Name: Whiskers, as always
1300. False Colors
REVIEW: Just like a bad Voyager episode (I realize that means a lot). It's at least 15 pages too long, with plenty of meaningless babble about are-they, aren't-they the Borg and characters partaking in just the most ridiculous debates. A lot of it contradicts what we know about Borg and Starfleet technology, such as the amazing ship debris that can merges with Seven and then can act independently. The away team dress as drones, which makes the aliens freak out, but then shed the costume for no reason. Tuvok "saves the day" with a move that should, by rights, have forced Seven to get a hook installed. Paris says the one thing you can count on with the Borg is that they won't change their tactics? What part of the word "adapt" doesn't he understand? After a while, the book is so out of touch with the tv series, you just lose interest. The art is pretty-ish, but the characters almost always look too young (at one point, Janeway is all of 8) and too often look amused when they shouldn't. This was Wildstorm's first Star Trek comic. Not emblematic of later successes.
The first know d20 is a 2nd century A.D. die is in the collection of the British Museum, though the game for which it was used is not known. More than 2000 years later, it's really come into its own. Thanks to Wizards of the Coast's market share, it has become ubiquitous. I guess it was always meant for great things, being the fattest of the standard polyhedrons.
1299. Double Time
REVIEW: I'm a big fan of the New Frontier books, comic booky though they are, but I hadn't gotten quite as far as the setting for this graphic novel. I wasn't lost, and they do design it to be a sort of ad for the books, but will readers with no notion of New Frontier understand it? Peter David focuses on certain characters at the expense of others, so it's not completely opaque. Calhoun as the Captain, is of course central. If he's cool, then NF is cool. And he is. Shelby is a known Trek character, so she's in it a lot, and the chemistry between her and the captain is strong (David has always been good at writing banter). Others might get a scene here and there (Lefler, Mueller and Kebron mostly), and some subplots are paid lip to and probably won't register with readers. I won't say you're thrown into the deep end, but it's not the children's pool either. I suppose it helps that a "name" guest star like Braxton shows up. The whole time travel element is well used, actually showing what happens when you break the Temporal Prime Directive (or rather the futility of trying to manipulate events). It also explains, in a way, why Starfleet captains don't double back all the time, what with the technology being available and all. The art is good with action, aliens and ships, but awash with gray in the shipboard talky scenes, so a mixed bag there, but generally good.
PMS/Pet death/That annoying mama's boy
Relaxing on a steaming grate
Playing dangerously
Kinky Kong
1298. Bloodline / A Rolling Stone Gathers No Nanoprobes / When the Stars Come A-Calling / Exercises in Futility / The Legacy of Elenor Dain / The Wake
REVIEW: A very good collection of short stories, with art that ranges from pretty good to excellent. The opener, Bloodline, is perhaps the weakest, exploring a relationship we were not previously invested in, and giving most of its time over to action beats (which aren't bad). It doesn't play fair with the reader either, cutting mid-cliffhanger to reveal that everything turned out fine (though I get the lyricism the visuals are going for). A Rolling Stone Gathers No Nanoprobes is a fun bit that confronts Borg to Horta, though its lack of known characters does put us at a certain remove from the story. With When the Stars Come A-Calling, the Special starts to groove. This illustrated story revisits Benny and gives him hallucinations long before Far Beyond the Stars. It's too short if anything, and I can't believe Paramount let him smoke pot! Exercises in Futility is a clever use of Seven of Nine's augmented intellect, and possibly the shortest story in Trek history, taking all of 4 seconds. The Legacy of Elenor Dain is a touching tale of art's power, with quite appropriately some of the strongest visuals in the book. The Wake is equally touching, revisiting old friends and their thoughts on Jim Kirk's death. It's as much a memorial for Captain Kirk as it is for DeForest Kelley himself and nicely illustrated too. Most of the stories have a strong emotional bent tying them together. It works for me!
And on a completely different front, I joined the Doctor Who Information Network, a fancy way of saying I subscribed to the Enlightenment fanzine. I do so based on the strength of the batch of back issues I bought, and at the same time as the release of the first 11th Doctor issue AND the departure of editor Graeme Burke. This is fitting in more ways than one, because while I bow to Burke's commitment (almost 10 years as editor), I can't say we agree on very many things! New editor Cameron Dixon, from the few of his reviews I read, has a soul more compatible with mine. Good luck, Cameron!
DVDs: Flipped Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5, bringing me full circle with the show. I still love the ending, and I found myself sobbing even watching through commentary tracks (Ron Moore himself breaks down in one of them, so no moral support there). Geez, I found myself affected by deleted scenes! A great achievement in television, and while I would probably enjoy giving BSG the same daily treatment I gave Star Trek (would only need to track down DVDs of the classic series), I would be afraid to spoil it for potential new viewers. And I don't want to do that. This final DVD boxed set has commentaries on all the episodes and extended episodes (only skip Olmos' unless you like long silences broken up by thanks to cast and crew), lots of deleted material, those fun video blogs, and featurettes on top (finally there's a 20-minute feature on the music, which I've craved since the pastiche on 4.0).
I then watched The Plan, the BSG movie that takes us back to Seasons 1 and 2 to show the Cylon point of view and explain some of the loose ends from those seasons. That's the weakest part of the experience, really, because such things didn't really need an explanation (and still leaves mysteries anyway). On a plot level, it's rather anti-climatic after the finale, but you can't really watch it before then as it definitely spoils the surprises of Season 4. But the more I think about it, the more I like The Plan. Like much of Battlestar, it's not about the plot, it's about the characters. And the film explains just how personal the Cylons' genocide of the human race was, by exploring one's journey. And seeing some of the other colonies get destroyed is beautiful, beautiful eye candy. The DVD includes a commentary, though this time they've partnered director Edward James Olmos with the writer who does most of the talking, substantive deleted scenes, and some fairly good behind the scenes featurettes (especially the one about how the visual effects are as improvised as the writing, direction and acting on this show).
Battle of the Warriors, AKA A Battle of Wits, was our Kung Fu Fridays selection this week. It stars Andy Lau as a Mozi warrior in the 4th century BC who though he preaches a message of peace, must help a town under siege fight off its attackers. I've seen a number of Chinese period epics, which either focus on the fights or some court tragedy. This one is special, as Lau's Ge Li (apparently a historical character, though the film is more strictly based on a Japanese manga) uses strategy to beat the superior foe. I hope my role-playing game buddies were paying attention. There are some great tactics in there, and the story's strong too (and not without the tragedy that imbues so many Chinese films). The DVD features Bey Logan's usual expert commentary and an uneven 50-minute making of documentary.
Books: Dove back into the New Series Doctor Who books this week, and managed to read two featuring the Doctor and Donna (who really gets shorted in the range, with 4 novels to every other companions' 12). Ghosts of India by Mark Morris brings the characters to 1947 India to meet Gandhi. As he showed in Forever Autumn, Morris has a knack for turning in books that read like the television episodes - slightly derivative but consistent. The regulars are a bit one-note for me - bitchy Donna and ADD Doctor - but he does a great Gandhi and brings in interesting friends and foes. The touching final scene is perhaps worth the price of admission.
Simon Messingham's The Doctor Trap is a kooky, crazy story I'd classify in the same vein as Love & Monsters, in which Sebastiene, the ruler of Planet 1, holds a hunt for the Doctor. If you thought L&M's commentary about fandom hit the nail a bit too hard on the head, you'll find this book sends it right through the wall. Both the humor and the jeopardy do work, however, and the book is full of surprises. Amidst the plot on overdrive, Messingham still finds a way to craft strong character scenes, especially for Donna, that could have fit the RTD era very well. Are the New Series books getting stronger?
RPGs: Played the penultimate episode of our Doctor Who game tonight, one that took place in the last days of the Time War, as a random accident sent the characters off course and into that impossible realm. I was so starved to know what really happened that I included a full package. Rassilon is brought back and President Romana deposed. The Doctor goes Bad Wolf and regenerates, but not before explaining himself to Susan. And the PCs responsible for sending Dalek Caan injured into the vortex, to lose his mind. Plus more subtle revelations about the season arc. We'll see if the players were paying attention for the finale next week. (And the pressure is definitely on, what with The Big Bang being the best thing ever.)
1297. Forgiveness
REVIEW: Forgiveness has a pretty impressive pedigree, with noted SF author David Brin and Scott Hampton, one of comics' best and most subtle painters, on art. And I'm happy to say it doesn't disappoint! Not only is it gorgeous, but Brin uses his talent as a hard sf writer to realistically touch on the development of transporter technology. We discover, for example, what kind of opposition there was and how it fitted in the "business market". It more than makes up for the way Brin plays fast and loose with holodeck technology (though some of that is quite clever and logical). The B-story featuring the Palami fits very well into the graphic novel's theme and is just as intriguing. Crusher and Troi are the clear heroes of this tale, and it's how I wish they'd been used on the tv series itself (even if the whole romance subplot turned out to be a red herring). Forgiveness explains a few things, not only about transporter tech, but also as to why the Enterprise wasn't seen during DS9's Dominion War arc. Sumptuous.
Here's one that takes its cue from a minor classic. No, I don't mean Le Morte d'Arthur. I mean Iron Man #149-150 in which Iron Man and Doctor Doom do battle in Camelot. Let's get medieval!
Altered history: Perhaps more realistically, Doctor Doom betrays Tony Stark and sends himself back to the future, while stranding Iron Man in Camelot with his armor in pieces.
And... wasted? Oh Tony. Maybe you'd have more luck repairing your stuff if you weren't hitting the mead so hard.
Though he can't build a time machine out of what's left, he can still kick barbarian ass on partial power. Doing so gets him an invitation into the Round Table, as Sir Anthony of Iron is born!
Soon, Tony Stark is enjoying himself wenching and fighting back Viking raids. But Morgana Le Fay and her mama's boy Mordred continually scheme his downfall. And setting a battle during an eclipse so Tony can't draw solar power, they strike! With cheesy "evil" armor and a dagger made from a piece of Excalibur. While Tony is busy laughing at the former, he is downed by the latter!
He's rescued by retreating knights as Mordred's forces take the fight to the castle. And then the Tony Stark of the 80s becomes the Tony Stark of the 2000s by, get this...
...re-enacting the history of technology in two weeks!!! Move over Hank Pym, I think we got a new Scientist Supreme. He puts an end to the siege, but not before destiny has Mordred and Arthur die at each other's hands. But destiny makes a whiplashing double-take when Arthur names Tony as his successor.
So there you have it. Tony Stark becomes king and uses his armor to completely destroy history. Not that those generations couldn't have used a thousand years of peace, you understand, but I'm pretty sure it means the end of that particular Marvel Universe.
1296. United We Stand
REVIEW: This is the big action finale. The automated drone plot is tangential to the main story of the virus, so it could be considered padding, but since it has the Defiant dogfighting in a planet's atmosphere and Ezri piloting the Enterprise-E (and not crashing it into the ground, Troi!), I can't say I'm finding a problem with it. I also like the idea that Jadzia originally created the drones to defend Trill against the Dominion. The stuff on the planet is harder to track however. Geordi saves someone I don't think we know. Troi seems about to die in falling debris, but then doesn't. Data comes up with a solution to the drones' [TECH] shields, but does so offscreen. Not as strong, so good thing the story's momentum carries us past those bits. Divided We Fall doesn't quite shake up the Trill status quo, unfortunately, but it reasonably makes you believe it could, with movie quality stakes and action.
1295. All Fall Down
REVIEW: Often, the third chapter of a story suffers from padding. Not this time. Not only do things get more and more desperate despite the heroes' advances, but Ordover and Mack even go as far as killing a "name" character (Verad isn't hugely important in Trek, but it's still more than what is usually done in comics). It's a shocking moment, as is the realization that the Trill status quo may not recover. The characters get some good beats too, especially the women. Troi uses her empathy as a lie detector to find the bomb's disarm code. Crusher actually becomes Odan (that symbiont certainly goes around) and he deductive leap is well earned. There's also a nice bit with Data and a riot. The only thing that would make this better is the hint that Verad isn't exactly wrong about the symbionts' power base.
Item 0: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Ok, now that that's out of the way...
Item 3: River Song continues to be a charm of a character, and we learn a little more about her here. This is earlier than The Time of Angels (as per River telling the Doctor they'd meet again when The Pandorica Opens), and she starts the story in prison. Her message to the Doctor this time is a pretty cool reference to Hitchhiker's Guide, but the laugh out loud moment for me was the prison guard pointing his gun at a doodle. Oh, hallucinogenic lipstick! As for her relationship to the Doctor, it is coming into focus as a truly romantic one. As she fails and the TARDIS explodes, she says "I'm sorry, my love."
Item 7: The Cybermen are problematic because they look like the alternate universe's Cybusmen, but have the classic Cybermen's ships (from The Invasion). They sometimes say "delete", but also talk about assimilation (stick it to those copycats, the Borg!). They have full skulls inside their helmets rather than naked brains, but here's also a mention of "all possible universes" as if they were the "void walkers". I postulate that the Cybusmen could have encountered our universe's Cybermen and joined forces with them, making both "races" stronger in the process. In any case, I was always disappointed with the Cybusmen because RTD essentially made them too much like robots. In no more than 10 minutes, Moffat made them scary again, returning to the body horror that was integral to their original conception. Except crazier. Like a scene out of The Thing. Major props.
1294. No Quarter
REVIEW: Divided We Fall continues to impress. There's a strong action vibe, but also some clever writing, and the two crews are well balanced. I especially like the bit where Troi and Crusher's conversation is used as a soundtrack over Ezri's rescue. Some of the puns may be too cute, but it's in good fun. In fact, Ordover and Mack do a good job of giving each character their own voice (Bashir's anger, Troi's jealousy, we're even privy to Odan's thoughts). When Verad phasers one of his henchmen for being the bearer of bad news, I was afraid his villainy was turning into too much moustache-twirling, but the idea that he might be manipulating the heroes and has a bigger plan is interesting. Another thought: What if he's right about the symbionts? They HAVE created a society where they are privileged, after all. The poor souls ready to die for Verad's cause may have legitimate reason to do so!
Name: Unknown
1293. Crossfire
REVIEW: A mini-series that could be really epic, attacking one of the starring species of DS9, interlinking with other Trill appearances in TNG lore. There's lots of action, but also personal drama with Trill-affected couples from both casts. Ezri is confused about her feelings for Bashir (as per the novels) and Troi finds herself jealous of Crusher because of a (hot) flash from the Dax symbiont. And while this new DS9 status quo could have been difficult for people who haven't read the relaunch books, they've kept continuity references to a minimum. If you've seen What You Leave Behind and are ready to take changes and new characters in stride, this is no more difficult than, say, Peter David's TOS series for DC, which had new "low-level" characters inhabiting it. A strong start. I wonder if they can actually effect changes in the Trek universe though. It'd be really cool if we had an uncompromising story here. Nice to see actual series writers doing the comics as well (Ordover and Mack wrote Starship Down and It's Only a Paper Moon together).
