Andy Wood

I haven’t been all that happy with my results of video on Youtube, so I took the same video that I put on youtube:

and then converted to a higher quality in MP4 format.

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Context
A watched pot never boils.  I don’t know how applicable this advice is to comics since you must actually look at an issue to read it but Straczynski’s Thor does bring to mind this old proverb.  With Issue #12, JMS continues to supply heat to his carefully arranged plot by providing us with his take on the classic “villain definition” issue.

Story
What occupies a villain’s time while he is not trading quips and/or blows with his mortal enemy?  John Byrne addressed this question with flair in the classic Fantastic Four #258.  This time we see a glimpse into the mechanizations of Loki.  JMS does in issue #12 what I have been hoping for in these last few months – he is showing me a little light at the end of this long tunnel. 

The dialogue and pacing are smooth and natural.  Motivations are all in place and these characters are acting…well, in character.  We see a connecting of several plot lines delved into in previous issues.  Interestingly enough however, I did not even consider these plotlines, as they were flashbacks.  Loki now prominently figures in not only Odin’s origin story but his own as well.  There is nothing like a good use of time travel in a story about mythological beings.  JMS does a great job of mixing his comic book forces here.

Thor’s absence in this issue was so well done I didn’t even realize it until the last page or so.  JMS isn’t trying to reinvent his characters, just their environments.  This was Walt Simonson’s recipe for success with Thor back in the eighties. 

Art
I am so glad that we are near the beginning of Oliver Coipel’s (House of M, The Avengers) career.   This means that we have a more decidedly beautiful comic book future on our hands. 

His lines are clear and panels uncluttered.  His figures and faces are solid and expressive.  He places his characters in environments that match their inner power or vice.  For one, Coipel has redefined Thor’s face.  I think for the first time, you could differentiate Thor from other long haired strong types.  I really appreciate Marvel’s use of this great talent on a book that some might not consider to be a flagship title.

What to look for
There is an excellent visual for Hela in this story.  I am not sure how the credit for this should be divided between artist and writer but the mistress of Hel is given a most menacing appearance by subtraction rather than by addition.  She is a well-done, visual gem to seek out in this issue.

What might put you off
Marvel’s continued use of the “pin-up” cover.  Although beautifully rendered by Coipel, you could easily confuse this cover with most of the others produced for this title since its relaunch.

Recommendation
Thor should be on your monthly pull list

Credits 

Delayed news will no longer be acceptable for early adopters, who will gravitate to the quickest sources of news, wherever they may be. As tools like Twitter Search and FriendFeed real-time offer people to rapidly broadcast their updates, reactions and news with true immediacy, a segment of the population will adopt these real-time sources and favor them ahead of delayed or filtered engines, including RSS, and of course, edited mass media.

At the same time, while many of us early adopters may be fairly noisy about this development, they will remain in the significant minority, even as the mainstream becomes more aware of these options.

Highly doubtful that I will be doing anything worth reporting, since I basically only get the main holidays off (with the occasional Sunday), my plans are:

Not to shave
Not to shower
Relax

I wanted to get the first post of 2009 up. Hope everyone had a good New Year’s Eve; now I must stuff myself on all kinds of yummies. Good times.

When evolution simulator Spore was announced in 2005, the industry dropped its jaw. Since then, it has been minor preview video here and an image or two there, minor press events after one another.  Then, Spore was delayed.

By mid-June we saw Spore finally installed on our PCs.  Spore ended up being a decent game, feeling more a mash of various genres and minigames boxed into one package. However, Spore lacked real consequences and science, making the concept of evolution cartoonish, elementary and casual. The game didn’t quite live up to its hype and claims and I think I was fooled.  Thanks Uncle Wil!

Massively has an article outlining what us MMOers should be looking out for and might want to try for 2009.

Champions Online

It’s been a long time since a new superhero MMO made it to market, and Champions Online will most definitely be the first of the upcoming tights-themed titles released, which will give them an edge to exploit. Cryptic knows they need to steal the limelight with this game, meaning that they need to hook players as hard and as fast as they can. The more players are invested in their superheroes, the harder it’s going to be for competitors to pull people away permanently. Although the lack of villains at launch could mean a little trouble, as there’s definitely a group of players who want to be baddies.

City of Heroes 2?

Another reason why Cryptic needs to step up their game is because I’m almost certain that NCsoft will announce the sequel to City of Heroes around the same time that Champions Online launches. There’s obviously nothing to know about the sequel, but if NCsoft is serious about leveraging their old player-base, then they’d better make sure to do something for CoH1 players going into CoH2. Beyond that, it’s all about getting fresh blood into the new game. There’s probably a lot of pressure to exceed the first title’s subscriber numbers.

Jumpgate Evolution

Any sci-fi fan worth their geeky-ness should have a vested interest in Jumpgate Evolution and its success. Obviously the biggest reason is because the essential mechanics of flying around and shooting stuff in real-time in space are already completely satisfying. So while we don’t know how things like crafting, PvP and leveling will play out just yet, we can assume a better-rather-than-worse scenario.

DC Universe Online

The next few years are certainly going to be interesting, especially when we get to the point when three superhero MMOs are on the market with a fourth (CoH2) on the way. Just imagine a world where we comic book geeks must choose between four superhero MMOs to play.

The Agency

Which brings us to the last game of 2009 to watch out for: The Agency. If any title can help DC Universe Online by shaking off the chains of SOE’s past, it’s this one. There are a lot of wild cards in play, but ultimately it comes down to what sort of message gets sent into the gaming industry. Whether or not The Agency is a financial slam-dunk doesn’t really even matter. It only needs to meet reasonable expectations while proving to players that SOE is a place where fun, quality titles are made.

Not only was it another great holiday, it was a relaxing day too.  There was no people coming over and we didn’t have to get all dolled up and go from place to place and share our merry cheer.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind spending it with family or friends, but I am a simple person and when I get a chance to just hang out at home, that is just so cool.

We had a simple, yet filling brunch, which was not your typical Christmas meal.  We had “Finger Food”!  Yeah!!  There was egg rolls, potato skins, onion rings and quesadillas.  There was a ton of home made cookies, raspberry rolls and short bread yummies to last me a couple of weeks.

We watched this and this and I was very comfortable too:

That is right!  Santa brought me an Iron Man blanket.

The RIAA has decided to cease prosecution of file sharers directly, and instead force ISP’s to become the new copyright police.

The RIAA wasn’t even able to truly determine if people were sharing music, so you ISP is supposed to be able to figure it out?

Is ATT, my ISP, going to know I’m using BitTorrent legitimately, or are they going to assume that because my music library also exists on the same computer that is running BitTorrent, that I must be an illegal music file-sharer?

This isn’t helping anyone; the RIAA is just trying to find more effective means to catch people doing what may be legitimate work. It just gets scarier, doesn’t it? My BitTorrent machine is offline right now, not because of this, but because we are having new flooring put in the room where it resides.

How did bacon get on my site?  Pretty easy actually.