EU Retrospective: Republic Commando

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When I first started this reread, I couldn’t decide if I was looking forward to or dreading getting to the Republic Commando books.  It wasn’t because they were controversial in some circles of the fandom but rather because I knew they were going to kick me in the gut with feelings.  Omega Squad and Etain Tur-Mukan found their ways into my heart and never left.  Needless to say, I was absolutely not looking forward to rereading Order 66 but more on that later.  At the end of the day though, I think I’m rather glad that I took the time to reread these four books because gosh do I still love them even if they did make me have an emotional meltdown on Twitter.

Hard Contact
Overall, Hard Contact remains a solid action book.  I actually think that it could serve as a decent starting point for someone who’s really interested in the Clone Wars.  There’s not much continuity that you need to know outside of the films.  Additionally, it’s only peppered with the Mandolorian culture that fills the next three books.  In short, it can stand-alone and that’s a good thing in the epic Expanded Universe.

I still really like how Karen Traviss gives each of the clone commandos a distinct personality.  It’s been awhile but I think that this might’ve been one of the first Clone War era novels I read that really did that.  At the same time, she doesn’t shy away from presenting the mentality that the clones are raised with: they are soldiers who follow orders and they are expendable.  Plus, these are the early days of the way and the Jedi and the clones are still trying to figure each other out.  It’s some nice insight into that thought process.

I’ll also freely admit to loving Etain because I am a total sucker for the underdog.   Heroes of the Jedi Order are great and everything but I like seeing the everyman too. (Sorry.  I’ll stop giving Anakin a hard time for being the Chosen One some day.  Maybe.)  She’s a good kid who just wants to prove herself to the world and you have to respect that.

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Cosplay Monday: Doctor Doom

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It’s time for another Cosplay Monday and we have to warn you: the following images might be disturbing… because they are JUST THAT CUTE!  (Yeah, we’ve fallen into a bit of a pattern here.)  But hey, when something this awesome appears on your tumblr dash, you just have to share it with everyone!

Enter the great and terrible Victor Von Doom!

Just try and tell me that’s not the cutest thing ever!  To top it off, his costume looks just as good if not even better than the costumes of some adult Doctor Dooms that I’ve seen around conventions.

    

Images from geekfest on Flickr

Samuel L. Jackson wants to be in Star Wars sequels

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Because being in three Star Wars movies isn’t enough for the biggest BAMF in film:

“I can come back as one-armed or a one-handed Jedi that’s still around that didn’t actually die,” he said. “I could do that or be a ghost hologram. I don’t care!”

Adding, “I just want to stay associated with the franchise. Not that I won’t, because I’ve been in three of them.” As for why the actor is drawn to the sci-fi world, Sam said he loves the concept of life in other in galaxies far, far away.

Mace Windu in a Holocron as a possible plot point for Episode VII? We’ve heard crazier rumors.

via Yahoo!

Happy Hanukkah from Tosche Station!

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Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, and to celebrate, if you’ve not seen StarWars.com’s instructions on how to make a Hanukkah Droidel, here’s a link on how to geek up your Hanukkah celebrations; this particular dreidel still has the traditional Hebrew inscription referring to the miracle of the eight nights of light celebrated by Hanukkah.

All joking aside by our “Keep Han in Hanukkah” graphic, we here at Tosche Station would like to wish you a very Happy Hanukkah. May love and light fill your hearts and homes.

Fanwork Friday: Metal Covers by Eric Calderone

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Every morning I listen to The Morning Stream, a really great podcast hosted by Scott Johnson and Brian Ibbott. The other day they played a cover of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson.

Surprisingly I found myself dancing along. It’s a really awesome cover! I searched the internet to find a YouTube link. Lo and behold, I learned that the artist is Eric Calderone, and he does tons of other covers, some of them very relevant to our geeky interests.

Behold, heavy metal Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Check out Eric’s YouTube channel for all his videos. He also has a Facebook and Twitter.

So You Want To Get Into Comic Books

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So you want to get into comics… but you don’t want to read about the superheroes of the big two companies.  That’s okay because comics can be about so much more than just superheroes!  In fact, there are even more comic book publishers than just Marvel and DC such as Dark Horse, Image, Top Cow, and countless other independent publishers.  The following recommendations are mostly the products of a DC Comics offshoot publisher called Vertigo and represent a range of genres.  They are not, however, the only books in the game.  I also avoided recommending any tie-in comic books but if you are a fan of something like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Star Wars, you could always begin with picking up those comic books as a way to see if you like the medium.  Although I’ve only included a few, I’ll also suggest that if you enjoyed a film or a TV show that was based upon a comic book that you pick up the first volume of that comic and give it a try.

Long story short, comics are great and are about so much more than just the Marvel and DC Superheroes.  There really is a book out there for everyone!  With that said, I’ll just get on with some of my own recommendations.

Watchmen
[Amazon – Comixology]
This is a very predictable way to start the list but Watchmen isn’t one of the best selling comics of all time for nothing.  Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons did some amazing work when they created this book.  It’s a sort of alternate history where Nixon never resigned and costumed vigilantes began popping up in the 1940s and 1960s.  The story opens with the investigation into the death of one of those costumer heroes, the Comedian.  Rorschach, a former teammate, figures out that someone is trying to kill their entire team and takes it upon himself to warn them and the tale progresses from there.   Not only is the book a critique of the concept of superheroes but it also presents readers with a few ethical dilemmas and you have to ask yourself if the villain is really a villain or perhaps actually the hero of the piece.  It’s certainly a darker comic than some of the others in this article but oh man is it worth it.

In all honesty, Watchmen is probably one of those comics that you will have to read at some point during your comic reading career because it is just that iconic.  I’ll even go so far to say that this book is essential reading even for people who aren’t into comics.  And then you get to walk around for a week afterwards asking yourself, “Who Watches the Watchmen?”.

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Tosche Station Radio #38: 2012 in Review – Geek Entertainment

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This week on Tosche Station Radio, the hosts are joined by staff writers Bria and Shane to discuss 2012’s geeky (non-Star Wars) entertainment!

Kicking off the show, Nanci highlights what’s new on the blog. Bria gave a tutorial on how to get into Marvel comics. Bria continued on the Waru Express with The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones era books. Fanwork Friday featured the Geek Art blog and Smuggler’s Gambit. Cosplay Monday featured the Hogwarts Founders and The Wampug (courtesy of Emily).Trope Tuesday featured Off With His Head. Emily revisited the Coruscant Craft Fairwith Star Wars snowflakes. In another edition of Brian gets his staff to write ridiculous blog posts, Bria made Star Wars/Disney mashup princesses.

This week in Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s kept herself busy by finishing Nano and treating herself to a trip to Disney to ride Star Tours a few times. Brian’s been reading Mageworlds and the latest issue of Captain Marvel. Bria’s been going through her comic pull list and went to see Lincoln. She’s also been reading through Expanded Universe novels as well as Star Wars fanfic. Shane’s blasted through Redshirts by John Scalzi, read the new Dresden Files book, and has been playing a lot of League of Legends.

In Deak’s Dirt, we kick off with news that Rick McCallum retired from Lucasfilm. Don’t forget to pre-order Winner Lose All, a digital short story by Timothy Zahn that ties into Scoundrels. It’s only $1.99 and comes out December 10. Speaking of the EU, new Legacy comic! Lucas talks his role as creative consultant on Episode VII. As far as who’s directing Episode VII? We still don’t know. The Disney/Lucasfilm buyout was okayed by federal anti-trust regulators. There’s a new Star Trek Into Darkness poster. Harrison Ford showed up in an Ender’s Game picture.

Camie’s Concerns this week takes a look back at the year in geeky entertainment. 2012 had a number of highs (and lows) and the hosts, Shane, and Bria dive in to talk about the nerdy books, films, conventions, and comics this year has given us. The snark is high in this discussion!

Wrapping up the show, the hosts and guests answer questions from listeners in a segment we like to call Ask Us Anything.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of the Solo Sound network. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store or the Zune Marketplace. We can also be found on Facebook, Google+, 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.

Coruscant Craft Fair: Star Wars Snowflakes

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We’ve featured Star Wars snowflakes on the Coruscant Craft Fair before, but in preparation for the holiday season, we’ve found even more. Matters of Grey not only updated the original patterns, but they’ve created new Star Wars snowflake patterns based on the ones we originally featured.

You can now download snowflakes that feature Darth Vader, Clone Troopers, Han Solo, X-wings, Star Destroyers, and Princess Leia! This might be perfect for your windows, especially if you’re getting ready to pull out all your Star Wars ornaments for the tree as well.

Jazz Pianist and Composer Dave Brubeck Passes Away at 91

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Legendary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck passed away today at 91. The above video is a live-recording of perhaps his greatest and most well-known tune, Take Five.

Here at Tosche Staiton, we bill ourselves as being home to all sorts of geeky discussion. I was a huge music geek growing up (and remain so to this day). His music was on regular rotation when I was in middle school and high school and was the reason I took up the saxophone and became a jazz musician.

Rest in peace, Mr. Brubeck. Soon as you get through those pearly gates, I hope Paul Desmond and Joe Morello track you down to jam.