I came across a rumor regarding Darth Vader in Star Wars: Rogue One. It was said that even though we will see the Dark Lord of the Sith in all his glory, he may be injured while fighting the rebels. This would make him the mysterious person inside of the bacta tank in the trailer. This picture of a prop resembles Darth Vader when he was maimed and burned alive on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith and he is wearing a breathing mask similar to the one Luke Skywalker wears in Empire Strikes Back while inside a bacta tank. Also, from this picture it is clear that Darth Vader’s burns have healed quite a bit over the past nineteen years since Revenge of the Sith. This makes me think that this isn’t the first time he used a bacta tank. I think Vader routinely bathed in a bacta tank in order to heal is injuries so that he could survive outside of his mask and armor. In addition, it was claimed that Vader would be getting a new set of prosthetic limbs after this healing session. This made me wonder what would be powerful enough to injure someone of Darth Vader’s caliber to the point in which he would be forced into a bacta tank. The only way this could happen is if the rebels caught Vader by surprise. We will find out next week!
I have new short story ideas to pursue in the future. One of the them will depict the origins of the cyborg supervillain, Cyber Shadow. Due to the fact that he is based on the various bullies who traumatized me for seven years, he is my least favorite of my creations. However, despite my dislike of the character, I feel he still deserves an origin story and how he made a comeback after his first defeat. We know how he became a cyborg in the first volume of my series, The Young Guardians and the Genesis Spell, but we have yet to find out how he became the sadistic, psychopathic bully and then to the homicidal serial killer we all know and hate. In general, Cyber Shadow’s life is one of hatred, vengeance, childhood trauma, and shell-shocking insanity. I hope to elaborate on his life story in one of my future short stories.
I got my first look into the live action adaptation of the famous anime Ghost in the Shell and I must say that I am eager to see it in length. This clip is a live action version of how Major Motoko Kusanagi got her cyborg body and it was faithful to the original anime complete with the original soundtrack. I also saw the first trailer and the city looks faithful to the original anime with a few twists. I know there has been some controversy regarding this film, but I am not picky when it comes to anime or science fiction films. If the acting, story, and special effects are good, then that’s all that matters. Overall, I look forward to seeing this film as a devout anime fanboy.
In the science fiction genre, there are a wide variety of mechanical beings: robots, androids, and cyborgs. The robot is conspicuously a machine, the android is human in appearance but is one hundred percent synthetic, and the cyborg is either an organic being with mechanical parts or a machine with organic parts. The one that I am intrigued with are androids because they are realistic imitations of a living being. Androids will play a significant role in my upcoming third volume because three new characters will revolve around the concept of the android, each having abilities that focus on either brain, brawn, or speed. If the human body is capable of these aspects, imagine how much further an android could push these abilities. Similar to Cyber Shadow, their physical conditioning will be considerably different than that of an organic being. I won’t reveal the full details of these characters or their backstory until the third volume is released, but what I can tell you is that one of them will have a very personal impact on one of the main characters.
Grady P Brown - Author 