Thursday, November 11, 2021

Comics and Movie Review: Superheroes and Knights Part 2

Part 1 

Finally getting back to this a few years later.


Knights of the Dinner Table #244

I like the cover, though it has nothing to do with the contents.  I like the Knights of the Dinner Table comic, but I do find the artwork a bit grating.  The characters are drawn in a very idiosyncratic manner, and the rest of the artwork can only be described as “serviceable” for the story.  Still, the stories and the personalities shine.  From the humble origins of this comic featuring players sitting around a table, the plot in this one is incredibly outlandish with plenty of callbacks to the comic’s continuity.  It’s impressive.


 

However, the rest of this 64-page newsprint comic/magazine are not as admirable.  The gaming articles are of little use, probably even if you play Hackmaster or Aces & Eights.  The articles may have a bit of value.  The retrospective on the live-action game, Killer, would be more interesting, except it constantly says that no one should ever play this game again nowadays.  There’s a couple of interesting book reviews and an article on RPG podcasts. 

 

At $2 used, this is okay.  For the $6 cover price, forget it.  I remembered later that I have another issue.  It’s #150.  This one was a double-sized 144-page magazine.  There were quite a few strips in it, but they all non-main storyline, gag comics (but still funny).  This one included a full mini-RPG (Dawg, as in role-playing a dog) and a full Hackmaster adventure.  It’s hard to judge #244 as worthwhile by comparison.

           


Future State: Wonder Woman #2

I bought this in lieu of the new Wonder Girl that wasn’t on the rack when I noticed Joelle Jones was doing the art.  That was the main reason I wanted the Wonder Girl anyway.  I was leery of buying any of these Future State issues, where the only purpose is to replace all of the DC heroes with “alternatives.”  Ahem.  It’s like there’s an Agenda at work.


 

I have to go back to that Wonder Girl #3 that I liked so much.  Apparently, the other girl featured in the issue, Yara, is the replacement for Diana Prince as Wonder Woman.  I didn’t even suspect that.  I get the vague impression she’s Brazilian, but I could be totally mistaken. 

 

I can see how this idea was sold.  “Let’s replace Diana Prince with a girl with darker skin, who’s younger.”  Some marketing exec said, “Run with that!”  What they didn’t realize was that Joelle would also make Yara beautiful, brave, charming, and even heterosexual.  Hopefully, nobody in DC management ever reads this comic.  They will put a stop to this effrontery to all that is woke immediately.  “You may as well have made Wonder Woman a white male!  And not even a transgendered one!”

 

I’m not overreacting given the Nubia preview in the back of this comic.  I’ll get to that, but first let me gush over the rest of the issue.  It’s stunningly beautiful in artwork, of course.  I was also a bit surprised that the story was so good.  I say this mostly because I was coming into the middle of it with explanation.  I don’t even know why Diana isn’t still Wonder Woman.  I’m not endorsing her being replaced in the role for any reason, but I’m totally good with seeing more of Yara. 

 

After being so delighted, there was then this wonderful comedic self-satire piece.  Oh, I had such a good laugh at it.  It was like a sweet dessert after a savory meal.



“Can you be a hero . . . if society doesn’t see you as a person?” 

 

So begins this mighty work of defiance.  It’s a preview of Nubia.  I’ve heard of this character, but only because she’s been called, “the first BLACK woman superhero in comics!”  This is as per the interview afterward, which also states that, “She’s always been Diana’s equal or BETTER!”  This character isn’t in my DC Encyclopedia, which is full of super obscure characters.  Then again, the Gay Ghost isn’t in it, and certainly that’s a much more significant character.

 

You can tell just by the artwork that the artist is a very talented grade schooler.  Her parents should certainly encourage her to draw more, but not to neglect her other studies.  I’ve finally found a comic book artist that makes me feel better about my own artwork.       

 

The whole interview is comedy gold, but I really wanted to share this stunning statement: “I wanted to depict the cost of this strength and fortitude the world admires BLACK women for, then punishes us for having in the next breath.”  You mean like Nicki Minaj?”  (I never thought I’d be a fan of hers, but there have been stranger alliances.  I’m even rooting for some NBA players.) 

 

The interview and this comic excerpt are one long scream for help by an obviously psychologically tortured and woke brainwashed author.  It’s amazing we live in a country where even a no-talent, brain-damaged person can still make a good living and complain about the inherent unfair circumstances of her life.  I agree, it is unfair . . . to the rest of us.

 

I had this issue with me when I visited my dad.  I’d brought my sketchbook and was drawing from the comic.  I handed it to him and told him it was good.  He sat down and gave it a careful read.  He may have grunted, which might signal approval or indigestion.  I made sure he read the stuff in the back.  He just shook his head afterward.

 


Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Special Edition

I haven’t bought a DVD in a while.  I gave my dedicated DVD player to my dad.  I have to watch discs on my computer now, which isn’t optimal.  I usually have trouble sitting down for movies or binge-watching TV series.  I also have trouble finding sufficient blocks of time to sit down and watch.  It takes something really interesting to get my attention.  This got my attention when I saw it on the spinner rack at the used bookstore.   

  

I think I saw this once (probably on a Mexican channel) and enjoyed it.  Basically, it’s the JLA versus the old back-in-the-day Earth-3 Crime Syndicate, their evil twins.  I’ve often maintained that the current Superman is actually the evil Utraman, because he doesn’t wear his underwear on the outside.  Nevertheless, this video is great.  It’s witty in dialogue and smart in plot.  There’s plenty of semi-obscure characters in this to try and name for fun.  James Woods as the evil Batman, Owlman, steals the show.  He’s Batman as a nihilistic, psychopathic genius. 

 

My main complaint is that it’s so short (75 minutes).  The story is rather rushed.  To somewhat make up for it, there is a short featuring the Spectre.  I unexpectedly enjoyed the heck out of this.  It was pure 70’s noir.  The video was even scuffed in a way to make it look like an old movie film. 

 

The two-disc set also includes several interview/previews of other DCU animated movies.  These are fairly interesting.  What wasn’t as interesting was a long preview for the Identity Crisis/Infinite Crisis/Final Crisis comic book series.  The creators spent 30 minutes not giving any worthwhile details about these series.  It was a complete waste of time.  Also included are four episodes of Justice League which deal with two different alternate earth storylines.  This DVD was lots of fun.  Glad I got it and made time to watch it.   

No comments:

Post a Comment