Author Archives: Joe

September 4, 2011

Danzig 5 – Blackacidevil

By Joe

Original cover artwork for “Blackacidevil” (1996) in long form. The bottom half is what appeared on the CD cover. If Danzig 5 had received a proper LP release, it can be assumed it would have been a gatefold. Danzig 5 is the only Danzig album to not have a vinyl release.

The fifth LP from Danzig was a unique one, and to this day a lot of the elements introduced on it have never been heard from again.  It also represented a lot of firsts for the band.  It was the first Danzig album to appear on a label other than Rick Rubin’s American Recordings.  It was also the first without the band members that had appeared on all four full-length albums previous; Eerie Von, John Christ, and Chuck Biscuits.  For Von, this was the first non Misfits album to feature a bassist other than he.  Outside of the soundtrack only “You and Me (Less Than Zero),” every Samhain and Danzig recording had featured Von on bass (years later, Glenn would state he or John Christ recorded a lot of bass tracks for prior albums).  And really, other than himself, Glenn had only worked with two bassists up to this point, the other being Misfits veteran Jerry Only.  John Christ was dismissed following the 4p tour, and Biscuits before that.  Replacement Joey Castillo would handle most of the drum duties for Danzig 5 (where an electronic beat wasn’t employed) and bassist Josh Lazie was brought on board.  The album did not feature a permanent guitar player, but Alice in Chains axe-man Jerry Cantrell was featured on a couple of tracks.

Blackacidevil (pronounced black acid devil) is the first and only full-length release for Danzig on Hollywood Records.   As I mentioned in my Danzig over view entry, Hollywood’s parent company, Disney, would object to featuring a band such as Danzig on their label and the agreement was terminated shortly after the release of Danzig 5.  This resulted in a low press run of the first edition of the album and the PR for it came to an abrupt halt.  Not that a longer one would have made much of a difference as Blackacidevil was not received well by music critics and fans alike.

Blackacidevil represents Glenn Danzig’s greatest risk and greatest failure.  Under the security of a brand new record agreement and without the influence of a big name producer, Glenn was free to approach his fifth studio album however he wanted.  Choosing to go industrial, he produced an uneven album with almost all of the elements of his previous albums absent.  The lyrics are almost hyper-sexualized, borrowing thematically from Glenn’s comic book line, “Verotik.”  Some of the songs, like the title track, feature heavy repetition creating a mad-man like state as if the song could have been constructed by a serial killer.  Songs like the opener “7th House,” are relentless in their melody-abandoned approach.  In that specific example, think 4p’s opener “Brand New God” but with an even simpler structure and heavy vocal distortion.

The song structures for the most part are very basic in their approach, harkening back to the debut album.  The coat of electronic production and vocal distortion disguise the simple song structures and give the album an easy scapegoat.  Even without the distortion, this album likely would have been poorly received.  Glenn has stated he viewed Danzig 5 as a continuation of Samhain, or where he thought Samhain was heading.  I found that to be a cop-out, or a piece of revisionist history.  I’ll concede that the first two Danzig records interrupted the natural Samhain progression, but How the Gods Kill and 4p were a logical continuation.  Danzig 5 just represents where Glenn’s head was at the time and the current climate of both popular music and the band’s state made the time right for experimentation.

I commend Glenn for being an artist who does what he wants, when he wants.  He doesn’t generally make music for a label (though Rubin and American Recordings obviously had some say) or for his fans, and he shouldn’t.  And while I generally am not a fan of Blackacidevil, it isn’t all bad.  For the most part, the vocal distortion just does not suit Glenn’s voice.  It gives him a higher tone that’s borderline screeching.  The electronic beats just don’t do it for me, and really, the industrial genre is not one I’m particularly fond of.  This album just wasn’t made for me.

Where the album does shine is with certain tracks.  The one most often cited as being the hidden gem is the bluesy “Come to Silver.”  Originally intended to be a Johnny Cash song, it’s a distorted, slow tempo track that features some excellent guitar work by Cantrell.  Here the vocal distortion adds a chilling touch to the song which suits its lyrics.  Years later an undistorted, acoustic version would be released that fails to match the original’s atmosphere.  The original album closer, “Ashes,” is another chilling track that paints a bleak and desperate picture.  The vocals are clean and feature a falsetto delivery at times by Glenn.  He once described it as similar to 4p’s closer “Let it be Captured,” but darker and a song that never truly climaxes.

“Sacrifice” was the album’s lead single.  It’s not a unique track, as its drum track is basically a sped-up version of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” but it strikes a nice balance between metal and industrial.  “See All You Were” is a track I enjoy, but I wish I could hear a non-distorted vocal track.  I’m convinced there’s a great vocal performance buried under all the muck.

The Emond cover for the 2000 re-issue. The added tracks were “Deeper,” “Bleedangel,” and “Don’t Be Afraid.”

Other than those 4 tracks, the rest are throw-aways for me.  Some of them, such as “Serpentia,” are what I consider the worst tracks Glenn Danzig has ever recorded.  In 2000, Glenn’s then current label E-Magine would re-release Blackacidevil with new cover artwork by Martin Emond and three additional tracks.  The added tracks offered little, though the re-mix of “Deep” is okay and probably superior to the original.  For fans of industrial, I suspect this album leaves something to be desired and for fans of Danzig most will find little to enjoy.  This is the album that, for better or worse, changed everything for Danzig.  After this, the large venue shows all but dried up and Danzig was returned to the underground from whence it came.  There were no more 9 figure record deals or Top 100 singles and the albums that followed would best be classified as uneven.  I’m not sure what Glenn’s attitude towards this album is today.  For years, he insisted it was misunderstood and one of his favorite releases.  Following 2000 though, Danzig 5’s influence on future live set lists was all but erased.  When the band Danzig celebrated its 20th anniversary by playing a chronological set list, Danzig 5 was curiously skipped over.  That is likely the closest thing to an admission of failure we are likely to receive from Glenn Danzig.

Top Tracks

  • Sacrifice
  • Come to Silver
  • Ashes

2 Comments | posted in Danzig, Music

September 2, 2011

Call Me “Ambassador!”

By Joe

Yesterday was the first day of September and for most probably just another Thursday, however, this wasn’t any ordinary Thursday.  This was the first day of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program!  That means that for all of those impatient suckers out there (like me) who bought the 3DS at launch earlier this year when the software was terrible, some old Nintendo games are now available for free via the eShop.  This was done to make consumers feel better about paying $250 for something that just got marked down to $170.  Really, Nintendo had no obligation to do anything for early adopters but it’s certainly not a bad PR move to throw your loyal fans a bone, and that’s what they’ve done.

Ten classic Nintendo games have been made available to those of us lucky enough to be called ambassadors.  Truthfully, the term classic is probably a bit much for some of these titles as I’ve never heard anyone pine for a downloadable version of Yoshi recently.  Regardless, I downloaded everything and made some time last night and today to fire each title up for some nostalgic gameplay or to try a title I missed out on.  I’ve actually been looking forward to them as I’m in a dry spell when it comes to new portable games.  While the games play faithfully enough (perhaps too faithfully) they also haven’t benefited from the usual enhancements Nintendo makes to their virtual console titles.  For the re-release of Link’s Awakening a Virtual Console menu was added that included a save state feature, similar to what most emulators have (not that I would know anything about that…) that proved quite convenient.  It’s really nice for a portable to have the ability to save the game at any time.  It’s also convenient for those really difficult old school games as you end up with a handy restore feature when you screw up.  Cheating?  Perhaps, but I’ll never beat Zelda II without it.

There is some good news though.  Nintendo plans on releasing all 10 of these titles to the general public at a later date with not only the restore feature added but two player functionality as well.  At that time ambassadors will be able to re-download the games for free to get the full experience making these current ones just a tide-me-over kind of deal.  I don’t know when the “true” versions will be available though (possibly not until next year) which is too bad.  In addition to these current titles, Nintendo plans on releasing 10 Gameboy Advance titles as well for ambassadors.  Unlike the NES games, these ones apparently won’t be available to new 3DS owners.  Wanna know what I think about the current games?  Read on:

Super Mario Bros. – What’s there to say about the classic Nintendo platformer that hasn’t already been said?  Well, for one it controls a little funky.  I don’t know if it’s the 3DS or just sloppy emulation but it feels off.  The display is also 4:3 which makes Mario and enemies seem tiny on the 16:9 format screen.  It’s playable, but not perfect.

Balloon Fight – This is a game that needs two-player and unfortunately, that’s not available at this time.  It’s a simple, fun title that I never played on the NES.  You flap around suspended from a pair of red balloons and pop the balloons of enemies, then take them out before they can refill their balloons.  Again though, the 3DS controls hinder the experience.  Flying requires rapid tapping of the B button which makes it hard to keep the 3DS steady and thus hard to follow.  It’s still fun, but not something I’ll be playing much.

Donkey Kong Jr. – Mario as a villain!  That’s one of the attractions of this re-working of the Donkey Kong formula.  Definitely old school, but a faithful port.  It’s not a game I was ever a huge fan of but I’m going to make an effort to give it some a chance.

The Legend of Zelda – Hey!  A real classic!  This one is another faithful port and one not hindered at all by the 3DS’s controls.  This old game holds up fairly well though younger gamers may find it too difficult.  I’d definitely welcome the save state feature but it’s not a killer here.

Zelda II: The Adventures of Link – Because one Zelda title is never enough.  Here’s a game that would benefit greatly from the save state feature.  The port is faithful, right down to the “I am error” guy, so if you like the original you’ll like this one.  I’m on record as stating I’ve never been real fond of this title.  It’s difficultly is due to the poor controls and Link has never felt worse to play as.  When the updated version gets released with save state I’ll make an honest effort to beat it.  No promises though!

Metroid – Link isn’t the only one celebrating an anniversary this year.  For some reason, Nintendo hasn’t said much about Samus’ milestone but whatever.  Metroid still plays well today, though it would be nice to replace the archaic password feature with the save state feature (I’m aware I must sound like a broken record at this point).  The only disappointment in regards to this title is that it likely means the re-make Zero Mission won’t be included as one of the GBA downloads.  The excellent Metroid Fusion will be though.  Even without the save state feature, this one is probably my favorite of the freebies.

Wrecking Crew – Here’s an obscure Mario game.  It’s kind of a puzzler where Mario tries to smash everything in the level without getting hit by a personified wrench thing.  I remember playing this as a kid, but not for any great length of time.  When I realized that it wasn’t anything like SMB I probably turned it off.  This is a game that works pretty well and isn’t hindered by any of the VC shortcomings, as a single player experience anyways.  A surprising little gem that will likely benefit from being a free release.

NES Open – An obscure golf game starring the Mario brothers.  If I hadn’t just spent the past month playing Let’s Golf 3D I probably would have been more interested in this one.  It’s just too old and unwieldy for me.  I doubt I’ll play much of this one.

Ice Climbers – This game is mostly pointless without 2-player support.  A good port of an old game.  Those who liked it as kids might get a kick out of it, but I have little use for it.

Yoshi – A puzzle game, though not a particularly endearing one.  It’s amusing for short bursts and I actually prefer it to Dr. Mario but it’s no Tetris.  By virtue of the fact that it’s a puzzler makes it very playable though and Father Time has been pretty kind to it.  I can see myself playing this one for a while when I’m bored with a 3DS in my hand.

So those are my impressions of the initial batch of Nintendo Ambassador games.  With more on the way there’s reason for optimism if you were an early adopter of the Nintendo 3DS.  The more modern GBA games will probably trump the NES ones and while it would have been cool to get a real classic like Super Mario Bros. 3, I’m not surprised Nintendo would want to hold that one back for a paid release (or a 3D remake).  At the very least, this gives me something to do until Star Fox drops later this month.

1 Comment | posted in Video Games

August 29, 2011

Sonic CD and the CDX

By Joe

There was a pretty significant chunk of my life where the Sega Genesis was my favorite console.  I got it primarily for some uncensored Mortal Kombat brutality but soon got hooked onto the system’s other franchises, franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog.  My first Genesis was the Model 2 which included the pack-in game Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and I played the Hell out of it.  Soon after, one of my rare non Christmas or birthday acquisitions would be Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and was probably the first game I ever beat 100% by collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds in all three game modes (Sonic, Tails, and Sonic with Tails).

The elusive Sega CD. It may be huge, but I do confess I think it looks pretty sleak. Of course, this picture doesn't include all of the wires needed to operate both the Genesis and the Sega CD at the same time.

I loved that blue Hedgehog and his two-tailed companion, even Knuckles was pretty cool.  I also played and beat the original Sonic game and continued on with the franchise through the Dreamcast days.  One game that I never did get a chance to play though was Sonic CD.  Sonic CD was, of course, the flagship title for Sega’s CD add-on to the Genesis.  The attachment was not only expensive, it was also terrible and cumbersome.  Don’t believe me, then check out what The Nerd had to say about it a few years ago.  Sure there are some worthwhile games out there, but sadly they were quite few and far between.  I don’t even remember asking my parents for one because that’s a big request.  To get that for Xmas would mean I’d probably get nothing else, and since the software wasn’t very compelling, I learned to make do without.

That meant I could never play Sonic CD, for not only did I never get a Sega CD, I didn’t even know anyone who did.  Feeling nostalgic, I decided I needed to play this game.  I know quite a bit about the Sega CD and that it can be a pretty spotty attachment.  I still have my old Genesis, but I didn’t want to dedicate the shelf space for it and it’s parasitic attachment.  Sonic CD did get released on a compilation a few years back on the Gamecube, Sonic Gems Collection, but it was pretty buggy.  Still, the cheap price tempted me on the resale market until I remembered Sega’s final Genesis revision:  CDX.

The CDX, and for size comparison, a standard Playstation CD jewel case and a more current portable music device, the iPod Touch.

The CDX came out late in the Genesis’ life cycle.  It combined the hardware of the Genesis with the Sega CD in a compact case meant to also function as a portable CD player.  Like most mid-90’s portable CD players, it was really bulky and was not at all shy about sucking the juice from AA batteries making it extremely impractical.  Considering it’s 2011 though, I couldn’t care less about that part of the package and found myself very interested in it’s compact size and functionality.

To eBay I went, only to find that a CDX wasn’t going to come cheap, but like with a lot of things, once I decide I want it there’s no turning back.  After missing out on a few auctions I finally came away with one in pristine condition last week along with 2 copies of Sonic CD, the original (in jewel case) and the re-release that came packaged with the CDX.

Since getting it last week I’ve played and beaten Sonic CD.  Was it worth the 15 year wait?  Probably not.  I had often heard fans cite Sonic CD as the best of the 2D Sonic titles (which I suppose would make it the best Sonic title) and I didn’t come away with that impression.  My favorite is still Sonic 3, especially once added to Sonic & Knuckles.  Sonic CDreminds me quite a bit of the first Sonic game.  In this one Sonic is flying solo and Robotnik is once again up to no good.  This time he’s got a new toy for Sonic to deal with, Metal Sonic!  Metal Sonic makes his first appearance early on and kidnaps Sonic’s girl,

The original Sega CD cases were similar in size to a standard DVD case but made of plastic like a CD jewel case. They were also thicker but just as fragile making it easy to see why DVDs never came in a similar package. The above Sonic CD is the one that came with the CDX which is similar to a digi-pack release only with no room for the booklet.

Amy, giving Sonic even more motivation to kick some ass.  The play mechanics are traditional Sonic, though he does have a couple of new moves.  The spin dash returns from Sonic 2 and he can also rev-up in a standing position.  I never really found much of a use for it as the spin dash puts Sonic into an invulnerable rolling position, but it’s nice to have.  The bonus stage is from a behind the hedgehog perspective once again, only this time you’re guiding Sonic over a pseudo race track to smash these flying saucer type things.  Smash them all in the alloted time and get a time stone.  The time stones are part of the lore of the game’s setting which allows Sonic to do something he’s never been able to do before – time travel.  In each non boss battle zone, Sonic can travel backwards or forwards in time.  This is mostly a gimmick, but it does add variety to the levels so you can experience them in a slightly different way on repeat play-throughs.  Otherwise, it’s possible to make it through the entire game without ever accessing this feature.

Just because the game didn’t live up the hype for me, doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.  The level design is cool and the gameplay tried and true Sonic.  I did find the boss battles too easy though, and the confrontation with Metal Sonic was really anti-climatic.  The game also experienced more slow-down than other games.  In all Sonic titles, it’s not uncommon for the game to stutter a bit when Sonic takes damage and loses a large amount of rings.  I found it more frequent with Sonic CDand sometimes the enemy sprites would disappear when this happened as well.  I suppose that’s the trade-off when switching to CD.  I’ve also heard the CDX is more prone to this sort of thing than the Sega CD was, though that was usually in reference to FMV sequences but I’m still leaving it open as a possibility.  The soundtrack is nice, though the poppy up-tempo “Sonic Boom”

The CDX is much smaller than the Genesis and Sega CD combo, but for a portable CD player it's still pretty bulky.

title song isn’t really my kind of thing.  I also miss the classic invincibility music from the first two Sonic games.  I didn’t beat the game completely, which is to say, I didn’t achieve the best ending.  By going back in time in each zone, Sonic can create a good future for the zone by destroying a robot generator.  I didn’t do that for each level, and I didn’t get all of the time stones  I plan on giving it a shot, even if the FMV animated endings are all pretty lame.

This isn’t the end for me and the Sega CDX though.  Not only did I get Sonic CD, I also got the two Ecco the Dolphin games and a compilation title.  There are a few select other Sega CD games I want to check out, and I also plan to make use of that Genesis port in the not so distant future.  It’s a pretty cool little device and I plan on getting my money’s worth with it.  This also isn’t the end of nostalgic video game topics.  Not only can you expect further Sega Genesis and CD titles to pop up on here, but I’ve also decided to get into Neo Geo and plan on having a lot to say about it.

2 Comments | posted in Video Games

August 21, 2011

X-Men Season 4 (Part 1)

By Joe

Season 3 of X-Men was the biggest so far.  Quality does not always equal quantity though and while it was still pretty solid it was not up to par with the first two seasons.  Season 4 is much closer in length to the first two seasons, but probably not as good as even season 3.  A lot of the big stories were exhausted in season 3 and some of the holdovers feel lesser in scope.  There were some nice cameos though, most popular of which was the first appearance of Nightcrawler, and the mostly original tale “Beyond Good and Evil” was probably more fun than the Phoenix saga.

Like season 3, there were production delays for some of the episodes in season 4 that forced them to season 5 for the broadcast.  Also, some of these episodes were actually broadcast as part of season 3, such as the first episode we’re going to look at “The Juggernaut Returns.”  As with season 3, I’ll be looking at the episodes here in production order.

The Juggernaut Returns

Ever since Gladiator sent the Juggernaut hurtling across the Atlantic we haven’t seen or heard from the big guy.  Turns out, the only side affect for crushing Juggernaut’s pride like that was to just make him even angrier with his step brother Xavier so he sets his sights on Xavier’s school once again.

Nerd Juggernaut, never to be seen again.

We’re treated to a humorous visual of Juggernaut swiping a taxi cab to serve as his mode of transportation.  As the X-Men prepare to mount a defense, a curious thing happens and the Juggernaut suddenly finds himself de-powered and scared.  That’s because a side story is occurring at the same time that shows a dorky looking guy uncovering the ancient Ruby of Cytorrak, the source of Juggernaut’s powers.  This nerdy looking individual becomes the new Juggernaut and sets off to do what every nerd turned jock would do – pick up chicks.

Xavier makes the call that to save the life of his step brother, the X-Men must restore his powers.  While Wolverine and Cyclops run off to track down this new Juggernaut, Xavier relives the parts of his life he and Cain shared.  We learn that Cain is a pretty cruddy person, but his father was even worse who married Xavier’s mother just for her money.  Since Cain couldn’t help himself and had to bully young Charles, his father sent him away to a boarding school which only served to further fuel Cain’s dislike of Charles.

Wolverine and Cyclops end up tracking down the new Juggernaut, and the resulting confrontation is more comedy than anything.  They retrieve the ruby and return it to Cain who once again transforms into the Juggernaut.  Perhaps as a showing of thanks, he chooses to leave the mansion without further incident.

Nightcrawler

It's not easy being green, but blue isn't much better.

Apparently needing a break, Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine head off on a ski trip to Germany.  Why they chose to go to Germany when they have Colorado to choose from I do not know.  As usual, nothing goes right and a mishap on the slopes lands them at a monastery located in a small town time forgot that fears some demon.  The monks there seem friendly enough, but something clearly is amiss.  Wolverine hears about this demon and decides to go “hunting” while Rogue mistrusts one of the brothers.

Someone tries to harm a sleeping Gambit, who was injured on the slopes, and Rogue goes after him.  A fire breaks out and Nightcrawler reveals himself.  The “demon” proves to be a rather gentle soul despite his outward appearance, and the trio of X-Men set off the uncover who was trying to make him look bad.

Nightcrawler brings an element to Saturday morning television few would dare include, which is God.  As someone who isn’t even remotely religious, I find his portrayal not at all offensive and I don’t think anyone was trying to convince kids to go to church or anything.  He does have a discussion with a terse Wolverine who apparently shuns God for various reasons.  After all, the guy has had a pretty rough life.

The person behind the attack on Gambit and the burning of the monastery is uncovered, and Nightcrawler is revealed to the town’s people in the process.  They soon accept him, and the X-Men depart for Paris to continue their vacation.  The token invite to join the team is also offered, but Nightcrawler declines, as so many have before him.  In Paris, Gambit shares his own religious philosophies with Rogue (predictably, Gambit only seems to worship one man – Gambit) which causes her to storm off.  As she finds herself questioning her own beliefs she stumbles into a church to find a humbled Wolverine, kneeling before the altar.  Wisely, she says nothing and departs before he can see her.  Another example of Wolverine striving to find that inner peace he seems to always be longing for.

One Man’s Worth (Parts 1 and 2)

One of the big stories around this time in the comic book was titled “The Age of Apocalypse.”  The AoA was an alternate timeline story created when Xavier’s future son Legion traveled back in time to assassinate Magneto, thinking this would save his future.  By accident, he ends up killing his father which alters time in a frightening way, leading to a future where Magneto leads the X-Men against a tyrannical Apocalypse.  It’s a pretty cool story, and while I would have loved a true AoA for the animated series this is a very satisfying two parter.  I do so love when the writers start working with time travel!

This two-parter borrows heavily from that arc in both premise and style.  Where it differs though is that it does not include Apocalypse or Legion, and it’s never stated that Magneto leads the X-Men in the alternate timeline shown, just that he leads the mutants against the humans (keeping in theme with the future we see in “Days of Future Past”).  Substituting for Legion is the time traveling mutant Fitzroy and his comedic lackey Bantam as they’re sent back in time by Master Mold to assassinate a young Xavier.

The happy couple, and an AoA Sabretooth!

Fitzroy’s plan is discovered by Forge who once again turns to Bishop to thwart him.  Bishop is sent back in time, but this time he’s not alone as his sister Shard joins him.  Their timing is poor, as by the time they travel back to the present to enlist the help of the X-Men, Fitzroy has already succeeded.  There Bishop and Shard encounter Wolverine and Storm (sporting her 80’s look complete with a tall white mohawk), who are married in this universe.  We get to see the mutants battle the human forces and several AoA themed cameos are present including Holocaust and Nightcrawler.  It takes some convincing, but Wolverine and Storm agree to help Bishop and Shard stop Fitzroy, knowing that doing so will cause them to cease to exist.

In a rare turn of events for the show, the heroes fail.  They travel back to the 60’s and get derailed by a bit of period specific racism towards the interracial couple of Wolverine and Storm, which sets Wolverine off.  This delays them enough to allow Fitzroy to kill Xavier, and ends part one.

Part two has the heroes regrouping by traveling back to the future in order to try again.  I don’t quite understand why they had to do so, but it lets us see the new future.  Apparently, the sentinels won and Forge still exists but her serves them.  He’s also nearly entirely robotic at this point and extremely fearful of crossing the sentinels.  The heroes are able to get out of there, but Shard gets left behind with the understanding being that if they succeed in their mission, she’ll be fine.

Round 2 goes better, and the heroes win out this time by letting Fitzroy know just what the future he creates will look like.  Storm and Wolverine share a tearful farewell and the story returns us to the present where the Wolverine and Storm we know and love are enjoying a picnic with Xavier, who smiles to let us know he remembers the first time he met the two.

Proteus (Parts 1 and 2)

Another old story brought to the animated universe.  Proteus was one of the first missions for the new X-Men following the introductions of Colossus, Wolverine, and the like.  Proteus is a pretty crazy mutant with seemingly limitless psychic powers allowing him to distort and warp reality.  In the comics, his powers were so great they’d cause his body to erode and burn up, forcing Proteus to jump from host to host, killing the person he inhabited in the process.  Obviously, this would not suit for the animated series, nor would the same conclusion be used which ended in Proteus’ death at the hands of Colossus.

Proteus in his energy form.

Proteus also necessitated a new origin.  In the comics, and show, he is the son of Moira and Joe MacTaggert.  Even though they were husband and wife, Proteus was conceived as the result of rape at the hands of Joe which resulted in Moira leaving him, but not telling him she was with child.  Proteus’ powers were so great Moira had to force him into imprisonment.  She never told anyone he was her son, instead choosing to call him Mutant X.  In the show, his origins are the same, minus the rape.  Joe is a prominent politician unaware of Proteus’ existance, though in the show he apparently knows about him but has never met him.  In order to protect his campaign, he does not want the public to know he fathered a mutant.

Proteus (Kevin) breaks out, causing Moira to enlist the help of the X-Men ( it should be noted, that the writers missed a great opportunity to bring back Morph again) to recapture Proteus and return him to his cell.  Proteus meanwhile heads for Scotland and begins inhabiting people and experiencing their emotions.  He soon yearns to find his father after experiencing a father-son bond prompting Moira to warn Joe, but still keeping the secret that Kevin is her son from Xavier.

The X-Men confront Proteus, and when Wolverine starts talking about taking the kid out, Moira snaps and reveals her long kept secret.  Xavier is disappointed she chose to hide her mutant son from him, and the X-Men are forced into battle with Proteus.  Proteus wipes the floor with them, and even “rips” Wolverine into pieces (this is of course, an illusion) that completely unsettles the feral mutant and reduces him to a sobbing, retching, mess.

Knowing they can’t hope to defeat Proteus in open combat, the X-Men determine they’ll need the help of the boy’s father to calm him down.  They attend one of Joe’s campaign rallies knowing Proteus is likely to show up.  When he does, the X-Men pounce, all except Wolverine who runs off scared.  He doesn’t respond well when Rogue accuses him of cowardice, and responds even more poorly when Beast excuses it.  When all hope seems lost, Xavier is able to calm Kevin down and reunite him with his father, who surprisingly does the right thing by his son.  A much happier ending than the comic book which featured the death of both Joe MacTaggert and son.  It’s a different sort of episode, but an enjoyable one.  While the original is better, the writers did the best they could to adapt it for a children’s audience.  The image of a broken down Wolverine would prove long lasting, and would even be referenced in a later episode.

Family Ties

Would you be surprised if I told you that a random episode of the sitcom “Family Ties” is probably more entertaining than this episode?  Perhaps that is coming across a little strong, but this is a bad episode.  The only interesting aspect about it is that the show acknowledges that Magneto has two kids for the first time, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.  The trio find themselves lured into a trap by the High Evolutionary, and Wolverine and Beast tag along.  Wolverine gets turned into a Werewolf, and somehow every wrong is righted.  We get to see some sort of an origin tale for Magneto, which serves as the only redeeming quality of the show.  Apparently, the guy isn’t all bad and probably didn’t kill his wife.  Regardless, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver aren’t exactly thrilled to learn who their father is but come around by episode’s end.  The execution is just kind of lame, and the mutates that occupy the town where this takes place make for an even lamer visual.  I don’t include this in the running for worst episode of the series, but it’s also not far removed.

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August 18, 2011

Beat the Game

By Joe

CNN of all places ran an interesting article the other day in their tech section regarding how often players finishes the video games they happen to purchase (you can read it here).  The title of the article kind of says it all as it asks why people don’t finish video games, conceding that not finishing them is already the norm.  There are some numbers thrown out suggesting less than 20% of gamers will play a game to completion, but there’s no hard data given.  The only example used is Red Dead Redemption which the article states that only 10% of people who purchased it played it through to completion.

Even though it was cited by many publications as the best game of 2010, the majority of gamers who purchased Red Dead Redemption never saw the game's conclusion.

A number of reasons are given.  One being that many gamers are only interested in multi-player (certainly true for many first-person shooters and PC games) so they ignore the single player modes.  Another is the short-attention span we seem to have developed as a culture where instant gratification is the name of the game.  One theory that surprised me centered on the average age of gamers; as we get older we have less time and my generation is really the first that grew up in an era where video games were a big piece of entertainment.  The premise didn’t shock me as for me it’s absolutely true, what shocked me was that the average age of gamers according to the article is 37!  There’s got to be some noise in whatever study was conducted to determine that.  I could accept low 30’s, but I personally don’t know anyone who is 37 or older and regularly plays games.  I’m guessing cell phone games are partly responsible.

Either way, a lot of these reasons seem viable as well as many others (we certainly have an over-saturated market when it comes to games these days) and got me to thinking about my own habits.  My first reaction was to consider myself an exception as I feel like I do finish most of the games I purchase, but I decided to do some research.  I tallied up all of the games I have owned at some point during this current generation.  I’m certain I probably forgot about a game or two here or there that I sold, but for the most part I tend to hang onto my games.  The consoles I own that I included in this elementary study include Playstation 3, Wii, DS, 3DS (including eshop Gameboy Color game Link’s Awakening), and the PSP.  I found my initial reaction was correct as it does appear to be the case that I finish more games than not, but my completion rate wasn’t as high as I would have thought.  The results by console:

PS3 – 68%  Wii – 46%  DS/3DS – 38%  PSP- 50%  Overall – 54% (33 out of 61)

Clearly, my PS3 has gotten more love than the rest, or it just has had the better games.  The PSP may have come in second, but I only have 4 games for that system so I wouldn’t read much into it.  Clearly, I’m not getting much out of the DS.  For the 3DS, I only have the two over the counter games I’ve mentioned before, Super Street Fighter 4 and Ocarina of Time.  For SSF4, I never beat it with every character so I do not consider it complete, but I have spent quite a bit of time with the game (19 hours to be exact).  For the regular DS though, I’ve only finished 3 games out of 9, and one was Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow where I stopped after getting the first (and worst) ending.  For whatever reason, portable games just don’t hold my interest.  Since I began taking the train to work over a year ago though I have spent more time playing portable games so my completion rate is bound to rise.  Of the games I own but have not beat, I would like to return to both Final Fantasy III and Dragon Quest V.  Neither game really grabbed me to the point where I was sucked in but I also didn’t dislike either one and would like to see them through.

I need to give this game another chance before giving up on ever completing it.

The Wii also had a poor showing, coming in at under 50%.  In the case of the Wii, it’s mostly just a lack of quality software and the novelty of waggle controls wearing off.  Some of the Wii games I have that I never finished (and actually barely played) include Madworld and Battalion Wars.  I don’t think either would ever be confused for great games, though both supposedly have strengths, I just never found the time to give them much of a chance.  One game I have not finished but am almost certain to some day is Super Mario Galaxy 2.  I loved the first one and demolished it, but the second just didn’t hook me.  Not because it’s bad, but just because the newness wore off.  I think I’m on the second to last level so whenever I put my mind to it I will finish it.  Another that I really need to give another chance is Metroid Prime 3.  Metroid is a great series, but I just don’t like first-person shooters.  However, I feel like I need to give the game a fair chance.  I think I’ve only played it twice and only faced one boss which certainly isn’t enough time to truly evaluate the title.  On the other hand, I could just download Super Metroid from the Wii Shop…

Obviously, I’ve finished more Playstation 3 titles than any other.  And some titles I excluded as they weren’t the kind you truly “beat” (MLB games, Warhawk, etc.) but there’s still some room for improvement.  There’s some games in there I need to revisit such as Little Big Planet and the Grand Theft Auto 4 add-ons, though at this point it seems unlikely.  One game I consider in progress is Infamous 2.  I received it as a gift just about 2 months ago and started playing it maybe a month ago (before that my time was being swallowed up by Zelda) so the jury is still out.  I will say it hasn’t sucked me in like the first one did.  It’s basically a carbon copy of the first game, just in a new setting with a couple new super powers for the protagonist to make use of.  One game I considered not finished is the last Smackdown vs Raw game and only because I didn’t play through all of the single player season modes.  I’ve done basically everything else in the game except finish one or two of those modes, but unfinished is unfinished.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, my completion percentage is what it is.  I suppose if I’m getting enough satisfaction out of the majority of the games I purchase then all is well.  Part of me does and always will feel like I wasted my money if I don’t beat a game, but I also recognize I just don’t have the time.  That’s not to say I couldn’t make the time if I really put my mind to it but then how much fun would I really be having?  Needless to say, I woudln’t expect these numbers to get any better for the majority of gamers.  If anything they’ll just continue to get worse and the only way they’ll improve is if the average length of games continues to shrink to the point where we’re beating games in one sitting.  I don’t really care, so long as the big “epic” titles do not vanish all together in place of 5 hour campaigns and paper thin narratives.

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August 14, 2011

A Dance With Dragons

By Joe

George R.R. Martin's fantasy epic continues!

Last week I finished reading the latest book in George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance With Dragons.  Long time fans (and even short time fans, like myself) know it took a long time for Martin to release the fifth book is his planned seven book series so there was great anticipation for it.  I personally stayed away from forums and online reviews until I read it myself not wanting to have anything spoiled for me (and for those wondering, there are now spoilers in this review*) so that I could experience everything myself.  It seems to me the general reaction has been underwhelming.  The book, being a companion piece to the previous A Feast For Crows, was set up for such emotions as the majority of the book occurs at the same time so those cliff-hangers from that book are largely left still dangling.

*I have a pet peeve when it comes to reviews that contain the words “Spoilers Ahead.”  What is the point in reading a review that ruins the experience of reading/watching the piece it’s reviewing?  IGN.com is notorious for this with their Game of Thrones television reviews.  The way they’re set up it’s as if they want you to watch the program, then read their review to find out if you liked it or not.

The previous book covered what went on in and around King’s Landing and Dorne.  This latest book focuses on The Wall and the East where Daenerys sits as a queen without a king in Mereen, Tyrion is fleeing Westeros with the aid of the great orchestrator of schemes Illyrio, and Davos sets off a an envoy for his king, Stannis.  Those are they key players, though Davos ends up taking up a very, very, small piece of the book, but several others are also featured as point of view characters, and some for the first time.

I found a lot of the goings on with Daenerys quite a bit slow.  Her conflict is trying to bring peace to the city she has chosen to reign over for an unspecified time before eventually making for Westeros and the Iron Throne.  Her city is plagued constantly by crime from a group called the Sons of the Harpy, who are angered that she took rule over their city and abolished slavery.  She has to deal with the political maneuvers needed to quiet the fear in the streets and find a king her city will embrace, even if she won’t.  While I found the politics in King’s Landing entertaining these ones are drab.  The problems faced by Daenerys are not all that complicated and she mostly faces problems that try her honor.  In that, she is meant to serve as a foil to queen Cersei.

Tyrion, my favorite character in the series and favorite of many others, also doesn’t live up to the billing.  As a man on the run, he’s forced from positions of powers for most of the book where his cleverness is always fun to watch.  His story doesn’t really go anywhere though and his chapters are no longer the best in the book.

Jon Snow’s were probably the most interesting as he deals with the weight of being Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch.  On The Wall, he has to suffer the presence of King Stannis and his queen while managing the conflict within his own ranks between the Brothers of the Night’s Watch and the Free Folk.  It’s a constant juggle for Lord Snow as he tries to sell his methods to his men.  He has some moments of triumph, and some of failure, as he tries to establish himself as a worthy Lord Commander.  Making things more complicated, he has to constantly endure the priestess Melisandre and her prophecies, not really knowing what to make of them.

Some characters return from A Feast For Crows, notably Jamie, Cersei, and Arya.  Their appearances are brief and relegated to just a chapter or two for each.  We learn nothing of Sam or Sansa though we do get to find out just what happened to Theon Greyjoy after the ransacking of Winterfell.

Martin throughout this series has developed a penchant for killing off main characters.  It seems to me the books average about one major death a piece, and in this A Dance With Dragons is no exception.  One character whom I’d consider a fan favorite does indeed bite the dust during the course of the book but Martin makes it exceedingly obvious that it’s going to happen, if the reader is willing to believe that Martin would actually go through with it.  Putting emotions aside, I found the death unsatisfying as I’m not sure what the logic was for the characters involved.  I can’t go into any further detail without spoiling it but Martin will have to do some work within the pages of the narrative to convince me why this move made sense.  I should add, the death occurs at the close of a chapter and there’s still some ambiguity.  Even though Martin has become famous for killing off characters, he’s also begun to develop a trend of bringing them back from the dead (literally in the case of Catelyn Stark), so feel free to take this “death” with a grain of salt if it pleases you.

A Dance With Dragons is a decent read, it’s just a transition piece like the second and fourth books in the series.  It lacks the big moments and twists that A Storm Of Swords possessed.  At times, I did wonder why Martin was giving time to certain characters or felt he was taking up too many words writing about the mundane, but that’s something I’ve come to expect as well.  His writing has become bloated and maybe an editor lacks the conviction to force him to trim some this stuff down.  He spends far too much time reminding us that Dany is a young girl, or that Tyrion misses Tysha, for example.  This books lacks a giant cliffhanger like many of the others, and I wonder how Martin will consolidate the cast of the last two books into one sixth volume, but hopefully I don’t have to wait five years to find out.

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August 6, 2011

The Legend of Ganondorf

By Joe

Who wouldn't want to play as this guy?!

In my write-up on the Legend of Zelda franchise I made note of the fact that the series is dangerously close to becoming stale.  Ever since the iconic Ocarina of Time, the games that have come after have mostly followed the same mold.  There’s something to be said for not fixing what isn’t broken, but like a movie with a sequel that continues to reuse the same plot it becomes less interesting.  In a way it’s like the economic concept of diminishing returns.  One way Nintendo could put a new spin on the franchise would be to take a look at long-time nemesis Ganondorf, thus I propose that he should receive his own game:  The Legend of Ganondorf!

Ganondorf still sounds strange to me.  When I was a kid the main baddie for Link to overcome was named Ganon and he looked like a pig.  He was the final boss in the first Zelda game and a plot device in the sequel before returning as the main villain for A Link to the Past.  It was also as Ganon that he appeared on animated series the Super Mario Brothers Super Show and Captain N: The Game Master.  It wasn’t until Ocarina of Time that he was given a more human-like appearance and referred to as Ganondorf.  Once he undergoes a transformation during the game’s final boss encounter the game refers to him simply as Ganon.  It was also in that game we learned that Ganondorf belongs to a race of desert people known as the Gerudo.  The Gerudo are thieves by trade, and their race only includes one living male at a time who reigns as their king.  Being that Nintendo is a family friendly company, the game doesn’t go into much detail how a race of people could survive with only one male living at a time but we can let our imaginations run wild.

It doesn't matter how many years go by, this is still the first image that comes to mind when I hear the name Ganon.

That’s an image Nintendo should abandon with a Ganondorf title.  A game focusing on his origins could take some risks that maybe Zelda would not normally.  The main character would likely need to be ruthless and cunning to survive in such a world and the plot could add a dangerous component to being the Gerudo’s only male.  It could be shown that the notion of only one male being born every ‘X’ amount of years is a piece of romantic fiction perpetrated by outsiders.  In reality, it could be that the Gerudo priestesses are sacrificing low born males and only keeping one around intentionally.  That could then go in one of two ways, it could be that the male chosen to live is of significant birth and prophesied to be something special.  Or it could be they select a sickly youth who will be easier to control – a puppet king.

Regardless, the setting would be a more lethal one than anything Link has ever faced.  And since Ganondorf and the Gerudo are thieves the plot would advance in an anti-hero fashion.  This particular game would serve as a prequel to the Ganondorf we see in Ocarina of Time and the plot would revolve around him proving himself worthy to the Gerudo and amassing power.  The ultimate conclusion of the game would be for Ganondorf to acquire the Triforce of Power and claim Hyrule as his kingdom (the part of OOT where Link is in a magically induced state of sleep).

As Ganondorf would progress through the game he'd gain new powers, like animating the dead. More Stalfos please!

The character of Ganondorf and the setting would make the game pretty interesting in its own right, which would make it easy for Nintendo to just take this set-up and throw it into a Zelda game.  That would be too easy though.  Ganondorf should not play like Link, and separating the two would be an important point for the gameplay.  Since he’s a thief a stealth component would serve him well.  Dungeons would require a young Ganondorf to steal his way through undetected and emerge from the shadows to take down his foes.  As his powers increase the gameplay would shift to a more action oriented one where a bold and confident Ganondorf is unafraid to emerge from the shadows and take on all comers.  Ganondorf is depicted in OOT as wielding a single weapon, but a little creative liberty would be welcomed if the developers chose to give him dual blades instead (as seen in Wind Waker).  Ganondorf’s combat could be more rhythm based as opposed to Link’s, which is just push attack and dodge occasionally.  This would give the game an action component.  The biggest design decision the developers would face would be whether or not to include a jump function.  Giving the player character the seemingly simple jump command tends to open up the game to plat-forming elements.  There are pros and cons to this and I have no preference to either side.  Certainly doing so would help separate the title from the main Zelda franchise.

I’m sold on the idea and think it’s one Nintendo absolutely should explore.  It’s no secret the company is struggling right now.  The Wii luster has long since worn off and the system has become barren.  The 3DS has struggled to make an impact in the market due to a number of reasons and is already receiving its first price cut this month.  The Wii is dead, but the 3DS has some nice software on the horizon.  The problem is that a lot of it is unoriginal ports like Star Fox 64 and Metal Gear Solid 3.  A shiny new original franchise based on Ganondorf would immediately grab the spotlight.  If pulled off well it would no doubt help move systems as well and the 3DS hardware is more than capable.  Of course, Nintendo could still pursue the title but earmark it for their new console the Wii U, maybe even make it a launch title.  There’s easily enough here to make a good game though, and we Zelda fans would love to get an in depth look at the main antagonist of the franchise.  Free Ganondorf!

Leave a comment | posted in Video Games

August 5, 2011

X-Men Season 3 (Part 3)

By Joe

Time to take a look at the last part of season 3 of X-Men.  Season 3 goes out on an uneven note, though at the time  no one really knew the season was over.  Really, no one knew when it began as new episodes were aired some-what randomly.

Sanctuary (Parts 1 and 2)

“Sanctuary” marks the return of one of comics’ greatest villains; Magneto.  In true Magneto fashion, his motives aren’t particularly villainous as he seeks to create a haven for mutants where they will be free from human persecution.  Feeling no place on earth would suit his needs, he creates his haven on an orbiting asteroid he dubs Asteroid M.  This attracts the attention of all the world’s nations as Magneto had to abduct a Soviet shuttle crew to aid in the construction.  There’s also the small matter of the nuclear weapons he possesses as well.  Magneto crashes a UN meeting and interrupts a discussion surround him.  There’s a piece of dialogue where the Genoshan rep rejects the term slavery as it applies to Genosha and refers to mutant powers as natural resources.  An interesting take.

You will hate this man by episode's end.

The plot is a condensed version of the one from the comics that began in X-Men 1 and concluded in the Fatal Attractions mini-series.  Though what took place over years takes place over two episodes here.  Magneto finds himself placing much trust in his new acolytes and a young mutant named Fabian Cortez in particular.  Cortez betrays him and attempts to kill Magneto by ejecting his quarters from the asteroid and in doing so frames the X-Men.  In their escape, Gambit gets left behind and Wolverine, Beast, Rogue, and Xavier (in Shi’Ar battle-suit, though he doesn’t use it to walk for some reason) go after him.  From there it’s a fairly predictable plot as Magneto returns and rights what is wrong, only to see Asteroid M get destroyed in the end, but the ride is a fun one.

A side plot between Xavier and Acolyte Amelia Voght sheds some light on Xavier’s past and how he became paralyzed.  The two were lovers whose differing views on how mutants fit into society eventually drove them apart, and Voght to Magneto.  She’s not a love interest or anything for Magneto (he’s not interested in Chuck’s sloppy seconds) but serves him loyally as one of his Acolytes.  She plays a role in uncovering Cortez’s treason and ends up helping the X-Men.

The end of the episode contains a teaser (apparently for the “Beyond Good and Evil” mini series to come) where Apocalypse finds Cortez drifting through space.  Deathbird is also pictured with him.

Xavier Remembers

“Sanctuary” contained some interesting back story on Charles Xavier and an episode implying an origin story for him was a welcome development.  Unfortunately, that’s not what this episode contains.  Instead we’re “treated” to the return of the Shadow King, the worst villain the show would know.

If you have been keeping with up this feature, you will know that the season 2 episode “Whatever It Takes” is one of my least favorite episodes.  In fact, it’s in the running for first episode of X-Men.  “Xavier Remember” might be even worse, though it’s so close it matters little.  This one serves as the origin for the Shadow King and how he came to be imprisoned in the Astral Plain.  Xavier defeated him there when encountering him in Cairo, and he’s used a piece of his own mental capacity to keep him there for decades.  A concussion causes Xavier to lose his hold and it’s up to Jean to enter the Astral Plain, find Xavier, and secure the Shadow King.

The Astral Plain is incredibly boring, both visually and thematically.  It’s also just too “out there” for me to take seriously.  The only plus I can give this episode is that it’s the last we see of the Shadow King.  Stay away Shadow King, forever.

Courage

Morph sporting his new dye job.

What’s a good way to rebound from one the series’ worst episodes?  Bring back a fan-favorite who’s been missing from television for over a year and half!  I don’t know why Morph became such a popular character.  Maybe it’s because we all collectively just felt bad for him because he died so quickly into the series.  I do know that I love him, and his episodes were among the best.

“Courage” is the much teased and long-awaited comeback for Morph (now sporting brown hair for some reason) as he finally rejoins the X-Men.  Morph can’t catch a break though, for his return to the X-Men just happens to coincide with the return of the Sentinels, the mutant hunting robots responsible for his “death.”  Morph reacts predictably when confronted by his killers, which is to cower in fear and cry.  That’s okay though, he’s Morph so we forgive him and the X-Men don’t seem that upset his cowardice caused them to lose Xavier.

Turns out, Master Mold survived Xavier’s kamikaze attack in “The Final Decision.”  Sure he’s just a head now, but he’s also crazy and wants revenge.  After his Sentinels capture Xavier, the X-Men track him down but leave Morph behind.  Morph though won’t stay put and arrives in time to save the day doing awesome Morph things.

The only negative about this episode is that, in the end, it turns out to be one big tease as Morph decides he’s just not quite ready to return full-time.  Wolverine is understandably upset, as we all are, and Morph goes back into hiding until the final episode of the series.

Secrets, Not Long Buried

“Whatever It Takes” and “Xavier Remembers” are both bad episodes, but “Secrets, Not Long Buried” gets my vote as worst of the worst.  This episode is just boring.  Cyclops goes off to some mutant town in the middle of no where to give a present to his former headmaster and finds him missing.  Cyclops is the dullest member of the X-Men, and his solo adventures just don’t work very well.  I actually hate this episode, I hate everything about it.  I can’t even think of one good thing to say about it.  It sucks, don’t watch it.  Just pretend season 3 ends with “Courage.”

Leave a comment | posted in Comics, Television

July 24, 2011

X-Men Season 3 (Part 2)

By Joe

Season 3 continues on.  Again, this is in episode order and not broadcast order (FYI – the DVD’s released by Buena Vista are in broadcast order).  We’ve got the Dark Phoenix to contend with, another Cyclops episode, and the return of Omega Red, but first…

Savage Land, Strange Heart (Parts 1 and 2)

Sauron, in human form, having a "snack."

We’ve got another Storm episode, a two-parter at that.  Storm has not been a big player up this point in season 3.  She was basically the lone member of the X-Men who didn’t have much involvement with the Phoenix saga, and following that arc’s completion, she remained on the sidelines.  Storm is an all right secondary character with some cool powers, but as a lead actress she’s pretty boring.

“Savage Land, Strange Heart” does little to dispel that sentiment.  Just like with Storm’s other episode, “Whatever It Takes,” she’s going to find herself possessed by a powerful being that wants her for her body (because of her powers, perverts).  This time it’s some god named Garokk who has a nice cult following going on in the Savage Land.

The other big player in this two-parter is the dinosaur-like mutant Sauron.  Now in his human form, he flees the Savage Land in hopes of never becoming Sauron again.  He’s sort of a vampire in that he feeds on the energy of other humans to sustain him.  If he feeds off of a human, no problem, but once he gets a taste of mutant energy he becomes Sauron.  He falls in with this Garokk cult, and ends up encountering the X-Men on the mainland and drags Storm back to the Savage Land where all Hell breaks loose.

I’m going off of memory, but I believe it’s Wolverine, Beast, Jubilee, and Rogue that give chase.  Once in the Savage Land, Storm’s powers awaken Garokk so that he can free himself from his idol form and take on more of a humanoid one.  Sauron ends up coming around and helps the X-Men put a stop to him once he realizes that the entire Savage Land is in danger.  Doing so helps Storm regain control of herself, and everyone is happy.  We also get a reminder about what’s going on with Jean at Muir Island, in case we forgot, which actually would have been pretty easy since the whole plot has basically been ignored, which is what I like to do with these two episodes.  For some reason, this episode has two titles, the other being “Savage Land, Savage Heart.”

The Dark Phoenix Saga (Parts 1-4)

Dark Phoenix looking pretty pissed.

The precursor, “The Phoenix Saga,” was basically the necessary evil we had to get through in order to get to the seminal “Dark Phoenix Saga.”  “The Dark Phoenix Saga” is one the most well known comic book stories and certainly the most well-known involving the X-Men.  The television adaptation ended up being pretty faithful to the comic book version, but with one rather significant alteration that I’ll get to when the time comes.  The timing of it would harm the initial broadcast though as few episodes separated it from the original Phoenix plot-line and since both have a weighted, dramatic feel to them it does lessen the impact a bit.

The general plot of the saga is that Jean is back on earth and apparently healthy, but the Phoenix force still dwells inside of her.  It refuses to leave, claiming it hungers to experience more human emotions.  The Phoenix force now speaks independently of Jean (with its own voice actor as well) and battles for control of Jean’s body.

A new group of foes has entered the mix as well, The Hellfire Club (referred to as the Inner Circle club for TV).  Lead by Sebastian Shaw, these wealthy figures clad in old english attire seek the power of the Phoenix for their own use.  Their own telepath, the White Queen Emma Frost, felt the presence of the Phoenix on earth and retells her story to the rest of the Inner Circle members.  They hatch a plan to utilize her powers along with Jason Wyngarde (known as Mastermind in the comics) and his power of illusion to seduce Jean Grey and bring her under their control.

Meanwhile, Jean Grey fights to control her own mind as she is assaulted by Wyngarde and Frost telepathically.  The mutant Dazzler is introduced as a night club singer, and when Gambit drags Cyclops out for a little fun an overzealous Dazzler (after being rescued by Cyclops from a back alley beat down) plants a kiss on his lips.  Of course, Jean happens to witness this which is the trigger that pushes her to Wyngarde and the Inner Circle, where they make her their Black Queen.

The X-Men assemble and go after Jean by locating the Inner Circle’s mansion.  All of the X-Men soon find themselves incapacitated, all except Wolverine.  What was a bit more violent in the comics turns into kind of a slapstick routine as Wolverine single-handedly makes his way through the mansion to locate and rescue his comrades.  It’s still pretty amusing though.  By now, the Phoenix has experienced too much and has beaten down Jean’s psychic defenses and sees through the illusions of Wyngarde.  She takes off but Wyngarde gives chase and Phoenix exposes him for the fraud he is by bringing down the illusions he cast upon himself to reveal a plain looking old man.  Cyclops tries to reason with her, but she proclaims herself the Dark Phoenix, dons a red costume, and takes off.

Thus ends the Inner Circle’s role in this tale after two episodes.  They were interesting, but we all wanted to see Phoenix in action.  Jean is able to regain some control of her own mind, but she’s been reduced to a child-like state and has returned to her childhood home.  Beast and Xavier devise a helmet of sorts that they believe will be able to subdue Jean.  They set up a trap for her when Xavier is able to pick up on where she’s going, and the X-Men go toe to toe with Phoenix.  Beast is able to get the device on Phoenix, allowing Jean some momentary control where she begs Wolverine to kill her.  He can’t, and Phoenix breaks free.  Xavier does some silly psychic stuff, and Jean once again has control of her body and mind, but all is not well.

During the time when the X-Men were trying to sort out how to approach Phoenix, the entity left earth to feed on a star which destroyed an entire solar system.  This got the attention of the Shi’Ar and at the end of episode 3 Lilandra and her royal guard show up to proclaim Phoenix must die.  Xavier invokes the right of mortal combat sacred to the Shi’Ar, and the X-Men leave with them to battle for Jean’s freedom.

Leading up to the climactic battle, we get some good dialogue between characters regarding the morality of destroying an innocent to vanquish and evil entity.  Lilandra and Xavier struggle being on opposite sides of the debate and even Jean shows some reluctance in continuing to live not knowing how she could hope to contain Phoenix.  She puts on her old X-Men costume, a nice touch, and the X-Men are sent to the moon to do battle with the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard.

The X-Men hold their own for a time, but eventually they’re over-matched against the Shi’Ar.  Jean and Cyclops find themselves alone and resign to the fact that their situation looks bleak.  They, more or less, say their goodbyes and make one final run.  When Cyclops goes down, Phoenix awakens.

The Phoenix seems to always rise from the ashes.

Seeing the immediate danger Phoenix poses, and knowing his X-Men will surely perish if they continue this folly, Xavier realizes the Shi’ar way is their only option and urges his X-Men to rise and take out Phoenix.  Wolverine finds himself in position to deliver the killing blow, and once again, says he can’t.  Cyclops coordinates an attack where he delivers the killing blow, but it isn’t enough.  Jean regains control after the attempt and begs Cyclops to end it while she has control.  He can’t (sense a theme?) and she blasts him away in frustration and takes off to where the Shi’Ar cannon is targeting.  Lilandra senses what Jean is doing, and fires the cannon vanquishing her once and for all.

This is where the story ended in the comics, but for Saturday morning television the writers apparently decided they couldn’t kill off Jean.  The Phoenix force cannot die, but is now removed from Jean.  It apologizes for the damage it has done and tells the X-Men one may give up their “flame” in order to restore Jean.  After Cyclops and Wolverine argue over who gets to die for Jean, the Phoenix informs them it can take a smaller portion from many to restore her to life.  The X-Men join hands and Jean is restored, everyone is happy, the end.

As I said in the lead in, the adaptation for TV is actually quite faithful to the comics.  The big difference being Jean’s survival in the end.  The saga does start a bit slow but the final two episodes are good entertainment.  It’s just too bad the writers repeat themselves so much.  We already find it hard to believe that any member of the X-Men, especially Wolverine, would kill Jean but they try to tease it over and over and it just doesn’t work.  The dramatic plot comes across as a bit too much at times especially considering we just dealt with Jean’s “death” at the conclusion of the first Phoenix Saga.  Still, as a whole, it’s pretty enjoyable.  While I would have preferred to see a little more boldness out of the writing staff I can understand what kind of restraints they must have been under.

Orphan’s End

Son and father.

After the big ensemble it required to do The Dark Phoenix Saga, we get a much smaller one here with “Orphan’s End.”  As the title implies, it’s about Cyclops once again and the only other X-Men member featured is Storm (sporting a pony tail, just to change things up I guess).  Corsair of the Starjammers arrives on earth at the mansion of the X-Men fleeing from someone.  Cyclops and Storm agree to help him in his escape though they’re a bit unsure of what’s going on.

They soon find out Corsair is fleeing the Shi’Ar, and when Cyclops sees a picture of himself and his brother in Corsair’s locket, they soon realize how they relate to one another.  Cyclops tells the Shi’Ar pursuers to “back off” basically and continues to help Corsair wanting an explanation for what happened.  We’re filled in on Cyclops’ back story, as well as Corsair’s, and all seems well for a moment between father and son until Cyclops learns Corsair is wanted for kidnapping.  Thus begins the first swerve.

As the plot moves along, Cyclops and Storm will change sides multiple times.  First they’re helping Corsair, then the Shi’Ar, then Corsair, and so on.  Corsair ends up being in the right, and the pursuers are phonies.  He’s trying to protect a girl, a political thing, and the pursuers want her dead because she witnessed some crime they’re trying to cover-up.  The X-Men and Starjammers prevail in the end, and the crooked cops get their due.  Unfortunately, by this point the episode is nearly over so we just get a quick scene of Cyclops inviting Corsair into the mansion to talk for a while before he takes off, to which Corsair accepts.  The story-line of Cyclops and Corsair finding out their relation to one another is far more interesting than the rest of the plot.  It’s too bad it gets kind of pushed to the background.  Still, not a bad episode.  It’s too bad Havok never gets an episode to find out Cyclops is his brother.

Love in Vain

This is another one of those episodes where the less said, the better.  This is one of the worst episodes of the show, maybe even worse than “Whatever It Takes” and definitely worse than the two Mojo episodes.  Rogue’s old boyfriend, Cody, returns seeking to rekindle their romance from when Rogue put him in a coma with a kiss.  Now he’s immune to her powers and Rogue is positively delighted.  It turns out, there’s a good reason for this.

Cody has been infected by some parasitic alien colony that washed up on earth.  I think they’re supposed to be a take on the Brood, from the comics, but do not resemble them at all.  They’re just green and kind of resemble the aliens from Alien.  They try to infect all the X-Men and succeed in infecting Wolverine but his healing factor saves him.  Why am I even going into this much detail?  The X-Men win, Cody turns into a bug, and Rogue is sad but still has Gambit.  It’s a bad episode, don’t bother.

A Deal With the Devil

This is another episode that would get dropped from season 3 and moved to season 5.  It’s the return story for Omega Red.  The current Soviet government needs Red’s help in recovering a nuclear armed submarine.  Red knows the access codes and can also survive in the radioactive environment.  Red agrees to help them, but only if he can be accompanied by two X-Men he seeks vengeance against; Wolverine and Storm.

Trapped on a submarine with Omega Red, good luck with that!

Xavier reluctantly allows Wolverine and Storm to participate in this ridiculous premise (once Red is within the sub, he’ll have access to nuclear weapons, great idea!) though neither Wolverine and Storm seem particularly thrilled by this.  Red is supposed to be armed with a fail-safe device, but once aboard the sub he effortlessly removes it and takes control of the operation.  We get a game of cat and mouse from here, where Red holds all the power but is also trapped under water.  While Storm and Wolverine contend with Omega Red on the sub, Xavier and Rogue coordinate how to stop it from below.  Rogue is able to ruin the sub, causing it to sink even further into a chasm, while Storm and Wolverine make their escape.  They disarm the nuclear warheads, and Omega Red is left stranded miles below sea level never to be seen again.

Aside from the absurd premise, the episode is all right and I always thought Omega Red made for a good visual on television.  It’s not a great episode by any stretch, which makes it easy to understand why there was no rush to get it to television.

Leave a comment | posted in Comics, Television

July 23, 2011

Danzig – Deth Red Sabaoth

By Joe

Danzig – “Deth Red Sabaoth” (2010)

It’s been just over a year since Danzig released its most recent (and perhaps final) album, Deth Red Sabaoth.  As the years have dragged on Danzig releases have become some-what few and far between.  Not including 2007’s The Lost Tracks of Danzig, there had not been a proper Danzig release since 2004’s Circle of Snakes.  It probably comes as no surprise that six years is the longest gap between Danzig releases.  Is it age, disinterest, the music industry, or something else that lead to such a long break period for the band?  As with most things, it’s probably a combination of those and more that made Danzig fans wait six years for a new album, but thankfully, the wait was worth it.

It’s a rather poorly kept secret that Danzig albums have not been as consistent since the band’s departure from American Recordings.  And for my money, one of the worst albums in that span was the previous album to DRS, Circle of Snakes.  The production was muddy, the melodies and lyrical subject matter uninspired.  Sure there was a track here and there that worked, but as a whole the album was a throw-away.

The special edition release, complete with a Danzig urn.

Deth Red Sabaoth returns Tommy Victor (Prong) on guitar and brings Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Seventh Void) in on drums.  Bass duties were filled by Glenn Danzig himself (with former Samhain drummer Steve Zing handling bass duties for the touring band) along with drums for the track “Black Candy.”  Danzig self-produced the album and went for a lo-fi sound with unmastered vocal tracks and an all analog approach (which, surprisingly, is making a bit of a comeback as the Foo Fighters recently did the same).  The end result is perhaps the heaviest album Danzig has ever done.  There’s really no “Sistinas” or “Blood and Tears” on this one as most of the tracks are thick and heavy.

The album’s opener, “Hammer of the Gods,” is a blistering track slightly reminiscient of “Am I Demon?” from the first album.  The guitars have chop with dashes of pinch harmonics thrown in.  The chorus has a nice melody, and a slow bridge in the middle helps to usher in a frenetic final act for the song.  A good crowd pleaser and natural opener.  The second track, “The Revengeful,” carries the momentum forward with an even more liberal use of pinch harmonics.  The track has a nice, bouncy, groove to it with some classic Danzig cheese lyrics.

In addition to the CD release, Deth Red Sabaoth was also released on vinyl in 3 versions; black, picture, and red.

The first single of the album, “On A Wicked Night,” is one of the rare soft moments from the album.  One of those throw-back start slow and pick up tracks, it’s pretty catchy though it is one place where the vocals could have used some re-mastering.  It’s also repetitive, but the run time is short enough to keep it from becoming too monotonous.   My personal favorite track on the album, “Deth Red Moon,” has more melody than most of the tracks and strikes a nice balance.  The addition of a shaker on the chorus adds nice texture and it would have been a natural choice for a single as well.

Other standouts include the bluesy “Ju Ju Bone” and the ultra-heavy “Black Candy,” which is sure to rattle your dash board.  The album’s closer, “Left Hand Rise Above,” is similar in structure to “Without Light, I Am” from Danzig 7, only without the extended outro.  A great song for Glenn Danzig to really bellow and a good note to go out on.

The album is not without some low points though.  The two-part “Pyre of Souls” drags on a bit as the same riff is used through-out the entire duration of the song.  Not a bad track, but one where I’m always ready for it to end.  “Night Star Hel” is heavy but without much melody, though the extended instrumental outro does redeem it some and would kill live.  The low-fi production is both a strength and a hindrance.  There are some tracks where I wish some touching up had been done.  The guitar riffs are mostly solid, but Victor’s solos can be a chore at times.  He opts for a frenetic style that can comes across as noodling.  This shred approach sounds great on some tracks, but on others it doesn’t work as well and it would have served better to use some restraint.  I consider this more a criticism of Glenn than Victor, since he makes the  calls for how he wants the solos to sound.

If there’s another weakness of the album it’s that there isn’t a true all-time classic found on here.  I really enjoy “Deth Red Moon” but it’s not a top 10 Danzig track, maybe not even a top 20.  It’s an album that borders on greatness but never quite achieves it.

That said, Deth Red Sabaoth is finally that return to form so many fans had been longing for since Danzig 4.  It’s a very enjoyable record and one no Danzig fan should miss.  I picked this album up the day before its official release and it hasn’t left my car CD player since.

Top Tracks

  • Hammer of the Gods
  • Deth Red Moon
  • Left Hand Rise Above

1 Comment | posted in Danzig, Music