Tor.com - A Site full of Fantastical Delights

Welcome to the rebellion.

Sci-Fi aficionados come in all shapes and sizes but even with the large variety of resources provided by the web, we all tend to gravitate to specific sites to get our updates. Some of us tend to look for movie and TV info, others come from a comic book background, more literary types may go to online story sites.

As far as literary sci-fi goes, I find myself more and more impressed with the community at publisher Tor.com. There’s lots here to make this site both sticky and worth bookmarking for regular visits.

We have a cover artist gallery showcasing examples of the visual art of Tor books and other related pieces by the creators. There are blogs and forums about all kinds of geektastic related news, coming books and re-reading/re-watching of classic and not so classic sci-fi.

And of course, short fiction. There’s even podcasts giving avid listeners fantasy tales in audio form.

I first discovered the site last year when Tor went all Victorian for Steampunk month, including redesigning “Stubby” the Tor.com rocket logo into a steampunk airship dubbed the H.M.S. Stubbington.

It was a delight to follow Tor blogger Irene’s Saturday Morning Cartoons posts, pointing me to awesome sci-fi themed toons from around the world.

I still return to posts like Steampunk Saturday, which showcased the lavish, steampunk, shadow toon, “The Mysterious Explorations of Jasper Morello” (Whose home website is very cool Gothic Gazette) and Blur Studio’s “A Gentleman’s Duel”.

Irene is the Art Director for Tor, Forge, Starscape and Tor.com and has excellent taste in toons. Check out her personal website.

For those who like their narrative more graphic, Tor also has short stories by cartoonists including Canada’s indie horror maven, Ray Fawkes and his creepy little gem, Black Strings.

And while we’re in a Canadian cartoonist mood, take a peek at Agnes Garbowska’s delightful animated preview for her comic project, Imagination Station.

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Introducing... Boba Fett

Welcome to the rebellion. I went absolutely bonkers for this cartoon as a kid, when it aired as part of the infamous Star Wars Christmas Special. The first screen appearance of Boba Fett was easily the best part of the show.



The animated short was like nothing I'd ever seen. The designs are part ILM/part fairground caricature artist/70's underground comix and it was our first ever look at badass Boba Fett. Even though Boba never actually does anything in this, it was all about the tease. This dude had potential to rival Darth Vader in coolness.

From small screen...


...to tall screen.

For a young Canuck like me, the most amazing thing was that this short was by by an upstart Canadian company named Nelvana, now one of the largest animation companies in the world.

It somehow made the possibility of being connected to that Hollywood/Star Wars universe so far, far way seem less remote. They so impressed George Lucas this short became a precursor to is a precursor to their later Droids and Ewoks series.

At the time they were making animated shorts in their Small Star Cinema series and moved into really unique, and awesome animated specials like their early Christmas Two-Step, their breakthrough production was A Cosmic Christmas. (Don't believe me? View it here!).

And of course, the Halloween special, The Devil And Daniel Mouse...

Which inspired their ambitious feature debut, Rock And Rule!

After the Star Wars Christmas Special, Nelvana continued the galactic holiday themed specials with Intergalactic Thanksgiving, Romie-0 and Julie-8, Take Me Up To the Ball Game and the not so sci-fi Easter Fever (the very first animation voice credit for Maurice LaMarche: voice of "The Brain" from Pinky & The Brain!).

All fun, unique specials. But this really is about Boba Fett. He's a man of few words but we'll give him the last words today.

Bad... Ass.

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Star Wars Sunday Comic 005 - Dennis The Phantom Menace

Welcome to the rebellion. I tend to do the Imperial News' Star Wars Sunday Comics in batches. That way I can immerse myself in a specific creator's approach and get a few comics written and drawn while I'm in the right head space. So for the next few Sundays we'll be seeing some familiar faces. Enjoy.

With thanks and apologies to Dennis The Menace creator, Hank Ketcham. For more Imperial News comics click here.

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Star Wars Sunday Comic 004 - Dengar The Horrible

Welcome to the rebellion.

Word has reached our deep-space listening posts that Lord Darth Vader has summoned mercenaries from across the galaxy to help him capture Han Solo, thereby luring Luke Skywalker into a deadly confrontation. Six of the fiercest bounty hunters were assembled: Dengar, 4-LOM, Zuckass, Bossk, IG-88, and the legendary Boba Fett.



But before the stalking and corralling of rebel scum begins. Here is the latest Sunday Comic from the Imperial News: Dengar the Horrible.

Oh, that Dengar.

With thanks and apologies to Hagar The Horrible creators, Dik and Chris Browne. For more Imperial News comics click here. For Chris Browne's Blog, click here.

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Star Wars Sunday Comic 003 - Dennis The Phantom Menace

Welcome to the rebellion. The slave boy from the dome next door was in my Funnel Flower bushes again. I laid in wait with our hose to give him a good dunking but he squeezed the hose to keep it from splashing him until I foolishly looked in the end to see if something was blocking it. Then he let go and splash! I was one soaked Moisture Farmer.

Sigh. How does that brat keep getting away with his mischief?

Here's his latest misadventure from this week's Imperial News Sunday Comic: Dennis the Phantom Menace. Enjoy.

With thanks and apologies to Dennis The Menace creator, Hank Ketcham. For more Imperial News comics click here.

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Star Wars Sunday Comic 001 - The Amazing Spider-Wookiee

Welcome to the rebellion. We have intercepted the debut of the Imperial News' latest Sunday comic, the Amazing Spider-Wookiee. Enjoy.


With thanks and apologies to Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and the current keepers of the Spider-Man comic strip flame, Larry Leiber, Alex Saviuk and Joe Sinnot. For more Imperial News comics click here.

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Good Grief, Jedi Brown!

Welcome to the rebellion. Much of the feedback we received on the Death Star Repairmen website centered on a particular aspect of the original Imperial News: the comics. Obsessed with celebrating the mundane aspects of life in the Star Wars universe I was determined to parody today's comics as they might appear in a galaxy far, far away, complete with the philosophical underpinnings of both the Empire and the Rebellion.

When I drew Jedi Brown, several pieces were meant to be longer, as if they were Sunday pages. But I had to draw them in two parts and dang if Mr. Gold didn't post them as separate pieces. And to my surprise they work surprisingly well!

But you can decide for yourself. Here are the two Jedi Brown strips posted in two parts each. Which way do you think works better?

In the first comic, Jedi Brown has far more moral dilemmas than any young Padawan should bear...




Naturally, I took an established pattern from Charles Schultz (you simply can't top the master) and his own philosophy works surprisingly well in Lucas' universe. Though Jedi Brown's final concern in the first half isn't a gag per say, it could be considered a big enough about face to wrap up the comic on an unexpected but there's something more satisfying about the two put together as a whole. Pure Schultz.

Here's the second split up 'toon...


These ones really do work equally well together and separately. If I had planned it better I would have swapped the order of the final two panels in Part One. The Jabba line is a better blow than the current last panel, which feels unfinished. But doesn't Boba Fett make a heck of a Pigpen?

Check out more of the Imperial News original comics section and explore the rest of the issue. There's lots of fun stuff.

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