Tosche Station Radio #73: Mechanical Breakdown

Posted on October 31, 2013 by admin

On this episode of Tosche Station Radio, Brian and Nanci discuss Razor’s Edge and fan expectations!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog. Bria penned an unapologetic love letter to the Young Jedi Knights books. She also reviewed Star Wars Legacy #8. There’s a new episode of our sister podcast, Women of Odd Enthusiasms.This week Bria and Emily chat all about Harry Potter. We looked back on one year after Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced Episode VII.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci finished Razor’s Edge and started reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. She also work on her next NaNo project. Both of the hosts watched Pacific Rim and are now making Drift Compatibility jokes. Related to this, Bria took to twitter and asked for the best suggestions regarding Jaegers in Star Wars. As often happens on the show, the hosts go off on a tangent about meta diversity commentary in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D fandom

Deak’s Dirt starts with the release of the The Making of Star Wars enhanced eBooks. Last week Jedi News uncovered some Star Wars information out of the European Brand Licensing Show. Next up, it’s the rumor roundup. Rumor the first: LFL wanted a 2016 release for Episode VII, but Disney wants them to stay on target for 2015. Rumor the second: Harrison Ford has a deal for Episode VII in exchange for Indy 5? Finally, some big actual news: Arndt is done with his portion of the script, Kasdan and Abrams to finish. Next on the docket: Trailers! Lots of trailers! Specifically Catching Fire, Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past. And finally, in news very relevant to our interests, Jen Heddle and Shelly Shapiro met with Leland Chee and Pablo Hidalgo the other day. Wonder what they were discussing…

This week’s installment of Camie’s Concerns has the hosts discussing Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells and a more macro discussion of fan expectations and how they impact our feelings of books, film, and entertainment as a whole.

Don’t forget to check out our sister podcast Wrong Opinions About Movies. This week, they reviewed The Counselor.

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.

SDCC Film/Television News Round Up

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Bria

In completely and utterly unsurprising news, this year’s Hall H panels at San Diego Comic Con were the hot spot for all the film news. Plenty of new trailers and clips were shown but here are some of the highlights or at least some of the ones that we thought were awesome and mention-worthy:

Zack Snyder will officially be directing a Batman/Superman film with an anticipated release date of Summer 2015. The Hollywood Reporter also says that Warner Bros. is aiming for a Flash film in 2016 and a Justice League film for 2017 but that wasn’t announced at the panel (or at least as far as we are aware.)
Lionsgate treated audiences to a new Catching Fire Theatrical Trailer. (The staff is still recovering from that one.) The film will be out this November.
We also got to see some of the first footage for the Veronica Mars film.
The X-men were out in full force with first some footage from the soon to be released Wolverine and then with a trailer for X-men First Class: Days of Future Past. Basically every X-men every was on that panel.
The anticipated Marvel Studios panel didn’t disappoint especially if you were in Hall H. The audience was greeted by Loki. Yes, Tom Hiddleston was in full Loki costume and character as an introduction for extended trailer/footage for Thor: The Dark World. Then the cast/crew for Captain America: The Winter Soldier got to take the stage. The cast talked about their characters and Kevin Feige mentioned that the Winter Soldier story will definitely stick pretty close to Ed Brubaker’s run on the book. Obviously, the audience was treated to some exclusive footage. Once more, the staff is incredibly jealous. Marvel continued to overachieve by bringing out the cast and crew of Guardians of the Galaxy who all flew in specifically for the panel. Even though they just started filming less than two weeks ago, they still brought footage with them. Unfortunately, no new films were announced. They did, however, have one last mic drop in the form of Joss Whedon taking the stage for the last few minutes to announce the full title for Avengers 2: Age of Ultron. For those in the comic book know, Kevin Feige as said that the film is borrowing the title from the recent book and will not be a direct adaptation of it.
How I Met Your Mother got its very first SDCC panel for its very final season. Usually, this wouldn’t make this post but we’ve poked fun at how the show has dragged on in the past and how those kids must be adults by now. The crew showed they have a good sense of humor by putting together this promo for Season 9 in which the kids are finally done with Ted’s story.
And finally, even though the panel was Friday, the trailer for Season 4 of The Walking Dead was also premiered and wow does it look excellent! Season 4 will start airing on October 13th on AMC.

So You Want To Read Marvel NOW!

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Bria

So you’ve heard about the Marvel NOW! initiative and now you’re curious about the books and want to start reading. We’re a couple of months into the initiative and it has been an overwhelmingly great ride. Unlike DC’s New 52, Marvel hasn’t rebooted their continuity. It’s better described as a shift in the universe. Creative teams have moved around and characters and teams have changed after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men. In short, it’s been a good jumping on point for new readers without tossing years of continuity out the window.

With the relaunch of Marvel and Comixology’s promotion that will offer 700+ #1 digital titles for free, now seems as good of a time as any to sample the comic book world. If you haven’t yet, go sign up for the promotion now as sign ups end April 9th at 11:59 EDT. Over 700 titles is a lot to choose from. In the past, I’ve written about some good jumping on points for the Marvel universe. Many of those books’ #1s will be a part of the promotion and I definitely recommend snagging them along with any one-shots, especially the character focused ones. However, if the current Marvel universe is something that you’d rather dive head first into, the Marvel NOW! movement is definitely perfect for that. Here are some of my personal recommendations about what books you should give a shot.

Avengers
Avengers and New Avengers [CMX – CMX]
I’m writing about these two titles together because they are the opposite sides of the same coin. To quote the writer himself, Avengers is about life and New Avengers is about death. Jonathan Hickman pens both and has thus far been doing a masterful job of it. Both are books that I’d recommend to someone who is already familiar with the universe especially New Avengers since it features the Illuminati group. Regardless, they’ve been fantastic so far. Hickman is the master of the long game writing style but it always pays off. If you like the Avengers, give these books a try. You’ll get to see some of your favorite characters along side some new ones. It’s all about making the Avengers bigger (and hopefully better) then they’ve ever been before.

Uncanny Avengers [CMX]
Spinning directly out of the Avengers versus X-men event of last summer, the two groups have joined together to create one team. The first arc of the book was a “the team assembles” story, making it ideal for newer readers. It’s also something that readers haven’t really seen before which makes it intriguing. (Captain America taking orders from Havoc? That still has me blinking in surprise some issues.) Some of the characters definitely have some history but it’s nothing that a quick Wikipedia search won’t solve for you. Alternatively, you can think of this as the book to read if you can’t decide between the Avengers of the X-men as your favorite team.

Secret Avengers [CMX]
This is definitely a title that’s a bit off the typical Avengers path but it’s one that could easily be accessible for newer readers especially those only familiar with the film. It features well known badasses like Black Widow and Hawkeye and other SHIELD agents and a black Nick Fury and Phil Coulson. 616 fans might be scratching their heads at those last two but film fans will be just fine. It’s all about SHIELD and its missions and looks like it’s going to be a fun book.

Continue reading →

Cosplay Monday: Cable

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Bria

Welcome to another edition of Cosplay Monday where we try to distract you from the start of another work week with some awesome costumes! This week, we’re spotlighting another cosplayer from Katsucon this year who put together a pretty awesome Cable costume. Tough guy attitude, bionic arm, pouches galore, and a BFG? Yup. Definitely Cable!

So You Want To Get Into Marvel Comics

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Bria

So you want to get into Marvel Comics but don’t know where to start. Well kids, pull up a chair and listen to your Auntie Bria because there are absolutely some good places to begin reading comic books and you won’t even have to go all the way back to the 1960s!* Will you likely want to jump on Wikipedia and do some research about some aspects of the history of these books or characters? Probably. It’s impossible to jump into a medium with such a long history as comic books without there being at least some sort of background you’d like to know more about. However, I think that each of these suggested titles can be picked up and read with minimal confusion. Each of these suggestions also takes place in the main Marvel Universe which is also referred to as the 616 verse. I also tried to refrain from any company wide arcs for reading ease.** With that, enjoy these suggestions and feel free to ask any clarification questions you might have in the comments.

Astonishing X-men
[Amazon – Comixology]
I have fondly referred to this book as my gateway drug to Marvel Comics. Not only have I used this book to get tons of my friends into comics but I consider it to be one of my favorite runs of all time. Written by Joss Whedon and with art by John Cassaday, Astonishing X-men takes the X-men back from the black leather street looks (thanks for that, X-men films) and back to their spandex superhero roots. Mutants have always been treated with at least some fear and distrust by the public and the X-men want to fix this.

Whedon brings together Cyclops/Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Beast/Hank McCoy, and Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, a group of characters who certain have issues with each other but work together as a team because they have to astonish the world. It’s a story that not only can stand on its own but also one which will introduce you to the characters in a way that will leave you wanting to know more about them. Although Whedon’s run concluded back in 2007, it’s certainly a book worth reading if you’re interested in the modern X-men. Plus, as an added bonus, Whedon introduces us to some awesome new characters, namely Hisako Ichiki/Armor and Abigail Brand. If you have any interest in the X-men at all, this is the book to start with.

Continue reading →