Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Movie Thoughts: Star Trek Beyond

Hail!

I just got back from seeing Star Trek Beyond and honestly? I loved the film. It has a lot of action and when I first saw the trailer, I thought that's what it was going to end up being. Endless action and no substance like the other two Abrams movies. Later, Simon Pegg had said that the movie's trailer wasn't indicative of the movie. Far from it in fact. This piqued my curiosity and I had to see for myself what was going on. I saw early reviews of the movie and people seemed to enjoy it. I thought maybe I should see it and judge it for myself.

I did and had a great time! I enjoyed the subtle references to the past series. It wasn't being us over the head with it or anything. It was just a genuinely good movie since there was something else I enjoyed that wasn't hammered in constantly. This of course was the message of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek.

Perhaps it's fate that this movie came out in Star Trek's 50th year because I can't think of a better anniversary special than this. Well, maybe I can. A movie with ALL the captains would have been cool. I digress. I don't want to spoil anything. I will say that the message of Star Trek is in this movie. There is an underlining theme of unification despite differences. Our differences make us stronger. We can do great things if we're united toward a common goal.

In essence, that is the core meaning of Star Trek. It's not just about exploring strange new worlds. It's about ourselves and what we could do if we work together and create a fantastic future for ourselves once we look past our differences.

The characters were all great. Karl Urban nails McCoy very well. Everyone seems to understand the characters they are playing and it's good to see Star Trek on the screen again. It would be better of course to have a series on television. We have to wait for 2017's Star Trek: Discovery for that.

This movie shows that Star Trek is still around and is more than capable of still inspiring us to do great things. I give this movie a solid A.

The only things I didn't like were maybe the loud effects but that's really a personal thing for me. I didn't see the movie in 3D. I imagine it would give people a bit of a headache.

How does it compare to the other Abrams movies? Well, to be honest I like this a LOT more than Into Darkness. This seems like it should have been the Star Trek reboot movie we should have gotten in 2009. While that reboot was okay. It's this one that finally makes it seem like the original crew was on screen acting like the original crew.

I watched the movie with my dad and he remembers the original series. I could tell he loved the movie and it says a lot since he wasn't a fan of Into Darkness. Perhaps to him the movie felt like Star Trek. And you know what? I think it does, too.

Good movie. Definitely check it out! Live long and prosper.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Starbolts #317: Code Blue



Hail!

 This week's comic seems like a hour long hospital show doesn't it? I ran through several possible titles in my head and I couldn't think of one that fit really well. Here are some examples:

1. ER: Earth Orbit
2. Doctor Arlandero MD
3. Trauma Center: Life in the ER

None of those really fit so I went with the codes hospitals use for when patients come in suffering a puncture wound or poisoning.  I have a few friends who are nurses and they said the other codes won't fit, either. Some of the others get kinda gross. Won't repeat 'em here.

Next week I plan on doing a review of one of the Superman Rebirth comics! After that? Well, I was going to do a retrospective on Spidey. But, then something cool happened. Richard Rider is returning to Nova so I plan on covering that. The Spidey retrospective would have overlapped it since he's coming back in the fall. So, I might have to see what else I can review in the interim because I really want to cover Rich's return.

Until then, we got Superman Rebirth to talk about and of course the further adventures of the Starbolts. Somehow I think the Arronfelds won't know what hit 'em. And I doubt we have seen the last of Nautilus.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Starbolts #316: Night of the Nautilus



 Hail!

Never lead an Aquan to the one place he or she rules supreme: The ocean. It doesn't matter what planet they are on. They are masters of the sea. And next week, our buddy Nautilus is gonna learn first-hand what happens when you fight an Aquan in water. 

I also learned an important lesson this week. I did three comic scripts over the week. The muse was with me and a friend of mine said to always listen to the muse. That is true. I did some great comics setting up stuff for future comics. I usually do script a comic ahead of the week I do one. But, this time the muse was really with me so I did three. Not counting this one. A lot of stuff is coming up. A break up, a joining, plans being put into motion, defeating Nautilus and more. I won't reveal it all. Let's just say we will definitely be seeing Nautilus again. He isn't going anywhere!

So much stuff is going on. Will of course be tossing a video in the mix. Deciding what to do on that front. It depends on whether or not the store has it in stock. After that I plan on doing a retrospective of Spider-Man through the decades. I'll be avoiding OMD. This is my tentative list:

Amazing Fantasy #16
The Death of Gwen Stacy
The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man
Amazing Spider-Man #400
Spider-Man/Human Torch
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (2015)

These may change. We'll see! In the meantime, enjoy what's gonna happen in the comics. The fun has just started!

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Starbolts #315: The Pirate of the Deep



Hail!

Oh, dear. Someone has a grudge. He doesn't have a codename, yet. He will sooner or later. Since he hates M'anta, I am thinking of something manta rays hate. Perhaps something involving sharks. That seems like a good bet. At least now we know Benton's backstory. Dude was an army guy who wants revenge for the death of his family. Don't feel too sympathetic to him. He just ruined a reunion between Crystal and Marcus. Guy's a jerk. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, I had fun drawing that rock in Townsville. I scoured the real life city on Google Earth and saw that the city has a nice park in it with a mountain in the background. It's kind of cool and adds a sort of character to the place. Whenever I draw a real world location, I try to make the sprite version as close as I can to the real work equivalent. It was also fun making a Powerpuff Girls reference with it. Next week's comic may continue the theme.

A lot of stuff has been going on in comics lately. Captain America has been revealed to have Kobik and Red Skull messing with his head and memories. That didn't take long. The story of him getting his mind back together should be a good one. I hope.  So many things happening in comics that I am wondering what to review. I'm leaning toward DC Rebirth: Superman. But, we'll see. I got time to decide.

In the mean time, enjoy the comic. Don't worry. Crystal and Marcus will have a proper reunion soon. ;-)

Saturday, July 2, 2016

Starbolts #314: Way Under Down Under



 Hail!

This week has a lot of things happening in it, huh? First we have Zack Benton, the greatest merc this side of the great barrier reef revealed to be Crystal's savior. I don't think he has positive intentions for her do you? Nah. I don't think he does. This guy's a crook. What kind of grudge does he have against Aquans? We'll find that out next time. I certainly don't think he is to be trusted. Crystal better get out of there when she can. If she can. She's kinda woozy, still. And I don't think it has anything to do with his medical care.....

Second we have Raven longing to be a Starbolt. It's a quick blip but it gets inside Kenji's head a bit. He doesn't like being in the shadows and away from the rest of the superhero community. Umbra, I'm sure has his reasons. The guy's mysterious too and his motivation for doing all of this will be made clear soon.

Anyway, enjoy this week's comic! More action is coming soon!