I hate to start out posts by just lamenting my lack of posts...
BUT...man, I'm really having a tough time working regular blogging back into my schedule, aren't I?
Luckily, Grozz has me covered! If I can't post my own thoughts, I can at least update my buddy Art's graphic novel reviews every so often. So...that's what I've done. He led withScott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness and has now added The Punisher: Born to the list. Check out the Gettin' Graphic With Grozzpage for the full (yet concise) reviews...!
And to celebrate the Punisher's appearance among the selections on that page, I though it'd be fun to stat out old Frank (or, more specifically, a rather young Frank) using the Soldier class I recently wrote about...
(More soldiers to come, I think...!)
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Frank Castle
(Francis G. Castle, born Castiglione)
Soldier, Level 2
Image from the Marvel Database. Plus, check out Kelvin Green's excellent breakdown of this issue from his exploration of Marvel Comics' 1991 offerings.
Human, 25 years old
Affiliation: United States Marine Corps
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (+1) 13 (+1) 14 (+1) 14 (+1) 16 (+2) 13 (+1)
HP 12 Move 30 ft. (6 units) Attack Bonuses: +3 melee, +3 ranged (+5 w/Two-handed Small Arms) Additional notes: Effects of exhaustion treated as one level lower than usual
I've mentioned my good friend Art (AKA Grozz) before here on Monstrous Matters when I wrote a bit about the boxing microgame Ring Doctorsthat he inspired me to try creating. Since then, I've learned that (1) his name is, indeed, Art, and (2) we share many interests beyond the tabletop sports sims that were at the center of our meeting back during Covid. I'm not even completely sure what he knew about me that led him to take this specific approach, but it was somewhere around the time he left a random voice text that was just a selection from Rorschach's journal (read in character) that I was like, "Yeah, I think this dude is weird enough that we'll probably get along pretty well..."
Grozz
As we talked comics more, I realized that Art took the time...seemingly after every comic he read...to put together concise but detailed reviews of the work he had just made his way through. As in...it seems to be part of his process...like a comic isn't fully digested until he has it summarized in review form. And he was about to take a journey through a list he found of the top 100 graphic novels ever. It's the kind of thing that I would want to share here on the blog if I were ever organized and methodical enough to do it for everything I read. But, y'know. I'm not.
BUT...I also thought it'd be cool to collect his reviews in one place. And since I have a blog about nerd stuff...I have that power. And so, today I introduce to you a new section of Monstrous Matters...Gettin' Graphic With Grozz. There's a permalink up there on the menu bar below the header; I'll try to post when new entries are added. The plan is for them to be collected on that page as long as Monstrous Matters is plugging along as an amorphous expression of my life and interests. As a bonus (for me)...I've just started a new job and have fallen off of the blogging schedule I managed to build up for a little while there, so this gives me something to make me feel like I'm tending my little corner of cyberspace a little more than I actually am... ;)
I definitely appreciate Art "trusting" me with his reviews! Obviously, this isn't exactly a hub of internet nerddom, so I'd be a little surprised if the overall number of eyeballs on his work is actually increased significantly by appearing here in addition to the other spots on the web where folks post reviews...
But, hey...you never know. And to all of you readers/victims of the usual Monstrous Matters content, I hope you enjoy! It's all definitely a work in progress...please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions for making this feature worth even more of your time.
(Oh! And in case it needs to be said: Art's opinions, on comics or anything else, are not mine, nor do my opinions = Art's. And the opinions expressed in "Gettin' Graphic With Grozz" are not the official stance of Monstrous Matters. I suppose you could say that my opinions actually are the official stance of Monstrous Matters, but that view implies a level of perceived self-importance that makes me pretty uncomfortable, so I'm not gonna be the one who says it.)
...because I may as well pretend like my opinions are that important!
2016 is about to close out. Here are some random reflections.
First, the non-gaming stuff:
WTF Event of the Year - The United States Presidential Election
I get that some bad stuff went down this year. The entertainers who died got a lot of coverage. On the world stage, the situation in Syria is pretty depressing. And on a personal level, there was a tragedy in my hometown that people in a community that small aren't used to dealing with.
But when people around here talk about 2016 just needing to end, I can't help but think that a lot of it comes back to the U.S. election. For what it showed us about American politics. For what it showed us about lingering division in the country. For what it showed us about the power of media (which we'll be sorting out for a long time to come). And from my perspective (although certainly not from the perspective of a number of people I know and love), for the outcome.
Seriously, America. What in the actual fuck.
There's really not much to say that hasn't been said many times over. From where I stand, this was clearly the event that dominated the year.
New Song of the Year - Michael Bublé's "Nobody But Me"
Now, on to a happier note. I'll admit that I don't really hear enough popular music to make a truly educated choice here, but when I hear a song that blows me away like this one did (and in such a genre-agnostic way), it oughta be recognized:
I couldn't find an easy link to the performance on The Tonight Show, which is the one I first heard, and which actually got to feature Black Thought of The Roots in the rap breakdown (rather than the trumpet solo above, which is also great), as on the album. If you can find that one, it's definitely worth checking out!
Song That Would Have Been New Song of the Year, Hands Down, If It Had Been Released Several Months Later - Kendrick Lamar's "Alright"
Thank you to Atlanta community radio for letting me hear this song. I make no claim to the emotions expressed therein, but I know they held a lot of power in the political climate we experienced this year. It's also just a great song.
And now, for the games!
New Game of the Year - The Black Hack
In the OSR community, new games drop on a pretty regular basis. It's kind of what we do, and it's a trend that lends itself to spreading one's attention all over the place. So, when a game like David Black's The Black Hackcomes along and gets people brewing and buzzing with such a central focus, it's worth paying attention to it. Heck, I couldn't resist hacking it myself.
It also works as game, and it's a lot of fun!
RPG of the Year - Lamentations of the Flame Princess
James Raggi's game of Weird Fantasy is one of the real success stories of the OSR. My buddy Ted has been running an awesome campaign using a bunch of the published LotFP adventures, which has helped to keep me connected to roleplaying in a busy year and given me a pretty good feel (I think) for the game's themes. Check it out (you probably already did, long ago)!
Non-RP Game of the Year - Bohnanza
Yeah, these are just personal awards, so this one takes the prize by sitting idle in my game collection for about 15 years before making a leap to family favorite when it was pulled out of the closet on a whim this year. I think this one has great potential as a "gateway game." You gotta love "The Bean Game!"
So...there we are! Despite some struggles earlier in the year, and the stresses of the fall (as noted above), I have to say that I've actually had a pretty outstanding end of the year, and I hope you have, too!
Big thanks to all who have stopped by this little blog and become friends over the course of 2016. I really appreciate being a part of your community. Best of luck to everyone, and I'll see you in 2017!
...and holy crap, is it awesome. Some spoiler-free thoughts:
I thought The Force Awakens was pretty darned good. Like a lot of other fans (and I'll note that my SW fandom is strong, but limited...), I left TFA with a general feeling of, "Man, that's what I've been waiting for to continue the Star Wars saga..." After seeing Rogue One, The Force Awakens seems like it might have stuck to "the formula" a little too much. TFA's characters were great, and I know it needed certain elements to truly continue the Skywalker saga, but after seeing what Rogue One did to stretch that Star Wars formula (while still feeling very much like a piece of the legend), I'm kind of thinking, "Maybe that's what I've actually been waiting for to continue the Star Wars saga..."
And I get that it doesn't really continue the saga. It expands it, I guess.
Man, even the relatively weak parts of the film (I do have a few small...nitpicks, I guess) really aren't that bad. Early on, I was afraid I was in for two hours of 45-second vignettes that would stitch together to tell us what happened. The last time I had that feeling was early in Batman v. Superman, and that didn't turn out so well. The storytelling really came together, though, and I think it might actually be the most emotionally powerful of any of the Star Wars films. I totally get what folks mean when they say it's basically a war movie set in the SW galaxy. It is, and it's a really good one.
If you're reading this and are on the fence about seeing it in theaters, I definitely recommend checking it out. If you're on the fence about springing for 3D, I recommend that too. It's quite a beautiful movie.
Now...to find a Star Wars RPG campaign to play in. Or maybe run. Seems like a great time to finally take White Star for a spin...or pull out the old West End Games version for another run.
I don't know how far I'll ever go with this blog into full review territory, but I do want to occasionally point out stuff that I think is worth checking out, which is the case with the documentary Dream Deceivers.
I happened upon this movie while looking for something to watch during lunch yesterday. I ended up watching the whole thing (it's a bit under an hour) and liked it so much that I watched it again with Laura during dinner. Here's the summary from IMDB: Two young men shoot themselves in a churchyard. Ray Belknap dies; James Vance - severely disfigured - survives. Their parents take heavy-metal icons Judas Priest to court, claiming the band "mesmerized" their sons. The unprecedented trial is the framework for this one-of-a-kind, Emmy-nominated documentary. At its most basic, Dream Deceivers is an interesting look at the anti-metal hysteria that gripped an era (and still finds various forms to this day). At its best, though (which is most of the film), it's a moving story that spreads its sympathies around to all parties involved. It's also paced extremely well. There are no terribly shocking scenes (although one could argue that (1) the post-suicide video footage is a bit hard to watch, and (2) the first sight of James Vance's disfigurement may surprise you). By the end, though, there's an almost palpable sense of the delusion holding back the sadness of the young men's families. Dream Deceivers is currently on Hulu Plus and free through Amazon Prime (not sure about Netflix). I'd love to hear your thoughts if you check it out (or have already seen it).
