MacGruder, What's the deal?

People really bug when I tell them that Boondocks started off as a comic strip. I usually have to show them the actual strips. Then again we Americans, no matter what stripe, have the attention spans of fleas. We also get a geography lesson when we go to war. So I honestly do not understand why I am tripping about it.

What attracted me to the strip way back 1999 was the numerous Star Wars references. I felt like I had finally come home. I had a comic strip that talked to me (other than the Source's Underground which they got rid of sometime in the mid 90s).

In one story arc, Huey Freeman expressed his disappointment in Episode I. His anger was manifested in this character who was a white, disgruntled Star Wars fan who dressed up like a Jedi. He asked Huey if he should kick GL's tail in public. Huey shrugged. Well the next thing you know, this guys is on TV. He was arrested for assaulting GL. Then he claims Huey told him to do it. It was priceless.

My question is why hasn't this story arc, or something to this effect, appeared on the cable show?

My first reaction is that anything SW will go over people's heads. Let's face it, the people that watch Boondocks will probably be the same crowd that watched Dave Chappelle. Money wise this is a good thing. But Chappelle even admitted that most of his fans did not get what he was talking about with it came to Race and politics. Let's be quite honest, the same thing is happening with Boondocks. Take the MLK episode for example. Macgruder and his writers were in no way trying to disrespect the Rev. Dr. MLK. They were asking what he would think of African Americans after all of their struggle.

Honestly, it just wouldn't sell. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the show but it comes no where near the political satire found in the comic strip. There are several story arcs found in the strip that I know won't make the cut onto Cartoon Network.

But can't a brother get one Star Wars ep?

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Inferno

Inferno (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, Book 6)
by Troy Denning

Book review by Dan Tres Omi

The kid gloves are off. Jacen Solo/Darth Caedeus has reached the point of no return. The Jedi are forced to make a decision that would change the face of the latest Galactic Civil War. Luke Skywalker has to make his move and Ben is the key to his sanity. Troy Denning's Inferno brings the pain as we near the climax of the Legacy of the Force miniseries.

Jacen/Caedeus has one final plan to crush the Correllian insurrection and the Confederate planets. It involves the cooperation of the Jedi Knights and the Hapes Consortium. Many planets have left the Galactic Alliance (GA). This has stretched the military forces of the GA thin. Yet Jacen/Caedeus feels that one strike will end it all. Using the force, Jacen/Caedeus finds no flaws in his end game. To ensure the cooperation of the Jedi Knights, he holds the Jedi Academy on Ossus hostage.

Of course, things do not go according to plan. Ben decides to take revenge on Jacen/Caedeus. Luke finally decides to take action against Jacen/Caedeu. This is something the Jedi have been itching to do. Jaina, Zekk, and Jagged Fel decide to free the hostages on Ossus. It is there that Jacen/Caedeus loses it. To make matters worse the Bothans get involved with the Wookies debating on whose side to take. Eventually, the Wookies side with the Jedi thanks in part to the intervention of Han and Leia.

Several characters meet their end. Finally, a confrontation between Luke and Jacen happens. Jacen is left with half a foot in the grave. Ben sees Jacen for who he is. At one point, Luke is thought to have been killed. Despite the heavy losses to the Fifth fleet, Jacen makes it back to Coruscant.

Overall, the plot went along very fast. Too many things happened at once. This makes sense. The previous books led up to this point in the story. Alema Rar is still alive and actually hunts down some Sith to get some answers from them. This adds another element to the story. However, I still find Alema Rar's character to be useless. I don't understand why she is still alive. If anything she creates more questions and problems then there needs to be.

Jacen/Caedeus was not as formidable as I assumed. If anything he is more of a nuisance. One would think that all the power that Jacen possesses that was discussed in the Dark Nest trilogy and the earlier Legacy of the Force novels would not allow people to get the drop on him but they do. I am not saying he should be as powerful as Palpatine was and he is not omnipotent but all this talk really makes me wonder. To be honest, Jacen comes off as a joke. My assumption was that he would beat Luke easily. Instead Luke seems to toy with him. Or is it that Luke has never had the opportunity to use his full Force powers. Then again, both Jacen and Luke come from the same bloodline.

I did expect another major character to die. Yet only quite a few minor characters were killed off. Killing one major character every thirty books is not realistic. Not everyone can escape death several times over (If Han and Leia do one more death defying escape on the Millenium Falcon, I swear I will slit my wrists). Denning however, pulls it off as things start to move fast.

The next book should be even better.