Well I’m back after many months of being gone. I hope to update more regularly now but I’ve said that before so I will make no promises. I’ve been doing some reading lately on the comic book industry and the general consensus is that it is in big trouble with readership being significantly down. There have been many reasons proposed for why this is such as the speculative craze of the 90s but I don’t really feel like this is the case. If anything it is a victim of its own success. If you don’t understand what I mean read on.

I’ll start with DC because they are the worst example of what I’m talking about. For those who don’t know in the mid 80’s DC decided to essentially reboot their entire universe on the grounds that it was too complicated. In reality it wasn’t just one universe but a multiverse with many parallel dimensions. The idea behind the reboot was that this made it difficult for new fans to understand what was going in the DC multiverse. The reboot happened in an event called Crisis on Infinite Earths. I will admit they were probably right about this and it was a good move to try and simplify things. But unfortunately that isn’t exactly what happened. All the different universes were merged and a new history was created that was an amalgam of all the universe’s histories. As you might guess this didn’t make things as simple as they should have been. To make matters worse not all characters were rebooted at the same time for various reasons, resulting in characters that had pre-reboot histories interacting with characters that had post-reboot histories for, in some cases, a few years. If that was the extent of the problem it would cause some confusion but comics being what they are it would eventually be reduced and cause new readers essentially no confusion. Well a decade later in the mid 90’s there was another smaller reboot changing the history of some characters called Zero Hour. Now just last year there was yet another reboot called Infinite Crisis. This makes 3 reboots in the past 20 years. However not all stories are thrown out or kept. It’s up to individual writers and editors to figure what they want to keep and what they want to ignore. Meaning that stories pre Crisis on Infinite Earths may or may not apply to post Crisis stories and these may or may not apply post Zero Hour which again may not apply to the current post Infinite Crisis universe. So now there are four distinct periods in DC history with stories that may or may not apply to any other given period. This might not be so bad if most stories were self contained to one issue or a small several issue story but often that is not the case. A hero cannot just meet up with an old villain and do battle without some old convoluted storyline coming into play a fair amount of the time. While it may be possible to enjoy the story without knowing all the history; it’s clear that it wasn’t written for someone who didn’t know it. While it may just be me, I feel like it’s a big turn off to new readers. I’ve been collecting comics for over ten years and I still remember in the beginning I felt very confused most of the time. That may explain why I loved and still love superman and batman the most. Their villains had history that you could feel but you never had to know any exact story for the current story to make sense. Lex Luthor always had a piece of kryptonite that he threatened superman with and the Joker was always crazy and trying to beat batman mainly because the Joker was just plain ole crazy. You could feel the history but it seemed to not get in the way as much with those heroes as compared with others. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the convoluted history and enjoy stories that use it well and used properly it can provide some of the best stories and motivation ever. However it should not be constantly used and referred to in order to make fans feel good about themselves. Some of my favorite stories involve short self contained adventures. I may be in the minority, I’m not sure but I feel like more new fans can be found if it was easier to enjoy comics.

I don’t want to come off as seeming like I am biased against DC. On the contrary DC produces more of my favorite superheroes than Marvel does. But Marvel lacks the constant rebooting. However they have their own problems which in some ways are even more confusing. Marvel has several things going for and against it. First it has several decades of uninterrupted continuity. This is both a blessing and a curse. Used properly and sparingly this can provide great motivation. For an example of a good use of this history: recently there was a Spiderman issue that plucked a story from over 40 years ago and used it to give the current story more power and emotional impact than it would otherwise have. However they recapped the important part of that story within a few panels of the recent issue so if you don’t have the original issue or a reprint the story still maintains the same power. In my opinion it is great writing and handling of history. This seems to work best with characters and series that are uninterrupted. However it is easy to fall into the same trap of using too much history. Fantastic Four has a bad habit of doing that which really reduces my enjoyment of the book since I am no expert on Fantastic Four history. I can only imagine the frustration new readers have with it. Other characters that don’t maintain a consistent book (e.g. Ghostrider and Deathlok) suffer from a convoluted history. While they may not have reboots in the manner of DC you can get some pretty strange history when different people try and adapt characters to what they want. While that is confusing it mostly affects B level characters so most new readers won’t be affected. Marvel has the bad habbit of creating lots of out of continuity stories and not making it clear to the reader what stories represent a different interpretation of a character. Now I may sound like I am contradicting myself but the problem arises when the tone and the feel of the character are so different you are wondering what happened. If you know its out of continuity you can accept a new interpretation but otherwise a new reader will likely be left feeling confused as to why Captain America continuously rents Yankee Doodle Dandy and is as wholesome as apple pie in one issue and is a complete dick in another punching very close friends you’ve never heard of before in the face. At this point I know what is what but when I started I was confused and had no clue that there were such things as out of continuity stories or that “mature” lines often didn’t relate to the general continuing storyline. New readers likely share my original confusion. I will give Marvel credit for their ultimate line of books. It’s essentially another parallel universe where things are similar but writers are free to do what they please. They make it clear on the cover of the comic that this is a separate universe and in general the stories have been some of the best I have ever read. In general I feel Marvel is a bit more accessible to new readers but they still don’t make themselves accessible for a new reader to pick up an issue any given month and jump in.

Finally there is something both companies are guilty of that is just awful: the big “summer” events. These aren’t so much summer events as events that start in the summer and continue year round. Often times these are so important they take over peripheral books and make the storyline incomprehensible if you aren’t following the main event. It’s just not possible these days to pick up a Superman or Iron Man book and follow a nice storyline. You have to know what is going on in some miniseries to understand why Iron Man is beating the bloody hell Captain America in the issue of Captain America you just bought. I’m sure these events are great for sales, at least in the short term but in the long term they alienate future fans. What new reader wants to sink a lot of money into a storyline just to understand what is going without even knowing if the issues will be an entertaining read? Both companies are just as guilty. DC’s Infinate Crisis which started summer of 2005 won’t have the final results know until March of 2007. Granted most books will be doing their own thing by then but seriously, almost two years for a story. It’s good and there are lots of interesting reasons to follow it but still I didn’t know that over a year ago and new fans have no way of knowing it. This is not something a new fan wants to jump into expecially since they have missed out on a year and a half of critical stories. Marvel just likes to place events back to back. The resolution of the House of M storyline and all its fallout ended just in time for the Civil War storyline to start. The fallout of Civil War will most likely last until the next big “summer” event. I predict this summer event will start in the sweltering month of February based on when Civil War ends. Some of these are great stories and fun to read but to really enjoy them requires a commitment on par with marriage or grad school. I’m not kidding when I say that you can know less about a topic and get a PhD in than you need to know to enjoy some comic books.

I hope I don’t come off as a whining fanboy but I really see some serious flaws in the comic book industry preventing new fans from enjoying some really well told stories. If I continue updating I’m sure this will come up again. I will likely even explore some of the mega events I’ve talked about and some I didn’t. As a final analysis I would say DC has a much more convoluted history but Marvel has some of the worst mega events ever. I’ll let you be the judge as I explore both companies’s sins. Oh in case you are wondering I do read some independent comics but they are small and new enough to not fall prey to these pitfalls.

The second installment of my informative series on how to become a superhero.

5) Highly skilled in hand to hand combat: This takes a lot of work but anyone can do it. Generally some kind of terrible personal tragedy is helpful in making sure you continue with your grueling training strategy. However you are generally limited to non-super powered villains, but the occasional low powered villain should be defeatable. This method takes a lot of training and some nifty gadgets help too. You have to be careful and body armor is highly recommended since a single bullet can easily put you out of commission.

Pros: Anyone can do it

Cons: Training takes lots of time and can be expensive; also you don’t have any real superpowers.

4) Acquiring a superpowered suit: This method may be preferred by many people. It doesn’t necessarily involve massive amounts of preparation time and the results are fairly impressive. Usually these suits are capable of flying, greatly increase the user’s strength and are fairly indestructible. They usually also come with some built in weapons that can be modified and upgraded. While not necessary it is useful to have a working knowledge of electronics for in the field repairs. These suits are also capable of working as a mobile life support unit, useful for keeping you alive after unfortunate accidents. They do have the problem of running out of power at inopportune times.

Pros: Very powerful, good firepower and provide lots of protection.

Cons: Expensive and can run out of power.

3) Scientific accident: This can give you all sorts of neat or unfortunate powers. If bitten by a radioactive animal you may get their powers or if lightning strikes you may get super speed. The powers you can get are almost endless. It also seems that the size of the accident is proportional to the amount of power you receive since being caught in an atomic explosion (assuming you survive) may result in becoming a super strong and super tough giant. Of course you may be merged with someone you are standing next to and be required to share the powers and a body with someone else. The possibilities are endless but so are the drawbacks. My advice is if you are in a lab make sure you are next to an interesting animal and not near other humans.

Pros: Lots of variety in the type and strength of powers

Cons: You need access to a lab and an impressive accident

2) Radiation exposure: This is often a subset of number 3 but it can happen through other means so it gets its own category. This can result from being caught in a radiation storm or spending too much time next to a radioactive meteor. The powers can range from being super strong and tough to being immortal.

Pros: Same as number 3, lots of variety in the type and strength of powers

Cons: Exposure can have unintended and unfortunate side-effects

1) Receiving a powerful ring: Again I save the best for last. If you can come into contact with an intergalactic police force and are found worthy you may be given a ring that is able to do almost anything you want. However usually these rings are reserved for the fearless and those worthy of protecting large swaths of the galaxy. Fortunately the requirements have been relaxed recently to allow random people pissing behind bars into this organization. Just make sure you are close to a drunken hobo since these aliens still have some standards. You at least want to be the most qualified person in the alley. Unfortunately being a part of this organization often results in tragedy for you or those close to you. You may become possessed by some evil being and try and destroy all of time or come home to find your girlfriend stuffed in the fridge. These rings are known to run out of power at inopportune times so you should be able to get out of a tight spot on your own. Also these rings sometimes have ridiculous weaknesses such as the color yellow, best find those out beforehand.

Pros: A ring of unimaginable power, ‘nuff said.

Cons: The color yellow

In the spirit of my informational series of blog entries I will be exploring how to become a superhero. This is the first part of a two part series. Some of you may be wondering why this entry is important but I would say our world has a decided lack of superheroes and it’s only a matter of time until supervillians start popping up. Therefore we need some superheroes to fill this gap before it’s too late.

Since not all of us are aliens from a different planet or are born with innate powers we must find other ways to acquire superpowers. Some methods are better than others but as far as I can tell these are all valid ways of getting superpowers so sit back and decide what your method of choice is.

10) Curse: This may not sound like the ideal way to become a superhero but it can be done. You have to upset some mystic/gypsie in just the right way. Probably the best way to do this is to upset them so they make you unable to die, or bring you back from the dead to do their bidding. While it takes some ingenuity, and sufficient will to break their hold over you, you can turn a curse into a superpower. Maybe by doing that you can atone for being cursed.

Pros: Usually hard to defeat a curse making your powers fairly permanent

Cons: It is a curse after all

9) Discovery mystic/alien artifact: Occasionally an ancient civilization or visiting aliens have been known to leave items of unimaginable power lying around. If you find these you should take advantage of them and use them to become a superhero.

Pros: Trinkets are always fun

Cons: Hard to find such objects

8) Symbiosis: If you are lucky enough to find a benign alien that needs your life force to survive and is willing to give you powers in return this may be the way to go. You can get all sorts of interesting powers this way but be careful, the symbiot may have its own personality that may try to overshadow yours. If you take this route you should have a strong personality and be sure you are always feeling yourself.

Pros: Never alone

Cons: Symbiot might not be so benign.

7) Possession/cohabitation: This is more of a mixed bag, you are likely to get a powerful demon/extra dimensional entity but they are more likely to cause trouble. It is also possible you aren’t actually the superhero but this other being inhabiting your body is. In addition they may also only be available when you are asleep. Hopefully you get to keep some of the power this friend of yours has when you are in your human form but there is no guarantee.

Pros: Quick to become and usually very powerful

Cons: You are likely not in control and the being may only be available at inopportune times.

6) Mystic: Becoming a master of the mystic arts provides one with lots of power and flexibility in being a superhero. You can protect the world out in the action or stay back and manage things from afar. If you become powerful enough your name will inspire fear in most evil beings. A problem is that you may meet up with some powerful mystic beings in your early travels that would cause you much harm and hardship. A love of dusty books and dead languages is definitely a plus

Pros: Lots of power and don’t necessarily need to be dodging bullets everyday

Cons: Need lots of patience and time to become powerful.

Dec 1406

My capital was attacked but fortunately my hero and brave swordsmen were able to protect me, but barely. I shall have to build a bigger garrison.

Jan 1407

I have decided I must research Wall of Stone to protect my fragile outposts and capital. I cannot afford to lose anymore units.

April 1407

My second outpost has grown into a fully city. I can now start building up its defenses.

May 1407

I must now learn how to summon heroes to my aid upon desire. This shall be my next source or study. They may single handedly save my armies or kingdom. However the best among them remais elusie to me. Torin the chosen would serve me well if only I could summon him. Hopefully I will learn how to contact him with my studies or travels.

Sept 1407

Disaster! A magic short has occurred, robbing me of all sources of magical energy. Not only that but Ariel has cast Just Cause which will empower her armies that much more. This is a poor month. However my magic spirit has discovered another tower for travel to that mystical plane I know must exist.

Dec 1407

I feel much safer now that my walls have been erected. Now I must increase my production capacity with a miners guild. An empire rests not only on its military might but its economic power as well. I must monitor both.

June 1408

Relief! The magic short has ended. I can now start colleting magic power again. This will be most critical to my success.

Aug 1408

Another continent Explored. This one contains only two sorcery nodes. This would be a prime candidate for expansion.

April 1409

Another continent has fallen to my every further gaze. This contained not only ruins with the secret to true light but also a temple guarded by skeletons and a city of high men. These are obviously brethren that have gotten lost. I must return them to the pack.

July 1409

I have completed my miners guild and if I am to expand into a real empire I should have a proper armory. That shall be my next goal.

Nov 1409

Now that my capital has a miners guild I must now build a fighters guild. It will allow me to produce some units of significant worth. The first step toward global and universal conquest, however I do not do it for myself. I abhor empires but the other wizards are despots at best. I must do my best to relieve suffering.

Dec 1409

To my dismay I have had to raise taxes. It was the smallest possible increase but I hope to reduce it again some day. For now my subjects will have to wait. I only pray I am on the right course.

June 1410

Yet another continent has fallen to my magic spirit. This one contains two cities of orcs and lizardmen. Not only that but it also is home to a cave with 50 mana that I have claimed and a nature node. Another prime target for conquest. The resources and knowledge gained will not go to waste. I promise myself only to use this knowledge for the good of the people. I feel there is a fourth wizard in my universe yet I have not seen him. I must continue looking until I am able to locate this errant magic user.

We will return to the epic tail of Merlin’s conquest soon but I thought a change of pace might be in order.

I’ve been doing some thinking lately and I don’t feel like enough people know what options are available to them if they ever find themselves caught in a fight with the undead. What I’m going to do here is try and go over some of the best methods of fighting the undead. Now the problem is that there are a few different types of undead creatures such as zombies, liches, mummies, vampires, skeletons and ghouls. I know each has their own particular method that works best but I will look at general weapons that are useful against most if not all of them.

5) Holy water: Now this is a good weapon even if it is a bit underpowered. Most undead creatures are unnatural and a bit unholy. This stuff will give you the time you need to figure out how to run or fight. The only major drawback is that it doesn’t work on abominations of science. Make sure you know how those zombies were created before you count on this working.

Pros: Easy to find and very plentiful

Cons: Tends not to kill creatures, only drive them off or distract them.

4) Fire: Most undead creatures seem to hate fire for some reason. This is especially good for us since the undead tend to hide in dark places and we need light to properly fight them. Since a good portion of these creatures consist of rotting flesh or are wrapped in highly flammable material fire tends to finish them off once we get them started, just be careful to stay away once they are stumbling around and dying again.

Pros: We all like any excuse to play with fire so do we really need anything besides that. It’s also good for the lazy monster fighter who doesn’t ever feel like finishing the job he started.

Cons: Odds are good you won’t have a match or torch handy right when you need it.

3) Wooden Stake: Another solid weapon and this one works against both magically created undead and those corpses that may have fallen in a pit of radioactive waste. Again I doubt most of you will have trouble finding a few of these; you might even have some lying around your house right now. Now the traditional method of hammering it in has the drawback of needing to be extremely close to deliver it, but if you are lucky enough to be able to combine it with a crossbow you can deliver the undead back to death’s cold embrace. Also try combining it with number 4 for an added kick.

Pros: Easy to find and works against almost all undead creatures.

Cons: Delivery system is not as user friendly as you would like.

2) Sword: A weapon everyone loves. It’s not only sharp but its big and shiny. Also as far as I am aware I don’t know of any undead creature that can’t be done in by a good sword swing. Unfortunately swordsmanship isn’t a required part of our curriculum so a fair portion of you aren’t going to be taking down multiple undead creatures with a single slash.

Pro: Big shiny and kills everything.

Cons: Takes a significant amount of training to use properly without hurting yourself and relatively difficult to find.

1) Shotgun: Here we go, the one weapon you can’t do without. If this thing doesn’t kill they undead it at least gives you time to think and get away. This has the benefit of killing from afar. You don’t even need to be a great shot with this since it hits a wide area. What more could you ask for? Odds are good you can find this in any farmhouse or if you are in a city there should be a gun shop relatively close by. As for those pesky undead that aren’t killed by this, try finding a priest to bless the shells or in a pinch sprinkle some holy water on them. Odds are good that they are magic and a holy bullet should cause them plenty of suffering if not kill them.

Pros: Good range and fairly easy to find.

Cons: Can’t really think of any. This is a must have if you are fighting the undead

Jan 1403

I now have a second city of Birmingham which I just founded. It shall be a port to link me to the world, in time. For now I watch. Always watching always waiting never fearing or hesitating.

Nov 1403

November 1403 has treated me well. Not only has Birmingham grown into a town my first hero has gained an experience level. He shall sever me even better now.

Jan 1404

Yet another spell’s secrets fall to my mastery. I shall now investigate the secrets of recall hero. For with that spell I shall be able to save my heros from hopeless situations. I always like to think of myself as a careful and cunning tactician but occasionally I do err. I must be prepared for such contingencies. Huberis does not create an empire.

Feb 1404

I have just made contact with a fellow mage on a neighboring continent. Ariel is a fellow believer in life and I hope we can trade spells and live in peace. Only time will tell.

March 1404

My first failure. I lost my outpost to maurading troops. I must be sure to garrison my next outpost with more units. A single garrison of spearmen was not enough. Alas I fear this will not be my only failure. My only solace is that the city was not razed so that I may be able to reclaim it in the near future.

April 1405

My Farmers market is done. I still do not have access to delicious oranges but now I can indulge in other delicious fruits. I shall now produce some swordsmen and after that settlers in a second attempt at colonization.

June 1405

I meet my second wizard Freya. Another kindred spirit nature mage and hopefully we can find common ground to be friends on. She is on Ariel’s continent and I secretly hope if they come to blows it will be with one another even though they have an alliance at the present.

Aug 1405

My magic spirit has just finished its report on the second continent I know it. It was able to find 50 gold in an abandoned cave but found the continent was even more infested with monsters than mine is. It also contains a neutral city of nomads, I fear this city will not remain neutral for long. A continent I would be served best to avoid at the present. It has also located a small island with a tower on it. If I were to take that tower I would have acess to a second plane of existence. One that is both exotic and terrible. I must monitor the situation and think carefully. Once I open the gate between planes there is no undoing it. It could very well be a Pandora’s box.

Feb 1406

I have sent more settlers out with swordsmen protecting them. I hope this will be enough to ensure success of this new outpost. I have also started building city walls around my capital having learned from my past mistake. If my capital were to fall at this stage all would be lost at.

Aug 1406

Yet another continent has fallen to the sight of my guardian spirit. This one only has a neutral nomad city and a few nodes, a relatively peaceful continent. I shall try to reach it as soon as possible. Unfortunately this may not be for a while, since I have no port access.

Sept 1406

I have founded a new outpost I shall call Newland. I hope this one fairs better than my previous outpost.

I have recently found a journal containing the history of Merlin's attempt to unite the magical worlds of Arcanus and Myrror under one benovolent rule. I will be reprinting it here over the next few days (weeks?) and I hope you enjoy a look into this magical world.

Jan 1400

I, Merlin the Wise, start out this great adventure with my town Exeter recently having elected me to lead them to glory and an empire. I have many decisions to be made being a new mage and a new leader. My first decision will be to cast a spell called magic spirit. It will allow for a cheap and expendable scout. Having summoned it from the ether I do not feel guilty if it is a casualty in my quest to be the Master of Magic. I start out with an abandoned temple immediately adjacent to my city and send a group of spearmen to see what it contains. It contains ghouls so I decide to let it be for the time and keep my spearmen to protect my city. It is not worth risking the lives of my men for such a gamble this early on since it may contain nothing more than a scant few gold. I will keep my eye on it and perhaps some day I will find out what secrets it holds. I now must choose which spell to research and feel Healing is the best. It will keep my precious units alive in combat and prevent needles casualties. Being a ruler does not mean I need have no regard for life. Besides units are expensive to train and experienced units are even more so.

Feb 1400

I decide to build a grainy to help my city grow, in preparation for its role as a world leader. A global empire was never maintained on an empty stomach

Sept 1400

My grainery having been completed I decide to build a marketplace. Commerce will be the key to success of my empire. If only my magic Spirit would be summed quicker. I grow impatient with seeing only two squares around my city. I begin to wonder if there is anything outside my small town at all

Oct 1400

SUCCESS!! My magic spirit has bee summoned from the eather. Now I will be able to explore the world I live in. Perhaps it will even have the mythical things called rivers and oceans. The tundra and mountains are such a drab site.

Jan 1401

Shortly I find a fallen temple near my city that is abandoned and containing 50 mana. What this temple was used for I may never know; be it evil or good I will ensure the mana is used for only noble purposes.

June 1401

My explorations go well I quickly find a sourcery node yet am too weak to even attempt to conquer it. I will leave it and return one day when I am stronger. I look forward to that day when I am able to break open it’s magic and secrets. I also find yet another creature lair close to my capital and this is filled with giant spiders. I appear to be on an infested continent. I must build a strong army soon if I am to survive. I fear the monsters may soon start venturing out of their lairs. They may even make their way under my bed. This would be a most ignoble way to be disposed of; by a monster hiding under your bed until you are blissfully asleep. These lairs must be conquered so such things never occur.

Nov 1401

Success again!! I have researched my first spell. Now I will continue research with the Web spell so that I am able to conquer those pesky flying units.
My magic sprit has come across a neutral city. This will be ripe for the picking as soon as I am able to muster an army for conquest. I must put it on my list of thing to do, right after retrieving some skin of frog for future enchantments.

Jan 1402

My city has grown and finished its marketplace. I must admit this was more of a selfish decision to build a marketplace. I do enjoy my fresh fruits, especially oranges, however those are too exotic for this location. Yet another reason to expand my empire; I crave the day that I can enjoy the simple pleasure of an orange. As for other fruits I find it is much easier to acquire them with a market. I feel it is time to expand and colonize a new city; perhaps it will be able to support oranges, so I shall make some settlers.

Feb 1402

Another fallen temple inhabitied by shadow demons. Clearly this temple was used for evil purposes. I must cleanse this evil from the land quickly before it infects more.

March 1402

Ah a hero knows of my greatness. Zaldron the sage has come to ask to be in my army. I feel it is necessary to have a few heroes in an army so I deign to allow him in my army. Hopefully this is a wise idea since he only knows a scant few spells, however his parlor tricks are the best I’ve ever seen. I feel this is the quality that speaks best of his future possibility. I also finish exploring my home continent. It is small but I am in no competition with other wizards on it. It will serve me well and hopefully protect me.

July 1402

I have completed my first settlers and will move them to a costal location. If I hope to rule the vulgar arcanus and ethereal myrror realm I will need rule both the land and sea of my home plane of arcanus. To help with this I shall build a farmers market. Commerce shall rule the day I say. You shall see. I have aslo completed my second spell. If I am to go toe to toe with fellow mages I will need to dispel their magic, thus I shall research dispel magic to thwart their evil intentions.