Sunday, August 10, 2025

The Return of Supervillainy is now available on Audible

“Gary’s back. Tell a friend.”

Gary Karkofsky AKA Merciless: The Supervillain without Mercy

TM has managed to fall into a comfortable routine as the (acting) Supreme Archmage of Earth. More hero than villain these days, he’s recruited to a shadowy black ops team with a shocking mission: assassinate Helios: The Sun King, ruler of Tomorrow Island. Gary immediately twigs to the fact he’s the fall guy even as he has his own score to settle with Helios. Joining him will be a number of fan favorite characters as well as several new additions to the surreal world of the Supervillainy Saga.

The Return of Supervillainy is the tenth volume of the Supervillainy Saga, following the world’s worst (best?) supervillain. It has two bonus stories in “Sidekick Girl versus Merciless” and “The Freelancer’s Cunning Plan.” It also contains “The Guide to the Supervillainy Saga” which will detail the entire history of the setting for long-term and new fans.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Return-Supervillainy-Saga-Book-10-ebook/dp/B0F89LZNC1/

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Return-of-Supervillainy-Audiobook/B0FKTLWWX4

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Hey folks,

I'm very pleased to say that Supervillainy Saga has released its tenth installment. Narrated by Jeffrey Kafer, it is hilarious.

I mean, I'm biased.

:)

Friday, August 8, 2025

Fantastic Four (2025) review


    THE FANTASTIC FOUR is a movie that a lot of us were looking forward to as much, if not more, than Superman (2025). A lot of people complain about superhero fatigue but I actually think it's more like "cinema fatigue" with the problem not being that people aren't going to see superhero movies but that they aren't seeing movies period anymore. Streaming and Covid-19 are a one-two punch that means that if people are going to the movies, they'll probably do so only for things that are big events.

    Unfortunately, I'm going to have to say that I this one is a miss rather than a hit. I think Superman (2025) was a far better movie and this is just sort of okay--if that. Rather than compare it to Superman (2025) exclusively, I'm going to compare it to Marvel's other movies from the year with Thunderbolts and Captain America: Brave New World. I liked it the least of the three with Thunderbolts having a lot more heart and Brave New World being okay but still enjoyable.

    The premise is that on an alternate 1960s Earth, the Fantastic Four have managed to bring about world peace and elevate everything to a zeerust Pre-War Fallout-esque future. All in the span of about four years, which is already something that puts me off world-building wise. Sue Storm is pregnant with Franklin Richards and the family is in a really good headspace when they receive an ominous warning from the Silver Surfer: their world will be destroyed by Galactus within the year.

    The positives of this movie first: Julia Garner is fantastic as the Silver Surfer and I would have probably enjoyed a movie about her over this group. All those people complaining about the Silver Surfer receiving a gender flip are being silly. First, it's an alternate universe. Second, those saying it's a big support of the 'womenz' miss that a substantial chunk of the male audience (and some women) are going to enjoy her sexy re-design.

    I also appreciate a comics-accurate depiction of Galactus. The whole idea that audiences would never accept a skyscrapper-sized giant space god depends on the idea that there's something inherently less silly about guys with cosmic ray-induced powers over a Titan-sized being. If you're here for the comic book silliness, you're here for the comic book silliness. Which is why Krypto was perfectly fine and comic book editors were stupid to try to get rid of Supergirl for decades. In fact, Galactus being onscreen only for about ten minutes total is my biggest complaint about the film.

    As for the Fantastic Four themselves? Well, they're definitely the Fantastic Four. Reed is smart, Sue is the mature one, Ben is a rock guy, and Johnny is driven by his desire to bang the Silver Surfer. Honestly, it's a very bland and vanilla take on the characters with the only one who elevates the material being Pedro Pascal. His Reed is coded as autistic and I appreciated the representation even as I got pissed off when he called himself broken because of it. Mind you, this is a personal issue for me so it might not irritate you like it did me.

    In simple terms, the movie is boring. The action scenes have no stakes, no one is threatened, and our heroes don't seem to struggle throughout. The fact the entire world hangs on their every word and only turns on them briefly (before being resolved by a speech) is ludicrous. I just didn't have much fun during the film.

4/10

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Bloodborne review

    Bloodborne is one of the seminal Souls-like games and is something that was recommended to me if I liked “Castlevania, HP Lovecraft, and Ravenloft.” Which, by and large, I certainly do. It has been out for about ten years and pretty much the opinion has been decided on the game: it’s good, very good. Great even. However, there’s a decent chance you might not have played it even if you picked up Elden Ring. It was a PlayStation exclusive and remains so. I managed to miss it the first time around but as I did enjoy Elden Ring, I thought it’d be a fun excursion to try the game as an almost complete newbie. I would go in cold on the game and experience it as a player who was running it on the PS5.

    The premise of Bloodborne is left deliberately vague and the storytelling is primarily done through gameplay and inference rather than actual dialogue or narration. Still, it starts off as reasonably straightforward. In a Enlightenment-Era world of Muskets and Top Hats, you are a sickly man who has journeyed to the city of Yharnam to seek a supposed miracle cure. You take this cure but are forced to sign a strange contract before you do. You wake up in an abandoned clinic, find out the city is overrun with werewolves, and everything gets worse from there.

    While not quite the technical marvel that Elden Ring would be, you can clearly see where most of that game’s best parts came from. The big differences between it and Bloodborne are that you can’t jump, you don’t use a shield (but a gun), and that the open world is much smaller as well as more compact. Even if these come with caveats as you can fall on top of enemies from above, the gun is the chief parrying mechanic (you shoot during enemy attacks), and the maps are incredibly well-designed to make use of every bit of space.

     A comparison to Metroid or Symphony of the Night is warranted as much of the map’s use is based around the fact that you’ll discover shortcuts as well as ways to get around the vertical nature of the design. Much of a level’s exploration will involve backtracking but to discover hidden locations and secrets rather than simply as filler. For example, one of the earliest locations in the game is a multi-story clinic that you pass several gates to on your way out. Later in the game, you find a back entrance that will allow you to the second and third stories that have their own plots.

    The monster design is fantastic with most early game enemies being human mobs, Wolfman-esque enemies, and full on-werewolves. As the Hunter, you ironically find yourself faced with other monster hunters and the corrupt Church of Healing as often as nastier enemies. These give way to massive giant enemies as befitting Dark Souls as the only thing better than fighting a werewolf is fighting a giant werewolf. My favorite boss in the game is a giant werewolf nun and that tells you the kind of wackiness you’ll find in Bloodborne.

    Lore-wise, the world is extremely well-designed with the Lovecraft homages being a late-game addition that I won’t get into lest I spoil some of the enjoyment. Suffice to say, the game is best considered to be Gothic Horror for the first half and cosmic horror for the second. I love the NPCs as well with a definite “less is more” attitude with them: Gehrman, the Plain Doll, Eileen the Hunter and others are all awesome.

    The design is where I really give the game its highest credit because the levels are beautiful beyond belief and successfully invoke the horror movie atmosphere in a way that is distinctly Japanese. It’s simultaneously so over the top that it seems like anime but still serious enough to be taken as horror. Yharnam is a massive ancient city with mammoth constructions but is on its last legs due to the Beast Plague. From the highest towers to the lowest sewers, you get to enjoy its amazing world-building.

    The DLC, “The Old Hunters” is a fantastic expansion to the game and worth picking up if you enjoy the base game. It explains a great deal of the backstory to the game as well as provides context to the many Hunters who are mentioned throughout the game. It also contains a bunch of allusions to “The Shadow over Innsmouth” but with a more depressing take.

    In conclusion, Bloodborne was a fantastic game in 2015 and remains so in 2025. Perhaps it’s not quite as impressive as Elden Ring these days but its gothic atmosphere and surreal mythology are all things that make it worth playing. The game is punishing for beginners but gradually you will learn the rhyme and reason of the combat system. A lot of enemies are better run around getting to where you need to go than run through. Even so, there’s a lot of ways to make the game easier too if you know where to look. 

Available here 

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Robocop: Unfinished Business review


    ROBOCOP: UNFINISHED BUSINESS is not quite DLC and not quite a true sequel to the excellent ROBOCOP: ROGUE CITY game by Teyon. I really love Robocop and he remains one of my all-time favorite cyberpunk works of fiction. OCP, Ed-209, the black humor, and a surprisingly nuanced jab at the idea of police to save us (where only Alex Murphy and Lewis do any good) stick in my mind decades later. Rogue City managed to capture a lot of what made the original movie (and to a lesser extent its sequel) great. Part of this had to do with getting Peter Weller back for the role and much like Robert Englund as Freddy, accept no substitutes.

    Unfinished Business is transparently an homage to the 2012 Dredd film, which was itself an homage to The Raid. Alex Murphy's home of Metro West is hit by a bunch of mercenaries that proceed to kill cops as well as steal his chair for their plan to create a device called the OCP Hijacker. This means that Robocop has to fight his way from the bottom of the massive facility to the top, going through a variety of mercenaries and drones until you can confront ex-cop, Cassius Graves. Along the way, you'll have some flashbacks to Alex Murphy's past as well as get to play a few other characters.

    Really, the best part of the game is the OmniTower itself. A massive arcology that is very different from what we've normally seen from the Robocop franchise, it is meant to be a place for all of Detroit's residents to be moved for Delta City. However, OCP didn't bother to finish the tower and massive numbers of people were doubled up in apartments that may not even have plumbing or living in unfinished levels. The environmental storytelling is fantastic and probably the thing to recommend most about the game.

    The gameplay is, unfortunately, just wave after wave of enemies in a huge number of arenas where you must blow away as many mercenaries as possible. The lack of gangs to fight is an issue because Robocop is one of the original colorful punk opponents. The Nuka gangs and bikers were some of my favorite part of Rogue City after all. Worse, there's no bosses and that is unfortunate since I really enjoyed fighting ED-209 and Robocop 2. Here, they could have made a tank or something but you don't even fight turrets--you just run around them.

    I feel like the villain is a bit bland as Cassius Graves being a ex-cop who somehow became a mercenary that thinks OCP isn't harsh enough on criminals (despite them wanting to exterminate the poor) doesn't really work as an enemy. It's extra weird given that Robocop 3 is next in the game world's timeline when they actively become Nazis. Still, I like the fact that the game deals with the fact that the criminals of Old Detroit have moved from being predators like Boddiker and becoming just the desperate that needs to resist.

    In conclusion, Robocop: Unfinished Business is an excellent game with a lot of value for your dollar. I'd buy that for thirty dollars, if I suppose. Still, it feels pretty undercooked for a sequel even if it's awesome for DLC. I'd say it has about eight to ten hours of content to play through if you want.

 7.5/10

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Superman (2025) review


    SUPERMAN (2025) by James Gunn is a work that you certainly don’t need me to tell you to go see. Virtually the entire response to the movie has been nothing but positive and I’m not going to be a naysayer. After the controversial choices of Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman, and Justice League, it’s interesting to see something go the other way to embrace goofy fun as an alternative.

    Of course, goofy fun is misleading because there’s a lot of darkness underscoring the wackiness in a way that James Gunn is a master of threading the needle for.mixing of both comedy as well as tragedy. This is something that I think will contribute to the longevity of this new incarnation of the DC Cinematic Universse as it is able to do incredibly dark stuff with Creature Commandos and Peacemaker but also moments of hilarity.

    The premise is that Superman has just lost his first battle fighting against Ultraman/The Hammer of Bulgravia after successfully preventing a war. James Gunn starts us in media res with the kind of comic book serialized storytelling that was the case when I was a child. Specifically, you picked up Amazing Spider-Man 203 and had to figure out what was going on as well as who was who. Superman has been a hero for three years at this point and it is a world full of superheroes.

    Basically, this movie is created with the explicit goal is making a world that can be built upon for future movies. We get seeds for the Green Lanterns, Supergirl, and possibly the Justice League as a whole. Characters like Guy Gardner, Mr. Terrific, and Hawkgirl not only make the world more lived in but they also answer an obvious question of: “what can threaten Superman?” In this universe, he might be the strongest superhuman but he’s not that by an overwhelming amount.

    The movie also jumps past the majority of typical drama with Superman’s supporting cast in a way that is very smart. Superman conceals his secret identity from the world as a whole but he doesn’t keep it a secret from Lois, Jimmy, or the Justice Gang. We also get a nod to the hilarious “Superman hypnosis glasses” that were a Silver Age explanation for why Superman couldn’t be recognized.

    The movie is surprisingly political but in a way that isn’t necessarily going to be noticed as such. The invasion of Borvaria, a United States ally, to a smaller “imperfect” country is something that occupies a lot of the movie’s conflict. Superman also has his immigrant status brought forward and his citizenship is revoked as an excuse by the government to imprison him without trial or rights. If you think this is against Superman’s values, well, you’re probably Dean Cain. I had a small issue with the handling of Jor-El and Lora-El but that’s mostly because I think it conflicted with the message.

    The handling of Lex Luthor is one of my favorite parts of the movie as they manage to elevate him to a malevolence that simultaneously feels believable but also grandiose. Ironically, this is the most human and least “savior”-like Superman but Lex Luthor does a good job as being a metaphor for Satan with his own underworld-esque Hell universe as well as an insane pride-driven motivation that will destroy the world if it means that Superman doesn’t get to save it. Given he’s a tech bro, that’s sadly also realistic.

    In conclusion, Superman (2025) is a fantastic movie and a great start off to the new DC cinematic universe. The movie “gets” Superman and the fact that it embraces its sillier side while also touching on darker themes (like Lex Luthor’s abuse of his girlfriends, threatening innocents, and the lack of respect for due process), makes it a Superman entry with something to say as well. I hate that the Engineer was used as a villain here but I think I’m probably like two or three who care about the character in the audience.

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Book Updates for July 9th, 2025

 
I wanted to thank everyone for their support for these past year and apologize for not including as many updates as you guys have been paying for. We've got some great new updates that you deserve to hear, though.

  • Jeffrey Kafer will start recording THE RETURN OF SUPERVILLAINY audiobook this August.
  • TALES OF AN ELDRITCH WASTELAND is now available on audiobook. It is narrated by Gary Noon.
  • We just finished on a new Books of Cthulhu Anthology, TALES OF SHUB-NIGGURATH.
  • My next project will be the fourth and final Cthulhu Armageddon. 

I hope you'll check them all out.

Monday, June 16, 2025

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga review

    Furiosa: A Mad Max Story is the prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the best movies of the 21st century as well as arguably the best of the Mad Max franchise. The movie was originally supposed to be filmed back to back with Fury Road, starring Charlize Theron, but events resulted in it being filmed a decade later with a new actress. The recasting and the long wait time may have contributed to its failure at the box office. There is also the question of how much of a niche property a Mad Max movie is without Mad Max.

    The premise is that Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a young woman living in a desert oasis when she’s kidnapped by raiders and brought before wasteland warlord, Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Dementus is a bizarre and flamboyant character, leading his biker gang as much on whim as anyone coherent strategy. Dementus adopts Furiosa, against her will, and kills her mother before her eyes. Thus begins Furiosa’s decade-long quest for revenge against the individual that involves rival warlord, Immortan Joe, and his army of War Boys. Furiosa also befriends a rig driver named Praetorian Jack, who may be something more.

    My opinion on the film? Well, it’s good but not great. A prequel is something that always has an uphill battle to win over viewers because a large amount of the tension is removed. We know Furiosa is going to live and eventually rebel against Immortan Joe. Thus it is on the movie to make side characters whose fates we care about or make the events compelling enough that we don’t care about knowing what is going to happen to them. Furiosa, unfortunately, doesn’t quite do either.

    Anya Taylor-Joy is likable enough as Furiosa but it is hard to believe she is the hardened protagonist of Fury Road. She is mostly silent throughout the film and while this is the case for Mad Max himself in most of the movies, this is a far more talky film than most of them. Some more scenes where we find out what she thinks of her Devil’s alliance with Immortan Joe and her relationship with Praetorian Jack would have been welcome. Indeed, the complete lack of romance scenes despite one being central to her relationship to Joe’s regime is unfortunate.

    As a result of Furiosa’s silence, Chris Hemsworth steals the movie for better and worse. The movie makes the bizarre choice to give him a fake nose and teeth, perhaps to distract from his natural good looks, as well as have him speak in an especially nasal voice that is just confusing. Dementus is perhaps the most interesting character in the movie, though, with a surprising amount of nuance. He does terrible, unforgivable, things in the movie but you understand his perspective. Indeed, part of the movie’s problem is Dementus is charismatic enough and Immortan Joe is so one-dimensionally evil that you root for the former against the latter. This despite Furiosa being on Joe’s side(ish).

    Really, the movie feels like a tamer and toned down version of Fury Road. Fury Road was in your face about its feminist message, contrasted with two hours of relentless action that, nevertheless, kept its message clear. Furiosa, at its worst, feels like the PG-13 Hunger Games version of the post-apocalypse. Furiosa is sold to Joe’s harem and it pretty much skips over that part (not that I wanted to see the trauma involved) despite the fact that seems like it is a pretty important part of her story. We also have only a couple of other women in the movie, none of whom really interact with Furiosa. She is, to quote a lot of bad fiction, “not like other girls.”

    Spectacle-wise, the movie also falls short. It’s a very pretty film, don’t get me wrong. Unfortunately, CGI is heavily relied on in this film to the point that it feels less gritty and grounded by a significant degree. Fury Road had some CGI, but it’s a lot more noticeable here. The characters pull off cartoonish stunts that make it feel like an anime at times. I think it says a lot about my opinion of the movie that some of my favorite parts of the film were the appearance of Mad Max video game characters like Scrotus and Chumbucket, canonizing them.

    It’s not a bad film, but if you want to know a single moment that defines it for me, it’s when Furiosa has been masquerading as a boy for years in the pits of Immortan Joe’s mechanics shop. The wind picks up at one point and reveals her beautiful flowing hair, revealing her to be a girl to Praetorian Jack, which says the movie didn’t think that Furiosa would shave her head to protect her identity. It’s the kind of thing that takes you out of the film.

Available here