House of Ideas: Odds and Ends

By Thomas "HouseT" Houston

Odds and Ends is where I plan throw out random topics and rants about things. Almost everything I talk about will have some link to the comic world, but if not then I’ll make one up. Fun, huh?

Oscar-Mania (And I’m not talking about loving the Grouch)

The Academy Awards are over, and if you're lucky you didn't care. But if you're the type that does care about such things, then there was probably a little something for everyone. I've heard some people say that there were surprises and unexpected wins, but honestly most categories were stacked with worthy nominees. I'm still at a loss for why there were only three songs nominated for Best Original Song, but if nothing else Three 6 Mafia gave one of the most energetic acceptance speeches ever. Everyone knows which after party they want to be at.

Incidentally, the most energetic and enthusiastic acceptance speech of the night in my opinion came after South Africa's win in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Director Gavin Hood gave an emotional speech that displayed his pride not only for his country, but also for his cast, his continent, his craft, and the film world in general. It was nice to see.
Did you notice paired presenters Jessica Alba (Invisible Woman) and Eric Bana (Incredible Hulk)? I did.


City of Heroes: Now in Portable Form

Paragon City... where you are the hero! Literally.

Almost any comic book fan has at least heard of the online PC game City of Heroes in passing. A fortunate few may have even managed to escape the numerous free trials and introductory offers and not currently be churning away hour after glorious hour in superhero-oriented bliss. And for the few that escaped, they now have one last snare to trap you with.

Enter City of Heroes: The Collectible Card Game. Although I managed to wean myself off of the online version, I'm such a sucker for card games that I had to give this one a look see. And boy was that a mistake. Because now I'm hooked.

The card game follows the basic premise of the computer game, putting you into the role of a costumed hero of Paragon City. While the more well known heroes like Statesman and the lot are harder to come by, the lesser known "generics" more than make up for it. Besides, a name is just a name. Powers are what make the hero, and the game has powers in spades.

Just like the game, each hero card has a pair of power sets printed on it to represent the hero's power base. In addition, each hero card has two starting powers listed, one power for each set. After all, a hero can't start out with no powers at all. The standard game involves heroes fighting one-on-one in an attempt to take out the other player's hit points. Last hero standing wins.
Players use decks that can hold a variety of cards. Power cards add more powers to your hero. Enhancement cards provide increases in damage and recharge times. Edge cards play like interrupts and can either help you or hinder your opponents. Sidekicks are NPCs that stand and fight with their heroes. And mission cards put effects into play that affect both sides until the mission is defeated.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the card game is the Inspiration system. For people who haven't played the computer game, Inspirations provide brief temporary buffs to health, accuracy, etc. In the card game, every playable card has a mark in the lower left corner designating which Inspiration it can be used as. So even if a card can't be played for its normal purpose, you can still burn it as an Inspiration in a pinch. As anyone who plays a CCG knows, it's great to have a system where there's no such thing as a wasted card.

The art on the cards come from various images and panels of the Top Cow comic based on the game. The card images are meticulously cropped and centered so that there's plenty of images available to use. A melee strike, flame attack, and action pose for three different cards may well be different parts of the same comic panel. It's a good use of photo conservation, especially considering the image base from the comic itself is limited.

One of the more interesting things with the card game is that there's an online component. By visiting the website, you can create your own hero card. You can choose their name, starting archetype and powers. You can even upload an image to be printed on the card (so folks with character screenshots or their own art can use it). And best of all, the printed cards are tournament legal. It's honestly the most customizable feature of the game.

You have two buying options. The starter deck Battle Packs come with one hero, that hero's starting powers, and 22 random cards. The booster packs contain 11 random cards but often contain cards not available in the Battle Packs. The Battle Packs, however, are the easiest way to get into game play, especially since they contain the heroes and cards most useful to them. Assembling decks from boosters will lead to a lot of work, a lot of trading, or a lot of luck.

If you're not a big fan of the PC game, comic book superheroes, or CCGs in general, then you're probably not reading this anyway. But if you are a fan of any of the three and you have a few bucks to spare, buy a battle pack or two and give the game a spin. It won't hook you. I promise. And by promise, I mean I'm not really sure.

Gameplay: 7/10 (a solid game mechanic that emulates its source material while adding just enough originality)
Art: 6/10 (If you like the comic's art, you'll like the card art. 'Nuff said.)
Overall: 6/10 (There are probably better card games out there, but this is clearly better than some other themed CCGs)


All Things Clix: DC’s Collateral Damage

When titans clash in the DC comic universe, there can be only one result... No, not pointless crossovers and merchandising! Epic battles! Wholesale destruction! And most of all... Collateral Damage!

Collateral Damage is the new set of HeroClix released by WizKids, Inc. For the uninitiated, HeroClix, features plastic miniatures of your favorite (or not so favorite) characters, Players build teams of figures and send them into battle with each other. As figures take damage, the player turns the dial on their base a set number of clicks. As the dial turns, the character's stats change until they are finally "knocked out" (because comic book characters don't die most of the time, you see).

This set is the first and only DC set for the year (not counting special Collector's Sets). The set's make-up is diverse and spread out throughout the DC universe. You'll find characters as current and down to earth as Black Mask alongside characters as old school and far spanning as space jockey Adam Strange. There's a lot of diversity here, both in figure selection and in powers and team abilities.

The sculpts are pretty sweet, as well. Going along with the set theme, almost all of the figures in Collateral Damage have some sort of wreckage or debris as part of their sculpt. People stand in burning wreckage, others dive out of flames, a select few are making constructs and walls with their powers. Even if you don't like certain characters, you have to admit they look nice.
I'm a big fan of Kalibak wielding a car door, myself.

Overall: 8/10 (Nice sculpts, plenty of playable figures, and new special objects add flavor to the play mechanics. The new map is fun, too.)


Cracking the Blinds

So you're asking yourself just why I review the comics I review. That, or you're asking yourself, "He reviews comics?" Last week I went through my rating system. This week, I'll try to go through the process that leads me to my finished product.

Step 1. Read Comics. I know what you’re thinking, but sometimes this is harder than it sounds. I have to make a special trip on Wednesday just to get my weekly comics before I go to work. And since I work the late shift, if I don't manage to get them then, I have to wait until Thursday at the earliest. And on top of that, I then have to read the comics promptly, or else I won't be able to review them. Sometimes I manage to get through most of them at work. Sometimes it takes until after work to get them done. Sometimes, it takes a bit longer, Somewhere, there's a pile of books that I meant to read but never got around to it. But don't worry. I probably won't review any of those.

Step 2. What to Review? The next step is to figure out exactly what I should review on any given week. My first parameter is simple: it should be a book I buy that week. The main reason why is so that if I want to, I can go back and reference things in the book. I'd rather not be the type of person that just thumbs through something and then gets subjective over it (at least not in my main column).

Second, I try to limit myself to 5-6 titles a week. The most obvious reason for this would be that that's around the number of titles I buy in any given week. But also I figure that due to space, more than 5-6 reviews will be more words than anyone other than a diehard fan will want to see from me in a given column (and who has those?).

Step 3. What goes where? The next thing is figuring out exactly what will get a full summary/review and what will get a minor one. That usually comes easy enough. When I go through a book, if I have a lot of thoughts or opinions on things popping into my head, then I tend to make a full review out of that book. I can also decide that a book is popular or probably being read or talked about enough that I want to put my two bits in as well. Normally just one or two titles will get a full review, but I may push it to three depending on how much space/time I use on the first ones.

Step 4. Research/Revision. Here's where I get down to it. For full reviews I'll usually go back through a book page by page to make sure I get the full story/details and to make sure I haven't missed anything. I'm also looking for a quote to use and any interesting sticky points I may want to discuss in more detail. Reviews usually go through a few revisions as I change around things that I want to say, correct errors, and insert and remove odd jokes, comments, and tangents.

Step 5. The Big Finish. The final product goes to the web site. Pictures, if any, get added to the text. Everything gets one last reread for clarity, and then I put the whole thing up before I lose my nerve and back out of it all. And then you, the consumer, can enjoy the beefy goodness. Or something like that.

So that's that. Mind you, some variables alter the final outcome. I was a whisper away from only having one full review last week, but after rereading Ms. Marvel #1 I just had to go into more detail on it. Alternatively, I wanted to do a review of some sort on X-Factor #4, but was short on time and space for last week's review column.


T-Mail!

It’s time to read us some T-Mail!
Reply to some posts and some e-mail!
Might even get one from a female!
(But it’ll probably be from a dude.)

No actual T-mail to reply to today (boo!) so I've decided to reply to random e-mails that have entered various inboxes throughout the course of my life.

Dear Random People:

I do not share your opinions and have no interest in subscribing to your newsletter.

I'm not sure why I'd want it any longer, but even if I did I don't think I'd buy something like that over the internet.

If you really wanted me so bad, you'd be naked already.

Not only am I not Tiffany Houston, but you even acknowledge that my school I.D. said I was not her. Way to go, idiot.

I bought one pass to DragonCon two years ago. Why the &^%! do I care if Green Day is playing in Virginia?! Leave me be, Ticketmaster! Leave me be.

Man, that was cathartic. Thanks for letting me share.

If you have any ideas/suggestions/comments, feel free to leave them here or contact me at th_houston75@hotmail.com. Please reference either "Waiting for Wednesday" or "House Rules!" in you subject, so I have some idea why you're mailing me.

Until next time, remember: it is, in fact hard out here being a pimp. For one thing, there's no dental plan...