Supehero Media: Jessica Jones

Thanks to the backlog of these articles (that never quite seems to go away), I have actually been able to watch Jessica Jones a second time before writing this. I'm glad I did, because I really found a lot more to enjoy the second time around. My first impression of the programme was that it is very bleak, even with their powers, the characters struggle to function in day to day life. Even the villain of the piece, a brilliantly slimy Purple Man, is revealed to be emotionally fragile and naive in many ways. Where the characters in Agents of SHIELD or Daredevil use their calling to bypass their trepidation, in Jessica Jones they are galvanized to action only when apathy and decision paralysis are no long options to be explored. As the "zoom-in" to the streets of MCU New York continues, Jessica Jones is as about as close as we're likely to go without the Morlocks or D-Man showing up. If you haven't checked it out yet, use your free Netflix trial to watch it, take a day off, then watch it again. 

It is, however, the strength of uniqueness of Jessica Jones that is also its greatest weakness. It feels disjointed from the rest of the MCU, the appearance of Night Nurse and references to the Battle of New York are about as far as the writers go, and it's not quite enough. I was really hoping that the last episode would end with a man in a sharp suit with a white cane knocking on Jessica's door, as an echoing of Nick Fury's appearance after the credits in Iron Man, signalling bigger things to come. Fans of the comic may cringe, but I really want to see Jessica lining up alongside Daredevil, Luke Cage and Iron Fist to battle the Kingpin's army of supervillains as they descend on Hell's Kitchen. 

While I'm on the subject, Jessica Jones is not Alias, or even The Pulse, it's something new and different, so don't expect the characters and places to be the same as the comics. I know that should be obvious by now, but for some reason, I keep hearing people complain about it. The Netflix Marvel programmes are adding a new dimension to the MCU and I can't wait to see more of this, as I write, it's about two and a half weeks until season two of Daredevil and the ride begins again. Will Jessica or Luke make an appearance? Maybe, but I doubt it. Somehow, I'm losing that "fanboy" motivation to just see these characters and gaining a new desire to see these versions, hopefully Jessica returns soon and brings all Hell's Kitchen with her. 
 

How Cards Made Me a Better Wargamer

Bit of a departure from strictly Superhero-related subject matter here, but it's been on my mind a bit lately. Plus, I will talk mainly about Supers card games, so I guess there's a bit of a link there. Last year (2015), I decided to play the Retro Dragonball Z Collectible Card Game a little more often than I had been. I'd picked up the game again a few years previous when I came across some cards and a coworker revealed that there was a thriving online community and plenty of the game I'd missed out on. Within about eight months, I went from "I wanna build a Gohan deck" to "Freestyle Trunks Sword Beats with Roshi Sensei" (yeah, jargon for outsiders, but you get my point). It wasn't a replacement for games like Secrets of the Third Reich, SuperSystem and Empire of the Dead, but it was another outlet to get my "gaming" fix through and something I was ok with spending money on. 

My RetroDBZ Trunks Sword deck in all it's glory.

Another, more personal, development I undertook last year was to attempt to do things better than I had been. Stuff like work, relationships and study were obvious, but I also chose not to ignore my hobbies. I've never been much of a tournament player, but I figured I could put more than the minimal effort into my gaming than I had been. Consequently, I've only dropped one or two SOTR games in the past year. The point wasn't to become more cutthroat, but to put a little more thought into every game. One of the most interesting factors of a card game is the deck, drawing cards, deciding how many of each card to run and working with what you draw, not what you wanted to draw. A term in the Magic the Gathering community that can be a bit loaded is "Mana-screwed", it basically means that you "would have won" if you'd drawn the right cards. Well duh. I totally would have won that game of Trivial Pursuit if I had known the answers. Good deckbuilding means being able to get the cards you need into you hand when you need them, or, if you can't do that, making the most of what you do have. 

 Sentinels of the Multiverse Card Game, cooperative and a good way to learn to work with a deck. Also Superheroes, so you can't go wrong.

To paraphrase Walter Kovacs, "No compromise, no surrender", even if defeat looks inevitable, I make my opponent pay for every bloody inch of ground. You'd be surprised how often an opponent that thinks they've won already makes a big enough mistake that you can get back in the game. I learned that from card playing because, when I was losing badly, I figured "hey, the game will only be another ten minutes of my life, why not play it out?", occasionally I won and most of the time, I had fun. If getting into a CCG hardcore is not your thing, try the Pokemon TCG Online, it's free and a bit of fun, or maybe try something the the DCU Deckbuilding Game or Sentinels of the Multiverse Card Game; each is different, but uses some of the same skills I've discussed here. Who knows, you may have some fun and sharpen your skills at the same time? 

Superhero Media: Black Widow - Homecoming

This comic sucks. First of all, I'm really annoyed that I'm yet to read a Black Widow comic that's any good. Sure, there are plenty of good comics featuring Widow, but where are all the ones she's starring in? I'm sure there must be some, Widow is a character with so much potential and depth to add to stories; just look at what has been done with her in the MCU Captain America films. In comics like Secret War or even some Daredevil, Widow is smart, capable and subtle, very subtle, because she's a spy and is trained to operate in deep cover without being caught. In Homecoming, she's a raving, man-hating loon who is capable of about as much subtly as a brick through a window. 

In my bachelor's study of Literature and Film, I did a reasonable amount of work on feminist and gender theories, so I like to think that I have an ok understanding about how women should be written and what are the bad "strong woman" cliches. I'm going to have to delve back into some of the theory, because I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed a writing parallel to the "Virgin/Whore" complex along the lines of the "Victim-in-waiting/Man-eating murderess" complex. In this comic, Widow routinely tortures, maims and cripples male opponents like she's trying to be Jack Bauer and completely forgotten that she's been an Avenger for years, off and on. That would be passable on it's own, but every second line out of her mouth is some diatribe about men being scum. Yes, Widow is trained to manipulate men, but she's not the "Red Spy" that tricked Hawkeye into fighting Iron Man back in the '60s, she's the Avenger who tried to point out to Clint that he was letting his nob do the thinking in the 2010s. Oh, and apparently, Nick Fury isn't a mastermind who recognises Widow's true talent, he just has a magic aftershave that controls her like a dog. 
 

Despite trying to be a truly feminist comic, Homecoming is clearly written by a man (Richard K. Morgan), who thinks that, to be a feminist, a woman must be a manipulative, man-hating bitch, which is a damn misogynistic point of view. This clearly isn't the Widow that operated undercover in Latveria for months without being spotted in Secret Wars, or who struggled with maternal yearnings in Guardian Devil, because she was a complex character who was defined by more than her gender and sexuality, operating on emotions (because woman are all emotional, right?) and lucking through fights. Give this one a miss. 

Minions of Robespierre - Corrected

After posting the stats with the "Miniatures Finished" for The Minions of Robespierre, I noticed that there were a few mistakes. I've gone back and corrected them and here are the better versions: 

Name: Maximillian Robespierre

BP: 85

Affiliation: Minions of Robespierre

AP: 14

Strike: 6

Strength: 3

Dodge: 4

Sense: 3

Toughness: 4

Mind: 7 (1)

Resolve: 6

Damage: 3

Powers

Elemental Control Pool – 3 Full, 2 AP to change slots

- Flight

- Entangle 5 – 3 AP 15” range, Target is Immobilised. TN3 Strength to damage, 5 Vitality

- Dispel – 4AP 15” Range, Mind vs Power Dice, turns off Active Powers  Supress – Can target Attributes and constant effect Powers. Attributes lose super and drop to 2D

Super Mind 1 – May use Mind for Initiative

Edge 2 may add +1D after or +2D before a roll per level once per game

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

KO

Name: Tarrare

BP: 85

Affiliation: Minions of Robespierre

AP: 6

Strike: 4

Strength: 8 (2)

Dodge: 2

Sense: 2

Toughness: 8 (2)

Mind: 2

Resolve: 2

Damage: 8 (2)

Powers

Slow Footed – Cannot Charge

Drain 6D (Boon) – 2AP, Physical Stats only, Max 2 per Stat per turn, Restores Vitality

Super Strength 2, Super Toughness 2, Knockback Resistance 4”

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

KO

Name: Les Enfants Terribles				BP: 85
Affiliation: Minions of Robespierre				AP: 8 (3)
Strike: 6	Strength: 4	Dodge: 6	Sense: 5 (1)
Toughness: 5 (1)	Mind: 2	Resolve: 2	Damage: 6
Powers
Soulless – Immune to Mind-based attacks and Healing. Automatically fails KO Checks
Climbing - Can move up and down vertical surfaces, may Charge.
Super Sense 1 (X-ray Sight) – May Ignore Terrain when determining LOS for Charges
Implacable Charge - +1D Strike on Charge
Shrinking 1 (Mighty Mite, Always On)
Henchman Team, 8 Members, Weapon +2D, Extra Move 3

Name: Hommes de Bonbons

BP: 85

Affiliation: Minions of Robespierre

AP: 11

Strike: 2

Strength: 2

Dodge: 2

Sense: 6

Toughness: 5

Mind: 7 (2)

Resolve: 5

Damage: 2

Powers

Flare – AP3, 15” Range, Mind vs Mind, Stunned

Terrifying Aura – Enemy Models within 15” Radius must pass TN4 Resolve roll or be Terrified

Super Mind 2 – May use Mind for Initiative Rolls

Limited Mobility – Moves 1” per 2 AP and may not Charge

Tactician 3 – 3AP, Grant 1 Re-roll to friendly model within 15”, up to three times a turn

Healing – 4 AP, Mind Roll, every 2 Goals heals 1 Vitality, base contact only

Banter – May make an additional Soliloquy Attack each game.

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

KO

Name: Monsieur de Paris

BP: 85

Affiliation: Minions of Robespierre

AP: 8

Strike: 5 (1)

Strength: 6 (2/3)

Dodge: 3

Sense: 2

Toughness: 6 (2)

Mind: 2

Resolve: 2

Damage: 8 (2/3)

Powers

Super Strength 2 (Rage) - +1 Super Strength at half starting Vitality

Foresight – Counts one less for in Multiple Combats, may re-roll one scenario die

Bodyguard – May become the target of Toughness Damaging attacks targeting friend within 3”

Extra Attacks – May Flurry for +1AP

Super Toughness 2, Knockback Resistance 7”, Weapon +3D (No Grabs), Reach 2”, Super Strike 1

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

KO

(I'm not promising that they're 100% correct, but they're more correct than the last ones.