Mash-up Review of the Ages

Note
I realize that I didn't review the other two of this series, but I hope that people can forgive me because the blog didn't exist at the time of their release. I will be reviewing all future releases in the series and hope that this will keep you interested.
-T. McNerd
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There is really only one way to describe IDW's Star Trek and Doctor Who mash-up. It's like the two things that every geek loves got together one day and had a baby. A wonderful, beautiful baby that has fulfilled my biggest fantasy every. Captain Kirk and Tom Baker in the same room fighting the Cyber Men.

Of course that happens towards the end of the comic. Oh, did I mention? SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT!!!


The third issue picks up where the second left off, with Captain Picard and the entire crew of the enterprise, plus the Doctor (Matt Smith incarnation) staring out at a fleet of Borg and Cyber Men. They are then hailed by one of the ships which shows a Cyber Controller that has been augmented with Borg technology telling the crew that they, "Have no means of stopping us."

Picard, realizing that the Enterprise has no hope of putting a dent in the fleet, commands Data to pilot the Enterprise to safety. To escape the fleet they fly off to a nearby nebula to hide and gather their wits.

Once safe, Picard begins looking over the Star Fleet records. The records reveal that there was only one prior experience with the Cyber Men which involved the original Enterprise and crew.

From there an adventure starring Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and The Doctor (Tom Baker) ensues. I won't spoil that part for you, because you need to read the comic to fully appreciate the beauty of the adventure.

Overall, this installation was a step forward for this series. I felt that the first two didn't have a lot going on in them to hold my attention, while this one definitely picks up the pace. While the other two need to be read to fully appreciate what is going on, I do like the speed up in pace in this one. If issue four continues on the pace that this one had set, then we should all expect a very good issue.
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As usual, leave a comment if you feel like I left anything out or you have a different opinion. I would like to remind anyone interested that i am looking for a guest writer for the blog in the near future. If you are interested in writing for the blog, please send me an email at tmcnerd@gmail.com. The email should include your name, what you do or a way to promote yourself a bit, if you want to, and your article. I will email you if I choose your article and you will be given full credit on the blog.
Now go forth, and nerd.

A Wise Man Named Abe

Whatever you are, be a good one. -Abraham Lincoln

There has been a long standing debate as to who is the best president in the history of the United States. One name that is sure to pop-up often is that of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. His father left when Lincoln was eight and his mother died when he was ten. He lived in a wild place where many wild animals would bother him making it a difficult place to live. He knew how to read and write but not much else than that. 

He tirelessly pursued knowledge his entire life, despite working on a farm. 

Later in life he moved to Illinois and there he spent eight years in the Illinois legislature. In 1860 he won the Republican nomination for President.

As almost everyone knows, he played a major role in the Civil War and after it concluded he did his best to settle everyone down. One of his most powerful and memorable speeches is the Gettysburg Address. He was eventually murdered by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 in Ford's Theater.

Abraham Lincoln is well known for speaking wisely on many topics. In fact it was his ability to speak that probably won him the presidency, but it was also his knowledge. In the quote that I provided above, he is voicing an opinion that really speaks to me. It says that no matter what someone does or what they want to do, they need only be good at it. 

That is not to say that if someone wants to be a serial killer that it's fine as long as they are good at it. But it says that if someone wants to be a writer, but their dad wants them to be an engineer they only need to be good at writing and pursue that career path.

This also speaks another moral, which is that you should pursue what you love because what you love is almost always what you are good at. If you love dancing and want to dance when you are older, then do it even if someone tells you that you won't succeed or shouldn't try. If what you love isn't necessarily what you are good at, that's fine because in your pursuit of  this goal you will get better and most likely become very good at it.

Abraham Lincoln was a great President. He showed it in his actions, but he also showed it in his words. His words were what moved a nation and they still speak loud and clear to us today.

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As usual, if you feel like I left something out or if you have another opinion feel free to leave a comment.

Now go forth, and nerd.

Artemis Fowl the Last Guardian Review

This Comic Saturday i am reviewing Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian. Technically this is a book, but there are a few graphic novels of the series so that's my excuse to review this.

Oh, and before I forget. There are BIG SPOILERS in this review. So if you haven't read the book or don't want any detail of the book revealed to you before reading it yourself, look away now. You have been warned.

For those of you not familiar with the series, Artemis Fowl is an eight book series written by Eoin Colfer. It stars a young criminal master-mind by the name of Artemis Fowl and his giant living arsenal of a bodyguard named Butler. They delve into the hidden world of fairies and magic by kidnapping a fairy named Holly Short. Over the course of the series Artemis and Holly forge a strong friendship and join together to fight evil. The recurring villain in the series, Opal Koboi, is a murderous pixie who wishes destruction on the human world and her various enemies. Needless to say, she is defeated time and again and is placed in the underwater fairy prison of Atlantis.

The Last Guardian begins with the introduction of a huge army of fairy spirits locked away beneath Fowl Manor, Artemis' home. They are filled with vengeance and are awaiting for a gate to be opened so that they can wreak their revenge on the world of the humans.

In the fairy city of Haven, Artemis is in a clinic which treated him for a severe case of Atlantis Complex. He has made a full recovery and exits the clinic to reunite with his friend Holly Short who is visiting a clone of Opal Koboi who lacks a soul and most brain functions.

As Artemis and Holly start to leave for the surface Holly is told that there is a situation. Opal Koboi is being held captive. They soon find out that this is a younger version of Opal Koboi that was kidnapped by some hired thugs paid by the modern day Opal. If Opal Koboi modern isn't released within their time limit, they shoot Opal Koboi past.

Artemis and Holly don't follow the demands and Opal Koboi younger is killed which starts wreaking havoc with the time stream. But Artemis, being the genius that he is, has modern Opal sent into a nuclear reactor to contain a blast that would be a side effect of Opal younger being killed.

However, Opal modern thought ahead. In fact, Artemis plays right into her hands as she is able to harness the power of the core and blast using black magic. This reincarnates her as almost a goddess as she heads of to unleash the ancient fairy army hidden beneath Fowl Manor.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It was one of the more inventive ones that Eoin Colfer has written (and that's saying something). He develops characters that have been in the series for a while even more and develops more recent characters that we don't know much about. The story has a great flow to it and the ending is a fitting one to the series. Overall, it is a great book and is well worth anyone's time be it a long time fan of the series or someone who is knew to it.

The book is targeted more at a pre-teen to teen age-group, but I think that an adult could have a lot of fun with it.

Overall, if I had to rate this book on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 9/10. It had great presentation, great characters, and an engaging story. My hat is off to you Mr. Colfer, great book.
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As usual leave a comment if you feel that I left anything out. There was a lot that I could have said about this book but I did my best to keep it simple. Also, if you want to write for the blog submit your article to tmcnerd@gmail.com and it might be featured on the blog. Just remember that it can't be for Comic Saturday or Quote Wednesday.
Now go forth, and Nerd!

A Relatively Simple Idea

If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
-Albert Einstein


It seems only right that for the first quote wednesday we take a look at one of the greatest minds of the twentieth Century.


Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. Even when he was young he was interested in Science. As everyone knows, this had a huge influence on his later life and career.

He is probably best known for his General Theory of Relativity, but he also had many insightful things to say. As shown in the quote above, he had a very particular idea of how someone should act.

While I don't agree with everything that Einstein had to say, I do like this quote. Why is it that we only act good in situations where, if we don't, we will be punished? It really shouldn't be like that. People should act good for the reason that it is the right thing to do, not simply because of the repercussions if the don't do what they should.

I feel like this is often overlooked by so many people. For teachers it is easy to spot the people who act well because it is simply in their nature, and the people who only act well if they are threatened with an unsavory punishment. Is it right? No, but it is what is accepted by many people.

Einstein was a brilliant mind. He did a lot of good and had a lot of good things to say. He shared his wisdom with the world because he thought that he could help make it better. He didn't have to be asked to share these pieces of wisdom, he gave them freely because he thought that it was what was best for everyone.
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I hope that you enjoyed this post, there should be more like it in the future. If you have your own opinion, or you want to leave a suggestion for next weeks Quote Wednesday don't hesitate to leave a comment.
Now go forth, and Nerd.

Inter-comic Relations

Looking around the internet these days I find that there are a growing number of internet comic book sites. This isn't a bad thing, in fact it's quite the opposite. It shows that the comic book industry can be adapted to a new form of media in a digital age. Though I can't help but feel like we are loosing what made comic books cool in the first place.

We used to go to our local comic book shop and spend time looking through the new issues of comics and also looking for something new satiate our hunger for adventure. We would then walk out of the comic book shop proudly clutching issue 50 of Batman and Robin.

 Now, we click our internet short-cut to the DC Comics website and read an e-comic book. When we are done we exit out of the window and wait a month for the next installment. 

Also, the physical issue of our comic book can be saved and stored away in the attic to be taken out thirty years later when it is worth double what we bought it for. The idea of collecting and having mint condition issues will die away in a number of years. 

While it is great to see that the comic book industry is capable of evolving and will be able to survive for years to come. I hope and prey that old comic book traditions that have been passed down for years will continue for years to come. So please, next time you want to read a new comic book, go out and support your local comic book store. You never know. There may be a pleasant experience awaiting you.

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If you feel like I left anything out or have an opinion please leave a comment, I'd love to hear your view. 

Please don't forget to check the Twitter and Facebook pages for more news and updates about the blog and other stuff. 

Now go forth and nerd.

-T. McNerd

Regenerations: Hollywood Special Effect or Time Lord Invasion?

First, I would like to thank John Thompson for writing the first article for the blog. It was great to have him work on the blog and I love this piece. I hope to have him write for the blog again in the future.
- T. McNerd

You might have heard that Batman is back on the big screen.  Seems like big news and for good reason.  I thought George Clooney killed Batman in the 90s.  Apparently, Bruce Wayne is a Time Lord and regenerated in 2005.

Spiderman jumped the shark in “Spiderman 3”.  Even Peter Parker said in that movie, “I can’t handle all these guys by myself” or something like that.  Right you are, Peter.  Even you couldn’t climb out of the shark tank carrying all that plot on your back.  Yet, I swear I just saw a movie called “The Amazing Spiderman.”   Time Lord traces are all over this one.   Not only did Spiderman clearly regenerate, Stan Lee’s favorite nerd is played by a Brit who once hung out in Depression-era New York with everyone’s favorite Gallifreyan.

Everything and everyone seems to be regenerating these days.  Apparently, The Doctor is not the last of the Time Lords after all.  Rasillon’s progeny are all over the cinema (Superman is on at least his third incarnation, Spock and “Star Trek” have regenerated, somehow Arnold Schwarzeneggar regenerated into Colin Farrell for a new “Total Recall” and Professor X has hair!), TV (Steve McGarrett is back with “Hawaii Five-0”, Sherlock Holmes is now living two 21^st century lives and I could swear “The Bionic Woman” turned into a gorgeous Brit just a few years ago but I blinked and she was gone) and let’s not get started about all the comic book regenerations. 

Of course, the continuing presence of The Incredible Hulk in Hollywood does not count as regeneration despite poor reviews of pre-Whedon versions.  Everyone knows you can’t kill The Hulk.  But, I digress.

Doctor Who gave us regeneration as a plot device in the 1960s.  It’s no coincidence that the James Bond franchise – also born in 60s Britain – shrugged off the departure of numerous actors over the years, never fearing regeneration.  Regeneration is now a media business model.  It’s a wonderful thing, regeneration.  Great ideas need not die from bad situations or poor execution.  Yet, only a few – Christopher Nolan’s Batman and the most recent incarnation of James Bond come to mind – have cracked the code on the real Time Lord secrets. 

It’s not enough to regenerate.  You need a new reason to live.

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You can find John Thompson and his latest adventure story here.

Thanks for reading, and go forth and nerd.