Sep 07 2008
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“It’s these constant attempts on Hitler’s life by time-travellers. You kind of have to wonder!“
Sep 06 2008
Dr. McNinja is a doctor that is also a ninja. More importantly, he’s the protagonist of an absolutely hilarious webcomic. This is what Real Ultimate Power would be if Robert Hamburger were a real comedian.
If you’re new to DMN, I recommend starting with series 2. For example, on page 21 a conniving pirate attempts to convince the Doctor that he can win his family’s respect by proving his medical skills are not worthless to a ninja.
Sep 05 2008
Inquiring minds will want to check out Marvel’s Secret Invasion.
I’ve never been a fan of the Skrulls, Marvel’s standard shape-shifting alien villains. Sort of like an Atlantean invasion, aliens feel so far removed from the standard Marvel setting that the effect is campy rather than sinister. It’s also extremely hard to write an interesting alien invasion plot. Marvel seems to be treating this plotline like it’s novel, but the concept of a secret alien invasion is pretty tired (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the second Wild Cards novel, Animorphs). “Benevolent” alien invasions aren’t much better (The Day The Earth Stood Still and maybe The Happening).
I found the ads for Secret Invasion above-average, but more because the slogan “Embrace Change” is vaguely threatening and sounds like it came from a US political campaign.
Aug 30 2008
I’ve revised the first edition of our webcomic. What do you think?
In case you’d like to see the old version of this comic, please look below the jump.
Aug 29 2008
No Heroics is a thoroughly British sit-com about 4 superheroes, with some PG-13 sexual humor.
This felt time-worn but likable. I appreciate that the superpowers are not meant to be laugh-lines. Absurdly useless superpowers are rarely funny.
Aug 23 2008
Picture taken from one of the Marvel Civil War comics. #1, I think.
Aug 22 2008
You can shake it like a Polaroid picture… but can you shake it like Batman?
Aug 21 2008
(This comic had a convoluted plot; Batman wore funky costumes to prevent anyone from noticing that Robin’s arm was in a cast).
Aug 19 2008
Historians that try to pack centuries of information into a single book often fail disastrously because they cannot give each event the length it deserves. Not surprisingly, Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the United States is a bit flitty, even at 750 pages. For example, the first eight chapters focus on…
Aug 13 2008
One of the tropes of superhero stories is that the superhero ties up the bad guys and leaves them for the police. This helps readers feel that Spiderman isn’t a vigilante trying to replace the police, he’s just helping them. But when the police find a criminal tied up somewhere, what do they charge him with? Unless they have enough evidence to make a case, the police have to release him. Here are a few ways you can use this to create dramatic situations…
1) The superhero comes across several criminals he tied up the day before. If this happened repeatedly, it may make him cynical about his work as a superhero.
2) Your hero blathers about how much he loves police officers (”they do all the things I do but without superpowers!”), but cops hate him because he never gives them anything they can use to secure a conviction. He never shows up to testify or deliver depositions. If the hero ever comes looking for leads, expect the police to give him the cold shoulder.
3) The police department gets sued because they’re complicit in the superhero’s abuse of the civil liberties of alleged criminals. Look at this from the perspective of a defense attorney or the ACLU. The police department gets easy arrests because Batman savagely beats confessions out of suspects. Batman regularly assaults criminals. Not only has the police department failed to arrest Batman or freeze his assets, but he sometimes meets with police officers in the station. If a defense attorney can’t convince a judge that’s police-sponsored brutality, he should be disbarred.
Aug 11 2008
This isn’t government-sponsored national service, but I think that twelve stitches and a hell of a lot of ass-kicking earn the tag.
A Tulsa newspaper reports that a Batman imposter walked into a grocery store and unsuccessfully tried to open fire. Then an airline mechanic tackled him from behind. Several minutes of unrelenting pounding ensued.
Aug 01 2008
A poster from Edmonton, my favorite Canadian city, notices that the new Wolverine trailer has Wolverine in an American military uniform. Assuming this isn’t just a Hollywood gaffe, Marvel is probably rewriting Wolverine as an American rather than a Canadian.
This isn’t as annoying as Superman’s motto getting changed to “truth, justice and the American way all that stuff” or the inseparably American GI Joe getting turned into international peacekeepers, but Canada still deserves better than this.