Superhero Media: Sky Captian and The World of Tomorrow

How come no one ever talks about this film? I know maybe a half-dozen people who have even seen it, which is a shockingly small number when you consider that most people I know are some kind of nerd. A spiritual successor to the likes of The Rocketeer and The Mummy (1999), Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow is a pulp sci-fi adventure, complete with two-fisted fight scenes, plucky gal-Fridays and ray guns. When scientists start going missing, plucky, no-nonsense female reporter, Polly Perkins starts investigating and is soon caught up in a whirlwind of action and robot attacks, throwing her into the orbit of her ex-boyfriend, the titular Sky Captain. As the pair investigate the machinations of the villainous Doctor Totenkoph, they bicker and go over their former relationship, bouncing around the globe, but never getting past their past. A climatic battle with ray guns, flying machines and a space-ark finishes the film and we're shockingly left without a sequel tease. 

The major novelty of Sky Captain is that almost the entire film was shot on green-screen, with the actors being essentially the only "real" things in the frame. It was a bit of a bold move, but kind of makes sense with the kind of film that Sky Captain is trying to be. The high-concept pulp tone, with flying aircraft carriers, giant robots, ray guns and dinosaurs really only would have worked with an animated or effects-heavy feature, and as a film-making concept, Sky Captain does work, but not quite all of the pieces come together and the final result is disappointing. I think part of the issue was the film being a little too ambitious, calling upon recollections of Indiana Jones and The Mummy films, but not being quite as engaging. The lead actors (Gwyneth Paltrow as Polly and Jude Law as Sky Captain) are not well cast, neither having the kind of style or look that "Sassy Gal-Friday" and "Two-Fisted Adventurer" demand. The concept is a little high-minded for the content of the film, though ideally placed in the Pulp genre, the only films most audience members would be familiar with are more along the "thing good/Nazis bad" kind of line. 

I'm shocked that Sky Captain isn't a bigger cult film, like Flash Gordon or Big Trouble in Little China (though those are both far better), the only spaces I tend to see it mentioned are those that deal with famous flops or big Hollywood failures. As regular readers will know, I'm a big fan of Golden Age comics, pulpy tone, unfortunate language choices and lack of continuity included, I wish there were more films that went there and made a real go of it. Yes, I have The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Shadow, The Phantom and Wonder Woman, but I'd like to see more be successful so that maybe one day I can get good versions of The Green Hornet, The Spirit, The Woman in Red and Stardust the Super Wizard on the big screen one day. I feel that if Sky Captain had been a bigger hit or was actively enjoying some favorable attention from the internet, that pipe-dream may be a little closer to reality. If you haven't ever seen Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, check it out, it's at least unique and fun, if not overly compelling. 

Miniatures Finished: 12/06/2018

Funny story, I bought 16 miniatures over the weekend, so I set a goal that I'd finish painting at least 16 this week. Last night I completed 10 and it's only Tuesday, so I'd say I'm off to a good start. 

Spider-Man 2099 - I'm pretty sure my motivation behind this one was playing him as a "Lone Vigilante" in Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, but now that I have a sweet Cyberpunk set-up to play on, maybe I should do some "Future" supers games. Heroclix

Metalhead - Need a fifth for your TMNT team? Well, if Casey Jones, Slash or Splinter aren't to your liking, maybe give Metalhead a go. Heroclix 

Mew - He's actually closer to 1/35 scale, but I'm so damn happy with hand-blending the shade of pink on him perfectly that I don't care. I actually have some plans for the Pokemon stuff, but I'll need someone good with image editing to help out. Vending Machine Toy 

Nebula - I was on a deadline to get all of my Guardians finished for Little Wars Melbourne 2018, but it turns out they weren't needed, so Nebula got left a week or two. Big fan of her role in the films, so expect to see her in a few games. Heroclix 

Brothers Grimm - When I opened one of these guys in a booster (I was going thru one of my Clix-playing phases), I knew I had to put two of them on a base and run them as a single character. I'm beginning to focus on villains that have interesting gimmicks so that I can vary play a little. Heroclix  

Granny Goodness - Seriously Warner Bros, do a "Fourth World" film and pay Betty White whatever she asks to play Granny Goodness, what could you lose at this point? I'm not too keen on most of the Female Furies, so how about I run a game where they're other female super-villains? Thinking Titiania, Brit and Ursa? 

 

Superhero Media: Batman and Harley Quinn

I had heard that Batman and Harley Quinn was one of the better DCAU films, but I tend to not put much stock in what I read online, especially to do with Harley Quinn. As I've mentioned before, I quite like Harley as a character, especially as she is written and presented by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, but the "following" that has grown up around her is, to put it politely, complicated. As a semi-regular convention volunteer, I'm never going to complain about women in Harley Quinn cosplay, but those who idolise her as an example of womanhood and stable relationships are heading down a dangerous path towards abuse. On a lighter note, the cast and crew of Batman: The Animated Series are behind Batman and Harley Quinn, and in terms of continuity, it fits nicely into what fans call the "Timmverse". When a cutting-edge scientist is kidnapped by Poison Ivy and the Floronic Man, Batman and Nightwing have no leads, so they try to track down Ivy's former partner, Harley. 

After fighting and then seducing Nightwing, Harley convinces Batman that she needs to come along with them to stop Ivy and the second act of the film becomes a "road movie" with Batman, Nightwing and Harley in the Batmobile having adventures and little comedic scenes. Getting drive-thru fast food, toilet breaks and arguing over the radio seem more like scenes from Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but Kevin Conroy, Melissa Rauch and Loren Lester really make it work with the characters. The scene where Booster Gold (played by Paul Dini) calls from the Watchtower and lists off who in the Justice League can lend a hand, whilst Nightwing mimes reasons they don't want, Black Condor is "meh", Elongated Man "talks too much" and Triumph is a loser; Booster himself offers to come down and both Batman and Nightwing panic and cut off the call. There's a fun karaoke scene, but I wonder why Warner Music couldn't come up with some better songs? The bar in which this happens is frequented by henchmen of major Batman villains from comics film and animation, which is a great moment for longtime fans. 

The ending of Batman and Harley Quinn is a bit poor, Harley's reveal on how she can stop Ivy is underwhelming and a brief appearance from Swamp Thing is fun, but doesn't add to the narrative. If I were to briefly describe Batman and Harley Quinn, it would be as a kind of "Reunion Special" of BTAS. The actors and crew are all there, but the emphasis is on fun and nostalgia rather than a serious story. Also, the rating of this film is rather high, with plenty of adult content, but it's not violence and swearing tirades, it's lewd jokes and adult sexuality, Batman and Harley Quinn aims to have aged with the original BTAS audience and hits it pretty much square-on. I've said it before and I'll say it again, why isn't WB handing over the live-action Batman films to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini? They have the talent, they know the characters well and everything they've produced is at least passably enjoyable. If you're keen for more BTAS action, check out Batman and Harley Quinn, it's a lot of fun and enjoyable enough to forgive its flaws. 

The Pitch: The Phantoms

This one has taken a while because, although I have a pretty good idea of the overarching shape of this franchise, I only had a good idea of Mandrake to start with and had to do a lot more research to get the next ones done. The Phantom is a tricky character to adapt, despite his long history and massive existing fan base, the 1996 film is actually hugely popular in the Phantom community and it keeps the Golden Age aesthetic and pulpy tone, of which even Captain America - The First Avenger saw fit to jettison a major portion. As strong an adaptation as the film is, it really never hit with a broader market and no one seems to remember it or the Phantom much anymore. 

Modernising the character is also somewhat fraught, especially to those who remember the terrible 2009 mini-series, but somehow he really worked in the classic Defenders of the Earth or The Phantom 2040 cartoons. I personally believe that tone is important, once again, I'd site the MCU Captain America films as examples. The character is the thing, the setting can and should work around them to facilitate the narrative, rather than being drastically reshaped to meet a market. If the Phantom had nothing going for him, he wouldn't have stuck around for over eighty years, trust that there is something there already, rather than reinventing the wheel.

The Phantom 
Having made contact with the crime-fighting Mandrake the Magician in our last film, Kit Walker, aka The Phantom aka the Ghost Who Walks, turns his attentions away from his home in Africa to tackle the global threat of the Singh Brotherhood. Along for the ride is Kit's daughter, Jedda, who is coming into adulthood and expects to take up the mantle of The Phantom in a few years, aiming to be the first female Ghost Who Walks.

Plot  
Because of the information age we live in, we're going to assume that our audience will be aware of who the Phantom is, his general back-story and modus operandi; that's not to say we won't have a film version of the introductory page that appears in a lot of Phantom comics, but a full-blown origin story is not on the cards.
In this film, the Phantom has just become aware that the Singh Brotherhood, a fraternity of pirates though wiped out by the previous Phantom, has been operating in the business world for decades, becoming a powerful organised crime syndicate. Kit Walker must re-enter the world of high finance to scout out his enemies before he can rush headlong in as The Phantom. Complicating the matter is Jedda, who is keen to become the first female Phantom, and whilst Kit doesn't object on principle to a female Ghost Who Walks, the change to centuries of tradition does weigh on his mind. 
The Walkers soon discover that the Singh Syndicate is so far embedded in the international business community that they risk getting arrested themselves for their efforts. Forced to operate more outside the law than in their home country, Kit and Jedda begin to work their way up the chain of commands in the Singh Syndicate. To their shock and horror, the head of the Singh is a mysterious masked man named Klytus.

Tone
As mentioned above, there needs to be some retention of the pulpy nature of the Phantom comics, but given what has come before in Mandrake, a certain amount of sleekness of style is demanded. Something like The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015) is a pretty good yardstick or even Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. The film needs to be fun enough that the audience doesn't stop to question that a man in a purple leotard, his teenage daughter, his pet wolf and her pet panther are having running gunfights and battling gangsters. Also, the reveal that the villain is working for an Evil Space Emperor needs to not be a huge departure from what has come before it.

Cast
As with Mandrake before it, The Phantoms is an opportunity for a few actors to get a leg-up into the Blockbuster set, but there needs to be a few big names to pull in the crowd. I had to dig deep for these, thankfully my girlfriend is an actor and has an encyclopedic knowledge of good actors rattling around her head. 

The Phantom (Kit Walker): Like many fans of the Phantom, I like Billy Zane in the role in the 1996 film, but there's no way he could pull it off now. What The Phantoms needs is a strong male lead who can play emotional depth, that's why I'm thinking of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. 

He has the look, the acting chops and is about due for a major film role now that Game of Thrones has finished up. Also, I'm on a big European actor kick at the moment, so there's that too. 

 

Jedda Walker: Something that I kept going over in my head as I was thinking about this pitch was the fact that the Walker men always find a wife in Europe and how weird that looks in a modern context. So, what if, Jedda's mother was an African woman? That works, right? Plus creating blockbuster roles for minority women is always a good thing. Thanks to how Hollywood is currently set-up, I can't actually think of too many actors that could fill the role, but I'm looking for someone like Zendaya:

Not specifically Zendaya, I'm not sure she could bring the physicality to the part that Jedda needs, but someone with her kind of look and intensity would be perfect. Hell, maybe she could do it, I'm happy to be proven wrong on this one. 

 

Klytus: Our major villain could do with being played by a bigger name actor to help draw the opening weekend crowds, but we also need him to show up for at least two more films, so he can't be too big to not want the contract. My suggestion is the brilliant Paul McGann: 

Seriously, this guy is amazing. His voice alone makes him an ideal cast for a villain in a mask across several films. If you think I'm only considering McGann because I'm a Classic Who fan, check him out in Alien3, Ripper Street or Luther, he's probably the best actor to ever play the Doctor as well as a brilliant performer in his own right.

 

Crew 
As discussed above, the trick here would be to get a director and crew that could deliver the right tone. I don't want to dob in Edgar Wright again, so how about David Leitch? If that name isn't familiar, he's the director of Deadpool 2 and worked on stunt choreography for John Wick 2 and V for Vendetta, which is an impressive resume for any Action Film director. Being able to blend a lighter tone with sleek action scenes is exactly what we're after. 

What Next? 
After the credits, enter interior day, a building like a less goofy version of the "clubhouse" from the old Defenders of the Earth cartoon, with The Phantom, Jedda, Mandrake and Lothar sitting around a table discussing the nature of Klytus. The revelation that aliens are manipulating world events is hard to swallow and even harder to plan against; how can they possibly mount a defense against an attack from space? The door flies open with a bang and standing there is famous footballer "Flash" Gordon, offering to help the heroes, he's just got back from space, you see, and has brought help. Flash steps aside to reveal the hulking form of Prince Vultan, and we cut to black. 

Oh yeah, we're going there.

 

Superhero Media: The New Avengers (#1-#47)

For the pedants, this covers the first eight trades of The New Avengers and wraps-up story-wise after the Secret Invasion, so this feels like a pretty good breaking point. Several (in-comic) months after the events of Avengers Disassembled, a confluence of events results in a breakout at the Raft super-prison being thwarted by Captain America, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) and The Sentry. Taking this as a sign, Cap begins to assemble a new team of Avengers, though the Sentry and Daredevil are unable to join, before long the rest of the heroes are traipsing across the Savage Land looking for Karl Lycos and battling rogue SHIELD Agents. The pace of The New Avengers is pretty fast, as, like with many Marvel comics, the writing assumes that the audience will also be reading all of the comics of each individual character and the event comics House of M, Civil War and Secret Invasion. Despite this issue however, The New Avengers is one of my favourite comic series and means a great deal to me. 

You see, The New Avengers was the first Avengers comic I read regularly. I picked up the first issue because the cover promised Cap, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Daredevil and Wolverine teaming up, and I fell in love with the comic from there. Yes, the "need" to be reading other comics to keep up is annoying, but the sharp writing and great characters are well worth sticking around for. The dynamic between Spidey and Luke Cage is brilliant and the constant banter rubs off on even Cap and Wolverine later on. Lines like "You ninjas smell like a garden of lilacs, it's actually quite lovely" and "You don't go to the Savage Land without crashing" are about all the rebuttal needed to the idea of Spider-Man being 'too silly' to be in the Avengers. It's the character dynamics as much as the story that keeps me going back to The New Avengers, first Cap, then Iron Man becoming surrogate father-figures to Spider-Man, a resurrected Clint Barton having to find a new identity and Luke Cage rising to lead the team are all compelling and I hope we get to see some of that in the MCU at some stage.

As well as the, above-mentioned, issues with tie-ins, The New Avengers has a couple of glaring imperfections that grate at times. The Spider-Woman/Skrull Queen story is unnecessarily convoluted and feels like a major retcon, especially layered on top of the Secret War conspiracy and the ongoing Hydra/SHIELD double agent stuff dogging Jessica Drew. Frank Cho gets to draw a number of issues, and can we please stop letting Frank Cho draw comics? I like sexily-drawn women in comics as much as the next guy, but Cho is just awful, he draws breasts individually bigger than a woman's head on every female character. Seriously? Can't stand his art. If Kevin Feige ever gets over his dislike of the Netflix Marvel series, it would be great to see Luke Cage and Jessica Jones take the kind of character journey that they do in The New Avengers. As a big Hawkeye fan, I like seeing how Clint took up the Ronin mantle and he's a good fit for the post-Civil War team. Great series, I will be reading this one again and again for years. 

Miniatures Finished: Mousers

After having four of these buggers painted for a while, I decided to pull my finger out and buy the rest of the damn henchmen team I'd want to play them as. 

 Also included another Knights of Dice park bench. 

I don't actually really remember much about the Mousers, but it's nice to have some "Indy" henchmen to throw into games. Teaming these guys up with Ultron or Brainiac would be a lot of fun. Heroclix. 

Superhero Media: Ratchet & Clank - Tools of Destruction

I don't care what these games are called in other markets, I'm just going to refer to this one as Tools of Destruction instead of Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, god, what a mouthful. I don't actually hate this game as much as the YouTube Ratchet & Clank fandom seems to, though I do think some of the big complaints are legitimate. In moving to the PS3, the series has a bigger budget and flashier graphics to work with, but loses some of the quirkiness and outsider status that helped define the previous games. Our story opens with Ratchet and Clank working on a hoverbike when Metropolis is attacked by alien invaders and the player gets to run through the city, acquainting themselves with the newer controls and enjoying the improved visuals. The new villain, Emperor Tachyon, is introduced, along with his Drophyd minions, and our heroes are whisked off to a new galaxy for their next adventure. Having a new galaxy to explore feels like Going Commando again, but there is some disappointment to be had. 

A new galaxy, a new villain and new enemies are great expansions to the series, making the universe feel a lot bigger. There are new characters to meet, like the Smuggler, Talwyn Apogee and the warbots, Cronk and Zephyr. Captain Quark is also along for the ride, because we couldn't have left him behind apparently, though I really wish Tools of Destruction took the chance on trying the series without him. Not that any of the new characters seem to have much personality, I do enjoy Cronk and Zehyr's banter, but Talwyn is just kind of bland and I don't understand the fanbase's dedication to her. Tools of Destruction has some gorgeous environments to explore, including a couple of simply huge planets, which is good, because you'll be spending a lot of time running around if you want to earn all the Skill Points. This game introduces some great weapons like the Groovitron, which makes enemies dance with hypnotic disco music, and Mr Zurkon, a robot helper with a vicious sense of humor. You can also look forward to several utterly useless weapons, like the Tornado Launcher, which will take forever to level up to a point where they're worthwhile. 

The crux of the narrative of Tools of Destruction revolves around Ratchet's origins and the mystery of the Lombax. This makes for interesting world-building, but the origins and destiny of both Ratchet and Clank are the major focus of the Future games, and it gets a bit tiresome after a while. It really feels like big changes are afoot in Tools of Destruction, but so few of them carry on into later games that the game becomes something of an island between the PS2 trilogy and A Crack in Time, a game that is not representative of the series, but is fun in it's own right. In retrospect, moving to the PS3 was probably not good for the Ratchet & Clank series, the graphics take over from the writing and the gameplay, attempts to integrate new technology like the "Sixaxis" controller make it harder to play and a lot of the fun elements of previous games now become major plot-points. Thing is, Tools of Destruction is still a fun game, I really like playing it, even if it feels like a let-down after Up Your Arsenal. If you have a Playstation and can get access to this game, give it a go and judge for yourself, opinion is divided on it for a reason.