LEGO Marvel's Defenders | Chapter 3: Vampire Nation - References and Easter Eggs

As the team head to the vampire city of St. Sebastian, Iron Fist starts to wonder if there's more to Doctor Strange's motivations than meets the eye.

References and Easter Eggs

• This episode’s setting and subplot are heavily inspired by Death of Dracula #1, which sees Xarus (Dracula’s son) murdering his father as part of an attempt to unite and control the Vampire Sects.
• The flag seen throughout St. Sebastien has one star for every vampire sect.
• Though the Sects themselves do not appear much in this episode, they will feature more heavily later in the series, and in other MBU projects.
• This is Blade’s first appearance in the MBU.
• In the prologue, Blade is seen with Raizo Kodo, leader of a band of ‘good’ vampires called the Forgiven, who seek to thwart the machinations of Dracula, Xarus, and any vampires who lust for power and bloodshed. They first appeared in Fear Itself: Hulk vs. Dracula #1.1 in 2011.
• Raizo’s vampire powers are never clearly defined in the comics, beyond his prodigious skill with a blade. In this episode, he is shown to be mildly telepathic, able to ‘listen’ to the vampires of St. Sebastien, and apparently can turn invisible.
• The Claw Sect vampires that Blade and Raizo hide from are from the Middle East. They are skilled assassins.
• The helmeted, gun-toting vampires seen throughout St. Sebastien are of the Kreiger Sect, rivals of the Claw and one of the strongest vampire sects. They are militaristic, and usually dwell in an unassailable mountain fortress.
• The statue that Blade and Raizo hide behind is ‘Our Lady of Famine’. One of my interpretations of Marvel’s vampire culture is that they would have needed to enslave local villagers to build the vampire citadel during the day, and that in fear of the vampires, these superstitious locals might have come to create folk legends about them. Our Lady of Famine is a fictional vampire and one of those legends.
• The footage of the Ultron army invading St. Sebastien is taken from a cancelled animation called LEGO Ultron Unlimited: Vampire Nation, which was to cover the events that Xarus mentions in flashback.
• Dracula being beheaded is a direct reference to the comics; traditionally, in folklore, one of the only ways to kill a vampire is to behead it. The X-Men actually revive Dracula after his murder at Xarus’ hands by reuniting his head with his body in Curse of the Mutants.
• Ryan Negron, the MBU’s original Iron Fist voice actor was unable to voice in this episode, so Josh Danque (AFewGoodFilms) offered to temporarily replace him.
• This is the first episode in the series where a character uses the term ‘Defenders’ to define the team. Iron Fist’s dialogue implies that there was a previous team in the MBU that we have yet to fully learn about.
• Doctor Strange is implied to have had previous dealings with Daimon and Satana Hellstrom, who appear to be villains in the MBU. Only time will tell if this is truly the case.
• Doctor Strange is shown not to be above foul play himself, using a Spell of Illusion to distract Xarus while he searches the citadel. This mentality of ends justifying the means is a subtle reference to Strange’s role in the Illuminati, in the comics, where Strange, Namor, Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, Black Bolt and Reed Richards come together to deal with catastrophic situations in secret, taking action (some terrible action) on behalf of the rest of the superhero community.
• It is unknown whether Xarus’ plan to turn Iron Fist and Valkyrie into vampires would have worked. Iron Fist’s chi abilities might have allowed him to purge the vampire curse from his body (as Wolverine’s healing factor can), and Valkyrie is an Asgardian goddess, so mgiht not have been affected at all.

I hope you found these little nuggets of info fun and interesting! Until next time, what is the true extent of the Hellstroms' plan? Do they truly wish to raise Dormammu? Why might Strange not be being entirely honest with his new teammates? And can Blade and the Defenders stop this new Vampire Nation from rising to power so late in the game?

LEGO Yondu and the Ravagers - References and Easter Eggs

In the aftermath of Gamora's attack on the Badoon, Yondu and his Ravagers come to that same planet to collect a bounty, but they soon find that nobody is left to pay them. There is only the Hunger.

References and Easter Eggs

• The green crystal, the Elemental, is a gemstone of great power precious to the Brotherhood of the Badoon. It's first appearance was very recent, in Gamora #1.1, published in December 2016. Its powers will be different in the MBU.
• Galactus is able to sense the Elemental from far away. In the comics, different energies and firmaments have different 'tastes', with Sakaar's Old Power giving Galactus a high. This is the same in the MBU, with Galactus thinking the Elemental will be a fine delicacy.
• Most of the Ravagers in this brickfilm are original characters, with the exceptions of Yondu, Star-Lord, Taserface, Kraglin, and Lady Hellbender.
• Lady Hellbender is a minor antagonist from Totally-Awesome Hulk #1.1-1.4. In the comics, she is the self-proclaimed Monster Queen of Seknarf Nine. She scours the universe for rare monsters in order to bring them to a sanctuary on her planet, where they are adored for their strength and size. However, in the MBU, she has temporarily joined the Ravagers to acquire money and supplies to further her own goals. Her blocky ship, the Destromundo, is currently docked in one of Knowhere’s outer, long-stay bays. On a good day, she is strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk. I plan for her to appear in my Planet Hulk series, and thought this would be a good way of introducing her beforehand.
• Yondu's exclamation "Sweet Mistress Death" is essentially his way of saying "Oh my God". It's meant to imply that the cosmic beings who pop up in the Marvel universe are regarded as a pantheon of 'gods'. I like throwing in more subtly ways of world-building like this.
• P0K, the hooded, robot Ravager, mentions the Shanix currency. The Shanix is a currency found in the Transformers universe, which the Marvel/Transformers/Doctor Who character Death's Head hails from. Keep your ears open for other subtle Transformers name-drops in the future!
• Yondu mentions the Broker, a trader of antiques who operates on Xandar.
• Galactus' herald in this brickfilm is not the Silver Surfer, but Stardust, a water elemental. In the comics, Galactus goes through a number of different heralds, and we will see most of them in the MBU too.

I hope you found these little nuggets of info fun and interesting! Until next time, what powers does the Elemental have, and what do the Badoon want it for? What happened to the Silver Surfer? What did Reed Richards seem so concerned about? And who are King Y'Gaar's mysterious allies?

Join me for the next chapter in this cosmic saga coming soon!

Whoever these two aliens are, they definitely don't come in peace.

BIONICLE: Journey's End. Again.

BIONICLE is ending again, and with how the news that the first generation was ending affected me six years ago, I thought I'd comment on the news today.

I'm really not surprised, or not in the way I should be.

Honestly, I think that Generation 2 had limited appeal, and off the back of LEGO's treatment of properties like Ninjago, Chima, original BIONICLE, and now The Freemaker Chronicles, and therein lies the real surprise. Take a look at Ninjago and you'll see that the company's gone to great lengths to create an incredibly inclusive and in-depth play experience: while the show, for instance, isn't exactly Legend of Korra, it's still got a set of fleshed-out and "real" characters (but still just simple enough to not alienate really young children), engaging character arcs, imaginative locations and storylines, and in Nadakhan, Morro and Skylor some really interesting villains. When the fans reacted well to minor, throwaway characters from the show, like Dareth and the Postman, LEGO listened: you can now get both in physical form. And even if kids dont follow the show, there's enough symmetry in the sets to carry a story of their own, without being reliant on any background knowledge: just look at the Jadeblades from the Tournament of Elements, or the set for the city of Stiix, which could easily have been a fun base for the wave's ghostly antagonists without kids knowing he true context from the show. Chima and the original BIONICLE had the same charm, the same level of detail, and BIONICLE in particular had a great deal of fan interaction.

So for Generation 2 to be so vastly homogenised was a shock, especially since it came at a time when Ninjago was doing very well. You would think LEGO would try to emulate that success with what had been one of their most popular themes in the past (which, along with Star Wars, saved the company in the early 2000s).

Alas not. While the first wave of sets were fun, there was no attention to story beyond a few 2D cartoons that were funny, but had nothing special about them. The heroes were caricatures, the world a science-fantasy template, and the villains a character-less Zerg rush without any threat. We were told the Toa needed the golden masks, and given several campfire recountings of the andient conflict between good and evil that had set current events into motion, but there was nothing beyond that. Comparing the first year of Generation 2 to the first year of Generation 1 may be unfair, given that LEGO was clearly aiming for an even younger demographic, but I really can't help it: instead of learning about the island and its inhabitants via the framing device of an amnesiac, first person protagonist, we're given brief backstories and names for six central ones and no insights into the world of the story beyond the fact that it appears as a physical stage for the Toas' quests; rather than a highly nuanced relationship between the six Toa, three of whom competed for leadership, we were given archetypal cartoons who seemed to speak from a bank of stock phrases.

And so given that the designs of most of the sets went downhill, and that fans had little to nothing to align themselves with story-wise, or not in the way they might be used to from Ninjago, it's no surprise to me that BIONICLE has been discontinued again. I'm sure a lot of people are very sad about it, and I did sigh at the thought of the new story not having the chance to develop into its third year, but it's like energy: you get out what you put in, and quite frankly Generation 2 didn't have much that made it truly special.

Just my opinion, I'm sure it's an unpopular one, but I thought I would share it.

Macbeth (2015) | Film Review

Macbeth (2015)

Directed by Justin Kurzel
Written by William Shakespeare, screenplay by Jacob Koskoff and Michael Lesslie
Starring Michael Fassbender (Macbeth), Marion Cotillard (Lady Macbeth), Paddy Considine (Banquo), Sean Harris (Macduff), David Thewlis (Duncan).
Macbeth (2015) on IMDB

Is this a triumph I see before me? Not quite, but Macbeth is certainly, in my eyes, one of the finest film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s famous play. Set in Scotland, in a heavily fictionalised simulation of the rise and fall an 11th century Scottish king, Shakespeare’s play needs no introduction. Despite being the shortest of his tragedies it is perhaps the most famous. Including genre transpositions (such as Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood) and other forms of adaptation, Macbeth has been brought to screens large and small twenty-four times. So what makes this 2015 adaptation stand apart? You would think that with so many adaptations and so many different approaches to the play’s content, that Macbeth would simply retread old ground. You would be mistaken.

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Macbeth is in many ways a very literal adaptation of the play, doggedly loyal not just to Shakespeare’s beautiful, poetic dialogue and soliloquies, but also to the emotions and motivations behind them. There is no better display of this approach than in the eponymous protagonist himself. Through Michael Fassbender’s wonderfully underplayed performance we see a man first quietly suffers the consequences of his actions, and then is led to believing his own lies, caught between his ethics and his desires. Macbeth is first caught in a conflict between his sense of morality and his duties to a noble king, and to the resplendent future promised to him by three clairvoyant witches. Fassbender internalises Macbeth’s pain, hidden behind a falsely calm facade, only beginning to burst through as he descends into madness later in the film. Initially, Macbeth cannot bring himself to murder Duncan in cold blood - he does not believe himself capable of murder - but over time he is sold his own lie, and allows himself to become more and more callous and cruel, and it is as he moves further down this dark path that Fassebender allows Macbeth’s facade to slip: when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo, and has an outburst of anger in the middle of his feasting hall; when ordering the deaths of Macduffs wife and children, and when he lights the execution pyre himself. It is a subtle emotional journey but not one that goes unnoticed, and while not exactly a virtuoso performance, it is one that I believe shows a deeper level of skill from Fassbender; where some actors might go over the top in portraying the throes of insanity, Fassbender brings a more human and beautifully low-key approach.

While faithful to the play in terms of content, Macbeth is also vastly experimental, yet not to a degree that it alienates the viewer. Kurzel’s use of montage editing during the opening battle sequence unglamourises and humanises what could have been a straightforward action sequence. We are brought to the battlefield alongside Macbeth, Paddy Considine’s Banquo, and a handful of other soldiers, and we stand beside them at every stage of the hellish nightmare that this battle becomes. In particular, our focus is drawn to a young soldier (played by newcomer Scot Greenan), who is implied to be partaking in his first battle. Tension rises, as the two armies of Scots race toward each other in slow-motion. Then the chaos begins, and our protagonists are lost in the low mist and a frenzy of near-silhouettes, and as Macbeth himself stands distracted by his first sighting of the witches, all around him, we are forced through slow motion to watch as both friends and enemies - including the young boy soldier - are painfully dispatched. This young soldier, seeing war for the first time, has his throat cut before the day is done.

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Every blow and strike by soldiers on either side is with a raw energy that keeps this fight, despite its scale, a personal affair. We cut back to Banquo several times throughout but it is Macbeth’s perspective that provides the most visually interesting parts of the sequence, as halfway through, he becomes distracted by three enemy warriors who he sees as three hooded witches, a change in colour temperature (cutting to the witches in a putrid yellow from the bluish grey of the battle) dividing reality and irreality. The battle passes Macbeth by, and the level of disparity is signal through another clever use of slow and fast motion. The world turns and his soldiers fall, but Macbeth is singularly focused on these three unknown figures who he can palpably sense are somehow tied to his own fate.

Similarly, the final confrontation between Macbeth and Macduff takes place in the reddening smog of a burning forest, hiding everything but the two combatants from our sight and throwing a malicious red glow upon them, as if their battle takes place over the mouth of hell itself. It’s a wonderful visual metaphor considering the film’s use of religious imagery and the Macbeths’ complex relationship with their faith, and makes for a stylish and visually awe-inspiring, almost fantastical finale, reminiscent of the similarly hellish, crimson final frame of Red Sorghum (Zhang Yimou, 1987), which also showed war in an unpatronising and horrific way. Interestingly, this powerful blood-red is seen only in this scene, the opening titles, and in the murder of King Duncan; despite the amount of bloody violence and gruesome deaths, actual gore is generally kept to a tasteful minimum, used sparingly to retain its visual impact. Duncan’s murder is a turning point for the story, the moment when Macbeth takes fate into his own hands and physically sets himself on a path to ruin. The finale is of equal importance, as all of Macbeth’s mistakes become manifest, and he is punished for his moral failures. Justice is done, Macduff kills Macbeth, and leaves his body on the plains before Dunsinane Hill as a red sun fills the sky.

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Despite all of this, I have one rather large criticism with the film, one that I found distracting to the point of actually degrading my experience of the piece: mumbling. Shakespeare’s writing is beautiful, and the film consistantly stays loyal to the original text. However, the beauty is in how it is heard, how it is performed, and yet even Fassbender is guilty of fumbling with many of his lines. The rhythmic intonation and delivery is there, but in many cases it is inaudible - often detracting from the emotional value of the characters’ speech, particularly in the cases of Marion Cotillard and Paddy Considine - and when the film is drawing so heavily from such a triumphant work of lyrical art, it just feels like, pardon the pun, wasted breath. Only a few scenes (such as the banquet hall, when Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo) break this pattern, and when the film is already carried by characters with thick, Scottish accents, the sheer volume of mumbled lines makes large swathes of the story difficult to follow.

That’s my major criticism of this film, but unfortunately it’s a rather larger one that detracted considerably from my enjoyment of the film. It prevented me from becoming invested as fully in Lady Macbeth as I clearly should have been, which is a shame considering how wonderfully complex a character she is. That brings me to another criticism, which is that at times, the film moves a little too slowly, most noticably during a few of Lady Macbeth’s monologues. Marion Cotillard’s performance, particularly when she returns to her home village (which, now abandoned, has the air of cursed grounds) is moving and deftly portrays the character’s own personal tragic downfall, but the use of such long takes in already slow, plodding sequences detracted from said sequences as a whole; performance alone can only hold the audience’s attention so far. Film is a visual medium, and while a lot of it is reliant on the actors’ physical performances, cinematography, camera movement and intercutting are also essential in exploiting a film to its full potential. Long takes are great in moderation, and overuse of intercutting is far too common in modern cinema, but we sit in a room watching Lady Macbeth stare into space and talk to herself several minutes. Twice.

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In conclusion, I think that despite being incredibly loyal to the source material, Macbeth is a surprisingly fresh and innovative take on the material. The visual style makes this, as a friend of mine described it, a “pretty” film, and the performances (where we can hear them) are richly layered and engaging, drawing us into a very personal experience.

8.5/10

There was room for improvement in the sound design department, and the pacing was a tad slow at times, but overall this was a fantastic exploration both of Shakespeare’s tragic characters and of visual form. I would highly recommend seeing this film in its entirety, since its visual style is one of its greatest achievements. The other? Well, it’s no surprise to me that Michael Fassbender was nominated for Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards. He poured his soul into Macbeth, and more than deserves the recognition for it.

Avengers Tower: Invasion

After rewrites, reshoots, much kafuffery and myriad setbacks, it's done.

Avengers Tower: Invasion is my longest brickfilm to date, coming in at a grand 8 minutes 21 seconds. It's possibly the most complex I've ever done too, and considering my own internal controversies over this brickfilm, I figured it warranted a proper write-up, just for me to explain everything that went on while I was putting this hunk a' junk together.

The origin story
From March through to August last year I was working on Avengers Tower, a series of fight videos for another channel (though I moved them back to my channel after a disagreement). They were Avengers 'training' fight sequences, and I started trying to use more minor Marvel characters. Anyway, the third video was originally going to be a brainless fight against Ultron and his AIM minions, and so I started animating before I really had a clear idea. At this time, it was called Ultron Ascending, and would be released in two parts. However, part one received a lot of negative backlash, and issues with this other channel caused me to shelve Ultron Ascending.

The dilemma
Ultron Ascending was a really low point for me. I was just about to head off to university and wasn't sure whether I would be able to continue brickfilming there or not (more on that later) and when the reaction to this was so poor, I hated that it could be one of the last things I'd be able to make for a while. It became a sore spot, and I wanted to put the very memory of it out of my mind.

However, I still had about 5 minutes worth of animation done, and a super-complex 1 minute digital intro. That's more than I've ever filmed/edited of anything before, and while I wasn't pleased with much of it, I thought it would be a shame to let it go to waste. At this time, I had also just started talking to Galactic Bricks about a shared LEGO Marvel universe, since I wanted to attempt a different, fresher Avengers project at some point soon. So, I made the decision to try and find a way to use the Ultron Ascending footage.

Invaders assemble
The main difficulty in rewriting Ultron Ascending was that it was such a small-scale story, and the original script had Ultron be destroyed. Thus the first thing I decided to do was have Ultron only appear in a behind-the-scene capacity, and let the Avengers just fight AIM, who I decided (being an organisation of techno-geeks) would somehow have come under the android's sway. Since, with the MBU now better formed in my mind, I wanted to add more set-up for future brickfilms, I tried to interweave some backstory for the robot, while at the same time not making it too oblique. Annoyingly, the original footage, didn't have any space for me to add more in, so it feels like all the build-up is in the second half.

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Which brings me to my honest truth about the film: I don't like it. It hasn't been much fun to work on: it's riddled with light flicker (in both the new and old footage) which I just seem to get rid of, the story is a bit half-hearted, hastily edited, dodgy VFX, and it represents an unpleasant part of my brickfilming career...I'm already looking at how to make my next large project more of a departure from this. While I made the best of a bad situation, there's so much I've learned from how not to brickfilm.

So I hope you enjoy watching this more than I did making it, basically. I've had months of wanting to work on something else but being driven (for some inexplicable reason) to finish this, and I'm not satisfied with the end result.

On a lighter note...

The MBU
Now this I am pleased with. Together with Galactic Bricks, I've been working on establishing a lot of backstory canon, planning lots of brickfilms, and have even begun filming on a few of them. Black Panther: The Gold Vibranium is my next Marvel brickfilm, while a Doctor Strange tribute is also in the works. I'm also quite happy that I've managed to do two episodes of SHIELD Declassified, which you can view on the MBU playlist. Big things are in the works, and while I'm going to be working on some non-Marvel projects too, the MBU has a lot of my attention. Future installments will be far better than Invasion. That's a promise.

The one good thing that did come out of Invasion was the amount of set-up I managed to add without making it clunky. I've established Ultron, AIM (including Andrew Forson, who'll return in Black Panther), Superior Spider-man, and even threw in Inhumans and the High Evolutionary (shhh, spoilers), all of which will have further repercussions in the MBU.

There's better to come, and now that Invasion isn't at the front of my mind I have time to work on becoming better. Like I said, there's so much I've learned about what not to do, and I'll be experimenting with new techniques to try and improve my work.

That's all I have to say for now. I do hope you enjoyed Invasion, and I hope you'll enjoy the future of the Marvel Brickfilm Universe!

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Countdown to Justice, Vol II: Chapter Three

Chapter Three: A Momentary Lapse

     In Gotham, Bruce was stuck in a waking nightmare. He wanted to inspire the people of Gotham to take back their city, using the bat as a symbol of justice, but instead a new group of radicals had warped it to their own ends.
     The Arkham Knights. Militaristic, capeless versions of the Batman himself. They sought an ordered Gotham; they committed heinous acts themselves, killing any criminal they deemed ‘too dangerous’ and organising the rest into something more manageable. The Batman was constantly having to deny his involvement with them to GCPD, through Gordon. Bruce was not a killer, and he would not watch a group of killers use his image to turn his city into a place that nourishes crime while murdering criminals.
     But now he was surrounded. He counted seven of them, each carrying a dagger that glowed orange. The metal was being heated. It went without saying that Bruce had to avoid taking a hit.
     The ringleader spoke. He had a voice modulator, adding a metallic grate to his speech. “You will submit, Batman.” His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. “We will have order.”
     Bruce could feel the ring slowly moving in on him. He lowered his hand to his utility belt, ready to spring his sonic disruptor while striking the nearest Knight, but there was a flash of black and red. The ringleader’s sword was knocked out of his hand, just as he was thrown into two of his comrades.
Bruce seized the moment and jabbed his elbow into the next Knight, flipped him over his hip, and pinned his hand to the ground with a batarang. Before he could remove the Knight’s mask, another one was on him, driving him back towards the edge of the rooftop.
     He dropped all his weight into his feet, tried to slow his attacker down, but ultimately it was the dark-haired, black-jacketed metahuman who saved Batman from the fall. She was tall and muscular, and wore a golden tiara. A lasso was strapped to her hip, a sword on her back, and a shield in one hand.

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     Batman looked around. The other Arkham Knights were lying around him, disarmed and either unconscious or heavily dazed.
     “I had this,” he said.
     “Probably.”
     Before she could say anything else, Batman had launched himself across the Gotham skyline, on his batrope. He didn’t seem to keen to talk.
     She was waiting for him when he landed a block away.
     “You can’t outrun someone who’s faster than sound,” she smirked.
     “What do you want?”
     “To learn from you,” she said. “I’m not...used to my powers. I’ve had them all my life, I just didn’t have to use them until recently. I need to control them.”

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     Batman sized the woman up. Despite the sword, she didn’t have the air of a killer. For a moment, his harsh, untrusting demeanor lapsed. It was enough.
     “Meet me on the roof of Gotham Central Bank tomorrow at eight.”
     And then he was gone, disappearing into the swell of the city.
     Tomorrow at eight, Diana thought. Tomorrow at eight.

To be continued...

Finally, the continuation of Countdown to Justice! Volume II will predominantly follow Wonder Woman, as well as the animosity between Batman and Superman. I'm not setting a regular upload schedule this time because of uni life, but I'm hoping Vol II won't drag on for too long.

The first three chapters are now available here and on my Flickr, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Countdown to Justice, Vol II: Chapter Two

Chapter Two: Throwbacks

Deep in the rainforests of the Congo...
     Racing ahead of his colleagues, Fine rushed over the brow of the forested hill and was faced with a beautiful sight: a sheer cliff divided by a waterfall, surrounded on every side by dense forest. Among all this green, there was a tiny, bare oasis of pure blue. This would make for a good campsite.
     Milton Fine and his team of LexCorp scientists had been on the move for only a day and a half, and already the others were flagging. Fine was holding up - after all, he was no ordinary man - but while Luthor’s ‘best and brightest’ were experts in their fields, they had never been out in the field itself, so to speak. Also, Fine’s nanoprobes were slowly draining them of all of their data; their energy and strength came in as a nice addition to that. An early Christmas bonus for all of Fine’s hard work pretending to be human.
     The doctor sighed and ran further in to the waterfall, snapping a handful of photographs along the way.
     Then the rainforest exploded, and a wall of brown fur came haring towards him.
     Western lowland gorilla. Fine remembered its taxonomical name and chuckled.

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     The gorilla was getting closer. One of the other scientists screamed. Foolish boy. It was almost upon him now. Fine raised a single hand, and the creature went limp as soon as it made contact. The doctor’s inhuman strength had damaged its skull.
     Fine set his nanoprobes to work repairing the beast. This hadn’t been his reason for coming to the Congo and spending so much of Luthor’s money, but it would make for an interesting side-project.
     Realising that his compatriots would no doubt be shocked at the display of strength, he mentally switched them into hibernation. He would need their minds for processing power, at least until he got his own body back, and that required their individual personalities to be inactive.
     The nanoprobes worked their way inside the gorilla’s central nervous system and got to work, feeding Fine everything from memories to evolutionary data. How did one species of ape evolve into the planet’s dominant species, while others were relegated to glorified national parks?
     But the gorilla had potential. Its brain was small, but underused. The nanoprobes increased its size and its mental capacity...unlocking a power buried deep within, something most humans didn’t even know they had the potential for.
     Fine’s work took three minutes and seventeen seconds, and then he recalled his nanoprobes from the gorilla. He took a few steps back, and waited for the beast to wake up naturally.

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     A finger twitched. An eyelid fluttered, then opened completely, followed by the other. It lumbered off its stomach and onto its hind legs, and then howled at the sky. For a moment, Fine thought that his work had been in vain, that the beast didn’t recognise its own capacity for greatness, and then the gorilla fixed its iron gaze on him. Its eyes were now filled with emotions that no gorilla could form to be so coherent and...human. Confusion, then anger, then understanding.
     And then, it spoke.

To be continued...

Finally, the continuation of Countdown to Justice! Volume II will predominantly follow Wonder Woman, as well as the animosity between Batman and Superman. I'm not setting a regular upload schedule this time because of uni life, but I'm hoping Vol II won't drag on for too long.

The first three chapters are now available here and on my Flickr, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Countdown to Justice, Vol II: Chapter One

Chapter One: Who Rules The Night

       Two weeks ago, I went to Metropolis in search of Superman. You’d think with senses as acute as mine, and with my particular skillset, that I’d be able to track down the world’s most powerful superhuman with little more effort than I would a wild boar.
       But no. Every time I get close to finding the Man of Steel, the trail vanished. It is erksome not being able to find him when my intentions are good, but it’s no doubt that he doesn’t want his ever-expanding list of enemies finding out his identity. I’d hazard a guess that the people in Superman’s life - parents, friends, lovers - don’t share his invulnerability.
       I have other problems, too. Ares hasn’t found me per se, but he’s looking in all the right places. A minotaur hunted me in DC. Two makhai warriors attacked me the day I left Metropolis, less than a week ago. I’ve must have been careless and let something slip somewhere. That, or Ares has found a new oracle. If he has, then Steve is in a lot of danger as well; a man who has learned some of the ways of the Amazons could be a powerful asset to the wargod.
       A car rushes by, fishtailing over the black ice that had compacted on the road. Then it pulls over, and I’m running before I see who gets out. Somehow I know. I just know.
       Another of Ares’ minions.

(Click for detail)

       I sprint down a side alley. Dead end, but I can make the jump over the wall before the minotaur rams me. I leap-
       On the other side is a small garden. I don’t want to disturb these people, so I scale the building. In less than a minute I’m on the roof, far away from that horned demon.
       I need to get out of Washington DC again. There’s no point trying Metropolis again, but there is another. He may just be a man, but some believe he is a vampire. Some say he can turn invisible, or command the shadows to do his bidding. That he can fly.
       Man or super-man, I have to hope that - assuming I can find him - there’s something this Batman can teach me.

To be continued...

Finally, the continuation of Countdown to Justice! Volume II will predominantly follow Wonder Woman, as well as the animosity between Batman and Superman. I'm not setting a regular upload schedule this time because of uni life, but I'm hoping Vol II won't drag on for too long.


The first three chapters are now available to view here and on my Flickr, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

The Nuclear Man (story)

The Nuclear Man

        I have no idea what I’m doing. I should do, being the former apprentice of a world-renowned nuclear physicist - surely he picked me for a reason - but something tells me this is a situation no scientist ever really prepares for.
        First there was that accident at STAR Labs, with the particle accelerator, and then again with Dr Stein...I think I’m hexed. The universe can prove me wrong by letting Doc be alive, somewhere, somehow, though I know the chances are slim.
        Right now, it’s hard to focus. As if trying to control atomic superpowers wasn’t difficult enough on it’s own, I have to do it with Emily stuck in my head. Our head. Whatever.

(Click for detail)

        I should probably explain. After the particle accelerator malfunctioned, I went looking for Dr Martin Stein, to see if he could help me understand these new ‘fire’ powers I’d developed. He called me a meta-human, and it turned out not be fire at all - I was literally making atomic energy, like a living nuclear reactor. Dr Stein’s lab was built right on top of one, and he was trying to tap something called a ‘firestorm matrix’ when a hired gun tried to steal his work. Thank God the whole facility didn’t go up, but whatever Stein was working on blasted him, his assistant Emily Sung and me. Something impossible happened; my powers saved me and Emily, who was standing next to me, but Stein was gone. And when I say Emily and I were ‘saved’, I mean we were...fused.
        I’m not even kidding. We’re currently sharing a superpowered body (my handsome body, to be exact) and while I control the arms and legs, Emily’s the brain. We’ve only just begun to see what this body can do, but already we’ve been able to transmute metals. How sick is that! It’s mainly Em’s work - I direct the power, she does the calculations, remembers formulas, blah blah important stuff.
        But right this moment, I have no idea what I’m doing. Em’s gone silent and this headcase in a hood just did something impossible too; he threw out a miniature black hole. You can’t transmute a black hole! There’s all this energy ‘round my hands, and I’ve got no clue how to use it.
        Unless I go for the guy. I might be able to throw some of this energy, like a fireball.
        I aim through the black hole, which has started to weaken, directing my atomic fire towards the perp. I just want to knock him down, not damage (or kill).

(Click for detail)

A vicious jet of atomic energy fizzes through the air, ignoring the now-fading black hole’s pull and tearing a hole through the other guy’s outstretched hand.
        Ronnie! Careful!
        Oh now Emily chooses to resurface.
        The black hole is completely gone, as is Headcase’s hand; there’s a smouldering stump in its place. Oh my god, I did that. Thankfully, the wound’s cauterised, but I still just took a guy’s hand off.
        What were you thinking?
        Shut up, Em.
        Sirens. I need to go. The police will take care of his wound, but if he uses his powers on them...
        Oh man. I. Have. No. Idea. What. I’m. Doing.

To be continued?

So for anyone not too familiar with their DC heroes, this is Firestorm. I wanted to do something with him after seeing this week's episode of The Flash and thought a photomanip was the best way to go. The second image and the story was me getting a bit carried away. Officially speaking, this does tie into Countdown to Justice, though I have no idea how as I only did this as a spur-of-the-moment project yesterday. Nonetheless, I hope you've enjoyed this story!

Istari Adventures: Back In My Day

Back to Middle-earth for my latest brickfilm. What did Gandalf get up to in his youth?

   

This video was technically a long time in the making. I first had the idea for it this time last year, and wanted to make a Hobbit brickfilm in time for the release of The Desolation of Smaug. I put it aside because I had no orc minifigures at the time and went to work on An Istari Halloween, but that failed and I was left without any Middle-earth mischief for a while. Sometime later I found 79014 Dol Guldur Battle and 79011 Dol Guldur Ambush at supermassive discounts, then in July I finally scripted the thing...and filmed it last week. Procrastinating seems to be strong in this one, mmmmm.

I also really wanted an excuse to use that Bilbo minifig. It was an exclusive with the pre-order of the LEGO Hobbit video game, so I thought I'd missed my chance of getting it, and then found a bundle at GAME with the minifig and a DLC, for half price! I won't be able to play it until I go home for the Christmas holidays, since I couldn't bring my PS3 to uni, but I've already got some use out of that minifigure.

"By the power of Grayskull!"

The fight scene was a lot of fun to do. Parts of it are in homage to Fancy Pants' amazing LEGO The Force Unleashed brickfilm, which you need to go and watch right after you've finished reading this blog post. I tried grading it a greenish tint, to make it feel more like how Dol Guldur appears in the films, and between that and the very dark lighting I think I got the tone right. Some of the effects are a bit dodgy, though. Next time I do lightning, I shall definitely be spending some time getting to be more familiar with After Effects' 'advanced lightning' function. It came out looking okay, but not amazing.

There's not much more to say about this brickfilm. It's just another short bit of lighthearted fun, and I hope I get around to making another episode of Istari Adventures (I have the lines collected for three more, though I have no idea which order or when I'm going to film them). Thanks again to Jorden Davis for voicing Bilbo, and I hope you enjoyed the video!

I leave you with a cut frame, of another hobbit going about his daily hobbit chores.

"Are those pumpkins or carrots?"

Countdown to Justice: Volume I summary

Countdown to Justice

Volume I

This is essentially a table of contents for Volume I of my LEGO Justice League origin story, Countdown to Justice. I worked on this over the course of about four months; I wanted to create my own 'Dawn of Justice', incorporating my favourite aspects of DC comics and other media, but knew I wouldn't have time to make a full brickfilm. Overall, I'm pleased with this volume, though the story in the second will be a lot more focused.

Chapter 1: The Martian
Chapter 2: Look To The Stars
Chapter 3: Just a Hypocrite in a Cape
Chapter 4: Broken Spirits
Chapter 5: You're Not Alone
Chapter 6: Deal with the Devil Ray
Chapter 7: Paying a Fine
Chapter 8: Freak Like Me
Chapter 9: The Brave and the Bold
Chapter 10: Risks
Chapter 11: Hope and Fear

Volume II will begin in February, with Who Rules The Night, and will be followed by Volume III, the finale, later in 2015.

The Story So Far

Warning: contains spoilers.

A year after the events of Man of Steel, three parties have taken an interest in 'Superman': Batman, vigilante guardian of Gotham; the Martian Manhunter; and CEO of LexCorp, Lex Luthor. While Martian Manhunter seeks to unite with Superman to halt an oncoming threat, Luthor wishes to find a way to destroy him should the need arise, and uses the scientific discoveries of Dr Milton Fine to uncover an alien metal which could prove useful in creating an anti-Kryptonian weapon.

The k-metal is recovered from deep within the sea - where it crash-landed on Earth, inside of an alien ship - by Devil Ray, and his meeting with Luthor is intercepted by Aquaman and the Flash, who decide to find what Luthor bought from Devil Ray and destroy it.

Meanwhile, the Batman (who harbours great distrust for the Man of Tomorrow) goes to Ivy University to spy on Milton Fine, but overhears a meeting between him and Luthor. During their conversation, in which it becomes clear Fine knows more about the alien wreckage than he is letting on, Batman is sought out by a Parallax Corps ring, which tries to induct him into the corps. He uses its power to try and appregend Luthor and Fine, but a blue-ring-empowered Superman drains its energy. With the yellow ring drained, Batman disappears into the night, and the divide between the two superheroes grows ever wider.

What To Expect

Volume II will pick up soon after Volume I left off, focusing more on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman (who only made a brief appearance in the first volume). It will delve into the latter superhero's lore, as we follow her moving about in modern day America, and we will see the animosity between Batman and Superman reach its peak.

You can also expect at least one interlude into Milton Fine's research, as the mysterious scientist's plans advance further.

While Volume II won't start until February, keep checking this blog for updates, and I will continue to upload brickfilms to my YouTube channel. I may also begin to blog on my second channel, though I find doing so hideously awkward. Overall, there's a lot more to come from Jam Pot Studios, and I hope you'll be with us every step of the way!

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven: Hope and Fear

       The strength that Batman felt coursing through his veins was phenomenal. The ring was feeding him information, telling him how to use its power, begging for its golden light to be unleashed. Begging to bring fear.
       As Batman understood it, the ring’s functions were activated and controlled by his imagination and his ability to induce fear in others. He lived on the fear of criminals, and the more they felt, the brighter his light would burn. He would begin his crusade through the streets of Gotham anew-
He heard movement, and came back to the present. Luthor was preparing to make a run for it, down the hall. He would not get away.
       The fear of criminals...
       Batman knew what Luthor was capable of, and of just some of the heinous deeds he had already done, the lives he had wasted. It was time to put his ring to use.
       Luthor ran, and a swarm of screeching bats, all made of yellow energy, soared into him. In mid-air they became a set of hands, then chains binding Luthor’s arms and legs.
       Batman flew up close, and lifted Luthor into the air.
       “I know what you and Fine are doing, Luthor,” he said. “And I know all about your arrangements in Central City, and about that satellite you have flying over Kansas, and with the Devil Ray. I know your secrets.”
       He threw the still-shackled Luthor down the hall. His prisoner cried out when his back slammed into a wall. Yellow straps appeared around his mouth, silencing him.
       “You fear the people,” Batman continued. “You fear what a few men and women with great power can do, and you plan to strike us off.”
       He tore off the straps by hand. They floated away for a moment, then disappeared into less than air.
       “What was in the wreckage that is so valuable? A weapon? Is that was the ‘K-metal’ is? Because you know, Luthor...now, I have a superweapon of my own.”
       Power at 96%.
Batman ignored the ring. He still had enough power left to finish the job.
       Power at 93%.
       A bolt of blue streaked down the corridor. Batman was torn through a wall, and out into the open air. His concentration broken, Luthor’s shackles vanished.
       Batman looked down at his ring. It was spitting out yellow sparks, like an angered snake.
       Power at 86%. Bruce Wayne of Sector 2814, you are advised to return to Qward for-
       “Drop the ring, Batman!” He knew that voice. Where he had only heard it on the Batcave computer, now the speaker was here in the flesh, floating above the ground in front of him. His clothes were the same, but now he was bedecked entirely in blue, with a strange symbol on his chest. A symbol similar to that on Batman’s chest, and on his yellow ring.
       Bruce Wayne of Earth, you are advised to return to-
       “Drop the ring!” Superman shouted, and brandished a ring of his own, on his right hand. A blue ring.

(Click for detail)

       Blue Lantern ring detected. Parallax Corpsman 2814, return to Qward immediately-
       Superman rushed forwards and grabbed Batman’s left hand, trying to pry the ring off his finger. Batman could feel his hold on it slipping and lashed out, sending yellow sparks into Superman’s eyes. It gave him a moment, long enough to break free from the distracted lantern and flip back, sending out a large, yellow fist. It crashed against Superman’s chest and shattered.
       Power at 75%. Why was his power fading so quickly?
       “Batman, the ring is wearing you! You have to remove it!”
       “And you’d know all about controlling power, wouldn’t you...Clark?”
       Batman turned and flew up, only to be pulled down by his heel and slammed into the grass. Superman pinned him down and pressed his blue ring against Batman’s yellow ring. There was a flash of green as the energies meshed, the yellow fighting back against the invading blue but slowly being absorbed.
       Power at 66%...power at 50%...
       Batman screamed in anger and threw out all the energy he could, a wave of bright yellow that sent Superman flying into the side of the university. “You hypocrite!” screamed Batman. “This is my chance to make a difference! With this power, I can bring crime in my city to a definitive end!”
       Superman pulled himself out of his crater in the wall. “At...what cost?”
       Power at 33%.
       “There’s nothing I have to give that I wouldn’t gladly sacrifice for the cause! Can you say the same?” Superman stayed silent as he flew at the yellow lantern, and before Batman could react, Superman had spun at inhuman speed and caught him in a headlock. He pressed his ring to Batman’s, and their energies were at war once again.
       Power at 20%...14%...5%...
       The yellow light died, and Superman pulled away. Its energy almost depleted, the ring flew straight off Batman’s finger. Batman’s yellow uniform faded, leaving his old black suit behind.
       Before the yellow ring could disappear, Superman focused and fired twin jets of searing heat. The ring, fully deactivated, fell to the ground.
       Without the ring, Batman slumped, and Superman unceremoniously dumped him on the grass as he took off his own ring. A figure walked out of the shadows - a strange, grey-skinned being, who took back the ring and gave Superman a respectful bow.
       “My many thanks, Son of El. Without a green ring to give mine full functionality, I would not have been able to withstand the yellow lantern’s attacks for long.”
       “Well, be more careful next time,” Clark chuckled. “You won’t always have a Kryptonian around to lend a hand.”
       Superman watched as Saint Walker donned his ring and regained his radiant Blue Lantern uniform.
       “What will you do with the Parallax Corpsman?” Walker asked.
       At that moment, Batman sprung to his feet. Superman whipped around and fixed him with a severe stare.
       “We need to talk.”
       The Batman said nothing. He threw up a smokescreen from his belt and ran off into the shadows. The fallen yellow ring was also gone. Superman was about to follow, using his x-ray vision as a guide, but a gentle hand fell on his shoulder.
       “Let him go. The ring is useless without a power battery, and he was acting under Parallax’s influence.”
       But deep down, Superman knew that wasn’t entirely true. Now he knew for certain: the Batman was more of a threat than anyone had ever imagined.

(Click for detail)

***

       There was a knock on what remained of the office door as Fine set about reordering his scattered papers. Not that they would matter soon.
       He turned to see Luthor standing in the doorway.
       “And now you see why I need your research, Fine,” Luthor growled. “But I don’t expect to be kept in the dark, if we are to continue our arrangement.”
       “You mean our partnership, Lex. The original deal has changed, and I require your Metropolis facilities to continue my...work. Consent, and I shall tell you all that you wish to know. The truth, and nothing else. Do we have a new deal?”
       Luthor swallowed his pride, along with his fears of Fine’s true nature.
       “We have a deal.”

To be continued in Volume II...

That's it for Volume I of Countdown to Justice! Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it thus far. Volume II begins in February, and I will soon be uploading a summary and behind-the-scenes look at Volume I, so (as ever) stay tuned!

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten: Risks

       Dr. Milton Fine’s office was cluttered. There was no floor, save for a canyon trail between mountains of marking and assignment papers piled up at almost minifigure height. Desk lamps dotted the room in odd places - on the shelves, under the marking, in the bin, everywhere but the desk itself - while Fine’s drawers contained little more than half-eaten bagels and biro pens that had dried up years ago.
       If nothing else, Fine was an eccentric, the like of which Batman had never seen. Fine also happened to be a genius; his and Dr. Palmer’s research into ‘dwarf star lensing’ would make the idea of shrinking an object, or even a living being, a genuine possibility, though from the files it looked like both scientists wanted to keep it on the down-low.
       With a little effort (Fine’s computer was suspiciously well-protected) Batman managed to hack Fine’s computer, and was about to begin the download of Fine’s data when he heard footsteps and voices coming from down the hall. He recognised one of them immediately. After all, he had gone into business with the guy.
       By the time Milton Fine and Lex Luthor entered the office, Batman was safely outside, in the rain, hiding in the shadows of the overly-ornate (and, aptly, ivy-vine covered) windowframe. He adjusted the sensors in his batsuit, and with after short buzz he could hear the conversation inside.
       “-still do not understand how your ‘research’ could have predicted the presence of the K-metal, Dr. Fine.”
       “The mineral gives off a very peculiar kind of radiation,” Fine replied. “I was on a trawler at the time, when the ship came down. The sailors were too superstitious to go anywhere near it, and by the time I could get a crew together, I knew it would have sunk too far. But thanks to your funding...” He trailed off.
       “Now that the alien wreck is in your hands, Dr. Fine, what do you plan to do with it?”
       There was silence for a moment, before Fine resigned himself to telling Luthor the truth. “From what you’ve described, Mr. Luthor, it seems you brought back the craft’s computer. I will endeavour to interface with this machine.”
       “No matter the risks?”
       “No matter the risks.”
       Luthor went quiet for a moment, and Batman risked taking a peek. He turned his head slightly, just in time to see Luthor pull a gun on Dr. Fine. Fine was so surpised he fell back against his desk. Then Batman saw something odd in his expression, and realised that Fine’s reaction was forced. He looked back to Luthor.
       “You though I wouldn’t do some background checks on you, doctor?” he said calmly, with a hint of smugness. “You don’t exist, ‘Milton Fine’, but unlike other nothings, we genuinely cannot find anything on you. Prior to the beginning of your tenure at the university, ten years ago, the evidence clearly shows that you did not exist. So, answer me this, doctor - who are you? Really?”

(Click for detail)

       Dr. Fine started to laugh. Batman listened for his response, but a flash of yellow caught his attention. At first he barely registered it, thinking it was a plane...but it was hurtling towards him. Faster and faster, a blinding bolt of golden light-
       Bruce Wayne of Earth.
       His left arm snapped out.
       You have been chosen to represent space sector 2814.
       A light weight on his middle finger.
       You have the ability to instill great fear.
       Strength spreading through his body.
       Welcome to the Parallax Corps.

(Click for detail)

To be continued...

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: The Brave and the Bold

      Having chased Black Manta, or ‘Devil Ray’, to Arthur’s own hometown of Beachrock, Arthur made the mistake of the young and naive: blind confidence. At no point while he tracked Black Manta did he believe he might not be strong, fast or skilled enough to defeat his enemy, and bring him to trial for his crimes.
      The barbed spear being raised triumphantly above him was proof of that mistake. Arthur’s enemy had gained the upper hand, and now Arthur was lying on the beach, several ribs cracked and recovering from a dizzying blow to the head, and he was sure that this internal ‘damage report’, for all the good it would do, would be his last. His trident was lying metres from him. He barely had the strength to stand. Manta was saying something, and then Arthur felt a rush of air as the spear came down towards him.
      Then another rush of air, and the spear never came. Arthur looked around, and slowly his vision unblurred. Manta was retreating back into the sea.
      Can’t...let him...escape...Arthur wearily got to his feet, fighting the urge to collapse and fall into unconsciousness. Black Manta couldn’t get away. not after all this...
      He tripped over his own feet, at the boots of a figure in red.
      “Was passing through when I heard a lot of macho grunting. Got a feeling that a certain orange-clad superhero might be needing a hand,” he said, and then pulled Arthur to his feet.
      Arthur knew this face, from the news. The Flash. The fastest man alive.
      “How...how did...”
      “You’re hurt pretty bad. C’mon, let’s get you inside and fix you up. Know anywhere we can go?”
      Arthur nodded and pointed to the lighthouse in the distance. The Flash said nothing as he slung Arthur over his shoulder (with much difficulty) and raced off down the beach.

(Click for detail)

***

      “I have to find that crate,” Arthur said. Thanks to his superhuman physiology, he had mostly healed, but was still a little tired and sore. “Whatever Blac...Devil Ray, was selling to Luthor, it’s bad news. I’ve been tracking him on-and-off for months, mainly the last week or so.”
      “You don’t have to do it alone,” Flash offered. Arthur tried to wave him away, but Flash continued. “Things have been quiet in Central City lately. I have time. Plenty of time. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t accept my help, and who knows what Luthor’s latest science project is?”
      Arthur had to admit the thought of coming up against any one of the drones Luthor had sold to the military filled him with dread, and even fear.
      “Alright,” he said. “Alright. I could use a hand.”
      With that settled, Arthur leaned back lazily, letting the Flash know he would not be getting any more out of Aquaman for now. They could wait a few minutes before heading out, and if Arthur was honest, the concept of this partnership was a little nerve-wracking. What if the fastest man alive slowed down his invesitgation? Then a different question struck him.
      “What were you doing here in Beachrock?”
      “What, because I’m a superhero I can’t take a vacation?”

To be continued...

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight: Freak Like Me

     It’s been over a year since Steve and I escaped from Themyscira, and you know what? I don’t miss it at all.
     All my life, I was ‘the princess’, gifted by the gods, and future leader of the Amazons - bred to be a warrior queen, taught only of strengh and authority - but that never meant anything. I know they all thought I was too much trouble, too unruly to be a ruler. I guess running away with (of all creatures) a man only proves that they’re right.
     The first thing I saw when I arrived in the world of men was a gigantic green monument to a woman, and my hopes were raised. Even now, I see little reason for our ancient distrust of men. Times have changed, and this isn’t a world roamed by Herakles or his like anymore.
     The new world does have its fair share of problems. Some things, like poverty and famine, never change. War is still present, and there are always rich men living off the poor. Coming to think about it, I see some reason why we Amazons distrust men, but I could give you a list of Amazons I don’t trust either.
     I’ve spent most of my time so far in the streets of ‘Washington DC’, this modern Athens, trying to help people. I have great strength, among other things, where humans today have allowed themselves to become weaker and more fragile. I feel as though I have a responsibility to these people who, without knowing it, accepted me as one of their own, though my sword has stayed sheathed for some time now. Apparently, men don’t tend to use them anymore; it has been replaced by newer, more potent bringers of death.
     And here I am in Metropolis, away from Steve (who has returned to his work with the government), away from my mother, trying to focus on the one thing that brought me here. I know he’s an alien, and I know this goes against everything I was taught in Themyscira, but I need help understanding my powers. Superman is fast, strong and can fly, all things I too am capable of, but where my skill with a sword is superior to any man alive today, I don’t fully understand my other, preternatural strengths. If he can train me, show me how to control my abilities as he has learned to...
     He is here. Somewhere in Metropolis, a city of eighteen million people.

(Click for detail)

To be continued...

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: Paying a Fine

      Deep beneath his mansion, Bruce Wayne was frantically typing away at his control desk. Six monitors, all showing the same thing: LexCorp purchases. He had gone to the lengths of securing a joint venture between Wayne Enterprises and Luthor’s company just to gain access to LexCorp files, to see if his suspicions were right.
      After hours of poring over every detail, Bruce finally found something intriguing: a large amount of money was being funneled into the research of a Dr. Milton Fine at Ivy University.
      He pondered this for a moment. According to this data, Lex had many pet science projects at universities across the globe, but none of them were as expensive as Dr. Fine appeared to be.
      A short amount of digging later, and Bruce found something even more perplexing. No records of Milton Fine go back further than ten years ago: no birth certificate, no high school yearbook. It’s as if he didn’t exist until ten years ago.
      The Batman was already leaving the Batcave by the time the control desk went into standby.
      The ‘world’s greatest detective’ couldn’t let a mystery like this slip by. It was time to pay Dr. Fine a visit.

***

      At first it was a tiny pinprick of yellow light, and then it burst into a supernova of gold over the Earth; a single, yellow ring, shrouded in the equally yellow energy of fear.
      As the ring began its descent, another anomaly appeared: a strange figure bedecked in blue, who shot after the ring as though his life depended on it.
      He needed to be faster. If he didn’t get within range of the ring and drain its energy before it found its new host, then the Parallax Corps could make a foothold on the Earth. If that happened, if the yellow ring did make the bond, Walker wouldn’t be able to get close enough to drain it again, not without the presence of green light.
      Whoever made these rings had a cruel sense of humour, he thought, and then tucked his arms in and began flying faster.
      He had to catch that ring.
      He would not let Parallax take another body. All will be well.

(Click for detail)

To be continued...

The next few weeks may be a bit rocky, but Countdown to Justice is planned to continue on Wednesday September 3rd.

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Deal with the Devil Ray

     The sun beat down over the Floridian town of Beachrock with a fury it ordinarily reserved for the desert. Though he would never admit it, Luthor was glad to have traded his usual suit and tie for more comfortable, thinner clothes. Still, it was only for a few hours, while he completed his business with Devil Ray.
     Dominic was completing the transfer of Devil Ray’s payment before the latter’s eyes. Luthor had no intention of double-crossing him, but the Ray was not to know that. Even one as far removed from society as him knew of Luthor’s fearsomely duplicitous reputation.
     Resting on the scalding sands, recently unloaded from Devil Ray’s submersible craft, was a large crate, the size of a pickup truck. LexCorp engineers were examining every detail of its contents, and so far it checked out. The Ray had kept up his end of the bargain.
     “Interesting name,” Dominic suddenly blurted, his nerves clearing getting the better of him. He tried avoiding the Ray’s one, red, strip of an eye, but the crimson glow quickly caught his gaze.
     Devil Ray leaned down, inches from Dominic’s face. “I did not choose it.” “T-then what is y-your r-real name?”
     The Ray considered this for a moment. He checked Dominic’s tablet computer, and read that the transfer was complete. He fixed Dominic with his red visor once more. “...David...”
     With that, he strode purposefully towards Luthor himself. “Our trade is complete. If you wish to contact me again, use my established business channel. Nobody is welcome in the Devil’s Deep save the Manta, and next time I will not make an exception for your messenger.”
     “Understood.” Luthor stood his ground. Not a blink or a flinch. After all, the Ray’s only advantage over him was his strength.
     As Devil Ray stomped back to the crate to the back of a LexCorp flatbed truck, Luthor smiled. While the crate’s other contents would no doubt prove of great use to him, it was the K-metal that made this purchase so worthwhile. If Dr. Fine’s research continued to be correct, the K-metal would-
     A sudden creaking, and Devil Ray’s submersible began falling. There must have been a sharp drop off shortly into the water, as in moments it had completely disappeared. Luckily the flatbed was already off the beach, as Luthor was sure that had it not been, it too could have been sent spiralling into the deep.
     Devil Ray’s attention was fixed on the shoreline, where a figure burst out of the water and landed with such force it scattered the sand beneath him, making a small crater. He was dressed in a tunic of orange mail, and wore tight trousers not dissimilar to those of a wetsuit. His expression was severe, and half-covered by strands of long blond hair. In his right hand, he clutched a golden trident.
     “Manta!” he shouted, and swung his trident at Devil Ray, sending him flying back across the beach. He tried to land a blow on the Ray’s head before he could get up, but the Ray was too fast. He got to his feet and drew out a small shaft that was dwarfed in his hand. It grew into a barbed spear.
     Luthor quitely called Dominic back over to him. His chauffeur scrambled to get both of them back into the car, but Luthor had to watch for a moment more.
     “Manta!” the orange-clad warrior - who the media so mockingly dubbed ‘Aquaman’ - bellowed. “Your diabolical trading is at an end! No more will you defile the seas!”
     Devil Ray’s response was unwavering. If he was at all intimidated by Aquaman, he didn’t show it. Luthor was impressed. “I am a humble businessman. If you do not like the treasures I have to sell, be they wrecks or rare marine life, then simply don’t buy them. What authority do you have to stop me?”
     “The authority of the king of Atlantis!”
     And as the beach finally descended into chaos, Luthor dropped into his car and sped away. He could hear the thunderous blows dealt behind him as the car careened away down the path, back onto the coastal highway.
     “Get me to Ivy University.”

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To be continued...

Countdown to Justice continues this Saturday, August 30th!

Countdown to Justice: Chapter Five

Chapter Five: You’re Not Alone

     “It must be tough,” Clark began, “having had Mars in the first place. I never knew my parents, or Krypton, but you...I’m so sorry, Mr. J’onzz.”
     So polite. “Call me J’onn.”
     Here was a feeling J’onn had not expected to find in Smallville: relief. For the first time since H’ronmeer’s Curse, J’onn did not feel alone. Clark knew what it felt like to be the last of a great race, to have an entire peoples’ legacy on his shoulders.
     Clark had found a similar solace from the Martian. J’onn was not only the last of his race, but had suffered a more terrible loss. What Clark had only dreamt of having, J’onn had had and lost, yet here he was, fighting back. That gave Clark a glimmer of hope, a pure blue light in his soul showing him a tomorrow where he wouldn’t have to be alone.
     “You’re not a hard man to find, Clark.” J’onn smiled. “Take it from a detective, you want to cover your trail more carefully. There’s no telling who else out there might be looking for you.”
     “I dread to think. Even in this last year, I’ve made some enemies.”
     J’onn looked at him quizically. “A man with the strength to move mountains worries about the likes of Morgan Edge, and Glen Glenmorgan?”
     Before Clark could protest, J’onn continued. “I know the game, son. On Mars, I was also a detective, and I made enemies, even my own brother Ma'alefa'ak. I can help you, Clark, if you’ll have me.”
“Why are you so interested in me?”
     “Because the world’s interested. When you fought Zod, when you saved the Earth from his army, the humans were faced with two truths that would change their world forever. The first was that not only is there life in the great void, but that it is significantly more powerful than any human military can defeat. That’s a terrifying thought for anyone, and the whole world now feels that terror. But the second truth, and this is a great comfort to many, is that not all alien life is malicious. You have shown them that there is always hope, and that is why they call you Superman - you’re more than they are, but you’re still a man.”
     At this, Clark was silent. There was no way to respond to something like that. J’onn had such immense confidence in Clark, though they had only met that night.
     “And Clark, you need not do this alone.”
     They walked deeper into Shoulder Gorge in total silence as weight of J’onn’s last comment settled on them both. There were others fighting the good fight all over the world, who could be summoned if the need arose. The two aliens hoped that day would never come, but fate was drawing that day closer and closer. The countdown had already begun.
     “What helped you, growing up with godlike power,” J’onn asked. “What anchored you to humanity?”
     Clark grinned. “Back in high school, I was captain of the football team. It felt so good to be a normal kid, on that field, playing a normal sport, and I was good at it. I cherished those games more than...more than anything.” He stopped for a moment. “How about you, J’onn? What helps you, when you feel a little more alien than usual?”
     He thought about it for a second, and then it came to him. “Chocolate.”

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To be continued...

Stay tuned for the next chapter of Countdown to Justice, on August 27th, where we head to Florida for a meeting with the dreaded Devil Ray! Remember to follow the blog for regular updates.