5-Color Commentary: Comics, Magic the Gathering, Video Games, and Stuff

[MtG] Type 4 - Mirrodin Besieged Set Review

2011-01-26T21:38:00.016+08:00

This is the first in a series of set reviews for Type 4. Given that this is the first time I've been blogging in a long time, I'll start with Mirrodin Besieged and work my way backwards. Most of the time, I'll be comparing the cards with an existing T4 staple. In cases where I deem the staple to be better, it goes without saying that if you cannot find said staple, the analyzed card will be a good substitute.

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The immediate comparison would be to put this next to Kirtar's Wrath. The latter sweeps regenerators clean, but Phyrexian Rebirth's creature token is often much bigger, albeit without evasion. Which would be more valuable? In the end, it depends on your Stack. Many "modern" stacks have only a few regenerators, replacing creatures with that ability with the "new regeneration:" Indestructible. In such a case, you might as well get the larger token from the bargain.

Compare this to Windbrisk Raptor. The first difference you'll notice is that this creature grants all your creatures flying, whereas the Raptor does not. Is this important? On the surface, it seems like the answer is yes, until you realize that most T4 beaters already fly or have some other form of evasion. If your stack is lacking evasive beaters, then this creature's ability is a step up from the Raptor. If your stack is filled with evasive beaters, then the Raptor's superior 5/7 body increases its survivability and beatdown power. The lifelink is golden though, so if your stack has room for both, so much the better.

A bit to small to be a proper beater, this sphinx is more utilitarian in that he draws you cards. The potential reward is great. To exceed the value of Opportunity, it must survive for two of your opponent's turns (Two cards drawn each for two opponents plus someone spending a card to kill this = 5 cards). Any longer than that and this guy just became ridiculous.

Stealing one of your opponent's creatures is still a great form of removal. This of course must be compared to the standard Control Magic. For a comparison, just answer the question: Do you want a stolen beater to have Infect? Well... if it's hugely huge, with a power of 10 or greater, then the answer is universally yes. Remember, 10 poison counters is death. Any more is icing. Same goes for any evasive creatures that can kill in two swings, which is most of the decent beaters in a stack. Also, if the stolen creature is hard to kill or has immunities, it makes a great defender due to the -1/-1 counter buildup on enemy creatures.

Creepy art, check. "Counter target spell" hard counter text, check. Secondary effect, check. Need another hard counter to replace one of your vanilla Cancels or Counterspells? More than decent.

Bouncing two permanents, given the Rule of Law, can be crippling. Only downside is that there's a much better card out there that's much much harder to counter. If you don't have it, this is a decent tempo card for the stack (and kills those annoying Marit Lage tokens too).

This is one for the mass creature kill lists. It's a Flowstone Slide or Mutilate that kills even Crowd Favorites. The reshuffle effect goes great with cards like Aladdin's Lamp or Planar Portal.

It's small, has no evasion, and will kill barely anything. The secondary effect is similarly mediocre given that this won't kill anything save for a token-happy player who's sitting behind a swarm of 1/1's and 2/2's. It does combo well with Ixidron, but little else.

There are certain... artifacts of a very nasty nature that have a tendency to keep coming back, either by their own power or due to recursion combos. This would be an excellent way to make sure they never show up again, and you get a two-for-one.

Do you have this in your stack? Or this? Or even this? If so, don't bother with this strictly weaker version whose only redemptive value is being reshuffled. If you're missing those cards, then you might consider putting this in, provided you ave a decent number of green-colored beaters.

Wow. Just... wow. At last, a Yawgmoth's Will effect even better than the original card that T4 can use. Easily a top pick, and well worthy of the mythic rarity. Even better, its mana cost suggests it won't be very useful in Constructed, keeping the price of this gem low. Probably the best T4 card in the set.

Great abilities. The fact that he can't be countered is always excellent in T4. Trollshroud is the best kind of untargetability, and regeneration is always good for mixing it up with other creatures. He's SMALL. He's 2/2 below the T4 beater minimum. That's not so bad in itself until you combine it with his other drawback. He doesn't EVADE. He doesn't affect anything on the board but himself. So he's too small and non-evasive to be a beater, and has no utility save for blocking. Nail in the coffin. Save this for constructed formats.

Let's go through the process of analyzing this planeswalker the way we did the others.

Question 1: Do his non-ultimate abilities do something that is playable in T4 at sorcery speed?
Question 2: Is his ultimate powerful enough to warrant using him anyway?

Answer 1: In an artifact-heavy stack, there might be enough artifacts going around to warrant his <+1> ability, but chances are, 5 cards is nowhere deep enough to dig. His <-1> ability changes one of your existing artifacts into a vulnerable 5/5 creature. Certainly not sterling. I suppose you could turn one of an opponent's artifacts into a creature then kill it with creature kill, but why would you spend a planeswalker on a two-card sometimes-useful combo?

Answer 2: Uhm. No. Ultimate is next to useless. Tezz should stick to Constructed, thankfully.

Remember what I said about artifacts of a certain nature that are hard to get rid of? This is a sterling example. He's not just tough. He's a beast. He kills in one hit. Legitimately. As in, without using or needing infinite mana. The last creature to be able to do this was Phage the Untouchable, and unlike her, this guy has no drawbacks. His presence legitimizes the existence of a few other "attack to kill" creatures in your stack. Imagine combining this guy with Miren, the Moaning Well and "Ach, Hans, Run!" Definitely a T4 staple and the second best T4 card in this set.

Is this better than Mortivore? It doesn't regenerate, but unlike Mortivore, it can stack onto your most evasive creature and can attack for massive damage. Imagine this on Skithiryx. Normally, when you judge equipment and creature enchantments for the stack, you'd have to determine if you really want the enhancements they provide, or would you just rather have a quality creature instead? By coming with its own built in creature, the Bonehoarder solves that problem for you.

Hmm... I look at this, and I realize it's technically a Shield of Kaldra reprint for T4. Then I take a glance at Spearbreaker Behemoth and Deathless Angel and realize that it's no longer necessary.

Right now, the only poisonous creatures worth T4 attention are the colossus and Skithiryx. Losing 2 life and milling six cards isn't worth using this to replace cards like Aladdin's Ring or Helm of Obedience.

This reminds me of Eye of the Storm in that it's making my head throb just trying to imagine the horrors of this in an 8 player table. I'd skip this, but if you're a fan of chaos multiplayer, then this is a must have.

Why would I use Meddling Kids and not this? Perhaps it's because the kids can shut down spells and entire strategies, including spells that can get rid of the kids. This guy? Not so much. He shuts down permanents, but that's it. And besides, if I wanted to shut down activated abilities, there's Azorius Guildmage.

The last card up for review is this baby, strictly better than Vindicate or Desert Twister. Being a solid artifact, it can be recursed more easily than sorceries which do the same thing. This plus Bosh. Think about it.

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That's it for Mirrodin Besieged. Next, I work my way backard and review Scars of Mirrodin.

[MtG] Type 4 - Evaluating Creatures

2011-01-26T09:43:00.007+08:00

How does one evaluate whether a creature is good enough for Type 4?

To use an oft-mentioned quote, it's not all about size. But yes, size matters.

This environment is filled with the nastiest spells in Magic. The sooner an opponent is dead, the better. That's one less guy to worry about. And the most reliable way to kill someone is still to turn creatures sideways and send them into the red zone. Big creatures. Gigantic creatures. The kind that make Constructed beaters like Blastoderm or a fully-realized Wild Nacatl look shrimpy.

However, not all good Type 4 creatures are huge. A lot of the most useful ones are below average size, or downright tiny.

Creatures in Type 4 are generally classified into two categories: beaters or utility. It's a rare creature that can fit both classifications, and those are often some of the most coveted creatures for the format.

Beaters
What makes a good Type 4 beater?

Here's where the size comes in. What counts as "average" in Type 4? In general, if a creature's Power + Toughness is greater than or equal to 12, that makes it average. Anything larger is better, anything smaller puts in doubt its status as a beater. In general, a 5/5 or smaller creature had better be doing something else. If its purpose is to smash your opponent into powder, then 5/5 is too small.

There are a few exceptions of course. A 4/3 with double strike is decent, if not spectacular. A slightly below average-sized creature can still be a frightening beater given the right set of abilities:

Also, as with Constructed Magic, creatures with evasive abilities are better than normal. You might also classify a creature as having no evasion, "standard" evasion, or true evasion.

Standard evasive abilities include, from best to worst, fear/intimidate, flying, and trample. They're better than having no evasion at all, but flying and trample are also weaker in this format than in most other formats. Flying is weaker because it's the most common form of evasion in T4 and so many beaters fly. Two 6+ power fliers facing off in the sky is a normal occurrence. Trample is similarly weaker because with few exceptions, you won't be getting in for much. Your 8/5 trampler doesn't seem as good when they block with a 6/6.

True evasion in T4 represents creatures who simply can't be blocked as an inherent part of their design. Considering that blocking is often fatal in this format, this is an important thing.

If your group follows the right house rule (like we do), the more common form of unblockability is landwalk, because every player is considered to have one or infinite numbers of every basic land in play (depending on the individual rule). This makes any kind of landwalk function. The huge islandwalkers in particular are of interest.

Beaters that can do more than smash face are also more valuable. Ideally, a beater must be able to inflict its combat damage and still be able to use whatever abilities it has. One of the best abilities is lifelink, or something similar. Gaining life in multiplayer while inflicting damage is very useful (also termed "lifegain on a stick").

Other abilities which get triggered by attacking, or inflicting combat damage can be just as effective, if not more so.

Utility
The utility creature can be small in size, because its primary function are its abilities, rather than its ability to smash in the red zone. The most valuable of these are the ones who have activated abilities which can be used multiple times, eg. Don't require the creature to tap.

Of those, among the most coveted for stacks are known as the "Masticores," because they're able to wipe the board of all other creatures, and can keep the board clear until someone destroys them.

There are many creatures with such abilities, but many of them are broken and unfair in an environment with infinite mana. Oona can remove every colored card from all opponents' libraries and create a huge horde of faeries besides, Selesnya Guildmage can creature infinite saprolings and pump all of your creatures to infinite power and toughness, and Reckless Embermage can kill the entire table.

Such creatures can be legal provided there's sufficient errata or house rules, such as setting the value for X, or limiting certain abilities to a particular number of activations per turn. Even without such creatures though, there are many powerful abilities that can still be considered fair despite infinite applications.

Next in value are the creatures who affect the board simply by being in play. Ideally, they have a clause that limits negative abilities to opponents, or limits positive abilities to just you.

The weakest kind of abilities are enters-the-battlefield trigger abilities, because normally, you only get to use those once. Imagine them as being sorceries with creatures attached. So if you put in a utility creature that has those abilities, make sure they do something really useful or really versatile. Being a little sizable helps too.

Combination
As mentioned earlier, creatures which have utility abilities and classify as beaters are among the best creatures in T4. Be sure to grab those whenever you see them, because they quickly become staples that you'll never want to get rid of (at least, not unless they print something strictly better.

[MtG] Type 4 - The Basics of the Best Casual Format Ever

2011-01-25T10:52:00.004+08:00

This is the initial entry to my series of blogs on the Type 4 format, which is meant to document the development of my group's Type 4 Stack, analysis of cards for their value in Type 4, and discussion of certain house rules and how they affect card choices and the overall play experience.

As a brief introduction to the topic, Type 4, also known as Limited Infinity, is a casual Magic the Gathering format that's based on two primary principles:

You have infinite mana of every color and type (including colorless and exotic types like snow mana).
The Rule of Law is in effect; aka. You may only cast one spell per turn.

A single communal pile or Stack of cards is assembled, drafted, and then games are played using all drafted cards (no sideboards), often in a single multiplayer table.

The fun is that with infinite mana, you can pretty much use the most degenerate, high-cost spells you have. Within limits of course. Spells and effects which can kill people outright shouldn't be used in the Stack. Those with X costs should be especially regulated for brokenness (ex. Fireball for infinite damage to all opponents, Healing Stream for infinite life, Stroke of Genius to make someone draw infinite cards).

Otherwise, toss in every crazy high cost rare or abusable card ability you can find. I won't go too much into it, especially since there's already a great article on the subject written by Steven Menendian.

Instead, I'll move onto the house rules used in my Stack. These house rules justify some of the card choices in the Stack itself, as well prevent individual errata on any of the cards.

You may cast one additional alternative cost spell per turn on top of your standard spell per turn. Examples of these are cards with alternative costs (ex. Force of Will), cards which cost 0 mana (ex. Pact of Negation), or whose costs have been reduced to 3 or lower by special conditions (ex. Avatar of Woe).
The maximum value of X in any cost is 20.
Effects/abilities which pump power, draw cards, or copy spells/effects can only be activated twice per turn per card.

That's enough for an introduction. For the next entry, I'll discuss the mainstay beatstick creatures of the stack, and which ones are stand-ins for replacement.

Review: Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-27T23:00:00.004+08:00

No picture yet. I'm sending this from a faraway place. Details will not be forthcoming.

I'll be straightforward.

The movie was incredible. It rivals Star Trek for sheer fun. Testament to how good I thought it was? I watched it twice. Last time I watched a movie in the theater more than once? Return of the King.

It's no Lord of the Rings, but Michael Bay knows his military, knows how to blow things up, and makes a really great Transformers film.

Like Star Trek, it's not without a couple of logical inconsistencies which will stretch your ability to suspend disbelief, but not to the extent where it will affect your ability to enjoy the film.

Several things I'd like to bring up about the movie, trying to avoid as many spoilers as possible.

First, Soundwave. I love how he was given the form of a spy and communication satellite. And I enjoyed his status as the Decepticon tactical coordinator. And I liked that he survived to cause trouble in the next movie. Best of all, he was voiced by Frank Welker. I didn't like that he didn't say "Ravage, eject," and that Ravage was a casualty. Then again, that just means Laserbeak is coming.

Second, more robotic asskicking. The Autobot vs Decepticon combat in this movie was ramped up to the nth degree compared to the first movie. Best part was that Optimus Prime was the one who did the best fighting, up to and including dual-wielding energy-enhanced blades versus three Decepticons (best fight in the movie).

Third, more Transformers. Hooray for bringing in Arcee(s), Devastator (the real one), Jetfire, Soundwave and Sideswipe. Boo to not having Sunstreaker (he and Sideswipe are bros, dammit), Shockwave (really, big, gun), and Grimlock (Spielberg! Jurassic Park! Grimlock bridges both movies!).

Lastly, and people who watched the first film will understand what a big thing this is... They made Agent Simmons cool. I won't go into details how. But he was the coolest human in the movie. Salutes to the authors.

Watch it. Get the DVD. Then bring on another sequel.

Tragedy: Alzheimer's on a PC Scale

2009-05-21T06:22:00.002+08:00

Y'know why my Star Trek review was late?

This is easy. My software and storage drive, which is to say the 500GB serial ATA Seagate 7200.11 drive of my PC, died in the worst way possible by getting a short which fried the drive. Along with it, it took out Nero, Red Alert 3, Prince of Persia, World of Warcraft, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, Fallout 3, Bioshock, the entire season 2 of Gundam 00, the entirety of Firefly, season 5 of Battlestar Galactica, Wolverine and the X-Men season 1, 60% of Tora-Dora, and whatever eps had come out of Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Transformers Animated season 3, over 400 music mp3's, and dozens of digitized comics and ebooks.

That leaves me with my original, circa 2004 non-SATA 40GB hard drive functioning, which is already stuffed, leaving me with no room to start getting back all the stuff I lost, and no room to install the software I already have.

Seagate, who found out only recently that that particular line of drives (.11) was defective, will replace my drive in 3 weeks with the supposedly-stable .12 series, so I got nothing till mid-June.

I've already worked out my initial frustration and anger on the first 3 days of the event, so this blog entry is only here as a memorial to my faith in self-made obsolescence. Hooray.

Review: Star Trek

2009-05-20T05:43:00.004+08:00

Sorry. This is really long overdue, so I'll make it short and sweet.

I watched Star Trek the same weekend it came out, and boy, was I impressed. I'm not a Trekkie by any measure of the word. I've seen maybe 3 or 4 episodes of the original series, about 2 dozen each of Next Generation and Deep Space 9, and Season 3 onwards of Voyager, but only for lack of anything better to watch. I have seen all the previous motion pictures, none in the theaters, and the only ones I deemed to be rewatchable are Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home (go whales!).

I'm fairly well-versed in the geek cliches of Trek, however, and that's probably one of the reasons I loved the reboot movie so much. Same goes for my wife. She loved it and she's less of a Trek fan than even myself.

The film managed to breathe new life and energy into an aging franchise while somehow paying more than commendable homage to everything that made the original series such a cult classic. The entire classic cast was there, and though history in the film was irrevocably altered, one could immediately see that this crew, on this starship, had a destiny together that was too strong for even a nutbar like Eric Bana to destroy.

The verbal homages rocked. And most of them were in there, including "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a..." and "I'm givin' it all she's got, Captain!" Portrayals of the classic cast were spot on, from their personality down to the classic lines that would never grow old, and this despite giving new elements and dimensions to each character. If some of the cast seemed like cardboard cutouts in the TV series, the crew in the film had life. Why else would I have been cheering so often in the film?

Best film moment, hands down, was when future Spock, reprised by the immortal Leonard Nimoy, said to Kirk, "I am, and always will be, your friend."

If I wasn't so busy applauding, I would have shed a tear.

Now, if for some odd reason, you haven't seen this film yet, find time to watch it. It will make a diehard of even the most casual fan. Bring on the next on, Mr. Abrams. I'll be waiting.

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Addendum: Meanwhile, watch out for Chris Hemsworth. He did an incredible job as James Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening minutes of the film. Now, he's been cast to star as Thor in the 2011 movie helmed by Kenneth Branagh. Good luck, Chris. Do the role proud.

DC Comics Hates Racial Diversity (?)

2009-05-11T09:45:00.006+08:00

Does it now?

Depends on who you ask. Superhero comics in general have always been caucasian/white-centric. The banner heroes of DC and Marvel have always been white caucasians, and mostly male. Marvel has Spider-Man, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Wolverine, Iron Man, and even the original X-Men as all being white. DC's "trinity" of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are all white. Their premier ensemble cast in the Justice League is mostly white (Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Hawkman). It's only of late that people of color have been seen in roles of greater significance, and one has yet to step forward into the realm of universal recognition that the big-league heroes enjoy.

This year, DC ended several comics that feature women and/or people of color, including Blue Beetle (hispanic) and Birds of Prey (featuring a rotating all-female cast). Conversely, Power Girl gets her own series, which is only half-good since she's also a blonde blue-eyed caucasian, a lot of the main Justice League members are now women or people of color (ex. Black Canary - caucasian female, Firestorm - black, Vixen - black and female, John Stewart - black Green Lantern, Dr. Light - asian female), and certain male heroes have now been replaced with female counterparts (ex. The Question).

Still not enough.

Today's rant was inspired by a teaser image on The Source, DC's official blog, and is entitled "I Am Batgirl."

Here's the image:

A quick summary for those of you unfamiliar with Batgirl in the present canon DCU. The original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, was paralyzed from the waist down when the Joker shot her (seen in the excellent work The Killing Joke). She moved on to become the tactical information and network genius known as the Oracle, a role which has done more good than she had ever done in the mask and cowl. When the No Man's Land event occured, Barbara passed the role of Batgirl to a new hero named Cassandra Cain.

Cass became my favorite Batgirl because of her tormented origins. I'm a sucker for pathos, and Cass had it in spades. Taught from infancy to be a killer by her father, the assassin David Cain, she never learned to talk, understanding only the language of movement. Her brutal training taught her to be fatal, merciless, and to ignore pain. And yet she rose above that to a higher calling, vowing never to kill again. Wonderful stuff. And did I mention that she's decidedly Asian? Certainly can't forget that fact.

So what's the issue here? That's her iconic costume in the pic above, supposedly a cover of issue 1 of the new Batgirl series coming in August. With one exception, the part of her cowl covering her mouth has been ripped out (hence the frayed stitchings), allowing us to see the character's subtly smiling lips. Problem there is that the mouthpiece of the cowl was very symbolic of Cassandra, representing her speech impediment and difficulties in social interaction. With the mouthpiece ripped out, and the eyes in the image being hidden, it's strongly suggestive that the Batgirl in the image isn't Cass.

A lot of people think that with Batman now "dead" (don't ask... blame Grant Morrison and the mess that's Final Crisis), there's gonna be a new Batman (likely Richard Grayson) and a new Robin, so why not a new Batgirl? Speculation is going that with the mini-series "The Cure" possibly repairing Barbara's paralysis, she will take up the Batgirl cowl again, leaving Cassandra high and dry.

How this transition will occur is anyone's guess, though there's some evidence that something horrible will happen to Cass (again). What saddens me is that that's more diversity gone from the DCU. Red-haired, white-skinned Barbara becomes Batgirl again, and the Asian female who's gone through so much leaves. Doubly sad given that I love Barbara as Oracle.

I'm hopeful that there will still be a role for Cassandra after this, but she'll always be Batgirl to me.

More comments come August. You can bet on that.

Review: X-Men Origins - Wolverine + Extra

2009-05-04T03:22:00.003+08:00

Obligatory Update Update
I'll start with the "Extra" part first.

Been a long time since I've actually blogged about anything. I blame three things. First is my last post. The one where I ranted about the casting of the Avatar live-action movie. Anyone who knows me, and especially those who also love Avatar, knows how seriously I took this. I think I've certainly taken every opportunity in the past months to join others in the world community to fight this. Did that affect my blogging? Yes, sorta. Writing that post burned out any urge I had to write anything journal-like. Maybe it was the fear of eventually posting an uncivilized response, and I didn't want that.

The other thing is comics. I've more than doubled my comic-reading since December, and partly to blame are the interesting developments in the Dark Reign environment in the Marvel continuity. I'd love to blog about those, but I haven't because of what transpired before those events. I'm OC over doing reviews of previously-read comics before moving onto the new ones. It's not easy to overcome that. Problem is the events in DC and Marvel that happened before the Dark Reign era can be summarized thusly: Batman R.I.P. (confusing and mediocre), Final Crisis (triply confusing and terrible), and the end of Secret Invasion (triply terrible and infinitely disappointing end to what started out as the most awesome metaplot in the history of Marvel). It took me 5 months to work my way past wanting to review those. Now I can pick up from out of nowhere. Joy!

Third thing I blame is World of Warcraft. I've been playing in a private server for kicks, and I started some time after I got the double burnout I outlined in the first two points above. Anyone who plays MMOs knows how engaging this game can be, and even though I'm no longer a hardcore MMO-gamer, I did find WoW very engaging. I don't think I need to elaborate anymore.

On with the review!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
First, the title. Why did they have to put "X-Men Origins" in it? "Wolverine" was just fine! It's not as if there's any other X-Man worth making an origin movie of. And only comic-readers will know that "Origins" is part of a long-running story arc in Marvel comics.

Second, the movie, as a whole, was actually good. It's not as entertaining as Iron Man, and I didn't expect it to be. It's a serious story. Duh. It's Wolverine's history. Were people expecting a comedy and wit? It did a good job of interpreting the comic-continuity history of Logan and translating it to a cinematic medium, all while integrating it to the events of the previous X-Men films (cameo of Prof. X! Woot!). All-in-all better than the third X-Men film. 3 stars.

Props to making Cyclops cool in this film. He was a bumbling teenager. And he was cool. Makes you realize that when he lets the whole X-Men leader thing get to his head, he becomes the lamest guy on the planet.

The cameos of mutants were nice. Along with Patrick Stewart as Prof. X, Emma Frost, Scott Summers, and Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) were among the ones I recognized (was that Ororo doing the ice and snow thing?).

Still don't understand why Kayla, who is dark-haired and has Native Amercan features (and even narrated what sounds like a Native American legend to Logan), is older sister to Emma Frost, who is 100% caucasian, and in the film, was a natural blonde.

I need to conclude with Deadpool. While the movie did a nice job of explaining Wade's eventual codename, their treatment of this very popular non-hero character bordered on the criminal. Why? It's not that they gave him those extra powers. It's not that he didn't get to put on a cool red and black costume akin to his comic incarnation. And it's not the fact that they killed in the end of the film. It's none of those things.

You see, anyone who knows and loves Wade's character knows what makes Deadpool Deadpool. It's his mouth. His constant, annoying, disrespectful and completely situationally-inappropriate babble. You can take away the swords, the costume, the regeneration, and the teleportation. But if he's still yakking away, Wade's still 100% Deadpool.

His conversation early in the film was spot on. It was one of the most spot on interpretations of a comic character I've seen, possibly taking a close second to Downey's Tony Stark. I looked forward to more as the movie continued. Then the criminal act happened. When Wade reappeared in the end of the film as Weapon XI "Deadpool," they sealed his mouth shut. They didn't let "the merc with the mouth" talk. That's insanely stupid. Imagine if an entire movie with Wolverine went by and for the remaining 50%, they didn't make him unsheath his claws.

Utterly pointless.

And that's all I have left to say.

Beyond Rage: The Whitewashing of Avatar

2008-12-18T09:12:00.004+08:00

Words fail me right now, as I try to rein in my chaotic thoughts to compose this. This paragraph alone took me over ten minutes to write, because I'd have to keep stopping in order to push myself back and breathe deeply in order to stop seeing red. I keep reminding myself that it would do no good to vent by pounding the keyboard to splintered plastic, nor would it serve me to punch holes through my monitor. Having to revise these lines to a semblance of civility from the original, R-Rated-for-Violence-and-Strong Language version caused delays as well.

Now that I'm sufficiently calm enough, it's time to rant. And I'll endeavor to make this as simple and straightforward as possible.

This is my reaction to the latest news about the movie adaptation of my favorite piece of animation, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Those who know me know I'm an uber-fan of that series. I could say a hundred things about it, but I'll summarize it by giving it the best compliment I can give: It's a wonderfully-written piece of art, and I doubt that I could have written it better.

When I first heard about the live-action movie, I had qualms, since I felt that Avatar as a setting and environment was strictly best as an animation. Then I heard that M. Night Shyamalan was directing. That made me even more nervous. Shyamalan's previous works belong to a completely different genre and mood from that of Avatar, and some of his previous directing decisions have been somewhat... dubious. And then, I heard about the casting. I read that the casting criteria when seeking Aang didn't have racial parameters.

Uh-oh. I then mused on a terrible scenario: That Aang's role might go to that of a Caucasian.

When it comes to casting roles in adaptations, I by default insist that established racial lines be adhered to as closely as possible. When that rumor of Will Smith being considered for the role of Captain America came out, I hated the idea, not because of being biased against Will being black, or the actor himself, but simply because Captain America is white, and so he should be portrayed by a white male. It's that easy.

Moving back to Avatar, I still expressed some hope that they would do the casting justice, especially in casting unknowns possessing the proper racial attributes. I mean, how could they get that wrong? One of the wonders of the Avatar setting is that it's predominantly Asian, including the characters and people. And Shymalan himself is Asian. And his daughters were mentioned to be extreme fans of the show. Surely he wouldn't make an error?

I should have known that something terrible would happen when my friends and I began joking about him casting a white Sokka, or a white Mai, or a white Katara. My group of friends tends to have some degree of prophetic power when it comes to our communal jokes.

It was just a few days ago that I discovered the horror.

The HORROR.

From what casting had been revealed, it was not a single mistake. It was a total, complete, shameful whitewash.

Jackson Rathborne, for all the appropriateness of his role in Twilight, was cast as Sokka. Some white babe named Nicola Peltz was given the role of Katara. And Jesse McCartney was given the role of Zuko.

...

...

...

That was the sound of my soul screaming.

This is the pair that discovers the Avatar in the iceberg:

And this is the guy who's chasing after him:

Who's the Avatar? Some kid named Noah Ringer. He's supposed to be practicing karate. Yay. I bet he's white too. [I hope to God I'm wrong on this, since haven't seen a pic of the dude yet, but I'm not hoping very deeply given what I've seen.]

Apologies for the political reference, but I can't help but wince that I discover this after America wised up and elected their first African-American president.

As I hold my head in my hands, I despair at what went wrong. This is the closest that Shyamalan could have come to a direct betrayal. This movie and story is based on so many Asian cultures. And he tosses in the whitest cast I've ever seen. Nice going. What? They were chosen for their talent? Is Shyamalan and his casting director (if he has one) saying they couldn't find a single non-white actor that could fit any of those roles?

You've got no idea what you're doing, Shyamalan. What little respect I had for you is gone now. I hope your daughters crucify you for this BLASPHEMY.

Meanwhile, we wait in dread for the rest of the cast announcements. I wonder which cherubesque blondie they'll cast for Toph. I'll be printing that actress's picture along with that of the rest of the cast, attaching it to Shyamalan's effigy and setting the lot on FIRE.

Bah.

Bunch of Stuff

2008-11-02T09:12:00.004+08:00

Some quick hits for now, just to offload all that stuff that's buzzing around in my head these past few weeks. There comes a time when due to my diverse interests, I supersaturate my brain, and I wanna write about everything.

Of course, there's no way I can do that, so I instead end up writing about nothing.

I suppose I'll be writing entries like these more often in the future.

---

Secret Invasion - I'm holding off on writing a review of Secret Invasion 7. It's a brawl. The tiny bit involving Spider-Man is the only truly amusing bit in the whole comic, with the rest being a mindless, stupid, senseless fight with no sense of tension whatsoever. People, this is how NOT to invade another planet. Take notes. Given this, I'll wait till the final issue before rendering judgment, on the slight chance that this pointless charade is actually leading to something profound. I'm not hopeful though.

Gundam 00 (season 2) - Macross Frontier's wondrous mecha design and CG sequences have spoiled my brain, to the point where watching Gundam 00 is an arduous experience. The mecha design in Gundam 00 isn't bad, taken in a void. Problem is, I end up comparing it to both Macross Frontier and Gundam Seed/Seed Destiny, and by comparison, 00's mecha SUCKS. The only truly aesthetically pleasing mecha in both seasons for me was the Gundam Kyrios, and they stuck a knife in me by wrecking it at the end of season 1. The remaining mecha range from decent (Gundam 00-Exia Fusion), to hideous (Gundam Seravee and its giant Gundam head... don't get me started). Add the fact that Gundam 00 hosts a set of jaded main characters who are even more boring than Hiro Yui and Judo Ashita and we have ourselves a problem.

Star Wars, the Clone Wars - No, this is the CG series, not that disgusting second Lucas movie. It is shockingly entertaining. Likely because Lucas isn't writing the dialogue. Watch a few eps and see for yourself what a wonderful world Star Wars could be when its creator takes a few steps back.

Batman RIP - Is this bit of Morrison confusion over yet? Because I'm waiting for Neil Gaiman to take over. Seriously.

US Presidential Election - Congratulations, President Obama. You deserved it. You're inheriting a nation that's sliding downhill. I hope you realize you won because you're the only one capable of saving that country. Godspeed.

Super Robot Wars - Look! Bandai made something with CG mecha! Lots of CG mecha! Why is Gundam 00 so crappy then? Ugh. Here I am ranting about 00 again.

CSI - Both Grissom and Warrick are leaving now? Can Lawrence Fishburne really take over, or is this show finally jumping the shark? We'll have to see.

Next Generation Console - Yes, I still want a Wii, but I'm so caught up in retro-gaming at the moment, I probably won't bother yet. Besides, no one can find a Wii. All of them have been presold till next year. Someone said that right now, Nintendo could put its name on a bag of dirt and it will sell. I kinda agree. Ah, poor Sony, how far you've fallen.

Avatar - Have they cast Aang yet? PLEASE don't let it be some white kid.

On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One - The name says it all. I never thought a game co-developed by Penny Arcade would be so good. It's fun. Seriously. Play it. You can spare the 750php.

World of Goo - See what I mentioned about the game above? This is different. But still addictive. Horribly addictive. And sticky.

Hand-Made Greeting Cards - Wow. Our little home business is picking up. Orders are starting to come in. Must be the Christmas season. Anyone else want some handcrafted greetings?

---

That's it. Back to watching Clone Wars.

Macross Frontier: The End

2008-10-07T06:11:00.003+08:00

After 25 episodes, Macross Frontier has finally ended. Let me get one thing across right now, because it's important: it was much, much better than Macross 7, the last full Macross series (which was a horrible piece of work barely lifted past mediocrity by the presence of Max and Milia).

That said, it must also be mentioned that it was not better than the original Macross. Even comparing it to the OAV series, Frontier still ranks below Plus and Zero. But that still makes it good, overall.

Was I entertained? Yes. Especially during the first two-thirds of the series. After that, the story quality dropped, and I can tell you why. The pace felt too fast, character development stalled with some characters while it was rushed in others, and some technical aspects of the story lacked exposition or justification.

The reason behind this is the 25 episode limitation the makers of the anime placed upon themselves. In an effort to exagerrate the whole "Macross 25th Anniversary" theme, they placed numerous 25s in the series, both within and without. This included the 25 episode limit, which, quite frankly, SUCKS.

The original series was great, and though it had flaws of its own, had a fully developed plot and character development. Despite the relatively simple plot, it spanned a glorious 36 episodes.

Frontier was hamstringed by limiting it to 25 episodes, depriving viewers of desired subplot coverage, closure on multiple elements, and action scene length. I wasn't expecting another 36 episodes, but they could have surely increased the number of eps to 30+ if they hadn't gone with the stupid 25 theme.

The combined traditional + CG animation elements, especially for mecha battles, was a wonderful touch, but the times when I wanted to see long protracted dogfights felt like paying for a bucket of popcorn and getting a bare cupfull instead. Ozma versus Alto? One single kharmic pass. Brera vs Alto? Let's blow the guy up please, ASAP. NUNS and SMS vs. Ghost v9.0's? No. A few scenes, but nothing definite.

Ugh.

Lost potential. It could have been so good.

On other things, the ending was actually good, ignoring the fact that it was rushed. I liked the maintenance of the Archie-Betty-Veronica triangle between the three lead characters, and the fact that Alto was no longer a TOTAL wuss. Leon's dying horribly was denied to me, but at least Grace got annihilated. Damn. Do I HATE clones. I hate borg clones even more. A lot of things were left hanging, but the closure on the Vajra-Birdman-Protoculture metaplot was nice.

If I were to rate this I'd still give it a 7 of 10. That's a pretty good rating considering I'm so critical.

Time to look forward to the movie. If they make it a pseudo-continuity retelling of the series, like they did with Do You Remember Love?, I'd be overjoyed. That would mean it gets chance to correct some of its errors.

Review: Secret Invasion 6

2008-09-14T13:30:00.004+08:00

After suffering from a "Fantastic" overdose in issue 5, Secret Invasion 6 promises something much better from the cover alone. Tony Stark bashing aside, that's the original Avengers trinity seen on the cover, composed of Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man.

Okay, technically, it's NOT the original trinity per se. Iron Man is now pumped up by the Extremis virus. Thor now has the Odinpower and brought himself back from oblivion post-Ragnarok, and with Steve Rogers still dead, that's the Bucky Barnes incarnation of Cap we're seeing (hence the uncharacteristic gun). Personally, I don't care. The issue is worth it just seeing these three in the same place at the same time, and without being at each others' throats.

Most of the issue focuses on bringing everyone together for a grand confrontation in Central Park, an action largely evoked by Thor without prior consultation. This means that come issue 7, we are going to get a battle worthy of the record books. Earth's superheroes versus the Skrull invasion force. That's something to look forward to. The fanboy in me rejoices.

Of course, the tactical strategist in me is screaming bloody murder.

Imagine you're the Skrulls. You got all these metahumans gathering in a single location, metahumans bent on stopping your invasion plans, most likely by killing every single one of you. Does it make sense that you meet them on the ground, in a classic standoff, your warskrulls facing the heroes at speaking distance? Especially when you have these hovering around the city?

This doesn't even include the ships in orbit.

WTF?!

Whatever happened to the concept of orbital bombardment?

"Oh look, the heroes are all in Central Park."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, what do we do?"

"Tell all ships in range to bombard their coordinates. Heavy energy weapons only."

"Yes, my Queen."

I know that would kill everyone, yes. But you wanna invade a planet, you gotta do it properly. However, it seems to me that we're in slam bang surreal mode here. If Nick Fury, Bucky, Reed, and Tony can be stupid enough to expose themselves en masse in one place like that, I suppose the Skrulls can be that stupid too.

Universal stupidity is catchy.

Here's what's coming next month:

Clueless

2008-08-30T06:17:00.003+08:00

After recovering from my disgust over Secret Invasion 5, along comes another shocker. Hasbro has decided to "update" the boardgame Clue for a more "modern audience." Here's the graphic evidence:

The sad part is that they don't even plan to continue manufacturing what is now the "classic Clue." They take away the lead pipe because they don't like references to lead, adding more weapons like a trophy, a metal baseball bat, and of all things, an axe. They change the rooms because people nowadays won't know what a conservatory is. They added more cards for more variety of play.

This feels to me like the classic Western philosophy of completely throwing out the old in favor of the new. I'm not saying the game won't be fun, but goodness, what's next?

Chess 2.0? Behold, a more modern version of chess! There are no more pawns. The word "pawn" suggests slavery or taking advantage of someone. Wouldn't want the kids to be exposed to that. Instead, the new version calls them "minimum-waged militia." No bishops either. Too biased toward the Christian demographic. Let's call it the "spiritual advisor" instead.

We've revised the rules too! You can now choose to have a queen piece wearing a crown to represent the king. Gender equality. And gay marriages are now acceptable in many places. Two queens or two kings should be permissible. And not to forget interracial relations, you can now have both black and white pieces on the same side.

Joy!

"Review:" Secret Invasion 5

2008-08-19T06:04:00.003+08:00

So Secret Invasion 5 is out, and I have to say it's the most disappointing of the 5 issues that are out so far. Which means that it's the ONLY disappointing issue that has come out, as the previous 4 were amazing.

There were some nice highlights in this issue, like how Agent Brand performs very nicely after her spotlight in Astonishing X-Men, and how the Skrull propaganda machine makes its planetary announcements by revealing themselves as famous personalities who were disguised all this time (including Oprah, Tom Cruise, Bin Laden, and our very own President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). But all of that was overshadowed by one of my pet peeves.

Reed Richards.

Brand manages to free him, and you can anticipate that the series is going to go downhill from here. Mr. Fantastic is Marvel's equivalent of Deus Ex in a stretchable bag. The guy can work miracles using nothing more than a toothbrush, a pocket calculator, and a few rubber bands. You put Reed Richards into any scenario, and instantly, it transforms into "what MAGICAL device will Mr. Fantastic create to FIX ANYTHING."

Seriously. Put him in any situation, and that's what he does. He's so smart he can beat GALACTUS.

He makes me PUKE.

His presence takes out the effort other characters have put up to that point and throws it in the dust like so much garbage. "Don't worry. Everything you worked for will easily be fixed with no effort using the mystical properties of my Fantastic Dream Beam!"

In the case of SI#5, from the time that it takes to go from high orbit to the Savage Land, he manages to whip up a Skrull Revalation Ray using Skrull equipment. Yes. A Skrull Revalation Ray. You fire it, and every disguised Skrull in the area suddenly reveals his Skrull form.

Wow.

All that hype about "Who Can You Trust?" and now it's undone by Mr. Fantastic.

I am so disgusted I can't write anymore. Forget it.

---

PS. GMA is a Skrull. That explains SO MUCH.

Nitpicking Sozin's Comet Part 2

2008-08-14T07:49:00.002+08:00

Zuko Snubs Toph

More minor gripes on something that was a very satisfying experience. This scene made me groan. You know the scene. Aang's gone to lion turtle island, and Team Avatar doesn't know where he went. They go looking for him, and Toph goes off with Zuko in what she hopes will be a life-changing field trip like the others had. While they're searching, she starts talking about her insecurities about acceptance from her family, and Zuko practically tells her to shut up and keep looking for Aang.

I appreciate the gravity of the situation they were in, and how important it was to find Aang. I also understand how driven Zuko can get. I also understand that the metastory was strained for time, even with 4 episodes to go. But dude, that was inexcusable. Especially after Toph was so nice to him when he was once again in emo mode about his uncle in Ember Island Players. He could have at least spared a few words of encouragement.

Spurning the cute earthbender when she's pouring out what might be her deepest hurt?

Bad form, sir. Very bad form.

All Hail Chaobunny

2008-08-08T05:56:00.006+08:00

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled Avatar rant-n-rave to feature a semi-off-tangent topic. My friends and I recently discovered the satirical videos of a talented young lady going by the name of Chaobunny on Youtube. There, she has a series of extremely entertaining videos trying to explain the mysteries of how the minds of zealot-level Zutarians function. Rather than review the videos and sully the experience, I instead give you the direct links of these, the products of a hardworking scholar of Zutarian psychology.

Chaobunny, my friends and I salute you!

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 1

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 2

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 3

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 4

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 5

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 6

Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 7

* Image above is taken from Chaobunny's Guide to Zutarian Logic: Part 4 (I think). Videos are Chaobunny's work, Avatar belongs to its owners.

---

And while we're on the subject of delusions and wishful thinking, here's a few links to materials concerning the candidate the Republicans are looking to field in the coming US election:

Paris Hilton Responds to John McCain

Obama's Response to McCain Claiming to be the "Original Maverick"

Review: The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

2008-08-05T05:53:00.004+08:00

While I wasn't quite disappointed with the movie when I saw it this weekend, I can't say I was pleased either. The pacing was good. You could barely feel the almost 2 hours slide by. The effects were par, and the pulp dialogue and action was respectable. Still, there were several things lacking that made this the worst of the three movies.

There were inconsistencies in the movie that pretty much ruined my verisimilitude. Minor things first. At the gate of Shangri-La, why didn't they just cut the bridge? And why didn't they destroy the golden tower before trying to stop the emperor? When the sorceress summoned all those dead warriors to fight on their side, why didn't the Great Wall collapse? Weren't those guys buried in the foundation? And why did she speak the spell in English? Especially when the spell that cursed the emperor had to be spoken in Sanskrit? And while we're on the subject of English, why, at the sorceress's death, did her daughter cry out in English as well? In times of great distress, one would expect that you would shout out in your primary language. What, she was being melodramatic for the sake of her English-speaking companions? That is just stupid if it's the case.

And my main gripe? The Emperor himself. The big bad was LAME.

Master of the five elements of water, fire, metal, wood, and earth? Let's see... he threw balls of fire... and he made ice shards and ice slicks...

Where was the metal / wood / earth powers? No earthquakes? No rockslides? No dust storms? Why didn't he turn their own guns and bullets against them? What gives? Some master. "I have 5 uber abilities, but I'll only use 2 of them. Coz, yknow, I know KUNG FU!"

Blagh.

And where was the face? This is a Mummy movie! Brendan Frasier is supposed to be chased by an elemental manifestation with the mummy's face! Wasn't the emperor supposed to be the one USING THE AVALANCHE instead of being swept away by it? What a lousy oversight!

If Imhotep were around, he'd come by and wipe his ass with this stupid emperor.

Such a sad, sad waste for Jet Li. He probably feels like George Clooney did after Batman and Robin.

Wanna know what was the best thing about this movie? I'll tell you.

Right before the movie? I got to see the full Watchmen trailer.

Yes. The trailer is better than the movie.

If you haven't seen it, save your money and watch this on video or HBO.

Nitpicking Sozin's Comet Part 1

2008-08-02T07:01:00.003+08:00

Make no mistake. I loved the Avatar finale, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ending.

Now that I've descended from the post-Comet high, I spent some time reading what other people had to say about the ending. No surprise, most everyone loved it...

Except for the Zutarans. Many of them disliked the ending to varying degrees, ranging from mild frustration, to outright hatred. Why?

Well, they "lost." Katara loves Aang. Zuko loves Mei. To them, that's sacrilege. Especially after all the Zutaran hints in the final six episodes. I mean, look at Southern Raiders? That's true love right there, right? And Ember Island Players? You guessed it. Definitely a Kataang breakup. Zuko saving Katara and vice versa during the fight against Azula? We're talking MARRIAGE, baby.

Of course, not all Zutarans took these signs to this extreme, nor did they all call Sozin's Comet a piece of garbage. But when so many of them criticize the finale with such fervor, with a few even declaring that they would have had the same criticisms even if Zutara won?

Hmm...

For the sake of argument, I took a look at some of their more sterling complaints and wondered what they're getting so worked up about. I started writing about it, but surprise, my comments about their comments were LONG. Hence the Part 1 above.

Take a look with me, if you will. You may agree or disagree. Heck, I even agreed with a few. But not many...

---

Aang, the Last Energybender

Main argument here is the deus ex point of the story. So what was the point of Aang learning to bend the other elements, if he was only going to go Avatar State and proceed to CHEEZ Ozai to defeat? While in the Avatar State, the Avatar can already bend all 4 elements with the greatest of ease, after all. Seems like they treated the whole learn-all-4-elements as a glorious waste of time.

Well, no. It wasn't a waste of time.

You must realize that before he went Avatar State, Aang DID use all 4 elements in dueling with Ozai. He’d be dead many times over if he didn’t know how to bend everything. Without the stuff he learned from his mentors, the fight would have been over much faster. Char-grilled Avatar.

Yummy.

The other rage-bit about this was how Aang returned to the Avatar state. After all that time spent by Pathik teaching about chakras and letting go, after the Azula strike which shorted out his connections, a little rocky bump fixes everything. Whoop. This is a criticism I agree with, especially since I considered the Azula-Zuko fight much better, but my agreement comes from a different rationale.

One of the Zutaran stances about this is that if Aang re-entered the Avatar State, he must have done what Guru Pathik did and "let go" of his love for Katara, paving the way for a glorious Zutara ending.

*cough*

My issue is that, from a story POV, it was a major lost opportunity. Aang managing to get back into the Avatar State could have been presented in a more meaningful fashion than a lucky rocky spike. Even something as cliche as Aang desperately drawing on all his memories of his friends and the people counting on him in order to break the Chi block would have been a thousand times better than the Kharmic Rocky Bit of Amazing Fortune.

Bah.

More to follow.

Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Sozin's Comet

2008-07-25T06:54:00.009+08:00

[Warning: Spoiler images and statements follow. But at this point, I don't really care. Wahahaha!]

---

It's taken me this long to actually blog about Sozin's Comet for the simple reason that I've been high on the ending all the way up to this point, and now is the only time I've settled down just enough to put something down in words.

This was an incredible last four episodes. It's hard to find the right words. I think it's important to say that I am a very satisfied fan. Analytically, there were some points in the ending that they could have improved upon or done better, but on an emotional happy-happy-joy-joy level, I am grinning from ear to ear and sighing happily.

I also appreciate the fact that the authors gave the series closure, but not 100% closure, leaving just enough open elements for speculators to dream of the possibility of Brian and Mike venturing once again into this wondrously rich setting. Also keeps the fanfic writers happy.

Cheers guys! Best series ever.

It's been a wonderful ride.

---

Part one of Sozin's Comet was all about fan service in some ways. We get to see Suki in swimwear for example.

Did I mention Suki in swimwear?

I know a lot of people who leered at this pic. Not often you get to see Toph in a bandeau. Yep. I do think she's turned 13 by this time. We get to see a precious hint of her future figure. She's gonna be a babe when she grows up.

Meantime, she gets to shout to the world: "I am not Toph! I am MELON LORD!!!"

One last shot for the Zutoph shippers. Toph certainly seems happy.

Anybody who still doubts that Katara is Filipina should look at this pic. Scary.

I wish I could say this pic is for drama purposes, but it's not. A quick glimpse at the background shows Sokka, covered in drool after he slipped from Appa's mouth. Typical behavior for him, sadly.

Firelord... I mean... Phoenix King Ozai. And his ridiculously large helm. I still wonder how he got his beard to be so nicely pointy.

More fan service. One last shot of June.

This is a geekgasm moment. The Order of the White Lotus is supposed to be filled with old guys. Well, these old guys are some of the most powerful people on the planet. And this shot doesn't even include Iroh. The five Old Masters and a few dozen other Lotus members pretty much took Ba Sing Se by themselves.

Aang calls upon his past lives for advice. From top to bottom: Avatars Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Yangchen. I didn't bother with Avatar Roku. We've seen him enough, I think.

Remember those old guys? Well, King Bumi's among them, and on the Day of Black Sun, he took back Omashu by himself. The guy's so powerful he hurled entire buildings away from the city. Violating Ozai's statue was icing, but funny icing.

Nobody does emo better than Zuko. This is his final emo moment. After this is repentance and redemption. I'll miss the self-flagellation, but it's nice to see him grow out of it at last.

It's about damn time.

You'd think that being appointed Firelord by her father would improve Azula's disposition. Seems like finally being on top of the world unhinged her mind completely. Can you say "paranoid schizophrenia?"

Even totally crazeeee and with her hair self-mutilated, she's still a sexy bitch, ain't she?

This was the real ultimate battle of the finale. Zuko vs Azula. Fire vs fire. Agni kai. This screenshot is only one of the many incredible action sequences in that fight.

Leave it to the girls to ruin a good fight. Zuko sacrifices himself to save Katara from Azula's lightning. Rushing to intercept the bolt resulted in not-so-perfect form for Zuko however, leaving Katara to finish the fight she inadvertently interrupted.

The Ozai-Aang fight was over-the-top, yes. But it was either Aang running from Comet-Pumped Ozai, or Ozai running from Avatar State Aang. Can't say I blame the dude. This shot proves that the Avatar can bend all 4 elements simultaneously.

Looks like Katara's gambit worked. Two girls frozen in ice, and only one can bend water. Guess who wins? I suppose it ruins the moment somewhat when you think about it and realize that they were frozen in sewer water.

One good turn deserves another. A little water healing and Zuko recovers enough to say thank you. Katara does the same. This marks the final Zutara moment of the series.

Ozai learns here that you can't sneak up on a guy who had Toph for a teacher. Looks like Aang learned how to see through Earth-bending too.

Spiritbending the big bad. At least it doesn't kill him. This proves that bending is linked to spiritual strength.

Okay. After all is said and done, this is the one scene I've been waiting for since I saw the awesomeness of Mei in The Boiling Rock.

Haha. Yeah. I'm a Meiko shipper. Take that Zutarans. I could have shown them kissing, but I think this pic is better. Why? I've never seen Zuko look happier. Or Mei for that matter.

Congratulations Sokka. Now that Ty Lee's a Kyoshi Warrior, you get to have her AND Suki. You DA MAN.

I appreciate seeing the cast in casual Earth Kingdom garb again. I still prefer the Fire Nation fashion, but the green does look nice on them.

One parting gift to the canon Kataang shippers out there.

Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - Ember Island Players

2008-07-21T06:57:00.008+08:00

Warning: Spoiler statements and images follow. Like who cares right? Everybody's seen this, or you wouldn't even bother reading. I guess. Maybe.

---

The Ember Island Players is what's known as a recap episode, which is meant to remind the audience of important facts about what previously happened in the series, lest they forget. Normally, recap episodes are done through a mixture of exposition or narration, mixed with a healthy amount of rehashed scenes from those previous eps. The average recap episode is at least 50% previously seen images and scenes.

Avatar's authors did it differently, by presenting the recap in the form of a play "extensively" researched by its in-series author. When the viewer notices that the many sources of information used by the author are first-hand accounts that include pirates, soldiers and "a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage," one anticipates that the play is anything but accurate. The viewer is thus treated to an amusing satire of some of the best that Avatar had to offer during the first and second Books, offering a chance to reminisce about favorite lines and scenes rather than being forced to relive them directly. A most unique method, and one very appropriate to this wonderful series on its penultimate episode.

Plus, Avatar again doesn't disappoint on the value of its "filler" episodes, adding moments of important character development. This late in the series, that's not something you'd entirely expect. We get wonderful scenes involving Aang and Katara (sorry to the Kataang shippers out there), and Zuko and Toph --- icing to an episode with many a scene that left me laughing so hard I began to tear bend.

On with the show...

Couldn't resist one more for the ladies. Zuko post-workout and shirtless isn't something you see often. Not very many 16-year olds have abs like that. Hmm... shouldn't he be about 17 by now?

I am so happy to see them back in fire nation clothing, now that they're hiding away at Zuko's Ember Island vacation house. Fire nation fashion is so attractive. This pic of course has Suki in fire nation duds for the first time. Looks mighty good on her.

The play begins! And this is... Aang. Played by a girl. Aang is shocked. You can tell he's never seen Peter Pan. Then again, Peter Pan's female actors were never this well-endowed.

I'm the Avatar! The trinity of the series meets for the very first time. Water Bend! Hai-yah!

Book 1's antagonist is introduced. Uhm... I know it's supposed to be satirical, but shouldn't the Fire Nation know which side Zuko's scar is on? Oh well. Maybe it's meant to be a deliberate insult by the play's author.

Suki got a real kick out of this scene. It's a lot more amusing when you think about what really happened the first time she and Sokka met.

This pretty much exemplifies what Team Avatar did half the time. Sneaking around and running away. Giant faux water bending scroll optional.

This is the real reason why the Blue Spirit was unstoppable. That mask can stop a freight train.

Aang and Suko have a typical reaction to a chapter in their lives that they'd rather not remember.

Jet never looked so good. The pink shirt is a nice touch.

Making out with the Yue, the Moon Spirit, was one of Sokka's crowning glories. He'd have three people in his harem if Zhao hadn't screwed everything up.

Suki is awesome. We find out here that Sokka never told her about his first girlfriend. She's taking his previous conquests in stride. Sokka's a lucky bastard.

"They call be TOPH, coz it sounds like TOUGH!" Toph should feel proud. This is the reputation she's set for herself. Can't blame the author's sources. Who wants to admit they were solidly beaten up by a 12 year old blind girl?

Our favorite earth bender does us proud. She's the only one who thinks her portrayal in the play rocks.

Initial fan reaction to Zuko's new hairstyle back in Book 2 might have been different had he sported Fabio-level locks like these. Thankfully the authors showed some restraint.

I'm glad that the real Azula wasn't around to see this, else the play might now have gotten past this point.

The most awkward moment in the entire series, and source of the shipping wars that defined its fans. One wonders though what source the play's author got this from. Was there a hidden voyeur in that cave? If there was, he was definitely a Zutara shipper.

They make a cute couple don't they? If only Sokka would stop thinking about food so much. Hello?! Hot ass-kicking martial arts babe leaning into you! Show some appreciation!

This is where it all changed. "Choose treachery! It's more fun!"

Mai and Ty Lee... sorta. The non-smiling emoticon on Mai was one of my laugh-till-I-dropped moments.

Awwwww. She likes you Zuko! After a heart-warming conversation, Toph gives Zuko a LURVE BRUISE. One for the Zutoph minority.

Could this be... THE FUTURE? I'm not sure about the accuracy of the play's ending, but anything that makes Sokka react this way has to be worth some minor consideration.

Wow.

Gotta stop laughing now. The comet's up next.

Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Southern Raiders

2008-07-19T05:45:00.007+08:00

WARNING: Spoiler statements and images follow. If you hate being spoiled, turn back now.

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Finally, after months of agony, the final episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender have arrived, starting with The Southern Raiders. In this, the 16th episode of Book 3: Fire, we see Katara getting a bit of closure regarding her issues with the Fire Nation killing her mother when she was still a child. We also see her resulting acceptance and forgiveness of Zuko after he helps her encounter the man who killed her mother.

The episode has moments of high drama and tension, given emphasis from the fact that the source of the tension is Katara, a character known for her temperance, rather than her temper. When the character who's normally calm suddenly gives vent to her passions, you tend to pay close attention. There was a GREAT fight scene between Zuko and Azula that showed great promise for what's to come in Sozin's Comet. I'll have to say though, this is one heck of an episode for Zutara shippers. Fans of that pairing will be squealing throughout most of this episode, guaranteed.

Major character moments here revolve around Katara, Zuko and Sokka, with Aang in a largely supporting role. Sorry Toph fans, but our favorite cute earthbender was a non-player for most of the episode.

Let's move on with screenies of what I thought were the best scenes.

After the Fire Nation found and attacked the Western Air Temple, Zuko tackles Katara when explosions start wrecking the buildings. When she irritatedly asked what he was doing, Zuko answers, "Keeping rocks from crushing you." A very good answer. Of course, there are perks to saving a girl in this manner. Check out the position of Zuko's hand in the lower left part of the pic. Note its relative proximity to a certain aspect of Katara's anatomy. Looks like she wasn't exactly complaining about the save.

This one's for the ladies. It's not often that Sokka lets his hair down, in a literal manner. But I've had a lot of girls mention how much better he looks this way. I'd have to say I agree. Looks less silly too.

And THIS one is for the guys. Sokka's not the only one who looks better with their hair down. Azula looks beautiful already. Here she looks a lot hotter than normal. No pun intended. On a side note, this shot came after her absolutely incredible fight with her brother. I'm not posting any pics of that. Still frames don't do that fight sequence any justice. This solo shot of Azula with her unfettered hair blowing in the wind is appropriate though. Makes me wish she wasn't going to get killed in Sozin's Comet (this is my prediction, not a spoiler).

It's the first night of a full moon, and Zuko's wondering why Katara's so upset with him. Was it the joke he just gave at the campfire? Everyone else laughed (first time that's happened). But Zuko finds it's no laughing matter. Katara's got a nasty grudge.

Seems like both Zuko and Suki need to see Sokka. Zuko wants to consult Sokka about his sister ("She hates me. And I don't know why. But I do care what she thinks of me.") What's Suki so embarrassed about? Such tension. Such an awkward posture. It's not something you see often from the leader of the Kiyoshi Warriors. What could be the reason?

Looks like Zuko sees the reason for Suki's behavior. This is an awesome jaw-drop considering it's coming from the show's resident emo-boy. What, you wanna see what he's looking at?

O_O Oooookay. Looks like Sokka was maybe expecting someone else to come into his tent. Seeing him eat that rose was almost painful. But despite the humor in this situation, it underscores a strong suggestion, one which has increased my respect for Sokka a hundredfold. He and Suki are so totally doing it. Off-screen of course, but man oh man, I bow down before the magnificence that is Sokka. No bending powers, acts like a bit of a jerk, is used for comedy relief, but he still manages to get the ladies. Sokka, I salute you! You are DA MAN!

You do NOT want to get Katara angry. Especially if you're on a boat. Or a ship. Even a metal ship as big as this one. She takes out every firebender on the deck with this massive wave, and I believe she could have sunk the entire ship if she wanted to.

And yet, Katara looks really nice when she's angry. She looks great as a ninja too. Too bad for her that her quarry isn't on the boat. Want to know how creepy she can get when she's mad? Remember this thing she can do on a full moon? Sends chills down my spine.

Her mother's murderer looks like he's about to get a chill down his spine as well. A permanent chill. What's even more impressive about this scene as a whole is that all these dagger-like ice shards are all being suspended by Katara in midair. And the ones you see in this shot are only a small number of the rain of icy death she's poised over this poor sap. As suspected, she doesn't kill him in the end, but IMHO the wetness in his pants isn't entirely due to the rain or melted ice.

When asked by Aang if she forgave the man who killed her mother, Katara replies that she'll never forgive him. But then she looks at Zuko and says, "But I am ready to forgive you." There's a short bit of silence as Zutarans everywhere hold their breath.

...followed by the sound of those same Zutarans screaming. Get over it people. They're friends now. That's it. That's all. Move along.

The verdict? One of the best Avatar episodes yet. Great lines (Sokka's humor is still the best), great scenes (Zuko vs. Azula rocks), and great character development, even this late in the series. Every moment was well-worth the wait, so bring on the recap episode!

Review: Secret Invasion #4

2008-07-14T09:46:00.012+08:00

Secret Invasion issue 4 hit the stands last week, and the series is maintaining its pacing nicely. The Tony Stark "Is he, or isn't he?" mind play continues, with Queen Veranke / Spider-Woman pulling on one end and Natasha Romanova / Black Widow tugging on the other. I'm personally hoping that Tony's sanity snaps before either of the two ladies wins.

This comic also has Nick Fury and his new commandos temporarily repulsing the Skrull offensive just long enough to rescue the remains of the Initiative and the Young Avengers. We also see snippets of the invasion as events happened in other places. This is how you do a special series. Hey, DC! Are you guys paying attention?

Hmm... I think the greatness of this issue is best exemplified by the pics themselves...

---
If you can provide a few panels of Reed Richards being tortured in every Marvel comic, I would buy them all. Okay. READ them all at least. Maybe not buy. Ehehe.

Same thing goes for Nick Fury blasting Ms Marvel. Like he said, "A Skrull's a Skrull." Give it to her Nick! She deserves it for siding with Tony!

Speaking of Tony, here he is continuing his lovely chat with Queen Veranke. Kl'riki Dulu. Nice name. He should keep it even after the invasion is over.

Phoenix and Beast are revealed to be Skrulls after Black Widow pumps them full of incendiary rounds. I could tell that "Jean" was a Skrull from the beginning, but I was hoping that we'd get the old Beast back. Hank McCoy as a cat mutant still doesn't feel right for me.

Woohoo! Go Jarvis-Skrull! What's Maria Hill supposed to do when even her own people are Skrulls? She should be happy it's raining. No one will notice her pissing in her uniform.

---

Oh, while Marvel is still teaching DC how to do a special series properly, they might as well add one more lesson. Guys, THIS is how you do a last page cliffhanger:

You know what this means? It's the Avengers trinity back in action, together, in Secret Invasion 5! Post-Ragnarok Thor, Buck Barnes Captain America, and finally, Kl'riki Dulu Iron Man! It's a veritable Avengers Rennaisance! What a mess!

I can't wait for the next one.

Avatar: The Last Airbender --- Ozai

2008-07-11T11:16:00.003+08:00

For "the biggest, baddest guy on the planet," as Sokka put it so blatantly, I expected Firelord Ozai to look a bit... tougher. As it is, he looks a bit on the soft side, especially if you compare him to his older brother, Iroh. Of course, appearances can be deceiving.

Iroh himself looked a bit on the soft side for Books 1 and 2, and while imprisoned he transformed himself in short order back into the Dragon of the West, a one-man army, as the jail warden so aptly described him.

And yet, here we have Ozai, a character hyped up to be The Big Bad during three turbulent Avatar seasons. How bad is he? Evidence is minimal.

The one time we see him without his stately robes is just before he burned his son Zuko, during their Agni Kai. His silhouette showed him to be rather muscular despite his delicate facial features. Perhaps he's one of those lucky ones who just never got hit in the face during practice?

What of his firebending? The Agni Kai with Zuko isn't helpful. Burning Zuko's face occurred appropriately off-screen, and even a novice firebender can fry someone who isn't fighting back. He does have one or two instances when the flames around his throne leap up in his angered state, a classic sign of the wayward chi of a firebender with at least above average ability.

And then there's the confrontation scene between him and Zuko on the second half of The Day of Black Sun. We see Ozai attack Zuko with a lightning technique executed with speed and power that exceeds anything we've seen from either Azula or Iroh. Good thing Zuko knows that redirection technique (side note: He could have killed Ozai with his own lightning, IMHO, but that would ruin the ending).

So he does have talent with the bending. Skill and experience is where it's implied he might fall short. Iroh is a general and a warrior. Before the death of his son, he pretty much led the invasion into Earth Kingdom territory. At that time, it seems that Ozai stayed at home. So what is he? Politics, I think. Ozai is a good administrator. He'd likely be a great diplomat as well, if the Fire Nation ever bothered with diplomacy instead of their favored "burn down their villages" approach to foreign policy.

My personal opinion is that he is indeed a powerful firebender, but certainly not the most powerful. It wouldn't be too much to assume that Iroh is his better in skill and experience, if not talent. It might even be the case that Azula matches or even exceeds him.

So why the nasty reputation? Status and infamy. He's the Firelord. Leader of the Fire Nation. They've been oppressing the world for a over a hundred years, and most recently even conquered Ba Sing Se. As their leader, he rises above his entire nation in stature.

Does Aang have to be worried then? Hell yeah. Aang might have control over four elements, and he might have learned how to bend them all, but he's NOT a master of anything but air. Adept, yes. Master, no. So he has a fight on his hands. I'd still give him the advantage, but we know from the title of the finale that when he confronts Ozai, the Firelord will be juiced up with Uber Komet Powah.

Total ownage for either is not in the books.

All and good. Fans want a grand fight. If they want a scene of "Avatar PWNS Firelord" they can watch Roku do it to Sozin.

We'll see a nice battle. One that ends with Aang beating Ozai by pulling down his pants. I believe in the predictive power of dreams.

Avatar: The Last Airbender --- Update

2008-07-10T06:35:00.004+08:00

[Warning: Minor spoilage follows for anyone who hasn't seen anything past The Day of Black Sun]

Praises be! Let all Avatar: The Last Airbender fans rejoice!

Seems like Nickelodeon, prior to releasing the final Book 3 DVD on July 29, 2008, will be showing the last several episodes on TV beginning July 14, 2008!

The schedule begins with with The Western Air Temple, where Aang and those that escaped the tragic events of The Day of Black Sun find refuge in a hidden temple complex. Zuko follows them there, and tries to convince Team Avatar that he's now on their side.

Tuesday, July 15, has The Firebending Masters, where both Zuko and Aang have to seek out the origins of firebending from the first masters, the dragons. But how can they do so when all the dragons are now extinct?

Wednesday, July 16, has a one hour special showing both parts of The Boiling Rock. This two-part story and the previous two episodes have actually been available on the internet for some time, so chances are you've already seen them. Up to this point, I will definitely say that The Boiling Rock is the best story in Book 3. There's so much character development in this story that it puts the entire Book 2 to shame. Zuko, Sokka and Suki were awesome as usual. But Mai puts them all to shame.

Maaaaaiiiiiiiiii!

If you weren't a Mai fan before this, YOU WILL BE.

The succeeding episodes have not been seen by anyone yet.

Thursday, July 17, shows The Southern Raiders, where we discover how the Fire Nation wore down and defeated the Southern Water Tribe. Here, Katara confronts the man who killed her mother. Will there be closure? Good thing this is Katara we're talking about. If I encountered the person who killed my mother, there's a hundred different ways I'd use waterbending to make him suffer. I am such a vengeful bastard.

Friday, July 18, is the calm before the storm. With The Ember Island Players, the gang sees a play about them and all their previous adventures. They don't like what they see, as inevitably, the story and portrayals are revealed to be far from accurate. The main purpose of this episode of course, is to summarize the whole series before the big finale. This has been done before in many other series, but I doubt it's ever been done this creatively.

Finally, on Saturday, July 19, we get all 4 episodes of Sozin's Comet as a 2-hour TV movie. Awesome stuff. Everything comes to a hopefully satisfying end, leaving Avatar fans with fond memories and a faint dread of how M. Night Shyamalan will violate the series in his live action movie trilogy.

Expect that as I see each new episode, I'll be blogging about it right here. It's Avatar. I won't be able to stop myself. Hehehe.

Quick Jabs: Disassociated Randomness

2008-07-03T12:01:00.004+08:00

Some random rants and raves for now. Sometimes, there are just so many things in a guy's head that to focus on any single one is bad. Especially if he wants to sleep later. I might choose to write about any one of these in greater detail later, but for now, putting them down in text takes precedence.

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Avatar, The Last Airbender - The greatest, most entertaining animated series in the history of American animation is set to have its final DVD compilation, with the last several episodes, out at the end of this month. Why must I wait so long? Whyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?

*FLAILS*

*calms down*

Ahem. That doesn't happen very often. The flailing, I mean. Only happens with things 'm crazy about, of which this series is one of them. I have been waiting much too long to get my hands on the ending. Nickelodeon, for some insane reason, opted to release the DVD compilation BEFORE airing the final eps on television. So the soonest anyone can see the final bits of this excellent production are when the DVD is released.

Way to go boosting your DVD sales.

Only good thing about this is that it gives me time to save up some money.

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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I may have mentioned once that the 2008 movie season is so incredible that I have to forego watching certain movies to be able to fit the really good ones into the budget. Those must-sees include Wall-E, The Dark Knight, Hellboy 2 and Mummy 3. Unfortunately, Wall-E seems to be destined for a late release here in Asia, and my cinema watching bone is itching.

Should I watch one of the movies I previously decided to give up?

Wanted is getting great reviews, and is one of the highest ever grossing from-comics movies from a non-DC, non-Marvel publisher. Plus, it has Angelina Jolie. The action, guns, and cinematography seem top-notch as well, and I know the story isn't going to be as stupidly shallow as Jumper.

Did I mention Angelina Jolie? Seems like I did. But she deserves a second mention.

There's also Hancock, which is yet another superhero flick, but with a seriously sardonic twist to it. It stars Will Smith, which is almost a guarantee for something at least remotely entertaining.

There's also comedy movies. Is Don't Mess with the Zohan showing yet? And then there's that Rob Schneider movie whose name doesn't come to mind right now... Oh wait, I think it was called Big Stan. I know that one's trailer made me laugh almost to tears. But it isn't out yet. So should I wait for Wall-E, especially with Dark Knight around the corner? Or watch something now?

Mmm... Angelina Jolie...

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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No news yet as to when the second season of Spectacular Spider-Man will begin. Boo. Thirteen eps are NOT enough. It's like Heroes: Season Two all over again, but without an annoying writers' strike.

And where is the next episode of Ben 10: Alien Force? The torrents stop at episode 9. I am not willing to wait for an Asian release for that series. Give me my Omnitrix fix now!

Verdict: Rant

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Batman #678 hits the stands this week. Third part in the ongoing Batman RIP story arc. I'd be interested, but it's written by Grant Morrison. And I have certain opinions about that guy.

I'll wait for the next installment of Detective Comics instead. Seems a much safer option.

Verdict: Rant

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My downloads are focusing on Transformers: Animated and Macross Frontier at the moment. Both are entertaining so far, with certain episodes of TF:A being more enjoyable than the best I've seen of MF (up to ep 8), but with MF being the overall better series due to numerous "miss" episodes on the TF:A end.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of both. I suspect that MF will stay the overall better of the two transforming mecha series, for numerous reasons, the primary of which is my inner Macross fanboy beats my inner Transformers fanboy.

Sari beats Ranka in likability in my book, however. I actually like the former a lot, and I normally don't appreciate kids who fall into the perky-stubborn pseudo-brat genre. Of the later... I can write volumes of how many ways I want her to die.

Verdict: Rave

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Hybrid rules.

And opposing color hybrid rules further.

Magic: The Gathering players know what I'm talking about.

Despite the hubbub surrounding Eventide, I'm still looking for a copy of Oona, Queen of the Fae. Anyone got a spare?

Verdict: Rave

---

Skrulls are still invading the Marvel Universe. The X-Men have moved to San Francisco. Joss Wheddon says goodbye to the Runaways, who are not only going to have their book continue, but are rumored to have a movie in the conceptualization stages.

All good, except that Michael Turner is dead, Chuck Dixon left DC in a major huff, and DC editorial still can't tell its right hand from its left.

Verdict: Rant + Rave

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Nothing left to see here. Moving along.

Speaking of Green: "Review" of Final Crisis#2 and Hulk#4

2008-06-28T06:13:00.007+08:00

The green in the title refers to several things. But it mostly refers to the nauseous feelings permeating my body after having read these two comics one after the other.

What can I say?

I am an IDIOT for punishment. Not learning my lesson from reading Final Crisis #1, perhaps in order to give Grant Morrison a chance to make up for that horrid issue, I picked up a copy of Final Crisis #2.

BIG MISTAKE.

I had to read this mess of storytelling twice before I even got more than a hint of what was going on. And I'm still confused. It's like Morrison loaded all his scenes and ideas into a shotgun, along with a bunch of major and minor players in the DCU, from A to Z, then SHOT it into a comic. Even J.G. Jones' artwork, normally wonderful to behold, suffers, probably because the poor penciller also had no idea what the hell Morrison was getting at as he no doubt described panel after confusing panel.

Where in God's name were the transitions? Where and what is everyone doing? Did time pass between this scene and the next? Is it the same day? Why did every hero in the DCU suddenly take a sip of Stoopid Juice? Who are some of these characters? Should I even care? One scene was flowing into the next like the effluent of a third world sewage plant.

The only remotely coherent scene was a funeral held for Jonn Jonn'z... on the surface of Mars. Hooray for the Boom Tube. God-level teleportation in the DCU, once the province of only the New Gods, that now it seems everybody can now use. Whoop.

Forget it.

I was fair. I gave Morrison a chance. I am never picking up another title written by this guy. Chuck Austen, one of the most maligned authors in modern comics history, told really bad stories. But even he didn't make me scratch my head in frustration.

Bah.

---

It's a sad, sad day when even Jeph Loeb fails me. Above is a picture of the Red Hulk smashing The Watcher's face. Yes, the same Watcher who helped humanity against Galactus, manifests himself at times of great universal change, and is counted as a cosmic being by many space entities. This is the comic equivalent of seeing the Pope tarred and feathered.

It gets worse. Not content to leave the ludicrous concept alone, Hulk #4 continues the pain, pretty much leaving the noble Uatu without any shred of dignity. I really wanna know what Jeph was smoking at the time he wrote this issue. I'd love to try some.

There's another thing about this new series which irks me. Why, oh why, did Marvel allow the Hulk (the original green one), to suddenly turn stupid again? He was so clever and awesome in World War Hulk and the preceding Planet Hulk story arcs. Now he's back to He of the Substantially-Challenged Cortical Neurons. I don't mind a good fistful of "Hulk Smash" and "Hulk is strongest one there is," but he'd gotten to the point where he could say that, be burning with righteous fury, and snap off a clever one liner on the same page. So why bring back the retard version? Doesn't he remember Sakaar, Caiera and his Warbound anymore?

They had better do some solid explaining or I'd be inclined to do some smashing myself.

Quick Jabs: George, Storms and More Green Guys

2008-06-26T11:10:00.005+08:00

George Carlin, 1937 - 2008. One of the greatest comedians ever, he's still my favorite. Here's to you, George, and fond memories of Frisbeetarianism, the Monday Night Executions, sun worship, attacking the children, dick fear in the Persian Gulf, germ obsession, Scab Aficionado Magazine, rewriting the Ten Commandments, balancing the US budget, advertising bullshit, and seven words I will not post in my blog.

Wherever you are, give em heaven or give them hell. But I know you'll give them something. You're too good not to speak up when you have something on your mind.

---

Have you been reading the news lately? Atypical typhoon patterns sinking ships, massive floods drowning whole towns and cities, freak lightning storms setting off hundreds of wildfires... It doesn't take a genius to see that something is seriously wrong.

Call it global warming if you want to. I'm calling it what it really is, and that's too many stupid people doing too many stupid things too quickly. Some people say the planet is dying. I say if it is dying, it'll at least do the universe a favor of taking humanity down with it.

However, I am quite optimistic in thinking that we'll die long before we do irreparable harm to the biosphere, and life will go on. Without us. Just faint, lingering memories, a few hundred thousand tons of non-biodegradable matter, and disintegrating monuments.

The Earth plus Plastic.

Something else George and I agree on.

Hulk Smash!

2008-06-23T13:28:00.005+08:00

Now THIS is a Hulk movie. Just as Chris Nolan's Batman Begins redeemed the franchise after being violated by Joel Schumacher, this Hulk movie puts to rest that protoplasmic piece of refuse that Ang Lee made.

The action was great, and the destruction was even better. It might have even made Michael Bay proud. Things were smashed, collateral damage was widespread, and despite it all, the film still pushes through the simple concept that the US military can't understand: The best way to deal with the Hulk, is to leave him alone. That's what you do with forces of nature. Deal with the effects, but don't provoke it. Doing so just invokes disasters and abominations (pun intended). The contrast, and closeness, between monster and man was fully realized in a glorious 2 hours that even paid tribute to the TV series of old, with homages that would have made a true green fan smile.

The Tony Stark cameo at the end of the film gives us another look at the future glory of the coming Avengers film. I have to say again how perfect the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and Ed Norton were for their respective roles. If they can continue this trend with Thor and Captain America, I'm reserving my theater seat right now.

How am I supposed to wait till 2010 and 2011?

D&D 4E - Nerf Hammer

2008-06-20T06:13:00.004+08:00

Of all the changes made in 4th Edition, the one that strikes me the most is how they've changed the efficiency and power of magic, that one element which virtually defines the fantasy role-playing genre.

Let me make it simple. Old edition magic had two qualities. First, magic was strong. Dungeons and Dragons is a game with combat and conflict. A majority of the game's mechanics and rules revolve around the concept that there will come a time when you have to kill something, or be killed yourself. The previous three editions had characters with the ability to use magic spells, be they called magic-users or clerics or wizards or druids or sorcerers, serving as the benchmark for what was raw power in such a fight. Magical power starts out as mediocre to decent at low levels, with the wizard having the power to use magic only a few times daily before becoming exhausted. But this quickly changes upon reaching 5th or 6th level, when spells suddenly become the combat-warping effects that they are known to be.

Ask any veteran of what I shall call The Old Ways, and they can immediately name a slew of powerful combat spells that make the wizard an invaluable asset on the battlefield. Magic Missile, Fireball, Cone of Cold, Cloudkill, Flamestrike, Disintegrate, Power Word Kill. All these spells and more will evoke a response from someone familiar with the old system.

And these are just the spells that harm. The beneficial spells aren't a slouch either. Words like Haste, Stoneskin, Heal, Raise Dead, and the whole array of Cure [insert any affliction known to man and god here], are part of veteran gamer canon speech.

The second quality of old edition magic was that it was convenient. A high level spellcaster can have dozens of spells in his arsenal, with dozens more to choose from to fit various needs. Each of these spells can be cast in one combat round on the average, with some of the stronger ones taking up to a minute. Like raising the dead back to life. Yes. You can raise the dead back to life in a minute or less.

Plus, the convenience of magic also extends to the effects that can be produced by magic spells. Practically any hindrance, obstacle or delay can be negated by a high level caster in the party. Worried about hidden devices? Use Find Traps. Your GM decides to hit one of the party with that once-in-a-campaign illness? Remove Disease. Locked door? Cast Knock, or use Passwall if you're feeling mighty. Go up that suspicious-looking winding staircase? Nah, just cast Mass Fly. Cross that desert? No. Teleport is your answer. Not sure who the thief is? Detect Evil or Discern Lies will do.

Magic was so good, and so easy to use that it even supplanted the skills and abilities of the other character classes.

Of course, I'm using the word was, suggesting correctly that this is no longer the case in 4th Edition. Largely, with few exceptions, in 4th Edition, magic got nerfed.

And it got nerfed solidly.

Magical effects were weakened by toning down the effects, making them more inconvenient to use (hooray for rituals), or both. In some cases, certain spells were removed entirely, for balance, or even mechanical issues (a not-so-fond farewell to the Polymorph class of magical effects). The number of magical effects spellcasters can use is now at par with the powers of other classes.

What does this mean? For starters, spellcasters are no longer the absolute benchmarks for high level power. Classes are more even now in terms of usefulness, even at high levels, and all of them are there to serve a specific role. Class abilities are no longer easily supplanted by magic. And this also means that the stereotype of the uber-powerful mage who can take on the entire party by himself is no longer possible. The minions of the evil wizard are not just fluff to get in the party's way. They're necessary to keep the evil mage alive.

As a role-playing-centric Game Master, I'm also relieved that I no longer have to explain why convenient magic didn't warp the way of life in fantasy societies. Think about what would happen in the real world if you had a class of citizens who could Detect Evil at will, and you'll see what I mean from this singular example.

To be fair, I've never played a primary spellcaster class before. I don't know how some spellcaster players will find the drop in their power levels. I'm sure many will be disappointed, even angry, and refuse to play this horrible new version of their favorite game. But as objectively as possible, I view this particular change in the D&D paradigm as a good one.

Spectacular Spider-Man Ep13 - Best Friends Forever

2008-06-18T06:59:00.003+08:00

Having watched the season ender of Spectacular Spider-Man, I have to say it warms my heart to see two classic partners dancing so elegantly together.

The first season of Spider-Man's latest animated series had a relatively fast-paced development, introducing most of Spidey's classic (and not so classic) villains gallery in less than 13 episodes, including Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, Electro, Rhino, Shocker, The Lizard and Black Cat. So when the symbiote is introduced in the last few episodes, you're more or less expecting Venom to pop up during the climax. And pop up he did. Over half the episode was a swinging, clinging, leaping, smashing battle between Venom and Spidey, with the safety of Aunt May and Gwen as part of the stakes.

When you consider the whole "symbiote" arc of the first season, I considered it a very good treatment of the symbiote and its effects on Peter, as well as its subsequent rejection. A friend and I both opined that if Sam Raimi had just taken the last several episodes and modified them for maturity and movie continuity, it would have made Spider-Man 3 infintely better.

My one criticism of the climax is the same as that of Kung Fu Panda. Where's the body? What happened to Eddie? Despite the Thanksgiving holiday with Aunt May and Gwen, it's out of character for a golden heart like Peter not to think about or be concerned regarding what happened to his "bro."

Still, an excellent first season, with some of the best characterizations of Petey, Gwen and MJ since the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. The ending itself, without giving anything specific away, evokes anticipation of the next season's climax, suggesting images of a glider-borne villain, a blond, and a bridge.

Looking forward to it.

Double Feature - Of Mice and Pandas

2008-06-17T06:04:00.007+08:00

I finally got to watch both Prince Caspian and Kung Fu Panda this weekend, and also got to enjoy a lovely Father’s Day weekend with my wife.

Prior to watching the movies, the whole family, my daughter and her grandparents included, went to a place called the Museum Café to have a Father’s Day buffet. The food was excellent, and included crabfat risotto, beef tenderloin tapa-style, roast lamb, fresh oysters, sushi, and Peking-style duck rolls. The giveaway bottles of wine for the dads were a nice punctuation to the meal.

Only problem was, to beat the heat, we had reserved a table inside the resto, only to discover that the air-conditioning was malfunctioning. To add insult to injury, there was a fresh breeze blowing outside, meaning we would have been much more comfortable dining in the shade than indoors, where there were only a few electric fans to keep cool.

The whole air-conditioning situation turned what would have been a great experience into just a good one, but I’m not really complaining. Enjoying great food with your family is always nice, heat or no heat.

---

Regarding Prince Caspian, I’ll say up front that I liked this better than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The character development was more solid, and themes were more mature than the previous movie. The primary Narnian elements were still there, including Aslan coming to save the day in the end, though with a woody, leafy twist revolving around his "Things never happen the same way twice" wisdom. I'll leave the Aslan-Jesus comparisons to other people. If I'm going to be talking about the breakout character of this film, I'm afraid it's not the lion, nor is it Prince Caspian (the Tenth!).

No. It would have to be none other than the mouse. THE Mouse.

Yes, I'm talking about Reepicheep, that small furry whirlwind of pure arrogance and deadly skill. If you watch this movie, prepare to be amazed. If you thought Frodo and the berserking Hobbits in Lord of the Rings were impressive, you haven't seen anything yet. This mouse may look like a swashbuckling musketeer or a master swordsman, but he also possesses what some people might call "l33t n1nj4 sk1llz."

This isn't an incredibly movie, mind you, but it is good. The coming sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, becomes more attractive as a result. And to top it off, the mouse has a starring role there too.

---

Now, Prince Caspian was good. Kung Fu Panda was awesome. They weren't kidding when they told you to prepare for awesomeness. This movie was either incredibly funny, wonderfully exciting, or both at the same time. Even the calmer moments had me smiling. A great story, wonderful cast, excellent characters, and superb CG animation made for the most entertaining movie so far this summer, rivaled only perhaps by Iron Man.

I can make very few criticisms, and they revolve around the climax. The movie ended on a nice note, but the climax deserved a better aftermath. I for one, demand two things from defeating the villain. First, I must see a body. Dead, mutilated, unconscious, bound, gagged, whatever. There must be a body. Second, I must at least have verbal affirmation of what happened to said body. Both of these requirements were, sadly, denied me.

My only consolation is that this opens up multiple avenues for a sequel. And for a movie this good, a sequel must indeed follow. The whole concept is just too awesome for a single film.

Quick Jabs: Call Me Queen

2008-06-12T20:22:00.005+08:00

What's with the number of Captain Americas floating around in the Marvel universe these days? For a guy who was assassinated and officially died, he's certainly manifested in different places. Let's see, besides the original dead one, we have former sidekick Bucky, aka. Winter Soldier being the pseudo-official replacement, aka. the Cap with a gun, with another possible Cap wannabe emerging from the Red Skull's present plotting. Then there's the Cap from the past in Avengers-Invaders. Then there's the Captain America that emerged from the Skrull vessel in Secret Invasion.

Am I missing any other Captain America? There may just be one or two more...

---

And speaking of Secret Invasion, just for the record, she can be my queen any day...

Jessica Drew / Queen Veranke. You have to admit she looks good on a throne.

Secret Invasion - Nick Fury's Wall of Paranoia

2008-06-11T05:44:00.003+08:00

Before we begin, here's the wall I'm talking about (image borrowed with thanks from the Wizarduniverse.com website since I'm presently too lazy to get my own scan):

It shows Nick Fury, when he was still in hiding, some time prior to the invasion, mulling over a wall of heroes. Obviously he's busied himself trying to determine who might be a Skrull, and who isn't. Thing is, he's got these circles around some pictures. Some are blue and some are red.

Now I know it's a tease from the author. But I can't help myself.

Let's take this wall from what we know so far up to Secret Invasion #3.

The ones encircled in red are: Wolverine, the Sentry, Hulkling and Doctor Strange.

The ones encircled in blue are: Daredevil, Spider-Man, Lockjaw, Namor and Stature.

First, let us try assuming the extreme, that one color represents identified Skrulls, and the other represents confirmed non-Skrulls. A Skrull version of Daredevil was recently seen in an issue of New Avengers just prior to the invasion, trying to get rid of and possibly replace Echo. Also, it was confirmed in Mighty Avengers 14 that the Skrulls were unable to copy Sentry's power set, and thus were unable to replace him. This would imply that Wolverine, Hulkling and Dr Strange are normal, and that Spidey, Lockjaw, Namor and Stature are Skrulls. Given the events of One More Day, this means that reality was altered and Spidey's marriage removed because Mephisto got tricked by a Skrull shapeshifter.

Seriously, highly unlikely.

If Spidey was a Skrull, then this would make OMD a hundred times more absurd, if that were possible. Besides, it's very possible that the real DD was very active at the time the fake one attacked Echo (as with the Invisible Woman as correlated between SI#1 and SI: Fantastic Four #1). Meaning the DD-Skrull was only temporarily taking DD's form to trick Echo that one time.

That brings us to our second interpretation of the circles, that red means confirmed normals, and blue means SUSPECTED Skrulls. This seems a more feasible and open interpretation of Fury's paranoia wall. Note that Fury could easily make errors. At this time, confirmed Skrull replacement Black Bolt is not even circled. Also, Fury himself confided in Spider Woman, even after observing her for days, because he believed at least in part that she was the original article. And we know by this time that she was actually the Skrull Queen, Veranke herself.

Thus, I wouldn't be too serious about the wall. If Fury can make an error, anyone can.

D&D 4E - Powers

2008-06-10T04:54:00.005+08:00

The new Dungeons and Dragons game has changed some of the most fundamental aspects of the original versions, while trying to remain true to the essence of what made the original paper and pen game such a classic.

One of the things it mostly threw out the window was how character class abilities and spells worked. Aside from the most essential class features, most class-related abilities, including spells, are now called powers. These powers are classified in three ways, particularly how they relate to combat:

At-Will Powers are those that can be used every round, once per round.

Encounter Powers are those that can only be used once per encounter. The use of these powers can be restored after a short rest.

Daily Powers are those that prove so draining that they can only be used once before requiring an extended rest to restore its efficacy.

Powers manifest from different sources depending on what class you are. Wizards draw from the arcane and their powers are called spells. Clerics use divine power and use prayers. Fighters have martial power and use exploits (I would have called them techniques or styles, but that's just me). Gaining these abilities is a simple matter of increasing in level. All classes progress with gaining powers at the same rate:

At level 1, you select 2 at-will powers, 1 encounter power, and 1 daily power from those available to your class.

You gain a new encounter attack power at levels 3, 7 and 11, with the option to replace those with a stronger one at 13th, 17th, 23rd, and 27th levels.

You gain a new daily attack power at levels 5, 9, and 20, with the option to replace those with stronger daily powers at 15th, 19th, 25th, and 29th levels.

You also gain a new utility power at levels 2, 6, 10, 12, 16, 22 and 26.

Whenever you gain a level, regardless of whether you received anything new, you are able to replace one existing power with another one of equal or lower level.

This very simple system dictates that no matter what class you are, be you wizard or fighter, you have the same number of powers of a certain type (ignoring special cases like humans who gain an extra at-will power at 1st level). This means even fighters have "spells" of their own, and that the days of the high level wizard slinging a dozen each of fireballs, lightning bolts, ice storms and what have you are things of the past.

The best thing about this, for me, is that all classes now have significant abilities even at high levels, which go beyond their hit points or equipment. There is reason to feat the high-level exploit as much as the high level spell. Let's compare the effects of two such powers, both level 23 encounter attack powers:

3d6 + Intelligence modifier thunder damage, and the target is stunned until the end of your next turn. [Ranged 20]

4[W] + Strength modifier damage. Weapon: If you’re wielding an axe, you gain a bonus to the damage roll equal to your Constitution modifier.

Both are comparably strong. Though the fighter exploit does more raw damage, the spell makes up for it with range. And there's no "strictly better" comparison, unlike when you compare the destructive potential of an 18th level wizard versus that of an 18th level fighter from 3rd edition. And note, none of the comparisons I'm making take equipment into account.

That's another nice effect of the new power paradigm. Each class is so full of features that equipment, while still important and valuable, is no longer overwhelmingly necessary for characters to become interesting. If a DM wanted to, he could create a low-magic setting where mystical items and artifacts are rare, and the characters are still capable of many things.

Any system with this much class balance and emphasis on the character (not his gear) has a thumbs up from me.

Final Crisis Mixup Clarified (?)

2008-06-10T02:04:00.005+08:00

Grant Morrison, master writer of the grand, bizarre and ambiguous, was recently interviewed by Newsarama about the inner workings of Final Crisis 1. While the interview does nothing to exonerate Morrison from the rest of the failings of Final Crisis' first issue (aka. boring and lacking in impact, as well as being a burden to those not well versed in the DC universe), it does free him from the burden of being a continuity monkey.

In summary, DC editorial screwed up continuity by providing Grant Morrison with a 2-year project based on the events from 52 and prior, but was unable to provide proper overlap with both the Countdown to Final Crisis and Death of the New Gods, which, though they were created after Final Crisis, were inexplicably released before said mini-series. The result of which is a mess which can only be dismissed as "You would enjoy Final Crisis more if you didn't read the weekly series that was supposed to lead to Final Crisis."

What are we as readers supposed to do? If you read the continuity-related series that led up to Final Crisis, the continuity of Final Crisis confuses you, but the events and characters contained therein are okay. If you don't read the continuity-related series leading to Final Crisis, you enjoy Final Crisis more, but have to pull out a dozen Wikipedia pages just to keep up with who's who and how they got to where they are.

Congratulations to the DC editorial pool. Once more their inability to comprehend the meaning and impact of a continuity series gets in the way of enjoying what might have been a perfectly good book. Or at least a decent one, when you consider that Morrison is writing it.

Review: Secret Invasion 3 (Marvel)

2008-06-07T15:13:00.003+08:00

Talking about this third installment of the Secret Invasion mini-series, I could discuss how incredibly potent the new warskrulls are as they take out the Young Avengers and multiple members of the Initiative. Or I could talk about the official return of Nick Fury and his attempt to turn the tide of battle, with his new Howling Commandos in tow. Or I could even mention how cool Jarvis-Skrull was when he asked Maria Hill for the unconditional surrender of S.H.I.E.L.D., while still dressed in his normal butler outfit.

But I'll leave those things as minor events, at least compared to this little zinger:

Jessica Drew, aka Spider Woman, aka Skrull Queen-in-disguise, coolly and casually performs in what is either the greatest reveal of the series (be it suspected or not by the readers), or what is definitely a solidly destabilizing mind-fuck on Tony Stark.

This totally blew me away. Besides being a great piece of writing, the scene has so many implications, even though the going theory of course is that Tony really isn't a Skrull, since that would be too easy an "out" for everything Tony has been doing from the Civil War onward. He's Marvel's biggest goat right now, the can everyone gets to kick, the jerk people love to hate. To make him into one of the sleeper Skrull agents would sully all the work the writers have done into making him the Marvel U's Greatest HEEL Ever.Even previous weasels like Henry Peter Gyrich have nothing on what Tony has now, and I doubt that simplifying his actions as part of his subliminal sleeper-Skrull programming would be the decision the Marvel bullpen would make to restore his hero reputation among the readership.

No. Tony's road to redemption is going to be hard, painful, and paved with broken parts.

But despite my beliefs, I tip my hat off to the Skrull Queen. A masterful stroke.

Indeed, who can you trust?

Filipino Superheroes in Invincible Iron Man 2

2008-06-06T06:47:00.009+08:00

I find it difficult to express what I'm feeling right now as I write this. On a whim, for lack of anything better to download at the time, I grabbed a scan of The Invincible Iron Man 2, just to see if it was a comic that could hold my interest. I seriously doubted that at the time, since it was about Iron Man, a guy who I've considered a jerk since the events of Civil War.

I was shocked, then rather pleased, when the action in the middle of the book cut to a scene set in Manila, Philippines! It showed the following team of Philippine superheroes, being officially thanked for helping save lives when a tsunami hit Philippine shores:

And I thought, Wow! A Marvel writer portraying non-American, non-British heroes? That's incredible!

It wasn't just that these were Philippine superheroes. It was more that Marvel as a universe almost always portrayed its heroes entirely set in the United States. Even superheroes from other nations ended up in the US, so the feeling of a global superhero community in the MArvel universe is practically nonexistent.

This was a pleasant, if fleeting change, I mused.

Fleeting indeed. Because two pages later, we have this:

Nice. Introduce some new faces to show that other nations have costumed heroes too, then blow them up with human bombs dressed as local monks to demonstrate how badass the villain is. Buddhist monks! In the Philippines! A primarily CATHOLIC country! In front of a Catholic Church. Something does not compute here. I guess the local superheroes never noticed.

What doubly sucks is that this sets it up so that our white, mustached, armored hero can justifiably fry the villain's hide in some later issue.

Okay. I'm griping a bit. At least Matt Fraction did his research on the proper words to the burial rites. And he did give honor to at least one of the fallen heroes by having this guy show up for Anitun's funeral:

Thor even gave a nice verbal tribute to her right in Tony's face...

Still feels odd. Kinda like I've been indirectly slighted.

Rest in peace guys. Long live the Triumph Division (wonder how that translates in the local vernacular).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-06-04T00:37:00.004+08:00

I sat down in the movie theater with simple expectations, something I noticed is important in enjoying films like this. I didn't come in expecting to see something as wondrously amazing as an installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (my gold standard for the near perfect film experience, geek that I am).

My wants as a fan of the original 3 films were easy. I wanted at least 2 vehicular chases (1 conventional and 1 exotic), whip swinging, breaking windows, one scene involving snakes, deathtraps, puzzle doors, several fistfights, riddles and being chased by natives.

And what do you know? I got all that and a bit more. Classic Indiana Jones stuff, and the homages to the earlier films were a nice touch. Some new elements too. The most extreme being surviving a hydrogen bomb test in a refrigerator.

My friends and I had a great time.

So how does this stack against the other three films? Using entertainment value as my only criteria, I enjoyed this more than Temple of Doom, but I liked Raiders and Last Crusade more.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - Alignment

2008-06-03T21:08:00.003+08:00

I've always been against the concept of alignment, being of the mind that no person is completely good or evil, and that an entire setting system with integral components revolving around being centered on one or the other is silly.

I mean, if it were that easy to tell who's evil or not, why the hell aren't there paladins and clerics walking around good societies weeding out the evil on a daily basis by performing random scans on the populace? That alone should alter the whole paradigm of how that kind of society would work. And that musing is just off the top of my head.

Don't get me started on how many debates have been made on what constitutes as good or evil, by action or omission, especially in the context of the pre-4E paladin and the chance of "losing your divine powers" and reverting to "a common fighter" till "atonement is made."

Ugh.

Thankfully, 4E seems to have lifted much of the importance of alignment in its structure. The original editions had nine alignments, as well as overtly elaborate, yet still lacking, definitions on what counted as what. Certain alignment definitions came out as awkward or half-baked, while others were defined to rigidly and lacked flexibility.

The new edition simplifies things into 5 alignments, though their terminology could use some elaboration (that last opinion really isn't important and is a manifestation of my OC tendencies). The five alignments are Lawful Good, Good, Unaligned, Evil, and Chaotic Evil. The book does a good job in defining each of these, but they can easily be summarized in a statement or two:

Lawful Good - "I will do whatever is of greatest benefit for everyone and my society."

Good - "I want what's best for those I care about."

Unaligned - "I just want to survive and be happy."

Evil - "I am willing to hurt selected individuals and manipulate the system for my personal benefit."

Chaotic Evil - "I'll do anything to get what I want, and I'll get rid of anyone or anything that gets in my way."

The book goes on to state that most people, players characters included, are unaligned. Which is quite true. And here, given the new definitions, the alignments are more flexible in their interpretations, plus, it hints that alignment in general is more an interpretation of how the character is acting at present, in general, than a conscious decision to uphold the cause of good or evil. After all, even good people do things which can be interpreted as evil once in a while.

It's a step in the right direction. Now if only they'd remove it as a line item entirely. Hmm... Maybe in Fifth Edition.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - Races

2008-06-02T22:48:00.004+08:00

The first thing about 4th Edition player races you're going to notice just by looking at the table of contents, is that Gnomes and Half-Orcs are gone. My guess is that they were the least popular of the original races. Gnomes, because they're the bard version of the halfling/dwarf comparison. And half-orcs, because while they're strong and powerful, they're portrayed as being ugly and physically unattractive. Like it or not, we're a visually-oriented species, and if you're going to make a character, they either have to be be good-looking from a human perspective, or they have to look COOL if they're not human-like in appearance.

The consensus, I suppose, is that half-orcs are neither good-looking or cool.

With those two races gone, they have been replaced by two new races (Eladrin and Dragonborn), and what I suspect is a favorite from 3rd edition (Tieflings). I'll get to the specifics of those new races later, but first, let's move onto the general changes one sees from the 3rd Ed standards.

No more racial penalties. All races have nothing but bonuses now. There are no more races which are inherently clumsier, less healthy, or less intelligent than other races. Part of the drive to engineer everything towards bonuses instead of penalties. It's not that your race is less intelligent. It's that the other race is inherently SMARTER. The half-full glass wins over the half-empty one.

They went out of their way to make all races attractive, both for roleplayers and straight up gamers, making it so that there's a reason to pick one race over another in many regards. Take the halflings, for example. Many new players of mine used to ignore them completely in 3rd edition. Here, they get the coveted "negate an opponent's critical hit" once per encounter. Being able to stop your foes from smacking you with a natural 20 once per fight is a BIG thing.

For roleplayers, the societal and cultural impact of the maximum lifespans of the long-lived races has been minimized by simply reducing said lifespans. Eladrin are the only race to live over 300 years, with elves and dwarves living to be about 200.

For the new races, let's begin with the Dragonborn. Obviously meant to replace the half-orc, they get the coveted +2 Str bonus on top of getting a bonus on Cha. They're a dragon-based reptilian race, which gives them a coolness factor half-orcs don't have, despite the fact that they look nonhuman. Getting to use dragonbreath once per encounter is also a plus.

The Eladrin might as well be called fae elves, though the book's alt terminology for them is high elf or gray elf. Technically, they split the characteristics of the 3E elves into two races. Eladrin get the quickness, the smarts, and the longsword skills. They also get the charm resistance and a new teleport ability. You want the woodland smarts and the archery? Stick to the original elves.

Lastly, the Tieflings are still the beings of infernal ancestry they were in the previous version of the game, more clearly so now given their large horns, but hey, that's cool too. Their abilities might be considered the weakest set of all the races, given that they have Intelligence and Charisma bonuses, but their racial ability is oriented to physical combat. This is not to say that they're not a good race, but I predict they'll be the least attractive of the basic races offered in this first handbook.

One last comment. About the humans? Still the excellent default choice. Good show, WotC.

Review: Mighty Avengers 14

2008-06-02T00:12:00.006+08:00

Mighty Avengers 14 is a tie-in to the greater Secret Invasion major continuity storyline of Marvel. This story is focused on the Sentry, after he freaks out when one of the opposing Skrulls shapeshifts into a semblance of his schizo-induced nemesis The Void.

The whole issue's core ideas about the Sentry can be summed up better by the characters themselves:

Skrull Queen: "If he's such a risk, why does Stark keep him around?"
Jarvis-Skrull: "Because he doesn't know what else to do with him."
Skrull Queen: "Well, we finally have something in common with Tony Stark."

Also, this lovely snippet from Doctor Doom in an earlier Mighty Avengers issue, also regarding the Sentry:

Dr. Doom: "Your friend is not well."

After seeing the following comic panels, I'm very much inclined to agree...

Do not waaaaaaant...

He runs away very quickly doesn't he? That's the moon...

That's the asteroid belt. Major freakout expression right here.

I think the penciller of this issue captured the Sentry's emotional and mental state perfectly, don't you?

The Crying Game in space. These images are simply beyond words.

Yep. Nothing more needs to be said about the issue. I don't know whether to laugh or feel disturbed.

Ben 10 Alien Force - Season 1 Opener

2008-06-01T14:35:00.018+08:00

Ben 10 was one of the more popular of Cartoon Network's original offerings, getting fans beyond its intended 8-12 target demographic due to its surprisingly entertaining stories, excellent premise, and occasional leaning towards something resembling a continuity instead of a mere episodic, static reality.

It has taken some time, but now the producers have decided to continue the series, quite literally, shifting the timeline ahead 5 years and likely promoting more mature themes and plots. The title character, Ben Tennyson, is now a strapping teen of 15 years, and his cousin Gwen and former-antagonist-now-ally (?!?) Kevin are about 17.

The series opens with Grandpa Max missing, and Ben somewhat reluctantly puts the Omnitrix back on to again take up the reins of heroism. Of course, the process by which he removed it in the first place didn't seem to be so conducive to reusing the device. Of course, he eventually gets it working again, but only after it predictably changes into a more compact form, offering a new array of alien bodies to choose from (and thus opening a new line of merchandising for CN).

It's hero time... or not. Omnitrix troubles all over again.

The first two episodes of the season opened in the right way: lots of action, a decent amount of character development and establishing the new status quo.

Gwen, I have to admit, has matured very... uh... well over the last 5 years. The character design and fashion sense get 4 stars from me. The missing star is from the decision to keep her wearing a relatively sort skirt despite the fact that she's now a woman of action. But, oh YES, she can kick ass. Hot redhead, big heart, good personality, and buttkicking cosmic sorcery. Gotta love that.

Good looks, cosmic energy manipulation and a no-nonsense attitude. Definitely a winning combination.

Kevin is introduced as the anti-hero of the series, though of course, he starts out as a complete jerk again, but starts on the slow path to redemption by the end of the second episode.

Kevin versus Swampfire. He really should stop embarrassing himself like this.

The whole idea of placing Kevin in the anti-hero role, of course, translates to him becoming the real heartthrob and focus of interest for the older audience. Think Wolverine of the X-Men or Prince Zuko from Avatar, The Last Airbender and you'll understand what I mean. His new relationship with Ben isn't remotely as interesting as the implied potential between him and Gwen.

And thus, with a single look, the sexual tension begins.

The first three alien forms that were introduced are distinct enough from each other, and more importantly, from the ones in the original series, to hold their own, though I'm sure that one or the other will have their own fans and haters. I'm perfectly willing to give them a chance to shine on their own merits. I only hope they eventually bring back his access to the old forms. I miss Gray Matter already.

Swampfire. He has something of a gas problem.

Echo. Ten times the fun. And loud. Very loud.

Humongousaur. Big and strong. No. Bigger than that.

I have just a single bit of minor irritation. Nothing majorly significant, but really, what's with the random morphing of the Omnitrix into a more compact form? Yes, I know it's probably linked to its function in some way, but I hope they eventually take time to explain it. I have my own theory on the matter. It's supposed to be a learning tool so that different races can learn more about each other, and not all aliens have the same sized or shaped appendages, nor do they all have skin, or even wrists for that matter. I suppose the 'Trix can shift its physical form to accommodate whatever alien happens to be using it. Y'know, so it doesn't fall off. What do you guys think?

Whether or not they explain it eventually, Ben 10 is back on my watch list. Alien Force notwithstanding.

New Omnitrix. New series. Here's to good times.

Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition - First Glance

2008-05-31T19:57:00.006+08:00

I managed to filch myself a copy of the 4th Edition rulebooks of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons game, en route to either buying my own legal copies or shoving it aside as a passing interest. This is intended to be the introduction into a series of posts I'll be making as I slowly wade through all of this new material.

I've been playing this game since it was sold in boxed sets containing softbound booklets and its own dice, so naturally I was curious as to what horrible or beneficial changes they made when they transitioned from the 3rd (or 3.5) version of the game.

Oh, yeah. There were changes. Not as massive or paradigm-changing as, say, the move from 2nd Edition to 3rd. But they're there. And significant enough to see that there is no possibility of a clean conversion of characters from one version to the other.

A quick flip through the sections of the Player's Handbook gives tantalizing hints as to some of the changes. Some of the things I immediately notice:

Removal of some core races, and the introduction of new core races. There are more core races than there were previously.
Removal of some core classes, and the introduction of new core classes. There are less core classes than there were before.
Integration of epic levels into the core books.
Character abilities are split between powers (which include spells) and feats.
There are new twists to basic combat, such as being bloodied, or getting healing surges, ongoing damage, a new critical hit system, and minor actions.
Miscellaneous equipable items have deliberately been arranged into distinct slots. And there are less slots available than previously.
Weapon classifications (called groups) are more important now.
Introduction of rituals, and how they are different from spells.

All that from just 5 minutes of browsing. There's a lot of material to cover, which is probably a good thing. I'll probably have a lot to say once I get deeper into the books, so for now, it's time to read (when I can find the time).

Cayleigh's Latest Pics

2008-05-31T08:56:00.014+08:00

Remember Cayleigh, my 2-y/o hyperactive spawn? Here are a few of my latest pics of her, proud father that I am...

The first couple of pics are from her play school. This one is of her discovering the joys that come with multicolored hoops; essentially her first attempt at rhythmic gymnastics.

The purpose of this ball is for the child to sit on, bounce around the room, and at the end of the process, roll off in a heap. My daughter preferred to use it as a handbag and a makeshift bludgeon to gently smack other kids out of her way. Go, my Daughter! Establish dominance!

Cayleigh had a pillow fort made. Just for her. After five minutes, she invited people to come closer... and watch her play as they sat outside looking in. Every palace needs its guardians at the gate.

This next set came from a local mall. Cayleigh loves fountains and loves baths. When she saw the play fountain area she couldn't help herself, so we just let her do her thing. It helped that we happened to have bath towels with us at the time...

"Hey! It looks like water."

"It certainly FEELS like water..."

"Y'know what? I think it IS water!"

"Hand me the towel. I can take a bath right here!"

Lastly, you know how sometimes your kid gets a look on her face, and you wonder what she could be thinking? Any guesses as to what's on her mind here?

Review: Robin 174

2008-05-31T02:01:00.006+08:00

I may have to offer Dan Didio, DC's Editor-in-chief, an apology.

Let me explain.

I am among the many proponents of consistency in portraying characters, no matter who happens to be the writer, and no matter what the editorial fiat might lie behind continuity changes. This consistency stand of mine is one of the primary reasons behind my emotional and near-violent reactions to the Joe Quesada (Marvel's EIC) monstrosity known as One More Day.

Before OMD, I was among many who savagely criticized Dan Didio's decision not to have a memorial in the Batcave for Stephanie Brown, also known as the Spoiler. Even if you don't know who she is, suffice it to say that she was the latest member of the Bat family, had a friendship with Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), had a romance with Robin (Tim Drake), and even became the first mainstream continuity female Robin after Tim Drake quit for a time. She had a short term as Robin, since soon after she became the girl wonder, she was captured, beaten, tortured and shot by Black Mask. She was brought to the hospital of Dr. Leslie Thompkins to be treated for her injuries, but died. Among the first seemingly out-of-character decisions attributed at least in part to Didio was when the normally kindly and caring Dr. Thompkins was discovered by the Batman to have deliberately mistreated Stephanie, in order to teach the Batman an example. Then, even though she was Robin for a time, the Batman deigned to put up a memorial for her in the Batcave, an action many felt was akin to him dismissing her importance, value or sacrifice offhand.

For years after that, people were clamoring for her memorial. Dan Didio just smiled knowingly and kept saying no.

Fans, and myself, generally labeled him as a jerk for that.

Then the latest Robin story arc has a stalker dressed as the Spoiler following Robin around. Was it a deliberate insult? A tease? Clearly this wasn't the real Spoiler. Surely it was someone else dressed up as her. As the story arc wore on, there was anticipation for the big reveal of who this person was, along with the dreaded anxiety that came with the threat of a Superboy-Prime-Reality-Punch-resurrection, like they did with Jason Todd.

The grand unmasking came in Robin 174:

When the big reveal happens toward the end of this issue, we find to our surprise that it IS Stephanie Brown, alive, and briefly bringing to life the worries of a reality-retcon revival. Batman's expression here is priceless.

Of course, Robin has a much better reaction, after he'd gotten over his initial shock:

Yeah. Go Boy Wonder. Almost enough to make you forget that he also has existing hookups with two other girls. Still, excellent response.

She later explains that Leslie talked to her and together they faked her death, after which she stayed with Leslie when the doctor exiled herself in Africa. Batman of course states that he was suspecting this, which is why there was no memorial in the Cave. Good enough an explanation for me, at least for now. A faked death is so much easier to swallow than the various other back-from-the-dead garbage we've had to swallow recently.

So in one issue, Batman isn't more of a heartless bastard than he already is, Leslie isn't a vindictive witch, and Dan Didio redeems himself.

Did the DC EIC plan all of this from the start? Perhaps. It doesn't matter. Spoiler's back. Can't wait to see Batgirl's reaction.

Until we wait for that particular reunion, we have this to look forward to:

Final Crisis #1 - Other Takes

2008-05-30T21:25:00.005+08:00

Seems many of my disappointed opinions are shared by other reviewers:

From Comic Book Resources

From Newsarama

To be perfectly fair, yes, the art is excellent. Salutations to J. G. Jones. Sadly, the greatest measure of a comic isn't its art, but the story behind it. And this issue is not going to be remembered for its good writing.

At least the book didn't leave as sour a taste in my mouth as Morrison's Genosha massacre storyline during his X-Men run.

Off-Topic: Smallville Season 8

2008-05-30T20:14:00.004+08:00

Let me start by saying that I have only a passing interest in this show, mostly on a need-to-know interest on its departures from comic canon, and a curiosity on my part on how long they could go without it escalating into a Superman/Justice League Lite.

The latest major bit of news regarding the young-adult-angst-meets-metahuman-affairs show was that a primary member of the cast would depart at the end of Season 7. Sure enough, they announced that Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor, wouldn't come back for another season.

So what do you do when the guy playing the major antagonist of the show leaves? Anyone even passingly familiar with the Superman mythos knows how integral to the equation Lex Luthor is. No one can replace that character.

As expected, the producers tried to compensate by bringing in another villain. Not one, but two. They announced a female lead as the primary emotional and intellectual antagonist. And as part of Clark's "physical challenge," they announced that Season 8 would introduce Doomsday.

Yes, Doomsday. The one character who has the bragging rights to saying he killed the Man of Steel, at least in the canon reality. And that was when Superman was at his prime.

In Smallville, Clark is still in the process of becoming Superman. If ever. Seems like a mismatch. Let's review, for the sake of those who have trouble picturing. We have this guy...

...potentially going up against this cheerful person:

Somehow that doesn't seem quite right. So people are speculating that this is going to be some tamer, weaker, less savage Smallville twist on the Doomsday character. Which, if you think about it, would make the villain more accurately called Weaker Villain Inspired by Doomsday, given that the essence of the true character is an indestructible, unstoppable, brutal, engine of death and destruction.

Hence the name.

So in my mind it'll end up one of two ways. A lameass blah version of Doomsday, or a dead Clark Kent at the season ender. Who knows? All I know is if they try to keep to the original version of the guy, that's one heck of an SFX budget they're building up.

Lex disappears, and likely, so does most of the show's charm. Funny how Luthor might have just "killed" Superman simply by falling out of the spotlight.

Review: Final Crisis #1 (DC)

2008-05-29T22:12:00.005+08:00

Against my better judgment, I picked up a copy of DC's Final Crisis #1. Why the initial bias against the book? The DC universe has had its share of cataclysm stories before, the greatest of which is probably The Crisis of Infinite Earths back in the mid 1980's. Since then, however, the entertainment value of these planet- or universe-threatening crises has dropped significantly.

Zero Hour? Confused people running around in time with Hal Jordan's existential angst mixed in. Identity Crisis? Horribly anti-climactic "the attention-deprived psychotic wife did it." Infinite Crisis (you might notice at this point that DC loves to use the word Crisis to death)? It might have been a worthy direct sequel to Infinite Earths, if only Superman (Earth-2) could make up his mind as to what he really wanted, and if they hadn't turned on Alexander Luthor's "evil genes," and if Superboy (Earth Prime) didn't "mature" into a hormonal teenage whackjob.

Even the otherwise superb Sinestro Corps War story arc of Green Lantern (hey, they didn't use the word Crisis... yipee) had an epilogue which made my head throb. If you're curious, I can sum up the hinted-at future events as: Rainbow Brite and the Color Kids Royal Rumble Throwdown Meets Dawn of the Dead. Bring your Skittles and Trix kids. And try not to let the colorful sparklies hurt your eyes.

So it's not like that there's been a very good precedent of late with DC's cosmic-changing events.

And then there were the vague rumors. Like how this was going to be the time when "evil wins," or how an A-List hero (Martian Manhunter?) would be killed by some Z-list "super" villain.

But like I said, I picked up a copy (not necessarily mine) of the title and read through it, trying my best to keep an open mind.

Then I read it again.

You know what? I'm still confused. Confused to the point where I don't know where to begin sorting my thoughts on the material.

I suppose it would be good to start on what seems to be the premise of the whole book. Grant Morrison, who had a decent run on several titles, gets overwhelmed by his own cleverness by writing two plots into the book. First, some suggestively not-so-human-but-human-looking-guy named Libra is gathering as many villains as he can, regardless of competence or quality, in order to grant them their "heart's desire" and to "balance the scales" (woo, my name is Libra and I balance the scales... catchy). Second, as heroes are called into high alert by the death of Orion of the New Gods, someone going by the name "Boss Dark Side" is kidnapping children, giving them to "Granny," in order to teach them how to recite the "equation" (sigh). I'm calling it two plots this early because there isn't the slightest hint that either of the two are connected.

Now we've got the straightforward plot (Libra. Make Evil Win. Woot.), and the mysterious plot (New God dies. Deities playing with children. To what end? Dun-dun-dunnnnnn...) vying for attention in the same book.

I'm pretty sure the two are connected in some way, or at least, will be connected later on. And in a suitably Grant Morrison-esque fashion. Unfortunately, not everyone will want to wait till the end of 7 issues to find out just how they're connected. There will be people who will say to hell with it from the first issue and will wait for the collected trade paperback before getting back into the story. I know I would.

I don't mind a single plot with multiple perspectives or fronts. But multiple plots? Tends to get confusing, and draws reader attention in two separate directions.

The first installment of Final Crisis not only confuses the reader as to which direction the story is really going, but also lacks the substance worthy of a title with "Crisis" in it. As first issues go in a limited series, you'd ideally want to draw the reader in immediately. In this case, the reader immediately wants to know "where's the universal uber-threat?"

The reader is looking for something worthy to keep his attention. Final Crisis 1 first offers the death of Orion, a New God. Dead god. Seems worthy right? Well, only if you're not someone who is up-to-date with DC continuity. This is a publishing outfit that has difficulty consolidating continuity with consistency. Two previous titles dull the impact of Orion's demise. The appropriately-named Countdown to Final Crisis had Orion finally defeating his father Darkseid in mortal combat, on Earth no less, but suffered grave injuries at the time, and virtually disappeared toward the end of the series. The battle was witnessed by or was known about by multiple heroes. Also, the mini-series Death of the New Gods had the Source being instrumental in killing all of the New Gods of both Apokolips and New Genesis, in order to end the Fourth World and begin the Fifth World, and selecting Orion as its instrument in the final slaying of Darkseid (a link to the end of Countdown). The events of this mini-series were witnessed by no less than Superman himself. So where's the mystery here? Why are they speculating murder when they should be thinking about "died from injuries sustained in his fight with Darkseid?"

The issue is made all the more confusing when Superman and other heroes seem completely clueless when the Justice League has a meeting. Another one of DC convenient "plot-induced senior moments?" You'd think Grant Morrison wouldn't make such an error.

The other draw? Libra granting villains their heart's desires? Here's a pic of Libra killing J'onn Jonnz with a flaming spear. Supposedly while said Martian was incapacitated with "pyro tranquilizers." Right. No buildup as to where, how or when he managed to do this. Just "drag the Martian in so we can kill him as a demo to the big guns." Why did Libra choose Jonn? Some overweight Z-lister going by the name of The Human Flame wanted him dead for capturing him once. Libra's more than happy to oblige it seems. Instead of being overjoyed at the prospect of someone possibly being helpful in killing Superman, Mr. Lex Luthor is profoundly skeptical. As am I.

Of course, no guarantee that IS J'onn. Seems all too simple. Martian Manhunter deserves better. So does the reader.

Don't get me started on the inanity of the whole "Boss Dark Side" part of the plot. You're not fooling anyone. The kids with the glowing eyes and sharpened teeth were a nice touch though.

Verdict: Save yourself the headache. Wait for the TPB. And while you're at it, read DC Universe 0. Otherwise you won't understand a thing. Better still, read Secret Invasion. Entertaining you without the need for a Tylenol.

Starter Pack

2008-05-28T00:58:00.004+08:00

This is my second attempt at writing a blog. Obviously, the first one fell flat, primarily due to neglect, because I had barely anything I wanted to talk about and I was busy adjusting to several lifestyle changes. Particularly fatherhood. So it's not like there wasn't anything interesting going on. There was a lot of stuff going on.

But nothing I wanted to write about.

Dunno why. Geeks like me usually aren't short of things they want to talk about. But at the time, the thought of putting stuff down on the Internet wasn't so appealing.

Things change though. Suddenly I'm once again dabbling into one or two dozen barely-related activities and interests, and the web provides its welcoming, greedy paws to my random desires to rant and rave about this and that.

Good.

Now that the obligatory self-indulgent whatever is done, here's the stuff I'm presently looking into or involved in:

Fatherhood - Last I checked, I still had an adorable hyperactive genius 2-y/o female larva running around. Oh wait, here she is. Yup. Still around. Growing too.
2008 Summer Movie Season - Already seen The Forbidden Kingdom and Iron Man, both wonderfully entertaining films. Indiana Jones is next week. And more is to come, from the nice-to-see to the must-watch: Prince Caspian, Wall-E, Kung Fu Panda, The Incredible Hulk, Hancock, Hellboy 2, and of course, The Dark Knight.
Shadowmoor - Latest Magic the Gathering expansion. Hybrid spells. Funny mana symbols. A legendary Faerie Queen that eats opposing libraries, makes little faerie tokens, and hits like a dragon. What's not to love?
Secret Invasion - Y'know how for each of the two major comic publishers (Marvel and DC), every year they have to put out some huge, epic, universe-altering plot? Secret Invasion is the primary Marvel offering of 2008, and supposedly, it's a plot that's been several years in the making. Quick summary? The Skrulls have invaded. No, wait. They're already here. They've been here for a long time.The tagline of the event is pretty catchy, and very appropriate when shapeshifting invaders are involved. Who do you trust?
X-Men - The emo team of the Marvel universe continues to draw me. For a team that hasn't had a stable moment for several years, things are still going from bad to worse. The only upside to their present plight? There's a hint that the team as a whole is moving from New York (that city you might have heard of where about 95% of the Marvel universe resides), to the West Coast. Specifically, San Francisco, CA. Finally, we seem some decongestion.
Comics - Yeah, even though the two listed above are my present focus, I still take time to read a lot of other titles. Web archive versions of course. And hell, if I like them, I buy them. I like to think I'm serious about my browsing. Normally though I wait till the relevant storyline gets archived in TPB.
Role-playing Games - Still running Gotham Knights, my online play-by-post/email RPG. Also presently playing in a muck-driven Amber game (appealingly anime-twisted, for extra flavor). Very much interested in what horribly wonderful or nasty things Wizards of the Coast has done with Dungeons and Dragons, 4th Edition.
Greeting Cards, Tokens and Scrapbooking - The latest venture of my lovely wife, and one that I willingly got pulled into. We're still gathering materials and paraphernalia. The portfolio of our designs and offerings should be next. After that, we'll be giving out samples and taking orders. I never thought home-made greeting cards would make store-bought varieties seem so lame by comparison.
Plant Tycoon - Lovely game. Cute graphics. Good soundtrack. Excellent for stress relief. You grow and cross-breed plants. To get more varieties of plants. Then you do it again. And again. Along the way, you might accidentally discover the particular genetic lineage leading up to one of six varieties of long-lost magic plants. They're wondrous and sparkly and have special effects coz, well, they're magical.
Retro PC Games - Because I'm not crazy enough to pay over 40,000php just to be able to get the latest video cards and a system that can support them, I've gone back to playing games that were made when game designers were more concerned about playability and fun than "OMG teh grafix r so awesomez." Presently enjoying Zeus, Children of the Nile, and Master of Magic. Once I've had my fill of that, I'm going into Master of Orion 2 and Fallout 2.
Avatar, the Last Airbender - Seriously one of the best animated series ever made, even when compared to Japanese anime. I cannot remember the last time I was this captivated and entertained by a story. Full Metal Alchemist and Full Metal Panic come close, but still fall a bit short. Production and release issues aside, this series is that good. It's good enough to make me want to buy the full DVD collection, a privilege only The Lord of The Rings trilogy and the works of Hayao Miyazaki could claim.

That's the nutshell. I'll break down the nuts some other time.