Club Jade

Today was fairly busy, starting off with the Del Rey panel. It was also the first official reveal of Detours, which I chose not to attend in order to write up Del Rey. This one goes a little beyond just the stuff I was able to attend, if only because of the sheer overlapping amount of big things going on. (Yes: Still exhausting!)

Oh, and apparently The Clone Wars is moving to a Saturday morning debut? Alrighty then. Bryan Young went to the S5 premiere tonight and has posted a review and recap.

Some quick thoughts on Del Rey, Detours, cupcakes, the Essential Reader’s Companion, Mark Hamill and more below the cut.

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Reed has announced that Mark Hamill will be coming back to Orlando for Celebration VI. Enterprising Jaders are hunting for furry pillows as I type, no doubt.

UPDATE: Entertainment Weekly has a new interview with Hamill for the occasion.

Sunday reader. Using the Blu-rays, Hitfix’s Drew McWeeny is showing the Star Wars movies to his two sons for the first time. It’s a great story (they’ve seen Clone Wars but nothing else) and probably one of the best articles (and certainly the most detailed) that I’ve read on kid’s reactions to the saga. In order: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, with the Return of the Jedi entry coming on Thursday. A great read, whether you’ve shown the movies to kids yet or not.

Occupy Coruscant? Twitter’s favorite minions of evil, Death Star PR, takes time out of their busy planet-blasting schedule to debunk Luke Skywalker’s assertion that he is part of the 99%.

Kids. A Yoda backpack helped one flower girl make it down the aisle. (via)

People. Watch Mark Hamill in the opening of Friday’s Chuck premiere.

Spoofs. The Jedi Church. Literally. Well, spoofily.

In a clip from The People vs. George Lucas, which comes to DVD next week, A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz opines on the prequel trilogy. He’s not a fan, but you probably knew that.

Expanded Universe. Suvudu is offering up 50 pages of Paul S. Kemp’s Riptide. The book will be out Tuesday, but you can read a review at Lightsaber Rattling.

Live-action. I’ve been rolling my eyes at the inevitable wave of ‘what about the live-action show!?!’ whine that inevitably accompany any news of other TV projects, so those folks can feel free to take it to io9, where Charlie Jane Anders’ tells you what she wants from the live-action Star Wars and Star Trek TV shows.

Merchandise. Hallmark’s Star Wars exclusive ornaments are fast sellers at conventions, shocking… absolutely no one. Next year’s regular ornaments will be TIE Interceptor, Han on Taun taun, General Grievous, Darth Maul, and a Lego Stormtrooper.

People Mark Hamill says goodbye to the Joker. At least until they make another video game…

Surprise! George Lucas made an appearance on stage at last night’s Scream Awards, as the Spike show honored Darth Vader as the ‘Ultimate Villian’.

The awards, which also gave the ‘Ultimate Scream’ prize to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and ‘Best Fantasy Actress’ to Natalie Portman for Black Swan, will air on Spike Tuesday, October 18.

NYCC. Mark Hamill and his evil laugh has his own panel at New York Comic-Con on Friday, and Tor.com has the report. Lucas’ new film, Red Tails, also got a panel, and has a new comic-style poster by Joe Kubert as well.

Amanda Lucas. We’re all familiar with her MMA fighting career, and in a new interview she addresses the constant and inevitable Star Wars references. “I hope to do my best on my own and prove I’m not just George’s daughter. I work just as hard as my training partners and I don’t want any special treatment. (But “Star Wars” is) going to get mentioned – it’s nothing I can hide,” she said on The MMA Hour.

Fandom. The 501st Legion’s Canadian Garrison is profiled by The Sudbury Star.

The AV Club has a great interview with Mark Hamill. They cover a lot of ground beyond his two most famous roles, including the upcoming Sushi Girl, Comic Book: The Movie and The Big Red One. But there is, of course, plenty on “the space movies.”

Sure, there’s at least one key error, and he’s been married since 1978, but if you ever wondered… (via)

Previously: 1977 Tiger Beat says Hans Solo who?

As you have hopefully already heard, Mark Hamill will be guesting on Chuck next season.

During a break in filming, Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez indulged every fan’s dream by getting Mark to go back to his old Jedi ways. Sweet!

Young Archer here is well on his way to complete Star Wars indoctrination. (via)

• Mark Hamill, new to Twitter, did a brief fan Q&A on Tuesday. Topics included Alec Guinness, the most difficult Star Wars actor and the craziest thing a fan has asked him to sign.

• Obi-Wan is one of Empire’s ten movie figures better than real dads. He only lied for your own good, Luke. Also on the list? Indiana Jones.
• The Death Star PR folks have written an open letter to Natalie Portman regarding her newborn son.
• Jess whips up outfits inspired by Luke’s Dagobah gear and Ahsoka in Clone Wars S3.
• Check out Redditer Punqington’s awesome Millennium Falcon wedding cake.
• Apparently the new Miss USA, California’s Alyssa Campanella, is a Star Wars fan.

Yes, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is now on Twitter as @HamillHimself. (And yes, it’s been confirmed.) You can’t say he doesn’t have excellent timing!

As soon as I hit the button on this post, I’m off to add him to our Twitter guide, which already includes several Star Wars pros and alumni like Carrie Fisher (@CarrieFFisher) and Anthony Daniels (@ADaniels3PO.)