BW’s Daily Video> About Marvel’s QR Code Nonsense

NOTE: Contains swearing

Catch more from Comics By Perch on YouTube

While I don’t completely share Perch’s comments on spoilers, my biggest issue with this is what happens when you want to read the comic but can’t because the QR code no longer works years down the line? That makes the comic useless over time, scanned or physically purchased. Does the official digital version have it? Of course not because it doesn’t need to, but unless that’s downloadable you lose out on reading that if something happens. So this is actually going to lead to LESS sales instead of more because if you can’t read the end of the story, why get the comic?

Chapter By Chapter> Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders–Final Chapter

Chapter By Chapter (usually) features me reading one chapter of the selected book at a 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 a read-along book club.

Here we go with the last chapter in this book, Chapter 35. The killer was caught in our previous chapter, the only victim we care about survived and all is well until the sequel, where a disease that strikes multiracial people suddenly pops up. That’s the book that led me to this one, as I read that one first.

We’ll go over this chapter, drop a few final faults, before doing a proper book report over on my other website, The Clutter Reports, followed next week by the reveal of the next book in the Chapter By Chapter review series. First, we need to wrap this one up.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Firearm #0

In case you missed it, and while you might be better off because it was crap, this story continues from a promotional live-action short film. I posted it for the previous Saturday Night Showcase if you want to be up on current events or just need some riffing fodder. It makes FMV game videos look good.

Guess he saw the video, too.

Firearm #0

Malibu Comics/Ultraverse (November, 1993)

WRITER: James Robinson

PENCILERS: Mike Wieringo & Rob Haynes

INKER: John Lowe

COLORING: Keith Conroy (designer) & Foodhammer!

LETTERER: Tim Eldred

EDITOR: Hank Kanalz

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BW’s Daily Video> The Forgotten Toriyama Manga

Catch more from MasakoX on YouTube

 

Jake & Leon #606> If Amanda Waller Won

Also the villains were taken out, so no face turns in this Elseworld.

Seriously, the only time I can remember the heroes being run off only to learn the villains were more powerful was in an episode of The Transformers where the Decepticons tricked humans into thinking the Autobots were the real bad guys. Otherwise, we don’t get to see a story where there is no hero left to oppose the superpowerful villain because the people or one self-righteous moron chased or killed them off. That would leave nobody to save the world. Does anyone really think Waller’s people, sans any superpowered people, would be able to handle Darkseid? Or Mongul? The Yellow or Red Lanterns? I want to see the Elseworlds story where Waller realizes she #$%#$ed up badly and there’s nothing she can do about it, if only to remind us why we have superheroes.

Speaking of DC, I did see that they’re returning to the 1970s-1990s logo. They’re really hoping nostalgia will bring the readers back…except when it comes to the reasons they actually left in the first place. That nonsense they’ll keep doing. It’s really just another gimmick and I don’t see anybody buying into those anymore.

Over at The Clutter Reports this week, I reorganized a shelf to properly store my A/V gear…and left a piece out like an idiot.

I have a couple of article ideas thanks to the fools at Variety, so that should be fun. We also the final chapter of Star Trek: The Vulcan Academy Murders for Chapter By Chapter, which will mean a book report at The Clutter Reports next week. That’s in addition to the comic reviews, fun videos, and whatever else comes to mind and I’m able to put together. Have a great week, everyone!

 

Saturday Night Showcase> Firearm

I’m going to be honest with you guys. I’m always honest with my readers, snarky exaggeration aside, so understand that if this wasn’t tied in to what I’m currently reviewed in “Yesterday’s” Comic, I would not be bothering with this riff fodder of a garbage short film. According to my reading list for the Ultraverse I’m reviewing on Monday’s this is where the Firearm film should go in the reading order…not that you can tell from watching it, because it tells you nothing and it’s only Ultraverse ties is the mention of Ultras and mentioning Hardcase. He also gets his own thankfully shorter film that the poster shoved in here so I don’t have to deal with it, and the intro for the only good live-action Ultraverse production apparently, The Night Man. The moral is get Glen Larson to adapt your work instead of Darren Doane. Otherwise, this is not very good. I can see why the only other out-of-comics adaptation was the short-lived low-budget Ultraforce cartoon that was still better than this schlock.

The Ultraverse reading list I’m going by places this before issue #0 of Firearm but one site said it actually came with the first issue. We’ll be taking a look at issue #0 on Monday, so this is the place to put it. Actually the place to put it is the shredder because this low-budget 90’s cheese…moldy cheese, not the good kind…is just terrible, and I’m not sure it’s a good introduction to Alex Swan, doesn’t really explain his connection to the bad guys, or explains why he’s called Firearm outside of a gun that can hurt demon-possessed killers or something. If you can figure anything out from this movie without going into the comics, I’d love to have a better explanation than the following summary.

Okay, so Swan is a private investigator hired to find blackmail evidence so his client can be free from blackmail. We see some over-the-top cop acting when a demon Ultra shoots up the police station because that makes no sense when even one of the cops has to point out how stupid the Swan-hating cop is acting when they let a man with a gun into a police station without being checked. Why is “Felix” killing people, including his own client? What does he have against the man he calls Firearm when everyone else calls him Alex? Darned if I know. I’d say enjoy, but I know better. If it wasn’t tied to current review material, I’d probably spare us both.

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BW’s Saturday Article Link> Graphic Novels ARE Books

The show Boy Meets World and its spinoff, Girl Meets World (following the daughter of the first show’s protagonist back when that could still lead to good storytelling–I actually like it more than her dad’s story), both have episodes in which a literature teacher has to fight to make a graphic novel part of their curriculum. I’m not a fan of the choices (for Cory it was God Loves, Man Kills, the X-Men story, if I remember correctly, and for his daughter Riley it was The Dark Knight Returns, both before Disney bought Marvel if memory serves) but they aren’t terrible ones to go with. It’s just not what I would have chosen. It does highlight the problems comics still have when it comes to being accepted as literature and art.

In an article by Ashley Skorld for Fansided’s “I Prefer Reading” site, she runs into someone at a bookstore suffering the same issue with her son, trying to get him to read something other than a comic. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you. I love reading both, but she then claims that graphic novels aren’t “real books”, and the writer takes issue with that point of view.