Age of Ultron (and what I've been up to lately)

Hey, look, an actual post! Yeah, this blog is still up and running, although very slowly. It's not that I haven't been reading, of course, just that I've had so much else to do that I haven't had the time to write any reviews. Still, here's something.

So, what have I been reading in this time? Well, I picked up plenty of Love Hina omnibuses, which is a series from one of my favorite mangaka; I'll write a full review of that series later, although it's an older one. I've also been reading the Dresden Files books, which I've found quite entertaining, although I doubt I'll review any of them any time soon.

I've also been following plenty of comics, aside from my last post about Throne of Atlantis. So before I get to the main review, I'll do a quick glance at some of those.

Hawkeye: an excellent look at the life of Clint Barton when he's not wearing a mask and acting as an Avenger, showing a more vulnerable and human side to a man without powers who fights among supers.

Swamp Thing and Animal Man: While Rotworld ran for quite a while, it had some excellent moments (Green Lantern Frankenstein, anyone?), and the conclusion that came out this week brought about a nice end. So much so that I think I'll give the series a break for now.

Cable and X-Force: I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I don't really care about Cable (at least when he's not teamed up with Deadpool) and I'm not fond of the new outfits. But it has Doctor Nemesis, and the good doctor is awesome in so many ways; that's what's been keeping me reading.

Thunderbolts: Surprisingly better than I expected; maybe it's just Deadpool's presence, but it's been entertaining enough to keep me reading.

Justice League of America: The first issue proved interesting enough to keep me on for at least another issue; a nice introduction to a promising team, with the settings for a big showdown later on.

All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men: the fallout after AvX continues, with the X-Men of old looking upon their future selves and getting freaked the hell out. Meanwhile, Cyclops continues to go off the deep end, but things are looking interesting as new mutants emerge.

Wolverine and the X-Men: If you need me to tell you how great it is, that means you haven't been reading it. Why aren't you reading this comic? Go out, get the paperbacks, catch up with the comic, and start following it. Seriously, it's great.

Deadpool: Same as WatXM.

Okay, now that I've given you a brief overview of some of the titles I've been following, time to take a look at the first issue of Marvel's newest event: Age of Ultron. For those unfamiliar with Ultron, I'll give a quick overview: Hank Pym built a robot, the robot is super-powerful and super-evil, and it occasionally stops by to try and wipe out and/or enslave humanity. That's the very short version of it, but frankly, I don't know enough about Ultron myself to give you a more complete version.

Issue 1 features a nice and shiny cover, featuring a pile of defeated heroes, with the reflection of Hawkeye in Ultron's shiny face as he readies an arrow. Will the purple archer be the hero this time around? Well, judging by the role he plays, it could very well be.

The story begins "in media res." That is, we start off in the middle of the story, with no idea how it reached that point. It's a storytelling device used to build intrigue and mystery before offering an explanation. We see a world in shambles, where society has crumbled and only the ruthless remain.

This is a world that has reached such a low point, the heroes of it are doing one of two things: either hiding away in shame and fear, or taking lives. Hawkeye, in this case, is one of the latter; he's unafraid to kill if it means getting to his goal, although in this case, that goal means rescuing a friend.

We also see Hammerhead and The Owl, two villains who are typically C-list at best, running gangs and making deals with Ultron in order to survive just a bit longer. If these are the villains still alive, one can only wonder what happened to the rest.

The world is policed by robotic drones, content to wipe out any and all organics. There's also a threat of being infected by something, although whether it'll make the victims go Matrix Agent on everyone or just plain die has yet to be explained.

This is a "darkest hour" story. Spirits have been broken, and heroics are no more. Even the unbreakable have fallen, whether physically or spiritually. It is not a light and happy story about heroics.

So what is it that makes Hawkeye the best character to follow in this world? How is it that he can continue to fight when even the bravest now cower? I believe that it is because Hawkeye is "just human" that allows him to do this.

The other heroes tend to have powers to back them up. Even Iron Man has his suit and his mental link with electronics; all Hawkeye has is a bow and arrow he can aim well with. To him, every super villain who he has to face overpowers him as much as Ultron overpowers the others. He is used to the odds being stacked against him, and that is how he has the strength to keep fighting even now.

That said, we still don't know how Ultron wrecked the planet, unless there's a comic that I missed leading up to it, in which case, please let me know. Hopefully this will be shown in detail later, but until then, I'll casually follow this, just to keep in the loop.

There are also plenty of Age of Ultron tie-ins, but each of them are marked with "AU," which would indicate "alternate universe," unless I'm mistaken. Feel free to speculate as to what that means, but my assumption is that things will get wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey before the reset button is hit and everything returns to normal.

Whether or not you'll like Age of Ultron depends on your taste in comics. If you like hopeless, last stand, gritty sorts of comics, you'll probably enjoy this; it's well-written, for what it is, and the artwork is fine. If you prefer to have some fun with what you read, though, then you'll probably want to give this a pass.

Until next time, this has been whatever I read.

Throne of Atlantis (Aquaman & Justice League #15) Review

Contrary to what pop culture may claim, Aquaman does not suck. This preface shouldn't be necessary, thanks to the Justice League cartoon ("King of the seas, remember?" said the man who cut off his own hand and replaced it with a harpoon to save his son), Brightest Day, and most recently, Geoff Johns' run on Aquaman and Justice League. I've mentioned before how I am a fan of Aquaman, and how in the hands of a talented writer, he can be one of the most impressive heroes in DC comics.

As such, it is my pleasure to review issues 15 of Justice League and Aquaman, the first two parts of the "Throne of Atlantis" arc. Written by Geoff Johns, who revitalized Aquaman with his inclusion in Blackest Night and Brightest Day, as well as his excellent run in DC's New 52 (see my earlier reviews for my thoughts on that), we now get to see an all-out Atlantean war against the surface, and Aquaman struggling to maintain peace between his two worlds.

It begins in Justice League #15, so I'll discuss more than just Aquaman in this part. While it begins with an attack on Atlantis, the way that it happens makes it clear that someone is playing them against each other. As such, Atlantis is acting in self-defense (from an Atlantean perspective), no matter how excessive the counter-attack might be. With that in mind, one might wonder: is this a metaphor for the Israel-Palestine conflict? I'm going to say no, it's a comic, stop trying to politicize everything and let me enjoy my comics in peace, theoretical reader asking me this sort of charged question.

Still, every good action needs setup, and we see a very humanizing moment for Wonder Woman, as she goes out with Superman. Now, I was never on the Supes/Wondey ship. I'm still not, but if you like it, I can't particularly blame you after seeing this scene, as Clark helps bring Diana closer to earth. It's a sweet moment for the two characters, showing a side of Wonder Woman we haven't seen in a while, and a side of Superman we don't see enough of in his current runs.

Of course, there's no shortage on action, either, starting with Batman and Aquaman taking down some thugs, with Mera once again proving that she's more than a badass in her own right.

Speaking of Mera, she gets a crowning moment of awesome in Aquaman #15. Her hydromancy is taken to its limits, but she alone saves more lives than the rest of the Justice League combined after the initial assault. That said, the lives lost number far greater than those saved regardless; in a war against Atlantis, there will be casualties on both sides.

Also in Aquaman is a little more on the New 52 Aquaman's backstory. The latest arc took us through a chapter of his life from before Atlantis, before Arthur was the Aquaman we know today, and now we learn a little more about what he did when he returned to the ocean and took his place as king. Suffice to say, he's not proud of the things he did, which are now being used against him.

However, the characters aren't going through the regular motions of "let's fight everyone until we figure something out." This is a classic brother versus brother conflict, with Aquaman wanting to stop conflicts by talking to his brother, Orm. Aquaman wants peace between the two worlds he lived in, but with such a high body count, there's no stopping the conflict. He wants to do what's right, but in a battle orchestrated by unknown forces, with each side itching to get revenge, what exactly is the right thing to do?

If you want to jump in on Aquaman or Justice League, this is a great place to do it. If you're reading one already, perhaps this will get you interested in the other. The story is great, the artwork wonderful, and they tie together seamlessly. If you're a fan of Aquaman, you'll like the start this storyline is off to. If you're not a fan of Aquaman, maybe this will change your mind.

Marvel Now: X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, and Deadpool

Not one to be outdone by DC's massive reboot, Marvel comics has launched its own "Marvel Now!," starting several series over from issue 1. While this isn't as much of a reboot as DC's, it is still reassembling new teams, starting new adventures, and generally trying to make a good starting point for new readers. I've picked up quite a few comics from this relaunch, so let's take a look at some of them.

As always, there will be minor spoilers.

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X-Men Legacy

Before the relaunch, I was following X-Men Legacy, and it was mostly focused on Rogue, her team, and her romance with Magneto. (I, of course, will always support Rogue and Gambit, but that's neither here nor there.) The new Legacy takes it far away from that, and instead focuses on David Haller, son of Professor Xavier.

This is a character I'm only somewhat familiar with, and my understanding about him is pretty limited. As such, I got to look at this issue from the point of view of someone with minimal knowledge about David and his powers, but from the looks of it, he seems to have multiple (mostly evil) personalities locked away in his head, and he can channel the various powers of each one. If this is vastly wrong, please feel free to correct me, but that's the impression given by this comic.

The first issue is mainly spent giving us an idea of his personality. In spite of all the evil personalities locked away inside his head, he wants to do good, but knows that he's got a lot of insanity to deal with. He also has some serious issues with his father, which may be causing just as much trouble as the many personalities.

That said, the story is structured well enough; the scenes in the "Qortex Complex" and in Kangchengyad (where David resides) get linked together nicely, without having to spell anything out, even if it may make things seem odd at the beginning.

However, I wasn't drawn in to this comic particularly much. I haven't really connected with David's character, and I can't bring myself to care where his story goes. They're setting up some interesting things, but whether or not those make it worth buying has yet to be seen.

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All-New X-Men

This is a bit of a backwards title, given that the main sell of the comic is that it features the return of the original X-Men. Not that they ever left - they're just a lot different than they used to be. Beast became all blue and furry, Jean died, Angel turned evil, returned to the side of good, went evil again, died, then came back an amnesiac, Cyclops jumped off the slippery slope, and Iceman… actually, Iceman hasn't changed quite as drastically.

Still, even though the last part of the chapter features Beast going back in time to bring the original five to the present, saying so is in no way a spoiler, since that's all that's been advertised about it. Until then, we get to see some of the new mutants popping up around the world, and just how far Cyclops will go to recruit them to his cause. I don't even need to point out the parallels he has to Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, although Cyclops still claims the title of "X-Men."

The new mutants we've seen so far don't have the most unique powers (by which I mean there were characters on "Heroes" with the exact same powers), but their personalities are at least somewhat different from what we've usually seen. After all, they're struggling with these new powers they suddenly found, which is something we haven't been able to see in an X-Men comic since Hope's five lights.

The main thing that has me reading this is Beast, everyone's favorite fuzzy blue mutant (aside from Nightcrawler). Let's just say that things are not going well for him, and he believes this to be his last chance to try and set things right and see his old friends as they once were again.

I have to wonder how long this will be able to go on for, since there's no way he can keep the old team together in the present for too long without having serious ramifications on the timestream, but it will be an interesting read at first. Brian Michael Bendis has an even amount of fans and detractors, given his style, but one can't deny that the man can write comics well.

All in all, I'll give this one a little time. I'm mostly interested in seeing how the classic X-Men react to seeing them as they are now, but I don't know how long I'll stick with it.

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Thor: God of Thunder

Now we get away from the X-Men stuff, and start looking at everyone's favorite hammer-throwing, golden-haired god of thunder. Rather than focus on Thor beating up frost giants and other baddies on Earth, we start by seeing him perform his godly duty of answering prayers. Even on planets far away, if someone prays to Thor, he'll give it a listen.

As this comic starts to look at Thor's status as a god, it also expands upon the various other deities, both on Earth and other planets. We know that the Norse gods are far from the only ones on Earth, although with Thor they do get the most focus. Other planets have their own gods, though, which this comic uses to an interesting effect.

As such, it's important that he fight an enemy worthy of a god. Normally that would mean some other wicked god (Loki is no longer available to fulfill that role, of course), but this time it's a threat that can make even other gods cry out in terror. Judging by the last few pages, it's far from a threat to be taken lightly.

Still, this is not a traditional Thor comic. There's little focus on other Asgardians, and the only time spent on Earth is in the past. It's a different look at the god of thunder, which some might enjoy more than others. So far, there's been more "acts of god" than beating up bad guys, but when Thor summons rain, he at least makes it look cool.

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Iron Man

Fresh off his success with "Journey Into Mystery" (which you better have read. Seriously.), Kieron Gillen is taking on the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist Tony Stark. This time, Iron Man's got to deal with the Extremis nanotechnology, which is reappearing in the wrong hands.

The writing has all the signatures of Gillen's style, with clever dialogue, quite a lot of text boxes, and themes of the past coming back to haunt someone. The characters are smart, even the ones you wouldn't think to be, and when the action kicks in, we get to see Tony kicking ass, taking names, and showing what he's learned from his years as Iron Man and his last experience with Extremis.

I can't say much for the art, but while I like the designs and coloring, there's something about the faces that doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it has something to do with how everyone seems to close their eyes while smiling, but that's my only complaint with the artwork.

I'm a fan of Gillen's work, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses. Normally I don't read the Iron Man comics, but I trust Gillen to make the characters not only relatable and likable, but to put them through situations that make us both cheer and cry for them.

Of course, I'm also looking forward to his take on the Young Avengers, especially since Loki is joining the team. Seriously, I can't wait for that one.

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Deadpool

For all your comedic, sociopathic, fourth wall-breaking, stabbing and shooting needs, Deadpool is here. While Dan Way's take on Deadpool has met with mixed reviews, it did well enough to keep him on the title for quite some time, but now Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan are taking over, and boy are they off to a great start.

We're re-introduced to everything that makes Deadpool crazy awesome. He bursts out of a giant dinosaur monster's gut, having teamed up with (and thoroughly disgusted) Thor, then goes on to fight zombie presidents. Yes, that's right, the US presidents have been brought back from the dead, and they're not happy with what has become of the United States of America… so clearly the solution is to do what zombies do best.

Every step of the way, Deadpool has a quip, reference, or joke to make, and the visual gags (keep an eye out for monster pieces in the background) make it all the better. He has yet to address any of his yellow text boxes, but that also means none of the "multiple personalities" that Way gave him (a sad misunderstanding of his medium awareness), and the comic does not suffer for the lack of them.

Even characters who aren't Deadpool get some nice moments, but Deadpool can run with those just as well as anything else. Some cameos from Thor and Captain America, as well as SHIELD's role in Deadpool's new assignment, add some nice variety to this comic, while creating some foils for how Deadpool and how he's viewed by the heroic community.

In short, this is one I'd recommend to any fans of Deadpool. While my favorite comic featuring him is still currently "Cable and Deadpool," this is looking good so far, and promises to be a good run.

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Anyways, that's what I've got so far. I'll try to post something other than comic reviews soon, so I don't get too repetitive. Until next time, this has been whatever I read.

Doctor Who: Shada

If you've spent any time around me, you'll have picked up on a few key facts. In fact, you'll have probably figured these things out even if we've never met, and you've just read a bit of things I've written. First of all, I am a fan of Doctor Who. Secondly, one of my biggest inspirations in writing is the late, great Douglas Adams, creator of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." So you'd think I'd like a Doctor Who novel based off the script by Douglas Adams, right?

You'd be damn well right to think that.

Now, here's a little history on the Doctor Who serial "Shada." It was originally meant to be the season finale of season 17 of Doctor Who, but was never completed because of a strike at the BBC. Instead, the bits and pieces they did record were used in "The Five Doctors." There have been various attempts to recreate it from the pieces that remain over the years, leading us to this novel.

While the novel itself is written by Gareth Roberts, it's still a Douglas Adams piece through and through. Roberts worked off the versions of the script that Adams wrote, adding in scenes to fill any plot holes that were created in the editing process and generally polishing it up as best he could. The voice of Adams is evident from the very first page, while the rest of the book is equally saturated with his influence.

It's clear that Gareth Roberts has a great respect for the works of Adams, maintaining true to his vision and channeling the same type of tone and amusing commentary that he's known for. There are minor comments that reference other works of Adams, including a well-timed tribute to his most famous work near the end that I won't spoil for you.

Of course, that means it goes without saying how incredibly funny it is. The descriptions, the running gags, the ones that come right at you out of nowhere, all with great timing and a well-written tone.

The book is written for the 4th Doctor, famously played by Tom Baker, as he travels with Romana and K-9. Of course, as the novelization was written well into Matt Smith's run as the 11th, it includes some references to later Doctors, such as mentioning the Corsair's gender-changing regenerations and the Doctor's love of edible ball bearings. In spite of those, there's no breaking character, from the perfectly-voiced dialogue to the internal descriptions.


I hope it's not presumptuous of me to say that Roberts' affection towards Doctor Who and the works of Douglas Adams is at least equal to mine. Either way, his love of the series and respect towards Adams shines through in this novel.

As for the story itself, it's filled with all sorts of wonderful characters, and a story that moves at a brisk pace, tying together various story threads into a cohesive narrative. There are plenty of twists, turns, and cliffhangers, as expected of Doctor Who, culminating in wonderful displays of brilliance from all the characters and an ending befitting a season finale.

At this point, it occurs to me that I haven't even said what the story is about. A brief synopsis: the Doctor, Romana, and K-9 visit Cambridge University to respond to a distress call from the Doctor's old friend, Professor Chronotis (who fans of Douglas Adams might recall from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency), a Time Lord who retired to live out his final regeneration in peace. Of course, they arrive right as he's being tracked down by Skagra, a brilliant but bloody crazy alien with a god complex and no fashion sense. He's after "The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey,"which happens to be in Chronotis's possession... or was, until it was lent to Chris Parsons, who mostly tries to use it to impress a girl who actually doesn't need impressing.

This leads to a series of adventures and chases through time, space, and Cambridge, as Skagra attempts to unlock an ancient evil and do something nasty to the universe. And every moment of it was brilliant.

It actually took me a while to complete the book after reading it. It's a large one, at well over 300 pages, but I ended up taking my time just to savor it. Most every chapter had me pause for a minute just to bask in the excellence of Douglas Adams' storytelling, until the end, where I kept going and going to see what would happen next.

Am I a biased reviewer? I'd like to think not, since I set some pretty high standards for Roberts to meet. But they were met and then some, resulting in one of the best expanded universe novels I've had the pleasure to read.

Until next time, this has been whatever I read.

Blue Beetle #11, or: "How DC Ruined Two of my Favorite Characters"

Normally I don't do this. I'm not the type to use my blog just to complain about a single issue that I don't like. In fact, I was really hoping my next post would be my review of "Shada," the Doctor Who novelization by the late Douglas Adams. (Speaking of, it's awesome so far, go read it. More on that later.)

However, this issue just pissed me off so much I had to post something about it. So take note, this is going to mostly be a fanboy's whining, and probably not to the standards of my other reviews, but if you like reading someone complain, you're in for a treat.

Let's begin with a little background on why this issue pisses me off so much. I'm a huge fan of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Well, Blue Beetle 3, Jaime Reyes, to be precise. His previous run, pre-reboot, was excellent - great storytelling, wonderful characters, and a hero who was really different from the others. He didn't keep his heroics a secret from his friends or family - he had to get his parents permission before going out and fighting crime, but they were proud of him and supported him. As a legacy character, he had to live up to the previous two Blue Beetles, but he did his best and became a great hero in his own right.

That's why the New 52 version of Blue Beetle was so hard to read; it abandoned everything that made the previous title great, and instead focused on making things as bad for Jaime as possible. He's keeping his identity a secret, he's wrecking things for his friends and family alike (nearly killing some of them in the process), and has recently been living on the streets of New York, getting in fights with nearly everyone he meets because no one will even listen to him. There's no heart, no charm, no love to be found anywhere in it - just things going bad for Jaime.

So why did I read it this far? Because I kept hoping things would get better. I'd always think back to the previous run and think "it could be this good again." It might even be a comic-reading version of Stockholm Syndrome, where I'd hold on to anything, however rare, that the comic did right and think "If they just do more of this, it'll get better."

Boy was that dumb of me.

Then we get to this issue. It opens with Booster Gold going on TV and reaching out to Blue Beetle, offering to hear his side of the story on all the disasters that have been following him. "Okay, good," I thought. "Maybe Booster will mention Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle. Maybe we'll have some of the Blue and the Gold again. Maybe this won't be such a mess."

Then, when Jaime goes to meet Booster, what does BG do? Punches Jaime in the face. He claims to recognize the reach armor from the future (Booster Gold is a time traveling hero from the future, for those unaware), and intends to "mercy kill" Jaime, who he thinks is being controlled by the armor, despite all insistences otherwise.

This leads to a fight scene where the dialogue consists of them mostly just shouting at each other. Here's some dialogue: "You're a fake, 'Booster Gold'! You're a liar!" "You're an alien death-machine!" "NO I'M NOT!"

It's pretty much just that for a couple of pages, before Jaime's grandmother shows up with a bunch of passerby's and shouts Booster off. While normally it would be a great moment, seeing Jaime's family come together to defend him from an overwhelming enemy... this is Booster Gold we're talking about, not some supervillain!

So we have Booster acting extremely out-of-character, a pointless fight scene that could be avoided and made for much better development if they'd just have Booster listen, no references to the previous Blue Beetle (Booster's best friend, who he was unable to save from dying before Infinite Crisis, in spite of his time traveling), and a completely wasted moment that would normally be great.

At the same time, we have Paco and Brenda, Jaime's best friends who were both nearly killed because of the Scarab, going in search of Jaime, then getting captured and nearly cut up, turning Paco again into the evil backup beetle... thing, who they have dubbed "Blood Beetle." Let the stupidity of that name sink in for a minute. Blood Beetle.

Dammit, DC, are we back in the 90's? There was a reason we left the Dark Age of comics!

At any rate, I know this has just been me complaining, but there you have it. This is why I'm done with the Blue Beetle reboot. This issue alone took two of my favorite characters, ruined one and seriously dropped the ball with the other.

Next time, I'll have an actual quality review, instead of several paragraphs of me raging. Until then, this has been the crap that I read.

Fate/Zero Light Novel

For those of you who know me, you might have noticed how I've been raving about the awesomeness that is the Fate/Zero anime recently. You'll probably have also noticed that I cosplay as a character from Fate/Zero, while I've been looking into commissioning things for another. For those who don't know me, spoiler alert: I like Fate/Zero.

With the anime recently ended, and Anime Expo being filled with F/Z events and cosplayers (the only reason I regret missing AX, really), I thought now would be a good time to read and review the light novels that the anime was based off of. Since they haven't been officially translated and released, you can read the Baka-Tsuki translations that I read here: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Fate/Zero

Now, Fate/Zero is the prequel to Fate/Stay Night, a visual novel produced by Type-Moon. It was later adapted into an anime, while the "Unlimited Blade Works" route was also adapted into an OVA. And to be honest... I didn't like Fate/Stay Night all that much. I enjoyed it, sure, but I didn't really like the characters or the story as much as I could have.

It was more the idea of the Holy Grail War that intrigued me - summoning the heroic spirits of heroes across time and space to go into epic battles. (That's also why I tried starting up an online text RPG for it, but that... didn't work out so well. Drama ensued, but I still quite like the characters that I made; Robin Hood was Archer and Icarus was Lancer. But that's in the past and not worth talking about.) That's probably why there are so many spinoffs, such as games and alternate stories with all sorts of other Servants.

And that brings us to Fate/Zero.

Fate/Zero is the story of the Holy Grail War, Heaven's Feel, prior to the one in Fate/Stay Night. There were only mentions of it in the F/SN anime and game, such as Saber seeing a large ship that was destroyed in a battle she was in, and her telling Shiro about his father, Kiritsugu, her former Master. Oh, and there was Gilgamesh. This time, we get the full story of all the characters involved.

Now, as a prequel, Fate/Zero suffers the same problem as most prequels tend to: we know how it's going to end. The characters we know are dead will die, and the ending has already been spoiled for us. However, what matters most is the journey, rather than the destination, and Type-Moon knows how to throw a few twists our way.

What I found the most intriguing about Fate/Zero was the characters. Some of them were a given: Kiritsugu, Saber, Gilgamesh, and Kotomine mostly. But then there are the new characters who really make this interesting. I'm going to list all the Servant teams, and there will be spoilers, but they'll be in a similar font to the background, so highlight them to see:

Waver Velvet, the brash young mage out to prove himself, and his Servant, Rider, who proudly proclaims himself to be Alexander the Great, King of Conquerers. (This is not a spoiler, he seriously shouts it to everyone when he arrives.) Waver stole his master's artifact and ran off to enter the war to prove that a mage's strength is not fully dependent on their bloodlines. Rider aims to be truly revived to the modern world so he can once again aim to unify the world under his rule. These two make my absolute favorite team; Waver starts out cocky and haughty, but soon learns and grows thanks to Rider's influence. Meanwhile, Rider is the epitome of badass, but is the sort of person anyone would want to go drinking with. It's truly tragic when Rider falls in battle, but he makes even Gilgamesh acknowledge him, and Waver is a much stronger person for the experience.

Kariya Matou, who abandoned the path of a mage only to be drawn back into it to save the daughter of the woman he loved from his own family. Kariya is one of the most sympathetic characters in the series, in spite of being a member of the Matou family, which tends to breed the most despicable characters. His Servant is Berserker, an armored knight shrouded in darkness who bears a grudge against Saber. His identity is masked until his final fight, but many fans managed to figure out, well, I'll put it in the words of Monty Python: "His name is Lancelot, he visits France-a-lot, he likes to dance-a-lot, you know you do!" (Seriously, someone has to make an AMV of him to that song.) The two are a thematically perfect combination, but Berserker's rage and insanity makes him nearly impossible to control, and Kariya himself has thrown away his life in the hopes of saving Sakura from being adopted by his family. It's tragic, but inevitably futile.

Uryuu Ryunosuke, the serial killer and his equally crazy Servant, Caster, Gilles de Rais. Ryunosuke is basically a Master by accident; the Grail picked him to fill the spot of the last needed Master, but he and Caster cause most of the conflict of the first half. It's their killing spree that causes Masters to band together to stop him, and his obsession with Saber, who he believes is Joan of Arc, that drives Caster further.

Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi and Sola-Ui, an engaged team who command Lancer, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Kayneth is Waver's teacher at the academy, an arrogant prodigy who believes he is entitled to victory and the grail, and won't let anyone get in his way. While Kayneth and Sola-Ui aren't the most likable of characters, with their overconfidence and occasional backstabbing, Lancer is one of my favorite Servants, with his nobility and chivalry, making him one of Saber's greatest and most respected rivals. He even inflicts a wound on Saber that handicaps her for a good portion of the story, until he lifts the curse as they work together to defeat Caster. His end, in which Kayneth forces him to stab himself, is a true shame, especially as he was engaged in an honorable duel with Saber, but seeing Kayneth and Sola-Ui gunned down afterwards was significantly less tragic. Speaking of, I am looking to commission Lancer's outfit, if anyone is up for it...

Tokiomi Tohsaka, father of Rin and Sakura from Fate/Stay Night, and master of Archer, Gilgamesh. He is a man of nobility and elegance, but also so wrapped up in his own plans that he fails to recognize the true nature of his Servant or apprentice. While he tries to be a good father to his children, it's only as good as mages go, rather than as people go, resulting in him giving his younger daughter, Sakura, to the Matou family. It's this callous disregard for feelings that drives Kariya to hate Tokiomi, but to Tokiomi, the grail war is something that can be won with simple strategy, regardless of the desires of his Servant.

Then we have the main protagonist, as revealed in Fate/Stay Night: Kotomine Kirei. His servant is Assassin - by which I mean the True Assassin, or at least everyone who has born the name. That is to say, one Servant in a hundred bodies, allowing him to monitor all the opposing mages with his advantage in numbers. Of course, those familiar with Fate/Stay Night know he ends up with Gilgamesh as his partner, but seeing him develop from a cold killer for the Church who doesn't know his own desires into someone who wishes to see the world burn is quite a trip.

Then we have the protagonist, Kiritsugu Emiya, and his Servant, Saber, who is King Arthur... or rather, Arturia. Yes, King Arthur is a woman, and she is incredibly tough, but has also condemned herself to the life of a king, living rigidly by the laws and standards she has set for herself. The two are at a sharp contrast - Kiritsugu is a magus killer who will do whatever it takes to kill his target, but only in order to save more lives; he wants to be a hero, but all he can do is kill those who need killing. Meanwhile, Saber is a true knight, who believes there is honor in battle. The tension between the two creates a rift in the team, and internal conflict that drives the characters.

That's not even touching on the other characters, such as Kiritsugu's wife (and the vessel for the grail), Irisviel von Einzbern, or Kiritsugu's assistant, Maiya. Every character gets fleshed out personalities, often their own story arcs, and a lot of development. For many of them, it ends in death, but not always. Seeing how each story ends is a treat and a tug on the heartstrings.

Then we have the story itself. The idea is simple: the Masters summon Servants and fight for the Holy Grail. It's what each of them does that really drives the story: whether it's Saber and Lancer engaged in an honorable battle to the death in one scene, then fighting side-by-side against Caster the next, Rider and Waver causing a fuss as Rider explores the new world he was brought into, or Kirei and Archer having discussions about what it means to be satisfied and have desires, each story arc is intriguing and well-paced. In spite of all the characters, we have a chance to learn about each of them - their histories, desires, and motives. The story flows smoothly, and really gets one invested in their favorites.

However, it's far from a perfect story. There are many elements that can be confusing to readers unfamiliar with the "Nasuverse," such as the mechanics of magecraft, the Church and its executioners, and other elements introduced and explained in works such as Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night. This makes it hard for new readers to jump in, and even those coming to it after F/SN might find a few things confusing to them.

While it may just be an issue with the translations I read, the descriptions and dialogue are very poetic, but also occasionally too much so. It takes so much time using metaphors and flowing descriptions that they run on for a bit and get muddled. For example, in the middle of what should be an epic chase scene, we get paragraphs spent describing a motorcycle with every simile imaginable, instead of the action itself.

Yet other times there aren't enough descriptions, leaving you unsure of what happened until it's put into simpler terms. As such, the paragraphs are often sparse, leaving just a few sentences or lines before jumping to the next, and making it feel like you're just getting pieces of the story.

Still, the issues I have with the style are more than made up for with the story, the characters, and the many twists and turns it throws our way. It's not the sort of prequel that tries to cram in everything and get ahead to what we all know is coming, it takes its time and invests itself in each development and plot point, starting with the characters far back enough that the development to where we know they'll reach is clear and interesting. It crafts characters that we get to know and like before concluding their stories, rather than throwing out people who we don't see again.

How should I put this... if these guys wrote the Star Wars prequels, Mace Windu would not have been unceremoniously thrown out the window. That seems the best way to explain what I'm talking about.

In the end, the Fate/Zero light novels are not necessarily for everyone. They're mostly for those who know more about the Nasuverse and Fate/Stay Night, but for those people, it's great to read. For everyone else, you'll probably still enjoy it, but many parts will leave you behind. The anime, on the other hand, is a work of art, and worth watching even if you haven't seen F/SN.

Seriously, it's awesome. Until next time, this has been whatever I read.

Now who wants to join me in cosplaying from this? I've got a Kariya cosplay already, and as I said, I'm looking to commission Lancer.

Double Update: "Doctor Who/Star Trek" and "Spider-Men"

I know, it's been a while since my last update. I've been reading a few things I want to review, so I'll get posts on that up soon enough, but until then, here's a double update to make up for it. I'm doubling everything - two chapters of two comics that are both crossovers of two other things. So without wasting time with all sorts of chit-chat, let's begin.

---- Doctor Who / Star Trek: Assimilation2 ----

First off we have the Doctor Who and Star Trek crossover. It's no surprise that two of the biggest and longest-running science fiction series would get a crossover in the comics eventually, and since the Doctor travels through time and space, it's no stretch of the imagination to find him getting there eventually. I know, we all want a Star Trek vs Star Wars crossover, and Doctor Who/Star Wars would be cool as well, but let's face it, those aren't quite as likely to happen... yet.

At any rate, the crossover, "Assimilation2" (or rather, Assimilation Squared, but I can't do the little squared icon while typing this) kicks things off by setting the scale of the events: by taking over a planet. On a smaller scale, villains might take over a kingdom, or a city, or something to demonstrate that the rest of the country or world is at stake. In this case, we've got galaxies at risk, as the Borg and Cybermen team up to take over an entire planet with ease.

It makes perfect sense for the Cybermen and Borg to work together... to a point. Okay, so "perfect" isn't quite the right word, but it's no stretch of the imagination to see them teaming up. The Cybermen have been willing to team up with similarly robotic groups before, although no doubt they find the fleshy parts still sticking out of the Borg to be "inelegant," while the Borg, unable to assimilate the Cybermen, would find their mechanical forms agreeable enough for the time being. Of course, they might disagree over who gets to assimilate the members of the planets they conquer, but I can see them splitting the inhabitants 50-50. Besides that, I do believe that the Cybermen at least played a part in the inspiration for the Borg, although I'd have to double-check to be sure.

The rest of the first chapter focuses solely on the Doctor. In this situation, it's the 11th Doctor, and his companions are, naturally, the Ponds, Amy and Rory. The cover for chapter 3 shows the ever-popular 4th Doctor and Captain Kirk, though, so I'd have to assume that we'll see other Doctors and starship captains interact in the future. (This is reinforced in chapter 2, where the Doctor says "I seem to be remembering things that have never happened to me," hinting that time is being rewritten as the two universes merge.) Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for 8 and 10 to appear.

It's a pretty basic intro for the Doctor. We see his companions doing what they do best, mainly helping out with things like driving a chariot while the Doctor does something clever, and he saves Egypt from an alien before taking off in his TARDIS. There's nothing too remarkable about it, but it sets the scene for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who. We have the Doctor and his companions, time travel and aliens, and his trusty Sonic Screwdriver. It ends with a lead-in to the actual crossover, where they land in what they believe to be San Francisco, but is shown to be the holodeck when they run into the android Data.

Then we get to chapter 2, which is more Star Trek centered. In this case, we have "Star Trek: The Next Generation," with Captain Picard and his Enterprise crew. This cuts back to a little time before the Doctor arrives, showing the crew of the Enterprise going about their business on an alien planet, while having character-revealing conversations on board. It's a slightly more interesting story than "the Doctor saves Egypt," although with less action, but it leads into the meeting with the Doctor.

This is where things start to get interesting.

The meeting goes the same way that most crossovers go. The Doctor goes about being his Doctor-y self, while his companions and the crew of the Enterprise wonder what's going on and how they got there. As one who travels through time and space, it's not the first time that the Doctor has landed on a spaceship with aliens he can easily identify, so it's no surprise that he identifies Worf as a Klingon immediately... until he says to his companions that until that moment, he'd never heard of Klingons before.

That one line is what intrigued me the most. Now we see time beginning to change, as the Doctor remembers things he's never known before, and sees planets he's never seen before ("I've never heard of Delta IV! Which, considering the fact that I know every planet of every star system, is just a tiny bit concerning!") They're not playing the usual crossover card of "these things exist in the same universe, just go with it," they're showing the effects of two universes crossing over.

Seeing the crew of the Enterprise interact with and react to the Doctor is interesting, as is seeing the Doctor's normal reaction to anything unusual (i.e. calling it "brilliant" and analyzing it out loud to anyone who cares to listen) applied to Data and the Holodeck. There are only so many places crossovers like this can go, but the introductions and confusion ends with this chapter, as they see the threat presented by the Borg and Cybermen working together. It seems issue 3 will show the (relative) past beginning to change, for as I mentioned before, we'll be seeing the 4th Doctor and Kirk work together.

Now, there are some minor issues I have with this. The action scenes particularly don't flow that well; it cuts from Point A to Point C without showing the Point B occurring in-between; we have cause and effect, but none of the action leading up to it. The dialogue is decent, but sometimes fails to grasp the character voices quite right, and it suffers the same problem that crossovers tend to: spending time with everyone being confused and introducing themselves.

I'm also not particularly fond of the artwork. If I knew more about art I could tell you what style it is, but all I can say is that it looks like it's been water-colored. While that may work for some comics, I'd prefer something more solid and detailed for this kind of crossover.

Still, if you're a fan of Doctor Who and Star Trek, you'll probably enjoy seeing the two interact. For those who aren't a fan of either, it'll undoubtedly seem like a jumbled mess with characters you don't really know or care for, but then, you probably wouldn't have considered buying it in the first place. If you're a fan of just one and not the other, I'd check it out in-store and come to your own conclusion. It's not the best crossover we could have hoped for, but it's working so far.

---- Spider-Men ----

Now we get to another crossover. For those familiar with Marvel Comics, there are a few different "worlds" in their multiverse, mainly the "main" one, Earth-616, and the "Ultimate" one, Earth-1610. Of course, there are many, many more, as well as alternate timelines, pocket universes, and so on, but it's just these two that we're talking about right now.

The Ultimate universe has its own ongoing stories and releases, separate from the others, which allows them to try new and innovative things that they can't try in the "main" universe... in other words, they kill a lot of characters off and see what happens from there. In such an instance was Spider-Man, who lost his life in an epic battle against all his biggest villains, defending his friends and family with everything he had. Out of all the ways Spidey could die, that was a great way to do it; it was sad, but he went down fighting with everything he had, and got a chance to say goodbye to his loved ones. I admit, I teared up a little when I saw Peter walking away with Uncle Ben, who told him "you did good, kid." But I digress.

When the new Spider-Man to replace Peter Parker was found, there was a bit of an outrage in the media. Why? Because the new Spidey, Miles Morales, was a half-black, half-hispanic kid. (Of course, the people ranting about it failed to realize that this was Ultimate Spider-Man, but again, digressing.) Miles hasn't been Spider-Man for that long, but the kid is growing on me. He's trying hard to live up to the legacy of Spider-Man, in spite of negative influences trying to turn him. (There was also an amazing Miles Spidey cosplayer at Fanime, so if you're reading this, props to you.)

So now we have the first full crossover between the Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man. The crossover is triggered in a way similar to the "Shattered Dimensions" video game, which was actually pretty decent. Mysterio is doing something nasty, Spider-Man comes in to fight him, screws something up, and gets zapped into another dimension.

Though apparently it isn't Peter!Spidey's Mysterio that's doing it, but the Ultimate universe Mysterio, who somehow found a way between dimensions and is controlling some sort of construct... I admit, I don't know much about Ultimate Mysterio, so his powers are unfamiliar to me. As such, I can't say how well this setup works, but frankly, it's just their excuse to send Spider-Man to the Ultimate universe.

So Spidey, who spent his life trying to protect his secret identity (except for when he unmasked himself during Civil War, then re-masked himself when things were retconned in "One More Day") finds himself in a world where everyone knows Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Past-tense "was." So of course, he's confused, runs around a bit, and encounters his replacement. That's where issue 1 ends.

Issue 2 does the same thing that most crossovers tend to do: the characters are confused for a while, then they fight for a bit. In this case, the fight is an interesting way of showing how their powers stack up. Peter has more experience, and can take Miles in a match of skills and strength, but Miles has some powers that Peter doesn't, such as a venom sting and camouflage. It's a decent enough fight, but I think it undersells how much of a beating Peter can take, and seems to forget about his Spider Senses.

We eventually get to a point where the characters talk a bit to figure out what's going on, as Peter encounters more of the differences in the Ultimate universe, such as Nick Fury turning into Samuel L. Jackson. Like with the other crossover, the characters start working together, only for it to end with the setup for a bigger fight, which just might help explain what's causing the crossing-over.

This comic is written by Brian Michael Bendis, who's experienced with writing Spider-Man. He has the snark and side-comments down, and has a good grasp of the characters, although he can be a bit of a divisive writer for some fans. Still, I trust him to treat the Spideys right in this, in spite of the less-than-entirely-impressive first fight.

Speaking of, I find that Peter taking the first shot by shooting web at Miles was a little uncalled for. I know it's the obligatory "let's you and him fight," but the reason seems too flimsy. Not to mention, Peter tells Miles "unmasking is a big super-hero no-no," but then three pages later unmasks Miles and ignores his pleas to give it back. What the hell, Spidey?

As far as crossovers go, it's nothing too impressive yet, but has its moments. I'm hoping things get better, but if you're not as optimistic as me, I'd wait for the trade paperback before deciding whether or not to buy it.

Until next time, this has been whatever I read.