Text Play: Pokemon Mega Adventure #23

Welome back to the Akiba region! This is entry number 23 in my Text Play of Pokémon Mega Adventure!

Last time, I finally...FINALLY...FINALLY managed to conquer the hellscape that was Mt. Snarlet. Man, you have no idea how good it felt to escape that place. It was one of the worst obstacles I ever had to face in a Pokémon game, official or otherwise. I hated that mountain so much, and I am happy to finally have it behind me.

With Mt. Snarlet behind us, we've arrived at Dragnar City. The first thing you notice about the city is that it's rainy. Very rainy.  It's kind of funny, because if you talk to the people here, they'll stat talking about how "refreshing" the city is. I'm guessing the rest of Akiba has a generally hot and humid climate if wind and rain is seen as "refreshing". The thing that sucks, though? When the rain ends, it feels muggy all over again. I should know.

Another thing I noticed was that you can't go into any of the buildings. I'm guessing the people in this town got a case of genre savvy and finally got locks for their doors. There's not much here in this place, but I did find the last Gym.

There's a Charizard on the roof! That's neat. I learned from people in town that Dragnar City got its name because many trainers here work with Dragon-type Pokémon. Which have few weaknesses. Lovely.

However, it does make it kind of funny that there is a Charizard on the roof. Charizard is not a Dragon-type. It's a Fire/Flying type. It looks like a dragon, so maybe that's why it's there? Can't enter the Gym at the moment, though. I'm guessing the leader, whoever it is, is out at the moment. All there's left to do is visit the hotel.

Yup, the Dragnar City Hotel. Unfortunately, you can't explore that at the moment, either. There's a guard in front of the stairwell, and the elevator doesn't work unless you have a card. I tried to ask for one at the front desk, but nope. There's not a lot to do in this place at the moment...and I think I know why.

Say hello to Prime Tower. Yes, as in the likely headquarters of Team Prime. Their trainers are tough, but their leaders are pretty darn dumb. I mean, at least Team Rocket tried to hide themselves, and Giovanni had an actual Gym he could use to hide his operations. Sheesh.

Brendan is standing in front of the Tower. I wonder what he's doing there? He explains to me that the Tower is locked up at the moment. It's because Ash cleared Team Prime out. They're pretty much gone now. A bit anti-climatic, if you ask me. Despite this, the Boss of Team Prime has vanished. Nobody has any idea where he went off to. Oh, I think I may have an idea...

Anyway, Brendan isn't just here to chat with me and give exposition. He wants to see how much stronger I have grown as a Trainer since we last met. Alright, let's rock and roll. Battle time!

His first Pokémon was a Swellow. My Luxray roasted that turkey. You know, it's funny they haven't come up with a Pokémon inspired by a turkey yet. Maybe Galar will get one. He next sent out Palossand, but my Venusaur took care of it. Venusaur was the MVP of this battle, taking out three of Brendan's Pokémon single-handedly. Brendan's Swampert fell to it next. Even Mega Evolving couldn't save it. Brendan's Wailord also suffered the same fate. His final Pokémon was a Raichu. I sent out Moguera the Garchomp against it. Moguera wrecked it.

Despite Brendan being beaten, I still was unable to enter Prime Tower. I guess it does make a bizarre form of sense, really. Since Team Prime is basically gone, there's no reason to really explore the Tower, but at the same time...I'm still kind of sad. As I said, this does feel a bit anti-climactic. I kind of expected a big final battle against the Boss at the Prime Tower. Maybe even a double battle teaming with the Dragnar Gym leader! That would have been awesome!

But no. You don't. Makes all those battles against Team Prime seem a bit pointless from a story perspective. Yeah, from a gameplay perspective, you get to make your Pokémon a bit stronger, but it contributes nothing to the story. Anyway, the last major feature of Dragnar City is a bridge in town, with a guard nearby.

It's the bridge leading to Victory Road, which I need all eight badges to enter. Which is hilarious. Remember entry number 17 in this Text Play journey? According to my Trainer Card, I have all eight badges already thanks to the events in that entry. I figured it was a glitch. So, let's just get to the Gym. It's a bizarre Gym as there are no other trainers to battle.

You just walk right in and challenge the Leader...who is the Boss of Team Prime.

It's also here we finally learn his name: Goronda. Things like this have gotten me wondering if this game started as a fan remake of Red and Blue. Also, the Gym is a short walk from the Prime Tower. You'd think someone would have noticed him fleeing the Tower to the Gym...unless there was a secret passage between the Gym and the Tower. Unfortunately, since the Tower is accessible, we may never know.

Goronda may have been one of the toughest Pokémon trainers in this game. He loves throwing Full Restores and Hyper Potions at his Pokémon just when you're about to beat them. Goronda claims that he's working for another Organization that wants to create a new world in another Region. Wait, is he working for Cyrus? How have his activities helped Cyrus?! This makes no sense! Anyway, battle time!

This was Moguera's time to shine! Remember when I said that Dragon-types have few weaknesses? Well, turns out Dragon can hurt Dragon. And my Garchomp is Dragon/Ground. Goronda had his own Garchomp, which packed Mega Evolution, but it was no good. After the win, he actually congratulated me, and gave me the Dragon Badge and TM02 (Dragon Claw). Yeah! So, I finally truly have all eight badges! On to Victory Road! Over the bridge, and through the cave, and we're there! Or so I thought. It's Route 16.

The item in the screenshot is a Max Revive. It's right near the cave entrance to Route 16. There's also another bug in the game. I needed to train up my Primarina, as it was many levels behind the rest of my team. But I could not go back to Mt. Snarlet. I was worried at first, but thankfully, Route 16 has wild Pokémon and Trainers to fight. 

I battled a Gentleman on the route who had an Aggron capable of Mega Evolution as his only Pokémon. After I defeated him, he lamented he was too old to be a Champion. Dude, you're not too old. You just need to get more Pokémon. The route ended with Vaclav Town. Vaclav Town claims to be a place where Trainers can get prepared for Victory Road and the Pokémon League. However, it doesn't seem like that. It's a very small town, and the only thing that resembles a Pokemart is a Trainer Goods shop, but I can't get into it. It's got a line in front of it, and I have no idea how to change that. So, I have to go back to Dragnar City for supplies. Lovely. There is also a Trading House here, but I can't seem to get it to work. The town does contain the entrance for Victory Road.

Yeah, this game needed some proofreading. I did battle a couple trainers on the Road. One was primarily a Bug-type Trainer named Honda. My Incineroar took care of his Scyther and Pinsir. His Pinsir even managed to Mega Evolve, but it was no help, ha ha! His Volcarona fell to my Garchomp. Incineroar took care of his Scizor. Mega Evolution is a joke in this game. That, or my Pokémon are many levels higher.

Another is an exhausted Hiker named Cerano. His first Pokémon was an Aggron. My Incineroar easily took care of it with one burst of Flamethrower. His second Pokémon was a Golem...which was beaten by my Venusaur. His final Pokémon was a Camerupt that could Mega Evolve. Still fell to my Garchomp.

There's a third trainer on this route, a Bird Keeper named Arkar. He uses birds. Time for Thundra the Luxray to shine! She took down his Swellow. Biollantus the Venusaur took down his Aerodactyl, after it clobbered my Butterfree. Arker next brought out his Pidgeot, which could Mega Evolve. It managed to hurt Thundra, but she still won out. His final Pokémon was a Braviary, but one blast of Discharge from Thundra took it down. After the battle, he asked if Mega Evolution was awesome. I wouldn't know. I don't think I've ever used it, and his Mega Evolving his Pidgeot didn't help out much.

I continued ahead, and guess who was waiting at the end.

Yup, ol' Ash Ketchum himself. He wanted to have one last battle before I entered Victory Road. I obliged him, if only because I wanted to go ahead. His first Pokémon was a Hawlucha. My Luxray took care of it. Next, he brought out Goodra. My Garchomp beat it with one Dragon Claw. His third Pokémon was a Greninja. It beat my Luxray, but because it lost HP with attacks, it took itself out as well. His fourth Pokémon was a Noivern. Garchomp took care of it. Did I mention Garchomp is a beast? I love my Garchomp. His fifth Pokémon? Talonflame. Garchomp destroyed it. And he also finished off Ash's Pikachu, allowing the battle to be won. Yup, Moguera the Garchomp was the MVP here.

And with that...that's it. No obstacles left. Nothing between me and the Elite Four. Yes, this game has an Elite Four. Naturally, you got to beat them to face the Champion. They're located in this building here.

It's a nice-looking building. Inside is an area that has a shop and a place to heal up your Pokémon. It's an opportunity to make absolutely certain you're ready to go before you engage the Elite Four. You see, in Pokémon games, you have to fight the Elite Four one after the other. No rest, no going to the Pokémon Center to heal after every battle. You have to make sure your Pokémon are very powerful, and you have plenty of supplies to keep them in fighting shape.

Which is something I'm going to have to do. Next time, I'm going to engage the Elite Four, and the Champion...after I do a ton of grinding. Wish me luck on that.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Pokémon Obtained:
(Victory Road)
- Medicham
- Absol (Already obtained)
- Amoonguss
- Skuntank
- Houndoom
- Lycanroc
- Diggersby
- Camerupt (Encountered)
- Ditto (Encountered)
- Bouffalant
- Lickilicky

Movie Review: Hobbs and Shaw (2019)

Since 2001, the Fast and the Furious franchise has thrilled audiences and made Universal Pictures a butt-load of money. The film is the first spin-off of the long-running franchise. So, did it race to an epic finish, or did it crash and burn? Let's find out!

In the film, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) must join forces to stop a cybernetically-enhanced self-proclaimed "Black Superman" named Brixton (Idris Elba) from releasing an artificial virus that could decimate the population of the world. Making things difficult is the two's hatred for each other and the involvement of Deckard's sister, MI6 agent Hattie Shaw (Vanessa Kirby), who is targeted by Brixton.

The film's big flaw in my opinion is that the film can be a bit...one-note at times. Brixton is a rather standard villain, nothing really unique about him. He was entertaining, though. I'll give him that. But the film did have its fair share of positives. I liked the delving into Deckard Shaw and Luke Hobbs's pasts. I also really enjoyed the banter between Shaw and Hobbs. I really want a sequel for these two, as they have great chemistry. The action was incredible and exciting. And the final battle was pretty cool.

Family is a bit of a theme of the franchise, and it continues on in this film, with the Shaw siblings teaming up, and Hobbs reuniting with his estranged family. I like that they continued that theme with this. I also enjoyed Hattie Shaw in action. Vanessa Kirby was really enjoyable. I want to see more of her.

The film is a bit cliché, but it's still a ton of fun. It's not overly serious, it's just the type of film when you want to turn off your brain for a couple of hours. It's surprisingly packed, and it has some crazy stuff that may not fit in a "mainline" Fast and the Furious movie. There were a couple great surprise cameos in them,   I'm not going to spoil them. I do recommend this film if you want some enjoyable action.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! And I'll see you next time!

Pokemon Sword and Shield Gigantamax Trailer, My Thoughts

Back in July, I looked at the Nintendo Direct for Pokémon Sword and Shield. It was in this Direct that we got to learn about a unique new mechanic for the game: Dynamax. Basically, your Pokémon get really big for three turns, and you can do a TON of damage during that time...if you time it right.

Well, a new trailer is out that reveals more about the UK-inspired region called Galar, as well as a further layer of Dynamaxing. Let's take a look!

Wait, is playing soccer going to be a thing in this game? I mean, it makes sense. Soccer is big in the UK (they call that 'football' over there), after all.

Who is that guy?

Meet another new Pokémon: Alcremie. We've seen Pokémon based on ice cream cones, why not a Pokémon based on whipped cream?

Yamper is adorable. Again, it makes sense they'd make a corgi-based Pokémon for a region based on the UK. Queen Elizabeth II loves her corgis. If it has an evolution, I hope it's based on a bulldog.

Rolycoly looks like it could be a pre-evolution of Geodude. I hope it evolves into a walking volcano.

Duraludon looks like something you build to fight Godzilla.

People have made jokes about Tyranitar looking like Godzilla, I would not be surprised if Mecha-Godzilla inspired this one. I don't think I've ever seen a Steel/Dragon combination before. But then again, there's nearly 1000 Pokémon now, I could be wrong. It's a cool-looking Pokémon, though.

I'm guessing Chairman Rose there is the big boss of the Gyms in the region. I hope they don't pull a Lusamine with him. I also imagine Oleana has a Russian accent and always sounds freakin' bored.

And we meet two of the Gym leaders of the games, the Fighting-type specialist Bea and the Ghost-type specialist Allister. I like that their designs portray them as almost like members of a sports team, but with unique designs that let them show a bit of individuality. The little details like Allister's mask and sleeves. The Gym Leaders were replaced with Trials in Sun/Moon/UltraSun/UltraMoon, so maybe they're trying to do something a little different with the Gym Leaders here as well? I like the idea of Gym Leaders here in Galar being more like a sports team.

As I said earlier, Dynamax has another layer: Gigantamax. I wonder if a Pokémon has to be Dynamaxed in order to reach Gigantamax form. Like Mega Evolution, Pokémon that undergo this process change their appearance. I've heard that this is the replacement for Mega Evolution...and it has angered some fans. I personally don't mind, as I have never really used Mega Evolution in my Pokémon gaming. It's no big loss to me. I'm sad for the people who did like it, but personally, I never cared.

A Dynamaxed Alcremie turns into a giant wedding cake. Oh, I sense tragedy if it ever finds itself battling a Snorlax...

Giantamaxed Drednaw and Corviknight look AWESOME.

I am so excited for these games! I really am! I think the new Pokémon are really neat, and I can't wait to battle these new Gym Leaders. I am also quite curious about Chairman Rose and Oleana. I think this will be a ton of fun!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Iron Man #225 (December 1987)

The 1980s seemed to be a bit of a Golden Era for the Golden Avenger. True, he didn't have the mainstream popularity he does now thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but his comic was doing rather well, quality-wise. It was because of people like David Michelinie, Bob Layton, John Romita Jr., Mark D. Bright, and Barry Windsor-Smith. They helped craft stories that still had an effect on the Armored Avenger today, including "Doomquest" and the story we're going to look at the beginning of here: Armor Wars.

Known as "Stark Wars" in the issues themselves, Armor Wars got its name because it was advertised in other Marvel books at the time with full-page ads stating "THE ARMOR WAR BEGINS IN IRON MAN #225". Also, I like to think the name stuck because it sounds cool.

This story came about because of a dinner at an Italian restaurant. No, really. David Michelinie was having a dinner at an Italian restaurant with Jim Shooter (then Editor-in-Chief at Marvel), Bob Mackie (who was the editor of the Iron Man book at the time), and Bob Layton. Layton was expressing a bit of frustration. You see, the creatives felt that they were putting some pretty good work on the genius billionaire play philanthropist's comic, but the book was not getting any actual attention on it. Jim Shooter said they needed a big story. Give him a big story, and he'll push it.

Shooter himself came up with the basic idea: What if the technology that Tony Stark used in his mighty suit of armor ended up in the hands of his enemies? How would Tony Stark feel about that. The idea was a hit, and everyone at that table started contributing ideas. It not only allowed a reduction of the armor-wearing characters in the Marvel Universe, but also explored the emotional conflicts of one of the original Avengers.

Armor Wars would go down as an important and beloved Iron Man storyline that still has effects on the Marvel Universe today. It would be adapted in the various Iron Man animated series, and elements of it would be used in Iron Man 2. It would also get a sequel, but that's for another time.So with that out of the way, let's take a look at Iron Man #225!

The cover is pretty neat. I have to say, I love that old Iron Man masthead logo. The big angular letters with the rivets on them, it just says Iron Man. You got Iron Man standing front-and-center, with the heads of various armor-wearing villains behind him. It gives the impression that the man in the suit is tormented, that these villains are haunting him. It's great!

"Stark Wars, Chapter I"
Writers: David Michelinie, Bob Layton
Penciler: Mark Bright
Inker: Bob Layton
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins with what looks like Iron Man (clad in the Silver Centurion armor, one of my favorite Iron Man suits) dodging some missiles.

Tony Stark uses his thrusters to make the missiles collide with each other. However, they had friends. But that's not a problem for the Armored Avenger. He uses some magnetic tractor beams to make them collide with each other and explode. One final missile comes at Tony Stark, but he deals with it by giving it a Mighty Punch.

Iron Man lands near a general, who is very impressed. This whole thing was a practice run for an Open House charity event the Army is holding with Stark Enterprises. Tony heads back to a van he's using as a mobile HQ. James "Rhodey" Rhodes is inside, looking over a new warning system Stark developed. He believes the Pentagon will be very impressed with it. That's a good thing, as Stark Enterprises needs this contract. Defense contracts can be hard to come by when you decide to no longer produce munitions.

After Stark deals with the business with the general, he decides to make it up to Shannon Sinclair (a woman who watched over the practice with them) by offering to take her for a nice seafood lunch. He knows a place that makes great Alaskan king crab, best in the world! Shannon agrees to it, asking where that place is. Nome, Alaska. No kidding, Tony is going to fly Shannon all the way to Alaska for seafood lunch.

Two days later, Stark is back in his company's headquarters in Los Angeles. He's examining the armor of a villain once known as Force. Force was an armored mercenary named Clayton "Clay" Wilson. He used an advanced suit of Iron Man-esque suit of armor equipped with a powerful forcefield during his merc work. However, in Iron Man #223-224 (October-November 1987), Wilson gave up the mercenary work and reformed. Stark's only just now had the time to actually examine the suit. He's been rather curious as to how Force and other criminals got such impressive tech. He makes a shocking discovery. A discovery so shocking, it makes Stark angrily trash the lab.

Luckily, Jim Rhodes was able to calm the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist down. So, what got Stark freaked out? Well, it turns out that some of the tech in Force's old armor...was Stark's own. Somehow, someone managed to steal Stark's tech and use it to create Force's armor. Sounds like something the Spymaster could pull off. You see, Stark never bothered to patent the Iron Man suit's tech, as he feared it could be used to expose his secret identity as the Golden Avenger.

Tony feels that because of this, all the harm Force caused was his fault. And Force may not have been the only villain that benefitted from the stolen tech. Rhodes tries to mollify Tony. After all, they chose to use the stolen tech. But it does little to help. Stark ran a query in the West Coast Avengers database for criminals who could have benefitted from the use of the stolen Stark armor tech. And it's quite a list.

That's quite a list of villains. Although I can't imagine Doctor Doom being that receptive to using tech from someone else's armor. Considering how big his ego is, I can imagine him laughing off Stark as an inferior armor-maker. Yeah, they brawled during that whole Doomquest thing, but I can't see Doom having a lot of respect for Stark as an armor-maker.

Rhodes tries to convince Tony to be sure all these villains are actually using Stark Tech in their suits before he does anything. As they leave, Marcy Pearson (Stark's Public Relations Chief) reminds them of the Army Open House demonstration. Stark tells her he'll have to cancel, as something came up. Rhodes tells her he'll try to convince him to do it, and gives her a kiss on the cheek. The two had a bit of a thing at the time.

The scene shifts to a company called Barstow Electronics, which is a division of Stark Enterprises. Working there is one Carl Walker...aka Clay Wilson, the former Force. Stark gave him a new job and identity there after he reformed (Also, Justin Hammer still has a contract out on Wilson). He's summoned to Stark's office, as he wants to know where Clay got the armor. He explains that he developed the prototypes of the armor, but Stark deduces Justin Hammer was the one who provided the stolen Stark tech.

Tony realizes that since the Force armor wasn't as powerful as his then state-of-the-art Silver Centurion armor, Hammer must have obtained the tech back when Tony had his company back in Long Island, New York. But it still leaves one question: How did Hammer get the tech in the first place? Rhodes suggests he do something to take his mind off it, like a certain charity Open House demonstration that Iron Man was supposed to be at? Tony is reluctant, but realizes Rhodey is right.

At the demonstration, the Army shows off their new tank: The SP-4 Turbo-Tank, aka...

I love this tank. It looks...rather Cybertronian in a way. Maybe Cybertronian tech was used to build it. It's not completely implausible. Spider-Man met the Robots in Disguise in The Transformers #3 (January 1985), and the New Avengers would also meet them in 2007. The tank shows off its strength by towing a cart carrying a massive pile of scrap metal. The speaker explains that the tank is one of the safest on Earth for its driver...because it has no driver. It's remotely controlled. So, it's a drone.

Iron Man arrives as part of the demonstration. His wrists are chained to a pair of the tanks, and they drive off, attempting to pull him apart.

However, Tony's mind is not on the demonstration. He thinks back on his origins, joining the Avengers, his solo adventures...and he feels like it was all for nothing. His technology, which he created to help others, was stolen and twisted to harm people. It makes Stark feel helpless...and angry. He yanks on the chains harder than he intended.

The crowd loves the show, but the general is not too happy. The next day, Marcy Pearson is briefing Tony about it. Tony's stunt has become a bit of a PR nightmare, as they're trying to absolve Stark Enterprises without implicating the military. Tony decides that he needs a break. Hey, maybe he should go see a movie. And that he does.

He finds a date to a new movie called "Dark Angel". Evidently it is a bit of a controversial film because of its realistic portrayal of terrorism. Huh. I had no idea that a film about an alien drug dealer was considered a "realistic portrayal of terrorism". Well, considering that it's the Marvel Universe... Anyway, Tony grows increasingly uncomfortable over the course of the film. He leaves the movie to take the long walk home.

Tony Stark is not the only one having troubles. So is Jim Rhodes. Iron Man's troubles tend to end up his, as well. And he has a jerk neighbor who messes around with his Pontiac Firebird all the time.

Tony Stark has trouble sleeping, and he has to make a call. The receiver is Clay Wilson. Tony wants to know one thing: How many people did Clay kill as Force? Clay refuses to answer because that part of his life is over. Tony is clearly haunted by the stolen tech. The next day, he and Rhodes are going to do a little thievery. Rhodey thinks Tony is crazy, but as far as Tony is concerned, he has no other choice. If he goes to the cops, he might tip Hammer off that he's Iron Man, and Hammer would find a way to get rid of any evidence of his thieving of Stark's tech.

As such, Stark is forced to go a little bit...extra-legal in his maneuvering. He and Rhodey head to Accutech Research and Development, another company that's part of Stark Enterprises. There worked an employee named Abe Zimmer. The man's a big computer expert, and master hacker. Stark helped him out in Iron Man #219 (June 1987), and he's eager to return the favor. He is able to find a company called "Transcorp", which Hammer used as a front for his operations on the West Coast. Zimmer can hack into the company's mainframe, but he's going to need some additional help. Stark knows just the man for it.

Since his days working for Stark in Long Island, one Scott Lang has started his own company called "Electrolang". Tony tries to hire him, but Scott is reluctant. It's understandable. He's an ex-con. He can't afford to be involved in something that may end up breaking the law. Tony is able to convince him by assuring him every precaution will be taken, and he'll buy a store for Scott to use in his new business. As he leaves, Tony admits to Rhodey he feels rotten about this.

That night, the plan is executed. Iron Man is in the sky, ready to provide his distraction. And Scott Lang, the Ant-Man, is heading inside the building's electronic systems. He encounters some automatic pest control, but it's not an issue for him. And he finds his target.

At the right time, Iron Man slams into the building, making it shake. Scott then fiddles with the chip. Zimmer finally works his hacking magic. The guards inside notice the hacking attempt and shut the computers off. However, Abe was able to get most of the files, which he gives to Stark in the form of a disk. Stark opens the disk and discovers that it wasn't Hammer that stole his armor tech.

It was the Spymaster that did it. I knew it! Hammer just bought the tech from him. The files also reveal some other important information: The villains that Hammer gave the tech to, including the Beetle, the Crimson Dynamo, and even more obscure villains like the Raiders and Professor Power. His targets set, Stark is on the attack.

The next day, Stark tells his legal experts to find a way to get his tech back. While they do that, he's also going to take care of business as only a rich man with an armored combat suit can. That night, one Wilbur Day, aka Stilt-Man, is robbing an office building...wile seven stories in the air.

Look at him in his silvery suit. Iron Man punches one of his elongated legs, but it doesn't knock him over. Stilt-Man tries to stomp on the Armored Avenger, but Iron Man just knocks him over. Stilt-Man tries to flee, but Iron man just knocks him down with his own extended leg, and then applies a little invention to the criminal's suit.

It's called a negator pack. It's a device that neutralizes the Starktech in Stilt-Man's suit, rendering it useless. The crusade is starting well, but it quickly hits a roadblock. Remember when Ant-Man and Abe Zimmer did their little hi-tech heist? Well, the judge said that the evidence they maintained was inadmissible in a court case because it was obtained illegally. Whoops. Stark tells his legal expert to keep on it, and so will he.

We next go to a soldier of fortune convention. Basically Merc-Con. We focus on one Brendon Doyle, a Scottish merc who just won the Automatic Weapons Competition three years in a row. He heads to his room, where Iron Man is waiting for him. You see, Doyle tends to use a suit of armor in his work, where he's known as Mauler. Tony wants the suit. And hilariously, Doyle's like, "Okay, here you go."

It's great! He literally just hands Tony the Mauler suit. But again, he's not too worried. He couldn't fight Iron Man (nobody paid him to), and he can always steal another suit. A week later, Tony heads to a tanning salon. No, he's not going to get tanned, the Controller has been spotted in the area. Stark has a gadget that detects the rogue Starktech, and it's being used here. Stark bursts in, and finds a woman about to have one of the villain's control disks attached to her. A group of controlled tan-worshippers show up.

Tony gets his suit on and the egotistical villain commands his army of yuppies to attack the Golden Avenger. They swarm Stark, who tries to get his way out without hurting the people. They are just innocent victims of the Controller after all. The Controller leaps at Stark, but ends up crushing one of his victims in the process.

The young man's death enrages Stark. He tackles the Controller and sends him flying into a beach. Tony then proceeds to Mighty Punch him repeatedly. In his rage, he doesn't notice that the beachgoers are also under the Controller's power, and they swarm him. Tony acts fast, and slaps a negator pack on the Controller's suit. It fires the Starktech in the suit, and presumably somehow frees the people under his control.

Three days later, Stark's lawyer has good news! He and his team made a case for the theft of his tech being a civil rights violation. And also, they may be able to secure the rights to future use of his armor's tech. They were also able to get a date for the hearing: August 12, 1989. Remember, this comic is from 1987. Yeah. Two years. Stark is understandably furious. In those two years, how much carnage could be caused because of the rogue Starktech? The lawyer says that considering the backlog of court cases, they were pretty lucky to get this date. But he's told to get out of the office.

Tony's out of patience. The law takes time, and time is something he does not have. There are still villains out there using the rogue Starktech. He's got to take matters into his own hands. Let the Armor Wars begin.

This comic was really good. When it comes to Tony Stark, this comic does highlight another major part of his character. People know about the snarkiness and the arrogance (not to mention the alcoholism), but there's another big part of his character: His guilt complex. It's not hard to see where that comes from. Tony Stark is someone who sees himself as a good noble man, and seeing his inventions being corrupted and used for evil, well...he's naturally going to blame himself.

Mark D. Bright turns in some fine art. Characters are expressive, and I love the way he draws technology. It's great stuff.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend checking out the 2007 trade paperback The Invincible Iron Man: Armor Wars. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, when the Secret Wars rage on...

LEGO Jurassic World Switch Announcement Trailer, My Thoughts

Over the years, a series of Lego action-adventure games have been released that have covered various franchises, like Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and even the superheroes of Marvel and DC Comics. One of those franchises was Jurassic Park/World.

Originally released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, PlayStation 3/4, and Vita, X-Box 360 and X-Box One in 2015 (to coincide with the release of Jurassic World). The game humorously retold the first four films in the franchise.

The game would receive mixed reviews, and people would criticize the various ports for different things. Despite this, the game had sold 4 million copies in 2015. And now it's coming to the Nintendo Switch! Let's take a look!

Heh heh, it's funny seeing Ian Malcolm as a minifig.

Heh heh, triceratops vomit.

Man, driving among a herd of dinosaurs sounds fun. Dangerous, but fun.

A clever girl that does a surprisingly good Carmen Miranda cosplay.

Ha, that's the Lego retelling humor right there.

It's a short trailer, but I love it. I'm a big fan of the Lego games, I have owned and/or played most of them. So, you can bet I am excited for this one! I have played a tiny bit of this game over at a relative's house years ago, so I never understood why I didn't try and obtain it myself. It was fun! I will correct that here!

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! See you next time!

Action Comics #859 (January 2008)

Back in July of 2018, I took a look at Action Comics #858 (December 2007), which was the beginning of the Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes storyline. At the time, as I said in that review, the event miniseries Infinite Crisis made some alterations to the history of the DC Universe. One of them was that Superman's ties to the Legion and his adventures with them as Superboy was restored to canon. This story line was part of DC's reinvigorating the original Legion.

It has been recently announced that a new Legion of Super-Heroes series would be coming in Spetember, with writing by Brian Michael Bendis, and art by Ryan Sook. It'll likely be a new version of the team, as considering how badly DC has mangled its own canon with the New 52 and Rebirth, I doubt any previous version of the team would fit. This announcement inspired me to revisit one of my favorite Legion storylines. So let's take a look at Action Comics #859!

The cover is a Gary Frank piece, and it's a good one. You got a statue of Superman and the Legion that has been defaced. There's graffiti on it, and one of the statue's heads got cut off. Poor Cosmic Boy. The graffiti "Aliens Go Home" has a base on it. The black background forces attention on the statue, and it's very well-drawn.

"Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Part II of IV) - Illegal Aliens"
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Gary Frank
Inker: Jon Sibal
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editors: Nachie Castro, Matt Idelson
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with the three Legion founders: Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy and Saturn Girl. The three are doing a little bit of spelunking. However, they're not doing it for fun. They're looking for something. The three reach their destination, but there's no light. Where are they? Well, Lightning Lad provides some illumination.

Yup, they found the Batcave. It's amazing how much of it is in rather decent shape considering it's been a thousand years. It's also amazing that Batman as seemingly left no legacy of any sort after one-thousand years. I mean, Superman is remembered, why not Bats? Anyway, why are they in the old headquarters of the long-dead Batman? Well, they're looking for one item: A ring with a piece of Kryptonite for the gem. It will prove that Superman was from an alien world. You see, thanks to the villains of this story, people have become convinced Superman was an Earthling. The ring was given to the Dark Knight by Superman as a safeguard in case he lost his mind or was controlled by a telepath or something like that.

Lightning Lad thinks this is a waste of time. They should be taking the fight to the ones responsible for this whole mess. Cosmic Boy reminds him that taking the bad guys down now will change nothing. It won't win back the people's hearts and minds. Saturn Girl reminds Lightning Lad that this is about more than getting the Legion back together. This is about stopping a universal war...all in the name of Superman. A rumble is heard, and the telepathic Titanian picks up some thoughts. The Legion Founders...have been found.

Meet the villains of this story: Tusker, Spider-Girl, Golden Boy, Storm Boy, Radiation Roy, and Earth-Man. They comprise this time's new "heroes": The Justice League of Earth. All of these characters have appeared in past Legion stories:
- Tusker/Horace Lafeaugh and Golden Boy/Klint Stewart first appeared in Adventure Comics #331 (April 1965).
- Spider-Girl/Sussa Paka first appeared in Adventure Comics #323 (August 1964)
- Storm Boy/Myke Chypurz first appeared in Adventure Comics #301 (October 1962). 
- Radiation Roy/Roy Travich is likely the most well-known of this bunch. He first appeared in Adventure Comics #320 (May 1964).
Fun Fact: Most of these characters share Jerry Siegel as a co-creator. Yeah, Jerry Siegel. The same Jerry Siegel that co-created Superman. Also, something about Spider-Girl that bothers me. Her power is that her hair is prehensile, like Medusa of the Inhumans. She doesn't have spider-based powers. Why is she called Spider-Girl? What, Hair-Girl was too silly? She was created in the 60s!

Cosmic Boy tosses a Batmobile at Earth-Man, but he shreds the ancient vehicle, saying they should have left like many of the Legionnaires have. However, many of them left because their homeworlds broke out into violence. Violence the League's crusade and lies about Superman caused. Tusker tries to punch out Lightning Lad, but Garth Ranzz sends him flying on Lightning Bolt Airlines. The three Legion founders put up a good fight, but ultimately, the League's superior numbers overwhelm them.

Back at the Braal Embassy, Colossal Boy, Superman, Dawnstar, and Wildfire are convalescing. Dawnstar is bandaging up Superman's injured hand, while he gets caught up. He wants to know why the Legion didn't want his help. Wildfire points out that it was not because they didn't want Superman's help, it was just that it was too risky to bring him to the future now. The sun's been red for the past few years. Solar shuttle research accident. Could have been worse, could have unleashed some hidden monster there. And under a red sun, Superman is powerless. Which means he can be hurt...even killed. The Legion could not afford that. Superman is too important to history.

He was more than just an inspiration to the Legion. Superman helped create world peace, and his principles spread to the stars. The United Planets came about because of him. If Superman dies in the future...none of that will come to pass. It will all be gone. Colossal Boy laments that it already is gone. Earth is seceding from the UP. His wife Yera, aka Chameleon Girl, has vanished. Dawnstar peps him up by reminding him the Legion will be back together. They will stand strong again. And they will be seen as a symbol of peace and unity again. They do have to get Superman home, though. It's too dangerous. The Man of Tomorrow is not deterred.

Being a Legionnaire wasn't always about hanging out in the old clubhouse playing holovid games. It was a dangerous job. Fighting foes like the Fatal Five, Mordru, even Darkseid. They weren't walks in the park. The Legion has seen enough deaths in its ranks to understand that. There's something more going on, and the Man of Steel wants some answers. Wildfire agrees to explain, but warns that it's not going to make the Man of Steel happy. We next look in on a classroom...that's on a space station that the Justice League of Earth uses as a base of operations.

The teacher is rockin' some serious Lady Gaga-style glasses there. And also, I love that the holo-image of Superman there references the cover to Superman #1 (June 1939), complete with the triangular version of the S-Shield that Superman wore on the cover. Anyway, the kids there recite an altered origin of the Mighty Protector of Metropolis.

In this false origin, Superman was given his powers as a teenager by the Earth as a defender against extraterrestrial threats. The Legion Founders (Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl) claimed he was actually from a destroyed world called Krypton, but it was a trick to get humanity to welcome alien beings as part of an invasion plan. Superboy's adventures with the Legion in the future were part of that plan. The Legion's ranks would expand, and many would try out to join them. However, not everyone made the cut. But they tended to turn away people from Earth.

One of those rejects was Kirt Neidrigh. Created by Cary Bates and Mike Grell, he first appeared in Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #217 (July 1976). In that story, he tried out for the Legion as Absorbency Boy, thanks to his power to absorb the residual energy of any super-being he was around, gaining their powers for a period of time. For example, if he hung around Lightning Lad, he would get electrokinetic powers himself for a time. He would be rejected from the Legion as they felt his powers were too limiting.

Years later, Neidrigh discovered a crystal tavern buried deep under the ice in the Arctic. It revealed that Superman was actually an Earthling, and he took up the name Earth-Man. He gathered others like him to form the Justice League of Earth. And much to the kids' joy, they decided to visit.

They pass by the kids, carrying containers that are holding the Legion founders in stasis. The containers are placed in a special room. Earth-Man then absorbs their superhuman energies, allowing him to use Lightning Lad's electrokinesis, Cosmic Boy's magnetokinesis, and Saturn Girl's telepathy. Earth-Man then gets a call from Spider-Girl. They got a call about a break-in at the old Legion headquarters. Colossal Boy, Dawnstar, and Wildfire were identified...as well as a man that resembled Superman. Earth-Man waves off "Superman" as an impersonator, some Legion sympathizer. After all, the Man of Steel is dead. Long dead. It would be...but pieces of a Time Sphere were found. This shocks the human supremacist, and we learn exactly what happened to the missing Legionnaires.

Yup, Earth-Man has kept them in stasis, using them as batteries to keep his high power levels.

Superman wonders how this all happened. How could people believe he was not a Kryptonian? Well, some people did. And then more people believed. It led to fighting, humans rejecting aliens, and a movement on Earth to secede from the United Planets started to grow. Superman blames himself, but Colossal Boy tells him it's not his fault, it's just a bunch of rejects wanting a day in the sun. This an important point here. The Justice League of Earth don't have to believe Superman was an Earthling themselves. They could accept the truth of Superman's origins themselves, they just have to string along people that actually believe the lies.

Superman points out that Brainiac 5 is the reason he's here, and he's gotta find the brainy Coluan. Dawnstar has found his trail, but it's old and faint. And it leads there.

Alien Holding Camp no. 6736...aka the old Legion Clubhouse. It does make sense. The Justice League of Earth would turn the Legion HQ into an alien holding camp. It's a good way for them to give the Legion the middle finger.

This comic is pretty good. I think this storyline is not only a very well-done one, but it's a very timely one. There are a lot of parallels between what is going on in this storyline and what has been going lately with certain events in the United States, particularly the spreading of fake news and the holding camps. It's chilling, but not surprising. The Justice League of Earth are tyrants, and this is what tyrants do. They're not the good guys here, no matter how much they want people to think so...and no matter how many people on Earth in the story think so. They've been described by Legionnaires as "a bunch of rejects wanting a day in the sun". And ultimately, that's what they are. Just a bunch of angry lunatics wanting to feel important. Too bad it has to be at the expense of decent people.

Gary Frank turns in some fine artwork in this issue. His faces can be a bit wonky at times, but I cannot deny he can make a character expressive. And as I said, I loved his designs for the Legionnaires. His takes on the JLE are pretty good, too.

Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes is a great story. It's also sadly, as I said, a rather timely story. I highly recommend it. It's a must-read if you like the Legion. It shows that Geoff Johns does get Superman.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Join me next time, as we join the Armored Avenger, Iron Man during the start of the Armor Wars...

Super Smash Bros. Bear and Breegull Trailer, My Thoughts

Back at E3, Nintendo did one of their Directs. In them, they revealed some new games coming, more info on previously announced games, and two new DLC fighters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Back in July, I looked at the first of those characters revealed: The Luminary from Dragon Quest XI. However, there was another pair, or should I say, duo of characters coming to do some Smashing.

These two, I admit, are close to my heart. Their two games on the N64 back in the day were among my favorites on the console. I also enjoyed their third game, despite it being radically different. Smash fans have been wanting these two in he series for a very long time, but they're being characters from Rare (which is now owned by Microsoft), made that a seeming impossibility. Until now. Yup, a certain bear and bird are making their long-awaited and long-desired Smash Bros. debut! Let's take a look!

Ah, the great rivalries of gaming.

Ha ha ha! Looks like K. Rool couldn't keep up the rent on his home, so he had to move in with Donkey and Diddy Kong.

Stop hogging the window, K. Rool! You're a guest!

Yeah, you're going to have to pay for that.

No way! It can't be!

Duck Hunt Dog and Bird are a pair of little trolls. And if you don't get it, it's an homage to the trailer that revealed K. Rool would join the Smash roster.

It is so awesome to see Banjo-Kazooie in Smash. For those who are unfamiliar with them, Banjo is the brown bear, and Kazooie is the red bird (called a breegull). They first appeared in their self-titled game in 1998. Their games often focused on their battles against the witch Gruntilda.

Not surprising the Kongs and K. Rool are thrilled. Rare also made the Donkey Kong Country games back in the day. Nice little bit of meta there.

Go, Kazooie, go!

I love that the combat shows Banjo and Kazooie working together. It's how their games worked. And I can't help but feel a bit bad for Kazooie when she's used as a club. Bird of Iron, indeed.

I also like that we see Kazooie using her standard and Grenade Eggs. And it fits that the Grenade Eggs can be grabbed and used as weapons. Makes their usage risky. I like it.

I'm assuming the Jump Pad is their Up + B jump move.

And it makes sense they'd use the golden feathers for an attack. I used to use a cheat code to get an infinite amount of them. Made things easier for me.

Heh heh, Banjo's a bear. Of course he'd go after the beehive. Gotta get that honey!

It makes sense that Spiral Mountain would be the Smash fighting stage. It's the hub world of the original game.

Oh hey, Grunty! Banjo and Kazooie are going to beat you down again.

I'm guessing that's the Final Smash. JINJO ATTAAAAAAACK!

Ouch. Yeah, that's a nod to how Gruntilda was defeated in the first Banjo-Kazooie game. She got crushed by a boulder.

I am so excited! I loved the Banjo-Kazooie games back in the day, and I can't wait to do some Smashing with these two! I'm so happy Microsoft and Nintendo were able to come together to make this happen! As I have said in the past, the Smash Bros. series has become more than just a Nintendo fighting game, it's become a tribute to video games as a medium. It's truly incredible to see what its become.

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! And I will find a new way to provide additional support for this blog! See you next time!