[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #32 - August 2006 [spoilers]
Saxon Brenton
Reviewed This Issue:
Academy of Super Heroes #70 & 71 [ASH]
Adventures Beyond Comprehension # [LNH]
Easily-Discovered Man #47 [LNH]
Haiku Gorilla #127-172 [LNH]
Godling #8 [Misc]
Jolt City #1 [8Fold]
Master Blaster Special #7 [LNH]
Also posted:
Fuschia Grabbag Surprise #2 [8Fold]
Nostalgics #3 [8Fold]
Before we start I'd like to talk briefly about appreciating
volunteer services. This will probably not be pleasant, but I think
needs to be done. Please feel free to kick me in the head if you
disagree with my assessment of the necessity.
To put the story as briefly as possible: _Academy of Super Heroes_
#70 was posted back in mid July, but didn't initially make it to
newsgroup distribution. Apparently a new system of digitally signing
the DNS record of the newsfeed was implemented up the line from
eyrie.org, and this bamboozled and confoozled the eyrie.org local news
server. Dvandom thought it was a propagation glitch, tried to repost,
and after that had no effect, mailed a pointer to the Yahoo group that
included a mildly testy explanation of the situation. Eagle identified
the problem, corrected it, and posted a note on the proper netiquette
for situations like that.
It is not for me to condemn Dave's actions, since that would be
hypocrisy on my part: less than a moment's reflection leads me to
conclude that in the same circumstances that I would have done exactly
the same thing. Which, I think, points to the nub of the problem.
Bluntly, people tend to take for granted an otherwise invisible
service that 'works too well'. Now, rec.arts.comics.creative is a
small, quite close knit and for the most part very civil community.
Under normal circumstances this sort of should not be a particularly
big deal, and in this case I don't think it is. Mild chidings between
friends happen from time to time. But in other circumstances it could be.
I draw attention of everyone (both those old enough to remember it
and the bad taste it left in our mouths, and those who weren't around
at the time) to a worst case scenario that we've already been through:
back in October 1995 Cat Yronwood took the use of the University of
Texas news-to-mail gateway for granted, and kicked up a public stink
which, combined with a number of similar behind the scenes problems,
ultimately caused Fletcher Mattox to throw up his hands and say "F*ck
this", and close the useful public service that he had been
maintaining. Indeed, it was this incident that was the direct
progenitor of the Eyrie's alt.comics.lnh and rec.arts.comics.creative
specific mail-to-news gateway.
Am I making too big a deal over this? Eh, maybe. But I think
it's important to remember that this group is a collaborative effort
on multiple levels.
Spoilers below...
----------
Academy of Super Heroes #70 & 71 [ASH]
'Morning Star' (Manifest Destiny Part 6) and
'Journey to the Lost City' (Metropolis I)
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
by Dave Van Domelen
As already mentioned, issue 70 came out on the ASH yahoo group in
mid July but not on RACC. And nobody noticed until I failed to even
mention it in EoMR #31. Which suggests that perhaps there isn't much
Boolean overlap between the readers of those two groups.
So, anyway, Heraclius wanders over to visit the settlement at
Falcon Bay because of the attraction he feels to the spirit of TerraStar
inhabiting Geode. And because he speaks sooo slooowwwly, he's unable
to communicate his friendly intentions ("Um, excuse me? Stop that!").
Cue big fight scene as the Academy members on the ground on Venus try
to drive off Heraclius and his children/animates. Then a type of
sideways complication occurs as TerraStar's spirit decides to join up
with Heraclius and they go on their way, leaving the Academy to worry
about what will happen next. Well, I suppose that's an unwritten part
of their job description, but it makes me wonder how Infernion and
perhaps even Isharta will react if/when it comes back to bite them.
In issue 71 the primary focus shifts to Manhattan, for the upcoming
wedding of Rex Umbrae. Of course, the Academy has been excluded from
Manhattan since pretty much the start of the series by either official
agreements or realpolitik (the summaries of the why's behind the
situation can be found back in ASH #14 & 19), so a lot of the people we
see are 'new' characters in the sense that they're preexisting cast
from other ASH imprint series rather than _Academy of Super Heroes_.
This makes for a stronger than normal setting up feel to the issue, but
fortunately there's the ongoing appearances by Julie Silvestri to bridge
the gap into the new story arc (which is balanced out by the feeling of
epilogue that I got from the debriefing scene of the Academy members on
Venus). And an action sequence/fight scene like the in media res bike
race/attack by Hellhound is always good for getting the audience involved.
Adventures Beyond Comprehension #5
'Control'
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
by Jesse Willey
This story ties-in with (and in fact has it's non-flashback events
running concurrently with) the start of the sixth and final part of the
_Killfile Wars_ miniseries. Electra reminisces in the lead up to the
climactic fight with Dr Killfile.
Easily-Discovered Man #47
'The Life You Wreck May Be Your Own'
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
by Rob Rogers
Okay, that was a twist that I hadn't been expecting. Professor
Perhaps takes Easily-Discovered Man Lite on a subway journey into
various possible futures, showing him that, no matter what decisions
Lite makes, he always ends up overweight, rundown and watching
television. I had thought that this was because the Professor was
trying to crush Lite's spirit, and to this end may even have been
selective in which futures he exposed Lite to. Actually, it turns out
that he was testing Lite's mettle in preparation for shipping Lite off
to a cosmic crisis. Although come to think of it that doesn't prevent
Professor Perhaps from still being selective about which futures he
showed.
Meanwhile there's little gems of insight into the superhero
business, like the secret to Lite's success in fight scenes (maintain
control of the situation by telling lots of jokes and keep your
opponents off balance).
Haiku Gorilla #127 to 172
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
by Tom Russell
It probably bears repeating: I don't normally get poetry without
putting some effort into it. With that in mind, once I got my
headspace onto the proper wavelength, the haikus that make up this
series are quite evocative of both plot and mood. In this story arc
Haiku Gorilla runs for the Usenetted States senate and campaigns well.
So well, in fact, that the administration of President Hexadecimal
Luthor starts a smear campaign against Haiku Gorilla as a deadbeat
husband, which gets him expelled from the Legion of Net.Heroes. Haiku
Gorilla leaves to talk with the one female he did love, Jane, but she
isn't home and he has talks with her husband instead.
Godling #8
`Ballad Of Loneliness'
A Miscellaneous [Misc] series
by Jochem Vandersteen
A wind down story after last issue's conclusion to the threat by
Captain Wrakk. Godling is feeling rather empty after his victory and
talks with Aphrodite about his relationship (or lack thereof) with
Monica. Then Ares turns up, and after some yelling gives some advice
of his own. Meanwhile Marcus Walker has been inspired by the actions
of Godling in opposing Captain Wrakk and takes up the costumed identity
of Safari, and fights a street gang.
Jolt City #1
'The Paradise Snake'
An Eightfold [8Fold] series
by Tim Russell
Hmmm. This one's a lot like ASH #71 in that it has a strong
setting up shop vibe to it. Martin has reestablished the Green Knight
as a superhero in Jolt City, with a good contacts in the police,
working to eliminate illicit drugs. Which is fair enough: when he's
not being troubled with his personal hang-ups the Green Knight is a
perfectly competent street level four colour -- and as noted, he tends
to keep the two parts of his lifestyle compartmentalised.
In this story the Green Knight has made enough of a pain of
himself to local drug lord Samson Snapp that Snap hires a professional
superhuman assassin, Paradise Snake, to kill the hero. Paradise Snake
seems to be more of a fruitloop than normal for a costumed superhuman
(something that vexes Snapp), with a quite stylised sense of honour.
Green Knight gets the snot beaten out of him several times before being
able to manipulate that sense of honour to his advantage.
Killfile Wars #6
'For Evil To Triumph'
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] miniseries
by Jesse Willey
The concluding issue of this miniseries and the _Road To Killfile
Wars_ twelve parter that preceded it last year. So, in the end it
comes down to this: Dr Killfile methodically stalking and killing the
members of the coalition if his relatives, with the heroes of Teenfactor
getting in the way. Dr Killfile has anticipated the latter and used
nanotech to take control of Electra (or perhaps simply had a generic
contingency plan in place) in order to keep the heroes out of his way.
Fortunately Dalton intercedes to block Dr Killfile's control of
Electra, and rather than face an ignominious defeat Dr Killfile flees
into hyperspace.
This creates an interesting structural dichotomy. On the one
hand it makes a lot of what has preceded it - with the Killfile Family
rampaging around and causing mayhem and destruction, and in the end
being justifiably terrified of the return of Dr Killfile himself -
basically being a build up to justify and illustrate the fearsome
reputation of Dr Killfile as a truly major villain.
On the other, the RTKW and KW miniseries have been structured
more like an ongoing comic series rather than miniseries. That is,
not everything presented in those two miniseries has related directly
to the aforementioned buildup or culminates in a neatly tied up package
of plot resolution and thematic relevance. There's been a lot of stuff
that has been about other characters getting on with their lives, only
indirectly affected by these goings on: Vel's departure to get medical
aid for his son, or the resolutions of the Ultimate Ninja triplets
situation for example.
Master Blaster Special #7
'The Return Of Ven-Dorr' part 3
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
by Tom Russell
The concluding chapter of the 'Return of Ven-Dorr' arc. Bearing
in mind the twist ending that the events have all been dramatised, we
shall need to take the description of events with perhaps just a pinch
of salt. Nevertheless, Ven-Dorr reveals his revenge driven scheme
against Master Blaster, which is planned to culminate with the
destruction of the universe when somebody drinks the unique can of
Oreo Oblivion Pap drink. With the aid of WikiBoy (who Master Blaster
continues to taunt with his juvenile sense of humour) and Mr Ellison,
Ven-Dorr's plan is defeated although Ven-Dorr himself escapes. Along
the way various sillinesses occur (I particularly like the VeMites) but
of note is the fact that, IMNSHO, when Master Blaster utters the line
"Violence isn't inherently cool, man." He adds hypocrisy to all his
other character flaws.
----------
Saxon Brenton University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon....@uts.edu.au
The Eyrie Archives of Russ Allbery which collect the online superhero
fiction of the rec.arts.comics.creative newsgroup can be found at:
http://archives.eyrie.org/racc/
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Jesse Willey
> 'Control'
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
> by Jesse Willey
>
> This story ties-in with (and in fact has it's
> non-flashback events
> running concurrently with) the start of the sixth
> and final part of the
> _Killfile Wars_ miniseries. Electra reminisces in
> the lead up to the
> climactic fight with Dr Killfile.
This issue was originally much much longer. Some
cuts I made in order to appease Tom-- who I think
wanted to remove my lungs and replace them Rayovac
dust busters. He wasn't to thrilled with some of the
things I wanted to do. So I changed or cut them.
Though I didn't get rid of that one line he didn't
like. He knows the one.
Other parts he was exactly right about. I went back
and looked at old Teenfactor issues and I saw that in
order to do what I wanted to do I had to think of
another way to do it. Which I did. Tom was still
annoyed but let me do it anyway.
> Killfile Wars #6
> 'For Evil To Triumph'
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] miniseries
> by Jesse Willey
> Fortunately Dalton intercedes to block Dr Killfile's
> control of
> Electra, and rather than face an ignominious defeat
> Dr Killfile flees
> into hyperspace.
And winds up at post-Apocalyptic Epcot.
> This creates an interesting structural
> dichotomy. On the one
> hand it makes a lot of what has preceded it - with
> the Killfile Family
> rampaging around and causing mayhem and destruction,
> and in the end
> being justifiably terrified of the return of Dr
> Killfile himself -
> basically being a build up to justify and illustrate
> the fearsome
> reputation of Dr Killfile as a truly major villain.
Okay... to me Doctor Killfile has REALLY gotten the
short end of the stick. He kicked everyone's butt for
most of Cosmic Plot Caper-- and then in every
subsequent appearance he just got easier and easier to
beat. It was getting to be kind of embarassing. It
was sad when Marvel did it to Galactus. (Barbie vs.
Galactus anyone) It was worse thing happened to
Darkseid after Oberon had tea with him.
I wanted to return to Killfile to a state where you
could contain him. You couldn't really stop him or
kill him.
> On the other, the RTKW and KW miniseries have
> been structured
> more like an ongoing comic series rather than
> miniseries. That is,
> not everything presented in those two miniseries has
> related directly
> to the aforementioned buildup or culminates in a
> neatly tied up package
> of plot resolution and thematic relevance. There's
> been a lot of stuff
> that has been about other characters getting on with
> their lives, only
> indirectly affected by these goings on: Vel's
> departure to get medical
> aid for his son, or the resolutions of the Ultimate
> Ninja triplets
> situation for example.
Yes, in a lot of those cases it was I knew I had to
wrap those ideas up. Vel for personal reasons. I
couldn't stand the character anymore. The more he
lost his struggle between being human and being dorf
the less I wanted to write him. But sometimes
characters don't behave the way I tell them to. I have
the same problem with Dalton.
Other loose plots were tied up well, because it was
time to tie them up. There are other stories I want
to tell. Will the characters I used here show up
again? Yep... Deliah/Delilah shows up in ABC#6, Rick
Henkerton #7, Dalton in #8, a whole bunch in #10 and
#11.
The Master Blaster story just came about as a
massive joke. Some which caused Tom to write an FAQ.
Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!
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Dave Van Domelen
Saxon Brenton <saxonb...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> To put the story as briefly as possible: _Academy of Super Heroes_
>#70 was posted back in mid July, but didn't initially make it to
>newsgroup distribution. Apparently a new system of digitally signing
>the DNS record of the newsfeed was implemented up the line from
>eyrie.org, and this bamboozled and confoozled the eyrie.org local news
>server. Dvandom thought it was a propagation glitch, tried to repost,
>and after that had no effect, mailed a pointer to the Yahoo group that
>included a mildly testy explanation of the situation. Eagle identified
>the problem, corrected it, and posted a note on the proper netiquette
>for situations like that.
Well, to be accurate about my minor hissy, what I did was post to RACC
through Google Groups about the issue, not to the Yahoo group. I was gearing
up for the busy part of the year at work, and didn't think things through as
much as I should have.
As for the boolean overlap, there's also now people who find out about
new ASH issues from my LiveJournal. Am I widening my audience, or
balkanizing it? Hard to say, given that it's pretty small to start with, and
one or two people make for a big percentage.
Dave Van Domelen, fortunately writes because he enjoys writing, not
because he craves a big audience. :)
Saxon Brenton
>>Electra, and rather than face an ignominious defeat
>>Dr Killfile flees into hyperspace.
>
> And winds up at post-Apocalyptic Epcot.
Is that where it was? Okay then.
>>and in the end being justifiably terrified of the return of Dr Killfile
>>himself - basically being a build up to justify and illustrate the
>>fearsome reputation of Dr Killfile as a truly major villain.
>
> Okay... to me Doctor Killfile has REALLY gotten the
>short end of the stick. He kicked everyone's butt for
>most of Cosmic Plot Caper-- and then in every
>subsequent appearance he just got easier and easier to
>beat.
[...]
> I wanted to return to Killfile to a state where you
>could contain him. You couldn't really stop him or
>kill him.
<nods> That's a common problem with comic book villains.
It's hard to get a balance between having the hero stop
the villain and the villain managing to do enough damage to
be a credible threat, especailly when factoring in concerns
like the fact that the most popular villains will keep being
used again and again and again over the course of decades.
Peter David once wrote a good article on how the best
villains get away with 'it' collected in his _But I Digress_ book.
It was also a factor in the mechanics of the Flame Wars 4
miniseries that Jamie and myself wrote: Flipseid never
appeared as a direct anatagonist - but he managed to put
the Legion through Hell just by sending one of his minions
to Earth to run amok.
(In retrospect that makes me a little ambivalent about what
happened to Flipseid and all the aliens in the 'Maximum Insecurity'
story that led into FW4: on a META level it was absolutely
logical and right that a human be able to turn up and tell
all those aliens and gods, 'no, you're not real, you're just
bogeymen that we created to entertain ourselves' and zap
them all. But on a STORYTELLING level it undermines Flipseid's
granduer. Oh well.)
(Further thought brings up the fact that - depending on
whether Barkseid is a different entity from Flipseid, or just some
type of hypostasis - the mainstream Legion's never fought
Flipseid. The one in the 'Kinda Big Darkness Saga' was a imposter,
the Legion wasn't involved directly in 'Maximum Insecurity' (and
in any case Splashpage was packing uber-cosmic), and he toyed
with the Legion from behind the scenes in FW4. Only Fearless
Leader's alt.universe LNH has fought Flipseid directly - and they
died for their victory.)
---
Saxon Brenton Uni of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon....@uts.edu.au
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Saxon Brenton
[...]
> Well, to be accurate about my minor hissy, what I did was post to
>RACC
>through Google Groups about the issue, not to the Yahoo group.
<nods> Yes, that's what I meant, but I think that minimalist phrasing got
in
the way: A pointer was posted on RACC that led to the issue on the Yahoo
group. After all the trouble I went to to try and get as precise as
possible
so as to avoid sounding condemnatory in any way, the fact that I found
the necessity of commenting on it distatsteful meant I still made a mistake
in the precison of what I said even if I got thew tone right.
> As for the boolean overlap, there's also now people who find out
>about
>new ASH issues from my LiveJournal. Am I widening my audience, or
>balkanizing it? Hard to say, given that it's pretty small to start with,
>and
>one or two people make for a big percentage.
In doubt if you're balkanising: any lack of overlap would be because changes
in internet technology means that usenet is no longer as prominent as it
once was as a discussion medium comparedto things like discussion boards
(unless I'm way wrong about the demographics of usage?) I'd say widening
your audinece, and since RACC gets occasional mentions in ASH it's possible
that you're at least making people aware of the usenet group and possibly
even garnering us a new visitor.
---
Saxon Brenton Uni of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon....@uts.edu.au
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Tom Russell
> [REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #32 - August 2006 [spoilers]
> Haiku Gorilla #127 to 172
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
> by Tom Russell
>
> It probably bears repeating: I don't normally get poetry without
> putting some effort into it. With that in mind, once I got my
> headspace onto the proper wavelength, the haikus that make up this
> series are quite evocative of both plot and mood. In this story arc
Thank you very much. :-)
Glad you're enjoying it.
> Haiku Gorilla runs for the Usenetted States senate and campaigns well.
> So well, in fact, that the administration of President Hexadecimal
> Luthor starts a smear campaign against Haiku Gorilla as a deadbeat
> husband, which gets him expelled from the Legion of Net.Heroes. Haiku
> Gorilla leaves to talk with the one female he did love, Jane, but she
> isn't home and he has talks with her husband instead.
This is the biggest Haiku Gorilla storyline so far, as it will stretch
from August through November. I'm trying to keep the postings to one a
day, with time off to plot and write the damn thing, while occasionally
posting two or three in a day when the mood strikes me. I'm going to
start a new thread for each month, though, if only so people reading on
google don't have to wade through a hundred or so posts to get to the
newest installment.
> Jolt City #1
> 'The Paradise Snake'
> An Eightfold [8Fold] series
> by Tim Russell
>
> Hmmm. This one's a lot like ASH #71 in that it has a strong
> setting up shop vibe to it. Martin has reestablished the Green Knight
> as a superhero in Jolt City, with a good contacts in the police,
> working to eliminate illicit drugs. Which is fair enough: when he's
> not being troubled with his personal hang-ups the Green Knight is a
> perfectly competent street level four colour -- and as noted, he tends
> to keep the two parts of his lifestyle compartmentalised.
One big thing with this series that I'll be trying to do is to put
Martin out of his element whenever possible. The whole daylight
four-colour costumed hero thing is one obvious example of this that
will run throughout the series (at least at this stage in the game):
Martin is ambivilant at best and uncomfortable at worst with the more
bombastic and grandiose aspects of his profession-- much in the same
way, I might add, that some fans of the superhero genre are
uncomfortable with certain tropes and styles of writing (for example,
the Giant Typewriter School of Fiction).
One challenge is day-to-day contact with other people, the whole social
element of it, which will be a very important part of his mission to
make the Green Knight a member of the community. In some ways, Martin
is a solitary person. Now, he's not prone to introspection, the way
someone like Gregory Dingham or Jason Righteous or even Anders is; he's
very much an exterior person, concerned with physical reality. He is,
in many ways, a physical hero: while he does have considerable
detective skills, his body is the best and most intuitive weapon he
has.
And while I think he has some of the skills necessary for good social
interaction-- he has a sense of humour, for one-- he hasn't done it in
ten years. And I think it's telling that he'll be doing most of his
social interaction, most of his reaching-out within the community and
with law enforcement, in the guise of the Green Knight. This sets up
certain rules, certain external formalities: people have a certain
level and kind of respect and awe for a hero, and I think this makes it
easier to handle. I think that as Martin Rock he'll have a more
difficult time interacting with people outside of Roy Riddle.
At the same time, in the issue I'm writing, Martin goes to a job
interview, and (as of this draft) he doesn't do too badly. Maybe it's
because an interview imposes certain formalities and boundaries, just
like the mask does?
Also in the next issue, Martin will be facing a MoRe Fantastic sort of
foe, which will be outside his street-level competency. I think
weirder villains and more bizarre situations will be the order of the
day for this series: I guess only time will tell.
> In this story the Green Knight has made enough of a pain of
> himself to local drug lord Samson Snapp that Snap hires a professional
> superhuman assassin, Paradise Snake, to kill the hero. Paradise Snake
> seems to be more of a fruitloop than normal for a costumed superhuman
> (something that vexes Snapp), with a quite stylised sense of honour.
> Green Knight gets the snot beaten out of him several times before being
> able to manipulate that sense of honour to his advantage.
There are two possible solutions to a story when a hero is on the
losing end of a battle. One is to have another hero or group show up,
thus turning the tide. This can be very effective, especially with big
stories-- alien invasions and the like. <namedrop> Kurt Busiek told me
</namedrop> that it's important that you set up the cavalry before they
ride to the rescue; otherwise, it's kind of a cheat.
The other is the tried-and-true Silver Age story structure of (1)
villain, powered by A, beats hero; (2) hero, using B, nullifies A and
beats villain. For example:
--in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 2, the Vulture is powered by an
electromagnetic harness (A) and trounces Spider-Man (1); Spider-Man
develops a device to emit an EMP (B) and defeats the Vulture (2).
-- in ADVENTURE COMICS # 290, "The Invasion of Bizarro World!", Blue
Kryptonite Monsters kill thousands of Bizarros (1) because the
imperfect kryptonite rays are not stopped by lead (A); Bizarro-Olsen
and the Bizarro Brats use a duplicator ray to create "imperfect lead"
suits to match the imperfect radiation (B), thus driving back the
invasion (2).
-- in JOLT CITY # 1, Paradise Snake beats up the Green Knight (1) and
ends combat whenever Martin seems to get the upperhand, citing some
imagined infraction of the rules of honour (A); Martin, unable to
defeat him in hand-to-hand combat, appeals to that sense of honour (B)
to bring their combat to a conclusion (2).
It's a marvelously handy structure, one which seems to have gone by the
way-side for too many years. And, really, I think most of my stories
in JOLT CITY are going to be sticking pretty closely to it. Both of
the non-Russell examples provided above revolve around what could be
termed a "miracle device"-- a pulse emiter for ASM # 2, and the
imperfect lead suits in AC # 290. In the first case, loathe as I am to
admit it, it is a kind of a cheat-- the fact that it's an
electromagnetic harness (A) isn't actually revealed until after Spidey
has deployed (B).
I think, just as in the cavalry solution, it's extremely important to
set up (A) before you get to (B). Also, for a miracle device ending to
work, it needs to be clever. Even if the electromagnetic nature of the
Vulture's harness was properly set-up, it would still have been a
pretty lame ending (the rematch, in which Spider-Man and the Vulture
duke it out in the confines of the Daily Bugle building in ASM #...7?
is much better). But the way in which the Bizarros destroy the Blue
Krytonite invaders is extremely clever (and that's something the
"Bizarro World" stories have in spades: Bizarro-Olsen is rewarded for
his world-saving idea by having his salary lowered) and it comes as a
welcome surprise.
The surprise in ASM is not a particularly rewarding surprise, because
it doesn't play fair with the reader: it doesn't provide all the
information. If, perhaps, we had stayed with Spidey as he figured out
the nature of the Vulture's powers and created the device, it wouldn't
have been such a cheat. The end of the story would not have depended
upon the cleverness of the solution as much as it would the suspense of
the solution: that is, the question isn't, how will Spidey beat the
Vulture, but, will Spidey's device work?
That's one reason why I always advocate, especially in a title about
one character, staying with that character and elliding as little as
possible. It's easier to skip ahead, or to have the character make a
dynamic and surprising entrance; it's much harder to keep focused on
that character as he plans and makes his entrance. It's easier to have
the Green Knight step out from the darkness and surprise a foe than it
is to wait in the darkness with the Green Knight.
At the very least, it gives you some measure of suspense, which is, of
course, easier than being a good plotter or needing to be clever.
>
>
> Killfile Wars #6
> 'For Evil To Triumph'
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] miniseries
> by Jesse Willey
>
> The concluding issue of this miniseries and the _Road To Killfile
> Wars_ twelve parter that preceded it last year. So, in the end it
> comes down to this: Dr Killfile methodically stalking and killing the
> members of the coalition if his relatives, with the heroes of Teenfactor
> getting in the way. Dr Killfile has anticipated the latter and used
> nanotech to take control of Electra (or perhaps simply had a generic
> contingency plan in place) in order to keep the heroes out of his way.
> Fortunately Dalton intercedes to block Dr Killfile's control of
> Electra, and rather than face an ignominious defeat Dr Killfile flees
> into hyperspace.
> This creates an interesting structural dichotomy. On the one
> hand it makes a lot of what has preceded it - with the Killfile Family
> rampaging around and causing mayhem and destruction, and in the end
> being justifiably terrified of the return of Dr Killfile himself -
> basically being a build up to justify and illustrate the fearsome
> reputation of Dr Killfile as a truly major villain.
Well, the one thing I was worried about in reading it was, where is
this going? For all this build-up, what is the pay-off? How does it
all come together, in terms of plot, character, and theme?
And I think the thing that disappointed me the most about the KW event
is that it wasn't really about much other than Killfile Is Back,
something which I don't think justifies the "event" storyline. And as
far as theme-- I don't really think there was one. Now, granted, a
story doesn't _have_ to have a theme-- but I don't have to like it,
either. :-)
I'll also address one of the points Jesse made in his response later in
this thread: that his treatment of Killfile was meant to redeem him
from his somewhat shabby treatment over the years; I'm not sure if that
charge is entirely justified in Killfile's case, but he compares him to
Darkseid having tea with Oberon.
Well, as it happens, one of the comics I bought last month was the
issue of JLI where Darkseid offers Oberon a cup of tea. Later, Oberon
comments that "For a fella who wants to be absolute dictator of the
universe-- that Darkseid's not a BAD GUY! And he sets a mean table,
t'boot! What a LUNCH he gave me!" And, you know, it gave me an
incredible case of the giggles. More than that, it serves to
illustrate three points kosher to this discussion.
(1). IMHO, Darkseid's appearance in JLI # 21 in no way denigrates his
appearances before or since. Any character that's strongly defined
cannot be harmed by an irreverent appearance. It's true that some
characters do become defined by a comical treatment of them-- when I
think of Guy Gardner, I always think of Batman punching him in the face
and knocking him out. But Gardner never had the strong definition of
Hal Jordan or even Jon Stewart.
Man. I just got the image of the GL Jon Stewart hosting the Daily Show,
followed by The G'nort Report.
Darkseid can weather a silly appearance, just as Superman weathered his
guest appearances in THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS and, hell, his
entire universe during the Silver Age. (And, that's not a knock: the
Pre-Crisis Superman Universe is a wonderful and incredibly complex
place. Really, it's much more important than his personality or
powers.)
(2). As an ending, the "Darkseid has tea with Oberon" falls into the
Cavalry category. And while one can expect Darkseid to show up on
Apocalypse, it's not a really satisfactory use of that ending. I'm not
sure how that could be set-up, if at all; I think it's easier to
forgive in a comedy, where the stakes are somewhat lower for dramatic
and perilous situations.
(3). Darkseid doesn't actually have tea with Oberon. The entire scene
is ellided, and it's a damn shame: Giffen-Dematties have an extremely
funnny idea but that's all it is, an idea, completely undeveloped. If
they had taken the time, even if it was just a page, to show Darkseid
having tea with Oberon and serving lunch, it would have been great:
"Please pass th' mustard, Darkseid."
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. More tea?"
"Eh, no. I'm good. But, uh..."
"Have to use the bathroom?"
"Yeah."
"Second door down the hall, on the left. Make sure you go to the
left; the right will burn the flesh from your bones."
"Thanks."
--
"Did you flush?"
"Of course."
Darkseid sniffs the air. "Was it number one or number two?"
"Eh, number two."
"Next time, flush twice."
"Sorry, I didn't know."
"I better go light a match."
"I'm sorry. It's just, italian food..."
"I know, I know. Gives me the runs, too."
"Um."
"Do you know what it's like to have diarrhea and an anus made of
rocks?"
"I noticed the bidet."
"Well, I can't really wipe, can I? Rips the paper to shreds. My
compliments, by the way."
"What about?"
"Knowing it was a bidet. When Superman came by the last time, he
thought it was a toilet."
"Really, Superman?"
"Well, that's what he said. I think he was just thought it was
funny to take a shit in my bidet. Fucking asshole. Fucking unsanitary
asshole. You know, once I get ahold of the Anti-Life Equation and
negate all free will, none of this bullshit is going to happen."
Okay, so that went on a little longer than I thought, and perhaps
violates the RACC charter as it's better qualified as fan-fiction.
But, hopefully this illustrates two of my points: (1) strong characters
can weather irreverent treatments, and (2) it's always better to show a
funny, interesting, or important scene rather than to ellide it.
> On the other, the RTKW and KW miniseries have been structured
> more like an ongoing comic series rather than miniseries. That is,
> not everything presented in those two miniseries has related directly
> to the aforementioned buildup or culminates in a neatly tied up package
> of plot resolution and thematic relevance. There's been a lot of stuff
> that has been about other characters getting on with their lives, only
> indirectly affected by these goings on: Vel's departure to get medical
> aid for his son, or the resolutions of the Ultimate Ninja triplets
> situation for example.
That's a good point, and something I didn't think of.
> Master Blaster Special #7
> 'The Return Of Ven-Dorr' part 3
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
> by Tom Russell
> Ven-Dorr's plan is defeated although Ven-Dorr himself escapes. Along
> the way various sillinesses occur (I particularly like the VeMites) but
You'll have to thank Charles Fitzgerald for the VeMites.
Thanks for the reviews!
==Tom
Martin Phipps
> -- in JOLT CITY # 1, Paradise Snake beats up the Green Knight (1) and
> ends combat whenever Martin seems to get the upperhand, citing some
> imagined infraction of the rules of honour (A); Martin, unable to
> defeat him in hand-to-hand combat, appeals to that sense of honour (B)
> to bring their combat to a conclusion (2).
To be perfectly honest (oh oh), I prefer villains without a sense of
honour. If the villains are "honourable" then I don't understand their
motivation to be villains in the first place. Surely there is a way
for a man with super agility to make money without beating people up
and killing them. Where is the honour in that? And knowing that
Paradise Snake was not a truly honourable man, there was no guarantee
that Martin's appeal to his sense of honour would work. At least
Kraven the Hunter could cite the thrill of the hunt as a motivation. I
didn't really get the sense that Paradise Snake was having fun in Jolt
City #1: every time Martin (not me) got the upper hand, Paradise Snake
cried no fair. It would have been more honourable for Paradise Snake
to have criticized Martin's fighting style, peppering his commentary
with compliments whenever Martin got the upper hand and then mercifully
allowing his foe a brief respite out of respect for his skill. If I
were to have written the ending to Jolt City #1, I would have had
Paradise Snake follow Martin to a circus full of acrobats and
contortionists and have Paradise Snake see these people and then break
down crying, knowing that he had chosen the less honourable path.
I hope you're not angry. I mean, I did read all of it. :)
Martin
Tom Russell
Martin Phipps wrote:
> Tom Russell wrote:
> > -- in JOLT CITY # 1, Paradise Snake beats up the Green Knight (1) and
> > ends combat whenever Martin seems to get the upperhand, citing some
> > imagined infraction of the rules of honour (A); Martin, unable to
> > defeat him in hand-to-hand combat, appeals to that sense of honour (B)
> > to bring their combat to a conclusion (2).
>
> To be perfectly honest (oh oh), I prefer villains without a sense of
> honour. If the villains are "honourable" then I don't understand their
> motivation to be villains in the first place. Surely there is a way
Well, you're right that in this case that Paradise Snake really doesn't
qualify as being honourable, when compared to other "honourable
supervillains" such as Doctor Doom. Say what you'd like about the guy,
but the fact is, he keeps his word.
I think the concept of the villain with honour is something we've
inherited from the first half of the century: "villains" like Von
Richtoften and Rommel, for example, are honourable men and, especially
in Rommel's case, who may or may not been behind an attempt to
assassinate Hitler, not really villains at all.
Or, as Wikipedia states, "Rommel is often remembered not only for his
remarkable military prowress, but for his chivalry towards his
adversaries-- being one of the German commanders who disobeyed the
commando order [an order in which Hitler advocated the execution of all
enemies captured in Africa]."
In many ways, this makes Rommel a sympathetic figure-- a magnificent
bastard, if you will-- but not a villain in the same way someone like
Hitler is a villain. And I know it's passe to refer to Hitler as evil
but, c'mon, let's face it-- genocide? world domination? -- things don't
get more black-and-white than that.
With someone like Paradise Snake, I was trying to craft a
contradiction-- someone who seems himself as an honourable man, but at
the same time uses that honour specifically for his advantage-- and so,
in reality, he is not honourable. At the same time, he certainly has a
leg up on Joey Jericho and Samson Snapp-- people who have no remorse
for the suffering and death their drug trafficing causes.
I think beyond an appeal to his honour, the Green Knight is also
appealing to a sentimental side, a human side, in Paradise Snake-- the
side that would say a prayer over an empty bed where a young girl once
lived and died. Jericho doesn't have that sentimental side, and that's
why the ploy-- the somewhat maudlin appeal to sentiment-- doesn't work
in that case.
Of course, the Green Knight couldn't be certain that the appeal would
work with Paradise Snake-- he tried it anyway, because he didn't really
have any options left. But Paradise Snake's sense of honour-- real or
imagined-- is something he was very sensitive about. (GK picked up on
that sensitivity when he chided PS on the rooftop.) So maybe it was
less an appeal to a real sense of honour so much as it was an appeal to
Paradise Snake's sensitivity about it.
>> allowing his foe a brief respite out of respect for his skill. If I
> were to have written the ending to Jolt City #1, I would have had
> Paradise Snake follow Martin to a circus full of acrobats and
> contortionists and have Paradise Snake see these people and then break
> down crying, knowing that he had chosen the less honourable path.
Well, that certainly would have been interesting. :-)
>
> I hope you're not angry. I mean, I did read all of it. :)
Why would I be angry? I need criticism in order to grow, and
discussion is healthy for both writers and writing groups. Don't sweat
it-- I love this stuff.
==Tom