Content Blast
Week of 6/7
Given the recent trend of listing things we do during the week, I’m bringing back content blast as a weekly update on how I waste my time.
Also, quick shoutout to Mario for letting me steal this idea, Ili writes stuff also did her version last week named Ili’s Brainrot, so check out what she was up to if you are curious.
TV: Honestly, not much…
I mean, I didn’t watch a lot this week. I usually had it on in the background. I think we tried rewatching X-Men 97, but due to the Disney+ app on Google TV currently being total ass, we did not get past the first episode.
Reading: Target: Armageddon
Comic book wise, I have been slowly making my way through the Transformers Till All Are One Compendium. It’s four volumes, and every volume is…big. While a lot of the early issues are very basic on premise and kind of sort of using ideas from the cartoon. Over in the UK, they had to add extra content because they were releasing issues weekly. As the original 86 movie was coming up in the UK, they created a story of time travel, surprisingly without a Time Lord.
Target:2006 is an odd way of introducing the 86 movie characters into the story. Unlike the movie, Ultra Magnus takes center stage and is presented as a badass who will grind Decepticons under his wheels while blasting Motorhead from his speakers. Galvatron also gets to have a more substantial presence than Unicron’s lackey in the movie, and also presents a major time paradox if Megs is killed or something during the events. This would be the start of the slow change to making the comics more distinct, though people in the United States would have no knowledge of it for a while still. The writing takes a step up, and personalities become more distinct and unique.
Over on the more modern comic front, we had two this week that came out: Avengers: Armageddon and the launch of the new title in the Energon Universe: M.A.S.K.
Armageddon has been slowly building since maybe late last year in the pages of Captain America and the Wolverine series dubbed Weapons of Armageddon, but the meat of the event has been over in Cap. If you thought Red Hulk being president in the New World Order movie was a bit far-fetched, how about instead leading a hostile takeover of a foreign country, making it America 2.0?
I am not sure how he got there, but writer Chip Zdarsky has somehow managed to be oddly topical for a story probably written months before the Iran invasion, even renaming the capital “Democracy City” in “New America” which should sound like something only a 4th grader would come up with, but then you look who’s in charge and I feel like there are blueprints for cities with that name in Iran we don’t see
The art also looks great, and the plot is explained in a way that is new, reader-friendly, and also if you’ve been reading the preludes does not feel like its crammer in there. This feels special and easily accessible. If you see it at your comic shop, don’t hesitate to get it.
As for M.A.S.K., it was good for what it is, though I feel it doesn’t move the needle just yet. First issues are always hard to do, as you have to do something like a pilot and also hook the readers in for the next issue. While it does this, it is doing it more from a feeling of pay off will come at some point. Though Miles being written a bit crazy is a fun touch, it also feels very Saturday morning cartoon in execution. This is the main problem I’ve had with Energon; at its worst, it feels like this, but when other books like G.I. Joe seem to take a more adult view of things, books like this come off flatter. Time will tell, but if it was not for the universe it was working in and knowing there will be some building of said universe, I’d not be keeping up on this.
Games: StarFox sample size
Over on the gaming side, I checked out the demo of the new StarFox game, and it feels like what I expected it to do. This is very much a remaster, as the included stage in the demo, if you’ve played 64 at all, will feel familiar in layout to the point you’ll hit the warp gates easily in the first playthrough. I will admit the world-building and cinematics do add a sense of world that the game lacked, the scenes in the Great Fox look like a place that is lived in, and the use of tech looks very natural for these characters. The gameplay proves that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it mentality works, and flying an Arwing still feels good. The training you have to go through adds some depth with the introduction of the team spread throughout, and also, Falco being the team troublemaker comes off very well and adds layers beyond “he’s the grumpy smart ass.”
Besides that, I have been messing around in Street Fighter 6. I opted to go through the AI training thing and see how I do. I still find Jamie and Luke annoying, but it’s always fun to grind them under my heel with Sagat.
Physical: The Lego X-mansion continues.
I got the X-Manson LEGO variant a while ago, and the build continues. I tend to do it when I just want to unwind or de-stress after a long day. The build is made of three smaller buildings, and well, I’m 2 and a 1/2 into it. Given its size, the build is rather intricate, more than I expected it to be. There are neat little things that add to the world of the building, such as the backside of the danger room being blown out, which will drive me nuts from an aesthetic point as it can be seen from the front…
I also messed around with the Classified variant of Ninja Force Zartan. Look for a review of that soon here at the desk.
Well, that was the week that was, maybe next week another?
-The Chaos Director
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