They are DC’s original Losers. While the Losers depicted in their Vertigo
imprint (and the not particularly successful 2010 movie) waged war on the CIA,
the real Losers fought America’s enemies during WWII. It was never fun or
glamorous—hence their nickname. Their latest mission gets even tougher when
they take a detour to the island from DC’s The War that Time Forgot comic
in Milo Neuman’s DC Showcase: The Losers, featuring burly Sarge, whose
in-world birthday is reportedly on this day (11/26).
Of
course, the Losers would have bad weather and unexpected incoming fire for
their mission accompanying Chinese Special Agent Fan Long to an undisclosed
location in the South Pacific. Captain Johnny Cloud instinctively distrusts
her, despite his attraction to her. After enemy forces sink their ship, she
assures them there will be a plane for them to commandeer on Dinosaur Island.
Obviously,
the natives are more dangerous than the Losers could possibly expect. Yet,
Agent Fan is not so surprised. In fact, she is downright merciless dealing with
both the humans and dinosaurs they find there—even the big herbivores, which
does not sit well with Cloud’s Navajo values. Ming-Na Wen nicely expresses that
deadly femme fatale ruthlessness in her voice-over performance.
DC
Showcase’s
Losers short was a bit of an outlier when it came out (considering how
desperately DC and Marvel courted Chinese censors), because it shows the
Chinese character as the one with a reckless disregard for life. She also
fanatically adheres to her orders, while the American Losers are the ones considering
the ethical implications of their actions.
The Quibi short-bite 5-to-10-minute programming-platform folly was only in business
from April to December last year, but it still managed to squeeze in two “seasons”
of Sam Raimi’s horror anthology. They still didn’t have time to get to all
fifty states, let alone territories like Guam. Nevertheless, if any of their
series had a following this would be it, so fans will be happy to see Raimi’s 50
States of Fright will be available again this Friday on the Roku Channel.
To
hook fans, Raimi himself helmed the first episode, “The Golden Arm (Michigan),”
up in Hemingway’s and Nick Adams’ neck of the Michigan woods. The golden arm has
nothing in common with Frank Sinatra in Man with the Golden Arm. It is
the sparkly prosthetic of the old folk tale Mark Twain and scores of others
used to tell. In this case, it belongs to Heather, the vain wife of Dave, a rugged
furniture artisan, following her misadventure in the forest. She intends to
keep that arm with her even if it kills her and even then, she still isn’t
letting go.
Michigan
probably
boasts the most star-studded cast of the anthology, with Rachel Brosnahan and
Travis Fimmel portraying the ill-fated couple. However, it is John Marshall
Jones who really makes the three-episode arc work with the way he tells the
tale as Dave’s friend Andy. Old man Clemens would approve.
Yoko
Okumura’s “Ball of Twine (Kansas)” should have been titled “What’s the Matter
with Kansas.” Regardless, it does a nice job tapping into both the nostalgia of
road trips and the uneasy feeling you get when driving through long, flat,
not-particularly-well-lit states like Kansas. In this case, the scenic
attraction Susan and her daughter Amelia stop to gawk at, the titular twine,
seems to exert an uncanny control over the entire town. Even Sheriff Stallings
is rather unhelpful when Amelia disappears, but Susan is not about to be
intimidated by their cultish small-town ways.
Ming-Na
Wen really makes these three ex-quibis standout with her fierce axe-wielding performance
as Susan. She is pretty awesome, plus Karen Allen is quite sinister, in an
unusually understated kind of way, as Sheriff Stallings. There are also some
cool makeup effects going on, as an extra bonus.
