tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post3154446219165361069..comments2024-03-08T08:23:19.959+00:00Comments on Paul Anthony Shortt - Author: Defeating the Villain After Saving the DayPaul Anthony Shortthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-54318756383335467222013-06-28T15:38:42.850+01:002013-06-28T15:38:42.850+01:00I think I'd find it very hard to write a book ...I think I'd find it very hard to write a book that didn't have a climactic fight scene at the end!Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-51147764123116380662013-06-28T15:25:30.807+01:002013-06-28T15:25:30.807+01:00I like both...if they're well-done. But I'...I like both...if they're well-done. But I'm a little old-fashioned in that I do like the comic book-style big fight right at the climax and then a quick goodbye. Post climax is...anticlimactic. :) But they can both be done really well, and I've seen it both ways.Elizabeth Spann Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625595247828274405noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-52400182280006193462013-06-28T10:59:15.313+01:002013-06-28T10:59:15.313+01:00Ha! That way lies hubris. I love my editor for a r...Ha! That way lies hubris. I love my editor for a reason!Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-22846927007655581992013-06-28T10:50:34.044+01:002013-06-28T10:50:34.044+01:00I think you should trust your own storytelling abi...I think you should trust your own storytelling ability.Gar Molloyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07479613879010228492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-43168029583573320732013-06-28T10:28:25.660+01:002013-06-28T10:28:25.660+01:00http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-15/01-a...http://www.shortpacked.com/2013/comic/book-15/01-about-face/theliewetellourselves/Gar Molloyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07479613879010228492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-75554361182716689752013-06-28T07:38:00.526+01:002013-06-28T07:38:00.526+01:00See that's what I'd be afraid of if I trie...See that's what I'd be afraid of if I tried something similar myself. Would I just be dragging out the end, with the reader wanting me to hurry up and get it over with?Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-52692524353025194322013-06-28T07:16:59.268+01:002013-06-28T07:16:59.268+01:00I like the way they did it in The Avengers. That m...I like the way they did it in The Avengers. That made more sense to me. But, I certainly can understand the motivation of a villain who has had everything taken away from him/her and that last ditch effort for revenge on the person who was instrumental in foiling their plans. Sometimes it works and others it doesn't.<br /><br />And sometimes, the intent is simply to milk the battling for the viewers, in my opinion.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.siamckye.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Sia McKye OVER COFFEE</a> ~Sia McKye~https://www.blogger.com/profile/08470562659597351033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-81062627472395274822013-06-27T14:02:18.444+01:002013-06-27T14:02:18.444+01:00No, they needed Superman's body so the genetic...No, they needed Superman's body so the genetic information could be extracted and fed into the baby-spawning-machine.<br /><br />But yes, either way, Superman wiped out the last remnants of Krypton.Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-39965199987081722232013-06-27T13:55:33.384+01:002013-06-27T13:55:33.384+01:00Pretty sure they said something about embryos on t...Pretty sure they said something about embryos on the world engine, I could be misremembering it though (I may have fallen asleep for a little while in the cinema)). Either way Superman's responsible for the final destruction of the Kryptonian race in Zod's eyes.<br /><br />In Superman II it's ambiguous whether or not Zod dies or if it's Superman's intent to kill him, it's much less explicit than it is in Man of Steel.Gar Molloyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07479613879010228492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-4810610553683794162013-06-27T12:17:13.850+01:002013-06-27T12:17:13.850+01:00So, you like seeing the "mopping up" pro...So, you like seeing the "mopping up" process, so to speak? With lesser threats being wrapped up?Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-82788802062357726902013-06-27T12:07:02.722+01:002013-06-27T12:07:02.722+01:00I for one like to be a period of falling tension a...I for one like to be a period of falling tension after the climactic point in any story, but that might just be me.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04283371140346602856noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-667024516931393612013-06-27T10:58:15.925+01:002013-06-27T10:58:15.925+01:00I'd thought it was the codex (implanted into S...I'd thought it was the codex (implanted into Superman's cells) that contained the genetic code of future Kryptonians to be born? The world engine was just there to terraform Earth. There were no embryos to be lost.<br /><br />You make good points, though. It should say something about the villain, and the hero, really. Like I said, it needs to get personal, and I didn't feel that in Man of Steel.<br /><br />Interesting thing about Superman killing Zod, though.<br /><br />He did it in Superman II. And that time, it wasn't to save lives. He'd already taken away Zod's powers and made him as weak as a human. Then he picked him up and tossed him into an abyss to die.Paul Anthony Shortthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14393249001158230985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4282504373890041231.post-52420698607775458502013-06-27T10:50:16.027+01:002013-06-27T10:50:16.027+01:00I'm hoping the sequel to Man of Steel features...I'm hoping the sequel to Man of Steel features Superman experiencing remorse over all the deaths in the first film. Superman has hitherto been the ultimate boyscout, there's no WAY the Superman we all know would have killed Zod like that. As you say though, Man of Steel is his first time wearing the cape in the new continuity. The ideals haven't fully formed yet. There's a narrative arc there and I'm expecting good things from it.<br /><br />Anyway, the battle after the final battle is there to say something about the villain. It's the big reveal of the fatal flaw. Never Giving Up is admirable in a hero character, hubristic in a villain. The Scouring of the Shire was a dick move on Saruman's part. He's a petty man who blames others on his misfortune and follows strength more than reason. This brings his downfall. The Scouring of the Shire is Saruman's tantrum. It's not enough that his cause is defeated, he has to be humiliated as well.<br /><br />Loki surrenders because he's canny enough to know there's nothing to be gained by having his ass handed to him by the assembled Avengers. He knows there's not a prison built he can't trick his way out of. He's a calculating villain and he makes the strategic decision. He'll be back.<br /><br />Zod has skin in the game. Zod forces Superman to kill him in Man of Steel because he can't accept that Supes has the right of it. Kal'El wasn't the Last Son of Krypton until the end of the movie. There were 80,000 kryptonian embryos on that World Engine. Enough to start a new race.<br /><br />Kal'El murdered them *all*.<br /><br />The last two members of the Kryptonian race are Zod and Kal'El. All Zod has left is death or vengeance, he's got every motivation to get into that fight.<br /><br />Of course, he could have just terraformed an uninhabited planet, or realised it's good to have superpowers and seeded the Kryptonians on earth without terraforming it. Shit, they could worked out a treaty to terraform the moon and had the best of both worlds (snare drum). The tragedy of Man of Steel is that an 'everybody wins' outcome could have been achieved if anyone had actually listened to and considered the other side. <br /><br />The battle after the final battle exists for a reason (tropes are not good, tropes are not bad). Done well it's an intense scene to end a villain's story on, done poorly it's extending a conflict unnecessarily for the sake of being cool.Gar Molloyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07479613879010228492noreply@blogger.com