Kyle Kyra (they/them) writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They live in a sleepy Nebraska town. Yes, corn lives outside their back door. They hold a BFA in creative writing from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and their work has appeared in Menacing Hedge, Spank the Carp, Danse Macabre, The Door is a Jar, The Collidescope, and other journals and anthologies.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. Today, our writers share what they’ve been playing over the past month. Feel free to share what you’ve been playing, because we’re all part of the Geekly Gang. I’ll get this post kicked off with what I’ve been playing over the past month.
Kyra’s Board Games
Nuke-Con was last month, so several of my board games will be ones I played at that convention. If you’re ever in the Omaha area in early October, stop on by. I attend Nuke-Con most years. Valencia is a reworking of Stefan Feld’s Strasborg. Like Kokopelli (which I love), Valencia is one of those rare Feld games that take little time to play but packs plenty of game (strategy) into its short runtime. Seriously, we played Valencia with a full compliment of players (5) and finished in less than an hour. Add another twenty minutes or so for the teach. Valencia may also be the auction game for players who don’t care for auction games. It uses the mechanism in an odd way.
Each player has identical decks of cards (numbered 1-6) for their bids. Before the auction phase (of which there will be around ten; I’m a little fuzzy on the details), players draw as many cards as they want from their deck, keeping in mind that once you draw a bid card, you cannot use it in a future auction phase. Secretly, players group their bid cards into separate stacks. You could put all of your cards into a single, massive bid, but you’ll only be able to participate in as many auctions as you have bid piles. These bids are placed facedown, so you can bluff your way to victory. Once you get going, Valencia takes no time at all to play. The teacher for my playthrough (the incomparable Ann Journey) suggested drawing between four and six bid cards each round, so you end up with plenty of bid cards for the final auction. I may have to track down a copy of Valencia. It’s so good.
Ann Journey runs a Feld Friday marathon every Nuke-Con, so another of Feld’s City Collection makes this list: Chichén Itzá. Honestly, I didn’t play this one so much as watched it being played, helping out with round upkeep and things of that nature, but Chichén Itzá looks amazing. The production value is through the roof. I love the vibrant acrylic standees. I used to swear by miniatures in games (as a means to upgrade a game), but you have to paint the minis to make them look amazing. Chichén Itzá‘s standees look amazing right out of the box. No painting required. Chichén Itzá‘s gameplay is just as amazing. It’s a Feld game with combat. Feld is known as a point salad style game designer. Do a combination of things to gain the most points and win the game. Most of Feld’s games lean toward abstract. Chichén Itzá has plenty of theme. Yes! I added Chichén Itzá to my Christmas list.
The Lamont Brothers are known for taking one audacious gaming set piece to center a game around. A Game of Gnomes features a massive mountain that you can hang on your wall and show off your little gnome game pieces that look vaguely like Hummels. I can tell you right now, Season will want A Game of Gnomes. Too bad it’s out of print. Eek! At its core, A Game of Gnomes is a pick-up and deliver game. Players gather mushrooms from one space and deliver them to another, gaining crystals (points) for doing so. A Game of Gnomes uses a variant of Tokaido’s time management system. Only this time, you’re going through seasons. Seasons as in the time of year, and not the Geekly writer Season. The game’s use of time leads to variable lengths of each season. Everdell would use a similar system years later. Does A Game of Gnomes need a massive mountain you can hang on your wall? No, but also yes. It totally does. This game is adorable.
Kyra’s Video Game
I didn’t include Die in the Dungeon in last month’s Whatcha Playing, but it’s another roguelike video game, compatible with board gaming. I know. I know. Slay the Spire began as a video game and then got reimplemented as a tabletop game. Die in the Dungeon has followed that same path. Honestly, while I like the Slay the Spire as a board game, it’s better as a video game, especially with the recent sequel that adds the one thing the board game offered: coop multiplayer. But I think I’d prefer Die in the Dungeon as a board game. The concept of rolling a pool of dice and placing them on a player board appeals to me more than building a deck. Die in the Dungeon shares plenty of similarities with Slay the Spire. It’s essentially Slay the Spire but with dice. Despite its similarities with Slay the Spire, Die in the Dungeon remains a great play.
Those are all the board games and video games I’ve played this past month. Let’s see what Season and Skye have been playing.
Season’s Board Game
I love spooky stuff year-round, but Halloween is definitely the time of year I like to go nuts. Spooktacular is set in a movie theater where movie monsters come to life and eat guests. Oh, no! You don’t have to worry about getting eaten. You’re the monsters. 😛
I played Doombox and Chortlin Charles in two different games. Chortlin Charles can spook (move to a different space) other monsters. I suppose even the spookiest of us are afraid of clowns. Doombox has five different tracks (one for each color of guest) that triggers different effects based on which guest Doombox eats. Doombox also has a soundtrack on YouTube.
Season’s Video Game
A friend of mine asked me to download Torn a month ago. I downloaded it, but didn’t start playing until last week. The mobile version looks a bit like an image board, so it’s easy to fool people into thinking you’re scrolling social media. Torn is a large city with multiple factions (similar to guilds or gangs) that commit crimes and go to war with each other. You’re trying to gain reputation by doing crime and attacking other players. There are many ways to play Torn, but none of them are clean.
I’ve already joined a faction, committed several small crimes, and gotten hospitalized from losing fights. One person I lost to took pity on me and sent me morphine (reduces your time in the hospital) to get me out. My faction is going to war this weekend. Wish us luck!
If you’re interested in Torn, Kyra covered it earlier this year in “Another 5 Video Games to Secretly Play at Work.”
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here again. Those are all the games our writers have been playing this past month. What’ve you been playing? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another underrated/underused villains list. Today’s topic is Superman’s rogues. When will I learn? I set out for a list like this, research it quite a bit, and find that I have three or even four lists in one. So, this will be the first of a series of Superman Villains Lists. We’ll save the underused in the film and TV villains for a future list. Superman has way too many of these, and the big names (like Brainiac and Bizarro) would dominate the list. Instead, let’s discuss some underrated/underused, emphasis on the underused, Superman villains from the comics. That should generate some odd names. So, this is a list of five underrated/underused Superman Comic Book Villains.
5: The Prankster
The Prankster debuted in Action Comics #51 in 1942, making him one of Superman’s first villains. Fresh from the success of The Joker, DC Comics wanted another clownish villain for Superman. Jerry Siegel created The Prankster. Chasing this trend didn’t really work out for The Prankster. Sure. He had plenty of run in comic book’s golden age, saw a handful of appearances in the silver age, and has even had a few other iterations. But The Prankster never really took off, and DC Comics stopped trying to make this third-rate Joker work in 2011 (during the New 52). The Prankster needs to be something other than a Joker clone.
Oddly enough, The New 52 version of The Prankster might’ve been on to something. This version of The Prankster uses pranks or punks to disrupt the flow of government in the name of political activism. During one storyline, The Prankster disabled a vital subway line because the mayor of Chicago was corrupt. Technically, The Prankster qualified as an evil-doer, but Superman struggled with the moral ambiguity of this version of the character. It might be time for The Prankster’s glow up.
4: Faora
Faora may be the most recognizable face on this list. Typically, she’s General Zod’s right-hand woman. Be honest. Most of you didn’t know the name of the woman who usually accompanies General Zod. And that’s my point. Well, that’s one of my points. You see, Faora almost always shows up to aid General Zod in the movies or television shows Zod graces with his appearance. She doesn’t show up nearly as much in the comics, and she has her own complicated past and ideology.
Sure, Faora does tend to share a lot of Zod’s dogmatic beliefs, but she is her own person. Her martial arts ability and a knack for targeting someone’s pressure points make her particularly deadly to Superman. In some iterations, she’s been on Jor-El’s side (that’d be Superman’s father). Other iterations cast her as an artificial intelligence running the Phantom Zone. What? DC Comics doesn’t know what it wants to do with Faora. I’d love to see a comic explore a definitive version of this character.
3: Zha-Vam
As always, I place a difficult character to stratify at the three spot. Don’t know where to place someone? Three. But Zha-Vam is an interesting case. Zha-Vam was an early attempt by DC Comics to make their own version of Captain Marvel (Shazam) before the company acquired Shazam’s rights. Zha-Vam is primarily a Superman villain who doesn’t get nearly enough comic book issues. Instead, DC Comics likes to contrive reasons for Shazam and Superman to fight.
What are you doing, DC Comics? You have a second Shazam in Zha-Vam. Canonically, Zha-Vam has every reason to fight Superman, but you’re too scared to use him. Stop making up reasons for Shazam and Superman to fight. Build up Zha-Vam. Okay. Maybe the Zha-Vam name is a little silly, but Shazam isn’t much better. Make it happen, DC Comics.
2: Toyman
Here we go. Like The Prankster, Toyman is another early Superman villain (one of Supes’s first ten), and he gets a handful of stories here and there, but for the most part, DC Comics doesn’t know what to do with Toyman. There may be a reason for this. Ironically, Toyman suffers from a similar problem as The Prankster. While The Prankster is a third-rate Joker, Toyman is a villain better suited for Batman. But that makes Toyman invaluable to Superman’s rogues’ gallery. The better Toyman stories have involved a criminal pathology Superman is ill-equipped to comprehend. This makes Toyman interesting.
I’d much rather see Superman writers develop Toyman over bringing in one of Batman’s rogues–usually The Joker–to fill a similar role. This is an argument similar to the previous one with Zha-Vam. Quit contriving reasons for Superman and The Joker to spar when you have a perfectly sadistic villain in Toyman, waiting in the darker corners of Superman’s rogues.
1: Funnyface
Okay. All of these other Superman villains have shown up in multiple comic books and stories. Funnyface is our first truly obscure villain. Funnyface appeared in one comic (Superman #19) and perhaps had one or two other cameos, and was never heard from again. That’s a shame. Funnyface (real name never revealed) was a failed comic artist who wished he could have sold one strip to a syndicate. He was more gifted in science and developed a way to materialize figures out of two-dimensional images. In other words, the pictures Funnyface draws come to life.
While Funnyface’s origin makes little sense (Who fails at being an artist, but they’re awesome at science for some reason?), the idea of drawings coming to life is fertile ground for a comic book story. Superman could have his hands full. All Funnyface would have to do is draw himself an army, which is what he does in his one major comic book appearance. And that one comic book appearance occurred in the 1940s. Who knows what twisted direction a DC Comics creative team would do with this character in a modern comic book setting? Sign me up for that, please.
And that’s our list of five underrated/underused Superman Comic Book Villains. Who would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy Sunday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another week of Geek News. We’re still taking a break from headline Geek News (due to Kyra’s participation in Novel in November), but we have plenty of new releases for board games and video games to discuss. Let’s talk about this week’s lot of new board games and video games.
Through the Mountains Launches on KickStarter
From the award-winning game designer Reiner Knizia comes a game of strategy, patience, and cool plastic camels! The desert is still treacherous, mysterious, and without mercy. But for those willing to risk the dangers of the shifting, sun-baked sands, the desert holds riches beyond compare.
In Through the Desert, two to five players each control a tribe of nomads vying for control of the desert. By establishing caravans and taking over oases, the players gain points as their tribes increase in power.
Strategy is essential in deciding how and where to build your tribe’s caravans. There are multiple ways to gain points and several ways to win. Should you try to build the longest caravan? Or should you dominate the desert’s oases? Don’t forget to keep an eye on your opponents’ caravans, or you may find your own tribe cut off from valuable water holes.
Through the Desert is part of the so called Knizia tile-laying trilogy.
Thank you, Allplay Games, for the description. Honestly, I have yet to play the original Through the Desert. The game is a classic. It’s part of Days of Wonder’s classic run of board games in the 2000s. It’s a Knizia design and part of his tile-laying trilogy of games. And now after 28-years, Reiner Knizia himself has returned to Through the Desert to deliver a worthy follow-up, Through the Mountains. Allplay Games is a phenomenal publisher. They manage to pack high quality board games into smaller boxes. This reprint of Through the Desert and its sequel Through the Mountains looks amazing. Pledges range from $39 to $316. The larger pledges include modern classics like Triskel and the original Through the Desert. If you’re interested in Through the Mountains, check out its KickStarter page.
Fish Hatchery Launches on KickStarter
Fish Hatchery is a strategy deck-building game where you breed your fish, sabotage your opponents, and build out your aquariums to construct the perfect fish breeding business from the ground up.
Starting with the same basic cards, you and your opponents will collect increasingly rarer fish and enhance your decks strength over the course of 4 rounds. Item cards/aquarium supplies can also be purchased which act as static triggers, increasing the reach and effects of the fish cards you play.
Sabotage is a key component of the game, and there are many opportunities throughout the course of the rounds to undermine your opponents as they seek to race you to victory.
Throughout the game, players will compete to gain the most aquarist points. There are several ways to gain aquarist points including breeding fish, scoring master breeder cards, and purchasing round 4 fish who are difficult to keep but have powerful scoring abilities. At the end of 4 rounds, the player with the most aquarist points wins.
Thank you, Dufflepud Games, for the description. I love deck-building games. They scratch that itch of everyone starting off the same but ending with disparate decks. Fish Hatchery has a lot more going on than just deck-building. You can tell that from the picture above. Are those progress tracks? The artwork is stellar. Dufflepud Games spared no expense there as I believe this is a prototype and not even the final version of Fish Hatchery. Not gonna lie: I’m a little worried about sabotage playing a key role in Fish Hatchery. Typically, deck-building games offer little take-that elements and for good reason. At their core, deck-building games are engine builders. You don’t want someone messing with your engine.
But I’d like to see how Fish Hatchery incorporates take-that elements. I wouldn’t mind impeding my opponents’ progress on a track, while gaining a small advantage myself. That’s the other issue about take-that mechanisms: wasting a turn to screw with your opponent while skipping an opportunity to improve your own standing ends up as a net negative for both players. There’s a lot going on in Fish Hatchery. I could see the game balancing out its take-that mechanisms with the game’s other elements. I’ve been working on deck-building game with mild take-that mechanisms. Fish Hatchery suggests that take-that takes center stage. Cool! Fish Hatchery offers multiple pledges, ranging from $65 to $119. If you’re interested in Fish Hatchery, check out its KickStarter page.
Latitude Launches on KickStarter
Work with other players to create a map of the realm, but only the most accurate player will take the glory.
Latitude takes place on a blank map which slowly develops as the game goes. Each turn a player places a land tile (sea, plains or mountain), and places a marker showing how big they believe that region will be when the map is completed.
Each region is a contiguous group of the same land type, and regions cannot have the same value marker repeated. This leads to high level strategy, as regions get completed, blocked off and more, all in a simple to play game with clean efficient rules and beautiful original non-AI artwork.
Thank you, Radical 8 Games, for the description. Latitude sounds simple to play but difficult to master. I wonder what the range (in points) the round tokens have. That may inform when players will play a land tile of a different type; one region will score the highest point value, but the same value can’t be repeated. Clever. Again, this is easy to understand and factors into Latitude’s short play time (20-30 minutes). Latitude offers one pledge level of around $31 (prices are in Pounds). If you’re interested in Latitude, check out its KickStarter page.
Geek Together Launches on GameFound
Play More! GeekTogether.gg is the community platform built for tabletop gamers and gaming venues to find each other, schedule sessions, and connect — every day, everywhere, all the time. No need to wait for the next convention to schedule games, find players, or promote your venue. After all, what good are all those games, dice, minis, and cards if you can’t find the right people to play with?
We don’t typically cover launches like Geek Together, but we had to make an exception this week. This app looks amazing. Who doesn’t want to play more and Geek Together? I like the idea of friending people on a board game specific app. The same app can track my collection, my plays, and offer challenges to complete. Geek Together’s challenges are things like play a specific type of board game. If you’re anything like me, choosing a board game to play becomes as much of an activity as playing the actual board game. If you’re interested in Geek Together, check out its GameFound page.
Bug Out: Escape Your Paranoia Launches on GameFound
Will you escape your unfounded paranoia? The neighborhood has gone quiet. You are sure something is coming. What it is depends on who you ask. The only thing that truly matters is reaching a bunker with enough supplies left to call yourself prepared
Bug Out: Escape Your Paranoia is a competitive survival game for 2–4 players that combines tile placement, route building, supply management and direct player interaction. Preparing for a possible apocalypse, players build a shared road network, gather supplies and attempt to reach a bunker with the highest final Prepper Point score.
Thank you, Baseraider, for the description. Bug Out: Escape Your Paranoia had me at competitive survival game. Throw in a post apocalyptic setting, and I’m hooked. Baseraider is new to the tabletop scene as a publisher, but Bug Out’s premise is solid, and I like what I’ve seen with the game’s components. The game looks like it has a good flow. I cut off the section about final scoring, but you’ll want to be the one with the most points at the end of the game. And I assume there are multiple paths for procuring points. I’m keeping an eye out for Bug Out: Escape Your Paranoia. Pledges range from $49 to $169. If you’re interested in Bug Out: Escape Your Paranoia, check out its GameFound page.
Fable Quest Launches on GameFound
Fable Quest is a story-driven, fully cooperative game set in the enchanting world of Arcadia Quest, taking place after the epic events of the beloved saga.
For the first time in Arcadia, players are not rival guilds competing for glory, you stand together. Through card-driven gameplay, a touch of deck-building, and meaningful narrative choices, you’ll explore the whimsical realms of Arcadia not as conquerors, but as participants in its unfolding story.
You’ll meet its people, you’ll face its dangers, and your decisions will shape how your adventure evolves – together.
Thank you, Tycoon Games, for the description. I’ve always loved Arcadia Quest. Season has the original game. I think she’ll want a co-op version of one of her favorite games. While Eric Lang didn’t return for this sequel (Fable Quest), the rest of the original Arcadia Quest design team returns (Guilherme Goulart and Fred Perret). Yes! I like the idea of a storybook. Fable Quest looks as charming as the original. The board is less complicated. Great! That will place more of an emphasis on the story, and yes, I’ve always wanted a story to go along with Arcadia Quest. Fable Quest looks like it delivers on that front. If you’re interested in Fable Quest, check out its GameFound page.
Junk ‘n Gems Launches on GameFound
In Junk ‘n Gems, players sift through an attic of forgotten treasures, building toward the perfect moment to empty their hand. But you can only do so after reaching the required number of points, turning each round into a tense race to be first!
On your turn, place a card into the attic, then take one or two cards worth up to twice that card’s value. Play sets to activate powerful effects, score points, and get closer to emptying your hand.
The stakes grow as the point threshold rises from round to round. Will your clever play be enough to claim victory?
Thank you, Passion Project GG, for the description. Junk ‘n Gems looks like it combines set collection with a race elements. Card shedding (like Uno) and some strong hand management mechanisms look to be at the forefront. I like what I’m hearing from Junk ‘n Gems. The only thing that gives me a little pause is Junk ‘n Gems’ longer playtime (40-60 minutes). My guess is that the game will play longer at higher player counts, but 60 minutes is on the long side for a card game like this. Junk ‘n Gems does sound like it has more going on under the hood. We’ll have to see. I like Junk ‘n Gems’ collection of game mechanisms and can’t wait to see how these elements work together. If you’re interested in Junk ‘n Gems, check out its GameFound page.
Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy Releases
Your daughter has been kidnapped. In the trilogy’s final chapter, enter a nightmare to save her, survive what hunts you, and uncover the Red Nun’s truth through retrocognition, mirror abilities and moth manipulation. A modern return to classic survival horror with an Italian neo-giallo twist.
I’ve yet to play any of the Remothered trilogy. I don’t know if one needs to play the first two games in the series (the original Remothered and Remothered: Broken Porcelain). While the previous games in the series received various reviews, Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy has received predominately good reviews. Set in the same universe as Clock Tower, Remothered is worthy inclusion in the survival horror genre. Honestly, this looks like a game for Skye. I like the idea of retrocognition. Not enough video games include this and it works well for a horror video game with plenty of flashbacks to fill in the Red Nun’s past. Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy is available on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series S/X.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer Releases
Go back to your hometown and tear it down with a sledgehammer in this narrative exploration game. Confront your past in a devastating story about feeling like you no longer belong in the place you grew up.
Virtue and a Sledgehammer’s title is as subtle as a sledgehammer. LOL I had to say it. I like how Virtue and a Sledgehammer uses the titular sledgehammer as a metaphor. Your confronting your past. Searching for who you are in the world in this narrative exploration game. And I love character-driven games. Virtue and a Sledgehammer places its protagonist front and center. Yes! Virtue and a Sledgehammer is available on PC.
Anomalith Releases
ANOMALITH is a survival third-person shooter set in Japan, steeped in the atmosphere of liminal spaces and Showa-era retro aesthetics. To search for her missing friend, a girl steps into a world writhing with anomalies.
Hunh! A lot of video games with strong horror influences released this week. You’d think this was the week of Halloween or something. Anyway, I like ANOMALITH’s use of liminal spaces. I just finished watching The Backrooms (which will make my Watcha Watching for next month) and this style of horror interests me. ANOMALITH’s narrative structure reminds me of Staircase in the Woods in the best ways. ANOMALITH’s protagonist has a strong motivation for entering these liminal spaces and continuing their journey. ANOMALITH is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Phantom Blade Zero Releases
S-GAME presents Phantom Blade Zero, a fusion of classic Wuxia storytelling and exhilarating action powered by Unreal Engine 5. You play as Soul, a warrior with only sixty-six days left to live. Fend off assassins, unravel world-ending conspiracies, and defend your values with your life.
I knew little about Phantom Blade Zero before this week, but it looks amazing (those graphics are top-notch), and I like the Wuxia setting. Phantom Blade Zero looks action-packed. The premise of a warrior with only sixty-six days left to live is intriguing. I wonder how Phantom Blade Zero will incorporate this into its story. The reviews for Phantom Blade Zero (like all the other games on this week’s new releases) are good to great. This week was a good one for video games. Phantom Blade Zero is available on PC and PlayStation 5.
That’s all the Geek News we have for you this week. Which game looks the most interesting? Let us know in the comments. Thank for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy Halloween, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. We have a special review in honor of Spooky Season and Halloween. All of our Geekly Writers watched Clayface together this past week, and we’ll share our thoughts on the latest entry in the DCU. We’ve only seen the movie once, so this will be more of a reaction than a full review. I’ll kick off this post by sharing my thoughts.
Kyra’s Thoughts
Clayface works well as an introduction to the character. Seriously, we watched the movie with someone who has never seen anything with Batman, and he left wanting to consume more. Clayface dives into the character’s psyche. As if we needed more evidence (beyond Joker and Penguin), Clayface proves that you don’t need Batman to tell a solid story steeped in Gotham City lore. These characters have pathos to spare. Clayface does an excellent job of showing how layered Matt Hagen is with a healthy side of body horror. For those who know the character, the movie goes how you would expect the movie to go. Clayface borrows plenty from Batman: The Animated Series, the Arkham video game series, and the comics. It’s a great watch. And I agree with Season’s sentiment (after leaving the theater), Clayface may have to go on our Halloween movie rotation.
I appreciate Clayface exploring Matt Hagen’s personality. Even before his “accident,” the movie presents Hagen as someone struggling with his identity. The moment he shares celebrating with his deceased mother. The scene with a late night show host asking him to do impressions and when he asks who the real Matt Hagen is, Hagen doesn’t have a good answer. He loses himself in his roles. He searches for himself. And I like how Clayface foreshadows with Hagen sharing with late show host Vic Chissler (great name) that he’s scared of finding his real self. Great foreshadowing.
This also ties into Clayface’s second half: the revenge plotline. I’m skipping over the body horror elements (which dominated Clayface’s first half) for now, so I can focus on Clayface/Matt Hagen as a character. I’ll return to the body horror. Don’t worry. Once Matt Hagen discovers his true self (Clayface), he goes on a killing spree. I want to share a great quote from the movie.
You wanna know how I feel? The people I trusted betrayed me. The justice system failed me. They stole my career, my money, my life! I’m a monster.
Clayface has great quotes to spare. I can see people reciting these for years. As you can tell from the above quote, the movie does a great job of building up Matt Hagen before he becomes Clayface. It puts in the work, so you care about who Hagen is as a person. While he does these horrible things, you can’t help but sympathize with him–to a point. And Clayface’s rampage borrows scenes straight from Batman: The Animated Series. Two of his kills are ripped right from the cartoon series. Ah! Now, I want watch BTAS again. Or at least “Feat of Clay” and “Mudslide.”
But Clayface explores the title character’s power set a little bit, providing a touch of new uses to his existing abilities. Clayface’s body always had the ability to reattach itself after getting flung elsewhere. Hagen uses this to his advantage, specifically his blood in a particularly gruesome death scene near the end. It makes sense for Hagen to cut himself, bleed into someone’s orifices, and wait for his blood to return to his body, ripping the other person apart from the inside. Ugh! So good though. The character who dies this way had it coming, and that’s a good segue to talk about Clayface’s body horror.
Our Geekly writers squirmed in their seats at the beginning of Clayface. It’s uncomfortable. By now, most of us have seen Clayface trailers that featured Matt Hagen’s eyes swelling shut. He runs to an airplane lavatory and uses a pair of scissors to cut open his eyelids. Despite having this scene spoiled (sort of) in the trailers, watching it in real time is something else. This was a tense scene, and there are a number of uncomfortable (in the best ways) scenes, but Clayface does drop the body horror midway through its runtime to focus on Hagen’s revenge story.
I appreciated Clayface’s practical effects, but the movie did use a handful of CGI sequences that looked painfully CGI. The story also tried to science up Clayface’s abilities. Let’s throw in nanobots, goofy futuristic medical jargon, and AI. What would happen if the AI goes rogue? That’s not as quotable as some of the other lines in Clayface. AI felt tacked on. The film doesn’t really explore the AI within Clayface’s body going rogue. This was a lame attempt to make the film feel “modern.” I could’ve done without the addition of AI. If you’re going to include AI, make it count.
I’ve mentioned the writing. A few hiccups aside, it’s solid. The direction and cinematography (outside of a couple of laughable CGI SNAFUs) are great. And the acting is spot on. Tom Rhys Harries nails it as Matt Hagen/Clayface. Naomi Ackie kills it as Dr. Corr. The supporting cast was phenomenal. They made Gotham City feel lived in. Clayface is a fun watch.
Clayface kind of has two endings. I prefer the second. It’s heartbreaking and shows Hagen/Clayface’s mental state. And we see Clayface in all his glory in the closing moments. Clayface made the right choice delaying its main character’s reveal. Clayface can be cartoony. I liked being grounded with the character and watching his descent.
Those are my thoughts on Clayface. Let’s check in with Skye.
Skye’s Thoughts
I’d like to start by saying that I was genuinely excited to see this movie. While Clayface isn’t my all-time favorite Batman villain, he’s one that I’ve been fascinated by for a long time, hasn’t had an official cinematic debut until now, and is a villain that has a lot of big-screen potential. After seeing Clayface in theaters with the rest of the Geekly Crew a few days ago, I’m very satisfied with the results. Clayface did a great job of delivering on the body horror elements built up in the trailers, and I liked the film the most when it made me squirm in my seat. Not only that, but Clayface managed to deliver a story that was both faithful to the character yet still felt fresh.
If I had to nitpick anything about Clayface, I’d say the romance didn’t quite fit with the tone of the rest of the film. While it’s necessary to humanize your characters from a storytelling standpoint, I don’t believe giving the lead a love-interest was the best way to do that in this case. Even if she was the best character in Clayface aside from Matt Hagen himself (Sidenote: the acting is stellar in this movie).
Overall, I had a very good time with Clayface and would enjoy doing a deeper dive on it after its inevitable release on streaming. Clayface is also a great spooky movie for Halloween, so if you’re looking for something creepy that’s hard to watch at times, Clayface might be the perfect fit for you. Happy Halloween!
Those are our writers’ thoughts on Clayface. What did you think of the movie? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another review/reaction of a VisionQuest episode, “Deadlock.” If you want to see my thoughts on VisionQuest’s previous episode, “Firewall,” check out this link. VisionQuest “Deadlock” begins where many episodes of VisionQuest begin: inside one of the synthezoids’ mind spaces. “Deadlock” begins with Jocasta’s mind space. On the heels of last episode, Ultron left Vision’s mind space for somewhere else. It makes sense that he’d want to join Jocasta. I love this narrative construction. It fits with a synthezoid. It almost gives VisionQuest a novel approach. Novel meaning both unique and like a book. VisionQuest found a way to show a character’s interiority. That’s cool. But the show may be leaning on this a little too much at times. Equal parts of the show occur in the real world and a character’s mind space. This worked at the beginning. I hoped for the show to pivot.
Quick Note: Spoiler Alert VisionQuest “Deadlock” is in effect. You’ve been warned.
Again, I love VisionQuest’s mind space narrative structure, but we’re six episodes (out of an eight-episode run) into the series. VisionQuest should’ve reduced the amount of time spent in a synthezoid’s headspace by now. I think, we are shifting from that because most of Vision’s AI buddies have flown the coop. The majority of VisionQuest’s mind space minutes occurred in Jocasta’s head. Again, this makes some sense. We watch Ultron and Jocasta find a connection, more on that in a minute, and see what the pair have planned for humanity. Nothing good. But their scheme makes sense for both characters and who they are. I questioned VisionQuest going the route of Ultron and his bride, but the show has proven my doubts unfounded.
I may have been too hard on VisionQuest sticking with its mind space structure. The show maintains good pacing, a rare thing for a Marvel television series. Ultron and Jocasta have revealed their plan for humanity: make humans more robotic. “I got the idea turned round,” Jocasta said. “Instead of making synths more human, we should inject machine into them (humans).” This is a subtle shift to Ultron’s original goal. It fuses Jocasta’s backstory (which we learn in “Deadlock”) with wanting to fix what ails humanity.
We see Lisa Molinari (Tommy’s love interest) infected with one of Jocasta’s nanobots. She loses most, if not all, of her autonomy. While Ultron shares Jocasta’s viewpoint that humanity is flawed, I can see the two finding a disagreement. Ultron convinces Jocasta not to use her nanobot on Tommy. Ultron plays this off as not wanting to upset Vision, but it run deeper. Ultron wants humanity. He yearns to live, taste, and experience things as a human. I can’t see this desire jiving with robbing humanity of its mortal experience. If everyone thinks the same, what would happen to the artists that Ultron loves?
I can see VisionQuest incorporating some form of Ultron not wanting to rid humans of their humanity. I don’t know if it will involve artists or family or some other aspect of the human experience, but I can’t imagine Ultron going on a journey (like entering Jocasta’s mind space) and not changing. Change is a main theme in VisionQuest. Tommy has embraced his dual identity (Thomas Shepard and Tommy Maximoff). Vision tries to relate to Tommy as a father. Even Ultron wants to feel what the people feel; in VisionQuest, Ultron takes his first sip of a real alcoholic beverage. E.D.I.T.H. even tells Paladin’s Tactical A.I. (played by Diane Morgan) that the “Strongest don’t always survive, but the ones most willing to change.”
Family is the other of VisionQuest’s major themes. I can’t imagine Ultron turning his back on his family (Vision and Tommy) when the moment of truth arrives. And I like what Lisa Molinari said about Vision being a father to Tommy. We learn by doing. I feel like this can apply to Vision and Ultron as father figures.
VisionQuest “Deadlock” had plenty of great moments. I like how the episode began with Jocasta trapping Ultron, or at least, she tried to imprison him. Jocasta’s actions run counter to what Ultron said Vision did in the previous episode. Vision called his locking up Ultron a mercy. Even though Ultron’s prison was short-lived, he could tell the difference between what Vision did and what Jocasta planned to do. Tommy namedrops his codename: Speed. I like how he called Keanu Reeves’s character in Speed, Speed, and how the Paladin had to correct him. And Paladin’s handler being a Tactical A.I. made sense, and E.D.I.T.H. taking her place fit. And it was fun.
VisionQuest “Deadlock” managed to bring many of the show’s disparate storylines together. Paladin returns but may now be in a tentative alliance with Vision. Paladin’s former employer is back in play and made a plea directly to the synthezoid. We still don’t know who exactly is hunting Vision, but I’m sure that will be revealed soon. We know what Ultron and Jocasta have planned and most of what our heroes need to overcome in the final two episodes. Lisa’s life is in the balance, and humanity may become more like machines. And Tommy and Vision have reengaged as father and son. Vision has finally told Tommy everything about his past.
This show may have done the near-impossible. Ultron was not the most inspired villain in the MCU. Avengers: Age of Ultron was one of the weakest Avengers films. And yet, VisionQuest has made Ultron cool. Like most Marvel Cinematic Universe properties VisionQuest has some pacing issues, but it’s better than most MCU vehicles, and this trilogy of mini series (WandaVision, Agatha All Along, and VisionQuest) are the strongest modern MCU properties. Most of that comes from each series focusing on its characters, even the ones who aren’t human.
Those are my thoughts on VisionQuest “Deadlock.” What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy Halloween, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with what should be a fun Top Five List for the holiday. That’s right. We’re celebrating Halloween with a list of the Top 5 Movie Monsters. There are so many to choose from, but we’ll try to keep this list to just five. I’m sure you’ll let us know if we got this list right in the comments. Let’s get to the Top 5 Movie Monsters.
5: King Kong
The Eighth Wonder of the World claims our fifth spot on this list. King Kong had to make this list, and he did, but just barely. In short, King Kong is iconic. He predates popular gigantic monsters (some of which may also make this list) by at least two decades. There’s a reason Kong also has the nickname, the King of Monsters. He dominated all other large monsters on his home, Skull Island. He tapped into viewers’ primal fear and took the movie-going public by storm. And while Kong terrified movie-goers in his 1933 debut, King Kong’s story is just as much about humanity exploiting the planet. And that gives his story weight.
Honestly, I didn’t think a 1930s United States director (Merian C. Cooper) would address an issue like humanity exploiting the planet in a story. To be fair, the original King Kong focused more on human greed and wanting to turn Kong into a “star,” but that still counts as exploitation. Humans kidnapped Kong and put him on a stage. Future directors, like Peter Jackson, leaned more into exploiting natural resources in more recent films. Regardless, King Kong gains more relevance because his story contains a message.
4: Godzilla
Eediga-Ooom! We didn’t need to wait long for another gigantic monster to make this list. Godzilla challenges King Kong for the title of King of the Monsters. Without question, he is the first kaiju. Like Kong before him, Godzilla explores another primal fear: nuclear weapons. That’s right. Godzilla’s origin centers around the aftermath of nuclear weapons. Following World War II, Japan was kind of obsessed with this topic. But the Godzilla films tackled more than the existential crisis of a nuclear war. At various times, Godzilla films challenged social and political views.
Despite frequent hiatuses, the Godzilla film franchise holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous movie franchise. After each hiatus, the tone of the movies could drastically change. Sometimes dark and brooding. Other times, over-the-top and silly. No matter the tone, I don’t mind watching the occasional Godzilla film.
3: Bruce the Shark (Jaws)
Da-dum…Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-dum. Da-da-Dum! Be honest, you were singing the Jaws theme just now. We talked about primal fear in past entries. No other movie monster feeds into that more than the great white shark in Jaws. His nickname was Bruce, so we listed him as Bruce on this list. Also, “Bruce the Shark” in Finding Nemo is a nod to Jaws. Fish are friends, not food. Getting back to Jaws, Bruce is a great example of less is more. As you can see from the picture above, Jaws” animatronic shark looks a little fake, so Steven Spielberg opted to show Bruce as little as possible. The rest is movie history.
The movie Jaws is history’s first blockbuster film. It set the rules–or are they guidelines?–for what a summer blockbuster should look like. Jaws was also the highest-grossing film of all time after its release. Who cares if that only lasted two years, until Star Wars was released? Together with Star Wars, Jaws set the Hollywood standard and ushered in a new generation of auteurs. The movie itself holds up remarkably well decades after its original release. That may have a lot to do with Spielberg’s choice of showing the shark as little as possible. At first, I questioned Bruce the Shark’s entry on this list. Does a shark constitute a movie monster? It does if it’s this shark.
2: Xenomorph (Alien)
Stealth. Strength. Weapons. The xenomorph has it all. That deadly combination keeps most protagonists on their toes. Throw in the face-huggers, and the xenomorph may be the most iconic monsters in movie history. Like many other monsters on this list, the xenomorph is the icon of a trailblazing film series. Science fiction horror didn’t exist before Alien. The original Alien charted new territory. At the heart of that new territory lives the xenomorph.
You can’t separate Alien from Xenomorph or Xenomorph from Alien. They’re synonymous. The xenomorph’s design is genius. What would you expect from H. R. Giger? That sleek, sinister, almost sadistic design will strike fear in anyone. I don’t know what I fear the most from the xenomorph: its acid, its ability to strangle me with any one of its appendages, the face-huggers attaching to my face and then the xenomorph bursting from my gut. Whose sick mind thought of this thing? Right. Giger and Ridley Scott. The xenomorph is that movie monster you love to hate.
1: The Thing
The Thing takes the concept of Jaws‘ Bruce the Shark (show as little of the monster as possible) and adds the idea of a shapeshifting entity. In many ways, The Thing is a combination of Jaws and Alien. Why wouldn’t it claim our top spot? Don’t trust your eyes. They’ll deceive you. And when you catch a glimpse of The Thing, do so with the visceral imagery of a xenomorph. Set in Antarctica, The Thing takes the form of the last person it killed.
I can’t imagine watching The Thing take the form of one of my loved ones. This is what makes The Thing so terrifying. It lulls you into a false sense of security. It plays on your emotions. While The Thing may not have shown up in as many films as the other monsters on this list, there’s no doubt it leaves an impression. That’s why The Thing takes the top spot on our list.
But those are my thoughts. Which monsters would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another review/reaction of a VisionQuest episode, “Firewall.” If you want to see my thoughts on VisionQuest’s previous episode, “Malware,” check out this link. VisionQuest “Firewall” progresses three of the show’s central characters (Vision, Ultron, and Jocasta) by giving them wants and needs. I like how VisionQuest has set up Ultron as having no connection to the outside world and desperately wanting a connection. We get a comical moment where Ultron surrounds himself with other copies of himself, a far cry from Vision’s family. VisionQuest “Firewall” gives more credence to Ultron. Even though we see everything through Vision’s eyes, this episode is an Ultron episode, and it’s better for it. Ultron wants connection, but he may be doing so in the most destructive way. And while Vision is locked inside his own mind (for most of this episode), “Firewall” maintained my interest.
Quick announcement: A Spoiler Warning is in effect. You’ve been warned.
Honestly, I felt like I’ve been watching a few episodes of Inside No. 9, where most episodes are bottle episodes. I love bottle episodes and don’t mind at least two in five episodes of VisionQuest. It saves production costs. It also makes sure the characters are interesting and focuses on building characters. I even like VisionQuest’s structure of having D.U.M.-E. and U simulate the outside world Vision and the rest watch. The two maintenance AIs set the bar scene and the one at the Louvre. This moments gave me stage technician vibes. D.U.M.-E. and U strike the old set and build the new one in between scenes. This is clever. It also fits with Vision watching most things through a filter of artificiality.
James Spader’s Ultron has been fantastic through VisionQuest’s run (so far). He provided a lot of comic relief early, but now, he serves as a layered villain for Vision. The two have an odd father/son like relationship. Ultron respects humanity. At least he respects the artists. He loves truth, and artists explore truths. That rings true for the MCU’s Ultron. A lot of what we see (in “Firewall”) are the conversations Ultron shares between Tommy, Jocasta, and Vision. Ultron’s relationship between all three of the characters held my interest. This can only happen with an actor like Spader, and VisionQuest’s writing and direction has mostly been great.
The less we talk about Ultron’s jab of “Son of a Witch” the better. Not the best line. In fact, I liked a lot of Ultron’s nonverbal mannerisms, like when Vision yells at him through a simulated prison window, and Ultron points to the phone and to his ear as if he can’t hear what Vision said. We all know what Vision said. You can get it from context. But I love how Ultron goaded Vision in that moment. As far as one-liners go, E.D.I.T.H. took center stage. “Metamussilini” was clever, and I just about fell out of my seat when E.D.I.T.H. reacted to Ultron and Jocasta flirting, or at least what passes as flirting between two synthezoids. “It’s like watching Hannibal Lector swipe right.” Awesome.
Brief detour. Now, we return to Ultron’s relationships in VisionQuest. Ultron and Tommy share a pint. During this interaction, we have Tommy voice what makes Ultron and Vision different. Vision tries to connect with others. He may have a long way to go, but he’s trying, and Tommy trusts Vision will get there eventually. Ultron doesn’t try. We’ll hear this sentiment again near the end of the episode when F.R.I.D.A.Y. claims that Ultron didn’t change, that would’ve taken effort. Ultron did something easier: Wait. I love it when stories have callbacks. Repeating patterns like this and in different ways and various contexts give a story meaning. Great stuff.
This opening scene between Ultron and Tommy also sets up Vision and Ultron’s desires. Ultron wants connection. Tommy insists he’ll never find it, but perhaps Ultron will with what he does next. And Vision wants to reunite with his son. We learn that Ultron stayed in contact with Paladin. This wasn’t a surprise. I expected Ultron to continue messaging Paladin. Turns out, Paladin kidnapped Tommy (while Vision was trying to reclaim his body), and Vision and Coat of Arms–I mean, Lisa Molinari–are on their way to Madripoor. It took a while for Vision to rest control from Ultron, but we end up in a proper place for episode 6. While I don’t care for Marvel releasing these episodes two per week, the release schedule makes sense because of VisionQuest’s bottle episodes or near bottle episodes.
Finally, we get to Ultron and Jocasta’s relationship. Jocasta shares an interesting insight. She claims Ultron has been poisoned with humanity, and she has the cure. Wow! While Ultron believes Jocasta to be his destiny (we are getting a version of Jocasta as the Bride of Ultron, yay!), VisionQuest has sown the seeds for a divide between the two synthezoids. Vision even thinks as much as he gives Ultron a hat for embarking on a journey. Yet another callback to a previous quote. Good. Surprisingly, Jocasta may have lost more humanity than Ultron. I can see Vision and Tommy connecting with Ultron by the series finale. While the two synthezoids share similar interests now, I can see them diverge.
All of this makes VisionQuest “Firewall” interesting. You don’t need to travel the world and have far flung adventures to tell a compelling story. This episode proves why I like bottle episodes so much. “Firewall” packs a heap of character building into a single episode. Like usual, I have yet to watch episode six. I could change my mind with what we see in that episode. I don’t know what to make of F.R.I.D.A.Y. jumping into the same connection as Ultron at the end of this episode; the rest of Vision’s dream team seem to think she’s gone. I also can’t wait to get to Madripoor. That should be fun.
Those are my thoughts on VisionQuest “Firewall.” Let us know yours in the comments. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
