EUC Interviews Scott Biel, Proves We’re Not Crazy

Posted on by

MUCH better.

It’s always nice to get a bit of vindication. As you might know, we’re running a contest that tasks you with replacing that gorram-awful leather catsuit artists are CONSTANTLY portraying Mara Jade in (seriously go check it out, we’ve already gotten some awesome submissions). Just yesterday, EUCantina posted an interview they conducted with Random House art director Scott Biel. One of the questions posed was quite relevant to what we’ve been up lately.

EUC: Mara Jade Skywalker is generally depicted wearing a catsuit. Why do you think that particular outfit is popular? If you could design a cover with a different outfit, what would Mara Jade wear instead?

SB: I’m not sure if it’s necessarily popular, but I feel it’s depicted like that because it’s become her de facto costume (similar to superhero costumes). On the paperback cover for Choices of One, Daryl Mandryk took the initiative and redesigned it in his illustration. By adding some armor and making the suit more functional it becomes a more practical interpretation.

(emphasis added)

See? SEE!? That catsuit is utterly impractical! Combat armor? That makes way more sense, and props to Scott and Daryl Mandryk for going ahead and portraying Mara that way.

To read the rest of the interview, head on over to EUC.

Second Set of Celebraton VI Exclusive Art Prints

Posted on by

Another set of exclusive prints for CVI were released today. This time around, artists Brent Woodside, Marc Wolfe, John Carlisle, Tsuneo Sanda, Mark Raats, and Hydro74 are featured. On the downside, another Slave Leia illustration (we get it, she wore a metal bikini). On the upside, Ewoks!

You’ll be able to pick up these art prints at the convention. To see the rest of this batch, head over to the official site.

Tosche Station Radio #21: Cliffhanger

Posted on by

Logo

Play in new window | Download
On this week’s Tosche Station Radio, Brian and Nanci talk cliffhangers!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s new on the blog. Nanci did a guest spot over on the Star Wars Beyond the Film podcast talking about gender in Star Wars. Brian continued the summer X-Wing retrospective with his look back at The Krytos Trap by Michael Stackpole. Reader and listener Blizz sent in an art entry for the Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci has been busy writing, but managed to find some time to re-watch the Star Trek reboot. She also watched Batman and Robin for a guest appearance on another podcast. One of these films was good. The other was not. She’s also been reading Operation Montauk by Brian Young.  Brian finally saw Prometheus and while both the hosts initially enjoyed it, they liked it less and less the more they thought about it. After months upon months of prodding from Nanci, Brian finally read Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. The hosts launch into a (spoiler filled) impromptu discussion on the book.

Continue reading →

Kevin Smith Confirmed for Celebration VI

Posted on by

Add another guest to the growing list of CVI attendees. The Orlando Sentinal reports that director and Star Wars fan Kevin Smith will be present and will be holding his own panel on the first night of the convention.

Director-actor-podcaster Kevin Smith has never worked on an official “Star Wars” project, but he’s enthusiastically talked about the films enough to be added to the upcoming Star Wars Celebration at the Orange County Convention Center.

“An Evening with Kevin Smith,” a question-and-answer session on Aug. 23, will be his contribution to Celebration, a four-day fan gathering that also will feature Carrie Fisher,Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Seth Green and other luminaries.

“I took my fandom of ‘Star Wars’ and kind of made it one of the cornerstones of what I do,” Smith said Thursday. Mentions of the films were worked into “Clerks” and “Mallrats,” two early Smith films.

You will need to purchase a separate ticket for the Q&A session, which will be held at 8PM.

(Via) 

New ‘Mercy Kill’ Mini Excerpt

Posted on by

Star Wars Books released another mini-excerpt from Aaron Allston’s upcoming X-Wing: Mercy Kill just a few moments ago. This one features old fan favorites Face and Piggy.

A young human woman in clothes styled to resemble a starfighter pilot’s jumpsuit and jacket but made of crinkly gold cloth, her hair a more striking and unnatural red than Face’s, bumped into Face, made a vague noise of apology, and hurried past, continuing onward toward the exit.

Voort scowled at Face. “I saw that.”

“Of course you did.”

“What did she slip you?”

Face reached into a suit coat pocket and drew out a datapad. It was small, its once-gleaming surface scratched and dull. “This. It’s wired to overheat and ignite in about three minutes.”

“Well, then, don’t hold it in your mouth.”

Mercy Kill is due to hit bookshelves on August 7th.

More Bad News for ‘The Old Republic’ Publisher Electronic Arts

Posted on by

While not directly related to The Old Republic, this bit of analysis by Games Industry is anything but good news for the floundering MMO. The stock trend for publisher Electronic Arts is not going in a good direction.

Electronic Arts’ stock has lost almost 40 per cent of its value since the start of this calendar year – and in fact, since the middle of last holiday season (around November 2011) the company’s stock has been in a steady decline which has now wiped close to 50 per cent off EA’s valuation. It’s not a decline as sharp as THQ’s, but it represents a much larger loss of value – THQ’s market capitalisation is only around $50 million, whereas even after this enormous loss of value, EA is still capitalised at around $4 billion.

Games Business put together a rather telling graph comparing EA’s performance to the NASDAQ index and another pair of publishers. It’s not pretty.

While Electronic Arts isn’t alone in the downward trend (Hello, Take Two Interactive), it’s not keeping up with one of its chief competitors in Activision-Blizzard. Worse, it’s not keeping pace with the NASDAQ composite index. But here’s the scary thing, see where the downward trend begins for EA? That’s right about when The Old Republic debuted, the most expensive undertaking in EA history. How much of TOR’s stumbles have fueled EA’s trouble isn’t fully known, but it certainly has contributed.

X-Wing Retrospective Part 3: The Krytos Trap

Posted on by

Quite honestly, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed The Krytos Trap.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always known this book is quality. I just had it in my head for a long time that of this four-book arc, Wedge’s Gamble was my favorite of the bunch. That changed about two years ago when I went back and re-read through a bunch of my favorite Expanded Universe novels from the Bantam Spectra era. It had been a little while since I’d read through the X-Wing books* and my memory was a little fuzzy. Suffice to say, the third entry in the X-Wing series was significantly better than the already positive memory I had in my head.

*College. Instead I got to read fine literature like “Cybersecurity Ethics.”

(Head to the jump to continue reading)

Continue reading →

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry from Blizz

Posted on by

Reader Blizz sent in a piece of artwork (and functional diagram!) for our Replace Mara’s Catsuit Contest. I have to say, I’m really digging this entry.

I’ll let Blizz describe it for you:

You want practicality? I offer an outfit that I tried to keep compatible with novel descriptions, Star Wars paraphernalia, and basic Stormtrooper and Jedi equipment.

I kept some elements of her “canon” appearance. The belt and knee pads, for instance. I did away with the shoulder harness. Why, oh why, is Mara always portrayed with a shoulder harness with no holsters? What is the point? What does it do?

Anyway, I think this fits a balance of traveling light but being prepared. Thank you for your consideration.

Ink on paper.
Digitally colored using GIMP

Thanks for sending this in!

For more information about the contest and to view the other entries, head to the contest page.

Celebration VI Begs You To Stay To The Bitter End

Posted on by

Don’t look now, but the Celebration VI staff have announced … an announcement.

Mark your calendars now, and don’t miss the Closing Ceremonies at Celebration VI.

If you’re planning on going to Star Wars Celebration, there’s something really special planned on Sunday afternoon, August 26th that you definitely won’t want to miss! Make your plans now to stay at the biggest Star Wars Party in the galaxy, and see what’s in store for the Closing Ceremonies!

This special event is planned for Sunday, August 26th, from 2:30-3:30PM on the Celebration Stage (Chapin Theater). See you there!

Certainly this will end well, promises of something “really special.” It’s not like fans would ever over-speculate as to what that something special might be and wind up disappointed when it doesn’t live up to the delusions of grandeur that had in their heads. So you know what, I’m just going to set the bar at some absurd level right now.

Something special = a Star Wars reboot helmed by a geek dream team of Joss Whedon and Christopher Nolan. With J.J. Abrams serving as executive lensflare producer.