Random Access Memories
The Wicked + the Divine #7
Laura and Inanna believe that the people who tried to assassinate Lucifer (waaaay back in Issue #1) weren’t actually opposed to the gods — they were really fans. So Laura has traveled to Fantheon, a huge London convention for god fans. She’s a minor celebrity here, as one of the few confidants of Lucifer, so she has to sign a lot of autographs and attend a few panel discussions. She finally gets to meet up with Woden — he wears a Daft Punk/Tron costume, his only power lets him empower his specially designated Valkyries, and he’s considered a creepy racist, at best. When he humiliates a former Valkyrie at the convention, she tries to take the fabled Prometheus gambit — murder a god, and you gain his powers. It doesn’t work out for her at all. After that, she meets up with Baphomet and the Morrigan, who invite her to party, and reveal there’s a new god being introduced: Dionysus.
Verdict: Thumbs up. Great art and story, but I say that every time. Gotta give extra credit to the great pun-filled map of the London Fantheon. And do we talk enough about the outstanding work Matthew Wilson is doing on the coloring? ‘Cause a lot of the reason this book looks so gorgeous is because of all the amazing work he does with the colors.
Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #4
Cap has recently been de-inverted and is back to his old self, but he’s still dealing with all the bad publicity he created for himself by going hardcore fascist. Luke is also back to normal, but he’s pretending to be evil so he can find out what’s up with Jason Quantrell, the thoroughly evil CEO of Cortex, Inc. But he’s not quite as undercover as he thought he was. And Power Man and White Tiger are investigating the death of racist supervillain Gideon Mace. What monster is waiting for them? What’s the connection to Cortex? And will Sam Wilson get his spirit back?
Verdict: Ehh, not at all bad. But it’s nothing earthshatteringly fantastic either.
Lumberjanes #10
While April, Ripley, and Jo decide they’re going to finally get some merit badges — starting with the badge for cake decorating — Molly and Mal go off in the woods for their picnic, but before anything romantic can go on, they end up chasing the mysterious Bear Woman, who then accidentally leads them through an otherworldly outhouse into a world full of dinosaurs! Will they be able to make it back home?
Verdict: Thumbs up. What we expected to be a low-key day of loafing around ends up with dinosaur chases. Holy cheese. And that’s not even counting the oh-so-awkward-and-sweet picnic or Ripley dancing with a raccoon.
Today’s Cool Links:
- Milestone Comics are coming back!
- Never forget that the nerds won the war that the moral guardians fought against Dungeons & Dragons.
- This is something that should happen a lot more often. Not enough people are willing to run the Klan, the neo-nazis, and the teabaggers out of town on a rail.
Buryak Said,
January 24, 2015 @ 4:48 am
Comics, D&D, heavy metal, video games, gangster rap… pick your poison for society’s ills throughout the years. I’ve been playing role-playing games since I was six in the 80’s. Mostly TSR games like D&D, Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Marvel Superheroes, etc. I’m 39 now. I remember that whole, almost literal, witch hunt where everyone who played D&D was into Satanism and child sacrifice and all that. Suicides and ritualistic murders, etc. I remember being small and thinking that was bullshit. I was six and I played a Halfling. I fought shambling mounds and green slime. I had a ring of wishing (which I never got to use, because I was waiting for something really evil to wish against) and a levitating rope with a dagger +2. I sure as shit wasn’t helping my buddies kidnap other kids to try and raise demons with their blood offered up because of it. That time period and media blitz really shaped my worldview and how I look at things today. It made me question everything from that point forward. That campaign against D&D was played out again and again as I grew up, but in different forms. From D&D it went to heavy metal. From heavy metal it went to video games like Narc. From that, it went to gangster rap. From that to Kurt Cobain’s suicide to Columbine and Doom to Marilyn Manson, etc. Now its back to video games and #Gamergate and all that bullshit. Back in the day, it was rock ‘n’ roll and comic books. People always find some medium to blame all the bad things in life on, instead of giving kids credit that they will come to their own conclusion as to how to behave with regards to them. I find it really insulting that all these negative attachments are thrust upon people without giving them enough credit that they don’t in fact subscribe to those attachments. I play video games, but that doesn’t mean I hate women or am violent. I like some old school gangster rap (small doses), doesn’t mean I’m going to cap someone. I loved the movie the Warriors and my favorite character was Ajax, doesn’t mean I’m a homophobe. I understand the difference between fantasy and reality and fuck those people for trying to say any different. On a side note, me and few old foggies are starting a campaign with the new D&D system. Pretty frickin’ excited. Its so good! They even made gnomes not lame. Never thought I would play a gnome, but there you are.