omercifulheaves

[omercifulheaves]

Y'all ever think about the way video game bosses are designed to lose? How the bombastic soundtracks, the impressive displays of villainy, the teeth-rattling power of their attacks, are at once engineered not just to sell you on how unfathomably strong and vile they are, but also to make the player's inevitable victory all the sweeter?

Viewed this way, a boss battle is more like a choreographed dance - they call, you respond and counter-call. The trick is to learn the steps - once you know where to move, when to strike, when to defend and how to best allocate your resources, victory is not just achievable but actually almost impossible to avoid. You cannot help but recite the winning plays, over and again, because that is what the dance demands of you both - and is there not a savage sort of beauty in such a thing?

Is it any wonder then that we look back on these bosses so fondly, almost as if they were old friends? We danced together once, and oh what fun we had while doing it!

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WW1 U.S. army doughboy helmet with skull trench art on the front

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Invasion USA (Joseph Zito, 1985)

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Chainsa Man - The Movi: Reze Arc

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The Mountain of Skulls Art by Ludwig Hesshaimer

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Ro-Man, the Robot Monster, attacks!

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Conan And The Songs of The Dead Art by Timothy Truman

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Killer Tales By Timothy Truman, Eclipse Comics Art by...well, Timothy Truman

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Red Sonja Art by Frank Thorne

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50 years ago... JAWS

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"He's making that face at me, isn't he?" Happy 50th to my favorite movie.

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Zombie (1979) newspaper ad

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I love the first Blade but it's funny to me that the bad guy's who give him the most trouble in a straight up fight (without the help of magic blood god power) is a teenage girl and a cameo by the stunt guy and his crew.

Wesley Snipes - Blade (1998)

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Conan: Scourge of The Serpent #1 variant cover by Matias Bergara

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Gahan Wilson (1930-2019) Some cartoons from the above artist from ''Playboy'' culled from various issues published between 1975 to 1983. Wilson, for me, was a precursor to cartoonists like Gary Larson of 'The Far Side' fame (which I loved). His work often lived in the kind of weird territory Larson explored although Wilson was attentive to different details given his darker sense of humor. It makes sense that Wilson credited cartoonists like Charles Addams (the creator of 'The Addams Family') and writers like H. P. Lovecraft as influences. I'm pretty sure there are collections of his ''Playboy'' cartoons out there and a few children's books Wilson wrote. The world benefits from the existence of weird people doing their weird things. If you're weird and you're reading this, keep on being idiosyncratic.

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Police Story (1985)

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Studio Proteus Christmas card Art by Rick Mays (According to Adam Warren that's supposed to be Rally Vincent, (she's packing a CZ75, Rally signature gun) not the Major but some wires crossed.)