One of our illustrious staff has the good fortune to live in FL and is currently enjoying the fun of Star Wars Weekends in Orlando at the happiest place on Earth, Disney World. Since the rest of us are far flung from Orlando, we’ll have to get by on just videos of some of the attractions. Like this year’s Hyperspace Hooplah!
Carol Danvers Is Getting A Promotion
As you may have heard on the latest podcast, we’re happy to endorse a new comic this July: the all-new Captain Marvel.
This July, Carol Danvers, once known as Ms. Marvel, will take on the legacy of a legendary hero in CAPTAIN MARVEL, a new ongoing series by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Dexter Soy.
“My pitch was called ‘Pilot’ and the take can pretty much be summed up with ‘Carol Danvers as Chuck Yeager,’” says DeConnick. “Carol’s the virtual definition of a Type A personality. She’s a competitor and a control freak. At the start of our series, we see Carol pre-Captain Marvel, pre-NASA even, back when she was a fiercely competitive pilot. We’ll see her meeting one of her aviation heroes and we’ll see her youthful bravado, her swagger. Then over the course of the first arc we’re going to watch her find her way back to that hungry place. She’ll have to figure out how to be both Captain Marvel and Chuck Yeager—to marry the responsibility of that legacy with the sheer joy being nearly invulnerable and flying really [expletive] fast. Sporting a revamped costume to compliment the codename, Danvers not only faces unfamiliar dangers and challenges, but also delves into her own history as well as that of the late Kree soldier Mar-Vell, the first person to operate as Captain Marvel.”
I know I’m excited for this. I’m still a relative newcomer to the world of comics, but one character that has quickly become a favorite of mine is Carol Danvers. Great backstory, compelling, lots of depth. Just the kind of female character that fandom needs. And now she’s getting one heck of a (very deserved) promotion to Captain Marvel.
If you’re looking to support a great female character written by a great female author, pick up the new Captain Marvel this July.
Ian McDiarmid Confirmed for Celebration VI
News just dropped that Palpatine himself will be attending the Star Wars convention to end all Star Wars conventions. From the official site:
Ian McDiarmid, the actor who unforgettably played the evil galactic mastermind and the ultimate villain of the Star Wars saga, will be making a rare convention appearance atStar Wars Celebration VI, appearing on-stage and signing autographs.
In 1983, McDiarmid embodied the full depth of the dark side as the Emperor in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, his face hidden under ghastly makeup and his eyes concealed behind sickly yellow contact lenses. When his true face was revealed as the apparently kind and helpful Senator Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999), he projected a different kind of evil — a subtle manipulator of galactic events, a villain hidden in plain sight. As the prequels progressed, so too did Palpatine’s plans until finally, in Revenge of the Sith (2005), McDiarmid got to play evil at its fullest, and revealed the true power of Darth Sidious.
This will be McDiarmid’s first time at a US Star Wars Celebration (he made a brief appearance at the opening ceremonies of Celebration Europe), and his first time ever signing at the Celebration Autograph Hall.
McDiarmid will be joining the likes of Peter Mayhew and Carrie Fisher at Celebration VI this August.
SpaceX Set For Saturday Launch
Apart from a love of all things science fiction and geek culture, the staff here at Tosche Station has one thing in common: we’re all space junkies.
Tomorrow morning, Elon Musk and his SpaceX private company are prepared to launch the Dragon capsule aboard the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. io9 has prepared a day-by-day breakdown of the mission. Should everything proceed as planned, the unmanned Dragon capsule will embark on an two-week mission that will include a stop at the International Space Station for a supply dropoff.
Elon Musk and the Falcon 9 Merlin-1C engines
The launch will be only the third flight of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, a craft NASA is pinning a great deal of hopes on. If the vehicle proves to be a capable cargo and crew launcher, it will free up NASA to focus their efforts perhaps on a heavy launch vehicle that can deliver payload beyond the confines of low-Earth orbit.
A successful mission will be an extraordinary boon for the space agency. If NASA can get out of the business of being a space taxi to the International Space Station, they might be able to do something interesting with their criminally underfunded budget.
Who Needs Holographic Tupac When There’s Holographic Lego Star Wars Battles?
Tosche Station Radio #16: Genre Subversion
The hosts kick off by highlighting what’s new on the blog since our last audio check-in. Emily wrote a column looking into why Star Wars needs women more than ever. Nanci discussed why we love Star Wars, and as hard as it is to believe, it’s more than just the lightsabers and explosions. Shane started up his retro review of Kevin J. Anderson’s Daarksaber. We asked you for your Star Wars Avengers. Finally, Brian checked in with his latest column that investigates how The Legend of Korra is taking down gender stereotypes and the lessons Star Wars can draw from it.
Over in Fixer’s Flash, both Nanci and Brian have seen the Avengers (Brian several times now). Both the hosts now want some shawarma as a result. Nani has been reading through the Mageworld series, and from the sounds of it, she recommends it highly. She also has been working on her original novel and is posting excerpts over at her blog. Brian has finally gotten around to reading Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. Of course, he’s still reading Marvel comics and trying to catch up with his friends, but he took some time out to see Dark Shadows. It’s exactly what you should expect from a Tim Burton movie that’s remaking a 70s soap opera about a vampire.
First Star Wars Weekend Schedule Hits
For those of you fortunate to be in the Orlando area for Star Wars Weekends at Disneyland’s Hollywood Studios, you’ll be happy to know that schedule for the first weekend has been posted.
For those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be in the Orlando area, we’ll be able to keep tabs on what’s going on thanks to Nanci. Who is fortunate enough to attend.
I’m not jealous. Really. I’m not.
Attack of the Clones Turns 10
On this day ten years ago, Attack of the Clones released released to theaters. Given that I was twelve and at the mercy of my parents disdain for going to the cinema, I didn’t get to see it until about two weeks later when a friend offered to take me. In our house, I usually didn’t get to see something until it released on VHS or DVD.
My memories from the first time I saw it are somewhat vague. Something something Fetts something something look at all those lightsabers something something HOLY CRAP YODA HOLY CRAP DEATH STAR SCHEMATICS.
Star Wars Needs To Learn From Korra
Meet Korra. She’s awesome.
I honestly hadn’t planned to chime in on this.
By now I imagine most of you are aware of the Great Gender Kerfluffle of 2012 that cropped up in the Star Wars fandom over the last few weeks with much being said about the need for more well-developed female characters in this franchise. Emily chimed in last week and eloquently put things into perspective. Frankly, people far more knowledgeable and better with wordy-like-thingamawhatsits than I am said what needed to be said. Still, as I was reading through things on the sidelines, I ran into one comment in the Club Jade post that got my gears turning. I can’t even remember what exactly it was or who posted it, but it set off a bit of something in my head that needed to be addressed. Well. Three things, specifically. A trio of arguments that I’ve seen recycled numerous times during the recent dustup and over the years.
While I was turning these arguments over in my head, another thought hit me. There’s a television show, a current one, that has addressed these points that were troubling me. Then it all clicked.
Star Wars has a lot to learn from The Legend of Korra.
Somebody get me this gigantic Star Wars strategy game
And a gigantic, wall filling touchscreen while you’re at it.
Credit to where credit is due, Fleet Commander was developed by Arthur Nisimoto, who has won himself more geek cred with this game than I could ever hope to accumulate in ten lifetimes.