Hello friends! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that where you are. 🙂 A few things to get to, so here we go!

Warning: SPOILERS!!!

Visions Season 3. I’d really been looking forward to this edition of Visions, as I’d loved the first two, especially Season 2. And while this one offered some good, entertaining episodes, none of them really stood out to me and I didn’t absolutely love it like Season 2. I think, like Season 1, these were all Japanese anime studios, while Season 2 encompassed other anime studios from around the world, and I think I loved that kind of diversity. So there seemed to be a certain stylistic sameness here that didn’t resonate with me.

That being said, there were some good ones. The sequel to Season 1’s The Duel, with the Ronin (The Duel: Payback), was a favorite, as I love the style, and the character of the Ronin. (Someday, I’m going to read that Ronin novel!) The Bounty Hunters was great, with the droid with two personalities, lol. I think my favorite, though, was The Smuggler, with the exiled Prince and the secret Jedi with the lightsaber hidden in a prosthetic arm.

The other two sequels, The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope and The Lost Ones, were fine, but I feel like the Ninth Jedi one was holding back for the future series (although I did love that crazy ship, and the little droid who sacrified himself for Kara); F in The Lost Ones has to face her old master who has turned to the dark side, though it’s unclear how that came to be.

Yuko’s Treasure was kind of adorable with the big bear droid with a microwave belly, and the theme of found family is fitting for Star Wars. The last two episodes were my least favorite, though they were the most visually stunning. The Bird of Paradise was gorgeous, but the Padawan in question is unbearable, lol. I was left wondering how she got to be a Padawan in the first place with so many un-Jedi-like qualities–impatience, self-centeredness, self-pity, anger. I understand she had to work through these things to become more Jedi-like (and I’m not even sure if she survived or not by the end), but I had zero empathy for her. And Black is a psychedelic trip that is up for interpretation. Maybe it’s because I don’t do drugs, lol, but damn, it was just weird and alienating. My interpretation is that it’s a stormtrooper’s dying flashbacks to his life and the battles he’s fought. It’s an interesting premise, but I was glad when it was over, lol. Just not my thing.

I’m hoping that if we get a Season 4 we can get more of the anime studios from around the world, as I seemed to enjoy those most.

Master of Evil, by Adam Christopher. This book was much more satisfying than the last canon book (The Last Order). At first I thought, hmm, another Vader story? Do we need one? But I heard good things, and I’m happy to say that it was well worth the read.

The book takes place mere days or weeks after events of The Revenge of the Sith. The Empire is new, and Vader himself is new, so to speak. Sidious has not been forthcoming in his promise to teach Vader the secrets of the Sith and how to conquer death (although, technically, Palpatine promised the power to “prevent” others from dying, not bring them back from death, right?) Anyway, Vader is still obsessed with bringing Padme back into his life, and if Sidious won’t help him, he’ll figure it out himself. Sidious sends him on a mission to Diso, a distant planet, to investigate a Force shaman and the rumor of a Temple which holds a Force vergence.

Instead of being completely from Vader’s point of view (there’s a handful of short chapters from him, though), the main point of view is from Colonel Halland Goth, a member of the Imperial Royal Guard. He’s proud to serve, but the problem is, he’s dying. He’s got Kangly’s disease, which makes him feel like he’s burning up from the inside out, and will eventually kill him. He’s got his own personal droid, TC-99, who not only helps him with his medical needs, but is a good friend. Goth is tasked by the ISB to keep an eye on Vader, who no one really knows anything about yet, and he accompanies Vader to Diso. While on the mission, Goth figures out that Vader is probably Anakin Skywalker. As a good Imperial soldier, Goth swallows the propaganda that the Jedi were traitors and is glad to be rid of them, but he’s fascinated with Vader: he realizes the suit he wears is keeping him alive. He gets the crazy idea that Vader, and that kind of technology, might help him survive. He wants to live, and he wants to serve.

The Temple in question turns out to be on a Separatist ship stuck in hyperspace somewhere (it’s a long story involving Count Dooku, lol), and that’s where the climax of the story happens. The vergence in the Force emanating from the Temple causes Vader to have some interesting visions; the shaman’s wife and daughter have gotten involved, and want revenge on Vader; there’s a couple of droid scientists from a former Techno Union Corporation on board who want to utilize the brain of a super-tactical droid running ship; and Goth is near death, just trying to keep everybody alive, while realizing he himself won’t be getting any miracle cure from Vader. He understands that it’s not just the suit that’s keeping Vader alive, but the Force itself. And he realizes that the Empire he’s so loyal to is not exactly what he thought it was.

Goth is a likable Imperial protagonist, and his friendship with TC-99 is touching. The theme of “masks” runs throughout the story: TC-99 has data matrices from many other droids he can insert into his chest plate to learn whatever specialty he needs to, but sometimes the personality of the droid is very strong and takes him over, as if he’s a completely different droid. The natives of Diso wear masks in their Force rituals; Jarvic, one of the droid scientists, has a wrap-around cyborg implant in his head (like Lobot) and the tactical droid ends up plugging into it and taking him over; the evil entity from the Temple (the dark side itself) temporarily takes over the shaman’s wife; Goth himself wears the red mask of the Royal Imperial Guard, but is he loyal to the Emperor, Vader, the ISB, or himself and TC-99? It shifts throughout the narrative. And of course, there’s Vader himself and his iconic mask, representing the split between himself and Anakin Skywalker, who he battles in one of his visions.

I loved this book, and though maybe we didn’t “need” another Vader story, I’m glad we got this one.

Comics:

Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #3. Han and Chewie continue to search for the Falcon, as the Irving Boys point them in the direction of Unkar Plutt. There’s another flashback to Han’s past, with young Ben wanting to spend time with his dad, tinkering with a landspeeder, and Leia scolding him for not finishing his studies. Han and Leia then argue about the whole thing. (I feel like Leia is being a bit unreasonable here; geez, let the kid spend some time with his dad, lol). Han and Chewie end up arguing, as Han discovers that Chewie has been speaking with Leia without telling him. Anyway, Ducain gets back into the picture and decides to warn Plutt about Han and Chewie coming to look for the ship. There’s only one issue left, and I’m eager to see how this concludes, as we already know they don’t get the ship back until The Force Awakens.

Legacy of Vader #10. Kylo, back on Mustafar with Vanee, goes into Vader’s meditation chamber to see if he can find Luke Skywalker. The man is dead, and Kylo is still obsessed, lol. At first he sees weird snake-like creatures with the heads of his family, and he spends time cutting them down. Then, he finds himself somewhere that looks like Force Heaven or something, and a Force ghost tells him he shouldn’t be there. But Luke’s Force ghost comes over and chats with Kylo. Kylo wants to know how he died, who killed him and how much he suffered. But Luke tells him no one killed him. He sacrificed himself for those he loved. That’s what his life was for. “What’s your life for?” he asks Kylo. And of course, this enrages him. “Stop trying to teach me!” he yells at him. Luke points out that he shouldn’t have been able to access this place, and Kylo should think about how he did. (There’s still Light in him, if you haven’t figured it out, lol). Then Kylo is punished by some darkside creature for (unconsciously) accessing the Light to go there, and he comes out of the meditation chamber terribly wounded. I really liked this issue and his conversation with Luke, but as we know Kylo doesn’t really learn anything from it.

Non-Star Wars pick of the month:

Frankenstein, directed by Guillermo del Toro. Frankenstein has always been a favorite of mine, meaning the book and any movie adaptations that come along. I loved the Kenneth Branagh adaptation from 1994, and I think it’s still my favorite, but this one is a close second, although it’s very different in style and tone. Director Guillermo del Toro has a very distinct style and that comes through in this film very clearly. The subject matter is naturally gruesome, but it’s brought to a level of grotesqueness that’s more creepy than bloody (though there’s plenty of that, too, lol). There’s always a ton of stuff you can break down in this story, but I’ll just briefly touch on my thoughts here, since I think we’re all familiar with the basic storyline.

As you may know, I’m a fan of Oscar Isaac, and he did a fine job as the obsessed Victor Frankenstein. To be honest, I thought Mia Goth’s character as Elizabeth was just weird. In this version, Elizabeth is Victor’s brother William’s fiance, instead of Victor’s eventual bride, but there’s a sexual tension between her and Victor. I like that she has compassion for the Creature, but there’s something weird about it. She’s just weird, lol. Maybe it’s the actress, I don’t know, I haven’t seen her in anything else (I hope I like her better in the upcoming Star Wars film Starfighter). We’ll see.

Speaking of the Creature, I think Jacob Elordi does a fantastic job with him. I always love the Creature in any version, and this one was especially child-like and sweet (until he’s not, of course, lol). My sentimental mother’s heart always breaks for this child that is rejected by its parent; in other versions, it was fear that caused Victor to reject him, but here it’s more disappointment. He doesn’t learn to speak properly right away, and Victor, aghast that his creation is so dumb, is pretty damn mean to him and it’s clear that once again, Victor is the true monster here. Of course, it mirrors Victor’s father’s disappointment in him, a cycle that he doesn’t even realize he’s repeating.

I do like that the two forgive each other at the end, which does not happen in the book (not really), but instead of them both dying, the Creature in this version cannot die and must live alone forever in the Arctic wastes, which is the saddest thing I can think of.

So, an interesting and unique interpretation of an eternally fascinating story; not perfect, kind of weird, but definitely entertaining.

That’s it this month. What’s been entertaining you lately? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!