My Super Ex-Girlfriend

The wife and I went to see My Super Ex-Girlfriend last night. We both liked it since it had elements that appeal to us both: Romance, comedy, and superheroics (there were capes and costumes, but no tights, which was a nice change of pace.)

Where films like Spider-Man and Superman Returns give us a view of life inside a comic book, My Super Ex is more of a glance of what would happen if someone from real life was to attain super powers. Since there is no mention of any other super heroes flying around, the audience is left to believe that G-Girl, played by the effervescent Uma Thurman, is the world's only superpowered individual. Even her nemesis, the diabolic Professor Bedlam (Eddie Izzard) is just a regular Joe who relies on dim-witted thugs and nifty gadgets like a robotic pidgeon in order to spy on his super powered foe (sort of like the bird used by Syndrome on his island fortress in The Incredibles.)

My favorite performance was that of Rainn Wilson (from Sahara and The Office) who played best friend and confidant to Luke Wilson's protaganist character, Matt Saunders. Although the best line of the film was Luke's line when he says to Hannah (Anna Lewis): "Get out of town. Go to San Diego or Tahiti, or Utah. Well, not Utah. Utah sucks." I wanted to stand up and cheer after that one.

Oh, and I thought it was interesting to realize that Eddie Izzard also played in the wannabe superhero flick, Mystery Men, with Janine Garofalo, who played with Uma Thurman in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, who then played in My Super Ex-Girlfriend with Eddie Izzard. I'm sure that if I think about it, I could figure out the degrees of separation of any one of these actors to Kevin Bacon.

Anyway, it's not the biggest budget superhero flick out there, but then again, it's not intended to be a superhero story, just a love story with a superhero twist, which is all the rage these days (and for the record, that's okay with me.) But it is fun, and can be enjoyed by members of both sexes.

Anthing less would be uncivilized.

What Religion Does YOUR Favorite Superhero Belong To?

I stumbled on an interesting website today, in which you can look up the religious affiliation of various fictional comic book characters. You can check it out here:
http://www.adherents.com/lit/comics/comic_book_religion.html

I've inserted the following characters just for fun.


Quasar is listed as an ATHIEST


I don't know what religion they had on Krypton, but good ol' Supes was raised as a God-fearing METHODIST


Mr. Crabby himself, J.J.J. is listed as "HATES SPIDER-MAN" religion (heh, heh...that's funny, right?)

And for all you Mormon folks:

The Power Pack claims membership in the LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

I guess the family that fights crime together, earns Celestial Glory together, eh?

Anything less would be uncivilized.

Infinity Challenge of the Super Friends

Get ready for another action packed evening of clix, chips and chicks (yeah, right!) this Friday! The location has not yet been determined, but we'll decide that well in advance of game time.

The build totals are as follows:
Game #1: 300 points (No figure over 100 points.)
Game #2: 500 point open build (Bring your Superman figs...you know you want to!)

We'll decide later if we want to include BCC's or not.



In other news, I received the case of Hypertime boosters I got on eBay yesterday. I pulled the Unique Superman from booster #3 and thought I was well on my way to getting some Unique figs I didn't yet have from the set, then was a little frustrated when I went through another 36 boosters without pulling any more Uniques! I was about ready to go Buffy...er, I mean Angel, on somebody for this incredible oversight on the part of Wizkids and their total lack of quality control. I mean, the ratio for this set is supposed to be 1 Unique for every 6 boosters!

Finally, at the bottom of the box, I start pulling the remaining 7 Uniques: 2 Darkseids (got him already), Parasite (got him already too, but I think I'll insert a custom dial and give him some better stats, since their version sucks fish guts) and then 4 that I've been wanting: Batman, Flash, Commissioner Gordon and Joker. So it was definitely worth the 50 clams I paid for it.

Anything less would be uncivilized.

Weekly Clix Fix!

Allow me to issue the call: "Geeks Assemble!"

Heroclix games at my house tonight.
We'll play a 400 point open build game, then a 500 point open build game.
Maps and Battlefield Condition Cards will be decided once everyone arrives and gets set up.



Nate has offered to bring the traditional Chili Cheese Fritos and Matt has volunteered to buy the pizza (just kidding, Matt.)
Oh, and Beau? Don't spill any beer on the map, okay? Thanks!

Cosmic Powers

What is a God?
What attributes does one claiming godhood posess?
We know that in the Marvel U, certain space-going characters have the Power Cosmic, which, according to Wikipedia, includes the ability to defy all known Laws of Physics.
Characters like Galactus, Silver Surfer, The Celestials, and the Elders of the Universe wield this awesome power.
But are they Gods?



What of characters based on the mythological gods of days gone by? Folks belonging to the pantheons of Mt. Olympus...



...or hailing from Asgard, just over yonder Rainbow Bridge? Are they not powerful enough to posess the Power Cosmic?



Let's look again at some of the powers of Galactus, the world devourer, as stated in Wikipedia:

Some of Galactus' more commonly displayed abilities are size-alteration, molecular restructuring, conversion and transmutation of matter, the projection of energy with incalculable concussive force or heat, the teleportation of objects — even entire galaxies — across space and time, the erection of impenetrable energy-screens and force fields, the creation of interdimensional and intradimensional portals and wormholes, a virtually unlimited capacity for telepathy and telekinesis, and cosmic awareness on a universal scale. Galactus has even shown the ability to create sentient life, resurrect the dead, manipulate mortal souls, and remake dead worlds in every detail.

Even Galactus' heralds, whom he has endowed with a minuscule fraction of his awesome power, are able to manipulate matter and energy in ways far beyond human comprehension. Indeed, Galactus is so powerful he must always wear his armor to help him regulate his internal energies or else they could run rampant with the potential to change him into a star.

So, is the ability to manipulate matter and energy an attribute of the Power Cosmic?



My final question is this? Should the "god" characters in the Marvel U posess the Power Cosmic for purposes of the Heroclix game?

I think that team ability would suit characters like Thor and Hercules just fine.

Anything less would be uncivilized.

Greased Lightning

Yes, the Marvel: Sinister Heroclix expansion set has been out for a few weeks now and I’m finally getting around to writing a review of it. Well, one character in particular: Whizzer/Speed Demon.



At first, I was upset that the “geniuses” at Wizkids had gotten two separate characters mixed together: Whizzer, a member of the Squadron Supreme and Speed Demon, a member of the Sinister Syndicate. But, after some research in my handy dandy Marvel Universe Handbooks, I discovered that Speed Demon had in fact gone by the name of Whizzer early in his career. Chalk one up for Wizkids…they got this one right.



One thing I don’t fully understand however, is the gross imbalance of speedster characters as they are converted into the Wizkids realm. Why is it, that Jay Garrick, the original Flash could reach a land speed of 480 mph* has a movement value of 20 in Heroclix and Wally West, a subsequent Flash, could run as fast as 750 mph but the highest value of other Flash figures in Heroclix only reached a modest 14?

(* He is given the rank of CL1000 according to the game mechanics of the Marvel Superheroes RPG – stats were pulled from www.classicmarvel.com)



Let’s compare another speedster, Quicksilver:

His stats in the MUH show him as having hyper running with a rank of Shift X speed (but then it says 750 mph, which means the power rank should really be CL3000, just like good ol’ Wally West mentioned earlier. Either that, or if it really is SHX, he can only run a measly 180 mph.)

However, his stats on the Classic Marvel website credit him with only a rank of CL1000 for running, meaning his land speed is equal to Jay Garrick: 480 mph.)

However you slice it, Quicksilver is still pretty fast and his powers didn’t translate very well into the Heroclix ‘verse, since his first incarnation in the Infinity Challenge set gave his R/E/V versions starting movement values of 12/13/14, respectively.

They cleaned him up a bit in the Armor Wars set, however, when they gave him starting values of 12/13/13. Yes, his Veteran level is just a tad slower than the previous version, but they finally give all three levels the Hypersonic Speed power in addition to the Flurry power that was the only movement power they gave to the Infinity Challenge version.



It is the opinion of this fanboy, that the Unique Flash from the Hypertime set should be the standard for the rest of the speedster characters in the Heroclix game. These guys are fast! Granted, there aren’t many other Heroclix figures that have a movement value as high as 12, but there are some out there, such as 2 Veteran versions and a Unique version of Iron Man. HE’S NO SPEEDSTER! Let’s give the speedsters the powers they deserve, even in a fantasy based game like Heroclix.
Speed Demon, for one, definitely deserves a movement value faster than a mere 10. That’s par with a ton of non speedster characters and it’s just a slap in the face for fans of speed-based superheroes (or villains).

That’s why, why I make my custom LE version of James Sanders (Speed Demon), I’ll give him a starting movement value of at least 14.

Anything less would be uncivilized.