches? Well, Enterprise is now the smaller ship when space battle happens. The Vengeance dwarfs Enterprise for no other reason than to be big and impressive for the big screen. There is no Genesis device, because Carol Marcus is in Starfleet too, and Kirk dies to save the ship in a mirror of how Spock died. This time Spock gets to yell Khan’s name. Nice, eh? Oh, and Kirk apologizes to his crew for putting them into a dangerous situation that might get them killed. Yeah, that’s a change. Regardless, McCoy has a sample of Khan’s blood and injects it into a tribble. I don’t know why he’s doing it, but he does. He discovers at one point that the tribble is alive and well again. So when Kirk dies, and after Spock has his emotional breakdown and beats Khan senseless, he gets to use the same thing on Kirk. Let me ask you this, as plot holes go, apparently this blood is just okay to inject into anyone. If I go with this fact, then what has now happened to Kirk? Is he now a superhuman as well? Those are some strong cells, and it seems to supplant the old ones. So, like a virus, will this stick with him forever? I have to ask this, because I didn’t get the answer from the film. I’m just grateful that they didn’t inject him with the tribble’s superhuman blood. They feed Kirk once and he’s got a dozen Kirk’s running around then. I’m curious about the science behind this. That’s what Star Trek does! It makes me ask to see the science.

Fictional or not, the original Star Trek made pushed future scientists to create the marvels they saw into usable objects in our world. We have so much tech that was inspired by this, that it’s hard to see something like the ship doing it’s sub thing and the blood science and not ask about it. It’s ludicrous at best. At worst, it’s just bad writing. If it is that I’m looking for “True” Trek, it’s because Abrams and company had the audacity to call it Star Trek in the first place. This precludes that they are going to actually use more than the names and recycle old plots to create new stories. They have a cast that can act the parts well enough, when given the material to do so. That’s not what they did. They took Wrath of Khan and turned it into an emo-nightmare. I haven’t even gotten into Chekov’s promotion to Head of Engineering, or the relationship conversation between Spock and Uhura while on Qo’nos. There’s so many points that I could write another article just going down the freaking list.

To sum this up, I realize that when A Galaxy Called Dallas posted the article, they were just expressing opinions, and it was done with lighthearted intent. However, calling people whiners, (specifically called it whinery, but it adds up about the same) and telling people to shut it because it’s not what they expect is a bit harsh. I’m glad he enjoyed the movie, I’m glad that anybody did. Maybe if it had been called something else and did something more creative with the storyline, I might be excited about it. It wasn’t and it didn’t. True Trek wasn’t just a TV show, it was also a host of very fine films. There were some pretty bad ones too. With this one, I was hoping for better. Guess I should have hoped harder.

Sorry to blast the fellow site, but he said to be nice on his page. I couldn’t muster the strength for that.

This month’s Book Club installment, we immerse ourselves in the ready-made, fully-interactive OASIS that is… Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One!  Listen in and play along, fellow gunters, as we plow headlong into geekdom.

It’s been 30 years since the original Star Wars trilogy came to its epic conclusion, and to celebrate the guys have recorded this month’s DVD commentary for Return of the Jedi.  It seemed only right, given how well the stars aligned.  Where were you when the Empire was defeated?  Drop us a line and let us know!

From the publisher:

Hammer accompanies a conservative politician to Moscow on a fact-finding mission. While there, he is arrested by the KGB on a bogus charge, and imprisoned; but he quickly escapes, creating an international incident by getting into a fire fight with Russian agents.
On his stateside return, the government is none too happy with Mr. Hammer. Russia is insisting upon his return to stand charges, and various government agencies are following him. A question dogs our hero: why him? Why does Russia want him back, and why (as evidence increasingly indicates) was he singled out to accompany the senator to Russia in the first place?

As you can no doubt tell by the synopsis, this is a Cold War era thriller, and dammit, that’s how it should be!  The more you update the time and place on classic characters, the more outdated they can potentially become.  Reference James Bond.  Fleming’s Bond is a product of his time, and while updating is successful, his character’s attitudes still show through as being from that bygone era.  Change that, you change Bond irrevocably, and thus he ceases to be Bond.  The same holds true for a pulp detective character like Mike Hammer.  Pulp detectives work best between the late 1920s and the mid-1970s, with all of the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and politically-charged baggage that comes from whatever year the story takes place.  Hammer is a product of his time.  He has a big mouth and a big gun, and he’s not afraid to use either or both.  The era defines how he goes about that.  To displace him would be, well, criminal.  Thankfully the custodianship of Max Allan Collins is such that somewhere from the Great Beyond, Mickey Spillane is smiling.

That being said, one should not go into this novel blindly.  You can, as it’s an excellent first read for anyone just discovering Mike Hammer, but I think there’s a better approach.  It’s a continuation of the events from 1961 Hammer novel The Girl Hunters.  Being a quick and fun read as most pulp detective stories tend to be, this is your cue to go find that book and read it.  In fact, not only would I recommend that just for story purposes, but if you’re like me, you like to compare the writing styles too.  This is the perfect way to prove how skilled Collins is as an author, assuming you’re not familiar with his work before this point.  I defy you to be able to tell, even knowing what he told us in our podcast interview, which parts of the story are Spillane’s, and which are his own.  This book feels like it was written in 1964 when 007 was dominating the big screen, tensions with the Soviet Union were riding high, the space race was upon us, and the United States was about to enter the Vietnam era in the wake of JFK’s assassination.  In regards to that kind of historical weight… Complex 90 is a pulp masterpiece.  You feel like you’re there, alongside Hammer, seeing firsthand just how brutal and scary that world could have been if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And really, isn’t the wrong place / wrong time formula how heroes are forged?  Much like Spillane’s novels of the time, it holds up today for all of the same reasons it was popular back then: it’s great storytelling.  Put on Miles Davis, pour yourself a glass of your favorite drink, turn out all the lights except for the one you read by (because it’s the law that pulp detectives have only one light, ever), and prepare to get lost in a fantastic adventure.

I had hoped to have this review out sooner, but sometimes the mailing systems have a mind of their own, thusly my review copy was delayed in arrival.  So with profound apologies and special thanks to Max Allan Collins and our friends at Titan Books, I hope this makes up for lost time.

Complex 90 is available to buy now from Titan Books.

Back now?  Good.  Now that we’re all on the same footing of what defines “legendary” in the entertainment world of the 20th century, it’s time to talk about the newest release from Titan Books, The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction.

From the publisher:

The creators of Captain America and the Boy Commandos produced some of the most thrilling science fiction ever. Spanning more than 20 years, this volume features the first stories Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ever produced together (the Blue Bolt adventures) as well as Race for the Moon, featuring pencils by Kirby and inked artwork by comic book legends Reed Crandall, Angelo Torres, and Al Williamson. Also features an introduction by Dave Gibbons.

Spanning the years between January 1940 and September 1966 (the month the original Star Trek debuted on TV, to put this in perspective), this volume is a restoration of classics that have never looked this good before, even in previous collected editions.  It’s the latest collection in a series that includes Superheroes, Crime, and Horror.  In this volume, the evolution of early science fiction can be seen as real world technology and the space race influenced the dreams and nightmares of popular fiction.

Do these stories hold up?  Yes and no.  It completely depends upon your criteria.  Do they stand up on their own by standards of modern comics?  Of course not.  They’re primitive by comparison… and in many ways they are a breed unto themselves.  These are the foundational building blocks that modern comics are built upon.  Everyone in the industry today owes their careers and inspiration to the likes of Simon and Kirby and a handful of their contemporaries.  A collection like this highlights the reasons why.  The comic book is the only visual art form created here in the States, and these guys steered the direction comics would take and defined the impact they would have on generations of loyal readers.  These stories and the accompanying artwork are products of their time, in an age where pulp fiction moved from the mean streets and back alleys to the wonder of the stars.  They hold up because they were very good for that age, and because of the obvious history they influenced.  As a result, you would be hard-pressed to find new comics like these.  As they say, they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Simply put, these stories are just fun, and the art is about as clean and dynamic as anything you’ll see in any age of comics.  And really, isn’t that the entire reason comics continue to inspire us today?

So what’s inside?  Within, you’ll find the Blue Bolt series, the first to carry the Simon and Kirby byline, which was produced in the Flash Gordon / Buck Rogers tradition.  You’ll find the Sputnik-era adventures.  Bubble-helmeted space cowboys, scantily-clad alien vixens, otherworldly mysteries, and so much more lie within, waiting to be discovered by a new generation.  Maybe I’m prejudiced because I’m pre-disposed to enjoy classic comics and yesteryear-era science fiction, but I had a big grin on my face the entire time while reading these stories.  I’m willing to bet you will too.

Thank you, as always, to Titan Books for sending an advance copy our direction for review.  The Simon & Kirby Library: Science Fiction is available May 28.

I’ll admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of tie-in novels.  Despite having read my share of them for the site already, more often than not, these type of books make me feel like they’re dragging an episode out.  Worse yet, there are times when it becomes painstakingly clear that the writer doesn’t understand the characters given to them, while telling an otherwise good story. It can be a devil’s trap for some who aren’t fans of a series. Supernatural: Carved in Flesh, I can safely say, isn’t one of these occasions.

Here’s the synopsis from Titan Books:

After Sam and Dean Winchester lost their mother to a mysterious supernatural force as young children, their father taught them how to hunt and destroy the paranormal evil that exists in the dark corners of America. Following their father’s demonic death, they discovered that they are descended from a long line of hunters and chose to continue their mission.

Reported sightings of a hellish hound and the discovery of newly dead desiccated corpses bring Sam and Dean Winchester to Brennan, Ohio. But when they catch the monster canine it turns out to be “Frankenmutt”, a reanimated patchwork of pieces from separate dogs. Soon the brothers are on a trail that leads from mad scientists and biotechnology to a centuries-old alchemists, walking corpses, and an ancient and malevolent power.

A Supernatural novel that reveals a previously unseen adventure for the Winchester brothers, from the hit TV series!

This story follows the boys not only fighting “Frankenmutt,” but also dealing with a madman named Conrad Dippel. Dippel is far more dangerous than anyone, including the Winchesters, suspect. Sam and Dean’s relationship is further strained for a host of reasons, most of which have to do with Sam’s mental condition.  Add to that,  they have just lost Bobby to Dick Roman.  This leave Dean wanting nothing to do with this case while the leader of the Leviathans still lives. However, Sam convinces Dean that whatever is causing the problems in Brennan could be worth hunting as a potential weapon against the Leviathans.  It’s grasping at straws, but Dean agrees because the strange way the killer dog leaves its victims might do more than they have been capable up to now.

This could have easily been put into Season 7 of Supernatural without any hesitation. It’s got the right feel for a Supernatural episode. There are some genuinely creepy moments, and even some a little gut-wrenching as you see plans enacted for ulterior reasons. Dippel uses two helpers in this book, his former a rather whacked mortician and the other a rather desperate doctor. The latter’s story plays on the heartstrings, but nevertheless goes through with the plans to reanimate something as gruesome as “Frankenmutt.” Characterizations are spot on with the Winchesters. Tim Waggoner, the author, knows these characters quite well. When they deliver lines, you immediately hear the familiar voices of the brothers saying them aloud. As serious as things get throughout the book, there is still a certain sense of humor that comes through. Nothing so slapstick that it takes away from the situation, but it keeps the story from getting bogged down in the mire.

Having said that, while the overall story is a good one, there are sections that I’m not certain worked as well as others. During the course of the story, Sam is having fitful dreams about the boy’s first solo hunt. This was done while John was away on a hunt of his own, leaving the boys with a father and daughter. The father in question was made aware of what’s really out there by the death of his wife, but wasn’t quite cut out for the life of a hunter. He did, however, make fake ID’s and such for those that were in the life. He raised his daughter as best as he could, but she was still interested in the things that go bump in the night. She too wanted to stop those things that killer her mother, but had no one to help her do so. Dean, even as a young kid, boasts about how he’s helped his dad numerous times (which he hasn’t) to destroy ghosts and other monsters. Things go from bad to worse in the midst of this, and you can find out the rest by reading. While it was a very interesting story, and I think better used for a short story novel. It does mirror some of what is going on here, but it feels every bit like filler. It’s not that it isn’t written well, because it’s a very good story. It’s just a flashback to something that doesn’t necessarily drive the story along.

I’ve also got to point out that the book says they haven’t dealt with anything similar to this before. While this does have some differences to it, one or two a bit more drastic and permanent, there was an episode in season 3 that has a similar theme. The episode in question, Time Is on My Side, follows the boys chasing down Doc Benton. The character was one that had been searching for the key to eternal life and had been harvesting new organs from unsuspecting people when his were destroyed or became rotten. Sam was trying to find a way to weasel out of Dean’s deal with a crossroads demon. In this case, the Doc Benton didn’t need to piece together other things to find out if it would work, because he had been doing the experiments on himself and has been alive since the 1800′s.

Despite the few things, the book itself is well worth the read. It’s got a lot going for it, which is important when reading tie-ins. It’s made me excited to see the next installment of Supernatural reading material and especially another by Mr. Waggoner.

Thank you to Tom Green, with Titan Books for sending us a review copy.  Supernatural: Carved in Flesh is available now in stores and online.

Dallas Comic Con 2013 has been put to bed for another year.

I have a lot of great things to say about this con, and what great guests, dealers, and groups they had. Not only was everyone in good spirits (including William Shatner himself!), but most of the other attendees I met were generally a fun bunch showing the sense of community that I’ve longed to see up in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. There were some spots, especially in the dealers room, where some of us became a bit finicky. That’s to be expected considering what sort of deals we all were looking for from some awesome dealers. Let me go over the pros and cons of this convention, because as much fun as I had, there were some cons to this that should be addressed.

Pros:

The Guests: Mr. Stevens and Mr. Walters did an incredible job in getting a diverse group of guests for this con. Richard Dean Anderson (MacGuyver, Stargate: SG-1), Kevin Conroy (Batman: TAS, Arkham Asylum), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), Colin Ferguson (Eureka), Natasha Henstridge (Species), Adam Baldwin (Firefly), and even Andrew McCarthy (Mannequin). There were a host of others, including Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Gates McFadden of Star Trek: the Next Generation fame, and two of the Power Rangers. The latter drew a very sizable crowd for their autograph lines. I keep forgetting just how popular the Power Rangers continue to be, despite knowing that Nickelodeon has given them another incarnation. I didn’t find anyone complaining about how horrible it was meeting these wonderful people. I, myself, felt a sense of personal enjoyment at how complimentary all of them were to their fans. Even in the lines that were moving pretty quickly, the actors took time to converse and make the person feel like they were important being there.

The Groups: Whenever I do a write up for a con, I usually mention the 501st as having quite a strong presence. I won’t say that it wasn’t felt here, as they did a charity event to raise money for charity, specifically for Kari Giles, who is being treated for stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I cannot tell you how awesome it is that this great group were out giving their all for charity. That’s what the 501st, outside of the Star Wars Universe, is known for.

A group that needs a big mention is the U.S.S. Joshua. With a name like that, I guess it would be hard to deny a fandom to Star Trek, but that’s only a part of it. During Friday, my group and I were at their table and asking about certain items that interested us. Without hesitation, one of the ladies would take us over to another dealer’s table so that we might purchase the items we were looking for. My friend, Kim, ended up with a couple of sonic screwdrivers and a host of other things for just this reason. I ended up with a Zat’nik’tel (Stargate weapon). They also put up a scaled down replica of the Atlantis Stargate for photo opportunities in the main lobby. The table out there had a range of weaponry that you could use for effect in your photo. I cannot stress enough how great it was to get to have that sort of fun.

I want to thank the Joshua and the 501st for all their efforts in making the fan community that little bit more. Supporting causes and being united in fandoms, regardless of what you enjoy, is something I firmly believe we should all strive for. Groups like this make that a possibility.

Con Management: I was very elated that they made sure that people were put into the garage, for the most part, before the con opened. May in Texas can be cruel, but the breeze in the garage area was quite helpful to keep us going. It was also quite nice to have food and drinks available on Saturday outside before we went in. There were some tasty treats that tided us over for a time while we went through the Convention Center time and again. 

I was also pleased that they used both the 3rd floor and the 4th for the autographs and Q&A’s. It helped so that the artists had a chance to talk about things going on in their worlds and hand over advice to those fans that might want to get a few tips. I’m quite thrilled with the idea of giving the artists alley the time to take center stage.

Cons:

Volunteers: Let me be fair on this one. I cannot blame all the volunteers, because so many of them were good people doing the job. One in particular, a kilted man working the autograph room, had a great amount of enthusiam. He was keep the line for Richard Dean Anderson entertained with his zany antics, while Mr. Anderson was at lunch. There were several others who were generally friendly and tried to be as informative as the could be. I won’t knock them all. However, there were some rather belligerent volunteers this time around. While waiting outside for our chance to get in on Saturday, I told one of my group to go tell one of the volunteers that they had a voucher for a photo opportunity with Mr. Anderson. The guy proceeded not tell her, but yell, that there was nothing to be done for it and she needed to get in line. She was told by the person at the photo shoot she should have mentioned to one of the volunteers that she had such a ticket and that they would have let her in.

I will grant that we were sitting at the tables in the garage, awaiting our chance to get into a packed to capacity building. The line was the line, and for those of us who did not have such an important ticket, it was on us that we weren’t standing in it as people were crowded in. However, when someone has such a ticket, the last thing they need is to be dressed down by someone who should calmly and politely inform an individual about what to do, and try to make sure that the rather expensive privilege is met.

Parking Garage eatery: As I said above, it was nice of the con to make sure that we had something to eat as we waited for our day to get started. The place they chose, whose name I do not recall at this moment, made a large group of people upset. Each of the food items were marked at 5 dollars per item. The drinks were 3 dollars, when we arrived. Upon finishing one drink, one of my group realized that she was still thirsty and went back for another, she was the last person to get a drink for the price originally paid. According to the server, the con representatives told them to raise the prices of the stuff outside. I don’t know if it was just for drinks or for everything. We later found out that they were charging 4 dollars per drink for everything from their sodas to store brand 16 oz bottles of water. The ones that are usually around .99 cents. I expect to pay more at a con, and that’s fine, but there was something incredibly ridiculous about such a raise in prices. 

The Facility: The Irving Convention Center looks like an obvious place for Dallas Comic Con. It’s usually referred to as “the Sandcrawler,” as it looks like the Jawa vehicle from Star Wars. However, I’m going to bet that this convention did well over what the last DCC did numbers wise. Friday was about what a typical Sci-Fi Expo Saturday would be. Saturday and Sunday was sheer insanity with the sea of people that were there. It’s clear that this particular con has outgrown the center’s ability to hold us all. The Q&A’s on Sunday were nearly impossible to get into just due to the amount of people that wanted to attend them, but add to that the autograph room for most the media guests cut off a substantial section of that room. Understandably, in the past the Q&As haven’t filled up. However, this time the Irving Fire Marshals were telling people that no one else could enter. Dallas Convention Center might be a far better location for the event.

Let me be perfectly honest, for all the problems I’ve mentioned, I would not trade the fun time I had at the event. Despite the cancellation of Nathan Fillion, due to sickness on his part, the convention was a rousing success and a great time to be had. There were some things that were discussed as issues from the last time that were addressed and dealt with, and as an ever-growing con, they will keep finding these growing pains. Regardless of that, I will be gladly attending next year with a smile and a full wallet. Keep up the good work guys, you’re THE major con, and I’m proud to have watched it grow over the years!

In this special Mother’s Day edition of the podcast, we talk zombies with Plague Nation author Dana Fredsti… because nothing says Mother’s Day quite like zombies.  Ok, so it doesn’t make much sense to us either, but we had a great time talking with Dana about her novel regardless of holiday.  Enjoy!

As someone who has spent a lifetime studying art and animation, one of the greatest joys I have in life is to get a peek behind the curtain at the creative process.  When our friends at Titan Books offered up The Art of Epic for review, I jumped at the chance.

From the publisher:

From 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios, the creators ofIce Age and Rio, Epic tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and the forces of evil. When a teenage girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world — and ours.

The Art of Epic shines a light on the previously hidden world of Epic, with over 300 pieces of concept art, character sketches, storyboards and digital paintings, along with interviews with the key animation talent.

One of the things my friends are constantly groaning about is when they say the latest special effects laden movie looks good, and I typically reply that in this day and age, there’s no excuse for it not to look good.  Yes, I’m jaded.  CG animation has come a long way since the Death Star schematics seen in 1977′s Star Wars or the stained glass knight we see in Young Sherlock Holmes (1986).  But let’s put this into perspective.  It’s one thing to have the animation look good; it’s something else entirely to create a complete and detailed world of artistry within the pixels and vectors.  We see a lot of these kinds of movies these days as well from noted studios, Pixar being the first name anyone thinks about, and thus they are the ones that continually raise the bar.  So of course I demand better from those who would compete against them.  Besides that, Hollywood has proven it can make an interesting trailer for nearly anything.  It’s just not enough for something to “look good.”  I want art.  I’d ultimately like story too, but if we’re going on looks alone, I demand artistry.  On May 24, Blue Sky Studios (the team behind Ice Age) is offering up their latest creation, Epic.  I can’t comment on the movie itself because it’s not been released, and I certainly haven’t seen it.  But based on what I’m seeing in this book, I’m more than curious to check it out.  Do you know why?  Because thanks to this book, I’ve seen the art.

The Art of Epic offers that inside look from character concept, “set” design, and storyboard, through the various stages of creation and manipulation all the way through to the finished world.  What author Tara Bennett has done here is a public service.  On one hand, Blue Sky Studios doesn’t get nearly enough praise for their work, being one of the primary competitors against the giant of Pixar.  Think of this book as a signal flare to the world that perhaps notice of their artistry is long overdue.  On the other hand, art and animation fans like myself are treated to the process.  Something that never gets old for me is that the process hasn’t changed much since the days when Walt Disney and his contemporaries at Warner Bros. revolutionized animation. Every character and the world they inhabit all start with that intimate quest into the artist’s imagination that begins with the pencil sketch.  From there, the evolution begins, and the wonder unfolds.  One of the things that always amazes me is the collaboration.  A film of this size requires that the artists and animators come up with a consistent look for the finished work, which is harder than you might imagine when dealing with any team environment.  The people involved have to be exactly that: a team, otherwise you get a hodge podge that prevents the audience from immersing themselves into the world.  Blue Sky isn’t afraid to let their work look like the digital creation it is, but their style is as unique to them as Pixar’s is to Pixar, and their art worthy of a showcase such as this book.  We’ll know before long if the story matches the art, but for now, just enjoy the art on its own merits.  Let this book be your guide.

The Art of Epic is available now from Titan Books.

Nightmare in Silver was written by Neil Gaiman, directed by Stephen Woolfenden and stars Matt Smith as the Doctor, Jenna-Louise Coleman as Clara, Jason Waktins as Webley, Warwick Davis as Porridge, Eve de Leon Allen as Angie, Kassius Carey Johnson as Artie, Tamzin Outhwaite as Captian, and Aidan Cook as Cyberman.

From the BBC Website:

Hedgewick’s World of Wonders: the perfect theme park day out. And ground zero for a deadly silver resurrection.

I have been waiting for this episode since I originally posted the rumor back in August of last year.  Gaiman is an excellent writer and his previous Doctor Who Episode “The Doctor’s Wife” was great.  This time around he reinvents my favorite bad guys, the Cybermen!  Neil Gaiman promised to make the Cybermen creepy again.  I believe he succeeded on both accounts.

*****Spoilers*****

I have to say these new Cybermen look great, much better than the Cybus-men that have been around since the series returned in 2005.  They are much sleeker and more menacing just in appearance, then throw in their Borg-like ability to upgrade on the fly and the Daleks better watch out when these Cybermen show up.

Warwick Davis was great as Porridge.  Artie was almost a non character, but what was up with Angie, one minute she’s like yay I’m floating in anti-grav, the next she’s bored and expect the military troops to entertain her?  I know most teenagers a self-absorbed, and self-important, but to think that it was the job of a platoon stationed on the planet to entertain her, that’s just insane.

There were some nice creepy scenes and I love the idea of the Cyber-Mites.  The opening scenes with the Cyberman reworked to play chess made me think of the wonderful Big Finish Doctor Who audio “The Silver Turk”.

We get to see Clara take control of the military and try to hold off a Cyberman assault on a castle.  In what other show do you get to have Cybermen attacking a castle with an electrified moat?

I loved the scenes in the Doctor’s mind between him and the Cyber-planner with flashes of all the old Doctors.  It was also a nice touch making the tombs of the Cybermen reminiscent of the tombs in “The Tomb of the Cybermen” complete with those nice half circle ladder rungs.

I don’t want to get into too many details of the episode itself, but I enjoyed this one, it was proper Doctor Who with no wave of the magic wand to solve the problem.  No master plan by the Doctor, just use of the available resources to survive the Cyberman onslaught.  Also a return to the classic standpoint of it can’t possibly be Cybermen, they have been extinct for a thousand years viewpoint.

Check out our “Nightmare in Silver” photo album.

For those of you like me missing Doctor Who Confidential, here is a short behind the scenes clip from the BBC.

Next week’s episode and Season Finale is “The Name of the Doctor”

And here is the “She Said, He Said” Prequel to next week’s episode.