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Tales of the Jedi

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Tales of the Jedi I learned of the Dark Horse comic series The Tales of the Jedi in high school. I have enjoyed the Star Wars movies ever since I was young; even saw the original release of Return of the Jedi  in the theater. Star Wars was a large part of how we played growing up, many of us had figurines and vehicles, we’d pretend to fly speeder-bikes while riding our bicycles, and who hasn’t picked the cardboard core of used wrapping paper and used it as a lightsaber?  I liked the lightsaber wielding characters but the free spirited untethered to explore the galaxy Han Solo was my favorite. Why did I like Star Wars? All the things kids grew up with are kind of captured in Star Wars, I think of things like medieval knights.  When Tales of the Jedi came out it was over a decade since Return of the Jedi was released. There was talk that George Lucas planned prequels and sequels, and fans were waiting. Splinter of the Minds Eye, Heir to the Empire, and the Jedi Academy books, the later i
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Chicago Comic Con

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Chicago Comic Con So, I tried to make a post on Friday before I left for Chicago Comic Con, but the internet went down. It's probably better because I was only going to later post what happened later. Everything started out alright until we got to Chicago. THE TRAFFIC WAS TERRIBLE! We left early in the hopes of get to the center early and we sat in traffic for an hour and maybe moved 5 miles at best! Moral of the Story: Leave Early! Know your route and if you can if there is any construction. Now that we are past that. once We go there we saw the usually suspects of Awesome Cos-players!  We made our way around the convention center when I noticed some images by Frank Frazetta that were printed to about 24 X 36in poster sized pictures. After speaking to one of the guys for a bit he mentioned that Robert Rodriguez a friend and fan of Frank Frazetta photographed the paintings in order to help raise the funds for a gallery dedicated to Frank Frazetta that would display his worl
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San Diego Comic Con (revisit) plus leaked Spider-man 2 trailer

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San Diego Comic Con (revisit) plus leaked Spider-man 2 trailer Hello once again Comic Fans! Since I posted about San Diego Comic Con last time a lot of things have developed. Zack Snyder announced Batman will be in the next Superman movie and even flirting with the idea it maybe based on Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns. I'm doubting how much this is actually going to happen due to the idea that it is a sequel to Superman and that it will precede a Justice League movie. Dark Knight Returns takes place when Bruce Wayne is in his 60's. I could talk all day about this.  The other thing that was announced was that is the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie Thanos will appear! along with Nebula, Ronan, Gamora, and the Galactic Space Empire known as the Kree! Also Glenn Close to play the leader Nova Prime head of the Nova Corps! This implies that we may see Nova and Captain Marvel. I say implies because it's not certain but it definitely leaves room for the possibi
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The Wolverine

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The Wolverine It's a difficult task to condense over thirty years of a characters history and experiences down to a two hour film. Some of the best moments of the character gets glazed over, connections between character and reader also lost in translation. Arguably Wolverines best moments are in the comics and not in the films, but an attempt has been made to connect the audience to the character that is Wolverine. A character that is renown for his savagery in battle and his haphazard disregard for rules, authority, or the chain of command. He's the best at what he does and he does it the best when left alone. The comics deal with his issues and like most comics circulate around the same character defects over and over. For a reader like me that wants to see his characters develop, get past there defects and develop to their potential it becomes difficult to see this recycling in comics, but it happens. The movies are some what forced to it differently. If a character d
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How We Perceive Film, TV, Comics, Video Games, Etc.

How We Perceive Film, TV, Comics, Video Games, Etc. Everyone has developed different expectations when it comes to comic book based movies. Some are interested in a 'True-to-the-comic' depiction of the characters or in some cases the plot (if it is derived from a particular arc). Others like to alter the characters or plot to make it fit into a general familiarity of the human condition more or less stripping them of the nuances found in the comics over the years, but sometimes necessary to condense the character down in order for it to fit into a film lasting only a couple of hours. Some care more about the film and how it is presented and how it fits into the classic understanding of film. Finally, there is another group more interested in taking the content and turning it into a film that challenges the boundaries and the average understanding of films, sometimes this doesn't sit well with general audiences until it develops a regular audience, examples; Tim Burton,
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San Diego Comic Con!

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San Diego Comic Con! Well, San Diego Comic Con start yesterday 7/18/13, and it's causing me to think back to last year when I went. It is one of the most intense weekends I have had. San Diego Comic Con is the mecca of Comic Cons, unveiling new movie, games and other media related events. Actually to use the word comic when describing these cons is a bit of a misnomer, these events have more then just comics or comic related stuff but rather it should be referred to as a Universal Media Convention. Along with the above mentioned events Celebrities show up to connected with fans, taking photo ops, signing photos, or simply answering fans questions during panel discussions. Outside of these events artists line up to show their work to the industries leading professionals. Companies debut latest designs in software and equipment pertaining to all artists ranging from Painters, Illustrators to 3D Modeling and Practical Creature Creation, these events are for all artists. Last ye
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Pacific Rim

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Pacific Rim I saw Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D and unless your a real fan of Monsters or Giant Robots and will watch it no matter what IMAX 3D is my recommended form of watching it. Critics have had some good things to say about it. With all of the films high fantasy positives I can understand that it maybe a bit too much for some people. The films cameras focus in on fast and some times mangled up fights between the robots and monsters, these fights typically take place at night. As rule each shot of an effect shouldn't last more then 30 frames. This helps prevent the eye from recognizing it as an effect. So most directors will stick to this rule and in a slug fests like this it may force some of the sequences to appear blurred or visually over stimulating. There is something else to be said about the results of this technique, when applied correctly the over whelming feeling can lead the the audience to feel the relief of making it through a battle well fought when the heroes re
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