REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #57 - September 2008 [spoilers]
Saxon Brenton
saxonbrenton at hotmail.com
Sun Oct 12 21:17:11 PDT 2008
[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #57 - September 2008 [spoilers]
Academy of Super-Heroes #92 [ASH]
Beige Midnight #3 [LNH]
Silver Age Superfreaks #6 [Superfreaks]
Thuderclap #10 [Pincity]
Also posted:
New Exarchs #14 [SG/LNH]
Guardian Sentai RoboMan #14-15 [PSP]
Is there something I can babble about in the introduction for this
issue? I mean, apart from the fact that it's spring and I've been busily
picking/washing/freezing mulberries for making pies later in the year
when I get cravings for something other than butterscotch meringue?
How about a webcomic recommendation? Fans of _Dr Who_ (especially
obsessively geeky fans) may find Richard Morris' 'The Ten Doctor's'
fanfic amusing. I wasted something like two or three hours reading
through these in one sitting.
Most recent page: http://comics.shipsinker.com/
Archive at: http://comics.shipsinker.com/comic-archives/
Spoilers below...
==
Academy of Super-Heroes #92 [ASH]
'Kheper's Path IV - Newborn Dawn'
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
by Dave Van Domelen
Okay, so that's what happens when Contact tries to use That Chair:
Heckle and Jeckle (or at least, their mythological precursors) turn up
and give some tidbits of advice, because, hey, they like Aaron and Paul.
Cute, quite unexpected, and yet perfectly logical when considering the
context of the presence of Odin's High Throne in Manhattan. That said, I
keep coming back to the idea (and admittedly this may only be me playing
what-if games in my head) that Contact might not take the hint about how
dangerous using the High Throne is, and instead of leaving well enough
alone take the alternative path of getting more thorough training from
Peregryn in preparation for the next time he thinks he needs to use it.
Plotwise, the investigation into Devlin Marx's 'murder' winds up.
In short, it was carefully staged suicide. Or as Contact summarises:
"suicide-by-proxy of a man who may not actually be permanently dead",
since Marx's scheme also involved an attempt at longevity by copying
himself into a clone. Additionally there was all the evidence planted
to throw suspicion on Marx's opponents/peers in the world of shadowy
power brokers to keep them weakened and off balance - but there's also
the subtle implication that all other factors being equal Marx could
*not* have acted without duplicitous intent. I suspect that he
couldn't help himself.
This can be extrapolated from Marx's own actions, by the way.
My inner Vaarsuvius (with typical over-analysis and sesquipedalian
loquaciousness) suggests ignoring the practicalities of pulling off
such a complicated scheme without attracting an investigation from
high powered superhumans such as the Academy, and instead stick to
the moral/ethical context. If Marx was so worried about the state
of his immortal soul at judgement by Ma'at, then faking his murder
and throwing suspicions onto others - even if those others were more
than just antagonists of Marx's and were instead the worst sort
individuals - is not likely to lighten the weight of his heart. And
as mentioned in the Author's Notes section, he's destabilised his
allies as much as his opponents. If Marx was worrying about having
done bad, then he should have been changing his style, and maybe a
series of 'to be opened in the event of my death' letters should have
been the way to go. Instead, he couldn't give up his obsession/
compulsion for being sneaky.
Along the way there's a vignette of a parental murder-suicide in
Grimble's childhood. Interestingly, this brief and nasty scene has more
emotional weight than anything else in the story, including the ain't-
it-cool but rather slick machinations of Marx and co, or even the maybe-
we-won't-see-each-other-again farewell of Contact and Gene. This got
me thinking about how well the crime investigation format of 'Kheper's
Path' suited the type of world building that Dvandom favours. But then
I realised, Gimble's past trauma wasn't even anything that Contact and
Detective Kelly unearthed as part of their investigations. Perhaps it
would be best to think of it as tying off some of the loose ends from
earlier in the story arc, when red herring subplots were flying thick
and fast.
Beige Midnight #3
'Imperium Hex Part III: The Final Piece'
A Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] limited series
by Arthur Spitzer, Martin Phipps, and Saxon Brenton
(I can't really think of a unified thematic approach to discussing
this, so I'm just gonna waffle all over the place and cannibalise the
commentary I had for issues 1 and 2, 'kay?)
With the release of _Beige Midnight_ we reach the concluding parts
of the year-and-a-half long meta-plot mega-arc that's been running since
the 'Infinite Leadership Crisis' last year, through the _Beige Countdown_
series and the various _58.5_ and 'Intermezzo' tie-in stories. At this
point I think I need to mention, at least in passing, the context of
how we came to be here. In April 2007 the LNH imprint had its 15th
anniversary, and various LNH Writers ran a month long series of one-
per-day stories where a different Legionnaire was saddled with the
responsibility of being LNH leader for a day before vanishing
mysteriously at midnight. The in-story reason for this was a scheme
by Bart the Dark Receptionist, who was acting as herald for the Bryttle
Brothers, Dekay and Diskolor, and trying to freak the Legion out as part
of preparations for the latter's return. Along the way president Hex
Luthor has been implementing his own plans to stop the Bryttle Brothers
in a way that cements his grip on power, which has in some ways has kept
the Legion of Net.Heroes from being able to act as a coherent team.
(And while I'm here I suppose I'd also better acknowledge that
there's been some controversy on whether a big DC and/or Marvel style
cascade of comic Events � where one thing leads into another and each
Event is merely a launching pad for the next change in status quo � was
wise/workable/structurally satisfying/foo. Personally I can see both
sides of the story. But the thing I find most interesting about my
reaction is that as I watched the pro- and con- arguments, I thought
'Feh'. I guess I've gotten so old that I either have enough energy to
care about writing stories or about the controversies, but not both,
and I made my choice to dabble with issues of _LNHv2_ that took advantage
of the Beige Countdown period's status quo. Intellectually I think I
should feel smug about that, but at this point it's just another datum
point. Sorry.)
Moving on. In a real way I'm probably indebted to Arthur for
wanting to write a story that actually ties up the 'Hexadecimal Luthor
as U.S. President' situation, since I introduced the notion in the
first place as a parody/homage of DC's 'Lex Luthor as U.S. president'.
And while I have always known how I wanted the situation would be resolved,
I probably needed a metaphorical kick in the pants to actually get around
to doing it. (Actually, in that regard I should probably note that I
owe Tom Russell a similar debt of gratitude for publishing the 'American
Nightmare' story arc in _Hailku Gorilla_ - wherein Hex successfully
repeals the 22nd amendment that would otherwise have limited him to
only two presidential terms, in the process giving him more menace
than a politician encumbered by an expiring incumbency would warrant.)
The basic plot, at least in the first four issues, is that Hex
Luthor is making a power grab to entrench his power, using various
means, and different groups within the Legion are working surreptitiously
against him. This includes Arthur's A plot that Fearless Leader has
put together an under ground resistance while at the same time Catalyst
Lass and Hell Catalyst are in Hex's Hexfire Club and not as mind
controlled/mind monitored as the villains would like to think. Also
included is my B plot where a group of LNHers go off to find a plot
device for exposing Hex's grab for permanent incumbency to public
scrutiny. It goes without saying that even if a casual reader weren't
familiar with either the characters we were using or with the subplots
we were writing, then they would still be able to tell that two different
people were contributing, because our writing styles are quite radically
different. I'd like to think that if we wanted to either one of us
could have mimicked the other's style, but because we're proceeding on
parallel subplots neither of us has seen a need to bother. Actually,
while I'm on the subject of story structure and mechanics I should
mention the way that my B plot is mostly filler at this stage of the
game compared to Arthur's A plot. You'll notice that the threats that
my characters are facing don't relate directly to their goal, but rather
are explicitly there as something for them to be menaced by so that they
can build up narrative momentum � whereas Arthur's characters are actually
fighting the real menace. Again, the parallel plot structure means that
these two approaches don't clash too much, but at the same time it does
show that the two stories could have been posted in separate miniseries.
Just an observation.
Nevertheless, this does seem a good point out the flexibility
of Arthur's characterisation. Normally Arthur defaults to writing
character plagued by existential doubts; good, solid, sick-and-twisted
stuff. This is not the only trick in his repertoire however. Take a
look at the narration by Catalyst Lass in issue 1. Over the years
Catalyst Lass has evolved to have a default personality of bright, perky,
intelligent and competent, and Arthur uses it to good effect by showing
how dangerous a combination that is. Apart from being uproariously funny,
you get a genuine sense that Catalyst Lass is an enthusiast who enjoys
life, including the game of pulling the wool over the villains' eyes.
Thunderclap #10
'Mordecai'
a Pinicle City [Pincity] series
by Rick Hindle
Carrying on from the cliffhanger in issue 9, Thunderclap has been
frozen within an ice block by the Ice Queen. He tries to do the
'annoying superhero banter' shtick to buy some time and perhaps
elicit some inadvertent information that he can use against her.
Unfortunately, hypothermia makes Thunderclap delirious and her tirade
sets him off into superhero angst over his own anxieties.
Then he looses consciousness, and either regains it and meets or
hallucinates regaining it to meet Mordecai Holmquist, who looks like
the Christopher Eccleston Doctor and who ten uses the interdimensional
Slipspace to guide him through a 'It's A Wonderful Life'-style montage of
how the lives of others would have been worse if Clay hadn't taken up
the identity of Thunderclap. Of course, this begs the question, was the
meeting with Mordecai real? Eh, well. Logically it must've been, since
an angsting teenager would probably have hallucinated ways in which the
lives of others would have been *better* if he hadn't become Thunderclap.
However, once again my inner Vaarsuvius would like to remind the
audience that common sense often plays a poor second fiddle to dramatic
narrative in fiction. Anyway, Thunderclap is reinvigorated with a sense
of purpose, and wakes to find that he has been rescued by the hero duo
Clusterbomb and Athena, although the Ice Queen had escaped in the interim.
Silver Age Superfreaks #6
'Nightfall'
A Superfreaks [Superfreaks] series
by Martin Phipps
(Which, according to comments-after-the-fact, was supposed to have been
labelled 'Mightnight').
In one sense this story can be considered typical of _Superfreaks_.
This is not so much in terms of plot, although it is certainly true in
the broadest sense of 'something relating to superhumanity occurs and needs
to be investigated by the regular police'. Rather, _Superfreaks_ is quite
specifically a combination of the police investigation and superhero genres,
and the police investigation tends to predominate.
In this instance Super Soldier is investigated for murder/manslaughter
of a bank robber. He's put on trial (under his nom de guerre, thanks to
national protection of his secret identity), and ultimately found innocent
on grounds of justifiable homicide. Later he gets tapped on the shoulder as
the leader of the reformed Extreme Force Six. (Obviously, this is set prior
to current continuity, and certainly prior to Super Soldier's death in
_Superfreaks Season 2_ #5.)
Anyway, if this story had been structured as a typical superhero story,
then the investigation and trial would be a setup for a 'loss of public
confidence' story, possibly with the 'superhero on the run from the law'
twist. Most likely it would have been part of a nefarious scheme by his
archnemesis to discredit him. If written for the Golden or Silver Ages,
then the villain would have been motivated to remove the hero so as to have
a clear shot at his attempts to take over the city/country/planet. If
written for the Bronze or Iron ages the villain's motivation would more
likely to have been revenge, pure and simple. Eventually the hero would
have exposed the plot against him, and his status quo as a hero would be
restored to universal acclaim.
This is not to say that the valid and quite complex doubts that Alan
Russell voices at the end of the issue about unaccountable authority would
not have had some place in such a story. However, I believe it is the case
that such a story would have had a dramatic purpose of deliberate persecution
of the hero protagonist, rather than what we have here, which is a routine
prosecution of due process. And *that* is how you can tell _Superfreaks_
has the police investigation as the dominant half of its genre pairing.
----------
Saxon Brenton University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au
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