Kai Wai Cheah's and Thomas Plutarch's Hollow City

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Marvel's X Men: Magneto: Testament Review and Some Commentary

(This review and commentary will contain spoilers.)

I have a history degree. I am not often fond of the teachers out there (and they know who they are) who use fiction to teach it. As someone who was once forced to read a thirty page scholarly paper on what was wrong with The Last Samurai, I can assure you I'm not one of the most rabid in that conviction however. And, as someone who learned to love history by watching John Wayne movies and other World War Two flicks, I can assure you that there is some value in encouraging youngsters to watch fictionalized account of history even if I believe they should be kept out of the classroom.

Enter X-Men: Magneto: Testament. I found my first copy of the work in the gift shop of my local Holocaust Museum. I had heard about it, so I picked up a copy. Given the fact that I was at that Holocaust Museum researching a paper that I wrote about the involvement of the Heer (that's the German Army. The Wehrmacht was the German military as a whole) and just happened to stop into the gift shop on my way out almost definitely means that I should be consigned to the academic version of Hell. Fortunately for me, the place would be filled with comic books and fictionalized accounts and I would enjoy myself thoroughly. I mean, I never said I was a GOOD academic..

But anyway..

For all of its faults, X-Men: Magneto: Testament is a superb comic. This is not your typical fare though. Testament is not a World War II Era Captain America comic. There is no superhero coming out of the woodwork to massacre these Nazis the way they deserve. Testament is not some triumphalist narrative about beating the Fuhrer and his goons into submission with the power of one man's fists. In some ways, I wish that it were. I wish that it could be.

No, Marvel made their story much closer to the truth. The truth is that it sucked to be a Jew in Nazi Germany. The truth is that millions were murdered. The truth is that millions of people were mistreated not because they had done anything, but simply for existing. They were accused of living lives of wealth and privilege and annihilated. All of societies problems were blamed on Jews and they were slaughtered like cattle as soon as a chance arose.

Testament portrays that very well. It also portrays the patriarch of the family urging his family to go along to get along. To not resist so as to not invite a beating. What must have seemed reasonable at the time soon turned sour. Things get ugly quickly. But that's what happens when you appease an abuser. They may come for you last, but it's going to happen eventually, even if you acted as an ally.

The story is about one Max Eisenhardt, later known as Magneto. In the beginning he is a young boy with a desire to be like all the men in his family. He is learning, at the age of nine, to make jewelry. Soon, he is in school and excelling; both academically and athletically. He is tormented because of this and held to a higher standard because of his ethnic background. Eventually, he gets put into a camp.

Both before and during his imprisonment he continues to make decisions based on his fear of punishment. He won't retaliate for the treatment of his people because he is afraid of what the Nazis might do to him and to his brethren. What had started out as matter of words, of people complaining about the wealth and privilege of others, ends in the massacre of millions.

The ironic part being that even in his captivity, while hating every minute of it, he aids his Nazi captors. Magneto serves as a member of the Sonderkommando, (Special Command in English). They were the people who burned the bodies of the Jews, and others, who had been murdered.

Listen, I love comics. I have since I used to save up my allowance and ride my bike two miles to the Antique Paper Shop to buy back issues. I've used a lot of adjectives to describe my favorite comics: Entertaining, gorgeous, engaging, interesting, the list goes on and on. With the possible exception of gorgeous (and that because the art reflects the horror surrounding the main character. It is actually very well done) they all apply here. The one adjective I'm going to use that I never have before is powerful.

Testament is exactly what it claims to be.  It is a testament to what happened to the Jews under the Nazis. Yes, there are some historical inaccuracies to be sure (no one EVER survived two years as a member of a Sonderkommando for instance.) but the gist of the story is correct. Testament doesn't have the importance that something like The Diary of Anne Frank would have because it's not a first person account, but it may still be the most important comic ever published. Maus (which I just bought a used copy of but haven't read yet) is  probably up there, and there was an issue of Spiderman (help me out if you know which one) was the first one to ever deal with drug abuse,  (and no, comparing drug abuse to the Holocaust is not belittling the importance of either. They've both killed millions) but Testament deals with the Shoah (as the Jewish people call the Holocaust) in a way that nothing else ever has. Entertainment is not a good way to study the hard facts of a subject, but it attracts attention that no scholarly work ever will. Both are important.

Which leads me to two problems I have with Marvel right now. I'll deal with the less controversial one first.

Physical copies of X-Men: Magneto: Testament are currently out of print. I get that this isn't the newest and latest comic. It came out a decade ago. There are newer comics to promote and Testament doesn't really fit into the way that Marvel is re-releasing a lot of its older works. I got an e-book version on Amazon lately, so it's still available that way but it's mainly going to sell to people that go looking for it that way. A copy of Testament should be available in any Holocaust Museum/Memorial that attracts enough English speaking individuals for it to sell. That goes the same for speakers/locations appropriate to any languages Testament may have been translated into. I mean that. That's how I found out it existed. If I were Marvel, I'd do a run and market it specifically along those lines, as well as to any Local Comic Shop that wanted copies to sell. Why? Because it's a way for Grandma and Grandpa to get their teenage grandchild(ren) who don't read history to learn about the Holocaust. We can't let this be forgotten because if we do we're asking for it to happen again.

As for my second point:

Uhh... Marvel?

WHY IN THE EVERLOVING, UNDYING, INDECIPHERABLE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE MAGNETO A MEMBER OF HYDRA?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Guys....

Really?

A FREAKING HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AS A MEMBER OF A NEO-NAZI ORGANIZATION??

REALLY?

This is a bad idea. I mean, I get your point. You need a white dude to turn into a Nazi. It didn't work with Captain America so you thought you'd switch things over to another white guy in the form of Magneto. I get it. Here's what you're missing:

Not every Straight White Male is a Nazi. Nope. Not even a significant percentage of them. I mean, I get what the Social Justice Bullies demand but that doesn't mean you have to give in to them. You're losing a lot of respect from me here. This is unnecessary. It is sick. It is twisted. It is wrong. YOU ARE BLAMING THE VICTIM.

Seriously Marvel. I'm begging you. Don't do this. Not to your fans. Not to the general public. And damn sure not to the victims of the Holocaust. You're implying that they did it to themselves here. This is a step too far.

Bottom Line for X-Men: Magneto: Testament: 5.0 out of 5 Stars

X-Men: Magneto: Testament
Greg Pak, Carmine Di Giandomencio, Marko Djurdjevic
Marvel, 2009


The comics for  X-Men: Magneto: Testament are available for purchase at the link below:

The Episode 9 Teaser is Here!

Listen, I know some of you didn't like The Last Jedi. I disagree. I thought it was excellent. I'm guessing that a lot of what went into TLJ was to set up the last movie. This is it.

I'm geeked to say the least. Did you hear what came at the end of the trailer? DID YOU HEAR PALPATINE LAUGH?

Hell yes, it's time for that. It's time to bring this thing full circle. All of you out there whining about how Palpatine's reappearance lessens Vader's sacrifice at the end of Return of the Jedi can pucker up and blow.

So yes, it appears that they may finally be depicting Rey as the badass she was always meant to be. I want to see her chop that TIE fighter in half, or maybe go through the cockpit and put her lightsaber into the pilot. What could be better?

I hate the fact that I have to wait for Christmas to see this.

OH, and by the way...

Disney as announced that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the end of the Skywalker saga. In some ways, that makes me sad. In others it makes me happy.

Listen, I was late to the party. I didn't go see Episode IV in the theater because I was still in diapers when it came out. I couldn't even walk yet. I wasn't much older when The Empire Strike Back hit. So, as a result of an accident of birth, I didn't get to see a Star Wars flick until Return of the Jedi. As a result, I've ONLY been watching Skywalkers dance across my screen since 1983. I'm a virtual n00b.

The fact remains that I've known this family for thirty-six years. We've hung out together in movie theaters, living rooms and bookstores for that whole time. I love these guys and I always will. I am, in short, a fanboi. Knowing that the line is ending and I won't be able to follow them into the future makes me sad.

That much having been said, I'm also kind of excited. I loved The Force Awakens, but I'll be the first to admit that it didn't really need to end with the destruction of another F(*&()&()()&*()*()ING Death Star. I loved The Last Jedi but the attempts to remake the Battle of Hoth weren't my favorite thing either.

Look, it's like this: The classics are the classics. They came about in my childhood and they'll always be a part of who I am. I love them. I don't, however, see a need to redo them. A new story with new heroes and new villains requires a new plot. The benefit of ending the Skywalker saga is that we can stop redoing the same old things and start a different story in the same universe.

I mean, I agree with many of my friends who state that Star Wars is, and should remain, more than just a propaganda tool for the social justice left. I'm not proposing taking things down that route. I'm just saying that it's a big galaxy and there are more people in it.

So let's get HYPE!!!! It's time to do what has never been done. It's time to show us all what might come next in the official canon. It's time! It's time! It's Star Wars TIME!!

Some Star Wars related objects are available for sale at the links below:

David Weber's Through Fiery Trials

This is the series that never ends...
Yes, it goes on and on my friends
Some people started reading it not knowing what it was
And they'll continue reading it forever just because
This is the series that never ends...

All smart-aleck remarks aside, I'm really glad this series didn't end because the end of the last book, At the Sign of Triumph, it really looked like it could. I mean, there was obviously a lot of work to do and another war (or more) to fight, but it's not like the illustrious Mad Wizard Weber

*rises from his chair and places his hand over his hearth*

Whom I loves and respects.

*Sits back down*

Hasn't left us all dangling with a lot more story left to tell after the initial Big Bad gets theirs. (I won't say Prince Roger if you don't.)  Fortunately though, there was an afterward that said the story wasn't over. It turns out it really wasn't.

I was kind of surprised with this one. Anyone who has read much Weber at all (and I definitely include myself in that group) is used to massive amounts of combat. Weber's best known series is, after all, the Honor Harrington novels which take place over a series of wars and star a naval officer who has a well-earned reputation for always being at the center of the battle. The crazy thing about Through Fiery Trials is that it's not combat heavy.

The other key component to Weber's writing has always been political maneuvering and there is a lot of that here. The planet of Safehold (and this is the tenth book in the Safehold series) has just come through a long period of religious war and a schism in the church that the entire population had been part of. Things are getting better for the most part, but if Cayleb and Sharleyan, the leaders of the winning side in the war, want to see what they fought for come to fruition it's going to take some work after the fighting stops.

That's the main thrust of Through Fiery Trials. It's not all just Cayleb and Sharleyan. This is the first Safehold novel to not feature a Dramatis Personae and I'm wondering if that's strictly because of space considerations, because the cast hasn't gotten any smaller. The thing is that the huge cast and the enormous world is what makes Weber's work really function.

Safehold is a living breathing world. Through Fiery Trials bounces across the globe keeping up with everything that is happening. It's apparent that Weber has spend a long time and a ton of effort producing this book and indeed the entire series. Each chapter begins with a header telling us where we are. Then we find out what characters we're there with. It takes a bit of getting used to if you haven't read something this epic but once you do, it's awesome. I love Harry Turtledoves work for much the same reason. No epic story, especially a war or the recovery afterward, can be well covered by only one character and their point of view. There are forces at work that are incomprehensible even to the people that are trying to control them and the Law of Unintended Consequences fully applies. Only by showing thirty two gagillion points of view can one attempt to make a balanced view of a massive war. Weber does that like a champion.

Now, it does have to be mentioned that this is the tenth book in a series that doesn't show any sign of ending anywhere in the foreseeable (at least to me) future. I really do recommend starting with the first book and working your way through because it's easy to miss things when you HAVE read all the books and you DO know what's going on. Coming in mid-stream is going to be rough and the earlier books are each worth your time in their own right. Seriously, start this thing where it starts because there is too much to try and backfill on your own.

There were a couple of moments in Through Fiery Trials that had my heart pounding. Weber seems to like toying with his audiences emotions. Now, that's a good thing in a writer but few are this good at it. Of course, part of the problem is that I try to predict what's going to happen next and in a few cases things I could tell that things were about to go horribly awry but I wasn't sure what or how. Actually, in at least two case I WAS sure how, but I was wrong. But still, this is not a book for the weak at heart. It put me through the ringer. Oh shit moments abound so be ready for them.

My one complaint about Through Fiery Trials is the same complaint I've had about every Safehold novel and will continue to have in the future: The names in the book suck. I'm being dead serious when I say that. One of my biggest pet peeves in all of literature is when authors change things and mess with language just to say they did it. Mr. Weber decided that due to a millenium plus of linguistic drift he'd make all of the names look weird and it works. They certainly do look weird. It can be kind of a pain though. I've known how to read for over thirty-five years now and having to sound out the name of a character in a book can be a bit annoying. It doesn't kill the story for me. If it didn't I wouldn't still be here ten books in. The fact remains that the stories would be better without it.

All in all though, Through Fiery Trials was awesome. I can't wait for the next one and Weber has set it up nicely. I know Weber uses history as source material and I'm wondering if one particular group of people is going to do what I think they're going to do based on history. I hope not, because if so the bloodletting is going to be massive. Then again, they're not real people and wars are what Weber does best. I guess I'll find out eventually. Sooner would be better.

Bottom Line: 4.5 out of 5 Riot Batons

Through Fiery Trials
David Weber
Tor, 2018

Through Fiery Trials is available for purchase at the following link:

A Night With Jeremy McCarter

(Author's Note: This post is dedicated to my daughter Riley.)

First off, a word about my daughter Riley. (That's her in the middle.) Other people have teenage kids who run all over town causing problems and giving their parents no end of heartache. I have a teenage kid who asks her dad to take her to meet an author. I'll take my kid over one of those kids any day and twice on Sunday. I'm pretty proud to have a daughter who acts right and knows respect. It helps that I like Hamilton too, but I'd be proud anyway.

Oh, did I mention Hamilton? Listen, I know that like elebenty bajillion of you probably already know all about the musical (and don't call it a play in Riley's presence, especially if I'm standing next to you.) but for those of you that don't, it's a play about Alexander Hamilton (yes, the ten dollar bill guy) with a soundtrack dominated by hip hop tracks. I haven't had a chance to actually see the show, but the soundtrack is amazeballs.

Anyway, Jeremy McCarter is the guy in the picture and he literally wrote the book about Hamilton.

*SIGH*

Who died and made you an English teacher? Yes, I mean literally literally. Look at this thing:

Do you see his name listed on the cover? Do you know why? It's BECAUSE HE WROTE THE DAMN BOOK!!!

Yes, I have been interrupted in the past by people telling me I was using the word "literally" when I meant "figuratively" why do you ask?

Come to think of it, why did they ask? Was it their business?

Anyway..

It was a great time. If you get a chance to hear Jeremy speak, go. Seriously. He's smart. He's funny. I think I'm supposed to say "He's gracious" when what I mean is "He's really cool" but he's both so I guess you can take your pick of the two and assume that's what you read. I'm good either way.

Jeremy has a ton of funny stories about the making of Hamilton and he's met all of the original cast, so he's got a lot to talk about. He also had a hand in the making of the musical itself, although he served more as a person who encouraged Lin Manuel Miranda than as a true creator, but it was still fun to hear about.

Seriously, I'm really sad that I'll never get to her Lin singing Helpless. I bet that was a hoot. I mean, it was part of the demo of the music, so it'll never get released but imagine if it did. How awesome would that be?

Anyway, I got to interact with Jeremy just a bit because there was a question and answer session at the end of the presentation and also because he signed my book. See?

I don't think he believed me when I told him I'd been a fan of hip hop since the early 80s, but whatever. I get told that I look younger than I am all the time. (Seriously. I'm Fogey-Two and everybody tells me I look like I was in my twenties. I really did rock out to Run DMC's Raising Hell and had to save my allowance for over a month to get He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, back when they still called him The Fresh Prince.)

I thanked Riley after the program for asking me to take her. It was a good time and something I would have missed if she hadn't told me about it. Oh, and I didn't thank anyone from the Troy (MI) Public Library for scheduling it, or the Troy Community Center for hosting it, but I will so here:

THANKS GUYS!!

Oh and thank you to the Friends of the Troy Library for raising the funds to make it possible. Feel free to visit their Donation Page. Maybe leave a little something while you're there. They can use the help and they've earned it.

Oh, if it seems a bit weird that I dropped a donation page for a group I don't even belong to in the first place just realized that there was no admission charged for this event and I'm sure getting Jeremy in from his home in Chicago was not free. I'm just trying to help them make some of it back.

And of course, thanks to Jeremy McCarter for coming out and giving the talk in the first place.

For my part, I'm just happy that I got to do something like this with my daughter.

She was talking to her friend Malia at dinner (of course we had to eat something before we went) and they were all excited about going. Something about "We've been talking about doing Hamilton stuff for months." I think I may have fudged the quote a little bit actually. As a divorced dad I don't get to see my kids anywhere near as often as I'd like and stuff like this is really cool because I get to share a moment.

I will say this much though:

If this kid tries to keep me from listening to Guns and Ships in my car one more time, she's grounded. I have no idea how I'd make that stick since I don't live with her but I grew up on Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony and I like the fast rapping. Darn it kid!

As for the book itself, I haven't read it yet. I picked up a copy from the talk last night (several copies were brought in for sale by the local Barnes and Noble)  and I will say that the pictures of the original cast inside are incredibly awesome. I guess I should have expected that from a production of this magnitude, but I found myself surprised. The last time I saw a book this gorgeous was back when I got a trade paperback about the Annie movie back in the 80s. Really. The work that went into designing these pages really paid off.

Bottom Line:

For the Troy Public Library: 5.0 out of 5 Stars
For the Friends of the Troy Public Library: 5.0 out of 5 Stars
For the Troy Community Center: 5.0 out of 5 Stars
For Jeremy McCarter: 5.0 out of 5 Stars
and
For my daughter Riley: 4.75 out of 5 Stars
(Next time, I bet she lets me play Guns and Ships!)

Hamilton: The Revolution is available for purchase at the following link:

It's Coming. It's Almost Here. I'm Geeked.

Below is a list of excuse for a geeky/nerdy person to have not seen Stranger Things as of Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 10:45 AM EDT:

a.) I died the day before it came out.
b.) The dog ate my Netflix.
c.) I ran out of gas on the way.
d.) I blew a tire.
e.) I'm giving up my nerd card and becoming a mundane.


Seriously. If you haven't seen the first two seasons, hie thee off to Netflix and come back when you're one of the cool kids. I'll wait.


...

...

...

...

...

OK, back now? Awesome. You're obviously as excited as I am about this series. Wanna see something cool? Here's the trailer for Season 3:


Looks pretty cool, huh? I mean, it's SOOOO 80s it's ridiculous. I'm so ready to spaz out over the tubular shot of the mall! And that new monster? Gag me with a spoon!

Right?

Listen, there are those of us out there who lived and grew up in and around the times portrayed in Stranger Things. I was there. I hung out at the mall. I played Dungeons and Dragons and I loved it.

Hell, I want to find a new D+D group. If you're near the Detroit Area and like to play, hit me up!

AHEM

As I was saying...

It doesn't get much better than Stranger Things. Really the only bad part about it is that it's a Netflix show and the whole season hits on the same day. I think I might have to cancel life for a few days afterward. Who has time to work, play, see the kids when there's a new season of Stranger Things to watch?

Although, come to think of it, my oldest likes Stranger Things so maybe I can geek out with her over a bag of popcorn.

Anyway...

I'm geeked. It comes out on July 4 and it sounds like I just found a great way to celebrate American independence, because what could be better than partying with crass commercialistic capitalism and the death (I'm guessing) of a bad guy?

I'm in! I'm sooo in! I'll see you at the land of Flix on the Net!

Some Stranger Things items are available for purchase at the links below:

NOMINATE, NOMINATE, NOMINATE... LATER!!!!!

Friends, Romans, Country-men, lend me your ears...

Or sumfin'. I mean, it's a cool saying and why should I have to do all of the work around here?

I mean, I write about five thousand words a month on this blog. That's almost as much as a lot of indy authors write in a day. I'm clearly overworked and have no sense of irony.

Or sumfin'.

Look, I love all of you out there in cyberspace and I love the geeky people more than most but help me out here...

Listen, I understand that, once again, the Dragon Awards nominations ballots are available. I get that it's the only award truly given by the fans. (No, the Hugo Awards are not fan awards. They're given by a cabal of professionals and have intentionally run the fans out of the nominating process). I fully support what they're doing and love the fact that theirs is truly a trophy given to someone out of the love of the people who support the product. I even get the fact that they urge you to nominate early. I'm just asking you to wait.

I see you working. Yes you, out there in some other part of reality with the red face and smoke coming out of your ears.

Or sumfin'

You're trying to conflate this with an attempt to tell people to not nominate at all, but that's just not what it is.

You're trying to say that I'm denigrating the nomination process. I'm not and in fact I will release my list of nominations later this year.

I'm just using my towering perch to reach the masses of humanity..

Or sumfin'

 Look, I've received two emails recently thanking me for "all you do for the genre" and now I'm starting to suffer delusions of mediocrity. Any more of this and I'll start believing that this blog actually matters. I don't know if I can stand the ego boost that would give me. If I start thinking that I'm good at something life gets weird.

... To point out a simple fact:

Works first released between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 are eligible for this year's award. Seriously. I totes stole that wording right off of the ballot. Yup, I'm a bad boy alright. I mean, that ballot could have been copyrighted. I'm a rebel!

Or sumfin'

What that also means is that any works published between now and June 30 will not be eligible for next year's award because eligibility for the 2020 Dragon Awards will start with works published on July 1, 2019.  So, if an award worthy work comes out between when you nominate and the end of the eligibility period, you don't get to nominate it. If enough of this happens, we could end up leaving out some people whose only crime was waiting until their product was ready to release it. That sucks.

Or sumfin'

Look, I'm not telling you who to nominate. I'm not telling you to avoid nominating something that has already been published. I'm just urging you to think about this:

Today's date is March 16. The end of the eligibility period is June 30.  That's three months and fourteen days away. That means that over twenty-five percent of the eligibility period is still left. That's a quarter of all the books, games, shows and movies that aren't even released to the public yet. None of us (unless you're an ARC recipient, of course) have seen them. You can't know how good something is, and thus whether it deserves an award if you haven't laid eyes up on it.

I mean, if you've got your mind made up in some categories, that's good. I know I'll be voting the most recent WoW expansion (Battle for Azeroth) for Best Video Game. I know I'll be voting Hell Spawn for Best Horror Novel, etc.

I'm just saying to give some time to people who are still hard at work on what they're doing. They deserve it and I, for one don't want to see someone rushing out product that's not ready just so that they can get it done before nominations start. We're all better off when creators take their time to get things right. No one likes their SF/F to suck. Especially me.

Or sumfin'

Now don't get me wrong.  I understand that a lot of creators and/or publishers have published lists early. That makes sense. There are people out there, The World's Most Awesome GF(TM) included, who buy everything on a nomination list and read/watch it before voting. There are others who may not buy everything but might not ever have heard of a particular creator before they get nominated. The Dragon Awards are not just an award, they're free marketing and they attract the attention of the target market for a lot of this stuff. It makes sense to try to get onto the ballot. And guys, I approve.

Publishing, whether it's books, movies/TV or games is a for-profit business. Publishers employ people who use the money to care for their families. Creators skip the middleman and use the money they make off of their work to feed their families directly. This is a good thing. We all need food in our bellies and a roof over our head and if getting their work nominated makes it easier to do that work...

Hell, I'd do it too. Seriously.

Or sumfin'.

And there might just be an ulterior motive behind my belief that the Dragon Awards should do an award for Best Fan Site. Maybe that makes me a bad guy, but at least I'm an honest bad guy.

Here's the thing though: The marketing is the marketing. One nomination is one nomination. Think about this, too: The list isn't released until after the end of the nomination period. So, even if you are helping people to promote their product and feed their families, you're not doing a better job of it by nominating earlier. It's a wash either way.  And one that doesn't even have a harpoon sticking out of it's stomach.

Or sumfin'

 So yes, send your nominations soaring into the Dragon Awards like a leaf on the wind...

But do it three months from now and not today. Because later works deserve consideration too.

Or sumfin'

And no, I'm not including a link to the ballot now. I'll do that when I post my picks in three months time. Because I practice what I preach and I'm not locking anyone out.


Some works that have been nominated for Dragon Awards past are listed below: