He's not dead. He's up there fixing the sun.

I finally got around to watching All Star Superman. I've had the blu-ray combo pack since sometime right around when it was released. I loved the comics, I love Grant Morrison (gee, really? derp.), and I love animation, especially when it's about superheroes, so it was kind of a no-brainer purchase, even given my financial plight.

PREMISE AND PLOT

The story is complex without being incomprehensible. Almost from the word go, it becomes obvious that this is a Superman who lives in a heroically exaggerated Silver Age (or somewhat early Bronze Age, though that's a slippery one) universe (anyway, it's a mix of pre- and post-Crisis sensibilities any way you slice it), wherein anything and everything is possible, science is magic (lowercase m, not the uppercase variety that gives Kal such trouble), and larger than life hardly begins to describe the super-heroics on display.

The short version is that Superman gets a sort of super-cancer from tremendous over-exposure to yellow sunlight, when he rescues the first manned mission to the sun. With time running out, he must do all he can to get his affairs in order before his inevitable death. There are some vague parallels to the 12 Labors of Hercules, which might actually be more precise than I realize at the moment, given how long it's been since I read about the original 12. Suffice to say, this is a great big, huge story that would have been impossible to fit in the time span of this animated movie. I'm glad they didn't try to cram too much in, and they hit a good number of the high notes, even while some exceptionally cool scenes from the comics were lost in the adaptation.

PRODUCTION

The animation is strong. While the characters resemble something more like Peter Chung than Frank Quitely's original designs, the animators can hardly be faulted in not capturing Quitely's unique, and not entirely animation-friendly, style. Little touches in facial expressions and the way the characters move really set this above the standard, which has so far been par for the course in DC's growing library of animation titles. One key example is the way in which, much like in Frank Quitely's designs, Clark Kent is differentiated from Superman in both posture and gait, as well as things like Kent's clumsiness. It really becomes a little easier to fool oneself into believing that the two are separate people.

The voice work is superb, but that's expected in any DC animation. Ed Asner is perfect for Perry White. Christina Hendricks does a good job with Lois Lane, although I'm unfamiliar with any previous voice work she may have done. All I really know her for is jaw-dropping necklines and the bubbly goodness they just barely contain, but I digress.

The soundtrack is similarly well executed. While I couldn't hum any particular melody from the score, I never once thought that any music was inappropriate or that a cue seemed to be out of sync with the action.

LOST IN ADAPTATION


In adapting any work, there are necessary sacrifices, whether for time, clarity, or in the interest of a clean and focused narrative that marries both concerns to a satisfying end. That said, I was really disappointed with some of the scenes left out of this one. Anyone who has read the comics could probably tell you about the touching scene in which Superman comforts a would-be suicide jumper on the precipice of a skyscraper. Similarly, although it was an entire issue rather than a single page, the alternate supermen from various times and dimensions are not at all included. Of course, that story was a lot of fun for total nerd-out comic geeks, it would be a strange diversion for anyone not steeped in the kind of comic book sensibilities that really enhance this sort of Silver Age homage. I say that without any intention of pretension, although the sentiment is probably inevitable. They also left out the whole story with the Bizarros, but I know I'm in the minority that missed it.

FINAL THOUGHTS


I'm really impressed with the animated films DC have been putting out since Superman-Doomsday. I didn't particularly like that one specifically, but I like what's followed. This is exactly what should have been going on for some time now. There's already a whole universe of cool stories to adapt, so why bother trying to re-invent the wheel like so many comic-based movies have been. Give a bit of background for people who've never heard of the Green Lantern Corps, sure (although they seem to be a vanishing lot, and it's not just because of the impending movie), but let's also leave lots of room for something cool like New Frontier. This format works much better for self-contained stories like that one and All Star Superman than it would for something intrinsically connected with an ongoing title, but there's lots of those to pick from, or to adapt from at any rate.

TECHNO-RAGE!

I am a little annoyed at this blu-ray version, though. Let me say first that the fault does not lie with the disc itself. Now, I'll explain. I only bought the blu-ray because it has extra features that the DVD doesn't, like: a commentary with Bruce Timm and Grant Morrison, at least two features on Grant Morrison talking about the book and about Superman in general, bonus cartoons, a preview of the Green Lantern animated anthology Emerald Knights, and some other stuff. Luckily, my copy also came with a DVD, although it's nothing but the movie and a menu for spoken and sub-titled languages.

Now, my only means of playing blu-rays is the PS3 connected to the big TV out in the living room (with composite cables, blech. I bought some component ones, I swear, I just can't find them now, damn it). When I tried to play the disc, the system told me that I needed to update the firmware. What the hell kind of ridiculous technological witchcraft is this? I can't watch movies on my movie player without an internet connection to tell the machine how to do it's job first? Is there anything I can do without one anymore? The only connection I have when I'm in my apartment is the one I can sometimes sneak into, which the PS3 doesn't even recognize. This same thing happened when I bought StarCraft II.

I understand that many people have an internet connection available to them at all times, but there are also many who do not. I understand that updates are sometimes necessary for a machine's firmware, but what the hell does this disc do that an off-the-shelf PS3 can't handle, is my (RHETORICAL) question. The increasing pervasiveness of internet dependencies for non-internet-centric devices, or things that shouldn't (that's shouldn't, not can't) need one in order to carry out their basic purpose. The PS3 is a sophisticated blu-ray player, but at the end of the day, that's what it is: a blu-ray player, a machine that reads a disc with a blue laser, and puts pictures and sound in my TV. The only time I should need to go out to the internet from my PS3 is to download something entirely new, not to teach the thing how to do it's fucking job.

I like the way that X-Box 360 titles that need to update the firmware always seem to come packaged with the update right on the disc. Similarly, don't lots of PC titles come with the latest version of Direct X? What a novel concept: data on a disc. With all the space on a blu-ray, is there really not enough left over to include a patch to make sure my device can play what's on the rest of the disc?

Am I blowing this whole thing out of proportion? Perhaps, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. I am stating my objection to this sort of thing, and I feel that my outrage is perfectly reasonable, although exaggerated for effect. I'm also not interested in hearing a lot of 'derp derp caveman want make box do thing, but box no do thing for caveman, so caveman bang rocks and yell, and no understand how new shiny box work'. What I'm saying is not that it's stupid that I would ever need an update, but that it's retarded that I would need to update for this sort of thing in this way and that I can only do so in this way. Put the shit on the disc. End of story.

Meh

I had a job interview today at an organic grocery store. It was actually the first place I applied to, immediately after leaving work on the day I got laid off. That was December, so I was surprised to get their call yesterday.

I wouldn't mind working at the place, and I think the interview went all right, but to be honest the thing that most excited me was seeing a familiar face on the way back to the office where the interview would take place. One of the guys I met in my group interview at the book store last week got a job at this place instead. The field has narrowed, and I remain cautiously optimistic, since the book store is where I would prefer to work.

After my interview, I drove to my parents' house, and got to talk with Philosopher King. He was just in for lunch between clients, but it's always nice when we get to talk.

My initial purpose was to file my taxes, as the forms had just been sitting in their manila folder since I filled them in last week. It turns out I actually made a tiny error on one of them, which the electronic version pointed out to me, but it was an error that means I'm actually getting an additional 8 dollars, so I'm good. In checking for my routing and account numbers, I also discovered that I'm getting close to my bank card points goal.

Patton Oswalt stand-up is a great soundtrack to just about anything.

Now I'm sitting here listening to the audio book of Zombie, Spaceship, Wasteland, which is that rare audio book that's actually better than the printed one. Michael Stipe reads the R.E.M. lyrics, the version people with money would buy in a store or order online actually includes a PDF of the comic section. Once I become one of the self-funded once more, I might actually grab a physical copy to go with the book. Yeah, you could say I've enjoyed it. Though, I'm still trying to figure out if I'm a spaceship or a wasteland. Maybe something like a crashed spaceship in the middle of a wasteland.

Last night, I fell asleep watching the first episode of Kindred: The Embraced. It's not that it's a boring show, although it was less cool than I want it to be, but more that my circadian rhythms have been crazy anymore. I just feel like immersing myself in vampire stuff would be helpful in working on my novels. I actually watched The Lost Boys the other day, for the first time. I know, I probably would have liked it more if I'd been the same age as Corey Feldman's character when I saw it, but it was better and worse than I'd expected.

I think I've become distracted and diverted now to the point that I'm just going to leave this as is for now.

Ohshitohshitohshit!

Fantasy Flight Games has announced a fourth installment in their Warhammer 40K RPG series: BLACK CRUSADE!

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Holy shit! We've been talking about playing Chaos in one form or another since Dark Heresy, and now we can finally do it with full mechanical support for both human and Space Marine heretics! I know Valkyrie is excited and so am I!

So far not much has been revealed, given that we've got an announcement and a brief introduction to the nature of Chaos to go on, but I am definitely waiting with baited breath for what's to come. I think it's a safe bet that we'll see a second book with expanded rules for the followers of each god, along with a host of sweet vehicles and equipment. With the release of Deathwatch: Rites of Battle, we've got official mechanical support for Dreadnoughts, so it would be a shame to have to wait to field one tainted by the whispering Warp.

Hopefully we can see something like a total "bad guys" game come from this, where more xeno races become available to players as well. Yeah, there's the Ork Freebooter and Kroot Mercenary in Rogue Trader: Into the Storm, but I'm talking about support for a revival of something like GorkaMorka, where everybody can be a unique Ork character, or a Kroot, or Tau, or something other than human for once. With Dark Heresy: The Book of Judgement on the horizon, we're looking at a new way to approach the gang warfare of Necromunda, so the possibility is there.

I really want to run something other than 40k, although I have a strange drive to be the one running it, and all these cool new releases I've been reading about aren't helping. Another cool one is Only War, a supplement for Dark Heresy to take the Guardsmen career path much more literally. That's just the Dark Heresy stuff, too! Hats off to Fantasy Flight for really fleshing out these lines into full-on games unto themselves. I just wish they wouldn't tell us so far in advance when all this cool stuff is coming out.

Stuff and Nonsense

My first novel is almost a crappy first draft now. I'm over 50,000 words in, and there're only a few scenes left to write. After that, it's time for a round of revisions to tie it all together, since the scenes are written as separate documents, and the book used to be two stories before. I'm facing down the end of, at least the end of the first stage of, something I've been working on for a very long time. I can't wait to be finished with even this much.

Facing down the revision process, I know now that it's going to be a lot more work than I had originally anticipated when I began this craziness so many years ago. Of course, the story and cast and entire concept have changed in that time, and I think, for the most part, that it's something I could see on a shelf in a book store at this point. Well, it might be, once it's actually readable.

It's been really great to have so much support from Valkyrie through the whole creative process. Of course, she's been there since the very beginning of the idea, when the main characters were just modern analogues to our Dungeons and Dragons characters and their families. Looking at the world we've created in that time, it's all changed so much.

Mostly I can't wait to get the thing polished enough that the scenes read like part of a contiguous narrative, so we can finally let some other people read it for a change. So far, we've talked about it, and people seem interested, and not just in that smile-and-nod-cause-we're-friends kind of way, so I'm honestly interested to see what people think.

Once book one is out for review and revision notes, we can work on filling out and tightening up book two, and then book three. I've set the expectation that I won't send out a single query until all three are finished and ready for submission to a publisher, so reaching that point is something I'm really excited for.

The more I've been thinking about what we're working on, the more I'm beginning to think that this could actually go somewhere, might even speak to someone, and I might even find some measure of success. I don't have any major delusions about making it as a writer, but there's nothing wrong with a little hope.

I got to have a couple of nice, long conversations with my dad this weekend. Mostly we talked about writing, which is something we're both not only interested in but that occupies a lot of our time and thoughts. I don't get to talk to my dad all that much anymore (which is a whole other thing), so it was really good to have the full car ride up and back from Chicago to just talk.

The rest of the weekend was okay, too. My grandfather's funeral was standing room only. Everyone was sad, of course, but the warmth and love that everyone showed for the man was really inspiring. I think this is the most positive emotion, or emotion, period, I've seen from some of my relatives. We had dinner at a Polish buffet after, which was pretty good, but they were out of sausage at the point I was on my second go. Valkyrie tried sauerkraut, and may have found something new to eat. I told her I was proud of her for even trying.

I really need to get my taxes filed. The forms are all filled in, so I just need to make the time to refill them electronically. The only purchase I have planned for the money coming my way is a new sticker for my license plate, since I don't have much hope of actually finding the one I bought the first time. No matter what, I need to have my own vehicle again. Valkyrie has offered to let me have the car while she's at work, as long as I come to pick her up in the morning, but it would be so nice to just have my own wheels again. I really want to hang out with people more, but I hate to be a burden with asking for rides and having people take me home late at night when they really just want to sleep.

Being a burden in general is something I really want to stop. I really haven't been keeping up with looking for work, although I'm waiting on a callback from a screening interview, so that's something. I guess having got lucky so many times in the past, and then just recently getting hit hard with the reality hammer, it's been hard to stay motivated. Of course I want to find a job and have an income and not feel like a load, but the whole thing just depresses me, along with the ads for jobs I just nearly qualify for, but I know there's someone more qualified, so I don't even try. Sure it's a defeatist attitude, but more and more I just don't feel competitive and motivated enough to work in the field I thought I wanted to. I don't know if it's just my last job poisoning my perceptions of the business at large or if I really just don't want to do it anymore, of if I was really as interested as I thought I was to begin with.

I really just don't know anymore. I have the important things and people in my life to support me, but I really wish I could get back to being more than something that needs that support to keep from falling over.

In other news, Valkyrie and I seem to be preparing to be old people. We're breakfast regulars at a restaurant, we walk the mall sometimes, and we've been complaining about those damn kids since we were their age. I guess the sooner we accept the inevitable, the easier the transition when it comes.