Avengers Age of Ultron. The Trailer is here

Doesn't this ending really just call for the soundtrack for Terminator 2?



Seriously, the last image should have been accompanied by "dun dun dun DUNDUN"

Gone to DragonCon: will be back next week.

The title says it all.



I don't have a sign that says "Gone fishing."



Sadly, I don't have a sign called "Gone fission," because I may need that one.



Starting next week, we'll have videos and reports from DragonCon, including Peter David, David Weber, Jim Butcher, Gene Wolfe, and the ever-present John Ringo.



Also, with Ron Glass, Jeri Ryan, and Adam Baldwin.



It's been a LOOONNGGG weekend. See you all next week. Hope you had a good Labor day.a

Simply Inspirational

Apparently, I'm inspirational.... No, seriously. I've been nominated for one of the most inspirational blogs on the net.



Normally, I'd say "Wow, that's awesome," but I'm still at the point in my life where I find it strange when people actually read anything I have to say.



Anyway, it's time for an announcement.... okay, technically, I've already announced it, so it's more of a reminder... I'm going to be in Chicago next week, for the Catholic Writer's Guild conference.



Yes, I know that Chicago is a haven for lawless violence and mass murder, and 20 people murdered each day, but I won't be in that part of the city. I have no intention of being near a gun....



Okay, I will be visiting a shooting range on the way back. I've been told that my gun fu can be better.



Enjoy the next two weeks. I'll see you all in August, when I return.

Prominent Catholic Writers to Speak at Catholic Writers Conference in Chicago Area

Maybe Chicago doesn't suck quite as bad as one might think. The Catholic Writers Conference is going to be there this year. July, in fact.

However, while it's not mentioned, there's going to be one more person there.

Me.  I'm going to be on an action/adventure panel with Ann Margaret Lewis, John Desjarlais and Gene Wolfe. 

See, they have no taste at all.



Prominent Catholic Writers to Speak at Catholic Writers Conference in Chicago Area

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., June 2, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Several prominent Catholic writers will speak at the sixth annual Catholic Writers' Conference LIVE taking place July 30-August 1, 2014, at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center and Hotel in Schaumburg, IL. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer's Guild and the Catholic Marketing Network (CMN), and held in conjunction with CMN's annual retailer trade show, the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE provides Catholic writers with a prime opportunity to meet and share their faith with editors, publishers, fellow writers, and bookstore owners from across the globe. The theme of this year's conference is "Perseverance."



Speakers at this year's conference include authors Lisa Hendey (BOOK OF SAINTS FOR CATHOLIC MOMS), award-winning science fiction/fantasy author Gene Wolfe (THE NEW BOOK OF THE SUN), Inspirational Speaker Lizzie Velasquez, Gary Zimak (FROM FEAR TO FAITH), Claudia Volkman (Editor, Servant Books), Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle (EWTN, CATHOLIC PRAYER BOOK FOR MOTHERS), Ellen Gable Hrkach (STEALING JENNY), author Declan Finn (A PIUS MAN: A HOLY THRILLER) and many others.



The conference will give authors an opportunity to meet personally with publishing professionals and pitch their writing projects. Some participating publishers are Ignatius Press, Ave Maria Press, and Servant Books. In addition, attendees have the opportunity to sign up for fiction critique workshop with award-wining short fiction writer Arthur Powers, a non-fiction critique group with Nancy Cook Ward and attend a writing workshop with novelist John Desjarlais. Information for these events can be found on the conference website.



The Catholic Writers Guild, a religious non-profit organization affiliated with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, sponsors this conference in July, an online conference in March, and a writers' retreat in October to further its mission of promoting Catholic literature. "With members all over North America, these events bring our diverse membership together for fellowship and networking to promote our mission of creating a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters," says CWG President and award-winning novelist Ellen Gable Hrkach.

Registration costs $80 for CWG members, $85 for non-members and $45 for students. There's also a discounted combined membership. To register or for more information, go to www.catholicwritersconference.com.

The contact information for this event is Ann Lewis, at 317-755-2693.

E3 2014 Day 1, part 2

Yeah, you didn't think that yesterday's post was EVERYTHING at E3 that looked cool, did you?



No such luck.



First, a few things.  One, there's a new Call of Duty game that I commented on over at The American Journal.  Then there's the Year of Being the Villain, as well as another look at yet another postmortem Tom Clancy property (I swear, his postmortem career is almost as bad as Ludlum's. Maybe worse.)



Oh, and Halo is back.



And then there's this. I want this game. I want it now.... and I'm still playing the first one. Dang it.







Then there's a book-inspired video game that makes me want to read the books and  play the game.









And there's another Assassin's Creed game, if you care.

E3 2014, Day 1

I hate E3. It makes me want to buy systems and games I probably can't afford. Damn them.



Far Cry 4 looks like a lot of fun. In fact, I'm going to link to the two videos and the commentary I have over at American Journal.  Enjoy.



There's also a look at the new Battlefield, Cops and Robbers. That's not the title, but it should be, darn it.



As for the games here, first....



Because he's BATMAN.







Bayonetta 2 ...... I loved the first one. It was just plain FUN.









Uncharted 4







Oh, and.... oooo, shiny.







E3 Meets its Destiny.







This was just hilarious. Zombies go into self parody.

Updates, and E3

So, you're wondering....



John, Declan, whatever alias you're using this week, what the hell has been going on with you? You don't really deliver on blogs, and you're mostly just slapping together a post filled with links to other things you're doing. What the hell?  What happened to A Pius Stand? What happened to that thing with the vampires? What's going on?



Well, a few things. A Pius Stand should be done by July. Yes. July.  The beta readers are going through it now, including the lovely Ann Margaret Lewis. Yes, a real, honest-to-God author is reading my stuff. I've already gotten one good review from a beta reader.  The comment, well...

"durn you. now i had to go and buy the 1st two. Liked it that much."

And he did, I saw the sale numbers.



So, that's good.



Right now, Honor At Stake, "that vampire novel" is with the publisher. Haven't heard back from them ... well, that's not true. I've heard back from the owner of the company, and I've heard from the art department. I got the impression my book was a few down in the stack. I have time ... and I'm already working on the sequels. All three of them.



While I'm doing that, I'm working on the sequel to Codename: Winterborn, and I'm waiting for my coauthor to do something.



By the way, E3 is out, and I'm covering it for American Journal. Enjoy.

Music, Lists, Arrow, and Agents of SHIELD

I've been doing a lot of writing lately, though not here.  I've got Codename: Unsub to work on (the sequel to Codename: Winterborn), A Pius Stand to finish when the beta readers get back, and I'm working on Murphy's Law of Vampires, while I'm waiting for Damnation to get back to me on Honor At Stakes.



To start with, there is the list of Arrow vs. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  And, damn, there were a lot of reasons.



There is also what we're not going to miss from the Star Wars expanded universe, courtesy of The Mouse.



You can check out any of my articles on The American Journal, if you feel like looking at me being cranky with the news, politics, politicians, life, that sort of thing, as I do my impersonation of a right-wing fringe lunatic.... or maybe just a lunatic.



If that's not enough, I've got a fun bit of music for you today.



Now, pardon me, I have to keep working. I hear that DC did something else stupid over the weekend that I have to rant and rage against.

My radio career has begun!!!

In case you were wondering what the bloody Hell I was doing for the last week, well...



I was getting ready to host a radio program.



I explain below.

Check Out Writing Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Writestream on BlogTalkRadio

TV Review Roundup. The Season Finale

After having done the mid-season review, I figured I should have some follow-up.

Walk with me through my television viewing one more time..

Arrow:I think I've gushed about this show often enough.  Between my review, and my post on American Journal about it, I think we all know where I stand. And my opinion hasn't changed. It was an amazing season from start to finish, and they only got better with each successive episode, ramping up the stakes and the threat with each new twist. And the final fight scene, which involved inter-cutting the battle of the past with the one of the present, was a great bit of business.  Oh, and the final setup for the Season 3 flashback storyline? Oliver Queen, Agent of ARGUS, I have a few associates who can testify to the fact that, yes, I did call that one.  And damn if it isn't going to be absolutely frigging awesome by the end of the day. MUAHAHAHAHAHAH

Ahem .... anyway, as I was saying....

[more below the break]

Agents of SHIELD:



Again, refer to the American Journal article for my previous opinion... or the half-season review. My problems are many. Was the finale kick-ass? Sure, but it had Sam Jackson appear as a deus ex mu7h@fucka.


However, fun bits aside, if I had written that ending, I would have been fired. The bad guy's motivation was pitiful, the deus ex was a little heavy handed, and ... wait, where did Nick Fury hide the Destroyer gun? Was he literally pulling it out his butt?

Almost Human.

The "cop with cyborg partner" has been done on tv before, but this one was surprising well thought-out. It had a rich world, interesting characters, a potential to go someplace new and interesting. It was something I enjoyed immensely, as did plenty of other people. Over five million people, in fact.



And to no one's surprise, Fox has canceled it already.



Damnit.

The Black List: We got some questions answered, leaving just enough a mystery to keep the series going. Fun.

Blue Bloods.  This one strikes my fancy because it's a very New York show.  Centered around three generations of a cop family, you have a good strong New York vibe here.  Granted, some of the issues addressed are ripped from the headlines, and they're addressed in some interesting and inventive ways. It's a police procedural, but it's centered around family.  And, strangely, this has gotten to be a better show as the series stops using season-long story arcs, which I find surprising. And the finale was a nice surprise, because it revealed a season-long arc without any previous hints, merely the combination of previous introduced elements that crashed together like a train wreck in an intense episode.

Castle: A series long villain wrapped up in a penultimate episode that resembled a thriller? Absolutely excellent.  A final episode that was a straight-up comedy of errors that was unique in its presentation and delivery? I can't ask for much better than that. A moral to the relationship that's almost lifted from Lord of the Rings? Pleasantly unexpected. And finally, a season cliffhanger that makes me want to murder someone?  Check.



Again, I can't remember the last time I saw a tv show even try to follow a relationship this deeply. Nathan Fillion is playing (mostly) Nathan Fillion ... though there are times when he or his are threatened, and he becomes dark and angry, and channeling his inner Mal Renolds.  Then there's his co-star, Stana Katic, who is the only person I've ever seen act with micro-expressions.



Dracula: This show was almost dead on arrival.  Too much gratuitous sex, way too much soap opera, almost no action to speak of, this show had three or four episodes before I fully gave up on it. I was ahead of the curve, as it has been concelled. If you look at the show Revenge, which is The Count of Monte Cristo in the Hamptons of the 21st century, you can see everything that Dracula has ripped off: a revenge plotline, the take-down of the week, odd interpersonal relationships, a snarky sidekick.  However, unlike Revenge, Dracula has no charm, an angsty, broody character with no sense of humor, and no one is having fun here.



Dracula was so bloodless, I thought I was watching Twilight.

Grimm. I enjoy this show immensely, and it keeps getting better. Introducing more characters? Not a problem with this show.  For something that looks like a cross between the comic book Fables and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's perfectly executed.  For a series that started at the same season as Once Upon A Time (which is just a rip off of Fables), I expected nothing.



It has romance -- with two strangely adorable couples -- and committed relationships... is that allowed on TV?






INTELLIGENCE: How can a film named Intelligence have so little of it? The premise is simple: due to a genetic quirk, a former SpecOps soldier is able to have a clip implanted in his head that allows him to hack into, well, anything. He's literally his own intercept, imaging center, and can run his own facial recognition, etc. Sadly, while there were some cute bits of business along the way, there was so little originality to it. The episodes were so cliche`, I had expect it was writing with a checklist. The first episode set up both an evil equal and a missing wife, both interesting overarching series threads...until the second episode, when the missing wife was both found and murdered in short order. The plots were, in order: evil equal, schmuck ex, informant-turned-terrorist, military using a virus for a bioweapon (see Outbreak, 1995), killer nanites (it's a cliche`... I've seen a lot of scifi), the evil best friend, amnesia and hostage taking (same episode), terrorist attack, redeeming the criminal street urchin, being framed, and sleeper agents in the government conspiracy.





NCIS / NCIS: LA: Same level of standard awesomeness. Another season that had an out of nowhere arc, even though the groundwork had been laid for seasons in the making.





The Mentalist:



Now that the series has offed their primary villain, I think the rest of the series is setting up for a final sendoff of everyone involved.  Even though the main actor, Simon Baker carries this show with wit and charm, and finesse, there may not be a lot left.  Two of the series regulars have been set on their own path, with their life given a standard happily ever after.



It's now time for a few more finales before the finale.

Person of Interest:



While I like this show, I have no idea where it's going. This season has been in the making for at least two seasons, maybe even since the beginning. However, current events have made the series events much more believable.



And while the series mythos has always threatened to go sideways, it's never gone off the deep end, for which I applaud them.



Now if they can keep it from going off the rails for another year, that will be the best trick of them all.



And again, Jim Caviezel is already playing Batman on this show, why did they get Ben Afleck?

Notice that the first word

in bold is CRAZY.

Sleepy Hollow.



Well, this was one strange ride. Ichabod Crane in the 21st century, the headless horseman as a horseman of death, with most of the scenes with the headless horseman have been inspired by the firefight in the police station from The Terminator....



You can understand why more than one review has described this show as jumping on the crazy train and refusing to let go. From start to finish, the series was surprisingly coherent. It's witty, it's stylish, and, ... then there are the "good witches."  Sigh.



If you pick up the series when it returns, just jump aboard the crazy train.



Revenge:


Mentioned above, Revenge was a delightfully evil little show. Yes, I said was....

This was the season when one of my favorite shows spiraled down the rabbit hole, and never came out. There were blackouts, fugue states, parents coming back from the dead, birth parents coming out of the woodwork, and it turned into a great big charlie foxtrot. It went from a soap opera that felt like a spy drama, to just a soap opera. And, sorry, when the writers whip out several cliche`, soap opera plot points over the course of a few episodes, that's when things just go completely sideways. I will miss what this show used to be. 

It was an interesting season. And now that we already have several new shows of interest in our crosshairs, the fall promises to be even more interesting.

Fall TV? Already?

This must have been an interesting season of television in order for things to have gone so very, very strange. Usually, I don't get commercials for the new fall shows kicking around until August. That includes the mid-season replacements.



And while I liked more than a few shows this season -- and I'll review those a little later -- some of these look like fun. And between Arrow, Flash, Gotham, and Constantine, DC looks like it's going to go toe-to-toe with Marvel on television. You want to place money on who's going to win?

Coming this Fall.

THE FLASH  (The CW)





Oh, all right. Then there's the extended version.









GOTHAM (Fox)



This makes up for the poor, Smallville marketing Fox has subjected us to, lately.





GRACEPOINT (Fox)



It seems that Fox has decided to follow up on limited run series, after the 13-episode run of Sleepy Hollow. I'm only in it for David Tenant.





TRANSPORTER



I could never get into the series. And while I like Statham well enough, I was never his biggest fan. The tv show looks like fun though.







THE LIBRARIANS

This is a "Winter" release.... Yes, I liked the original tv films.  Yes, I'm such a nerd.

Suffer, Jim Butcher, Suffer

Author Jim Butcher, creator of The Dresden Files, is a fan of making his characters suffer.  His hero, Harry Dresden, is usually being beaten up, or having his home / office / car destroyed, and we won't even touch his love life. In fact, when a panel he was on at DragonCon was asked about making characters suffer, he leapt for the microphone, he was so eager to answer that.



When The Dresden Files was turned into a half-assed tv show starring Paul Blackthorne, it was a train wreck -- casting issues, scripting issues, money issues, and the issue that it looked nothing like the novels.



When something similar happened with author Clive Cussler's book Raise the Titanic! when it had been turned into a film, he later went to see Raiders of the Lost Ark, and wept, because that's what his movie should have been like.



And then this happened.







Somewhere, I think Jim Butcher might be crying a little inside....or going into complete homicidal rage. Either one....

The American Journal and Radio Interviews

I was a little lazy last week, in that I didn't post....anything, really.



Okay, I kinda did, just not here.  I was recruited for a news site that wanted people who had no problem taking news columns and commenting on them. The commentary includes sarcasm set to kill, and common sense.



It's also the part where I reveal either my inner nerd, or my inner radical.



I've discussed my politics on this site before. I'm either right-wing or left-wing depending on who you ask, and where the jury is sitting. A Pius Man was such that I've had good reviews on both sides, so the book came off as being fairly neutral. It may help that I'm sort of libertarian....in that I really don't give a crap as to what you do, believe, think or say, as long as you're not screwing around with anyone else. I really don't. I'm too freaking tired to play politics.



Granted, my general attitude is that the gene pool needs a good healthy dose of chlorine. Heck I've got a friend who agrees with my every belief in politics, and I still want to deck him every time he opens his mouth about it.



But, yeah, if you really to see my general frustration with politics, politicians, and the stupidity of the universe, go check out The American Journal.  Today I should have a whole list article on Arrow vs. Agents of SHIELD.



Also, last week included an interview with Daria Anne DiGiovanni, which you can tune into below. You might remember her from previous interviews.



Just to clear up any confusion, the atheist I refer to in the interview is not Matt, the artist who has contributed to the blog. I come across a  lot of people. Train wrecks happen a lot in my life.

Online Writing Radio at Blog Talk Radio with Writestream on BlogTalkRadio

Honor At Stake, and publishing

Cedar Sanderson

Last week, I announced the news: I've been picked up by a real, honest-to-God publisher. Notice I didn't say much about it. I'm not exactly excited about it. I'm not gushing about it.



Imagine if you just finished moving furniture for a whole day.  Are you going to go out to a party to celebrate by dancing, and getting more sweaty, or are you going to plop down on the couch and take a nap?



I've been moving this particular piece of furniture for ten years. And I tripped over it. That was it. Dumb luck, and an acquisition editor with a high reading speed and an empty in-box.



Do I regret the self publishing? Hell no. In fact, if I weren't trying to be social online, I wouldn't have tripped over this, so, saying that God works in mysterious ways isn't exactly true. Mildly annoying ways, sometimes, but not much on the mystery.



The book is a vampire novel entitled Honor At Stake, and it's going to be include all the usual vulnerabilities you ever read in a copy of Dracula, because removing the religious defenses against vampires is just bull. It allows vampires to be your standard overpowered enemies, and we only survive based on their good graces.



And, second, REAL VAMPIRES DON'T SPARKLE. Period.



Now that I'm going to be working with a "real publisher," who will help me market my book, pay for an artist to cover my book, get me into actual bookstores, what does that mean for The Pius Trilogy?



Well, the publisher, Damnation Books, part of Eternal Press .... yes, I now work for Eternal Damnation, Inc ... will not touch self published novels with a ten-foot pole. They might take the sequel to Codename: Winterborn, mostly because it won't be so tied to the sequel that you can't read one without the other.



If you've read A Pius Legacy, you realize that book three, A Pius Stand, isn't going to be that easy to read without the other two books.  So, yes, A Pius Stand will come to an Amazon shelf in short order.



Will I party that day? No. But I'll flop on the couch and take a nap.



But Declan, you ask, what does that have to do with the cute redhead on your page?



The cute redhead is Cedar Sanderson, a fellow author. This coming Saturday, her book, Trickster Noir, is coming out as a freebie on e-book


Cedar Sanderson is interesting. She's half-way through a degree in microbiology, "just getting to the interesting bits." A former military brat, she grew up in Alaska (when the family became nailed down to one place). She grew up learning to hunt, fish, trap, garden, forage wild edibles, prospect for gold and gems, survive in the wilderness, camp, can, butcher, cook, bake, paint, research, and blow stuff up along the way. After Alaska, her adult life, was spent in New Hampshire, before moving to Ohio.

So, she's got a colorful little background....AND she's a cute redhead.  Yes, I have a thing for smart women. And cute redheads. Shut up.



The book is described as follows.

Book two in the Pixie for Hire series,
Trickster Noir picks up where Pixie Noir ended. Lom, the little pixie
with the tough-guy mentality, has proposed to Bella. All should be
well, but their happily-ever-after is in grave danger. Threats from
both Underhill and the human realms are closing in on them, and the
fairy princess raised Alaskan redneck has to learn on the job, and
fast!   

So, while you're waiting on A Pius Stand, you might want to check out her stuff.  Seriously, you can't beat free, now can you?

Reasons to check spam

Have you ever had one of those days?



Few years back, I did a novel that was basically "Catholic vampires," where I kicked the mythos into compliance with standard theology, and then did a little rewrite of history since 1789, and....



Anyway, one of my Facebook groups wanted something "Dark." A fellow member was an acquisitions editor, and had nothing in her email.  So, I sent in my book, and well....



Nothing happened. At all.  No word, no nothing. I got a reply at 1pm the next day saying that it was received.



That evening, I was cleaning out my spam folder.  There was a response 6pm, that very day.



Anyway, I got a contract in the mail today from Damnation Books. They want my novel Honor At Stake.



And this is why you check your spam folder.....



MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA



Anyway...



Thought I'd share the joy.



Don't worry, if you're interested in A Pius Stand, I will publish book three no matter what.



Happy Easter......

The Winter Soldier Bigfoots Agents of SHIELD. It Gets Better.

Yay.  Marvel's Agents of SHIELD has finally gotten really interesting. And I don't mean an individual episode, I mean the entire series, several of the characters who weren't before, and the writing in general.



How did we get here? And better yet, where do we go from here?



SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER AND AGENTS OF SHIELD



So, I was talking with Matt Bowman, the Novel Ninja, and he noted.

Matt: Agents finally woke up and realized "hey, we've had most of a season without real character growth. What up wit dat?"


Me: I think it was "Hey, we can't do anything really because Cap2 is going to come in and step on us like Godzilla. Let's do NOTHING until Cap2 comes out. Hail Hydra"  [Best use of Gary Schandling ever]


Matt: I need to write a blog post on it and then link to your argument on the subject. 


It then occurred to me that I should probably have an argument on the subject.

Obviously, you know where parts of this is going. After an initial start that I felt was kinda positive, they had a steady downward slide, especially when compared to other shows. What was the excuse for Agents of SHIELD's piss poor performance?



"We didn't want to have a Marvel movie tie in series. It needed to build up to that."



And yet, nothing happened until last week's episode, which was a direct tie-in with the new Captain America film. Nothing.  No character development, no character, nothing.  The best episode before that?  THE TIE-IN WITH THOR: THE DARK WORLD! The episode that happened the week after the DVD came out!

And they were "building up to" Hydra as the primary villain? Really? Hydra came out of NOWHERE on this show.  There was no buildup, no hint, no whisper, nothing that indicated that it had survived WW2. The closest they got to Hydra was episode two, where they found a Hydra weapon in Brazil, ripping off a 1970s novel and film, The Boys from Brazil. And it was such a throwaway episode that I found it painful.



Ooooo, but this was the plllaaannnn.



No, Jeph Loeb, head of Marvel television, you don't get to pretend you had any idea what was going on. Chekov's gun says that you have to show a hint of a plot point before you can fire it, and you didn't show us anything aside from some crappy tinker toys. I have been told that they knew about Hydra since Day Two.





Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to tell you exactly what goes down over the remaining five or so episodes. Ready?  Almost everything that you've seen over the course of this season will make a brief appearance. The Hydra ray-gun from Brazil, the ice-machine guy from the academy, a few lab experiments from "centipede" (which was obviously not-AIM, but now they're going to be Hydra), will all be whipped-out of the Hydra toolkit. The writers and creators will point to these things and say "See! See! We said we had a plan! Really we did!"



Fertilizer! Biofuel! And other variations of crap! Standard Marvel doomsday weapons do not require a whole origin story. That is not a plan! That is not any kind of a plan. That's padding, and hoping that they accept it as a plan.

If there were a real "plan," someone would have invested us in making Agent tall dark and wooden (Ward) a likable person, so when he turned traitor, we would have cared. Instead, they gave him a creepy sex-buddy status with a woman old enough to be his mother, and gave him completely inappropriate feelings towards the woman he's mentoring (teacher-student relationships don't work that way), and somehow we're supposed to care when he exhibits something like feelings towards her? (It's hard to tell, he doesn't emote well... or at all).



For the record, I've had people tell me that they can reverse Ward turning traitor. No, they really can't. He just stone-cold murdered the highest-ranking member of SHIELD. There's no way to spin that unless Victoria Hand faked her death too, and it makes no sense to do that, and it's officially overused at this point.



The original maxim of Chekov's gun is that if you show a gun in act one, you have to fire it by act three; conversely, if you fire a gun in act three, you must show it in act one.  You want to bet that they're going to just take that literally, and it's the gun from episode two? That's where my money is. There has not been a hint of Hydra outside of that lousy gun.



Like I said, this isn't a plan.  At best, it's padding.



The closest they had to advanced planning has been writing in an obvious replacement for Ward -- who is, of course, a young hip black fellow, in an obvious attempt to answer the critics who said that Agents of SHIELD was too white. The only reason that works thus far is because the character, Triplett, is a fun, charming, likable guy who has more personality than any two of the series regulars put together.



At the end of the day, I'm finally encouraged by and looking forward to episodes of Agents of SHIELD. I'm even semi-enthused about season two.



Oh, you didn't realize they were renewed? Yup. They are. And, now that Heroes is being rebooted, maybe Jeph Loeb will go back to NBC, Joss Whedon will finish Avengers 2 and actually do something for Agents of SHIELD.



I can see it now. Save the cheerleader, save Agents of SHIELD.

Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

We spent a lot of time on Captain America: The Winter Soldier last week. At the end of the day, how did it turn out?

Pretty darned good, really.





I'm pretty much in accord with the Novel Ninja, or Howard Taylor.  However, I disagree that while the villain is simple, I don't even think we need to have his motivations. It's a long story, but self-explanatory when you see the spoilers below.



Some things not mentioned in either review.  There is the return of Peggy Carter -- yes, the British love interested from the first Captain America. And it is possibly one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire film. And that was from the first twenty minutes. I seriously hadn't expected tears from a Marvel film. Really, I hadn't.



I'd like to know how much money did they pay Gary Sinese to be the narrator for a Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian.



If you thought that Nick Fury didn't have much to do in the other films, or wasn't all that much of a badass, this is the movie where you get to see just how many people it takes to get the drop on Nick Fury. Answer: more people than the bad guys have at their disposal.



Also, they had a GREAT setup for Avengers 2, as well as Cap 3, while maintaining its own self-contained main plot. There might also be a Black Widow spinoff, and maybe one other.



And the Falcon? Totally awesome. He steals every scene he's in, and might have been able to steal the movie. I also loved how he knew what Steve Rogers was thinking solely on the basis that they'd both been in war zones.



Also, Agents of SHIELD is screwed.



SPOILERS AND CONFIRMATION OF SPECULATION.



How much did I get right last week?



Nick Fury doesn't stay dead. Color us all shocked. In fact, I think this film might be a setup for a Nick Fury movie, where Sam Jackson can say the line "Screw you, David Hasselhoff."



Black Widow kissing Captain America is about surveillance. Check.



Robert Redford as bad guy? Check. Is he the Red Skull? Nope. He is HYDRA, however. Because this is Captain America. Like Hellboy, there are always Nazis.  Yes, he is talking to the Winter Soldier in the trailers.



There was NO Red Skull in this movie. At all. But Dr. Zola does make an appearance, and that was interesting.



We have a little bit more of Black Widow's backstory in this film, but not a lot. The movie continuity still has Natasha as a member of the KGB, but ScarJo is 28. When the USSR fell, she was SIX. I felt I was stretching it when Manana Shushurin was involved with them at age ten.



Yes, Agent 13, who is only identified as "Sharon," has a part to play in this movie. Though it's not as big a reveal as I thought it would be. Seriously, I expected it to be a surprise twist, and not so much.

Dissecting the Winter Soldier trailers

Well, yesterday was a little long-winded, wasn't it?



Today should be a little shorter.... yeah, no, probably not



Here’s my rundown of stuff you can draw from the assorted promotional materials.



Some of these are SPOILERS, you HAVE BEEN WARNED.



And some of these are ... well, they are MAYBE spoilers, bit and pieces collected from what we know of the Winter Soldier plot (covered yesterday) and the Marvelverse at large, and just plain old-fashioned speculation.



So, SPOILERS and SPOILERS...maybe.



In the words of Heath Ledger, here ... we .... go! [below the break]





Paranoia and conspiracies.



You may have noticed one or two things in the trailers posted yesterday that was a little paranoia-ish.If you didn’t pick up on this vibe, you weren’t paying attention. From shots of SHIELD’s arsenal to Cap beating up a bunch of agents in an elevator, it’s pretty obvious that the idealistic World War II hero is going to find himself pitted against the more modern intelligence community. Add to that a shadowy assassin (potentially the person Robert Redford is talking to when he says, “Your work has shaped the century”) and your story begins to take on the dimensions of major American myth.

 We've seen SHIELD on SHIELD violence. Fury being shot at, perhaps helicarriers firing on helicarriers, an airship crashing into the Triskelion, the Black Widow apparently on the run, out in the cold with Cap, a lot of images of SHIELD seemingly fighting itself and/or failing the people it’s supposed to be supporting. American-looking fighter planes chase the Falcon around the helicarrier. Cap argues with Nick Fury about SHIELD policy. Fury warns Cap not to trust anybody. Is that because the threat—whatever it is—is closer than Cap would like to admit?

And they have Robert Redford, ultra-leftist, in a Captain America movie ... how is he NOT the bad guy?  

The directors have insisted that this is a nod to 1970s paranoid thrillers like Three Days of the Condor, which was all about "the evil government wants oil!" So, Captain America will be running a lot.



Steve seems to spend a lot of time in these scenes walking around in civilian clothes—at least once, seemingly through a museum exhibit dedicated to his wartime exploits. The ensemble even includes the traditional hero-incognito baseball cap. But he’s still seen carrying the shield and getting shot at—and fighting the Winter Soldier—in that civilian garb.



Something else from the trailers....



Um....

Nyet, comrade. I suspect cameras are involved

Cap in love? 



Yes, that’s a set photo of Steve and Natasha making out.



No, I don’t believe it. Unless fanfiction writers have taken over this script. But the last Captain America movie was pretty darn romantic for a film with only one major female character. With Natasha giving Steve romantic advice in that early scene, it looks like she’s getting involved with his personal life. And while Natasha could have any of a billion reasons for that involvement, Steve is pretty straightforward with his emotions. If he falls for Natasha, he’s serious about it. And that can’t go anywhere good.



However, Sharon Carter, Cap's other love interest, is also in the film. So.... muahahahahaha.

The Falcon.

See that guy with the metal wings? That’s Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, one of the first African American superheroes. In the comics, Sam was powered by the Red Skull with a fancy wing-suit and a telepathic link with birds, including a hawk named Redwing. and sent to kill Captain America. That worked as well as can be expected, and the two of them ended up best friends and partners. The relationship was notable at the time (the 1970s) for being something pretty close to a real partnership, too; while Steve was obviously giving Sam tips on superheroing, Sam held his own remarkably well in those stories, and wasn't nearly as stereotyped as typical portrayals of black characters from the same period (see: early Luke Cage). 

Also, Falcon started out wearing green and purple spandex, something that the actor actually said he wanted to try, instead of a flight suit, seen above. Obviously, this is a man who has never, ever been in spandex. Ever.

Anyway ...Steve and Sam routinely describe each other as brothers—a term Steve reserves for Sam, Bucky and a couple of war buddies, and that Sam uses only for Steve. While this Falcon is apparently a SHIELD agent rather than a creation of the Red Skull, he seems to have the same deep and instant loyalty to Steve Rogers. It’s good to see him up on the screen; this movie needs a rock like Sam Wilson.

Robert Redford.

As mentioned earlier, that’s Robert Redford. And he seems to be talking to Steve Rogers about the need to tear down an old world and build a new one … but is he talking to Steve? 

At one point, he’s heard saying, “Your work has shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time.” Steve was pretty impressive in the war and everything, but shaping a century? That sounds more like a description of the Winter Soldier and his involvement in key assassinations throughout the Cold War. And with the role of spy-mentor already filled by Nick Fury, Redford’s character is looking more and more sinister... outside of being ROBERT REDFORD. Yeesh. He might has well have a neon sign over his head.



The best use of Redford would be as a red herring -- he's not the bad guy, will be the good guy, maybe even the best man of all, but I can't bring myself to believe it Cap’s got a long history in the comics of going up against bad guys in suits who seemed innocuous at first. Is Redford’s character the next in a long line?



The current theory is that Robert Redford is the Red Skull, older and Back! From! Spaaaaccceeee! after he pissed off the cosmic Rubix cube in the first film. Skull really enjoys mind-controlling, impersonating, and body-snatching people in power..  And Red Skull will always be Captain America's enemy. Even if he isn't on screen, he'll probably be in the background.



Oh, and the alphabet block from Hell has also played as a home for Skull's brain more than a few times. if the Red Skull did happen to be in there, the entire Avengers film probably would have woken him up. And SHIELD owned it for a bit, so .... bad things will happen.  Period.



Though it might be a touch too obvious.  But, still, Redford, evil.

Nick Fury having a bad day.

His car gets blown up and ripped apart by the Winter Soldier, SHIELD is going bonkers all around him, and Steve quotes “Fury’s last words” (which might be his last words before he apparently died, or just the last thing he said before disappearing). And someone with Fury’s skin tone is seen as a patient in an operating room. When ol’ One-Eye goes from running an international law-enforcement organization to being dead or missing, it’s a bad day for the free world, and a worse day for Steve Rogers. There’s even a scene that appears to show Natasha walking out of a congressional hearing about intelligence operations.

Fury’s major weakness is bureaucrats who can go over his head to get things done. How high do the bad guys go? And how low will Fury have to sink to beat them? Answer: as low as he can get. 

Also see: "Coulson kept his Captain America cards in his locker, not his jacket."  Yes, Fury is a m-fing BASTARD.

For the record, a spoiler: if Nick Fury "dies" in this film, he's going to get better. As in "you didn't touch me, sucka." The comic book Fury is so manipulative, this is a guy who has messed with every major superhero at least once, and didn't get his guts torn out -- this list included calm, relaxed folks like Wolverine.

Okay, let's look at a storyline caled Secret War -- no, not the one from the 80s, from the last decade.  Fury recruits every superhero in New York (ie: most of them) and brings them to Latveria to stop the Prime Minister from selling off all of Doctor Doom's technology to the highest bidder (Doom is temporarily in Hell at the time. Long story). Fury gets the heroes in, and assassinates the PM, and then mindwipes everyone so they don't remember it happened.

Later, when blowback happens and no one remembers why it's happening, Fury explains what happened.  Wolverine, who doesn't react well to having his mind messed with yet again, pops his claws and shreds Nick Fury.

Fury's robotic decory calmly answers, "Logan did you really think I'd be dumb enough to tell you this in person? I'm going off grid for a while. Bye."

Someone talk to the artist.

I think they enhanced ScarJo too much.

I don't mind, it's just that I can see it.

Black Widow.



Don't hold your breath on a Romanov/Rogers romance. Seriously, just don't.



The Marvel movies have been hinting around at the Black Widow’s history for a while now. From the effortless way she infiltrated Tony Stark’s life in Iron Man 2 to her loaded conversations with Loki and Hawkeye in The Avengers, she’s always come across like a complicated character with a long backstory.



Now she’s been promoted to second billing, right after Cap himself, and she’s in a lot of scenes in those videos. Most importantly, she’s the one seen telling Steve—reluctantly—about the Winter Soldier and his legend.



Are we finally going to get to see where the Black Widow comes from? Is the movie Black Widow going to have her own history with the Winter Soldier?



Since ScarJo is getting her own Black Widow film, I'm going to say.... not yet.



Agent 13

This isn't in the trailers, but Emily van Camp is listed in the cast of this movie as “Agent 13”, but she hasn't been seen except for that extremely brief shot of her in the UK trailer. Considering the huge importance of Sharon Carter in the Winter Soldier comics storyline, her absence is conspicuous. They're obviously going to have Sharon as a a surprise. 

So, Agent 13 is the neighbor for Captain America ... I wouldn't put it past the boys from SHIELD (read: Fury) to assign Cap a new best friend / lover / babysitter / spy.  After all, Steve has no friends in the twenty-first century, and doesn’t seem interested in making any. He apparently spends his free time alone in the gym. That kind of isolation is not healthy, so I wouldn't be surprised if SHIELD tried to set a valuable operative up with some “starter friends” to ease him into his new situation. 

The last thing SHIELD needs is a self-destructive superhero. Besides, why would Captain America have normal neighbors? Wouldn't they at least need to be vetted by SHIELD just to live in the same building?

For the record: I love the idea of Emily van Camp as Agent 13. Words can't express how much I like the idea. On Revenge, she's basically playing someone in a long-term, deep cover operation, maipulating people to self-destruction.  I've also seen her fight, and I've seen her wearing black versions of Agent 13's white body suit.

Who the BLEEP is the Winter Soldier?

So, this week comes writing a series on Captain America: The Winter Soldier.



First things first, here, from beginning to end, are the videos we’ve seen so far.



First is the initial trailer, from back in October:

Then the Superbowl trailer, with a cameo by the creator of The Winter Soldier, Ed Brubaker.

And TV Spot #1.

And another spot with the phrase "Fury's last words." Sam Jackson still has several contracted Marvel films... and Nick Fury has more life model decoys up his sleeve than an army of Phil Coulsons, so....

Then a clip that apparently spoils the end of the film.

Followed by a ton of Black Widow. I approve.  I heart Redheads.

Marvel UK's "Three Days of Captain America"

Then... even MORE Black Widow.  I want a movie, and I want it called "Black Widow: Budapest."

So, if you want to know what exactly all this is about, and why a lot of people kicking around the internet are interested in this film, well, let's take a look.

Step 1, day 1: Who the BLEEP is the Winter Soldier?

WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS

This paragraph pretty much only exists to tell you to STOP READING NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS. Seriously. This is your last chance. 


Abandon all hope of surprise, ye who enter this blog. There is no meaningful way to discuss the Winter Soldier storyline, or the movie that’s arisen from it, without spoiling at least a few really big plot points. So if you've somehow avoided all the chatter about this movie so far that’s spilled the Winter Soldier’s identity and backstory, and you don’t want to know walking into that theater who he is and why he’s fighting Steve Rogers, then

 STOP READING RIGHT NOW.

And if you didn't see that coming, I'd be surprised.  


Now, then, where were we?

THE WINTER SOLDIER STORYLINE

To explain who the Winter Soldier is and why he matters, come with me now to those glorydays of yesteryear -- 2004 -- when Marvel Comics relaunched the monthly Captain America comic book with a brand-new #1 issue.

With crime-comic writer Ed Brubaker, the comic quickly established itself as a combination of superhero adventure and spy thriller. The story begins with a mysterious ex-Soviet general, Aleksander Lukin, killing a Russian agent sent to disrupt his plans.


Lukin then orders his men to give the body full funeral honors -- he's not a supervillain, he's actually something of a patriot and a soldier.

After that, Lukin meets with the Red Skull, who wants to buy some decommissioned Soviet super-weapons generally found in Cold War comics.


There’s only one thing Lukin won’t sell—a tank containing the shadowy figure of a man with a metal arm. Lukin says he won’t part with that unless the Skull is willing to trade the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract, if you watch the movies), which can reshape reality. 


The Skull says that a) he doesn't have the Cube and b) he wouldn't give it up if he did, and c) soon he will have it again, blah blah blah world domination—it’s your standard Red Skull rant.

What are we going to do tonight, Skull? 

Fast-forward to five years later. At the end of the comic, after some scenes establishing that Captain America is having some personal problems and that the Skull has some big plan in the works--reassembling a broken Cosmic Cube and powering it up. 

We’re all very focused on the Skull as he takes a call on his cell phone while he’s fondling the Cube.... yes, sounds dirty, doesn't it? It's the Red Skull, he's a freak.  Anyway.

The phone call is from General Lukin from five years ago, making one last offer. The Skull turns him down flat, goes into his usual rant—

—and then suddenly has a fist-sized hole through his chest from a sniper’s bullet.

The Skull falls to the floor, dead. Lukin had made him an offer Skull shouldn't have refused.

A shadowy figure enters the apartment and takes the Cube from the corpse’s hand … at which point we see that the hand picking up that Cube is made of metal. Whoever was in the tank, he’s out in the world now. And he’s working for Aleksander Lukin.


From here on out, what looked like a story about the Red Skull trying to take over the world AGAIN becomes a story about Captain America trying to figure out who killed the Red Skull, and why, and why do we care, it's the Red Skull? Let him rot.



And then it becomes a story about the Winter Soldier.

SO WHO IS THE WINTER SOLDIER?

CSI: Marvel

Still a better concept

than Agents of SHIELD

It’s up to one of Marvel's other super-spies to who figures that out.

In the course of all the running around and spycraft in this story, SHIELD agent, and Steve's girlfriend, Sharon Carter gets captured by the Winter Soldier and used as bait. 

Cap’s already rattled by this point because Lukin has been using the Cube to mess with him from a distance. Cap’s beginning to doubt his own recollection of important battles and major events in his life, especially the day that his partner, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, died and Cap himself was frozen in ice.

He’s just remembered a long-forgotten detail—that Bucky didn't get blown up because he insisted on defusing a flying missile, but rather because he got his clothing snagged while trying to jump free, as Steve ordered him to do.



Bucky died because Steve wasn't there to save him.

Hmm, wait, doesn't Retcon sound an awful lot like how Bucky bought it in the movie?  Hmm. Yes it does.



Did I see Brubaker's name in the credits for The First Avenger? Yes, I did.



Funny that.

So, Steve becomes Catholic, and incredibly guilty.

And then Sharon tells him that she got a good look at the Winter Soldier’s face … and she’s dead certain that he’s Bucky.



Hilarity, chaos, and complete and utter anarchy ensues.

Steve doesn’t believe it at first, but when he encounters the Winter Soldier in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing (which the Soldier set off), even he’s struck by the resemblance—even if the Winter Soldier is not:

Who the hell is Bucky? It becomes a theme.



THE PERMANENT CORPSES

Remember how long

this lasted?

Yeah, bringing Bucky back from the dead was a bit of a big deal.  True, people who die in comics don’t usually stay dead. It's standard comic-book death: Superman didn't stay dead. Two dead Robins have failed to stay dead. Jean Grey of the X-Men has died so many times that we've all lost count, and all stopped caring.

But there are a few exceptions. Characters who not only stay dead, they must stay dead, so the theory goes. 

Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben is THE classic example of this. If Uncle Ben isn't dead, Spider-Man isn't motivated to be Spider-Man.



Bruce Wayne's family?  They are going to stay dead, dead, dead. If they could become more dead, they would.

Bucky was one of those permanent corpses. His death, ret-conned into Captain America’s backstory when the character was revived in the 1960s, turned a World War II patriotic hero into a tragic figure in keeping with Marvel's five hundred other tragic figures.  Because, you know, you can't simply have a hero be a hero because he's a good man. Heaven forbid.



And, this being marvel, Captain America just had to have a tragic backstory.  After all, isn't the “man out of time” schtick good for just so long—eventually, he’d have to adjust to life in the “future” and he’d be just another superhero, right? But a superhero who’s constantly reminded of his greatest failure—that his partner, best friend, and surrogate little brother died because of the very screwup that made him immortal—that’s a story that fits in with everyone else's tragic backstory. Because this is the freaking comic book industry; even Superman has been ret-conned so he was given some similar trauma.



So, according to this accepted comic book wisdom, Bucky has to remain dead.

Right?

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE


It turns out there’s a way to make a warm breathing Bucky even harder on Steve Rogers than ice cold Bucky. It turns out that Bucky also got the Captain America on ice treatment; even though the missile took his left arm, the freezing water preserved his body.

Remember when Bucky fell from the train in the Captain America movie, and fell into freezing water? Yeah, there's a reason for that.

I'll take you all with one arm

Anyway, a Russian submarine picked up his body, thinking he might be Captain America. But they got the wrong hero on ice. A Soviet general named Karpov had the frozen corpse studied, during which time, the Soviets revived Bucky. Like Jason Bourne, he was missing most of his memories, but he could thrash anyone who got too close, even with only one arm.



Basically, Bucky makes Jason Bourne look like a pussy, especially when he's played by Matt Damon.



By this time, the Cold War was raging. Bucky had basically been a teenage commando, trained in wet work that Captain America wasn't let near with a two-foot tactical baton. So Karpov fitted Bucky with a metal arm and some basic Cold War 101 Ipcress brainwashing, and used him against American targets.

"They will never see me coming."

No, wait, they used that line.

But Bucky was too stubborn—the longer he was out of the deep freeze, the more his real personality tried to reassert itself. So, Karpov put his assassin into stasis between missions and reprogramming him on each awakening. They called him the Winter Soldier in part because of these regular deep freezes, and because Russia has always relied on "General Winter" to win a lot of their battles. When Karpov died, Bucky was put back on ice for a couple of decades—until he was found by Karpov’s protégé, Alexander Lukin.

And for Steve, this is actually worse than thinking Bucky was dead... because having your friend come back as a cyborg zombie assassin is pretty much nightmare fuel.



Steve knows that Bucky would want Steve to kill him rather than let him remain a zombie assassin. And as everyone in the story points out to Steve at some point, there's no Bucky under all that programming. He came face-to-face with Captain America, in full costume, and didn't recognize him. He didn't even know his own name:

It’s appropriate, then, that there’s one dissenting voice in the chorus of “just kill him already”. That voice belongs to a character who’s been controlled by the bad guys before, and who might be Captain America’s best friend in the present day—Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon.

So, let's save Bucky.

NEVER TRUST THE GENIE


Cap, the Falcon, and SHIELD track the Winter Soldier, and the superheroes go in before backup can arrive.

Because you don't want to see this

from the business end.

What follows is a running fight between Cap and the Winter Soldier. It comes to a head after Bucky expresses surprise that hitting Captain America in the head with a cyborg arm doesn't actually kill him, and Steve realizes that the ex-Soviet killer is still trying to kill people. This comes as a shock, somehow, and Steve challenges Bucky to shoot him in the head if he really doesn't remember their past relationship.

Luckily, Captain America can dodge bullets pretty well, and grabs the Cube.



And then, well …

There's an important lesson comic books can teach writers. It's that there is no easy answer to a problem. Ever.

Two things about the Cosmic Cube.



One, in the comic universe, you can touch it without being blown away.



Two, it's your standard untrustworthy wish-granting device, an old-fashioned jinn, or one of the fae. It will misinterpret pretty much anything you say, if it can. So, with only a second or two to make his wish before the Winter Soldier tackles him again, he goes with:

Sounds good, right? Impossible to screw up? Well...

Yup. This will end well.

PTSD level flashbacks.

NOTHING can go wrong here.

Turns out that suddenly regaining your real personality after being a cyborg zombie for 7 decades is not terribly good for your mental health.

Yeah. NO ONE saw that coming, right?



Oh, wait, everyone’s been saying this all along.



The Bucky grabs the demonic cube and then poof, all that’s left is a little pile of ash. To Sharon and the Falcon, it looks pretty simple: Bucky couldn't live with what had been done to him, so he killed himself. Steve is unconvinced.



And he’s right. For the next year’s worth of comics, Steve is alternately battling the Red Skull and trying to find Bucky. Yes, the Skull got better. Are we surprised?



THE REST OF THE STORY


Once Bucky has his memories back, he ends up doing some cloak-and-dagger work for Nick "I am a bastard" Fury and avoiding Steve, apparently because there’s no good way to have a conversation about how you murdered a bunch of innocent people, tried to shoot your best friend in the face, and then faked your own suicide.



And then Steve gets himself assassinated in Civil War.  If you don't know it, I've got a rant for that.



Along the way, Bucky runs into an old girlfriend... And Hawkeye is going to be pissed.  Apparently, Bucky and Natalia had a thing back when the Winter Soldier was a combat instructor for the Black Widow program. So there’s that.



And Bucky becomes Captain America, because someone has to be.

Alex Ross is a badass.

He's the artist.

The “Bucky Cap” stories focused on Bucky’s ongoing quest for redemption, his struggle to live up to Steve’s example, and his complicated relationship with Natasha. She acted as his liason with SHIELD, pointing him at trouble spots



The Bucky-Widow relationship was actually a lot of fun. The fact that Bucky and Natalia were both strong, complex characters with their own clashing agendas, but that they still clung to each other emotionally kept the story from ever degenerating into something that made one or the other secondary.



Then they killed Bucky AGAIN so Steve could resume being Captain America, just in time for the movie to come out.



Bucky, of course, gets better; he's too popular to kill now.



And, post-Avengers film, Black Widow has had Bucky mind-wiped from her brain, because fans liked her and Hawkeye in the film.



As much as I love the Marvel films, I hate it when it messes up the comic books.