Star Wars: Skywalker Strikes by Jason Aaron (Writer), John Cassady (Artist), Laura Martin (Colorist), Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer)

This comic takes place right after New Hope. The Rebellion has been attacking Empire outposts. Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and R2D2 are in a Tatoonie ship and are pretending to be the delegation to meet the Empire for negotiations as representatives for Hutt.  Chewie and C3PO are hiding out at the Millennium Falcon which is stored in the trash heap for their escape.  Chewie is getting in position to fire upon the stormtroopers as they march to the delegation.

The Empire higher ranks inspect Han's credentials and he passes since he is a smuggler who is associated with Hutt.  R2D2 causes a distraction and Han and Leia go to the power station to shut it down and cause an overload that will blow it up.  Luke, meanwhile, has uncovered some slaves being held and frees them.  While all this is happening the Empire's delegate for the negotiations arrive and it's Darth Vader.

Against Han's wishes, Leia orders Chewie to take a shot at Vader and when he does Vader easily blocks it and flings Chewie away.  When they check in with C3PO with how the ship is doing they find that some small scavengers have been taking parts from the ship and he can't operate the autopilot.  When he goes to confront them he gets taken by them instead.

When Luke hears that Vader is there he ignores Ben's advice to run away and instead goes to face him and of course gets his ass handed to him.  Han and Leia have commandeered an ATAT walker and are fighting but they are in danger and need Luke to help them so he leaves Vader to try to help them. But none of them know how they will get away and the Empire guards have discovered their plan to overload the system and have stopped it so everything they came here to do has been futile.  Or has it? 

This is a kick-ass story with lots of action and heart.  Luke aches to avenge his father even though he lacks the skill right now and Vader still has no idea who he is and will gladly destroy him.  Han has finally put his face with the Rebellion and added his name to the Empire's list of people to kill which is quite a commitment for him.  And Leia is pushing herself too hard and trying to accomplish too much.  Each is going through something really big in their lives. Especially Luke.  The comic leaves it with a cliffhanger. I accidentally read the book, Showdown On Smuggler's Moon,  that came after it first so I know what comes next. [http://nicolewbrown.blogspot.com/2017/05/star-wars-showdown-on-smugglers-moon-by.html].  It's also a great book.  Anyway, enjoy these books on this special day: May the Fourth Be With You Day. 

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Vol-Skywalker-Strikes-ebook/dp/B0153WYYEW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525437301&sr=8-1&keywords=skywalker+strikes&dpID=61y0ceG-brL&preST=_SY445_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Captain Marvel Vol. 2: Civil War II by Ruth Fletcher Gage (Writer), Christos Gage (Writer), Kris Anka (Artist), Marco Failla (Artist), Thony Silas (Artist), Andy Owens (Inker), Matthew Wilson (Colorist), and VC"s Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

In the previous book, Colonel Carol Danvers takes a post as the head of the Alpha Flight Space Station, an interplanetary venture designed to be earth's first line of defense against alien invasion.  Nothing goes as planned when she arrives. She has to deal with a saboteur from within and aliens who are trying destroy the station and earth because they believe them to be Kree or Kree collaborators after they awaken an ancient defunct ship that reacts badly to the Kree powers in Captain Marvel's body and sends the aliens a signal to come aid them against the Kree.

The fact that she saves the world from this catastrophe wins her fans in big and small places worldwide.  She goes back to being the boss of Alpha Flight, but she has come across the knowledge and has met Ulysses a young Immortal who can predict the future.  Tony Stark also knows about him but wishes to further test his predictions before actually using him.  On one of his trial predictions for Tony Stark Rhodey, War Machine, goes out to prevent something from happening and gets killed in the process and Tony shuts down and goes against Ulysses for not seeing that Rhodey would die.  He tells Ulysses that it is his fault Rhodey is dead and Ulysses shuts down refusing to share his visions with anyone.

Danvers believes in utilizing him and convinces the Alpha Flight's Board of Governors to use the weapon that the Inhuman have that can predict the future without telling them that it is a living being.  On the board who gives her trouble is Ambassador Gyrich who has his own ideas of what Alpha Flight should be doing. But she gets lots of support from Black Panther who has mixed feelings about it and Ambassador Phillippe Beaulieu of Canada who shares her vision.

Alpha Flight Squadron (Puck, Sasquatch, Aurora) team up with members of the Ultimates (Ms. America Chavez, Blue Marvel, Spectrum, Black Panther) to take down bad people and prevent bad things from happening right as they are about to happen or in the beginning stages of happening and reducing the damage. But certain Governers want her to add criminals to the database and even those who are people of interest and you can guess who that Governor is.

This wasn't what she had in mind when she set this up. It's starting to get out of hand and Ulysses is in danger by someone who knew about him and that leaves only the people on her squad. Who has turned traitor?   I love this comic series.  This book is setting up a grudge match between Captain Marvel and Ironman.  The two are on opposite sides of what to do about Ulysses and both are grieving for Rhodey in their own separate way, instead of together as Rhodey would have wanted.  This comic pushes the limit to what Alpha Flight's mission was supposed to be.  Also, there's the giant question of what to do with the information you get ahead of time and are trying to prevent.  In another comic, Hawkeye kills Bruce Banner right before he can turn into the Hulk and kill people, though no one else saw the signs of him turning into the Hulk.  Maybe too much information can be a bad thing.  This is a terrific comic that really makes you think and I highly recommend it.

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Marvel-Vol-Civil-War-ebook/dp/B01N368JS7/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525263549&sr=8-1&keywords=captain+marvel+civil+war+ii

  

   

Holmes Entangled by Gordon McAlpine

The book opens with Sr. J.L. Borges*, a librarian going to see a PI in Buenos Aries, Argentina in 1943.  He carries with him a mysterious manuscript and an ever more mysterious tale. Apparently, he dreamed the detective including the details of his current case which the detective has disclosed to no one.  The answers, Borges believes, are in this manuscript.

The manuscript was written by the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in 1928.  Dr. Watson has been dead for the past three years and Holmes has been "retired to the country" for a while now. Instead, he spends his time in disguise teaching lectures at Cambridge and Oxford on a variety of topics.  No one has caught on til now. Sir Author Conan Doyle the writer of romances, a history of the Boer War that earned him the knighthood, and lately articles on spiritualism, have discovered him through the most unusual means.

At a seance, the spirit of the current Prime Minister who appeared as a cripple and not a Prime Minister told him where to find Holmes and instructed him to go and talk to him.  Doyle wrote up a paper for the Spiritualist Journal and was told that they didn't want it and was kicked off its board. He was then shot later that night.  Someone doesn't want the information out of what he saw. So he has hired Holmes to save his life.

This book does indeed lead to the idea of multiple universes and a group that will do anything to keep the idea secret.  Who can they be?  My hope was that there would be more on the multiple universes but this was a mystery not a science fiction novel or a real combination of both.  So I was let down a little bit. The mystery could have been a bit better.  It was a very neat idea in theory and I would have like to have seen it carried out better. It was nice to see Mrs. Hudson in the role of John's widow and Sherlock's helper.  This was an okay book. Something to pass the time with and a novelty.

*J.L. Borges is, for those like myself who are ignorant of the famous Argentinian literary great, Jorge Louis Borges.  He was an essayist, poet, short story writer, and yes, a librarian.  He is said to have invented magical realism.  His short stories were connected by the topics of dreams, labyrinths, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers, philosophy, and religion.  He led an interesting life. For more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges

Quotes

“Does this [quantum mechanics] make sense to you? I asked at last.

She answered without hesitation. “Not really.”

“Then that means there’s a chance I explained it properly, Mrs. Watson, as quantum mechanics makes sense to no one, including its brilliant progenitors, even if experiments indicate it is so.”

-Gordon McAlpine (Holmes Entangled p 140-1)

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Holmes-Entangled-Gordon-McAlpine-ebook/dp/B0738JWQCV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525091396&sr=8-1&keywords=holmes+entangled

Sex Criminals Vol 1: ONe Weird Trick by Matt Fraction (Writer, Artist), Chip Zdarsky (Writer, Artist), Becka Kinzie (Color Flatting), Christopher Sebela (Color Flattening), Thomas K (Editing), and Drew Gill (Production)

Suzie's dad, who worked at a bank, is thrown out the window of his office after the stock market crash of 1997 when Suzie was young. Her mother gets lost in a bottle and Suzie becomes essentially an orphan.  When taking a bath she discovers the joys of masturbation, while also uncovering the magical realm she calls the "Quiet Place".  It's a place of silence and color where time is stopped.

When she gets older she goes and works for a library. The bank is going to close the library and tear it down and just sell it as a vacant lot.  Suzie is trying to save the books out of the library by having a book party.  While there she meets a young man whose favorite book is the same as her's.  His name is Jon and he also has the ability to go to the "Quiet Place" only he calls it "Cumworld" and when they're there together it's really magical.

Jon, who works at the bank, gets the idea to steal enough money to save the library from the bank by stealing it from the bank vaults when they're in the "Quiet Place".  What they don't know is that there's a Sex Police out there that is set upon stopping them.  This is a very creative and interesting start to a series.  The art is very soft and dreamy which suits the storyline perfectly.  I really loved this comic. It had humor, intelligence, adventure, and an excellent plot that easily keeps you flipping pages to find out what happens next. I can't wait to read the next volume to learn the fate of the intrepid heroes. I highly recommend this book.

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sex-Criminals-Vol-Matt-Fraction-ebook/dp/B015XDADZK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524831350&sr=8-1&keywords=sex+criminals+1

The Boys In the Boat: NIne Americans and Their Epic Quest For Gold At the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown

In 1936 at the Berlin Olympics nine young men in a rowing crew boat made history. They came from poor or working-class backgrounds and none of them had ever set foot inside a boat before three years or less.  That wouldn't be the case for their competitors who came from high-class backgrounds and were well funded and had been training for years and were older than they were and yet they would row away with the gold medal.  This book chronicles that journey especially through the life of Joe Rantz.

Joe lost his mother at the age of five and was at first sent away to live with an aunt back east while his father in Washington state left for Canada and his much older brother finished college.  When his brother, Ben, left college with a wife he moved to Idaho and took Joe with him.  Then his father, Harry shows up and marries Ben's wife's twin sister Thula and takes Joe with him back to Washington.  Soon children came into the picture and Thula began to take a dislike to the person who reminded him of Harry's beloved first wife, Joe.

When they moved to a mining camp in Idaho she insisted that Joe leave the shack they lived in and Harry had him move in with the school teacher.  After a brief stay in Thula's parents' basement, they settled in Sequim, Washingon and built a house there.  But soon enough Thula would have enough of Joe again and the Great Depression was kicking in really bad. No one was buying their farm goods.  So Harry and Thula and the kids left leaving Joe, still a kid himself, behind.

Joe found odd ways to make money like playing his guitar for tips and stealing fish from the protected rivers and lakes and eating and selling or trading them for goods.  He also set up a system of stealing from the bootlegger and replacing a few of the liquor drops with dandelion wine and selling what he collected to his customers.  All through this, he stayed in school. On the bus, he met a girl that he fell in love with named Joyce and she fell for him too.  While working out for the gymnastics team he got a visit from the University of Washington's crew coach Al Ulbrickson who gave him his card and an idea was born in Joe's mind.  It would take a year after graduating high school of working hard at different jobs to earn enough money to be able to afford the first year of school at the University of Washington, but he did it.

When he arrived there, there were over a hundred boys who were looking to try out for crew positions on the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity crew.  Soon, though those who thought it would be easy and couldn't take the pain would drop out.  Tom Bolles handled the Freshman crew and he never lost in the competition against their fierce rivals California Berkely or at Poughkeepsie at the nationals, where 90,000 people would show up to watch the race because crew was so popular at that time.  He was getting his Masters at the University of Washington which is likely why he was still coaching there even though he had received offers from schools back east at prestigious Ivey League colleges where the money would be a great deal more than the pittance the University of Washington paid their coaches.

After being pulled in and out of this one particular boat that was doing really well and had in it Shorty Hunt, Stub McMillin, and Roger Morris, Bolles realized that that boat only did well with Joe in it even when Joe was not rowing at his best or erratically.  But when Joe was "on" they rowed liked a dream.  Which they did when they won the races.  But Joe knew that his position was always in jeopardy. The next year they would belong to the enigmatic Ulrickson who didn't know what to do with Joe either and would debate racing the sophomore crew as varsity instead of junior varsity.

An important person in this story is George Yeoman Pocock the man who builds the boats for the crew of the University of Washington as well as many other schools.  He was born in England and learned from his father how to build boats.  When his father's fortunes turned down, to help him out they took what little money they themselves had and went to Canada and went to work in a logging camp. Someone in Canada who had heard of them from England and their talent of building boats and needed a crew boat hired them and that got them started off on their business. George would eventually move to the grounds of the University of Washington for his business. But building boats was more than what he did. He dispensed wisdom on rowing. He invented a special way of rowing years ago that Americans used.  When he spoke people listened.

Ulbrickson has Pocock talk to Joe and work his magic on the young man and try to reach him as only he can.  This is an incredible book of how one man overcame hardship to succeed in life with the help of eight other men and their coaches and one wise advisor.  Also the love of a good woman who was there throughout supporting him never leaving his side as others in his life had.  It's also a story of underdogs who win despite everything going against them.  I have to admit that crew is not an especial interest to me but the author succeeded in making it fascinating. This book has heart and I highly recommend it.     

Link to Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Boys-Boat-Americans-Berlin-Olympics-ebook/dp/B00AEBETU2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524658879&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boys+in+the+boats

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

This crazy book opens with Dirk Moeller planning on sabotaging the trade negotiations by causing the Nidu ambassador Faj-win Getag the son of his sworn enemy go on a rampage. He would accomplish this by using a device implanted into his butt that helps to send out messages within his farts. The Nidu have very sensitive noses and certain scents can have certain meanings. But only those of the higher castes can smell these meanings.  Dirk sends out insults and the Nidu ambassador goes wild. He lets him know that it was him that sent the messages and the ambassador gears up to yell its battle cry when he suddenly has a stroke and dies. Dirk begins laughing and dies of a heart attack.

State Department gets involved because they are clued in by Dirk's assistant that something was up and they got the device from the medical examiner and intend to keep this to themselves.  However, the Nidu believe that their ambassador was assassinated and are willing to overlook it if United Nations of Earth can provide the sheep needed in a ceremony a week away to crown the new Fehen of Nidu since the old Fehen has died and the next in line is to succeed him.  The problem is that the sheep is a special breed genetically modified specifically for the Nidu by one man and all of the Nidu and this man's sheep have all come down with a bacterial infection and have died.  No one else has been allowed to breed this sheep. But there should be some out there somewhere. It's up to State Department to find just one of these breed of sheep named Android's Dream [For those who don't know the name came from the book written by Phillip K. Dick called Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? which is what the movie Blade Runner is based upon.].

The Secretary of State's assistant, Javna, knows just the person for the job of finding the lost sheep: his dead brother's best friend, Henry Creek. Creek already works for the State Department breaking the bad news to those who work in the Embassies.  He's also a bit of a computer whiz.  He borrows a large IBM computer from NOAA calling in a favor from a friend and from his computer at home he brings to life a sentient artificial intelligent agent that operates on his computer. It has taken on the form of his dead friend Brian at the age of around eighteen.  Brian executes searches for the DNA of the sheep and finds that someone is going around killing the sheep that do exist on earth.

That someone is the Defense Department who, working with Jean Schroeder who fixed Dirk up with the fart machine, want to stick it to the Nidu but aren't really thinking much beyond that. There's a reason military intelligence is an oxymoron.  But there is one sheep still available and her name is Robin Baker.  Robin was adopted and is the offspring of a bizarre experiment between a sheep human hybrid and a human father. She is 20% sheep but the sheep DNA is junk DNA and has no effects on her appearance.

To make things even crazier there's the Church of the Eternal Lamb, a religion that began life as a cult started by a failed science fiction writer turned conman who was trying to get money out of the richest woman on earth.  However, she knew what he was up to and played along, but doled the money out sparingly. The writer wrote prophesies from his drunk drug-addled mind and soon died in frustration with the old woman.  The old rich woman lived to be 104 and left her assets to the church. The church has spent the past twenty years making sure that the prophecies come true by engineering things that they do.  Their goal is to save the lamb.

If all this sounds a bit crazy, well it is. It's also hilarious and an incredibly fun book to read.  Robin is a great character who takes everything coming at her rather well, considering, but then Creek is a master at telling people bad news. Creek is ex-military and ex-cop so he does a pretty good job of protecting Robin. He's also an intriguing character who's been through a lot in life and just wants a quiet life. Something he's not getting right now.  I really loved this book. Scalzi is a favorite author of mine and I count this one as one of his best.  I can't recommend this book enough.

Quotes

Nice is nice. But being a bitch gets results.

-John Scalzi (The Android’s Dream p 293)

 Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Androids-Dream-John-Scalzi-ebook/dp/B002GYI974/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524490705&sr=8-1&keywords=the+androids+dream

Captain Marvel Vol 1: Rise of Alpha Flight by Michele Fazekas (Writer), Tara Butters (Writer), Kris Anka (Artist), Felipe Smith (Artist), Matthew Wilson (Colorist), and VC's Joe Caramagna (Letterer)

Carol Danvers has decided to take a position for two years as Commander of the Alpha Flight Space Station, earth's first line of defense against an attack.  She is greeted by Abigail Brand who once worked for S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Departement).  Brand gives her some grief but everyone else seems happy to have her aboard.  Brand steers her toward a boring meeting with the Eridani who handle the trash pick up and are trying to gouge them and break the agreement in place.

The meeting is broken up by news of an asteroid appearing close to the station and Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight go out to take care of it.  Wendy, the science officer informs Danvers that the asteroid didn't just appear there by accident and that an Eridani ship sent it there.  Danvers has the Eridani delegation locked up immediately.

Now an alien vessel like nothing they've ever seen before has arrived on their doorstep and when they go to investigate they discover that the ship is dead in the water and its inhabitants have been deceased for at least fifty years.  When they start the ship up it causes Captain Marvel to begin to lose her powers and hallucinate. But that will be the least of their worries when another ship arrives.  Also, there is a saboteur on board the space station.  This book is another great Captain Marvel comic. Fazekas and Butters have written an excellent story and the art is amazing.  I can't recommend this book enough. 

Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Captain-Marvel-Vol-Alpha-Flight-ebook/dp/B01HC6H7SM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524053579&sr=8-1&keywords=captain+marvel+rise+of+alpha