recent viewing; Justice League: Gods and Monsters

Justice League: Gods and Monsters was the latest release in the DC Universe Animated Original movies. It has brought Bruce Timm back into the fold after he took some time off from the franchise.

This is not your father's Justice League. It is Bruce Timm's League. One of the things that pulled him back was the opportunity to do something different. Very different. This goes beyond the usual "Elseworlds" or alternate universe ideas that have come before. We don't get skewed Bruce Waynes or alternate Clark Kents here. We get a clean slate.

Superman is the son of Zod, not the son of Jor El. He is raised in a harsh life of Mexican migrant workers, and he is Hernan Guerra, not Clark Kent. Batman is Kirk Langstrom - known in main DC continuity as the Man-Bat. Here, he is a biologically created vampire. Wonder Woman is Bekka, a lesser known New Gods character, who has exiled herself to Earth.

The Justice League operate outside of the law, with compliance from the US government. But as a mystery unfolds and the League are framed for multiple murders, the government and League alliance breaks down. The League races to find the true villain, before the violence escalates out of control.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

As DC meanders in the live-action realm while Marvel takes off into the stratosphere, quite the opposite continues to occur in the direct-to-Media animated movies arena.  Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is another homerun for DC. (Unlike my disappointment with Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore.)

Barry Allen, a.k.a. the Flash, awakens from a desk nap to find the world has completely changed, and most of it not for the better.  His superpower speed is gone, some other heroes don't exist, and those that do are not the same that Allen knew.  The world is on the brink of annihilation as the fabled nations of Atlantis and the Amazons wage all-out war against each other - regardless of human casualties caught in the crossfire.  Can Barry Allen regain his speed and time-travel ability in time to change the alternate timeline before it is too late to save the world?

Like some mythic tale of old, Atlantis and Themyscira are at war over assassinations and lovers' betrayals.  Aquaman and the Atlanteans have already struck a major blow, driving the Amazons from their native island.  This leads to the Amazons conquering England and declaring it New Themyscira.  And now Aquaman threatens to use an ultimate weapon.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox doesn't so much reverse the DC Universe as much as it skews it arse over elbows.  This is not a simple "good guys are bad guys / bad guys are good guys" alternate universe story.  There are a few surprises in that vein, and that's all I'll say to avoid spoilers.

DC are not joking about the PG-13 rating this time around.  There is blood and disturbing violence.  Wonder Woman is a stone cold killer.  (In fact, a friend of mine who received an early review copy texted me immediately and warned me not to show my kids [It's okay, I don't let my kids watch these PG-13 DC movies.])  Older kids might be okay but if you have any very young ladies who admire Wonder Woman's heroics, this is probably not the time to introduce the concept of an alternate reality with a murderous Wonder Woman.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is very dark, very different and very good.

more capsule reviews

In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling (novel)

A sequel to his Edgar Rice Burroughs' Venus series homage, The Sky People, Stirling takes us to Mars for his own vision of Barsoom.  Aiming for a modern take on the sword-&-planet genre, we get an interesting mix of a scifi anthropologic/archaeological tale that morphs into a rousing adventure with airships and wildly imaginative bio-tech.  The opening sequence, a scene where various classic scifi pulp authors watch the first Mars landing together (in an alternate history to our own,) is worth the price of admission alone.

Moanin' at Midnight - The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman (biography)

I'd been meaning to read this for a very long time.  I know the basics of Wolf's life, but not the details.  Like so many early bluesmen, it's hard to believe he survived to old age.  Also surprising was his sense of discipline to his work ethic.  Music was his job.  He expected his band members to perform sober and well-dressed.  Considering he was one of the wildest of the Chicago bluesmen when he performed, I was surprised to learn that.  It is fascinating to read about Wolf's early solo rambling around the South.  He met and played with the early greats – Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson - long before he went electric & got to Chicago.  It's dumbfounding that given his vocal styling he was never tapped for “field recordings” in his early days as other bluesmen were.  Because he didn't record until after he went electric, there are only a handful of later solo acoustic songs.  I will be seeking them out.

Thieves' World (anthology) by Robert Lynn Asprin & Lynn Abbey

This is the original anthology that launched the Thieves' World continuing series of anthologies and novels.  Various authors try their hand in a shared sword-&-sorcery world.  Though I sometimes felt the grit and nastiness went too far (a backlash against sanitized fantasies of the day?) generally the stories were enjoyable sword-&-sorcery and I'll get around to reading more of them.

Kingdom Come (graphic novel)

A sprawling epic across the DC universe as a new wave of violent super-powered vigilantes displace the old guard.  Drummed out by popularity of lethal force, Superman retreats for ten years while humanity lives in fear of the gods among them.  Lured out of retirement, Superman soon establishes a new order that is much resented by many of the younger breed.  Meanwhile, the government, Lex Luthor and even Bruce Wayne are edgy about the great civil war that is about to erupt between the super-heroes.  Compelling storytelling, “painted” style of comic makes the heroes look very real and among us. It lives up to its hype, I believe.  Worth seeking out.

The Scarlet Citadel (graphic novel)

Like The Phoenix on the Sword, this is a wonderful and faithful comic adaptation of the original Robert E. Howard Conan tale.  The artwork is stunning again.   Nothing wrong here, at all.  It is excellent!

Kingdom of Silver (Doctor Who audio drama)

The Doctor finds a world where Cybermen of the past have worked their way into the mythology of the people.  The populace experiment with “silver” which cures disease and provides other boons.  But it also means that as they approach the dawn of their technical era, the waiting Cyber tomb hidden underneath the world might awake.  A companionless Seventh Doctor allows Sylvester McCoy to deliver a touch of melancholy to his performance as the Doctor.  Terry Malloy, mostly known for his portrayal of Davros - the meglomaniac creator of the Daleks - plays a good-though-misguided-guy, for a change.  This is a solid audio adventure for the Doctor.

Movies

Reading my way through a Warhammer 40K omnibus right now, and I'll be dropping my thoughts on that (3 novels) when I've finished 'em all as one big whole.

Meantime, I've managed to catch some movies. (and here are my thoughts, if you are interested.)

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Appaloosa

Good western. Gunfights are realistic - they happen and end in a flash. (Yes, the real gunfight at O.K. Corral only lasted something like 30~40 seconds, I remember Jack Palance telling me on Ripley's Believe It or Not, if I recall correctly.) I enjoyed the teaming of both the characters and actors (Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen.)

I am interested in reading the original series of novels by Robert B. Parker. The plot is simple enough - two hired lawman try to bring in a crooked rancher, and things get complicated when they both fall for the new widower in town, Allie French (played by Renee Zellweger.) I had a hard time buying that Allie's affections were worth the trouble the characters went through (frankly, she wasn't a likable character to me.)

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Planet Hulk

The Hulk is supposed to be marooned on a planet teaming with non-intelligent life. The Avengers have made the decision for the safety of Earth and the Hulk. But the Hulk smashes the spacecraft's controls, and lands on a planet in the finest sword-n-planet tradition - strange alien creatures, gladiatorial combat, and all the trappings.

Good adaptation of the graphic novel but a lot has been jettisoned for streamlining (and happy endings.) This was not unexpected. The "making of" documentary mentioned that they kept much of the story taking place in the arena as the plot's "spine". For me, that was a detriment. I wanted them out of the arena and exploring the planet more.

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It Might Get Loud

This documentary is about three rock icons and how the electric guitar and other musical forces shaped their musical development. Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White. Regardless of how you feel about their music, it is a very interesting look at three different guitar players. Being a "white boy bluesman" myself, I found Jack White's story of most interest (also, I already knew plenty about Page and the Edge.) I thought the stylistic choices of the three men was ironic when they all played slide together on "In My Time of Dying". Edge wore his slide on his middle finger, Page on the ring finger and White on the pinky. Perfect serendipitous dovetailing.

Fun and interesting; if you have even a single rock'n'roll bone in your body, check this one out.

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Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Another DC Universe direct-to-DVD feature. I think this is my favorite. Expectations are turned upside down as Lex Luthor, last survivor of his world's Justice League, arrives on Earth to seek assistance from the Justice League. On his world, the evil counterparts to the JL are a crime syndicate who answer to no one and now threaten to take absolute control. Good visuals, good story. So far with these movies, I've been enjoying the rotating voice casts, but I admit I am so used to Clancy Brown voicing Lex Luthor that Chris Noth's turn here left me a little cold. Still - that's more about me than his performance.

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All in all, a good batch of movies I'm glad to say.