Dylan Todd
No Leia Haters: Why Retiring the Slave Bikini From ‘Star Wars’ is Excellent News
According to Facebook comments by artist J. Scott Campbell, Marvel and its parent company Disney are phasing out the "Slave Leia" costume from their merchandising and publications. If the reports are true, the move suggests that Disney is stepping away with the most degrading canon representation of one of Star Wars' few female characters in an effort to broaden the appeal of the franchise to include more women and girls. The metal bikini and elf shoes could soon be a thing of the past.
And to this I say: it's about frickin' time.
‘Star Wars’ #1 Advance Review: Jason Aaron & John Cassaday Offer A New Hope For Lapsed Fans
Star Wars and Marvel Comics have a long history. A Marvel adaptation of the original sci-fi-fantasy film appeared in April 1977, a month before A New Hope dominated multiplexes in May of the same year. The success of the film as well as the comics led to a volume of over 100 issues over a nine-year span, featuring stories about what happened to the heroes of the Rebellion between their big screen adventures.
Following Marvel parent Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, this week sees the return of the Star Wars Universe to the Marvel banner, with a new ongoing series from Jason Aaron and John Cassaday launching on Wednesday. It's a strong debut from an A-list creative team who manages to capture the feel of George Lucas's film A New Hope while still taking advantage of the entirety of the Saga.
7 Dark Horse ‘Star Wars’ Comics You Must Read Before Marvel Wipes Them Out… All Of Them
If you listened hard when Disney announced that it had bought Lucasfilm, you could hear it: millions of expanded universe stories suddenly crying out in terror, and suddenly silenced. For the last 23 years, Dark Horse Comics has been adding to the Star Wars saga, publishing a host of comics set in that galaxy far, far away, partnering with Lucasfilm to help weave a vibrant tapestry of stories, characters and settings to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the films, books, video games, trading card games, RPG handbooks, and (ugh) Holiday Specials.
Well, no more. Starting in 2015, Disney's handing the publishing of any and all new Star Wars comics over to Marvel Comics, with an all new, optimized-for-corporate-synergy canon that will spread across all their media platforms. Anything that's not a movie (especially one of the Original Trilogy movies), or a Clone Wars cartoon, will be unceremoniously Order 66-ed out of existence, giving future filmmakers a clean-ish slate to make movies (and money) on. But what about all those Dark Horse comics? That's where we come in with 7 Dark Horse Star Wars comics you should track down before they disappear.
‘The Flash’ Season 1 Recap, Episode 9: ‘The Man in the Yellow Suit’
Welcome back to Up To Speed, home of the the Flashest Recaps Alive. Here we’ll recap the episode, dispense some Flash Facts and talk about what works, what doesn’t and where the series might be headed, as we try and keep up with the adventures of Central City’s (apparently, second-)fastest man, Barry Allen, more widely known as The Flash.
This week, we’re looking at the ninth episode episode of the first season and the mid-season finale, “The Man In the Yellow Suit,” which features the return of a meta-emo Ronnie Raymond, lots of Chrimbus cheer, and, well, a Man In A Yellow Suit.
‘Arrow’ Season 3 Recap, Episode 8: ‘The Brave & The Bold’
The CW’s superhero series Arrow re-imagines Green Arrow for a TV audience as a tough, often ruthless vigilante bent on setting things right in his home of Starling City by punishing the wicked. ComicsAlliance’s Flash recapper Dylan Todd steps in for one crossover episode of our Arrow recap series, Pointed Commentary.
This week: It's a CROSSOOOOVER, as Starling City gets all Flashed up, Captain Boomerang comes sailing back, and Ollie gets called a "jerkwad."
‘The Flash’ Season 1 Recap, Episode 7: ‘Power Outage’
Welcome back to Up To Speed, home of the the Flashest Recaps Alive. Here we’ll recap the episodes, dispense some Flash Facts and talk about what works, what doesn’t and where the series might be headed, as we try and keep up with the adventures of Central City’s finest hero, Barry Allen: The Artist Formerly Known As The Flash.
This week, we’re looking at the seventh episode episode of the first season, “Power Outage,” which features a guy with zap-hands looking for revenge, a Time Lord with Asperger’s, and a cop hopped up on goofballs. Hold on to your butts, cuz things are about to get zaptastic.
‘The Flash’ Season 1 Recap, Episode 5: ‘Plastique’
Welcome back to Up To Speed, home of the the Flashest Recaps Alive. Here we’ll recap the episodes, dispense some Flash Facts and talk about what works, what doesn’t and where the series might be headed, as we try and keep up with the adventures of Central City’s finest hero, Barry Allen: aka the Red Blur, aka The Funky Flashman, aka The Flash.
We had a skip week! I missed you so much! You look great! Did you do something new with your hair? Well, it is working, let me tell you. This week, we’re looking at the fifth episode episode of the first season of The Flash, featuring a woman who is literally the bomb, more than two disastrous heart-to-heart chats, and the wonder that is Clancy Brown. So let’s light the fuse on this week’s episode, “Plastique.”
‘The Flash’ Season 1 Recap, Episode 4: “Going Rogue”
Welcome back to Up To Speed, home of the the Flashest Recaps Alive. Here we’ll recap the latest episode of The Flash, dispense some Flash Facts and talk about what works, what doesn’t and where the series might be headed, as we try and keep up with the adventures of Central City’s finest hero, Barry Allen: aka the Red Blur, aka Funkmaster Flash, aka The Flash.
This week, we’re looking at the fourth episode episode of the first season, wherein we’re introduced to a pretty cooooool guy. (This is clever wordplay because the villain is a guy named Captain Cold who has an ice-gun.) Let’s get started on, “Going Rogue”!
‘The Flash’ Season 1 Recap, Episode 3: ‘Things You Can’t Outrun’
Welcome back to Up To Speed, home of the the Flashest Recaps Alive. Here we’ll recap the episodes, dispense some Flash Facts and talk about what works, what doesn't and where the series might be headed, as we try and keep up with the adventures of Central City’s finest hero, Barry Allen: aka the Red Blur, aka The Flash.
This week, we’re looking at the third episode episode of the first season, which finds The Flash squaring off against a man who can turn into a cloud. You will believe a man can cloud in this week’s episode, “Things You Can’t Outrun”!
Never Hesitated For A Second: Jason Aaron On Writing ‘Star Wars’ For Marvel [Interview]
Arguably the "biggest" announcement of Comic-Con weekend was Marvel's unveiling of the creative teams for its first three all-new Star Wars comics. The new books have been hotly anticipated since plans for Marvel Star Wars books were first announced back in January, shortly after the company's corporate parent, Disney, acquired Star Wars creator George Lucas' Lucasfilm.
Kieron Gillen and Salvador Larroca will team for a Darth Vader ongoing series; Mark Waid and Terry Dodson will author a five-issue Princess Leia miniseries; and Jason Aaron and John Cassaday have been named as the creative team for a Star Wars ongoing series. The three series will launch through the first quarter of 2015, each telling original stories set between the events of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back — the obvious place within the original trilogy to expand the universe and explore the characters.
The core Star Wars title from Aaron and Cassaday will naturally focus on the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo as they go up against Darth Vader’s imperial forces. To learn more about the project, ComicsAlliance spoke with Aaron and series editor Jordan D. White (unfortunately Cassaday was not available for comment before publication time).