tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49681003028100838712024-03-05T19:28:09.863-08:00Doctor ComicsThe blog for Jason Tondro, freelance game designer, developer, and editor.Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-20046094583949158672019-01-21T16:28:00.002-08:002019-01-21T16:31:30.832-08:0018 Hot Takes on GLASS
In no particular order.
This movie passes the Tondro Test, which means it makes me want to run an RPG in the setting.
I’d love to read an analysis of “movies in which victory occurs by going viral.” Some of these movies are the Core, Birdman, and Glass, but there must be many many more in the last 10 years.
How did you all think this movie was going to end? It’s called Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-70176269926325082472018-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:002018-10-30T17:26:04.393-07:00Daredevil: Bringing It Home
Five days ago I settled into the TV room of friends-of-the-blog Alison Walker and Kevin Eustice for a screening of the third season of Daredevil. We only got a few episodes in, since we'd all had a long week and we had a lot of gaming to rest up for in the weekend to come (Starfinder Saturdays! 5e Sundays!), but I finished it up last night and this was 13 hours of great television. So let's Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-43579658999292265362017-09-30T17:52:00.001-07:002017-09-30T17:52:16.559-07:00Hallway Fights Ep 3: DaredevilHallway Fights is a deep dive into the Netflix Marvel shows. With this episode, I turn to Daredevil's first season. I'm joined by Jenny Blenk, an expert on the portrayal of disability in superhero media, Graham Scott, whose experience as a journalist helps me understand Ben Urich's portrayal on the show, and Wallace Cleaves, an old friend and fellow gamer.
Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-9028279760194635832017-09-01T19:11:00.001-07:002017-09-01T19:12:25.687-07:00HALLWAY FIGHTS Ep 2Mike Lafferty and I are joined by Jim Seals and Graham Scott to talk the conclusion of DEFENDERS. Our focus was mostly the writing and characterization. We didn't all like the show to the same degree, and Iron Fist gets a lot of shade thrown at him.
Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-61778274196635971292017-08-28T15:13:00.000-07:002017-08-28T15:13:14.416-07:00Hallway Fights Ep 1Please join Alison Walker, Walt Robillard, and myself for the first episode of HALLWAY FIGHTS, a podcast examining Marvel's Netflix shows.
Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-70275347393891127602016-11-07T12:12:00.005-08:002016-11-08T09:37:54.251-08:00Doctor Strange
Last night I and a handful of my AMST 1102: American Identities on Film students sat down to watch Doctor Strange. I had (mostly) taken care to avoid spoilers for this film, but I had seen one-sentence reviews from the Facebook brain trust and the most common sentiment seemed to be, "Good, paint-by-numbers superhero movie." The consensus was that Marvel has made so many superhero movies that Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-74457471468112940192016-11-07T12:12:00.004-08:002016-11-07T12:17:53.325-08:00Doctor Strange
Last night I and a handful of my AMST 1102: American Identities on Film students sat down to watch Doctor Strange. I had (mostly) taken care to avoid spoilers for this film, but I had seen one-sentence reviews from the Facebook brain trust and the most common sentiment seemed to be, "Good, paint-by-numbers superhero movie." The consensus was that Marvel has made so many superhero movies that Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-45425155253489312732016-08-12T16:30:00.001-07:002016-08-12T16:30:15.070-07:00Super Villain Handbook Deluxe Edition
This book is the end point of about two and a half years of work by many people, first and foremost Mike Lafferty, my friend and publisher at Fainting Goat, and Walt Robillard, who ran the successful Kickstart for the SVH and has been a constant cheerleader for the project. I am also deeply in debt to Ade Smith, who did layout, and to my amazing artists, Dionysia Jones, Jacob Blackmon, Joe Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-6169023919546603112016-08-05T13:17:00.000-07:002016-08-06T20:54:42.066-07:00Suicide Squad
This is where I begin by confessing that I have read very little of John Ostrander's classic, and extremely influential, Suicide Squad comic. I remember buying the first couple issues, with Deadshot and Captain Boomerang and Bronze Tiger and Enchantress and Amanda Waller, but it apparently didn't grab my interest enough to stick with it. DC has always been a harder sell for my adult-self Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-34553867218443255132016-03-25T14:40:00.001-07:002016-04-07T01:45:02.052-07:00Superman V Batman: Dawn of Justice
I think about superheroes a lot, but I also think about roleplaying games a lot. I think about games so much, that it has started to fit the definition of a critical theory: it's a lens through which I sometimes interpret the entire world. I once sat down and calculated how many hit points Julius Caesar must have had, to survive getting stabbed by all those senators only to die from Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-36009758574688886092015-08-12T09:00:00.001-07:002015-08-12T09:00:47.748-07:00Two for Team TondroI am obliged to note a couple of recent publications which include my work. It was an honor to be asked to participate in these projects and I learned much while working on them.
The first is Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, edited by the peerless Gail Ashton and published by Bloomsbury. Gail asked me, "What do you want to write about?" and I said, "Anything but King Arthur." Her Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-75572216730839851322015-08-06T19:55:00.001-07:002015-08-06T19:55:17.859-07:00Josh Trank's Fantastic FourJosh Trank's Fantastic Four is the latest addition to the long list of "Super hero movies embarrassed by their own genre," of which both Man of Steel and the first X-Men movie are both excellent examples. Do you remember the "yellow spandex" joke? Bryan Singer loved his characters and knew he was making a superhero movie, but he nevertheless thought the audience wasn't ready for one. He had to Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-29104755297951226732014-11-24T17:38:00.001-08:002014-11-25T18:38:07.427-08:00Steven the Great
Every business has its luminaries. In the business of roleplaying games, those luminaries are people like Monte Cook, Steve Jackson, and Robin Laws. I don't personally know any of those people. But I do know one guy who is, without question, a gaming luminary, and that guy is Steve Long.Steve rejuvenated Hero Games and the Champions RPG with his book Dark Champions, which became an instant Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-60161019052128994892014-11-10T16:33:00.001-08:002014-11-10T16:46:32.370-08:00Birdman Birdman is a complicated film. There's a lot going on in it, and it is saying a lot about a lot of different things. In all this, it is strengthened by technical virtuosity and truly remarkable performances by pretty much everyone involved, but especially Keaton who, to be fair, is certainly given more opportunity than anyone else.Alejandro Inarritu has called the superhero genre "cultural Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-59241648851654555532014-09-26T19:46:00.002-07:002014-09-26T19:47:02.533-07:00Rats!
Yes, that is a rat in a pointy wizard hat. I couldn't help it!
"Rats Magica," my alternate campaign setting for Ars Magica, has been published by Sub Rosa magazine. In Rats Magica, players take on the role of six inch rats with incredible (at least, for rats) magical powers. They contend with unhinged cat familiars, an expansionistic Bee King, hired rat catchers and, of course, the Order of Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-25964508862095011402014-09-24T13:31:00.001-07:002014-09-24T13:44:50.348-07:00Comic Books to Film: Gotham
A decade and a half ago, the X-Men film made a gajillion dollars in its opening weekend and, as a consequence, the "Young Bruce Wayne" television series then in development was abandoned in favor of the pot of gold surely waiting at the end of every summer blockbuster rainbow. Today, with plenty of failed super hero movies behind us, we seem to have made a 180: television can't get enough Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-65956448764697196892014-09-23T06:15:00.003-07:002014-09-23T06:16:36.340-07:00Monster Manual Podcast
Last week I got to talk with Steve Townsend, one of the freelancers who helped write the newest Monster Manual for D&D. Steve wrote half the background text for the book, every odd letter (A, C, E...) which means he got to write Giants but not Dragons. Still, pretty jealous.
I've been playing the new D&D a little and I enjoy it. It looks like a solid game.
You can hear our podcast Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-88717262729603758892014-08-17T06:11:00.000-07:002014-08-17T06:11:27.189-07:00On the Closing of BigKatt'sFriend, colleague, and -- most importantly -- my fellow nerd Nicholas Yanes has written a great piece on the history and closing of one of Florida's most important comic shops. His focus is on the place BigKatt's had in the community: how it was a family-friendly place for not just a generation of readers and gamers, but a place where they could bring -- and raise! -- their kids.
Being the kind Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-68215317111534687492014-08-12T15:51:00.000-07:002014-08-12T15:51:11.013-07:00"I Don't Think Anyone Is One Hundred Percent Dick"
Mike Lafferty invited me back for the BAMF podcast to talk about Guardians of the Galaxy. We were also joined by Walt Robillard of SUPERS fame and Ade Smith, who brought his usual jaded British cynicism. How we ever get by without that, I cannot tell you.
I was really helped by reviews I read which noted the film's dependence on science fiction films from the '80s. I'm talking about the Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-42149256415779087952014-07-19T06:31:00.001-07:002014-07-19T06:44:03.853-07:00Latest Podcast: Super-Villainy. (Is that even a word?) This week I was a guest on Mike Lafferty's BAMF podcast, along with Chris McGlothlin (just nominated for his 8th Ennie, this time for work on the Emerald City sourcebook for Mutants & Masterminds), Walt Robillard (author of the SUPERS RPG and Zenith Comics), Chuck Rice (distinguished game designer and author of Too Many Things To Mention) and Ade Smith, whose accent needs no introduction. Our Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-21722649071845962302014-07-13T10:35:00.002-07:002014-07-14T06:39:21.513-07:00We Need To Talk About The Ape Movies
UPDATED 7/14
Last night I went to see Dawn of the Planet of the Apes with a group of perfect strangers, and I had a good time. The film is technically awesome and well-performed. There are sincerely touching and affecting moments. But as I sat surrounded by a boisterous crowd who hooted and howled every time an explosion sent chimpanzees flying through the air, I knew that there was a Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-29146884342628409702014-07-11T07:50:00.001-07:002014-07-11T08:21:46.624-07:00The Return of D&D As friend of the blog Tommy Brownell pointed out last week, you can tell that a new edition of Dungeons & Dragons is dropping because the nerd-rage and the Edition Wars have hit a fever pitch. I've played every version of D&D, and I've always had fun. I was introduced to AD&D in junior high before the DMG had even been published. I brought my copy of Unearthed Arcana to college with me, more outJason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-80514578460378532972014-06-27T09:56:00.001-07:002014-06-27T09:56:24.733-07:00Transformers 4: Or, Why Michael Bay Should Be Ashamed Of Himself I've been in the habit lately of avoiding movie trailers and spoilers. This is easier than it sounds, because I don't have a TV, so the only thing I knew about the new Transformers movie was that it had Mark Wahlberg and Dino-bots in it. Now, Wahlberg is a very talented actor and what could possibly go wrong with giant robot dinosaurs? So, you know, last night when I was bored and wanted to get Jason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-84880989049286073762014-06-08T12:14:00.000-07:002014-06-08T12:37:27.940-07:00Wherefore Art Thou, Owlbear?
Prompted by Steve Long's personal encounter with Owlbear Fever, I am obliged to chime in with my love for this, perhaps D&D's most cherished oddball monster.
Few things say D&D better than the Owlbear, and one of the things that makes it so distinctive -- that makes it a creature that would not, could not, exist in any other universe -- is the ridiculousness of its nature, whichJason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4968100302810083871.post-9969677317923707252014-06-08T09:23:00.002-07:002014-06-08T09:24:12.638-07:00Mystique is the Loathly Lady: My review of X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PASTX-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is an entertaining film. I still have to give the nod for "best film in the X-Men franchise" to X2, but it is certainly the best film since.
Random observations with no regard for spoilers follow.
I was really interested to see Peter Dinklage on screen as Trask. In terms of the script, Dinklage's height was absolutely irrelevant. It was never mentioned once. On theJason Tondrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08715172536652990084noreply@blogger.com0