Sariah Gallego picks the Dark Side at Disneyland’s Jedi Academy. Is this really all that unusual? Kids love them some dark side.
EUbits: Allie talks Qui-Gon comic, Del Rey to reissue novelization, Shadow Hunter for TPM 3-D
Comics. Writer Scott Allie talks about the Qui-Gon Jinn comic Jedi: The Dark Side with CBR. He reveals that the series will take place 20 years prior to The Phantom Menace, that the focus of Dark Side will be a personal story, and talks a bit about Xanatos. Yoda, Mace Windu and even Dooku will make appearances in the mini-series.
Releases. Del Rey will be reissuing The Phantom Menace novelization and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter next year to tie-into the first 3-D release. Both books will feature new original short stories for the occasion.
Events. Authors John Jackson Miller and Paul S. Kemp and Del Rey’s Erich Schoeneweiss will talk about Star Wars books at a panel at Chicago’s C2E2. The schedule isn’t up yet, but the panel will be Friday, March 18. (Question: Is C2E2 worth a vacation day and a 4-hour drive in the days of social media? I’ll have to think about it.)
History lesson. Tor.com’s Emily Asher-Perrin takes a slightly snarky (yay!) look back at the evolution of Star Wars galaxy maps. In retrospect, that first one was probably the only reason at all to be excited about Vector Prime. I must admit I do still like the old-timey calligraphy look it has.
The blogside. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff reveals that one of the locations for Shadow Games (née Holostar) is Bannistar Station.
Kids. The folks behind The Strange Case of Origami Yoda will be back with Darth Paper Strikes Back in the fall.
Video: Volkswagen’s Star Wars Super Bowl commercial
This cute Volkswagen commercial will debut during the Super Bowl. Now you can do something better with your life that day!
Show your support for Katie today by wearing and donating Star Wars
Today is the day to support Star Wars and geek pride for Katie, so wear or display some Star Wars gear, or donate a Star Wars toy to needy children. (But don’t forget to add a note saying that the toy is for a boy or a girl!)
Meanwhile, io9 has an theory on the reason behind bullying Katie.
“We’re all fine here now, thank you.”
More happy news from Katie’s introduction to fandom. (This is the little girl who was deluged with love after her mom wrote about her being teased for liking Star Wars.) Her mom reports that she has not only gotten some awesome stuff from fans, but she has learned lessons from folks who have written in and is now helping others.
Rock on, Katie! Here’s hoping we all live up to your example.
Katie update: Geeks share the love
Katie, the young Star Wars fan who was bullied for liking Star Wars, has been getting a lot of love in a short time.
In addition to several pieces by several prominent female geeks, GeekingOutAbout.com reports that the stars of The Clone Wars have offered up some sweet gifts and opportunities for her. (The numbers have already changed drastically from when this article was written.)
Katie has also received many offers of toys and other collectibles. But the family is requesting that you donate those, instead, to a charity. I know the 501st is about to kick in to the Toys for Tots season. It might be a sweet way to honor one small voice who has inspired so many.
Girl bullied for liking Star Wars
This has been all over the internet today, so apologies if you’ve heard it already. A girl was bullied for – of all things – bringing a Star Wars water bottle to school:
But a week ago, as we were packing her lunch, Katie said, “My Star Wars water bottle is too small. It doesn’t hold enough water. Can I take a different one?” She searched through the cupboard until she found a pink water bottle and said, “I’ll bring this.”
I was perplexed. “Katie, that water bottle is no bigger than your Star Wars one. I think it is actually smaller.”
“It’s fine, I’ll just take it,” she insisted.
I kept pushing the issue, because it didn’t make sense to me. Suddenly, Katie burst into tears.
Response has been pretty overwhelming – There are 300 comments on the original post and more than a thousand on Epbot, who’s been spreading the word. It’s pretty much all over Twitter and even Tumblr this evening. But that’s no reason not to drop in a word yourself.
UPDATE: Bonnie at StarWars.com and our pal Mandy at The Adorkable both have messages for Katie and other girls.
The fandom minute: Star Wars spending
Making maths. Justin Brown calculates how much he’s spent on Star Wars over the years. And although it’s a nice chunk of change, it’s still less than one copy of Frames, so I’ll give him a pass, despite that whole Boba Fett thing.
A social experiment. Ryan Britt takes a look at just how confused Clone Wars loving kids may be by their first look at the rest of the movies. Could ‘Anakin becomes Vader’ end up as their ‘Han shot first?’
…And for their parents. John Scalzi looks at awesome scenes in bad movies.
Right at home. Artist Cedric Delsaux returns to fandom’s radar with a new set of Star Wars images taken in what may be the world’s most sci-fiesque city, Dubai.
Why stormtroopers miss. Cracked explains the much-maligned plot hole with science.
Eye Candy Vader and Yoda via font.
Video: Have the Star Wars talk with your kids
…Before it’s too late. (via)
The fandom minute: Sith Fairies and milk stormtroopers
Darth Fairy strikes back. Booturtle created this striking Darth Fairy getup for her daughter to wear to Dragon*Con and for Halloween. It was, not surprisingly, a big hit! Be sure not to miss her Death Star cake, either. (Photo by ConventionFans)
Also in crafts… Make a stormtrooper helmet out of a milk jug. Just the thing for a Star Wars Halloween party. Not that you need the Halloween excuse to throw an awesome Star Wars party.
Original trilogy. Bryan Young has some interesting thoughts on releasing the OT in HD.
Listage. Chewbacca is the #1 sidekick for Hero Complex, while Anakin Skywalker is in suitably annoying company on io9’s list of the most obnoxious superpowered teenagers.