#Ultimately I come here for a good story not a retread of the comics

[wellzofyouth]

Hot take

But I think comic stans would be a whole lot happier if they stopped judging works compared to the source material and judging works about how they best utilized the source material to tell an engaging and complex narrative. Does that makes sense? A lot of criticism since I got back in comics is relayed to the idea about how all works about xyz needed to be like this because xyz. But that mindset is quite frankly childish. And I'm surprised at how popular it is in these circles.

Comics will never directly translate to the big screen. Entirely different medium. This is obvious.

Due to the long running history of the comics , it is quite *literally* impossible to fit years of history into a 2 hour film or 1 season TV show. A lot of comics build on multiple past issues to build a narrative. Lets just say, a character is originally introduced in an event where years worth of storyline is needed, or referenced, for the story to make sense.

You can NOT put that context into a adaptation. In order to do so, you have to go along with the assumption that the audience understands these characters. This is bad storytelling. This is usually fine with characters like Batman or Spiderman as they're ubiquitous in pop culture, but not for lesser known heroes like Nightwing, or even Wonder Woman. Ask how many people know who Steve Trevor is or who Nightwing is compared to who uncle Ben or Peter Parker is.

The audience must be introduced to the character, grow to like the character, and watch the character grow all WHILE having an engaging plot, and, most importantly in relation to this, good pacing and themes. Including the entire origin of a superhero and how they're technically a God might be interesting to some comic fans, but the general audience will get bored.

So you have to gut, rearrange, and combine certain characters to make the story you want to tell and tell it well.

The first two characters that come to mind when comic fans criticize off source material alone and not engaging with the actual STORY, is YJ and how they handled Cass and how Joker 2 handled Harley. Now I never watched either of them--and it doesn't matter for the point im trying to make--but a lot of the criticism I've seen is just that those characters were different and had different backstories.

It's fine not to like a character because they've changed from the source material. Literally. It's fine not to like a character or story for any reason. But I DO think it's bad faith criticism to call a work of art bad because it changed the source material. News flash: all source material is changed in adoptions. Even the original source material is based off changed source material. Fans of old comics will know the pain of having a characters retcon backstory being the preferred one by Fandom. It sucks!!!! And I won't name names but you're thinking of one right now, aren't you?

I dislike the change YJ did to Cass if i solely compared it to the source material. BUT that doesn't mean the work or even the change itself was bad if the way it was handled fitted the themes, did something interesting with her character in THAT story, or improved the quality and pacing of the story. That's it. Nothing else matters I promise you. Young Justice is only bad because YJ itself is an overrated show.

[mdhwrites]

I saw you on Twitter ask why Hexside was part of the story, and I remember that the school element was something forced on Dana by Disney that she had to work with, which is why it loses relevance come S2.

I'm going to be blunt: I mean Gus, Willow and Amity when I say Hexide isn't a part of the story. After all, a setting is mostly a tool to a writer and frankly I think TOH uses its school setting pretty well. It understands how incredibly useful a school setting is for introducing its characters, enabling easy explanations for characters of a certain age to come together and the sorts of events that are made possible by a school setting, such as clubs, dances, sports, etc. But none of that explicitly had to stop it from being plot relevant. Eda actually gets part of her backstory filled technically the one time she goes to Hexide as an adult. We then get that made redundant by Them's the Breaks Kid. King has a good B plot about stage fright during Grom, though it's contradicted by his one other appearance at Hexide where he immediately takes over a classroom. Still, it was proven that the two could do something with Hexide. Here's the problem: King has two B plots with Gus, one meaningful conversation with Willow and one adventure with Amity where Amity ignores him for the majority of it and he's there mostly for comic relief. Eda has one B plot with Gus, shared with King, zero real conversations with Willow and serves the same role as King in Eclipse Lake with Amity so gets no meaningful interactions with her either. The Hexide Squad (and frankly this includes Hunter too) and Eda/King are NOT ALLOWED TO INTERACT. Eda spends more meaningful time with EDRIC than she does with AMITY. And one of those Luz's girlfriend. And remember that Found Family, especially Found Family with King, is theoretically the most important part of the series as it literally revives Luz and allows them to win. And yet more than half the cast isn't allowed to even interact with the Found Family. Well what about Hunter? Hunter is at least plot relevant, right? Well... Yes. But if you cut out Labyrinth Runners then Hunter can go to the Titan Hunters with Luz and we can spend some time actually dealing with what just happened to him. Willow's role with Hunter in S2 bare minimum is to have a point of connection through "Don't judge a book by it's cover" and "I've struggled with magic too" which... *gestures at the magicless, bullied human* It's really not that different from Hunting Palisman frankly. Amity gets a Hunter moment too but the larger point of Eclipse Lake isn't anything Amity says but the fight forcing Hunter to use/bond with Flapjack which would have been done by Harpy Eda had she not been busy off screen. These are moments that are either wholly unnecessary outside of shipping or just easily replaced by Luz so that Hunter gets a real connection with anyone instead of four half formed ones by the time he's redeemed. And of those three moments, only Amity's holds real character weight for the Hexide character in question. After all, Willow's problems with magic didn't last long, SKARA is one of those 'don't judge a book by their cover' characters for some fucking reason, and Sport in a Storm is generally agreed to be about Hunter much more than Willow while Amity's character stuff in Eclipse Lake is actually relevant to both Hunter and her. It's also, as I want to point out, actually new since Willow's stuff is mostly a retread of Hunting Palisman.

The only other thing that can be argued is the importance of the Abomatons and... really? If that's your argument, it's pretty weak. The Abomatons never are portrayed as a proper threat to the heroes, to the point where they had to make an ULTIMATE MECH SUIT for Kikimora in order to try and say that THAT thing was a real threat. You easily swap out Abomaton for Emperor's Coven Captain and nothing changes except you don't add literal robots to your fantasy setting. And no, I don't count them as golems because the circuitry and metal is what's made out to make them powerful rather than the magic or the magical material. And the final aspect to talk about is themes. I've talked before that either Gus or Willow needed to be cut because they are such natural savants capable of only one form of magic, doomed to never be able to perform others correctly (this is explicitly Willow's issue) that they actually make it look like Belos is straight correct with the coven system. Bare minimum, they both come off as chosen ones in their own field. Amity at least can claim to have studied and trained to get to her position of power. Self expression is very loosely explored with Willow being better at plant magic at least. It's theoretically a large part of what Amity is about but her defiance against the old pressures that made her conform and be bad is so weak and limp that really, how much does it feel like any sort of struggle? This actually becomes worse as the feeling that she does everything for Luz becomes stronger and stronger. Rather than "This is the real Amity!" it starts coming off as "Amity swapped her mom with Luz for who she was modeling her life after." And the final point on this portion I want to make is that Dana claims that from a very early point, they knew they wanted a queer romance. Amity is that romance. The school isn't to blame for Amity never interacting with Eda and King. It's not to blame for how much time Amity's arc took because I do agree with people when they say the romance isn't rushed. It's given SO MUCH TIME as to feel decently natural if we ignore the ease in which Amity discards her past. If the school was forced upon the show... It used it for the part that frankly should never have been a part of the show anyways. Because The Owl House is a comedy adventure with major themes of found family and fantasy versus reality. The romance with Amity is explicitly even framed in the show as part of Luz's fantasy, through multiple lines from Luz, and she is not a part of the found family. Amity has no business here. But Amity is also why the show was more popular than Amphibia, at least on social media.

Let's talk about the Catch 22 that is the Hexide Squad. All of them minus Gus really. Shipping is a very powerful thing after all. Amity is also what allows Luz to be openly Bi in a way she wouldn't be able to otherwise. A way that is more definitive. Amity being explicitly a lesbian was a HUGE marketing point for the show to the fandom, especially as part of why The Owl House is more special than other cartoons. These are also the characters who are most popular in the fandom. They reflect the age demographic (Hunter included) and are pretty well written teenagers so it's easy to see why people latch onto them. This actually got so bad between S1 and 2 that some people who hadn't properly watched the show, only having been exposed to the shipping art, that they though AMITY was the main character. Which I don't wholly blame them for. S1 Amity has really strong protagonist hair.

Without the Hexide Squad, you don't have shipping and LGBTQIA as such forefront elements of the show. It's frankly the exact problem that theoretically Amphibia S1 faced. Lots of people apparently skipped S1 (and I really need to do a blog on how incredibly well written the first couple episodes of S2 are to even allow that) of Amphibia because they didn't like Anne. They didn't connect with the frogs. They needed more of the trio instead because people who look human are much easier to connect with from an audience perspective. Also from an art perspective, they're going to be a lot easier to draw because you have more references and more experience drawing humans. Amphibia knew what it was though. It was a story about friendship, relationships, Found Family, the complexity of relationships and how they're grown, challenged, etc. and S1 of Amphibia is CRUCIAL to that. Frankly, the decision to make Anne unlikable (in a really entertaining way to me and she normally gets genuinely punished in some way for being a bitch) and to keep S1 almost exclusively with the frogs is a braver creative choice to me than probably ANYTHING The Owl House does. Especially if we're not talking about societal contexts, because Amity is frankly, imo, the only brave thing about TOH and her arc of getting with Luz isn't brave or new or different at all from straight romances that have done that dynamic. She's only 'brave' because it's LGBTQIA+ which by the time Owl House would have been greenlit, that ball was already moving for them. Korra for Nickelodeon existed. Steven Universe for multiple reasons for Cartoon Network. The writing was probably on the wall by then for Adora and Catra for She-Ra as far Netflix representation goes. At that point... Disney was being pressured by their competitors to either start including representation in their televised stuff or getting lots of attention on why they aren't including representation while their main competitors are. And no corporation wants that sort of attention. It actually gets worse btw if you don't count SPoP because then it becomes even clearer about them wanting to get ahead of their competition with the first LGBTQIA+ main character and they failed even at that. But that gets into a lot of themes for why every July EVERY corporation, regardless of politics (Minus Chick Fil A because holy shit that company is religious and fuck Chick Fil A), gets covered in rainbows in someway. In fact, to the point where Skittles lost their Rainbow last year to give it to the LGBTQIA+. That's not a joke. That actually happened. But to get back on topic: You also don't get straight shipping with Huntlow. You don't have Gusthollomewl as your mlm representation. Hexide is ALL about the shipping. Literally. Every episode needs to feature a ship being pushed forward. That's why two of Gus' three episodes feature Matt and then his third has that atrocious moment where Hunter is able to identify Willow better than her BEST FRIEND. Hell, let's take this one step further: Them's the Breaks Kid's main function, as one of our very few real glimpses into the past, is to show Raeda. Just make you sure all adore Raeda. Understand that these two are soulmates and if you don't understand that, what the fuck is wrong with you?

BUUUUUUT Them's the Breaks Kid is also arguably the best episode of S2B. It's easily the most fun, possibly more fun and just entertaining than any other episode than S2 as a whole. It's an episode that embodies how much of a waste of time Hexide is, even when using a main character like Eda, while also showing that the show clearly knows how to have way more fun with a school setting than its own fantasy setting. So if Disney forced them to include a school setting... It sounds like Disney knew the strengths of the writers better than the writers did and knew what the real draws to the show were better than the writers. =========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[jaydonsjam]

Werewolf By Night XII

Werewolf By Night #22-23

Werewolf By Night #22-26 - writer: Doug Moench | penciler: Don Perlin (22-26) | inker: Vince Colletta (22-24), Don Perlin (25-26)

The Werewolf fights a disfigured actor! Steve Rand is out for vengeance on everyone who worked on the movie that caused his disfigurement. I gotta wonder if Jason Voorhees’ face was based on Rand’s (or Atlas as he calls himself) because it’s a spitting image of Jason. I checked the dates cause it was bothering me and Friday the 13th didn’t release until 1980 while this comic came out in 1974. Just to put it to bed, since you aren’t hearing my voice or tone, I’m kidding but look at that resemblance!

Anyways, I liked the story here but it does hit on the same type of themes that we’ve seen this comic cover already. Jack fights another monster and accidentally plays hero. I did enjoy the framing around Hollywood and movie sets. That made for an interesting backdrop into the motivations for the villain. Don Perlin did a great job drawing the action sequences and fights. A fun read but it’s also been a couple weeks since I last read this comic so maybe I just missed reading this series but either way, I liked this arc. Plus Buck Cowan actually had stuff to do and a real reason to be in this storyline which I loved.

Werewolf By Night #24-26

The Hangman returns! We get two antagonists in this three issue arc which ends in a three-way-fight at the end of #26. We find out a Doctor by the name of Winston Redditch has developed a serum which is meant to remove the “evil” animalistic side of humans leaving only the “good side”. The problem is that he’s a terrible scientist and doesn’t label his own beakers so he accidentally mixed it wrong and in a Jekyll and Hyde type situation he drinks the evil one! Seriously this dude is an idiot but whatever I can look past it. He then becomes DePrayve and starts wrecking havoc on Los Angeles. Now what does this have to do with Jack Russell? Well Buck wants to get the serum and see if it cures Jack of his lycanthropy. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work. How does The Hangman come into the story? Well he tracks the carnage that DePrayve had wrought and found Redditch and Werewolf fighting. Instead he bides his time and strikes at Jack when he’s running through the city and in a callback to his previous appearance, strings Jack up by his noose. It was interesting to see The Hangman come back but he ultimately gets captured by cops. I still find the idea that he sees everything as black and white and if you stray in between at all, it means you deserve to be punished and dead. The three-way-fight was cool enough. I dug all of the action and I’m glad they took care of The Hangman pretty quickly because that was already starting to feel like a retread. The Jekyll and Hyde wannabe DePrayve plot line with the serum ended up not working so it felt like a waste. It was just another reason and monster for our Werewolf to fight. It does seem like Lissa is going to take center stage soon so I’m interested in that Werewolf plot line with her to be tied up but besides that and Moon Knight coming up, this book seems to just cycle through similar antagonists a bit too much.

[themultiverseofmarvel]

Ranking Every Episode Of Marvel Studios' 'What If...?'

(updated weekly, be sure to check back next week!)

Only two episodes remain of Marvel Studios' What If...? Here is a little sneak peek of what is to come...

Here is every episode of What If...? ranked so far...

#7: What If… Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark

While it was great to hear Michael B. Jordan and Andy Serkis reprise their roles of Killmonger and Ulysses Klau, this felt like a story we really didn’t need to see. It’s the only episode of the show so far where I was genuinely bored at times, and it ultimately seemed pointless and ended up feeling like a more convoluted way for Erik Killmonger to achieve the same as what he did in Black Panther. Just when What If…? needed to step things up a gear, this episode actually held it back.

6/10

#6: What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?

Although the episode had some fun action sequences, this episode really didn’t have much going for it. But perhaps that might have been by design? It was always going to be jarring seeing characters we know and love in animated form, but this episode was basically a retread of something we'd seen before and had some wildly inconsistent voice acting. It felt like it was just introducing us to the What If...? concept.

Not terrible, but it wasn't the best start.

6/10

#5: What If... the World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes?

The key to writing a good murder mystery is giving viewers just enough clues so that they can try and play along. Whilst this episode was fun (and pretty good to be fair) the payoff was slightly underwhelming because it came out of nowhere.

7/10

#4: What If... Zombies?!

Marvel Zombies is something that I, along with many others, have been hoping to see on the screen for many years. Whilst it's not entirely accurate to the comic book version, the 5th episode of What If...? was a fun and surprisingly heartwarming entry to the series. We got to see Hope van Dyne be the Avengers leader she should have been from the start, we got to see characters like Kurt actually get something to do, and we got to see a Futurama-esque version of Scott Lang, which was particularly silly.

This was one of the most gruesome entries of the MCU so far and left us with a twist that I hope we get to revisit in Season 2.

8/10

#3: What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?

How good was it to hear Chadwick Boseman's voice again? After the slightly underwhelming first episode, What If...?'s second instalment provided us with a fun adventure, giving us a version of T'Challa we hadn't seen before, whilst also giving us fresh takes of The Collector and Thanos. We're still waiting to see what will happen after that finale with Ego and Star-Lord. Fingers crossed we'll find out what happens before the end of Season 1!

8/10

#2: What If... Thor Were an Only Child?

By the far the silliest episode of What If...? so far, this episode had me giggling like a child. A lot of the humour throughout the show has been more eye-rolling rather than chuckle-worthy, but Chris Hemsworth was clearly having a blast whilst recording this episode, which in turn made it a hugely enjoyable entry to the series. I couldn't help but laugh at his high-pitched squeals every time he was punched by Captain Marvel.

Considering What If...? is an animated show, and assumedly intended for children, it has delivered some of the MCU's darkest tales to date, so it was nice to have an episode that explored what it is like to be a teenager (even if you are a literal god) and the consequences of throwing a house party when your parents are away for the weekend.

Good silly fun.

8/10

#1: What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

This was the first truly great episode of What If...? and the darkest thing Marvel Studios have ever done, with Benedict Cumberbatch delivering his best performance in the MCU to date. Watching this, it's hard not to wish that Marvel and Disney would take risks as bold as this in their feature films and it proved that they can deliver more mature and darker content alongside the sillier entries such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man.

Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. We only have to wait until February to find out.

9/10

What's been your favourite episode of What If...? so far? Let us know!

[blazehedgehog]

Are you a Kingdom Hearts fan? And what do you think of Sora in smash?

I've said this before, but I wanted to like Kingdom Hearts a lot. It came from my Squaresoft obsession in the PS1 and PS2 eras and I built it up in my head as this great, epic thing. A Square RPG where you visit famous Disney movies? Perfect!

When I got my first PS2 in 2006, Kingdom Hearts 1 was one of the games I bought with it. By then, I was way less enamored with Square-Enix games, and even though I was still excited to play KH, I came away deeply disappointed. All of the Disney stuff was exactly as I'd begun to fear: transparent fan service where you replay worse versions of existing Disney movies. A dozen bland licensed games all rolled in to one.

Gameplay left a lot to be desired. Kingdom Hearts 1 is like a mediocre platformer, mediocre Devil May Cry, and mediocre JRPG smushed together. It tries to do a little bit of everything and none of it is done well.

The original, non-Disney-movie story bits feel like they are trying too hard to be deep without really saying anything meaningful. It's all navel-gazing tripe about "hearts" and "friendship" that's supposed to sound smarter and more artful than it actually is. It's very "precious" in a derogatory way. It doesn't help that a lot of the game feels unintelligible in a way that could be bad translation, bad writing, or both. People call Kingdom Hearts "anime as hell" but I don't think that's an excuse for being a terribly told, inscrutable story. The plot in these games feels a mile wide but an inch deep, while pretending to be the opposite.

So KH1 left a very sour taste in my mouth. I played it up to around halfway through Hollow Bastion. After that, a lot of discourse and discussion I absorbed via osmosis about the other Kingdom Hearts games paints a picture of a series I don't think I'd like. On top of that, the only other Kingdom Hearts game I've played was Re:coded on the DS, and while I liked the microchip skill tree system, the rest of the game was hit-or-miss (and, mostly, a retread of KH1 in terms of characters and environments).

That being said, I keep having friends tell me to at least play KH2, and there's a deep rooted part of my brain that still wants to like Kingdom Hearts. I do not currently own KH2, and I've been told I should get it on PS4 if I play it anywhere, because Final Mix 2.5 has important quality of life balance changes. It's just a matter of buying the collection and starting the game, something I've come close to doing but never made the plunge.

Sora in Smash is whatever. The trailer for him was kind of cool at first, but at the end of the day it feels a little cringeworthy. The whole trailer is everyone in the game waking from the dead to watch Sora gently fly around in a circle and go "look at me, here I am, I'm so cool!" without actually doing anything cool. Like, Sephiroth killed Mario. Kazuya dumped a bunch of people in to a volcano! Sora is basically him jumping up and down waving his arms and everybody clapping for what a good boy he is.

It reminds me of that dumb Batman x Fortnite comic from a few months ago where Batman fights Snake Eyes from GI Joe and the whole server stops to watch them fight because "it's just that epic". It feels like it's trying too hard to sell something that isn't that cool. Ready Player One pop-culture masturbation, in a way. The Sora trailer for Smash isn't that bad, but it has shades of that vibe in it. Maybe I'm just getting crossover burnout.

I never even bothered to watch the gameplay demonstration. It'll be ages before I break down and spend the full $120 to buy all of Smash Ultimate, if I ever do at all.

[cblgblog]

Hi! So I love Steve sm and love finding blogs that also appreciate him! I was wondering if you’ve read any of the comics as well? I’ve only watched the movies and was wondering if I should read them :)

Hi!

So, if you dig MCU Steve, I’d definitely say get the First Avenger prequel comic called Captain America: First Vengeance. It was written before the first film hit, as a tie-in, so some of the stuff it bills as canon isn’t. The age Steve was orphaned, how and when he met Bucky, those things got retconned by Winter Soldier. But it’s still fun. You get bits more of Skinny Steve pre-war. You get some more fleshing out of the Howlies, you get Howard being recruited by Phillips.  And my personal fave, you get Peggy infiltrating Red Skull’s castle and personally rescuing Erskine.

If you’re into the Cap 2 storyline, I’d say check out Ed Brubaker’s run. It starts in ‘04, has the Bucky coming back stuff, but it’s different enough from the film that you’re not retreading the exact same steps. I like Brubaker’s run in general and it goes on for a good long while, so if you do get into it, you won’t be starved for material.

Steve Englehart’s run is meant to be really good too, he’s responsible for the idea of, the government is corrupt as hell, Steve’s gonna put down the shield for awhile because he just can’t with this. That was from the 70′s and is again, meant to be a really cool run, but I cannot personally swear to this as I haven’t gotten there yet, though I’m just about to start it.

Stay the hell away from Secret Empire (2017) it is a trash fire, but after that’s done and Nick Spencer leaves, Mark Waid has the book for awhile, and I really dug that run, story and art both. I actually dig Waid in general, and I think(?) he had the book at an earlier point too, but I can’t swear to it. With the caveat that I have by no means read everything he’s done, I’d say try out anything Mark Waid did with him.

I think(?) Ta-Nehisi Coates still has the book at the time I’m rambling here, and I haven’t gotten there yet either, but I’ve heard good things and I like his work on other books, so take that as you will. 

Also, do not, under any circumstances, read the Ultimate Universe incarnation. He is a cynical, gross, abomination. Like, he’s what the Steve antis think Steve is. So just, don’t hurt yourself that way. Like pretty much anything Ultimate that isn’t Spider-man, it’s best avoided.

So yeah, I am by no means an expert, as you see there’s much I have not read, and I’m also not sure any of that made any sense whatsoever, but hopefully it did a little. If you do decide to try the books, happy reading :)

[andcurioser]

So. Let’s talk about Veronica Mars. *deeeeeeeep sigh*

Ok, friends. It’s been a goddamn whirlwind for me. I actually went to the Veronica Mars panel at Comic Con, which I thought was a highlight at the time. They screened the first episode before the panel, and I was all ready to report back to you all that it was real good and to get excited for the new season, but then Hulu had to go and drop the whole damn series during the CC panel, which was a STUPID thing to do (or, at the very least, an extremely stupid thing to announce to the panel at Comic Con - the exact people who would not be able to watch it until after Comic Con, putting them at risk for some really big fucking spoilers. It’s genuinely surprising to me how little the people who are in charge think about these things. If you want to do a surprise drop (which, why, but whatever), sure, go and do it, but definitely don’t announce it to a room full of people who can’t enjoy it and expect them to be excited??). But regardless. That was just a wtf moment. I was still filled with enthusiasm and excitement and happiness that this show was back and seemed to be in good form. 

Oy. 

Cut to Tuesday morning. I got back from Comic Con on Sunday night, and life goes on, so of course I hadn’t watched 8 hours of TV by Tuesday at 7AM. Which is precisely when my dear friend, whom I adore, but who is apparently an idiot, texted me about how terrible that VM ending was and how upset she was. Now, because I’m a good friend and I know what she likes and we’ve discussed VM at length, it took me all of four seconds to know the gist of what happens in the end. I didn’t know the how or why, but I certainly knew the what. Cue fun spikes of anxiety and random bursts of rage, because what the fuck. Truly, what the fuck. But I placed my certainty at 99% and hopelessly clung to the 1% chance that I was wrong, knowing full well that I wasn’t. This obviously completely stymied any excitement I had for the show, and I dragged my heels for a full month before finally finishing the goddamn show just to get it over with. And now we’re here. 

I’ve had a month to ready myself for what I knew was coming. It was both a blessing and a curse, since while it pretty thoroughly ruined my good time, it also meant that I wasn’t totally blindsided by that ending. And man, I would have been blindsided, because there was Z E R O reason for that. None. And now I’ve read all the articles in which Rob Thomas tries to explain his reasons, and they’re all nonsense. Absolute idiocy. All I see is a guy who always, always resented the fans for loving a character he didn’t want us to, who tried and tried to redirect us to one of his preferred creations without success, and just when I thought he’d finally accepted defeat, he pulls the most nonsensical of fuckery just to finally win the battle. Fuck you, RT, forever and always. I can’t fucking believe that I allowed myself to think you’d finally seen the light. What a ridiculous fool I was for giving him the benefit of the doubt. 

Since I knew what was coming, I could look for the signs all throughout the season. So I searched for foreshadowing, or at least a narrative through-line. And let me tell you: there isn’t one. The season finally, rightfully seems to address Veronica’s deep-set trauma and trust issues but treats them like a problem and not a secret superpower, and it seemed like the show might expect Veronica to grow up along with the viewers who’ve aged 15 years since the first season? I was excited to finally have Veronica be the problem in a relationship, frankly. It was hinted at with Piz, but glossed over because there was only so much time in the movie, but it was realistic for her to have some trouble adjusting to a long-term, committed relationship, and I was excited to see that journey! I thought it was such an interesting path to go down, watching Veronica grapple with what she wants (or maybe just thinks she wants) vs. what she’s always known, or thought she knows. Lots of stuff there! Good stuff! And you get all the way to the end, when she’s finally decided to try. It isn’t fixed, it isn’t perfectly, she’s definitely got a long way to go, but she’s taken a few tentative steps into an uncertain future. And all of a sudden, quite literally, boom. It’s all gone. 

Listen. I was never going to be a fan of getting rid of Logan. However they chose to do it, it would always feel wrong. I have never trusted Rob Thomas to handle Logan well, because he’s always had this undercurrent of anger in every interview I’ve read, this frustration that people love and respond to Logan when he wanted them to love Duncan! Then Piz! Then anyone else! His creations took on a life of their own, and RT hated it. RT was one of the ultimate examples of writers/show runners who were simply watching a completely different show than the rest of us. I could never understand how he wrote such interesting stuff for Logan but didn’t want us to root for him. It never made any sense. But I didn’t think he would sabotage his own show this thoroughly. 

Because here’s the thing: I was never going to like him getting rid of Logan, but I could have understood it. I could have gone along with it if it had been done right. Frankly, the way it was building, it wouldn’t have been a surprise, nor would it even have been a bad choice, to have Logan break up with Veronica at the end of the season. And if RT couldn’t handle Veronica not being the aggressor, fine, make Veronica do it. She decides she isn’t willing to put in the work to change that Logan needs from her, and she ends it. Fine. Could work, at least for a few seasons. Let her deal with the loss, knowing it was something she chose, and see how it affects her priorities as she continues on. Certainly could be interesting! 

You know what isn’t interesting? This. This is the only - the ONLY - plotline that’s a watered down repeat of a previous story. Veronica Mars, traumatized and hardened by the shocking loss of someone close to her? Quite literally, been there, done that. I know RT has been trying to recapture the magic of season one for every season and iteration since, but just repeating the storyline? Really, really missing the mark. There isn’t anything new that can be added to this. We’ve done this. This will only ever be a pale imitation, a tacked-on sequel hitting the same beats with less force. Lilly was a fantastic inciting incident that yielded a tight, well-thought-out season arc. But why would we want to start over 15 years later? What’s to be gained from this? Literally ANY other ending would have yielded multiple storytelling options, branching out with so many possibilities on where the characters could go. This is the only one that simply slams doors shut. 

The few supporters of this ending I’ve seen around the interwebs keep saying things like “this show wouldn’t work if Veronica was happy!” Hell, Rob Thomas is saying the same thing. And to that idiocy, I can only say 1. of course it would, if you write it well, dumbass, and 2. if you think Veronica getting married immediately = happiness, well, what the hell show were you watching? The marriage, much as it could represent a step forward, was still VERY CLEARLY a huge, impulsive jump that was more a reaction than a measured decision. And that was something I was looking forward to seeing. Fresh off of a near-death experience and a renewed assurance of her love for Logan, Veronica marries him thinking that’s the end of their troubles, only to realize that it’s just another complication. Now Veronica has to deal with the new experience of having no quick exit strategy. All the problems they had throughout the season still exist, thinly covered by the veil of newlywed bliss, and she has to reconcile her happiness with her frustration and uncertainty. Logan still disappears at the drop of a hat because of his job. She still puts herself in danger for the case and uses loved ones and acquaintances alike to her full advantage. They hide things from each other. They love fiercely, they trust the other with their own lives but can’t trust each other to take care of themselves. Doesn’t this sound like a complicated, tumultuous relationship full of narrative possibilities? 

Well, forget it, because why break new ground when you could retread old storylines? Yeah, that’s what we all want. Great job, RT. So smart. 

Something that keeps bothering me is that if RT didn’t want Logan around as the happy husband at home but didn’t want to write more relationship drama between them? He already had the perfect excuse to ship Logan off for entire seasons at a time. Look, Logan’s deployed, oh no, he can’t even skype, he’s undercover! Cool, problem solved. No more Logan, but in a way that still maintains possibilities for the future should we want them. Ideal. Again, options. All you want are places for your narrative to go. Multiple roads it could take so it doesn’t become predictable. 

This is predictable. This is boring. This is trite. Our heroes, struck down in their highest moment of happiness. Holy fuck, it’s dull. It doesn’t feel edgy. It feels derivative, a tired rehash of a narrative structure that should have gone out of vogue ten years ago. The whole thing just exhausts me at this point. 

And I’ve read Rob Thomas’s justification for why he did it. They’re all flimsy, but if he wants to go do a Sherlock-style, Ms. Marple mystery series, flitting in and out as he pleases, fine. It won’t be the worst show in the world. Veronica’s still a fun and interesting character, and I’ll always enjoy watching her. But removing her from Neptune, and more importantly, removing her from all of her meaningful relationships, takes away what made this show special. The new version RT is pitching could be fun enough. But it’ll still be just one in a long, long line of mystery shows that don’t have much claim to my emotional investment. I might watch, but I’ll forget about it the second it’s over. It certainly won’t be the kind of show with a fanbase that will still be interested in watching more 15 years from now. Rob Thomas won’t be getting one of those again. 

So yeah, that’s that. I have much more to say, but really I just wanted to get this rant out so I can put it all behind me. I learned long ago that I can’t trust shows and showrunners, and it’s a lesson I learned partly, if significantly, from Rob Thomas. I suppose it’s on me for letting my guard down, but I guess my hope got grandfathered in from an age when I didn’t immediately mistrust the things that were supposed to make me happy. I’ll know better next time. 

[rebelsofshield]

Far Far Away Comics: 9/23/20-10/12/20

Oh wow. Look what I did. I missed several weeks of Star Wars comics again. I promise this shouldn’t be a pattern. Hopefully. We’ll see.

Anyways, here are multiple weeks worth of Star Wars comic reviews featuring every major series that IDW and Marvel are releasing right now.

Star Wars #7 written by Charles Soule and art by Ramon Rosanas (Released on 10/7/20)

After a stellar conclusion to his first arc, Charles Soule moves forward with his second major storyline in Star Wars with a showdown between a scattered rebellion and a new Imperial enemy.

With the Rebellion still recuperating after its routing at Hoth, Leia tries desperately to not only reconnect with the disparate Alliance groups but also strike back at the Imperial forces hot on their tail. Unfortunately for Leia, Commander Zahra leads the Imperial fleet tasked with this mission and she has a bone to pick with the former Alderaanian princess.

Charles Soule has more than shown that he excels at writing villains. His takes on Darth Vader and Kylo Ren have become character defining story arcs and even some of his best work on Poe Dameron came in the exploration of the hapless First Order Intelligence Agent Terex. Now, Soule gets to introduce a new antagonist of his own making and she’s pretty stellar. Commander Zahra is introduced as not only a calculating and cunning Imperial naval commander, but also one that has a cruel streak to her and a need for vengeance. Her past connections to a Wilhuff Tarkin display an unexpected but consistently menacing take to this classic Imperial officer. It makes for a surprising and engaging issue even if it mostly amounts to an extended flashback to catch us up to speed on Leia’s newest nemesis.

Thankfully, the match up should prove interesting. Not only do Leia’s actions at the Battle of Yavin give Zahra a personal vendetta, Soule also positions Leia in a role where she can demonstrate her skills as a military commander. It puts the Rebellion and the Empire on close to equal footing which is a fun spin on a story that could have easily felt like a retread of Kieron Gillen’s outstanding “Hope Dies.”

Ramon Rosanas takes over for Jesus Saiz this issue and while his work doesn’t have the detailed flair of the comic’s usual artist, his pencils live up to the visual style established by the series. He particularly excels at large scale action scenes displaying expansive fleet combat with a sense of size and scoped. His characters prove slightly less impressive with a tendency to draw characters in the same stern mood throughout.

Overall, Soule and Rosanas have set up a strong follow up to the series’ standout first arc and set up one hell of a confrontation to come. Let’s see some blaster bolts fly.

Score: B+

Star Wars Adventures #1 written by Michael Moreci and Nick Brokenshire and art by Nick Brokenshire and Ilias Kyrias (Released on 10/12/20)

Yup, you read that right. Star Wars Adventures is starting fresh with a shiny new #1. The reasoning for this isn’t quite clear for as far as I can tell, the series is operating with close to the same status quo as it has been from the start. Offer two all ages stories of adventure set in the Star Wars universe with lots of colorful art. Even the stories feel like a neat continuation of the ones we were getting in  our pre-Covid reality. Regardless, new numbering or not, Star Wars Adventures remains its same charming self. Bursting with energy and good natured enthusiasm, it’s still one of the best Star Wars comics out there.

The meat of the issue follows a story of Finn, Poe, and Rey set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. Any story following the sequel trilogy trio is appreciated and Michael Moreci crafts an enjoyable little tale of Finn and Poe trying their best to assist Rey in her new steps into Jedi training. Of course, being Star Wars, things never go as easily as planned and soon the crew run a foul of some pirates. It’s definitely fun to get to see some of our three heroes together and one can’t help but wish that maybe the adventures of Rey, Poe, and Finn could be a regular feature. Ilias Kyrias’s pencils are sure to be controversial with their overly stylized proportions and character designs, but they make for a unique looking story and capture some of the energetic action of the piece with a cartoony flair that feels right at home with the Adventures mission statement. It’s not going to be for everyone, but it hardly needs to be.

The one tangible difference between this volume and the previous is that the fun but static “Tales from Wild Space” has been replaced with a different back up feature, “Tales from Villainy.” As the name would suggest, these are shorter and more serious stories focused on the various members from the Dark Side. This week, we begin with an appearance by Darth Vader written and drawn by Nick Brokenshire. The result is a fun, well-drawn little bit centered on Vader’s role in the Battle of Hoth. Brokenshire renders Vader with a PG rated wordless intensity and the result is fun and dynamic even if there isn’t a lot of dramatic meat to chew on.

Score: B

Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars Battle Tales (Released on 9/30/2020) written by Michael Moreci and art by Derek Charm and Philip Murphy

Over its unnaturally extended run, Star Wars Adventures: The Clone Wars Battle Tales proved to be a surprisingly entertaining little tribute to the fan favorite animated series. With a gorgeous looking frame story by Derek Charm and creative clone centric anthology stories, Battle Tales was both colorful and surprisingly smart, often times telling stories that felt surprisingly more consequential than the standard Adventures outing.

Unfortunately, its finale ends with a bit of a whimper. It’s not that this final outing by Michael Moreci, Derek Charm, and Philip Murphy is bad. Not by any means. It’s just as colorful and delightful as any other Adventures comic. But that ultimately proves to be its biggest disappointment. After several issues of meeting and exceeding the expectations of a standard Adventures script, writer Michael Moreci more or less falls back to familiar tricks. It’s fun to see Obi-Wan and Commander Cody team up with ice Ewoks to fight General Grievous, but it’s not something particularly new to this brand and it doesn’t expand on the clone’s understanding of the Jedi like the previous issues have. It’s fun and Moreci seems more than content to leave it at that.

After weeks of build up, the finale to the Battle Tales frame story ends with little fanfare. There’s not much of a conclusion to speak of and lacks the artistic or storytelling fun of some of the previous Adventures mini-series heights like Vader’s Castle.

I still would recommend this series to any fan of The Clone Wars, but not as emphatically as I may have a few weeks back. There’s definitely joy and explosions to be had, but in the end, they turn out to be the familiar kind. As odd as that is to say.

Score: C+

Star Wars Bounty Hunters #5 written by Ethan Sacks and art by Paolo Villanelli (Released on 9/23/20)

Bounty Hunters is back for more face slamming violence, cool character designs, and questionable choices.

With Boba Fett, Vance Beilert, and Boba Fett all locked together in a close quarters space ship, the truth of their mission to Corellia all those years ago is finally out and it turns out it was a bit of a mess all around. Sure, Nakano’s act of mercy may have been the first act of chaos, but Vance Beilert’s inexperience and Fett’s bloodlust lead to the thorny crime war that they all find themselves involved in now.

It’s a smart idea, but it all feels a little cluttered. Ethan Sacks’s script looks to not only give us the full truth of the disastrous Corellia job, but also flesh out Nakano Lash’s past and also wrap up the double crossing bounty hunter beatdown that has dominated this arc so far. As a result, it all ends up feeling a bit confused and there often isn’t much of a clear thread to carry the reader through. The continued presence of violence against women as a central plot point to this series also can’t help but feel off putting at this point. Sure, Bounty Hunters is a brutal book, but when you have two issues in a row of new female characters killed off and imperiled pregnant women, it begins to feel in poor taste.

Thankfully, Paolo Villanelli is there to distract us with some gorgeous art and brilliant fight sequences. Villanelli along with colorist Arif Printo still manages that magic trick of providing dynamic action sequences that feel violent and energetic without ever losing detail or clarity. The smackdown between Vance and Boba Fett is particularly satisfying, with both hunters employing all members of their arsenal for some great panels of punching, slashing, and blasting.

It can’t all just be cool fights though. Bounty Hunters is going to have to really start digging into its characters and fix its creeping misogyny if its going to be a must read comic, but as it stands, this a book best rifled through. Look at the pictures, wince at the fights, and put it back.

Score: C+

Star Wars: Darth Vader #6 written by Greg Pak and art by Raffaele Ienco (Released on 10/12/20)

Darth Vader’s been bad. Well, not the right kind of bad. Turns out that failing to turn your son to the Dark Side and running of on a personal crusade to discover the truth about your deceased wife, isn’t the best look for a Sith Lord. And Ol’ Palpy sure ain’t happy.

Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco provide some interesting personal consequence for Vader after the over the top and sometimes emotionally clouded first arc. With Sidious’s apprentice once again letting him down when his assistance is most needed, the Emperor unleashes a painful and total punishment. The resulting issue is a brutal and humiliating stripping away of the life that the former Anakin Skywalker has built for himself. Palpatine looks to make Vader rebuild himself from the ground up if his place in the Empire is to continue. It’s a simple read, but one that carries big consequences for the character down the line and some smart connections to The Rise of Skywalker. (Maybe Pak can help us make sense of that mess.)

Raffaele Ienco turns in his best work to date here. Ienco draws a creepy as hell Palpatine and his take on Mas Amedda feels both intimidating and appropriately slimey. Ienco also manages to nail Vader’s emotions here. The awkward sad face mask from issues past is stripped away and some smart framing and posing makes for a Sith who has clearer emotional depth while keeping the violent menace of his character.

This issue itself may be rather simple, but it sets up an exciting second arc for the series and even some long lasting emotional implications for our broken and battered Sith anti-hero. Let’s see how this burns.

Score: B

Star Wars Doctor Aphra #4 written by Alyssa Wong and art by Marika Cresta (Released on 9/30/20)

The second volume of Star Wars Doctor Aphra continues to disappoint. The decision to revert back to Aphra’s tomb raiding roots is a smart one and Alyssa Wong is undoubtedly a smart writer to spearhead the character’s next chapter, but four issues in and this comic is still sputtering out the gate. Maybe I have just too high of expectations for this character given how stellar Kieron Gillen and Simon Spurrier’s writing was for the last several years, but something about this latest volume is failing to connect.

It may be that after four issues the majority of the characters are failing to really congeal into anything substantial. We finally get some backstory on Just Lucky that adds a bit more drama to his betrayal last issue, but it still feels too little too late. The numerous hidden agendas throughout the first several issues may have done more harm than good as it kept the characters too distant and now that we know their true goals, the circumstances are too chaotic to really get a sense of person.

Aphra herself also feels like a bit of an afterthought here. While previous Aphra stories have certainly been full of big action and big ideas, they still came around to being morality stories about our lonely, morally bankrupt title character. I’m not clear what Wong is trying to say about Aphra here. In fact, at times she feels like something of an afterthought.

There are some bright spots though. Wong’s spooky approach to space archaeology still feels eerie and inventive in all the right ways, and one can’t help but wish that maybe she had leaned into it harder and delivered a Doctor Aphra cosmic horror comic.

Marika Cresta’s pencils prove serviceable. Her character designs are for the most part still largely unimpressive even if she gives surprising life to some of the Tagge henchmen. Like Wong though, Cresta is best served by all things ancient. Whether it’s old spaceships or ancient tombs, Cresta brings eerie and sometimes beautiful detail to the galactic old world.

Now if only Doctor Aphra could get its mind off the past and more into the brains of our main cast.

Score: C

[d3sertdream3r]

How do you feel about Boba Fett coming back? Personally I’m really upset that the whiny fanboys are getting exactly what they want AGAIN 😤 Why do they only listen to the most toxic people?? Mandalorian was a great show, now idk if I’m going to watch season 2. I don’t want more meaningless nostalgia in Star Wars 😔

Ohhh boy. Buckle up folks; this is going to be a long one!

Little disclaimer before I begin; I don’t have any inside knowledge of Lucasfilm or Disney. I’ve just been collecting knowledge over the years from many different interviews, autobiographies, behind the scenes content, etc that inform my opinions. I’m merely a random citizen with binoculars trying to see what is going on over there, because it’s definitely been one train wreck after another these days.

Now let’s kick it!

I was conflicted about the Boba Fett news. The prequels were coming out when I was a kid, and I actually saw those movies before the originals; the prequels ARE my originals. They were Star Wars to me. When people mentioned SW, the first people that came to my head were Anakin, Obi Wan, and Padme; not Luke, Han, and Leia. I already knew who Vader was when I watched the originals because of this, and I also knew who Boba Fett was. He was Jango Fett’s son and a fellow clone of the troopers.

When I watched the originals, I felt like his death was stupid. Not because I thought his armor was cool, but because like I said; I knew who he was. So hearing that the official canon is bringing him back made me happy for that poor boy that watched his father get decapitated to have his chance at a more fulfilling ending. However, like you, I was annoyed. Because the fanboys have been getting everything they want lately even though they are never satisfied with it, and the women of the fandom have been largely ignored.

But I’ve been watching Gallery, the documentary about how The Mandalorian was made. Keep in mind it was being made around the same time as Tros, yet the themes and messages are completely the opposite. Dave Filoni gives a speech in the second episode of Gallery that covers the mythic storytelling of SW from The Phantom Menace to Return of the Jedi. It’s very powerful and is the essence of everything most of the female fans have been saying from Day 1.

This got me thinking about the behavior of certain LF employees on social media towards Reylos and female fans in general, while others have been very supportive and blatant that they didn’t like Tros. Actors in Tros that spoke of redemption and a unique ending for the movie that later changed to confused faces when asked how they felt about the film. Chaotic productions of films and shows that always result in “creative differences.” Empty nostalgia in Tros vs deeply thought out lore and heartfelt themes in the video games, tv shows, comics, novels, and TLJ. I feel like there is a civil war going on at Lucasfilm.

Some of them want nostalgia, fan service, Luke Skywalker as the untouchable God of Star Wars, evildoers to be punished without remorse, Rey to be the new vessel of God Luke that stays pure and stands alone, etc. The fanbros certainly back those people and I think Bob Iger/Disney does too. That’s why Tros happened; JJ said he was on the phone with Bob every day during production. And Bob told George Lucas that pleasing the fans was more important than anything else when The Force Awakens was being made, which GL did NOT agree with at all. He even admitted that GL said he felt betrayed by the vision Disney had for LF.

Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy are massive GL fans and close friends of his. They worked with him a lot before Disney bought Lucasfilm, and they know how he likes his Star Wars and what it all means to him. I’m not KK’s biggest fan, but I don’t blame her for Tros; she has shown she ain’t afraid to fire people if they try to create something in SW that doesn’t match up with the themes of it, as seen with how she dumped Colin Trevarrow’s terrible script. She was personally responsible for both Adam Driver playing Kylo/Ben, and Rian Johnson directing TLJ. She tried to get Rian back for Tros but he was busy with Knives Out. She wanted to push back the release date so there was time to make sure the ending was fulfilling. She has said many times she wanted this era of SW to be for the younger generations and new fans, not retreading old ground and pleasing those who were in theaters for the originals. As soon as JJ was put in charge of the film, he was spending his time talking to Bob Iger instead of her. He also didn’t work with the Story Group at all, which shows why it creates so much dissonance with all the other stories in SW.

Meanwhile Rian worked closely with Story Group, exchanged notes with Dave Filoni, talked a lot with KK, etc. You could say he got an A+ on his homework! 😉 Rian was backing George’s vision and his themes and what he was trying to tell the world when he started production on A New Hope. GL liked TLJ a lot and talked to Rian right after he saw it to tell him it was beautifully made.

So, it seems the root of the problem here is the battle between the creators that support George’s inherently feminine and compassionate version of SW, and those that support Disney’s space ships and fanbros version of SW.

Dave Filoni is 100% on the side of George Lucas, KK, Rian Johnson, and good old Joseph Campbell’s version of Star Wars. He is the one that is in charge of all SW tv shows. He oversees The Mandalorian. Season 1 was marketed as a badass bounty hunter kicking butt through the Outer Rim, but it was actually about a lonely man longing for a family and a deeper purpose in life. Instead of just being a random guy kicking ass, he is a guy trying to protect his child from evil; it’s all about family. Like SW is supposed to be. Like what Tros miserably failed at and then attempted to claim it was.

Dave didn’t bring Maul back or Ahsoka back several times just to please fans. He did it because it was good for the story; those characters supported the themes of family and redemption and mythic storytelling in different ways. I don’t think he is bringing Boba Fett back for nostalgia; I think he is going to use him in a way that will develop the themes of the story and ultimately support GL, compassion, redemption, family, and love conquers all.

I don’t have any idea how yet, but all I’m saying is that the last season of Clone Wars had several shot for shot parallels to TLJ. There is a reason for everything he does, even the framing of a scene. So I have a lot of hope that bringing back a character from the dead will have a great reason too.

Let’s hope that someday George Lucas’ Star Wars wins the battle when it comes to Ben Solo as well. Until then, May the Force be With You!

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of Marvel: Week of July 17th, 2019

Best of this Week: Uncanny X-Men #22 (Legacy #644) - Matthew Rosenberg, Salvador Larroca, David Messina, GURU-eFX and Joe Caramagna

It’s the end of an era and for once, I’m terrified.

I’ve been a fan of the X-Men for a long time. I’d even go so far as to say that they’re my favorite team in all of comics ever because of the range that their stories can go, from tales of marginalization to various stories of abuse and moral relativism, the X-Men have been amazing so why has it taken them so long to feel relevant again? At some point even the best books run out of good stories to tell or end up retreading old waters for a drink of nostalgia and that’s been the X-Men for the last five to six years. 

Cyclops had become what Magneto was, young versions of the original five were brought to the future, villains like Mojo and Exodus were brought back, Sentinel threats reemerged, X-Men died and were brought back. In the grand scheme of things, it was all a mess with no cohesive direction and Marvel noticed. In comes Matthew Rosenberg who, I admittedly, was very wary of because I hated both his time on Astonishing X-Men and the Multiple Man mini-series. I don’t know if it was all his idea, but he decided to wipe the slate clean with a new Uncanny X-Men series and… it was stupendous from start to finish.

In the aftermath of Emma Frost’s actions from the last issue, the X-Men that are still on our Earth have found a peace that Mutants have never known. With humanities knowledge of mutants erased, Scott Summers is at a loss and questioning what his role in life is now that no one needs protecting. He and Dani Moonstar, aka Mirage, wax poetic on the nature of mutations and what their next course of action is. Scott is morose, seeing as his mutation made him function primarily as a weapon to fight back against humanity as it tried to destroy him, but now that they don’t know he exists, what is he good for?

The dynamic between them is interesting. Scott has been fighting since he was a teenager and he’s only ever seen this life as one big war. Dani is still young, but has the experience of several lifetimes and all that she can think of is helping people. Both of them have experienced loss but process it differently. Scott sees all of his friends as soldiers in the fight where Dani sees them as family. Of course this is because Scott has been leading everyone for so long and Dani has gone through thick and thin with the New Mutants, the Fearless Defenders and the X-Men themselves. 

This causes a disagreement between the two and she simply walks away from him as Alex Summers, aka Havok, speaks with his brother about the freedom of being ignored over being targeted. On their way back to the Hellfire Mansion, Alex explains that every bit of leadership he’s ever had to exhibit was learned from Scott. Even with all of his brooding, Scott has been a great leader and it definitely helped when Alex was an Avenger, and he lets his brother know that he’s thankful for it before they’re attacked by some kind of golden Sentinel.

Scott’s unable to damage it and Alex surmises that they’ll never make it back to the mansion before the Sentinel kills them both, so in an act of self sacrifice, knowing that his powers won’t affect Scott, he self destructs and destroys the evil machine. Soon after, more arrive under the control of the General that originally help Emma Frost captive and target the remaining mutants. The battle is hard fought with heavy casualties before the rest of the X-Men return from Nate Grey’s utopian world, winning the battle for mutantkind.

This is the final issue of Uncanny X-Men and it ends on a bittersweet note.

*Slight SPOILERS BELOW*

Havok, a man who was on top of the world, brought low and tried to climb his way back up made the ultimate sacrifice just so that his brother could continue being the leader he is. Madrox, who was just brought back to life has met yet another grisly end, but the status quo has reset though very similarly to the Astonishing X-Men or Mutopia eras in a way. Jean Grey has returned to Scott, Emma and Magneto appear to be on the side of angels again and the X-Men are choosing not to hide anymore.

Shifting focus from this amazingly written and fantastically drawn book, I want to look towards the future and the threads left untied. House of X begins next week and I don’t know how to make heads or tails of things. Who is the man with the giant globe on his head? Is it professor X who had recently taken over the body of Fantomex and is now known as X? Will Magneto ever make use of the Brotherhood he established late last year? What will happen to Illyana now that she’s a demon again? I don’t know, but I am very excited.

This run was great. Rosenberg wrote everything in the most dire way possible given the situation and it fit each and every month. Scott remained hopeful in the face of ever present adversity, flanked by Logan who back up almost all of his actions. Characterizations were great from Dani acting as a voice of reason and Hope being a militaristic badass and the surprisingly black humored Jamie. Larroca’s art never faltered in being action packed but also still and dark.

Whatever comes next from this team, I have high hopes for.

---------------------------------------------------

The “Superior” Spider-Man is actually starting to live up to the ideal.

Runner Up: The Superior Spider-Man #9 (Legacy #42) - Christos Gage, Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, Jordie Bellaire and Clayton Cowles

After the events of the War of the Realms, the Spider-Man of San Francisco is awarded the key to the city for his efforts in making sure that there were zero casualties as Frost Giants stomped their way across SanFran. He accepts the gesture, but “crime” calls him away, only it’s not a crime, he simply thinks he has better things to do with his time than deal with the trivialities of ceremonies. He heads back to his lab and converses with Anna Maria about her making him go to the ceremony and summarily dismisses his colleague Emma after she apologizes for freaking out on him on their first date. 

Otto seems to be in a bigger huff than usual and takes his frustrations out on a minor villain by the name of Turner D. Century. Century’s quickly defeated after a savage beating by Otto and the surprise appearance by Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Peter shows up at the request of Anna Maria and being one of the men who knows Otto best, he simply asks what’s wrong. Otto has been irritable, moody and angry since he saved the city and he obviously has no one to talk to.

He immediately spills to Peter that while he was able to keep San Francisco safe, thousands of people still died in the US, more abroad. He removes his mask and Hawthorne paints the face of a man that’s tortured by guilt and doubt. Otto feels that he’s the greatest mind in the world and that he should have thought of something. He doesn’t want to hear Pete say that he can’t save everyone, but it’s eating him up inside that he can’t. 

By far, this is some of the best character work and advancement that we’ve seen from Otto in a while. He tried to become a hero, tried to be a good guy while he was inhabiting Peter’s body, but now that he’s doing it on his own and seeing the fruits and consequences of his labors, he sees how hard it is. He’s becoming a good guy and I’m here for it.

After Peter tells him that he’s doing the hero thing right, Emma shows up on the roof that they’ve swung up to and Otto breaks down in tears in front of her. He tries to posture that he’s a loner and asks if he looks like someone that needs anything from anyone before being held by her. He cries in her arms and they finally go on a second date with a surprising enemy spying on them.

I love it when heroes become good guys, no matter how brief it might be, watching Otto rise before his inevitable fall is interesting. I love the fact that he’s sort of mended fences with Anna Maria, I love that he’s found a near intellectual equal in Emma. He has a life and is using his smarts as a teacher and a hero in San Francisco. His ego is still huge, but he’s finally starting to see his faults, becoming Superior than Doctor Octopus.

Mike Hawthorne’s art is stellar. He has a talent for faces and body language. Otto expresses frustration, annoyance and grief; not only in his face, but with the slumping of his shoulders, the shaking in his hands and the tension in his fists. He even somehow finds a way to differentiate between Peter and Otto's bodies given that Otto's is cloned.

This Superior Spider-Man has far more emotion in this one issue than Otto's had in the many years since the original run. It's a joy to see the once horrible villain embrace his own good emotions for the benefit of others. This is a definite high recommend!

[loopy777]

Since you are asking Lok type questions decided to ask one. Ozai was a villain that had potential (Shishio's Mantra comes to mind) but overtime his depth came across as a flat piece of Cardboard with a tape recorder attached. Thanks The Search. Flash forward to LoK we have Unalaq that retreaded similar territory. This is where my question comes in. What would you have done with him, what motivations would you give, and what sort of relationship would you have given him to Korra and the cast?

I’ve been delaying answering this Ask because when I normally do these kinds of ‘rewrites,’ I try to hone in on what it seems like the story was trying to do, and see if I can reconfigure or streamline the ideas in play to create something clearer and more impactful. That’s a lot easier than what the original storytellers had to do- start from scratch and build something from the ground up. I’m essentially doing another draft of their work, with the benefit of having experienced their vision and knowing what worked for me and what didn’t.

But wow, it is hard to do that when nothing worked for me and I’m just left confused about what the original intention was, or if there was an intention at all.

OH HAI BOOK SPIRITS.

You bring up Ozai as a fairly flat character, and I agree, but I never expected more of him. (Whether the comics could or should have added something to the character is an open question, and not one I’ll get into here.) He is a symbol of the bad parts of the Fire Nation, cast in the form of the ‘evil warlord’ archetype that’s so prevalent in the Wuxia genre that AtLA draws from.

Similarly, the villains of LoK all represent something, but they add some complexity of character to things (although of course some were more successful than others). Amon is intolerance and weaponized blame, but coming from a terrible childhood that created a self-loathing he couldn’t grow past. Zaheer is anarchy and ideological extremism, but he has that intriguing affability that alone of all villains lets him sit down with the protagonist and make some good points in conversation. Kuvira is dictatorship and nationalism, coming from the lack of identity she developed as a result of being orphaned.

And then we have Unalaq and Book Spirits.

And I just don’t know what’s going on in that season.

There are several different subplots in play - the Water Tribe Civil War, Varrick’s takeover of Asami’s business, the rise of the dark spirits, Korra and Mako’s romance, whatever is going on with Tenzin’s family, and the little movie about Avatar Wan - but none of them work together. They don’t share themes. They don’t advance each other’s events. They mess with each other’s pacing. They separate the cast before a sustainable dynamic has been developed. It’s just a mess.

Varrick gets the closest to working, because at least I understand some of his motivations. He’s doing bad things to try to help his Tribe in the war with the Northern Tribe, which is sympathetic, while serving as a flawed mentor to Bolin. But then he’s also sabotaging efforts to get weapons to the Southern Tribe so that he can bankrupt and buy out Asami’s company, which directly contributed to his Tribe losing the war. It’s a mess, and the story never reconciles these two contradictory aspects of his character.

Varrick could have been fixed by either eliminating one of these subplots (either make him a patriot driven to doing bad things, or make him a greedy jerk who’s exploiting his Tribe’s troubles to steal Asami’s company), or making the contradiction the point of his character. His flaw could be his greed, and he fails to balance it with his patriotism, to the point where he defeats himself. I don’t think this is what the cartoon was trying to do, because there’s no payoff to this flaw in the story. Varrick never shows such greed in his later appearances, and there’s no point in Book Spirits anyone seems to even be aware that he sabotaged himself.

But then there’s Unalaq. And I- I just don’t know what’s going on with this guy.

He’s introduced as something like a religious fundamentalist. He’s down on celebrating a spiritual festival with a carnival. He offers teachings to Korra that contain secrets even Tenzin and the White Lotus don’t know. He’s friends spirits to the point where they’re acting as his informants. And his ultimate goal is to release Vaatu and bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS. There’s a possible cautionary tale there about religious extremism and fundamentalism, that it turns people into misanthropes and forms a path to violence and oppression.

But, unfortunately, there’s more to Unalaq. His backstory includes manipulating his brother and enemies of their Tribe to destroy a sacred forest so that he could be made crown prince. He takes over the Southern Tribe for seemingly no reason, oppressing it just to further antagonize his brother, directly trying to kill his brother, and manipulating Korra into doing his dirty work- all eventually leading Korra to cut ties with him and become his enemy.

But Korra is the key to his whole plan to bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS!

So, we have another self-sabotaging villain. Maybe that’s the point? But what is this story saying? That religious extremists are really just flawed hypocrites, despite their posturing? But the story continues on from there, and Unalaq actually succeeds in getting Korra to redeem the plot coupons that free Vaatu. So his flaws didn’t ultimately matter to the story. Korra isn’t even able to successfully rally any opposition to Unalaq, thanks to Varrick and her conflict with Mako. So, again, what’s the message? That religious extremists are really flawed jerks, but the people who oppose them are also flawed jerks, so it’s all a wash? But then Korra gets new magic powers that ultimately let her defeat Unalaq, so what does that add to the message?

I guess it’s saying that we’re all doomed to TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS by our flaws, but it’s okay because a Higher Power will just come along and fix things for us?

Yeah, I don’t think that’s the intended message of Book Spirits. :P

But we all know Book Spirits stunk. We all know it was rushed in development. The original plan was to just do the story of a Water Tribe Civil War, and then when additional writers were brought on to help meet production deadlines, the whole Spirit World subplot was added. The result is a mess that’s infamous in the fandom. LoK would recover in the next season, and we now laugh at Unalaq.

Well, I’m going over all that to explain why I’m not sure how to 'fix’ Unalaq. I can’t identify a goal for him, or for any of the characters.

So on a whim, I’m going to try to base him on my favorite (neglected) subplot in LoK as a whole, the lack of spirituality in the modern world.

It was established in the very first episode of Book Air that Republic City is flawed. The city that Aang built is riddled with organized crime. The people are all mean. Equalists are a growing movement, and they might possibly have a point about the power imbalance between Benders and Nonbenders. The leadership is all either corrupt or ineffective, and also mostly jerks. Tenzin says, “I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it, but you are right. It has fallen out of balance since he passed.” Korra soon after promises the people, “Look, all I know is Avatar Aang meant for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world, and I believe we can make his dream a reality.”

So I think Unalaq has the most potential as someone focused on the same goal as her, restoring balance and spirituality to a world that has gotten lost in its own modernization. I’d cut out his conflict with his brother Tonraq; in my version, Unalaq never manipulated his brother into getting exiled. Tonraq did that on his own. Unalaq’s oppression of the Southern Tribe doesn’t extend beyond imposing his own religious fundamentalism on them. Maybe he even tries to butter Tonraq up to get his brother on his side, and to keep Korra as a willing ally.

And, most importantly, I wouldn’t give Unalaq any hidden agenda. He’s not plotting to unleash TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS. He doesn’t even know about Vaatu when the story starts. He puts his plan of taking over the Southern Tribe into action simply because he learns of Korra’s mission, and is overjoyed that he finally has a powerful ally who sees the corruption in the modern world. Perhaps he previously considered Tenzin as a possible ally, but Tenzin was turned off by Unalaq’s extremism. (Which is the first warning sign for the audience. Tenzin thinks this guy is too down on modern society?!) We can keep the part where Korra cuts ties with Tenzin because of the revelations about her past, going along with Unalaq despite her misgivings.

So Korra learns super spiritualism from Unalaq for a while. He shows her how to destroy dark spirits. (Neither of them know what’s up with the dark spirits, just that it’s suddenly a problem.) They work together to decry modern corruption. They make the Southern Tribe go to church once a week under penalty of law. Perhaps they go up to Republic City to try asking the citizenry if they’ve considered letting the light of balance into their lives, check out these pamphlets, etc.

They discover that the Dark Spirits are a result of the modern world’s corruption. Just like Hei Bai was turned into a monster by his anger at his forest being burned down, and the Painted Lady was nearly destroyed by her lake being polluted, the Dark Spirits are nothing more than injured, crazed, dying spirits. The Southern Water Tribe is drilling for oil and disrupting the environment. Oceans are being polluted. Forests are being cut down. The big new cities are producing enough waste to poison the land around them. People don’t commune or talk to the spirits anymore; there’s a shortage of sages around the world. The spirits are being driven violently insane even as they’re being wiped out.

So Korra and Unalaq become environmental terrorists.

Perhaps we can fit in a conflict between Mako and Korra at this point. He’s not really into her new course, and they break up. Perhaps he drifts back towards Asami before the official breakup, leading to both girls kicking him to the curb. We definitely won’t do anything with Korra getting amnesia and maybe forgetting that they broke up. That was pointless and just created more problems for the subplot. As a bonus, this can be an excuse for Asami to maybe bond directly with Korra.

Mako angrily confronts Korra about her tactics, but he just winds up antagonizing her and accomplishing nothing. Asami, on the other hand, demonstrates a more deft touch, and reaches out to Korra in a way that works. Asami gets Korra to see the damage being done, and the ineffectiveness of the tactics. Asami is sympathetic to Korra’s cause and wants to help, but can’t if Korra just wants to wipe everything out.

And that’s the key. Korra and Unalaq are failing, partially because of their extreme tactics, but also because it’s just impossible to turn the clock back. They make no dent in Republic City’s lack of balance. Unalaq is horrified. Korra, too, but Unalaq is really crazed by this. He wonders if humanity is even worth saving. Korra backs away from that, partially because of Asami’s influence; of course humanity is worth saving, she’s seen the good in people, etc.

And during this conflict between them, they learn of Avatar Wan’s history, and the whole story of Raava and Vaatu.

And this is where Unalaq falls. In his extremism, he sees that Vaatu has the power to destroy everything and start it all fresh. So he sets out to free Vaatu, become a Dark Avatar, bring about TEN THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS, yadda yadda. Unalaq falls from grace because of his uncompromising vision. Extremism has poisoned him.

Korra is nearly defeated by him, but as in the cartoon, it is Jinora who somehow provides a key to winning. In this case, though, Jinora is a not a Magic Fairy Princess who’s always been able to see spirits. She represents the best of the new generation and the modern era. Jinora is spiritual, even more so than Tenzin, but she’s also someone who loves Probending and getting into a little trouble in Republic City and terrible modern cooking. Jinora, perhaps along with Ikki and Meelo, are symbolic of the balance that can be achieved. So Korra defeats Unalaq, and does something with Spiritual Energies that create a new generation of spirits living in the modern cities. Korra also sets out to find compromises so that the lands are no longer being polluted so much, to help preserve the old spirits. And, to everyone’s surprise, Airbending is discovered to have spontaneously returned to the world, perhaps the start of new respect for balance and the elements, and a new calling that the people will answer…

Which will be explored in Book Change.

So, that’s my idea. It requires ditching the whole Water Tribe Civil War, and all the shenanigans with Varrick and Bolin. I’m honestly not sure if Varrick can be worked into this storyline. I love the character because he’s hugely entertaining, but none of what he did in Book Spirits is worth preserving. Perhaps he could be tied in to the corruption of the old spirits, that he’s using them as batteries like with Kuvira in Book Balance. His can be a symbolic defeat, that his loss and exile is a tangible sign of respecting the environment. As a symbolic victory, we can also show Asami rolling out some environmentally-friendly reforms with Korra’s help, further building up their friendship, and establishing a partnership.

(Varrick is later hired by Suyin, and later Kuvira, in a kind of Operation Paperclip deal. They’re fine with his awful sciences. But Varrick is slowly influenced into abandoning his ways, and by the end of Book Balance, goes to work for Asami.)

As I’ve previously posted, I’m not crazy about Tenzin’s family troubles, so I’d like to just cut that. Bumi and Kya can still show up, but I think Tenzin’s subplot should be questioning if, as Korra and Unalaq fight their crusade, he’s really living up to Aang’s ideals. He spends time with his family, until Korra arrives with news of Unalaq’s plan to unleash and bond with Vaatu. He tries to help, Jinora proves to be more help, the journey to the Spirit World to chase Unalaq happens, but they can’t stop him, and during the fight Jinora is seemingly destroyed, but really sent to the Fog of Lost Souls to be rescued by her father. And we still get our Zhao cameo. Booyah!

I have no idea what to do with Bolin in all this. But then, neither did the cartoon, so that’s fine. His subplot in Book Spirits was the most confused, and that’s really saying something. Maybe he goes into exile with Varrick, and they both pop up in Zaofu as established members of the leadership there? Perhaps Bolin and Opal are already a thing, and Opal being an Airbender leads him to reconcile with Korra and the others. I don’t know, Bolin’s character never did anything for me.

Eska and Desna can be Unalaq’s minions. They have misgivings when Korra breaks ties with him, but continue to try to help their father and maybe moderate his darker tendencies. They fail, and wind up having to help the good guys. There’s no romance with Bolin and Eska.

So, that’s my take. There’s a lot of rewriting here, in pursuit of finding some message. I just focused on character arcs, and I’m not sure what the final battle would look like. (Hopefully not an episode of Ultraman.) I’d still like Korra’s connection with her past lives to be destroyed, as I think that really works as a character moment and low point for her. I’m not sure how to accomplish it, because I prefer the power of the Avatar State to be the actual accumulated power and minds of the past lives, rather than Raava. I also eliminated everything to do with the Spirit Portals, because they never made sense to me, what with AtLA showing spirits going back and forth between the worlds without any trouble. Vaatu can just be unleashed in a more mundane way. Maybe Wan Shi Tong knows and tells Unalaq, getting that cameo back in. And I really have no idea what Bumi and Kya are doing here, besides hanging out with Tenzin. But we know I have difficulty with their subplot.

I’m not if this would actually be better, but it’s more streamlined, at least. And Unalaq becomes, I hope, someone who is understandable. We don’t sympathize with his methods, but can at least see where he started with a reasonable hope but went very, very wrong. And, as a bonus, we’ve avoided another case of childhood trauma causing someone to become evil!

Score!

[robedisimo]

Black Panther [SPOILER-FREE REVIEW]

[Disclaimer: this review is based on the Italian dub of the film. As such, all opinions on the quality of dialogues and acting are subjective and partial.]

So, it’s been a while since my last review and, to be completely honest, I didn’t expect Marvel’s Black Panther to be a hard one to come back on. I went into this movie expecting to enjoy it thoroughly, and in many respects I did, just... not as much as I thought I would. To cut a long story short, I spent the better part of a week trying to make up my mind about whether I walked away from this movie impressed or disappointed. Here’s what I’ve got so far.

First of all, let’s address the mini-skirted elephant in the room: in more than just a few coincidental ways, Black Panther is a retread of last year’s Wonder Woman. Both films star characters who were introduced as supporting players in a previous movie, in both cases big tentpole cross-over films – Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War, respectively – revolving around a conflict between the two main figures within the respective mega-franchise universes. Both act as more self-contained tales, in terms of cross-franchise elements, than previous movies in their narrative universes, and both feature different but thematically contiguous settings in the shape of secluded, secretive, mythology-laden kingdoms ruled in utopian perfection by a fictional society reflective of one of America’s mistreated social minorities.

On the production side of things, both were surprisingly helmed by directors known for poignant, socially-involved projects – Monster’s Patty Jenkins and Fruitvale Station’s Ryan Coogler – and, on the promotional side, both sailed towards theatres on a wave of sheer hype, being hailed as the beginning of a new era for Hollywood blockbusters and propelled forwards by baffling headlines – born, I assume, either out of stunningly poor memory or else a frankly understandable wish to forget that Steel, Supergirl and Catwoman ever happened – about how they were the first female-led, or black-led, superhero movie ever made.

Neither film, it goes without saying, rises to meet those unrealistic expectations. Though entirely enjoyable in its own right, Wonder Woman was an uneven and ultimately formulaic film that tried to juggle too many things and be too many different movies at once, and Black Panther certainly falls into the same category to a lesser degree. Part James Bond instalment, part Lion King and in part also Thor rerun, what we got on our hands in the end was a fairly mundane genre flick with a number of highs but also a handful of lows.

The good: the film looks amazing. Where its DC equivalent was content with just a few opening minutes of generic pseudo-Greek utopia, Black Panther instead realises its fictional setting to a much deeper, richer degree, to often impressive results. The mythical kingdom of Wakanda is most definitely a kind of spectacle not before seen in theatres, a bold vision of African futurism that meshes hi-tech sci-fi with tribal spiritualism in oftern stunning fashion. Its setting is easily the film’s best aspect, brought to life on the shoulders of the great conceptual design work done by Marvel’s art team.

On top of that, Black Panther is energetic and well-acted, perhaps with less overt humour than most recent Marvel projects but certainly fast and action-y enough to satisfy genre fans. The story is emotional and poignant, and Michael B. Jordan definitely shines – although I feel a pang of white guilt in reporting that Andy Serkis, for once appearing with his own tribal mask of a face, steals away the trophy for most enjoyable performance in the film – as one of the MCU’s most complex theatrical villains to date... if not, like Cate Blanchett’s Hela before him, one that truly and definitively manages to buckle well-established Marvel villain trends.

The soundtrack – if a touch obtrusive at times – is another of the movie’s high points, way less hip-hop-heavy than trailers suggested and much more genuinely African in its tones and beats. For a film that’s obstensibly about identity, the fact that its visuals and acoustics come together to form such an original, easily-identifiable cinematic brand is certainly Coogler’s, and everyone behind him, greatest achievement here.

The bad: the film looks amazing, except when it doesn’t. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is definitely developing an overreliance on CGI lately, and even Black Panther’s rather sizeable budget can’t do much to distract from some of the film’s worst effects – no spoilers, but you’ll know when you see it – and its general overabundance of green-screen shenanigans, especially in the cliché-laden climax.

The action itself isn’t especially praise-worthy either, despite a couple brief highlights: much like in Creed, Coogler blows his best action scene midway through the film and it’s all downhill from there, with a few missed opportunities along the way. The film’s focus on hi-tech gadgets, for example, sort of fizzles out without much fanfare after a while, with the same two or three tricks being repeated throughout the movie.

Other issues may be found in certain aspects of pacing, although in that area your mileage may vary. Black Panther starts off a tad slow, and then unfolds as a series of self-contained vignettes that take too long to develop a coherent throughline. When the plot finally kicks in it works in fairly satisfactory fashion, but there’s one big twist that honestly could’ve been dropped earlier in the film’s generous runtime and, generally speaking, I feel that the script could’ve stood one more round of polishing.

So make no mistake: on my personal scale, as far as enjoyment of my theatrical experience is concerned, the verdict at the bottom of this review should not rise above “MOSTLY POSITIVE”. It gets knocked up a peg for two specific reasons:

Black Panther’s impact on the American public is undeniable. In the United States, the film’s themes resonate in a way they simply can’t anywhere else, and as such this is the one Marvel movie that is perhaps the least designed for, and the least accessible to, foreign audiences... even if it is frankly quite mystifying that Wakanda’s core values would end up being framed in the context of the plight and struggle of people of colour in America, rather than pretty much anywhere in the surrounding African continent. Ultimately, I think, it’s not even a matter of said themes being satisfactorily addressed or resolved, and indeed Coogler’s film presents challenging ideas that are entirely unexpected from a superhero movie, but – partly because the script starts dealing with them too far into its runtime, as I mentioned – there’s not really the proper time for them to breather. Other critics have written that Black Panther is more interesting to think about than it is to actually watch, and I tend to agree: the ideas behind this movie are impressive, but their execution is not always the best. Despite that, Black Panther most definitely is an important film, at least in the here and now. Its missteps are easily overlooked in light of that, just as I imagine Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historical speeches would’ve still be commended for their convention-buckling message even if the reverend himself had been saddled with a comical stutter. This movie’s heart is in the right place, and it’s easy to see why that is being rewarded above all else.

From a purely technical standpoint, my viewing of this film was crippled by an adequate, and just adequate, Italian dub. I’m perfectly capable of recognising when a mediocre localisation gets in the way of a film’s original underlying richness and this was most certainly the case, with the whole English-language cast providing an array of diverse – and, I’m sure, memorable – performances, many of them in fictional African accents, that got “flattened” to an unvarying standard inflection in the version I got to see. At least in that respect, I expect a second home-video viewing in the original language to elevate my opinion of the performers’ work.

So in the end we’re left with a pretty tough question on our hands: is Black Panther a movie that exploits the genre to draw attention to relevant political themes, or one that exploits those political themes to justify its run-of-the-mill script? It is perhaps both, and that becomes a rather large problem when the film can’t make up its mind as to which of its two identities deserves its full commitment. Nonetheless, I’m eager to see how this franchise, and the larger Marvel machine whose gears grind around it, carry forward what’s been put in motion here. For the time being, Black Panther is perhaps not as good as it could’ve been... but even then, it seems to be good enough.

[Verdict: POSITIVE]

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 8.16.2017

Slightly overdue and quite possibly not at all aniticipated, I have at last finished the Wednesday Roundups and have come to give my usual reviews and ratings~

So let’s get into it

DC’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC/IDW’s Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures, DC’s Batwoman, Image’s Descender, Marvel’s Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine, DC’s Gotham City Garage, DC’s Justice League of America, DC’s Super Sons, DC’s Wonder Woman

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows (2016-present) #10 Ryan Stegman, Nate Stockman

It’s amazing how, for close to ten years now, I have felt like Peter Parker -- as I knew him and grew up with him -- has been a shadow of himself in Marvel comics. The potential for his growth, the sense of personal responsibility, everything that I had felt him growing toward while I was an avid Spidey fan felt gone back when I stopped reading because I felt like the illusion had been purposefully broken.

Peter was never going to grow up, he was never going to move forward, and his lifetime of adventures were never going to have consequences that truly stayed and mattered. 

Now, that’s a general disillusionment longterm comic fans all have to face some time, and it’s always going to be felt most severely on those that brought us into the business to begin with, but it’s one I always struggled the most with when it came to Spider-Man. Because the MC2 had sort of given me a “preview” to what his next steps could have been, and how his story could continue as a father and family man. I knew it enriched the parts of Peter I liked rather than took them away. Missing that in current iterations was dreadful.

But, amazingly, and wonderfully, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your vows seems to provide for me what a decade of previous Spidey books could not. My Peter.

Story: Considering this is a one-and-done story, albeit one obviously leading up to the upcoming arc, it feels like it completely uses its pages and panels to their fullest with no wasted time and no sense of drag. Honestly, the fast pace in this issue is more reminiscent of classic pre-trade comics rather than the current lay of the land which seems more interested in first expanding and dragging stories out. And this manages to do it with three stories wrapped up by the end. 

The main story is about Normie Osborn, his birthday, and what will be his driving motivations to become the next Green Goblin. It’s honestly heartbreaking to see the complexities of a completely bratty kid whose suffering ultimately stems from the anger and frustration of having lost his father at a young age and feeling completely alone and misunderstood because of it. As the main POV character, we honestly get to dig into his rottenness and his tragedy more than most new villains you usually see and I love that as simple as his motivations are, you can really get the sense that it’s believable for a kid to fall into these trappings through his inability to properly grieve. It sets him up to not only be the antithesis of Annie, as I’ve been imagining he would be, but a foil to Peter as well, and that’s pretty fascinating in a character I genuinely feared was going to be pretty one-note.

For the B story we have Peter and Annie May bonding on a father-daughter day. I think this is vital not only because we just came off a Mary Jane focused story but because it’s that relationship that ends up saving them in the end. I love how Peter’s both protective of Annie, but supportive and grateful of her in a way that’s both completely Peter and also the signs of a great parent who is not ashamed to be surpassed by his child and wants her to know when he’s proud. They’re absolutely adorable, and relateable, and I love that Peter has obviously taken after Aunt May and Uncle Ben when it comes to being a parent. Usually it’s seen as “cooler” or “more interesting” to have good guys/childhood heroes grow up to be bad parents even against their characterizations beforehand just because it’s edgy, and I’m just so grateful that Renew Your Vows hasn’t fallen into that. 

The less expanded other subplot in the background is of the Lizard and his son desperately trying to get some sort of Oscorp chemical to save the son from... something. I may need to reread, but I’m fairly certain this will be set up in the future for a continuing storyline but it also works well here to emphasize the importance of parent-child bonds. 

Art: I honestly have been really impressed with the art on this title from the start. It’s very agile and creative while also not stylized to the point of being cartoony. The colors find a nice balance between being bright and having a touch of grunge and texture to it. If you’ve been a fan of the art for the book beforehand, you’re going to keep being a fan because I know I am.

I also want to take a moment and applaud a book for doing the rare thing these days and maintaining its art style and individual character for ten issues. That may not seem like a whole lot, but nowadays it feels like such an accomplishment to just have an artist on two consecutive issues let alone a rotation of artists who at least attempt to adhere to the certain style of the book. 

Characters & Dialogue: I went into Normie more above because he was so central to the plot of this issue, but it stands to be said again that I’m just genuinely floored by how well this comic does with making a layered and rounded villain out of what could have so easily been a stock Evil Child Genius version of Norman Osborn. I mean it was even in the name, and that impresses me so much. I like how there’s a sophistication to his dialogue, but also both his dialogue and running monologue are shorter sentences than you usually see with such educated words, which still makes it feel like the voice of a child. It was a neat little touch.

Peter also is just such a great character in this book. He gets less panel time than Normie, but in that time we see the layers of Peter. He’s protective, he’s funny, he’s supportive, and he’s quick to leap in head first. But while this Peter maintains all the fun of a younger Peter Parker (one that lets his daughter eat a disgusting amount of ice cream to be on her good side), there is a kindness and push toward empathy that seems more nuanced and matured to him than the Peter of old. His final words to Normie are both heartbreaking and full of pathos. He obviously regrets not being able to save his friend, but he’s also recognizing the signs of tragedy repeating itself in Harry’s young son. It’s a great, subtle moment.

Annie doesn’t get as much time as Normie or Peter, but we can see that her skills as a vigilante are advancing quite nicely, but her confidence is still stunted slightly. At least, it is around her father, who is of course her biggest inspiration and biggest hero. Even when she saves him, she is cautious to be excited about it, both because she’s concerned for him and also because she is concerned about making mistakes. Ultimately she’s adorable and full of sugar so I don’t think there’s anything not to love. 

DC/IDW’s Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2016-2017) Matthew Manning, Jon Sommariva

Honestly I don’t know why I’m being rewarded lately with my favorite franchises getting amazing official crossovers, but I am, and I’m so happy about it. IDW and DC have been collaborating quite a bit for the past couple of years -- with IDW getting to release those original Mister Miracle omnibuses and now getting all these crossovers with arguably their biggest property to date and DC’s biggest property to date. Twice. 

The thing is, I was a pretty big fan of the first Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover by Tynion and I wasn’t really all that sure what to expect with this new crossover and whether or not it’d repeat the same steps or if it’d be able to capture either the DCAU or the TMNT2012′s tones in the process of telling its story. 

Fortunately, today’s all about me getting squarely handed my butt with these surprises!

Story: My concerns about this retreading the meet-and-greet storyline of Tynion’s crossover were pretty much immediately dashed thanks in no small part to Manning absolutely nailing the tones of the two cartoons right from the start. There’s monsters, there’s mayhem, there’s an actual mystery to solve (holy crap remember when Batman used to solve mysteries) and the badassness of the Shredder was on display without allowing him to make a cakewalk of the Rogues Gallery. 

I just loved how everything was able to tie together with these two continuities so neatly, and how it made it just that much more interesting for the ultimate reveal of who was behind the whole even, even if it was hinted at from the very first issue. It was a great mystery story of following the clues until we got to the end.

Oh wait. No. It didn’t get to the end because the story wrapped up in issue five of this six issue series And I’ll be honest... this really baffles me to the point of almost taking me out of my praising mood. 

Like... I’m not going to say that this was perfect at all until #6, but it was well paced, well choreographed, and it made full use of a huge cast of characters with lots of neat crossover potential satisfied nearly on every front -- we got Bats in NYC and we got Turtles in Gotham, we got respective villains in both. It was an incredibly solid, fun crossover that had a very satisfying conclusion. And then another issue. 

Obviously they wanted to expand on this story more. The Gotham Rogues shined the most for the first five issues, really driving the plot on all sides, and then #6 had the Kraangs taking advantage of the previous mayhem to enact their own invasion of Gotham. And there were obviously a lot of years that passed in between -- obviously in Gotham since we moved from B:TAS to TNBA, but also the Turtles while eternally teenagers seemed a bit older, and I don’t think it was a mistake on Manning’s part that April or Karai or any of the other growing Hamato clan’s members didn’t come through the portal with them. With a series that is still very much airing, they just couldn’t risk too much continuity plot holes since who knows what’s happening next. 

And I really get that, but if that’s the case, then perhaps the first storyline should have been 3/4 issues, and then allow this second storyline to have at least more than 1 issue. The way it stands now it seems more like a cruel epilogue teasing a future crossover continuation than an ending to what was otherwise a super solid and tightly written crossover. 

Art: The art was fantastic. Seriously, not only were both of the very different animated series’ styles represented in the art, but it was still very much its own blend. Everything felt cohesive without being overly off model from the original designs... Okay Barbara had some pretty strange anatomy in a few panels. Or pages. More than a few. Look, we have to do something about boob sock costumes especially if she’s going to be standing right next to April -- who’s her size and not that much younger than her -- who proves that this artist has at least seen someone wearing a sport bra before. 

But other than that, I really liked the art and I believed the colors REALLY popped. And I have to also thank this publication for having the common human decency of putting the covers between the issues which the collected version of Tynion’s crossover did not have in the least. 

Characters & Dialogue: Obviously a crossover is going to boil down all characters to the characteristics fans identify them with the most both for recognizability and so that we have the fun of seeing favorite characters bouncing off each other through a crossover. What’s the Joker like with Shredder, what’s Raphael like on fear gas, what’s Batman’s exchanges with Leonardo like. 

That’s the fun of a crossover and I don’t really expect noncanon crossover comics to dive into a character study and provide any type of growth throughout the issues. It’s good fun.

That being said... I’ve never been a huge fan of Don’s girl craziness in the TMNT 2012 series but could let it pass for his genuine affection for April that is beyond “oh wow a girl!!!”, they have a genuine relationship. But having him drooling over Barbara all the time just makes me annoyed. 

And also means that we can add Donatello of the freakin’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the never ending list of characters in comics who have hooked up with or fallen in love with Barbara Gordon. Let the woman live, people.

Other than personal nitpicks, though, the characters are great and it felt like the best of what I love from both of these cartoons brought together.

DC’s Batwoman (2017-present) #6 Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV, Renato Arlem, Adriano Lucas

Oh, my long standing annoyances, will you ever allow me the peace of just enjoying a story instead of giving me a reflexive groan to the heavens each time I start reading tropes I don’t like. Like Bad End Future flash forwards where everything is fascist and terrible? 

Maybe. Depends on how gay things are allowed to be. So let’s get into it -- can Marguerite Bennett’s ability to write almost anything to my liking, can she make a Same As It Never Was Future Tense The Savage Time Futures End 2099 Watchmen Current America that I’ll appreciate reading?

No. But the effort is incredibly commendable!

Story: As is probably gathered by my response here to begin with, I’m not easily won over by this “darkest timelines” filler stories be it in comics or movies or television episodes. It just rarely affects the current storyline of the characters, will be retconned or lead to huge plot holes in the future, or just in general has nothing particularly fun or interesting to say. 

And I’ll be honest, current times just make me that much less interested in fascism being used in my escapist media. Like. Guys I just want to watch superheroes punch Nazis, not my lesbian Jewish superheroes help begin some sort of fascist totalitarian state with way too much Nazi imagery like good lord. 

Anyway, there were things that I found interesting from the start. Kate seems to be trying to dismantle the system she is guilty of starting, Jason is... honestly he’s somehow the Dick Grayson of Batman Beyond 2.0 and working with Kate so that’s weird. 

Somehow, beyond all common sense, Harvey Bullock is still alive? 

I do like Renee as Commissioner but as sweet as it is to have older lesbians in a comic... *long suffering sigh* Look, I might be sensitive to this because I just watched Atomic Blonde or maybe because I’ve always been pretty uncomfortable with the treatment Renee has gotten compared to Kate but... There’s just something supremely off putting to me that a brown woman is portrayed as having the long standing unrequited love and can’t move on to find her own happiness and then dies for the tragedy of the white woman. 

We really have to look at these patterns and start questioning things here. 

Also Tim is evil Batman. Again. Stop doing that, Tim. I barely put up with it during “Titans Tomorrow”, and I don’t nearly have that much of a relationship with your current incarnation that I had with that Tim. Just saying. Watch your butt, Birdboy.

Art: The art is very good. There’s a few fun action splash pages, I thought the panels were organized and flowed really well, and best of all I really enjoyed the fact that Gotham actually had color to it for once. 

Too many times artists seem to think that Gotham can only work in shades of gray, but I found the cityscapes a lot more interesting and popping with this style. So that’s encouraging that we may once again get a change in how Gotham looks.

Characters & Dialogue: Bennett is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers so far as characters go -- I’ve enjoyed almost all her work from both DC and Marvel and she maintains that here. I don’t know how much input Tynion has on the Batwoman scripts right now to earn that writing credit but being more familiar with Bennett’s work now I really felt this story was more hers than his. 

That being said, and as strong as the characterization is, I’ve always felt that Bennett does have a tendency to write internal monologues from characters with this distant narration that feels cold and impersonal to the story being told. That works here, given the circumstances and how this is supposed to feel alien and unfamiliar to the Kate we have been reading in the previous issues. But I would argue that it’d work better if most of the internal monologuing and narration didn’t come off that way in other stories. 

Image’s Descender (2015-present) #23 Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen

Man is Image killing it with their creator owned line. It’s hard to imagine what sci-fi could really elevate the genre in comics more than the likes of Saga but it absolutely feels like Descender is aiming squarely for that spot, taking the more cerebral route of an AI or Blade Runner which is needed more in comics in a way that’s still approachable. But other than nerds like me, does it manage that approachability?

Couldn’t tell you since I am a nerd like me, so I’ll just lay out my perspective.

Story: It feels like for over 20 issues now we have been building to the point where all of these factions of characters would meet and their plots would begin to overlap, which makes it all the more just shocking that we’re at that point. It’s definitely a huge task given the sheer number of characters in the cast at this point, but I am also incredibly tempted to say that because we’re in the middle of this “chapter” (and yes I’m saying that a lot this week) you really feel the lack of a beginning or ending on this one. We have so many characters we’re following at one time that there’s not really any other way to tell this story but in fractions. And as enjoyable as that is, it means you either have to sacrifice POVs every couple of issues, or you have to drag out tension for each plot across multiple issues. And we’re doing the latter.

Now I don’t want that to come across as a condemnation, it’s just a fact of the way this story’s being told. And personally I don’t think that makes individual issues as rewarding as it is to read a whole chapter in succession. And yet, I can also say with confidence that what I do love about this story and how I’m hooked on finding out what happens next, I personally feel invested enough to buy per issue rather than wait for trade, at least for now. So perhaps I’m too analytical on this issue right now. After all, I’m not having difficulty remembering from issue to issue what each group’s plot is or what danger we left them off at the time before, and it’s usually when that begins to blur that I feel a comic is worth waiting until the trade. 

Art: I am a huge fan of Dustin Nguyen, as always, but I’m once more burdened with the question in my own mind “is the water colors fitting for this harsh, slick, futuristic setting” and I just still can’t say that I feel that it is. It’s beautiful, and as someone who has been reading comics with Nguyen’s style since all the way back during the Winick run on Batman, it’s impressive how far his style has developed and how much he’s honed his craft. But that doesn’t mean that specifically the choice to make this a textured water color comic rather than a digital comic was the best aesthetic choice, and I know at this point I am beating a dead horse with that opinion, but it’s just what strikes me as so off putting each issue. Especially since we are in a science fiction story, taking place almost entirely in outer space, and yet the majority of backgrounds as well as space between panels is white. It’s just a real disconnect that I can’t tell yet if it’s being inventive or going to eventually have a symbolic meaning with the story. 

Guess I’ll have to wait and see with everyone else!

Characters & Dialogue: Another difficulty with this kind of storytelling and seeing every character for a few pages each issue is that there’s not a whole lot of time to really advance characterization unless it’s over the span of a whole chapter. So I have to imagine that things that seem small in the moment -- Tim-21′s escape, the doctor saving Telsa, Effie telling the Nagoki what he “wanted to hear” will all have vast implications in the upcoming issues, but it’s not something I can dissect as it is now. 

That being said, I really do love all these characters and I love how lovable they can be while still understanding how they can view each other as utter monsters due to their own pasts and motivations. It’s pretty amazing work on Lemire’s part. 

Marvel’s Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine (2017) #1 Tom Taylor, Ramon Rosanas

Somehow, someway it snuck up on me over the past year or so that Tom Taylor just has absolutely made my life better with his contribution to comics. Like, that’s a weird epiphany to have in the middle of a Wednesday night, but my friends on Discord with me last week got to witness it in real time. I love Taylor’s writing, and most importantly I love how he writes Laura, I love everything about her under his pen and I’m glad to have back-to-back weeks of his Wolverine. 

This week... with a TWIST!

Story: So what’s happening in the Marvel universe right now? Couldn’t tell you. I imagine the timey wimey shit for Secret Empire has allowed for this crossover within a crossover within a summer event but I have no actual context other than I wanted to pick this, the Ms. Marvel, and the Spider-Man comics up. Because that’s how I role. I have wisely stuck to my guns throughout this summer and only read Marvel titles which, y’know, fucked off into space for a whole summer-long arc rather than stay around for Nazi Apology feat. Steve Rogers of Earth-whatever. I’ve been much happier for it!

The point is, we get a crossover with Wolverine and Wolverine. A Logan from before he knew Laura, and a Laura who... looks like she’s in her X-Force uniform for some reason? Uh. Again I’m completely going in blind on this one I have no context, but we’ll assume it’s a pre-All-New Wolverine in spite of titles because she doesn’t seem to have any problem murdering people and that’s like a whole Thing in All-New and I can’t imagine Taylor, who’s writing it, would like... forget that. 

Anyway, it’s an excuse for a team up where Laura is helping Logan same Amiko from being kidnapped by the Hand and gives her some life advice while getting some much needed life advice of his own. And it’s as simple as that and yet not simple at all. Like most of Taylor’s stuff, the embrace of the general comic book premises belies a much deeper purpose that you can look for, and this is all about Laura and Logan’s relationship, or at least the relationship they both wish could have been. It’s closure in a way, for Laura to receive an open hug from a Logan that’s still very much her Logan, but is not yet as jaded as to not give her a much needed hug. 

Oh, Logan. Whenever you eventually reincarnate yourself back into the main Marvel Universe as yourself and not a clone or another universe’s son or another universe’s angry grandpa or as another long lost son or as another clone or as a dying salamander, I hope you keep this message to heart.

Art: It’s wonderful. I mean the anatomy’s great, the colors are muted but still varied, there’s some real tone to Laura that some artists don’t give her enough of. I could nitpick a few things like costumes (woops already did) or that Logan didn’t meet my personal Hairy Enough for Wolverine requirement, but the main criticism I’m really going to have here is that this had a very simple panel structure for the majority of its pages which could use some more variation, especially for action scenes. But then again the best scenes weren’t action but were of the characters actually interacting so I think simple panels for simple things is more than appropriate.

Characters & Dialogue: I’ll be the first to admit that Logan’s not really my guy. I don’t go out of my way to read a lot of Wolverine where he’s not in a team book or a crossover or a team-up or another team book or another crossover or a tv show or another team book. And I have a lot of frustration with him in the majority of those. It’s kinda my thing with Bruce Wayne -- when I love him, I love him, when I don’t, I really don’t. 

But, to me... this was good! It was maybe even great. Strangely dynamic for Logan and it was just overall interesting to see Logan written by Taylor and it not being from Laura’s perspective. I’m so used to his voice for Laura that the gruffer, less nonsense and more weary tone from Logan was surprising and fitting. And it made the final pages just that much more poignant.

And of course Taylor’s Laura is just my tastes to a T. So everything’s good by my account. 

DC’s Gotham City Garage (2017-present) #1 Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Brian Ching

I had no idea this book was coming out. I had never seen advertisements for it. I had no idea what to expect. And what I got was Robo Cop meets Fury Road meets Road Warrior meets DC Bombshells. And maybe Blade Runner. 

Given that this is a digital first and I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I still have... no idea where this could be going or what it’s based off of other than those statues that used to be sold by DC with everyone on motorbikes and the mentality of “hey people like Bombshells! Let’s try this statue collection too!” with apparently no memory of how that worked out for them with Ame-Comi Girls. 

Did I mention this is trying to repeat the lightning in a bottle of Bombshells? I feel like that can’t... really be... overstated. 

Story: uhhhhhh Well. This is tough to nail down because as a Digital First it’s very short and I also have no idea what’s going on so my judgments here are... lacking, let’s say. And I have nothing but questions. Like. Why is it in Gotham and fascists are Batman themed while Lex Luthor is in control. Why is Kara adopted by Jim Gordon. Why is there a picture of Barbara and Kara together but no mention of Babs in Kara’s monologues or so on. Why are humans robots and robots humans. Are humans robots at all. How did Jim know about Kara’s super powers if she’s never been in the sun before. 

I k now I’m just listing questions but that’s basically everything that happened to me while I was reading and I just... have no answers to give you. 

I just think we can all agree that Big Barda does, indeed, wear a mohawk just like she wears everything else: like a boss.

Art: It’s fine. I mean, digital comics are always a bit rougher around the edges due to their incredibly tight update schedules and I always try to account for that. And it’s a cute, inoffensive style that definitely is going to try to undercut the no doubt supremely scanty clothing of the... garage...girl...people. And I liked how dull and gray toned everything around Kara looked in the Garden while outside there was almost a sort of sepia tone but the real colors came in with the... garage....girl...people. But even then, there are little visual cues throughout, like Kara’s own colorful accents despite wearing “assimilated” clothing. No doubt that’s going to be gone soon when she joins the...

Again, I can’t express enough about how much I don’t know what’s going on.

Characters & Dialogue: We really only have Kara as a character right now and while she definitely has a voice, it’s not really one that I would say stands out in the crowd of YA character types. I’m not trying to be dismissive of that -- I actually think that Kara has always worked best as one of the Youths’ outlets in comics, but it’s basically just. Too early to really give my feel on things. 

Basically I feel like I wasted everyone’s time with this review lol

DC’s Justice League of America (2016-present) Vol. 1 Steve Orlando, Ivan Reis, Andy MacDonald

I have some huge reservations about this title, but after really thoroughly enjoying the Road to Justice League of America Rebirth storyline that came before this, and loving the majority of the lineup as much as I did, I was ready to give this comic some time to really find its feet. Not to mention I’ve enjoyed Orlando’s work in the past. But now we have to see how well lofty expectations hold up.

Story: I’ll be honest with you, the most distracting part of this entire project is that Bruce is like... bankrolling 40 different superhero teams right now with none of them being the Outsiders and I find that shocking and unusual. Especially since there’s already a Justice League, Bruce seems to be making this particular team all about “second chances” and...Lobo’s on it. 

But to my surprise, this was actually addressed by the story. Not answered by any means, but the characters for the most part seem very self-aware of the oddness of their team given Dinah and Frost’s conversation with each other on the subject. They allude to there must be some reason that Bruce has decided on the team that he has if he’s willing to go through all of this trouble. 

Especially Lobo. Who is on a Justice League team. This is... Well it’s a thing, for sure. 

Throughout this volume all of the cast gets major moments to shine, I felt like, and the relationships were explored to quite an extent, but this falls into the problem that so many other comic books from DC does too, and that is that no moment can be too great or grand... without Batman immediately showing you up, taking credit for the situation, or just completely dismissing it out of hand. Oh, classic Batdickery.

Art: I actually felt the art was very good under both main artists on this title. It’s very house standard, in that it’s very much trying to replicate the Jim Lee standard style that almost all the DC line was all but forced to produce at the start of the New52. But it’s still fun and I enjoy the costume designs for everyone, especially Vixen who seems to have my favorite costume I’ve seen on her yet.

Characters & Dialogue: This is a huge cast, so the ability to focus on any character... other than Batman, I’m sure for regulars to comics this is the furthest thing from a surprise. Still, there are some genuinely unexpected relationships, most of my favorites revolving around Ryan Choi. 

Most of these characterizations aren’t going to be groundbreaking for any of the characters, but of course this is also the only place where you can get most of these characters anymore, which sucks especially if they’re some of your favorites. So there’s that. 

DC’s Super Sons (2017-present) #7 Peter J. Tomasi, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez

The real question of the ages is, does there exist a title that is having more fun with its premise right now than Super Sons? And honestly, I don’t think the answer to that question is “yes” because Super Sons is a complete riot every issue and it continues to invite everyone along for the ride. It’s honestly really impressive. 

This issue continues with Jon meeting Damian’s Teen Titans and getting his foot through the door for a real team up. And that’s exactly what the world needs.

Story: We have another mid-storyline issue here but once more we have one that knows how to make a single issue feel really encompassing. We have Jon joining the Titans, proving himself to everyone but Damian (who’s just a grouch and old and it’s hilarious that he looks like Old Man Bruce from Batman Beyond), and really beginning to finally fight back against some of Damian’s nastier moments. 

It’s simple, but it works because of that simplicity and fun. The premise is easy to follow and I can easily see a new fan picking this issue up as their first comic and being engaged from start to finish. 

And then we even get left on a cliffhanger that is beyond just “uh oh bad guys!” We just learned that Damian’s treatment of Jon and his insistence that they’re “training” is at least partially because Lois is behind it. 

Mind. blown. Way to go, Maaaahhhhmmm!! 

Art: I have absolutely fallen in love with Jorge Jimenez’s art on this series. It’s so unique and fun. I love how fantastic the colors work with the bright storytelling, the way action scenes really do seem diverse and varied. But most of all I love that it’s just so expressive for Damian and Jon, their adorable faces make a great range of emotion and look endlessly endearing. 

Characters & Dialogue: This is mostly Jon-centric, though Damian gets some good moments too. And for Jon, what his character needs and has needed for a while now is confidence and a belief in himself. He wants praise from Damian and other superheroes, but even in the moments where he gets that, it’s clear that his father’s words about needing to help people are at the core of his real desires, and that’s what has carried him this far. 

And while I do think that Damian’s prickliness is lovely and a trait which should never go away, it’s honestly really encouraging to know that, for at least this story arc, a good amount of his treatment toward Jon has been revealed to be because he feels responsible for Jon at Lois’ request, and I love that about Damian. It’s a similarly frustrating trait he shares with his father, I must say. 

DC’s Wonder Woman (2016-present) #28 Shea Fontana, David Messina, Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Just as I wasn’t really hesitant to call out Rucka’s run on this title, I held nothing back in the last issue when it came to my reservations about the current storyline and whether or not Fontana’s voice would really capture the essence of what had made not only the previous run so great but had made Wonder Woman so great throughout it. 

Reservations are gone because I’m officially on board with this run and feel like we have regained the momentum and understanding of Diana’s character that I had dearly missed, specifically her relationships and how much she treasures them to her literal fault. But let’s not give it all away.

Story: Like I’ve said many times before, the midsection of any ongoing storyline is going to be difficult because there’s this real lack of a beginning and ending to it most of the time, and one of the strengths that I praised Greg Rucka for in previous Roundups and reviews on this blog is his ability to know how to make a comic feel like a completed arc of its own while feeding into a greater narrative, which is something of a dying art even among the greats in comic book writing today. While I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily resolution in this issue, Fontana proves that she understands how to make a single issue story work. 

Diana has a bounty on her head, something that doesn’t seem to really surprise or upset her that much, as it shouldn’t since not only is she Wonder Woman but she has a bit of a stubbornness to her that is a fairly defining feature. What drives Diana here and therefore the drama of this storyline is actually her guilt over how her presence can endanger others -- an interesting continuation of Steve’s worries back in Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor (2017) I reviewed earlier this year. Not only that, but she has a genuine guilt and fear that she will eventually survive the ones she loves most outside of Themyscira -- Steve, Etta, and assumedly all the other people she has come to cherish. 

That’s a far more interesting perspective on Diana’s fears and character than almost any writer has tapped into before and it’s honestly kind of shocking that it’s taken so long for that source of internal conflict to be focused on as it is here. 

There’s a lot of levity to subside the emotional turmoil, and of course great action in which both Diana and Etta get great moments. But as I said, as the middle of a story, there’s not really a solid end here so much as a TO BE CONTINUED sorta feel, as to be expected. But I loved the arc we got to see in drama being presented for Diana’s relationship with Etta, it coming out in the open, and them attempting to address it before being interrupted by bullets all within a single issue. Good good work!

Art: I was worried about the art for this run as much as I was about the writing but I am always pleasantly surprised to have my fears proven wrong. because this was some great art. I don’t think the artist worked well with Etta’s hair texture (or knew what to do with her hair in general) and there was at least one panel where the colorist.... unfortunately swapped color palettes on Etta and whitewashed her to Diana’s skin color. It’s stuff I’d hope they would look out for. 

I do love the variations in body types and NOSES especially in this issue, though. I always look out for that in comic books, especially ones that feature lots of women and I was incredibly surprised by that. Though I wish so much that Diana would be allowed to have her curls again. 

Of course, I’m biased in that account, though.

Characters & Dialogue: Since Diana and Etta’s characters drove the plot for most of this, there’s only a few little moments I want to cover that weren’t mentioned with the story summary. Diana’s compassionate and forgiving nature was consistent throughout -- her mourning of the doctor, her tenderness toward Etta, her fear of endangering others, and even her compassion for the hemophiliac sniper that almost gunned them down. 

I love how badass Etta’s allowed to be in her current incarnation, I love that her grudges and anger are not only justified but aren’t minimized or looked down on by Diana even though it’s a huge difference in opinions between them. And I love the comfort she has around Diana and wants to do her best around her as well. 

Also I want to thank Fontana for remembering that Diana is vegan, like I just about teared up because holy crap, she GETS it, she GETS Diana.

There was a surprising amount of variation this week, which I hadn’t really been expecting given that the majority were DC books to begin with. But picking favorites is fortunately not hard when you’ve got a Class-A contender in the ring punching my lights out with feels. So for my single issues of the week I have to go with Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine

Between our two trades, I had the most un and joy from reading Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which would seemingly be for super obvious reasons.

But I thought all the comics were great this week and highly recommend you check them out! Of course I’d love to hear back from you – agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed any comics I should’ve picked up? I’d love to hear from you.

Before you go, however, I need to share that I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery just yesterday actually.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

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[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 review

Guardians of the Galaxy was a fantastic film, a real masterpiece for just how oddball and different it was from the rest of the Marvel cinematic universe. It was so different, with such a great group dynamic, great actors, and plenty of kickass scenes… this was lightning in a bottle, and there’s no way to catch that twice, right?

Wrong. They did it again. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is every bit as good as the original, and what’s more… I actually think it’s a bit better. How is this? HOW COULD YOU TOP THE FIRST? I’ll explain, but be warned: after the plot synopsis, there’s gonna be a few spoilers, so just be warned.

So what are the Guardians up to this time? After doing a mission for the Sovereign race, the Guardians end up pissing them off because Rocket stole some precious batteries. During their escape attempt, the Guardians end up being saved by a mysterious stranger… and that stranger is none other than Peter’s dad, a strange being named Ego. While Peter, Gamora, and Drax head off to Ego’s planet, Rocket and Groot get kidnapped by the ravagers, who mutiny against Yondu. Shit starts going down, and now the two groups gotta get back together to guard the galaxy yet again, though this time the threat may be even greater than ever before…

The most common criticism leveled at the movie is that, for the first couple of acts, it retreads the first movie a bit… and I’m not going to deny that. There are a lot of scenes similar to the first one, including the opening “dancing to a song through the titles” sequence, an awkward dance moment with Gamora, an escape from prison… there’s some beats played the same. Here’s the thing, though: this movie does it better. Without the baggage of having to introduce all of these characters and their chemistry already having been established, we can just toss them into anything and watch them go, so redoing bits of the first film with all of this new, established camaraderie ends up working in the movie’s favor. The dance sequence over the credits is so much more interesting, especially visually, as Groot dances through a deadly battle to the tune of ELO’s “”Mr. Blue Sky” (Note: If you want to win me over immediately, have an ELO song play over the opening credits). The awkward dance is even better because Peter’s crush on Gamora is now established and it doesn’t come off as him just trying to get more alien babe pussy. And the prison break scene… it is one of the standout scenes of the movie. It must be seen to be believed, but let me just say it involves dozens upon dozens of ravagers against Rocket, Groot, and Yondu, and not once is Yondu’s stride broken. It’s like something out of John Wick.

Now, that’s just the stuff that’s pretty similar to the first one this film does better… is there anything new that it does better? The villains. Good lord are the villains so much better than that prissy bitch Ronan. On the one hand, we have the mutinous ravager Taserface, an ugly son of a bitch who is so ridiculously over-the-top and hammy while at the same time incredibly scummy you equally want to laugh at and watch him get fucked up. There’s Ayesha and the Sovereign, who are honestly a bit more anti-villainous than everything because while their punishment is severe, Rocket DID steal from them after they paid them and everything. It was a dick move on his part. Since Ayesha is not killed as neither her nor the Sovereign ever engage in battle directly, they are set up well to fight the Guardians again in the future. Nebula returns as well, as an antagonistic force for the most part, and she gets plenty of screentime and a character arc all to herself, which is pretty well-done if not something that completely absolves her of her rampant assholery. But these are just the antagonistic ensemble; what of the film’s true big bad? Well, here’s where things are gonna get SPOILERY, so skip this next paragraph if you want to keep the reveal of the true villain a surprise.

Now we come to what really seals the deal of this film: the true big bad, the real villain who needs to be stopped at all costs… Ego. This is equal parts surprising and unsurprising. It is unsurprising in the way that Ego in the comics is in fact a villain; it is surprising in the way that he is being played by Kurt Russell. Russell is known for playing characters who are anti-heroes at worst, so him playing a villain is a bit out there and odd, with many people (myself included) considering that he might actually get some adaptational heroism. Nope! If anything, the Ego in this film is even more evil than he ever has been before, and may in fact be the most wicked villain in the MCU. His end goal is absolutely monstrous, his methods are twisted, and he did two of the most unspeakably evil things in the Guardians films so far: one I’ll keep a secret, but the second thing is crushing Peter’s Walkman. And for those who still find this a bit much, there is a bit of anti-villainous aspects to Ego; he’s clearly lonely and depressed from eons of being the only person he can relate to, and he definitely loved Peter’s mother once upon a time… but his own narcissism and his desire for his ultimate goal is what truly won him over in the end. He’s much like God from Garth Ennis’ Preacher in that respect. He’s a very complex character, who has a lot of interesting bits about him that leave him open for interpretation by the audience while still being an irredeemably horrible monster. Either way, Yondu summed it up the best at the end of the first film: “Yeah, that guy was a jackass.”

And speaking of Yondu, if anyone steals this film to any great extent, it is him. His bonding and relating to Rocket, his awesome prison escape scene, his undying loyalty to Peter, and the ever-memetic “I’M MARY POPPINS, Y’ALL!” all build him into an incredible scene-stealing force to be reckoned with. Michael Rooker is absolutely having a blast playing him, and he does such a fantastic job. This is particularly evident in the ending which… well… it’s one of the most emotional moments in the entire MCU, and it all revolves around him. This movie is as much his as Peter’s.

The soundtrack is fantastic, the setup for later films in the MCU is fantastic (including the original Guardians from the comics getting together, all because of Yondu even and featuring Starhawk played by Sylvester Stallone! And that’s not getting into Adam Warlock’s tease…), the cameo appearances from Howard the Duck, David Hasselhoff, and most notably Stan Lee and the Watchers are fantastic… this film really builds on the groundwork laid out by the first film and improves upon it, delivering fantastic character moments, great development, and a strong and emotionally-charged story. @absurdistscribbler compared it to The Empire Strikes Back in that way, in that it builds off the established groundwork and builds up on the emotional stakes. I gotta agree, and, well…

...Much like Empire Strikes Back, I find this sequel to easily surpass the first film. And don’t get me wrong! The first film is still absolutely fantastic, and I love it! It’s easily one of Marvel’s finest films. But this one, this gave me everything I wanted from a sequel with these characters and more. I got character development, great subplots, tons of awesome action, a truly great villain… this is a real comic book movie experience right here. At the very least, it’s an incredibly solid sequel on par with the first one. How I look at it, it’s like the Kill Bill movies. They’re both good, I like one more than the other, but they are best taken one after the other for a truly great, full Guardians experience. I don’t think I need to say that this is a must-see.

This movie did not fail to live up to the hype for me. It does have me worried, though; will Thor: Ragnarok and Spider-Man: Homecoming be able to stand alongside this and be impressive? I hope so. Marvel’s been hitting home runs with their last few movies, so it leaves me very hopeful. Marvel truly knows how to deliver fun, exciting, and emotional experiences with their films, and they show no signs of stopping. If this movie is any indication of what will be coming out over the next few years from them, we have nothing to worry about.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some music to download… “The sailor said Brandy... you're a fine girl...What a good wife... you would be...”

[reactingtosomething]

Reacting to Spider-Man: Homecoming

How to Do a Lot with a Little

The Setup: As previously established, Miri and Kris are pretty big fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Also as previously established, Miri and Kris have particular affection for Spider-Man and Iron Man, respectively. So here we are. As usual, you'll find some post-chat notes in italics.

We did this Reaction immediately after (relatively) quickly discussing the July 7 episode of Wynonna Earp.

SPOILERS AFTER THE JUMP.

MIRI: Ok, Spiderman time?

KRIS: I have so many Spider-Man notes. Might not need all of them but yeah, let’s do it

MIRI: I took zero notes, so this should be a well balanced conversation

Ok, to start off with, this was a fun movie and I thought the tone was very Spiderman

Which is exactly what I was hoping for!

KRIS: Much more so than either the Raimi or Webb movies, yeah, although we can get to some things I think Raimi did better

MIRI: agreed

KRIS: I’ve generally liked but not loved Spider-Man as a character, but we’ve established you’re a very big fan

MIRI: Spiderman was my FAVORITE growing up

KRIS: This also seems like a good opportunity to maybe talk a little about Funny Superheroes

MIRI: Full disclosure, I did not read comics as a kid (and I barely do now) so that love is totally coming from cartoons and a novelization of Spiderman and the Sinister Six that I read when I was 11

ok, let’s talk Funny Superheroes

KRIS: I think that’s true for a lot of 90s/late 80s kids

It was for me, and we had different predominant Spidey cartoons, which I think is part of the reason for our difference here

MIRI: I am a fan of Funny Superheroes, in moderation. (That’s my opinion of most things--do what you’re doing and do it well and I’m potentially there for whatever)

Right, refresh my memory on which one you grew up with

(while I google which one I grew up with)

KRIS: I had just “Spider-Man,” which started in 1994

So I think you had “Spider-Man Unlimited” in 99?

MIRI: I think so

KRIS: The one I had went with an older Peter, which may have been part of why it was, I think, just okay

MIRI: As long as it aired on network, not cable--we did not have cable until I was in high school

Ahhh, whereas I started with teenage Spiderman

KRIS: Like in the Raimi movies, he was in college while also freelancing for the Bugle

MIRI: which is how the wisecracking works best--if he starts young and uses it as a coping mechanism

Then he can retain it into adulthood without it feeling as weird as if he starts out that way as an adult

KRIS: Yeah, that makes sense, and also just the “wow this is awesome!” factor that the intro of this movie did really well

I feel like the 94 cartoon went to the Angsty Peter well pretty often

The symbiote storyline definitely stands out in my hazy memories

MIRI: Yeah, the angsty only works in light touches, and as a chink in the wisecracking armor. Not as the default

(At least for me)

SERIOUSLY SPOILERS INCOMING PRETTY SOON

KRIS: So that introduction (skipping over the Vulture’s origin story) -- maybe the best since the first Iron Man, and now that I think about it a little bit similar

in that it kind of gives the story a frame

MIRI: Yeah, they definitely did a good job of using the rest of the MCU’s built up canon as a way to skip unnecessary exposition

Whereas some films have been forced to do so much building FOR other films, this one had the advantage of building ON some of that

btw yes, this is definitely the Spidey I remember:

K: Maybe I was wrong? Looks like this is 2012′s Ultimate Spider-Man. There was also 2008′s Spectacular Spider-Man. Turns out there have been a LOT of Spider-Man cartoons.

M: It’s also very possible that I’m wrong, and/or that I’m merging two  different programs into one in my mind. The point is I love him in many incarnations.

KRIS: Yeah this did great stuff with the lasting effects of what the Avengers have done/experienced, arguably in a stronger way than Civil War managed in Ross’s initial briefing about the Sokovia Accords

MIRI: I would definitely argue that

KRIS: And I don’t mean to shortchange the Vulture’s origin; this was the rare really good Marvel villain

MIRI: I’m honestly shocked we never had to have a dramatically scored moment when Peter looked at a photo of Uncle Ben, or any version of “With great power comes great responsibility.” Kudos to all involved in deciding not to retread that ground

KRIS: AND I’m always happy to see Michael Chernus (the softspoken engineer guy -- Piper’s brother in OITNB, also in Manhattan and Mistress America among other things)

Yesss to that

MIRI: Yeah, I thought they did very nicely with the Vulture! Made him just sympathetic enough

OH that’s where I know him from!!!

THANK you

KRIS: They even almost made me WANT to hear Ben’s name, with Peter’s line about what May has been going through

MIRI: Yeah, they played it all out very nicely

KRIS: In a good way, I can’t believe this had six writers.

MIRI: In that vein--did they get you with the surprises? Because they totally got me both times

WOW it did??

Props to them for not making it feel disjointed!

KRIS: The woman next to me totally gleefully and unironically said “What a twist!” when Toomes/Vulture opened the door on homecoming night

MIRI: That is so charming

omg

KRIS: That was definitely a good one

MIRI: I definitely gasped and then clapped--as did most of my theater!

KRIS: What’s the second surprise?

MIRI: Michelle=MJ

Which I know was discussed but I totally forgot until the moment

KRIS: I wasn’t surprised since somehow the internet called that casting IMMEDIATELY, but I really liked the character

MIRI: Honestly, I think I was surprised that they let her be a bit of a weirdo

You don’t see that for the superhero’s love interest much

KRIS: And it was well foreshadowed with Michelle being everywhere Peter was ostensibly for Cool Hipster Reasons

MIRI: Yeah, it was all there, but I am enough of a cynic that I totally did not put her in that box

So big ups to them on that front!

KRIS: It’s weird that they’re attached to “MJ” as a name when she has basically nothing in common with previous characterizations of Mary Jane Watson

MIRI: Which makes me a little more forgiving on the fact that the three women in the movie have very little bearing on the plot

Yeah, that feels like a very deliberate move on their part--she’s MJ, but an all new MJ

KRIS: I would definitely have appreciated a little more May

MIRI: Yeah

And while all three were interesting characters (which is more than a lot of movies can say!) it does concern me that you could lift them all out of the plot with little to no change

You shared a great article about that (I assume it was you, it usually is)

K: It is by Dana Schwartz, who also runs the excellent “Guy In Your MFA” and “Dystopian YA” Twitters

KRIS: Yeah

I haven’t read it yet

But it felt right

MIRI: Did you share it without reading it (shocking!) or did I find it elsewhere?

KRIS: I think I shared it?

But possibly just liked and Instapapered?

Curiously, it turns out I neither retweeted nor Twitter-liked it, from either my own account or the RtS one, though I did Instapaper it

MIRI: I’ll track it down to include here

I do definitely feel like the stage has been set for MJ to be more of a presence in the next film

KRIS: I usually read a ton of reviews and think pieces IMMEDIATELY and I wanted to see what my reaction would look like without doing that this time

MIRI: oh, nice

KRIS: I did read Alison Willmore’s Buzzfeed review

MIRI: I super enjoyed MJ’s character in the little bits we got, so I’m excited to see what Zendaya gets to do with a little more plot

KRIS: So she’s a Disney Channel kid?

MIRI: Yes

KRIS: She had some great line readings

MIRI: KC Undercover

KRIS: “You’re here [at the party]”

“Am I?”

MIRI: yes!!!

She got a bit of press for sharing that she had chosen to stay on the show for longer than she might have otherwise because she was one of the only WOC leading a show for that age group at the time

And didn’t want that representation lost

KRIS: Someone tweeted this, but a sort of tangent/extension of how the women are well-drawn but easily removable is that this has a surprisingly deep bench of minor characters

Everyone is really distinct even if they don’t “matter”

And there are so many of them

MIRI: Very true, and they’re all fun! I really enjoyed people across the board

KRIS: But not in a bad way where you lose track of who’s who

MIRI: I also really like that the cast is pretty diverse, and in a way that feels organic rather than done for good press

KRIS: Yeah

I have not been to Queens

Hi Ron we miss you Ron

https://twitter.com/LogosDeRon/status/883307064088506368

MIRI: It looked like Queens to me

I have, and the demographics are pretty close to what we saw 

depending on where in Queens you are, of course

KRIS: I also liked the use of a magnet school

Which was a concept I was only vaguely familiar with before college, but when I got there the New Yorkers I knew were all very familiar

And it was a good way to give us a super-genius Peter

MIRI: Yeah, are those not a thing all over? They definitely are in cities on the east coast

KRIS: I’m not sure

MIRI: My cousin went to one in Nashville, and a good friend did in Queens

KRIS: I was overseas for most of high school and I feel like a teacher or counselor must’ve mentioned them at some point

MIRI: Cool

Ok I’m on their Imdb and the Michael Chernus character is named Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer and that is beyond wonderful

KRIS: Yeah I’m not super familiar with Spidey’s rogues gallery but I definitely knew Shocker (I liked that they gave both Shockers the yellow sleeves with that patterning) and liked the Scorpion easter egg in the first tag

And it’s like, man, they just introduced a shit ton of villains way more elegantly than it sounds like Amazing 2 managed

MIRI: His rogues gallery is fairly deep and (un)surprisingly animal based

KRIS: (Amazing 2 is the only Spider-Man movie I have not seen)

MIRI: It’s fun but you’re fine without it

(ALSO THEIR DEATH OF GWEN STACEY IS ABSURD)

(THEY TOOK THE LESSON OUT OF HER DEATH BUT KILLED HER ANYWAY WHICH IS RIDICULOUS)

KRIS: ugh

MIRI: (PETER ACCIDENTALLY SNAPPING HER NECK AND LEARNING THAT THE WAY HE SAVES PEOPLE MATTERS IS A FUNDAMENTAL LESSON)

KRIS: Did Spider-Man Unlimited use Gwen?

MIRI: (HAVING HIM JUST NOT BE FAST ENOUGH AND THEN KILLING HER FOR THE TRAGEDY OF IT IS LAZY STORYTELLING)

KRIS: I think Spider-Man 94 skipped her and used Felicia Hardy as a fake-out love interest before MJ

MIRI: (ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY COULD HAVE EASILY JUST WRITTEN HER OUT TO OXFORD UNIVERSITY WHICH WAS SET UP IN THE DAMN PLOT)

(OK IM DONE NOW)

I can’t remember if she was in Unlimited

KRIS: Gwen is a surprisingly handy segue to the Raimi movies

MIRI: Lovely

KRIS: You may remember Bryce Dallas Howard’s mostly insignificant Gwen from Spider-Man 3

MIRI: I do not!

Wow, I should

KRIS: I think she has one or two scenes, and I don’t remember what her plot function was at all if she had one

I think I underestimated how many scenes, if not her overall story significance

MIRI: Were they trying to do a redhead thing there?

Or was their MJ blonde at that point?

KRIS: I think they kept MJ a redhead but introduced Gwen because in 3 there was that subplot where MJ and Harry bond?

Because Peter, and of course especially symbiote Peter, is a d-bag

MIRI: That sounds familiar

KRIS: It’s starting to come back to me

I feel like she must have been used as a Make MJ Jealous prop

BUT the scene where Peter rescues her from [couldn’t remember at the time but see below], though brief, is one I remember as just a GORGEOUS action beat

MIRI: (I’m also having a memory of a kind of preppy Gwen Stacey with darkish lipstick and a headband that I think is from Unlimited) 

KRIS: And in general the way Raimi designed and shot his action sequences in that trilogy is still a high-water mark for the genre

MIRI: Right, they played that as a maybe because of her traditional comic death and subverted it by saving her, right?

KRIS: I think so

MIRI: I always think back to that scene where it’s MJ or the train car/bus full of kids (in the first or second one)?

KRIS: MJ and the tram thing in 1

MIRI: That’s a solid dramatic action sequence that doesn’t rely on pure volume of destruction to be effective

KRIS: And the huge (but similarly narratively focused) train sequence in 2

MIRI: YES, where he barely stops it!

KRIS: And I’d have to rewatch to see how the VFX hold up, but part of why the Raimi set pieces look so good is because a lot of them are in broad daylight

I kind of want to assume that budget reasons are why most of why Homecoming’s set pieces are at night

But that bothered me

MIRI: Hadn’t thought about it, but yeah. Especially because it wasn’t otherwise a night-heavy movie

It may also have been partially a function of the whole teenage crimefighter by night thing

KRIS: There’s also an interesting tradeoff between the thrill of Raimi’s Spider-Man swinging from skyscrapers downtown and the thematics of Peter as a Friendly Neighborhood hero

I did really like the beat acknowledging that Peter won’t always have high things to swing from

MIRI: YES

KRIS: And then the use of trees in the suburb chase

MIRI: the suburbs are not ideal for heroing!

KRIS: But in general the action here was just fine

MIRI: I really feel like they did the teenage of it all well. I mean it had its dialogue missteps, but overall his eagerness and his belief that he was Ready For More felt really genuine to me

KRIS: I really liked that as his throughline

I didn’t feel like they REALLY nailed Tony’s voice until his last scene, but I definitely like the idea of Tony trying to be the grown-up, and also the idea that of course he wouldn’t be very good at it yet

MIRI: Yes, I liked his attempts to be both distant and a quality father figure at the same time

KRIS: And also the unaddressed (in dialogue) realization that Happy has been passing on every little thing Peter told him

MIRI: it felt like the right way for him to screw it up and learn along the way

KRIS: (I feel like I keep forgetting that I really like Jon Favreau as an actor)

You saw me allude to this on Tumblr but I really, really loved the line “If you’re nothing without this suit, you shouldn’t have it”

MIRI: (I love him!!! If you haven’t seen Chef, go watch it immediately! It is full of joy and loveliness)

KRIS: (I loved Chef!)

MIRI: YES! Great line for a non-powered hero to say and MEAN

KRIS: And how it parallels Tony’s arc in Iron Man 3

THAT was some quality tie-in work

And it was something that Tony had to hear from a kid, even

(Sorry, as much as I want to make this an ode to Tony I’ll try to rein it in)

Also, I’ve, um, already written one of those

MIRI: Oh, did you see the confirmation that Tony saved Young Peter Parker in Iron Man 2?

KRIS: I did

MIRI: (good luck with that)

I don’t know if I need that level of tie in, but it’s cute and it works

KRIS: Compromise: can we talk about Karen/Suit Lady?

and just the suit gags in general

MIRI: Definitely!

I found it very charming (apparently that’s my word for today??)

KRIS: Oh I loved it

Peter so should have known not to use Enhanced Interrogation Mode after his Enhanced Combat Mode experience

(Jesus, Tony, way to overdesign a suit)

MIRI: But I buy him thinking he could handle it 100%

I KNOW

KRIS: DON’T GIVE THE TEENAGER INSTANT KILL CAPABILITY

MIRI: And I loved the names--Training Wheels and Baby Monitor

SERIOUSLY

KRIS: YES

Very Tony

MIRI: It was all just so Tony

KRIS: So although I definitely had a moment when I thought about how in real life all our digital assistants default to female voices

MIRI: Yes, let’s dig into that!

KRIS: I was pretty happy with Karen, partly for metafictional reasons

MIRI: I liked her/it a lot within the bounds of the film

But I do wonder about the trope

KRIS: I mean it’s Jennifer Connelly, who is A) Jennifer Connelly, and B) married to Paul Bettany, aka of course JARVIS and Vision

MIRI: I DID NOT KNOW THAT

KRIS: I did wonder why it wasn’t just Friday

And why she didn’t already have a name

And why Karen

MIRI: I honestly thought it was Friday at first

KRIS: I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for the “hey voicing an AI is a great gig, totally do it” conversation in the Bettany-Connelly household

MIRI: Hahahahahhahaha there should be a bonus thing where they interact

KRIS: The moment where the trope got kind of squicky for me was when Karen was basically like “well I would date you”

MIRI: Yeaaaaaahhhhh

KRIS: Although I did enjoy Karen subsequently rooting for Peter and giving him bad advice re: Liz

MIRI: Yes!

Going with the trope for a minute: is it a way to have a female “character” without having to actually have one? Did it start as “futuristic” and then because the default for android voices? I mean, our trope for physical androids is also women--can we just not imagine a man spending time creating anything other than a Sexy Lady?

KRIS: I have to think there’s definitely Galatea syndrome

MIRI: Obviously Tony started with JARVIS so it’s something of an evening it out situation with Friday

KRIS: But my knowledge of older sci-fi is not good enough to comment on it historically

MIRI: But looking wider, it is verrrryyyy common

KRIS: JARVIS is interesting because it seems out of character for this take on Tony, and therefore seems like something they did just to nod to the butler in the comics

MIRI: When GPS first became a household thing, there was some research on men taking directions less seriously from a female voice than a male one

KRIS: oh yeah, that sounds familiar

MIRI: But then it became so widespread that I’m sure that has to have changed (and I don’t remember the source, so it may not have been conclusive anyway)

The computers on Star Trek were always voiced by women, or the Communications Officer’s main job was to be the (usually female) mouthpiece for the computer

KRIS: Oh now I feel kind of stupid -- they’re secretaries!

MIRI: Oh

fucking duh

KRIS: RIGHT?

God

MIRI: We do overthink sometimes

KRIS: So I guess it’s good that Friday gives Tony shit

He knew what he needed

Marvel trivia: Jocasta, seen here in the BG, is the “bride of Ultron” in the comics; Tadashi appears to be a reference to a character in Big Hero 6, which is based on a Marvel property.

MIRI: I was wondering if it was kind of like the way mixed race children are often used as a visual shorthand for how futuristic and advanced a society is in sci fi currently, that the society has Come So Far that women are important

And I think there may still be something there, but yeah, they’re secretaries

KRIS: Galatea + Secretaries

MIRI: Yes, Tony does at least give his female AIs as much personality as his male ones!

KRIS: We gotta work on this, fellow straight cisdudes

MIRI: You should link to your Galatea article! It was really good and explores this more than we should take time to here

KRIS: Good call

But anyway. Yeah, mostly a Karen fan. Just good to be aware of the trope.

MIRI: Agreed!

“you told me to choose!”

KRIS: I feel like Enhanced Interrogation will be at least 20 percent of my reason for any near future rewatch

Way to affectionately give Batman shit

I love Jennifer Connelly

Weirdly, the first thing I ever saw her in was the 2003 Hulk

MIRI: I want to talk briefly about the marketing

KRIS: Go for it

MIRI: I really liked the simplicity of the billboards--they trusted that they had an audience and they really stayed true to the spirit of the movie

They were fun, and visually interesting

KRIS: Yeah, which made that incredibly awful poster even more confusing

MIRI: Which one?

I really hope I’m not lovingly describing what you hated

KRIS: The one that was just super super busy and got memed into a version that was like thirty Iron Men

No the billboards are great

MIRI: I liked the really bright (but not hyper saturated) primary colors and him like lounging around on a web hammock

Oh, good

I mean obviously we can disagree, but I really loved those simple billboards

I still don’t know what poster you’re talking about

KRIS: hang on

MIRI: This one?

KRIS: Yes!

What IS that?

MIRI: Yeah, that’s not good

It honestly feels kind of 90s

and not in any good ways

KRIS: Hahahaha

MIRI: This is way better, and way more true to the movie

KRIS: The decathlon jacket is a great touch

MIRI: Yes!

KRIS: And they even got Avengers Tower in there in a not-obnoxious way

MIRI: Also, can we discuss his gloriously terrible homemade suit? Because I am all here for it

It’s going to make for some amazing cosplays and Halloween costumes

KRIS: And the tilt is a nice subtle nod to Peter being able to stick to surfaces, intentional or not

Yeah, it was really good

Lots of relieved parents, I would think. Seems like an easy one to DIY

MIRI: The boots will be the hardest part, probably. The sweatshirt bit is actually really cute, and I’m sure 20 retailers will have versions in a week

KRIS: I have to shout out to the Washington Monument security guard

No lines, but so much personality

MIRI: Very much so

OH, I have to express my love for the Captain America videos

KRIS: PATIENCE

MIRI: Because they were delightful

STEVEN GRANT ROGERS HAS NEVER BEEN PATIENT A DAY IN HIS LIFE

KRIS: “I think this guy’s a war criminal now or something, but ... it’s required by the state”

MIRI: Amazing

KRIS: Coach Hannibal Buress was another excellent super minor character

MIRI: Loved him

KRIS: I don’t know why excellent super minor characters get to me so much

Maybe because that level of specificity is/feels true to real life?

MIRI: Also loved MJ’s sketch of him in detention

KRIS: It’s like those Brooklyn Nine-Nine cameos in the New Girl crossover

Even if you don’t know B99 these weirdos just get instantly crystallized, and now here’s Homecoming proving you can in fact do it in like three lines, or no lines

MIRI: It really is an example of how to do a lot with a little, across the board

KRIS: Oh fun weird casting nod -- the principal is credited as Principal Morita

And played by Kenneth Choi, who was also Jim Morita, one of Cap’s Howling Commandos

MIRI: Yes! He’s the son or grandson of one of the Commandos!

I think I like that they used the same actor. It’s a fun reenforcement of the continuity gag

KRIS: Yeah

While we’re still on casting/characters, did you miss J. Jonah Jameson at all? I guess it’s hard to beat casting JK Simmons. Like why would you want to even try. (LOOKING AT YOU, STAR WARS ANTHOLOGY MOVIES)

MIRI: I did not miss him! Because he very much feels like an Adult Peter (or at least post high school) thing to me

KRIS: I think I agree. I think it’s also harder to make this Peter a journalist?

MIRI: Plus it felt like there was enough happening in this movie already

KRIS: which I’m fine with

MIRI: Yeah, I wonder if this Peter going into journalism would make any sense It doesn’t feel like his path

They did put in a little moment of him being upset about a bad quality photo, if I’m remembering correctly?

KRIS: I don’t quite remember but that sounds familiar

MIRI: It was super brief and early, I think

And getting amazing photos of the Spider-Man is definitely how Toby McGuire Peter got into journalism. Not sure about other versions

KRIS: It was definitely part of the 94 cartoon, so I guess it must have been a thing in the comics whenever Peter went to college

MIRI: It makes sense

KRIS: I think I have like three more things?, and they’re all tangents in one way or another

MIRI: I wonder if it’s less feasible now with all the quality cameras in phones

Go for it! You know how we love tangents 

KRIS: Quickest one: the press conference thing and the Stark-ified Spidey suit were an interesting but, for me, weirdly chilling nod to the Civil War comic, which I’m not sure was intentional

In terms of tone, I mean; obviously the reference itself was intentional

In the comic, a major turning point is when Tony calls a conference for Peter to announce his secret identity to the world

MIRI: Say more, for the uninitiated like me

With or without Peter’s consent?

KRIS: I don’t remember entirely, but it’s sort of a moment of Peter reluctantly siding with Tony over Steve

I think it’s something he’s pressured to do but agrees is necessary

And then Tony gives him this “Iron Spider” costume that’s really intense and combat-forward

And then I think another sort of act break moment is when Peter switches sides and goes back to his old costume

Just a weird tonal association for me

The comic is relatively dark

And it is an older Peter

My second thing, which will not surprise you at all, is just

PEPPER

Although I guess RIP, Tony-May ship?

MIRI: Hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhaa

KRIS: I feel like there must have been many Tony-May shippers

MIRI: A of all, no ship is ever dead on the internet

KRIS: I feel like even I was briefly a Tony-May shipper, especially when I learned Tomei and Downey starred in an early 90s romcom

MIRI: 2 of all, Readers: Kris fucking loves Pepper, and the Tony/Pepper dynamic

K: FUN FACT: The second scene here (from Iron Man 2), and a line later in the movie calling back to it, are why my handle is @omeletsforpepper

They [Downey and Tomei] do have great chemistry together 

And while I see the point of complaints that May’s function is largely to worry and get hit on, I do love Marisa Tomei being acknowledged as extremely hot

KRIS: I mean, the way they addressed Pepper’s absence in Civil War was both a clear hedge against her not appearing in future Marvel movies and a PERFECT story beat to reconcile the end of Iron Man 3 with the events of Age of Ultron

Oh for sure

MIRI: And Peter being weirded out as her nephew, but also ok with her being a person who is allowed to be hot

Ok, back to Pepper

KRIS: I appreciated that they didn’t give Ned any too-easy lines about May’s hotness

Even if it was basically just Ned who didn’t have them. Oh, and Happy! Thank god for that.

MIRI: Yes, that’s a good point!

KRIS: Is that -- is that really Tony’s way of proposing?

MIRI: Did you like the very Tony proposal?

I forget if he had asked her at all before?

KRIS: 90 percent I think so, 10 percent whaaat?

re: me liking it I mean

MIRI: See it feels COMPLETELY Tony to me

KRIS: I loved how Happy was    T H E R E    F O R    I T

MIRI: Like, he would be SO READY for so long and then end up doing it in the stupidest way because he cares a lot and is also Bad At Caring 100%

KRIS: Oh yeah, I mean I loved how the movie briefly turned into Iron Man 1

And Pepper acknowledging the proposal with “I think I can come up with something better”

MIRI: She accepts him for him but also holds him to a standard, which is the only way they could work

I like that

KRIS: I feel like I should say that I wasn’t even a Tony superfan [as distinct from a Robert Downey Jr. superfan, and of course a hardcore #Pepperony shipper]  for the majority of the MCU’s run

I loved Iron Man 3, but Winter Soldier was SO GOOD not long after

MIRI: Wait, is this all Civil War related??

KRIS: And I was at the time very concerned with the idea of virtuous characters portrayed as Not Boring

I think Ultron was my turning point, but Civil War definitely solidified it

MIRI: Ugh, Ultron

KRIS: See I mostly still love Ultron

MIRI: I know

KRIS: I think it’s by far the most intellectually ambitious of the bunch

But the salient point here is that even though the story is a result of Tony’s fuck-up, Tony is also really the only one with his eye on the ball, re: the future of the Avengers

MIRI: I should rewatch it at some point to see how much of it I actually dislike and how much of it I dislike compared to what I thought it would be/wanted it to be

Yes, he is

KRIS: Steve’s really not a guy who thinks ahead, and the Gordian knot thing worked really well in Winter Soldier

MIRI: And as always, I do agree that the Band of Heroes With No Oversight is not actually a good idea, even if he goes too hard/far/unilateral in trying to enforce that

KRIS: But I think it’s deliberately complicated in Ultron

And then I still don’t know how Civil War wants us to feel about Steve

But I love, love, love Downey’s performance in it

MIRI: I think we’re supposed to be able to side with either of them, which is a hard line to walk well as a film

KRIS: And by then the weight of my interest in virtuous characters and my interest in institutions had shifted toward the latter

MIRI: Ok, what was your third tangent?

KRIS: SOUNDTRACK OPINIONS

MIRI: hahahahha

I assume you have many?

KRIS: First, I grinned like an idiot over the title card and that use of the old Spider-Man theme

MIRI: YES

KRIS: Which made me really wonder why they didn’t just build the whole score around it

That was BY FAR the most distinctive musical moment in the movie

MIRI: I wonder if it would have felt like Too Much, or if they were afraid it would have

KRIS: Maybe the ONLY distinctive musical moment in the movie

The thing is I often really like Michael Giacchino

MIRI: I did enjoy the song choice for the credits

KRIS: He did The Incredibles, Tomorrowland, the new Star Trek, and Up, among many other things

MIRI: But yeah, the soundtrack was never majorly strong during the bulk of the movie

Oh wow, that’s a heck of a resume

KRIS: But both this and his Rogue One score were hugely underwhelming

ALSO

GOD

THEY HAD A PERFECTLY GOOD IRON MAN THEME FROM IRON MAN 3

THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE USED IN THE STATEN ISLAND FERRY SCENE

especially because they did riff on Alan Silvestri’s Avengers theme at the renovated upstate compound

Just listen to 0:45 - 1:15 in this:

MIRI: Hahahahahhaah hello CapslockKris!

KRIS: CAN YOU IMAGINE

JESUS

MIRI: Shit, that is good

KRIS: So this made me think of a great YouTube video from the channel Every Frame A Painting

MIRI: I have never heard of this!

M: This is false, Kris has definitely sent this to me before. Kris is the master of sending cool content to people and I am forgetful

KRIS: If you don’t watch all of it, watch the Winter Soldier bit that begins at 4:05 and the Thor bit at 10:35

I mean you don’t have to right now

MIRI: I do want to watch it all, but I’ll save most of it for later

KRIS: But I strongly encourage anyone reading this to

MIRI: I’ll do the WS and Thor bits now, stand by

(standby? is it one word or two?)

KRIS: I think two? But not confident

MIRI: “Sometimes Marvel films do have memorable music, but the filmmakers don’t let us listen to it” that’s SO interesting

KRIS: Anyway my point here is just that I don’t understand how Marvel has so mishandled music when they get almost everything else so right

MIRI: SHiiiiiiiiit that scene without the narration is so powerful

KRIS: RIGHT?

I TEARED UP THE FIRST TIME I WATCHED IT

MIRI: Ok, let me listen to Thor now

I want to chart your tear-up moments, because they are fascinating

The Thor one doesn’t work for me as well, but the Winter Soldier one is SO real and the point about safety is really really true

KRIS: And for when you have time, Miri and readers, here is a great response video about how the Avengers theme IS memorable, but mishandled:

MIRI: I think Spiderman Homecoming made some less safe choices than the MCU has at times in other arenas, but musically it does not

KRIS: Oh and I definitely don’t put it all on Homecoming

Or even on Giacchino, who’s done great work

MIRI: No, I didn’t think you did

KRIS: This has bothered me since Winter Soldier

MIRI: And obviously there are exceptions--Guardians uses music very deliberately, however effective it is in different moments

KRIS: That credits theme (that also plays when Steve escapes SHIELD) is good but the rest of the score is boring

On reflection, I do really like a lot of that score, like the Smithsonian bit. But there’s also a lot of generic Action Music, I hate the screechy sound effect as Evil Bucky’s “theme,” and it bothers me a LOT that by Civil War the MCU fully phased out Cap’s original, First Avenger theme. We all loved how Tyler quoted it in Thor: The Dark World, right? And of course it’s in what’s still one of the very best scenes in the entire MCU, the opening of The Winter Soldier.

Guardians is interesting because it has great music supervision, but another fairly bland instrumental score

They hit a high point musically when they had Brian Tyler score Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, and it’s mostly been downhill from there

I stand by this; neither of Henry Jackman’s Cap scores is as good as Tyler’s scores -- or anywhere near as good as Jackman’s own excellent work on X-Men: First Class -- and the Age of Ultron score’s strengths are largely in its returns to previously established themes. And do you remember anything at all about the Ant-Man or Doctor Strange soundtracks?

MIRI: Yeah, they’re good at needle drops (do you hate that fact??) but I can’t recall anything else

KRIS: I do hate that fact, not in the context of Guardians but you’ll see what I mean in that response video

MIRI: Ok, I’ll check it out

KRIS: OK I’m done

Sorry everyone

MIRI: No you’re not

KRIS: I had some FEELINGS

I’m a little sorry

MIRI: Well, I’m not

KRIS: Maybe 20 percent sorry

If only because this was a weird way to end an ostensibly Spider-Man focused reaction

MIRI: That’s a good band/memoir title

Ok, back to Spider-Man! (I don’t know why I refuse to type it that way in general?)

KRIS: I don’t blame you, I blame inconsistent superhero nomenclature

I feel like he’s the only one like that?

with a hyphen?

MIRI: I do too

General wrap up thoughts: I liked it! I think it was lazy on gender but good in a lot of other ways. I think the casting was SPOT ON and I’m glad that fun was a priority

KRIS: I kind of hate to do this without Marchae -- hopefully she’ll have some notes -- but I’d love to hear if you want to make more of an overarching case for Spider-Man

MIRI: OOH

Yes, should I do that here?

KRIS: Lackluster action aside, I thought this was a very good and very charming (it’s a good word!) movie

Sure!

MIRI: I haven’t prepared this, so it’ll be a bit rough, but I’m excited

Ok, so Spiderman (I’m doing it my way, no one can stop me!) was always my favorite superhero growing up

(with the sometimes exception of Rogue in that Xmen cartoon series where they were in high school [X-Men: Evolution] and she was goth, but that was mostly because I had a crush on her and did not understand that fact yet)

I think what I always liked about Spiderman is that he is sarcastic. And I know that’s what some people hate, because he’s a superhero and that’s Serious Business (Marchae). But he’s a superhero who, like most superheroes, is also a PERSON and people have coping mechanisms. His is wisecracking. He does it as a way to distract his enemies and keep himself in the right frame of mind

But it also serves to keep the epsiode/issue/movie fun and light, which in turn makes the serious moments more effective

I’m always a sucker for media that ENJOYS itself--Wynonna Earp is clearly made by people who fucking love that they’re making a modern supernatural western

KRIS: (EXCELLENT way to bring us full circle)

MIRI: And the best Spiderman stories are made by people who love Spiderman. They love that at the end of the day he loves what he is/does, even when it’s hard

Also, I was falling in love with Spiderman at a time when sarcasm in a lot of other shows I loved was usually a bit meaner than I am comfortable with (Friends, Will & Grace, etc) so I always liked that he could be a fast-talking wisely without always being a dick about it

I also think he’s a very Jewish character even though he’s not Jewish, and that appeals to me

(VERY specifically New York Jewish, which is what my dad’s side of the family is and what I think of, though of course not true for all Jews!!)

Ok, those are my general thoughts. Any rebuttals or things that are unclear that I should try to expand on?

KRIS: No rebuttals on my part (and I feel like between us we may just frighten Marchae into silence). I think this all makes a lot of sense, and I think VERY occasionally the Raimi movies managed to tap into Peter’s love of what he does, but I think this may indirectly speak to why even though Spider-Man 2 is generally (and rightly) remembered as one of the very finest superhero movies, there’s managed to be an artistic urgency to the reboots even though we also know Sony just really want to keep the rights

MIRI: Marchae, in this circumstance I invite you to @ me

KRIS: This incarnation of Spider-Man does feel very right, and maybe part of that is that the context of the MCU lets his personality stand out

Even though Marvel has tended to go lighter and jokier in general, the scope of the stories has often been very grandiose

MIRI: Yeah, being the kid surrounded by adults (at least at the start!) feels very right for Spiderman to me

KRIS: I like hearing why people have favorite superheroes

I feel like I’m relatively flighty about it

And my reasons tend to be kind of distant and hyperintellectualized

MIRI: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with changing based on who you are at the time/where you are in life

KRIS: At the same time that I’ve been becoming such a Tony fan I’ve definitely been like “whoa this is weird, what?”

MIRI: For a while the Black Widow was my favorite because A) she’s AWESOME and B) she was basically the only female hero we had and I needed her at that point

KRIS: I think you should get the last word here

MIRI: This version of Spiderman feels like my version of Spiderman again in a lot of ways, so it’s bringing my love back to the forefront

Oh no, this is too much pressure

Too much power/responsibility

For even more pop culture reactions -- mostly from people who aren’t us -- follow us on Twitter!

[ruhigknight]

TT: Judas Contract Review

Beware spoilers along with rage and some positivity.

Okay I'm going to get this huge big thing out of the way and then go on with the mostly pleasantly surprised positive reviews towards just about everything else.

The Jericho-like character's sole purpose in this film is to demonstrate how Brother Blood's power su king/granting machine works. Does it on himself he comes out seemingly invulnerable and strong (doesn't feel getting hit by pipe and bends said pipe). Then once his services are done Mother Mayhem shoots him in the head...yeah I don't care if this wasn't a character I wasn't super invested in this is Grade A example of doing really disrespectful cameos of characters up there with BvS's handling of Jimmy Olsen. You got a hero, a disabled recently revealed to be bisexual in current comics hero, who was introduced in the original story to help save the day and his cameo in the story's film adaption is to aid the main villain and seemingly be killed off. A big hardy fuck you movie. BUT WAIT APPARENTLY I WAS TOO HASTY AS THE END CREDITS REVEALS JERICHO-LIKE CHARATCER IS ALIVE AND IS JERICHO AND THE MACHINE GRANTED HIM GLOWY GREEN EYES. So judging by the use of end credits indicating the next movie, Jericho is playing a role in the next TT movie. Or this is like Lex Luther recruiting Ocean Master at the end of ToA which we are still waiting for the pay off. Which is odd as I know I read somewhere that the hypothetical third TT movie will be focused on Kory and Blackfire. Or scarily we might get Titans Hunt but that story itself was a weaker retread of Judas Contract so maybe something remotely original.

So yeah, in a Judas Contract movie Titans who had  less or diddly squat to do with the original story are handled more respectfully than Jericho. Goddammit, KEVIN SMITH'S CAMEO IS TREATED BETTER THAN JERICHO'S. ALSO HI YJ VOICE CAMEOS.

AND IT'S A DAMN SHAME THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE MOVIE (Except most of Slade's character but later) IS HANDLED REALLY WELL. It balances the various plot threads nicely between Kory and DIck's relationship on and off the team, Jaime's struggle with the scarab and of course Tara's character arc which is I am  very happy with how they handled it. Ultimately, it's tragic and messy yes but in a more satisfying way I guess? They approach her as a multifaced character taking a lot from the original Terra but here she's an abrasive loner with a traumatic backstory that she flashes back when those memories are triggered. She's revealed happily working with Slade but being around people who are genuinely nice and care about her confuses her and if you weren't aware of versions of her story before it would keep you doubting. SHe's loyal to Slade for saving her life and thinks of him the only person she trusts and when he breaks it....she tries to break him. Not exactly another side change but her fighting because she's pissed off and she basically lost any trust and companionship she had especially from the one she thought she did love. And as a final act of fucking with the feels Tara saves Gar as rocks fall on her. I know many are going go argue about how evil Terra should be and how true this is to the original JC but this version succeeded in pulling of the "sucker punch" really damn well. Obviously, Slade/Terra is there but made clear they didn't "do it." I figured they'd want that uncomfortable aspect still in this version but didn't want to make their fanboy Assassin wet dream look that awful. He does tell Tara after they take care of the Titans they will be together but that can easily handwaived as him lying to use her. Ultimately, this version of Slade/Terra feel like a skeevy, manipulative version of Leon/Mathilda from the film "Leon the Professional" (high recommend plus proof that Gary Oldman could've been a good Joker as well as a good Commissioner Gordon). Gar and Tara's relationship is also handled well, sticking close to the original comic's version of it being rather one-sided and Gar being annoying but his behavior is called out by others and when he actually stops being a flirty jerk he's great and Tara honestly opens to him. There's even a nice reference to the TT cartoon BBT with the two sitting on the beach outside the tower complete with rock skipping.

Also about shipping,  HALLELUJAH NO TRACE OF BBR ANYWHERE IN THIS MOVIE. Unless you count them standing next to one another, exchanging dialogue about how clueless Gar is, and basic human compassion as BBR hints than yes. Also Traci 13! Or at least a girl named Traci with 13 on her shirts.

In other terms of adapting, there were plenty of lines and scenarios lifted from the book from how the Titans were taking down (Gar's is still hilarious, Jaime basically got Vic's, and sadly we were cheated out of a Terra vs Raven fight with just seeing Tara standing over Raven) to even Slade hitting on Starfire almost word for word. Of course with out Joey or Addie Dick is the one to single handedly infiltrate the HIVE/Blood Cult to rescue them because he's Dick Grayson :/ It's impressive but also makes the big deviations with the Wilsons more annoying.

Next to Joey, the other character to get cheated here is Slade sans not committing statutory rape in this version. Of course we're stuck with the Slade who's main reason for capturing the Titans was avenging his son. Here it's for money and the only family is the LoA that Damian "stole" from him. Really there isn't even any hints about other family here even with Joey in the damn film....if Joey is utilized again here how will they explain that? It didn't even seem that hard to adapt some kind of Wilson family drama into this movie with the time they're given. They missed out on what could've been a poignant scene if instead of money Slade gave HIVE Terra to take Nightwing's place in the power sucking machine it was him choosing his son and being a semi-decent father. But nope this Slade is a petty, boring sleazy bastard just caring about power AND money. Because we needed Damian to have something cool to do and take out Slade's eye and make him a generic assassin more tied to the Bat family because yes the Bat Family needs more interesting villains. Yes I'm still pissed at that and safe to say this is another reason I'm ranking Damian low on "Favorite Robins" lists.

However, we still get "A new Titan takes Terra's place on team and hints at hopeful future" with.....Donna Troy! As one of the Titans cursed to be deaged to Damian's age group because we're ignoring Cassie who comics are doing that anyway. Here it seems no one in Tim's generation existed anyway. Really I'm happy Donna gets to be animated with the Titans but given she probably never was part of the Fab Five and instead Damian's "generation" now and how this is another reason they could've given Joey a more faithful role...the excitement was kind of nulled.

Other than all that, the animation at the end seemed....odd. Like trying to over-emote and drive home how intense the scenes were especially with Terra and Brother Blood.

 Overall, as a Terra fan I am actually satisfied yet still sad but as a Jericho fan I am frustrated and worried for the future. Even when I'm starting to warm up to this version of Titans despite trying to recreate the 03 cartoon around Damian there's always a bit in these movies that's going to massively disappoint me and ruin almost everything else about the movies. Last time was how they handled Raven and Arella's relationship in one of the worst ways possible here it's spitting on Joey's contributions and maybe bringing him back as a villain...god please let that not be the case.