* Has Daredevil been watching the movie Gargoyles?
There isn’t much of grand importance for me to discuss this week as I’ve spent the vast majority of my time icing my ailing knee, popping Ibuprofen like PEZ, and trying to sleep, emphasis on the word “trying”. I did get a chance to finish Simon Hawke’s Birthright novel The Iron Throne (**** out of 5). A quick note, for those that don’t know, this book is set in the old D&D Birthright setting which is one of ‘High Fantasy’ and political intrigue, so it isn’t all just dungeon crawlin’ across the world. I really loved that setting in my limited amount of time playing it, so I did have high hopes for this novel going in. I was torn on this book, and I mean torn in a good way. The main antagonist of the book was so vile and unredeemable that the dread of what was coming at times overwhelmed everything. I found myself really liking the flawed main characters, but at the same time knowing that fate would not be kind. I think that’s what made me take my time with this book. I knew the ending would be sad, more Arthurian than Tolkien, there would be NO happy ending; debts would be paid, blood would be spilt, and love would not conqueror all. The set up was so ‘classic’ fantasy I think there is a part of me that longed for a positive ending. Instead I received a realistic ending, well as real as ‘real’ gets in a fantasy book, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. In the end though I picked this book up for a $1 and it was worth infinitely more to me. If you get a chance read it.
The 3rd Annual Dark Dave Game Day is coming up quickly upon us, and I received communication yesterday that there is a high possibility of J.B. making his way down for it. This would be great for a couple of reasons. First, Jon would get his annual fill of Hex & Chit gamin’ in, & secondly is I’ll be able to sit down with him and go over the Marvel SAGA RPG rules again. I’ve decided and assembled players for a Marvel SAGA campaign or ‘season’ if you will. I’m setting it in the Pre-Civil War Marvel U., and before there is anymore confusion I don’t mean THE Civil War, I mean the Marvel Civil War, and by ‘pre’ I mean the months leading up. Here’s my lead in or ‘Hook’ to potential players;
- “You are teleported to a clock tower. There a British man identifying himself as the Chronal Physician tells you that the multiverse has gone "Weebly Wobbly". Something is eliminating timelines & variants. Strange thing is, NONE of you existed until 45 sec. ago. He tells you he's seen the future of all timelines and none of them are particularly good, what he hasn't seen is YOU. That makes you a chance to fix this. He looks at his bizarre watch, starts to mumble and sweat, before rushing over to a Grandfather Clock in the corner, opening it, & stepping inside. Before he leaves he looks back at you & says, ‘Humanity...Scratch that...The Multiverse needs you, it needs you to BRILLIANT. Do not fail it or me, for if you do, well, let's just say no one will remember any of it; you, me, us, anything. We're talking about the End of All Things. So no pressure, just be brilliant. Off to save another universe, Ta ta....’
You have run of a Clock Tower, on the T.V. you note that a news report is showing that 45mins ago The Twin Cities main hero, an armored man known as The Protector, was just beaten to death in Downtown Minneapolis by three prisoners who escaped transport to The Deep Freeze, a prison in Savage, MN that houses homicidal super humans by freezing them. The assailants are Mr. Hyde, Marrow, & Crossfire.”There you have it. I am encouraging the players; Dark Dave, White Chedda’, Dangerous Dan, & the lovely Cassandra (So far) to delve deep into the history, mythology, and backdrop of the Marvel Universe to build their characters, and thus far I am NOT disappointed. The two ideas that have been floated out there are ripe with possibilities and brilliant in premise. I’m really looking forward to September when we give this a ‘GO’!
You know I was sort of unsure about Thor. I mean Mr. Branagh is known for Shakespeare, and while Thor has always been about talking in an inflated manner, to me it’s been more about Jack Kirby telling an epic story. I’ll be honest here, I love mythology, and the Norse Cycle is brooding, dark, and ultimately fatalistic, and in that it pales in comparison to the wonder, mystery, and scope of Jack Kirby’s version of Asgard and it’s residents. It’s just one nerd’s opinion though…
So this has subsided my fears for now. I mean we get the crazy helmets, Asgard in it’s spendor, Loki scheming, Thor being impetuous, and THE FRIGGIN’ DESTROYER! The idea of Thor Vs. The Destroyer on the big screen brings joy to my soul.
Right before I went to work this morning I took the time to watch the Jonah Hex Showcase short (**** out of 5), & it did not disappoint. Much like the Specter short on the Justice League DVD, this one is only about 15 minutes long, but it’s plenty long enough to tell a deadly tale of the Old West. I was anticipating more of a “Man With No Name” vibe to it, and instead what I received was Jonah Hex tale, a REAL Jonah Hex tale. One with betrayal, a bit of gore, some good one-liners, and in the end, much like the Specter, the evil get their comeuppance in spades. The washed out and grainy look of the animation was wonderful & the fight in the middle of the short rivaled the great fight choreography of the feature. Really good stuff!
After something like that I think you need some
RANDOM CRAP!
- Check out www.bluntcakes.com for awesome cartoons by my pal Heidi.
- If you couldn’t tell by my Hook I loves me some Doctor Who.
- Did you see? DID YOU SEE? Del Toro’s next flick is going to be a BIG budget adaptation of Lovecraft’s At The Mountains Of Madness! I’m not sure I can put into words how I’m excited about this. This could by THE horror movie of my generation if they give Del Toro the money, the freedom, and the leeway to tell Lovecraft’s tale. I have my fingers crossed and my elder sign ready!
- Better potential DC Enemy to show up in my Marvel SAGA Campaign;
o Darkseid OR Per Degaton
- I finished the Dresden Files TV Show (*** ½ out of 5) last night. It really was decent, just not great, and I certainly didn’t care for the two episodes that tried to adapt the first two books. There is far too much information to try and make palatable for the masses that see reading as “to much work”. It really is a show that catches its groove at about the third episode and then is entertaining. Overall, it’s a good take on the books, very fun, but in the end it got the Sci-Fi Channel axe so they could go make things like Komodo Vs. Giant Snake. * Sigh*
-
Just in case you thought I had forgotten to give you something special about the thing that haunts my dreams daily!
And with that I really have to get back to it…
“The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.”
No comments:
Post a Comment