Gemma woke up to find herself both shrunken down, and trapped inside the grasshopper tank. She reached two conclusions that she had no way of testing.
One, her shrinking formula was a success, and two, somebody wanted her out of the way. She didn’t know which of her lab assistants had done it, but she guessed Dan. He seemed the most ambitious, and the least scrupulous of the crew.
He’d probably meant for the grasshoppers to devour her, but she was a scientist, and quickly made two breakthroughs: The insects were surprisingly easy to domesticate, and made for good eating.
Today’s story is Dungeon Master
Written, read, and produced by Hugh J. O’Donnell
This episode’s music is “House on Fire” by Dark Fantasy Studio, composed and produced by Nicolas Jeudy.
The victim lay sprawled at the bottom of the stairwell. From the way the dust and dirt had been disturbed it was clear at a glance that they fell a long way. They were wearing some kind of space suit, with the face shield down obscuring their identity.
But the thing that really stood out were the leis. The body was wrapped in rings of tropical flowers, real ones. Based on the condition of the stairs, they had to have been placed on the body after it came to rest.
The detective sighed. They always gave him the weird ones.
“What the hell are you wearing?” Mickey asked. It was an old argument, and one Lorenzo had been expecting.
“A suit, Mickey.”
“With a white shirt. I told you, black jacket, purple shirt. You look like a banker.”
Lorenzo raised an eyebrow as he took in the rest of the crew. They’d all followed the dress code.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a uniform for a heist.”
“You don’t get it, mate. It’s not just pulling the job. We’ve got to have style.”
When the rest of them all got pinched. Lorenzo bailed them out, again.
“Are you sure you can handle everything while I’m gone?” The cherub asked.
“Please, I am a seraph,” the taller angel said.
“But it’s the busy season…”
“Go, Have a good trip.”
Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, the cherub put on his coat and hat and fluttered out of the office.
The six-winged woman examined the tools on the cherub’s desk. The bow and heart-shaped arrows looked like they would break in her hands. Instead, she took her flaming spear from the rack by the door.
She was really going to show the world some love.
“This was your father’s Plasma Sword. He wanted you to become a Space Cavalier, like he was. But your Uncle thought it was too dangerous.” The old man gave the boy the weapon, and with a push of a button, the blade was sheathed in crackling energy. He swung the it a few times, experimentally.
“Well, lets get started,” the old man said, readying his own weapon. “We’ll start with some light sparring.”
“What, with live blades?”
“Of course. That is the way of our order.”
“How did my father really die?” The boy asked.
“Training accident,” the hermit said.
During the off-season, the rangers snowmobiled out to the hot springs on the edge of the park. The sulfurous waters were over two hundred degrees, so they stood on the empty viewing platform and enjoyed the warm air rising from the water.
Daryl tossed a pine cone and watched the superheated, acidic water disintegrate it.
“They’re cutting our budget again,” his boss said, staring down at the water, not making eye contact. “I’m sorry. When we get back, I’ll do the former paperwork.”
Daryl looked at the icy slope leading down to the scalding water, and made a decision.
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and http://hughjodonnell.com, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
Today’s story is Patrol.
Written, read, and produced by Hugh J. O’Donnell.
This episode’s music is “City,” Dark Fantasy Studio, composed and produced by Nicolas Jeudy.
Immortal Hulk: Great Power #1
Written by Tom Taylor
Drawn by Jorge Molina
Inked by Adriano Di Benedetto with Roberto Poggi
Colored by David Curiel
Published by Marvel Comics
The Skinny: This self-contained issue is a modern twist on a fun What If? premise.
Even the most serious concept can be fun sometimes. Superhero comics, as a sub-genre, lend themselves to certain kinds of experiments you rarely see in others. Who would win in a fight? What if this story had ended differently? and of course, What if X character had Y’s Powers?
The premise of Immortal Hulk: Great Power is that Spider-Man has somehow taken the powers of the Hulk from Bruce Banner. But the twist here is that this is the modern, horror-version of the character currently written by Al Ewing.
The result is a book that strays a bit far from the premise of that book, but is a good deal of fun, and serves as an introduction to the characters for readers who don’t know their current deals. It feels like something from the 70’s brushed off and polished to modern style, in the best way possible.
Taylor’s writing is very strong, capturing both the classic essence of these character as well as the modern takes. For instance, Loki has a cameo that feels right in line with his more recent appearances, as do the Fantastic Four.
The art is good, particularly the colors. Molina doesn’t display as much body diversity as one would expect in the characters, though, and in particular his version Bruce Banner is way more ripped than he should be.
This self-contained little story isn’t exactly consequential, but it is a lot of fun and a very enjoyable superhero romp for Marvel fans. You can snag a copy at your local comics shop, or read it digitally through Comixology.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 