Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

On this day, we celebrate our Independence Day. On this day, in 1776, the thirteen American colonies declared themselves a new nation, the United States of America. They were no longer part of the British Empire. And over the next 240+ years, this nation has celebrated this day as its birthday.

The holiday is celebrated in many ways, mainly in the form of parades, barbecues, and at night, firework displays. It's a time where family gets together. It's time to play some baseball, the national pastime. It's a time to enjoy a juicy burger or hot dog. It's also a day to celebrate a country that has been called "The Great Experiment".

So, on this day, hang out with your family, have some fun, get some good food, and watch some fireworks. Enjoy the day! Happy Birthday, America!

Inhumans Trailer, My Thoughts

The Inhuman Royal Family is coming to TV! Yup, they'll be getting their own eight-episode TV miniseries on September 29, and the first two episodes will be played in IMAX theaters on the 1st. Because they are the Inhumans, a lot of people have whined and complained about them. But let's give the trailer a looksee.

The trailer begins with a view of Earth from space. It then switches to the Moon, and a voice states that sooner or later, the humans will find them. The view then switches again to Anson Mount's  Black Bolt meditating in a room. I think there is a special room in the comics in which Black Bolt can speak to people without his voice, you know...wrecking a city block.

We get a glimpse of the Royal Family sitting at a table eating together. It's kinda neat to see them dining together like a family, and all that. I know the costumes have gotten flak, but has anyone ever considered that those outfits might be the Inhuman equivalent of casual wear? Why would Black Bolt wear his hood and mask to a family dinner?

Maximus really wants to go to Earth. He's got a big list of things he wants to do there: Go to Disneyland, meet his online pen pal, try those 'scone' things everyone talks about, get a Netflix account, ride roller coasters, see a live wrestling show, man's got a lot of stuff he wants to do. He also feels that Earth is their rightful home, and as such, they should be living there.

Black Bolt then ends up in Hawaii thanks to Lockjaw. He should go see a volcano when he's there. His presence causes...a bit of a disturbance. Since he can't talk, he should bring a pad and paper with him in case of stuff like this.

There's lots of action scenes, including some glimpses of Triton. From what little we see of him, he does resemble his comic counterpart, which is great to see.

The trailer doesn't reveal a whole lot, but the basic gist seems to be that Maximus wants to go to Earth, and he wants to lead the Inhumans be there, the rest of his family be damned.

I honestly don't see it. I don't see why everyone is so angry about this trailer. The costumes are simpler, yeah, but at least the characters are recognizable. It's not like they're all in generic black leather *cough*X-Men*cough*. And the trailer is a minute-and-a-half long. It's not going to reveal everything. But then again, if it did, people would grumble about spoilers. Honestly, I think they're just whining about the trailer because Inhumans.

I'll give this series a shot. It could be a ton of fun. Besides, I like Lockjaw.

Mario + Rabbids KIngdom Battle Trailer

Crossovers are nothing new to Super Mario. He's battled fellow Nintendo icons (as well as Namco, Platinum, Sega, Konami, and Capcom) in the Super Smash Bros. series, and he's also taken on Sonic at the Olympics. Mario's adventures have also taken on various forms, from platformers to sports, to even the RPG. But now, he's going to meet some new enemies and take on a new genre courtesy of Ubisoft. Mario, meet the Rabbids!

The trailer begins with a strange blue portal hovering over Princess Peach's castle. It might be the Star Trek fan in me, but the portal kind of reminds me of the Bajoran wormhole from Deep Space Nine. Mario leaps down and just watches in shock. You'd think after all this kind of stuff going down, Peach would invest in a proper security system for the castle.

What appears to be Peach falls from the ground next to Mario. However, it's not Peach. It's one of Ubisoft's own Raving Rabbids, cosplaying as Peach. And it appears Rabbid Peach may have a bit of a crush on Mario. And then, another Rabbid hits the scene. This one appears to be dressed in Luigi's cap and sweater. The three then encounter more Rabbids, causing some trouble. These ones looks like a glam rock/punk band.

Mario and his two new Rabbid friends face off against the evil Rabbids, and they mysteriously get their own Mega Man-esque Mega Blasters. I wonder if they have their own Copy Weapon chips in them. Then some AC/DC knockoff music hits.

This new game is new territory for Mario: The tactical RPG. That's right, it's a new form of RPG gameplay for one half of gaming's favorite plumber duo. I'm not really a big tactical RPG guy myself, but I'll still give this game a try for the Switch. It does look like fun.

Luigi Rabbid has a bazooka. I wonder if the game will allow characters to use a variety of weaponry, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. And that bit with the Peach Rabbid taking selfies while flying is pretty funny.

Through the footage, we get to see what may be possible levels in the game, and some playable characters: Yoshi, a Yoshi Rabbid, Luigi, and Peach herself. There is a bit where Mario and his Rabbid allies come to rescue Peach, who has her own blaster. Come on, Peach! You were in the Smash games and in RPGs! Luckily, she gets the hint and blasts the evil Rabbids.

I love the Avengers-style turnaround. It's cool Luigi's weapon is a vacuum cleaner. And Luigi Rabbid has a banana. Luigi Rabbid is silly.

HOLY COW THERE IS A DONKEY KONG RABBID. And I don't think he wants the banana, Luigi Rabbid. I think he wants your flesh.

This game sounds like it will be a lot of fun! I think this game will be another great entry in the Switch library.

Squadron Supreme #6 (February 1986)

Welcome back to Earth-712! Over the last five months, this blog has covered the Earth's Greatest Heroes' slow fall from its mightiest protectors...to its tyrannical rulers. We've seen our heroes undergo a lot of change and tragedy. Death, destruction, and mind-breaking was the name of the game. In the last issue, we saw that some of the old villains that faced the Squadron back in the day, expanding on their world. Now, the troubles continue, and the Squadron further fractures...

Previously on Squadron Supreme: Thanks to kidnapping the Golden Archer, the nefarious Institute of Evil was able to kidnap the families of the Squadron Supreme. Long story short, the heroes save the day.

The cover is rather plain, but it is effective. It depicts Hyperion standing in front of Shape, Quagmire, Ape-X, and Lamprey, introducing them as the new members of the Squadron Supreme. It does raise a question, why are they joining up? Didn't they fight the Squadron in the last issue? Well, let's find out!

"Inner Circle"
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciller: Paul Ryan
Inkers: Sam De La Rosa, Keith Williams
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Christie Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Hyperion, Tom Thumb, and the family of Arcanna Jones watching her weave some magic.

What is she doing? Well, she is making Squadron City invisible! Yes, Squadron City! The city of the future! Well, it's not really a city, it's more like a gigantic fancy new HQ for the Squadron Supreme.

Sorry about the quality, folks. My tablet scanner hated me for trying to scan this thing. I hate two-page spreads for this reason. I'm at least glad I didn't have to turn the trade on its side. Anyway, Squadron City is basically a new HQ, complete with hospital, meeting area, little houses for the members (that's funny to me), and the latest hi-fi stereo equipment for your listening pleasure. It was 1986.

Tom Thumb is impressed with Arcanna's magical abilities, as he felt it would have been very demanding technologically to hide the still in-progress HQ. The group go inside the field, and Arcanna heads to her family's home, which kind of has an old castle vibe to it. The group meet Whizzer's wife Madeline Stewart, and her daughter. As Arcanna's husband starts to make lunch and their kids play together, Madeline tells Arcanna that Whizzer still is struggling with the guilt he's having over running out on the Squadron when their families were attacked. Arcanna reassures her that he just needs time to recover.

Meanwhile, Hyperion and Tom Thumb come to the still in-progress laboratory complex. There, Ape-X shows off something she's been working on. She's been building on Tom Thumb's force-field belts, modifying them to be better personal protection devices, and at a much lower cost. She suggests with the gun manufacturers shut down, their factories could be converted to force-field belt manufacturing. Hyperion compliments her efforts, much to Tom Thumb's chagrin. However, he perks up when she states that Tom Thumb really deserves the credit, as she's only building on what he created.

Hyperion then goes to visit Zarda, who is helping a crew with building a landing field for aircraft. The workers are former criminals they hired to help out. Unusually, Quagmire is working with them. And there's a bit of a funny moment with his powers.

Hyperion then goes and visits Doctor Spectrum and Lamprey. Hype is touching base with everyone, and he asks how Doctor Spectrum's therapy sessions are going. Spectrum states he's still not ready for combat duty.

You may have noticed that in the last issue, the Institute of Evil's members attacked the Squadron Supreme, but here...they're helping the Squadron build their new HQ. And they're being nice. Well, there's an explanation for that.

Hype then next visits Amphibian and Shape, who are making a nice lake. Amphibian reveals that the Squadron used the B-Mod machines on the Institute, forcibly turning them into good guys. Amphibian really dislikes this. Even worse, it's shown that Shape felt no pain from the B-Modding, and he likes what he's become thanks to it. Amphibian complains about the lake to Hyperion, because he needs to be near water for his health, like the Silver/Bronze Age Aquaman. The nearest ocean is two hours away by the fastest craft. Hyperion brushes it off, saying Kingsley was outvoted when it came to deciding the location of the new HQ. Tom Thumb is not the only one who feels unappreciated.

Hyperion then visits Foxfire, who got on a new costume. She is looking over supply deliveries. Lady Lark was supposed to be with her, but she went to check up on Golden Archer again. Hyperion grumbles that lately, she can't seem to stay away from his side.

At the hospital facility, Lark is cooing over Archer, much to his chagrin. Actions have consequences, Wyatt. He tells her he needs rest, and she agrees to leave him alone for a bit. Dr. Decibel comes to visit Archer, and Archer complains that Lark's over-affection is making him crazy. Blue Eagle flies down to visit Lark.

Eagle confronts Lark, saying she's been acting very strange these past couple of months, and he wants to know why she suddenly went so crazy over Archer after wanting to break up with him. Lark takes it well.

Meanwhile, one of the Squadron's greatest enemies has been watching the Squadron's takeover from a hidden citadel.

Meet Master Menace, criminal mastermind and evil genius extraordinaire. During the last six months, he was busy taking over the Middle East. You'd think that the Squadron would've heard about this at some point.

It was only now that he has learned what the Squadron are up to in America. Menace eyes a news report, an interview with Tom Thumb about the B-Mod device. In the interview, Thumb talks about how the B-Mod device is a humane way to reform criminals. Menace takes an interest in the device, as some of his occasional allies in the Institute of Evil have already been brainwashed by it. Menace also believes that he can devise a way to reverse the effects. He then goes to greet some guests.

Meet, from left to right: Mink, thrill-seeking cat burglar. Remnant, the cloth-wielding criminal. Pinball, the bouncing ball of malice. You may notice that unlike the strips of cloth he uses in the future, he's shown to be a card-thrower. There's a reason for this. According to the entry on him in the Marvel Appendix, Remnant may have originally intended to be a character called "Wild Card", a Joker-analogue themed around playing cards. The link will explain further.

The three came to Menace for help. They also know what the Squadron did to their fellow villains, and they want to escape them. Menace agrees to help them, and use one of his machines to send them to another world. Menace will stay behind, as he refuses to let the Squadron's actions scare him into fleeing.

Three weeks later, the Squadron's new meeting chamber is completed. Whizzer has to report something. He and Blue Eagle went to Huxley State Prison (Nod to Aldous Huxley, another clever nod by Gruenwald) to implement the B-Mod program there, but the warden was resistant. He doesn't want the Squadron messing with his prisoners' minds, even if the intentions and outcome are "good". The two then left, and Hyperion commends them for doing the right thing.

Amphibian puts up the possibility that he'll never "come around". What will the Squadron do then, B-Mod him to make the warden compliant? B-Mod the newsmen who discover that? Amphibian does have a point. How far can the Squadron go with this thing? Archer already abused the B-Mod to make Lady Lark love him again, who will be the next?

Tabling the issue, Power Princess suggests that the former Institute of Evil be brought into the Squadron as members. The Squadron have various thoughts on it.

It's really interesting seeing each of their thoughts on the former Instituters' membership. And their thoughts make sense with their characters. Power Princess's Utopian upbringing states that those who seek fellowship should be welcomed. Lady Lark is reluctant as Dr. Decibel ruined her singing career. Tom Thumb is all for it, faithful in his invention. Whizzer feels they are too different. Eagle is reluctant to trust them due to their criminal pasts, and the pragmatic Arcanna reveals she is pregnant with her fourth child, and with that, they need the extra manpower. Man, Mr. and Mrs. Jones loves making kids, don't they?

Hyperion breaks the tie, inducing them, but breaking them into field duty slowly. And the final business of the day? Blue Eagle has some business. He points out that Lady Lark has been acting very strange over the last few months, being crazy when she's not around the Golden Archer. He then comes right out and says it.

Eagle explains that Tom Thumb can prove this, as the B-Mod machine has internal memory that records its usage. Eagle explains that the B-Mod was programmed to recognize and disregard the Squadron's brain patterns. This saved them from being B-Modded by the Institute of Evil in the last issue. However, Eagle believes that little protective measure was put in after Archer brainwashed Lark.

Tom admits that he did discover that someone did use the B-Mod on Lady Lark, but can't prove it was Archer. Eagle says it would make sense. He's the only one who had the motive. Spectrum brings in Archer so he can defend himself in this trial. Archer hears the testimony, and he confesses.

Thumb explains that he can't undo the brainwashing of Lady Lark, as the process would probably cause permanent brain damage. Lady Lark is enraged by this and runs out of the room. The Squadron debate over what to do about this.

Hyperion takes it to a vote. Whizzer, Amphibian, and Spectrum vote not to discipline the Archer. Power Princess votes for B-Modding him. Tom Thumb, Blue Eagle, and Arcanna vote to expel him from the Squadron. Hyperion is again the tie-breaker. He votes to expel Archer from the Squadron. Spectrum is furious at Blue Eagle. Hyperion tells Archer the news. Lady Lark is angry about this, but Archer accepts this, and apologizes for what he has done.

That night, Amphibian heads to the lab and destroys the B-Mod machines. Ape-X hears the noise, and asks what's going on. Amphibian assures her that everything is alright. He orders her to call up the plans for the B-Mod machine, and delete them from the computer.

This is where we see the true subtle horror of the B-Mod device. The former villainess can object, but in the end, she has to obey a Squadron member's orders. Her free will was taken from her against her wishes, and it can easily be assumed her compatriots in the Institute of Evil suffered the same fate. It's scary stuff, and a great way of subtly showing how much the Squadron Supreme have lost their way.

Satisfied with that he has done, Amphibian takes a craft and heads back to the ocean, basically saying "Screw the Squadron, and screw the surface world". He swims off, vowing never to leave the ocean again. So long, Amphibian. The story ends with Nighthawk finally appearing again after several months, checking out a strange tower. He was watching the Squadron's activities, and he finally has a plan to stop them.

This issue was really good. The change with the Institute of Evil's personalities was a bit jarring, but made perfect sense considering the themes of this series. It's a fantastic way of showing just how much the Squadron is slowly slipping into becoming tyrants and their not even realizing it. The B-Mod has opened up the doors to some serious abuses of power, and we're starting to see the Squadron do exactly that. It was also neat to see Amphibian finally get some focus, despite the fact this would be his last appearance in the series.

The late Paul Ryan, who would in a few years become known for his five-year run on Fantastic Four from 1991 to 1996, takes over the artwork here. I have to be honest, it's an improvement. Bob Hall upped his game in his last issue, but Ryan takes it to another level. It does make me wish Ryan had done the whole mini. How much nicer would those last five issues have looked under Ryan's pencils? Ah, well. Next time, we'll take a look at an adventure of Supergirl...

Jungle Action #6 (September 1973)

The Black Panther. The King of Wakanda. One of the Marvel Universe's most brilliant minds and richest men, he emerged from the minds of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). Since then, T'Challa has been an Avenger, had a mini-series, and a couple ongoings.

One of the greatest Black Panther stories was the long-running storyline called Panther's Rage. Running from Jungle Action #6-18, for nearly two years, writer Don McGregor and the late artists Rich Buckler and Billy Graham crafted a storyline that, at the time, provided an unprecedented exploration of the country of Wakanda, portraying it as a land where modern technology and ancient ways managed to coexist side-by-side, and showing that Wakanda is a land that had a variety of locations...and dinosaurs. Yeah, Wakanda had actual dinosaurs.

Anyway, every epic story has to begin somewhere, no matter what the medium is used to tell it. As such, let's take a look at Jungle Action #6, in which we first saw the Panther rage.

 The cover is pretty darn cool. You got Erik Killmonger catching T'Challa' arm with a spiked belt (And based on his "costume", he's both got a thing for spikes and is very proud of his abs), proclaiming that he will be the new King of Wakanda. And T'Challa is facing off against a leopard. It was at that point that Panther should really have considered investing a utility belt. Works for Batman, and considering this is Wakanda, they probably developed a special catnip to calm down angry leopards.

"Panther's Rage"
Writer: Don McGregor
Penciller: Rich Buckler
Inker: Klaus Janson
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roy Thomas

The story begins with the Black Panther getting ready to whup some dudes who are torturing an old man in a cage.

T'Challa, to make a long story short, beats the dudes down, and frees the caged man. The man weakly expresses gratitude as Panther frees him, but reveals that he is dying from his wounds. The man reveals that there has been trouble brewing in Wakanda. While T'Challa was having adventures as an Avenger, there were some in Wakanda who felt that T'Challa may have abandoned the kingdom, and it's caused some problems in the country. With his last breath, the man says he never believed the Black Panther abandoned his kingdom.

T'Challa returns the man to his village, processing the man's words. He then meets up with some people in his...Panther-cave? I dunno. After casually lying the dead guy's corpse near a panther statue (Yeah, let's leave the body right there in an open place so it can decompose and stink up everything), he learns from a man named W'Kabi there are whispers of a man named Erik Killmonger causing trouble. W'Kabi remarks T'Challa may have known this had he bothered to spend any real time in Wakanda lately.

We then meet up with T'Challa's then-girlfriend Monica Lynne, who was a lounge singer and social worker. She gives him some comfort over the dying man's words.

The next day, T'Challa alongside W'Kabi and Taku (a communications director) go and see a village that had been destroyed, its inhabitants massacred. W'Kabi is still angry at T'Challa, saying that he has neglected his people, and this would not be happening if he was in Wakanda. The group do manage to find survivors, and Taku had medical teams summoned to help them. T'Challa learns who was responsible for the death and destruction.

Taku alerts T'Challa that a man was spotted in a place called Warrior Falls, a large man with a white leopard. Thinking that may be the mysterious Mr. Killmonger, T'Challa heads there alone to check it out. He finds the same two mooks who got beat up by Panther yesterday. In a funny moment, one claims they will beat him when they face him again.

They do not. The Black Panther demands they tell him where their leader is, and Erik Killmonger is very happy to introduce himself.

Good Lord, Erik Killmonger is a man who has eaten a lot of beef. Killmonger explains he attacked the village to get the Panther's attention and to get some payback on T'Challa. This is his first appearance, but a later comic explains he was exiled by T'Challa because his father helped Ulysses Klaw attack Wakanda. Yeah, Panther was a jerk, and it's coming back to bite him. T'Challa fights back with a kick to the face, but Killmonger no-sells it. He then sics his leopard, Preyy, on him.

Yes, the leopard is named Preyy. Erik Killmonger is not very creative when it comes to naming pets. I'm surprised he didn't just call it Leoparrd or something like that. We can't use the 90s as an excuse for this, unfortunately, as this comic was from 1973. Preyy leaps at T'Challa, trying to slice him up. Killmonger gleefully runs his mouth while T'Challa tries to fight off the angry big cat. T'Challa is able to get a grip on the leopard, and tries to snap Preyy's neck. This infuriates Killmonger, who orders the big cat to back off. Well, one thing to his credit, Killmonger loves his cat.

The exiled Wakandan grabs the injured T'Challa, and tosses him off the edge of the waterfall.

This comic was rather enjoyable. Erik Killmonger is an awesome villain, we got an exciting cliffhanger, and it is neat seeing T'Challa dealing with the consequences of his palling around with the Avengers in the US. Rich Buckler's art is really nice to look at. Next time, we go back to Earth-712, and check on the latest exploits of the Squadron Supreme...

Sonic Forces Trailer, My Thoughts

From the makers of Sonic Generations and Sonic Colors comes a new Sonic game coming to the Nintendo Switch. That's right, it's time to unleash the Sonic Forces!

The trailer begins with a giant robot wrecking a city. Oh no, Dr. Eggman got his hands on MechaGodzilla, and has modified it to take over the world. There's flames everywhere, and carnage litters the streets. But Sonic is going to save the day...well, Sonics are going to save the day.

Yup, much like in Generations, there seems to be an option to play as either the modern Sonic or the classic Sonic from the Genesis-era. The trailer seems to hint that also like in Generations, modern Sonic's levels will be 3D, and Classic Sonic's levels will be in 2.5D-style. It also reveals a third option one could take.

Your own custom character. Yup, this game allows one to play as a custom character of your own creation. And considering the Sonic fanbase love creating their own custom characters, I think they would love this feature. We see Custom using a grapping hook in a cutscene. Perhaps that's a weapon option a custom character can use.

From the footage we see, Custom's gameplay can fit either Classic's 2.5D-style, or Modern's 3-D-style levels. I wonder if one can choose which type of levels your custom character can use. Or maybe they play both. Who knows?

We then see Custom and the Sonic facing off against a group of villains: Shadow the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic, one of the Deadly Six from Sonic: Lost World, and Chaos. Quite an assembly of villains there. But wait, there's more! We get a new one! Yup, a new villain. This one looks like someone stuck Sonic and Alucard from Hellsing in a blender. From what I understand, this new villain is called Infinite, and he uses red and black cubes to attack. Hey, if it worked for the Borg...

Also, from what I heard, this game is going to be showing Sonic as a resistance fighter. Hey, the games are finally catching up to the comics on that. It's also different from what we usually see in the games. In the games, Robotnik is usually the threat the gets beaten before he achieves his goal of conquering the world. I imagine for comic readers, Sonic the resistance fighter is a regular deal, so the game will be nothing new for them on that. But I bet for people who don't regularly read Sonic's comics, just play the games, this will be a neat new thing.

Sonic Forces looks like it will be fun. If I get a Switch, I'll give it a try.

 

Super Mario Odyssey E3 Trailer, My Thoughts

E3 has come and gone, revealing many a game trailer! One new trailer is for one of the games coming to the Switch, Super Mario Odyssey! And here it is!

The trailer begins with a view of a green grassy field with waterfalls in the background. It's quite a pretty view. A thumping is heard, the camera view shakes, and the sources thunders by.

It's a dinosaur. But it's not a Yoshi, it's an escapee from Jurassic Park! A realistic dinosaur in a Mario game! This is a surprise. But wait? What is that on his head? It's Mario's hat! With eyes on it! And Mario seemingly leaps out of the dinosaur! What's going on here?

We next see Mario running through various areas, with a really nice song going in the background. One is New Donk City (Heh heh, Donk), and Mario rides a Vespa. Another is an area that looks like it came right from an old black-and-white cartoon, a third is kind of a desert temple-like place with big crystals. Mario is wearing an Mexican-style sombrero and poncho. And finally, there's Jurassic Park.

We see Bowser kidnapping Peach again. You'd think at some point, they'd really up the security in her castle. Or at least teach her some self-defense moves. DID SHE LEARN NOTHING IN THE SMASH GAMES?! We then see Mario interacting with a Top Hat-shaped ghost that merges with his trademark red hat.

We see some gameplay, and we can also see that Mario can now throw his hat and use it as a weapon. Just like Oddjob, only Italian, heroic, and more talkative. He also wears various outfits throughout the trailer. One I recognized was the outfit from the box of NES Open Tournament Golf.

I think all the outfits we see Mario in are nods to his various cameos in games back in the day. Another big mechanic in the game is revealed here. Mario can use his cap to possess things. I think he can mainly use this mechanic to infiltrate levels...well, except for the cap and mustache. But I can't imagine Boswer's troops being the brightest folks. I like that we see him possess a rocket that reminds me of the ones that occasionally appeared in the American Super Mario Bros. 2. It seems that the cap allows him to possess just about anything. Can make for some hilarious gameplay...and creepy stuff upon further thought.

Holy cow, was that PAULINE?! Pauline from Donkey Kong?! How long has it been since she's appeared in a Mario game?!

This was an awesome trailer! This game looks like it will be a lot of fun to play! Now, I just gotta get a Switch...