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