Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

[icon_uk]

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.

Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.

The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than me.

The first Republican candidate debate for the 2024 US election took place. The front runner was not present, though it did look like every male candidate had raided POTUS45's signature wardrobe to almost comedic effect. (POTUS 45 did manage to make history with a mug-shot, which I am not going to share here as the damn thing is everywhere)

The World Cup win by Spain last week has been sadly overshadowed by controversy over the Spanish Football President Luis Rubiales kissing team member Jenni Hermosa without her consent, and his continued doubling down on refusing to even admit that that was an inappropriate thing to do

In another bout of streaming platforms doing seemingly weird stuff, Disney+ have confirmed they will, amongst other shows, not be releasing their already completed Spiderwick Chronicles series, because they are looking to promote more of their own IP, rather than stuff they've bought rights to, though they are making exception for "Doctor Who" and a few other titles.

Bob Barker of "The Price is Right", passed away at 99. This had no cultural impact in the UK, but I have enough American friends who all mentioned it with sadness, that I felt it worth at least a passing mention.

Comments

[leahandillyana]

My friend started a fund raising money for Ernesto’s Sanctuary in Aleppo. It’s very successful, last time I checked it was over $6k, which makes me very happy! Aleppo Catmen need this money to rebuild their damaged sanctuary and treat the animals.

Yesterday Mattie peed in pink, which means there was some blood in the urine. Today the pee is normal colour, but he uses his toilet very frequently. I suspect he has a kidney stone that moved to his bladder. He seems to feel otherwise well, so I won’t be visiting the vet now, especially since I’ll have an AC unit installed tomorrow. Prayers and good vibes are appreciated!

I was interested in the book banning campaign in the United States and realized it is much milder than I expected. I initially assumed that a ban means total ban, meaning that in certain town or state you cannot sell, lend, borrow or import the banned book at all under the pain of fine or prison, which is what I am familiar with from Belarus. I felt somewhat of a disappointment when I discovered it meant removing books from school libraries and moving books from all ages to adult only sections.

In fact, in some cases I find it understandable. Maia Kobabe’s Genderqueer is a book of great educational and artistic value, but there are sex scenes in it, which makes it inappropriate to underage audiences in my opinion. I agree that many bans were hate-motivated though. In Poland Genderqueer is labelled as for adults only, like many other stories including sex or violence, like for example most if not all Stephen King novels, all of Hunger Games, all of Witcher, and many young adult novels I took to recently. I am used to presenting my ID every time I visit a bookstore. Don’t books in the US have ratings like films do?

Disturbingly, I found out some self-admitted nazis oppose the book bans, which is the opposite of what you might expect. At least that’s what I found online. Not many nazis, but enough for the phenomenon to be remarkable. I suppose it’s an extreme example of even a broken clock being right twice a day phenomenon. On the other side of the coin, I found a significant number of queer and feminist netizens approving of the bans, though for reasons I strongly disagree with or outright bigotry.

[lissa_quon]

Nah books generally don't have ratings. If its a kids book there might be like an age guide for difficulty levels of reading but not much else.

Adult material that's like - got images and such in it is usually plastic wrapped in shop - and you might have issues as a youngin' buying that but generally its the wild west. If you can wander up to register with it no one usually bothers you about it. Libraries are the same.

But seeing how a lot of American towns are built - a school library might be the only access some kids get - since they'd need someone to drive them or take them to a public library or bookstore. So it does shut down a lot of venues for kids. Hell the school district near me just announced there will be no libraries.

I haven't seen too many nazis protesting the bans - a lot of republicans are - and editing history curriculum in school to boot. If you skim through some of the ban lists its a lot of stuff not allowing kids info about sex - their political rights - and a lot of "topics that make white people feel bad." Which sounds about like a nazi agenda.

[zachbeacon]

Yeah, it's more about robbing kids (especially poor ones) of access to material that bigots consider unacceptable... even if the offense is purely in their imagination.

https://www.themarysue.com/entire-district-to-lose-access-to-new-books-after-school-board-member-misreads-kindergarten-book/


(I guess the Ugly Duckling would be considered "woke" or whatever now too. Can't expose kids to that filth)

[icon_uk]

I'm suddenly rather glad for this boards rules against inappropriate language, because reading that link reminded me of any number of VERY Scottish swears I generally avoid using because they tend to singe paint off walls.

[iamrman]

Mew manga titles on my list:

Dandadan. Hot-headed girl that believes spirits are real meets a nerdy boy that believes in aliens. The pair make a bet about whose belief is true. Also, there is something about stolen genitals. Wasn’t that a plot of a Futurama episode?

Futari Escape. Yuri romance in which a stressed-out manga artist and her slacker roommate try to get away from the burden of adult life.

Namekawa-san Won’t Take a Licking. After being bullied all through middle school, a girl decides to start over in high school and becomes a delinquent. Yuri shenanigans ensue.

Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship. Generic isekai. IN SPACE!!

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie. Girl protects her clumsy boyfriend from shenanigans.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead. Put-upon office worker finds out he doesn’t have to go to work any more because of the zombie apocalypse. Yay?


Marvel titles on my list:

Avengers: Absolute Vision- Book 1. The Vision connects himself to the world’s computers. I see no way in which this could lead to future repercussions.

Generation X Epic Collection: Emplate’s Revenge. The Massachusetts Academy gets a new student. I’m sure he won’t end up being a traitor or something.

She-Hulk Epic Collection: The Cosmic Squish Principle. Steve Gerber is writing, so of course he shoehorns Howard the Duck in to it.

Wolverine Epic Collection: To The Bone. Wolverine, now with 0% adamantium!

X-Force Epic Collection: Zero Tolerance. Again with the mutant-hunting robots!

Nothing really to report regarding Marvel Snap, only that I got the Magik Skottie Young variant from the token shop.

[leahandillyana]

I've read most of three manga and they are excellent choices.

[iamrman]

Glad to hear it. I am always open to more suggestions if you have any. Yuri is My Job was a good recommendation you had before.

[zachbeacon]

Those early Gen X’s are so weird to me in that they use the “X is not who you think” twist twice*. Arguably more than that but I’m counting the sisters as one instance since Penance was always kind of a mystery and “M” was two girls in a trench coat. I think I’ve read more comics with Fake Mondo than Real Mondo, though; to me “Mondo” is just Black Tom’s extended critique of “Young People Today” (okay, boomer**).

*I guess you could make the same argument about early X-Force introducing a new character who was an imposter but Cable had history with the real Domino so it felt less like she was a blank slate when she was finally introduced. Cable and Sunspot’s evil twins are a whole other issue.

**Thanks to the sliding timescale, I’m pretty sure Banshee and Black Tom are the only Gen X regulars who were actually part of Gen X with Emma being a Millennial and the kids … how old are they supposed to be now anyway?

OZT is my favorite X-crossover but X-Force always seemed like the least important tie-in so its odd that they’d name an Epic after it.

[iamrman]

Ages in comics are always so vague, so who knows how old anybody is supposed to be.

[scorntx]

The Gen-X kids are a weird bunch, though.
Jubilee stayed in the "late-teen to really-young-adult-I-guess" area for years, while Paige and Monet got promotions to young adult, and in Monet's case possibly just up to "adult adult".
(And I can't help but harbour the horrible suspicion in Monet's case it was just so she could have sex with Multiple Man and Strong Guy with as little side-eyeing as possible.)

[obsidianwolf]

IIRC Jubilee hit adulthood at least three times before immediately in the next title she appeared in being de-aged to 13-16 depending on the writers preferred image of a mall rat.

I mean she's not the only one but it happens to her more than others. Remember when Miles jumped to Eighteen according to writers/editors when Marvel was leaning into his romance with Spider-gwen and then when that fizzled he was right back to being a teen.

[zachbeacon]

Well, this is the same comic where Multiple Man ended up married to the resident kid hero after time travel shenanigans made Layla legal. (and Rahne was thirsting for Alex in a previous version)

I feel like people who used to be the designated "kid hero" (like Jubes and Kitty) are most likely to regress than other characters. I'm sorry but I have a real hard time buying that Beast (the oldest O5 X-Man) is only a few years older than Iceman (the youngest O5 X-Man); I know evil can age a person but damn.

[icon_uk]

I think saying Rahne was thirsting for Alex, is overlooking the fact she had been genetically conditioned by Genoshan authorities to be subservient and "bonded" to Alex (as he had been one of their Magistrates thanks to the Siege Perilous). S

So she had no say in her obsessive feelings for him.

[zachbeacon]

That was still a pretty gross decision a writer made that they didn't have to.

Though, in fairness, it wasn't a decision made by the writer I was talking about (even if he did run with it)

[zachbeacon]

Yeah, its just funny to me that they named the series after a specific generation when most of the cast was on the tail end of that generation and would have shifted to the next one in a few years anyway.

But there was no agreed-upon name for my generation (Gen Y/Y2K got thrown around a lot) at the time and I think Jubilee might be an older Zoomer at this point.

[tripodeca113]

Six more weeks of the Ahsoka show to go. About seven until they start selling bootleg DVD's on Ebay.
Two minor characters from Rebels showed up. I've managed to learn little else expect that.

Played Arkham City again. This time I played the Catwoman DLC. Man was it bad. What happens is occasionally Batman gets hit on the head, and you switch over to Catwoman for the next eight minutes which really interrupts the flow of the story.
Also if I understand the timeline correctly Catwoman spent about eight hours tied up by Poison Ivy.

you know it's odd. The game treats throwing anyone in Gotham with a criminal record into a walled-off slum/prison to fend for themselves as a bad thing, but also seems to say that most of the people probably deserve to be there.

I'd give Star Trek Resurgence 6/10 (it might have been a 7 but it had an annoying stealth section.) Anyway it has some decent character stuff and set-pieces, but the writers seem to sidestep the political situation they set up, much like what happens in mediocre Star Trek episodes.
Bhe pncgnva frrzf yvxr n avpr thl, ohg ur oynzrf gur nppvqrag juvpu nyzbfg qrfgeblrq uvf fuvc naq chg uvf pnerre va wrbcneql ba uvf qrnq Svefg Bssvpre. Ur jnf bhe zragbe naq fnlf ur rkcrpgf hf gb sbyybj cebgbpby naq fhccbeg uvz. Jura bhe pheerag zvffvba tbrf jebat ur qbjacynlf gur guerng va uvf ercbeg gb Fgnesyrrg,gb gel naq fnir uvf erchgngvba....bu jnvg ur jnf frpergyl orvat pbagebyyrq ol na nyvra ragvgl.
At first I thought the plot was a follow-up to a sub-par The Next Generation story in the sense that it featured a dead alien civilization which was introduced in that episode.
But no we go back to that planet, meet the guy from that episode (who's been re-imagined as a less sexually-imposing David Bowie from Labyrinth) and can even find a finger-trap from the annoying Wesley sub-plot.

oh good my computer is good enough to run Republic Commando. They were in one episode of The Clone Wars.

Has physically giving a business a copy of your resume ever worked? It hasn't for me, but the DES people keep on suggesting it.

[zachbeacon]

"Has physically giving a business a copy of your resume ever worked? It hasn't for me, but the DES people keep on suggesting it."


"Oh, we don't take those here. We have a website for that"

(But I graduated just in time to experience several "once in a lifetime" economic disasters so what do i know about a normal job hunt)

[werehawk]

I'm actually enjoying Ahsoka a lot. Sabine seems a little off and visually Hera isnt the best fit. Otherwise, its great imho.

Been quite a few live action Star Wars shows now on Disney+.
My ratings:

Andor - LOVED IT!
Ahsoka and 1st season Mandalorian - Really like
2nd/3rd seasons Mandalorian - tolerated them - a very uneven mixed bag
Boba Fett & Obi Wan - hated them with the exception of one or two scenes

[zachbeacon]

Whelp, last week sucked aside from that one bit of good news. On to the next one.


I almost completely forgot there was a debate to decide who would be the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate last week.

Watching Mike Pence kiss up to the people that tried to have him publicly murdered is the second saddest thing about the last VP. The saddest, of course, is that he was responsible for the deaths of so many of my fellow Hoosiers before taking the job.

(Also, is there something about being a right-wing politician that makes you unable to understand popular music? The musician in question may seem a bit confused on his messaging but there’s no way a career politician with any brains could listen to this and think they’re on the same side. They seem to do something like this at least once an election cycle. Remember how much Trump loved YMCA?)


Watching X-Guy do a tightrope act to appease his far-right “climate change is fake, actually” fans while taking government handouts for the electric car company he bought (sorry, “founded”) is probably the funniest thing about that deeply unfunny man.

Speaking of X-Guy, I was deeply confused when I saw this …
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/25/political-conspiracies-facebook-youtube-elon-musk/
…announcement that social media companies would stop acting as “watchdogs against conspiracy theories” because I wasn’t aware that it was ever something they were doing. Facebook signal-boosting insane conspiracy theories before the 2016 election is a big part of why we were stuck with Trump for four years and X-Guy seems to be either a conspiracy theorist himself or a troll who encourages them for attention.


TV:

I feel like I’d like Arcane better if I trusted Netflix to give us a second season (apparently it is being worked on but, well, it’s an animated show on Netflix). I do want to stress that I still enjoyed it because I think I can come off as overly negative at times. The characters are compelling and the animation is fantastic (especially in the fights).

I watched a 90s musical where Young Batman leads a strike against a major media company …so nothing topical there. I had a conversion last week about how media I enjoyed as a kid doesn’t always hold up well and this is (mostly) not the case here. There’s a lot to unpack rewatching Newsies as an adult (especially in 2023) and I don’t feel I have time to do it here.

“I Know What You Did Next Xmas” might be my favorite of the Hulu-era Futurama episodes … but me liking a Futurama holiday special is completely unsurprising.

This week we’re getting new episodes of Archer and the last season of Disenchantment.


Comics:

Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #12 – My most anticipated single-issue comic of 2023. It didn’t disappoint because it was also my favorite single-issue comic of 2023. We finally get to see the Robin/Supergirl date.

(I have never been more tempted to make an endless series of Dick jokes)

Nightwing #101 – Speaking of Dick jokes, I can’t wait for the Titans to get their own series so Nightwing can have his comic back. The only regular supporting character to appear in this issue is the dog. Not gonna comment on the Jon Kent backup because it just feels mean at this point.

Flash #793 – Irey continues to be the best character in this series.
(While I like most of the stuff I’ve read from Si Spurrier – especially under Vertigo - I’m kind of dreading the incoming creative team both because I like the current focus on the family and because Flash seems ill-suited to be a horror book)


Games:

The upcoming Hellboy: Web of Wyrd looks like an animated Mignola comic and that’s awesome. People who pay closer attention to this kind of thing than I do probably aren’t surprised because 2020’s West of Dead looks like an audition to make this game.


RE Snap

*Refreshes https://snap.fan/cards/SquirrelGirl/*
Nope, Squirrel Moon still isn’t actually a real Variant.
(I mean, she might be by now; I’m typing this bit Friday. I’m pretty sure these things get leaked well in advance, though)

Unlocks:

Various Twitch drops I mentioned in passing last Wednesday - I think Luca Claretti’s will be my default Sunspot…even though Nebula has technically been my default Sunspot for over a month. The Nightcrawler Avatar is one of the rare ones I might actually use.

Mech Devil Dinosaur Variant – Steam login bonus. Also mentioned late last Tuesday.

Mystery Variant - Steam login bonus. I guess I’ll know what this is after noon. Edit: it was Venomized Typhiod Mary.

(Really, I just have the Twitch/Steam stuff that everyone who participated got. I hoped to be well on my way to Conquest Wolverine but – despite earning one infinity ticket last night – I am struggling there. I may have a lot more variants soon if I’m forced to open my Reserves this weekend for the tickets/medals)

The weekend missions prompted a truly stupid thought; what if I built a deck around X-23 AND Devil Dinosaur? Yeah, that deck got deleted once I finished the X-23 mission. I do think Thanos did okay in bridging the gap between the two VERY different strategies these cards use. While not sharing as many strengths, they sure do share a lot of weakness and I have seen SO MANY Echoes, Enchantresses, ect (for Devil Dinosaur and X-23’s buddy Knull) and Cosmos (for all the destroy/copy cards that support X-23/Devil). And Armor…but she helps Devil and hurts X-23. Part of me thinks I should just embrace it and put Death and Super Skrull in completely unrelated decks because she’s probably going to be free and he’s probably going to be huge.

The thing about cards that can easily be countered (like X-23) is you don’t know how good they are until they become less popular. On the other hand, if Silver Samuria is big this week, then there’s going to be a lot of Stature, Blackbolt, and general Discard decks.

Next Season is going to be insane. I don’t know enough about the mechanics of Ravonna Renslayer or Loki to guess their impact but Alioth looks like he could be the next Leader and Mobius messes with SO MANY cards (Sera, Zabu, Wave, Quinjet, Stature, She-Hulk, Miles, Death, Sabretooth, Iceman, Beast, Mordo, and maybe some others I’m forgetting). Sure, no one actually uses Baron Mordo and Quinjet was nerfed into oblivion months ago but the others are all staples of various popular archetypes.

Next week is Shark Week.

https://youtu.be/qirUOkuHK8U?si=JdCgW6e89DVJ9yGA

[skjam]

During my recent physical, the doctor found out I'd never been tested for HIV, so ordered that. Thankfully, I didn't test positive.

Work: We have a new "feature" that is rolling out to various clients. None of my clients have it, but I'm required to do a check for it every phone call and certify that I've done the check in a separate computer database. Supposedly, some of my clients will have the new feature "soon" but they won't give us a list.

Marvel Puzzlequest: Latest chase character is the Vulture. We already had movie Vulture, now a classic comics version and an Armor Wars variant have been added.

Had a "Midway" pizza last night, supposed to evoke the flavors of the Minnesota State Fair. Tots, bacon and a mild buffalo sauce. Not bad!

Over at my blog, I use up the last of my Steve McQueen movies on disc: https://www.skjam.com/2023/08/27/movie-review-the-great-escape/

[zachbeacon]

I am shocked that the rollout of a new program did not go smoothly. Shocked!

[informationgeek]

Our weekly check in with Fables continues as I check out two new arcs that I'm a bit mixed on.


Jack of Fables #12-15: The Bad Prince

After reading the next arc of Jack of Fables, I’m left with many thoughts. On one hand, there’s some intriguing and surprising relevations throughout. I like where the comic goes with Jack and Gary’s characters. The more bottle focused approach felt like a nice break from the more intense arcs we got through. The humor is landing more than it used to.

On the other hand, I can’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed by the situation regarding Kevin Thorn. This was a character introduced in Fables who seemed to be a mundy who could remember or notice things were off in the world due to the Fabletown community. He was investigating them and trying to find out all he could about them. Sure, the comic had him pop in fairly rarely in the book, but I was curious to see where things would go with him.

But here, it’s revealed that he is some kind of supernatural, meta force that has amnesia. That’s why he could tell things were wrong when the rest of the world didn’t notice. While I’m sure this will lead somewhere interesting, especially given his connection to Mr. Revise, I am disappointed for two reasons. I liked the more human, investigative element Thorn brought to Fables. He was like a smarter Tommy Sharp from the mini caper arc. Second, Thorn has barely played a part in Jack of Fables at all. I liked how both series were independent of each other for the most part, so resolving a plotline from Fables here feels kind of annoying.

Something to note about Jack of Fables is besides the fact is a comedic focused series, this comic is also known for its more meta commentary nature. Up until now, that really hasn’t been brought up or important outside of the nature of Mr. Revise and a side track in Jack Frost. Now, that side is starting to creep in here with Gary’s ramblings, the nature of the Literals starting to come up, and some of the plot reveals.

Overall, I don’t mind it. It helps give the comic even more of its own personality from Fables. Sure, I do find the more meta commentary a bit heavyhanded and sudden in its introduction, but it’s not really bad. I’m sure it’ll be better intergrated and executed in the future.

Tony Akins continues with art here and there’s not much to say. His work is as fine as always. I don’t think he gets to flex his artistic muscles as much here as he did in past arcs, but his layouts, characters, action, and such look fine. Also, its nice to have Daniel Vozzo back doing the full colors for the comic again, his vibrancy a perfect fit for this series and its wackiness.

The Bad Prince is an interesting arc. This is where things really start changing for the series with the interesting revelations and the more metafictional aspects becoming prominent. I can’t say every aspect of the writing and storytelling here works, but I was intrigued and with it from start to finish. Here’s hoping the next arc can really capitalize on the new twists.

Also, I don’t understand why this arc was called The Bad Prince.



Fables #57-58: Father and Son

A quick, two part mini-arc where Bigby, Snow, and the kids visit Mr. North in the Homelands. While the kids and Snow enjoy their time, Bigby has some issues to work out with his dad.

And that’s the thing with these two issues, the story between father and son: Bigby and Mr. North, the cubs and Bigby, and even briefly Pinocchio and Geppetto. It’s about the different relationships each of them have, their dynamics, and how the kids view their fathers. There’s good and bad, some trying to be much better than their dad was while others are struggling to be better but make excuses for themselves. Or, they’re just assholes.

The focus of the mini-arc is very good, and I do like bringing back Bigby’s past in one area that really hasn’t been touched on. However, despite the more character focus, I do think the arc didn’t go far enough to really examine things in two of the dynamics. Extending the scenes between Bigby and Mr. North would’ve been good so they could’ve talked more about their past. There was only one scene with Pinocchio and Geppetto and while it was very good in showing a different type of family situation and a different character angle for Geppetto, the comic should’ve come back to them for one more scene later to really contrast the other relationships we’ve seen.

Mike Allred, who drew one of the mini-stories in Sons of Empire, stepped in to fully draw this arc. I do enjoy Allred’s work, being a big fan of FF and iZombie, but I’m not sure if he was the best pick here. It’s mostly in the characters, drama, and action itself. His style is very pop art and vibrant, but depicting the more dramatic and personal moments came across as underwhelming. They don’t capture the mood or tone as well as they should, especially with Geppetto. The characters look a bit off, especially Bigby with him seeming to look so much younger than he should be. The action is stiff and awkwardly posed, so it lacks the dynamic energy it should have, especially in the climax. Allred is great, but his strengths and talent were not fit for an arc like this.

Father and Son is a good, smaller arc, but one that could’ve used more time on some of the father and son dynamics and had a better fitting artist. It’s not bad and the scenes that are good are really good. However, it could’ve been better.


Next time, I have a few one shots to get through before I get into the biggest arc of the series yet, The Good Prince. This is one I'm VERY curious about.

[donnblake]

I'm gonna guess that the Bad Prince ran alongside or shortly after the Good Prince arc in Fables?

[informationgeek]

I'm guessing that as well, but it still feels weird since there's really no royalty element in the arc outside of Jack having Excalibur stuck in his chest and Jack never was royalty in any form. It's just so odd to me.

[icon_uk]

A problem I've always had with Allred's art is that, no matter how dynamic the scene, I never feel implied motion in his figures. They seem to be points of perfect stillness, with no sense that they're mid-motion to somewhere else.

[informationgeek]

I can definitely feel that in the big climactic fight in Father and Son. It's certainly lacks a certain impact it needs.

Plus, the scene where Geppetto repeatedly hits Pinocchio, a huge moment that really solidifies how awful he is even beyond his conquests, looks so stilted and awkward between the motion and lack of strong expression. Again, Allred can be so good but his style doesn't fit at all here.

[scorntx]

Almost at September.
So behind on stuff... and not helped by the fact the new laptop don't work properly...

Ahsoka began on Disney+.
I'd say it was an okay start, for someone who is ambivalent about the character (and to a different extent her actress).
But it'd probably be super-weird going into this show blind.
(And I just know if one of my family members who is less up on Star Wars walks in on me watching an episode what they'll be like.
Up to and including asking "why's that one green?")

Tennant is kind of stealing at least some of the scenery at Huyang, though.


Actually managed to get a copy of some Lee/Romita Spidey last week.
Ugh, Silver Age Jameson is just the worst.
Early MJ is so weird. But after near twenty years since OMD, it's kind of funny seeing her almost throwing herself at Peter and him just being like "go away".
There's a one-off story about Medusa travelling to New York to see if humanity will accept the Inhumans which is... can't help but feel the Inhumans were not firing on all cylinders when they made that decision.
"We need someone to go to the outside world and see if man will accept us! Medusa. You are surly, confrontational, short-tempered, judgemental and openly contemptuous of mankind. You shall be the perfect envoy!"
"Of course, my fellow Inhumans. Naturally I shall go to our allies, the Fantastic Four, and ask them for assistance in this matter."
"Nah, just fly to some random bit of New York and yell at people."
"I do like yelling at people..."


Drama at Bioware has caused the next Dragon Age to be delayed.
And to a lesser extent, the next Mass Effect.
Which, frankly, isn't much of a bombshell since there hasn't been any real time table for when that was going to show up beyond "eventually" anyway.
(But oooh, the clickbaity articles moaning about it...)

[zachbeacon]

RE JJJ – Even Silver Age JJJ has his moments. Giving Foswell a second chance springs to mind. Then you have the retcons explaining why he employs Betty and buys Peter’s photos.

RE MJ – Speaking of retcons … well this really applies to “the gang” as a whole but, with MJ and Gwen in particular, it’s hard for me to pin down a specific characterization of them. Maybe it was Stan’s “knack” for writing teens (Bob Haney is probably the only one who can outdo him). Maybe its changing cultural standards. Maybe it’s the retcons (Parallel Lives makes it impossible for me to take anything early MJ does at face value).

RE Inhumans – Lets be honest, the only royal that’s any good at diplomacy is Crystal (and the dog) and they know they can’t send her because she keeps shacking up with off-putting dudes from the outside world.

[mister_terrific]

We're closing on the new house this week, just in time for the hurricane! Go us! Timing!

We're having a bit of drama with the FIL; he complained all weekend of having "cold feet", and despite our telling him repeatedly "then call your doctor", he badgered my BIL into taking him to the ER the other night. Nothing like 3:00 a.m. texts. I don't believe they found anything wrong, but we're waiting on the bloodwork results, which hopefully he'll tell us about. I'm not optimistic on that one.

I've been re-reading "Astro City", and really wishing Busiek would get things moving again. Same with Fraction and "Adventureman". On the other hand, I'd been getting increasingly cold on "The Way of the Househusband", but picked up the latest volume this weekend and remembered why I'd enjoyed it so much.

[knight_moves]

If you're looking for something to read, A Man Called Bone is an independently published Western. Technically sort of a romance novel, with a heavy emphasis on smut and an equally strong emphasis on the kind of gunslinging and grit you'd see in your average Jonah Hex appearance. Sort of 9 1/2 Weeks if Kim Basinger had an ulterior motive and people kept challenging Mickey Rourke to showdowns.

[stubbleupdate]

I started a new job on Monday, in a new location and derailing me from my intended career path.
I found out about it last Thursday.
My new colleagues found out about it 6 days before I did.

[icon_uk]

That's... not an optimum situation...

Is it at least an interesting job with the new team?

[deh_tommy]

I’m finally all caught up on Miraculous! Though I’m beginning to remember why I stopped engaging with the fandom spaces way before I fell out of the loop. There’s such a weird hatedom for the show and the writers rivalled only by the likes of RWBY, except at least with that show I can largely give the benefit of the doubt to most critics.

What’d you think of the movie, if you’ve seen it?

[zachbeacon]

The show is very formulaic so I was surprised at how many things the movie did that broke the formula.

Mostly that works. The origin story was long overdue and making it a musical was an interesting twist (though they've played with that in the past).

At some point towards the end they broke the formula a little too much and I realized it was an alternate universe story.



I think there's an impulse (especially among comic fans) to dismiss the minor or standalone stories as the ones that "don't matter" because they’re not part of a huge crossover. I admit part of me feels that way about this movie. It's a good story by itself but I don't expect it to have much impact on the series.

[donnblake]

I note that Tom Scioli's forthcoming autobiography of Stan Lee bears a worrying lack of 'Unauthorized' in the title.

[laughing_tree]

Well, he's billing it as just a biography, no auto-.

[donnblake]

Sheesh, that's what I get for not proofreading.

What I meant to express was it looks like it will more or less just be a lovefest, whereas the truth of Stan's legacy is, I think, a little more complex.

[zachbeacon]

Tom Scioli is very close with the Comic Book Kayfabe guys so something tells me it won't be the fluff piece you expect.

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: the Untold story. One of the things it has going for it is that I think it's probably the most fair portrayal of Stan Lee. Most coverage of Stan operates on one extreme or the other and gives him too much or too little credit for the creation
of the comics (and too much or too little blame for Marvel's treatment of the creators).

[ladymidath]

I am excited for Loki season 2 and I am waiting for Doom Patrol to start again. I have started reading Lore Olympus and I am really liking it. There is so much great things to read on Webtoons.

[deh_tommy]

You know what I’d love to see? Alan Cumming cameo as a variant of Loki, reprising his role from Son of the Mask.

[ladymidath]

That would be fun.

[zachbeacon]

Stealth Dark Horse crossover!

[deh_tommy]

Why’s everybody dunking on Wonka? Am I crazy for genuinely looking forward to it?