Superhero Media: Dragonball Z - Cooler's Revenge

Much like Lord Slug, Cooler's Revenge feels like a reworking of a previous story arc, in this case, the Freiza Saga. After discovering that his brother, Freiza, was killed by an unknown sayian survivor, Cooler and his minions decide to enact revenge and prove who is the stronger Cold sibling. Right, so can I just use this space to talk about the Cold family? I mean, the film is fine, better than I remembered, but not one of the truly great ones, and kind of just plays out like a low-end DBZ adventure. So, we know of Lord Chilled, King Cold, Freiza and Cooler, throw Frost in there if you like, though he's not technically related, but just what kind of species are they and where do they come from? There are a few explanations in extended DBZ media, as well some nice fan theories, though I tend towards the version from Dragon Ball Multiverse, which likens the lineage to the Frost Giants of Norse myth. In the DBM version, the species is small, only ever a few individuals, functionally immortal and asexual; reproducing only when they choose to. 

The "fourth form" that Freiza reveals back on Namek is to be considered the species' (from here, I'll be referring to them as "Frost", which is used in a few places) "natural" form, from most sources, with the newer translation of Cooler's Revenge I watched claiming that the larger, armoured form into which he transforms is even higher than that. Though DBZ is pretty light-on with details, this seems to be borne out later by Freiza's Golden Form, achieved through the very training Cooler seems to favour more than his brother. So then, why didn't Chilled transform when fighting Bardock or King Cold when fighting Trunks? Theoretically, both had the option. My personal take is that both were simply overwhelmed in the moment, the flexibility of time in DBZ is a well-known issue, but transformation seems to take at least a minute or two, and Trunks and Bardock are some of the more aggressive fighters in the series, going for a fast victory rather than a test of strength. 

On that note, I don't agree with the concept, proposed by DB Multiverse, that King Cold is far more powerful than either Freiza or Cooler, if the Frost bread stronger each generation, it would not only explain how King Cold was easily beaten, but also why there are only so many of them. It's not good practice to foster your own downfall when you're in the empire building game, after all. Back in my DBZ fan fiction writing days (don't ask), I had a character that was an altruistic member of the Frost, but he was visually pretty much Cooler, as the look, especially of the armoured form, is pretty neat, certainly one of the better DB monster designs, it's a shame he never really turns up in the same form again. If you're looking for a major antagonist for a space-faring supers campaign, the Frost are powerful, mutable and have a great deal of visual style, not to mention a disposable army for the heroes to fight through. Cooler's Revenge, however, probably isn't necessary viewing for most.

Thinking Out Loud: The Ditko Effect

More and more I've noticed that Steve Ditko's name is on a lot of films and television, especially those put out by Marvel. Mostly this takes the form of little credits like "Spider-Man created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko", and mostly this is a good thing, with many creators having been denied credit for their work in the past; even if they're dead, like Ditko, they deserve to be known for what they did. There is something about Steve Ditko getting more and more press however, that gets my hackles up. Firstly, I love Ditko's work, I have plenty of Silver Age Spider-Man, The Question and Doctor Strange in my collection and have even tracked down some Mr A here and there, so I'm not knocking his contribution to the medium or saying he's not entitled to the posthumous accolades he's been belatedly awarded. What I'm having more and more issue with, is the Dikto apologists and the impact, deliberate or no, that they are having on the discourse around superheroes. Sorry, this is another politics one, see most of you next week. 

That Steve Ditko was an Objectivist is no secret, and should not shock anyone with more than a passing knowledge of Comics history. For the uninitiated, Objectivism is sect of hardcore, right-wing, Libertarian thought, pioneered by the terrible novels of Ayn Rand and still a popular school of "thought" among conservatives. Put briefly, Objectivism posits that the bulk of human society should support the work of the extraordinary individuals among us and place no restrictions on their unbridled genius. Not a terrible idea on the surface, but if you dig down you find that every proponent of this idea thinks they're the special ones, and we have enough trouble with keeping the powerful to any ethical code already. Yes, I'm pretty far astray from Objectivism on the political spectrum, so call this sour grapes if you will, but touting Ditko's genius without also pointing out the unfortunate elements of his thinking can be pretty dangerous. You see, whilst Objectivist thinking isn't inherently bigoted, it is very attractive to those looking to justify their already racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/bigoted worldview. 

Was Ditko himself a bigoted person? Well, the evidence is mixed there, and a lot of publications offer contrary opinions, but at best, he was difficult to work and live with, often treating people around him, especially fans of his, poorly. Ditko's beliefs, however, are pretty plain to see in a lot of his work, from unbridled scientific research in Spider-Man through to The Question literally vanquishing opponents with his righteous dedication to the truth. Yes, in Silver Age issues of The Question, he "eviscerates" his foes with "facts and logic". To my mind, if these works were allowed to stand on their own, there wouldn't be too much of an issue, as I trust readers to be discerning and only a handful of morons will get their philosophical and political beliefs from superhero comics. Due to Ditko's legendary status in the industry, however, a comment on an online forum or in a crowded comic store along the lines of "I love classic Doctor Strange comics, but Ditko's politics kind of grate after a while", is an invitation to be dog-piled. 

So what am I asking for here? Basically, I'd like us to treat Steve Ditko the same way we started treating Stan Lee before his death; like a human with flaws. Lee has copped a lot of blame, some of it fair, for the way many artists and writers had credit stolen from their work in the Silver Age by publishers and he had to account for that publicly and professionally. As Ditko never really chased the spotlight, he didn't have that same period of accountability for his less admirable traits, and since his death, people, especially fans, don't wish to speak ill of a great talent. All I'm asking is, can we admit that Ditko had some toxic beliefs? Don't throw away his comics, don't stop reading his work and don't stop showing it to the next generations of fans, but as you do so, point out what's wrong and why. Hell, I like to assume we're already doing that with some of racism, sexism and other assorted bigotry of classic comics, so just add in something about "Ayn Rand was a moron, don't take this seriously" as you go. Oh, and read some Mr A, it's a fucking trip.

Superhero Media: Ghost In The Shell (1995)

If you have never seen Ghost In The Shell, and are only aware of the subsequent television programmes and other films, you really should track it down and give it a watch; it's a masterpiece of posthumanist fiction. Yes, Ghost In The Shell is a slow-burn, think-piece about the line between human and machine, punctuated with gorgeous action scenes and extreme violence, but the focus is on higher philosophical ideas and the intersection between politics and technology. In the 21st century, Public Security Section 9 are a small, elite squad in the Tokyo police, tasked with dealing with high-end cyber crimes, their field leader is Mokoto, an enigmatic woman who has gone "full cyborg"; only her brain remains human. When an elusive hacker known only as The Puppet Master pops up in the latest case for Section 9, things spiral out of control quickly, as the Japanese and American governments battle for control of what may be an unshackled AI, Mokoto and Section 9 are caught in the middle. 

For fans of the Stand Alone Complex series of anime, the first Ghost In The Shell can be off-putting, not only for its favouring heavy themes over action, but also because many of the recognisable characters have less depth of personality than in later productions. Ghost In The Shell is a true Science Fiction film, in that the existence of fictional science drives the narrative; in this instance, posthumanist prosthesis that blurs the line between life and machine. Mokoto spends several scenes wondering how "human" she really is, if her brain, and potentially just her mind, can be moved from one body to another, especially when she may not even own her own body. One genius element of this film that I had completely forgotten was that the members of Section 9, possibly excluding Togusa, have their weapons-grade cyborg bodies provided by the Government, meaning that retirement may mean death or being a brain in a jar for their remaining days. I know I've seen this idea in cyberpunk media before, but damn is it good and feels really relevant in the world we now live in. 

Although the character models aren't as sharp as they will be in later media, Ghost In The Shell is a beautiful film, with many of the backgrounds being hand-painted and plenty of chance to see them in some of the slower sequences. The music, composed by Kenji Kawai, is far more atmospheric and futuristic than all the synthwave and cyberwave you can find on YouTube for your cyberpunk gaming, though is sadly hard to get your hands on these days, at least legitimately. For those wondering, I'm not going to mention the manga here, nor the infamous sex scene from it, only to mention that how technology has influenced Mokoto's sexuality and how she was written are certainly things I will be talking about down the track. Back in the day, Ghost In The Shell was a big deal, with pretty much every nerd and cult film fan I know gushing over it, but now it seems to have faded from memory. If you enjoy The Matrix, Cyberpunk 2077 or any bleeding-edge tech sci-fi of the past couple of decades, go check out Ghost In The Shell to see where a lot of the visual elements you know came from. It's pretty much a masterpiece.

Thinking Out Loud: Multiverse of Marvels

Pardon the conversational nature of this article, this is just something that's been on my mind of late and I wanted to get out there in a timely manner. Part of this will draw upon ideas in articles that I've written and not published yet, so sorry about that as well, but I think the piece should come together as a whole pretty well regardless. As plans sit at time of writing (October 2023), the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the midst of its "Multiverse Saga", with some version of the classic story Secret Wars panned to cap off the arc. Some speculation is happening around the future of this plan with the revelations about Jonathan Majors, but I'm betting that he'll be recast soon and they'll keep rolling, as that's what Marvel Studios has done in the past, more than once. I've spoken about not really being a fan of the multiverse concept in the broader multimedia landscape, mostly because it's hard to do well and is almost always more about chasing box office than exploring interesting narrative ideas. Not that it can't be done well, but we tend to end up with more films like The Flash than Crisis On Two Earths.

I'm fairly confident that some characters from the history of both the MCU and Marvel films in general will be turning up in whatever Secret Wars turns out to be, I'd put money on Black Widow and Captain America being there, especially as Chris Evans keeps saying for certain that he's not doing it. And, honestly, that sounds a lot better than Evans appearing as Johnny Storm, as much as I actually liked him in that role. Similarly, I assume that Secret Wars will be the first time Deadpool crosses over properly (unless they just do that in Wolverine and Deadpool), though I'm hoping that no other Fox X-Men are dragged along, having Professor X in Multiverse of Madness kind of ticked that box already. That said, if say Magik or any of the characters from The New Mutants were to appear, not even to mention Legion, that would be pretty awesome. Seriously, if David or Shadow King were part of the antagonist group and Dani or Cannonball were helping the heroes, that would be pretty amazing. So long as the whole thing is erring on the 'less is more' side, rather than cramming everyone in for the sake of it; I mean, I assume Miles Morales and several other fan favourites will be coming in at the same time, so just don't overload it, ok Kevin?

But hey, why just get older actors to return in the same roles? Sure, we get that fanboi hit, but it's pretty creatively bankrupt, or at least creatively impoverished. What if, instead, we got actors to return to play different versions of their character, like Agent Carter in Multiverse of Madness? You have to admit, that opens up a lot more possibility for storytelling and memorable moments, whilst letting the writers do something new with the actor. How about getting Tom Jane back as The Punisher, but have him do the older, brick shithouse version from the Garth Ennis MAX run? Or Reb Brown as 'Universe X' Captain America, Eric Bana as Maestro or Phil Culson returning with none of the Agents of SHIELD baggage? Get some fun, fan-pleasing moments in there that don't derail the entire film and don't involve characters that can't be jettisoned as we move into whatever the next Phase of the MCU is. I'm not of the mind that Secret Wars will need to be "better" than Infinity War and Endgame (whatever that means), but it does need to stand on its own, and doing something clever and interesting with the multiverse aspect of the story is good way of doing that whilst building on what has already come. Just my two Bison Dollars.

Superhero Media: Arrow - Season 7

Oh man, they really should have canned this after Season 5, which wasn't great, but at least had a compelling villain and a decent ending. Fresh from being uninteresting in Season 6, Diaz is back again to be utterly not menacing as he talks about how much he hates Oliver for no reason. Oliver, meanwhile, is in prison, having made the deal to be put away with the Star City Mayor at the end of the last season so that his team would not be charged for their vigilante activities. Later in Season 7, there is some legitimately interesting discourse about the role of vigilantes within a traditional law enforcement structure, but before that we have to get through the writers of Arrow hitting every prison cliche while they get the chance. Man, I am so tired of Arrow. 

Rather than the flash-backs we were finally done with, the writers decided that what we needed was flash-forwards, featuring Maya, Oliver and Felicity's daughter, who is evidently more relevant in Season 8 and the "Crisis On Infinite Earths" crossover. On the subject of the crossovers, I won't be complaining about them moving forward, as they've finally become available as separate entities, so I can check them out at my leisure. As for the future sequences and Maya, neither really does it for me, and come across as more of a failed attempt at a "soft reboot" than anything genuinely interesting. The return of some characters and actors from the earlier seasons only add to this aura of the programme being worn out, especially as some are certainly only there because they couldn't get those who went on to actually be famous. 

For a few episodes, Team Arrow are folded into the Star City Police as their own deputised response force, which creates some genuinely interesting friction and hearkens to the Adam West Batman; I'd be keen to try an element like that in a campaign I run at some stage. However, before that can really land, the team are wanted for murder because we need to rush to the finale. What's really odd is that Oliver is taken away by the Monitor at the end of the season, despite the fact we have one more of these to get through. I've heard that the programme becomes more about Maya, and I'll have to admit that the only reason I will bother with season 8 will be because I've come this far and don't see the point in stopping now, even if Arrow should have stopped years before it got this far.

Miniatures Finished: I'm not saying it was aliens...

I actually don't usually aim for these to be "themed", but this one kind of fell into my lap and I couldn't help myself.

Predators: With the intention of using them in a range of games, I finally scored these going cheap at PAX Melbourne one year, then forgot to paint them for ages. A little big, really more 35mm scale, they still look the business. Prodos.
 

Krypto: So many "hardcore" DC fans hate this character so much, how could I not paint him? More of my games need a dog with heat vision. Heroclix. 

Omega: The variety of available Doctor Who miniatures being as varied in quality as they are, when I saw this Pathfinder miniature, I knew it was perfect for this godlike antagonist of the Doctor. Given that Omega is a though projection of his own will, the fact that this model is a little different from how he looks in the programme isn't really an issue for me. Reaper. 

Ming the Merciless: I've had Ming half-done for a while now, but I finally pulled my finger out and finished him off after re-watching Flash Gordon. Sadly the matte varnish came out a little glossy, but once I get some more of the brand I like, I should be able to fix that. Wargames Supply Dump. 

Superhero Media: X-Men 2

Is X-Men 2 still the stone cold, instant classic people remember it being? Sadly, no, the film has dated significantly, coming across as pretty cliche and formulaic, though still thoroughly enjoyable to watch. Following on directly from X-Men, Logan discovers the Weapon X facility, finding it long abandoned and still no closer to the answers he seeks. Meanwhile, Mystique, still disguised as Senator Kelley, is trying to find where Magneto is being held prisoner. Oh yeah, the film also opens with Nightcrawler attacking the President in the White House in what has to be one of best effects sequences of it's era. I remember, back in the day, when home theatre systems were all the rage, stores used to use that sequence on loop to show off "Surround Sound", and it was pretty cool to "hear" Nightcrawler bampf around the room. I mean, the character is pretty much wasted in the rest of the film, but that bit is cool. 

Most of the characters, especially Wolverine, get some development, Rogue, Iceman and Pyro having their own little arc with Bobby's parents and a pretty good allegory scene of youth LGBTQI+ issues of the time. The story of X-Men 2 is pretty thin, but sharp directing and a breakneck pace means the film never drags, bouncing from action sequence to action sequence. And that's not a complaint, the action in X-Men 2 is awesome, from the attack on Xavier's School, with plenty of cameos, to the assault on Weapon X, where Magneto finally gets to show off just how powerful he is. Given how badly the Pheonix arc would turn out in the next film, it's easy to forget that X-Men 2 handles the burgeoning power of Jean Grey subtly and with a minimum of fuss, making a promise of an interesting pay-off that would never come. 

X-Men 2 still has its fans, and it's pretty easy to see why, it's a really compelling film and one of the best of the pre-MCU era. Brian Cox is a brilliant villain, even without super-powers he manages to manipulate the heroes into doing in his bidding and is a credible threat; yes, Magneto kills him with barely a thought, but like Zemo in Civil War, a good antagonist doesn't need to have a Thanos-level power to be threatening. The Fox X-Men series is patchy, at best, but X-Men 2 remains one of the high points of the series, even if it may not be quite as good as people want to remember it being. The overly slick design is a little embarrassing to look back on, all that black leather and florescent lighting makes it look like a '90s Goth music video more than a superhero film, and let's not mention the horrible person Bryan Singer turned out to be. If you still love X-Men 2, great, it's worth loving, but it's not the masterpiece we all once thought it was.

Drokk the Law! - Part I

One of my regular gaming mates, Andy, is a big fan of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd in particular. He put a lot of money into a huge collection of classic Citadel Judge Dredd miniatures that I will likely be painting for him at some stage and has been wanting to game with them for a while. But there's the rub, most Judge Dredd miniatures games aren't brilliant to play. The current Warlord one has its fans, but I really don't like it very much, and as much as I really enjoyed the Mongoose version, it has dated a little and isn't quite what I'm looking for right now. I think one of the big problems any game trying to depict the mean streets of Mega City One has is trying to keep the balance between the Judges being powerful but other gangs being able to keep up on the table, so that's kind of the focus for the moment, hopefully we can look at a full campaign at some point down the track.

To start with, we played the introductory Barko Brothers scenario a couple of times, with only one major change to the core rules and some minor tweaks to other things. The big change, and one we wanted to try out most, was moving the game to alternating activation, rather than I-go-you-go, as is written in the rules. What's interesting about the Mongoose rules is that models get two actions that can be done in any order and duplicate actions are allowed, which feels like it was designed for a game with alternating activation. We also shrank the table down from 4'x4' to 3'x3' and, in the game proper we got to last, introduced a turn limit. I don't like games that drag on too much, especially with this "gang skirmish" style, which feels like the kind of thing you want to run through a few games in night when you can. Taking the newer Necromunda as an example, we went for 5 turns, which seemed about right, but we are considering adding a random game length mechanic at some point.

Anyway, on with the first two games. I'll be more just discussing how things ran rather than giving a proper AAR, because these were experiments, with a lot of discussion and learning of the rules. For those unfamiliar with the game, Judge Dredd provides a learning scenario where one Judge takes on 3 Punks and a Punk hero. The rules are simplified, with none of the Talent, Weapon or Arrest rules that help give the game some character. It's a fun way to learn the game, but can be a little one-sided, with the Punks getting four actions to the Judge's one. Alternating the activation really helped balance things, with my Punks being able to cover each other and draw fire from the Judge, and the Judge's better weapons getting to react to at least one of my moves each turn. We played this scenario twice, with the Judge winning once and the Punks winning the second time thanks to a lucky shotgun blast.

Lessons learnt from the first two games included just how good Cover is in the game (though the rules are simple, which is nice) and how much models need some form of armour. This would also play out in the game proper, but we'll get to that in time. Put briefly, cover grants +3 Agility to a model, which is amazing as most starting models with have at most +2 to Shoot, but also, anything more substantial than a shrub grants +3 Armour. That means a Judge in cover is getting +7 armour saves, so 3+ on a D10. Yeah, Judges in cover is pretty nasty and if they have no reason to break cover, nothing short of heavy weaponry is going to have a chance of doing any damage. Of course, the best way around this is to read the scenarios and make sure the Judges are pushed to move up and break cover occasionally when playing, rather than messing with the rules too much.

The final game of the day involved 'proper' gangs, three Judges (two Street and one Riot) versus my Street Gang armed with whatever I had lying around. As my Punks and Juves were pulled from my play test miniatures for Nocturnal, they mostly had small arms and melee weapons, which would prove to be my downfall. The Riot Judge had a base +7 armour, meaning when he was in cover, I only had 4 weapons that could harm him; I basically spent the entire game throwing my gang at the Riot Judge and only removing one Hit out of three. The Judge's Arrest ability wasn't as powerful as we were expecting (Judges can and have to attempt to arrest enemy models within 15" using an opposed Will roll, unless those models are Robots or Illegal. If successful, the model is removed, if failed, the Judge can open fire at the model). I barely got to use the Talent on my Punk Hero that prevented allies from being arrested.

Lessons learnt from the first proper game were pretty evident from the second turn onward. Things like the Judge's massive stats and armour being a problem will have to be considered as we move on, but I want to avoid messing with the rules as written too much right now. Little additions like Alternating Actions and Turn Limits flow right into the game with no real fuss, but having to annotate the rulebook is something else entirely. It may be a little while before we can get to another game, but I want to try a more heavily armed and armoured gang against the Judges to see how they go, as well as doing a scenario more involved than a straight fight. Until then, keep out of the iso cubes fellow punks!

Superhero Media: Dragon Ball Z - Lord Slug

Been a while since my last Dragon Ball Z film, what can I say, I was just getting a bit sick of them. Also, I knew that once I had finished Lord Slug, it would be a big of a slog through the next few until I got to a good one again; and Lord Slug is not just good, it may be one of the best DBZ films. Drawing heavily on classic Dragon Ball, especially the King Piccolo arc, Lord Slug has quite a different tone from what fans of the series may be used to, up to and including different locations and sidelining Goku for most of the run-time. When a planet is discovered to be on a collision-course with Earth, ala When Worlds Collide, Doctor Briefs gathers his daughter's friends to try and deflect the, somehow inhabited, rogue planet. Despite Goku and Krillin failing in their mission, thankfully the world doesn't end, instead a spaceship lands and the minions of Lord Slug take over Earth without Goku to stop them. 

There is a great scene where Gohan, Chi-Chi, Bulma and Oolong confront the invading soldiers, using what skills they have to try and delay their advance (though Oolong doesn't shape-shift, which is disappointing), the kind of scene that doesn't really exist in most of DBZ, because everyone involved isn't super-powered. Piccolo not only gets to have some of his best fights, cleaning up most of the minions, but gets to remember that he has powers that he hasn't used since Dragon Ball, as well as seeing Lord Slug do the same thanks to his Namekian heritage. The mis-colouring of Goku's hair during the Super Sayian sequence has led to some wacky fan theories over the years, typically landing on the idea of "Super Sayian 0.5", which is kind of dumb, I just embrace the mistake, as the film is good enough on it's own merits. The big fight in the third act is also great for the setting, an urban area, rather than a wasteland, it's pretty rare to see characters get thrown through actual buildings, which I appreciate. 

Sadly, as it barely features Super Sayains, and doesn't have Brolly, Lord Slug tends to be forgotten by the broader fanbase and doesn't get much love. It's actually one of my good friend's favourite DBZ stories, and it's pretty easy to see why from watching it, Lord Slug is kind of just a damn good (if short) film, DB or not. As a villain, I'm not all that sold on Slug himself, he is a not quite as good King Piccolo, though the better animation and unique setting of the action do bump it up a little in terms of pure aesthetics. Believe it or not, before watching it for this review, I'd never actually seen Lord Slug all the way through, but now it's destined to become one of my "go-tos" for a quick hit of DBZ action. If you get the chance, jump on this one at some point, it's under an hour and can be found on more than one Anime streaming service.