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krautundruben.bsky.social
Ruben Schmitt
@krautundruben.bsky.social
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krautundruben.bsky.social
Well, that took me some time...
3 (of 5) stars Fable review of the comic "Star Trek - Resurgence": "The essential plot probably could've been told in 2-3 issues. It nicely captures the tone of Star Trek in the beginning but then the story gets dragged out, and sometimes the visual storytelling lacks clarity."
November 27, 2025 at 11:42 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
I'm not sure but since he's been displaying great versatility @mattgriffin.art could again be the artist here despite clear differences to other recent Tor Dune covers. Comparing the two new covers to a certain piece of artwork of his one at least can say that he's no stranger to this color palette.
Artwork by Matt Griffin depicting a back-lit female figure with a lot of shadows and a halo around her head. Connected to her body are cables with some kind of earphone jacks at their ends. The colours are all pastel hues (mainly blue, salmon, and yellow).
October 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
@torbooks.bsky.social is continuing with their new #Dune trade paperback editions, now with the books of the sequel duology, "Hunters of Dune", and "Sandworms of Dune", both coming in May/June, 2026.
New cover to "Hunters of Dune" by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson showing a stylized, presumably male, caped figure in a stillsuit standing on a desert dune with two moons rising behind in the night sky. Everything's done in pastel hues. "HUNTERS OF" is written horizontally in the upper quarter, and "DUNE" is written vertically in yellow-red letters on the right. New cover to "Sandworms of Dune" by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson showing a stylized, presumably male, caped figure in a stillsuit somersaulting in front of the desert night/dawn sky in front of two moons. A giant sandworm is emerging from the desert on the right, with the sun slowly rising in the background . Everything's done in orange-brown-tinged pastel hues. "SANDWORMS OF" is written horizontally in the upper quarter, and "DUNE" is written vertically in orange-purple letters on the right.
October 27, 2025 at 7:51 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
"Star Trek: The Next Generation - Takedown" by @johnjacksonmiller.bsky.social certainly didn't disappoint.

fable.co/review/8f038...

#startrek
Fable review (4.25 stars) of "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Takedown": "This fast-paced and action-heavy quasi-continuation of a TNG episode keeps its reader guessing and in the dark as to what's really going on until nearly the end, adding humour and an ounce of good-spirited Star Trek self-mockery to the mix."
October 19, 2025 at 6:09 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Not finished with "Takedown" yet but a little parallel reading shouldn't hurt:

No. 4 of my #startrek anniversary reads:

"Star Trek - Resurgence" (Andrew Grant, Dan Martin, Josh Hood, Charlie Kirchoff, and Neil Uyetake) by @idwpublishing.com
Cover to the collected edition of "Star Trek - Resurgence" depicting, left to right, the heads of Captain Solano, a scarred Talarian, and Dr. Brahms, with the USS Resurgence (top-down view) in a blue beam of light between the latter two. In the foreground we see, standing on the surface of some planet or so, Commander Sutherland, and Lieutenant Bedrosian.
October 5, 2025 at 8:55 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
No. 2 is done. #startrek "The Poisoned Chalice" is a solid conspiracy thriller.

fable.co/review/d864c...

Next up on the reading list: "Star Trek - The Next Generation: Takedown" by @johnjacksonmiller.bsky.social
Fable review of "Star Trek - The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice" by James Swallow: "Action and suspense both reign in this conspiracy novel which suffers a bit from being an in-between-part of a five-part crossover/storyline. Still, Swallow makes the best of the hand that's been dealt." Cover to "Star Trek - The Next Generation: Takedown" by John Jackson Miller depicting a - since it's speeding from the bottom of the page to the top - blurry USS Aventine firing from one phaser bank on the left on an indiscriminate object in the center which is exploding due to this ray of energy
October 2, 2025 at 8:58 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
There's still no synopsis but at least we know what the cover to #startrek - Picard: To Defy Fate by @daytonward.bsky.social is gonna look like. And we'll not only get the return of Wesley Crusher but since Seven's got the Captain pips here the story seems to be a continuation of the tv series.
Cover to "Star Trek - Picard: To Defy Fate" by Dayton Ward depicting, behind splintered glass, the group of Raffi Musiker, (Captain) Seven of Nine, Beverly Crusher (all in Starfleet uniform), Jean-Luc Picard (civilian but with Admiral insignia), and - above them all - Wesley Crusher. At the bottom we see Earth, and in the center there's the outline of a woman (Kore Soong, perhaps?) going through some sort of swirling portal.
October 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Thanks for the recommendation! I've actually already read it sometimes in the 90s but, to be honest, I barely remember anything of it.
It seems to be worthy of a reread but my Star Trek TBR pile is still quite big...
German cover to "Star Trek - The Next Generation: Dark Mirror" by Diane Duane depicting an evil Mirrorverse Picard (red background) on the left side of a lightning bolt emanating from a Terran Empire insignia above and "our" well-known good Picard on the right (blue background)
September 27, 2025 at 2:59 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Next up: "Star Trek - The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice" by @jmswallow.bsky.social
Cover to "Star Trek - The Fall: The Poisoned Chalice" by James Swallow depicting the USS Titan (NCC-80102; isometric view from above and behind) in orbit above Earth or an Earth-like planet with the or an moon in the background
September 27, 2025 at 7:09 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Well, #startrek - Picard: The Last Best Hope by @unamccormack.bsky.social is truly excellent.

fable.co/review/38699...
4.75 stars Fable review of "Star Trek - Picard: The Last Best Hope" by Una McCormack Fable review text: Being not merely a space adventure but a true science-fiction novel in the traditional sense Una McCormack's masterpiece takes a throwaway premise from Star Trek '09 and - with the events of the Picard TV series clearly in her sights - spins this into a sophisticated allegory for a plethora of real-world developments (isolationism, refugee crisis, negation of science, fear-based political decisions etc.) while also being a study for multiple memorable characters. Should be in serious consideration for best Star Trek novel of all time.
September 27, 2025 at 7:03 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Since we're now in the sixtieth year of Star Trek's existence I'll try to celebrate this by reading twelve #startrek books in 2025 and 2026 including comics, "Making of" books etc.
First up: "Star Trek - Picard: The Last Best Hope" by @unamccormack.bsky.social
Cover to "Star Trek - Picard: The Last Best Hope" by Una McCormack depicting a serious-looking older Picard in half shade and in front of a dark green-blueish background holding a Starfleet insignia/communicator in his hand
September 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Here's my, ahem, flash review of the fascinating "The Flash, Vol. 1: Strange Attractor" by @sispurrier.bsky.social on Fable. fable.co/review/0f3ab...
Screenshot of the aforementioned review on Fable which you can read by following the link in the skeet
July 14, 2025 at 8:54 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Here's my flash review of Golden Son by Pierce Brown on Fable: fable.co/review/aa424...
Screenshot of the 5* review which you can read by following the link in the skeet.
July 13, 2025 at 8:53 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
And @torbooks.bsky.social is really publishing the remainder of the Great Schools of Dune Trilogy, Mentats of Dune (1/26) and Navigators of Dune (3/26), with atmospheric new @mattgriffin.art cover artwork in trade paperback format. [2/2]
Cover to Mentats of Dune depicting a bald man with a black cape and a glowing orb in his hands standing among the reeds. In the background we see futuristic skyscrapers in a pagoda-like architectural style, and a featureless moon, a planet, or the sun hanging in the sky. Everything is colored in shades of orange and purple. Cover to Navigators of Dune depicting a flowing amphibian-like Navigator in the center with a triangular prism-shaped Guild Heighliner beneath. Around the Navigator are concentric waves of light, lightrays, light dots, and some kind of vulva-shaped construct.
April 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
We finally got some covers for other #Dune publications as well. There's the Deluxe Edition of House Atreides by @boom-studios.com (Aug) as well as the slipcase version (Dec). And the third installment of the Dune adaptation by @abramscomicarts.bsky.social gets the Deluxe treatment, too (Oct). [1/2]
Cover to "House Atreides - Deluxe Edition", depicting a uniformed and bearded man with a sword and a spear in his hands up front and center, a younger man behind and to his left and a pink hawk to the right. In the background there is space with planets in different colors and concentric circles and ellipses. Slipcase cover to 'House Atreides - Deluxe Edition" depicting the Atreides family crest, a stylized hawk in yellow on a black field Picture of "Frank Herbert's Dune - The Graphic Novel, Book 3: The Prophet - Deluxe Collector's Edition" which shows the book in a slipcase. The case is purple with silver lettering. In the middle of the cover we see the original comic cover Image which depicts people on the dunes watching explosions, flying machines, and searchlights in the distant.
April 18, 2025 at 8:59 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
And now we have a cover, indeed perfectly matching the previous Dune hardcovers by @gollancz.bsky.social.
Cover to Gollancz' new hardcover edition of "Children of Dune" by Frank Herbert depicting the twins Ghanima and Leto wandering among the dunes and palms of Arrakis. The drawing is in silver on dark blue ground with an orange border. On the border there are lines and forms in a kind of futuristic art déco style.
April 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
For print versions I recommend the Del Rey editions, since there's been some tinkering through the years. These are the originals.
As a taste of the writing I took a picture of the first page of the oldest story, "The Phoenix on The Sword".
First page of Robert E. Howard's "The Phoenix on The Sword" with the drawing of an ancient city at night by Mark Schultz Robert E. Howard Del Rey editions on a shelf, with "The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian", "The Bloody Crown of Conan", and "The Conquering Sword of Conan" in the middle
March 6, 2025 at 9:42 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
It's another iconic masterpiece by Kieran Yanner. While being obvious in hindsight, I didn't think that we'd be looking Hadrian in the eye, here.
Cover to "The Sun Eater Book Seven: Shadows upon Time" by Christopher Ruocchio, published by @dawbooks.bsky.social. It depicts Hadrian Marlowe in the pose of the crucified Jesus Christ in front of, presumably, an exploding sun. The background is a mixture of white, cream, and pale yellow-orange colours and quite bright. Hadrian is dressed all in black uniform-style with red trimmings and a floating cape. In his right hand he's holding a blue-gleaming high matter sword. With his left he seems to be clutching maybe either Valka's heart locket or part of his cape. Screencap taken from https://youtu.be/3ICw78y5ymg?feature=shared
February 21, 2025 at 2:36 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you.

One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#comics
#comicsky
💙📚 📖🦋 #booksky
#comicchallenge

20/20
Cover to "Masters of The Universe - Die Giganten des Universums - Comic-Magazin Nr. 1" ("Masters of The Universe - The Giants of The Universe - Comic Magazine #1"), published by Interpart in Germany, depicting He-Man with shield and shining Magic Sword in hand, seemingly pointing Man-at-Arms to his left, and a flying Stratos to his right. On the left we also see buildings from an Eternian city, and in the background there are planets and a cosmic nebula. Different labels say, "36 Seiten Action-Comics in Farbe" ("36 pages of action comics in full colour"), "Alle 2 Monate neu!" ("New every 2 months!"), and "Mit großem SUPER-PREISAUSSCHREIBEN! Mach mit! Gewinne deinen eigenen VIDEO-Recorder, tolle MATTEL-Action-Figuren und viele andere SUPER-PREISE!" ("With big SUPER SWEEPSTAKES! Take part! Win your own VCR, amazing MATTEL action figures, and many other SUPER PRIZES!"). In the upper left corner, there is a small portrait of He-Man with his battle axe. Image courtesy of https://www.planeteternia.de/cgi-bin/news.pl?newID=2628
February 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you.

One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#comics
#comicsky
💙📚 📖🦋 #booksky
#comicchallenge

19/20
Cover to "Walt Disneys Lustiges Taschenbuch Nr. 121: Phantomias und seine Freunde" (something like "Walt Disney's Funny Pocket Book #121: Avenger Duck And His Friends"), published by Egmont Ehapa, depicting Daisy holding a poster sheet of the heroic Avenger Duck while adoring him with hearts flying all around her. At the same time, Donald Duck, frustrated and virtually sighing, lies beneath this image of his alter ego. The background colour is pink, and there's a highlighted somewhat star-shaped text box which says, "NEU! Jede Seite bunt!" ("NEW! Each page in colour!").
February 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you.

One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#comics
#comicsky
💙📚 📖🦋 #booksky
#comicchallenge

18/20
Cover to Wildstorm's "The Authority - Relentless" TPB by Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch, Paul Neary, and Laura DePuy, depicting the team (Midnighter and Jack Hawksmoor standing in the front, behind them Jenny Sparks (bigger scale) in a Union Jack top holding a cigarette, and flying behind her Apollo, The Engineer, Swift, and The Doctor), the Carrier in Earth orbit with the sun rising in the background, Kaizen Gamorra, and Regis from Sliding Albion in front of a round Union Jack
February 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
🙏🤝

And to emphasize this statement, let's take a look at my new Japanese Dune editions... 🫣😅
On a bookshelf, from right to left: the Japanese paperback versions of Frank Herbert's "Dune" (parts 1 - 3) and "Dune: Messiah" (parts 1 - 2)
February 14, 2025 at 9:46 AM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Choose 20 comics that have stayed with you or influenced you.

One comic per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

#comics
#comicsky
💙📚 📖🦋 #booksky
#comicchallenge

17/20
German cover to Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy's "Star Wars - Das Dunkle Imperium" ("Star Wars - Dark Empire"), published by Carlsen Comics, depicting Luke Skywalker in a black suit and robe, reminiscent of Darth Vader, with his ignited green lightsaber in front of flying Star Destroyers and firing World Devastators American cover to Dark Horse Comics' "Star Wars - Dark Empire I", depicting Luke Skywalker in his Vader-like black clothes, green lightsaber in his left hand, and with blue energy building up in his right fist. Behind him are a crater-heavy moon and different kinds of capital Imperial starships, biggest of them all the Eclipse Dreadnought of Palpatine
February 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
Ha! Found it. 😀
Photograph of the interior of "Global Frequency" Vol. 1 TPB: on the right, an image of fire escapes seen from the ground with the lettering "Are you on the GLOBAL FREQUENCY?" in the centre; on the left, David Lloyd's autograph and the dedication "Für Ruben" ("For Ruben")
February 13, 2025 at 2:25 PM
krautundruben.bsky.social
If music is your therapy, who is your therapist?
Picture of Pearl Jam's Mike McCready (circa 2019) with bleached hair in a black t-shirt and black jeans playing his Gibson Les Paul (59?) on stage, looking down on his pedals, maybe (photograph by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
February 13, 2025 at 7:01 AM