REVIEW: LNHCP # 35-- ILC # 0

[Tom Russell]

First, let's get something out of the way-- the burning question: Tom,
do you really intend to review all the Infinite Leadership Crisis
stories?

And the answer is, of course, a resounding-- yes!

Now, it might take a while, but I intend to review just about
everything posted on RACC. (There may be a couple of exceptions, which
I'll talk about at another time.)

Now, this will take me quite some time to get caught up.  Problems in
my personal life, and other interests have made it difficult to sit
down and read much of anything, let alone review it.  But I'm going to
try my best to make good my promise to review everything I can this
year.  Just bear with me, and I'll get to your story someday soon.

Now, on to the review!

==

I once said that Jamas Enright was one of the best plot-based writers
that RACC has.  He keeps things moving quick and smooth, and yet
manages to fold characterization seamlessly into the storyline.  He's
also a maverick when it comes to extrapolating from an idea.

All those skills are in evidence in what amounts to a prelude to the
Infinite Leadership Crisis.  The situation-- the Ninja suddenly
becoming paralyzed-- is set up a mere nine or ten sentences in.  The
cause-- the stress of being the Ultimate Ninja, leader of the LNH-- is
illustrated with three concrete examples: 1, someone wanting LNH dice;
2, the phone continuing to ring; 3, the Peril Room malfunctioning.

The next idea-- that people won't notice the Ultimate Ninja is
paralyzed-- is illustrated with three more examples-- Unperceptive
Lad, Browsing Boy, and Master Blaster-- before moving on to the next.

While this gag doesn't move the plot along, per se, it doesn't slow it
down, either; rather, it moves it sideways, expands it, endears it to
us with a memorable detail.  It's a good gag, well-milked, but he
doesn't dwell on it.  It does its job and we move on.

And then Jamas takes an idea like WikiBoy and _really_ milks it,
really makes it shine.  I wish I could write WikiBoy as creatively as
Jamas does-- WikiBoy's transformations-- and his subsequent reactions
to those transformations-- are perfectly in character but also
unbeholden to anything that's come before.  It's not just fine work,
it's great work-- a moment that defines and expands the whole idea of
WikiBoy the way Jeff McCoskey often defined and expanded so many
classic LNHers.

And then he sets up the premise-- Ninja on vacation, Fearless Leader
is, um, well, the fearless leader pro tem.

Obstenstiably, this is the whole point of the issue-- to get the Ninja
on vacation.  But Jamas does so in a way that tells us something about
the Ninja-- and the way different persons react to him-- something
about WikiBoy, and in a way that entertains.  This story is, perhaps,
more memorable than some of the "real" ILC stories-- and it is an
excellent start to the ILC saga.

==Tom