Where I've been

Although I only promised myself this blog would be a semi-daily sort of thing, I still feel like I should write in it daily. It's been a few days, so I'm feeling really guilty.

Perhaps I'll call it a night... After all, I don't want to bore people. If I don't have something specific to say, I should probably stay off line and keep it to myself.

Good night!

It's That Time of Year...

This cartoon very accurately depicts what this time of year makes me feel like. In the USA, Thanksgiving is in November, rather than October, so I'm sure it seems even more jammed together.

Star Trek Remastered: The Story So Far

Star Trek: The Original Series is being updated with new special effects. Each week I'll have a review of each episode and discuss the new special effects shots. To date, six episodes have aired. I'm going to post about these first six epsiodes as a whole and then with the next new episode, move to one posting one review per week.

The last epsiode to air was Arena, so I'll start there. The episode begins with this scene. In the original, it looked like this:And the new:

Notice the new crater, sky, and horizon?? Pretty cool!

And how about this shot of the Enterprise firing phasers at the Gorn Ship?

And the new:

Awesome!!

The episode previous was I, Mudd. There wasn't much in the original for special effects shots other than the Enterprise orbiting a stock planet.

And the new:

Huge difference, right?

There's hasn't been an effects shot that I thought didn't belong. The team involved is doing a great job. That being said, they have already announced they will be using a new CGI model for the Enterprise. Which is wonderful, because I think the current model is much too dark! The Enterprise should have a whiteish-blueish sort of hull tone. Not the dark grey we seen in the pictures above. It really doesn't give us a clear look at all the detail the new CGI model probably has!

Look for the show to air on the weekends on most American channels. If you're in the Shaw Cable area, look for it on Channel 132 at 2:00 pm Saturday afternoons.

I'm sure I'll be purchasing these episodes when they're released on DVD, not only because they're HD ready, but also because I can't stand watching them on regular TV. Remember, these episodes were 51 minutes in duration. To air them today, too much has to be cut from the episode and it's really irritating for me to watch!! I'm constantly catching myself noticing the cut scenes and some of them are original special effects shots, which in my mind, defeats the point of remastering the effects in these episodes! But hey – I don't run a TV station in the 21st century, so I have no idea about the wickedness that must go on – in addition to badly edited programming!

There is a schedule available at http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/25835.html that can give you more detail. I think the shows are great and there's something I didn't expect in every episode (like making the Gorn blink in Arena, or making the android Norman from I, Mudd look more like a precursor to Lt. Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Trust me – you have to see them for yourselves!!

Test Comics Review: Mystery in Space

First of all, I LOVE that DC has revived this series! It's an historic title that needs to be in print, just like Tales of the Unexpected, but that's another review.

I was blown away. Seriously. The book is just that good. Readers unfamiliar with Captain Comet will have no problem jumping on board – his origin and history are neatly packaged here.

The Captain's history is given a new telling with a few interesting twists, told by a talking dog. Yes, you read right, a talking dog. I know it sounds lame, but it really isn't. Get the issue and see for yourself.

So the reason the story is told from the dog's point-of-view? It's because our good Captain expires in the first three pages. But he gets better, obviously.

Rounding out the issue is a back-up tale featuring The Weird. The character last appeared in a Maxwell Lord JLA mini-series.

Credits for all the goodness in this issue largely falls on Jim Starlin. He pens each story and even though they take place in the same locale, it adds a new dimension to the stuff we see in the main story. Art is by Shane Davis, who I predict will become one of those hot talented artists. Davis' style works really well in this type of cosmic setting. Starlin created the character of The Weird over 15 years ago, it's only fitting he continue to tell tales with the character.

Heartily recommended!

A Picture

I think this is one of the coolest logos Aquaman has had... It's reminiscent of his original logo, but with a modern take, much like his costume was while he appeared under this logo.