The world seems to have gone topsy-turvy this week. George Lucas is making good movies again and Geoff Johns made a whopping-big continuity error. And while this was going on, I was briefly on the verge of resigning my position with this magazine.
Let’s tackle those positions in reverse order, shall we?
I first signed on with Comics Nexus back before it was 411 Mania, back when it was still a branch of 411wrestling. It was January of 2003. Also in January 2003, I began graduate school, working towards a Masters Degree in Information Sciences and Technologies. Over the next two years, my focus switched from webpage design to general studies and professional storytelling. And now, this summer, I am but one class, one thesis and 120 hours of field experience away from getting my degree.
Since I already work five days, full time, all of this work is going to take up a lot of what little spare time I have. Things have been hectic enough these past few weeks just getting all of this prepared. Indeed, you may have noticed my last few columns have been a bit shorter than usual. This will be the status quo for quite some time in the next few weeks. I say this as a warning, so that if I have to take a sudden leave of absence, it will be less of a shock.
I will try to get a new column out every week. It may be a bit shorter than usual, but it will be there. If I cannot get one out every week, there will be one every two weeks. And rest assured, if I get nothing else done before August 13 (my eventual graduation day, if all goes well), I will at least cover every single superhero, comic-book or sci-fi/fantasy related movie that comes out between now and then.
I thank you all for your letters of support and your continued fandom. Your letters and discussions over these past few years mean more than you know.
Now that this has been said, let’s get on to the fun business!
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First of all, if you have not seen Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith yet, do so with all speed. Yes, I know the last two were less than enjoyable in comparison to the Holy Trilogy. But this one not only redeems those two films- it equals the original three. And for those of you worried about it, Jar Jar DOES appear in the movie, but he does not speak.
The forced comedic moments are few and far between, limited to some slap-stick with R2-D2. The order of the day with this film is drama. Serious, dark, mature drama. The PG-13 rating is seriously justified, so leave the kids at home for this one.
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Finally, this business about Geoff Johns- the master of DC Comics history – making a continuity mistake. It pains me to be the one to point this out. I have been a fan of Johns’ work since the original Star-Spangled-Kid series. But since this involves Green Lantern, which is nearer and dearer to my heart than even Johns writing, I must say this now.
I was going to address this in the latest revision of my now famous and much acclaimed Nit-Pickers Guide To Green Lantern, as I bring it up to date with the new information brought up in Green Lantern: Rebirth. But since I already had people asking about this, both in e-mail AND at my place of business… well, let’s just see the question as put by one of my comic shop regulars.
In the latest Green Lantern: Secret Files, there’s a short story showing Kyle Rayner being totally unable to understand an alien language and then being shocked when his ring speaks and starts translating the languages. Hasn’t Kyle been able to use his ring to translate alien languages before?
If he hasn’t, Kyle has been very lucky about always running into aliens who could speak English or had some other translation device of their own handy.
The best explanation I can give for this is Kyle’s exact dialogue in the scene.
“You can translate? And speak? I thought only John’s ring could…”
The fact that he lists both in this order suggests that he is more astonished by his ring talking (which it has never done before) and that when he says only John’s ring can do this, he is referring to the ring speaking. Not the translation function. It has been well established by this point that Kyle’s ring never had the connection to the Central Power Battery that the older rings did. With the Guardians back in power and the Central Power Battery rebuilt, it would seem that the old AI spreading information through the rings using the Central Power Battery as a network hub is back up and running.
As to how to explain Kyle being amazed by why his ring can translate alien languages being spoken to him, I can think of three explanations. None of which are very satisfying.
1. Every time Kyle met an alien before, they either spoke English or had a translation device of their own that allowed them to be understood as well as understand other languages.
2. The power worked automatically before. Kyle was just too dense to wonder why everyone seemed to understand him.
3. Geoff Johns made his very first mistake.
Tune in next time. Same Matt time. Same Matt website.
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