Ms Marvel: Vol Three: Crushed

I've enjoyed the trade adventures of Ms Marvel. This volume keeps that going up to a point.

It starts with a great crossover with Loki, when Loki was doing his good guy bit. One of the problems with the Marvel setting is that so many of the characters go through so many changes, it's hard to know which version of a character you're dealing with at a time.

But I'm vaguely familiar with this 'Loki agent of Asgard' bit and his interactions with Ms Marvel are top notch. It combines a bit of fun, humor, and action like a good comic should. Oh, and teen angst. Don't forget the teen angst!

It leads to Loki warding the school itself against future villains which is a nice touch and a nice little plot device that can be used in future issues.

Oh, and to top it off, it takes place during a Valentine's Dance. The author hit all the cylinders here.

But onto the new story which starts in New Attilan, as Marvel is trying to make the Inhumans into the next big thing, we start with Ms Marvel training with the Inhumans. It's nice to see an occasional bit of training. It provides some actual context to how the characters learn how to use their powers. It's also not the first time Ms Marvel has been seen in training as in her earlier appearances, after a sound beating, she trained to overcome her adversaries.

The author continues to bring in the family and makes the Khan's very relatable. A mother worried about her daughter out jogging alone for example? That's a pretty standard concern no?

The 'problem' I have with this portion? It's not the introduction of Kamran, a young lad that Kamala is instantly smitten with. It's not the fact that he too is an Inhuman. I'm okay with that. It's not the introduction of Kaboom, another new super villain.

Spoiler alert!

It's not even the fact that he's the bad guy. I'm okay with that too. Star-crossed lovers and all that jazz right?

It's Lineage. He's apparently the king of the Inhumans from out of nowhere. It's disjoining.

I've often praised comics like Ms Marvel (Runaways, Young Avengers, etc...) that are self-contained. That you can read and understand them without knowing what's going on in the rest of the Marvel setting. It allows them to skip most of the big crossovers and instead of having their own flow ruined by the big events, allows them the build up the characters of their own book.

The introduction of Lineage from off stage as the new Inhuman boss? With no information on it happening in the actual book? Poorly done.

Next up is a crossover with SHIELD. I'm not a regular SHIELD reader so I'm pretty out of the loop on the characters but it's more of how seeing another author handles Ms Marvel and it's done well.  It's nice seeing another artist take a crack at her too. More traditional with the brighter colors.

Outside of the Lineage introduction, it's a solid collection and cements Ms Marvel's place in the greater Marvel Universe even if that means her own title gets the occasional goofy bit of continuity thrown in.

If you're looking for super hero comics that aren't all grim and angsty and have depth and plot to them without delving into death and destruction, Ms Marvel is a good pick.

Thor: Thunder In Her Veins

I read my comics in digital format for the most part. I buy comics when they are on sale.  Getting a comic for $2.99 seems a good deal to me! 

Let me start with the art. Great stuff. It's not the best I've ever seen Thor. I've been reading comics since the late 70s. I've seen George Perez, Walter Simonson, John Buscema, John Bryne. Art is subjective and this may be some people's personal interpretation. It's fun stuff, and I like it. 

Next, let me talk about the writing. There are crisp bits that stand out. The whole title "Thunder in Her Veins" is a play off of the situation the Thor finds herself in. See Thor is Jane Foster. 

Jane has a long history with Thor. A former love interest, a former nurse, a former doctor, and now a cancer patient. She is not doing well. But the writing. "The flesh is weak but the thunder is strong" is solid. 

The whole cancer thing? This aspect of the character bores me to tears. It bores me for the same reason the "Odinson" losing an arm bores me. It bores me for the same reason anytime Vision is physically destroyed. Anytime Wolverine is injured. It's meaningless. 

She has cancer because she chooses to have cancer. That's it. In a world of gods and magic and various cures for anything, for Jane to have cancer is a weak plot device.

Thankfully the series doesn't use it too much. In most of the collection, Jane is Thor.

The series works the war of the Asgard mythology worlds. The dark elves, the light elves, the trolls, the fire giants, the frost giants and of course, Asgard.

In the middle of all this? The new and the hunted Thor.  

Outside of Jane's cancer, the 'boring' stuff continues to be the choice of characters. Cul the 'Serpent' wasn't that interesting when a whole event was dedicated to him. Here he comes off as more boring if possible. More useless. If he's pulling Odin's strings, it'll be even more worthless and wasted. His whole "Corps" of the hammer using individuals who look like Thor wannabes from the late 80's metal hair band even worse.

Odin being an ass in and of itself continues to be annoying. It's not that he should "NEVER" be such, it's just it's been done so many times. Do we really need it again? 

Now Thor being a legacy character has a lot of history. This, however, is an interesting mix as there is Jane's personal history, and then the history of the 'Odinson.' Sometimes they correlate in interesting ways. 

For example, one of the Odinson's oldest foes is his adopted brother Loki. Jane has suffered many times at the hands of Loki since she was Thor's love interest.

So when the two meet?

 It doesn't go well.

This is a recurring theme for the new Thor. Acting out with initial violence or being perceived to do such.
In an interesting twist on things, Loki, in part due to his popularity in the Avenger's movie and of course, his role in the Thor movie, and in the first resurrection of Thor back into the Marvel universe in the first place, Loki has gone through MANY changes.

He's been Loki: Agent of Asgard . He's been Kid Loki, a member of the Young Avengers.  He's been good, bad, and everything between.

One of the most interesting takes, though, is when the new Thor meets this version of Loki.

This is a version that does surprisingly well in this new battle between Thor and Loki.

The top notch art and the solid storytelling make it a fight worth remembering and one that would be hard to beat if this collection didn't quickly surpass it.

So another one of those classic fights, "Thor vs. Odin" right up to bat! And man, I love that bottom panel. Captures the energy just right.

And this full splash page? Another great example of why I'm enjoying the art in this collection. You can feel the blows!

Thor vs Odin is often a one sided fight. It's usually one that Thor quickly loses. But the 'new' hammer seems to have several tricks of its own. I'm almost wondering if the hammer is possessed by 'the real' Odin and that it's moving on it's own ways and methods.

And regarding Loki and character growth? Who knows what games he's playing. He's written remarkably well here. The complexity hinted at in the blow.

I can get why some people don't like "Thor" as a woman without a name change but peeps, I tell you, you're missing some great classic comics. Solid art, solid writing, and while I'm not a huge fan of everything, there's more than enough to get me waiting for the next collection.

Monster of Frankenstein

Marvel Comics has done more than super heroes for decades. The Monster of Frankenstein takes the old legendary monster and his creator's tale and brings it into the Marvel Universe. This collection includes issues #1-#18 of Monster of Frankenstein, Giant Sized Werewolf by Night #2, the Frankenstein portions of Monsters Unleashed #2, #4-#10, Legion of Monsters #1, and even Marvel Team Up #36-#37.

That's a lot of Monster.

At first, this is done in an independent fashion. The tale starts with a search for the Monster. As the search is conducted, the leader is telling the "original" tale from the novels with a few tweaks here and there.

But this being a monstrous tale, it's also a tale of tragedy and death follows where the monster walks leaving him the only one of the original issues alive.

At the end of that, the Monster is alive and aware but is still out of time. During that period, he fights Dracula, among others, and encounters hatred in many forms. His appearance causes those about him to be frightened.

Interestingly enough, this take of the Monster is intelligent. He can initially speak, but after battling a vampire minion of Dracula and loses his voice for several issues. Probably an homage to the old movies.

In many ways, it's very much a Silver Surfer tale if the Surfer was prone to bursts of murderous rage that was actually carried out. When John Buscema takes over some of the penciling, it's even more mirrored.

This collection includes all of the comics, several of the horror magazines with fantastic black and white artwork. It is during the black and white period, that Frankenstein is pulled into the "modern" era.

Much like Captain America, the Monster goes into a state of suspended animation and can bypass decades at a time.

And the art? On those magazines? No one can say they're not getting their money worth when they can see those pencils and ink work of John.

Most of those told tales, though are self-contained. They don't "hit" the Marvel Universe properly until we get an encounter with "Werewolf By Night"

That's an old take of a classic where the traditional "monsters" wind up meeting and fighting each other.



But that was still a 'corner' of the Marvel Universe, it's not until we get a few issues of Marvel Team Up, an old title from Marvel where Spider-Man would monthly meet different heroes, that we see the Monster in full in the setting, done up by Sal Buscema no less.

Marvel and DC have both had their use of the Monster and while I think lately DC has done a better job with the character, this collection, at least now, was a very reasonable $3.99 and for me, the black and white artwork alone was enough reason to put down the money.

In this Halloween season, The Monster of Frankenstein makes for appropriate reading.

Thor: The Goddess of Thunder

Thor: The Goddess of Thunder, collects the first five issues of the new female Thor. I'm one of those readers who tends to buy comics electronically when they're on sale. This volume was on sale recently for $3.99. I've heard a lot of the grumbling about it and figured for that price it was worth a look.

Depending on how long you've been a reader, how old you are, and a host of other things, you may hate the whole concept or sit back and enjoy the ride. I'm a tiny bit of the former and a lot of the later.

The whole thing starts off from a few years ago with the forgettable Original Sin. That was where Nick Fury had all the secrets of the Watcher and he acted as "The Man on the Wall" to protect Earth from aliens. A huge retcon.

But Whatever...

During that time, Nick said something to Thor that made him unworthy to hold his hammer. Some time later, the new series, The Goddess of Thunder, kicks up with Thor being unable to lift his hammer. Leaving it on the Moon where it last was.

The author sets up the return of Odin who immediately is portrayed in a negative fashion in several ways. His general rudeness, his hostility towards his wife, and his bringing of the fold of his previously unknown brother, the Serpent, into the ranks of power, make him instantly unlikeable.

Remember, the Serpent is from another older storyline, Fear Itself,  where this previously unknown brother actually KILLED Thor. So yeah, the whole bit there stinks. I kept expecting the Guardians from Green Lantern to show up and be like, "Damn Odin, you make us look good!"

Seriously, Odin is just unlikable here. The only good thing? When he talks to the birds. "I should have baked you into a pie" he pipes at them in one scene.

So Odin is angered that Thor can't lift the hammer and decides to show his son how it's done. In theory, this should work perfectly.

At 44, I've been reading Thor since the late 70s when comics were like a quarter. As I grew older, we got to see Odin do all sorts of things. One of those bits was in the famous Walter Simonson run. Beta Ray Bill has taken the hammer of Thor and been transported to Asgard. Beta Ray Bill is unphased by this and attacks the All-Father with the hammer!

The All-Father catches it.

But hey, it's comics, right? The enchantment could have changed. After all, Thor bound some of his life  force into it with Doctor Strange's help at one point no?

 So what happens when Odin goes to pick up this "new" hammer? Not much.

In terms of the new hero being called Thor?

I see it more of a title at this point than anything else. She wouldn't be the first person called Thor that wasn't the Odinson, she won't be the last person called Thor. After all, we've seen a Thor from the future who wields the hammer.

But not everyone sees it that way. The Absorbing Man probably speaks for more than one person when he battles against the new Thor.

I think the authors enjoyed 'baiting' what they considered trolls but I get the issue. Even with the new star of Iron Man, she's not called Iron Man. But again, it's best to think of "Thor" as a title.

One of the things that may annoy some? The hammer shows itself to have better grace, finesses and well, power under the new Thor than under the Odinson!

Some may see this as nonsense!

But it's actually part of a long established bit to showcase how powerful a character is.

Happens all the time.

If you've read anime or manga, check out Dragonball. Remember when Demon King Piccolo was a top tier villain? Then when it was Piccolo that was a top tier villain? Then it was Vegeta? And every time a new enemy shows up, they usually wind up putting the beat down on one of those old top tier characters.

Marvel used to do this by taking out someone like the Wrecking Crew of the U-Foes and showing how dangerous some new character was. God, they need people to develop some new enemies for the heroes to fight.

Anyway, some people don't like the hammer showing more power for the new Thor, but to me, it's a device well worn and used in many forms of media.

I'm actually more upset by Thor losing his arm. Not being able to wield his favorite hammer, Thor picks up his Celestial killing battle ax (introduced in Uncanny Avengers first run!) and the first thing he does is get his arm cut off.

Odin has the dwarves forge him an arm out of black uru.

This bugs me for a number of reasons.

First, you don't have the luxury of saying, "Well, it's Marvel Earth, but it's still Earth, they can't just regrow his arm!"

It's Asgard! Super science would regrow that, or Odin could just sigh and do it.

But instead, we have to get this stupid thing.

Hey, Odin, why not Tell Thor, "Hey, remember when after your whole Disassembled thing you came back and were smart enough to wear armor? Yeah, since you don't have the hammer, maybe you do that again? Or did you like it so much when Hela gave you that curse and you were forced into sending your soul into the Destroyer that we eventually go that route again?" Mind you we got some cool designs out of it in terms of Thor's armor but man...

How about, "Thor, I love thee, but thou are as smart as a jack ass. I have had this armor of black uru forged to protect thy remaining limbs."

In terms of the new Thor's action sequences, her integrity, her dedication to the cause? The 'readability' of it?

Thumbs up.

Her battling against the Ice Giants, her vocabulary, which is cribbed from Thor's old methodology of speaking, her working with Frigga? Her fight against the Odinson?

All thumbs up.

In terms of Odin, Thor, and the whole "men evil" vibe, or at least "men stupid" vibe? I'm hoping it's lazy writing and Marvel comics is like, "Oh man, it was the Serpent controlling Odin all this time!"

If the other volumes go on sale I'll gladly check them out but as currently, I'm just a poor boy from a poor family, I'll be reading other comics that hit the sales rack.

How about everyone else? Like it? Hate it? Want to see something else? Looking forward to seeing the Odinson in his own split off title where he hunts down the Ultimate Thor's hammer?

Iron Fist Epic Collection: The Fury of Iron Fist

Iron Fist, Epic Collection, The Fury of Iron Fist, collections from 1974 to 1977. It includes Marvel Premiere 15-25, Iron Fist 1-15, and Marvel Tema Up 62-63. Totals some odd 400 full-color pages.

Much of the continuous work is done by John Bryne, well known for his work on X-Men, Avengers, and later, his title, Next Men. There are a few other who's who of artists included in this volume including Gil Kane and Patrick Broderick,

These tales focus on Iron Fist origin and introduce many of the enemies and allies that would become main streams of the Marvel Universe, some of them taking on a much larger life than their initial introduction here would indicate.

Part of that is due to the author and writer combo of Chris Claremont and John Bryne. For example, when Sabertooth makes his introduction here for the first time in comics and appears in later volumes of Power Man & Iron Fist, few would suspect that Sabertooth would probably become more popular than Iron Fist himself (arguably) and have more appearances in X-Men comics.

For those unaware, Iron Fist is a martial art comic that took advantage of the martial art craze in the 70s. It was not the only comic to do so. There was also Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, and the black and white magazine, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, where Shang-Chi and Iron Fist met and battle.

Some of the other characters introduced in the series include the Daughters of the Dragon, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight; the latter can be seen in Sam Wilson's new Captin America titles.

For villains that are introduced and updated at a later time, we have such favorites as the Steel Serpent and the already mentioned Sabertooth.

Many of the other villains, though, some off as one trick ponies such as Scimitar whose only made a handful of appearances in the 40 years since the comic came out.

There is a nice play off of the character's original motif through the original story. Iron Fist is not only a deadly warrior, but he gained his skills to avenge the death of his father and mother. They were both killed by a friend during a trip to the mystic city K'un L'un, and only Danny survives it.

Danny undergoes a series of trials and tribulations cumulating in fighting a dragon and gaining the dragons' 'heart' and becoming the Iron Fist! This is an ability that still hasn't been fully explored, but it's primary use? Danny can summon his 'Chi' into his fist and strike very hard with it.

He's also been known to heal, meld minds, fight off radiation poisoning, fight off magic attacks, and other little cat out of the bag tricks.

But Danny became the Iron Fist to kill a man. When he finally finds that person, a wealthy tycoon who's surrounded himself with death traps and unique individuals to destroy Iron Fist, he discovers that this old man has suffered the ravages of time, lost his mind, and even his legs.

Iron Fist cannot bring himself to take that vengeance so instead, a newcomer, the Ninja, not just a ninja mind you, but the Ninja, comes out and does it. This leads to the daughter of the man Iron Fist came to kill, thinking Iron Fist is the murderer and set up a long sequence of events where Iron Fist has to discover what the Ninja wants, how to convince others that he's not a murderer, etc...

In the 30+ issues, the reader gets in this volume, there's some solid groundwork laid for future authors and writers.

If you're excited by the Nextlix series, this is an excellent trade to add to your collection.

X is For X-23

X-23: Target X was another book featured by both Amazon and Google Play recently as part of their 'girl power' sale on superheroes.

X-23 is a clone of the Marvel Comics mutant hero Wolverine. At this point, with numerous solo movies and being a part of a team, X-Men, with multiple movies,  I'm not going to go into who Wolverine is. X-23 retains three claws, but only two of them per hand, and that third claw is in the foot. This gives her a bit of a surprise factor when fighting people used to battling Wolverine.

X-23 shares similarities to Firestar and Harley Quinn in that she was initially a character that appeared in cartons before her appearance in the comics. Since her initial appearance, X-23 has been in many solo series, team books, and limited series.

One of the strengths of Target X, is it puts X-23 firmly into the Marvel Universe. In her initial training, X-23 was trained to go into berserk rampages when hit with a 'trigger' scent. This is an odd 'weakness' but it has come into play several times.

But its important to note, some characters have a 'trigger' weakness that has nothing to do with going into a killing frenzy.

Here Captain America has come across a 'survivor' of a massacre. Too late as Cap puts her into an ambulance, does he realize that this 'survivor' is none other than the killer. Cap's desire to help has costs other people their lives even though he himself did not take them. Cap's need, his demand for acting the hero, was triggered.

X-23 also has her own nemesis here. the strange thing about the nemesis, is that in almost every encounter, even when X-23 gets the upper hand, this nemesis trounces X-23. So here's my question. Why make it a 'huge' deal to make clones of Wolverine when you can make an individual so powerful that they can trounce that clone?

That lady pounding on a young X-23 there? That's Kimura. She's indestructible. It's almost like one of those old poems where neither blade nor bullet nor whatever else you got punk is going to do anything to her. Kimura is also malicious and takes great joy in bringing pain to others, especially X-23.

X-23 grows in the volume in that her previous training and abilities as an assassin do come into play, but are also countered by her efforts at normalcy. Her time in high school gets her sent to the principal's office on numerous occasions as she has an almost Data or Spock like logic in answering questions posed to her, and with her wide body of knowledge, accumulated for the purpose of murdering people, her answers tend to fall on the rather shocking side.

For me, the volume was a hit on several areas. The art was good. The story was well paced. It took a former loner character and firmly put her into the Marvel Universe without overwhelming her with it. That is often a problem with a comic has a firm direction, like the original Runaways or Young Avengers, and it's so mashed into the greater setting, that the characters are overwhelmed.

The writers captured not only the things that make Captain America tick, but also Daredevil and Wolverine providing X-23 a great set of characters to compare and contrast to.

In the end, we're left with an X-23 whose on her own and has allies and perhaps even friends.

For myself, while I'm not a huge collector of comics, I've enjoyed her appearances in Avengers Arena as well as her stint in X-Force. The former a direct homage to Battle Royal and the later a tribute to the old New Mutants comic that evolved into X-Force, now come full circle to a hidden branch of the X-Men specializing in assassination.

Are there any particular story arcs others would recommend featuring X-23? Any particular dogs to avoid?

C is for Captain Marvel

It appears that somewhere, someone in comics, decided that there is not enough variety in terms of who people can read about.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing.

To help celebrate this push in diversity, +Google Play  and +Amazon.com have a ton of comics on sale featuring leading ladies.

One of those I picked up is Captain Marvel. It's important not only because Captain Marvel is an older character whose have various incarnations, but also because she's been poorly treated. While she's been 'rehabbed' a few times, there hasn't necessarily been a definitive sticking point for her yet either. I probably better remember her from her time with the X-Men as Binary, a cosmic level entity.

Perhaps more important than who the character is, is who is writing Captain Marvel. In this case, it's Kelly Sue DeConnick. This is important, I think, for a major reason.

It's a woman writer.

All too often men think they know how to write women and pat themselves on the back for what outstanding jobs they've done.

Sometimes they do a good job.

Sometimes you just don't know what other people are capable of bringing to the field because no one lets the other kids play.

It is my believe that as we get more creators, illustrators, and people of color and different belief, that the medium will continue to expand just as it did with Milestone originally despite that line not having long lasting success (as many brands of the 90's didn't including many Image comics, Malibu, and others.)

By having actual different people at the creator's helm, things can move in a different direction that might not have even been bought first possible. It's a potentially good thing.

And if I don't like it? Move on! Plenty of comics out there. So so so so so many... hush Wallet!



I bought all three series. I figured at $2.99 a volume, it's hard to go wrong. Unfortunately, Marvel did go wrong. There's a tremendous cut off between volume 2, back to a NEW volume 1 (comics everybody!) which should have been included in that volume 2.

Another potential problem, and this again, is a standard comic problem, is the change of art styles. I don't know if that's in order to maintain the timing of the comic or artist issues or pricing. Often like with Avengers Assemble, Marvel with start with top notch talent to capitilize on something and then as sales die down, keep low balling artists and writing until the inevitible happens and the series is canceled.

For what it's worth, my favorite artist was .Dexter Soy. Deep rich colors, almost painted like panels. Reminded me a lot of Mark Texeira work on Ghost Rider back in the day.

Emma Rios was my least favorite. That style didn't match in tone, color, or well, anything. Very jarring as a matter of fact. But again, for $2.99 a volume?



One of the things that Kelly had to do, was bring in some new mythology for Carol. Part of that is done by going to the past. Part of that is done by showing her relationship with the other characters in the Marvel Universe.

To me, that's one of the blessings and curses of the Marvel Universe. Comics, at least to me, like Runaways, Young Avengers, Avengers Arena, and others, often do much better in terms of telling a more closed story, when they are somewhat isolated from the actual Marvel Universe.

Far too many series, like the original Secret Avengers, get their face smashed in over and over by the continual need for cross over events that lead to perhaps brief sales bumps, but also horrible impact in the story itself.

And in the second volume of this series, we do have a bit of that in that Captain Marvel, the original Mar-Vel, his old foe long gone for many years comes back and almost kills Carol but again, to be continued in another series!

The last volume, the new volume one, is an almost pick up series in that it happens after one of the other crossovers, this time, I believe Infinite. The good news is that it's relatively isolated, can be read in and of itself, and isn't a bad story.

The bad news? It wasn't a story for me. It had the problem is isolating Captain Marvel too much from the greater Marvel universe, despite some fun times with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who really ,are not that impressive outside of the movie and in comic time, are essentially a bunch of normal people running around. Let me know when Drax is back to being more than an assassin style guy with a Racoon shooter, another assassin, another shooter, and a tree eh?

For me, the series was okay. I recommend it at the $2.99 price point. I think that much work remains to be done with Carol though. She still needs a rogue's gallery for example. Personally, I'd have Epoch make a Marvel Version of the Green Lantern Corps with Carol as their tactical leader and Quasar as the 'heart and soul' of the team. If the universe needs protecting and Marvel wants to make Captain Marvel be something big, it doesn't get much bigger than that.

Thor (movie 2011)

If one were to say I was slightly behind the times, well, they would not be wrong. Thanks to the wonderful magic of Netflix, I finally managed to watch Thor.

I'll be pointing out some spoilers below as I ramble about my thoughts on the movie and the comic character and how Marvel has treated him and what that could mean to a game.

In the movie, as in the origin story, Thor's arrogance is what leads to his downfall to Earth. In a Dungeons and Dragons game, amnesia is a standard way to represent a character that once was very powerful and 'remembers' (gains experience points) his abilities as the game progresses. This whole banishment and weakening bit, could be another good example of how to take a character concept and bring it to the table. Sure, the character might have memories of vast power or used to own artifacts, but now? He's got to struggle alongside everyone one else.

Another potential bit here that is often used to good effect in the comics, are the ties of family. Walter Simonson owned Thor for many years in terms of art and storytelling ability. His tales were epic and involved many different aspects of Thor and his family's relationship.

One of those interesting aspects, is his brother Loki. When you have relatives, well, things can get messy. The closer the relative, the more messy it can be. The writers for the movie, do a great job of at first making Loki look very compelling as a character and even a bit tragic but his various double crosses and the depth of his animosity towards his brother quickly banish those things. Jealousy is a powerful motivator and it is one that the Game Master should use for his own PCs, especially if they are related to the characters.

But anyway, when looking at one bit Walter did for Thor, it's a scene with Odin in the middle and his two sons moving forward to protect Asgard. Odin shouts out, "For Asgard." Thor shouts out, "For Odin." Loki shouts out, "For Myself." The motivations of the characters can go a long way in providing numerous gaming sessions with them. By making them relatives of the characters, you also provide a bit of rational as to why the player characters wouldn't necessarily kill them. Mind you its not a card you can use too often, especially if you never use it to the player's advantage.

What do I mean? There have been times when Loki has been beneficial to Thor. Mind you, they were almost always for Loki's own benefit and for his own reasons, selfish often, but Thor did benefit from them. By allowing these family members to come to the aid of the player characters, you give the players another reason not to simply kill them when push comes to shove.

Another aspect to the family here though, is Thor's father, Odin. In Thor and Loki Blood Brothers, first a comic then a motion comic, Loki accuses Odin of using Loki to make Thor look better. Of providing Loki as a foil that the Realm may gather again, as a singular force which all may heap their scorn on. At the end even as Loki has a change of heart, Thor escapes from what is supposed to be certain death and ends the threat of Loki but sets Loki on his course forever more after that.

Father figures are very powerful figures. In this case, both literally and figuratively. In role playing games, that may also be true. In the Greek and Roman Pantheons, Zeus is the father of several of the gods and is also one of, if not the most powerful deity.

When reading comics or watching movies, be on the lookout for things that you can crib for your own game. You never know when they may come in handy.

Escape From The Eighth City: Immortal Iron Fist

Outside of a terrible chest cold and 'Snowmagedon' here in Chicago, I've been catching up on my reading. In between The Monks of War and a fiction book called the Religion (which will have many of its own postings), I've also taken some time to dip into the digital pool of Marvel Comics onilne offering again as I'm a subscriber to the yearly bit.

Iron Fist was one of my favorites as a kid who enjoyed all things martial arts growing up in the 70's and 80's although more by proxy in the early 80's as I was only born in '71. Still, it's some good stuff between Iron Fist, Shang Chi, White Tiger, Sons of the Tiger, and other bits that Marvel did in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.

Anyway, the Immortal Iron Fist went into a new storyline in #22, "Escape From The Eighth City." The mystical city of mystical cities had been mentioned before, but now we find out what it really is. Turns out it's a prison city. "It has been constructed to house the monsters, demons, and criminals that plagued K'un-Lun thousands of years ago."

Well, that's interesting but it's not really unique. Even Dungeons and Dragons has hit the prison scene a few times, once even with Eberron. But there's a nice bit of honesty here.

"Unfortunatley it has been... abused over the centuries. The former leaders used this feature (one way stop) to cleanse K'un-Lun of her enemies. Enemies being a very loose term."

This is pretty much a easy switch to a martial art based campaign, a super hero based campaign, a science fiction campaign, or a fantasy campaign. A hidden prision has been used for years to hold people illegally and someone specific, or something specific is needed from there. Even though no one else before you has ever escaped, we need you to go?

Oh, and by the way, arena fighting with various hordes of monsters is the standard form of entertainment. Don't forget to write!

The Immortal Iron Fist

When I was a young man, I used to devour comics. My first RPG was actually the original yellow Marvel Super Heroes boxed set. Good times.

I recently purchased a digital subscription to the Marvel comics library. It's like some eight thousand comics. It's allowed me to read some old favorites without having to dig through a ton or boxes, as well as discover some newer favorites.

Among those newer titles, is the Immortal Iron Fist. Well, favorite in terms of what it means for RPGs at least.

Iron Fist is a low grade super hero who hails from another plane that masters the art of kung fu on a hidden city and uses his increidble power to fight evil.

But his people's culture... well, they're pretty ancient in some ways and this can easily be yanked for a Eastern flavored D&D game or one where you want to kick up the planes a bit. You see in Immortal Iron Fist #8, as expalined to young Danny, "K'un Lun is one of the seven capital cities of heaven. Each appearing on the mortal plane according to timetables charted amongst the stars. But once every eighty eight years, these apperances align in the Heavenly Convergence and we celebrate this with a mighty tournament."

"Sections of Each City join together creating the Heart of Heaven, a palace where our contests take place. Aspects of each city, as well as earth itself will be found there. It is unlike anywhere you have ever been , with rules and laws only unto itself."

It goes on for a bit but the cool factor is pretty strong there. Propechy, cosmic alignments, events that can only happen at certain conjunctjuors and all sorts of other solid stuff make the Immortal Iron Fist well worth looking at for someone who wanks to spice up the background of his monk character.

Taken to another area though, it could tie into different aspects of games like D&D 3rd edition with sorcerous blood lines, or even fighting schools. Getting people together to celebrate and beat on each other is a tradition that crosses many boundies after all.

Age is Not Just A Number

When creating characters, either as Game Master and breathing life into NPCs or as a player, think about the age of the character. What does it say about the character?

While reading Harold Lamb's Wolf of the Steppes, the age of the main character, Khilt the Cossack, made me ponder the value of age. In this case, Khilt is not quite the Old Man of the Mountaint, but is an older man. In some of the tales, he notes that these days, he survives more than the use of tactical genius rather than sheer brawn.

Those who encounter him often have one or two thoughts. One, he's an old Cossack and that makes him dangerous. Warriors don't live to a ripe old age on the steppes. Two, he's old. He's no longer a threat.

In a fantasy game, that might be a little more difficult to acheive because there are so many options in terms of what a character can do. However, if playing something like Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, making the character a martial class whose primary ability isn't in fighting, such as say a Warlord, may allow the character to speak openly and mour about his lost fighting prowess but at the same time inspire the youth of the next generation to take up arms.

On the opposite end of the specturm, we have Marvel Comic's graphic novel, The Gunslinger Born, in their line of The Dark Tower series. Here, Roland is a pup. Few take him seriously. While he manages to excel at his tasks, while his skill with the gun is not rivaled, his youth makes him brash and perhaps foolish. It allows other to prompt him to take action instead of thinking.

Roland manages to break records and strives to "remember the face of his father" but thanks to his youth, manages to fall victim to things an older individual, like Khilt, may have avoided.

In any game system, it's often easier to role play the brash youth. The trick thought is eventually showcasing some grwoth in the character based on events that happen to him.