REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #77 - May 2010 [spoilers]
Saxon Brenton
[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #77 - May 2010 [spoilers]
Reviewed This Issue:
Academy of Super-Heroes #106 [ASH]
Beige Midnight #6 [LNH]
Silver Arrow #1 [StarFall]
Also posted:
Coherent Super Stories #21 [ASH] {high concept 9}
Going Solo #3 [StarFall] {high concept 9}
Journey Into... #12 [8Fold] {high concept 9}
Just Imagine Saxon Brenton Vs Andrew Perron In The Return Of The
RACCies! #8 [LNH/RACCies]
SW10: Rednecks From Mars! [SW10] {high concept 9}
What news? Well, Ted Brock has returned after years' leave of
absence and started posting new StarFall stories, and High Concept
Challenge number 9 had the theme of 'the red planet'.
For a moment I thought I had made *another* mistake with the issue
numbers of an Academy of Super-Heroes series, and double listed
_Coherent Super Stories_ #20 for both April and May. However closer
inspection reveals that the one posted on 6 May ('Prisoner of the Red
Planet!') had an error in its subject line when it was posted to the
RACC mailing list/newsgroup/archives. Fortunately the correct #21
appears in the body of the post.
Spoilers below...
=====
Academy of Super-Heroes #106
'No Behind Left Behind' [Rival Schools Part 6]
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
by Dave Van Domelen
This is the conclusion of the 'Rival Schools' arc. It wraps up - for
the most part - the various stories that have been running in parallel.
The main exception is Ahmed's plot thread, which... well, it definitely
closes one chapter of his life, but without bringing resolution to the
larger issues that come as part of his backstory. In fact, it looks
like it's being setup to springboard into a future storyline. (Whether
this is what happens is a completely different matter, of course, since
Dvandom has described himself as a practitioner of the 'throw a bunch of
plot threads into the air and then try to tie them all together' school
of story telling.) That said, this discrepancy doesn't particularly
stand out because structurally the stories are formed differently.
Now, at the most basic level of story beats they *have* to be. If
the different plots were all truly running in parallel, and had their
flow of setup, complication, climax and denouement all happening in
synch with each other, then you'd have a number of slow issues with
exposition and world building, while others would seem overly frenzied
as all the action came to a head at once. This is something that I'm
mildly annoyed with myself for only noticing around about part 4 of the
story arc, but Dvandom has deliberately spread things out and mixed
things up to keep the flow of the stories varied and interesting.
So for example, most of the plot threads have their denouement in
this issue. The problems that were facing the characters have been
overcome in a previous issue of the arc, and they now have a quiet moment
to reflect and plan their next move. The exception to this is the Red
Widow's quest to find the person who leaked the damaging information
about her: that plot comes to a climax this issue, and gets a sort-of
denouement next issue when Fury and Centurion discuss the matter.
Of course, it helps that there are several different types of
stories being juggled. Justice was training to overcome deficiencies
in himself, and the setup of a training story has more flexibility in
presentation than, say, Netwalker's adventure to rescue the computer
intelligence ADA. Once the basics of the training plotline were set
up, there was room for how much of the training was shown, and to an
extent even in what order - especially with the timing of any field
missions. By comparison the rescue adventure had a less fluid order
of sequence and fewer repetitive events that could be elided over.
And a hybrid story such as Red Widow's combining a training plot and
a mystery plot will have a slightly different pattern again.
After all that varied fare I think I enjoyed the Netwalker story
the most, but I suspect that was simply because it *was* an adventure
story. Other bits had a number of cool scenes, intriguing insights and
WTF moments scattered throughout all of them, but because there was no
one designated A-plot to bring a consistent emotional focus the arc felt
like an extended period of downtime. Which to be fair, it was.
(And as an aside, it's not like downtime isn't a good or even
necessary thing. I recall one piece of criticism from the Howling
Curmudgeons website pointing out that in extended sequential stories in
mainstream comic books the tempo of the ongoing narrative needs to be
varied. Basically it was an argument against what is sometimes called
subplot-itis, where the ongoing storyline is always dealing with one
problem or another and as a result the emotional intensity never varies.
Now, this may prevent a reader from having an easy jumping off point
between clear-cut storylines - but the unvarying pace also runs the risk
that the reader could look back and with justification claim that the
protagonists are in much the same situation as they're always in. That
not only haven't the characters advanced anywhere (which in the long
term would always be the case anyway) but that the illusion of change
consists of them running as fast as they can to stay where they are.)
But returning to the main point, my gut feeling is that the 'Rival
Schools' arc has a misbalance between its types of storylines. While
they all had moments of danger or at least excitement, only the Netwalker
rescue and the Red Widow mystery had a feeling of urgency and hence of
being anything like an A-plot. The rest of them were interesting but
gave the feeling of marking time as we shuffled between subplots. This
may be partly because of the number of plots being juggled (although
roughly half a dozen isn't that big) combined with the aforementioned
lack of immediacy. However I think it may also be partly because of the
unique circumstances relating to the theme of the arc. The 'teaching'
motif means that when the concept was most strongly given concrete form
- as with organised classes - there was a heightened sense of things
being skipped over off panel - even more so than the date stamps normally
give.
Finally, the highlight for this issue? Definitely the twist at the
end of the Red Widow sequence when Matrioshka was shown to be monitoring
the Freedom Alliance in general and the Red Widow in particular. I had
lost track of the fact that the Impossible Five had intervened in the
creation of the Freedom Alliance in the current version of the timeline,
and so this came as startling. And Cronyx's comments about Red Widow
showing more potential in this version of history is the type of thing
that would prompt Gaspode the Wonder Dog to say, a comment like that *bodes*.
Next up: Oh crap. It's the Multiversal Office.
Beige Midnight #6
'The Ice Caverns Of Existence' (The Bart Age)
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] miniseries
by Arthur Spitzer
I was originally planning on skipping over commentary on this
mini... (checks back through archives of past EoMR) *again* but I came
across some characterisation in it that I absolutely adored.
Now, Arthur is quite good at depicting existential angst. And
at this point in the story the existential angst is particularly
appropriate, considering the beige effect being created as part of the
ominous buildup to the awakening of the Bryttle Brothers. Nevertheless,
when I got to the part where Contraption Man sat down and had a talk with
Ripping Dancer, it sent tingles up my spine with the depiction of someone
who was (still) all messed up inside as a result of going through Retcon
Hour the first time, but wasn't incapacitated by it. Instead Contraption
Man was using it as a negative motivation - something to steer away from.
It was such a simple thing, but in the light of Contraption Man's past
history and the way most other characters are currently falling victim
to the apathetic depair of the beige effect, it was a lovely thing to see.
While we're here, let's summarise the plot. Previously the Legion
had defeated Hex Luthor's plans to both use thousands of newbie net.heroes
as cannon fodder against the Bryttle Brothers while also manoeuvring
to take over the world. They exposed his plans and deposing him as
president. Now the LNH have split into groups (again) in order to
defeat Bart, the Dark Receptionist and herald to the Bryttle Brothers,
in less collateral damage intensive ways. One group has gone to the
planet Qwerty, where Bart has been arranging an elaborate trap.
Meanwhile another group - with the semi-coerced Hex Luthor in tow - has
travelled into the past (to Retcon Hour, in 1994) to pre-emptively mess
with Bart and instil a weakness in him that the Legion can use at a
later date.
Among all of this Hex and the Legion continue jockeying for the
upper hand as they set up doublecrosses and counter-doublecrosses for
each other. Thematically this is appropriate, since no matter what
previous versions of Hex Luthor may or may not have been like, the
current iteration is a Man With A Plan. That said, at a very late
stage of preparing this review it occurred to me that Occultism Kid
was probably not the best person for Hex to give his little speech
about how the naive net.heroes should trying living in the real world.
As a master of mysticism Occultism Kid should have a better grasp than
most people that personal point of view is paramount in dealing with
reality, and should not have been rattled by Hex's opinion. From
Occultism Kid's standpoint Hex's ruthlessly pragmatic/cynical stand is
still just another variation on a hopelessly materialist take on reality.
This in no way affects Hex's later actions in neutralising Occultism
Kid's magic: that was an eminently sensible tactical move. But in the
initial verbal sparring match Occultism Kid should have rolled his eyes
in quiet amusement at how limited Hex's viewpoint was, or perhaps
matched Hex with his own take on the matter and used it to deliberately
break his mind.
And running off on a semi-tangent there were many amusing scenes,
ranging from the appearance of the ever-reactionary Legion of Net.Hippies
("Why did it have to be Hippies?") to Kid Recap facing down Ultimate
Ninja. The best bit was the extended sequence where Occultism Kid gives
up (for perfectly logical reasons) his protection against being retconned
and ends up as a cynical Net.Trenchcoat Brigade style magician. I sit
here wondering whether the points I made where something that Arthur
considered, and then rejected because a disquieted reaction from
Occultism Kid to Hex's speech made for better foreshadowing.
Silver Arrow #1
'The Hornet's Nest'
A StarFall [StarFall] series
by Ted Brock
Okay, so, at this point I usually go on about administrivia and how
such-and-such a new author is eligible for the 'Best New Author' at the
next RACCies awards. But in this case I'm not, because as already noted
above Phantasm is a returning contributor; Ted formed StarFall back in
the 1990s when he was still going by the handle Arsenal. You can give
him some sort of antimatter version of the Little Johnny Sako 'Come Back
Giant Robot, Come Back' Loving Cup if you really want.
So the plot in brief is that Silver Arrow is an established super-
hero in Los Angeles and in this adventure is in the middle of working to
bust the drug cartel headed by Sun Li. Silver Arrow has an inside
informant in the form of fellow University of California: LA student Jade
Wong, whose exact loyalties and motivations have been presented ambiguously.
I find myself strangely intrigued by the way that, so far, the
complex characterisation has been given to the supporting cast member
Jade. Silver Arrow himself is competent, sure of himself (even cocky),
has a good relationship with his parents (who, incidentally, know his
secret identity) and friends at UCLA. And with that in mind it's a good
thing that he serves up such a good fight scene to keep the audience
entertained, because so far we know next to nothing about what motivates
him. It's not really a fair comparison to make about the first issue,
but I'm reminded of the quip Grant Morrison made in the _Animal Man_
comic years ago: upon having it explained to him that he's a comic book
character, Animal Man demands to know what he is and gets the reply, "A
generic comic book hero with blond hair and good teeth. One of hundreds."
There will be time enough to flesh out all the characters in subsequent
issues, but Jade's current situation as a mole for Silver Arrow in Sun
Li's organisation looks like an explosion waiting to happen; even just
the question of where her ultimate loyalties lie is enough to make me
want to read more.
Overall it's a good superhero story which establishes its premise,
has a well written action sequence, and a hook to keep the readers coming
back for more.
----------
Saxon Brenton University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon....@uts.edu.au
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Andrew Perron
Wow, that's a lot of non-alphanumeric characters. ``
> Nevertheless,
> when I got to the part where Contraption Man sat down and had a talk with
> Ripping Dancer, it sent tingles up my spine with the depiction of someone
> who was (still) all messed up inside as a result of going through Retcon
> Hour the first time, but wasn't incapacitated by it. Instead Contraption
> Man was using it as a negative motivation - something to steer away from.
> It was such a simple thing, but in the light of Contraption Man's past
> history and the way most other characters are currently falling victim
> to the apathetic depair of the beige effect, it was a lovely thing to see.
*Yes*. This was a great moment. Having someone turn around and talk about
how they overcame their angsty situtation, using it to steer their own
destiny - that was great, and really needs to be in comics more often. <3
Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, bananas
Dave Van Domelen
from home, but do when I use PuTTY at work.
In article <i0drj4$ma4$1...@usenet-its.stanford.edu>,
Saxon Brenton <saxonb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> After all that varied fare I think I enjoyed the Netwalker story
>the most, but I suspect that was simply because it *was* an adventure
>story.
It may also have to do with the fact that the Netwalker story was really
the only one where I started off with a plot and a destination. I wrote a
few bits of it before I even decided what the theme for the arc would be, and
it probably shows in the execution. Most of the rest of Rivals Schools was
the sort of "throw a bunch of threads up and see where they fall" plotting
you mentioned elsewhere in your review.
Justice's plot was mainly there to let me do some foreshadowing for an
arc I have roughly planned but don't want to bring to the front just yet.
Ahmed's story really CAN'T resolve yet because of its very nature, but at the
moment the next step has to wait a little while to let him get a bit more
living in. (It might be part of an ASH arc, or I might do it as a
miniseries.) The Understudies bit was mainly to let me put a few more pieces
on the board and get some use out of forgotten minor characters. And with
Red Widow, I simply felt like doing a low-stakes mystery after all the
high-stakes stories of late. :)
Dave Van Domelen, working on plotting #108.
Phantasm
> 'The Hornet's Nest'
> I find myself strangely intrigued by the way that, so far, the
> complex characterisation has been given to the supporting cast member
> Jade.
Jade's story is begging to be told, true. And I've got even more
ideas percolating with regards to her scenario. In a way, she's
threatening to take over the title
> Silver Arrow himself is competent, sure of himself (even cocky),
> has a good relationship with his parents (who, incidentally, know his
> secret identity) and friends at UCLA. And with that in mind it's a good
> thing that he serves up such a good fight scene to keep the audience
> entertained, because so far we know next to nothing about what motivates
> him.
#3, which I'm still working on - it'll be a little late unless I get a
writing spurt later this week - will delve into what motivates him.
The only real hint I'll give right now is that his origin is tied into
the Reality Quake in some way, which happened when Hugh was just a
boy.
> There will be time enough to flesh out all the characters in subsequent
> issues, but Jade's current situation as a mole for Silver Arrow in Sun
> Li's organisation looks like an explosion waiting to happen; even just
> the question of where her ultimate loyalties lie is enough to make me
> want to read more.
> Overall it's a good superhero story which establishes its premise,
> has a well written action sequence, and a hook to keep the readers coming
> back for more.
Glad you enjoyed it. (It's hard waiting two months for feedback on
it, though.)
Saxon Brenton
On Weds 30 June 2010 Dvandom replied:
> Weird, the formatting characters don't show up when I ssh into eyrie
> from home, but do when I use PuTTY at work.
to computers (the pathetic fallacy) and assuming they're conspiring
against me, I think what happened is that I opened the file in something
other than notepad when I posted yesterday.
But, see, *this* sort of thing is why I paranoidly type my stuff up in
notepad rather than Word, and then check various copies once they've
been posted. It looks fine in both my work and hotmail email accounts,
comes up clear at the first-glance on google groups, but has all these
non-alphanumeric characters in both the Eyrie archies and in the 'show
original' option on google groups. Fortunately Wil's Ego mirrors off
the first-glance of google.
And interestingly, that dichotomy with the formatting is carrying through
with the follow-up as well.
---
Saxon Brenton "Shouldn't have revealed Unity's secrets in LNHv2#31, obviously"
saxon....@uts.edu.au saxonb...@hotmail.com
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Arthur Spitzer
> Beige Midnight #6
> 'The Ice Caverns Of Existence'Â (The Bart Age)
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] miniseries
> by Arthur Spitzer
> Â Â Â Â
> Â Â Â Â I was originally planning on skipping over commentary on this
> mini... (checks back through archives of past EoMR) *again* but I came
> across some characterisation in it that I absolutely adored.
>     Now, Arthur is quite good at depicting existential angst. And
> at this point in the story the existential angst is particularly
> appropriate, considering the beige effect being created as part of the
> ominous buildup to the awakening of the Bryttle Brothers. Nevertheless,
> when I got to the part where Contraption Man sat down and had a talk with
> Ripping Dancer, it sent tingles up my spine with the depiction of someone
> who was (still) all messed up inside as a result of going through Retcon
> Hour the first time, but wasn't incapacitated by it. Instead Contraption
> Man was using it as a negative motivation - something to steer away from.Â
> It was such a simple thing, but in the light of Contraption Man's past
> history and the way most other characters are currently falling victim
> to the apathetic depair of the beige effect, it was a lovely thing to see.
Glad you liked that...
>     While we're here, let's summarise the plot. Previously the Legion
> had defeated Hex Luthor's plans to both use thousands of newbie net.heroes
> as cannon fodder against the Bryttle Brothers while also manoeuvring
> to take over the world. They exposed his plans and deposing him as
> president. Now the LNH have split into groups (again) in order to
> defeat Bart, the Dark Receptionist and herald to the Bryttle Brothers,
> in less collateral damage intensive ways. One group has gone to the
> planet Qwerty, where Bart has been arranging an elaborate trap.Â
> Meanwhile another group - with the semi-coerced Hex Luthor in tow - has
> travelled into the past (to Retcon Hour, in 1994) to pre-emptively mess
> with Bart and instil a weakness in him that the Legion can use at a
> later date.
> Â Â Â Â Among all of this Hex and the Legion continue jockeying for the
> upper hand as they set up doublecrosses and counter-doublecrosses for
> each other. Thematically this is appropriate, since no matter what
> previous versions of Hex Luthor may or may not have been like, the
> current iteration is a Man With A Plan. That said, at a very late
> stage of preparing this review it occurred to me that Occultism Kid
> was probably not the best person for Hex to give his little speech
> about how the naive net.heroes should trying living in the real world.Â
> As a master of mysticism Occultism Kid should have a better grasp than
> most people that personal point of view is paramount in dealing with
> reality, and should not have been rattled by Hex's opinion. From
> Occultism Kid's standpoint Hex's ruthlessly pragmatic/cynical stand is
> still just another variation on a hopelessly materialist take on reality.Â
> This in no way affects Hex's later actions in neutralising Occultism
> Kid's magic: that was an eminently sensible tactical move. But in the
> initial verbal sparring match Occultism Kid should have rolled his eyes
> in quiet amusement at how limited Hex's viewpoint was, or perhaps
> matched Hex with his own take on the matter and used it to deliberately
> break his mind.
> Â Â Â Â And running off on a semi-tangent there were many amusing scenes,
> ranging from the appearance of the ever-reactionary Legion of Net.Hippies
> ("Why did it have to be Hippies?") to Kid Recap facing down Ultimate
> Ninja. The best bit was the extended sequence where Occultism Kid gives
> up (for perfectly logical reasons) his protection against being retconned
> and ends up as a cynical Net.Trenchcoat Brigade style magician. I sit
> here wondering whether the points I made where something that Arthur
> considered, and then rejected because a disquieted reaction from
> Occultism Kid to Hex's speech made for better foreshadowing.
No, that part with Hex and OK needed a lot more work...
Just call it a casualty of writer's exhaustion....
Thanks for the review Saxon...
Arthur "see if this actually posts" Spitzer