Force S5 - Part V

Given that last time was so rules-heavy, let's take a break and do a little more story about the world of Force S5. I also finally have some miniatures I like for this project, so expect to see at least some WIPs soon.

Alright, while we have a moment, I can tell you have a lot of questions, so let's do a whole "Secret History of the World" rundown for you, shall we?

Ancient Aliens (approx 12000 BCE) 
Yes, aliens did visit Earth before the modern age, but such encounters were few and far between. There were no Chariots of the Gods and the Pyramids were built by really smart humans working really hard. There was some action before the rise of man, but we'll cover that later.

Tunguska (30 June 1908)
Whilst exotic matter was involved in the mysterious explosion over Siberia, specifically antimatter, is was not due to a UFO, at least not how we think about it. Antimatter doesn't exist in our universe in large amounts and cannot spontaneously generate to the degree the Tunguska event required. Whilst the truth may never be known for sure, it seems most likely that there was an extra-dimensional incursion of some kind, some craft use antimatter engines, so it could have been a drive field failure or a bad crash of some kind. Or it could have been a natural but vanishingly-rare occurrence of the barriers between two realities "rubbing" and something peaking through. What really mattered about the Tunguska incident, beyond what it actually may have been, was that it was enough of an enigma to attract the attention of various "Secret Societies", starting an international conflict that, in some ways, continues to this day. Early groups like the Illuminati, Society of Thule and Rotarian fought in the shadows over whatever scraps of esoteric knowledge could be found in the Siberian wilderness.

The Battle of Los Angeles (24 February 1942)
One of the earliest genuine encounters with UFOs, the so-called Battle of Los Angeles was actually something of a "wrong turn" by extra-dimensional entities responding to the Philadelphia Experiment and arriving too early. Initially not openly hostile, the Shadow People saw the horrors on the USS Eldridge as it passed through another universe and tried to make peaceful first contact. Of course, this was the height of the Second World War, so anti-aircraft fire was a fairly logical response from the Americans to mysterious lights in the sky. Whilst bullets famously do no lasting harm to either light-based craft or Shadow People, being forced to suddenly retreat back behind the barrier is unpleasant, so it still read as an "attack". This incident became a major contributing factor in both the general hostility of the Shadow People and the abduction wave of the 1950s.

The Philadelphia Experiment (28 October 1943) 
This attempt by the US Navy to create visual stealth technology accidentally ended up breaching the barrier between our reality and somewhere else, in many ways, kick-starting this entire conflict. This was the real "first contact" moment for humanity in many ways, just unplanned, perplexing and violent. The transit of USS Eldridge through a nearby reality was a shock to not only the poor crew, most of whom did not survive the experience, but also to the scientists behind the project and the inhabitants of that adjacent plane. Crossing the dimensional barrier is a major technological leap and almost no species make it accidentally, so when humanity did so, they signaled to every species out there that we were ready for contact. Being not at all ready, this is where all the trouble started. Think about it, there were sightings and encounters before this, but when did all the supernatural nonsense really kick off? In the decades following the Philadelphia Experiment. Although not all are directly linked, everything from Bigfoot to BEKs and UAPs to the Secret Space Programme comes back to this moment.

Operation HIGHJUMP (26 August 1946)
During the height of the Nazi regime, the SS and Thule Society pushed to set up a research station in Antarctica. Part of this drive was to demonstrate Fascist superiority through science, but there was a more sinister reason as well. Whilst aliens never helped build the pyramids or the Moai of Easter Island, there was a civilisation here long before humanity; around 90 Million years ago to be precise. Back then, Antarctica was a subtropical paradise, covered in rain-forest, so it should come as no surprise that some form of extraterrestrial intelligence set up camp there when they came across our planet. Just what these creatures were and where they came from isn't well understood, as little of their culture has survived, and what there is is hard to reach, but the Nazis knew it was there and wanted it. Just how useful the archeology the Nazis discovered in the endless snowy wilderness is debatable, but the station hung on long after the surrender at Berlin. Operation HIGHJUMP was the Americans cleaning up the last of the Nazi mess, and if they got their hands on the flying saucer technology and alien ruins, so much the better. Of course, no one was prepared for the horrors that the Nazis had uncovered, so a mop-up operation became a clusterfuck of eldritch terror that was quickly swept under the rug of military history.

Roswell Incident (June 1947)

The most famous UFO crash in history was basically what it obviously always was; an experimental aircraft crash. I mean, think about it. Groom Lake specialises in new flight technology, of course it was something secret that they didn't want to talk about. Really, Roswell has to be one of the greatest PsyOps in history, as even over fifty years later, people are still convinced that aliens were involved. This is, of course, not to say that there aren't US Air Force personnel working with alien tech and UAPs buzzing around, it was just never here.

Mothman (1966)

To this day, no one is quite sure what the Mothman (or Mothmen) is, but it has been around for years and encounters seem to be escalating. A being of unrelenting terror and deep mystery, capturing one for study has been at the top of the priority list for many agencies for years now. The leading theory is that the Mothman entity comes from a nearby reality and is attracted to our plane by pain and suffering. Due to the nature of time in our plane and how it differs across the universal spectrum, it's possible that the first Mothman was attempting to get to the Point Pleasant bridge collapse and just arrived early, hiding out in a place considered haunted by locals because it was more comfortable to it. Whatever this thing or things happen to be, there are more and more coming, so watch out because there is nothing quite like the wave of absolute terror that they generate.

Bloop Noise (1997)

A Force S5 raid on an Illuminati base on the Pacific seabed ended spectacularly when the antimatter generator powering the instillation went critical, wiping it from this reality entirely. Sure, there are massive, undiscovered sea creatures out there, but this was an operation going tits-up and everyone getting killed. In Force S5 training, "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning" is used to teach how anything can go wrong at any time and a good Commander needs to ready for anything. Also don't shoot HEAT rounds in a generator room.

Superhero Meida: Gozdilla Vs Kong

If this had come out in any other year, I may be a bit more down on Godzilla Vs Kong than I am. It's honestly a let-down after King of the Monsters, you can see the cracks the pandemic made and I was really hoping for a stinger or spoiler for an unexpected Kaiju at some stage, but it does hold together well enough. Living through two years of rolling pandemic lock-downs, however, the fact that I got to see this film in a cinema had me grinning my face off underneath my mask most of the run-time. Following on from the defeat of Gidorah in King of the Monsters, Godzilla hasn't been spotted all that much for a few years, but suddenly starts attacking factories of a giant tech corporation. Meanwhile, Kong is being kept in an artificial environment so that another major Kaiju fight doesn't break out between him and Godzilla. Although not as good as King of the Monsters, Godzilla Vs Kong is the most "Kaiju" of all the films in the series thus far, embracing the crazy concepts, central children characters and balls-out science fiction that characterise the genre in Japan.

I think the success of the MCU has gone a long way to prime audiences for the kind of gonzo that Kaiju films thrive on. In Godzilla Vs Kong there is the hollow Earth, a lost race of giant intelligent apes, psychic computers and a network of anti-gravity trains under the ocean, but somehow, none of that really matters. What Godzilla Vs Kong has over all the gonzo is quality, and that sells it. I may be more of a rubber suit guy than a CGI fan, but the Kaiju fights in the film are some of the best I've seen, especially the first one on the ocean, which is something I've never seen before in the genre. When Kong punches Godzilla and his head rolls back like a boxer, it almost looks real, or at least as real as it can for two giant monsters fighting, there is a real sense of mass happening in just that one shot. The human characters don't have a great deal of personality, sadly, but the interplay between Millie Bobby Brown and Julian Dennison is amazing and I want them to team up for more films; maybe the Enola Holmes sequels? That'd be fun.

I'm not really sold on Mechagodzilla's look in Godzilla Vs Kong, but having it be the final antagonist is fun, though I'm not sure the whole psychic skull of Gidorah thing was the best way to get the idea in there. The final fight is exactly what I expected whilst still blowing my mind with how awesome it was, with Godzilla and Kong having to put aside their differences to take down the bigger threat and even getting a few "team-up moves" in there that can be called back when we get to this series' equivalent of Destroy All Monsters or Final War. There are cracks in Godzilla Vs Kong, some parts just aren't very polished and the ending just kind of happens mid-scene, both of which can be attributed to the limitations on filming during the COVID-19 pandemic and don't spoil the film, but do make me wonder what could have been. The good news is, it seems people actually watched this film, unlike King of the Monsters, so more may be an actual possibility of getting more of these. Whilst I hope against hope that Legendary finally give me the Godzilla/Gamera crossover Toho can't, I would like to see the Pollution Monster, Battra and Space Godzilla at some stage.

Thinking Out Loud: Android Garlic

Here's a strange one for your Friday, in Dragon Ball Z, the Garlic Junior Saga, a handful of episodes between the defeat of Frieza and the arrival of Future Trunks, is typically considered to not be canon to the broader series. As I grew up watching the Funimation dub on Cheez TV, this contention confused me, as the story just kind of flowed and I quite enjoyed a brief break between two instances of Freiza, as well as harkening back to the classic magic and monsters of Dragon Ball. Sure, the saga is pretty silly and doesn't feature Super Saiyans, but I always found it fun and quite like Garlic Jr as a villain. In recent months, especially in the wake of Toriyama passing, I've come to the conclusion that Dragon Ball now has so much associated media that it should be treated in the same manner that fans deal with say, Doctor Who, in that we pick and choose what is and isn't our personal canon, or 'headcanon' if you will.

After, seemingly, moving on with my life, I had some DBZ on in the background one day and was caught by something. In the uncut Funimation Dub (I own the DVDs), Vegeta has a line in the Trunks Saga about being off-planet while Gohan was fighting Garlic Jr. Now, the purists online will point out that this isn't in the Manga (or at least I couldn't find it on a quick look) and therefore doesn't count, but interesting that the translators chose to put that in there and make reference to the battle at Kami's Lookout. Also, and this is the big one that people like to forget; Krillin and 18 have a daughter called Marron. You know, like Krillin's girlfriend in the Garlic Junior Saga. Sure, more than one person can have the same name, but that's never really been how Toryiama wrote, he was pretty big on names and theming of names, like how all of King Piccolo's minions are named after musical instruments, Sayians after vegetables, etc. You really think he wasn't calling back to the first Marron as a joke?

Of course, this theory struggles a little when we consider the Dead Zone movie, which doesn't quite fit properly with the Saiyan Saga no matter how much you try, what with Piccolo and Goku teaming up and Krillin learning about Gohan early, but hey, it's a fun romp, so I don't really mind that much. As I said in the first paragraph, this is how I think about DBZ, so any 'evidence' for my theory is kind of a bonus, I don't really have to care if you agree or not, but I hope any fans reading this get something out of it. Garlic Jr is kind of a cool villain, with a classic look for the series and a power set that means he poses a threat without being the strongest foe yet each time they turn up. Having it in for Kami, rather than Goku, gives him a point of difference and the whole Dead Zone thing is interesting if a little silly. Is it peak DB? Maybe not, but it can be a fun ride for a few episodes when you just need a little hit of action and don't want to sit through another series of transformations.

Superhero Media: Hawkeye

For the pedants in the ranks, this review covers the Marvel NOW! run, All-New Hawkeye, Hawkeye: Kate Bishop and even Hawkeye Vs Deadpool, because I wanted to avoid having to write four of these when they all enjoy a similar tone and follow basically the same story. Clint Barton has always been a popular Avenger, but has never really gotten his own series off the ground successfully, probably because he's not all that deep, or at least hasn't been. Hawkeye is a great supporting character, providing levity and balance against more taciturn heroes like Cap and Thor. But can the token normal guy who shoots pointy sticks at people really carry his own series? What if I told you not only was the Hawkeye series decent, but is probably one of the best Marvel comics series in recent history? Building on the bones of Hawkeye as a character, Hawkeye is clever, beautifully drawn, irreverent, quotable, mimetic and funny as hell. An entire issue has no words and is given over to a dog looking for food and somehow it's masterful and one of the best issues in the series.

In fact, some of the best work in Hawkeye is the most experimental, with a recap issue given over to a dream Clint has whilst passed out on Xmas eve, the main antagonists being Madam Masque and Russian gangsters who say "Bro" way too often, or Kate's obsession with mini-doughnuts. Whilst really damn funny, the Hawkeye series is also deep when it wants to be, compassionately portraying Clint's deafness and how it was caused by abuse, even going so far to include sign language and marry the problems in Clint's origins and where they contradict. As for Kate Bishop, yes, she's more stable, but only because she's less obviously damaged than Clint, and the series reveals that she chose to emulate Hawkeye for more than just reasons of admiring the human who could keep up with the gods and super-soldiers around him. I have never been, and am still not, a fan of The Young Avengers, but I am totally in love with Kate Bishop and this series has a lot to do with that. As I write, it's October 2021, so we're still waiting on the Disney+ Hawkeye, but I am so hyped to see Kate in live action.

You know how good this series is? Not even the inevitable Deadpool crossover can suck the joy out of it for me. Yeah, Deadpool isn't as bad these days as he was when I was getting back into comics, but his presence on the cover is probably always going to cause me to hesitate to pick an issue up. I really feel that I should probably be talking more about the Kate Bishop issues, but the fact that the Deadpool crossover manages to maintain the tone of the series whilst still poking fun at them and just loving the shit out of them. And that's the point here, people love Hawkeye like few have ever loved Clint or Kate before. Even a decade after the first issues were published, Hawkeye is one of the most loved and lauded Marvel series, and it's easy to see why. Though it passes through the hands of several writers and artists, the tone is consistent, it flows like one story and it avoids too much reference to the major crossover events. It's just a fucking good read. So skip over your Batman variants for a month and fill your shelf with the trades of this series. It's genuinely great, bro.

5 Reasons to Start - Godzilla

Welcome to a new series of articles I had the idea for whilst trying to get a friend to give Godzilla Minus One a go. Basically, each of these is a short list of reasons that getting into a franchise, even a sprawling one, might be worth the commitment of time. Personally, the big one for me is One Piece, a series so long (and still getting longer at the time of writing) that I honestly feel like starting is a massive commitment that may never be worth the investment of time. To start this series off, we're going to the top of the heap, the king of the monsters himself, Godzilla.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Godzilla. From my first few glimpses on the SBS Wednesday Cult Movie through to the Monsterverse and Minus One, the King of the Monsters is one of my favourite pop culture fixtures and rarely fails to be entertaining. More than that, there's almost a piece of Godzilla media for every occasion, from the body-horror and intrigue of Shin Godzilla to the child-focused films of the 1970s that play for laughs. However, Godzilla can also be seen as a bit twee, silly and just a couple of stuntmen in rubber suits slapping each other. To that end, here are five quick reasons that it's worthwhile diving into the world of Godzilla.


1. The new stuff is really fucking good

I feel like this is something that warrants pointing out, but in the past decade or so, Godzilla has become a quality brand. From the award-winning Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One, through to the just-for-fun and well-realised Monsterverse entries like Godzilla II King of the Monsters and Kong Skull Island, Godzilla has never been better. Godzilla is quality viewing now, with big ideas, big action and plenty to engage your brain with as well as the little kid inside that likes explosions. Jump on Godzilla Singular Point next time you want a "smart" Sci-Fi series, or Shin Godzilla if you want a political thriller, you might be pleasantly surprised.


2. Slappin' Theme Song

The King of the Monsters has a king of a theme song and it's time we acknowledged that. This theme is so iconic, it's barely changed in over 60 years and it just keep coming back. Seriously, the 'Godzilla Theme' hits so hard I'd put it up against Star Wars, Superman, Lord of the Rings or anything Hollywood has put out. Once you're hooked into the big G, that opening string will raise the hair on your neck like nothing else. Godzilla doesn't need an updated theme because they got it so right the first time, it's scary.


3. It's a big cultural thing

Godzilla is a big deal in Japan, and not just as an entertainment property. The King is an official cultural ambassador, has been granted citizenship and even appears on currency from time to time. If you are at all interested in Japan as a culture, beyond the media and cliches, then it's probably worth having some Godzilla rattling around your brain. From the historical elements of some films, to the time-capsules that the Showra era has become, Godzilla has changed as his country has changed and it can be fascinating to see. There are versions of Godzilla for small children, model kits, toys, novels and so much more that help inform the Western viewer of just how the King of the Monsters is so important to the Japanese.


4. Ease into subtitles

For many, subtitled media can be a real challenge to enjoy. Trying to follow the action while reading the translated text is something of a skill, and if one doesn't acquire it, they can miss out on quite a great deal of quality entertainment. Many of the Godzilla films from the 1970s and 80s are pretty light-on for plot, so there's not a lot to miss during the exciting parts. The big Kaiju fights also provide a nice visual break from the subtitles so the entire viewing experience doesn't need to be reading if that's something you have struggled with. Also, who doesn't love a good monster fight? Isn't that worth a little reading?


5. It never ends...

It's fairly obvious that, at this point, Godzilla isn't meaningfully going away in the near future. I know long series can be daunting (I'm still yet to start One Piece), but as not every part of Godzilla is homogeneous, you can jump in just about anywhere and pick it up. You can watch a little of the King, leave it for years, and there's more to come back to. I'm not the biggest Godzilla fan in the world, but I can keep up and always enjoy when there's something new to check out, but it never feels like a chore. I have plenty of Godzilla left to see, if I ever do see it all, but I know there's something new, or at least new to me, if I go looking. I like franchises like that, where I can dip back in whenever I like, and I'm hoping you will too.

Superhero Media: Iron Fist - Season 2

Finally, we're done with the Netflix Marvel experiment, and although I still defend the first season, Iron Fist is a flat note to end on, given the greatness that came before. At the very least, this second season is shorter, though only has the one genuinely good episode, the penultimate one, with the rest being pretty much just a mess of ideas. Most of the characters are just kind of there, and have no motivation, meandering from plot point to plot point as the writers just seem to be padding their resumes for HBO rather than doing anything superhero-related. Again, the team doesn't seem to want  to be doing a superhero drama, as the action is minimal and any glimpses of fun are quickly stripped away for more people talking in rooms about their feelings. There are faltering steps towards a "Nightwing Investigations" spin-off, but they're essentially dead on arrival.

The series starts out with Danny Rand trying to fill the shoes left my Matt Murdock, and whilst that could have been interesting, the idea is quickly jettisoned for Davos as the villain and the Steel Serpent arc for what passes as the story. Somehow, even with the shorter episode count, Iron Fist finds time to be incredibly slow, introduce too many characters and have less than one fight per episode. It's baffling really, and almost impressive how much worse it managed to be in the second season. Yes, I'm 90% sure that the cast and crew knew going in that their days were done and wanted to get it in the can and bail as fast a possible, but the lack of attention to quality is entirely off-putting and smacks of a much cheaper production that what is there. Iron Fist may not have had the best run in comics, but I cannot understand why one of the more famous or just better stories wasn't adapted, especially knowing that they wouldn't get another chance.

Know what's actually kind of funny? The Elektra film does a better job of adapting the character of Typhoid Mary than Iron Fist. Sure, she's not a really important character in the grand scheme of things, but she's interesting (Assassin with DID and amnesia) and the Netflix version is utterly bland. I'm not sure what the actor is doing with the role, as the personalities have the mode of "way too nice", "boss bitch" and "not on screen", it's such a damn dull take on what could have been the showcase character of the season. Oh, and did you like the costume Danny wears in the trailer? Well, it only appears in one scene because no one can wear a bloody costume apparently. Seriously, Misty and Wing wear fucking jumpsuits in the comics, you telling me that would have broken the immersion of this crap? I like Iron Fist and I hope we're not waiting too long for him to get back to the MCU, but I'm glad we're done with this version.

Thinking Out Loud: The Council of Lizzies

This isn't really a Superhero article per se, so unless you're really into Georgian Literature or the works of Jane Austen, we'll see you next time when we talk about Stardust or Captain Ultra or something equally as silly.

Although it's an obvious choice, I would say that Pride and Prejudice is probably one of the greatest novels ever written in the English language. It's sharp, witty, romantic, and funny as fuck two centuries and change later, which is quite an achievement. Elizabeth Bennet is an iconic heroine and so beloved that she's seen to represent everyone who reads the books, even men, people of colour and those who are against the very traditional marriage which Lizzie seeks. So it should come as no shock that many authors over the years have taken a swing at either expanding the seminal novel or simply penning flat-out sequels. Just taking into account properly published novels, the list exceeds one hundred books, and add to that what is doubtless a mountain of fan-fiction and self-published works that also add more to the world of the sisters Bennet. I, myself have read Death At Pemberly by P.D. James, The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow and Charlotte by Helen Moffett.

Through perpetuation, there are probably hundreds of Elizabeth Bennets and other characters floating around their local multiverse. Ok, so I guess I need to mention Pride & Prejudice and Zombies before I go too much further on, but I never got too far through that one, it was so badly written. Although academically fraught, biographical readings of Lizzie Bennet as a stand in for Austen herself are pretty hard to resist for die-hard fans like myself; especially as both Jane and Lizzie were complimented on their "fine eyes", but knowing a little about Jane's life puts paid to this pretty quick. In fact, even biographies on Austen tend towards the romantic (pardon the pun), inventing marriage near-misses for Jane that don't seem to be much more than wishful thinking. As her books only really gained fame after she passed, much of Austen's life is a mystery, so it's tempting to fill in the gaps. Anyway, in one of those novel sequels I mentioned, Mary is seduced by a vagrant living in a cave on the family estate.

Look, this article is another one of those ideas that was stuck in my head for months and I had to get it out somehow. The image of The Council of Kangs/Reeds/Ricks but all various Elizabeths Bennet in a massive sitting room is oddly compelling to me. What would they be talking about? Would it be the "sensible" prattle that trapped them inside their own minds, unable to communicate their true feelings, or would they find a new and unique kind of freedom that they rarely found in the stories from which they spawned? What impact would a veritable army of Lizzies have on the multiverse? I can't imagine that there would be a single buffoon left un-skewered by rapier wit in all of creation. The tendency to see Lizzie as a modern woman-in-waiting is tempting, the television series Lost In Austen has fun with this idea, but again, this is us reading into the text what may not actually be there. Jane and Lizzie are women of their time, for good or ill. We love them for who they are as much as who they are to us. So get out there and get reading; endless possibilities await.