Lonesome Road

After leaving Honest Hearts, I puttered around the wastelands of New Vegas for a while before randomly choosing a new DLC to take on. The radio transmission from the "original courier six" Ulysses was next in line, so I headed for the Divide.

The pop-up recommends that players not attempt this content until they are a minimum of level 25, but it has a unique feature for the DLC--if you enter and find it too difficult, you can travel back to the Mohave at any point with no consequence. In all other downloadable content, your character is stuck in the other world until you complete the main quest line; Lonesome Road is very unusual in its allowance in this regard.

Another way Lonesome Road is different is that there is no opening cut-scene, which was a bit refreshing after sitting through so many. At least for me, I go into new content ready for action and everything that keeps me from that makes me antsy and distractable, missing pertinent information in the process.

As with Old World Blues and Honest Hearts, you cannot take any companions in with you or take any you find back out.

My impressions: this content made me realize why I love this game so much. I will tell you, I went in with a great deal of over-confidence. At level 45 entering and with nearly all my skills completely leveled up, I was strutting around like the cock on the walk. Even this did not keep me from struggling--and dying--a lot. Practically every minute, I was loving it as the enigmatic Ulysses taunted me along and I ran into some familiar faces, both friendly and unfriendly. Along the way, you learn more about an old pal and question your alliances, making choices that will influence the rest of the game outside the Divide.

New Weapons
There were several new weapons when you enter this world, but to be honest none of them grabbed me enough to stick with them for long. It's not that they were not really neat, it was that after 40 some-odd levels of gameplay, you get a feel for your character and they develop their own style of fighting and favorite weapons. Forty-five might not seem that old, but in New Vegas it is practically geriatric and my Calley had all ready lived (and died) and loved--I had infused so much life and personality into her that it felt irreverent to change it.

Enough of me being a fuddy-duddy though--the guns!



The arc welder is likely the first, and one of the most plentiful, gun you will run into. It uses electron charge pack ammunition and shoots what is essentially a steady stream of lightening at enemies.


The Blade of the West is similar to the Bumper Sword we are used to from the core game. It is modeled after Legate Lanius's Blade of the East, but is not quite as powerful.


I wished someone had told me this before I had gotten the Flash Bang grenade--stand the fuck back before you throw them. Traditionally, you toss a grenade and it may land a bit too close, but it is really not that big of a deal; takes a bit of your health, you heal up and move on. Flash Bangs do damage as well...and damage your fatigue....and damage your damned weapon skills. So you toss it too close to yourself, you are essentially screwing yourself against any enemy the bomb didn't kill. If you are too, too close it will render you combat- (and hearing-) impaired until it wears off.

All that being said, it is a sweet weapon if you wield it effectively and can be life-savers against some of the scarier enemies in the Divide.



Red Glare makes you feel you more badass than any other weapon in this game. First of all, it is just huge. I mean, take-up-half-your-screen huge. It is fully automatic, able to empty its magazine (13 rounds) in a matter of seconds, its splash radius is 500 units, and it can be modded so that the magnification is x4.35, the highest in the game.

Of course, that is all information gleamed from the Wiki vault. What I know is that Red Glare makes big goddamn boom.

To a player that is used to the compact small guns like the Ranger Sequoia and .357 Magnum, this behemoth is the epitome of unwieldiness. That doesn't mean it isn't still really, really cool.



The last weapon of note is the Laser Detonator. There are thirty nuclear warheads casually hanging out across the landscape that can block your path onward or just conceal a hidden cache. One of your first goals upon entering is to retrieve this gun that requires no ammunition. It does absolutely zero damage versus any enemy unless the poor shmuck happens to be standing near the warhead you're about to blow, but it is good for mass devastation if you use it properly. You do have to note that any bomb you explode is going to --shock--leave behind areas of high radiation, so be sure to carry a lot of RadAway.

New Enemies
I am going to leave this area to your imagination, save to tell you this:

After going underground, your typically fearless companion begins to whimper in fear. You see something dart around corners ahead of you, never letting you get a good view. Sneaking along, you stumble across a Deathclaw, one of the most fierce opponents you face in the core game...and he has been torn to shreds.

Fallout really gets back to it's roots of suspense and helpless fright with their new creations, and it feels good to feel the thrill of exhilaration and fear again.

That aside, the ending boss fight in Lonesome Road is the most engaging I have had yet in this series. Much of my "fights" are done verbally, as I pass nearly every speech check I encounter (I actually leveled up once on a single speech alone). This one has more of a traditional feel to other action games as opposed to RPG bosses, and it was a fun way to end the plotline.



Other new features include the commissary--in lieu of merchants and vendors, there are mechanical commissaries liberally dispersed across the world. Let me tell you, if you play your cards right, it is very easy to get rich off of these machines, though they carry a mere 6000 caps starting budget apiece.

The way I played it--I traded for their 6000 caps, then utilized their repair feature to restock their money so I could continue to sell. NOTE: do not repair your gear all at once, as the commissary can only hold 6000 caps at a time, which means that if you repair 14000 worth of equipment, you just lost 8000 that you will have to earn back some other way.

It is also very easy to stock up on things that are extremely difficult to sell because of the sheer worth of them. You could take a financial hit for it or simply wait until you are back in the wasteland and find a vendor with deep pockets, but the sheer amount of valuable loot is surprising.

In every DLC I have chosen certain skills to focus on--in Old World Blues, it was Repair and Melee. In Honest Hearts, it was Survival. In Lonesome Road, I put my points into Explosives, Energy Weapons, and Barter. As far as strategic moves, this one did not seem to benefit me at all as my favored weapon was the riot shotgun, a weapon with satisfying force but annoyingly scarce ammo.

There were a few annoyances. I got frustrated at one point and genuinely considered leaving, though that was just homesickness for the missions and people and gameplay that I was so very familiar with and frustration that here, in this place, I was not the idolized Messiah that everyone had heard of and admired. I was a nobody, the sole target moving across the world alone.

As I said in the beginning--absolutely worth a play through. It was by far the most fun DLC I have played so far for either Fallout game, and that is saying something because all of them are quite enjoyable.

Now all that remains is the rather daunting Dead Money. Let's see how my young Calley fairs!

Honest Hearts

Continuing with Fallout New Vegas, the next DLC I tackled was "Honest Hearts". Though I have managed to make it through this once before, I remembered very little about it so it felt about time I plowed through again.

The content starts out with a radio broadcast requesting adventurers in possession of pip-boy to join them on a caravan to Utah's Zion--like all DLC, you are unable to have companions accompany you, but HH has the added stipulation that you carry 50 pounds or less of inventory. If that is simply too restrictive for you, pass a speech check with the douche-taco carrying a broken pip boy and make him carry some of your extra gear.




As soon as the caravan gets to Zion, it is ambushed by tribals called White Legs, who are so named because of their completely awkward and unflattering tan-lines. After slaughtering the rest of your group, you are left in a strange place with no way home.

Now, my initial impression of this DLC was that it was too short, comparatively. Admittedly, I did not seek out side quests as I would in the bulk of the game, as in other extra content the sheer force that is driving you forward will cause you to uncover many side quests. Not so much here, and there seems to be far fewer named NPC's which you can generally find missions from. I also hate that there seems to be no right or wrong answer, just choices.

Let me explain.

In Fallout 3, there was DLC called "The Pitt", a particularly buggy but exceedingly fun visit to what I assume was old Pittsburgh (though I could be mistaken). There, you were given a choice on how to proceed--there were not "good guys" and "bad guys", there were slaves with ambitions and masters with good-intent. There was no karma associated with your choices because it was never really clear which was the morally right choice, whether to steal the baby and free the slaves or leave the baby and the slaves the way they were.

In Honest Hearts, there is a similar choice where you can side with the Burned Man Joshua Graham or his missionary friend Daniel, but Graham doesn't seem to care whichever way you chose and Daniel refuses to be happy regardless of your actions. It is kind of obnoxious.

Companions:



The man to save you from your wrecked caravan is your first companion, Follows Chalk. He is one of the Dead Horse tribe following the command of Joshua Graham, and he gives you the Perk of +2 to your perception.

Here is my problem, though.

He sounds like a Mexican-Canadian, looks like a Caucasian, and is acting like a Native Indian.

I understand the merging of cultures, but it doesn't feel that way here--it feels like after a big nuclear war that destroyed most of the country, a bunch of white guys and gals banded together to take over someone else's heritage and ethnicity. It is inexplicable.

But say that I am just a cynic. After all, unless they have a race-specific name (like Dr. Usanagi of the New Vegas Medical Clinic), it is rather difficult to determine ethnicity among the NPCs. Maybe he, and the rest of the Dead Horse Tribe and the rest of the Sorrow Tribe, are honest-to-goodness, genuine Native Americans and not some bastard whiteys that are playing dress-up.

That means that two undeniably white guys--Joshua Graham and the soft-hearted Daniel--swooped in and took over leadership of these two groups of dark people.

When you put it that way, it might be construed as a little insensitive.



It doesn't really help that all the Sorrow women are dressed like that. That guy in plaid?



That is Daniel, the man who so bravely found a tribe of mostly-naked native women and became their leader. Inspiring.

Okay, enough of that--the hottie to the forefront is actually your second companion, when Follows Chalk becomes too annoying to bear. Her name is Waking Cloud and her associated perk is that she lowers the perception of your enemies, making sneaking and stealth attacks more effective for you. The downside is that she is an ignorant savage that refuses to go in "sacred" places like caves, stores, campgrounds, rivers, mountains, or the side of the road, but you can tune her out and she is not so bad. She also has a really badass glove made out of the arm of a Yao Guai,

I think the best companion of Zion is Joshua Graham, however. Regardless of the choices you make, he accompanies you for a brief time leading up to the end of the story, and his presence has the added benefit of .45 weapons being more effective with less spray.

All throughout the core game, you hear whispers and rumors of how Caesar's right hand guy failed him so he started the poor bastard on fire and tossed him down the hill. Of course, this raised my suspicions for later--for one thing, as any first grader will tell you, to put out fire you stop, drop, and roll. So setting this guy on fire and then making him roll down the hill is pretty much ensuring that this guy is going to look burnt toast, but probably survived the encounter with surprising badassery.

So when you get to Zion and you are pretty sure this has something to do with that crispy critter, you don't really know what to expect. Everything here has a bit of a savage, tribal look with enemies chucking spears and sporting loin cloths. When Follows Chalk takes you to his leader, the last thing you are expecting is this guy:



Calmly checking and loading guns as he makes small talk with you. It is a little unsettling, especially since the facial wraps recall every horrific story of Caesar's Legion to flash through your mind. Let's be honest, if there is someone that you most certainly do NOT want to be siding with (regardless of your political leanings), it is this guy. You have no idea where he stands, but you can safely assume he has no fond feelings toward either the NCR nor Caesar.

Anyways, not a ton of new enemies--you have some green geckos which now spit poisonous acid, and yao guai you may remember if you played FO3. In case you need a refresher:



That friendly fella.

The big selling point for this DLC is that you learn a lot of new Survival skill recipes for you to make at campfires or reloading benches. Of course, my survival skill was abysmally low before I came here and I have little to no experience with crafting in this game, but it was pretty awesome feeling like you were coming in having to actually learn and adapt to survive.

Weapons are plentiful and all right, though nothing stood out to me as much as the Proton Ax from Old World Blues. I guess I got used to Melee, so reverting back to old-fashioned guns was kind of a culture shock. I probably just wasn't looking as well as I needed to.

A considerable drawback (for me at any rate) is that at no point during my travels did I encounter someone to sell all my useless shit to. I am a Prospector, also known as a scavenger, who picks up every item I come across in the game in the hopes that a) it will prove useful to me, or b) it can be traded for some caps. Even if it isn't worth a fortune, many little items add up. So not long after I have landed in this strange country with little more than the clothes on my back, I am so weighted down with the possessions of my fallen enemy and every flower, rock, and tree on the way that I cannot possibly stuff another bullet in my heavily-laden pockets...and there is absolutely nothing to do with all of it! Obviously that is why they set the carry-weight limit, but I balk at the idea of leaving valuable and possibly useful items on the side of the road.

So there you have it! Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts. It was pretty good, definitely (like all fallout DLC) worth a purchase or at least a deeper look into, but replay value is not as high as it is in other content. Maybe it has more to do with stagnancy with my current character who is fast approaching level 35 and is therefore infinitely "over the hill".

The Reunion is the next set of missions I plan on tackling, so look forward to reading about that soon!

--Andie

Old World Blues

I can say with perfect honesty that Fallout New Vegas is my favorite game. Maybe it will one day change, but for right now, for me, it is the perfect video game.

That being said, we have had our fair share of trouble.

For completely inexplicable (to me, at least) reasons after several hundreds of hours of game time, FNV stopped loving me. Suddenly I was getting "disc scratched or damaged" messages, the inability to go more than a half hour before the game froze or blacked out or generally rebelled against my playing, and the complete and utter lockout from all DLC. New copies of the game and clearing the cache yielded no results, and deleting and re-downloading extra content was fruitless. It seemed I was never going to get to experience the content to a game I so adored.

   

As a last ditch effort before I gave up on this Obsidian masterpiece, I bought a fancy new console and a Game of the Year edition copy with all the DLC included. Economical? Hell no. I was paying for the fourth copy of the game and a costly console just to play a two year old game that I have logged over a hundred hours on. But dammit, I wanted to play it!

All of that is to explain why I am writing about DLC that is considered old news in the gaming world. Because this is the first time that I have gotten to experience it.



"Old World Blues" takes the Courier--in my case, a sweet southern soldier named Calley--to the former technology hub Big Mountain where you discover yourself subjected to the science experiments of the Think Tank.

My first impression was not a strongly positive one, for though I love the game, I am inherently distrustful of any changes, and unfortunately this one started out quite wordy.  The problem with DLC is that it feels like a separate game within a game which means that the introduction has to capture you, make you interested enough to keep going. OWB has the traditional narrated Fallout opening sequence, then it drops you in a big room with a group of chatty scientists who drag out the conversation into tedium. I hate skipping dialogue but I was half falling asleep waiting for the action to start.

The other issue I had was that because of my general disinterest in reading every word, I glazed over a lot of explanation as to where I was, why I was there, and what I was supposed to be doing. Like a trained monkey, I can follow the compass to my next objective, but it wasn't until nearly the end of the story line that I started picking up on what I was doing in the first place. I was just so antsy to get out there and explore, see what new creatures and weapons this world had to offer over the traditional game that I was missing important points.

That being said, of course the writing was well done and the characters were intriguing and entertaining. There was a lot of character at Big Mountain and I had fun playing it.

First, The Sink:



Even with an obnoxious compulsive disorder, my teeny sentry-bot pal Muggy was damned endearing. I actually enjoyed the Sink, the temporary home provided by the Think Tank while I traipsed about Big Mt. The catty light switches, the homicidal toaster, the smooth-talking seed machine made for the best player-owned home in the game. It was spacious with lots of storage for the many things I gathered on my journey, but best of all it utilized all that useless crap that littered the wasteland. I found myself bogging my inventory down not with valuable, sellable items, but coffee mugs, clipboards, and toasters just to make my neurotic appliances happy at home.

Add that to the only in-home store and repair shop the game offers, as well as an auto-doc complete with implants, cosmetic surgery, and psychiatric eval, and you are looking at the perfect hideaway in the wasteland.

Not all things are rosy here though. The Sink's store starts off with more available caps than most vendors, but does not ever receive an influx of supplies. The 8 stimpacks I was able to buy from him were the only ones available for purchase in Big Mountain, and if I needed healing I would have to tromp all the way back to my auto-doc.

All the functions of your home electronics have to be sought out in the form of holotapes and activated before the personality subroutines can be implemented, which would be fine if this was a home that you would be able to make your base for more than just the DLC. Once you leave here, I am given the impression that you can come back, but as it is not as accessible as say the Lucky 38 presidential suite or the hotel room in Novac, I can't imagine that it could be a long-term lodging.

Finally, the implants offered by the auto-doc are costly even for implants and offer little incentive to purchase them. For example, there is a 20,000 cap implant that increases the HP/AP bonus from consuming food. We are talking a massive investment for a benefit that you will only truly feel if you are playing in hardcore mode, and even then it won't be significant. Generally speaking, a stimpack will cost you between 100 and 125 caps, which means that for the same amount of money you can get between 160 and 200 stimpacks. There just is no logical sense.


New Enemies



One of the best parts of DLC is fighting off the new monstrosities in creation. Airing my (minor) complaint first--though I entered the world as merely a level 18, only one enemy posed a significant challenge and he was something I had seen before. In that aspect, it was mildly disappointing; in a much bigger way, it made me feel like a badass, and it really helped me rely on the weapons provided that were custom-made for fighting these enemies. My instinct is to fall back on my two favorites--the Weathered 10mm from the pre-order bonus pack, or the Ranger Sequoia obtained by killing an NCR ranger. Those felt out of place in this high-tech, robot-infested world, and I found myself opening up to the unusual weaponry available.

But I will save that for the weapons section. On to the bad guys!

Lobotomites are crazed, psychiatric patients armed with everything from a hatchet to a caravan shotgun. As I said,  they are relatively easy to take down, if you are being observant--they blend in well with their surroundings, and they never travel alone.


Robo-Scorpions look straight out of Stark Technology, but are devilly little suckers to kill. They too are usually found in groups, and once you kill them, back the hell off--they have a concussive explosion moments after death that can kill.


Fucking cazadores.

I hate those things. I think the developers were aware of that fact, as they grant you resistance to the poison via perk while you are here, and they break up the groupings a bit more. In the standard game, you will be walking along and one of these bastards will sting you, sending a health-damaging poison coursing through your veins while you try to fight off a dozen more of his venomous buddies.

Seriously, fuck cazadores.

Other than those, you will find cyberdogs, the full gamut of robot enemies, and nightstalkers. Nothing particularly daunting, but in greater numbers than typically found in the wasteland.

The Weapons
As I mentioned earlier, I am more of a one-gun kinda gal. Sure, some of my characters will favor the plasma energy weapons over traditional small guns, but for the most part I find what I like and I stick with it. For the majority of your purposes, the Weathered 10mm is going to treat you just right. The ammo is plentiful, parts for repairs are in abundance, and it can take on most enemies.

And in Old World Blues, you might as well leave it at home.

My pet gun felt surprisingly impotent here considering my early testament to the weakness of the enemies, but to be frank, the weapons the world provides are much more suited for the tech-based baddies of Big Mt.


The Sonic Emitter is a gun given to you by the Think Tank in the onset of the game. The frequency can be changed (if you gather the appropriate holotapes) to alter its effects, but overall I did not personally use it much until it was upgraded.


If you pass a gun skills check with Dr. Klein, he will offer you the k9000 cyberdog gun, a machine gun with a dog's brain that uses .357 ammo. If you don't pass the speech check, you will find another one somewhere in the world. While a novelty, the whimpering whenever you unequip it sweet, I did not find myself gravitating towards it much as it felt too big, too bulky, and too underpowered for its size.

My personal favorite, however, was the proton ax.



First of all, it just looks cool. Its style is tomahawk (throwing) or battleaxe (regular ax) with electrical force field for the blade. Beyond that, it does significant damage to all enemies but particularly tech-based ones, and there are enough in the world to keep yours in tip-top shape.

I am far from a melee character. As I generally play girls, my strength tends to stay modest while my skills center more around persuasion and perception. The consistent feature they all share is that brute strength is not their strong suit, so shooting usually takes precedence over beating away my attackers.

This proton ax really changed my mind on that front. I justified it away by saying the force behind my hits is not the swing, but rather from the electrical current it sends shooting through the robot. It does not break my character to refocus my skills onto melee if I am able to justify it away.



All in all, I did enjoy myself. To the point that I was surprised I was so nearing the end. That may have been because this DLC felt custom-made for my Calley. She has a high perception, speech, and science, all of which play an important role in success here. I can't imagine how it would have played out had I a higher agility or explosives, but I am curious to see how I would have fared given different circumstances. Were there things I would change? Absolutely. No game is perfect, even one as awesome as New Vegas, but I enjoyed the diversion while I had it.

--Andie--

Punisher Max

Ever notice how artistic some comic covers can be? Punshier MAX issue number 22 is no exception:

Noticing right off the bat the RIP and Punisher symbol in the tree (not to mention the Aaron/Dillon across the top), I am guessing this is Aaron's last issue on the Punisher MAX story line that I have been hearing about. Garth Ennis had written on it for a long time, which I have never personally read but knowing the author it is a perfect title for him. Then Jason Aaron picked it up and has been writing the last 22 issues with artist Steve Dillon. I love Steve Dillon; have ever since Preacher. Once you let his art style grow on you, you are hooked for life.

I looked up a Jason Aaron picture--I am half loving him, half terrified of him. If he is smiling, he is just lovably adorable. If he is not, well....

So! To the issue.

Is it just me or does dead Frank Castle remind you just a little of a young Sylvester Stallone?? Ah, probably just me--if you tossed an eye patch on him, I would have sworn he was Jesse; pair of sunglasses, he'd be a ringer for Cass :P

Love classic Nick Fury. I didn't catch on at first though I probably should have because of the eye patch. But the way he speaks of Frank...it is nice. You don't usually hear even the good guys have too much positive to say about the old guy, even if they are doing the same thing--fighting for what they think is right with whatever abilities they had.

I know it's not the 616--it's MAX--but people keep questioning Fury and suspiciously going without roundhouse kick to the face.

Wow, that was a powerful scene with Elektra.

I liked that issue. Nothing spectacular, not particularly emotional, but I think it was fitting in it's way. Frank died as he lived, fighting till the last breath. Felt a little short, but I don't know if I would have kept at it had it been too too long.

Probably done for a while. Need both hands to do other things. But I will try to read and write more today or tomorrow, maybe.

--andie--

Justice League

Justice League, issue 5

I am less familiar with DC than I am Marvel, obviously. I mean, when your husband gets you into comics, you naturally jump on to titles that he is all ready interested in, and Michael tends to favor Marvel story lines and characters. Despite this, I do know--Geoff Johns is one of the big shots, one of the really good writers comics have today. One of my favorite comics ever was written by him (it was a retelling of Hal Jordan's origin story, which I enjoyed immensely).

While the wind rages something fierce outside, I am going to dive back in.

First, I gotta ask...who is the black guy with the metal arm?

No, no--not him; the other guy....

Okay, I am evidently going to have to be clearer.

This guy. He is prominently featured on the cover, in front of some of the more recognizable characters, so I am intrigued. Even more so as I do not recognize him.

Right quick: who are Flash and Superman fighting? It looks like he took out the rest of the team, and my first thought was that he looked like a baby sentinel from the Marvel X-Men universe.

(note right here: there is apparently a lymph node called the sentinel so you should exercise extreme caution when typing "sentinel" into google with no elaboration).

Okay, it is Darkseid? Somehow I missed that memo, along with the recap page. Are they not doing that any more? Now that I know it is him, I am surprised that my mind jumped to sentinel when skrull, Thanos, or Apocalypse might have been more of a natural assumption. Maybe it was because of the unusual coloring.

Hal Jordan is either incredibly brave and badass, or else suicidal. One thing is for certain, he is not a good team player yet--he is overly confident, doesn't work well with others, rushes in haphazardly and without plan...makes for an interesting character.

I do like the idea of Green Lantern/Hal Jordan and Batman/Bruce Wayne becoming close friends. I don't know how their relationship was prior to the new 52, but Bruce wouldn't normally unmask in the middle of a fight, wouldn't give people pep talks to motivate them, would probably be the one struggling the hardest not to try and take on the world by himself...

Great issue. I actually really enjoyed myself. It feels freeing to read a story that is not bogged down by more history than you could ever comprehend or ever conquer, especially with several new stories being churned out every month...that actually is neither here nor there; my point being: it is nice not having to stop every couple of panels to go "what the fuck? When did that happen? Weren't you dead?"..you get the idea.

I may take this series from the beginning. Certainly seems interesting enough. Do wish they had stuck with their original intent of giving Wonder Woman pants; at least that way she would have been noteworthy enough for me to mention before the very end.

--Andie--

oh! And the guy....? Cyborg. So now I know.

Avengers Academy 25

Apparently just to fuck with my "alphabetical order", Michael sent me "Avengers Academy" issue 25 right after I did "Avengers: X-Sanction". Yeesh :p

Can I just say: I love that Hazmat and Mettle are together. I have a huge soft spot for Mettle, and I like that he found love; it reinforces the idea that there is someone for everyone.

Awwwww.

These issues always feel chaotic at first, but accessible--if you keep going, everything will start to make more sense, whether you have been following the series or not. I like that.

Great issue, great ending. Couldn't even write about it because I was so engrossed.

Notes: Reptil is a pretty neat character in the future; my thought was that he was going to turn evil in order to protect Finesse, but he was a daddy and a hero, and totally adorable.

I don't recognize a ton of characters but it didn't feel like I had to to read the issue. It must have sucked for Pym to lose Wanda and then lose Jocasta; it was cruel of her to fake her own death, and arrogant of her to try and disassemble something that does not belong to her. Whatever else she is, Pym is much more intelligent and wise than she; as being a member of the Avengers, of course he knows that gathering many powered beings in one place is going to attract danger. It is the very nature of the job. And if he has paid attention to any of the x-men news over the years, he knows the risks it would pose to teenagers--I think that he took all of these considerations before starting this initiative.

All that being said: these characters were at particular danger for becoming villains. Just like Pym, like Quicksilver...like so many of those who have powers or abilities or intelligence, but improper guidance and lack of support system. On their own, not only were they more vulnerable than they would be in a group, they were also susceptible to negative influences. Leaving them to their own devices, or causing them to cast in with other teams that were unprepared or unaware of their particular tendencies would not make their powers or their back stories change at all; it would just make them feel alone in a crowd.

He positively influenced all of those kids' lives, and gave them all what they so desperately needed--someone to believe that they are the good guys; someone to guide them and believe in them, and to constantly work toward giving them a better life.

Jocasta is cold, heartless, and--let's face it--a fucking robot made by the killing machine Ultron. I don't think that she has the capacity to understand this on any conceivable depth except for the shallow interpretation she offered in the issue: gifted individuals together are going to cause some drama.

Anyways, I am hoping this is not the end of a very good series. I wish I had followed it with more regularity, but my ability to read anything of late seems to be limited to eBooks free and available on my phone (one handed, after all). Hank Pym is one of the more interesting characters Marvel has ever boasted, and to see him finally coming into his own badassery out of the shadow of the "big shots" like Cap and Iron Man and Thor was really nice. He is like so many of us--good, but maybe not good enough when compared to...fill in the blank there.

Maybe I will get the whole series. Anyone know of any TPB's currently out?

Crumbs! It's time to make lunch. Hope to write more after I eat!!

--Andie!--

Avengers: X-Sanction 3

Yay, new comics!!

Going in alphabetical order, I am going to start with "Avengers: X-Santion" issue 3 of 4.

This one is written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ed McGuinness; I read the first in the series and even wrote a post about it, but I have not read the second. Probably don't really need to have read it--the recap pages are usually adequate.

The cover makes me giggle because it looks like Cable is Rulk's teddy bear/lovey--it doesn't look like fighting so much as cuddling. It could also look dirty, if it weren't for the ferocious look on Red Hulk's face.

No offense to the character, but I think red hulk has lost all novelty for me. I am just tired of seeing him, and I am certainly tired of writing his name.

Recap page raises mixed emotions: I would have liked to have seen the fight between Iron Man and Cable, but on the same token, I assume that it was handled about as delicately as anything Loeb does. He probably creamed Iron Man with little to no fight, which I would have hurt to see.

Why does Cable call Red Hulk "Talbot"? Everyone knows that Rulk is General Ross; which brings to mind that Cable did a half-assed job of tracking down the Avengers. If Talbot is transformed into Rulk at some point and he is the reason that Hope cannot save the world (-sigh-) then maybe Cable needn't have come back. Talbot's dead; good show, old boy.

Should I have been impressed by Blaquesmith showing up? Because as far as neat guest appearances, not that titillating. Also, since when is gunning someone down "the old-fashioned way"? I guess Cable is from the future so maybe psyonic attacks are more common in that era, but he also uses very high tech machinery...ehhhh, anyways.

Who is Tyler?

Hope has an ugly drawn heiny. It is weird to conceive of Scott being Cable's father when it feels like Nathan is considerably older....

Wolverine is acting weird. I can guess that because of the way his lettering is done.

I gotta be honest: the whole series has felt like a cluster fuck. I mean, they wanted to get from point A (X-Men and Avengers are on amicable terms) to point B (X-Men and Avengers fighting), so they are just going to confuse and anger key players and toss them in a room together? Feels weak, doesn't it? Four issues is not enough to completely demolish alliances and start a huge battle between friends. You need some sort of powder keg that is building for a while, then explode in a huge event--Stamford, Connecticut for example.

It feels like this whole story line could have been completely done without. It is possible I am allowing my apathy with everything Loeb does taint what is a decent story arc, but like everything else I have read written by him in the last few years, it feels like we are not accomplishing anything--that from the start of the issue to the end, we established little to nothing of consequence, it is just a distraction to keep you interested until they do something else.

I dunno. Not my favorite.

--Andie--