Election Shmelection
Well, I voted. thankfully the lines weren't horrendous when we went.
I was struck by how many "political families" have youthful scions getting into the act. There were several Mathays running. Cayetano's daughter.
And now the various "quick counts" are setting up different leads... who will really win?
Chairborne Ranger
Took this title off of one of the blogs I visited concerning Micah Wright. Wright, as some of you may know, is the writer for several comics and some other projects.
I first heard of the guy when they were hyping up Stormwatch: Team Achilles, a comic book about highly trained humans fighting against superhuman entities mucking about in the world. I was drawn to the story because of the idea - I'd been in an RPG almost a decade back that had this same concept and wanted to see how it was treated.
I stopped collecting it quite early. The story just wasn't what I was looking for. It seemed to be a lot of piss-and-vinegar about how wimpy superhumans were and how normal humans were "real men and women". The supremacy of the normal human and all that. It was looking more for the writing that I found in the comic "The Human Defense Corps". Less macho. More professional. More human, but still with a lotta healthy attitude.
Oddly enough, at the time I felt that this Micah Wright dude seemed a bit off... like someone who still had something to prove. Then I read that he was an Army Ranger. I was wrong. I re-wired my brain, to allow that some folks who've served time in the military still enjoy and brag about the bloodletting and whatnot as portrayed in his book. I guess not everyone's take on combat is like the dudes in Band of Brothers (in both the book and the HBO series).
Then I read some of the books of Dick Marcinko, and it confirmed that... except... Marcinko's books still felt different to me. He was a gung-ho military stereotype, but he seemed to downplay a lot of what we'd expect for the climactic endings... He seemed a lot more matter-of-fact, take-it-or-leave-it. I figured that he was one-off from Micah... bit more mature perhaps, but cut from the same cloth.
Apparently not.
Micah Wright has never been an Army Ranger. He lied.
Check out these links for more:
Comic Book Resources
Jim Treacher
Mea Culpa
The Mudville Gazette
Took this title off of one of the blogs I visited concerning Micah Wright. Wright, as some of you may know, is the writer for several comics and some other projects.
I first heard of the guy when they were hyping up Stormwatch: Team Achilles, a comic book about highly trained humans fighting against superhuman entities mucking about in the world. I was drawn to the story because of the idea - I'd been in an RPG almost a decade back that had this same concept and wanted to see how it was treated.
I stopped collecting it quite early. The story just wasn't what I was looking for. It seemed to be a lot of piss-and-vinegar about how wimpy superhumans were and how normal humans were "real men and women". The supremacy of the normal human and all that. It was looking more for the writing that I found in the comic "The Human Defense Corps". Less macho. More professional. More human, but still with a lotta healthy attitude.
Oddly enough, at the time I felt that this Micah Wright dude seemed a bit off... like someone who still had something to prove. Then I read that he was an Army Ranger. I was wrong. I re-wired my brain, to allow that some folks who've served time in the military still enjoy and brag about the bloodletting and whatnot as portrayed in his book. I guess not everyone's take on combat is like the dudes in Band of Brothers (in both the book and the HBO series).
Then I read some of the books of Dick Marcinko, and it confirmed that... except... Marcinko's books still felt different to me. He was a gung-ho military stereotype, but he seemed to downplay a lot of what we'd expect for the climactic endings... He seemed a lot more matter-of-fact, take-it-or-leave-it. I figured that he was one-off from Micah... bit more mature perhaps, but cut from the same cloth.
Apparently not.
Micah Wright has never been an Army Ranger. He lied.
Check out these links for more:
Comic Book Resources
Jim Treacher
Mea Culpa
The Mudville Gazette
Paper Chaste
Well I've been away from writing for a long, long time. Time to barrel into it with the continuation of the Sandugo storyline. Already have 8 pages done... need 15 more installments of 8 pages each to fill up a 96 page book.
I've been re-reading a lot of standard and deconstructionist superhero comics and letting them percolate in anticipation.
Well I've been away from writing for a long, long time. Time to barrel into it with the continuation of the Sandugo storyline. Already have 8 pages done... need 15 more installments of 8 pages each to fill up a 96 page book.
I've been re-reading a lot of standard and deconstructionist superhero comics and letting them percolate in anticipation.
Alas, Hellboy...
I wanted to enjoy Hellboy. I didn't have high hopes given the contradictory nature of the movie's reviews. I figured that the visual design and the special effects would've been great and the movie would've been passable.
But from the beginning I was disturbed. The voice over made me uneasy. I expected a pseudo-documentary style exposition of Hellboy's background, I guess... There was an unusual amount of banter for the normals of the crew. The scripted lines were awkward, and the characters were cardboard.
It did get better. I like the characterization of Hellboy, and he looked great. I forgot he was a guy in a suit. I liked the little touches like the food (pamcakes!), and his style of humor. I was expecting that he would be the only wise-cracking character as well, but apparently everyone got into the act at one time or another with a few exceptions. The evil creatures were stunning, but disposed off relatively simply...
I dunno... too uneven. Too unfocused. Too much banter, not enough atmosphere.
Loved the scene with the kid, and the awkward style of HB despite his strength. AGH! I'm disappointed.
I wanted to enjoy Hellboy. I didn't have high hopes given the contradictory nature of the movie's reviews. I figured that the visual design and the special effects would've been great and the movie would've been passable.
But from the beginning I was disturbed. The voice over made me uneasy. I expected a pseudo-documentary style exposition of Hellboy's background, I guess... There was an unusual amount of banter for the normals of the crew. The scripted lines were awkward, and the characters were cardboard.
It did get better. I like the characterization of Hellboy, and he looked great. I forgot he was a guy in a suit. I liked the little touches like the food (pamcakes!), and his style of humor. I was expecting that he would be the only wise-cracking character as well, but apparently everyone got into the act at one time or another with a few exceptions. The evil creatures were stunning, but disposed off relatively simply...
I dunno... too uneven. Too unfocused. Too much banter, not enough atmosphere.
Loved the scene with the kid, and the awkward style of HB despite his strength. AGH! I'm disappointed.
Post-holocaust speculation
A few weekends ago, the Game Bandits were discussing the shape of a post-holocaust role-playing game. The very word post-holocaust conjures up visions of Mad Max and its copycats on the widescreen... but would that really be what it would be like? Would civilization fall so hard and so low that roving bands of marauders would war against those who tried to keep civilization together?
While most of us had a somewhat optimistic view that humanity would continue on somehow... the big question was how far would the situations devolve? Would all the important knowledge for keeping civilization's gears just vanish? Would someone be able to keep the generators running? What about the gasoline that's used to keep those generators running? Would there be anyone qualified to run those refineries?
I suppose a large part of the speculation must be: how did civilization fall?
And that brings me to nuclear war.
Growing up in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s instilled in me a healthy respect for the atom bomb. While recent movies like T2 & T3 and the more recent Paycheck showcase the awesome power of a nuclear payload dropped on a large urban center... few really focused on the horror that followed...
I remember movies like The Day After causing me nightmares. If you didn't die from the blast, then you had to endure the radioactive fallout. Not to mention having to deal with all the little things we take for granted... like finding clean water and food. Well, you could find the water and food easily... they'd be glowing. *Nervous laughter* But they wouldn't be clean.
Assuming you survived the nuclear bombardment, or are one of the lucky few that's immune to a biological holocaust... what do you roleplay if you set your game in the few years immediately following the crisis? Well, aside from fighting panicked and insane looters and would-be warlords...
How about the joy of avoiding epidemics of typhoid fever, cholera and dysentry?
Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection characterized by diarrhea, systemic disease, and a rash -- most commonly caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. S. typhi are spread by contaminated food, drink, or water. Early symptoms are generalized and include fever, malaise and abdominal pain. As the disease progresses, the fever becomes higher (greater than 103 degrees Fahrenheit), and diarrhea becomes prominent. Weakness, profound fatigue, delirium, and an acutely ill appearance develop.
A few people can become carriers of S. typhi and continue to shed the bacteria in their feces for years, spreading the disease, as in the case of "Typhoid Mary" in New York over one hundred years ago.
Cholera is an acute illness characterized by watery diarrhea. The toxin released by the bacteria causes increased secretion of water and chloride ions in the intestine, which can produce massive diarrhea. Death can result from the severe dehydration brought on by the diarrhea.
Cholera occurs in epidemics when conditions of poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine are present. Endemic areas include India, Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and more recently, South and Central America, and Mexico. The infection is acquired by ingesting contaminated food or water.
Where would all this contamination arise from? Aside from the nuclear radiation, the huge death toll would result in hundreds of thousands of bodies. These bodies would ideally be disposed of properly to prevent the spread of disease and contamination of food and water sources... but since the survivors would be focused primarily on finding food, shelter, and clothing... these would likely be left out to rot.
No wonder all these post-holocaust games are set when some kind of status quo and rudimentary infrastructure has been set. It gets really depressing to role-play day-to-day survival.
Thank God for civilization. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't think that beauty queens wishing for world peace is THAT funny... I used to pray for world peace every single day.
A few weekends ago, the Game Bandits were discussing the shape of a post-holocaust role-playing game. The very word post-holocaust conjures up visions of Mad Max and its copycats on the widescreen... but would that really be what it would be like? Would civilization fall so hard and so low that roving bands of marauders would war against those who tried to keep civilization together?
While most of us had a somewhat optimistic view that humanity would continue on somehow... the big question was how far would the situations devolve? Would all the important knowledge for keeping civilization's gears just vanish? Would someone be able to keep the generators running? What about the gasoline that's used to keep those generators running? Would there be anyone qualified to run those refineries?
I suppose a large part of the speculation must be: how did civilization fall?
And that brings me to nuclear war.
Growing up in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s instilled in me a healthy respect for the atom bomb. While recent movies like T2 & T3 and the more recent Paycheck showcase the awesome power of a nuclear payload dropped on a large urban center... few really focused on the horror that followed...
I remember movies like The Day After causing me nightmares. If you didn't die from the blast, then you had to endure the radioactive fallout. Not to mention having to deal with all the little things we take for granted... like finding clean water and food. Well, you could find the water and food easily... they'd be glowing. *Nervous laughter* But they wouldn't be clean.
Assuming you survived the nuclear bombardment, or are one of the lucky few that's immune to a biological holocaust... what do you roleplay if you set your game in the few years immediately following the crisis? Well, aside from fighting panicked and insane looters and would-be warlords...
How about the joy of avoiding epidemics of typhoid fever, cholera and dysentry?
Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection characterized by diarrhea, systemic disease, and a rash -- most commonly caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi. S. typhi are spread by contaminated food, drink, or water. Early symptoms are generalized and include fever, malaise and abdominal pain. As the disease progresses, the fever becomes higher (greater than 103 degrees Fahrenheit), and diarrhea becomes prominent. Weakness, profound fatigue, delirium, and an acutely ill appearance develop.
A few people can become carriers of S. typhi and continue to shed the bacteria in their feces for years, spreading the disease, as in the case of "Typhoid Mary" in New York over one hundred years ago.
Cholera is an acute illness characterized by watery diarrhea. The toxin released by the bacteria causes increased secretion of water and chloride ions in the intestine, which can produce massive diarrhea. Death can result from the severe dehydration brought on by the diarrhea.
Cholera occurs in epidemics when conditions of poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine are present. Endemic areas include India, Asia, Africa, the Mediterranean, and more recently, South and Central America, and Mexico. The infection is acquired by ingesting contaminated food or water.
Where would all this contamination arise from? Aside from the nuclear radiation, the huge death toll would result in hundreds of thousands of bodies. These bodies would ideally be disposed of properly to prevent the spread of disease and contamination of food and water sources... but since the survivors would be focused primarily on finding food, shelter, and clothing... these would likely be left out to rot.
No wonder all these post-holocaust games are set when some kind of status quo and rudimentary infrastructure has been set. It gets really depressing to role-play day-to-day survival.
Thank God for civilization. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't think that beauty queens wishing for world peace is THAT funny... I used to pray for world peace every single day.
Astro City returns!
I'm quite fond of Astro City - and here's a snippet of an interview of Kurt Busiek regarding the latest installment of the series...
KB: Okay, as I noted, the next big arc is The Dark Age, which will ultimately take 12 issues to tell. It's our biggest, longest, most sprawling epic to date, following two brothers -- one an Astro City cop, one a criminal -- as they deal with personal tragedy and with life in Astro City throughout the Seventies and the Eighties. This is the story that was originally going to be Marvels II, though we've changed it around a lot -- a lot! -- as we've developed it into an Astro City tale. It's also the story that deals with how things went dark for superheroes and for the city in the Seventies. It'll finally reveal the story of how the Silver Agent died, and why he's got that memorial statue with the strange epitaph.
So that'll be a big story, but since it's all set in the past, and since many of the Astro City heroes that people have been asking to see didn't exist yet or weren't active then, we're going to be interspersing Dark Age with some standalone extra-length specials, focusing more directly on the big heroes. That way, we can do the big story everyone seems like they're itching to see and get a look at some of the more popular characters that haven't gotten the spotlight recently.
So Astro City: The Dark Age will be broken up into four three-parters, each telling one crucial story in the lives of Charles and Royal Williams, and in the history of Astro City. And we'll alternate those with what's currently planned to be five hero-focused specials. We'll do a special, then a Dark Age arc, then another special, then another Dark Age arc, and so on, wrapping up with one last special after the Dark Age’s conclusion.
Confusing as hell? Yeah, kind of. But keep in mind, this'll all take a couple of years to get through. Shaking it up will give us breaks where we can catch up on the schedule, and change the focus regularly, so Brent doesn't go for my throat after drawing Seventies hairstyles and cars for too long.
I'm quite fond of Astro City - and here's a snippet of an interview of Kurt Busiek regarding the latest installment of the series...
KB: Okay, as I noted, the next big arc is The Dark Age, which will ultimately take 12 issues to tell. It's our biggest, longest, most sprawling epic to date, following two brothers -- one an Astro City cop, one a criminal -- as they deal with personal tragedy and with life in Astro City throughout the Seventies and the Eighties. This is the story that was originally going to be Marvels II, though we've changed it around a lot -- a lot! -- as we've developed it into an Astro City tale. It's also the story that deals with how things went dark for superheroes and for the city in the Seventies. It'll finally reveal the story of how the Silver Agent died, and why he's got that memorial statue with the strange epitaph.
So that'll be a big story, but since it's all set in the past, and since many of the Astro City heroes that people have been asking to see didn't exist yet or weren't active then, we're going to be interspersing Dark Age with some standalone extra-length specials, focusing more directly on the big heroes. That way, we can do the big story everyone seems like they're itching to see and get a look at some of the more popular characters that haven't gotten the spotlight recently.
So Astro City: The Dark Age will be broken up into four three-parters, each telling one crucial story in the lives of Charles and Royal Williams, and in the history of Astro City. And we'll alternate those with what's currently planned to be five hero-focused specials. We'll do a special, then a Dark Age arc, then another special, then another Dark Age arc, and so on, wrapping up with one last special after the Dark Age’s conclusion.
Confusing as hell? Yeah, kind of. But keep in mind, this'll all take a couple of years to get through. Shaking it up will give us breaks where we can catch up on the schedule, and change the focus regularly, so Brent doesn't go for my throat after drawing Seventies hairstyles and cars for too long.
A Healthy Dose of Escapism
May I direct your attention to the MMORPG titled City of Heroes?
It's currently in its Beta testing phase and allowing pre-orders. The graphics are impressive, the rationale for cordoning off sections of the city is acceptable, and the assigning of "missions" in the superhero genre is also plausible and fun. It really makes you feel like you're part of a group of super-powered heroes working together to fight the enemies of the citizens of Paragon City.
The costume creation mechanics are neat - they really give you a wide variety of body shapes and costume colors, patterns, and "flair". The fact that you retain that distinctive look during gameplay is all the more impressive.
A friend of mine mentioned that the term "kill-stealing" doesn't really apply to the world. Given the "super-hero" setting, it didn't make sense for the champions of the city to argue "HEY... that guy was mine!" Well, maybe sometimes... but not ALL the time. You're supposed to be heroes! So, they've just agreed on certain protocols (such as offering help, or saying things like "thanks... but I could've taken him myself!" to keep things friendly) for now...
As for character creation - it's very versatile and allows for a wide variety of superpower combinations, but keeping the power levels low initially... and then growing as the hero gains experience.
May I direct your attention to the MMORPG titled City of Heroes?
It's currently in its Beta testing phase and allowing pre-orders. The graphics are impressive, the rationale for cordoning off sections of the city is acceptable, and the assigning of "missions" in the superhero genre is also plausible and fun. It really makes you feel like you're part of a group of super-powered heroes working together to fight the enemies of the citizens of Paragon City.
The costume creation mechanics are neat - they really give you a wide variety of body shapes and costume colors, patterns, and "flair". The fact that you retain that distinctive look during gameplay is all the more impressive.
A friend of mine mentioned that the term "kill-stealing" doesn't really apply to the world. Given the "super-hero" setting, it didn't make sense for the champions of the city to argue "HEY... that guy was mine!" Well, maybe sometimes... but not ALL the time. You're supposed to be heroes! So, they've just agreed on certain protocols (such as offering help, or saying things like "thanks... but I could've taken him myself!" to keep things friendly) for now...
As for character creation - it's very versatile and allows for a wide variety of superpower combinations, but keeping the power levels low initially... and then growing as the hero gains experience.
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