Getting Ready for Death Incarnate!

On March 6th, Paragon Studios will be releasing Issue 22: Death Incarnate. Another part of Paragon City closes up and new powers are unlocked.

Here is a preview of what to expect courtesy of Samuraiko:

Time to Fling into Spring!

Love is in the air once again, and you know what that means, don't you?

Yes, it's time for the Spring Fling! A time for heroes, villains, rogues, and vigilantes come together to share the love and dish out some pain.

This year, along with the returning Eros, Ganymede, Scratch, Chilly, Dram, and, of course, Snaptooth (who loves to get beat-up), there are some new missions to partake in.

Participants with a security level 30 or higher have a new mission involving the Red Widow, the long-deceased love of Lord Recluse! Plus DJ Zero, the owner of the Pocket D Nightclub, has a brand new mission for certain eligible people. Are you willing to deliver some lost Valentine letters? Or maybe break a few hearts and send them elsewhere?

Why do it? Well you can get some really neat items. You can boost your abilities or hinder your enemies with new mystical arrows, or you can unlock some great Greek-inspired items such as togas and sandals that you can use any day of the year.

If you want to partake in the fun, you better be quick about it. The Spring Fling only lasts from February 8th to February 27th.

Speaking of Pocket D... now is also the perfect time to get some new party clothes!

The Paragon Market is now offering a special Pocket D Valentine's Pack, giving you access not only to the latest fashion designs for the socially conscious, but also gives you the coveted Pocket D VIP Pass!

This pass will give you a special Pocket D teleporter that will take you to the Tiki Lounge, an exclusive area of the club that has its own bartenders and its own tailor, Trina the Body Sculptress (as seen in "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight"). Good, evil, even Praetorians can use this special teleport device. This is not something you want to pass up on!

Hurry, though. This offer will only last until March 6th.

Paragon Pundit Hero Movie Review #26

Paragon Pundit Hero Movie Review

#26: Iron Man

Very rarely do you have a movie role that is custom-made for an actor. This is especially true when it comes to moves based on well-known comic book characters. Quite often the actor has to make the character their own, such as Michael Keaton with “Batman” or Hugh Jackman with the character Wolverine in “X-Men”.

But the 2008 movie “Iron Man” stands out as one of those films where the title character was custom-made for its star, Robert Downey Jr. From start-to-finish, you actually believe that he’s the millionaire inventor Tony Stark.

The movie was released by Marvel Studios, the first movie financed by the Comic Book company, and stars Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard, Jeff Bridges, Faran Tahir, Paul Bettany, Clark Gregg, and Shawn Toub. It was directed by Jon Favreau, who is probably better known for his acting ability than as either a writer or director, but he certainly earned his stripes here.

We start with weapons-maker Tony Stark (Downey) in a military caravan going through the hills of Afghanistan when his convoy is under attack by terrorists. He tries to flee but ends up being wounded by a bomb explosion.

We learn from flashbacks that Stark was the prodigal son of super-genius Howard Stark, the founder of Stark Industries until his tragic death. Since then the company was under the control of Obadiah Stane (Bridges), allowing Tony to live the life of an out-of-control playboy. He skips out on cushy award ceremonies, leaving the uncomfortable acceptance speeches to his friend, Lt. Colonel Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes (Howard), while he brushes off snarky titles of his war-making empire being hurled by cute liberal reporters by sleeping with them. The aftermath of his latest conquest allows us to see the role of Tony’s assistant, Pepper Potts (Paltrow), which is to basically handle the dry cleaning and show the one-night-stands out the door after being scared by the “smart house” named JARVIS (voiced by Bettany).

While Rhodes tries to get Tony to be more serious about what he is doing, Tony is getting lap dances on his private jet and hauling around chilled drinks in his portable bar on their way to Afghanistan. There Tony shows off his latest creation, the “Jericho” missile, which leads us to the ambush by the terrorists.

Tony discovers that he has been taken hostage by a terrorist group called “The Ten Rings”, led by a man named Raza (Tahir). Tony is only alive because of an invention from fellow hostage Dr. Yinsen (Toub) that keeps a piece of shrapnel from entering his heart. Raza wants Tony to build his own “Jericho” missile, and gives him all the parts from Stark Industries to do it. Tony is disgusted at seeing his own weapons in the hands of terrorists but “agrees” to Raza’s demands as long as he has the help of Yinsen.

Rather than build a new missile, though, Tony uses the weapons to create a prototype miniature arc reactor so he could keep the shrapnel away from his heart and still have mobility. He also begins construction of a special suit of armor that would allow him to power through the steel doors, survive the hail of bullets from the terrorists, and escape by rocketing away. The suit works, although Yinsen would be killed in the cross-fire, and while the rockets allow him to fly away from the cave, it’s only short-lived as he ends up crashing in the desert. Thankfully he is rescued by Rhodes and is returned home.

After stopping at a (fast food product placement) to get a couple of hamburgers, he shows up at Stark Industries, brushes off Stane’s welcome, and announces to the world that he is no longer in the weapons-making business, and would instead be doing something else entirely. This does not sit well with the people around him, though, especially Stane.

Tony’s first new invention is to replace his prototype arc reactor with a new one. He then uses that extra power to construct a new energy-based repulse device that would allow him to fly. These lead to some new comedic scenes with his robot aids, one of which he refers to constantly as “Dummy”, and JARVIS. Pretty soon he’s developing a new suit of armor around the repulse devices. After the first field test of the new armor results in him almost crashing because of the high altitude temperatures, he attends a Stark Industries function (complete with a cameo by Stan Lee as “Hef”). There he meets Agent Coulson (Gregg) of the special top-secret Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. (Yes, they shorten it at the end of the movie to something that people will recognize.) Coulson has been pestering Stark for a debriefing, but Tony has been ducking him like he’s ducked everything else. But to appease Coulson, Stark says he’ll arrange things with his secretary, whom he quickly spots wearing a beautiful evening gown. Stark and Pepper have a semi-romantic exchange, and then when he’s getting more drinks, he finds out through the reporter he earlier slept with that his company is arming the Ten Rings after all, and that Stane has been leading the stockholders in locking Stark out of the company.

Tony takes his new armor (now with the familiar gold-and-red finish) back to the Middle East, where takes out the Stark Industry weapons and many of the Ten Rings terrorists. On the way back, he has to reveal to Rhodes that he’s inside the armor to get the Air Force to stop attacking him for violating the “no-fly zone”. Meanwhile, Stane has taken out Raza and the rest of the Ten Rings that have retrieved what was left of Tony’s original armor. Stane has the armor pieces sent over to his own people, only to find they can’t replicate the most important component because… they’re not Tony Stark! (Of course!)

It’s at this point that I’m going to have to pause things, because I don’t want to spoil how the movie ends if you haven’t seen it yet. I will say, however, that you do not want to miss what happens after the credits. In fact, this movie is the one that starts a long string of “teaser” clips getting people hooked to Marvel’s “ultimate production”.

In terms of casting, there are some great and some okay choices. Downey as Tony Stark has to be spot-on the best casting, period. Tony Stark as a character is far from perfect, and given some of Downey’s real-world history, he seems to be a natural. One has to wonder if there would even be a script needed, or if Downey was just told “Okay, be yourself and have fun.” Casting Bridges as Obadiah Stane was a bit of a surprise, since I didn’t really know the character, and having Bridges end up being the villain in this was a shocker, never mind making him BALD!

On the other hand, casting Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts seemed to be one of those moments where you have to ask “WHY?” when you see what the character really does, and I don’t mean the “dry cleaning and floozy-removal” role in the beginning of the movie. Pepper seems to be too flaky at times, especially at the end.

The story may seem simplistic, but it worked in that it brought an updated look to Iron Man’s origins. The original Iron Man story had Tony injured in Asia. Here, it’s Afghanistan. Using a modern-day battleground to showcase new weapons is nothing new either. Why do you think the Hummer and the Patriot missile defense system became so popular in the 90’s?

The one change that took me by surprise, though, was replacing “Jarvis” the human butler into JARVIS, the artificial intelligence “smart house” which ends up being Iron Man’s “sidekick” as well. Okay, as part of the “smart house”, I can see that happening. But using that same AI to also run the Iron Man armor? That’s a big stretch.

In all, this is a really good hero movie in terms of casting and story. So now the real challenge is… how does it handle sequels? We’ll find out in a future review of “Iron Man 2”.

Capes:	This movie easily earned four capes out of five.
Cheese:	Despite the “playboy” tone of Tony Stark, the overall cheese level is kept pleasantly low and tolerable to Mild Cheddar (1 out of 5).
Books:	While simplistic at times, the overall story works and easily earns four books out of five.

RIP Statesman (1896-2012)

News reports are still coming in, but it appears that Paragon City's iconic hero, Stateman, has been killed.

Happy Holidays!

A little cross-comic holiday message from both "The Guardian Powers" and "Tales from Paragon City".

By the way, you'll notice some of the characters with the TfPG banner are ones you haven't seen before. Those will be featured in future issues. Plus, of course, John Battlerock's own story will be appearing. It's just a matter of when. Meantime, enjoy the Holidays!

Click on the image to see the full-sized version.

(And, yes, that Santa beard itches!)

Happy Holidays 2011!

Happy Holidays from the City of Heroes!

It's been on everyone's minds since the Halloween Event finished. WHEN will the Winter Event be here?

Well wait no more. It's here!

From today (December 13th, 2011) until January 3rd, 2012, Paragon City, the Rogue Isles, and even Praetoria will be visited by the Winter Spirit, scattering various gifts throughout the lands. You won't know what's in them until you open them up. It could be a mystery present. It could be a lump of coal. It could be a snowball. It could be a candy cane. Or it could be snow monsters ready to kick your butt. (Or at least they'd give it a good try.)

For those that are new to the City of Heroes, this is the time when you can collect some serious seasonal goodies, including some nice holiday-themed costume pieces.

You start out with some earmuffs...

Aren't those cool? You get those for free, just for showing up during that time!

You also get two gifts... one for yourself, and one to give to someone else. The gift for yourself gives you some XP debt protection. I would suggest you not open that one until you get to security level 10 or higher. The gift you give to others is a mystery. It could be anything. It could be a winter hat, some inf, or a temporary power. You won't know until it's opened.

Then what you do is go around the area opening up those presents, and even if you get the Winter Horde, they still have goodies.

But that's only skimming the tip of the Seasonal Iceberg.

For more serious gifts, you need to get to the Pocket D nightclub. There you'll find a special Ski Chalet has materialized nearby.

Yes, it's a beautiful place where you can ski down the slopes, enjoy some refreshments, and... take part in a few dangerous missions. Don't worry, it's a whole lot easier when you have friends with you. Or, maybe if you're a mastermind with a small army to call on. Speaking of which, you can bring in all sorts of people in on this. Heroes, Villains, Rogues, Vigilantes, and, yes, even Praetorians! Have fun, and the rewards are infinitely bigger and better here.

What sort of rewards? Santa-themed hats, gloves, and boots. Snowflake casting power. A special holiday flight-pack (fueled by Holiday Cheer no less). Five special reincarnation "golden rings" (BUH-duh-duh-duh...). Hey, how about that halo? You like? You can get one just like it. Or one that is burning if you're less-than-angelic.

Some of these goodies you get just for taking part in the missions, others you get by acquiring candy canes. Look for an elf in the Chalet that will exchange your candy canes for goodies. OR... or you can SELL the candy canes at Wentworth's. During the holiday season, that's big money!

Oh, one more thing... at some point you may have to deal with a HUGE snow monster. I suggest finding a league. The more the merrier.

Enjoy, and just remember that Enriche and Crey Cola do not mix well.

Much has changed...

Much has changed in Paragon City, and not all of it can be covered here in the Chronicles.

To see some of the biggest changes, here is a video of the run-through of the reconstructed Atlas Park, a peek at the Street Justice powerset in use, and a fly-by of First Ward, the first attempt to create Praetoria, and Emperor Cole's biggest failure. You'll also see that the Hamidon is far more powerful here than in the Primal Universe, with a hovering "Seed" creature on patrol.



There have been plenty of other changes, including the introduction of the Paragon Market, which gives characters access to features that previously they had to purchase in bulk, plus new stand-alone features such as exclusive pets and special costume pieces.

So the question remains... what happened to Battlerock X during this time? Well you'll hear from him soon.

Get Ready For Super-Powered Chills!

With the launch of City of Heroes Freedom, you have to wonder just what all of the new and returning heroes, villains, and Praetorians would find themselves into come Halloween. Seasoned veterans have come to enjoy several features of this mystically-bewitched time, including two Apocalypse events, trick-or-treating, and temporary costumes.

So the question is... how can you top that and make things exciting for both new and old operatives?

Five words:

Doctor Kane's House Of Horror!

Yes, we're talking a haunted house with zombies, giant monsters, Jack-O-Lanterns, and a challenge so dire that pulling it off will get you a new aura and costume change emote! Think you're up for the challenge? You better make sure you're up to at least level 15 and then get a team together, because you can't visit his house alone!

But if you can't get your friends together quite yet, there are still all of the other fun events, including the Zombie Apocalypse, the Deadly Apocalypse, Trick-or-Treating, and of course the eternal night and the giant monsters to keep the festivities going. You can load up with temporary costumes and get hold of those cheap cereal-box costumes that you can then trade-in with a certain witch to get an extra costume slot! (Note: you can only do this once, so if you've already done it, it won't work for you again. But these things can be worth a pretty penny on the market.)

So start practicing your best "Thriller" moves, and get in as much sunlight as you can, because once the sun sets on October 20th, it won't come back up again until November 2nd. And be careful, because some of the things that go "bump" in the night don't just "bump".

What's been going on in Paragon City?

It has been a long few months... and for those that wondered what happened... well, a picture says a thousand words.
Now more than ever, Paragon City needs more heroes! Visit their website to see how you can join in the fight!

Paragon Pundit Hero Movie Review #25

Paragon Pundit Hero Movie Review

#25: Megamind

When it comes to superhero movies, it’s rare to find one that takes the superhero ideal and turns it in on itself without coming off as being incredibly cheesy. And yet, this movie manages to pull it off.

“Megamind” is a computer-animated superhero comedy movie released in 2010 by DreamWorks Animation and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Tom McGrath and featured the voices of Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, and Brad Pitt. It was released in both traditional and 3D formats in the theatres but only in 2D format in the DVD release.

The story begins with a rip-off of the Superman legend, namely a blue alien baby from a dying world is sent into space by his loving parents. He is given some last-minute messages and his “minion” in the form of a sentient fish before being launched into space. Unfortunately as his ship travels to Earth, it runs in conflict with another orphaned baby ship containing the “perfect baby”, and the two orphan ships race to find the “suitable family” for their babies. The “perfect” baby ends up appearing in the living room of a wealthy couple on Christmas Day while the blue alien baby ends up in a prison yard. From there, the two grow up to be in constant conflict with each other. The “perfect” child would do everything right, while the blue child would end up getting tormented and blamed for everything.

Eventually the two grow up to be rivals in Metro City, with the “perfect” child becoming the superhero Metro Man (Pitt) and the blue child becoming the evil villain Megamind (Ferrell). And for years, the two of them have the same routine, consisting of Megamind kidnapping nosy reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Fey), putting her well-being in peril, and Metro Man would foil the “master plan” and send Megamind back to prison, where he would later escape and do the same thing over again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So when Metro City honors Metro Man with his own museum and gigantic statue, Megamind cannot help but device the “ultimate” plan to humiliate Metro Man. With the help of Minion (Cross), Megamind kidnaps Roxanne and holds her hostage, knowing Metro Man would rush to her rescue, and accidentally fall into his deathtrap. But then, much to the surprise of everyone, Metro Man announces that the deathtrap is made of copper; his one weakness. When the trap is blown up by Megamind’s death ray, a skeleton wearing Metro Man’s cape is thrown from the blast area. At long last, Megamind has won and Metro Man is dead.

For a while Megamind uses Metro City as his own playground, but he quickly discovers he is bored by it all. There is no joy in being evil when there is no hero to save the day. While he prepares to blow up the Metro Man Museum, he accidentally comes across Roxanne, who also wished that Metro Man was still around. Killing the museum curator and taking his place, Megamind begins to befriend Roxanne and decides to follow her idea of creating a new hero. He takes a sample of Metro Man’s DNA to create a serum that would give someone superpowers. But Megamind accidentally sends the serum into Hal Stewart (Hill), Roxanne’s simple-minded cameraman who is head-over-heels in unrequited love with her.

Determined to turn Hal into the superhero worthy of replacing Metro Man, Megamind and Minion launch a scheme to trick Hal into thinking he’s really a “space baby” just like Metro Man. Megamind pulls this off by using the same holographic watch he uses to trick Roxanne into thinking he’s the museum curator, and turns himself into “space dad” (which is a knock-off of Marlon Brando’s Jor-El from the “Superman” movie).

Thus we have a montage of scenes of Megamind getting to know Roxanne and of him training Hal into becoming a superhero known as Titan (or “Tighten”, since it was the only name he could trademark). He also begins to clean up Metro City from his earlier celebrations, much to the pleasure of Roxanne, who begins to think that Megamind isn’t as “evil” as he used to be.

On the evening before the “Big Battle”, Hal, as Titan, shows up outside Roxanne’s apartment to woo her, only to have her utterly reject him. Meanwhile, Minion finds out that Megamind has been sneaking away to see Roxanne in disguise and that he is actually falling in love with Roxanne. Minion reminds Megamind that “the bad guy does not get the girl”, causing Megamind to blurt out that maybe he doesn’t want to be “the bad guy” anymore. With Minion leaving him in disgust, Megamind’s date with Roxanne becomes a disaster, with her finding out that he has been impersonating the curator, and proclaiming that she could never see herself with someone like him.

Dejected, Megamind orders his numerous robot drones to prepare his “Black Mamba” outfit so he can kick off his “big battle” with Titan in style. Sauntering into Metro City in his giant robot with AC/DC’s “Black in Black” playing in the background, Megamind calls out Titan, only to spend the whole day doing nothing but waiting in front of City Hall. Much to his horror, Titan has been spending his time stealing whatever he wanted.

Revealing that he’s really both “Space Dad” and the guy dating Roxanne, Megamind goads Titan into the promised battle, until Titan announces that he’s going to actually kill Megamind for not working with him. This forces Megamind to use his “contingency plan” and contain Titan in a ball made of copper. Unfortunately Titan breaks through the ball, much to the surprise of Megamind since Titan should have the same weakness as Metro Man. Megamind leaves, and Titan announces that the city wasn’t really “saved” as it was placed under “new management”.

And we’ll leave it here, because the rest will spoil the ending.

The movie is a great play on the classic superhero story, showing how the “eternal battle” gets to the point that it becomes boring to the participants. And of course there is the “Wiley E. Coyote” dilemma of what do you do when you get what you’ve been chasing for so long. The good guy always wins, the bad guy always loses, so what happens when the bad guy finally wins? This movie plays up on it quite well.

The vocal casting is done quite well. If you didn’t know it was Will Ferrell doing the voice of Megamind, you wouldn’t have guessed. On the other hand, you can see the facial mannerisms of Roxanne and see Tina Fey doing her voice, and the same holds true to Brad Pitt doing Metro Man’s voice. The characters are done over-the-top, but only just enough to avoid being cheesy.

The use of well-recognized pop songs to mark the arrival of Megamind help sell the character, although a few songs delved more into the “music video” category than helping to sell the story. This was the mistake that the people behind “Zoom” made as well, although DreamWorks didn’t go as far as Sony Pictures did.

In all this is a good hero comedy movie, and one that even villains should be able to enjoy.

Capes:	I’m hesitant to give this movie five capes. The hero level certainly gives it four capes.
Cheese:	While this is a comedy, and a great play on the classic hero story, there is still some cheese to it. I won’t say where because it will ruin the ending, but you’ll know when you see it. Don’t worry; it’s just Mild Cheddar (2).
Books:	Megamind is a good story, although not great, and with the few songs used more for “music video” than to convey a story, I have to give it three books out of five.