Memetic Hazard

$30 Pull List for 12/21/2011

2011-12-21T15:26:00.001-06:00

Had to make budget this week, so someone gets the axe. Who is it? Let’s find out in the $30 Pull List.

Solid:
Hellblazer #286:Pick of the Week Consistency is good when you keep it at a high level. Hellblazer does just that. Wrapping up the Trenchcoat plot and continuing on with the tale of Gemma and John’s search for peace between them, this issue hits all the marks you want it to.

Catwoman #4: Judd Winick continues to bring the good on Catwoman. Not as good at 1-3, but good enough to be rated a solid and not slip.

Wolverine and the X-Men #3: Speaking of continuing to bring the good. WATX is more of the old Excalibur crazy goodness that starts confusing, gets more confusing, then manages to wrap itself up in a thoroughly non-confusing and humorous manner. Sometimes, you just want a fun superhero comic, and right now, this is the only one on the shelves.

Cobra #8: With the Cobra Civil War over, the new Commander starts to set the business of global domination on a new track. A brief interlude that helps establish the new status quo.

Chopping Block:
Birds of Prey #4: Dropping hard this week. Steals a plot point from Batman. Tells, doesn’t show. Writing is off. Character moments are almost nonexistent. Not a good issue.

Thunderbolts #167: Slipping down again is Thunderbolts. Nothing particularly bad here, just not very good, and in a heavy week, not very good gets you a down grade.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #4: I believe Asimov said, “Get the little things right and people will buy the big things.” Or it might have been Clarke. Either way, Red Hood and the Outlaws fails to get the little things right, and it hurts this issue in a big way. I will accept, even encourage cheesecake art and poses if you got a decent story to tell, but you haven’t got one here. You also have the dumbest B story I have read this year happening with Starfire in a moment ripped from Superman 2.

Justice League #4: Continues with being the dumbest, most inept, egotistical, poorly written, muddled artwork mess on the stands today. DC needs to scrap their “Flagship” title and take it back to the drawing board in very short order.

Mass effect Invasion #3: Still the worst of the Mass Effect tie-ins. Still incomprehensible if you haven’t played the 2 games and read the 3 novels, and reading the other comics wouldn’t hurt as well.

Death Row:
GI Joe: A Real American Hero: Didn’t even make it home. I looked at my stack, knew it was too rich for the week and gave it the axe. Good night.

Total Price: $32.93
Image from dcwikia.com

$30 Pull List for 12/14/2011

2011-12-15T20:20:00.002-06:00

Well, a moderate week tempered by the handy dandy frequent shopper card. Let's see what makes the cut on this week's Pull List.

Solid:
Batgirl #4: Babs uses her best attribute, her brains, to set a trap for Mirror and change the battlefield to one that she controls. A heartwarming moment is interrupted by someone I'm not sure Barbara really wants to see. Nice wrap up for the first story arc.

Suicide Squad #4: Pick of the Week Proving that Blackest Night/Brightest Day is no longer in continuity, the Squad, lead by Captain Boomerang 1 goes on a retrieval mission where the ransom for their target is has an unexpected price. The issue ends with less than 20 minutes to live, the Squad has to stop a riot that may have one of their own at it's heart.

Blue Estate #8: A transition issue that opens the next chapter after issue 7's climax. It's the expected lull as plost start to wrap themselves up.

Avengers Academy #23 In what I am sure is not a coincidence, X-23 joins the band. Stryker and Julie Powers have a heart to heart, and Reptil is still his future self and playing a game to ensure his family isn't erased from history. Despite all that, this has was a weak issue for the series, but not as weak as the Fear Itself tie-ins.

Chopping Block
Demon Knights #4 Why did this slip? Start with a new origin for the Shining Knight that invalidates the superb Seven Soldiers of Victory, makes the character a fairly generic knight figure, and happens to be a boring waste of 3/4s of the issue. That's why this slips.

Deathstroke #4 Why did this slip. Because as amusing as Slade going psycho-killer on everyone was for 3 issues, by 4, I want more. And the little bit of plot this had was not enough. Even the BIZ cover was lackluster.

Image from dcwikia.com

$30 Pull List for 12/07/11

2011-12-08T21:14:00.000-06:00

Another light week for the pull list. Only 5 issues this week made it home. So, lets see what we got.

Solid:
GI Joe #8: The new Cobra Commander is crowned (helmeted?) then another contender steals the title by proving to be a better manipulator and schemer. GI Joe is under a congressional inquiry and things are not going well for Destro.

Penguin Pain and Prejudice #3: Red Skull started out strong, then sunk quickly. P^3 started weak and has gotten better. This issue explores the two sides of Oswald Cobblepot while Batman looks on. Very good character work.

Hellblazer Annual 2011:Pick of the Week With the awesome covers and the legendary stylized work in Heavy Metal, I sometimes forget Bisley is still really good a sequential story telling. John is forced to confront something from his past and how it affects the future. Once again, it shows that people who get close to John meet with tragedy.

Huntress #3: Huntress is still tracking her target but having trouble getting the shot she needs. Half way through the series and still going strong.

Chopping Block
Green Arrow #4: Favorite thing about this issue is that JT Krul's name is not on the cover. A step in the right direction, but it still needs to get better before it becomes solid. Giffen will get at least 3 issues to impress me.

Total Price: $19.43

$30 Pull List for 11/30/11

2011-12-01T20:50:00.002-06:00

Ultralight 5th week. Whatever happened to 5th week events anyway? I liked those. Only 4 issues made it home, and not all of them were good.

Solid:
Cobra #7: Steeler is discovered and Blacklight makes his move. Joes get shot. A lot of action for a normally more cerebral comic.

Thunderbolts #166Pick of the Week. Mr. Hyde plays Mr. Ripper as the T-Bolts land in Victorian London. Thunderbolts has hugely improved recently. Even if this hadn't been a light week, this would be a PotW contender.

Death row:
Red Skull Incarnate #5: Well, it was better than issue 3 & 4, but not anywhere near the promise of issue #1.

Fables #111: Done. When you kill a beloved comic relief character and I don't care, it's time to give it up. Good bye Fables.

Total Cost: $14.03
Image from marvel.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 11/23/11

2011-11-23T22:17:00.000-06:00

Light week with only 6 issues coming in this week. Helps make up for the heavy week last week. It's the day before Thanksgiving, and I know we are all thankful for the Pull List.

Solid:
Wolverine and the X-Men #2:Pick of the Week. Picking up where issue 1 ended, the new Hellfire Club is throwing down with Wolvie & crew. Iceman pulls a new power stunt and shows that maybe these years of us being told he was one of the most powerful mutants on the planet is actually true. We also see Broo get named and fall in love, Kitty get kissed, and Hank worry about having left some Frankenstein on. More crazy goodness.

Secret Avengers #19: The high point of Warren Ellis's run so far, and a serious step up from the last few issues.Good pacing, good action, and good dialogue. That makes this a good issue.

Teen Titans #3: Kid Flash pulls a Billy from Family Circle and Tim makes a new friend. This is kind of a mediocre issue which really only serves to introduce a new character.

Justice League Dark #3: John Constantine is John Constantine and seems to be a bit of a magical Magpie. Deadman is still a disturbing sexual predator. shade goes looking for a new member. Enchantress finally finds June. Moving forward at a good pace and in an interesting way, that makes this pretty good.

Hellblazer #285: The penultimate chapter of Constantine's coat hunt brings the three storylines together, as John tracks the demon summoner, the mafia plans to bring the war to John, and the coat tags along for the ride.

Captain America & Bucky #624: The final issue of Brubaker/Andreyko's run on Cap sees the story come full circle, with Bucky telling his tale of life as the Winter Soldier. This period has really been the low point of Brubaker's Cap, which until this year had been an incomparable run of awesomeness that only the first 100 issues of Fables came close to matching for long term excellence. But really, the time has come for new writers.

Image from marvel.wikia.com
Total cost: $21.95

$30 Pull List for 11/16/11

2011-11-17T22:13:00.000-06:00

Heavy week, kind of makes up for the last two light weeks. Despite the budget busting, I'm still very pleased. This has been one of the most enjoyable weeks in comics in months. for the first time in weeks, my choice for pick of the week wasn't based on which comic rose above the mediocre, but between multiple seriously good issues that all deserved the slot. But only one issue gets the most coveted prize in comics, the $30 Pull List Pick of the Week.

Perma-Pull:
Blue Estate #7: Three plots intersect as Rachel is forced to do some improvisation. All the threads become weaved together bloody violence.

Solid:
Red Hood and the Outlaws #3: Pick of the Week. You get some good background on the characters here. That is the main thing with this issue. History, background, personality is all delivered quickly, deftly and with excellent artwork. The final 4 pages are tragic and touching.

Birds of Prey #3: We get to see that Ivy’s power set has changed a little. We also find out that explosives triggered by nursery rhymes can be inserted by physical contact three times. We also get a dubious anatomy cover. I’m still on the ledge about this comic. It might be dipping into Chopping Block level.

Catwoman #3: Judd Winick continues to tell a hell of a story. Catwoman’s escapades catch up to her and it costs her a friends. This issue sets a quick pace and ends on a cliffhanger. Good stuff here, it leaves me wanting more.

Batman #3: Batman gets close to the Talon and the Court of Owls, maybe too close for their liking. This issue is good, but not great. One of the issues is Greg Capullo imitating Howard Chaykin’s style. For me, some of Chaykin’s best work has been when his art work doesn’t have his signature style, like Bite Club.

Thunderbolts #165: Thunderbolts claws its way back into the Solid range. Finally an issue that is better than good enough. Witty, quick, and exciting. About damn time.

Snake Eyes #7: This was almost a perma-pull, but the last few issues have been mediocre. Even with Kwinn making his second appearance. Better than issue 6, but still not up to the first 4's standards.

Avengers Academy #22: Hank calls in a favor to get Magneto to take a look around the death of Jocasta. This does not go well as accusations are leveled at Quicksilver and the kids decide to stick up for their teacher. Nice little character developing issue.

Chopping Block:
Justice League #3: Modern comic writing is built around the trades. So a story arc runs about 6 issues. That's about 120 pages, give or take. We are 60 pages in now. It took half the arc to introduce all the characters, we still have no sighting of the villain, and no sign of an actual villainous plan. Wonder Woman, Flash and Cyborg are so far the only characters that aren't assholes. For DC's Flagship title, this has been lackluster at best.

Captain America #4: Four issues into the new run, not feeling it. Pacing is poor, the plot is meh, the art is inconsistent. Really, I expect more from Brubaker, who this time two years ago, I would have read his interpretation of a phone book.

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #172: Darklon is captured, but Lady Jaye is seriously wounded. One of the Ninjas Three doesn't make it as a new techno-ninja surfaces. I seriously debated demoting this to Death Row this week.

Mass Effect: Invasion #2: The Mass Effect comics have always been the weak link in the series. This is the weakest of the weak link. It makes no sense if you aren't already up on the fiction, the art is murky, vague, and unattractive. If I wasn't already emotionally invested in the series and Mass Effect 3, I would be avoiding this like self inflicted groinal contusions.

Total Price: $43.72
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 11/9/2011

2011-11-09T16:48:00.001-06:00

Light week with not much compelling on the shelves. It also marks the 1st time for an All DC PULL LIST EXTRAVAGANZA!

Solid:
Demon Knights #3: Xanadu buys time for preparations against Mordu’s horde at great expense. It doesn’t look good as only Vandal, Sir Yustin and Exoristos look ready to stand and fight at the end. Good issue, but suffers from a common plague amongst the New 52, it needs to pick up the pace a little.

Huntress #2: Stupid artwork mistake aside, Huntress #2 is really good. Being a limited series, there is an economy of storytelling that is missing from DC’s other fair that really helps the pacing. A good issue and a good follow up for #1. Now if we only knew how this fit into continuity.

Suicide Squad #3:Pick of the Week. Really close week this week, but the Squad snags the title for being more fun than any other comic this week. The dynamics of the team are explored and we begin to get insights into the characters, their personalities and motivations. We also learn that Waller has no intention of ever letting the Squad rest and is willing to rotate leadership if she is displeased or challenged.

Batgirl #3: The runner up for pick of the week. Babs misreads Mirror's intentions and gets many people killed for it. She also does a little romantic sparring with Nightwing. Good issue. Fun, but not as fun as the Squad.

Chopping Block:
Resurrection Man #3: It’s actually the same quality as previous issues, but it isn’t going anywhere fast enough. 60+ pages and we still barely have a plot, almost 40 pages of being in the same hallway. This is ultra-decompressed storytelling, but the characters aren’t compelling enough to carry it.

Deathstroke #3: How many issues does it take for balls to the wall action with minimal plot to get old? The answer is 3. There is a reason old Judge Dread ran about 5 pages a story, there is a limit to how much the average reader will take before wanting more. Higgins delivers the chaos, now can he deliver some plot?

Total Price: $19.42
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 11/2/2011

2011-11-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

Not much on the shelves today, picked up my usuals, plus the missed Catwoman #2. Did give me a chance to make up for last week’s budget breaking haul.

Solid:
Catwoman #2:Pick of the Week Almost makes it perma-pull. Another fun issue full of sex, wit, and violence. You can’t beat that combination. So far, this is the inheritor of Power Girl, Doom Patrol, and Zatanna. The comic that didn’t forget comics are supposed to be entertainment. Sometimes, that means just being fun. You can be fun and tell a story, you can be fun and exciting, you can be fun and dramatic. This is that comic for the new 52.

Avengers Academy #21: Another issue that plays to the series strengths, but this time borrowing plots from Teen Titans, which that series used more than a few times in the past 30 years. This is the first time we’ve seen it in the Academy, so let’s see how it plays out. Fairly straight forward and nothing unexpected, just like a Bob Ross painting. You know what’s coming, but it’s still amusing to see the happy little bush get painted.

GI Joe #7: I got Cover A, or the Fetish Fuel cover. DT calls a ground zero airstrike and the Tuna gets sunk as the Joes try to survive what Cobra tosses at them. Blood makes some kills, but the Joes look they they are done taking it in the face and are ready to punch back.

Route des Maisons Rouges: The China Dolls Maison is set to close due to the Governor's edict to open a new casino, and despite the best effort of all the Maisons, it comes to past. It is discovered that the former mayor, a former mistress of a Maison who found love off the route is still alive and imprisoned by the current mayor and governor. A plan is hatched by the heads of the Maisons with Gill, but Gill is putting his own plan into play without letting anyone else in on it. There is some issues with the placement of text balloons that made figuring out who was speaking an issue at a couple points.

Chopping Block:
Green Arrow #3: The teaser in #2 was a lie, no Black Canary here. Bets thing about this issue? It ends the JT Krul era on Green Arrow. It takes a very special kind of untalent to make me not want to read a Green Arrow comic.

Total Price: $18.35
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 10/26/2011

2011-10-28T09:19:00.000-05:00

A heavy week sees me over budget, but I was indecisive on the cut (after reading this weeks issues, the choice became obvious), so everything came home. Resurrection Man #2 finally came in for me, and I'm told Catwoman #2 will be in next week.

So, let's see what this week's pull list holds.

Solid:
Teen Titans #2: Solstice made the cut. Skitter gets introduced. Kid Flash is officially Bart. Step up from the last issue, as we get more action and more character development. Still wondering about the history here, as Tim indicates there have been previous incarnations of the Teen Titans, despite DC saying this is the first (while claiming that Cyborg is a founding member).

Avengers Academy #20: One goes, seven join. A decompression issue that resolves Fear Itself (thank Odin) plot lines and begins moving the comic forward to its next arc. It does what it does best, focusing on the characters and not the costumes.

Justice League Dark #2:Pick of the Week Ok, I’m not following Hawk & Dove, and I didn’t follow Brightest Day, so I had no clue Deadman and Dove were an item, last I saw in BoP, Hawk was trying to establish a relationship with her. So that’s new. In issue 1 it didn’t register with me that that was Dove when June Moon showed up. Also new to me is the fact the Deadman is a letch and morally corrupt, willing to use the bodies he possesses in the worst ways, making him probably a rapist, as well as emotionally abusive and manipulative. Excellent work DC. Fortunately, Dove had enough sense and self-respect to walk out of him. Meanwhile, Constantine keeps samples from past loves, Zatanna enters a trance, and Madame Xanadu goes for the most obvious Xanatos Gambit there is. So obvious, I’m not sure it actually is a Xanatos Gambit and not just a Briar Rabbit ploy. But, it all stands up as good writing, good art work, and a good story.

Wolverine & The X-Men #1: Did you like the Crosstime Caper Era Excalibur? Tne you should like this. Aside from an odd choice of skin tone for the Illinois native Jewish girl Kitty Pryde, this was good. Witty, quick paced, and amusing. Not exactly an action packed comic, but still entertaining.

Cobra #6: We get Steeler's origin story and a slipping of entertainment value. Hopefully it is a momentary blip in quality. Nothing else to really say about this issue.

Spider Island: Deadly Hand of Kung Fu #3: A Kung-fu battle royale finishes off the three issue mini-series in a satisfying fashion. I'd still pay to read a Bride of Nine Spiders or Fat Cobra series (maybe a double feature?).

Secret Avengers #18: This is good Warren Ellis. Mad science, crazy action, and just on the far side of subversive. Shang Chi appears in 2 comics this month, as Commander Roger's heavy this time. Good stuff.

Captain America & Bucky #623: Bucky and Toro assign themselves to the rescue of a spy that results in the discovery of a concentration camp. Drama unfolds in a rather predictable fashion, but like a classic wrestling match, the conclusion is foregone, you are only watching for the execution. In this case, the execution was only a little above average. I expect more from a Brubaker Captain America book.

Chopping Block:
Resurrection Man #2: Not that this is bad. There is really nothing I can point out that is wrong with it, other than a Liefeld-esquely drawn bad gun and hand on one page, I'm just not feeling it. As I see that my comics habit has gotten worse since the New 52 launched, something has got to go, and it may just be Resurrection Man.

Death Row:
Red Skull Incarnate #4: with only 5 issues in the series, the slide to sub-mediocre couldn't take too long. With the second to last issue, we officially hit "This Sucks". A super-promising start ends with crap, and I won't be getting issue 5.

Total Price $36.70
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 10/19/2011

2011-10-21T09:39:00.002-05:00

Texas Comic Shop ran out of Catwoman #2 before I arrived. That combined with my frequent shopper card allowed me to squeak in just under budget. It’s the end of an era (or maybe error depending on how you received Schism) in Marvel while the New 52 marches on with DC’s flagship title.

Perma-Pull:
Snake Eyes #6: Snake and Duke head out to extract the latest entry in the Cobra Commander race, while Scarlett holds down the fort. This story feeds directly off of the last ish of Snake Eyes and features the style of artwork and writing normally found in GI Joe, as opposed to the higher quality that we usually see in Snake Eyes. Still a good issue. Only problem I had was why Snake would be wearing his BDU pants straight legged instead of bloused.

Solid:
Uncanny X-men #544: The last issue until the relaunch. Sinister narrates; Cyclops puts his past in a box. Beast says what I’ve been thinking. Not exactly action packed, but it brings the series to a close in a good enough fashion. If you haven’t been reading it, no point in starting now.

Mass Effect: Invasion #1: To follow along with this, you have to have read the second and third novels, Ascension and Retribution. This is a sequel to Retribution, which takes place 1 year after Mass Effect 2. The art is pretty much the same as the previous two Mass Effect comics and the writing is below the Bioware standard, but it’s good enough. But, if you don’t like Mass Effect or have no clue about it, this is neither a good place to start, nor will it do anything to change your opinion.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #2:Pick of the Week We find out that Jason Todd did not head to the mystical city alone, he brought his friends along. We also find that he does have feelings for Kori, and despite her saying otherwise, she has them for him, and is feeling a little guilty over what happened with Roy. Like Avengers Academy, this is better when it focuses on the characters, not the action. A very good follow up. and Kori stays mostly clothed, wearing a business suit for the majority of the issue.

Birds of Prey #2: Helps the cause by upping the game. Katana joins the team and could be talking to spirits, or could be insane. Poison Ivy also makes her BoP debut in this issue. It ramps up the action, ramps up the characterization, and ramps up the storytelling. It needed all three.

Batman #2: If there is a week link in the New 52, it is poorly defined new villains. The Court of Owls is the latest. Their operative isn't introduced in a mysterious or suspenseful way. It's more of a "why should I care?" way. Otherwise, good issue here.

Fables #110: Once again, an issue that is only slightly better than the previous one. At this rate,BY 2014, Fables will have returned to the high point it hit when Boy Blue took the fight to the Gepetto. At least we are making forward progress in both quality and story lines.

John Constantine Hellblazer #284: Piphy and Gemma go on the hunt for John's lost coat, as John stumbles around with his abilities and reality out of control due to its loss. The art work is of a jarring style when compared to the previous issues, but we still get an awesome Bisley cover that tells the story in a glance.

Chopping Block:
GI Joe: A Real American Hero #171: The extraction of Darklon goes bad, Sneak Peek’s debrief continues, and a new ninja decides to put an RPG into the Arishikage Russian offshoot dojo. A lot happens for really nothing to happen. I was giddy for this coming back, but it’s worn on me. I have a feeling this will be my last issue after I take a night to sleep on it.

Justice League #2: Is a damned mess. The art work is over reliant on computer effects, the writing is either crap or every character besides the Flash and Cyborg (who isn’t Cyborg yet) is a flaming bag of asshole. Batman reigned it in a bit, from the raging dick he was last issue to annoying douche nozzle. Please, this needs to go somewhere, needs to do it quickly, and needs to do it very well to survive much longer.

Total Price: $29.80
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 10/12/2011

2011-10-13T16:52:00.000-05:00

A rather light week, but nothing compelling on the shelves. Resurrection Man #2 didn't make it in this week, so it'll get picked up in a later pull list. Until then, let's look at what did arrive.

Solid:
Deathstroke #2: Slade makes what is probably the bloodiest commercial in the history of TV that doesn’t involve my eventual rampage against all of reality television. Very good, very violent, but not as top notch as issue #1. The good thing is Slade looks to continue his filming of The Terms of Enrampagement as he seeks answers for the McGuffin he picked up in issue #1.

Suicide Squad #2: Another of the new 52 hits issue 2. The Squad stays even with the last issue, which makes it pretty good. It is darker than previous runs, both in art and writing, it also lacks chemistry between the characters, but that may come with time. Otherwise it is passable entertainment.

Batgirl #2: Babs gets the snot kicked out of her by a new Gotham psycho and keeps going following the trail. Determined, smart, and probably in over her head, it’s a good way to develop drama and anticipation for a hero. Now, if only DC would let Gail Simone write something else as well.

Demon Knights #2:Pick of the Week Still in the same village as issue #1. The first wave is beaten and now comes the second as our heroes(?) decide to flee, only to be trapped by Mordru and Morgaine. Seems much more rushed than issue one, but not in a way that generates tension or excitement, more in a too much, too quick way. All the solid issues tie this week, so I pick Demon Knights for having the fewest flaws.

Blue Estate #6: A transition issue between action pieces sees Rachel schmooze and con the gangsters holding her brother, unwittingly setting up a confrontation between them, her husband, and her AA sponsor. This issues weaves the threads of the five plots together so that the whole mesh can be unraveled in the next 2 issues. Good, but not great, but there was bound to be a slow point in this series.

Death Row:
New Avengers #17: Any comic that starts with every hero carrying the idiot ball, playing hot potato with it, and then finishes them being stupider than when they started, doesn’t deserve to be read. When two of them are Spider-Man and Iron Man, two of the bigger brains in the MU, it is worse. This comic has been running at the edge of the abyss of crap for a while, and it is now over the edge. Good bye.

Total Cost: $20.50
Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 10/5/2011

2011-10-06T11:25:00.002-05:00

Light week allows me to pick up two extra issues in the Penguin and Huntress miniseries. A better than average GI Joe comic makes the pick of the week through the benefit of being just slightly better than everything else.

Solid:
Gi Joe #6: Pick of the Week The Joes go to ground in Cobraville and encounter Cobra’s post Armageddon plan as a BAT has been deployed to protect the city. We also see that while the Joes have made headway against Cobra, Cobra kept the wheels within wheels turning and has put our side even more on the ropes than they know. Good, strong issue and a step up from #5.

X-Men: Schism #5: See previous blog post for this one.

Chopping Block:
Thunderbolts #164: Thunderbolts buys its life one issue at a time, living on the rag tag edges of disaster by putting out two issues of drek followed by an excellently executed exciting episode. That’s this one. Disguised as WW2 era heroes (a disguise for Satana that is both more modest and somehow sexier at the same time) they are torn between helping Captain America, not knowing how it will affect their own time line.

Green Arrow #2:Best thing about this issue is that the teaser for issue 3 hints at the return of Black Canary into Green Arrow's life. It hangs on due to the fact that JT Krul has 1 issue left before he is replaced with a more competent writer.

Penguin: Pain and Prejudice #1:Mr. Cobblepot is in the sweet spot on the Venn diagram where Michael Corleone, Buffalo Bill, and Norman Bates intersect. There is really nothing bad about this, I'm just not feeling it. If it is a heavy week when issue 2 streets, this will get a pass.

Huntress #1:Helena is in Italy tracking down human smugglers. Alludes to Batman and Superman, but does not come outright and say this is in/out of mainline continuity (word on the internet is it is the new Earth 2 that will feature the JSA). Suffers from the same problem as Penguin, nothing bad, just not doing anything for me.

Total Price: $21.58
Image from: gijoe.wikia.com

X-Men Schism #5

2011-10-05T15:01:00.001-05:00

This was originally going to be part of this weeks $30 pull list, but I had enough to say on the issue that it deserves it's own post:

The final issue of the series is the weakest story wise, but it does provide a cap to the story and lead in to what happens next. This serves as a point of reflection for the reader, where do you draw the line? Which side do you fall on?

For me, I side with Wolverine. Following the X-men through the Utopia age has really changed the character dynamics of both Wolverine and Cyclops. Wolverine has become the grizzled protector, doing what he does because he knows how and doesn’t want to burden they people he sees as his family with the events that haunt his life. He has done everything Cyclops asked without hesitation, even sticking by Cyclops with the death of Nightcrawler, doing all of Cyclops bloody, dirty deeds. All he asked was that the younger mutants, the kids they were supposed to protect, stayed out of the fight.

Cyclops, not only failed at that, he stopped paying lip service to it. He became a dictator, a good intentioned one (maybe) but still a dictator. There was no way but his way, and he was willing to do whatever it took to have his way. He created his own country with no negotiation, he did this through a thinly veiled threat of hostile action against the rest of the world. He created an illegal prison, first on what was American soil, to house people who were held without trial an due process. He created a wetwork team to commit assassinations on his behalf with no oversight. He gave the “citizens” of his country no choice, no freedoms; he was father, teacher, leader and they died, fought, starved, lived, played and ate all on his word alone. He backed all of this up with the threat of ostrasization or violence. He even maintained a cadre of mind readers to ensure there would not be threats to his plans.

In the end, there was only one thing Cyclops would not do, and that was get himself dirty. He ceased to be the leader of a team of superhumans, and became a head of state using people as weapons to enforce his political agenda. He did not commit murder, he had others do it on his behalf, he did not rip secrets from the minds of others, he had others do it for him. In the end, he was willing to send teenagers to fight for his country and his dream, potentially die, rather than see his vision put at risk.

Cyclops was the villain of this story. His actions brought death to Utopia, brought war to his doorstep. Last panel, three pages from the end, notice who is standing with him. 3 historically villainous characters and a teenage girl who is functionally his granddaughter. A girl he sent other people to die for and is for the most part ignorant of everything except Cyclops's and Cables's propaganda. Not his oldest friends (Beast left long ago, and Iceman left with Wolverine), not the voices of reason (Shadowcat left with Wolverine and Nightcrawler is dead because of Cyclops). With the spoilers on the upcoming X-comics covers, we know that even his brother and sort of daughter side against him.

Image from marvel.wikia.com.

$30 Pull List for 9/28/2011

2011-09-29T08:24:00.001-05:00

A week full of comics, but nothing really outstanding. A week when Teen Titans and Captain America disappoint is not a good week for comics.

Solid:
GI Joe #5: A let down from previous issues, but really, the main GI Joe comic has been the weak link in the series since it started in Vol 1, not that the link is all that weak, just not as strong as Origins, Snake Eyes or Cobra. Baroness sets a trap for the Joes that backfires and results in her capture, leaving Krake thinking she is dead and has the upper hand. Now that the Joes have both Baroness and her doppelganger Chameleon, will they take the chance to put a mole in Cobra?

Snake Eyes #5: Also takes a quality dip as this one ties in with GI Joe main and Duke’s infection with an engineered super virus. A new player in the Cobra Civil War steps to the plate and is spreading chaos and destruction, but not targeting Joes directly. Still not bad, just not as good as issues 1-4.

Batman #1: Missed it last week, got it this week. Continuity Watch: It’s all in continuity baby, unless I tell you otherwise. Pretty good issue. Not the best Batman I’ve read, but it hits all the marks and really feels like the first episode of a new TV series. All the players get an intro, you get just enough characterization to establish their characters, and it leaves you halfway into the story and awaiting the next episode.

Spider Island: The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2:Pick of the Week. Continues from last issue, Silver Sable has picked up Shang Chi and helps him track Bride of Nine Spiders to her lair, where we find that she is not fully in control of herself. A good comic in the tradition of Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons.

Avengers Academy #19: A Fear Itself Tie in. Concluding the Absorbing Man/Titania Fear Itself related plot, finally. The Cadets have their Mettle tested (literally and figuratively) and are forced to make the hard choices. In the end, one of them decided the best choice is to not be there. Once again, this comic is best when dealing with the drama and issues of being a hero as opposed to the actual heroics.

Chopping Block:
Secret Avengers #17: Let’s get this out of the way, this is the ugliest art work I have seen in a comic since the Peter David era of X-Factor (circa 1991). Not only is it bad, it’s inconsistently bad, as Kev Walker is not even able to stay bad for the same reasons from panel to panel. He also believes everyone is a child of Mick Jagger and Angelina Jolie who then got a collagen treatment. It’s even more remarkable because you have these wooden scowling giant lipped leatherfaces in the comic and then he pulls a single panel (last on page 6) that is sweet, emotional, perfectly shaded with the most expressive eyes I have seen in a comic, that is also totally out of character and out of place within the context of the scene. Valkyrie also found Michael Jackson’s stash of ‘80’s jackets and has taken to wearing them.
Story wise, this is the kind of high concept crazy Warren Ellis excels at, but this is definitely not his best work. It’s not even Black Summer level. This feels like a comic on the downward spiral and is running out of chances.

Justice League Black #1: For a comic that features some of my favorite characters involved in some of my preferred craziness, you think this would rate higher, but it's all intro and no plot. Sure, little June Moon has snapped, but there is no why and no one gets a chance to be explored. If you didn't already know who these characters were, this would do nothing for you. Even knowing who everyone is, this comic commits one of the few truly unforgivable sins in comicdom, it's boring.This gets another shot based solely on concept potential and Peter Milligan's past work. If you don't dig the concept or Hellblazer, just walk away from this, it isn't worth it.

Teen Titans #1: Red Robin is seeking to build a team of super teens before the mystery group NOWWHERE kidnaps them. There are already continuity issues, as DC has stated Cyborg is a founding Titan, but this appears to be the first group of Titans. It's not really bad, per se, it just isn't very good. Also, Red Robin can now fly and his wings/cape is bullet proof. He also seem estranged from Batman in this, but appears in the family scene of Batman #1, so that needs some clarification. It'll at least get the second issue.

Captain America and Bucky #622: This is rapidly approaching the dubious honor of being the first Ed Brubaker comic cut from the pull list. Much like JLB #1, it's boring, and this is despite there being a fight with a Nazi Ubermensch. I'm really not digging this and there is a very good possibility issue #623 doesn't make it home next month unless the week is light.

Total Cost: $32.38
Image from marvel.wikia.com

Addressing the sexual nature of Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws #1

2011-09-23T10:30:00.005-05:00

So, every comic blog and its brother is up in arms about the sexual nature/activity/attitudes of Catwoman and Red Hood et al this week, except me it seems like.
I enjoyed both these comics, they were fun, exciting, and yes, sexy.

Both were rated T/T+ and neither one featured anything you aren’t currently seeing on network television or MTV (for those with short memories complaining about Starfire standing around in a bikini in provocative poses, please recall the soft core masturbation material that was MTV Spring Break from the early to mid 90’s for an example of how that and worse was marketed towards teenagers nearly 20 years ago).

First let’s just skim the Catwoman issue. I have Catwoman comics dating back to Her Sister’s Keeper. I enjoyed Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke’s work as well as Loeb’s. This might be a little more on the explicit side, but there is nothing that isn’t already set in precedent in Catwoman’s character. She exposed more skin in When in Rome, has almost always had the hots for Batman, and was never above using her sexuality and sex appeal to get her way. Notice, she went out of her way to not be disguised as a prostitute and only exposed herself to the Russian mob boss as a distraction, never letting him actually do anything. When she did make sexual contact with someone, it was with Batman, and then, they kept their costumes on, because to her, that is more exciting, more erotic than being naked. It’s the excitement and mystery of it that gets her, not the exposing of flesh. To her, that is something lesser people find erotic and it is a tool in her larceny toolbox.

So on to the Starfire issue:

Let me say first, I’m not that bothered by this partially because I have never emotionally invested in the character of Starfire, dating back to when I first read Teen Titans in the Judas Contract period.

But also because Starfire has always been an adolescent sex fantasy fulfillment fan service character. A superhot, sexually open and available alien from a planet of exhibitionists that has the hots for a teen sidekick that was used for the majority of his career as a reader POV character? Her primary reason for being is to appeal to 13 year old boys.

Yes, over the decades, her character has developed beyond that, but that part of her character has always remained present. Her costume has always been a scandalously cut swimsuit with a T-back or racer back rear (epically displayed during the sun salutation of Titans#16). The next issue, Titans 17, they go out of their way to point out that she doesn’t wear underwear (while sporting only a Batman logo T and strategically placed milk carton). The BBQ scene in issue 18, she is wearing less than my wife wears to bed. The end of issue 21 sees her in a submissive FDAU pose after being attacked by Phobia. So, in 4 issues out of 6, she serves a cheesecake purpose.

I choose those, because the trade for those issues happens to be close at hand when I write this, so I don’t have to go digging through my longboxes or bookshelves to find examples. There are plenty more across her entire career as a character.

If you want a point to be upset about with her, it shouldn’t be the displayed sexuality, it should be that these relationships mean nothing to her. A cornerstone of her character development has been her love of Dick Grayson, and his rejection of that love and its effect on her. That is tossed out the window and erased from her memory. It’s not that she has sex, acts overtly sexual, displays herself as sexually provocative that should be the issue, it should be that it is all meaningless.

But you can also see that as being in service to the plot they are building in Red Hood et al #1. The art and actions show that while her fling with Jason Todd is meaningless to her, and while he pretends to be nonchalant about it, it is not meaningless to Jason. He goes to his “friends” to help him with an issue from his past, and finds them in bed with each other. Instead of accepting it, and their help, he chooses to move on alone, putting himself at greater risk rather than facing the pain of a woman he has emotional attachment to sleeping with his best friend.

If you want a female character whose treatment you should be outraged with, it’s Power Girl. A female character, that while sexy, has treated her physique in a tongue and cheek manner. She was also on a power level equal to Superman, led the Justice Society, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist on par with Batman, and a scientific genius equal to Mr. Terrific (third smartest man in the DCU if you need to be reminded). Since the relaunch she has been downgraded to Mr. Terrific’s Booty Call.

Yet, I don’t see a lot of outrage about that reversal of a depiction.

Also, the lead in image? Titans issue #1. She spends 3 pages traipsing around a pool completely naked.

$30 Pull List for 9/21/2011

2011-09-21T15:35:00.001-05:00

A heavy week sees the pull list go a little over budget. An impressive feat, as DC is able to be the top pick for 4 weeks in a row, so the New 52 is at least delivering some consistent entertainment. Otherwise, DC gives us a taste of the not so nice, and Marvel gives me a double shot of X-Men. T-Bolts barely makes the cut in this weeks $30 Pull List.

Perma-pull:
Captain America #3: I may be downgrading my first Captain America title. Really, it may not be so much a problem with this comic, but that Brubaker set the bar so damn high from the Winter Soldier saga on that it was inevitable the quality slip, and these three issues seem to be it. Still good as a whole, decent art, good story, likable characters. But’s the third serving of meatloaf good. It’s still the same great dish, but it gets old after a bit.

Solid:
Catwoman #1: Pick of the Week. Continuity Watch: Catwoman doesn’t know if Batman knows her real name and doesn’t know Batman’s. This destroys most of their previous relationship, ends the existence of her daughter Helena and throws Gotham City Sirens, her last series and a good portion of the past decades Batman stories out. It’s sexy, it’s fun, it’s exciting. Judd Winick can write the hell out of Catwoman. Really good issue that won’t take much to be kept on board the pull list.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1: Continuity Watch: Tamareans has poor memories and can’t tell humans apart. The earlier incarnations of the Teen Titans existed in some form, Starfire was a member of them, had a relationship with Nightwing/Robin, but doesn’t remember it. Starfire’s characterization is a little odd, but otherwise, this is a good issue. The art is chaotic at points to enhance the story, but never difficult to follow. Jason Todd and Roy Harper are being set up to be the new Booster/Beetle. Definitely gets a few more issues.

John Constantine Hellblazer #238: With the previous storyline wrapped up last issue, this begins the tale of John, Gemma, his coat, and the horrible things that follow all three. It’s standard Hellblazer here, which makes it pretty damn good. One of the things Hellblazer has going for it, and this may seem like a little thing, but it is important to me, is the paper. It used a nice, solid, gritty feeling paper which is comfortable under the fingers, as opposed to the magazine, glossy, slick paper most comics use. It makes you want to hold the comic longer, really study the pages, and it is better in a well lit room as you don’t get glare from the lights on the matte finish. Most Vertigo titles use this paper, and really, I wish all comics would as well.

X-Men Schism #4: Gives us a Days of Future Past homage on page 6 as Box, Nemesis, and Wolverine attempt end their sentinel problem. The conflict between Wolverine and Cyclops comes to blows at the worst moment as both sides are wrong and there doesn’t seem to be a right answer. A very strong issue.

Uncanny X-Men #543: The final Fear Itself tie in (thank Odin). The Colossus-naut hits Caine Marko hard enough to knock him back sixty miles only to find out why it was so hard for Juggernaut to not be destructive. His mind infection with Cyttorak ‘s power puts Peter Rasputin at odds with Kitty Pryde, but not because of the power, but the decision to take it and all the decisions that lead to that point. It also sets the stage for her choice in Schism.

Chopping Block:
Birds of Prey #1: Continuity Watch: The old Birds of Prey apparently never happened, Black Canary is a wanted criminal. This also solidifies that she and Green Arrow never married and she was never in the Justice League. It’s Meh. It gets Canary’s characterization pretty well, Starling shows no personality except to be a watered down Lady Blackhawk, and the only other character with significant face time is killed on the last page. It gets a second issue, but not much more unless it impresses me.

Thunderbolts #163.1: T-Bolts avoid death row, barely. They basically do it by not being the worst comic I got this week. That would be Birds of Prey.

Also, as an aside, I watched 9/11 live on television in a rehab clinic waiting room waiting to take my first daughter to an appointment with my pregnant wife by my side. I remember it vividly. It has sickened me to see all the business take advantage of it. It has sickened me to see the politicians take advantage of it. It sickens me to see the American people buying into all the crap both of those groups throw out for their own gain. It sickens me that we didn’t treat the first responders right, it sickens me that we haven’t rebuilt those towers, it sickens me that it took a decade to get the mastermind, it sickens me that our soldiers are still fighting and dying when this should have been handled quicker and better . And it fucking pisses me to be seeing products commemorating the tenth anniversary of the worst tragedy in America in my life so far. Even Marvel’s tribute reprints piss me off.

Fables #109: Fables continues to tread water, which is better than the downhill run it did during the Mr. Dark plotline. The wolves start trials to see who is the next North Wind until the 3 other cardinal winds show up. Ms. Duglas (Spratt) continues her side adventure and Rose Red returns to the farm with Mayor Cole, Beauty and Beast. Bufkin and crew continue their misadventures in revolution in the land of Oz. Nothing particularly noteworthy here.

Total Price: $32.38
Image from dc.wikia.com

Best news for Green Arrow since the Canary said I do...

2011-09-19T15:57:00.001-05:00

Professional storyline killer JT Krul is off Green Arrow. Read it here: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=34465

$30 Pull List New 52 Supplemental

2011-09-18T23:42:00.002-05:00

Picked up three issues of the new 52 that had sold out at Texas Comic Shop. How do they stack up? Let's turn to the big board to find out on this, the first $30 Pull List Supplemental.

Solid:
Demon Knights #1:Pick of the uhhh... Supplemental. Continuity watch: Sir Yustin(a) from Morrison's Seven Soldier of Victory is the Shining Knight circa approx. 1300. This means she never entered Castle Revolving, which means Seven Soldiers has changed. Madam Xanadu and Jason Blood team with Vandal Savage, Lady Yustin(a), an Amazonion named Exoristos and Al Jabr, an Arabian techie that dresses like a background character from Assassin's Creed against Mordu and Morgaine Le Fey. Xanadu also happens to be double timing Blood with Etrigan. Nice little issue that reminds me of the best of the most recent Shadowpact volume.

Suicide Squad #1: Continuity Watch: the part of Amanda Waller is now played by the actress from the "With a New Girl Friend" Allstate commercial. It hits all the Suicide Squad beats with Savant washing out about halfway through. Harley's outfit, which has been described a Juggalo Stripper and Suicide Girl Harely looks better inside than it does on the cover. It ends on a cliffhanger, or a skydiver. It's pretty good.

Death Row:
Swamp Thing #1: Continuity Watch: Death of Superman happened, as did Brightest Day and Blackest Night by association. This is bad. Slow, plodding, no development. Poor characterization, no plot to speak of, and thoroughly uninteresting.

Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 9/14/2011

2011-09-15T21:01:00.002-05:00

DC’s advertising and sales gimmick is working. Texas Comic Shop had sold out of both Suicide Squad and Batwoman by the time I made it there, and I grabbed the last copy of Resurrection Man. Now, are they any good? That’s a question that can only be answered by the $30 Pull List (Why is there not a new Question series? Dc can answer that one).

Solid:
Cobra #5: Issue 5 picks up where #4 left off. Blood is on the move, Blacklight is on the move, Tomax is on the move, the Joes are on the move. Chameleon is pulled out of her bath and Steeler continues to double deal. A lot happening on too few pages, it builds tension, but feels rushed instead of tight. I’m normally OK with the dark and semi-obscure art in the Cobra title, it fits the tone and helps the mood, but this time, it made everything to indistinct and did not help the story being told.

Deathstroke #1:Pick of the Week I know how Slade feels on page 7. I spent about 10 years as a pro wrestler, 3 as a ref. Had good matches, had bad matches, the odd train wreck horror show embarrassment, and maybe even a 5 star classic or two in there. Safe to say, been around the block once or twice. I’m not the biggest guy, but at 5’9 and 200, I’m pretty solid. One time, my buddy Biggie asked me to come look at and work with some new rookies he had. That’s Page 7. What the hell was with these kids. Not a single one was old enough to drink, I had thirty pounds on the biggest, and there was only one guy who had any talent in the group. "What the fuck are they doing?" was all I could think. “What the Hell is this?” indeed Mr. Slade, indeed. Reminiscing aside, this is good, really good. It’s better than Batgirl, which makes it the best of the New 52 so far. Higgins, Bennett, Thibert, Wright bring it on all fronts, the Bisley cover is dynamite. It genuinely makes me giddy for issue 2, and for a jaded comics fan who lived through 1993 and has been reading for almost 30 years, that says a lot about how good this issue was. If the next issue is ¾ as good, this becomes an Perma-Pull .

Resurrection Man #1: Opens with an interesting twist, closes in a way that feels like Hellblazer, and that’s a good thing. It sits on the high end of middle of the road, not really blazing any new ground, but doing what it does well.

Criminal: Last of the Innocent #4: Bringing home the story of ersatz Archie who is willing to go the extra step to ensure his life is perfect. A fine finish to a good series.

Criminal Macabre: No Peace for Dead Men #1: Standard Steve Niles goodness with a twist ending that sets up the next limited series. With the exception of 30 Days of Night, I have loved everything I've read by Steve Niles, and this does not break that streak.

Chopping Block:
New Avengers #16: There is a saying on tvtropes.org, to paraphrase “Tropes are not bad,sometimes they are just used poorly”. Bendis is in that zone. Daredevil kicks more ass than all the other Avengers have been doing, Daredevil shoots a big ass gun, Daredevil saves a baby, everyone sits around and says how awesome and cool Daredevil is. The last two issues have read like Bendis is picking a new character to demonstrate the Worf Effect with each month. One more month, and I’m out.

GI Joe: A Real American Hero #170: The quality is rising from issue 168’s low point. Snake, Storm, and Billy get the low down on Middle Master’s offshoot schools, Destro and Baroness find out about Darklon’s survival, the annoying Firefly plot is wrapped up in a thankfully quick manner, and Lady Jaye, Flint, and Roadblock deploy for a covert op.

Total Price: $27.54

Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull list for 9/7/2011

2011-09-08T16:44:00.001-05:00

DC puts the new 52 on display. Thanks to the handy dandy Texas Comics frequent shopper card, I come in under budget and pick up a couple extras. Did miss Swamp Thing because Tom sold out by 1pm. Which I'm happy for, even though I missed an issue, anything that helps Tom stay open is good by me.

Solid:
GI Joe: Cobra #4: Major Blood starts making his move, explains his motivations and lays out a compelling case for why he is the ideal candidate to be Cobra Commander, despite not believing he is a serious option. More spy games happen with the search for the mole inside the Joes. Cobra continues to be the most cerebral of the three IDW GI Joe titles.

Batgirl #1:Pick of the Week Continuity Watch: The Killing Joke is in continuity and happened 3 years ago in comic book time. Babs, freshly able to walk, is trying to slip into the old Batgirl tights and take to the streets, relearning her capabilities and discovering a new limitation. Gail Simone is rarely bad, and while this isn't top shelf, it's better than everything else this week.

Chopping Block:
Thunderbolts #163: The Second Sting T-Bolts play All This And World War 2 (if you get that, write and claim your Marvel Geek badge), winding up in 1944ish German as Namor and Cap A drop in to slug it out with some Nazis. Moonstone ramps up the Vamp/Psychological Warfare side of her that really makes the character fun, Satana is more interested in the next incarnation of Man-Thing than anything else as that storyline continues. It's actually better on reflection that it seemed while reading it.

Green Arrow #1:Damning with Faint Praise: It isn't as bad as the last Green Arrow run. Continuity Watch: Oliver Queen never lost Queen Industries, he also never got the sweet goatee. Continuity Question: His apparent age also indicates Conner and Mia aren't in continuity, but we could be surprised. Ollie busts some superpowered thrill seekers in France, Ollie misses a meeting. Does the set up, but nothing more. It gets a second issue, but I don't guarantee a third.

New Avengers Annual #1: Simon Williams's team of heroes takes it to the New Avengers to show them that they should disband and have made the world worse by existing. Simon's right, but his plan for getting them to stand down (aggravated assault and property destruction)is probably off the mark, considering no one is listening to him, I can understand his frustration, but I would have Wikileaked that crap until everyone was too embarrassed to keep the big A running. The real downside to this is the art, which is a case where less would have been more. I understand the attempt, trying to make the battle look as confusing and chaotic to the reader as it felt to the Avengers, but it is too much, too chaotic, too muddled, too difficult to follow.

Red Skull Incarnate #3: I like Greg Pak. Greg Pak got me to read Hulk and Hercules and care about the characters for the first time in, I don't know, since Secret Wars 1 maybe? But this dropped hard and fast. If the first issue had been this quality, I wouldn't have picked up #2. It is only here now because of Issue 1 and my hope that is finishes strong. Mediocre art with bad writing.

Death Row:
Justice League International #1: The first new DC title to get cut. Continuity Watch: The old JLI never happened, throw it all out, meaning the implications of those not happening really screw with other in continuity choices. This really tries to be a more light hearted and fun superhero comic, and fails horribly because it misses all the chemistry that made the old JLI fun. Not worth it, go read the trades.

Total Price: $20.72

Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 8/31/2011

2011-08-31T21:22:00.002-05:00

Real light week for the pull list, and despite actively looking for something to spend my money on, even Tom, the proprietor of Texas Comic Shop had no recommendations other than perusing the back catalog.

Solid:
Route Des Maison Rouges #5:Pick of the Week RDMR is like a Top 40 radio stations. It's nobody's favorite, but it's everybody's second favorite. It's not the best noir comic, that's Blue Estate. It's not the best cheese cake art comic, I have to say Zenescope does it better. It's not the best writing, right now that's IDW's GI Joe. But it does all of that really well and in a very entertaining fashion. This week, that's good enough to be the best. This issue sees the murder of the Dark Ladies Maison's Mistress solved and continues the conspiracy between the Mayor and his yet unseen master, the Governor. word of warning: If you get this, go back and grab the first 4 issues, or you will be lost, and the release schedule isn't exactly consistent, and you do have to deal with some translation artifacts. Despite that, it's worth it, so we have that going for us.

Spider Island: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1: This was an impulse pick up. Light week, Kung Fu, Immortal Weapons? I’m in like Flint. Strong opening for the limited series. Sets the scene, summarizes enough that you need know nothing else about Spider Island to read, and well written. The art work is stylized, but very good and keeps in-line with the previous Iron Fist/Immortal Weapons comics. It also has a Fat Cobra cameo, so we have that going for us.

Chopping Block:
Justice League #1: The flagship title of the re-launch. They cleared the schedule to give this the week alone. The showcase of DC’s Creative and Artistic talent. And it’s not good. An origin story that introduces us to 4 characters 5 years before today. Green Lantern is …well Green (I imagine that will be said a lot across the internet) and now way overpowered. Batman is Frank Miller’s All Star Batman and Robin’s Batman, not year 1’s Batman. Superman is no longer a dick, just a fratboy douchebag. Cyborg gets some more depth, so there’s that. The art is very well done, but you expect that from Jim Lee, and we get a guaranteed return of the 4th World, so we have that going for us. So, it at least buys itself a second issue.

Secret Avengers #16: Yeah, that bad it slips. I normally like Warren Ellis, I’m a big fan of Nextwave. This takes a turn for the Nextwave, but not in a good way. I’ve never been a fan of Jamie McKelvie’s art, and this does nothing the change that opinion. But the cover is great, so we have that going for us.

Total Price: $15.11

$30 Pull Lust for 8/24/2011

2011-08-25T10:26:00.004-05:00

A full week does not necessarily equal a good week. Over budget, but not over entertained. Despite not reading them, I'm burnt out on crossovers. At least September will bring the DC relaunch and an end to a couple of crossovers, you know, until they realize they made a mistake and do another Crisis Crossover in a year or two.

Perma-Pull:
Snake Eyes #4:Pick of the Week Snake proves he earned his 3B0, Helix strikes the first return blow on Cobra, and Iceberg skis the hell out of a slope to save Alpine. The consistent quality I’ve come to expect from IDW’s GI Joe comics is present here as this wraps up the first arc of what looks to be this generation's Special Missions. Good stuff here, a step down from the previous issue, but hitting that high mark every time out would be near impossible, so that really isn't a complaint. Snake Eyes looks like he's going to become a regular feature in the Pick of the Week slot.

Captain America & Buck #621: Continuing with the early partnership of Bucky and Cap, told from Bucky's perspective. It's good, but not great, and really that's all I can say about it.

Solid:
Teen Titans #100: The final issue of this volume ends in mediocre fashion. Plots tied up, relationships are established/reestablished/broken/damaged and will promptly be forgotten. It is less offensive than the previous two issues, but still substandard.

X-Men Schism #3: Came out last week, but I didn’t get my copy until this week. Cyclops crosses the moral event horizon in a very disturbing, but realistic manner. Halfway through the mini, and I have a feeling the last act will be rushed, because based on the spoilers we have seen so far, there is a lot of development that needs to be packed into 2 issues.

Chopping Block:
GI Joe: A Real American Hero #169: Better than last issue, but it seems off. There is a lot going on, really too much for a single issue. Snake, Storm, and Billy's road trip should have been pushed off an issue to give Chuckles interrogation more space to develop. Kwinn being the ghost in the machine is interesting, and hopefully will come into play more.

Death Row:
Gotham City Sirens #26: As DC wraps everything up for the relaunch, Catwoman plays both sides of the struggle between OTB and Poison Ivy and Harley. A series that I keep coming back to after leaving it for dead finally ends my indecision for me.

DC Comics Presents: Justice League of America 100 Page Special #1: One day, DC will shorten that title. One day, I will stop being a sucker for these 100 page specials. Reprinting a collection of JLA and Green Lantern from '98-'00. Honestly, this reminds me of why I wasn't reading JLA, or DC in general in the late '90's. It's horrible and I wasted $8 on it.

Total Price: $33.49

$30 Pull List for 8/17/2011

2011-08-19T07:53:00.001-05:00

A heavy week means no extra pick ups, but after the past two light weeks with nothing else worth looking at on the shelves, I'll take it. Dive in the ink is fine for the $30 Pull List.

Perma-Pull:
Zatanna #16: Adam Hughes gives us the best cover I have seen all year. Inside is a quick one and done fill in featuring Limbo Town, Fuzzy Slippers, Extradimensional Giants, and Cocoa Butter. Nice issue, but nothing outstanding.

Captain America #2: I have to give this issue the worst review I have ever given a Captain America comic written by Ed Brubaker, Forgettable. Entirely forgettable. To the point that when I first wrote this post, I forgot to put anything here about it, forgot I bought the issue. It took me 4 days and digging through the recent issues to remember I had said nothing about it.

Solid:
Avengers Academy #18: Continues the (Give It Up Already!) Fear Itself crossover with the Cadets continuing to be hounded by Titania and Absorbing Man. Last ditch plans and dirty pool fail and the issue closes with a round about Micronaughts cameo. A step down from previous issues, but I’m blaming that on the dumb ass, drawn out crossover.

Powergirl #27:Pick of the Week Really good issue from a series that has been very good for most of it's run and now ends. Calculator comes up with a plan that has crossover written all over it (one that has a better basis than Fear Itself, Blackest Night or most recent mega-events) and used PG as his test subject. Too bad this is a plot that will probably be dropped in the reboot like everything else, because it deserves to be explored. The only issue is the coloring. What is it with DC's colorists and their easy to spot mistakes that editors glance over? First Titans, then JLA, now Powergirl. Is no one proofreading their work? DC's editorial department needs to step it up.

Uncanny X-Men #542: Now firmly in the Solid category, just as it gets cancelled, as Cyclops tosses everything at Hammer Bros. Juggernaut and fails. Kitty and Pete take a field trip with Illiyana and the end reveal has already been spoiled by the solicits for next month, so it is no spoiler to say, Colossus gets a power up. Look for major fisticuffs next issue.

Chopping Block:
Titans #38: Questionable art aside, if this comic wasn’t already cancelled, this would be the last issue I picked up. Poorly executed at just about every point, a shock cover that would have been at home in the Silver Age, and developing pointless plot threads that will most likely never be followed up on.

Fables #108: Another slow, story building issue that is superior to the Mr. Dark plot while dealing with the fallout. Nothing much happens, but at least it happens in an entertaining matter.

Justice League of America #60: Daniel Sampere is quickly rising in my favorite artists list. Not just because he came here and explained what happened with the coloring in issue #59, but because he gave me a two page spread with the Duke of Oil. The final issue of this run explains how this iteration of the League disbanded and hints at Dick's return to Nightwing. Art is good, writing is nothing to write home about.

Total Price: $34.53

Image from dc.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 8/10/2011

2011-08-11T08:59:00.003-05:00

Another low volume week for the Pull List, but this time, it isn't bolstered by quality. Even looking to spend another $13 at the shop, I couldn't find anything I felt worth $2.99. Cloak & Dagger almost made it, but the last handling of them left me flat, I'm burned out on crossovers (hey Marvel, at least finish one Avengers based event before you start the next), and I couldn't care less about Spider-Man.

Perma-Pull:
Blue Estate #5: The Rachel Situation is finally being handled. And her brother is being manhandled. For an issue that did the most to actually advance the plot, it was a weaker read than the character development issues that preceded it. Still really good.

Criminal Last of the Innocent #3:Pick of the Week This isn't the best of the 3 issues so far, that would be #2, but it is the best of this week. The aftermath of Issue 2 is laid out as well as the plot of issue 4. This is a transition issue.

Solid:
New Avengers #15: Continuing with the Fear Itself tie-ins (god, end already), this time focusing on Squirrel Girls opening day encounter with Sin’s Battletech Knock-offs. Of course, it uses the now over used post mission de-brief framing devise, so you know nothing bad really happened to her. It also tries to do a little elaboration on Wolverine’s expansion pack past and skim the surface of Logan and Doreen’s previous relationship (easy money bet: he slept with her as he was training her to be a ninja. We can then add statutory rapist to Wolverine’s resume since she isn’t much past 20 now and they hint at it being years ago). The issue does open with a heat segment of building up Wolverine by having him take down Iron Fist during a sparring session, only to have SG hold serve on him, thus making Wolverine officially the Worf of New Avengers. Go read TVtropes to get the references, god knows this is so paint by the numbers Bendis is.

Teen Titans #99: Second to last issue before the relaunch, and JT Krul and crew pull out all the stops, but not in a good way. The writing is crap, the art alternates between crowding the page and leaving massive areas of unused black space. There is a section where it looks like another page should have been as one panel has Ravager hitting Indigo with a sword and the next panel has all the baddies flying off to assault Titan’s Tower despite only Headcase and Inertia not being on the losing end of a fight the last time they were seen. Overall, disjointed and sub-mediocre.

Birds of Prey #15: The last issue of this run closes with something it hasn’t been before, average. It caps off the Phantom Lady story from last issue in an easily forgettable way all around.

Total Cost: $17.82

image from marvel.wikia.com

$30 Pull List for 8/3/2011

2011-08-04T12:13:00.003-05:00

A light week, really light week. Coming in way under budget, and unable to find anything else on the shelves that looked even remotely interesting, I walked out with only 5 issues. But it was 5 good issues, any week with a 1.00 batting average is a good week.

Perma-Pull:
Secret Six #36:Pick of the Week. It is with a deep sadness that I say goodbye to the Secret Six. For 36 issues, 3 years straight, this comic has been excellent. Near the top, if not the absolute pinnacle, of what DC produced every month. Bane's plan with-in a plan is finally revealed as the eight members of the six go against everybody, really, everybody. They know they are going to lose, they all know that they are destined for hell now that the mcguffin that started the run has been used. Everyone would rather die then go back to jail. So they go for it. They lose, because they always lose.

Red Skull Incarnate #2: Not as strong as the first issue, but still solid, as we continue to follow a young Johann Schmidt as he navigates his way to adulthood.

Solid:
GI Joe #4: Zartan and Storm Shadows assault on the Pitt has left the Joes divided and scattered. Scarlett and Flint are left to try to set-up a new base, Hawk and Dial Tone rendezvous with Shiprwreck, and Duke and his team are left chasing snakes. One of my favorites, Lifeline, makes his first appearance in the series.

Avengers Academy #17: As the team tries to come to grips with their actions in the previous Fear Itself tie-in issues, they are interrupted when the Norse powered Absorbing Man and Titania come looking for Hank Pym. The issue ends with the cadets stranded, out matched, and divided. This is generally the best Avengers title currently running, and this issue does nothing to stop that trend.

Chopping Block:
Thunderbolts #161: When the worst comic of the week is better than average, it's a pretty good week. Thunderbolts manages to actually advance it's own plot while being a Fear Itself tie-in. Fixer's side deal comes into play and the magical duo of Man-Thing and Satanna are playing a game not everyone else is in on.

Totla Price: $17.51

Image from: dc.wikia.com

More JLA Art

2011-08-02T16:17:00.000-05:00

Sigh (I seem to start a lot of posts with that lately). Comic Book Resources gave us a look at the upcoming JLA with David Finch's take on the team.

One, where's Cyborg?
Two, canonically Wonder Woman is equal in height to Hal Jordon, so based on perspective, she should be at least equal height to him, if not slightly taller. So, besides regressing to pants less Wonder Woman, she is now a 5'6, 15 year old girl in a push-up corset, as opposed to, you know, a woman with equal stature and ability to her male counter parts.

Bigger version is available here: www.comicbookresources.com

Aikido Technique: Ryote-tori Tenchi-nage Irimi

2011-07-31T18:08:00.000-05:00

One of our (Dojin Aikikai is the our in this case) former Aikido students who is now studying Karate with me was asking me about the usage of Tenchi-nage, and how he doesn't feel he ever really "got" the technique and didn't feel comfortable with it. In his case it would be the titled Ryote-tori (two hands grabbing two wrists from the front) Tenchi-nage (Heaven and Earth Throw) Irimi (into your opponent) (your transliteration may vary). Unfortunately for him, the school he was attending was shut down abruptly, but that's a different story, at a point in his training where he was expected to explore the technique beyond the basic mechanics of it.

Knowing that if one person has a question about something, there are probably more, and the fact that his question forced me to explore a technique I hadn't given a second thought to in 3+ years, I figured I'd do a little break down of the technique.

Now, for those unfamiliar with the art of Aikido as it exists outside of Steven Seagal movies, there are 2 training principles you need to know for this to make sense. One, Aikido is an amalgam martial art, you could call it a mixed martial art, but as that particular phrase is now almost exclusively associated with UFC style fighting, it presents an unrealistic image of what Aikido is to people, so I use amalgam. It is a blend of jujutsu (wrestling) with kenjustsu (sword fighting), yarijutsu (spear fighting), and kyudo (archery) movements and principles. The kyudo is what we are going to look at this time. Two, there are some Aikido techniques that exist not for their particular combat effectiveness, but as a teaching tool and stepping stone to future techniques. Ryote-tori Tenchi-nage Irimi is one of those "teaching techniques".

So, if you open your copy of Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere to page...wait, you don't keep a copy on you at all times? Ok, well, if you do find a copy, Projection #9, which begins on page 271 is Tenchi-nage Tenkan (around). The tenkan version is what would be combat applicable, and the irimi version which we are talking about leads into that one.

Before we go into the mechanics of the technique, we need to focus on what the technique is supposed to teach. The technique's main focus is to teach extension and projection with a lesser focus getting your hands to do two things at once. It's a good white belt technique because those the first two (and sometimes the third) are among the hardest concepts for the beginning Aikidoka (Eye-Kee-Doe-Ka)to get, that you have to extend through the target and the project them away.

To start with, both partners stand facing each other, at about half ma-ai (in Aikido, we generally just use one "fighting distance" if both partners extend both their arms straight out from the shoulders, making fists, and approach each other until their knuckles touch, this is ma-ai, also called So-ou Ma-ai. It is enough distance that you can take 1 step and strike your partner). The Uke ("fall guy" or the attacker) reaches out and grabs both the Nage's ("thrower" or the defender) wrists.

The nage then steps forward with one foot. The nage wants to just pass to the outside of the uke's foot and behind it, the hand on that side needs to reach down as if trying to pick up an object just beyond the point of their toe. At the same time, the opposite hand draws back to the nage's cheek/ear and rotates away from the body so that the palm is facing down. as you move forward, this hand will end up slightly behind the nage.

At this point, the uke needs to just stand there and try to hold on. The uke shouldn't move their feet (but if the first step is done right, the uke is often forced to step back with one foot to maintain balance and not fall) or let go if possible. Remember, we aren't concerned with combat effectiveness, we are concerned with learning principles. I know no one is going to just grab your wrists and stand there, but we aren't concerned with that now. What the uke needs to do is provide feed back to the nage. If the technique is correct so far, the uke should feel like they are starting to fall backwards, in some cases, with a nice deep extension of the downward hand and an uke whose back is not that flexible, they will even fall at this point, that's good. If the uke does not feel themselves falling or on the verge of falling, they need to let the nage know. It is a sign that the nage's first step and downward hand extension was not far enough behind the uke or went too wide, and they should return to the start position and begin again.

Once the uke's balance is broken, the nage steps forward with the other foot, bringing it towards and past the initial step, so that both feet end up on one side of the uke. The hand that is by the cheek extends forward and past the uke's ear, as if trying to grab an object off a far wall. At this point, the uke will be falling backwards, and would be advised to let go and execute a backfall or roll, if they haven't done so already.

Now, you say to me "Wait. I can't just walk forward, he's still there, I'll bump him, or worse, get kicked in the jimmy as he falls backwards!" Not true. If your second hand extends past the uke and you are really reaching, you will find that you have just accomplished "projection" and they will fall backward and away from you, and you have also just experienced another Aikido concept called "Body Displacement". Basically, physics tells us that two objects cannot occupy the same point in space/time simultaneously. Since the nage will now find their ending position to be just about where the uke was standing, this means the uke is moved out of the way. Body Displacement is a wonderful concept that comes into play in many martial arts techniques whether the practitioner understands it or not, but that's a different, and perhaps longer discussion.

$30 Pull List for 7/27/2011

2011-07-29T11:09:00.001-05:00

While there was nothing outstanding in comics this week, there was a lot of very good. And I mean a lot, even cashing in my 25% off card, somethings that caught my eye didn't make it home. This was a good week. A good week brings good comics in abundance, as we go In Search of... The $30 Pull List.

Perma-Pull:
Captain America & Bucky #620: Zipping back to 1940, it tells the secret origin of Bucky from James Barnes point of view, from the tragedy that left him an orphan to his secret training with SAS to his assignment as Cap’s partner. Not really all that much here, but Brubaker & Co (masters of the slow burn plot) have bought a lot of leeway with me over the years, so we’ll see where this goes.

Solid:
Birds of Prey #14: The issue from a few weeks ago that didn’t come in made it this week. It’s the first half of a two partner that caps the series by revisiting OG BOP Phantom Lady, Zinda, and the original Black Canary. A case from 1950 comes back to haunt them. It’s a strictly paint by the numbers story a couple of minor art/color gaffes, but it otherwise hits all the beats it needs to in the right order.

Teen Titans #98: Sigh. It’s like JT Krul woke up and said, “I need to destroy all the good will Teen Titans has built up so everyone will be happy when we reboot in 3 issues.” First, I have to deal with a story featuring Superboy Prime, one who looks like Bruce Campbell circa Evil Dead and has apparently studied Tai Chi. Next, Indigo was a member of the Outsiders, not the Teen Titans, and she wasn't a member until after Donna was killed. Tim could be saying our team meaning “The Good Guys”, but then it wasn't Indigo that killed Donna Troy and Lilith, it was a robot Superman (Indigo was only responsible for it's reactivation), I could just be lashing out like a continuity fanboy though. Minus that, this was a halfway decent issue, not up to the last arch's standard, but good enough.

Secret Warriors #28: The series finale ties up the plot and sends Nick Fury off into the sunset, at least until he takes over SHIELD again when they decide Captain America doesn’t need to do it anymore. This is a series that can’t be taken on individual issues, and really needs to be seen in its entirety. Alone, this issue is nothing special, but if read as the final chapter of a saga, it is a fitting end to the story.

X-Men Schism #2:Pick of the week. Part 2 of 5, and Cyclops loses his perspective. Stuck in a no win situation in regards to the mutant terrorist, Scott picks the worst option. He pisses of Wolverine, lies to Steve Rogers, and shows almost no political savvy. But it actually fits. It fits with the way he's been portrayed the last few years, and fits with his position of establishing a mutant nation that will not be bullied. In a week with lots of strong, but nothing outstanding, the most character and plot development wins.

Bomb Queen: All Girl Special #1: Bomb Queen is one of my guilty pleasures, one I normally get in trade because it reads better that way. This is a one and done that acts as a transition between BQ 6 and BQ 7. A Xanatos Gambit on behalf of our Beloved Queen (not their Beloved Queen) succeeds in a surprising way against the quintet of Shadowline's female heroes. It maintains the quality that has been consistently above average for the entire series.

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent #2: Like most of Brubaker's work and the currently ongoing Blue Estate, each issue doesn't seem to do that much and is difficult to take on their own. With each issue, you have to go back and read all the previous issues to capture what is happening. This one pushes the plot forward and closes the first act with what you knew was coming, but were excited about anyway. Like all Criminal issues, this one closes with an essay, and while previous issues introduced me to noir classics I had never seen, this one brings back warm memories of In Search Of...

Cobra #3: Tomax proves that with a big enough lever, the largest boulder can be moved. He also gives a shout out the the production companies behind the classic GI Joe cartoons. On the Joe side, Steeler knows there is a leak in the Joes, and he thinks he may have just found it. Next issue, Vengeance will most definitely ensue. Cobra is the more cerebral of the three Joe comics, and it continues in that form.

Chopping Block:
Fables #107: Looking in on the going ons around Briar Rose. With various warlords vying to be the new emperor, one sees his chance in the awakening of Sleeping Beauty. Too bad the goblins have a different idea. A step up from the Mr. Dark story, thankfully.

Secret Avengers #15: Slipping from Solid to Chopping Block. What is really an excellent example of modern comic artwork is marred by the story. It serves as a Fear Itself aftermath issue and wants to be a serious discussion on death and loss in the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, it is hammy, heavy handed, and poorly executed.

Death Row:
Gotham City Sirens #25: The good news is: I have nothing bad to say about this issue. The bad news is: I have nothing good to say about this issue.

Total Price: $31.97 with my cashed in frequent visitor card.

Response to my JLA #59 review

2011-07-25T15:25:00.000-05:00

For my less than dozen fans that may not have read the comments on my last $30 pull list, let me bring something forward to everyone.

Let's start with me original comment:

Sigh. I know this series and the collaboration of this creative team is ending, and with the last three issues, they need to be split up. Once again, a simple and obvious error in the artwork (middle panel page 2 features the death of a character who reappears on page 5) shows a lack of caring. One issue left in this run, and it can't come soon enough.

That prompted this response from Clara Fructuoso:

on JLA#59 there's no lack of caring, character on page 2 is Dick Grayson, and character of page 5 is Bruce Wayne, with the other old members of JLA, take your time before to write reviews, and maybe you will not write wrong things like this one

I responded with:

Please look again. Both Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson Batman appear on that page. One in the lower right corner, the other just below Superman's trailing boot and above Green Arrow's head.

If you can tell me who the other person in the cowl is, I will certainly listen to it.

Well, someone could tell me who it was, Dani Sampere, the penciler on issues 58 and 59 (his blogs leading image is actually the pages in question). Here's Dani's explanation:

the small head is red robin

but certainly, we can't see it good enough and there's some confusion, I'm apologize for that, but was hard to do, so much characters in not much space.

and the colorist done it grey too like batman,but the idea was red robin.

It was very cool of Dani to respond, and to apologize for something that wasn't his fault as well.

And finally, my response to Dani:

Thank you, I appreciate the clarification, from the artist no less.

I appreciate the time you took to look me up and shed some insight into what happened.

It's errors like that and what happened on Titans Annual #1 that should be picked up by the editors. And my comments on not caring are really directed at them. I know a lot of people contribute on every comic, mistakes happen, but ultimately, it comes down to the editors to locate and make sure those mistakes are fixed before the issue is published.

So that's it. Page 5, the second Batman is supposed to be Red Robin, but a mistake in coloring happened.

$30 Pull List for 7/20/2011

2011-07-21T09:55:00.005-05:00

Overall, a really good week in comics. A week that is stacked like Power Girl, smooth like Snake Eyes, and bright as Solstice. Went over budget, still had to cut two issues, and honestly, two others should have been cut to keep budget. But I'm a sucker, and besides ARAH and JLA, almost everything else was still very good.

Perma-Pull:
Snake Eyes #3:Pick of the Week. Promotion to Perma-Pull. Continuing from where last issue left off. Alpine is in a bad way as Iceberg and Helix play a slow game of cat and mouse to evade the Ice Vipers. Snake Eyes says more with a look than most characters say with full page exposition. Slice and Dice join in to put Snake to the test. Good, good stuff.

Solid:
Uncanny X-Men #541: Plans 1 and 2 to stop Hammer Bros. Juggernaut fail decisively. With the exception of a minor coloring error, the issue is without flaws, but flawless doesn’t make something top tier, but it is still very good, and that’s enough to get this promoted to Solid.

John Constantine Hellblazer #281: This issue finished off the Gemma trying to kill John plot. Rushed, poor pacing, but not too bad. Not as good as the issues leading up to the marriage, but still above average.

Power Girl #26: Say it with me: This issue burns off an obvious fill-in before the series’ cancellation. And not a very good one either. If you haven’t got this one, you aren’t missing anything. I’m a big Power Girl fan, and I barely paid attention for the entire 22 pages.

Avengers Academy #16: A fear Itself Tie-in. As per usual, this comic shines when it deals with the emotional aspects of being a hero as opposed to the actual heroics themselves. The first half is Hank Pym v. Absorbing Man. The second, and superior, half is Veil and her attempt to rescue a woman trapped in Washington DC during Sin’s attack.

Titans #37: This issue does a good job of building to next issue's climax and series end. With Jericho back, the team is divided on the use of resurrection technology, and a fight breaks out. Still some questionable art choices, and it doesn't look to be finishing as strong as it started, but good enough to buy.

Teen Titans #97: It will be with sorrow when I say goodbye to this incarnation of the Teen Titans. It has been a very good run, it has introduced, reintroduced, or rejuvenated a number of characters, and is really the best of what long term storytelling and continuity are about in comics. It has only three issues (Comic Shop News says #100 is the final issue, so expect a Teen Titans every 2 weeks for the next 2 months) to go before all of that work, all of the good will, all of the amazing stories are cast aside for the redo of a marketing ploy that failed in 1995. This issue concludes the arc that cements Solstice as a good character, shows character development in both Ravager and Superboy, and drives a wedge between Beast Boy and Raven. It's a good, climactic end to a story in the Titans Tradition of ending strong with a massive battle against the forces of evil by relying on teamwork, determination, and friendship. This run, the past 40 or so issues, 3 years of solid work, have been the best of what superhero comics are about. Fuck you DC.

Cinderella Fables are Forever #6: Caps off the second Cindy mini-series that has been superior to the main Fables line. It also clears up a continuity issue from the Escape from the Golden Boughs arc of Jack of Fables. Not as strong as the previous issues, seems comics in general has a problem with strong finishes recently, but still good.

Chopping Block:
GI Joe: A Real American Hero #168: While the new Joe steps up its game almost every issue, GI Joe: ARAH gets worse. This was a serious step backwards in writing and art. It creeps oh so close to Death Row.

Justice League of America #59: Sigh. I know this series and the collaboration of this creative team is ending, and with the last three issues, they need to be split up. Once again, a simple and obvious error in the artwork (middle panel page 2 features the death of a character who reappears on page 5) shows a lack of caring. One issue left in this run, and it can't come soon enough.

Death Row:
In a heavy week, things get cut. This week Witch Doctor #2 and Captain America Corps #2 both got the chair. No tears will be shed for their passing.

Total Price: $35.61

$30 Pull List for 7/13/2011

2011-07-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

Texas Comics didn’t get any copies of Birds of Prey in and Ghost Rider #1 sold out making this a light week again with some extra pick ups. Still turned out to be a very good week.

Perma-Pull:
Red Skull Incarnate #1:Pick of the Week Missed this last week, got it this week. If this doesn’t turn your stomach, you’ve lost your humanity. It’s meant to make you sick, you are watching a sociopathic racist being formed. It shouldn’t be happy, or uplifting, or anything positive. It does its job. It does it superbly and economically. There are no wasted words, no wasted art. When you are done, you feel heavier for it. A masterpiece of a first issue.

Captain America #1: Let’s start with how many times do I need to see the Captain America/Orbit gum ad in a single comic? Apparently the number is twice. The first issue in the new Cap solo ongoing opens with a bang, intertwines some flashbacks better than the recent New Avengers run and closes strong. A solid pick up, but not to Brubaker’s usual standard. Of course a bad Brubaker comic is generally better than 75% of everything else on the stand.

Solid:
X-Men Schism #1: Another 2-fer on the Orbit ads. An interesting opening (not counting the prelude I didn’t bother to read) to the split of the X-Men into two different factions. Normally, we might discuss the recycling of plots, but as it has been close to five years since the X-Men did that last, I think the statute of limitations is up. It’s actually a good little story with some character development in Wolverine, showing the other side to the brutal killer and walking one note gimmick he has been for the last few years. It actually sets up a not only plausible, but deeply philosophical and logical reason for Wolverine going against Cyclops and echoes back to Cyclops’s revolt against Professor X. I don’t think it’s coincidence that Marvel has featured the roots of that conflict in their current free to read digital issues.

New Avengers #14: Coming in with a double shot of Orbit ads, we have this week’s Fear Itself tie in issue. Mockingbird is back and testing her limits, Spidey gets uppity, and Nazi giant mecha is smashed. New Avengers has been slipping lately and is dangerously close to Death Row, this issue did nothing to help that, but it also didn't hurt.

DC Comics Presents: Batman Noir #1: Due to financial issues, there was a good chunk of the '00s where I didn't by comics, so I completely missed Brubaker's Bat related comics. I've read Gotham Central and Catwoman in trades, and now DC has reprinted this one. It's a good read, more of a Commissioner Gordon story with a Gotham City in 1949 than a Batman story with a backup reprint of another batman issue from 2001. Worth the price of admission.

Total price: $25.93

image from marvel.wikia.com

Dammit DC

2011-07-13T08:09:00.001-05:00

Much like Capt. Morgan's, I know DC's bad for me, but I still ache for it's siren song. Most of their solicits for September's relaunch did nothing for me, but October, oh October.

Resurrection Man #2 sees the return of the guilty pleasure Body Doubles, and Demon Knights #2 has another of the Seven Soldier's back, Sir Justin/Lady Justina.

Damn you DC.

A Map of the Floating City

2011-07-12T15:50:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard of it yet, A Map of the Floating City is live. It is a mystery and trading game written and produced by Thomas Dolby (yes that Thomas Dolby. And if That Thomas Dolby means nothing to you, I don't want to live in the same world as you).

As you play the game you can win prizes, so far, I've picked up a couple of MP3 downloads for free.

If you like casual cooperative games, it's interesting, and with real world prizes on the line, there's more of a reason to play than a virtual reputation.

http://www.floatingcity.com

$30 Pull List for 7/6/2011

2011-07-07T19:53:00.001-05:00

This week sees a new comic enter the Precious Passageways of Perma-Pull Penumbra. Pulses pound as former partners pounce in Titans. Penguins are pulled from polar waters and fed to predatory persuaders. Platonic professionals silently profess passion in the pile of the Pitt's perilous predicament. Pretty pleasingly positive period on the Pull List.

Perma-Pull:
Blue Estate #4:Pick of the week I'm a sucker for a good, slow burn crime noir story. Blue Estate has it. Russian mobsters financing a Steven Seagal proxy's movie as a front to launder money. Everyone looking to take a piece of the pie themselves. Good stuff, and well worth the admission price.

Solid:
Secret Six #35: Gail Simone once again brings the goods as the team goes to visit the Penguin (who Gail writes very well, much like in Birds of Prey from last year). I think someone slipped LSD into King Shark’s blubber, because he’s loopy, and Bane decides to be a crime lord, since he is destined for Hell anyway. I lament this comic's eventual passing.

Gi Joe #3: Really close to Perma-Pull, really, really close. Zartan and Storm Shadow continue to wreak havoc in the Pitt, which definitely puts Satori in the front running of the civil war, especially if he has a plan to capitalize on the chaos. Another mid-level player bites it in a Star Trek 2 way (even gets a shout out) along with 2 minor Joes, Scarlet looks like she might be over Snake Eyes (or at least going for a rebound affair), and Tomax takes three in the back.

Chopping Block:
Thunderbolts #160: One of the multiple issues tying into Fear Itself whose focus is attempting to stop Juggernaut, this time, just outside of Chicago. For a tie in issue of a mini-series I am not following (despite it spinning out of Captain America, which tells you just how poorly this one was marketed that I’m not following a Cap A related super crossover) it was actually pretty good. Some development on Man-Thing and Satana that I imagine will come center stage once the crossover ends takes place in the opening. The art is still a major detractor from this series, except for the surrealistic/cubist/runic inside Juggy’s head part. Otherwise a step up from previous issues. A few more of these and T Bolts just might become Solid again.

Uncanny X-Men #540: No fill this time, but the second of this week’s pick ups focusing on stopping the Jugster, this time as he comes to stomp the pervert out of San Francisco (I say that with both love, good natured ribbing, and as a take on the motivation of one of the characters in the story). The Jugman’s impending stompage bookends a pair of human pieces as Kitty Pryde and Collosus debate how to handle what Illiyana did (what did she do? I have read no other X-Books in years) and Namor, sensing a fight he cannot win, attempts to have one last night of passion with Emma Frost and tries to drive a wedge between her and Cyclops, who is consulting with the mayor on Magneto. No action, but a good build up.

Titans Annual #1: This was a fairly good story, well written, and the art, while off model wasn’t necessarily bad, and most of the problems came with Arsenal, who was drawn to look about 15 instead of the mid-twenties he is supposed to be. Where this issue falls down is the editing. Page 36, lower left panel, Starman is shooting a plasma bolt thru Jade. You can tell by the writing that this was intended to be Cinder. It even looks like the artist drew it to be Cinder, but the colorist (Hi-Fi in this case got confused, thinking that where the bolt hit Cinder was actually Jade’s logo, and then went with it, coloring Cinder as Jade. Now, I don’t blame the colorist, as they probably got the page unlettered and made a simple error. It happens. I blame the editors. Why? Editors are there to pick up and make sure mistakes are corrected. This book has 4 editors, 2 directly on this book and 2 in executive positions. You mean to tell me that none of those four looked at this and saw the error? That’s either incompetence or just not giving a fuck. In light of last month’s JLA issue, I’m leaning towards not giving a fuck. I mean, who cares? Series is cancelled next month any way. I care, the customer cares, and if you want us to keep caring, get your heads out of your asses and start TCB.

Total Price: $28.08 (including a new box)

JJ Abrams pitches a movie

2011-07-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

"I have an idea for a movie. It's an epic cross over between masters of their arts, they meet, some kind of monster causes them to unit and then they resolve it. We'll use lens flares to hide their identities until the big reveal at the end."

"Sounds like you have a first act and maybe part of a third, what about the middle?"

"I'll just wing it, no one cares about that part anyway."

"Excellent, so who are the masters?"

"Bass Masters and Tax Masters. No one will expect it."

"A hundred million enough?"

$30 Pull List for 6/29/2011

2011-06-30T08:28:00.003-05:00

This is a very light week, only 2 comics that were actually on my pull list, leaving me enough to give Gotham City Sirens a reprieve, pick up a Captain America One-Shot and Witch Doctor #1. Did GCS deserve it? Do we add the first Image title to the pull list since the Chromium Age? Is the Cap A 1 and done worth it? Find out on this episode of…The $30 Pull List.

Solid:
Justice Society of America 80 Page Giant 2011 #1: DC needs to shorten their titles. I’m a JSA All-Stars man myself, but I tend to dig these DC anthology giants. This one does not disappoint from the start. It opens with a 10 page Steve Nile Specter story (I would totally buy a Steve Niles Specter ongoing. Someone let Dan Didio know and make it happen). The second story is a poorly done Dr. Mid-nite, Tomcat, Judomaster story. The writing is well below average with art that looks like a ‘70’s era Charlton Comic (is it ironic in a story about Judomaster?) with modern coloring by an artist with a poor grasp of anatomy. The story literally ends without actually ending, like there was another page they just decided not to publish. Afterwards the issue carries on with a Dr. fate/Alan Scott story, a Jesse Quick story, an interesting but out of character Alan Scott story, and finishes with a Howard Chaykin everyman story. All of those are good, but not top tier.

Chopping Block:
Uncanny X-Men #539: Repeating a phrase I will be saying a lot for the next 2 months, this issues burns off an obvious fill-in before the series cancellation (and re-launch with #1). Hope goes hoodie shopping, gets kidnapped by a character so obscure, I had to wiki them, and Wolverine pulls the save. Both inoffensive and unremarkable.

Witch Doctor #1: The 1st issue of a 4 issue run, it reads like a Dr. Who by way of BPRD. Not a bad comic with an interesting hook. Should be fun.

Death Row:
Captain America: Rebirth #1: A one-shot tie in that is for the movie crowd new to the character. It reprints 5 Lee/Kirby Cap stories including Cap and the Red Skull’s origins. All are recolored, re-inked, and re-lettered and framed by a few pages of new work. All of them have been reprinted elsewhere numerous times, I’m pretty sure the origin was even reprinted last year in connection with the character’s 70th anniversary. If you have copies of these, not worth it, if you like Cap and don’t have copies and don’t want to read the black and white Essentials, it’s…it’s still not worth it, really. It’s a buck an issue for reprints of 50 year old comics.

Gotham City Sirens #24: Pick of the Week. Yes, the pick of the week is a comic that got cut, between the light week and Tom putting a copy in my box anyway, this got a read. This is both a testament to how good this issue was and how weak this week was. Harley, who successfully used a Batman Gambit to get to the Joker then waffled on whacking him, uses a bit of psychology to take out former friend Poison Ivy. Her and Mr. J continue to use the chaos in Arkham to try to escape leaving OTB and Catwoman to stop them. This was a fitting end to the series which has at least 1 lame duck issue coming up.

Total price: $22.68, but really should have been $17. Had I known more about Cap: Rebirth going in, I would have passed.

Image from dc.wikia.com

Jenette Goldstein, she now owns a bra shop. I did not know this.

2011-06-29T22:24:00.001-05:00

Jenette Goldstein. Who? If you grew up in the ‘80’s, you know her best work, you just don’t realize it. A talented actress who held diverse roles in classic movies from that era (late ‘80’s early ‘90’s). You also either had a huge crush on her or had the crap frightened out of you by her, or both at once, like me.

She was one movie short of a hat trick of appearing opposite both Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen (for years I thought she had the Paxton ‘80’s hat trick, but it was Maria Conchita Alonso in Predator 2 in the role my damaged memory said was her, but rectified that in 1997 when she appeared in Titanic (she could easily have hit an Ovechtrick having the looks and the chops to have pulled off Deborah Van Valkenburgh’s role in Streets of Fire, Rae Dawn Chong’s role in Commando, or dare I say it, and I dare it, Kelly LeBrock’s role in Weird Science. (Which reminds me, one day I must wax wistfully on the wonder of Streets of Fire, which maybe the most movie movie ever))). That’s right, I triple parentheticalled the hell out of that sentence and no one stopped me. She acted across from both these masters of ‘80’s sci-fi schlock in Near Dark and Aliens.

In ’86, she featured heavily in the first half of Aliens as Pvt. Vasquez. Sarcastic, macho, and decidedly hardcore; the movie, and her part in it, has held up remarkably well for being a 25 year old sci-fi action movie based off a late ‘70’s horror film directed by a then relatively unknown writer/director who really only had two cheap horror films under his belt (one of which also had Bill Paxton who seems to pop up in almost every great ‘80’s classic. It’s like a sign from Odin or a lost formula from Pythagoras …Bill Paxton +‘80’s = Fun Movie. Even Predator 2 is bad in an entertaining way).

A year later, in Near Dark she was the dangerous and sexy Diamondback, the blood thirsty matriarch of the vampire gypsy clan headed by Henriksen’s Hooker. There was a deep, smoldering, irresistible malice in her gaze that hit the dual buttons or attraction and frightening at the same time, like trying to get Bayou Billy to jump kick. And like the kick, even when mastered, you couldn’t beat the game she was playing.

Why do I bring this up? I dunno, why do I bring anything up? Other than I caught 5 minutes of Near Dark on IFC a few weeks back and it made me nostalgic. So, look in on those movies, appreciate their glory, and warm yourself with the fleeting feeling of youth misspent watching crap on HBO late at night at a friend's house.

Images from: dmentdcinema.com & thefancarpet.com respectively.

Star Wars Galaxies Closes Up Shop

2011-06-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

After 8 years, Star Wars Galaxies turns off the servers on December 15th. While the game didn't hold my interest beyond the one month that comes with purchase, it did some things very well that I hoped other games would emulate.

It had a truly robust crafting system supported by offline resource farming and a true player driven economy complete with player run stores and competitive pricing.

Alternate advancement mechanics for non-combat classes. Tradesmen earn experience by building things, Entertainers by performing for an audience.

Arcade style space combat complete with travel mechanic and customizable ships.

Those are three things I really hope are in The Old Republic.

Cars: An Examination of a Dystopian Society

2011-06-23T11:46:00.001-05:00

Cars is the most disturbing movie Pixar has ever made, maybe one of the most disturbing movies ever made, especially for one aimed at kids. It is a society based on the degradation, humiliation, and abuse of others for the benefit of an elite few, with the only hope to escape your position is to accept exile into an equally stratified and abusive society. This may be the most dystopian movie ever made.

Cars exists in a strict caste society where the position you are born into determines your entire life and eventual death. The only choice you have is to live your life as an exile, a pariah, living on the edges of society, by rejecting your caste. But that is still no protection, as those who were of higher caste before accepting exile are now afforded leadership and power in the pariah power structure.

The society of Cars revolves around racing. Race cars are both gladiators and kings. They sacrifice their bodies for the crowd and reap the rewards; money, female companionship (there are no female identified race cars), and fame.

Those who are not race cars, but want to be part of the spectacle are servants. In many cases they must sacrifice their own pride and safety in the service of the race cars. They allow themselves to be physically violated (Mack and the various other transports) for the comfort of race cars, and act with irrational fear when they fail in their duty to their masters, fear that can only be explained from frequent physical and emotional abuse. Knowing that their regular duties include allowing themselves to be violated in the most grotesque ways, it is disturbing to imagine the kinds of abuses that would be leveled upon them to cause this kind of reaction to failure. The fact that they are not numb to any sensation is a testament to the skill with which they are abused and the escalating levels of horror that they must live through.

Their treatment of the mentally inferior shows an even more degrading society. All vehicles are shown to be intelligent and sentient. The Tractors; who either through mental retardation, defect, or a lack of educational opportunities or abuse, are left to fend for themselves in open fields and are treated like livestock, despite the fact that there is no need for them to be consumed for sustenance. This is done so that society can forget about them. Lightning McQueen’s (of the race car caste) reaction to them is one of having no experience with this part of his society. The tractors are of such low social caste that the pariah community of Radiator Springs abuses them for entertainment.

As pointed out, a stratified social structure exists in the pariah community as well. Radiator Springs is ruled by Doc Hudson, a former race car who due to accident can no longer perform. The second highest ranked citizen is Sally Carrera, a sports car lawyer who rejected her, what would be middle, position in regular society for leadership among the pariahs. Their rule is enforced by an antique police car. Mater (tow truck) and Guido (forklift) are forced into servant positions within the pariah society, much like they would see in regular society.

The society of Cars is depressing, degrading, and abusive. The only hope any of these people have would be for a military uprising, but that would simply be replacing the race car ruled hegemony for a military dictatorship that the people would then hope was benign. But history has shown that military dictatorships are rarely kind to the people they rule over.

(Disney/Pixar own the copyrights and all that. Image linked from www.allpicturesmedia)

$30 Pull List for 6/22/2011

2011-06-22T20:33:00.002-05:00

Well, this week continues the adventured of Bucky Cap, despite the fact that he died earlier this month in Fear Itself #3. Which, due to me swearing off big crossover events this year after being disappointed in the last one from each company, I have not read and found out about in a parody comic published by www.the-gutters.com a week after the fact. We knew Steve would be back in costume in time for the movie, but this was such a low profile kill (didn’t catch it on any of the comic news sites) that I wonder if it will be “real” or will the status quo be reset after the event.

Why do I bring this up? Because we have his continuing adventures in a Russian prison this week in the $30 Pull List.

Perma-pull:
Captain America #619: Bucky makes his escape from the Gulag and Steve faces down the president. A setup issue for next month that launches dual Captain America titles. Mediocre by itself, but serves a function in the larger story that gets weaved.

Zatanna #14: A quick one and done about Zatana and Zachary (her cousin and short time Teen Titan) having a night out at the club. Quick and breezy fill in, won’t be missed in the grand scheme of things, but is entirely inoffensive. Sad to see a good title waste one of its last issues on something like this. I imagine I’ll see more of this over the next 2 months as DC sheds its catalog of fill in issues before the relaunch.

Solid:
Snake Eyes #2:This Week's Top Pick The Cobra Civil War continues as Snake Eyes and his special mission team of Helix (who has gone from poorly created GI Sue to a legitimately good character), Alpine, and Iceberg take the next step in infiltrating Khalikhan’s Himalayan base. The plan goes horribly wrong (or maybe right?) when Alpine is tagged twice and Snake Eyes is captured. In a series that has already seen Xamot, Chuckles, Bazooka, Jinx, and Cobra Commander killed, Alpine may actually be done for here. It lends a sense of urgency to the comics knowing anyone can and will die. Slice and Dice make their debut in this issue as well. Another well done Joe story from IDW and Chuck Dixon, who is just as good as Larry Hama at his best.

Cobra #2: Mike Costa continues the stellar work he did in the previous Cobra series. Serpentor plays the man behind the man in the contest to be the next Cobra Commander, using his inside man in GI Joe to set a trap to increase Baroness's kill count. Croc Master makes his second appearance, a few fourth string Joes buy it and Steeler gets pissed off.

Secret Avengers #14: A brief interlude in the battle against Sin’s army that serves to retell Valkyrie’s origin. Not bad, but not great. This and the previous issue seem like they are just treading water until Fear Itself is over.

Chopping Block:
Thunderbolts #159: Recently demoted from Solid, this “Double Sized Spectacular” is filled with four stories that define below average. Below average writing, well below average art and exist without enhancing or advancing the story. The “The Ghost and Mr. Walker”, starring the title characters comes the closest to being passable, but is burdened with the worst artwork of the four. Not worth the $4.99 cover. T-Bolts gets one more shot before it gets the axe.

Justice League of America #58: A decent enough story that gets drug down by its art. The character models are inconsistent in quality, detail, and even form. The coloring is a piss poor digital job, it looks like a freebie fanfic web comic about WoW as opposed to a professionally done $2.99 piece of sequential art. There is even one panel (the lower left of page 15) this is a re-cropped and scaled copy of a previous panel (bottom of page 14, yep, only one page later, they reused art). This issue clearly shows that Daniel Sampere, Miguel Sepulveda, Andrew Dalhouse, Rex Ogle, and Eddie Berganza just don’t give a crap and should be shown the door. We do get criminally underused Bulletteer and Gaurdian cameos (Why not them? Why Frankenstein?), so that’s something, I guess.

Fables #106: A comic that was not that long ago a guaranteed good read is now facing death. The final fight between the North Wind and Mr. Dark is both anticlimactic and rushed. The resolving action also feels rushed. The entire Mr. Dark plot hasn’t been that entertaining and the series feels like it’s sputtering out. It maybe time to end Fables and just go with the occasional 6-12 issue mini-series as a good plot can be found, as opposed to an ongoing. Either way, it has bought enough good will from me over the 100+ issues that it gets at least 1 more chance.

Death Row & Dead to Me: Nothing hit Death Row this week and nothing became Dead to Me.

Total Price: $32.39 thanks to an overpriced Thunderbolts issue.

Green Lantern on CN

2011-06-22T08:47:00.002-05:00

Comics Alliance has a 30 sec teaser of the new Cartoon Network Green Lantern cartoon. Not interested in this for GL, but for Bruce Timm, who brings the DCAU (Batman, Superman, Justice League) look back to the CN. Michael Clarke Duncan is in as Kilowog. Safe choice, him and Patrick Warburton are the go to guys for this type of character, but I'm interested in the Henry Rollins portrayal in Emerald Knights (enough that it will go on my Netflix queue).

You can find the teaser here: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/06/21/green-lantern-animated-series-video-preview/

$30 Dollar Pull List for 6/15/2011

2011-06-16T16:00:00.011-05:00

Every week I go down to Texas Comic Shop with a goal: Get my reading material for less than $30. I have my pull list, and if it’s a light week, I grab something else that catches my interest using the formula: Interesting Story>Interesting Character>Fun to Read>Good Writer>Good Artist and if nothing catches my eye, I go with a recommendation from Tom (the owner).

My picks break down into the following categories:
Perma-Pull: Comics that are almost bulletproof. They constantly exceed expectations and even their worst issues are superior to most of what is on the shelves. Captain America, Secret Six, Secret Warriors, and Zatanna are the only things in this level right now.
Solid: comics that aren’t top tier, but still a great read and have earned some leeway with me due to their standard of excellence. Powergirl (once a perma-pull), Fables (another slipped perma-pull), Avengers Academy, GI Joe, and Teen Titans occupy this tier.
Chopping Block: Comics on the brink. In a heavy weak, if I have to drop a title to make budget, it’s coming from this group. If something pops up that really interests me, something from this level is getting the axe. Uncanny X-Men and GI Joe: Real American Hero currently sit on the block.
Death Row: They’ve been axed, but a reprieve might be coming. JLA and Gotham City Sirens both got their sentence commuted, but Sirens recently hit death row again. I’m not picking these up anymore unless something happens to stun me. Cassanova bought this with Gula.
Dead to Me: Gone. You better get a high priced necromancer in to bring this back to life. I’m talking Ed Brubacker, Matt Fraction or Gail Simone level character resurrectionist skills.
The pick of the week gets the lead in picture. On to this week’s list.

Perma-Pull: Nothing on the list and nothing promoted this week.

Solid:
Powergirl #25:This Week's Top Pick Still a well above average comic, but I still miss Amanda Conner’s art. Continues the story from last issue of a man wrongly judged based on prejudices. Heavy handed and a bit hammy, but sometimes, that works. A quick, engaging read that also manages to expand the JSA at the same time that it only has 2 months to live. It is a disservice to any comic and JSA fan that this comic and the JSA are dead come September.

Avengers Academy #15: The best part of this comic, this series, is not the action, but the soap opera writing of two weary heroes looking for love and redemption, plus a group of teens struggling for identity and acceptance. It’s Marv Wolfman Teen Titans good, and if that doesn’t get you excited, you are either under 30 or have no soul.

Cinderella: Fables are Forever #5: Fable’s #1 secret agent continues her work against Dorothy Gale. An engaging spy story in the early James Bond vein, with a cliffhanger ending that puts us halfway through the third act.

Hellblazer #280: Follows the thread that began with John’s Wedding to Epiphany. Gemma (John’s niece) seeks revenge for something that John didn’t do, but like all the bad things in John’s life, he’s responsible for. This is really a step down from recent issues, mainly due to the art quality and an odd choice for a display of Constantine’s power, which makes him look more like Dr. Fate than the wry trickster he normally is.

Teen Titans #96: Continuing the story of Solstice that began in the Wonder Girl one shot from a few months back. Beast Boy gets a moment to shine and the tragedy of another new, interesting character (Solstice is the Anti-Raven) who looks to be abandoned (along with BB, Raven, and Ravager) with the coming relaunch. Teen Titans has been hit or miss since the Dakota arc ended, but the last two issues are definitely hit.

Chopping Block:
Uncanny X-Men #538: Finishes off the Breakworld revenge story. Feels rushed and probably is, as story lines are being tied up for this series’ cancellation and the Schism event. If it wasn’t being cancelled, another lackluster story would have put this on Death Row.

DC Comics Presents: JLA Black Baptism: 100 Page Spectacular #1: of 1. A JLA one shot. The past few JLA one shots have gravitated between god awful and barely serviceable. This one is on the serviceable side, but not without it's issues. I was going to do a longer post on this, but decided against it. It's a reprint of a 2001 miniseries with an extra long name, in a heavier week, this would get a pass.

Captain America Corps #1: Despite my love for Captain America (for the ones of fans who don't know me personally, huge fan, including at one point owning every issue from 1971 (5 years before I was born until 1995)), this barely makes the cut. Captain Americas from various points in time are brought in to solve the mystery of who is removing Steve Rogers from the time stream and creating dystopian alternate realities where all cops are Americops and the ultimate weapon is a giant, fascist Captain America Robot. Needs to pick it up if it wants to survive issue #2.

Death Row:
The One #1: Actually from May 2010. This was a light week, and I enjoyed another comic this publisher put out, Tom recommended it, and the cover made me nostalgic for Heavy Metal circa 1986-1990. So I picked up issue #1. This wasn't worth the $2.99. The art is dark, muddled, and of inconsistent quality. The panel foci are off (it is not necessary that boobs be at the center of each panel, especially when this forces you to cut off the point of impact when a character kicks another in the head). There are too many plot threads to develop interest in, forcing some of them to get 1 page of development.

Dead to Me: Still just Green Arrow and the (no prefix) Avengers.

Total Price: $28.50 ($1.50 under budget thanks to Tom's frequent buyers discount card)

Image from: dc.wikia.com

Dc Comics Reboot

2011-06-13T13:18:00.010-05:00

September 2011. Mark it comic book fans. It is either the day you stop buying DC comics or start buying DC comics, or don’t. Who knows? I wanted to talk about this before, and ran it by Tom at Texas Comic Shop (on Washington 2 blocks behind the strip club, there’s a plug for him), but was really waiting for the full list. As of Friday morning www.bleedingcool.com has it, so here we go.

What we do know is that in the wake of Flashpoint, DC is cancelling their superhero line and re-launching with 52 new number 1 issues (I thought the in universe significance of 52 had been abandoned. Guess not). Looking at the ideas and art work, it feels like 1992 all over again.

God I hate those days and myself now that I look back at them, wondering what I was thinking that made me end up with 4 copies of X-Men Alpha still in my collection (I’ll sell them cheap too).

So, let’s take a quick rundown the list. The first thing that sticks out to me is that they really think the Green Lantern movie is going to be a blockbuster and drive comic sales. I’m not digging it, but then I hated Blackest Night/Brightest Day (which managed to make me stop reading the exploits of my favorite DC hero, Green Arrow).

So onto the analyzing of the list. I’m not going to cover everything. Some, I’m meh about, others there really isn’t enough there to form even a half-assed uninformed opinion:

Batman Family: 19% of DCs output is Batman related, counting Bat characters in other books, Batman has a toe in a full 25% of DCs comics. He is officially DC’s version of Wolverine (who is on 3 X teams, 2 Avengers teams, Solo Title, Paired with Spiderman (is that still going on?), his son has a book, and his daughter (X-23 more or less) has a book). Considering that Batman is consistently the top seller and a new movie is filming plus a new game out in October (Catwoman in , Arleen Sorkin out), this is probably a safe bet. What isn’t safe is some of the choices they made inside.

Batman: Bruce Wayne is the One True Batman (OTB). Not a fan of that, I found Dick Grayson as Batman interesting, especially in JLA, but I can’t fault them for going back to old reliable.

Batgirl: Barbara Gordon’s back in a cape? 20+ years of character development destroyed. I don’t particularly care about the positive image of disabled people. Ok that came out wrong, I do care, but I don’t care about Barbara Gordon as a representation of that. What I do care about is that Barbara Gordon as Oracle was a compelling, interesting character that at the same time was both an effective and realistic (within the terms of the medium) way of tying the shared universe together. One of the things that made Babs a superior character was that in a world with cybernetic limbs, regeneration pools, and rampant cloning, she said, “Screw it, I can be just as much a hero, just as much a force for good without walking.”

Catwoman: Gotham City Sirens out, Catwoman solo in, with no costume changes. I like Catwoman, I’m a big fan of Ed Brubacker’s Catwoman (And Ed in general) and Judd Winick is capable (I dug his Green Arrow run), so I’m in.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: If 25 years of comics has taught us anything, no matter how you package him, Jason Todd is just annoying. Roy Harper is back, in his Red Arrow gear sporting new ink and a reverse emblem San Jose Sharks cap. Starfire got an unnecessary boob job and even more unnecessary shoulder pads. I’ll at least try it and hope for the best.

Batwing: Knight & Squire out, Batwing in. Mystifying, but I don’t care either way.

Nightwing: Dick’s demoted, but at least he gets his own title, considering he’s out of the JL.

Birds of Prey: Canary in some pseudo JL Europe costume, Poison Ivy, Katana (?), and who the hell else is that? Purple and black corset, brown hair, right arm full sleeve dragon tattoo. Roulette? Tigress? Dunno. It gets the 1 issue trial, but it better stun me.

Green Lantern: 8% of the new titles are Green Lantern. I don’t care. With team books, the Lantern is repped in 11% of the line. Still not caring. Really, about any of them. Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Jade, Gnort, Sinestro, whomever. I only had a passing interest in them before Blackest Night, and that killed any I had left.

Green Arrow: Oh, thank god. Please ignore everything since the last re-launch and bring back something I can read and enjoy. Speaking to 20 Smalls about this, she stopped reading when Black Canary left him (I only lasted 5 more issues), “After all that, that’s why she left? You can tell that was written by a man. If she put up with him for that long, no way does she leave now.” In reference to Dinah leaving him for shooting his granddaughter’s murderer in the face then lying about it. I like to pretend Ollie is sitting in jail somewhere waiting for his slot on the Suicide Squad and the latest Green Arrow run is like that one season of Dallas.

DC Universe Presents: Side note, the DC Showcase cartoons have been pretty good. Shazam/Superman sucked, but the Spectre (with GARY COLE as the Spectre), Green Arrow (Malcom McDowell as Merlyn) and Jonah Hex (Thomas Jane (who should have been in the movie) as Hex). Yes GARY COLE gets all caps. Review his work, and you will come to the same conclusion.

Savage Hawkman: Did Hawkman really need another origin? Does he get a free slurpee after 12 punches on his origin card? Will I care? No, I will not.

Blue Beetle: Jamie Reyes, who looks like he is no longer a teenager, but is still in El Paso. I’m sure he’d rather have that switched.

Fury of Firestorm: Didn’t even care about him when he was a Superfriend.

Mr. Terrific: Unless he’s in Checkmate, don’t care about him either. In my book, bigger dick than Batman. At least Batman has a trauma and the resident associated mental health issues to explain his superiority complex and assholishness. Mr. Terrific is just an asshole. I think he gets off on it.

Captain Atom: Is there a clause that says DC has to produce 2 Charlton comics at a time? If so, why does this get picked up and not the Question? Hell, I’d even take Peacemaker (as long it was the hardass version from Blue Beetle). Does Judo Master being in the JSA count? What? There is no more JSA? What the Hell?

OMAC: Kirby needs some love, so we get OMAC and not New Gods? Is the WB smoking crack?

Static Shock: I’m surprisingly OK with this. Would like him back in the Teen Titans though.

Hawk and Dove: I just sold all my Hawk and Dove back issues to clear some space in my collection. This tells you what about their chances with me? At least Liefeld gets another opportunity to fail at drawing feet.

Legion of Superheroes: Two Legion titles. Will only get more confusing and I will pass.

Legion Lost: DC’s version of Exiles, but with the Legion of Superheroes.

Wildstorm: Wildstorm will make up 5% of DCs titles, that’s new. Another new thing is that it appears to now be integrated with the mainstream continuity. 3 Wildstorm titles; with Martian Manhunter joining the Authority. Didn’t read any of these when they were with Wildstorm. Didn’t care when they were with Image either. Not reading them here.

Justice League: 4 Justice League or related titles for 8% of the line. OTB, Supes, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter (2 books featuring J’onn J’onez), John Stewart (Green Lantern, not Daily Show, that I would read). This gets a pass. I’ve been digging the JLA as a way to give some of the second tier players a little room to grow. Donna Troy, Dick Grayson, Jesse Quick, and even Congrilla have grown on me.

Justice League International: OTB (again), Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner GL, Vixen, Booster Gold, Rocket Red, August General in Iron, and a new character. The only one of interest to me is August General, I’d like to see him expanded upon but otherwise, nothing here. I’ll pass.

Justice League Black: The Legion of Substitute Shadowpact (or BPRD). So we have Deadman (who now rates 2 titles), Zatanna (in a new outfit that manages to both cover more, yet somehow be more slutty), Madame Xanadu, John Constantine, Shade the Changing Man, and Enchantress with a new dye job. Is Constantine and Zatanna being ex’s in continuity anymore? Is her dating Dr. Thirteen? Mentoring Timothy Hunter? Is John Married to Epiphany? Shade blaming John for stealing his girl? Is Nightmaster dead? What about Ragman? Why do I care so much about Shadowpact? Must be Detective Chimp and Rex the Wonderdog.

Teen Titans: Red Robin losing the cowl, gaining the Falcon’s wings, keeping Cable’s bandoliers. Superboy dressing like an ‘80’s punk caricature (and I though the ‘90’s outfit was bad). Wondergirl who is now the Thief from Dungeons and Dragons, and Kid Flash with a mohawk, someone who I think is Nightshade, Spider-Girl(?) and a character I will call Ham-Fist. I dig the current Teen Titans, this will get a look, but I’m not feeling it.

Superman Family: The big red S gets 4 titles for 8% of the line, plus his JL appearance fees and Superboy’s Teen Titans appearance put the Shield in 12% of DC’s line-up. I don’t read Superman. It’s my buddy Kev’s thing and I defer to him on all things Superman related.

Superman: Supes got new boots, Supes got new belt. Supes is wearing a chest protector and kneepads. Supes finally put his underwear on the inside.

Supergirl: No longer showing the midriff, but exposing some leg. And for a solar powered hero, don’t you think she would have a little bit of a tan. If you’ve ever been to Scotland, you’ve seen this skin tone. And why have thigh high boots with the knees cut out? I dig the cut of the cape though, that’s pretty sweet, especially the collar. She needs to get Clark in this new cape style.

Superboy: Looks nothing like Superboy from the Titans. Here it looks like an adolescent Superman Robot sent into Tron and merged with GlaDos. Are there 2 Superboys now? 2 Superboys and no Detective Chimp. There is no god. Someone dig up Jack Kirby and get him to draw me one.

Suicide Squad: Harlequin, Deadshot, and Kingshark. Kingshark is now a hammerhead instead of a great white and Harley shows more skin while every other woman covers up. She looks like someone took the Harley from the London Batman musical, crossed her with Harley Arkham City, and hit the overdrive button on the skank amp.

Demon Knights: Etrigan needs some love. Only if this was Baby Etrigan from that one Justice League episode. More bad rhyming than a freshman poetry class is my prediction. There has got to be an out of work rapper out there they can tap to write the dialogue. I haven’t seen Busta in a while. Chuck D’s just doing speaking engagements. Warner has to have someone under contract. Wait, they have Rick Ross. Probably don’t want to get sued for plagiarism.

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE: The least enjoyable part of Seven Soldier of Victory gets an ongoing. As Tom asked me, “Is there a Frankenstein movie coming out I don’t know about? Now both Marvel and DC have comics with him.” Also features The Bride (of Frankenstein, not Uma Thurman) and what could be Traci 13 gone Emo, or a new character.

I, Vampire: Ok, now I know someone is fucking with me. I, Vampire done in the style of Twilight. I, Vampire done in the style of Near Dark. I’m in. Twilight, I’m so out, I’m catching up to it on the wrap around like Combat.

All-Star Western: Justin Grey and Jimmy Palmiotti writing a western comic anchored with Jonah Hex. I dig their Jonah Hex work. But I read it in trades. I read it in trades for free because the local library gets them. I will continue to read my Jonah Hex in borrowed trades. Sorry guys.

Notable Omissions from the Line-up: Secret Six, Zatanna (solo title), Powergirl, JSA, Captain Marvel. Raven, Beast Boy, and most of the other Titans appear absent. New character's not made by Dwayne McDuffie (RIP) look gone as well.

No Zatanna, no Powergirl, no Secret Six (DC’s best 3 comics going right now). Gail Simone on only 2 comics, (Batgirl a maybe, Firestorm a hell no). And no Amanda Conner in sight. You know what this says to me: No Fun. Between this and the artwork, it’s the nightmare ‘90’s returned, all grimdark writing, grimdark themes, shoulder pads, pouches, and EXTREME ATTITUDE.

My bet: In 4 months, the JSA as back in some form and is 8 months, this is abandoned almost entirely, and next summers "Secret Crisis Invasion Point" resets the status quo back to Aug 2011.

Images taken from www.bleedingcool.com

IPad thoughts

2010-01-28T15:49:00.002-06:00

Well, you are basically getting a less functional, over priced, touch screen netbook.

Still no multitasking, still no flash support, still required to use the App store (until it is jailbroken) limiting your choice of apps. With the keyboard taking up almost 50% of the screen space, you have a 5" screen, weak computer.

What really got me is the ATT $30 unlimited dataplan. ATT has been complaining that Iphone users are killing their 3G network. Here, where I work was denied unlimited Data plans, we were only allowed 6GB per Iphone because of ATTs fear that we would use too much data.

If that's true, how does ATT plan to support the Ipad's unlimited data plan?

2010-01-23T23:24:00.000-06:00

"If given a choice between wearing furry underwear and being molested by hawk-people, I'm wearing the furry underwear."
-Me

Diversity

2010-01-22T15:21:00.002-06:00

"Embrace diversity? I turned diversity around and took it from behind!"
-Me

Why Texas is better than California - Part 20x45b of XXXX

2009-12-22T08:03:00.002-06:00

We have electricity, don't need to do rolling black outs, and are willing to use our deserts to generate power (massive ass wind farms).

http://gizmodo.com/5431887/mojave-desert-solar-farm-blocked-by-senator-dianne-feinstein

Mean while, California, who has to import power from Texas, has legislators who keep blocking them from power independence. Diane Feinstein, the Senior Senator from Cali, is a "Big Supporter" of green energy and environmental protection. Works to increase the cost of oil and electricity generated from fossil fuels, opposes building the solar farm. Which makes her a hypocrite as well as an idiot.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Epic Fail

2009-12-21T10:49:00.002-06:00

I've been trying out Microsoft Security Essentials on one of my computers at home. Everything had been going fine. It took care of spyware/adware as well as any other free scanners out there and I noticed my computer operated faster with a single unified product as opposed to two separate products (I have found over the years that in a home situation, the slight increase in protection/performance over free products is not worth the expense of paying for AV/spyware protection).

Then, I get a virus. Security Essentials failed to notice a 5 year old Vundo variation one of my kids downloaded and caused an annoying infection that I ended up just backing up my files and wiping XP and starting over (after 3 days of doing it the right way and still coming across re-infections and rogue registry entries, it took me less time to just reinstall everything).

Of course, AVG free picked it up on my other computer and eliminated it with no issues.

So, the gist is, don't bother with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Avatar: The Short Review

2009-12-19T16:24:00.002-06:00

Took 20 Small to see Avatar in Real 3D last night.

I think something about Real 3D gives me a headache. I walked out of Monsters v Aliens with one, and again with Avatar.

Short form of the movie is that you have seen this before. It's Ferngully with a little bit of the ultraviolence and blue cat person sex dropped in. That said, it was gorgeous to look at. Like a live action Prog Rock cover. The bad side is that the plot was thin, obvious, and cliched. They also over relied on the 3D aspect with objects constantly floating in the foreground or coming towards the camera.

20 Smalls take, "Where's the Coke cup, I think I'm gonna puke."

Rogue Warrior Rap

2009-12-03T09:55:00.002-06:00

My friends know how much I liked to first 4 Rogue Warrior novels by Richard Marcinko. They also know I have an signed copy of his book on management in my collection, and how I took a day off of work to go to the signing (at I time I was broke). So of course I plan on picking up the Video Game, probably after Christmas. But I ran across this little gem.
http://kotaku.com/5416609/mickey-rourke-raps-over-games-closing-credits

Sound clips from the game arraigned as a rap over the closing credits, with Micky Rourke as the voice of Demo Dick, which honestly isn't that far from how the real Marcinko sounds.

The Rap is NSFW, but man I want a sound bite of Micky growling out "Cocksucker" for a ring tome for people I hate.

Hogswatch Season

2009-12-02T16:00:00.002-06:00

As it is Hogswatch season again, I leave you with my favorite quote from the book/movie:

Death: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: You think so? Then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder, and sieve it through the finest sieve, and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. And yet, you try to act as if there is some ideal order in the world. As if there is some, some rightness in the universe, by which it may be judged.

Image from www.paulkidby.com, Paul is a wonderful artist drawing one of my favorite subjects. I have multiple items with his art work on them. They are worth it.

Kludging for a Better Tomorrow

2009-11-18T14:46:00.004-06:00

Few people believe that we are as tough on computer equipment as we are at work. When asked why I spend extra to buy Panasonic Toughbooks over standard Dell laptops, I told the gentleman that as it is we break about 6 Toughbooks a year and as long as it's under warranty, Panasonic asks me no questions about how it happened, which is good, when you consider that these damn things are literally bulletproof, trying to determine how one would rip the screen when it is mounted in the cab of a vehicle is something I care not to contemplate.

I have also found it to my benefit to be a horrible pack rat. Between budgetary concerns and the slowness of the purchasing process, it's often better for me to just kludge together a solution. Hence I have shelves and cabinets filled with parts and half working examples of the electronic history of mankind.

That leads me to today. Sitting behind me on the shelves above my servers are 9 Toughbooks in various states of destruction. Between them all, I was able to locate one working hard drive to repair a tenth Toughbook whose drive had crashed.

The Greatest Headline Ever!

2009-11-11T11:33:00.001-06:00

From the Guardian:

Three more quit over Nutt sacking
Johnson fails to calm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/11/three_more_quit_over_nutt_sacking_row/

Dragon Age: Origins

2009-11-09T10:18:00.001-06:00

I have now spent almost a week with Dragon Age Origins, and while I have not completed the game yet, I can say this is not the best Fantasy RPG ever made, it is just a tribute. Much like the Fallout series was the spiritual successor to Wasteland, technically superior, but not resonating with you in the way the original does (who doesn’t love Hobo Dogs and nuke worshipping cultists?). Dragon Age: Origins is the same to Baldur’s Gate. While the wise-ass remarks of Alister and Morrigan (voiced by Claudia Black) are entertaining, it just doesn’t hit home in the same way Minsc’s off the cuff insanity did.

That isn’t to say this is a bad game, it is good, remarkably good. Of course any game that starts out with Tim Curry killing your family and being a complete and total dick that you swear to hunt down and kill gets a thumbs up from me.

The graphics are excellent, and the voice acting is superb. Only Batman: Arkham Asylum has had better voice acting. Which is good, you spend a lot of time talking in this game. The only problem with the voice sound is that during cut scenes when there is a sudden shift in perspective, some times the voice cuts out or goes almost too quiet to hear.

Environmental sounds are excellent and put to good use. Even using the two speakers on my TV alone (through the HDMI hookup) I could tell where approaching individuals were by the sound they made.

The tactics system is also very good. You can micro-manage your characters actions, ala’ Baldur’s Gate, but it really draws out the battles. The better way is to set your parties tactics. It is basically an in-game tool for scripting AI. You set parameters, actions, and priorities for each character in combat, or use one of the default sets.

For example, I’m playing a heavily armored berserker I want Loriana, my main thief/bard, to attempt to flank and backstab whomever I attack, that can be set in tactics. I want to control a spellcaster’s spell choice, set through tactics, I only want certain characters to hand back and snipe, set through tactics. I want someone to charge at the most powerful enemy on the screen, hit with their most damaging special attack and then run away when they drop to 25% health and chug a potion, set through tactics. Other party based RPGs need to look at this tactics system and copy it, it is that good.

So go get Dragon Age: Origins, easily worth your video game money.

Just in time for Halloween

2009-11-04T08:09:00.003-06:00

The Face of Evil, Christopher Lee, was knighted last week. So now we can have Sir Gandalf facing off with Sir Saruman. I love Christophe Lee and no man personifies bad assed evil like him, he's been Death, Dracula, Satan, Saruman, A James Bond Villain, and a Sith Lord, plus he has more on screen sword fights than any actor in history.

This comes from the Guardian Online

Today's Picture full of win

2009-11-03T11:43:00.004-06:00

Again, snagging fromComic Book Resources, thebest comic site on the net bar none. I present today's image full of win from the Marvel Solicits for the Siege crossover (I know, one post after I lament all the damn crossovers, I'm a hypocrite and I suck).

What sold in comics in September?

2009-11-02T16:15:00.003-06:00

The September sales numbers are out, http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23546.

Blackest Night sold over 140,000 units, beating the next biggest seller (Captain America: Reborn) by about 30,000 units. It's sad, I though Secret Invasion was pretty poorly done (it didn't really have an ending, there is still very little in the way of an explanation for the fall out, and when you realize it takes place over a matter of about 2 days you begin to realize all the problems with the thing).

Compared to Blackest Night, it's a master piece of narrative. Blackest Night is like that D&D game everyone has been in at least once where the DM has to drop in a character to explain the plot and shove the characters forward because they have spent the last 3 hour bickering over who gets the extra gold piece left over after a 4 way split.

I tried following it, as did my wife. She gave up after having to keep asking me who some of these characters were that had been dead for nearly 20 years, I gave up when the Indigo Tribe popped up and had to beat everyone over the head with the plot forwarding stick.

To see this sell this way leads me to believe that we will not see the end of these super-mega-ulta-event crossovers in my lifetime.

Also, DC, could I get some characters staying in one place for a bit? You realize that with Beast Boy and Raven now mentoring the Teen Titans and Cyborg, Starfire, and Dick Grayson Batman going to JLA, you really don't have much of a reason to have the Titans anymore?

Oh yeah, way to make my buy Teen Titans again too, I hadn't picked up an issue since around the time of the Judas Contract, and now I'm reading it again, you bastards.

And While I'm bitching, Marvel, fix your fucking release schedule. I'm tired of having weeks were you pop off three issues and then drop 20 on me the next, or going 8 weeks without an issue of a comic and then you pop it on me on back to back weeks.

Check it out:
Oct 21st: 16 releases
Oct 28: 37 releases
Nov 4: 20 releases

Nova comes out in back to back weeks (Oct 28th and Nov 4th), Captain America:Reborn #3 hit the streets on Sept 15th, #4 comes out Nov 4th.

They need to get their act together. If there is one thing DC consistently does better than Marvel it's spreading their releases around and having a fairly regular cycle.

More Apple Blues

2009-10-25T20:11:00.002-05:00

We got a brand new Mac with Snow Leopard at work. Can't make Safari/Firefox resolve names. Works just fine for internal resources through finder, but even going to my intranet site by its alias is no go. Can reach it by IP address though.

So far, Apple tech support is stumped by this (I am currently at 3rd level technical support).

As an added note if you ever wanted to hear Bob Dylan played through the worst speaker ever made, call Apple and have them put you on hold.

Of Iphones and computers, of cabbages and kings

2009-10-20T13:05:00.003-05:00

Well, work replaced my Blackberry with an Iphone as part of a money saving project. With this now being the 4th Smartphone I've used, I can easily say it is the worst. Features I take for granted on a basic phone, like setting alerts individually for different message types, setting any mp3 as a ring tone, individual control of vibration,different profiles based on situation are all missing.

As a smart phone (or as an mp3 player) I am missing the function to just open up the device in windows and drag and drop files, something that has been present on every other smartphone and mp3 player I have owned (never had an Ipod before, and after this, I will never get one).

I also hate the fact that I have to use Itunes to sync the damn thing and that the sync isn't as granular as on my P910, Treo, or Curve. I can also only have it sync with 5 different computers (so far, I've had to use up 3 of those home, work, laptop).

It's also cheap and flimsy. Everyone in the city who had a smart phone got one, and we've had a number of them break already (we've had them for less than a week at this point) at work we went and got Otter Boxes for them, which helps in the cheap and weak feel but hurts with screen visibility.

I have many other gripes about this piece of trash. The on screen keyboard is too small, the magnification is pathetic, and a lack of body buttons means I have to flip through menus as opposed to one touching my way to frequently used functions.

All in all, if we could get Exchange to push to it, I'd rather go back to my 2g Sony P910.

New Fist of the Northstar game coming

2009-10-14T09:07:00.002-05:00

http://kotaku.com/5381217/first-footage-of-tecmo-koeis-new-game
With footage!

Hells yeah! Fist of the Northstar is at the top of Japanimation Splatter porn. Even the live action movie, with the criminally underused in his time Gary Daniels and Chris Penn (I'm a connoisseur of cheap '80's-'90's martial arts flicks), is giddy, cheezy fun. Heck, the original 8-Bit Nintendo game was amusing with it's head inflating and popping animation.

Zombieland

2009-10-03T13:32:00.002-05:00

Yeah, oh, hell Yeah. This is good. Zombieland isn't the best movie this year, but it's to movies what those name radio stations (Bob, Jack, whatever) are to radio. It doesn't want to be your favorite, but it want to make it's mark by being everyones second choice.

It isn't the funniest movie this year, that's the Hnagover. It isn't the best action flick this year, that's GI Joe. It even mixes in some serious drama and discussion on the human condition.

This movie has it all and Bill Murray. Very funny, very good, and easily worth the $26 bucks it cost me and 20 Small to see it. Go see this one.

Reasons why I love my wife...Part X of a Y Part series

2009-10-01T11:46:00.002-05:00

She fully supports my decision to have coded a "Serve the Taters!" button on my employer's Overtime Signup interface.

Fun with Venn

2009-09-29T15:51:00.002-05:00

To my dog,
Please refer to the diagram for future reference. Notice they don't quite touch.

Return of Awesome

2009-09-24T21:27:00.001-05:00

This requires no comment.

Today's Article full of Win: I've read that edition

2009-09-23T08:59:00.002-05:00

The wonderfully humorous, and disturbingly accurate Genre-Fiction Generating Flowchart. Good for books, comics, and movies:
http://wondermark.com/554/

As if I needed another reason

2009-09-22T15:34:00.003-05:00

Local political moron, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-I wish she wasn't from-Texas), is leading the charge against Net Neutrality (http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/gop-senators-net-neutrality/).

Hardly surprising, considering that her #1 contributor is Vinson & Elkins, the law firm of AT&T (the #1 Donor to Congress), who along with Comcast (who has Hillary Clinton in their pocket along with Time Warner) have been the main two opponents of Net Neutrality.

Of course if you really want to make your head spin, News Corp, the owners of Fox News, gave more money to Hillary Clinton than to John McCain or George W. Bush.

Arkham Asylum isn't the only mad house that needs a policy review

2009-09-18T15:42:00.002-05:00

This one apparently let's mentally ill killers go on field trips:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2009/9/18/522562.html

Why are you reading...Blackest Night?

2009-09-18T07:53:00.001-05:00

Since comic book purchasing statistics came online, sometime around 1215 AD, Marvel has regularly bested DC in the top single issues and money made (DC does seem to do better in trades though, weird). This changed with the Blackest Night crossover, which has been the dominant comic book for the past couple of months. Black Hand, possessor of the Black Power Ring, is bringing the dead back to cause fear and take over the universe.

First, this series is continuity heavy. How many current comic readers know who Sue Dibny is and what her significance to the Justice League is (the entire Identity Crisis seems to conveniently be ignored on a regular basis in DC comics anyway)?

Then the main part of the series is giving Secret Invasion a run on it’s title of longest mini-series that took almost no time, 3 issues + 1 Green Lantern tie in to tell a story that takes about half an hour.

Third, they already brought in a new character to tell everyone what the hell is happening and how to stop it. Holy Dues Ex Machina! Of course, this involves getting the cooperation of at least one person who won’t want to cooperate. Don’t know how they plan on solving that one, but the easy answer is to have Sinestro go cave their skull in and take his ring.

They probably won’t do that, but I just solved the entire problem in what, take about 3 pages to draw?

World's Greatest Human Dies

2009-09-14T09:51:00.002-05:00

That was the title Penn & Teller gave to Normal Bourlag, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090913/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_borlaug.

Estimates put the number of lives he saved from starvation somewhere between 245 million and 1 billion.

He's also the person Creationists and those who oppose Genetically Modified foods fear, since his research is based on genetics (and hence evolution) and proved that Genetically Modified food is not dangerous.

Quick Reviews: Gamer & Batman: Arkham Asylum

2009-09-06T17:33:00.003-05:00

Just a quick run down on these two:

Gamer is the new movie with Gerard Butler as a convict fighting in a real person FPS shooter for his freedom from death row. The movie is pretty good, but disappointing as there is a better movie hidden inside of it.

It wants to tell a story about our own desensitization to violence, but gets caught up in showing gratuitous tits.

It wants to illustrate how the internet age has isolated us from each other, but gets caught up in showing gratuitous tits.

It wants to show how people will act in completely anti-social manners because of the anonymity of computers, but gets caught up in showing gratuitous tits.

It wants to be a morality play about how the poor and desperate will be taken advantage of, but gets caught up in showing gratuitous tits.

It wants to be a Cyberpunk classic, nearly approaching being the best movie for it's genre, but gets caught up in showing gratuitous tits.

It is a pretty good movie, the action is appropriately violent and disturbing, the street scenes are gritty and ravaged, the acting is well done. Editing is kind of jarring, you could tell it was planned that way, but not well executed.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best Batman game ever made, and one of the best Stealth Action games. The graphics are across the board excellent. The voice work is done by some of the Animated Series voice actors (Kevin Conroy as Batman, Mark Hamill as Joker and others, Arleen Sorkin as Harley) and is as excellent as you would expect and the story (by Paul Dini) both set new standards for a video game.

You feel like Batman, you move like Batman, you sound like Batman. You are the Goddamn Batman, and you hate chocolate. It's an excellent game.

Secret Worlds MMO & New Dungeons & Dragons MMO

2009-09-04T09:56:00.002-05:00

The website for Secret Worlds (a horror/conspiracy/dark world MMO from Funcom),
http://www.darkdaysarecoming.com/, has a quiz up to see which faction you should join. You get a little facebook icon and some graphical swag for taking the quiz, but it also enters you in the Beta test pool. So if you like Betaing game, you know what to do.

Going back a bit into history. Atari had partnered with Turbine to produce DDO. Then Atari bought Cryptic. Then Atari decided not to extend any more of the Dungeons and Dragons license to Turbine for them to produce more DDO games (which is good, Turbine did a huge disservice to the license and alienated a lot of players and fans and took a really good game and ran it into the ground in a matter of months). Now Atari has put the Dungeons and Dragons license in the hands of Cryptic.

Turbine sues Atari, Atari is sueing Turbine, and Cryptic is producing the Forgotten Realms based MMO, Neverwinter Nights.

Great, my currently two most hated MMO producers are fighting over who gets the chance to destroy my favorite game for the third time around. First Wizards of the Coast, then Hasbro, then Turbine, now Cryptic gets a shot at molesting my adolescence. Look guys, my childhood wasn't asking for it. It wasn't wearing that short skirt and pole dancing like Miley Cyrus. Please leave my childhood alone.

Fallen Earth Review

2009-09-01T15:18:00.000-05:00

Fallen Earth is a new MMO from Fallen Earth, LLC and Icarus Entertainment. To date, it looks like this is the only thing the two of them have produced. Fallen Earth is billed as a MMOFPS (Massive Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter) and has been in development for 6 years.

It shows it. Had this game come out 6 years ago, it might have been worth something. As it is now, it's slow, looks bad, has crappy voice acting, and commits the only unforgivable sin in a game, it's boring.

Creativity: Serviceable
While this is the first Post Apocalyptic MMO I’ve played, it isn’t all that creative. They tried very hard to recreate the environment of the Fallout series, even using fonts that are near identical inside the game. While it is billed as a MMOFPS, the combat system plays much like Tabula Rasa. One nice touch was the fact that you can see all of your equipped weapons on our characters body, as opposed to just the currently active weapon like in most MMOs.

Character Models: Junky
The character models have some decent customization to them considering this is an MMO not made by Cryptic. There are a variety of faces, hair styles, tattoo and piercing options for both face and body, but almost all of them are ugly or laughably bad. Character animation is also poorly done, with everyone running and walking like an arthritic octogenarian. I did like the fact that I could put my character in some classic Run DMC Adidas.

Environment: Serviceable
The environments were there. They look appropriate for the game and matched the theme and setting. Nothing really bad here, but nothing outstanding either. One problem was the sound. There was no music when I played. The sound effects were almost non-existant, and the voice acting makes Age of Conan sound like it was done by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Clarity & Playability: Workhorse
This is the game’s strong suit. All the pertinent systems, like combat, movement, crafting, environment interactions, were presented clearly and are easy to use. The tutorial is well done and presents things in a clear and straight forward manner. The UI is streamlined and clean. I never needed to ask for help in the game, as all the information I needed was presented to me and it was easy to refer back to.

The controls really stop this category form being Exemplary. You have two modes, for lack of a better way to describe them. MMO mode and FPS mode. Controls in MMO mode were wonky. Alternating between almost unresponsive and overly sensitive. When you entered FPS mode (active aiming, which plays more like a 3rd person shooter than an FPS) the controls tightened up and became usable. The problem is that there was no point in using FPS style shooting. Even when you were on target you would still miss based on stats, and lining up a head shot did not do any additional damage or increase the odds of a critical. There was no point in using this for combat in the game. I did stay in FPS mode most of the time, just for more precision on the controls.

Accessibility & Community: Serviceable
The game ran well on lower end hardware. The in game chat was friendly and positive and lively, including a Dev being on answering questions and chatting. I did not get involved in grouping or PvP while I played.

Replayability & Longevity: Junky
The game is class-less, you get action points to develop your character, so you can play how you want and mix and match things. There are a variety of starting locations based on how you want to specialize your character. So there is replay value. But I honestly don't see why you would want to play in the first place, let alone, play again. The main problem with playing is combat. Enemies were incredibly stupid. I would pick a guy off from 20 feet with an unsilenced rifle and his partner standing shoulder to shoulder with him failed to notice. The only tactical movement and enemy would do was either charge straight towards me, or strafe from side to side like an old time shooting gallery at a county fair. There was no variety in tactics, but they did manage to not give everything a ranged attack, so you know, there is that.

In conclusion, I recommend that you avoid this game. It might be worth it as a Free to Play game, but I wouldn’t spend any money on it.

MMO Review Format

2009-09-01T08:07:00.001-05:00

As previously stated, I play, or at least try, many MMOs. Most don’t hold my interest for long, usually less than 2 months. So far the records are held by City of Heroes at 27 months and still going (not counting breaks for other MMOs), Guild Wars that was off and on for over a year, Dungeons and Dragons online at 8 months, and Age of Conan at 6 months. Everything else scores below those numbers.

One of the problems I’ve had is quantifying my feeling and experiences in the games into a system that is understandable to people besides me. Especially one that won’t get excessively long winded, as I often become extremely verbose when talking about a subject I am emotionally invested in (I once turned a 2 hour martial arts class into a 4 hour dissertation on the history of fighting arts because my audience was too polite to tell me to shut up).

The first thing was; what categories did I want to rate games on? I thought about the traditional, but then went a different direction. Every game website and magazine rates things like graphics and sound, usually a 1 to 10 rating or some variation of them. But those are meaningless and suffer from ratings creep. Of course Metal Gear Solid 2 looks better than Metal Gear Solid 1. So, if I gave MGS1 a 7, that means MGS2 needs at least an 8. Since MGS3 looked better than MGS2 it needs a 9, and that would leave me with only a 10 for MGS4. Is MGS4 a perfect game visually? Is it right to compare the appearance of MGS4 to MGS1 considering the different hardware capabilities and the visual precision of TVs between now and then?

So I went with the following categories:

Creativity: Is this something new and interesting, or is it a complete rehashing of previously seen elements? If it is a rehashing, are the elements used in a new and distinct way, or could the game best be described as some other game with new curtains?

Character Models: Do the character models fit the genre or theme of the game? Are they appropriately detailed when compared to the rest of the game? Do they animate smoothly and effectively? This also includes sounds, are the character sounds appropriate? Are the sound effects synced up properly with the character’s actions. This also has to do with how much customization I have on my character’s appearance.

Environment: Does the environment’s appearance add or detract from the game? Does it match thematically with the game? Are the environmental sound effects appropriate? Is the in game music appropriate and does it add to the feel of the game?

Clarity & Playability: Are the in game features, systems, and functions clearly understood and easy to use? Is the User Interface clear and easy to use? Are the menus clearly labeled? Are the help files actually helpful? If I need to refer to the manual, is it clear and concise? Also, can I just sit down and accomplish something in a short period of time, or does this require an investment of time more in line with a second job? Finally, does the fame smoothly transition you around the game world or is it herky jerky? Do you have to do a lot of back tracking and time sinking? Are you suddenly given quests well outside your level range or ability to complete.

Accessibility & Community: This has 2 parts to it. One is, does the game run well on my hardware or hardware you can purchase at major retailers, or do you need to make adjustments to your hardware? Do you need to update drivers or other pieces of software manually, something most users don’t know how or won’t do? Also, are the forums, game community, or people on the in-game chat system helpful, knowledgeable, and polite? Or are they elitist, rude, and dismissive of new players? (You may question that value of that, but that is the number 1 reason why my wife and I don’t play WoW, the community and social interactions of players). Finally, how easy is it to form a team in the game and is Player v Player accessible and balanced? This is a multiplayer game after all.

Replayability & Longevity: Is this something that you do once and you’ve seen it all? Is there an incentive to make alternate characters? Are there multiple ways to solve quests or play the game? Are there enough quests that you couldn’t hit them all on your first character? Also, is there enough variety in the enemies that fights feel different, or is everyone just a palate swap?

Next was, what system would I use? Numbers without context are meaningless, which is why statistics tend to confuse people. Without knowing what the context of the number you are presented with, how do you really know what that means? If I tell you 9 out of 10 Dentists endorse my product, does that tell you anything? What if I only used retired dentists? What if I only interviewed Periodontists? Or Forensic Dentists? What if my sample set was abnormally small, like 20 dentists? What if I threw all dentists who voted Democrat in the last election out of my sample set? Without knowing about the context under which I derived my numbers, you have no clue if my numbers mean anything (always remember that when someone cites a statistic).

I settled on a 5 tier description system:
Worthless: It’s bad, really bad. “I can’t believe the publisher is putting it out there in this state, bad”. Any game that scores one of these is an instant “Do Not Buy”. It shows a complete lack of caring on the part of the developers and publishers and a disregard for the customers.

Junky: It’s not horrible, but it could be a lot better. It still comes in below being serviceable or adequate. It might get better with time or work, but it shows quality control was lacking.

Serviceable: It does its job, it isn’t terribly impressive, but it isn’t cringe worthy bad. It exists. It will get you from point A, but you park it at the rear of the parking lot so no one sees you arrive in it.

Workhorse: It more than does its job, it does it well. Still room for improvement, but it’s worth including on a resume. I few systems of this quality can pull an otherwise subpar game out of the mire into something enjoyable.

Exemplary: It is at the top, and there is little room for improvement on what it does. This is the way all other games should be doing it.

Finally, and this was the easiest part, what would be my ultimate conclusion. I’m basically going to say, “I recommend you play this” or “I recommend you avoid this”. If this is a game that I think the subscription price is worth, I’ll say so. If not, I’ll tell you to avoid.

I’ll start using this system with my next MMO review, which will be for Fallen Earth.

Morning News

2009-08-31T09:07:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when I don't look at gaming and comic news on the weekends:

FYI: This story is pure bullshit.

http://kotaku.com/5348199/cryptic-microsofts-behavior-means-no-champions-this-year

Cryptic was telling us during the testing back in February/March that there wouldn't be a 360 version of the game this year. They knew for 6 months it wouldn't happen. They also used this as their excuse to not support the 360 controller on PC, saying they wouldn't support it until the 360 version was available.

Disney buys Marvel Comics

http://kotaku.com/5349341/disney-spending-4-billion-on-marvel-comics?skyline=true&s=x

Well, I wonder how Gemstone feels about this?

MMOs for the Common Man, Part 3

2009-08-31T08:46:00.000-05:00

I close up with the final pieces of advice.

4) I’m not upgrading or buying a new computer for your game. The days of Killer Apps are gone. The only time a game drives hardware sales are on consoles when the consumer has already determined they will buy one, but not which one, or the fanatics who just have to have it (which seems to be almost exclusively Final Fantasy and Halo fans). I’m already paying $50 for the game, $15 a month for a subscription, don’t then demand that I fork out $150 for a new graphics card and $30 for another stick of RAM. Why don’t you try making your game run on more common hardware?

4a) If you plan on selling a game at a major retailer, like say Walmart, why don’t you also make sure that they sell hardware that will run your game, just in case someone gets the wild idea of buying a computer just to play your game.

4b) If given the choice between 2 new games I am interested in, but one won’t run smoothly on what I have and one will, I’m going to buy the one that runs smoothly. Be aware of the requirements of other software launching around the time you are.

5) I don’t want to buy a game on launch day, then wait until the next day to start playing because you had to rewrite the entire game between the time the discs were pressed and you actually opened the servers. In other words, have your testing done prior to shipping to manufacturers. It’s Ok to have a small patch at launch, but not anything that will take me more than say a half hour to download.

5a) Don’t use the launch period as a third stage of Beta testing. I Beta test games, I like doing it. I get to see things ahead of time, provide some input, and maybe make the game better. I don’t like paying for the privilege of Beta testing.

5b) There are certain things that are not only expected, but should be considered mandatory in an MMO, like working social interfaces and an accurate mapping system. They should be in the game at launch, and when your beta testers are telling you those don’t work, or need to be fixed, you may actually want to listen to them.

6) Don’t make a game based off an existing property if the property brings nothing to the table. There is a World of Darkness MMO coming out sometime around 2011/2012. The problem is, that is will be about a year after 2 similarly themed MMOs (Secret World and Dark World) about the hidden world of magic creatures in the modern age debuts. So what is the property bringing with it? And we aren’t exactly at the height of WoD’s popularity anymore.

6a) If you do base your game off of an existing property, you have to do it justice, not just use the name and abandon everything that attracted people to the property to start with. For an example of doing it right, see Lord of The Rings Online, for examples of doing it wrong, see Dungeons and Dragons Online and Champions Online.

6b) If you feel that doing justice to the property you are basing a game off of would stop you from making the game you want to make, you have 2 questions to ask yourself, Is the game you want to make really that good? Do you really want to use the property? Either way, it is time to rethink the direction you are going.

Bill will give the President the power to shut off the inetrnet

2009-08-28T16:26:00.004-05:00

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html?needawtftag

Wonder what would constitute a Cybersecurity Emergency? We already know President Bush used the Homeland Security Advisory System as a political tool, and Democrats are trying to shut down and avoid debate on health care.

This passes, it immediately becomes a tool to violate someone's 1st Amendment rights.

MMOs for the Common Man, Part 2

2009-08-28T09:47:00.005-05:00

Continuing my advice for MMO makers if they want to start attracting more players.

2) If I can’t pick up your game and figure out how to play in 5 minutes. I’m not going to do that first bit. I read for 2 reasons, enjoyment and to learn something worthwhile. A 100+ page game manual is neither worthwhile nor enjoyable. So I’m not going to bother with it. Give me the low down in a tutorial, and make it quick and simple enough that I’m not having to constantly refer back to documentation of spam chat for help. I have a college degree, a tested IQ north of 130, an MSCE, scored in the top 5% in the nation on the SATs, and I am a trained and experienced systems analyst. If I can’t figure out your game quickly and easily, you have failed as designers.

2a) I have a full time job, a wife, 2 kids. I also have a nice hobby that occupies me 3 or 4 nights a week. I like to take my family to lunch on Sunday and let the kids spend their allowance, and maybe go to the YMCA a couple times a week. You know what that means? I don’t have time for 8 hour raids and marathon sessions for the off chance at the phat lootz. If I can’t pick up your game and be rewarded with some sense of accomplishment in less than an hour, I’m not going to pick up your game.

2b) Have a free trial or a majorly reduced cost trial, or an unrestricted Open Beta period. If I can’t try before I buy, I’m probably not going to buy. Just because I can afford too, doesn’t mean I am going to drop $50 to just try out your MMO.

3) Don’t do something just because WoW did it. I got news for you, WoW is not a game. WoW is a force of nature that exists outside of any logic or reason. You will not steal players from WoW by being like WoW. And those of us who don’t play WoW? Well, the reason we aren’t playing WoW is because we don’t like WoW, so being like WoW won’t attract us either.

3a) Just because WoW did something, don’t immediately discount it. Despite my personal feelings, WoW did do some interesting things and does have a lot going for it. I know it sounds like I am contradicting myself here. But if you look at WoW, it is easily playable and highly addictive. Two things an MMO wants. My problem with WoW don’t stem from the underlying systems of the game, but that’s a different set of posts.

3b) Don’t promise features you won’t/can’t deliver or won’t support. I don’t want to hear about your super new system that will revolutionize game play if it isn’t going to make it into the final game. Don’t demo the systems to the media and at conventions if it won’t be in the final game. That’s called bait and switch, and in any other industry, that could land you in jail.

Next time, I finish this up.

The Return of GI Joe?

2009-08-26T19:49:00.005-05:00

I've been impressed with the return of GI Joe. The comics from IDW, along with the reprints of classic Marvel Joe in trade format, have been very good. The new toys have been almost good enough to force me to collect (since Heroclix has shut down and I am a serial collector), and then they knock me over with the figure pictured here.

Agent Helix, featured in a recent comic one shot about an agent sent under cover to investigate Cobra. The comic was Meh. The actual character of Helix was so under developed I failed to care. I know they were going with a Snake Eyes mystery feel with her, but her depiction just came off as a Final Fantasy reject.

But the fact that they went out of their way to make a toy in the style of the movie toys, that impresses me. That level of commitment to the property makes me feel good about GI Joe and the direction it's going.

I hope my eventual son will have the warm place in his heart for it that I have.
Image from Toys R Us's website.

MMOs for the Common Man, Part 1

2009-08-26T14:42:00.001-05:00

“I got this great idea. I’m going to make an MMO based off of Iain Banks’s Culture series.”
“What?”
“Yeah, we can have Idirans, Changers, Culture Humans, and other aliens.”
“What?”
“Players can work with space pirates, deal with Eaters, and explore Schar’s World.”
“Ok, almost all those words were in English, but to you, they obviously don’t mean what I think they mean, so let’s start again.”

So you think you have this wonderful idea for an MMO, some exciting idea or unused property that will draw an audience. You have a vision of what the game should be like and play like. You have secured rights, opened a web site and hired developers. Things are running smoothly, but there is one thing you forgot to think about. Customers.

Customers seem the be the most over looked part of MMO development, which is odd considering they are the most crucial part of the MMO cycle, you build, they play, you build more, they play more. With out the “They” portion, you have a few million in development gone to waste.

And considering that I am exactly the demographic that video games and pop culture in general seem to target (adult male between 18 to 34, with multiple computers and game consoles, a household income well over the national average, and plenty of disposable income and credit), it is amazing how often my opinion appears to be discounted in MMOs. They do a good job on targeting press releases, banner ads, and box art to me (Ozzy Osborne, boobs, Mr. T, boobs), but actual game play seems to be targeting the unemployed hermit with no social skills, love of repetitiously engaging in the same series of button clicks, and who happen to have multi thousand dollar computers that they meticulously update with the latest hardware and software on a monthly basis.

Granted, I’ve been on enough MMO message boards to know that those people do exist. But how many of WoW’s 11 million plus accounts belong to those people? Is it really enough that companies can afford to alienate other players by catering to them?

Apparently, there are, based on the MMOs I’ve tried recently. I’ve been playing MMOs since Everquest in 2001, kind of a late adopter, I know. But I’ve been through a lot of them, EQ, Sims Online, WoW, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Age of Conan, Runescape, Matrix Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and a nameless mass of free to play or microtransaction based MMOs. I’ve also beta tested Tabula Rasa, Lord of the Rings Online and Champions Online.

I’ve tried so many at this point, I know who copied what off who. I can play a few minutes and tell you which other games the designers had a hand in. And I know within 1 hour of play whether I’m going to like a game or not. As such, I’ve got a set of guidelines for future (and current) MMO developers who want to target me, a guy with cash, but who also has the stuff that makes cash possible, like a job, bills, a family, and a hobby or two that doesn’t involve the phrases LFG and WTS.

This looks to run a might long, so I’m going to break it up into parts.

1) I don’t care about your “Vision”. Yeah, this one is pointed directly at Cryptic and Jack, I couldn’t care less about what your inner artist believe is compelling and speaks to the inner nature of man. I have a very nice art museum a few blocks from my house for that, thanks. Anything you add or remove from the game that does not go directly to “Fun” or “Playability” (which seem to have become alien concepts to developers recently) just to fit your Vision, you need to reconsider. And if after reconsidering, you want to keep it, go back and reconsider again, and keep reconsidering until you realize we only care about having fun with the game and dump things that are not either “Necessary” or “Fun”.

1a) The following do not fall under the category of “Necessary”:
Time Sinks
Fighting any member of the rodentia family or the equivalent there of
Time Sinks
Death Penalties
Time Sinks

More coming soon

Why aren't you reading...Power Girl?

2009-08-21T15:09:00.004-05:00

While I am a bigger fan of Marvel comics, DC has done a much better job of putting out comics that are just plain fun: Suicide Squad, Secret Six, the relaunched Doom Patrol/Metal Men combo, Green Arrow & Black Canary, and this book. One that doesn't get as much recognition as it deserves.

Power Girl exists within the greater DC Universe, but avoids the over seriousness that plagues Batman and the Green Lantern series right now. The stories are a throwback to the kind of plots you would see in silver and bronze age comics. The first arc featured the Ultra-Humanite deciding he wanted to be a hot woman and attempted to blackmail Power Girl into giving up her body by levitating Manhattan a few miles up and threatening to drop it.

Unlike other comics which feature exaggerated and impossible physiques, Power Girl is very self aware, without breaking the 4th wall like you would find in She-Hulk. She know what she looks like and it is played for humor.

Artist Amanda Conner is doing a great job here. The art work is clean and detailed, but without being distracting. It's not photo referenced or photoshopped, which adds to the charm of it's bronze age feel. It looks like and feels like classic George Perez work. I'm not normally a follower of a particular artist, I usually follow writers, but her work is such a relief after the heavy, overly stylized or realistic look that most main stream comics have these days, I'm going to keep an eye out for other comics with her name on them. I also have to say that the coloring job is fantastic as well. It looks digital, but feel hand colored, again, adding to the lighter, fun feel of the comic.

Finally, the comic is accessible. It starts with Power Girl trying to build up her secret identity and with issue #4 it adds a POV character in the new Terra, who's learning the ropes of being a super hero from Power Girl.

Check this comic out, it's worth it.

New Zombie Nations

2009-08-19T14:25:00.003-05:00

Foreignpolicy.com has an article on the theoretical rise of zombie states (interesting because 20 Small and I both read World War Z recently and kind of discussed this).

Here is the article:http://drezner.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/08/18/theory_of_international_politics_and_zombies

I say screw the politics, Re-kill the bastards and let your deity of choice deal with the logistics of classification and placement.

Champions Online Review Part 3: What You Need to Know if you actually play

2009-08-18T21:00:00.001-05:00

First, ignore the name Champions Online:

It maybe called Champions, some Champions characters appear (no Seeker though), you may see some familiar looking words like STR, DEX, ED, PD. But they don't mean squat. They don't work like in PnP. It's worse than DDO, which at least used the 3rd Edition system as a base and the deviated. They didn't even try here.

You build Mana up:

Mana, Endurance, Stamina, whatever you want to call it, don't think of it like a traditional MMO. Think of it like a Rage or Aggression bar from a fighting game. Every character starts with an Endurance (End) Building power, and End Building can be added to other powers (this is called Accelerated Metabolism). You build End up, and then expend it using other powers.

Also, End isn't always End. You will see End and Energy used interchangeably in the game, both referring to the same thing.

You can only have 1 passive power and 1 block power active at a time:

You can take multiples and as you level you can create multiple “Builds” based on the role you will play in a fight, but only 1 passive can be active at a time. This maybe the feature I hate the most, as it really stops you from building a quality tank. It also makes you waste powers. By level 20 you will have your character built, 1 End builder, 1 powerful melee attack, 1 powerful ranged attack, 1 AoE attack/Nuke, 1 travel power, 1 primary defense, 1 block power, and 1 click buff. You may sub out some Crowd Control or Healing or extra buffs and debuffs. So, you now have 20 levels worth of additional powers to take, maybe you would want to fill those out with say some Regen or Damage Mitigation or additional block abilities. You can get them, but you can only use one at a time. So if you have a block that works well against Energy and one against Physical, you better know which will be better before the fight starts, because you can only use 1 and you can't switch on the fly thanks to the build systems cool down timer. Got both Invulnerability and Regeneration, only get to pick one at a time.

Memorize where the “Z” key is:

You will use it a lot. Pressing the “Z” key while an enemy attempts some kind of CC on you will help minimize it's effectiveness. Also, the “Z” key is the default interaction key for world object and NPCs. Don't hit it too much though, you can skip things you need by doing that.

Problem is, if there are multiple things around you that can be interacted with, the Z gets confuzzled. Was that bad guy hitting you with a hold and you were pressing Z to resist it, but a park bench was nearby? Too bad, you are now held holding a park bench over your head.

Know what BAM, BOOM, FOOM, KABOOM mean:

You will see these word appear over enemies' heads as they charge up major attack powers. Actively Blocking (hold SHIFT) when these attacks go off significantly reduces the damage you take.

BANG: Single Target Attack
BOOM: PBAoE Attack
FOOM: Cone AoE Attack
KABOOM: Targeted AoE Attack
FREEM: Single Target or Cone attack that invokes a status effect as well as damage

Look at you mission status area, you may just have stumbled into a mission:

The game has “Open Missions” missions that are occurring over and over in a given geographic area. Once you enter that area, you get the mission and your share of the experience and rewards is based upon how much you contribute to the mission.

Champions Online Review Part 2: Breaking it down

2009-08-17T20:42:00.000-05:00

Graphics:

The graphics in this game are good, but inconsistent. This really detracts from immersion and is a distraction. The actual character models are well detailed, animate smoothly, and look good. But they look plastic. It's like someone took an Alex Ross cover and ran it through the Plastic Wrap filter on Photoshop.

Some enemy models are highly detailed like the character models, the Foxbot enemies and the Super Villains. Others are barely detailed to the point that they should just be faceless, formless blobs. Background run from the extremely detailed desert landscapes to minimalist art deco style buildings you would see in Batman the Animated Series. Both are fine on their own, but again a lack of consistent art style detracts from the game.

This is also true with the environmental objects. Things like billboards are super detailed high tech, slick and bright, but cars are little more than noir shaped outlines.

Gameplay:

If you've played WoW or EQ, you've played Champions. The only difference is the End builder mechanic, and it isn't different enough to distinguish game play in anyway.

Sound:

Through most of the Beta, sound didn't work at all on my primary computer due to a bug where the game would crash if you had a 64-Bit processor and ran Realtek sound drivers. When sound did work, it was generic and often didn't match up with the action on screen, being delayed like a bad kung-fu film dubbing.

When it did work, it was servicable.

Fun:

Taken by its parts, CO is kind of fun. But it's pretty mundane. There is nothing here you haven't seen already. Playing for more than an hour at a time, the contact grind and time sinks begins to wear on you. The problem is that to have any sense of accomplishment you really need to be playing for 2 or 3 hours at a sitting. This means it gets old pretty quickly.

In Game Systems:

Crafting: Almost useless. You will have better items from missions and random drops than you can craft at all points. You also have to harvest resources, and what you harvest is random. You also do a lot of “research” on items you find, which allows you to reclaim resources from them as well as increasing your crafting skill. The only time I really used crafting was to build consumable health packs.

Social: Didn't work. Teaming didn't, Auction House didn't, Ignore didn't, Search didn't. Multiple testers advised them that these features needed to be top of the list. Instead we got Winamp and I-Tunes integration.

PvP: You want to PvP? Do you want to PvP to win? Get a flight, get invulnerability, get a charge up ranged attack power. Make sure you have more of those than the other guy. You've just won. Every, and I mean Every, PvP match I participated in was won by the side with the most ranged attackers.

Combat: A lot of promises were made about combat, almost none were kept. Environment affecting combat was promised, didn't happen, enemies can shoot through cover, can super jump to the top of buildings, and almost every enemy above the basic “henchman” level has a ranged attack power that shuts off your travel power. Dynamic combat was promised, didn't happen. Target mob, press 1 for auto-attack, when End is high enough, hit your stronger attack. That's it. There is active blocking, but almost all MMOs have that now, so it is hardly awe inspiring.

Controls: Standard MMO.

Champions Online Review Part 1: Background on Champions Online

2009-08-16T13:02:00.009-05:00

As Champions Online (CO) turns the corner into Open Beta and the NDA is lifted it's time to talk about the game. I joined Closed Beta back in December and the game was literally an unplayable mess until about April. And since then, it has come a long way. The first thing I had to to when I wrote this was vent about the Beta itself. This is the 3rd closed Beta I have been part of, and it was the worst. It was the worst when it came to the actual quality of the game they presented to us, worst when it came to the beta staffs responses and responsiveness to the testers, worst communication between the staff and testers. Which is made even more annoying because it had the best Beta testing community when it came to knowledge, providing feed back, and helpfulness. So, I vented, I won't bore you with my venting, so that's been edited out.

CO is creatively Bankrupt:

Sorry to say it, but it's true. It's one giant pop-culture riff, mocking, and rip-off, and not a funny one like you would get from a classic MST3k or Airplane!. It's like watching Scary Movie or Meet the Spartans over and over. A good chunk of contact and story line is ripped off from some other movie, game, or book. Despite how much I love the movie, did we really need 2 contacts based off of “Big Trouble in Little China” and multiple story lines taken from it? Did there need to be two mission arcs based off of “Apocalypse Now”? Was it necessary to have a reference to obscure SCTV characters that most players won't recognize in Canada? And I can go on: Kill Bill, Anchorman, Blazing Saddles, They Live, Braveheart, Hellboy, and Pokemon all get used in the game. The entire Canada Crisis zone is a riff on Lost, a good chunk of the Desert is Westworld. For the love of Jack Kirby, there is a mission named after a Judy Blume book.

Even the systems are a rip off. If you do a pallet swap from WoW grey to blue, you have CO. The UI, the mission system, the dialog boxes, mission reward selection. All of it is straight WoW with little to no modifications.

And it's very easy to see that Jack “Statesman” Emmert had a hand in this. Signature costume pieces from CoH are blatantly copied here (I have seen some awfully familiar crab like back pieces in this game). What makes that even sadder is that despite the huge advancements in character scaling and coloring CO has over CoH, you actually have less costume options when it comes to the actual clothing your character wears. I will give them that they have a greatly expanded selection of mecha and angel/demon costume pieces. Of course this leads to a different kind of creative bankruptcy. If you stand at the entrance to the tutorial on a night when a batch of new beta players are allowed in, you invariable see a parade of Led Zepplin and Meatloaf album covers interspersed with a little Manzinger and Robotech. Hell, if you stand in Renaissance Plaza you'll see more winged characters than a demo of Aion. It's not just costumes, it's enemies as well. They even included Chinese Ninja Sorcerers that teleport.

Finally, if you played CoH you should remember a few years back there was an April Fools press release about adding visual sound effects like “Bang” and “Freem” to the game. Jack liked the idea so much it is actually an integral part of the game mechanics. Yes, you will see “Freem” popping up over enemies heads. Frequently.

Don't Listen to Jack Emmert:

Jack is either completely ignorant of the development of the game, or has been purposefully leading a media misdirection campaign this entire year. Either way, you can pretty much ignore everything he has said about the game this year. I won't go start pulling quotes, but it's a pretty good rule of thumb. If you look at his recent interviews with Kotaku.com, his comments on what the testing community was saying are the opposite of what we were saying.

One of the most important and talked about features of the game is not officially supported:

That would be playing with an Xbox 360 Controller. Every video you see of public play tests, every appearance on G4 TV revolves around the use of a 360 controller. The initial control design of the game didn't even have keyboard turning built in because it was expected that you would play FPS style with a 360 controller. The G4 MMO report even once mentioned that “If you aren't playing with a 360 controller, you aren't playing it right.” Well, the controller isn't officially supported and the developers refused to respond to issues with the controllers.

Another important feature just didn't make it:

Remember when they talked during the early development of the game about not having cool down? Once the animation was over, you could hit the power again. That's not right. Some powers have cool down and some might as well since they made the animations excessively long.

The Game is Cheap:

Remember playing old Nintendo Games and it would seem like the game “cheated” to make it harder on you? Well, welcome back to that old feeling, CO does that a lot. Enemies will suddenly develop travel power like abilities to chase you down, they will move into areas you can't follow or hit them in, but they can hit you. They will chain juggle you like a Killer Instinct combo. They have no limit on their use of powers that normally cost Endurance to use. Their sight and attack ranges are huge, much bigger than yours. And powers that require charging, well, they can be charging the second one up while the first one's animation is still finishing.

And PvP is cheap. Ranged attacks, flight powers, invulnerability and healing are all over powered for PvP, and playing on a game pad or 360 controller presents you with a major advantage over keyboard play in PvP. PvP matches boil down to this: The team with the healer wins, and the most flying ranged attackers is the tie breaker.

Instanced missions were added as an after thought and it shows:

They are very short and under developed, and most appeared during the last month of testing. A lot of missions that should be instanced aren't. There is one mission where some bad guys have taken a lab and infected the staff with an experimental mutagen. You have to get there, get the stuff to make the antidote, and save the scientists. Would make sense to have this happen in the lab, nope, you do this all from the parking lot.

Some incredibly odd choices were made during development:

Twitter integration, control of I-Tunes and Winamp from within the game, useless Chibi-Style vanity pets were all added to the game, to be fair we have been told that a programmer did the Twitter thing in his off time, but it's there. They did this instead of fixing: bugged mission, invalid costume pieces (for that, they just don't let you create the character if the pieces make an invalid costume), broken features, bad text, fixing the Respec system, and other issues that got reported to them. You can also tell that they spent a large amount of time on the Foxbat enemies, giving them very detailed appearances and special animations and effects that no one else had, but ignored most other enemies.

Basic features for a social game were also ignored. The Grouping UI didn't function. The Ignore feature didn't function. The week before Open Beta started, a tester asked about setting it so you would not accept dual, team, or trade invites. A developer told him the chat slash command for doing some of this, as they didn't plan of putting it into the UI.

The game is not Alt friendly and there is very little in the way of repeatability:

Everyone gets the same contacts and the same missions, and you will do them the same way and in the same general order. Most enemies are a palate swap of other enemies, and those that aren't are horribly over powered (Atomic Reanimators and Foxbat robots, I'm looking at you). The game requires little to no strategy, and there is only one way to accomplish each mission. There is no stealth in the game. You can't Crowd Control your way to victory. It's just straight in your face combat.

Here is how you will play the game: Make a character, do the tutorial, this will take you to lvl 5 or 6 depending on if you do all the side missions in the tutorial. Choose a Crisis Zone (Desert or Canada), this zone will take you to lvl 9 or 10. Do the regular version of your zone, this will take you to 13 or 14, then go do the lvl 11-14 content of the other zone, then go to Millennium City (MC), and then the game is straight line play from there with little to no deviation, with occasionally hops to other zones. It'll be that way for all characters, you pretty much have to do every mission to level, so there isn't a lot of options, and there is only one solution for each mission. Play through twice and you have seen it all.

They also expect you to pay via Microtransactions for extra character slots. 1 Server, 8 characters. Want anymore? You gotta either delete one or buy another slot for “Cryptic Bucks”.

The game is what was left over from Cryptic's attempt at a Marvel game and was cast aside for Star Trek Online:

Despite Cryptic assertions to the opposite, you can still look around and catch glimpses of what was almost Marvel Online. The travel powers of Swinging and Rocket Boots copy the poses of Spiderman and Ironman (I'm not talking similar, I'm talking dead on like they studied the movies). MC's design looks more like New York than a rebuilt Detroit. Open up the big map of MC in CO and look at a road map of New York and Detroit, and see which one this looks like. The city may have been rebuilt, but large bodies of water don't move.

Also, Cryptic claimed that resources were not diverted from CO to ST:O. We know that is bull because one of the diverted community liaisons posted a good bye to us on the test forums when they got sent to ST:O.

Everything you hated about Everquest is back again:

95+% of the content is open world, by the time I had completed 100 missions, I had only been through 3 instanced missions. Most of the missions involved killing a certain number of spawns, killing a named spawn, or interacting with a clickable or multiple clickables. Almost all of them involved waiting for a respawn or refresh of something. And this was during Closed Beta with a very small amount of players.

Oh, and welcome back spawn camping, we missed you too. With the limited number of spawns for some missions that require you to interact with multiples of the spawn, it's easier to spawn camp than to actually search for what you are looking for.

And while you can't Ninja Loot, you can Ninja mission spawns. This happens a lot, even in the Beta. You can also do the good old dick move of waiting for some one to aggro a mob you need for a mission, ping it a time or two, and then walk away and let that guy do the work for you. You've now gotten mission credit with no risk.

Crisscrossing zones, only I trainer access per-zone, having to zone in/out to get to the trainer. Crafting stations placed in inconvenient and sometimes remote locations. Missions scattered across a zone, far from the mission giver. Ahhhh...Time Sinks.

You will have trouble finding your friends:

There is only 1 “Server”, on the server are the zones. As a zone fills, new instances of the zone are automatically created. Depending on the zone, you can have between 50 and 200 players in it before a new instance will be created.

Just a little math, Cryptic is shooting for 100,000 customers. Let's say 10% play at any given time. A single zone, MC, allows for players from level 13 – 40. So, a conservative estimate says half the people online will be in that zone. That's 5,000 people in MC. At 200 a pop, that's 25 instances of a single zone. And there is no “Global” chat channel at this time, only Zone wide, and that does not cross instances. There is a little section of the zone list that tells you how many team mates and friends are in each instance, but it wasn't much use in Beta.

And the zones are huge. Massively huge. Bigger than any zones I have seen in other games.

You will have trouble finding your Enemies:

Missions and objectives are not always marked, some are mis-marked. They are often also not near each other or near the contact that gives the missions. Also, the markings that do appear on the map don't exactly tell you much and multiple marking can be used for the same mission types.

A new feature that they implemented are missions where a citizen will run up to you and report a crime in progress. Cool right? Well, these missions are pretty good, but where the citizen finds you and where the mission is are usually on opposite sides of the zone, and the mission is timed, so good luck if you are involved in something else or on a team. Then the fact that the citizens usually interrupt you during a fight, popping up a huge blue dialog box in the middle of the action does lead to problems as well, usually death.

Of course, they planned on you dieing so much that there is no death penalty, instead you get a bonus for living. And no, that is not a joke. It's the Hero Point system, and the more missions you complete, the more combat bonuses you get. When you die, you lose some of these points, but you never go negative.

Despite this, Cryptic managed to pull together something kind of fun at the last minute:

July 24th, 2009. That's the day they released the update that made the game fun. The problem is, it isn't that fun. Had this been an entirely Microtransaction based game, it would be the best game of that type I have seen. As a game that is based on a monthly subscription fee plus Microtransactions, it's decidedly about 5 years too late on content. Of course, the next updates made it worse and stability and load times took a nose dive, but it was fun for a bit.

Champions Online Review Prelude:

2009-08-15T13:57:00.000-05:00

Cryptic could have taken the easy way out. Updated CoH with this gen graphics, tweaked game play, added a new feature or 2 and bam, off and running. But they did something bold and daring. Something I don't think anyone suspected. They took an award winning, super solid, popular concept and idea and totally abandoned it. Cryptic was truly unafraid to suck.

There is one caveat as we enter this: I was unable to test the last 2 sessions of Closed Beta. Cryptic, in their infinite wisdom, decided to REDUCE the times the server was open. Which is Ok, really, as their patching system was malfunctioning, and entire zone needed to be shut down for an entire play session, and the forums indicated there was serious stability issues those two days.

I had planned on showing you some screen shots from the game, but the only ones I have are old or showing graphical glitches. I had planned on logging in the last day of Closed Beta and grabbing screen shots, but, well, you saw that up above.

Champions Online Review - The Preview

2009-08-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

When I started writing this review, it was a multi-part epic review. Was it too much? Could I express myself more succinctly? After 5 pages of typing, I decided to sum the game up in just 50 words:
Kind of fun, nothing new here, good for a couple months play.

District 9 Review

2009-08-14T21:36:00.004-05:00

This is complex. It's two different movies posing as a single entity. It starts as a study in prejudice and man's inhumanity. It's classic science fiction, presenting social issues in a manner that is more accessible and palatable to the audience. It will make you think and it will make you feel bad.

About an hour in, it shifts gears into an action film. The action is very realistically depicted and very visceral, not over the top, not cartoony.

In the end it briefly shifts to a love story.

Overall, it is very well done. It has heavy CGI usage, but it is never distracting, George Lucas needs to watch this before he makes his next film. It's occupied by all unknown actors from an unknown director, but everyone does a very good job.

I recommend that you see it.

Health Care Reform Bill and You

2009-08-11T15:47:00.000-05:00

The Health Care reform bill has tucked deep in its recesses a variety of projects only tangentally related to health care. Let's take a look at one:

SEC. 1904. GRANTS TO STATES FOR QUALITY HOME VISITATION PROGRAMS FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES EXPECTING CHILDREN.

It starts on page 838 of the bill.

If you just skim the bill, you will see this is called a “Voluntary Program” and you think, oh, that’s ok, I just won’t volunteer for it. You’d be wrong. It’s voluntary on the part of the States to join the program, not the citizens.

If your state joins the program they can make home visits to:

-Tell parents what is appropriate in the education of their child (page 844 line 22)

-Tell you how you should be parenting your child (page 845 line 9)

So a representative from your state can come to your house and tell you what and how to teach your children and how you can raise them.

And, they will generate statistical profiles based on race, gender, religion, and age on parents (page 848 line 10, and 849 line 14) to determine who is and is not following the programs.

The program also makes the assumption that if you are being visited you are mistreating your children (page 849 line 9)

Annually, Congress will be briefed on this program so that they can focus on communities that are not responding to the program (page 850 line 11)

That happens to be a violation of the Constitution (the First, Fourth, Fifth, maybe the Ninth and Tenth amendments).

Don’t take my word for it though, or anyone else’s. Read the bill yourself:

http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/AAHCA-BillText-071409_2.pdf

Both sides are lying to you about what this bill contains. This is not just about health care and insurance, and it isn’t a eugenics project. But there is some fairly outrageous material in this bill, attacks on civil liberties and the rights of citizens in here.

GI Joe the Movie

2009-08-07T21:35:00.004-05:00

Ok, the movie isn't winning any awards. The plot, while decent, is very superficially developed, but has an interesting, if obvious twist. There are some continuity issues (Which ear does Heavy Duty have pierced exactly? Snake Eyes is cool with his girl flirting with someone else?).

But forget that.

In the name of Larry Hama, this is good. It's mindless, goofy fun. Great action sequences with a plot that is just enough to movie you along from action scene to action scene. It's what Michael Bay forgot when he made Transformers. We just wanted to see transforming robots kick each other's asses. Steven Sommers gets it. We want to see kick ass fights with cool costumes and gear, and he gives it to us. Straight through the eyehole and into the primal part of the mammal brain responsible for recognizing awesome when you see it.

Everyone does a good job here, even the cat fight sequence is done better than most cat fights. Go see the movie.

Green Lantern...Playa?

2009-08-06T21:46:00.008-05:00

The image over there -> is from DC Comics Justice League Cry For Justice 2. Now, I got issue 1, and then stopped, because it sucked. But this panel has caused an uproar. Apparently, good cop Hal had a drunken threesome with two members of the Birds of Prey, maybe. And that upsets a lot of people. How dare DC has such a cavalier attitude towards sex? How could they have a hero use alcohol to obtain sex? It goes against the characterization of both Hal Jordan and Huntress.

20 Small thinks you could look at this multiple ways, since sex is not directly implicated. She also doesn't think it's a big deal even if they did, because they were all consenting and single adults.

I think "Way to go Hal."

Analyzing...Flo

2009-08-06T21:25:00.003-05:00

The picture to my left is of our subject "Flo" (pic courtesy of Wikipedia). She is an employee of Progressive Insurance. Based on Flo's awkward mannerisms, hyper-fixation on a single subject, lack of understanding of basic social rules, and odd mannerisms, it is probable that she falls somewhere on the Autism-Asperger's Spectrum.

Flo is capable of holding down employement, but it appears that it must be done in a very sterile and non-stimulating environment, indicating that she also probably suffers from ADD-HDD, which is not uncommon in Asperger's cases.

I am concerned about the amount of supervision she receives. There does not appear to be any management or supervisors in Flo's workplace to guide her interactions with customers and the other staff members. She displays inappropriate behavior at work (openly flirting with customer's who want to purchase motorcycle insurance and engaging in conversations about paranormal abilities with other customers). She is also oddly fixated on both her name tag and the rate display in her workplace. Without supervision and guidance, these fixations could be detrimental to Flo.

I believe that Flo may also be under some peer pressure at home. She does not seem to show the kind of interests or aptitude to fashion her hair and make-up in the style that she wears, indicating that there is another party, probably a close friend or family member who has studied Cosmetology, doing this to her. They should be informed that Flo does not work on a street corner and they should stop doing her make-up like a whore.

Champions Online Open Beta

2009-08-04T20:00:00.001-05:00

Still now word on if we are getting extra keys for OB.

Fileplant premium members are getting an Open Beta key, they can download the client starting tomorrow and enter on Aug 17th.

You don't plan to fail...

2009-08-03T19:15:00.003-05:00

Unless you're Cryptic. Cryptic is using Beta Access and bonus items for Star Trek: Online as a selling point for Champions Online.

http://www.champions-online.com/exclusive_specials

Much like Microsoft did with Crackdown and Halo 3, using beta access to sell a game they know will fail.

Sigh.

Hot Sauce v Necro Butcher

2009-07-30T08:22:00.002-05:00

The match with Hot Sauce v Necro Butcher finally got posted on Youttube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hot+sauce+necro+butcher&search_type=&aq=f

That's me in the zebra outfit.

20 Small Reviews ... Michael Vick

2009-07-29T08:46:00.001-05:00

20 Small is my wife and capable of putting things much more succinctly than I can.

I give you 20 Small's review of Michael Vick being re-instated:

"I hope he got anally raped in prison."

This has been 20 Small's review of Michael Vick being re-instated.

Champions Online Open Beta Starts Aug 17th

2009-07-28T15:17:00.004-05:00

G4 listed it as confirmed last night that the Champions Online Open Beat would start on Monday, August 17th.

That is when Kotaku said it would start. Kotaku also lists the street date for the game as Sept. 1.

Also, if you start visiting gamestop, walmart, amazon, and best buys websites you can start to see the pre-order offers.

Things I love about AD&D

2009-07-27T19:43:00.003-05:00

Things I love about 1st Edition AD&D:

Gygax was so anal retentive about fairness that he made a chart for everything.

This is one of my favorites, for I am a benevolent and merciful DM and will dish out divine, physical altering, life imperiling diseases both randomly and capriciously.

The disease table is second only to the psychosis's table in my heart for things to level on annoying players, or gnomes, you know, whichever.

The Rules: Being a Pro-Wrestler part 1 of X

2009-07-24T09:02:00.002-05:00

8 years as a wrestler. 2 and counting as a ref. I've given a few guys their last match, even more their first match. Bad matches and good matches, big crowds and 3 drunks, some on TV, most not.

At almost every show there has been a couple of guys who are trying to break into the business. Trainees they are usually called, friends of some other work who want to try their hand. Some actually make it to their first match, most of them have no clue how to act. So hear it is, part 1 of the rules to living the life and not getting the crap stomped out of you in the ring:

1) Look like you belong there. You don't have to be ripped or huge or look like a movie star, but you need to look like you belong. Get some ring gear, stuff you only wear in the ring and keep it in good repair. No holes, and clean it regularly (or at least use febreeze).

The imitable Dusty Wolf once said, and I paraphrase, no one is paying to watch two guys who look like they just walked in off the street roll around for ten minutes. And it's true. Even the guys who successfully pull off gimmicks like being a biker or a thug or whatever have some gear, boots, pads, whatever.

Gear is pretty cheap too. You can find a simple singlet for $25 on the internet, a set of mat shoes and kickpads will set you back another $50 or so. So for $75-100 you look like a pro.

Take care of it. That's your livelihood right there. Treat it like that. Treat it good and it will last. Sew up tears, clean it. And get Febreeze. Before and after you wear it, spray your gear down. If I step into the ring and I get a face full of rancid smelling tights, I'm going to make sure your neck feels it the next morning.

20 Small Reviews... Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

2009-07-18T14:32:00.002-05:00

20 Small is my wife and capable of putting things much more succinctly than I can.

I give you 20 Small's review of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince:

"WTF? Dumbledor kept coming on the Harry, they totally messed up the ending, the director kept asking you to make illogical jumps."

This has been 20 Small's review of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Today's Article full of Win

2009-07-17T11:20:00.002-05:00

http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2009/06/wacky-race-cartoon-cars-come-to-life-in.html

Looks more like Yogi Bear than Muttley in the Mean Machine, but the cars look awesome. Unlike Michael Bay's repurposing of a beloved cartoon , this didn't rape my childhood.