Superhero Media: Spiderman

Emissary from Hell, Spiderman! Yes, you may know Spiderman (note the lack of hyphen) as either Japanese Spider-Man or Spuidaman, depending on where you first heard about it, but the title is Spiderman in the opening credits, so I'll be sticking to that. Our story begins when aspiring professional motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro is caught up in the centuries-old battle between the Planet Spider and the Iron Cross Army, led by Professor Monster. After the death of his father at the hands of the Iron Cross Army, Takuya encounters Giaera, the last survivor of Planet Spider, who gifts the young man his blood so that he may become Spiderman! With his new suite of powers, as well as the supercar Spider-Machine GP-7 and the transforming spaceship Marveller, Takuya is ready to battle evil. Up against him are the Iron Cross Army, with legions of soldiers, Amazoness and her increasingly-terrible wigs and a plethora of cyborg monsters known as Machine Bem. It's pretty fucking amazing.

Like most Sentai and Toku, Spiderman is pretty repetitive, and you really don't need to watch all 41 episodes like I did to get the feel of it, but it really is a lot of fun if you can stick with it. Although Super Sentai technically predates Spiderman, this series codified many of the themes and tropes that would become the standard in the genre, such as giant robots, transforming vehicles and enemies growing giant in the climax. Although you can jump into pretty much any episode of Spiderman and not have to worry about continuity, there is some development over the course of the series, such as the Iron Cross army suspecting that Takuya is Spiderman, Spiderman working with INTERPOL and a recurring Youth Detective Club. Should you just want to check out a few episodes of Spiderman, the first four and last two do quite well, with a surprisingly solid climax that sets an injured and desperate Takuya against the last vestiges of the Iron Cross Army. It's pretty damn solid given the genre and era.

Despite being reasonably obscure outside of Japan, the internet has, almost miraculously, brought Spiderman back into the cultural consciousness. Aside from appearing in the Spider-Verse comic crossover event, Spiderman has been referenced in cartoons, video games and is set to appear in an animated film. Naturally, I've had one in 28mm for a while, though I'd be up for an Amazoness and Professor Monster if I could get them, and it's an easy conversion if you want someone other than Peter Parker filling out the red and blue for a few games. Hopefully, Spiderman is here for many years to come, and Takuya takes his rightful place alongside other alternatives like Miles, Gwen, Miguel and Ben, because he really is just as good and deserves more exposure. It may seem like a big ask, but go track some Spiderman down and give it a watch, trying to push past your cultural expectations and aversion to rubber suits and see what's there. It's not a great programme, but it's bloody interesting and certainly good enough to fill up a slow afternoon.

Superhero Media: Luke Cage - Season 2

What can I say about the second season of Luke Cage that I haven't covered already with other Marvel Netflix efforts? It's about three episodes too long, it wastes the potential set up by the first season and it's clear the writers were more interested in making a Crime Drama than a Superhero programme. And it's a real shame, as the first season of Luke Cage was a big deal, full of big ideas and it had a big impact, so that the second doesn't really take many risks or try and do much more than round off plots left hanging is truly disappointing. The overriding 'theme' of the season is the fate and soul of Harlem, and who will be the new king, but honestly, it really should have been about getting the Heroes for Hire together. And I'm not just saying that because I am a big comics nerd, the best parts of this season of Luke Cage are the team-ups and hints that something like the Heroes for Hire are coming.

The new villain for the season is Bushmaster, sadly not the guy who's half-snake, a member of the Yardis criminal gang out of Jamaica, and whilst this adds an interesting element of a new Colonial perspective of Blackness, that the decision was made to have him be almost as strong and tough as Luke really undercuts the conflict. There are some really smart scenes where ordinary criminals try clever ideas to get around Luke's invulnerability, and because the power is so straightforward, the fights look great on-screen. But whenever Bushmaster turns up, it's just two guys punching each other again. Not that a low-powered beat up can't be fun to watch, the fight with Misty Knight and Coleen Wing and some drunks in a bar is one of the better in the season, and feels like a lead-in to more, but it isn't. Similarly, the episode where Iron Fist turns up to help is probably the best Danny has been outside of The Defenders, but it's just the one and nothing else happens. I know that with budgets and contracts and all, Heroes for Hire was unlikely to happen, but it just seems as if it would have been much better than this.

Even musically, the second season of Luke Cage pales to the first. Yes, there is still plenty of great African American music, but not much in the way of Jamaican genres, and the cleverness is gone. Remember how the first season coded Hip-Hop as "bad" until Luke takes down a drug den with "Bring da Rukus" blasting? Yeah, none of that here, just some kind of mixtape of Black music that really doesn't feel thought-out. Given the distance of time that I now have from the Marvel Netflix experiment, I'm wondering if the team behind Luke Cage already suspected that the writing was on the wall and that there would be no third season? The set-up of Luke as the new crime boss of Harlem has some merit, but feels forced compared to the sheer joy of the Heroes for Hire segments. Again, I'm not all that sad to see the back of this series, as it didn't seem to be going anywhere that I want to follow, and the first season remains "in amber" for me to enjoy whenever I feel the need. Just one more of these to go, now.

Superhero Media: Kolchak - The Night Stalker

Oh hell yeah! I was randomly flicking through SBS On Demand one afternoon when I found that the entirety of Kolchak The Night Stalker was available to watch. I was house-sitting at the time, with a couple of older dogs, so something fun to binge whilst the elder napped on my lap was a good way to fill the afternoons. Although Kolchak is a classic cult series for a number of good reasons, I do have to warn that as it was made in the 1970s, there is plenty of sexist and homophobic material in the programme just as a matter of course; it didn't stop me from enjoying it, but I can see it being more offensive to others. Carl Kolchak is a reporter for the Independent News Service in Chicago, who has the rotten luck to keep encountering the supernatural and sublime while he's chasing stories. Despite having exactly the kind of budget you'd expect for a niche broadcast television production of the era and dealing with flying saucers, vampires and underground lizard people, Kolchak is somehow one of the most grounded and sober series about the supernatural I've ever seen.

For those seeking a superhero connection for all of this, Kolchak isn't all that far removed in concept from comic characters like Doctor 13 or even Constantine, or if we're prepared to go wide, I can see shades of Carl Kolchak in Spider Jerusalem. I think what makes Kolchak so enduring and engaging even now is how smart it manages to be at times, such as in an episode where an alien is killing people, the alien is invisible to human eyes, so all interactions are filmed with clever staging and light-play to create the impression that something is lingering just out of sight. It honestly works great, much better than a rubber suit would ever have. Of course, there are plenty of rubber suits and dodgy masks, but some great direction and interesting locations make the finished product greater than the sum of its parts. As a fan of classic Doctor Who, I have a high tolerance for cheap pre-CGI effects, but things like the Magma Dragon in The Caves of Androzani still really disappoint, so I was pleasantly surprised as how restrained Kolchak allowed itself to be.

For most of your games, Kolchak probably won't be providing a great deal of inspiration, but I do recommend watching it for just the sheer joy and interest of the series. Although comparisons can be readily made to later programmes like Supernatural, The X Files and Project Blue Book, the wry humor and 1970s cynicism make Kolchak a pretty unique entity in the history of television. Yes, it's dated and there are a few "yikes" moments to the modern sensibility, but the quality is solid and the acting is perfectly on-tone for what's being presented. Also, there's a few guest spots by actors famous for M*A*S*H, which is pretty cool. Naturally I'm now considering a Kolchak-style character in my vampire skirmish game, but who knows when I'll be able to get that off the ground in any serious way, so don't bother expecting any of that happening in the near future. Seriously, this is a great series and well worth your time to track down and watch.

Hey BBC! This is my Doctor Who pitch, hit me up, I'm avaliable! (The Pitch)

Longtime readers will know that I am a big fan of Doctor Who, specifically, the classic series and ancillary media like novels, audio dramas and comics. I initially started in 2005 with the new series, but quickly fell off due to the lack of quality in the writing and general production. Despite wonky sets, overacting and some truly dire episodes over the original run, the 1963 to 1989 series was a television juggernaut that dominated a sector of the culture for nearly 30 years and it deserves a respect that I never really felt it got since coming back in 2005. I dip in from time to time (usually with the regeneration), but I've never found anything in the current version of Doctor Who that makes me want to stick around and watch. 

With the recent announcement that the series is "on hiatus" once again, and nothing new in production, the BBC has publicised that Doctor Who is out for tender, meaning that the television series is available to anyone with the money and a good pitch. Well, I don't have the money,  crowdfunding exists, so that might help, but I can throw together a pitch for basically nothing. And whilst my ideal plan involves bringing Robert Holmes and Terrance Dicks back from the dead to run the series for me, I do have a few good ideas that are actually possible, which I can roll into my beer-mat pitch for a broadcast season and hopefully entertain my handful of regular readers. So let's get started with the first episode, shall we? 

We need to start out what is really at least the 3rd iteration of Doctor Who with a bang, so here's a multi-Doctor story to launch us. Which Doctors is the obvious question, well, we'll have a newly-regenerated Billie Piper find herself immediately confronted by Paul MacGann, Richard E Grant (in his Scream of the Shalka incarnation) and Sean Pertwee playing the 3rd Doctor. Look, I know he said he wouldn't do it, but it's one episode, throw some money at him and remind him of his dad's legacy with the series. Our three Doctors reveal that they've finally tracked down the imposter that's been messing with their timeline (Piper) and they're sending her to Shada for her crimes. The rest of the episode is something of a mash-up of Trial of a Time Lord and The Chase as we backtrack through Doctor Who history to see the havoc wrought by the new series on the classic continuity as the entire 2005-2025 run is revealed to be a member of The Faction Paradox trying to destroy the Doctor's work and good name. We also learn that the Grant 9th Doctor has been trapped in a pocket universe (like E Space) whilst this has been going on, only to be rescued by his previous incarnations. 

However, there is a twist! The 9th Doctor, through the adventures he's having, finds that he has actually been in the Matrix the entire time. After defeating Piper, he gets goodbye moments with 8 and 3 (and whoever we could get to cameo in terms of companions) and wakes up on Galifrey, with a new version of Romana to greet him and the Celestial Intervention Agency to provide the last little bit of explanation we need. Now that we've jettisoned the entire 2005-2025 continuity, pissing a lot of people off, but making me happy and getting everyone talking about the series again, the rest of the season won't be dealing too much with anything that happened in the opening story. The Doctor, now played by Grant full-time, is given his leave by the CIA and returns to an empty TARDIS to, once again, adventure in time and space. 

From there, the framework is fairly loose. Like with the New Adventures novels, I'll put out to writers to send in stories that don't have an arc or major continuity revelations, just the Doctor and a Companion, who step out of the TARDIS at the start and step back in at the end. Obviously, we'll have a good Script Editor with a solid vision for the series, but basically anything goes in terms of story. No two stories should be too similar and I want to avoid the Daleks or other iconic villains for the entire first season, but again, I want to stress, pretty much anything is on the table; no bad ideas and all that. We're going back to the idea that the TARDIS can appear anywhere and anywhen and that adventures can be almost anything. A murder mystery, a ghost story, a war, a monster story, the universe is the limit. 

A few other housekeeping things before we sign off. Ideally, I'd like to take Doctor Who back to being half-hour episodes broadcast weekly, with most stories between 4 and 6 episodes in length. I believe that the series works better as a serial, with cliffhangers and time to sketch out ideas, but I'd settle for every story being two-part with the longer episodes. Keeping the cold opens though, I think those help set the mood really well. The idea would be to have Grant do the one season only (unless he's really keen) before regenerating and getting a new actor in. Basically, I want to create a bridge between the classic series and a new one that skips everything 2005-2026 and has as close a 'feel' to the original as possible, and I personally think Grant is the better choice to do that (being more of a "blank space" in terms of continuity) than McGann. I think new fans either don't know, or tend to forget that Doctor Who was the biggest television series in the world for a time in the 1970s, getting a market share that's functionally unbelievable today, just by being solidly-written and competently produced most of the time. I believe it can be again, on the same merits. 

Well that's me done on this unless someone contacts me with money to back me up or a plan to get it. I hope Doctor Who does come back, but I also hope it's better than it really has been most of my lifetime. Until then, I have my books, DVDs, audios and comics to keep me going on one of my favourite fictional universes. 

Thinking Out Loud: ...of the Zodiac!

Whilst watching the Adam West Batman series again, a thought occurred to me; where is James Gordon Junior in this timeline? The obvious, and actual, answer is that he didn't exist until the 1990s, so nowhere really. But what if he did? The Batman '66 comics expanded the range of characters to include another iconic '90s foe, Bane, so why not take a look at James Jr and see where he would fit in? For those not so steeped in Batman lore as myself, James Gordon Jr, firstborn son of Commissioner Gordon and his first wife, is a serial killer whose activities are kept under wraps by his father and is the case that haunts him the most. It's a very grim story, piling upon the misery that defines Jim Gordon's life, and honestly, the character isn't all that interesting most of the time, just another murderer knocking around Gotham from time to time, when an author is temporarily over Joker and the other Arkham crew. However, the idea that there was a version in the '66 universe and how that would impact the setting, just wouldn't leave my mind.

A small part in Season 1 of Batman that many would be forgiven for missing is Gordon mentioning that Batman and Robin have been active for a few months. Not years, months. Also, despite many jokes about how incompetent Gordon and O'Hara are made to look in the series, they're actually great at their jobs, Gotham has the lowest crime rate in the USA in this version, but the criminal mastermind types like Joker, Riddler and King Tut leave them baffled and that's where Batman and Robin come in. This version of Batman doesn't chase muggers or break up gangs, he doesn't need to, the police do that. So if Jim Gordon is such a good cop in '66, what keeps him from tackling the more esoteric cases? What if the reason is that he did once chase a colourful villain? A murderer in a costume with a gimmick that turned out to be none other than his own son? When Gordon discovered this, his instincts as a father took over and he sent his boy away, rather than to the electric chair. Gordon has PTSD and just can no longer bring himself to do the major crimes, thank god for the Caped Crusader.

Of course, Gordon is still a smart man, he'd make sure his son was as far away as possible, on the opposite side of the country, the West Coast. Ok, enough preamble; in the '66 universe, James Gordon Jr is the Zodiac Killer. He's from Gotham, so the costume, riddles and persona would appeal, even just as a way to keep digging at his father from across the country, and he was never caught because he had the police looking out for him and keeping stuff under wraps. Does Batman know? Perhaps? Was it a string of Astrology-themed murders in Gotham that finally encouraged Bruce Wayne to don the cape and start fighting crime? Letting two costumed vigilantes with unknown identities fight crime in your city is a big damn departure from police procedure, let alone deputising them, was Gordon perhaps motivated out of fear that The Minstrel or Mad Hatter would become another killer and the cycle would repeat? I'm not normally one for adding 'darker' elements where they're not needed, but this was a fun idea, so I wanted to share it.

Thinking Out Loud: Gotham Nights

No matter how many ritual sacrifices I make to the dark gods, it seems that the grimmest and darkest versions of Batman will be the only ones to find their way into the cinema for the foreseeable future. And whilst I don't want a return to the "Full Adam West", as it were, I do think that there are a lot of stories to tell with a less intense version of the character. Speaking of Adam West though, if takes on Batman like the "Reeves-verse" are going to remain the flavour of the moment for the foreseeable future, then it turns out that the 1966 series has a lot to offer. Look, I enjoy the classic Batman villains as much as anyone, but with all the films that we've had, the spread of antagonists is pretty slim. Sure, if we're staying "grounded", then characters like Killer Croc and Clayface aren't going to work as well as Riddler and Joker, but there's more than just those options out there. If grounded is what you want, then baby, Adam West has got your back. So here is a quick look at five '66 villains that could be adapted to a grimdark new Batman film and save us from yet another take on Joker. Seriously, let the character be done already.

Bookworm

Though this character is probably a little too close to Riddler at the end of the day, a frustrated writer who expresses his rage though book-themed crimes is a perfect fit for a more detective style Dark Knight. Cryptic clues dripping in literary references, meta-critisicm and getting really mad when he mangles quotes, just turn this guy up to eleven and let him loose in Gotham for a good time. The reading lamp on the head could become a couple of pen lights like he's in Orbital (ask your dad) and give him plenty of creepy scenes wandering around a dark library and the rest almost writes itself. Hell, ask a room of writers to write about writing and this could be pretty epic.


False Face

The real threat being "in the shadows" is a common thread with 'darker' Batman stories, be it Riddler using TikToc to incite a mob or Joker having to be tracked by sonar phones, Batman can't just walk up and punch the problem without some legwork. Whilst False Face has actually had some life since the Silver Age, this master of disguise is perfect for a retooling for the modern day. Add some pathos about him hating his real face because his abusive parents scarred it and False Face is dark enough to be causing Batman trouble again, driving him back into isolation, because who can he trust when the enemy could be anyone?


Chandell (Liberace)

If you watch any Batman, make sure it's the two-parter with Chandell, a famous concert pianist turned criminal trying to get his hands on the Wayne fortune. At the very least, you get to see Liberace play piano for a bit and that's always awesome. Now, I'm not saying that Chandell is a good fit for a darker Batman, but think about the concept of the conflict; Batman versus celebrity. Batman doesn't rely on being liked, so if he came in direct conflict with a popular entertainer, his negative public image would work against him and the tacit support of the law-abiding citizens of Gotham wold no longer be there. Get an actor who also can sing and play an instrument and the film kind of comes together pretty easily. No super powers, just a devious criminal who can play sweet licks.


King Tut

King Tut is a great villain and he needs to come back in a big way at some point, so why not in a major film? A Harvard Professor of Egyptology who comes to believe he is a reincarnated Pharaoh when he suffers head trauma and that Gotham is his new homeland, gifted by the gods. This one should play a little like a Black Mask or Two-Face story, with Tut as essentially the head gangster, but with plenty of Ancient Egyptian themes and styling, because for all his madness, Tut is deviously clever and an excellent criminal mind. Plus you can reuse the ending from the '66 series, with Tut regaining his sanity and Batman unable to get the catharsis of defeating the bad guy and having to live with his desire for revenge left unsatisfied. 


Marsha, Queen of Diamonds

Ok, so what if Batman had to fight a member of his own class for a change? Marsha is a beautiful socialite who manipulates men into buying or stealing diamonds for her, leaving them to be caught up by the legal consequences while she flees. As it is, the character is a little shallow and mildly sexist, but there is plenty of potential there for an interesting antagonist with a little bit of work. This could be a story where Bruce is dealing with the enemy as much as Batman, because they move in the same circles and she is probably after him in one respect or another. Bruce will need to let her get close enough to catch her, but not so close she discovers his secret or, even worse, he develops feelings for her. Also, this is a villain Batman can't punch and whose crimes, taking money from obscenely wealthy men, is pretty mild in the grand scheme of things; it's clever in a way Batman aspires to be.

Superhero Media: The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

In what is hopefully the last change for a while, Lead Capes is moving to Tuesdays and Saturdays. 

I'll admit that I was a little apprehensive about the MCU moving to a streaming model for some projects, as Agents of SHIELD, the Nextlfix series and The Inhumans had all swung a great deal in quality. For all the criticisms that one can lay at the MCU, "looking cheap" isn't one of them, but television pretty much always looks cheaper than film, and the idea of Anthony Mackie hanging by an obvious harness in front of an obvious greenscreen just wasn't something I was ok with. What I got, however, was a seamless, engaging, exciting geopolitical adventure right in the vein of Winter Soldier and Civil War, essentially another Captain America film, just a little longer and something of a 'soft reboot' for the franchise. Feeling the weight of responsibility on having been handed the shield by Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson opts to remain the Falcon and donate the shield to the Smithsonian, not willing to be the new Captain America. Meanwhile, James 'Bucky' Barnes is working through his therapy and trying to put a life together post-Winter Soldier. Also there's a pseudo-anarchist, pseudo-terror group called the Flag-Smashers who want to return to the world as it was in-between Infinity War and Endgame.

I'm not going to get too much into the politics of Karli Morgenthau and the Flag-Smashers here, as I have another piece discussing that in the pipeline, but it is pretty cool that a form of anarchist movement aren't immediately demonised and have legitimate concerns the heroes engage with. As they aren't technically affiliated with the American government, Sam and Bucky can work in the grey areas, with Sharon Carter and even Baron Zemo alongside them for stretches as the new Captain America (John Walker) closes in on the Flag-Smashers. "Grey" is one of the best words to describe the tone of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, as every character's point of view, assumptions and personal politics are repeatedly challenged throughout the programme; which is where the real genius of the series lies. Zemo is right, uncontrolled super-soldiers are dangerous and cannot be allowed to proliferate, but he is also a murdering psychopath who uses his wealth as a weapon. Elijah Bradley is correct in that he was used as a commodity by the US military because of his race, but he makes the wrong call about Sam donning the Captain America mantle. Even Sam needs to be open to new ideas and to growth and change in order to get to the place where he can comfortably carry the shield.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier may be, other than Wandavision, the thematically deepest of any MCU production to date. In a programme about super-soldiers chasing terrorists around the globe, we are introduced to basic tenants of contemporary Anarchism, the disgusting treatment of African Americans in the military that continued well into the twentieth century, the dangers of tribalism and partisan politics and even the limits on compassion that borders and capitalism impose. Although Karli and her team are dead by the closing credits, their ideas aren't, and even Sam Wilson, Captain America, is advocating for change to a global system that creates the displacement and massive wealth disparity that drove the Flag-Smashers to revolt in the first place. A truly cynical reading of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier may say that it only exists to set up a new status-quo for the next series of films, which it does, but that seems to willfully ignore all of the meat on those continuity bones. Yes, Sam is Captain America now for the next time the Avengers assemble, but he's a different Cap coming from his own unique place with his own agenda. If this is the quality we can expect moving forward, I'm keen for more MCU.

Superhero Media: The Punisher - Season 2

Ok, I get it now, this is neither Frank Castle nor The Punisher, this is some original character the writers came up with and slapped a skull shirt on to make their contract. Seriously, there is maybe, one or two scenes in the entire series where I was like, "oh hey, that's the Punisher, neat", but the rest of the time I felt like I was watching something else. Once again, far too many episodes are drawn-out conversations about ethics or psychology, which are fine, and some are even well-written, but I'm tuning in to see Frank shoot people, not, yet another, manipulative psych antagonist. Seriously, I may be a Psychotherapist, not a Psychologist or Psychiatrist, but I still find that trope pretty damn offensive, all the more so because it's so common. I think The Punisher wants me to read it as Jigsaw manipulating his psych, Harley Quinn/Joker style, not that that's really at all "better", but the framing is that she falls for her client and forsakes all ethics and training to pursue a relationship with him, even attempting to murder a federal agent for him. Fuck off with this shit. It's not clever, it just increases the distrust people have for therapy and makes my job harder.

Man, I can't even talk about The Punisher now, I just hate that trope so much and it's a major narrative in the programme. I call the character Jigsaw, but fans of the comics will barely reconise what is presented, with minimal scars and a simmering hatred for Frank Castle that barely causes anything to happen in the story. In fact, Jigsaw is already dying when Frank Kills him, having been shot by the female agent he was sleeping with in the first season and I can't believe she's even in this season as well, seriously, she has nothing to do other than KEEP FUCKING TALKING WHEN FRANK COULD BE SHOOTING PEOPLE! What's worse than that is that Jigsaw's arc, involving turning disillusioned veterans into a fearsome organised crime syndicate, is actually really interesting and would have been great in any other programme, but here is just an excuse to have someone who's not Frank shoot people. Oh, remember back in my Garth Ennis Punisher review how Frank had to be clever to work around his own moral code to fight Delta Force tasked with his capture? Well, here Frank just shoots and kills fellow veterans, because heaven forefend we actually have something engaging and clever happen.

Oh wait, Frank's friend who runs group therapy for veterans, something I have done myself, by the way, is also ok with killing his former clients, except for this one scene which just kind of derails the shoot-out Frank is in at the time. Look, as I've said before, I'm not a violent person, I'm all for complicated narratives with superheroes and some of my favourite Punisher comics confront the reality of the mass-murder Frank Castle commits, however, this series does none of that well. The writers have plenty of clever ideas, but they come too thick and fast for any of them to really land and the result is a blur of bland scenes and too few gunfights for a series about a character known for gun-play more so than just about any other in comics. The veteran mafia, Pilgrim and his mission to protect the homosexual secrets of a Republican Senator, Frank trying to protect one young woman as a form of redemption, all of these are great ideas that would work with The Punisher as a protagonist, but none of them coalesce, leaving an unsatisfying ending that thankfully will never lead into another season. I really hope Frank Castle comes back to the MCU, but I also hope it looks nothing like this series, as there is so much that can be done with the Punisher that has yet to be explored in this medium.

Superhero Media: Wandavision

If you're Marvel Studios, what do you do after releasing one of the most successful films of all time, leaving an impact on popular culture so large people are still talking about it and having your longitudinal plans scuppered by a global Pandemic not seen for 100 years? Well, you put together a television series that is somehow true to tone, explores deeper content than you ever have before and encapsulates the global mood brought upon by that same pandemic. Fuck Marvel Studios knows their shit. After the events of Endgame, Wanda finds herself living in a, literally, sitcom-perfect small New Jersey town with Vision and they move through the decades of broadcast television, even raising a family; but something is off. The first half of Wandavision, inspired by David Lynch and possessing an altogether stranger and darker tone than many Marvel Studios productions, is something to behold, and whilst I can understand the disappointment some felt that the programme reverted to standard MCU fare by the end, I still believe the complete product to be excellent.

Marvel Studios are easily the best in the business when it comes to fan management, which Wandavision handily demonstrates at both ends of the fandom spectrum. Quite a few fans picked Agnes as Agatha Harkness before the first episode aired, but rather than scramble and make a last-minute change, Marvel trusted in the strength of their narrative and delivered a compelling antagonist that people really responded to. The YouTube 'response and speculation' industry found clues in Wandavision for everything from Squadron Supreme to the High Evolutionary, but the studio kept to their guns of keeping the MCU oddly grounded for a setting which includes magic, aliens and robots. That is, at least, as things stood at the time; staring down the barrel of Avengers Doomsday certainly puts things in a different light. 

Look, I'm a comics fan, I'm all for alternate timelines and multiverses. Even my "Equalisers" setting has a multiverse and evil-universe doppelgangers, so I'm not against the concept. But. I don't think the MCU has been improved by moving out of the one reality, sorry, but I really don't. Remember, the MCU is the simplified, accessible version of the comics stories, like the old Ultimate Universe, so adding in all that extra crap has only alienated the broader audience that don't read the comics. As much as I kind of want to see characters like Maestro, the Council of Reeds and Ravage grace the big screen, I'm perfectly happy to continue as things are for quite a wile longer yet. Especially if we're going to get programming of the caliber of Wandavision. Though I couldn't get the phrase "Monica Rambeau, leader of the Nextwave squad, lies all the time" out of my head while watching.

Superhero Media: Star Vs The Forces of Evil

Back when I was last working in a High School as a Counsellor, one of my students was delighted to discover that I was a fan of Gravity Falls and suggested that I may enjoy Star Vs The Forces of Evil on similar merits. At the time, Disney+ didn't exist and I tend not to pirate things, so I said if I came across it I'd give it a go and left it at that. Star Vs The Forces of Evil is pretty damn amazing in the same way that programmes like Adventure Time and Gravity falls are, though it lacks some of the polish that would come later with the new Ducktales, the story grows and characters change in very organic ways and there is a lot for even a jaded adult like me to enjoy. Star Butterfly is the princess of the Mewnian kingdom, who, on her fourteenth birthday, inherits the magical power hereditary to the Queens of her line, but is too impulsive to control her abilities, so is sent to Earth to live with Marco Diaz, a lonely boy who does Karate and is good at school.

Whilst the story starts out with heavy "fish out of water" and "monster of the week" tropes, Star Vs The Forces of Evil soon demonstrates that it has a lot more going on than the initial pitch. The villains change each season, culminating with Star and her friends having to decide the fate of Magic itself. I'd love to wax lyrical about every little shift and how new villains come and go, as Star Vs The Forces of Evil does some of the best world-building and escalation of any television series made for tweens that I've ever seen, but what I really want to talk about is Hot Marco. At one stage, Marco is dragged into the nether-realm of the demon Heckapoo (weird names is a thing in this programme) and spends fifteen years becoming a techo-barbarian warrior legend, who sets the teenage Star into pubescent lust pretty damn hard. Now, I've done a fair amount of Psychothreapeutic work with adolescents, and honestly, about the only programme that covers how they develop romantically and sexually is Big Mouth, but damn if Star Vs The Forces of Evil doesn't come really close in some moments.

Why is it important, or impressive even, that this Magical Girl/DBZ/glitterpunk/My Little Pony mashup engages with sexuality and relationships in between Narwhal Blasts and Ponyhead antics? Well because the relationships, desires and attractions portrayed in Star Vs The Forces of Evil are healthy, and that's pretty damn rare in media for young adults and tweens (Twilight, anyone?). So when Star gets 'revved up' by Hot Marco, or Jackie Lynne discovers her queerness or Eclipsa sacrifices everything for her husband, it feels real; often more real than other soapy superhero fare like Arrow or Gotham. If there is one real issue I have with Star Vs The Forces of Evil, it would be the ending, which feels rushed and leaves things oddly hanging, just in the last few seconds of broadcast, frustratingly enough, so I have to 'headcannon' this one a little. That said, check this series out if you can get past the cutseyness and glitterpunk, it's a damn fun watch and I'm already scouring minis ranges for an approximate Star and Marco (maybe also a Hot Marco) to slip into future Ultimate Alliance games.

Superhero Media: The Spectacular Spider-Man Animated Series

I was a little surprised when this series popped up on Netflix, as opposed to Disney+, but seeing that it was far shorter (at two seasons) than some other things I was watching, I gave it a go one slow weekend. And, it turns out The Spectacular Spider-Man is actually really damn good, probably one of the best animated versions of Spider-Man I've seen. Drawing on both the 616 and Ultimate continuities, The Spectacular Spider-Man hits a really good balance of keeping classic stories and characters whilst bringing them into the modern day. Or, at least, the early 2000s. Kids without smartphones just looks weird to me now. What this programme does which I haven't really seen in a lot of other Spider-Man cartoons is centre the relationships of Peter Parker and his peers, with several episodes that revolve more around teenage romance than fighting animal-themed villains.

Whilst the romantic elements are probably a turn-off for some, I found them really interesting, helping to build the supporting cast to be more than just a bunch of interchangeable kids. And it's written pretty well too, which is quite astounding. An ongoing thread has Peter dating Liz Allen whilst being pursued by Gwen Stacey, and it's handled with shocking maturity and accuracy to teenage development and relationships. Another really cool element of The Spectacular Spider-Man is that Peter's Rogues Gallery is actually factionalised, like in the comics, with Tombstone, Doctor Octopus and Silvermane fighting for control of the New York underworld as Spider-Man tries to stop them and the enigmatic Green Goblin running around in the background as an extra threat. Unlike most animated programmes of this nature, The Spectacular Spider-Man has threads that run through multiple episodes, rather than everything being a one-off with incremental growth; it's a nice change and still something not seen all that often.

My major criticism of The Spectacular Spider-Man is the animation, which is just slightly odd, with visible nostrils and eyes of different shapes on most characters. It's not a deal-breaker, and after one or two episodes, I stopped noticing, but the programme not looking like any Spider-Man comic is an odd choice. For the voice actor fans out there, The Spectacular Spider-Man features the likes of James Arnold Taylor, Clancy Brown, Phil LaMarr, John DiMaggio and more, so the talent is present and lifts up what is already a solid script. If you like your Spider-Man with references to Carl Sagan and James Joyce, which I really do, then the two short seasons of The Spectacular Spider-Man are well worth the watch, even if the broad strokes will be familiar to most fans already. I'm not sure that this is strictly the "best" animated Spider-Man series, but it is really good and mostly a joy to watch, I may even return to it one day, after I get through the dozens of other versions.

Superhero Media: The Superhero Squad Show

Sorry for the irregular posts recently, my work situation will be changing a lot over the next few months, so for now, posts will be Monday and Friday. Once things settle, we'll probably have a new schedule again, sorry, it's just how things are right now. 

Hey there, are you looking for a programme with lots of references to Marvel Comics deep lore, Stan Lee cameos and more characters than you can count? Well look no further than The Superhero Squad Show, a two-season masterpiece that you probably skipped over because it's marketed to young children, but may well be one of the best Marvel animated programmes ever made. Make no mistake, this is a programme for children, complete with a shocking lack of violence, fart jokes and two-dimensional characters, but never have I seen any other Marvel multimedia production reference Artie Simek (famous Silver Age letterer) or George Clinton. Hell, The Superhero Squad Show makes Herbie the Robot a fun and interesting character, how about them apples? The broader narrative, of first trying to rebuild the Infinity Sword, then saving the universe from the "Dark Surfer", is pretty basic, but so much care and effort has gone into each episode that it's very hard to not be charmed straight away.

Even a person so versed on Marvel deep-lore as myself, I found myself having to reach for my Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe on occasion to remember who Jack Russel (Werewolf By Night) or Santana were. Seriously, there's an episode where the main antagonist is Plantman! Which is also a great episode because Wolverine is sick of the Superhero Squad, so joins Captain America's "All-Captains Squad", featuring Captain Brazil, Captain Australia, Captain Britain and Captain Luxembourg. Wolverine, of course, becomes Captain Canada, a repaint I'll have to do at some stage. Whilst there are no appearances of Spider-Man and his associated characters, and few X-Men to be seen, the spread of other characters is brilliant, from Adam Warlock to Zabu, there's a chance your favouirte obscure hero or villain is in there somewhere. New hero Repteal is a tad underused, but I never found him as annoying as some seem to, but replacing him with Scarlet Witch in the second season provides some nice balance that the programme was lacking.

As an extra treat, each episode is named after a classic comic, a fun little device I wish I saw more often, especially given the huge history of the 616 Marvel Universe. The Mayor of Superhero City is played by Stan Lee, who even gets a couple of episodes to develop, though he's clearly not a voice actor, and those episodes aren't the best in the series. The Superhero Squad Show gets to have a lot of fun playing with iconic stories and characters, from "The Ballard of Beta-Ray Bill" to "Planet Hulk", seeing these places and people played for laughs is very enjoyable once you get used to the younger tone. Oh, and the theme song is great! The Season 1 version is probably a little better, but both rock hard and really need a reference in the MCU at some stage, for sure. I really enjoyed The Superhero Squad Show, though I'll admit I tended to only watch a couple of episodes at a time, and it was good to see some of these characters and ideas I love taken a little less seriously for a change. Time to Hero Up!

Thinking Out Loud: Convergent Lepidoptery

My partner has not seen Stranger Things, so we've been watching through seasons 1 to 4 in preparation for the final installment dropping in a few days. When we got to Stranger Things 4 and Eleven travels in her own mind back to Hawkins Lab and her childhood as an experiment in psychic weapons, it triggered a memory in me. If you're a few years either side of 40 and did your primary schooling in Australia, there's a decent chance you came across the 1992 Brian Caswell novel, A Cage of Butterflies. Now, it has been several decades since I have so much as thought about A Cage of Butterflies, let alone read it, so I'll be working from memory and internet resources, as I couldn't lay my hands on a copy and this is pretty time-sensitive. In the novel, seven teenagers with genius-level IQs form a Think Tank at a government institute where they discover five seven-year-old subjects with psychic abilities known as "the Babies". Our heroes rescue the Babies with the help of two teachers and the novel goes basically where you'd expect for the era. Oh, and the Babies all have shaved heads. 

Now, that's a pretty bang-on description of Hawkins Lab as presented in Eleven's memories in Stranger Things 4, and there's a butterfly reference in season 1 (blink and you'll miss it though), so just how deep do these similarities go? Well, not that much further. None of the child or adult characters in A Cage of Butterflies truly have an analogue in Stranger Things and the latter clearly owes a lot of its DNA to popular films of the 1980s as much as cult and pulp stories. I really don't believe that the Duffer Brothers would have so much as heard of A Cage of Butterflies, as tied-in as it is to a specific time and place for so many. No, I believe both works are more likely drinking from the same well of influences, from the obvious 1980s films like Firestarter and Village of the Damned to real life conspiracies like MK Ultra and the Montauk Project, the latter being so obvious as to get name-checks in Stranger Things. Of course, creepy psychic children goes at least back to The Coming Race, but the fact that both these texts landing on the same visual language is pretty interesting to analyse. 

Brian Caswell was born in the 1950s, so he's certainly a "Baby Boomer", whereas the Duffer Brothers are around my age, so "Elder Millennials", one would think that their influences in media would have led to an at least somewhat different interpretation of essentially the same concept, but somehow it didn't. It's like how almost all cosmic horror owes some debt to Lovecraft, even unconsciously, but with creepy children and hospitals. One might even draw comparison to the "Black Eyed Kids" of popular conspiracy mythos and be pretty comfortable in that assertion. As I don't spend a lot of time with the horror genre, I can't be sure just how widespread these tropes are, but from my metafictional readings of Stranger Things, I feel they may be pretty standard. Stranger Things is an obvious bricolage of ideas and concepts that came together really well, it's really no surprise that other versions of similar ideas are floating around out there. I don't remember A Cage of Butterflies all that well, but the fact that an entertainment juggernaut of the 2020s reminded me of a book from the 1990s that I had to read once felt worth at least noting. 

(PS. One of my overriding memories of reading A Cage of Butterflies is that one of the teen characters goes on holiday with his family at some point. In the middle of the action, one of our leads disappears for a chapter or two to visit Queensland. As a child it baffled me that this guy would just bugger off during a daring operation to free exploited children, but that may be my memory fogging with time.) 

Superhero Media: Carmen Sandiego (Netflix)

After seeing a few reviews for this version of Carmen Sandiego, I decided to start watching it in-between other programmes, and quickly found myself more than a little charmed. Whilst the individual elements of Carmen Sandiego rarely rise above the level of competent, the complete effect is rather excellent and the overall progamme highly engaging. Having been raised on a secret island university for criminals, "Black Sheep" flees when she fails the final exam, takes the name "Carmen Sandiego" from a coat and starts to fight her previous colleagues. Yes, in this version, Carmen steals from thieves, only to return the valuable historical artifacts later as she attempts to bring down V.I.L.E. (Villainous organisation for Intrigue Larceny and Evil) and stay ahead of the law herself. Helping Carmen out are Player, a teen genius hacker, and a two-person Bostonian brother and sister racing team, both of whom seem to have a massive crush on Carmen, but we won't be doing any of that, because this is for the kids.

VILE is made up of a faculty of semi-retired master thieves and a cadre of younger criminals all of whom have a theme and gimmick; like "Neil the Eel" who wears a friction-less suit, "The Goat" who does Parkour or "Crackle" who has a shock stick. In this, VILE isn't wholly dissimilar to something like HIVE or Crossbones' crime school from mainstream comics, though Carmen's team definitely has more of a "Ocean's 11" vibe with a splash of The Avengers (the British one). The formula of Carmen Sandiego is pretty set, with a new item to be stolen each episode and an explanation of the history and culture of the the place the team is headed to, many of which are actually pretty interesting. For example, the intro to Australia actually covers our strict biosecurity laws and the reasons behind them, which is almost never covered in popular media. Though Carmen does just visit the Outback and the Sydney Opera House, so I wasn't too excited.

The narrative through-line, such as it is, concerns Carmen searching for her family, and whilst the story comes across a little rushed in the last season, I was never disinterested in what was happening. Again, nothing in Carmen Sandiego is exemplary, but every element is done with a great deal of competence and the final product is both highly engaging and visually excellent. If you're looking for a criminal organisation a tad more grounded than Hyrda or AIM, VILE may well fit the bill, and even if not, Carmen Sandiego is a decent binge for a slow weekend that doesn't outstay its welcome or try to be anything more than it really needs to. Whilst I won't be actively seeking a 28mm Carmen for my games, should I happen to stumble across something suitable, she would at least make a fun little table "Easter Egg", like my TARDIS, Madagascar Penguins or Batsignal.

Superhero Media: Arrow - Season 8

And here the programme that launched the CW DCU comes to an end, a few years too late, low on quality and pretty wonky in terms of lore, but, somehow, Arrow gets a better ending than the last few seasons would have deserved. At the risk of sounding overly sarcastic, probably my favouirte element of the final season of Arrow is that it is only a handful of episodes long, rather than the standard twenty-something, so the narrative is condensed and there is very little filler. The previous season having ended with the Monitor taking Oliver Queen away to do his bidding and keep the multiverse safe from... I think it's meant to be the Anti-Monitor? As usual, the crossover is mostly in other programmes, so I only saw a little bit of it, but it looked like fun and I will probably check it out at some point.

What the device of having Oliver traveling the Multiverse really enables is a tour of characters and locations from the history of Arrow, a kind of farewell parade, if you will. This sounds good in theory, but there's a huge amount of season one and two continuity that I just didn't remember, what with it having been half a decade since I saw them. I'm sure there's a group of fans out there who go back to the previous seasons regularly, but I'm not one of them, so I was completely lost for entire stretches. Much of the rest of the episodes deal with the children of "Team Arrow", who I find pretty tiresome, but the bits where they get to team up with their parents in their prime are enjoyable enough.

Somehow, the last episode is actually really good, with very little action and a focus on each remaining character getting their moment to say goodbye. Although trite, this farewell is pretty well executed, feeling genuine and heartfelt when it needs to be. The part everyone talks about is John Diggle finding a Green Lantern ring, but I personally enjoy Mad Dog's journey from murderous vigilante to mayor of the city through a humanist platform. I cannot honestly say that Arrow is worth the time it will take to watch all of it, but I don't regret having done it now that it's finished. What came after Arrow, like The Flash and Supergirl is typically much better, but without CW and DC taking a risk on a character and franchise that most people didn't know, they never would have existed. Well done, Oliver Queen, you did not fail this franchise, even if huge chunks of it were quite bad.

Superhero Media: Fantasic Four - The Animated Series (1994)

I have fond memories of watching "The Marvel Action Hour" hosted by Stan Lee himself, featuring Iron Man and Fantastic Four. Some years back, I picked up the Iron Man DVDs pretty cheap, from a supermarket of all places, and found it to be not as bad as I remembered. Fantastic Four however, is pretty much almost entirely hot garbage from the second the campy theme song finishes. Yes, I like the campy theme song and they should bring it back for the next film, like with the "Spider-Man Theme" in the Rami films. What makes Fantastic Four so bad? Mostly a lack of money, really; the animation is cheap and repetitive, the scripts are paper-thin and a lot of the acting is odd a lot of the time. There is a conflict in tone between classic Silver Age Fantastic Four comics and trying to be hip and '90s; the Four having a black-tie variety benefit at which Johnny performs a terrible rap, just for example. 

In terms of the classic comic stories though, Fantastic Four is pretty comprehensive, even managing to revisit Doom stealing the power of the Silver Surfer after the first version isn't really all that good. Most of what you'd expect is here, in the forms of Galactus, Skrulls, Mole Man, Inhumans and Kree, plus there is a hefty dose of other Marvel characters, including Hulk being voiced by Ron Perlman. Most of the "guest stars" are from the other 1990s Marvel animated series, but there is the occasional fun surprise, like Ghost Rider, who takes on Galactus with his "Penitent Stare". Of course, we get a good Hulk Vs Thing fight, with plenty of smashing and clobbering and, importantly, no decisive winner, because you want to keep the fans wanting more. 

Probably the thing Fantastic Four does best is show the titular Four in a contemporary setting, which is often considered a difficult task at the very least. Personally, as someone who's actually read a fair few FF comics, I think they work fine in any era, so long as you can maintain the idea of Reed Richards being on the bleeding edge of science and technology. Even this series tries to mess with the formula and fails, with Doom being German for the first few episodes before it shifts to Latveria and moves on. Thing is, the Fantastic Four work as they are and really don't need too much changing. Averaged out, FF was the highest selling monthly comic for the entire Bronze, Dark and Platinum ages, so these are stories we want to see, even if they're not always done well. 

Superhero Media: Danger Mouse

Yes, I watched the entirety of the classic Danger Mouse, and I don't recommend that you do the same. That is not to say that Danger Mouse is bad, which it is, of course, not, just that binging it quickly kind of killed the enjoyment I was getting. The World's Greatest Secret Agent, Danger Mouse, and his mostly-useless assistant Penfold, battle the nefarious foes of freedom across the globe and Willesden Green in mostly unlikely circumstances. Like many programmes of its era, Danger Mouse has dated, mostly around stereotypes and backwards attitudes, especially against Mexicans, for some reason, but it holds up despite being steeped in ideas of Empire. If you can handle wacky, then Danger Mouse is a heady draught, with skouse aliens, giant bananas and more episodes in space than you would think for what is, ostensibly, a spy adventure. 

The jokes are repetitive and often deliberately bad, but there is a charm to Danger Mouse that transcends the surface quality, or lack thereof. Like I said, don't watch a lot of this back-to-back, as it starts to grate after a while, but if Danger Mouse is an old hazy memory or something an older relative talks about a lot, then dive in for a little bit and see how you go. The review of the newer seasons is actually one of the most viewed articles on this blog, so clearly there is a love of Danger Mouse and Penfold to be had out there. Such is the nature of the programme that I really can't recall too much about specific episodes to recommend, though images of sentient bagpipes, golfing Martians and ghost busses haunt my dreams. 

If you really want to game Danger Mouse (might work as a Pulp Alley game?) there are a few free STLs around for 3D printing, I'm eyeing off one of Danger Mouse and Penfold in the X-1 for printing at about 6mm scale, which should look right next to 28mm humans. I've never been one for gaming in a comedic tone myself, but it's worth remembering that Danger Mouse does shockingly little fighting in the programme, mostly resorting to a combination of dumb luck, puns and contrivance. Danger Mouse may be the world's greatest secret agent, but Danger Mouse isn't really the best programme, being very much throwaway entertainment for kids more interested in colour and movement than a maligned classic awaiting reappraisal. Still, I love it and will probably go back for more at some stage. 

Superhero Media: Daredevil - Season 3

It took a while to get here, but mark another Marvel Netflix series as done. All-in, I feel that Daredevil was the strongest of the Netflix series, The Defenders notwithstanding, in that all three Seasons even out better, even if technically Jessica Jones had better individual Seasons. Rounding out the story of Kingpin, the third season sees a conclusion to long-running elements of the programme and introduces a version of Bullseye to the story. Despite all the positives to be had, I was pretty worn out on Daredevil by the end, as it was clear that the writing team actually wanted to be working on a cable crime procedural rather than a superhero series. For example, Dex (Bullseye) spends several episodes in a copy of the Daredevil costume, murdering people (taken from the comics), but at no stage does Matt don the horns again. Look, I know lots of people preferred the black burglar outfit, but he has an iconic costume and if he's not wearing it, that's just kind of stupid.

Fisk being back is a heck of a lot of fun, but his subtle menace and far reach is replaced with an unbelievable level of infiltration of the FBI and plans working so far in advance even Doctor Doom would be rolling his eyes. When the action ramps up, Daredevil shines, especially when Matt goes up against Dex and the pair use everything at hand to deal damage to each other, with the visceral and bloody combat hearkening back to the best fight scenes in the first season. A little too much time is spent on setting up and justifying Dex as a character, which is a waste as Bullseye is always better as cypher, I honestly feel that a version of the "Kingpin's Fist" idea from Ultimate Spider-Man would have made for a better story. The best part of the third season is Foggy, who insists on taking Kingpin down through the courts, almost ending up as District Attorney of New York in the process, giving him the most growth and bringing together his character beats from previous seasons nicely. 

Unlike most of the "last" Marvel Netflix series, there is no crossover episode of Daredevil, which feels like a missed opportunity, especially with a focus around the legal process, Gerry Hogarth would have made sense, if not Jessica Jones being around at some point. In terms of the season being a crime programme, Daredevil is pretty good, but I wanted superheroes when I tuned in, so all-in I found this last entry lackluster. Charlie Cox was a really good Matt Murdock, and the supporting cast was always strong, but this being where it ends makes me feel like the journey wasn't really worth my time. Of course we'll see Matt and Daredevil again as our journey with the MCU continues, but to my mind none of it really matters to the broader plot of this season, if that's what you were watching for. I think it will be a long time before I go back to the Netflix series, but there is still an appeal there.