The WWE Universe Has An Extreme Twinkie Problem

May 29, 2017

Should WWE Extreme Rules even be a staple in our sports entertainment viewing diet?

You ever notice Twinkies don’t taste the same anymore? Seriously, you could have sworn that Twinkies seemed “sooooo much better” when we were kids? They MUST have messed with the recipe. Too many chemicals, right? What else could explain the gigantic drop off in satisfaction?

Extreme Championship Wrestling is a lot like that, unfortunately. I encourage you to log on to your WWE Network account and just watch a random episode of ECW TV. The storylines are not quite as amazing as you remember, and the wrestling sure isn’t very great either. Now, before anyone takes a bite of out my skull, nobody loves those RVD versus Jerry Lynn matches more than me. However, does anyone realize those were three matches out of the thousands of matches ECW put on in its entirety?

Sunday Night, June 4th WWE presents Extreme Rules from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD. The original premise (stolen from WCW Uncensored for the record) was that all matches taking place at Extreme Rules would be “hardcore” and “unpredictable” to for the performers. Honestly, all this idea became was a way to cash in on what little nostalgic currency remained of ECW. The special event equivalent of the schoolyard bully holding the feeble nerd upside down to shake out every last ounce of spare change remaining in their pockets. That metaphor could be seen as a touch “on the nose,” but that doesn’t make the message any less true. There is nothing extreme about extreme rules, just as there is nothing ECW about WWE these days.

The makeup of Twinkies has not changed a bit by the way. Hostess still puts out the same sugary cake filled with cream that it always has. Upon chewing a bit anyone can find flashes of greatness. Those little reminders of the great yesteryear of snack time. Much like Sunday night’s event will feature the same cage matches, kendo sticks, and multi-person melees that were former staples of Extreme Championship Wrestling. Only, much like its yellow sponge counterpart, Extreme Rules is lacking real substance. Instead, consumers have no option but to devour what is nothing more than someone’s idea of what cake SHOULD taste like.

In the end, it turns out, Twinkies were never really all that amazing, to begin with. Nothing more than a nostalgic remnant deemed tasty by immature taste buds. However, without even realizing it, fans grew up and their pallets matured. We desire a steadier diet of entertainment because as adults we eat our veggies now.

With all due respect, the WWE Universe should collectively decide to go on a diet and do away with the cream filled remains of Extreme Championship Wrestling. After all, that stuff will kill you eventually…

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DC on CW: Week in Review – Season Finale Wrap-Up!

Jon Barr - TV Editor

May 29, 2017

This series has been a brief, semi-comedic review of the CW superhero shows. You can check out last week’s review post here, or see the tally of winners below. The only shows discussed will be ‘Arrow’, ‘Flash’, and ‘Supergirl’. There WILL be some spoilers discussed, so only look at the reviews you’re up to date on!

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1. ARROW

“Lian Yu” (May 24)

Arrow tackles a lot in this episode. In many ways, the episode almost feels like a SERIES finale. Minus the major cliffhanger, of course. Having the giant forces of good and evil fight on Lian Yu was compelling. Not all of it was exciting, and some of it felt rather predictable. But the episode had a lot going on. The fact it pulled off so much properly is commendable.

At first, taking so many sidekicks out of commission seemed like a strange choice. However, it allowed for Oliver Queen to take full focus. Oliver not only lead the charge against Prometheus, he took out an island run by Dolph Lundgren in the flashbacks. By giving Arrow more guest stars than regular teammates, he was center focus. It’s a nice change to see Arrow not be about every Team Arrow member.

Bringing back Deathstroke was kinda cool, but his role is odd. Lest we forget, Deathstroke was Prometheus before Chase bought throwing stars. But now that Oliver’s broken him out, he’s offering advice? Teaching him how to get over his father’s death? It would’ve been more compelling to see Deathstroke take Boomerang’s place. Perhaps it was the more heroic role Deathstroke played that got Manu Bennett back.

Prometheus started as a great villain, but quickly became annoying. Arrow gave him every deus ex machina available. It was interesting to see Oliver “beat” him… but he didn’t, really. He definitely avoided killing Chase, which is what Chase wanted. But Chase’s plans still worked, to a certain extent. Even in death, Prometheus was overpowered. Having a not-too-happy ending isn’t bad, but Chase is never truly beatable, which makes Oliver’s victory feel unearned.

Now of course, there’s no way everyone on Lian Yu died. Certainly, someone died. John Barrowman, aka Malcolm, seems to be a likely contender. It’s also possible at least one of the new sidekicks (Wild Dog, Mr. Terrific, or Black Canary) died. Maybe even Thea Queen, who’s barely been in this season. It will be interesting to see just how many members died or survived. But that cliffhanger is far less foreboding that The Walking Dead’s death teaser.

Arrow came back strong this season, despite having a more bloated cast. At every turn, the show proved it had a good handle on what worked. It’ll be exciting to see how the show brings the show back from such an explosive finale.

SCORE: 7.5/10 Land Mines

WEEKLY AVERAGE: 7.19

BEST EPISODE THIS SEASON: “What We Leave Behind” (Ep. 9)

WEEKLY WIN TALLY:

**WINNER! Supergirl: 8.5 Weeks**

Arrow: 7.5 Weeks

The Flash: 6 Week

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Why Far Cry Is One Of The Best Video Game Series Out Right Now

Jahmssen Ruiz Castaneda

May 29, 2017

Far Cry

Far Cry 5’s trailer made me stop and think about what from that series excites me exactly. Is it those amazing trailers? Or how about how you can just get lost doing nothing for 4 hours? Maybe it’s how great the characters are? It’s all of the above and more! A lot of people might hate the games as being repetitive or unimaginative. I would be satisfied by the same game with a different story. I can’t talk about 1 and 2 as I’ve played them long ago and I have no real memories of them and obviously, spoilers ahead.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdaoe4hbMso[/embedyt]

Trailers

I get it, it’s cool to hate on Ubisoft because of some of the bad decisions they’ve made over the years. Something they can’t really be faulted on though is how amazing their trailers are. Go back and watch all of the Far Cry 3 and 4 videos and you’ll see how hype you get.

Everything ranging from the music to the story told in those previews is great. The music chosen is easy to the ear and fits the chosen scenes splendidly. The images, in turn, match the song and are telling without spoiling much. The story told is minimal but interesting enough to lure you in for more.

What else could you want out of a trailer? There’s literally nothing else you could do to make them better.

In an age where trailers can ruin movies, video games, or any other form of entertainment, the person or group of people in charge of these trailers is a godsend.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JFOLJv4s6Y[/embedyt]

The trailer for 5 was lackluster, but only because it was the introduction, I have no doubt that the upcoming ones are all going to be better than what 3 and 4 put out.

Gameplay

A lot of games are open world but end up lacking anything of substance to fill up the world with. Examples of games with wasted environments are Yooka Laylee, Watch Dogs, or Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Far Cry games are packed to the brim full of things to do. You can capture camps, climb radio towers, look for masks or posters, and if all of that isn’t interesting enough you can just go to Shangri-La or take some magic beans to revisit the moments before your life went sideways.

It never really feels like a chore to go around the map and you always find things to side track you.

I remember the fun times in 3 going around hunting animals or liberating them from their cages so they would cause chaos in a camp. Hunting ferocious beasts or enemies alike with a bow was the best.

Far Cry 4 had me intrigued with all of the backstories for the Golden Path, and the Shangri-La missions. The whole game is just so colorful and is always pleasant to navigate through.

One thing I haven’t seen many games do is that every weapon can be gained for free if you just explore the radio towers.

“Oh but this game is the same as the previous one” I hear you say. My answer is: So? Who cares? When something is as entertaining as this, why change so much it becomes something like Halo 5? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it am I right? Leave reinventing the wheel to indie games.

Characters

I never really liked the heroes as they were often too whiny or too extremist in their methods. It wouldn’t bother me if only they weren’t so hypocritical in how they went about their lives. Dennis Rogers was a pretty cool dude though. His dialogue was some of the most entertaining and what I looked forward to when playing 3.

Plus siding with them all turn out giving you worse outcomes than if you had joined the enemy team.

Main villains

In my eyes, the best stories are often the ones with great villains. The Far Cry games encompass that statement so very well.

Vaas had the tragic story of once being in your shoes. He was a youth from the island that was torn from loyalties for his sister Citra and the great destiny that supposedly awaited him. Hoyt and drugs eventually taking away his choice in the matter were just so great. He was the type of villain that was loud and crazy. Seeing him was always a treat as his craziness could be felt in the air. Michael Mando’s acting as Vaas is still one of the best I’ve ever seen in television, movies, or video games.

Hoyt was okay, he came off as a last minute addition in my eyes. It was really cool though how he represented the corruption of civilized society.

Pagan Min being Ajay’s stepfather was so out of nowhere if you didn’t pay attention to the way he treated him throughout the game. Playing 4, I never really felt like Ajay belonged with the Golden Path and he should’ve just ruled alongside Pagan as his heir. I liked Pagan so much I never finished the game as I knew what awaited me; a game without his guidance isn’t meant to ever be finished, you know? I enjoyed the fact that while similar to Vaas, he was also completely different. He dressed better and was more refined in his violence.

Side villains

The first game (3) didn’t have much in terms of interesting antagonists apart from Vaas and Hoyt. The second game though? It had everything.

Paul “De Pleur” Harmon, Noore Najjar, and Yuma Lau are some very varied characters. Each one is a general to Pagan Min and has different specialties and different reasons to serve him.

Paul is some old man unwilling to work at a desk and instead of wanting to live a little. The solution he came up with bad news to everyone in Kyrat. His character represents that when bored, humans can do some scary things. Some great dialogue could be heard from him when he would call his wife and daughter while acting like a completely different person. Having different masks for different people was well shown with him.

Noore’s story was more tragic than the tragedy of Darth Plagueis. Having your family taken captive and later finding out that they were killed would break anyone. What’s worse is that she did countless bad things to the people of Kyrat with the hope that she would get to see them again. It’s no surprise that her story ended with suicide. It’s almost like putting a bullet to the back of her head was more merciful.

Yuma was the craziest of the bunch. In a way, she’s what comes out of encouraging the bad things in people. Had Pagan shown restraint when helping with her upbringing, she might’ve not ended up being insane and craving power at all costs. Min raised a power hungry monster and then showed weakness to her. Her story ending that way is no surprise. It was also kind of hilarious that she doesn’t really get any last words.

The bad

The game needs to stop the drug-fueled boss battles. I want to be able to truly see a villain’s final moments instead of hallucinating the whole thing. How anticlimactic was it to kill Buck, Vaas, Hoyt, or Yuma? They spent the whole game messing with us and they go out in a hazy dream. Nice, Ubisoft, just nice.

The future

Look, I wrote this because of how excited I am for Far Cry 5. It triggered memories I hadn’t thought of in forever and I need the game to be good. I’m excited for all the trailers to come and can’t wait to get my hands on it. By then I hope that the main villain is going to be developed a bit more because I’m not a fan of the whole calm whispering thing he’s got going on in the trailer. In the meantime, I’m going to revisit 3 and finally see 4 to its end.

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Calling For Help And Other Thoughts On Twin Peaks Parts 3&4

Erik Amaya

May 29, 2017

Twin Peaks continues to confound in its second two-episode installment. As Bad Cooper’s plan to evade the Black Lodge comes to fruition, the FBI catches wind of his presence. But is Bad Cooper’s plan merely survival?

Spoilers, of course, follow.

The Case

As Coop continued his journey through the various levels of the Black Lodge, Bad Cooper began his journey to the eastern end of South Dakota. But at 2:53pm (presumably Pacific Daylight Time), the Lodge began pulling Bad Cooper back into its plane of existence. In an explosion of Garmonbozia, Bad Cooper rolled his car and nearly returned to the Lodge via the car’s cigarette lighter.

But just as all this was happening, Dougie Jones of Henderson County, Nevada finished up an afternoon delight with a sex worker named Jade. As she was showering, he also began to issue Garmonbozia and switched places with both Coopers in the Black Lodge. Coop emerged in his place, still wearing his FBI duds, but seemingly missing his mind. Jade gave him a ride to the Silver Mustang Casino where the Lodge lead him to a number of slot machines ready to pay out. Despite winning “thousands and thousands” of dollars, all he wanted was to “call for help.”

Meanwhile in the Black Lodge, Dougie turned into a tiny, golden Phantasm ball which Mike collected. He also placed the distinctive Black Lodge ring on a black marble table.

Coop’s winnings were advantageous as Dougie owed enough money to get a hit called out on him. Presumably, that someone must be the same unseen terror in Las Vegas mentioned in last week’s installments. The next morning, Mike attempted to tell Coop that he has been tricked, but a cup of coffee — thanks to Dougie’s wife Janey-E (Naomi Watts) — appeared to help him get closer to remembering himself.

Bad Cooper’s crash put him on the radar of FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole (David Lynch) and two of his subordinates, Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) and Tamara Preston (Chrysta Bell). The latter was the FBI agent tasked with the reading the dossier in The Secret History of Twin Peaks. The former was the curt, but brilliant forensic pathologist. After chief of staff Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) warned Cole not to get involved with Preston, the three flew to South Dakota to interview Bad Cooper. Cole immediately twigged something was terribly wrong with his old friend and Albert revealed something he held back for years.

Preston also briefs Cole and Albert on the incident in New York. The digital files from that case produce exactly one photo of the entity in the box.

The Updates

It makes all the sense in the world that Michael Sera is Wally Brando, the son of Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and Andy (Harry Goaz). That he’s trying so hard to be like is namesake is just icing on the cake.

Other goings on at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s department: Frank Truman, Harry’s older brother, has resumed being sheriff. According to The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Frank was the sheriff in the mid-80s, recruiting his brother, Hawk and Andy as deputies. The Trumans also later recruited one surprising person to the force — Bobby Briggs! Twenty-five years later, a photo of Laura Palmer can bring him to tears. Upon hearing about Hawk’s investigation, he reveals that Cooper was the last person to see Major Briggs alive. The Major died during a fire at his station on Blue Mountain shortly after the Miss Twin Peaks Pageant. Meanwhile, in the forest, Dr. Jacoby’s shovel order takes on a stranger turn as he spray-paints each one gold.

The Questions

Will we see the purple rooms of the Black Lodge again?
Why is Ronette Pulaski in the purple room? Why is her mother such a threat?
How did Bad Cooper “manufacture” Dougie?
How much did Major Briggs know about Blue Rose cases?
Who is “Mikey?” Could it be Donna ex-boyfriend Mike Nelson? Or Mike’s doppelganger.
Who do the Joneses have to pay back? And why would they name their son “Sonny Jim?”
Why doesn’t Janey-E notice that Coop draped a tie on his head?
Why is Bad Coop’s voice distorted when he talks to Cole?
What was improper about Bad Cooper’s greeting to Cole?
Who do Albert and Cole need to contact regarding Bad Cooper?

Not about Judy

Bad Cooper claims to be working undercover with Phillip Jeffries. He offers to tell Cole “all the twist and turns” if Cole will debrief him. After the interview, Albert admits that he authorized Jeffries to tell Cooper who “our man in Columbia” was. A week later, that man was dead.

Apparently, this happened “years ago,” but it is unclear when it happened. From Cole’s point of view, Jeffries has been missing long enough that Bad Cooper’s claim to be working with him appeared to be a surprise. One key to unraveling this part of the mystery lay in whether or not Jeffries resurfaced after the events of the Laura Palmer case.

And to further deepen the mystery of Judy, actress Joan Chen revealed a letter to David Lynch in which she refers to Josie Packard’s twin sister Judy; a plot point in early drafts of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, but eventually dropped. As the new episodes have shown, doubles abound on the edges of the Black Lodge, so Judy could be that simple. Chen is, unfortunately, one of the handful of still-living cast members not invited to return, so the Jeffries mystery may have nothing to do with Judy at all.

Redacted

The Lodge sequences are pure Lynch visions and nightmares. As such, it is hard to say which images will have relevance to the overall narrative or the ongoing mysteries. In some ways, it is easier to latch onto the rare snippets of dialogue in those scenes. But this has always been true as Twin Peaks is often a writer — usually Mark Frost — attempting to make sense of the images relayed to him by Lynch.

Michael Sera’s scene as Lucy and Andy’s son, Wally Brando, is one of the funniest and most awkward things filmed in the last fifteen years. A truly stellar moment that exists almost entirely out of context. A perfect free-floating unit of Twin Peaks.

Lynch continues to tease the audience as Cooper is both closer and farther from the Twin Peaks than ever before. At the same time, the mysteries of the Black Lodge also seem more accessible even as they introduce new imagery to confound us. But then, the mysteries create something exhilarating in their wake as we try to unravel something that may have no solution.

What do you think of Twin Peaks so far? Is it too obtuse or just the right level of complexity and weirdness. Log your opinion in the comments below.

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Emotional Torment Exposed On ‘Attack On Titan’

Anthony Wendel

SPOILER ALERT

It’s hard to talk about this episode without finally giving big spoilers for what’s been happening this season. The last few reviews have danced around this issue but this one has to put all cards on the table to effectively talk about what happened in the episode. Keep this in mind before you continue reading.

Eren wakes up with intense injuries and finds he is being watched over by Reiner and Bertholdt. Here is the emotion which was expected to come out in previous episodes. Now with the firm knowledge his friends were hiding the truth from him and were responsible for the death of his mother, Eren flies into an intense rage. He becomes so blinded by his anger, Ymir has to talk him down and insist if Eren does activate his transformation, he would be surrounded, defeated, and killed by stray Titans before he could do real damage. This is the reaction which was expected three episodes ago when Reiner and Berholdt’s secret came out in the first place. Eren is barely able to keep a level head as he suffers a betrayal even greater than when it was revealed Annie was the female Titan.

There also is a bit of introspective with Reiner as he struggles to remember what is real in his mind. For a moment he talks about the hardships he faced and returning to the Survey Corps in hopes of getting a promotion, unable to realize he has revealed himself to be a hidden Titan and would be imprisoned the moment he returned. It’s a quick moment but the confusion the character feels is real, showing the weight of working as a double agent has caused him great distress.

It’s an episode which is light on action but makes up for it by having some great character moments. The tension between the characters is thick and intoxicating as you find yourself unable to turn away, afraid you’ll miss a key bit of a character’s past or for them to have a truly defining moment.

Attack on Titan: Season Two is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Sofia Coppola Makes History At Cannes 2017 With ‘The Beguiled’

EJ Moreno

May 28, 2017

Sofia Coppola Is The Second Women In History To Win Best Director At Cannes

As the results pour in from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, history is made. Sofia Coppola took home the Best Director award for her film ‘The Beguiled‘. This makes her the second women to win Best Director at Cannes, the first being Russia’s Yuliya Solnteva in 1961. Sofia Coppola also wins the Best Director Award before her father, the legendary Francis Ford Coppola. Although, he has two Palme d’Or Awards under his belt.

While her film didn’t nab the coveted Palme d’Or Award, this is still a great sign for ‘The Beguiled‘ when it heads into Oscar season. Sofia Coppola’s eighth film is one of only four United States films to make into competition this year, the others being ‘Good Time‘, ‘Wonderstruck‘, and ‘The Meyerowitz Stories‘. Look for those films to be contenders at the Academy Awards, as ‘The Meyerowitz Stories‘ is getting Adam Sandler Oscar buzz.

After a fairly weak outing with ‘The Bling Ring‘, ‘The Beguiled‘ seems like more than just a return to form for Sofia Coppola. This film feels like a shift that could her turn her career into a new direction. A war drama is new for Coppola and only her second period-piece but it seems to be winning people over. Her Best Director win also comes at a time when female directors are making waves so this keeps up the momentum.

“At a girls’ school in Virginia during the Civil War, where the young women have been sheltered from the outside world, a wounded Union soldier is taken in. Soon, the house is taken over with sexual tension, rivalries, and an unexpected turn of events.”

‘The Beguiled‘ stars Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. It’s based on a Thomas P. Cullinan novel and follows a 1971 version. Sofia Coppola serves as the writer and director for the film.

What do you think of this historic win? Will you check out ‘The Beguiled‘?

Let me know in the comments below!

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‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Soundtrack List Released

Aric Sweeny

May 28, 2017

The official soundtrack list for Marvel Studios’ upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming has been released. Check it out below.

Disclaimer: Although the definition of spoilers is highly debated, some might find these song titles to be filled with information that ruins key scenes in the movie.

1. Spider-Man Television Theme

2. The World is Changing

3. Academic Decommitment

4. High Tech Heist

5. On a Ned-To-Know Basis

6. Drag Racing / An Old Van Rundown

7. Webbed Surveillance

8. No Vault of His Own

9. Monumental Meltdown

10. The Baby Monitor Protocol

11. A Boatload of Trouble Part 1

12. A Boatload of Trouble Part 2

13. Ferry Dust Up

14. Stark Raving Mad

15. Pop Vulture

16. Bussed a Move

17. Lift Off

18. Fly-By-Night Operation

19. Vulture Clash

20. A Stark Contrast

21. No Frills Proto COOL!

22. Spider-Man: Homecoming Suite

The scoring is done by Michael Giacchino, who’s worked on pictures such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Up, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Zootopia.

If you’re interested in picking up the soundtrack, it is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Spider-Man: Homecoming features Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Donald Glover, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, Tyne Daly, Tony Revolori, Bokeem Woodbine, and Hannibal Buress.

“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.”

The movie is slated for a theatrical release on July 7.

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Creators Talk Candidly About Image Comics And “The Big Two”

Manuel Gomez

May 28, 2017

MegaCon 2017 in Orlando held an ‘Image Comics at 25’ panel Friday afternoon with Greg Rucka, Jason Aaron, Howard Chaykin, Scott Young, Gail Simone, and Cat Staggs. The creators gave their honest opinions about some of the big differences working with Image Comics as opposed to Marvel and DC.

Twenty years ago, the dream if you were a comic creator was to work at “The Big Two.” But Image Comics disrupted the industry back in 1992, and ever since has given creators options, and the good creators leverage. As a creator, you no longer have to work exclusively for Marvel or DC Comics to be succesful in the comic book industry, and you can thank Image Comics for the diversity.

Watch the video below:

Skottie Young: Mine was very simple. I was at Marvel for years and years and I said ‘Hey it’s time for me to go do this.’ And they were like ‘Yeah it seems like that.’ I still do covers at Marvel, I’ve done some novels at Disney with Marvel characters, some children’s novels. But it was just as easy as me saying like I feel like I’ve told all the stories I want to tell here and now I wanna go tell some of my own stories and they were like ‘I’ll be the first to read.’ My relationship with them has been very smooth on that front. So, I can only speak from that.

Howard Chaykin: I aged out of Marvel, they won’t give me a job.(Audience laughs) Laugh all you like, it’s true. I had my last job with them in January of 2012. I was promised work in April and it’s never came around. So I accept the fact I am too old to work at Marvel. I work at DC now and then. I’m writing some stuff for them for the new age and new revival material. Writing and drawing some other stuff. But I consider Image my primary client right now.

I teach a seminar. I taught it at Marvel for many years. I’m teaching it at DC now, and a video games company last week. Which talks directly about the idea of being a professional and putting the hobbyism aside and how to have a career and run your life. And it’s really important for me to realize I represent the remaining linkage between my generation and the one that came before mine. And there are, I have a lot of ‘nieces’ and ‘nephews’ in the context of the comic book business. People who are good friends, who are half my age who will speak well of me at my memorial.

At DC and at Marvel both, in each case where I’ve developed a book it at ended up being at Image, I thought about for first Vertigo and then Marvel. And then stopped myself dead before I did. Because the relationship in editorial is such that there’s baggage at DC Comics and there’s baggage at Marvel Comics that precludes us from doing stuff that offends and appalls. You just can’t do it. Years ago Jennete Kahn kept telling me I should have brought American Flagg! to her in 1982 and I insisted, but she argued with me, but I was right; DC would never have published the book that came out under those terms. They would have always stepped in the way. I experience it now. If I do an Anti-Semitic joke in a DC comic book I know it’s going to get cut. I do it there to get some attention. Just to remind them to pay attention. Both companies represent a corporate landscape that cannot be abridged. And that’s really what the issue is for me.

Cat Staggs: Yeah the biggest difference definitely creative control and freedom to do things that you would never be able to do. You don’t have 70 years of history on something you are working on.

Greg Rucka: But Marvel and DC, they trade on, they trade on characters that are known globally and they trade on the glitter that says ‘Hey you want a little Wonder Woman on ya?’ ‘Hey want a little Batman?’ And people will eat a lot of shit to say ‘I’m writing Batman.’ That’s the truth of it. And what Image has demonstrated, and both Marvel and DC are aware of this, is theirs is a better deal for talent to be found. So each company, in my opinion, is aware of this and is attempting to address this in different ways.

The fact of the matter is (points to audience) you’re wearing a Vertigo shirt and I’ll tell you right now the creator-ownership deal at Vertigo stinks. There’s a reason I’ve never done a book at Vertigo. Because every time they come around and say ‘you want to do something at Vertigo’ I say ‘What’s the deal?’ They say it’s the same deal as it was last time and I say ‘no thank you.’ I would like to own the rights to my thing. Alright?

You can’t blame a corporation, whose job is to make money, to try and to make money every way they can. One of the ways they’re gonna do that is ‘we’re are gonna keep those rights because if it’s a hit we’ll make a movie. And we won’t have to pay the guy who created it.’ That’s putting it really crudely. As far as I’m concerned Marvel and DC, as much as the love lines they put out, they are R&D companies now for film franchises. And since they feel we’re pretty much interchangeable on some level, on a corporate level. One of the things that you get with Image is, you know that Jason Aaron is a HUGE writer at Marvel. He doesn’t have to work at Marvel. And Marvel knows that.

Howard Chaykin: Dig it. The way it is, Marvel and DC have a commitment to convincing you, the enthusiast, that the character is the brand. We are all rent. My life is based on the fact I as talent am the brand. But for the most part, you support the companies, the corporate nation’s beliefs by responding to badly drawn superhero stories as opposed to interestingly written and drawn other material. So shape up. Image is a company of talent as brand. And that’s really what it’s about.

Gail Simone: The other thing too that I like working with Image on, something creator owned as opposed to other companies, is I’m finding that they seem to care about this property as much as we do. In terms of trying to get it put together, get it out. Get people aware, promote it in the right places not just going to the same well over and over and over again. They have people that are a little more creative about that and know how to get the word out on these books that are not like anything else out there. It’s very difficult to compare them to anything, yet, somehow they can get the word out. And I really feel it’s well taken care of with them.

Jason Aaron: I am very happy to straddle the fence between Marvel and Image right now. I’m happy I don’t have to choose. I like doing both. I’m very happy with the stuff I do at Marvel, love what I do at Image. If that changes then I’ll do something different. But right now I don’t want to be made to feel by anyone at either company that I have to choose one or the other. Because again I love working for both of them, but ultimately I don’t work for either one of them. I’m not an employee of Marvel. I’m not an employee of Image. I work for myself. Neither one of those companies…

Greg Rucka: They’re clients.

Jason Aaron: Right. They’re not gonna take care of me in my old age. That’s my job. But as long as everything’s cool I’m happy to work at both of them and I’m really happy with the stuff I’m doing.

What do you think? Do you choose creator over character? Comment below.

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‘The Six Swords’ #1-2 Review: Irreverent Fun in the Not-So Old West

Gary Moloney

May 28, 2017

The charm of the spaghetti western has never quite faded from pop culture. The iconic soundtracks of Ennio Moriconi, the imposing figure of Clint Eastwood’s nameless gunslinger and the “against all odds” endeavors of the Magnificent Seven have ingrained themselves in our psyche. In recent times, the sensibilities of the spaghetti western have bled into other genres such as sci-fi and fantasy. One need only to examine the success of Logan to appreciate the lasting influence of the genre. They offer a sense of adventure, but an ennui that often reveals the futility of the cast’s actions in the long-run. They focus on the little victories for people caught in a circle of violence with one inevitable conclusion. The Six Swords is by no means the first attempt at translating this style of story-telling to comics, but it may be one of the most successful attempts at emulating the look and feel of its predecessors.

The Six Swords is set post-apocalyptic wasteland wherein the style and culture of the Wild West has re-emerged because if you can’t have a little fun during the end-times, when can you? For reasons beyond their understanding, six mercenaries are pitted against each other by the local warlord. They understandably don’t take too kindly to this manipulation and vow to rid the land of its oligarch and hilarity follows. As one might expect from an ensemble piece that draws heavily from the book of Tarantino, each of the titular Six Swords all bring their own brand of humour, fighting style and sociopathy to the table. The comic never attempts to convince us that these are the “good guys” by any stretch of the imagination. While they are certainly the protagonists of the book, they fall squarely into the anti-hero/chaotic neutral bracket. Not much is revealed about their backstories in the first two issues, but the banter between the character is enough to keep the flow of the action scenes going and turn each fight into an opportunity for character development. It is in the heat of battle that these characters truly come alive and are willing to open themselves up to the readers. The designs of the characters themselves resemble archetypes found in the spaghetti western from the silent stranger to the cocky gentlemen, but they each subvert expectations in their own ways. How very Tarantino-esque.

As large a cast as the book has, its core creative team is nearly as expansive. With three writers on duty (Chris Massari, Matthew Perez and Melchor Sapiandante), one could be forgiven for thinking that it would lack a unifying vision. Not so, instead the series manages to balance its subtle, contemporary, sociological satire with the traditional spaghetti western elements in a manner that many budding authors aspire to, but few manage to achieve. A common argument from a certain category of disgruntled comics fans is that they want politics removed from their books, not recognising that this is impossible as every work of art is political in that it is informed by the author’s experience and belief. However, the problem is that some writer’s attempts at messaging are clumsy and heavy-handed which in turn alienated the reader. The Six Swords avoids this trap by recognising that nuance requires trusting the audience and acknowledging that material can be read on multiple levels. For those that just want a romp, the creative team have certainly provided, but for those wanting to look deeper they will also find something to appreciate in the post-WWIV badlands.

This series excels in both the intensity of its fight scenes and the visual humour that often strolls into Monty Python territory. The initial meeting of the Six Swords in an excellent example of how the book blends the humour into its gory and unrelenting fight scenes. What begins as an escalating Mexican stand-off, quickly turns into an all-out bar brawl with our ensemble not necessarily fighting as a team, but working together to avoid imminent death. It’s expertly executed and displays a brutality that comics can occasionally veer away from. As charming as some of these characters may seem in their conversations, the ruthless efficiency with which they dispatch their enemies and the palpable joy they feel is fully realised in the artwork. These men are cold-blooded killers and artist: Ryan Cody wants you to remember that.

There is a sense throughout the comic that we are reading a pitch for a classic Toonami show from the early 2000s. What Samurai Jack did for the Kurosawa brand of action movies, The Six Swords does for the spaghetti western, reinvigorating the genre in the popular consciousness with a stylistic twist and an extra blade or two thrown in for good measure. The comparison is more apt than you might think considering that The Six Swords is heading towards a crowdfunding model, whereas the return of Samurai Jack was likewise fueled by fan demand, albeit not monetarily. If the team continue to produce this dark comedy-action title with the same love and devotion they’ve shown the first two issues, then readers will be in for a wild ride in the not-so old west.

A review copy was kindly provided by the publisher.

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Review: Fairy Tail chapter 537

Jahmssen Ruiz Castaneda

May 27, 2017

Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is finally ending! Only 9 chapters remain. FT started off strong but after the Tenrou Island arc, its quality sharply dropped. If you’ve read anything else I’ve written you know that I think it’s one of the worst manga out there right now. The only reason I still read it is to see it through and that I have hope it’ll somehow redeem itself by the end. It still hasn’t and probably won’t ever though.

Tying up loose ends

The comic is resolving all of its conflict in preparation for the inevitable end. The last chapter gave us the death of Acnologia, the Black Dragon, and eater of all magic. It wouldn’t be so bad if his end wasn’t so anticlimactic.

He fell into time magic. That’s it. THAT’S HOW HE DIES?

After several arcs of hyping up his character, he meets his end in such a wonky way. To be fair, he might not have died immediately, as the formula for FT chapters these days is to have enemies come back more powerful only to meet their ends by some convenient plot point. An example of that formula in action is Zeref.

Zeref was painted as a God who had the curse of contradiction put on him. And how does he die again? The first master of Fairy Tail comes in and lies to him about how she hates him, and because she’s also under that curse they both die.That all happens after he puts time magic inside him or something, I don’t even care anymore.

But cool, not like that’s a waste of time or anything.

Fairy Tail Zeref and Mavis — At this point Fairy Tail reads more like bad fan fiction.

I once had high hopes for Fairy Tail. The world, the magic, and its characters were all so likable. Natsu being a no-nonsense typical protagonist was endearing. Facing his problems head on and eating other magic to add to his firepower was so great.

Eventually, the mangaka reduced good coherent plot points in favor of fanservice characters and art. We stopped getting fights that made sense and started getting more of characters that don’t matter to the overall plot.

Nobody ever stays dead

You would think that when a story kills a character, it’s for good right?

Not this one, ladies and gentlemen.

FT has played it safe throughout its entire run. Remember the Tenrou Island arc and how we thought everyone died? Only to have everyone come back because of some trash magic move we hadn’t ever heard of before? Remember when Juvia sacrificed herself for Gray only to still be alive? Remember when Makarov died heroically for his family?

You might think I want the author to actively go out and kill his creations, but that isn’t my point. Being trigger happy is also bad. My point is that if you’re going to kill a character, do it, don’t go backtracking on everything just because your fans want a happy ending.

Huge character moments are ruined as soon as you revive a dead person.

Sure you might be like “Oh but what about all those characters that died like Zeref, or the first master’s friend? Or what about all those villains that were killed? They died and never came back.”

Right, but who honestly cared about them dying? I sure didn’t. There are ways to have the reader care for dying characters without killing them off and then bringing them back.

End it now

To sum it all up Fairy Tail used to be great. At the very beginning, there were some genuinely enjoyable moments, but that all changed along the way. It’s as if the author didn’t plan the story further than 200 chapters and then found himself having to add trash to glue the story together the further it went. I can’t bear to see Fairy Tail prostituting itself out for views by turning to fan service instead of what once made it great. The ideal outcome would be to just end it now, but luckily there are only 9 chapters left.

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