Wolverine Down Under

Give thanks for Thanksgiving! Mmm...food. I insisted on participating in the preparation, and even made my own Sweet Potato/Chestnut mash! It was alright, and a good venture into cooking this break.
After consuming the food, we ventured out to see "Australia" with some family friends. I will not offer a review per say. I will say that if it has a central theme, it is lost in the 3 hours of movie provided. However, I enjoyed it overall. Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are far too stunning a couple for us common peasants. That man is RIPPED!
What was most interesting to me (Spoiler alert?) was the overt symbolism of the Wizard of Oz. Oz, Aussie, Australia. There's magic, there's young women stuck in "Faraway Downs". On top of that, we have references to Peter Pan with the "Never Never", and "The Jungle Book" with Kipling Flynn (Rudyard Kipling), all revolving around the young Aboriginal boy Nullah and his search for identity. I think it's an interesting idea, with some big symbols and allegory floating around, but once again, I'm not sure that it goes beyond that. I'm also not as familiar with those stories as I'd like to be, and I wonder what the film would be like if I had that under my belt.
I'm a big fan of allegory and overarching symbolism, and I'm glad to see some in the theater. I don't know if it worked, but we can do with more of it as viewers. We can also do with more Hugh Jackman. Hey, I just realized that I got movies with Daniel Craig, Hugh Jackman AND Jason Statham this year. Hurray for British/Australian action stars!

From the Depths of the Vaults comes...an update?

Well folks, it's true. I CAN update blogs! Who knew! I will make no excuses for my un-bloggish behavior. I only hope that this humble offering will appease my friends, well-wishers, and internet based stalkers.
There is so much to cover, that I will simply start with what has been devouring my time in the recent past. I could talk about Seascape, Literature of the American West, school, Gordon Ramsey, James Bond, but no! None of it! Instead, let's spend our time in the D.C. Wasteland talking about Fallout 3, Bethesda Softwork's latest venture into the gaming world.
I have to say, first off, that no game spawns semi-plausible conversation like Fallout 3. I can't tell you how many times friends have overheard me talking about seeming mundane things, like talking to people, getting soda, listening to the radio, only to be shocked awake by a phrase like, "Then this Super Mutant came out of nowhere! But I liquefied him with my plasma rifle."
Tonight, I finished the main storyline. Which was excellent. I will say it panders to its audience, but why not? If you have a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi setting with strong 50's overtones, playing things up is more than acceptable. And really, the setting is ambitious. The whole game is set in a bombed out Washington D.C. and has HOURS of voice acting. Sure, you'll hear a lot of the same actors again and again, but the quality and quantity of it is amazing. Bethesda works very hard to immerse you in the world, and they do a fine job. The first person perspective is also a really unique vantage point for a roleplaying game, and aids in the immersive experience.
While there are a lot of great things to say about the game (graphics, story, gameplay mechanics, sense of humor, weaponry, art style), I was most impressed by the non-linear nature of both story and character development. Yes, there is a main set of quests, that are followed in a one after another fashion, but this is interspersed with a giant wasteland to explore, side quests up the wazoo, and many choices to be made in how to carry out these quests. This leads into the extremely varied character development. A friend of mine purchased the game a few days before me, and we played the game through at roughly the same pace. The amazing thing was, our experiences were extremely different! Skill choices make a HUGE impact on the game, as well as perks, bonuses gained at each level. My friend's character was hacking computers at every turn, and I was picking locks and charming people. The most impressive part of this system to me was the Karma indicator. Depending on your actions, you receive good or bad karma. This affects your interactions with certain NPCs, companions, quests, it changes everything! Not only that, it has a profound effect on the player. I started out trying to play somewhat morally neutral, but it got to the point that I couldn't make some of the bad choices without feeling guilty! My character ending up making a moral turn around part way through the game! I've never had a game tug at my psyche in quite the way that Fallout 3 has.
All around, the game is wonderfully constructed, and open for several playthroughs. I spent over 40 hours on the game, and if I saw half of the content I was lucky. Despite a few nagging graphical bugs, the game is a joy to play, and oozes cool. I mean, your dad is Liam Neeson. Sweet.
So, I know it probably wasn't what you were expecting from an update, but it had to be said! Expect more in the coming weeks, as I have considerably more stress free time available to me. This is Three Dog, signing off!

The Blog Shall Rise Again!

Well, I sure have been slacking on the Blog front, that's for sure. But don't worry! Things will start rolling again soon. Things have been busy between going home and getting back here to school, but expect a decently sized update soon. Adieu!

And So It Goes...

Well, it’s all coming to a close. Just as Captain America has passed, so too do I leave this summer behind and go on to new things. Tomorrow I fly back to Utah for a few days before heading off to school. Another summer gone, and certainly one of my favorites so far. Today was my last day at Marvel this summer, but hopefully I’ll be back again.
Today was a busy last day, but a good one. My supervisors gave me whatever they could before I left, particularly time consuming projects like scanning. I did a lot of scanning today, but hey, that's fine with me. Secret Wars was the name of the game today. Unbeknownst to me, Secret Wars was one of the first, if not THE first, big crossover event, which are now ubiquitous in the comics industry. Just look at all the tie ins for Secret Invasion or Final Crisis. It's amazing that there are any books that aren't connected to these major events. Just like any genre, when an original idea works, it becomes a part of the regular process, and then you have to think up new ideas. Just take a look at the old Superhero comics, and you'll have small changes like 2 page spreads and removing thought balloons have completely changed the face of the Superhero comic.
I was also able to squeeze in a few proofs today as well. More essentials (which take up a fair amount of time in the office) and Ultimate Power among others. While I love the Ultimate universe, sometimes it just turns into "______ vs. _______" , which is fine, but lacks a lot of substance.
I had a great time working at Marvel this summer. I would love to work even closer to the editorial process of the monthly comics, and the Trades department was an awesome place to be introduced to the company. Both my supervisors were great guys and wonderful to work with, and both said they'd pass on recommendations for me inside and outside the office. I really had a unique chance this summer to reflect on comics from many different angles. The fan in me indulged himself in the shear variety of merchandise and product available, reading whatever I could get my hands on. The inside look I got at my favorite publisher, while not comprehensive, was incredibly enlightening. Simply by being there you learn about the process and the environment in ways that you just can't from the outside. Finally, I've been able to do some reading on literature and comics in particular, giving me a much better understanding of comics in general. I also wrote a comic this summer! How about that? Really, it was one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me, and while this summer had it's share of heartache, it was time of growth and learning in any number of ways.
I also had lunch with my cousin Peter today. It was great to get in touch with him and just talk. It's something I haven't done much with my cousins, and it was a lot of fun. I'm glad I saw him before I left town tomorrow. I'm also glad I shipped stuff home, or my bags would have been WAY over the weight limit.
Well, though the summer draws to a close, it is only the beginning for Exelcsior! Be on the lookout for more exciting updates and opinions. It's my life. Don't you want to read it?

Until next post true believers,

'Nuff said

Oh Bad Movies, Will You Ever Learn?

Hopefully, they won't, or I wouldn't have as much fun laughing at them. I will start by introducing to the coolest thing I have found in a long, long time. The Antimatter Multiverse is home to dvd releases of some of the worst Science Fiction and Superhero movies and TV specials ever made. I mean ever. How about the Nick Fury moving starring David Hasselhoff? Turkish Star Wars? The infamous Star Wars Holiday Special? They're all here for about $12.00! Oh, so tempting. At the very least, reading the descriptions of the movies and looking at the pictures and trailers is amazing. Oh, definitely check out Superman: The Musical from 1975. It is real, and it is ridiculous. Really, it's a good thing Marvel stepped up their movie making. They have alot to answer for.
While I always appreciate the blasts from the past, lets not forget that bad movies are still being made today! Let's talk about one I just saw last night: Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I want to say right off the bat, that the reason I think this was an awful movie, is because it was a good Saturday Morning Cartoon show. It basically followed the formula for what a Saturday Morning Cartoon (SMC) needs, and turned three or four episodes into a movie. Basically, you have a series of self contained adventures, and though they all piggy back on each other, they each have a seperate issue that needs to be resolved. So, introduce the problem, fight for a while and fix it, and then make sure everything is exactly the same as it was at the beginning of the adventure. Repeat this a few times, and you have a movie right? Nope. Sorry guys. Really, this movie should have gone straight to DVD. Now, I'll admit that I thought the animation was great, and the action sequences were really cool. Star Wars lends itself very well to animation, but the structure of the movie really brought it down.
However, I also want to say that I'm not trying to defend the movie that much. The dialogue was stupid, I mean, even for a new Star Wars movie, and most of all the plot was anything but engaging. I don't about the Hutts. I really don't. Let's not forget Anakin suddenly being someone who Yoda, yes, Yoda, would entrust a prepubescent girl to.
Finally, if we thought the days of stereotypical Star Wars aliens were over, this film has shown that they've just begun, thanks to Ziro, the big gay Hutt. This was just astonishing. I mean, with Jar Jar you can sort of fudge it and say, "That's just the way he acts", but a big, purple and pink hutt, wearing feathers, who talks with a lisp? Hoo boy, someone's gonna get mad about this one, and they have every right too.
Well, I have one day of work left. Yesterday was really busy. It seemed like I had 2 or 3 things I had to do at the same time all day long. This is good, of course, but also stressful, since everything we do is on a schedule, and so things need to get done. I did a lot of proofs yesterday, some good, some not so good. NYX was great. It's amazing how even though we've had the X-Men around for years, you can still do a great story about mutants that doesn't feel old. Another of the four proofs I did was a gigantic Punisher book. I only got halfway through it, and that was moving at top speed. Seriously, this thing was easily over 600 pages. The Punisher is another interesting character. He's certainly moved across the spectrum of anti-hero to superhero to just-plain-killing people, all with a variety of success. Still, I feel like you don't read the Punisher because you agree with him, you just want to see him kill guys and be hardcore. Really, he shouldn't be a Superhero. It just doesn't work.
I transcribed the biographies of few European comic book creators yesterday, and it's interesting to see the subtle differences in the industry in different parts of the world. Outside of England, most European comics seem to be focused around Science Fiction and Fantasy. At least that's what it seems like. It's just a testament to capitalism that Superheroes have defined comics for us here in the States, and not necessarily around the world. Well folks, talk to you soon.