Upgrade Day!

Seeing as my computer is many many years old and now requires a fan to be directed straight into its innards unless I want it to shut down unexpectedly, it's time for a change. I'm off!

Star Trek 1116: Encounter with... the Othersiders!

1116. Encounter with... the Othersiders!

PUBLICATION: Deep Space Nine/Star Trek: The Next Generation #2 (part 3), Malibu Comics/DC Comics, November 1994

CREATORS: Mike W. Barr and Michael Jan Friedman (writers), Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot (artists)

STARDATE: 47270.9 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: Riker and his crew beam over to the admiral's runabout just before their own is destroyed, but they are quickly captured by the aliens with a stasis beam. All but Odo, that is, who stages a break-out aboard the lead alien ship. Meanwhile, Picard and Sisko help in the relief efforts on Bajor, where the Wormhole's instability is causing massive flooding. Back in the Gamma Quadrant, the crew splits up to both destroy the stasis generator AND rescue the admiral's party. As they walk into his cell however, he is shot and killed by his captors...

CONTINUITY: See previous issues (Bareil).

DIVERGENCES: See previous issues. Odo mimics a humanoid face.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Riker gives a wooden performance.
REVIEW: They keep ramping up the action! Again, a strong showing from both crews, both in their various escapes and fights with the would-be invaders, and in their relief efforts over on Bajor. There's a nice scene between the O'Briens where Miles tells her he'll transfer back to the Enterprise if she wants, but she refuses to stand in the way of his happiness, but on the whole, there are fewer pure character moments. It all hinges on the finale now!

This Week in Geek (21-27/12/09)

Buys'n'Gifts

Spent Christmas at my sister's in Montreal - highlights include spending Christmas Eve in an outdoor hot tub surrounded by snow, an "absurd gift" activity (I gave a garden inukshuk I packaged as a caveman's teddy bear "from when times were hard" and got a deer call), watching Rise of Cobra at one in the morning, and getting hit by a thrown soft drink from a road raging Quebecer - and got a number of geek-worthy gifts: There's the DVD copy of Inglourious Basterds, Season 4 of The Unit, a Joker pez dispenser, an old-school slinky, and accessories for my iTouch.

I also bought myself a terabyte external hard drive at a Boxing Day mega-sale, and grabbed the DVD Lord of War on my brother's recommendation.

"Accomplishments"

DVDs: Since it was one of the few things I had in Montreal, I flipped Inglourious Basterds. I've spoken about this massively entertaining film before (when I saw it at the theater), so I'll just talk about the extras. Tarantino doesn't really do commentaries, but he's got a 30-minute interview (with Brad Pitt) that illuminates some of the ideas. The DVD also includes the whole of the film inside the film (Pride of a Nation) and a fake making of featurette starring the characters who made it. A couple interviews besides, and a discussion on films referenced in the film, including the original Inglorious Bastards. It barely scratches the surface, really.

Big Finish Doctor Who audios: I thought I'd listen to more, but only managed to finish out - Robert Ross' Medicinal Purposes starring the 6th Doctor and Evelyn. As with The Settling, I really wasn't sure what historical moment the audio referred to despite it seeming common knowledge to the leads. Are Burke and Hare REALLY that infamous? Anyway, Doc6 acts very strangely, I thought, and the story is barely saved by things not temporally being what they seem. Oh, and Tennant's in it as a village idiot!

I brought some comics with me and managed to get through 80+ comics. The evidence of this binge is on Twitter. Still way late though.

Neglected Post of the Week
"Amalgamonth" was a feature I tried back in 2007 that didn't get much reaction. Oh, the "re-do" on various DC vs. Marvel fights got some attention (everyone has an opinion), but the accompanying piece that splits Amalgam comics back into its two constituent parts were rather ignored. Check out the Super-Soldier one (and its accompanying "fight" feature) and let me know if I should bring this feature back in the new year.

Star Trek 1115: U.S.S. Enterprise-D NCC-1001-D Blueprints

1115. U.S.S. Enterprise-D NCC-1001-D Blueprints

PUBLICATION: Pocket Books, 1996

CREATORS: Rick Sternbach

STARDATE: Published after the events of Generations

SUBJECT MATTER: A sort of memorial for the just-destroyed Enterprise-D, this box includes detailed folded blueprint of every deck of the ship, and a 16-page document that discusses how the Enterprise-D's design came to be, with a round table featuring the designers, among other things.

CONTINUITY: These plans are the ones used in onscreen graphics throughout the series.

DIVERGENCES: None.

ILLUSTRATION OF THE WEEK
REVIEW: Funny the things people get you when you're a known Trekkie. Though I seem to remember this was in a bargain bin before it came into my hands, Pocket Books charged... let me see here... 24$ U.S. for it. Worth it? For completists, I'm sure it is. The floorplans create a fun "it's real" feeling, and role-players, for example, might even use it to stage their own adventures aboard a Galaxy-class ship, or perhaps as nice postering for their game room. You COULD wallpaper your room with the prints (there are 13 sheets). They all kinda look like this.
So a pretty nerdy item, you'll agree. The 16-pager has a nice discussion about the ship's design and how the designers felt about it being destroyed in Generations. I haven't seen all of this in other books/DVDs, but it doesn't feel essential either.

Next for the SBG Book Club: Warped (DS9), No Surrender (SCE), World Without End (TOS), A Rock and a Hard Place (TNG).

What If... Conan the Barbarian Walked the Earth Today?

Announced as "Next" since What If? #2, this Conan story took its merry time getting to the book's pages. Especially considering that What If? is a bimonthly. And what an odd choice for a What If story! I guess Roy Thomas always had it in him, and could never find a way to actually use it in one of his Conan comics. Be hard to explain Spider-Man to the Howard estate, I suppose. What's nice at least is that Roy pairs up with Conan artist John Buscema in this, so it's really "of a piece" with the Conan stuff.

And though I still question to relevance of this idea today, it managed to spawn at least 4 more What Ifs, including a direct sequel to this issue! Shame about those rights, eh?

What If Vol.1 #13 (February 1979)
Based on: Savage Sword of Conan #7
The true history: In the "full-length thriller" Citadel at the Center of Time, a wizard puts Conan in a bucket and drops him down the well of time. He sees the fall of Atlantis, the rise of Homo Sapiens and the reign of the dinosaurs. He manages to climb back up the rope and kick some magical ass.
Turning point: What if Conan was just a pound heavier?
Story type: Conan Crossover (trust me, it's a recurring type)
Watcher's mood: Critical of the readership
Altered history: The rope snaps and Conan falls back into the well to find himself in contemporary Manhattan (at 8:37 PM on Wednesday July 13th 1977 to be exact... His trip may or may not be responsible for the infamous New York City blackout). The future isn't what he imagined, which was this:
It's not much like that. Roy Thomas is more prescient than Conan however:
Right the first time, Girl #1! That is EERIE. Arnold's first Conan film didn't come out until 1982! Surprisingly, he doesn't much mix with any Marvel characters even if New York is lousy with them. Closest he comes to is getting ignored by Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.
No, instead, he has a very Conan-esque adventure. For example, he attacks a cab at one point, and of course, the cabbie is a hot chick.
Despite the damage he does to her car, and the fact he doesn't speak English, she decides to take him home. Conan being Conan, he gets his Commerian groove on.
Danette is surprisingly well read and has a collection of books on history and architecture that comes in handy. Since Conan left his era from a ziggurat, then he must return via a zyggurat. The only one in NYC is upside down and...
...the Guggenheim! After having taken care of some rioters without killing them, Conan reverts to his true habits in the closing chapter after Danette gets shot by museum raiders. It's an arty massacre.
The temporary lovers exchange gifts (sadly, Conan doesn't wear the beret) and Conan gets to the roof of the building in time to be magically taken back to his own time.
Books canceled as a result: None.
These things happen: According to Wikipedia, Conan walked the modern Marvel Universe a number of times, for example in Excalibur #49, and Fantastic Four #405.

Next week: What if Sgt. Fury fought WW II in outer space?
My guess: The Romulans would lose.

Star Trek 1114: The Wormhole Trap

1113. The Wormhole Trap

PUBLICATION: Deep Space Nine/Star Trek: The Next Generation #1 (part 2), Malibu Comics/DC Comics, October 1994

CREATORS: Mike W. Barr and Michael Jan Friedman (writers), Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot (artists)

STARDATE: 47269.1 (follows the last issue)

PLOT: The Cardassian saboteurs beam out before being captured and the combined crews use the tech left behind to modify a runabout so it can enter the raging Wormhole. Bashir and Crusher determine that they weren't Cardassians thanks to a blood sample, but Riker and his combined team go in anyway. The Wormhole disables the runabout and on the other side is a fleet of alien ships, waiting...

CONTINUITY: See previous issues (Bareil, Lwaxana). Gul Dukat puts in an appearance. Alexander runs around with Jake and Nog.

DIVERGENCES: See previous issues (empaths). Alexander's appearance causes problems with Sons and Daughters.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Odo without budgetary limits.
REVIEW: I guess Ro isn't really in this after all, just background (as is Keiko and the kids in this one). No problem, I just like the character is all. There is no sense of discontinuity even if Part 2 is published by Malibu, except for the cover art, and Purcell's big, bold panels tell an exciting story. We have a fight, a huge fleet, dramatic lightning coming out of the Wormhole... And still time for character moments as the two best crews of the modern era interact.

Movie Marquee Friday: The Christmas List

One holiday's tropes may well be another's...
We returned once, for a Christmas party...

Fairy dust and trains, oh my...

As small as a child's world...

And as hard as steel...

It had to be you, wonderful you...

In fields of snow, a lonely typist updates her resume...

And across the water...