X-3... I am fire and life incarnate

Spoilers ahead...

(of course)

(If you haven't seen it, go read something else)

(I warned you)

(Don't complain to me)


Well, by and large, I thought it was a reasonbly good movie, and a reasonably good adaptation of the overall themes of Dark Phoenix. There were a number of changes, most of which made sense within the relatively narrow confines they were allowed by being a movie. First, and most importantly, was that they elimanted the entire "cosmic" aspect of the story. No Sh'iar, no hint that the Phoenix was a truly cosmic force. At least the latter is actually more in tune with the story as originally written (though of course it's long since been retconned to being a cosmic force).

I did find it more than a tad odd that we never saw the firebird in the sky. With modern CGI, that graphic shouldn't have been any tougher than 73000 other things they did in the movie, it would have been impressive, and is part and parcel of the entire character of Phoenix.

So...
The Good: The "younger" X-Men. Iceman, Rogue and Kitty Pryde all showed well in this movie. I'm not surprised by Rogue's choice, and Kitty was a very nice "young" Kitty (c UXM 155 or so). Heh, a battle of wits betwen Juggy and Kitty? There's an unfair fight for ya. Peter didn't get nearly the time to shine that the others did though.

The Bad: Some of the changes in characters. Both Psylocke and Multiple Man are now evil mutants? There were lots of mutants they could have worked in as flunkies. Maybe they couldn't have used the "sat-image" bit, but that was a minor enough thing that it was no great gain. For that matter, bring in Wanda and Pietro.

The Ugly: Ok, this is by far my biggest gripe with the movie. It's really two fold. First of all, why did they get rid of Scott like that? I'll admit, since we never had a body, I kept expecting him to pop up in the ending fight, but he didn't. Why did some bonehead Hollywood director decide that they had to shift Wolverine into the prime role in the movie? What's more, is that they missed the fact that in the original story, Jean found the strength within herself to take her own life, knowing the stakes that were at hand. Instead, it's Wolvie, Wolvie, Wolvie.

Still, I'll give it an overall recomendation. It's not perfect (and not as good as X-2), but it at least understands the overall themes of the X-Books. For recent comic movies, not as good as Bat Beyond (haven't seen V yet... we have a very limited theater selection here, will be forced to wait until the DVD comes out I think). Hopefully, Supes will be better.

(On a side note: My Ex-Girlfriend's a Superhero has a very amusing premise. May be a waste of film, but the premise has serious potential.)

Runaways

Well, after leaving the Trade Books (including the big hardbound of Vol 1-3) of Runaways sitting around for a month or so with a busy life, I've finally taken the time to read them. I have to say, that they are as good as I've heard. Interesting characters and intereactions. The Pride themselves are a bit wooden (how many shadowy take over the world groups do we really need, anyway?), but the characters are pretty good.

That said, it in a way shows something that I'm not always terribly pleased with in comic books recently (and overall in our culture). There's the constant drive and desire to rip apart, to tear down. Most of all, the ongoing concept that "innocence" is to be discarded as something that is worthless.

Now, my beef is not so much in terms of the main characters themselves (though the book is a bit post-modern for my taste, it's not bad, but isn't in my top 10 list either). The place where it really struck me was when "Excelsior" showed up, and you have this "intervention group" of former teen heros. The appearance of Julie Power (Lightspeed) was more than a little bit grating. The author either had never read Power Pack, or more likely, despised it. In one page, he managed to piss all over the book, and try to bury it. The charm and fun of that book was the innocence. A wide eyed sense of adventure and looking at the world. New York may be a nasty place at times, but they survived it. Sure, they were siblings, and they had spats and problems.

Suddenly, the entire run of the book gets reduced to being nothing more than an excuse for the most together character of the four kids to have years of therapy. She's so badly out of character for what Julie was (or any of them really) it's not even funny. Yet, of course, you cannot have books about innocence, because that's not hip, or cool, or post-modern. Innocence is something that is to be driven from our world, mocked with a post ironic sneer, and discarded like yesterday's sushi.

I'm not saying that Julie shouldn't grow up, of course she should. Indeed, if you really know Power Pack, you know that she was growing up in a very certain direction. In one page, they destroyed that, and just piled offal on the memory of the book. At least she still retained a bit of book-geekiness in the end. That's something.

It should be obvious

My ability (and inclination) to post is kind of hit and miss here. I haven't found a regular "rhythem" or focus that gives me posts every day, or even every week. As such, I'm just going to not even bother trying.

Does this mean that this thing is dead?

Nah, I'll post here on those occasions I have something to say. I doubt that it'll be worth checking in here on a regular basis, but if you follow it on a feed, or the like, then you'll see it when it does pop up.

That is all.

Utter boredom, that's what I do.

Starfire vs Toonfire

The adaptation of Teen Titans to TV had some rather interesting character changes. There are two in particular that I find interesting. Next post, I'll talk about Terra. Tonight though, maybe a few thoughts about Starfire vs "Toonfire".

It's really fun the way that they kept so much of he essential nature of the character, and yet made such a fundamentally huge change in the nature of the character. Starfire has always been an elemental character, a character who was always about her passion. I don't think it's an accident that her first true storyline had her kissing of Robin as such a key element of the story.

Now, on the other hand, Toonfire is equally passionate as Starfire, and seems to have much the same temper (view her fights with Blackfire, or Killer Moth's daughter). However, they took her and added a layer of deep naiveite. She feels her passion so strongly (and the ep where she bodyswitched with Raven shows it), but she's essentially an innocent. Sure, she has her goofy habits (keeping odd pets, celebrating Blorthog, and the like), but the character is just much more endearing in the end. I don't know, maybe it seems that underneath all that passion, Starfire's most essential emotion is anger, while Toonfire's is joy. That's probably unfair to Starfire, but that's the feeling I get from them.

JLU

Well, I've been quiet the last few days. Partially I've just been busy, but I've also been thinking/looking at some health issues. Never get diabetes, it's a bad thing.

Anyway, I imagine that tonight's JLU will be popular, but I found it a bit flat. As I've said before, I'm not someone who is incredibly into big big brawls. The fights play a role, but the story that's carried behind the fight is far more interesting.

That said, what story there was here was pretty superficial. Dinah and Helena are still at one another's throats, and they get dragged into Roulette's arena.

I guess the thing that bugged me the most was the ending. Why did the writers feel that they had have the ladies "prove themselves" with a two out of three falls match? If they'd ended by going out for a burger or something, it would have been far better. Still, seeing those two working together is a good thing. Too bad JLU is ending. This would be a good introduction to start setting up the true Birds. They just need Babs.

I really think that the Birds would be a very good place for WB's next animation (more so than the Legion). It would work well as something for the Adult Swim timeblock, and start off with a version of "The Killing Joke". Maybe interleave Babs' recovery with Dinah and Ollie's breakdown.

Oh well, I can dream I guess.

Power vs Wisdom

It's getting to be that awkward time of the month for me again. Since I get my books in a monthly box (that generally shows up midmonth), I'm well behind on things. I know there is a pretty major IC issue out there, so it's really hard to discuss things.

Now, I've read some interesting posts (Kasiedo, I'm looking at you), that are dealing with the different philosophical backgrounds of the two Supermen. However, unless it's something that's just popped up in since my last box, there's another question that hasn't really come up.

The two Supermen are discussing their different approaches to using their power, and their ways of dealing with crime and criminals. On the other hand, have they really gotten to the next step? Certainly, Superman has the power to do pretty much whatever he wants. However, does he have the wisdom? Do any of the metas have the wisdom to try to direct or shape society in the E-2 Superman manner? That's the other question that is lurking. Sure, Supes can pick up a planet, and Batman can use the pebble you just kicked to figure out that you jaywalked 13 years ago in Cleveland, but does that give them the wisdom to take a controlling role?

I'd imagine that will be one of the points that comes out in the resolution of the story, but it's the question that needs to be asked.

Turning Point: Black Reign

As my recent posts should have made obvious, I'm getting to be more and more interested in the "man on the street" aspect of comic books. There's lots of different directions you can do it. I really enjoyed the novelization of Kingdom Come which really fleshed out the preacher character well. In that book, one of the recurring themes was "what place do normal people have in a world of Olympian Gods?"

As I've said, I really think that looking at the DCU from that point of view, JSA: Black Reign should be an absolute turning point. While I prefer large universes to one or two books that define everything, this is a weakness. In the DCU (or MU), there are so many books that important, or even key, developments in one book can get "washed out." These are not only key developments in that one book, but also in the larger flow of the universe.

If you stop and think about it, there should be no way that Black Reign should not have been a "universe turner". Not only do you have a splinter group of the JSA going "rogue", but the JSA itself seems to be an "accomplice" to that. They went there, and they came back without finishing the job. It certainly would appear to the ordinary person that the Society is sympathetic to Black Adam (as opposed to the no-win situation they were in).

I really hope that Johns (or whoever is going to write JSA in the future) returns to Black Adam's situation. What kind of ruler is he going to be? In a sense, I can see him as an almost Dr. Doom type ruler. He'll do his best to develop the nation in a very paternalistic way. However, woe betide anyone who has a different vision of the country, even if it is a fair and valid one. Can you really see Adam allowing an election on any meaningful point? What will he do the first time someone asks to elect the dogcatcher?

Even more important, how has the world reacted? How will they continue to react? Are they screaming for Superman or someone to go in and "clean out" the baddies? Metahumans taking political power by force has got to be a recurring nightmare for political leaders. For that matter, it's entirely possible that some group like Checkmate could be ordered to "deal with" Adam. There's alot of potential there, not only for JSA, but for the entire DCU, and I really hope that they finally pick up on it and use it.

Oh wait, I forget. Earth-2 Superman is a better story.

*sigh*

Quixiotic Heros

A few days ago, I happened to hear the old standard "To Dream the Impossible Dream". For some reason, I decided to order the "Man of La Mancha" cd (original Broadway cast), and boy am I glad I did. While driving today, I listened to it no less than three times. Even better than the music is the story that's lurking in there.

Now, I'd seen the play many years ago, when a traveling troupe played it one night at my college. I'll be honest, I wasn't deeply impressed at the time. However, after listening closely to the music, and reading the story summary in the notes, I'm enthralled with it.

What struck me as I was driving home though was the way that some of the themes in the music are echoed in my favorite comic book heros. No, not that my favorite heros are all loons (though some might say that). It's that so many (not all, but many) of my heros are "Quixiotic" in a sense.

In the notes, it talked about the Don's way of "seeing the world as it should be, not as it is." That really resonated. I love heros who are deep seated idealists, who will not lose their ideals no matter how dark and ugly the world may get.

Heros like Captain Marvel.

Couldn't you see the big lug singing "Impossible Dream", especially the phrase "To fight for the right, without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause"

You can have your Punishers, Wolverines and Lobos, I want a hero that's more than a bit Quixiotic

The Common Man's perspective

You know what would be interesting? A book from the "common man's" perspective in either of the major comics universes. I don't mean a comic book. I mean, a book written as if it were meant to be sold in WayneBooks or the like.

The ordinary person would have such a strained perspective on things. Of course, even for us in this mundane, spandex free world, can have sudden destruction come down on us. However, in a super-hero universe, there's always that nagging fear that this will be the time that your house gets flattened by a hero recoiling from the villain of the week's punch, or indeed, far, far worse. What Gothamite doesn't live in secret fear of the Joker? Would there be an entire field of psychology for those afraid of running into a "costume?"

That's only the beginning of the questions. What place does a plain, ordinary accountant have in a world where Superman will buzz your officebuilding every morning at 8:58? Some of these things have been dealt with in one book or another, but to see how the normals would try to cope? The idea itself is just fascinating.

What role baddies?

For all the focus I've given to villains over the course of my history with this thing, you'd think I'm a major Villain fan.

Actually, I'm not. I'm all about the heros. I don't even much like Anti-heros. I find Wolverine, the Punisher and that ilk to be annoying and pointless.

That said, I do think that Villains in many ways define stories, and even define the heros that they are associated with. I've joked that the true role of Villains is to provide a jaw for the hero to punch, but it really does go deeper than that.

It's obvious, but they provide the tension for the story. After all, does anyone really want a comic book were Batman and Alfred spend all their time in the Batcave playing Canasta?

There are few villains who "define" their hero better than the Joker. The whole "order vs chaos" thing is pretty potent. However, he's a bit of an exception really. In many ways, the best villains for helping to define heros are the true "masterminds." They are characters where it is very believable that they have their "fingers" in the heros life at nearly every moment. Lex Luthor is an obvious example of this. In his role as "richer than Trump," he's able to be involved in nearly every Superman story, at one level or another. He's always there, weaving his web, shaping the world around Superman. Kingpin was able to do much the same for Daredevil.

Now, there are some great villains who are "crosses," in that they are both "masterminds" and direct threats to the heros. Magneto and Dr. Doom would be good examples of this.

Oh well, I'm tired, and rambling, so I'll shut up and leave y'all alone.

Review: Avengers the Movie

Just watched the new Avengers movie, and I have to give it an overall thumbs up. Now, the animation is rather uneven. On the one hand, the designs and colors are quite good, but the movement seems to be a bit rough.

I've not read the Ultimates, so it's a bit disorienting for me to read. Lots of things that just seem slightly off (like Prof. Betsy Ross). Still, enough of the touchstones are there for me to follow it in good form.

Probably the highlight is the bickering between Hank Pym and Janet. Is there a more disfunctional couple in comics?

I should say more, but I'm a tad tired, so I'll let it be.

Still, a night with Captain America can't be all bad.

One can never have too many boy scouts.

JLU

Pretty good episode tonight. I'd missed the first Stargirl episode, so this was the first time I saw her and Pat. I can't say that I'm fond of her voice, but oh well.

It's interesting to see this storyline pushed across at the same time as some of the themes in IC that I mentioned last night. In alot of ways, it strikes me as a "truer" story than IC.

I think they pushed the "non-powered" thing a bit too far this time though. It was quite funny to see Speedy, and near as I can recall this is the first time that we've seen someone from the Teen Titans cartoon appear in JLU (other than maybe Kid Flash... is that Wally or Bart in TT?) The byplay between him and Ollie was pretty good, and I liked the way that they pulled out the Silver Age wierd arrows.

Overall, a solid episode, and it's good to see them putting focus on some of the secondary characters. I really think that it's been getting better (though the animation isn't as good as it was to my mind). Too bad the series is going by the wayside.

The role of the "origin" Story.

Comic books have certain patterns. When a new comic comes out, either the first or (sometimes) second story will be the ever popular "origin" story. In some ways, it's almost gotten to be a cliche.

However, I think that these stories are really a major part in defining a character, and have great value. The odd thing is that I think that people usually look at the "wrong part" of the story. The classic OS consists of two parts. First of all, is how they got their powers, and the second is what led them to become a member of the spandex set. A great deal of the time, the focus seems to be on the way that people got their powers, but I think that's misplaced.

Who are the most important people in the DCU? I think you can make a great case for Ma and Pa Kent. When people talk about Superman's origin, they focus on all the things related to Krypton. Indeed, that story has a great deal of pathos, and the writers have gotten some very good stuff out of there over the years. However, what has really defined Superman is not the powers that he has, but the essential decency of the character. If it weren't for the values that the Kent's raised Clark with, he could have easily become the greatest nightmare the earth had ever seen, rather than the iconic hero that he is. The values he was raised with are part and parcel of answering the question "Why is he a hero?"

You see the same thing with Batman's OS. Here the two parts of the origin are tied pretty closely together. He got his "powers" because of his determination to be a hero (in this case powers being defined as the physical and mental training to fulfill his chosen role.) While the very early stories didn't have his essental aversion to ever killing another human being, even that was an organic outgrowth of his OS. What really defines Batman is the thing that decided he wanted to be a hero.

Much the same is true with the X-Men. The OS of the various characters are varied, and it's gotten to the point that describing how they got their powers is an exercise in handwavium. "They're mutants! And don't think too much about how ruby quartz would actually stop the eyebeam of doom!" However, what unites them all is "the dream." The characters all approach the dream somewhat differently. Charles is the Apostle, Cyclops the Paladin, Wolverine the rather unpleasant cousin that keeps coming to dinner. However, that dream is what defines them as a whole, and their individual relationship to the dream is a major piece of what defines them as individual characters.

On the other hand, we can look at a case where there is no real OS and see how badly it's lacking. Look at Grace in Outsiders. What makes her tick? Why is she a hero? She's been revealed to be a number of things. I'll tempered, cynical about the whole hero thing, seemingly satisfied with working as a metahuman bouncer, and the like. What led her to take Arsenal's offer to join the Outsiders? It's got to be more than the money. She's so cynical about the whole hero "biz" (as has been shown in some of her conversations, such as the one with Thunder after Indigo died), why did she willingly jump into it? There may have been some hints in the "missing child" story, but in many ways, she's a cipher, and because of that, pretty boring to me.

Now, you don't have to reveal all (or even much) at the beginning. The introduction of Raven in Teen Titans would be an example of that. It was clear there was something going on, and that she had a history she was trying to deal with. So, what made her interesting was watching that mystery develop. Grace (at least in my not very humble opinion) hasn't been given that sense of mystery. She's just thrown out there as a "bad girl" with powers.

Oracle is another interesting story, as she in a real way has two OS. I'm going to work under the assumption that Batgirl: Year One is the OS for Batgirl, for the sake of simplicity. There, her origin is really a touch shallow. She wants to be a cop, but when she's blocked from doing that, she practically "falls" into becoming a costumed hero. Still, there seems to be a certain ambivalence about it, even after she takes her "oath" with Batman. She's there for the thrill and the fun, not out of a deeper commitment. On the other hand, her maiming by the Joker forced her to focus, and turn into a deeper and more profound character.

Stargirl is another good example. Her reasons to become a hero are about as shallow as they get, but really the entire run of Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E is her OS, as she's gone beyond her initial silly reasons, and allowed her to grow into something far more. She has an understanding and commitment to who she is and what she's doing.

I don't really care about how someone "got" their powers, I care about why they do what they do.

More IC thoughts

While out on my walk today, I think I realized what has disappointed me about the way that IC has been playing out. I'll admit that this aspect probably has been played up to an extent in some of the titles that IC is spilling into (I'm only getting the books I normally do, and then a few of the specials that go with it, like Day of Vengance).

In many ways, the "run up" to IC was playing around with the idea of "trust." Think about the "psychology" of living in the DCU (or any superhero universe really). The ordinary people have to show a high level of trust in their heros. These are people who have the power to destroy them at the blink of an eye, and if they ever want to take control, the options of the "rest of us" will be very limited. This vunerability can easily lead to a sense of paranoia on the part of the people. This is hardly a new idea in comics. X-Men has practically lived in this margin, especially in the glory days of Claremont. Likewise, in the DCU, Kingdom Come got into this very heavily. That said, it's still a vibrant place to mine stories.

Now, in the last couple of years, the buildup of storylines in the DCU have begun to "erode" the trust that the common people would have in their heros.

1. Identity Crisis It's a bit unclear how much the man on the street know of the lobotomization of Dr. Light... but it's still an ongoing issue. The next two are clearer.
2. Black Reign(JSA)- When a "hero" goes rogue and takes over a nation by main force.
3. The killing of Max Lord by Wonder Woman.

These elements have come together and would have formed the backbone of a good storyline, of how the heros have to deal with a situation where the trust has begun to erode. In a way, it's the converse of the old X-Men situation, in that they were feared for no good reason, while the DCU heros are starting to give reason to fear them.

In a way, the Black Reign storyline in JSA is the key to my mind. You have two heros from the most "respected" of the teams (if not the most powerful) becoming the nightmare that everyone had to fear in the back of their heads. Now, this story does have some mitagating circumstances. Black Adam was a "reformed" villain, so people could just shake their heads and say "they never should have trusted him." Likewise, Atom Smasher "repented" and is doing his jail thing, so the people can breathe a sigh of relief. The others involved were "minor players" and didn't have the cachet of the JSA.

Still, that could serve as a "floodgate" for an expansion of this theme. It's not that the people are afraid of superpowered people doing bad things. Well, they are of course, but they also know that the heros are there to protect them. The nightmare is if the heros begin to abandon the side of good.

There are elements of all of this in the runup to IC, and some of the side stories. Sadly, IC has become tied up with rehashing COIE, and this focus has really been pulled to the side. Instead of dealing with the nightmare of falling heros, we are instead just treated to platitudes by Earth-2 Superman and Earth-Prime Superboy about how this world is the "wrong" one, that leads heros to fall. It doesn't carry the power or the impact.

To really have a "payoff" with the groundwork that we've seen, we've got to have something that I don't recall in the history of comics. We are going to have to have a major hero fall hard. There have been low and mid range heros fall (Hawk for instance), and there are times that major heros have been framed or misunderstood (Batman every 20 issues or so), but I don't recall a first or second tier hero in either the DCU or Marvel (the ones I know best) who truly fell. Even Black Adam was pretty enigmatic in his hero phase, so he doesn't fully count. I realize that DC would be afraid to have someone as iconic as Superman or Batman fall, but they could have one of the second tier characters fall all the way.

I hope that IC ends up doing just that... but I don't see it, the way the story is developing.


PS: Even if you say Hal Jordan fell, they then turned around and redeemed him... I want a story where a hero falls, and stays fallen)

The Good Stuff

As I mentioned, last month's issue of JSA was very, very good (I forget the number offhand, it's the one with the Ross cover of Stargirl).

Now, it's not perfect by any means. The entire Jesse Quick/Liberty Belle subplot was a bit of a mess, and was really used as a Deus ex machina to set up the real focus of the plot. However, that focus was excellent.

As I've mentioned before, I thought Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E was a very good comic that got killed before its time. The very last issue ended with some very strong family dynamics, and this issue really picked up from them.

It's nice to see that things between Courtney and Michael are still somewhat messy. In fact, if anything, they are becoming very brother and sister like. They'll fight, and even drag their parents into it. That said, you just know that if anyone outside the family crosses either of them, the other will be all over that person.

What does Courtney's real father represent to her? At first, a hope. A hope of belonging, of something better than the life she had before when she and her mother were alone. It was a bit surprising to see her as an "outsider" at her old school, but it fits in a way. For all of her trouble with Pat Dugan early on, her home and her life is developing into a place where she fits. She's found her place in life, and is comfortable in it, and is confident in it.

It's a sign of her fundamental decency that she's so badly shaken when she found out about her real father. What did she really want? She had her place with her mother and Pat, so it wasn't that any more. Did she want redemption for him? Did she want to understand him? We don't know, but as angry as she'd been when she'd seen him in jail, she obviously hadn't cut him out of her heart, even though she "knew" she was "supposed" to.

Stargirl is one of the best characters going, there's just no other way to say it.

I live!

Well, I'd apologize for the long delay since a post here, but it would be kind of pointless. It's not like anyone was waiting with baited breath for me to actually post or anything.

In any case, life has been rather insane, and while I've been reading comics, I've not been that moved to post. I'll probably post at one point or another on the Star-Spangled Kid issue of JSA from last month one of these days.

In any case, one of the reasons for the delay is the difficulty of posting in the middle of a long, overwrought company wide crossover. Sad to say, that's what it's turning into. Since I only get my books one time a month, I've been avoiding blogworld to avoid spoilers, but I'm not really joying IC all that much. I'm not going to say that it's down to Zero Hour level, but it's not that good either.

I think part of the problem is that I much prefer focused stories. Even if they are sprawling (like some fantasy novel series I've read), if the focus that underlies the story is clear. Well, to this point, IC is rather shotgunned. The Alex-Superboy-Superman thing is somewhat interesting, but the rest of it is just sort of floating on by. I'm still not entirely sure why they had to scrag Bludhaven (at least it's not in California this time, after Coast City and Sub Diego, I'd be leaving that state...). I'm probably a bit behind, but I sure how that Capt. Marvel doesn't get stuck on the rock. He needs to be an active character, not stuck out there.

Anyway, I've only gotten into a bit of this months shipment, but the highlight easily is Nightwing. I'd really thought that he would eventually go the other way in this. Nice to seem I'm wrong. I still think that Babs can do better, but hey, what do I know :)

Batgirl was fairly interesting. A bit too much use of "bringing back from the dead" for my tastes (and you know that Shiva will fall into the pit soon), but still interesting. I'm glad to see they didn't kill Cassie outright. Whether she uses the name "Batgirl" or whatever is immaterial to me, she's finally growing into being an interesting character. Her original "mute" form was an interesting idea, but not something that can be carried off in an ongoing series.

Oh well, time marches on.

Classic Anime

While I haven't been getting much anime in recent years, I collected a great deal in years past. Now, it's mostly grabbing selected things that really jump out at me, like the Crest/Banner of the Stars series.

Some of my tastes run towards the rather odd, and I'll admit it. For example, I'm fond of Harmegeddon and Toward the Terra.

One that I really like is Goshogun: The Time Etranger, which has been re-released under the name of Time Stranger on DVD.

What's it all about? Fate and Death.

Yep, that's what I said... Fate and death. It is not a "light" anime by any stretch of the imagination, but it's interesting, and it makes you think. The anime is an interleaving of three entirely different time periods within the life of the heroine, Remy Shimada. They've arrived on a planet where people get visions telling them that they will die. Can she and her friends save their life? Can fate be defeated?

I suggest you get it, it's worth it.

Greatest Evil Plots

All right, the world of comics is littered with evil plots and plans. Generally, they don't work, because one hero or another manages to stumble over them. Still, sometimes you have to admire them for their sheer cunning.

So, what are the greatest evil plots of all time? I'm sure that I'll miss some, but at least, over the next week or two, we'll get to see some of the classics.

For the first of them, a nice "simple" plan. Nothing fancy. Lure Storm of the X-Men out where the White Queen can "body switch" with her. Have Emma waltz into the X-Mansion, and invite in the rest of the Hellfire Club.

Sometimes, simplicity is the best. Sure, you can always add layer upon layer of complication, but the more things you try to do, the more things that can go wrong.

Of course, the real problem with the plan is that they weren't ruthless enough with it. Foolish villains left Kitty and Storm alive... and well




It was a good plan while it lasted.

(Uncanny X-Men 151-52)

Authors are "running out of ideas"

You know, thinking about the "fall of Honor Harrington" as I said in my last post, I'm reminded of the fact that so many of my favorite authors have begun to "lose it."

Tom Clancy: Done lost it.

L.E. Modesitt... getting into a severe repetitive rut.

David Eddings... fading fast

Raymond Feist: On life support

David Weber: midair over a shark.


This does seem to point out the fact that what's even harder than writing interesting books, is to keep drawing stuff from the well that's fresh and interesting.

Take Modesitt... still the author I look forward to the most. The sad part is that he's so deep in a rut. You see it in all of his Spellsong books, all the Corean, and most of the Recluse books. The hero learns who he is, and what his powers are. Fights a desparate battle against forces that badly outnumbers him/her... usually at a nasty cost, both in friends dead, but also in terms of what it does to their body (blindness, et al). They keep getting asked to do more and more, and eventually manage to win out at the end.

You know, my favorite "bit" of Modesitt is still the way that Lerris "discovers himself", not in using his powers, but in becoming a woodworker. That's something you just don't see any more.

It makes it all the more impressive when you consider authors who have a long series of books that haven't "fallen apart".... too bad it's hard to name many.

The Shark's been jumped

All right, going off of comics for a bit, into books.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Honor Harrington has jumped the shark. She's been threatening to do it for a couple of books, but it's official now.

I just got done reading the latest volume, and I have opinions!


(spoiler zone)













(spoiler zone)

Aaaanyway.

I'm not sure which bugged me more... the lost opportunities, the "bigger is better", or the "personal" stuff.

Actually, yes I am. The personal stuff, so I'll get to that last.


Let's start with the first.

I enjoyed War of Honor more than most people I talked to. Yeah, the politics got a bit overwhelming on occasion, but I still thought the book was quite good. However, my main "beef" with that book was that it was taking us back "over old terrain." This latest book is just more of that. We've had book after book after book of Mantis vs Haven. It's time to move up, and move on. Now, this time, there big difference was that the Havenites were actually competant. That said, all we really see is just "more of the same," from what we've been seeing. Yeah, Mesa and Manpower are lurking around, but they are still in the background. Yeah, they're set up to be major protaginists in the next book(s), but it's really time to not just set that theme up, but to run with it.

Also, how do you kill off the character who can easily be called the major villain of the last 2 books in a drunk driving accident? That was totally random. Yeah, he used it to show the idiocy of this war... but it still left me flat.

There were so many things that could have been done in this book, but it was just "MOTS" (more of the same). Not to mention, Weber ran the "Sidemore special" into the ground. (BTW, he copied that one from Isaac Asimov in Foundation.)




2) Bigger is Better.

This was getting silly by Ashes of Victory, and this book just took it yet further. Manties keep deploying bigger/better/smarter systems. Deus ex machina abounds.

Even worse, he decided to do the "big battle". Bleh.


3) The Personal Stuff.

You know, in teaching Bible Class, when people goggle slightly about the way that the Old Testament allowed polygamy, I always make a point. Look at the examples we are given. Rachel and Leah, David's wives, Solomon's wives, even Samuel's parents. These things never end well. You always get some pretty nasty emotional cross currents going. Whether it is "dueling utereses", or "I wanna rape my step-sister," these things always end up being first tier disasters.

So, now we get the institution of Grayson marriage, and the only examples we see (Benjaman's family, and now Honor's), and well... they are nice, and sweet and blissful.

Bleh.

I've been hoping that Hamish Alexander would "pull a Tankersley" for 3 books now. So much for that fond thought.

I'll get the next book, and I truly enjoy the two side series (Saganami and Crown of Slaves), but at this point, Honor Harrington has moved way down on my list of "must reads."

Hope the shark's teeth aren't sharp Mr. Weber.