Ask Me About My Broken Fandom

A few days ago while I was at home burning through some of my remaining vacation days there was a giant ass shit storm on comics twitter over Mockingbird #8, Chelsea Cain and comics fandom. If you want the full professional blogging experience just google it, since you're here though I assume you're not looking for any of that. Long story short Chelsea Cain noted novelist wrote a short comic book series about Mockingbird (as seen on Agents of Shield). When the last issue came out (it was canceled a little bit ago) she quit twitter and said something to the effect of comic books fans can be really awful. She specifically called out comic book fans saying she has been a bestselling author and never had to block anyone on twitter before writing Mockingbird.

Once she deleted her account that's when the real fun started. Any website with any sort of nerd leaning coverage picked up on the story. A hashtag on twitter was created in her support and it was one of the top trending tags for at least a day. Very quickly some in the comic book community started to push back. They wanted to see screen shots of the harassment or it didn't happen. They also wanted to remind you that Mockingbird was terrible and if you liked it you should feel ashamed. Also the last issue deals a bit with Mockingbird's history of sexual assault in (what I found to be) an awkward manner so if you did like the issue guess what? YOU ARE THE SEXIST NOW.

This story dominated comics twitter for about 48 hours. Most comic book professionals were very supportive of Chelsea Cain but a few wanted to make sure everyone knows the reason Mockingbird was canceled was because of low sales and you can't complain about a book being canceled if you're not buying it. One noted professional who is not new to controversy like this chose his words pretty poorly (again this is my opinion) by saying something to the effect of "hey, at least the trolls buy comics". It was sort of an admission no one wanted to hear while this was going on. Like when Tom Brady is in court because he may or may not be tampering with the footballs you don't need Bill Simmons telling you "say what you will about him cheating, but all Tom Brady does is win Superbowls!"

Yes, comic books are a business but no one wants to hear that Marvel is in anyway catering to the worst of their fan base.

Twitter and comment sections were filled with guys like my man Ry here who thinks that comics aren't for everyone. If memory serves me correctly he follows this up with some tweets about how comics were made for the male gaze and should be filled with hot ladies, not ladies who are hot to rage against the patriarchy.


I mean if I had a nickel for every time I've read SJW this last week I'd have like 20 Nickels, because after about 20 times I bailed on reading more about this and just focused on Overwatch. I don't know what to do about people being shitheels to each other, I'm just some schlub on the internet that thinks there should be all kinds of comic books for all kinds or people. When I read a comic I don't like I don't @ the author. I might say on-line why I didn't like it but I'm not here to try and make people feel bad for their work. What do people gain from that? And why are people so insane when it comes to characters and comics they don't own? You don't own Thor. You don't write Thor. You don't get to decided if Thor is a man or a woman. If you don't like it don't buy it, if someone else is liking it and you're not it doesn't mean one of you is wrong. Two different people can like two different things without it meaning anything.

Maybe we should invent a time machine and go back and warn Al Gore not to invent the internet. Or maybe we can hurry up the deal that will sell the internet to the Chinese my dad was telling me about. I cringe thinking about how my kids are going to handle stuff like this. The first time some slobbery gatekeeper tells my daughter that comics are for boys I hope she punches him right in the neck. BOOM NECK PUNCH! Don't worry honey, I'll bail you out of jail if I have to.

Skylanders Imaginators: The Quick Review

So this last weekend I made a deal with my son. If he slept through the night we would celebrate his birthday on Sunday as opposed to later this Wednesday. He hadn't slept through the night in about 5 days. On tuesday he got up at 3:30am and on Saturday he got up at 4:30. I had to pick him up early from school twice because he had fallen asleep. I'm telling you, desperate time and desperate measures.

Long story shortish, he slept through the night so we went to Toys R Us Sunday morning to pick up the newest Skylanders game, Skylanders Imaginators. It is a very fun game, one of my favorite in the series. Every year Activision rolls out a new Skylanders game with a different gimmick and this might be my favorite so far. The "Imaginator" crystals you can buy (because of course you have to buy everything) allow you to create your own custom character, a pretty big departure for one of these "toys to life" games.

The custom character elements transform the game into a sort of Skyrim-light. You're able to create your own character, decide his fighting class and outfit him with a bunch of unlockable items. As you play the game and level up you get access to new items and abilities depending on your fighting class, there's even special armor sets you can find like Diablo. Sure there are still character you can buy, Sensei's that power up certain fighting classes but overall I feel like you get a lot of value with just the toys included in the box. Just to be on the safe side I bought an extra creator crystal so my son and I could each have our own custom character.

None of the puzzles are too difficult and most of the boss battles just involve avoiding a telegraphed attack and then mashing your buttons but considering this is a kids game I'm impressed with the amount of depth to the story and the amount of customization. It helps that you're rewarded with loot multiple times throughout a level, I'm a sucker for any sort of game that rewards you the more you play.

I used to feel like these Toys to Life games were a huge rip-off. Most starter packs for a new game are right around $75.00 but with most AAA titles costing $59.99 when they launch you're only talking about a $15.00 difference. In that context I'd say the Skylander games offer pretty good value. There's a lot of replay and if you really want to go whole hog and buy a boat load of toys you could put 100 hours into a single game no problem. I wasn't a huge fan of the last Skylanders game (it had a really poor racing gimmick) but heck, I'm already thinking of ways I can make my custom guy better and which new battle classes I want to try out. I swear if my kid beats this one without me I'm going to be torqued.

It's Pumpkin Dance Time!

Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days. I took a couple days off work while my wife was away on business and things went a bit off the rails. My son has decided sleeping is for jerks and is getting up 5 to 6 times a night. It's like having a newborn again. I am completely exhausted. I've had to pick him up early from school twice because he fell asleep. Who does that? Hopefully we get this figured out quickly, I hate the idea of having to take him to the doctor over a sleep issue.

Anyway, here's that guy from that TV station doing that dance. He's like the OG David S Pumpkins.

Cooking in the Forest: Best Carbonara Ever

Have you ever seen one of these Almazan Kitchen videos? I'm no foodie or chef or anything but these things are kind of amazing. In this one the guy makes Carbonara from skratch, including the noodles, while out camping at some lake. Last time I went camping we stayed in a cabin at a campground on the coast. We ate fried chicken and frozen pizza. Clearly I'm doing something wrong.

David S Pumpkins for President

This Haunted Elevator sketch from this weekend's SNL is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. This is like Waikiki Hockey levels of funny. Tom Hanks really is a national treasure. He's a great "actor" but would it kill him to throw us a comedy bone every couple years. Maybe a Joe Versus The Volcano 2?

I should also note that the last three Saturday Night Lives have all been really really good. Sure the election is helping, all the cold opens have been money but the rest of the show is really good too. I don't really know how they do in the ratings anymore but it's quickly become appointment watching for me. Meaning I watch it through Weekend Update and then go to bed.

Aw Yea!

First Look at the Nintendo Switch

It is no big secret here that I'm not a big fan of the current consoles. I wouldn't say I hate them or anything, I just don't have any need for them. Other than to play Red Dead Redemption 2 (shakes fist at the sky). There's nothing either the PS4 or the Xbox One do that I can't already do with my computer and frankly my computer does it better. Yes, it's frustrating when I miss out on a few exclusive games but I can wipe away my tears with Overwatch at 1080p and 60fps.

Now with all that being said, throw my logical reasons out the window and let me tell you all about how much I love my Nintendo Wii U. It has family friendly games that are exciting and challenging that you can't find on any other system. Games like Super Mario 3d World, Captain Toad's Adventure, or Pokken Tournament. There's even a few grown up games like Bayonetta 2 of Xenoblade that snuck in there for when the kids have gone to bed. I love the goofy ass controller with the touchscreen, you have no idea how much I play this thing without even turning on the TV or while letting my kids watch crap cartoons.

The only bad thing about the Wii U is that I got it for my Birthday this summer. So of course here's the new Nintendo hotness the Nintendo Switch. I think this thing is brilliant. Like I said before I play the Wii U with just the screen built in all the time but the range from the home base is only about 20 or 30 feet. With the Switch all the processing power is in the screen so you can take it anywhere you want. When you get back home, you pop the screen in it's base and you can use your regular controller or the weird ass hybrid controller the Switch comes with.

Now, while I believe this thing is a thousand times more innovative than either the Xbone or the PS$, a lot is going to be riding on just how easy that transition from portable to home machine is. Also that controller doesn't look like the most comfortable thing in the world and what about 3rd party support? 4K? DRM? A lot of the things "hardcore super gamers" complained about when the Xbox One had its first couple reveals absolutely apply to this thing.

Just a couple paragraphs ago I took an indirect shot at Sony and Microsoft because they can't keep up with my $200 video card, there's ZERO way this little piece of magic is able to keep up with it. Nintendo hit a huge homerun with the Wii by appealing to a market beyond the "traditional gamer" it will be interesting to see if they can replicate that same sort of success with the Switch. I imagine that a lot of mobile gamers will just stick with their phone, since it's easier to carry just one device. But if you regularly carry around a tablet which tablet would you rather carry around, the one that costs $600 just so you can play Candy Crush and browse the web or the one that lets you play Mario Kart 9?

Logan: Official Trailer

Lots of good movie trailers being released this week. Yesterday it was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and today it's Wolverine 3 Logan. There's not a ton to the trailer, although I'm sure there's a half dozen youtubers searching for easter eggs right now. It's mostly tonal in nature, showing you Wolverine and Professor X as old men. There's a guy with a robot hand, a little girl and Professor X says all the mutants are "gone".

Really they could have showed Hugh Jackman washing his car and as long as they set it to Hurt by Johnny Cash it would feel super dramatic and important. Man that's a great song. If I was ever going to be an MMA fighter, that's the song I'd come to the ring to.