As the seasons start getting closer and the prospect of gift giving starts to clear off the cobwebs and come front and center to everyone’s consciousness yet again, there’s always the enigma of what to get, and more importantly, will the recipient be satisfied? There are however universals that always crack the corners of the mouth for a smile, music releases and their sometimes re-released box sets being some of them. So that being said, and what remains our annual wont, here’s our picks for some great music recently released and upcoming. And as always, this one goes to eleven.

Check out our 2017 Holiday Geek Gift Guide for Music…

The World According To Star Wars
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audio CD
Written by Cass R. Sunstein
Dey Street Books
Release Date: May 31st, 2016

No one can deny the power of the Force as it permeates all aspects of American society (and other societies), including education and especially pop culture. It’s amazing how a silly little science fiction movie from the 1970s became a global phenomenon, spawning bunches of movies, television shows, books, and toys for billions of dollars. I remember sitting in a college mythology class reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, and the professor said, “Luke Skywalker follows the cycle of the hero,” and I perked up. He really does. I, in turn, taught mythology to high school students and used Luke Skywalker (and Neo from Matrix). I’ve also discussed it right here on Geeks of Doom, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

And that is just a drop of what Cass R. Sunstein discusses in his soon-to-be-required-for-college text, The World According To Star Wars.

More below.

The truth: I was having trouble coming up with a Star Wars Day “May the Fourth” feature that would be just as good or better than what I wrote last year. I had more time then, I do a lot of reviews now, and my brain wasn’t working. Luckily, I ran into my friends Brad and Christine who provided me with an idea. Based on the passion with which they spoke about it, it seemed like something worth talking about, especially since “Hans shot first” is obviously out of the way. The question?

Why doesn’t Darth Vader or Obi-Wan acknowledge C-3PO (or R2-D2), when the former built Threepio as a child and hung around a lot with R2, and the latter spent so much time with them?

Walt Disney Studios, Lucasfilm Ltd., and 20th Century Fox announced today that they will soon be releasing all six movies in George Lucas‘ groundbreaking space fantasy saga Star Wars on Digital HD for the first time as The Star Wars Digital Movie Collection. Each film, from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi, will come packaged with fan-pleasing bonus content, including interviews, documentaries, and deleted scenes.

You can check out a promotional video and a full breakdown of extra content here below.

As fans of the Star Wars franchise the world over prepare to celebrate this year’s May the 4th, I found myself giving serious consideration to writing something for Geeks of Doom in order to commemorate the occasion. After racking my brain for several constantly interrupted hours, I drew nothing but blanks.

It’s difficult for me to get excited about anything Star Wars-related this days; I’ve written news stories about the continuing developments behind the upcoming Episode VII even though I have little interest in them, but that’s part of the reason why I’m on the writing staff of this website. The stories have to be reported even though I may not care much about them because one or more of our readers certainly will. But the staggering drop in allure regarding the dauntless heroes and dastardly villains who inhabit the expansive universe that sprang forth from George Lucas‘ euphoric imagination more than four decades ago in my view wasn’t something that happened overnight. It took many unpleasant, heartbreaking years.

However, I came not to talk about how much Star Wars has disappointed me over time. May 4th is meant to be a day of remembrance and celebration. With that in mind I will instead document in brief to the best of my abilities the role Lucas’ creation has played in inspiring me to embrace my own evolving sense of wonder and take control of my intellectual maturation.

Star Wars #5
Script by Brian Wood
Art by Carlos D’anda
Colors by Gabe Eltaeb
Covers by Rodolfo Migliari
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: May 8, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

The penultimate issue of Brian Wood’s Star Wars puts the chief characters into position for their finale. Continuing directly from the previous issue, Wood and the artistic creative team maintain their high standard in focusing on the heroes and villains of Star Wars not long after the events of A New Hope, and this time, we also get to see a cameo of Boba Fett!

On a mission leading a group of her stealth Grey Squadron, Leia and her team are detected by an Imperial fleet, including an Interdictor Star Destroyer preventing them from leaving the system via lightspeed. As they are overwhelmed by TIE Fighters, the group fights against the odds. But in these precarious maneuvers, their actions could end up resulting in disastrous consequences for them and the Rebellion.

Star Wars #4
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Carlos D’anda
Colors by Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Artwork by Alex Ross
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 10, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

Brian Wood’s new Star Wars comic book series is refreshing. It feels to me, as a longtime fan, that the saga is going through a rebirth, what with the new Sequels coming, Lucasarts switching to licensing only, and this ongoing series continually smashing expectations. With Issue #4 of the new Dark Horse series, straightforwardly titled Star Wars, we continue following the heroes and villains from A New Hope in the weeks following the Battle of Yavin.

Princess Leia, leading the stealth X-Wing unit of Grey Squadron, is focused on the mission of finding a new base for the Rebels, while also aiming to uncover the alleged Imperial Spy in their midst. But while on their first mission, Leia’s detachment is caught in a targeted firefight with Imperials, indicating the Imperial espionage could be deeper and closer than she previously anticipated.

Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, grounded from the elite stealth squadron due to his cockiness at letting the "man who destroyed the Death Star" hero-worship go to his head, receives a message in the Force from his spiritual mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, warning him of the danger Leia is encountering; but is surprised to discover he is not the only one who hears Kenobi’s voice from the grave…

Star Wars #3
Script by Brian Wood
Art by Carlos D’anda
Colors by Gabe Eltaeb
Cover Art by Alex Ross
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 13, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

To be perfectly honest with you, I wasn’t sure whether Brian Wood would be able to top #2 of Star Wars, but he has absolutely blown above and beyond all expectations in this third installment. Coupled with the fantastic art team of Carlos D’anda and Gabe Eltaeb, Dark Horse is delivering the goods on this new Star Wars series, adopting a deeper glance at key characters from the saga, while upping the ante for expectations.

Now with the secretive "black ops" X-Wing group christened Grey Squadron, Princess Leia leads her team in training operations in preparation for the ongoing search for a new Rebel Base location, and to uproot the suspected Imperial spy. Luke Skywalker, also in Grey Squadron, falls short of expectations in the team, as his heroic reputation begins to corrode his sensibilities and cause him to be reprimanded.

Meanwhile, Han Solo and Chewbacca have snuck onto Coruscant, the heart of the Empire, on a secret mission based on intelligence provided by Mon Mothma. They are placed into an almost impossible quandary, cornered by Imperial Stormtroopers after their intelligence is found to be compromised.

Star Wars: Dawn Of The Jedi #0
Text by John Ostrander
Art by Jan Duursema
Cover Art by Rodolfo Migliari
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: Febuary 1, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

“Your Guide to the Dawn Of The Jedi era of Star Wars: It is an era of legend, an era before the discovery of hyperspace travel, before the foundation of the Old Republic, and before the philosophies of the Jedi and the Sith were codified. This is a tale of a great and mythic society, established and nurtured by powers unthinkably ancient and mysterious, on a collision course with an empire founded on darkness and death. These are the true roots of both the Jedi and the Sith Orders . . . the dawn of the Jedi.”

Issue #0 of the brand new Star Wars comic series Dawn Of The Jedi is not really a comic book. Instead, it is more of a text overview and an artistic preview of what is to come – and there is a LOT in this new series that will break a lot of ground in the Star Wars mythos.

Back in 2009 Casey Pugh put out a call to Star Wars fans and budding filmmakers everywhere to help create one of the most ambitious and beloved displays of appreciation for George Lucas‘ standard-setting space opera saga ever seen. Internet users everywhere were asked to remake Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope 15 seconds at a time. Two years after the project began Star Wars Uncut: The Director’s Cut has been completed and is now available to watch online, or at least until Darth Lucas and his cadre of high-priced lawyers file a cease-and-desist order due to the film’s extensive use of Star Wars footage and audio.

You can watch the full movie here below.