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selenakBefore I get to the review part of this entry, some other things:
1.) I listened to the audio commentary for ST XI by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. Highlights:
- "I learned on Alias that you shouldn't provide too much in the way of explanations and information, or you're confusing the audience. Didn't you also learn that on Lost?"
- it's still obvious Orci & Kurtzman are the ones familiar with Star Trek and Abrams remains the Star Wars fanboy. "This is Luke and the twin suns!" (About Kirk watching the building yard.) "This is Luke on Hoth!" (Yes, dear, I think everyone noticed that.) On the other hand, re: Ben Cross: "He has even identical bone structure to Leonard Nimoy." Orci: "And Mark Lenard." Abrams: ?
- As this was something of a matter of discussion: they really are crystal clear that this is meant to be a genuine Alternate Universe, or, as they put it in the commentary, parallel universe, not a timeline replacing the already existing one from TOS and ensuing spin-offs; something in addition to, not in replacement of. This basic premise of the entire film was "the only way we could think of to make this both lovable to Trekkers and to people who never heard of Star Trek".
- J.J., if you think the audience didn't know already Spock would beat Kirk in a fight, you really haven't watched TOS.
- much praise for the actors, especially Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy
- the day Walter Koenig visited the set was when the Kirk and Sulu fall to their almost death sequence was shot, which involved Chris Pine and John Cho clinging to each other in front of a mirror. "He must have thought this was going to be the worst film ever. I said "Walter, I swear the film isn't just about two guys clinging to each other in front of a mirror." Damon Lindelof: " I would watch that."
- Orci & Kurtzman wrote that sequence as a homage to Galaxy Quest, "one of my favourite Star Trek movies ever"
- The deaths of Amanda and Kirk Senior are all the fault of the drunken policeman in Liverpool who ran Julia Lennon over with his car and Mary McCartney getting cancer. Because our scriptwriting duo does what they did in an interview already again and explains that young Kirk and Spock are totally John Lennon and Paul McCartney. "They were opposites, they clashed as much as they agreed, but they bonded because both of them had lost their mother." (This Kirk/Spock = Lennon/McCartney thing still cracks me up. Asskywaterblue stated, clearly this makes Sulu George. I still haven't made up my mind whether McCoy or Scotty is the better Ringo.).
- "When we get kicked out of the franchise, I mean, when our tenure of Star Trek ends, the very last thing that will happen will be Archer's beagle rematerializing. That'll be the last image."
2.) Apparantly John Simm went all fanboy about David Tennant in DWM 416, swearing, among other things, eternal masterly fidelity ("David is my Doctor"). Quite right, too; I think if and when they bring the Master back for future incarnations, whether for Eleven or subsequent Doctors, he should mirror/contrast that particular Doctor and be played by a different actor. IMO John Nathan-Turner did Anthony Ainley no favours by giving his Master Roger Delgado's look. Different incarnations of the Master should be as different as different incarnations of the Doctor are. One of the reasons why Simm!Master works so well for me is how he specifically mirrors the Tenth Doctor.
3.) Fanfic recs:
Being Human: Everything arrives at the light is a lovely, lovely OT3 friendship story about George, Annie and Mitchell. No spoilers.
Astonishing X-Men: Gravity. Covering the transition period between Joss Whedon's run and Warren Ellis' for my favourite couple, Hank McCoy and Abigail Brand, from Hank's pov. I love this story quite a lot.
Which brings me to:
4.) Review!
The second issue brings on the darker tones, as the readers are aware that while Brand, Beast & Lockheed are having a fun action adventure, the big round-up of aliens has started and a trap awaits them. The bounty hunter confrontation continues to bring on the one liners (trust Hank to come up with a politically correct term for bounty hunter). I think my biggest grin came during the meta joke on Marvel's tendency to constantly blow up the heroes' HQ's, when Brand said the Peak, while being rebuild, isn't the Avenger's Mansion and Hank added "or the X-Mansion". Lothi actually having stolen the artifact despite previous protests of innocence was no surprise. He's so Lydia and Wickham in one person in this scenario.
But the big suspense here didn't come from the action plot but what was going on in the Peak at the meantime, and from the last few pages when our heroes find out what Henry Gyrich has done. Hank's initial "I don't think I want to talk to you" to Scott clarifies something I've been wondering about, to wit, whether SWORD is supposed to take place before or after Uncanny X-Men. The current UXM storyline which has him preparing to leave specifically because of his issues with Scott and Scott's leadership in recent times leads directly into this. And note how Abigail is in control throughout the issue until the panel where Hank (who doesn't know she didn't know) confronts her with "what kind of fascist organization have you tied me to?" That she loses all her verbal quickness right there is a show, not tell way of demonstrating that for all their banter and her abrasiveness, his good opinion is really important to her.
As for the cliffhanger: my guess is we'll have a mass breakout next issue. For starters, because all the arrested aliens are from other titles and can't be removed from their titles' storylines for long, and secondly, because now that Brand has been arrested as an alien as well, this is so what she would do. It's her station, after all, and she knows it best. Now, what she and Hank will do afterwards is something I don't know, because while they plus Lockheed plus the other S.W.O.R.D. employes not human and thus under lock and key could be able to stage a takeover, this would not exactly convince anyone on Earth that they're not fifth columnists. So my second guess is that after the break-out (and the departure of Karolina & Co. to their own titles), there will be an attack by a third party which will force Gyrich and Brand to a temporary truce and working together.
1.) I listened to the audio commentary for ST XI by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. Highlights:
- "I learned on Alias that you shouldn't provide too much in the way of explanations and information, or you're confusing the audience. Didn't you also learn that on Lost?"
- it's still obvious Orci & Kurtzman are the ones familiar with Star Trek and Abrams remains the Star Wars fanboy. "This is Luke and the twin suns!" (About Kirk watching the building yard.) "This is Luke on Hoth!" (Yes, dear, I think everyone noticed that.) On the other hand, re: Ben Cross: "He has even identical bone structure to Leonard Nimoy." Orci: "And Mark Lenard." Abrams: ?
- As this was something of a matter of discussion: they really are crystal clear that this is meant to be a genuine Alternate Universe, or, as they put it in the commentary, parallel universe, not a timeline replacing the already existing one from TOS and ensuing spin-offs; something in addition to, not in replacement of. This basic premise of the entire film was "the only way we could think of to make this both lovable to Trekkers and to people who never heard of Star Trek".
- J.J., if you think the audience didn't know already Spock would beat Kirk in a fight, you really haven't watched TOS.
- much praise for the actors, especially Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy
- the day Walter Koenig visited the set was when the Kirk and Sulu fall to their almost death sequence was shot, which involved Chris Pine and John Cho clinging to each other in front of a mirror. "He must have thought this was going to be the worst film ever. I said "Walter, I swear the film isn't just about two guys clinging to each other in front of a mirror." Damon Lindelof: " I would watch that."
- Orci & Kurtzman wrote that sequence as a homage to Galaxy Quest, "one of my favourite Star Trek movies ever"
- The deaths of Amanda and Kirk Senior are all the fault of the drunken policeman in Liverpool who ran Julia Lennon over with his car and Mary McCartney getting cancer. Because our scriptwriting duo does what they did in an interview already again and explains that young Kirk and Spock are totally John Lennon and Paul McCartney. "They were opposites, they clashed as much as they agreed, but they bonded because both of them had lost their mother." (This Kirk/Spock = Lennon/McCartney thing still cracks me up. As
skywaterblue stated, clearly this makes Sulu George. I still haven't made up my mind whether McCoy or Scotty is the better Ringo.).- "When we get kicked out of the franchise, I mean, when our tenure of Star Trek ends, the very last thing that will happen will be Archer's beagle rematerializing. That'll be the last image."
2.) Apparantly John Simm went all fanboy about David Tennant in DWM 416, swearing, among other things, eternal masterly fidelity ("David is my Doctor"). Quite right, too; I think if and when they bring the Master back for future incarnations, whether for Eleven or subsequent Doctors, he should mirror/contrast that particular Doctor and be played by a different actor. IMO John Nathan-Turner did Anthony Ainley no favours by giving his Master Roger Delgado's look. Different incarnations of the Master should be as different as different incarnations of the Doctor are. One of the reasons why Simm!Master works so well for me is how he specifically mirrors the Tenth Doctor.
3.) Fanfic recs:
Being Human: Everything arrives at the light is a lovely, lovely OT3 friendship story about George, Annie and Mitchell. No spoilers.
Astonishing X-Men: Gravity. Covering the transition period between Joss Whedon's run and Warren Ellis' for my favourite couple, Hank McCoy and Abigail Brand, from Hank's pov. I love this story quite a lot.
Which brings me to:
4.) Review!
The second issue brings on the darker tones, as the readers are aware that while Brand, Beast & Lockheed are having a fun action adventure, the big round-up of aliens has started and a trap awaits them. The bounty hunter confrontation continues to bring on the one liners (trust Hank to come up with a politically correct term for bounty hunter). I think my biggest grin came during the meta joke on Marvel's tendency to constantly blow up the heroes' HQ's, when Brand said the Peak, while being rebuild, isn't the Avenger's Mansion and Hank added "or the X-Mansion". Lothi actually having stolen the artifact despite previous protests of innocence was no surprise. He's so Lydia and Wickham in one person in this scenario.
But the big suspense here didn't come from the action plot but what was going on in the Peak at the meantime, and from the last few pages when our heroes find out what Henry Gyrich has done. Hank's initial "I don't think I want to talk to you" to Scott clarifies something I've been wondering about, to wit, whether SWORD is supposed to take place before or after Uncanny X-Men. The current UXM storyline which has him preparing to leave specifically because of his issues with Scott and Scott's leadership in recent times leads directly into this. And note how Abigail is in control throughout the issue until the panel where Hank (who doesn't know she didn't know) confronts her with "what kind of fascist organization have you tied me to?" That she loses all her verbal quickness right there is a show, not tell way of demonstrating that for all their banter and her abrasiveness, his good opinion is really important to her.
As for the cliffhanger: my guess is we'll have a mass breakout next issue. For starters, because all the arrested aliens are from other titles and can't be removed from their titles' storylines for long, and secondly, because now that Brand has been arrested as an alien as well, this is so what she would do. It's her station, after all, and she knows it best. Now, what she and Hank will do afterwards is something I don't know, because while they plus Lockheed plus the other S.W.O.R.D. employes not human and thus under lock and key could be able to stage a takeover, this would not exactly convince anyone on Earth that they're not fifth columnists. So my second guess is that after the break-out (and the departure of Karolina & Co. to their own titles), there will be an attack by a third party which will force Gyrich and Brand to a temporary truce and working together.
