To Infinity and... something...

This past week Disney released it new DISNEY INFINITY game on multiple gaming platforms.  Game Informer is saying this is going to be one of the top 5 games this year.  Lots of hype, but the game itself is pretty remarkable.  Characters from Disney and Pixar movies that everyone loves coming together for us to play with and giving us the ability if create worlds to run these characters around in.

Its not surprising that Marvel, being owned by Disney, would put out a tie-in comic to really get as many people as they could on board.  The first issue of INFINITY came out last week, and Jonathan Hickman has guided his AVENGERS series to this event, much like the nice folks over at Gamestop have been collecting thos pre-orders.  The cross marketing has been subtle, and fortunately Hickman has been very careful not to overplay things.

Both the comic and the game deal with multiversal concepts.  The game does branch out a bit more as it allows players to explore multiple Earths wereas the comic just sticks to the Marvel U that we know.  There has been a lot in NEW AVENGERS dealing with "incursions" which stem from a chain reaction caused by on universe in the multiverse being destroyed and the other universes reacting to that void.  Has of yet I have found no such destruction of a Universe in the video game, although to be fair I haven't played through the MONSTERS UNIVERSITY segment of the game, nor purchased the CARS and  THE LONE RANGER expansions.

The big feature in the video game is "The Toy Box" which lets you create, customize and populate your own world with various things you earn in the adventure protions of the game.  You have ability to alter and erase elements as well.  Hickman cleverly inserts this element into the comic with the Builder characters.  These are essentually gamers on a cosmic level whom really enjoy Sim City and Civilization type games in which they guild and nudge species towards goals.  They also seem to like a bit of Pokémon as they'll work to evolve species as well.

These builders have gone a bit nutters and are wiping out worlds.  They go after the Space Knights and the Kree in the comics.  This is a clear cut message to old school ROM fans, there's a new age upon us and they have not qualms about breaking out the magic wand from the game tools and deleting whatever they don't like.  However, it must be noted that these Builders are not the good guys.  In fact Captain America is leading the Avengers into space to help confront them.  This echos something unwritten in the game but the message is clear throughout much of the gameplay: "Its better to create and nurture an idea than to just wipe it away."

So my compliments to Disney and Marvel for such a great game launch and tie-in event comic.  Many people were worried that Disney would lean on marvel a bit after the acquisition to put out book that push the Disney brand, but I'm happy to report that even though Marvel is paying its due to its parent company, its doing so in a very entertaining fashion.

Disney Bought Marvel: THE TOP 10!

That's right kids, Marvel was bought by Disney, and the internet has been all a-flutter! Many are worried that there's going to be major changes to the comics they love and they're absolutely right. This is an funny book Armageddon! The rock is falling! We all gonna DIE! So in the spirit of impending DOOM, it's that time again:

THE TOP 10 THINGS WE CAN LOOK FORWARD TO NOW THAT DISNEY HAS PURCHASED MARVEL!

10: Deffiant McDouchbag declares victory, immediately targets Disney for his next conquest.

9: Lila Cheney and Dazzler are the new opening acts for Hannah Montana.

8: Doctor Strange to be challenged for his title of Sorcerer Supreme by a mouse in a hat.

7: Namor's new sidekick: Ariel.

6: Iron Fist and Shang-Chi will be among the next roster of Power Rangers.

5: Brian Michael Bendis's new job title: Imagineer.

4: Lady Sif is now Princess Sif.

3: Uncle Ben was killed by hunters.

2: Stark Industries is bought out by Scrooge McDuck, meaning GizmoDuck will be getting one hell of an upgrade.

And the number one thing you can look forward to now that Disney has bought Marvel:

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters Musical!

The Bambi Gambit

Saw the preview for the movie THE BATTLE FOR TERRA the other day. I'm skipping this one. For those who haven't seen the preview, the premise of the movie is there's a planet called Terra with these cute peaceful inhabitants which are invaded by aliens wanting to take it as a new place to live. The alien invaders are the human race who have no doubt destroyed Earth with that pesky global warming. I've had about enough of pop culture telling me humanity sucks.

Somewhere it came to be OK and even slightly hip to make fun of the species. The most glaring is of course Disney's BAMBI. Therefore we have the "Bambi Gambit" in which the storyteller takes an animal, gives it a voice and makes it noble, then has something horrible happen to it to demonstrate the eeeeeeevils of humanity.

And it works too. It doesn't matter that hunters are among the top tier of the conservation effort. It does not matter that largely due to hunters the deer population is greater than it was when they were being hunted exclusively by bow and arrow. It does not matter that the hunters controlling the deer population keeps them from eating their entire food supply and then slowly starving to death or running out in front of cars on a much greater basis. What does matter to the slack-jawed, uninformed, PETA supporting, would-be do-gooder once they discover someone is a hunter is "OMG, YOU KILLED BAMBI!" You you idiots, they killed Bambi's mother and I'm sure she was quite tasty.

A much more recent example is Brian K. Vaughn's PRIDE OF BAGHDAD, which is a work centering around the Iraq War. A group of lions escaped from the Baghdad Zoo once the invasion began. I remember briefly skimming this in the news reports. Well, Vaughn took that incident and applied the above formula. The lions were given personalities and challenges to overcome once they escaped. At the end they finally got to see the horizon which hadn't seen since since they were so horribly imprisoned in the zoo with it's proper care and regular meals, only to be shot by American soldiers. Those poor lions were just sitting there being noble and watching the sunset when they were killed because we need to know that war is horrible and wrong. This is complete bullshit. Does anyone actually think for one second that those lions, which need I remind anyone are wild animals and can easily kill a person, were just sitting there watching the sunset despite being quite hungry? Hey, it sucks that it happened, but as an anti-war argument it utterly fails at being rational.

I see it also here and there in the Pixar movies as well. FINDING NEMO is all about the bad old humans kidnapping a poor little fish. The sharks dismissively blame Americans with the necessary rolling of their shark eyes. At least RATTATOUI was a bit nicer to humans but still found the time to make fun of American food in favor of the obviously superior French food. The French eat snails and on occasion horses. I'll pass, thanks. Then there's good old WALL-E where us humans had trashed the planet and were living in a space ship. People had become so incredibly lazy they were like giant consuming babies. Fortunately, they had a little robot with moxie to show them the way. Just freakin' spare me.

If I want to know how crappy people can be, I'll watch the news. I'll watch the morons who keep being so obnoxious with their "green" movement it makes me want to little. I'll look around me at the people screwing things up for everyone and I'll try to teach the next generation how to do things right.

So, I won't be watching BATTLE FOR TERRA. I'll probably toss INDEPENDENCE DAY into the DVD player instead. Because humanity is worth fighting for and not against.