LNH/REVIEW: Kid Review's Roundup: December 2013

[Andrew Perron]

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PREHISTORIC PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

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 ><><><> | <><><><  || By:     Andrew     Perron ||  ><><><> | <><><><
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In This Issue:
    Academy of Super-Heroes #120
    Catalog of Earths #1-5
    Cover Gallery #13i
    Godling's World #3-4
    JONG! #69
    Legion of Net.Heroes Volume 2 #57

Also Posted:
    All-New Legion of Net.Heroes #2
    Chevalier: The Queen's Mouseketeer (December)
    The Continentals (December)
    Godling #35
    LNH Comics Presents #303
    Powernaut 2005 #14-19
    Ripping Off King Arthur #143-#144
    Superhuman World 1966: The Curse of the Christmas Pirate!

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"A little late with this one - at least, where 'late' is a self-imposed
deadline of 'within the first week of the month'. Which I think is what
Saxon used, but he never specified? Ah well. On with the reviews!"

Academy of Super-Heroes #120
"City of Night Part 1: Gloaming"
An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
by Dave Van Domelen

"What the Heck Is This: The flagship title of the ASH imprint, focusing on
the North American Combine's premiere superteam in a world that's rebuilt
itself from apocalypse."

"ASH! ASHASHASHASHASH. ASH, as most of my readers will know, is one of
RACC's longest-running series, as well as one of its most consistently
high-quality. Dave Van Domelen *knows* worldbuilding, drama, and
interpersonal interaction, and puts them into a storytelling engine
composed of equal parts SF puzzling and superhero adventure."

"This issue starts a new storyline by resolving things from the previous
one. The refugees from a destroyed world - mostly coming from a single
*city* which happened to have many *heroes* - are safely anchored to ASH's
continuum. A cult of a dark goddess celebrates the Winter Solstice. The
heroes of ASH talk about the underpinnings of the setting, and what could
lie beneath them - primal gods and prophetic AIs. On the accidentally
terraformed world of Venus, a hero of shadows sheds light on the
situation."

"And once all these pieces are in place, the action quietly kicks off, as
one morning, the sun just doesn't come up..."

Cover Gallery #13i
A Classic Legion of Net.Heroes [LNH] series
by Rob Rogers

"Oh man - ANOTHER of my favorite LNH writers contributes. And with a
combination of relevant social satire, relevant Christmas cheer, and
timeless punnery. GOOD STUFF."

Catalog of Earths #1-5
A Superhuman World Review [SW10/REVIEW] series
by Scott Eiler

"What the Heck Is This: An informational piece of various RACC-related
universes in the guise of an in-world document produced by the Superhuman
World's Council of Ordered Realities."

"First, a bit of a nitpick: The whole idea of 'sorting' worlds into
'Science Worlds' and 'Magic Worlds' has always felt like a false dichotomy
- especially since this listing specifically notes that worlds can contain
more than one. In this case, it feels like a couple of degrees off from an
idea that could work - something about dominant cultures and what their
worldview is."

"Anyway, beyond that, this is an interesting look at both RACC and the
Council. The Council, it seems, has some level of metafictional awareness,
but not as much as, say, most members of the Classic LNH, occasionally
mentioning stories but talking more in terms of 'activity' and 'Higher
Powers'."

"(Another nitpick: LNH20's been more active than the Council implies in
2013; according to Saxon's eligibles list, there were eleven stories under
the imprint that year. Still, getting that back on track is one of my goals
for 2014.)"

"And then, of course, there's Psychovant, who, like a good deranged
antihero, has full metafictional awareness and a snarky attitude about it.
It's clear that Scott's not holding back, letting some pretty incisive
criticisms out through the duck's mouth; overall, these seem to have been
received in the spirit they were intended, pushing writers to improve and
look at their stuff from new angles. Excellent!"

"So, does this count as a possible nominee for Best Review Series in the
RACCies? We shall see!"

Godling's World #3-4
"B.E.M. part 3" and "SHOWING TEETH"
A Miscellaneous [MISC] series
by Jochem Vandersteen

"#3 concludes the Doctor Proton arc, revealing that the beetles are
actually servants of an energy being from another planet whose motivation
is being a jerk. #4 has a seemingly one-shot story about Dober-Girl, a
street-level hero who takes care of the stuff Godling doesn't pay attention
to, yo!"

"The Doctor Proton arc reminds me of Marvel Team-Up in the '70s, with a
combination of heroes fighting each other, bouncing their personalities off
each other, and actually combining their powers and specialties to trounce
the villain. #4 takes a different tack, focusing on the "World" part and
going out to cover the things that Godling's stories don't. Both are
excellent ways of extending your setting and making it feel more real. And
yay, queer representation!"

JONG! #69
"Who Cares About Tomorrow's Drool?"
A Classic LNH and Net.Trenchcoat Brigade [LNH/NTB] Elsewhirl (that should
probably also be LNHY, considering the opening)
by Arthur Spitzer

"What the Heck Is This: Arthur Spitzer's very first LNH series from 1993,
brought back for a 20th-anniversary encore."

"This is a very, very, very, very, *very* silly story."

"Back in the day, Arthur's primary character was the Slobbering Grue!, a
short green toadlike man in striped boxer shorts with no apparent
superpowers, fighting skills, deductive abilities, attention span, or
hygiene. This issue is an over-the-top parody of 'the last X story'
stories, with Slobbering! coming back for one last showdown when his
Oddball counterpart, the Sophisticated Grue, arrives to conquer the
Looniverse."

"And it's great. It's just-- I enjoyed this so much, I can't even tell you.
It's interesting -  in getting to this issue, I read all the previous
issues of JONG that Arthur had reposted, and while the *style* of this
issue matches those pretty well, the underlying structure, the way things
are set up so that humor can flow out, is just fantastic. Special honor
goes to Everyone Loses An
Eye and Has To Wear An Eye Patch From Now On Cry.Sig, the secret origin of
Knife Fight Dude, and the Saviors of the Net tie-in."

"Also, I want Non-Judgmental Agnostic to travel back in time and join the
present-day LNH. And for that matter, Foreshadowing Lad needs to come back
too!"

Legion of Net.Heroes Volume 2 #57
"Merry File-System-Checking Christmas"
A Classic LNH and Net.Trenchcoat Brigade [LNH/NTB] series
by Saxon Brenton

"What the Heck Is This: Wow, I haven't done LNH v2 yet? Well, it's the
flagship title of the LNH imprint - here being used to tell a
Net.Trenchcoat Brigade story."

"The previous story was NTB as part of its ridiculous mashup of Looniversal
concepts, but this one is straight-up classic Vertigo style. Ring Job, 'a
professional anarchist dedicated to raising humanity's consciousness' with
enough piercings to set off every metal detector in a three-mile radius,
decides it's time for a very special style of Christmas present."

"You know, I kind of figured this would end with some kind of
confrontation, but actually, it kind of just finishes. Which actually seems
pretty appropriate for a story about someone dedicated to  subverting
established structures."

"Also, Saxon's NTB stories often involve an LNHer in Standard Superhero
Thought Pattern Mode as a complication. I don't have anything in particular
to say about this; I just think it's interesting."

Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, hellaux~