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Get with the program, Atsumori! We’re gonna win this thing!

Hey, I just saw that Doctor Strange movie! I don’t know if I have that much to criticize, it was a fun time. I mean, I’m kind of annoyed that Strange never gets called out for causing the car accident that ruined his hands, and also the movie probably gets too visually trippy for its own good. Also, who was the bad guy again? Some giant cartoon face from an evil dimension that uses evil energy to be evil? Oh well, whatever, it’s a comic book movie!

Probably my biggest disappointment in the film is that it glosses over Strange’s magic training quite a bit. That should’ve been the part of the movie that really established the rules and limitations of the magic in the film. Instead it just implies certain rules, and the resultant effective use of magic never feels clever, just plot driven. The lack of stated rules makes it unclear when someone is doing magic that’s wildly impressive or very mundane since we’re given little context for a person’s magical proficiency other than it being stated up front. Granted, this criticism is probably because I’m spoiled on Brandon Sanderson.

I enjoyed Doctor Strange more than I expected, and really loved the costuming and set designs. The movie has more visual flair than Civil War, which I found painfully bland, and I’m a sucker for Eastern culture/philosophy stuff even when it’s fictionalized and/or bastardized by Western media (not that I’d know anything about bastardizing Eastern culture…). So maybe go see it! It’s not like there’s been anything else this fun in theaters for the past couple months.

(EDIT: Also, it didn’t bother me in the moment, but upon reflection, the whole ‘white savior’ trope is so tired…)

Published on November 7, 2016 by Alex Kolesar

KungFuKlobber

We need to get Atsumori and Tanaka together so they can have a wet-blanket-off.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  That’s actually the finale of war, it’s very anti-climactic!
Sunwu

We have something called gun powder, the chinese invented it but theses westerners kinda did their own thing with it, kinda like Two tone Sak and progressive rock
- Xinef
  
  We have this thing called “dead ambassador” and we can blame our enemies for it, so now we have reason to attack with double the motivation! (and half the peace negotiations)
  
  ^ Yeah, he totally meant to say it, right?
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    I’ll edit the dialog.
charles81

Atsumori wishes looks could kill
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  That would make Atsumori as mass murderer.
clogboy

I know what you mean with Civil War… but that’s a Captain America movie for ya. It’s less about style than it is about substance. Which is a good thing if they deliver a good plot.
I’m eager to see Dr. Strange, if only for this excellent actor.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  I dunno, I think Winter Soldier’s a visually striking film with some great shot composition! It’s probably my fav Marvel movie, or at least tied with Avengers.
Flaming Squirrel

“Dishonor on you, Eijiro, dishonor on your cow,” *looks at Nataku* “Dishonor on your whole family!”

I saw Doctor Strange last night as well! I thought it was it was fun too. Don’t have a lot to criticize, which is rare. The kaleidoscope crap got on my nerves, just like you, but that wasn’t too bad. Also, it cracked me up when (SPOILERS!) Strange started the time loop and Dominarimarmoomoo (that’s what he’s called, right? :P) was like “WTF?”. I thought the human bad guy was a lot more interesting. I don’t remember his name either. In fact, the only character’s name I remember is Doctor Strange, so I guess that could count as a criticism. Still really liked it, though! Now I just have to go see Magical Beasts, Moana, and Star Wars: Rogue One, and that should do it for 2016!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  That’s a good list to round out the year. Also also couldn’t tell you anyone’s name in Doctor Strange other than the titular main character.
  - Jake
    
    Just a brief run down on some of the characters, doing this from memory since doctors tell me i should be doing more memory exercises. At the end of it all, i expect my right and left hemisphere to be able to bench 120…
    Dormammu: demon/bad guy/thing sorta like Lucifer without being Lucifer because you know 1960’s America mentioning anything Satan in a comic book was tantamount to corrupting the youth without a Christian counterpoint involved.
    
    Baron Mordo: bad guy/henchman to Dormammu and one time student to the Ancient One. So-so sorcerer-er to whit mediocre (I keep thinking Hop lo from Kung pao: enter the fist when it comes to this guy.
    
    Ancient One: Equivalent to Yoda before there was a Yoda.
    
    !? : most commonly used in Dr. Strange comics by other characters not Dr. Strange or those well versed in the arts arcane.
    
    see also: Dr. Strange the Movie (1978)
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l8OoE-R-RE
- RobinGoodfellow
  
  Uuuuuuggggh! I can never find the video when I want it, but Rob Paulsen (the voice of Pinky from Pinky and The Brain, among many other fabulous toons) has this podcast he does called “Talkin’ Toons” where he brings other voice actors on to read scenes from movies and tv. They did the scene between Dormammu and Strange. Clancy Brown read Dormammu’s lines as Gunmar (from Trollhunters) and Rob Paulsen read Strange’s lines…. as Pinky.
  
  I saw that before I actually saw the movie and there was no way I could take that scene seriously after that. It was hilarious.
TheMaskedFerret

That was a very significant “glance” as he looks back at the letter he was writing. I wonder if the letter itself would destroy Atsumori’s control over the entire situation?
- Turul
  
  Was he in fact looking back at the letter or significant-glancing at Nine-Fingers who had been sneaking to the corner of the tent?
  - http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
    
    I tried to make the panel composition show that he was glancing at Nataku, who positioned himself in a dark corner of the tent. I regret that that wasn’t clearer!
Da’Zlein

Dammit! Read the room, Eijiro!
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Tough crowd tonight!
mai876

Nothing wrong with being spoiled on Brandon Sanderson, the man is amazing! The Stormlight Archive has considerably diminished my experience of all subsequent high fantasy novels.
SwirIy

Yessss Brandon Sanderson. I LOVE Mistborn. And the Stormlight Archive. And Elantris.

I feel like the reckoners books get less attention than his cosmere novels, but they were fantastic as well. I’m pretty much addicted to all his books.
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Reckoners is options for film! Granted quite a few of his properties have been. The one I feel doesn’t get any love is The Rithmatist, which I desperately want sequels to, but it looks like that series was put on the back burner when Reckoners got a lot of attention (thanks superhero craze!). I love all his books, though, so my only complain is ‘give me more!’ which is already a dumb complaint because he’s one of the most prolific authors around.
Kid Chaos

“Dammit man, we’ve got BOOMSTICKS!!! What more do you want?” 😎
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Guns will SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS.
  - Kid Chaos
    
    “Peace through superior firepower!” 👿
  - 627235
    
    If problems remain, you didn’t apply enough guns.
Nos Rin aka CTCO

And I’m finally caught up. Not sure what took me so long to get around it to it but here I am. It’s been what, 6 years? maybe… I swear I haven’t read this comic since before I moved out here, and soon I will be moving again.
- Thomas
  
  I’d recommend subscribing to the RSS feed. Then you’ll never miss an update notice.
  - Nos Rin aka CTCO
    
    I use Opera’s hot key page so i keep all my webcomics at easy access.
Nos Rin aka CTCO

So, how often does this comic update?
- http://www.nn4b.com suburban_samurai
  
  Once a week Sunday night or Monday morning. I wish I could update faster, but life’s gotten progressively busier for Joe and myself!
  - Nos Rin aka CTCO
    
    alright thanks for the heads up! (I keep all my reads on a hotkey page on opera and I list the update days as the title so I know when to check up.)
    Haven’t read this one in ages, glad it finally picked up. was so sad when it went on a year or two hiatus!
    - Thomas
      
      OR you could add an Opera extension such as Smart RSS (which restores a version of the RSS functionality that used to be built into Opera). Then subscribe to the RSS feeds for all your favorite comics that support RSS (like this one). That’s what I do. Then I always get the update notices whenever they happen — even if a comic has an irregular hiatus. I recommend it.
      - Nos Rin aka CTCO
        
        *shrugs* I’m kind of an old man stuck in his old ways, I really like my hot keys and I don’t know what this new fangled RSS thing is.
      - Thomas
        
        You don’t have to lose any of your hot keys. RSS is a service that lets you subscribe to favorite sites such as web comics or news sites (provided that they support RSS). Once you subscribe to a sites RSS feed, you get a notice whenever that site updates. If the update is delayed, you will still know when it happens. If there are extra updates or the schedule changes, you still won’t miss a thing. For people using Opera, you can add the Smart RSS extension to help subscribe to and collect the RSS notices. It is worth learning about no matter your age.
      - Nos Rin aka CTCO
        
        you youngin’s and your new technology sure are fascinating. i remember when firefox was the hip new thing and I was still stuck on old fashioned IE, tabs scared me.
Madison Link

Am I the only one here who thinks that Eijiro fully understands the potential for “accidentally” killing yourself with a gun, and is about to apply that potential?
- Turul
  
  “Hey, Atsumori, won’t you try out this new- well oops, guess we’re in charge now!”?
  - Xinef
    
    That’s what happens if you first explain how the trigger works, and then proceed to explain which way to hold the gun.
    - Madison Link
      
      Exactly. And Nataku doesn’t even have to lie to Daimyo Wataro. “Atsumori was examining this foreign demon contraption, when it went off and killed him! We couldn’t leave and have the army unled, could we?”
clogboy

As it happens, this page came on my path (again) straight after this image (the seven virtues of bushido)… http://www.mindbodyvortex.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Seven-Bushidos.jpg

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