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

Scott Eiler seiler at eilertech.com
Thu Jan 16 22:35:32 PST 2014


On 1/16/2014 8:29 AM, Andrew Perron wrote:
> <---------------------->
>
> Academy of Super-Heroes #120
> "City of Night Part 1: Gloaming"
> An Academy of Super-Heroes [ASH] series
> by Dave Van Domelen
>
> "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..."

I'm new to the imprint.  The first stories I paid attention to are of 
Esmerelda and the destroyed hero city.  It's nice to see the follow-up, 
and to see something big happening.  (This story stopped Psychovant from 
yawning profusely.)


> 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."

The Cover Gallery stands in a different realm from "story".  But I 
haven't been above that in my own writings.  Sometimes I get stuff from 
my own throw-off ideas and run with it for later stories.  So, why not 
everyone else.


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

My thinking on that is still under development.  I do assume that either 
tech, magic, or both may work.  If they both work, it's almost certainly 
a superhuman world.

> "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'."

heh.  Since the Chancellor Wyatt came to power, the staff has started 
writing geopolitical analyses as though they were story reviews.  If I 
ever get back to "Turkworld", that concept will come into play.

> "(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.)"

I tried to check before reviewing.  By the means I have on hand, I saw 
seven posts with the LNH20 imprint, mostly if not totally one-shot 
stories which could be retroactively merged with the main LNH.  If LNH20 
ever dies the true death, I will do that with Clueless Lad.  His whole 
rationale is to explain the LNH, and that trick works best with an LNH 
that people are paying attention to.

> "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!"

heh, I really do write as my characters sometime.  I've already 
established, Psychovant is too big to fit in just one universe.  I'm 
glad no one's declared a holy war over the duck's big mouth.  But he 
*did* hold one or two things back...  8{D>

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

Yay, RACCies!


> 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!"

Somehow, for me the Godling writing style worked better on Dober-Girl. 
That style seems made for one-shot stories.


> 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
>
> "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, it worked as a Christmas story.  Confronting someone after the 
present is delivered is just not a Christmas trope.


-- 
(signed) Scott Eiler  8{D> -------- http://www.eilertech.com/ ---------

When you *are* the leader... whatever goes wrong... whether you did it
or not... *you* are held responsible. - Barack Obama

I know. - Archie Andrews

- from Archie #617, March 2011, scripted by Alex Simmons.


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