FNF (Round 2): M3 result and M4 combatants

Round 2, Match 3 results

This is another fight that was hard to call...not so much because the winner is doubt.  I just don't like the outcome.

The Veiled Avenger clearly has the advantage in hand-to-hand combat skill.  She's pretty masterful with that whip.  She's repeatedly used it to keep larger physically-imposing males at a distance--even when they're armed with pistols!  If any ever do close in on her, she's demonstrated hand-to-hand skills that are at least as formidable as Ion's.

The core problem is simply the power differential.  First, the fight takes place out doors.  Consequently, there's nothing to stop Ion from taking full advantage of his flight ability. Second, even when he closes in on the Avenger--and even if her reflexes are fast enough to lash out at him with her whip--it apparently takes quite a lot to penetrate his force-field.  Though it's never defined precisely how much, I've got to believe it's more than a bullwhip, no matter how skillfully wielded.  At the end of the day, even when the Avenger brings her A-game, I'd think Ion just wears her down.  (And the kid has demonstrated the guts to take a punch and carry on the fight, so I'd have no doubts about Ion's grit.)

Apparently, the voters agree.  It's unanimous, Ion goes to the third round!

Midnight vs. Bullets Balow: pt. 1 (Smash Comics #40)

Smash Comics # 40 (February 1943)

Midnight feature (Midnight vs. Bullets Balow)

 

This is story left me feeling like the publisher was up against a deadline and just had to crank something out.  Of course, that may not be what happened,but...well, just see for yourself.

The story begins with Wackey, Midnight, and Gabby in their secret lair puzzling over the seeming disappearance of wanted criminal "Bullets" Balow.  Exasperated with his team's failure to find any trace of Balow in eight weeks, Midnight decides to go for a quick five-minute walk.  The reader's attention is hooked, then, when our navy-behued hero returns at the appointed time with a severely-beaten Balow slung over his shoulder!

Midnight tosses the barely-conscious criminal onto an easy chair.  Balow continuously begs his stunned onlookers to, "keep her away from me!"  Meanwhile, Midnight dials the local police department, announces he's captured Balow, and casually invites officers to "come over and pick him up."

Yes, you read that right comics fans.  In the ongoing bi-polar annals of whether Midnight's crime-fighting lair and identity are secret or not (see here, here, and here for background), our daring protagonist has invited the cops to drop by without even giving them so much as a street address!


Meanwhile, Wackey and Gab are simply beside themselves begging for the story of how in the world he found Balow.   

Honestly, I don't like the way Midnight's depicted here.  He comes across as a rather paternalistic jerk.  Meanwhile, his "partners" look more like kids waiting on daddy's story-time. 

Midnight explains that after leaving the lair, he went for a drive.  As he was cruising around the mind-clearing turns of "Killer's Corner," our hero apparently dozed off and shot through a guard rail.

Rather than crashing to a fiery death, Big City's sentinel bursts through a cloud bank and into "The Land of Flight," a place which seems to be populated by men who look like Oomp Loompas, and women who only wear 40's era lingerie.

Get a load of the grin on Midnight's face!  (C'mon, man. At least make the attempt to show a little self-control.)

 Unfortunately for our hero, he doesn't get much opportunity to with the attractive denizen--whom, incidentally, we learn is named "Velvet"--because he's set upon by the Oompa Loompa Fan Boys.

Am I the only one who finds it a little strange that the "security" in the "Land of Flight" are apparently armed with nothing more than over-sized kitchen knives? 

Midnight learns that the reason for his reception is that another outsider had previously come (Guess who) and wound up marrying Robustia, the Queen of Flight.  No sooner is this revealed, however, than our hero is felled by a blow from behind with what appears to be a handgun.

Obvious question:  If the goal was to kill Midnight, why not just shoot him right off the bat?  Is this guy like the Barney Fife of the Land of Flight?  Could he not locate his one bullet?

FNF (Round 2): M2 result and M3 combatants

Round 2, Match 2 results

Despite being a fan of Cutthroat, by popular acclaim--and I honestly can't disagree--he gets his clock cleaned by the old-timer Wizard!  But really, I don't care how sharp your knife is, when you're going up against a guy who can casually swing around yard arms from a 19th century sea-going vessel, you're just out of luck.  Wizard wins!

 

Best of Others' Work: Death with Dignity

 Since I didn't get as far on my summarization of Smash Comics #40 as I'd hoped, for today's post I'll simply commend to you the synopsis of Superman #318 (December 1977) at Tim DeForest's blog, Comics, old time radio and other cool stuff

As DeForest warns, it's a weird story...but then, I tend to like weird things.  Especially if they're weird in service of making some metaphysical points.  (Does that whet your appetite to know more?)  

FNF (Round 2): M1 result and M2 combatants

Round 2, Match 1 results

As befits moving to the second round, this match was really difficult to call.  In terms of straight-up hand-to-hand combat, I think you've got to give the win to Miss Melee.  After all, in her referenced adventure (Miss Melee #1) she single-handedly takes down a small army of ninjas!

However, in his referenced adventure, Black Crow gets the better of two super-powered individuals both of whom have pretty fierce hand-to-hand combat skills (i.e., Spider-Man and Puma). 

Despite subsequent stories which depict Miss Melee executing some impressive chi-powered feats, that's not really depicted in MM #1. Spectacular Spider-Man #192,  in contrast, shows Black Crow making generous use of his mystic powers.

Since the specified location (i.e., a vacant rugby pitch) doesn't seem to grant any particular benefit to one combatant or the other, I'd have to assume that Black Crow would come out the winner.  BC moves to Round 3!

 

Heroic Shenanigans: a webcomic review

Synopsis Review

Heroic Shenanigans is a very kid-friendly webcomic produced by Florida-based graphic designer, Haley Martin.  It narrates the experiences of super-powered kids at the highly-selective Camp Kapow.  The camp's mission follows the standard trope of training youngsters with special abilities to use their powers for good rather than evil (e.g., Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, et al).  In the case of Camp Kapow, the specific end goal is for the campers to earn their "hero license."  Central figures are the overachieving (and somewhat precocious) speedster Henry ; Kate, the self-conscious pyrokinetic ; and the exceedingly quiet wall-flower-with-super-senses, Emily.

Since launching the comic (just a little over a year ago), Martin has completed a prologue and three chapters and is in process on the fourth. Though the art is more cartoony and has much less in the way of backgrounds than I prefer, she has seeded a number of sub-plots that I'm interested to see play out. Chief among these is the true aim of Desmond, son of a former hero-turned-villain Charismatic camp counselor, Zenithal Zephyr supposedly pulled a "Harry Potter" when--as a camper--he uncovered and thwarted a plot by Desmond's father to "take...out [the campers] before they became strong enough to oppose his villainous ways."

Sustainability - 4

Martin's been faithfully banging out these pages for over a year.  She regularly posts and appears to have a focused story she's unfolding.  

Language - 5

HS is a very family-friendly comic in terms of language.  I wouldn't have any concerns about letting little kids read it.

Violence - 5

Similar to the language rating, there's nothing to worry about here. To be honest, I'd prefer a little more action/violence than what Martin has given us so far.

Sexuality - 5

As with Language and Violence, there's so far been nothing to worry about on this friend.  HS is, thus far, an extremely G-rated production.

Political Leanings -3

For the most part, there's no real political agenda evident in HS. (Which is a statement that shouldn't be as shockingly refreshing in the world of comics as it is).

Morality - 5

To this point, the moral messages of the comic seem pretty solid.  If anything, I'd appreciate a bit more action and bit less (or at least less obvious) moralizing...but that's really a little thing to critique.  Martin's characters role model common interpersonal problems.  Henry is ambitious and eager to please.  He means well, but his singular focus sometimes interferes with his ability to slow down and listen.  Emily is the picture of "quiet waters running deep."  She has a lot to contribute, but has to learn some self-confidence and actually speak up in order for others to actually benefit from her insights. Kate puts up a tough front to compensate for her own insecurities and self-doubt.  She has to learn to overcome that...to trust enough to drop the walls sometimes so that other can help.

Artwork - 1

The artwork is the weakest part of the comic.  It's extremely cartoony...minimal backgrounds and occasionally pretty bad anatomy (though that's, admittedly, rare).  Of course, everyone doesn't have the same taste in artwork.  If you're looking for something with more of a light, innocent, look HS might be right up your alley.

Storytelling - 2.5

I agonized a bit over the storytelling rating.  Martin's work isn't bad....but neither is it really exceptional.  It may be heading that direction (I can certainly see some potential for real interesting stuff with the Deluca - Zenithal backstory.) but for right now, a 2.5 is the best rating I can justify.

Overall Rating - 3.8

Round 2, Match 1: Black Crow vs. Miss Melee

Round 2, Match 1

Our second round begins by pitting Marvel's Black Crow (a surprise winner from round 1, thanks to votes from readers) against Rob Johnson & Ariel Guadalupe's  mighty momma, the magnificent Miss Melee!

Black Crow as depicted in Spectacular Spider-Man #192 (Sep 1992)

Background on Black Crow

•  Spectacular Spider-Man #191-193. supermegamonkey.net

Miss Melee as depicted in Miss Melee #1

Background on Miss Melee

• Miss Melee #1 (Sep 2015 - Jan 2016).

Setting
This fight takes place on a vacant rugby pitch.

Webcomic Review Format & Rubric (Part 2): Sustainability

In the first post of these series, I shared why I started reviewing webcomics, as well as the eight qualities I consider in each review.  The first post concluded with brief comments on the Synopsis section of each review.

Today we'll look more in depth at the first assessment vector:  Sustainability.  This term signifies the likelihood that a comic will keep going. I believe this to be an especially important quality in the world of webcomics where it’s relatively easy to start up. The plus side to this is that we get a lot of new comics started all the time!  The downside is that the less-invested many people are in starting something, the less-invested they are in keeping it up.  (Commitment isn't exactly our "thing" in 2018.)  The Internet is littered with half-finished comics, and it’s frustrating to invest in a story, only to discover that it’s come to an abrupt halt and will (likely) never be completed.

I calculate this score by considering the history of the comic at the time I review it. Have the creators already established a track record of consistently putting out new content?

There's basically three factors that go in to determining the Sustainability rating.

• How long has the comic been in production? 

• Less than a year = 1
• 1-2 years = 2
• 2-3 years = 3
• 3-4 years =4
• 4+ years = 5

• Is it currently ongoing?
• no = 0
• yes = 5

• Have the creators posted on a reliable schedule? 
• no = 0
• yes = 5

To calculate the Sustainability score, simply add the relevant values for a comic and divide by three.

FNF (Round 1): M13 results

Round 1, Match 13 results

As much as I like Vigilante, this one wasn't even close.  At best, Vig brings some cattle-rustlin', a tough (but human) jaw, and a few lead slugs.  Jon Von Ghoul brings the same basic toughness, amplified by an inability to feel pain, mystic and scientific knowledge, and a track record of going mano-a-mano with a mutated monster.  Inspector Von Ghoul wins without even breaking a sweat!