Only Kindness posted:

OK, let's take that onboard and have like 7.29% less Krypton and lean less into mythology, say by 5.68%.

What changes, "io9" (if that's even your real name)?

Milkfred E. Moore posted:

Cross-posting this for what should be obvious reasons...



Okay, so, weeks turned into months for a few reasons. For the past few years, I've been working on a superhero novel. Only, that isn't the right summary. It's an "anticapitalist post-superhero thriller." I consider it a superhero novel in the sense that Man of Steel is a superhero film. Or perhaps how Blindsight is a vampire novel, if you read sci-fi.

It's called In Sekhmet's Shadow. It follows a young woman who dons a suit of power armor to avenge her father and avert her nightmares of an apocalyptic future -- nightmares of fire and ash and blood, where the air isn't filled with the cries of those she has saved but the screams of her victims. Think The Boys meets Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it's also inspired by the writings of Zizek, Mark Fisher, and a particular strain of such thought that SMG blesses us with. The status quo is the enemy -- how do you save the world from it?

It's triple-drafted, completed, edited, and, according to a wide variety of genre agents, pretty much impossible to market. Too thriller for sci-fi readers, too sci-fi for thriller readers. And while people really liked the guitar-playing goth-bot, they're less sure about the romance. I'll be putting up a chapter every day (the first six are up at present) and, at approximately sixty chapters it'll be complete in two months. I want to give people an opportunity to read it, especially people from CD which is a forum that, if I'm honest, has been a massive creative inspiration. Here's the blurb.

_{If you have a RR account, a follow/rating can help, too.}

The reason why I'm cross-posting here is not just because I'm a huge fan of Zack Snyder and consider his films the only superhero texts I'm genuinely inspired by, but because an editor summed up my authorial sensibilities as "What if Zack Snyder made an arthouse film?" That, and watching ZSJL with the thread regulars in the Discord is one of those things that I wish I could experience again for the first time.

I feel like if there's an audience for this thing, it's probably in Snyder sickos who can appreciate character-driven introspection, brutal action, and a real mythological bent. My own experience with the publishing system over the past year or thereabouts also gives me even more sympathy for what any artist goes through to get their vision on the screen or the page or anything else. ZSJL was an amazing coup.

josh04 posted:

Extremely cool dude, will check it out.

Schwarzwald posted:

Before I provide an answer: is Kurt Angle added to this mix?

feedmyleg posted:

Gonna guess it was the writer's attempt at saying it was self-indulgent. Not that an io9 reporter should really get the benefit of the doubt.

Bogus Adventure posted:

Depends. Are we involving Samoa Joe and the Big Bad Booty Daddy?

2house2fly posted:

Man Of Steel's structure is loosely based on Superman 78, hence both movies spend roughly 20 minutes on Krypton. 78 probably got criticised for it as well, especially as a big chunk of it was setting up the sequel

Bogus Adventure posted:

Depends. Are we involving Samoa Joe and the Big Bad Booty Daddy?

Aipsh posted:

I remember yonks ago seeing the first trailer for Man of Steel in the cinema. It gave the impression the film was centred entirely on a young Clarke, dreaming of flying and helping in small scale disasters like a good old Boy Scout. It looked deeply, deeply boring. Especially given the previous superman film was superman returns, in which the climatic action scene was Brandon lifting a rock for three minutes.

Then a couple of months later the second or third trailer came out and it was Krypton blowing the gently caress up and buildings being blown to smithereens by lasers to the loudest, most energetic music I’d ever heard. Then the film came out and it was, in my estimation, a brief opening and then an hour and a half of an extended fight scene. It loving ruled.

Space Fish posted:

Is Big Bad Booty Daddy different from Daddy rear end?
8< >8 SCISSOR ME, NAM EK!

MacheteZombie posted:

Imagine the colonoscopic camera work opportunities

SuperTeeJay posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DJcgm3wNY

Jimbot posted:

That's the trailer that sold me on the film. I watched it like a dozen times when it came out.

SuperTeeJay posted:

Not even the "Is Superman farting at the end?" questions could ruin this trailer.

Only Kindness posted:

Jesus H Christmas I had never seen this trailer before.

Never forget what they took from you.

Megaman's Jockstrap posted:

I've said it a dozen times (like that one goon and the Margot Robbie colonoscopy) butt

CelticPredator posted:

McSpanky posted:

Me too, that trailer is a goddamned masterclass.

SuperTeeJay posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6DJcgm3wNY

Not even the "Is Superman farting at the end?" questions could ruin this trailer.

Ammanas posted:

this is an incredibly good trailer although i didnt like the 'it stands for hope' mic static cut gag back then and i still dont. too on the nose

Neo Rasa posted:

[Martian Manhunter bumping the mic] "NO fuckin' way this guy gets a superhero name before I do"

Ammanas posted:

this is an incredibly good trailer although i didnt like the 'it stands for hope' mic static cut gag back then and i still dont. too on the nose

Jimbot posted:

I can see how an opening depicting Krypton suffering from environmental collapse due to the socio-economical system their society has adopted and it naturally turning to fascism when things get really bad certainly wouldn't have any bearing on the rest of the film where Superman *checks notes* goes to earth.

It literally sets up the entire rest of the movie and gives you glimpses of Kryptonian society so you can compare and contrast it with earth and the trajectory it is taking without Superman. "We're already dead" Jor-El says before the planet and everyone in it is engulfed in flames. "They're already dead" the voice over the radio says about the oil rig workers before Superman saves them from being engulfed in flames. I dunno, maybe this similar line with contrasting visuals and outcomes means something from a director even this antis say is good at visuals.

Nah, it just means Snyder thinks the world and everyone in it is a gently caress and just waiting to die. An Objectivist nihilist. In this youtube video I saw...

Ghost Leviathan posted:

When you make a big performance about wanting Smiling Daddy Superman of course you hate any time spent on Krypton, because any context and background gets in the way of mindless spectacle assuring you that strong powerful men will take all the real problems away.

RBA Starblade posted:

What if the problem is there aren't enough strong powerful men around, and also too many shirts