Category Archives: Fantasy

Superpowers and What They Reveal

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I’m guessing that’s a question that’s been asked in interviews at Marvel and DC for decades, now. Not completely unrelated: in what decade did the last noteworthy superhero debut? I’m thinking the ’60s, but maybe it was the ’70s.

We’ve all seen the creative implosion in mainstream entertainment. That industry has always been crawling with commies and perverts, but back in the day they at least had talent and could create art that decent people enjoyed.

Sometime between when they persistently but subtly slipped their cultural Marxist messaging into movies/literature/music that  otherwise  had merit, and ramming blatant Globohomo narratives down the audience’s collective throat at every opportunity, the vehicles they deployed to deliver their mind control also lost their entertainment value. They lost any modicum of originality, too.

Unable to come up with a single compelling story idea, Homowood can now only recycle what’s already been done several times before, or mine other IP from old TV shows, cartoons, toys, and comic books.

Comic “creators” (what an ironic phrase, when applied to Marvel and DC employees) can’t come up with a single interesting idea of their own. They simply take legacy characters still beloved, and pervert, race-or-gender-swap them to peddle more cultural Marxist narratives that drive fans away from the medium.

Let’s look at some of the efforts of comic writers to develop new, original characters, in the postmodern era, with a specific focus.

The bread-and-butter of Marvel and DC was the superhero.  Characters have personalities (well, once upon a time they did) of course, but what makes a hero super is their superpowers. What sort of superpowers have postmodern comic artists/writers given their characters? (By “postmodern,” I include Boomers, Millennials, and whatever Gen Xers managed to slip in between them.)

There’s a character by the name of Jazz–an aspiring rapper by day who moonlights as a crimefighting (?) mutant. His superpower: he can turn himself blue.

But Color Kid is even more powerful. He can not only turn himself blue–he can turn other stuff other colors, too. Evildoers best beware!

These are far from the only characters with gay-ass abilities, but I want to highlight some more characters with powers that are far less interesting than what they reveal about their creators. Let’s roll the clock all the way back to the beginning of the postmodern era for the first one.

Matter-Eater Lad:

This dude can (and does) eat anything–food, dishes, utensils, wood, metal, glass, whatever. I suspect this superpower was inspired by some real people in the comic company bullpens (and later, typical proprietors and customers at comic shops) who ate a lot more than they exercised. And eating disorders are a nice transition to…

Blob:

His superpower is, he’s morbidly obese. Bet you didn’t know that is a good thing, huh? Well, now you know that our country in the 21st century is overrun with superheroes. Blob is a hero that millions today can relate to.

Seriously, I don’t want to get off on a fat-shaming tangent, but it says a lot about the delusions of our cultural influencers that they would spin obesity as a heroic asset.

Domino:

Her superpower is good luck. I can’t disparage this one too much because, in real life, whatever invisible force is often dismissed as “luck” is more of a determinant of success than talent, expertise, discipline, effort and planning, in many situations. Most of the “creatives” in today’s entertainment achieved and maintain their positions by “luck” (plus checking the correct diversity boxes, and the integrity of a whore). If you don’t have “luck,” then it rarely matters how good you are or how hard you try–you’ll never get as far as the lazy, spineless, amoral, untalented hacks who have it.

Echo:

This one is a Freudian slip, personified. The superpower is the ability to copy somebody else. A comic book glorification of what woketards in the entertainment industry do: rip off the intellectual property of actual creators, and twist it to their own nefarious purposes.

Tattooed Man:

His tattoos come to life. That’s his superpower. Are you starting to see how most of these superpowers are just exaggerations of the real-world attitudes embraced by certain demographics?

In real life, there are NPCs who truly believe they can make themselves more attractive by covering themselves with ink and piercings. In their fantasies, I suppose, such modifications not only make them more attractive and interesting, but also more powerful.

Skunk:

This one’s superpower is, basically, body odor. Along with obesity, another common characteristic in evidence at comic book shops (and in the bullpens, probably) is an aversion to personal hygiene. Little did you lesser mortals know, but this is an inspiring crimefighting tool.

Rainbow Girl:

Her superpower is bipolar mood swings. Are you starting to see that these characters are simply grandiose self-inserts by the narcissists who work at the Big Two? What sane people see as a handicap, flaw, or disorder is ack-shully part of what makes the visionaries in mainstream comics so superior to you.

There’s a character introduced within the last few years whose superpower was the ability to force others to like her. I kid you not. So remarkable and inspiring was this character that I can’t remember her name. Neither, apparently, can the World Wide Web.

Examine the Cultural Gatekeepers:

You’ve got an industry run by fat, unbathed, mentally unstable basement-dwellers (who believe themselves to be secret kings and queens far superior to us, with the knowledge of how to fix the world’s problems), incapable of developing characters that anybody finds interesting–much less heroic.

When you think about it, the “creatives” in the industry today almost perfectly match the personality profile of the fictional mad scientist villains from the Golden Age. (“The fools! They’re threatened by my  superior intellect! But one day they’ll bow before me and be forced to admit I am the ultimate genius!”) Except the mad scientists actually knew enough about real science to build giant robots, resurrect dinosaurs, and genetically engineer monsters. Their real-life counterparts still can’t grasp rudimentary concepts like two genders, herd immunity, and the size of virus particles.

How was it different when our country was healthy?

Go back to the Golden Age, and most of the Silver Age. Characters created back then had superpowers like super strength, invulnerability, flight, X-ray vision, super speed, invisibility, growth, shrinking, stretching, fire, and breathing underwater. As farfetched as they were, those abilities were practical. It was easy to conceptualize how those superpowers could be utilized to protect the innocent, make society better, and counter threats to peace and order.

In the “silly” cultural phenomenon of comic books, we find a bellweather for the state of our civilization. Far from the only bellweather, of course. Just one more corroborating all the other evidence that our civilization is circling the drain.

I was inspired to study this subject by a comment AC (Anonymous Conservative) made on his website some time ago. He has done some groundbreaking work on r and K selection, what that looks like in human societies, and how pop culture reflects it. It’s no wonder that he made this observation.

(I recommend his book on r and K selection: The Evolutionary Psychology Behind Politics, and might review it here one day.)

As I understand it: from the colonial days, up until the end of WWII, America was mostly K-selected. We built stuff, could fix stuff. We protected women and children. We worked, saved, prepared for the future. We were trustworthy neighbors, loyal friends, good Samaritans to strangers, but vigilant about protecting/preserving our own families, property, neighborhood, etc. We didn’t tolerate obvious thieves, perverts, traitors, murderers or rapists. We certainly didn’t allow them to force their amoral attitudes on the rest of society. Superheroes with practical superpowers made sense in that civilization.

Long story short, America shifted toward r-selection in the Postwar era. They abandoned the values and attitudes that helped make us once great. They became , basically, a bunch of indulged brats who threw a party, trashed their parents’ house, then refused to clean up afterwards. In fact, their every effort concentrates on destroying what is left of the house. Every effort that isn’t focused on their own personal gratification, that is. This is exemplified by the forgettable superheroes this r-selected culture has introduced. And by how the iconic superheroes of yesteryear are being corrupted and destroyed.

What do you think?

The Sword and the Sunflower by Mark Bradford – a Review

Review by INFAMOUS 🦀

I truly wanted to like this story, and the author is a standout human being, but unfortunately I have to be objective and report that I could find very little to praise about here.

The story suffers from several issues; from character development, to pacing, to some prosaic choices, and even too frequent and unnecessary line breaks.

Basically the story is about two individuals, Stojan and Anastazja, who (after losing their beloved ones, respectively) find one another and build a father/daughter relationship, while traveling across a dystopian world somewhere in a post-apocalyptic future.

On the surface, the premises sound good and intriguing. However a further look will reveal several weaknesses in how this was executed.

We meet Stojan, a former captain turned assassin who lost his will to live since the death of his daughter 3 years prior. When he takes on a ‘job’ by a so-called Bishop to assassinate a particular individual whom the prophecy has indicated to be a future threat to the Bishop himself, Stojan embarks on a journey that takes a strange turn: he falls in love with Anastazja and can no longer fulfill his task.

Now, I get that Stojan has lost his daughter and he’s still mourning, but every time we introduce a character that has the power and influence of healing the pain of a loss, the new relationship has to feel organic and it has to build up in steps, gradually, to feel believable. This doesn’t happen here. From the moment Stojan sets his eyes on Ana he’s already fallen in love with her as a father with a daughter. It all feels rushed and kind of weird in a way.

Another weird plot choice is the way Ana’s biological father dies in the story. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I encourage you to read that particular scene for yourself.

The other problem I found was the pace: after the two main characters come together and embark on their trip across these lands, everything feels very slow and tedious. They cross the ocean from a region called Poliska (Poland? Europe?) to another region called Amira (America?), and the most exciting thing that happens is ending up in a Native American colony where they spend a whole year just enjoying the lifestyle of their host. Nothing significant happens, except for perhaps having two of the Indian tribal chiefs arguing over what new tribal name to assign to Ana (I’m totally serious).

When the two protagonists decide to leave the Indian community there’s more hiking, more riding horses across vast lands, and more NOTHING….

Some of the prosaic choices I also found not ideal given this world: in this futuristic world most people are illiterate or barely know how to read, yet their spoken language is very articulate and even more sophisticated than ours is today. It’s almost as if these people somehow went back to speaking Shakespearean English though not even having any books around anymore.

To conclude, it is with sadness that I must admit that the only true highlight of this book and most uplifting moment was when I finally turned to the last page.

If you think I must be exaggerating or being too harsh, by all means buy a copy and read it for yourself. I would love your comments.

 

INFAMOUS 🦀

Comics, Manga, Literacy and a Possible Renaissance

How do you hide something from a Millennial?

Put it in a book

Yeah, I know: harsh generalization. But I bet the statistics would back it up. I would also bet there’s a strong correlation (if not causation) between recreational reading and independent/critical thinking.

When Did the Slide Begin?

Some sources suggest America’s decline in literacy began in the 1920s. I consider it more likely that significant decline can be traced to 1947, when television began to proliferate in middle class homes across America. But whatever.

Two boys reading reading comics at a news stand, USA, circa 1955. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

What we do know is that  the popularity of comic books exploded in 1938 and lasted into the 1950s (the superhero craze lasted from 1938 until about 1945). Comic books have never been as popular as they were during the Golden Age. And the comic-reading demographic during that time was mostly boys. A lot of teenagers read them, some old enough to serve in uniform overseas, but the scale tipped significantly to pre-teen boys. Specifically, these were late-cohort GI Generation, Silent Generation, and early-cohort Boomers.

Changing of the Guard

Many from the latter generation would continue reading comics into adulthood. Some from that generation would take over the industry, and shift their sights to an audience of their own peers, turning their backs on the following generations.

Fast-forward to today. With some exceptions, the Millennials and Homelanders* are functionally illiterate and incapable of independent/critical thought. Lots of factors have converged to handicap them this way. One factor is there have effectively no comic books that excited them as boys and led them to a transition to “more serious” prose books.

I listened to one of Chuck Dixon’s podcasts recently, He mentioned that Manga has attracted the young audience that comics lost over the course of the Pozzed Age.**

What Manga Proves

If Manga can win back that young demographic, then why couldn’t American comics, too? After all, American comics are the original gangsta that first won that audience, anyway.

Here is a windmill worth tipping at. I have begun some research, starting with Demon Slayer, which a librarian says is one of the more popular titles with teenagers. So far as drawing and writing style, it is more refined than most of the Golden Age comics. But I don’t see the story quality as an improvement. I’m sure there is better Manga out there (and hopefully I’ll find some), but take note, my fellow creators: we can do better than this stuff!

We don’t have the equivalent of Anime to market comics to kids, but we should think of something. The Boomers will begin dying off, soon, and American comics will die with them as a medium, unless we crack the code for finding a young audience.

Share your thoughts in the comments.

 

* I use Generational Theory, as codified by William Strauss & Neil Howe, not the MPAI terms like “Gen Y,” “Gen Z,” “Zoomers,” etc.

** IMO this age began in the 1990s and is still in effect, at least when it comes to mainstream entertainment. Some of us are hard at work trying to usher in an Iron Age…history will determine if we’re successful.

Man of Swords: The Knight Who Would Not Kneel – a Review

(Part 2 of a 6-part series by the INFAMOUS REVIEWER GIO)

“King Orrefiah was downed, bleeding, while all about him brayed death. On either hand his retinue lay slain, pierced and hacked, their faces trodden to the mud.”

 

After reading Eye and the Dragon, the first of the tales in Man of Swords (paid link), we might have assumed that perhaps this whole collection was going to be less story-driven and more gearing towards the ‘abstract’ and the ‘ethereal’…WRONG.

The Knight Who Would Not Kneel once again brings back the R.V. Mills we experienced in the Isle of the Shrine of the Sick’ning Scarab. Only BETTER, if that were even possible!

Let me explain: this second tale is something that sees more action, more glorious army battles, and more fierce individual combats than we can handle…and yet, that’s not how this tale truly sets itself apart from the rest. 

After saving King Orrefiah’s life on the battlefield, young Rohye–now in his late teens–finds himself reluctantly serving as one of the king’s official knights. He distinguishes himself on the battlefield time and time again against the barbaric hordes that keep threatening the kingdom through pillaging and invasions. However, Rohye frowns upon the extreme military tactics used by the king to completely annihilate the foreign tribes.

Fast-forward a year or so to when the kingdom finally seems to be experiencing a longer lasting period of  peace, but the king, now in poor health and hunted by his conscience, asks Rohye to accompany him on a pilgrimage to a mythical tower where a source of supernatural healing lies hidden.

The synergy between Rohye and King Orrefiah is the apex of this entire story. Rohye is not sure why he’s even willing to aid the ill king, but he can sense that there is a reason that would be revealed in due time. The king in his ill state seeks healing (but truthfully, redemption from his crimes of war he has committed). Combine a rich cast of supporting characters, a superb ‘Shakespearean’ prosaic style and you have a true masterpiece! 

The Knight Who Would Not Kneel should be read by anybody and everybody; it should be adapted to plays, movies, music; and it should be the topic of discussion of every literature roundtable across the globe. 

The fact that the story has so many layers to it would make it a challenge to cover it all in just 1 review. But that’s what makes it so special, it puts the reader in a position to explore and discover over and over again.

New legends in the making. History in the making.

Thank you Mr. Mills!

Fallen Crest Abbey by James Krake

An inside look by INFAMOUS 🦀


“They fought for themselves and others but paid the ultimate price. They have been buried in the southern cemetery of Fallen Crest Abbey”


There is this author/youtuber I’ve been following now for some time by the name of James Krake. Although known mostly as a cyberpunk genre writer, Krake also runs a webnovel on Royal Road titled The Undying Emperor. This novel departs a good deal from the typical genre Krake is known for. I won’t spend too much time suggesting our readers to start following The Undying Emperor, though they should, for it is truly a marvelous work of sword and sorcery fiction extravaganza. But what I really want to zero-in on is the short story within this webnovel; a true ‘hidden gem’: 

Fallen Crest Abbey.


INFAMOUS: what is Fallen Crest Abbey and what inspired this story?

Krake: Bram Stoker’s Dracula actually. I like exploring form and genre and a gothic horror epistolary story intrigued me. That started the series of questions I had to answer in order to make a satisfying story that would actually matter to readers of my webnovel. I’ve been doing a good deal of thinking about how sci-fi and fantasy should be incorporating matters of faith, so I wanted to take a look at some of the religious aspects of this fantasy world.

INFAMOUS: I’ve read both of your published cyberpunk novels and follow The Undying Emperor on Royal Road, but to me it is in Fallen Crest Abbey that I sense a new level of maturity from you as an author. Do you agree?

Krake: Fallen Crest Abbey was written to have a different tone and feeling to it. I’m not sure I would call it ‘maturity’, but it’s certainly different. The novellas I am writing in 2024 should feel closer to how Fallen Crest Abbey came together, and next year I have a stand-alone I’ll write which should be a full novel length experience that’s even better.


INFAMOUS: sometimes this question gets thrown around a lot: will we ever see the likes of a new Tolkien, or a new Howard, or a new Lovecraft, in the realms of indie authors? I think we have, in the works of British writer R. V. Mills. But when I read Fallen Crest Abbey I see that same ‘sparkle’, that same unrelenting and unapologetic quest–albeit under a different writing style-for new legends in the making. 

Is that something that you have been aware of at all?

Krake: The problem, I think, is that those names became those names because they were able to influence people. They had an impact on future literary endeavors the way Doyle did (or further back, Shakespeare). So, I don’t think the question today is “will we see somebody who writes as well as so-and-so?” but will that person get noticed? Just looking at the numbers, and the advantages today, there are probably MANY people better than Tolkien, who simply haven’t gotten the reverence because society is more connected, critical, and quick to move on.


INFAMOUS: speaking of legends, there is a creature we’re introduced to in FCA called a ‘grendel’. I found some of his features most fascinating. Would you share with us how this grendel came about?

Krake: Beowulf, mixed with my approach to trolls that tries to portray them as early hominids. I coaxed up the legend the way I felt people would rumor-monger around a campfire and indulged the horror aspect it can create.


INFAMOUS: one thing that I loved about Fallen Crest Abbey is how most chapters open with a formal letter written by one of the characters. It really is an effective way to set up a certain mood and pace. Was this a conscious decision or did it just develop that way as you wrote the story?

Krake: It was how I initially conceived of the story, because it posed a technical challenge. I had to figure out how to explain the plot beats, endear the characters, and keep everything well paced, despite using journal entries, letters, posted bounties, and any other ‘record’ that I could come up with. A large reason I became attracted to the idea was the challenge of ending the story, and writing it, without the structure of the story itself giving away the ending.

INFAMOUS: can you disclose future projects-if any-related to Fallen Crest Abbey? What about future works not necessarily related to FCA?

Krake: Well it’s clearly part of The Undying Emperor, which is mostly a life story, hero’s journey of conquest. That has a particular genre to it, however. The world itself has possibilities far beyond what befits essentially a YA action story designed for weekly releases. This year I’ll be writing a novella that is to be like a mix of Romeo & Juliet with The Count of Monte Cristo, taking place in the same world, and I’ve got the start of a novel that started from the question “What if The Odyssey, but the main character couldn’t fight? Can a scholar be a good protagonist?”

On a more immediate horizon, my next paperback release is just around the corner, keep an eye out for Low Key Connections, a Narnia-style isekai. Light hearted, fun, and also high action.


Follow here to not miss out.


Well folks, there you have it. In a world of TikTok, instant gratification, and low attention span, supporting authors like James is important to keep good story-writing thriving. If you’re reading this, most likely you already know that there are great authors out there who deserve recognition and that, sadly, reading books in general is dwindling in our society. 

Support these writers, support books, support Virtual Pulp! 

INFAMOUS 🦀


Click to read Fallen Crest Abbey:

 

Man of Swords: The Eye and the Dragon – a Review

By THE INFAMOUS REVIEWER GIO

 

Note from THE INFAMOUS: this is the first of a 6-part review series that will cover each tale included in Man of Swords by R. V. Mills. I feel that Mills is the most exciting fantasy pulp writer of the last few years and his latest publication deserves a thorough breakdown which would be impossible to achieve in one single review. Hope you guys will tag along for the ride and enjoy this as much as we will!

 

 

“Through spilt milk of stars, whirls of worlds most wondrous, spirals of splendour spinning atop the fingertips of Gods, through void unimagined he raced to straits and reaches never by mortal seen.”

 

If this short tale does not find an initial overwhelmingly warm reception from a majority of readers, I will understand why. Let me explain.

This is the opening short story of Man of Swords (paid link), and it takes us back to a time of a young Rhoye before he was even called as such. This is not a very story-driven tale and that’s why some folks might find it too slow or even downright boring. Not much happens if you’re expecting epic battles, sword fights, or the rescuing of damsels in distress.

Basically this is about young Rohye’s initiation, the quest to find his identity as a man, and for the most part the story will take us into a world between reality and dream (I wonder what Uncle put in that drink they gave Rhoye!). 

Under the watchful eye of the old Shaman, young Rohye goes up the Mountain to sit in a cave where all sorts of lucid dreams will take him through a trippy interdimensional experience. 

Nothing makes sense on the surface but that’s the nature of dreams after all. It’s hard to deny traces of E. A. Poe and H. P. Lovecraft here.

Despite the slow pace, what makes this a must-read is its prosaic style. Mills is a master of the English language and this is a perfect example of it. It is a delight to read the beautiful words that create this world of visions and dreams. You feel transported to a dream world along with the main character and get to experience the ethereal realms young Rohye visits. THAT, my friends, is worth taking the time to read this opening act! 

It’s not always about the well-choreographed fight scenes or the intricate subplots. Sometimes you just gotta let the magic of exquisite prose take you to another realm!


Our series will continue in 2 weeks with part 2 of 6: “The Knight Who Would Not Kneel”

Citadel of the Seven Swords – a Review

You may have noticed that Gio has been reviewing a lot of fantasy lately that may or may not qualify as Iron Age (depending on who you talk to). Well, I also have recently bought some new fantasy and sci-fi by based authors. Maybe I’m not knocking down my TBR pile as fast as Gio is chopping down his, but I’ll have some reviews coming your way, too.

This is Book One of Erik Waag’s Wandering Sword Series.

The story opens with the protagonist (the wily Northman, Skarde) a slave bending the oar on a ship–due to misfortune from a previous misadventure.

I know we’ve been making many comparisons to Robert E. Howard’s fantasy lately (and that’s a good thing), but I’m not done yet. The beginning of this adventure felt very Howardesque.

Skarde escapes from the ship, and enslavement to the Iron Brotherhood–but is doggedly pursued even after reaching the seeming safety of an island.

That island is ruled by a cult with some serious muscle at its disposal. A literal titan  dwells in the fiery bowls of the island’s volcano, forging the seven swords of the title. The adventure takes us through the island’s underground labyrinth where, with the help of other slaves, and a powerful sorceress, Skarde hatches a plan to defeat the titan and the cult leader, and secure his freedom.

Waag shoots for verisimilitude in his action sequences. Skarde is certainly clever, agile, and strong, but is not superhuman and far from infallible. And the tension runs high in between the action. My only complaint is that the story feels like it’s just finding its rhythm when the book ends. No character arc or development to speak of–the reader is just getting to know Skarde, in fact.

This is not unusual for the first book in a series. And, of course, the current market is friendliest to series fiction–so it’s no wonder so many authors choose to write them. I found enough promise in Citadel of Seven Swords that I do want to read the next book. But I expect it to delve deeper into characterization (at least enough to make Skarde stand out in some way from other fantasy adventure heroes) and provide a more immersive reading experience.

Shades of Black: In Darkness Cast – a Review

by Jonathan Shuerguer
Reviewed by the INFAMOUS REVIEWER GIO

 

The first thing that jumped at me when I read this book was how the author incorporated a monotheistic faith system in a world inhabited by warrior tribes resembling the Vikings which historically are known to worship multiple deities. I thought that created an interesting stage for the action to take place. Shuerger also does a very good job at baiting the reader into thinking this is going to be another ‘Conan the Barbarian’ kind of tale in the opening act, but then with the introduction of co-main character Ashkelon, things take a whole different path.

Who is Ashkelon? Imagine MCU’s Thanos and multiply by 100! Ashkelon is a warrior/wizard so powerful that he even seems to be bored in not finding worthy opponents to offer him a real challenge. Ashkelon takes young Gideon under his wing to train him up as the ultimate warrior of light. THIS is where the story excels, my fellow readers! The tension, the dynamics, the dialogues and moral debates these two characters engage in, all of that is where In Darkness Cast truly shines! 

Of course, we will witness battles for the ages, one-on-one combat that will keep you glued to your seat, and Gideon ultimately finding out who he really is and who he will become along the way. Oh, and big spiders, lots of ‘em!

The storyline is engaging and you feel like you want to keep reading because at any point in time this ride can take an unexpected turn!

There are a few secondary characters that felt too hollow and cliche`, particularly the elder Skald and the wolf-maiden Anya and her father. These characters come off as too one-dimensional, almost like ‘cardboard’ characters with not much to bring to the table.

The prose was probably my main issue. I understand that when we write fantasy inspired by ancient mythology we want to use a prosaic style that sounds appropriate, but we have to be careful not to slip and let some of our modern jargon taint this objective. For example, the use of the term ‘lactic acid’ to describe the onset of fatigue during a swordfight between two ancient warriors is probably not highly recommended, given the epic nature of the event!

Overall, I feel this book has:

  1. Great plot line  and dynamics between the two main characters
  2. A few superficial secondary characters that could have used more fleshing out
  3. A prose style that at times is not consistent with the world 

To wrap this up, I give this 4 stars out of 5 and if you enjoy a story that is not totally predictable and don’t care too much for solid prose, get yourself a copy today!

Rorschach, Watchmen, and Alan Moore

Alan Moore’s Watchmen, along with Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, are probably the most influential comic miniseries ever published so far. Both were published in the mid-1980s and were milestones for comic books as a medium, and for superhero comics in particular.

Comic books, which started as a medium for young boys, had already been drifting away from its original audience, and with these two series, fully embraced the new adult nerd audience. Some aficionados will tell you this marks the point at which comics became serious. Others might suggest this is when comic creators began taking themselves too seriously. Though not at the toxic levels of woketardery we see today, after the success of these titles, the creators at Marvel and DC were unleashed to inject their cultural Marxist opinions into commercial sequential art, in increasing doses.

And here we are.

For whatever reason, somebody on X brought up the character of Rorschach recently, and whatever comment was initially made, it ignited multiple threads of debate about the character.

Moore Fanbois Miss the Point

I analyzed Watchmen 13-14 years ago, including the ironies involved in Alan Moore’s Rorschach character. Others have also noticed the ironies, and have been pontificating about them on X for the last few days. Rather than revisit what I and others have already noted, let’s look first at something Moore said:

The fact that Moore chose to depict Rorschach as a smelly incel is the evidence de jour Woketards regurgitate in order to claim that Rorschach is not a hero, but a fascist, psychopath, murderer, etc.

Moore did indeed depict him as a smelly incel. Also a freeloader, socially awkward, an apologist for atrocities committed by the Comedian character, etc. One thing this proves is that Moore was fighting the culture war long before most of his enemies even knew a culture war was underway.  (A lot of people are still amazingly oblivious to the culture war being waged against them.)

It’s quite simple. All Moore did was present a literary version of a debate strategy the leftists/SJWs/woketards have been employing for generations. They’re still using it today.

Ad-Hominem Revenge by a Gamma Writer Against a Fictional Stand-In for an Ideological Nemesis

Try criticizing the invasion in public (whether you call it “illegal immigration,” “crisis at the border,” or some more watered-down, sugar-coated term). You will be called “racist,” “white supremacist,” “xenophobe,” “conspiracy theorist,” etc.

You probably never even alluded to race, national origins, or any conspiracy. But leftists want others to believe you did. They couldn’t care less what is true or represents reality, but they know others do, and Marxists do care what those others believe. Left-wingers will always care what others believe, whether they are celebrating their 35th birthday in their mother’s basement or manning a machinegun in the guard tower of a gulag. It is precisely because they care what you believe that they will gleefully herd your family into a boxcar when the time comes.

  • They have no affinity for the truth.
  • They obsess about what others believe.
  • They want others to hate and fear you.
  • Others won’t hate you (or hate you enough) based on anything you’ve actually said or done.
  • They must provide reasons you should be hated and feared.
  • Name-calling, insults, and false accusations historically have instigated the hate and fear they desire.
  • Those whose beliefs can’t be controlled deserve humiliation and death.

Who did Alan Moore hate? I suggest you examine the characteristics which cause so many Watchmen readers to recognize Rorschach as the hero of the story: integrity, determination, conviction in his beliefs, and veneration for what is true.

Moore recognized these traits in the right-wingers he hates so much. These qualities probably made him hate them even worse. For his cultural Marxist, deconstructive narrative, he wanted a right-wing voodoo doll to stab. He took several superhero characters who he associated with the aforementioned right-wing ideals (Steve Ditko’s Charleton characters The Question and Mr. A in particular), blended them together, and formed that voodoo doll into who we know as Rorschach.

The Secret God-King Wins Again!

Since Moore is the writer, he has control over every character and what happens in the “grim, gritty” universe he fashioned for this narrative. His objective is to make you hate and fear those who believe in objective truth, who don’t compromise with evil, and who are willing to sacrifice themselves, if necessary, to speak the truth. Hence the passive-aggressive ad hominem attacks on this voodoo doll of his own making.

Joe McCarthy might be a great example of the archetype Moore loathes so deeply. It turns out that McCarthy was right all along, but hardly anybody will admit to it because they’re still so invested in a narrative with him in the villain role. That’s how effective the character assassination of McCarthy was–and the emotional reasoning everyone was lured into. This is why Moore wrote Rorschach as a smelly, freeloading incel whose commentary triggers normies and NPCs.

Rorschach is the only character who didn’t take the ticket. Nightowl, Silk Specter and even Dr. Manhattan compromised with evil. Moore, the manipulative god of that perverse world, allowed them to live because they sold their souls. Rorschach had to die for his “sin.”

Since it is so important to Moore and other authoritarian Marxists to control what others believe, it infuriates them when we recognize the ironies, and Rorschach’s heroic attributes, despite how angrily they keep stabbing the voodoo doll.

UPDATE: Looks like other bloggers also figured this drama was worth weighing in on. Dark Herald probably cross-posted this on Arkhaven, but here’s his take on Fandom Pulse. And here’s yet another article on the topic, possibly by the very person who ignited this row. Both are worth reading. However, I was blocked from commenting and flagged as spam. Interesting.

Altar of my Fate by Michael R. Schultheiss – a Review

By THE INFAMOUS REVIEWER GIO:

 

Sometimes a book is good, sometimes is average, a few other times is very poor. But every once in a while you find one that is plainly and utterly GREAT!

The Rosteval Saga book 1: Altar of my Fate is all that and then some! What can I say, this book’s got it all: excellent prose, characters, plot. The author was able to really capture the spirit of the ‘ancient warrior’ with a dash of fantasy lore. The result is a true epic, a ‘classic’ in my opinion. 

Too many times we’ve seen modern writers not being able to distance themselves from the world we live in to produce an epic that feels authentic. Schultheiss here was able to create not only an ancient world that feels tangible but an entire English language disconnected from modern urban English.

The pace is fast when it needs to be but also slower when characters or locations need to be further explored.

Now, this story might not be for the squeamish due to some violence and other subjects considered ‘taboo’ in modern society. But if you yearn for true ‘escapism’ and want to visit ancient exotic lands and witness men become demigods, this is a MUST READ!

 

*Note: the only issue I have with this book is the cover! That cover does the story no justice and it’s a disservice to the true spirit of this epic classic. Maybe I’m nitpicking but I just had to call it out!

 

Stay tuned for review of Book 2 coming soon!