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PTF Reviews Blue Baron 1.2

Started by PTF, May 21, 2018, 02:35:36 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

PTF

 PTF Reviews The Blue Baron 1.2

Man, reading digital comics is a pain now. Stupid Windows photo keeps going with clicking on the curser and enlarging a portion of the comic...and the zoom doesn't work. I mean, yeah, I can reset it easily enough, but then it's right back up. Seriously, what doorknob at Microsoft thought this was a good idea? I decide what is good!!

Speaking of....




When we last left off, Blue Baron was a top hero, Ernie was a loser; now, Blue Baron is Ernie and Ernie is Blue Baron and that has not been going well for either. Will this improve or is everyone in a lose-lose situation?


The Good.

The first page. Oh well. There we go. That page would have solved a good bit of my problems with the first part. Honestly, it really should have been the last page for that section as it just works better, but hey—Ernie's mom's name is Wanda. ...gotta be honest, I was really hoping for "May."


Blue Baron and Ernie. I just like how they are reacting to their situation. Blue Ernie is an immature teen in a superhero/multi-millionaire's body and has no idea what to do. I think my favorite is when he goes to help the Hero Union against Bad Company. And...that's how it really should go with Blue Ernie just messing everything up because he doesn't know his powers, he doesn't know how to fight, teamwork in general and it's still pretty funny.

And I like how Blue Ernie interacts with various people because—he's a little snot. Nearly every teen is a know it all little snot. Like his rundown on poor Protége. He got called out and he lashed out.

And Ernie Baron is not having much luck either. He's going from a grown adult to a kid with a super smothering mom who won't give him any space. And he has to deal with Ernie's problems: like gym class and a bully named Slater.

And he's a jerk. Best way to describe him would be Hawkeye in Superman's body. He's abrasive, arrogant, doesn't think things through and is hot headed. But he's still a good guy. He's patient with Ernie, opens up to him and gives him the encouragement and advice he needed to save the day.

The writing. And now with the rest of the writing. It's still funny. No jokes I really didn't like. I like the parallel to how the last issue ended now with Blue Ernie having to find his way around a mansion. And the villains were super fun and wacky. And there's some depth like Maven being a former hero and ex lover of Blue Baron. And the heroes are fun and each distinctive. And honestly...I laughed out loud at Blue Ernie just tearing into Protégé. Yeah, it was savage but so true.

And while Ernie Baron has gotten he short end of the stick, I liked how you have a man with superpowers not stuck in teen's body and...well, there's a big difference. And his ongoing war with Slater should be fun. And I like how, hanging out with a younger generation...even he wanted to change his outfit. That leads to a nice moment from Ernie that shows real maturity and appreciation for Blue Baron's rich history.

And the action is really well done. Not to take away from Darin Henry, but I think a lot of that has to do with Ron Frenz.



The art and everything else:

Yeah this was a great issue. I loved the fight and how it was funny and action packed. Just a great range of angles and layout. And I really love Blue Ernie's facial expressions when he's about to screw up or he has to explain himself or take responsibility. And Ernie Baron and his angry, arrogant reactions to everything is fun to look at. Him trying to climb a rope or pick a fight with someone twice his new body's size. And I really appreciate how everyone is on model. A standard that has dropped in certain companies cuffMarvelComicscuff. My favorite pages would definetly be when Blue Ernie is "helping" The Hero Union and just the action and insanity of it all. Most of the insanity being Mr. Rollercoaster.

It's just nice to go back and see new things I missed in a comic the first time.

And the coloring and lettering is great like always. Glen Whitmore just kills it. And Sal Buscema does a great job enhancing the art with his inks, which makes sense since the two worked on Spider-Girl together. And let's give him credit for the cover which is really nice. Man, it's nice when a comic's cover actually has something to do with the story inside. Maybe it's just me, but most covers feel phoned in.



The Bad

Hey, Ernie's dad and sister. Yeah, again, they don't get much to do with Ernie's dad getting a page and the little sister nothing. That'll probably change in the next issues and this comic does have a fairly numerous supporting cast, not to mention the main characters, villains, so someone's going to sit on the bench.



What I learned form what I read.

Blue Baron and The Phantom have a lot in common.
  • Carson Corp is full of suck ups.
  • Ernie's mom's name is Wanda.
  • Never bring a rookie into a superhero fight.
  • Blue Baron may not be subtle, but he does know how to motivate.
  • Blue Baron's one weakness: Gym class.
  • Protégé's costume stinks. I mean maybe for a kid sidekick it's fine...but you're 23! Winter Soldier up!
  • Fighting an ex-teammate is bad. Fighting an ex-girlfriend makes it worse.
  • Blue Baron just won someone their fantasy league.
  • Just that a character like Mr. Rollercoaster exists.
 
Yeah, this was a really great issue. This was a fun read and review write up. I mean, the writing was great, the art is great. Only critique I have is Ernie's dad and sister not getting much panel time or named. Some people might not like the design of some costumes but...it's humor-action book. What do you expect?


It's an A. With the quality and price you can't go wrong here.


DeCarlo Rules

#1
Quote from: PTF on May 21, 2018, 02:35:36 AM
PTF Reviews The Blue Baron 1.2

Man, reading digital comics is a pain now. Stupid Windows photo keeps going with clicking on the curser and enlarging a portion of the comic...and the zoom doesn't work. I mean, yeah, I can reset it easily enough, but then it's right back up. Seriously, what doorknob at Microsoft thought this was a good idea? I decide what is good!!

Whatever made you think that? Your only real decision is what software you'll buy or use for any particular purpose, and whether to install it or uninstall it. You have absolutely ZERO influence when it comes to how that software is going to be designed. And if it's perfect just the way it is, then just wait until the next upgrade -- they can always find things to fix that ain't broke... 'cause y'know... they gotta sell those ridiculous unnecessary upgrades, whether the software needs it or not. That's the way the game is played.

In this instance though, there's nothing wrong with the software design. The problem here is the end user. You're using the wrong piece of software. Your first major clue should have been the name of the software... Windows PHOTO. Are you looking at photos? No, you're looking at images. All photos are images, but not all images (like a scan of a piece of line-drawn artwork) are photos. It's called Windows PHOTO because it's designed for people who take photographs, and want to be able to manipulate those photos (hopefully improving the photo) by EDITing them. You're not editing the image you're looking at, so the primary function that Windows Photo was designed for is of no use to you.

What you want is a piece of software designed mainly just for VIEWING images, not for editing them, like Microsoft Picture VIEWER (stupidly renamed Microsoft PHOTO Viewer in later versions, just to make things more confusing). Picture and image mean the same thing, but while all photos are pictures, not all pictures are photos. I could draw you a picture, but I couldn't draw you a photo. Now, the fact that Microsoft went from calling this piece of software Microsoft PICTURE Viewer, to calling it Microsoft PHOTO Viewer in later versions, tells you something about Microsoft right there. They are pretty much making some presumptions about what the average computer user wants to view. Dropping VIEWER from the name of the product leads them even further out on that tangent of assumption. Presuming that nobody's going to be reading digital comics using this software, why not make it even more useful for those people who are photo buffs and want to take photos and tweak the images by editing? It makes no difference that Microsoft is absolutely right about that (statistically speaking) in the case of the vast majority of computer users. By making that assumption, they IMPROVE the usefulness of the software for MOST people, but REDUCE the usefulness of the software for a minority of users (such as people who want to use it as a digital comics reader).

The old MS Picture/Photo Viewer software is pretty simple to work. The default view is the image at 100% size, unless the image is too big to fit the window -- then it defaults to make the maximum image height the height of the viewer window. There's a button on the simple toolbar that you click once to toggle that view to maximize the image's width (or fit the width of the viewer window, whichever is smaller) and clicking it again returns to the former default view. There are arrows on the toolbar for back and forward (to the previous image, or on to the next one), and a little magnifying glass with a + sign in it for scaling the zoom on the image manually. Very simple to use. Maybe you used to have that in an older version of Windows before Windows 10. You can still get it back, though. You should decide that Windows Photo is not the right software for viewing images that aren't photos and that you don't want to edit. That would be a good decision.

How to get Windows Photo Viewer back in Windows 10
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-get-windows-photo-viewer-back-in-windows-10/

How to Make Windows Photo Viewer Your Default Image Viewer on Windows 10
https://www.howtogeek.com/225844/how-to-make-windows-photo-viewer-your-default-image-viewer-on-windows-10/

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