Why Jar Jar Binks is Responsible For Everything

Alright, let's be honest...We all hate Jar Jar Binks. There's no reason not to. He's annoying. His slapstick and awkwardness distracts us from the movies in a way which compromises their flow.

Some hate him more than others:


or "Death to the great hated Jar Jar Binks!"


Personally, I feel that Jar Jar was a mistake. The other Gungans were bearable and had a purpose, but due to his antics, Jar Jar's point in the movies is difficult to be realized. So let me lay it out for you:

Episode 1:
Jar Jar Binks is responsible for setting up Star Wars as we know it. Without Jar Jar, you wouldn't have Obi Won meeting Anakin, a Clone War, a Galactic Republic, or Luke & Leia. Seem absurd? I thought so two when I first realized it, but let's look at the facts:

-Jar Jar meets Qui-Gon and Obi Won. It is only through Jar Jar's "help" that they make it to the capital in time to get Padmé.

-He tells Padmé of the "grand army" the Gungans have. Through his introductions, Boss Nass and Padmé create a resistance army to the Trade Federation. Jar Jar even destroys some droid (albeit by being moronic).

Episode 2:
-Jar Jar once again shows his stupidity (and that of Padmé) when he takes over for Padmé in the Galactic Senate. He then proposes to give Palpatine emergency powers. He has now handed control of the Republic to a Sith lord, thereby creating the Empire.

Episode 3:
This is where you say, "But...Jar Jar isn't properly in Revenge of the Sith! He just walks/stands and says, "Excuse me." But, if we look at the deleted scenes, we see he joins the Delegation of 2000, the body with forms the Rebel Alliance.


So there you have it. Without Jar Jar you essentially have no Star Wars. I'm not saying that the same couldn't be said about other minor characters, since Lucas made the prequels and interconnected set of fan-service, but he's quite important to the overall scheme of things.

Revisiting the Trilogy

I watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi again this week and have come to a realization: Jedi is in no way as bad as I thought it was originally.



The first half of Jedi is well done, dark, and does an excellent job of displaying the drastic change in character of Luke Skywalker. Also, Boba Fett is awesome. Just pure badass.


Now, I will admit that the sections with the Ewoks are campy and many times I found myself wishing that they had just put in Wookies in their place. those segments weren't the best parts of the series, but I have to say that the prequels really do make you appreciate the lack of CGI in those first movies. The creativity used to put on space battles and incorporate a vast array of aliens is impressive.

I'll rank Jedi higher on my list of movies from now on. Hopefully, someone can just recut the entire series to eliminate all traces of Ewoks and Gungans. Also, I'd like Attack of the Clones to stay a bit darker (literally and figuratively) and stick with its film noir influences.

Left4Dead 2: The Big Easy

Alright folks, the Left4Dead 2 trailer was released at E3:



Now, this is simply awesome. I love the New Orleans concept. It really had a great feel and one of my friends currently living there cannot even begin to express his excitement for it. I've seen complaints about the atmosphere being compromised because of the daylight, but I think it will be perfect as long as that humid haze is kept in the sky. From my visit to the area, that crushing humidity made it feel like you were struggling to move and that's what I'll be imagining as I fight off the zombie hordes.

I'm particularly excited about the melee weapons. From the trailer, it looks like there will be a chainsaw, axe, baseball bat, and frying pan. It adds a great comic element to the game, which left my friends and I scared to death the first few days we played it (after awhile, you block out the moans and screams and only listen for the 'boss' sounds of the boomer, smoker, hunter, and tank).

Needless to say, everyone I know is pretty excited for it. We'll see how well Valve did and if they'll actually stick to their release date of November 17th. I'm guessing they will since all they're really doing is giving us new maps, character models, and weapons. There probably won't be a big change in gameplay: you're going to wade through hordes, kill bosses, activate some piece of machinery to get to the next area, and run to safe houses. I've stopped playing L4D for a few months now because it got boring playing the same maps, even with the randomization. What would really impress me would be if there was a drastic new element in L4D2 that made my jaw drop (and yes, I'm ecstatic about the chainsaw, but it's still just a weapon) like new interaction with the environment, puzzles, etc. We'll see in the fourth quarter...

My Comic Book Collection

Alright, so I spend a good amount of time talking about comics, so I should talk a bit about my collection, why I began collecting comics, and what collecting comic books means to me.

Here's my collection:

I have 21 Sterilite boxes that you can pick up at Walmart for $4.00 or so. They stack nicely, have handles, and are good for transport. Each one holds an estimated 100 comics. I'm making a guess on this since not all my comics are bagged and boarded (Horrors!) so they take up less space. I also have new comics, a collection of ~70 graphic novels/TPB, a stack of 2000A.D. which is magazine sized, some Silver Age comics that just don't fit in the way I'm comfortable with. So we can approximate my collection at 2100-2500 comics.

The highlights of my collection:
-50-70% of all Valiant/Acclaim comics including a rare Chaos Effect Alpha red variant
-Almost the entirety of the Scud: The Disposable Assassin series (minus #1 1st printing and one or two later issues) and the first set of TPBs
-About 20 Sonic the Hedgehog comics from fairly early in the series (~30-50)
-Fantastic Four #150
-Tales to Astonish #97
-The Mercenary: The Cult of the Sacred Fire & The Formula. by V. Segrelles (its apparently worth around $50 used and $150 new...I think I got it for a few bucks at a used book store)
-The first appearance of Bishop in Uncanny X-Men #282, plus the surrounding issues
-The 1st printings of all the first Marvel Zombies series

Why I began collecting:

The first comic I ever remember getting was X-Men #1 with Gambit on the cover at a flea market. My dad got it for me and I read it repeatedly even though I didn't understand most of what was going on. Then I got a copy of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #1 from a friend and thought that was great. So did my dad. He read Turok as a kid. In fact, he had a neighbor who worked for Marvel and fed my uncle and him comics every week, two weeks before they hit newsstands. He had Spider-Man #1. Hulk. Fantastic Four. All of them. He sold them in a tag sale. Oh well. Anyway, back to me...I started to get a bit of interest in comics due to cartoons like Uncanny X-Men and Sonic the Hedgehog, so when I was about 9 I read Sonic whenever my mom went shopping at the good supermarket that carried it. Then I stopped reading comics for almost a decade. I still went to comic book stores. They were awesome and I could get Magic cards or whatever I was into at the time. I still picked up Turok comics anytime I was at a flea market and read anything my dad got for me, but that was it. I didn't truly collect.

At some point when I was going into/was in college I got this craving for comics. It consumed me. I don't know why, but I now wanted not just to read and read, but collect and collect. Anyone that went places with me in college probably sat through me going through stacks and discount piles in search of Valiant back issues or trying to find an elusive Scud (Thanks for putting up with me!).

Around the time Infinite Crisis was finishing up I stopped buying and collecting as much. I didn't need every variant cover and didn't want to buy something just because it could be a collectible. That seemed stupid and trivial. I think at this point I came to an epiphany and decided that content was much more important. I wanted to read the best comics out there. This meant I pretty much abandoned DC and Marvel and went to the Vertigo imprint, Dark Horse, and indies. I loved dark stories and real life problems. I bought Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Garth Ennis, Mike Carey, and others...

What collecting means to me:

My girlfriend studies museums and had class interviews with collectors. Now, these people had art and artifacts, like Picasso sketches and indigenous costumes. Still, she understood why they collected those, but not comic books. My explanation was vague and not truly sufficient, so I'll attempt to do a better job here.

Comic books are not simply periodicals like Cosmopolitan or Time. Yes, they come out monthly and are made from the same materials, but there is no value put on many of the back issues of these publications.

Here's a few points on the $$$ relation to collecting:
-Comic books contain both art and writing, allowing for its readers to enjoy two artistic endeavors fused by a single medium. So there is an appreciation of ascetics in owning comics. A great artist or writer may raise a comics monetary value.
-Comic books have fluctuating print runs and an issue with fewer copies can be worth significantly more and call for a reprint. Value is placed on their rarity.
-A famous character's first appearance or first issue may be worth a significant amount of money.

Alright, so those are pretty common sense. Here's some other points regarding "value" that aren't just about money:
-An individual connects with a particular character or story so that the comic has personal sentimental value to them.
-In my case, many comics I buy are those my dad read as a child. We connect when talking about them and bond. They give us a shared memory and link us together.
-Some characters, such as Superman, are linked to the collective memory of the American public. We all associate with truth, justice, and the American way. Plus the movies. Captain America's death made headlines.
-Speaking of Cap't, his creator said, upon learning of his death, that the country needs a hero now more than ever. Comic book heroes embody the values and hopes of a generation. Steve Rodgers fought Nazis. Green Arrow touts social justice. Peter Parker is just trying to make it through life. People connect with them for all sorts of reasons.
-Owning a rare comic gives one social worth in the collecting community. I'm sure that any hard-core collector could tell you who "The Dentist" is (he owns the Holy Grail of comics, a 9.4 Action Comics #1).

Having the comic books there is a reminder of the above points so that you can pick one up, be it bagged & boarded, CGC sealed, or wrinkled and torn and reconnect to that initial feeling anytime. Sure, my copy of X-Men #1 has the cover falling off and is a bit torn, but I'll never forget being a seven year old and asking my dad at the Redwood flea market (on the side by the road) for that Jim Lee cover. It got put in a black plastic bag and we got in the blue pick-up truck. It was just like the cartoon, but on paper. I read it and then read it again. I still read it.

April 22 Reviews

Alright, so I bought some comics today (and may buy more later) so here's my take on them.

Detective Comics #853 (DC):
"Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" part 2 of 2 by Neil Gaiman/Andy Kubert

This came a bit late in my opinion. It would have been much nicer to have it the month after the preceding comic. I bought this because Neil wrote it and I had read the first and last issues of the Batman R.I.P. event. I don't like big universe crossovers anymore. My mouth has been soured by Civil War and Infinite Crisis.

Neil does a great job touching on the variety of characters in Batman's world, along with what will happen to the Dark Knight when he does fall. Again, its unclear if he is actually dead...it really feels like he's going to come back. Gaiman manages to get to the very core of what Batman is. No matter who tells the story, he always follows the same principles and ultimately dies by them.

I'm truly tempted to read the Battle for the Cowl (just because I want to see ridiculousness), but my lack of funds will most likely have me reading reviews and nothing more.
Goodnight Bats.


Star Wars: Dark Times #13 (Dark Horse):
Blue Harvest Part 1 by Mick Harrison & Douglas Wheatley

I've never bought an issue of the Star Wars Extended Universe. My exposure is limited to the book & game Shadows of the Empire, KotOR 2, and a free Boba Fett comic. I read the prelude to this story arc in MySpace DHP and it caught me interest enough to pick it up. Sadly, its looking very much like a SW take on Yojimbo; there's two rival gangs in a once properous city and a former Jedi, Dass Jennir, shows up kickin' ass and takin' names. He hires a boatmen who seems like he will be much akin to the innkeeper/bartender in the samurai classic/For a Fistful of Dollars. I'll try the second issue out and see if I'll keep going from there.

Lots of Reading & Movies...

Alright, so I've been doing quite a bit of movie watching and reading comics lately, so here's some three sentence reviews:

Movies:

Tropic Thunder
An awesomely hilarious take on Vietnam War movies, actor team ups, and Tobey MacGuire as a gay monk. Downey Jr. was excellent in this and it took seeing it a second time (I saw it in theaters) to really see how great his acting was in it. And Tom Cruise=outrageous.

10,000 B.C.
This is, from an anthropological standpoint, pure and utter filth. The story is alright, but the acting is pretty lousy, let alone everything about it is a historical inaccuracy and it propagates myths archaeologists have been working to debunk. I was impressed with the special effects that much, but the costumes were pretty cool.

Pathfinder
Ok, its not a good movie (I saw it in theaters by myself since no one would go), but unlike 10,000 B.S. (not a typo) it was a ton of blood and death. It went full throttle with the R rating and showed Karl Urban doing what he does best: not talking too much, but murdering EVERYTHING. Oh, and the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) is a Viking, which is excellent.

Revenge of the Nerds (c/o Hulu)
I remember watching this as a kid and wow did I not understand half the jokes in here (especially the black guy being gay, I still remember my mom trying to explain that unsuccessfully). Its not the best of movies, but I see how they eeked out a triolgy here: its Animal House but with nerds. The 80s was a killer time to be a nerd since electronica, video games, and bad clothing was so popular.

Graphic Novels/Trades:

Fables Vol. 3: A Storybook Love (Vertigo/DC)
Willingham is awesome. The stories are once again a great take on old stories and he has such a great use of characters. There's always a great deal going on behind the scenes so I'll be happy it pick up the next on.

The Night Fisher (Fantagraph)
This was an indie through Fanatgraph I found at the library. I have to say it does a good job showing a very dark and depressing side to Hawaii at the start of the new millenium. The ending is a bit lackluster, but overall a great first book for Johnson.

30 Days of Night (IDW)
I saw the movie, then read the first issue, and finally read the rest of the first story. I have to say its a great example of minimalist comic art and a bleak, heroic story. I'd be up for reading more from Niles, even though I haven't been a huge fan of some of his other work.

Civil War: Road to Civil War (Marvel)
Wow, if I had read these I would have probably not bought so much into the Civil War books (as it is I only bought the last out of a sad loyalty to the point where I didn't buy the death of Capt. since I was so jaded). Its a necessary book to understand the whole leadup to World War Hulk and Civil War, but its all such heavy foreshadowing (at least in retrospect) that its kinda annoying. Also, Iron Man = a dick.

Jenny Finn: Doom Messiah (BOOM!)
I thought this was a great concept: essentially an early Victorian Cthulu story. The art is great black & white and parts of it are excellent, but it feels like it moves too fast in parts, especially the end. I felt that there needed to be just a bit more explanation and exposition to make everything clearer.

John Constantine: Hellblazer : Staring at the Wall (Vertigo/DC)
I love Constantine because he is an anti-hero that really does have to rely on his wit and charm and not guns or strength. His magic is only there to give him a bit of an edge and usually serves to get him in more trouble than its worth (and kill all his friends). This set of story is great and dark thanks to Carey's writing (one of my favorite Constantine writers), plus...Swamp Thing in Garden of Eden armor.

The Crow (Kitchen Sink Press)
I've only seen the movie and didn't really know you could get much darker. Yeah...I was totally wrong and should have realized it when I saw Clive Barker was doing the intro. The art is raw and so is the story...which makes sense since O'Barr made this to help get him through the death of his girlfriend by a drunk driver.

Desert Island List:

So I've literally just put down High Fidelity. Just tossed it on my bag and haven't even give it time to sink in (although I guess its been sinking in for years since I first saw the movie). And I've realized that this is the book I wished I was old enough to read when I was eighteen and could actually understand.

This book is essentially what I think most impulsive, addictive personality guys that feel too smart for the level (of lack of) motivation they have for life. It explains the emotional paradoxes, the strange, lustful thoughts and dilemmas, and all the annoyances found in daily life.

The movie turns out to have been one of the best adaptations of a book I've seen. Sure, its set in the States instead of Britain, but its still amazing. John Cusack does a great job as Rob and gives off almost the complete physical and emotional persona needed. And Jack Black is spot on Barry.

Basically...if you're a guy wanting to figure things out, or a girl trying to figure guys out...well...read the book and then watch the movie (at least do one of those). They won't answer all your questions, but it'll give some insight into men who haven't quite made it into adulthood.