Argh. I am a little numb. I’ve spent all day researching and writing my final essay for that comic book class I mentioned in earlier columns. It’s all about super villains, and the different motivations they have. I’ll post it on here at some point, but for now I am a little brain dead. So, this one may be a little short, but since there was a pretty long one last week I’m hoping that’s okay.
Now, the trick is finding out what to talk about. I think, for now, I’m just going to ramble.
The Dark Knight Rises was good. Not as good as The Dark Knight, but I definitely want to see it again before I give my final rating. I would like to suggest one change. Far be it for me to second guess the great Christopher Nolan, but there’s a reveal at the end of the movie that I wish could have been different. Here’s how the scene actually played out, if you haven’t seen the movie yet stop reading. Police Officer John Blake goes to pick up something that was left for him in a will. They can’t find it, so he says, “Maybe it’s under my real name. Robin.” Cue groans. What a completely unnecessary moment. But, if it had to be done, couldn’t it have been a bit more subtle? Have his name through the movie be Richard Blake. Have his orphaning be more of a mystery. Have him say, “Maybe it’s under my real name. Richard Grayson.” AKA Dick Grayson. AKA the first Robin. AKA a guy who’s parents were killed. Boom.
A couple of weeks ago I picked up X-Men: Destiny since it was pretty cheap and I’m a sucker for the X-Men. Man, is it boring. It’s a beat ‘em up, and that’s about it. You pick one of three generic characters. You can side with the X-Men or the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and you get to pick the powers that you get. But, when your powers amount to punching or kicking and that’s about it, it’s pretty weak sauce. I thought it might be the game to finally pull me away from Mass Effect 3 and NHL12, but no such luck. I’ve played it for about 2 hours and nothing about it makes me want to pick it up again.
In the course of my research for my essay, I flipped through Grant Morrison’s book on superheroes Supergods. It is really, really good. It’s a look back through comic book history, but if that’s all you’re looking for there are plenty of other sources. This takes a look at the psychology and sociology of the characters and their context in history. It’s got the typical Morrison bombast, but if you can look passed that it has a lot to offer.
All right, I still have a works cited list to write, so I think that’s it for me this week. Keep me posted in the comments section if there’s anything I should check out.
Graham Becksted actually blocked some of the bots that were following him. He is the author of Graham’s Grumbles the second blog by that name that is listed in Google results when you search for Graham’s Grumbles. If you would like to be his 68th follower (thank you, bots), he can be followed on Twitter @GrahamBecksted.
