Category: Butler Confessions

A Toast to Mynocks: Celebrating Five Years of Canon (and Mynock Manor)

Posted on September 20, 2019September 23, 2019 by Head Butler Ryan

The five year milestone of both the new canon, which started with the excellent A New Dawn in September 2014, and of the site Mynock Manor itself is finally here and we have the article you’ve all been waiting for: a look back at the handling of the majestic, mighty, and marvelous mynock in canon over these past five years. Come along as I flutter into the mynocks’ greatest hits, improvements to make, and the newest additions to the great, nay greatest line of Star Wars creatures…of which we have ZERO bias towards. Continue reading “A Toast to Mynocks: Celebrating Five Years of Canon (and Mynock Manor)” →

Change is Something, Alright: 2018 Star Wars Comics Year-In-Review

Posted on January 11, 2019January 6, 2024 by Head Butler Ryan

Change seeped into every aspect of the comics in 2018, from series like Poe Dameron and Darth Vader – Dark Lord of the Sith ending, Doctor Aphra exploding into a new year of storytelling, IDW’s fun miniseries like Tales from Vader’s Castle, and the beginning of a new maxiseries, “Age of Star Wars.” Change also came to aspects behind-the-scenes, with a Marvel editor shake-up that has led to some dubious decisions, while I’ve personally had to adjust how I cover the comics thanks to some fantastic new life changes. Head below the cut to see my 2018 Star Wars Comics Year-in-Review, where I look at the ups and downs of a year full of change, my Top 5 moments of the year, and hopes/fears for 2019!

— Spoilers for comics released in 2018 — Continue reading “Change is Something, Alright: 2018 Star Wars Comics Year-In-Review” →

Ahch-To Or Bust: The Mynocks’ Adventure Across Ireland

Posted on July 2, 2018June 29, 2018 by Head Butler Ryan

Even drenched from the ocean’s spray, nothing could drown out my enthusiasm as we boated out into the wild sea. Swelling in my ears was “Rey’s Theme,” along with “Jedi Steps,” though no one was playing the tunes aloud. Alongside me, besides a handful of strangers and the driver, were two of my best friends, found at a Star Wars convention three years prior. On the horizon, an ancient, mysterious island, Skellig Michael, which I’ve only seen in my dreams (and a film or two), the culmination of our own long and nearly 100% cancelled journey to Ahch-To. Here’s the tale of the Mynocks’ Adventure to Ireland: Ahch-To or Bust. Continue reading “Ahch-To Or Bust: The Mynocks’ Adventure Across Ireland” →

Always Two There Are: 2017 Star Wars Comics Year-in-Review

Posted on January 7, 2018January 6, 2024 by Head Butler Ryan

With 2017 in the books, there’s plenty to discuss and dissect from its Star Wars comics, as not only did Marvel have plenty to offer fans, like a beat-every-expectation second Darth Vader series, Doctor Aphra‘s adventures went in directions not even I hoped, and the Star Wars mainline series changed writer hands, but the biggest news was how they weren’t going to be alone anymore: IDW joined the fray with its younger marketed Adventures series. But how has Marvel and IDW’s combined 80 issues of 2017 fared, what were their triumphs and failures, lessons and hardships? Without further ado, my 2017 Star Wars Comics Year-In-Review, while operating a little differently this year, will look back at what did and didn’t work, reveal my top 5 moments list with too many to pick from, and include some hopes and fears for 2018.

— Spoilers for comics released in 2017 — Continue reading “Always Two There Are: 2017 Star Wars Comics Year-in-Review” →

The Last Jedi and a New Hope

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Head Butler Ryan

Everything in The Last Jedi leads to hope being straight up strangled, stabbed in the back, forced to drink green milk directly from a Thala-siren, and left for dead, not just for its characters, but for the audience as well. And it might be my favorite thematic aspect of the film. But don’t worry, neither The Last Jedi nor I are soulless and evil, because this desecration of hope leads into its brilliant resurrection by the very end. Let’s take a look. Continue reading “The Last Jedi and a New Hope” →

A Star Wars Anthology Story: Retrospective on Jason Aaron’s Star Wars Comic Run (#1-37)

Posted on October 25, 2017April 23, 2021 by Head Butler Ryan

Since Marvel’s new beginnings with the Star Wars license, the Star Wars mainline series has been the backbone of the comics, providing adventurous tales about the Big Three: Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo. At the helm of the series since the start has been writer Jason Aaron, who has taken us on anthology-lite arcs of story between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, filling in what’s becoming quite the crowded era. His stories contained everything from big surprises were you least expected them to character moments big and small. And after 37 issues, stretching from January 2015 to October 2017, Jason Aaron’s run has come to an end. Having read the series since its inception, it’s time now to look back at Aaron’s legacy as this retrospective discusses what I feel has been the good, the bad, and the in-between of his nearly three year run. Continue reading “A Star Wars Anthology Story: Retrospective on Jason Aaron’s Star Wars Comic Run (#1-37)” →

The Curious Case of Force Ghosts

Posted on September 25, 2017December 18, 2017 by Head Butler Ryan

Force Ghosts, Force Spirits, Blue Jedi Group…call it what you will, but they’ve had a complicated and varied history in Legends, as the ability for Force users to become one had editors and authors alike jumping from retcon to retcon as George Lucas decided to fill in the blanks slowly over time. Once those stories were placed aside for the new canon, Force spirit practitioners went from over 80 individuals to 5 (!), the process and ability to become a spirit stayed complicated but was given some clarity, while Force spirits have since been rarely touched on or discussed. In the Curious Case of Force Ghosts, I’ll be looking at how even though the whole idea of Force spirits got simpler, it has gotten equally more complicated (Yoda’s The Clone Wars arc helped on both ends), offering up curious questions including why Anakin Skywalker hasn’t made many visits (yet), and who’s still haunting around in the sequel trilogy. Strap in, unless you’re a ghost of course then float around at your leisure, as Detective Mynock is about take you on a ghoulish ride into the spirits of Star Wars where the answers might be more fleeting than any of us would like at the moment. UPDATE 12/18/17: I’ve included a section with details gleaned from the release of The Last Jedi. It’s full of spoilers, so don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled. Continue reading “The Curious Case of Force Ghosts” →

Through Luke’s Eyes: A Creative Character Analysis by Trinity

Posted on August 11, 2017August 16, 2017 by Trinity

Image Credit: Magali Villeneuve from Star Wars Insider 155/”Tatooine” by zOh3

Part I

The Do-Gooder

It had been months since Luke Skywalker had fought Darth Vader in Cloud City. A plan had taken shape between Luke, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian to save Han Solo from his carbonite prison at Jabba the Hutt’s palace. In the weeks leading up to the day that they’d infiltrate the palace, Luke stayed on Tatooine living in Obi-Wan Kenobi’s old hut, an ivory colored, dome-shaped desert igloo that had few comforts but enough to stay cool during the day, warm at night and live a simple life. He filled his days with Jedi training, reading Obi-Wan’s journals, practicing lightsaber dueling as best he could and meditating with the Force. Continue reading “Through Luke’s Eyes: A Creative Character Analysis by Trinity” →

Rey and the F Word

Posted on June 20, 2017August 11, 2017 by Trinity

(Intro by Head Butler Ryan: This is Trinity’s first post as a contributor here at the Manor! I met her and her husband at Celebration Orlando this year as we waited in line for the Rebels S4 panel and I was fortunate enough to make two new friends, plus interest from her in writing for the site. So give her a giant “Welcome to Fandom” hug over on Twitter @TrubelleNova, after you finish reading her article of course!)

What is Rey to you? When I think about our new Star Wars hero, Rey, I want to know her backstory. I want the question answered: is she a Jakku original or is she the long-lost daughter of Luke Skywalker? Is she the kidnapped baby of Leia and Han Solo or somehow through a long thread connected to Obi-Wan? But Rey is more than each of her story parts that we are so curious about. Let’s start at the beginning.

From the first time we see Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, she is independent. She leads a precarious profession that endangers her life daily and that danger coupled with the harsh elements of an outlaw desert world made her a survivor. The preferred adjective we give to those of her breed is “strong” and she is indeed that. But when fans discuss Rey’s journey, sometimes things go wrong. Her “strength” becomes a liability. Continue reading “Rey and the F Word” →

40 Years of Star Wars? It’s Time for a Miniature Golf Course

Posted on May 25, 2017May 25, 2017 by Head Butler Ryan

I’ve long been a fan of miniature golf, mainly because I’m halfway decent at it and it wasn’t as complicated to me as professional golf as a kid, so I’ve centered a lot of effort around creative writing works which include mini golf…you know, instead of trying to play it more/get better at it. I put together a dream list of movie/TV themed courses as a child and since reimagined them for a spec screenplay I finished a few years back (purely for myself), but ever since I went to a mini golf bar here in my home state of WI (seriously, this exists and it’s awesome: Nine Below) I’ve been wondering what a completely Star Wars-themed mini golf course would be like. So, as my site’s way of celebrating 40 years of the saga today, I took it upon myself to design a dream Star Wars mini golf course because if we can get a Jar Jar Binks Candy Tongue, how come there’s never been SW mini golf in its 40 years? So I took my many years of professional mini golf designing and playing skills (see: next to none, but who’s really counting?) to make a course which include visits to such memorable GFFA locales like Endor, Hoth, the Millennium Falcon, Mustafar, and even the dreaded Death Star to name a few. Check it out below! Continue reading “40 Years of Star Wars? It’s Time for a Miniature Golf Course” →