First Impressions of Watchmen

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Image is a photo of the graphic novel cover of Watchmen. It's a yellow smiley face with blood dripping down it.

I was introduced to comics in 2012, which means I have some catching up to do. One graphic novel I have been wanting to read was Watchmen. My friend sold their copy through Facebook and I jumped at the chance to be able to read this. I was blown away by the level of story building that both Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created. They developed an alternative universe of how superheroes have existed combined with how the world has treated them. Watchmen is a story I truly enjoyed from start to finish.

Watchmen begins with the brutal murder of The Comedian, who was a costumed superhero based in New York. This leads to a mysterious vigilante named Rorschach (named after the Rorschach ink blot test) to investigate his murder. Rorschach believes someone is targeting former costumed crusaders and he contacts Night Owl, Doctor Manhattan, and the Silk Spectre II to warn them of the threat. In the meantime, Doctor Manhattan is forced to isolate himself on Mars after his acquaintances come forward with their cancer diagnoses blaming Dr. Manhattan for their doom. This furthers Rorschach’s theory of someone targeting them. Additionally, Watchmen flashes back to the 1940s with the Minutemen and how they influenced the current era of superheroes. The Comedian was a part of the Minutemen and we get to learn how awful he was.

The artwork in Watchmen is flawless. The first word I would use to describe the art in this graphic novel would be gritty. The use of shading allows the reader to truly believe they were in the world of New York during the Cold War. This plays well into Rorschach’s character because of his violent vigilante crimes. It makes the reader fear Rorschach in a way I didn’t feel if I was reading a Batman comic.

I also really connected with the characters in the story. Silk Spectre II is one of my favorite characters, but I also like her relationship with Night Owl and Doctor Manhattan. I can sympathize with Doctor Manhattan as his accident with radiation makes it more difficult to connect with people since he isn’t aging. This tarnishes his romantic relationships as he’s stuck in a time when his partners are aging.

After finishing Watchmen, I decided to give the movie a shot. It’s available on Netflix, but it’s close to three hours. This is probably the most realistic graphic novel adaptation I have ever watched. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the best and only actor who could have played The Comedian. Patrick Wilson is a babe as the Night Owl and Malin Ackerman is exactly who I pictured as the Silk Spectre II. It’s worth watching especially right after reading Watchmen. 

Watchmen is a classic especially all these years later. I’m happy I gave Watchmen a chance. The next graphic novels on my list to read are Hellboy and Judge Dredd.

 

C2Do’s & C2Don’ts at C2E2

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C2E2 is a convention I have wanted to attend for a while, but the timing didn’t work out. I applied for a press badge this year due to both writing for Bizarre Brunette and Twin Cities Geek. I couldn’t believe that my press badge was accepted! Reflecting on my C2E2 experience, I wanted to publish my Do’s and Don’ts list more specific to C2E2.

While I did receive a press badge to C2E2, all my thoughts are my own.

Don’t Drink Too Much / Do Drink Water!

Image is a photo of my friend on the left and me on the right. In the midle is Master Chief from Halo 3. We are holding beers in our hands and smiling to the camera.

I’m a beer drinker and immediately after I entered the convention, I had a beer at Revolution Brewing. I was quickly two beers in and my mouth was dry. My poor friend felt hungover because we didn’t drink enough water and walked everywhere. Drink your water especially in between drinks. This convention floor was a lot bigger than what I had ever experienced and I was more dehydrated than I should have been.

Image is a photo of me next to R2D2. I'm smiling at the camera.

Do Scout out Vendors Ahead of Time

I briefly scanned the list of vendors before I drove to Chicago, but I was surprised by the number of vendors who made the trek to C2E2. One vendor I was super excited to see was Flex Comics. I wish I had known their presence beforehand because I would have budgeted the cost of one of their workout tank tops.

Image is a photo of me posing in a Spider-Gwen dress.

C2E2 is easily one of my favorite comic conventions I have ever attended. It was incredibly organized and I liked the red carpet on the floor. It was great for photo ops with cosplayers. I enjoyed the amount of artists, vendors and bigger companies who appeared at the convention. I wish I had more money to spend at the con, but due to my prior trip to Orlando, I had to save money. Attending C2E2 has become one of my favorite memories of 2019.

 

Mr. Mercedes Review

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Image is a book cover for Mr. Mercedes. It has a blue umbrella and it looks like the cover is raining blood.

The first Stephen King novel I read was Carrie followed by The Green Mile. Carrie is the novel I enjoyed the most due to how much I rooted for Carrie as the protagonist. Carrie’s mother is one of the creepiest fictional mothers I have ever read about. Sitting on my “to be read” shelf on Goodreads was Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes trilogy which is more detective series than horror. I liked Mr. Mercedes a lot and I look forward to continuing the series.

Detective Bill Hodges is retired, overweight, and unhappy. His job was what he lived for, so without it, he wouldn’t find meaning in his retirement. When Detective Hodges retired, he left a few cases unsolved. One unsolved case was the “Mercedes Case” which involved a person driving a Mercedes into a job rally in 2009 killing eight including a young infant baby. In a private chat, Hodges is contacted by the “Mercedes Killer” nicknamed Mr. Mercedes by the media. This private chat brings Hodges purpose in his retirement as he is willing to risk his safety to catch this killer. 

Let’s be serious, Detective Hodges isn’t a character I particularly like. He seems somewhat selfish allowing him to put his eighteen-year-old house helper and a mentally ill woman in danger to apprehend Mr. Mercedes. I’m more attached to who Detective Hodges teams up with including Jerome Robinson and Holly Gibney. Even though Hodges puts their lives at risk, they both make him more human.

Brady Hartsfield is revealed to be the Mercedes killer early in the novel. He has an inappropriate relationship with his mother and kills his poor disabled brother, Frankie, by pushing him down the stairs. He’s racist, misogynistic, ableist, and more. There’s nothing unique about his character and reading his story was probably the least interesting, but necessary to build up this dual between Hartsfield and Hodges.

The mystery isn’t the identity of the Mercedes killer, but what his next plan of attack is. It’s hinted at, but his end goal isn’t revealed until the last 100 pages. The latter half of the book moves quicker than the first half and I did have trouble getting invested into the story because of the slow build-up with all the characters. I will say Brady gets what’s coming to him.

Overall, I liked the book. It wasn’t my all-time favorite Stephen King book, but it still kept my interest throughout the story. I’m planning on reading the other two books in the series, but it’s not a high priority right now. I rated Mr. Mercedes three stars on Goodreads. 

Unstable Unicorns Review

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TeeTurtle has some of the cutest t-shirts. Recently, TeeTurtle has delved into tabletop gaming by creating their Unstable Unicorns card game. During one of our DnD sessions, a friend brought over the main game with the expansions. Unstable Unicorns is easy to learn and super adorable.

Image is a Basic Unicorn card from the game Unstable Unicorns. It's a Unicorn holding a Pumpkin Spice Latte with fall leaves falling in the background.

Unstable Unicorns is a game of collecting unicorns for your stable. Every player starts with one baby unicorn. Throughout the game, you can play cards in your hand which could be adult Unicorns, upgrade cards to help you gain Unicorns, or downgrade cards to prevent other players from gaining unicorns. There are also “Neigh” cards that prevent a player from completing their action. The person who collects seven unicorns in their stable first will win the game.

The main base game of Unstable Unicorns is perfect for all ages, however, some expansions are NSFW. When I say NSFW, I truly mean NSFW. I find these cards hilarious, but they aren’t for everyone.

Image is a card for Magical Kittencorn which is a rainbow kitten except it has a unicorn horn pointing out of it's head. It does not look happy.
Probably my favorite Unicorn Card in the game. 

This game is great for anyone who’s a casual gamer and likes cute things. I liked how quick the game was considering most of my board games I own take hours to play. I highly recommend buying the main game for your next game night.

 

Con of the North

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I’m behind in my blog posts considering Con of the North happened close to a month ago. Con of the North is located in the Northwest suburbs of the Twin Cities. It had been on my radar for years, but I couldn’t afford the gas to drive home when I was in college. This year, I invited a friend to attend with me, so I didn’t have to go alone.

Con of the North was extremely well organized. When I registered for Con of the North, I could sign up for games, role-playing sessions, and other gaming events. When I signed up for an event, it showed my gaming schedule on the website, so I could see what blocks of time I had left. If there was a full event, you could be added to their waiting list in case someone had to drop out last minute.

Image is a miniature plus a tray for the Joker mini from the Batman miniature tabletop game. It shows Joker's character card along with black six sided dice.

On Friday, I drove to the hotel to pick up my badge. Along with a badge, I got a Con of the North die, all of my tickets to the events I pre-signed up for, and a packet for the convention including a map of the hotel. The first event I signed up for was to learn how to play the Batman Miniatures game published by Knight Models. Miniatures is a type of tabletop game that has fascinated me, but I’m terrible at it. I find it challenging to predict what an opponent will do next and then try and place my miniatures in a compromising position to the opponent’s objective. I did lose to my opponent, but the game was easier to learn than I thought.

Image is a playmat with an archer as the background. The Magic the Gathering cards are tapped and in dark green sleeves.

On Saturday, me and a friend had signed up to play several games of Magic: The Gathering EDH. These games were low stakes which was good because I’m a pretty casual Magic player and most of my decks aren’t competitive.

Image is a description of a game called RunePunk.

On Sunday, me and my friend split up because she wanted to play a massive game of Settlers of Catan while I went to try RunePunk, a steampunk-themed adventure using the Savage Worlds game system. Imagine Steampunk mixed with references from children’s stories.. that’s how I would best describe this.

Con of the North is a convention I would attend next year if I’m free. The organization, the convenient location, and the welcoming community made this experience a positive one. It was a great way to spend a dull weekend in February.

 

Hogwarts was Breathtaking.. Universal Orlando Trip Recap

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It’s been two weeks since my last blog post, but I’m back! Two weeks ago, I attended a tabletop gaming convention and then a couple days later, I flew out to Orlando on vacation to see Universal Studios along with Islands of Adventure. It was refreshing to escape the harsh Minnesota winter.

Image is a photo of me and my mom. We are smiling and holding a beverage to the camera.

This trip has been a long time coming. When my mom retired after 38 years at the same company (longer than I have been alive), they gave her a $500 Universal gift card to spend at Orlando and at Universal Studios. It was a very generous gift which my mom took full advantage of after buying two wands, a couple t-shirts, and a Deathly Hallows bracelet. While I didn’t buy as much merch as my mom, I bought a few things to help commemorate the trip.

Image is a photo of me standing in front of Hogwarts castle. I'm smiling at the camera.
Image is a photo of me drinking a Duff beer at The Simpsons side of Universal Studios.

We walked everywhere! I liked The Simpson’s side of the park and I did end up trying a Duff beer. It was pretty good! The Simpson’s ride was a little too bumpy for me and I was glad the ride was over otherwise I probably would have puked. The Revenge of the Mummy ride was another favorite of mine along with the rides on Marvel Island in Islands of Adventure.

Image is a photo of The Hogwarts Castle from Hogsmeade.

This vacation has been one to remember. It gave me enough of a break from work and I’m excited to get back to a routine again.

Before I conclude this blog post, I wanted to share what’s to come on Bizarre Brunette.  Next month, I’ll be attending C2E2 and it will be my first time attending this convention in Chicago. I’m going to write a convention recap of the tabletop convention I attended before this trip. Sitting in my queue are eight different blog posts waiting to be written, but I’m up for the challenge.

 

Dark Ages Campaign Session #2 Murder House

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You know 2019 has started off right when you realize you have been playing more D&D. Last weekend, our gaming group headed over to our friend’s apartment for our Dark Ages session #2 with our characters. You can read our session #1 recap in this blog post I made last month. I will say Althaea accomplished more in this session than in the prior session which made me super happy.

After sleeping off the fight with the barbarians, our characters awake in an ice prison underground with no memory of how we got there. There’s a tunnel about 50 feet down that goes deeper into this ice prison. Thankfully, one of our characters has a rope where we climb down and start looting the corpses which are scattered everywhere. Muglupus (the boyfriend’s character) is a dwarf who spends most of his time building a tunnel to find an escape. Suddenly, the floor beneath us breaks and one of our characters drops into a sewer facility where she has to fight three rats.

It takes Althaea a little while to get down there, but she comes to aid to fight these massive rats. As a side note, three giant rats sound horrifying to come across. After the defeat of the rats, we realize they weren’t actually intending to attack us, they were running from a massive spider. This is where Althaea is the true MVP in this session. I decided to grab my two ruby-encrusted daggers attached to my hip. I held the handles in both hands and ran up to the spider intending on cutting off the two spider’s giant limbs. I ended up rolling a critical success. Althaea went for the two limbs but ended up sliding underneath the spider and cutting off all its limbs. I’m just imagining that scenario in my head and it makes my character look like such a badass.

The spider quickly dies and I’m able to steal some of the spider’s fangs and now my daggers have venom on the blade. After traveling underneath the sewer we pop up in the Doctor’s office of the village we were staying in. The Doctor’s office contained several vials believed to be a mix of poison and medicine. Also included in the Doctor’s materials was his journal admitting to experimenting on the citizens living in the town. Our characters decided to poison both the Innkeeper and the Doctor for what they did to the citizens in the town. After revealing the truth at a town meeting, we decide to save the Doctor from the poison and let the town deal with him. We ended our session by running towards a monastery and camping with Rose, a friend we met in the village.

Our next session will be this weekend because we may have to skip the month of March due to everyone’s obligations. I was really satisfied in this session and I feel rejuvenated in where the campaign is going.

If anyone has any D&D campaign stories to share, please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

The Lying Woods

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Image is a book cover. The cover is a light green with a dark green border. It shows a white tree with empty branches. There are a few leaves on the ground. It shows a shadow of two people at the base of the tree. It says "The Lying Woods" by Ashley Elston.

Two years ago I reviewed the first book I read by Ashley Elston titled This is Our Story.. I named it as my favorite book I read in 2017. Ashley Elston can create in-depth, young adult characters and make you sympathize with those characters. When I found out that in November of 2018, she released The Lying Woods, I immediately pushed it to the top of my TBR pile. The Lying Woods isn’t as good as This is Our Story, but it might depend on your book reading preference to determine which book you will enjoy more.

Owen Foster is the stereotypical rich kid: He goes to an elite private school, has gone on amazing trips with his family and basically has a life any kid would dream of. Suddenly, Owen’s mother shows up at his school to inform him that his father stole money from the people who work for his company, Louisiana Frac. Owen is forced to leave his private school and return to his home town where people despise him. Owen’s mother has been receiving death threats as many believe she knows where his father has gone. Where is Owen’s father and why did he steal the money?

The Lying Woods is more of a contemporary young adult story versus a mystery thriller like This is Our Story. Owen was someone I originally couldn’t connect with based on his background and how he viewed his upstate lifestyle. However, once Owen becomes more situated in his small town in Louisiana, I start to feel for him and what he has been going through. My biggest complaint with this book is it took me a little while to truly get into the story. I read This is Our Story in a day where it took me about a week to read The Lying Woods. Although, once I had 150 pages left in The Lying Woods, I did read it all in a day.

I don’t want to spoil this one because I truly believe all of Ashley Elston’s books are worth purchasing and reading through, but if you want to know what happens in the end, I did include spoilers in my good reads review. If we aren’t friends on Goodreads, we should be! I will link my Goodreads profile in this post. I also started following Books on the Book Shelf and they had a nice review of The Lying Woods in case you aren’t convinced about reading it yet. The Lying Woods is a great blend of contemporary young adult fiction and mystery. Ashley Elston’s books make me want to visit Louisiana, so who knows maybe I’ll take a road trip to New Orleans someday.

Surviving Until Dawn *Game Review*

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Did you know Brett Dalton, Hayden Panettiere, and Rami Malek were in a video game? I found this out as I started playing Until Dawn a week ago. I hope if I ever became famous, I could appear in a video game too. Until Dawn is one of my favorite horror games I ever played.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Eight teenagers gather at a log cabin mansion owned by Josh’s family (motion captured by Rami Malek). Beth and Hannah, Josh’s twin sisters, run into the storm after a practical joke gone wrong performed by their friends. Beth and Hannah are never seen again. One year later, the same eight teenagers return to the cabin: Josh, Chris, Ashley, Sam (motion captured by Hayden Panettiere) Mike (motion captured by Brett Dalton), Jessica, Emily, and Matt. As you play through the episodes, vicious creatures start to stalk the characters. Additionally, it appears one of the characters is a psychopath who’s also hunting the teenagers. Each of the ten chapters allows you as the player to make decisions regarding the fate of the other characters.

Trophies can be unlocked based on decisions made in the game. For example, I chose to cut off one of the character’s fingers with a hatchet after getting stuck in a trap. This allowed my character to still have a working hatchet and I received a trophy for this decision. Some decisions in the game were easy for me to make, but others I had to deliberate on for much longer.

Until Dawn relies on QTEs (quick time events) meaning pressing buttons in rapid succession to succeed in an event. I accidentally failed this when one character was racing in the woods and I pressed the wrong button on the PlayStation controller. Missing one button led to a character’s death. There are many ways to replay the game as I need to collect all the collectibles, but also want to see how different choices play out differently. I wanted to unlock the trophy where all the characters survive as my first playthrough. Unfortunately, I accidentally killed them all :/

I have no criticism for Until Dawn and I cannot stop raving about how great this game is. There’s a soft spot in my heart for Ashley and Chris since they both remind me of young, high school love. The graphics in this game were breathtaking as the cabin is based on the top of this mountain with a brutal snowstorm being the backdrop for the teens. Until Dawn is a game you must play if you own a PS4.

Why Does Global Warming Cause Temperatures to Drop

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Donald Trump tweeted about how global warming must “come back fast” because of the colder temperatures in the Midwest. By cold, I mean it’s -20 degrees with the wind chill making the temperature feel like -50 degrees. Exposed skin can experience frostbite in minutes with hypothermia to follow. It’s dangerous leaving my apartment right now, which means I need to take the necessary precautions in how I dress. The response to Trump’s original tweet shows that we may not fully understand the science behind Global Warming. Global warming is happening even though temperatures are rapidly dropping in other areas.

[Image is a screenshot of Donald Trump's tweet. It says, "In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In the coming days, expected to get even colder. People can't last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!"
Image screenshot of Donald Trump’s twitter feed. I took this screenshot myself.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) defines global warming as warming effects caused by heat being trapped in Earth’s atmosphere instead of moving toward space. Normally, heat would escape into space, but instead, certain chemicals cause heat to be trapped on Earth causing temperatures to rise. This is known as the “greenhouse effect.” Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide contribute to the “greenhouse” effect. These chemicals are released by burning fossil fuels, producing waste, and using fertilizer.

At first, one may think who cares? Why does it matter that temperatures are rising on Earth? Let’s discuss the rising sea level. Rising sea levels caused by glaciers melting into the water could potentially sink low sea level cities such as New Orleans or even Miami could be underwater within decades. Besides sea levels, certain areas on Earth can become dry making it more difficult to grow essential crops. Over time, less crops means less overall food supply. Global Warming should scare you, as it does me. Our Earth could be negatively impacted permanently if we don’t change our current path.

Going back to the beginning, why do temperatures get colder if Global Warming is occurring? Towards the North Pole is the Polar Vortex. The Polar Vortex consists of strong winds when spinning to create high and low pressure systems which help give us the weather we have. However, when temperatures rise, the winds will start to meander instead of being isolated in the North Pole which means here in Minnesota, temperatures are way below 0 degrees.

This post isn’t meant to cause a debate because Global Warming is occurring. I’m here to provide education on what may be a confusing phenomenon. Reading Trump’s tweets further reminds me how our science education is lacking. Our Earth is going through a crisis and we need to do something before it’s too late. All of my sources come from NASA’s website