Star Trek: Into Darkness – Movie Review

By: Far too many to list, of course.  IMDB it.

The Story: The USS Enterprise considers starting a tab a the repair shop. 

The Review: Hold on to your keyboards, because I’m about to make a pretty big confession, a shocking one in our proudly geeky world.  I like Star Trek better than Star Wars.  There—I said it.  Mind you, I’m not saying that one is better than the other.  For whatever reason, I just resonate more with the spirit of Star Trek and the values it embraces.  Corny as this sounds, I love that it tries to give us a vision of humanity at our very best, of a brighter future ahead.

The last movie, delightful and entertaining as it was, didn’t quite capture that spirit.  Instead, it went for balls-to-the-wall action, fueled by youthful energy, warm humor, and deeply touching emotions.  It was a great film in its way, opening the franchise to a wider audience than any Trek film could previously imagine, but in the process it minimized the higher calling and mission of the series.  The critical question for its sequel, then, is whether it will continue to capitalize on the spectacle that renewed its reputation or will it return to the principles that made the original premise culturally relevant.

Green Lantern Corp #46 – Review

By: Peter J. Tomasi (writer), Patrick Gleason (penciller), Rebecca Buchman, Keith Champagne, Tom Nguyen (inkers)

The Story: The assembled ring corps are in the middle of a battle royale that has been going on for many issues. Guy Gardner adapts a Star Trek strategy to productive use, but both he and Kyle predictably face loved ones from their pasts in the forms of black lanterns. Interestingly, the Anti-Monitor has a role to play and his relation to the black lantern battery is revealed.

What’s Good: I enjoyed seeing the Anti-Monitor again and I liked how he fit into the black lantern mythos. It was something unexpected for me, and unexpected always means good. Gardner’s use of the Tholian web was also a cool, yet logical extension of how the corps of light have been working together to handle the black lanterns. Tomasi also included a gem of a character moment when Guy (as diplomatic as ever) is trying to get the other corps to work with him and says: “…but don’t ya wanna wipe these things out so we can get back to killing each other again?”

News: John Byrne’s New Star Trek Series for IDW

IDW’s Star Trek: Second Stage continues, as veteran comic artist John Byrne unveils the first-ever Star Trek series of his decades-spanning career! Spinning out of the 1968 Star Trek TV episode “Assignment Earth,” was intended by Gene Roddenberry as the pilot for a spin-off series that never came to pass, Byrne’s new series presents the series that never was, in print.

The Star Trek “Assignment Earth” episode introduced intergalactic super-spy Gary Seven, Roberta Lincoln, and Seven’s cat and partner Isisa. (Actors Robert Lansing, Teri Garr and Victoria Vetri played the TV roles in the original). The crew from the Starship: Enterprise time warped back to 1968 where Kirk, Spock and the others encountered Seven.

Now Byrne brings the late Roddenberry’s dream to life, delivering the series 40 years after it would have debuted, recounting the adventures of interstellar agent Seven and his Earth-born assistant as they “covertly confront threats to the past so that they can save Star Trek’s future.”

Byrne, a highly regarded comic book veteran and avowed Star Trek fan, will both write and draw the Assignment Earth series for IDW, which steps one year forward with each issue, beginning with 1968, the year that the spin-off series would have appeared. It will be his first full Star Trek series, following on the heels of his debut Trek comic for IDW, the Star Trek Alien Spotlight: Romulans one-shot (which will get a sequel of its own from Byrne this Fall).

“In addition to John’s ability to tell a great comic book story through his writing and art, he respects the Star Trek source material, all of which has led to one of the most fun Trek series we’ve done so far,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, “And the best part is his handling of the Gary Seven character, who was set up to be a fun, time-traveling James Bond type. Finally, forty years later, he gets his proper due.”

WCBR’s WonderCon 2008 – Swag Giveaway!

Want a ton of free stuff? Good, because we want your comments!

Comment on this post telling us what panel, artist, or author you liked the most at WonderCon. If you didn’t attend, tell us which panel, artist, or author you would have gone to.

There’s no need to register, but you need to add your email address in the comment section – don’t worry, your address wont be seen by anybody but us and we promise to *NEVER* spam you with anything. We won’t add it to any database or sell it either. We just want your participation! The winner will be selected randomly out of all the people who comment. Giveaway ends March 2^nd, 8pm PST. Good Luck!

And here’s all the stuff you can win!

* Willow Creek #0 signed by Christian Beranek
* Hellboy: The Golden Army (Promo Comic)
* Dead Space #1 signed by Ben Templesmith (Special Convention Edition)
* 2 10000 Bc pins
* 2 Get Smart pins
* Mini Posters: Star Trek, Iron Man, Dead Space, Funny Games, Doomsday, Blade, 10000 BC, Prom Night
* Animation Magazine March 2008 (WonderCon Edition)
* A lot more stuff