Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron (2019) Book Review

 Hey everyone, how're you doing today? I'm doing okay. As I promised in yesterday's blog post, I'm back with another book review. This time I'm taking a look at Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron by Alexander Freed. It's a book from 2019, so there won't be very many spoilers in this review as there would be in a review of a Star Wars novel from the '90s, 2000s or early to mid 2010s. So let's get into it.

Alphabet Squadron is very similar to the X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole and the late Aaron Allston that Bantam Spectra and Del Rey published between 1996 and 2012. In fact, this book, and it's two sequels are basically the Canon version of the X-Wing series. Right down to the series having a comic book tie-in series. And it's okay. I like it, but it's not great.

One of the things I love about this book is that it shows a more realistic New Republic. In Legends the New Republic, and the Rebel Alliance before it, was always a bit too accepting of Imperial defectors, which is why so many spies infiltrated their ranks. Not to mention the New Republic barely struggled to overtake the Empire, even when Grand Admiral Thrawn and the resurrected Emperor caused massive devastation. In this book it's close to what we ended up seeing in season 3 of The Mandalorian in the Doctor Persching episode. In fact, while I was watching that episode I kept thinking about this book, which is interesting.

The downside of this book is that the focus character, Yrica Quell, is pretting boring. Throughout the entire book I kept finding myself drawn to Hera Syndulla and Caern Adan, Quell's superior officer from New Republic Intelligence. I think that's because not much is known about Quell, aside from the fact that she's a former Imperial TIE Fighter pilot, who supposedly had always planned to defect to the Alliance/New Republic, but never got around to it until after Endor due to Operation Cinder, which was first mentioned in Chuck Windig's Aftermath Trilogy, she's not as interesting as most of the other characters. And of course, with Hera having been a main character on Rebels, which ended a year before this book came out, I was drawn to her because I'll be starting a watchthrough of both The Clone Wars and Rebels in preparation for Ahsoka. The rest of the characters are pretty bland, but this is only the first book in the trilogy, and I have no idea how much they're focused on in the other two books.

Apparently this book was a tie-in to a comic book mini-series published by Marvel, called Star Wars: TIE Fighter. I don't know anything about it, since I've never read it. But I think this is why this book has the problems that it does. According to Wookieepedia, Quell appears in the first issue of the comic book miniseries and so by the time we meet her in the book, you're missing an entire chapter of her story, and the novel doesn't do a great job at conveying that chapter to the reader, since chances are pretty good that not everyone who read this book read the comic book miniseries too. Like I didn't.

Overall, as a standalone novel, or just as the first book in a trilogy, it's a decent enough book. It's just it's not as effective unless you read the prequel comic as well. It's not a fatal flaw though, and I do recommend reading this book. Just be prepared to be a little bit confused if you haven't read the comic as well. 

Alright my friends, that's it for me for today. I'm not sure when I'll be back. We had a death in the family on Sunday and the funeral is on Saturday, so things are gonna be a bit hectic for the next few days. But, I promise I will be back soon. So until then have a great night and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

The Different Collected Editions of Batman: Knightfall (1993-1995)

 Hey everyone, how're you all doing today? It's been a rough few days around here. If you know me in my personal life, you know why. So posts might be a bit more sporadic than usual. Not for too long. Today I'm finally getting around to doing a post that I've been planning to do for like three years now. And that's take a look at the various collected editions of the Batman: Knightfall storyline, including aftermath stuff. So let's get right into it.

The first collected editions of Knightfall came out between 1993 and 1997, when DC still wasn't collecting all of their storylines. They did a few of them, but not all of them. In fact, during this period, Knightfall wasn't completely collected. Only Broken Bat, which shows Batman's mental and physical decline as he fights the escaped Arkham inmates and then his fight with Bane, Who Rules the Night, which tells Jean Paul Valley's start as Batman and his defeat of Bane, KnightsEnd, which shows Bruce's return as Batman and his defeat of Jean Paul, and Prodigal, which shows Dick Grayson's time as Batman before Bruce takes up the mantle again permanently. Apart from seeing an ad for the KnightsEnd trade paperback in one of my Star Trek comics when I was a kid, I completely missed out on these editions though I did have a few of the single issues from Knightfall, Knightquest: The Crusade, and Prodigal in my childhood comic book collection, which I showed off in a previous post.

In 2002, DC published new editions for Broken Bat, Who Rules the Night, and KnightsEnd. Nothing new was added to these editions, but the covers line up, as you can see above. Prodigal wasn't republished though. These are the editions that I got when I was in high school, as they were the only editions in print at the time. Of course, having not seen the previous editions, I didn't realize that Knightquest hadn't been collected, so that was interesting since by this point I'd actually gotten several issues of the Knightquest story arc from the back issue bins at my local hobby store, which sold comics, both old and new at the time, as I didn't have a comic book store anywhere near me that was close enough, and none of my friends drove at the time.

In 2012 DC Comics republished Knightfall again, but this time in entirely new editions. Broken Bat and Who Rules the Night were published in a single volume, Knightquest was collected for the first time though only The Crusade, which is Jean Paul Valley's time as Batman, was collected. The Search, which follows Bruce Wayne during his recovery, was omitted yet again. KnightsEnd and Prodigal were also combined into a single volume. These are the editions that I currently have in my collection and I really enjoy them. I'll be doing individual reviews on all three of these volumes at some point.

From 2017 to 2018 DC Comics published the entire Knightfall saga in three hardcover omnibus editions, including the prelude stuff, Knightquest: The Search, and Troika, in addition to everything that was in the previous trade paperback editions. Being that hardcover omnibus editions of any comic book story arc can be prohibitively expensive, and always out of my price range, these editions aren't ones I'm interested in.

Finally from 2018 to 2019, DC Comics put out 25th Anniversary trade paperback editions. The nine volume set includes everything that was in the omnibus editions, with Knightfall split back up into Broken Bat and Who Rules the Night. This set is the first time that the prelude material, The Search, and Troika have been collected individually, and the first time that Prodigal had been reprinted individually in 20 years, since the original trade had come out back in 1997.

And that my friends is it for me for today. I'm not sure when I'll be back but I'm gonna try to have a book review out sometime before the weekend. So until then have a great day and I will talk to you all again later. Take care.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always (2023) Movie Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today I'm going to be reviewing the Power Rangers 30th Anniversary Special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. There won't be too many spoilers, just whatever was in the trailers and just a general overview of my thoughts on the special. So let's get right into it.

This is the best anniversary special that the franchise has had since "Forever Red" aired for the 10th Anniversary during Power Rangers Wild Force back in 2002. What I like most about it is that it's focused directly on the Mighty Morphin team and elements from those seasons, instead of the larger Power Rangers Universe hijacking the current season for an episode or two. Like previous anniversary specials did.

The cast was amazing. It was so good having David Yost and Walter Jones back as Billy and Zack, AND having them back as the Blue Ranger and Black Ranger again. Despite having not played them in almost 30 years, David and Walter just slid back into the roles as if they'd never left them. Even though Catherine Sutherland and Steve Cardenas appeared as Kat and Rocky in the 25th Anniversary episode of Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel, "Dimensions in Danger", they were just kinda there in the background as the focus was on Tommy and the Ninja Steel Rangers, so it was awesome having them front and center alongside Zack and Billy. Same goes for Barbara Goodson, who voices Robo-Rita, as she'd voiced Rita during the first six seasons of the show in the '90s. 

Trini's daughter, Minh, is fantastic! I really hope we see more of her in the future because Charlie Kersh, the actress who plays her, did a great job and she felt like Trini's daughter. Speaking of Trini, despite Thuy Trang having been killed in a car accident back in 2001 her presence is felt throughout this special.

This special nailed the two things that I love about Power Rangers, the morphing sequence and the Dinozords. Finally, after 20 years of using stock footage and a one off Disney era morphing sequence, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers morphing sequence has been updated and includes the original morphing calls as well, which is awesome. 

This is also the first time that we've seen the Dino Megazord, a.k.a. the original Megazord, in original American footage. Any other time we've seen it in action it's been in Sentai footage, so it's really cool to see it in full, original footage. 

Overall this was a fun, nostalgic, incredible special. It's only an hour long so it's perfect for the 30th Anniversary. If you're a '90s kid who watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers but didn't continue the series after that, I definitely recommend watching this movie. It's basically the original show, but with a slightly higher budget. But if you're not a fan of Power Rangers and have never seen the show before, this movie is not the place to start. This was made for the fans and as a fan, I appreciate it alot.

That's it for me for today folks, but I'll be back soon with more reviews and posts. So until then have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Star Trek: Picard (2020-2023) TV Show Review [SPOILERS]

 Good morning everyone! Happy Friday! I'm back for my review of Star Trek: Picard. There will be some spoilers for the most recent season, which is the final season, but for the most part I'll be talking about the show as a whole. So let's get into it.

When Star Trek: Picard was originally announced back in 2018, I was excited because my captain was coming back for another Star Trek TV show, after 16 years away from any onscreen Star Trek appearances. But, being that season 1 was produced and aired during those early seasons of Discovery where they did everything they could to make Star Trek not Star Trek, I was extremely disappointed with the first season of Picard. Sadly, season 2, which aired last year, was even worse because of behind the scenes production stuff. So I did not have high expectations for the final season even though the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation was returning for this final season. I simply did not trust this production crew to give us anything that even remotely resembled Star Trek. But season 3 actually stuck the landing.

Nostalgia is a tricky thing because if you rely on it too heavily in a franchise like Star Trek, you risk alienating new fans who haven't seen every episode of TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise or any of the movies, but still want to get into the franchise. Especially when the franchise has had a history of finding it difficult to get new people interested in it since TNG ended in 1994. But at the same time you don't want to alienate the core fanbase by deviating too far from what Star Trek has always been about. The exploration of the Human Condition, finding peaceful solutions to our conflicts, accepting diversity in all of its forms, and learning to overcome our own shortcomings. Which is not what the early seasons of modern Star Trek were about. 

Season 3 was fantastic. While Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan and Raffi Musiker, played by Michelle Hurd, returned from previous seasons, this season was about Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D and their final mission against a decimated Borg Collective leftover from the series finale of Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame" while Picard also deals with the fact that he has a son that he'd had with Beverly Crusher, played by Gates McFadden, that she'd hidden away from him, similar to what Carol Marcus had done to Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

It was a joy seeing Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Data, La Forge, and Worf all together again after them not being together in 20 years. But more than that, seeing Ro Laren, Shelby, Tuvok, and Q back was unexpected since, with the exception of Q, who we saw in season 2, and Shelby, who we saw in an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, we haven't seen these characters in 20 to 30 years, and it was wonderful. But what made me tear up was finding out that La Forge had rebuilt the Enterprise-D. We only saw the ship's exterior and the Bridge, but seeing all seven of them on that Bridge again, manning the same stations we'd seen them in for seven seasons and four movies, with all of the sound effects that are so familiar to those of us who grew up with Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

However besides the nostalgic parts, the best thing was the commanding officer of the USS Titan-A, Captain Liam Shaw, played by the fantastic Todd Stashwick. The character was an unlikeable prick at the beginning of the season, similar to Captain Jellico in the TNG season six two parter, "Chain of Command", but by the time he was killed by the Borg in episode nine, I loved the character so much. 

I also really enjoyed Picard and Crusher's son, Jack, played by Ed Speleers. He was an interesting character. I'm glad he wasn't a complete carbon copy of Wesley Crusher though, because we already had Wesley on TNG. I hope we get more of him in the rumoured Star Trek: Legacy TV series that's supposedly in development but hasn't been officially confirmed or announced yet.

Unfortunately, Seven and Raffi's relationship was ignored this season, but I think that's par for the course with modern Star Trek shows. They want to be progressive and embrace all forms of diversity, they just can't seem to do it justice in instances like this. But really that's my one big gripe with this season. 

Honestly I could talk about season 3 of Picard all day. The first two seasons were rough to say the least, but I think they're worth watching. As an epilogue to the most well known Star Trek TV show ever, this show delivers, regardless of the quality of the writing and acting. I definitely recommend watching all three seasons. It's an easy watch since there's a total of 30 episodes, 10 per season. I love the interpersonal relationships between all of these characters and it was fantastic seeing all of them together again.

And that my friends is going to be it for me for today. I will be back on Sunday for my review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. Until then have a great rest of your day, and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi - Ewoks #1 (2023) Comic Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm really excited for the series finale of Star Trek: Picard tonight. But, until then I decided to do this quick comic book review for you. Brad showed up with a couple of comics for me while I was outside earlier, one trade paperback that collects the first twelve issues of the 2006 Blue Beetle comic book series, the first to star Jaime Reyes, and an Ewoks one-shot published by Marvel. And that's what I'm going to be reviewing today. So let's get into it.

Ewoks #1 is probably the most unique comic I've ever read. Mostly because there's no dialogue and the only text in the issue are Onomatopoeias like "thump", "krack", "rustle", "CHOMP", and "boink!" among others. I'm kinda used to it since there are several Calvin & Hobbes strips that do the same thing. It's just interesting to see it done in a Star Wars comic.

When I saw this issue online, I figured it would be similar to the mid '80s Ewoks comic that Marvel published that was based on the old Ewoks cartoon. It's not. The first story, "Woklings' Tale" is very similar to the style of the show, which was very lighthearted and more like The Care Bears than Star Wars, and the artist, Paulina Ganucheau, has an artstyle that reflects that lighter tone. It's probably my favourite of the three stories presented in this issue being that Ewoks, and to a lesser extent, Droids, was my introduction to Star Wars long before I ever saw any of the movies. Basically it's about a young Ewok who befriends a young Dulok. The Duloks were originally created for a 1984 storybook and were later adapted and expanded upon in the cartoon series.

The second story, called "Paploo's Tale", involves the Ewok, Paploo, facing off against the Gorax from the 1984 TV movie, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure. The art for this story, done by Kyle Hotz and Rachelle Rosenberg, has more of a horror movie feel to it. It's still a good story, but being that I'm not a big fan of horror stuff, this story wasn't my favourite. The final story, "Peekpa's Tale" deals with an Ewok named Peekpa (obviously) who builds an atmospheric flying machine out of an AT-ST cockpit cube, and spare parts from a downed Scout Trooper speeder prior to the Battle of Endor. The art for this story is done by Caspar Wijngaard.

Overall this was a very interesting issue. It's a one-shot, so no ongoing Ewoks comic, but still really cool and unique. I recommend picking it up if you want a quick read. 

Alright my friends, that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back tomorrow for my review of Star Trek: Picard. So until then have a great evening and I'll talk to you all later. Take care.

The Mandalorian Season 3 (2023) TV Show Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing well. It's an exciting week for geekdom this week as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, the 30th Anniversary special, dropped on Netflix this morning, the season finale of The Mandalorian dropped on Disney+ this morning, and the series finale of Star Trek: Picard drops on Paramount+ tomorrow morning. Today though I'm here to talk about season 3 of The Mandalorian. It's going to be a spoiler free review as the bulk of the major things that happen this season happened in the finale, and even then, not a whole lot actually happens this season. So let's get into it.

Season 3 of The Mandalorian is pretty small scale in comparison to the show's first two seasons. Alot of what happens is alot of wrapping up story elements that Dave Filoni originally did in both The Clone Wars and Rebels with the focus being on Bo-Katan Kryze and the Mandalorian culture as a whole rather than just on Din Djarin and Grogu, who actually take a backseat for the majority of this season.

As someone who never finished The Clone Wars and Rebels, the heavier focus on Mandalorian culture as a whole was a bit jarring for me. Just because I missed all that stuff from the previous shows. It was really good and I loved it, there were just a few things I wasn't sure about since I haven't gotten to that stuff in the previous shows. 

I do wish they would've had more time to deal with the Dr. Persching stuff in episode 3 and the Moff Gideon stuff in episodes 7 and 8. Those are things that definitely would've benefitted from the season having ten to twelve episodes instead of just eight of them. We know that 12 episode seasons can be done for a Star Wars show because it was done for Andor and with the amount of stuff The Mandalorian did this season, trying to get all of this stuff out of the way before Ahsoka comes out in August, eight episodes just isn't enough. 

Season 1 of The Mandalorian is still the strongest season of the three that have come out so far. Favreau made it interesting and concise without overloading the story. But I get that The Mandalorian is no longer Favreau and Filoni's top priority anymore. Not only are they working on The Mandalorian, but they're also working on Skeleton Crew, and Ahsoka too.

Speaking of Ahsoka, I'm really excited to see what Filoni has in store for us. I watched the trailer for it when it first dropped during Star Wars Celebration Europe almost two weeks ago, and watching the trailer and all the interviews with the casts of the various shows and movies has reminded me how it should feel to be a Star Wars fan. It also reminded me that I love Star Wars as much as I love Star Trek. So I'm going to go back and watch and review both The Clone Wars and Rebels in preparation for Ahsoka because there's stuff in the trailer from later seasons of both shows that I'd like to know about going into the new show.

As for season 3 of The Mandalorian, I had alot of fun watching it. Obviously, like I said earlier, there were a few things that I wish they had been able to expand upon, particularly with the New Republic and the Empire, but none of what we got was bad. It all worked for me this season. And I think that's because this season was allowed to be its own thing instead of constantly setting things up for other seasons and shows. I enjoyed it.

Alright my friends, that's gonna be it for me today. I'll be back on Friday for my review of Star Trek: Picard. So until then have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Tom Clancy's Net Force (1998) Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing well, though I'm not as thrilled with today's weather as I was with what we got over the weekend. This is a busy week here at the Geek Cave with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always coming out on Wednesday, the season finale of The Mandalorian dropping on Wednesday, and the series finale of Star Trek: Picard airing on Thursday. With those reviews coming out on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, I decided that today would be the perfect day for a book review. I just finished reading Tom Clancy's Net Force by Steve Perry, which was first published back in 1998. Let's get into it!

Net Force is weird to read in 2023 given that it takes place in late 2010, and was published in 1998. Mostly because VR wasn't pretty much non-existent in 2010, though it's much more common today. Just not as common as it is in the 2010 of this novel. 

Being that this is a series that was created by Tom Clancy, but not written by him, there isn't as much focus on the political side of things. It feels more like a police procedural in the vein of NCIS than a political thriller like some of Clancy's later novels. Net Force follows the cyber arm of the FBI, known as Net Force, as they look for the killer who assassinated their commanding officer, Steve Day. The five main characters are Commander Alex Michaels, Deputy Commander Toni Fiorella, Jay Gridley, who is the head of Net Force's online investigations division, Colonel John Howard, the head of Net Force's military operations unit, and his son, Tyrone, who occasionally helps Jay with his investigations.

There's some political stuff in this book, but it's very much focused on the characters. For example, Toni is a martial artist who specializes in Pukulan Pentjak Silat Bukti Negara-Serak, which is based on a Malaysian martial art. Basically she's very dangerous in hand to hand combat, as we see at the end of the book when Toni takes on the assassin who has targeted Alex. 

Toni is my favourite character in this book. And that's because, with the exception of Tyrone and his love interest, Belladonna Wright, Toni is the only well developed character who isn't stereotypical. Part of the problem is that Steve Perry isn't great at interpersonal relationships. He's great with the military and technological stuff, but not with people interacting with other people. Which is something I've noticed in Shadows of the Empire, which had been published two years before Net Force came out. Because, yes, Steve Perry, the author of this book, also wrote Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. Which is insane.

I first read this book all the way back in 1999 when my best friend at the time, who also lent me most of the Bantam Spectra Star Wars novels, lent it to me. It was my introduction to Tom Clancy. I enjoyed it and when my friend decided to get rid of his copy, he gave it to me, and that's the copy I still have on my shelf today. It's a good book, but, like I said, Perry isn't great with writing character interactions, but he's great with the technical stuff. Even when it's futuristic stuff that didn't exist yet.

Nine more books were published in the series with the 10th book, Archimedes Effect, coming out 2006. I've only ever read the first five books in the series.

A relaunch series, titled simply, Net Force, began publication in 2019 with Dark Web by Jerome Preisler. I can't find any information on this book or the relaunch series in general so I don't know whether it's a relaunch in that Dark Web picks up where The Archimedes Effect left off or if it's a full on reboot that updates things to reflect modern day tech rather than the tech predicted for 2010 back in 1998.

In addition to the main series, Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik created a young adult version called Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers which is set in 2025 and features a youth auxiliary of Net Force, known as the Net Force Explorers who take on cases that Net Force can't. Especially when other teenagers are involved. One of the members of the Net Force Explorers is Mark Gridley, who is the son of Jay Gridley, who is now the head of Net Force and spearheaded the Explorers program. Probably due to him having worked with Tyrone Howard in the main series. So in a way, this series is very much like the Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights series, which was also published by Berkley Jam Books, which ended around the time this series was starting. Net Force Explorers was written by Diane Duane, who was known for writing Star Trek novels in the '80s and '90s, Bill McCay, and Mel Odom, with guest writers penning a couple of volumes. I had several books in the series when I was a teenager with the first two I got were Book #3 One is the Loneliest Number, and Book #14 High Wire. The first book in the series, Virtual Vandals, came out in 1998, probably around the same time this book was published.

In 1999 a made-for-TV movie adaptation of the first book was produced. Scott Bakula, who would be cast as Captain Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise two years later, was cast as Alex Michaels and Joanna Going was cast as Toni Fiorella. It's not streaming anywhere, though you can find it on YouTube. I think it also had a home media release at some point. I've never seen it so I have no idea how faithful to the source material the movie is.

Overall this is a pretty good book even if its portrayal of 2010 is completely outdated. I'm pretty sure it's still in print so if you're interested in reading it, I definitely recommend it.

Alright my friends that's it for me for today. I'll be back on Wednesday for my review of The Mandalorian season 3, on Friday for my season 3/series review of Star Trek: Picard, and on Sunday for my review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. So until then, have a wonderful evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Armada (2015) Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well for a Thursday. I'm back for another book review, as I mentioned in my last post. In fact, now that the weather is getting nice enough for me to read outside again, you'll be seeing more book and comic book reviews from me. Right now though let's get into today's book review, which is on Ernest Cline's second novel, Armada, which was first published in 2015. There might be some spoilers but not too many. So if you haven't read this book yet, be aware of that. Let's get into it.

My main problem with Cline's first novel, 2011's Ready Player One, was that he wasn't great at developing his characters, particularly his POV/main character, Wade Watts. However, as I was reading Armada this time around, I began to realize that Cline did this on purpose. 

Ernest Cline was born in 1972 and grew up in the '70s and '80s. During this time many of the TV shows, books, movies, and video games didn't have much in the way of well developed or nuanced characters. Especially in the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres. Most of the protagonists and their supporting casts, were archetypes. And while Luke Skywalker started out that way in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977), Lawrence Kasdan turned him into a slightly more complex character in the scripts for the sequels, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983). His contemporaries, such as Alex Rogan in The Last Starfighter (1984), Flash Gordon in Flash Gordon (1980), and even Superman in the Richard Donner/Richard Lester movie series (1978-1987) are archetypal characters with little to no depth or growth to them. And because Cline's novels, particularly Armada, are paying homage to the Sci-Fi and Fantasy films of his youth, it would make sense for these books to follow that same formula.

In fact, both novels feel like old Spielberg movies with teenagers saving the day. Though Armada shares elements with The Last Starfighter as well. In fact, this book is more like The Last Starfighter than any other '80s Sci-Fi movie. Which is pretty cool as The Last Starfighter is one of my favourite Science Fiction movies. 

Back when I reviewed Armada on the Review Basement I said that Zack Lightman, our hero for this book, got things done a bit too easily than Wade did in Ready Player One. Rereading Armada for this review though, I realized that the external struggle isn't the point of this book. It's Zack's internal struggle that matters. At the start of the book he's angry and frustrated because he never knew his dad, yet was alot like him. And he struggles to deal with that throughout the book, even after he discovers the truth about his father. Which is a pretty big twist. If you've read Armada, you know what I'm talking about. 

I can't say much about the rest of the characters, because they participate in the story, but that's really all they do. Which is fine for this type of story as it's not an ensemble cast like it is for the 1987-2005 Star Trek TV shows. And unlike with Sorrento in Ready Player One, there's no single villain character in Armada. The Alien race Zack finds himself fighting against with his friends and family aren't what they seem either. Again, if you've read it, you know what I'm talking about.

Overall this is a pretty great book. I recommend reading it or listening to the audiobook performed none other than Wil Wheaton, Wesley Crusher himself. I haven't heard the audiobook, but it's Wil Wheaton, so it has to be entertaining.

That's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back soon though with lots more reviews. In fact I have a full schedule next week with the season finale of The Mandalorian dropping on Wednesday, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always also dropping on Wednesday, and the series finale of Star Trek: Picard dropping on Thursday. I'll also be starting to watch Star Wars Rebels in preparation for when Ahsoka comes out in August, so expect season reviews as well as a full series review to come out over the next little bit. Until then have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

The VHS Corner: Star Trek: The Movie Collection (1979-1991) VHS Overview

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well for a Tuesday. Since I'm not going to have much time to post anything tomorrow as I have an appointment to go to, and it being Tuesday, I thought I'd come on here and do another edition of the VHS Corner. It's another Star Trek release, but I've actually kinda had alot of Star Trek tapes when I was a kid, in addition to the few that I own now. So let's get into it.

While the original Star Trek movies, starring the cast of the '60s TV series have had several releases on VHS in the '80s and '90s, the one my dad had when I was a kid was the 1993 box set that came out three months before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released on home video on its own. In fact, this box set was the debut of the movie on home video. I don't remember when my dad got this set or whether it was a gift or if he bought it for himself. The set contains the 1991 VHS re-releases of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which had been re-released for the franchise's 25th Anniversary with all new packaging, which you'll see shortly, along with Star Trek VI. This is how I saw the majority of these movies for the first time, which I'll explain as I talk about each movie.

I think out of the six movies, I think I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture the most. It's a severely underrated movie, probably because it's the longest of the first six films. Especially since this release is the "Special Longer Version", which had originally aired on TV back in 1983 and was subsequently released on VHS and Laserdisc that same year, though the widescreen releases of this tape still contained the theatrical version of the film. Which interests me. I think one of the reasons I watched this tape so much is because Jerry Goldsmith's opening theme would later be used for the opening theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the closing theme for Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis, though those movies hadn't come out yet at this point, so I was only familiar with the opening theme through TNG.

I usually skipped Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan whenever I would borrow this box set from my dad. So I'd originally tried to watch it back in 1992 when one of the nurses who looked after me at the hospital brought in the 25th Anniversary VHS box set, containing the first five movies, for me to watch. It scared the crap out of me with the horror images of slugs, i.e. the Ceti Eels, going into Chekov and Terrell's ears, Khan leaving dead bodies hanging up on Regula I, and how the Eel got out of Chekov's ear. It wasn't until I was a teenager in the 2000s that I was able to sit through this movie without getting completely creeped out by it. The movie's really good, it was just a little too intense for 5 year old me.

Next up  in the box set is Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This is my favourite Star Trek movie of all time. If I wasn't in the mood for Jerry Goldsmith's music, or long establishing shots, I'd borrow this tape from my dad and pop it into the VCR. Especially when I was a teenager and had my own VCR, before I got these movies on DVD in the late 2000s. The dialogue, the lighter tone from the previous two movies, and Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon are all reasons why I love this movie. Trust me, there will be reviews of all six of these movies in the future.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is another movie in this collection that I didn't like when I was a kid. Mostly because...well...it had Chekov in a 20th Century operating room and I spent way too much time in the OR when I was a kid, and it freaked me out. Don't ask. I was a kid, my brain wasn't logical at the time. I did grow to love this movie when I watched it on both VHS and DVD when I was a teenager and a 20-something year old adult. Though The Search for Spock is still my favourite of these first six movies.

Then we come to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which is my second favourite of these first six movies, mostly because the quality of this one isn't as good. Though I love Jerry Goldsmith's score for the movie. By the time this movie came out, Star Trek: The Next Generation was already on the air, so the theme that Goldsmith had created for Star Trek: The Motion Picture had already started to be used for the new TV series, and was repurposed yet again for this movie. I even have the score on audiocassette and as a digital download on iTunes. This is another of these tapes that I'd go to whenever I borrowed this box set from my dad.

Besides Star Trek II, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is probably the tape I watched the least when I was a kid. Not because I didn't like it but I actually had my own copy. A nurse at the hospital had taped the movie off TV and given me the tape. So I didn't need to borrow this tape from my dad, though I still did from time to time.

None of these tapes have previews at the beginning of them. Just the usual warnings and logos. The cover art is great. Especially because whoever designed the cover for Star Trek VI thought to match it with the cover design for the 1991 VHS releases of the first five movies. The box set is a bit weird though because the tapes slide in on a slant because of how the box was designed. Particularly in comparison to the 25th Anniversary box set, and even later Star Trek movie VHS box sets that were released throughout the '90s. It's not a problem or anything, it's just weird is all

Well that's all I have to say about this box set. I probably get the 25th Anniversary box set and then just get Star Trek VI separately though because I've always wanted the 25th Anniversary box set and it seems less cumbersome than this set, but this is still a good set. And that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more reviews and posts. Until then have a great night and I will talk to you later. Take care.

Batman '66 #1 (2013) Comic Book Review

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well on this rainy Wednesday. Today I'm back for a quick comic book review of Batman '66 #1 by Jeff Parker with art by Jonathan Case and published by DC Comics in 2013. There will be spoilers, so just be aware of that as you read this review. With that out of the way, let's get into it!

Batman '66 was originally a digital first series that began publication in 2013 and was repackaged into physical issues that same year and ran until 2016. As the title shows, the comic was based on the 1966 TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward and it works because of how the show was originally set up. It had no continuing storyline and the status quo remained the same throughout the show's three season run. Which makes it the most suitable TV show to have a direct comic book adaptation/continuation than most modern superhero/comic book and Science Fiction shows are. 

While the artwork is amazing, there really isn't much to talk about with the story because it's almost exactly like an episode of the show. Batman and Robin are against the Riddler in this issue, preventing him from stealing a three piece golden statue. One of the pieces was stolen from Catwoman's club, so the Dynamic Duo gets help from her to take down the Riddler. Being Catwoman she double crosses the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder. The only thing this issue didn't do that the show did was have Batman and Robin fall into a deathtrap set by the Riddler for a cliffhanger ending, same Bat Time, same Bat Channel. Which wouldn't've made sense for the comic, the way it did for the show.

Like I said, there isn't much to say about this issue. When I was a kid I grew up watching reruns of Batman on YTV, before Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and then later, on Space Channel after reruns of Green Hornet, which had originally started airing in 1966, the same year as Batman and Star Trek: The Original Series. So when I heard that a comic book continuation of the series was coming out, I was thrilled because as much as I love Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and Kevin Conroy in the role, Adam West is my Batman and that show is how I discovered the character. So naturally anytime DC or Warner Brothers do anything with that version of the character I get excited.

Even now, almost ten years later, I love reading this issue. Aside from the minor changes necessary to translate the show to the comic book page, like the lack of a deathtrap cliffhanger ending, this issue feels exactly like an episode of the show. Right down to hearing William Dozier's voice as the narrator in the narration captions. 

Alright my friends that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more reviews and posts soon. So, until then, have a great evening and I will talk to you all later. Take care.

Star Wars: Death Star (2007) Book Review

 Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well for a Tuesday. Today I'm here to review Star Wars: Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry and was published in 2007 by Del Rey Books. I actually have quite a bit to say about this book and there will be some spoilers, so if you haven't read it before, and are interested in reading it, please do so before reading this review. Let's get into it.

Death Star is one of the most interesting Star Wars novels, Legends or Canon, that I have ever read. Mainly because it's the first Star Wars media to focus solely on the Empire. Apart from the early part of the novel occasionally shifting to the prison planet, Despayre, and the occasional TIE Fighter combat operation, the novel takes place entirely on the first Death Star starting three years prior to the first Star Wars movie and ending with the destruction of the Death Star at the end of the movie. And while Grand Moff Tarkin, played by Peter Cushing in the movie, Admiral Motti, played by Richard LeParmentier in the movie, Admiral Daala, from the Bantam era novels by Kevin J. Anderson, and Darth Vader, played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones in the movie, appear throughout the novel, they aren't the main focus of the book. The book focuses mostly on various new characters whose jobs range from civillian posts such as one of the architects working on the interior construction of the Death Star, to a TIE Fighter pilot.

Death Star is also intriguing because it expands on certain scenes key scenes from A New Hope and gives us the thoughts of Tarkin, Motti, and Vader during those scenes. Like Vader wondering why Obi-Wan was on the station as they hadn't seen each other since Obi-Wan left him to die on Mustafar at the end of Revenge of the Sith. You can actually tell which scenes were written by Steve Perry because, like in his solo Star Wars novel, Shadows of the Empire, he really enjoys writing Vader as he delves deep into the thoughts, desires, and goals of the character every single time he writes him. His portrayal of Vader is the same in this novel as it was in Shadows of the Empire even though Death Star was written and published after the prequels finished coming out while Shadows of the Empire was published while Episode I was still in development and pre-production in the mid-'90s. And really, Darth Vader didn't really change much in the 11 years between the release of Shadows of the Empire in 1996 and the release of Death Star in 2007. The only thing the prequel movies really did for the character is giving the audience time with Anakin Skywalker before his fall to the Dark Side, and show us WHY he became Darth Vader, not just HOW he became Darth Vader.

There are way too many characters to talk about all of them individually and basically none of the new characters make their way into other Star Wars novels after this, but I would still like to talk about them because they're pretty well written. However, two of them appeared in earlier pieces of Star Wars media. Doctor Divini, nicknamed Uli, first appeared in Medstar II: Jedi Healer, a Clone Wars era novel written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry that was published back in 2004 during the original Clone Wars Multimedia Project that Lucasfilm launched to fill in the gaps between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, which is referenced during the Uli chapters, and Nova Stihl, an Imperial soldier who appears, nameless, in A New Hope. According to Wookieepedia, he's one of the Stormtroopers that chases Han and Chewie through the Death Star, and was one of the troopers guarding the entrance to the conference room that we frequently see Tarkin and Vader in during the movie. Everyone else is a one and done character who we never see again in any novels or comics. 

Which makes it harder to care about these characters. I like all of them, but, it doesn't matter if they survive or not because none of them ever show up again after this book. Which is unfortunate. Especially since some of them would've been fun to see around the Rebel fleet in Honor Among Thieves and Razor's Edge, like the Twi'lek bartender, Memah Roothes and her boyfriend, a Zelosian ex-convict named Celot Ratua Dil. Alas, even though the majority of them survive the destruction of the Death Star, we never see them again.

The other issue that I have with this book is that there's no real indication of how much time has passed throughout the book. Wookieepedia states that the book starts 3 years before the events of A New Hope or 3 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin) and ends in 0 BBY or at the end of the movie, but there's nothing within the text that says how long it's been between the major events in the book not even a description that says that something happened, "a few months ago" or "a year ago" or whenever. So it can get a little bit confusing sometimes. Especially because each chapter rotates between the characters.

I originally heard about Death Star from an article in Star Wars Insider #96 from 2007, which covered the book. I was interested but it wasn't until 2010 or 2011 that I was able to buy it in paperback and read it as I was in college starting in September 2007, and was there until the spring of 2010. And by that point I was still trying to catch up on reading the New Jedi Order series that had run from 1999 to 2004 as well as some of the Clone Wars/Prequel era novels that had come out between 2000 and 2006 since I'd spent my high school years, when those novels were coming out, catching up on the Bantam era novels that had come out between 1991 and 1999. I remember the first time I read it I wasn't really sure what to make of it given that it's focused on the Empire. I mean, I liked it, but it's not something I was used to seeing in a Star Wars novel. And it's not really something that's been done since outside of a few Darth Vader centric books, and of course some of the comics that Marvel has been putting out since 2015.

Overall this is a really good book. The pacing is good, the characters are decent, and it actually adds things to, and expands upon, certain scenes in A New Hope. Which isn't always the case with novels like this that attempt to add to or expands on one of the movies. If you ever wondered what the regular Imperials do on the Death Star before and during the events of the movie, I recommend reading this book, if you haven't already of course.

That's it for this review. I'll be back tomorrow for a comic book review of some sort. It might be the first Archie Comics review for the Mark Waid run on the book, or it might be another single issue. Either way, I'll have a comic book review out for you sometime tomorrow. So until then have a great evening and I'll talk to you all later. Take care.