SPECTACULAR ALL-SUPERHERO YEAR-END ISSUE COLUMN!!!!
…and this is a surprise…?
In the 1970’s, the American mainstream comic book had begun, in more and more instances, to mature somewhat, from simply-written and simply-drawn cheap entertainment magazines to rather more interesting publications, with writers and artists that were something like celebrities, stories that stretched beyond one issue, and art that displayed increasing sophistication. But it is likely that the medium would have remained essentially unchanged for years to come, except for the appearance, in 1977, of a novel that would become a sort of revelatory bible for some of the industries’ youngest and best writers.
Superfolks
Marvel Comics had, for over ten years before, made the “real world” a part of their house style; their characters lived and worked in real places such as New York City (as opposed to DC Comics’ house style, where the heroes lived and worked in fictional locations, such as Metropolis). Characters dealt with real world problems, like fighting a supervillain while suffering from a cold, or wondering where their next mortgage payment would come from, or worrying about the upcoming date with their Significant Other. Despite this, the heroes remained typical comic book heroes; they had simply been given a facelift. Their actions, the very stories themselves, remained much the same in essence as they had been twenty or thirty years before.
The post-Superfolks writers, however, really began to reimagine the superhero genre, examining the potential consequences of superheroes in the real world (and the effects of the real world on superheroes). Probably the first true such work of real consequence was the Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons Watchmen
Superfolks was recently re-issued by St. Martin’s Press, and I managed to grab a copy at Borders back in June. I read it quickly, then re-read it more carefully. It is an entertaining book, and it’s easy to see how it could have been such a milestone in the industry - if you understand the times it came from. The book has a massive problem, and it’s one that will only become worse with time: it is utterly and solidly based in the late 60’s-early 70’s. Those under 35 years of age, and those who don’t have a pretty good knowledge of the history and pop culture of those times, are likely to be quite lost when they try to delve into this book. Every character is based on a comic book character, and most are named after some cultural icon of the times: the main character, a Superman rip, is named David Brinkley. Yes, that David Brinkley - the one on TV, the newsman. And by seeing this book for the first time after having been raised on the works that it inspired, it does seem pretty tame and uninspiring. It needs to be taken in perspective, and that perspective is getting lost as time moves on. Granted the truly tame and uninspired state of the comic book at the time, this book was, then, unprecedented and thrilling. The modern reader needs to keep this in mind when perusing Superfolks. I highly recommend it for those interested in the history of the comic book industry, but I fear that, for the general public, Superfolks will be a let-down.
Aaron Williams is the creator of Nodwick
The premise of PS 238 is simple, logical, engaging and rife with opportunities for humor: the metahumans of the world - both “good” and “bad” - tend to behave in very human ways, and many of them end up with children - with powers of their own. Children need schooling, of course, and such children will have a difficult time fitting in with “normal” students. Thus, the creation of Public School 238, The School For Metaprodigy Children, located three miles below the “normal” Excelsior Public School. With vast technological and metahuman resources at the ready, the students of PS 238 can enjoy a relatively normal school experience, without concern for identity exposure or “power accidents”. While there are numerous major recurring characters, the bulk of the stories center on a very few primary characters: Ms. Kyle, normal human but teaching-experienced educator; Ron, son of this world’s Superman-analogue, Captain Atlas; and Tyler, son of two of the most powerful superheroes on Earth… and the only student without metahuman abilities.
Mr. Williams lends these stories versimillitude not only because he’s a top-notch writer and humorist, but because he knows his genre material, and because his wife is a teacher. Reading these stories, one is struck by the inherent coolness factor of the concept and how well it is handled here (the early 80’s cartoon Hero High and the recent Disney flick Sky High, while of a somewhat similar concept, are rather different in subject matter and fall far short of the quality of PS 238). And there’s all these little mysteries Mr. Williams leaves in the story, seed for future stories: why is there a space station buried next to the underground school? what is the past relationship between Principal Cranston and the US Senate (and why is he wearing a strange metal headband)? and which evil genius will win the school student government election, Zodon or Victor Von Fogg? Refreshingly, Mr. Williams seems in no rush to answer these questions, allowing the story to unfold at a natural pace. Also refreshingly, while the comics are excellent reading material for adults, they are pretty child-friendly, and so can be enjoyed by the widest range of readers.
I heartily recommend Aaron Williams’ works. A series of .PDF files on his website provide the full content of PS 238 issues #0 and #1, plus a few extras, allowing prospective readers to check it out for themselves. The online store (Henchman Publishing) has most of Mr. Williams’ output for the last several years, so you can purchase back issues and so on of not only PS 238, but Nodwick as well. Give it a look, you won’t regret it.
City of Heroes
City of Villains
City of Villains brings a great deal of new content into the game, on both the CoV side, and on the CoH side of the game as well. Perhaps foremost is the ability for supergroups (hero and villain) to get bases. As has been said about the character generation process, base creation is virtually a game unto itself. And it is a far-reaching “game”: not only can one spend many hours positioning rooms, placing crucial items and decorating, but it all must be payed for - and it also costs a monthly rent. And you don’t pay for stuff or pay the rent with the “money” of CoH (Influence), but with a new type of “money”, “Prestige”. And Prestige can only be earned by characters who are in a supergroup, and it can only be earned by choosing NOT to earn Influence. This means players must make the decision to earn “base money”, or “personal money”. If they choose “base money”, they may not be able to afford to upgrade their powers later on. If they choose “personal money”, they won’t be contributing to their supergroup or their base. Decisions, decisions!
Bases also bring in a new player-vs-player element, the “Base Raid”. Once bases reach a certain size and have certain items in them (the requirements are pretty substantial), players can set up Arena-like pvp events. And if their bases contain certain rare items, the Items of Power, they are forced to allow a base raid, in which those selfsame Items of Power may be captured by other supergroups. Frankly, from what I’ve seen in-game, and read on the game forums, I think most players are going to keep their bases just under the requirements, to avoid raids. Most of us just want a cool base to relax in, or use as an alternative to the hospital when a fight goes bad. But the opportunity is there, for those who want it.
As with many MMORPGs, the ability for players to fight each other is limited to very specific places in the game; this is to minimize negative experiences for players (many of whom have no wish to get involved with player-vs.-player interactions), yet keep the opportunities for pvp gaming as open as possible. Thus, there are several zones in the CoH/CoV game which are common to both, allowing varying degrees of pvp play. Some are strictly hero vs. villain, others are full pvp, meaning hero can attack hero and villain can attack villain. Aside from the Arena, and the aforementioned Base Raid system, there are now four pvp zones that are common to both CoH and CoV, each with its own requirements, benefits and advantages. Myself, not being much of a pvp-type player, I haven’t done much in those zones, so I can’t comment on the experience in a meaningful way, but what little I’ve done has been… yeah, kinda fun, and certainly different from the typical portions of the game. I don’t see it becoming a significant part of my gaming experience, though; as I said, I’m not really into player-vs-player.
Player-vs-player stuff aside, there is still a good deal of additional content that has come with CoV. All characters - players and non-players - are now subject to “ragdoll physics”. That is to say, any “person” in the game, whether it be a player’s character, or a computer-generated opponent, if defeated in a fight, will no longer assume a rigid pose and fall in a set fashion (sometime hanging impossibly in mid-air). Instead, they will collapse in a more natural fashion, tumbling and conforming more closely to the shape of the terrain they are on. Of course, sometimes the fashion is somewhat un-natural, and occasionally rather hilarious, but it’s a far sight better than the way it used to be. Other new elements are new tilesets (giving makeovers to tired old mission maps), new hero and villain groups for players to team with or combat, new powers, new costume choices and new missions. Also, the number of character slots available per game server has been increased from 8 to 12, giving players plenty of room for both their heroes and their villains.
While City of Villains is a pretty much self-contained game, with it’s own purchase cost, it has been made especially desirable for players of City of Heroes not only through all the new content, but through the pricing plan: it costs nothing extra per month to have both games. This is a great boon to players desiring the new content, as roughly $15 per month is a pretty substantial investment as it is (on top of the initial $50 cost of the game, and the monthly cost of internet access). As CoH/CoV is one of the few MMORPGs out there of any real success that isn’t based on a sword-and-sorcery fantasy world (and the only one so far based on the superhero convention), the wise decision to keep current players and add new ones by keeping the cost down, can only be seen as crucial in ensuring that the game continues on. So here’s to many more years of great online gameplay!
(Originally published in the club newsletter 2/2006)
