Elder Truman Show

Somethings seem too good to be true.

3PO at a Loss

As a young missionary, I met a fellow cartoonist in the MTC. As we bonded over our love of silly pictures, we hatched a crazy idea. Over the course of our mission, we would co-create a comic book. 

Here's how it worked: one month, I would illustrate two pages and then mail them to Elder Lindseth. The next month, he would illustrate the next two pages of the story and mail them to me. Over the course of our mission, the two of us crafted a 40-page story that bobbed and weaved all over the place as we were constantly trying to place each other in impossible situations.

It was an incredibly fun way to create a low-stakes comic book (one that will never come close to being published).

It is a terrible way to run a $100 million tentpole movie franchise.

Remarkable, Disney didn't bother plotting out a three picture trilogy when they bought Star Wars from George Lucas. Instead, they set out to make The Force Awakens and then hired a completely different creative team to come up with The Last Jedi and then brought back the creative team from The Force Awakens to create The Rise of Skywalker. The result was tonal whiplash from movie to movie. Watching it all, I couldn't help but wonder if Elder Lindseth and I could have come up with something better.

Pew-Pew-Pew

If you ever played with Star Wars action figures or imagined yourself firing a blaster like Han Solo then you get today's gag. If you haven't, I'm not sure I can explain it to you.

Walt Disney has now been in the Star Wars business for just over a decade. Over that time, they've released twice as many movies and live-action television shows than George Lucas did in the 35 years he controlled the franchise. With so much content in such a short period of time, it isn't surprising that the quality of the product has wildly varied. Here is one guy's ranking of the Disney Star Wars stuff (your opinion may vary--in fact, I'd be disappointed if it didn't):

1. Andor - This is right up there with Empire Strikes Back for me. I rewatched it recently to get ready for the second season and it was every bit as good the second time through.
2. The Mandalorian - Where the upcoming Mandalorian and Grogu movie ultimately ranks in this list depends on whether it is more like season one (which I loved) or season three (which I hated).
3. The Force Awakens - Watching this in a giant movie theater opening weekend was one of the most fun times I've had as a moviegoer. Sure it is a retread of A New Hope, but it is still a lot of fun.
4. Rogue One - Definitely helped in these rankings by its association with Andor. I look forward to watching it again once I've seen all of Andor season 2.
5. Skeleton Crew - So much fun. Basically Goonies in space.
6. Solo - This was another fun one for me. Plus, Han Solo might be my favorite character in all of fiction. 
7. The Last Jedi - This is were the treads start to show when it comes to Disney's Star Wars output. I liked the movie well enough, but it sure left the saga in a weird place.
8. Obi-Wan Kenobi - I've read that this show was originally going to be a movie. That might explain some of the pacing issues. Still there were some awesome parts. I especially loved the lightsaber duel between Kenobi and Vader (although it does beg the question, what happened in the ten years between this show and A New Hope that sapped all of Kenobi and Vader's dueling capabilities).
9. Asoka - This felt really slow (but not the good kind of slow like Andor). I hope the second season gives us more action.
10. Acolyte - I really wanted to like this one, but I never was able to get myself totally into it.
11. The Book of Boba Fett - I'm sure when Disney hired Robert Rodriguez to create a television show about Boba Fett, the baddest man in the galaxy, they thought they had hired the creator behind Machete, Desperado, and From Dusk Till Dawn. Instead they got the creator of Spy Kids, Shorts, and Shark Boy and Lava Girl. The show was only interesting when Mando and Baby Yoda made an appearance. 
12. The Rise of Skywalker - Ugh. I had a bad feeling about this before it came out and it was every bit as bad as I feared it would be. How bad? I might just watch Attack of the Clones before I'd watch this again.*

*Who am I kidding? I'd gouge my eyes out before watching either of those movies.

Star Wars Week: Episode III

Once again, I'm dedicating a week to Star Wars themed strips and gags. This is the third episode of Star Wars Week (thus by Star Wars logic, the sixth such week*). It also represents the last of these weeks I'll be publishing. (Look for a multi-national entertainment conglomerate to buyout this website and publish a bunch more of these in a decade's time.) In addition to Thursday's regularly scheduled post, I'll also share a post on Friday.

I've resurrected this long dormant feature to celebrate the return of the best thing Disney has done with Star Wars: the excellent TV show Andor!

Thursday, I'll post my ranking of Star Wars stuff from Disney. I'm not sure what I'll write about Friday, like Disney (and their handling of the movies) I'm making this up as I go without any foresight or planning.

*View all the Star Wars Weeks in order like so: Episode IV, Episode V, Episode VI, Episode I, and Episode II. Or you can try the Machete Order (Episode IV, V, II, III, VI).

I'd Like to Bury My Testimony

When I was in primary, this particular phrase seemed a lot more common. All us generation-Xers could never seem to wrap our minds around the idea of "bearing" a testimony. Wouldn't it make more sense to bury it since, after all, that's what Moroni did.

Maybe kids are still doing this, it doesn't seem like it to me. But what do I know, I don't exactly spend much time in primary these days.

Balanced Diet

The math checks out.

General Conference Notes

Wasn't conference great? I always come away with things I'd like to improve--usually for myself and not others.