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 |  A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
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The Interactives "The Book of Masks"  : A high school student discovers a grimoire that can make magical disguises."The Wandering Stars" : Sequel to "The Book of Masks.""Student Bodies" : A high school student is turned into a blue goo that can possess people.For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" : Dodges the "Servers Busy" barrier!"The Book of Masks (Abridged)" : Introductory storylines for new readers.Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" : Community for readers of the interactives."BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" : Notes and documentation for authors. Spoilers!Current Polls None The Latest 5/4: Interactive: "Getting to the Root of Things" 5/4: Public: "Getting to the Root of Things"
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| So, in a comment to yesterday's post, That One Guy says that I'm watching and reacting to "what is effectively the last five to seven years of comics distilled into one show." That's hilarious and would explain a lot. I don't read comic books. It's an expensive habit, and I'm not fond of the "decompressed" style that's been adapted in the last 10 years or so. So it's funny when I complain that this animated series is too much compressed. "Venom" in the comics, for instance, was a pretty extended story, wasn't it? I hope it was less compressed than the one-episode treatment (with two bonus appearances) that this animated series gave it. Was "Spider Island" also an adaptation? Quick research suggests it was, but I'm not going to do a deep dive, because the idea feels goofy at any length. Maybe it got a sensational treatment in the comics, but it feels like the worst kind of comic-book stunt, the kind that begins with the editors bragging THE STORY THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING! and ends with them rushing to confess WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN IT, WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN IT! There are other places where the cartoon's compression bothers me, not because the results are bad but because they're not nearly good enough. Places where the ideas and approach are terrific, but the execution fumbles. So the thing I like best about the series -- which also comes from the comics -- is the melodrama surrounding the Osborns, and the way it envelops an unwilling Spider-Man. I like the Machiavellian plotting of Norman Osborn, and the three-cornered tug-of-war that erupts between him, Peter Parker, and Spider-Man to pull Harry in every which direction. I like the conflict between Osborn and Raymond Warren, and I particularly like that Osborn's justified paranoia about Warren motivates his paranoia about Spider-Man, as he has a justified (though false) belief that Spider-Man is an early manifestation of a Jackal plot. It's the kind of thing that elevates a character from hackneyed villain to flawed human being, or even -- if the right work is done -- misguided hero. And I especially like that there are all these pieces moving just beneath the surface, where Peter can't see but which cause earthquakes he has to deal with -- and which without his realizing it are moving him and Harry toward a confrontation. What I don't like is that these revelations come tumbling out in a higgledy-piggledy way, so that most of those developments are in place by episode 5. They feel more like the kind revelations that should have taken place across a 15 or even 20 episode stretch. Then it would have felt more like a living, evolving world and less like the chess pieces being quickly moved into position. I also don't like that with Harry they seem to have lost the plot. After doing a good job of setting up his conflicted feelings, those conflicts are only banged at instead of developed: Norman pressures Harry into hating Spider-Man; Harry gets snotty when Spider-Man shows up; Harry and Peter swear their undying friendship; return to start. Then, when there's finally a break between Harry and Peter (episode 17), it is quickly papered over. Then it opens up again in Episode 18 ... and is papered over. Opened and papered over again in Episode 19. By the time Norman dies (Episode 25), I no longer cared where or how Harry was going to come down again, because I was sure it would just reverse again whichever way it went. The story should build to an irrevocable break between the friends, because that's where the logic points. I have finished Season One now, and I don't regret the time or the $15, not by a long shot. I have been taking extensive notes and will be posting some synopses and analyses of the episodes. There is stuff to learn from them. I am now off for Season Two, which with luck I will finish up today. EDIT: Here's a pretty good YouTube review of the series, and I'm pretty much in line with what he says, except that his critique of Harry Osborn dives too deep for me to share, since I don't know the character that well. One thing I'll add: I have always hated how chatty earlier Spider-Man cartoons are, how he self-narrates himself around the screen and through his adventures. It's "radio talk", the kind of stuff you put in to explain things that the audience can't see or understand. It's in every Spider-Man cartoon I've ever tried to watch, and it's always driven me from a Spider-Man series after giving it one or two chances. I know Spider-Man is supposed to be a talkative guy, but what works on a comics page doesn't work in a cartoon or movie. I don't mind it nearly so much in this series, though, because they turn it into characterization -- it's how Peter talks himself through situations -- and they even lampshade it. He tries practicing his stealth skills in one episode, and Miles catches him because "I heard you talking to yourself." Peter: "I don't talk to myself!" Miles: "You might want to look into that." So it feels less like cliched old-time cartoon writing -- "Great Scott, I've got to stop that dam from bursting and inundating that valley where ten thousand people, including my Aunt May, live in relative suburban comfort, from being swept away by the subsequent catastrophic flood!" -- and more like real writing. |
| So I mentioned a possible project yesterday, and I've started research on it by plunging into the cartoon. But I'm still undecided on whether I'm going to do it because ... Well, it's going to depend on whether my enthusiasm survives all the cringing. Okay, the series isn't awful, and there are a couple of episodes that I think are quite good. But there are some creative choices that baffle me. (Unless they reflect executive meddling; executive meddling can explain a lot of bad decision-making.) Take, for instance, the addition of Miles Morales to the cast. Now, I have nothing against Miles Morales, since I don't even know him from the comics. And I've no objection to adding someone called "Miles Morales" to a "Peter Parker" continuity. But as for putting him in a "Peter Parker" show and giving him spider powers right alongside Peter, which is what they do in Episode 10-- Well, remember Syndrome's line in The Incredibles? "When everyone is special, no one will be." Yeah, that's the line I'm alluding to in this entry's title. If everyone gets to be Spider-Man, then no one is Spider-Man. It's not just that making Miles another Spider-Man makes the original 50% less special. The real problem is that it doubles the number of people who are exactly alike. Does Peter have spider powers? So does Miles. Is Peter a science genius? So is Miles. Is Peter a goofy nerd? So is Miles. Is Peter sassy? So is Miles. Are they both scrawny and tend to get bullied? Yes and yes, and every other similarity you can think of would get answered with a "yes" as well.** When you're writing a story, "more of the same" does not make for a good thing. It makes for a bad thing, because when the supply of anything goes up, the value of it goes down. There is value in having diversity of character. But skin color is not diversity of character, and skin color is the only difference between Peter and Miles when you put them in a scene together. I would have the same objection (only with the names reversed) if the series started with Miles as Spider-Man and then added Peter. Why are you adding this second character, this "Peter Parker" guy, who is exactly like Miles, the character you introduced first? And all this is only an extreme instance of the series's inability to distinguish between its four teenaged justice-friends. Anya Corazon and Gwen Stacy differ from each other only in ethnicity, and they differ from the boys only because of their gender. (Okay, there's one other difference to align with the gender difference: the girls are noticeably bitchy and catty, while the guys are goofy.) But they are all super-smart, uninterested in anything that isn't "teh science" (or what passes for "science" in this show; it can't even figure out how the periodic table works), and have identical competencies across all academic fields. Except for the girls' bitchiness, you could switch almost any of these characters for any of the others by changing names in the script, and no one would ever notice. And how can you go 10 episodes into a Spider-Man series without J. Jonah Jameson being so much as mentioned in an aside? That's another creative choice that astounds me. Anyway, that's where I am now: Ten episodes in and wondering if the show isn't going to beat the enthusiasm out of me. But I am currently on track to have the series watched by the start of next week. **Edited to add: To be clear, the problem isn't just or even mainly that there are two similarly powered individuals at play together. Batman and Robin also have similar ... powers. Or at least techniques. The real problem is that there is nothing else to differentiate Peter and Miles but their possession or lack of spider-powers. Batman and Robin have very different personalities, for instance. If Peter and Miles had complementary personalities, it would be much less of a problems. But I do think it would still be something of a problem. Part of Spider-Man's appeal (I think) is the uniqueness of Peter's situation -- not only that he has spider-powers but that their acquisition--not possession, their acquisition--made such a huge difference to his life. If he hadn't got them, certain sequel events would not have led to his uncle's death. That, not their subsequent use in crime-fighting, is what makes them important to him and makes them also important to us. But if the same powers are going to be handed around like Halloween candy, then you cut those powers off from the character development that made them important. An attribute is not important. What a character does with the attribute is what is important to a story, because what he does with it makes it meaningful to him in a particular way. What Peter did (and did not do) when he initially got his powers is what makes those powers important to him. Similarly with Batman: that his parents were murdered doesn't make him unique. It's what he did with that tragedy that makes it important to him. |
| No new chapter today. There might be one tomorrow, though. Meanwhile ... A day or two back I mentioned the current Spider-Man cartoon running on Disney XD. (It's called "Marvel's Spider-Man" and it is this one .)Anyway, after my initial, rather sniffy perusal of it, I did a slightly deeper dive and discovered that they are in the middle of adapting the "Superior Spider-Man" storyline from the comics a few years back, the one that transferred Dr. Octopus's mind into Peter Parker's body. Oh, man. Obviously that's an idea that is totally in my wheelhouse. Moreover (autobiographical confession coming), it was body-swaps with superheroes -- or evil clones, or shapeshifters; there's a whole repertoire out there -- that first twigged my interest in the TF thing. I always wanted to see the bad guys win in those scenarios. So it's strange to say that I've never read the Superior Spider-Man storyline. Or not so strange, given that I'm not a major fan of contemporary comics, and the online summaries didn't make it sound that interesting. But an animated version of the story, like the cartoons and shows of my youth? I guess I'm going to have to watch it. Or write my own version. Wait. What was that? Okay, Season Two of the show ended on a cliffhanging teaser, with Doc Ock having just completed the transfer. Season Three isn't slated to start for two-and-a-half more months. So that's 75 or so days for me to catch up on the series and the comic book storyline, digest them, and compose my own version of the upcoming season, before that actual version comes out. Seventy-five days for me to put myself in competition with a professional show by writing a version of what they're writing, before they have unveiled it to the world. It would be a fun challenge, and though I had a plan for July and August, this would be a timely substitute. So would there be any interest in these parts for seeing me tackle a multi-part story, in script form, anticipating Season Three of "Marvel Spider-Man," and posting the results? |
| So in today's chapter—"Teases for Two" — I didn't quite get to where I wanted to go. Some girl talk got in the way. But it seemed necessary. Am I going to write and soon post the chapter that includes the actual swap? I'm undecided. I think I should. But there's other stuff I should be doing. And what's that other stuff? I want to spend July and August working on a non-BoM project. I have a solid idea for what I want to do, and I have spent the first two days of July brainstorming the stuff that will let me start it, so I don't feel like I've violated my own pledge by still writing some BoM chapters. But that's what I mean to be concentrating on. Any BoM stuff that gets written will be purely extra, and won't be published until September at the earliest. As for what my current project will be: Well, it's something I don't think BoM readers will be interested in, but I will let you watch me compose it. Until now, I've kept my non-BoM stuff off this site, but this one I think I'll publish on WdC, a chapter at a time, as I write them. I'm not looking for feedback (though I will take it) and really, I'll be publishing it publicly because I think I'm going to need the discipline that comes from putting myself out very visibly on a tightrope. But it will be a day or two before the first chapter appears. I'll let you know when it goes up. * I have a small trickle of chapters in BoM that I will put out over the upcoming week. A few months ago, when I was publishing the branch that introduced Sydney, I polled you guys at each fork to see which way you wanted to go, and I told you that I had a chapter written for each choice. Mostly you picked the choices that sent the story down the path I had written, but I still have half-a-dozen or so chapter choices that you rejected. I would like to get some of those onto the record, because some of them contain plot evolutions that I think are pretty important, so I'll put those up. |
| I said yesterday I'd have something today to say about July/August plans. Well, that update will have to wait until tomorrow. For now, here's something from the "Weird Things That Happen to Your Brain While Trying to Write" Department: For reasons that have nothing to do with the just-opening Spider-Man film, I today fell into watching a handful of episodes from the now-running Disney XD Spider-Man animated show. And then when I tried to write a BoM chapter for tomorrow* I kept seeing and hearing the BoM characters as animated characters in the Spider-Man style. It was incredibly distracting, and as I tend to hear and see all the scenes I write, it made me second-guess every single thing I was writing. * But wait, you thought I wasn't going to do any BoM work in July. Well, I feel like I owe it to the commissioner, and I want to get it written anyway, as it was part of June's plan. Also, if I have time when I can polish off a BoM thing without interfering with my main plan for the month, I'll do it. |
| Okay, for various reasons I'm 12 hours posting today's chapter. But it's up now. Meanwhile: I don't know how I managed it, but for the last week I was getting the date wrong when updating the Homepage with links to new chapters. And no one called me on it? That's too bad, because that date screw-up is going to have some real-world consequences around here. That's because for the last week or so I've been internalizing the date I've been posting, which means that June ended for me a day earlier than I was expecting it to. And that's a problem because all month long I've been really bad at writing BoM chapters, and mostly I've been writing one chapter a day, or writing two chapters every other day, and for the last week I've been publishing chapters the day after I wrote them instead of drawing on a backlog. I've been meaning to stop BoM work at the end of June, and with no backlog that meant my supply of new chapters was set to run out when the month did. So when the month ended a day earlier than I was looking for, I was one chapter short of where I meant to stop. Oops. So am I going to write that chapter? Well, sure, eventually yes. But even if I write it sooner rather than later (as in, sometime in July instead of September) it won't be coming tomorrow. What will come be coming tomorrow? Ruminations on what to look for in July and August. |
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