OK, a couple of weeks ago I had a little post to sort of sum up the current status quo in Cosmic Marvel, post-War of Kings. I thought that for today, we could look at what sorts of stories could be told based on the situation.
OK, obviously the Fault offers all sorts of potential for bringing characters into the fold, or writing characters out for awhile. Anyone or anything can come out of there, and either be a source of conflict, an ally, or simply someone lost and uncertain of what to do. One idea, and it's already been touched on a little bit by the arrival of Monark Starslayer, is what do you do with beings that start coming through the Fault? Not criminals or bounty hunters, but say, refugees, fleeing from a dictator. Or maybe they say they're refugees, but representatives of the ruler claim they're criminals. What kind of authority can the Nova Corps (or the Kree, Shi'ar, etc.) exert? Don't they have to respect other kingdoms' laws? Does anybody really want to start up another war, with people not even from their universe?
There can be stories about characters getting lost in the Fault (I think Nova will be doing this by December), and maybe we could find out what's on the other side. Another universe? Lots of other universes? Space between universes? Cynosure? The Exiles Crystal Tower headquarters? All of the above?
Seangreyson told me that a Raptor is passing itself off as the Araki (first minister) of the Shi'ar. OK, so what can be done with that? Gladiator is currently running the show, and I imagine the Raptor will wait and see how he does before taking action. If the Araki offers advice, will Gladiator listen, or does he follow a different course? The Raptors were willing to back Looney Tunes Vulcan until he proved too erratic and unwilling to listen, so I have to think Gladiator will be afforded the same chance.
But there's the question of Darkhawk. He's out there, having sworn to find all the other members of the Hierarchy of Raptors and stop them. Except he's also a wanted criminal for being the killer of Lilandra (well, it wasn't him, but it looked like him). It's doubtful Gladiator would need encouragement to order his capture and execution, but will the Araki press its importance anyway, concerned that Darkhawk might track it down? Or would it actually dissuade Gladiator, preferring he focus on the overall health of the Shi'ar Empire, and trust it's hidden well enough that Darkhawk won't find it?
Nova's going to have to adjust to being not only the top Space Cop, but a leader, and a teacher. Plus, he's got to deal with his brother being in the Corps as well. So part of Rich is gonna want to protect Robbie (he's seen too many Novas die already, and you know he doesn't want to have to explain to their parents how he let little brother stay in outer space and get killed), but Robbie will certainly buck against that, and it'll render him useless. But Rich also can't give Robbie too much free rein. He may have the best grasp of gravimetric fields the Worldmind's seen in two centuries, but he's still a rookie, and one who really wants to be a big-time hero, which is a dangerous combination.
Eventually the Kree are going to learn what the Inhumans had planned with that T-Bomb, and how the Kree would have been left behind, and that's sure to cause problems. Yeah, the Kree/Inhuman alliance beat the Shi'ar, but it tore a giant freaky hole in space, that anything can come through, and the Inhumans were prepared to leave the Kree as the least evolved species in the universe. The Kree have too much pride not to get riled. Who knows if Medusa's playing with a full deck after Black Bolt's death, and there's always the possibility Maximus will have a relapse into being dangerously crazy, instead of helpfully crazy.
I think the two potential wild cards are the Badoon, and Blastaar. During Star-Lord's absence at the start of this year, the Badoon stepped up a bit and started testing their weapons on nearby worlds, while keeping their appearances hidden behind cloaking devices. Back when Annihilation wrapped up, I thought the Badoon would play a big role in what came next, simply because I couldn't see them not capitalizing on all the damage the Skrulls, Kree, and the Annihilation Wave inflicted upon one another. It didn't happen, but they're still there, and it only seems proper, with a Guardians of the Galaxy book, for the Badoon to be a growing concern. But will they make a big, splashy attack on the devastated Shi'ar military, or would they opt to sow dissent amongst the Kree populace? Or form an alliance with Blastaar? Or do all three at once (since they could use Blastaar to draw attention away from themselves).
As for Blastaar, he's the one I'm most interested in. Nova's bravado aside, everyone has to be concerned about Blastaar, if for no other reason than everyone remembers what happened the last time an army came out the Negative Zone. He was already pretty powerful, and now he's sporting a Cosmic Control Rod (though that raises its own issue). He certainly wants to conquer, and he's now set up right on the border of the Kree Empire, having taken Ravenous' Territories away from him. But more than that, he seems to want respect. He wants to be recognized as a true monarch, worthy of respect. So that means that you can't be sure what he'll do in a given situation. Yes, he might attack you during a moment of weakness, but he might decide (or could be convinced) that it would be better for you to owe him one, and he could come to your rescue. Of course, having allied himself with you, he might later stab you in the back when he felt it appropriate, but he might as readily not. So you never know what you get.
Might as well address that little issue I mentioned. See, the Cosmic Control Rod was being used by a usurper to keep the baby Annihilus we saw at the end of Annihilation from growing up. The Raptors killed the usurper, took the Rod, and gave it to Blastaar, to convince him to help the Shi'ar. Which he did, until he stopped feeling like it. But without the Rod, the baby Annihilus will have started growing again, and I'm not sure Blastaar realizes that. I don't know how fast an Annihilus grows up, but he could prove a rather rude surprise for Blastaar. And everyone else.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Time Travel Via Ill-Reputed Paths Is Tricky
A Shortcut In Time is a bit of an odd book. It's told by Josh Winkler, and starts with him relating how his younger brother's (Kurt) life was ruined when they were teenagers. Then it advances to his present, where he's an artist, and his wife, Flo, (whose life was also altered by the same incident that ruined Kurt's) is a successful pediatrician, and they have a teenage daughter, Penny, who is afraid of storms. The trouble starts when she's heading home from a friend's, and gets caught in a storm. She phones Josh from a random person's home (she sought refuge there), and Josh walks over to get her. As he does, using footworn paths called "perp walks" that run through part of town, the storm seems to stop. He reaches the man's house, but his daughter isn't there. Hasn't been there. Neither has the storm for that matter. At least, not for another fifteen minutes.
Yep, Josh somehow traveled back in time. Soon enough, he's met an oddly dressed girl named Constance, looking for someone named "Dash". Turns out she's from 1908. As Josh tells his family about all this, it achieves some level of notoriety in the town, since Penny can't keep it to herself. Flo is mostly annoyed by the whole thing, worried that it will attract sufficient attention she'll lose her special zoning that allows her to operate her business in her home. Against her advice, Josh tries to help Constance find her way home, while trying to keep her from learning too much about what's to come (not much success on that score). Then Penny vanishes, and Josh has to find some way to bring her back. Cue difficulties with not changing the past, and cue failure to avoid changing the past.
It's sort of an odd book. No real attempt to explain how the time travel works, or why it's happening at all is made, but that makes sense considering the characters. Outside of Josh, Constance, and Penny, no one really takes it terribly seriously, and those three are more concerned with achieving their various goals, rather than understanding how they're able to do so. Still, it is strange that one person travels 15 minutes back, another almost 100 years forward. A dog travels perhaps 30 seconds ahead, Penny travels almost 90 years back, and somehow, so does Josh. Why does he travel the same distance back that she does? No clue.
It is funny, though, watching Josh try to undo changes Constance made once she got home (and it's a bit evil how he does it), but then he turns around and makes changes as well, though he doesn't realize the severity of them until later. The other bit I like is that, having read the book jacket, I knew the book involved time travel going in. So by the end of the first chapter, I figured there would come a time when Josh would use the time travel to alter the course of Kurt's life. Dickinson plays around with that some, and I was suitably impressed with that twist. The other interesting bit is that when Josh makes it back home, he's befuddled by all the changes from what he knew. Over time, though, he gradually seems to know the new timeline, while still remembering the old one. It isn't that he learns people's names by talking to them, it's that eventually he just knows their name, because in this timeline, they're old acquaintances, so he would know them. It makes me wonder if, given sufficient time, he'll forget everything from his old timeline. That could have some interesting consequences, given the end of the story.
I like how most of the characters are written. Josh is a curious fellow, prone to being driven, but not always certain what is driving him. He cares for Penny deeply, and wants her to follow a path of her choosing, but he would really like it if that path would keep her close to him (emotionally, at least). Penny loves both her parents, but is independent enough she'll do as she pleases, but she's also deeply caring. Constance is driven, but devious, though she tries to play that off as the present corrupting her, but I don't buy that. There's Jack Ketch, childhood bully, who is fortunately barred from gaining too much power as an adult by his stupidity and love of abusing power.
Then there's Flo. I suppose I understand her annoyance with the whole thing, and what she feels is Josh's obsession with it. She's the primary breadwinner, and him talking about time travel is hurting her business. At the same time, she is so completely unsupportive, I thought I was watching a sports movie. I half expected a scene on a staircase where Josh proclaims he's going to travel back and find Penny, only to have Flo exclaim, "You can't do it, Josh!" Maybe Dickinson is making a point about people coming together in tragedy, that it's nice, but it doesn't last because eventually the memory of the tragedy fades?
I will say the end seems rather abrupt. Josh spends seemingly a lot of time in 1918, wandering around, talking to people, trying to get some food, trying to figure out how to save Penny, but the resolution once he's back home comes quickly. Remaining questions and difficulties are wrapped up in the space of a few pages, when I would have liked to have seen those in greater depth, or seen the story carry on beyond where it ends. I suppose Dickinson decided to leave that to our imagination. Somewhat weak ending and inconsistent time travel usage aside, I thought it was a good book. I think it's more about the characters, and the time travel serves as a tool for them to learn things about how they relate to one another, their differences, and similarities.
Yep, Josh somehow traveled back in time. Soon enough, he's met an oddly dressed girl named Constance, looking for someone named "Dash". Turns out she's from 1908. As Josh tells his family about all this, it achieves some level of notoriety in the town, since Penny can't keep it to herself. Flo is mostly annoyed by the whole thing, worried that it will attract sufficient attention she'll lose her special zoning that allows her to operate her business in her home. Against her advice, Josh tries to help Constance find her way home, while trying to keep her from learning too much about what's to come (not much success on that score). Then Penny vanishes, and Josh has to find some way to bring her back. Cue difficulties with not changing the past, and cue failure to avoid changing the past.
It's sort of an odd book. No real attempt to explain how the time travel works, or why it's happening at all is made, but that makes sense considering the characters. Outside of Josh, Constance, and Penny, no one really takes it terribly seriously, and those three are more concerned with achieving their various goals, rather than understanding how they're able to do so. Still, it is strange that one person travels 15 minutes back, another almost 100 years forward. A dog travels perhaps 30 seconds ahead, Penny travels almost 90 years back, and somehow, so does Josh. Why does he travel the same distance back that she does? No clue.
It is funny, though, watching Josh try to undo changes Constance made once she got home (and it's a bit evil how he does it), but then he turns around and makes changes as well, though he doesn't realize the severity of them until later. The other bit I like is that, having read the book jacket, I knew the book involved time travel going in. So by the end of the first chapter, I figured there would come a time when Josh would use the time travel to alter the course of Kurt's life. Dickinson plays around with that some, and I was suitably impressed with that twist. The other interesting bit is that when Josh makes it back home, he's befuddled by all the changes from what he knew. Over time, though, he gradually seems to know the new timeline, while still remembering the old one. It isn't that he learns people's names by talking to them, it's that eventually he just knows their name, because in this timeline, they're old acquaintances, so he would know them. It makes me wonder if, given sufficient time, he'll forget everything from his old timeline. That could have some interesting consequences, given the end of the story.
I like how most of the characters are written. Josh is a curious fellow, prone to being driven, but not always certain what is driving him. He cares for Penny deeply, and wants her to follow a path of her choosing, but he would really like it if that path would keep her close to him (emotionally, at least). Penny loves both her parents, but is independent enough she'll do as she pleases, but she's also deeply caring. Constance is driven, but devious, though she tries to play that off as the present corrupting her, but I don't buy that. There's Jack Ketch, childhood bully, who is fortunately barred from gaining too much power as an adult by his stupidity and love of abusing power.
Then there's Flo. I suppose I understand her annoyance with the whole thing, and what she feels is Josh's obsession with it. She's the primary breadwinner, and him talking about time travel is hurting her business. At the same time, she is so completely unsupportive, I thought I was watching a sports movie. I half expected a scene on a staircase where Josh proclaims he's going to travel back and find Penny, only to have Flo exclaim, "You can't do it, Josh!" Maybe Dickinson is making a point about people coming together in tragedy, that it's nice, but it doesn't last because eventually the memory of the tragedy fades?
I will say the end seems rather abrupt. Josh spends seemingly a lot of time in 1918, wandering around, talking to people, trying to get some food, trying to figure out how to save Penny, but the resolution once he's back home comes quickly. Remaining questions and difficulties are wrapped up in the space of a few pages, when I would have liked to have seen those in greater depth, or seen the story carry on beyond where it ends. I suppose Dickinson decided to leave that to our imagination. Somewhat weak ending and inconsistent time travel usage aside, I thought it was a good book. I think it's more about the characters, and the time travel serves as a tool for them to learn things about how they relate to one another, their differences, and similarities.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Examining Daniel Way's Deadpool Up To Now
Which means I had best get to it, since Deadpool #16 comes out this Wednesday and I don't want to fall behind. For a while, I was torn regarding the current Deadpool series. I found the hallucinations funny (sometimes hilarious), but it seemed slight. While the stories were all fairly short and sweet, there wasn't much to them, plotwise. Deadpool didn't have any sort of supporting cast to bounce off, unless one counts the voices in his head. I couldn't figure if Way had any sort of point to what he was doing.
Then Gavok at 4th Letter did a week long rundown of Deadpool's top 70 moments, as nominated by the readers. When he reached 11-20, there was one that caught my eye. Number 13, from a story Way wrote for Wolverine: Origins, where Gavok made what I thought were some very good points about Deadpool and Wolverine, made me think maybe Way does have something he's aiming for with Deadpool. So I figured we could take a look at the book through its first 15 issues, and see what we find. Or, I will and you can read along if you'd prefer, but audience participation is fun! I thought we'd start with the basic outline of each story.
Issues 1-3 involved Deadpool apparently defecting to the Skrulls, allowing them to clone his cellular structure to make Super-Skrulls, then teaching those Pool-Skrulls to think like him, meaning insanely, giving him an opportunity to locate and transmit some important data to Nick Fury. Data which Norman Osborn intercepted. Issues 4 & 5 saw Deadpool, flat broke, accepting a job from Zeke to retrieve Zeke's wife from an Eastern European surgeon who's made her into a zombie who maintains her youth by consuming living flesh. Turns out Zeke was using Deadpool as payment to get his wife back, rather than as her rescuer. Issues 6 & 7 have Tiger Shark trying to kill Deadpool for reasons Wade doesn't learn until after Bob, Agent of HYDRA makes a sudden appearance. Turns out Norman Osborn is trying to tie up loose ends, and thus Wade learns why Fury didn't get the data, and knows who to blame for his not getting paid. Issues 8 & 9 tie-in with Thunderbolts #130 & 131 as Wade tries to attack Avengers' Tower, and fights the Thunderbolts. He develops a crush on Black Widow, and learns Osborn may be crazier than he is. The story ends with Osborn believing Wade is dead of decapitation. Issues 10-12 have Osborn learn that's false and send Dark Hawkeye (Bullseye) after Deadpool, and they engage in a series of abusrd fights until Bullseye pays off Deadpool himself, and tells him to lay low. Issues 13 & 14 have Wade, bored with laying low, trying his hand at piracy, with Bob along as his parrot. Except Deadpool finds himself saving the island resorts he planned to raid from other pirates. Issue 15 finds Deadpool on his boat alone in the middle of the ocean, trying to decide what he wants, and what he should be doing to achieve those desires. His answer by the end of the issue is to join the X-Men.
Which brings us up to now. So what do we see? Well, Wade seems to be used a lot by people that don't really care about him. Fury sent him into the Skrull base for that data, but doesn't seem terribly concerned about Wilson. When Deadpool asks for a little credit for taking all those Skrulls out (not to mention the men and material he cost them with their attempts to duplicate him) Fury simply says that wasn't the mission. Maybe not, but it still helps the resistance effort, so how about a little appreciation? Heck, Fury won't even tell Deadpool what the data he's sending to Fury is until 'Pool acts as though he can't remember the code he needs. Then Fury enlightens Wade, but only because the Merc with a Mouth has him over a barrel, so it's done grudgingly, not out of respect.
The Skrulls don't really care about Deadpool, except for the potential benefit his healing factor might provide their warriors. Deadpool has to keep coming up with reasons they still need him, just to keep them from exterminating him. Then you have Zeke, using Wade to buy back his wife (who doesn't even want to go back to him), and the surgeon who plans to take advantage of Wade's healing factor to use him as a constantly replenishing food source for himself and his staff. Norman Osborn certainly doesn't care, or he would have paid Deadpool himself, maybe even thanked him publicly for his assistance on such a dangerous mission*. And when Deadpool proves to be more of a problem than Norman anticipated, he besmirches Deadpool's name, leaking footage of Wade allying with the Skrulls, of course, leaving out the part where Wade was a double agent**. Taskmaster works with Deadpool, but only because he's promised a silly amount of money to do so. It's not because he likes him. He lets Deadpool use his stuff, but 'Pool is gonna have to pay him back for all of it. Heck, Taskmaster knows Wade's sweet on Black Widow, and still tried to hit on her while disguised as Deadpool. So you have people using Wade for his skills, and people using Wade for his unique biology (the Skrulls and that surgeon), but he keeps being rejected. Like I said, the Skrulls don't really want him around, and it turns out the Weapon X process makes him taste so foul even Zombies won't eat him. Which is a good thing, but it's just one more rejection in a list of them.
Another thing, as part of the whole "being used and disrespected" theme, is how much Deadpool hates it, though being used clearly bothers him more. He killed the lead Skrull scientist in part because the guy treated him like an experiment, even after Deadpool had described how lousy his life as a lab rat in Weapon X had been. Fury disrespects him, Wade merely acts a bit childish, pretending to forget the code. When he learned Zeke used him as a patsy, he suckered Zeke into a trap, where Zeke and his small merc army would serve as food for the surgeon and his staff (and Zeke's wife). When Osborn steals all the glory, Deadpool sends him a mocking fax telling him to pay up or else, then proceeds to make several hair jokes once he actually attacks. After Osborn thinks the problems been dealt with, how does Wade choose to disabuse Osborn of that notion. By briefly teleporting behind Norman during a televised interview with a sign reading "Respawn LOL". If he'd wanted, he could have shot Norman in the head***, payback for stiffing him, beating him, and having him decapitated, but he chooses mockery. Maybe it relates to his comments in #15 about how he'd be glad to be paid for jobs in attention. If he kills Osborn, he can't get any more attention from him. Is Norman Osborn someone he wants attention from?
Way has set Deadpool up as a man alone, no one close to him, living in warehouses, subsisting on cheap tacos, with hardly anything of real value around him. Granted, Way basically tossed out Cable/Deadpool to achieve this status****, but that title hardly gets referenced these days anyway, so he's not the only one. And that's the nature of things with Marvel and DC, a character achieves something they've been striving for, the next writer undoes it and starts the trek again. Way may have been referring to this in #15 when Deadpool mentions the boredom of immortality, and wonders how many times he's put himself in dangerous situations for no gain. Deadpool can't die, at least not permanently. Even if he does lose popularity, and gets killed off, someone will come along, bring him back, and start the whole thing over again. So Deadpool will continue to end in ridiculous situations for one reason or another (or for no reason) for as long as people want to go on writing stories about him. Which means that, in a sense, Deadpool is getting paid in attention. He doesn't see any money for being in all these comics, what with being fictional and all, but people are reading about him, because they care about him (or the characters around him, and he's just a nuisance). Again, though, there's the question of whether that's attention Deadpool wants.
The only person we've seen in the series so far who actually wants Deadpool around is Bob, and I can't figure out why. His life is endangered when he's around Deadpool, not just by people after Wade, but by Wade (Deadpool shoots him in the hand after he learns Bob was working with Tiger Shark), so it doesn't seem as though it would be for protection. Bob seems too much a coward (or too sensible) to be an action junkie who enjoys being around Wade because he attracts danger, so I don't know. Wade doesn't treat Bob well. He makes him buy food, dress as a parrot, beats him with a stick when he forgets to talk like a parrot, shoots him in the hand, and when Bob's in the grip of Tiger Shark, Wade ignores him to grab a gun, and generally doesn't show much concern for Bob's well being.
It's strange, in #15, Deadpool is arguing with himself about wanting acceptance, but the one person in the series who provides that, he treats like dirt. Maybe part of Deadpool realizes it isn't safe for Bob, and that he'll have to drive Bob away, since Bob apparently can't keep himself away from Deadpool. Perhaps it's how Bob treats Deadpool. Bob seems to hero worship Deadpool, and that might make Deadpool uncomfortable. Even if helping protect the island of Jallarka made him feel good, Deadpool doesn't think of himself as a hero. He's a mercenary, he kills people for money. He might not always like doing it, they might be scumbags who deserve it, but that's what occupies most of his time. It's not all he's capable of, as pretty much every writer he's had for any significant piece of time has pointed out, but it seems to be inevitably what things come back to for him. It might be too painful to be around someone who treats you like the coolest big brother ever.
Here's where I think Deadpool's at. He wants respect, and probably love, but he wants it from people who a) matter to him, and b) see him for who he really is. So the people who hire him, like the guy we see in flashback in #2 when Deadpool's running down his history for the Skrulls? They don't matter. They're people who would hire a mercenary to kill people for them, so who cares if they respect him? Besides, they'd only respect his abilities, rather than care about him as a person. Someone like Bob? Well again, if Bob could see more clearly who Wade is, I think he would work, but I think Bob chooses to ignore the aspects of Deadpool that don't line up with the image he has of him, and Deadpool knows it. So even if Wade was himself around Bob, it wouldn't matter, because Bob wouldn't really see him that way.
So that leads to the question: Whose respect and compassion/affection/friendship would Deadpool want, and will they give it to him if they see his true self? For that matter, who is Deadpool's true self? I don't think it was that short shorts wearing, roller-skater with the visor we saw the last half of #15. That was Deadpool's attempt to be normal, which honestly, I don't think is gonna work. He said it himself (to himself, though he was talking to a dead shark): He is original, there's nobody like him, so if he wants true acceptance, trying to be like other people isn't the way to be. He has to be himself, and hope his positives shine through. And now he's gonna see if the X-Men will have him. Well, he ought to be able to be himself around them, considering the number of people with mental issues or criminal pasts they've accepted over they years.
Of course, he's probably got to get past Cyclops to get in, and Cyclops is, well I'd call him various expletives, so that could be tricky, but come on Cyke, you know it's what Cable would want. Do this one for your son that's older than you and lost in the future with the hope of mutantkind (or whatever it is Hope is supposed to be)!
* Granted, as completely as he has the public eating out of his hands, Norman has no incentive to do so, but I think he could possibly have scored some points going that route. Look, Osborn's such a great leader he was even able to appeal to that crazy mercenary to risk his life for the country! Of course, you'd have to keep the payment under the table, but that's not that difficult.
** It's never directly stated that Osborn leaked the footage, but all the statements the news report makes about the footage having just been uncovered, and parts having been damaged and lost due to explosions, but not the part that makes Deadpool look bad, and that it shows up right as Bullseye is zeroing in on Deadpool? Too much coincidence. Still, I can't figure why Norman bothered. Surely he expected Bullseye to kill Wade, so why bother releasing it? To ruin his reputation? To turn more people against him, so he wouldn't be able to find any work, 'cause if he's got no money, he can't get munitions?
*** Repeatedly. Then tossed a grenade or seven on him. I would have been ecstatic.
**** Or at least explain how Wade went from where he was there, to where he is now. At the end of that series, Deadpool had his own apartment, he had at least a half0dozen friends, he seemed to have earned the respect of various "respectable" heroes. The Thing even invited him to a poker game. I can only assume it has something to do with Wade being nuts, and he did something to alienate them.
Then Gavok at 4th Letter did a week long rundown of Deadpool's top 70 moments, as nominated by the readers. When he reached 11-20, there was one that caught my eye. Number 13, from a story Way wrote for Wolverine: Origins, where Gavok made what I thought were some very good points about Deadpool and Wolverine, made me think maybe Way does have something he's aiming for with Deadpool. So I figured we could take a look at the book through its first 15 issues, and see what we find. Or, I will and you can read along if you'd prefer, but audience participation is fun! I thought we'd start with the basic outline of each story.
Issues 1-3 involved Deadpool apparently defecting to the Skrulls, allowing them to clone his cellular structure to make Super-Skrulls, then teaching those Pool-Skrulls to think like him, meaning insanely, giving him an opportunity to locate and transmit some important data to Nick Fury. Data which Norman Osborn intercepted. Issues 4 & 5 saw Deadpool, flat broke, accepting a job from Zeke to retrieve Zeke's wife from an Eastern European surgeon who's made her into a zombie who maintains her youth by consuming living flesh. Turns out Zeke was using Deadpool as payment to get his wife back, rather than as her rescuer. Issues 6 & 7 have Tiger Shark trying to kill Deadpool for reasons Wade doesn't learn until after Bob, Agent of HYDRA makes a sudden appearance. Turns out Norman Osborn is trying to tie up loose ends, and thus Wade learns why Fury didn't get the data, and knows who to blame for his not getting paid. Issues 8 & 9 tie-in with Thunderbolts #130 & 131 as Wade tries to attack Avengers' Tower, and fights the Thunderbolts. He develops a crush on Black Widow, and learns Osborn may be crazier than he is. The story ends with Osborn believing Wade is dead of decapitation. Issues 10-12 have Osborn learn that's false and send Dark Hawkeye (Bullseye) after Deadpool, and they engage in a series of abusrd fights until Bullseye pays off Deadpool himself, and tells him to lay low. Issues 13 & 14 have Wade, bored with laying low, trying his hand at piracy, with Bob along as his parrot. Except Deadpool finds himself saving the island resorts he planned to raid from other pirates. Issue 15 finds Deadpool on his boat alone in the middle of the ocean, trying to decide what he wants, and what he should be doing to achieve those desires. His answer by the end of the issue is to join the X-Men.
Which brings us up to now. So what do we see? Well, Wade seems to be used a lot by people that don't really care about him. Fury sent him into the Skrull base for that data, but doesn't seem terribly concerned about Wilson. When Deadpool asks for a little credit for taking all those Skrulls out (not to mention the men and material he cost them with their attempts to duplicate him) Fury simply says that wasn't the mission. Maybe not, but it still helps the resistance effort, so how about a little appreciation? Heck, Fury won't even tell Deadpool what the data he's sending to Fury is until 'Pool acts as though he can't remember the code he needs. Then Fury enlightens Wade, but only because the Merc with a Mouth has him over a barrel, so it's done grudgingly, not out of respect.
The Skrulls don't really care about Deadpool, except for the potential benefit his healing factor might provide their warriors. Deadpool has to keep coming up with reasons they still need him, just to keep them from exterminating him. Then you have Zeke, using Wade to buy back his wife (who doesn't even want to go back to him), and the surgeon who plans to take advantage of Wade's healing factor to use him as a constantly replenishing food source for himself and his staff. Norman Osborn certainly doesn't care, or he would have paid Deadpool himself, maybe even thanked him publicly for his assistance on such a dangerous mission*. And when Deadpool proves to be more of a problem than Norman anticipated, he besmirches Deadpool's name, leaking footage of Wade allying with the Skrulls, of course, leaving out the part where Wade was a double agent**. Taskmaster works with Deadpool, but only because he's promised a silly amount of money to do so. It's not because he likes him. He lets Deadpool use his stuff, but 'Pool is gonna have to pay him back for all of it. Heck, Taskmaster knows Wade's sweet on Black Widow, and still tried to hit on her while disguised as Deadpool. So you have people using Wade for his skills, and people using Wade for his unique biology (the Skrulls and that surgeon), but he keeps being rejected. Like I said, the Skrulls don't really want him around, and it turns out the Weapon X process makes him taste so foul even Zombies won't eat him. Which is a good thing, but it's just one more rejection in a list of them.
Another thing, as part of the whole "being used and disrespected" theme, is how much Deadpool hates it, though being used clearly bothers him more. He killed the lead Skrull scientist in part because the guy treated him like an experiment, even after Deadpool had described how lousy his life as a lab rat in Weapon X had been. Fury disrespects him, Wade merely acts a bit childish, pretending to forget the code. When he learned Zeke used him as a patsy, he suckered Zeke into a trap, where Zeke and his small merc army would serve as food for the surgeon and his staff (and Zeke's wife). When Osborn steals all the glory, Deadpool sends him a mocking fax telling him to pay up or else, then proceeds to make several hair jokes once he actually attacks. After Osborn thinks the problems been dealt with, how does Wade choose to disabuse Osborn of that notion. By briefly teleporting behind Norman during a televised interview with a sign reading "Respawn LOL". If he'd wanted, he could have shot Norman in the head***, payback for stiffing him, beating him, and having him decapitated, but he chooses mockery. Maybe it relates to his comments in #15 about how he'd be glad to be paid for jobs in attention. If he kills Osborn, he can't get any more attention from him. Is Norman Osborn someone he wants attention from?
Way has set Deadpool up as a man alone, no one close to him, living in warehouses, subsisting on cheap tacos, with hardly anything of real value around him. Granted, Way basically tossed out Cable/Deadpool to achieve this status****, but that title hardly gets referenced these days anyway, so he's not the only one. And that's the nature of things with Marvel and DC, a character achieves something they've been striving for, the next writer undoes it and starts the trek again. Way may have been referring to this in #15 when Deadpool mentions the boredom of immortality, and wonders how many times he's put himself in dangerous situations for no gain. Deadpool can't die, at least not permanently. Even if he does lose popularity, and gets killed off, someone will come along, bring him back, and start the whole thing over again. So Deadpool will continue to end in ridiculous situations for one reason or another (or for no reason) for as long as people want to go on writing stories about him. Which means that, in a sense, Deadpool is getting paid in attention. He doesn't see any money for being in all these comics, what with being fictional and all, but people are reading about him, because they care about him (or the characters around him, and he's just a nuisance). Again, though, there's the question of whether that's attention Deadpool wants.
The only person we've seen in the series so far who actually wants Deadpool around is Bob, and I can't figure out why. His life is endangered when he's around Deadpool, not just by people after Wade, but by Wade (Deadpool shoots him in the hand after he learns Bob was working with Tiger Shark), so it doesn't seem as though it would be for protection. Bob seems too much a coward (or too sensible) to be an action junkie who enjoys being around Wade because he attracts danger, so I don't know. Wade doesn't treat Bob well. He makes him buy food, dress as a parrot, beats him with a stick when he forgets to talk like a parrot, shoots him in the hand, and when Bob's in the grip of Tiger Shark, Wade ignores him to grab a gun, and generally doesn't show much concern for Bob's well being.
It's strange, in #15, Deadpool is arguing with himself about wanting acceptance, but the one person in the series who provides that, he treats like dirt. Maybe part of Deadpool realizes it isn't safe for Bob, and that he'll have to drive Bob away, since Bob apparently can't keep himself away from Deadpool. Perhaps it's how Bob treats Deadpool. Bob seems to hero worship Deadpool, and that might make Deadpool uncomfortable. Even if helping protect the island of Jallarka made him feel good, Deadpool doesn't think of himself as a hero. He's a mercenary, he kills people for money. He might not always like doing it, they might be scumbags who deserve it, but that's what occupies most of his time. It's not all he's capable of, as pretty much every writer he's had for any significant piece of time has pointed out, but it seems to be inevitably what things come back to for him. It might be too painful to be around someone who treats you like the coolest big brother ever.
Here's where I think Deadpool's at. He wants respect, and probably love, but he wants it from people who a) matter to him, and b) see him for who he really is. So the people who hire him, like the guy we see in flashback in #2 when Deadpool's running down his history for the Skrulls? They don't matter. They're people who would hire a mercenary to kill people for them, so who cares if they respect him? Besides, they'd only respect his abilities, rather than care about him as a person. Someone like Bob? Well again, if Bob could see more clearly who Wade is, I think he would work, but I think Bob chooses to ignore the aspects of Deadpool that don't line up with the image he has of him, and Deadpool knows it. So even if Wade was himself around Bob, it wouldn't matter, because Bob wouldn't really see him that way.
So that leads to the question: Whose respect and compassion/affection/friendship would Deadpool want, and will they give it to him if they see his true self? For that matter, who is Deadpool's true self? I don't think it was that short shorts wearing, roller-skater with the visor we saw the last half of #15. That was Deadpool's attempt to be normal, which honestly, I don't think is gonna work. He said it himself (to himself, though he was talking to a dead shark): He is original, there's nobody like him, so if he wants true acceptance, trying to be like other people isn't the way to be. He has to be himself, and hope his positives shine through. And now he's gonna see if the X-Men will have him. Well, he ought to be able to be himself around them, considering the number of people with mental issues or criminal pasts they've accepted over they years.
Of course, he's probably got to get past Cyclops to get in, and Cyclops is, well I'd call him various expletives, so that could be tricky, but come on Cyke, you know it's what Cable would want. Do this one for your son that's older than you and lost in the future with the hope of mutantkind (or whatever it is Hope is supposed to be)!
* Granted, as completely as he has the public eating out of his hands, Norman has no incentive to do so, but I think he could possibly have scored some points going that route. Look, Osborn's such a great leader he was even able to appeal to that crazy mercenary to risk his life for the country! Of course, you'd have to keep the payment under the table, but that's not that difficult.
** It's never directly stated that Osborn leaked the footage, but all the statements the news report makes about the footage having just been uncovered, and parts having been damaged and lost due to explosions, but not the part that makes Deadpool look bad, and that it shows up right as Bullseye is zeroing in on Deadpool? Too much coincidence. Still, I can't figure why Norman bothered. Surely he expected Bullseye to kill Wade, so why bother releasing it? To ruin his reputation? To turn more people against him, so he wouldn't be able to find any work, 'cause if he's got no money, he can't get munitions?
*** Repeatedly. Then tossed a grenade or seven on him. I would have been ecstatic.
**** Or at least explain how Wade went from where he was there, to where he is now. At the end of that series, Deadpool had his own apartment, he had at least a half0dozen friends, he seemed to have earned the respect of various "respectable" heroes. The Thing even invited him to a poker game. I can only assume it has something to do with Wade being nuts, and he did something to alienate them.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Curse My Persistance
As I hinted I might during last week's comic reviews, I did go back and give Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time another whirl, having initially failed to make it to page 40. I even managed to read it the whole way through. It wasn't easy. As late as the final ten pages I was arguing with myself whether to keep reading or just toss the book aside.
The story begins with 15 year, 3 month, and 2 day old Christopher Boone, who finds his neighbor's, a Mrs. Shears, dog dead in her yard, a gardening fork sticking out of it. After some confusion when Mrs. Shears comes outside and sees him holding the dog, and he strikes a policeman who grabbed him, Christopher decides he'll solve the mystery of who killed Wellington, and write it up as a story, which is what I was reading.
The mystery itself is solved halfway through the book, and not really through any detective work done by Christopher on the subject. He's actually investigating something else, and the guilty party simply confesses. The confession also solves another mystery that pops up in the book (why his father is reticent to discuss the absent Mr. Shears), and the remainder of the book is Christopher dealing with repercussions of that revelation. That's not true. Christopher makes a snap decision based on fear, and the rest of the book is everyone else dealing with the repercussions of his actions.
I believe Christopher may be autistic. He goes to a school for kids with learning disabilities, but he's highly intelligent, especially at math and science. He likes to map and plan things out, and gets aggravated when things deviate from the schedule he had. He likes red things, but hates yellow and orange, and doesn't like being touched (hence why he punched the cop, who grabbed his arm). He also dislikes fiction and metaphors, because they're lies, but he likes mysteries. he spends an entire chapter of the book describing The Hound of the Baskervilles to us, even though that was fiction. I'm not clear on why he draws a distinction. Haddon does a good job of making Christopher a fleshed out character, so that his actions later in the book make sense based on what we've learned about him earlier.
Beyond that, the characters don't have much depth. Christopher's parents are mostly aggrieved, then sorry. It's a pattern: Christopher does something that frustrates them, then they apologize to him for getting frustrated. This could be by design. Christopher admits that he can recongize when someone is visibly happy or sad, but he's not good at interpreting facial expressions or tone of voice. The depiction of the characters could be a reflection of Christopher not understanding people, so we only see what he can easily distinguish.
I am pleased the book wasn't simply about a teenage detective sniffing out clues and tricking a confession from someone. The problem is the book is largely about everyone else trying to accommodate Christopher, because he can't seem to perceive beyond what he wants, even more than an average teenager. The last bit of the book (and the part that had me contemplating giving up), all he cares about is his Level A-maths test. In the last 100 hundred pages he's learned SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want the second mystery I mentioned revealed. his father had been lying all those years saying his mother was dead, he's run away from home, traveled to London to live with his mother, thrown her life into chaos, and all he cares about is that he get to take his test when he's supposed to. He's turned her life upside down, his father's freaking out, and he's unconcerned with any of it. It irked me.
I suppose my major problem with the book is that Christopher is so awkward when it comes to dealing with other people that I end up feeling sorry for him. Even a little embarrassed for him. He's going to his neighbors, knocking on their doors, and straight up asking if they know who killed Wellington. Hell, he knocks on Mrs Shears' door to ask her, and when she says she'd rather not see him right now, he sneaks around to her tool shed to see if she's got a gardening fork, then sees no problem when she catches him at it. In his mind, it all makes perfect sense, but I keep waiting for it to really blow up in his face. Perhaps the fact the mystery is solved so abruptly averts that fate. Still, it's difficult for me to read the book while this well-meaning, if self-centered character keeps doing and saying things that have me wincing.
The story begins with 15 year, 3 month, and 2 day old Christopher Boone, who finds his neighbor's, a Mrs. Shears, dog dead in her yard, a gardening fork sticking out of it. After some confusion when Mrs. Shears comes outside and sees him holding the dog, and he strikes a policeman who grabbed him, Christopher decides he'll solve the mystery of who killed Wellington, and write it up as a story, which is what I was reading.
The mystery itself is solved halfway through the book, and not really through any detective work done by Christopher on the subject. He's actually investigating something else, and the guilty party simply confesses. The confession also solves another mystery that pops up in the book (why his father is reticent to discuss the absent Mr. Shears), and the remainder of the book is Christopher dealing with repercussions of that revelation. That's not true. Christopher makes a snap decision based on fear, and the rest of the book is everyone else dealing with the repercussions of his actions.
I believe Christopher may be autistic. He goes to a school for kids with learning disabilities, but he's highly intelligent, especially at math and science. He likes to map and plan things out, and gets aggravated when things deviate from the schedule he had. He likes red things, but hates yellow and orange, and doesn't like being touched (hence why he punched the cop, who grabbed his arm). He also dislikes fiction and metaphors, because they're lies, but he likes mysteries. he spends an entire chapter of the book describing The Hound of the Baskervilles to us, even though that was fiction. I'm not clear on why he draws a distinction. Haddon does a good job of making Christopher a fleshed out character, so that his actions later in the book make sense based on what we've learned about him earlier.
Beyond that, the characters don't have much depth. Christopher's parents are mostly aggrieved, then sorry. It's a pattern: Christopher does something that frustrates them, then they apologize to him for getting frustrated. This could be by design. Christopher admits that he can recongize when someone is visibly happy or sad, but he's not good at interpreting facial expressions or tone of voice. The depiction of the characters could be a reflection of Christopher not understanding people, so we only see what he can easily distinguish.
I am pleased the book wasn't simply about a teenage detective sniffing out clues and tricking a confession from someone. The problem is the book is largely about everyone else trying to accommodate Christopher, because he can't seem to perceive beyond what he wants, even more than an average teenager. The last bit of the book (and the part that had me contemplating giving up), all he cares about is his Level A-maths test. In the last 100 hundred pages he's learned SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! Skip to the next paragraph if you don't want the second mystery I mentioned revealed. his father had been lying all those years saying his mother was dead, he's run away from home, traveled to London to live with his mother, thrown her life into chaos, and all he cares about is that he get to take his test when he's supposed to. He's turned her life upside down, his father's freaking out, and he's unconcerned with any of it. It irked me.
I suppose my major problem with the book is that Christopher is so awkward when it comes to dealing with other people that I end up feeling sorry for him. Even a little embarrassed for him. He's going to his neighbors, knocking on their doors, and straight up asking if they know who killed Wellington. Hell, he knocks on Mrs Shears' door to ask her, and when she says she'd rather not see him right now, he sneaks around to her tool shed to see if she's got a gardening fork, then sees no problem when she catches him at it. In his mind, it all makes perfect sense, but I keep waiting for it to really blow up in his face. Perhaps the fact the mystery is solved so abruptly averts that fate. Still, it's difficult for me to read the book while this well-meaning, if self-centered character keeps doing and saying things that have me wincing.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
You'll Have To Care Ahead Of Time, Because The Game Won't Help
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe has to bank on you wanting to team-up Spider-Man with various members of his Rogue's Gallery, and for that to be sufficient to keep you entertained. Which was a bit of a disappointment. I wasn't expecting something spectacular, but I hoped for more than a lesser version of the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games.
That's what we're dealing with, essentially. You've got Spider-Man and some other character, either another hero or one of his arch-enemies he's working with temporarily. You start the level, enter an open area, fight generic villain cannon fodder. Repeat this many, many times, with occasional fights against large generic villain cannon fodder, until you reach a boss fight. There's a pattern to each boss fight*. You beat the villain (who is being mind-controlled), and they join you because they want revenge. Move to next level. Add in some unlockable stuff, the ability to improve certain characteristics of your characters (through tokens you collect for smashing enemies), and that pretty much covers it.
So yes, it gets tedious. There's a limited amount of dialogue in the game, so certain phrases are repeated frequently, though you'll get an occasional amusing exchange between Spidey and the person he's working with**. The cut scenes before the levels begin are pretty funny. You're helping Nick Fury out on this, and so he and the SHIELD computer are filling you in each time. The computer has a bit of a sense of humor, and enjoys busting Fury's chops, which seems to entertain Spider-Man quite a bit, while annoying Fury. So there's a low-intensity conflict between Nick and the computer throughout the game, which made me laugh on several occasions. Hey, I took my amusements where I found them.
Another problem with the game: They let you play as the Prowler but took away his cape. Come on, give the Prowler his cape back, video game people! I'm as surprised and pleased as anyone the Prowler actually got to be a playable character in a video game***, but he has a nice cape. Is it that hard to animate something a billowy cape?
OK, that wasn't really a gripe. I was only periodically sad Prowler didn't have his cape. More serious problem: Camera perspective. The camera remains in a fixed point throughout the game. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to determine where you are in relation to something else. Say there's an unlockable content thingy floating between two ramps. You want to hop across the gap from one ramp to the other to grab it, preferably without falling to your death. It would be nice if you could move the camera to ensure you were lined up properly, but that's not gonna happen. Other times you'll see what might be a secret area hidden behind a rock, or a building ledge. It also might be a solid wall or bottomless pit. Again, don't expect the camera to swing around where you can actually see what's there before you charge in.
Hmm, what's something positive I can say? Oh, I liked their choice for Villainous Mastermind. I'm a little surprised they went with him, but it's nice to see him get a little love, since Doc Ock, Norman Osborn and those freaking symbionts tend to hog the attention when it comes to Spidey villains.
So, repetitive gameplay, unhelpful camera, but some amusing cut scenes, and they didn't just go with obvious choices when it came to playable characters. I'd say the negatives outweigh the positives, but it doesn't take that long to beat, if that helps.
* With the Rhino, for example, you throw something at him so he charges into an electrical whatsit, gets stunned, and you can punch him a bit, he gets mad, starts stomping the ground, causing rubble to fall (some of which you'll be able to pick up and throw), repeat.
** With the possible exception of the Black Cat, none of the other characters find Spidey funny. Mostly, they wonder if he's suffered brain damage, and act as though they'd rather be there with anybody else.
*** Rocket Racer must be pissed he didn't get invited.
That's what we're dealing with, essentially. You've got Spider-Man and some other character, either another hero or one of his arch-enemies he's working with temporarily. You start the level, enter an open area, fight generic villain cannon fodder. Repeat this many, many times, with occasional fights against large generic villain cannon fodder, until you reach a boss fight. There's a pattern to each boss fight*. You beat the villain (who is being mind-controlled), and they join you because they want revenge. Move to next level. Add in some unlockable stuff, the ability to improve certain characteristics of your characters (through tokens you collect for smashing enemies), and that pretty much covers it.
So yes, it gets tedious. There's a limited amount of dialogue in the game, so certain phrases are repeated frequently, though you'll get an occasional amusing exchange between Spidey and the person he's working with**. The cut scenes before the levels begin are pretty funny. You're helping Nick Fury out on this, and so he and the SHIELD computer are filling you in each time. The computer has a bit of a sense of humor, and enjoys busting Fury's chops, which seems to entertain Spider-Man quite a bit, while annoying Fury. So there's a low-intensity conflict between Nick and the computer throughout the game, which made me laugh on several occasions. Hey, I took my amusements where I found them.
Another problem with the game: They let you play as the Prowler but took away his cape. Come on, give the Prowler his cape back, video game people! I'm as surprised and pleased as anyone the Prowler actually got to be a playable character in a video game***, but he has a nice cape. Is it that hard to animate something a billowy cape?
OK, that wasn't really a gripe. I was only periodically sad Prowler didn't have his cape. More serious problem: Camera perspective. The camera remains in a fixed point throughout the game. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to determine where you are in relation to something else. Say there's an unlockable content thingy floating between two ramps. You want to hop across the gap from one ramp to the other to grab it, preferably without falling to your death. It would be nice if you could move the camera to ensure you were lined up properly, but that's not gonna happen. Other times you'll see what might be a secret area hidden behind a rock, or a building ledge. It also might be a solid wall or bottomless pit. Again, don't expect the camera to swing around where you can actually see what's there before you charge in.
Hmm, what's something positive I can say? Oh, I liked their choice for Villainous Mastermind. I'm a little surprised they went with him, but it's nice to see him get a little love, since Doc Ock, Norman Osborn and those freaking symbionts tend to hog the attention when it comes to Spidey villains.
So, repetitive gameplay, unhelpful camera, but some amusing cut scenes, and they didn't just go with obvious choices when it came to playable characters. I'd say the negatives outweigh the positives, but it doesn't take that long to beat, if that helps.
* With the Rhino, for example, you throw something at him so he charges into an electrical whatsit, gets stunned, and you can punch him a bit, he gets mad, starts stomping the ground, causing rubble to fall (some of which you'll be able to pick up and throw), repeat.
** With the possible exception of the Black Cat, none of the other characters find Spidey funny. Mostly, they wonder if he's suffered brain damage, and act as though they'd rather be there with anybody else.
*** Rocket Racer must be pissed he didn't get invited.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
How Long Does It Take To Discover Slowness
John Franklin, the subject of Sten Nadolny's book The Discovery of Slowness, was a real person. He did travel on a ship to Australia with his brother Matthew Flinders, who was the captain of the voyage. He was a governor of Van Dieman's Island, later renamed Tasmania. He did lead (or co-lead) three expeditions to the Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, including the third one, where he, and apparently all of the crew, died.
Whether Franklin was a signalman on Captain Cook's ship at the Battle of Trafalgar, or was shot in the head at the Battle of New Orleans (the story has the bullet pierce the skin, but travel round the skull and exit out the back), I don't know. I'm not certain how important those events are to Nadolny's story anyway. The sea battles he experiences as a teenager leave him shaken, to the point he occasionally trembles before potential battles, and must work to overcome that, but that's not what the book is about.
Franklin's real problem, at least in the eyes of others, is that he's slow. Which is accurate, in certain ways. He isn't stupid, more deliberate, but not by choice. For whatever reason, he simply can't speed up his reactions and be effective. So part of the story is Franklin trying to compensate for this, until he can find a place where it isn't an issue. This is set forth as part of his interest in the Arctic. During the summer, the sun never sets, and so time does not exist, and if that's the case, the concept of slowness wouldn't exist either. After all, how can you gauge someone to be slow, when there is no apparent passage of time?
Beyond this, Franklin's style is to prepare thoroughly and to take a fixed view of things. When he's a young man serving in the Royal navy, he would spend nights practicing what all the sails and lines were called, as well as the proper responses to all typical commands and questions he might hear. In that way, he would have the answer ready, and would not cause trouble by taking so long to deliberate over the order. Franklin also speaks often of a "fixed view". When a problem presents itself, Franklin will very calmly ponder it for as long as is needed to derive what he feels is the appropriate response. This allows him to maintain his composure in dire circumstances*.
There are obvious flaws with this, namely that Franklin will have difficulty if either something he hadn't planned for occurs, or if new problems arise while he's still on the old one. But Franklin recognizes that for better or worse, he can't change who he is. He can never become fast, and trying to act as though he is will be useless, so he adjusts accordingly.
It's really an interesting story, though the cynic in me can't help but wonder if Nadolny isn't deifying Franklin a bit. He always seems able to maintain his temper, always seems open-minded and progressive, always accepts blame that is rightly his (though he's not going to accept blame that isn't his). All in all, he's a really fantastic guy, and I enjoy reading about his learning how to make things work his way. By the time he reaches the Arctic that he'd always dreamed of, he finds he no longer wants to remain there. Sure, he wants to explore it, but the idea that this would be a place where he could escape being slow is no longer a concern. He's succeeded as who he is, regardless of how different his way of doing things might be, so why would he need to run to a place where he could hide that difference?
It's a story very much about recognizing one's own style, and staying with it, and also te importance of having people who will help you. Franklin doesn't receive much support from his father or siblings, but both Matthew and one of his teachers, a Dr. Orme, are willing to be patient and give John the time needed to order his thoughts, which helps him feel more certain. Franklin and his second wife Jane Griffen both push for schools in Van Dieman's Island, and Franklin is insistent that the schools should be less about indoctrinating children and more about helping them learn their speed and how to succeed with it.
If you have any interest in historical fiction I'd recommend this book.
* An example: While on the first Arctic expedition, a party leaves the boat, and goes exploring on an ice floe. Then they can't find their way back, even with a compass. The men begin proposing all sorts of ideas, while Franklin sits and thinks for a considerable length of time. His order if for one of the men to fire his rifle in the air at set intervals over the next several days if necessary. The men think this mad, to sit and wait on a freezing ice floe, yet it turns out the ice is turning under them as they walk, and this way the ship can find them.
Whether Franklin was a signalman on Captain Cook's ship at the Battle of Trafalgar, or was shot in the head at the Battle of New Orleans (the story has the bullet pierce the skin, but travel round the skull and exit out the back), I don't know. I'm not certain how important those events are to Nadolny's story anyway. The sea battles he experiences as a teenager leave him shaken, to the point he occasionally trembles before potential battles, and must work to overcome that, but that's not what the book is about.
Franklin's real problem, at least in the eyes of others, is that he's slow. Which is accurate, in certain ways. He isn't stupid, more deliberate, but not by choice. For whatever reason, he simply can't speed up his reactions and be effective. So part of the story is Franklin trying to compensate for this, until he can find a place where it isn't an issue. This is set forth as part of his interest in the Arctic. During the summer, the sun never sets, and so time does not exist, and if that's the case, the concept of slowness wouldn't exist either. After all, how can you gauge someone to be slow, when there is no apparent passage of time?
Beyond this, Franklin's style is to prepare thoroughly and to take a fixed view of things. When he's a young man serving in the Royal navy, he would spend nights practicing what all the sails and lines were called, as well as the proper responses to all typical commands and questions he might hear. In that way, he would have the answer ready, and would not cause trouble by taking so long to deliberate over the order. Franklin also speaks often of a "fixed view". When a problem presents itself, Franklin will very calmly ponder it for as long as is needed to derive what he feels is the appropriate response. This allows him to maintain his composure in dire circumstances*.
There are obvious flaws with this, namely that Franklin will have difficulty if either something he hadn't planned for occurs, or if new problems arise while he's still on the old one. But Franklin recognizes that for better or worse, he can't change who he is. He can never become fast, and trying to act as though he is will be useless, so he adjusts accordingly.
It's really an interesting story, though the cynic in me can't help but wonder if Nadolny isn't deifying Franklin a bit. He always seems able to maintain his temper, always seems open-minded and progressive, always accepts blame that is rightly his (though he's not going to accept blame that isn't his). All in all, he's a really fantastic guy, and I enjoy reading about his learning how to make things work his way. By the time he reaches the Arctic that he'd always dreamed of, he finds he no longer wants to remain there. Sure, he wants to explore it, but the idea that this would be a place where he could escape being slow is no longer a concern. He's succeeded as who he is, regardless of how different his way of doing things might be, so why would he need to run to a place where he could hide that difference?
It's a story very much about recognizing one's own style, and staying with it, and also te importance of having people who will help you. Franklin doesn't receive much support from his father or siblings, but both Matthew and one of his teachers, a Dr. Orme, are willing to be patient and give John the time needed to order his thoughts, which helps him feel more certain. Franklin and his second wife Jane Griffen both push for schools in Van Dieman's Island, and Franklin is insistent that the schools should be less about indoctrinating children and more about helping them learn their speed and how to succeed with it.
If you have any interest in historical fiction I'd recommend this book.
* An example: While on the first Arctic expedition, a party leaves the boat, and goes exploring on an ice floe. Then they can't find their way back, even with a compass. The men begin proposing all sorts of ideas, while Franklin sits and thinks for a considerable length of time. His order if for one of the men to fire his rifle in the air at set intervals over the next several days if necessary. The men think this mad, to sit and wait on a freezing ice floe, yet it turns out the ice is turning under them as they walk, and this way the ship can find them.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Someone's Inside There
So Adam Warlock did become the Magus. This is not likely to be a good thing for the Marvel Universe. Still, there's the matter of the cocoon. This Adam Warlock emerged from a cocoon during Annihilation: Conquest, but the Universal Church of Truth has another cocoon just like it, which they've been trying to open ever since they encountered this Adam Warlock. Where the UTC came across this other cocoon is unknown. Who is inside it is unknown. When it first showed up, I figured it was the Magus, but since he's known made the scene through a different avenue, I have no idea.
It could be another Adam Warlock, but that wouldn't explain why the voice of whomever is inside was so angry when the UTCers tried to forcibly open it. Granted, Adam Warlock was disoriented through the early chapters of Conquest precisely because he was forced to hatch before he was ready, so maybe this Adam Warlock is more proactive in making sure that doesn't happen? Or maybe I was right, and it's another Magus. Perhaps his cocoon drifted into the 616 universe through a little tear the Guardians either didn't notice or didn't reach soon enough. Two Maguses (Magi?), it's doubtful they'd get along.
The main thing I had to go off of when I originally guessed Magus was the cocoon, the anger, and the use of the color, since that's Magus' skin color. Hmm, who else is purple? Well, Star-Lord's supposed to run into Kang soon, could he have tried a cocoon as an unorthodox method of traveling backwards in time? Yeah, you're right, that's silly.
Maybe it's Thanos. He's purple, and dead, the last time we saw him. Maelstrom said that Drax killing Dearth's Champion caused an instability in the universe, so could Thanos have come back to serve Death again, and try to even things out? Sure, he wouldn't want to leave Death, but he would if he thought she needed him to. Thanos has interacted with the Magus before (Infinity War), but it might be interesting to see how things went this time, since I imagine both of them have changed since then.
It could be another Adam Warlock, but that wouldn't explain why the voice of whomever is inside was so angry when the UTCers tried to forcibly open it. Granted, Adam Warlock was disoriented through the early chapters of Conquest precisely because he was forced to hatch before he was ready, so maybe this Adam Warlock is more proactive in making sure that doesn't happen? Or maybe I was right, and it's another Magus. Perhaps his cocoon drifted into the 616 universe through a little tear the Guardians either didn't notice or didn't reach soon enough. Two Maguses (Magi?), it's doubtful they'd get along.
The main thing I had to go off of when I originally guessed Magus was the cocoon, the anger, and the use of the color, since that's Magus' skin color. Hmm, who else is purple? Well, Star-Lord's supposed to run into Kang soon, could he have tried a cocoon as an unorthodox method of traveling backwards in time? Yeah, you're right, that's silly.
Maybe it's Thanos. He's purple, and dead, the last time we saw him. Maelstrom said that Drax killing Dearth's Champion caused an instability in the universe, so could Thanos have come back to serve Death again, and try to even things out? Sure, he wouldn't want to leave Death, but he would if he thought she needed him to. Thanos has interacted with the Magus before (Infinity War), but it might be interesting to see how things went this time, since I imagine both of them have changed since then.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Antarctic Expeditions Equal Possession?
Going by the back cover, Polar isn't the first book T.R. Pearson's written featuring Ray Tatum. I wonder if the others are this unusual. The book is set in rural, upland Virginia, and at least partially revolves around Tatum's years-long search for a missing child. The young girl frequently explored the woods behind her family's farm, and vanished.
Added to this is Clayton, a fellow who spends most of his time in his house, watching the "Satin Channel", which sounds like Playboy, basically. When he's not watching that, he's regaling anyone he can grab hold of with the intricacies of the plots of the movies, while being extremely descriptive, and completely oblivious to any offense he might be causing. That last characteristic seems shared by most of the people in the community, from and old lady who seems to run over damn near anything in her Crown Vic (yet insists she's fine to be driving), to the family that sneaks on their neighbor's peach farm, and steals as many peaches as they can, then sit in their yard and sell them, without a concern in the world.
As the story begins, Clayton's in the supermarket, describing one of the movies, when he suddenly goes still, and then insists his name is Titus. He pays for his groceries, heads quietly home, and from then on, ignores his TV, choosing to either sit quietly in his chair, getting up occasionally to sketch something on the plaster above his fireplace. Tatum's girlfriend identifies the drawing as Antarctica. See, somehow, Clayton has been possessed by the spirit of a fellow named Titus who was part of an expedition to reach the South Pole, only some Norwegians beat them there. Most of the expedition died in their tents, but Titus wandered off into a storm. Yeah. Oh, and this has given Clayton/Titus some sort of predictive ability. It's vague, only works if he makes physical contact, and makes no sense until after the event has happened, but it's there.
That's what leads into the missing child, though she'd been gone for at least a year already by then. Pearson starts in their present, jumps back some distance into the past, then works forward, sometimes flashing back, then eventually proceeds beyond the place the book started. Which makes it a tad difficult to keep track of when things are happening in relation to one another. Anyway, Tatum touches Clayton/Titus' shoulder, worried about him, and the fellow says 'It's Melissa now. Sometimes Missy. Never Angela. Never Denise.' The last two being the names the missing girl went by. It's all a rather strange way of getting around to the point, which isn't held for long, since Pearson frequently diverges into anecdotes about the various folks who come to Clayton/Titus for information. The anecdotes largely serve to make every person who lives in the area seem a lout, or outright scumbag. They're all stealing from each other, cheating on each other, lying to each other, killing pets just because, whatever. It left me with the impression a meteor strike in the area would be a vast improvement.
Setting aside the randomness of Pearson having a character possessed by the spirit of an Antarctic explorer to provide visions of limited use, that brief statement really only serves as a way to introduce us to the quest Tatum is on. It wasn't as though Tatum had stopped looking, the unknown storyteller informs us he still goes out to the park and searches. His problem was lack of leads, and Titus didn't actually provide one, except perhaps to confirm Ray's suspicion she was still alive. It feels unnecessary, from a plot standpoint.
I've been trying to decide if Pearson is drawing parallels between Titus and his failed expedition and Ray and his search for the little girl. I can't see it myself, and even if that's the case, why all the other premonitions? It's not as though they uniformly help the other folks. Sometimes people make the right decision (as in, don't cheat on your wife), and sometimes they don't (let's pump my girlfriend's new car full of sewage!) That could be a point about the nature of people, and how, when things are unclear, their true nature asserts itself. So some people do the right thing, some don't, some persevere, others surrender. Maybe the connection between Ray and Titus is the importance of finding something positive to hold onto. Titus lost all hope when he couldn't be first to the South Pole. Ray finds the girl, but, for various reasons, there's no one to return her to. So Ray needed to find something else. Or maybe just finding her was enough, but if that's the case, I really don't see a parallel between he and Titus, because Ray wasn't competing with anyone to achieve his goal.
Overall, it's a strange book, sometimes hilarious, sometimes irritating, as the narrator will opine about the state of celebrity and such, and while they're probably right, it doesn't have much utility to the story. It becomes another divergence, or at most, another example of how lousy a person Denise/Angela/Missy/Melissa's mother is, as she's the sort who uses tragedy to grab herself some spotlight, and move up in the world. After a certain point, I didn't need anymore examples, especially because it telegraphs the end of the book so clearly. I can't decide whether I liked it or not. If you're a fast reader, you can blow through this quickly, and it might be worth your time (if not, the odds are you quickly figured that out, and wouldn't have wasted much time). If you tend to take a long time to read books (it's a shade under 250 pages if that helps), I'd advise giving it a pass, as I think you'd feel your time was ill-spent.
Added to this is Clayton, a fellow who spends most of his time in his house, watching the "Satin Channel", which sounds like Playboy, basically. When he's not watching that, he's regaling anyone he can grab hold of with the intricacies of the plots of the movies, while being extremely descriptive, and completely oblivious to any offense he might be causing. That last characteristic seems shared by most of the people in the community, from and old lady who seems to run over damn near anything in her Crown Vic (yet insists she's fine to be driving), to the family that sneaks on their neighbor's peach farm, and steals as many peaches as they can, then sit in their yard and sell them, without a concern in the world.
As the story begins, Clayton's in the supermarket, describing one of the movies, when he suddenly goes still, and then insists his name is Titus. He pays for his groceries, heads quietly home, and from then on, ignores his TV, choosing to either sit quietly in his chair, getting up occasionally to sketch something on the plaster above his fireplace. Tatum's girlfriend identifies the drawing as Antarctica. See, somehow, Clayton has been possessed by the spirit of a fellow named Titus who was part of an expedition to reach the South Pole, only some Norwegians beat them there. Most of the expedition died in their tents, but Titus wandered off into a storm. Yeah. Oh, and this has given Clayton/Titus some sort of predictive ability. It's vague, only works if he makes physical contact, and makes no sense until after the event has happened, but it's there.
That's what leads into the missing child, though she'd been gone for at least a year already by then. Pearson starts in their present, jumps back some distance into the past, then works forward, sometimes flashing back, then eventually proceeds beyond the place the book started. Which makes it a tad difficult to keep track of when things are happening in relation to one another. Anyway, Tatum touches Clayton/Titus' shoulder, worried about him, and the fellow says 'It's Melissa now. Sometimes Missy. Never Angela. Never Denise.' The last two being the names the missing girl went by. It's all a rather strange way of getting around to the point, which isn't held for long, since Pearson frequently diverges into anecdotes about the various folks who come to Clayton/Titus for information. The anecdotes largely serve to make every person who lives in the area seem a lout, or outright scumbag. They're all stealing from each other, cheating on each other, lying to each other, killing pets just because, whatever. It left me with the impression a meteor strike in the area would be a vast improvement.
Setting aside the randomness of Pearson having a character possessed by the spirit of an Antarctic explorer to provide visions of limited use, that brief statement really only serves as a way to introduce us to the quest Tatum is on. It wasn't as though Tatum had stopped looking, the unknown storyteller informs us he still goes out to the park and searches. His problem was lack of leads, and Titus didn't actually provide one, except perhaps to confirm Ray's suspicion she was still alive. It feels unnecessary, from a plot standpoint.
I've been trying to decide if Pearson is drawing parallels between Titus and his failed expedition and Ray and his search for the little girl. I can't see it myself, and even if that's the case, why all the other premonitions? It's not as though they uniformly help the other folks. Sometimes people make the right decision (as in, don't cheat on your wife), and sometimes they don't (let's pump my girlfriend's new car full of sewage!) That could be a point about the nature of people, and how, when things are unclear, their true nature asserts itself. So some people do the right thing, some don't, some persevere, others surrender. Maybe the connection between Ray and Titus is the importance of finding something positive to hold onto. Titus lost all hope when he couldn't be first to the South Pole. Ray finds the girl, but, for various reasons, there's no one to return her to. So Ray needed to find something else. Or maybe just finding her was enough, but if that's the case, I really don't see a parallel between he and Titus, because Ray wasn't competing with anyone to achieve his goal.
Overall, it's a strange book, sometimes hilarious, sometimes irritating, as the narrator will opine about the state of celebrity and such, and while they're probably right, it doesn't have much utility to the story. It becomes another divergence, or at most, another example of how lousy a person Denise/Angela/Missy/Melissa's mother is, as she's the sort who uses tragedy to grab herself some spotlight, and move up in the world. After a certain point, I didn't need anymore examples, especially because it telegraphs the end of the book so clearly. I can't decide whether I liked it or not. If you're a fast reader, you can blow through this quickly, and it might be worth your time (if not, the odds are you quickly figured that out, and wouldn't have wasted much time). If you tend to take a long time to read books (it's a shade under 250 pages if that helps), I'd advise giving it a pass, as I think you'd feel your time was ill-spent.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
I Wasn't The Only One Unprepared For Comics
Calvin: Well, I don't know where Adorable Baby Panda is. I called and left a message about the comics being here. Let's just move forward as best we can, OK?
I have to Applaud Deadpool for stopping the pirates, and giving Bob a big chest of gold. I think I'm gonna have to smack Bob for not choosing to stay on the island with Kalani. Oh, you think it uncouth of me to suggest he forget his wife? Divorce, people! What? Oh, right, we're talking about Marvel. Deal with Shuma-Gorath, then. I'm thinking Applause for Temugin, Jimmy Woo, heck everybody in Agents of Atlas. I mean, Bob and M-11 destroyed M-23, Gorilla Man at least tried to get M-11 fired up for the fight, Venus decked Jade Claw, it's all good. And now, all gone. *sobs*
I'd like to give Ragdoll a Bonk, but I'm afraid he'd enjoy that. What the hell, creepy little bugger. I think Scandal and Jeanette could probably both use Hugs, what with their sanities in question right now. Bane needs a Bonk. Bane, prison is not your friend! Do not start getting loopy, especially when you haven't even taken any Venom yet! I'm giving Sihing some Applause for taking up the mantle of Dog Brother #1, and trying to keep his friend safe. I'd give him a hug, but I don't think he needs it. Jack Flag needs a Hug, certainly. Monark Starslayer has to get a Bonk. Dude helped Ego gets its act together even faster than it was already going to! Sure, he didn't mean for that to happen - or did he? - but he's still an ass. I'd give Power Girl's cat a Hug, for surviving a bath, but I'm worried what I might catch from it. Shona - that's one of three alien ladies that Power Girl's gonna have to contend with - gets some Applause. Ah, I see you are confused. Well, to pay for a $25 cab ride, she gave the driver a decent-sized diamond, which I assume is worth more than the cost of the ride. Assuming he can sell it somewhere and get a decent price, that's quite a tip.
I think that covers -
Adorable Baby Panda: Wait!
Calvin: Where have you been? I'm almost finished!
ABP: What?! Why didn't you wait for me to get here?
Calvin: Dude, I can't wait all day, I'm a busy man!
ABP: What were you going to do, play more Madden?
Calvin: And maybe read a little! And perhaps talk a pleasant evening walk! Look, just look over what I said, and add where you find it necessary.
ABP: Let's see. You're hitting Bane? He didn't do anything wrong!
Calvin: He said the prison Jeanette was in sounded wonderful. Dude needs to get his head on straight, and I don't think a hug will work for him.
ABP: You said Bob should ditch his wife?
Calvin: Not ditch, divorce. Amicably, if possible, so they can both move forward.
ABP: I'm not hitting him for staying faithful! I'm Applauding him!
Calvin: Fine, condemn he and his wife to a life of misery.
ABP: But, they have all that gold Deadpool gave him!
Calvin: Yeah, right. Bob probably gave half of it to Kalani, and he'll find some way to get fleeced out of the rest on his trip home. Probably get captured by more pirates.
ABP: No he, yeah, I guess he will. I thought you were a romantic?
Calvin: Not on Sundays. It's my designated Pessimist Day.
ABP: Oh. Well, now that I'm here, what should we do?
Calvin: Wanna go for a walk? We can look at clouds and trees and stuff, and talk about how humans are destroying the world.
ABP: What?
Calvin: Pessimist Day, remember?
I have to Applaud Deadpool for stopping the pirates, and giving Bob a big chest of gold. I think I'm gonna have to smack Bob for not choosing to stay on the island with Kalani. Oh, you think it uncouth of me to suggest he forget his wife? Divorce, people! What? Oh, right, we're talking about Marvel. Deal with Shuma-Gorath, then. I'm thinking Applause for Temugin, Jimmy Woo, heck everybody in Agents of Atlas. I mean, Bob and M-11 destroyed M-23, Gorilla Man at least tried to get M-11 fired up for the fight, Venus decked Jade Claw, it's all good. And now, all gone. *sobs*
I'd like to give Ragdoll a Bonk, but I'm afraid he'd enjoy that. What the hell, creepy little bugger. I think Scandal and Jeanette could probably both use Hugs, what with their sanities in question right now. Bane needs a Bonk. Bane, prison is not your friend! Do not start getting loopy, especially when you haven't even taken any Venom yet! I'm giving Sihing some Applause for taking up the mantle of Dog Brother #1, and trying to keep his friend safe. I'd give him a hug, but I don't think he needs it. Jack Flag needs a Hug, certainly. Monark Starslayer has to get a Bonk. Dude helped Ego gets its act together even faster than it was already going to! Sure, he didn't mean for that to happen - or did he? - but he's still an ass. I'd give Power Girl's cat a Hug, for surviving a bath, but I'm worried what I might catch from it. Shona - that's one of three alien ladies that Power Girl's gonna have to contend with - gets some Applause. Ah, I see you are confused. Well, to pay for a $25 cab ride, she gave the driver a decent-sized diamond, which I assume is worth more than the cost of the ride. Assuming he can sell it somewhere and get a decent price, that's quite a tip.
I think that covers -
Adorable Baby Panda: Wait!
Calvin: Where have you been? I'm almost finished!
ABP: What?! Why didn't you wait for me to get here?
Calvin: Dude, I can't wait all day, I'm a busy man!
ABP: What were you going to do, play more Madden?
Calvin: And maybe read a little! And perhaps talk a pleasant evening walk! Look, just look over what I said, and add where you find it necessary.
ABP: Let's see. You're hitting Bane? He didn't do anything wrong!
Calvin: He said the prison Jeanette was in sounded wonderful. Dude needs to get his head on straight, and I don't think a hug will work for him.
ABP: You said Bob should ditch his wife?
Calvin: Not ditch, divorce. Amicably, if possible, so they can both move forward.
ABP: I'm not hitting him for staying faithful! I'm Applauding him!
Calvin: Fine, condemn he and his wife to a life of misery.
ABP: But, they have all that gold Deadpool gave him!
Calvin: Yeah, right. Bob probably gave half of it to Kalani, and he'll find some way to get fleeced out of the rest on his trip home. Probably get captured by more pirates.
ABP: No he, yeah, I guess he will. I thought you were a romantic?
Calvin: Not on Sundays. It's my designated Pessimist Day.
ABP: Oh. Well, now that I'm here, what should we do?
Calvin: Wanna go for a walk? We can look at clouds and trees and stuff, and talk about how humans are destroying the world.
ABP: What?
Calvin: Pessimist Day, remember?
Saturday, September 26, 2009
What I Bought 9/25/09 - Part 2
Hey, let's talk about comics that came out this week! I have nothing else to say as an intro!
Guardians of the Galaxy #18 - OK, so Star-Lord and company didn't die from falling into that star at the end of #16. Instead, they're being bounced from one universe to another by ripples in time. Oh, and they're also all at different ages, except Jack Flag, who isn't apparently doomed to save the universe and the wink out of existence. Damn, I like Jack. So the issue is the team joining up with a different set of Guardians of the Galaxy (those on the cover, and yes, that's Wonder Man with the beard) to try and use Doom's time machine to get home. But they get bounced to another universe too soon, and keep getting shuttled along until it looks as though they've reached their universe, albeit 1,000 years later, and it's not a happy place.
I like that in every universe there are Guardians of the Galaxy, but they're always fighting something different (the group on the cover is fighting Martians, as would be expected when Killraven's involved). Also, Cosmo as a puppy, wanting to go to the park and chase squirrels was funny. Wesley Craig's back on the art, still expressive, does a good job conveying the difference in ages for the Guardians in the current states (I can't really describe it, but somehow, Bug just look younger, adolescent). I also think he does a little better at keep things clear when lots of characters are involved. With fights, he's using an establishing shot, then switching to smaller panels focusing on individuals or pairs.
Immortal Weapons #3 - We follow an orphaned boy, Sihing as he tries to keep himself and a younger boy alive during the Opium Wars, always hoping Dog Brother #1 will arrive to rescue them, as he is said to do, provided you are lost enough. To keep the other kid's spirits up, Sihing tells stories of Dog Brother's exploits, but stories will only take someone so far, especially when they get roped into being drug runners. In the back-up, Iron Fist and Jada continue searching for her brother, and continue to have no success.
See, I liked this more than the previous one. We learned some things about Dog Brother, such as his purpose, and how the mantle is passed, which is different from what we've seen of the other Immortal Weapons thus far. Plus, this issue was drawn by Timothy Green, and I find it an immense improvement over Brereton's work from last month (though I imagine the three inkers weren't helping Brereton). It's odd, Green uses a lot of little lines in his work, especially on faces, but they don't annoy me the way they do when Foreman does it. Maybe because Green's lines are thinner, so they don't bleed together as much.
Nova #29 - Nova Prime and several other Novas board the ship that came through the Fault last issue. They meet the Nova Centurion piloting it, and he has a prisoner. He also has a stowaway, which would be the man on the cover, Monark Starslayer, who proceeds to smack the Novas around pretty good. He's also screwed the pooch for everyone, because in an attempt to stop Worldmind from scanning, he infected it with a virus, causing it to shut down, which has enabled Ego to regenerate and get active again. Also, the prisoner's crew arrive to rescue him. That's a bad thing.
Well, I've only just met Mr. Starslayer, and I'm already eager for his comeuppance. 'Don't you just hate it when someone has much cooler toys than you?' What an arrogant prat. Oh well, he's a bounty hunter so I guess it's proper for him to be an unlikeable ass. I'm glad to see Abnett and Lanning are keeping things hopping, but Ego's back already? A few issues ago it was going to take centuries, then he was recuperating faster, and now he's awake again? Might have dangled that particular sword a bit longer. I guess Nova's rotating artists like Guardians of the Galaxy, because DiVito's out, and Kevin Sharpe's back in. He seems to make everything so shiny, I'm not really sure I dig it, and character's movements seem awkwardly depicted. On that third page from the end, final panel, I'm not sure what the Novas still on Nu-Xandar are doing. Their hands are glowing, but they're not shooting or creating shields. Do they think Ego's afraid of glowing lights?
Power Girl #5 - Power Girl investigates the crashed ship. It's pilots escape while she's busy doing this. Ship explodes, but is nice enough to make only a small crater, and not scatter debris all over creation. Power Girl washes her cat, interviews someone for a marketing position, then has to rush off because the owners of the ship that blew up are in a firefight with a goofy due with a jetpack. Also someone was taking photos of Power Girl. I think I know where it's going, so at least she hasn't fallen into one of those, "Ha, ha, I know your secret identity, and will use that as blackmail, mwa-ha!" things.
I'm really surprised how uncool Jetpack Dude looks. I was under the impression etpacks made everyone look cool. Even Cyclops. I think it's that bit of hair sticking out from under the skullcap. Makes me think of jheri curls, which makes me think of the Beyonder, and then I start thinking of Secret Wars 2, and . . . *thud*. *Time passes* Sorry, I blacked out. Maybe it's not jheri curls, more of an Elvis thing? I really expected these alien girls to be more destructive, but until jetpack guy arrived, they were fairly restrained. Curious. What should I say about Amanda Conner's art this month? I really enjoy the expressions the cat makes while it's being washed, especially as it makes its escape. It's looks so miffed about the whole thing, and possibly is contemplating revenge. Which would make sense. It is a cat.
Guardians of the Galaxy #18 - OK, so Star-Lord and company didn't die from falling into that star at the end of #16. Instead, they're being bounced from one universe to another by ripples in time. Oh, and they're also all at different ages, except Jack Flag, who isn't apparently doomed to save the universe and the wink out of existence. Damn, I like Jack. So the issue is the team joining up with a different set of Guardians of the Galaxy (those on the cover, and yes, that's Wonder Man with the beard) to try and use Doom's time machine to get home. But they get bounced to another universe too soon, and keep getting shuttled along until it looks as though they've reached their universe, albeit 1,000 years later, and it's not a happy place.I like that in every universe there are Guardians of the Galaxy, but they're always fighting something different (the group on the cover is fighting Martians, as would be expected when Killraven's involved). Also, Cosmo as a puppy, wanting to go to the park and chase squirrels was funny. Wesley Craig's back on the art, still expressive, does a good job conveying the difference in ages for the Guardians in the current states (I can't really describe it, but somehow, Bug just look younger, adolescent). I also think he does a little better at keep things clear when lots of characters are involved. With fights, he's using an establishing shot, then switching to smaller panels focusing on individuals or pairs.
Immortal Weapons #3 - We follow an orphaned boy, Sihing as he tries to keep himself and a younger boy alive during the Opium Wars, always hoping Dog Brother #1 will arrive to rescue them, as he is said to do, provided you are lost enough. To keep the other kid's spirits up, Sihing tells stories of Dog Brother's exploits, but stories will only take someone so far, especially when they get roped into being drug runners. In the back-up, Iron Fist and Jada continue searching for her brother, and continue to have no success.See, I liked this more than the previous one. We learned some things about Dog Brother, such as his purpose, and how the mantle is passed, which is different from what we've seen of the other Immortal Weapons thus far. Plus, this issue was drawn by Timothy Green, and I find it an immense improvement over Brereton's work from last month (though I imagine the three inkers weren't helping Brereton). It's odd, Green uses a lot of little lines in his work, especially on faces, but they don't annoy me the way they do when Foreman does it. Maybe because Green's lines are thinner, so they don't bleed together as much.
Nova #29 - Nova Prime and several other Novas board the ship that came through the Fault last issue. They meet the Nova Centurion piloting it, and he has a prisoner. He also has a stowaway, which would be the man on the cover, Monark Starslayer, who proceeds to smack the Novas around pretty good. He's also screwed the pooch for everyone, because in an attempt to stop Worldmind from scanning, he infected it with a virus, causing it to shut down, which has enabled Ego to regenerate and get active again. Also, the prisoner's crew arrive to rescue him. That's a bad thing.Well, I've only just met Mr. Starslayer, and I'm already eager for his comeuppance. 'Don't you just hate it when someone has much cooler toys than you?' What an arrogant prat. Oh well, he's a bounty hunter so I guess it's proper for him to be an unlikeable ass. I'm glad to see Abnett and Lanning are keeping things hopping, but Ego's back already? A few issues ago it was going to take centuries, then he was recuperating faster, and now he's awake again? Might have dangled that particular sword a bit longer. I guess Nova's rotating artists like Guardians of the Galaxy, because DiVito's out, and Kevin Sharpe's back in. He seems to make everything so shiny, I'm not really sure I dig it, and character's movements seem awkwardly depicted. On that third page from the end, final panel, I'm not sure what the Novas still on Nu-Xandar are doing. Their hands are glowing, but they're not shooting or creating shields. Do they think Ego's afraid of glowing lights?
Power Girl #5 - Power Girl investigates the crashed ship. It's pilots escape while she's busy doing this. Ship explodes, but is nice enough to make only a small crater, and not scatter debris all over creation. Power Girl washes her cat, interviews someone for a marketing position, then has to rush off because the owners of the ship that blew up are in a firefight with a goofy due with a jetpack. Also someone was taking photos of Power Girl. I think I know where it's going, so at least she hasn't fallen into one of those, "Ha, ha, I know your secret identity, and will use that as blackmail, mwa-ha!" things.I'm really surprised how uncool Jetpack Dude looks. I was under the impression etpacks made everyone look cool. Even Cyclops. I think it's that bit of hair sticking out from under the skullcap. Makes me think of jheri curls, which makes me think of the Beyonder, and then I start thinking of Secret Wars 2, and . . . *thud*. *Time passes* Sorry, I blacked out. Maybe it's not jheri curls, more of an Elvis thing? I really expected these alien girls to be more destructive, but until jetpack guy arrived, they were fairly restrained. Curious. What should I say about Amanda Conner's art this month? I really enjoy the expressions the cat makes while it's being washed, especially as it makes its escape. It's looks so miffed about the whole thing, and possibly is contemplating revenge. Which would make sense. It is a cat.
Friday, September 25, 2009
What I Bought 9/25/09
I know, I was surprised too. I was figuring early next week, but here they are. So, consider the book binge on hiatus for a few days. Just as well. It'll give me time to decide whether to give The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time another shot, or write a post about why I gave up on it after 50 pages. For now, though, comics!
Deadpool #14 - Now that is how a pirate should look! Captain Morgan's got nothing on Deadpool (it's the high-powered rifle that gives Wade the edge)! Wade gets his new navigator outfitted, but has already set his eyes on a new lady love. Meanwhile, Wackbeard the Pirate and his crew have stolen Wade's pirate ship. Deadpool actually employs a little trickery to reclaim it, and loses a leg in the process, but that means he gets a peg leg. Deadpool - 37% more piratical with every issue!
Anyway, Deadpool stops the pirates, probably destroys most of the housing on the island of Jallarka, does Bob a serious solid, and concludes he enjoys helping people, which lead to his utter depression at the start of issue #15. Somehow. Maybe because there's no one to help in the middle of the ocean, I dunno.
The second part of the pirate story wasn't as funny as the first, but it's nice to see Way starting to go someplace with this, as the book had felt aimless for the first year. Which may have been the point, or may have been a consequence of all the Dark Reign tie-in nonsense. I still like Shawn Crystal's artwork, as his Deadpool is suitably freaky-looking (though most of his people are, now that I think of it), but he does have a tendency to not keep track of which hand someone is carrying a weapon in, so it switches from one panel to the next for no apparent reason. Regardless, he can draw a macabre scene like a man losing a leg in a way so that's it's more darkly funny than gruesome, which considering the character's just going to regenerate the leg, is probably fine.
Immortal Weapons #2 - We learn about a battle between a Murderous Lion and a previous Bride of Nine Spiders, that caused one spider to be left in our world. 70+ years later, it's still alive and is auctioned off to a young man determined to learn its secrets, assuming the old woman he outbid doesn't have it stolen back first. The majority of the story follows the people she hires as they move through the seemingly deserted home of the buyer, and keep hallucinating due to the song of the spider. We do run across the Bride of Nine Spiders eventually, and she's a bit more chatty than I'm used to. Probably a concession due to her being the star, rather than the supporting cast. The Iron Fist back-up continues Danny's quest to help Jada find her little brother.
Here's my problem with the Bride of Nine Spiders story. I don't feel we learned anything about her. So she showed mercy to the folks who freed her, rather than eat them. Well, she's demonstrated previously she's not some complete psycho, so that's not exactly news. We didn't really learn anything about her city, or what the significance of that particular spider was. She's still pretty much as mysterious as she was before. The problem being, she's not really illustrated that way, as she's in full view, clearly visible in every panel she appears in. If you're going to keep her mysterious, have her stay in shadows, or shrouded in spiders and their webs. Also, probably due to the three different inkers, Brereton's art seems to vary wildly, from looking unfinished and flat, to more vividly detailed. From smooth lines, to rough and scratchy, on and on. It's hard for me to tell it's the same artist some times. I did like Travel Foreman's art in the Iron Fist more than usual. I think deep shadows and rain help his art, or he just cut down on some of the unnecessary linework.
Secret Six #13 - Jeanette's coming back from the brink of madness, Deadshot and Scandal both seem to be moving closer to it, and Bane seems to miss prison, which is concerning. I suppose it would keep him away from the Venom. Catman switches sides - about damn time, Blake - then that Smyth makes a little announcement which does make sense, though I hadn't considered it. I can't imagine it's going to matter much to the Six. Or would it be the Four?
Can someone explain why I'm supposed to be worried about this Grendel thing? Ooh, it's furry and has sharp teeth, and talks of eating people! Junior was considerably scarier. Especially after she disrobed. I will never be able to scrub that from my brain. Grendel strikes me as a smaller, somewhat more verbal Wendigo, which just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Other than that, it's a fine issue. Ragdoll is suitably disturbing, as usual, and Nicola Scott draws everything quite nicely. I especially like Jeanette seeing her friends and Artemis in the olde tyme clothes. Bane with the hat (which take away the feather and it's be close to GrimJack's) and Artemis' ridiculously high collar were nice touches.
Agents of Atlas #11 - So the book is canceled. Or on hiatus. Or a backup strip for Incredible Hercules. One of those. In the meantime, Atlas gets whomped again by that M-21 robot. Temugin actually helps Jimmy survive in the Dragon's Corridor, and the team tries to regroup again. Gorilla Man helps M-11 get into the spirit of the battle, Namora calls in some reinforcements, and Bob takes away M-21's advantage, and there you go. The battle ends with a punch and "Yay!" Jimmy Woo plays gracious and wise leader, and the dragon's are both very pleased with all this. Which cannot be good. Freaking duplicitous dragons.
Thus ends Agents of Atlas the ongoing. For now. Parker set some things up that I'm sure we'll see begin to play out shortly, and I'm curious to see if/when this dovetails with Incredible Hercules, as I imagine it will eventually, based on that Olympus Group scene in #10. Panosian's art was a lot rougher in this than it had been. I don't know if it was meant to symbolize how things were falling apart for Atlas there for awhile, or if he was rushed, but it didn't look as nice as it had in earlier issues.
That's it for older stuff. Tomorrow, we discuss actual comics from this week. Crazy, I know.
Deadpool #14 - Now that is how a pirate should look! Captain Morgan's got nothing on Deadpool (it's the high-powered rifle that gives Wade the edge)! Wade gets his new navigator outfitted, but has already set his eyes on a new lady love. Meanwhile, Wackbeard the Pirate and his crew have stolen Wade's pirate ship. Deadpool actually employs a little trickery to reclaim it, and loses a leg in the process, but that means he gets a peg leg. Deadpool - 37% more piratical with every issue!Anyway, Deadpool stops the pirates, probably destroys most of the housing on the island of Jallarka, does Bob a serious solid, and concludes he enjoys helping people, which lead to his utter depression at the start of issue #15. Somehow. Maybe because there's no one to help in the middle of the ocean, I dunno.
The second part of the pirate story wasn't as funny as the first, but it's nice to see Way starting to go someplace with this, as the book had felt aimless for the first year. Which may have been the point, or may have been a consequence of all the Dark Reign tie-in nonsense. I still like Shawn Crystal's artwork, as his Deadpool is suitably freaky-looking (though most of his people are, now that I think of it), but he does have a tendency to not keep track of which hand someone is carrying a weapon in, so it switches from one panel to the next for no apparent reason. Regardless, he can draw a macabre scene like a man losing a leg in a way so that's it's more darkly funny than gruesome, which considering the character's just going to regenerate the leg, is probably fine.
Immortal Weapons #2 - We learn about a battle between a Murderous Lion and a previous Bride of Nine Spiders, that caused one spider to be left in our world. 70+ years later, it's still alive and is auctioned off to a young man determined to learn its secrets, assuming the old woman he outbid doesn't have it stolen back first. The majority of the story follows the people she hires as they move through the seemingly deserted home of the buyer, and keep hallucinating due to the song of the spider. We do run across the Bride of Nine Spiders eventually, and she's a bit more chatty than I'm used to. Probably a concession due to her being the star, rather than the supporting cast. The Iron Fist back-up continues Danny's quest to help Jada find her little brother.Here's my problem with the Bride of Nine Spiders story. I don't feel we learned anything about her. So she showed mercy to the folks who freed her, rather than eat them. Well, she's demonstrated previously she's not some complete psycho, so that's not exactly news. We didn't really learn anything about her city, or what the significance of that particular spider was. She's still pretty much as mysterious as she was before. The problem being, she's not really illustrated that way, as she's in full view, clearly visible in every panel she appears in. If you're going to keep her mysterious, have her stay in shadows, or shrouded in spiders and their webs. Also, probably due to the three different inkers, Brereton's art seems to vary wildly, from looking unfinished and flat, to more vividly detailed. From smooth lines, to rough and scratchy, on and on. It's hard for me to tell it's the same artist some times. I did like Travel Foreman's art in the Iron Fist more than usual. I think deep shadows and rain help his art, or he just cut down on some of the unnecessary linework.
Secret Six #13 - Jeanette's coming back from the brink of madness, Deadshot and Scandal both seem to be moving closer to it, and Bane seems to miss prison, which is concerning. I suppose it would keep him away from the Venom. Catman switches sides - about damn time, Blake - then that Smyth makes a little announcement which does make sense, though I hadn't considered it. I can't imagine it's going to matter much to the Six. Or would it be the Four?Can someone explain why I'm supposed to be worried about this Grendel thing? Ooh, it's furry and has sharp teeth, and talks of eating people! Junior was considerably scarier. Especially after she disrobed. I will never be able to scrub that from my brain. Grendel strikes me as a smaller, somewhat more verbal Wendigo, which just doesn't seem like that big of a deal. Other than that, it's a fine issue. Ragdoll is suitably disturbing, as usual, and Nicola Scott draws everything quite nicely. I especially like Jeanette seeing her friends and Artemis in the olde tyme clothes. Bane with the hat (which take away the feather and it's be close to GrimJack's) and Artemis' ridiculously high collar were nice touches.
Agents of Atlas #11 - So the book is canceled. Or on hiatus. Or a backup strip for Incredible Hercules. One of those. In the meantime, Atlas gets whomped again by that M-21 robot. Temugin actually helps Jimmy survive in the Dragon's Corridor, and the team tries to regroup again. Gorilla Man helps M-11 get into the spirit of the battle, Namora calls in some reinforcements, and Bob takes away M-21's advantage, and there you go. The battle ends with a punch and "Yay!" Jimmy Woo plays gracious and wise leader, and the dragon's are both very pleased with all this. Which cannot be good. Freaking duplicitous dragons.Thus ends Agents of Atlas the ongoing. For now. Parker set some things up that I'm sure we'll see begin to play out shortly, and I'm curious to see if/when this dovetails with Incredible Hercules, as I imagine it will eventually, based on that Olympus Group scene in #10. Panosian's art was a lot rougher in this than it had been. I don't know if it was meant to symbolize how things were falling apart for Atlas there for awhile, or if he was rushed, but it didn't look as nice as it had in earlier issues.
That's it for older stuff. Tomorrow, we discuss actual comics from this week. Crazy, I know.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A Somewhat Lackluster Betrayal
So Phyla did end up being the traitor Mantis spoke of back when Guardians of the Galaxy started. Unless Mantis was speaking of Adam Warlock becoming Adam Magus, but I'm not sure what Magus will do can be considered traitorous. Maybe I'm biased because I feel bad for her, but I felt like Phyla wasn't trying very hard to carry out her mission.
It seemed as though she was constantly starting fights, being more aggressive than necessary. She starts throwing down with Shi'ar at Starlin's in Knowhere. When Star-Lord is trying to convince the Inhumans to stop fighting, and Crystal is actually speaking in support of him, Phyla goes and holds her at swordpoint, then abducts her. Neither of those actions helped the Guardians case, and both of them lead to the team wasting time fighting the Inhuman Elite. Then once the Fault's appeared, and the team's once again confronted the Inhumans, Phyla was certainly cold upon learning Black Bolt is dead.
On the one hand, these could be her way of trying to waylay the Guardians. She's working for Lord Oblivion, he was once served by Maelstrom, who was always trying to destroy existence, so let's figure that's at least one thing Oblivion is after. This war could bring that about, and the Guardians of the Galaxy would try and stop it. So keep them busy fighting battles that won't accomplish anything. That way they make no headway on stopping the war, and maybe some of them get killed, which only hampers their efforts to make a difference even more.
On the other hand, she's so ham-handed about it as to make it too obvious she's up to something. Plus, when these brawls kick off, she's always right on the front line, so I wonder if she wasn't trying to get herself killed before she had to fulfill her promise. It would at least sort of look like she was trying to further Oblivion's plans, except whoops, she overreached a bit and now she's dead. Darn, guess she won't be able to kill the Avatar of Life after all.
Which brings me to another question: Why did she strike Warlock down when she did? Why not before he cast the spell that halted the Fault? The Fault would destroy everything, which I'm presuming is what Oblivion was shooting for, so shouldn't she have stopped that from happening? Or maybe Oblivion knew what striking Warlock down would lead to, and having Magus in charge of the Universal Church of Truth is actually a better path.
Could Oblivion simply have been working to restore balance? Maelstrom said that when Drax killed Death's Champion (Thanos) it tipped the balance too far in favor of life, and that too much life can lead to an end just as easily as too much death. Was Oblivion manipulating events to correct that, by turning a champion of life (Adam Warlock), into a champion of Death (Magus)? Would that be a goal of the Magus? I've never actually read any comics he was in, so I'm not clear on what his goals have been historically. He's not really Warlock's evil opposite, he's just Warlock's evil in a separate form, because warlock cast all good and evil out of his soul.
It seemed as though she was constantly starting fights, being more aggressive than necessary. She starts throwing down with Shi'ar at Starlin's in Knowhere. When Star-Lord is trying to convince the Inhumans to stop fighting, and Crystal is actually speaking in support of him, Phyla goes and holds her at swordpoint, then abducts her. Neither of those actions helped the Guardians case, and both of them lead to the team wasting time fighting the Inhuman Elite. Then once the Fault's appeared, and the team's once again confronted the Inhumans, Phyla was certainly cold upon learning Black Bolt is dead.
On the one hand, these could be her way of trying to waylay the Guardians. She's working for Lord Oblivion, he was once served by Maelstrom, who was always trying to destroy existence, so let's figure that's at least one thing Oblivion is after. This war could bring that about, and the Guardians of the Galaxy would try and stop it. So keep them busy fighting battles that won't accomplish anything. That way they make no headway on stopping the war, and maybe some of them get killed, which only hampers their efforts to make a difference even more.
On the other hand, she's so ham-handed about it as to make it too obvious she's up to something. Plus, when these brawls kick off, she's always right on the front line, so I wonder if she wasn't trying to get herself killed before she had to fulfill her promise. It would at least sort of look like she was trying to further Oblivion's plans, except whoops, she overreached a bit and now she's dead. Darn, guess she won't be able to kill the Avatar of Life after all.
Which brings me to another question: Why did she strike Warlock down when she did? Why not before he cast the spell that halted the Fault? The Fault would destroy everything, which I'm presuming is what Oblivion was shooting for, so shouldn't she have stopped that from happening? Or maybe Oblivion knew what striking Warlock down would lead to, and having Magus in charge of the Universal Church of Truth is actually a better path.
Could Oblivion simply have been working to restore balance? Maelstrom said that when Drax killed Death's Champion (Thanos) it tipped the balance too far in favor of life, and that too much life can lead to an end just as easily as too much death. Was Oblivion manipulating events to correct that, by turning a champion of life (Adam Warlock), into a champion of Death (Magus)? Would that be a goal of the Magus? I've never actually read any comics he was in, so I'm not clear on what his goals have been historically. He's not really Warlock's evil opposite, he's just Warlock's evil in a separate form, because warlock cast all good and evil out of his soul.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Start Of Another Book Binge
I haven't really gone on one of those since late May, and I purchased some books over the weekend, so I'm going to try alternating between books and other stuff the next few days. Might as well start with some science fiction, since I seem to end up there eventually.
Millennium 3001 is a collection of short stories edited by Martin Greenburg and Russell Davis. In the introduction Davis discusses how all the stories are meant to take place a thousand years in the future, and deal with what things might be like, with more of an emphasis on the people, and less on the science. Davis admits he's tended towards science fiction that focus on psychology, sociology and the like, because he was never much interested in biology, physics, and chemistry. Largely because they ultimately seem to have solid answers to their questions, and I guess the others are more up for interpretation.
So there's a variety of premises. You have a "humanity was wiped out by a catastrophe" story, stories about losing oneself in a virtual reality simulation, stories about humanity fragmenting (in several different ways), about humanity being supplanted by higher forms, and of course a story about someone waking up after centuries of being frozen.
As you might expect when dealing with many different authors, I found the stories to be hit and miss. "Go Tell The Spartans" works off the concept that humanity has spread out from Earth, but space travel renders women infertile, so Earth's economy is apparently entirely based off the fact if you want a kid, you got to pay some lady on Earth to have it for you, 'cause no women on your planet will be able to. Except science is gonna find a way around that. It always does. I kind of figured women would be more resistant to cosmic radiation, what with having, on average, stronger immune systems than men, so there'd be a greater risk of guys winding up sterile.
"River" deals with a person who spends their leisure time in virtual reality, pretending to be historical figures, but for some reason during one simulation, remembers all the past ones, which they shouldn't, and decides to try dying. The mystery of death comes up in "A Better Place" as well, and it didn't really work for me either time. I didn't feel either story said anything significant. "Take Me Back to Old Tennessee" and "To the Universe Station" both posit that in the future some humanity will live on Earth in a more primitive state, and others will live on either the Moon or in space, and the former suggests the space folk will abduct and experiment on their terran-based brethren. Why? Don't know. The latter spends too much time moralizing about recent policy makers for my taste, in the form of a recap of the time the recently unfrozen fellow missed. At least the unfrozen fellow voices my feelings, asking them to skip the moralizing and just state the facts, ma'am. That being the case, why did Zebrowski include such tediousness in the first place?
I'm complaining a lot. There must be a few stories I can talk about positively. Some of the stories I like could really be set anytime. "Landscapes" is about guys trying to escape from their everyday lives, the jobs, families, and how that can still hound you. Plus, it demonstrates the value of friends, which I'm a big believer in. We all need our supporting casts in the solo titles of our lives. "Dr. Prospero and the Snake Lady" could easily be a story about teenage/childhood resistance to change in the way things are, and the selfishness that accompanies that.
"Geometry" is a story I started off hating, because I couldn't make sense of all this stuff about Geometries, and Dyson, and totems, and "lesser geometries", and kangaroo villages being destroyed by dingos wielding stone spears. Eventually it starts to make sense, though I can't help feeling bad for the sentient animals that have been created largely to be sacrificed. I'm not sure how far they could go if given the chance, but their purpose is solely to die to serve as an example. It did raise a question in my mind: Humans keep fighting and killing each other, and potentially wiping each other out for stupid, petty reasons, and we can't seem to stop doing it, even though at least some of us seem to realize it's not really the best way to be going about things. Could we actually create a lifeform that could not only see that, but act to block it? Since they were created (albeit inadvertently) by us, wouldn't they possess the same inability to stop? And maybe they do, since the Geometries keep setting up these sentient animals to wipe each other out. They just aren't doing it to each other, they use simulacra to express it, and pass it off as an abject lesson to humans.
I'm not clear on the point Dean Wesley Smith was making with "Nostalgia 101". The people on Earth in the story regard interest in the past as a waste of time and resources, and those people a drain on society. Which seems short-sighted. I don't know that adage about ignoring history and repeating it is written in stone, but surely it can't be a bad idea to keep track of past mistakes others have made? Sure, one probably shouldn't spend all their time focusing on the past, but occasional reflection can't hurt. And how many breakthroughs have been built upon past research? The past has useful things to teach us, and so I'd think some interest in it is healthy, and that it isn't a waste of time to revisit places and ideas others have already tread. Never know what a fresh pair of eyes will see. So does Smith believe what the characters say, or are we meant to pity them as fools?
Millennium 3001 is a collection of short stories edited by Martin Greenburg and Russell Davis. In the introduction Davis discusses how all the stories are meant to take place a thousand years in the future, and deal with what things might be like, with more of an emphasis on the people, and less on the science. Davis admits he's tended towards science fiction that focus on psychology, sociology and the like, because he was never much interested in biology, physics, and chemistry. Largely because they ultimately seem to have solid answers to their questions, and I guess the others are more up for interpretation.
So there's a variety of premises. You have a "humanity was wiped out by a catastrophe" story, stories about losing oneself in a virtual reality simulation, stories about humanity fragmenting (in several different ways), about humanity being supplanted by higher forms, and of course a story about someone waking up after centuries of being frozen.
As you might expect when dealing with many different authors, I found the stories to be hit and miss. "Go Tell The Spartans" works off the concept that humanity has spread out from Earth, but space travel renders women infertile, so Earth's economy is apparently entirely based off the fact if you want a kid, you got to pay some lady on Earth to have it for you, 'cause no women on your planet will be able to. Except science is gonna find a way around that. It always does. I kind of figured women would be more resistant to cosmic radiation, what with having, on average, stronger immune systems than men, so there'd be a greater risk of guys winding up sterile.
"River" deals with a person who spends their leisure time in virtual reality, pretending to be historical figures, but for some reason during one simulation, remembers all the past ones, which they shouldn't, and decides to try dying. The mystery of death comes up in "A Better Place" as well, and it didn't really work for me either time. I didn't feel either story said anything significant. "Take Me Back to Old Tennessee" and "To the Universe Station" both posit that in the future some humanity will live on Earth in a more primitive state, and others will live on either the Moon or in space, and the former suggests the space folk will abduct and experiment on their terran-based brethren. Why? Don't know. The latter spends too much time moralizing about recent policy makers for my taste, in the form of a recap of the time the recently unfrozen fellow missed. At least the unfrozen fellow voices my feelings, asking them to skip the moralizing and just state the facts, ma'am. That being the case, why did Zebrowski include such tediousness in the first place?
I'm complaining a lot. There must be a few stories I can talk about positively. Some of the stories I like could really be set anytime. "Landscapes" is about guys trying to escape from their everyday lives, the jobs, families, and how that can still hound you. Plus, it demonstrates the value of friends, which I'm a big believer in. We all need our supporting casts in the solo titles of our lives. "Dr. Prospero and the Snake Lady" could easily be a story about teenage/childhood resistance to change in the way things are, and the selfishness that accompanies that.
"Geometry" is a story I started off hating, because I couldn't make sense of all this stuff about Geometries, and Dyson, and totems, and "lesser geometries", and kangaroo villages being destroyed by dingos wielding stone spears. Eventually it starts to make sense, though I can't help feeling bad for the sentient animals that have been created largely to be sacrificed. I'm not sure how far they could go if given the chance, but their purpose is solely to die to serve as an example. It did raise a question in my mind: Humans keep fighting and killing each other, and potentially wiping each other out for stupid, petty reasons, and we can't seem to stop doing it, even though at least some of us seem to realize it's not really the best way to be going about things. Could we actually create a lifeform that could not only see that, but act to block it? Since they were created (albeit inadvertently) by us, wouldn't they possess the same inability to stop? And maybe they do, since the Geometries keep setting up these sentient animals to wipe each other out. They just aren't doing it to each other, they use simulacra to express it, and pass it off as an abject lesson to humans.
I'm not clear on the point Dean Wesley Smith was making with "Nostalgia 101". The people on Earth in the story regard interest in the past as a waste of time and resources, and those people a drain on society. Which seems short-sighted. I don't know that adage about ignoring history and repeating it is written in stone, but surely it can't be a bad idea to keep track of past mistakes others have made? Sure, one probably shouldn't spend all their time focusing on the past, but occasional reflection can't hurt. And how many breakthroughs have been built upon past research? The past has useful things to teach us, and so I'd think some interest in it is healthy, and that it isn't a waste of time to revisit places and ideas others have already tread. Never know what a fresh pair of eyes will see. So does Smith believe what the characters say, or are we meant to pity them as fools?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Getting To Know Jack - Manx Cat #2
So with GrimJack: Manx Cat #2 coming out a couple of weeks ago, I'm once again getting my kicks by going through the issues and seeing what John Ostrander and Timothy Truman tell us about GrimJack (aka John Gaunt) and the world he inhabits over the course of the mini-series. This isn't a perfect investigation of what a first-time reader could learn, since I'm very familiar with GrimJack, but I'm going to try my best to look at it from the perspective of a new reader, albeit one who knows there's a plenty of history already established.
Page 1 - GrimJack tends to be unfriendly towards people when he's in a bad mood. The unfriendliness tends to include threats of violence or other unpleasant acts, though they don't impress Gordon or Goethe much. Probably not idle threats, since panel 5 shows Gaunt's hand holding the handle of his sword as he talks to Goethe.
Page 2 - Gaunt will put aside hard feelings towards someone if they're willing to pay. He doesn't jump to conclusions about who stole the Cat away from Goethe (away Gaunt had stolen it and given it to Goethe), or doesn't voice conclusions if he has any. Gordon says Gaunt's loved ones tend to die. Gaunt makes no response.
Page 3 - Lots of info. Gaunt agrees with Gordon. Gaunt was close with Gordon's ex-wife, a Jo Chaney. She sold Munden's to Gaunt to spite Gordon. She became a vampire to spite Gaunt. Gaunt staked her (Why did Chaney want to spite anyone?). Gaunt makes references to a 'Demon Wars', a 'doomed land of Pdwyr' and a 'Rhian' (What are those?). Gaunt feels only those you let in can hurt you, so best to keep everyone out, but he can't. Also, wherever he is, there are multiple worlds visible in the night sky, some large enough continents can be seen. Gaunt's also walking with his sword drawn, and looking over his shoulder at one point (Why?).
Page 4 - Gaunt knows people who have information, and knows how to get them to divulge it. His main snitch is named Feetus, a legless Demon wars vet. Gaunt has a friend known as BlacJacMac, or BlacJac, who has a mercenary army. Like Gaunt, BlacJac fought in the Arena. BlacJac knows how to fight (we see at least two beings running away, and another four lay bloodied on the ground around BlacJac). BlacJac, like Gaunt, Gordon, and most everyone else, smokes.
Page 5 - BlacJac doesn't take kindly to people attempting to mug him. He also has a new girlfriend named Goddess. He has sufficient awareness to know Gaunt's being followed (Gaunt knows it too). Wherever they are, there are odd, pink, vaguely dragon-like vermin that scrounge through garbage.
Page 6 - BlacJac likes to give Gaunt a hard time about being old, and about being ugly.
Page 7 - BlacJac's willing to follow Gaunt's lead. They both have enough control to not start firing immediately, preferring to ask questions first. Clones are common enough where they are that someone is as likely to be one as to be someone's son. It is not unheard of for repo men to use guns. Lots of garbage wherever they are.
Page 8 - Johnny Aristo hired these particular repo men to retrieve the Manx Cat from Gaunt. They're large, poorly defined faces, and at least one has a bird leg.
Page 9 - Gaunt grasps things quickly, as Hab needs him to retrieve the Cat, so Hab can take it, but since Gaunt doesn't have it, Hab can't kill him. BlacJac works on the same frequency as Gaunt, and just as quickly (they're both shooting in the bottom panel). Gaunt's not above using human shields.
Page 10 - Gaunt's a fair shot with a handgun (three shots fired in panel 2, two hits that we see in panel 3, though the distance is unknown). Not actually using Rehab very effectively as a shield, since he's holding him patrially off to the side (is it to keep Rehab from kicking his gun away?). In what may be a jab at Wanted, one of the soon to be dead mopes in panel 1 says they need to shoot around Rehab by curving the bullet or something. That doesn't actually tell us anything, I just thought it was funny and wanted to mention it.
Page 11 - Gaunt's fairly strong (throws Rehab hard enough that the impact knocks Hab over).
Page 12 - Gaunt's doesn't feel it necessary to kill everyone who attacked him (Why?). But if Hab isn't smart enough to take Gaunt up on the offer, he might do it after all.
Page 13 - Gaunt was born in 'the Pit' (don't know what that is). Raised in the Arena (discussed last issue). He survived the Demon Wars (obviously, but what were they, besides wars involving demons presumably?). He chased 'the Dancer down to Hell' (don't know who the Dancer is, and Hell metaphorically or literally? He mentioned demons so it could be literal Hell). He describes himself as the 'last man in the multiverse you want on your ass.' So there's a multiverse, somewhere. Also, his eyes were previously depicted as blue, white your standard white sclera around it. As he says all this, his eyes are narrowed, and completely black. Iris, pupil, sclera, all of it black, save a tiny circle of blue in what is probably the pupil. Not sure if that's significant, or just really cool. I know it's the latter, but it could also be the former.
Page 14 - BlacJac prefers the more direct approach of killing people who trouble him. Feels Gaunt was doing PR work. Last month, I mentioned that Munden's doesn't accept tourbots. Now we learn what they are. A person can have their mind placed in the trashcan shaped mobile thing, and travel places while their body is safe elsewhere. Gaunt considers them a plague upon 'Cynosure'. Gaunt can appreciate ingenuity. Also, graffiti on a wall informs us 'Tucker Lives'. Not sure if this is relevant, but letting you know just in case.
Page 15 - Lots of people after the Manx Cat, including Mr. Tourbot, a Jean Loire, who wants to work with Gaunt. Gaunt won't discuss business in the street, and won't discuss it with a tourbot. Munden's Bar is located on the lip of The Pit. BlacJac doesn't like tourbots either.
Page 16 - Gaunt's served in regular armies. Note that's plural. BlacJac apparently is the kind of leader that inspires loyalty, maybe because he keeps his army well supplied. Feetus has a floating platform he sits on. He and BlacJac, drink what might be beer. Might be soda, or maybe canned milk.
Page 17 - Goddess, who Feetus can find nothing about, makes her appearance. BlacJac has people who'd like to kill him. He likes to do his research on people.
Page 18 - Goddess finds Gaunt interesting looking. Interesting looking enough to inquire if he'd like to join her and BlacJac sometime (legitimate offer or playing off their insecurities?). The fellows both decline. Feetus apparently not interesting looking enough to receive similar offer, but not troubled by it.
Page 19 - Feetus concurs with Gaunt's assessment last month: Darlin' Lil is an aristo who steals from aristos. Doesn't sell her spoils where others do. Goddess says the Manx Cat dates back to chaotic gods and the dawn of creation. Also interprets rumble of thunder as her father calling. Leaves abruptly.
Page 20 - BlacJac's still busting on Gaunt's age. Gaunt mocks Feetus' normal living arrangements. Gaunt uses cops for information, namely Roscoe. Doesn't think him hitting Roscoe, or Roscoe throwing him in jail will get in the way of business.
Page 21 - Roscoe, unlike Commissioner Gordon, knows when a shadowy figure enters the room. How? Don't know. Roscoe calls being paid for info his retirement fund, but doesn't plan on retiring to take a pay cut.
Page 22 - Gaunt won't give information away for free if he has to pay for info. Lil lives in the Sherman-Helmsley Plaza. The elevator operator is reminiscent of Droopy. Lil's family has what Gaunt describes as 'old money'. In this place, one can buy pocket dimensions and attach them to the floor of the hotel one lives on. Gaunt's sensing things again.
Page 23 - Robots exist, as servants at least. Is it near Halloween, a jack o'lantern sits next to the door, looks fresh as well. One robo-servant is like something out of Gone with the Wind, or a similar piece from that period.
Page 24 - Robots may be servants, may be old and in need of repair, but can still have sense of humor. Gaunt doesn't have anymore trouble fighting robots than he did against Hab and the repo boys. The robots release dust (smoke?) when damaged. Is it engines burning out, a soul or animating spirit escaping (hey, we know magic exists, why not), or are they just so old they were about to crumble anyway.
Page 25 - Gaunt's cape has seen some action, as there's at least one patch sewed onto it near the end (see panel 1). Again with limited force, as he takes out the two attacking droids with one hit each, and leaves the other one (which hadn't attacked) alone.
Page 26 - Is Gaunt imagining the shadows we see in panels 3-7, or are they really there? Either way, shadows don't bother him.
Page 27 - Lil sleeps with the Cat, and with a sword next to her bed. She's not sleeping well, and Gaunt recognizes that kind of sleep, and knows why he has nights like that. Again, trying to be restrained with force, not going for revenge on Lil for all this trouble. Just grab the Cat and leave quietly.
Learned a bit more about GrimJack this time, though it's not really in any order, and a lot of the specifics are absent.
Page 1 - GrimJack tends to be unfriendly towards people when he's in a bad mood. The unfriendliness tends to include threats of violence or other unpleasant acts, though they don't impress Gordon or Goethe much. Probably not idle threats, since panel 5 shows Gaunt's hand holding the handle of his sword as he talks to Goethe.
Page 2 - Gaunt will put aside hard feelings towards someone if they're willing to pay. He doesn't jump to conclusions about who stole the Cat away from Goethe (away Gaunt had stolen it and given it to Goethe), or doesn't voice conclusions if he has any. Gordon says Gaunt's loved ones tend to die. Gaunt makes no response.
Page 3 - Lots of info. Gaunt agrees with Gordon. Gaunt was close with Gordon's ex-wife, a Jo Chaney. She sold Munden's to Gaunt to spite Gordon. She became a vampire to spite Gaunt. Gaunt staked her (Why did Chaney want to spite anyone?). Gaunt makes references to a 'Demon Wars', a 'doomed land of Pdwyr' and a 'Rhian' (What are those?). Gaunt feels only those you let in can hurt you, so best to keep everyone out, but he can't. Also, wherever he is, there are multiple worlds visible in the night sky, some large enough continents can be seen. Gaunt's also walking with his sword drawn, and looking over his shoulder at one point (Why?).
Page 4 - Gaunt knows people who have information, and knows how to get them to divulge it. His main snitch is named Feetus, a legless Demon wars vet. Gaunt has a friend known as BlacJacMac, or BlacJac, who has a mercenary army. Like Gaunt, BlacJac fought in the Arena. BlacJac knows how to fight (we see at least two beings running away, and another four lay bloodied on the ground around BlacJac). BlacJac, like Gaunt, Gordon, and most everyone else, smokes.
Page 5 - BlacJac doesn't take kindly to people attempting to mug him. He also has a new girlfriend named Goddess. He has sufficient awareness to know Gaunt's being followed (Gaunt knows it too). Wherever they are, there are odd, pink, vaguely dragon-like vermin that scrounge through garbage.
Page 6 - BlacJac likes to give Gaunt a hard time about being old, and about being ugly.
Page 7 - BlacJac's willing to follow Gaunt's lead. They both have enough control to not start firing immediately, preferring to ask questions first. Clones are common enough where they are that someone is as likely to be one as to be someone's son. It is not unheard of for repo men to use guns. Lots of garbage wherever they are.
Page 8 - Johnny Aristo hired these particular repo men to retrieve the Manx Cat from Gaunt. They're large, poorly defined faces, and at least one has a bird leg.
Page 9 - Gaunt grasps things quickly, as Hab needs him to retrieve the Cat, so Hab can take it, but since Gaunt doesn't have it, Hab can't kill him. BlacJac works on the same frequency as Gaunt, and just as quickly (they're both shooting in the bottom panel). Gaunt's not above using human shields.
Page 10 - Gaunt's a fair shot with a handgun (three shots fired in panel 2, two hits that we see in panel 3, though the distance is unknown). Not actually using Rehab very effectively as a shield, since he's holding him patrially off to the side (is it to keep Rehab from kicking his gun away?). In what may be a jab at Wanted, one of the soon to be dead mopes in panel 1 says they need to shoot around Rehab by curving the bullet or something. That doesn't actually tell us anything, I just thought it was funny and wanted to mention it.
Page 11 - Gaunt's fairly strong (throws Rehab hard enough that the impact knocks Hab over).
Page 12 - Gaunt's doesn't feel it necessary to kill everyone who attacked him (Why?). But if Hab isn't smart enough to take Gaunt up on the offer, he might do it after all.
Page 13 - Gaunt was born in 'the Pit' (don't know what that is). Raised in the Arena (discussed last issue). He survived the Demon Wars (obviously, but what were they, besides wars involving demons presumably?). He chased 'the Dancer down to Hell' (don't know who the Dancer is, and Hell metaphorically or literally? He mentioned demons so it could be literal Hell). He describes himself as the 'last man in the multiverse you want on your ass.' So there's a multiverse, somewhere. Also, his eyes were previously depicted as blue, white your standard white sclera around it. As he says all this, his eyes are narrowed, and completely black. Iris, pupil, sclera, all of it black, save a tiny circle of blue in what is probably the pupil. Not sure if that's significant, or just really cool. I know it's the latter, but it could also be the former.
Page 14 - BlacJac prefers the more direct approach of killing people who trouble him. Feels Gaunt was doing PR work. Last month, I mentioned that Munden's doesn't accept tourbots. Now we learn what they are. A person can have their mind placed in the trashcan shaped mobile thing, and travel places while their body is safe elsewhere. Gaunt considers them a plague upon 'Cynosure'. Gaunt can appreciate ingenuity. Also, graffiti on a wall informs us 'Tucker Lives'. Not sure if this is relevant, but letting you know just in case.
Page 15 - Lots of people after the Manx Cat, including Mr. Tourbot, a Jean Loire, who wants to work with Gaunt. Gaunt won't discuss business in the street, and won't discuss it with a tourbot. Munden's Bar is located on the lip of The Pit. BlacJac doesn't like tourbots either.
Page 16 - Gaunt's served in regular armies. Note that's plural. BlacJac apparently is the kind of leader that inspires loyalty, maybe because he keeps his army well supplied. Feetus has a floating platform he sits on. He and BlacJac, drink what might be beer. Might be soda, or maybe canned milk.
Page 17 - Goddess, who Feetus can find nothing about, makes her appearance. BlacJac has people who'd like to kill him. He likes to do his research on people.
Page 18 - Goddess finds Gaunt interesting looking. Interesting looking enough to inquire if he'd like to join her and BlacJac sometime (legitimate offer or playing off their insecurities?). The fellows both decline. Feetus apparently not interesting looking enough to receive similar offer, but not troubled by it.
Page 19 - Feetus concurs with Gaunt's assessment last month: Darlin' Lil is an aristo who steals from aristos. Doesn't sell her spoils where others do. Goddess says the Manx Cat dates back to chaotic gods and the dawn of creation. Also interprets rumble of thunder as her father calling. Leaves abruptly.
Page 20 - BlacJac's still busting on Gaunt's age. Gaunt mocks Feetus' normal living arrangements. Gaunt uses cops for information, namely Roscoe. Doesn't think him hitting Roscoe, or Roscoe throwing him in jail will get in the way of business.
Page 21 - Roscoe, unlike Commissioner Gordon, knows when a shadowy figure enters the room. How? Don't know. Roscoe calls being paid for info his retirement fund, but doesn't plan on retiring to take a pay cut.
Page 22 - Gaunt won't give information away for free if he has to pay for info. Lil lives in the Sherman-Helmsley Plaza. The elevator operator is reminiscent of Droopy. Lil's family has what Gaunt describes as 'old money'. In this place, one can buy pocket dimensions and attach them to the floor of the hotel one lives on. Gaunt's sensing things again.
Page 23 - Robots exist, as servants at least. Is it near Halloween, a jack o'lantern sits next to the door, looks fresh as well. One robo-servant is like something out of Gone with the Wind, or a similar piece from that period.
Page 24 - Robots may be servants, may be old and in need of repair, but can still have sense of humor. Gaunt doesn't have anymore trouble fighting robots than he did against Hab and the repo boys. The robots release dust (smoke?) when damaged. Is it engines burning out, a soul or animating spirit escaping (hey, we know magic exists, why not), or are they just so old they were about to crumble anyway.
Page 25 - Gaunt's cape has seen some action, as there's at least one patch sewed onto it near the end (see panel 1). Again with limited force, as he takes out the two attacking droids with one hit each, and leaves the other one (which hadn't attacked) alone.
Page 26 - Is Gaunt imagining the shadows we see in panels 3-7, or are they really there? Either way, shadows don't bother him.
Page 27 - Lil sleeps with the Cat, and with a sword next to her bed. She's not sleeping well, and Gaunt recognizes that kind of sleep, and knows why he has nights like that. Again, trying to be restrained with force, not going for revenge on Lil for all this trouble. Just grab the Cat and leave quietly.
Learned a bit more about GrimJack this time, though it's not really in any order, and a lot of the specifics are absent.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Maybe She Just Wants To Rile Osborn
I don't purchase it, but I did flip through an issue of Thunderbolts a couple of months ago and thus learned the truth about the Black Widow running the team. It had appeared that it was Yelena Belova, the 2nd Black Widow, but no, it's actually good old Natasha (Natalya?), going to rather extensive lengths to impersonate Yelena*. Natasha's serving as a plant for Nicky Fury, for some reason.
Reading that made me reconsider the end of the Deadpool/Thunderbolts crossover from this spring, where Deadpool's head is cutoff, but someone sewed it back on, and it wasn't Taskmaster. Deadpool concluded Black Widow really did love him, and if it had been Yelena, well, I still wouldn't buy that, but I can see it more readily than with Original Style Black Widow**.
It's a curious decision on her part. The last time Norman Osborn saw Deadpool in that crossover, Headsman had decapitated him, and Widow was holding the head, asking if Norman wanted it as a trophy. He did not, and told her to burn it. So he believes Deadpool to be finished, yet Natasha went to the trouble of reattaching his head to his body, when she had to know Deadpool wouldn't keep a low profile. Which would mean Osborn would soon learn Deadpool wasn't dead after all, and that ought to raise some questions. Sure, we might expect Norman to be so crazy, or so busy dealing with a dozen different fronts at once to bother to really think about the implications of Deadpool not being deceased, but Black Widow wouldn't be one of Nick Fury's go-to people if she left things to chance. So why risk it?
I thought maybe since Nick Fury hired Deadpool to procure that information on how to kill Skrull Queen's, and Deadpool was technically successful, maybe Fury felt he owed him. But this is Nick Fury we're talking about; he doesn't do sentimental. Maybe Fury, or Natasha, felt Deadpool could come in handy later. Guy that crazy and hard to kill could be useful at the right time. Maybe having Deadpool alive and running about being himself makes Osborn look incompetent. It certainly frustrated him when Deadpool interrupted his interview by briefly teleporting in, and it probably raised some questions with people Osborn has to answer to or contend with.
There's always the possibility Natasha just finds Wade amusing enough that she took pity on him.
* Yelena having died after becoming a Super-Adaptoid in New Avengers Annual #1.
** She's been romantically linked to Hawkeye, Daredevil, and Winter Soldier, so suffice it to say, Deadpool's seriously outclassed, unless insanity is highly appealing to her.
Reading that made me reconsider the end of the Deadpool/Thunderbolts crossover from this spring, where Deadpool's head is cutoff, but someone sewed it back on, and it wasn't Taskmaster. Deadpool concluded Black Widow really did love him, and if it had been Yelena, well, I still wouldn't buy that, but I can see it more readily than with Original Style Black Widow**.
It's a curious decision on her part. The last time Norman Osborn saw Deadpool in that crossover, Headsman had decapitated him, and Widow was holding the head, asking if Norman wanted it as a trophy. He did not, and told her to burn it. So he believes Deadpool to be finished, yet Natasha went to the trouble of reattaching his head to his body, when she had to know Deadpool wouldn't keep a low profile. Which would mean Osborn would soon learn Deadpool wasn't dead after all, and that ought to raise some questions. Sure, we might expect Norman to be so crazy, or so busy dealing with a dozen different fronts at once to bother to really think about the implications of Deadpool not being deceased, but Black Widow wouldn't be one of Nick Fury's go-to people if she left things to chance. So why risk it?
I thought maybe since Nick Fury hired Deadpool to procure that information on how to kill Skrull Queen's, and Deadpool was technically successful, maybe Fury felt he owed him. But this is Nick Fury we're talking about; he doesn't do sentimental. Maybe Fury, or Natasha, felt Deadpool could come in handy later. Guy that crazy and hard to kill could be useful at the right time. Maybe having Deadpool alive and running about being himself makes Osborn look incompetent. It certainly frustrated him when Deadpool interrupted his interview by briefly teleporting in, and it probably raised some questions with people Osborn has to answer to or contend with.
There's always the possibility Natasha just finds Wade amusing enough that she took pity on him.
* Yelena having died after becoming a Super-Adaptoid in New Avengers Annual #1.
** She's been romantically linked to Hawkeye, Daredevil, and Winter Soldier, so suffice it to say, Deadpool's seriously outclassed, unless insanity is highly appealing to her.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Assessing Where Cosmic Marvel's At Now
I thought with War of Kings just about over, it might be worth it to take stock of the current situation out in space. And if you know of any other developments I miss, definitely add them in the comments.
- There is now a parsecs wide hole in the universe, called the Fault. Well, that's the biggest problem. It's not getting any bigger right now, but it's still plenty big enough for nearly anything to come through.
- Something has already come through, in the form of an old-style Nova Centurion spaceship.
- The explosion that created the Fault destroyed almost 90% of the Shi'ar military.
- The Shi'ar surrendered to the Kree.
- After Lilandra challenged Vulcan's rule, a civil war broke between various factions supporting the two rulers.
- Which is kind of a waste of time, since Lilandra is dead, and Vulcan can be presumed dead*.
- Gladiator appears to have fallen into the role of new Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire (what's left of it).
- The Kree Empire still stands, though several of its worlds were blown up. The Kree citizenry themselves are perhaps not totally confident of their new Inhuman leaders.
- The Uplift Program designed to restart Kree evolution with Terrigen Mists, won't work.
- Black Bolt, like Vulcan, is presumed dead**. I don't know who is taking over in his stead. Medusa? Maximus? Crystal and/or Ronan the Accuser?
- Ravenous has been ousted as ruler of the territories the Kree ceded to the Annihilation Wave. Blastaar, armed with a Cosmic Control Rod, has taken over.
- Star-Lord, Mantis, Jack Flag, Bug, and Cosmo, were last seen centuries in the future, falling into the Sun. Solicitations indicate at least some of them will survive to have time travel adventures involving Kang.
- Gamora and Phyla are presumed dead***. Gamora from a broken neck and being tossed adrift in space, Phyla from being stabbed in the chest by Gamora.
- Adam Warlock is now the Magus, his really evil self. Adam Magus also appears to have control of the Universal Church of Truth, with their millions (billions?) of followers, after Warlock sort of kept the promise he made and saved the universe****.
- So that would leave the Guardians with a current roster of Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Groot, Major Victory, and Moondragon.
- Richard Rider's back in place as Nova Prime.
- The Worldmind's old system has been deleted, and replaced by a sort of recreation of Ko-Rel, the first Nova recruited after Annihilation, who Gamora killed during Conquest.
- The Worldmind's set up on the currently lobotomized Ego, the Living Planet, though Ego's brain is healing rapidly.
- The Nova Corps itself is down to seven members. Eight, when Robbie Rider gets out of intensive care.
- Nova and the Guardians have both crossed Blastaar over the course of this war.
- The Starjammers don't have to worry about overthrowing Vulcan anymore. Until he comes charging out of the Fault, I mean.
- Rachel Summers got revenge on the people who killed her family.
- Darkhawk is out searching for all the amulets like his, to stop the Fraternity of Raptors from reestablishing itself.
- Darkhawk is also wanted across the universe for killing Lilandra, though it was actually a member of the Fraternity who had hijacked his Darkhawk suit.
That's everything I can think of. With that, I'm done until Monday. I'll be off visiting a friend, so mind the store for me.
* It'll probably turn out that he fell into the Fault and soaked up all sorts of other-dimensional energy to heal himself, and he'll pop out eventually, stronger and crazier than ever. I'm not advocating that, I'd certainly prefer he stay dead, but I can't imagine we'll be so fortunate.
** He's probably lost in the Fault as well.
*** And let's just assume they'll be reappearing out of the Fault at some point as well. Though, and I say this as someone who likes Phyla and Gamora, and is indifferent to Black Bolt, if all three of them staying dead would keep Vulcan dead as well, I'd take it.
**** He promised to stop the war and save creation. He did save creation, but he certainly didn't stop the war. If he had, he probably wouldn't be Adam Magus right now.
- There is now a parsecs wide hole in the universe, called the Fault. Well, that's the biggest problem. It's not getting any bigger right now, but it's still plenty big enough for nearly anything to come through.
- Something has already come through, in the form of an old-style Nova Centurion spaceship.
- The explosion that created the Fault destroyed almost 90% of the Shi'ar military.
- The Shi'ar surrendered to the Kree.
- After Lilandra challenged Vulcan's rule, a civil war broke between various factions supporting the two rulers.
- Which is kind of a waste of time, since Lilandra is dead, and Vulcan can be presumed dead*.
- Gladiator appears to have fallen into the role of new Majestor of the Shi'ar Empire (what's left of it).
- The Kree Empire still stands, though several of its worlds were blown up. The Kree citizenry themselves are perhaps not totally confident of their new Inhuman leaders.
- The Uplift Program designed to restart Kree evolution with Terrigen Mists, won't work.
- Black Bolt, like Vulcan, is presumed dead**. I don't know who is taking over in his stead. Medusa? Maximus? Crystal and/or Ronan the Accuser?
- Ravenous has been ousted as ruler of the territories the Kree ceded to the Annihilation Wave. Blastaar, armed with a Cosmic Control Rod, has taken over.
- Star-Lord, Mantis, Jack Flag, Bug, and Cosmo, were last seen centuries in the future, falling into the Sun. Solicitations indicate at least some of them will survive to have time travel adventures involving Kang.
- Gamora and Phyla are presumed dead***. Gamora from a broken neck and being tossed adrift in space, Phyla from being stabbed in the chest by Gamora.
- Adam Warlock is now the Magus, his really evil self. Adam Magus also appears to have control of the Universal Church of Truth, with their millions (billions?) of followers, after Warlock sort of kept the promise he made and saved the universe****.
- So that would leave the Guardians with a current roster of Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Groot, Major Victory, and Moondragon.
- Richard Rider's back in place as Nova Prime.
- The Worldmind's old system has been deleted, and replaced by a sort of recreation of Ko-Rel, the first Nova recruited after Annihilation, who Gamora killed during Conquest.
- The Worldmind's set up on the currently lobotomized Ego, the Living Planet, though Ego's brain is healing rapidly.
- The Nova Corps itself is down to seven members. Eight, when Robbie Rider gets out of intensive care.
- Nova and the Guardians have both crossed Blastaar over the course of this war.
- The Starjammers don't have to worry about overthrowing Vulcan anymore. Until he comes charging out of the Fault, I mean.
- Rachel Summers got revenge on the people who killed her family.
- Darkhawk is out searching for all the amulets like his, to stop the Fraternity of Raptors from reestablishing itself.
- Darkhawk is also wanted across the universe for killing Lilandra, though it was actually a member of the Fraternity who had hijacked his Darkhawk suit.
That's everything I can think of. With that, I'm done until Monday. I'll be off visiting a friend, so mind the store for me.
* It'll probably turn out that he fell into the Fault and soaked up all sorts of other-dimensional energy to heal himself, and he'll pop out eventually, stronger and crazier than ever. I'm not advocating that, I'd certainly prefer he stay dead, but I can't imagine we'll be so fortunate.
** He's probably lost in the Fault as well.
*** And let's just assume they'll be reappearing out of the Fault at some point as well. Though, and I say this as someone who likes Phyla and Gamora, and is indifferent to Black Bolt, if all three of them staying dead would keep Vulcan dead as well, I'd take it.
**** He promised to stop the war and save creation. He did save creation, but he certainly didn't stop the war. If he had, he probably wouldn't be Adam Magus right now.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Hal Has To Get Some Credit For That
Did Batman ever give Hal Jordan any credit for reigniting the Sun during Final Night? I know Batman was sort of down on Hal after he tried to erase the universe, so he could rebuild it how he wanted it.
I also remember a JSA story where some villain the Jim Corrigan Spectre dealt wth lead a revolt of all these souls the Spectre had condemned, and Hal was struggling to get them back under control. He ultimately did so by ignoring Reverend Cramer's advice to show compassion and free the souls from damnation, and instead chose to condemn them all over again. At the end, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott visit Gotham to discuss it with Batman, and they tell him Hal's still finding his way, and that he deserved a second chance. because this was a Batman written in the last 20 years, odds were good he'd be a dismissive ass to that suggestion, and lo and behold he was, claiming Hal already had a second chance, whatever that means*.
So clearly, Batman was not a big fan of Hal's over the last 15-20 years. Of course, they've made up since then, depending on who's writing the scene**. Still, even if Batman had legit reasons to be down on Hal back in the day, he can't deny that Hal Jordan saved the freaking planet by sorta dying to reignite the Sun. Hal did that. I think a "Thank you, Hal", would be in order. I would think Alfred would have taught him at least that much.
* Does he mean because Hal came back to life after he appeared to die in Zero Hour, and most people - say Thomas and Martha Wayne - don't get that chance, so screw Hal?
** So Geoff Johns has Hal tell Barry Allen that he and Bruce were friends, but James Robinson has Hal tell Oliver Queen he didn't like Bruce?
I also remember a JSA story where some villain the Jim Corrigan Spectre dealt wth lead a revolt of all these souls the Spectre had condemned, and Hal was struggling to get them back under control. He ultimately did so by ignoring Reverend Cramer's advice to show compassion and free the souls from damnation, and instead chose to condemn them all over again. At the end, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott visit Gotham to discuss it with Batman, and they tell him Hal's still finding his way, and that he deserved a second chance. because this was a Batman written in the last 20 years, odds were good he'd be a dismissive ass to that suggestion, and lo and behold he was, claiming Hal already had a second chance, whatever that means*.
So clearly, Batman was not a big fan of Hal's over the last 15-20 years. Of course, they've made up since then, depending on who's writing the scene**. Still, even if Batman had legit reasons to be down on Hal back in the day, he can't deny that Hal Jordan saved the freaking planet by sorta dying to reignite the Sun. Hal did that. I think a "Thank you, Hal", would be in order. I would think Alfred would have taught him at least that much.
* Does he mean because Hal came back to life after he appeared to die in Zero Hour, and most people - say Thomas and Martha Wayne - don't get that chance, so screw Hal?
** So Geoff Johns has Hal tell Barry Allen that he and Bruce were friends, but James Robinson has Hal tell Oliver Queen he didn't like Bruce?
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