553. OneFORMULA: Persistence of Vision + Distant Voices + Night TerrorsWHY WE LIKE IT: Rerouting power actually well used.WHY WE DON'T: Been there, done that.REVIEW: If you're updating your Star Trek Voyager drinking game, don't forget to include Seven hallucinating because it seems to happen a heck of a lot. The premise isn't bad though. Voyager encounters a nebula that has deleterious effects on the crew (and would be a boring part of the journey to boot), and only Seven and the Doctor can survive it. So they place everyone in stasis for a month and the "artificial" duo takes care of things, but even the ship starts to degrade (those neural gel packs are starting to look like a bad idea, Starfleet!). And so does Seven.One is meant to be a lesson for Seven, who up to this point has been staunchly antisocial. Here we learn that the Borg can't stand being alone, and this, in part, drives her mad by the end of the episode. I'm not sure that's a good take on the Borg at all. As a collective being, the Borg are essentially one lone creature, huge and sprawling, but already "One". The drones freed from the Collective we've seen (and Seven in particular) are upset to have lost the "voices" of the others, yes, but human, physical companionship never seemed an issue. In fact, how do the events of this episode differ from her social routine? The Doctor is her only friend, as usual, and she bickers even with him.In any case, any psychological coherence here is undercut by the nebula's attack on organic systems. Seven is taken with a fear of loneliness perhaps only because of its effects, since the issue only comes up at the same time as the hallucinations. And these are fairly standard for the show, highly reminiscent of Bashir's telepathic damage in Distant Voices (with the powerful monster coming to getcha). There's the zombie crew too (drink!). Though they try to make us think the intruder is real at first, I would have been more surprised if he HAD been real.For all that, the ending is still tensely orchestrated. Characters reroute power all the time on the show, but here it's a real puzzle of what to power and in what order to prevent anyone from being killed. Hard choices that become right choices and we can forgive, I think, the conceit that the Doctor came back online in time to save Seven from suffocation. Or maybe Tom could have woken up from stasis all by himself, as this episode claims can happen. It's an amusing notion, and one Seven uses to bond with her crew mates at the end (I know all MY friendships are based on laughing at others), but it still seems wrong, doesn't it?LESSON: Voyager WILL make you drunk.REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Though there are some good elements, the episode quickly degrades into the same old, same old. You might as well sleep through the fourth act.
A lot of people have come out in favor of this comic, but I have to as well. It's just that fun. Probably still on the racks, kids.5. Diet plans of the microscopic heroes
Hey, yeah! How DOES that work? And could someone tell Henry Pym to feed the world already?4. A new Hate-Monger
The first classic Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four story I ever read was the one with the Hitler Hate-Monger (reprinted in a Giant-Sized), so I was real keen on seeing this villain reinterpreted. And I should really mention how funny the dialogue in this book is. Jeff Parker writes some great zingers, like that "So THAT's who's monging all the hate" crack.3. Funny henchmen
Boo heroes! The AIM eraser heads are begging to be clowns, and the Hydra goons crack me up too. More than just joke-bags though, it gives these nameless, faceless goons an actual personality, everyday worries, and a sense of humor.2. Bruce Banner's purple suit
He doesn't want to get involved in case it makes him angry. His suit wouldn't like him when he's angry.The color is just the cherry on top.1. Super psycho-analysis
Banner's referral sends the angry Avengers to Doc Samson for some therapy. That would be hilarious even without his little notepad. I've never heard of a reverse Napoleon complex, but it makes perfect sense!This could have been 15 Things to Like (what's yours?)... More Jeff Parker please!
552. DemonFORMULA: Parturition + Aquiel + DeadlockWHY WE LIKE IT: Gray mode.WHY WE DON'T: Spawn of Voyager.REVIEW: Before we get to the Demon Planet, a couple of notes... First, this is the first time the ship goes on gray mode, which seems strange to me. If Voyager is really a week away from coasting on fumes, it shows grossly negligent planning on their parts. The ship probably should have been on gray mode all trip long! And then there's Harry Kim who's decided to become more assertive through dialogue instead of action. I don't begrudge him the growth (and he's shown promise in the past), but why the need to treat it like a public amendment to the series bible? Because that's what it sounds like. "From now on, my character is THIS way..." instead of showing it gradually through a season. Lame.As for the Demon (really just Planet Hell again, but with burnt orange lighting), it presents an interesting environmental challenge, though they play fast and loose with it. Sometimes the atmosphere is highly corrosive, sometimes Seven and Tuvok can walk miles and miles without a problem. And it's never properly explained how Harry and Tom survive half a day with their suits full of holes. But of course, the real antagonist is the silver blood, a mimetic creature that copies Harry and Tom and thus learns sentience.It's an interesting idea, to be sure, though it's another example of magic on the show. But accepting the goo for what it is - including its ability to mimic memories and personality - we have an intriguing existential question. Is the imitation of sentience, of personality, of memory, actually equivalent to it? And what would a non-sentient creature do with sentience if it suddenly had access to it. We take it for granted, but it's a seductive idea for that which does not. Except the episode quickly ends after Janeway negotiates to give the silver blood the crew's DNA to copy. I think it's rather disturbing that most (if not all) of the crew chose to duplicate themselves on this alien planet. It's really creepy. Like, what's my duplicate doing RIGHT NOW? Never mind the fact that it's another major Prime Directive blunder.Strangely, what's perhaps the best bit of the episode has nothing to do with the plot. What I first dismissed as a standard comedy subplot consisting of Neelix squating in sickbay during gray mode turned out to have a genuine character moment in it. The Doctor does his damnedest to make the play unlivable so that his unwanted tenants leave, but Neelix's graciousness makes shame flush his face for a moment. We don't linger on it or belabour it with a dialogue scene to spell it all out. Do I liked those 3-4 seconds fine.LESSON: Harry and Tom just don't have enough sentience for anyone's appetite.REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: Only climbs to Medium if you want to have a context for Course: Oblivion, but otherwise, another Voyager episode that looks good and isn't unwatchable, but treats its ideas stupidly.
SUPERGIRL #16, DC Comics, February 1984
Ambush Bug started out as a villain in the pages of DC Comics Presents, but I remember when he first became a hero. Man, those were the days. He had problems, sure, but even Superman couldn't fly his first time out. And yeah, it looks like he's having trouble with rudimentary stuff on this cover, but you have to remember Who's Who was still a couple years away. More than that for the Super entries!I have to say though... Supergirl #16 may have been his first heroic moment, but it wasn't necessarily his proudest. Behind that Keith Giffen cover is a not very funny (or maybe I should say not intentionally funny) Paul Kupperberg story and odd Carmine Infantino artwork. It's also got about a hundred pages of Supergirl subplot stuff I won't bore you with. Let's just get to the Bug.Oh yeah, that's right. He's not yet a hero. In fact, he's a convict. Sweet break-out scheme though!
And you can tell he's still a villain, just by the Lex Luthor look all the cell boys are getting these days.
Since they're stupidly carrying his teleportation costume with him, he grabs it takes off... almost too fast!
Pull up your pants, Buggy!And it's off with the superhero career. Who else would defend Chicago against the evils of litterbugs?
Smokers and progressive jazz musicians are on his list too. And he probably would have gotten to people who borrow my stuff and don't bring it back too if Supergirl hadn't intervened:
Except Ambush Bug thinks she's Superman. Maybe he's gotten a dose of red kryptonite, who knows? He sure wasn't ready for THIS sight:
Anyway, the shenanigans that follow include a giant pinball machine and a symphony played on all-stolen instruments (quite the criminal scheme). In the end, a forgettable bad guy is taken into custody, and so is AB. But not before he gets a chance to show he's not just your average lunatic:
Oooh! Can't tell a boy from a girl, but he can tell a girl from the same girl! Uhm... yeah! And you KNOW Supergirl's gonna take that crack about her hair to heart!
The perm and headband, right? It was the 80s, what can I tell you? I went to my prom in a white sports jacket. It wasn't our fault. Every day was before Labour Day. Let he who is without sin and all that... how can I ever hope to criticize Misters Kupperberg, Infantino and Bug?
Ambush Bug returns in 6 weeks. Tell your friends.
551. Living WitnessFORMULA: Mirror, Mirror + Distant OriginWHY WE LIKE IT: Mirror universe Voyager.WHY WE DON'T: Laying it on a bit thick.REVIEW: Set 700 years or more after Voyager's fourth season, Living Witness is an offbeat story that explores historical revisionism. How is History distorted by the way it is interpreted and told? Can we reevaluate History? What if it changes who we (think we) are? When I hear about revisionism today, it's usually in connection with the Holocaust's numbers, and feathers get ruffled quite a bit. I used to work in a "minority museum" like the Kyrians' and it would sometimes shock members of the minority when we didn't demonize the majority's ancestors quite as much as their grandmothers did, and even members of the majority who were insulted by the notion that their ancestors had been responsible for any acts that would today be called genocide. The biggest difference between the place I worked at and the one in the show is probably that we enforced the "no touching" rule a lot more.Throw a copy of the EMH into this setting (we'll just wave a wand and since this neither contradicts everything else we've seen nor opens a can of ethical holographic worms) and you might as well have him come back from 1st-century Jerusalem to tell us Jesus didn't die on the cross. At least it's one real world example where I could see the same kind of rioting occur. Very recently (and using the very same actor), the same kind of belief vs. fact struggle was played out in Distant Origin, but Living Witness is a better episode for not fiddling with actual human history.And who can resist what is essentially the "Mirror Universe" equivalent of a Voyager episode? It's actually quite fun to see the various mistakes made by Kyrian historians to turn Janeway into a fascist and the ship into an overpowered war machine. An android Doctor, Kazon crew, Borg drones at the ready, Chakotay's giant tatoo and a smiling Vulcan are only the biggest ones, but there are some more subtle errors like Janeway being addressed as "sir" (which she hates). Just as wrong is Quarren's childhood take on Voyager which not only doesn't make sense according to their world view (it's like a kid dreaming of the Nazis), but on another level, is way too cheesy. The show often tries to put forward the idea that Voyager became a legend in the Delta Quadrant and no more so than here. I always cringe a bit when the ship's legacy takes on mythical proportions.And yet, it's an interesting destiny they've given this copy of the Doctor, as peacemaker and instrument of change, but also as quester as he eventually leaves to retrace Voyager's course. The twist is that even the story of the backup Doctor has been a historical recreation and, like the first recreation, may get the details wrong. That twist asks us to question everything we've seen even in the context of a story about that question. I wouldn't be surprised if Quarren's little speech was an invention (since the later timeline has Voyager in high regard). More than a Twilight Zone twist, it very much adds to the theme.LESSON: Historical theories can never be empirically proven.REWATCHABILITY - High: With cool bits like an evil alternate Voyager crew AND thoughtful SF ideas, it can be enjoyed on multiple levels.
Geoff Johns is doing a good job on a number of titles, but the one that might be getting a little less publicity is Action Comics. He does do a lot of retoconning (nobody seems content to leave to a Crisis anymore), but sometimes it's to good effect. At once redeeming and perverting Toy-Man in the latest issue is a good example. 5 things to like about it?5. This notion
This talks to us as fans. It's also fine meta-text on the kinds of villains heroes draw. And it's a critique of what's been done with Toy-Man over the years. In the story, Toy-Man feels he's been unjustly sent to Arkham Asylum. And in a very real way, exposure to the crazies in that place ("Batman villains") has driven him mad. Comics families, DC Universe cities, have a nature that cannot be denied. Spend time in Gotham, you might get some dirt on you.4. These panels
Yeah, he probably does. Do villains choose how they want to play it? If you want to rob banks with your gimmick, go to Central City. If you're into leaving clues and getting your head kicked in, go to Gotham. Want a quick arrest, but a fair shake? Metropolis.3. Toy-Man's redemption and reinvention
So the pedophile-killer Toy-Man was a robot that could fool Superman. Hm. That's a bit cheap as far as retcons go. EXCEPT that Johns sells it by inserting every Toy-Man appearance in continuity with these things. I mean, there's the Golden Age Toy-Man and the one from Super-Friends! Plus the animated adventures Toy-Man and the more recent Hiro Okamura. (Note that both cartoon versions still had their day in the comics, so they're not just visual puns.) He's made the "other" Toy-Men, actual "toys". Continuity porn? Or a love for the history of comics that runs deep?2. Toy-Man confessing to Jimmy Olsen because, y'know, he's only 16
Oh yeah, that's right, characters actually age. Well, Toy-Man's mistake should be forgiven as Jimmy's only aged 6 years in the last, what, 67 years? Putting him in here as an "eternal youth" is just perfect.1. The return of Cat Grant
Personally, I've always liked this character. She added a lot to the Superman Family when she came on board post-Crisis, and not just because she completed the Superman's Girlfriends trifecta of brunette-redhead-blond. She actually dated Clark for his own self, then Jimmy in an April-September kind of deal, was raising a kid by herself, and hey, who's doing the Daily Planet's gossip column these days anyway? She's potentially as strong and driven as Lois, but more malleable. I think I'm more curious about seeing her again than I am Brainiac.So... are you a Superman person or a Batman person?
No matter how distorted stroke expressionistic his Batman is, I've always loved his rendition. This panel best exemplifies what there is to like about the art in this mini-series. His Gotham and his Bat-Cave are pretty extreme too.
'nuff sown! I mean, 'nuff said!
Scarecrow's reaction is a riot! You're gonna get yourself hurt if you keep up with that sass, man.
The comic is filled with panels of people seeing the fleeting shadow of the Batman and crapping their pants. You really don't want to be up after midnight in Gotham.
The only thing funnier than Alfred's point (ninjas always operate on a full stomach) is Bruce's resignation at the end of the exchange.
