Comic Pick of the Week

I'm a little slow on this, but better late than never, right? One reason that I'm late posting this is because it's taken me this long to actually pick my favorite. I don't buy TONS of books, but the ones I have on my list seem to all be really good.

So, this last week was:

1. Aquaman #5

2. American Vampire #23

3. All Star Western #5

4. * Batman & Robin #1

The rundown. All good books and great art. I love Scott Snyder and the new 50's story arc. I couldn't stand the Beast Cave story, only because of the art. I wasn't a fan of Jordi Benet's cartoony style. I know, probably sacrilege, but it just took away from the story. Now that Rafael Albuquerque is back, it's good again. I really like this book because it uses the idea that vampires are immortal. The story arcs jump from the old west, to WW2, to the 50's James Dean style. Lots of potential.

All Star Western is a book that I am really rooting for. Great art, kind of wood-blocky. Fits perfect with the old west theme. The setting of Gotham is what sold me on it, hoping for some ties to the Batman world. This story arc is called "Inside the Bat Cave". All right!! Finally some bat connections. Maybe this issue was just a tease though. Jonah and Amadeus Arkham are on the trail of the child kidnappers. They bumble the take-down though, and get tossed into the cavern whirlpool under Gotham. Down here they run into treacherous falls, cowardly partners, a lost Indian tribe, and finally BATS. I just hope there ends up being some kind of lead in to the future of Batman.

*Batman & Robin #1 are on here because I finally decided to pick it up. I've been hesitant because I've never been a fan of Robin, and the books seemed to be less serious than the stand alone batman books. BUT, this series has gotten great reviews, it looks great, and the story has tons of tension in it. I'm going to pick up the back issues and add it to my monthly list.

The winner? AQUAMAN #5. Why? I guess the deciding factor was on the way home Friday I picked up my daughter Molly. During our conversation I showed her the books and joked around with her about them. The book that created the most stir was Aquaman because, what is Aquaman going to do in a DESERT!? I was that interested myself to bring it up with her, and she actually had to think about it and showed a little interest. The art is beautiful and well thought out. The first four panels make you wonder. If you don't cheat, the first two look like Aquaman is swimming. Then by panel 3, you realize he is bracing for an impact because that blue surrounding him is not water, it's SKY! Classic THOOOM! as he hits the deck. The spread page above has kind of a "Stargate" feel to it too. There are a couple of other nods to sci-fi movies in the book too, particularly Star Wars. This book has been awesome so far. Just the right combination of superhero heroics and comedy. Every book still contains a little dig at the watery prince, which keeps the balance. So far, the story has moved fluidly (haha). Plenty of action and enough cliffhanger-ness every week to keep you excited for the next one.

Fantasy Pulp Review

Andre Norton. When I first picked up one of her books from my junior high library, I thought she was a "he". I was shocked later to find out that Andre Norton, a woman, was writing some of my favorite sci-fi fantasy books. Shadow Hawk has always been one of my favorite books. I read it when I was in 6th or 7th grade and it's remained one of the most memorable books that I've ever read.

I opened this after I finished Lin Carter's "Jandar of Callisto". What a difference!!! Jandar was pure middle school opera. Very basic style, over the top stereotypes, and crazy adventure plot. Shadow Hawk is nothing like that. From the very beginning you get deep character development and completely engrossing environment. It still clocks in around 200 pages, but the level of writing is much more sophisticated.

The main character is Rahotep, son of the late viceroy of Southern Egypt. He is relegated to a backwater military post, serving as a captain of scouts on the Nubian border. The whole of Egypt has been overtaken by the mysterious Hyksos, who have overthrown the Pharaoh and taken control of the empire. Rahotep's brother, Unis, is the epitomy of the slimy entitled prodigal son. He quickly slides into his father's position, relishing the perks it brings. The squeeze is on for Rahotep to uphold his father's honor and begin his private rebellion against the Hyksos.

I love this book for a number of reasons. First, I read it around the time when King Tut's artifacts were making their debut tour of the United States. That was my "Egypt phase". I was dead set on becoming an archaeologist. This fit right in. Second, it was a unique setting. I can't name any other Egyptian historical fantasy books out there. It brought the crusty, ancient country to life. Lastly, it is so well written for the type of book it is. The minute you read the first page you're "into" the story. It's just as good now as it was the first time I read it. Go search your local used bookstore and grab a copy. Best of all, it's cheap!

My Friday

After a long week at work, Friday serves as the beginning of a relaxing break from monotony. I thought it would be fun to post my WILD adventures. As you can see, my Fridays are full of rock and roll debauchery. Let me run down the events that led to the house party destruction you see above.

2:25 Get out of work. Fridays are short, thank the Cubicle Gods

2:35 I'm at the comic book store. A bonus that it's so close to my work.

2:45 What now?

3:00 Bookman's. Browse the racks. Found a mint set of "Whitewings" paper airplanes.

3:30 Need to waste time before picking up Emma.

4:00 Shopping at Lee Lee's Oriental Market. Rice, natto, thai eggplant, kim chee

4:40 Boba. Tried a new flavor today, Thai Iced Tea Slush w Boba. It was ok

5:20 Off to find Emma and take her to V-ball party.

6:30 Drop off Emma and finally going home.

7:00 Spend some time in my "office", dropping bombs. Hold all calls.

7:30 Dinner. Chinese pork buns from Lee Lees. Delicious.

7:45 Read my books. Only three this week, but all really good. Batman was AMAZING!!

8:something Finish reading, watch the christmas episode of Doctor Who that I DVR-ed. It was a play off of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". Very good, heart-wrenching. Finish off the night by watching a couple episodes of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Great mindless fun.

Thats it. In bed by 11. Tomorrow I've got a doggy door to fix, soccer practice, maybe put together an airplane with Molly. PARTY ON!!

Wed Night, Game Night

So, we've effectively switched our gaming nights to Wednesdays. I think everyone in the group is ok with that. Didn't make much of a difference to me other than Thursday night was good because that led into Friday, which led to Saturday.....kind of like a long weekend. Anyway, last night's game was pretty good. Lots of action. Good enough that I want to write about it.

To start, we're in the Castle of the Mad Archmage. We've BEEN in the CotMA for the last year and a half, give or take a few side quests. Last night we found ourselves on the 4th level. This thing is massive, and we're STILL on the 4th level. At this rate, we will still be playing when we're 60. But that's ok because its been a good time and I still have both of my original characters. The last two sessions have been chaotic because some people couldn't make it one night, but came the other. At one point last night, we had EVERY character on the table (each one of us has at least 2 characters, about 18 total). With some creative DM-ing and some help from the Archmage, we sorted out the marching order and who was in the dungeon with us.

The picture above shows us at the start of last night. We had left off last week in the arena. Our group had decimated the "Red" gang in the 4th level and taken over their stronghold. We had "paused" the game at the arena where the Red Team's two hill giants had faced off with four manticores. More on that in a moment...

The line of characters in the foreground is our group in the "Red" skybox above the arena. You can see our henchman, Boltoff, giving a raucous cheer. In the arena itself you can see a line of dead manticores, killed by the Red Team's hill giants. You can also see some boulders (yellow d12s) strewn around the arena. Further away in the arena you can make out one dead hill giant and another coming in from the left. Presiding over this melee is the Archmage himself; you can see the white figure standing on top of the red cup in front of Dave's arm.

Who are their opponents? Funny you should ask. At the beginning of the game we played out the hill giant vs manticore battle. Bets were placed (500gp on a manticore to go down first and 1000gp on the Red Team to win) and the battle was on. Each of us was randomly assigned a character to play in the battle, I ended up playing a manticore. Knowing 500gp was on the line, the hill giants went after manticore #1 right away, kicking the crap of it. Cha-Ching! Now, even odds, the manticores took their toll, scratching and biting until they were eventually stomped by the giants. A roar went up from the crowd and winnings were collected, 3500gp in total! The hill giants were wasted though, one only having 2 hit points left when the Archmage offered "DOUBLE DOWN!". Some of our group, being greedier than others, decided that the hill giants were expendable and took the challenge.

During a short intermission, we did what we could to heal the giants, wineskins, bandages, Sir Owyn even laid healing hands on one to boost his hp. Halftime over, the Archmage announced the next opponents....Dun DUn DUN!!! Kalen the Wizard, Rolf the Fighter, and Thift the Henchman (all Jim's characters who hadn't played last week). DOH!!! What now? We looked around the table at each other like idiots. No bets this time, I was thinking that the refreshed giants, who had set up their defenses, would easily stomp the newcomers. Especially since there is no magic allowed in the arena. Kalen was squishy. That being said, the two fighters rushed across the floor towards the giants, who tossed their boulders and followed after. Thift saw his life flash before his eyes as a high speed boulder just brushed his curly locks, nearly taking his head off. Rolf (7th level fighter) opened up on the first giant and sliced and diced. Kalen creeped around and tried to stay out of the way. The second hill giant dealt Rolf some major damage, but the combination of the two fighters cut him down soon after. Had the giants been full strength, the battle would have ended MUCH differently. As it was, Jim's characters had a surprise entry into the game.

After that, the more OCD members of our group spent a lot of time redecorating the Red Team's living quarters and bickered over who was sharing rooms with who. A good half hour discussion about SOPA took place, stopping all gaming activities as Ryan lambasted evil downloaders and got red in the face. We ended by finally getting somewhere new, some rough looking caves with hundreds of bats inside. Kalen launched a couple of fireballs, since he had been handcuffed earlier and we waded in confidently. Little did we know that this was the gateway of a leathery demon who summoned help and started putting a whoopin on our party. My character, Sir Owyn the Paladin, resumed his miserable dice rolling, missing right and left. It looked like we were toast, until Kalen cast "haste" on Owyn, doubling his attacks. Just at the right moment, Owyn rolled hot and hit the slightly damaged demon with 40+ points of damage, banishing him from this plane of existence.

It was a long night, but quite productive. Looking forward to getting back in there in 2 weeks.

Batwoman Cinco

Batwoman is not a book that I would normally pick up. First, it's a female superhero book. I've never been a fan. Usually, female superheroes have been created to widen the audience and attract some female readers (is this true?). Second, these superheroes, Batwoman, Batgirl, Supergirl, etc, end up being second rate when compared to their more established characters. (Marvel seems a little different. Their female characters are often part of a "team", so they seem to have equal footing with the rest of the universe) So, when DC launced the New 52, Batwoman wasn't on my list, wasn't gonna be on my list, wasn't gonna waste my time. What a mistake.

Around the second month of the new launch, I had kept reading about how great this book was. The art was amazing, the story was incredible. Being an art teacher, I am easily swayed by a beautiful book. I really appreciate the artwork and talent that these guys have. So, one week, with a little extra cash, I picked up my regular books, and grabbed issue #3, just to check it out. I'm so glad I did. After I read it, I went back the next week and picked up #1 and #2, then put it on my subscription list. Now, that being said, I WAS shocked a little by one or two things.

Now, before all of the hardcore comic geeks blast me for not knowing every minute detail of every character of every book, let me just say that I am a casual reader/collector. My interest in comics goes way back to my childhood when my older cousin dumped a bunch of old books on me. I only have one of those books left, Conan #1, but I remember reading those things over and over. I even used them for silly putty reprinting purposes. My point is, I have a WIDE variety of interests, I always have. I don't get into one thing deeply. I like a lot of different things, comics being one of them. My collection is helter skelter. A little of this, a little of that. Because of that, I don't have the mental capacity to store every detail, stat, or trivial bit of info that some people do. Thats ok with me. I enjoy enjoying a lot of things.

Anyway, Kate Kane, Batwoman, is a lesbian. WHAT!! As I read the first issue and the scenes built, my gay-dar started going off. Pretty cool that Williams and Blackman can do that with their writing and visuals. I found myself engrossed in the story, the crime, the mystery, but bothered and distracted by these hints that something was up between Kate and Maggie Sawyer. I even remember asking my friend Dave if that was the case. I thought to myself, "why do they have to do this?". I didn't want to feel like it was a gimmick. I kept reading though, and realized that it's not. I decided to put my homophobia and male centrist views away for a little while as I read through the series.

I just read issue #5, the end of the first story arc, Hydrology. Batwoman defeats the child-stealing Weeping Woman, but fails to locate the missing kids. She also has her cover blown by the DEO, who recruit her to work for the government. The most amazing part of this issue is that their are 7, count them SEVEN double page spreads in this book. Williams art commands this book. His layouts flow easily across pages with no chance of getting lost. Any of his spreads would make amazing posters. It's easy just to thumb through the book without even reading it. The story is just as good. There were no "dead spots" in this story arc. All of the parts were integral to the story. Some people have complained that her identity was blown too easily, but I think it was obvious that was happening by the second book or so. I don't think she was meant to stay anonymous. This just opens the door to new storylines.

One bad thing about this book; 32 pages, only 20 of those story. The other 12 were filler, mostly covers of other DC books. The second half of this book felt like one giant promotion. I could do without that.

BONUS! Batman makes another appearance and is quietly pissed that Kate chose to join the DEO. I'm hoping that leads to tension later on.

DC is on the right track. They have some very solid, great books. A few duds of course, but the good ones are REALLY good. This book, has to be top 2 or 3. Read it.

Doomsday Dice

"Oh d20s, why do you forsake me so?"

Last night we returned to the Castle of the Mad Arch-Mage. Our group has been adventuring there for the last year or so. We found ourselves on the 4th level, again. (only the 4th level, after a year, but thats another story...) I was playing Sir Owyn de Lapins, my valiant Paladin. I had left my other two characters behind because when we started this session two weeks ago, we had a party the size of a small army. Sir Owyn is 5th level, he has 18 strength, a bastard sword +1, and glorious plate mail of carnage +4. SO, his "to hit" bonus is extremely generous. That being said, last night, Sir Owyn swung like a 13 year old girl, blindfolded, facing Randy Johnson on the mound. He could do nothing to hit. Nights like those are embarrassing. I lower my head in shame at the table as the other characters have to step in to take care of the bad guys.

I used the dice in the picture above. I was feeling a little nostalgic last night so I started with one of my "original" dice, the blue one straight out of the basic set. I've had this die since junior high school. It brings back grand memories of me sitting in my basement, scouring modules and the monster manual, and spending all of my waking hours rolling amazing characters. Its a little bit smaller than a modern die, as well as a little lighter. The edges are sharp, causing it to "bump" around on the table instead of roll. My first encounter, I charged an orc/human pair engaged in a sparring session. They were lightly armored and armed with wooden clubs. It was a practice session. Of course I would wade in and crush them. MISS. HIT. MISS. Not so good. So, what do I do? I switch dice. I pulled out my other original die, the yellow one. After someone poached the orc in front of me, an Ogre crashed into the room. "He's mine!" said Owyn as he charged across the room. MISS, MISS, another poach from Henri the Cowardly and his crossbow. Yellow die, fired. Time for the big guns. I took out the pearly silver die and hoped that its magical powers would reverse my fortunes. After failing to free a fire nymph from a pillar of magical fire set by the Arch Mage, we heard the sound of heavy boots approaching. We set an ambush. As the party of orcs and humans entered the "Mascot Room" to drool over the nude fire nymph, we attacked. I was excited to get down to business, now that I had a "real" die to roll with. I jumped into the middle of the group, probably blocking line of sight for missile weapons, and did my worst. MISS, MISS. Amazing. In a narrow corridor, crammed full of people, swinging a two handed bastard sword, I missed. Once again, archers took their measure and finished the party. Sir Owyn hung his head in shame. A horrible night for me and dice. Hey, look on the bright side, at least I didn't roll any 1s.

Knand Al Shalabi

Knand Al Shalabi is a side character I play in our bi monthly D&D game. He's a henchman really, I didn't roll him, but he's become a personal favorite and fun to play.

Knand has a great history. One of my main characters, Sadhu Hanuman, a monk, got greedy and picked one too many cards from the Deck of Many Things. Why not? Everyone else was getting great stuff. His last pick happened to be DONJON! Oooo, that sounds cool. It's not. Hanuman was instantly transported to a dank, musty cage, hanging high above a cavern lake. Getting a feel for his surroundings, Hanuman used his ability to speak with plants and connected with the phosphorescent moss covering his cage. After a brief conversation and a little sweet talking, Hanuman figured out that there was someone else in the cage next to him, apparently in the same situation. The two hit it off immediately and Hanuman used some amazing contortionist skills to escape his cage and release Knand from his imprisonment.

From there its been a love hate relationship. Knand is overweight, greasy, boisterous, and a bit clumsy. He completely blew the element of surprise once by falling out of a boat and alerting the demonic cultists, who later imprisoned the two of them. He's loyal though, and thankful for Hanuman rescuing him, and so has vowed to follow him to the ends of the realm to repay his debt.

I searched and searched for a mini to represent Knand. I finally found the "Thuggee Cultist" by Reaper Chronoscope. He's a little thin, but other than that, a perfect representation of Knand. The finished picture above is horrible, I know, but I tried keeping him subdued, dirty, and earthy. I modeled the base with a "sand dune" texture to keep with his cultural origins. I also added some static grass, just to add some interest. I think it looks ok, but it was a pain to attach. I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out and can't wait to release his falafel fury on dungeons everywhere.

Plants and Animals

The DC re-launch has got me back into comic books lately. Not all of my choices are DC books, I've been reading Daredevil and Wolverine and the X-Men too, but with so many books starting fresh at #1, it was a good place to jump on. I have to say, for the most part, the books I've picked up have been awesome. My favorite is Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Serious story and amazing art. Two books I chose with a little hesitation, having never read them before; Animal Man and Swamp Thing. The previews for the books were intriguing, the art looked "different", and they were in the horror genre, not so much superhero. Yesterday after work I scooted over to the comic book store and picked up my weekly fix. Action Comics, Animal Man, and Swamp Thing.

One reason I got out of comics was the ridiculous cross over events that forced you to buy 5 different books to keep up with one character. I understand the business model, more books = more money, but I didn't like feeling like I was getting short changed if I didn't buy ALL of the connected issues. That being said, Animal Man and Swamp Thing are connected. I didn't/don't have a problem with this because each book still focuses on its own characters. The plots of each book are intertwined though, which makes the stories even more interesting.

This month was issue #5 for each book. It was also the conclusion of the first story arcs, which have been building up to a climax. The concept is pretty simple, animal and plant forces are facing ultimate destruction by "the Rot", a destructive force intent on corrupting everything. Through a series of twists and turns, it looked like Animal Man and Swamp Thing would be able to defeat the rot. Animal Man has actually become secondary to his daughter, who seemingly has MORE power than her father does. Swamp Thing has been almost non existent, as Dr. Alex Holland has been extremely resistant to the fact that he IS Swamp Thing. This month's issues have been even more horrific though as things reached a boiling point. Animal Man's daughter makes a naive mistake, spreading the Rot even more, while Swamp Thing makes his own stupid choice; brought on by none other than .....you guessed it, A WOMAN!

The imagery in each book is frightening. Travel Foreman's style takes some getting used to, but his sketchy, jerky style really lends itself to the nastiness that Animal Man and his family face. In Swamp Thing, Yanick Paquette has a cleaner, more flowing style, which allows him to play with panel layouts and textures in all of their gory detail. Finally, having Scott Snyder write anything seems to be a sure fire guarantee that the story will be good. If you haven't checked them out yet, do it. You're missing out.

My Cubicle Nightmare

HOLY BEJEEZUS!!! This is my new job! Seriously, I started working at an online school today. It is located in a trailer planted in a high school parking lot. The trailer has a nice coat of paint, the inside is divided up into neat little "offices", complete with a copy room, water cooler, break room, and a unisex bathroom. I have my own "office", which I share with two other "teachers". HILARIOUS! The room is about 10x12, has two cold war era, military issue desks, two empty filing cabinets, a wall shelf (lying on the floor), and some cheap rolling chairs. We had two meetings this morning. I had to keep from rip-snorting laughing because my boss IS Steve Carell. Each office lady attended the meeting with a yellow mini legal pad in hand, ready to transcribe every bit of uber important information our leader spoke. I, of course, chose not to bring a pad and pen. No loss, there wasn't much to write down. One of the office ladies generously handed me an office survival pack: highliters, paper clips, tape & dispenser, two sizes of legal pads, and some staples. I immediately stashed these into the sheet metal drawers of my battleship sized desk. The day was spent learning the ropes, at times I found myself counting the dots on the ceiling panels to relieve the boredom and checking my email about 5,000 times hoping for anything to provide a distraction. Maybe I'm missing something. My boss reminded me several times that tomorrow is "casual day". Big event.

Hangar of Death

Take a look. I'll bet very few people get to see something like this. My brother sent me this pic. He operates the weapons systems on the drone aircraft in Afghanistan. He doesn't fly the plane, he listens to the guys on the ground, watches the planes video feed, and selects targets. When he gets the green light, he presses a button and BOOM, Talibs disappear. Recently he sent me a flag, along with a certificate signed by him and the pilot. Once in a while they pack a few flags in the bomb compartment while the drone flies on its mission. That gives the flags the distinction of having flown over a battlefield. Kind of cool. The surprising thing about these drones is how big they are. I kind of had the impression that they were little aircraft, but they look about the size of a cesna, except a little more "aggressive" looking. Pretty cool stuff, even if its used to kill.

PULP!

Lately I've gotten into reading some old school, retro-style, science fiction. Real "space opera", swords and spaceships sort of stuff. I got turned onto this after reading some reviews on the Grognardia blog. I'm a big fan of scifi in general, but this genre really takes me back to when I started building an interest in books. They are simpler stories, maybe a little "dumbed down" by modern standards, but thats what makes them so fun to read I think. After finishing Dan Simmons "The Terror", which clocked in at a whopping 700+ pages, I needed a break. These books rarely top 200 pages, but are jam packed full of macho manly adventure.

"Jandar" is the story of Jonathan Dark, a helicopter pilot in Viet Nam who crashes his chopper in a Cambodian River. From there its a quick jump to a jungle temple where he finds a jade well; actually a stargate like device which transports him to a moon of Jupiter. (After reading the part where he is "transported", his body becoming a stream of molecules disassembled and then reassembled, I wondered how much borrowing might have gone on. I checked the copyright date, 1972. Plenty of time for the author to borrow from Star Trek)

Anyway, the story moves fast and furious. No need to spend time developing characters. What for? Jonathan Dark is a man's man, we know this. At the moment, he is the property of the Yathoon, an alien species built like giant ant/mantises. It has already been hinted at that there are other humans on the moon Callisto, and that at somepoint, Dark will meet the love of his life, a fair princess. I'm looking forward to blazing through this book, like I'm sure "Jandar", Jonathan Dark, will tear through his enemies with mucho bravado and manliness. HAI YA!!

The Last New Year

Well, it's finally here. The year everyone has been waiting for. I've always been a big fan of the Maya, so I suppose I'm a believer in their calendar. For people who could predict eclipses, motions of the planets, and used a base 20 counting system, they must know a little bit about what they were talking about.

What does the "doomsday" prophecy mean? Who knows. Maybe not tidal waves and earthquakes, but I think SOMETHING will change/happen. I kind of like the magnetic shift theory. Earth's crust would loosen a little, liquify, and kind of slide. This would stir things up a little. Arizona could end up in a more temperate zone. Maybe the Sahara would get a little rain. Change is good, right?

For me, 2012 is already a change. I'm entering the cubicle in about 4 days. Khakis everyday, collared shirts. Office small talk. We'll see how online school goes. Hopefully my international plans work out and I end up making a big change this summer.

In the meantime, I think everyone should live it up this year, since it may be our last. The only sad thing; poor Molly's birthday is the end of the Mayan calendar.