General and Gaming > Off Topic
The Comic Book Thread
Flashback2012:
--- Quote from: kamikazekeeg on August 24, 2017, 04:23:40 am ---
Don't read many comics these days, but came across an interesting sounding book which is just a short 6 issue series from the guy who did Saga and Y: The Last Man. I generally dug it, I like this fictional setting of America invading Canada and set in the future so there is some cool tech. It's short so I don't want to spoil anything, but it's got pretty good art, violent, and its very Canadian. One of the characters speaks in French most of the time so you don't understand what he is saying and they don't translate it in a sidebar lol
I'd love for them to return to this world as it has interesting possibilities beyond it's Canadian setting.
--- End quote ---
We Stand On Guard from Image Comics for the curious. ;)
kamikazekeeg:
--- Quote from: Flashback2012 on August 24, 2017, 08:47:51 pm ---
--- Quote from: kamikazekeeg on August 24, 2017, 04:23:40 am ---
Don't read many comics these days, but came across an interesting sounding book which is just a short 6 issue series from the guy who did Saga and Y: The Last Man. I generally dug it, I like this fictional setting of America invading Canada and set in the future so there is some cool tech. It's short so I don't want to spoil anything, but it's got pretty good art, violent, and its very Canadian. One of the characters speaks in French most of the time so you don't understand what he is saying and they don't translate it in a sidebar lol
I'd love for them to return to this world as it has interesting possibilities beyond it's Canadian setting.
--- End quote ---
We Stand On Guard from Image Comics for the curious. ;)
--- End quote ---
Ack, realized that I forgot to put the title in because I usually just use a picture with it in it lol
bikingjahuty:
Star Wars Infinities Omnibus is a collection of all the Infinities series comics which are essentially the retelling of each of the three original trilogy movies if something major went differently during the course of the story. For A New Hope that big event is the Death Star not getting destroyed, for Empire Strikes Back it is Luke dying on Hoth, and Return of the Jedi it starts with the negotiations between Leia disguised as a bounty hunter and Jabba going south fast due to C-3PO being put out of commission due to Jabba hitting him harder than he did in the movie which results in him being unable to continue translating the deal.
I wont spoil what transpires after these changes to the story, but in the case of A New Hope it is by far the most believable, well written, and interesting of the three stories. There is a part during the climax at the end which seems very uncharacteristic of one of the characters, but it is really cool nonetheless. The events following Luke's death in Empire Strikes back are interesting and by far the funniest of the three stories, but was not nearly as well written as the story told in A New Hope, and the ending just felt very anticlimactic and rushed. The retelling of Return of the Jedi is the worst of the three stories, with the writer trying and failing at convincing the reader that certain events would have had a way bigger outcome then they actually did. Not only that, but it didn't have the same logical flow the other two stories had, and the ending left a lot to be desired while also having a moment that literally made me face palm.
Because this omnibus starts with episode IV, then V, and finally VI, the quality of the content goes down hill the more you read which is never something you want in a book or comic. Despite this, overall, this was a very interesting, fun read despite it being completely irrelevant to both the old EU canon and especially the new Disney Canon. In the end it is a collection of "what if" scenarios that are fun to read and ponder on while you read, if nothing else.
bikingjahuty:
The Tales of the Jedi comics which chronicle various tales of high profile Jedi and Sith from the Old Republic era of Star Wars are among the most revered and sought after of the old Star Wars EU stories. However, upon reading the various comics included in this Omnibus, I am left wondering why they are so highly spoken of. This is coming from someone who has mostly enjoyed Old Republic source material, mainly the two KOTOR games and the Darth Bane trilogy of books. I will go over each of the included stories in the Omnibus individually.
The Golden Age of the Sith: This comic does a good job of introducing people to Sith Culture and the power struggles that drove their society and eventually the succession of a dead Sith leader Marka Ragnos. The plot revolves around an EU event known as the Great Hyperspace War, which is given its name by it taking place as a result of a hyper space lane discovered by the two main characters, Dav and Jori, who find a route from the Republic to the Sith homeworld of Korriban. From there, Naga Sadow, a powerful Sith Lord, attacks the Republic, starting the conflict.
In summary this all sounds awesome, but I found nearly everything about this story uninteresting and uninspiring. The characters, the art, the writing, and the way the plot is executed never rise above mediocre. The only thing that I really took away from this story was a greater appreciation of life during the pioneering days of hyperspace travel and how dangerous it was, and also a better understanding of who the Sith are. Other than that I was mostly bored the entire time I read through this.
The Fall of the Sith Empire: Taking place during the Great Hyperspace War, this story made even less sense than the previous one, which includes all the characters from the Golden Age of the Sith. Particularly Dav and Jori, whom we are told are force sensitive, but they are never really shown to be that competent or skilled in any way related to the force. This is made even more confusing when they best other characters that are skilled and proven in the force. On top of that various plot points fall flat and others just feel rushed. If you haven't picked up that I am even less a fan of this story than the last you'd be correct.
Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon: This was definitely the best story in this omnibus, although I never found it to be amazing in any way, just above average mostly. It is about three young jedi who are sent by their master to war torn planet Onderon where they are instructed to facilitate peace between the established government and civilization of Onderon and the tribes of wild beast riders that ride massive dragon-like aliens they use as mounts in attacking the much more advanced Onderon civilization.
There were several twists throughout this story as well as its analysis of political and philosophical topics that are applicable beyond the Star Wars Universe. These aspects made the story interesting mostly, as well as the various characters who all felt distinct in their own way and important to the plot throughout. However, one very disappointing part of this comic was the main antagonist and them being more of an annoyance than an actual threat at any point. There is also another character that I fell was vastly under utilized who could have remedied this problem. The art was also okay, but definitely the narrative is what drove this story to be the best in this collection.
The Saga of Nomi Sunrider: The final story of this omnibus is about a force sensitive woman, Nomi who is married to a jedi, whom is killed by a group of criminals who are trying to steal some rare crystals in their possession. The crystals are sought after because they are used to construct lightsabers and they were meant as a gift by Nomi's fallen husband to be given to a Jedi master, Thon, as a sort of offering to have him train her husband. His dying words to his wife is to have her complete his quest and train as a Jedi herself since she herself is force sensitive, albeit untrained in the ways of the force. The story is about her and her infant daughter as they travel to train under the Jedi master while being pursued by the group of criminals who are trying to steal the crystals.
I found this one more entertaining than Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire, but not by much. Nomi is a fairly bland character, her daughter while being told is important is never actually shown to be important, and the plot about the criminals pursuing her is an uninteresting plot device which doesn't inspire to continue reading. The story was not all bad though as there were a few surprises, but nothing that saves this comic from being below average at best.
My overall thoughts on this Omnibus are not favorable; I feel like none of the stories were that great, although Beast Wars of Onderon was a decent entry among three other very bland tales. I know the price on this Omnibus are up there with the more expensive entries in Dark Horse's OOP Star Wars Omnibus series, mostly because outside the individual paperback copies, there is no other way to read these, yet. I'd either wait for Marvel to republish these under their Epic Collection Legends Omnibuses or pick up the trade paperbacks which are cheaper overall and allow to to skip over the more lackluster stories in this collection.
bikingjahuty:
THIS IS WHAT STAR WARS SHOULD HAVE BECOME!!
Following The Last Jedi and its certain destruction of the new, sequel trilogy and its attempted destruction of the original trilogy, I have firmly rejected the new cannon that Disney has created. Given Disney's obvious misunderstanding of the Star Wars Universe and its even more obvious motivation to put marketability and profits before the quality of the content itself, I have flocked to the old, now non-cannon EU for my source of quality Star wars matieral. For me, the rich EU established for over 30-years prior to Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm is the true cannon. Spanning millennia of story fleshed out by a ton of novels, comics, video games, movies and other media there is so much to absorb and enjoy about the old EU. It is so fleshed out that you could spend the rest of your life focusing on it and completely ignore the fact that Disney is quickly destroying this franchise, but I digress. I've read a lot of Old Republic EU stuff and a decent about of empire and post empire material, but a lot of what happens decades and beyond in the storyline is somewhat of an enigma to me. That is why I decided to start reading this very well received series, Star Wars Legacy.
Since starting Legacy yesterday I have barely been able to put it down; the more I read, the better it gets. The best way I can describe this and how amazing it is, is to say if Star Wars and Cowboy Bebop had a baby, it would be this series! Not only that, but there are a ton of Jedi, Sith, criminals, bounty hunters, and quarky alien characters, all crammed in a story that stays very true to the Star Wars mythos while offering a ton of new ideas and takes on the Star Wars universe.
I certainly do not want to spoil anything that happens in this series thus far, but the story revolves around wayward, former Jedi Padawan, Cade Skywalker as he comes to grips with his own problems and desires while also grappling with his legacy as a Skywalker, and the importance he plays in the giant galactic conflict taking place around him. Cade is a very different and conflicted character within the Star Wars universe, unlike anything else we've seen. His interactions and chemistry with many of the other characters is excellent and he is an incredibly likable, interesting, and believable protagonist. Similarly, the main bad guy, Darth Krayt is an excellent, flawed villain thus far. And all around them are other great characters, all feeling important and necessary to everything going on around them. In terms of the story there has barely been a dull or uninteresting moment the whole series. Everything has been wonderfully written with no plot holes I've noticed thus far, and the narrative has been consistent with the old EU.
I honestly do not have a bad thing to say about this series so far. Book 1 encompasses the first 19-issues of Legacy of which there are 50 total broken up into 3 hardcover books. There are also trade paperbacks that are broken up into more volumes, but this is the one I've been reading. With me only being a little over a third into the series there is still a lot of room for things to go bad in terms of plot and writing, but hopefully this series remains the follow up to the original trilogy that I never knew I wanted. I know there is a ton of material that takes place chronologically before it in the old EU, but luckily this series, which takes place a whopping 125-years after the events of Return of the Jedi, does a good job of explaining a lot that happens in the incredible amount of material that takes place before it in the timeline. While I do have a fairly good idea of what takes place before Legacy in the old EU, there is a ton I have not read, but I have yet to get lost or confused while reading this.
Whether you enjoy Disney's new cannon or you hate it and want to read something a lot more mature and less PC, this is a series worth checking out. I am going to be hitting Book 2 hard tomorrow and will probably have a review up for it by the end of the week. I hope I have just as positive things to say about it as I did with book 1 as this series is shaping up to be one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite piece of pre-Disney Star Wars EU material.
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