Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter (or possibly multiple chapter for this one) of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.

A bit of a quandary here. Tonight’s chapter is only five pages long, but the next chapter is about nine. Five is a chapter for me, but there’s too many of both pages to combine them, and I’m still trying to shake off last week’s all distractions all week and get back on schedule. So short chapter it is.
Last time we checked back in with Op-Center and my expectations are still low for our hero stand-ins. This chapter takes us back to St. Petersburg, where we check in with Commie Op-Center or the British spy who I’m hoping gets to the end of the story.
While the Cold War is technically over, stories of Ruskie Commies trying to restore the Soviet Union and communism to the former USSR still continue. I’d say they can’t get over the stories they could tell about US/USSR relations but considering Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, is actively trying to restore communism in Russia and reform the Union, it’s not like we don’t have some life left in the bear to tell this story. We’ve lost the defector stories, but we have China and North Korea to solve that issue…if the entertainment industry wasn’t smitten with China for some reason. This book came out as the Cold War was dying out, so the “restore the Soviet Union” plot wasn’t played out yet, although we would still get Russian characters who wanted to see the old system put back because they still believed the malarkey propaganda that allowed communism to continue in Russia.
Now the same people who praised Russia and the Soviet Union in the 1980s hate them in the 2020s. Funny how life works. But I’m done padding the homepage. Let’s see what’s happening in the interesting part of the story.
Sunday, 4:35 PM, St. Petersburg
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The REAL Reason Fans Are Cheering The Fall Of The Entertainment Industry
In a recently deleted tweet on XTwitter, Ubisoft’s monetization director (covered by Bounding Into Comics) showed his disgust at fans celebrating the failures of their recent Star Wars: Outlaws game, a buggy mess with an odd story and yet another unattractive female protagonist, and the fallout of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and the recently buried Concord. His ire was pointed towards fans (frankly I could stop the sentence there) who are happy to see Ubisoft in financial trouble and possibly being forced to go private with Chinese (government) gaming group Tencent just to stay afloat. Rocksteady has had similar issues after their Suicide Squad game, which continues to disappoint with every new DLC..for the handful of people still playing it.
Then of course there are the various box office and streaming failings of the Disney acquired Marvel and Star Wars properties falling apart. I’ve heard other commentators, whose opinion I’m usually in alignment with, make the same decree of disappointment, and all of them blaming fan commentators like The Critical Drinker or Gary and the team at Nerdrotic for the failures, calling them out for celebrating the layoffs and firings in the entertainment industry at large. Those two specifically have been named due to breaking out of YouTube commentary and appearing on a couple of Fox News’ broadcasts. Put them on Gutfield! or one of the other main channel shows and I’ll be impressed.
However, the reasons given for their cheering by the critics of Drinker and Nerdrotic comes from the usual talking points of blaming racism, bigotry, and misogyny. “They’re horrible people” the naysayers insist “because they want to see us unemployed and cheer us on!” As someone who actually watches their videos and occasionally their livestreams, I can tell you the actual reason for these and other YouTube commentators laughing at the failing entertainment industries. Have a seat and let Uncle Tronix explain, because the problem isn’t on the side of the drunken Scotsman or guy who used to own a comic store and did a spell in prison. It’s the quality of what’s coming out of the entertainment industry.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on October 8, 2024 in Comic Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, Streaming Spotlight, Television Spotlight, Video Game Spotlight and tagged commentary, fans vs creators, Hollywood versus fans, Streaming media, Television and Movies, video games.
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