Book Review: Avengers: Mighty Origins by P. David et al.

Avengers: Mighty Origins written by Peter David, art by Andrea DiVito, Jon Burran, Nigel Raynor, Mike Bowden, and Walden Wong

Picking up right after the classic Avengers origin story (Loki tricks Thor into fighting the Hulk, hoping Hulk will beat him; Iron Man, Wasp, and Ant-Man are drawn into the fray; after sorting out the deception, Loki is banished and the group discovers Captain America's frozen body), this book has Loki scheming to bring down the Avengers. He is mad that as the god of chaos he's united a bunch of heroes to prevent mischief and evil on Midgard. Loki hatches a new scheme to divide the Avengers against each other. They are just learning to trust each other; Loki will undermine that trust and have them fighting in no time.

The story is entertaining even in its predictability. The author has a good sense of the characters and has some natural humor with each of them. I was also happy to see it wasn't just a retread of the classic origin story but a sequel showing the bond of Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America getting stronger.

The book also contains the first issue of The Avengers after Civil War II where they have to regroup and fight Kang the Conqueror, who travels through time and causes trouble. That story was less interesting, mostly because it's a teaser for another graphic novel.

Recommended for some classic Avenger action and storytelling.

Movie Review: Bedlam (1946)

Bedlam (1946) co-written and directed by Mark Robson

In 1761, the infamous mental hospital St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum is known as Bedlam. It's run by Sims (Boris Karloff), a toadying, frustrated man who sucks up to the nobility (his benefactors, including the easily manipulated Lord Mortimer (Billy House)). By contrast, he is harsh and cruel to the inmates. He faces a big challenge when Lord Mortimer's protege, Nell Bowman (Anna Lee), finds him a bit repulsive and decides to visit the asylum. Her sassy and mocking tone changes when she sees the conditions of the inmates. She is even more repulsed. Nell convinces Mortimer to provide funds for reforms, like decent food and actual beds for the inmates. She convinces Mortimer until Sims catches his ear and convinces Mortimer that the expense will cut into his cosy lifestyle. Sims's cruelty doesn't end there--he convinces Mortimer to strip her of his patronage and eventually commit her to Bedlam. Her haughtiness gives way to her better nature as she tries to help out the inmates even as she is one of them.

The movie is a fascinating study in contrasts. Both Sims and Nell are sharp-witted and given to disdain for others. But Sims is fully committed to securing his own position while Nell learns to help out others in any way she can. She's inspired by a Quaker stonemason who wants to do some work at the asylum. He too is horrified by the conditions but is true to his faith and refuses to disdain others or participate in the corruption of Bedlam. He pushes Nell in the right direction and provides minor support throughout the film (and eventually winds up as a sort of love interest for her, though that is very minimal and feels tagged on to meet Hollywood expectations). Nell's influence on the other inmates inspires them to stand up for themselves in a critical moment. She makes a great heroine against Karloff's evil scheming.

The acting is very good. Anna Lee holds her own in scenes with Karloff, which is no small accomplishment. The other actors give fine performances, not going too over-the-top as the "loonies" or too detached from reality as the aristocratic class.

The sets mimic the Hogarth paintings (a set known as "The Rake's Progress) from which the story is inspired. The DVD has an interesting commentary by a film historian, including details about Hogarth, Karloff, Lee, director Mark Robson, and producer Val Lewton.

Recommended.

The movie is available as a horror double-feature in the Val Lewton collection along with Isle of the Dead.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Earthshock (1982)

Doctor Who: Earthshock (1982) written by Eric Saward and directed by Peter Grimwade

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) lands the TARDIS on Earth in AD 2526. Actually, he lands inside the Earth, in some caves where, naturally, trouble is brewing. An expedition of geologists and paleontologists were wiped out by a mysterious force. One survived and she is leading a military group back into the caves to find out what happened. After a typical misunderstanding (surely the Doctor and his companions must be guilty since they are in the caves!), the Doctor unites with the 26th century earthlings to fight the menace--the Cybermen. The Cybermen want to destroy the Earth, and when their first plan is foiled, they have a more subtle plan that will cost the Doctor dearly.

The Cybermen are an interesting opponent in this story. They have a history of losing to the Doctor, so once they recognize him, they look for vengeance as well as for the destruction of the Earth. The hyper-logical Cybermen taunt the Doctor for being emotional and therefore weak. The Doctor gives as good as he gets. The Cyberman costume is a little weird because their face's chin plate is transparent. Viewers see a grey chin as the Cybermen talk. While it's a reminder that they aren't just robots, it doesn't help them to be scary. Also, the leader is a bit shouty and does say "excellent" several times as if he were Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.

Peter Davison's Doctor has a fairly interesting relationship to his three companions in this episode. Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) provide some technical support and some humanizing moments for the Doctor. Young Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) is a mathematical prodigy from another planet who wants to go home. The Doctor at first refuses, though Adric plots a course anyway. Their interactions are interesting and come to a poignant ending.

Recommended.

Book Review: The Bradbury Chronicles ed. by W. F. Nolan

The Bradbury Chronicles: Stories in Honor of Ray Bradbury edited by William F. Nolan and Martin H. Greenberg

Twenty-two authors paid tribute to Ray Bradbury in 1991 by contributing stories to this collection. Most are inspired by or extensions of other Bradbury stories, like The Martian Chronicles or Fahrenheit 451. Some even try to ape his style, with mixed results. I enjoyed the volume, though there are only a few standouts: Bradbury's own contribution "The Troll," about a bridge warden who meets up with a skeptic; Gregory Benford's "Centigrade 233," about another dystopian reason to burn books; and Orson Scott Card's "Feed the Baby of Love," about someone coming to a little Illinois town for winsome self-discovery. One or two stories were too dark for my taste (and one had a surprising amount of R-rated language), but the good definitely outweighs the bad here.

Recommended for Bradbury fans.

FRES Spring Carnival 2018

We went to the kids' school's annual carnival, which was very similar to previous carnivals (see here, here, and here). Unfortunately, the weather called for rain so the rock climbing wall did not make an appearance this year. Also unfortunately, my school kids decided they were too old for bouncy castles so they never went in them. I still took pictures.

Obstacle course

More like a padded cell than a castle

They concentrated on inside games instead. I, still being a Cub Scout committee member, set up an information table, which was also inside.

Cub Scout table

The games were a lot of fun. Some didn't have prizes, they were just fun skill challenges.

Get the ball in the hole using angles

Bounce a wiffle ball into one of the colored holes

Ball in mid-flight

Three throws to cover the red spot in blue

A perennial favorite was the cake walk which all the kids tried several times. We didn't come home with any cake, sadly.

Older and younger son ready to walk

Each carnival attraction required a check-off on a card. Once the cards were full, the kids turned them in for prizes. My older son got the whole world for one of his cards!

Playing catch with the planet Earth

The cafeteria was snack central. Cotton candy was the most popular, though we also tried the nachos since the carnival was on Cinco de Mayo.

Cotton Candy Customer

Yummy and messy!

The school mascot came to visit while we were in the cafeteria but my kids didn't want pictures with Eddie the Eagle.

Mascot posing with someone else's kid

My daughter loves temporary tattoos and face painting. She liked the tattoos so much that she went back for seconds!

First tattoo

Getting the second tattoo (should it be "tattwo"?)

Side by side comparison

A cake was raffled off to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the school. The cake was very impressive. We didn't win the raffle but I think that was because we didn't buy any tickets for it.

25th Anniversary cake

We had a grand time and look forward to next year.

Book Review: Wires and Nerve Vol. 2 by M. Meyer et al.

Wires and Nerve Volume 2: Gone Rogue written by Marissa Meyer and art by Stephen Gilpin

See my review of Volume 1 here.

On the eve of a festival to celebrate the peace agreement between Earth and the Moon, a group of rogue soldiers threaten to create chaos. The evil Lunar queen had bioengineered wolf-men as soldiers, giving them an appetite for destruction and human flesh. New Lunar Queen Cinder has given her android friend Iko the task of hunting down the rogue soldiers. Now that the war is over, they want to be reverse-engineered back into regular men. Lunar science has no ability to do that, but Alpha Steele, leader of the wolf-rogues, refuses to believe Queen Cinder. He wants a cure or he wants revenge.

The story centers on Iko, who deals with her own artificial nature as well as kicks wolf-butt. The large cast of characters from Meyer's Lunar Chronicles are all present and help to fill out the story. The people are fun and the plot is interesting enough to support the action and the jokes. There's a little too much interest in dresses and the festival ball for my taste. The book wasn't really written for me, it's more of a YA science fiction romance. Even so I enjoyed the story.

Recommended.

Movie Review: Isle of the Dead (1945)

Isle of the Dead (1945) directed by Mark Robson

During the Balkan War of 1912, a harsh Greek general (Boris Karloff) goes to visit his wife's grave on an island near his latest successful battle. The grave has been plundered and her body is gone, so the general visits the locals to demand an answer. Only a handful of people are left on the island, a few caretakers and some tourists who fled from the battle to the island. The general is convinced to spend the night. Someone falls victim to septicemic plague. The general enforces a quarantine to protect his troops, even though a diplomat wants to get back to his duties and some young lovers want to escape. If that wasn't trouble enough, an old lady spreads superstition, claiming the female young lover is a Vorvolaka, a mythical creature that drains the life force of its victims. At first the general is very rationalistic and gets a military doctor to come. When the doctor falls to the plague, superstition rears its ugly head.

The movie is produced by Val Lewton (of Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie fame) and exemplifies his "less is more" style. Sound effects and shadows create the atmosphere of terror. The tension between superstition and science is well drawn, shifting sympathy from character to character throughout. The ending isn't fully satisfying but still delivers some chilling moments and sympathy for all the characters, even the misguided ones.

Recommended for atmospheric horror fans and Karloff fans (if you aren't a Karloff fan, what's wrong with you?).

The movie is available as a horror double-feature in the Val Lewton collection along with Bedlam, which I haven't watched yet but will soon!