The Promise of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Saw Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. last night and I came away with feelings so mixed I had to write about them. Spoilers for the pilot follow.

The dialog had a few fun moments with characteristic Whedon-wit ("I'm sorry, that corner was really dark and I couldn't help myself." "Somebody really wanted our initials to spell out 'shield.'") but we are still leagues away from the empyrean heights of Firefly. The resolution was a literal Chekov's Stun Gun and it was telegraphed so blatantly that I thought it up and discounted it because it seemed too pat and obvious.

Another thing that bugs me is that I can feel the influence of Disney's general ethos. This is a lighter show than anything team Joss has done for TV before. The characters are less volatile than Firefly. We have none of the macabre satirical humor that defined Buffy and Angel. The sci-fi is much lower concept than Dollhouse.

Then again, Whedon pilots are usually pretty bad. Remember Angel's pilot? Hell, remember most of Buffy season 1? Neither do most people. Dollhouse is perhaps the worst offender. It had the best sci-fi premise on network in ages, but they spent the first six episodes unsuccessfully attempting to dumb things down to second grade level, offending Whedon fans and average audiences alike.

It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that I would stop watching this show for any reason.  It is penned by a group of writers I greatly admire and aspire to learn from, to a point that probably flirts with sycophancy. But I can still give you two fairly good reasons to stick it out through the first couple episodes.

Save for a few isolated characters Whedon has always portrayed the government (and authority writ large) as the ultimate bad guy. Behavioral modification programs. Bureaucratic nightmares. Extra-judicial detainment and unregulated experimentation. He and his team have given us some of the most terrifying law bodies this side of Orwell.

But this time Joss, Jed, and Maurissa are couching a government team as the good guys and they seem to be doing it earnestly. I'm not a half-wit. I know that there will be twists and betrayals within the organization (they are already foreshadowing falsehood about Coulsin's resurrection story). But most of the people working for the status quo are actually trying to be honest, old-fashioned good guys. Sky's little journey from Anonymous-esque Counter Culture Hacker girl to S.H.I.E.L.D. collaborator perfectly symbolizes this transition. It's a huge tonal shift, and it is going to take a couple episodes to nail down.

My second defense is that this show is set in the Marvel cinematic universe. By themselves, the Marvel superhero films are fairly mediocre. Together though, they represent a trans-media vision of unprecedented scope. Seeing all the little ligatures and references is nerd cocaine. Inside jokery is part of it, but it's more than that. Being familiar with everything creates a semi-exclusive layer of knowledge that extends a sense of community to all who consume it. That is the very core of fandom. And the show isn't dragging its heels capitalizing on that promise. It is already calling back stuff from Captain America, Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3.

There are less intellectually compelling reasons to keep watching too. Stuff seems to blow up on a regular basis. Kung-fu fights abound. Also most of the cast is stupidly, ludicrously attractive. Whedon favorites Ron Glass and J August Richards return to TV. And Coulson, who is a refreshingly average middle-aged dude with a penchant for nerdy collectibles, has proven himself to be extremely endearing. I suspect that he is actually a LMD, or a bio-augmented clone, or some ish, but taken at face value, he is the closest most of us will become to being a hero.

I will probably talk about this show again in the future, especially if it is a spectacular failure or if it blossoms into something rich and compelling.

Vacation Reading

Hello friends. Haven't posted anything on here since I've finished writing The Harrowing. Part of the reason is I have been on my honeymoon, which was amazing but probably not something you want to hear me go on about. The bigger picture is that I am shifting my focus away from critiquing entertainment to actually producing it. I am sacrificing all of my freetime on the altar of fiction writing. I will still periodically write about stuff that has moved me, but my posts will be in this scatter-gun style and they will likely grow more and more irregular. In the interim between book and honeymoon, I wrote a couple short stories, but now I am starting on my next long-term project (and working to get The Harrowing in front of an agent who knows what's what).


The Cuckoo's Calling

I actually like this better than the British cover, 

which has the bog-standard dude in a longcoat.

I am a huge devotee of Rowling, but I gave The Casual Vacancy a pass after I heard from multiple people that it was mostly bleak and filled with all sorts of unpleasantness. So I was extremely relieved when I had a great time with "Robert Galbraith's" "debut" (this is the detective novel Rowling mentioned in passing ages ago, but recently published under a pseudonym). The book really doesn't reinvent the detective novel; the protagonist is world-weary and lovably gruff, the mystery is an apparent suicide conundrum; a lot of it feels terribly familiar. But I can't help but care about her characters. In the space of a conversation, she can create a portrait of a personality that is either deliciously contemptible, genuinely endearing, sharp and sassy. The main characters have real problems presented with excellent pacing. I am looking forward to more of these.


The Last of Us

Fascinating how much the font says in this cover. Screams:
"Take me seriously, also think of The Road by McCarthy."

Naughty Dog is one of very few game companies whose titles go on my must-buy list. Uncharted 2 put them there, but with Last of Us, they've proven they can tame a far more serious breed of story and make you cry when they want to. The solemn tone hits you from the cover, and it's almost overbearing. I played the single-player game in small doses, in the company of friends over the course of several weeks, and I think I experienced in the optimal fashion. Any more than that, and I think the bleakness would be overbearing, or the game's own gravitas would come across as pretentious. But that's a very rare problem in triple A titles, and frankly, it's a refreshing one to encounter when paired with Naughty Dog's game design craftsmanship. It's a complex title, but there are no under-utilized systems. Everything from crafting to stealth to gunplay to upgrading skills and weapons feels tight and still very organic. It is lean. The story is engaging and brutal from beginning to end and while I am open to DLC, I honestly hope this doesn't become a franchise.


The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Short of Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman is probably my strongest literary influence, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane is very much a Neil Gaiman novel. There are some touching moments, a handful of awful ones, and a fantasy wrapper to capture it all, but I was ultimately kind of underwhelmed by the brief little book, which felt similar to other stuff Gaiman has written before. When weighed against The Graveyard Book, or even Coraline, the Hempstock women didn't do much for me. He's drawing on the familiar Mother, Maid and Crone trinity of magic women, but the story also doesn't really contribute anything new to their lore. The villainess was fascinating, but she is ultimately undercut by an abrupt switch to another more amorphous threat at the end. And ultimately, each character felt like abstracted versions of real people, especially when immediately contrasted against Rowling's characters.


Dredd

I've never touched a Judge Dredd book, and I probably wouldn't even know the character existed if it were not for that awful Stallone-vehicle from the 90s. That said, I heard positive things about this little film. It's acted extremely well, with an inspired bit of casting placing Karl Urban in the titular role, and the sparing use of visual effects in the crime-ridden dystopia of Megacity 1 works very well. If you are looking for high concept sci-fi, you will walk away disappointed; this is essentially RoboCop minus the sense of humor and social commentary; lots of brutal violence and explosive gun fights. That said, the dialog is reasonably sharp and the film captures the core of a lesser known comic hero. I'm not sure it will find the sequel that the internet is pulling for but it's on Netflix and worth a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Saga

I blew through both the available trades in the space of an afternoon and now I want more. There is so much imagination at work in Brian Vaughn's writing, and Fiona Staple's art brings it to life in a vivid, gorgeous way. If the devil offered me the opportunity to have her illustrate my work, he'd be a soul richer and I one poorer. This is the "next big thing" I didn't know I was waiting for. To my fellow comic nerds, the hype you've heard is well-earned. To use the laziest form of explanation in the critic's arsenal, Saga feels like the middle ground between Star Wars and Firefly but with more inventive magic and a lot more sex thrown in. Vaughn and Staple have said they are not interested in adapting the franchise to TV or film because they want to use it as a vehicle to explore what they can do in comics. Part of me wishes they would consider adapting, just so I can have more Saga to love, but I also tremendously respect their decision to keep the creative ball firmly in their own courts. People love to cite Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad as the heralds of this golden age of television, but I don't know man...From my perspective comics are where it is happening hard right now.

As I descend back into novel writing mode, I'm not sure when I will do another one of these. I am starting on Breaking Bad finally, so you can expect to have my 2 cents on that at some point. I'll probably get around to GTAV too after the hype train has left the station and everybody is officially over it. Until then readers!

The Harrowing is Here

After nine months the first draft of my first novel, The Harrowing, is complete. My literary idols are Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, and Jerry Holkins, but I probably drew most of my inspiration from videogames and anime. As such, most of the book is talking or fighting. No, seriously. I have called it a Young Adult novel before, but what I really mean by that is I wrote the type of thing I would have enjoyed reading as a teenager.

If I haven't deterred you yet, here is my back of the book synopsis:

Jack Hoyle just wanted a bowl of ramen. Instead, he got shot in the head.

After arriving in the nether city of Limbo, where memories are currency and even the architecture is transient, Jack learns the truth behind his death. A ruthless and cunning Reaper named Graves killed him so that he could compete in a tournament known as The Harrowing. 

 Judged by a cosmic being that dwarfs deities, champions compete for the ultimate prize: returning to life. The rules are arcane. The arenas defy logic. The roster consists of the most dangerous souls culled from countless worlds. And those who lose are erased from existence. But Graves knows things others don't: The fate of Creation hinges upon the tournament's outcome, and Jack is uniquely qualified to bend its rules. 

Aided by a mysterious spirit, a former goddess, and an old friend, Jack must undergo Graves' traumatizing training, navigate the afterlife, and slay a parade of opponents both hellish and honorable—preferably without losing his soul in the process. 

 You can rest when you're dead my ass. 

Still with me? Sweet. That means you're a really cool person with exquisite taste. Very probably attractive and intelligent too.

This is the first draft of a first effort. It is a complete product, but not a finished one. I already have a couple ideas on how I can tighten it up and improve it. Maybe add some more stuff that isn't talking or fighting. You know, feelings and shit. What I'm getting at is, this is probably not the definitive edition of this book.

That said, I'm really proud to have completed it. I think it's a hell of a ride and if you want to read it, I'm game. If you want to read a soft copy, shoot me an email at Sarcasmancer@gmail.com, or message me on Twitter @Sarcasmancer, or send me a message on Facebook with your preferred email address. My conditions are you don't post it anywhere online, and you don't share it with anyone else without my express permission.

See you in Limbo!

Comics Binge 2: The Bingening

I haven't been reading as many traditional books lately because taking in other people's prose when I am writing really throws off my game. To compensate, I have been reading tons of comics, and it is a good time to be a comic book nerd.

Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja

I haven't devoured a book like this since Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men. If you are  like me, you probably don't know a lot about Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye. To put it mildly, his character has been underutilized thus far in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though he was technically one of the stars of The Avengers, his appearances felt like extended cameos. I kind of assumed it was because there isn't a lot to work with there. I mean, what can a really good sharpshooter (who uses a bow no less) bring to a team with whose roster includes a ballerina superspy, a paragon war hero, a one-man armored battalion, an invincible rage monster and a fucking Norse god?

Fraction recognizes this disparity and runs with it, though his run on Hawkeye is about what Clint does when he is not working with the Avengers. It talks about the everyday life of being a superhero. There are still bad guys to fight, but there is also hanging out in his apartment, errands, and actual human relationships. The closest thing I can approximate it to is Astro City, though I actually drastically prefer Hawkeye to that oft-revered series because the writing in the latter is so much wittier and the characters are so damn personable. I never felt like I would want to meet Samaritan, or anybody else from Astro City because they all struck me as one-note superhero caricatures; case studies to make witty observations about superhero comics. I would love to hang with both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop (who both operate under the name Hawkeye) because they are like real people.

Clint is actually kind of a perennial fuck-up. He does something dumb at least once per issue, but he also always manages to save the day anyway. He has a weird sense of humor, occasionally addressing inanimate objects when they frustrate him, and a refreshing self-awareness that never descends into whiny self-deprecation (see Spider-Man) or blatant metahumor (See Deadpool). Kate Bishop is his sassy, but devoted proteje, which sounds derivative and cliched but I dare you not to be charmed by her. The Tracksuits, Russian gangsters who wear (you guessed it) tracksuits, and punctuate every sentence with the word "Bro" are my new favorite flunkies. The entire comic has this excellent sense of humor.

And David Aja's art, my god! Panels aren't only expertly illustrated, but every page is beautifully designed. The ways this comic plays with color theory and panel layouts are absolutely genius. You could pretty much pick a page at random, frame it, put it on your wall, and you would catch eyes and garner compliments. Something as obvious and simple and mundane as phone conversation is presented in spectacular fashion.

I really cannot praise this book enough. If you are into comics or art or superheroes at all, snatch this series up immediately. Today. It will improve your week.

Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Locke & Key has one of those brilliant premises that would make any fantasy writer jealous. After a truly horrific tragedy, three siblings and their mom move to a house that is filled with strange keys. Keys that can turn back time, or allow you to open up your head and pull stuff out or put things in. Keys that can change your sex or race. Keys that can turn you into a ghost, or a giant or an animal. In addition, the kids are stalked by a cunning evil being known as Dodge, who is hunting for the Omega Key.

The series is ultimately horror-flavored, and rife with raw portrayals of violence and psychologically abrasive issues like grief, guilt, alcoholism, adolescent angst. While the dialog lacks the quippery and contemporary colloquialisms of say, Whedon or Fraction, it reads smart and makes the characters real. The pacing is perfect, with a satisfying blend of supernatural action, suspenseful plotting and frank emotional interactions. In many respects, I think Joe Hill has outdone his father (the famed Stephen King) in terms of moving the characters forward through the world and punctuating their journey with meaningful epiphanies. He is perfectly suited to the comic book form, though I am now interested in checking out his other work.

Horror is actually a brilliant genre for books starring adolescents because at that age, everything seems so damn serious and nothing makes any fucking sense--especially other people. It is also the age when you realize, quite abruptly and keenly, that your parents are totally fallible and probably just as flawed as you, though in different ways. All these issues are explored by the book in more than a superficial capacity.

Gabriel Rodriguez's art is actually kind of ugly, but in an intentional and refreshing way. Instead of the physical ideals of superhero comics, we have body types of every stripe, people with poor complexion, weirdly shaped faces, and punkish hair styles that are both endearing and off-putting. Again, these aesthetics are perfect for teenagers (and horror). Also, there's just something about the way Rodriguez does blood... it looks so damn thick and gross. The way he does violence in general is super visceral and compelling.

Again, this is definitely a series to pick up.

The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

This is actually a book I started reading a long time ago, and I could have sworn I've written about it before but I apparently I have not. The Unwritten is about stories and the power they hold over the universe. It is the most literary comic book I have read, eclipsing even Sandman with it's sheer number of references, though where the references were effortless and ephemeral for Gaiman, they are the main course here. If you aren't a fan of metafiction and intertextuality this is a tough sell. There are often moments where this series feels like it would much rather be a series of novels than comic books, though I think it does work best as a comic.

The book is about a man named Tom Taylor, who may have been created from literature by his famous author father, who wrote a series of books that are obvious analogs to Harry Potter. Fiction and magic bleed into reality, history is manipulated by a cabal of evil motherfuckers who use stories to rule the world, and adventure ensues.

It took me a long time to really get into the series. I wasn't completely sold on it until volume 3, but now, having completed volume 7 I am very glad I've stuck along for the ride. I really resonate with the reverence of fiction, and the belief that stories shape our entire understanding of the world. English majors, particularly those with a creative writing bent, are very much the target audience.The alternate history stuff Carey throws in is fascinating, though the pacing feels a bit off-kilter. Most of the characters are also kind flat in terms of personality though, and while the plotting is super elaborate, the relationships are very straightforward.

I have become accustomed to Peter Gross' art style, though compared to the other two books in this binge, it doesn't do much for me. The characters always look extremely normal, with a few notable exceptions, such as Pullman and Savoy. When the comic wanders into fictional worlds, the art perks up a bit, though the colors are always a bit more muted than I would like. The stuff done with magic and things melting into text are really cool, and there are scenes of deeply intricate detail.

In conclusion, The Unwritten is well-worth reading if you are big into literature. Less so for general audiences.

In the coming months, I will be diving into both Preacher and the original Hellblazer because I have heard amazing things about both. I will also be delving deeper into Runaways which is off to a fairly promising start.

Summer Movie Recap

I've had quite a lapse since raving about Bioshock Infinite in April. In the following few days, I will be doing a series of recaps on how I have spent the summer, aside from writing my novel (the rough draft is complete by the way, and very nearly ready to be ripped apart). Today I will talk about films I've seen, and soon move on to reading material (including Locke & Key) and video games (including Last of Us).

The Great Gatsby was one of the few books that high School English couldn't poison by assigning it. Fitzgerald had a masterful plot and very pleasing prose. Baz Luhrmann's big budget adaptation had an enticingly interesting hook behind it, highlighting the parallel excesses of contemporary hip-hop culture and roaring twenties bacchanalia. It's weird and it's smart, but sadly, the film doesn't completely commit to the idea. At the beginning when everything is drunken partying, we get some interesting mash-ups, but when shit gets grim and serious, he drops the modern music and converts the great american novel into a surprisingly straight forward popcorn movie.

That said, the way the film handles cars deserves special mention because it is spectacular. In the book, they are presented as almost mythological engines of destruction. Like dragons, they tear through an unsuspecting world unleashing mayhem and inspiring awe. The cinematography brings their jarring speed, growling machinery and bright colors are spot on.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

My nerd cred is about to take a nosedive: I've never seen Wrath of Khan. That said, I think it was a boon for watching Into Darkness, because I was not slavishly comparing the two. From the sound of things, Wrath of Khan is the superior (if not superlative) Star Trek film. Into Darkness lacks the poignant moments of the first rebooted film (the opening sequence was genuinely tragic, and Pike's speech convincing Kirk to join Star Fleet is incredible), but it is a rollicking, visually pleasing adventure. The harder you think about it, the more things feel contrived, but all in all it's not a bad way to finish a bucket of popcorn.

I defended Iron Man 2, even though it wasn't a very good movie (especially when compared to the first movie's surprisingly pertinent 9/11 morality tale). Iron Man 3 is a much better movie than 2, mainly because it's funny. Not just in terms of the jokes, but in terms of narrative structure. Spoilers follow. We have several different movies worked into one: A standard superhero thriller, a brilliant buddy-comedy between Downey's Tony Stark and an unnamed boy actor who is charmingly manipulative and clever, and finally, an absurdist plot twist that re-vitalizes a xenophobic caricature of a villain into a weird but genuinely funny punchline. The movie takes some risks, but I think they pay off on the whole.

Oh man. This movie was so close to being what Warner Bros. desperately wanted: Superman Begins. But Snyder ultimately misrepresents what Supes stands for. Instead of Superman saving people and being an aspirational paragon for humanity, we have what felt like hours of punching down sky scrapers capitalized by a brutal, thuggish execution. I've since read that Snyder pushed for this ending specifically, and it really does sour the film. Parts of the movie are brilliant. Seeing Clark contend with his budding super powers was moving and brought vulnerability to an impervious character. Reversing Lois Lane's relationship with Superman's secret identity was also a brilliant call (though she had some cringe-worthy dialog). I can't help but wish Nolan were running the show instead of Snyder.

Guillermo del Toro's love letter to mecha anime and kaiju fans. It delivers exactly what it promises on the box: big robots beating the shit out of big monsters. If that sounds fun to you, go see this movie--I want more like it and it is hurting domestically. If that doesn't sound fun to you, I suggest you re-evaluate your world view and priorities. The script is serviceable but suffers from some cringe-worthy dialog and more plotholes than it ought to, even taking the absurd premise into account. The film is still a hell of a lot of fun, and it is thoroughly refreshing to see a new IP as opposed to another sequel or adaptation.

A 2010-era horror movie getting above an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes is rarer than a vampiric unicorn, so I had to give this a watch. You have seen this movie dozens of times before. It is a demonic possession/catholic propaganda story in the same vein as The Exorcist, with the "based on a true story / family moving into a new house" frame of Amityville. That said, the scares are very well-done. You see them coming a mile off, (because you've seen this before!) but you still jump with dread when the monsters appear.

My favorite part of the movie is actually the opening, which stands on its own as brilliantly creepy short story. It hints at a more novel movie that has yet to be made; a series of short, horrifying paranormal investigation cases set to the tune of Twin Peaks or Pulp Fiction. That's actually a movie I would love to write myself some day.

Above and Beyond

Hello dear readers. I apologize for the lack of posts last month. For the past fifteen years, I have been that guy who is "writing a novel," but since December I have actually been doing it. For real this time, and I am over 120 pages deep in it. Balancing that with work and a social life has left me with very little time for blogging. I will do my best to have at least one of these a month, but my first loyalty is to fiction. 

I also needed some time to digest one of the best videogames I have ever played. Bioshock Infinite is the best game I played since Braid. For my personal tastes, it may even be better. You can read most of this article without suffering any grave spoilers, and I will give you plenty of warning before I get to the big reveals, but you would be well-served to play it now if you haven't.

I agree that Elizabeth would have been a better choice for the cover, but I don't doubt that they will sell more games by featuring Booker. Just the world we live in.

I would like to begin by talking about the characters because they are so damn beautiful. Almost every video game has you play as a guy who can (and must) slaughter a hundred people before breakfast. Master Chief. Nathan Drake. Hell even Link and Mario. The weird, constant incongruity though, is that these are all supposedly "good guys." Bioshock Infinite takes this trope to task and imagines what that guy would be like in real life. Meet Booker DeWitt. Veteran of both Wounded Knee and the Boxer Rebellion, and Pinkerton strikebreaker. The guy is quite literally, a career murderer, but historically perfect for the 1912 setting. He has a gruff, down-to-business personality to match his bloody past and you would be inclined to think that would make the game relentlessly grim.


You'd be right, if the player you controlled was actually the main character. But the soul of this game is the woman you must rescue: Elizabeth. Many people, including the boys of Penny-Arcade, have likened her to a Disney Princess. Belle specifically. And it is an apt comparison, because she is plucky, beautiful, bookish and occasionally headstrong. But those qualities aren't forced on you. She does not come across as saccharine or hapless like so many Damsels from the House of Mouse. This is primarily achieved through her support role: in combat, she can rip tears into alternate realities that benefit her and Booker. She can pick locks and solve coded ciphers for you. And you never actually have to worry about escorting her or guarding her in combat because she's invulnerable, like Alex from Half-Life.

There are other characters. The Lutece siblings, who randomly appear throughout the story have the eccentricity of Portal's GLaDOS, but the unsettling otherworldly quality of Half-Life's G-man. There is the bloodthirsty leader of the vox populi rebellion Daisy Fitzroy. And there is the villainous, charismatic leader of the floating city Columbia,  Father Zachary Comstock. As with the audio files found throughout Rapture in the original Bioshock, these characters are developed steadily through found footage. And they are the most complex characters you will find in any video game to date.

The floating city of Columbia is a character itself as well. The magical powers you gain (called Vigors instead of Plasmids, and powered by Salts instead of Eve) do not dovetail with the game world's central thesis quite as well as they did in Bioshock, but I found the game's tale of racism and zealotry more compelling than the original games examination of Objectivism. People said the game would deal with racism, and I was skeptical, suspecting it would do a mild, toned-down presentation of racism, but it is presented in a refreshingly raw and ugly way that evokes genuine disgust on behalf of the gamer. Sadly the game does not allow you to deal with the issue in a meaningful way, save for one choice near the beginning. Ultimately, you do feel like you are in a racist theme park as opposed to an actual utopia, but Columbia still felt more alive to me than Rapture did.

But what of the actual gameplay? I am a big fan of combat in the Bioshock franchise. The addition of a recharging shield has been derided by a few, but I like the give-and-take rhythm it affords fights. I've talked about videogame violence as a canvas for creativity before, and this is a game that really lets you paint. The mix of magic, firearms, melee attacks and environmental features first introduced by Bioshock is still satisfying, but Infinite spices things up by letting you zip around on skylines and using Elizabeth's dimensional tear powers to alter the world you fight in on the fly. This is a beautiful mechanic that simultaneously develops the game's core concept and spices up fights. The depth available in any given encounter makes Halo's "Holy Trinity of Guns, Melee and Grenades look positively quaint, and Halo has much more variety than most of the shooters out there. That said, it is very easy to understand why 2K canned Infinite's multiplayer. Trying to realistically balance a system like this, especially using the bog-standard COD unlockables and load-out system would be a nightmare. Interestingly, the only FPS that gives Infinite any serious competition is also single-player only: Dishonored. Admittedly, The tone of the two games couldn't be more different, with Dishonored focusing on melee, stealth and careful resource management, while Infinite is pure, bombastic, cartoonish mayhem.

There are so many other little details to talk about. The way buildings bob in the air. The numerous corners, stuffed with well-hidden secrets that reward thorough investigation. Infinite also does ingenious and devious things with anachronistic music. You will hear 1912 versions of songs from the future. Little haunting whispers reminding you that the game's multiverse is coming apart at the seams.

Know this: Infinite's ending is the most satisfying, emotionally gripping and maturely written of any videogame I have played to date. Yes, including Braid. Including any Final Fantasy you can think of and all the Zeldas put together. The final twist not only subverts your expectations and understanding of the overall quest, but transforms your appreciation of specific moments throughout the game. It the videogame equivalent of a movie like Memento, or Inception, where you want to watch it again just to pick up on all the subtle details you missed. So before you read any further, go buy the game and beat it. I'll wait here. Trust me, you don't want this spoiled.



SPOILERS FOLLOW. GO BEAT THE GAME FIRST. SERIOUSLY.



Are we good? Did you finish it? Amazing right! It blew my mind, even though I guessed pretty early on that Elizabeth might be Booker's daughter. Let's talk about that first before I move on to the bigger reveal. As I mentioned, Elizabeth is incredibly charming. Like a Disney Princess, she was made to make you fall in love with her, and throughout the game, the player's almost inevitable attraction to her is at odds with Booker's gruffness and distance. He grows fonder of her as the game continues, and you are left wondering if he is falling for her too. But instead of giving you the obvious, magical castle ending, you find out she is his daughter. And you also find out that you are your own greatest enemy. The dashing rogue, Booker DeWitt is also the heinously racist religious zealot, Father Comstock.

Simply spelled out like that, the ending sounds lame. So does the entire plot of Memento, but the game, like that movie, is masterfully executed. It gives you ample evidence to guess the truth ahead of time--in fact, in many ways it is obvious, and the only logical explanation for the way things are. But it still manages to sneak up on you. And the whole yarn is undone by the smallest plot thread: a severed pinky finger. Think back to the moment at the hall of heroes, where you are confronting Slate. Isn't it odd that Slate and Booker are war buddies, even though Slate looks as old as Comstock? Isn't it odd that Comstock proclaims himself the hero of all these encounters?  The game gives you a hint that misleads you.You think, maybe Comstock was Booker's commanding officer, never suspecting that they are the same man.

Bioshock Infinite is not perfect, but it is the most brilliant title I've played in a long time.

Comics Binge

I have been on a comics binge lately. I would blame it all on a co-worker of mine, but she was just a catalyst. My preferred natural state is to be ingesting comics constantly; a homeostatic norm that was interrupted first by graduate school, and later by house-hunting, and finally by wedding planning. Now that all those things have been taken care of, I am going through several books a week. Here are a few of the series I've been reading.

Mind the Gap: A supernatural psychological thriller about a young woman caught in a coma. The writing is pretty sharp, but the plotting and pacing are a little too soapy for my tastes. Also has a ton of musical references I don't get. Still, it gets mad props for having a cast of strong female characters who push the story forward.

These covers are all kinds of awesome.

Manhattan Projects: This one is a  pulpy alternative history where the Manhattan Project is just a cover for numerous top secret pulpy experiments. The cast consists of scientific giants like Oppenheimer, Feynman and Einstein, but each has been re-imagined as a fucked-up evil genius/mad scientist. The books are very entertaining, featuring frequent fights with robots, nazis, aliens, death buddhists, etc. but they aren't very endearing. I find it hard to sympathize with a cast of full-on villains. Also, while the minimalist covers are awesome, I'm not not a big fan of the actual art, with lines that feel messy and characters the seem intentionally ugly. I do like how they play with color and highlighting though.

Captain Marvel (By Kelly Sue DeConnick): This is Marvel's Captain Marvel. More specifically, it is Carol Danvers, formally known as Ms. Marvel and about a half a dozen other monikers. I read the first trade's worth of this comic and found it to be smartly written and beautifully drawn. I'm really not a big fan of time-travel narratives, but despite that, I had a pretty good time. Again, it gets major points for intelligent, powerful and believably flawed female characters.

Astro City: I really like the concept behind these comics; let's show a superhero universe from the perspectives of petty crooks, reporters and other average Joes. Let's explore who inhabits the world of a superhero, other than the superheroes themselves. It's right up my alley. Unfortunately, the characters introduced felt oddly flat, and the stories felt very average. We don't get to spend time to many of the characters introduced, which may account for part of the problem, but in general the plots were just unsurprising. Easier to put down than it should be.

Kind of a boring cover for a very vibrant and lively book.

Jim Henson's Tale of Sand: As you may expect, this tale from the master of muppets is kind of whacky. There is an interesting story behind the story here as well. It started out as a screenplay Jim wrote that never got made because it was too bizarre for the studio's tastes. After languishing for years, it finally got picked up and made into a graphic novel. Crisp art makes all the absurdity feel very real and enjoyable. There isn't much in the way of dialog of characterization, but delightfully zany stuff keeps happening.

Dames in the Atomic Age: A locally-produced book that is quite charming, about a detective and his best friend (a boxer) caught up in a crazy pulp sci-fi universe. Great use of 40's and 50's slang. This book is an odd counter point to Manhattan Projects, as almost all the protagonists are likable, but the stories don't feel as novel. You burn through a lot of tropes, but at the end of the day, the solutions are pretty predictable.

Gaiman's not at the very top of his game here, 

but it's still well-worth a read.

Neil Gaiman's Book's of Magic: Neil Gaiman's story about Tim Hunter; a young boy with the potential become the greatest wizard the world has ever known. He is tutored by a bunch of trench coat wearing magi and occultists, including John "Hellblazer" Constantine. There are some similarities to Harry Potter, but unlike Harry Potter, Tim Hunter doesn''t do much of anything until the very end. He's there along for the ride, occasionally making kid-like noises and simple observations. The message about the dangers of magic, and the supernatural cattle-call of DC characters is diverting, but ultimately the book is a bit of a letdown.

My favorite series of all the ones I've started reading recently is Locke & Key, but that really deserves a post of its own, and it is coming, I promise! Have to finish another couple volumes first, though. I also recently splurged on Runaways volumes 1-9, so expect some verbiage on that relatively soon.