SHAZAM!

I recently purchased Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil hardcover. This is a new Captain Marvel story from Jeff Smith the creator of Bone.

The character was created in the 40s, as young Billy Batson was giving a magic word from the Wizard Shazam (his name) which transformed him into Captain Marvel, worlds mightiest mortal. Also over time the Captain got a whole family of Marvels including a teenage sister Marvel Marvel.

Right from the start this book really had me. I've been a fan of Captain Marvel since I was a young boy, watching the CBS Saturday morning live action show. From that point on I ate up everything I got my hands on which stared “the big red cheese”.

I have to admit over the years, it all wasn't very good. You see the problem with the Captain Marvel character is that during the run in the 40s and 50s it was done very tongue in cheek, whimsical and innocent. Lots of fantastic adventures and outrageous characters. But then the book was canceled and during the absence of the Captain Marvel from the 50s to the 70s, comics started to take themselves seriously. So when Captain Marvel returned to comics no one really knew how to handle a magic hero with a talking tiger. Therefore we've had many interpretation of the character not many very well done. Also many of the newer creators did not understand Billy relationship with the Captain. Most thought billy transformed into the Captain, that simply was not the case, The Captain, kinda possessed Billy. Well during the late 80s and 90s the creators wrote Captain Marvel as though Billy was stuck in an adults body “Wrong”.

With this new book, Jeff Smith has returned to the roots of Captain Marvel. Sure he has brought him to the 21^st Century with many changes and updates, but with a real innocence and charm that fits very well with the mythos. Also in a stroke of genius Jeff Smith came up with the idea of making Mary Marvel a little tiny girl, Therefore making the Captain her big brother.

The new book by Jeff Smith is a retelling of the Monster Society story originally done over multiple issues during the 40s. I won't go into the particulars of the storyline, but this was one of the funnest books in the last decade. I highly recommend it to all comic fans out there. Also it would be a great book to introduce young kids to the world of comics.

Back again

Well its been quite a while since I last posted. There are many reasons for the long delay. First off and had about two and one half weeks of Appraisal classes, in preparation of getting my Idaho State appraisal license. Then after there was the move, we move down the street to a new place, and with th combination of the selling, the packing and the hauling it took a while to finish up everything. Lastly the server at the office (which was also my client machine) died and had to be replaced. We replaced the machine and using it solely as a server machine and utilized the home computer as a new client machine at the office. Which meant we needed a new home machine. This time around I decided to try my hand at linux. It is not go smoothly. Tried to do an array system which we never got working so, just using the hard drives as individual drives. However, finally got everything up and running. I expect to do a few posts the week and also to do the game night post regularly again.

Game Day August 12, 2007

Marcus once again called and asked if I wanted to play a game on Sunday. So him, Michelle and Brian showed up for an evening of games.

The first game was Hoity Toity. This is a game that Michelle won at Icon, the Idaho Board Gaming Convention. This was the first play for all of us. I read the rules and watched a instructional video on Board Games with Scott just prior to playing our first game. It was fun, all the players make their moves simultaneously, playing cards which give them an action, which interact with the other players actions, all to move their pawns across the board to come in first. We enjoyed the game, but realized. that it would be even better if we played the game with a full six players. Brian won this game.

The Second game for the night was RA, which is an auction game, in which players bid on sets of tiles drawn from a common bag, in order to collect tiles of high values to them. I really love this game, the first few plays are vary bland, until you discover the rhythm of the game.  I think we always have a good time with this one. And Michelle, won this game by a big landslide.

Game Night August 9, 2007

In attendance were Brian, Thomas, Anna, Alan, Scott, Whitnie, Marcus, Michael, Andrew, and Myself. Oh and the other Brian showed up for a little while.

Thomas, Anna, Alan and Brian showed up on time and all the others were running very late, so I decided that we would start without them. So I picked Zooloretto. I explained the rules, but everyone seemed to be having difficulty figuring out the money aspect and the snack bar part of the game. I think this is due to the familiarity with Coloretto which is very similar. By mid game I think everyone got and was enjoying themselves. Alan won that game by a large margin.

 

By the time we had gotten into the game, everyone else showed up almost at the same time. Marcus picked the game they would play which was Shadows over Camelot. This is a Co-operative game in which everyone plays against the game mechanic in trying to complete several different quest to obtain a set number of swords(white) and if you fail you receive bad swords (black). Now there are many Co-op games out there but this tend to be one of the best , since one play could be a traitor and working against the rest. Strangely Marcus decided not to utilize this portion of the game. Scott and (the other) Brian did not make through the game and left early, the other seemed to be enjoying it, for just the fact that they had invested so much time they wanted to defeat the game. Which they did.

 

While the other played Shadows.... we were able to get in another game, although Alan had to leave. So Thomas, Brian, Anna and I played Thurn and Taxi. This was the first time for Anna, who seemed a little cool on it, although she won. I always enjoy this game.

Game Day August 5, 2007

Marcus Called and asked about getting together and playing games. So Scott, Marcus, Michelle and Myself got together and for a Sunday afternoon of gaming.

The first game was Ticket to Ride:Marklin  This was the first game for the rest and the third play for me, and also my third win(I love this game!).

Also We had dinner together as we played which was Homemade Turkey Chille and Quesadillas!

The second game for the night was Zooloretto, I had not played this game since I won it at The Gathering of Strangers. Its a fun tile collecting game very similar to Coloretto but with animals. Michelle won this game.

After Scott took off, Marcus and Michelle stayed to watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels and I went into the office to type some files, but it was much easier to go in since I had got some gaming in.

Game Night August 2, 2007

In attendance were Alan, Scott, Matt, Anna, John, Marcus, Thomas, Brian and Myself.

It was a really were night, most of the Physic Students had just finished a conference and the University and were really wiped out. Three times it was requested by different people that they wanted to play "something easy".

Well I decided to play Betrayal at House on the Hill. Playing this game were Alan, Anna, Matt, Scott, John and Myself. Although everyone seemed pretty fried, we got through it and I think everyone still seem to enjoy the game. In this game John turned out to be the traitor and the rest of us were able to defeat him and win the game.

Marcus, Thomas and Brian played Ingenious and then Coloretto, I'm not sure who won each game.

After we had finished Betrayal, most people packed it in early (they were all really tried and just wanted to turn off), but Alan, Scott, Matt and I finished the evening with a game of Coloretto, which Alan won.