Ironik

Alternately, playing while hanging upside down with gravity boots is a great way to get the circulation going. Just make sure to have a throw pillow directly below you in case the door-jamb-bar gives way and drops you on your head.*

* Still not real advice. But I want to see pics.

Get up and walk around once an hour.

Or, you know, take some Warfarin to keep those clots at bay.*

* Not real advice. Don't do that.

Oh, you had me going... that's the same video from last month. Does look cool, though.

3.5 capes out of 5

Ex-Patriots is the sequel to Ex-Heroes. It's not quite as engaging as the first book was, half because it's not as revelatory and half because the story itself isn't as awesome. If Ex-Heroes is the "KAPOW!" then Ex-Patriots is the "Biff!"

A direct analogy: Iron Man was an awesome movie, revelatory for making the character compelling and altogether amazing, while Iron Man 2 was competently made. That's how these books compare. As with Iron Man 2, I recommend Ex-Patriots to anyone who is a fan of the first one. It's nice to get back into that world and see those people again.

I'm not going to lie, though... I really hope the third installment, Ex-Communication, blows my hair back the way Ex-Heroes did.

4 of 5 capes

This novel was a fast read. I leapt through the pages like the titular characters leaping across roofs. I don't generally read YA novels, having left my YA years far behind, but it's one of the few ways to get some superhero fiction these days. I read the first two pages and was hooked. The writing was direct, the witty dialogue actually witty, and the action nicely delineated.

As I was reading I was struck by how much the main character, Bright Boy, is clearly an analogue of Robin, while his mentor, Phantom Justice, is Batman. Although Bright Boy is really a mash-up of Robin and Spider-man, and the story is not dissimilar from the Incredibles in some aspects... and at that point you have to realize that despite certain elements being similar to other superhero tales, this is its own beast.

There are multiple mysteries of minor and major import which get unraveled once Bright Boy discovers that his arch-nemesis, Monkeywrench, is actually one of the more popular kids at his school. (That's on the inside flap, so not a spoiler. Also, given the tenor of the book, you have to expect that to happen.) Technically Monkeywrench is the *sidekick* to Phantom Justice's archenemy Dr. Chaotic, but it works out to be the same. Of course, at school Bright Boy -- Scott -- gets bullied and despite being a "plus/plus" (increased strength, added speed) he can't respond in kind. Also, he's actually a good guy who takes this hero thing seriously. Problem is, he can't get close to anyone for fear of compromising his secret identity and exposing his classmates to danger.

Aside from constant harassment at school, Bright Boy gets humiliated in a number of ways, because going through puberty as a very public superhero in a skin-tight outfit isn't easy. This ultimately leads to a confrontation with Phantom Justice which creates even more tension in Scott's life.

Once all the game pieces fall into place, the story kicks into high gear and Bright Boy is backed into a corner in all parts of his life. There are twists and turns aplenty, but the overall impression from the book is one of fun.

My only minor nitpick is the ending. it feels a bit muddied to me, without the clarity of the rest of the book. It almost feels like it could use a second round of polish. But this is a slight thing to complain about. This was a delight to read and I ripped through it.

3 of 5 capes.

Although the story is slow to start, it builds nicely to a satisfying climax worthy of superhero fiction.

The main character is the only one who is really fully-developed, but that's not much of a detriment. She's the normal daughter of the premiere superheroes of the city (and the planet, apparently, although not much is said of the wider world) who has a serious black mark on her record due to some teenage rebellion. Of course, when you rebel by joining the supervillain arch-nemesis of your parents, it's kind of big deal.

Trying to distance herself from her past and her famous family, Celia goes to college and ends up becoming an accountant. Which actually plays a fairly large role in the book's primary confict and leads to the best line in the whole piece. Celia felt fully realized and has inner conflicts which come across as quite real. I enjoyed how the tale grew from a small inner conflict to a larger outer one. This didn't rock me back on my heels or anything, but it's a really solid story that has a fresh look at superheroes.

The only things which hold it back are the slight failings of the reveals and not pushing some of the core ideas. Once Celia starts thinking about the essential mystery at the heart of the story, she postulates her theory -- which ends up being the correct conclusion. It's just a matter of getting the pieces in place to build her case. There's no sense of danger, even when she's doing things which are otherwise extra-legal.

I also was surprised at the love interest angle. Since she tends toward the paranoid side, her all-too-brief questioning of the love interest's ulterior motives seemed odd. Based on what she's like in other aspects of her life, ultimately accepting the relationship without some deep soul-searching felt a bit off.

All in all, though, it's a good story and I was interested all the way through.

I'll have to do a forum search to find the set photos I posted previously, but here's one video briefly mentioning CoH.

I think the only real spoiler one needs while reading this series is "Don't get attached to anyone not named Tyrion."

Were there supposed to be pics with this?

Nice to see the tradition has been continuing with many terrific screenshots.

The Quick and the Red -- The Quick Red Fox dodges adroitly, is about to dispense pain.



Here's the wind-up...

For two or three years -- maybe longer -- I've been sitting on Sea Devil in anticipation of water-based powers of some kind. (Or an underwater zone, which I actually thought was more likely.)

Would it be possible to make shin guards and bracers/anklets to go with bare feet? Similar to the ones for wrists and forearms, but for ankles and shins.

I'd like to use anklets for my Atlantean-type character, and I think shin guards would be great for barbarians or what-have-yous.

I actually can't find any pictures of comic book characters who utilize plain round anklets, which is bad for illustrative purposes but excellent in allowing us to further distance CoH characters from existing comic book ones.

But looking for shin guards pulls up Skeletor, which is a pretty good example.



And plain round anklets, similar to Captain Marvel's power bands.