What I Bought 7/3/2014 - Part 1

Yeah, I've had these books for over a week, I just didn't feel like getting to them last week. Living out of suitcases always discombobulates me.

Avengers Undercover #5 & 6, by Dennis Hopeless (writer), Kev Walker (penciler, #5), Timothy Green II (artist), Jason Gorder (inker), Jean-Francois Beaulieu (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I am not sorry I couldn't find an image of #6's cover to use. It has about the chunkiest, dumpiest looking Captain America on it I've ever seen. Even worse than the one Coipel drew in New Avengers Annual #1, the one I joked had been eating too many of Aunt May's wheatcakes. The stupid helmet he has on his costume these days doesn't help, I'm sure.

Issue 5 is the sales pitch. Zemo's crew splits up the kids and tries to show them what a great life they'll have if they sign on. Well, except for Madame Masque. She expects Cammi, Hazmat, and Anachronism to recognize what's offered, and she's got stuff to do, so she bails. I like that. It's still a version of a hard sell - "this deal is so great I'm not even wasting time pitching it" - but one ostensibly designed not to insult the intelligence of these three Masque has just praised for being decisive leaders. Which doesn't seem like an accurate description of Anachronism or Hazmat. Nico would have been a better choice, but she's getting wooed by Hellstrom bringing her dead ex-boyfriend back from Hell.

Anyway, Masque's charges, left to their own devices, come up with a plan. They know working for Zemo won't work out long-term - it never does for the lackey villains - and leaving sends them back to jail for killing Arcade, since they aren't going to get a pass that heroes get anymore. So instead, they decide to try a con. Pretend to accept, wait for an opening, then bring down Zemo's whole operation from the inside. They get everyone on board except Deathlocket, who they can't get away from the teen villain dorks she's hanging with. But then Cammi refuses to sign and leaves, only to be ambushed by Constrictor. God, I hate Constrictor getting strut around like some big wheel. Gonna need to see him get stabbed by somebody before this is all over. Preferably Zemo. Doesn't have to die from it, but I need that moment where he realizes he's still just a chump. That he always has been, always will fodder for the smarter villains.

Issue #6 looks at how Deathlocket's adjusting to life on Zemo's team. Answer is, a little too well. She's having the time of her life, right up to the point they're sent to assault an A.I.M. facility. She adjusts to whomping the crap out of the orange beekeepers very quickly, but then Captain America shows up. And Digger tells her to shoot him. Chase keeps that from happening, and then finally explains to her this isn't supposed to be a con. Then he and Digger start fighting, and Deathlocket. . . shoots Chase. You know, if I didn't regard Chase as a useless moron, I'd be bothered by that. Then again, it's not likely to be pretty when Nico finds out.

So I'm pretty sure Cammi's leaving was part of the plan, because she'd been giving Zemo too much static to suddenly shift gears and sign on. I'm also pretty sure her getting pummeled against a wall by Constrictor wasn't the plan. Which is not a good sign for this working. That and the fact they went ahead with it without letting Deathlocket in on it ahead of time. The kids clearly think they're pretty smart, but I have a feeling the bad guys are a few levels above them. I don't think Zemo's crew is even trying to undermine a scam; they're just doing a very good job finding different hooks to put into each kid so it's easier to keep them divided and malleable.

Kev Walker's art is very good on issue 5 as usual, I really enjoy Beaulieu's colors though. The kids are split up and each section has it's own shading. Nico, Cullen, and Hellstrom are in a lot of yellow, orange, and red, especially this sort of sickly orange, that plays off that deep purple of Nico's powers really well. Makes things feel hot, but nobody's sweating, because it's a different kind of heat maybe. Cammi, Hazmat, and Anachronism are in this really cool blues, way up above everything, trying to survey the scene calmly, find a way out. Lots of deep shadows, too, appropriate for scheming. As for Chase and Deathlocket, they're in what I'd call normal lighting, maybe because it's a more low-key sort of sales pitch. Just hang out, have fun. No offers of power and wealth, no offer to help understand one's power or true nature.

As for Tim Green, if he would make Deathlocket less of a leggy supermodel, things would be fine. It is really jarring going from how Walker draws her, short, not that much of a figure yet, to Green's version, which would look skinny if he was drawing Psylocke. Otherwise, I thought he did pretty well. I'm not clear on where Deathlocket's shot hit Cap to smack him back into the Humvee without actually killing him (unless Hopeless plans to reveal it was a stun shot all along), but besides that, I thought it was good. He can't make Cap's new outfit look good either, but I've yet to see anyone who can. It's a bad costume, Marvel, give it up. Hmm, is that why the Falcon is becoming Captain America for awhile, so Steve can get a new, non-shitty outfit? I don't know whether to credit Green or Caramagna, but I like the "Dink, Dink" sound effect for when the A.I.M. guy in the exo-suit tosses Chase. Perfectly appropriate for Chase.

The Invisible Man 1.16 - Flowers for Hobbes

Plot: You know this is gonna be a good episode because we start at a sperm bank for Nobel Prize winners, with a very uncomfortable chemist named Dr. Sestok. While he tries to prepare himself mentally to make his contribution (not made any easier by all the things the bank has added to make it easier), someone else is breaking into the freezer by melting the wall, and they make off with several samples.

After the case gets bounced around between departments, it makes its way to the Agency, who can use the budget boost handling this successfully will bring, judging by their projector. Like Fawkes, I too attended schools with better AV equipment. Maybe not my junior high, but my high school, certainly. Once at the sperm bank, Fawkes quickly recognizes that a destabilizing catalyst was used to get through the wall, and he knows the guy who uses it, a sleazy thief named Manny Merrick. Merrick confesses he stole the samples for a Dr. Galasyn, who they find at a local university. We learn a couple of things on the way. One, Fawkes attended college for a couple of years, but dropped out because his brother's successes made him feel inadequate. He doesn't put it that way, but that's the implication. Two, Hobbes had an appointment to West Point, because he wanted to see some action. Also, he can't pronounce "MENSA".

The doc has extracted some gene (or genes) from the sperm he thinks relates to intelligence, and built it into a retrovirus, which will increase neural cell production and make people smarter. He has four students willing to play test subject, and gets a surprise fifth when Hobbes grabs him. During the struggle, the syringe breaks and Hobbes' hand is cut. Better him than Fawkes, though, since the retrovirus would have interacted poorly with the gland, killing Darien. Hobbes' intelligence begins to rise rapidly, which seems pretty good at first. Then the return to the doctor's office to find contact information for the students and find one of them in his office, scribbling furiously on the walls. Then she blows herself and the doc up with nitro. Afterward, the changes in Hobbes become more pronounced. Fawkes finds him watching 5 TVs at once, laughing at. . . something. He shows little interest in the fate of the other students, and in fact, quits his job, then starts dropping truth bombs on Fawkes on the way out.

That leaves Darien and the Keeper to find the other kids, but when they do, the kids are together, catatonic. Best to retrieve Hobbes quickly, then. He's back at home, busy on three computers simultaneously. Which doesn't keep him from hearing Fawkes enter and nearly kill his partner. Fortunately, Claire busts out the tranq gun, which brings Hobbes back to his old self enough he can make another flirtatious comment. When we pick up again, Hobbes is in the padded room, in a strait jacket, and it's down to Darien to save the day. Hobbes is the only person left smart enough to figure out how to undo the effects of the retrovirus, but he's not inclined to do so. The fate of the other subjects doesn't concern him, because he says he understands what they've become, so there's no reason to fear. He's beyond merely trying to survive, he's trying to evolve, and then he declares friendship to be an illusion. So Darien brings out the big gun: a sample of the retrovirus. Useless against Hobbes, but it'll kill Darien, unless Hobbes tells them how to undo it. Hobbes thinks it's a bluff, after all, friendship is an illusion, Fawkes is just a man concerned only with his own survival, he won't do it.

Then he does it, and Hobbes comes back to himself enough to tell Claire what to do. And thus, Darien's life is saved, and Hobbes is restored to his former level of intelligence. Which is OK. He's flirting with Claire, and he and Fawkes promise they'd risk their necks for each other again.

Quote of the Episode: Darien - 'Yes, you will. You would die for me, Bobby. See, that's what I know. It's not 'cause it's your job, or your code. It's 'cause I'm your friend. If you think that's an illusion, then you're just plain ignorant.'

The "Oh crap" count: 1 (24 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week: John Oliver Hobbes, who said all men are the same, they always think what they'll get is better than what they have. Bobby Hobbes, who said 'to hell with this'. Hobbes then quotes Edison about how much of genius is perspiration. Schopenhauer said increased intelligence means a greater capacity for pain, and someone said everyone is a genius until they open their mouth.

Times Fawkes Goes Into Quicksilver Madness: 0 (6 overall).

Other: Oh, this episode. I'm not sure if this is my favorite episode of Season 1, but it's in the top 2 or 3. I love the shift in Hobbes, the way he doesn't react so impulsively to things as he grows in intelligence. Heck, he barely reacts to things at all. Every response he makes comes after a pause, like it's an effort to bring his mind back to this place long enough to react. Paul Ben-Victor gives his voice this dead, distant quality which is really creepy coming from the normally more animated Hobbes, especially combined with the relaxed, disinterested posture he takes.

What's interesting about the scene where he disrespects the Official and then quits is, he says a lot of things that are true. He says he realizes how much he undermined his career and personal life with his own insecurities. Absolutely correct. When Fawkes tries to tell Hobbes the gifts he's using aren't really his, Hobbes rightly points out Fawkes wasn't born with that gland, either. He's not wrong about how the Official's power just trickles down through the system. The Official is tougher than he looks, but if Hobbes or Fawkes actually wanted to kill him, they could. He can't stop them by holding up an organizational flow chart pointing out he's their boss.

He could even, depending on your perspective, be right when he says no one at the Agency cared about him, really. I don't think that's true, and certainly, I think it was disproven by everyone's actions. From Claire and Darien busting their humps to save Hobbes, to even the Official giving Hobbes his job back afterward without giving Hobbes any static. But look at the past history. The Official routinely treats Hobbes like crap. Darien makes fun of Hobbes' ideals. Claire pokes a bit of fun at his intelligence (which she also does to Darien, but still). It ignores a lot of other things - Darien risking his neck for Hobbes, Claire's tears when she though Hobbes had died - but Hobbes by this stage thinks of friendship as an illusion, just people huddling in groups for safety. From that perspective, the less pleasant interactions read as a truer indication of their feelings. It's skewed, but Hobbes is at a stage where he's divorced from any emotional context, so it makes sense to him.

And the scene in the padded room. I like stories about the power of friends, and that, yeah. Darien managing to draw Hobbes into an extended conversation. Because Hobbes still cares about Fawkes, no matter what he says about friendship. Hobbes wants his buddy to understand, to know what he's learned, so he tries to explain. And once he's in the conversation, invested in it, Darien can play his trump card. The moment where he pulls the syringe from his jacket, and Hobbes is almost contemptuous, the retrovirus can't do anything to him. Then Darien reminds him, it can kill Fawkes, and Hobbes can't quite believe it. But Fawkes does it, and that breaks through the distance Hobbes had from everyone else, and he saves Darien's life. I am curious whether Hobbes was crying because Darien was willing to die for this, or because he knew he was about to lose his intelligence. I love how as soon as Claire bursts in saying she can synthesize that enzyme, Darien loses the cool facade he was maintaining and bolts from the room demanding she get this crap the hell out of him. It amuses me, but I don't think it hurts the impact of the moment.

I do find it interesting that even up to the end, Hobbes continues to flirt with Claire. Might suggest something about how strong his feelings are for her, that it's the only thing that reaches across the distance between him and everyone else.

Favorite DC Characters #5 - Tim Drake

Character: Robin (Tim Drake)

Creators: Pat Broderick and Marv Wolfman. I'm not sure who I was expecting, but it wasn't those two.

First appearance: Batman #442.

First encounter: There's a chance it's Batman #481, but I think it's Robin #4. Either way, it would have been in one of those five comic grab bags you could get at the grocery store, or maybe as part of a Christmas gift bunch o' comics. Used to ask for that out of the Sears Christmas catalog every year.

Definitive writer: Chuck Dixon

Definitive artist: I like Tom Grummett's work a lot, and he drew Robin #4, but I gotta go with Pete Woods. He was the regular artist when I started buying the book, and remained in that role for the next 3 years.

Favorite moment or story: Robin #88-92. Tim ventured to the Himalayas over Spring Break to rescue his classmate Danny, who turned out to be a possible heir to control of Kobra, and was going to be used by the Lady Eve and her faction. But the old Naga-Naga wasn't ready to surrender the crown just yet, to say nothing of Tim's old foe, King Snake, now with his eyesight restored by a Lazarus Pit. Tim is alone, in the midst of all that sectarian fighting, complete with giant robots, mini-Yetis, and lots and lots of Kobra disciples, to rescue a friend. And he pulls it off, though Danny figures out Robin is actually Tim Drake. There's also a lovely aftermath where Tim relates all this to Batman, and more than that not only calls the Bat to task for revealing Tim's secret i.d. to Spoiler without Tim's say-so, but also confesses just how much he and Steph care for each other. Really, any time Tim tells off Batman for being a big jerk is a good moment. Bonus points if it actually punctures the Bat's shell of self-righteousness.

Why I like him: I don't think Tim Drake was the first DC character I became a big fan of, but he's probably the second. Robin was definitely the first ongoing from DC I bought monthly. Chris Sims isn't wrong when he says kids want to be Robin, the colorful kid who gets to hang out with Batman. He gets to fight crime like Batman, without being as grim and relentless as Batman. Tim had the added bonus that they gave him a bo staff, and a detachable "R" he could use like a shuriken. That may not sound like much, but at the time, I was really into the Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. I spent a lot of time in my backyard, pretending sticks were ninja weapons. Tim caught me at a good time. If DC had given him nunchucks, I don't know what might have happened.

One of the other things I like about Tim is the physical stuff is an effort for him. Relatively speaking, anyway. Tim is still an Olympic-level athlete, or near it. But compared to most other non-powered heroes, Tim's not as gifted. He's not Cass Cain, or Dick Grayson. It can be a lot of fun to watch characters do really awesome things with seeming ease, but it can also be fun to watch characters find workarounds to compensate. He can't do the things they do. This requires him to be a little more careful, calculating, he has to find other ways. There's a Zero Hour tie-in where he meets Dick Grayson from Dick's early days as Robin (because time is falling apart, you see). They go after some thieves in a big aquarium and Dick, who at that stage is less experienced than Tim, simply leaps for some scaffolding, swings in a loop around it, plants and launches himself on towards the hoods. Tim's reaction is to hurl a grappling line and swing after Grayson, mulling to himself, if he tried that he'd break his neck. When he fights King Snake in the story I mentioned above, he's largely just trying to stay alive. He's tired, and King Snake is a better fighter than him, faster, stronger. Tim's advantage turns out to be Snake isn't used to having working eyes when he fights and sight is throwing him off. Even so, he busts Tim in the face with a kick that goes right through his staff, because Tim's just not quick enough. It's different to see a non-powered hero who isn't an entirely unstoppable physical specimen.

He has to use his wits, and I dig that, maybe because I fancy myself as being pretty clever, even though my track record with mystery novels indicates I'm no detective. It's fun to watch Tim piece things together, but because he isn't Batman, he still makes some mistakes or false assumptions. Sometimes he can't wait to get all the pieces, and has to go for it. Which means he can wind up in the middle of a mess before he figures out what's really going on, and then has to think fast to get himself out.

A fair amount of what I like about Tim is the Spider-Man formula. Teenager, trying to juggle superheroics with school, romance, friends, parental obligations, that sort of thing. The details are different, though, which makes a difference. Tim's being mentored by an older hero. He not only has civilian friends as Tim Drake, but Robin has lots of costumed friends as well. I know Spidey's a big team player now, but for a lot of the time I've been acquainted with the character he was in that mode where he might team-up with anybody, but they'd probably fight initially, and even afterwards, they weren't really friends. But Robin has a ton of friends, not just within the Bat-family, but also other heroes of his age, like the Young Justice bunch. Heck, he geeked out over getting to meet and work with Ted Kord (which is another reason to like Tim, he recognizes Ted Kord's a cool guy). That he and ted would get along well makes a lot of sense, considering they're both tech geeks, as well as non-powered heroes who don't get to be unstoppable fighting machines.

Another difference is Tim isn't motivated necessarily by the loss of someone close to him. I know his mother was killed sometime prior to his getting his own series, but at least during the time I bought Robin, she rarely came up. The closest might have been in the fact that Tim wasn't entirely comfortable around his step-mother, which is understandable. But I didn't see Tim out there driving himself crazy trying to make sure no one else lost their mother. He became Robin because he thought Batman needed a partner to keep him balanced, and found he enjoyed being Robin. The enjoyment didn't end because he lost someone. Later on, when they started heaping tragedy on top of him might be another story. He seemed to lose his grin, but that Robin isn't the one I particularly like. I didn't drop the book until Beechen's run gave us Crazy Cass Cain, but in retrospect, I should have bailed when Willingham took over.

Tim, for better or worse, has a fair amount of Batman's ruthlessness in him. That ability to look at things coldly and logically, and make ugly decisions. But the part of that I actually enjoy is Tim recognizing this, and recognizing that he doesn't want to become like Batman. He wants to continue fighting crime and protecting people, but he's smart enough to see the utter mess Batman makes of all his interpersonal relationships on a regular basis, and know that's not what he wants his life to be. So we get to watch Tim struggle against that, to hold onto the people close to him, to make sure to make time for his dad, for Stephanie. To just hang out with Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl, or Nightwing. The key was he seemed to be succeeding in his goal, in spite of the general difficulties life presents, not to mention the unwitting damage Batman caused. Like when his Young Justice teammates learned about Batsy's "Kill the Justice League" plans, and started looking askance at Tim. They wondered if he had similar plans, or if he was collecting information on them for Batman (that's silly, that's what Batman built a sentient spy satellite to do. Well, that and kill people with OMACs). Which made a lot of problems for Tim, and helped push him to leave the team for awhile, because it was hard to have friends who didn't trust him. But they were able to patch things up, eventually. It was when Tim started losing that battle, because all the people around him kept dying, that I checked out.

Tim's not the most gifted hero, but he's smart enough to stay within himself and find a way to make things work, brave enough to take a chance when he has to. Cool-headed when he needs to be, but not sealed off from his emotions, still able to care about others, to have a life, and enjoy it.

Return To The Woods

Out in the woods, on the slope of a valley, two technicians work. They're trying to get some vegetation sampling done, in spite of the humidity. Not to mention the crew is short-handed, so they're covering extra work, on top of the extra extra work they've opted to do. As the gnats swarm around, and it proves annoyingly difficult to determine how much of the ground cover is live plants with the different levels of shrubs and trees coming into play, the two wonder what the heck they're doing.

"We're almost done with this array, at least," said the first, older, little chunkier, dark, straight hair thinning on top, but getting annoyingly long on the sides and front.

"Yeah, do you, do you think you want to do more tomorrow?" said the other, roughly the same height as the first, perhaps a inch shorter, sandy blonde hair wisely buzzed short.

"If we can. Have to see how the weather plays out, but if it doesn't rain, and the capture's aren't crazy, I think we can manage it."

"OK, that's sounds good. Yeah, they're talking about rain tomorrow afternoon, but we might be able to squeeze a couple in first."

Across the valley from the techs is another array. The two already took care of the veg sampling there, on their way to this one. The arrays are three walls of aluminum, standing knee-high, set in a "Y" around a bucket set in the ground. It's from that direction the two hear an abrupt, loud bang. Something crashing into metal. Both heads snap up and peer in that direction, but the other array is at a higher elevation, so they don't see a thing.

"Careful over there! We don't want to have to retrench that thing, ya know!" the older tech exclaimed. "That's all we need, to have to do more digging."

"Probably just a deer. They trip over those things all the time."

"Yeah, could be a bear, though. We aren't far from where Kyle got approached by that bear last year." The older tech looks across the valley and shouts, "Hey, while you're there, could ya grab my hand rake and bring it over here?"

"It'll still be there when we get done here."

"Unless that's a raccoon over there. Probably steal it, add to the collection of stakes and Sherman traps. But yeah, it's no big deal, just bugs me I forgot it."

The work continues, slowly. The two keep getting distracted, discussing Mel Brooks' films (the younger tech is a Philistine who's never seen Spaceballs), the World Cup (the older tech knows zilch about soccer, but his coworker's enthusiasm is infectious), the name of Achillies' sidekick. Eventually, they finish. As they gather their tools to leave, they turn to see a bear, sitting patiently. It's not a massive bear, only a black bear, between 2 or 3 hundred pounds, though that's large for this neck of the woods, but the rake looks like a salad as it rests in his jaws. The younger tech is stunned, unsure of what to do. The older tech is surprised, but strangely calm. Even he is surprised that he isn't more nervous, but the bear seems calm, so he figures he might as well be calm, too.

"Hey, my rake. Thanks a bunch." He walks forward, but the bear leans back a bit. "Oh come on, you went to the trouble to come over here with it. Are you just in the mood for keepaway?" He turns to the other tech. "Hold up your hands, see if he'll toss it to you."

"Is this really how we should handle a bear approaching us?"

"You want to try and scare it, see how that works out?"

"No," He raises his hands, motioning for the bear to toss the rake. The bear tilts its head, but doesn't otherwise react. "Now what?"

"Howzabout a trade? I don't have any food - and we aren't supposed to give bears food anyway, sorry! - but I'm sure we have something."

"We can't give him work equipment!" the younger tech hisses.

"We can if it's something we can replace easily. I'll just say I lost it in the woods, and no one will no different if you keep your mouth shut about it."

"Why not just say you lost the rake?"

"I can't say that, the bear is clearly standing right there with it in his mouth. Let's see, you want a compass? See, tells you which direction you're going."

The bear snorts.

"Yeah, probably useless to a bear, with bear senses." He proceeds to rummage through his bag. "We've got a stapler, a marker, want a hand magnifying lens?"

The bear settles more firmly on its haunches, and folds its paws across its chest.

"Real bargain hunter, aren't you? Look, I told you I can't give you food. Can't give you this canopy tube either, not that I know what you'd do with it. Pardon me a moment." The tech removes a red handkerchief from his pocket, meaning to blow his nose, but notices the bear's attention pick up. "You want the handkerchief? Well, it's a nice one. My dad gave it to me. I haven't used it since the last time I washed it. You really want it?"

The bear drops the rake, and bats it casually in the the tech's direction with one swipe of its paw. The tech holds the handkerchief out at arms' length. The bear calmly leans forward and plucks it from his hand with its teeth. It then rises, turns, and walks off on all fours, without so much as a snort or growl for a fare thee well. The older tech turns to the younger.

"And you were worried about me giving up field equipment!"

"What does it want with that?"

"How should I know? Got my rake back, got to meet a bear up close, and didn't get mauled. And now I'm done working for the day! Let's get out of here."

A few weeks later. . .

"Now describe this thief to me again," the sheriff said, slight irritation creeping into his voice.

The man mulled it over, rubbing his chin whiskers. "Well, I couldn't see his whole face. He was wearing a handkerchief across it like a bandanna. But he must have had a big nose, the bandanna was really stickin' out there."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh he was so hairy. A big beard, bushy eyebrows, hair all over his arms and chest." This was uttered by a very flustered lady standing next to the man. "And he was having a hard time staying on his feet. He was bowlegged, and swaying around a lot. I think he was on meth."

"Might be, he wasn't making much sense with his words," the man agreed.

"OK, well, we'll determine that when we catch him. Now what did you say he took?"

"Waaal, he took our picnic basket of course. And the cooler full of beer. And the barbecue grill."

"He's probably going to sell the grill for more meth!"

"Well, if he tries to sell the grill, it won't be hard to find him. Not that many places to sell one of those around here. If he tries to steal it. I'll be sure to keep you folks informed if we pick up any leads."

"What's this coming to, where druggies can show up and rob family outings! It's just awful, I tell you!"

"Yes ma'am, it's very sad, but try not to worry. This is a pretty rare occurrence, so I'm sure we'll be able to find the culprit. He's not likely to take his goods back to a cave."

A Question Of Vital Import

Which series of action movies do you think is better: Die Hard, or Lethal Weapon?

My dad picked the Die Hard films. I think Alex picked also picked the Die Hard series.

Probably depends on your feelings towards the later films in both series. I haven't seen the most recent A Good Day to Die Hard, for example. My dad thought it was an all right action film, but Alex thought it was awful. I thought Live Free or Die Hard had some good points, but Timothy Olyphant doesn't do much for me. I don't like Die Hard 2, but I'm a pretty big fan of Die Hard with a Vengeance.

Lethal Weapon 3 isn't a favorite of mine, and I'm largely indifferent to Lethal Weapon 4, but I really like the first two, especially Lethal Weapon 2. I agree with my dad the Joe Pesci was a good add to the cast, and hey, they kill a bunch of racists. Good times. Factoring in I can only discuss 8 of the 9 films, the top 4 is split evenly between the two series, with Die Hard at the top, the Lethal Weapon 2, then Lethal Weapon, then the third Die Hard. But the rest are kind of in a muddle, since there are parts of each I like and don't like. Except Die Hard 2, that's firmly in 8th place. My general feeling is that I'd rate Die Hard a having the higher ceiling, but Lethal Weapon was more stable. Doesn't reach quite the same peaks, but didn't hit the same lows, either.

But that's me. What's your opinion?

Drop Dead Gorgeous

I would not have expected for my dad to recommend we watch a satirical film about beauty pageants, but here we are. Drop Dead Gorgeous is set in the small Minnesota town of Mount Rose, and involves their Miss Teen America something something Pageant. It's filmed as a documentary, though the locals keep thinking the camera crew is from COPS (who do show up at one point, which might have been the part I laughed hardest at).

We get to meet the eight contestants, watch them prepare, meet their parents, see what they hope for in life. It's a varied group, well, as varied as you get in a Minnesota town of 5,000 people, meaning various shades of white folk, though one of the girls is the adopted daughter of Asian immigrants (who ignore their birth daughter in favor of the adopted girl). The two favorites to win are Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), and Becky Leeman (Denise Richards). Amber, because she's a cheerful, friendly, talented, helpful girl that seems like the clear best choice. Becky, because her parents are the wealthiest folks in town and her mother (Kirstie Alley) runs the pageant. That's not really fair to Becky, she has talent, but she's the arrogant rich kid that knows she has all the advantages, but finds that perfectly right and proper, and doesn't bother to hide this.

Which helped me realize that I am really invested in seeing bad (meaning "evil", not "poorly designed") characters get their comeuppance. I get extremely impatient for it, I could not wait for Treat Williams to get his in 1941. If I want to see shitty people get away with treating others like crap, I can just get on the Internet (both in the sense that there will certainly be discussion of such a thing there, and because it happens on the Internet all the time). So it was killing me was Alley stack the deck in Becky's favor, trying to fix things with the judges, with the interview questions, with stupid rules about costumes, and waiting for the chickens to come home to roost. It's nice to watch Amber navigate a minefield that for much of the film she's only vaguely aware of, but it's like watching a Road Runner cartoon where the coyote's traps fail without actually blowing up in his face. Actually, that's not true. I like Wil E. Coyote, and often feel bad for him (the Road Runner is kind of a dick, what with defying the laws of gravity and all).

The humor in the film is dark, kind of poking holes in those idealized visions of life in small-town America, and emphasizing how limited and lousy life in those circumstances can be. Also the different goals and importance people place on things like these pageants, and the difference between what the contestants are told the pageants are about, and what the people in charge are actually getting out of it.

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths was written and directed by Martin McDonagh, who previously gave us In Bruges, which I really love. Colin Farrell stars in this film as well, this time as alcoholic writer Marty who has an idea for a screenplay, but can't seem to get it on paper. He wants it to be about seven psychopaths, but wants it to be a peace and life-affirming film. Problem being, he can't come up with any psychopaths. The good news is, his best friend is aspiring actor Billy (played by Sam Rockwell), who earns a living working for Hans (Christopher Walken) in a business where they kidnap people's dogs, then accept the reward money for finding the "lost" dog. Billy has some good ideas for some psychopaths, but he also has some bad ideas, like abducting the dog of the boyfriend of the woman he's sleeping with. As it turns out, said dog owner (played by Woody Harrelson), is a bit of a psychopath himself. So things rapidly spiral out of control for Marty, as his life becomes at least some version of the film he wanted to write.

I'm not sure any of the seven (really six) psychopaths are actually psychopaths. I thought that was marked by an inability to feel empathy. Which doesn't really seem to be the case. These folks are selfish to varying degrees, and are willing to kill, but they don't seem entirely indifferent to everyone's suffering. Maybe that's part of the point. There's this exchange at the end:

Marty: Friends don't make their friends die, Hans.
Hans: Psychopathic friends do. You're the one thought psychopaths were so interesting, but they're kind of tiresome after awhile, don't you think?

Marty had actually come up with one psychopath on his own, a Vietnamese fellow whose family was killed at the My Lai Massacre and was out to get all the American soldiers present, but couldn't figure out how to incorporate his idea for peace and love into that story (though Hans had an interesting idea). Marty had claimed he wanted the guy to be a Buddhist of sorts, because he was tired of all these gun-toting, kill lots of people psychos you saw in movies. Except that's sort of what he finds himself surrounded with. So I don't know if its supposed to be a comment on his misunderstanding of what psychopathy is, or a point that just because someone kills a lot of people, it doesn't mean they can't have peace and love in their hearts. That he's viewing things through too much of a dichotomy, if you do X, you can't feel Y. But all these "psychos" keep proving that's wrong.

There's something sort of similar where Hans points out that Marty writes female characters poorly, when he writes them at all, and that's reflected in the film itself. There aren't a lot of women in the movie, and they don't get much to do or say, we never really see what they think of what's going on. Outside of Myra, and even she exits the story fairly early. The problem there is that while I think the movie sort of takes apart Marty's misconceptions on psychos, it doesn't really do so for women. Hans tries to revise it a bit, but I'm not sure how well it works. That's something that bears further consideration.

I need to watch it again, clearly. And I'll certainly do that at some point, because I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure it's as funny as In Bruges, and the humor has a different tone. Maybe a little darker, little less absurd in some ways. I still like it a lot, though, and if you liked In Bruges and haven't seen Seven Psychopaths yet, you should definitely watch it.

The Weekend Has Thrown My Sleep Schedule Off Completely

Hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I spent mine visiting with Alex, as is standard for the 4th. We didn't blow anything up this year. Alex was not at his house when I came in, and his phone was dead, so I had to kill a couple hours wandering around town until he did get in touch with me. Then it was time for a surprise visit to a quarry a different friend of his owns, for swimming, and more sun than was probably advisable. He had a gig, so that's how we spent the evening and the early morning hours. There was supposed to be a eg in the middle of the dance floor, but they changed their mind about that. Which might explain why it was such a well-behaved crowd. I've never seen the bouncers have it so easy getting people to leave at the end of the night. It was nice, I got a couple of decent photos (including one where his attempt to look cool is likely undercut by my throwing a thumbs up next to him like a goober), though the lighting in the club makes it hard to find the right balance. No flash makes everything too dark, but the flash washes out all the lasers and smoke machines.

Saturday was pretty slow. Hung at one of his friend's houses and watched movies. I'm gonna save Seven Psychopaths for tomorrow, but what the heck, we can discuss Spielberg's 1941, which I'd never seen. Is there a term for movies with lots of disparate threads that eventually tie together in implausible fashion? That's kind of what 1941 is. All the characters just happen to come together in the same place at the same time, even though they were scattered all over California. Everyone's in a panic after Pearl Harbor, so there's a crazy base commander in the desert seeing Japanese forces everywhere, John Belushi is flying a P-40 chasing Zeros that don't exist. There is a Japanese sub off the coast, commanded by Toshiro Mifune, with a German officer in tow, completely lost and incapable of even outsmarting Slim Pickens. There's a family with an artillery piece on their lawn, with a daughter dating a guy who hasn't enlisted, and they both want to win a dance contest, but Treat Williams is playing a jerkass enlisted man who won't take "No" for an answer. He could have gotten run over by Dan Ackroyd's tank and I would have thought he deserved more pain. What a tool. It was an OK film, Belushi was pretty funny, but it went too long. It took them forever to finish up the submarine plotline.

Sunday was a little more running around, though not until after 3 p.m., since it took Alex that long to wake up. We went to a short-notice birthday party where the birthday boy almost didn't show up, and we never did get around to cutting the cake. We also tried to playing Cards Against Humanity version of Apples to Apples, but geez, I hate playing games with drunk people. They aren't paying attention, they keep forgetting to grab a new card after they set one down, it's a mess. Plus, the only cards that ever win are the filthy ones, and frankly, there aren't that many funny ones. Complaints about a lack of good cards were frequent. Apples to Apples is better in its basic version. But there was a lot of good music at the party, and some nice fish.

I really wanted a piece of that cake, though.

Invisible Man 1.15 - Ghost of a Chance

Plot: Darien barges into the Official's office to find him sparring with that CIA guy from two weeks ago. Fawkes is told to leave, but instead goes invisible and watches the conversation. Agent Miller wants that invisible agent, and this time, he's got the President on his side. So the Official is up the creek, but this does give us a good moment with Fawkes becoming visible right in front of Miller, who nearly has a heart attack. Once he's recovered, we learn that Darien is needed to help convince/scare the Prime Minister of Santa Ruego to vote against his country deploying a biological weapon as a defense of their border. It isn't aimed at the U.S. mind you, but with just a few keystrokes it could be, we are told by a smarmy guy with slicked back hair talking to an entirely different group of people about the same subject. This group wants the weapon approved, and they will be sending someone to make sure it happens.

So Fawkes, Hobbes, and Claire travel to Santa Ruego, but the U.S. Ambassador is very displeased to see Hobbes. Something to do with the Ambassador's daughter. However, they go to see the P.M. Arias anyway, and Hobbes gives a good spiel about an economic aid package the U.S. will provide if only the P.M. votes against the weapon. But Arias observes a gust of wind blowing through the curtains at a critical moment, as says no dice. He's very superstitious, which is why Fawkes is here. He's to pose as the ghost of a Marine gunnery sergeant who was killed when Arias' father attacked the embassy years ago while he was overthrowing the previous fascist regime. Darien's first attempt involves floating candlesticks and making his eyes visible, so that they appear to float before Arias.

It still doesn't work, because that other agent is about, and she somehow drowned a man in an empty hallway the night before. So Arias is convinced it is the work of the fabled La Llorna, Destroyer of Life, Woman who Wails, and that she wants him to hold firm on protecting his country's borders. Not sure how he figures that, but I'm not sure why he interpreted a gust of wind as a sign to hold firm against U.S. entreaties. Anyway, Darien will have to go back, and interrupts Arias during a massage. Ghosts, man, what a bunch of jerks. Before he can start scaring Arias, the Prime Minister sees some wet footprints and follows them to the pool, where a woman surprises him, tells him to protect their country, then drags him into the pool to make the point. Somehow she vanishes as Arias climbs out screaming for his guards. For the record, Darien stood there and watched, debating whether to get involved, I guess for fear of blowing his cover. Nice work, action hero.

It doesn't amtter anyway, but La Llorna visits Darien in his room that night and starts making out with him. She uses the kissing as an opportunity to spray water down his throat, but Fawkes is able to fend her off. They talk a bit, flirt a bit, she leaves. He tells the Keeper and Hobbes about it, but there's little they can do. There's only one night left before the vote, and Fawkes needs to get Arias going their way. So it's off to the mansion, but La Llorna is already there, drowning Arias. Fawkes fights her off, and ultimately forces her retreat, but Hobbes is unable to capture her. Anyway, Arias votes to scrap the BioX weapon, so the plan was a success. As they prepare to leave, Darien spots her across the road, they talk, flirt, make threats, offer warnings, kiss a little, then Hobbes shows up and ruins the mood, so she departs. Back to wherever she came from, to be chewed out by Pat Riley Jr. there for failing. But she assures them she can handle the Agency if it interferes in the future.

OH, if you were wondering. The reason the Ambassador hates Hobbes, according to Hobbes, is that when he worked at the embassy 15 years earlier, he was patrolling one night and heard a noise, entered the bedroom of the Ambassador's 19-year old daughter, Rachel, and found her laying on the bed naked. He tried to depart, heard someone coming down the hall, ducked back inside, pleading with her to put some clothes on. But she liked to flirt with him, so she sat there, playing with her hair. The person coming down the hall was the Ambassador, who barged in and found them. This is Hobbes' version, as related to the Keeper.

Quote of the Episode: Darien - 'I don't know. I guess it was just a freak thing.'

The "oh crap" count: 3 (23 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week? The English proverb about trying to lock the barn after the horse is gone. George Bernard Shaw, who said his way of joking is to tell the truth, because it's the funniest joke in the world. A Burmese proverb that blind men aren't afraid of ghosts. And Oscar Wilde, who thinks it takes courage to give in to temptation.

Times Fawkes Goes Quicksilver Mad: 0 (6 overall).

No car incidents, and no change in their department.

Other: Claire certainly seemed disappointed that Hobbes insisted he would never fish off the company pier. Tell him how you feel, Keep, maybe he'll change his mind. On second thought, that'll stoke his ego, and that's when he becomes insufferable.

As it stands, I have no idea whether to believe Bobby's story. I'd laugh at the beautiful young girl flirting with him, but we've seen his ex-wife, and seen how the ladies flock to him at the club where he claims to be a textiles magnate, and when he was hanging out with models last week. He has a knack for it. Beyond that, though, why would the Ambassador barge into his daughter's room like that? Not very diplomatic. Why would Bobby be worried if someone saw him leave her room? Presumably his patrolling would be a normal occurrence. He explains he heard a noise and went to investigate, and maybe says she had knocked a book off her beside table. Things don't quite add up, but the Bobby we've seen does seem to have principles and integrity, so if he says he would never date someone he worked with (or for), then I feel like I should believe that. Of course, we could follow the Man of Steel theory, stating Hobbes must try once, before he can decide never to do so again.

But that would be stupid.

Do ambassadors drive their own vehicles when they visit foreign leaders. Because I'm pretty sure Hallywell got into the driver's seat of that SUV when they first left Arias' place.

I was sure the fact Fawkes didn't know Spanish was going to be an issue. How do you play a ghost that scares a man in a primarily Spanish-speaking country? Answer: Play the ghost of a guy who spoke English. I like the fact that Fawkes didn't change his voice at all, yet Arias did not recognize it even though he spoke with Darien that day, on the exact same subject the ghost is approaching him about. This is either a comment on how superstitions and irrational fears blind people to other answers, or it's a joke about how all English-speaking Americans sound alike to Arias. Although, in a world where people can design invisible men and women who can seemingly become water, being afraid of g-g-g-ghosts doesn't seem too irrational.

I enjoy that the Official uses any inquiry into his invisible man as an excuse for extended sketches with Eberts. This week it was, 'Eberts! Get this invisible man in here! But sir, I don't know what he looks like.' Part of what makes me enjoy it so much is that he clearly enjoys it so much.

OK, I've danced around it, but we have to talk about the problematic aspect of this episode. The U.S. government decides it is acceptable to scare the crap out of a foreign leader for its own benefits. Sure, compared to some of the shit the U.S. has actually pulled over the decades, it's fairly small potatoes, but it makes me think of that quote from Kissinger in that book I read about the fall of the Allende government in Chile. Something to the effect of, if they don't use democracy properly, we don't have to honor it. "Properly", in that context, meaning doing what's in the United States' best interests, whether or not it is in Chile's. I mean, I'm glad Santa Ruego isn't going to be setting up a biological weapons defense, but that's a general concern about biological weapons, rather than a concern that oh, someone will hijack them and use them against the U.S. It makes Santa Ruego look like a country not capable of running itself, so the United States has to step in to guide them to the right choice. Except that can't be done by simply discussing why the biological weapons are dangerous, perhaps in terms of retaliation or escalation from the country Arias is actually concerned about. No, it has to be by turning their Prime Minister into Scooby-Doo.

Better than assassinating him, I suppose.

Favorite Marvel Characters #6 - Arcade

Oh, if only I had gotten here a couple of months sooner, he'd still be alive to enjoy this honor.

Character: Arcade

Creators: John Byrne and Chris Claremont

First appearance: Marvel Team-Up #65

First encounter: I owned Marvel Tales #201, a reprint from Marvel Team-Up of Spidey and Captain Britain meeting/fighting, then being captured at the end, but I'm not sure Arcade actually shows up until the next issue, which I didn't get for many years. It's probably either X-Men Classic #50, which is a reprint of Uncanny X-Men #146, or it was that black-and-white reprint of his first run-in with the X-Men (from issues #122-124) I bought at the school book fair. You might have seen those, they don't reprint the story as it was, with the panel layouts and such. Rather they stagger three or four panels on each page, so there's no real flow, but you still get the story, at least.

Definitive writer: Chris Claremont

Definitive artist: Dave Cockrum.

Favorite moment or story: Almost any Arcade story is a good one, as long as there are deathtraps and he's having a good time. But I think my single favorite moment is from Uncanny X-Men #146. Arcade had been captured by Dr. Doom, and so Ms. Locke has abducted some of the X-Men's loved ones to force them to rescue him. They fail miserably. Even as the X-Men struggle to escape from the traps Doom's set them in to test them, and Arcade's chances of survival drop, he's unperturbed. So much so, he casually strikes a match off Doom's armor to light one of Doom's high-quality cigars. I just love the cheek it takes to do that.

Why I like him: 'Any fool can kill, ladies. I wanted to do it with style.'

That quote from Arcade always sticks with me. Normally I'm not a big fan of villains who just kill, your Carnages, your more recent Joker, whoever else. But with Arcade, it isn't about the body count, which is good, because he usually fails to kill his targets. It's the way he tries that's fun.  He's an opportunity for writers and artists to throw any crazy thing they can conceive of at the hero. Giant pinball machines, twisted funhouse mirror versions of the heroes, cartoon critters, whatever has a sense of twisted whimsy.

It's been noted in comics recently that Arcade does have a terrible track record of actually killing his targets, but I like that it rarely bothers him. Like he told the X-Men about his first run-in with Spidey and Captain Britain, they beat him on his home court, and he loved every minute of it. They made narrow escapes, had to rescue loved ones in peril, and ultimately survived. It was great fun, for Arcade and the reader. He's a carnival barker, in look and demeanor, and while that can mean the game is rigged in his favor, if you beat him, he'll simply tip his cap to you.

I said it once before, but I've always thought this approach put Arcade a step ahead of all the other bad guys. He's the bad guy who almost understands he's in a story. He doesn't have a persecution complex, isn't deluding himself that he's the good guy, and those darn heroes are the bad guys for stopping him from getting what he wants. He knows he's a bad guy, and the nature of the story is the bad guy loses, in theory in a manner entertaining to the audience. He doesn't care about wins and losses, the important thing to him is to be entertained, which in theory will also entertain the reader. I like heroes who enjoy being heroes, and I guess I enjoy bad guys who actually enjoy being the bad guy.

Which gives him an odd sense of sportsmanship. When he first fought the X-Men, Nightcrawler ultimately reached Arcade's command room and started wrecking it up before he was captured, which enabled the rest of the team to turn the tide. Arcade didn't kill him, rather he returned him to the team unharmed, albeit in a humiliating fashion. If Arcade goes after a hero a second time, it's not out of revenge per se, the way Norman Osborn would attack Spider-Man again, trying to kill him for past "insults". It's that they proved to be good competition, and Arcade would like to see if he can get them again. Like your friend challenging you to a rematch on a board game. I mean yes, Arcade is trying to kill them, but there's no heat or anger there.

Frankly, if people are worried about Arcade looking like an incompetent hitman, reconfigure it a bit. One thing Arcade has proven consistently excellent at is kidnapping heroes. He's aces when it comes to ambushing them to move them to Murderworld. You could hire Arcade to abduct the heroes, so they're out of the way while you pull some other job. If he manages to kill them, great. If he doesn't, well he kept them busy while you did whatever it is you had planned.

Because he really is very adept. Not just at capturing heroes, but putting them through the wringer. He turned Colossus around in no time flat, and he always seems to know the screws to turn. He finds loved ones to use, or he makes facsimiles of them to throw the heroes off their games. While the X-Men were trying to rescue Doom, Banshee, Havok, Polaris, and Iceman were trying to rescue the loved ones from Murderworld. That didn't go terribly well at first, and a robot of Illyana nearly distracted Polaris long enough for her to fall prey to a carousel. He and Nightmare were able to come up with some pretty nasty stuff to throw at Deadpool and Hercules in that issue of Deadpool Team-Up. For Herc it was all his dead kids, and for Wade, it was the voices in his head given a hulking, monstrous, resentful form. Nightmare's powers might have been helping it come to fruition, but I think it was Arcade that helped figure out what weaknesses to attack.

I'm not sure why he's so good at spotting those weaknesses and hammering them. I mean, using someone's sibling or love interest as a lever against them, OK, that's not hard to figure out. But the bit where he could play on Colossus' fears that he betrayed his people, that was pretty good. Maybe because he's kind of divorced from those sorts of relationships. He's observing the whole thing from the outside, so it's easy to see what people in the midst of it don't. He killed his father when Dad cut off his allowance. The person closest to him is his Girl Friday, whether it's Ms. Locke or the new lady, Ms. Coriander. But a major part of their job description is to try and kill him. Because he generally doesn't care whether he lives or not, but the making someone earn his death is a challenge, and that, he enjoys. I'm still not happy Avengers Arena decided Arcade actually cares about losing all the time (or that he cares that crapass villains like Constrictor shit-talk him), but Hopeless definitely got Arcade's ability to see the fault lines in people and trigger them.

When Mightygodking was doing his initial burst of "I should Write Dr. Strange" posts, he did one about Dracula, and a person named Patrick C. noted in the comments the great thing about Marvel Dracula was he could work as an antagonist for literally any hero, and it would be great. I think Arcade is the same way. Sure, you can have him go after Spider-Man or the X-Men again. It's especially easy with the X-Men, because there are so many, he could target a different bunch every time and keep busy for months.

But it doesn't have to be limited to that. Send Arcade after Captain America. Maybe beat down Cap with waves of nostalgia for childhood days spent on Coney Island with his mother. Then Cap gets up and shatters all the funhouse mirrors with one shield throw. Send him after the Hulk, let the Hulk tear Murderworld down around their ears. It's fine, he'll kill some normal schlubs (my theory is he can still make plenty of money killing normal people, because there are plenty of people out there who would hate a non-super-hero enough to want them killed in the horribly inventive manners Arcade employs), or occupy some other heroes' attentions for quick cash and just rebuild it. Have Arcade turn the Baxter Building into a Murderworld and pit the FF against it. Have him hire the Heroes for Hire and then test his new designs against them. There is almost no hero you can't have fun throwing Arcade at.

Bite The Bullet

I'm on vacation! I wasn't on vacation the last two days, but I was tired, irritable, and preoccupied, thus no post. But I'm at my father's for the moment, before I go spend the 4th with Alex, so I can toss a quick post out.

We did watch Red River last night, but it turns out I've already seen parts of that before. Just didn't know what I was watching then. It's one of those roles for John Wayne where they take that tendency in his movies for him to be steadfast in his certainty he's right, and deal with what happens when he isn't right, or he takes it too far. He gets blinders on, a complete refusal to consider any viewpoints or ideas but his own, and anyone who challenges or disagrees with him has to be dealt with. Because in most of his films, those are bad guys. Here, they're just his trail hands who think there's a better way to do it.

I hadn't seen Bite the Bullet previously, and I missed the first part of it, so they were already into the long, newspaper-sponsored horse race. Gene Hackman's rocking that mustache I've seen him sporting in a lot of his '70s movies, and he's in it, just to spite a wealthy fellow he delivered a horse to slightly behind schedule. The wealthy jerk is sponsoring some champion rider, and worried it would cost him the race, so he treated Hackman poorly, and now he has to worry about his poor employee relations costing him this big race. James Coburn plays an old friend of Hackman's who entered the race and bet on himself to win. Ben Johnson plays an old cowhand in it for the glory. Candice Bergen is a former lady of the evening, who is in the race for reasons unclear.

There's an English jockey, and a snot-nosed, loudmouth kid with visions of glory and no respect for anyone, because he thinks that's how men act. So his large quantity of hot air keeps pissing Hackman off. Which leads to a scene where the kid rides his horse to death in the desert, and Hackman demonstrates his displeasure. The lead up is shot kind of interestingly, as Coburn's character rides alongside, then passes the kid. The kid's shot in slow-mo, while Coburn's sped up, so from the kid's perspective, he's being passed effortlessly, even as his whips his horse relentlessly, with the horse's labored breathing serving as the background noise for the whole sequence, getting louder and louder. The downside is you know how it's going to end, and it grows painful watching that horse struggle. On the other hand, it's very satisfying watching Hackman chase the kid back and forth in the desert, smacking him with the reins as he rides past. I did feel bad for Hackman's horse, though. It was hot out there, he could have just shot the kid in the leg, hopped off, and kicked the crap out of him, while the horse takes a breather.

It's an interesting movie, not great. But all the characters get some time, the way the race is shot tries to emphasize each character's different approach and personality. The other thing is the sheer size of the countryside. People may ride together for a time, but frequently they're scattered allover, trying to find the route that best suits them. It's a nice shorthand characterization. The ending came oddly abruptly, though. I'm not sure if the version we were watching got cut up or what. It was some scenic shots of some massive mountains and then. . . they're at the finish line at a rail stop. Maybe they figured we'd seen enough shots of the riders struggling through the wilderness.

The Metro Is Still The Jumpinest Joint In The World

I reviewed Metro 2033 early in May, as it was the precursor to Metro: Last Light. Well since then, I started Last Light and finished that late last week. If you're waiting to buy the game, and you don't want plot spoilers, come back when that's no longer an issue for you. There's gonna be plot spoilers.

It's the same universe as the earlier game, about a year further on. The game's plot is predicated on Artyom choosing to wipe out the Dark Ones at the end of Metro 2033. Which is the ending I got when I played through. I wasn't aiming for that one, but it worked out that way, and the Dark Ones tried to kill me often enough and in sufficiently annoying ways that I didn't feel bad about it.. So we're a year on from that, Artyom is a full-fledged Ranger, but is troubled by nightmares about the Dark Ones. On cue, spiritual fellow Khan, reports that he has seen a Dark One moving about. He believes it can save humanity, but Artyom is ordered out to kill it. That doesn't go well, and he soon learns there's much more to concerned about. The Reds in the Metro have built a massive army, and gotten their hands on a biological weapon. The rest of the factions are too divided to really do much, and while they may be badasses, there are only about 100 Rangers, so they're a little out-gunned.

The gameplay is still much the same, but I think they made the game a little easier. Sneaking around is certainly easier, because Artyom carries a watch that lights up when you aren't hidden in shadows. You'd still have to be wary of guys with headlamps, but at least you can tell if you're in a safe place to start. The game also gives you the option to knock someone out if you can sneak up on them, rather than having to either avoid them or kill them.The upshot to these alterations is that I didn't run low on ammo as often, because things didn't devolve to gun battles as much. So I never dipped into my supply of military grade ammo for shooting purposes, which left me free to buy stuff with it.

They're also added customization of weapons, though you have to reach a settlement where there's someone who can do that for you. I ended up grabbing three different guns early, and just holding on to them, upgrading and modifying as I saw fit.

The story was, not terribly engaging to me. Or maybe I wasn't interested in the things they wanted me to be. There's a romantic subplot weakly shoehorned in there I didn't care about. Artyom eventually finds the Dark One and starts looking after it, which really cramped my style. It's not an escort mission - the kid's better at staying out of trouble than Artyom is - but I felt myself making different decisions in order to make a good example. Well, one different decision.  I really didn't care about the impending war, or about Artyom trying to make up for how the first game ended. Like I said, I didn't feel terribly bad about my decision. There's a traitor in the Rangers that we eventually confront, but I didn't much care about him either.

If I'd spent more time with specific Rangers, to the point I cared about them, that might have been different, but I spent most of the early part of the game with Pavel. Through those levels, Pavel saves my life a few times, and I save his. He talks about us being like Musketeers. Then it turns out he's a loyal Communist, and he helped me so we could get to the Red's settlement, where I could be drugged and interrogated. From that point on, all I wanted was to catch Pavel and. . . well, I wasn't sure whether I'd kill him or not, but I wanted the opportunity to make the decision. In much the same way that trying to reach Polis took of over half of Metro 2033, trying to force that final confrontation with Pavel took a good 60% of Metro: Last Light. But when I finally had him, the little Dark One was there, so I was merciful. And as it turned out, for no good reason. I still didn't get the nicer ending. I'm gonna have to replay that level just to watch Pavel die.

What? I hate characters who betray friends more than I hate characters who cheat on their significant others, and I hate philanderers a lot.

The little Dark One does bring a different perspective to things. He can apparently see emotional states, and transmit that to Artyom, so you can sometimes see when the beings around you are going to be hostile. Which is handy because it means if you leave them alone, they'll do the same for you. It sheds some light on a few occasions from the first game that I remember being puzzled about.

The game adds a few new monsters to contend with, mostly large arthropods of various types. Yeesh, giant bugs. Why does it always have to be giant bugs? They continue to play with the idea that this world has some strange new things in it now, ones that people really don't understand. Well, except Khan. He seems to understand a lot. Kind of annoying actually, but heck, I like Khan. He's a good fellow, watches your back when he's around. The surface world is still the most terrifying, in large part because it's killing you even when nothing's happening. You need a gas mask every moment, but the filters don't seem to last long, so there's a constant tension of whether you can get off the surface before you run out. This does make me less-inclined to snoop around, though, and I prefer to switch back and forth more frequently. The claustrophobia of the tunnels is kind of a relief compared to the surface. At least in the tunnels, the enemies can only come from so many directions, and if you find a safe place, you can stay there as long as you like, without having to worry about a slow death by asphyxiation.

I'm not a big fan of the spots in the game where you have to wait for a boat or lift, and hold off wave after wave of enemies in the meantime. Those are just frustrating because it feels very contrived. Especially in a world where you know these creatures are attracted to sound, why make conveyances that make a buttload of noise when you try to use them? All I can figure is the people responsible are less concerned about endangering people by alerting monsters, and more concerned with making sure they know if someone's coming, in case they're hostile. Which sounds pretty accurate for people.

Take A Stroll Through The September Solicits

I'm sure it will shock you to learn Hawkeye was not listed in the solicits. Can it be considered an ongoing if it never comes out?

Beyond that, at Marvel, I don't know what's going on. I'm not sure if Avengers Undercover is ending, or just starting it's last arc. I'd kind of expect it to last one more month, ship twice, and reach 12 issues. Makes for two trades. But who knows. On the other side of things, Superior Foes of Spider-Man claims it isn't ending with #15. So I don't know if it got a last-second reprieve, the cancellation was a load of bull, or the solicit is lying to us. It is a villain book, they could be lying.

In less confusing news, Deadpool's safely out of the land of Original Sin tie-ins. Daredevil, too. Thank goodness. That first Deadpool tie-in was not promising.

Outside Marvel, I'm giving DC a wide berth. I don't care about Future's End, I don't care about 3-D covers, nothing there for me. Just the way DC intended, no doubt. Ah well, the money will go elsewhere. Not just to Atomic Robo, which will allegedly be wrapping up Knights of the Golden Circle, though I note issue 2 did not ship in June as it was solicited. That's hardly new. Red 5 really needs to find a new printer or something, their guy is always screwing them over and causing delays.

The only bit of new business is I decided to try that new series Roche's Limit from Image. I guess I'm a sucker for comics titles after astronomy terminology.  I'm not entirely sure about a series set in the future where mankind's attempt to establish new settlements in space has turned out poorly. Sounds a bit like an excuse to do a gritty crime story in space, but we'll give it whirl. Sounds like it'll run in 5-issue installments, so if it doesn't end up working, I should have a pretty easy opportunity to bail out.

The Invisible Man 1.14 - Beholder

Plot: A retired general is killed on a golf course. The only witness is blinded by some gun that flash fried his eyes. The killer is the notorious assassin, the Chameleon, and the retired general's son, a rich software tycoon, has placed a large, tax-free bounty on the killer's head. The Official is all about that, and running the records, he and Eberts have determined that there is some connection between the Chameleon's victims and a well-known model, Leila Bach, who also happens to be blind. Off Fawkes and Hobbes go to her latest shoot, though Hobbes is quickly distracted by other ladies, and Fawkes tags along invisibly in Leila's car with her chauffeur. A man named Claude waits at her home, but once Fawkes fails his stealth roll, the guy finds him, beats his ass, and panics when he sees Darien's badge. Yep, he's the Chameleon. Fawkes tries running, Claude fires his weapon, Darien Quicksilvers as it hits, and that's why he'll only be temporarily blind, rather than permanently.

There are two twists. One, Fawkes can see when his eyes are Quicksilvered. Guess the parts of his eyes that respond to whatever higher spectrums the Quicksilver lets in weren't flash-fried. Two, Leila wants to spend time with him, I guess because she feels bad this happened. Fawkes wants no part of it, only wants to get out there and find Claude, but the Official benches him. So he and Leila hang out, she helps him learn how she perceives the world, he helps her understand how Claude could lie so easily, since he did the same to Casey. Remember Casey? His girlfriend, from the Pilot? Meanwhile, Claude prepares to strike another target, and stalks Leila. Then he abducts her. Darien tries to pursue, even leaps on the roof of the car, but is flung off by Claude's aggressive driving. Claude promises this is his last job, and wants to know if she will leave with him. She asks him if he would stop killing people if she did. He asks if she could love him. She can't tell him that, so she's now a potential decoy to cover his assassination attempt on the software tycoon son.

Fawkes has already deduced this, thanks to something Hobbes said, and the general's funeral is pretty well-covered. But it still comes down to Darien on the roof against Claude, who has Leila tied up in a trunk with a lot of explosives. Fawkes Quicksilvered his walkie-talkie, though, so Hobbes hears it all and rescues her. Then Darien goes Quicksilver Mad, because he's been using it too much as a workaround. This is bad for Claude, because crazy, invisible Darien beats his butt, then knocks him off the roof where I think he falls to his death in a empty fountain. Darien's eyesight is restored, and he and Leila take another trip to the beach.

Quote of the Episode: Claude - 'I don't want to murder them. But I'm forced to choose between my freedom and their sight.'

The "Oh crap" count: 1 (20 overall).

Who's getting quoted this week? Lao Tzu's advice to look for the good in everything, the line about lighting a candle rather than cursing darkness, and maybe, "She Blinded Me with Science".

Times Fawkes Goes Quicksilver Mad: 1 (6 overall).

Still Fish & Game. Not sure if I would count Fawkes being thrown from the roof of one car through the rear glass of another in the unofficial, "Almost run over count". Maybe it should be "Near Death By Car"?

Other: I'm always a little leery of these episodes where a character loses their sight or some other sense and learns it's entirely possible to function in everyday life. It's a good message, but I always wonder if it doesn't come off as patronizing.

Beyond that, I has questions. One, if Leila's much more attuned to her other senses, how did she not sense Darien's presence riding shotgun in her car? She didn't notice a different scent, the sound of two sets of breathing besides her own, the shifting of weight in a seat other than the driver's? Also, Claude's called the Chameleon, but he doesn't really use disguises much. He lays one out when preparing for the hit, but his shtick is that he renders people incapable of giving a good description (because, as Hobbes notes, they can't tell if the sketch artist is capturing their description right).

I don't know, what's a better name for a guy who blinds witnesses to remain anonymous? Solar Flare? The Bathroom Light At Midnight?

Remember in "Reunion", that Fawkes kept trying to use his badge to get help from people, and it kept not working, because it's from Fish & Game? Hobbes knows how to do it properly. He shows them the tin/shield, whatever it's called, but not the i.d. badge. Let them be impressed, without giving them something easy to read that won't impress them as much.

Little surprised the writers brought Casey up. They haven't really mentioned her since the pilot, but the tale of what happened between her and Fawkes did fit the circumstances. He lied to Casey, just as Claude lied to Leila, in each case because it was easier than stopping what they were doing, or telling the truth and dealing with the consequences. Interesting to contrast that with Leila, who can't lie to Claude about what this revelation has done to her feelings for him, even though lying would stop him from killing more people. This assumes Claude could actually successfully vanish with a world-famous model along for the ride, which, ehhhh, might be tricky. I don't know, I've never tried it before.

Favorite DC Characters #6 - Power Girl

The hardest part of this post may be deciding which images to use. Kind of a wealth of options.

Character: Power Girl, aka Karen Starr, aka Kara Zor-L

Creators: Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, Wally Wood

First appearance: All-Star Comics #58

First encounter: Infinity Inc. #7. I once received a large group of seemingly random comics, and this was in there. I didn't understand most of it, and Power Girl didn't get much of a chance to do anything (her fight with Superman just barely started), but it is the first time I saw her. She's kind of getting her butt kicked on the cover, which is why I didn't post a picture of it. Have some panels of Power Girl and Terra at the movies drawn by Amanda Conner instead!

Definitive writers: Amanda Conner, Justin Gray, and Jimmy Palmiotti. I don't remember Conner getting a writer's credit during their Power Girl run, but I imagine she had some input.

Definitive artist: Amanda Conner! I also like Jerry Ordway and Adam Hughes' versions, but Conner's is the one I think of.

Favorite moment or scene: Power Girl #12, the last issue of the Conner/Gray/Palmiotti run. Vartox shows up, being pursued by some big alien overlord angry that Vartox was making time with his wife. Vartox had already shown up once, causing major trouble in some lame attempt to impress Peej sufficiently she'd help him repopulate his planet (it involved a glowy egg thing that uses energy to kick in his people's regeneration cycle). Now both he and the other guy starting trying to hit on her, and fed up, Power Girl basically uses Vartox like a club to beat some sense into both guys, and tells them to leave before she gets really mad. Which the overlord fellow does, because he thinks that'll impress her (it doesn't), and Vartox doesn't, because he's an idiot. And that's how Vartox got tossed across New York, again.

What I like about her: My history with Power Girl covers a fairly short span of time. It runs from roughly when she joined the Johns/Goyer JSA book, up to the beginning of the new 52. I've ignored the current Power Girl, and I only know bits and pieces of her history from the '90s and earlier, and what I do know isn't pretty. Disclaimer firmly in place, lets move on. I've said previously I like her outfit. The boots, the short red cape, the either gold shoulder pad or gold buckle that the cape attaches with, the belt. It all works really well together. Also, she's a super-strong tough lady that enjoys fighting crime and helping people. Always a plus. Another thing I wouldn't have necessarily expected to like, but do, is how several of the younger superheroines look up to her. Stargirl, Cyclone, especially Terra. Her and Peej's friendship was always enjoyable.

It does make sense. From their perspective, Power Girl is an older woman who is a tough, successful hero, one always at the forefront of the battle, trading punches with the heaviest hitters the bad guys have. She owns her own company, she's confident, assertive, speaks her mind, and she's not defined by a relationship to a guy*. What's not to love?

* I guess you could argue that she is Superman's cousin, but her being from a different universe since Crisis on the Infinite Earths seems to put her at a slight remove from Superman, compared to Supergirl, Superboy, or even Steel. She doesn't wear the "S", either. And beyond that, she doesn't have many romantic relationships. There was that thing with Hal Jordan that resulted in a magical pregnancy that was never mentioned again, but other than that, nothing leaps to mind. No, Vartox doesn't count.

One thing being on the Internet has made me more aware of is how much crap society dumps on girls and women about how they should behave. Don't offer your opinion without being asked for it, just smile and put up with that drunk guy pawing you, or politely ask him to stop, don't wear short skirts because dudes can't control their urges (speaking as a dude, that's bullshit), that kind of stuff. Power Girl has no time for any of that crap. If Wildcat says some sexist, belittling nonsense ('cause he's a drunk old fart), she's not forcing a smile while she bites back on a cutting remark. She gives him an earful. She's not putting up with Wally West making constant lewd and unprofessional remarks while they were in the Justice League together, she goes after him. I know that most of Power Girl's explanations for her costumes are the writers and artists trying to excuse wanting to draw sexy ladies and all. But in-story, I like that she likes her costume the way it is, feels comfortable with it, and how other people react is not her concern.

One of the things I liked best about the Conner/Gray/Palmiotti Power Girl run was they showed that yes, this ugly crap happens a lot, but no, you don't have to take it. They don't show her reacting with fury or anything, but she sets the offender straight. Consider it a gentle course correction for them. If she's interviewing a potential hire, and he talks down to her because he saw Dr. House get away with it every week, welp sorry buddy, you aren't getting that job. When the idiot from the Big Bang Theory tried hitting on her at the movies, she calmly stood up and explained to him that his behavior was unacceptable, and offered a suggestion on how to modify his behavior to have more success talking to women. Then she sat back down to watch the film with her friend. When some weirdo tried flashing her and Terra, Peej gets mildly exasperated. . . and sends some freezing breath in the direction of his nether regions. Not going to kill the dude, or even cause frostbite most likely, but an effective lesson.

There's an issue of JSA, #39, where Power Girl relates to Hawkgirl and Stargirl her run-in with a super-powered crook who was also a creepy fan, and it ends with her saying, 'Always show 'em what you've got.' Which is what I like best about her, she doesn't hold back, doesn't keep opinions to herself out of fear of stepping on somebody's toes. She is not about to be any less of who she is because somebody else feels threatened by her. It reminds me of that quote from an early Defenders issue, when Namor asked Valkyrie why she hates men, and she replied she doesn't, she just knows she's as good as they are. That's Power Girl, she doesn't hate people (except bad guys who hurt her friends), but she's not about to pretend she isn't awesome.

Because she is awesome. This is the lady whose response to the Spirit King unleashing a bunch of souls the Spectre had damned is "drop a bus on them". Which leads to another good exchange between her and the original Hourman, where he says he likes her, and she replies, 'Everybody does, they just don't want to admit it.' Whose response to that aforementioned creepy fan trying to kiss her is to knock him into next week. And when he doesn't take the hint and starts blowing stuff up, she hits him with construction equipment until he gets the message. When the JSA travels beneath the Earth to rescue Sand, Power Girl's the one who carries his body up through miles of the Earth's crust, even though he's molten hot at the time.

She was able to bring down the Ix Negaspike Vartox released to impress her, while also dealing with Vartox continuing to try and impress her. She did all that with minimal property damage, and was eventually able to get Vartox to simply explain what he needed, so she could help him and make him go away. It speaks highly of her she was willing to help at all, considering he tried to use some musk to make her more receptive to his charms, and only succeeded in a) making Dr. Mid-Nite black out, and b) making the Blue Snowman fall in love with him, which got her eaten when he unleashed the Negaspike. When Peej found out Ultra-Humanite got his brain inside Terra's body, she went right after Satanna and immediately heat visioned one of her arms off to make herself understood. Normally, I'm not a big fan of the heroes getting graphically violent (though it certainly fits with DC's motif of characters losing limbs), but in certain circumstances, I think it works. Like when your best friend has their brain removed by some villain, and their body stolen by some other villain, and you have no idea how long that's been the case. Yeah, I can see getting a little hostile there.

Which is one other thing I like about Power Girl, for all that she has a bit of a gruff exterior initially, she actually is very friendly. It's pretty simple, if you treat her with respect and kindness, she'll reciprocate. It's the people who act like jerks she has no time for. She likes to make friends, maybe because she doesn't have many, she just isn't willing to put up with any poor behavior out of them. It's makes sense. She's basically Supergirl of Earth-2, right? And Supergirl has usually been a really kind character, wants to be helpful, wants to make friends, love and be loved, all that. Stands to reason Peej would have similar inclinations. But she's older, a little wiser, a little more wary. She's had a few more bumps in the road, what with all that mess about where she came from after Crisis on the Infinite Earths, the stupid magic pregnancy, etc. So it's a little harder for her to open up. Being on a Justice League full of jerks and goobers probably didn't help. Who wants to open up emotionally to brain-damaged Guy Gardner? Anyway, once she decides she does care about someone, she'll go to the wall for them. Then through the wall, because you know, invulnerable. And if you're between her and said wall, well, you're going through as well. Good luck with that.

Support Your Local Wizard - Diane Duane

This contains three different stories, each between 150 and 180 pages long, which were written over the course of 7 years, so it's a collection. There are certain gaps between the end of one and the start of another, though it's a few months at most.

The stories revolve around Nita and Kit, who both came across How-To manuals for being a wizard. They each agreed to take the Oath, and this puts them in various situations where they have to thwart the Lone Power, the one who introduced Death in all its forms into existence. Wizards are supposed to work to slow down the ultimate death of the universe (via entropy) however they can. But the Lone Power wasn't happy being booted out, so they keep running up against it.

The plots are generally entertaining, although the third story took a long time to get anywhere. The problem there was it was Nita's little sister undergoing her Ordeal after rather blithely accepting the Oath, and so you knew she was on some sort of important mission, but it was quite a while before the mission became clear. Powers moving in mysterious and ambiguous ways, I guess. Deep Wizardry, which was the second story, was my favorite of the bunch. That may be because a Master Shark is prominently involved. You make a key character that is an ancient, massive, predatory shark, one which can command and control all other sharks if it wishes, and I'm probably going to dig that.

I did have some issues with certain aspects of the philosophy involved. There's a quote before one of the stories, supposedly from the most powerful resource in their world that says 'Those who refuse to serve the Powers, become the tools of the powers. Those who agree to serve the Powers, Themselves become the Powers.' I can't say either of those options sounds palatable to me, and I'm never a big fan of fictional universes where abstract concepts start jerking people around like puppets on strings. I prefer the idea that one gains (or unlocks) the power, then uses it for good because they choose to, rather than because some unknowable force is just going to twist them into doing so if they don't, or punish them for refusing. We're told if a wizard breaks the Oath, or won't complete a task, they are stripped of their power and memories of anything related to wizardry.

At one point, Nita is contemplating not carrying out something she promised to do, she's told that the ritual she's supposed to participate in will fail, and so she'll contribute to the that-much-sooner death of the universe, and she'll carry a nameless sorrow in her soul for the rest of her life. Which is fucked up enough, but then the character explaining the stakes to her says, that's not so bad, lots of people think going through life with a nagging sorrow in the bottom of their soul is natural.


To say I disagree would be an understatement. I can't buy that even if people do feel that, they think it's natural. And the fact the Powers would drop that sort of bomb on someone for being unwilling to die for their goals, strikes me as an extremely petty move to make. The Powers remind me of the NCAA: They try to take all the credit and all the benefits of what the wizards/athletes, and if said wizard/athlete tries to step outside the bounds the Powers/NCAA establish, try to act in their own self-interest, that brings down the hammer. Any system that reminds me of collegiate athletics is not a system I'm going to be fond of.

So that was an ugly undercurrent to the last story and a half of the book. The first story and a half were good, though.

What I Bought 6/6/2014 - Part 6

Last reviews, at least until sometime in the next week or so when my next batch of comics show up. I hope. Going have a heck of a time getting them if they don't arrive by the 3rd. No pressure!

Atomic Robo: Knights of the Golden Circle #1, by Brian Clevinger (words), Scott Wegener (art), Anthony Clark (colors), Jeff Powell (letters) - CalvinPitt Hyperventilation Alert! Robo is wearing a poncho, Man with No Name style! Holy crap! This is not a drill! If you have paper bags, just hand them over quietly. I don't want what's in them, just the bag itself. Unless one of those ponchos is in there. I will absolutely take that.

Robo is in Colorado in 1874, trying to keep to himself in the wilderness and build. . . something. Looks like a turbine, or a motorized unicycle or something. But trouble forces him out of seclusion, and he saves an old man trying to escape an "outfit". However, the nearest town is not terribly helpful, as the doctor is away, and the townspeople are sure they want to get involved. There is a deputy marshal, but he's more concerned with arresting Doc Holliday for murder, and Holliday's more concerned with getting away from said deputy marshal. But, a whole lot more bad guys show up, so I don't think escaping is on the menu.

Oh, and Robo is being confused with the hero Ironhide, who was presumed blown up a decade previously. Unless Robo is soon going to be flung backwards in time by another explosion.

So this is very curious. I have no idea what this Butcher Caldwell fellow is up to. The recap/intro on the inside of the cover says Robo is about to face the greatest threat to America. No idea what that could be. Election fraud? Strip mining? Chain letters? So we'll see how that goes. The recap/intro also mentions Robo's running out of nuclear fuel, which is not a problem I've seen him face thus far, but it's a reasonable problem under the circumstances. I guess trying to mine for some appropriate fusionable material (I'm assuming Tesla didn't build him to run on nuclear fission) would have been too disruptive to the timestream.

I like the look of the lighting in the saloon Robo brings the wounded man to. I'm not sure if the credit for that goes to Wegener's shading, or Clark's coloring, but it had a muted look to it that suggested the light sources are kind of lousy, and there's a lot of smoke in the air. I also like how, when Robo rescues the old man, he just hurls his way through the wagon in an impressive smash. It's an effective attention-getter, and perfectly reasonable for a big metal guy.

This wasn't the strongest first issue of a Robo mini-series I've read, but the simple fact they've placed him in the old West is enough to keep my interest while they get further into the plot.

Those Hydras Will Keep You Busy

I've been thinking about this since I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It does hinge on that big reveal, so maybe this is a spoiler for the movie, or the Agents of SHIELD series, if you were waiting to catch up on that.

So, you know, look away if that's an issue.

OK, there's the reveal that HYDRA's been lurking within SHIELD for decades, using it to carry out their schemes. What I was thinking about was, how does this affect that Agent Carter TV series we're supposed to be getting? The whole HYDRA thing kind of casts a pall over the missions she takes, because we're going to be wondering if she's unwittingly carrying out HYDRA's goals. You can obviously have her get suspicious, start trying to ferret out the truth, or maybe figure out ways to not carry out the objectives in ways that won't get her fired. But the fact HYDRA persisted all the way up to the point Steve Rogers finds Zola's brain recordings in that bunker would imply she ultimately failed. Which is kind of depressing. Or she stopped trying, which doesn't seem much like Peggy Carter.

I'm not trying to be a downer before the series has even gotten started. I think it could be very cool, and I hope it is (though I haven't really heard good things about Agents of SHIELD, for what that's worth). It's possible they could start out with things going well, then gradually turning more sinister. Carter notices the shift, starts trying to trace the cause, runs into stonewalling or missions that seem like they're meant to get her killed, and the end game would be she deals HYDRA a crippling blow, but a few of them keep their heads down and are able to start over. Cut off one head, two more, etc.

She's going to be working for SHIELD in its very earliest stages, so perhaps they can argue HYDRA hadn't started twisting things around yet. Problem there being, I can't imagine SHIELD or the OSI waited long to recruit Zola. Like they just left him sitting around in Switzerland, twiddling his thumbs after Cap went into the drink.