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December 23, 2006
Back in September 2006, Sistani said "to hell with it..."
According to this interesting essay by Spengler (from the Asia Times), back at the start of September 2006, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said "I will not be a political leader anymore. I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters." So, the most influential Shia leader basically threw up his hands, and gave up on trying to solve the problems of Iraq.
This explains why Muqtada al-Sadr has become a more significant figure in the last four months.
BTW: When Spengler says "Jihad is not an evil doctrine, an unfortunate afterthought, or an expression of Mohammed's aggressiveness. It is a sacrament, the Islamic cognate of the Lord's Supper."
Just because it is a sacrament to the Moslem faithful, doesn't mean it isn't evil. A sacrament in a given religion is not, ipso facto, non-evil. In this case, jihad, the conquest of the non-Moslem world, is evil.
Posted by rakhier at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
December 11, 2006
CrossGen - Science Fiction and Fantasy Don't Mix...
Part 2 : What was CrossGen Trying to do?
By Colin Glassey 12/11/2006
In most stories involving superheroes, the super-men lay waste to a few thousand ordinary mortals to prove their superiority over the normal humans then face real challenges from creatures like them (super villains, demi-gods, or the gods themselves). CrossGen tried to create a complex sliding scale of power so that differently powered heroes would face dramatic challenges suited to their capabilities. For much of the time the CrossGen writers concealed the ultimate purpose of the Sigils by simply not telling but now most everything has been revealed and the CrossGen grand scheme stands open to judgment.
Personally I believe that the CrossGen writers changed their minds about what was going on, just as the plot line shows the focus of Danik’s effort changed radically quite recently. I believe that early on, the Solus/Danik duo were supposed to be upsetting apple carts, unleashing creative energy, and stiring things up. Danik and his fragments were like the Shadows from Babylon 5, a force of Chaos whose goal was evolution through conflict. The ultimate goal for in the early days of CrossGen was to transform the Sigil-bearers into a force that could be used to go up against the other emotionless Atlantean gods.
However, after a year or more, this idea was abandoned and instead the writers (this would be Tony Bedard and perhaps Barbara Kessel) came up with the Negation as a big bad universal enemy. Once the Negation idea took hold, suddenly the goal was no longer evolution but survival from a gigantic science-fictional menace.
The problems with this transformation were profound and destructive. While gentle characters like Sephia (from Meridian) are quite obviously useful if your goal is to change the minds of cold but ultimately good gods, sweet little Sephia would be chewed up and killed by the Negation in a matter of seconds, thus making the time put into Sephia’s development pointless. Only by changing Sephia, making her into a powerful warrior like Sam Rey, could she be expected to contribute usefully to the war against the Negation. And this was not the point of the Meridian series. In fact it wasn’t the point of any of the series (with the exception of Sigil, maybe).
In fact, it could be that CrossGen died because they ran into the internal contradictions of trying to fit fantasy into the same world as science fiction. They don’t fit together because they are trying to do completely different things. Science fiction is the exploration of how changing technology effects mankind, Fantasy is the exploration of human archetypes in conflict. They are not the same and they can not be the same. Attempts to merge them are doomed to failure.
The point to the CrossGen comics was to explore basic aspects of the human condition, not to explain how scientific development changes human life. The point to the CrossGen comics was not to create super warriors who would be useful in a titanic fight to save the galaxy. So CrossGen, when they made the switch to Negation killed the fundamental rational for almost all their titles.
Sephia (Meridian) was the means to explore growing emotional maturity with a related theme of taking care of things bigger than yourself (like the world of Meridian which is in a ecological crisis). Sephia’s final goal is not to become a warrior princess and conquer all through violence. Sephia’s goal was healing and redemption. She was a strong female character designed to show that you can achieve your goals not through violence but through transformation and healing.
Prince Ethan (Scion) was designed to show readers how a person can resolve fundamental conflicts between worthy but incompatible ideals. Ethan is a highly principled person whose refused to do anything which did not fit his internal moral code, even at real cost to himself and his family. The story of Ethan allowed the readers to explore how you attempt to resolve problems that have no good answers. The way out for Ethan’s insoluble dilemmas is through love, the ultimate human emotion which resolves contradictions through the act of self-denial and creation. So Ethan loves a woman who is equally strong minded and dedicated to her own ideas which are sometimes in conflict with his own ideas. An alternate way of looking at Ethan’s story is to imagine that Ethan is a senior U.S General in the Civil War (like General Sherman) who comes bringing war to the South only to find the daughter of the Southern slave-owning leader is committed to the freedom for the slaves. The conflict between the General’s duty to the state vs. his moral duty as a man committed to justice is a powerful one.
Giselle (Mystic) was the story of how to come to terms with unexpected power (read wealth) after a life growing up a spoiled hedonist. Giselle’s real world analog is that of a 2nd son in an English noble family whose older brother suddenly dies leaving him the owner of vast estates and thousands of people’s jobs depending on his actions. Will the estate go bankrupt or will the new lord find the mental capacity to pull away a life of idleness and actually do some good? For all his life this person hasn’t had a mission, and was confident that other people were going to take care of the hard things in life (Giselle’s story is, to some degree, that of Lord Sebastian Flyte). This is a story which has a great deal of relevance to many Americans who are, sometimes unexpectedly, put in positions of great responsibility.
Sam Rey’s story (Sigil) is a conventional heroic story about a good hearted man who wants to do the right thing for as many people as possible. He doesn’t care about money, power, or fame. He just wants the love of his woman and to do the right thing. Sam Rey is not a very complex person but he does show determination in the face of nearly overwhelming obstacles. As the writers said, they copied the character from Bruce Willis (Die Hard) but there are many previous American actors which exemplify the same ideals (John Wayne, Gary Cooper, and Humphrey Bogart in his later films).
The Negation series was the most dramatic series as here we had a classic story of a group of strangers thrown together by no choice of their own and forced to work together or die. This story has been repeated often in American life and it is in fact one of the central stories of American history. In this country we often had groups of people thrown together due to random decisions and suddenly they were going to live or die based on whether they could work together despite their differences (see the current TV series “Lost” for just the latest in a long line of stories like this, other examples: the pioneers on the wagon train heading west, the film “Stagecoach”, the passengers of a ship sunk at sea and having to survive on their own, etc.). In (nearly) all other versions of this story the random collection of people do join together and triumph over adversity, some of the group will die (or fall by the wayside) but the group will survive and win in the end because that myth is at the core of the experience of the United States. In the Negation story, the script writers broke the rules at the end and had the group break up into two factions and one of their group even betrays the rest. After all that she has gone through with the team her betrayal is truly shocking (and seems somewhat forced). The Negation writers at the end called into question the central myth of America, namely: shared hardship and shared desire results in a common bond which is stronger than any other emotion.
The Crux series was the most problematic as we are dealing with people who seem very lost and confused, beset on all sides by enemies they know nothing about. They are literally fish out of water and, worst of all, they are in the presence of a man/being and fellow Atlantean named Danik who knows everything! The reason why Danik does not simply explain to his friends what is going on is never explained. These are Danik’s people, some of them friends, all of them fellow Atlanteans. But they have been left on the sea floor of Earth for 100,000 years, why? Suddenly now six are released from the suspension chambers. Why now? Only six are freed but Danik clearly has the power to set everyone from Atlantis free and raise it from the sea. Danik is a god at least as powerful as Solusandra yet he does almost nothing with his power. Why? Danik clearly has the ability (like Solusandra) to give great power to any (or all) of them, yet he does not. Why? Danik knows what will happen when the Australians “transcend” - they will be destroyed in Negation space - yet he lets them go to their deaths and he lets Gammid go with them. Why?
Does Danik not trust his fellow Atlanteans? Is he worried they will revolt against him and seize power on their own? If he really seeks allies against the Negation, why doesn’t he give all Atlanteans Sigils like the ones Solusandra gave? To all these questions, Crux gives no answers. It is a most unsatisfying comic as, at its core, it was illogical.
Lastly we come to The First. These are gods. As gods they exemplify basic emotions. They express fundamental states of human existence on a grand scale. Like gods they wield great powers and they interfere with human affairs for the own purposes. The problem is, who are the enemies of the gods? What gives them drama? What do they want? The answer is: each other. They don’t see the Negation as a threat (they don’t know about it) so they fight with each other. The problem is: their conflict is half hearted. They spend more of their time undercutting each other and not defeating the other side. In fact four of the six top leaders of the gods are in love with each other (across the divide) Pyrem + Ingra, Ganish + Yala. Some of the lesser gods are happy to rule in far-off worlds (like Animora or Mai Shen). The rest seem to have no interest in the other worlds and only leave the world of the gods because they are sent (like Darrow, Bernd Rechts, etc.). The First were never able to achieve anything interesting because all their conflicts were with other members of the First. What is the good of having amazing cosmic power if you live in a world where everyone else has amazing cosmic power also?
In theory we were supposed to care about one (or both) of the main figures: Seahn or Persha. However Seahn was a nasty character with no redeeming attributes. He supposedly wanted to sit on the ruling council of House Dexter, but what for? The ruling council of House Dexter never did anything. So his initial goal was empty and aroused now sympathy from the reader. Then he schemed and murdered his way to rule over House Sinister, helped in large part by the power of Enson (Danik). But to what end? What did he do as the main figure in House Sinister? Was he really more powerful than Orium? Could he control Gannish in any sense? No. He was no leader and he had no vision for what to do with his power. Through all the issues of the First, all the talk, not one person ever had a vision of what they were going to do which mattered.
The only person who seems to have a clue about what to do is Ingra. She actually makes direct contact with a number of the Sigil-bearers and makes use of their powers for her own ends. At least Ingra has some idea of what to do with power, no one else does.
The writer of the First liked to compare her characters to High School students playing their petty games of social dominance in school. Well there are a host of reasons why this does not make for good drama. First, high school is a completely artificial environment. High school students are essentially prisoners of the state, forced to attend school whether they wish to or not. Forced to remain in contact with people they would otherwise never went to even see, much less talk to. Forced to adhere to state mandated rules of behavior which, as adults, they would never consent to. High school students are like adults, with adult bodies and passions, but without the legal rights. How is this comparable to the lives of gods who are (A) immortal, (B) can travel anywhere they like in an instant, and (C) can do whatever they like because there is no authority to stop them? High school students are not comparable to gods.
The gods of Greek mythology are kept in line by several factors. First Zeus is the ultimate ruler and he can (and does) settle disputes. Second, the gods know that if they step out of line too much they can be supplanted by new gods, just as they supplanted the Titans before them. Third, the gods play their games through men, examples of conflict between the gods are rare, and mostly confined to their initial emergence into the pantheon. The only example of a long-term conflict between the gods is between Hephastus and Ares over Venus. Otherwise, when the gods have disputes, they fight it out through men as their proxies.
This is for good reason. A conflict between the gods is either a) irresolvable or b) must result in wide spread change that alters the universe.
Some possibilities the First might have considered:
• Destroy all the Sigil bearers.
• Find out who gave them their power and then wage war on that entity (It would have taken the First about 10 minutes to locate the Danik “fragments” hovering around the Sigil-bearers. In fact Skink/Danik revealed his power directly to Mai Shen, an event that should have – but didn’t – send her back to Ingra with the juicy news.)
• Conquer all the worlds (impose a rule by The First on all the planets). After all, the First are immortal, can teleport instantly from location to location, and have access to fantastic amounts of power. No world could have stood up to the combined might of either of the houses.
• Breed “super-men” on all the planets. The Greek gods followed this tactic, and produced heroes on Earth by breeding with mortal females. We know of at least one example of this happening (Ires from Negation) but the authors made no effort to create plots out of such unions.
• Collect advanced technology from all the planets. The world of the First is devoid of artifacts or technology other than swords and armor. Given that the First can be damaged or even killed by the concentrated energy blasts of huge spaceships, one might have thought the First would express some interest in staying one or two steps ahead of the mortal races? But no, they couldn’t be bothered.
• Begin a plan for the conquest of the other half of the world of Elysia (in other words, end the division by force of conquest). This idea would make more sense if there was actually any conflict between the two sides, but there isn’t. The two sides get along fine.
Persha has the idea of unifying the two sides but she makes no efforts at convincing the members of her own side (House Sinister) and she leaves House Sinister to join House Dexter without any emotional difficulty. She doesn’t really fit with the House Sinister personality in the first place, she isn’t an egotistical Prima Donna and she doesn’t really seem to want to rule over other people. She doesn’t like the old rift between the two houses because she wants her parents to get back together. It’s a simple desire but it doesn’t have any larger significance.
So, the First series was ultimately meaningless. All these costumes, all the sound and fury, signifying – nothing at all. What lesson were we supposed to draw from the First? That ambition is attractive? (Seahn – I don’t think so) That love can last even across thousands of years of separation? (Pyrem and Ingra – highly unlikely) That opposites attract? (Gannish and Yala – what is the attraction exactly?) That even really beautiful and immortal people can lead empty vacuous lives devoid of meaning or excitement? (I think we knew that already thanks to 70 years of exposure to Hollywood movie stars).
Compare the First to Zelazny and what do you see? Sam (in Lord of Light) is fighting for something deeply important. He is fighting for freedom, for technological progress in the face of an entrenched and stultifying world order. This is an important fight and he is willing to die for his cause. He is willing to kill for his cause. His cause matters, it matters in the world we Americans live in. He isn’t fighting to control the world, he is fighting for others. Sam is a hero in every sense of the word. He is a hero god, fighting other gods on behalf of ordinary mankind. Although Sam loses everything to achieve his goal, he does not begrudge this lose because he is a hero.
Consider Zelazny’s other significant god-like hero: Corwin. At first Corwin wants to rule Amber because he feels he is the rightful heir to the throne of his father, but later he learns that ruling means caring about your subjects. To rule justly and well is to give of yourself for the betterment of the kingdom (he sees this acted out in both kingdoms he visits in The Guns of Avalon). Finally Corwin realizes that he wants to rule so that he can preserve order, life, and the chance for people everywhere to live their lives in peace. Corwin chooses order over chaos and creates his own pattern to save the multiverse. In the end, he does not rule and does not need to rule, it is enough that he has saved the many worlds from chaos and disorder. This is an important journey to take, to learn to value other people, lesser people, other things, above yourself.
Who among the First is on such a journey? No one. Not any of the First that we meet cares about anything important. None of them are on a heroic quest, none of them are seriously threatened. They aren’t fighting over anything important because they don’t care about anything important. Does it matter if Seahn is in charge of the House Sinister? No. Does it matter that Persha wants to unify the two houses? Again no, because Persha does not in fact represent a merger between the two ideals of the two houses: individuality vs. community effort. She has no larger plan, just a vague feeling that the two houses should be united again. But she has no vision, and Danik (in the form of Wyture) doesn’t offer one either.
(Copyright Colin Glassey 12/11/2006)
Posted by rakhier at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)
The overall CrossGen plot...
Thoughts on super-human characters and the CrossGen Comics
By Colin Glassey, December 11, 2006
Super-human characters have been a staple of stories since the very beginning. The earliest story out of Sumerian civilization is about the demi-god Gilgamesh and his wild demi-god friend Enkidu. The Greek myths are full of stories about super-men like Heracles, Jason, Beleraphon, Perseus, and more.
In the 1970s, Roger Zelazny wrote a number of classic stories (Lord of Light, Nine Princes in Amber) about demi-gods as realistic people with real problems and desires.
An attempt at something similar was made from 2001 to 2003 by a Miami based company called “CrossGen”. They published comic books and tried to tell a story of gods and power through the means of their comics.
Comic books have, from the very beginning, been the domain of super-men (starting pretty much with Superman) so the idea of comics dealing with super-men is nothing new. Still, the CrossGen story struck me as an interesting modern attempt to deal with the issues of super-men and what drives them.
Part 1 – The CrossGen Plot
The story (as can be surmised from various comics CrossGen published) is as follows.
In the Beginning was Atlantis – 100,000 B.C.E
A long time ago, a very human-like race existed on the island state of Atlantis on the planet Earth. Over time the Atlanteans figured out something important. They learned that they could escape their bodies and transcend, become one with the universe (essentially attain Nirvana). Following the Buddhist way of thinking, the majority concluded that transcending was only feasible/worthwhile if they gave up their emotions to be intellects only. However, not everyone in Atlantis agreed with the plan to transcend.
The first group, led by Capricia, did not wish to transcend because they felt an obligation to guide and protect the savage “true humans” who were living elsewhere on the planet. So this group agreed to “hide” during the transition (for reasons that make little sense). The second group, consisting really of only one individual named Solusandra, disagreed with the idea that emotions had to be given up in the transcended state. She insisted on transcending with her emotions intact.
The transcendence was a success. Those Atlanteans moved beyond mortal existence and gained access to vast powers. However, they did very little with such powers. They were content to observe and do nothing. They became idle gods. The one thing they did do was limit Solusandra, they removed her from the group mind and limited her to playing with just a small part of the galaxy.
Solusandra made use of her powers to create a group of demi-gods named “The First”. Danik, one of the leaders of the Atlanteans, was sent to watch Solusandra and over time he concluded that she was right and they were wrong. However, this conclusion came only after a long time.
In the mean time, the situation on Earth had developed rather oddly. Atlantis and all the people who stayed behind, was sunk under the ocean, those that stayed behind were locked in a state of suspended animation for 100,000 years. Oddly, the transcended Atlanteans did nothing, they made no move to fix the problem of their time-locked friends and they made no effort to help the “true humans” living and developing on Earth.
For reasons never explained, Solusandra grew bored of The First and left them. And for thousands of years (30,000? 50,000?) Solusandra disappears from the story. Danik apparently is interested in The First and so he creates two “fragments” of himself to monitor The First (two because The First have split into two warring factions). The First don’t do much from the time of this split till the start of the comic book series. Only Altwaal, the first creation of Solusandra has any vision for the development of the gods and so he leaves them to let them mature on their own. Altwaal’s strategy does not seem to work.
Earth in the Future – 3,000 C.E.?
Meanwhile humans on Earth eventually reached the 20th century and then passed it. They developed space flight. Somehow humans appeared on many planets in the galaxy, whether this was a matter of colonization from Earth or “creative work” by Solusandra was never explained.
Eventually, some thousand or two thousand years into the future (3000? 5000 CE?) two scientists (Charon and Appolyon) came up with an invention which would cause a technological type of transcendence. They used their machine and it had a curious effect. The population of the Earth largely “transcended” (but not the people living in Australia). However, they did not transcend like the Atlanteans had done 90,000 years earlier, instead they became semi-physical/semi-energy beings in an alternate dimension, a galaxy like our own but different. In this galaxy the two scientists, Charon and Appolyon, gained enormous power, allowing them to travel instantly from place to place, giving them immortality, and allowing them to channel vast energy at will.
Charon, driven somewhat mad by the transition, created new “fragments” of himself, each of which contained a part of his madness. These entities were creatures of chaos, murder, violence, and evil (they were called Lawbringers, for no good reason). Charon himself became rational but emotionally detached from such vital issues as life and death. He resolved to conquer this new galaxy, named “Negation Space”.
Negation Space
Over the next 10,000 years Charon succeeded in conquering the Negation galaxy. Early on he defeated and imprisoned Appolyon as well as one of his own Lawbringers who turned against him. His commanders were the people of Earth who had transcended with him. The rest of the Earth population had not gained nearly as much power as Charon but they had gained immortality. Over time they forgot all about Earth or about trying to return to their home world.
Note: it is not at all clear that time runs the same in the Negation dimension as in the “Bright” dimension. It could be that 10,000 years in Negation space is equal to much less time in the “Bright” space. This would logically give the Negation space an advantage if true. If it is not true then it is hard to explain what the Earth people have been doing for the 10,000 years that Charon spends consolidating control over his Negation galaxy. Given technological advancement and FTL ships, 10,000 years is enough to do all sorts of interesting things (colonize the galaxy; develop new ways of transcendence; harness the power of stars; etc.) For whatever reason, the technology on the Earth side seems static (and in fact not much advanced from 500 years from now).
People elsewhere in the “Bright galaxy” forgot about Charon and ignored his technology for transcendence (this is completely absurd and not the only absurdity). Similarly, this transcendence by much of the Earth’s population escaped the notice or interest of the Atlantean gods or The First (What do they do with their time? Play poker?).
The Creation of the Sigils – 13,000 C.E.?
Finally, less than 10 years before the start of the comics, Danik became convinced that Solusandra was right and his fellow Atlantean gods were wrong. He decides that he will change the power structure in the “Bright” galaxy by enlisting Solusandra’s help. Together they went through the “Bright” galaxy creating Sigil-Bearers who would have the power (eventually) to challenge the power of the Atlantean gods. After some 40 (or more) Sigil-bearers had been created, the other Atlantean gods figured out something was happening and they joined together to destroy Solusandra (not realizing the Danik was part of the plot?). However, their attempt to destroy Solusandra backfired and ALL the transcended Atlanteans were destroyed except Danik. Solusandra only partially survived, in a vastly weakened state with her memories gone.
At this point Danik has won, and the Sigil bearers no longer have a purpose. But immediately after this victory he discovers (through unknown means) that Charon’s forces have found (or will find) a way to cross the barrier to the “Bright” galaxy. The Negation galaxy, united under the immensely powerful Charon and his Lawbringers, is a threat which Danik can’t seem to fight (why not? As the only Atlantean god left can’t he close down “portals” from the Negation space as soon as they open? What sort of god is Danik?). The threat from the Negation is now the new purpose of the Sigil-bearers.
Apparently the new mission for the Sigil-bearers is to travel into Negation space and destroy Charon and end the Negation empire attacks into the “Bright” galaxy.
The comics now start and they cover a period of a few months or years.
1) In The First, none of the demi gods seem to have improved their powers over the years or learned anything. At the start of the comics, Danik’s fragment (named Enson) helps Seahn obtain one of the magic weapons of Atlwaal but Seahn soon loses it. The rest of the series is a complex power game which accomplishes little. Indeed while Solusandra brushes Ingra aside with a wave of her hand, she has to spend quite some time battling Giselle before she beats her, suggesting that Giselle has become more powerful than Ingra. Only Altwaal seems like he might be a challenge for Solusandra, and Altwaal was created by Solusandra so we know he wields just a portion of her power. {Earth: Seahn; Fire: Ingra; Air: Pyrem; Water: Orium}
2) In Sigil, Sam Rey learns to use his Sigil to perform god-like feats such as: carving up the planet Gaia into smaller, stable chunks; warping and destroying space ships from a distance. Sam Rey’s power is so immense that it calls into question the power of Danik and Solusandra as neither of them seems capable of such feats. Sam seems capable of destroying planets by himself. He is easily the most powerful Sigil-Bearer and he does things that are more dramatic than anything anyone else does in all the comics.
3) In Mystic, Giselle learns various forms of magic and becomes quite proficient at using her Sigil to power magic spells. This makes her very formidable in one-on-one battles. Her spells give her powers equal to (and perhaps superior to) anything any individual members of the First have, though there are indications that her powers are dependent on her location, unlike the First who are equally powerful everywhere.
4) In Scion, Prince Ethan transforms into a great warrior but his feats are on a small scale. He seems one of the less useful of the major Sigil-Bearers.
5) In Meridian, Sephia is like Ethan, only smaller and even less powerful. She is not much of a warrior and more of a healer. She seems the least capable of the major Sigil-Bearers.
6) In Crux, the initial team of Capricia, Tug, Gammid, and Galvin seem weak and ineffective. While they survive nearly constant assaults from Negation forces (the Negation seems to have remembered where to find Earth) they rarely win anything more than partial respites from the Negation attacks. Their powers (enhanced slightly by Danik) seem much less than the power of the First or Giselle or Sam Rey. Unlike the First they will die from old age, they can’t teleport, they can’t unleash death rays, they can’t wield magical spells, they can’t see distant events, and they can’t sense happenings on other worlds. Only when the Crux team manages to re-awaken the rest of the 1,000 Atlanteans who were in suspended animation, do they gain the ability to defeat a serious Negation military force. However, even massed together, the Atlanteans seem to be lacking the raw power of Sam Rey and they are internally conflicted and lacking a great deal of knowledge, because they have been asleep for the last 100,000 years.
7) In the Negation comic, the combination of the four Sigil-bearers, plus a member of the First, plus a partial First, are insufficient to beat even a single Lawbringer. Only the self destruction of a powerful magician from Giselle’s planet is able to kill a Lawbringer (suggesting that Giselle’s powers would be singularly effective against the other Lawbringers). While Kaine is a masterful commander and manages to keep his team alive despite incredible odds, the bottom line is they fail to make much of a dent in Negation power. At the end of the series they have three things in their favor and one against:
First they find and energize a resistance movement against Charon by rescuing a dissident Lawbringer from its prison.
Second they create a powerful version of Danik in the Negation space (this could have been done anytime but they lacked the knowledge to do it until the end).
Third, they rescue the demi-god Appolyon who is nearly as powerful as Charon and should prove a most useful ally in Negation Space, so long as he does not simply take over once Charon is defeated.
Against this must be set the fact that all the Sigil-bearers gave up the fight, the Atlaneans are either dead or exhausted, and the one member of the First who was on their side, joins Charon, bringing with her a great deal of knowledge and raw power to the Negation.
Several more things need to be mentioned. First, Solusandra is not dead and she suddenly wakes and sets out to regain her memories by visiting some of the Sigil-Bearers that she (and Danik) earlier created (this is described in the eight Solus comics). During this time the Sigil-Bearers have only been monitored by Danik, they have no clue where the sigils came from. Solusandra finally meets with Danik and regains her memories. She pledges to use her powers to fight against the Negation. This would seem to double Danik’s power. In fact, given that she created the First, it is hard to see how Solusandra can be defeated by anything the Negation and Charon can send against her.
Second, Altwaal chooses this time to return to the The First and reassert his control over all the gods. Altwaal seems to have a great deal of knowledge about the future and if the First were really united under his leadership, they would be a truly formidable force (though again, capable of breaking worlds apart like Sam Rey? It doesn’t seem like it).
(Copyright 2006 - Colin Glassey)
Posted by rakhier at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)
CrossGen Comics - Review...
From Colin Glassey:
CrossGen comics went out of business more than two years ago but I recently collected a bunch of their books. I wrote up a big essay on what they did (and did not do). I'm publishing this essay because I think it is worth putting out on the web. Today: A Review
Of the CrossGen comics, Crux was a complete failure on just about every level. I kept hoping it would get better and it never did. The characters were weak, the logic was non-existent, and the enemy was too powerful. Only when Aristophanes appeared did Crux attain some narrative force as that character actually believed in his cause and was utterly convinced of the correctness of his course of action.
The First, despite lovely art, costumes, and character design, proved emotionally and intellectually empty. I guess I should have known it would not work out when they spent most of the fist six episodes narrating a back-story which, frankly, wasn’t that interesting. Bottom line for the First: if you are going to make gods, give them something important to do!
Meridian, while not my cup of tea, was actually a good idea and seems to have been carried out well.
Sojourn, seemed to be a very obvious heroic fantasy, well illustrated but nothing special.
Sigil, a plain, straight forward narrative about a super hero up against overwhelming odds was good clean fun. Sadly, Sam Ray became too powerful and really nothing could stand in his way (once you can take planets apart with your mind, everything else seems – just a bit trivial). However the art work was great, the science fiction was reasonably well thought out, and one or two of the characters were realistic.
Scion was a winner, though Prince Ethan was just a bit to darn good in his behavior. He made tough choices and he lived with them. He was always doing the right thing, even when it hurt him. Also, the artwork was just a little too simple for my tastes (the faces were under-drawn in my opinion). Still, nice job overall.
Mystic was also a winner. Beautiful illustrations, very well thought out magic system and political/social dynamics. The problem, once Giselle has defeated one of the First (sort of), there was no where else to go for big drama. Giselle isn’t going to take on the Negation, they don’t fit into her “individual magical solutions”. They are a science fiction threat and she is a fantasy character. Her later quests to master all the forms of magic, while interesting, wasn’t the same level of drama as we had earlier. So Mystic I think went too big, too early in the challenge department. Still, the first 24 issues remain an impressive achievement. The artwork especially up until issue #19 was spectacular.
Negation was the best of the group, perhaps too good as it distorted all the other titles starting in early 2003. Never-the-less, Negation featured intelligent, gut-wrenching action. It had choices that mattered (as characters could be, and were, killed off). It had a wonderful semi-random assembly of strange people who all had to work together in order to survive. The final end of Negation was a shocking and unpleasant turn of events which calls into question the whole American ethos. Still, up until Gammid’s death in episode 27, this is one of the great works of modern science fiction. Kaine, Evinlea, Lizard Lady, all of the escapes, made for a stunning adventure.
-- Colin Glassey, December, 2006
Posted by rakhier at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)