Thanksgiving 2015

Since I did a series of Halloween posts, its only fitting that I blog about Thanksgiving. Unlike my ode to Halloween, this will be only commentary on several Thanksgiving-related shows. Helps that there were no Thanksgiving comics that I was aware of. Fret not, I did have some RPG-related ideas!


Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Ever since I was a child, I'd watch the Macy's parade keeping an eye out for the Spider-Man balloon or any other comics-related float. Didn't see Spidey in this year's parade. Did see a Pikachu balloon though. That was rather neat. There was the obligatory Snoopy balloon although this particular balloon depicted Snoopy flying through the air Superman style. Absolutely loved the 50 year anniversary homage float to A Charlie Brown Christmas!


SNL Thanksgiving - a collection of Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving skits. While I found many of skits to be a chuckle at best there were a few gems. Loved Eddie Murphy in Mister Robinson's Neighborhood. Don Cheadle's (War Machine in the MCU) Ladies Man was a hoot. Akroyd-Belushi-Murray were amusing in an absurd manner. While I was familiar with Martin Short's character solely from a Saturday Morning cartoon from years ago, that was hilarious. In contrast, The Bears fans and crystal clear gravy invoked nostalgia chuckles - as did the Jordon Gordon-Levitt (third installment of the Nolan Batman trilogy and hopefully producer of the Sandman film) skit.


In contrast I found the Scream Queens Thanksgiving episode an absolute laugh riot. Watched a recording on Thanksgiving Day; and I was thankful for the smile it brought to my face. Scream Queens was a casualty of comic book show Tuesday; however, I found this episode to be fairly accessible despite not having watched in quite some time. An excellent Thanksgiving-oriented episode. A shame that shows rarely do Thanksgiving episode much nowadays - that I am aware of.  Hope they do release Screams Queens on DVD some day. Not everyone has Netflix.


Charlie Brown Thanksgiving - don't recall why I didn't watch Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown but I took advantage of the lax television schedule to watch this gem. Charlie Brown Thanksgiving still has its magical charm after all these years. Finally occurred to me how disturbing it is seeing Woodstock eating turkey. Woodstock must be a big fan of bush meat... The subsequent telling of the pilgrim story albeit Peanuts-style is a nice attempt. Probably the major achievement is that it includes Lucy in a Thanksgiving special and uses her fairly well. Gets the Miles Standish bit wrong which anyone who has seen the following show will know...


The Pilgrims: American Experience - Miles Standish was the hired muscle. The requisite fighter-type in almost any RPG. Miles Standish aside, The Pilgrims: American Experience is an outstanding documentary! I learned more about the Pilgrims than I ever did in any history class. Some interesting tidbits were the pilgrims digging through Indian graves, propping the dying up on trees with musket in hand to fool the nearby Indians, and planting corn atop the recent dead - although the latter two are more historical conjecture. I heartily recommend this documentary for any GM that runs either a historical campaign or campaign influenced heavily by history. Vampire, Wraith, Werewolf, and Call of the Cthulhu gamers may find this of particular interest. Heck, I can imagine players of the Solomon Kane setting for Savage Worlds could get some mileage out of the history of the pilgrims. On a more somber note: this was among Roger Rees's last roles. He played the Sheriff in Mel Brook's Robin Hood: Men In Tights. Rees does an excellent job portraying William Bradford's various soliloquy - based on Bradford's writings.


Secrets of the Dead: Jamestown's Dark Winter - Another excellent documentary. Whereas the Pilgrims were a success story, Jamestown was a place where one hoped they survived the experience. It became more of a charnel house during its dark winter when the surrounding Indians laid siege to the colonialist trapping them inside the walls of the fort as disease and famine runs rampant. That's just the background to the documentary! What it the documentary examines is the fate of a young girl and why her remains were found in the state they were. Quite simply, it was like a reverse zombie-ism! Instead of the dead rising to eat the living, the living grave dug to feast. Yep, a confirmed case, albeit one or three, of a cannibalism at Jamestown. I can imagine quite the RPG scenarios that a GM can devise from this! Certainly, New World of Darkness Gamers could use this an example of Morality rules. Various games such as Call of the Cthulhu could use this an example of insanity caused by more mortal hands. The old World of Darkness fan in me envisions hordes of wraiths and banes swirling around the area where the fort once stood.

Vacation Dungeons & Dragons

Way back during my younger years, I would take advantage of summer, winter, and spring break to play some role-playing games. As the years rolled on, those vacation/break gaming became fewer and fewer until within recent years not at all. That wasn't the case at all this year as I took advantage of some vacation time in order to play some fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons via the Adventurer's League at the local gaming store. For the most part it was great time.


Some tidbits:

• We all know that while gaming can be quite exhilarating at times, it can have some less than stellar moments. Those less than stellar moments are magnified when one's devoting one's vacation to that particular moment.
• I hate the con type atmosphere. Too much distraction. Fortunately, the one time my gaming experience was like that a con was the final vacation session.
• While I can accept some rules modifications when I play a game, do so upfront. Not mid-session and certainly within an episodic framework like the Adventurer's League. DMs can modify PCs abilities but that requires trust. Save that for your home game or the next session that you run with that player and PC.
• Fire resistance can mean the difference between a PC surviving or dying. My dragonborn paladin survived two encounters largely because he took half damage from a fireball.
• Adventurer's League loves using Fireball in modules designed for 1st thru 4th level characters.
• A new 5E D&D character can be made within five or ten minutes. Whether or not you understand everything about your character is another matter.
• Its is awesome when a character's background, flaws, and bond creep up during a mod.
• Automatic wild magic effects instead of relying on rolls is rather neat.
• So is describing how one's character dispatches a foe.
• I witnessed one-size-fits-all DMing while playing Living Greyhawk and Living Forgotten Realms. So its nice to see some variety allowed in Adventurer's League.
• At least at my local game store, I have witnessed quite a bit of role-playing. Nice change of pace from other living campaigns that I have played.

Overall, I had an enjoyable time spending some of my vacation playing fifth edition D&D. Perhaps, I'll do so again next year?

The Final Halloween 2015 Post - Television Edition

If you've been following my blog for last month or so, then you know that instead of writing one gigantic blog post concerning Halloween and the week leading up to it, I decided to break it down into several smaller entries. Finally, almost a month after of the fact here's my final Halloween 2015 post. The television shows that I watched either on Halloween or that I felt were Halloween-related during the week prior.


iZombie - On Halloween, I managed to catch up on two episodes that had been pending, ie the first two episodes of the second season. The second season gathers the strands left over from the ending of the first and hits the ground running. Its rather surreal seeing Blaine as a mortal.


Grimm - Halloween eve marked the season premiere of the fourth season of Grimm. Very good. Nick gets pushed through the mental rollercoaster in this episode as not only does he have to deal with the loss of two important women in his life but he has to contend with the fact that those losses have been covered up. We're also introduced to the season's big bad. I expect another major status quo change by season's end.


Sleepy Hollow - If not for the crossover with Bones, I would not consider this a Halloween episode as the supernatural is a regular occurrence. Loved the interplay between the respective leads. The draugr were a nice touch. Coincidentally, I read an article on the draugr on Halloween itself. Thus raising the importance of this episode in my mind and amazed by how much Sleepy Hollow got right about the draugr. Plus being an avid Skyrim fan and player contributed to my enjoyment immensely.


The Player - The Player doesn't deal with the macabre all that much so a serial killer that made sacrifices to Odin on Halloween is a more than a tad out of the ordinary. The coincidence that two Norse-related episodes from to two different television series would air concurrently tickles my fancy. Not sure how accurate to the myths or historical accuracy the sacrifices were... Watching Wesley Snipes's character defeat the killer at episode's end was a hoot.

Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (1st ANAD review and Halloween Part 4)

Yep, its time for the promised and much belated fourth Halloween installment. A very special installment as its my very first review of Marvel's All-New, All-Different (ANAD) line. Which title am I reviewing? Why, Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. issue one! Read it on Halloween while watching a couple episodes of iZombie. Before we begin I will refer to S.H.I.E.L.D. as simply SHIELD as typing the acronym is simply tedious.


Art: Brent Schoonover and Nick Filardi comprise the art team on this inaugural issue. They do a bang-up job. Storytelling is top-notch as one can easily follow the story without resorting to reading the dialogue (although the dialogue does help...). The colorist, Nick Filardi, colors enhance the pencil and ink art of Schoonover without drowning it out with murky backgrounds. I was rarely confused by an of the art. While the art wasn't superbly detailed, it wasn't simplistic. Just enough detail that does not overwhelm. But wait, its a monster book, correct? While the art is not horrific in tone, it does an adequate job of portraying 70's era Code-approved monsters.


Story: The inaugural issue of Howling Commandos of Shield is exactly that. We meet the cast and learn what their mission is. The Howling Commandos then undertake their mission and... don't achieve the mission that SHIELD gave them. So a rag-tag team of monsters being whipped into shape by the legendary (and former Howler) Dum Dum Dugan will be a focus of the series as Dugan and Marie Hill discuss later in the book. Absolutely loved how Man-Thing was as the heavy artillery. Was a bit disappointed that the werewolf character isn't Werewolf by Night but a character named Warwolf. Overall, I felt it was a fun romp that combined classic Howling Commandos action with 70's Marvel monsters. In fact, its a rather neat touch that there's analogs for the classic Universal Horror Monsters (Frakenstein, Werewolf, Creature from the Lagoon, Dracula, and Zombies). Not to mention the historical touch of classic 50's and 70's monsters in Man-Thing and Orrgo.


The Verdict: As a run-of-the-mill first issue I give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars. That said, I consider Howling Commandos of SHIELD a guilty pleasure. If you want to read about classic movie monsters done in the Mighty Marvel Manner along with Man-Thing, Hit Monkey, Orrgo engaging supernatural threats in military fashion this is your book. By the way, yes, I am referring to Dum Dum Dugan as one of those classic movie monster analogs.

The Last Witch Hunter (Halloween 2015 Part 3)

Here's my belated review, and third installment of Halloween-related stuff that I watched during the week of Halloween, of The Last Witch Hunter. The Last Witch Hunter also marks another pop culture entry for Dungeons & Dragons as the Witch Hunter is based on Vin Diesel's D&D character.


How was The Last Witch Hunter you may ask? I felt it was superb film destined for cult classic stardom. Vin Diesel and Co. turn in an excellent genre film that methodically develops a new setting while providing a decent dose of excitement. The film's approach to a flaming sword was fairly plausible as was its more fantastic elements. We learn how witches operate and the rules of magic in The Last Witch Hunter setting. No small feat for a two-hour production. Loved how dream walkers were handled. Wheel of Time and Sword of Truth fans should be pleased by how effective the dream walkers are. For what I assumed was a modern-day sword and sorcery story, the plot contained more cloak and dagger elements than I would have expected. I'd elaborate more but that would ruin major plot points. The film ends with a set-up for future witch hunter adventures. I know I look forward to any sequels be they movies or TV. D&D fans should be pleased.

So a Dwarven Battlerager Tries to Suplex a Viking...

All the fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons that I have played up until this pont has been connected to the Adventurer's League. For the uninitiated, the Adventurer's League is latest incarnation of the RPGA's living campaign for current iteration of D&D, ie 5E. Being a sanctioned play environment, the Adventurer's League incorporates a vetting process even to published rules. Recently, the new Sword Coast book became legal. Today, the local organization set aside time to answer questions and make modifications. That didn't take much time at all. Being gamers we wanted to, well, game. Given the decision between playing an officially sanctioned module or playing a wahoo created-on-fly session complete with new character, everyone decided to go with the latter.


Decided to roll my characters stats and follow a slightly more traditional route of letting the stats determine the class. Rather than switching ability scores to fit the class, I recorded them in order. Not quite old-school, mind you, as I rolled 4d6 and dropped the lowest die. Nothing to brag about; however the Con of 8 and Int of 6 were the most eyebrow-raising stats. Since the characters Strength was the highest ability score I decided to go with a fighter type. Brief digression here: R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books were a huge influence on me. One character type that he portrayed that I never played was a dwarven battle-rager. The new Sword Coast book introduces the dwarven battle-rage option for the barbarian class. So long story short, I made a mountain dwarf barbarian battle-rager.  So a very stupid barbarian that has a Con that's a tad low for a barbarian but it makes for an unorthodox character. Certainly a character that I would be reluctant to play in an actual RPGA game. Since the DM said our characters could be third or fourth level, I chose fourth level. Fourth level characters in 5e receive either an ability score increase or, if the DM allows, a feat. Figured that the Grappler feat made an excellent choice for a battle-rager.


Like many stereotypical RPG sessions, this one began in a bar. Of course, what happens in the bar? A fight breaks out. Now, our characters are on an island where there's a hefty punishment for using a weapon. When a Viking advanced upon a sailor with a battle-axe, my battle-rager decided he would grapple said Viking around the waist. I should point out that I had misread the rules of spiked armor and mistakenly believed the spikes only do damage on a grapple while the character is raging. So no damage was taken by the spikes. The hazards of on-the-fly character creation. To the amusement of the entire table, I decided that the next round my character would try to belly-to-back suplex the Viking. He failed. Another character tried clotheslining the Viking. That character failed. I'm quite certain more characters would have tried wrestling maneuvers of their own but a rogue fire elemental setting things in the bar on fire diverted their attention. Remember, my dwarf has an Intelligence of 6. On the next round, he tries to belly-to-back suplex the Viking again. Again he fails. The Viking punches him. In response the battle-rager rages and attempts another suplex. Fails. His opponent having thwarted the suplex attempts tries to break the grapple. Failure. Both Viking and Battle-rager attempt suplexes and breaking the grapple for the next couple rounds. Yep, nothing. Everyone at the table chuckles. Finally, my dwarf realizes that he should probably leave what appears to be a burning bar. The grapple is released; and he does so.


Been a long, long time since I played any RPG that wasn't RPGA. An immense pleasure it was. I greatly enjoyed throwing some pro wrestling moves into a gaming session. Something I seldom do. Furthermore,  I can cross playing a dwarven battle-rager off my gamer bucket list. An excellent session indeed.

ANAD Marvel New January #1's

Well, I have lost a bit of blogging momentum as I several entries that I have yet to complete. What better way than to break that logjam than an old stand-by via my blogging my thoughts on the new slate of #1's that debut in January (solicited during November) as part of Marvel's All-New, All-Different (ANAD) initiative? Probably should check my astonishment at the sheer size of the new volumes debuting during January; however, Marvel did say that they were releasing sixty new series as part of ANAD. Marvel does deserve praise for the timed-releases as more obscure titles have a greater chance of surviving. Something DC should realize... Since its the month of November, my buy/impulse/pass rating should be taken with a grain of salt. By now, I am still figuring which of October's releases I'll retain. Generally takes me a couple months to decide - provided I keep up. Furthermore, I want my commentary on ANAD to extend beyond solicitations so I may try titles that I would avoid otherwise.


Here they are:

• Old Man Logan - I never read the original Old Man Logan story. Quite frankly, I'm still burned out on reading Wolverine regularly. However, the concept of an elderly Logan trying to prevent his bleak future from happening combined with the sample art provided is enough to pique my interest. Never say never.
• Captain Marvel - Nitpick aside I could do without them co-opting Alpha Flight to be the name of the space program that protects Earth from extraterrestrial threats. Otherwise, if there was a time read the adventures of Carol Danvers I think now would be the time as she leads that particular erstwhile organization. The fact that two of the creators behind the show Agent Carter, ie Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, helps greatly.
• Rocket Raccoon & Groot - Why they had solo series for both Rocket and Groot boggles my mind as much of their appeal stems from their buddy relationship. Since I collected both, sign me up for this one.
• Spider-Man/Deadpool - Once upon a time, Deadpool was but a mere, minor character. Shocking, right? Then during the late 90's there was a cult comic starring the Merc with the Mouth that comic fans raved about. Many compared it to the glory of early Spider-Man. Sadly, I never had the pleasure of reading that Deadpool run. Fast-forward to January and that very creative team returns to Deadpool. Not only that but a certain aforementioned web-slinger will be co-starring as well. This may actually be my first non-team Deadpool comic...
• Silver Surfer - Wait, isn't this the same creative team...? Absolutely hate forced re-numberings if nothing changes. Silver Surfer showing someone the unknown aspects of Earth could be neat and I like the creative team of Slott and Allred. Maybe.
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - I like the television series that's inspired by this series. The notion of more regular Deathlok appearances appeals to me. Frankly, the comic may be closer to what people expected of the show during its first season. Another we'll see title.

Solicitations were much, much vaguer and shorter than last month's. You either love the concept and creative team or you don't.

Arrow is Constantine! (And Why I am Glad I Started Watching Again)

*yep, pro-wrestler Chris Jericho's catchphrase "Raw is Jericho!" was an inspiration for the title.


Last night's episode of Arrow would have been a perfect Halloween episode. Alas, it came out one week too late. In any case, "Haunted" marks an historic point. Not only does "Haunted" serve as an occasion for Matt Ryan to reprise the role of John Constantine but, honestly, its the primary reason I started watching Arrow again.


Now, I didn't stop watching Arrow because I disliked the show. Not all. Rather, I fell behind. As of today, the remaining five episodes of the show's freshman season have yet to be seen by my eyes. By the time that the second season aired, I decided that I would watch those remaining episodes along with any future ones via DVD. Even as I watched the Flash last year, my growing renewed interest in regularly following the adventures of Team Arrow stayed noncommittal.


That ended with premiere of Arrow's fourth season. I am quite glad that I started watching again. Don't have Netflix and as much as I like Gotham its still no substitute for four-color street vigilante heroics. Arrow still holds its appeal when beloved shows such as The X-Files no longer held that must-see feeling after a long hiatus. While I loved the gritty, realistic take and sequential nature of the flashbacks from the first season, I find I like the optimism of the more four-color super-heroics just as much if not more. Arrow has ditched the romantic staples of the typical CW show. Otherwise, Oliver and Laurel would still have a 'will they or won't they' vibe to them. Doesn't hurt that Arrow's fourth season is fairly accessible to a guy who hasn't seen any of the second and third season. Another plus is the gradual origin and development of Mr. Terrific. Looking forward to him officially joining Team Arrow. Furthermore, the interconnectedness of Arrow and Flash exemplifies what a shared comic-based universe should be on television.


All said, it was the arrival of one John Constantine that brought me back to Arrow. Absolutely loved the short-lived show on NBC along with actor Matt Ryan's portrayal of the character. So when I heard that the actor would reprise the role of the character on an episode of Arrow, I had to see it. And it was good. "Haunted" did an excellent job of tying John Constantine into what previously had been a more street-level show. We learn how Oliver and John met along with the draw that brought Constantine to Star City. In regular DC proper, Constantine is more the guest character that comes in and offers his mystic advice pertaining to things supernatural. That was his appearance in "Haunted" to a 'T'. Not only that but Matt Ryan's portrayal loses none of its swagger; and my fandom is pleased. Hopefully, John Constantine's appearance on Arrow was not a one-shot deal and is more of a harbinger of future appearances in CWDC.

Vertigo 2015 Preview (Halloween Part Two)

I know I stated that my next Halloween post was going to be a massive blog post. In hindsight that was more out of desire to get the whole thing out of the way. Instead, I'm splitting them into several entries. Think of it as a post-celebration of Halloween into several, more manageable, portions.


Vertigo has long been associated with horror comics in my mind regardless of whether or not such a distinction fit. So on Halloween, I finally read the 2015 Preview pamphlet that DC put out to advertise Vertigo's twelve brand-new #1's that roll out over the course of three months beginning in October. Yeah, I am a little late reading said previews haha! Anyway, the Preview contained sample pages from The Twilight Children, Unfollow, and Lucifer. There's lengthy boiler-plates that go beyond mere solicitation copy for the remaining nine titles.


The Twilight Children - written by Gilbert Hernandez (of Love & Rockets fame) and Darwyn Cooke (DC's The New Frontier among other projects) as artist is set in a Latin American village where a group of children find a strange orb. The sample pages included introduce a handful of characters and ends when the children discover the strange orb inside a cave. The ad copy states afterwards a strange woman appears and all sort of shenanigans happens. Okay, everything after the word 'and' is not exactly what the ad copy describes. That said, in perfect world where retailers stock every single comic in more than adequate copies, I'd buy issue one. The preview intrigues me, the storytelling is impeccable, and the art top-notch. However, I read the preview after the first issue had already hit the stands. I could order it but since its a mini-series I'm more inclined towards the trade paperback.


While The Twilight Children doesn't fit a Halloween-motif well, Unfollow and Lucifer practically scream Halloween. Unfollow is about a social media mogul who writes 140 people into his will. Whomever survives, as tracked by an app, when the mogul dies inherits his fortune. As the preview demonstrates, things get rather sinister as the designer of app is bumped off after adding himself to the list by a mysterious masked man. Scattered throughout are various postings by a couple people as they express various ideas using a social media app. Art passes muster and fits the Vertigo style. If I see a copy, I'll pick it up. It starts in November. Lucifer is about, well, Lucifer. Can't get more Halloween than that. The preview contains the new set-up. Lucifer's new status quo, and flicks to his now-mortal brother, Gabriel, where he's offered his wings back. From the preview, I have enough of impression on the writing and art style that I am heavily-inclined to pick up the title. Lucifer comes out in December.


There weren't preview pages for the following titles.
Survivors' Club and Clean Room - have already hit the stands. I'll provide reviews as soon as I get around to them. The former is about survivors of classic '80s horror stories and the latter is about a room that subjects one against one's innermost secrets.
Art Opus - is about art that comes to life and an agency tasked to protect and track down said rogue artwork. It came out already...
Red Thorn - A Scottish demigod is released into modern times and encounters relics of Scottish myth. Another book that may check out, which debuts in November.
Jacked - a smart pill, think Limitless, that not only does that but it gives a neurotic, middle-aged family man super strength and powers. Intriguing. However, I rarely buy 6-issue mini-series in pamphlet form nowadays except on impulse. Jacked starts in November.
The Sheriff of Babylon - written by a former CIA analyst who uses his experience from the Iraq War to write about a police officer from Florida who arrives in Iraq to help train its police force. An 8-issue mini-series that begins December. Not sure if I want to buy it as it comes out or wait for the trade.
The Last Gang in Town - a 7-issue series that hits the stands in December concerns a gang that is about to commit its last heist.
New Romancer - a 12-issue series launching in December is about a romance app that accidentally brings some of history's most notorious lovers back to life. Quirky.
Slash & Burn - debuts in November. A drama about a recovering pyromaniac whose penance is that she's trying to become a firefighter. Sounds like an F/X drama too edgy for F/X. Impulse buy.