Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of Star Wars: A New Hope and long before we had any guess about what might happen in the prequel trilogy, George Lucas, for good or bad, retooled all three episodes of the Star Wars trilogy into the Star Wars Special Edition theatrical release.  Between January and March 1997 the world got to “see the movies again for the first time” and was reminded where the word blockbuster actually came from.  Now Marvel Comics is following suit with its own look back to original Star Wars source material.

Marvel Comics is releasing two new versions of Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin’s original six-issue adaptation of the original Star Wars.  This is the classic adaptation that saw its first chapter, Issue #1, released before the movie hit theaters.

The first volume is being released today: Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.  The OGN is for “oversized graphic novel” but the value in this book is the restoration, George Lucas style, of Howard Chaykin’s original artwork via a replacement of Marie Severin’s original 1970s colors with Chris Sotomayor’s update of the six-issue movie adaptation into a more modern color scheme.  Adi Granov supplies the new cover art for this edition.  Marvel said it will soon release similar editions of its adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.  Check out a preview of the new look at a classic movie adaptation below.

IDW Publishing and Marvel Comics announced this week a second treatment of the same Star Wars comic book adaptation.  The Star Wars Artist’s Edition will be consistent with past IDW “artist’s edition” offerings, showcasing the original comic book pencil and ink art behind the series in high quality color reprints of the original, giant-sized page format that the artists sketched the artwork.

Details of what pages will be included in the IDW Star Wars Artist’s Edition have not yet been released, but it will include Marvel Star Wars pages with work by comic book icons Carmine Infantino, Howard Chaykin, Walt Simonson, Al Williamson, and Tom Palmer.

The Star Wars Artist’s Edition will be released later this year.

Here’s a preview of Star Wars OGN: A New Hope Hardcover, available today here at Amazon.com and at comic book stores everywhere:

Thomas and Chaykin’s adaptation was fascinating in part because Chaykin had the first view of the images of Star Wars.  Much of his work matches the ships and scenery in the film, but other components, like his incarnation of Jabba the Hutt, is the stuff of Star Wars lore.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

We’ve been pretty lucky to both know and regularly cross paths with some great artists who have worked on the many years of Green Arrow stories in the DC Comics monthly series, and others who haven’t worked on the character but created original sketches for us at conventions.  From time to time we have posted original artwork of Oliver Queen and his partner Dinah Lance aka Black Canary here at borg.com.  These include works by Freddie Williams II, Mike Grell, Neal Adams, Phil Hester and Ande Parks, Howard Chaykin, Michael Golden, Mike Norton, Cliff Chiang, J.K. Woodward, Jock, and Phil Noto, among others.

We don’t know Ryan Sook personally, but he is one of our favorite cover artists.  He created our favorite cover of 2012, the cover to Mystery in Space #1, shown here.  The awesome sci-fi steampunk girl on the cover just demands her own comic book series.  We ran down some of his best cover work here last summer.

When we had the chance to commission a pencil and ink piece from him for our Green Arrow and Black Canary gallery, we couldn’t pass it up.  The result is simply awesome.

So what do you think?  We love that stare and that long beard.  He’s got a bit of the flavor of Jock’s Green Arrow, and that power and age from Mike Grell’s longbow hunter.  The background arrowhead made from the repeating lines and shadowing is very cool.

Maybe it’s time Ryan Sook got his own Green Arrow series.  DC Comics, are you listening?

Thanks to Ryan Sook for this great artwork!

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

It’s been 34 years since The Muppet Show wrapped its now classic five season run back in 1976-1981, with its last episode guest starring Singing in the Rain actor Gene Kelly.  It seemed like everyone who was anyone was a guest on the show, from Vincent Price to Don Knotts, from George Burns, John Cleese and Steve Martin to Elton John, Julie Andrews, Debbie Harry, James Coburn, Roger Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Lynda Carter, Christopher Reeve, and even the cast of Star Wars.  The show won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy.

ABC just announced the full Muppets ensemble will return to Primetime Tuesday nights this Fall.  This time the show won’t be a variety show as the original with guest stars, but will follow a bit of the format from The Office TV series, a “contemporary, documentary style” and probably copy any other show they can spoof for a laugh.  It will have humans interspersed with the cast, as seen in the first trailer released in the past few hours by ABC.  The preview couldn’t be much better.

And the never aging Muppets look just like they did when we first met them: Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, The Electric Mayhem, Scooter, Sweetums, Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, Statler and Waldorf.  Without the requirements of a two-hour movie as we saw with the recent fun movies The Muppets and The Muppets Most Wanted, the series is going to delve into the private, personal lives of the Muppets.  We can’t wait!

Check out the preview:

If you’re looking for something for the whole family, even with parodies of adult dramas, we’re thinking this will have something for everyone.

The variety show format that was so successful in the 1970s came back for two seasons in 1996-1998.  Muppets Tonight itself won two Primetime Emmys.  It also had guests like the original, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Whoopi Goldberg, Prince, and Pierce Brosnan.  And of course the Muppets starred in eight theatrical releases.

Look for The Muppets on ABC Tuesday nights this Fall.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

It must be hard to portray the art of being a magician on the big screen.  The latest effort is The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk, and Clash of the Titans’ director Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me previewed earlier at borg.com here.  It has much to offer by way of entertainment, the best reward being the cast, which manages to nail that very Las Vegas magic act schtick of “showmanship” that you only see in a good magic act.  But can you give a theatrical audience a convincing magic show–actually trick us and surprise us in the same way someone like David Copperfield can make the Statue of Liberty disappear right in front of you, or how Teller distracts as Penn causes the very thing you’re staring at to disappear right before you?

Apparently you can’t do that in the movies–or at least no one has dazzled us in that way yet.  But you can at least give us a good show letting us see different styles in which magicians practice their art.

Two recent contenders for the top of the “movies about magicians and magic” list are not at risk of leaving the top because of Now You See Me.  The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and The Prestige, starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson released opposite each other in 2006, take on the same themes.  But if you’re deciding between the two we think The Illusionist, from director Neil Burger (Limitless, Divergent) is the better film, over the very typically over-the-top effort by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, Inception) in The Prestige.  It’s the payoff of Now You See Me that doesn’t quite cut it, despite some fun theatrics along the way.

The cast and the casting of roles make Now You See Me fun to go along for the ride, even if the story’s payoff isn’t that satisfying.  Woody Harrelson (No Country for Old Men, The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Hunger Games) pulls off his role as elder magician in a squad of four magicians who pull off a heist in full view of a crowd of thousands–like no role he has played before.  He’s likeable, cocky, and convincing.  Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, The Great Gatsby) commands the audience’s attention with that stage presence the magician needs to wow the crowd.  Dave Franco (21 Jump Street) is perfect as the new magician on the block, sporting that same level of charisma that keeps us going back to see movies by his brother James.  And it’s hard to cast annoying better than Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, The Social Network, and soon to be Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) as the arrogant jerk of the quartet.

Behind this magic act is a cast of leading actors that indicate quite clearly that a drove of agents thought this flick was going to be a winner.  The Prestige’s Michael Caine lends authority to the film as the money man behind the show, along with Morgan Freeman, a retired magician trying to debunk the act.  Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds) and Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac, The Avengers) are dueling Interpol and FBI agents who capture most of the screen time (explaining the real story behind a secret magic organization like something from National Treasure) that spins the plot forward.

The cast of the sequel in production.

Audiences have generally supported the film, at least by way of box office receipts, so much so that Now You See Me: The Second Act, directed by Jon M. Chu, is right around the corner.  That sequel has a release date of June 10, 2016, and will star Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter, The Woman in Black), Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Hot Tub Time Machine), and returning cast Ruffalo, Eisenberg, Harrelson, Franco, and Caine.

Now You See Me is now streaming on several services, including Google Plus, and it’s available on Blu-ray and DVD here at Amazon.com.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Readying for next year’s 50th anniversary of the first episode of Star Trek, Insight Editions has revealed the cover and a new overview of a book about Star Trek costumes that we first discussed here at borg.com back in December.  Veteran Star Trek writers Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann have completed a 256 page hardcover work titled Star Trek Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier. 

This will be the first book to focus exclusively on Star Trek costumes, covering the Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, the ten movies with the Original Series crew and Next Generation crew, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager, Enterprise, Star Trek 2009 and Star Trek Into Darkness.  It is also the first book to include a chronicle of photos and behind the scenes information on the Enterprise TV series and the most recent Star Trek film, Star Trek Into Darkness. 

This new book will add an eagerly awaited, missing piece to complete the science fiction and fantasy bookshelves of movie fans, adding to prior great movie costume books for genre properties including Dressing a Galaxy, focusing on the Star Wars prequel costumes (the finest photographic work on costumes to-date) reviewed here, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles–Cloaks and Daggers, reviewed here, and Brandon Alinger’s 2014 release Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy, reviewed here.

Here’s the new overview of Star Trek Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier from the publisher:

From the classic Starfleet uniforms and daringly provocative outfits of The Original Series, to flowing Vulcan robes, flamboyant Ferengi fashions, and formidable Klingon wedding attire, Star Trek: Costumes explores how these designs have played a key role in transporting fans to distant worlds and alien cultures over the last five decades.

Filled with exclusive photography, stills from the saga, rare concept art, and other striking visuals, Star Trek: Costumes also focuses on the talented individuals who have brought the Star Trek universe to life, including original costume designer William Ware Theiss and his successors, Robert Fletcher, Robert Blackman, and, most recently, Michael Kaplan.

Featuring extensive information on the creation of each featured costume, with insight and anecdotes from interviewees including Blackman, Kaplan, J.J. Abrams, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes and Ronald D. Moore, this book is a comprehensive and captivating celebration of the incredible artistry that has made Star Trek’s costumes as innovative and imaginative as its futuristic technologies.

Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann are co-authors of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — Lust’s Latinum Lost and several nonfiction books including the Star Trek 365 series, Star Trek 101, Monk: The Official Episode Guide, The 4400 Companion, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, The Secrets of Star Trek Insurrection, Star Trek: Action!, and The Magic of Tribbles.

Star Trek Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier will be available this Fall and lists for $60.00, but you can pre-order it now for only $40.65 here from Amazon.com.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Convention planner Wizard World is holding its first pop culture convention in Iowa this weekend, introducing Midwest genre fans to sci-fi icon William Shatner (Star Trek), horror icon Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Billy Dee Williams (The Empire Strikes Back), Alex Kingston (Doctor Who, Arrow), and Jewel Staite (Firefly), plus Emily Kinney and Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead), comic book writer/artist Mike Grell (Green Arrow), Iowa’s own Brandon Routh (Superman Returns, The Flash) and a giant roster of other celebrity guests from film and TV, past and present.

Brandon Routh as The Atom and Superman

Other familiar genre actors scheduled to attend include Manu Bennett (Arrow, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), J. August Richards (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Angel), Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters, Psych), Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), and both Sean Patrick Flanery and David Della Rocco from Boondock Saints.

Alex Kingston, River Song from Doctor Who, and Dinah Lance from CW’s Arrow.

Several well-known comic book writers and artists will be featured in Wizard World’s Artist Alley in addition to Mr. Grell: Des Moines’s own Ant Lucia (DC Comics “Bombshell” covers and posters), Neal Adams (Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow), Mike Zeck (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars), Iowa-based artist Phil Hester (Green Arrow, The Flash), Michael Golden (Star Wars, The ‘Nam), our pal Jai Nitz (Dream Thief, Tron: Betrayal, El Diablo), and many others.

Des Moines’s own Ant Lucia, creator of the DC Comics Bombshells.

Not all guests will appear each day so check the Wizard World Des Moines website for guest and schedule updates.

Billy Dee Williams, who played Han Solo’s pal Lando Calrissian, is a guest at Wizard World Des Moines.

Show hours are Friday, June 12, 3-8 p.m.; Saturday, June 13, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday, June 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines.  Downtown Des Moines offers plenty of great hotels and restaurants.  Check it out!

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

The staff at borg.com have made it to several of the Nerd HQ celebrations in San Diego, including the first event back in 2011 where we met Zachary Levi and Scott Bakula.  We’ve been able to see panels since then with some of our favorites, like the Doctor Who panel featuring Matt Smith, Jenna-Louise Coleman, and Steven Moffat.  Nerd HQ takes place each year during San Diego Comic-Con International weekend.  Each year it has been hosted at a facility within close walking distance of the San Diego Convention Center, and this year it will open its doors directly across the street at the New Children’s Museum.  It marks the fifth year for the event.

Don’t confuse Comic-Con with Nerd HQ–Nerd HQ is not affiliated with Comic-Con.  The crew that runs the show–Chuck’s Zachary Levi and his friends–are a bit like party crashers, yet they offer an opportunity for those who missed out on tickets to the Big Show to still have a close-up experience with celebrities in the same town on the same weekend.  It’s convenient for everyone since the celebrities typically have engagements for Comic-Con, so they can just divert some time to Nerd HQ, where for $22 per person per panel Nerd HQ piles up a fair amount of cash for charity.

Flip through the “back-issues” of borg.com here to find several videos of past Nerd HQ panels.  Then check out this preview of this year’s panels with Zachary Levi:

Nerd HQ is July 9-12, 2015, in San Diego.  Follow Nerd HQ at their website here for updates and ticket sales.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

It must be one of the best-attended Comic Cons for a first-time event:  More than 25,000 fans of print and film superheroes and celebrities attended this weekend’s Wizard World Des Moines comic book and pop culture convention at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines, Iowa.  And the show’s management believes the attendance assures Wizard World will return to Des Moines next summer, establishing the next major annual Midwest comic book fan convention.

Fans from Iowa and neighboring states toured the halls and giant celebrity autograph and photo op room, many in cosplay garb.  The highlights include a premiere slate of comic book creators in Artists Alley and celebrity appearances that gave everyone something to be excited about.

Star Trek fans barely had to wait in line to meet sci-fi icon William Shatner, who also spoke to a crowded house of fans Saturday afternoon.  If you like superheroes, you could meet the two most popular Green Arrow creators of all time: artist Neal Adams and writer/artist Mike Grell, Superman actors Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Dean Cain (The Adventures of Lois and Clark) (Routh also appears as The Atom on CW’s The Flash), DC Bombshells creator Ant Lucia, Rogue creator and long-time Marvel artist Michael Golden (above), and Mike Zeck, artist for Marvel Comics classics like the Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars series:

The Walking Dead fans met series star Michael Cudlitz, and received an exclusive variant Issue #1 from the comic book series, drawn by Iowa artist Phil Hester.  And horror fans got to cross off their list one of the modern Big 3 of horror icons, Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger himself Robert Englund.  Fans of the cult film Boondock Saints met up with star Sean Patrick Flannery.

Your humble Editor (the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and guest Judy Bunce (Norse goddess Freya) attending her first Comic Con posed for well over 100 photos with attendees in the main hall at the show.  A great time was had by all.  We met Shatner, Lou Ferrigno, and Doctor Who and Arrow’s Alex Kingston (she liked the chainmail created for me by Michael O’Leary at Amanda Lynn Chainmaille Creations in Kansas City).

The best cosplay performers award must go to these two kids portraying the 11th Doctor and a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who:

Steve Ball and Erin Peeler created excellent masks for these Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters Rocksteady and Bebop:

Mackenzie Ruppe and Emma Hester made for a great Quicksilver from X-Men: Days of Future Past and Merida from Disney’s Brave:

Dates for Wizard World Des Moines 2016 are expected to be released in the next few days.  Come back tomorrow for more photos from Wizard World Des Moines 2015, including some great art from the show.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

What makes a great Comic Con?

Wizard World Des Moines combined all the right elements this past weekend to create a new annual Midwest destination tradition.  A mix of big name celebrities, comic book creator icons, fanboys and fangirls attending in costume, a variety of vendors, gaming opportunities, current genre properties, the unexpected, taking along family and friends (and meeting new ones and catching up with old ones) and taking in some good food.  And thanks to the success of its first effort, Wizard World will be back again next year at the Iowa Events Center, May 13-15, 2016.

If you missed it, check out our coverage at borg.com yesterday here.

A comic and pop culture convention is even better when your own favorite character seems to have his own theme at the show.  Take our own favorite, Green Arrow, for instance.  This weekend you could have met the artists for the three best Green Arrow series ever produced, including artist/writer Mike Grell:

Artists Milton Bunce and Mike Grell at Wizard World Des Moines 2015 Sunday.

And as luck would have it, Mike found a lost piece of original art he brought to the show, a cover prelim/rough for a 24-year old annual issue he created:

There’s no place better to pick up original comic book art than a Comic Con, whether it’s a sketch commission or original pages that artists bring to the show to gawk at or even purchase.  (Thanks for bringing this one, Mike!).

And there’s one of the other of the three major artists known for his Green Arrow work (he’s done Batman and a ton of other characters, too), Neal Adams:

…and the most recent Green Arrow artist of the big three, Iowa-based artist Phil Hester:

What more could a Green Arrow fan want?  A bonus: You get to have a nice chat with the actress who portrayed Dinah Lance on CW’s Arrow television series, Alex Kingston.

And other celebrities are set up at booths meeting fans, providing photos and autographs.  Brandon Routh walks by, you meet William Shatner, you pass by Robert Englund, Jewel Staite, and Billy Dee Williams, and snap a photo with the star of the classic TV series The Incredible Hulk (as well as guest star in several TV series since then), Lou Ferrigno:

The “unexpected” is everywhere.  Want to get a tattoo at a Con?  You could have done so this weekend.  Want to thumb through boxes of low-cost comic back issues and find that missing issue you couldn’t find anywhere else?  How about picking up some superhero art prints from Ant Lucia or Greg Horn?  A great T-shirt featuring your favorite classic TV series?  Need to update your steampunk costume?  And then you look up and see the awesome furry “Mutt Cutts” car from the Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels comedy Dumb and Dumber.

Finally, Wizard World Des Moines showcased some great cosplay–costumes put together by fans like you and me, whether they’re superheroes and superheroines like Batgirl and Robin, or movie interpretations like Indiana Jones and the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

And as we all want to see, especially with this unusual big year for the Star Wars franchise, excellent interpretations of our favorite characters from a galaxy far, far away:

…and even the Anthony Hopkins’ version of Zorro!

You can take family to the show, arrive with friends, or run into new ones again and again as you walk the floor.  Like our friend Jai Nitz, writer of several great titles, including Adventure Time, Tron: Betrayal, Kato Origins, Dream Thief, El Diablo, Grimm, and Toshiro.

Wizard World Des Moines was unique for a couple of reasons.  First, it offered a table top gaming area, providing dozens of board games and other games for anyone to stop and play during the weekend, and it wasn’t off in a separate room–it was a visible part of the main hall.  This made it easy for anyone to join in and not feel intimidated.

Second, the biggest complaint of many a fan at every previous Con I have attended is poor access to food and beverages onsite.  Most shows, including the country’s best–San Diego Comic Con–use food as an excuse to push people into the city to check out the finer dining establishments.  Which is fine.  But that wasn’t the case for the Des Moines show.  You didn’t need to waste any time leaving the building for lunch or dinner–everywhere you looked you could find a variety of almost anything you’d want.  Wizard World Des Moines was quite simply #1 for concessions as Comic Cons are concerned.

You can’t emphasize how easy it was to meet celebrities at this show.  Unless you just wanted to arrive early in line to be ahead of everyone else–you didn’t need to.  You could get through any line without the long wait times of other conventions.  Wizard World really had a good plan for the show, allowing you to spend a memorable moment with your favorite personality.

The staff was accessible, the showrunner was available for questions all weekend, and the line staff wasn’t pushy or rude.  Every Con promoter should strive for that kind of service experience.  The vendors were interesting, too, none of those irrelevant “commercial” companies you might find at any convention or expo, that seem to be there only to fill out the floor space.

Finally, parking onsite was convenient and cheap at only $7.

All around, it was a great first, big Comic Con for Des Moines, and for fans from all over the Midwest.

Next up for the region?  Kansas City Comic Con premieres this August.  Check back here at borg.com for updates as that show draws closer!

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Reviewed by C.J. Bunce

For the Fourth of July that is arriving on the heels of the fortieth anniversary of the premiere of the blockbuster movie Jaws, what better time for a summer reading of Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel that the movie is based on?

Well it was a good notion.

And it’s the notion in the novel Jaws–the premise–that fortunately inspired scriptwriter Carl Gottlieb, and Benchley himself–to both expand the novel, and more importantly, whittle it down, into such a finely executed, classic film.

But wait, Jaws was a bestseller!  A book that was on everyone’s bookshelf in the early 1970s!  Who doesn’t remember that book cover, and who didn’t sing the praises of that book?

The first third of the novel is quite good, exciting reading that fans of the film will be familiar with:  The death of a young woman at night swimming with her boyfriend in the northwest beach community of Amity, the politics of Chief Brody and the Mayor keeping the beaches open, and the subsequent death of a boy and lambasting of Brody by the boy’s mother for not closing down the beaches after the first death.  The introductory chapters really set up the reader for a wild ride.

Unfortunately from there the story drifts off course and never returns to the excitement of the set-up.

According to the forward matter in this writer’s own well-read paperback copy from 1974, every major publication from the Washington Post to Publishers Weekly to the Chicago Sun-Times and even the Christian Science Monitor called it “spectacular,” “fascinating,” and a “thriller.”  Yet 1970s standards must be different from today.  Most of the novel meanders through far too many uninteresting subplots.  These include: (1) a mob-influenced mayor trying to maintain real estate values for never seen or revealed partners, (2) a preposterous and oddly coincidental past between Brody’s wife and ichthyologist Hooper and their awkward, sleazy, and call it what it is gross affair in a hotel, (3) a key character, newspaper reporter Harry Meadows, who Gottlieb would play in the film, has a role as large as Hooper’s and Quint’s, despite adding little to the story, (4) the introduction of crusty seaman Quint with virtually no character motivation or development, and (5) a climax scene so brief and bland it’s a miracle this novel was ever noticed by anyone.

Benchley writing quirks include an incessant reference by every character to the great white shark as “the fish.”  It’s a shark, why not just call it a shark?  The repeated reference to that term grates after only a few pages.  For fans of Ernest Hemingway’s equally slow-paced The Old Man and the Sea or Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, Jaws may be a good read: Benchley echoes so many themes from those works that Jaws is somewhat of an homage, even mirroring Ahab’s demise with Quint’s mode of death.  The awkward pacing throughout the book could stand to have a good re-write.  The climactic shark hunt at the story’s end is broken up into days at sea with returns home at night, removing any suspense at all.  And then the story just stops.

Luckily Steven Spielberg hired friend Gottlieb (then known more for his comedy writing) to re-write the story during filming of his production.  Cutting from the script the affair between Hooper and Brody’s wife, giving Quint his memorable backstory aboard the USS Indianapolis, adding so much humor to cut the fear, and removing the newspaperman subplot all contribute significantly to the suspense of the story.  Swapping a natural tendency of a community to protect its wealth during tourist season for the novel’s overdone, complex rationalization incorporating mob elements and a media frenzy, swapping insulting views of coastal societal culture mores for the simplicity of small town politics, and gutting a big city mob element all make the movie so far better as a story that the novel pales compared to it.  Benchley’s view of women and sex in the 1970s should shock the conscience of any present day reader, strangely in the same way Ian Fleming showed his misogyny and skewed view of women in his 1977 novel The Spy Who Loved Me, previously reviewed here at borg.com.

Many a classic novel stands up to scrutiny in any age.  Jaws doesn’t make the cut.  Benchley’s novel likely succeeded in its day because of its novelty–the premise of a shark terrorizing a small town was understandably popular as a suspense/thriller/horror tale for an audience that hadn’t yet read the novels of Michael Crichton.  As bestsellers go, his Jurassic Park flat out runs circles around Jaws.  

Looking for a great summer read?  You’d be better off taking a pass on Jaws.  Instead, watch the movie again or pick up a paperback copy of Jurassic Park.

Nothing is more infuriating than the untimely deaths of people who make you laugh.  John Belushi.  John Candy.  Phil Hartman.  Robin Williams.  A new documentary by Spike takes a look at another one of these comedic gems, the life and death of the explosive personality that was Chris Farley, one of the funniest comedians to ever hail from that elite squad of comics who made their fame via their work on Saturday Night Live. 

Clips of the comedian’s best work from SNL and movies like Tommy Boy and Coneheads are interspersed with interviews of Farley’s friends and family in I Am Chris Farley, giving us some insight into what made this guy tick, including those who knew him the best: David Spade, Dan Aykroyd, Lorne Michaels, Adam Sandler, Jay Mohr, Bob Odenkirk, Molly Shannon, Tom Arnold, and his brother Kevin.

Farley followed in the footsteps of two of his own idols, Belushi and Candy, dying too early at the age of 33 back in 1997 from a drug overdose.  What can we learn from Farley’s death?  What pressure was Farley under, and how did such a quick rise in fame cause Farley to fall just as fast?  Could anyone have helped him along the way?  Here’s the trailer for the new documentary I Am Chris Farley:

I Am Chris Farley is in select theaters nationwide July 31, 2015, and will also become available on Video On Demand on August 11.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Of all the beauty to be found in British Columbia, from the unreal blue waters along Highway 99, to the European feel of Victoria on San Juan Island, to the gondola ride to the top of Whistler, to the Emerald City of Vancouver, you will hardly find anything as mesmerizing as the mountain that resides next to the lovely town of Squamish called Stawamus Chief. 

At the Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, you can enjoy a great picnic with your family and find yourself transfixed at the incredibly polished striations down the mountain’s face, the result of millions of years of erosion.  Driving the Sea to Sky highway between Vancouver and Whistler you will find your eyes drawn to this monstrous entity as you twist along the highway–almost like Mt. Rainier towering over Seattle as you inch closer–until you find yourself in its shadow.  Under the code name “Euclid” you could find the crew of the next Star Trek adventure, Star Trek Beyond, filming their next adventure there this past week.

Just like Vancouver is one of the most popular shooting locations in North America, it’s no wonder the topography draws studios back to this spot time and time again.  While you’re waiting for Star Trek Beyond, try to spot the mighty Chief in any number of Canadian productions as you watch TV and movies every day.  Once you’ve visited Squamish a few times, you’ll experience another level of enjoyment spotting the town and its landmarks in dozens of movies and TV series.

Here are some shows to check out:

• The star-studded and nicely creepy A&E series The Returned is filmed in and around Squamish, and every episode features prominent buildings and easily recognizable natural landmarks.  Catch The Returned season one OnDemand.

• When Adam Sandler took on Bob Barker in 1996 in the film Happy Gilmore, the scene was filmed at the Furry Creek Golf Course in Squamish.
• Re-watch The X-Files and keep an eye out for the area in outdoor footage.
• You can see the area featured prominently in the 2008 Season 4 episode of Supernatural, called “Wishful Thinking”.
• The region can be found in many more TV series and movies, including the Syfy Channel series Continuum, the Twilight films, the 2010 A-Team remake, and Free Willy.

But our favorite use of Squamish and Stawamus Chief can be found in the 2004 remake of Walking Tall.  Not only do you get the great scenery, you get one of our favorite films starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

If Squamish and the Chief seem familiar to you outside of the above shows, it may also be from the coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler, where the area was shown in several features.

And now we’ll have to wait until a year from now, July 8, 2016, to see how the area is portrayed in Star Trek Beyond.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Review by C.J. Bunce

In time for the 40th anniversary of the movie Jaws, Titan Books issued an updated edition of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard, a rare and unusual chronicle of the making of a film.  Told via photographs and interviews from the locals who helped literally make the film, from construction crews to performers tapped to play key roles in the movies, Memories offers yet another view of the making of the first modern summer blockbuster.

What differentiates this book from other works on this movie (or any other movie) is the “local” perspective.  Instead of giving the standard Hollywood view of the “making of” a movie using interviews with the crew and producers as you’d normally find on the TV and Film shelf, the authors, Jaws memorabilia collectors Matt Taylor and Jim Beller, take a historical research approach.  They rely on primary source material, through hundreds of hours of interviews with every islander who would speak with them, newspaper clippings from 1974, scrapbooks and photo albums that have sat on shelves for 35 years, including plenty of information never before seen by the general public.  The result is a story told in photos rarely seen for any film or film franchise–something you’d only find from years of books published about Star Wars, Star Trek, and the Indiana Jones movies.

The story is told chronologically, day by day from the selection of the filming locations on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts to pre-production and on through the wrap-up of filming.  The memorabilia and ephemera pictured includes everything from the remnants of the actual boats used in the movie to the more mundane, like checks and contracts for day laborers.  Yet every piece is interesting, like candid Polaroids showing Robert Shaw’s first day on set and Spielberg at the cabin he lived at during the shoot.  The experience of sifting through all that remains of the production is a bit like spending a weekend at a small town local library researching any historical event from a town’s past.

The lives of the residents mimic the efforts by Peter Benchley to chronicle the people and politics of the fictitious town of Amity in his novel (previously reviewed here at borg.com).  Only unlike Benchley’s annoying and intransigent residents, the islanders in real life, although private, more often seem to have delved right in to participate in the production efforts.

Most astounding in Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard is the use of locals for key roles in the film.  Who knew that the actress that played the grieving Mrs. Kintner–whose young son becomes the shark’s second victim–was played by local drama teacher Lee Fierro, who had to be convinced to play the role, and only if they re-wrote all her dialogue?  And then there is the fellow that works with Quint, who follows him around with his dog in tow.  He was a local tapped because of his own unique Northeast look and mannerisms.  A foreman in charge of all the props was local, as was the manager of all the boating activity.

Taylor and Beller also include comments from art director Joe Alves and screenplay writer and actor Carl Gottlieb, and others, to fill in any missing pieces in the story, as well as a short forward by director Steven Spielberg.

Here is a video trailer for the book:

A good addition to the library of any diehard Jaws movie fan, Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard is available in a new 312-page, giant-sized, revised coffee table edition here from Amazon.com.

San Diego Comic-Con 2015 begins tonight at the San Diego Convention Center, officially remaining the home of the greatest convention in the world for the next few years now that the city has signed new agreements with Comic-Con International.  This past week you may have seen the annual feeding frenzy of naysayers, grumps, and fogeys, many from the mainstream press, who come out of the woodwork each year to talk about “the good old days,” why they aren’t coming back to Comic-Con this year, why they won’t come back again, how “crazy” Comic-Con visitors are, and posting their annual lists of all the reasons Comic-Con is somehow a bad or odd thing.

Don’t believe any of it for a second.

Maybe these folks didn’t score tickets, maybe they truly think a quaint small-town Con with merely a handful of guests and attendees is the best thing since sliced bread, maybe they forget that the good ol’ days weren’t all that good, or maybe they just don’t understand how pervasive pop culture is in the 21st century.

I’ve been to some great San Diego Comic-Con weekends over the years and wouldn’t swap them for anything.  And don’t get me wrong, local and regional Cons are great, but make no mistake, nothing compares to the excitement, energy and all-out fun you can only have in a venue full of 130,000 like-minded people.  You can’t get that anywhere else.

Let’s dispel some Comic-Con myths:

Comic-Con Badges are Too Difficult to Obtain.  The badges required to attend Comic-Con are no harder to get than tickets to anything the excited masses want to attend.  They are no more difficult to obtain than tickets to the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Olympics, the World Cup, the All-Star game, tickets for [insert the name of the current greatest pop or rock band here]… you get the point.  Should attending the big annual nerd and geekfest of the year require any less effort than the biggest sporting event or best music show?  If can follow basic instructions, the SDCC process for purchasing tickets is straightforward.  And you don’t need to attend last year’s show to be able to get into this year’s show–a myth still perpetuated on the interwebs by those not-in-the-know.

Accommodations are Impossible.  In truth, we spirited types, the folks that wouldn’t think twice about going on a week-long hiking trip in the mountains, those spontaneous people always ready to try something new, or those more eccentric people who would spend four days trying to win a car by standing with their hands on it, and those with lesser ambitions, maybe those who simply look forward to hanging out overnight outside in the most beautiful city in the U.S., can simply hang out in lines overnight for Hall H and skip the hotel as I did back in 2012.  Sure, I even had a hotel but spent the night in the lines anyway.  Just bring your backpack.  Con-goers are the best people around.  They will hold the line for you so you can take bathroom breaks.  Despite the ongoing allegations that people at Cons smell bad, I’ve never encountered it.  And if you’re not up to “roughing it,” San Diego and the surrounding areas have great hotels, at rates comparable to any major metropolitan area.  You don’t need a car, just bus in or take a cab.  If you do drive, it’s not that hard to find a place to park relatively close.  Our own borg.com writer Jason McClain drives down each year from Los Angeles and always finds a place nearby.  Easy peasy.

The Lines are Horrible.  Some of the most fun I have had at Comic-Con is standing in line talking to strangers turned friends.  I met my friends Cody and Sam waiting in line back in 2012.  Sure, back before my first Con I heard all the horror stories about the lines.  But once you get there the lines are part of the fun.  Folks who come in groups bring games.  Others swap notes on any and every subject with people around them.  At night the lines spread out as more and more people interact with each other.  Someone loaned me a pillow although I slept none.  The overnight lines are the best all-night party you’ve ever been to.  If you go to the Con for a few days, you can well afford to build in time to see the artists and writers you want to see, a few of the celebrities you want autographs from or want to see at panels, and still have plenty of time to explore the vendor floor, the Gaslight District for food, and the outdoor exhibits surrounding the Convention Center.  I have always found it possible to dip into a panel or two at days’ end and after a day of walking around you’ll probably want to sit for a while and catch your breath.  The better you plan, the more you can see, and the more fun you can have.  If you go with an attitude to have fun–which is the mindset everyone else around you will have–then you will have a stress-free weekend.

It’s Too Expensive.  There’s a misnomer that everything at Comic-Con is expensive.  In truth, there is something for all price ranges, from a $25,000 original artwork from Michael Turner or Alex Ross, to fifty-cent comic book long-boxes to sift through if that’s your jam.  And you’ll find plenty of free swag, too–everything from posters for movies being released next year to cool giveaways of vendor exclusives.

Hollywood has taken over Comic-Con.  Hollywood has an awesome presence at Comic-Con.  You can’t miss the great booths from the likes of Warner Bros. and Disney.  WETA always has one of the best showings at SDCC.  Celebrities will be ushered in and out and you will have ample opportunity to actually talk with some of your favorite TV and movie stars.  Don’t believe people who tell you that there are too many people to be able to rub elbows with celebrities–it’s because there are so many things to do that what *you* want to do is not necessarily what everyone else wants to do.  I’ve seen members of the casts of Star Wars (including Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew) and Star Trek (including Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, and Avery Brooks) at stints with nobody at their booths–easy enough to walk right up and ask questions and get autographs.  By the way, celebrities are just fine with you coming up to talk–you’ll find pretty much none of them require you buy anything, although you’ll find most Con goers are in line for an autograph or photo.  Just ask or look at the celebrity posted rules before snapping photos.  But just as Hollywood has an awesome presence at Comic-Con, so do the comic book creators. “Oh, but C.J., you don’t understand, Comic-Con used to be about the comic book creators.”  It still is!  Just as you can walk up to TV and movie celebrities, you can walk right up to hundreds of comic book writers and artists in Artists Alley, with many artists available to sell artwork or craft a sketch for you.  The same thing that goes for the Hollywood types goes for the comic book icons–there is so much for everyone at SDCC that you will have plenty of opportunities to talk with whomever you want.  I have spent more time–and had greater opportunities–to talk to iconic comic book creators, and even commission artwork at the show from them–at SDCC in the past few years than at local conventions.  Those who think SDCC of 20 years ago was somehow better than today have obviously not actually attended the show in the past 20 years.  Or they have a fear of crowds.  Comic-Con crowds are simply a blast.

Cosplayers have taken over.  So what?  As cosplay has become more and more popular each year, you might find it fun to simply sit on the benches or the hall floors and just watch people.  You’ll find the best costumes of every franchise, superhero, pop culture icon and mash-ups of the new and the old at SDCC.  Some things you’ll recognize, like dozens of Slave Leias, and some you won’t (who is that anime guy?).  If no one around you is talking to each other, be the one to start the conversation.  The next thing you know everyone will be chatting away.  Talking in lines at SDCC is infectious.  And hey–why not wear a costume from your favorite book or show?  At the very least find a shirt with your favorite superhero or favorite classic TV show.  You may feel more a part of the group.  But beware: once you start wearing costumes to events you won’t stop.  The more involved you get, the more fun you’ll have.

The bottom line?  There is something for everyone at Comic-Con.

So if you are attending this year’s show, have the time of your life.  If you aren’t, add San Diego Comic-Con to your bucket list or future vacation planning.  You will not regret it.  And ignore the haters and whiners.  We’re all glad they are staying at home.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

So how can you possibly select the best image from Friday’s sneak preview of Star Wars: The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic-Con?  Really, so many quick glimpses seem to reveal too much too soon.  We now seem to know what everyone will look like, and you can almost begin to piece together scenes and plot lines from the teaser, the trailer, and more than three minutes of previews shown in the Hall H panel at SDCC 2015 yesterday.

Watch the entire sneak preview below.  But first, let’s look at all these great shots from the preview.  It’s the original cast of characters that brings back those memories of seeing Star Wars for the first time.  And the set decoration.  C-3PO in front of the war room glass as we once saw him and Princess Leia long ago.  A certain Wookiee and his pal Han back in the Falcon.  Princess Leia giving someone a talking to, like she did back on Hoth or Yavin.

Then there’s the new.  The remnants of a TIE-Fighter.  An X-Wing pilot named Poe taken prisoner.  Some Jabba’s palace-style denizens.  The new droid.  And stormtroopers everywhere you turn, one with a torch weapon like those that took out Uncle Own and Aunt Beru.

Check out stills from the preview and then watch it all below:

After the panel in Hall H, JJ Abrams invited the entire house of 6,000+ to a symphony concert of Star Wars film music.  Let’s see… do I stick around for the Kevin Smith panel or go to the concert?  It may have been the first empty panel at SDCC in Hall H history.

Come back later for more previews and news from SDCC 2015.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

No film footage or panel footage has yet hit the Interwebs, but meanwhile Quentin Tarentino released the above, beautiful, retro-Western style poster to promote his 2016 release, The Hateful Eight, in advance of his panel at San Diego Comic-Con today.

But the bigger news is that he disclosed that iconic composer Ennio Morricone will be creating the score for the film, his first Western movie score in more than 40 years.  Morricone is known best for Western film classics A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, and Two Mules for Sister Sara.  More recently he’s covered every other genre, including scores for Footloose, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Red Sonja, Once upon a Time in America, Cinema Paradiso, The Untouchables, Wolf, Mission to Mars, and Tarentino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Look for The Hateful Eight in theaters January 8, 2016.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Bummed that you’re not getting your convention fix this weekend because you’re not in San Diego?  Never fear, you can watch the weekend’s panels happening across the street from San Diego Comic-Con at the Nerd HQ event online now.  Just pull-up your GoogleTV or YouTube app and check out the links below.

Here is the line-up for each day.  We’ll update with the link for Sunday’s panels once available.

Thursday, July 9 – Day One

10am: ZACHARY LEVI

12pm: BATTLEBOTS – Alison Haislip, Jessica Chabot, Donald Hutson, Peter Abrahamson, Greg Munson, Matt Maxham, and Chris Cowan

1pm: DEAD RISING – Jesse Metcalfe, Dennis Haysbert, Zach Lipovsky (director), and guests

2:15pm: WILLIAM SHATNER

3:30pm: YVONNE STRAHOVSKI

5pm:  HITMAN: AGENT 47 – Rupert Friend and Hannah Ware

6:30pm  SUPERMANSION – Bryan Cranston, Seth Green, Matt Senreich, Zeb Wells, Heidi Gardner, Tucker Gilmore, and Tom Root

7:30pm  JULIE PLEC, GABE SACHS and Friends

8:30pm  LAST SHIP

Friday, July 10 – Day Two

10am: SHERLOCK – Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue, Rupert Graves

11am: THE VISIT – M. Night Shyamalan, Jason Blum

12pm: Virtual Reality, Project Morpheus, and the Future of Gaming – Geoff Keighley, Dr. Richard Marks (Director of PlayStation Magic Lab, Sony Computer Entertainment), Ben Throop (Frame Interactive), John Drake (Director of Portfolio Strategy, Sony Computer Entertainment)

1:00pm: Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Livestream Play with Zachary Levi and others in a 20 versus 20 battle.

2pm: CON MAN – Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, Nolan North, Michael Trucco, Alison Haislip, PJ Haarsma, Tricia Helfer

3pm: Elijah Wood 4pm: FALLING SKIES – Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Colin Cunningham, Connor Jessup, Sarah Carter, Doug Jones, Olatunde Osunsanmi

5pm: STEPHEN AMELL

6pm: BAD ASS WOMEN

Saturday, July 11 – Day Three

10:45am:  DOCTOR WHO – Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat, Michelle Gomez

12pm: NATHAN FILLION

1pm:  MR. ROBOT – Christian Slater and Rami Malek

2pm: MEN OF ORPHAN BLACK – Jordan Gavaris, Dylan Bruce, Kristian Bruun, Ari Millen

4:45pm: COLONY – Josh Holloway, Sarah Wayne Callies, Ryan Condal, Carlton Cuse, Peter Jacobson

6pm: MYSTERY PANEL 7pm: THE MAZE RUNNER:THE SCORCH TRIALS –

Dylan O’Brien, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Rosa Salazar, Giancarlo Esposito, Wes Ball (Director), James Dashner (Book Author)

Sunday, July 12 – Day Four

10am: THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR – Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, Mark Gagliardi, Hal Lublin, Aaron Ginsburg, Arden Myrin, and Amy Acker 11am: MARVEL: PARTNERS IN PRIME TIME – Chloe Bennett, Clark Gregg, Hayley Atwell, James Darcy

12pm: JOSS WHEDON

1pm: NATHAN FILLION  2:30pm: SUPERNATURAL – Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins and Mark Sheppard

5:15pm: ZACHARY LEVI AND THE PEOPLE HE IS CURRENTLY WORKING WITH….? – Zachary Levi, Jack Coleman, Gatlin Green, Robbie Kay, Ryan Guzman, Danika Yarosh, Henry Zabrowski, Rya Kihlstedt, Judith Shekoni, and Tim Kring

Here are the panels:

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

TBD

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

DC Entertainment and the CW released a first look at the new costume for Oliver Queen’s superhero incarnation the Arrow at the DC panel at San Diego Comic-Con Saturday night.  This suit was crafted by Maya Mani, who also crafted supersuits for Arsenal (Colton Haynes), Black Canary (Katie Cassidy), Speedy (Willa Holland), and Ray Palmer’s Atom.  The original costumes for the series had been designed by Academy Award winning costumer Colleen Atwood.

The new look seems to pull more from the New 52 look at the Smallville supersuit more than any classic look for the character.  Those football pad shoulder pieces are going to take a bit to grow accustomed to.

The panel showed a video (below) recapping the series highlights from 2015 so far.  What it really does is emphasize that Ra’s Al Ghul has the worst name in comicdom and that no one at Warner Bros. must have any idea how it is intended to be pronounced (your guess is as good as ours, but just look at each cast member to see how many different ways it can be said).

Neal McDonough joins CW’s Arrow this season as villain Damien Darhk (sometimes DC Comics seems like it attended the George Lucas school of character naming, doesn’t it?).  McDonough crosses the divide from the Marvel universe, formerly playing the awesome Dum Dum Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Agent Carter.  We’ve also been fans of his work in everything from Quantum Leap to Star Trek: First Contact, from The X-Files to Timeline, and Walking Tall to RED 2.

Here’s the video montage from Saturday night’s panel at Comic-Con:

Arrow returns to the CW on October 7, 2015.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Another banner year for comic books has come and gone.  You can find something for anyone and everyone at your local comic book shop, and the diverse selection of winners of this year’s Eisner Awards illustrates that better than ever.  The latest round of winners were announced this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con.

What’s better than to see winners that you would have selected yourself were you on the judging panel?  Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson can’t publish enough of their Beasts of Burden stories, and we previewed this year’s winner for Best Single Issue, Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, last year here at borg.com.  We couldn’t agree more with this win.  Are you listening, Hollywood?  It’s time for an animated movie from this series.

We also like to be in sync with the critics.  Remember when we picked Greg Smallwood as our Breakout Artist of the Year here at borg.com back in 2013?  Greg was given the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award at this year’s Eisners.  We’re glad others want to see more of his work, too.

It’s also fun to see the rare repeat winners.  Our own borg.com writer Elizabeth C. Bunce shared a panel at Comic-Con with Raina Telgemeier, winner this year as Best Writer/Artist, when she won her first Eisner Award back at SDCC 2011.  Raina won this year for her book Sisters.

And our own local comic book shop couldn’t seem to keep the new Lumberjanes series on the shelves this past year.  Lumberjanes was a multiple winner this year, scoring Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens.

Here is the full slate of 2015 Eisner Award winners:

Best Short Story: “When the Darkness Presses,” by Emily Carroll

Best Continuing Series: Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Limited Series: Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Best New Series: Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot): Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7): The Zoo Box, by Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12): El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17): Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Humor Publication: The Complete Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson (Andrews McMeel)

Best Digital/Web Comic: The Private Eye by Brian Vaughan & Marcos Martin

Best Anthology: Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, edited by Josh O’Neill, Andrew Carl, & Chris Stevens (Locust Moon)

Best Reality-Based Work: Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 2, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New: This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint: Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old): Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old): Steranko Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Blacksad: Amarillo, by Juan Díaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: Showa 1939–1944 and Showa 1944–1953: A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Writer: Gene Luen Yang, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse); The Shadow Hero (First Second)

Best Writer/Artist: Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)

Best Penciller/Inker: Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art): J. H. Williams III, The Sandman: Overture (Vertigo/DC)

Best Cover Artist: Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics Darwyn Cooke Month Variant Covers (DC)

Best Coloring: Dave Stewart, Hellboy in Hell, BPRD, Abe Sapien, Baltimore, Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, Shaolin Cowboy, Aliens: Fire and Stone, DHP (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering: Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism: Comics Alliance, edited by Andy Khouri, Caleb Goellner, Andrew Wheeler, & Joe Hughes

Best Comics-Related Book: Genius Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth, vol. 3, by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell (IDW/LOAC)

Best Scholarly/Academic Work: Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews, edited by Sarah Lightman (McFarland)

Best Publication Design: Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, designed by Jim Rugg (Locust Moon)

Hall of Fame: Judges’ Choices: Marge (Marjorie Henderson Buell), Bill Woggon • Elected: John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Denis Kitchen, Frank Miller

Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award: Bill & Kayre Morrison

Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award: Greg Smallwood

Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comics Writing: Don McGregor, John Stanley

Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award: Packrat Comics, Hilliard, Ohio, owned by Jamie Colegrove and Teresa Colegrove

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com

Review by C.J. Bunce

If you agree last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past is among the best superhero films of all time, and probably the single best film in the Marvel Universe, then you’ll want to see a new director’s cut released this month: X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Rogue Cut.  Especially if you haven’t picked up a copy of the 2014 version on Blu-Ray, this new edition brings together the original theatrical release and The Rogue Cut, plus a disc full of new features, making this the definitive edition for most fans.

It’s the lack of a 3D edition that is the only miss with the new release.  For most people that won’t be a problem.  But if you have embraced 3D television technology like us, you’re just going to be buying a new Blu-Ray to add to last year’s superb Ultimate Edition so you can watch each version from time to time–because you just can’t miss this new edit of the film.

If you’re not aware of the quality of this movie by ace director Bryan Singer, check out our review from last year here at borg.com.  On repeat viewings X-Men: Days of Future Past proves its worthiness as a superhero flick future superhero films will be compared to.  This expanded edition certainly does nothing to diminish the original.  It instead provides 17 minutes of additional scenes that explain plot elements skipped over in the original cut and it provides a better character study of nearly every major player: Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Mystique, Trask, Beast, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, and of course, Rogue.  More Quicksilver (Evan Peters) would have been fun, but you can’t have everything.  But we do learn more from Singer on his audio commentary about that character’s role, and that of Mystique, Beast, Magneto, and the rest of the mutants in next year’s sequel X-Men: Apocalypse.

The features disc includes a nine-part “making of” series and a 30-minute roundtable featuring Singer and most of the show’s stars.  The audio track features Singer and editor/composer John Ottman.  Both provide an excellent look at the storytelling process as adapted to the filmmaker’s role.

New scenes, some of which are only seconds long, are seamlessly edited into the theatrical version.  One set of scenes features a candle lit memorial to the fallen Mutants in the future timeline where the story begins–a world Singer acknowledges to be a play on the dim future of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  Young Mutants argue over the plan proposed by Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) to send someone’s consciousness back through time, including probably Storm’s (Halle Berry) best scene in the film as well as scenes with the stunning future Mutant Blink (Bingbing Fan).  We get to know these new Mutants, which doesn’t happen so much in the original cut, and see more Patrick Stewart and Magneto (Ian McKellen).  Stewart and McKellen’s time on screen seemed lacking in comparison to their younger selves later in the film.  The Rogue Cut rebalances the film to parallel more of the past and future.

One new scenes features an excellent Wolverine fight scene with mobsters.  Another humorous scene has Beast and Charles goading Wolverine for being crazy in his talk about time travel.  A brief scene offers up a joke about the Internet by Wolverine and Beast.  A re-edited music queue created by Ottman revolves around Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).  A scene laying the groundwork to introduce Scarlet Witch–Quicksilver’s sister–plays out in Quicksilver’s home.

Other new scenes include the past’s Charles/Professor X (James McAvoy) and Eric/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) playing chess on a private jet, a bigger role for President Nixon, extended dialogue between Charles and Raven while she waits at the airport, the destruction of Cerebro, dialogue between Charles and U.S. war veteran, an expanded lifting of the stadium scene, the death of a superhero–who didn’t die in the original cut–and a love triangle giving a very Shakespearean feel to the film’s climax, and finally, a hilarious coda during the film credits that mirrors a scene early in the movie.

And we haven’t even discussed the inclusion of Rogue (Anna Paquin) and her elaborate role in saving the future by partially replacing scenes shot with Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), despite being cut almost entirely from the theatrical version.  These scenes provide the basis for far more Stewart and McKellen scenes, including a must-see scene shot in parallel with the characters of the past as they rescue Rogue from the future Xavier Academy.

Equal in punch to the Rogue scenes are scenes with Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Beast and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) (which Singer says will be elaborated on in X-Men: Apocalypse), and a critical role for Iceman (Shawn Ashmore).

Pick up your copy of X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Rogue Cut, from Amazon.com here, available now.