#i mean there's always the comic that dana wants to write down the line

[autumnalfrog]

GOD as a Luz Noceda enjoyer I am THRIVING.

Cool angsty art, EVERYTHING about the promo. My autism levels are off the fucking charts :)

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who most likely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

When Dana Terrace did her AMA on Reddit, a fan asked what we could expect for the new season. To which she replied by listing five things:

Parental conflict

A lot of emotions

Island exploration

New characters

...There's a fifth thing in there. You just got to look closely.

Now, when Dana mentioned parental conflict, dozens of fans assumed she was talking about Alador and Odalia, which, I mean...valid. They were the only two parental figures who presented any real conflict, and the idea of Camila being involved seemed implausible due to Luz being cut off from the human world. But no matter how you perceived that line, one thing’s for sure: No one expected Eda and Lilith's mother to be a source of conflict!

Yup. Today we met the woman who created two of the (former) greatest witches in all of the Isles. Was her introduction welcomed? Or did she give the Blights a run for their money for the "Worst Parent(s) of the Year" award? Only spoilers can answer those questions, so keep that in mind as we go in-depth with "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

Let's review, shall we!

WHAT I LIKED

The Flashback: Already, this episode comes out swinging by giving us so much information! We get an explanation of what Eda goes through when cursed (which is horrifying), the reasoning behind her gem, the revelation that Eda ran away from home, and the reveal of how she got the portal door. The best part is, none of it feels rushed or forced. Eda's curse and the portal are integral threads to this story, both in this episode and in future ones. Tying them together sets up Gwendolyn's determination to cure her daughter while showing Eda's determination to escape her mother by skipping town into another dimension. There's also a sense of mystery in how and why the portal was in their backyard. And judging by how we got all of this incredible information in episode FOUR of the new season, something tells me we'll get answers to those questions sooner than we might think. This was such a strong opening to the episode. Despite giving so much information, it makes fans like me want even more. Which is an A+ in my book.

Gwendolyn: Yeah, might as well step out the gate in saying that I like Gwen...but I can already see how others won't. Immediately, she sets herself up as a mother who would do anything and everything to cure her daughter. That aspect of her character is perfect, and it quickly won points from me in terms of liking her. It's just that Gwendolyn's disregard of what Eda wants and the complete dismissal of Lilith are aspects of Gwen that are certainly going to rub some people the wrong way. Especially if those kids come from households where their parents are a lot like Gwendolyn. I was in the same boat of hating her too for a while, but thankfully, the last act saved her.

First, there's that scene where Gwendolyn threatened the lives of the demons for not only screwing her over but making things worse for Eda. It's one of those "Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned" moments that I always love to see.

Then there's the fact that Gwendolyn learns her lesson and, more importantly, apologizes. Not many actual abusive mothers would do that (Looking at you, Odalia), so it's nice to see that she makes an effort to make amends. Oh, and by the way, since I mentioned it, don't go around calling Gwendolyn abusive. She isn't. Or, at least, not to my eyes. If anything, she's a lot like Sara Fitzgerald from My Sister's Keeper (The book. Not the movie. The movie sucked).

In that story, Sara makes controversial choices that result in her youngest daughter Anna getting the short end of the stick due to putting all attention towards her eldest Kate. But here's the thing: KATE HAS CANCER! So while Sara's choices are beyond questionable, you can understand her point. And if you don't, well, I'd see how you would react when in her shoes. Trust me when I say that situations like this aren't always cut and dry. It's the same with Gwendolyn. She's far from "Mom of the year," but you understand where she's coming from. She wants to do what she can to help Eda, even if her methods could have been better. But that's just how I feel, and I can't speak for everyone who dealt with mothers far worse than her. If you refuse to forgive her, I'll understand. But to me, I consider Gwendolyn a worthy addition to the series.

(Plus, she just radiates Grandma energy when interacting with Luz. It's cute, and therefore I must love it!)

Luz: This season is on FIRE when presenting Luz!

I adore that the first thing we see her doing in this episode is sleeping after, most likely, another all-nighter to find a new portal. It proves that she has a determination made of iron and an intense dedication to getting back to Camila. In fact, it's that dedication that works as a perfect way to build a connection between Luz and Gwendolyn. They both want to reconnect with their families and are willing to do whatever it takes to do so.

Regardless, despite so desperately wanting to see Camila again, I'm glad that Luz still has common sense when it comes to helping Eda. She quickly sees that Gwen's cures are doing more harm than good, and it's great that Luz is the one to call malarky on the whole thing. No one had to spell things out for her because she's smart enough to notice that everything Professor Warlop is marketing feels a lot more like the fake medicine real people sell in the human world. It's a testament that despite having a big heart and the best intentions, Luz still has the intelligence to know when something is up and put a stop to it. And, again, let's hope that more people pick up on that.

Lilith: ...who would have expected Lilith of all characters to have most of the emotional moments in this episode?! I sure didn't!

But...Yeah. Lilith is the best thing in "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances." On top of her seeking Gwendolyn's approval being relatable for some viewers, it's also really heartbreaking. I mean, listen to the shocked and hurt tone in her voice after finding out Gwen visited Eda regularly. That alone should give away how much Gwendolyn is important to Lilith and says so much about how strained their relationship became after the curse. Then there's that scene where she just breaks down, feeling both scared and torn apart by the fact that she experienced the curse in its full form and could do nothing to stop herself. It...stung. That's the best way to describe it. It stung seeing a character who is (mostly) cool and collective to become so vulnerable and broken. And, you know what? It's because of this that Lilith has won me over. I still don't think she should have been as forgiven as quickly as she was, but after learning what Lilith went through and what she's currently going through, I'm more than willing to be ok with her. And--I can't believe I'm saying this--I'm going to miss her being a part of the Owl House. She earned her place, in my opinion, creating entertaining dynamics with everyone. Sure, she'll make appearances every now and again, but I wouldn't mind a few more episodes with her being with the main group. But I'm positive the writers will have plans for her in the future and seeing how well she was written in this, I can't wait to see what they do next.

King Hoping to see his Dad Again: This was just a cute tidbit that ties nicely into last week's episode. Bonus points for that scene where King and Lilith get drunk off of Night Market ice cream. It got a good chuckle out of me, especially when Hooty was the one who ended up being the voice of reason.

Cursed Lilith: ...How does she look worse and more terrifying than Eda?

How Beast Keeping Magic Works: Not much I can say about this. It's neat to be given a visual explanation of how Beast Keeping magic works and how it's more than just controlling animals. Judging by the roof shingles, it can also be making objects more animal-like. It's pretty cool, and I hope to see more of how the rest of the magic from the prominent covens work.

Luz wasn’t the only human: To tell you the truth, this doesn't surprise me. Eda did say that every myth humans have is a bit of the Boiling Isles leaking into the human world, so why can't the opposite be true? However, the reveal of there being a famous human around many years ago presents many more questions, and possible theories, that deserve to be discussed in a future post. For now, I'll just say that it's awesome how this reveal perfectly transitions us to next week's episode, "Through the Looking Glass Ruins." We already know Luz is going to the library. But, seeing how Gus is going to be a prominent character in that episode as well, he probably wanted to tag along with Luz to study about the first human in the Boiling Isles. Only to then get sidetracked by some cool kids from Glandis. It's in the realm of possibility, thus proving how more serialized this season compared to Season One while still being somewhat episodic. Because even if "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" presents a lot for the overall story, it's still its own tale about family relationships and knowing how to truly be there for the people you love. Resulting in a necessary and cute episode that ends on a wholesome note without any major surprises like--

Creepy Clone Luz: ...

...Dana Terrace, you lying--YOU SAID CREEPY LUZ WAS A FARCE! IN THE SAME AMA, TOO! CURSE YOU! CURSE YOU AND YOUR SNAKE TONGUE, GOSH DANGIT!

...Alright, now that I got my overreaction out of the way, this was an amazingly well-written surprise!

Tricking fans into thinking that Camila is crying over the realization that Luz is gone, only to then reveal this...thing, is the best shock to the system that this series has done so far. Even better, it results in all the right questions:

Who is it?

What is it?

Where did it come from?

When did it get there?

How did it get there?

How does it know about Camila?

And why? Just, why?

To me, a series that presents all of these questions, and makes me excited for whatever answers are given, is a series that's doing something right. Because if I'm still reeling over something that lasts for a second, despite seeing the episode hours ago, that is a testament to how good a surprise really is.

WHAT I DISLIKED

Trust me, I want to give this episode the A+ just for that ending alone. But, there are some issues I have that are worth discussing.

Eda’s Outfit Change: I know. It's the nitpickiest of all nitpicks I could present. Particularly because Eda doesn't even look bad (although that's no surprise). The issue is that it feels weird that Eda's having this permanent outfit change in the fourth episode of Season Two. Or, to me it is, at least. Because I think that if you're going to give a small yet constant change to the look of a character, it should be done right away. Like, in the first episode of a new season. I highly doubt fans would question why Eda is wearing different clothes by then, so it wouldn't be too bad if the first time we see her, she’s sporting a new outfit. Again, this is just me, and I have no problems with the outfit itself. It just seems odd they would do this later rather than sooner.

Screwing with Eda: I...did not like this. At all. It was funny at first to see Luz and Gwendolyn lure Eda with Apple Blood like how Wile E. Coyote would bait the Road Runner with birdseed, but it quickly took a turn. Because I don't want to see Eda meet inconvenience after inconvenience from her mother and surrogate daughter. I like Eda, and seeing her happy makes me happy. If I wanted to laugh at a character's suffering, I would have picked Boscha, Mattholomule, Alador, and/or Odalia. This? This was just unnecessary cruelness to a character who doesn't deserve it. And it takes up a good chunk of this episode, making me question whether or not this would be the stinker I was fearing. Fortunately, the ending increased my enjoyment by several notches, but that doesn't change how this was the low point of "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances."

IN CONCLUSION

Despite the road being rocky in the middle, I still consider "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" to be another solid A episode. The first and last few minutes have some quality writing that adds more to the characters, ongoing plot, and mystery that the series is building up. It's one of those important episodes you can't skip when watching a series, but given how it's keeping the new season's impeccable track record, I fail to see how that's a problem.

(Although, I am scared. We haven't gotten a stinker yet, and I really don't want it to be next week's episode. It's a Gus episode with sweet Lumity content on the side! That cannot fail!)

[touchingoldmagic]

Comic Review

Okay first an apology. Due to COVID and then my own 30-day challenge, this review got very delayed. But here we go, let's look at the fourth and final issue of GB Year One! As always, spoilers under the cut.

As is tradition, we start the comic with interviews. But instead of minor characters this time, we have Janine, Ray, and Peter talking about Egon. Janine says he's hard to get to know but generous with sharing his knowledge. I think that's a really in character thing to say, I can definitely hear it in Annie Potts' voice.

We cut to Winston chaperoning Rebecca to the firehouse, where Egon is working. This takes place a few weeks after the end of the movie (as established by Dana in the first issue) so the firehouse is still blown up. I have to say I really like that they included this, we rarely get to see the firehouse with this much damage. There's a police officer stationed outside to keep looters away, which I also thought was a nice realistic touch.

I guess this is a good place to point out that I find Egon in the IDW comics to be written quite a bit differently than Egon from the movies (or from RGB/EGB). Even in GB1 and 2, where Egon was very reserved and deadpan, he never came across as unsympathetic toward other people. To me, anyway. In the comics, I feel like Erik Burnham always writes him as a man without any patience for "normal people." Even his comic bio states Egon is someone who "isn't interested in what you have to say." I dunno, I just never got that vibe from him in any other GB media and it bugs me a bit. -shrug- Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, Egon immediately tells Rebecca he's only speaking to her because it's part of the contract for them getting paid for this book deal, and they need the money to rebuild the firehouse.

Rebecca asks why Egon got started in the paranormal, and Egon basically says he wants to explain all the things that mankind finds unexplainable, and ghosts were just the first thing he was able to prove. He'll move on to something else when he loses interests in ghosts.

Rebecca then asks why he built the Containment Unit so that it exploded when the power was cut. Personally I'm like "Wow rude much?" but I guess it's a legit question. Egon says it was because of the unexpected increase in ghost energy due to Gozer, and that he's going to rebuild it so it won't happen again.

I find Rebecca in this issue is a lot more antagonistic than she was in previous issues. I guess Egon pushes her buttons LOL.

When they start talking about their first case at the Sedgewick, Winston brings up the story that the green ghost escaped when they were putting it into the Containment Unit. Rebecca is very interested in hearing this other story of the Unit failing to work right, and Egon is not very appreciative of Winston speaking up.

Great lines: Egon: Thank you so much for bringing that up, Winston. Your memory is a real asset. Winston: Uh... I think I've got an errand to run. -leaves-

We jump to a flashback that takes place after the Sedgewick scene in the movie. The GB's return to the firehouse. Peter has a hilarious cowlick from the slime, which I love.

Ray and Egon go to the basement to put their first ghost in the Containment Unit.

But the button gets stuck and Slimer escapes. (His name isn't really Slimer in this universe, but I'm just going to call him that for simplicity's sake.) Slimer appears upstairs where he picks up a prototype proton grenade from Egon's locker and then... phases right through the front door, carrying the grenade?

I don't know if this is an oversight on the part of the comic or if they're trying to purposely show us that ghosts can take solid matter through other solid matter, but it really confused me. I mean, we don't see Slimer doing that in the movie. He drinks a bottle of wine and it goes right through him onto the floor, and when he goes through the wall dragging a food cart behind him, the cart crashes into the wall. So why does the grenade go right through the firehouse door? I have no idea.

Anyway, Egon and Ray run out after him to protect the neighborhood. (Peter and Janine apparently aren't there now to see this happen.)

Ray: Why would you store a prototype proton grenade in your locker? Egon: I don't feel as thought that's important right now, Ray.

Slimer zips around the streets, stealing people's food and brandishing the grenade. Egon cautions Ray not to take a shot at him, since their beams could make it explode. Ray runs off to a dumpster to find some food to bait the ghost, leaving Egon to stall him alone.

Egon: Luckily it was driven more by impulse than intelligence--sort of like Venkman in college.

And for some reason there's two times where the artist forgot to draw Slimer holding the grenade? It seems like an obvious mistake to make, so I dunno if they really forgot or if it was on purpose. The quality control in this issue seems to be lacking.

Egon tries to sneak up on Slimer, but the ghost sees him and clonks him with the grenade. He then gets distracted by a pizza and drops it. Egon ducks, but the bomb fizzles out, a dud. (How anticlimactic.)

With the spud distracted, Egon fires his thrower and catches him. He compares reeling him in to a memory of reeling in a fish as big as he was when he was a kid. That was a cute reference, at least. I'm trying to picture tiny!Egon and his reserved father on a fishing boat.

We cut back to Egon and Rebecca as Egon wraps up his story. Here he says that this incident proved to all of them that they should never take solo calls, ever. That comment felt weird to me because... nothing bad happened? Egon was able to wrangle Slimer by himself just fine. How did this incident prove that? But I guess the writer just wanted to slip in a reason why we never see the GB's going on busts by themselves, in any media. (As if it's not obvious how dangerous the job would be by yourself...)

At this point Rebecca is ready to leave when suddenly a red ghostly light swirls around her and she grows fangs and claws. I was super excited at first because I thought this was going to be a twist ending and Rebecca was going to be a ghost this whole time! Trying to get inside info on how to take down the team. How awesome would that have been!?

But no, Rebecca is only momentarily possessed by...something. Something that has a vague message for Egon that the Ghostbusters will be killed sometime, someday. That's it. I'm not even kidding, the ghost literally uses the words "Sooner or later, doom!" Like... yeah, buddy? That's just life?

The ghost vanishes and Rebecca is overwhelmed and quickly leaves. Peter shows up just as she's leaving, asking what that was about.

(Narrator Voice: He did not find out.)

So that's it! I'm a bit disappointed in this issue, I have to say. The story was okay, but there's a bunch of little things that don't make sense, things that look like drawing errors, and a weak ending. It all adds up to a disappointing feeling.

I think they are implying something about Afterlife with the ghost at the end? Is there going to be a ghost in Afterlife that claims to have been watching Egon since the founding of the Ghostbusters, and perhaps even eventually killed him? Man, I know ghosts can be patient but that's a pretty long stretch of time to wait before sealing somebody's doom.

But there we go, the four issues of Year One. I do think it's good to have oneshot stories. A comic series shouldn't be entirely made up of long storyarcs. I like a little variety. And I liked seeing some scenes that we only heard about in the past, even if it made the comic feel like a "clip show" sometimes, where they were just filling in things that were mentioned offhand in the movies.

I think the comic was strongest when it was giving us thoughts and motivations for our favorite characters and seeing them interact (like Ray training Winston for 15 min and calling it good, and Winston telling him how crazy that is). And I felt it was weakest when it was just redrawing screenshots from the movie or doing those interviews with minor characters at the start of each issue (I liked it at first but it got tiring quickly). All in all, I did like this series and I am really excited to see what is coming for the IDW GB's next!

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #467

Top Ten Romantic Couples in Superhero Movies (& TV)

It’s Valentine’s Day this weekend. Woo, I guess? I dunno. I’m not generally cynical about holidays but Valentine’s Day does seem to be entirely focused on selling cards without any of the associated pleasantries of, say, Christmas or Halloween. I’d rather just try to be nice to my wife all year round. At least because of the apocalypse all the restaurants are closed so we can’t be tempted to pay through the nose for a set menu. Anyway, it gives me a strained excuse to tie this week’s Top Ten to something vaguely romantic.

Superheroes are often horny. This seems to be a defining characteristic of the artform. Whether it’s their descent from ancient myths, or their creators’ origins in writing romance books, or just a function of genre storytelling in the mid-twentieth century, there’s quite a lot of romantic angst in superhero stories. Pretty much every superhero has a significant other; Lois Lane even got her own comic that was actually called Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane. It’s hard to conceive of many heroes without their primary squeeze, and often – as we get multiple media adaptations of characters – we can add diversity or a twist to the proceedings by picking a lesser-known love interest, or one from earlier in the character’s fictional history; for instance, Smallville beginning with Cark Kent’s teenage crush Lana Lang, or The Amazing Spider-Man swapping out Mary Jane Watson for Gwen Stacey.

Anyway, I’m talking this week about my favourite superhero couples. I’ve decided to focus on superhero adaptations – that is, the characters from movies and films based on superhero comics or characters. I find this a little bit easier as I don’t have a phenomenal knowledge of sixty years of Avengers comics, but I have seen all the movies a bunch. As many comics as I’ve read, and as much as I love various ink-and-paper pairings, I can arguably talk more authoritatively about the fillums than the funny books. And let’s be real here, kids: my favourite comic book romantic couple is Chromedome and Rewind in Transformers. Also if I split them in two I can talk about comic couples next year. Woohoo!

It really is hard thinking of these things nearly nine years in, folks.

So! Here, then, are my favourite movie-TV Couples in Capes. Obviously there’s a fair bit of MCU in here. And I’ve been pretty specific about “superhero” romances: so no Hellboy and Liz Sherman, sadly (and I do really like them in the movies, of which they really need to make a third). Some are civvies-and-supes; some are capes-and-capes. You’ll work it out.

Superman & Lois Lane (Christopher Reeve & Margot Kidder, Superman, 1978): who else? The most famous romance in all of comics, a combo so strong it remains the focus of pretty much every interpretation of the character, but arguably never better than here; so good are Reeve and Kidder that their fast-talking banter and inherent goodness set the template for a huge swathe of other comic adaptations to follow. She’s sarky and streetwise; he’s gormless and good-hearted. She leaps in where angels fear to tread, he’s an invulnerable alien in disguise. They have buckets of chemistry and an utterly believable (tentative) romance. They’re perfect performances and the scenes of Clark in Metropolis for the first time (including Superman’s balcony interview with Lois) are the best bits of an already excellent film.

Raven & Beast Boy (Tara Strong & Greg Cipes, Teen Titans Go!, 2014): on a totally different register, we have the comedy stylings of the Teen Titans. Raven and Beast Boy had a flirtatious relationship on the original Titans series, but on this longer-running and much more demented comedy follow-up, they were allowed to make the romance more official (I nearly said “explicit” but, y’know… it’s not that). The jokes and banter – BB the love-struck, jealous suitor, Raven the too-cool partner who feigns nonchalance – build and build, but every now and again they’re allowed a moment of genuine heartfelt romance, and it hits all the more strongly amidst the ultra-violence and outrageous comedy.

Captain America & Agent Carter (Chris Evans & Hayley Atwell, Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011): the premier couple of the MCU, Steve and Peggy spend a whole movie flirting (she sees the goodness of him even before he gets all hench) before finally arranging a date that, we all know, is very much postponed. Peggy casts a shadow over the rejuvenated Cap and the MCU as a whole, founding SHIELD, inspiring dozens of heroes, and counselling Steve to her dying days. She remains Steven’s true north (like Supes with Lois, Peggy’s an ordinary human who is the actual hero of an actual super-powered hero), guiding him through the chaos and tragedy of Endgame, until they both get to live happily ever after. Even though he snogged her niece.

Batman & Catwoman (Michael Keaton & Michelle Pfeiffer, Batman Returns, 1992): Pfeiffer delivers a barnstorming performance as Selina Kyle, all barely-supressed mania and seductive feline charm. The chemistry between her and Keaton is electric, and propels the film forward even when the Penguin-runs-for-mayor stuff gets a bit daft and icky. There are beautiful moments of romantic comedy when they’re both trying to cover up injuries they gave each other, and of course there’s “mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it” – a line that runs a close second to “dance with the devil” when it comes to Burton-Batman quotations (just ahead of “never rub another man’s rhubarb”). Burton, generally favouring the macabre villains over the straighter edges of the heroic Batman, nevertheless makes great play of the duality of the character, and how this is something he and Catwoman can share – both “split right down the centre” – but also how this means a happy ending for either of them is impossible.

Spider-Man & Mary Jane (Tobey Maguire & Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2002): whilst a lot of this is really down to the sexiness of them kissing upside-down in the rain, there’s a nice duality to Peter and MJ seeing through each other too: he sees the wounded humane soul beneath her it-girl persona; she sees the kind, caring man underneath his geek baggage. This arc plays out beautifully across the first two films (ending in that wonderfully accepting “Go get ‘em, tiger”) before sadly getting all murky and unsatisfying in the murky and unsatisfying third film. Still: that kiss.

Wonder Woman & Steve Trevor (Gal Gadot & Chris Pine, Wonder Woman, 2017): probably the film that hews closest to the Clark-Lois dynamic of the original Superman, to the point where it includes an homage to the alleyway-mugging scene as Diana deflects a bullet. Steve is Diana’s window into man’s world, showing her the horror of the First World War but managing to also be a sympathetic ally and never talking down or mansplaining anything. He’s a hero in his own right – very similar to another wartime Steve on this list – and very much an ideal match to the demigod he’s showing round Europe. And, of course, Gadot’s Diana is incredible, both niaive and vulnerable whilst also an absolute badass. There is an enduring warm chemistry to the pair, with a relationship which we actually see consummated – relatively rare for superheroes! The inevitability of his heroic sacrifice does nothing to lessen the tragedy, and no I’ve not seen Wonder Woman 1984 yet.

Hawkeye & Laura Barton (Jeremy Renner & Linda Cardellini, Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015): I love these guys! I love that Hawkeye has a relatively normal, stable family life. He has a big old farmhouse that he wants to remodel, he’s got two kids and a third on the way… he’s got something to live for, something to lose. It humanises him amidst the literal and figurative gods of the Avengers. And they’re cute together, bickering and bantering, and of course she is supportive of his Avenging. I hope we get to see more of Laura and the kids in the Hawkeye series, and I hope nothing bad happens to them now they’ve all been brought back to life.

Wanda Maximoff & Vision (Elizabeth Olsen & Paul Bettany, Avengers: Infinity War, 2018): theirs is a difficult relationship to parse, because they’re together so briefly. They cook paprikash together in Civil War before having a bit of a bust-up, and by Infinity War they’re an official couple, albeit on the run (and on different sides). That movie does a great job in establishing their feelings for each other in very little screentime, with their heroic characteristics on full display, before the shockingly awful tragedy of Wanda killing Vision to save the galaxy, before Thanos rewinds time, brings him back to life, and kills him again, and then wins. Their relationship going forward, in WandaVision, is even trickier, because we don’t know what’s up yet, and at times they’re clearly not acting as “themselves”, defaulting to sitcom tropes and one-liners. Will Vision survive, and if he does, will their relationship? Who can say, but at least they’ll always have Edinburgh, deep-fried kebabs and all.

Batman & Andrea Beaumont (Kevin Conroy & Dana Delany, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, 1993): woah, Batman’s back but it’s a different Batman, say whaaaat. Animated Batman has had a few romances, from the great (Talia al-Ghul) to the disturbingly icky (Batgirl, ewwww), but his relationship with Andrea Beaumont is the best. Tweaking the Year One formula to give young Bruce a love interest that complicates his quest is a golden idea, and making her a part of the criminality and corruptiuon that he’s fighting is a suitably tragic part of the Batman origin story. Conroy and Delany give great performances, him wringing pathos out of Bruce, torn between heart and duty (“It just doesn’t hurt so bad anymore,” he wails to his parents’ grave, “I didn’t count on being happy”), her channelling golden age Hollywood glamour. The tragedy of them rekindling their relationship years later, only to wind up on different sides again, is – again – so very Batman. It’s a beautiful, earnest, very Batman relationship, a great titanic tragedy of human emotions and larger-than-life ideals. And they both look good in black.

Harley Quinn & Poison Ivy (Kaley Cuoco & Lake Bell, Harley Quinn, 2020): this one’s a little bit of a cheat, as I’ve only seen the first season of the show, where Harley and Ivy don’t even get together. But in the wider, non-canonical sense of these being characters who are part of the pop-cultural ether, Harley and Ivy will always be a couple, I feel; and there’s definitely enough in there already to see the affection between them, not yet consummated. They adore each other, are always there for each other, and as the season follows Harley getting out of her own way and acknowledging the abuse of her relationship with Joker – and finally getting over it in the healthiest way possible for a bleached-white manic pixie in roller derby gear. And all through this, holding her hand, is Ivy. They’re utterly made for each other, and I’m glad that they do get together in season two. I hope that Margot Robbie’s rendition of the character can likewise find happiness with a flesh-and-blood Ivy. Hell, just cast Lake Bell again. She’s great.

Just bubbling under – and I’m really gutted I couldn’t fit them in – was Spider-Man & M.J. from Spider-Man: Far From Home. Like Batman, I’m comfortable including multiple continuities here, and those cuties offer a different spin on a classic relationship.

[indd40041020202021]

Mid term presentations

In some ways I wish that I could drop this grad project and just read and write about other design projects instead. I’m taking a few classes to complete my curatorial minor degree this semester and it’s really invigorated my love for writing and my opinion that design needs more critical writing and archiving (something that I love to do).  Anyway, that is what has been going through my head, as well as the pressing weight of the past year and it’s slow and arduous continuance into this one. Needless to say it has been really hard to pull some kind of positive motivation out of myself to get this work done.  For the mid-term presentation, I felt like I hadn’t really done that much work, at least comparatively to my normal pace. I dropped a class to focus more on core, but I think it has taken up to this week for me to really gain traction again in thinking about what this project is. 

one thing I’ve been aware of is the complex ideas I’m proposing with my project, and the difficulty in explaining what I’m trying to do. I’ve learned a lot in my current writing class about an audience and tempering your work for readability, and this has inspired me to instead show what I’m trying to do through story. 

As Sophie and I spoke a few days before the presentation, I felt that my point maybe was too convoluted in description, and felt that I couldn’t say all that I wanted to say about what I was trying to do. As well, I felt that through explaining my work, contradictions arose that didn’t feel true to my project either. I needed to succinctly get these ideas and points of entry down in a way that brings people into an understanding where I don’t have to explain the point, because I’m not doing a good job if I have to supplement the meaning.

I was originally thinking about a counterfactual involving the boom of plastic in the 50′s, as this was a catalyst to mass manufacturing once injection molds and mass replication was possible. Sophie said that maybe it was too obvious to choose plastic as the villain.  I also talked about my leech - a species that is currently extinct but unknown (like a Schrödinger's species, maybe it existed, maybe it didn't) and that I was thinking about it being used for blood testing in humans, as we would have to feed it our blood to get results, a kind of symbiosis. Sophie asked why it would be a tool for humans when we could biohack ourselves, and whether that would be something I would look into. 

This project is about decentering the human, and I felt that directing any kind of spotlight back to human achievement would be detrimental to the intended meaning of the work. Although, I always find myself coming back to these reflexive loops of “not about the human but Im human and writing it”, it feels like a bit of puppetry, but I don’t know if that can be avoided in these nature futures scenarios. 

I rethought plastic as a catalyst too, and after reading Against Performative Positivity by Dana Abdullah during my reading group, I was reminded of the politics of efficiency, and felt a renewed connection to it’s criticisms, especially related to how I’ve been feeling the past few months. While I knew about Taylorism, I did a bit more of a dive into his work and found that models of efficiency was a much better catalyst than plastic, as plastic in the 50′s already had the inertia of Taylor and Ford pulling it forward.  So I sat down and wrote a story for my presentation and supplemented it with both guiding reference photos and photos of some of the process that I’ve been going through. The following is my script and photos with annotations of what I was intending for each section of the story.

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A Technological History of the 20th Century 

[If I gave myself more editing time, I would’ve specified ‘20th Century in the West”]

In the late 1900’s, as the Industrial Revolution began to gain traction in the West, Fredrick Taylor published a text called The Principles of Scientific Management. This work, encouraging factories to go further in their exploitation of workers by valuing efficiency systems over living beings, enraged the general public and incited the Factory Riots of 1911. Lead by the “Imagination Effort” and supported by the Luddites, the Factory Riots destroyed many major factories, including Ford and General Motors, who were both car manufacturers at the time. 

[In reading the first few pages of the Principles of Scientific Management, it’s incredible to see that Taylor’s efficiency models were actually in hopes of a less wasteful manufacturing, not only in manpower but of finite resources. He quotes Theodore Roosevelt on conserving nature and talks about our water and forests vanishing. He then goes on to say that the most wasteful resource of all is man power, and talks about how idle thought and reliance on memory are detrimental. I found this really interesting, as it seems to be in good faith for a better world, but is really taking power away from man, our abilities to memorize and the value of imagination. For this reason, I imagined a protest group of people who also read between the lines here and called themselves “the Imagination Effort” in reference to his quote about the wastefulness in ‘efforts of the imagination”. I wanted to incite an event that would be detrimental to the way manufacturing historically succeeded, so I thought of taking down Ford and GM as two huge factories at the time, even making reference to a general public in this other world not knowing who they are (”who were both car manufacturers at the time”)]

The Factory Riots changed the way the West developed. Former President Theodore Roosevelt later applauded the work of the Imagination Effort for their advanced theories on conservation through thoughtful consideration of other beings. 

[Something I wanted to try was using old photographs and repurposing them in another world. Many of the comics around Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation efforts were in jest, but what if these were representations of people actually appreciating his respect for nature. I imagined that a political figure supporting a cause would bolster the effect of such cause, and be more realistic in their continued influence on world events (similar to the JFK/MLK alliance during Civil Rights protests in the 60s)]  

Throughout the 20th century, science shifted from the pursuit of knowledge of, towards the understanding of knowing with. Forestry and Oil industries began to downturn as cellulose bioplastics and bio-fuel began to boom in the 1950’s. This integration and new respect of nature and technology lead to locating many new species previously on the brink of extinction due to past industrial concepts.

[I wanted to show that I have been making some things - I was able to get this algae grow set-up working and bubbling away on my desk. Do I know what I’m going to do with the Algae yet? no. Does it look futuristic with purple lights? yes. In all seriousness, I am trying to get to a thinking through making mode that I often push aside and thought that by creating this algae set up and watching it grow, that I might be able to access some meaningful reflections on algae and all of its superpowers (bioplastics and bio-fuel being an example). I also thought of it as a potential air purification device, as algae is an incredible carbon capture capacity, higher than trees in general. I also wanted to be careful of my wording and to avoid words like ‘discover’ regarding the finding of other species.]

As part of a connection trek in Ontario’s Boreal Forest, scientists met the Photuris Hirudinea, the Firefly Leech. Both an omnivore and an amphibian, the Firefly Leech has an incredible ability to identify and communicate complex chemical chains in hemoglobin samples through bio luminescent markings, and has taught humans how to read other species emotional states with more nuance. 

[The leech is something I want to stick with so that I can: revision and elevate the leech, open conversations about what has been lost through natural destruction, the power and abilities of other species, and because I want to make something physical and believable - and I think I can do so with some 3D modelling, silicone molding, and basic electronics. I imagine this to be swimming - actually swimming - through an aquarium tank during the exhibition. The name, photuris hirudinea, I was wondering whether I should include latin naming as this world is about breaking down hierarchies, including taxonomical ones, but I thought I would leave it as I believe that some human tendencies or leftover patterns would remain. I chose ‘photuris’ for the Firefly, as they are one of the only land species that use bioluminescence and I wanted the leech to be amphibious ,and hirudinea refers to the leech. I think it brings a bit of believability to this other-world species to have it rooted in real species. I wanted to state that it is an omnivore as well, because both plants and animals carry hemoglobin, and I thought that this was a good way of talking about it’s chemical abilities not only for human use but for other species as well. Finally, because I have the license of another world, I moved away from ‘health data’ to emotional data, something that is unvalued in our world, and something that Taylor explicitly called ‘wasteful’ in his writing. I also think that science valuing both empirical and theoretical data, quantitative and qualitative research, phenomenon and nomenon, was something I wanted to infer.]

In the 1980’s, Michael Strano developed nanobionics, and the interweave was born. Through non-invasive pre-sensing, developed with aid from the Firefly Leech, Strano was given permission by the Giant Kelp species to rewire their mRNA structure, allowing internal tRNA transfers to be visualized on the kelp’s surface, and for information transfer between kelp leaves on touch. This created a network that allowed other species to input, transfer, and communicate information, due to the Giant Kelp’s generosity. 

[I focused heavily on word choice in this section. Dr Michael Strano really is the person who helped developed nanobionics, but I took the doctor from his name as academic achievements and social stature may be separate in this world. I had been playing around with the idea of printing a circuit board onto seaweed. What would it mean if we had a natural backing for something that we base most of our technology on? What if a circuit board wasn’t rigid? What if this was floating through the sea, oxidizing and naturally going back to the Earth? What if it was grown into the kelp, genetically implanted with their permission? Could the firefly leech help us communicate what other species wishes and boundaries are? I wanted the language to remove the dissecting power of the ‘scientific’ human into more of a conversation and mutual agreement between species. Stating that the kelp is giving permission for us to alter it, while leaving out exactly how that happened, I think it is a way to turn these ideas of hierarchies on their head. I imagine someone outside of design thinking this is absurd, but on the off-chance that it makes someone think outside of themselves, I think it’s important. I want to run down my reasoning with my friend Rylee, but mRNA, the messenger RNA, is a single chain, meaning that it can attach to another through tRNA, the transfer RNA. This is way over my head if you asked me specifics on it, but in theory I think it’s close to something imaginable, especially with what they are called (messenger and transfer, similar to internet terms anyways). I also wanted to change the internet to the interweave, as net invokes ideas of capturing, whereas weave invokes ideas of support.]

Through advances in bacterial memory storage, the Interweave of the kelp forest expanded in it’s knowing and expanded it’s form - seen in giant kelp clouds that are easily seen from shorelines all over the world. 

[Bacteria holding memory is a real thing, and I was wondering what that would mean if we had known about it earlier (if we had appreciated other species earlier). I think there’s something really compelling about living memory storage. I also thought about the agency of other species, if the interweave allowed other species to interact in their own ways, I assume there would be some information transfer between other species, and maybe some learning. Could kelp gain the understanding to have floating clouds networking above the water too? I think this is the most far out idea of the group but I wanted to show some preposterous ideas for ideas’ sake. Imagination is a big part of this project, and I think a lot of people are afraid to use their imaginations for fear of looking stupid, but I think it’s one of our greatest abilities!]

As nature and technology continued to grow together, human involvement in it’s developments became extraneous. Communication has become increasingly nuanced, beyond the early 20th century notions of speech and body language. Knowing between species has evolved, and contributes to other-than-human species developing many of the technologies that we interact with today. 

[I wanted to show current day symbiotic relationships in this slide: clownfish and anemone, algae and lichen, trees and fungi, and of course, my monitor lizard engineer. I like the idea of proposing that these species connect without us, without our intervention, and that there are so many other dimensions of communicating between species that we do not pay attention to. I didn’t go into specifics about current day technology in this world because I didn’t have any in mind while writing - but I wanted to allude to the idea that many other technologies made by humans and some made without humans exist in this world.]

While we can appreciate other species and how they have helped support us through the years, we can only imagine what may have been if the Imagination Effort had not risen up in defense of our earthbound kin way back in the Factory Riots of 1911. 

[With what I currently have, this is how I am imagining the gallery set-up - an aquarium with the leech swimming around, with a didactic stating that the aquarium is just for show and that they live freely in the wild. I also thought that I could create a simulation of a kelp interweave branch, simulating connections through lights. I didn’t include the algae because I’m not quite sure what it means yet.]

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presentation feedback:

I’m happy with the feedback overall, I think the story aspect really helped people understand the point of my project, which has been my biggest hurdle in the past and going into this presentation. Donnie brought up a good point about what it would mean to have these future moments happen now or present day. I find it quite a bit harder to actually imagine from the point that we’re at now, I’m not sure why but it almost feels more... practical in a sense, I would want to avoid inventing something that becomes an actual usable artifact, like Auger’s Tooth Implant, where it was meant as a critical piece of work but was considered seriously by the public. 

Here are some of my miro responses:

“Love it.  Seems kind of speculative evolution-y.  See Dougal Dixon “

I think speculative evolution is definitely similar. I looked up Dougal Dixon and recognized his work from Speculative Dreaming. I really love how he was able to create these worlds as dunne and raby say, through tempering speculation, even though he’s talking about 50 million years in the future. I think the issue with it is that 50 million years in the future is so far forward that I have a hard time caring about something that far forward. 100, 200, 300 years I can understand, that is something that I could see through a genealogical sense and understand, but 50million years is unreachable in understanding what that frame of time actually means. I think while Dixon is talking about the scientific evolution over time, I am talking about species that already exist in this time that we just don’t know about or have already extinguished. 

“ whimsical and unique, I look forward to seeing more! “ Thanks!

“ so effective and well composed - the narration + the performative... I am so taken with the compelling affect of active story telling. AR?”

I’m glad this came across as I wrote this story the day before the presentation, haha. I want to avoid AR - I focused so heavily in VR last semester and found that the learning curve was taking away from my actualization time - that my fidelity level would not catch up in time for the show. I do appreciate AR and VR though, but I was fully immersed in it last semester and it’s just not right for this project at this time with this deadline. 

“ I imagine your final project book laid out as a mock history textbook “ I actually really want to print a book for this project. A cumulation of writing about process and planning in the first half, and the story and final work in the second half. It would be more of a monograph and not part of the exhibition itself, I just want something really nice that I can shop around after I graduate and when I’m applying to my masters. 

“ @Lauren will you still be doing another workshop around this new counterfactual world? Maybe a writing workshop? I would love to write a story around this as a workshop! It's such a fun idea “

I love this idea - I did receive a grant last semester that I haven’t used yet. Maybe I can do a workshop where I send out a prompt through the mail and ask people to write a story around where they think it came from? I don’t know, and I don't want it to seem ad-hoc - But I have this money and I would love to spend it somewhere. I don’t know really! “ I love how you brought nature into design, especially in. an urban setting. I am excited to see what comes next! “

I’m not sure if I understand what they meant by urban setting, but Im happy they enjoyed it. 

“ I researched "Monsanto" company which is a huge seeds company having 30% market share in the US. One of their experiments was combining the fish’s gene and some veggies... When you talked about bio technical history, it came up in my mind. I think something that related to our life directly but hidden science facts would be good to see in the exhibition as well. “

I like this comment because I was not thinking about Monsanto in any way, but I’m glad it came up. Monsanto is a great example of when species’ agency is not considered, and these genetic experiments are purely for profit and are usually detrimental to both people and the environment. Is there good genetic hacking? I’m attending a bioart talk next week, maybe they will be talking about this - but I’m really happy that the story made them think of something else in our current world. That is the intent of this work is to relate to now and talk about these issues and why they are issues. 

“ Lauren! Your project brings me so much joy! Your story telling and creativity is amazing and I love how it brings these ideas of nature and humans coexisting in a way that it currently does not. “

This was really nice, thank you!

_____________

Overall I’m happy with the response - was hoping for a bit more constructive feedback. 

I’m going to talk to Bobbi in the WIP lab next week to talk about how to make the leech happen, and am feeling that maybe the leech is enough of an anchor to base my world around - maybe. 

Anyway, I’m going to take a break from school for a little bit this week to try and reset and drag some motivation from inside myself for the last few weeks of my degree.

[blackcomicschat]

Kickstarter Highlight: Fight of the Century

We recently had the opportunity to interview Troy-Jeffery Allen and Nick Allen, two of the creators of Fight Of the Century, an exciting new project which is currently featured on Kickstarter. You can view their trailer above and support the campaign HERE. Enjoy the interview.

________

Welcome to BlackComicsChat. Please introduce yourself and tell us where are you from?

Troy: We’re from the DC-Maryland-Virginia trifecta. I hesitate to say “DMV”, but that’s a thing. I’ll quickly represent DC despite no longer living there. Nick will always strongly rep Baltimore.

Nick: Always.

Tell us about your earliest memory of comic books, and the moment when you first decided that you wanted to be involved in the creation of comics.

Nick: It was a late uncle’s comic collection. Lots of old school Marvel.

Troy: Yeah, I definitely remember randomly finding that Spider-Man, Power Man, Storm anti-smoking issue. At that age, I don’t think it really connected to me that these were comic characters until later. It also failed at teaching me not to smoke.

Nick:  I think we were both hard-headed children.

Troy: Oh, for sure.

Nick: The one I grabbed was X-Factor #4 with Frenzy on the cover.

Troy: Look at that. Both comics had black people on the cover. I just realized that. Nick: Right?

Troy: As far as deciding to create comics, that came in the late 2000s. Nick was in video game school and I was the questionable one still working at a comic book store letting my film schooling collect dust. I think we both realized that comics – this thing that seemed impossible to do before digital – might be attainable. That’s all it took: Ease of access and stupid assumptions.

Let’s discuss the comic that you are Kickstarting. What is your story about? A cyberpunk, underdog sports tale about Performance Enhancing Drugs in the future is a premise that I haven't seen before in comics. How did you come up with the concept, and what made you want to tell this particular story?

Troy: Well, it’s called FIGHT OF THE CENTURY. It takes place in Brazil in the not-so distant future where everyone is linked to a pharmaceutical company. Our focus is in the Mixed Martial Arts world, where everyone undergoes a Dr. Frankenstein-like experiment to compete. We’re talking full metamorphoses.

Our afro-Brazilian main character, Rex Punga, gets in the octagon while totally juiced up and he has a “hulk out” moment that causes an in-ring incident. The company behind the drugs – BrawnPharm – buries him with a public smear campaign and ends his career. But this is a sports story. So, Rex has to make a comeback and he’s going to do it by going all-natural. It’s very David and Goliath that way.

Nick: I'm a huge sports fan, and a few years back I noticed how athletes were being busted for doping.  However, I thought for every athlete that's being busted, there are probably ten that aren't.  And what does it mean for sports in general when we pick and choose losers that way.  So, I asked well what if I could tell a story about a society where athletes got to openly use these drugs.  What would happen?  I approached Troy, because he's a really good writer, and thought he would be great to work with.  From there we started hammering out some plausibility details (who, what, where); and what social commentary could we add.

Troy: I was already doing a wrestling comic over in my corner somewhere. FIGHT OF THE CENTURY kind of seemed like the obvious thing to do. I agreed to it so quickly. We just found so many ideas based on that nugget of a concept.

Also, Nick hit me up about this right around the time that I’d watched Food, Inc.--that documentary about Monsanto. My mind was already in a place where I was thinking a lot about genetic modification and how a lot of what we consume is unnatural. That led to us talking about multinational corporations that essentially have no borders. That’s when we knew who the real bad guy of our story was. We started down this track of looking at a future where everyone is chained to a pharmaceutical company. Then we came back to the present and went, “Shit…this is happening now!”

Nick: Troy and I also have experience in combat sports (myself with martial arts and Troy with wrestling), so we thought MMA could be a great vehicle for telling this type of story.  And life has imitated art as more and more MMA guys are being busted for P.E.D.s.  Also, who doesn't love watching a good bloody fight?

Troy: That’s kind of the crazy thing. Life kept supplying material for us to riff off of.  From Ray Lewis’ deer antler spray to students using Ritalin to pass – the story just kept writing itself.

Tell us about the creative team behind this project.

Troy: We wanted an international squad. Like, one of the biggest hooks for MMA are these cultural connections: Conor McGregor is proud to be an Irish fighter, the Gracies gave us the designation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instead of judo -- styles of fighting and fighters are very much tied to culture. We wanted that baked into the story.

Nick: Shawn Alleyne reps Barbados and he started the artwork by providing many of the original character designs.  I don't think Shawn needs much introducing to your audience.  I knew him from attending shows and seeing his artwork online.  He's a phenomenal designer and brought a lot of the initial style ideas.

Troy: If I had to credit anyone with injecting cyberpunk into our initial concept it would be Shawn. I don’t think it was intentional, but his concepts just screamed “cyberpunk”. We just kept thinking of it in those terms from there on.

Artist Mervyn McKoy also added a lot of style and a pinch of dystopia to some of the early concepts. Especially to Karla Punga, Rex’s wife and manager. He’s been a frequent collaborator of Nick’s.

Nick: From there, we scoured the internet in order to find some amazing talent. Julius Abrera  was the first guy we found thanks to Instagram.  He lives in the Philippines, so we had to cold contact him, but, fortunately, he was an MMA fan and loved the idea. He was all on board.

Then, we wanted to add some homegrown talent from Brazil, so we looked for a Brazilian based inker and once again Instagram showed us Thiago De Costa.  We thought they would make an amazing pairing for the line art team.

Troy: Thiago has been indispensable. He got Thiago Ribeiro on board and Netho Diaz. All from Brazil. He’s also been our Portuguese voice on Facebook.

Nick: Absolutely. Also, Bryan, our colorist, was a referral from Julius. So we got the Filipino connect too. And that only left lettering which I take responsibility for.

What was the creative process like on this book?

Nick: Amazing.  Everyone adds something different and special to the book.  We've been fortunate to work across 3 continents with ease -- that's to the internet.  Dropbox and Facebook are our primary tools for collaboration.  

We’ve also found a new graffiti artist that we hope to incorporate into the mix. Troy: And Dana Brand, who has become our story editor recently. Her passion for story is great motivation to work through the sometimes rough terrain of plot. She also loves baseball, so I think the PED angle made sense to her pretty quickly.  

Nick: Yeah, the core team is always batting around ideas and helping each other when challenges arise.

What made you choose Kickstarter as a funding method?

Nick: Well, we've completed an entire issue and thought it would be worth pursuing to fund a graphic novel.  Troy and I are fully committed to the book, but totally self-funding would be much slower.  Also, Kickstarter is an amazing place to find like-minded individuals that might love a book like this.  

Troy: I was all sorts of skeptical. I’ll admit that that’s why this project took a couple of years. Nick had been funding his book, C-LISTERS out of pocket and I’d been doing the same for my comic BAMN, but Nick had done some Kickstarter campaigning for Visionary Studios before. He saw the value in crowd-funding a lot quicker than I did.

What are some of the incentives that backers can receive when they support your campaign?

Nick: Well, we're offering digital and physical copies of the books; a special thank you page with your name and MMA handle; cameos; original artwork… Troy: We really wanted to give people incentives that enhanced the story instead of just loading them up with junk. That was important to us. That’s why we worked with Drive Radio to lace certain incentives with a soundtrack. We want you to feel the story at every possible level. We make sure to do our part in the action and drama department, but then you can be IN the story as well as hear how dangerous the future is.

What are your future plans for the series?

Nick: Well, it's a limited series, but I think it's an extremely fertile universe to tell other stories in.  Maybe some one-shots with the characters would be fun.  Or explore another sport in our cyberpunk paradise.

Troy: This really is the maiden launch of our imprint Rex Co., so we’re going to set up shop here and unleash a lot of other ideas. Nick is working on a YA title for Rex Co. that I’m actually really excited about. I’m still doing BamnComics.com, and the plan is to start printing that story through Rex Co. A nap would be nice too.  

We’re looking forward to seeing the finished product. Anything else you’d like to share?

I will correct one mistake we made early on: We’ve been calling FIGHT OF THE CENTURY “cyberpunk”, but I discovered that there is a subgenre that fits more specifically for what we are doing. It’s called “biopunk”. There is cyberpunk in the story too, but the larger part of it is definitely biopunk.

Sorry, but nerds can be particular. That would have bugged me forever.

Where can people find you and your work on the internet?

Nick: Currently, the best place to shift blame is Facebook.com/FotcComic. We’ll be there throughout all this. And, of course, our Kickstarter Page.

Thanks for joining us. Everyone, be sure to check out this campaign!

[touchingoldmagic]

Comic Review

Ghostbusters: Year One Issue One

So Year One Issue One came out today! I wanted to do a little comic review about my thoughts. In short: I really liked it and if you collect Ghostbusters comics, you should pick it up! (IDW is really good about putting their GB stories out in trade, so if you wanted to wait for the four issues to be published together, there’s always that option too.) There's going to be spoilers further down, so here's your warning.

Comparing this mini-series to the previous GB storylines, it's obviously a lot smaller in scale, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The previous IDW comics saw the gang going across the USA and to international locations, pulling in GB charas from alternate dimensions, and fighting god-scale threats. I really like the idea of a shorter comic series that focuses on some character development instead, which is what this seems to be.

Each of the four issues in this mini-series is going to focus on one of the four GB's, and I like that Winston got the first issue. The IDW comics have always done a good job of giving him equal "screentime” to the other three GB's, which is nice.

The set-up for the storyline is that a writer, Rebecca Morales, is interviewing the four GB’s for a book she's writing, shortly after the Gozer incident. (Hence the title being Year One.)

We open with brief snippets of Rebecca interviewing Louis, Dana, the manager of the Sedgewick, the archbishop, etc. I liked this as an opening, it was fun seeing the artist's renditions of some of the movie's minor characters. Then we cut to Rebecca and Winston and get the real interview started.

Winston is surprised at how thorough Rebecca is being for the book, and she points out that Peter finagled the publisher to pay the GB's for exclusive rights to their story, so they're taking the extra steps. That made me laugh; I always appreciate how the writer Erik Burnham throws in these little moments that are really in-character in his GB comics.

We get a brief overview of how Winston left the marines, moved to New York, and worked at a construction company until he left and spotted the GB's ad in the newspaper. (This is a bit different from Real Ghostbusters, where Winston's dad owns a construction company, but it is definitely a homage to that backstory from the cartoon.)

Great lines: Janine (greeting Winston at the start of his interview): You find the place okay? Winston: Yeah, I saw the sign. Janine: Oh good. They're always so worried people won't notice.

Here they do the scene of Winston's interview from the movie, with Janine and Winston' classic banter, and this is the only part of the comic I felt was unnecessary. I don't really feel like they needed to spend a whole page of a short, 20-page comic re-treading a scene we all know by heart. But thankfully this page and the opening two pages are really the only ones that recap the movie.

We move on to a scene of Ray and Winston on the roof of GB HQ (always one of the settings I like in the comics). Ray is directing Winston through target practice, using a thrower to take out pumpkins. Ray says Winston is ready to go out in the field. Winston is flabbergasted by the idea, since he's been practicing for like 15 minutes. Ray says this is fine.

I love this because it just shows why Winston is needed in this company. Ray, Egon and Peter are honest people (mostly) but they just aren't practical. Really common sense things often don't occur to them. You know, like maybe someone should train with a dangerous tool more than 15 minutes before going out on a job. Winston doesn't really put up more than a token resistance to things like this, but at least he voices what we readers are also thinking. (I mean, to be fair, it would take a stronger being than Winston Zeddemore--possibly some sort of god--to convince those three to use common sense.)

We jump to Winston's first bust, which is when the guys get called to Excelsior University, Thurman Hall, said to be haunted by the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe. (In real life as well as in this comic universe!) I have to admit I did a happy dance at the idea of seeing the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe, one of my favorite writers.

The guys splint up to cover more ground (of course) and Winston runs into the ghost of Poe, who turns into a flock of ravens and flees the school. The guys give chase, corning the spirit in Washington Square Park as a giant demon black cat is summoned.

More great lines: Peter: Well it looks like they're tap-tap-tapping. At least it's not a chamber door. Egon: But why? Peter: This I sat engaged and guessing. (Peter reads classic literature! But if you ask, he'll deny it.)

Ray: Poe's taking off! Peter: Isn't that just like him? What, am I the only one who read the biography? Egon: You read the notes I gave you.

Peter: Looked into the trap, huh? Egon did that too. Egon: He doesn't need to hear about that, Venkman.

The comic is wrapped up quickly after that. They catch the ghost cat, we see the spirit of Poe got away in the commotion, and we have a brief conclusion to Winston's interview with Rebecca.

Like I said, it's a much smaller contained story than all the inter-dimensional chaos of GB comics in the past, and it does feel a little slower as consequence. This is the problem you’ll have with any series or sequel, isn't it? If you keep escalating each time, eventually you can't go any bigger and you have to step back. But it was a lot of fun to see these characters interacting at the start of their friendships.

I hope the future three issues have some conflict between the guys, specifically, because all four of them have such different ways of looking at the world and different goals and priorities. I don't mean the cliche "giant argument where everyone splits up right before the climax and then they come back together to defeat the Big Thing together." But doing this Year One storyline would be a great opportunity to show some rocky relationships developing between the guys, before they form their tight-knit group of later years.

I also have to say, as fun as it was to have Edgar Allen Poe in the comic and see the little references to his works like the ravens, cat, and heart, I always feel a little weird when the GB comics make references to famous real life things. (Which they do a lot.) Because then usually these things tend to get ruined, which makes me sad. Like when they went to the Louvre in GB International and destroyed famous pieces of art? (Okay in a later issue there was a passing reference that "most of those were recreations." So.. only SOME famous pieces of art were permanently destroyed by our heroes..?) And once Ray quipped that they busted the ghost of Gandhi. o.o Unlike those examples, though, we have a direct reference here to Edgar Allen Poe's spirit escaping, so I don't feel quite as bad. We'll have to wait and see if he returns in the next three issues or not.

So that's it! Next month we have Ray's issue, and I'm definitely looking forward to it. Now that they spent the first issue setting up the story, I’m hoping we’ll get into the action faster with the next issue. I'll do another review when it comes out and let you know!