Post originally by Jer at 2004-08-02 16:52:01
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I take issue with the idea that the adventure "Boosting the Booster" contains "more evil religious conservatives." The main villain is a deluded freak of a bigot with super powers. The fact that he's a deluded bigot who thinks his powers come from God doesn't make him a "religious conservative" - it makes him a bigot with delusions. I take offense with the idea that bigotry==conservatism - very strong offense, actually. There's not really much else in the adventure that scream "RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVE" at me either, its a fairly standard "stop the badguy from causing mass destruction" plot.
I also don't see much about "The Meek" that make them "religious conservatives". Religious, sure I'll grant that. But conservative? A group of people who are basically killers for God? There really isn't anything in their write-up that screams "conservative", only a strong religious streak which is part of what makes them interesting "villains". Most of the "religious conservatives" that I know are anti-killing in general (what some might term "pro-life"), and they often get very angry about the death penalty. I wouldn't associate a group of killers with folks like these.
What else in Green Ronin's stable makes you think that they have some kind of agenda against religious conservatives? I certainly haven't seen that in any of their work myself, though I haven't read many of their non-Mutants and Masterminds supplements lately.
Post originally by Jer at 2004-08-02 17:55:10
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Your review was tight and pretty clear on what was there and what yout thought was good and not so good, and I thought it was pretty informative (I'd already bought the book, so its not really going to help me decide to buy it or not, but still). It might be nice to see a bit more in the summaries, but since I can't give any good examples of what I would add, it's probably just right.
I think I found the "Street Justice" chapter to be more useful than you did, since I actually like both the Monkey and Death and Taxes. I also though that the Meek was a very interesting concept that I'm going to use someday to put some PCs into a tough moral quandry.
I agree that Chapter Two "Against the Gods" was a squandered opportunity. Its not just the artwork either - it seemed to lack focus. I agree that the Legacy and Freedom City 2525 chapters were probably the best genre chapters in the book, but I thought that the Claremont Academy chapter was not quite as weak as you indicated (though I'm not as tired of the "teen-angst X-men academy" style of stuff as you seem to be).
I haven't really gotten to the crunchy bits yet, but I'm anxious to now after reading your assessment. Thanks again for the review.
Post originally by JimboJones71 at 2004-08-02 19:17:32
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>> According to Google, it looks
>> like 'Spitfire Jones' was a 1940s super, >> so he's _presumably_ 'ethnically British'. =)
Although if they are mentioning him in the "Legacy" chapter, doesn't that imply that this is a later (presumably modern day) superhero who has also taken the name 'Spitfire Jones'? In which case, there is no reason to assume that by being British that he is also ethnically Anglo-Celtic.
Post originally by Luke at 2004-08-02 20:39:19
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>>if they are mentioning him in the "Legacy"
>>chapter, doesn't that imply that this is a
>>later (presumably modern day) superhero
>>who has also taken the name 'Spitfire
>>Jones'
The Spitfire Jones in the book is presented as a WWII-era hero whose legacy a player's character could take up. His entry describes his service during the war and even details the circumstances of his death.
I also thought that both pitures of Jones look Asian - and there's nothing in his write up that flat-out says he isn't of Asian descent - but I think he is supposed to be European (by ethnicity, not just nationality). The book describes him as "the working class British hero of the war," which, let's be honest, isn't exactly a description you'd expect to hear applied to an Asian hero in the late 1930's and early 1940's (or, at least, not one I'd expect - I'll admit that the WWII-era British working class may have been more progressive than I'm aware of).
Post originally by John Davies at 2004-08-03 03:32:48
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I think it is safe to assume Spitfire Jones is of anglo-saxon descent. Or more possibly anglo-celt since his real name of David Jones suggests a possible Welsh background.
Funnily enough, my wife thought he looked more Latino in appearance when she saw the picture. Personaly I think the artist was going for an Errol Flynn look for Spitfire Jones. He's squinting because he has just taken his flight goggles off and is blinded by bright sunlight :-).
Post originally by superfreak at 2004-08-03 08:53:36
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Sorry, but this review is not all that useful to those of us who do not yet own the book. It appears to be more a stream-of-conscious/random smattering of "I like this" and "I don't like this" generalizations that assumes the reader already has the book (and if so, why the hell would they need to read your review). Reviews that say "art looks clunky" or "I am tired of the X-men thing" don;t really give much substance. By accident, I am able to tell what some of the content is, but only by tangent references.
Anyway, in reviewing your review, I say "I don't like it" and give it a D.
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