"Skull and Bones," Had a Beta Test. It Was Surprisingly Good

 

I've been following the saga of the long-delayed game, "Skull and Bones," for years now. After the sea-crossing combat of, "Assasin's Creed IV," was such a hit with gamers, Ubisoft started development on a game focused mainly on ocean stuff and then it entered development Hell for a good chunk of time. There was a public-ish Beta test a few days ago where players could sign up to try a supposedly almost completed version of the game. To the surprise of everyone, it went...swimmingly (pun intended). Could, "Skull and Bones," turn out to be a legitimately fun time?

Apparently, the ship-to-ship combat was a hoot, the story was shockingly interesting, and quibbles about the game seemed minor when everyone expected more of a wreck than a functional game. Even though some games that go through a development nightmare seem worse for the wear by the end ("Duke Nukem Forever," comes to mind), maybe all the work done on, "Skull and Bones," will result in something solidly entertaining. Stranger things have happened. The game is supposedly due for release a some point before March 2024, so we shall see as long as there aren't more delays upon delays.

"Immortal Thor," #1 Kicks the Series Off Quite Nicely

I adored, "Immortal Hulk," when it was coming out. Written by beloved talent Al Ewing (with art by the now-disgraced Joe Bennett, but enough about that), I was ecstatic when I heard Ewing was going to be launching a new Immortal book via, "Immortal Thor." Alex Ross would be back doing some gorgeous covers and the artist for this series was announced to be Martín Cóccolo--a superb artist. The first issue has come out, and I enjoyed it a great deal.

"Immortal Thor," #1 sets up some mysteries with Loki, introduces a new threat for Thor to face, and has some gorgeous splash pages that make something as simple as Thor flying around New York City have a majestic quality. If, "Immortal Hulk," were at its heart a horror story about the evil humankind is capable of I would say, "Immortal Thor," is shaping up to be an epic fantasy tale. "Immortal Hulk," was about the evil deep down within while, "Immortal Thor," looks to be about the power to do good even if a malevolent obstacle stands in the way. Buckle up, everyone, because Ewing and Cóccolo clearly plan to take us on quite a wild ride. I'm here for it.

5 out of 5 stars.

Television Tuesday: Telemarketers

HBO has aired all three episodes of, "Telemarketers," and the whole series now is streamable on MAX. I 100% recommend you watch this documentary as it is utterly fascinating, engaging, and will make you pretty pissed about how easy it is for telemarketing scams to keep happening. The docuseries focuses on Sam and Patrick--two guys who worked for a massive telemarketing company known as Civic Development Group/CDG. Sam started filming stuff in the office and eventually he and Pat started exploring just how horrifically corrupt and messed-up telemarketing was. 

The first episode mainly focuses on CDG and how it went about fleecing money from victims who thought they were donating to charities, but in actuality were mainly lining CDG's pockets. However, as the scope widens it is astonishing to see how brazenly corrupt a lot of telemarketing is with very few, "Good guys/gals," involved.

A big, "Ah-ha," moment comes in the second episode when it starts being dug into how even if companies like CDG took 90% of donations given towards the nonprofits they were calling for, those nonprofits often were pretty damn corrupt themselves too. These police unions or medical nonprofits always seemed to escape unscathed from legal attempts to shut down telemarketing companies, and Sam and Pat (with a handful of other people) feel like they are the only ones who care. It isn't only the telemarketers who are up to no good, it is often the supposed, "Good," agencies they allegedly took advantage of but actually were quite in cahoots with.

The third episode features a lot of Sam and Pat trying to get someone, anyone to take action as in the 2020s telemarketing has turned into even more of a fiasco thanks to the rise of AI and political groups being able to, "Fundraise," with even less oversight than the minimal amount that did exist. Throughout all three episodes, the personalities and sheer determination of Sam and Pat make them endearing and we viewers really cheer for these citizen journalists as they struggle against all the powers that be to make it clear that this shit is wrong--yet nobody is doing anything! Reviews for the show have been glowing pretty much anywhere I look, and I agree that this show is 100% worth watching. Now hopefully it will actually help spur some kind of action to have telemarketing face even the slightest obstacles to ripping folks off.

5 out of 5 stars.

NFTs Are Cratering. We All Predicted This

Remember when those pieces of digital art people claimed they could, "Own," via the blockchain were popular with a number of gullible rubes? They were called NFTs and they combined the worst aspects of cryptocurrency with the art World. The whole market fell apart, but one saving grace was at least artists would make some money from their NFTs getting bought, sold, and traded, right? Apparently not, with the idea of giving artists royalties fragmenting the so-called NFT market even more and leading to a bunch of lawsuits. 

You've got NFTs that have lost 95% of their so-called value, artists getting nothing for their work, and the one NFT line that seems to be selling is Donald Trump-related. I guess scamming suckers is pretty on-brand for him. Everyone with some sense warned against cryptocurrency and really raised red flags about NFTs. Seeing they are faltering reminds me of that one Loki meme I shall now share:

I mean, really, it is sad folks have lost money, but they should've known better than to invest in something so foolish. Some people made a lot of money on cryptocurrency and NFTs, but those same people seem to have quickly gotten out of the market before it crashed. Everyone left, "Holding the bag," discovered their sack full of gold was actually pyrite (fool's gold) and that's the best metaphor I can offer for crypto and NFTs.

The ToyMan for August 2023 Was a Treat!

I wasn't sure if I'd make it to this ToyMan Show as we had Gibson right after the last one. However, it worked out for me to go so I was excited to get some great comics and see all the cool folks! It was an outrageously fun show as always and continues to be the #1 show I recommend if you're after stuff. By, "Stuff," I of course mean comics, toys, Lego, Funko, old posters, diecast toys, and anything else cool you can think up. I kicked off the show saying hello to my friend Tim Metzger and chatting with John Chaffee of Bigfoot Comics and Collectibles. I then caught up with Spike from Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles. Tom from Alliance Comics, Toys, and Games had a lot of cool stuff too and I saw the delightful Kristen and Andy of Grape's Games. I traded some of my comics and threw in some cash to buy a gorgeous copy of, "Uncanny X-Men," #130 from Vince of VK Toys. There are some crazy-sounding rumors about Taylor Swift possibly having a cameo as Dazzler in the upcoming, "Deadpool 3," but I'm not sure how much stock I put into that. I just like Dazzler regardless of any film adaptations! Take a look:

When I went upstairs I had the chance to see my usual awesome friends, Jessica Mathews, Lindsay Hornsby, and Debbie Manbe Kupfer. They all are fantastic authors and I enjoy having a number of their works on my bookshelf! I also saw Amanda Baker who's Bound in Art business makes cool custom resin creations. I chatted with author Christine E. Schulze too, who had a number of neat fantasy books for sale. It had been a bit since I'd run into J.E. Nelson but she was doing great as well! Heroes for Kids was upstairs too, discussing how their recent show had been fun (I was unable to attend as Gibson had just been born). I bought a very cute alphabet sing-a-long book from Jacqueline James and I'm sure Clarkson and Gibson will both enjoy it. Here is a picture:

Today's ToyMan was full of lovely people, and awesome things to buy. It continues to be one of my favorite shows to attend as any time I go I'm basically guaranteed to to find something cool (or multiple things) I want to have come home with me. The next show is on November 5th, so mark your calendars and make sure to attend if you're able!

Bob Barker Has Passed at the Age of 99

I have always enjoyed watching, "The Price is Right." Drew Carey took over hosting back in 2007, but before that, the long, longtime host was Bob Barker. The man was telegenic and charismatic. He was an outspoken advocate against animal cruelty. He had some scandals back in the 90s relating to relationships with models on the show but he weathered that controversy to have quite the career and a whole bunch of people who spoke of him fondly. I'm speaking in the past tense as Bob Barker just passed at the age of 99. He was a fun dude and will be missed. We'll always have hours of television featuring him and one of the funniest scenes in the movie, "Happy Gilmore," where he and Adam Sandler's character get into a brawl at a charity golf tournament. He will be missed.

Film Friday: The, "Good Burger 2," Teaser is Out

Back in March I wrote about how I was cautiously optimistic to hear we were getting a sequel to, "Good Burger." The 1997 movie grew out of a skit on, "All That," which was like Saturday Night Live for kids back in the day. "Good Burger," was funny then and still holds up pretty well to this day. Now in 2023 we're revisiting Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell's Dexter and Ed characters on Paramount+ to get a good hit of nostalgia and hopefully something that stands on its own feet too without being overly reliant on said nostalgia. "Good Burger 2," is due this Fall and the teaser has been released. Give it a look:

That isn't much to go on for now, but at least the, "Dude," jingle is there and the outfits are on point. Before too long we'll know if, "Good Burger 2," is a tasty sequel or something that should've been sent back. The part of me with fond youthful memories of, "All That," and the first movie hopes it is great fun.

My Thoughts on that, "Prime," Energy Drink

There is an energy drink known as, "Prime." It is popular with the youth thanks to internet, "Influencers," KSI (I do not know who they are as I am old), and Logan Paul (I do know who he is and he's annoying). It has zero sugar but is full of caffeine to the degree the FDA has been petitioned to investigate the beverage. The issue is not exactly the caffeine content (about the same as two cups of coffee) so much as if this drink is being marketed to kids. The bottle clearly says you should be 18 or older to ingest this much caffeine, but nobody is gonna card you for an energy drink, obviously (besides in the old days when Four Loko had booze with caffeine, and that made lots of folks sick). 

There is some controversy, but I was curious if this drink even tasted any good. After all, I've tried Red Bull and that is awful. The only energy drink that ever tasted okay to me was perhaps Amp, and that seems to be mostly discontinued. I, therefore, sampled the Prime fruit punch flavor, and it was alright. It tasted like a diet fruit punch with some carbonation. The bubbles helped it, "Pop," a bit more than it otherwise would have. I wasn't retching from the drink but was far from impressed. As for the caffeine content, I am pretty much always drinking hot coffee or iced coffee regardless of the time of day, so I didn't notice myself feeling any extra awake or jittery. That said, someone who doesn't drink much coffee or caffeinated beverages and drinks down a whole bottle of Prime in a short sitting might feel some ill side effects. Your mileage may vary regarding flavor, feeling hyper, and so forth, in other words. Without the influencer cachet I doubt this energy drink would get much hype, so hats off for managing to get press--good and bad. In terms of actual quality, however, I'd rate Prime's fruit punch flavor 2 out of 5 stars. I'm in no rush to try any other flavors either.

Comic Book Resources is Going Full-On Dumpster Fire

Heidi MacDonald of Comicsbeat has a post up discussing just how badly things are going at Comic Book Resources. They use a dumpster on the fire as the header image, which is pretty accurate. I noted in May of this year how CBR was being overhauled but it was probably too late to save the site from continuing to suck (which it had since about 2016 when the current owner, Valnet, took over). Someone on CBR's own Twitter/X account threw shade (one assumes before being locked out of the account) about how the site has essentially no comic news anymore and will just be full of AI-generated clickbait (at least the current clickbait seems to be all human-based). Rich Johnston of Bleedingcool discussed this depressing-yet-also-funny event too.

This is a shame as CBR used to be a fantastic comic-book site. Now the best comic sites we've got are the aforementioned Comicsbeat and Bleedingcool (which is pretty tabloid-styled and full of intrusive ads but has its charms). I check or link to CBR so rarely it is like it might as well not exist. That could very well be the case sooner than later, the way things are going.

Television Tuesday: "Love Island USA," Has Been Especially Raunchy This Season

I lap up trashy reality television like a thirsty animal given a fresh bowl of water. Instead of H2O, I enmesh myself in drama and absurdity, and the latest season of, "Love Island USA," has been filled to the brim with crazy nonsense. The, "Love Island," franchise involves a number of countries, but the American version started out on CBS before the last season and this one shifted to Peacock. The shift to streaming allowed a lot more swearing and a lot more raunchy content to be shown--figuratively and literally in the sense we get more graphic discussions and see a whole lot more lady-ass and man-bulge. I honestly was a bit bored last season with, "Love Island," and felt Peacock didn't take advantage of how it could, "Go there," more. Well, this season of, "Love Island USA," has been absurdly horny and crazy.

The show has earned its TV-MA rating with lots of sex talk, a good deal of swearing, and plenty of barely-under-the-covers night-vision scenes of folks outright going at it in various ways. This season has been chock-full of folks eager to mingle without a doubt. Everyone is here to find love--in theory--but if we're being blunt these 20-somethings are gonna go for a handjob first and then hold hands/go steady afterward. It is funny that this season is much more sexual as the cast as a whole is a lot harder to like. Most of the men seem to want to say they’re committed to being in a couple and then go do something risqué as soon as a new woman enters the villa…then that first girl they were with always wants to forgive them for being dumbasses. Host Sarah Hyland herself has seemed befuddled by some choices as the coupling ceremonies. It’s incredibly messy but there are some bright spots in the cast.

A young man who goes by Bergie almost seems like he was put on the show by accident. He is fit and handsome but just seems incredibly different from the usual guys cast on the show. He struggled to make a connection with anyone in the villa a first but did find a lady and they seem happy together (perhaps when we all vote for the favorite final couples this week they’ll win as the internet seems to love Bergie too). I really liked a woman named Hannah too. She and Marco have been a happy couple for some time and could win the season too as America's favorite couple, I'd wager. Still, a lot of the men and women have been immature, rude, and a bit annoying…but again, these are young people full of hormones and a devil-may-care attitude, so you expect them to be a bit abrasive as many of us were in our 20s.

The second season, “Love Island USA,” on Peacock and fifth overall has been good fun but I am ready for it to wind down. Just like a big party, it is bright and fun at first. Eventually, you’re exhausted, sick of everyone sloppily going at it, and the jokes the host keeps repeating have gotten old (sorry, Iain Stirling, but I’ll forever prefer Matt Hoffman as the voice of the show). That said, even if I’m worn out I’ll be looking forward to next Summer when a whole new batch of horned-up singles attempt to find, “Love,” or at least do mouth-stuff to pass the time. God bless America.

5 out of 5 stars.