Well it’s not Brooks fault. The art isn’t exceptional but it’s certainly serviceable. The plot and scripting though is just plain terrible. It’s barely coherent with no flow at all. Any sort of recognisable characterization is thrown out the window. As is logic, since there’s no way the team could come back from this in the space of a few pages.

Horrible, horrible, horrible. Maybe the worst X-Men story I’ve read in 5 years.

DC Universe: Last Will and Testament #1
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Artist: Adam Kubert
Publisher: DC Comics

What was the point of this book? It didn’t mesh very well with events in Final Crisis. It certainly didn’t move things on at all. It really didn’t give me any additional insight. And really it doesn’t tell much of a stand alone story either. It just seems totally pointless. Which is a shame because there have been some really good spin offs from Final Crisis. It just seems like a shocking waste of top tier talent.

New Avengers #44
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Billy Tan
Publisher: Marvel Comics

New Avengers has been doing a great job filling out the background and human elements of Secret Invasion. This issue we finally get an explanation on how the Skrulls were able to hide themselves from detection in the run up to the invasion. We don’t actually find out what it is, but the fact that it’s based off an idea by Reed Richards gives it all the in-story credibility it needs.

I’m pretty sure that there are going to be people complaining that this is something that should have been in the main mini-series. They’re wrong though. Secret Invasion is a big screen action blockbuster. This stuff would have just slowed it down. People who just want the explosions will be happy with the mini-series as is. Those of you who need the explanations can pick and choose from the tie-ins.

The Immortal Iron Fist #18
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Artist: Travel Foreman, Russ Heath
Publisher: Marvel Comics

This is the second issue for the new Iron Fist team and the transition has been remarkably seamless. Once you start looking there are some differences in tone and style but nothing that jars you out of the story that’s being told. And that story fits in quite well with the previously established themes of the book, playing on the history of the Iron Fists.

Obviously I’m assuming that Danny Rand isn’t about to die. For a start there hasn’t been a replacement character groomed to take over the role. This story then has a certain inevitability about it. But the characters make it work. Not just Daniel Rand, but also his friends and their reaction to the situation.

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His work is quite striking, and I especially like the steampunk look he’s applied to the Raconteurs. Check out the posters here and also here, and you can begin to imagine a story for these brash young lads in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Rob Jones has also created limited edition posters for the White Stripes, drawing upon War of the Worlds and The Wizard of Oz for inspiration.

Click here to see more of his work.

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• How to build a better being on the National Geographic Channel will be showcasing Spore
• How You Can “Save” PC Gaming
• New Star Wars Videogame Unleashes the Force in You
• Games Demystified: Portal, on Gamasutra, goes into the science behind the game.
• SFSignal begins a Game Bits column

Upcoming games? Videogames meta-discussion? News about the intersection of videogames and science fiction? If you have science fiction videogame news to share, submit it to: N.E. Lilly via videogamenews@sflare.com

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• The Con Anti-Harassment Project is a grass-roots campaign to encourage conventions to create anti-harassment policies
• Zombie CSU website launched in conjunction with the book launch. Zombie CSU includes over 250 interviews with real-world experts ranging from Law Enforcment and the Military to Psychology and Medicine to present the first ever look at how our real world would react, research and respond to a zombie uprising.
• Lonelygirl15 Crew Fights Scifi Injustice On Youtube
• Sites of the Week: SFScope (AMC SciFi Scanner), Cinemablend (SCIFI Weekly), Science Fiction Awards Watch (SFSignal), OgreCave, Gateworld (Nuketown)

If you have science fiction website/Internet news to share (website launches, updates, and redesigns), submit to: N.E. Lilly via internetnews@sflare.com

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• Chris W., FL
• Kat S., NH
• John B., UT
• Carl J., PA
• William J. R., MN
• Mook H. K.,NJ
• Patrick T., CT
• Maria P., IL
• Catrina C., TX
• Keith H., WA

I’m very pleased with the success of this giveaway so if I receive further opportunities to offer up free stuff, I’ll certainly look into it.

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• Duainfey by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
• Belisarius I: Thunder at Dawn by Eric Flint, David Drake
• Van Rijn Method & Poul Anderson
• Yellow Eyes by John Ringo & Tom Kratman
• The Long Twilight by Keith Laumer
• Thraxas Under Siege by Martin Scott

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After reading a number of poor reviews of Star Wars: Clone Wars, I went into the movie theaters with low, low (very low) expectations for the movie. I figured that if I could make it through Space Chimps then there wasn’t anything that George Lucas could do to Star Wars that would kill me.

Image via Wikipedia

If it weren’t branded “Star Wars” I don’t think it would be getting nearly so much criticism. Of all of Geroge Lucas’ later Star Wars works, I think that it comes closest to expressing the “Flash Gordon” serial aesthetic that he’s spoken so often of as being part of the inspiration for Star Wars.

I did have some minor problems with the move, such as, why does the plot at some point revolve around taking down a shield? The character Ashoka irritated me a bit. The patter between Ashoka and Anakin seemed too forced, as if it were there as a flag to say, “Hey, look! These characters don’t get along!” I thought that Ziro the Hutt was an interesting character and the day-glo tattoos was a nice touch. I just wish he hadn’t spoken English. It just felt wrong.

Star Wars: Clone Wars is slated for the Cartoon Network, but seems more akin to Nickelodeon fare.

My final opinion: Star Wars: Clone Wars exceeded my expectations (no, seriously, I mean it). I actually liked it, over all. My personal rankings for the Star Wars films are as follows:

1. Star Wars (tied for first place with Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)
2. Star Wars: Clone Wars (the 2003 animated television series)
3. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (lost points for Luke and Leia being siblings)
4. Star Wars Holiday Special (gains points for Boba Fett)
5. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
6. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (JarJar!)
7. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

I can confidently say that Star Wars: The Clone Wars was better than the Star Wars Holiday Special. And my children’s opinions? It scored two awesomes.

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Ever seen Groundhog day?

That’s what we get with I Do Over. Which must have made the folks at Degree pretty happy with the repeated shots of their anti-perspirant. But hey time loops are a solid science fiction concept.

Fortunately the show doesn’t waste too much time establishing the time loop so we don’t have to wade through ages of repeated dialogue before Carter starts trying to fix things. The set up also allows the writers to play with scenes and dialogue which can’t really happen in regular shows because they would disrupt the balance too radically.

They drag it out a bit though and I was starting to get bored before Carter really started to focus on the big problem instead of his emotional ones. It gets really interesting though when time starts bleeding through and Carter starts his day more and more injured each time. He may not have an unlimited amount of time to figure this one out.

Turns out a scientist has built a particle decellerator but he can’t reverse what he’s done. In the end of course Carter needs Dr. Stark’s help to put things right. But unlike most time travel stories there are consequences here. Big consequences.

And there’s the Eva Thorn storyline too. What was she up to while the wedding was going on?

Once again though we have a story where Carter is the only one who knows something is wrong and thus is in the position to fix it. It’s become a real crutch for the writers.

Nice moments during the show include Fargo’s moment of heroism, the Doctor Who reference and the introduction of Carter’s sister Lexxie who could be a nice addition to the cast if she’s sticking around for a while. I particularly liked her really wacky theory on how to end the time loop.

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Gaea: Beyond The Son is about a father who is separated from his son through war, over 30 yeasr and across two solar systems. Set in 2049-79 the film touches on the themes of family, space colonizatoin and the consequences of climate change. Dwindling natural resources and the threat of nuclear war are backdrops.

Gaea: Beyond the Son has been under development for the past three years and is intended to be the first installment of a trilogy.

In addition to the already published book and the upcoming movie, The Gae Universe will also embrace video games. At the 2008 Leipzig Game Convention it was announced that Carrier Command: Gaea Mission is under development for PC and the Next Gen consoles, with a scheduled spring 2010 release. Carrier Command: Gaea Mission will be set in the Gaea Universe with a scenario written by the Gilsons and drawn from Gaea: Sonrise, the second book in the series (which is due for publication in 2009).

Now I have to admit that I’m not familiar with Gaea: Beyond The Son, so I can’t comment on the quality of the story. I’d be very interested to hear from anyone who has read it though. You’ve got to be impressed by the scale of this endeavor though. Books, video games and a movie all tied into the same universe.

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By coincidence this is a topic I’ve been thinking about myself. As I’ve noted I think Lucas seeming obsession with The Clone Wars has left the series stuck in a rut going over the same ground again and again.
Image via Wikipedia

Star Wars Is For Kids

One of the strongest defenses of the Star Wars prequel trilogy is that a large part of the appeal of the original Star Wars was that of a young child going to see it for the first time. That’s an experience that the prequel trilogy couldn’t recreate for older fans.

There is some truth to this argument. You can’t recreate the experience of seeing something for the first time in your life. It’s also true that all the Star Wars movies have been heavily aimed towards a young audience from day one.

JP points out though that most Star Wars fans are not kids any more and suggests that we have a Star Wars product that’s aimed at those older fans. As an older fan myself I might enjoy a movie or tv series like that, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

Just Because It’s For Kids Doesn’t Mean It Has To Be Bad

The problem with The Phantom Menace and the other prequels wasn’t that they were aimed at kids, it was that they were poorly structured and executed.

I re-watched Star Wars this weekend for the first time in several years and I was watching it with distinctly adult eyes. The dialogue is frequently wooden and there are a number of plot holes that are never adequately explained. But the movie moves at such a pace and presents so many exciting or impressive moments that it doesn’t matter.

I also watched the original in direct comparison to the tweaked version of Star Wars. The differences aren’t major, but in almost every single case where the CGI was added, it did nothing to improve the scenes beyond the visuals. In some cases it was simply distracting and slows things down. In many ways this is a taster of what was to come with the prequels.

The Phantom Menace still has some impressive moments, but the story is bloated and the plot frequently bogs down in between the set pieces. The CGI is truly impressive, but it is allowed to run wild and seems almost an end in its own right.

In short The Phantom Menace didn’t need to be more adult, it just needed to be better directed.

The Doctor Who Model?

Before Doctor Who returned to our screens there were a lot of fans (I was one of them) who suggested a more adult or darker tone for the series. Instead what we got was an adventure series suitable for the whole family. And it was the right call. Doctor Who stayed true its roots and gave us one of the best scifi shows of the decade. Is there a lesson for Star Wars to learn from this?

• Focus on your core audience
• Stay true to your history
• Keep continuity lean
• Adapt presentation styles in line with modern film making
• Remember characters are more important than special effects
• Use the best writers and directors you can afford

What Is The Future

And isn’t it time that Star Wars actually moved into the future? Lucas seems to be hung up in the past of the Star Wars universe. What if we were actually to move forward for the first time in 25 years?

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Incidentally is the puddle jumper the least impressive looking spaceship is scifi history?

From there things go bad with some weird systems failures. Back at Atlantis an analysis shows that nothing is wrong. But then systems start failing all over the base. Once again Woolsey gives us a good comedic scene and proves what a good idea it was to add him to the regular cast. Nice to have him referencing having to walk across half the city. It’s a pet irritation of mine that Atlantis is a city but we rarely ever get a sense of the scale of it.

As the systems failures get worse, power goes out except for one computer and it starts to broadcast text messages from Dr. Weir asking for help! Once again Atlantis makes good use of its own history for some additional emotional resonance.

This does lead to a rather talky segment where we get an explanation of what has happened since we last saw the Replicator Dr. Weir. Don’t get your hopes up for an appearance from Torri Higginson either. The actress turned down the role and instead the replicator Weir is played by Michelle Morgan (who does a good job of capturing Weirs mannerisms).

When she builds herself a new replicator body lots of questions are raised. Is this really Elizabeth Weir? If she’s a replicator, is she safe? What does her former team owe her? Before any of these questions can be answered, other disembodied replicators arrive. When Atlantis refuses to give them bodies like Weir, they start sinking the city.

Woolsey shows there’s more to his character than comedic relief with some hard nosed negotiating and Robert Picardo again shows what a fine actor he is as we see Woolsey’s nervousness when he bluffs the replicators.

I think this may be my favorite episode of the season so far. Plenty of action, great use of the series history and some real emotional turmoil. Interesting ending though. We’ve already seen that replicators can survive in space.

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Kane is playing on the legend of Robin Hood in this book which is set in an England that has reverted to the Middle Ages after a virus killed 90% of the world’s population.

When a group of De Falaise sets himself up as the new “Sheriff” of Nottingham, ex-policeman Robert Stokes find himself drawn reluctantly into the fight and uses the legend of a Hooded Man as his guide.

Published by Abaddon Books, this is part of their Afterblight Chronicles (The Culled, Kill or Cure, School’s Out, Dawn Over Doomsday). In this series the world has been devastated by an epidemic but there are pockets of humans attempting to continue civilization. In the world at large though infrastructures have collapsed and mobs run rampant.

Paul Kane is the author of The Lazarus Condition and the “New Year’s Day” episode of Fear Itself. His novella Signs of Life was shortlisted for the British Fantasy Awards in 2006.

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Over at dashPunk, C. E. Dorsett posted a rebuttal of sorts suggesting that it’s not that fandom is splintering its that the term science fiction fandom has been co-opted in Fandom vs. The Scifi Channel. It’s an intriguing argument but, guess what, I don’t agree.
Image by jophan via Flickr
It’s a well constructed case (read it and see), but I disagree on a couple of the pillars which the argument is founded on.

Definition of Fandom

Now here’s a tricky one. If we can’t assign a precise definition of science fiction how do we then define science fiction fandom? C. E. Dorsett argues that fans are fanatics (that’s certainly the origin of the word) and that most people who are currently enjoying SF are really just enthusiasts.

Seems reasonable, but even here it gets sticky. At exactly what point do you move from enthusiast to fan? How much science fiction must you consume, how broad do your interests have to be? I have met some Doctor Who fans (and they were most definitely fans not enthusiasts) who had little interest in the larger science fiction genre. So they are fans of a science fiction show (books/radio series/ etc.) but they are not science fiction fans. On the flip side there are fans of prose science fiction who have nothing to do with science fiction movies, tv etc.

This is of course an inherent problem when you try to categorize people. They don’t fit into boxes very well.

C. E. Dorsett has a second condition however to try and define the science fiction fan:

Enthusiasts think they are fans. They get excited by the release of an SF film, maybe play some games, but are not defined by their interest in SF.

Enthusiast or Fan?

I’ve been reading it since before I was 10; writing this website for the last decade; I can quote you the history of obscure Marvel Comics characters; own a substantial scifi DVD collection; I’ve even got Star Wars action figures in my cube at work.

But I’ve only been to one convention (and have no particular urge to attend another); I’m not a member of any local science fiction groups and I would be equally happy discussing politics, general television or wrestling with you.

So then am I an enthusiast not a fan? I certainly don’t define myself by my interest in science fiction. And if I’m not a fan then you’ve defined Science Fiction Fandom to an incredibly tiny minority of the people who enjoy science fiction.

Confusing the matter even further is the dictionary definition of a fan:
a person who admires or is enthusiastic about a pop star, actor, sport, or hobby:

Which would put us all back in the enthusiast category. Definitions are difficult things and it always seems like you can argue them six ways and back. You can say that the general public is using the words differently to the way the fans have used them and that may be true. But the thing is that’s how language works. Definitions change over time and the common use becomes the correct use.

Science Fiction Fandom Exists and Its Just Like Me!

In the end then this definition works to the extent that it refutes the notion of a splintering fandom by simply stating that they were never really part of fandom in the first place. It’s a reductionist argument which simply eliminates that which doesn’t fit instead of seeking a way to acknowledge it.

And there’s something very defensive about that approach that I don’t like. It almost has the smell of “but we’re better than them” and oh I do so detest cliques.

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“There’s something brewing down there and she’s fixin to blow!”

Along the way we get Fargo getting emotional about being allowed to do a dog autopsy; Dr. Blake wandering around in a wedding dress and Dr. Stark cuddling up against Fifi as he and Carter tunnel underground.

Meanwhile Eva Thorn continues to poke around looking for something presumably related to the pink explosion she was looking at last week. Henry repays her favor from last week. Well, sort of.

A good episode of Eureka is light and frothy. It doesn’t require heavy thinking or dissection, but it should hold together under at least a basic inspection and this certainly does that much. It’s been very well structured and little details early on neatly fit into the resolution of the episode.

It is though essentially the standard Eureka plot. Which is to say we have Carter not being believed while scientists manage to create mayhem. And then the solution is once again thought up by Carter.

It’s an effective enough plot structure, but three seasons in it’s maybe wearing out its welcome. Time for something new perhaps?

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And what is Hyper-Serialization exactly. Well the intent seems to be to combine narration, actors, sound and music together to tell a story over the course of 150 chapters. Since it’s not precisely a novel or a radio show, the producers came up with the description Hyper-Serialization to describe it.

The site has been live for about a week now and there are 7 demo chapters available for you to read/listen to. It’s an interesting project and I like seeing people try to push the boundaries of the medium a bit. I’m not completely convinced by the format though. But I’m going to withhold judgment until I’ve had a chance to read through more of it myself.

As a bit of an old fashioned cross platform purist though I really wish the design didn’t loudly proclaim that the site is best viewed in 1024 x 768. HTML design should be a little more flexible than that. But more to the point I’m trying to decide whether this is a format that will prove popular. It does demand more from the reader in terms of attention and participation. That could be a good or bad thing. There’s also of course the matter of whether the images and sounds are a high enough quality to emphasize the mood of the prose rather than detract for it.

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The Guardians of the Galaxy gets a Secret Invasion tie-in this month. Which is a little odd because it’s not set on earth. But they make it work, sealing off the station and ramping up the paranoia. I’m still not quite sure what to make of Major Victory’s arrival. Is he part of the team or just part of a story arc? Nice to see Groot growing a little each issue, presumably it won’t be long before he is active again. Rocket Raccoon’s animosity towards Kosmo is an amusing note too.

Very interesting reveal about the creation of the Guardians of the Galaxy team and it does help to explain why such a strange group would agree to form in the first place. You really have to wonder though, once the information gets out (and it will of course) how can the team realistically continue to function. Bryan Hitch’s artwork remains wonderfull to look at and Millar is sticking to what he’s best at here with high octane action storylines. I’m enjoying the ride, I just have no idea where we’re going.

Fantastic Four #559
Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Bryan Hitch
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The second part of Millar and Hitch’s Death of the Invisible Woman storyline raises a number of questions, but the biggest one in my mind is what Dr. Banner in Professor mode is doing running a new Defenders team. Well okay it’s not the biggest but it’s the one I’m most interested in. I guess the pink and purple guy (you know who I mean) is a bigger question mark really. You can’t complain about the cosmic and fantastic elements of this comic when this guy is captured.

The thing is that none of this seems to fit at all well into the Marvel Universe as its currently arranged. Which I’m fine with if it’s intended to stand on its own, it’s just I’m not sure whether it’s all going to be explained or not and that’s distracting me a bit.
Image via Wikipedia
Secret Invasion: The Inhumans #1 of 4
Writer: Joe Pokaski
Artist: Tom Raney
Publisher: Marvel Comics

A second raft of Secret Invasion mini-series started and these stories are starting to feel a little samey. There’s only so many paranoia angles to go around. There are signs though that this particular series will continue the Inhumans storyline which has been meandering slowly from mini-series to mini-series.

The saga of the Inhuman family isn’t fast pace but it is quite interesting. Of course Black Bolt has been captured and replaced by a Skrull. But it turns out he isn’t the only Skrull in Atillan. And Maximums mainly sees this as an opportunity to reinforce his control of Atillan. I particularly like the Skrulls new secret weapon. It fits in perfectly with everything they’ve been doing.

Squadron Supreme #2
Writer: Howard Chaykin
Artist: Marco Turini
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The original Squadron Supreme was of course a thinly veiled version of the Justice League, Chaykin’s new Squadron seems to be gathering together stand ins for the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Captain America. Its a different tack, but I’m not sure what the point is when we have at least two versions of those characters anyway.

Chaykin does still seem to be going with the more realist approach that JMS was using, but two issues in I’m still not really seeing what the bigger picture is. There’s lots of currently unrelated subplots that will hopefully come together in the next four issues.

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Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat is a career criminal. He’s not out to hurt people, he’s just out for himself. But “Slippery” Jim diGriz is outsmarted by the Special Corps who then extend an offer for him to join. The book then takes us through diGriz’s first mission for the Special Corps and his personal hunt for Angelina a more murderous echo of himself.
Image via Wikipedia
Harry Harrison’s writing style in these books is lean. Stainless Steel Rat is an action story and Harrison doesn’t waste time with the irrelevant. As a result this is a quick and entertaining read. It’s hard not to like diGriz and his unrepentant criminal ways. Angelina is a little more problematic though.

She’s a murderer and the stories efforts to present her in a sympathetic light in the latter half of the book just don’t sit quite right with me. Since the character plays a significant role in future stories, I’ll be interested to see how she is handled.

The Stainless Steel Rat was published in 1961 and the two short stories were originally published in the 1950s so you won’t be surprised if I say that some of the science here is outdated. There is something quaintly anachronistic about faster than light travel combined with computers that use punch cards.

However Harrison is smart enough to avoid the worst pitfalls. First he sets his protagonist in a universe that has undergone some sort of societal collapse and is slowly re-integrating. This allows for a real mixture of tech levels without pushing the suspension of disbelief too far. Second he injects the entire proceedings with an almost fantastical air that makes the science secondary at best to the escapades of his protagonist.

It’s not hard to see why The Stainless Steel Rat has such a loyal following. A likeable rogue as the central character, a storyline that doesn’t worry too much about the details and just gets straight on with the action and a distinct pulp/noir feel to the whole scenario. It’s a winning formula.

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• Will TheWB Be Your New Favorite Website? The WB launches a new video on demand website, and adds your favorite Science Fiction shows.
• Pyr’s blog now a group effort
• Gemini Division, an NBC web series, has gone live.
• The Fate of Short Fiction Online. Gordon Van Gelder, editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, wants your input.
• Sites of the Week: Batman on Film (AMC SciFi Scanner), Tower of the Hand (SCIFI Weekly), Sci Fi Songs (SFSignal), Analog Science Fiction and Fact (Nuketown)

If you have science fiction website/Internet news to share (website launches, updates, and redesigns), submit to: N.E. Lilly via internetnews@sflare.com

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The Stargate Atlantis movie will be written by executive producers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie and will follow Atlantis’ fifth and final season (which is set to conclude in January 2009). It seems at this new movie is a direct result of the two Stargate: SG-1 direct to DVD movies and their success.

Atlantis will reach the milestone 100th episode this January (which pretty much guarantees it can be syndicated from here to eternity either on Sci Fi or elsewhere).

This announcement also clears the decks for the third Stargate tv series which has been tentatively titled Stargate: Universe. The show’s producers had said they were reluctant to run the two shows concurrently. With Stargate Atlantis joining SG-1 on DVD, not only will Sci Fi have a gap in their schedules to fill, but the work load will be significantly lighter.

I can’t say I’m terribly sad about this news. I don’t feel that Stargate Atlantis ever hit the level of quality that SG-1 gave us, and I’m quite keen to see what another Stargate series could offer us. For those who are bigger fans of Atlantis than I am, at least you have the prospect of this and future movies.

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