Never Mind, Obi-Wan

I'm really excited to see the new Star Wars movie. I've been heartened to see that the reviews to the movie have been overwhelmingly positive. (Granted, I haven't actually read any of those reviews for fear of being spoiled concerning the movie.) But there is one thing that has been troubling me concerning the Force Awakens.*

At the end of Return of the Jedi; Luke, Leia, Han, and their friends are enjoying the fruits of a hard-fought victory over the Empire. Their victory over evil seems earned too. Over the course of three movies, they suffered plenty. Luke lost a hand and watched both a father figure and his actual father die before his eyes, Leia was witness to the genocide of her home planet, Han was frozen in carbonite, and Lando seems to have lost that sweet cape he was rocking in Empire Strikes Back.

And now the Force Awakens seems to have reset everything. The good guys are still a ragtag band of rebels fighting and evil empire (with storm troopers and everything). I realize they're going by different names in the new movie, but the idea is the same. So what changed after the battle of Endor? Were all of the sacrifices of Luke, Leia, and Han for nothing?

I've got a bad feeling about this...

Tune in tomorrow for more ramblings about a galaxy far, far away.

*Here's the disclaimer that I offer every time I post one of these: be aware that things are going to get geeky. If that's not your thing, you are under no obligation to read this through to the end.

2011 Summer Movie Post

(Warning: the following post is going to be quite geeky.)

Tomorrow is the opening day of the movie Thor, the first of four* major superhero movies coming out this summer. And Saturday is Free Comic Book Day.

To celebrate these two things, I'm posting today's gag starring Elder Banner (otherwise known as the Incredible Hulk), everyone's second favorite superhero named Bruce.**

*Five, if you count The Help.

**It has always fascinated me that comicdom has two heroes named Bruce (the other being, of course, Bruce Wayne--aka, Batman).*** Especially, since Bruce is such an uncommon name otherwise. According to the Social Security Administration website, Bruce was only the 465th most popular boy's name in 2009 with only 579 boys given that name that year in the United States. That means--according to my calculations--if you want your son to grow up to be a superhero, your best bet is to name him Bruce. Odds are 289.5 to one that your Bruce will grow up into a hero. Naming your son Clark (Superman) is probably your next best bet at 332 to one. After that your odds go down considerably. Peter (Spider-Man) is at 1,981 to one; Logan (Wolverine) is at 14,331 to one; and Tony (Ironman) is at 16,139 to one.

Honesty, you'd be better off having a girl. Just don't name her Diana (Wonder Woman); the odds of that name producing a superhero are a pedestrian 1,934 to one. Instead, try Barbara (Batgirl) at 444 to one or Susan (Invisible Woman) at 368 to one. Your best bet might be to name your daughter Shayera (Hawkgirl)--her name didn't even chart! (Of course, you'll have to deal with the unfortunate possibility that she'll sprout wings at some point.)

***I warned you that this would be an especially nerdy post.