Miniatures Finished: The Harvestmen

This is going to sound more "creepypasta" than this blog tends to be, but I had the idea for these robots once whilst going through my bits box and it just wouldn't leave my head. I actually dreamed about them a couple of times, so I decided to actually put them together. I mean, I dream about a lot of strange things, so this wasn't so bad, more like an idea that I had to get done so it left me alone.

The Harvestmen

From a dark and tormented city known only as The Basilisk, where nightmares are made in fused machinery and flesh, the Harvestmen come crawling, seeing new parts to make more of their number. Bladed fingers test the air, blind masks turn towards hiding places with unerring accuracy as their victims flee in vain.

Primarily made from Games Workshop parts, with the leader built around a Knight Models Scarecrow I had.

I guess I've had techno-horror on the brain for a while and this was the result?

Although these models have already appeared in a Bush Wars game (of all things), they're probably set to appear in my next lot of Multiverse shenanigans and some other supers games where I want more horror-based antagonists.

Danton - Part II

When last we left off this juvenile screed of pop-culture miscenallia that I wrote one fateful week in the last year of high school, I was wondering why I bothered to keep these scraps of loose leaf for almost two decades. And I'm still wondering. But at least I'm getting this down and I'm finding that cathartic.

Danton 2: Stone Cold

After the events portrayed in Danton, Dracula has been able to rebuild Paris, but the rest of France has descended into chaos, leaving Paris as a city-state. Simon Schama travels back in time and raises an army of mercenaries to conquer France under his sovereign dictatorship. Robespierre returns after becoming the new evil ruler of Otherworld and incites the Parisians to rebellion against Dracula's rule.

Dracula turns to the Justice League for help, joining them for a time. The Last Ninja returns to finally avenge his brothers against Robespierre and allies himself with Dracula and the Justice League. Doctor Strange joins with a coalition of demons to resurrect Danton's soul into a robotic body, christening him "Robo-Danton". Doctor Strange and Robo-Danton travel to fight a guerilla war against Schama and his Battle-Toad bodyguards. After a pitched battle, Schama and Robo-Danton fight in single combat while Doctor Strange raises Schama's fortress to the ground. Robo-Danton realises that he cannot defeat Schama whist he wears his battle-armour, so self-destructs, destroying the armour, though Schama survives the attack.

Meanwhile, the justice League put down the rebellion, forcing Robespierre to retreat to Otherworld, only to discover that Zombie Jesus has raised an army of undead and is now conquering the West coast of France.

Superhero Media: The Shape of Water

In the months leading up to the release of The Shape of Water, I had a habit of referring to the film as "X-Men Origins: Abe Sapien" as a bit of a joke, given the director and the visual look of the monster. Sadly, The Shape of Water isn't strictly a prequel to the Del Toro Hellboy films, but there are enough similar elements that they could certainly be in the same "cinematic universe" if you like to pretend. Which I do. Strictly speaking, were I required to place the film in a specific genre, it would be Melodrama, for quite a number of reasons, but there is more than enough superpowers, shady government labs and communist spies for it to suit your Silver Age needs. Elisa is a mute woman working as a cleaner for a shadowy lab in the employ of an American Intelligence agency, getting through the days with her friend Zelda and neighbour Giles, when she encounters, by chance, a strange creature and her life changes forever. I've noticed that people's acceptance of the romance in The Shape of Water can vary quite a bit, but there's no doubt that the film is magnificent in many ways. 

As you may expect, I'm not going to cover too much more of the film here, rather I'd like to discuss the elements which can work for your own superhero stories that can be found in The Shape of Water. As mentioned above, just making "the creature" just be Abe Sapien, or a member of the same species, from the Hellboy films is pretty easy, but let's not forget the other creature we can work from, the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Monsters as superheroes (or villains) isn't anything new, from comic versions of Frankenstein's Monster to characters like Etrigan and Ghost Rider, hell even the Mummy as portrayed by Universal Pictures is there in obscurities like Shadrac and The Living Pharaoh. Whilst I've never done the "monster team" thing myself, it is a legitimate take on a Superhero group, and someone I used to game with even took a swing at an update on it (using the Terminator, Xenomorphs and Predator) but he left the country before he finished getting the models together. I think with a little more work, my own collection could provide Abe Sapien, Marrina and the Creature, but I'm not sure how well that would go as a team. 

Or, just for fun, let's flip this concept around, have the monsters be the villains, but still have them working for the government. Think of the NSA or CIA, but outright evil, rather than just being kind of evil anyway, trapping monsters and cryptids and using them for black ops work. Something like the Suicide Squad, but only with Bigfoot, the Creature and Chupacabra; I'd be down for that, sounds like a fun antihero or antagonist team. Part of the reason I started making "Superhero Media" a regular feature of my blog was to cover media that wasn't strictly in the Superhero genre, but still had ideas that were worth exploring. The Shape of Water is pretty much perfect in this regard, using tropes that may, strictly speaking, be from Horror, but are certainly at home with Superheroes and suit a more grim and Gothic supers setting, if that's your bag. At the very least, The Shape of Water is a good way to sneak something more fantastic into the viewing you undertake with your partner, if they're typically inclined to avoid the kind of media you enjoy.

Danton - Part I

Whilst moving house recently, I came across some pages of loose leaf I've saved since my final year of high school. They contain a silly little story I wrote while bored in class one week and I just never seemed to throw them out for some reason. Reading over them again, I found that in these silly stories is something of the origin of some of my approach to gaming storytelling as it is nearly two decades hence. So for a little bit, I'll be writing up the story, which spins out of a synopsis of the first part of the 1983 film Danton, it's very silly and rather juvenile, and I've only edited the spelling mistakes and worst grammar, so maybe come back next week if you were hoping for anything more meaningful.


Danton

During the Terror, Robespierre and the Committee struggle to maintain control over the masses. Danton, the Great Orator, and his followers seek to overthrow the Committee and end the Terror. Robespierre seeks to imprison Danton without inciting a popular uprising. Danton allows himself to be imprisoned to further his cause. Some of Danton's followers turn against him. Robespierre decides to release the Sentinels to quell the mutant menace. The Justice League break Danton out of gaol and give him the armor of "La Dynamo Tricolore". Dracula seizes control of the Committee and reactivates Voltron, making the Marquis de Condorcet Voltron Commander. Seeking revenge, Robespierre allies himself with The Iron Paw, a coalition of werewolves. Gamera is awakening from his hibernation imposed by Doctor Strange, who has repaired Gundam Wing Zero.

When Gamera awakens, he goes on a rampage in Paris, Dracula sends Voltron to stop him. A team of Werewolf-hunting Ninja attack the Iron Paw, who are actually evil and trying to release a Storm Elemental into the world. In a pitched battle all the Werewolves and Ninja, bar a single Ninja, are killed. The last Ninja swears to hunt down and kill Robespierre, who has gone to Otherworld to fight in the Mortal Kombat tournament. A pair of Japanese fae turn Danton into a giant badger to battle Gamera and Voltron. During the battle, Voltron accidentally destroys Master Mould's holding cell and it attempts to destroy all humans in Paris. Doctor Strange arrives in Gundam Wing Zero and destroys Master Mould with his Beam Cannon. Voltron kills Badger Danton but is destroyed by Gamera, who leaves mysteriously with Doctor Strange.

Superhero Media: Night Watch

Once upon a time, every "cool" nerd owned a copy of Night Watch on DVD, waxing lyrical about it as we drank cheap vodka because we were too cool for beer and playing Vampire The Masquerade because we were too cool for D&D. Not only did Night Watch suit our aesthetic perfectly, with its mix of low-fantasy, horror and art-house tones, plus it was a foreign film, so we could be all superior about people who watched the English dub and missed out on the awesome custom subtitles. A few years later, when the sequel, Day Watch came out, and was generally regarded as a pretty poor follow-up, we all put our DVDs away and I honestly hadn't heard anything about Night Watch again until I found my copy whilst sorting out my collection. Now, I've said before that I wasn't the greatest person in the world in my late teens and early twenties, but watching this film again brought some stuff up, not just about me personally, but how the manner in which films has changed and the importance of critical reflection. The opening of Night Watch sets up the main conflict for the film, "Others", supernatural creatures of human birth, are divided into two camps, Light and Dark, who have reached a truce after centuries of combat, with the Day Watch policing the Light Others and the Night Watch policing the Dark Others. 

Ok, that's a reasonable enough set-up for the film, with clear divisions of sides and there's a prophecy of a chosen one that gives a narrative to cling to; although this is all pretty basic, that turns out to be a good choice, as Night Watch at no other times plays by any rules. The younger me claimed to "get" everything going on in Night Watch, because he needed to feel clever, but so much of what is happening just doesn't make sense, which is actually the point. Why and how is Olga an owl? Who knows? All the Vampires are Dark Others, but every Other gets to choose their side so why aren't there good Vampires? Doesn't matter. What is the Gloom? Meh? How does Zavulon predict the future with a Playstation 2? I don't know, but when he pulls a sword out of his spine, it's pretty neat. Night Watch is a triumph of style over substance, which is actually perfectly fine, as that's what it's going for and it gets there brilliantly. Like many a good roleplaying game, the final battle for the fate of the world comes down to a couple of guys in trench-coats wrestling on a roof somewhere, but at least this time, the coats make sense; it's cold in Russia. 

There is a game in here somewhere that isn't in the World of Darkness, as the Night Watch themselves do have a team vibe going, with Anton having psychic/empathic powers, Olga being a strategy expert and the two shapeshifters being the beatsticks of the team (one is a Werebear the other a Weretiger). More supernatural based superhero teams, like the Croatonans or Night Stalkers, are certainly a thing, and not what I've seen most players do in miniatures or RPGs. Night Watch isn't the avant-garde, ocean-deep, genre-bending indy masterpiece I thought it was back in 2005 when I first saw it, but there is a lot there to enjoy now that I understand film better, even if it's almost just a show-reel for some interesting tableau. As far as potential Russian heroes for my Ultimate Alliance games, Night Watch is a more grounded alternative to Guardians, with the Night Watch likely running around in their Power Grid uniforms after the Guardians have wrecked another tower or two in a big flashy fight, cleaning up the real mess of cyborg henchmen left behind.

Superhero Media: Nightbreed

I have a little joke I like to make about Superman films, in that I say any theoretical "Top 10" I'd do would have Ip Man, Captain Marvel and Krrish 3 on there somewhere; the joke being that the themes are somewhat universal and can be transferred to other characters and sometimes even done better that way. So remember when we all admired X-Men 2 as a, for its time, progressive metaphor for queer youth, but it turned out Bryan Singer was as serial sex pest using performative wokeness to entice young victims? Well, all that time, what we probably should have been watching was Nightbreed, from visionary horror author Clive Barker, a literal allegory for his own youthful struggles coming to terms with his sexuality told through blood, gore and body horror. Not as famous as the Hellraiser series, Nightbreed is more obviously allegorical for the queer journey, and a little more slapstick in places, but may well be one of the best X-Men films ever made. 

Aaron Boone is having bad dreams of a hellish place called Midian, which his psychiatrist tries to convince him is a coping strategy for all of the horrible murders he's committed in a fugue state. Fleeing from police and medical custody, Boone finds his way to Midian, where the monsters live, only to retreat from the horror and be killed by his own shrink, Dr Decker. Returning to life, Boone discovers that he is one of the monsters, the Nightbreed, and he must leave his own life behind for something more enticing and fantastic, but far more dangerous and deadly. Anyone who hasn't spotted that Barker himself came of age in a time where his sexuality was heavily persecuted and lived through the AIDS crisis (which was still happening when Nightbreed came out), is probably not going to want to expect good marks on the exam. While the allegory of Queer persons as "beautiful monsters" may not be to everyone's tastes, it endures and suits the aesthetics of many in the community. 

Of course, the peaceful idyll of Midian cannot endure, and the powers of the establishment, police, church and state violence, are brought against the Nightbreed, who are forced to fight back when they'd much rather be left alone. The fight is as brutal and gory as one would expect from Barker's work, but twinged with a tragedy as the beautiful monsters have to fight and die because the world fears them and their "dark desires". Seriously, it's not all that subtle, but if the bar is "Have you tried... not being a mutant?", then Nightbreed is practically masterful. Seriously, check this film out if you can find it, it was on Netflix for a while, but DVD copies aren't all that common, sadly. The book and graphic novel are pretty easy to get your hands on and, to my understanding at least, follow the same broad strokes of the core narrative and hit the same thematic notes. There is also a television series in development, that I hope gets up, as Nightbreed is probably the only "dark and gritty" franchise I'd be excited to see more of.

Superhero Media: Supernatural - Season 5

And here our journey ends. I know that Supernatural continues for a great many seasons, but the close of Season 5, with Dean losing everything and turning away from hunting for good, is one of the best "finales that aren't actually a final episode" in television. Yes, I still maintain that "Free The Future" is the best ending Dragon Ball has ever had and Luther should have finished at the close of the third season. For the entirety of the fifth season, Sam and Dean are in a Sisyphean struggle against destiny, soon learning that Sam is to be the vessel of Lucifer and Dean of the Archangel Michael, and that their battle will destroy the Earth. Fatalism and duty are the major themes of this season, with the brothers, Dean especially, standing for free will and humanism, even when that stand costs them everything they have. The focus of this season of Supernatural is less episodic, with plots running across several entries, though still bookended for network television. 

In what is something of a shock for an American television programme on a major network, it is revealed in Supernatural that God is absent, the Metatron has become a dictator and the Angels are on board for the Apocalypse because it will be the end of a lot of filthy humans. That's basically the plot for a chunk of the His Dark Materials series, and draws a lot more from the Apocrypha and William Blake than it does any Biblical source. Whilst I would love a big Sci-Fi/Horror production to draw its mythology from something other than an Abrahamic source, the approach that Supernatural takes is at least pretty interesting, moving away from a loving God and Biblical literalism that even Xena Warrior Princess ran with in later seasons. Another excellent choice is stripping many of the characters of power they've previously had, meaning Sam and Dean have to take on Angles, Demons and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse with rock salt and experience, rather than CGI tricks. 

In the end, the battle for the future of the Earth comes down to two guys wrestling in a graveyard, and the car that has been a feature of the programme since the pilot is pivotal in preventing the End of Days. When Lucifer and Sam are trapped in the Room Without Doors, along with Michael and an unfortunate character idea (the lost third Winchester brother), Dean is left with only Bobby and a lifetime of grief and regret. The end of Dean's story is his reuniting with an old flame from a previous season and looking for meaning in a life that has never really needed any before. This ending is perfect, a brilliant juxtaposition to the "Supernatural Convention" episode where a fan tells Dean he envies his life of freedom and adventure. One day, I may look at the seasons that follow this one, but my brief foray into Season 6 and beyond has left me cold so far, and I'd rather keep my feelings for the story and characters intact. I think it will be a while before I come back to Supernatural, but for the most part, going back over it again has been a worthwhile experience.

Superhero Media: The Fly II

I'm not entirely sure, as I don't spend too much time going over my own old work, but I recall The Fly being one of the first "non-traditional" Superhero Media pieces I covered, in that the film was not truly in the superhero genre, but had elements that worked in a broader consideration of what that genre might be. Being a relatively young genre (I tend to think of Ogon Bat being the true origin point in 1931, though the ur-text nature of 1903's The Scarlet Pimpernel is difficult to ignore), Superheroes have borrowed quite a bit from other genres and storytelling forms that have come before, like Mythological Epics, science fiction and, of course, horror. During the tail-end of the Golden Age, when superheroes were waning, Marvel made its money through Horror comics, a trend that was only ended by the introduction of the Comics Code and the birth of the Silver Age. To hedge their bets, early Silver Age Marvel efforts relied on monster comic elements, like Hulk and Thing, so the idea of monsters and heroes being clearly linked goes way back to at least the early 1960s. Why talk about this and not The Fly II? Well, The Fly II isn't really all that good. 

Following on months out from the previous film, an actress who doesn't look much like Geena Davis gives birth to a Cronenberg blob which hatches into a baby which grows into Eric Stoltz in the span of a few scenes so that we can get an awkward sex scene in the second act. The child, Martin Brundle, is some weird human/fly hybrid, which gives him accelerated aging, superhuman agility and increased intelligence for some reason. Martin must solve the mystery of his father's teleportation technology before the genetic time bomb in his body reverts him into a fly monster. Kept inside a corporate lab facility, Martin grows up knowing only what he's told, taking most things at face value until he works out for himself that his body is changing and there may be nothing he can do about it. The third act of The Fly II is a chase narrative, firstly with security and scientists chasing Martin and his love interest, then with a mutated fly-monster Martin chasing people around the facility, Alien style, picking off his enemies one-by-one. In the end, teleporting with a normal person restores Martin's humanity and the credits role after one last Cronenberg body-horror pop. 

Although The Fly II is nowhere near as good as the original, as a study for a superhero/villain origin film, it actually works a lot better. There is a tragedy to Martin that his father lacked, as Martin never asked for what he has, didn't take the risks himself and just wants to be normal, rather than extraordinary. Would the regret of slow degeneration into a subhuman monster drive Martin to kill, or merely to menace? Is there a version of the character who tries to do good, but is held back by their monstrous appearance? There is fodder here for the kind of "darker" superhero setting that many seem fond of, with Martin being a dark mirror of a Spider-Man style character. Throw in a few elements from Brightburn and maybe even the Carrie remake and you have some twisted, gritty "Justice League" to play around with. Not my bag, but from the kind of interminable conversations I get dragged into, I assume someone wants to get this up and running.

Superhero Media: Hellboy (2004)

For a reasonably obscure comic that typically has little in the way of plot, Hellboy made one hell of a film. A collaboration between Mike Mignola and Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy may well be simultaneously the most faithful adaptation of an existing comic book series and one of the most revisionist. For those who haven't ready much Hellboy or B.P.R.D., the comics tend to be very narrative-light, more focused on ideas and the visuals Mignola wanted to realise; and there's nothing wrong with them or that approach, but it wouldn't translate well to film. What del Toro and Mignola do is take the bones of what works in the comics and fill in the connecting tissue to get a whole world on-screen. Of course, I fucking love Hellboy. From the opening with leather-clad Nazi Science Wizards fighting US Soldiers through to Hellboy getting swallowed by a mythos monster, the film almost doesn't miss a beat. I remember when Hellboy came out, I was in the last year of High School and was the only one of my friends interested in seeing the film before it came out, but this was 2004 and we didn't have the luxury of streaming, so we all saw it on the school holidays and soon I was inundated with questions about who Hellboy was and where to find Dark Horse comics. 

For me, Hellboy demonstrates the "Golden Ratio" of superhero (but also Kaiju and other nice genres) film adaptations, in that the, utterly absurd, premise is played completely straight, but the characters within the world of the film react naturally. Agent John Myers is flabbergasted by real-life monsters, as many would be, but for those working with Hellboy and Abe-Sapien long enough, it is as bland as any workplace, with Special Agent Tom Manning sounding for all the world like a frustrated HR Director. Ron Perlman is brilliant as Hellboy, swaggering in the larger-than-life role, complete with winking one-liners and embodying the "heroic man-child" archetype. Perlman perfectly delivers lines like "I'm not a very good shot... but the Samaritan here uses really big bullets" like he just stepped out of a comic panel. Despite the fact that Mignola often dismisses his own work as "...just want[ed] to draw monsters", there is a subtle genius to the embrace of pulp tropes along with classic monster movies, fairy tales and Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror; that this translated to a film as good as Hellboy is a testament to del Toro's skill and the crew he brought together. 

Keep in mind, the popular superhero film series of the era in which Hellboy was made were Blade, X-Men and Spider-Man, all from the pages of Marvel Comics, and two of which were stripped-down versions without much of the inherent silliness of their series. Bringing to the big screen an adaptation of a cult Indy comic with barely any plot, featuring a team of Monsters fighting Nazi Wizards led by Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, who is trying to summon an Elder God right out of Call of Cthulhu, was pure madness, but it worked. Not only did this mad premise come together, but the film was made with practical effects wherever possible, so it still looks great more than a decade later, the cast is brilliant and the only misstep on the soundtrack was not using the original, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, version of "Red Right Hand". Hellboy is a film to treasure, and not just because the remake is so poor, but because a director and writer getting to put together such a personal project, on their own terms, and to have it come together so well, is pretty rare. This film made me want to start "Weird World War II" gaming, Pulp games and even Cosmic Horror. Hellboy was one of the first Indy Comics characters I painted in miniature and was in my first big Ultimate Alliance game. I will never stop loving this film.

Superhero Media: Supernatural - Season 3

If you're only looking at watching some Supernatural for gaming inspiration, Season 3 is a great place to jump on, even with little-to-no prior knowledge of what's happening. If you go that route, Sam and Dean are brothers, they hunt monsters, their dad is dead and Dean has a year to live after making a deal with a Crossroads Demon. Also, Season 2 ended with a literal gate to Hell being opened, so there's that too. The very first episode has the brothers and Bobby battling none other than the Seven Deadly Sins, which seems straight out of a "New 52" Hellblazer comic, and I fucking love it. I'm shopping for Heroclix Deadly Sins in the other tab right now, but I'm not loving my options, I'm wanting something more like the SHAZAM film. Anyway, Season 3 of Supernatural introduces more recurring characters, has a narrative through-line and starts to work in some more jokes, so is easily the best run around so far. Also, the heroes lose in the end, Dean is dragged to hell and the day is lost; few programmes have the balls to close a season like that. 

New characters include occasional allies like Ruby, a former witch turned demon who wants Sam to lead the army of evil, antagonists like Lilith, leader of another evil faction and Bela, a woman who deals in supernatural artifacts on the black market. Not only do these new characters add some much-needed gender balance to Supernatural, but having more recurring cast members makes the world feel more "real". Some other guest stars come back, like Luther, who ends his arc on a vampire-powered suicide run, and the Ghost Facers, who defeat a serial-killing ghost with the power of homosexual love. Season 3 is probably the model for Supernatural going forward, at least in terms of tone, as there is more comedy and the end of the world seems to always be around the corner. I like this trend, as I'm inclined towards taking all of this less seriously than most, especially once demons, diabolical deals and destiny start making regular appearances in the script. 

The recurrence of the Hell-hounds chasing people who have reached the end of their contracts with the Crossroads Demons makes for a great motif, with the sound department having a field day sneaking barks and growls into the background whenever Dean contemplates his fate. Again, I really love that all of the Brothers' desperate efforts don't pay off and Dean gets dragged to hell, making for a chilling ending and a great cliffhanger leading into Season 4. I'll admit most of Seasons 1 and 2 were closer to a nostalgia trip for me, I actually got a lot out of Season 3, and now am more keen for the next season and the adventures that await. As mentioned above, there is plenty of great gaming fodder in this season of Supernatural, from the Deadly Sins and Hell-hounds to television ghost hunters and black market cursed object dealers; many of these could walk straight into your games with minimal adjustment. Aside from that, Supernatural is still a great watch if you're into that "WB" style action/soap/sci-fi hybrid.

Superhero Media: Supernatural - Season 2

It's odd watching a programme I used to love develop into its final form more than a decade later. The second season of Supernatural starts with the brother and father Winchester in hospital and Dean on the brink of death, only by selling his life for his son's does John Winchester keep both the protagonists in the running. This will become an annoying running theme later on, but the episode of Dean being a ghost in a hospital is fun while it lasts, ending with a cliffhanger about Sam's powers which pay off halfway through the season. Sam's powers and their demonic origins are a major plot thread for season two, which has the interesting effect of, conversely, throwing Dean into the protagonist spot, usurping his brother from the previous season. As I reflect on Supernatural, it seems to me that Dean is the main protagonist, as he is often the one reacting to change as much as the audience and, aside from in Season 5, has nothing "special" over any other hunter or monster. 

Demons are the most common monster this time around, as Yellow Eyes is gathering the super-powered children, like Sam, to open a gate to Hell and only the handful of hunters with recurring actors can stop him. That reminds me, there are other hunters this time around, with a whole truck stop full of extras and even a rival hunter I can't remember the name of who is a little too gung-ho about all of the murder he's doing. Grey areas start to enter the narrative, with bad hunters, good vampires and factions within Hell's ranks, which helps add tension, but won't play out until later seasons. There is a really clever episode where a ghost is unaware she is a ghost and the brothers need to help her crossover, which is worth a look all on its own and is considered one of the best by fans online. Also worth checking out, for my money, is "Hollywood Babylon", where the brothers work on the set of a b-grade horror film directed by Supernatural's producer, it's fun and not too meta. 

The plot of Yellow Eyes "seeding" children to have powers later in life isn't too far from an evil version of Nick Fury's "Caterpillar Program" from Secret Warriors, and would work nicely in any Ghost Rider, Constantine or BPRD scenario you were putting together, but, once again, the "monster of the week" content is more suited to something like a roleplaying game. Even with the distance of time and presence of newer content from streaming, the broadcast series style of Supernatural remains really watchable, especially from here on out as the cast and crew are established and the balance between the serious moments and gags is balanced like a fencing sabre most of the time. If Supernatural has a weakness, beyond budget and stunt-cast guest stars, it's that the core cast never expands much beyond the brothers Winchester, and I do enjoy a good ensemble.

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: Supernatural - Season 1

I really like Supernatural, but to an odd level where I'm not quite as invested as the "typical" fans I meet. We'll get to this later, but I actually stopped watching at the end of Season 5 (though I have seen a few episodes past that point) because the ending was both so conclusive and so satisfying that I felt no desire to continue. I've heard that the series from Season 6 and onward get pretty ridiculous, but in contrast, the first season of Supernatural is fairly grounded. Yes, the brothers Winchester hunt monsters whilst driving around America, but they readily scoff at ideas that are too ridiculous for even their frame of reference, like vampires, until they have the proof of their own eyes. This first season, in being closer to hyperreal than outright fantastic, isn't necessarily excellent fodder for superhero gaming, being a bit tame for even the Nightstalkers, but the characters and setting are still pretty compelling. 

The lives of the Winchester family are shattered when Mary is killed in mysterious circumstances, launching John Winchester on a lifetime crusade against the things that go bump in the night. Years later Sam, the younger of the two brothers, is at college when Dean turns up saying that their father is missing. The brothers start out on an adventure to hunt evil and find their father once Sam's girlfriend is killed by the very same demon that killed their mother. I'm not a fan of dead women motivating the male protagonists, but I do know that this gets walked back a little in later seasons, also when the boys' mum comes back as a righteous ghost to protect a new family in the house. The other big criticism I have of the first season of Supernatural is that it relies too heavily on ghosts as antagonists, which can make episodes formulaic, with the investigation of the mystery taking centre stage. Other monsters, such as the Reapers and Wendigo are really interesting, but don't reappear and feel a little wasted in retrospect. 

Even with the distance of years and access to streaming, Supernatural remains a pretty solid programme and very watchable. Great guest stars like Jeffery Dean Morgan lift it up and as most episodes are stand-alone this early on, the bad ones tend not to linger. There's not much here that really will stand up for gaming, excepting for a roleplaying campaign with a heavy element of the supernatural (no pun intended). Most of the monsters is are pretty low-rent in superhero terms, excepting maybe the wendigo and grim reaper, both of whom already have representations in comics. The magic gun and daemon trap would fit nicely into Hellblazer and Doctor Strange, so can provide ideas for magic-heavy campaigns and heroes. It was fun going back to this programme, I'm looking forward to watching the next few seasons again.

Superhero Media: Underworld Evolution

Is it ok to say that I just don't "get" the Underworld films? Is it just about Kate Beckinsale looking good in a corset and latex pants? Is it the "depth" of the lore? Is it the joy of watching something mindless? Please, let me know. The story picks up with Selene and Michael on the run from the remaining Vampires, hoping to get far enough away so that when the ancient Marcus awakens, they aren't caught and killed immediately. Much of the film is told in flashback and exposition, as Selene and Michael learn the true history of the Vampire and Werewolf clans, with both being descended from warring brothers. There's something of the descent of Cain and Abel in that which I'm assuming isn't intended to ape the White Supremacist interpretation, as these films seem to miss "the ruling classes are monsters" aspect of Vampire fiction to begin with. Selene still gets a chance to prove what a special little Mary Sue she is between long sections of exposition detailing Len Wiseman's homebrew setting for his Vampire: The Masquerade game. 

Yeah, I kind of lost patience with this one, the constant exposition was a bit much, especially because a lot of great British actors I really enjoy have to spout it from scene to scene. Seriously, how much money was thrown at Tony Curran, Bill Nighy, Steven Mackintosh and Derek Jacobi to get them to say shit like "For centuries I've stood back and watched the havoc my sons have wrought on each other, and on humanity - not the legacy I prayed for the morning I watched them enter this world... And it's been a tiresome duty - keeping the war contained, cleaning up the mess, hiding my family's unfortunate history?" Ugh. Jacobi was Cadfael and Emperor Claudius for Thor's sake! The fight scenes of Underworld Evolution are pretty good again, with the gulf between character power levels illustrated well visually and there's a pretty cool Vampire kill with a helicopter in the climax. 

As bad as Blade Trinity was, I can't help feeling, again, that the Underworld series is a pale imitator of the Daywalker, or, as alluded to above, Wiseman's fan-fiction wrote large on the big screen. As far as intersecting Vampires and superheroes, the Blade series sets it up better, with Vampires being hidden behind human society, rather than kept apart and obfuscated by a benevolent immortal. I'm honestly considering not bothering with the rest of the series (there are how many of these?) as whatever charm is supposed to be there just fails to land on me. Then again, I've stuck with the Gamera series through some garbage, so I may as well give another one or two a go. If you're not already a fan of this series, I can't say I recommend it, but hey, I'm a bit jaded on the "Vampire Mafia" thing from too many years of White Wolf roleplaying games anyway. 

Superhero Media: Blade Trinity

Sometimes, a superhero film I haven't seen for years turns out to be better than I remembered; sometimes, I get Blade Trinity. Almost nothing in this film actually works, which is astonishing, it's rare to see such a complete failure of a film; who directed this mess? Oh, David S Goyer you say? And he wrote it too? There we go. I honestly find it hard to believe that the guy wrote Dark City, given how shallow the rest of his output tends to be. Sure, he wrote The Dark Knight, but it's not really the script of that film which everyone is still talking about, is it? Some years[?] after the events of Blade II (which are never referenced or referred to), Blade and Whistler are continuing their war against vampires, with the conflict escalating as vampire numbers dwindle. After an elaborate car chase, Blade is framed for the murder of a police officer and a major manhunt begins. I mean, I'm pretty sure Blade killed a cop in the first film and it didn't result in this, but whatever. Whistler is killed in a police raid and Blade captured, meaning the best character in the franchise has left the building. 

When a pack of uninteresting vampires is about to kill Blade, he is suddenly rescued by Whistler's illegitimate and never before mentioned daughter and Ryan Reynolds. I know Reynolds is meant to be playing obscure Marvel character Hannibal King, but this is really one of his roles where he's just playing Ryan Reynolds in an odd circumstance; not that I didn't enjoy it or anything. Much like Typhoid Mary in Elektra, Hannibal King is an obscure character I have some fondness for and was shocked to see on the big screen before Iron Man and Thor got there. I feel that King's identity apart from the Reynolds interpretation would be interesting enough to bring to the screen again, should there be a place for vampires in the MCU in the future. For those who are looking for the origins of the Reynolds Deadpool, look no further than Blade Trinity, as soon as this film was finished, the process of getting the Merc with a Mouth to the screen began; it would take more than a decade. No, we're not counting X-Men Origins Wolverine, why even ask that? The casting on this film is nuts, Jessica Biel, Parker Poesy, Triple H and Patton Oswalt are all in there, not to mention that Dracula is played by Dominic Purcell, of all people. 

Dracula, or "Drake", is probably the weakest point of the film, Purcell is just a terrible cast, not really making sense in the role, and the presence of the character is baffling. Drake is reawakened because of Blade's continued success as a vampire-slayer, but I thought the plan was to get him arrested? Also, the Nightstalkers are out there too, so is the idea that there are too many Vampire hunters out there emboldened by Blade? None of this is clear and I'm probably just reading into it too much. The film ends with Blade almost dying to a designer virus made to wipe out Vampires, but resurrecting on the autopsy table and running off into the night. The voice-over from Hannibal implies that Blade started a new generation of vampires and the hunt began again, but this too, is not clear. This film is a mess, and I honestly can't recommend it beyond the need for completion or as ideas for an alternate Vampire: The Masquerade game. A poor end to what was a great series for a couple of films.

Superhero Media: Army of Darkness

Despite being a nerd of about the right age, and the holder of a degree in Film, I've never been much of a fan of the Evil Dead films, or Sam Rami's work in general. Like? They're fine? Just not my thing really. That said, I have an Ash for my Ultimate Alliance games (as well as general Zombie gaming) because I recognise that the films are popular and that Ash himself is an interesting enough hero to carry the story. I really feel that this is one of those films, like Ghostbusters, that I don't actually have to review, because anyone looking at this blog would probably have seen it more times than I have. About the only contribution I can make to the discussion is to point out that Lord Arthur is played by Marcus Gilbert, who played Ancelyn in the 1980s Doctor Who story "Battlefield", so why bother, really? 

Army of Darkness would make a pretty good miniatures game, as only Ash and the car-chariot are not readily available in miniature form in a variety of scales; I've personally only seen heroic 28mm Ashes. Which, of course, suits me fine, as that scales him nicely with my repainted Heroclix. Man, what else? I want to have a game where Ash joins the Nightstalkers and/or the Croatonans, which makes me think of a team-up between Ash and the Ryan Reynolds version of Hannibal King. In fact, I think that's the trick with Ash and the Evil Dead franchise in general, that Ash is everyman enough to transfer into different settings and conflicts and remain interesting and entertaining. Not only is he as exasperated as we, the audience, imagine we may be in similar circumstance, but he is also as enduring and resourceful as we would like to think of ourselves as being. I mean, Ash is pretty dumb, and he manages to save the day, so I, being much smarter, must be capable of doing the same, right? 

I don't think I'll ever be a big fan of this franchise, though I did enjoy the Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash comic and want to include Ash in some games. Much like Buffy, I think my lack of engagement with the Evil Dead series comes from not having grown up with it; I didn't start watching them until I was in my twenties, so there's no glaze of nostalgia to distract me. The films are fine, just not my kind of thing. As I said way back in my Ash Vs Evil Dead - Season 1 "Superhero Media", I probably won't be doing any more of these. Both Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 aren't really superhero films, even by my loose definition, and I just don't feel like watching more Ash Vs Evil Dead, especially with the huge backlog of DVDs and recordings I have to get through. If I can get my hands on the Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash comics again, that one may show up at some point.

Superhero Media: The Mummy (2017)

I actually kind of enjoyed it. Yes, The Mummy is silly, generic and tries a little too hard to build a 'cinematic universe', but there is really a lot to enjoy if you don't take it seriously. First things first, no, this isn't as good as the version with Brendan Fraiser, or even Abbot and Costello, but Tom Cruise is not the problem. You may not like Cruise on a personal level around his faith and treatment of people who confront him, but there's really no denying that he's a solid actor, especially in leading-man action roles. In fact, the casting on The Mummy is solid right though, even with Russel Crowe as Henry Jekyll, who was probably my favourite character in the entire undertaking, with Russ' trademark 'short fuse' working well. The scene where he injects his hand with a serum (to reverse the change) casually during a conversation or when he slowly spirals into Hyde before being stopped by the female lead are scenes worth watching on their own, and probably even the entire film, if you're painting or whatever at the same time. I was honestly excited for more 'Dark Universe" if only because Universal could really put some money behind such a franchise. 

The titular Mummy is an evil sorceress who tried to conquer ancient Egypt through magic and bringing the god Set into the world to rule by her side. As dull as the "evil woman seeks to usurp the patriarchy through foul magic" trope is (not to mention pretty sexist), the Mummy being female and the apocalyptic tone borne by the return of Set are reasonably engaging. That the mummy uses sexual wiles to lure men into her sway is, again, generic, but Cruise having to tear himself between a rotting corpse and the generic blonde female lead makes for some fun scenes, as well as his dead friend giving him advice An American Werewolf in London style. The threadbare plot tends to jump from action scene to exposition to action scene, but that's par for the course with these kind of blockbusters, and I found the pace to be engaging enough that I was really struggling to understand why The Mummy received such universally bad reviews. After watching a couple of reviews, it seems the 'world-building' is also an issue for many. 

Again, I actually like of liked the world-building. Maybe I'm just an oldschool nerd who's way too into continuity, but the idea of a secret society built by Henry Jekyll to "combat evil" is pretty interesting; I would have liked to see where that went. The film ends with Cruise, now with the Mummy's powers, but working on his own moral compass, riding into the desert and Jekyll saying that he's out there when they need him. Rather than having a hidden scene in the credits, there are images that hint at other monsters out there in the world, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula and the Bride of Frankenstein. I'm not sure what a villain for all of these monsters would be, but I can't help but imagine an "Avengers" of Dracula, the Mummy, a Werewolf, Frankenstein's Monster and the Invisible Man teaming up for a film it seems we'll never get now. Martian invasion? Lovecraftian horrors? Who knows, but I do feel it's a bit of a shame we'll never see it. I found The Mummy to be quite enjoyable, but your experience may be different, as always, try it for yourself before you judge.

Superhero Media: Underworld

Much as I kind of forgot just how good Blade was, I also kind of forgot just how generic the Underworld films were, or at least 'feel' at a distance. Black leather, metal soundtrack and gun-fu fight scenes seem to copy everything superficially good from Blade and The Matrix without any of depth that made those films engaging. In the shadows of the modern world, Vampires and Werewolves, sorry, Lycans, have fought a secret war for centuries. Ok, so this is all pretty generic and overdone by now, but I have to admit that Underworld does have a pretty good take on the old formula. I like that the Vampires live communally in old houses on big estates and the Lycans live communally in dens like wolves, providing a point of comparison as it highlights difference, which is a nice little touch in such a ridiculous film. Like Blade, I can't help but make comparison to the White Wolf "World of Darkness" games, especially with how the Elders work (which I'll cover later), but that may be down to WoD being a collection of so much Vampire 'lore' that anything coming since can't help but borrow the same tropes. 

When the protagonist, Selene, sees that the situation is escalating and the existing leadership is unable or unwilling to do anything about it, she wakes the elder vampire, Bill Nighy, who exposes a conspiracy between a Vampire leader and the Lycan Alpha to kill the ruling Vampire Elders. Put together, the whole thing is wonderfully silly, in the way this kind of film should be, and Nighy sells the power and majesty of an antediluvian Vampire better than about any media I have seen. Resplendent in his ancient robes, Nighy batters away Vampire and Lycan alike with his sword, bullets deflected by his flesh, until only the "Abomination" (Vampire and Werewolf) is left to stand against him. It's a fun scene, and shows off just how superhuman the Vampires can be. Whereas the Blade films (especially the second and third installments) focus on close quarters combat, Underworld has more gunplay and both sides rely on high-tech ammunition to do their fighting, liquid silver and UV bullets and all that stuff even too crazy for World of Darkness. 

I don't, for a moment, wish to disparage fans of this film and series, I appreciate fun trash and attractive women in tight leather as much as most, but Underworld does come across as a weaker imitation of Blade for the most part. Also, whilst Selene does have a journey to go on and an emotional arc, the narrative is really driven by Lucien and his quest for revenge against Bill Nighy for killing his lover. Apparently, one of the later films covers this story, but as Selene and Lucien have little to do with each other in the first film, it feels as if, once again, the more interesting protagonist has been sidelined for the more appealing one. Should I ever get around to that Urban Horror Gang Skirmish game I keep talking about writing, I'll be revisiting Underworld, because there is plenty of inspiration here, even taking into account all of the cliche layered on top. For supers games, take a look at the Bill Nighy fight in the third act, he really looks like he could be fighting Captain America, Wonder Woman or Hellboy with no real change to the scene. Don't your supers games need more Vampires anyway?

Miniatures Finished: Like nothing you can understand...

Ok, so I've posted my David Lo Pan before, but now I've finally finished the rest of his crew. 

 Northstar and Eureka Miniatures. 

 So you'll notice that they're more Doctor Who "Tong of the Black Scorpion" than Big Trouble in Little China "Wing Kong", this is because I use them for Empire of the Dead, but take out the muskets and they're perfectly serviceable for the modern age.

 I picked up Tribal and Brutal at the recent Little Wars Melbourne, so once I get Jack Burton Painted up, I may have to do some Big Trouble in Little China games. 

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.