Superhero Media: Minoriteam

I rarely regret watching anything that I intend to review here, but Minoriteam is looking pretty grim. An obscure Adult Swim programme from Cartoon Network, Minoriteam tells the story of a team of superheroes who use the power of racial stereotypes to battle the nefarious White Shadow; led by Doctor Wang, Fasto, Non-Stop, Jewcano and El Hefe fight oppression and enemies like the Corporate Ladder and Racist Frankenstein. The animation style is choppy, clearly created in Flash, but is heavily inspired by the work of Jack Kirby, so it comes across in a "motion comic" kind of way. If the name and above spiel has put you off Minoriteam already, I can't blame you, even as a satire, it would appear to walk closely on the line of what is and isn't appropriate. Thankfully, in the programme itself, the idea comes across better that the cast and crew are "punching up", for the most part. The cast and crew of Minoriteam is pretty diverse, which lends to the idea that the jokes are from insiders, rather than targeted slurs. 

At least, that's until we get to Doctor Wang. Most of the other characters have a secret identity that contrasts with their superhero/stereotype one, with El Hefe being an oil magnate and Fasto being a university professor. Doctor Wang, however, is a genius laundromat owner with an accent so thick it could only come from a very white man, and it does. I know I'm pretty white myself, and it's far from my space to be offended on behalf of Asian people, but having Taiwanese relatives and having grown up in the 1990s when the One Nation party sought to segregate Australia, this really rubs me the wrong way. I know I'm hardly meant to take Minoriteam seriously, but I do wonder if some of the audience are going to miss the joke and take the wrong message away. Yes, White Shadow and his minions are constantly shown to be incompetent failures, but they still manage a massive corporation and never seem to go to gaol. 

On top of the sketchy racial humor, Minoriteam is not very well sound mixed and can be visually confusing, so is hard to watch at times, even just physically, so I don't really recommend it unless you're already a fan of Adult Swim obscura. I'm not sure where you can even see this programme, I picked it up randomly in a DVD bargain bin at a local newsagent, of all places. Being a parody series, there's not much fodder hear for gaming, even if you're going for a Silver Age aesthetic in your setting. Some of the design work in Minoriteam is pretty interesting, especially if you're a Jack Kirby fan, but overall it's not worth a serious look for most.

Miniatures Finished - 28/07/19

What's this, more ecletcic selections of painted miniatures? I'm feeling a lack of motivation as far as the supers are concerned right now, which is why some of these are more in the "Supers and Systems" line.

Hela: What else could my Deathwatch Chaplain be than the Goddess of Death herself? Especially after Thor Ragnarok, her whirling blades of death are known to slice through foes with ease. Converted Games Workshop. 

Tarzan: As well as seeing use in Empire of the Dead as my Lycoan Wolflord, this King of the Jungle is perfect for Colonial/Victorian games  and maybe even a modern Afrian team-up; Black Panther, The Phantom and Tarzan Vs Local Warlord anyone? Tinman Miniatures. 

Black Knight: I was using Black Knight for Empire of the Dead in my MI-13 Holy Order faction, but as I never got that to a state I was happy with, they got bumped for the Tarzan Lycoans. He got a recent touch-up for the last session of my MI-13 SS4RPG. Heroclix. 
 

Mr Hyde: Back when I played VSF games, getting the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen together was one of the first things I did. Of course, me being me, I never used the damn things in a game. Now that I've been on an Empire of the Dead kick, I'm going to change that, so Hyde got a touch-up. Malifaux. 

King Tut: After experiencing how amazing Adam West Batman was for myself, I had to start getting his villains. King Tut is one of my favourites and there are plenty of Egyptian miniatures around if I feel like adding henchmen later. Heroclix. 

Hawk-Owl: I warned you he was coming. Marvel's Hawk-Owl is one of the obscure gems I wanted to bring to the table-top back when I got started with my Ultimate Alliance project, a character who never really got the chance he deserved. Mentally-stable Chicago Batman with an Owl theme, what's not to love? Expect to see him in action soon. Converted Heroclix.

Superhero Media: Shin Godzilla

Ever watch a Kaiju film and wish it was more of an Art House feature? No? Just me and Hideaki Anno? Good thing he made Shin Godzilla specifically for me then! All kidding aside, the writer of Neon Genesis Evangelion created what is not so much a remake, but a stand-alone contemporary re-imagining of the original 1958 Godzilla. Whereas the original film was a metaphor for the devastation of nuclear weapons, Shin Godzilla tackles the problems of Japanese bureaucracy and the complications of modern government. When a mysterious blob detaches itself from the sea floor, the Japanese government is unable to respond in a timely manner as it sprouts legs and waddles across Tokyo, causing havoc and killing people in a mindless rampage. None of the experts have any ideas, or even willingness to attach their names to a potential failure, and with no documentation to instruct emergency services, officials flail and people die before the monster slips back into the water and vanishes. Politicians congratulate each other on a job well done, but one young Junior Secretary is concerned. 

Things move from bad to worse quickly when the monster, dubbed "Godzilla" by an obscure academic, resurfaces and starts changing into an unstoppable engine of destruction. When the Japanese fail to address the attack successfully, the USA invoke their treaty and move to drop a nuclear bomb on Tokyo, much to the horror of the Japanese. Thankfully, the young Junior Secretary is able to assemble a group of iconoclastic thinkers, wade through the red tape and deliver a solution in time to both save the country and make his career. Shin Godzilla is clearly a political statement in the way that most Kaiju cinema doesn't really try to be, with obviously scathing critique of the culture of Japanese government and particularly the "political class". Now, I'm not super up on Japanese politics, but I still identify with the idea of action being stalled by indecision and an over-adherence to policy, even in the face of crisis. Again, I doubt many people will be drawn into that sort of thing, in case you were more after Godzilla beating down another giant monster. 

Probably the strongest non-political aspect of Shin Godzilla is the design of Godzilla himself, which keeps many of the classic elements of the character, but mixes in a nice dash of body-horror. If you have a strong stomach and the time, take a look at some of the design drawings and model work (all on Google), I'm particularly impressed with the human-Godzilla hybrids growing out of the tail. I really cannot come up with a better epithet to describe Shin Godzilla than "Art-house Godzilla", as the film is really going for something highbrow; not just in spite of the presence of a giant, radioactive lizard, but because of what the character has come to represent. I don't often have the opportunity on this blog to discuss complex cinema, as it's rare that it falls into a relevant genre, so Shin Godzilla was a really refreshing watch for me in-between some of the crap I sit myself through. If you can cope with something a little more esoteric and cerebral, Shin Godzilla is really worth your time.

600 Posts, a Retrospective

These looks back over the last hundred or so posts are usually pretty fascinating, but I found this one particularly so. As most blog entries have been written around two whole years in advance of publication, I can see the gradual shift happening in the tone and approach I've been taking beginning to manifest. Where post 501 was is a much different place than where 601 will be, but it's only when I scan back through those 100 posts that I can really see the change happening. So what is the future of Lead Capes? Well, the blog is going to go more into rules, trying out different games, politics and more think-pieces. It may not to be to everyone's tastes, but I go where the writing takes me and I always welcome feedback when I get it. So please enjoy the following images looking back over the last 100 posts with a bit of fun right at the end.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you in another 100!