17 September 2009: Marvel Super Hero Squad initial review

As the autumn genre television season begins, I'll be posting occasional reviews of new shows as I see them. Note: This review originally
appeared on the message board of the "Dimensional Corps Online" Yahoo
club used by Steve M.R. and the City of Heroes supergroup.

Janice and I watched the premiere of Marvel Super Hero Squad the other night.
While I don't think you missed much, the television show wasn't as bad as I had
feared from the initial preview.

The animation and scripts are still shaky
("Squaddies assemble"?), and like some other Marvel adaptations,
people shouting at one another is mistaken for character development. The show
takes place in some mashup setting rather than New York City. The number of
fart jokes and the "super-deformed" style taken from anime also
suggest that "SHS" is intended for young audiences, say, under the
age of 10.

On the other hand, the costume designs
reflect current continuity, and it was nice to see numerous inhabitants of the
Marvel Universe. The dialogue so far and the voice cast are decent.
For example, Thor speaks with Shakespearean pomposity, Ms. Marvel is an uptight
military officer, and Silver Surfer talks a little like a surfer dude.

For those of you familiar with cartoons
based on DC Comics, I might compare this (not strongly) with the recent Teen Titans or Legion of Superheroes, not the more
adult ensembles and plots of Justice League Unlimited or Marvel's Wolverine and the X-Men. I think that the current Batman and
the Brave and the Bold and Spectacular Spider-Man both do a
better job of balancing Golden and Silver Age goofiness with modern action.

I'd give Super Hero Squad a 6 out of 10
or a C+ so far, but as Steve M.R. noted, it could be an OK introduction to Marvel's
heroes for young viewers. Cartoon Network will rebroadcast the premiere this
coming Saturday morning [19 September 2009], which I think may be its eventual time slot. As Stan
"the Man" Lee says, Excelsior! -Gene

Wednesday, 16 September 2009: Meaty weekends

Friends, I hope you’ve had a good fortnight. I’ve been busy with work during the past two weeks. I helped coordinate TT’s coverage of the annual VMworld conference in San Francisco, and I’ve been transitioning to my new role as an associate site editor, which
involves tracking editorial content from assignment to submission to posting on our Web sites.

For Labor Day weekend, Janice and I drove to Upstate New York to see her family. We spent most of our time at the home of Janice’s sister Melinda, her husband Gary, and their children Amanda and Joshua. Janice’s parents Marvin and Linda also joined us for good home-grilled meals.

Among other things, we rewatched Coraline, and I played Wii Motion Plus and Wii Sports Resort with Josh, Amanda, and Gary. We plan to meet Janice’s folks again at the “Big E,” or the Eastern States Exposition, in western Massachusetts in a few weeks. My own family went to the Delaware shore and will be in Europe in the coming month or so.

This past weekend, Janice and I went to the new Legacy Place shopping plaza in Dedham, Mass. Although the Showcase Deluxe cinemas and Borders Books aren’t open yet, several other shops are, including an impressive Whole Foods. I especially enjoyed checking out its fromagerie.

We also ate at Uno Chicago Bar & Grill as part of a charity event. Like another midrange casual restaurant, T.G.I.Friday’s, the food has improved in the years that we weren’t going there. Closer to home, Stone Hearth Pizza and Wild Willy’s (especially
its spicy Buffalo-style chicken) are still among our favorites.

Thomas K.Y., Beruk A., and I ended up not meeting for 9 because the postapocalyptic “stitchpunk” movie got mixed reviews, but we may meet for Cloudy With a Chance of
Meatballs or Surrogates in the coming weekends. I’ll blog more about the new genre television season once I’ve had a chance to watch more premieres.

The arrival of autumn also brings new comic books and role-playing games. In addition, the Pathfinder: “Holy Steel” and D&D4e “Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based
Initiative” groups have kept me busy, with the former being a classic pseudo-historical dungeon crawl and the latter featuring a recent battle against vampires. Can Halloween be far behind?

Monday, 31 August 2009: Work, food, and Ponyo

On Tuesday, 18 August 2009, I received a minor promotion from assistant site editor to associate site editor at TT. In addition to my existing duties at the technology journalism company, I’m helping to coordinate coverage of this week’s VMworld conference in San Francisco and taking on more Web page management responsibilities.

On the bright side, I’ve already been treated out to sushi lunches at Fuji in Needham,
Massachusetts, twice by current and future managers! I’m flattered that they’ve had such confidence in my organizational abilities after only three months, and I hope to earn their trust.

On Monday, Aug. 24, Janice and I met with former CW co-workers Michele D. and Bob R. for a pleasant dinner at the Watch City Brewery on Moody Street in Waltham, Mass. I still hope to get together with other former colleagues, including Monica S., Donna S., and Brian F.

On Saturday, Aug. 29, I met Ken G. for lunch at Rawbert’s Vegan Café before going to an exhibit on comic book history at the Wenham Museum. The big news in the world of superheroes is that Disney is buying Marvel. I don’t expect any immediate changes in the comics or movies, but the move puts more pressure on DC Comics and Warner Brothers to try to catch up.

On Sunday, Janice and I had brunch at the ’50s Diner in Dedham, Mass., and went to the Dedham Community Theater to screen Ponyo. A few months ago, I saw and liked the subtitled version of the latest Miyazaki anime, and I found the English-dubbed
version to be better paced. I’d still give this PG-rated variation on The Little Mermaid an 8 out of 10, or a B+.

Although I’ve had to cancel this coming week’s games, I did catch the first-season finale of BBC America’s supernatural melodrama Being Human, which may not have the popularity of True Bloodor Twilight, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. The regular autumn genre television season begins in the next few weeks, but first, I’ve got lots of work to do!

28 August 2009: Game updates

On Sunday, 23 August 2009, the “Holy Steel” teleconferencing team resumed, now using the Pathfinder core book, which revises the Dungeons & Dragons Edition 3.5/D20 System Reference Document. So far, despite this rule set’s complexity and the tome’s heft, I like Paizo’s iteration of the world’s most popular fantasy role-playing game more than Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition (D&D4e)/Game System License.

Although Dexter V.H. has been too busy with family commitments to rejoin our virtual sessions as Drow Ranger “Faelonia,” Byron V.O., Beruk A., and Paul J. have
continued their exploration of the pyramid of Unas as Paladin “Ibrahim,” Rogue “Milos,” and Wizard “Derek,” respectively. Their adventuring party has fought monsters and is searching for the Book of Thoth, which it believes cultists of Set are also after.

I’ve had to cancel two weeks’ worth of D&D4e “Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative” face-to-face (F2F) games because of work. We’ll probably meet again around Labor Day. After about 50 consecutive sessions, I don’t think missing a few Monday nights will hurt the momentum of that party, which is investigating smugglers in the
Hifalendorin human capital of Hesolin. Overall, “Holy Steel” has had more interesting investigations by Player Characters (P.C.s), and the “F.B.I.” has had more action scenes. A good group has a balance of the two.

I’m still looking forward to taking a break after the “F.B.I.” winds down, although that has taken longer than I expected. On the one hand, several people prefer Pathfinder or other systems to D&D4e, and the Player Characters (P.C.s) are approaching Tenth Level, which used to be “name level” — the midrange in power that usually marks the end of my campaigns.

On the other hand, the current Boston-area P.C.s have been gaining in experience and knowledge, and some gamers are understandably interested in maximizing their abilities. I still hope to give other Game Masters a shot and to run shorter-term steampunk, superhero, and/or space opera scenarios, most likely using a D20 variant, although I’ve seen mostly favorable reviews for the rules-light and pulp-flavored Savage Worlds.

I don’t expect my F2F game to return to the “Vanished Lands” setting, probably using Pathfinder, until spring of 2010. Since I’ve been building that fictional world since 1982, I’d like to take some time to tweak it to properly challenge and entertain
another party, which won’t be easy because most of the current group is now
familiar with it.

I ended my subscription for Lord of the Rings Online because college chums David I.S. and Dexter haven’t had the time to play regularly. The “Dimensional Corps Online” supergroup for the City of Heroes multiplayer online game is still going strong, and Dex invited me to try Champions Online (now separated from the Hero System 6th Ed. license). I have, however, enjoyed Wii Sports Resort. Batman: Arkham Asylum also looks cool, but it isn’t available for the Wii.

Coming soon: Superheroes and work!

27 August 2009: District 9 review

On Saturday, 22 August 2009, Janice represented the Animal Rescue League of Boston as a volunteer at the “Blues and Brews” festival in Westford, Massachusetts. I met Brian W. and a friend at the AMC Framingham cineplex to screen District 9.

We enjoyed the science fiction film, which was an overt allegory about apartheid (although some viewers seem to have missed that). Sharlto Copley plays Wikus van de Merwe, a clueless employee of a government contractor managing camps for extraterrestrial refugees nicknamed “Prawns.” The abject poverty, casual racism, and enclaved middle class are all the more believable because of the South African setting. Footage of actual riots is used for some scenes.

DirectorNeill Blomkamp poses the uncomfortable question of who are the monsters — the marooned aliens or ruthless humanity? Other movies, such as Alien Nation and Enemy Mine, have warned “civilized” audiences to beware of the brutality lurking just under
our skins. The first half of District 9 plays like a documentary, while the second half is more of an action/horror flick, similar to Aliens or The Fly.

Despite a modest budget, the special effects are impressive as van de Merwe inadvertently
becomes the center of attention by the government, the news media, the Prawns, and a criminal warlord. District 9 is rated R for graphic violence. This may explain why five of the six trailers we saw before the movie were for horror flicks, with the last one inexplicably for
Where the Wild Things Are.

Producer Peter Jackson, best known of the Lord of the Rings adaptation, no doubt helped this movie get a wider release, which it deserved. I’d give District 9 an 8.5 out of 10, or an A-. Despite Hollywood’s reliance on established franchises, it’s nice to see something relatively original.

Coming soon: Gaming, work, dining out, and superheroes!