Return

 It's been a very traumatic two years. I'd entirely forgotten about this blog. Trauma does that--it eradicates everything that went before, making you a stranger to yourself.

To get back:

I've played three Call of Duty campaigns this year. I'm not sure if that's healthy.  The three in question were the new Modern Warfare II, Cold War, and Vanguard. 

The one thing that unites all three of them is that they focus a lot on guns, bullets not really hurting until maybe the fifth or sixth one hits you, and being too long. There is always one or two extra sequences that are not needed in terms of plot but sure do help pad out the game. This doesn't detract overly much from enjoying the campaign, but some merciful editing would be helpful.

Of the three, Modern Warfare II is the most brave. It's your standard grim military story, with grim men being terse while saving the world. It's bravery lies in the game's choice of bad guy. In a tense political time, it's surprising that they went this route. It elevates the standard story with that choice. Without that, it's just another by the numbers COD campaign.

Of all the characters, most are standard grim COD guys. But the only real lights are two Mexican characters, one a cop, the other a cartel leader. The latter has proven to be a popular operator in Multiplayer, which is interesting.

The unnecessary added scene here is a cat and mouse game that makes the player assemble weaponry while hiding. It's fine, but at this point, I just wanted the game to end.

Cold War offers a more interesting story. Set in the 80s,  you play as an agent on a strike team chasing after a Soviet villain. Being part of the Black Ops subgenre, there is a psychological angle added to the running and gunning. The realization of 80s Europe and Moscow are well done and add a lot to the experience. The lighting especially is wonderful, especially in Moscow. If it's possible to capture the Eighties in sunlight, they did it.

Again, the characters remain samey and forgettable. One character looks like James Spader from Pretty In Pink, which I guess is something.

Here, the unnecessary scene is of a psychological nature that runs on way too long. To say you're hammered in the head with a plot reveal would be to fall prey to understatement. Still, it's a game not afraid to embrace its own cynicism, and boy, does it.

My favourite, though, was Vanguard. 

Set during the end of the Second World War, it focuses on an international team striking into enemy lines. Aside from the main story, we are also get to experience the backstories of the team members. The game ends with a thrilling chase across Berlin to stop the formation of the Fourth Reich.

The stand out character from the usual cast of stereotypes is Lady Nightingale, a Soviet sniper. Of all the back stories, hers was the most interesting, especially in her final battle in a destroyed dress makers shop. Much of this is down to voice actress Laura Bailey, who brings her to life in a way the other characters do not. 

The unnecessary scene here was a Desert Rat battle that just added drama to a character who really wasn't that distinguishable from anyone else. 

Still, it was the best of the campaigns. The lighting and sets had a lot to do with this, from the aforementioned dress shop to the cold winter light in Stalingrad. It was clear that the creative team loved the time period, and it really shows.

So, that's some of what I've been up to. I hope I remember to come back here.

The Drawing Of The Three

                                                                  creepy dooooooors

On my quest to read more King, I did.

Book Two of The Dark Tower, The Drawing Of The Three finds Roland, the titular gunslinger from the first novel, searching for the companions he needs for his journey to aforementioned Tower. He finds these companions by walking down a beach where he encounters doors. Doors that open to another world and the companions he must recruit. 

Roland does this by walking through these mysterious doors and entering the minds of the people he needs. It's up to him to convince them, one way or another, to return to his world. This has limited success since people generally don't take kindly to another prescence popping into their heads. There is, shall we say, some resistance. 

I wasn't a fan of the the first novel in this series so approached this one with a feeling of resignation. This was a better read because if King can do one thing, it's create likable characters. Eddie Dean, a heroin addict Roland encounters with the first door, is the typical nice guy in a King novel.  Yeah, he's done some shit, but deep down, he's all right. He's a nice contrast to Roland, who still comes off as wooden. Yes, he's awesome with those guns of his, but there doesn't seem to be all that much to Roland outside of achieving his quest and being grim. 

As well, the other companion Roland meets is also interesting, if not even more dangerous than Roland himself. She lights up the book, both good and bad, when she appears. She's a great character caught in a pretty thin story, though.

Roland's world in this novel is really nothing more than the beach with some killer lobsters. As a fantasy world goes, it just feels grey and unimaginitive. The world Roland goes to is our own world, set in different time periods. That's when the book comes to life, with Roland navigating our modern world (being fascinated by so much paper, for example) while also dealing with the people whose minds he has invaded.

The usual King problems exist in Drawing. Scenes of violence that go just that one step too far into cartoon, and some really deep hand-wavium to deal with some pretty complex issues. But when King reigns it in, he can write some wonderful action scenes that also display some deep character writing. By the end of the novel, I couldn't help but be more invested--perhaps not so much with Roland, but with his new companions. I still really could care less about anything Tower related, but the people heading there are interesting.

Vampirella: The Dark Powers #2

                                                                   

                                                                     Sittin' pretty

Who knows what's up with Vampirella these days? Is she a super hero? Is she a horror icon? Is she Red Sonja's bestie? Is she all of these things?

Vampirella: The Dark Powers Vampirella joining a team composed of superheroes from other dimensions. The idea being that this team looks for the appearance of heroes in alternate realities and then recruits them. Vampirella is discovered in the 666 (of course) reality and joins the team. Things don't go well, and with this issue, Vampi tries to quit the team. 

It's a surprisingly fun issue. The other team members seem to be composed of old pulp heroes from the Forties, like Black Terror and Green Llama, and they seem shocked by Vampirella's use of violence. Instead of just punching monsters, for example, Vampirella punches into their chests and rips them up from inside, emerging covered in blood and intestines. Little shocking for old time heroes. 

Dan Abnett is writing this, so it has his usual humour (the team members are discussing how they have to get rid of Vampi from the team and she points out that she's walking right behind them) and nods to Warhammer with giant city sized ships floating through space. Abnett has a fondness for cosmic tales, and it's refreshing to see him not half assing this one. The mix of old time heroes with the monokini Not A Vampire Vampi is a fun contrast.

A fun comic that hopefully more people read. 

 

Web of Black Widow #1

                                                    Maybe the 'Web' will make this one stick

Black Widow is one of those characters Marvel Comics doesn't seem to know what to do with. They seem to smell potential and money with her, but have no clear idea how to make that happen. So what we have are movies that are ten years too late and a series of short lived comic book series that ultimately go nowhere.

Here's another one: Web of Black Widow.

This time around the Repent For Your Past trope is being activated. To achieve this, Widow is going to show a video that shows her killing the competitor of a company that is now successful. A killing that happened years ago when she was working for the Russians while the man who runs the company that benefitted from this murder is a)unaware of the murder and b)is a decent human being. After doing this, she then beats up the security guards who try to capture her for showing the video. Security guards that are a)not evil and b)doing their job. 

It's dumb and lazy. The actual fight scene with the security guards takes place on one page that is more a portrait than an example of sequential art. Again, lazy.

Iron Man is involved mainly because he was at the party where Widow played the video. He acts concerned about Black Widow because this isn't like her or something. She escapes Iron Man because it turns out she's a hologram, but we're not sure when that happens. Iron Man calls Captain America to say something is up.

Yeah, we've just been relieved of $3.99, that's what's up.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 Issue #10

 

The Buffyverse is over. Everyone has moved on. The chance to return faded a long time ago. Even Dark Horse Comics gave up on the series. To quote The Smiths: "I know it's over, still I cling."

I loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I never went to conventions or really talked all that much about it. I never even wrote fan fiction. I think I bought one novel.  But I was in the National Post reviewing the final episode, for reasons which still elude me. So there was a connection, and I guess there still is.

Read this issue of the Dark Horse series this week, dating back to 2008. This was part of the Season 8 arc of the series, where the excitement was palpable: Joss Whedon was writing! There was no budget constraints! This was going to be the Buffy we had always wanted. Look out! Batten the hatches, boys! Here we go!

Aaaand it wasn't as good as we wanted it to be. Apparently, budget constraints worked for Buffy.  This issue shows some of the problems with Season 8, and shows how some of the best elements of the show did continue on. 

First, the Big Bad: Dawn was turned into a giant. This was because she slept with someone she shouldn't have. They couldn't have done this on the show without it looking cheesy. But here? It just looked kind of stupid. 

The Second Big Bag: The Slayer Army. Instead of having a few Slayers, Buffy would lead an army of these stake wielding hellions. They would rob banks to fund their Slayering. The story was going global! There was no budget! Look out!

But like with Giant Dawn, it broke something. Not a great idea. Buffy is the Slayer, as was Faith. That worked. Having a ton of them? It was kinda like that scene in Attack of The Clones where all the Jedi are fighting on Geonosis. It should have been cool, but it's really just a bunch of assholes running around being a bit mediocre.

But this issue did echo elements that made Buffy great. Like the interaction between Buffy and Willow. Their relationship was the true bedrock of the series. Willow's reveal that she chose Buffy over Tara in terms of resurrection was a big moment in this issue. Which in turn echoes back to one of the most painful parts of the original series, when Willow did resurrect Buffy and the horror that entailed. It was a nice coda to that moment. Joss knew his characters well.

As a comic, Buffy was fine. I gave up on the Dark Horse series after the big pregnancy storyline because I found the resolution cheap and insulting. The comic had no budget, they could take the Buffy storyline anywhere except the place where it might actually change the dynamic. It showed a lack of courage and at worst, a con man's poorly executed trick. 

But I still have all my Buffy comics in my collection, and sometimes I like to dip back into them, and remember better times. 

Doctor Sleep

This scene does not occur in the book.

Even though I consider Stephen King one of my favourite authors, I haven't read that many of his books. Night Shift, Carrie, Salem's Lot, Misery, Under The Dome and The Stand are the only ones I've read. Oh, and his excellent On Writing.  That's it. This is something I'm trying to rectify.

So I read Doctor Sleep, a sequel to The Shining, which I haven't read, but have seen the movie. A movie King is not terribly fond of, but which I consider one of my favourite horror films.

 

So, conflict!

Doctor Sleep tells the story of Danny Torrance, the boy with the titular 'Shining' who survived the horrors at the Overlook Hotel in the original novel. Gifted/cursed with psychic powers, he has limited telepathy, can see ghosts, and has an often crippling degree of empathy. The events of the first novel, perhaps coupled with this, have led Dan to a life of alcoholism and drifting, forever trying to dull his powers and escape his past.

Until he reaches rock bottom, makes a few hard decisions, and begins a new life working in a hospice, helping those about to die ease into the next life. For the first time in decades, Dan Torrance is at peace. 

Until a little girl with the same powers he has reaches out to him. And as time passes, Dan realizes the little girl is in danger from others: psychic vampires who feed on children with the Shining.  Suddenly Dan has to protect this little girl from this roving band of child murderers while still dealing with his own issues and ever looming alcoholism.

When I first heard the plot about Doctor Sleep, I had my doubts. It sounded like a B-movie script until I realized most King stories sound like B-movie scripts. What elevates them from that is King's ability to create characters you relate to, and somehow make the more ridiculous aspects of his stories work through the reactions of those characters.

And so it is with Doctor Sleep. The psychic vampires--who call themselves the True Knot--are immortals who live off the soul essence (or 'steam', as they call it) from tortured and dying psychic children. They should be ridicoulous, but King instead makes them innocuous and anonymous. They drive around America in Winnebagos and are the sort of people you wouldn't glance at twice in a Wal-Mart. This makes then even more terrifying than a bunch of slouching goths in bad capes. 

Abra--the little girl with the Shining--is also well written, with all the anger and self indignation of every teenager everywhere. She can defend herself, in her own way, and is in no way portrayed as a victim or helpless child. 

There are a few things that appear in other King books that  he feels fond of: quite a few just 'regular folk', guys in baseball caps and pick up trucks, who are painfully down home but there when you need them in a pinch. They are perhaps the secondary 'normal' people you find in King novels, who are just a bit more normal than the lead characters. It's reassuring that this has continued with King over the years: reg'lar folks dealing with some fucked up shit and dealing with it FINE.

As with the few King books I've read, the ending is, well, okay. It isn't as eye rolling as the one waiting for me at the end of Under The Dome (which I still really enjoyed), but it seemed maybe just a little bit contrived. And that's fine. I loved the book and I fell in love with the characters and the ending was FINE. 

Since I've read the movie varies widely from the novel, I'm dubious about seeing it. But still, this was enjoyable. It's nice to see King still has both the talent and the drive to keep creating on this level. 

We Never Learn Chapter 48

The incredible flirtation adventures of a tutor and the students he tries to teach continue with more inexplicable situations and embarrassments, along with a little bit of personal growth here and there. 

Chapter 48 finds our tutor Nariyuki out on a fake date with fellow cram school student Asumi, whose father suspects the two are not actually dating and is worried his daughter is too focused on school. (Yeah, because that's a problem.) So to ease the old man's mind they go out in a boat on the beach and take fake selfies for her father, which continues the We Never Learn tradition of incredibly creepy fathers with unhealthy obsessions with their daughters.

Continuing with We Never Learn tradition, Nariyuki realizes he's in a boat with an attractive woman in a bikini and suddenly feels uncomfortable. Asumi, as she has always done, torments him, asking him if he prefers the bosoms of his other students. Nariyuki goes into his usual shock. Then the inevitable wave hits the boat, we learn Nariyuki can't swim, and in the process of rescuing him Asumi loses her bikini top, the shaken Nariyuki being held to her now exposed chest.

The rest of the chapter deals with dealing with Asumi's half nakedness and getting back to shore without anyone seeing, which entails a fake make out session to throw off the inexplicable appearance of divers. The chapter ends with a cliffhanger with Nariyuki being confronted with another case of bikinis disappearing.

For a comedy that does not shy away from titillation (clearly), the success of We Never Learn lies with the characters. Despite the torment Asumi puts Nariyuki through, she clearly is fond of him, and he of her. (Asumi is the most adult of the cast, having fallen from the academic path and trying to still become a doctor through cram school and paying her expenses by working at a maid cafe.  With the eternal question of which of these girls Nariyuki will finally settle down with, Asumi seems to be the one best suited for his nervous disposition. )

Not much happens over all, but it's still a solid chapter. Asumi has been a recent addition to the cast, and she is the perfect foil to Nariyuki's deep repression and anxiety. A fun chapter in a fun series.