Star Trek 2010

Here is a release schedule for the upcoming year of Star Trek books, courtesy of TrekMovie.com:

January: "Sorrows of Empire" by David Mack
This will be a Mirror Universe story set during the TOS era, and an expansion of Mack’s short story from the "Glass Empires" anthology.

February: "Inception" by S.D. Perry
This book is the (pre-Trek XI) story of four people at the start of their careers: Commander Kirk and the woman he loves, Dr. Carol Marcus; and Commander Spock and his chance encounter with a botanist, Leila Kalomi.

March: "Treason" by Peter David
This is a reprint of the already published book by Peter David, not a new book.

April: "The Children of Kings" by Dave Stern
Dave Stern's first TOS (or pre-TOS) era novel, the crew of Christopher Pike’s Enterprise must deal with the Orion Syndicate, a dying girl and the kidnapping of a Starfleet officer.

May: "Unspoken Truth" by Margaret Wander Bonanno
Set after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Saavik begins to wonder where she belongs, dealing with her half Vulcan/half Romulan nature. Can Vulcan and Starfleet be the wrong answer?

June: A new "New Frontier" novel by Peter David
This novel will likely fall between the events of "Treason" and David Mack's "Destiny" trilogy, which changed the face of the 24th century.

"Refugees" by Alan Dean Foster
Set in the Trek XI universe.

July: "Seek a Newer World" by Christopher Bennett
Set in the Trex XI universe, the Enterprise is on a "world-building" mission.

August: "More Beautiful than Death" by David Mack
Again set in the Trek XI universe, this story will focus on the Vulcans after the destruction of their home planet.

September: Another Trek XI universe novel, but no further details.

October: "Seize the Fire" (TITAN) by Michael Martin
Captain Riker and the USS Titan face the Gorn who are looking to step up and secure their position with in the Typhon Pact.

November: "Zero Sum Game" (AVENTINE) by David Mack
Captain Dax and the Aventine are assigned to aid with the insertion and extraction of Starfleet operatives behind Breen lines.

December: "The Rough Beasts of Empire" (DS9) by David R. George III
Joining the other books as to what is happening in the 24th century, this DS9 book will feature the crew dealing with the Romulans as they try to become the leader of the Typhon Pact, by any means necessary; and the Tzenkethi will make an appearance as well.

January 2011: "Path of Disharmony" (TNG) by Dayton Ward
Picard’s Enterprise is assigned to a conference on Andor where the Typhon Pact will show their strength by daring to reach into the heart of the Federation as they try to become the pre-eminent power. Look for the Tholians in this one.

Review: Extinction Event

Extinction Event (Primeval TV series book) by Dan Abnet.

When an Entelodon goes on the rampage down Oxford Street, causing untold damage and loss of life, Cutter decides a new approach to tackling the anomalies is needed. However, his investigations expose him and the team to a violent encounter with a mysterious Russian scientist and a situation more catastrophic and frightening than they've ever faced before...

When Cutter, Abby and Connor disappear without a trace, Lester and Jenny must use every trick in the book to try and track them down...

Note: This book takes place between the second and third seasons of the prematurely canceled series.

Nick Cutter starts thinking that the ARC team needs to start coordinating their efforts with those of other countries. Surely, these anomolies must be appearing all over the globe, and there must be other teams trying to deal with them. If they started to pool their resources and know-how, it would be better for all (of course, we already know they've been opening elsewhere thanks to the first two books that took us to South America and off the coast of Ireland). While Lester is hesitant to pursue that avenue, the team soon finds itself in Russia under the not so best of circumstances.

Dan Abnett, early in the book, as the Entelodons make their rampage on Oxford Street, gives some ink to the human condition and after effect of the unexpected occurence that day. Something that I always seem to be asking myself in my life when I hear stories about someone's life being cut too short; about that person's joys and sorrows, and what they had planned for the rest of the week.

In Extinction Event, you get a burst of nonstop action right from the start, as the anomolies seem to be popping up in London at a greater frequency than they had been, which pulls you into the story without waiting for something to happen. And the chapters are very short--no more than 8 quick pages long, another tactic that makes it easy to continue on reading with the book. And Dan Abnett also uses his knowledge of what happened in the first two books (and the TV series) to his advantage in this book, as he references events from the first two books, as well as foreshadowed Jenny's resignation from the ARC in the third season as well as Connor's first starting with the idea of closing the anomolies. And I loved the connection with the 1908 Tunguska meteor strike.

But before we get to the things I didn't like about the book, let me just say that I loved the TV series--it was one of my favorites. As for the books, I loved the first one; the second one I was a bit mixed about. This one? Well...

Dan Abnett didn't seem to fully understand his characters. At the beginning of the book, it was fine. He seemed to have them all down as well as I would have expected him to have. However, with the exception of a consistent Lester and Cutter, that knowledge of the characters seemed to evaporate as the story went on. I had a hard time imagining the characters of Abby, Connor, or Jenny behaving or saying the way they did as this story progressed. He seemed to make the three of them not much more than window filling, and not very intelligent ones at that. All the characters seemed a bit shallow to me, whether they were the main characters or the supporting characters of the story. Dan Abnett seemed to keep retreading the same ideas and theories as the story progressed that it made it hard for the story to actually progress--it seemed like he was just going round and round with the story, and the story could have been a lot shorter. It makes it seem like he was just trying to drag the story out and make it longer.

(from page 158):
"Troodons," Cutter whispered to Abby. "Oh, they're amazing. Look at the eyes."
The eyes were following them keenly. The Troodons chirred and piped, lowering their necks to look inquisitively at Yushenko and his purring camera.
"Are they Troodons?" Suvova asked...

Um, wasn't it just established that they were in fact Troodons. Why retread the same information so close to each other.

It also seems that the author was trying to stick as many names of dinosaurs into his book as possible. I have to wonder if there were more dinosaurs wondering around in Siberia than in all of the Cretaceous.

So, in the end, I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. I often found myself reading it just to get to the end more than anything else. I was determined to finish the book, as I almost found myself thinking that stopping it in the middle would have been like watching half of an episode and then turning off the TV.

Science Fiction Music

Some people when they start thinking of science fiction music will think perhaps of Styx (Mr. Roboto) or U2, Blue Oyster Cult, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Prince (due to his Batman CD), or some other mainstream singer or band. To me, none of those fit the bill for being considered for science fiction music. Not by a long shot.

Nor would I focus my attention on the soundtracks of the various sci-fi movies, TV shows, or even books. Or even space-sounding instrumentals and sound effects. Sound tracks, especially from something like Star Trek, tend to be more orchestral pieces and typically meaningless unless they are heard along with the particular episode that they accompany. They might produce a foreshadowing effect, or designate some action that takes place for the episode or movie, but otherwise are not all that interesting.

So what would should be considered sci-fi music? What about something like S.P.O.C.K., a synth rock band from Sweden.




S.P.O.C.K. has been one of my personal favorites for many years, enjoyable for their sci-fi themed lyrics and fun sound. And it’s not just one song in that style, but rather that is their style.



Another band that caught my interest lately has been Warp 11, a Star Trek-themed band.



Or you can always find something new and different at Sci-Fi Songs.

And then there is filk music (definition here). Or more information about filking. While there is no readily agreed upon answer as to what filk is--and "to filk" can even be used as a verb, once you read those two pages, you will be more knowlegeably confused about it than ever before.

And although I would not classify Jonathon Coulton as a sci-fi musician or as singing filk music, I do have to admit I love his re: Your Brains song.

Kansas City Renaissance Festival

If you find yourself in Kansas City over the course of the next couple of months, maybe you will consider checking out the Kansas City renaissance festival, which begins over Labor Day weekend, and then runs through October 18. Like essentially all renaissance faires, the one in Kansas City features full combat jousting (three times a day), and vendors and entertainers galore. And on September 19 and 20, the renaissance festival will be featuring the Midwest Long Bow championship, so if you know how to shoot long bows, get their quick. You will need to qualify for the championship, but if you do so, you and four guests will be admitted to the festival free of charge that day. It seems like you would have nothing to lose. Other than an eye, but that could just be part of the renaissance era fun, don't you think?

Week one: Pirates adventure

Week two: Arm wrestling and juggling competitions

Week three: Tales for the sultan and longbow championship

Week four: Microbrew and home brew expo

Week five: Highland games

Week six: Pet weekend

Week seven: Halloween expo


The Kansas City Renaissance Festival is in its 30th year, so it is firmly established, with 500 customed characters. You will find 13 stages of entertainment--making it a fairly large renaissance faire, as well as 162 vendors hawking their wares

(Last photo actually from the Kansas City art musuem).

Sci-Fi Movies

Here are the box office totals for sci-fi and fantasy-type movies for the year so far:

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($398,441,218)
2. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince ($290,238,524)
3. Star Trek ($256,374,154)
4. Monsters vs Aliens ($198,332,128)
5. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($192,388,059)
6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($179,840,414)
7. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian ($176,087,412)
8. Terminator Salvation ($125,223,374)
9. District 9 ($72,804,317)
10. The Time Traveler's Wife ($37,165,676)
11. Aliens in the Attic ($22,247,346)

The Avatar Bandwagon

It seems as if everyone is posting and talking about the upcoming Avatar movie, being released on December 18, that I feel remiss if I didn't post on it as well.



To be honest, I hadn't heard of the movie until I started seeing it showing up on other people's blogs and websites. Goes to show how little I actually get to the movies. I have seen a grand total of one movie in the theatre so far this year. It was the Star Trek relaunch. But based on the trailer, and the information I have found on Avatar so far, it looks like it should be a very interesting movie.

Or there is this, from a web series about a bunch of gamers:

The Ultimate Star Trek Crew

I know if any Trek fans read this, I am likely opening myself up to people who disagree with my choices for the ultimate Star Trek crew, as everyone has their own personal favorites. But with Star Trek getting top billing in the entertainment world this weekend with the movie "reboot" of the franchise (and undoubtedly some will debate whether or not the franchise is actually being rebooted or not, or if the new film is actually canon as some of the things shown contradict previously established continuity). I will also point out that my list focuses on the character him/herself, and not on the actor portraying them...for instance, Kirk is Kirk whether portrayed by William Shatner or Chris Pine. There is no difference, even though some may prefer one actor's portrayal over another.

CAPTAIN: Probably the hardest question to answer--the best captain. Archer? Pike? Kirk? Spock? Sulu? Picard? Riker? Data? Crusher? Sisko? Janeway? Someone else? So many characters have been shown as captains of one ship or another. What it boils down to is what character I would be most willing to follow. Of those, I'd have to go with Archer (Enterprise), Riker (The Next Generation), or Sisko (Deep Space Nine). And the winner is---Captain William T. Riker. He strikes me as the sort of captain who would weigh his options carefully while keeping in mind his responsibilities to his crew and not go rushing into battle or backing away from a fight. In essence, he is a combination of James Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard, with the best of both men.

FIRST OFFICER: Another tough category to fill. A good first officer needs to deliver a well-run ship for his captain as well as provide an excellent balance. I think Spock wasn't really shown to do either of those two things, so he is out of the running. Riker helped provide a well run ship and an excellent transition from the crew to the captain, but he wasn't enough of a contrast on Picard. He, too, is therefore out of the running. Chakotay (Voyager) was meant to be a contrast to Janeway--the series started out with the two of them at odds; however, he soon became too friendly with Janeway and failed at both qualifications for a good first officer. Which leaves us with Major Kira (Deep Space Nine) or Sub-Commander T'Pol (Enterprise) as well as Shelby (The Next Generation), though since she was only in two episodes and likely would have become another "yes man" officer, I'm taking her out of the running. Ironically, both of these characters are actually from organizations outside of Star Fleet, and sent to be more of a liason between Star Fleet and another government. As such, they both provide an excellent balance to a Star Fleet captain, as they undoubtedly had their own agendas and priorities. One--Kira--was more militaristic whereas the other--T'Pol--more logical. It's a tough decision, but I'm going with T'Pol with this one.

SCIENCE OFFICER: Essentially three characters filled this category: Spock (The Original Series), Data (The Next Generation), and Jadzia Dax (Deep Space Nine). We could probably add Seven of Nine to this category as well, though I wouldn't even consider her as one of the choices for the best. While I liked the character of Dax, her position as science officer wasn't the greatest. Which leaves Spock, a Vulcan, or Data, an android. Of the two, I think Spock wins out, as he seemed to have more a grasp on actual science, whereas Data seemed to be too intwined with engineering and computer knowledge.

CHIEF ENGINEER: In this category, the two top choices would have to be Scotty (Original series) or O'Brien (Deep Space Nine). One was considered a miracle worker, and the other one in charge of an old, Cardassian-built space station. Deciding factors, however, are the fact that Scotty admitted boosting his miracle work with exaggerated time frames for effecting repairs to make his skills look greater. However, he did write a lot of the engineering manuals. Chief O'Brien, however, needed to work with an alien technology that was already outdated and falling apart. Therefore, Chief Miles O'Brien gets the nod for best Star Trek engineer.

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: McCoy--Crusher--Pulaski--Bashir--the EMH--or Phlox. There is something to be said for each of them. Well, I will immediately rule out Pulaski, who with only one season seemed a two-dimensional rip-off of McCoy. Of course, the EMH would have supposedly all the medical knowledge in existance, as he's a computer. However, it didn't seem to work that way. Bashir, graduating second in his class and sent off to the deep corners of space, where he got involved in spy games? No, I think the best chief medical officer award needs to go to Leonard "Bones" McCoy.

CHIEF OF SECURITY: Yar--Worf--Odo--Tuvok--Reed. Of these characters, I feel that Reed (Enterprise) may be the most realistic of all the characters, followed by Yar, though she lasted less than one season. As far as Tuvok, I just couldn't get into a Vulcan as a security guard. That leaves us with Worf and Odo. A Klingon and a Shapeshifter. While I like both characters and both bring something unique and different to the table, I'm going with Odo (Deep Space Nine). When the chief of security can appear as anything he wants, that's big. And it means he doesn't need to rely on strength and intimidation to get what he needs. That being said, I'd prefer to have Worf at tactical.

OPS/COMMUNICATIONS: The role of communications officer is one that isn't given much thought to in most of the series. For instance, on The Next Generation, the security officer or the unnamed character sitting at Ops would handle communications. For that reason, Uhura (The Original Series), Harry Kim (Voyager), and Hoshi Sato (Enterprise) are the only real contenders. Kim wasn't given much development, nor was Uhura. And while Sato seemed to drop off the list of major characters on Enterprise, as least we did learn more about her background. Therefore, Hoshi Sato wins my choice for best Ops/Communications officer.

CONN: When it comes to Conn, the original series seems to have two characters to handle it--Chekov as the ship's navigator and Sulu at helm. It seems a little redundent, and as such (showing that it takes two to do the job of one), neither of them win. On the next generation, while there was a conn officer in the first season, it was usually filled by an unnamed character. That leaves us with Tom Paris (Voyager), Travis Mayweather (Enterprise), and Wesley Crusher (The Next Generation). I must say I'm not too thrilled with any of these characters, but will give it to Tom Paris.

COUNSELOR: There have only been two characters to actually have the role of ship's counselor, Deanna Troi (The Next Generation), and Ezri Dax (Deep Space Nine). Again, not the best choice of category, and one that Star Trek probably could have done without. However, I'm going to go with Ezri Dax, more because I like the character and the Trill race more than I did the Troi character or the Betazed race.

NURSE: Generally not a character you think of on Star Trek series. There was Nurse Christine Chapel on the Original Series, or Nurse Ogawa for the Next Generation, Tom Paris and Kes on Voyager. I think I remember a recurring nurse or two on Deep Space Nine, but I'm not too clear. Kes was just annoying, and Tom Paris wouldn't be my top pick for a nurse if I needed one in the absence of a doctor. No, I think I'd have to go with Nurse Ogawa as my top pick.

MOST ANNOYING: And finally, the most annoying character in a Star Trek series award goes to--well, there are so many choices: Wesley Crusher, the annoying know it all child (The Next Generation); Deanna Troi, "Captain, I'm feeling..." (The Next Generation); Neelix, the chef and guide (Voyager); and Kes, the child-like nurse (Voyager). Where was I? Oh yes. The winner is...Neelix. Out of all of the characters in all of the Star Trek series, he was the one I absolutely hated the most.

Recaps:

Captain: William T. Riker (The Next Generation)
First Officer: Sub-Commander T'Pol (Enterprise)
Science Officer: Spock (The Original Series)
Chief Engineer: Chief Miles O'Brien (Deep Space Nine)
Chief Medical Officer: Leonard "Bones" McCoy (The Original Series)
Nurse: Nurse Ogawa (The Next Generation)
Counselor: Ezri Dax (Deep Space Nine)
Chief of Security: Odo (Deep Space Nine)
Tactical: Worf (The Next Generation)
Ops/Communication: Hoshi Sato (Enterprise)
Conn: Tom Paris (Voyager)

The Original Series: 2
The Next Generation: 3
Deep Space Nine: 3
Voyager: 1
Enterprise: 2

Review: The Vanishing Sculptor

why do you expect life without death? why do you welcome rain and curse the flood? you must accept both the good and the bad to claim maturity.

The Vanishing Sculptor vanishing sculptor by Donita K. Paul is one of those books that can almost be read in one sitting on a cold, rainy afternoon, as the author of the Dragon Keeper novels takes you back to that world, but at an earlier time.

Having never read the author before, this is another one of those books I was drawn towards as I perused the shelves at one of the local bookstores, largely due to the cute (perhaps a little too cute?) dragon peeking over the book's title, not to mention the sheer number of other dragon books donita paul wrote, I thought I would check the author out, and I'm glad I did.

As I pondered whether to buy the book, one of the deciding factors was that it seemed like it would be a quick, light read and not overly weighed down by a ot of burdensome details.

Let's address some of the pros and cons of the book:

Cons: There is a dictionary in back--usually bad sign it's going to be too complicated (although I must say that I did find myself flipping back to use it on occasion to refresh my memory, but it's really not needed). The story is a bit slow at first as the story gets started and you are introduced to Tipper, her absent-minded mother, and Beccaroon, her grand parrot friend. There were some pointless characters introduced as the quest to find the sculptures got underway that were shallow where it was apparent they are there merely to fill the gap and use of dialog that doesn't serve any purpose.

Pros: It is a quick read, one of the quickest reads in a while (along with water for elephants), and you should have no problem finishing this book off quickly and moving on to your next book--maybe even another one by this author. There are numerous humorous parts such as the scatter-brained mother or the incident with the sheep, and it just makes you want to keep turning the pages. This book spoke to me more than a lot of other books have about life through the sage advise of Tipper's father's quoting of Wulder or that of her talking tropical bird friend, yet not in a preachy sort of way. The descriptions of the book made it easy to mentally picture the action taking place in my mind, something that some books can't do for me.

Would I recommend this book?: Yes, I definitely would. It's not the most profound book, and the introduction and spread of the word of Wulder seems to be almost a thinly-veiled theme of Christianity, but overall, this is a worthwhile read.

Bristol Renaissance Festival

A quick, half-afternoon trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire like we tried to do just wasn't enough time. We should have known better that we would need more time at this festival, but as we were just passing through the area and needed to get to a concert on the south side of Chicago, we figured we'd stop and that we didn't need to spend the whole day there. Big mistake.



Upon entering the Faire grounds, we realized that the Bristol Faire was an extremely large place, with a lot of permanent buildings condensed into it to make it feel like a medieval village. And while the grounds themselves may not (or may have) been as large as some of the other festivals we have been to, there was way too much to see there. I don't think even a full day would have allowed us to see and experience everything that the Bristol Renaissance festival had to offer.

As a result of our condensed visit, it is the only Renaissance Faire that I was sorry to leave. That is not to say I didn't enjoy other renaissance festivals, because each one has something to offer, but when we left other festivals, I left confident that I had seen everything that I had wanted to see. Not so with the Bristol Faire.


Another thing about the Bristol Faire that stood out at me was the sheer number of participants that had dressed up in some sort of renaissance era costumes which added to the experience. Most other festivals I have been to, the majority of the patrons were wearing jeans/shorts and some sort of top. Huzzah to the festival goers in Kenosha.

With 120 different stage shows, there are 70 hours of entertainment in a single nine-hour day and never a shortage of things to see and do as you make your way through 20 different venues throughout the Faire. And first year performers are required to undergo 45 hours of training at the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts prior to the start of the season. And don't forget the food, all 73 different varieties of it, such as steak on a stake and monkey tails (chocolate covered bananas).



We will definitely try to get back to this festival, if not this year, than there is always next year. And we will plan to go for the whole weekend.

Review: The Stepsister Scheme

So you think you know the stories of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves? Sleeping Beauty? Cinderella?

Think again.

And what happens after the "Happy Ever After?"

Jim C. Hines takes us to the world of fairy tales with his newest series of books. It starts off with the book "The Stepsister Scheme," picking up after Cinderella's wedding. Things begin to get interesting when one of Cinderella's evil stepsisters tries to murder her in her own quarters, and then it's revealed that Prince Armand has been kidnapped and taken to Fairytown. It's then up to Cinderella and her two new acquaintances, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, to go and try to rescue him and bring him home. Complicating matters a wee bit is the fact that Cinderella 1)is pregnant, and 2)has no combat experience, unlike her two companions.

There is no shortage of action in the book, whether it's Sleeping Beauty trying to train Cinderella how to actually fight with a sword to confrontation with Cinderella's evil stepsisters or their minions along the way. It keeps you reading as you turn the pages to see what these three Charlie's Angels-esque characters are going to run into next. I know this book is fantasy, and in the land of make-believe and fairy tales, anything can happen, though at some points the usual suspension of disbelief can't be overcome, though, as things are just too conventient or over-the-top. One point of the book I don't care for is near the beginning as they are at Cinderella's former home and it turns out that her mother's spirit is in a tree in the backyard and ends up giving Cinderella her magical sword.

Otherwise, this is a great book and a fairly quick read, as Mr. Hines puts his own twist on the classic fairy tales. Sometimes, though, his twist may be a little bit too twisted--specifically regarding the method of which Sleeping Beauty says actually woke her up. In a way, it serves to illustrate that life is never as easy as it seems in the stories, that everyone is human, and bad things happen to good people. So, while the overall feel of the book is fun, there are dark elements to the story as well.

Olde World Renaissance Faire

The Olde World Renaissance Faire is a small renaissance festival near Duluth, Minnesota, and occurs over just one weekend in June. Started in 1998, this 11-year old festival represents the history and lore of Europe from the 1200s to the 1700s. It has slowly grown from a handful of vendors and entertainers over the years, and in 2009, the event was able to add jousting to its list of entertainment, something that it had lacked in previous years.

Over the course of the weekend, you can expect to see Middle Eastern belly dancing from a band of gypsies; juggling, fire eating, and magic; a comedic sword fight; and what renaissance festival would be complete without a wild chicken show?

There are also demonstrations galore--drum making, jewelry making, leather tooling, and painting just to name a few.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and children (though if you come in costume, adults are $9 and seniors and children are $7).

Werewolves on the Moon: Versus Vampires

The three-part series from Dark Horse Comics starts off on the moonbase, where two archeologists are about to call it a day. However, they never make it to the bar for happy hour--one is killed by Lord Till (the self-declared king of the moon and leader of a band of vampires which live in a mobile castle) and the other captured. Meanwhile, a shuttle from Earth loses contact, and when it docks with the moonbase, three werewolves jump out and begin to terrorize the inhabitants there, until Captain Maggie Pilgrim fights back. In between the fighting, the leader of the werewolves decides that he likes Pilgrim and tries to woo her. Unfortunately, Lord Till has two goals--to take over Earth by using the moon as his base and to make Pilgrim his bride. As if vampires and werewolves needed any reason to be enemies.

The series with a refreshing read, one that you don't find in a lot of comics today. It felt more like an independent comic with a unique take, and not trying to delve too dep into the back stories of the characters--though their back stories were there--and not muddying up the flow of the comic by making it too complicated. I really can't say enough good things about this storyline--it quickly became one of my all-time favorites. It reminds me, to a certain degree, of the online comic turned Tokyo Pop manga Van Von Hunter in its clever, unique, extremely humorous yet basic storytelling.

The artwork was also extremely wll done. Early on in the story, one of the werewolves sustained an injury, of which I was very impressed that the injury remained through the first two (of three) issues and not conviently forgotten about or mysteriously fixed between frames.

I would say that this title should come with a PG-13 rating for some comic violence as well as adult humor. Here's hoping that I get the chance to read the next issue soon, as well as hoping there are more titles like this out there.

The Batman Universe--July 2009

Here's a run-down of some of the things that happened in the Bat-Universe in July:



Batman and Robin #2:
In the midst of taking on the Circus of the Strange, Dick Grayson continues to have problems keeping Damian in line--with Damian not pleased that he is expected to play nice with the cops. This dilema weighs heavily on Dick. Also, Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD begin to realize thta they are dealing with a new Batman and Robin. As part of Robin's defiance, he takes off on his own to take on the Circus, and he ends up walking into their trap.

Batman #688:
Batman's presence in Gotham is gaining a lot of video coverage, in contrast to the Batman of old, and Dick continues to try to train Robin. Meanwhile, things go bad in the Penguin's operation, not to mention that Two Face tries to focus Batman's attention onto the Penguin. But like others, Two Face has also come to the realization that it's not the same Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham.

Detective Comics #855:
Over in Batwoman's world, she goes up against Alice, trying to uncover the reason why Gotham's covens would be interested in coming after her. This leads to some trouble for Kate that she may not be able to handle.

Gotham City Sirens #2:
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy attempt to get Catwoman to reveal the identity of Batman, but thanks to training from Talia al Ghul, she is able to resist the effort yet keep the trust of her roommates by claiming that Batman is more of a title held by many men at one time or another, including naming Bruce Wayne (as well as Commissioner Gordon). Harley decides to go shopping after that, where she meets up with Hush masquerading as Bruce Wayne, though she is unaware of the ruse. Hush decides to take advantage of Harley's close proximity to kill her. Catwoman is able to see through the ruse, though, after seeing Hush and Harley together on TV, and rushes off to try to save Harley. When they get to the location of the TV shoot, however, Hush and Harley are both gone.

Streets of Gotham #2:
The comic starts out with Hush escaping from his locked cell at the Batcave by seemingly setting himself on fire, and when Alfred tries helping him, makes his escape. We also find that Batman and Robin get some unwanted help from a new Gotham vigilante that they don't know, but who seems to be familiar with Batman and takes offense when Dick doesn't recognize him. Meanwhile, Firefly double-crosses Black Mask, and starts putting chemical implants into people so that he can cause them to "spontaneously combust." Firefly tries to kill Black Mask, which is when Batman and Robin show up. In the fight, Zsasz comes to the defense of Black Mask and saves him, much to Damian's dismay. Hush, free once again, and looking like Bruce Wayne, resurfaces as an apparent benefactor of Gotham by giving out money.