I like Faith. I always felt she was a really interesting character that had more to her than just being the bad girl. The second volume of "Buffy Season 8", No Future for You is a Faith arc written by Brian K. Vaughan, with art by Georges Jeanty and Andy Owens. It lets out a little more of Faith's past and why she feels she needs to act as tough as she does and it catches up with what Giles is doing as, essentially, the last Watcher.
While it requires a little faith that the reader can hear a passable English accent coming from Faith I felt it was a really good story. I liked seeing more of Faith through her own eyes. I liked seeing Giles through her eyes and acting in ways that he wouldn't if Buffy could see him. I also liked the idea that Buffy is never really going to totally trust Faith. I'm curious to see how Faith is going to change from loner Slayer to outreach Slayer. I think she's uniquely suited to that role and I think she and Giles work well together but I doubt it will be something that Buffy will like.
The final story was a little one-off written by Joss Whedon with art by Cliff Richards called, "Anywhere but Here". It continues, in the fine tradition of Buffy, the pattern of something being resolved for the better (Faith and Giles teaming up) with something being broken down. In this case it breaks down the lies the gang all tell one another. Granted, they lie because they think they're protecting someone or something but they're still lying. While the story focuses on Buffy, Willow and Dawn it does come right after a story where Giles goes behind Buffy's back to work with Faith.
The volume didn't exactly advance the plot of Twilight introduced in the first volume but I really didn't expect it to. Buffy was never a show where each and every episode was about the Big Bad but most episodes did advance the plot in some way. No Future for You is the same. The plot moves even if it isn't the main focus of the story. I thought these stories were great, I just devoured the colume, so I'm giving it a 5.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Soon I Will be Invincible
I had high hopes for Soon I Will be Invincible by Austin Grossman. I thought it could be fun to read a story written from the supervillain's point of view and it was highly recommended by my husband. It was written in first person and alternated between the villain and the hero points of view. I had trouble deciding if it was meant to be a parody or if it just fell short of its objective.
First, the superhero names were terrible. There were a few good ones but they were just bad on the whole. I know from watching the commentary on The Incredibles that coming up with a superhero name that is both cool and that hasn't been used before is tough but Fatale as the name of a cyborg is just bad. Damsel is not good, Blackwolf isn't bad and CoreFire would be better if it conformed to the rules of grammar. At least Doctor Impossible was passable as a supervillain moniker.
Second, Doctor Impossible. He's supposed to be a super genius. If you're a super genius it's probably not easy to speak as one which is why I feel that Grossman should have stayed away from the first person narrative he chose. The speech patterns of Doctor Impossible and Fatale (the other half of the narrative) were really much too similar. Also, as a super genius, that's his power. Being super-strong and super-tough just seemed unnecessary. The strength of the Superman/Lex Luthor nemesis pairing is that Luthor can't take a punch from Superman and has to find other ways to protect himself from the hero and find other ways to hurt him. The same couldn't really be said for the Doctor Impossible/CoreFire nemesis pairing. Doctor Impossible couldn't stand toe-to-toe in a fight with CoreFire but he could take a punch. I think a more talented writer could have done alot more with the story by having Doctor Impossible be more fragile. I will give him this though, Doctor Impossible knows how to monologue.
Third, the abandoned ideas. Grossman laid out ideas all over the place, some of them he tried to follow through to the end but most were just tossed out and left there. Fatale's origin was not satisfactorily resolved in my mind. There were other more interesting possibilities that could have made the story stronger and solved the super-genius problem of Doctor Impossible for me. There were two points in the story that I thought that a superhero gone bad would have led to a really interesting climax. There was the problem of Lily and the problem of Elphin.
Finally, the climax really just didn't do it for me. It was sort of a deus ex machina x 2. Sure, it's a superhero book and there will be god-like beings. That doesn't mean that they have to be used like gods.
In the end, while it was an enjoyable read for the most part, I have to say I was disappointed with Soon I Will be Invincible and can only give it a 3.
First, the superhero names were terrible. There were a few good ones but they were just bad on the whole. I know from watching the commentary on The Incredibles that coming up with a superhero name that is both cool and that hasn't been used before is tough but Fatale as the name of a cyborg is just bad. Damsel is not good, Blackwolf isn't bad and CoreFire would be better if it conformed to the rules of grammar. At least Doctor Impossible was passable as a supervillain moniker.
Second, Doctor Impossible. He's supposed to be a super genius. If you're a super genius it's probably not easy to speak as one which is why I feel that Grossman should have stayed away from the first person narrative he chose. The speech patterns of Doctor Impossible and Fatale (the other half of the narrative) were really much too similar. Also, as a super genius, that's his power. Being super-strong and super-tough just seemed unnecessary. The strength of the Superman/Lex Luthor nemesis pairing is that Luthor can't take a punch from Superman and has to find other ways to protect himself from the hero and find other ways to hurt him. The same couldn't really be said for the Doctor Impossible/CoreFire nemesis pairing. Doctor Impossible couldn't stand toe-to-toe in a fight with CoreFire but he could take a punch. I think a more talented writer could have done alot more with the story by having Doctor Impossible be more fragile. I will give him this though, Doctor Impossible knows how to monologue.
Third, the abandoned ideas. Grossman laid out ideas all over the place, some of them he tried to follow through to the end but most were just tossed out and left there. Fatale's origin was not satisfactorily resolved in my mind. There were other more interesting possibilities that could have made the story stronger and solved the super-genius problem of Doctor Impossible for me. There were two points in the story that I thought that a superhero gone bad would have led to a really interesting climax. There was the problem of Lily and the problem of Elphin.
Finally, the climax really just didn't do it for me. It was sort of a deus ex machina x 2. Sure, it's a superhero book and there will be god-like beings. That doesn't mean that they have to be used like gods.
In the end, while it was an enjoyable read for the most part, I have to say I was disappointed with Soon I Will be Invincible and can only give it a 3.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Book of Spirits
One of the things I look for in a rules supplement is if it actually gives me ideas for the game. White Wolf's Book of Spirits did just that. Nearly every entry was another story idea for me and it just made me wish we were actually playing.
I originally bought the book to get a better idea of the Spirit realm. The universe has changed quite a bit from when I was running Werewolf and I was having trouble coming to grips with what went on in the Shadow. Unfortunately, this book didn't really cover it either. The information on the spirits, how a mortal might enter the Shadow and why spirits care about the other plane were all really interesting though. The final section with different types of antagonists was excellent.
The between chapter fiction did a really good job of setting the tone as well. The World of Darkness is supposed to be dark but it's sometimes hard to think of that personal horror. The examples provided helped me think of ways that I could draw in the people I normally Storytell. The number of ideas it gave me rates the book a 4, if it had done what I was looking for I might have rated it higher.
I originally bought the book to get a better idea of the Spirit realm. The universe has changed quite a bit from when I was running Werewolf and I was having trouble coming to grips with what went on in the Shadow. Unfortunately, this book didn't really cover it either. The information on the spirits, how a mortal might enter the Shadow and why spirits care about the other plane were all really interesting though. The final section with different types of antagonists was excellent.
The between chapter fiction did a really good job of setting the tone as well. The World of Darkness is supposed to be dark but it's sometimes hard to think of that personal horror. The examples provided helped me think of ways that I could draw in the people I normally Storytell. The number of ideas it gave me rates the book a 4, if it had done what I was looking for I might have rated it higher.
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