Every Hero needs a sidekick!
March 3rd, 2010 by Riff
Meet Buddy.
Buddy is my new best friend and he arrived this morning at approx 10.30 am, which probably explains the slightly bewildered expression on his face. It’s been a big week for him. Buddy used to race, but he is past his fastest now and so was pensioned off at the age of around 5 to make way for a younger laddie. So he arrived at with the good folks at the Retired Greyhound Trust, in Wolverhampton.
Happily he arrived a day before I went there, on a quest to look for a new pal. That was last week – some might call that kismet or serendipity. I call it bloody good luck. He’s fantastic and even the kitties aren’t too put out by his arrival, so it’s all good.
I’m really chuffed he’s here and judging by how he’s flaked out on the rug I don’t think he’s too unhappy either. Here’s to many years fighting the good fight, writing wrongs and chasing wabbits!
Right come on then, WALKIES!!!!!
Updated with a new pic:
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So Just Who’s Running This Game, Anyhow?
February 17th, 2010 by Riff
As regular readers will know by now, I’m an avid fan of the game City of Heroes (and Villains for that matter too.) If you’re even close to the MMO ground, you’ll probably be aware that there’s been more than a few changes there, partly in response to another game that almost came over the horizon before dipping into the darkness once more, and partly because as an ongoing mature MMO, it receives regular content updates from the mysterious creature known only as “The Devs.”
So why am I discussing an online role playing game in my comic blog? I hear you cry and it’s a very good question. Firstly of course, City of Heroes is comicbooks, writ large for the gamer. It’s classic superhero stuff, based in a mythical place called Paragon City that could be Metropolis, or Gotham or even Marvel’s version of the Big Apple. It’s superhero through and through, and it’s fantastic! If you like superhero comics and you like games, then you really should be playing it.
Last year, for the game’s 5th Anniversary, a new series of missions were launched to celebrate the occasion, a group of fascists were returning who were collectively known as “The Fifth Column.” Pseudo-Nazis in red and black with big guns, skull masks and a bad attitude. They are lead by this guy:
Reichsman: Leader of the 5th Column
He’s called Reichsman, and he’s their (not so) glorious leader. For a while it bugged me. He looked very familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. Then I bought the latest City of Heroes “Booster” pack, for characters of a “Natural” origin. They got a new movement power called “Ninja Run.” Ninjas! That was it. The wheels turned slowly and the gears clicked into place, one by one. Ninjas and Nazis! That was it – the connection I needed. I ran to my shelves and dragged volumes from them, flicking through pages and YES! I’d sussed it.
Let me elucidate. Soon a new expansion for City of Heroes will be released called “Going Rogue.” Nothing to do with the palinmonster, that’s from a totally different comicbook – it allows you to take your hero or villain in game and swap sides. With that comes two new power sets; dual pistols and deomon summoning – and the demons are allegedly controlled by whips. (I say allegedly because this is all new and exciting and I don’t think anyone’s actually seen them in action yet.)
So we have the following:
Dual Pistols:
Abbey Chase: Dual Pistols
Demon Summoning (with a whip to control them.)
Sydney Savage: A Whip and a Wink is all it takes
Ninjas (with Gunz)
Agent Zero: Super Ninja (with two guns - curiously 
Big Nasty Nazi Dude.
Major Maxim
Hmmmmmmmm
Going back a while, a new power set was released.
Dual Blades.
Knives: Two, for the use of! Natalia Kassel
See where I’m going with this?
That’s right, they’re all Danger Girl; J. Scott Campbell’s & Andy Hartnell’s opus. And look who leads them: This guy, Deuce, a fine figure of a man, sporting a worthy beard.
Until recently “The Devs” was headed up by this finely whiskered gent, known to the world as Matt ‘Positron’ Miller, and to me the resemblance is immediate and striking as I’m sure you’ll agree, Peas, in a pod!
Matt "Positron" Miller
It’s a Danger Girl plot. Clearly the invisible Overlords who control “The Devs” are Campbell and Hartnell (or could it be that Campbell is merely Positron’s nom de plume?) Recently however Melissa ‘War Witch’ Bianco took over as Overlord of “The Devs.”
War Witch
Abbey Chase
Striking colour scheme huh?
And there’s already a Barracuda in City of Villains: who’d have thought Johnny was a cross-dressing switcher?
So there you have it! The game’s about to change beyond all recognition, so grab your guns, whips and blades and hold on to your hats for Danger Girl – City Heroes. Enjoy*
Tags: Abbey Chase, Agent Zero, Andy Hartnell, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Danger Girl, Deuce, Going Rogue, J. Scott Campbell, Major Maxim, Marvel, Matt 'Positron' Miller, Natalia Kassle, Reichsman, Sydney Savage, War Witch
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Excelsior! Happy Birthday Stan Lee
December 29th, 2009 by Riff
Ok so it’s a day late but better late than never!
Yesterday was the great “Stan the Man” Lee’s birthday – a sparkling 87 years young.
If you don’t know exactly who Stanley Martin Lieber is, then I’m wondering what you’re doing reading this, but welcome anyhow. For those who aren’t in the know, Stan Lee, along side comicbook giants such as Jack Kirby, John Buscema, John Romita and “Gentleman” Gene Colan created some of the greatest mythologies of the modern age: The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Daredevil, The X-Men, Iron Man and of course the Amazing Spider-man – there’s more too but this isn’t just a list.
It wasn’t just heroes Stan created either – Doc Ock, Dr Doom, Magneto, The Skrulls are some of the best villains in comicdom; dastardly, dangerous, demented and deadly and they’ve all stood the test of time.
Stan and his collaborators also created some of the best stories, and grey areas: Thunderbolt Ross & the Inhumans walk a fine line between hero and villain – and in that Stan was a decade or more ahead of his time. We could go on, but let’s just celebrate the man who has brought so much pleasure to generations of kids across the planet.
I once heard that more people have read something by Stan Lee than have read Shakespear and bloody good job too if that’s true because Stan is relevant! His stories, fantastic as they may be, speak to people in the modern age unlike the (not so) immortal bard.
Stan, we wish you many more years of health wealth and happiness! Enjoy and Excelsior! We are all of us, True Believers
Tags: Dr Doom, Fantastic Four, Jack Kirby, Spider-Man, Stan Lee
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Update
December 14th, 2009 by Riff
Things are moving apace.
I figure it’s time to give you all a clue as to my latest project: ICBMDB
There you go, make of that what you will
Tags: ICBMDB
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Silence Abounds
December 4th, 2009 by Riff
I know… things have been very quiet around here. But just so you know, I’ve not forgotten about either of you, dearest readers.
I’ve been working hard on a secret project that soon I will hope to be able to reveal a bit more about in due course, and also I’m actually in a place where (I hope) I can start reading comics again and blogging a bit more frequently. No promises, the black dog still has a fierce bite, but, well… let’s hope.
I’ve also got a treatise I’m mulling over here that I hope some of you will find interesting. I’ll start work on that shortly with luck
Til then, toodles.
Tags: comic books, comicbooks, comics, Something excitiing's coming!
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Back in Action!
November 18th, 2009 by Riff
Ok we’ve been through a host move and some other extraneous crap – but now I’m very pleased to tell you we’re back and raring to go!
What’s more, I’ve got an exciting new project I’m working on that you, dear reader, will be invited to take part in in due course. An exciting, interactive comic project! So stay tuned and I’ll update you in due course!
Meanwhile I’ve got a few other blogs to get down here so there’ll be more to come and I’ve also got a couple of other sites to work on too. It’s tough at the top I tell ya!
Don’t be a stranger!
Tags: Back in action!, news
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Hooving Most
November 8th, 2009 by Riff
Looks like I’m going to have to find myself a new web host for here, and for my other sites – my current host seems to have lost the plot (and several servers.)
But the good news is I have a cunnning plan and I’m even kind of managing to dip into comics again ever so slightly.
Stay tuned Folks!
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Time for a Rethink?
October 7th, 2009 by Riff
As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with health issues over the last couple of years or so – and it’s often very tough to come up with cool and interesting subject matter to make this blog an interesting read. It’s also very hard work maintaining enthusiasm for it at times. It was especially tough when we were hacked recently due to some arsehole exploing some bad code.
When I kicked this blog off, I was doing so in partnership with my buddy Eblison. He’s sadly had to get involved in other things, and so it’s inevitably fallen to me as a one-man band to keep things going and with no budget to even keep abreast of the latest news, that’s sometimes a bit tough.
I hope sincerely that in the last year or so, Crucial Comicbooks has given you all some great insights into the world of comics – but I’m really not sure if I can keep the site going much longer, at least in its current format. It may be that I shall suddenly get inspired by some other thought for it and it will rise, phoenix-like from the Ashes of this blog to be something new and exciting (but as it stands I have no idea what that idea might be.)
Nothing is written in stone, and I’d welcome any and all feedback on this – but it seems to me that the only thing I can realistically bring to the comicbook world is opinion. I’m not able to bring breaking news, or exclusives or anything of that nature – there are many sites better connected to the comic industry than this, so it becomes purely my thoughts and opinion and it was never meant to be about me.
It’s not a done deal, yet. I’m chewing it over, so let me know what you think, assuming you have any opinion at all and I’ll take it from there.
Toodles for now x
Tags: Ashes, comics, Crucial Comicbooks, Opinion, WordPress
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Marv Wolfman on Collecting
September 12th, 2009 by Riff
Marv Wolfman’s been a name I’ve known almost all my life, from when I first discovered Marvel’s comicbooks. Marvel at that time was unique: I knew Batman and Robin from TV, not comics, but somehow, Marvel’s characters – or rather, Stan Lee’s creations – were much more real. Thus I was hooked.
Marv’s name has been synonymous with comics for me almost ever since. I seem to recall his name from way back, as author, editor and general commentator. Recently he suffered a tragic (but thankfully no serious hurt or injury) but reading that made me realise I’d not seen him in action for a while. Probably because he works mostly for DC and they somehow have never managed to grab me like Marvel or many of the independants have.
However he’s worth listening to, and I often dip into his blog over at http://marvwolfman.com/todaysviews.html – he brings some good sstuff to bear, be it parodies of Kaspar or thoughts on how comics will adjust to the new technologies. He’s getting to that stage where he’s an elder statesman of comics and the guy that helped create Wolverine, the most popular comicbook character ever is worth listening to.
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…. annnnnnnd we’re back!
September 10th, 2009 by Riff
Ok well that was traumatic.
For those of you who don’t know, WordPress recently announced a vulnerability and patched it but it was too late for many of us and some slimy little shits of hackers got in under the radar and took our sites offline.
Not a pleasant experience, and something that I’ve not really had to deal with in the past. It did actually make me wonder what the point of this is, but I’m not one to act in haste.
It did however focus the mind. What is the main value of this website? It’s hard to get exclusive news relating to comics, and interviews are also somewhat rare, limited in no small part by geographical location, as well as time etc. So I shall use this as an opportunity to cogitate and reflect and decide on the best direction for the site. If you, dearest reader have any suggestions, I’d welcome them. Let me know by dropping me a comment or something
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