REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #32 - August 2006 [spoilers]

[Martin Phipps]

Tom Russell wrote:
> -- in JOLT CITY # 1, Paradise Snake beats up the Green Knight (1) and
> ends combat whenever Martin seems to get the upperhand, citing some
> imagined infraction of the rules of honour (A); Martin, unable to
> defeat him in hand-to-hand combat, appeals to that sense of honour (B)
> to bring their combat to a conclusion (2).

To be perfectly honest (oh oh), I prefer villains without a sense of
honour.  If the villains are "honourable" then I don't understand their
motivation to be villains in the first place.  Surely there is a way
for a man with super agility to make money without beating people up
and killing them.  Where is the honour in that?  And knowing that
Paradise Snake was not a truly honourable man, there was no guarantee
that Martin's appeal to his sense of honour would work.  At least
Kraven the Hunter could cite the thrill of the hunt as a motivation.  I
didn't really get the sense that Paradise Snake was having fun in Jolt
City #1: every time Martin (not me) got the upper hand, Paradise Snake
cried no fair.  It would have been more honourable for Paradise Snake
to have criticized Martin's fighting style, peppering his commentary
with compliments whenever Martin got the upper hand and then mercifully
allowing his foe a brief respite out of respect for his skill.  If I
were to have written the ending to Jolt City #1, I would have had
Paradise Snake follow Martin to a circus full of acrobats and
contortionists and have Paradise Snake see these people and then break
down crying, knowing that he had chosen the less honourable path.

I hope you're not angry.  I mean, I did read all of it. :)

Martin