NewGeekPhilosopher

Yahtzee Crosshaw follows in the long tradition of Australian cultural exports as being a reason people like Australia while not being Australian himself. Much like Mel Gibson in Mad Max and Russell Crowe's career before him.

"David: No, seriously, Bronzong is awesome. It's like a Final Fantasy random encounter built out of a Jack Kirby/Osamu Tezuka joint design for a Dalek."

Whoa. Just... I didn't even know you could combine Jack Kirby and Osamu Tezuka and Daleks plus Final Fantasy in the same pop culture reference sentence.

It's the full circle of Western Comics + Manga + Video Games + Live Action TV/British sci-fi.

You just made my day man. You made my day.

I actually think reverse stereotypes like Tomoko are funny, in a good way. It actually conveys a perception of race that "fails to meet the expectations of others".

Tomoko not being into comics is actually (plotwise anyway) reflective of a sociological concept of enculturation, that is, absorbing the culture she was born into. To her, comics that are manga would be irrelevant to her and assuming she likes them would be hurtful. In the Archie Universe, this is a big freaking deal, because it's almost trapped in the 1950s.

I see Raj as a sort of Tracy Jordan or whoever-his-name is from 30 Rock archetype. Buffoon is separated from race, and it is made distinct that there are other people of the same race who do not act like him. Very interesting to chew on. I applaud you Chris Sims.

The problem is, women don't have to be damaged to be awesome, as Gail Simone pointed out. All the same, "damaged" shouldn't translate as "raped" nine times out of ten. Hell, Batman is "damaged" if you take away the rape connotation, and look how far he's gotten. I guess the problem lies in the idea that the only way to really make a woman suffer in a serious comic is to have them raped. If that were true, why are so few men raped in comics?

There's a double standard here, arising from the idea that women's sexuality is punishable. What we should be working towards is female characters who are strong for other reasons, take lessons from Tezuka heroines, Princess Knight is "damaged" because she has to dress up like a man to get the kingdom, in the same way Power Girl might be "damaged" because she thinks the only way people will notice her is if she keeps the flashing costume. Seriously, that works a lot better than just "I like it". Why can't Power Girl be allowed to question whether she really needs to wear that particular costume to be noticed? A woman's worth is not based on her rack alone!

I own exactly none of these figures. In context the Rei and Asuka maid figures are a lot more innocent than the rest of the ones here. And you seem to neglect the actual non-perverted figures - I don't see any Astro Boy or even freaking Captain Harlock figures in this list. But I admit aside from making fun of fans of little boys Astro Boy figures don't make for great pervert-making-fun-of comedy material.

I have a Marvelous Melmo figure though, in both child and adult form. Chris Hansen can't touch you there, because even if he accuses you of being a pedo to child Melmo, you can defend yourself on the grounds that magic pills given to her by God make her into a legal age of consent adult. And this wasn't created by some Japanese pervert who's run of the mill. It's an Osamu Tezuka character. Same dude who made Astro Boy. I mean what the hell?!

Seems to me like people are ashamed to call their homegrown comics comics because of the connotations many people associate with Western comics. I feel as an Australian that Aussie comics artists get largely ignored, the comic book adaptation of He Died With A Felafel In His Hand is the only real Australian comic I can name.

Whereas in Australia, people love manga despite it being foreign because it feels like it's not another coup taking over our culture from America. People in Australia feel disenfranchised with the lack of local content, so many Australians including immigrants flock to manga for their comics needs.

I don't remember the last time I remembered an Australian person reading individual comics - individual comics shops are so hard to find in Australia that no kids are really reading Western comics anymore, but I have seen kids reading the Legend of Zelda manga and the Domo manga.

At least us Aussies still have Ginger Meggs. Kills me every time, in a good way. I mean, we also have The Phantom in Australian newspapers but the stories aren't self contained and if you miss a Sydney Morning Herald issue or something you miss some of the plot. Ginger Meggs is good because it's self contained gags and short jokes which are actually funny, not that The Phantom's humor ISN'T funny. The Phantom actually has a good sense of humor for a superhero with no powers.

I guess Star Trek has a lot to answer for.

Mental images I did not need or want.

I've only played Noby Noby Boy of Takahashi's games, and I love it so. It's like a less crazy version of what happens when I forget to take my medication. Now I can enjoy flipping out in a much safer environment, without even having to flip out.

I tried to explain this game to my twin brother, but he was confused:

ME: In the game I got chopped in half with a lawnmower and had to eat my own arse!

MY BRO: RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT. You really do find the weirdest games, you're crazy, you know that?

As long as I can buy Flower and Noby Noby Boy off PSN, I'm not too worried. But it appears the publishers of games are worried. Which makes me worried. Don't you hate being worried? Anyway, I would have been able to use Playstation Network this morning, even if it was just to play Street Fighter IV online, if there wasn't a sign in error gremlin which I don't know if it's been fixed yet. So no PS Store either for now. TT______TT Had to play Disgaea 3 instead. Which by the way hasn't got European Store DLC yet. So more TT_____TT for us Down Under.

I would say Nintendo wouldn't do something like this, but considering the nature of humanity I've come to expect more evil scheming from corporations, even ones like Nintendo with warm fuzzy family reputations. As for Microsoft's Xbox I don't own one, and my friend who owns one never downloads games off Xbox Live, so I guess I will never know.