Superhero Media: Infamous Iron Man

In a world were Tony Stark has sacrificed himself to save the Earth from an alien menace, who will fill the role of Iron Man? The answer is, of course, Victor Von Doom. After the events of Secret War (the other one), Doom is returned to Earth, Latveria is in ruins and he has had the epiphany that being a "villain" has not turned out they way he wanted. The natural conclusion that Doom reaches? Become the new Iron Man. As a big fan of Doom, I like seeing him in the hero role, even if the concept is a little trite. Doom 2099 was great, and I should probably read it again at some stage, but Infamous Iron Man hits all of the right notes and goes about as far as you can in the 616 continuity. Seeing Doom work through his emotional baggage, and struggle to interact like a human sometimes makes from some great quiet moments, and some exceptional character scenes when other characters interact with the "new" Doom. 

The artwork, by Alex Maleev, has an impressionistic look, which suits the theme of Doom's disassociation from his former self, but the action scenes are pretty ugly and hard to follow as a result. And that's when the art doesn't cop-out by cutting away, or just not really showing the climatic fight, a magical battle between Doom and Mephisto with Doctor Strange helping out Doom. That could have been really visually interesting in the hands of a better artist, but really lets down the epic conclusion of the mini-series. Of course, it doesn't help that Brian Michael Bendis barely writes a finale, but I'm willing to cut him a little more slack given how many comics Marvel has him writing every month. Again, the smaller moments, like Doom talking to Ben Grimm or exchanges with Ironheart, are where Infamous Iron Man is strongest, as Doom is one of the smartest people on the planet, making excellent points, while all anyone can remember is the several times he nearly destroyed the planet and/or killed a bunch of people. 

Although this is just a mini-series, Victor Von Doom, the Iron Man, continues on in some Avengers comics, but all things being as they are in comics, by the time you're reading this, Doom has likely long-since returned to his old ways. As much as retcons and reboots are something comics fans like to complain about, returns to the status quo are how we get fun little diversions like Infamous Iron Man. Of course Stark will return to the suit at some point, but the comics where Doctor Doom is a hero and everyone is blindsided will sit on my shelves for years to come. Currently there isn't a Heroclix version of the character, but as soon as one isn't a silly price on the secondary market, I'll be sure to be grabbing one for my collection of Dooms. Also certainly a consideration for my "AvengerZ" articles down the track, if I ever get back to them.

Soopha Dewper Super Sayians - Part 7

In attempting to get more of my friends to play the Dragon Ball Z Collectable Card Game (FuZion Format), I've had to start approaching it from a more Magic the Gathering-based perspective. You see, most of the people I play cards with only play Commander, a MtG multiplayer variant, so framing FuZion through that lens could well help me bring some of them across. Something card players like pretty much more than anything else is shiny cards with nice art, especially foiled versions if they can get them. So if I were to make a deck that was full of foiled cards that had a play-style analogous to a popular Magic deck, well maybe that'd give me a way in, right? So anyway, that's why I built Blue Ginyu.

For those that never played the Dragon Ball Z games, especially the Panini version, and are only familiar with the anime, building Captain Ginyu may seem like an odd choice, however, Ginyu was once the best decks going around. Each turn in FuZion, you start by powering up and then drawing three cards, with some clever deck building, you can probably get more cards in your hand, but having more than three attacks and/or blocks is pretty rare. What makes Ginyu different is that he can pull out his Allies (the rest of the Ginyu force) and they can do the fighting for him. When the format had a limited card pool, Allies could be very deadly, and there's still room there for good decks. In fact, I had a Ginyu Force Orange Allies deck before FuZion came along and have considered bringing it back as Freestlye Beats.

I also decided to jump in on the My Hero Academia CCG, because a few people at work were giving it a go and it looked cool. I've only played with the intro decks so far, but the mechanics are fun and there are almost no dead cards in the entire game. I'm going to start building an All Might deck, mostly because I pulled good cards for him and he looks easy to play, but also because my other option is the short guy who throws his balls at people. Not going to cover everything about the game and my deck building here like FuZion unless I start playing it a lot, but it's another Superhero card game, so of course I had to take a look, even if I'm not a huge fan of the programme. Interestingly, this game is based on the UniVerses system by Jasco, so, in theory, I could play my My Hero Academia characters against the old Megaman card game characters? I'll look more into that, even if I'm also not a big Megaman fan.

Superhero Media: Indestructible Man (1956)

My extended Golden Age kick continues with this supernatural Noir thriller starring none other than Lon Chaney Jr! Notorious criminal Charles "The Butcher" Benton is executed for a violent robbery, taking the secret of the stolen cash to his grave, but the intervention of a well-meaning scientist brings him back to life, stronger, tougher and completely Indestructible! More of a detective story, and a riff on Frankenstein, Indestructible Man has plenty of great fodder for pulp and Golden Age supers games. A mute, bulletproof, revenant criminal is a brilliant antagonist for just about any hero, as he looks like anyone else, but can't be stopped. Probably the best element of The Bucther's character is that he isn't on a rampage, he wants his money, his girl and to get revenge on the three people who turned States' Evidence against him, but the only people that get hurt are the ones that get in his way. It reminds me of classic monster villains like the Glob or Missing Link; there's a pathos and tragedy to the character that is endearing. 

Facing down The Butcher is police Lieutenant Dick Chasen (no, really), the kind of no-nonsense detective Noir is famous for, with a drinking problem and high-waisted trousers. Not all that distant from, say, The Spirit, The Shadow, Phantom Reporter or even early Batman, when you get down to it. A mute, bulletproof criminal bent on revenge would make for a challenging antagonist for any character without a lot of powers, and opens the door for scientific and/or magical solution, as well as mundane ones; in the film, The Butcher is taken out by a massive electrical current. Perhaps "evil Luke Cage" isn't the best concept for a recurring or ongoing villain, but various takes on Frankenstein's Monster are already prevalent in comics, so one more can't really hurt. Man, I really want to run a Golden Age campaign now, I should finally buy that copy of Pulp Alley. 

If you're not a regular viewer of classic films, Indestructible Man may be a tad difficult to digest, not just with the acting and cheap camera work typical of this kind of matinee fare, but in some of the ways they tend to date. For example, the film ends with Chasen proposing to his girlfriend, after having gotten her fired from her job so that she has to say 'yes' or lose housing; yikes. Seeing Police arm themselves up with BARs and Flame throwers is fun, but in this age of militarised police, there is an undercurrent of discomfort, especially as the plan from the beginning is to kill a man. The idea of a character's only power being invulnerability to harm is pretty interesting to me, I have such a character in my Equalisers team, and I'll explore it more down the track with a book I'll talk about here, but it's interesting to think that it's usually a secondary power, or part of a suite.

Drokk the Law!! - Part XVI

Two weeks in a row? My goodness, what a treat! Well, this wasn't so much planned as it was just how I wrapped up some miniatures that were lying around. This time, the long-promised Yakuza (Mobsters), that never quite came together before now somehow. 

Again with the Necromunda tile sorry, distracted by Halo and MESBG terrain for work. From the left, Juve (Stargrave), Mobster (Heroclix), Mobster (Urban War), Mobster (Heroclix), Punk (Urban War) and Blitzer (Urban War). Mobsters offer an interesting alternative to the Street Gang for just having a group of normal humans with guns. Whilst Punks and Juves are available, Mobsters are Heroes by default and other options like Blitzers and Assassins are more expensive and specialised. Doing a gang mostly made up of heroes is possible and can make for a characterful project. I have more Urban War models for this gang to come as well as a few more Juves to expand it a little. 

Superhero Media: Dragon Ball Z - Battle of Gods

How do you relaunch one of the most popular Anime franchises in history for a new century and a new generation? By adding a couple of new toyetic characters and giving Goku a new form, apparently. I really want to like Battle of Gods, there's a lot going on that I like to see in DB, such as the characters enjoying downtime, the "Otherworld" and Goku losing a fight. The animation is sharp, some of the best in the history of the franchise, with plenty of great fluid movement that isn't traditionally associated with Anime. In terms of the narrative, however, Battle of Gods leaves me cold. I like Beerus and Whis, and their role[s] later on in DBS are excellent, but here their only purpose seems to be to propel Goku to the next stage, "Super Sayian God". As much as people complain that the story of Battle of Gods was re-run in DBS, but, to me, this feels more like an introductory Saga to a new status quo, like the Trunks or Great Sayiaman Sagas before it. 

The Goku/Beerus fight is very cool to watch, and the bigger budget of the film format allows for a great spectacle, but I just cannot engage with it as much as I want to. There is almost no threat to the fight, with Beerus being unable to lose and the "Destruction of the Earth" never feeling like a real possibility with all of the godlike beings that hang around the main cast by this point. There are no stakes, as the Hollywood people would say, so there's no tension and I can't get invested. I do like that Whis and Beerus are just part of the cast from this point on, but the fact that the "Destroyer God" doesn't do anything other than eat and sleep wears thin as a joke pretty fast. Because, you know, he's a cat. Do the Destroyers in the other universes do the same? It's hard to imagine the clown guy just napping all the time, but maybe it works differently now. Oh, and the film ends with Beerus pointing out that there are more universes, because Goku needs to have stronger guys to fight. 

Again, I really want to like Battle of Gods, but I just can't get there with it; there's too many little things that bug me about it. Like, is this the first DB outing where Bulma is just stupid rich? I mean, she's always had money, but now she can give away a literal castle and a pile of gold at her birthday party? Ok, so it's good for some jokes and it's great to have the Pilaf gang back, but does Bulma really let her oldest friends rot in poverty when she has so much money? That's cold, Bulma. The Pilaf gang being back is amazing, 10 out of 10, would watch these guys as their own spin-off, especially with the Trunks/Mai pairing that pays off later in DBS. I know that sexuality is barely a thing in DB, but boy is Trunks in for a shock, given that Mai is technically in her forties and has a lifetime of "experience". As a jumping-on point, Battle of Gods is pretty lore-heavy, but it still looks great and I know some people who got their start here, so maybe check it out if older, clunky Anime tends to turn you off.