The Seventh Soldier of Apathy

Why Mark Waid Is Awesome

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:15:00 +0000

"My first allegiance as a writer is to the story. Second allegiance, if not my characters, is to the integrity of the characters I didn't invent. Allegiance to the paying audience is the Road to Hell. "Fan Service" is the express lane. While I agree it's not good business to piss off your audience to such a point where you'll drive them away, "good business" is the last thing I should be thinking about when I'm actually writing. Writing "what the audience wants" or "what will please the audience" is the domain of the hack. A writer stands or falls by the integrity of his work. Everything else is secondary."
- Mark Waid, EiC Boom! Studios

http://forums.boom-studios.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=435&sid=b8e60fd3dc9e72de583ae6dda3e9c53f

I'm sure I'll have something written up about all of these shenanigans that are going on on the Interwebs sometime soon, but for now, just... revel. Revel in Mark Waid.

Fight Klub

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:16:00 +0000

As VS slows down drastically, I've been looking at other CCGs. There's something zen-like, meditative, to me about deck construction and gameplay of many of these games, and so I'm on the look out for the next one.

One that caught my eye has been Fight Klub, Decipher's newest game. Featuring head-to-head matches with characters from film and television, Fight Klub looks cheesetastic, and the gameplay looks to be relatively solid. It's always hard to tell if a game like this will take off, especially a niche one like FK, but I definitely wish them all the best, and I'll be giving the game a shot.

You can reach the FK site at www.decipher.com - and if you want to get in, say seventhsoldier sent you.

Comics Can Be Great

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:20:00 +0000

A lot of people have talked a lot of smack about Batwoman. Why? Because Batwoman has had very, very little definition as a character, especially when held up next to the extraordinarily well-rounded Renee Montoya - already one of the best characters in comics, Renee has been getting better and better under the pen of Greg Rucka.

Batwoman, however, has had precious little in the means of characters, other than 'lesbian who had a thing with Renee once', and this has caused a little backlash against her as a 'token' character. With Batman gone, however, a spot has opened up in Detective Comics for some of the supporting characters, and Greg Rucka is using this to, finally, flesh out Batwoman.

And you know what? It looks awesome. Credit JH Williams III, one of the most creative, fascinating talents in the industry. Credit Rucka for remembering that, as scary as the Bats should be, they are ultimately about peace, not vengeance, about saving people, not about punishing them.

Here's to hoping Kate Kane's segment works out well here. It certainly looks promising!

Weekday Update III

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:58:00 +0000

Ah, once more, he returns.

Well, with the death of VS, I find myself with a little free money and a lot less to write about on the blog. Marvel and DC seem to be in a bit of a dry spot for me in terms of 'things that I'm interested in and can afford' which means they've sort of doubly hit a dead spot in the area of 'things that I'm interested in that I can write about extensively or at least every now and then'. Of course, with the news that Greg Rucka and James Robinson will be collaborating on the new Superman: The World of New Krypton mini, that might be changing, because Greg Rucka is one of the better talents in comics today, and while I haven't read anything from Robinson outside of Starman, Starman happens to be a triumph of comics publishing, and thus I'm excited to read a little more from him.

But, hey, expectations aren't high.

Again, on a personal note, 'I Am Very Important' was rejected again, this time by the fine folks at Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, while 'Over the Hill' is out for consideration (but is not particularly strong as-is, and so will and should be rejected). I'm still working on two separate short stories, but I've found myself rather slammed this semester for time and inspiration, and so they are progressing slower than I might like.

Coming up this month? One or two more 'Best Books You Aren't Reading', probably some write-ups on TV that's worth watching right now, and more existential flailing to figure out what the hell it is exactly that I want this blog for.

Wish me luck, and enjoy your week!

VS News

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Well, it's official.

It comes as no surprise to any of us, I suppose - VS is gone. That said, I don't believe that I was the only one holding out and hoping that we'd catch a break. I don't pretend to know what it was exactly that tipped the scale, but I am nonetheless rather remarkably sad at the passing of what turned out to be one of my favorite pastimes of... well, of this particular decade.

To those fans of the game, I hope you don't regret the money and passion you poured into the game. I don't. I fully intend to keep my cards - and I fully intend to keep playing the game, whenever possible. I'll teach friends the game, and if I ever have kids, chances are pretty good that I'll teach them, too.

For now, however, we have become an entirely online community. With no more hobby leagues and no more official sets, where we go from here is entirely up in the air - will we fade away, forgotten? I hope not.

To that end, I'd remind everyone to try and stay active in the blogs and forums, and to be on the lookout for fanmade sets to be released for Magic Workstation, a platform that allows free online play of VS. At least one fanmade set it coming up in the near future, based on DC's recent Final Crisis, and with hope, there will be more to come.

Thanks to Ben Seck, Billy Zonos and others, who kept giving us quality cards and probably kept the game alive long past when anyone else would've expected it.

VS is Dead - long live VS?

Watchmen News

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 02:17:00 +0000

To give a little history on the Watchmen setting (I have no idea if this is actually in the movie itself), a fake newscast has been released celebrating ten years of Doctor Manhattan.

Oscar Season

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:34:00 +0000

So, the nominations are up for this year's Oscars, and like many years, they seem to reward careful mediocrity over stunning execution, critical/popular acclaim, or... uh... any other category you could base such things on. I loved The Dark Knight, and I was truly disappointed by the lack of Oscar nods it got, but the real crime? Wall*E, one of the most daring films of past year and perhaps the best romance of the past five, is left out of a Best Picture nod in favor of blatant Oscar-bait like Benjamin Button.
Is Benjamin Button a bad movie? Of course not. It's well-crafted, heartfelt and interesting. But it never once reached the highs of Wall*E.

Feel free to chime in with the actors, actresses, and films you feel got snubbed this year!

The List Of Nominations

Batman R.I.P. pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:44:00 +0000

Spoilers of course.

From the astonishing Pinderpanda.

What does it mean?
Note: Batman RIP is polysemic, ambiguous, elliptical and all those other things that're great for literature and troublesome for bald 'fact files' like this. The section that follows therefore cannot aim to be as 'definitive' as does the rest of the guide, but can only aim to be plausibly interpretive.

What do the red skies mean?

Red skies appear on a number of occasions throughout Morrison's Batman RIP.

In the opening 'flash forward' sequence to events six months after the main storyline, over the skies of contemporary Gotham as Batman pursues 'The Green Vulture', during the sunset Honor Jackson shares with Bruce, and during Bruce's subsequent transformation into the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.

Red skies have a particular meaning in DCU-lore. They were first seen during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, most notoriously in what became known as "Red Sky Crossovers" - issues marketed as Crisis tie-ins which had little connection to the storyline other than that particular colouring choice.

They are now a familiar omen of disaster. As DCU#0 puts it, "When the Multiverse is on the verge of destruction, when the skies drip red as the barriers between parallel universes bleed... When Earth's greatest heroes rise up together, willing to sacrifice everything they have in defense of all they hold dear... That war is called a Crisis."

2006's Ion maxiseries eventually revealled that the reason for this is that the weakening of the walls between universes during times of Crisis allows for a glimpse of 'the Bleed', an arterial channel between realities first introduced in Warren Ellis's Stormwatch run which went on to become a major part of the cosmologies of both Wildstorm and Final Crisis.

The association of red skies with Crises raises the question of RIP's association with Final Crisis. Addressing this in an interview Morrison says, "it could be the start of it, because those red skies have been seeping in for a while, but it's certainly not happening at the same time as Final Crisis #1. It could be happening a week before or something, but I haven't exactly specified it." (IGN, August 2008 ). So the red skies should be seen as signs that the Final Crisis was immanent, rather than that it was underway. This fits the sequence of events in the story.

This leaves the red skies in the six-months-later 'flash forward' sequences however...

"That's actually even more in the future than Battle for the Cowl," says Tony Daniel, "[That] would, hypothetically, appear at the very end of it" (Daniel, Newsarama, December 2008).

This places them well after the conclusion of Final Crisis, and would seem to suggest that on that occasion a red sky was simply a red sky.

Red also has a significance (or at least a significant lack of significance) in the red and black pattern the Joker is making throughout the story. The red skies also serve as visual references to this.

How exactly did the Joker talk with his tounge sliced in half?

In Batman #680 the Joker reveals that he knows Doctor Hurt's true identity by mutilating himself to display a serpent's tongue. It has troubled many readers that he appears capable of comprehensible speech after doing so.

It is however entirely possible that the Joker wasn't capable of comprehensible speech before doing so, and the tongue slicing merely serves to make this explicit.

The Joker was shot in the face in Batman #655 and, when he reappeared in #663 had undergone facial reconstruction surgery leaving him incapable of producing any sounds except "a subhuman paste of of slobbery vowels and clicking consonants." The prose story in that issue makes it very clear that, while the Joker thinks he's talking, all that's coming out is "mangled phonetics and toxic intent."

When this version of the Joker reappears in DCU#0, Tony Daniel draws him with retracted lips which would be unable to manufacture any rounded vowels or labial/labio-dental consonants. Daniel is careful never to actually show him speaking.

It seems very likely that the Joker we see in RIP is talking in the same "subhuman paste" and that his speech balloons (coloured green to distinguish them from conventional dialogue) contain the words he's trying to say rather than the actual noises coming out of his mouth.

Careful reading of the arc shows that nobody, from the Arkham psychiatrist, to the Club of Villains to the members of the Black Glove, show any sign of understanding him before or after the tongue-slicing. They respond only to the fact that he has spoken or to actions that he's taken rather than to the content of anything that he has said. There's no evidence that any characters with whom he converses in Batman RIP can makes heads or tails of what he's saying.

There's one exception to this.

The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh has an extended and two-sided conversation with the Joker, and is able to fully understand him both before and after the tongue-slicing.

But then, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh also has two-sided conversations with gargoyles.

Batman typically works by gathering evidence and consciously interpreting it. In RIP we're shown that as the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh this process is unconscious. Whereas normally he'd read the city and deduce what the clues were telling him, in this state of mind he experiences this as direct linguistic information; "Shh! The city's talking" (Batman #679).

It follows then that he'd also be the only one able to converse with the Joker. Just as he interpreted the city's clues and experienced them as talking gargoyles, he'd be able to read the Joker's body language, intent and phonetics and experience them as actual speech.

It's also worth looking at what the conversation is about. The Joker is insisting that all life is fundamentally meaningless and that all attempts to make sense of it are doomed. And the World's Greatest Detective is making a liar of him...just by the simple act of understanding it.

Who (and why) was the Black Glove?

At San Deigo 2008 Grant Morrison said that the Black Glove's true identity would be someone "everybody in the world knows." Curiously, when the identity was eventually revealed, much of the readership failed to recognise him.

Lets go back to when Morrison first took on the Batman monthly and he mentioned that he'd "rather Batman embodied the best that secular humanism has to offer" (Newsarama, 2006). This take on the character has proved vital to how Morrison has written Batman throughout his career and is crucial to understanding why the Black Glove is who he is.

By 'Humanism' here, we're talking about the whole raft of philosophical ideas that came out of the Enlightenment and told us that it was possible for us to stop thinking of life as one long downhill ride from the Fall or the 'Golden Age' and to start thinking that humans had a chance to improve the world and themselves if they started playing smart and making the effort.

Where Batman comes in is that humanism does this through reason, rationality, science and all that sort of stuff, to the exclusion of all the irrational mumbo-jumbo that's also a part of being human. Arkham Asylum, by a younger and angier Grant Morrison, punishes Batman for his humanism by painting him as a repressed, joyless prig and having him suffer humilation and agony for his failure to integrate into himself myth, ritual, chaos, the Id, and all the other things reason excludes.

By the time of Morrison's JLA run things are very different. Here Batman is routinely defeating gods and ur-gods by holding to these values.

Inbetween we get Batman: Gothic, where reason and rationality are shown to be effective but limited. Batman solves the mystery, but an epilogue reveals that he's been blind to a major player in the events....the Devil himself! Humanism works here, but remains oblivious to the man behind the curtain.

The Devil next reappears in Morrison's Batman mythos during RIP, where he's wearing Mangrove Pierce's body and using the name 'The Black Glove'.

Batman is invested in a project which attempts to improve humanity through reason and rationality. There's no greater threat to that than the possibility that deep down inside humanity is a kind of irrational evil from which it can never escape.

The Devil's the ultimate supernatural bogeyman. There's no greater threat to it than the possibility that people might one day be able to work and think their way free. If that's true then the Devil's days are numbered.

The Joker is well aware of who the Black Glove is, making numerological references to the Devil, quoting the Rolling Stones and illustrating the point by fashioning himself a serpent's tougue. He also claims to know why the Devil hates Batman (#680) and it has to be because of this; the possibilities for humanity that Batman's values and achievements represent scare the Devil (#681).

Batman has to acknowledge though that the Devil is a part of him. Just as humanism tried to exclude from its discourse the irrational side of human experience, Batman tried to fence off the nonsensical aspects of his own life experience inside The Black Casebook; "All the things we'd seen that didn't fit and couldn't be explained went into the Black Casebook" (#665) but when he writes the final entry in the Casebook he faces the posibility that he's reached the limits of reason.

In the various isolation experiments, initiations and Thogal rituals we've seen Batman undertake he's found this 'source of pure evil' deep down inside himself. And as Doctor Hurt breathes, "The Black Glove always wins" it is Batman's own black glove we see smashing through the helicopter window.

Since we're talking about a book set in the shared universe of the DCU we have to mention that this is a world not short of Devils and Devil-analogues... Neron, Satanus, the First of the Fallen, Lucifer and plenty of others could all in different ways be thought of as 'The Devil' in DCU continuity.

I would suggest that it is not helpful in understanding Batman RIP to do so here. What Batman trimuphs against here is the idea of the Devil rather than any specific pre-existing variation on that idea. Although perhaps we should mention Orion's warning from Final Crisis #1 concerning Darkseid and his retinue of evil gods; "They did not die! He is in you all!"

It'd be tempting to give the last word to Damien, who says, "I know the Devil exists, or at least something exists which might as well be the Devil. I've met him." (Batman #666)

The Black Glove is something which might as well be the Devil.

The Best Books You Aren't Reading - Patsy Walker: Hellcat

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:13:00 +0000

Patsy Walker: Hellcat is, from what I know, the first book from writer Kathryn Immonen, and it teams her up with artist David Lafuente Garcia. A relative no-name writer on a relative no-name character on a miniseries that doesn't even touch Marvel continuity beyond the premise for the mini... yes, this was a book that was destined from #1 to be a Book You Aren't Reading. What I didn't know was that it would be one of the Best Books you weren't reading. I'll admit it, I picked it up because the premise for the first issue made me smile and the cover for #1 was absolutely gorgeous.

Patsy Walker, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants YOU to join the Initiative…and protect the frozen north. You heard me right, sister. The Klondike. Seward’s Folly. Alaska. So pack some long johns and prepare for trouble. GUEST-STARRING: IRON MAN!
-MARVEL.COM

Patsy Walker is, at the behest of Iron Man, sent to Alaska as part of the 50 States Initiative. Unfortunately, she's the only member of the Alaska team, because... who the Hell wants to attack Alaska? Still, ever loyal, she heads off to Alaska and finds herself embroiled in some bizarre, mystic quest.

I'll be honest, I sneer at people who are confused by most Morrison comics, but off the top of my head, I couldn't describe to you the plot of Patsy Walker: Hellcat, thus far. Despite that, though, the book has had a sense of cleverness and of FUN that many modern comics forget to include somewhere between all the death, rape and angst that gets tossed around.

Combine the offbeat sense of humor with absolutely gorgeous art from Lafuente, and you've got a winner. While the much-delayed mini seems to come out once in a blue moon, when it does, it's a breath of fresh air amongst the largely stagnant comics it sits between. It isn't a powerful narrative, it isn't comics-as-art-as-literature, and it isn't anything you haven't seen before... but, well, imagine Holly Golightly with superpowerrs written by someone on shrooms with an affinity for wordplay, and ask yourself: is this something I can really afford not to try out?

Batman R.I.P.

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:29:00 +0000

Now, I'm not normally a fan of Batman or Superman, so it feels weird to realize how often I've written about them. But, well, there's been interesting stuff going on with them of late, between Grant Morrison and... uh... actually, really just Grant Morrison.

Still, many readers expressed confusion at the recent Batman R.I.P., its tie-ins, Final Crisis, etc... and I have tried to answer those questions when they have come up. However, while I do enjoy organizing things, this project was too large for me to start, and I (to be honest) didn't care nearly enough.

However, the magic of the Internet is the knowledge that, someone, somewhere, DOES enjoy this sort of thing, and is incapable of admitting that a project might be too large. Even more magical? Sometimes that person offers said project in an intelligent, well thought-out sort of way.

Prepare for some magic, then, from Gaiaonline.com poster Pinderpanda (man, that sucked the dignity right out of the room, huh?).

Batman RIP to Battle for the Cowl
- A Reader's Guide.

Contains spoilers galore.

Updated 08/01/2009

What's Happening?

What's going on in the Bat-books?

A number of Batman-related titles have been cancelled (Robin, Nightwing, Birds of Prey) and a number are going on hiatus (Batman, Detective) before relaunching in some form. This may, or may not, involve the replacement of Bruce Wayne as Batman.

Charitably this this happening because when "one writer is doing such a big thing, then it has to impact other books [...] because this story is too big to ignore" (Fabian Nicieza, IGN, December 2008 ).

Uncharitably this is happening because "the sales on the Batman titles went through the roof with the first issue of RIP. So quite clearly DC took one look at that and said let's put some branding on the other Bat titles" (Morrison, IGN, May 2008 ).

Either way, what we're left with is a curious maze of personal writer-led stories and mandated editor-led 'events'. This is your map.

What is Batman RIP?

In the pages of Batman, 'RIP' is a six issue arc which runs from #676 to #681.It concludes a "25-chapter novel" (Morrison, Newsarama, Feb 2008 ) which has run intermittently in the title since #655.

The title was also used as branding for issues of Detective Comics (#846-850), Nightwing (#147-150), Robin (#175-176), and Batman and the Outsiders (#11-13). These stories have at best a thematic or tangential connection to the main arc. They do not interact with it "in any crucial way" (Dini, CBR, June 2008 ) and were written with no input from the main arc's writer (Morrison, IGN, May 2008 ).

The main storyline involves the attempted ruination of Bruce Wayne's soul by a source of pure evil from beyond the limits of reason, and the subsequent kicking of said evil's ass by the Undamned Batman.

What is Last Rites?

'Last Rites' was a bit of masthead branding applied to issues of Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing, Robin and Batman and the Outsiders published following the conclusion of 'RIP'.

The 'Last Rites' storyline published in Batman ('The Butler Did It/What the Butler Saw') is set during Final Crisis and clarifies Batman's involvement in that series and its relation to RIP.

The 'Last Rites' storylines published in the other titles show various Gotham residents adapting to life without Batman.

What is Final Crisis?

A seven-issue miniseries, plus tie-ins, offered as DC's major event for 2008.

It variously attempts to be, or has been marketed as being...

...a sequel to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, OMAC and Kamadi material.

...the conclusion of the plot threads Grant Morrison has been running through all his DCU work since Animal Man.

...the third part of a 'Crisis' trilogy that began with Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis.

...the 'Third Act' of Didio-era DC which has run through Graduation Day, Identity Crisis, and everything since.

How successful it is in being any of those things is a matter of much debate. As is the level to which the project is interested in being anything other than the first two things. As is the level of comprehensibility the series attains given these various demands.

In Batman terms the series is important since it features "the final fate of Batman" (Morrison, IGN, August 2008 ); A mischievous and ironic phrase since the death of Barry Allen (returned to life by Final Crisis) occurred in an issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths bearing the cover blurb "the final fate of the Flash."

What is Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

A two issue story by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert that will run in Batman #686 and Detective Comics #853.

In both its title and its publication method, it parallels the Alan Moore/Curt Swan story "Whatever happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" which ran in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 and which gave the Earth-1 Superman a 'final story' with which to cap off the continuity erased by Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Gaiman has said of the story, " I think the most important thing Sandman did, and it did create some important things, was that it was the first mainstream comic ever to finish a story. And I think that cannot be underestimated. The idea before that had always been that if you were writing a monthly comic, let's say Superman or whatever, you couldn't finish it. You weren't ever allowed to do the last one, to have the story mean anything. You had to turn back to the soap opera. [...] One of the things that attracted me to [Whatever Happened...] was when they asked if I would be interested in writing the last Batman story, so that's what I'm doing. The last Batman story." (Ain't It Cool, December 2008 ).

It is solicited as a "captivating and mysterious tale the likes of which Batman and friends have never experienced before. Delving into the realms of life, death and the afterlife."

What is Battle for the Cowl?

A three-issue miniseries which will be published during the March to May hiatus taken by Batman and Detective.

The story will deal with the matter of Batman's succesion. "The cape and cowl [is] the focus of the story. Should it be retired or should someone take the mantle? Will it make a difference either way? Batman was much more than just a costume, you know; putting it on doesn’t make you Batman." (Daniel, Newsarama, December 2008 )

It will be suported by a number of tie-in one-shots and miniseries. Those so far announced include Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? (dealing with Spoiler, Vicki Vale, Harvey Bullock and Leslie Thompkins), Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive!, Oracle and Azrael: Death's Dark Knight.

The core series is to be written by RIP's penciller Tony Daniel, who boldly invited himself to do so...

"I was casually talking to [editor] Mike Marts about the story and my thoughts on how great it could be. I consider myself a storyteller, so in my mind I guess the wheels of the story were naturally spinning. And in this case, you couldn’t shut me up.

I mentioned how this could be something really great and not just a stop gap before Grant’s or my return to the title. [...]

So after spilling my guts for about 10 minutes about the ideas that were pouring out of my head, I jokingly told Mike that I would gladly accept the invitation to write Battle for the Cowl. Only he hadn’t done that and we both laughed. But I emailed him later after thinking about it more and it was too late. I was ramped up on my second cup of Starbucks and there was no turning back. I asked him to consider it." (Daniel, Newsarama, December 2008 )

How do these stories fit together?

This is at times a little unclear.

Many of the peripheral stories involve the Gotham cast reacting to Batman's disappearance, but the problem is that Batman disappears three times during the main storyline. Once during RIP, where he becomes a homeless drug addict for an issue, once following RIP's conclusion, in which he briefly vanishes in a helicopter crash, and once following whatver happens in Final Crisis.

The helicopter crash is the most puzzling of these, as it seems to serve no narative purpose and makes RIP look as if it has a weaker conclusion than it does.

Dan Didio explains that he mandated this extra bonus disapearance "Because we live in the world of collected editions, we needed a conclusion in the Batman series, so that we could collect it properly within Batman, without having to bring in segments of Final Crisis to complete the story" (Didio, Newsarama, December 2008 )

This logic is undermined somewhat by the fact that the collected edition of Batman RIP is including the two Final Crisis tie-in issues which follow it, so those reading it in trade will be confronted by segments of the larger story and will find the helicopter crash as much of a perplexing non-event as did those who followed the monthlies.

Thanks to this editorial masterstroke, we've got a stack of RIP tie-ins and Last Rites comics set "after Bruce's disapperance" and two disappearances this could possibly refer to - the helicopter crash or the events of Final Crisis.

I would argue that the balance of evidence seems to suggest that the "OMG! Batman's gone forever!" stories we've seen so far do not occur after his "final fate" in Final Crisis but rather while he was temporarily missing following the helicopter crash; Last Rites does not appear to be set in a post-Final Crisis world and there are references to the disapearance in clearly pre-Final Crisis books (such as Supergirl #34).

The broad sequence of events would then seem to be...

Batman RIP
(In which Batman defeats a 'source of pure evil' but has a curse placed upon him - his next case shall be his last! He then disappears in a helicopter crash.)

Various RIP tie-ins and Last Rites books
(In which everyone goes mental about Bruce being gone forever. Except in Tomasi's excellent Nightwing, where they sit around eating popcorn and waiting for him to return)

The flashback sequence shown in Batman #683
(In which Bruce returns from the helicopter crash as if it were no big deal. He is then dragged immediately into the events of Final Crisis #1)

Final Crisis #1-4
(In which Batman falls into Darkseid's clutches)

Batman #682-3
(In which Batman escapes Darkseid's clutches)

Final Crisis #5-7
(In which we learn the "final fate of Batman" )

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

Battle for the Cowl

A more detailed, issue-by-issue, chronology is offered in the next section.

How do I read it?

How do I read any superhero comics set in a seventy-year-old continuity?

You've two options.

The first is to accept that every story, no matter how self-contained and no matter how good or bad a jumping-on point, has a "Previously..."

We're all of us finding our seats after the movie's started and spilling our popcorn on those around us. Don't stress about this. Just find somewhere, anywhere, that looks like an interesting place to start and jump in.

Be prepared to ask questions. Be prepared to look things up. Be prepared to ignore everyone who says you have to have read "X" before you can read "Y". Be prepared to be confused, and to work through that confusion if you find anything that fires your imagination enough to make that feel like work worth doing.

The other option is to start in 1939 with Detective Comics #27 and plough on through from there.

How do I read Batman RIP?

The six issues of Grant Morrison's Batman RIP printed in Batman #676-681 (and collected in the Batman RIP hardcover) comprise the final chapter of a longer storyline.

Morrison says that, "This is the first story I had planned when Peter Tomasi, the editor at the time, asked me to do Batman [...] the very first story title I noted down was “Batman RIP”. [...] So it came from there…and out of that notion came the idea for the big overarching story I’ve been telling since I first came on the book. Everything…the “Zur-En-Arrh” graffiti, the Joker prose story, the Club of Heroes…every detail that’s been in the book for the last couple of years is significant" (Newsarama, Feburary 2008 )

The complete story is collected across the Batman and Son, The Black Glove and Batman RIP trades.

Morrison also lays groundwork for the storyline in issues #30 and #47 of the 2006-7 weekly series 52. The relevant events from that story are well sumarised in the main Batman title but can be found in the third and fourth trade collection of 52.

The story also relies very heavily on events from two Silver Age stories; The Superman of Planet-X from Batman #113 and Robin Dies at Dawn from Batman #153. Although the relevant events from these stories are eventually recapped in the storyline, this doesn't happen until a point where many readers will have become exasperated. DC have yet to make these stories available to readers, but will remedy this in the Black Casebook trade available from June 2009.

A reader wanting the 'complete RIP experience' could then find it by reading...

The Black Casebook trade.
Weeks 30 and 47 from the third and fourth 52 trade.
The Batman and Son trade.
The Black Glove trade.
The Batman RIP trade.

Since it contains no major Status-Q changes, WHY should I read Batman RIP?

You might enjoy it. Then again, you might really not. The storyline has been fairly polarising and divisive among the readership.

As a rough guide I'd suggest that you'll probably enjoy Batman RIP...

...if you're frustrated with LOST for giving out too many answers.
...if your favoutite TS Eliot poems don't involve cats.
...if your personal 'top ten' films include The Fisher King, Jacobs Ladder, Angel Heart, The Name of the Rose or anything by David Lynch.

Matt Fraction best explains the run's appeal...

"It's a pretty spectacular example of [...] using Batman as frame of reference for Batman. The gag is that everything that's happened in the Batman comic actually happened to Batman, right? And what would that do to a human mind? From the bleak noir stuff to the bam-sock-pow stuff and everything in between. [Morrison]'s using the whole history of the character to comment on the character as the character endures it. And to comment on the comics mainstream, and on heroes, and all that great stuff. I mean, the first fight scene takes place in an art gallery during a Pop Art retrospective where these faux-Lichtenstein paintings of comics are commenting on the comic we're reading as we're reading it, for god's sake. And as the run went on, Morrison really used the entirety of the character's history as a frame of reference and context to comment on the character. Batman-as-Batman-as-Pop-Culture-in-toto. It's a mess, and a glorious one at that, and his reach might have exceeded his grasp for a couple reasons not exactly germane to this discussion, but it's been a pretty amazing piece, all the same. It's the Cremaster of superhero comics." (Fraction, The Comics Reporter, January 2009)

How do I read the Batman RIP tie-ins?

Dini's 'Heart of Hush' storyline in Detective # 846-850 is set shortly before Morrison's RIP issues and has no connection to them except the the idea that Hush is making his move now in order to destroy Batman before someone else beats him to it.

Robin #846-850 is set during the events of RIP, seemingly inbetween Batman #678 and Batman #679.

Batman and the Outsiders #11-13 and Nightwing #147-50 are set following RIP's conclusion.

Since they've no impact on the main plot, WHY should I read the Batman RIP tie-ins?

If you're following the characters in those particular books, or if you're looking for a Paul Dini story about Hush and a Peter Tomasi story about Two-Face.

There's no other strong reason, although events from 'Heart of Hush' may eventually prove important in Battle for the Cowl.

How do I read Final Crisis?

Final Crisis consists of a seven-issue miniseries, four accompanying miniseries (Revelations, Rogues' Revenge, Legion of Three Worlds, Superman Beyond) five accompanying one-shots (Requiem, Rage of the Red Lanterns, Resist, Submit, Secret Files) and two tie-in issues (Batman #682-3).

It was preceeded by a weekly series called Countdown to Final Crisis, published against Grant Morrison's wishes and in contradiction to his storyline (Morrison, Newsarama, June 2008 ). Considered alongside its own spin-offs, but not counting tie-ins in the monthlies, Countdown to Final Crisis comprises at least 102 issues, none of which make any fucking sense. It is best ignored.

Someone approaching Final Crisis to see Batman's story play out can happily confine themselves to Batman #682-3 and the seven-issue core Final Crisis mini.

Final Crisis is however, as discussed in 'What is Final Crisis?' above, the conclusion to a great many long-running stories. Readers may find their experience of its accessibility varies.

For example, when confronted with Turpin, a tough cop with prior history with superheroes, some readers will say "Hey! This is Dan Turpin from New Gods #5." They will get on fine.

Some readers will say, "I don't know who this guy is. But it says here that his name's Turpin, and that he's a tough cop with prior history with superheroes. That's probably enough to be going on with." They too will get on fine.

Some readers will say, "I don't know who this guy is! How am I expected to follow all this continuity?" They will get hopelessly confused.

You probably already know what sort of a reader you are.

Someone looking to read everything that feeds into this story would be faced with reading the complete DCU work of Jack Kirby and Grant Morrison, the complete Wildstorm work of Warren Ellis, Wanted, Sin City, Secret Invasion, every prior Crisis crossover and every DCU book published for the last four years.

Someone looking for a more manageble project of preparatory reading might just want to check out the four Jack Kirby's Fouth World Omnibus volumes and Grant Morrison's JLA and Seven Soldiers runs.

What's the chronology of all this?

What follows is an attempt to place the books considered by this article into an issue-by-issue chronology. Bare in mind that a chronology is not the same as an 'ideal reading order' or a list of 'essential reading' and also that in many places this is based on my own textual sleuthing and subjective judgement, rather than on anything official.

Detective Comics #846-50 (Heart of Hush)

Batman #676-8 (RIP parts 1-3)

Robin #175-6

Batman #679-81 (RIP parts 4-6)

Batman and the Outsiders #11-12 (Outsiders No More).

Nightwing #147-151 (The Great Leap)

Robin #177-182 (Search for a Hero)

Detective Comics #851 & Batman #684 ('The Last Days of Gotham')
Happens concurently with 'Search for a Hero'.

Batman and the Outsiders #13

Bruce returns from the heli-crash, as flashbacked to in Batman #863 .

Final Crisis #1-2

Final Crisis: Requiem
(Concurrent with FC#2. I've just included this because of the awesome scene of Bruce with the Oreo.)

Final Crisis #3-4

Batman #682-3 (The Butler Did It/What the Bulter Saw)

Final Crisis #5-7

Whatever happened to the Caped Crusader?

Battle for the Cowl.

Battle for the Cowl Questions

Is Azrael really coming back?

Published alongside Battle for the Cowl will be Azrael: Death’s Dark Knight, a three part mini-series.

The Azrael it features will neither be Jean-Paul Valley nor directly connected to the Order of St. Dumas. This character will have been appointed by a seedier splinter group called 'The Order of Purity' and will wear the Suit of Sorrows introduced in the Resurrection of R'as al Ghul crossover.

According to Fabian Nicieza "He's known and not really known, but it's a character that spins out of his introduction to the Bat-books in a very interesting way." (IGN, December 2008 )

The description of him in the solicts ("He was a husband and a father. A brother and a friend. A cop and a dark knight. But he had all that taken away." ), the darkly religious tone of the character and comments about him having been "manipulated and abused by many other outside forces" (Nicieza, Newsarama, January 2009) has caused some to speculate that he's the Third Man, the satanic replacement Batman created by Doctor Hurt.

"It could seem to suggest that, couldn't it?" says Nicieza (Newsarama, January 2009).

*

Thanks Pinderpanda! May your name live on in infamy!

Rejiggering the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:57:00 +0000

Well, I'm sure my faithful reader noticed a drying up in recent months. There are, of course,a variety of reasons - read: excuses - for this. Having no one with which to play VS, I have trouble finding the motivation to create and test decks as often as I once did. Having no job and therefore no money, I have trouble finding the cashflow to buy a suitable amount of MEV, especially knowing how unlikely it is pull what I want/need. Hearing nothing from UDE, I don't know what the future of this game is. Having Read/Rant, I already have an outlet for reviewing comic books.

So, what else is there? Well, I will of course be writing over the next month or two to try and figure out just what it is I want this blog for. I can never fully abandon VS - it was my passion for the game that brought me here, and that passion will take notably more than neglect and starvation to kill. And yet, if I hope to maintain 2-3 updates each week, I will need to find something to write about with the same passion that VS and its fabulous community inspires. Until UDE tells us SOMETHING about the game, it shall probably not feature heavily in the blog. Even if the game goes out, I'd just like to leave all the uncertainty behind.

Of course, this doesn't mean I'm not writing - I have two stories out there in the ether, submitted for consideration. I'm not wild about the chances of either, but I'll let you know if things go my way. As I mentioned before, I'm reviewing comics at Read/Rant, working on the follow up to the DC Project, and more. So, yes, as of now, I'm going to try and find a way to repurpose my blog. I suppose, if I do have any readers out there who enjoyed specific segments, what subjects would you all care to see more of?

Apologies for the long delay between posts. With hope, I can get this blog back on track. It's over a year old now. Here's to hoping it doesn't fall apart just yet.

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:48:00 +0000

The Seventh Soldier of Apathy officially wishes you Merry Christmas, alongside two dark vigilantes. Because to us here at the Apathy house, nothing says Christmas like murder and emo.

Happy Holidays!

The Big Three

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:56:00 +0000

No, not the car companies. DC's Big Three. Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman. Each of the three are going through some Big Events right now, because comics companies love Big Events, and for all their whining to the contrary, so do fans. Here's a rundown of what the stars of the DCU are going through right now.

Wonder Woman: Rise of the Olympian

Featuring in part the introduction of Genocide, a dark monster created by an alliance of Wonder Woman's enemies, Simone's Wonder Woman story deals with the gods of Olympus, fearing that their champion has failed and abandoned them, sending a new champion - the Olympian. Simone's greatest strengths are often in character moments, moreso than in action, and the same could be said of Lopresti, but if I have high hopes for this book despite the occasionally schizophrenic tone of the series, it's because it hasn't been hyped to oblivion and turned into a 17 part 4 book event. The first issue was solid-but-not-spectacular, and we'll see how it turns out in the end.

Batman: R.I.P., Last Rites and Battle for the Cowl

Batman: R.I.P. was a competent, enjoyable non-event that DC blew way out of proportion. As a capstone to Morrison's run on Batman, it was really quite good. A metatextual mystery playing on the expectations of fanboys and the conventions of the industry? Lots of fun. As a line-wide event, it sucked. The tie-ins were unimpressive and didn't actually 'tie in' to anything, and the upcoming Battle for the Cowl - an editorially mandate with a novice writer at the helm - doesn't look promising at all. That said, Batman & Son -> The Black Glove -> R.I.P. was an enjoyable run on Batman, and the current Last Rites storyline that follows it up features superstars like Grant Morrison, Denny O'Neil, and Neil Gaiman, so it should be pretty quality.

Superman: 100,000 Kryptonians

No, that art is not official and has nothing to do with the story. According to the board I found it on - You'll All Be Sorry @ CBR - it's some graffiti from Dusseldorf. I just think it's cool.

Anyway, 100K Kryptonians features the return of... can you guess?... 100,000 Kryptonians to Earth, and the subsequent shenanigans. Fan favorite writer Geoff Johns is helming the event from Action Comics, while a personal favorite of mine, James Robinson, is running things on Superman, and relative newcomer Sterling Gates is taking control of Supergirl. Those three books form the core of the title, but a few one-shots have already been released featuring such stars as Jimmy Olson and the Manhattan Guardian. Response hasn't been ridiculously positive to the series, but I've heard few complaints from those reading the arc.

*

And that's that. But, I'd hate to leave our Marvel fans with no good news, so I shall point out that X-Men Noir #1 came out last week to impressive reviews and surprisingly good sales (we're sold out and back-ordered, curse the souls of everyone alive), and Spider-Man Noir #1 hits next week, with Incognito coming up soon as well, making this month an awesome month for Marvel, in my book.

Finally, my first semester of grad school is finished, and I have resolved the issues with my 'net provider, so I return you to your regularly scheduled programming!

VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Spider-Friends/X-Factor Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:14:00 +0000

So, let me first say, MEV is a really cool, VASTLY powerful set. Over on VSrealms, at least one infinite combo has already been discovered, and I highly doubt that it will be the first. Now, I'm not nearly clever to truck with that sort of shenanigans. I'm not a good enough deck-builder, after all, and I'm not quite mean enough. I like being annoying as much as the next gamer, but there are limits.

Still, I like being annoying more than enough for this deck right here. As you've all seen, I'm a big fan of the Bring Your Own Two Team format, as I love team-up decks and I love not having to worry about hitting team-ups. Of course, there are downsides, and these two teams certainly highlight those downsides. The Spider-Friends have been a powerful team for a couple years now, but that's far more thanks to the suite of Spider-Man support cards, most notably Gift Wrapped, and their normal, team-stamped effects are generally fairly dull. Meanwhile, X-Factor, a team I had high hopes for in MEV is virtually unplayable on a budget, having only 3 non-rare support cards (1 of which is a team-up) and, in their rare support cards, 6 of them are legend stamped.

This brings up a fair question: why on Earth build Spider-Friends with X-Factor if their support suite is so lacking? Well, I'm just gonna print out a few card effects really quickly, and I'll let you take it from there...

Rictor, Depowered
2
Team: X-Factor, Purifiers
ATK: 2
DEF: 3
[Activate] -> Gain 1 endurance for each character in play with an activated ([activate]) power.

Siryn, Sonic Scream
4
Team: X-Factor, X-Men
Flight
Ranged
ATK: 7
DEF: 8
Whenever a character's activated ([activate]) power is used, target opponent loses 1 endurance.

Madame Web, Cassandra Webb
3
Team: Spider-Friends
ATK: 3
DEF: 1
Whenever an activated power of a Spider-Friends character you control is used, gain 2 endurance.
Activate -> Look at the top two cards of target player's deck. You may put those cards into that player's KO'd pile or on the top of his deck in any order.

Fun and Games
To play, discard a Spider-Friends character card.
Ongoing: Characters have "Activate -> Negate target activated effect an opponent controls."

(taken from docx's excellent search engine)

*

Do you see how things might play out in an interesting manner?

*

8x Multiple Man, Army * HYDRA
2x Layla Miller, Butterfly
3x Rictor, Depowered
7x Jamie Madrox <> Multiple Man, Army * Agent of SHIELD
3x Beast, Wild and Wooly
4x Madame Web, Cassandra Web
3x Siryn, Sonic Scream
1x Strong Guy, Guido Carosella

4x Empire State University
4x Falls Edge
3x ESU Science Lab

4x Spider-Sense Tingling
3x Tragic Loss
3x Nice Try!
4x Fun and Games
4x First Class

Yes, every single character in your deck either has a worthwhile activated power or interacts with activated effects, and more than that, for those that don't already have one, Fun and Games grants an Activate power to all characters in play, yours and those of your opponents. Thankfully, with the swarm abilities of Multiple Man, you'll likely win any Activation war you get into, and Siryn will make an opponent think twice about even trying to get into such a battle.

Just in case you can't burn your opponent to death, though, you have that single copy of Strong Guy available, and when your whole board can Activate, Strong Guy can get big, fast.

The remainder of the effects you have are geared towards keeping yourself alive. Spider-Sense Tingling can keep some extra characters around - Multiple Men can be made invulnerable already, so making them evadable means your board can keep fair size, especially with Falls Edge helping you out every turn and an occasional First Class. The loss of Birthing Chamber hurts, but Empire State University and ESU Science Lab step up admirably - and ESU Science Lab really, REALLY likes Energize.

So, there you have it. Untested and unpolished, as all my decks are, but I hope you've enjoyed. The interactions between the two teams mean that you'll be gaining a not-insignificant amount of life while your opponent loses it slowly, and with a little fine-tuning, this could be a pretty potent deck. Not for tier 1 play, I suspect... but for annoying your friends? Hell yes.

Weekday Update II

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:49:00 +0000

Just like last month, a brief update on my writing. Why do I do this? To humiliate myself into continuing to write, dammit.

I Am Very Important and Pittsburgh Blue remain unpublished, as I haven't sent them out in the last month. The Lonesome Death of Kara Innana is nearing completion, and Dancin' Fool is done, but largely unedited.

On NaNoWriMo - ah, but failure struck. For the first time this semester, my grad work caught up with me, forcing me to dedicate a little too much time to thesauri building and poster presentations and not enough time to database development and writing. Still, with winter break coming up, I think I'm going to try and finish my NaNo by the end of December.

And, finally, on a non-writing standpoint, MEV finally in hand (so what if it means I won't eat this month?) I shall begin to take a look at some of the cards, teams, and themes from VS latest set.

Have a great week, and welcome to December!

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:35:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Get ready to feel like a real American after you spend a day drinking and eating until you literally feel ill. And then, eating just a little bit more.

My first batch of MEV cards should be arriving in a few days, so expect to begin to see thoughts on the set start pouring out soon. Because, you know, I'm sure you aren't COMPLETELY SICK OF IT by now.

There will be an Awesome Thanksgiving Image put up... uh... soon. When I find one.

MEV Preview: Kid Omega

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:10:00 +0000

Have any of you ever felt the bracing sting of rejection? I’m sure you have – most people do, at some point in their lives. It can be a pretty powerful feeling.

Kid Omega, the name chosen by mutant Quentin Quire, is a telepath who thinks thousands of brilliant thoughts ever second of every day. Naturally, he went insane. But while he was insane, he was still motivated by emotions that we can all understand – and I think that, for Quire, the defining feeling is one of rejection.

Rejected by the world at large for being born different, Quire lashed out. Rejected by the ‘cool’ kids at school, Quire proved that he was better. But, in the way of young men, he just couldn’t defeat rejection at the hands of the girl(s) of his dreams, and it was their disapproval that ultimately destroyed him, literally and metaphorically.

Quire is one of the few Omega level mutants, and it’s probably best for the world that he can no longer influence us, having moved somehow beyond our plane of existence – though, of course, in comics, who knows how long such a person will stay dead? – but we aren’t half so lucky in VS as Quire makes his debut as an unaffiliated common 7-drop.

Now, hold on, hold on, I know what you’re saying. “Oh… so you mean, ‘Quire makes his debut as a card that will never see play’?”

No, that’s not at all what I mean.

Here. I’ll prove it to you.

How do you like them apples.

Much like in the comics, Quire is on his own team – it’s not a matter of Magneto or Xavier being right so much as it is a matter of Quire knowing best. He neither wants nor needs your support. And if he’s powerful while in play, a 16/16 7-drop with range, he’s best when influencing the game from behind the scenes.

Once you get 5 Shift counters on young Kid Omega, your opponent starts to feel the hurt, drawing one fewer card each turn - and while that may not seem like a lot, in decks like the Future Foes, already making opponents discard, Quire could navigate opponents into a situation where they have to choose between laying a resource and playing a character. So, against decks that lack card draw, that would definitely qualify as a kiss of death. Good thing his power comes with the hefty cost of 5 resource points, huh?

Quire is an excellent tool in a variety of decks, offering a powerful boardwide effect that can’t be hit by today’s most popular effects – like Pathetic Attempt, to immediately call out the first thing out of some people's mouths on every single preview. And while unaffiliated characters have traditionally been able to have significantly more power thanks to the lack of search effects for them, the introduction of cards like Super Hero Registration Act allows you to search Quire out starting as early as turn 3 to get him online. Still, for an effect as powerful as the one offered here, I think that there are definitely some decks that would consider using Kid Omega as their mulligan condition, even considering his variety of limitations.

If you're at all interested in this twisted teen genius, Grant Morrison's New X-Men is the definitive X-Men run of all time, for my money, and well worth a read.

If you're just interested in reading a quick history of Quentin Quire, though, I kindly provide.

Part 1
Part 2

Hope you've enjoyed the previews - I know I have!

R.I.P.

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:33:00 +0000

If you've read my blog ever, you probably know that I'm a pretty huge comic book nerd. If you're read my blog for more than two days, you probably know that a lot of the books that I like are a smidge off the beaten path. Not too far off...just a little to the side. Through my 'The Best Books You Aren't Reading', I offered a series of articles, and will continue to offer them, pointing out little-read books that deserves your attention. Unfortunately, I am now left to demonstrate what happens when they don't actually get your attention.

I must warn you all - this is an image-heavy post, and it is a bile-heavy post. While the fires of my wrath have cooled, there is still a lingering aftertaste of anger in my mouth, and this will seep through at time. For the most part, though, this is meant to be a relatively loving post. If you don't want me to insult you and everything you love repeatedly, I'd recommend you stop reading right now and move on your way.

Blue Beetle: Cancelled
- Blue Beetle was one of the best teen comics out there. A pitch-perfect blend of comedy, drama and action, Jaime Reyes was one of the best new characters of the decade, and I'll hold his supporting cast up against any in comics in a heartbeat. After John Rogers left, we saw Will Pfiefer and Matt Sturges each take a turn with the character, and through some arcane magic, each was still awesome. Blue Beetle deserved much more than it ever got, but that's okay - its readers will remember it fondly for a good, long while....

Checkmate: Cancelled
- Checkmate is another book to come out of the overbearing, overlarge, overambitious Infinite Crisis. Written by Greg Rucka, it detailed a United Nations-run Peacekeeping Organization and the crazy stuff they go through in a world like the DC Universe. Imagine Marvel's S.H.E.I.L.D. if someone bright and uncynical were writing it. Always clever, Checkmate gave us an enormous cast of B-D list characters and made them all awesome in their own way. For a time in comics that many fans claim to be a bitter, depressing era, Checkmate was a beacon of hope, offering relatively complex metahuman espionage, new characters, and an infinitely more satisfying answer to the question of lethal force in superhero comics. Of all the new characters Rucka created in his run of Checkmate #1-25, perhaps my favorite is Josephine Tautin, known as Mademoiselle Marie.
Checkmate wasn't perfect - it was often wordy and many were turned off by the occasional moral grey areas in which the characters found themselves - but in a comicdom populated frequently by bitter naivete and fanboy pacification, Checkmate managed a strong run.

Criminal: Cancelled.
- Criminal. Ah, why am I not even remotely surprised to see you on this list? Every arc, you introduced us to new characters. Every single arc. The lack of a recurring cast certainly couldn't have helped you out. The fact that almost every character in the setting was a dirtball of some sort also couldn't have helped. Where Checkmate let it's characters occasionally visit moral grey areas, Criminal lived in them. Solid writing from Ed Brubaker combined well with art from Sean Phillips that perfectly complemented the noir stylings, Criminal was a rock solid love letter to comics and to noir. Dark and slow-paced, it was never destined to be a big seller, but I'm still sad that it is going away.

EDIT: As a note, I have had my tragic misinformation fixed, and return to you a cleaner, happier man - Criminal remains. While it will be taking a break for the beginning of Incognito, it is not dead, merely napping. Rarely have I been happier to be wrong.

To Sean Phillips (!) for correcting me: merci beaucoup, どうもありがとう, and stay classy.

To everyone else: go give Criminal a shot!

Birds of Prey: Cancelled
- It's sad to see Birds of Prey on this list, but when excellent writer Gail Simone left the book to move on to Wonder Woman and Secret Six, you can bet that we all saw this coming. Birds of Prey, under Gail Simone, turned out to be a fun, clever action book that served to flesh out the characters of a number of the premier heroines of the DC Universe - most notably, of course, Barbara Gordon, Black Canary, and Huntress.
After Barbara Gordon was shot in the spine by the Joker in an attempt to torture and drive insane her father, Commissioner James Gordon, she was devastated. As Batgirl, she had always fought hard at Batman's side. It wasn't until John Ostrander used her in his Suicide Squad mini as the enigmatic Oracle, though, that her crime-fighting career really took off. As Batgirl, she beat up muggers. As Oracle, she masterminded the information technology of the DC Universe. Quickly becoming a vital organizational hub, Oracle and her team of superheroes-turned-spies had some awesome adventures.
With the cancellation, we've been assured that we're getting a wonderful Oracle mini. I somehow suspect that this will see her return to Gotham City as the sidekick of Batman, and will be written by whoever does it cheapest. I'm sure it will make money, but Birds of Prey was a great lens through which we could see all the heroines of the DC Universe treated, as they so rarely are, with a little respect. Here's to hoping that DC doesn't forget this lesson, shove these characters out of the way, and relegate them to sidekicks of their male peers.

Manhunter: Cancelled
- This one comes as a surprise to precisely no one. Cancelled once, Manhunter was saved by one of the most passionate fanbases I've ever seen. Cancelled a second time, they redoubled their efforts, trade sales did well, the book got brought back. Unfortunately, it got brought back without telling anyone about it, and to an arc that, while decent, wasn't quite up to the quality of the rest of the run. And so now, it's on its last legs, on the verge of cancellation once more.
Manhunter shouldn't have been good. Overly violent without offering any real danger while having a super-complex, almost incestuous relationship with DC's deepest continuity, it should have been purely mediocre. Instead, it offered a great supporting cast, from one of the only well-done gay relationships in comics to the novel support of a former tech-geek for supervillains who entered the Witness Protection Program. It also offered a no-nonsense, smoking single mother as a heroine willing to kill - and who thought that'd come from DC?

The All-New Atom: Cancelled
- The All-New Atom was, much like Blue Beetle, hampered in large part by a whiny, clingy fanbase that pouted the book to death because it wasn't veteran Atom Ray Palmer helming, but newcomer Ryan Choi. If I'm being honest, and I rarely am, then I will say that it was also hampered by a creative attitude that comics don't like - which is to say, that of almost manic creativity. Ivy Town was a bizarre, surreal place, a place that I couldn't picture existing anywhere but in the DCU, but which feels almost completely necessary to the DCU. Severely warped by the bizarre super-science occurring in the town, Ivy Town feels like the setting of a David Lynch movie, if David Lynch was on crack and had a 500,000,000,000$ budget.
A perfect blend of action and comedy, of the mystic and super-science, The All-New Atom was doomed from the start. But throughout Gail Simone's run, it was an enjoyable book, and I'd highly recommend that you give it a shot.

Shadowpact: Cancelled
- Once again, say it with me: Shadowpact spun out of Infinite Crisis. Shadowpact was a book dedicated to a team of magical misfits. Wow, who didn't see this cancellation coming. I'm sure some of you have heard my thoughts on the fanboy opinion of magic, and they all worked against this book.
"Why," posits the fanboy, "would I want to read a fun, well-written book with good art? There are people casting spells fer chrissakes."
"But...you just said so yourself - 'tis a fun, well-written book with pretty good art," quoth I.
"Ah," laughs the fanboy. "You misunderstand. Magic is totally for fags, my friend. Because I am Super Manly, I am going to read Wolverine."
"But," beginneth I, "is not Wolverine essentially magic? What with the whole 'a billion tons of super-metal welded to the spine of a midget who can heal from anything in seconds?"
"No," answers the fanboy. "No. That, my friend, is Science."
There may have been some exaggeration, or a vast amount of imagination, in that conversation, seasoned with bitterness and left in the oven far too long, but Shadowpact nonetheless had just such a problem, as have many other books in recent days. I can't say that highly-publicized stories like Spider-Man's frankly embarrassing 'One More Day' are much of a help in converting people to the 'magic is fine in the hands of a decent writer' side of things, though.
It's unfair, though - for all that Shadowpact was a pretty good book, it was far from the breathtaking example of awesome that was Blue Beetle or The All-New Atom. It was just...good. You picked up an issue of Shadowpact, you knew you were getting a pretty quality comic. Simple as that. It's unfortunate that it didn't last longer, and got spun into the current relatively average mini-series 'Reign in Hell', but it was fun while it lasted.

*

I could, of course, go on. A bunch of books have been cancelled in recent months that seem to be heralding some sort of bizarre comic book armageddon, while perennial mediocrities like Green Lantern swim in a vast pool of adoration.

Still, why focus on the bad? Sometimes you must, I admit, to clear yourself, to prepare yourself for more wholesome fare in the future. And thus shall I do. I recent months, I have let slack my list of The Best Books You Aren't Reading. An enormous part of this is because I am reasonably sure that they are not widely-read. Of the audience of this blog with which I am familiar, few have the resources or interest to pick up a comic book merely on my say so, however awesome my say so might be.

However, as someone who is absolutely convinced that I have better taste than everyone else alive - well, okay, not everyone else, but, I have better taste than at least five living people right now, and that'll have to do for you all - I feel a peculiar responsibility to nonetheless inform you of all the juicy offerings that are out there, waiting for you to come and save them, or at least distract them from their imminent doom.

And so with that, I leave you. I hope all of you have a fabulous night, and I hope that I will be forgiven for interjecting the occasional less-than-polite comment. Not every insult is directed at you, faceless fanboy - they are merely comments on broad, sad trends I occasionally see pop up. I shall, I swear to you all, be more hopeful from here on out.

At least until the next Cancellation Season.

Signing off,
-Still bitter about the cancellation of Veronica Mars

New Watchmen Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:57:00 +0000

For those interested in such things, a new trailer was released for the upcoming Watchmen film.

Okay, looks good. I get that we're supposed to be excited. Hell, I am excited, and I'm not the biggest Watchmen fan on Earth. But...does anyone else think it's a little odd that we keep getting new trailers and images for a movie that won't be out for 4 more months?

Now, yeah, it worked for Dark Knight. I was worried there, too, that all the good bits would be in the trailers (not my biggest Watchmen worry, but that's for later), since we got, y'know, seven thousand different trailers. And yet, TDK still managed to honestly wow me in a way that a movie hasn't in quite some time now. I hope Watchmen will manage something similar.

Watchmen, though...I just don't know how it will translate to film. Yes, I would qualify Watchmen as literature...but is a literal, almost shot-for-panel adaptation the best way to preserve that? Or, is that merely spending a frankly embarrassing amount of money jerking off Alan Moore? I mean, not saying the man doesn't deserve it after what happened to From Hell, V for Vendetta, and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...but it just seems like a shot-for-panel adaptation is a little...hollow?

Maybe it's just nerves before the movie comes out. Watchmen was, after all, a huge step forward for comics nerds. It has also pretty widely been considered unfilmable. If it works? Who knows what other 'unfilmable' comics might get a shot?

And if nothing else, there's the additional bonus that the first trailer, well-placed before the best-selling movie of the '00's, dramatically upped the sales of the Watchmen collections.

Anyway, hope you all have a great day. With a lack of VSRealms, I shall make a more VSsy post soon, as well as some 'posts ordering you to go read awesome comics, and probably a few other things.

Stay classy, lady and two gents.

MEV Preview: Karolina Dean

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:18:00 +0000

By now, of course, you’ve all seen the fantastic Runaways previews over at the VS System facebook page. From those two powerful cards, Old Lace and Victor Mancha, you can clearly see what the Runaways are all about.

Decking.

When was the last time VS had a good decking team? The Secret Society of DJL had a fair bit of it, but were generally more powerful when they tore their own deck apart. Michael Barnes made a dedicated discard deck way back when, teaming up Secret Society, Injustice Gang, and Underworld, as well as a number of others, but despite how hard some players might have tried to pull off an Emperor Joker win, it’s always remained relatively elusive.

Blessedly, no more. The Runaways seem to have a powerful core- Victor can tear through an opponent’s deck with alarming rapidity all the way until we arrive at Old Lace, a classy alternate win condition.

Today, I’m going to introduce you to another Runaways standby, Karolina Dean, also known as…Lucy in the Sky.

Karolina Dean offers a solid alternative to Victor (especially for those who build on a budget...like me) while also definitely complementing him. She’s a respectable under-drop, thanks to her ability. Your opponent knows that, if they swing down-curve into her, there’s a fair chance that they’re getting stunned back, thanks to her persistent DEF-lowering ability, and she makes DEF pumps on your opponent’s behalf a risky proposition, as her ability makes her a permanent attack pump just waiting for an opponent to try you.

The logical problem is, of course, the fact that Karolina Dean is a 4/5 3-drop – all your opponent needs to do is swing their 3 into her, and leave their 4 free to wreck your board, a problem compounded by a need to underdrop if you want her and Victor out at the same time. Thanks to flight and range, however, that’s less of a worry – she can be shoved into the back row so that you can guarantee to make the best of each turn, whether that involves attacking with her or letting her ability fire.

Of course, if you don’t want to underdrop, Victor is obviously your best bet on 3 in a dedicated deck destruction theme, and Karolina adds the always risky prospect of introducing a little too much luck into your game. After all, you could hit a low-drop they no longer need, giving you a minimal pump and filtering their deck of chaff. Karolina, however, has one specific area in which she shines.

Sealed play.

Karolina Dean is a 4/5 3-drop with flight and range – already a decent body, she adds a persistent attack pump to your sealed deck. And while you might not see Victor and Old Lace in your packs, chances are fair that Karolina will pop up. Milling a single card of a sixty card deck is notably less impressive than milling a single card of a thirty card deck, and when you add on to that the fact that she can lower the DEF of an opposing character every turn, she becomes a solid play, on or off team.

Remember to Vote!

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:41:00 +0000

(language NSFW)

VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Avengers/Squadron Supreme Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Most of you know by now my fascination with the Avengers team-attack theme, and my desperate wish that they had gotten an effect reminiscent of Legendary Battles and of Playroom in MUN, especially now that my favorite theme is trapped in the hellish limbo known as Golden Age play. You also know that, after BYOTT was announced, they were the first deck I built and presented to you all.

Now, I was planning on doing a segment today trying to utilize Warworld for the BYOTT format, but the deck I had built just wasn't doing it for me. That isn't to say that it wasn't good - most of the decks I present to you are average, more theory than gameplay. It just wasn't satisfying enough, I suppose.

However, while combing through the cards that I thought I would enjoy using Warworld with, I began to look at Squadron Supreme. Squad was the first 'competitive' deck I ever built, and by that, I mean it was the first deck that my friends essentially gave me, with the sage advice to "Stop playing that frankly embarrassing Kang Lords X concoction and try and win a freaking game." They quickly came to regret this act of charity.

But we all know that the Squad No-Hand theme could be explosive. And I'm sure that most of you were aware that Squad had another theme. "Yes," I hear you say. "They had the No-Hand theme, and they had a theme that involved getting rid of the cards in their hand, right?"

"No," I say to you, "but verily didst they have a theme in which they did absolutely no breakthrough for any reason. And I do not know why."

One of the most potent cards this theme brought us was called Project Utopia, and it reads as follows....

Project Utopia
3
Choose a Squadron Supreme character you control.
Ongoing: Whenever the chosen character stuns a defender, that defender's controller loses 4 endurance.

Whenever the chosen character causes breakthrough, KO it.

Well, when I saw this card during the building of my Warworld deck, I certainly went, "...Quicksilver!" and thus was this deck born.

PROJECT UTOPIA
4x Jarvis, Honorary Avenger
2x Rick Jones, Hero’s Best Friend
2x Speed, Thomas Shepard * Young Avenger
2x Doctor Decibel, Anton Decibel

4x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
2x Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym
2x Captain America, The Patior * Secret Avenger

4x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
2x Patriot, Elijah Bradley * Young Avenger
2x Lady Lark, Skylark
1x Black Panther, T’challa

2x Amphibian, Kingsley Rice

1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger

4x Playroom
4x Utopia Isle

4x Project Utopia
4x Legendary Battles
4x Reckless Youth
4x Switching Sides
4x Liberating Number 42

Do you remember when I extolled with great verbosity the virtues of Playroom, one of the key cards of the Avengers team attack strategy? It was a few weeks back, and I told you it totally rocked. It wasn't a subtle card, but that 4 damage could add up right quick with Quicksilver.

Well, with further thought, Project Utopia means that it can REALLY add up something fierce. A single Project Utopia, naming Quicksilver, means that every team attack stun he gets nets you over 8 points of endurance stun loss. Assuming they have a 2, a 3, and a 4 on turn four, and you have a Playroom and a Project Utopia, that's 34 damage. Imagine if you were playing against an off-curve deck? And, of course, you can have multiple Project Utopia's out at the same time....

There is, though, a drawback to Project Utopia. One of the best things about Quicksilver is that, after the board is clear, he can attack directly. Yes, you're gaining a significant amount of damage, but is it worth losing that pumpable direct attack? I think it definitely is...but just in case, I threw in Switching Sides. After Quicksilver demolishes your opponent's board, he can make nice with their highest drop and invite them over for tea. If you played a Legendary Battles that turn, that leaves you with 0 stunned characters, a massive endurance swing, and your opponent's highest drop.

Just to play it safe, however, I added a card called Utopia Isle, which reads as such...

Utopia Isle
2
To flip, exhaust two Squadron Supreme characters you control.
Whenever an attacker causes breakthrough while attacking a character, that attacker's controller loses 3 endurance.

You won't be causing my breakthrough on your attacks, but your opponents very well could be, and a fast-enough deck could outrush you. With this, though, even when they're hitting you as hard as they can, you're hitting back.

As always, I'm not entirely satisfied with the character selection - Quicksilver and Natasha are perfect, and it's my personal belief that Wolverine is the perfect finisher for the deck. He and Quicksilver can team into their last remaining character with a Legendary Battles, causing 13 damage and then letting Wolverine ready for a direct swing. Jarvis is nice, thanks to the lack of search (and no, I can't afford Avengers Reassembled), and Amphibian offers you a nice option just in case you don't want to underdrop on 4, as he can bring you back a plot twist you really need.

I would also seriously think about making room for AIDA, to prevent an opponent from exhaust Quicksilver before he can attack. You need Quicksilver to be free to attack, and AIDA helps guarantee that.

Still, the deck looks to be pretty fun, a slightly riskier but notably faster version of my X-Men/Avengers team attack deck. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all again soon!

Weekday Update

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:09:00 +0000

At the end of each month, I'm going to give a short update on my life and my writing, divorced from me telling you what to read and me making strange VS concoctions. Why am I going to do this? Because...because...I'm not actually sure why. Rest assured, the comics goodness will be returning shortly!

The two stories I made mention of last month - Pittsburgh Blue and I Am Very Important - were both rejected. While this doesn't necessarily surprise me, it is nonetheless disappointing. I will be trying to find a place to resubmit each of them, and you'll find out if I do.

Spacewesterns.com is accepting submissions, and as weird as it sounds, the second I heard the name of the site I came up with a story. It's not done, but I'm currently working on The Lonesome Death of Kara Inanna for submission, and, again, if I complete it, you'll hear about it.

Finally, it's National Novel Writing Month! If you've never heard of it and fancy yourself a writer, I recommend you check out their website - it's a strange concept, but it appeals to me, so I've signed up to give it a shot this month. The goal is, of course, to write a novel in a single month. Yes, 50,000 word minimum. One month. They do not help you get it placed, they don't help you sell it, they don't critique it. Why are you doing it? Because you hate yourself.

Nonetheless, as anyone who knows me knows, I'm so full of self-loathing I could pop, so this is right up my alley! Between this and 'Lonesome Death', I'll be writing a frankly embarrassing amount of fiction, but never fear - the blog will not be ignored! The reason for the recent lack of posts involves a dispute between me and my Internet provider, who shall not be named but who I wish to smite with the power of a million exploding suns. When that is resolved, expect posts detailing some interesting comics, decks featuring cards that no competent VS player would ever use (including a deck based around Warworld...because how great was Warworld?), and other such generic ramblings as you've come to expect from The Seventh Soldier of Apathy!

VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Revenge Squad/League of Assassins Edition

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:27:00 +0000

When I first got into VS, I rarely, if ever, built competent decks. It’s nice to see that some things never change, huh? Yeah, you know!

*ahem*

Anyways, I wasn’t a good enough player or a good enough deck-builder to delve too deeply into strategy, but I thoroughly enjoyed one particular set of articles on Metagame.com – Breaking Ground. And one of my favorite articles over there introduced me to Plague Counters, a little-used League of Assassins theme that encompasses all of three cards in the entirety of the game.

Of course, that deck’s creation was back before the Revenge Squad was refeatured, giving them a single, massive bonus to the deck: Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit.

For those unfamiliar with Clench Virus, it’s a 3-cost plot twist that reads thus:

Play only if you control a League of Assassins character.
Ongoing: At the start of your attack step, put a plague counter on target character.
Whenever a character receives a plague counter, if that character has a number of plague counters greater than its cost, KO that character.

Not too shabby, huh? Of course, there’s a simple problem – just one of these isn’t going to do much. Two will obviously do more, but what you really want is 3-4 of them in your row. Three-four of them in a row can start knocking off characters every 1-2 turns, especially when combined with Poisoned!, a minor pump that’ll also give a plague counter.

So, here goes a modern take…

Plague Rats

4x Winslow Schott <> Toyman, Child’s Play

4x Terra-Man, Toby Manning
4x Atomic Skull, Joe Martin

4x Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit
3x The Mad Dog, Rabid Killer

4x Maxima, Empress of Almerac
2x Metallo, Kryptonite Heart

2x Talia, Daughter of Madness

2x Satanus, Evil Incarnate

4x Mountain Stronghold, Non-Unique

4x Tower of Babel
4x Poisoned!
4x Clench Virus
4x Executive Privilege
4x Never-Ending Battle
2x Hostage Situation
1x State of the Union
3x Death of Superman

So, there’s the game. The obvious stuff first – you want as many Clench Viruses in your row as you can get. Hostage Situation isn’t bad, and Executive Privilege is great, but you want some Clench Virus action going as soon as possible. Your mulligan is a Mountain Stronghold or Emil Hamilton, though obviously Clench Virus or Executive Privilege can be tough to pass up.

The deck plays exactly as you’d think it would. You keep their board clear using plague counters, refresh Poisoned when you need to with Winslow Schott. Terra Man, Atomic Skull, and Winslow Schott can all be played for free thanks to Talia, while Executive Privilege and Mountain Stronghold will both beef up your search and offer discards to her ability. Hostage Situation gives those low-drops something to do just in case, while Never-Ending Battle lets you push through the damage you need to on their diminishing board (with help from Death of Superman) to try and end things. Only bring out Satanus if you have initiative on 6 and you know you can't kill - a team attack into their 6 will net you a vastly superior position on 7, and your board will only keep improving.

Meanwhile, if you’re playing against Darkseid’s Elite or some other team that will fool around with your resource row, a single stun on Emil can send him scurrying for a copy of State of the Union, which will prevent opponents from targeting your row. And, finally, Tower of Babel proves to be one of the ultimate utility cards in the Bring Your Own Two-Team format, preventing a vast variety of support abilities – no legend support and no generic cards make Tower of Babel particularly nasty.

That’s all for tonight, but I’ll be back in a day or two with more fun stuff. Hope you had a good weekend!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

noreply@blogger.com (The Seventh Soldier) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:52:00 +0000

For those of you unfamiliar with the work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, I've provided a link to their homepage. I know that with the current state of the economy, asking for a donation is a bit much...but right now, I just want to draw attention to them.

The CBLDF is dedicated to defending the first amendment rights of comics creators, sellers, and consumers. A good example of their work can be found in their most recent case: http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000372.shtml.

If you don't like donating and enjoy collecting autographs, they also have a store available with signed trades and hardcovers from big name creators like Jeff Smith, Ed Brubaker, and Robert Kirkman. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of the Fund includes writer Neil Gaiman, Peter David, and Paul Levitz.

A first amendment group for comics nerds.

Enjoy.