Miniatures Finished: 13/03/2018

Steady progress is the best progress, I find. 

 Earthworm Jim is a 3D print a friend found on eBay, he's a little small, but captures the look of the cartoon nicely. 

"Sewer Monster" from Big Trouble in Little China, part of a North Star miniatures set. 

The Spoiler, Heroclix, but another pretty nice one, especially given the character's relative obscurity. 

 Dracula from Studio Miniatures, supposed to evoke Christopher Lee, but reminds me a little of Leslie Nielsen. 

Doctor Doom, a Heroclix I use with my SOTR Latveria army, probably a little big, just did some touch-ups on him. 

Mad Jim Jaspers, Eureka Civilian, was the best I could find, I think the white hat and purple umbrella help bring this class Captain Britain villain to life. 

Superhero Media: Earthworm Jim (Television)

It's rare that I go back to a television programme I enjoyed as a child or adolescent and find that I can actually enjoy it again. I can't actually remember the situation happening where I enjoyed the programme more as an adult, until I gave Earthworm Jim another go. Although the surreal jokes, fast pace and funny noises will keep children entertained, the constant Dune references, existential rants and anti-Puritan sentiment are clearly there for the adults. In many ways, Earthworm Jim is reminiscent of Ren & Stimpy or even South Park, in that it relies upon broad "Saturday Morning Cartoon" tropes to deliver subversive messages or play with audience expectations. As an example, Jim often refers to "The Great Worm Spirit" as a cosmological deity, which is framed as a personal delusion, until the Spirit appears in several episodes and it turns out that Jim's ramblings were accurate. 

Battling Jim is the villainous horde of Psy-Crow, Professor Monkey-for-a-head, Bob the Killer Goldfish, Evil the Cat, Evil Jim and, of course, Queen Pulsating Bloated Festering Sweaty Puss-filled Malformed Slug-for-a-Butt. Jim's origins as a hero are linked to his villains, in that the Super-Suit that gives him his powers was invented by Professor Monkey-for-a-head on the orders of Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, but the delivery was botched by Psy-Crow and an ordinary worm became the Universe's greatest hero. Along for the ride are Peter Puppy and Princess Whatshername, though in the episodes, Jim often rides solo as it's his interactions with the villains that creates the comedy and the Peter mauling Jim gag wears thin pretty quickly. Hank Azaria really carries the programme, but guest appearances from other famous voice actors like Maurice LaMarche make for some great scenes, LaMarche's Orson Welles impression getting several outings. 

Now that these are written so far in advance, I have no idea if you've seen my Earthworm Jim miniature yet, but I've wanted to add him to my Ultimate Alliance games for a while, team him up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Green Lantern Corps, that kind of thing. I don't think I'll be bothering to add other characters from the series, unless reasonable miniatures present themselves, as most lack the charm and unique set of abilities of Jim himself. All in all, this is an odd little series that may not be to the tastes of most, but is probably worth a look anyway. I doubt I'll ever talk more about the games here, as I'm not much of a retro gamer and my emulator has a habit of crashing in the second level of Earthworm Jim 2; maybe if it pops up on a games service or e-store at some point, but don't hold your breath. 

Alternate Supers: The Revengers

Well, Thor Ragnarok was pretty fucking awesome, right? I mean, I like Thor and Thor Dark World more than most people, but Ragnarok was much better than even I was expecting, even given the current trend of Marvel Studio films somehow getting better and better. Did you see Black Panther? Holy crap! And I'm writing this before Infinity War, which I suspect may actually be so good that I may die of sheer joy watching it. Where was I? Oh yeah, The Revengers. 
So one of the questions I get asked by, typically younger, gamers about SuperSystem and Ultimate Alliance games is "who is the most powerful character?". Now, I'm actually far more interested in playing games with a strong narrative than playing the "who is strongest" game, but I wouldn't be a card-carrying nerd (I keep my Avengers membership card on me at all times... just in case) if I couldn't explain in excruciating detail why Daredevil would beat Batman in a fight. He totally would, by the way. 
All that said, the idea of playing a miniatures game with superheroes at the higher power-levels is something I've dabbled in, fraught as it is. Having a contest between characters where every single one of them is capable of destroying everything on the table can be difficult to manage, but I think I've struck on a way to do it, and it's all thanks to Thor Ragnarok. The final battle in the film between "The Revengers" and Hella's forces actually gets there pretty well; you have a team of powerful heroes versus an even more powerful villain, her army of disposable goons and a couple of tough-but-beatable "mini-bosses" in Fenris and Scourge. In fact, the heroes can't even beat Hella in a straight-up fight, they have to play the objective to win. That's a masterful scenario right there, as the players get to have the big fight and roll all the dice but still have to be clever to win. 
But who are these heroes and how do you build a team that powerful and still keep a feeling of difference between the characters? 

The Revengers

Gods, warriors, monsters and a fun rock guy; The Revengers are the best the universe has to offer. Even their might, however may not be enough to stop Hella, Godess of Death from conquering the universe, but each and every Revenger is prepared to make that sacrifice. Ok, maybe not *all* of them, certainly not Loki. I'm not entirely sure that Hulk gets it either. Probably not Korg, I'm not sure he even knows the full story? Definitely Thor, Valkyrie and Heimdal though. At least they're all up for a big fight, because that's what's coming!

Thor - Lord of Thunder 

Having lost his father, discovered that his erstwhile brother is still alive, discovered a long lost sister, been jerked around by Doctor Strange, losing his hammer and being made a slave all in the one day, Thor's more than a little pissed. His time on Earth has made him more humble and responsible, so Thor's ready to sell his life dearly for the people of Asgard if need be. Also, he's been manifesting some new powers lately, so that may come in handy.

Loki - Our Lord and Savior 

Loki's the bad boy, the black sheep, the one you don't bring home to mother; also, really just a selfish jerk a lot of the time, seeking after some form of power over others. Still, the God of Lies can be counted on in a pinch to fight the good fight. Well, sometimes. Maybe just this once because Hella's such a big threat. I mean, he's going to cosy up to Thanos to take a shot at the Infinity Gauntlet right? Well, for now he gets a cool entrance and can show off his stylish fighting moves. He kills a guy with his horned crown thing! How cool is that!

Valkyrie - Not going to stop drinking

For thousands of years, she hid away, but now she's back to stick her sword up Hella's arse, or die trying. But she's not going to quit drinking, what, are you going to argue? She can pin the Hulk and beat the crap out of Loki! Actually, she gets a great fight entrance too, with the Commodore and fireworks on the rainbow bridge before she wades through waves of undead Asgardian warriors. Valkyrie is the kick-butt warrior woman you want on your side in a tough spot, like Ragnarok itself.

Heimdal - Defender of Asgard

Even without his fancy golden helmet, Heimdal is a bad-arse Asgardian that you don't want to mess with. Sure, other Revengers have more raw power, but Heimdal protected hundreds of civilians for weeks with nothing but his wits and a magic sword. Yes, being able to see the future probably helped as well, but we can see that Heimdal still has the chops in a fight, even when outnumbered and overpowered. I'm guessing that, if we get more Thor films, we'll see Heimdal come into something of a Major Domo role for the new king of Asgard, which would suit him well. 

Hulk - Strongest Avenger 

Hulk like fire, raging fire. How are the Revengers going to win the day? They have a Hulk. Hulk has come a long was since we last saw him fighting Ultron, having been living on Sakaar as a celebrity gladiator, with access to all the depths of sleaze that allows. Seriously, he has a rack of booze and a giant hot tub in his apartment, is the Grandmaster sending the Hulk women? I hope Sakaar has consent laws... and lube. Anyway, Thor needs Hulk's muscle to even up the fight with Hella's forces, so he needs to coax "jolly green" out of his successful career to get the band back together.

Korg - Hey bro! 

The most marketable revolutionary since Che Guevara, Korg is made of rocks, perishable rocks, but still. He's not that tough, just does the warm-up fights, but has great timing with spaceships to rescue people and may be the most pragmatic character in the MCU. As a member of the Revengers, Korg no longer has to worry about publishing too few pamphlets, because he has a walking revolution alongside him, in the form of his new allies. Korg can always bring Meik too, his bug-person friend with knives for hands. 

I hope that there's enough inspiration in the above for you to build a "high-powered" team and run a big game for your local group or club. If you haven't seen Thor Ragnarok, which I assume came out like, two years ago by the time this entry gets published, check it out, it's a hell of a fun ride.

Superhero Media: Dragonball GT - A Hero's Legacy

This one's going to be a bit short, as most of the Dragonball "movies" come in at under an hour's run-time, tending to focus on a single fight, enemy or concept. Were I to boil down A Hero's Legacy to its base components, it would come out as "Dragonball Stand By Me", which, as far as I'm concerned, is high praise indeed. Decades after Goku departed for a higher existence, Goku Junior, grandson of Pan, is struggling through both training and primary school. Yes, Goku Jr is actually bullied, unwilling to use his immense power to help anyone, even himself. This view gets challenged when Pan gets ill and Goku Jr starts out on a journey to find the Dragonballs, which haven't been seen since Pan was a girl. 

Quite by accident, Goku Jr's bully ends up coming along for the journey and that's where Stand By Me gets evoked pretty strongly, which I do feel is probably deliberate, given the amount of Western pop culture that Toriama is prone to referencing. Did you know that Yajirobe is a take on John Belushi's samurai from Saturday Night Live? You do now. You're welcome. The pair overcome their differences to become friends and work together to outsmart a trio of monsters set on eating children. Goku Jr finally comes to Grandpa Gohan's house, from the first episode of Dragonball, where he finds the Four-Star ball and is greeted by Goku himself. Goku and Goku Jr have a talk about power and responsibility and the duty of the strong to protect those weaker than them; it's a good scene and probably is the closest to anything like a philosophy for Goku across the franchise.
 

All in all, A Hero's Legacy is somewhat unnesescary, not really adding a great deal to the saga of Goku and not giving an ending any more satisfying than what was in Dragonball GT. What A Hero's Legacy does is give a sense that, no matter what, the Dragonball story will never end, it has become a legend that will keep going, like Robin Hood, Sherlock Holmes or Superman. Part of me is actually interested to see what happens to Goku and friends once Toriama either dies or abandons the franchise entirely; once other creators get to tell their own stories with the characters without oversight from their creator. Already, the 'conflict' between the GT and Super stories makes for interesting possibilities, an exploration of the alternate time-lines could make for some interesting adventures for Goku and pals, but time will tell.

Miniatures Finished: Children of the Revolution

Finally finished the last of my French Revolution civilians/mob, now I just need to finish three teams of supers and maybe I can run that damn campaign at some point. 

 Really nice minis from Eureka, even with a quick paint job. 

Work is progressing on the campaign, honestly, but not being able to find the miniatures I want for a particular faction is really making things drag.