Nerd Life: Comics are Fun Again

Any comic fan can tell you, comics these days are growing more mature with each issue. Granted, their core audience is growing older, and the medium is growing with it.

However, what about new readers? What about bright-eyed little 8-year-old boys (or girls)? Many major comics are becoming exactly what moms everywhere feared they were years ago.

Then, Marvel made one of the most brilliant and controversial moves in their long history.

**WARNING! SPOILERS FOR THE PAST YEAR OR SO OF SPIDERMAN COMICS INCOMING**

For the past 40+ years, Spiderman has been the flagship title for Marvel. Sure, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man and others may have exceeded it in sales at times. Avengers has always been the core of the Universe's story. But Spiderman has always been the company's heart and soul.

We've grown up with him.


We've seen him fall in love.


We've had our hearts broken.


We were invited to his wedding.


We were together at the worst time imaginable.

Over the years, as with many books, Spiderman's universe was growing complex. Writer J. Michael Straczynski was introducing some interesting plot developments, but between joining the Avengers and all the big Marvel events like Civil War, he was unable to really bring them together.

Like many comics before, Spiderman was due for a relaunch.

This started in Amazing Spiderman #538, when, in an attempted attack on the now-public identity of Peter Parker, his beloved Aunt May is shot. This leads to the "Back in Black" event where Peter goes after those responsible, seeking vengeance.


Amazing Spiderman #544 starts the "One more Day" storyline, where Peter does anything and everything, legal and illegal to save Aunt May. His last resort is Mephisto, a near-omnipotent demon trickster. In exchange for saving May, mephisto wants one thing in return.

Not Peter's life.

Not his soul.

His love.


Peter and Mary Jane agree and Mephisto changes all of history. Peter and Mary Jane never got married. Spiderman's true identity was never revealed. It was a "Brand New Day"

Many fans were outraged by this. They canceled the subscriptions they've had since childhood. I thought it was brilliant. If Stan Lee says it's a great idea, then who am I to judge?

At the time, there were 3 regular monthly Spider-books, Amazing Spiderman, Sensational Spiderman, and Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman. Marvel took a huge chance and CANCELED the latter two, deciding to publish Amazing Spiderman three times a month.

"Brand New Day" started in Amazing Spiderman #546, and was the beginning of the almost-weekly publishing schedule. Instead of several writers and artists working on several titles, Amazing Spiderman features a team that collaborates on the issues.

Let me say, this change has made comics fun again. Spiderman is single again, hurting for money, trying to have relationships, work, pay the rent AND fight crime. It's a long overdue return to his roots. The schedule allows them to run one-issue stories without "wasting a month," while still doing larger, 6-issue "trade-sized" stories. Additionally, they can create large, branching, drawn-out underlying stories that would take YEARS to tell in a normal format. You can tell even the staff is having fun. The lost art of "editorial balloons" has resurfaced. Used to remind readers where plot threads came from, the editors and writers now actually use them as a storytelling device. They inform and entertain, even telling jokes and poking fun at each other.

If you're someone who has loved comic books in the past, but lost interest, do yourself a favor. Go to your local bookstore, buy a big cup of coffee and sit down with the Trade Paperback edition of "Brand New Day." You'll fall back in love all over again. I know I did.

Links! 5/29

The Purple Kodo: 13 Points of Blogging - Matticus, blogger extraordinaire, gives some great tips on how to own a successful blog. Granted, I fail at many of them, but "success" isn't really my goal, anyway.

What's Your Mage Bad At? - Even though it's his weakest skill, Gnomer gives some great explanation in how to use Amplify and Dampen Magic.

Stupid Mages and their Spawning - Fulguralis has one of the best posts ever.

Exp-LORE-ation: Prepare to Die

Exp-LORE-ation will be a recurring, but not regular feature on Hardcore Casual. I absolutely love the story created by Blizzard and the wonderfully crafted world we play our game in. I will use this theme to explore some of the lesser-known aspects of the in-game lore.

Today's Topic: Father Inigo Montoy

When I first happened across the Father at Light's Hope Chapel in Eastern Plaguelands I laughed at the joke and continued with my business.

Several years later, while working on the Wrathgate questline, an interesting plot unfolded. Wintergarde keep is under siege by the Scourge, led by the Lich, Thel'zan the Duskbringer.

During the quest An End and a Beginning, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon shows up and converses with Thel'zan, saying, "So how, then, did Father Inigo Montoy, bastion of virtue for the Argent Dawn, become the embodiment of that which he hated most?"

Wait, what?

A further look at Thel'zan's Phylactery shows that indeed, this Unholy servant of the Lich King once used to be a Priest.

What happened there?

Back in the old days of Naxx-40, those strong enough to defeat Kel'Thuzad were given the quest to bring his Phylactery to the Argent Dawn. Yes, you give this item to none other than our friend, Father Montoy. He seems to be quite impatient to get his hands on it.

Some time later, (Remember, the expansions in WoW not only advance the story, but the timeline, as well.) Kel'thuzad is resurrected and Naxxramas relocated to Dragonblight. But, that's impossible. Without the phylactery, the Lich King has no way to bring Kel'Thuzad back.

Unless...

Father Inigo Montoy, member of the Argent Dawn, Priest of the Light, betrayed us all to his true master.

As Thel'zan tells Fordragon:

Our lord, Arthas, saw in me the frailty of man.
"Serve me in life and i will promise to rend the weakness from your soul. To erase it from existence!" To be chosen... blessed by the Lich King in such a way.
So seve him I did... Were it not for me the glorious dead citadel of Naxxramas may never have returned to Northrend.

A wonderful bit of lore that those who have not been playing for years or those who don't read carefully will miss.

The Reason I Hate Night Elves

Okay, maybe not the only reason.

While slacking off this weekend, I once again attempted one of my greatest WoW hurdles: leveling a Druid. While doing this, I had an epiphany.

I think I may have figured out just WHY I dislike Night Elves so much.

Teldrassil is an exercise in frustration.

First of all, let's look at Teldrassil itself:



See all those mountains and caves? Yeah, that's a pain to navigate. Since there are quests that have you running back and forth all over the place, you can't just point down the road and autorun while playing Peggle.

Dun Morogh is complicated as well, but more compact. Goldshire is frakking huge, but very easy to navigate. None of the starting zones are perfect, but Teldrassil seems to be the worst, at least on Alliance side.

Next, most of the Elves I've attempted to level have been Leatherworkers. The Leatherworking Trainer is just outside Darnassus. That's a heck of a haul every 5-10 skill levels.

So far, minor annoyances, but really no reason to discriminate against an entire species, right? To be honest, the Elves THEMSELVES should be enough of a reason, but it's easier to justify this way.

Let's look at the classes available to Night Elves, and how well they perform at very early levels.

Warrior - No worse at low levels than anything else. Anybody can become one, so you rarely see Elf Warriors.
Priest - Can Priests do ANYTHING before level 20+?
Rogue - Terrible survivability without the damage to make up for it yet.
Hunter - Playing a Hunter before level 10 is one of the worst things anyone can do. Thankfully, my Dwarf Hunter was my first character, so I didn't know it COULD be any better.
Druid - Same as Hunter. Sure, you have spells, but nowhere near enough mana to use them much.

So, with the exception of Warrior, all these classes are brutal to play at Teldrassil level.

Finally, the quests. I despise these quests.

EVERY time through, one of the species flat-out refuses to drop one of its body parts. And it's a different headache each time!
Practically EVERY enemy in this zone either can heal, will run away at low health, or be completely impossible to pull less than 2 or 3. Usually all of the above. I don't mind multiple pulls every now and then, but every darn time is a bit annoying.
Too many "bosses" are completely impossible to solo pull. Since they're even tougher than the USUAL annoying enemies, this becomes very frustrating.
Then there's that place.

Sure, Hunters get their pets, Druids get Bear Form, Rogues become awesome and you can always just group up. But I don't want to wait. I don't want to grind. I don't want to deal with your average low-level NIGHT ELF player. A newbie zone should be quick and easy. I should be able to do the quests in whichever order I please, without needing to wait until level X to be able to attempt it. I should be able to just go on autopilot by this stage of my WoW career.

At Level 8, I should not be this frustrated. At Level 8, I should not want to just stop playing. At Level 8, I should not already be considering making it a Free Realms night.

How in the world did ANYBODY who made I Night Elf their first character continue playing this game?

Oh yeah, it only gets worse.

Machinima Monday: Crank Dat Druid Boy

A bit of an old one, but I've been feeling rather... Druish... lately.