REVIEW: End of Month Reviews #84 - December 2010 [spoilers]

[Saxon Brenton]

[REVIEW] End of Month Reviews #84 - December 2010 [spoilers]  
     
Reviewed This Issue:
     Corps Of Discovery #1  [ASH]
     Godling #19  [MISC]
     Looniverse Y #7  [LNHY]
     One Day At A Time #1-6  [Misc]
     Silver Arrow #4  [StarFall]
     Spellbinder #1-2  [StarFall]
     Team Xero #003  [Misc]  {high concept #15}
     
     
Also posted:
     Anal-Retentive Archive Kid: A Judicious Use Of Overkill #11  [LNH/WRIMO]
     Going Solo #4  [StarFall]  {high concept #15}
     Sonnet Null  [ASH]  {high concept 16}
     
     
     Hmm.  By strange coincidence Ted and Andrew have both roped in 
friends to write for rec.arts.comics.creative, and the output for both 
James Mason and Robin Strickland turn up in December.  Which means that 
once again the 'Best New Writer' award at the RACCies is a contest rather 
than a door prize.
     High Concept Challenge #15 was another mashup resulting from a tie: 
'The new job' and 'underground realm'.  It has since been proposed that 
ties no longer be allowed, with the vote counter being given a 
discretionary tie-breaking vote.
     The High Concept Challenge #16 was 'The Epic Poem'.
     Spoilers below:
     
     
====     
     
Corps of Discovery #1 
'Tesla Boys!'
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH]
by Andrew Perron
     
     This is the introductory issue for, as one character puts it, "the 
finest weird-stuff organization in the country".  The characters are 
brought on stage and the basic concept is introduced.  Bear in mind that 
it's well established in the ASH setting that the ability of superhumans 
to break the laws of physics is a narrowly focused manifestation of 
magic - but it's not until the time period of the _Academy of Super-Heroes_ 
series in the 21st century that this is best understood (and in some ways 
even taken for granted).  By contrast this series is taking place back 
in the mid 20th century when the phenomenon of reality physics has only 
recently been noticed, and IIRC the truly groundbreaking work on 
explaining the phenomenon won't be for several decades in the late 
20th century.
     With that in mind, I'm expecting this to be an adventure series 
starring various shades of nerd who know just enough to get themselves 
into trouble.
     And I'll cheerfully admit to being vastly amused by the character 
concept behind Z-Man.
    
      
Godling #19
'The Battle for New Troy'
A Miscellaneous [Misc] series
by Jochem Vandersteen
     
     Master Destiny has made his big move, publicly taking over the 
city of New Troy rather than just trying to rule it from the shadows by 
sending out a series of superpowered minions.  He's beaten the police 
forces that were opposing him (last issue) and now levitates City Hall 
and turns it into his stronghold.
     There's not too much I want to discuss here except:  Woot!  Teamup 
of multiple Godlings from different time periods!  Silver Age of comics 
wackiness at its best!
     But I suppose I'd better address Jochem's questions from the Author's 
notes.  He observes that _Godling_ tends to be written as a fast-paced 
comic with short scenes and a low word count that makes for a quick read, 
but that he's thinking of extending the length of the posted stories.  
Now I don't know exactly what prompts these questions: whether Jochem has 
a backlog of ideas that he thinks could be best dealt with by pushing 
them out in longer posts, or whether he wants to experiment with a 
somewhat different style of writing that would be better expressed in a 
longer story format.  As a generalisation:  I agree that as the series 
stands it makes for a snappy read.  Adding in more scenes of about the 
same length or perhaps slightly longer shouldn't change the pacing too 
much.  On the other hand, I think that significantly longer scenes might 
start to change the style of the series.  Whether that's a good thing or 
a bad thing or simply something to be experimented with is entirely a 
matter of personal choice.  Nevertheless, unless Jochem's deliberately 
revamping his entire writing style, I think that it would be wise to keep 
the sentences short and punchy even if he's adding more content.
     A similar consideration applies to characterisation.  My recollection 
is that _Godling_ has always been fast paced, and with characterisation 
tending to be direct and to the point, painted in broad brush strokes.  
In other words, none of the lingering on a person's feelings to create 
overwhelming feelings of angst such as, for example, Arthur Spitzer 
specialises in.  I think that changing that formula would radically 
change the style of the series too.  
     On the subject of self-contained issues - I don't think makes much 
difference.  After all, a significant number of the stories posted to 
RACC are anywhere up to twice to three times longer than the average 
issue of _Godling_.  However there have been extremely well received 
short-issue series in the past (like, say, Hubert Bartel's _Tales Of 
The LNH_).  Realistically I'd say that as long as the pacing is kept 
fast (in other words, there are enough incidents throughout the story 
and especially at the end of the issue to make the reader come back to 
find out what happens next) then length is more a matter of how much 
incidental detail and description you want to include.
     
     
Looniverse Y #7
'Incorrupting The Corruptible'
A Legion of Net.Heroes Y [LNHY] series
by Andrew Perron
     
     Struck by a sudden fit of inspiration, Andrew decided to do 
something with the status quo of the Mysterious Shadowy Messing-with-
Destiny Dude.  For the past six years the Mysterious Shadowy Messing-
with-Destiny Dude has been forced to wander Planet T-Bone, searching for 
Geoff Grooves, so that he can give Mr Grooves the System Corrupters 
Franchise Setup Kit.
     Then he collides with Kid Enthusiastic-Y, who is on his way to apply 
for membership with the Legion of Net Heroes.  The Franchise Setup Kit 
gets misplaced into Kid Enthusiastic-Y's possession, and when he discovers 
it in his backpack the Setup Kit turns him !!!Eeevil!!!  His character 
writeup description says it all, really: 
> Leader of the System Corrupters.  Determined to make them the best 
> supervillain team ever, goshdarnit!
     
     
One Day at a Time #1-6
A Miscellaneous [Misc] series
by James Mason 
     
     After thinking about this series for a while I've reached the 
conclusion that the description I'm looking for isn't quite 'slapstick' 
(although goodness knows there's a lot of physical humour here) but 
'burlesque'.  A large measure of the humour comes from the incongruity 
and exaggeration of an ordinary schlub, Bill (aka Mike, the Kittyman) 
at various times either not keeping up with the superheroic role that 
been dumped on him, or being very good at it for all the wrong reasons. 
And then, when he seems to have a hang of things, meeting someone like 
the even-less-sane-than-normal Alexander, who incidentally demonstrates 
that Mike's personal kryptonite is being petted.
     The story starts when Bill's organs explode/drop out, he doesn't 
die, and instead a mysterious disembodied voice offers him help in putting 
them back.  After accepting he gets reintegrated, but is also given 
superpowers as a strong and invulnerable humanoid cat man, and thereafter 
gets called upon by the voice to fight crime.  Eventually Bill's flatmate 
John  reveals that he was also given powers by the voice (and became a 
mage).  Possibly Alexander gained her powers from the same source.
     
     
Silver Arrow #4
"The Difference Made"
A StarFall [StarFall] series
by Ted Brock
     
     For this issue I'm going to be worrying about Jade Wong.  Not *just* 
because of her decent into criminality when she started out as part of a 
sting operation to destroy crime.  Nor for something as simple as her 
physical safety.  No, rather I'm worrying about her mental health.
     I'll start by noting that in the discussion thread in the immediate 
wake of the posting of this issue that Andrew Perron made the point that 
there's a difference between 'Becoming the Mask isn't the same thing as 
"discover[ing] my *true* self" '.  That Jade's narration explains what 
she's done, but not the motivation for it.  I agree with this, and from 
his reply so does Ted.
     I strongly suspect that somewhere along the line Jade has bought 
into the 'super shtick' - in her case the 'supervillain shtick'.  This 
is in opposition to Sun Li's preferences ("She doesn't like the capes 
and cloaks that have appeared the last few years") but unlike Jade I 
don't think that Sun Li will forgive even if she does manage to kill 
Silver Arrow.  Bluntly, the way that Jade's thinking is leaning towards 
the melodramas of supervillainy is indicative of an error of thought as 
to the type of criminality she is involved in.
     One way or another costumed supervillainy is basically costumed 
terrorism; it's about attracting attention to your costumed identity and 
making a reputation.  Maybe it's about using the costume to draw attention 
to your 'cause' as an adjunct to more traditional terrorism.  Maybe it's 
about nutcases who are attracted to the theatre of dressing up and trying 
to match wits with an opponent.  Maybe it's just a simple tactic to hide 
your identity with a mask and goofy costume when you're committing a 
crime in public.  (And in the case of settings like the Looniverse, where 
characters *know* they're characters in a story, it might be something as 
simple as trying to be memorable enough to writers and readers that you 
make return appearances.)  Whichever is the case, Sun Li's organisation 
seems to be focused on drug smuggling, and none of those motivations for 
costumed supervillainy apply - her type of crime does *not* want attention 
attracted to itself.  Even if Jade - or should I say, White Crane - 
succeeds, I think Sun Li will at the very least demote her and possibly 
even kill her as an example to her other minions.
     Further proof that Jade has fallen into the supervillain shtick is 
that she knows Silver Arrows's secret identity but *isn't* going to 
exploit it to the utmost.  No, Jade.  No no no no no.  Once again, for 
the type of criminality you're involved in you don't go for that type of 
behaviour.  In fact, this goes beyond buying into the supervillain's 
shtick of a 'battle of wits', or whatever rationale she's using.  For a 
crime syndicate member this is actually carrying the Idiot Ball.  You 
should be using every advantage you can and acting as ruthlessly as you 
have to; and afterwards, if the Asian obsession with 'maintaining face' 
becomes an issue, then you simply claim that you have a reputation as 
honourable and nobody will disagree because they're too effing sacred 
of you.
     Jade, you aren't well.  I could go and hypothesise that in order to 
emotionally deal with the way you became deadened to the criminal facade 
you crafted for yourself, that you distanced from the criminality of 
'Tong member' by growing enamoured of the slightly more glamorous 
criminality of 'supervillain'.  But in any case, you haven't found your 
true self; you've lost track of yourself.  Soon you'll be *monologing*!  
Run, don't walk, to a psychiatrist.
     Okay, so, after that extended rant on behalf of a character who 
wouldn't pay attention to anything I said even if she was real and could 
hear me in the first place, one final thing that appealed to me.  Like 
Andrew, I liked the line:
> Still, there's 
> something different in the world since the Quake.  What would have had 
> people sending for the men in white coats is now considered 
> commonplace, even acceptable. 
     It probably ties in with an underlying change in the nature of 
reality post-Reality Quake, but I think it boils down to a version of the 
old adage:  'If it was silly but now it works, then it's no longer silly.'  
Which come to think of it might, perhaps, be the one thing that might work 
in Jade's favour as she embarks upon her career as the White Crane.
     
     
Spellbinder #1-2
'Take This Job and Shove It'  and  'Astral Weeks'
A StarFall [StarFall] series
by Robin Strickland
     
     I have a particular fondness for the character of Doctor Strange, 
and on the surface at least Chelsea, aka Spellbinder ("Mystic Defender 
of the Earth Dimension") has a similarity in job description if not 
necessarily of personality.  That alone would probably be enough to 
draw me in.  However the premise has been inverted to have a twist 
that delivers a nasty sting from its tail.  Right from the start the 
audience is informed:
> Which is why, after fighting so hard for the title, I was rather 
> depressed that I basically wound up babysitting a bunch of ancient 
> monsters.
     The confrontation-climax of issue one makes it more explicit: the 
position of the Mystic Defender was set up by various gods so that 
various magical, mystical, and otherwise mythical beings could live on 
Earth without much concern for being responsible for the consequences 
of their actions.  Whenever something goes wrong with magic/mundane 
relations Spellbinder will turn up to sort out the conflict and sooth 
the (for the most part metaphorical) ruffles feathers - and significantly 
the things that 'go wrong' are trivial social matters.  There doesn't 
seem to be any indication that the gods were intending for Spellbinder 
to handle huge cosmic crises (although that'll probably change now that 
Chelsea has decided to redefine her job description).  In short, 
Spellbinder's job as originally created wasn't like that of the position 
of Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel Comics, and certainly not (to use a more 
obscure reference) the Archmage of the Champions roleplaying game setting 
who specifically needs to be beholden to no power except the best 
interests of Earth.  If anything it's more like the cleanup crews and 
their forget spells from the Department of Magic in the Harry Potter books.
     So issue one has the setup, showing what Spellbinder's job used to 
be like, and using the opening words "I used to hate my job" to 
contextualise the whole thing into the past tense and indicate that Things 
Will Be Changing Soon.  A few minor problems are shown being taken care 
of, and then Spellbinder gets kidnapped by some Unseelie who reveal the 
truth of her job just to cause her emotional pain.  Issue two has 
Spellbinder outthinking the Wild Hunt before going on subvert the Oath of 
the Mystic Defender so that she can follow her own conscience.
     That's the setup and plot.  As far as personality is concerned 
Chelsea is very much like Doctor Strange on one key point: when she's 
outgunned in terms of sheer power she simply outthinks her opponent.  
Witness her tactics both against the Wild Hunt and in subverting the 
Mystic Oath; both are classic examples of lateral thought.  (In fact, 
things like that may be why Spellbinder had a spell of ignorance placed 
on her: part of the job requires her to think fast and creatively on the 
tasks she's been set, but be kept from thinking at all on certain other 
subjects.)
     The setting is... well, it's implicitly broad simply because of its 
subject matter, even if only part of that range has had the opportunity 
to be explored.  Chelsea lives in what passes as the modern day version 
of Earth of the StarFall imprint, and it's worth remembering that the 
Reality Quake occurred in the recent past and acts as the handwave 
needed to explain any 'four colour comic book' style weirdness that 
occurs in this imprint.  But she can travel between dimensions, was 
kidnapped into Faerie, has traffic with gods as her former employers, 
and has the brief to keep the mystic peace.  That could mean encountering 
almost anything and going almost anywhere, from any established or 
concocted mythology.
     Now, these factors are important because it means info dumps to 
explain what's going on.  For the most part Chelsea has been narrating 
her adventures, and she has a conversational style that's easy to read.  
The third person narration for those events that Chelsea hasn't been 
present carry on the same style, with some of the same wry humour:
> "LALALALALACAN'THEARYOU," interrupted Athena, the loss of her normally 
> famous composure proving that immaculate birth notwithstanding, no 
> child can stand the thought of their parent engaged in certain 
> activities.
     In some cases it's been a recitation that's more or less based on 
established Lore (such as the Fey) but others are deconstructions and 
inversions (Medusa's hang-ups).  There's also straight world building, 
such as the description of the Chapel of the Mystic Defender and how it 
exists on the Shallow Astral, or (a particular favourite) the notion of 
someone with rapid healing needing to eat in order to have the body 
avoid cannibalising its own muscle tissue to build muscle tissue.
     
     
Team Xero #003
A Miscellaneous [Misc] series  {high concept 15}
by Jamas Enright
     
     For the 15th High Concept Challenge Mantis has prepared a swarm 
of lava crickets to send out and take over the world (again).  
Unfortunately he captures Lattay, a superheroine who is helping out with 
her sister's catering business.  When Mantis refuses to believe that 
- for today at least - she's *just* delivering coffee, she goes, "if 
you're going to be like that" and defeats him with the pepping up power 
of coffee.
     It's an example of more amusing silliness, but once again you 
need to take the limitations of the video software into account.  
     
     
----------       
Saxon Brenton   University of Technology, city library, Sydney Australia
     saxon.brenton at uts.edu.au 
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