We’re a few days late to this due to all sorts of fun extenuating circumstances, but a few days ago Del Rey released a new cover for James S.A. Corey’s upcoming Han Solo novel.
A bit of a departure from the Razor’s Edge cover, but I dig the style.
Tosche Station Radio #75: Fan Culture
Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog. The Hondo Caravan is out of the station! In the past two weeks Bria watched The Clone Wars feature film and learned that yes, Jar Jar does play a role in The Clone Wars. Bria also gave her Expanded Universe wish list for 2014. Brian wrote about Brian Wood and Changing Harassment Culture. More on that later in the show.
In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been busy with NaNoWriMo. Both the hosts bid a fond farewell to the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. They also saw Thor: The Dark World, and naturally that means a spoiler-filled discussion ensues. Brian’s been busy playing FIFA 2014 and Tiny Death Star.
Deak’s Dirt starts with Brian freaking out over the The Night of the Doctor mini-episode. In Marvel news, Four live-action Marvel shows are coming to Netflix! There’s a new cover for Honor Among Thieves. Mark your calendars! Episode VII will be hitting theaters December 18, 2015. There’s even a confirmation! Artoo will be in the film, and it’s going to be fan-made. Turns out the other two individuals in that photo Bad Robot tweeted were Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples of the R2 Builders Club.
This week’s Camie’s Concerns tackles a tough topic. With the Brian Wood news as a springboard, the hosts discuss harassment in fandom culture and what our obligation as fans are to change things for the better.
Wrapping up the show, the hosts field a question in Ask Us Anything.
Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.
This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.
Artoo to be in Episode VII, fan-built
It’s not the Big Three, but have some delicious Episode VII confirmation news for your afternoon. R2-D2 is in Episode VII, and this time the droid is a fan-made unit.
“It all started when Kathleen Kennedy toured the R2-D2 Builders area at Celebration Europe this past summer in Germany,” says Steeples, who finished his first R2-D2 in 2007, after 10 years of collecting parts and researching. “She posed for pictures with us, looked at all the droids we’d built and was very complimentary. I mentioned that the R2-D2 Builders in the UK were available if required, as a semi-joke. When I was contacted to work on the film by [executive producer] Jason McGatlin, it was on her recommendation.”
Now that’s just cool.
Hondo Caravan: And then Jar Jar happened
Look sir! More droids! I probably should’ve saved that joke for a few more discs down the line but oh well. This week, Artoo was awesome, certain Jedi were kicked butt, and oh no it’s Jar Jar Binks. Help.
Downfall of a Droid
This was actually a pretty action packed episode. I was surprised by how much happened in it. Inevitably, it’s poor Artoo who gets captured but on the other hand, he’s probably the best character who possibly could get captured. He’s totally the guy you want as your back up in a bad situation. Why? Because he gets things done, of course!
I love how focused Anakin is on getting Artoo back and it’s definitely not just because he didn’t wipe the droid’s memory. It’s because he considers him to be a friend and in part because Padmé gave Artoo to him. It’s really quite sweet.
That droid smuggler guy is appropriately skeevy and Grievous continues to be hilariously inept. Honestly, why was the Republic that worried about this guy?
Also, I’m calling it now. This replacement Arthree droid is totally going to be a Separatist spy. No one can possibly be that inept.
On Brian Wood and Changing Harassment Culture
Brian Wood, writer for one of Marvel’s X-Men runs and Dark Horse’s ‘Star Wars’ series, has been accused of harassing female convention goers. The Mary Sue reported it here and Beccatoria has a detailed and very insightful rundown here. Read these posts for more information if you’re not up to speed, particularly Beccatoria’s. Additionally, please read Dunc’s latest post on harassment.
It goes without saying that this is going to be a post that will probably elicit some very charged reactions. So before going too much further, three points I want to make clear.
First: I’m not going to call for Brian Wood to be fired strictly for what he confessed to in the links above.
Second: If the additional allegations beyond what he confessed to turn out to be true or if more individuals come forward with accusations of misconduct by Wood, I believe Marvel/DH/LFL should re-evaluate their working relationship with him.
Third: This issue goes beyond infidelity between Wood and his wife. There are much broader fandom and societal issues this brings up that should be discussed.
To the jump.
Night of the Doctor mini-episode
Great googly moogly is it time for the 50th Anniversary Special yet?
Hondo Caravan: Begun the Clone Wars Have
Welcome to the very first stop on the Hondo Caravan! This week, I started from the very beginning and boy was this interesting. I’ve got a couple of notes before we get into the individual episodes though. First, several people made comments on the introduction post asking why I wasn’t doing the episodes in chronological order. The easy answer is because I don’t feel like it. The longer answer is that watching the show one disc of episodes at a time is much easier for me to do. I’m also trying to avoid looking at anything Clone Wars related online for fear of further spoilers. Also, this happens to be my project and I feel like watching them in air order. Second, I’ve decided to watch the Director’s Cut version of episodes whenever they’re available. I’ll be sure to note when that’s the case.
Housekeeping is over so on with the show!
The Clone Wars Feature Film
I have to say, it’s strange hearing some of the same voices and some different voices from the films. It’s a strange sort of simultaneous continuity and break of continuity. There’s a part of me that finds it hilarious that what was basically an oversized pilot episode was put into theatres. Mostly, this feels like three episodes edited together. Most people on Twitter were pretty down on this film. In my current context, I didn’t find it awful. I just didn’t think it was the best. On the other hand, everyone’s assurances that it gets better are quite promising.
I know a large part of the premise of the show rests upon it but I think Yoda and Obi-Wan might’ve been hitting the booze bottles a liiiiiiittle too hard if they really thought that giving Anakin Skywalker a padawan was a good idea. It’s hard to think of Jedi less suited to it than him. Sorry. Apparently I just make fun of Skywalkers and their abilities to deal with children like it’s my job.
Ahsoka’s outfit bothers me a lot because why in the world is she wearing a bandeau top? She’s what? 14? An entire shirt would’ve been nice and, as any woman knows, strapless tops are not the best at staying up. I do, however, super dig her reverse grip Shien lightsaber combat style. It makes me think that she’d be amazing at Jar’Kai or Form Six with a shoto.
I was, however, completely and utterly unprepared for Ziro the Hutt. Just… what.
Overall though, this wasn’t a bad start to the show and this blogging project.
One Woman’s Expanded Universe Wish List for 2014
All I want for Christmas is… more Star Wars book announcements! Now before you say anything, I know. I know and I understand why they haven’t been able to give us any news about future books in the Expanded Universe. It is not Del Rey’s fault that they cannot tell us more. Several projects like the Paul Kemp duology and the Sword of the Jedi trilogy seem to be in book limbo so while we miiiiiiight see those in 2014, I’m not going to hold my breath for them even though I’d love to see them finally be published. Instead, I’ll use that breath to give you my thoughts on eight different books that I’d like to see Del Rey possibly announce as new projects. Yes, some of these are definitely pipe dreams. But hey! It’s always fun to speculate wildly and close your eyes and wish really hard.
So without further ado and in no particular order, eight ideas that could take place in the already established timeline:
Mark Your Calendars: December 18, 2015
It’s official!
The official site has announced that Episode VII will open on December 18, 2015.
Alan Horn, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, made the announcement today. “We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” he said.
Looks like the rumors about Lucasfilm wanting a 2016 release while Disney wanted a 2015 release may have held some water, but this seems to be a good compromise. Extra time to make a better movie is always a good thing.
(Although, personally, seeing a Star Wars movie in December, without the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, is going to be really really really weird.)
Episode VII will begin filming in Spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios.
Four Live-Action Marvel Shows Coming to Netflix!
In news guaranteed to fill certain Tosche Station staff members with glee, Marvel has announced that Netflix will air four–that’s right, four–new live-action television shows based on Marvel superheroes Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil. Not only that, there will be a miniseries event based on the Defenders. These shows will be set in the Marvel cinematic universe, which also includes the ABC show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Each series will contain 13 episodes and will begin airing in 2015.
Even a comic illiterate person like myself can understand that this is a huge deal. And, as a person hugely invested in Star Wars (which is owned by the same parent company as Marvel), it makes me wonder what is planned for future projects set in the GFFA.