Lucasfilm has been kind enough to offer us this exclusive clip of next weeks episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, featuring fan favorite Quinlan Vos.

Tonight’s episode, 3.8, is a prequel to the season 1 finale, next week, featuring Quinlan, is a sequel.  I gather that Obi-Wan and Quinlan are on the hunt for Ziro the Hutt after Cad Bane breaks him out. Also, a big tip off is that the name of the episode is The Hunt For Ziro.

To my knowledge, this is also the first time we’ve seen Anakin’s original owner, Gardulla the Hutt in action.

Analyzing the scene further, the background has a lot of cool stuff to see, including Gammoreans and humanoid female dancers with Hutt headdresses. The extras on the show are getting filled out more and more to the point where it feels like we’re in Star Wars more and more. The ambience by music and lighting is getting better and better and this clip is a sterling example.

UPDATE: Some have pointed out that Gardulla the Hutt was killed in the EU.  8 years ago.  In a video game no one has ever heard of. (Bounty Hunter.  See?  You’d never heard of it either.)   It looks like a cool game, but seriously?  For one, Expanded Universe continuity wonks should get used to the fact that George Lucas is the one person completely willing and allowed to stomp all over the fan-fiction desert of the EU.  For two, you really took something that happened in a video game so seriously that you’re holding it sacred?  Things happen in video games all the time that have no bearing on the reality of a series.  Did it become canon that Luke Skywalker had to fight the Jawenko monster in the belly of the sandcrawler because that’s what happened in Super Star Wars?

No.  Please, don’t take it so seriously.  This clip is great and I’m glad at the opportunity to learn more about Anakin’s original owner on Clone Wars.  It will be interesting to see if Anakin actually interacts with Gardulla.

In any case, enjoy the clip:

“>Be sure to check out the clip of tonight’s episode, too.

We haven’t heard much about the details of the announced Thundercats animated reboot. But now an interview by MTV’s Splash Page from series producer Michael Jelenic gives us some new details.  Jelenic, who also has worked as producer on one of my favorite current animated shows, Batman: The Brave and The Bold, said of the direction of the art: “We have some great artists.  We’re using a very famous Japanese animation studio, Studio4C, which did ‘The Animatrix.’ They’re going to have their signature stuff on it. It’s going to be pretty epic.”

Pretty epic?  Thundercats?  Purr-fect. But, wait, who’s doing the art?

Studio 4°C (株式会社スタジオよんどしい Kabushiki-Gaisha Sutajio Yondo Shii according to wikipedia) has done a lot of stuff I think most geeks would have seen, including the “Kid’s Story” segment of The Animatrix (which you can watch from google free of charge here) and two segments of “>Batman: Gotham Knight which is really worth watching in its entirety, but their segments are especially good, blending good action and character and setting just the right mood.

But this is Thundercats we’re talking about?  Batman and The Matrix can exist in gritty, washed out worlds.  Do we really want Thundercats not in splendid color so we can see those awesome pastel jumpsuits everyone wore?  </sarcasm>  From Jelenic:

“I think when people see the final character designs, people will think it’s a different take, but it will feel very familiar to the old series.  The colors aren’t quite as bright as they were. I’s a little darker take, but you’ll recognize everybody.”

Everybody who?

Panthro, Tygra, Cheetara? “All those characters will still be in it” Jelenic promises — and Snarf.

“Everyone always wants to know about Snarf,” he laughed. “He will be in it, and he will not talk. Don’t worry.”

“He won’t be going, ‘Lion-O, why don’t you do this?'” said Jelenic, imitating the character’s familiar whine. “We just having him say, ‘Snarf! Snarf!’ That’s a way to get him in the show without annoying every single person who hates him. It’s funny, because people are always like, ‘I hate Snarf! Wait. you’re not going to put him in? That’s terrible!'”

No word on WilyKat and WilyKit, which is, in my mind, a good sign, as those are two characters we can do without.

But what about the whole “reimagining” thing? Jelenic agreed that the word “reimagining” could mean a lot of things, so he explained one specific change he’s looking to make with the new series.

“One thing is that I tried to simplify the mythology a little bit,” he said. “It’s a pretty complicated backstory that borrows from a lot of other sci-fi stuff, like Superman and Star Wars. In developing this, I wanted it to be a little more simple. In the other version, there’s something like three different planets involved, and they all converge onto one planet, and nobody’s really connected. I just wanted to bring that all together.”

That sounds good to me, as long as we keep the rogue’s gallery fairly consistent.  That means, to me at least, Mumm-Ra, Slithe, Jackalman, and Monkian, plus or minus a Vultureman, or some improved version of them if you please.  I always liked that the Mutants were the blunt object, while Mumm-Ra got to be puppet-master.

We’ll see Thundercats on CartoonNetwork sometime next year, most likely next Fall.  I can’t wait. It will hopefully replace the rather large hole that the loss of Batman: Brave and the Bold is causing me.

No word if Thundercats will have an all-singing episode starring Neil Patrick Harris yet.  Stay tuned.

We have two new clips from Clone Wars. These appear to follow the formula from the debut. This seems to be a prequel and a sequel to a season one episode (the finale to be exact.)

Of note is the appearance of Quinlan Vos, an expanded Universe Character of some popularity who has almost made it into the series in other forms before.

From the official press release:

In the middle of a routine shopping trip on Coruscant, C-3PO is abducted by bounty hunter Cad Bane. Soon, both Threepio and his astromech counterpart R2-D2 find themselves pawns in Bane’s plan to free Ziro the Hutt from a heavily guarded prison in the heart of the Republic. The hapless droids are once again integral in events that threaten to unravel the future of the galaxy in “Evil Plans” – an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, November 5th on Cartoon Network.

Reprising his role from all six live-action Star Wars films and countless ancillary intergalactic appearances over the past three decades, Anthony Daniels returns to voice the prim and proper protocol droid for this special episode of The Clone Wars. Thrilled at the rare chance to explore Threepio’s expertise in etiquette, Daniels himself relished the opportunity to exercise the fan-favorite character’s strengths in ways that haven’t yet been seen on screen.

“Threepio’s whole life is focused on how to avoid conflict, and the basic premise is that he’s always out of place. But he doesn’t have to be the fall guy all the time,” says Daniels. “For once, we see him functioning as he was made, according to his programming. It’s a more domesticated storyline, without the shoot-em-up aspects of the Saga. His abilities are cerebral, not physical – and he finally gets to use his expertise in protocol and etiquette. In a way, he’s more relaxed than we’ve ever seen him. But of course nothing in party-planning ever goes exactly as planned.”

Having spent so much time ensconced in Threepio’s golden trappings for the big screen, live-action adventures, Daniels enjoys the opportunity to bring the character to life through vocalization alone. Less physically strenuous than on-camera appearances, voice work nonetheless requires a keen attention to detail, as well as an understanding of what makes the character tick.

“There are all sorts of funny little technical issues with keeping him human-like without human sounds. He doesn’t breathe; I have to be careful not to breathe,” says Daniels. “The aim is to keep him very much as he is in the movies. Some of it has become second nature; I’ve been pleased to realize that I can still create the voice and match the original character. It’s the genuine article. And I really do enjoy the animation. It’s a mutual support society; they do picture to voice, so it’s a physical representation based around my vocal performance. In the series, Threepio is as gravity-forced as always. It reminds you that he can be quite clumsy. I think The Clone Wars is animated in a way that is quite accessible – not just the wide-eyed, simple, Saturday morning fare. It makes you realize you are watching Star Wars.”

Though the episode is quintessentially Star Wars, Daniels notes that the droids tend to illustrate some of the lighter aspects of the space saga. Focusing on dialogue rather than danger, they represent the fun of the series, without relying so heavily on galaxy-shattering stakes.

“There are sides of Star Wars that can be quite humorous – subtle and more gentle. I think that’s why people enjoy the relationship between Artoo and Threepio,” he says. “You don’t expect them to exhibit these human qualities, and it’s really quite charming. For all the battles, there’s a benignity that gives [Star Wars] the winner’s cup; it’s an honorable enterprise, because there’s more to it than blasters and political concerns. It’s important to realize that not everything has to focus on the dark side. Life goes on, even when there’s a war going on. But Threepio would say that, wouldn’t he?”

And here’s the Quinlan Vos scene:

In recent years, Christopher Yost has quickly become one of my favorite comic book writers on some of my favorite titles, demonstrating a particular knack for breathing life and energy and treatability into young characters and situations, like those featured in New X-Men (one of my personal favorites), X-23 Innocence Lost/Target X (further must-reads) as well as Red Robin for DC comics.

In addition to his impressive catalog of comic book works, Yost, often alongside frequent collaborator Craig Kyle boasts an impressive track record in film and television, having filled a variety of key roles in numerous comic book related works ranging from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Fantastic Four: Worlds Greatest Heroes and his most recent foray into animated television: Wolverine and the X-Men,which hit shelves recently.

Mr. Yost was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to speak with Big Shiny Robot!

Big Shiny Robot!: You seem to straddle the comics and animation worlds fairly equally, which came first and did they naturally lead to the other?

Chris Yost: Animation came first, then comics.  The comic work came directly out of the animation through the character of X-23 that Craig Kyle created for the show ‘X-Men: Evolution’  Craig had pitched the character to Marvel for the show, and then she even showed up in a comic called NYX.  She proved popular, and Marvel was interested in doing an origin mini-series for her… and came to Craig and I for it.

BSR!: Why don’t you give us your take on the latest televised incarnation of the X-Men. What distinguishes Wolverine and the X-Men as a series from what we’ve seen before?

CY: Seeing the whole series on Blu-Ray really hit it home, but head writer Greg Johnson came up with the initial concept, and he and Craig Kyle developed the show based on the notion that a mysterious event tore apart the X-Men and Professor Xavier and Jean Grey went missing… and it was up to Wolverine to re-unite the X-Men to save the day.

What I like about it is that it flips the usual X-Men dynamic on its head.  Wolverine is usually the loner that breaks the rules, that won’t listen to the leader… and now he’s the leader.  He’s making the rules.  So seeing him relate to the X-Men, to Cyclops in this new role is something we haven’t seen before, and it was a lot of fun both to watch and to write.

BSR!: This series seemed to really up the ante for action and drama and darker tone from what we’ve seen before, are you finding children’s television a less restrictive venue for these type of stories in recent years or where you guys just testing the limits?

CY: There’s a big range of animation out there, and audiences for everything.  Wolverine and the X-Men falls somewhere between ‘Super Hero Squad’ and ‘Hulk Vs.’ where the violence and blood isn’t so evident, but it’s not for the pre-school crowd.

Wolverine and the X-Men is honestly more like the comics in tone.  There’s still fun to be had, but the X-Men story is a drama, a serial drama… watching the whole series on DVD is pretty gratifying, from a story perspective.  You’re really taking a journey with these characters.  And I think kids of all ages can find something to relate to in it.

BSR!: Super-heroes have obviously made an indelible impression on the mainstream media outside of comic books in recent years – Did this sort of “super-hero literacy” factor in to the process of writing Wolverine and the X-Men?

CY: Not really.  Each episode has to make sense, it has to tell a clear story.  We stick in some things for fans, but if you don’t recognize a character here or there in the background, it’s not going to affect your enjoyment of the story.

Watching the whole thing like this, on DVD… it’s fun to see the stand alone stories, but at the same time seeing the whole X-Men comic universe come to life.

BSR!: “The Inner Circle: Reflections on Wolverine and the X-Men” was a really in depth look at the making of the project – an incredibly passionate and talented team behind the project. What was it like working with such an experienced group of people on such an ambitious project?

CY: It was amazing.  From top down, everyone working on the show is a fan, and has a great love for the characters and stories.  It’s a passionate, creative environment, working with the best – honestly, it’s a great job.  I won’t lie.  Getting the whole series on blu-ray was just icing on the cake.

BSR!: I think I speak for a lot of people in my generation when I say that the first X-Men animated series served as a potent gateway into X-Men comics to which I am unabashedly hooked for life – As a writer for both TV and comics do you treat your work in television as a gateway to good old fashioned paper comics?

CY: I hope so.  I love comics, and like to think of the shows, which reach a much larger audience, as a first look of sorts to the comics.  If you liked this show, then you’ll love the comics… but there are kids out there today that don’t even know what comics ARE.  They know these characters from the show, from movies or video games.  Unless they’ve actually been in a comic book store, they have no exposure to comics.

Hopefully we can help change that.

BSR!: On the subject of comics – Your work on New X-Men really absorbed me in to a title that I had only casually read in the past, taking the sort of teen angst that is so often disingenuous, transparent or just plain annoying in comics and making it really identifiable, compelling and even moving while spinning it into some of my favorite X-Men sagas in the last decade. Anyway, enough ass kissing – Where young characters really seem to stifle many writers (or are simply boiled down to a bad attitude, bad haircut and a skateboard), they really seem to be a perfect fit for you. Talk about that.

CY: I love Spider-Man and Cap and Thor, don’t get me wrong.  I love ‘em.  But in some ways, the young characters are more fun.  When the Avengers fight Kang, it’s like – oh, you again.  With the Young Avengers, you’re seeing it fresh through new eyes for the first time.  These characters haven’t seen everything, haven’t done everything, and as teenagers, their emotions are so raw… it’s an explosive mix.  Kids are fun!

BSR!: While you certainly didn’t shy away from dark subject matter in New X- Men, your X-Force was easily the darkest X book I have ever read and I loved it. Talk about what it like to write someone like Wolverine for a children’s program vs. Wolverine gutting religious zealots by the building full.

CY: Well, Wolverine’s a blast to write in any medium, but in X-Force, we can really cut loose.  In the cartoons, a lot of robots get cut.  A lot of doors and walls get cut through.  But in the comics, and in ‘Hulk Vs,’ well, those claws are put to the use you and I all know [what] they’re for.  I don’t prefer one over the other, per se, but realistically… people would get cut around Wolverine.  I’m just saying.

BSR!: Taking into account all the television, the animated features you’ve written for Lionsgate and the comics you’ve done for Marvel – are there any character’s left that you’re itching to get your hands on that you haven’t had the opportunity to yet?

CY: I’ve been extremely lucky.  There’s a few characters I’d still like a crack at… Cloak and Dagger, the Defenders, Quasar, Alpha Flight… I’m greedy.  I want them all.

BSR!: With that, I will hand the reigns over to Swank who has a couple of DC related question… Thanks for your time. Clang! Boom! Steam! Out.

Your run on Red Robin (Part 1, Part 2) is probably 12 of the best issues the Bat-family has had in the last ten years. You really understood Tim better than a lot of writers who took up his reigns and your love for the genre and world is apparent. Do you have more DC stories to tell?

CY: Well, thanks! I’m wrapped up in a few things right now outside of comics, but one day I’d love to jump back in.

BSR!: If you could get your hands on an animated DC property, what would it be?

CY: I’d make a animated DVD of Grant Morrison’s JLA story ‘Rock of Ages.’

BSR!: Last question: What comic books are you reading for entertainment right now?

CY: Hickman’s FANTASTIC FOUR. Love it.

BSR!: Thank you, sir!

With that, be sure to get yourselves a copy of the complete Wolverine and the X-Men.  And be sure to follow Chris on Twitter!

This episode follows Ahsoka Tano and her effort to prevent her visions of Padme’s assassination at the hands of Aurra Singh from coming true. My faith in this season had been a little shaken over the last couple of episodes and I was wondering if this episode would pull us out of the slump that we’ve been in and I have to say, it really did. With a vengeance.

This was perhaps one of the best episodes of the show I’ve seen.

Ahsoka is once again on her own, without Anakin’s guidance and faced with a terrible dilemma. This episode echoed in a very clever way the trials Anakin and Luke go through in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and The Empire Strikes Back and it’s a very classic Star Wars story. She needs to interpret visions that may or may not be true and act on them in a definitive fashion that won’t make things worse.

As it turns out, Aurra Sing didn’t die in the Slave I crash from last season and Ahsoka seems to be the only one who can sense it. She accompanies Senator Amidala to Alderaan for a conference to protect her after Yoda advises her to act on her visions in whatever manner she deems best.

This is perhaps the most self-referential episode of Clone Wars in regards to the film saga and that’s probably what I loved most about it. This was dripping in classic Star Wars situations, locations, music, themes, visuals, and so on.

The visual continuity of Ahsoka’s premonitions matches those Anakin had in Revenge of the Sith perfectly, though the visions Ahsoka has are much less emotionally intense, probably since she doesn’t have the fear of loss of Padme that Anakin did, and she wasn’t being manipulated by a Sith Lord. She follows the same course of action for these visions as Anakin did, and that’s to consult Master Yoda, who is even in the very same meditation chamber. The lighting in the scene matched the film perfectly and provided the exact right mood and atmosphere. She also visits Padme in her apartment (an exact replica of the apartment in Revenge of the Sith) to tell her of the danger.

Ahsoka decides that the best course of action is to accompany Padme to her conference on Alderaan. On the way there, there is a scene that is reminiscent of Episode I and Episode IV. Ahsoka is unsure of herself and a little scared. In very much the same emotional tones (both in voice and lighting), Padme reassures her much the same way she reassured Anakin during his first space flight away from Tatooine. While they do this, they pass the time on the way to Alderaan in exactly the same way as Artoo and Chewbacca on their way to Alderaan in A New Hope: playing Holochess. This was a very wonderful touch.

My favorite piece of classic trilogy incorporated into this episode, however, was the inclusion of Princess Leia’s theme into the score during their arrival to Alderaan. I’ve always found that piece of music melancholy and tied to the fate of Alderaan and using it here on the planet is bittersweet. It offers sort of a sad and sweet introduction to the planet on the show.

It was intrigued to see Ahsoka dealing with an assassin on her own based solely on her own premonitions. Since she didn’t have the attachment and emotion Anakin and Luke did when they dealt with theirs, we actually see visions of the future handled properly. There was less action in this episode than the last two combined, but because the story was well written and supported the action, it really meant much more and was much more exhilarating than the firefights and power struggles on Mandalore. The stakes were high emotionally and I was invested that much more in the climax.

And this episode actually build on Anakin and Ahoska’s relationship further, though Anakin was only in it for a few minutes. Ahsoka saved Padme’s life. Padme is the thing in the galaxy most dear to Anakin and Ahsoka saved her from dying and captured a notorious and dangerous bounty hunter in the process. He is indebted to her. And since he’s already showing the same sort of emotional attachment issues to Ahsoka as he has to Padme and his mother, her eventual fate is only going to drive him that much closer to the dark side of the force on the road to the events of Revenge of the Sith.

My favorite moment with my son (the real Anakin) was when Anakin and Ahsoka were trying to find out who hired Aurra Sing to assasinate Padme and he turned to me and said, “It’s Greedo.”

“What?”

“I bet it’s Greedo that hired Aurra to kill Padme.”

“It’s not Greedo.”

“Dad, trust me. It’s Greedo. Or Ziro. It’s Ziro the Hutt. I knew that all along.”

The bottom line is that this was a great episode, Katie Lucas did a great job writing it, the team did an excellent job pulling it off, and I did an impressive job enjoying it. This might just have been my favorite episode from this season.

Next week, I’ll fill the gap in episodes watching the Blu-ray of Season 2, which comes out Tuesday, and in two weeks I’m terribly excited to see Cad Bane torturing See Threepio.

To catch up on season one, order that here.  You can preorder season two here.

Lucasfilm has been kind enough once again to give us a preview of the next episode of Clone Wars.  This one looks far more promising than the last couple of weeks, although they were good, we’ve been in a bit of  a dry spell.

This episode looks to break all that and take us back into the stratosphere we’ve been used to.  The look of this clip feels very “Manchurian Candidate” to me.

From the press release:

She’s BACK! Left for dead after her failed gambit at the end of The Clone Wars’ second season, deadly assassin Aurra Sing has returned – and she’s out to redistribute the balance of power in “Assassin,” an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars – airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, October 22 on Cartoon Network.

Tasked with protecting Senator Padmé Amidala during a political mission to Alderaan, Ahsoka Tano is plagued by recurring visions of Sing’s return. Unable to clear her mind, Ahsoka begins to worry that the stress of war is finally taking its toll on her – until the blood-letting assassin reveals herself with an attempt on Padmé’s life. And after their last confrontation left Sing humbled, humiliated and presumed dead, the lean and mean bounty huntress is only happy for a chance at a rematch with the young Padawan…

“Aurra never dies. She gives what she takes and she kind of enjoys it,” laughs Jaime King (My Bloody Valentine 3D, Sin City, The Spirit), who voices Sing in The Clone Wars. “She does have a bad taste in her mouth [after the events of Season Two], but rather than being bitter and angry, she is doing what she needs to do. It’s a very cut-and-dried thing for her. Everything that happens makes her more intense and ruthless. She says bring it.”

Sing’s cruelty and merciless methods have certainly made her a favorite among fans; fascinating audiences with her blink-and-you’ll-miss-it introduction in the live-action Episode I, she’s since been elevated into the upper echelons of Star Wars icons. Her distinctive appearance – creepy yet seductive – plays into that mystique, giving her a visual flair that complements her ruthless demeanor.

“She’s long and lean and lanky, but she has curves. She’s perfect,” says King. “She’s got those long fingers; they’re spidery like she is. Predatory. Her physicality is very much a part of her, and it’s sexy. There are so many people who aren’t inherently beautiful, but their qualities and gifts make them so stunning. It’s the It Factor, and Aurra’s got It. Men love her because she’s hot and badass, and women love her because she’s strong and badass. There aren’t a lot of strong female characters like Aurra.”

Still, while Sing may be “badass,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s all bad, according to King. She may not necessarily be a friendly, compassionate type, but Sing nonetheless has a backstory that provides the drive behind her bad behavior, But don’t expect a comprehensive explanation of those motivations anytime soon.

“There’s a history we haven’t been told,” says King. “It’s up to George [Lucas] and Dave [Filoni] what they choose to show. I have my ideas, but those are secrets I like to hold on to; those are the layers that inform the character when I’m playing her. I’m never just pretending; it’s my job to understand why she does what she does, so that it comes from a place of truth. Each episode reveals more. It’s Star Wars; it touches lives, and I believe it will last forever. I love that.”

To catch up on season one, order that here.  You can preorder season two here.

This week’s episode of Clone Wars sends us back to Mandalore where Ahsoka Tano has been given the assignment to teach Mandalorian students in the Academy about corruption and for some reason that would lead her to investigate corruption that for some reason would help eliminate the corruption on Mandalore.

I know, I know.  It really is as contrived as it sounds.

The first two acts of this episode are preposterous.  For some reason these students are inspired to investigate the food shortage and find that the government warehouses are full of food and they happen to stumble upon a black marketeer making a deal with “off-worlders.”  They make a holocam recording of the whole affair, but are quickly discovered and chased.  Fortunately, these teenage students somehow escape from the personal police escort of the hooded bad guy and decide they need to go to the authorities about this corruption.  One young Mandalorian lad, Korkie, happens to have an aunt that is actually Duchess Satine.

They go to her for help, but she acts incredibly suspicious and sends the children on their way.

“She must be in on it,” they assume.  And then Korkie drops another revelation, “I’ve known the Prime Minister all my life, if my Auntie Satine won’t help, let’s go talk to him!”

After a quick call with the Prime Minister of the entire planet of Mandalore, he tells them to meet him in a darkened plaza, alone, with everyone who knows of the plot of corruption.  You know, because it’s totally reasonable to have the Prime Ministers phone number as a young Cadet in school, and it’s even more reasonable to think nothing is afoot when he asks to meet you in a dark alley.

See where this is going?

These kids need a healthy dose of stranger danger.

Ahsoka gets involved and they realize that Satine has been captured also.

There’s a commercial break and then I really started to enjoy the episode.  The last act reveals the villains, has some really well-played action, brings all of the political brinksmanship of the last episode that had no pay off to a head and kind of fixed things on Mandalore.  And it really brings Ahsoka further into her own, which is something we needed to see heading into the rest of the season.

And seriously, Ahsoka fighting off a bunch of Mandalorian police with binders on?  That’s worth the two preposterous acts of set up with Korkie and the Mandalorian Mystery Machine.

I do not want to give you the impression that I’m the guy who needs action at all times to sate my desire for Clone Wars.  I realize the last episode was “boring” and a lot of people assumed it was because there was no action (even though the entire last act was a firefight).  It’s because of lazy writing.  This episode was written by Cameron Litvack, who also wrote the last episode.  (Coincidentally, it was also directed by the same fellow, Giancarlo Volpe.  I’ll be wary of seeing their names together on any future episodes.)

The situations in the last two episodes have been contrived, the scenarios preposterous, the characters acting erratically…  It felt like he hasn’t been watching the show.  As a writer, it really frustrates me to see lazy, bad writing on Clone Wars.  This is the best show on television and they should be holding their writer/director teams to a higher standard.  I’m sure these episodes are playing better to kids, my son was wrapped up in it completely, but they know we’re watching and they know we pay attention.  And they know we’re going to invest more thought and care into it than apparently Cameron Litvack is capable of.

Having said all of that, I really did enjoy this episode a lot better than the last one.  It had an ending that I was actually happy with and I’m hoping this is the end of us seeing Mandalore for a while.  Which is sad for me to say, because last seasons exploits on Mandalore were some of my favorite.  It ended on a high note and left me eager to get to next weeks episode.

After watching this episode, though, my son said, “That was one of the best ones yet, right dad?”

“If you say so.”

“But tomorrow, can we watch Bombad Jedi?  That one is the best.”

“Yes we can, Anakin.  Yes we can.”

To catch up on season one, order that here.  You can preorder season two here.

Lucasfilm has once again given us a preview look at the next episode of Clone Wars (and the next!).

This episode involves a bunch of kids solving a mystery. I’m assuming this will be better than just about every episode of Scooby Doo combined.

From the press release:

Much to her chagrin, Ahsoka Tano is assigned to teach a class at the cadet academy on Mandalore. Soon after she arrives, however, some of her students are drawn into a treacherous plot.
“The Academy” finds its heroes not among the super-powered Jedi or even the ranks of the highly-trained clone everymen. Instead, the protagonists are intrepid youngsters on a principled quest –
to uncover the corruption that is poisoning their homeworld. Delving ever deeper into the dysfunctional social mechanics of Mandalore, it’s an all-new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars – airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, October 15 on Cartoon Network.

The next clip, from next week, is a tease for an episode called “Assassins” that is pretty creepy. It’s very good looking stuff and I’m very excited for it.

It also features the return of Aurra Sing:

This episode of Clone Wars, ‘Corruption’, tells the story of Mandalore’s black market troubles. Mandalore is under significant stress because of their neutrality and trade to their system is choked off. Smugglers and black marketeers keep things flowing into Mandalore. Unfortunately, some of them unwittingly poison a number of children with their tainted goods.

It was very much like The Third Man with Padme Amidala cast as Holly Martins, coming to the planet to visit an old friend, the Duchess Satine. The children are poisoned and they set out to investigate.

The problem with this episode? There was no Harry Lime. Orson Welles’ character in The Third Man was the black marketeer who unwittingly let out a tainted batch of penecillin on the children of Vienna and had to fake his own death to escape. He’s one of film history’s most despicable and well loved bad guys and he’s exactly what this episode needed.

This episode looked very pretty. The lighting, the animation, the costume changes, the voice acting, it was all very good. In fact, there were scenes in the throne room areas with light pouring in that looked pretty incredible and the facial animation just keeps getting better and better. The attention to detail that no one else would notice was fantastic. Did anyone else notice shapes from Boba Fett’s armor (particularly the diamond in the center of his chest plate) all over the architecture of Mandalore? I did. And it’s details like those that help me remember that the people making this show love Star Wars as much as I do.

But the writing in this episode was so dry, it was almost unbearable. Nothing really happens in this episode. Sure, we can see the unrest in Mandalore. I get that. I see that it’s setting things up for future episodes, but couldn’t it have done it with a little bit more spark? Couldn’t it have used an actual bad guy, even if he was just a misguided black marketeer? And couldn’t everything have been assembled a little bit more logically?

Why did Satine ask for the warehouse full of evidence be burned to the ground before the investigation? And it’s not like it wasn’t pointed out to her in the show. It just didn’t seem called for, especially since in the next scene she asks Padme for help in furthering the investigation.

This was perhaps the most lifeless episode of this show I’ve watched. I’ve been going back and rewatching episodes and I really can’t remember feeling more ambivalent to an episode than this one. It was good. I mean it was Star Wars, so it wasn’t horrible or anything. But it just kind of….was.

On the other hand, the first thing my son said when the episode was over was, “That was a really good one, dad. I can’t wait till next week.” So maybe I’m just way off base.

My only hope is that the coming episodes set on Mandalore build on the situation created here. And next episode we get Ahsoka on Mandalore. And if it’s a powder keg, then she’ll be sure to spark it into an explosion.

As I eagerly anticipate the release of the 10th DC animated original movie I’ve decided to make a list of MY top 5. This list is strictly for posterity, after all, what we catalog at Big Shiny Robot! echoes in eternity.

5. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Loosely based on Grant Morrison’s JLA: Earth 2 graphic novel, this movie edges out the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman films with Lex Luthor playing the hero and the JLA working with their Earth-2 counterparts to defeat the Crime Syndicate.

4.Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

The newest in the series, I had to watch this twice before I really enjoyed it. It strays from the original Superman/Batman story enough to keep it interesting without being incoherent. There’s an annoying montage of Supergirl trying on outfits near the beginning of the film that almost kills it entirely, but once Big Barda is introduced the story takes off to the world of Jack Kirby created characters and the excitement on Apokolips makes up for the slow start.

3.Superman: Doomsday

I’ve had an affinity towards The Man of Steel since I was 5 years old so this movie had to make the list. I immediately wanted to give it the number one spot, because it is a fantastic film. Magnificent action scenes and chilling depictions of Doomsday killing animals taken straight from the comic books shocked me on first viewing. Despite a cameo from Kevin Smith and great voice work from Anne Heche it came in 3rd because the next two films are so strong.

2.Justice League: The New Frontier

This movie confused my wife and she asked a few poignant questions like, “What the hell is The Centre?”, and “Why did Batman scare that Kid?”. I’ve read the Darwyn Cooke story so many times I have a hard time seeing any gaps in the story but people unfamiliar with the source material have raised a few good points. Despite minor
(if any) flaws in the storytelling, the animation raised the bar for other movies based on Cooke’s designs alone.

1.Batman: Under the Red Hood

At number one on the list you’d think I have a long diatribe on why this movie stands out from the rest, with insightful comparisons to the previous films. Unfortunately I don’t. I’m still baffled at how well this entire project was executed. From the script to artwork everything seems to be in just the right place at the right time. I you haven’t seen this one yet don’t bother renting it, you’ll want to watch it over and over.

What we have to look forward to (besides my top ten list next year):

All Star Superman: Announced at San Diego Comic-Con in 2010, this could easily take over the #1 spot or dissapoint us by being incoherent depending on what is removed from the story.

Green Lantern: Emerald Knights: Slated for release June 7, 2011 this HAS to be better than 2009’s Green Lantern: First Flight.

Batman: Year One: Based on the classic Frank Miller/David Mazzucchelli story, I’m anxious to see the production artwork for this. Planned release date of September 27, 2011.

Disagree with me below. I don’t mind that you’re wrong!