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rael-rider · 3 years

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Sam Wilson, Thor, Bucky Barnes, Namorita, Gamora. Scarlet Witch. Shuri. Black Panther. Whichever of these you want to talk about, have at it. Good day.

I’ll do three of these characters and if you really want me to talk about the others just ask me again. I do only three because I tend to ramble sometimes (partially because I can’t decide on one thing for certain questions) and I’ll stretch this to infinity if I do all of them.

Sam Wilson

First impression: I think it was when I was reading older Captain America comics and I got to his first appearance and I vaguely knew he was Cap's partner in the comics at that point. I remember thinking that I liked his power since I love birds and Sam talks to birds, I also liked his chemistry with Steve.

Impression now: He is one of my favorite Cap characters, I really love him and I think a Captain America isn't Captain America without him. Like I consider him essential to the Cap mythos. I love the Gruenwald and Roger Stern runs but my major gripe about those runs is that Sam is barely in them.

Favorite moment: Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8-9 AKA the first time Sam became Captain America. I also liked his Generations story with Steve.

Idea for a story: Something that deals with Sam's telepathy and how powerful it is and maybe the fact that it can also extend to other animals, creatures, and aliens that are related to birds (Since the Shi’ar are part birds would his telepathy work on them?). Other than that I guess I would like more stuff with Sam's family.

Unpopular opinion: I don't know if this is unpopular but I liked the Remender Sam Cap run. Probably waaay more than his run with Steve.

Favorite relationship: Sam and Steve obviously is number one, I'm pretty much convinced they're married. I also like Sam's relationship with Sharon, Bucky, Joaquin, and Misty. I pretty much like Sam with a lot of characters although I guess I didn't really care much for his relationship with Jane since that really came out of nowhere and I don't think they ever broke up or anything.

Favorite headcanon: He's worthy of Mjolnir but he just doesn't care to find out. Sam has anxiety and Redwing helps him deal with it. Geese are some of the bird species he doesn't particularly like to talk to because they're major assholes. Crows are some of his favorite because of their ingenuity and how well informed they are (he will get information from them when he's on a stakeout). He knows Steve will do anything for him and sometimes he'll take advantage of that for the most mundane stuff (like getting a glass of milk from him, getting Steve to cook for him, or if Steve is going to an event where he can only bring a +1 Sam gets to be his plus if he wants too). He doesn't really like to call Bucky James because the name reminds him of his nephew James Wilson. Because Bruce Banner refused to give his blood to James Wilson when he was dying (he didn't want to create another Hulk) Sam doesn't exactly see eye to eye with him. Sam has trouble sleeping because he's a light sleeper (he didn't live in a good area while growing up and had to always be alert) and he likes to wake up early.

Black Panther

First impression: First time I saw him was in the Fantastic Four cartoon when I was a kid and I remember thinking he was like a cat version of Batman. He manages to beat the F4 easily if I recall and I thought that was badass.

Impression now: I like T'Challa, I binge read his comics up until the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda (which I still have to finish).

Favorite moment: When he beats the KKK in McGregor's run that was such a powerful moment. Panther's Quest, his fight with Killmonger in Priest's run.

Idea for a story: I would like Al Ewing to do more stuff with T'Challa, I liked how Ewing handled him in Ultimates. I haven't finished Coates' Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda but what I read I thought was interesting. I guess I want more BP cosmic stuff, the TLA tie-in comic was good too.

Unpopular opinion: I really didn't get that much into Hudlin's Black Panther run.

Favorite relationship: T'Challa and Steve Rogers, T'Challa and his family (Ramonda, Shuri, and yes even Hunter), I enjoyed his big brother type of relationship with Asira AKA Queen Divine Justice. His friendship with Everett Ross in the comics (which I kind of miss). His frenemy relationship with Namor is kind of interesting too.

Favorite headcanon: T'challa exudes confidence and coolness but I imagine he internally freaks out about some things but he's just THAT good at hiding it. He is a bit of a momma's boy. He is angry about Hunter being such a difficult asshole because part of him really wanted to have a normal sibling relationship with him (he might have bonded with Thor over that at some point when Loki was still evil). There are moments he wishes he wasn't King of Wakanda because the responsibility is that great and he wishes to have more freedom. He's very much a tea kind of guy.

Thor

First impression: He popped up in some of the Marvel cartoons that I saw and I just thought he talked funny and like most of the Avengers back then I was vaguely aware of him.

Impression now: I love Thor, I went and did a deep dive of all his comics and he’s a character I really love.

Favorite moment: Various moments from the Walt Simonson run. Like his talk with Jorgumandr before they fought was interesting. How after he literally became a puddle of ashes from how many times the Destroyer kept zapping him trying to kill him(he was unable to die because of a curse from Hela) his spirit jumps into the Destroyer, he goes to Hela's Domain and harasses her until she lifts the curse and returns him to normal. The scene from Thor: Heaven and Earth were he reads a dying Catholic Priest his last rites. Every time he earthbends or shows he's Gaea's son is a pretty cool scene.

Idea for a story: A story were Thor meets his mom's side of the family and acknowledges them as family. Like Gaea is the Earth Goddess in every pantheon and pretty much gave birth to almost every God and Goddess on Earth and is related to them (this would makes Zeus Thor’s nephew and the Hawaiian Goddess Pele his half-sister). I still wonder why no one has made that story (lets face it the whole Phoenix thing? It's going to get retconned).

Unpopular opinion: While Donald Blake isn't necessary for Thor's story now I feel that making him into a different person and not Thor takes a lot of Thor's character and kind takes away an important part of Thor. Mainly the idea that when given a new clean slate in life and being reborn as a mortal, Thor chooses to become a healer. If Blake is a fake person that Odin made (and ugh the whole thing is convoluted now because of it) and Thor never did anything it makes no sense. But the way I see it Odin lied about making Blake out of nothing and he just separated Thor's mortal side from him as a way to take Thor's attachment to Earth. it would explain why Blake is acting the way he is and why Thor has been written as such a jerk lately. I also don’t care for the angry violent Viking portrayal that some writers do with him.

Favorite relationship: Thor and Loki, because the most interesting and complex relationship both of those characters have is with each other (I have a tag for them). I also like Thor's relationship with Steve Rogers who is his favorite mortal alongside Jane. I also like Thor's relationship with Balder (who is also his brother and needs to come back), Sif, and the Warriors Three. I also loooooove Thor and Beta Ray Bill.

Favorite headcanon: I think Thor likes to read books and has some of his own geeky interests that stayed with him from the time he was living as Don.

#wondyanswers

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undeadimpulsereviews · 6 years

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Franken Fran

Warning before we begin, I will be spoiling some of the story to get points across. If you want to read Franken Fran, then I advise you steer clear just in case.

Over the years the original story of Frankenstein has been re-purposed and/or re-told in many different shapes and forms. Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, etc. Many stories take their liberties and some may not fully understand the original works of Mary Shelley. Though the loosest of these would probably be the manga series Franken Fran.

While it’s not attempting to be like Frankenstein; it still takes the name, and some ideas, and alters them to a great extent. For example, the main character Fran is a monster that slightly resembles the original monster. She is a scientist that works under another well known scientist who works in fields no sane person would ever delve. She tampers with life and death to better understand the limits of science and humanity. The mangaka even goes as far as having Fran somewhat of a recluse who lives in a spooky mansion in the middle of a dense forest. Though, when it comes to Kigitsu Katsuhisa’s horror manga, the last thing anyone should do is compare it to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It may take some inspiration, no matter how small that may be, but it doesn’t have the same gravity and ideals.

Franken Fran first started publication in 2006 and has since finished it’s run. It started in Champion RED magazine and was recently fully translated to English thanks to Seven Seas Entertainment. The manga is structured in short stories that follow the weird happenings of the mysterious monster doctor, Fran Madaraki. Some stories are told in the length of a chapter, while others are told throughout the course of the manga. Ultimately however there is no overall linear story to Franken Fran. Some people will say that the overarching plot is about Fran’s creator, Madaraki; however, this so called plot line goes nowhere. Madaraki is never seen and the final reveal never truly happens. Most of the longer stories only span three parts and they aren’t consecutive in the manga. The first part might be chapter 14, and then the reader won’t know how the story continues until chapter 30. There are also some plot holes, and lost information throughout the manga. For example there is a story line regarding a man who wishes to help others in the guise of a Sentai hero.

This story starts off normal, aside from the supernatural; however, like most of the stories, it takes a turn for the worse and results in the so called “hero” becoming a monster himself. If the story ended there it would have been a decent short story; yet, it continues for another few parts. It’s one of the manga’s longest running stories and starts to get boring. The biggest problem I had with this story is that the first hero, Sentinel 1, should be dead. He turns into an actual monster and is killed by Sentinel 2. This isn’t the case however, about three parts in it’s shown that he’s perfectly fine and fighting alongside Sentinel 2. When did this happen, and how? The Sentinel saga isn’t the only story arc that suffers from these issues. There is a set of chapters dedicated to an amusement park called Rolling world. In the park, the mascots are all scientifically modified with a human being. This allows the mascots to move, think, and act like humans.

The first chapter doesn’t really show anything about the amusement park, but instead we find a man who dies and is placed in the main mascot suit. He finds a little girl who is abused by her father/step-father. The daughter tells the man that she is also the victim of rape and, ultimately, as events unfold both the father and mascot man die again. This time, Fran places the man in the mascot in the fathers body and vice versa. So the daughter gets a happy ending, and a pedophile gets to work in a park filled with children. End of story, except none of this matters. Chapter 39, Fran is now in the same amusement park and no mention of the original events ever take place; in fact, it’s treated like this previous story never happened. Now every mascot is a scientifically modified creature. This time however, the creatures go on a rampage in the park.

It’s almost like zombies roaming around aimlessly. The mascots force people to hole up in the park. As time goes on the survivors find that music is the key. As long as music is playing the mascots don’t act up. Everything works out in the end and it’s all a happy ending. How, why isn’t anyone stopping this? Many people were murdered in the park and someone it continues to thrive? Why would they still use the mascots knowing they could go on a killing spree again if technology fails? Do lawsuits not exist in this universe? Why aren’t there families up in arms over their relatives dying? It makes no sense, but why stop there. Fast forward about twenty chapters and now the mascots have evolved to reason and love.

The events of the previous part happened, this chapter is considered a continuation after the mass murder of Rolling world. How do they tie it all together? One text box saying that the amusement park suffered a terrible tragedy some time ago, but it’s okay because the park is still standing firm. This is lazy. Not only does it never explain why the mascots evolved, the manga plays by a Bob Ross mentality of everything that happens from Fran’s mistakes and shortcomings is all a “happy little accident.”

The manga tries to hard to be a part of the Horror manga, but it comes up short. It’s thanks to many factors, but the plot holes are among the biggest offenders. If the manga didn’t feel so lazily put together and there was a nice level of polish between chapters that gave context it could be something interesting, but it still has one big glaring problem. In it’s attempt to be horrifying, it also presents itself in a comedic light. Do the jokes hit? In my opinion they were stale and hurt the manga more than it helped. Regardless, as time went on the manga lost focus and instead just felt like a poor attempt at comedy instead of horror.

Signs of this can be seen from the first chapter, not counting the pilot one-shot; the manga had promise, but the results just didn’t hold any weight. In the first chapter, Fran is asked to save a girl who was hit by a passing van. She agrees, only because she believes love could blossom. So she puts the girl in a temporary Caterpillar body.

Long story short, the girl goes through a transformation and gets her body back. Thanks to the efforts of the boy who stood by her, feelings did bloom and they do the totally logical move. They rent a love hotel and plan to just go the whole way around the bases. These two have never once dated and originally the girl hated the boy but, that aside,the next image is pretty gruesome.

Thanks to the procedure, some of the DNA of the bug was still present in the girl and she changes into a monster who feeds off the boy. The ideas and visuals can definitely be called horrifying; however, it’s underwhelming thanks to how Fran reacts.”For insects, the transformation is intended to assist in egg laying and copulation. Hopefully that won’t cause any problems.” The biggest red flag has been raised and the reveal is underwhelming as a result. Not to mention that the final line just feels so tongue and cheek. Like “oh, I’ve just potentially killed a man, and forever ruined the life of many, but who cares because Love.” I understand horror isn’t always serious, but there should still be a fine line. Franken Fran doesn’t draw this line, it’s all over the place. It can’t nail down what it wishes to be and it struggles because of this. Though, the blame doesn’t fall solely on how the story is told and written. A lot of the problems can also be traced to the cast, mainly Fran.

Fran is not a good or interesting character. She is full of flaws, but none of them are endearing. Going back to Frankenstein, he was a flawed character. Frankenstein wanted to explore the path less traveled. When the monster was created he immediately saw his creation and wasn’t met with joy, but fear. Mary Shelley’s story utilizes the cast in a way that serves an overarching theme. It all works. Fran is not like this. She creates and destroys, and instead of learning and growing as a scientist, she just continues down a slow and painfully boring path. People die before her eyes from the things she brings to life and she just stares with no emotion in her eyes. When families die to her mascots she does nothing, feels nothing. Some times she holds no weight in her own story. In some chapters she appears to do some procedure and that’s it. There is only one chapter that paints her in a new light, but it’s brief. When it came to the cast there was really only one character I enjoyed to some extent and that was Fran’s sister, Veronica.

While still not an amazing character she at least makes a change in terms of her character. At first it’s forced, thanks to an intervention on Fran’s part, but the new adjustment to her personality feels like something she decides upon over time. Veronica starts as a psycho bodyguard/hitman who was originally made to protect the main Professor Madaraki. Though Fran makes it so she serves as her bodyguard. Instead of killing at random like she was doing before, she slowly adjusts her outlook and becomes a much more human character for what it’s worth. Honestly she’s the closest thing to human in the entire series. The actual human characters are either extremely dense, or psychotic in their own specific ways. Everyone just feels disconnected from the story to try and present a horror element. The best example of this is the sentinels I mentioned before. At the end of the manga there are a total of four main sentinels. Each with their own dysfunctional personality.

1 is made to fight crime and ends up becoming that crime he fought, 2 is built to follow 1, 3 was built to exact revenge on 1 and 2; until, ultimately, he starts to grow a fetish for revenge on the sentinels. Lastly 4 is made to assist 3 by dying over and over so 3 can have a non-stop reason to exact revenge. It just drags on and gets worse. None of the sentinels are enjoyable and honestly there isn’t anything horrifying about them. They just seem like a poor attempt at a slap stick comedy routine that can never deliver a working punch line. If they appeared for four consecutive chapters it might be a different story, but the structure of the manga makes for a much more suffering experience. Veronica alone can’t save the cast or story. The only other potential saving grace is the visuals, but even then that’s pushing it.

Franken Fran, visually speaking, has it’s fair share of horrendous and horrifying moments. Though, again, as time goes on it slowly starts to lose it’s flair and the visuals just begin to die down.

It’s honestly up to interpretation on whether this should be regarded as horror. It’s violent and dark to say the least, but so are stories like Golden Kamui, or Hellsing and I would never regard those as horror. It’s over the top on the gore it presents and some times the monstrous creations, in concept, are definitely horrifying, but it doesn’t get far. There are so many chapters and pages that feel out of place. One moment we could have a chapter that presents something like the image above, and then the next there could be an entire city of smart cockroaches who are defending their city from a robot made by Fran, or a full chapter dedicated to students wanting plastic surgery/body modification.

The image above comes from a chapter in the first volume of the manga. The mangaka is wasting no time in showing the absurdly dumb. What about these students makes this frightening? Nothing screams scary or horror. The most horrifying thing about this chapter was the fact that not a single parent questioned and feared for their childs well being. There isn’t a moment of realism in this manga and, no matter how outlandish and regardless of what this is trying to achieve, every manga needs a level of realism.

Overall I give Franken Fran a 3 out of 10. It’s a bad manga and yet one I had high hopes for. I saw potential in areas of the manga, but a lot of this was missed. The first volume was a stepping stone that led to nothing. I want to like the manga, but there just isn’t anything appealing to me. Veronica can’t save the series alone and even then she doesn’t appear until about the half way point. The visuals may have their moments, but it’s not enough to produce results. It’s biggest part is also the biggest flaw. The story is structured so poorly and written just as badly. Whether it’s just outright unnecessary stories, or tales that either lead to nothing or are riddled with holes. There is nothing saving this manga. I personally do not recommend Franken Fran. I don’t think it’s worth the time. If you’re on the fence about this series, you can make your own opinion on the manga, but if you want my opinion you’re better off finding something else to read.

Thanks for reading to the end, sorry if this wasn’t your cup of tea. This review was not necessarily last minute, but there were other things in the back log I could have reviewed. However, I just felt I needed something for the Halloween season. The next review will be on Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice; however, I also plan to put out an editorial on an opinion regarding some media I’ve been thinking over. I’d like to do more stuff like it, but this would be the test drive so to speak. Again thank you for reading to the end and I’ll see ya again soon.

#Franken Fran #manga #champion red #horror #seinen #madaraki fran #fran madaraki #franken furan #franken furano #seven seas entertainment #omnibus #katsuhisa kigitsu #kigitsu katsuhisa

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