[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #28 - April 2006 [spoilers]

[Tom Russell]

First of all, I know I was insanely productive this past month (which
is probably why I'm now experiencing a bit of a burn-out).  So I want
to thank Saxon first for reviewing so much of my stuff, and I promise
there will be far less of it this month. :-)

Saxon Brenton wrote:

> Journey Into... #2
> An Eightfold [8Fold] anthology series
> by Tom Russell
>
>      This amused me greatly; the first part in particular.  Max Lang is

Thanks. :-)

The big thing I was going for dramatically was somewhat similiar to THE
GREEN KNIGHT # 6-- having a character who is part of the superhero
world and fed up with it, who then rediscovers his initial joy.  (Which
is analoguous, at times, to the plight of some members of fandom:
there's always a point where you get turned off on superheroes, and
then, if you're lucky, there's a point where you come back to it.)

I would say that Joy is one component that's been missing from comics
for far too long.  Yesterday, I was with Matt Feazell when this little
kid asked him what "cynical" meant.  The group of people in the comics
shop groped around for an answer, and it was decided the best way to
explain what cynical was was to explain what it wasn't.  Words like
optimistic were thrown about, and Feazell himself tossed the word
"niave" about.  My answer was "Joy", and it was sufficiently cryptic to
warrant a few sideways glances and awkward chuckles.

You can call it "fun", you can call it "reconstructionist", you can
even call it "niave", but the thing the superhero genre has been
missing for a long time is Joy.

Legion of Net.Heroes Volume 2 #12
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
> by Tom Russell

>      But most of that's background information that's only revealed
> during the climactic confrontation.  Most of the story is character
> scenes as the Legionnaires wander around and be captured, all the while
> trying to remember who they are,

I actually had about a half-dozen other scenes, showing, for example,
MultiTasking Man trying to fit in at a corporation and being unable to
multi-task.  But I think all those scenes were essentially sad ones,
and it would have been milking the premise to include them.

> Master Blaster: Insufficient Postage
> A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] special
> by Tom Russell

>      Oh, you want to know what the actual plot is?  Tsk.  Thanks to
> the past intervention by Idiotic Decision Boy, Master Blaster was given
> the job of handling the Legion's taxes.  The resulting financial
> catastrophe necessitates Master Blaster to try and find some money to
> pay the tax bills.  But really it's just an excuse for Master Blaster to
> torment WikiBoy.  In a thoroughly Acraphobic manner.  Trust me on this.

:-)

 
--Tom