Miniatures Finished: EDF/Wave 2

So I've had some Kaiju stuff slowly accumulating for a little while, as well as a box of micro-armour WWII Soviets that technically belongs to my dad, and I figured that I may as well get working on both at the same time. Although I plan for my Kaiju games to be mostly about giant monsters and robots beating each other up, any good Kaiju film has the armed forces blazing away ineffectually with conventional weapons. 

Also got my hands on some more parts for my Annihilation Wave bugs, which work great in 28mm as small bugs or in this scale as some kind of Kaiju spawn, like the Legion from Gamera. I'm no longer entirely sure that I'll be playing any Firefight with the army, but they should find their way into other games pretty quickly.

First batch of Soviets. 

 

Katyusha trucks provide devastating rocket support. 

First Soviet Infantry Platoon finished. 

 

The GW Tyranid Rippers make good monsters in this scale. 

 

 

"Scale Neutral" is fast becoming a watchword in this hobby. 

Most of the infantry for this project will be pretty standard Late War Soviets, but keep a eye out for some 'weird' units and other fun additions as I get to them, and of course, the Kaiju themselves. 

Superhero Media: Batman - Under the Red Hood

Much like with Planet Hulk way back when, I really want to talk about the animated Under the Red Hood film, but kind of need to cover the comic first in order to give you the whole story. Batman is at a low ebb, having just survived the onslaught of Hush, he has pushed Tim Drake, Huntress and Catwoman away, and only Nightwing is willing to deal with the crotchety vigilante. Rather than taking time to recover after the deaths of his childhood friend Thomas Elliot, Clayface and Harold Allnut, the Dark Knight throws himself into the crusade more than ever. When even Alfred Pennyworth begins to waver in his commitment, Batman comes to the conclusion that he must patrol the rooftops of Gotham alone. When a new underworld figure, the Red Hood, begins to carve up Black Mask's territory and murder scores of drug dealers, Batman and Nightwing start to investigate. A trail of clues and a battle with Amazo lead to a shocking conclusion, the Red Hood may be Jason Todd, somehow returned from the dead. Batman must struggle to defeat his former ally whilst freeing Gotham from Black Mask's clutches. 

The narrative through of Under the Red Hood is strong, even with the typical Batman operatic melodrama, the return of Jason Todd and Batman having to face up to his past mistakes make for legitimate drama. We see more of Batman's relationships with people in Under the Red Hood than we do in most comics, with the way he reacts to Dick Grayson and a young (in flashback) Jason Todd played for stark contrast; which, yes, is somewhat a retcon, but a good example of how such a technique can be used well. We'll cover this more in the film review, but a few differences stand starkly when the two are compared. For example, when Black Mask decides to take out Red Hood, he reaches out to Intergang and they provide Hyena and Captain Nazi, and the Arkham inmate recruited to Black Mask's gang is Mister Freeze. This drawing-in of broader DCU elements grounds the story in the world, though as a self-contained graphic novel, the references to Hush and Battle for Bludhaven are somewhat distracting. Especially because Chemo dropping on Bludhaven happens, is a big deal for a page, then is never mentioned again. 

The comic probably does the better job of showing the Joker/Red Hood dynamic, because it has more time to play with, letting the two characters talk a while longer. The final confrontation is one of the better "Someone confronts Batman with his own BS" sequences, with a great refutation of the 'slippery slope' argument and a great central thrust; why is the Joker still alive? The point is great too, why not kill him to save all of the lives of his future victims? Just Joker. Not Two-Face, Mad Hatter or Riddler, just the Joker. It's a good point to mull over for longtime Batman fans or just annoying fanboys; maybe Batman is wrong on that one, and, sometimes, he may be justified. Under the Red Hood is a landmark moment in what I consider to be the main Batman canon, the return of Jason Todd and the confrontation with the Joker are the perfect companion and bookend to Death in the Family It's brought down by trying to prop up the Battle for Bludhaven event, Jason coming back to life because Superboy Prime punched the multiverse (long story), and Red Hood just not being that interesting a character after this story finishes. Often considered a Batman "must read", Under the Red Hood certainly deserves a look.

The AvengerZ - Part II

Last time I talked about which of the Z-fighters from Dragon Ball Super I'd consider recruiting into a theoretical super-team. This time out, I'm expanding my recruitment drive to consider, not only the core DBZ/DBS series, but some of the spin-offs and alternative versions of characters. As discussed last time, I'm not necessarily looking at raw power, but also genuine heroics and good team players. 
Before I get going, let's talk about the Sayians, Goku and Vegeta and why they're not good team members. Sure, either or both are the most powerful fighter around, but their arrogance and monomania put their friends and allies at risk as often as they save the universe. How many times does Goku's desire to fight stronger opponents or Vegeta's insistence that he is superior lead to more deaths? Frieza, Cell, Buu, all of these threats went on to do more harm because either Goku or Vegeta failed to do the right thing when called upon. That works in DB because of the serial nature of the programme, but it would get either of them kicked out of the Avengers or Justice League faster than you can say "Deadpool's membership application". 
Anyway, on with the show.

Future Gohan 

A true fan favourite, the alternate version of Gohan that meets his end at the hands of the Androids is far more that just the "Badass Alt" that the internet likes to think of him as being. Much like Future Trunks last time, this version of Gohan has suffered terribly and kept going, driven by guilt and the tiny glimmer of hope that remains. Contrary to popular belief, this Gohan isn't driven to be a warrior because he failed to be strong enough to fight the first time, it's because he's inherited the legacy of Goku and realised it was the last thing he wanted. What happens when you force Gohan to step up into the role left by his father, rather than letting him find his own path? You get a broken man using his trauma to continue a losing battle. This Gohan isn't Superman, he's Spider-Man.

Yamcha Reincarnated

I haven't had a chance to read a lot of the Yamcha manga as of yet, due to the slow translation process and my annoying habit of paying for media because I like to support artists. However, one of my favouite comics of all time is an issue of The Simpsons Comics I picked up when working at a supermarket. In it, a supervillain figures out how he can get the better of Radioactive Man by traveling to a parallel universe where he is a fictional character. Bart Simpson becomes a powerful character simply because he's read the comics and knows what's happening. I love that concept. I'd love to see Thanos or Mongul dragging some poor sucker out of a line at Comicon and forcing them to reveal the heroes' darkest secrets. Naturally, a DB fan being stuck in the body of Yamcha and forced to use every single loophole and piece of trivia to stay alive is something I find fucking brilliant and can't wait to read more. He may not be the best fighter, but a person with all of the knowledge of an audience member and the passion of a die-hard fan would be a hell of an ally.

The Great Saiyaman

I can have two Gohans on my list, why the hell can't I? This one's a bit obvious, when putting together a superhero team, why not include the one major superhero in DB? I won't wax lyrical again over how good the Saiyaman Saga is and how close to Silver Age comics that it sticks, but there's more to my love of Gohan's costumed identity than that. This Gohan is closer to the classical Superman, stopping bank robbers, rescuing small animals and just generally being a super-decent person, despite the fact he could wipe out the planet with a stray punch. Also, Gohan doesn't go "on patrol" or do other "typical" superhero stuff, but still keeps the costume and identity on hand for when he needs it. It never gets confirmed, but I can imagine Hercule calling up Gohan for an assist and having The Great Saiyaman arrive so that Gohan can keep his family out of the spotlight. Again, how are we not watching a programme about this guy instead of Goku?

Pan

I still like Dragon Ball GT, deal with it. I'm hoping she gets a better run of things in Dragon Ball Super, but Pan is still an interesting character in her own right. Although, with her headstrong attitude and quick temper, she seems like Goku's inheritor, Pan is introduced stopping a bank robbery just like her father did in his teens. Throughout her adventures in space and battle against Baby, Pan learns that she doesn't want the kind of power her grandfather wields and that her family is far more important to her. Good heroes have a motivating factor beyond power or ambition, and 'family' works well for many, including the Teen Titans, Fantastic Four and Runaways. DBGT ended before we could see a more mature Pan (the film notwithstanding), but I believe she would have grown to be one of the world's greatest defenders; hopefully we'll get to see that at some point.

Android 16

Another character beloved by fans who is never likely to make a comeback, Android 16 is so beloved that he's received extra backstory in Dragon Ball Multiverse, DBZ Abridged and Dragon Ball FighterZ. I personally think his tragic yet heroic end makes for a good story as it is, but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to exploring the character a little more. A robot made only to destroy, who defies his programing to save lives is a comic trope as old as the medium, but the Toriyama spin is still a lot of fun. Had the character continued on, having him wrestle with his programming to kill Goku and his desire to protect the planet could have made for some interesting storytelling. I mentioned Multiverse above, hopefully we see some development of the "Universe 12" Trunks/16 story-line at some point and where that goes in terms of narrative.

That's about all I can milk out of this one, however, I've missed out on at least one important aspect of the series; villains! Next time we get to this, I'll talk about some of my favourite DB villains and how they could work in your supers games.

Superhero Media: Batman Returns

When critics and commentators react to the 1989 though 1997 Batman films, Batman Returns is typically highlighted as the last "good" one, before the collapse into high camp that was the Joel Schumacher films. That's bullshit. Sorry to spoil you memories, but Batman Returns is only 'less' camp than Batman Forever for a given value of camp, where one doesn't count circus and bondage motifs, so long as they're coded heterosexual, that is. Sorry to begin this one in such an aggressive manner, but I'm a tad weary of the Batman fandom currently, having been in several arguments of late spawned by Joker; I'm just so sick of the grimdark. Anyway, hot on the success of Batman, Tim Burton helms Batman Returns, which, as well as being bigger and more expensive, is also way more Tim Burton, complete with an evil circus and zombie sex symbols. Yes, although Batman Returns is pretty decent as far as pre-MCU superhero films go, but man, does it hit all of the Burton cliches that we're kind of all sick of these days. Despite this veneer of cliche, however, Batman Returns is mostly pretty excellent.

The film begins with a more established Batman being called into action with the Bat-signal to combat a gang of circus-themed criminals, which are soon revealed to be working for the Penguin, who is an embittered freak rather than a glamorous, yet avian, would-be gentleman of leisure. That said, he does pretend to wealth and privilege and even plots to become Mayor of Gotham for the second act. And I would be remiss to mention that the army of penguins with missile launchers in the climax are delightfully silly. Michelle Pfeiffer is a solid Catwoman, even if her origin is far more weird than it really needs to be, though the conflict between Selina and Bruce's damage in their relationship is an interesting take. Keaton is still a good live-action Batman, but a better Bruce Wayne, though the scene where he unmasks to Selina is probably one of the best he gets in the film. I'm not a fan on the Batman Returns take on Penguin, though more so because of his tendency towards sexual assault than being an "evil circus freak". 

I'm not sure how deliberate the comparison of Max Shreck to Fred Trump is in Batman Returns, but it certainly reads in a very interesting manner with the orange muppet in the White House (though hopefully not by the time this gets published); with Max Junior being portrayed as a well-meaning imbecile just trying to impress daddy. There's a lot of interesting elements of Batman Returns that really encourage closer examination than I tend to do in these articles, or frankly have time to to currently. The film sits in an odd place in the Batman continuum, having a link back to the Adam West camp, Animated Series anachronism and the Dark Knight/Miller grimdark. Given the complaints from Parents' Groups about the sexually charged and grimly violent scenes, it's not overly surprising that the next film in the series became lighter in tone and presentation. Not as good as Batman, but probably still stronger than the next two films overall.

Miniatures Finished: Latverian Aufklarer Squad

As I've discussed before, I made myself a Latverian army for the West Wind "Weird" World War 2 game Secrets of the Third Reich [SOTR], as an alternative Axis force that would enable me to play games against both allied and axis opponents. The rationale being that Doom and signed on with the Axis to begin with, but when Hitler's lack of stability started to show, he struck out on his own, utilising superior Latverian technology to even the odds against larger countries. The army is a combination of converted Wargames Factory Greatcoat Troopers and Heroclix for the most part, once I'm happy with the bulk of it, I'll get some full army shots taken. 

This Aufklarer (Scout) Squad has been sitting undercoated but unpainted in a figure case for a couple of years, so it was about time I got it done.

In SOTR, an Aufklarer squad totals six members, of course, I did all of the extra options. 

 

Squad NCO with Radio and two Scouts with Assault Rifles. 

 

Panzerschreck RPG and Anti-Tank/Mech Rifle options. 

 

 Flame Throwers. 

I used to play a bit of SOTR at my local club, but the rulebook is poorly laid out and has a few inconsistencies, so people slowly stopped playing to avoid the arguments. I'm really hoping West Wind get around to a second edition sooner rather than later so I can break out the Latverians and British again, maybe even get around to building that Chinese Partisan army I keep thinking about. 

Superhero Media: The Umbrella Academy - Season 1

Back when I first started to get seriously into comics, a friend loaned me the first volume of The Umbrella Academy, along with some other stuff, but I couldn't get into it and never bothered coming back for another look. When The Umbrella Academy Netflix programme started to get good reviews, I decided it couldn't hurt to give it a go, and was pretty pleased with the end result. Much of the driving narrative of The Umbrella Academy is around the family dynamic and the pressures that forced them apart years ago, with the more [super]heroic elements coming later as the situation escalates. Our story begins in October 1989, when 43 women around the world give birth at the same time, not that unusual, except that none of the women were pregnant at the start of the day. Eccentric adventurer, Reginald Hargreeves, adopts seven of these children and forms six of them into a super-team, the Umbrella Academy. Seventeen years later, Reginald dies mysteriously and the scattered, now-adult Academy come back together for the first time.

Much of the first season of The Umbrella Academy revolves around the mystery of Reginald's death and the return of 'Number 5', a family member able to travel through time and space, who has been lost in the post-apocalyptic future for decades, but returns in his younger body. The Academy has drifted apart and formed their own lives, but must come back together to combat the end of the world. I'll admit that it took about half of the season for me to really get engaged with the programme, because the characters have to grow and get over their own issues before they can come together and be heroes again. For a superhero programme, The Umbrella Academy is a little light on the action, but when it does ramp up, the fight scenes are pretty excellent, having a more visceral quality akin to Netflix Daredevil, but the alt-pop heavy soundtrack adds some levity to the proceedings. The pathos can be a bit heavy at times, but some clever casting and good character moments make the programme very engaging. 

Whilst I'm never the kind of person to insist that something is worth watching, but then withhold reasons for fear of "spoilers", I am somewhat inclined that way with The Umbrella Academy; there are some twists and reversals that would be better experienced without warning. That said, the programme is more 'adult' (in real emotional terms, rather than just sex and violence) than most superhero fare, with characters like Klaus and Diego having to undertake devastating personal journeys that change who they are to their cores. As I said above, The Umbrella Academy starts slow, but when it has built to a good level of engagement, it becomes something great. I'm glad that a second season was made, as I want to see where this series goes and what happens to the characters and the narrative now that all of the set-up is done and there are essentially no limits on what can happen. Well worth the watch if you haven't given it a go yet. 

The Pitch: The DC Space Quartet

This one's a little bit different, rather than pitching a specific film, this one's about a few ideas I've had knocking around my head for a little while. For the most part, I continue to be disappointed with the direction of the love-action DC/WB films, even though I actually kind of enjoyed Aquaman and SHAZAM! was genuinely great. Going back and watching more of the DCAU stuff, the feeling that I'm getting is that WB have been neglecting the character of their, well, characters. The Bruce Timm Justice League cartoon series have plenty of room to breathe, and watching it, I really get a good feel for what the characters are like as people. That's the strength of the Marvel films, I can tell you who every character is without having to talk about their powers to identify them, just look; 

Earnest, guilt-driven, wunderkind seeking a father figure
Compassionate, heroic and loyal man out of time 
Shockingly well-rounded, yet acidic, Muppet 

And you can do the same with the DCAU versions of the Justice League, because they're treated as characters rather than icons or archetypes. I know the typical approach to the DC heroes is to treat them as, forgive the pun, "New Gods", but some of the best stories actually don't do this. 52 focuses on Renee Montoya's grief, Booster Gold's feelings of inferiority and Black Adam's attempt to be more human, and it's one of the best series DC has ever done. 
So my idea for WB to break back into the superhero film market as a force to be reckoned with is for them to focus on characters; building interesting characters, making single films about them, then moving on. Build trust in the brand before attempting another Batman or Superman film that no one's really interested in seeing because of how poor the last few were. The great thing about DC comics is that they have so many damn characters to choose from and there's so much potential for great cinema in there. Four films, not linked more than tangentially, with one big nerd drawcard to get that big box office and at least break even. 

Mister Miracle

Beer Mat Pitch: Mister Miracle and Big Barda have grown up on Apokolips being abused, degraded and trained to kill. The pair fall in love and plan their escape, having to best the Female Furies and break free of the influence of Granny Goodness. Darkseid has a cameo and the New Gods mythos gets introduced briefly, but it's mostly Escape from Alcatraz meets Flash Gordon. 

The Drawcard: Betty White plays Granny Goodness. The other actors need to be decent and a lot will hinge on the design department, but a lot of people will turn up to see Betty White torture and beat children in a major Hollywood release. 

Connections: As the first in the "Quartet", Mister Miracle will not have a great deal of connection to the other films (which don't yet exist), but there is room for some fun references to the broader DC universe. Darkseid should appear, but not be a major character and Highfather et al. need to be mentioned, but perhaps a line about the Green Lantern corps or Guardians of the Universe? We'll be coming back to this well though, so keep the New Gods in mind.

Lobo

I know that WB has a Lobo film "in development", but it's been "in development" since the late 1990s, so let's be adults and realise that it's never going to come out. 

Beer Mat Pitch: A mysterious figure hires legendary bounty hunter Lobo to track down Devilance the Pursuer, a renegade from Apokolips who has been attacking and killing Green Lanterns. Lobo travels across the DC universe, briefly encountering people and places like Rand, Daxam, less famous Lanterns and maybe even Mongul. Lobo fights a bunch of guys, maybe the film is rated R and then captures Devilance at the close of the 2nd act. The shadowy figure from the first act turns out to be Lady Styx (or someone in her employ) and there's one more big fight to round out the film. 

The Drawcard: Danny Trejo plays Lobo. Yeah, he's getting on a bit, but "Machete in Space" would get butts in seats and (technically) give us a Latino superhero in a major film. As mentioned above, maybe make it an R film? I'm not sold on the idea that more blood and swearing makes for a better film, but if you don't the fanboys will complain. 

Connections: As Lobo will spend most of the film running around space, there will be plenty of opportunities for cameos and references. Maybe Tomar Re or Kilowog are also tracking Devilance? We should see Rand at some point though, as well as a scene where Lobo talks to Mister Miracle and Big Barda about Apokolips.

Adam Strange

Beer Mat Pitch: Adam Strange is a lonely scientist with dreams of adventure when he is unexpectedly transported to the distant planet of Rand. On Rand, Strange finds that he has increased strength and agility and is far braver than the timid Randians. Strange starts to defend the planet from a series of "threats" that he can easily overcome thanks to his scientific knowledge and the people begin to worship him. Word gets out and soon Lobo turns up to collect on the bounty now on Strange's head and Strange has an actual fight on his hands for the first time. Forced into a corner, Strange finds his inner strength, overcomes Lobo with the help of the Randians, revealing his deception. The Randians forgive Strange for his actions and ask him to remain their hero. 

The Drawcard: Nathan Fillion is Adam Strange. Ok, so I'm about to make some enemies here, but give me a minute of your time. Fillion is not a good actor. No, really. He's a *competent* actor, especially in the pulpy television programmes he tends to be cast in, but he has never had a Hollywood career because he can't carry a full film, as Serenity demonstrated. I'll admit, I don't care for either Castle or Firefly, but Fillion has not had a stellar career, even if considered generously. What Fillion does well, is play people that you like in spite of yourself, and that's what the role needs. Adam Strange is a bit of a prick when you get down to it, and Fillion would be good in this kind of part. 

Connections: As well as the fight with Lobo, it would be cool for Strange to name-drop other DC heroes from Earth, like Superman and so on. We don't see any other heroes, but if they do exist in this setting, they would be obvious points of comparison for Strange.

Space Ghost

Yeah, if you didn't know, Space Ghost is now owned by WB and is canonical in the DC universe, pretty cool, huh? 

Beer Mat Pitch: This film will be a meta-textual examination of nostalgia, comic continuity, the history of superhero cinema and fanboy culture. Not even kidding. While investigating a mysterious portal in space, Space Ghost is sucked into the "Paradise Dimension" where he is met by Alex Luthor. Alex becomes Space Ghost's guide through the multiverse, touching on the original Hanna-Barbera programme, Coast-to-Coast, the Donner Superman films, the Fleischer cartoon, Bruce Timm DCAU, Adam West Batman, Teen Titans cartoons, the Nolan films, Michael Keaton, the Snyder DCU, Comicon and internet comics communities. Space Ghost tries to rationalise what he is seeing, but eventually accepts that every universe [incarnation] has it's own merits and flaws and travels home. 

The Drawcard: The film is kind of just batshit insane and the trailer will need to reflect this. The vibe will be Mystery Science Theater 3000, but with DC multimedia and Space Ghost and Alex Luthor as the hosts. Clips of all of these films and television programmes, as well as specifically-written crossover segments (I can see Kevin Conroy and Ben Affleck being up for this) will attract not only a fanboy audience, but also regular film-goers who want to see what the fuck is going on. 

Connections: As mentioned above, get Kevin Conroy in a do an animated segment where Space Ghost meets Batman, then a live-action one where he meets Batfleck. Have him meet Mister Miracle, Lobo and Adam Strange. Do a insert shot of Space Ghost flying alongside Christopher Reeve. This is a love-letter and deconstruction of the DC multimedia brands, so anything goes, throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

Well there we go, those are my outsider pitches for the DC film series. Each is intended as a standalone picture, rather than part of an ongoing series, but it does leave room to do more if needs be. Hope you enjoyed it, and let's all hope that the next lot of DC films are better than the last lot. 

Superhero Media: Batman - Bad Blood

Following on in the "New 52" animated Batman film series (of which I've reviewed a few) Bad Blood is something of a mess, trying to do far too much world-building for the DCU without really telling a compelling story. Now, I haven't read much New 52 Batman, so maybe I'm missing some context, but there's a lot going on here that really failed to excite me? First of all, Batwoman uses guns now? I know that she's a former Marine Cadet, but if she's inspired by Batman, the guns are an odd choice; I found the character through 52, where she's already in full "no guns" Batman-mode, so this was a little jarring. Though it is good to see Kate in a film and getting to be Batwoman in the end without Bruce having to approve of her. The main narrative involves the League of Shadows attempting to steal a Wayne Industries space station (set to become the JLA Watchtower) so that they can broadcast a mind-control signal with help from Mad Hatter and Hugo Strange. All-in that's not a bad plot, but everything around it is just kind of silly. 

To achieve their ends, the League of Shadows are using adult clones of Damien Wayne who have been hypnotized into greater obedience. Why not use their army of ninja, or the many supervillains working for them? Who knows? But the Damien clone is gone by halfway through the film, because the League has captured Batman and will just hypnotize him to do their dirty work. To investigate, Dick Grayson puts on the mantle of the Bat and is joined by Damien Wayne, Batwoman and, later, Batwing, the son of Lucius Fox in a stolen Batman jetpack suit prototype. Because apparently the Bat Family isn't big enough already. There are a couple of decent fights and a raid on a Cloister that has Nightwing and Batwoman fighting nuns with Samurai swords and M60s (which I may have to run as a scenario if I can find the models), but overall Bad Blood fails to engage when needed. 

I really have no idea what the Batman writers are doing if this is the kind of story they keep coming back to, like, is there that much money in the edgelord fanboy demographic that the comics can just keep going on like this? Batman being the be-all and end-all of the DCU is tiresome and silly, especially when members of his own team are more compelling characters. I know I'm a broken record on this, but the more grounded Batman of The Animated Series or the Adam West programme are more interesting to watch and read, because they are human, not simply a power fantasy. I'm having the same problem with the Batman Miniatures Game right now, with a group of people trying to get me to play and me just so damn tired of egdelord Batman and company. I need to take a break from Batman, not that I'll get it.