InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "In and out my mind goes. "

trelas (trelas) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-10-11 19:04:00

SuperTripping
Yesterday I posted scenes from the first issue of Green's run on Superman/Batman and realized that it would be a crime to not post a certain scene from the third issue of the storyline. At the end of the first issue, Superman has convinced Batman to help him round-up the kryptonite on Earth, so it won't stop him from helping people. It just turns out that there is a lot of it around after the Kryptonite meteor in the first storyline of the title. While they are doing this, Batman receives a weird signal from the satellites, indicating a location of Kryptonite in a certain bar. What bar? The Oblivion Bar, which is basically the hangout for magic-users, so Supes and Bats are simply thrilled in going there. At the bar they do find the kryptonite in a medallion sealed way and are confused by it being silver and so old that Krypton was still around when it was made. At that point Clark picks it up and it goes bam.

Clark goes unconcious and is taken to the satellite to study, with Zatanna there explaining that the kryptonite probably caused an enchancement on Supes, Bats claiming there is no magic, but rather areas not yet studied and Wally names the silver Kryptonite Magic-K. So what did the silver kryptonite do?

Yep, Superman is h- Highly unstable. And it is awesome, even if smell doesn't work that way.

When Zatanna finally sees the amulet which caused this, she recognizes it as a magical artifact used to enslave the mind of an enemy and the only way to remove the curse is through it's sister amulet. Where is that amulet? On Dinosaur Island. They actually poke a lot of fun on the existance of the island.

Zee and Bats learn from a tribe on the island that the other amulet is located in a volcano, but that no one with godly powers can enter it as it is guarded by enchantments left by a jealous god. That leaves pretty much Batman to be the one to retrieve it. Meanwhile, at the satellite...

That 'Stupid Batman' line just cracks me up. A small word warning at this time as the story now transitions to a sadder tone.

Okay, Batman's stand on magic is pretty hilarous, but still.

I realize some people will disagree with me, but to me those last few panels were just so powerful and in a way sad in how Supes didn't get that about Bats, even though they were close enough to be brothers. With that I end this post, once again hoping that the people enjoyed these pages as much as I did.

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	bluefall 2009-10-12 01:59 am UTC (link)
	Dude, a pig latin mage would be awesome. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-10-12 02:04 am UTC (link)
	Roger this. adds it to the list right after 'game mage' (which, ironically, is hard to come up with game stats for) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-10-12 02:12 am UTC (link)
	How would a game mage work? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Why do I have no icons of people playing games?

kamino_neko
2009-10-12 02:26 am UTC (link)

The concept is fairly broad - they cast spells by doing things like rolling dice, or drawing cards, or fiddling with video games.

The end result is partially chance, based on the number rolled or card pulled, or what the RNG throws up: You could cast a fireball by rolling a die - a 1 gives a weak ember, a 6 gives a small explosion. (A d20 would have much the same effects, but a higher upper bound and finer gradations.) Or you could draw a card from a standard deck to heal someone - a 2 will keep them alive, but not much else, an Ace will fix scars they've had for their whole life. Or you could get into a fight and pull cards from a Magic: the Gathering deck - pulling a Llanowar Elf will summon a relatively weak ally, pulling a Circle of Protection will put a shield around you, pulling Ball Lightning will...well, that should be obvious.

Which is where the difficulty in statting comes in - I think I really need to restrict the possible abilities to make it a playable character type.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-10-12 02:36 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, that seems like a much simpler character conceit than balanceable game mechanic. And now I'm imagining the fun you could have with scrabble tiles. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	kamino_neko 2009-10-12 02:59 am UTC (link)
	Hmm...Scrabble...that's one I never thought of. ponders this (Reply to this) (Parent)

psychop_rex
2009-10-12 07:57 am UTC (link)

'OK, I've got a C, an A, two Rs and an O. All I need is a T, and I'll be able to turn that crook into a carrot! *fumbles for a new tile*
And I have... an X?! Aw, crap! True, it's worth more points, but... aw, crap, he's aiming his gun at me. Think, Zatanna, think think think. Um, I could turn him into an ax... I could turn him into an oar... or a car... or...
*bullet narrowly misses her*
No time! No time! *grabs tiles at random and throws them; there is a blinding flash of light*
Oh, double-crap. O-X - Ox. A live, ferocious... ANGRY Ox. Worth eleven points, and with sharp horns. I hate this job.'

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-10-12 07:48 pm UTC (link)
	That's essentially one of Super-Grover's powers on Sesame Street, he can, effectively anagram reality. So if someone has a gun, Super Grover can turn it into a gnu. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	psychop_rex 2009-10-12 09:44 pm UTC (link)
	That's dealing with something that's already there, though - this is spelling out a transformation through Scrabble tiles. The crook wasn't ALREADY an Ox at some level; she turned him into one. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mysteryfan 2009-10-12 02:09 am UTC (link)
	Ixnay. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bluefall 2009-10-12 02:11 am UTC (link)
	EXACTLY! How insanely cool would that be? I mean, it's already completely badass if the General is just charging down at you and you're like, "no." and he smashes into an invisible wall. How much more badass if you're taunting him with childish wordplay instead? I DID NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I NEEDED TO SEE THIS IN A COMIC UNTIL NOW. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mysteryfan 2009-10-12 02:20 am UTC (link)
	Heh. Okay, I'm in. (Your summation is also the way I feel about backwards talk, but yes. I'd really love some ixnay.) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

bluefall
2009-10-12 02:52 am UTC (link)

Well, the thing to remember about speaking backwards is that it's clear on the page (and pretty easy to get the hang of, as a reader, which makes it a good storytelling mechanic), but out loud it's basically completely indecipherable; no one around her would have any idea what she was saying. It doesn't sound childish, just kind of foreign and weird. Even more significant, well, go ahead and give it a try. Pick a phrase, just a short one, two or three words, and just say it backwards.

Off the top of your head, without writing anything down or typing anything out.

Fast enough to save a life in the middle of a heated combat.

That Zee can do that reliably is actually a pretty insane demonstration of mental agility on her part. That it's so easy for her that she can use it as a "concentration exercise" to assist in something "actually hard" like wrangling magic is even more insane.

Also, I cannot see your icon without feeling really horrible for those poor cats. o.O

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

mysteryfan
2009-10-12 02:58 am UTC (link)

Those cats are fine! They could not be in better hands!

They're big cats, and they are probably being rescued by her as we speak.

But I know people who can go crazy with the pig latin at a moment's notice. That's not... well, it's something, but it's not like I go: Wow! Brilliant! Your mental agiility is fantastic!

It's more like speaking a second language, with the Zee speak. That can't be understood by anybody else unless it's written in comic form.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

bluefall
2009-10-12 03:07 am UTC (link)

Well, yeah, cuz pig latin's really easy. It's a simple pair of rules applied consistently to a language the speaker has fluency in, using a-for-a substitution and syllable shifting. Speaking backwards is ridiculously hard, there's no set rules, no easy exchange of one syllable for another or shift of order, no consistency or reliable pattern - you have to go through and rearrange every phoneme individually for every single word you use. That's definitely mental agility.

And look I know that big cats can be lazy but I think if you are getting to the point where you are having to dust them than something has perhaps gone somewhat wrong.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mysteryfan 2009-10-12 03:17 am UTC (link)
	Still not a fan of saying words backwards = here's a magic spell. And re: the cats.. Superdictionary. Even less logic than speaking backwards there. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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