Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
What are the ethics involved in humanizing the Empire? Does Star Wars need to be a more nuanced universe, or are the black-and-white morals of the original and prequel trilogies preferable? And is now the right moment for that nuance? These were the questions that plagued me as I listened to the latest Star Wars novel: Christie Golden’s Battlefront II tie-in, Inferno Squad.
Hello again and welcome to our roundup of news from across the Galaxy Far, Far Away!
Meet The Cardinal and remember to pre-order PHASMA!
This week Penguin Random House gave us a taste of what’s to come in PHASMA. In Delilah S. Dawson’s next addition to the Star Wars universe, we’ll learn more about the mysterious history of “one of the most cunning and merciless officers of The First Order”. PHASMA, a Journey to Star Wars, The Last Jedi novel hits bookstore shelves and e-readers everywhere on September 1st.
In what may be the greatest case of clamoring fans getting what they ask for in film franchise history, an Obi-Wan standalone film appears to be in the works. Rumor has it that Lucasfilm is in very early talks with director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours) exploring the possibility of a film focused on the Jedi Master who has been played by both Ewan McGregor and Sir Alec Guinness. As yet the film has no script, and no cast is currently attached. The Kenobi standalone is just one of many concepts being explored by the team at Lucasfilm including stories centered on Yoda and Boba Fett.
Keep coming back to Tosche-Station.net for news of the Kenobi film as it breaks.
This week, EA Star Wars gave us a thrilling peek at the Starfighter combat that awaits us in Star Wars Battlefront II’s Starfighter Assault mode. The trailer, originally scheduled to debut next week, offers us an exquisite look at in-engine footage of what is to come. A live game play demonstration is scheduled for Gamescom this week. Star Wars Battlefront II is slated for release in November, with an open Beta scheduled for October.
That’s it for this week’s news! Send Star Wars news tips to Tosche-Station.net. Send kombucha starters to @MandaTheGinger.
This week on Tosche Station Radio, we break down the flood of The Last Jedi news from Entertainment Weekly and discuss what we think about a redemption arc for Kylo Ren.
Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net. If you like what you hear, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes and Google Play. For more great shows from us, you can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Network mega feed on iTunes and Google Play. 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 your support on Patreon!
The arc with the boys’ trip and the girls’ trip continues and things don’t really go all that well for our favorites in Black Squadron. (Are you surprised? I’m not surprised.) It didn’t take long for Team Capable Ladies to find the First Order acting suitably terrible. While that’s good from Suralinda’s point of view so she can get footage, Jessika is less than content to wait and record while the lives of innocent people are threatened. Meanwhile, Team Guys is inching along on their search for Oddy and not being nearly as successful yet. Point is… women, we get the job done.
I can’t get over how happy this arc is making me especially since it’s bringing characters like Jess and Karé to the forefront again. I love that Jessika Pava isn’t someone who can just sit back and let bad things happen for the greater good. It’s a lovely contrast to the First Order lieutenant who’s arrogant and comfortable in his assertion that the First Order is better than the Empire so obviously they’ll win.
Surprisingly, Oddy turned out to be another highlight of this issue. Honestly, I wasn’t terribly excited about him surviving but his pages end up being oddly delightful? Although admittedly, it feels strange to use that word here but I can’t quite think of a better one.
Mostly importantly, the War Stories arc is fun. Do their missions have weight to them? Definitely. Does the story still press upon you how precarious the Resistance’s continued existence is? Absolutely but it never stops being fun and in Star Wars? That’s crucial.
Poe Dameron #18: Charles Soule/Writer, Angel Unzueta/Artist, Arif Prianto/Colorist, Joe Caramagna/Letterer, Jordan White/Editor, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor
It’s not a secret that I wasn’t a fan of the Yoda arc because it just draaaaaagged and made me want to take a nap. It made Screaming Citadel a very welcome reprieve. That said, I wasn’t sure what to expect from these follow up issues. Were we going to get something more like the Yoda arc or more like the far better Nar Shaddaa one? Turns out, the answer was neither and that’s a good thing.
The anthology style is so far really working for Jason Aaron and the main Star Wars book. It’s something that I would have loved to see them continue (with different artists) if Aaron wasn’t going to be handing the reins over to Gillen soon. This go-round, we get a team up between Sana and Lando who has been tragically mostly absent from Star Wars in canon thus far. While we haven’t seen the Han Solo film yet, it makes sense Sana and Lando would have history too. She’s got an insane heist to pull and he’s got the contacts she needs to help pull it off. What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out almost nothing because this story is great. (The art not so much but you’ve already heard my laments about how Larroca draws Sana.) Don’t be fooled: while this is billed as a team up, it’s definitely a Sana story. Lando’s just there to help out because Sana is several steps ahead almost the entire time. It’s awesome getting to see a capable lady kick some ass.
Star Wars #34 is one of those issues that’s both worth picking up and that doesn’t require much prior knowledge of the series. Check it out if you’ve got the time.
Star Wars #34: Jason Aaron/Writer, Salvador Larroca/Artist, Edgar Delgado/Colorist, Clayton Cowles/Letterer, Jordan D. White/Editor, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor
This week, we’re finishing the last few chapters of THRAWN and taking a deep dive into the newly minted admiral’s tactics, character development, and relationships with Nightswan, Eli, and Pryce. Plus, we speculate on the future of Star Wars expansion.
This podcast covers chapters 23 through the end of the book, mentions plot points from season 3 of Star Wars Rebels, and is NOT spoiler-free!
Book Wars Pod explores the Star Wars universe through the franchise’s non-screen media: the canon novels, comics, and video games. Check out our guide to past episodes, and subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and wherever else you cast your pods. You can also subscribe to the Tosche Station Radio Mega Feed on iTunes or Google Play for more great shows from our podcast network.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr for episode updates! Hosted by Kristen Sereci, Chris Sedor, and Kate Sedor. Art by Joe Butera. Music by Podington Bear.
This podcast has been brought to you in part by your support on Patreon!
Hello, friends, and brace yourselves; we got quite a bit of stuff to cover this week.
First: the bad news. Via the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is pulling its movies from Netflix and starting its own streaming service, which will go live in 2019. What does this have to do with Star Wars, you ask? It’s not yet guaranteed that Star Wars and Marvel movies will be exclusive to this service, but I’m not getting my hopes up. it looks like Disney-branded films and Pixar movies are going to be exclusive to the service and it wouldn’t be surprising if that list of exclusive properties grew.
On to happier, Star Warsier things! EW has delivered unto us a heck-load of TLJ content this past week, including some exclusive images from the film. The images are paired with tantalizing details in the commentary. They also have a lot (as in eight, because of course) of pieces about different elements of The Last Jedi. I’m going to post links with their titles in bullet points, but you can also find all of them here.
On the literary front, Del Rey has revealed the retailer exclusive posters for Phasma! Continue reading
LISTEN MARVEL. We’re going to get to the talking about the comic in a bit but I have a complaint to register as an Aphra cosplayer. You guys are KILLING ME with these rad outfits you put her in for the covers but then never appear within the pages of the issue. This is so not fair. How am I supposed to make more Aphra costumes when you keep teasing me with these sweet new looks and only a cover to go by?
*ahem* Anyways. About the issue…
Everything’s going to hell at Aphra’s masquerade auction and it’s just going to get worse the more the issue continues and in the next one. This arc is a textbook example of why you don’t let murder droids become bored and then leave them alone. Bad things happen. Very. Bad. Things. Like the spirit of a very angry Jedi being put into the body of a droid with violent capabilities. At the same time, the arc is also a great example of why I love Aphra. Things have a tendency to go wrong around her but she finds a way to adapt to the situation and keep fighting. No one wants to live quite as much as Chelli Aphra. She might not do it how a more traditional hero would but dang does it make it look fun. And dangerous. Can’t forget the dangerous part. It’s why this character has resonated with so many people.
Hold on, I need to put my cosplayer (aviator) hat on again because while I love that Aphra committed to the hidden identity thing enough to wear a wig, there is no way her hair would have been in a bun look that good with some artful framing wisps after being under a wig for however many hours. Alternatively, Star Wars characters must teach us their ways for coping with wig and helmet hair.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that this arc has had me at the edge of my seat and I suspect that the next issue will have me yelling at the comic. Again. Seriously though… it is not going to go well for someone next issue.
Doctor Aphra #11: Kieron Gillen/Writer, Kev Walker/Penciler, Marc Deering/Inks, Antonio Fabela/Colors, Joe Caramagna/Letterer, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor, Jordan D. White/Editor
At last! The long awaited Cassian and Kaytu comic! It’s… fine?
Many of my feelings about the timing of this comic line up with some of my feelings on the Threepio comic from last year. While we don’t know exactly what they were supposed to be, there had been talk about prequel comics coming from Marvel related to Rogue One that would be released prior to the film… just how C-3P0 was supposed to be released prior to The Force Awakens. While I liked this particular comic far more than the red arm saga, both probably would have fared better being released in the hype period for their respective movies.
It’s not really Duane Swierczynski’s fault. There’s only so much you can do in 30ish pages with two characters meeting for the first time. He definitely keeps the action rolling as Cassian and Kertas and Rismor (two other Rebel operatives) attempt to infiltrate an Imperial facility and extract their security protocols. It should be simple enough but of course it’s not because otherwise there wouldn’t be a story. While he may have K-2SO in tow by the story’s end, Cassian most certainly doesn’t set out to get himself a reprogrammed droid which is where the fun comes in. There’s just not much else to talk about in this comic except a very interesting line from Kaytu regarding choice but that ties into a bigger discussion about droids in Star Wars.
I have no major comments on the art front. Fernando Blanco and Marcelo Maiolo do a nice job. I will point out that Cassian’s facial hair looks way more normal than it does in the Rogue One adaptation and that Kaytu’s glowing red eyes of evil are a nice touch.
If you were already thinking about picking this comic up, by all means do so! If you’re a big fan of Cassian and Kaytu, it’s worth a read too. It’s just a comic that would have played better as part of the pre-movie hype.
Cassian and K-2SO: Duane Swierczzynski/Writer, Fernando Blanco/Artist, Marcelo Maiolo/Colorist, Clayton Cowles/Letterer, Heather Antos/Assistant Editor, Jordan D. White/Editor
