Not Letting Kate Bishop Pet-Sit For Me

When I was reading Hawkeye #18, I was initially surprised that Kate would do something so stupid as bring a cat used to living in its own home, into a trailer that was the home of another cat and a dog. And that she would then be surprised that didn't work at all.

But I hear enough horror stories from my dad and my coworkers to know most people don't have a damn clue what they're doing with pets. I sort of get it. Kate likes Harold's cat - or she likes Harold so she agrees to look after his cat, close enough - and she likes the old ladies whose cat she's watching, and she likes Pizza Dog. So since she likes all of them, they will all like each other, right?

Hahahahahahahahahah - No. But that's Kate. She's endlessly confident in herself, and eager to help people. The problem during her stint in L.A. is that she keeps butting up against the limits of her experience, be it with pets, or at being a detective. She doesn't understand the risks in bringing a new animal in another one's territory, just like she doesn't really understand how to deal with one brother releasing the other's music, or a wealthy weed dealer stealing an orchid. Shooting arrows really well only works if she can find the right place to put the arrow, and she's had only limited success with that. She's a quick study - witness her learning some things about archery by watching Clint once - but she doesn't have anyone to teach her how to be a shamus. Harold was offering supportive platitudes, but not much practical help. The cop is too busy trying to dissuade her before she gives him an ulcer.

I'm honestly surprised the Old Ladies Cat and Pizza Dog got along, with Kate bringing the dog into the cat's domain. That is a remarkably reasonable cat (I'd question the Old Ladies.letting this unknown girl with a dog watch their trailer and their cat, but I guess they were desperate).

I do wonder if it's significant that Kate tried taking the cat back. Admission of defeat? I don't know. It got her the real scoop on Harold, but her attempt to help him failed utterly. So she's struggling with the limits of what she can accomplish alone, after she got fed up with Clint being mopey and trying to do it all himself.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 7

As the reviews continue, we move to a couple of Marvel's crimefighters who have had things go better than they did here. . .

Captain Marvel #2, by Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), David Lopez (art), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Looking at the one bag slung over her shoulder there, I can't help thinking Carol brought about as much stuff for this stint in outer space as a little kid does when they fake run away from home.

Carol's scarcely reached space, and her ship is already under attack by mercenaries. At least these are careful mercs, who will only try and kill Avengers if they're getting paid appropriately for it. Of course, then there's the fact their employer is willing and able to foot the bill. And Carol's piloting a ship she clearly didn't read the manual for. And she brought her cat, though that's the cat's fault, to the extent you can fault a cat for being a jerk, which is merely its essential nature. Anyway, the Guardians of the Galaxy show up, and I'm not sure whether this was a prearranged meeting spot, or one of those remarkable coincidences you see in stories set in space, where despite the vastness of the area involved, people always wind up in the same place at the same time.

The heroes compare notes, and Rocket flips out over the presence of the cat, which he insists is a "flerken", something that lays eggs, and which Rocket hates. in the midst of that dumbassery, a stray shot releases Carol's cargo/prisoner/passenger, the young green girl who came to Earth last issue, named Tic. She is a little groggy, and apparently hates the Spartoi, Spartax, whatever the race of people Star-Lord's dad is from are called. So seeing Star-Lord makes her a little angry, and she steals Carol's ship - and her cat. And Carol , rather than ride along in the Guardians' ship, decides to try flying after her under her own power.

When I write it all out like that, everyone sounds kind of stupid. I mean, it's isn't Carol's fault. She's never heard of flerkens, she didn't know the Spartoi are the ones Tic considers responsible for the fate of her people, and may not have even known Star-Lord was half-Spartoi. Even so, it's all a little slapstick, characters rushing about quickly without thinking anything through first. Not unusual for Carol, necessarily, but not the best way to proceed on unknown ground.

Lopez and Loughridge's work is a high point, though. I mean, I don't love Star-Lord's current look, or Rocket's much more fierce look, but that's out of L & L's hands. And yes, raccoons can be pretty nasty and vicious, and they have some teeth on them, but I prefer Rocket to look sort of cuddly and approachable. It makes how dangerous he is more of a surprise, and it makes sense in his original origin if he was designed to help treat patients, that he would have a form that puts people at ease. Again, nothing Lopez or Loughridge can do there, blame it on, I guess Bendis and McNiven, or the movie studios. Something like that. Lopez continues to ink his own work, which continues to make it look different from how I'd grown accustomed to. It's a little simplified, but it works well. He gave Drax this big, goofy grin which amuses me, even if it raises the question in my mind whether or not Drax is back to being brain-damaged, as he was for most of the '90s.

Hawkeye #18, by Matt Fraction & Annie Wu (storytellers), Matt Hollingsworth (color art), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer) - I got nothin' for this cover, other than this consistent theme Aja's using is wearing a little thin.

Kate's cat-food aisle mentor turns out to be a former crime writer who has desperately wanted to leave L.A. for 20 years. He saw something related to harvesting body parts in the mansion of Count Nefaria (and his daughter, Madame Masque), and now they won't let him leave. But he's determined to try, in spite of the ass-beatings, and Kate's determined to help. All that leads to is the writer - named Harold H. Harold - hanging dead from the Hollywood sign with one of Kate's arrows in his chest, a memento of her botched attempt to rescue him. Oh, and now Masque is determined to never let Kate leave L.A., and she burned down the trailer. At least the pets survived, and Grumpy Cop was a friend of Harold's, so that might work in Kate's favor (or not, depending on how he takes that arrow at the crime scene). And Kate knows there's a hit out on Clint, so I imagine she'll be testing Masque's ability to stop her very soon.

Was keeping Harold in L.A. strictly a power move, simply to show they could? He didn't give any indication he was planning to blow the whistle on them, so did it matter where he went? If it was strictly to show off their reach, then that's fine, I just didn't understand it. Does it make him look crazy if he tries to tell people what's going on, when he complains that bellhops beat him up every time he tries to leave? I don't know, I get the feeling Fraction's referencing something here, and I'm missing it entirely. I felt that about a lot of things in this issue. The name, "Harold H. Harold", for one. I'm guessing the initials being "HHH" is not a pro-wrestling reference. It doesn't make it a bad story - I'm appreciating Kate's continued attempts to actually do something, unlike Mopey Barton, while also appreciating that she's not doing a fantastic job at, because her constant arrogance was really irritating - but I feel like there's an entire level of it I don't see.

Wu and Hollingsworth are still doing good work. I like the deep blue that shades to black that's around Kate almost constantly, especially when they contrast it at the start with her riding her bike to the store with her little headlamp. She's traveling through a dark realm, and she can only see part of what's in front of her (Harold being in trouble), and none of what's to the side (her being in trouble) or behind (Clint being in trouble). Also, Wu simplified her style for Nefaria and Masque. Fewer lines, thicker lines, less busy looking overall. I mean, Nefaria has fewer lines on his face than Kate, and he's probably 4 times her age. It makes them stand apart a little, which figures since they've made themselves different. Although, the idea of them harvesting body parts, that's a new thing, right? I mostly know Nefaria as the ionic-powered badass that beat entire teams of Avengers, and just wanted to return things to the way they were, with him as a properly-deferred to aristocrat. And Masque was a crazy paranoid who built android/cyborg copies of herself. Which isn't too far off, I guess. Gotta get spare parts from somewhere.

The Invisible Man 1.7 - Liberty and Larceny

Plot: Darien may be getting a little too comfortable with the gland, because all those things Scarborough said about him - especially the stuff about always taking the easy path - are demonstrating themselves in his abuse of invisibility. How's he abusing it? Try parking in a handicapped spot to eat his lunch, and when a cop shows up, quicksilvering his lower extremities to fool her into thinking he can park there.

Well the Official, Keeper, and Hobbes have had enough. The Official declares Fawkes is costing them beaucoup dollars (over $80 grand so far on counteragent), and from now on, Fawkes will only receive a shot of counteragent when he completes an official mission. Which seems ridiculous given the general parameter that Fawkes can't go more than about 6 days without one whether he turns invisible or not, but that's the government for you. When Darien points out he might need a shot mid-mission to complete said mission, he's met with. . . a formal request form. Again, government for you. Fawkes' response is to stand up, turn invisible in front of all of them, and walk out. I suppose it would be difficult for an invisible man to flip someone the bird, so that's a nice proxy.

As Fawkes stews over THE MAN'S attempts to restrict his use of a thing which will drive him insane if he uses it too much, the perfect opportunity to rebel is waiting in his apartment: It's the woman who taught teenage Fawkes how to be a thief then vanished without explanation, Liz! And she has a job she needs a partner for, one that will pay said partner 400 grand. Is Fawkes interested?

Why yes, yes he is, but things almost immediately go south. For starters, Hobbes is following him everywhere, and he basically screams "law enforcement" in everything he does. Which means Fawkes can't have him tailing him, which means more invisibility, which means we're slipping closer to Quicksilver Madness. Second, this isn't a job Liz is doing for herself, it's work for hire, and the person doing the hiring is noted, um crime boss I guess, Johnny Castignacci, or Johnny Books. Which really makes him sound like an accountant who does terrible, Saul from Breaking Bad-style commercials to drum up business. Third, what Johnny wants them to steal is a file detailing the location of a former hitman of his who is going to testify and send him to jail. Fourth, Johnny does his homework, and it doesn't take long to learn that while Fawkes should be serving a life sentence, he obviously isn't, and his record has been wiped clean.

Fawkes can't back out, but he can't stop Liz, but he won't abandon Liz, but he can't ditch Hobbes, so what you end up with is Fawkes steals the file, Liz grabs it from him and escapes with Johnny's right-hand guy, and Hobbes arrests Fawkes. You'd Books would be happy, but no, he's furious Liz brought an apparent fed snitch into his home, and vows she'll only live if she gets Fawkes there. Quite how he expects her to do that when he's confining her to his home, I don't know, but Johnny really doesn't strike me as guy smart enough to be this difficult to prosecute.

Meanwhile, Fawkes has confessed everything to the Official, who sends Hobbes to try and protect the witness, who instead figures Hobbes is a hired killer, shoots at him, steals the car of Books' actual assassin, and heads off to kill Books. Fawkes is handcuffed to a chair, having a chat with the Keeper about personal responsibility, which I mostly tuned out because come on, I read Spider-Man comics, I know about power and responsibility. It was nice that she was saying it as an encouragement rather than a lecture, and Fawkes asks her to trust him, as she asked him to trust her, and set him free so he can fix things. Which she does, though she alerts security to his "escape" to save her job, and Fawkes is off. But still having not received counteragent, he'll have to do things without invisibility. Fortunately, Johnny's entire operation is staffed by morons, and he manages to save Liz, save Johnny from his old hitman, and maybe get the Official off his back, though Liz vanishes with all of Johnny's money. She does appear at the end to offer Fawkes his cut, but he declines, telling her to keep it all, and retire, then walking away fast.

Quote of the Episode: Darien - 'Now that I can go invisible, I can't be let out of sight. Now how does that make sense?'

The "Oh crap" count: 3 (14 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week? George Bernard Shaw, and he left a Garbo quote on a note for Hobbes.

Times Fawkes Goes Into Quicksilver Madness: 0 (4 overall).

The Agency is still under the Department of Fish & Game.

Other: Can't believe Fawkes didn't wear gloves at all during the heist.

I thought it was very funny that the guy Books sent to kill his former witness, who Hobbes killed, died under one of those "Dip" road signs. How ignominious an end, to have that as your impromptu tombstone.

I like the fact that Eberts (played by Mike McCafferty), who is the Moneypenny to the Official's M, was entirely absent last week when the Official was fired, but has reappeared this week, right back in that spot just behind the Official's right shoulder. If I didn't know better, I'd swear Eberts was the Official's Tyler Durden, but I've seen people talk directly to him separate from the Official.

I was fairly unimpressed by Castignacci, but he was OK. Except for the moment when Liz demands her money and Johnny Books starts listing off her failures and ends with "Fuhgettabutit". I mean, he just completely changes he's manner of speaking to go full, stereotype mob guy for that one line, and it was just awful. Ugh. Can not believe the feds needed one of his guys to turn to manage a conviction. Which made it hard for me to buy Darien's terrified reaction to who Liz was working for.

I did like Liz as an external representation of Fawkes' struggles to adjust to his current situation. On a basic level, I think Fawkes liked being a thief, not just because of the thrill, but because it gave him freedom. He decided when he stole, and from whom. He escaped or was caught on his own strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, as Liz noted, Darien has too much conscience for that. He's too concerned about who he might hurt with his actions to be successful that way. But even so, it would be his choice. Now, working for the Agency, he's actually being paid to help people, rather than harm them, but he's being pushed, prodded, watched. There isn't trust, there isn't freedom, the counteragent is the obvious leash, but the gland is in his head, and they're trying to tell him when he can and can't use it. I'm not sure what conclusion he's come to, though. Reuniting with Liz has reinforced for him, the realization he isn't cut out to be a thief, but I don't think it resolves his problems working for the Agency. He wanted to clean up his mess, save his friend and a witness he placed in danger, but that's a personal thing. It doesn't reflect the larger issue of working for a group that tells his partner to follow him everywhere.

And about that, Hobbes wasn't helping. Calling Fawkes the '$6 million screw-up', and intimating his job is to keep Darien in line. The progress I thought I saw in their relationship over the previous few weeks seems to have evaporated. Maybe it's only at the stage where they work well against a common foe, but otherwise, without something to distract them from their differences, they revert to mutual suspicion. The bit where the Keeper and Fawkes have their conversation was nice. She's less clinical in how she talks to him, and works hard to emphasize that how the gland is used is his choice, but he has to take responsibility for those choices. Recognize consequences, and if you're willing to accept them, then do it.

I enjoyed this episode more when I watched it than I did once I started writing this, so this might be the weakest episode so far. The plot and characters don't really mesh well, but it's not terrible.

Favorite Marvel Characters #10 - The Thing

Character: The Thing (Benjamin J. Grimm)

Creators: Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

First appearance: The Fantastic Four #1

First comic I read he appeared in: It's either The Thing #33 or West Coast Avengers #6. That's right, not Ben hanging with the FF. It's either him getting pummeled by a bunch of superstrong lady wrestlers that think he murdered one of them, or him getting dragged into a trip to Mystical Cat People Land by that blasted Hawkeye.

Definitive writer(s): It'd have to be Lee and Kirby, though I've read basically none of their run. Everyone else is just riffing off their work, right? But if we're going with someone whose stuff I've actually read, it's probably Walt Simonson. Ben's not an idiot, but he's still a bit of an oaf, so he can be the butt of jokes, but still get good lines and beat up bad guys.

Definitive artist: I figured it would be John Byrne, or maybe Andrea DiVito, but when I picture him in my mind, it's usually Mike Wieringo's version. He gave Ben this bent-knee stance that made his lower body look really short, and his arms really long (like there on the left) because his shoulders would slope down quite a bit, and that's the image I see a lot. Maybe I like to think of him as always carrying a heavy load.

Favorite moment or story: I thought about the big fight with Doom in Fantastic Four #40, but looking back over it, I don't like that Reed forces Ben to become the Thing again. I originally saw the story play out in the '90s cartoon (in the episode "And A Blind Man Shall Lead Them") and Ben made his own decision to become the Thing again and save the team. He wasn't happy about it, nearly killed Doom because of it, but he made the choice to save his friends. So to avoid citing another cartoon, let's use his fight with the Champion in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7.

What I like about him: Well let's be honest: Who doesn't like the Thing? He's the ever-lovin', blue-eyed idol o' millions! Everyone wants him on their teams. The FF, the Avengers. Heck, Hawkeye about drove Ben around the bend trying to get him on the West Coasters back in the day. The Thing is one of those characters who I don't feel the need to keep really close tabs on (I've never bought Fantastic Four regularly), but I'm always glad to see him show up, and to know he's part of the Marvel U. He's got a cool look, with the jigsaw quality of his rocky shell, the three fingers, the big, rocky brow ridge, and he's a pretty hard character to write badly. Have him complain a little while he helps Reed, bicker with Johnny, mouth off to Doom. He's not going to be easily impressed or frightened, and maybe he's even a little rude, but he'll apologize if you call him on it.

He's not the strongest hero, not the smartest, but he might be the toughest. He's a little gruff, but he's usually a big softy, really. I mean, think if it had been Wolverine or the Hulk getting pie-in-the-face presents from the Yancy Street Gang all those years (though I guess it was really Johnny pretending they were from the YSG). There wouldn't be a Yancy Street Gang, either because they're all dead, or because there wasn't a Yancy Street any longer. Ben's a lot of bluster, but he doesn't really want to hurt people. Just wants to protect those important to him.

And some of it is I feel bad for him, because Ben got the raw deal. He was the only one who didn't want to take the rocket up, and only did it because Sue called him a coward. I wonder if Lee and Kirby meant that as a lesson to their young readers about not letting yourself be pressured into doing something you think is stupid. At any rate, the others all come home with powers, but still look the same. Ben gets turned into an orange rock monster. The Marvel Universe usually punishes arrogance, but for some reason, unlike with Stark or Doom, Reed was able to shunt his backlash onto Ben. He was angry about that for a long time, and justifiably so, not aided by the fact Reed was constantly belittling him in the early days (allegedly to spur Ben on by challenging him, Reed apparently not familiar with the concept of 'positive reinforcement').

By the time I'd saw Ben Grimm in the comics, he seemed pretty acclimated to his life as the Thing. It wasn't always smooth - those two books I listed as my first exposure, he's away from the FF because of his stay on the Beyonder's world, and because Alicia hooked up with the Johnny. Ben can be petulant at times, and I kind of excuse it because it seems like the universe kicked him in the teeth pretty good once already, anything further is just being mean. But eventually, Ben is able to adjust, find something new to hold onto. Sometimes it's wrestling, sometimes it's taking someone under his wing, or taking a security job at Project PEGASUS. During Civil War, he went to France for awhile and fought alongside some heroes there. When he was just about join the West Coast Avengers and started to change further, he ended up living with the Mole Man for awhile. He's an adaptable guy, not merely a survivor, but a character who can settle into almost any situation and make it work.

And it's because he's constant, a rock, if you will. He always has that kindness under the tough talk, the gruffness, and the temper. He's willing to stop and listen, and if someone's in need, he's willing to help. Even if he's beat up, even if he doesn't totally understand what's going on or how to fix things, he's going to try. And for the Thing, trying means he keeps going until he drops. Then he gets up and keeps going some more. I like that, it's a quality I like to think I have going for me, that I don't quit until the job is finished, and he's sort of an exemplar of that.

It might be easy to let that sort of determination make him unpleasant to be around, where he becomes short with people as he's single-mindedly focused on finishing something, but he doesn't. He's quite affable (something I'm not so much). Maybe it's the grousing he does while he's saving the day. He looks like one of Kirby's sci-fi horror monsters, something the imbeciles of the Marvel Universe would pursue with torches and pitchforks (right up until they got a good look at him), but he gets along with almost everybody. Like I said, who doesn't like the Thing? Jerks, that's who. No really, I'm pretty sure the only people in the Marvel Universe who don't like him are either villains, or heroes that are big jerks. I feel like Emma Frost doesn't care for him, probably thinks him a lout, but well, Emma's kind of a jerk (and she dates Scott Summers, so her ability to judge character is crap anyway). I think Namor at least respects him a little, but if not, well, Namor's a huge jerk. But the characters who aren't jerks, they all like Ben Grimm. They know they can count on him, they know he's trustworthy (really important if you're gonna play poker with him), stalwart, funny when he wants to be, has seen so much weird stuff working alongside Stretcho nothing much fazes him, and for the most part, knows when he should and should not start punching things without needing to be told (excepting those rare occasion Doom shows up not looking for trouble, but Ben takes a swing as soon as he sees him because better safe than sorry with Doom).

He's the lovable tough guy with the heart that won't quit, and that's why he's a favorite.

Like We Wouldn't Celebrate The Momentous Occasion

*Calvin, Clever Adolescent Panda, and Deadpool, sit in Calvin's small, but for the moment private, room. Calvin lounges on a bed, Deadpool in a plastic hard-backed chair, and the panda sits on the floor, leaning against the bed frame. The three have gathered to celebrate the Merc with a Mouth's recent wedding to a Queen of the Underworld. A keg sits near Calvin, from which Deadpool regularly refills an old St. Louis (football) Cardinals mug. Several mini-pizzas sit on a large tray on a metal foot locker in between them. Outside, it's night, the moon only intermittently visible through the clouds, which periodically rain upon the landscape. Even more infrequently, thunder and lightning make their presence known.*

Deadpool: [You aren't drinking?]

CAP: He never does.

Calvin: {Now I thought you two, at least, would spare me the peer pressure.}

Deadpool: [Hey, no peer pressure here. No judgements, just bros, right my compadre?]

CAP: *a little tight-lipped* Right.

Deadpool: [Just because I think your personal decisions make you a big weenie doesn't mean I'm going to object to having all this beer for myself.]

CAP: You could share with -

Calvin: {No.}

Deadpool: [That's right, I'm a responsible adult now. Now more screwing around, except with my sweetie.]

CAP: Ummm. . .

Calvin: {Didn't pull you away from any delicate situations on your honeymoon, did we?}

Deadpool: [Every day is a honeymoon for me and my honey!]

Calvin: {. . .Is that a yes or a no? I'd prefer not to have your new bride angry at me.}

Deadpool: [Absence will make the heart grow fonder. As long as I bring some of these mini-pizzas back, no problems.]

Calvin: {Then you might want to stop eating them before we run out.}

Deadpool: [Why? You're the one she'll be mad at.]

Calvin: {Of course, how silly of me.}

Deadpool: [What's with you my little furry chum? Not going to congratulate me?]

Clever Adolescent Panda: Why wasn't I invited?

Deadpool: [Oh, well. . . Let me hand that question off to - look over there!]

*Deadpool tries to dash out the door, but is tackled before he can even leave his chair.*

Deadpool: [Ah, you've, oof, gained weight!]

CAP: *shifts to put a little more pressure on Wade's ribcage* After all we've been through, I don't even get to come to your wedding?

Calvin: {Sorry, Wade. The little one's been like this ever since I picked up issue 27.}

CAP: I understand not inviting him -

Calvin: {Hey!}

CAP: - it'd be like inviting Cyclops. But I'm cute and cuddly and a good dancer, and I wanted to give Captain America a hug!

Calvin: {He did invite Cyclops.}

CAP: What? *looks at Deadpool, who CAP is still sitting on*

Deadpool: [It's true, I did invite my fellow X-Man and mutant.]

CAP: You're not an X-Man or a mutant!

Calvin: {In the future he is. An X-Man, I mean. But seriously Wade, I'm pretty sure Cyclops didn't get an invite even to his own weddings.}

CAP: *looks up* Ouch.

Deadpool: [Look, I can explain! It's really simple!]

CAP: *eyes Deadpool suspiciously* Don't say it got lost in the mail

Deadpool: [No, I knew exactly where it was. It's just that the mail truck I stole ran out of gas. Ow, ow, I'm kidding, don't bite my throat, Shiklah likes that spot when we're -]

CAP: *lets go, tumbles off* Gah!

Deadpool: *sits up* [It is easy though. I'm part of your continuity, but you're not part of mine. It's like I'm a visitor to your land, but it only works one way, when I'm here on Earth-58008.]

CAP: Earth-58008?

Deadpool: [Yeah, because if you type it in a calculator and flip it upside down, it spells "boobs".] *titters*

CAP: *disgusted* Ugh. That's so stupid..

Calvin: {Yeah Wade. Everyone knows Earth-58008 is from that What If? where all the guy heroes are girls, but all the girl heroes are also girls.}

CAP: Huh?

Deadpool: [Wait, it really exists? I would love to see lady Cable, with the glowy and long, flowing tresses. Quickly, to the. . . um, crap. Who's good for traversing the multiverse? Dr. Strange? The Watcher has the TV room where he can spy on other universes, like a bald Jimmy Stewart.]

CAP: But he's dead.

Deadpool: [I know Jimmy Stewart's dead.]

CAP: I mean the Watcher!

Deadpool: [Oh yeah, him too. That just makes it easier to use his stuff! Now I just need a way to get to the moon. . .]

Calvin: {I'm joking, 'Pool. At least, I hope I am, though you can't be sure with the superhero writers.}

Deadpool: [Way to dash my hopes I was finally gaining Cosmic Consciousness. All those years of eating things that fell from the sky in the hopes it was a radioactive Living Tribunal loogie, wasted.]

CAP: Why would you want that?

Calvin: {Yeah, everyone who gets it goes crazy or dies. *pause* OK, so the first is of limited concern for you, but still. It hasn't been too great for the Mar-Vell family.}

Deadpool: [Things are going well for me, and we know that won't last. I figured this way, I can see the bad stuff coming, and maybe stop it.]

CAP: Oh. I can see that.

Deadpool: [But you're right. Who needs to see all that pain and suffering goin' on around the world? Beer me!]

CAP: That's what I'm talkin' about! *reaches for beer*

Calvin: {None for you.}

CAP: But you aren't drinking! You couldn't have bought the entire keg just for Wade!?

Calvin: {Sez who? I didn't get him a wedding gift - because I too didn't receive an invitation - *glares at Wade* so I couldn't find out where they were registered. So I bought him beer and mini-pizzas.}

Deadpool: [That's really swell, but let the kid have a beer. *whispers loudly* we'll make it sick and hungover, then it'll be a teetotaling panda.]

Calvin: {Kind of forgetting about panda stamina there. I'm pretty sure CAP could drink you under the table. If there was a table in here, that is.}

CAP: Darn straight!

Deadpool: [Blasphemy! In addition to being the Weapon X Karaoke Champ, I'm also reigning Marvel Universe Drinking Champion!]

CAP: You couldn't out-drink Fat Cobra!

Deadpool: [What? Who? I didn't have to bury him. Being used for a Fear Itself tie-in in a War Machine ongoing did that. I thought you were going to mention that fat buddy of Thor's. Kegstand the Wideload or something? Renfaire Santa Claus?]

Calvin: {Great, we're about to be at war with the Warriors Three if they get wind of this. Or worse, Volstagg's wife. Look Wade, before you get us all killed, I did have another reason for inviting you.}

Deadpool: [Oh great, here we go. Another person who wants me for my body. I'm taken, Calvin. You missed your chance.]

Calvin: *shudders* {I'm going to ignore that as hard as I can, because the other alternative is cranial trauma. No, this place *gestures to the room* is about to be invaded.}

CAP: *stops trying to surreptitiously grab keg hose*  Invaded? By who?

Calvin: *rises, leans against wall and gazes out the window into the distance, face hidden from his compatriots* {A horde of unrelenting destruction, dedicated only to satisfying their own rapacious desires at the cost of the peace and sanity of everyone unfortunate enough to be in their path.}

Deadpool: [You're being menaced by televangelists?]

CAP: It's not zombies is it? Everyone is being menaced by zombies these days, and rotting flesh smells really bad with this nose.

Calvin: {No, far worse than either, though I can't vouch for their smell. The dire threat I speak of, the one I feel sworn to stop, to protect my coworkers, is that of *waits for rumble of thunder*. . . the birders.}*Calvin looks up, hoping for the crack of lightning, but the sky remains dark.*

CAP: Birders?

*Now the lightning flashes*

Calvin: {Damn, ruined the effect.}

Deadpool: [Hey, I'm up for fightin' bird people. When we beat 'em, we'll make them pay tribute in eggs. Celebration omelet!]

To be continued. . . at some point in the hopefully near future.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 6

Let's check in on Marvel's top two (only?) costumed legal eagles, shall we?

Daredevil #2, by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid (storytellers), Javier Rodriguez (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - Matt's quoting Princess Bride in this issue. Was not expecting that.

Turns out Matt isn't the only blind vigilante in San Francisco. It's also the home of the Shroud, who has seen better days. He's drinking coffee made with pouring bottled water over a filter he pulled from his garbage can. Oh, and he's keeping four men chained up in his charming domicile. He's also resentful of how San Francisco has taken to Murdock, and resolves to interrupt his dinner with Kirsten McDuffie and the Deputy Mayor, who is friendly, but also wanted to warn Matt about a dangerous new crime boss in town. The Owl. I guess he's going to fail in his attempt to recover that painting from the Chameleon. Or he's going to succeed, but Doom's going to hear about it and set the Owl running for his life.

Anyway, during this conversation, which has also lead to mention of the Shroud as a less friendly local vigilante, Matt hears him on the roof. So he goes up, they fight a bit, Matt has the upper hand, then the Shroud tells him about the 4 capos he has, and tells Matt if he's arrested, they die. Or Daredevil can come with him to the home of the new big boss in town. Except they wind up at the Shroud's place. Which means Matt's fighting on the other guy's turf now, and the end of the issue provides a hint that Shroud's powers might present a problem even to Matt's senses.

I'm pretty curious at the Shroud's current state. I haven't seen him since the tail end of the Abnett/Lanning Heroes for Hire, but he seemed to have his act together quite a bit better then. Waid's kind of leaning on the twisted reflection bit with him here. He's Matt if Matt didn't pull out of his descent into anger and depression. Alone, brutal, unfriendly. A little like Matt during his bleaker moments in Nocenti's run. Or maybe that's just the stubble. Matt certainly enjoyed the fight, though. Having a grand old time. I especially like the way he's posing on top of the chimney when he surprises Shroud. Such a ham.

I like how Rodriguez colors him. The black he uses is so dark, it makes the body like a literal void, which gives the impression he wrapped the shadows around himself. The black gives a lot of weight to the cape.

She-Hulk #3, by Charles Soule (writer), Javier Pulido (artist), Muntsa Vicente (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) - OK, Doom is hovering, or else he wears lifts. Cause there is no way he's taller than Jennifer Walters.

Jen's new client is Kristoff, ward and possible future heir to the Latverian throne. But he doesn't want the throne. He wants to wear shoes with no socks and visit trendy night clubs. Which, if I had oodles of money (and didn't despise crowded, noisy clubs) is what I would do. Regardless, Doom is not about to have him be a lazy butt kid in his country, so Kristoff wants to apply for asylum and Jen is the first lawyer willing to take the case. There is the slight issue that the application must be made that day, and that Kristoff's chauffeur is actually a Doombot, and that Doom would ring the courthouse with lots of Doombots. None of which stopped them, and Kristoff was all set to be saved, when Doom smashes through the ceiling and flies off with his ward, as Jen vows not to let it end here. If I have to get a lawyer, I want it to be one who'll smash robots for me.

One thing I notice about how Pulido draws Jen. Her musculature is very understated when she's doing her lawyer stuff in regular clothes, and then gets much more pronounced when she's smashing things. Is she able to control how much she hulks out now? I read Jeff Parker's Red She-Hulk stuff and Betty had a much more massive Hulk form when she was about to die. Jen's had this condition a lot longer, so it makes sense she'd have more control. Like, I know Jen enjoys being 6-7 and green, so she stays in that form for everyday stuff, but then she can ramp up the strength when she needs to. Or maybe she just wears clothes that are slimming? I do really like the trench coat and huge sunglasses look for her. Maybe because it's the sort of thing you see people wear as a disguise in movies, but there's no way it works for someone who is, again, 6-foot-7 and bright green.

One thing that threw me was Pulido's layouts. Sometimes he starts a page by spreading a panel across two pages, then switches to one panel on each page below that. He tries to make a noticeable white gutter when he switches to two panels, but you know, it's on the fold of the page so I don't always notice it and just fly on over to the next page instead of working down, and get really confused. Have to be more careful, I guess.

So that's two good books.

One Of These Villains Is Not Like The Other

So Avengers Undercover has this little quartet of villains who seem to be the ones running these tests on the kids. Baron Zemo's acting like the boss, but there's also Madame Masque, Daimon Hellstrom, and. . . the Constrictor?

I must have missed the memo where Constrictor became a big wheel in the super-villain set. I'd rate him as the 5th-most notable member of the Serpent Society*. Not among super-villains, just the snake-themed group Captain America used to handle solo back in the day. What's he doing there?

I'm sure Constrictor, having been humiliated twice by Arcade in Avengers Arena #7, would love to be in on a plan that takes Arcade's big win and kills him with it. But that doesn't explain why Zemo would let him play. I feel like if he tried, Zemo would just shoot him in the head. Or the three of them would laugh, and then Hellstrom would send Constrictor to Hell.

I thought perhaps Zemo wants lackeys, people he feels he can lead by the nose, not unlike what he thought he had in the original Thunderbolts (Dr. Karla Sofen/Moonstone/Meteorite excepted, but even her, he thought he had locked down), but Hellstrom and Masque don't strike as the idiot follower types.

But maybe this is how it goes with these villainous groups at Marvel. There's always the odd villain out. In Acts of Vengeance you had Loki (albeit in disguise), Doom, Magneto, the red Skull, the Mandarin, the Kingpin. . . and the Wingless Wizard. I guess you could argue the Kingpin, as a more "regular" mob type crook, didn't fit, but at least he qualified as someone's arch-foe (Daredevil, maybe also the Punisher, depending on whether Jigsaw was dead at the moment). Who's the Wizard? A smart guy who hates Reed Richards? Uh, we've already got Dr. Doom, and you know he's not letting anyone else kill the Four. A guy with questionable headgear taste? The Mandarin's rockin his armor look (which isn't bad, actually), and when Loki reveals himself, he's got that gold helmet with the ridiculous horns coming off it. A guy who wears magenta? Hello, Magneto's right there.

As a kid reading Amazing Spider-Man #328, I recognized the other guys instantly, but him, I had no clue. He's not on their level. And the same goes for Constrictor. Maybe it's a reward for some past service rendered. Back during the depressing Dark Reign stuff, Norman Osborn and the Hood let Taskmaster into their little Cabal, because he did a good job running the Initiative training facility. I like Taskmaster, but again, Doom was in this group, Loki was in this group, Namor and Emma Frost were in there, the Hood had enough magic stuff to be a big deal, and Osborn had the Sentry as his lap dog, which got him a seat at the table. Even Taskmaster knew he was in a different league. But I guess Constrictor could be getting ambitious, and he did some work for one of the others, and here he is. Maybe he got tired of being in groups with guys like Whiplash and Hydro-Man, getting pummeled by the New Warriors or whoever.

Of course, at times Constrictor has been in a grey area, working for not-so-bad mercenary groups like the Six Pack or Cable. The last time I saw him, he working at the Initiative, and was at least considering going straight, being an actual hero, instead of playing at it. Zemo had a long and winding road to being a good guy, which Brubaker wiped out because, I don't know, he wanted Zemo to attack Bucky or something. Hellstrom's been a Defender a few times, and Masque did help the Avengers and Thunderbolts defeat her father back in the Kurt Busiek Avengers days. There's some interesting history there, is what I'm saying. . .

* Figure Cobra is ahead of him, for leading the team for awhile, but mostly for his long partnership with Mr. Hyde, where they even fought Thor. Then you've got Diamondback, Asp, and Black Mamba, who I'm probably crediting unfairly for their appearances as a trio in Cable/Deadpool. But Diamondback was also a regular cast member in Captain America for a few years, so she definitely ought to be ahead of him. So maybe 3rd-most notable.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 5

In retrospect, not having my collection handy may make the Favorite Character posts more difficult. Still better I didn't postpone it another 2 months.

Avengers Undercover #2 & 3, by Dennis Hopeless (writer), Kev Walker (artist, #2), Jean-Francois Beaulieu (color art), Tim Green II (artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I'm not sure I agree with the blurb they quoted on the cover for issue 3. Was Avengers Arena supposed to be a satire of contemporary pop culture? It seemed a to play things too straight for that.

The kids descend into the nation of Bagalia looking for Cullen, and quite quickly find him. And he seems quite at home, among people who don't seem bothered at all by the things he lived through and did. Which starts to sound pretty good to all the other kids, except Cammi. Oh Cammi, I love that you're the only one with any brains. Unfortunately, before she can get the others to pull their heads from the behinds, Cullen comes along and says he's got a better idea. At which point Daimon Hellstrom teleports them all to Arcade's new digs. Seems he's making dough offering rich people the chance to slaughter each other, but Cullen's there for his revenge, and some of the others seem quite on board with that. So there's some bickering between Nico and Cammi. If it comes down to those two, I'm on Cammi's side. I've always appreciated that Hopeless threw my two least favorite members of the Runaways into this, so I wouldn't care if they got iced. Chase is a blithering idiot, and Nico's been on my shit list since that time she attacked Spider-Man when all he was doing was having dinner with Victor and Gert.

Anyway, once Deathlocket manages to uses that love cyborg arm to shut down Arcade's systems, he's depowered and at the mercy of the other kids. And it looks like they just might take mercy on him, after beating the snot out of him, naturally. But then Hazmat snaps out of the catatonic thing and fries him. Well, that's the end of Arcade, until someone declares it to have been a Murderbot. Throughout all this, Hellstrom, Madame Masque, Zemo, and Constrictor (?!) have been watching, as this whole thing has been a set-up. Oh, I'm sure Arcade's still "dead", because I doubt Zemo would care, but the open acceptance by the villains was all a ploy. Quite what he plans to do now - blackmail them into working for him? - I don't know. I guess none of them realize Cullen's under Hellstrom's control, assuming that hasn't ceased to be an factor since the end of the first issue.

Tim O'Neil noted that Kev Walker's been very good about giving all the characters, but especially the girls, distinct body types. And he also noted, correctly, Green kind of didn't maintain that in issue 3. Which is a little disappointing. I think Hazmat's chest grew several sizes between issues. I'm starting to think he's at his best with non-human characters, because his work hasn't looked as good as it did with the Rocket Raccoon/Groot stuff. And I'm not at all sure why Cammi was carrying what looked like an ordinary silenced pistol. Wouldn't she have some sort of compact laser pistol? I feel like he can draw the hell out of those, so I don't know. Hazmat mirroring the pose Arcade used when he killed Mettle when she fried him was a nice touch.

I'm not sure about this possible burgeoning romance thing between Hazmat and Anachronism. Maybe it's not actually happening, but Hopeless is dropping various little bits that suggest it.

Back to Kev Walker. When the kids find themselves in that initial fight down in Bagalia, he puts all the characters in these tilted panels with thick, rough black lines around them, except for Deathlocket, who doesn't know how to fight. So she's standing there, in front of and between two panels, but not part of either, separate from the combat. Then when she is attacked and defends herself, she's in her own little rough-edged panel.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 4

I hate turkey season so damn badly. Nothing against the birds or the hunters, I just hate having to wait to go do my work so I don't disturb them, especially when it gets freaking hot. And it always gets hot. How is this week not over?

Deadpool #26 & 27, by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn (writers), Scott Koblish (artist, #26), Mike Hawthorne (artist, #27), Val Staples (colorist, #26), Jordie Bellaire (colorist, #27), Joe Sabino (letterer) - And then there were a ton more people who worked on all those 5-page stories that were the bonus material in #27, but seeing as I'm not going to talk much about those, I'm not listing them. I will mention that they credited Dexter Soy and Alvin Lee as artists on two stories each, but Soy's second one was actually drawn by Shawn Crystal, and Lee's second was Bong Dazo.

#26 is another of the fake inventory issues, this one meant to take place in the 1950s. I'm not sure if it's meant to be a comic written in the '50s, or just one that was set then.  I think the latter, which is somewhat less impressive. Anyway, it starts at the end of World War 2, with Hitler stewing in impotent fury at his army's inability to kill Nick Fury and his Howlin' Commandos. Then he's attacked by an incompetent time traveler. Not incompetent because he gets his ass beat and his gear stolen by Hitler, but because he came back to allegedly save millions of lives by killing Hitler, but only showed up in 1945. Little late there, dummkopf. So Hitler steals his rig, and after some failed attempts in other eras, tries to kill Fury in the '50s, only to find Deadpool standing in his way. Which doesn't matter much once Hitler shows up with a giant lightning shooting mech from the future. Except Wade was able to get a postcard in the mail before being incinerated, which Cable picks up in the future, so he goes back to before Wade died with a mech from even further in the future, and they kill Hitler, then dump his corpse back in bombed-out Berlin.

It's pretty funny, assuming jokes involving Hitler don't bother you. Actually, I take that back. The funniest bits were the references to how lax America was (and still is?) about guns. Fury being able to buy more ammo at a corner newsstand, and being able to openly carry a Tommy gun onto a airplane with nary a peep. Which admittedly, if someone gave me a gun they used to kill Hitler, I'm not trusting the airline baggage handlers. I'm guessing it's Staples' coloring that gives the pages not just the yellowed look, but also the sort of scratchy appearance of the art, where it looks like the colors didn't quite take on the page. Koblish really gives Hitler some manic looks. Lot's of panels where you can tell Hitler has some spasms or eye twitches going on his face. I kind of think the mechs are more like what a current artist thinks would be '50s style, than actual '50s style. Maybe a little too complicated looking, I'm not sure they would have had the panel space back then to go into so much detail. But that gets into the question of whether it's a '50s comic, or maybe an '80s comic set in the '50s. The letterhead in the back of the recap page has Spidey in the black costume, so yeah, probably the latter. But then we have to question whether Koblish did an accurate representation of how an '80s comic book artist would try to draw a '50s style giant robot, and aw, forget it.

Now #27 is the big marriage issue. Yes, Deadpool got married. If this befuddles you, well, there was a mini-series called "The Gauntlet" - or maybe "Dracula's Gauntlet" - that was an online thing that tells the story. I think they're going to release it as single issues in July, and as a trade in the fall. I would not have understood a damn thing about it if I didn't read some blogs (like 4thletter) that were showing panels from it or discussing it. But yes, Wade is getting married, though in typical Deadpool fashion, he seems to have waited until the last minute to tell anyone. And yes, she's a Queen of the Underworld, but you know what? She thinks Wade is handsome, and I imagine that is a nice change of pace. I don't quite follow how all the heroes seem to like Wade all of the sudden. Like, I understand Dr. Strange, Captain America and Wolverine attending (even if none would perform the ceremony), and Nightcrawler being willing to preside makes sense, because Kurt is a swell guy and probably just happy to be alive again. I'm certainly happy he's alive again. But Thor even showed up to make sure they had nice weather! Cyclops and the Hulk showed up! Did Deadpool save the entire world in that mini-series and finally get credit for it? Or have Cap and Wolverine been telling people to treat him nicer since the thing in North Korea? That's another thing, I like that Deadpool and Kurt discussed that briefly, and that Kurt wants to meet Kim. I don't know whether that'll happen here on in Nightcrawler's own series, but I think I'd enjoy that scene. All and all, it is an extremely happy story, which this being Deadpool, means things are going to go south in a hurry. Oh and look, on the last page, Flag-Smasher is ordering his Ultimatum lackeys to attack Deadpool's ladies, including what appears to be his daughter Eleanor, now with foster parents. Oh, this is going to make me sad and/or angry, isn't it?

Wait, this is Flag Smasher we're talking about. He's a loser, excellent fashion sense for his lackeys aside. Never mind, everything is going to be puppies and rainbows forever! Hooray!

In addition to being upbeat, this issue was also pretty funny. Adsit's terrified reaction to Shiklah's less human looking form, and relief he hadn't yet Mirandized that quickly killed Ultimatum guy. Preston's husband trying to explain delicately what a "garrote" is to his son. I also have to say, Shiklah's otherworldly form is pretty awesome. I kind of wish Hawthorne had the chance to give us more reaction shots of the Ultimatum guys to seeing what they pissed off when their rocket launcher missed Wade. He did a great job with that sort of humor in #23, when Deadpool slaughtered that entire Helicarrier. Also, I like how Wade is so happy that he's constantly smiling hugely through his mask. So I'm going to take Preston's advice to Adist, just shush and enjoy the moment.

The Invisible Man 1.6 - The Devil You Know

Plot: The episode begins as two men rappel into a boardroom where a bunch of executives are celebrating the load of money they're about to make taking their company public. The two extreme window washers kidnap the CEO, a Mr. Pryce. This is a big deal, and so the Justice Department calls the Agency in to assist in recovering Pryce - who had a GPS tracker on him - despite the FBI's objections. Darien infiltrates the little beach house they're holed up in, but once he flips a light switch, the whole place blows up. His Quicksilver coating protects him, but Pryce is toast, along with the kidnappers. This is bad, because now there's an inquiry and while Fawkes may not care, it's not a joke.

Especially because the Justice Department liason, Luke Lawson, watched the tapes their surveillance had on the place, and he saw something, a silvery humanoid shape go flying out of there. Lawson's an ambitious guy, and the way he fulfills his ambition is to, as he puts it, find what frightens people most, then promise he can make it go away. A few words in the right places from the right frightened people, and the Official is out at the Agency, and Lawson is the new boss. Which gets him access to all the files, which means he knows about the gland, and he can repay those frightened people in high places by promising to remove the people who scare them. Of course, Darien might object to doing wetwork, but Lawson's got that figured out. He promises Darien he can get counteragent whenever he wants, and that Lawson will be giving him the injections as a precursor to showing Darien how to do it himself. Of course, by doing this when the Keeper isn't around, there's no one to verify it's actually counteragent.

While all this is leading nowhere good for Fawkes, the Official - or Charles Borden as he's known in the world - is put on trial for 2nd degree murder. Hobbes is riled about it, but Lawson tries to appease him by promising him more solo work, where he won't be overshadowed by Darien. Hobbes sees right through it, and instead devotes time to following up on Pryce's kidnapping, where a few things aren't adding up. Hobbes puts it together in time that he can go find Fawkes, and keep him from having to kill a bio-terrorist. Guy just gets konked on the head and falls in the pool, they fish him out, stash him in the van, hustle Darien back to the lab to get some actual counteragent before he goes all red-eyed. With that taken care of, and Lawson appeased for the moment, they can turn to looking into Hobbes' suspicion that the kidnapping was a farce, and that the lady CFO was in on it, as she and Pryce had a torrid affair. So Hobbes hints Pryce was seeing someone else, they follow her to the hotel Pryce was hiding at, Darien plants some incriminating evidence - including a picture of the Keeper Hobbes borrowed. Don't worry, he asked permission. Now the CFO is pissed, and since they're both arrested, she'll likely be glad to testify against Pryce.

Ignoring what i assume would be standard criminal procedures, Fawkes and Hobbes bring the two with them to the Official's trial, thus clearing him of 2nd-degree murder. I was going to say I guess nobody cared about the two kidnappers, but I assume that'll be laid at Pryce's feet, since he undoubtedly set the explosion up. Anyway, the Official is cleared, but Lawson isn't giving up yet. Although for a guy seemingly so smart, making vocal proclamations that Darien can turn invisible (proving the Official is incompetent because he doesn't use Fawkes to his full potential) is little ridiculous. But he makes a fool of himself, kills his career, and the Official is back in charge.

Quote of the Episode: The Official - 'Mr. Lawson is right, he's far more competent than me. I had an invisible agent and didn't even know it.'

The "Oh crap " count: 0 (11 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week? A conversation between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway about Zrich people, and a line from Willie Sutton about why he robbed bans. 'Cause that's where the money is.

Times Fawkes Goes Into Quicksilver Madness: 0 (4 overall).

The Agency is still affiliated with Fish & Game.

Other: Do people ordinarily keep pictures of themselves on their desk? That's where Hobbes found the one of the Keeper he used. Though I can't remember, maybe her dog was in the picture, too, in which case it seems less odd.

On the Hobbes/Fawkes front, I'll note that when Hobbes follows Fawkes on his mission with Lawson, Fawkes advises him to leave, mentioning that he really doesn't want Hobbes to get fired. I found that encouraging.

I like how Lawson immediately perceives what he believes is Hobbes' fear - that he'll never receive proper recognition or respect for the work he does - and tries to play on it as a way to isolate Fawkes. But it doesn't work. I don't know whether that means those aren't Hobbes' weaknesses - maybe it's actually that he loves feeling persecuted - or simply that Hobbes is an old enough hand at the intelligence game to be immediately suspicious the moment someone starts giving you everything you want. Given his obvious scorn for Lawson, I'm going with the latter. Maybe Lawson should have gone with the stick first, then the carrot.

Also, I like the contrast in how Hobbes, Fawkes, and the Official handle the inquiry. Hobbes tries to protect everyone, without divulging anything classified, which proves difficult. If you can't mention the invisibility gland, it is hard to justify Fawkes being sent in instead of Hobbes. Not without mentioning Fawkes' criminal past, which is not going to win over a bunch of stuffy government officials. So naturally Fawkes freely cops to it, completely relaxed not a care in the world. Partially, I think he figures he got three men killed, so he deserves whatever punishment he gets. Which is good in continuing to establish that Fawkes may have been a thief, but he's a gentleman thief. No murderous rampages for our boy Darien. The other aspect is, he doesn't care much. It'd be a hell of a way to go about it, but at least he'd might get out from under the Official's thumb.

 Of course, there are worse things than being under Charlie's thumb. While I think it was a good idea for the show to address the fact that if the government had an invisible agent, they would absolutely consider using him or her for assassinations, it didn't really address the fact the Official doesn't do do that. Why? Does he object to killing? He certainly had no qualms sending Fawkes after Arnaud, even though he had to realize Darien wanted revenge. He did say, when Darien approached him at his home in this episode, that he never wanted to be defined by what he did. So maybe if he'd become the sort of boss who approved killings, he thought that would define him. But then he told Fawkes that he'd found the job was all he was. But maybe it's a matter of accepting that, but making sure to draw a line somewhere. Which still doesn't answer why. I guess it could be as simple as recognizing Fawkes would refuse to do that.

We never did see if Fawkes would rather go Quicksilver Mad than kill someone. Of course, once he's Quicksilver Mad, he might not care if he killed someone, though that someone might not be the bio-terrorist. Might have been Lawson. Dangerous game to play, daring a guy who can turn invisible to go crazy and potentially homicidal. But if Lawson's stupid enough to fall on his face like he did in the courtroom, he's stupid enough to play chicken with an invisible train. That really was absurd, that blurting out a major security secret like "invisible guy" in a public courtroom was a good idea. I did enjoy Darien trying to charm the judge.

Favorite DC Characters #10 - Starfire

I may change the format later, we'll see how it goes.

Character: Starfire (Koriand'r)

Creators: George Perez, Marv Wolfman

First appearance: DC Comics Presents #26

First appearance in a comic I read: Tales of the Teen Titans #61

Definitive writer: Marv Wolfman

Definitive artist: George Perez/Glen Murakami

Favorite moment or story: "How Long is Forever?" Teen Titans Season 2, Episode 1. On the one hand, it points out you can't expect friendship to last just because, you have to work at it. But on the other hand, if you do work at it, to settle your differences as they arise, then anything is possible. Also, I was impressed both by her willingness to charge into the unknown rather than let Warp escape, and how she continued to fight against him even having seen the future and having all her friends be unwilling to help.

What I like about her: As a starting point, and this will come up repeatedly in this series, a strong visual counts for a lot. Picture's worth a thousand words and all, especially if I was reading the comic when I was a kid. A writer might need time to really get the character's personality across, but if they look cool, well, that's what keeps me interested long enough to give the writer the chance. So, keeping in mind I read Tales of the Teen Titans #61 probably a decade after its original release, when I was in my teenage years, yeah, I wonder why Early Adolescent Calvin liked Starfire. Hmm, how did Bedard put it in his R.E.B.E.L.S. run? 'I guess he figured out the six-foot alien supermodel is. . . a six-foot alien supermodel.'

But it would crappy to say I like her simply because George Perez draws her to be extremely attractive, though he does that. Also, it wouldn't be a great start for this series, because I know I can do better than "She's hawt!". Yeah, that was some of the thinking behind her creation, and it's one of the things people find troubling or off-putting about her, and I wouldn't disagree. But I like that's she's very distinct. The combination of orange and, lavender or purple for a color scheme is a little unusual. The long hair, and the energy contrail that comes from it when she flies is fairly unique. It's maybe odd, but it's a nice piece of visual flair. The hair can almost function like a cape. At the best of times, artists remember she is a tall, physically imposing figure. Like how people enjoyed Superman having to look up to Wonder Woman in New Frontier. Well, Starfire is basically a Space Amazon, so she ought to tower over people, too. Claude St. Aubin did a good job of consistently drawing her as being almost a head taller than Captain Comet throughout that R.E.B.E.L.S. run.

Some of it is I like it when girl characters get to be the powerhouse. And when I say "powerhouse", I mean straight punching people's lights out. It's not unheard of for a woman to be the strongest member of a superhero team. The Scarlet Witch held that distinction on at least one Avengers squad (the Kooky Quartet). The Invisible Woman's been called the strongest member of the FF since at least, what John Byrne's run on the book? Storm and Jean Grey could say the same thing, but those are typically those more passive powers, when they stand back and wave their hands or something. In story, it shouldn't matter, because whatever gets the job done and saves the day, right? But I just dig it when they can be up there flattening baddies with their fists, if need be (that's another thing that'll come up again on these lists). Starfire spends a lot of time blasting people with energy, but it feels a little more direct, and she's not adverse to fighting hand-to-hand.

But, to be honest, I don't have a lot of comic book experience with Starfire. Maybe a dozen issues of the Wolfman/Perez run, and half of that is The Judas Contract. She was on the team when I started buying Geoff Johns' run, but left within 6-8 to join the Outsiders, even though I'm pretty sure joining the Outsiders has never been a sound career move. But Nightwing was drifting into an ugly head space and she was worried about him. Which is another of those things I like about her, the importance she places on friendship. Why she'll even join the Outsiders, just to look after someone she cares for! You can't put a price on that kind of bond! Beyond that, there was the year or so she was part of Bedard's R.E.B.E.L.S. book, and that's about it. So the Starfire I've seen the most, is the one in the cartoon. Which is why I listed Glen Murakami as a definitive artist, and an episode of the cartoon for a favorite moment. But heck, Cartoon Starfire is still a DC character, even one that has appeared in comics. Still totally counts.

And cartoon Starfire has a lot of the traits I like best. She's open about how she feels, friends are extremely important to her (I still think it's weird they said Tamaraneans have no word for "Friend", given the strong bonds they form), she can totally kick someone's face off when necessary. And as an added bonus, because it was a cartoon, said face-kicking will be rendered in a comically amusing way, with a missing tooth, maybe some exaggerated expression of pain, an X'ed out eye, rather than bloodily horrific with bones jutting out or something.

Most importantly, she's an optimistic character. Practically every description I've read of her in the last couple of days uses the phrase "naive", and there's a certain validity to it, because the cartoon really played up the idea Starfire wasn't from Earth, and there are a lot of customs she wasn't familiar with. Hey, I'm from Earth and there are all sorts of customs here I don't know or understand. But I think a lot of it is her giving people the benefit of the doubt, believing they're on the up-and-up or whatever. She can get angry, when the situation calls for it, and she's good at fighting, but she isn't angry all the time. This is the Jerk Batman phenomena, where she can't turn off the fury when she isn't fighting evil and treats her friends badly. Which strikes me as impressive when you consider her history.

In the cartoon, it's mostly her sister causing her trouble, but it's a lot of trouble. She's sold into slavery to save her planet. When she escapes that, her sister shows up on Earth and tries to pin a theft of a rare jewel on her and get her hauled off to space jail. When that falls apart, sis helps stage a fake invasion of her own planet to force Starfire to save them by marrying a giant ball of snot, basically. What I'm saying is, Blackfire is a real asshole, and Starfire's history is even worse in the comics, when you add in a homeworld being destroyed, two different husbands dying, Dick Grayson not being able to make up his damn mind, friends going crazy or evil, torture and experimentation at the hands of the Psions. Which is maybe why she's not as cheerful in the comics. A little more wary from experience, perhaps. Bedard wrote her a bit melancholy, disconnected from all the things she'd cared about.

In the cartoon, though, she hasn't been hit quite as hard, so that optimism hasn't been blunted. She's certain nothing is set in stone, and that bad outcomes can be averted if you just make the effort. In spite of regularly battling villains, she hasn't lost her willingness to trust others, the ability to extend a helping hand, or show her feelings, which is more relevant than you might think on that team. Cyborg and Beast Boy mostly stick to juvenile reactions, pranking and smack talk as a way of showing friendship (when they aren't yelling at each other). Raven keeps her emotions under wraps as a matter of necessity, and Robin was raised by Batman, so you know "emotions" are not something he mastered when he was learning the art of detection. Being the one willing to freely show joy, anger, sorrow around a bunch of people who mostly deny their emotions or hide them behind snappy comments (I wouldn't know anything about that, no sir) can't always be easy, but it hasn't stopped her.

So, looks cool visually, is an awesome fighter who actually draws strength from being open with her emotions, but is able to turn that off when it isn't needed, and be an open and friendly person the rest of the time.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 3

Tomorrow I actually start that character rundown series, so a couple of quick notes. Cronin didn't specify what he meant by when he said "Top Characters", so I just went with my favorites, in case you were intending to be outraged I was suggesting one of these characters is better than, I don't know, Jimmy Olsen or whatever. Two, as far as DC goes, we're sticking to pre-Flashpoint stuff, unless I specifically mention something from the New 52. Which I can't see happening, but I suppose I could always suffer massive brain damage.

Harley Quinn #4 & 5, by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti (writers), Stephane Roux (artist, #4), Chad Hardin (artist, #5), Paul Mounts (colorist, #4), Alex Sinclair (colorist, #5), John J. Hill (letterer) - Conner always has a lot of nice details in her work. The photo of the grandma in the background giving the double thumbs up cracks me up. Especially since it's all her fault.

Harley's started work at the nursing home and her first patient, Mrs. Rubenstein, complains that her family never comes to visit. So Harley takes it upon herself to drive a bulldozer into their home and abduct them. Then she pretty much forgets about them, getting distracted by more hitmen and missing her first roller derby. At least she ran over the opposing team with a car. Her attempt to teach this awful family a lesson sort of falls apart when she learns they do visit the granny regularly, but she has Alzheimer's, which Harley didn't know, because she hadn't bothered to read her patient files yet. Oh well, nobody died at least. She is however, confronted by another of the residents, who claims to be a former secret agent, who knows who she is, and wants help tying up some loose ends with a Russian terrorist group he pursed in the '60s. Which is what issue 5 deals with. Harley getting sick of chili dogs and popcorn and having weird nightmares after reading the files on the targets. Then they go after a couple of them, although the first wasn't much trouble, being in a coma and all.

I've been trying to decide whether surrounding Harley with such oddballs is a good strategy. I think she might work better when her, shall we say unusual, lines of reasoning are contrasted with more ordinary folks. If you put her with geriatric cybernetic secret agents, there's maybe too much wackiness. I'm not certain of that, it's just a possible concern I have. I did enjoy #4 more than #5, and 4 was her terrorizing an ordinary family. 5 wasn't bad, though I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop on Sy Borgman. Harley undoubtedly still hasn't read the files, so I'm sure there's some crucial fact about him she ought to know. Then again, maybe he's exactly what he appears to be. The angry Russian lady that blew up an entire mansion they were in lends credence to the idea. Also, for some reason I'm really hoping involving the Russians will lead to the New 52 version of Stalinoivolk, assuming they don't make him crappy. He's a big, stern, super strong, super tough old Soviet killer. He'd actually be a pretty good straight man to bounce Harley's oddball behavior off. Probably not happening, though.

I did not understand the need for the extend Han/Greedo sequence in issue 4, other than to just do it, I guess. But if you're that hitman, why would you assume the role of Greedo, who you know, died in that scene? Figure out some way to be Han Solo! I mean, that's good advice in general, but especially in that scenario. At least it looked pretty good, being drawn by Roux. My favorite bit was the incredibly steamed expression Roux gave Harley after she whipped Mr. Rubenstein with his model train. It was very over-the-top, with huge gritted teeth and her nose actually vanishing, but I enjoyed it. Harley seems like the kind of character that should have really extreme emotional reactions.

As far as a costume goes, I prefer her roller derby outfit to her more standard one. The shoulder pads add a little something, even if it's just a little more color to contrast all that chalk-white skin. Plus, this Harley seems more rough-and-tumble, less cerebral, than her original incarnation, so the pads fit. The gun belt adds a little something, though it's kind of an odd accessory for Harley. Never pictured her as a gunslinger, except maybe comically large bullets that are actually boxing gloves or constrictive streamers. Plus, the derby uniform shirt actually has shoulders and sleeve holes (if no sleeves), so I'm not bothered by nagging questions like, "How does that stay up?"

This book hasn't hit that level the Conner/Gray/Palmiotti Power Girl run did, but I'm starting to feel confident it can be a solidly entertaining book each month, which isn't a bad thing at all.

It's An Apocalyptic Future! So I'll Be Killing Monsters, Then

I mentioned last week that I was playing a first-person shooter as well as a Sonic game. The time has come to discuss the shooter. I picked up Metro: Last Light over the winter, on the basis of a lot of positive reviews. But in the process of reading those reviews, I learned it was a sequel to a less-heralded game, Metro 2033. So I figured I better beat that first.

Metro 2033 takes place in a Russian Metro in, you guessed it, 2033. Humanity did the whole nuclear apocalypse thing, and what's left moved underground. Communities are now long-established in various metro stations, and people do their best to eke out an existence, using leftover military-grade ammunition as currency. Not because it's plentiful, or unnecessary, but because it's rare, and valuable for its killing power compared to the watered down "dirty" rounds they are able manufacture. While some of the threat is other people - besides bandits, the Nazis and Communists have revived their old animosities - but there are a lot of other things out there now as well. And those things just keep coming, gradually overrunning the various stations.

The main character is Artyom, a young man living in the Metro of Exhibition, where his father is the boss, but where his father also seems to be losing hope theyy can survive. When his father is visited by a Ranger named Hunter, Artyom is impressed by the guy's determination. Hunter heads off on a mission, and tells Artyom to deliver a message to a Colonel Miller in Polis related to some strange creatures called the Dark Ones if Hunter doesn't return.

Hunter did not return.

I expected the trip to Polis to be quick, settled early in the game, and for the majority of the story to involve Artyom running around with the Rangers, trying to carry out Hunter's ideas. In reality, I was over halfway through the game before reaching Polis. I think the point was Artyom had never been outside Exhibition, so this was a way for us to see more of the world as it was at the same time he did. That gives the player the opportunity to make some choices, and those factor in to how the game can end.  Still, at a certain point I began to wonder if we'd ever reach Polis. It seemed like Artyom would meet someone who would help him, we'd fend off a lot of monsters, the other person would die or go in a different direction. Then I'd meet another person, we'd fight some more monsters, they might die or go a different direction. Eventually I'd seen enough of people struggling to survive and killing each other senselessly.

The game is divided into 7 chapters (plus a Prologue), and the chapters all have multiple sections, missions roughly. Some of the missions can be very long, some are incredibly short. One mission was literally to walk around a Ranger base, talk to a couple of people, and grab as many guns and ammo as you could. Congratulations, on to the next section! So the pacing is strange. You can't tell when it's going to be something easy like that, or a level where you're stuck wandering through the slaughtered remains of a station, fending off what look like giant, shaved rats.

Along with all the first-person shooting, there's the occasional quick-time button-tapping thing, and a little bit of jumping and stealth action. I continue to not really enjoy stealth in a first-person perspective. The human enemies aren't geniuses, but they will notice if you make nose, and sometimes they notice if you put out a light. One annoying thing I found was if I die in a hail of gunfire, and the last checkpoint is near that spot, when I load and resume playing, the enemies behave as though they remember they just killed a guy there, and they really ought to go check and see if he magically reappeared. So I'm immediately under attack again. I ended up just starting an entire mission over in one case because the checkpoint I was stuck at left me kind of screwed.

The ammunition-as-currency idea is kind of interesting. If I play through it again, I'll probably hold off on buying any improved weapons. There are plenty of dead people with better guns out there to steal from. Plus, I ought to save the military-grade ammo for killing things, because the dirty rounds suck. I didn't really love any of the guns, honestly, both in terms or reload times and stopping power. Which means they were more realistic, but it's hard to see that as a good thing when you're being torn to pieces by something you've already shot 5 times in the head with a shotgun at point-blank range. Fall down already! It wasn't uncommon that I'd empty one gun into an enemy, and either it didn't die, or there were more right there, so I'd just pull out the next gun because there wasn't time to reload. And then the next gun, and then. . . I was out of loaded guns.

The other characters are not the deepest, but some of them are enjoyable. Ulman in particular, is the funnyman character, always pissing off his commander with stupid jokes. It's not whistling through the graveyard, so much as gallows humor. He doesn't see any reason not to make stupid jokes. Which does feel appropriately Russian somehow, that grim humor where they briefly acknowledge and then brush off their likely impending deaths.

Most of the time, Metro 2033 is a conventional horror shooter, where it's tense rather than scary as you try and retreat long enough to reload and kill the large creatures charging you, or you're waiting for the next attack. Occasionally it moves into creepy territory. A lot of that is the remains of civilization, both the things you'd expect to see (abandoned trains, corpses), and things you might not. Like ghosts. And then there are the things that came about after the apocalypse. Not the monsters -  those are freaky, but that's still that tense struggle to survive - but there's a glowing ball of something that roams the tunnels incinerating everything. No idea what it is. I actually wish it had shown up a little more often, randomly, just as a bit of flavor. Though after the fifth time it surprised me and I died, I'd probably change my tune.

The missions on the surface are maybe the perfect example. It's a world Artyom has never known, but what ought to be a better place to be than the claustrophobic tunnels full of monsters, is actually worse. There are huge winged creatures that land randomly and briefly attack you if you're within reach. Then they fly off. Why? No idea. There are pools of irradiated water to avoid, and the air is toxic. You have to wear the gas mask constantly, which means you have to worry about having enough filters for it, and make sure it doesn't get too damaged to use. Unless you're shooting at some screeching monster, the world is silent except for the sound of Artyom's breathing. It's an empty, almost completely hostile landscape. But the strangest part was on my first trip there, the monsters were everywhere, and yet I could repeatedly walk by them without incident. I couldn't believe they didn't notice, which made me wonder why they weren't attacking. Had these always been on the surface, and didn't know humans were something to eat? Was it because I didn't shoot them first? It really gives a feeling of a world I and Artyom don't understand.

I feel the scenes in Artyom's head are meant to work the same way, but they're less effective, mostly because Artyom doesn't comment on him. Admittedly, he never responds to anything other characters say to him - his only dialogue comes in the loading screen for each mission - but even there, he doesn't note the experiences, or the fact that he seems immune to these phenomena that render other people helpless. The idea of these weird occurrences works, like the references to strange stations we never see, for making the world seem larger and stranger. But the way the occurrences play out, don't work as well. Creepy fog sounds cool, but in practice, not as much.

It's an up-and-down game. Sometimes the atmosphere is really good, tense, the world feels real (depressing), and the shooting can be fun. Other times, it feels kind of silly or needlessly drawn out.

What I Bought 4/25/2014 - Part 2

I've really been enjoying the NBA playoffs so far this year, the whole thing where Clippers' owner Donald Sterling reminded everyone he is a terrible human being aside. Between the Mavericks and the Wizards surprising me, the Pacers self-destructing, at least three teams that made the playoffs thinking about firing their coach if they get bounced in the first round, it's a lotta fun. Anyway, times like this make me regret not having any TV around here. Makes it kind of hard to see the games, though knowing my luck, if I was watching, every game would be a tedious blowout.

Enough sports, comics now!

Ms. Marvel #2 & 3, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (art), Ian Herring (color art), Joe Caramagna (lettering) - Do you think backlighting makes everyone look more badass, or does that only work in art? It didn't really work for Batman and Co. at the end of the two Schumacher movies, but after sitting through the actual films, no one was going to look badass, I don't care how silhouetted they were.

Kamala, finding herself looking like Carol Danvers, is a little freaked out. However, it isn't permanent, because she's actually sort of a Skrull/Mr. Fantastic super-type. Shape-shifting, but also stretching the parts of herself. She doesn't quite have it down pat yet - she keeps shifting to look like Carol when she's panicked, she kind of wrecked a locker room - but she did manage to save drunk idiot Zoe from drowning (and kept drunk idiot Zoe's drunk idiot boyfriend from jumping to save her and drowning). Kamala did not, however, manage to sneak back into her room unnoticed. For one thing, she kind of stinks at stealth, and for another, her friend Bruno called her parents and told them she had been to the party and left alone. Man, narcing on your best friend. Unacceptable, Bruno. I may have to send Clever Adolscent Panda to bonk you on the skull.

So now she's grounded, and ticked at her best friend, who has his own problems, like a ne'er-do-well brother trying to get him to rob the register at his job. When Bruno turns that down, said brother finds himself a gun and a ski mask, and tries to rob the place himself. The robber then proves to be a moron by forgetting the first rule of handling a firearm: Know whether it is loaded or not. Unfortunately, Kamala (posing as Captain Marvel) is the one who demonstrates the importance of that rule. This could be the shortest super-hero career in history.

I like this, though it's hard to articulate why, but I know I like Kamala. I like that she's kind of pissed at Bruno, but he's her friend, and she knows he meant well, and she could use his advice, so she wants to talk things out. That she figured out just having the costume didn't make her feel stronger, helping someone did. That she's struggling with the idea that it's OK to be herself and be a hero. She still doesn't think she can look like herself and save the day. She thinks she has to be taller, blonde, white, or nobody's going to respect her or listen to her. The powers are a way to be what she thinks she has to be, but it's exhausting, and it makes difficult things more difficult. How can you concentrate on stopping a robber, if you're too busy concentrating on making sure your disguise doesn't slip?

The scene at the end of the second issue, where she's unsuccessfully snuck back in, that's a good one. Her entire family barges into her room, and even though they're all very worried about her, they just overwhelm her. Alphona keeps drawing them so they dominate the panel, and Kamala keeps getting shoved to a corner, or the edge. Like her father in the middle of page 17. He's concerned for her, but he just overwhelms her, and she's left in one little corner, arms wrapped around herself, just trying to maintain some space. The page before that, her brother misinterprets her comment that something weird happened, and crushes her in this hug, vowing that he and his friends will get whoever hurt her. Kamala has to physically shove him just to reestablish some room. Nobody is really interested in hearing what's going on with her, they all have their own theories or responses. Her mother doesn't want to have a discussion, her father is worried about trust, but it's all about him trusting her, not her trusting them (or herself) enough to tell them what happened, so grounding. And her brother's going to pray for her. The end result of all that is she's left alone.

Alphona does some excellent work with the body language. He knows how to draw her father so that he's a hefty guy who feels hefty when you look at him. Some artists draw a fat guy, but it might as well be one of those super-light fat suits. Her dad has weight to him, which really helps convey that sense of authority in those panels. Even when it's just his hand in a panel with Kamala, it's this huge meaty thing on her shoulder, and you can feel how much his approval or disapproval factors with her, why she can't meet his eyes when she explains that she can't explain things yet. Well done all around.

Sometimes The Hero's Greatest Challenge Is Themselves

We haven't, as far as I know, seen Vril Dox (second Brainiac, founder of L.E.G.I.O.N. and later R.E.B.E.L.S.) in the new 52 DC. Frankly, given the current low level of support and trust the Green Lantern Corps has among the various advanced species of the universe, it seems like the perfect time for a smart, ruthless person to emerge offering his own brand of security and troubleshooting for people who want some say in how and when they're protected, as well as who does it, rather than it happening at the whim of a bunch of little blue twerps handing out wishing rings to any brain-addled person able to 'overcome fear'.

But that's not what this post is about. I was thinking about why I like Vril Dox. I mean, he's arrogant, pushy, indifferent to other's feelings, a grandstander, entirely too impressed with himself, and pretty callous. It's most of Tony Stark's worst personality traits, save the alcoholism and womanizing.

The key is, Dox behaving that way actually has consequences. Stark can make himself God-Emperor of the Super-Hero community, going around getting Captain America killed, using nanites to take powers away, and while everyone will yell at him and punch him for a time, eventually they all welcome him back into the Avengers, bygones be bygones (conveniently ignoring that Stark has shown no remorse for any of his actions, and is, in fact, still convinced he was completely in the right).

Dox, though, nobody wants to work with Vril Dox. They recognize he is probably the smartest guy in any given room, but also that he'll throw their lives away in a second if he thinks it'll improve his odds of winning. He'll make deals with rulers like Despero or Kanjar Ro because they aren't despots, they're potential customers and powerful allies. Emotional ties are irrelevant, which isn't necessarily a bad approach when an entire galaxy is in danger, but isn't going to win you a lot of friends. So people are reluctant to work with him. When he calls for help, most people hang up the phone, and that's assuming they don't try to kill him because they think he's behind whatever went wrong. He ends up having to plead or bargain for help, make grand speeches everyone pretty much knows are garbage, but have just enough truth in them, people go along with it, or manipulate people by an appeal to their nobler sentiments. Which works in the short-term, but produces more bad feelings (the people doing it to save lives don't like working with despots, the despots fear betrayal because that's what they'd do, etc.), and represents, if not more bridges burned, at least badly damaged.

Vril Dox, by his nature, kind of stacks the deck against himself. Which means half the challenge for him is the hurdles his own difficulty dealing with others causes him. And so we get to watch him think his way out of these problems. If there are people who stick around because they want to keep an eye on him, Dox will use that. See how committed he is to transparency, keeping around people who will question his motives and actions. Ignore the fact Dox would never actually let that person's qualms stop him, but he does have to find a way around it. It's one of the reasons his portrayal as sort of a diplomatic facilitator between the Tamaraneans, Rannians, and Thanagarians worked pretty well. He has a real knack for keeping each side just happy enough they don't walk away. Or kill him.

Ultimately, I enjoy that Dox succeeds (since he's better than the people he's fighting), but the less than stellar way he treats the people he uses actually creates problems for him. It isn't like Thor and Captain America ignoring Stark's latest attempt at imposing his ideas on the world to welcome him into the fold because he gave them his cheesy grin. At a certain point, treating everyone else like tools there for your use ought to have repercussions. With Dox it does, and it's fun to watch him navigate through it, especially with how frustrated he gets with everyone else's inability to see things like he does. Difference being he can't force people to help, so he has to find other ways to save the day.