It's an overcast, chilly day as I pull into the apartment complex. Following the road as it arcs around until, in the rear corner, I reached the building I wanted. I pulled into a parking space, but don't see his car. Maybe he's not back from work yet? I hope he's not out on inspections, it'll ruin the surprise. No harm in trying, though.
I step from the car, and walk to the back to open the trunk. I remove a large case, with some difficulty, and carry it into the open lawn in front of the building, setting it down. Returning to the car, I remove a smaller box, cardboard, heavily taped together, and carry it up the stairs. At the door I knock lightly. No sounds from within. I press an ear to it, trying to hear him sneaking around inside. Is he really not here? I'm more disappointed than I thought I'd be, but I was actually anticipating this confrontation eagerly.
"He's not here."
I turn back to the top of the stairs, to see a round, furry, black-and-white shape crouched there, watching me intently. The panda, of course. Maybe this is their plan, to have the panda confront me here, draw my attention, while Calvin waits for an opening? I grin. Maybe there'll be some fun after all. I take on my most mock-innocent expression. "Oh, he's not? Well, how unfortunate I was so late arriving. Let's discuss this further insid-"
Even as I finish the sentence, the panda is smashing into me, driving me over the railing. I manage to shove it away, and twist so as to not land on my neck. Still, the ground is muddy and this jacket is probably ruined. This is why I would have rather waited until we were indoors to fight.
"You aren't getting past the front door, Pollock, not this time! I've been waiting three days! I'm cold and wet, and I'm gonna take it out on you!" Well, that's more aggressive than normal. I shouldn't have been so tardy, it sounds like.
"Wait, wait. Don't you want to see what cool science thing I brought to use this year?" That stops it for a moment. Curiosity is almost as effective against the panda as doubt.
The panda folds its arms across its chest. "I hope it's better than your lame plan from last year. Your weak threats as you ran away were more dangerous."
I would have protested I don't even make threats as I run away, but I was too indignant about the other part. "I used a phone that was also an independently operating taser! It's extremely popular among people afraid of getting mugged. And given the power demands for the taser, the battery lasts for a decade if you just use it as a phone! No recharging necessary."
I narrowly dodged a kick to the head. "I don't need to hear a sales pitch, I was here last year," the panda jibed, as I retreated for the large box in the yard. "A walking taser might help with muggers, but it won't get you past me."
I reached the crate. "Very true, the phone wasn't enough last year, and our updates this year were more concerned with network security than agility. So I brought this."
I step on a lever at the bottom of the box, and the top flies open as all four sides fall away. A mass of metal begins to expand, reconfiguring into a basic human shape, with a comfy leather seat in the center, which I hop into. I take a moment to savor the slack-jawed gape on the panda's furry mug.
"It's our new mobility enhancer for the elderly or otherwise physically limited. It's a nice perk it'll also work to pound you into the mud."
The panda scrambles up to the walkway for safety. "Oh yeah, how you gonna get me from down there?" It waggled its butt as a taunt, but coming from a panda, it's just too cute to be angered by. Besides, I had the answer, raising the right arm, and with the press of a button, it extended, capturing the panda in its grasp in an instant. "For when you need to grab something off a high shelf."
The panda gasped, "What shelves are you trying to get things from?!"
"Well, what if our customer needs a new recliner from one of those big box stores? Are they supposed to wait until an employee wanders along, get their attention, then wait for them to return with a forklift? Their time is valuable and limited, why do you want them to waste it?"
"I'm not, eh, nerts to this." The panda inhaled sharply and slipped free. Look I was trying hard to be gentle. 'May crush pandas' is a bad tagline for most any product. Other than Murder, Inc., and their Panda Juicer. Still, I'm disappointed my attempt to make the panda doubt itself didn't work better. I need to give that trick a rest, perhaps.
As the panda landed neatly on the ground, I reached for it again, only to come up empty-handed. Unless you count some mud, which seems to be clogging the joints. The fingers were sticking. The panda circled warily.
I prepared my next stroke. "Expanding arms aren't the only feature. Check out the Whippersnapper-dismissing nose flick!" The left thumb and forefinger touched ends and reached forward, only for the forefinger to suddenly snap free and turning the panda into a furry projectile that rattled the sliding door of the neighbor below Calvin. "Guaranteed to humiliate any kid into accepting the terrible hand the prior generations have dealt them! Or, pulverizing them. Either way, it gets their noses out of their phones, right?"
Sigh and shake of the head in response. "You sell smartphones! And that whole thing is divisive and stupid!"
I shrug. "I know, but you have to play to your customer base. And I can supply both sides."
"War profiteer, eh? I'll settle your hash!" Again the panda scrambled up the stairs, then to the roof and out of sight.
"Settle my hash? How many cheap detective movies are you watching with Calvin?" Further comments on his archaic statements were interrupted by a roar and the panda rising into the air with a trail of flame behind. Coming from a familiar jetpack. My old jetpack. What the hell?!
The panda projectile hurtled right at me, only to bounce off the clear bubble dome surrounding me. If luck was on my side, the bounce would have sent it into the ground. Instead it went straight up, resuming the wary circling, albeit at a higher altitude.
"Climate controlled bubble canopy," I gloated a little as the sun comes out and the canopy darkened. "And it changes its shade in response to the ambient light like those glasses you see on TV."
"Oh come on! Although that is a thoughtful touch." It roared past very low, splattering up mud across my vision and the rest of the exosuit.
"Thank you. The design team was very proud of that." As I heard the jetpack roar past again, then shoot up into the sky, I made a note that we should add a windshield wiper as the arms weren't having much luck clearing the mud. The right arm in particular, was growing increasingly unresponsive. But the top of the canopy was clear, and through it, I saw the trail of the jetpack's exhaust arcing back behind me. I tried to swivel, but the mud and the grit seems to be jamming the gears. And the sound of the jetpack was growing louder.
Sigh. One more thing to give the design team notes about. Well, at least we installed an ejection seat. The designers argued for airbags, but that would leave you right next to the explosion, so what good would that do? As I was launched into the air, the panda rolled so the jetpack was below, unhooked itself and jumped as the pack and the suit erupted into flame.
Our momentum was carrying us towards each other, so I grabbed some fur, twisted, and hurled it towards the ground. It bounced off the roof of the little structure that housed all the mail slots, and then splatted in the mud. I landed less nimbly than I would have liked at the edge of the lawn. By this point, several dogs were barking, and neighbors were starting to come out to gawk. The panda rose, undaunted, and looked at the pyre.
"I know a coyote that's always trying to catch a roadrunner. Do you guys sell him his equipment?"
I started forward, getting a little irritated now. "Pardon me for not building the mobility assist to survive an RPG!"
"You have to know people are going to buy them to do dumb things like mech fights and lifting cars." OK, got me there.
"Wait, where did you get my jetpack from?"
"The raccoons found it where you left it when it ran out of fuel. I got it for 500 pieces of pointy metal, 20 pounds of peanut brittle, and 100 wrenches."
"You gave wrenches to raccoons? Are you mad? They'll dismantle entire towns!"
"I don't think they're that destructive, not when - "
"What are you idiots doing?" stated a tired voice from above us. We both looked up, and saw Calvin, with a suitcase and sleeping bag, regarding us from in front of his door. He glanced at the fiery pile of twisted metal. "Did someone bump a Ford Pinto with a baby stroller?"
Why was I excited about this visit again? "Very topical. How do you even know about Pintos?"
"Well see, I read these things called "boooooooks", so I can learn about things that happened even if I wasn't present. Or perhaps it's witchcraft. Booga-booga. Moron."
The panda gawked. "Calvin, where have you been? I was worried!"
"I took the week off to go vacation in nowhere. Why were you worried? You think Pollock killed me?"
Does he really think I'd do that? Where's the fun? OK, there was that one time in Kentucky! And now my health insurance premiums are higher because ghost attacks are considered a pre-existing condition. Haven't I suffered enough?
The panda replied, "No, I thought maybe you slipped getting out of the shower and hit your head."
Calvin dropped his bags and threw his hands in the air. "I'm not Hal Jordan! Give me a little credit! Sheesh. I hope these chocolate-covered cherries on my doorstep will raise my spirits, or I'll have to go on another vacation."
"Calvin wait, those were left by - " Too late, Calvin popped one into his mouth and bit down, then immediately began gagging and retching. The panda tackled me and started punching. "What did you poison him with? Give me the antidote, now!"
This got out of hand. Ouch. When the panda sits on me, I can really tell how much bigger it's gotten. The punches have a lot more force behind them, too. I struggled to explain. "No poison - just mayo."
That worked. The punches stopped, and I watched the eyes fill with curiosity. Then they turned to look at Calvin, still coughing and scraping his tongue. "Calvin? Is it mayonnaise?"
"Yes," came the strangled reply. "Oh God, it's terrible! And South Park joked about doing this 15 years ago!"
The distraction was enough for me to sucker punch the panda and roll away and to my feet. "I thought you'd enjoy that aspect of it."
The panda rubbed its cheek as it watched me retreat to my car. "You went through all this for a cheap gag like that?"
"Do you know how much that exosuit cost? Nothing cheap about it. Except the protection for the joints to keep them from getting clogged up. We may have cheaped out there. But this was valuable product testing!"
The panda trundled up the stairs to get Calvin some water, as I dove into my car. I looked up at the stairway, though the two of them were out of sight at the far end. The part about product testing was true, although I had expected the exosuit to be damaged somehow. It always goes that way.
I'm sure they'll count it as a win, since I never even made it into the apartment. But the part I didn't mention was that this is like an annual vacation for me. A chance to cut loose and be silly, messing with those two. I can fight, tumble, insult, and not worry about shareholders or complaints being filed with HR. At that moment, the box came sailing through the air and hit the windshield, chocolate and mayo everywhere. I smiled. It's fine, even the parts that aren't ideal make me appreciate the things that go smoothly back at work. And unlike the suit, my car does have windshield wipers.
Although that mayo is proving difficult to clean off. . .
Wednesday, April 04, 2018
Tuesday, April 03, 2018
The Chronicles of Amber Volume 2 - Roger Zelazny
Volume 2 contains the other three books in the series: Sign of the Unicorn, The Hand of Oberon, and The Courts of Chaos. Picking up where the second book ended, with Corwin having arrived to help defend Amber, and his brother Eric perishing at the end of the battle. It wasn't a clearcut victory, though, as a mysterious figure gained power to move through shadow as well.
Corwin doesn't try to assume command - too many of his siblings mistrust him for that - but he still tries to take steps to defend Amber against the attackers traveling the black road. But there are good reasons to be wary of his family, if he could just figure out which ones to beware of. Much of the three stories get taken up with exposition about alliances, betrayals, double-crosses, and the like. Because one character will tell Corwin one version of a story, only for another one to tell a different version, it starts to add up. So that gets a little tedious.
Although at least I can understand what's happening during those info dumps (beyond confusing Corwin's sisters, Fiona and Flora). When Zelazny tries describing the realms ruled by the Courts of Chaos, I can't picture what he's going for. Maybe I simply wasn't interested enough to make the effort.
The characters are meant to seem as though they've grown, that Corwin's impressions of them from the days before he'd lost his memory, the old grudges they held, aren't necessarily true. Basically, all these kids have finally, after some vast amount of time, grown up and set the petty squabbles aside. Although, since the story is written entirely from Corwin's p.o.v., it's fair to wonder if he simply didn't understand some of them before. But there are enough disagreements between all of them, that it's meant to be accurate.
As with a lot of stories, I was more interested at the beginning, when the possible directions it could go were infinite, than once an actual path had been chosen.
'"Nothing has changed! You are afraid to try it!"
"Perhaps," I said. "But do you not feel that something for which you have given so much is worth some effort - some additional sacrifice - if there is even a possibility of saving it?"
"You still do not understand," he said. "I cannot but think that a damaged thing should be destroyed - and hopefully replaced. The nature of my personal injury is such that I cannot envision repair. I am damaged in just this fashion. My feelings are foreordained."'
Corwin doesn't try to assume command - too many of his siblings mistrust him for that - but he still tries to take steps to defend Amber against the attackers traveling the black road. But there are good reasons to be wary of his family, if he could just figure out which ones to beware of. Much of the three stories get taken up with exposition about alliances, betrayals, double-crosses, and the like. Because one character will tell Corwin one version of a story, only for another one to tell a different version, it starts to add up. So that gets a little tedious.
Although at least I can understand what's happening during those info dumps (beyond confusing Corwin's sisters, Fiona and Flora). When Zelazny tries describing the realms ruled by the Courts of Chaos, I can't picture what he's going for. Maybe I simply wasn't interested enough to make the effort.
The characters are meant to seem as though they've grown, that Corwin's impressions of them from the days before he'd lost his memory, the old grudges they held, aren't necessarily true. Basically, all these kids have finally, after some vast amount of time, grown up and set the petty squabbles aside. Although, since the story is written entirely from Corwin's p.o.v., it's fair to wonder if he simply didn't understand some of them before. But there are enough disagreements between all of them, that it's meant to be accurate.
As with a lot of stories, I was more interested at the beginning, when the possible directions it could go were infinite, than once an actual path had been chosen.
'"Nothing has changed! You are afraid to try it!"
"Perhaps," I said. "But do you not feel that something for which you have given so much is worth some effort - some additional sacrifice - if there is even a possibility of saving it?"
"You still do not understand," he said. "I cannot but think that a damaged thing should be destroyed - and hopefully replaced. The nature of my personal injury is such that I cannot envision repair. I am damaged in just this fashion. My feelings are foreordained."'
Monday, April 02, 2018
The Teens Are On The Attack
Not doing so great on that "every other month" thing for the fake team posts. A lot of shit is occupying my time these days. Anyway, I hadn't done one using anime characters yet, so that's why I'm doing this time, with a focus on younger characters. Lot of precocious and talented adolescents and kids to choose from.
The Leader: Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing) - When I was younger, Quatre was probably my least favorite of the five pilots on Gundam Wing. Probably because he was the most quiet and peaceful (except for that stretch in the middle of the series where he lost his mind). He was the one that would offer an enemy that was trying to kill him a chance to surrender, which to my teenage self, made him a big wuss or something.
Now that I'm older, I can appreciate him a little more. The others were mostly lone wolves, but Quatre fought as part of a group. A group of soldiers who cared about him, and who he, in turn, cared about a lot. They were willing to risk their necks to save his, even when he tried to get them not to, and that kind of responsibility can weigh on a person.
Anyway, Quatre has more than fair skills as a soldier and survivor, but he's also a fairly reasonable and empathetic person who is willing to talk things out if he can. Or he can fight if he needs to. The Winner family was a pretty big deal in that universe, so if we place the team there, his name and connections can get him access through the front door of a lot of places. I don't expect a lot of huge personality conflicts with this bunch - none of them are colossal asses or anything - but having a calm, friendly person with a solid tactical mind running things is still a good thing to have.
The Rogue: Radical Edward (Cowboy Bebop) - Ed's name for herself is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, but her hacker name is Radical Edward. I'm not sure if Ed would actually be interested in working with a group, but I could see her getting lonely after a while wandering the ruins of her Earth with a fairly intelligent corgi and choosing to join in.
Ed's extremely intelligent, but also silly and a little odd. It's difficult to tell how much of what she does is planned, and how much is just the way things work out. There are certainly times Ed manipulated the crew of the Bebop, but other times, I don't think she had any idea what response she'd get. I could see her behavior alternately amusing and infuriating the rest of the team. What she's getting out of associating with them is hard to say, if there's even a reason beyond "for the hell of it".
Still, if you need a security system or database broken into, it would be hard to do much better than Ed, short of putting one of those sentient A.I.s that exist solely in the electronic world onto the team. I'd rather have Ed on there, personally.
The Muscle: Makimachi Misao (Rurouni Kenshin) - In the series, Misao gets played largely as a comedy character, another character (usually Yahiko) saying something that riles her up, and then she behaves comically outraged. But by the time she was introduced in the series, she'd been trained as a shinobi for several years by the remaining members of an elite group of fighters left over from the wars that went on in Japan prior to the Meiji Restoration.
I always figured she deserved a little better than being the butt of so many jokes. Her personality is mercurial, shifting from being full of doubt and concerned one moment, to extremely excited the next, and more than willing to pretend the doubt never existed. She's very confident, to a level dangerous to her at times. She's also extremely loyal to the people she cares about, refusing to abandon them in dire situations. And she has a knack for rallying others when their spirits are low. There are a couple members of the team that shouldn't be an issue, but Quatre has been known to get too hard on himself, to take losses badly.
And she has a set of skills I'm not sure the others really do. Quatre knows firearms and probably explosives. Kino is a crack shot, but the team could use someone fast, capable of being sneaky if she'll focus (especially if Ed takes care of any security cameras), and can handle herself in a fight. She knows a little bit about disguise, although it's another of those things she's too sure of herself on. But the talent is there
The Lady of Mystery: Kino (Kino's Journey) - Kino's a traveler, visiting different countries for just three days, no more or less (usually). She travels on a motorcycle named Hermes, which can speak (it doesn't have a face as we'd recognize it, but it talks and characters other than her can understand it). An extra mode of transport is handy. Like I said, she's an excellent shot, and knows quite a bit about roughing it. She's polite, calm, and straightforward. She doesn't rush to judgment; if she's not sure about someone, she will give them a chance to demonstrate what kind of person they are, even help them if they're in need. If they do try to attack or harm her, then she'll put a bullet between their eyes without blinking, but she's not going to instigate it.
I'm very curious how she and Ed would interact. All the adults we saw Ed around, other than her dad, tended to be perplexed by her, and not shy about showing their confusion. I expect Misao will get frustrated with Ed, while Quatre will probably find humor in it. Kino has probably seen enough strange things in her journeys that Ed won't seem too odd. I don't know that they'll have much of a rapport, but I assume if Kino is confused by Ed, she'll simply ask for clarification. Or maybe not.
Kino would probably drift into and out of the rest of the group's orbit. If they're moving from place to place regularly, she'll probably stick around. Otherwise, if the team's not doing anything, or they're stuck in one place for a long time, she'll say her farewells and continue on her way.
The Kids with a Plane: Claus and Lavie (Last Exile) - Claus (in the background with brown hair) and Lavie (foreground with red hair) were delivery pilots, who got stuck trying to deliver a special kid to safety and wind up in the middle of a big mess. Claus was the pilot, Lavie the navigator, but as they were drawn into combat, she opted to become his mechanic and let someone else be his navigator. So if they have to fight, Lavie may hang back. But the team can still use someone with mechanical knowhow. Kino has some, enough to keep Hermes running at least. And Quatre must have worked on his Gundam some of the time. Between the three of them, they should be in pretty good shape on that front.
Both of them are energetic, Klaus has a tendency to act before he thinks, while with Lavie it's more what she might say. Although she can be pretty fierce if someone she cares about is being bullied or mistreated. Whether she can back up her bark with some bite is another matter, but there's a few people on this crew who could and probably would have her back.
Their enthusiasm for this group is going to depend on what the job is. This crew isn't likely to get up to anything too heinous - some espionage, a little stealing, for a good cause naturally - but if things start getting bloody, Claus and Lavie both may start looking for the exit sign. Claus will fight, and Lavie would do her best to keep him and the others alive, but it's not what either of them lives for. Although if it comes to that point, Quatre would probably encourage them to get out. His whole thing as a Gundam pilot was to try and fight so others wouldn't have to be put in danger.
It's a funny situation, because I wouldn't expect a lot of squabbling on the team. Most of them should get along pretty well, and I don't think there's much risk of a lot of mistrust and accusations. Too many of these characters are easygoing or relaxed for that. But they're also used to walking their own paths, and those paths are going to go in different directions swiftly. It's probably a one-mission crew, maybe two if they happen quickly or bleed together.
The Leader: Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing) - When I was younger, Quatre was probably my least favorite of the five pilots on Gundam Wing. Probably because he was the most quiet and peaceful (except for that stretch in the middle of the series where he lost his mind). He was the one that would offer an enemy that was trying to kill him a chance to surrender, which to my teenage self, made him a big wuss or something.Now that I'm older, I can appreciate him a little more. The others were mostly lone wolves, but Quatre fought as part of a group. A group of soldiers who cared about him, and who he, in turn, cared about a lot. They were willing to risk their necks to save his, even when he tried to get them not to, and that kind of responsibility can weigh on a person.
Anyway, Quatre has more than fair skills as a soldier and survivor, but he's also a fairly reasonable and empathetic person who is willing to talk things out if he can. Or he can fight if he needs to. The Winner family was a pretty big deal in that universe, so if we place the team there, his name and connections can get him access through the front door of a lot of places. I don't expect a lot of huge personality conflicts with this bunch - none of them are colossal asses or anything - but having a calm, friendly person with a solid tactical mind running things is still a good thing to have.
The Rogue: Radical Edward (Cowboy Bebop) - Ed's name for herself is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, but her hacker name is Radical Edward. I'm not sure if Ed would actually be interested in working with a group, but I could see her getting lonely after a while wandering the ruins of her Earth with a fairly intelligent corgi and choosing to join in.Ed's extremely intelligent, but also silly and a little odd. It's difficult to tell how much of what she does is planned, and how much is just the way things work out. There are certainly times Ed manipulated the crew of the Bebop, but other times, I don't think she had any idea what response she'd get. I could see her behavior alternately amusing and infuriating the rest of the team. What she's getting out of associating with them is hard to say, if there's even a reason beyond "for the hell of it".
Still, if you need a security system or database broken into, it would be hard to do much better than Ed, short of putting one of those sentient A.I.s that exist solely in the electronic world onto the team. I'd rather have Ed on there, personally.
The Muscle: Makimachi Misao (Rurouni Kenshin) - In the series, Misao gets played largely as a comedy character, another character (usually Yahiko) saying something that riles her up, and then she behaves comically outraged. But by the time she was introduced in the series, she'd been trained as a shinobi for several years by the remaining members of an elite group of fighters left over from the wars that went on in Japan prior to the Meiji Restoration.I always figured she deserved a little better than being the butt of so many jokes. Her personality is mercurial, shifting from being full of doubt and concerned one moment, to extremely excited the next, and more than willing to pretend the doubt never existed. She's very confident, to a level dangerous to her at times. She's also extremely loyal to the people she cares about, refusing to abandon them in dire situations. And she has a knack for rallying others when their spirits are low. There are a couple members of the team that shouldn't be an issue, but Quatre has been known to get too hard on himself, to take losses badly.
And she has a set of skills I'm not sure the others really do. Quatre knows firearms and probably explosives. Kino is a crack shot, but the team could use someone fast, capable of being sneaky if she'll focus (especially if Ed takes care of any security cameras), and can handle herself in a fight. She knows a little bit about disguise, although it's another of those things she's too sure of herself on. But the talent is there
I'm very curious how she and Ed would interact. All the adults we saw Ed around, other than her dad, tended to be perplexed by her, and not shy about showing their confusion. I expect Misao will get frustrated with Ed, while Quatre will probably find humor in it. Kino has probably seen enough strange things in her journeys that Ed won't seem too odd. I don't know that they'll have much of a rapport, but I assume if Kino is confused by Ed, she'll simply ask for clarification. Or maybe not.
Kino would probably drift into and out of the rest of the group's orbit. If they're moving from place to place regularly, she'll probably stick around. Otherwise, if the team's not doing anything, or they're stuck in one place for a long time, she'll say her farewells and continue on her way.
Both of them are energetic, Klaus has a tendency to act before he thinks, while with Lavie it's more what she might say. Although she can be pretty fierce if someone she cares about is being bullied or mistreated. Whether she can back up her bark with some bite is another matter, but there's a few people on this crew who could and probably would have her back.
Their enthusiasm for this group is going to depend on what the job is. This crew isn't likely to get up to anything too heinous - some espionage, a little stealing, for a good cause naturally - but if things start getting bloody, Claus and Lavie both may start looking for the exit sign. Claus will fight, and Lavie would do her best to keep him and the others alive, but it's not what either of them lives for. Although if it comes to that point, Quatre would probably encourage them to get out. His whole thing as a Gundam pilot was to try and fight so others wouldn't have to be put in danger.
It's a funny situation, because I wouldn't expect a lot of squabbling on the team. Most of them should get along pretty well, and I don't think there's much risk of a lot of mistrust and accusations. Too many of these characters are easygoing or relaxed for that. But they're also used to walking their own paths, and those paths are going to go in different directions swiftly. It's probably a one-mission crew, maybe two if they happen quickly or bleed together.
Sunday, April 01, 2018
Sunday Splash Page #13
"Different Wendigo", in Amazing Spider-Man #277, by Charles Vess (writer/artist), Elaine Lee (colorist), Rick Parker (letterer)
Not really representative of the DeFalco/Frenz run on Amazing Spider-Man, but it was too cool of an image to pass up. Issue 277 was split between two stories, the first dealing with the fallout of Flash Thompson being exposed as the Hobgoblin (not really), plus Peter getting a call from Matt Murdock (about halfway through the Born Again storyline), and going to impotently confront the Kingpin about it. That's more what this run is like. Lots of dialogue, lots of spinning plates, relationship drama, money problems for Peter. The classic Spider-Man template, basically.
This is the era I was introduced to Spider-Man comics. With a Secret Wars II tie-in of all things. The Puma trying to get Spider-Man to help him kill the Beyonder, which Spidey dismisses as a ludicrous notion.
But there were also some lasting effects. The alien costume that later formed half of Venom. Mary Jane figuring out Peter was Spider-Man (or finally revealing she's known for a long time, depending on what stories you're counting). So that during much of this period, the two of them are in a cautious friendship (the issue where they walk in the park and MJ details her difficult childhood is a pretty good one). Eventually the mystery of the Hobgoblin's identity was revealed, although that got retconned later. Harry Osborn and Liz Allan have a son, and find themselves targets of the Hobgoblin, which is a problem they could both do without. The Sinister Syndicate made its first appearance (I enjoy lower-tier villains getting together to make more cash), as well as Silver Sable and the Puma. And the run had some of Sandman's early steps towards becoming a good guy. Which didn't last, but that's how it goes sometimes.
This is the era I was introduced to Spider-Man comics. With a Secret Wars II tie-in of all things. The Puma trying to get Spider-Man to help him kill the Beyonder, which Spidey dismisses as a ludicrous notion.
But there were also some lasting effects. The alien costume that later formed half of Venom. Mary Jane figuring out Peter was Spider-Man (or finally revealing she's known for a long time, depending on what stories you're counting). So that during much of this period, the two of them are in a cautious friendship (the issue where they walk in the park and MJ details her difficult childhood is a pretty good one). Eventually the mystery of the Hobgoblin's identity was revealed, although that got retconned later. Harry Osborn and Liz Allan have a son, and find themselves targets of the Hobgoblin, which is a problem they could both do without. The Sinister Syndicate made its first appearance (I enjoy lower-tier villains getting together to make more cash), as well as Silver Sable and the Puma. And the run had some of Sandman's early steps towards becoming a good guy. Which didn't last, but that's how it goes sometimes.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Justice League
It was better than I thought it would be. Keep in mind that's a low bar to clear. I'm not saying it was good, just not a complete disaster. The movie didn't hold together for me. There were parts that would keep my interest, then long stretches that didn't. The scenes with Clark being reunited with Lois and his mother probably should have been a big deal, but I wasn't watching it for that, and I didn't really care. It makes perfect sense to do; Clark would absolutely want to see both of them after returning from the dead, but it made no impression on me.
Steppenwolf didn't make much of an impression as a villain. I was watching with Alex and he couldn't understand why anyone would want to purposefully make a planet look like that. I don't think my explanation of Darkseid and his goals clarified things any, but the Fourth World has never really been my bag.
The actual Justice Leaguers weren't bad. Watching Batman try to make up for his screw-ups in Batman v. Superman in his typically over-the-top, obsessive manner was OK. He actually sort of seemed to be trying to make friends? I kept calling Jason Momoa "Aquabro", but he did fine with the approach he took with the character. It's a little odd to see a Wonder Woman who needs encouraging from Batman of all people to get out there and be a symbol, but again, that's the hand the movies have dealt, and Gal Gadot makes it work.
Cyborg might have needed more fleshing out; Ray Fisher isn't really making much of an impression in my memory, outside of images of him brooding from under a hoodie (which is an activity I can identify with). The CGI for his mechanical parts was a little awkward, one of those things where it just doesn't look right where it meets his actual face. Although I wasn't terribly impressed with CGI in general.
If Alex hadn't had a copy of it available, I wouldn't have bothered, but it was something to have on at 2 in the morning while we talked. But you could easily have something better for that purpose.
Steppenwolf didn't make much of an impression as a villain. I was watching with Alex and he couldn't understand why anyone would want to purposefully make a planet look like that. I don't think my explanation of Darkseid and his goals clarified things any, but the Fourth World has never really been my bag.
The actual Justice Leaguers weren't bad. Watching Batman try to make up for his screw-ups in Batman v. Superman in his typically over-the-top, obsessive manner was OK. He actually sort of seemed to be trying to make friends? I kept calling Jason Momoa "Aquabro", but he did fine with the approach he took with the character. It's a little odd to see a Wonder Woman who needs encouraging from Batman of all people to get out there and be a symbol, but again, that's the hand the movies have dealt, and Gal Gadot makes it work.
Cyborg might have needed more fleshing out; Ray Fisher isn't really making much of an impression in my memory, outside of images of him brooding from under a hoodie (which is an activity I can identify with). The CGI for his mechanical parts was a little awkward, one of those things where it just doesn't look right where it meets his actual face. Although I wasn't terribly impressed with CGI in general.
If Alex hadn't had a copy of it available, I wouldn't have bothered, but it was something to have on at 2 in the morning while we talked. But you could easily have something better for that purpose.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Was He Always The Villain, Or Did He Grow Into It?
I was thinking about Dr. Knox, who is either the Inventor, or the Inventor II, recently defeated once again by Ms. Marvel. He was extremely indignant at the suggestion the clone of Thomas Edison crossed with a cockatiel was actually the Inventor, and he was just a lackey.
Well sure, nobody likes being dismissed as a lackey (unless being a lackey means they don't think you're worth killing). I'm trying to figure out if it was always his plan to "save the world", and he used the Edi-bird as a cover, or if the bird came up with the plan, and the Inventor is taking the ball and running with it. I can't help noticing that he's wearing an exo-skeleton that resembles the bird, though.
Which you could read a couple of ways. Creating a clone of Edison in the form of a bird was a way of creating an alter-ego (like the Ventriloquist and Scarface in the Batman comics). Knox is still leaning on it, but now he's actually front and center. Forms a parallel to Kamala. When she first got her powers, she could alter her appearance. Initially, she kept trying to look like Carol Danvers, like what she thought a hero was supposed to be. Eventually she had a costume that was based on some of Danvers', but with her own approach as she became her own hero.
Is Knox doing the same thing as a villain? To be taken seriously, he thought you needed to be more imposing, so he trotted out a clone of Edison crossed with a bird, and crazy. Knox appeared to be a supporting character, a scientist who had been surpassed and dominated by his assistant. The big final battle of the first year of Kamala's book was against the bird-man. Knox was an afterthought, squashed alongside the leader of the Inventor's goon squad by Lockjaw sitting on them. But he still went to jail, and maybe the bird was too crazy for his plans to work. So he takes charge, but he still likes "bird-person" as a visual. So he makes his own take on it. He's more comfortable being front and center, making the threats, challenging the heroes.
Or he really did just try to clone Thomas Edison, and things went awry. He couldn't get out, was overwhelmed by a more forceful personality, and wound up being imprisoned for a plan that was never his. So he decided to carry on his creation's work, but took his own approach. Rather than targeting teens, he went after the elderly. Rather than building robots, he went with merging the mechanical with the biological. The robots had a bit of that, since they were powered by humans, but the animals are more active participants now. Also, he's not using people, who are more likely to defy him or have opinions of their own, but animals, which can probably be reconfigured more easily.
It's interesting that the first time we saw Knox was when Kamala (and Logan) stumbled across a test area with crocodiles that were having their personalities and instincts forcibly overwritten. The Inventor took credit, and Knox appeared to be a subservient guy being bossed around by his experiment. And maybe he was, or maybe it was a smokescreen. If they were working on making creatures go against their instincts, maybe Knox had already done that with the Inventor, but was letting the bird think it was its idea?
I tend to lean towards Knox having decided on this course after how things went the first go-round. Much of his motivation seems to be resentment, people not recognizing his genius, or being angry he was incarcerated. He created a clone of Edison, crossed with a bird (accidentally, but still). And all he hears is that the bird was the genius, the one behind everything. Dr. Knox is just a footnote. So he's going to prove them wrong, and take a jab at the bird while doing it by not only co-opting its look, but by carrying out its plan and doing it better!
Well sure, nobody likes being dismissed as a lackey (unless being a lackey means they don't think you're worth killing). I'm trying to figure out if it was always his plan to "save the world", and he used the Edi-bird as a cover, or if the bird came up with the plan, and the Inventor is taking the ball and running with it. I can't help noticing that he's wearing an exo-skeleton that resembles the bird, though.
Which you could read a couple of ways. Creating a clone of Edison in the form of a bird was a way of creating an alter-ego (like the Ventriloquist and Scarface in the Batman comics). Knox is still leaning on it, but now he's actually front and center. Forms a parallel to Kamala. When she first got her powers, she could alter her appearance. Initially, she kept trying to look like Carol Danvers, like what she thought a hero was supposed to be. Eventually she had a costume that was based on some of Danvers', but with her own approach as she became her own hero.
Is Knox doing the same thing as a villain? To be taken seriously, he thought you needed to be more imposing, so he trotted out a clone of Edison crossed with a bird, and crazy. Knox appeared to be a supporting character, a scientist who had been surpassed and dominated by his assistant. The big final battle of the first year of Kamala's book was against the bird-man. Knox was an afterthought, squashed alongside the leader of the Inventor's goon squad by Lockjaw sitting on them. But he still went to jail, and maybe the bird was too crazy for his plans to work. So he takes charge, but he still likes "bird-person" as a visual. So he makes his own take on it. He's more comfortable being front and center, making the threats, challenging the heroes.
Or he really did just try to clone Thomas Edison, and things went awry. He couldn't get out, was overwhelmed by a more forceful personality, and wound up being imprisoned for a plan that was never his. So he decided to carry on his creation's work, but took his own approach. Rather than targeting teens, he went after the elderly. Rather than building robots, he went with merging the mechanical with the biological. The robots had a bit of that, since they were powered by humans, but the animals are more active participants now. Also, he's not using people, who are more likely to defy him or have opinions of their own, but animals, which can probably be reconfigured more easily.
It's interesting that the first time we saw Knox was when Kamala (and Logan) stumbled across a test area with crocodiles that were having their personalities and instincts forcibly overwritten. The Inventor took credit, and Knox appeared to be a subservient guy being bossed around by his experiment. And maybe he was, or maybe it was a smokescreen. If they were working on making creatures go against their instincts, maybe Knox had already done that with the Inventor, but was letting the bird think it was its idea?
I tend to lean towards Knox having decided on this course after how things went the first go-round. Much of his motivation seems to be resentment, people not recognizing his genius, or being angry he was incarcerated. He created a clone of Edison, crossed with a bird (accidentally, but still). And all he hears is that the bird was the genius, the one behind everything. Dr. Knox is just a footnote. So he's going to prove them wrong, and take a jab at the bird while doing it by not only co-opting its look, but by carrying out its plan and doing it better!
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
The Chronicles of Amber Volume 1 - Roger Zelazny
The Chronicles of Amber Volume 1 contains the first two books in the series, Nine Princes in Amber and The Guns of Avalon. Detailing Lord Corwin regaining his memories after someone tries eliminating him, and setting himself to claim the throne of Amber in his father's absence. Except his brother is already there, and not prepared to give way. Corwin makes two attempts, the first relying on a partnership with another brother and a huge army, which fails. The second, he opts to rely on superior firepower, as well as benefiting from Eric's forces being otherwise engaged. I wouldn't call it luck, since the distraction was caused by him, and especially since it becomes his problem to deal with.
Corwin is not an easy character to root for. He makes a lot of Amber being the only true world, and all other worlds are mere "shadows": infinite, lesser variations of the true world. As a result, he doesn't have any problem finding a world where he and his kin are worshipped as gods, so he can recruit a lot of cannon fodder for his dick-waving contest with his brother. That's really all it is, because Corwin never makes any sort of argument for why he would make a better ruler than Eric. He just wants the job, and thinks his parentage gives him better claim than Eric.
(He starts in with that at one point, and the brother he was conversing with cut him, for which I was grateful.)
Corwin feels some twinge of guilt at getting all these people killed, or that some of the Shadows he ruled fell to ruin, but it feels less like it's because he cares about the people there, and more because it looks bad on him. And for all we know, his siblings feel similarly. We don't get to see inside their minds, so we only have Corwin's word that he's grown soft-hearted over time, in contrast to the rest of his family. He's going to fix the problem he created, because he won't have much of a reign if he doesn't, but it's hardly an altruistic motivation. Which, for the people he may end up saving if he pulls it off, won't matter a heck of a lot.
Zelazny likes to write battle scenes by describing incremental progress by Corwin's forces, contrasted with their losses or dwindling remaining numbers. 'We took five steps, but our vanguard was down to twenty. Ten more steps and it was down to fourteen,' that kind of thing. It certainly conveys the grim attrition of the battle, and also demonstrates how ultimately disposable Corwin's forces are to him. The armies are faceless fodder, outside of one character Corwin had a past with who becomes a sidekick, Zelazny wastes zero time fleshing out anyone, because they don't matter. Means to an end.
The moving through Shadows to seek a particular world is an interesting idea, and the uneasy alliances between the siblings could lead to some neat twists in the remaining three stories (collected in the second volume). There are a few mysteries I'm curious to see how Zelazny resolves them.
'I thought about the girl. The knowledge of her existence changed things somewhat. I was not certain how. Despite our major hatreds and petty animosities, we Amberites are a very family-conscious bunch always eager for news of one another, desirous to know everyone's position in the changing picture. A pause for gossip has doubtless stayed a few death blows among us. I sometimes think of us as a gang of mean little old ladies in a combination rest home and obstacle course.'
Corwin is not an easy character to root for. He makes a lot of Amber being the only true world, and all other worlds are mere "shadows": infinite, lesser variations of the true world. As a result, he doesn't have any problem finding a world where he and his kin are worshipped as gods, so he can recruit a lot of cannon fodder for his dick-waving contest with his brother. That's really all it is, because Corwin never makes any sort of argument for why he would make a better ruler than Eric. He just wants the job, and thinks his parentage gives him better claim than Eric.
(He starts in with that at one point, and the brother he was conversing with cut him, for which I was grateful.)
Corwin feels some twinge of guilt at getting all these people killed, or that some of the Shadows he ruled fell to ruin, but it feels less like it's because he cares about the people there, and more because it looks bad on him. And for all we know, his siblings feel similarly. We don't get to see inside their minds, so we only have Corwin's word that he's grown soft-hearted over time, in contrast to the rest of his family. He's going to fix the problem he created, because he won't have much of a reign if he doesn't, but it's hardly an altruistic motivation. Which, for the people he may end up saving if he pulls it off, won't matter a heck of a lot.
Zelazny likes to write battle scenes by describing incremental progress by Corwin's forces, contrasted with their losses or dwindling remaining numbers. 'We took five steps, but our vanguard was down to twenty. Ten more steps and it was down to fourteen,' that kind of thing. It certainly conveys the grim attrition of the battle, and also demonstrates how ultimately disposable Corwin's forces are to him. The armies are faceless fodder, outside of one character Corwin had a past with who becomes a sidekick, Zelazny wastes zero time fleshing out anyone, because they don't matter. Means to an end.
The moving through Shadows to seek a particular world is an interesting idea, and the uneasy alliances between the siblings could lead to some neat twists in the remaining three stories (collected in the second volume). There are a few mysteries I'm curious to see how Zelazny resolves them.
'I thought about the girl. The knowledge of her existence changed things somewhat. I was not certain how. Despite our major hatreds and petty animosities, we Amberites are a very family-conscious bunch always eager for news of one another, desirous to know everyone's position in the changing picture. A pause for gossip has doubtless stayed a few death blows among us. I sometimes think of us as a gang of mean little old ladies in a combination rest home and obstacle course.'
Monday, March 26, 2018
Summer Brings Some New Possibilities
June appears to mark the true beginning of Marvel's "fresh start", although it feels more like their typical rearranging of the deck chairs. A lot of familiar names on the main books. Dan Slott's still wrapping up his run on Amazing Spider-Man - although they're replacing him with Secret Empire writer Nick Spencer, so no thanks - and taking over Iron Man. Which has a variant cover that makes Tony Stark look more smug than I've ever seen him. On a positive note, the cover is possibly the first time Adi Granov has drawn a character with an expression described as something other than "stoic" or "bored". Progress!
Al Ewing's writing a Hulk book, Skottie Young and Nick Klein are taking over Deadpool. Even if I hadn't been lukewarm at best on Young's writing on Rocket Raccoon, I need a break from Deadpool. There's also a Deadpool mini-series drawn by Mark Bagley, but written by Cullen Bunn, whose writing has never done anything for me when I've encountered it.
Mark Waid is apparently writing almost everything else. OK, really just the new Doctor Strange book (in SPACE!) and an Ant-Man and the Wasp mini-series (not to be confused with the Ant-Man and the Wasp Living Legends one-shot also coming out in June). You could certainly do a lot worse, but perhaps a writer new to Marvel would better fit a "fresh start"? They're also giving the Sentry another series, for some reason. Sentry fans will be happy though, assuming they enjoy Jeff Lemire's writing (always found it plodding, myself). And all the Infinity Countdown and Search for Wolverine mini-series continue (he said dismissively, ignoring that he might be buying the Darkhawk one).
So this isn't all negativity, I am interested in the Multiple Man mini-series, and maybe that Squirrel Girl/Ms. Marvel team-up one-shot. It's five bucks, though. It also looks like the Shadowcat/Colossus wedding might be happening. I'm sure it will go off without a hitch, with nary a giant robot or time traveler bringing portents of doom to be seen. It's not something I'm particularly interested in, but I appreciate them getting on with it if they're going to do it.
Unlike DC, which is still dragging this Batman/Catwoman thing out. I don't think Batman needs this much prep time to fight Darkseid. Yep, still doing Batman "prep time" jokes in 2018. You're welcome. This month, there's a bunch of one-shots where Batman's kids fend off various villains looking to ruin things, including Hush. I thought we agreed to leave Hush buried in the same hole we dumped the Sentry in. Who dug them up? Come on, admit it!
DC's also bringing around some more of those crossovers between DC characters and cartoon characters. They're having Brett Booth draw the Flash/Speed Buggy one, which seems like a horrible choice for a book that's going to feature a talking, crime-solving cartoon vehicle. Although I can't think of a character I would describe Booth as being a good choice of artist for. Aquaman's going to be subjected to Jabberjaw, the shark that thinks he's Curly from the Three Stooges. Fingers crossed he's declared an enemy of Atlantis and executed. There's also a Plastic Man mini-series, by Gail Simone and Adriana Melo. I'm not sure about the book based on the description in the solicit, and I only remember Melo's art from a stretch on Brian Reed's Ms. Marvel book. What I remember doesn't encourage me, but it's been almost 10 years since then, styles evolve.
Outside, those, it's mostly business as usual for me. Copperhead and Giant Days continue on, dealing with a town invasion and a job fair. Which one contends with which I'll leave to you to decipher. Or go read the solicits yourself. Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Blood Suckers is approaching the big final battle, while Coda is still ramping up. I still can't decide if Bubba Ho-Tep is all going to be some fever dream for Elvis or something actually happening. Or maybe it's a fever dream of mine. Turns out Mata Hari is a 5-issue series, not 4, so it actually ends in June.
The one new thing I'm thinking about buying is Joseph Keatinge and Bret Blevins' Stellar. The pitch of a weapon designed to bring about peace, stuck living in the ruins of a civilization she didn't really save sounds intriguing. Worst case scenario, there'll be some cool and weird stuff in the book. Finally, this isn't something I'm considering buying, but I noticed Descender will be on its penultimate issue in June. Remember when that book started and people went ga-ga over the first issue? I bought it for about a year, before deciding it was taking Lemire and Nguyen too long to get anywhere I cared about. But most of the time, I completely forget I ever bought it. It sank beneath the waves of my memory the instant I dropped it.
Al Ewing's writing a Hulk book, Skottie Young and Nick Klein are taking over Deadpool. Even if I hadn't been lukewarm at best on Young's writing on Rocket Raccoon, I need a break from Deadpool. There's also a Deadpool mini-series drawn by Mark Bagley, but written by Cullen Bunn, whose writing has never done anything for me when I've encountered it.
Mark Waid is apparently writing almost everything else. OK, really just the new Doctor Strange book (in SPACE!) and an Ant-Man and the Wasp mini-series (not to be confused with the Ant-Man and the Wasp Living Legends one-shot also coming out in June). You could certainly do a lot worse, but perhaps a writer new to Marvel would better fit a "fresh start"? They're also giving the Sentry another series, for some reason. Sentry fans will be happy though, assuming they enjoy Jeff Lemire's writing (always found it plodding, myself). And all the Infinity Countdown and Search for Wolverine mini-series continue (he said dismissively, ignoring that he might be buying the Darkhawk one).
So this isn't all negativity, I am interested in the Multiple Man mini-series, and maybe that Squirrel Girl/Ms. Marvel team-up one-shot. It's five bucks, though. It also looks like the Shadowcat/Colossus wedding might be happening. I'm sure it will go off without a hitch, with nary a giant robot or time traveler bringing portents of doom to be seen. It's not something I'm particularly interested in, but I appreciate them getting on with it if they're going to do it.
Unlike DC, which is still dragging this Batman/Catwoman thing out. I don't think Batman needs this much prep time to fight Darkseid. Yep, still doing Batman "prep time" jokes in 2018. You're welcome. This month, there's a bunch of one-shots where Batman's kids fend off various villains looking to ruin things, including Hush. I thought we agreed to leave Hush buried in the same hole we dumped the Sentry in. Who dug them up? Come on, admit it!
DC's also bringing around some more of those crossovers between DC characters and cartoon characters. They're having Brett Booth draw the Flash/Speed Buggy one, which seems like a horrible choice for a book that's going to feature a talking, crime-solving cartoon vehicle. Although I can't think of a character I would describe Booth as being a good choice of artist for. Aquaman's going to be subjected to Jabberjaw, the shark that thinks he's Curly from the Three Stooges. Fingers crossed he's declared an enemy of Atlantis and executed. There's also a Plastic Man mini-series, by Gail Simone and Adriana Melo. I'm not sure about the book based on the description in the solicit, and I only remember Melo's art from a stretch on Brian Reed's Ms. Marvel book. What I remember doesn't encourage me, but it's been almost 10 years since then, styles evolve.
Outside, those, it's mostly business as usual for me. Copperhead and Giant Days continue on, dealing with a town invasion and a job fair. Which one contends with which I'll leave to you to decipher. Or go read the solicits yourself. Bubba Ho-Tep and the Cosmic Blood Suckers is approaching the big final battle, while Coda is still ramping up. I still can't decide if Bubba Ho-Tep is all going to be some fever dream for Elvis or something actually happening. Or maybe it's a fever dream of mine. Turns out Mata Hari is a 5-issue series, not 4, so it actually ends in June.
The one new thing I'm thinking about buying is Joseph Keatinge and Bret Blevins' Stellar. The pitch of a weapon designed to bring about peace, stuck living in the ruins of a civilization she didn't really save sounds intriguing. Worst case scenario, there'll be some cool and weird stuff in the book. Finally, this isn't something I'm considering buying, but I noticed Descender will be on its penultimate issue in June. Remember when that book started and people went ga-ga over the first issue? I bought it for about a year, before deciding it was taking Lemire and Nguyen too long to get anywhere I cared about. But most of the time, I completely forget I ever bought it. It sank beneath the waves of my memory the instant I dropped it.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Alternate Favorite Marvel Characters #7 - Cosmo
No, you didn't miss one. I'm going out of order from this point forward. I need more time for Alternate Favorite Marvel Character #8. And with that out of the way. . .
Character: Cosmo the Spacedog. I did not know "the Spacedog" was part of his official name.
Creators: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning. Wellinton Alves isn't listed on Wikipedia, but he was the artist of Cosmo's first appearance, which was. . .
First Appearance: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Cosmo isn't on the cover - just as well, I'm not eager to see how Adi Granov would have depicted him - so I went with a cover for an issue I had he featured prominently on.
First encounter: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Nova was out of its official Annihilation: Conquest tie-ins, though still on a storyline related to that event. The tie-ins ended on a down note, with a gratuitous character death. This story, where they not only introduced the setting of Knowhere, but had Nova fighting kinda-zombies alongside a telepathic/telekinetic Russian dog, was a welcome change.
Definitive writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Other than his few appearances in Skottie Young's Rocket Raccoon book, and that one issue of the last Nova series (that had Rich and Sam in it), I don't think I've read Cosmo written by anyone else. I sure as hell wasn't going to see what Bendis did to him.
Definitive artist: I don't actually have any of his work in this post, but I'd go with Paul Pelletier, the initial artist on Abnett and Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy. His work is less stiff than some of the other artists I've seen draw Cosmo, but still detailed where it needs to be. Cosmo can look mean or reserved when he needs to, or he can look like a friendly, happy dog when the situation requires.
Favorite moment or story: I'd have to pick his first appearance. It sets a lot of the tone for the character. Gives us enough backstory, gives us the basics of his powers and his personality. He's a calming presence, straightforward, protective, and friendly. He weathers Nova's oblivious questions with patience, and a little humor. He's fierce when he needs to be. Richard being in a weakened state due to the Phalanx means he has no chance of handling everything himself, so Cosmo gets plenty of chances to show what he can do.
What I like about him: Sometimes, it's just a good concept. Putting together a lot of odd pieces to make something interesting. Superpowered dog, Head of Security of a mecca inside the decapitated head of a space god floating at the edge of the universe, one visited by beings from every corner of space and time.
There's a lot of potential there, given just about anyone or anything can show up there for most any purpose. Powerful beings coming to contemplate existence, crooks looking to exploit a Celestial, refugees (given the number of conquering space empires in the Marvel U., there are probably a lot of people running from one or the other at any given time), conquerors. And Cosmo's the one at the front, having to deal with all of it. Meeting, greeting, assessing threats, protecting the vulnerable, being diplomatic with the various political entities that have a say (and their own interests).
Watching Cosmo negotiate that stuff is an interesting show. He's idealistic enough to see the value in a group like Peter Quill's Guardians of the Galaxy, so he'll go to bat for letting them HQ on Knowhere, but realistic enough to know he can't play favorites too much. Recognize there are valid reasons to be concerned about a team with Drax the Destroyer, Gamora (the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy), Star-Lord (who hadn't been out of the Kyln prison for that long), not to mention Weird Shit Magnet Adam Warlock. These people can be friends and allies, but he still considers the safety of all the other people on the station. He has to, it's his job.
And he has the power to carry it out. When Adam Warlock finds out Cosmo is hiding Skrull refugees on the station, and misreads the situation, Cosmo has to put the mind whammy on him until he can explain the situation. Even with Adam showing up somewhat unexpectedly, Cosmo manages it.
I like looking for parts of his personality I can tie into his being a dog. His desire to help and protect others. When he meets Nova for the first time, Rich is confused, sick, and disoriented. No idea where he is or what's going on. Cosmo knows, and knows the situation is bad and they can't afford to sit around too long. But he still sits patiently and lets Rich collect his thoughts, lets him ask stupid, obvious questions to help find his bearings. My dad had a dog like that, Buddy, who would always hover nearby when a person or another dog was stressed. Not being aggressive, just standing there, watching and wagging his tail, reassuring. Cosmo being a telepath, where he can sense confusion or anxiety in the thoughts of those around him, probably increases that inclination.
You can see some of it in his friendship to Sam Alexander, where Sam is a kid running around on his own in space, doesn't seem to have any clue what he's getting into half the time. Cosmo is the kindly and protective uncle to him, who still busts his chops a little, gently. Not letting him get too swelled of a head, poking him about how much a girl he likes is running through his thoughts. (I think Cosmo also gets to serve as the sort of the angel on Sam's shoulder, in contrast to Rocket, who is the "cool" uncle/bad influence).
There's also the recurring theme of Cosmo enjoying get to fly, his version of your dog enjoying car rides. The idea was introduced the first time he met Nova, when Rich gave him a lift, and brought back, for one example, when he recruited the Silver Surfer into the Annihilators. That ability to enjoy the moment, the gift of a squeaky toy or specially baked dog biscuits.. Seeing a happy dog is nice.
Cosmo has a lot of backstory I'd love to see explored. He's been in space since before the Fantastic Four made their fateful trip. We don't know all the places he's been, things he saw before he came to Knowhere. How long has he been there, how long has he been security chief? What does he do when gets time off from his job? Does he have old friends to visit? Does he ever go back to Earth?
We see glimpses, hints of things he's done. We know he helped a bunch of decommissioned warbots establish a new, peaceful home for themselves on a quiet world (who then send him those special biscuits). We know he knew Sam Alexander's dad, or knew of him at least. There's a lot we don't know, but you can see the effect in how he approaches things. He isn't dismissive of potential danger, or take a fatalistic approach to it, but he isn't awed much either. He'll chat with Gladiator or the Silver Surfer, or even a Celestial is a casual, friendly manner.
When the Luminals brought one of their arch-foes to Knowhere, supposedly sealed securely in a box, Cosmo had a bad feeling. They stonewalled him, so he kept his eye on it. And when things went wrong, he got all the people on the station in that storage tesseract, while he stayed and tried to deal with the problem. That the problem involved the Luminals turning to zombies and rampaging across the station didn't seem to faze him much. Just one more thing to deal with. Time travel, almost dying and being shunted across alternate universes, almost dying and being tortured by the Magus. He takes it all pretty calmly, deals with the problem at hand the best can.
It's connected to his straightforward nature, his lack of interest in self-deception or denial. I don't know if that's the telepath in him, being able to see into people's minds, and so he can tell when they're lying to him or themselves. Or if it's that he's a Russian dog, and so he's going to be direct, and not waste time with trying to deny what he thinks is self-evident. He isn't blunt in a cruel way, saying it in the most hurtful way possible. It's more he knows there are things to do, and that it'll be easier if people just accept some fact of themselves. On a lighter side, his needling Sam about his crush on Lina, to maybe get Sam's butt in gear to actually talk to her. More seriously, telling Beta Ray Bill to get over it about being called the Annihilators.
You can certainly question whether that's a confidence-inspiring team name for the general populace - "Look, here come the Annihilators to save the day!" - but a) it was Quill's idea, not Cosmo's, and b) I can't imagine seeing the Kree Supreme Accuser, the leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and the most prominent Herald of Galactus all appear on your planet is going to produce warm, fuzzy feelings in anyone. More, "Are we going to be conquered, then devoured, or devoured and they conquer the remains?" And the idea was that they'd show up and blast whatever cosmic threat appeared into atoms - just so long as Starlin doesn't write them fighting Thanos - was the point, so sure, accept you're the Annihilators and let's get to work.
Cosmo hasn't yet really gotten the primary focus. He's been a supporting character, someone to highlight the strangeness of space, how you're never quite sure what you'll find out there. But there is a solid base established for his personality and setting, that provide a lot to work with, should the day come when he gets that focus.
Cosmo doesn't fear no walking dead in Nova (vol. 4) #9, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Wellinton Alves (penciler), Wellington Daz and Nelson Pereira (inker), Guru eFX (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). It always pays to be polite, but casual when asking favors of Celestial in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #16, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Wesley Craig (artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer). To be fair, most of us would react like that to an interstellar surfboard ride, Beta Ray Bill better face the facts, and Peter Quill says what we all know in Thanos Imperative: Devastation, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Rain Beredo (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer).
Character: Cosmo the Spacedog. I did not know "the Spacedog" was part of his official name.Creators: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning. Wellinton Alves isn't listed on Wikipedia, but he was the artist of Cosmo's first appearance, which was. . .
First Appearance: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Cosmo isn't on the cover - just as well, I'm not eager to see how Adi Granov would have depicted him - so I went with a cover for an issue I had he featured prominently on.
First encounter: Nova (vol. 4) #8. Nova was out of its official Annihilation: Conquest tie-ins, though still on a storyline related to that event. The tie-ins ended on a down note, with a gratuitous character death. This story, where they not only introduced the setting of Knowhere, but had Nova fighting kinda-zombies alongside a telepathic/telekinetic Russian dog, was a welcome change.
Definitive writer: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Other than his few appearances in Skottie Young's Rocket Raccoon book, and that one issue of the last Nova series (that had Rich and Sam in it), I don't think I've read Cosmo written by anyone else. I sure as hell wasn't going to see what Bendis did to him.
Definitive artist: I don't actually have any of his work in this post, but I'd go with Paul Pelletier, the initial artist on Abnett and Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy. His work is less stiff than some of the other artists I've seen draw Cosmo, but still detailed where it needs to be. Cosmo can look mean or reserved when he needs to, or he can look like a friendly, happy dog when the situation requires.
Favorite moment or story: I'd have to pick his first appearance. It sets a lot of the tone for the character. Gives us enough backstory, gives us the basics of his powers and his personality. He's a calming presence, straightforward, protective, and friendly. He weathers Nova's oblivious questions with patience, and a little humor. He's fierce when he needs to be. Richard being in a weakened state due to the Phalanx means he has no chance of handling everything himself, so Cosmo gets plenty of chances to show what he can do.
What I like about him: Sometimes, it's just a good concept. Putting together a lot of odd pieces to make something interesting. Superpowered dog, Head of Security of a mecca inside the decapitated head of a space god floating at the edge of the universe, one visited by beings from every corner of space and time.
There's a lot of potential there, given just about anyone or anything can show up there for most any purpose. Powerful beings coming to contemplate existence, crooks looking to exploit a Celestial, refugees (given the number of conquering space empires in the Marvel U., there are probably a lot of people running from one or the other at any given time), conquerors. And Cosmo's the one at the front, having to deal with all of it. Meeting, greeting, assessing threats, protecting the vulnerable, being diplomatic with the various political entities that have a say (and their own interests).
Watching Cosmo negotiate that stuff is an interesting show. He's idealistic enough to see the value in a group like Peter Quill's Guardians of the Galaxy, so he'll go to bat for letting them HQ on Knowhere, but realistic enough to know he can't play favorites too much. Recognize there are valid reasons to be concerned about a team with Drax the Destroyer, Gamora (the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy), Star-Lord (who hadn't been out of the Kyln prison for that long), not to mention Weird Shit Magnet Adam Warlock. These people can be friends and allies, but he still considers the safety of all the other people on the station. He has to, it's his job.
And he has the power to carry it out. When Adam Warlock finds out Cosmo is hiding Skrull refugees on the station, and misreads the situation, Cosmo has to put the mind whammy on him until he can explain the situation. Even with Adam showing up somewhat unexpectedly, Cosmo manages it.
I like looking for parts of his personality I can tie into his being a dog. His desire to help and protect others. When he meets Nova for the first time, Rich is confused, sick, and disoriented. No idea where he is or what's going on. Cosmo knows, and knows the situation is bad and they can't afford to sit around too long. But he still sits patiently and lets Rich collect his thoughts, lets him ask stupid, obvious questions to help find his bearings. My dad had a dog like that, Buddy, who would always hover nearby when a person or another dog was stressed. Not being aggressive, just standing there, watching and wagging his tail, reassuring. Cosmo being a telepath, where he can sense confusion or anxiety in the thoughts of those around him, probably increases that inclination.You can see some of it in his friendship to Sam Alexander, where Sam is a kid running around on his own in space, doesn't seem to have any clue what he's getting into half the time. Cosmo is the kindly and protective uncle to him, who still busts his chops a little, gently. Not letting him get too swelled of a head, poking him about how much a girl he likes is running through his thoughts. (I think Cosmo also gets to serve as the sort of the angel on Sam's shoulder, in contrast to Rocket, who is the "cool" uncle/bad influence).
There's also the recurring theme of Cosmo enjoying get to fly, his version of your dog enjoying car rides. The idea was introduced the first time he met Nova, when Rich gave him a lift, and brought back, for one example, when he recruited the Silver Surfer into the Annihilators. That ability to enjoy the moment, the gift of a squeaky toy or specially baked dog biscuits.. Seeing a happy dog is nice.
Cosmo has a lot of backstory I'd love to see explored. He's been in space since before the Fantastic Four made their fateful trip. We don't know all the places he's been, things he saw before he came to Knowhere. How long has he been there, how long has he been security chief? What does he do when gets time off from his job? Does he have old friends to visit? Does he ever go back to Earth?
When the Luminals brought one of their arch-foes to Knowhere, supposedly sealed securely in a box, Cosmo had a bad feeling. They stonewalled him, so he kept his eye on it. And when things went wrong, he got all the people on the station in that storage tesseract, while he stayed and tried to deal with the problem. That the problem involved the Luminals turning to zombies and rampaging across the station didn't seem to faze him much. Just one more thing to deal with. Time travel, almost dying and being shunted across alternate universes, almost dying and being tortured by the Magus. He takes it all pretty calmly, deals with the problem at hand the best can.
You can certainly question whether that's a confidence-inspiring team name for the general populace - "Look, here come the Annihilators to save the day!" - but a) it was Quill's idea, not Cosmo's, and b) I can't imagine seeing the Kree Supreme Accuser, the leader of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, and the most prominent Herald of Galactus all appear on your planet is going to produce warm, fuzzy feelings in anyone. More, "Are we going to be conquered, then devoured, or devoured and they conquer the remains?" And the idea was that they'd show up and blast whatever cosmic threat appeared into atoms - just so long as Starlin doesn't write them fighting Thanos - was the point, so sure, accept you're the Annihilators and let's get to work.
Cosmo hasn't yet really gotten the primary focus. He's been a supporting character, someone to highlight the strangeness of space, how you're never quite sure what you'll find out there. But there is a solid base established for his personality and setting, that provide a lot to work with, should the day come when he gets that focus.
Cosmo doesn't fear no walking dead in Nova (vol. 4) #9, by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers), Wellinton Alves (penciler), Wellington Daz and Nelson Pereira (inker), Guru eFX (colorist), and Cory Petit (letterer). It always pays to be polite, but casual when asking favors of Celestial in Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #16, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Wesley Craig (artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer). To be fair, most of us would react like that to an interstellar surfboard ride, Beta Ray Bill better face the facts, and Peter Quill says what we all know in Thanos Imperative: Devastation, by Abnett and Lanning (writers), Miguel Sepulveda (artist), Rain Beredo (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer).
Friday, March 23, 2018
What I Bought 3/21/2018
Found two of the books from this week, which was one more than I thought I would. In other news, I've felt very scattered lately. Pulling in a dozen directions, and I can't decide which one to commit to. There hasn't been time to stop and figure things out. It's frustrating.
Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #1, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I think Cave may have taken the same cavalier attitude towards cosmic rays as Reed Richards did.
Cave pays a visit to a musician friend of his, who is growing at an increasing rate, and ultimately will implode. They try taking him into space to allow him to do so without endangering anyone. But Star Adam passes on faster than they expect, and they don't get far enough away from his implosion, which is going to send Cave, Chloe, and the Dr. Bartow they picked up jaunting through dimensions in the previous series across the universe.
Negative: No Wild Dog. His presence as the guy not used to all this weird crap, but with a ready-made response was one of my favorite parts of the previous series. That and his slowly-developing friendship with Chloe. He made a good sounding board for her. She and Cave seem to be getting along, so maybe she doesn't need someone to listen to her fears and resentments. Rivera did a good job of explaining a few things that carried over from the earlier run quickly, to get it out of the way. Still, once I thought about it, this issue was all just set-up to get to the point where Cave can begin to go interstellar. Which annoys me, a little.
Oeming's panel layouts and Filardi's colors made a great combo in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, and that continues here. The page where Adam tried the night pudding, and realized he had an unusual origin, Oeming draws the panels as different part of Adam's body, with the central panel focusing on Adam, who is struggling to grasp this greater self he has. Filardi makes the background a neon green web, and the panels are deep shades of blue and lavender, with Mazra's hair as this luminous silver in the panels she appears in. It's really eye-catching. And then the next page, we're back in the present, and the panels are more straightforward, but much smaller and slanted, closing in from one way or the other, Adam barely managing to squeeze in. The reality of what he learned he was, against the limitations of his surroundings and physical body. He can't fit in that reality any longer. If I stick with this book past the initial few issues, it'll probably be due to the art.
Ms. Marvel #28, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't think the outfit really works on Carol.
Naftali finds Kamala, hiding out at a private school. I thought she'd gotten herself a job. Also, I'm surprised it was that easy for her to just switch schools like that. Meanwhile, Carol Danvers and the Legion of Substitute Kamalas are trying to stop the Inventor, and doing a pretty poor job of it. Carol did not bring her "A" game today. Kamala, inspired by Naftali to not just bail when she could ask for help, returns and fights the Inventor's Mega-Reptile Zord. The day is saved, he goes to jail, she and Carol have a heartfelt conversation, and none of Kamala's friends think anything of her reappearing at school right after Ms. Marvel made her triumphant return. This is what happens when you keep cutting spending on education.
I still feel bad for the giant screaming turtle. I think it's just in a lot of pain. Turtles are not meant to be that large! I don't feel bad for the guy driving a monster truck on the boardwalk, though. I mean, what the hell are you driving that thing around in public for anyway? But as always, the little details Leon adds are a treat. The person on the first page vaulting a car while holding their pet under one arm. The teens taking a taxi because they couldn't keep up with Carol. I also enjoy that the Inventor's creatures did the badass pose thing, and the Subs responded with their own cool, if less intimidating poses in the next panel. Just needed some random dude to yell out, "POSE-OFF!" Then get stepped on.
Also, I think Herring softens the tones on the colors for the quiet, civilian talking scenes. Or maybe it's just that people aren't wearing bright primary color superhero costumes during those scenes. But I'd swear the colors are more varied, but also just not quite as bright. More relaxed, soothing, let's you just read the words, maybe. Between this and the story about the runaway train, I've been enjoying these last couple of stories quite a bit. Nice breather from dealing with HYDRA crap.
Cave Carson Has an Interstellar Eye #1, by Jon Rivera (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (artist), Nick Filardi (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer) - I think Cave may have taken the same cavalier attitude towards cosmic rays as Reed Richards did.Cave pays a visit to a musician friend of his, who is growing at an increasing rate, and ultimately will implode. They try taking him into space to allow him to do so without endangering anyone. But Star Adam passes on faster than they expect, and they don't get far enough away from his implosion, which is going to send Cave, Chloe, and the Dr. Bartow they picked up jaunting through dimensions in the previous series across the universe.
Negative: No Wild Dog. His presence as the guy not used to all this weird crap, but with a ready-made response was one of my favorite parts of the previous series. That and his slowly-developing friendship with Chloe. He made a good sounding board for her. She and Cave seem to be getting along, so maybe she doesn't need someone to listen to her fears and resentments. Rivera did a good job of explaining a few things that carried over from the earlier run quickly, to get it out of the way. Still, once I thought about it, this issue was all just set-up to get to the point where Cave can begin to go interstellar. Which annoys me, a little.
Oeming's panel layouts and Filardi's colors made a great combo in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye, and that continues here. The page where Adam tried the night pudding, and realized he had an unusual origin, Oeming draws the panels as different part of Adam's body, with the central panel focusing on Adam, who is struggling to grasp this greater self he has. Filardi makes the background a neon green web, and the panels are deep shades of blue and lavender, with Mazra's hair as this luminous silver in the panels she appears in. It's really eye-catching. And then the next page, we're back in the present, and the panels are more straightforward, but much smaller and slanted, closing in from one way or the other, Adam barely managing to squeeze in. The reality of what he learned he was, against the limitations of his surroundings and physical body. He can't fit in that reality any longer. If I stick with this book past the initial few issues, it'll probably be due to the art.
Ms. Marvel #28, by G. Willow Wilson (writer), Nico Leon (artist), Ian Herring (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I don't think the outfit really works on Carol.Naftali finds Kamala, hiding out at a private school. I thought she'd gotten herself a job. Also, I'm surprised it was that easy for her to just switch schools like that. Meanwhile, Carol Danvers and the Legion of Substitute Kamalas are trying to stop the Inventor, and doing a pretty poor job of it. Carol did not bring her "A" game today. Kamala, inspired by Naftali to not just bail when she could ask for help, returns and fights the Inventor's Mega-Reptile Zord. The day is saved, he goes to jail, she and Carol have a heartfelt conversation, and none of Kamala's friends think anything of her reappearing at school right after Ms. Marvel made her triumphant return. This is what happens when you keep cutting spending on education.
I still feel bad for the giant screaming turtle. I think it's just in a lot of pain. Turtles are not meant to be that large! I don't feel bad for the guy driving a monster truck on the boardwalk, though. I mean, what the hell are you driving that thing around in public for anyway? But as always, the little details Leon adds are a treat. The person on the first page vaulting a car while holding their pet under one arm. The teens taking a taxi because they couldn't keep up with Carol. I also enjoy that the Inventor's creatures did the badass pose thing, and the Subs responded with their own cool, if less intimidating poses in the next panel. Just needed some random dude to yell out, "POSE-OFF!" Then get stepped on.
Also, I think Herring softens the tones on the colors for the quiet, civilian talking scenes. Or maybe it's just that people aren't wearing bright primary color superhero costumes during those scenes. But I'd swear the colors are more varied, but also just not quite as bright. More relaxed, soothing, let's you just read the words, maybe. Between this and the story about the runaway train, I've been enjoying these last couple of stories quite a bit. Nice breather from dealing with HYDRA crap.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Get Out
I watched this with a friend who didn't know the reveal, while I had read about it online last year. It worked really well for both of us. I want to try not to spoil too much about this in case you haven't seen it.
If you know what's coming, the way things keep getting progressively stranger and more ominous has you sitting there dreading the moment it stops being odd and starts being deadly. If you don't know, the things are sufficiently weird that you know things are going to go badly (plus the title of the movie is Get Out, so. . .)
Daniel Kaluuya did an excellent job as Chris. He's already uneasy, meeting his white girlfriend's family the first time, and things are awkward. But awkward in a way that Chris is unfortunately used to, so you see him trying to put it aside, while also trying to find anyone that he can feel more comfortable with. Which only proves to create more strangeness, and makes him even more uneasy. Kaluuya conveys that sense of isolation that produces nagging uncertainty, that distinct awareness that he's vulnerable.
And I like how the movie handled LilRel Howery's character, Rod. It would have been easy for him to just be the goofy best friend character, and Rod is the source of a lot of humor. But he isn't only that. I feel like we're supposed to underestimate him, but he tries to be smart about things and help his friend, even though he's operating in the dark about what's really happening.
The film builds the tension well, and just in general, the threats and tools are presented in an intelligent fashion. I never felt like the movie was cheating. It sets up our expectations, then twists them or blasts them to pieces in ways that work. It's a very well-done film.
If you know what's coming, the way things keep getting progressively stranger and more ominous has you sitting there dreading the moment it stops being odd and starts being deadly. If you don't know, the things are sufficiently weird that you know things are going to go badly (plus the title of the movie is Get Out, so. . .)
Daniel Kaluuya did an excellent job as Chris. He's already uneasy, meeting his white girlfriend's family the first time, and things are awkward. But awkward in a way that Chris is unfortunately used to, so you see him trying to put it aside, while also trying to find anyone that he can feel more comfortable with. Which only proves to create more strangeness, and makes him even more uneasy. Kaluuya conveys that sense of isolation that produces nagging uncertainty, that distinct awareness that he's vulnerable.
And I like how the movie handled LilRel Howery's character, Rod. It would have been easy for him to just be the goofy best friend character, and Rod is the source of a lot of humor. But he isn't only that. I feel like we're supposed to underestimate him, but he tries to be smart about things and help his friend, even though he's operating in the dark about what's really happening.
The film builds the tension well, and just in general, the threats and tools are presented in an intelligent fashion. I never felt like the movie was cheating. It sets up our expectations, then twists them or blasts them to pieces in ways that work. It's a very well-done film.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Planetary Volume 1
Rather than shell out for those big collections of Planetary I saw in the solicits a few months ago, I bought some of the trades they released 15 years ago, since used copies were so much cheaper. I'm not too worried about missing out on the various crossover mini-series that I don't think are included in these. Do I really need to see the main cast interact with the Justice League, when Ellis and Cassaday are using various knockoff versions of them already?
(I was going to call them thinly-veiled, but in some cases the veil is practically diaphanous.)
The first trade, containing the first six issues, pretty much set the tone for the book. Planetary investigates strange things, all of which are variations on stuff from our popular fiction. A team of pulp heroes, kaiju, superheroes, etc. Usually things have gone disastrously badly, machines that create universes to search for answers before destroying them, or an endless cycle of murdered Hong Kong cops who become spirits of vengeance.
The book is entertaining. The stories have all been done-in-ones, with a larger subplot taking form in the background. I like the strange ideas in the same way I enjoy them in Atomic Robo (although with a very different tone), and with each issue being a different adventure, it creates its own momentum as I want to see what the next issue will bring. The writing isn't bad; I knew Ellis could do snappy, sarcastic dialogue already.
But it feels light. Like I'm just skimming the surface, playing "spot the reference" and seeing how John Cassaday draws weird stuff. The answer to that second part is, "better than I expected". I thought his style would be a little too stiff or realistic to draw things other than extremely good-looking people, but that actually seems to work in his favor. When he draws the corpse of a giant monster, it stands in stark contrast to the people around it. He can draw gleaming alien structures, and decaying ruins that suggest a long (and probably dark history). Laura DePuy's colors suggest things so bright they're blinding at times, but goes dingy or faded when needed.
The are and the general concept of the book are carrying most of the water. I wouldn't say I particularly care about Elijah Snow, Jakita, or the Drummer. I don't dislike them - well, the Drummer annoys me a little, but he also seems to have gotten the least focus so far - but they mostly serve as a way to get the story to the weird stuff. Maybe provide exposition for what take Ellis is going with as necessary.
It's working for me as an adventure story, which is fine. A good one of those is a pleasure to read.
(I was going to call them thinly-veiled, but in some cases the veil is practically diaphanous.)
The first trade, containing the first six issues, pretty much set the tone for the book. Planetary investigates strange things, all of which are variations on stuff from our popular fiction. A team of pulp heroes, kaiju, superheroes, etc. Usually things have gone disastrously badly, machines that create universes to search for answers before destroying them, or an endless cycle of murdered Hong Kong cops who become spirits of vengeance.
The book is entertaining. The stories have all been done-in-ones, with a larger subplot taking form in the background. I like the strange ideas in the same way I enjoy them in Atomic Robo (although with a very different tone), and with each issue being a different adventure, it creates its own momentum as I want to see what the next issue will bring. The writing isn't bad; I knew Ellis could do snappy, sarcastic dialogue already.But it feels light. Like I'm just skimming the surface, playing "spot the reference" and seeing how John Cassaday draws weird stuff. The answer to that second part is, "better than I expected". I thought his style would be a little too stiff or realistic to draw things other than extremely good-looking people, but that actually seems to work in his favor. When he draws the corpse of a giant monster, it stands in stark contrast to the people around it. He can draw gleaming alien structures, and decaying ruins that suggest a long (and probably dark history). Laura DePuy's colors suggest things so bright they're blinding at times, but goes dingy or faded when needed.
The are and the general concept of the book are carrying most of the water. I wouldn't say I particularly care about Elijah Snow, Jakita, or the Drummer. I don't dislike them - well, the Drummer annoys me a little, but he also seems to have gotten the least focus so far - but they mostly serve as a way to get the story to the weird stuff. Maybe provide exposition for what take Ellis is going with as necessary.
It's working for me as an adventure story, which is fine. A good one of those is a pleasure to read.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Man Vs.
A horror movie about a guy on one of those survival TV shows. He's left in northern Canada, and starts to feel as though something in the woods is messing with him. Robbing his traps, stealing his satellite phone. His crew had been giving him a hard time, because he's kind of a prick, and the crew is hoping their show gets picked up by a major network. And he was kind of a prick to their guide when they first met, so he can't rule out that one of them is playing a joke.
We can, because something fell out of the sky nearby his first night there, and we know how these things go, but Doug doesn't make the connection for a long time.
Like a lot of horror movies, this one works best when it only shows hints of what's after him, or shows its handiwork. The way it's copying his survival techniques. Near the end, they start showing a lot more of it, which is not to the movie's benefit.
It wasn't clear what its motivations were, even once the film unveiled its surprise twist at the end. I wasn't sure why it didn't just kill him, or why, if it wasn't going to kill him, it kept after him, even once he decided it was time to get the hell out of there. The surprise did solve my concern about how Doug, if he survived, was going to explain his dead crew. You can never rule out the cops (or Mounties, I guess) showing up and gunning down the "dangerous maniac" in these things.
The first hour plus wasn't bad on the suspense, the last 10-15 minutes kind of flubbed it.
We can, because something fell out of the sky nearby his first night there, and we know how these things go, but Doug doesn't make the connection for a long time.
Like a lot of horror movies, this one works best when it only shows hints of what's after him, or shows its handiwork. The way it's copying his survival techniques. Near the end, they start showing a lot more of it, which is not to the movie's benefit.
It wasn't clear what its motivations were, even once the film unveiled its surprise twist at the end. I wasn't sure why it didn't just kill him, or why, if it wasn't going to kill him, it kept after him, even once he decided it was time to get the hell out of there. The surprise did solve my concern about how Doug, if he survived, was going to explain his dead crew. You can never rule out the cops (or Mounties, I guess) showing up and gunning down the "dangerous maniac" in these things.
The first hour plus wasn't bad on the suspense, the last 10-15 minutes kind of flubbed it.
Monday, March 19, 2018
Catch a Demon By His Heartstrings
In the last issue of Demon: Hell is Earth, Jason Blood and Madame Xanadu had a conversation in the lull in the middle. Jason admits to fearing that Etrigan is going to overwhelm him, which isn't a new for him. He mentions that the two of them - Blood and Xanadu - seemed to drift apart after he stopped letting Etrigan out, and her response is essentially that yes, that's true. Because she saw it as Jason not trusting that the two of them could control the Demon. Jason was treating it as his burden to bear when, if they were a couple, it was a responsibility they'd share.
Although I figure there's a decent chance Jason was worried she'd decide she liked Etrigan better and Blood would become the third wheel. You know Etrigan would try his damndest to make that happen, just because. Which makes me envision Jason and Etrigan as Betty and Veronica, which leaves Madame Xanadu as Archie, my apologies to her. Which makes Merlin Reggie Mantle, or Jughead?
That wasn't really where I was going with this. A less charitable interpretation of Xanadu's comments would be she liked having both boys interested, and resented Jason for cutting Etrigan out. Seems unlikely, but as Drax might say, it might sound like the Madame Xanadu I know. I haven't read that many comics with her in them, and DC characters are an unfathomable mystery!
Shortly after the conversation, as Etrigan tears apart mutated horned lizards, Jason and Xanadu observe and discuss how a sword is never safe, but it can be managed, controlled. Tying in to Jason's concerns of losing control, and Xanadu's remarks that the two of them together could handle the situation. That's a dangerous assumption to make.
Setting aside that Jason can't count on Madame Xanadu always being there to help him, Etrigan is not a sword. Swords can't think for themselves, don't have their own motivations. Etrigan is no genius, but he's old, and cunning, and spiteful. You can't rely on the situations where they need Etrigan being ones where he'd always want to help, or have no choice but to do so. And as long as he has to option to refuse to help simply for the sake of being difficult, or out of spite, "controlling" him is going to be hard to do. A sword, when you go to draw it from its scabbard, doesn't typically refuse to be drawn. But Etrigan might. He might simply repeat the phrase and revert to Jason Blood, or turn around and go do something else.
Granted, if Blood dies, Etrigan dies, but underestimating the demon's potential for spite seems dangerous. The two of them have both certainly contemplated doing that often enough. Madame Xanadu could try using approval/disapproval as a carrot/stick situation, but that's only going to sour things over time. Unless demons enjoy being played with like that, and assuming she's actually willing to do so (doesn't really seem like her style, but like I said, it might be).
There are going to be times they need Etrigan, and it would certainly help to be able to convince him to help. But thinking they can control him just seems like the first step in setting themselves up for an unpleasant surprise down the line. Still, seeing if the can pull it off for the duration of this adventure is the main thing keeping me invested in the mini-series.
Although I figure there's a decent chance Jason was worried she'd decide she liked Etrigan better and Blood would become the third wheel. You know Etrigan would try his damndest to make that happen, just because. Which makes me envision Jason and Etrigan as Betty and Veronica, which leaves Madame Xanadu as Archie, my apologies to her. Which makes Merlin Reggie Mantle, or Jughead?
That wasn't really where I was going with this. A less charitable interpretation of Xanadu's comments would be she liked having both boys interested, and resented Jason for cutting Etrigan out. Seems unlikely, but as Drax might say, it might sound like the Madame Xanadu I know. I haven't read that many comics with her in them, and DC characters are an unfathomable mystery!
Shortly after the conversation, as Etrigan tears apart mutated horned lizards, Jason and Xanadu observe and discuss how a sword is never safe, but it can be managed, controlled. Tying in to Jason's concerns of losing control, and Xanadu's remarks that the two of them together could handle the situation. That's a dangerous assumption to make.
Setting aside that Jason can't count on Madame Xanadu always being there to help him, Etrigan is not a sword. Swords can't think for themselves, don't have their own motivations. Etrigan is no genius, but he's old, and cunning, and spiteful. You can't rely on the situations where they need Etrigan being ones where he'd always want to help, or have no choice but to do so. And as long as he has to option to refuse to help simply for the sake of being difficult, or out of spite, "controlling" him is going to be hard to do. A sword, when you go to draw it from its scabbard, doesn't typically refuse to be drawn. But Etrigan might. He might simply repeat the phrase and revert to Jason Blood, or turn around and go do something else.
Granted, if Blood dies, Etrigan dies, but underestimating the demon's potential for spite seems dangerous. The two of them have both certainly contemplated doing that often enough. Madame Xanadu could try using approval/disapproval as a carrot/stick situation, but that's only going to sour things over time. Unless demons enjoy being played with like that, and assuming she's actually willing to do so (doesn't really seem like her style, but like I said, it might be).
There are going to be times they need Etrigan, and it would certainly help to be able to convince him to help. But thinking they can control him just seems like the first step in setting themselves up for an unpleasant surprise down the line. Still, seeing if the can pull it off for the duration of this adventure is the main thing keeping me invested in the mini-series.
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Sunday Splash Page #12
"A typical Tuesday for Spider-Man" in Amazing Spider-Man #231, by Roger Stern (writer), John Romita Jr. (penciler), Jim Mooney (inker), Bob Sharen (colorist), Joe Rosen (letterer)
The Roger Stern/John Romita Jr. run on Amazing Spider-Man is a little before my time, so I've doubled back around to it after the fact. I generally like Stern's writing, and Romita Jr. is drawing in a style more similar to Romita Sr. still at this stage, which is fine.
(How much I like Romita Jr.'s later work seems to depend heavily on the inker, colorist, and just the project in general. Some books it works better to my eye than others.)
I own bits of this run. This two-parter against Mr. Hyde, and the two issues before that, the iconic fight with the Juggernaut. Two issues when Stern brought back the Black Cat (although it seems like they mostly left that relationship to be handled in Spectacular Spider-Man). One issue where the Mad Thinker takes an interest in Spider-Man. Stern's last few, when the Hobgoblin tries a major extortion scheme and neutralizes Webs' spider-sense. Stern didn't get a chance to finish revealing the mystery of who the Hobgoblin was before he was off the book, though.
Stern and Romita Jr. work the Spider-Man formula pretty well, mixing and matching the romance/job/school troubles with the superhero fisticuffs. I'm a fan of stories where Spidey has to punch out of his weight class, and they added a couple of solid entries to the list, the Juggernaut story being the more well-known. Romita Jr. knows how to draw a fight scene cleanly and with impact, and show off Spider-Man's combination of speed and agility.
Friday, March 16, 2018
What I Bought 3/14/2018
Two books this week, both from Marvel, both wrapping up storylines. And for one of them, it's the end of the line for me. At least for a couple of months. Gee whiz, I wonder which one that is?
Deadpool #296, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli (artist), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I would say Wade should be careful what he asks for, making the "bring it" gesture, but even if Cap pummels him into the ground, Wade would be OK with the pain.
Wade fights with Captain America, yelling at him and blaming him a lot. Cap grows increasingly frustrated, playing into Deadpool's hands. Most of this is Wade coming up with ways to make Cap look bad in front of the public, which I love. I laughed at least three times during this issue. They end up in Deadpool's subway hangout, where Wade makes a request/demand of Steve, escapes by threatening civilians, and vows to continue pissing off the entire world.
I know Deadpool needed Cap alive to make that request, but I also like to think he knew killing Captain America wasn't happening, so he might as well crap on his rehabilitation tour. Steve Rogers gets to play the "it was an evil doppelganger" card, and it's three cheers and second chances all around. Wade can't play that card, and combined with the crapstorm his life has become, that has to be maddening. I wonder if he also left Rogers alive to annoy Stevil Rogers, since the reverse is true.
It's an interesting fight, with Cap holding back (except maybe when Deadpool suggests the evil Cap is the one who really represents the U.S.), while Wade is using it as another chance to air grievances. Lolli tells it in a straightforward manner, the flow from one move to the next is easy to follow. Plus, he made sure people were looking in the right direction for Wade's first trick to work. Wade looks left while Steve looks down, and it's only when Cap finally looks to his left he realizes he's been played. That's basic stuff, but we've all seen miscommunication between the creative team ruin things like that. It was a good gag, so getting the set-up right was important.
I do wish Lolli wouldn't draw Cap's eyebrows as being visible in the eye holes of the mask. I suppose they would be, and he's hardly the only artist who does, but it's always bothered me. Ruins something about the mask somehow.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #30, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - What is everyone looking at? It must be something sorta cool, but not that cool, since Drax is ignoring it.
Our heroes avoid death from the missiles and then Doreen is able to figure out how to fix all the old beefs the various ripped off alien species had with each other. While all that is happening, Nancy and Tippy get the bit of Power Cosmic the aliens were using for their weapons to try and deal with the grifters. Tippy's attempt to make it so no one believes anything they say has too many loopholes, and the grifters' utter lack of remorse nearly gets them killed by a cosmic-powered Nancy, only for Doreen to give her a big speech about not being a bully by beating up these guys just because she can and wants to (and they deserve it).
Ehh, I don't know if I agree with that, but I'm a grudge-holder.
Until the book screeched to a halt for that discussion, I was enjoying it. Henderson and Renzi make a cosmic-powered squirrel look cool, and the panel of Tippy's impressive landing on the planet Chitt-crrt. I imagine it might have looked less impressive if we had seen the feet of the various characters standing there, but they were smart enough not to include that detail. And the blur lines on the "KRA-KOOM" sound effect were a nice touch.
Doreen and Nancy not letting the Surfer off the hook with his "it would be impossible to describe the Power Cosmic to those without it" was amusing, and Doreen trying to figure out how to solve all the aliens' conflicts with white boards and markers as well. Although my favorite moment was the excuse Nancy was forced to us as a distraction for Tippy. And that North had it work, but in a way that mortified Nancy even more. I hope she didn't touch anything in that restroom, though. Both for her benefit and the other species. You can't tell which way the War of the Worlds effect is going to run.
Deadpool #296, by Gerry Duggan (writer), Matteo Lolli (artist), Ruth Redmond (colorist), Joe Sabino (letterer) - I would say Wade should be careful what he asks for, making the "bring it" gesture, but even if Cap pummels him into the ground, Wade would be OK with the pain.Wade fights with Captain America, yelling at him and blaming him a lot. Cap grows increasingly frustrated, playing into Deadpool's hands. Most of this is Wade coming up with ways to make Cap look bad in front of the public, which I love. I laughed at least three times during this issue. They end up in Deadpool's subway hangout, where Wade makes a request/demand of Steve, escapes by threatening civilians, and vows to continue pissing off the entire world.
I know Deadpool needed Cap alive to make that request, but I also like to think he knew killing Captain America wasn't happening, so he might as well crap on his rehabilitation tour. Steve Rogers gets to play the "it was an evil doppelganger" card, and it's three cheers and second chances all around. Wade can't play that card, and combined with the crapstorm his life has become, that has to be maddening. I wonder if he also left Rogers alive to annoy Stevil Rogers, since the reverse is true.
I do wish Lolli wouldn't draw Cap's eyebrows as being visible in the eye holes of the mask. I suppose they would be, and he's hardly the only artist who does, but it's always bothered me. Ruins something about the mask somehow.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #30, by Ryan North (writer), Erica Henderson (artist), Rico Renzi (color artist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - What is everyone looking at? It must be something sorta cool, but not that cool, since Drax is ignoring it.Our heroes avoid death from the missiles and then Doreen is able to figure out how to fix all the old beefs the various ripped off alien species had with each other. While all that is happening, Nancy and Tippy get the bit of Power Cosmic the aliens were using for their weapons to try and deal with the grifters. Tippy's attempt to make it so no one believes anything they say has too many loopholes, and the grifters' utter lack of remorse nearly gets them killed by a cosmic-powered Nancy, only for Doreen to give her a big speech about not being a bully by beating up these guys just because she can and wants to (and they deserve it).
Ehh, I don't know if I agree with that, but I'm a grudge-holder.
Until the book screeched to a halt for that discussion, I was enjoying it. Henderson and Renzi make a cosmic-powered squirrel look cool, and the panel of Tippy's impressive landing on the planet Chitt-crrt. I imagine it might have looked less impressive if we had seen the feet of the various characters standing there, but they were smart enough not to include that detail. And the blur lines on the "KRA-KOOM" sound effect were a nice touch.
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Churchill
Of course my dad wanted to watch the other Winston Churchill movie that came out last year. Unlike Darkest Hour, this one is set in the days leading up to D-Day, when Churchill (Brian Cox) is trying his best to scuttle the Normandy invasion. He sees it as helping to prevent a massacre, as Gallipoli looms large in his memory. Failing at that, he tries to get himself on one of the landing ships, partially because he doesn't like sending men to their deaths while he sits at a desk in London. And partially because he thinks of this as his war to run.
So it's a lot of him acting a bit like a petulant child. Storms off when Eisenhower and Brooke tell him they are not wasting forces on diversions in the Aegean Sea or Norway. Yells at his wife, berates his secretary for not double-spacing a draft of a speech. To the extent this is him dreading what he fears is going to be massive casualties, it's understandable. He's under a lot of strain, it's taking its toll. To the extent he's just mad because he's WINSTON CHURCHILL, damnit, and that means he should be able to have his way, it's not a good look.
The movie doesn't take the creative liberty Darkest Hour did with that scene where Churchill decides to use the subway to poll the regular Joes on their thoughts, but it does have a scene where he prays at his bedside for a massive storm that will cancel D-Day. I'm guessing that didn't really happen. There's a few things like that, probably not accurate, but they make for entertaining dramatics.
The two movies make for an interesting contrast. Darkest Hour has an uncertain Churchill being undermined by Chamberlain and Halifax, whereas Churchill has Winston certain that Operation Overlord in a mistake, and he's trying to interfere with them. The former movie references Gallipoli, but Churchill is more defiant about it, still just angry at the Navy for half-assing their side of things. This movie paints it less as something that makes others doubt him, and more something that haunts him and influences his judgment. Churchill spends a lot more time on the interaction between him and his wife, Clementine, the sometimes strained nature of their relationship, whereas Darkest Hour spent a lot of energy on him and his secretary. Darkest was trying to play with the idea Churchill isn't sure how much he can ask of the populace (the whole uncertainty of his position), which she represents. While Churchill is him having to accept that his place in things is changing and he has to move forward, and the person who's been with him that whole way has to help him, if he'll stop being such a mule about it.
Darkest Hour had a few more bits that made me laugh, but I don't know which I'd say was better. Should have asked my dad, as the resident Anglophile.
So it's a lot of him acting a bit like a petulant child. Storms off when Eisenhower and Brooke tell him they are not wasting forces on diversions in the Aegean Sea or Norway. Yells at his wife, berates his secretary for not double-spacing a draft of a speech. To the extent this is him dreading what he fears is going to be massive casualties, it's understandable. He's under a lot of strain, it's taking its toll. To the extent he's just mad because he's WINSTON CHURCHILL, damnit, and that means he should be able to have his way, it's not a good look.
The movie doesn't take the creative liberty Darkest Hour did with that scene where Churchill decides to use the subway to poll the regular Joes on their thoughts, but it does have a scene where he prays at his bedside for a massive storm that will cancel D-Day. I'm guessing that didn't really happen. There's a few things like that, probably not accurate, but they make for entertaining dramatics.
The two movies make for an interesting contrast. Darkest Hour has an uncertain Churchill being undermined by Chamberlain and Halifax, whereas Churchill has Winston certain that Operation Overlord in a mistake, and he's trying to interfere with them. The former movie references Gallipoli, but Churchill is more defiant about it, still just angry at the Navy for half-assing their side of things. This movie paints it less as something that makes others doubt him, and more something that haunts him and influences his judgment. Churchill spends a lot more time on the interaction between him and his wife, Clementine, the sometimes strained nature of their relationship, whereas Darkest Hour spent a lot of energy on him and his secretary. Darkest was trying to play with the idea Churchill isn't sure how much he can ask of the populace (the whole uncertainty of his position), which she represents. While Churchill is him having to accept that his place in things is changing and he has to move forward, and the person who's been with him that whole way has to help him, if he'll stop being such a mule about it.
Darkest Hour had a few more bits that made me laugh, but I don't know which I'd say was better. Should have asked my dad, as the resident Anglophile.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
What I Bought 3/9/2018
Someone at work is stealing my writing utensils. A pencil Monday, a pen yesterday. It's very annoying. Yes, I considered the possibility I left them somewhere, but I checked everywhere I had been, and they weren't there.
Giant Days #36, by John Allison (writer), Max Sarin (artist), Whitney Cogar (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Just sittin' and thinkin' on a box, nothin' unusual at all. No sirree, she and her friends didn't strangle a classmate and toss her in a trunk as some sort of test, ala Hitchcock's Rope, nope.
Daisy breaks up with Ingrid, during an art exhibition Ingrid was having in the dilapidated warehouse she lives in. The bus drivers that were admiring her work get some performance art to go with it. Daisy then sinks into a depression for two weeks, emerging just in time for the girls to move out for the summer. Unfortunately, Daisy's return home is going to be a little awkward since her grandma found out about Daisy dating Ingrid from a heartbroken Ingrid (and it had to be an extra, final gutpunch for Ingrid to realize Daisy never did tell her grandmother about the two of them). Well, I was wondering how Daisy was going to end up talking about her sexual orientation with her grandma if she and Ingrid were breaking up, since I didn't see Daisy broaching the topic otherwise.
Kudos to Allison and Sarin here, for actually making me feel bad for Ingrid. I haven't really liked her, because she seems exactly the sort of person I would hate and avoid in real life, but that may just be her loud personality. And because Daisy's kept her doubts from Ingrid, preferring to pretend everything is fine, it came as a blindside. The range of emotions Ingrid goes through in a few pages, even just in one page, from stunned, to quietly asking Daisy to leave, to going nuclear at Daisy's platitudes. Still the right move for Daisy; being with Ingrid was making her miserable, but I had been anticipating the break-up almost as gleefully as Susan and Esther, so I didn't expect to feel sympathetic.
Sarin actually inks himself this issue, rather than Liz Fleming acting as inker. I think people looked a little rounder, possibly. Mostly I thought that with Esther, she normally has a bit of a rough edge, especially around her eyes, and it wasn't present. That might have been because it's going into summertime, people are feeling cheerful and upbeat, relaxed. Look, I'm the wrong guy to describe to you the value of inkers. I know it's definitely a thing, I just stink at perceiving it.
Also, I wonder if, having seen her dad and McGraw together, Susan notices disturbing similarities in them. I'm not sure what I expected her father to be like, but that wasn't it.
Atomic Robo: The Spectre of Tomorrow #5, by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Anthony Clark (colorist), Jeff Powell (letterer/designer) - That's the most peculiar Atomic Robo cover I've ever seen.
Robo tries to elude Helsingard's creatures to destroy the giant computer brain Helsingard has taken control of. Robo is actually the decoy to let his little pink robots reprogramming the computer to eat itself, essentially. Another Helsingard bites the dust. Wonder how many that leaves. Bernard snaps out of his funk long enough to save Foley, steal Helsingard's jump jet, and get the three of them back home. Where Lang and Vik's extortion of Elon Musk has gotten their building permits reinstated! They have a functioning toilet now! Which Robo has probably never seen, because he went back into his basement lab again (also, he doesn't need a bathroom). That is not at all concerning (the returning to the basement part, not the lack of need for a bathroom)!
Not a bad conclusion. Clevinger and Wegener set up a couple of things for future stories, although I have a hard time getting interested in yet another mysterious, quasi-government organization. I can't keep track of all the ones they've introduced in the past. As for the unexpected side effect of Robo's little bots interacting with ALAN, maybe Robo can teach them? Though I recall he said the more of them there were, the more they link up and increase their intelligence. Which seems ominous, given what ALAN was up to when he and Robo first crossed paths.
The art is variable from one panel to the next. I still think the coloring is overwhelming Wegener's linework, and the colors being duller and muddy - at least on paper, maybe it looks better online - doesn't help. It makes things seem murky, or at times like they were hastily drawn. The panels above aren't the worst by any stretch, but the idea of the creature being unable to see Bernard because of how muddy he was amused me. The page of Robo dropping in among the Praetorians and throwing haymakers looks pretty good, but then the next page, the first panel looks like Robo was only partially sketched in and the colors are trying to suggest the rest of him. It's frustrating, because it could, and has, looked better in the past.
Giant Days #36, by John Allison (writer), Max Sarin (artist), Whitney Cogar (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) - Just sittin' and thinkin' on a box, nothin' unusual at all. No sirree, she and her friends didn't strangle a classmate and toss her in a trunk as some sort of test, ala Hitchcock's Rope, nope.Daisy breaks up with Ingrid, during an art exhibition Ingrid was having in the dilapidated warehouse she lives in. The bus drivers that were admiring her work get some performance art to go with it. Daisy then sinks into a depression for two weeks, emerging just in time for the girls to move out for the summer. Unfortunately, Daisy's return home is going to be a little awkward since her grandma found out about Daisy dating Ingrid from a heartbroken Ingrid (and it had to be an extra, final gutpunch for Ingrid to realize Daisy never did tell her grandmother about the two of them). Well, I was wondering how Daisy was going to end up talking about her sexual orientation with her grandma if she and Ingrid were breaking up, since I didn't see Daisy broaching the topic otherwise.
Kudos to Allison and Sarin here, for actually making me feel bad for Ingrid. I haven't really liked her, because she seems exactly the sort of person I would hate and avoid in real life, but that may just be her loud personality. And because Daisy's kept her doubts from Ingrid, preferring to pretend everything is fine, it came as a blindside. The range of emotions Ingrid goes through in a few pages, even just in one page, from stunned, to quietly asking Daisy to leave, to going nuclear at Daisy's platitudes. Still the right move for Daisy; being with Ingrid was making her miserable, but I had been anticipating the break-up almost as gleefully as Susan and Esther, so I didn't expect to feel sympathetic.
Also, I wonder if, having seen her dad and McGraw together, Susan notices disturbing similarities in them. I'm not sure what I expected her father to be like, but that wasn't it.
Atomic Robo: The Spectre of Tomorrow #5, by Brian Clevinger (writer), Scott Wegener (artist), Anthony Clark (colorist), Jeff Powell (letterer/designer) - That's the most peculiar Atomic Robo cover I've ever seen.Robo tries to elude Helsingard's creatures to destroy the giant computer brain Helsingard has taken control of. Robo is actually the decoy to let his little pink robots reprogramming the computer to eat itself, essentially. Another Helsingard bites the dust. Wonder how many that leaves. Bernard snaps out of his funk long enough to save Foley, steal Helsingard's jump jet, and get the three of them back home. Where Lang and Vik's extortion of Elon Musk has gotten their building permits reinstated! They have a functioning toilet now! Which Robo has probably never seen, because he went back into his basement lab again (also, he doesn't need a bathroom). That is not at all concerning (the returning to the basement part, not the lack of need for a bathroom)!
Not a bad conclusion. Clevinger and Wegener set up a couple of things for future stories, although I have a hard time getting interested in yet another mysterious, quasi-government organization. I can't keep track of all the ones they've introduced in the past. As for the unexpected side effect of Robo's little bots interacting with ALAN, maybe Robo can teach them? Though I recall he said the more of them there were, the more they link up and increase their intelligence. Which seems ominous, given what ALAN was up to when he and Robo first crossed paths.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Invitation to a Gunfighter
This is a bit of an odd Western. Set after the Civil War, a Confederate soldier named Matt Weaver (George Segal) comes home to the New Mexico territory and finds his farm was bought and sold by the local big shot, Mr. Brewster (Pat Hingle). Matt's told to leave town, but the man who bought his home turns up dead the next morning.
Brewster hires a gunfighter, Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner), to kill Matt Weaver, but Jules seems more interested in making said Brewster humiliate himself. He's also interested in Ruth Adams (Janice Rule), who runs a general store with her drunken, one-armed, bitter husband, and who was engaged to Matt before the war. When Jules shows no interest in killing Weaver, the Brewster hires Weaver to kill Jules, in a plan that has no chance of backfiring whatsoever.
Surprising amount happening in this one. Ruth claims she married Crane because Matt needed to understand how irrevocable his decision to fight with the Rebs was for her. She is strongly anti-slavery, as was the entire town apparently, except Matt and his father. They joined the Confederates, the entire rest of the town went on the Union side. At least on the white side of town. The large Mexican population seems to have been segregated. Of course, Matt and his father were the only white folk to treat the Mexicans as equals, so who are the real racists here? Also, it's claimed Matt only joined the South to be contrary, I assume out of disgust at the hypocrisy of all the other white folk. Which doesn't really change the fact that he did fight for the Confederate Army, regardless of what his reasons were.
Into this, you throw Jules, who we're told is one-quarter black (he uses the term "quadroon", which I've never seen outside a history book). I think they darkened Brynner's skin, or maybe they used lighting to achieve the effect. Seems in poor taste either way. Watching him lead the big shot around like a docile puppy is one of the high points of the film (there are three wounded Union soldiers in town tickled by it each time, including one who can't see and has to listen to his friends' description).
In some ways, it reminds me of High Plains Drifter, although this film predates that one by almost a decade. Mostly in the way the town (part of it anyway) is so terrified of this one tired, unhappy Reb soldier, that they bow to this call for a gunfighter, and then let the gunfighter walk all over them. He cheats at cards in the most obvious, lazy way possible, and no one even thinks to try and call him on it. Brewster wants Jules here to kill the gunfighter, Brewster owns most of the town, so they all go along with it. He's the bank. So Jules punishes them for their weakness, and out of his own, understandable anger and bitterness. He shows kindness at times, mostly restricts himself to punching up, rather than down, but the longer he stays, the more frustrated and torn he gets.
Jules becomes interested in Ruth, initially as a way to bring Weaver to him, but later out of some possible romantic interest. Ruth is polite, somewhat friendly, but mostly is trying to get him to not kill Weaver. Their mutual curiosity leads to a scene or two where everything stops so they can lay out their backstories and motivations to each other. Which is awkward, but it doesn't seem like the movie was going to explain certain things any other way. I'm not sure there needed to be any hint of attraction from Jules towards Ruth; the movie already has Ruth married to Crane but still caring about Matt. Is it necessary to complicate things further? There are a few scenes where Jules interacts with some of the local Mexicans, including a good friend of Matt's. I wouldn't have minded more of that.
As it is, the mere suggestion something might be happening between Jules and Ruth is what Brewster uses to get Weaver to face Jules. Weaver is smart enough to realize it would be dumb to fight someone on Brewster's behalf, especially someone Brewster hired to kill him. But Brewster mentions Ruth went into her home willingly with Jules, and maybe there's a reason Jules hasn't tried killing Matt, wink, wink, all sense flies out of Matt's head.
I read once that you can make white working class folks eat any amount of shit from the wealthy if you convince them minorities are going to take their stuff (and thus ignoring the wealthy have already taken a lot more). Matt proved it, Brewster wanted him eliminated as a threat, and then tried using him to eliminate someone else who was a threat. The threats are all things Brewster's either created or made up, they're his own doing for being a terrible person, but suggest this gunfighter "took" Matt's woman, and off he goes.
It was a more interesting movie than I expected. It needed either more time, or a few less threads so it could have let some things play out more naturally.
Brewster hires a gunfighter, Jules Gaspard d'Estaing (Yul Brynner), to kill Matt Weaver, but Jules seems more interested in making said Brewster humiliate himself. He's also interested in Ruth Adams (Janice Rule), who runs a general store with her drunken, one-armed, bitter husband, and who was engaged to Matt before the war. When Jules shows no interest in killing Weaver, the Brewster hires Weaver to kill Jules, in a plan that has no chance of backfiring whatsoever.
Surprising amount happening in this one. Ruth claims she married Crane because Matt needed to understand how irrevocable his decision to fight with the Rebs was for her. She is strongly anti-slavery, as was the entire town apparently, except Matt and his father. They joined the Confederates, the entire rest of the town went on the Union side. At least on the white side of town. The large Mexican population seems to have been segregated. Of course, Matt and his father were the only white folk to treat the Mexicans as equals, so who are the real racists here? Also, it's claimed Matt only joined the South to be contrary, I assume out of disgust at the hypocrisy of all the other white folk. Which doesn't really change the fact that he did fight for the Confederate Army, regardless of what his reasons were.
Into this, you throw Jules, who we're told is one-quarter black (he uses the term "quadroon", which I've never seen outside a history book). I think they darkened Brynner's skin, or maybe they used lighting to achieve the effect. Seems in poor taste either way. Watching him lead the big shot around like a docile puppy is one of the high points of the film (there are three wounded Union soldiers in town tickled by it each time, including one who can't see and has to listen to his friends' description).
In some ways, it reminds me of High Plains Drifter, although this film predates that one by almost a decade. Mostly in the way the town (part of it anyway) is so terrified of this one tired, unhappy Reb soldier, that they bow to this call for a gunfighter, and then let the gunfighter walk all over them. He cheats at cards in the most obvious, lazy way possible, and no one even thinks to try and call him on it. Brewster wants Jules here to kill the gunfighter, Brewster owns most of the town, so they all go along with it. He's the bank. So Jules punishes them for their weakness, and out of his own, understandable anger and bitterness. He shows kindness at times, mostly restricts himself to punching up, rather than down, but the longer he stays, the more frustrated and torn he gets.
Jules becomes interested in Ruth, initially as a way to bring Weaver to him, but later out of some possible romantic interest. Ruth is polite, somewhat friendly, but mostly is trying to get him to not kill Weaver. Their mutual curiosity leads to a scene or two where everything stops so they can lay out their backstories and motivations to each other. Which is awkward, but it doesn't seem like the movie was going to explain certain things any other way. I'm not sure there needed to be any hint of attraction from Jules towards Ruth; the movie already has Ruth married to Crane but still caring about Matt. Is it necessary to complicate things further? There are a few scenes where Jules interacts with some of the local Mexicans, including a good friend of Matt's. I wouldn't have minded more of that.
As it is, the mere suggestion something might be happening between Jules and Ruth is what Brewster uses to get Weaver to face Jules. Weaver is smart enough to realize it would be dumb to fight someone on Brewster's behalf, especially someone Brewster hired to kill him. But Brewster mentions Ruth went into her home willingly with Jules, and maybe there's a reason Jules hasn't tried killing Matt, wink, wink, all sense flies out of Matt's head.
I read once that you can make white working class folks eat any amount of shit from the wealthy if you convince them minorities are going to take their stuff (and thus ignoring the wealthy have already taken a lot more). Matt proved it, Brewster wanted him eliminated as a threat, and then tried using him to eliminate someone else who was a threat. The threats are all things Brewster's either created or made up, they're his own doing for being a terrible person, but suggest this gunfighter "took" Matt's woman, and off he goes.
It was a more interesting movie than I expected. It needed either more time, or a few less threads so it could have let some things play out more naturally.
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