#OpinionatedOctober - Extra Ordinary by Li Chen

October 3

Extra Ordinary by Li Chen
Webcomic
https://www.exocomics.com/

Honestly, I can't even remember how I stumbled across this webcomic a few months ago. But I've by and large given up on webcomics in general. I'm tired of how they take literal years to tell an hour worth of story sometimes, and how a lot of creators are only using their freedom from constraints in ways that make it harder to engage rather than to really push themselves creatively. But this comic immediately charmed me because it really does do a lot of fun and creative stuff because the writer doesn't have a ton of constraints (or seems not to). She's not trying to tell a specific story or be narrative in some particular way. She's not trying to do large arcs or chapters. She's just drawing incredibly charming pencil-shaded style art with a very distinctive look that is all her own, and being exactly as weird or nonsense as she wants to be. Her art is adorable, and she regularly does these large format, gorgeously colored pieces of art (I think once a month? I've not been paying attention). I binged through her entire archive a couple months ago, over 400 comics, in like two days. I highly recommend adding this one to your feed, if only to bring a smile to your face.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

I know, I'm very behind the times, but I only just got around to seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron last weekend. To be honest, absolutely none of the trailers or pre-release buzz really got me hyped, and then a bunch of stuff happened, so it took a while to get around to it. The short version of my feelings on the film were how I summed it up right after I left the theater. It's a mixed bag, but trending positive. There were a lot of things to like, a lot of scenes I enjoyed, and quite a few characters that I just love seeing no matter what (Hi, Captain America and anybody from his film series). I was surprised that I actually really enjoyed pretty much anything with Hawkeye in this film. Up until now, Clint has been kind of a non-character in the movies, but this time he got some valuable development.

I know some people probably disagree with my opinion here, but there's a particular spoiler-y development with Hawkeye that quite a few people hated and felt came out of nowhere, but I actually thought it was great. Could there have been more set up? Sure, if Hawkeye had really had any character at all in any of his previous appearances. Yeah, throw rotten fruit at me all you want, but he spent most of The Avengers mind controlled and then being angry about being mind controlled. That was about all you got. Instead this time we got a lot more out of him and I liked what we got. His sense of humor was really well done, and I liked it.

I know I'm probably a little biased, but I also really enjoyed all the bits with Steve. Captain America is clearly my favorite of all of them, so that's no surprise. I like his sense of leadership and responsibility and how he still is funny despite being very heartfelt. I don't know, he's just very much what I like in characters. He's what I always want Superman to be, very powerful, understanding the responsibilities that come with that power, but not breaking under the weight of it either. He's serious without being grave. And I think a lot of that comes from Chris Evans, who plays every moment with a lot of nuance.

But that leads me to one of my greater problems with the movie, is that there is a LOT of stuff there and a lot of it doesn't need to be there, or need to be as long as it is, because then they leave very good stuff on the floor instead of exploring it. Every character in this movie is shown their greatest fear, a vision that is meant to destablize them and make them unable to fight. Iron Man is shown all of his friends dead, Black Widow flashes back to her traumatic childhood, Thor sees himself as a destructive menace.

And Captain America finally sees VE Day, which he didn't get to experience the first time around. He's told he can go home, that the war is over, they are all finally done fighting. And Evans clearly shows us that this is just as tragic, and not just because he missed it the first time. It's because he knows it's not true, it's never true, they're never done fighting, and for him and his best friend and the love of his life, there was nothing real about going home.

How interesting is all that? I wanted to see it, at least hear Steve acknowledge it, something. But instead we get my major problem with the entire film, and something a lot of people are talking about, which is some sort of flailing attempt at romance between Bruce and Natasha.

I'll avoid the spoilers, but basically absolutely no scene about this particular pairing works. The characters have no chemistry on screen. I think both the actors were trying so hard to hit the beat that these are two broken people who aren't sure if they're worthy of a relationship that they didn't get anything else. There's no longing, no attraction, nothing. Natasha's relationship with Steve is so much more interesting and compelling in The Winter Soldier, so it makes this feel just clunky and terrible. I can see why the writers thought it worked on paper and wanted to try it, but they should have dropped it as soon as the first scene they shot wasn't working.

I'm not getting into the line/dialogue everybody is talking about right now and discussing if it's sexist or not. Listen, we can have all the debates we want about intention or context or whatever, but at the end of the day what's on the screen is all there is, and what's on the screen is a brick of a stupid scene that never should have happened, was framed poorly, and yes, came across as a very sexist moment and that I personally found more than a bit offensive even as I understood what they really were trying to do with it.

There are two action sequences that go on too long, but the final fight scene could have taken longer and I wouldn't have cared because it was well done. And the fight scene in Seoul was fantastic. Maybe it just took halfway through the movie before they started being more willing to kill their babies in the edit suite to cut down the fight to the important bits. Or maybe those two fights weren't necessarily chocked full of things that were there to sell toys to older comic book fans (I'm sorry the Hulkbuster was there because why? Sure, you could have it, but that fight was WAY too long for no reason besides OOH, HULKBUSTER). There are too many characters, and too many plot lines that aren't developed. There are too many moments, most of them centered on Iron Man, that are there just because "we need X to happen" and not because of something that felt really fleshed out and set up.

But in the end, I'm still thought it was generally good, I had fun watching it. I'd watch it again, but I wouldn't buy a second movie ticket for it.

Arrow: Season One

I admit, I really wasn't interested in watching Arrow when it first came on. Everybody was basically saying "it's like Smallville but for Green Arrow!" Well, I didn't really particularly love Smallville by the end of it, and I never got into Green Arrow except for his connection to Black Canary, who I loved because of Birds of Prey. So the show was about six weeks into it's run when a weird thing happened - my parents were watching an episode while I was home visiting and it was actually kind of good. I really wasn't expecting that. Lucky for me it was an episode that was mostly stand-alone, and didn't tie into the greater mythology too much.

But what this episode did do was set up Ollie and Diggle, and that was all it really took for me. I don't know that I can pinpoint what it was, but Diggle was immediately my favorite character. And Oliver, with his five years stranded on an island, had something going for him beyond "rich guy with Daddy issues." I mean, I love Batman but only Batman can get away with being Batman, everybody else should take a deep breath and find a new schtick in my opinion.

Anyway, so this random mid-season episode was good enough that I sat down and actually started watching. And while it never became a show that we actually made the time to watch when it aired, we kept up with it On Demand. Sometimes it could be really predictable and I would find myself rolling my eyes and saying "of COURSE." But sometimes it actually surprised me, and in a good way.

It's not a perfect show, there are some things they really need to fix. Thea is one. Io9's recaps like to harp on her brattiness and she deserves it. She is really bratty, and her character just does so many things that make no sense. Every time I think the writers are figuring her out she does something ridiculous and selfish and petulant and I just can't warm up to her as much as I want to.

And the love triangle of the first season really annoyed me because I hate love triangles more than almost anything else in all of fiction. But they didn't resolve that the way I expected them to, so kudos for that.

Also, Moira, Oliver's mother, ended up being more interesting and complex than I ever would have expected. Susanna Thompson does a really good job, and somehow manages to outshine John Barrowman in some of their scenes.

Overall, the show is just refreshingly different from a lot of what's going on with comic book adaptations these days, especially ones based on DC comics. It's realistic without having that "dark and gritty for the sake of being dark and gritty and cynical" feel to it. The characters are more complex than you expect, and let's face it they spend plenty of time recognizing that Stephen Amell is a good looking young man. Actually, in general the show spends more time focusing on the handsome men (because let's face it - David Ramsey is pretty nice too) than the women. It's one of the first times where I've seen something comic book based that actually seems rather evenly done towards both male and female fans. I mean, sure, Katie Cassidy is gorgeous, but she's not running around half naked on a regular basis and every time she's been in danger she's actually been a good fighter and taken care of herself quite well under the circumstances. Which makes sense if they get around to making her Black Canary in season two.

In general, the show is probably one of the best live action comic book adaptations to be on TV. It's got some cheesy moments, more than it's fair share really, but it still pulls it together through a focus on character and relationships. Who cares about how stupid the Vertigo storyline got, it was about Ollie dealing with his relationship with Thea in the end. I think it's worth watching, especially if you're like me and not too hung up on Green Arrow's actual canon (like anybody can keep up with comic book canon).

This is the highest praise I can give them: I actually wouldn't mind if they introduced Barbara Gordon sometime soon. I'd like to see what they did with it. Hopefully they'd go for her stint as Oracle, and she would geek out with Felicity and they would save Ollie from some bad guy he couldn't defeat on his own.

Quick Break: Selling Comics!

So, a quick break from the normal reviews because I need a simple webpage to steer people to with this information.

I'm selling off a comic collection that I bought years ago. I've been trying (and failing) to sell off the comics for about six years now so I'm really ready for them to be gone. I'm making a big effort this time to get them out of the house! In addition, I racked up about $1,000 in medical bills last month because of an emergency room visit, so I really need to get some extra money to deal with that.

To that end, I'm making a Google Docs spreadsheet with everything that's available. It has ordering information, shipping fees and everything listed there. I'll update once a day to make sure that it stays accurate with what is still available.

They're all priced fairly, most of them are $1 or less.

Here's a list of the titles I have for sale, so that you know to go look!

2010
2000 A.D. Showcase
2001: A Space Odyssey
A.R.M.
Alpha Flight
Alpha Flight Annual
Amazing Spider-Man Annual
Americomics
Amethyst Princess of Gemworld
Amy Papuda
Avengers
Avengers Spotlight
Axel Press Button
Batman - Judge Dredd Judgement on Gotham
Batman (in Portguese)
Batman and other DC Classics
Beauty and the Beast
Berni Wrightson Master of the Macabre
Blade Runner
Blue Ribbon Comics
Buffy Season 8
Captain Harlock
Captain Justice
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
Cardcaptor Sakura
Cat Claw
Champions
Code Name: Danger
Conan the Barbarian
Crimson Plague
Crux
D.P. 7 (New Universe)
Dakota North Investigations
Damage Control
Dare the Impossible
Daredevil
Darklon the Mystic
Deep Space Nine/Star Trek The Next Generation
Defenders
Destroyer: The Adventures of Remo And Chiun
Dirty Pair
Dirty Pair Book Three: A Plague of Angels
Dirty Pair II
DNAgents (The New)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange Sorcerer Supreme
Donald Duck
Dragonfly
Dreadstar
E-Man
Elektra Assassin
ElfQuest Kings of the Broken Wheel
Elric
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
Falcon (The)
Fallen Angels
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four Annual
Fantastic Four Versus the X-Men
Firestar
First (The)
Foolkiller
Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe Special Missions
Gargoyle (The)
Geobreeders
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider (1982)
Gunsmith Cats: Mister V
Havok & Wolverine Meltdown
Hercules: Prince of Power
Howard the Duck
Human Fly
Impossible Man Annual, The
Incredible Hulk
Indiana Jones (The Further Adventures of)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Interface
Iron Man
Judge Dredd
Justice (New Universe)
Justy
Kazar the Savage (1981)
Kickers Inc.
Kitty Pryde and Wolverine
Knights of Pendragon
Last One, The
Last Starfighter
Law of Dredd
Legion Lost
Legion Worlds
Lum (Urusei Yatsura)
Machine Man
Machine Man (1984)
Magik
Man-Thing, The
Marc Spector: Moon Knight
Mark Hazzard: Merc
Mars
Marvel Age
Marvel Comics Presents
Marvel Fanfare
Marvel Premiere Featuring Doctor Who
Marvel Saga
Marvel Super Action
Marvel Super-Heroes
Marvel Team-Up
Marvel Two-In-One
Master of Kung Fu
Masters of the Universe
Micronauts
Micronauts Annual
Micronauts The New Voyages
Mighty Thor, The
Moon Knight
Muppets Take Manhattan
Namor: The Sub-Mariner
Nemesis the Warlock
New Talent Showcase
New Warriors
Next Man
Nick Fury Agent of Shield
Nightmask (1986)
Ninja High School
No-Prize Book
Nomad
Nth Man
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Update '89
One, The
Power Man and Iron Fist
Power Pack
Prince Namor: The Sub-Mariner
Psi Force (1984)
Psi Force Annual
Psi Judge Anderson
Punisher War Journal
Punisher, The (1989)
PVP
Quasar (1989)
Questprobe (1985)
Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit's Tale
Record of Lodoss War: The Grey Witch
Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis
Robotech Defenders (1985)
Rocket Raccoon
Rom Spaceknight
Samurai
Savage She-Hulk
Secret Wars (Marvel Super-Heroes)
Secret Wars II
Sectaurs
Sensational She-Hulk
Shadow Lady
Shadowmen, The
Silver Sufer Annual (1989)
Sisterhood of Steel
Six from Sirius (1984)
Solarman
Solo Avengers starring Hawkeye (1987)
Spellbound
Spider-Man 2099
Spider-Woman
Spitfire and the Troubleshooters (1986)
Squadron Supreme (1985)
Star Brand (1986)
Star Brand Annual
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Wars
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Starjammers (X-Men Spotlight On)
Starriors
Starslayer
Strange Tales (1987)
Strikeforce Morituri
Strikeforce Morituri Electric Undertow
Super-Villain Team-Up
Superboy (The New Adventures of)
Sword of Solomon Kane
Swords of the Swashbucklers
Tales of the Teen Titans
Tarzan
Team America
Terminator, The
The Saga of Crystar Crystal Warrior
Thing, The
Time Bandits
US 1
V: The Visitors Are Our Friends
Vision and the Scarlet Witch
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
Warp
Warp Graphics Annual
Warriors of Plasm
Web of Spider-Man Annual
West Coast Avengers, The
What if...
What the...
Wild C.A.T.S.
Wild Cards
Wolfpack
Wolverine
X-Factor
X-Factor Annual
X-Files Annual
X-Files Digest
X-Files, Special Edition
X-Files, The
X-Force
X-Men
X-Men (Classic)
X-Men and Alpha Flight
X-Men and the Micronauts
X-Men Annual
X-Men Vs. The Avengers
X-Terminators