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.

Superhero Media: The Rocketeer

I've been wanting to watch this film again for quite a while, but kept putting it off for one reason or another, mostly to try and finish series or films I was already partway through. Which I'm still doing by the way, but I just rarely feel like watching more than one episode of My Hero Academia or Ultimate Spider-Man at a trot. The Rocketeer is a hands-down masterpiece and if you've never seen it, log into Disney+ right now and check it out, you won't regret it. Yes, it's pulpy and silly and the big reveal involves jet pack Nazis, but my god, the cast on this alone should get you on board, with Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin and Timothy Dalton, just to name a few. And the famous faces are also in the film, which is nuts. Sure, Howard Hughes is obvious (and really well used), but what about famous gangster Eddie Valentine? Also, Neville Sinclair is probably meant to be a take on Errol Flynn, what with the swashbuckling film roles, gaolbait girlfriends and links to the Nazis.

Should I maybe actually talk about the film? Ok, well the whole thing is pretty simple, when a failing aircraft business finds a prototype rocket pack after some gangsters lose it, a young, all-American man has to become a hero to stop the Nazis, save his girl and maybe save the business. The plot is pretty thin and full of leaps of logic, but the ride is so good and the scripting so tight that it really doesn't matter. When the FBI and LA Mob team up to fight Nazis, you don't care, you cheer on  and enjoy the the sequence with the Rocketeer against the American flag, as cheesy as it is. There's a Zepplin fight, because of course there is, and maybe there's fewer flying sequences than one may expect from the posters, but overall everything is fun and wraps up in a little over an hour and a half. The Rocketeer is exactly the kind of film that MCU-haters claim doesn't exist anymore, where one hero turns up and does his dash and there's no more. Sure there's some comics, but that's pretty much it really.

I kind of wish Disney/Marvel would bring this one back. And no, not just as the animated series for kids, but actually rolled into the MCU somehow. I'm not saying that the Rocketeer needs to appear in an Avengers film, but maybe have him with the Invaders in a flashback or an episode of What If? Just a little Easter Egg to tie this classic pulp adventure to Captain America the First Avenger, which, of course had the same director. Miniature wargaming is one of the few communities I know of who are still obsessed with The Rocketeer more than three decades after it came out. To that end, wargames forums and blogs are full of versions of all the characters and scenes if that's your bag, I won't go into it here, because others have done much better jobs than I could. For me, I reiterate that you really should take the time to watch this film, it's great on many levels.

New Crisis, Same Protocol

So I spent the weekend at PAX Melbourne, demonstrating games for Let's Play Games. Frankly, I needed the money for something important, so I did a fun 60 hours in the one week with my day job as well. I got to run a few things, from the new Starcraft miniatures game (solid game, but not for me), Marvel Crisis Protocol and the new MCP board game, Alliances (also fun, but probably not going to end up in my collection). I ran into a few friends, as I typically do at these cons, and some mentioned that they were wanting to try MCP again. Well, after having to cancel a few things this year (see above about needing the money), my main hobby focus has been about finishing projects that can get me games at my local clubs and stores, so given that I have a bunch of MCP Avengers in various stages of painting, why not jump back in for a while? However, I needed a few more characters than I had to field a full team, and the two-character boxes I had been buying have been replaced by "Affiliation" packs, most of which would have had me doubling up or getting characters I was unlikely to play. Also, they weren't the cheapest models on the market, so I had to plan carefully. 

Thankfully, most of what I needed, without too much doubling up, was in the current "Earth's Mightiest Core Set" box, and, even better, I could actually get this AUD $250 box for free at PAX Melbourne if I completed a series of QR codes. With the help of some friends, I got my box, and I only have a double of Winter Soldier to do something with now. I may, in fact, sell off the Cabal/Villains and the measuring devices as I don't need them and it might help fund another project along the way. Now, of course, I had to dig out my collection and see what I already had that matched the Avengers affiliation. Now, I'm not certain that this is everything (I suspect I have more somewhere not obvious) and I have some Cabal that I'll probably consider moving on, but looks like I'll have way more than 10 models that should be Avengers available to me, as you can see below. 

Can I just say that it's a shame Atomic Mass Games don't have all their free online resources updated as they used to? Seems like doing that would be a huge boon for your game and company when the models cost so much and the rules are updated so frequently. For all their faults, when I was playing Warhammer 40,000 regularly, the free version of the app updated quickly, not to mention the various fan resources. I think I'm probably going to have a little difficulty playing MCP casually, so don't be too shocked if I stall out on this after a few games. Last time I was looking at getting back into the game, I was working at a FLGS five days a week and there was a scene building; this time it will be the odd game for fun here and there, so I really won't be doing my homework as much as I should be. That said, the minis are nice and I got most of them cheap or free, so I may as well give it a shot. This blog has gotten away from Superhero games the past few years and this is an easy way back in rather than having to build up my SuperSystem Ultimate Alliance stuff again, though I will get to back to that at some stage. 

Superhero Media: Bloodshot

Yes, Bloodshot is a pretty poor film, even by the standards of some of the stuff that gets covered here, and it doesn't have the decency to be at least interestingly bad, just coming out bland and generic. Now, though I was kind of into some Valiant comics in the '90s, I tended to read Harbinger and Magnus, so I didn't have much familiarity with Bloodshot until I heard this film was coming out. Regular readers will also probably know that I tend to be more forgiving of '90s comics than many, embracing the over-the-top silliness and reading them as a kind of high-camp more than grim-and-gritty seriousness. In that, I don't think there's a version of a Bloodshot film that would actually be 'good', but rather, there could have been something at least 'fun' in the manner of Daredevil or Batman Forever. Let's not kid ourselves, at best Bloodshot is basically Deadpool without any of the jokes or irony, so it's never going to be Black Panther or anything.

Where the film does well, actually, is in the messing with of Bloodshot's memories is a plot point, so, if not for the generic nature of much of the rest of the narrative, the whole enterprise could have had an "unreliable narrator" vibe which would have been much more interesting. Frankly, Bloodshot falls into a lot of the same errors that bad superhero films always have, focusing too much on the origin, not letting the characters stand on their own merits and not putting anyone in a costume. By trying to take itself seriously, Bloodshot missed the point of existing, which was to be a possible Iron Man to a potential Valiant Cinematic Universe. As I've said previously when discussing ideas like a King Features/Frew or even a Blackthorne Cinematic Universe, the potential with the lesser-known heroes is essentially unlimited, so why settle for an action film with nothing spicy or interesting happening like Bloodshot?

I really hope the Valiant stuff doesn't end here, as, once again, there is a lot of potential there that seems a shame to waste. Harbinger seems like the obvious one, basically an off-brand X-Men with lots of room to explore the concept of adolescents with super-powers and only really one or two characters that need to be presented with any fidelity, say Zephyr and Sting. Throw in Magnus as a "Superman-lite" for the series and maybe even do the "Magnus: Harbinger Fighter" arc for the first major crossover. XO-Manowar is a little more esoteric, but Marvel Studios has laid the groundwork for this stuff already, so you may as well go nuts rather than make something disappointing like Bloodshot. Even Upgrade was a better version of a similar concept, and did without actual costumes or anything like that. Seriously though, put the characters in their damn costumes, I'm sick of this black leather shit, the Fox X-Men series didn't make it look good, so why still use that as the standard?