TheLadySpeaks

The Lady Speaks. . .Gambling Video Games Today OM and I heard a bit on NPR about casinos losing money because Gen X and Millennials don’t gamble like the Boomers did. In order to try and attract younger new blood to the casinos, a guy has developed Danger Arena, a skill based video game that offers 45 second FPS scenarios in which money is rewarded on a series of metrics. One play costs $5. Payouts range from $1 to $5000. I found an article from November 2016 on NJ.com that discusses what we heard on NPR. LINK To be fair, there is no data on what the average payout is or how often the game paysout. That kind of information could dramatically skew in favor of Danger Arcade. The game is clearly designed to capitalize on arcade nostalgia. The NPR segment discussed how the game is randomized. “First, through random bonuses - you know, cash prizes while you're playing - and second, by randomly assigning the game a level of difficulty. So each round of "Danger Arena" is played on what's called a map, which affects how hard it is to shoot the bots. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it's downright impossible.” (http://www.npr.org/2016/12/16/505811899/casinos-demographic-problem-how-to-replace-older-slot-players) NPR concludes that because Danger Arena pays out the same as a slot machine but it’s a FPS the game feels even more stacked against you than a typical slot machine does. In other words, a gambling video game could be a hard sell even to younger hardcore gamers. I'll discuss this down further. This triggered a conversation between OM and I that I hope to continue (he was dropping me off at work and we didn’t have a ton of time to discuss). I immediately dismissed the concept out of hand and OM wanted to know why. From a superficial perspective the graphics look cheesy as all get-out and resembles a typical gambling machine. The only noticeable difference is the hand held controller that is reminiscent of a console game. It’s an odd choice for a FPS when most arcade games have plastic guns for you to shoot with. I see this concept failing for one a few reasons—the lack of rewards, the lack of satisfaction, and the inability to improve your gameplay. Additionally, anyone who has been gaming since the 80’s is already familiar with the concept of the “computer won’t let me win.” Contemporary games seems to have remedied that somewhat with difficulty options and continuous tutorials but when one goes back to play an old NES game, the familiarity of being beat by the computer comes rushing back. Millenials are less familiar with this feeling because they didn't necessarily grow up on the brutality of NES and Atari 2600. Gen Xers know this frustration all too well and I know from personal experience it turned me off of a number of games. Add to that the knowledge that Danger Arcade is a gambling machine and already many gamers are going to be hesitant to play. A gamer needs to feel that there is a possibility of winning the game. When I teach my video game class I assign Jane McGongial’s Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Granted McGonigal is coming at video games from an incredibly optimistic viewpoint. She truly believes that if we were to incorporate more gaming aspects into our real lives we wouldn’t be so perpetually dissatisfied and bored. McGonigal lays out various ways video games improve our real lives in ways other than escapism. Video games offer us challenges we don’t get in our everyday lives, they offer us the ability to fail for fun and to improve our skills, they connect us with people when in our real lives we are often isolated and lonely, they provide us with intrinsic rewards that are more satisfying than extrinsic rewards (getting a badge or high score vs money for a job), and they allow us to problem solve in new and exciting ways. Video games trigger in us a feeling of fiero which is that excitement that causes you to pump your fist in the air and exclaim “Woo!” It’s a sense of accomplishment. Danger Arena doesn’t offer any of this. Because each game is randomized there is no opportunity for fun failure because there is no way to improve your skills. You can get a super easy screen followed by an exceptionally hard one followed by another hard one. And since the game is only 45 seconds long, you don’t have time to adapt and develop a new strategy. At $5 a game the only reward is extrinsic, if you are lucky enough to win money. Otherwise, you’re just spending. Yes, video games cost money. But the reality of a $60 game is that it’s a one-time purchase (DLC is another matter) and there’s potential for replaying that game. Plus a $60 game gives, on average, 20 hours a play time for a main storyline. That ends up being $3 an hour for gameplay. Some games, like Skyrim you can play forever as side quests continually generate. You can control the difficulty level in many games which means you can start on easy, defeat the game, and then replay it on more difficult settings. Most games encourage completionists with Easter eggs, hidden quests, fetch quests, etc. None of that is present in Danger Arena. The only motivation is the possibility of winning money and winning money isn’t why people play video games (despite the rise in e-sports, the allure of gaming still comes down to beating the game or beating your competitor). I suspect that even online poker fiends wouldn’t be attracted to Danger Arena. Danger Arena misleads with its claim that it’s a “skill based” gambling machine. There is no skill involved. The randomized maps remove any possibility of skill development. It's true that slots aren't skill based. They also don't advertise as being skill based. But by adding the gaming component Danger Arena raises the stress level by making you think that what you do matters to the end result. Slots don't do this. They are low stress. I have a hard time seeing why someone would want to play a more stressful version of video slots. Especially since video slots now have movie clips and stuff for you to watch. Danger Arena is 45 seconds of potential sucking that you paid $5 for. If you spend $60 on Danger Arena, you’ve bought 12 games at 45 seconds each. That’s less than 12 minutes of gameplay in a game that doesn’t allow for improvement, doesn’t allow for success, and doesn’t allow you to control difficulty. No savvy gamer is going to go in on that. Even hardcore perma death gamers aren’t going to be interested in spending that kind of money for so little reward. For people who would be attracted to slot games Danger Arena will seem too demanding and too complicated. It will be intimidating to many, including casual gamers. For hardcore games it will appear cheesy and not fun because you can't improve. For those who gamble online, this isn't going to get them into a casino. Now, I could be wrong. Maybe this will take off like gangbusters, but in my experience when someone designs something like this with young people specifically in mind it tends to fail. First, due to cynicism and skepticism on the part of many young people. They know when they're being marketed to and they don't appreciate it. Two, for not fulfilling either of its promises well enough. If you're going to call it a skill based gambling game then let there be a skill element to it. In the end I just don’t think this is going to be attractive to many. Plus, the promise of just one gambling video game isn’t going to be enough to get people under 45 into a casino. Perhaps if they did tournament style events, but then that would be infringing on e-sport territory. I don't like gambling (except for betting on horses) and I don't like casinos. I do enjoy gaming. This is not enough of an attraction to get me to a casino. ETA: For clarification about skill and fun failing. Currently I'm playing Shadow of Mordor because it's a delightful button masher with a hint of stealth. Plus, it's the type of game you can hop in and out of with ease. It doesn't require marathon sessions. Anyway, when I die in Mordor all the Uruk Captains I've been chasing go up a level. Then they may get promoted or they may win a duel and go up a second level. This means they get harder to beat. But it also means that I can adapt my strategy, learn from my previous errors, and when I take down one of the suckers I did it on my own. The computer didn't do it for me. If I am playing Danger Arena I may win money on a super easy screen. If I win on one screen, I'm tempted to roll my money over and try again. But this time, the screen is nearly impossible and I lose money plus now I'm doubting whether I earned the original money in the first place. While winning money may feel good, it's not a satisfying victory because on some level I know the computer aided me. Just like if I were to play Danger Arena on a super hard level and it takes 6 shots to bring down a robot as opposed to 1 on the easier level or that the target area is 6 times as small as it was on a different screen, I know it's the computer doing the heavy lifting. That's not satisfying, that's frustrating and what's worse is that I cannot improve because the game won't let me.

OM and The Lady Speaks. . . A Lovely Weekend [OM] This last weekend was a glorious 3-day weekend filled with quiet, calm hobbying. FRI I was off work and the lady had a solid 5-hour block of teaching, so I spread out of my closet storage and into the living room. I watched movies all day FRI, including some Fung Fu Panda and O Brother Where Art Thou, and generally organize the collection. As I was organizing, I was doing so with an eye toward downsizing and began pulling out stacks of books, comics, Atari video games, and DVDs. I had in mind another run to Half Price Books and figured if I could net $100 with a salted pile of junk I would be happy. Also, the Burnham Bowl comic shop was SUN, and I figured if I went through the effort of setting up at the show and netted $100 for my efforts I would be happy. In the end, we netted $92 after about 35min waiting at Half Price SUN and were happy to have earned a comic shopping spree and cheeseburgers. [TLS] I did my part and added a number of science fiction books (hardcover and softcover), about 8 PS games (2,3, & 4), DVD’s (Simpson’s mostly), and graphic novels (Preacher and Dresden Files were the highlights). I spent 0$ at Half Price which is a huge accomplishment for me. [OM] After Half Price, we hit Burnham Bowl for a quick pick, and just the act of purging some items impacted both of our shopping (we each had a $20 budget after the $2 entry). The lady was done after about 5 minutes and circled back to the bar to get the burgers working. The place was full, with both full dealer’s tables and good attendance throughout. Picking was good, and my first stop was John Hauser’s booth (packed cheek-to-cheek) where I saw a few guys oogling a pair of ASM 129 and IH 181 for which someone had just paid $1000. I wandered through slowly, touching base with a few dealers here are there and picking where I could. After a while, I slipped back out to the bar to touch base with the lady and enjoy lunch. [TLS] At Burnham I made one trip through and when one of the vendors tried to talk to me I noped out of there and went straight to the bar for a burger and a Mountain Dew. Somedays I just don’t want to make small talk at a show. This was one of those times. Me, when someone tries to talk to me at a show and all I wanna do is look at stuff and not be talked to. [OM] After lunch, I went back in for one last turn through the room, with my talked-up goal of using the Half Price Books monies to buy one nice X-Men book. I found the same dealer where I bought X-Men #9 & 12 from last show and set myself to digging for another nice book. He (DVD) was in the middle of a deal that fell apart for an X-Men #14 1st Sentinels. I waited for the deal to be done and scooped up the following book for $80: [TLS] I am pleased with this purchase. It's a good use of communal monies made through the sacrifice of hobby goods. [OM] After that, we went to Lost World of Wonders, as I was looking for some oversized card holders for a 1977 Star Wars ad pak sticker set I uncovered in my digging. The lady is also looking for Munchkin comics with the card still attached, and ended up pulling MANY bundles of Grendel comics totaling close to $100. I also found a nice copy of Spawn #244 ($4), and now have just 8 issues to go in order to be current on Spawn. [TLS] I had jokingly told OM that we could easily spend that Half Price money at Lost World and I was right. I’m the target audience for those pre-packaged bundles that comic book dealers put together. Slap a mini series in a bag with a board and a price of about $7 and I’ll buy it. And that’s what happened with the Grendels. I picked up Behold the Devil, War Child, Devil in Our Midst, and a few others. This knocked a few titles off my want list. Yes, I have them in various forms but now I have the individual issues. The first academic article I ever published was on Grendel and I have never been able to fully quit the series since then. Plus I was able to score three more Munchkin with cards which leaves only 1,2, and 8 on my list. I'm not sure why I feel the need to recollect issues 1-12 except that the series is ending in a few issues and part of me thinks the cards will make 1-12 worth more. "More" being a relative term, I acknowledge. [OM] All in all, a lovely weekend where I downsized some items I will not miss into a new Silver Age X-Men comic. And while my collection still needs work, it is small victories like this that keep me positive heading into 2017. [TLS] The bin we freed up in the Half Price purging is now going to work in my closet. I was able to unload several PS2, PS3, and PS4 games that were taking up space and in reality were never going to get played again (X-Men Wolverine, Star Wars Battlefront II, Arkham Knight are just a few examples). I was also able to narrow down my graphic novels. My goal with my books, graphic novels, and video games is simple. I want to keep only those that I still enjoy reading and rereading (the rereading is key) OR that will provide good material for my scholarship. If a book does neither, then it is gone.

The Lady Speaks. . .November Video Game Roundup I’m not going to get political, but I must say that the election results threw me for a loop. As a result, I’ve been finding myself seeking escapist activities more than usual. So despite my best intentions of not buying Dishonored 2 right out of the gate, I bought Dishonored 2 about a week and a half ago. Being an Amazon Prime member gave me a 12% discount off the standard price, so I feel good about that. I thoroughly enjoyed the original game and have been looking forward to the second installment since it was announced earlier this year. Dishonored’s artwork is inspired by Christo and Jeanne-Claude (most famous for the giant yellow umbrella installation they did along a California highway in the 1990’s), Sergey Kolesov, and the aesthetic of Steampunk. This combination created a dark and gritty FPS. In Dishonored, you play as Corvo Attano a man who has been framed as the murderer of the Empress of the Isles (and mother of his child, the Princess Emily). Your goal is to uncover the plot and handle the conspirators. Dishonored allows for multiple ways to play the way, but it essentially boils down to either a stealthy/humane approach or a violent/chaotic approach. The world adapts to the choices you make and plot vital characters respond to you accordingly. You are equipped with magic and with a variety of weapons. Ultimately the goal is to play as stealthy as possible. I played it through twice—the first time was violent as heck as I learned the game, the second was stealthier but by no means bloodless. Dishonored 2 picks up years after the events of Dishonored. Some of you may remember that I’m also collecting the comic book which fills in the gaps between the two games. Emily is on the throne. Corvo is her bodyguard. On the anniversary of her mother’s death, a woman claiming to be Emily’s aunt named Delilah arrives and immediately imprisons Emily or Corvo. Delilah is a character from the original game’s DLC The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches. (I admit that the politics of this game, an evil tyrant taking over control of a country and imprisoning/killing dissidents, artists, etc seems a bit on the nose as of late). Dishonored 2 gives you the option of playing as either Emily or Corvo. Unlike the first game which took place in the city of Dunwall, Dishonored 2 moves you around the Empire of the Isles. The world is more adaptive to your actions than in the original game and there seems to be even more pressure to not go the violent/chaotic route. Unfortunately, on my first playthrough (which I’m about 6 hours into), I cannot seem to master the stealth and my world is full-on chaotic. I’ve already killed at least one major character, Paolo. I know that there are only two endings, despite the claims that you can play as you want and there are multiple paths. You either are low chaos and the ending is good, or you're high chaos and wind up with a tyrant dictator on the throne. I know how my game is going to end unless I figure out some stealth quickly. It's also very hard to reduce chaos once you get to the point of having high chaos, but it's very easy to go from low to high. The artwork of Dishonored 2 is gorgeous. The steampunk aspects have been ramped up with the addition of clockwork soldiers. The works of Agustin Casasola, Victorian postcards, and eschews the photorealism of other popular FPS such as Call of Duty. It helps that the same artistic creative team remained in place. The attention to detail throughout the game is simply amazing. From the condemned due to Blood Fly barriers, the canceled concert posters, the propaganda posters, the litter blowing in the streets, and the various accoutrements of the citizens’ houses the game is absolutely stunning. I think I play so violent just so I can explore without worry. Look at this whaling scene! Details! Despite how fun the game is and the gorgeous immersive world, there is something missing from Dishonored 2. I can’t put my finger on it, but the game lacks a bit of the soul that the first game had. That’s not to say that is a simple retreading with a new plot because it’s not. Maybe it’s because the game doesn’t want you to take it as serious so it’s ramped up the gore and bizarre situations. Maybe the steampunk elements seem superficial due to steampunk’s proliferation of popular culture. Maybe it’s the new gear, magic abilities, and metrics that they put into play. Like I said, I can’t quite put my finger on what’s different. I’m still enjoying it and I have no major complaints. The other game I picked up is Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. I found this one at Mega Media Exchange for $10. I was eyeing No Man’s Sky but I’m waiting for it to hit the $10 mark. Currently it’s selling for $20. Om encouraged me to buy Mordor since I’m a huge Dragon Age fan and don’t have a good fantasy slasher to play at the moment. Plus, I know the lore well enough having read the books and seen the movies. It’s a perfect blend of escapist fantasy and button mashing. You are Tallon, a Ranger who has been killed by the Black Hand of Sauron and you are “banned from death” which makes you someone who lives in the shadows. (The intro to this game is one of the most pointless I’ve experienced yet). You are assisted by someone known as The Wraith who appears to be Elvish. The goal of the game is to get to the Black Hand of Sauron and kill him. You do this by taking down Uruk captains. The game a straightforward slash and dash except that it has some annoying RPG aspects. You can level up abilities, add runes to weapons, and there are a ton of little side things you can do (such as gathering plants which help your health and give you power points, the mechanism by which you level up). I don’t like that the ranged weapon aspect is so limited. Also the map of goals and such isn’t very clear at first. Plus there’s a bunch of Wraith things you have to do like find forges to open up new parts of the map. I think the most frustrating part of the game right now is the Uruk captains. If one kills you, it immediately goes up a level but then another unknown captain can challenge it to a duel and one of the dies and a new unknown falls into place (because you only learn about them through fighting them or if you interrogate another Uruk). I’m still learning since I’ve only put in about 90 minutes at this part. This game is brutal in the sense that you kill indiscriminately and with relish. You know, a typical button masher in many regards. As has become the norm, the text on the screen that tells you what’s going on is rather small (larger than Dragon Age, but not as large as Dishonored 2) and it’s a game that’s constantly telling you things, some of which you already know but then random new information pops up. I know that I as I play more, this will irritate me less. After all, I forgive that sort of nonsense in games like Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age. It’s just so different from Dishonored 2 that the adjustment takes a bit longer. Overall I’m enjoying Mordor because it’s a button masher with a dash of stealth. The graphics are good but it’s a bit glitchy. As long as those glitches work in my favor (such as Uruk’s walking into walls and never turning around or falling into the ground and getting trapped), I’m happy. ETA: The voice actor for The Wraith is the same as the Cheshire Cat from the American McGee Alice games, so that's pretty cool. Also, I learned that you can play as woman. ETA: Mordor is the first game to use the speakers in the controller which is super neat.

The Lady Speaks. . .November 2nd Pulls I’m doing the Wednesday pulls this week because OM didn’t have a single book, whereas I had four. Three are subscriptions and the fourth was a random purchase for reasons I’ll explain later. This week’s haul. So, there’s not much to say about Lady Mechanika, Dishonored, or Faith. I’m enjoying them for the most part. Dishonored just makes me want the new game so badly, but that could also be due to the brilliant live-action commercials they’ve been airing. Faith is interesting because the main story is actually very short in the issue and that would frustrate me, but they then include two shorter stories to further flesh out Faith in other contexts. (As you can tell from the cover, one of those shorter stories involves Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. I guess it’s Valiant’s way of endorsing one candidate over the other). The one I want to talk about is Lost Boys. I grew up on this movie. It came out when I was ten and I’ve probably watched it a thousand times in my life. Only Beetlejuice, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Heathers, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Mothra vs Godzilla (1964) come close on the rewatch list. The Lost Boys was a formative movie for me. Not only did it have sexy vampires (Jason Patric and Keifer Sutherland) and awesome jokes, it had the two Corey’s. Now, anyone who grew up in the 80’s knows that the two Corey’s were catnip for almost every tween/teen girl. And this was their first appearance together! The movie just screams late 80’s goth signaling the transition to early 90’s grunge. The comic picks up after the events of the movie. Skye and Michael are dating. Michael is working at an old folks' home. Sam is running the comic book store. Their mom is still working at the video store. The Frog brothers (Edgar and Alan) are training with Sam’s grandfather to become members of the Santa Clara Vampire Hunter Union. Most of the first issue is setting up where the characters are now and seems to be focusing on Michael and Skye’s odd relationship. It’s been a while since any vampires have been seen in Santa Clara, but of course that changes by the end of the issue when the SCVHU is slaughtered (save Sam and Michael’s grandfather, naturally) by a new pack of vampires (presumably led by David or at least a David doppleganger since the original died at the end of the movie). There were two covers to choose from. The first hearkens back to the original movie poster while highlighting that there is a new generation (of mostly female) vampires. I'm not sure who the guy in the sunglasses is on the issue cover. It's supposed to be reminiscent of Michael, but Michael is no longer a vampire as it stood at the end of the movie. The second cover, however, was the one I chose. It was absolutely essential that I get the second cover. Why did I need this cover? Well, the strangely oily saxophone player from the Boardwalk was the scariest character in the movie for me. From the overly buffed body to his disturbingly small head, this guy terrified me the first time I saw the movie. And as many things from my childhood, he’s become a meme. I was convinced he was going to be the head of the vampire crew. In my mind there was no other path for this particularly greasy musician. I was disappointed that he was just a saxophone guy in the end. Do I plan on collecting this title? No. Is it a good story? Sure. There's a lot of potential here. Did I have to have this cover? Yes. Kudos to them for making a cover of one of the most identifiable background characters in modern cinematic history.

The Lady Speaks. . .Halloween Choices Today while sipping on tea I read an article on io9 in which a father enumerates the many reasons why his daughter (8 years old) and other young girls shouldn't dress as Harley. I've gone on at length with my own reservation about this costume for young women/girls. Really, the father was saying nothing new: Harely's complicated backstory as the abuse victim of the Joker combined with the scantily clad Suicide Squad movie Harley makes for a hyper-sexualized costume which makes us as adults uncomfortable, especially when the wearer is a pre-teen or teenager. It’s a little weird, it’s okay to admit. It's an interesting thing to consider. No one looks at a Wonder Woman costume and thinks “That girl’s dressed like a slut!” Nor any number of superheroines and villains who wear cat suits (Cat Woman, Black Widow, any one of the women X-Men) and even notoriously fetishized anime characters such as Sailor Moon are acceptable. But not Harley. Where things grew interesting was in the comments section of the article. First off, many people pointed out that DC Superhero Girls version of Harley is a Harley divorced from the Joker backstory and that she is popular with young girls via the cartoon. This is a really cute and appropriate Harley, to be sure. The DC Superhero Girls costume was quickly discounted when people pointed out the sheer number of Hot Topic Suicide Squad Harleys that trick-or-treated this year. The second argument, and one that is more compelling, centers around this concept: Why is it okay for kids to dress up as Wolverine, Deadpool, Darth Vader, Batman, and Iron Man (just to name a few) but not Harley? Each of the male characters have terrible backstories and have perpetuated heinously violent acts, not to mention engaged in dubious sexual exploits over their vast histories. • Wolverine doesn't need much explanation, dude's a killer and half mad. • Deadpool keeps Blind Al as a slave woman and punishes her by putting into The Box while also being a foul-mouthed mass murderer. Also, not a hero. Not really. Funny, but not a hero. Seriously, look at this guy trying to take down Han Solo (the ultimate bad boy/good guy)! • Darth Vader was taken from his slave mom and trained as a Jedi and when he can't have what he wants, he slaughters a bunch of kids. • Batman, like Wolverine, not much to say--he's a super rich guy who lives in a constant state of PTSD due to the tragic murder of his parents (and he's inadvertently killed more than a few sidekicks along the way). • Iron Man is an ego-maniacal, alcoholic, chronic womanizing, arms dealer. Let’s also address the Joker. Without him, there would be Harley. Who knows how high his death count is? Also, we don’t know much about his backstory. We do know that he survived just fine without Harley for close to 80 years. Then when he had her, he beat the out of her and mentally abused her for fun. Yet, no one complains about their kid dressing as him. That’s just a few of the superheroes/villains and their potential ethical issues. The question remains: why is it okay to be one type of super hero (violent) versus another kind (sexual)? Would there be outrage if boys were dressing as Suicide Squad Harley? The answer is simply: no. Violence is not something to be concerned about (although the guy in Texas who dressed as Freddie Krueger and then shot up a house party might change that rhetoric somewhat). This is one American double standard at its finest. Violence is not just acceptable, but applauded. We indulge in the fantasy of violence. When it comes to sexy, however, the -script flips. And you are especially not supposed to be sexy and violent. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the sexy/slutty Halloween costume trend as much as anyone. I hate it because it’s not creative and lazy, not because I’m afraid of or threatened by women expressing their sexuality. Sexy Harambe is neither sexy nor funny. It’s also not clever. By obsessing over Harley’s stripper clown appearance, we’re teaching kids that it’s not okay to be comfortable with your body, with who you are. More importantly, we teach girls specifically that they should be ashamed of not only their bodies but their favorite characters, as well. The Joker is okay for Halloween, but Harley isn’t. Shouldn’t the Joker be off-limits as an abusive murderer? Essentially, we’re gaslighting Harley. We’re saying it’s her fault the Joker does the things he does because she should know better but then again, her origin is so explicitly tied to the Joker that when she does “escape” him, she becomes one dimensional. I don’t know if there’s a good solution to the Harley problem. I know I’m not entirely comfortable with young girls dressing like the Suicide Squad version of her (or even the Amanda Connor version in the comics) simply because I’ve been trained to think that it’s endangering to young girls to be sexualized like that. Ultimately, I found my mind changed by the end of the comments section article. I think I’m now in the camp of “Kids dress like Harley because they think it looks cool, not because of her story.” It’s the same reason kids choose any costume. And to be fair, a lot of the young girls dressing as Harley didn’t have bare midriffs or booty shorts or high heels. Many wore long-sleeved shirts, skirts or leggings, and sneakers. Take away the creepy backstory and this costume doesn't seem offensive or wrong. The problem isn’t with the kids who want to dress as their favorite super heroes or villains, the problem is with the adults who can’t stop sexualizing or obsessing over the subtext of a costume. A kid wants to dress like the Hulk because he likes the Hulk he’s seen in a cartoon, not because Bruce Banner is a metaphor for intellectual malaise and unbridled rage. In the same way, a girl wants to dress like Harley because she looks neat, sounds funny, and carries a bat (or a mallet). The girl doesn’t care about whether the Joker loves Harley or if Harley is insane, she just wants to bonk people on the head and laugh. The massive proliferation of Geek Culture into the mainstream has resulted in this sort of constant vigilance about the "truth" of characters we love, be it in movies, video games, television, or cosplay. Perhaps it's time for we geeks to step back and try to remember what it was like when you simply liked a character without needing 70 years of history to get the context.

The Lady Speaks. . .Grappling with Graphic Novels This post was inspired by something Om said this morning “I just finished the last of The Massive graphic novels. I can’t remember a time when I’ve consumed 30 issues of something.” To be fair, Om had jury duty Monday and Tuesday and had the time to sit down and read for large blocks of time. I read graphic novels more than Om does. He likes the issue-by-issue comic consumption whereas I’m impatient and want to read an entire story in one chunk. So for him to read not just one, but five graphic novels in a short time period is quite unique. This got us to thinking about graphic novels and the cost versus individual issues. And always running under the surface is the discussion about collectability. I don’t buy graphic novels or trade paperbacks or omnibuses with an eye toward future value. I buy them because I want the story in one chunk, I’m doing research, or I missed out on the beginning of the comic run and don’t want to go back for back issues. As I’ve said before, storage is becoming a concern for me. My closet is filling up with short boxes of my current runs and my shelves are overflowing with both regular books and graphic novels. My office at work is in similar dire straits except add to that journals because that’s where I keep them. When it comes to storage, graphic novels don’t really help because they are mostly book-sized. I do, however, find it easier to part with graphic novels than either my regular books or my individual comic books. I think it’s due in part to the fact that I didn’t have to collect them, I often don’t pay full price for them, and I know someone will pick them up later (either at Goodwill or Half Price Books or Om’s table at a Burnham show). Cost is another interesting sticking point. This morning I looked at four graphic novels that were on my nightstand. The first, The Wicked + The Divine volume 1, had a cover price of 9.99 and comes in at 144 pages (collects issues 1-5 of the ongoing Image comic). Second was The Massive volume 1 and its cover price is 19.99 for the 176 pages (collects issues 1-6 of the ongoing Dark Horse title). The third graphic novel is American Born Chinese. Its cover price is 10.99 and it was published as a book under the MacMillan imprint Square Fish. Finally, there was Grendel Omnibus 3. This behemoth was 24.99 and weighs in at a whopping 560 pages (collects Dark Horse’s Grendel: Incubation Years, Grendel: God and the Devil, and Grendel: Devil's Reign). What strikes me is the huge variety in pricing. All of the graphic novels are full color. All are soft cover. The Wicked and The Divine has a per issue price of 3.99. The Massive costs 3.50 an issue. And Grendel had a cover price from 1.50-2.50 under the Comico imprint to 2.50 an issue in the later Dark Horse runs (reprints run as high as 4.99). (Admittedly, Grendel is a confusing title to try and price out because the runs were sporadic and there have been numerous reprints and rebrandings of the title). Doing simple math one can see that buying the collected versions of the comics does save money overall. The Wicked + the Divine TPB saves you almost 50% over the issue cover price. The Massive doesn’t save you much, only about $2 over buying the individual issues. Grendel’s value isn’t so much in the cover prices as it is in having the collected stories in chronological order, something that trying to chase down the separate issues can’t readily offer. The Sandman is one title of which I have a complete run and I also own the TPBs. Usually I do one or the other, but I so adore The Sandman that I have both. The Sandman’s cover price was $1.95 for issues 1-68, then it was $2.50 until issue 74 and final 75th issue had a unique price of $3.95. There are 10 TPB in the Sandman Library (just one of the many re-packaged versions they’ve churned out for the past decade). The TPB’s collect anywhere from 5-13 issues per volume (the average falls at 7 issues per book). My TPB’s have a consistent cover price of $19.99 per book. Clearly, if you’re paying $19.99 for a paltry 5 issues of a book that had a cover price of under $2, that’s not a deal. But again, like Grendel, the value is in having the stories at the ready for any time I want to read them. Truly, I buy most of my graphic novels at cons where I pay $5-$10 a book. No matter the cover price, that's a great deal. If I can't live without a title, I'll buy it on Amazon or wait for sales on Mile High Comics. Lost World of Wonders has a great 50% section that I use to fill out my X-Men Essentials. One thing that is continually frustrating about graphic novels/TPB is that there is no standard pagination. When trying to write an article about iZombie I was endlessly frustrated at the lack of page numbers. And while the graphic novels included the covers, they didn't include the issue number. This made citing them incredibly difficult. On the other hand, Grendel has continuous pagination that has nothing to do with the issues' page numbers but doesn't include issue covers. The Massive has no pagination and doesn't have issue covers. I suppose it's too much to ask for, but some consistency would be nice. Some of us use graphic novels as sources because we either can't get the original issues or because we don't want to damage the original issues. Graphic novels have been great for me keeping up on titles such as Nightmares & Fairytales and iZombie. They also have allowed me to enjoy titles such as Hopeless Savages (a book I bought on a lark). The best thing is that the graphic novels guarantee me the ability to read and re-read favorite titles such as Strangers in Paradise, The Sandman, and Gloomcookie (the last one I started collecting issues but we moved and I fell out of collection so the graphic novels have been wonderful). For a long time I thought that was going to be the sole way I consumed comics, but moving close to a LCS has altered that plan. Still, I need to find a balance between my graphic novels and my individual issues. Space-wise I can't keep going on with both.

The Lady Speaks. . .Thoughts on Print Runs All print run data comes from Comichron. I've been struggling with the number of moderns I've been pulling as of late, so I thought I'd look up print runs to see if that would help clarify a path forward. Spoiler alert: it didn't, but it was a fun diversion when I should have been grading freshmen college essays so there's that. I started with the book that is giving me the most consternation and that is Jem and the Holograms (IDW). As I've said plenty of times before, the art is amazing and it's a cute story, but I'm losing interest. Let's look at the data: Jem 1 debuted in March 2015 with a run of 29,015. The most recent data available on Comichron is for August 2016 and that is Jem 18 with a print run of 7972. That's huge drop-off, but not unusual. Miscellaneous facts: Jem 17 had a run of 9,113 which is an uptick from previous months (which hover between high 7K, low 8K), most likely due to the introduction of The Stingers, a new Misfits-esque band. Really, Jem is still going strong and it's not a scarce title by any stretch. The popularity of the title has to be more than just nostalgia. It appears that Jem has hooked new readers and is holding steady. Right now, I'm still thinking drop. Otherwise the game becomes trying to figure out which alternative covers are going to be more popular long term. Next up: Tank Girl. Now this only concerns Tank Girl: 2 Girls 1 Tank. Tank Girl Two Girls One Tank 1 in May 2016 had an initial run of 14,318. As one would expect the numbers drop off with each subsequent issue but it never bottoms out. As a matter of fact Tank Girl holds steady with Jem's monthly averages: Tank Girl: TGOT 2 (June 2016) 8,544; TGOT 3 (Aug 2016) 7996, and TGOT 4 (Aug 2016) 7337. The thing is, I love Tank Girl. I also only sporadically collect her depending on who is doing the art. As a result, I don't really care if this title doesn't accrue in value (which I don't think it will). It's fun. Munchkin. I have no plans to drop this title. As a matter of fact, I'm somewhat scared that it'll be canceled soon based on the data. Munchkin is my oldest current title. It dropped in January of 2015 with a first run of 16,234. Not bad for a comic based on a table top game (which is, in its own right is an empire). The last time Munchkin shows up in Comichron's records is January 2016 with a run of 3,735, which means it's dropped below the issue threshold of approximately 2700. Keep in mind, however, that Munchkin's first 13 issues included free cards that can be used in the game. That ended around January of this year, so without the incentive of free cards, it appears Munchkin's readers have gone elsewhere. It's possible that these low print runs in higher numbered issues may make them slightly more valuable down the line. Or they end up in $.50 boxes at Burnham Bowl (and selling for $25 on Mile High). Faith. Faith is only 3 issues into its run and it's doing well. Data exists for issues 1 and 2 (July and August 2016). Issue 1 had an initial run of 22,386. Issue 2 saw that number almost halved to 10,588. I doubt it continues to drop at that clip, however, and I think it's good enough now to keep collecting. Now for Assassin's Creed. As I posted earlier, AC will be rolling the flagship title into Templars and start over at 1 as Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed started in October of 2015 and moved 21,453 issues. Not bad, but a lower run that I would have expected for a comic based on such a popular video game. As expected, the runs drop off but it's a greater drop off than Jem. By Assassin's Creed 10 (July 2016) the title was moving only 3,706 copies. As of August 2016, AC doesn't even make it on the list joining Munchkin in the low, low run club. AC: Templars isn't faring any better. The only issue from that title to make it onto the Comichron list is issue 1 (March 2016) and it had a modest run of 5,642. AC: Locus is too recent to even be counted yet. The question is: Will rolling AC and Templars into one title be enough to save the title? Dishonored, which is on issue 3, has never appeared on Comichron's list. This raises an additional question: Is survival of video game comics tied to print runs or are these designed for hard core fans and collectors? My instinct is to keep on with both the AC titles and Dishonored, not just because I enjoy them, but because there may very well be a strong secondary market for these titles that crosses collecting interests.

The Lady Speaks. . .Recent Pulls and the Eternal Struggle I already discussed Assassin’s Creed in my last post so I won’t go back over that now. But despite my protestations that I want to cut back on my modern books, I find myself pulling more and more. Faith: I do still enjoy this title. It’s enjoyable, but I do see a point in the future where I lose interest. The second issue was a typical second issue and it tries to do too much, probably. The third issue is set at a con and while con issues are always fun, it seems super early in the run to go to that well. Jem: Still on the fence about this one. Now they’re introducing a new Misfits title that might be more interesting to me, but I’m not sure just yet. Batman Beyond Rebirth or Rebirth Batman Beyond: Okay so I don’t really know which title is the correct title, but I’m pretty excited for this one. I collected Batman Beyond way back when the first 10 issue series came out and then fell out of collecting altogether. The cartoon is one of my all-time favorites and this version of Bats is easily my preferred. The cover art caught my eye. It’s graphically arresting. The story is good. It’s an updated version of the McGinnis’ origin in the animated series. One change is that his mom is dead, killed in the war (since I haven’t been reading the 52 version I have no idea what that means). Most of the familiar faces are there including Matt (his little brother), Max (his best friend), and he talks about his old girlfriend, Dana. Another new twist is that his dad died the first night he wore the stolen Bat armor. Tank Girl Gold: I don’t remember wanting this title but now I’m so glad I picked it up. Despite the name change Gold picks up where 2 Girls 1 Tank left off. I had to go to Lost World to pick up the second cover since it’s a nod to two classic Tank Girl images. Lady Mechanika: La Dama de la Muerte: I simply wanted this one for the art. It’s gorgeous. So gorgeous in fact that I needed two covers. The story is also good. Lady Mechanika is a title I’ve long been interested in and have picked up a few odd issues via free comic book day and $1 reprints. Burnham Bowl Pickups: My TPB addiction continues unabated. I found a dealer selling 5 graphic novels for $20 so I had to indulge. Ignore Robogenesis, that was the book I brought to Burnham to read while Om picked. It’s not very good. Robopocalypse is far better. Anyway, I picked up Dragon Age: The Silent Grove vol 1, Dresden Files Omnibus vol 1, The United States of Murder vol 1, Dresden Files War Cry vol 1, and to fill out the needed five, I grabbed a Little Lulu Omnibus vol 2 for my mother-in-law. All these number ones will be irritating, though, since it’s difficult to find volumes 2 for cheap. I've already read the Dresden Files Ominubs and Dragon Age: The Silent Grove. Now I'm working on my Grendel Omnibus 2 (I don't own 1, I guess it's like a unicorn and no one ever has it). Along with that I'm reading CBLDF Presents She Changed Comics. After I finish those I'll probably read Charles Stross' The Nightmare Stacks, Rudy Rucker's Realware, or Chris Moriarity's Ghost Spin. I'm also reading the following books for work: Nick Bostrom's Superintelligence James Barat's Our Final Invention Erik Larson's Devil in the White City Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and Understanding Video Games

The Lady Speaks. . .Assassin’s Creed Update I warned you I had a lot to post and I'm not even into my recent pull lists or what I bought at Burnham! UbiSoft recently announced that they are not planning on releasing an Assassin’s Creed game in 2017 so that they can properly retool the IP. I for one am pretty excited about this news. As you know, I love me some Assassin’s Creed but it was becoming evident that the games were becoming repetitive and the ISU/Apple of Eden story line was a bit played out. Fighting the Templars is still fun, but as the game went on it was harder and harder to know which side you really wanted to win the ultimate battle. Or if there even is an ultimate battle (there sort of was, it happened at the end of AC:III with Desmond's physical death but the story continues on). lThe assassins were just as underhanded as the Templars and evil became shades of gray. Basically, it became harder to empathize with your assassins once they were no longer Ezio (this will be a key point in a few paragraphs). In the AC community there are those players who like the real world aspect of the game and then there are others, such as myself, that prefer the assassins’ worlds and could do without the whole Animus/Helix stuff. Syndicate delivered quite well on that front. No annoying fetch quests in the real world and a more streamlined story. And, no annoying modern human having to learn all the back story for the 12th time. To appease the appetite of AC fans, however, UbiSoft is dropping The Ezio Collection in November. November 15, to be exact. November 15 tends to be the launch day for most AAA games slated to come out in a given year. That way developers can capitalize on the holiday rush. This collection will be remastered for current consoles and available for PS4 and XBone. It will contain AC:II, AC: Brotherhood (possibly still my favorite of all the AC games), and AC: Revelation plus two short films AC: Lineage and AC: Embers. Basically by the end, you’ll know Ezio’s entire life history. It’s a bit of a genius move on the part of UbiSoft. AC fans get their favorite assassin remastered for the holidays and UbiSoft keeps on everyone’s minds heading into the launch of the AC movie. On the comic book front, things are also active in the world of Assassin’s Creed. Templars remains the better of the two main titles but according to a Bleeding Cool article from the past few weeks, Titan plans on rolling Templars and Assassin’s Creed into one title which will be called wait for it. . .Assassin’s Creed. According to Bleeding Cool this will happen in February of 2017. They’re keeping all the major characters from the two books but melding the stories. It will be interesting to see how that’s done considering Templars is set in the 1920’s and Assassin’s Creed is set in the present (or alternate preset, as the case may be). In the interim, Titan dropped a new AC title, Locus, into the mix. Locus is following Evie Frye and Henry Green in the wake of the events of Syndicate. The full title indicating that Henry and Evie are the last descendants is a bit misleading considering the current AC storyline clearly goes into the present. Titan is cranking out the AC titles at a vigorous clip, including a reprint of an anime imprint that’s never been available in the US. Because Titan is putting them out so fast, there is a loss of quality in the art even though the stories remain fairly strong. The good thing about Titan is that their books are more substantive than Marvel and DC which brings the cost/page ratio to acceptable levels (although the AC books do have tons of ads toward the back). But at least when I pick up a Titan book (and right now I’m collecting five titles from them: AC, AC: Templars, AC: Locus, Dishonored, and Tank Girl) I can feel the heft of it and know that I’m getting a good read. To summarize: no new Assassin’s Creed game until at least 2018 but there are several Assassin’s Creed comic titles for the starving fan. And, don’t forget we have the Assassin’s Creed movie coming out in December. It’s a good time to be an assassin.

The Lady Speaks. . .Burnham Bowl and the Bursting Bubble Okay, so I have a lot to post but I'm going to start with a recap of the most recent Burnham Bowl. Why? Well, there was some interesting gossip floating around the ol' bowling alley yesterday that I think is worth sharing. The big rumor is that Mighty Con (also known as Milwaukee Comic Con) plans on moving to downtown Milwaukee from its current location at the Serb Hall. This move is rumored to be taking place early in 2017, January or February. At face value this move makes a great deal of sense. It is evident that Mighty Con has outgrown Serb Hall. The second half of this particular rumor is that table fees will triple in price from $20 to $60. I don't see that as a huge deal but the grumbling of others indicates that it is indeed a very big deal. Considering the cheapest table to be found at a Wizard World is $650 and they go up to $1600, I think $60 is pretty reasonable. Just including this as proof of WW's prices. I'm not sure where Mighty Con will set up. Outside of the hotels I'm not aware of anywhere that makes too much sense. Parking downtown is a hassle and probably will cost additional money ranging from $5 to $20 depending on where one parks. No one seems to fear for Burnham's future despite a fast growing Mighty Con and two new cons that have recently popped up. One is run by a guy named Adam (Om may know more about this) and the other is Pop Con which right now has good buzz for getting a cease and desist order from Zurko Productions over the use of an image. From what I've uncovered on the internet, Zurko Promotions is running an event in Chicago called the Chicago Popular Culture Con which is happening late November. Just for reference, to be a vendor at CPCC will cost you a minimum of $95 plus a $25 deposit. A table at Pop Con will cost you $25 as a dealer or artist. Is this a battle over names and not images? Despite what the advert says, the name of the con is Chicago Pop Culture Con on the website. I do find it interesting that Pop Con has scheduled itself out for the next three years. It's being held at the Crown Plaza Hotel and Conference Center which is by the airport. Logistically, this is a good move because there's ample free parking and tons of food options. It's also a bit out of the way, but what good con isn't? Sadly, Pop Con's website makes it seem like Pop Culture in this case equals D-List celebrities and former sports stars. This con offers a hated reality tv star and the oldest living Green Bay Packer! So for Mighty Con to actually move to downtown could be a huge gamble. Yes, it's a bigger space but parking and navigating downtown could dissuade people, especially families. The increase in table fees might limit the variety of dealers but then that's not a bad thing if it keeps the garage sales tables away. The big question is: Will the door fee go up? It started at $2 two years ago and recently went to $5. It's possible we'd see a $7 or even $10 door charge. Then again, given how young the Mighty Con crowd skews, especially with the cosplayers, maybe they'll keep the door fee low and recoup costs via the tables. A low door charge would also encourage families. One unspoken concern (probably because I'm the only one thinking it) is that Mighty Con may be tempted to procure "celebrities" for their shows a la Pop Con Milwaukee and the Zurko shows. While it is no secret that celebrities are what make money for the cons, a recent Hollywood Reporter article disclosed just how much money the celebrities themselves make doing the con circuit. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/stars-getting-rich-fan-conventions-933062 The numbers are staggering. For a star like Chris Evans, Norman Reedus, or Chris Hemsworth the take home after a weekend convention can get as high as $500,000. That's half a million dollars to sit around, talk to people, and have your photo taken. The break down is that the cons get the door fee, $5 for an autograph, and $10 a photo. The star pockets the rest. For a guy like Reedus, who charges $100 for a photo, that's a nice profit. It's so lucrative that Jewel Staite (Firefly) was able to turn down television work while pregnant because in two days she can make four times what she'd make for a week of filming. The hunger for celebrities is at an all-time high but you can see how in an area like Milwaukee, you're not going to find or attract super high quality stars to a regional con. Wizard World can do it because they have the clout and a well-oiled machine. I'd hate to see Mighty Con try to go this route and end up with a bunch of D or F list celebrities to attract con goers. Milwaukee is a city of 550,000 (more or less) and right now there are at least five different cons: Burnham, Mighty Con, Allen's shows, the dude Adam, and now Pop Con. Plus there's Anime Milwaukee. Already things are getting territorial. How much more can this city support? Really, all this brings me back to the perpetual question of When will the con bubble burst? It certainly seems as though we're getting closer.

The Lady Speaks. . .Procrastination is Contagious It's funny that Om published before me on essentially the same topic, in a roundabout way. I should be putting together a presentation on iZombie and Freudian psychology for a conference I'm presenting at next week in Chicago. But instead, I'm flipping through the graphic novels and ruminating on what books I want to eliminate from my pull list and what books do I want back issues for and other such nonsense. Mile High Mid-Life Crisis has a good deal going right that for once would actually benefit me. I could knock out a bunch of my Grendel back issues for about $2.40 a piece. But do I really need them? Do I even really want them or am I in entrenched in the idea that I must be pursuing something to completion? Is this a void left in me by completing Sandman and Strangers in Paradise within the last few years? Is this a stop-gap for my real addiction--actual books? I can't honestly say at the moment. As for my pull list I am currently getting Dishonored, AC: Templars, AC, Jem, Faith, and Munchkin. Of those titles I only read Munchkin as I get it. The rest I let build up to read in a bunch. Otherwise, I tend to lose track of story and characters. I want to drop Jem, not because it's a bad book but because I've lost interest. But there's a voice in the back of my head that keeps saying "Of all the ones you collect, this might be the one worth something down the line." Is that even true? Should I even care? I'm the woman who sold off her Harley Quinns, Buffys, Tom Raiders, and Witchblades about 15 years ago and yet held on to Painkiller Jane. Perhaps I'm not the best judge of what's going to go up in value. [ I'm contemplating dropping AC but then I remind myself that the initial tutorial levels are boring in the games, so maybe I should ride it out a bit longer with the comic series. Then I remind myself that Templars didn't have this issue and maybe I should drop AC. I don't really know. I'm just a little frustrated with comics right now. Storage is one issue. I have four short boxes in my closet and at the rate I'm going, I'll outgrow them in a few months. I'm pretty much out of shelf space for my graphic novels and yet I keep bringing more of those home. While I know there is no future value increase in them, I can't part with them because I really enjoy them. Cost is another issue. Not because they're terribly expensive (they're not) but sometimes the value isn't there. Comics are shorter now and the prices keep climbing. I don't spend $60 for a video game I can beat in 12 hours so why am I buying 16 page comic books for $4? According to that site that knows all about comics, comichron, as of August 2016, the average price for a comic book was $3.92 cents (down from an all-time high of $3.98 in June 2016). The average price for a comic book hasn't consistently been under $3.00 since May of 2000. Some of the price increase is due in part to the recession that kicked off in 2008, but like many goods that saw their prices rise to fight against economic downturn, comics seem intent on maintaining a higher baseline price overall. That quote comes from a 2013 article on comicsbeat.com written by Steve Morris. The article goes on to discuss that fans expect at least 20 pages for a $2.99 price tag but that often not only are they getting fewer pages, but less content as wordier panels dominate and splash pages eat up real estate. In particular he takes issue with a Batwoman comic that used two splash pages to basically highlight she had bullet proof armor. Additionally he discuss Marvel taking up pages with a one-page recap in each issue and DC putting in two full page ads at the end of each of their issues. The comments section leads me to believe that most comic buyers would love to see comics either go up to 40+ pages for almost $6 an issue (in reality, a mass paperback novel runs in this price range for hundreds of pages) or drop to $1.99 and stick to the 20 page output. One argues that at $1.99 people would be more willing to experiment on titles which does make sense. I argue that at $6 an issue, people would double down on what they really like and not experiment at all. I probably would only collect Munchkin and possibly one other title at that price. One commentator, a John Jackson Miller, offers up the following: Again, the cost doesn't bother me as much as the realization that it's kind of a rip off. The last issue is a bit difficult to explain but I'll try. I feel beholden to the once a week comic pull. It's like another thing that has to be done in a long list of things that need to be done. I don't know why I feel that way, Om usually handles the LCS. I think part of it is that it's more of a thrill to make a trip to a store to pick up issues than to walk around the block. Perhaps this is my childhood in Montana popping up. As a young collector the nearest store was a 20 minute drive, in a different town, and I was the only girl who collected. It made it special. TO BE CONTINUED. . .

The Lady Speaks. . .Frustration with the LCS ETA: Mea Culpa Turns out I was given the wrong books and I didn't even notice because as of late, I haven't been paying attention to what's coming in comic book wise. Plus, I order things through Previews and forget what I've ordered. Additionally, the LCS doesn't do charges under $10 so in order to make the minimum, I bought the Grendel Omnibus 3. Basically, I screwed it up every which way one could and probably got someone needlessly in trouble. The Lady hangs her head in shame. I went in today to pick up this week's comics as Om was out-of-town for a family function (I had to work my university's Open House this morning). Last week I went to get Dishonored 2 but our LCS was out and we'd never specified that it was to be an ongoing title. Our LCS guy called (while I was right there) one of the other locations and asked for a copy to be sent to the East Side location. He told me it would be with our Wednesday comics. The comic in question. It's really good and I thoroughly enjoyed the video game. Well, it wasn't there today. Neither was he. It was the owner working the shop. When he gave me this week's issues (Saga 37 and Black Science 24) there was no Dishonored 2. So I asked him about it. Big mistake. It turned into the owner calling the other two locations (and getting pretty annoyed with one that didn't answer right away) only to find out that neither location had Dishonored 2. Fine, I say. It's not a big deal. And it was because in my mind I'm thinking "I'll go to Lost World of Wonders where I know they'll have it." But the owner gave me the distinct impression that our LCS guy might be in trouble despite all my protestations that it isn't a huge deal. I only asked because I was there last week when the call was made. This situation, however, highlights some of the ongoing annoyances, though. As Om has discussed, our LCS is usually shorted copies and doesn't even always receive what's new for the week. In the case of Dishonored 2 our LCS received 2 shelf copies (according to our LCS guy) so I would have had to be there Wednesday at opening to have a shot at it. Using Previews has alleviated some of this frustration, but still. Anyway, I realize this is a total first world problem. We live literally around the corner from our LCS and yet I still find cause to be dissatisfied. I think it's because I know Lost World of Wonders is across town and is like a promised land for comics. Remember that scene in Clerks where Randall goes to the other video store? Yeah, it's like that. [ Lost World of Wonders look like this which makes me. . . feel like this

I actually enjoy Friends. I laugh out loud at least once. But I cannot stand Ross. He's arrogant, selfish, and insecure. I can't believe everyone once rooted for Ross and Rachel when Monica and Chandler is the better love story. Ross and Rachel are the worst TV couple of all time. I can't decide if Ted and Robin (HIMYM) is worse or just as bad as Ross and Rachel. I also hate Leonard and Penny (BBT).

I actually enjoy Friends. I laugh out loud at least once. But I cannot stand Ross. He's arrogant, selfish, and insecure. I can't believe everyone once rooted for Ross and Rachel when Monica and Chandler is the better love story.

One last thing about the Milwaukee Man-Child Neither one of us really discussed their defining trait. They are mooches of the highest order. They don't pay their own way, they expect their friends to take care of them. They never contribute anything to a picnic, a party, any event and yet they complain about how what they like isn't present. They never pay for a round at the bar, or if they do, they go for the cheapest swill and don't drink it while drinking the good beer others buy. They never offer up any gas money and they complain about how you drive. They come to your house expecting food and beer and if you don't have food they like, they whine about it or try to get you to make them something. They have the gall to assert that they are in some way "owed" something because of some phantom deed they did for you. They play games with other people's time and make sure schedules are set to their needs despite not having jobs or commitments. I cannot stand them. If any of my girlfriends behaved like this, they wouldn't be my friend for long. But men seem to have an amazing level of patience when it comes to the man-child. Behaviors they don't accept in co-workers or significant others or family members are embraced when it comes to the man-child. It's unfathomable to me how or why this works in the world of men. The man-children are not down-on-their-luck guys who need a little extra support. They willingly choose to live this way, to sponge off their "friends." I don't get it. I think that's the real reason women avoid them. No one likes to feel taken advantage of and the Milwaukee Man-Child is incapable of doing anything but.

The Lady Speaks. . .Milwaukee Man-Child (Woman’s Perspective) A Rambling. . . A Woman's Perspective on the Milwaukee Man-Child For me, when I think of a man-child, I think of Brodie from Mallrats. He has no discernible income, lives in his mom’s basement, wiles away his days playing video games, collects comic books, and has his girlfriend, Renee, sneak in and out of his basement bedroom so his mom doesn’t find out she’s been there. To add insult to injury, Renee must move a dresser herself to the window so she can climb up and shimmy out. It’s not much of a surprise when she dumps him citing, among other things, his lack of libido. “I'm in need of testosterone after babysitting you and your comic book collection! I forgot what real men were like!” Renee’s quote is interesting for a few reasons. One, she clearly cites not wanting to babysit a grown man. Two, she brings up his comic collecting as childish. Three, she defines “real men” as what Brodie is not. Let’s unpack these three points. Point One: A grown woman doesn’t want to babysit/mother a grown man Admittedly, I am not a single woman. I have not been for 20 years (huzzah, Om!). But I do have quite a few friends are who are around my age (mid-30's to early 40's and beyond) who are single. We've talked over the years about what we see is a trend in men our age living at home and basically thumbing their noses as independence and responsibility. Some of the men have jobs, some are underemployed, and more than a few are willingly unemployed with excuses ranging from "I won't take a job beneath me," "I have enough money from my settlement/lawsuit/etc to not work for a few years," to "Why would I work when I don't have any expenses?" On its own, living at home is not a deal breaker, exactly, although very few women want to stay the night at someone's parents' house at this point in life. As Om said, living at home is the new normal for the generation labeled as Millenials. From an NPR article in May, 2016: “American men ages 18-34 live with their parents 35 percent of the time, and with a spouse or partner 28 percent of the time. For women, the numbers are nearly reversed; 35 percent live with a partner, while 29 percent live with their parents.” Many Millenials are forced to live at home due to weak job markets, high rents, high insurance, and high student loan payments. Yet more men are living at home than women. Why? One possible answer is that it’s only been the last half century or so that women have had the opportunity to live independently. Prior to the sexual revolution of the early 1960’s most American women went directly from their father’s home to their husband’s home. It’s possible that the transition from dependent to independent is why fewer women live with their parents and even fewer want to date men who do. What's frustrating is that no one seems to be studying the phenomenon in the demographic of 35 and older, which is where most of the man-children I know fall. For that information, I had to go to Reddit. In the subforum "Ask Men" (/r/AskMen/) the question was asked "If you are older than 30 and still live with your parents, how do you explain your situation when people ask you 'Where do you live?'" Granted, there are only 120 comments, which is small potatoes for Reddit, but the answers are interesting. Most respondents framed their answer in terms of working toward some financial goal (paying off debt, saving for a down payment), a few are taking care of elderly parents and/or bought their parents' house from them so they could care for them, others are recently divorced with small children and this is the best for them in terms of child care and saving money, and others advise to dodge the question entirely. There are also the few who complain that women are shallow and can't understand why men live at home so they don’t tell them (from what I gathered these guys are in the no job/underemployed/no goals contingent and just don’t want to be judged). Additionally, there are a number of non-Americans who don't understand why this is an issue as all, as it's quite common in other cultures for single men to live at home until they're married. In some European countries, such as Greece and Bulgaria, the percentages are even higher with 50% of 25-34 year olds still living at home. In Portugal and Italy, 40% still live at home. (All these stats come from http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/the-map-of-europe-by-adults-who-still-live-with-their-parents--bke3t5pCfb) My personal favorite responses on the subreddit have to do with referring to your parents as "roommates" and just letting the woman you are dating figure it out on her own. There's some serious shade thrown at that approach. I have to admit, the men-children I've met in Milwaukee are not working toward a financial goal nor are they incredibly motivated to find a job, or really do anything with themselves but play video games, smoke herb, go to movies, and drink. My women friends agree that in their dating experiences, men who live at home tend to not have jobs, have goals, or plans. They are stunted, content to be on the horizon of 40 and having their moms do their laundry, the grocery shopping, and pay their bills. They aren’t looking for partners, they’re looking for another mother. This is a major red flag. Many women in their mid-to-late 30’s are divorced. From brandongaille.com “All in all, if you’re getting married in your late 20′s or your early 30′s, then there’s a good chance that you or your partner have been married at least once before.” They’ve already gone through at least one bad relationship. More stats from brandongaille.com: • Once the age of 25 is reached, 52% of men have been remarried. • The percentage of women that are remarried by the age of 25: 44% • Just over half the women who are currently married have been in that relationship for a minimum of 15 years Those numbers are striking. Brandon Gaille also points out that for second marriages, men are more likely to marry younger women, they remarry faster, and will remarry older (35-44 versus women at 25-34 years of age). Given the number of men-children out there, is it surprising that younger women might be attracted to older men? Yes, an older man may have children and he may have been married once or more, but he also probably has a job, a home, and the other hallmarks of adulthood versus a man-child living with his folks, playing video games, and making minimum wage or less. Point Two: Men who collect are man-children In a word: False. Most of the women I know couldn’t care less if a man collects comics, pottery, action figures, movie posters, what have you. What they care about is financial responsibility. While women often don’t think of themselves as collectors, it’s usually the case that they are. They collect differently than more focusing on items like handbags, shoes, and objects of sentimentality. I’ve tried finding data on men vs women when it comes to collecting, but there doesn’t seem to be anything concrete. So, going off experience, I’m going to say that collecting comics/action figures/etc is not in and of itself a deal breaker for most women. Renee’s quote clearly indicates that the comic books represent more of a lack of maturity on Brodie’s part as opposed to something gross on their own. She even refers to her life with him as “babysitting” him and his comics. Also, knowing that Brodie lacks a job and a car, it makes sense that Renee probably was his means of getting to comic book stores and possibly of obtaining the comic books (as in, she paid for them). He’s probably just very lucky that when she dumps him, she doesn’t stake a claim to the collection. (As a side note, Om thinks it’s more likely Brodie’s buddies drove him around and possibly assisted his purchases of comics than it is that Renee did. As a result, Om thinks it’s a stretch to say that Renee has a claim to the collection.) Of course, he’s even luckier that they get back together at the end of the movie. Point Three: Renee’s forgotten what a “real man” is The 90’s were a fun time. They were not necessarily an enlightened time. Re-watching Friends, I’m reminded at how fragile American male masculinity was in the 90’s. The two-pronged social change that took shape in the form of liberated women and metrosexuality seems to have shaken many men to their very core. Friends was one of the top shows for most of the late 90’s landing anywhere from the 8th most viewed show to the 1st depending on year according to Nielsen Media Research averaging a share of 17.0 or a little over 25 million viewers. That means a lot of men and women were watching Chandler, Joey, and Ross constantly question if they were too sensitive and nurturing, too vain, and/or too effeminate. Additionally, the jokes from the show run into territory that now can only be called blatantly sexist, homophobic, and just terribly insensitive (Joey’s tailor sexually harassing him being played for laughs is jarring in today’s context). Don’t get me wrong, the Friends guys are man-children in their own right, but in an entirely different way. The trio of Friends guys don’t live at home (it never even comes up no matter how much trouble they find themselves in) and have jobs. Even Joey’s acting counts as a job. Renee’s issues with Brodie aren’t that he’s too sensitive, however. Her issue is that he is so self-absorbed and obsessed with his comic books that he can barely make the time to make love to her. What Renee wants Brodie to do is find a job because in her mind (and in the mid-90’s) a job meant one could move out of one’s mother’s home and demonstrate maturity in a relationship. Those are the hallmarks of adulthood. She wants a man who shows a spine and doesn’t hide girlfriends from his mother. Renee finds this in the guy working at Fashionable Male who uses old-school wooing techniques as a preamble to “sex in a very uncomfortable place.” And he’s not referring to the back of a VW. In summation, women don’t find collectibles to be a deal breaker. They do, however, find a grown man (over the age of 30) still living at home with no job or horribly underemployed not worthy of dating. The last thing a woman in her 30’s and beyond wants is take on a rehabilitation project or a man who wants a second mother.

The Lady Speaks. . .Finishing up WW Chicago Artists’ Alley and Miscellaneous Areas • As I already stated the autograph area seemed much larger than in the past. It easily took up half of what I call the smaller hall even though its footprint is probably the same size as the larger hall, it just felt smaller because so much of it was taken up with the autograph area. • The tattoo area was placed much better this year. Instead of being in the middle of the vendors, they had it at the end of the space so it was between the vendors and the autograph area. • There was competitive gaming on the second floor, but I didn’t make it up there. • There was, in the smaller hall, an area dedicated to entertaining kids. I never saw anyone in that area, but it’s a good idea. • Artists’ Alley was at the back of the large hall. It was 7 rows by 7 columns with an additional 2 rows in an even farther back room that had virtually no traffic. Plus there were artists along the sides, pushed up against the walls. I don't remember the exact number of booths per row but I'm thinking 12-15. (The map of the con is already gone into the ether so I can't double check). Many of the artists were complaining about being so far back from the main floor. It was true. The first three or rows of the 7 were the most heavily trafficked. • As a result, the artists were even more aggressive than usual. I love Artists’ Alley, but I hate being hounded so I spent a lot of time walking down the middle and not making eye contact until I was ready to seriously look. • The authors selling books are probably the hardest to avoid. And this year there were probably close to a dozen authors schilling their books. I like talking to them and I would buy their books except that they charge a premium. I know they need to eat and such but I don’t want to spend $25-$30 for a book that is an entirely unknown quantity, even if it does come signed. • Most of the authors were hawking YA dystopic supernatural novels. That seems like a trend with no end in sight. I suppose they’ve been emboldened by not just The Hunger Games, Mortal Instruments, and Divergent; but also by Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (movie is due out Sept 30). • It was weird how the artists were set up. They were clumped by like merchandise. Instead of spreading out the jewelers, plushies, novels, etc they would put them in the same row next to each other. I found this to be off-putting. • I thought there was a lack of creativity and variety in the artists’ work. Nigel Sade (http://www.nigelsade.com/) out of Chicago remains one of the most unique, but even he has added Star Wars designs to his repertoire which is disappointing. Art Nouveau style is prominent as is propaganda style posters. Of course Marvel and DC characters dominate but Star Wars is a close second. Again, it was a lot of the same stuff over and over. • It was hard to find prints for under $20 and when I did, I bought from those artists. Some prints were as high as $35-40 a piece for standard 12x18. • The Period Panties booth wasn’t as popular as it was in Madison that I saw, but people were less freaked out by it. As in, I didn’t hear guys complaining that they didn’t belong. People didn’t seem offended at the thought of undergarments (which is so funny considering Stylin’ Online and Your Favorite T-Shirt both offer super hero themed lingerie, panties, bras, and corsets). • As I reported earlier, Wild Bill’s Soda was wildly popular. By the end of the day, I would guess that easily 50% of the con goers and 30% of the vendors themselves had a stainless steel mug. Cosplay Observations • There were so many cosplayers this year and most of it was pretty great. Even booth vendors were more dressed up than I remember seeing in the past. • There were a ton of gender swapped cosplay. It’s not unusual for women to cosplay male characters, but this year there were a lot of men cosplaying women characters and it was fantastic. • One of the standout team cosplays I saw were characters from Five Nights at Freddie’s, a really popular horror video game involving animatronic animals similar to those found at Chuck E Cheese’s. http://fivenightsatfreddysaz.com/ • There were more older people cosplaying. I mean, people in the 50’s and 60’s were cosplaying in large numbers. • My Spider-Gwen was well-received. I was the only one cosplaying as her and it’s amazing the huge male fanbase she has. So many guys asked me where I got my tank hoodie. I had a number of people stop me for pictures which rarely happens. • Om’s Mr. Robot costume was ahead of its time. We saw a few booths selling the masks and only one artist had a Mr. Robot print. I bet next year it’s super popular. • Classic X-Men were back! Gold and blue costumes. Wolverine (female and male), Cyclops, Jean Gray, Rogue, Gambit, Storm. • No Hugh Jackman Wolverines this year. It was the classic costume all the way. • A few Firefly costumes were on scene. A few Janes and Kaylees. • Some Dr. Who cosplay, but it was way down. • The lack of Firefly and Dr. Who makes sense. The only reason those were so popular at WW Madison was because David Tennant, Jewel Staite, and Alex Kingston were attending. • Pokemon trainers from Pokemon Go were the most prevalent costumes this year. I saw two Pikachu, too. • Of course Suicide Squad Harley was ubiquitous. I think Hot Topic sells the outfit for a song. I saw stripper clown Harley’s ranging in age from 10 years old to 40’s. Along those lines were a plethora of Suicide Squad Jokers, a few Heath Ledger version, and even the occasional classic Joker (either Batman the Animated Series or possibly the Cesar Romero version, who knows). • There were a number of other Harley’s. I saw a Steampunk Harley and quite a few of the Mad Love Harley. • I find it disturbing that little girls are cosplaying Harley. I’m not talking the booty shorts and all that. Sure, it’s a little weird to see pre-teens running around in the stripper clown costume but more importantly, but I can’t see why it would be appropriate for little girls to cosplay Harley given the abusive relationship she has with the Joker. Especially when their little brothers are cosplaying as the Joker. There were a half dozen families consisting of mother Harley, daughter Harley, son Joker, father Joker. It’s kind of sick when you think about it. • There were more than a few Poison Ivy’s, too. • I only saw two Batman cosplayers. One was in the Supes v Bats mega armor and one was a typical Batman. This year I only saw one Bane and that was The Dark Knight Rises variety. • There were at least five Flash’s spanning all eras from Golden Age to the television show. • Arrow was also very popular. I saw a squad of 4 Arrows, red and green. • Assassin’s Creed had a major presence this year and the costumes were more elaborate than I’ve seen in past years. As far as video games go, this was the most popular. • There were some Fallout cosplayers, mostly the vault suit from Fallout 4. • No Bioshock, no Halo, no Call of Duty. A few Links and Zeldas. There were even a crew cosplaying Majora’s Mask. • There were a number of Medieval costumes, mostly knights. One was from Monty Python (the Black Knight with the wizard Ted) but the others were harder to place. Possibly they were advertising Medieval Times, maybe they were from Dragon Age, hard to say. • No Sherlock. • There were a ton of Captain Americas spanning all eras. A lot of women were cosplaying Captain America. • One Doc Octopus with the fully articulated arms. • One Enchantress. The costume was amazing, but the fanboys were annoying. • Spider-Man was well represented, but Deadpool was more popular with little kids for the first time. Usually the small fry love Spider-Man. • As a matter of fact, Deadpool was the most popular super hero with a ton of variations on the costumes. • Star Wars was the second most visible after Pokemon. I saw four Leia’s (white gown from New Hope), a few Hans (at least two were women and they looked awesome), a lot of women wearing BB8 and R2D2 dresses, there were at least 6 Reys with BB8s. There were many Jedi and Sith plus three Kylo Rens. • Game of Thrones was also very popular. I saw at four or five Dannys, a few Jon Snows, and a Missendre. My personal favorite was a guy who was dressed as Jon Snow White. Amazing. It’s possible some of the Medieval cosplayers I saw were dressing as Jamie Lannister or Bron or Brienne, but without paying attention to the markings on the armor, I can’t say for sure. • Random other sightings: Edward Scissorhands, Lydia Deitz, Zatanna, Adventure Time, a gender bending Bluntman and Chronic, Jay & Silent Bob, LeeLoo, Majora’s Mask, some Steampunk, one Bilbo Baggins, and the usual array of anime characters I cannot identify. In summation: WW Chicago kicked butt in the cosplay area but overall, I think WW Madison is a better con. It’s smaller, more compact and friendlier. Plus, Madison offers us a chance to present on an academic geek topic so we get in for free and I get a line on my vita. Om would disagree with my assessment simply because WW Madison had far, far, far fewer comic dealers and the ones that were there are ones we see regularly at Mighty Con and Burnham Bowl. Our general consensus is we need to concentrate on going to C2E2 in 2017.

Lady Speaks. . .WW Chicago Vendor Observations • It seemed much more homogenous this year. Everyone was carrying pretty much the same stuff. A lot more emphasis on classic properties and less trend following. Pokemon Go is probably the largest exception to that rule. • There was far less classic or vintage toys and gear. Easily 90% of what was for sale was new/reproduction. • Star Wars merch remains king. Star Trek was barely visible. • Supernatural merchandise was not nearly as prevalent as in previous years (or even WW Madison, for that matter). The Vampire Diaries has all but disappeared. • Other television properties that are maintaining their popularity are Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Who, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch version), Futurama, and Game of Thrones. Archer and Bob’s Burgers continue to come on strong. Personally, I’m waiting for BoJack Horseman to hit the scene. • There were at least 6 weapons vendors, most of whom were in the smaller hall. Io9 has a great article about a gun dealer whose booth was shut down on Thursday. http://io9.gizmodo.com/why-the-hell-was-there-a-gun-seller-at-a-wizard-world-1785538453 • Compared to last year, there were far fewer non-pop culture related vendors. The Lasik people were present, the people who want your blood for science (I gave mine at Madison), a gluten free chocolate vendor, two booths dedicated to hot/cold packs, the decorative nail people, a really awesome backpack company, a glass pipe vendor, and some people trying to get you to win a trip to Vegas for some reason were the sum total of non-pop culture vendors. • There were two exotic animal setups. One wanted to charge $5 for a picture with either a tarantula or a snake. The other had something to do with monkeys and I believe were charging $10 a photo. That booth was experiencing difficulty with one of its “stars.” I did a bit of research and they were for the Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary in Romeoville, IL. I’m sure it’s legit but it seemed shady as all get-out. At least the Sugar Glider people weren’t there. They really upset me. • Wild Bill’s Soda had two locations, one in each hall. The one in the larger hall was next to a booth babe booth so it was far more crowded than the one in the smaller hall. They offered two mugs—one at $20 and an insulated one at $30. Both are stainless steel. I went with the $20 option because it easily holds 32 oz and it keeps the soda plenty cold. Oddly enough at WW Madison, they had a third option which was a $25 mug. • Dr. McGillicuddy's Whiskey was set up and their booth looked almost identical to Wild Bill’s. They were offering free shots. I found that odd because there are alcohol sales on site, but free shots (samples) at a hectic con seemed like a recipe for disaster. It didn’t help I heard high schoolers plotting to get their free booze. • The snack bars closed up at 4:30. The show went until 7pm. The alcohol vendors shut it down at 6:30p. I didn’t eat anything from the snack bars and didn’t even buy a soda because I had my Wild Bill’s mug with free refills. • In general it felt like there were more sit-down areas throughout the con, which was nice. • That reminds me, this year they didn’t have separate soda vendors like they did last year. If you wanted a soda this year, you had to go to a snack bar (or go the Wild Bill’s route). • The vintage movie poster booths weren’t present. • Authentic (or maybe replica, I never looked that closely) movie cars and motorcycles were just as popular as they were at WW Madison. I saw the Ghostbusters car, the Supernatural car, Captain America’s motorcycle, the hairy van (which I totally forget what that’s for). • In the past some vendors such as the guy who does welded sculptures and various toy vendors had multiple booths. This year it seemed that everyone had one booth, maybe two. Even Stylin’ Online only had two obvious locations, one in each hall. In the past they easily had four. According to the official map of WW Chicago, Stylin’ Online had 6 booths but only two of them were the wall of t-shirts. The other four were smaller accessories booths but I only saw one of those so I have no way of confirming that they actually had 6 locations. • There were only four other t-shirt dedicated vendors. RipT was there, but you can get better shirts from them online. Along those lines, you cannot find a shirt for less than $20 and most are $25. Even in Artists’ Alley the t-shirts are going to cost you $20-$30. • There were several dedicated TPB booths. Graham Cracker didn’t have any screaming deals, but Torpedo Comics had all their books 50% off cover and there were a few smaller booths with $5 TPB. • Those stupid Mystery Boxes dominate. I think I saw at least 3 places that only sold mystery boxes (prices ranged from $20-$35). On top of that there were at least another 6 or 7 booths that offered mystery boxes on the side. I actually bought two at $15 a piece trying to get Tubbs from Neko Atsume. I ended up with Bolt and Mack. • Om found me a Tubbs plushie at one of those booths that clearly gets all its stuff wholesale from Asia. I ignored those booths because they usually only sell Pusheen, Adventure Time, and Pokemon but he looked closer and found Neko Atsume toys! So now I have Tubbs! And then he bought me a Conductor Whiskers, too! • There wasn’t a whole lot of interesting jewelry this go around. Last year’s trend of elf ears is completely dead. I didn’t see a single vendor with those. I think the most interesting thing I saw was a woman selling metal crowns. Some were replicas from things like Game of Thrones, most were original designs. • There were four Steampunk vendors. Two were cheap costumey stuff and the other two were high end leather. Mostly goggles, hats, and gauntlets. Only one had corsets. • Only one booth was dedicated to video games. It was Nintendo and Xbox heavy with a small selection of PS2 and PS3 games. • There were two table top gaming booths, but they were right next to each other which was odd. • There were a few mini figure booths so Lego continues to reign supreme. Pop Funko vinyl figures are hot, hot, hot with a presence at almost every toy booth plus in random booths. Prices ranged from $10 to $20 for the standard size, the larger ones were anywhere from $25-50. The more popular the character, the higher the price. • All vendors I spoke to, heard talking were talking about how Friday was an incredibly slow day. Far slower than Thursday, even. • And that’s it. It seemed smaller and more homogenous. There weren’t as many one-off booths or much variety. Next Up: Artists' Alley and Miscellaneous Areas

I'd have to say that the complaint that Wizard has sold out to celebrity seems to be confirmed by the numerous online outlets that covered WW Chicago as though it was SDCC. io9.com, Laughing Squid, Blastr (run by SyFY) and others all had daily WW coverage.

The Lady Speaks. . .Wizard World Report General observations I’m going to bleed out my con report over the next week or so because, quite frankly, the entire thing is almost six pages. So today I’ll give you my general observations and my haul followed by more specific observations related to vendors, artists’ alley, and cosplay. In retrospect, I think it’s possible I still have con fatigue. I came home yesterday with 25% of my budget still in my wallet and that simply never happens. Right off the bat one of the biggest changes is that they check your bags and run you through a metal detector before you enter the Rosemont. Additionally, we were hit with security when we exited the parking garage into the Aloft hotel. They didn’t check closely and clearly didn’t care that people were bringing in outside food and drink. You could probably have smuggled in a brick of weed and a six pack and they wouldn’t have noticed. I guess they were mainly checking for weapons related to cosplay and bombs. Or something. It wasn’t a bad experience, but it was new. Strollers are the bane of my existence. It seems that every year more and more strollers are on the scene. I think it’s great that families see the con as a way to spend time together and I think it’s awesome that we’re creating a new generation of geek culture, but I wish they’d leave the darn strollers at home. There is just no graceful way to manage them and it’s not like they are part of anyone’s costume. If they were, I’d probably be more forgiving, quite honestly. That being said, this was a well-behaved group overall. The children were not a nuisance. For it being Friday of the con, the floor never seemed that crowded. Many vendors commented on the fact that it was insanely slow for them. The cosplay area between the two main halls, however, was packed. They had a DJ spinning and it was pretty packed. In the two halls that housed vendors they were playing a 90’s play list and that was pretty awesome because people were walking around singing along to the songs without even noticing they were doing it. Certain songs would come on (like Champagne Supernova or Sublime) and people would just smile and sing along. It kept everyone in good spirits, I like to think. There were two main halls for vendors. The larger hall had all the major comic book dealers and Artists’ Alley. The larger hall also had the caricature area setup. The smaller had the tattoo set up, overflow vendors, and the celebrity autograph section. In general it felt like there were fewer vendors this go around. Not that there were empty tables, it just felt like maybe they’d accepted fewer vendors in order to beef up the autograph section. A common lament this time around was that Wizard had sold out to celebrity and the con has become less fruitful for collectors. A lot of people were talking up C2E2. I sat for an hour and just talked with random people, something I usually never do but my feet really hurt. We were reminiscing about the old days of Wizard World (like 1998 when I first went) when you would see Marvel, DC, Darkhorse, etc set up. You could see Terry Moore and get a signature with little fanfare or Peter Gross (Books of Magic) who had no one at his booth and talked to me for 30 minutes. I guess this is what C2E2 offers up. I think Om and I really need to make an effort to make it to that con. At around 4:30pm the fire alarm went off. No one freaked out, mainly because you could see Rosemont and Wizard World staff laughing about it. It went off for a good 8 minutes before PA guy came on to tell people not to panic. That was funny because no one, absolutely no one was panicking. But he made the announcement five times and each time he was more dramatic about how nothing was wrong. Om said he didn’t even hear the alarm, he only heard the PA announcements. My Haul Big Daddy Statue I've been eyeing this statue for two years now at both WW Madison and WW Chicago. Yesterday I just decided to do it and spend the money. He was under $100, stands 11 inches tall, and weighs quite a bit. Pop! Funkos I said I was going to buy the Night's King and I did! He wasn't at all the vendors and his price ranged from $15 to $10 so I had to be patient and find the right one at the right place. Alice is an impulse buy. Neko Atsume I have been waiting for these toys to hit the scene. I found someone in Artists' Alley who was doing handmade ones that you could only buy in mystery boxes for $!5 a piece. That's how I got Bolt (orange stripes) and Mack (white with gray stripes). I really wanted Tubbs, though. Om found a vendor selling Tubbs (hence the official tag) and then he also bought me Conductor Whiskers from the same booth. They were $12.99 a piece. But now I have Tubbs! TPB I found X-Men Essentials #2 (I just need 1, 3, and 9 now) for $5. Another shout out to Om for finding that booth! Then there's a novel I bought in Artists' Alley. At a different TPB vendor I found Grendel Omnibus 2 for $5. Apparently no one has ever seen #1. And finally, at Torpedo Comics' TPB booth I picked up The World of Dragon Age vol 1 & 2 for 1/2 off cover. Not bad, all in all! Prints I had to have this Cersi print. The artist was super surprised I was buying it since all he'd heard was how much people hate Cersi. But I adore her and it will go in my office. Not pictured • A Star Wars t-shirt with R2D2 on it. • A second t-shirt I bought in Artists’ Alley with an octopus on it. • Three pairs of Period Panties. This time I bought the Cthulu-themed ones, a Camp Blood/Friday the 13th pair, and the Red Pool/Deadpool pair. All the others I already own. • Yet another journal from Poetic Earth. I cannot help it, their handmade cotton parchment paper is so addictive, not to mention the magnificent hand crafted leather book jackets. I own four as it stands. Journals are an addiction of mine and they are something I simply cannot prevent myself from buying, no matter how hard I try. [*] 3 other prints that I didn't want to unroll. One Skeletor, one Bioshock, and one Rorschach. • My stainless steel engraved 32 oz Wild Bill’s mug which granted me free soda all day long.

The Lady Speaks. . .Wizard World Build Up and Con Fatigue? The first part of this I wrote in July, right before Mighty Con. Say it ain’t so! I think I’m getting con fatigue. Between the Burnham Bowls, the Mighty Cons, and the Wizard Worlds, I have attended something like 6 comic cons this year. Add to that the fact it’s festival season in Milwaukee and I have participated in street festivals, music festivals, and art walks and it’s not hard to see how someone might be a tad over the hyper focused consumption that a con demands. Sure, one could go to a con and not spend any money but I am not that person. There’s always some trinket, toy, game, graphic novel, miscellaneous object that I never knew I needed until the minute I saw it on the con floor. I am weak. And, being weak, I am nearly exhausted by the con scene. On July 24, Mighty Con is setting up again at Serb Hall here in Milwaukee. They’re promising it’s going to be the hugest ever, which could be highly problematic given the relatively tight quarters of Serb Hall. At one point they were bragging that no hotel rooms were available in the area. Wisconsin Blood Center is setting up again, which means the large auction room will be filled with the bloodening. Om and I donated two weeks ago so I will not be bloodened this go around. Mighty Con is also promising 3 different cosplay contests, the last of which starts at 3pm (the three categories are Kids, Teens, and Adult). So I’m not as geeked to go to Mighty Con as I normally would be. I know it’s going to be crowded, so crowded you can’t get into all the areas. It’s also going to be hellaciously hot. Serb Hall doesn’t have the best A/C during normal times and we’re in the midst of a heat wave (don’t laugh, it’s a serious heat wave with heat indexes hitting triple digits. It’s a legit heat wave!) Additionally, we have Wizard World Chicago in three weeks and I need to save money for that (I’m also going to closely compare Wizard World Chicago to Madison and determine which one is my favorite. Just for posterity). I like to cosplay but the warm temperatures have me rethinking that. And finally, and while this may seem irrelevant to the more con-hardened of you, Serb Hall’s food and drink amenities are weak sauce. Banal beer selection and basically stadium food (nachos, hot dogs, Tombstone pizza). Prices are good, but when you finish an hour before the rest of your con-roving party, it’s a little disappointing. Update: I opted out of Mighty Con this past weekend. Part of me missed going, for sure, but a larger part of me enjoyed not going. I really hope that WW Chicago snaps me out of this con fatigue. Part of the fatigue, as I said before, is that I have a hard time not buying stuff. There are so many unique things, R2-D2 items, books, trinkets, video games, and jewelry one can buy at a con. I don’t scour for back issues at these things, I leave that to Om. Sometimes I give him a greatest hits list that he can look for on my behalf, but mostly I leave him to his own list. With no clear comic goals, that frees up my money for more impulsive purchases. And that leads to my biggest problem. I have no shopping agenda for Mighty Con. For Wizard World, I can plan what I want to buy and what booths I want to see. Mighty Con does provide a list of vendors, but it varies widely from show to show. This allows for a pure Id shopping experience that while fun at the time, leaves me going “What the hell did I spend X amount of dollars on?” and looking at bags of moderately satisfying goods. Again, for the November show, this isn’t such a big deal but by the end of July it’s a different story. Every street festival and music festival also offers up a bevy of vendors hawking almost the same goods as you find at cons. Wizard World Build Up (August, 2016) By skipping Mighty Con in July and also skipping Brady Street Festival and State Fair, I feel like my con fatigue has waned and now I’m ready to hit Wizard World Chicago! My Wizard World list is actually pretty small. I am definitely hitting Period Panties to buy more of those because they are the most comfortable and graphically pleasing undergarments I’ve ever encountered. I want a Night’s King Pop! Funko because he’s my second favorite character on GoT (in first place is still Queen Cersi). I’ll keep an eye out for some graphic novels on the cheap. Specifically I’m looking for Mouse Guard, Batman Beyond, and a few Grendels. Plus, I have a few more Essential X-Men to pick up. Because I can, I will also be picking up my commemorative Wild Bill’s Soda pewter mug which will grant me free refills all day long at one of the two soda locations. I did this at Madison and it was amazing. Beyond that, however, I don’t have any specific goals. Normally, this would be a problem, but Wizard World is so expansive and carries so much merchandise beyond the scope of normal geek culture that it’s fun to browse. Also, unlike Mighty Con, Wizard World has wide aisles that allow for browsing without being suffocated, hit, shoved, or otherwise irritated. As per usual I will write up a full con report containing many miscellaneous nuggets of information that many of you won’t know you want to know until I tell you. Things like: What kinds of video games were in the arcade? Classic? Retro? Console? How many booth babes were on site? How short were the shorts and how full were the tops? What kind of food vendors did they allow in? And my personal favorite, how many weapons vendors (fictional and real) were set up? Last year I cosplayed as Ezio from Assassin’s Creed. This year, I’m going as a low-rent Spider-Gwen. Om is going as a Mr. Robot protestor (or as I call him, Mr. Gobot). I do own the long-sleeve hoodie version but to wear that in Wizard World would lead to overheating and crankiness. Also I have a mask that came with the long-sleeved hoodie but I couldn’t find an image of it and I’m too lazy to take a picture of it.

The Lady Speaks. . .What I've Been Watching Mainly Om and I have been binge-watching Friends and enjoying it greatly. Om then binge-watched Mr. Robot, a show that on paper I should love, but just couldn't get into. It's about hackers and psychosis and millennial ennui with a not-so-subtle nod to movies like Fight Club and Hackers. But here's a roundup of what I've been watching as the summer fades and the school year looms on the horizon. First up: Documentaries. The Real Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) This documentary follows the bizarre story of Robert Elmer Kleason, a man who was on death row in Texas for killing two Mormons with a table saw. In 1977 his conviction was overturned due to an improper search warrant and he left the US for the UK. There he married a woman and their relationship turned violent, spurring her family to do more research on him. He eventually was imprisoned in England in 2001 on gun charges. During his time in prison there, Texas began to rework the 1975 case but Kleason passed in 2003 before he could be extradited. It's an interesting documentary coming in at a lean 47 minutes, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the movie franchise nor Ed Gein (the Wisconsin serial killer usually attributed as the inspiration for the movies). NOVA: Bigger than T-Rex 2014 Not only an I a space nerd, but I am a dinosaur nerd, too. This one was fascinating! It deals with a dinosaur called Spinosaurus found mostly in Northern Africa. The environment of Spinosaurus confused paleontologists for years because it was predator heavy with very little record of herbivores. Spinosaurus is bigger than T-Rex by 2-6 meters. But what made this documentary super cool was the use of digital modeling to create a skeleton from only a few bones. Also the history of this dinosaur was fascinating as it starts with a man named Stromer (German paleontologist whose work was lost during WWII) whose photos provide important information to current paleontologists. From there they go into really cool detailed discussion o f the reverse engineering of the dinosaur. At 53 minutes, this is a must watch. Extraterrestrial 2005 (2eps) Another cool CGI show that picks possible exoplanets that might hold life and then hypothesizes what that life may look like. It sometimes veers too into the cutesy, but I found myself actually caring about these weird lifeforms that probably don't exist and were only digital creations. However each episode is 47 minutes and I honestly drifted away during the beginning of each episode. Still, cool. Edge of the Universe 2008 (3eps) A solid space show from Britain (could not find who produced it). Yes, some of the information is outdated at this point, but there is still good information to be found. I especially liked the second episode on comets and asteroids. The animation shows its age, but I still really dug this one. Each episode is 48-49 minutes and I binge-watched all three in one afternoon. The Real Death Star 2001 Despite being 15 years old, this documentary was a home run. Using gamma ray bursts, astronomers have identified what they call real death stars, that is white dwarfs or dead stars. These stars are super dense and destroy matter near them. The concern is that there may be one or more of these death stars in our own solar system. This one runs 48 minutes. UFO: The Best Evidence Ever Caught on Tape 1997 (2 eps) Narrated by Johnathan Frakes (aka Commander Riker from Star Trek: TNG). I should learn not to watch documentaries from pre 2000. Especially "captured" footage docs. Especially especially amateur captured footage docs. The "evidence" is completely inconclusive; however, UFO shows are some of the best because the people believe so devoutly in them. This one trots out the usual array of experts--retired military, ufologists, crop circle experts, photo editing experts, pilots, etc I warn you that this documentary has some of the cheesiest translation voices ever. I actually didn't even watch the second episode because the first one was so ridiculous. I prefer the National Geographic series The Truth Behind. It covers Druids, The Bermuda Triangle, Aliens, Crystal Skulls, Atlantis, The Devil's Bible, and the Nazca Lines (just to name a few). Each episode is 44 minutes. Skyline 2015 I have an interest in the concept of space elevators. I find it fascinating and recently read a really good book called Starclimber that had a space elevator at its core. So the idea is that using some sort of material we don't have yet (probably will be nanotech) we can suspend a cord into the lower orbit and attach a launch platform to it that will be kept in place with a large rock/meteor in geosynchronous orbit is intriguing. Then you just send vehicles up the cord to the launching pad and we save a ton on fuel. Science fiction writers from Niven to Clarke to Robinson have played with this concept in literature. I also knew that every year The Spaceward Foundation holds a contest to see who can develop the materials needed. Anyway, so when I saw this documentary on Netflix, I was geeked. I was really curious as to what strides had been made and who was doing what. Well, this one disappointed me greatly. It is far more concerned with the human interest side of skyline development and less on what is actually happening. Only the last 15 or so minutes really give you any insight into the contest, the materials, and who wins. The rest is a bunch of drama between failed company owners, financial crisis, etc. When the description says that someone is harnessing ambitious scientists to lay ground work, I expect to see some actual science and groundwork. At 1 hour 14 minutes, it's not what it advertises. Non Documentary Offerings Bojack Horseman This animated show is fantastic. Yes, it's depressing and existential but it's also hilarious. Watching cynical Bojack navigate a world he desperately wants to be part of but won't let himself enjoy is equal parts agony and hilarity. Plus, this is a world where for some reason human animal hybrids just are. So in the background of a scene you'll notice a photog bird running into a glass window, or raccoons wearing clothing digging in dumpsters, or cat talent agents playing with ball and string while on the phone. Also, the plots can get absurd but never without a core of brutal reality. It's the little things that make it great. But it's not for the faint hearted. This show is introspective and sometimes hits a little too close to home with its tearing down of pseudo intellectualism and self aggrandizing. I normally don't like Will Arnett but in this role, I'm okay with him. The other voice talent is amazing, too. Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie (Community), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Kristen Schaal (Bob's Burgers), Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Stanley Tucci, JK Simmons, and so many more lend their talents to this show. Bojack is a Netflix original. All three seasons are on Netflix at the moment. Penny Dreadful Penny Dreadful is a Showtime show so themes can be quite mature. My love of Victoriana fuels my enjoyment of this show which weaves characters from Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and Dorian Gray. Actually, The Wolf Man aspect sort of annoys me because that’s more of a 20th century concept (not the ideas of werewolves, mind you, just this particular presentation of it). The costumes are gorgeous. It does tend to veer into HBO's mentality with "Let's add some gratuitous sex and/or gore because we can," but by the second season that's tamed down quite a bit. Great acting is provided by Eva Green, Timothy Dalton, Josh Hartnett, and Billy Piper plus quite a few others. Sadly, this show was canceled after its third season. Seasons 1 & 2 are on Netflix. Border Patrol Shows The two I watched were Australia and Canada. I only watched one episode each and then went into my Netflix viewing history and deleted them lest the algorithm be populated with such shows. I don't know what I expect, but I just felt icky watching these shows. Probably I was thinking back to Alaskan Highway Patrol or Mall Cops. I'm sure if I tried to watch either of those now, I'd feel the same way. Honestly, nothing that dramatic happens. Most people are stopped for bringing in food they didn't declare or for having implausible stories (which I didn't know was a thing, but I guess it is). Anyway, pass.

The Lady Speaks. . .Suicide Squad I guess there may be spoilers, although the movie isn’t really all that tricky nor is it full of surprises. It pretty much progresses as you expect it to. As a matter of fact, all major plot points are laid out within the first 10 minutes or so. So, not surprising. It is interesting to note that we went to a free showing on a Monday night and the theater was not even full. It was maybe 3/4 full. Compared to Batman v Supes which not only filled one theater but also opened a second theater, this was surprising. Suicide Squad seemed to have more buzz surrounding it and after BvS it seemed like this was going to be a huge movie for DC. Perhaps BvS did more damage to the DCU than I expected. Maybe The Killing Joke’s less than stellar reviews also hurt Suicide Squad. It’s possible that Suicide Squad’s relentless media campaign for the past four months plus the news about the reshoots hurt it. Or maybe it was a Monday night in August. In one word I would categorize Suicide Squad as. . .forgettable. It’s only been a few hours since I saw it and already it’s fading into memory. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just there. Om said it had too much exposition and he’s right. I thought they handled it well, but as he pointed out “Not as good as the first Avengers movie.” And he’s right about that, too. Not surprisingly Will Smith dominates the movie. Yes, in screen time, but also in terms of just out acting everyone around him. I was surprised how much screen time he had, but then again, when you cast Will Smith—you get Will Smith and all that charisma is not going to play second to anyone, especially not someone like Margot Robbie who’s not a bad actress but she does not have the chops of Smith (at least not yet). I just figured this movie was going to be the Harley/Joker show, which it was in many regards. I was pretty happy to see four strong women in the movie: Harley, Enchantress, Amanda Wahler, and Katana. Although as the movie goes on Harley’s sick love for the Joker weakens her, Katana says very little and does even less, Amanda Waller becomes cartoonish, and Enchantress ends up a CGI’ed reject from The Mummy. But for a brief shining moment, there were four strong women. The rest of the Suicide Squad seems like Batman’s substitute Rogue’s Gallery for those nights in Gotham when the heavy hitters are all at a fundraiser for the Scarecrow’s latest drug. Captain Boomerang is possibly the lamest super villain I’ve seen on the big screen and I sat through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s Cave Troll. Deadshot is cool, but that’s only because Will Smith is playing him. In a lesser actor’s hands he would have been pretty cliché. Killer Croc. . .well, if you could understand what he’s saying he might be compelling but at least he’s bad in a fight. Diablo is by far the most interesting of the super villains but he’s pretty inactive until the last half hour or so. And there’s one other guy whose name I totally didn’t catch and am too lazy to look up because that’s how much he matters to the film. Now to Harley, the one everyone cares about. I want to go on record and say I thought Margot Robbie did a good job as Harley. First, her backstory is too damn long. Almost any Joe 12 Pack on the street knows the Harley/Joker backstory. And then this movie screws it up by doing the 52 reboot version which is just stupid. Their relationship is sick and it bothered me that the movie tried to normalize it as though the Joker doing one or two nice things for Harley erases the domestic violence he’s dished out. The movie definitely tries to convince you that these two are “in love” but it comes across as just squicky because the Joker is incapable of love. He’s more into possessing and corrupting. There is a wonderful homage to Mad Love that cannot be ignored. Ultimately, though, Harley does not come across as a Wild Card. She may be more fearless and violent than the Joker (the movie tells us this, we don’t see it. . .ever) but you don’t see it. She veers between being snarky, being crazy, and being goofy. She has some of the more humorous lines in the movie (the others belonging to Will Smith). Yes, she absolutely can handle herself in a fight but anything “wild” she does is because the Joker is pulling the strings. She’s just a sad stripper clown waiting for her Clown Prince. Margot Robbie does a good job with the character, there’s just not that much there. Then again, all I heard anyone talk about were her butt cheeks hanging out of her shorts so I guess in that regard she knocked it out of the park. This isn’t feminist sour grapes. Literally nearly every man around me laughed at everything she said whether it was funny or not. It was a Pavlovian response to the outfit and nothing more. She could have been reading a phone book and they still would have responded the same way. Robbie herself has gone on record as not being a fan of the Harley costume. (April 26, 2016 independent.co.uk) She is the only character whose body is panned over slowly as she dresses in her costume. (Believe me, there was plenty of man meat in that movie and nary an ab was shown). She is the only character whose butt is framed repeatedly in shot after shot. And Enchantress is wearing virtually nothing and she's still not as sexualized as Harley. One last thought: when Schumacher reduced Batman to Bat-nipples, the Nerdiverse screamed in outrage. Where is the outrage that Harley, possibly the most iconic complex recent DCU character, is being reduced to hot pants? The Joker. Not bad. Definitely seemed more Jack Nicholson than Heath Ledger and I liked that. Jared Leto does an excellent job of never really letting you into the Joker’s motivation beyond wanting to be with Harley. Even that gets a bit muddled in their backstory portion of the movie. He’s a dapper gangster. In conclusion, Suicide Squad does a good job of setting up the Justice League and other movies in the DCU, but ultimately I don’t care if there is a sequel to Suicide Squad or not. Maybe there isn't going to be a sequel since Will Smith swore off sequels after MIB:II which would make him a liar.

The Lady Speaks. . .Fallout 4 Fail I finished Dragon Age: Inquistion the other day. I put 99 hours and 29 minutes into that game. I finished the main storyline and then continued to play so I could defeat all 10 high dragons. I believe I finished the main storyline at around 96 hours. It took me an additional three to level up to take down the Highland Ravager, level 23. As Om pointed out, however, I took that dragon down pretty easily so maybe the leveling up wasn’t necessary. The amount of guilt I feel for killing those beautiful dragons is kind of surprising. After all, they’re just pixels on a screen. Anyway, when I finished DA:I I decided to give Fallout 4 another go. I figured that I’ve beat Syndicate and DA:I since I last played Fallout 4 so obviously my gaming skills have been honed and I’m ready to take it on. Nope. Not even close. I am truly abysmal at that game. I even put it on the easiest level, Very Easy, which warned me that in this mode I woudn’t have access to Legendary creatures. That’s kind of a bummer. In order to play the game I have to play on a basic level but then I won’t even get full access to the game. One of my biggest frustrations with Fallout 4 is that while you get all the weapons, you don’t get all the ammunition. I found myself battling 6 Super Mutant Brutes and by the time I killed 4 (and used all my Stimpaks) I was down to three Molotov Cocktails. That’s not going to take down two Super Mutant Brutes using high powered laser rifles. As the picture shows, the Brute is on the lower end of the Super Mutant scale which peaks at Behemoth. Joy. I had more fun building my settlement and assigning random refugees to work in my corn patch. Which was pretty big because I planted about 35 corn plants for 7 people. Because of my limitations as a Fallout 4 player the open world aspect of the game wasn’t much fun. Normally I love traversing large maps and exploring new territories. Yes, in Skyrim the sheer size of the map is somewhat daunting and eventually gets a bit dull because all you do is walk, walk, walk. And yes, I could have used horses except I kept killing my horses and that guilt over pixels welled up to the point where I stopped. In DA:I, I never even took advantage of the horse option. Plus, I wasn’t sure if my party would get horses or if only I would. Along those same lines. . .Dogmeat, my loyal companion. Wandering the map is pretty lonely so having Dogmeat around made it seem a little less so. Just hearing him snuff and bark was soothing. But then he would end up getting himself so injured in battle that I’d hear him whining and I’d either Stimpak him because I couldn’t handle watching him try to get to his feet while crying or I’d leave the room until he recovered enough to join me. Dogmeat doesn’t die, which is almost cruel. He just gets beat down over and over and over again because I’m not very good at this game. Anyway, because I suck at Fallout 4 exploring was stressful because every darn thing I ran across from mutant dogs to bloatflies to raiders would end up killing me. So frustrating. I like the world of Fallout. I like the game mechanics, for the most part. The fact that much of the gameplay is similar to Skyrim is nice. I enjoyed beating Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. But Fallout 4 was a giant fail for me. Luckily, we have a friend (the Chef) who is very interested in Fallout 4 so I gave him my copy. Om was the one who asked me the other day “Do you want to enjoy your summer playing games you like or are you going to stubbornly hold onto this game because you feel like you should?” I had no profound response to that. There is no reason for me to hold onto it. I received the game as a Christmas gift so I had no money invested in it and I have no problem giving it to someone who will enjoy it the way it’s meant to be enjoyed. I hope to get updates from the Chef about the game as he plays it. What’s next for me? Well, I have an unopened Arkham Knight still waiting for me. And I’m sort or reengaging AC: Unity, although I think I really do hate Arnauld. Dude’s a total spaz. Recently I learned that there’s a DA:II for PS3 so maybe if I find it in the wild for less than $15 I’ll pick it up. But only if I find it for under $15. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any more games until Dishonored 2 drops in November (not that I’m going to pay full price for it, but that’s the next game on my horizon). But truly, I may just replay DA:I with a totally different character. My last one was a Dalish rogue archer. Maybe I’ll try a mage of some type.

The Lady Speaks. . .Dark Jem Saga & What I’ve Been Reading • The Dark Jem saga is a six-part storyline the runs issues #12-17. The setup is that Jem and Holograms are going on tour with The Misfits. Unlike the cartoon which made The Misfits the enemy of Jem and the Holograms, the comic has them as more of uneasy frenemies. Kimber and Stormer are still involved. Rio and Jerrica remain a couple and are still incredibly boring. How he doesn’t know about Jem/Jerrica is stretching plausibility at this point. Especially since Rio doesn’t like Jem. Pizzazz is still sidelined due to vocal damage so The Misfits need a new singer for the tour. They end up going with Blaze, who just happens to be transgendered. While it’s cool to see a transgendered character, it’s handled so blasé that it almost seems unimportant. Synergy is infected with something that causes an evil version, Silica, to manifest. Silica turns people “dark” through music. Luckily the dark phase only lasts about 8 hours, unless the victim is subjected to the music continually. As we learn from Jerrica, a semi-traumatic experience can also cure the individual. Jerrica’s experience with Silica has left her rattled and she’s not sure she can be Jem anymore. She wants Synergy to hologram Jem until she gets her confidence back. Techrat is the one who figures out what is going on with Synergy, sort of. He wants to find the Silica code to do something evil with it. Pizzazz shows up at the end of Part 5 of the story to save the day but her plan isn’t really all that groundbreaking. It’s have the Misfits and the Holograms play together. One has to wonder why no one else thought of this since the whole point of the series so far seems to be trying to get the Misfits and Holograms to be friends. Due to Jerrica’s unease at being Jem, Synergy fakes Jem and Jerrica stays backstage to track down the Silica virus and to keep Techrat away. Her logic here is pretty sound. Synergy being a hologram can’t do what Jerrica as flesh and blood can do but Synergy can fake Jem pretty easily. Pizzazz is recovered enough to sing, but she is going to allow Blaze to stay in the band as a guitarist and backup singer with the possibility of soloing. There’s yet another band wanting to take down the Misfits and the Holograms. They’re British. That’s where the series is going next. Honestly, I’m not that into this title anymore. I’m at the point where I let the issues build up over months and then read that in one chunk only to forget most of what I’ve read. I do appreciate some of the more modern takes the story has on young adults in 2016. It’s a progressive book. I still love the art, but I have to make a decision—do I stop collecting it now at almost two years in or do I let the completionist part of my brain convince me that I have to have them all. • Assassin’s Creed #9 & 10 Sadly, I think I’m throwing in the towel on this one. You know I love me some AC, but this comic hasn’t really grabbed my interest and I’m almost a year in. The clunkiness of trying to weave Animus stories into a modern day story really ruins any flow the book manages to eek out. It actually concerns me that the movie may suffer from similar issues and I really want the movie to do well. Not just as an AC fan but as a video game fan. It’s time someone makes a really good video game adaptation. I recently tried reading one of the AC novels and it did absolutely nothing for me. And I’m the gal who read all the Myst books. Part of me wonders if AC is best left as a video game. • Assassin’s Creed: Templars #3 I really enjoy this comic. The fact that it takes place in the 1930’s in China gives it a wonderful noir feel. The Black Cross is a compelling character and the depths of deceit within the Templars is fascinating. The story telling is smoother than AC and I think having fewer main characters works better. I’m going to stick with this one a bit longer as it’s only on the third issue • Tank Girl: Two Girls One Tank #2 I love me some Tank Girl and this is a limited run so I’m going to see it out. • Munchkin #18 Munchkin remains my favorite read. It is the one that I immediately consume when I get it home from the comic book store. It’s funny, witty, goofy, and appeals to my RPG loving nature (as does the game so that makes sense). You never really know what you’re going to get with each issue. At least I don’t because I don’t go and read previews of it. I like the surprise element. I’m definitely going to keep collecting this one. • Faith #1 I love that there is a fat superheroine in the Valiant universe. The first issue just came out so I can’t make too many snap decisions, but she does meet her (self-proclaimed) arch nemesis in the first issue so that’s fun. Her alter ego as a writer for a Buzzfeed-esque type of business is pretty spot-on for a Millenial superheroine. The parallels to such super heroes as Superman and Peter Parker are not lost on me. Yes, I know she’s a much older character dating back to the early 90’s and Harbinger, but this updated version feels fresh and fun. Faith is optimistic, smart, psychic, can fly, and rocks a skin tight costume without feeling ashamed at her size. She’s a body positive superheroine without cramming it down your throat. You see her size, it’s not discussed. It’s not an issue, it’s just reality. Her enthusiasm and positivity are a breath of fresh air in a world of dour, dark, depressed super heroes. I would like to see where this one goes. • Reliquary: Mayhem and Magic #1 Yeah, this one I’m passing on. It just feels like it’s been done before. . .and better. Magician steals stuff for a living, steals from the mob, mob steals his dog to force him to steal something for them. Dull. Although, it started great with this overview of the different types of magic (pain, pleasure, sensing, and mindf*ck) and our main character is paranoid about “feeling pleasure.” So it at first I was intrigued but as the story evolved into a by-the-numbers mob/revenge story, I lost interest.