Aphelion Editorial 070

Hello and welcome!

Well now, that war didn't last long, did it?Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the road to a lasting peace in the Middle East is going to be a long, rocky one. Let's welcome our returning soldiers home and see to it that they are honored for doing what they were called upon to do. And let us also honor those who gave their all, those who won't be marching home, those who gave their lives. No matter which side of the war debate you were on, the men and women of our armed forces deserve our respect. Thank you, those who answered the call to duty. You have my respect, and my deepest thanks.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank Bob Moriyama for seeing to it that Aphelion was listed in yet another writer's resource website. Thanks to Bob's efforts we now have a listing in Ralan's SpecFic & Humor Webstravaganza website. Ralan has a great site going and I'm proud that Aphelion has been included within it. There is quite a lot there for we writers to ponder. Thanks, Bob! Take a bow!

OK, the big buzz on the street is the new X-Men 2 movie. Is it any good? Does it live up to the first movie? Does Hollywood have a new blockbuster comic-book movie franchise? Does Wolverine have any good fight scenes? Is there a touch of romance between Rogue and Iceman? Are there any new mutants introduced? Are there any appearances by other characters that we have seen in the X-Men comics? Does X-2 pave the way for another sequel, X-3? Do we, as fans, want a third X-movie?

In a word... YES!

I've just come home from the theater, from watching X-Men 2, and I've got to tell you that I was impressed. Some of you may already know that I used to collect comics, that I was a huge X-fan during that time, and a few of you may also know that I'm very picky about comic-to-movie adaptations. But I'm here to tell you-- people, the X-movies have been done even more correctly than I ever thought I had right to hope for. Naturally, not every nuance of the comics is faithfully transfered to the big screen, but the adaptation that was done is by far the best I've ever seen. This movie series rocks! X-2 takes the stories begun in X-Men and continues the tale of Marvel's Merry Mutants at their best. One of the strengths of Stan Lee's work has been that he creates characters that are easy to identify with, that are human in every way, apart from their powers. All the characters in the X-movies are like that. They are easy to see as real people, with real, normal, everyday problems. Bryan Singer has treated Stan's characters with reverence and care. The movie versions are just as real-to-life as the comic versions, and so close together that it takes someone really nit-picky to tell the difference. The story is engrossing, compelling, entertaining, and thrilling. And what's more, there is a great deal of foreshadowing that leads me to believe that an X-3 will be in production soon. If I'm wrong, there is going to be a lot of very unhappy fans out there. First off, go see the movie. Secondly, write or e-mail the studio and rave about it. Thirdly, write or e-mail Stan Lee and thank him for inventing the X-Men, lo these many moons ago. Fourthly, it wouldn't hurt to go see the movie again... Hollywood likes it when you give them money.

You know? One of those X-Men combat suits would look really good with my motorcycle... I gotta look into that...

We now return you to your regularly scheduled fiction...

Thanks for your time.

Dan

THE END

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