Comics this week

Earth 2 Annual- When James Robinson introduced the new Batman of Earth 2, there was always a sneaky suspicion that he did it due to editorial pressure. That may be the reason but I have to say Tom Taylor took the idea and just ran with it. This annual showed the origin of the new Batman and it was interesting to say the least. Not only that, Taylor even managed to sneak in a mention of Hourman. I especially liked that because the original idea of Earth 2 was to have a world without the Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It may be Hourman in a Batman suit, but it doesn't change the fact it was a great idea. 

The Green Team: Teen Trillionaires #8- After seven issues of so-so writing and art, #8 showed the wasted potential of Green Team. This issue finally managed to show the potential of the team and this was without question the best issue of the series. The end of the issue even managed to show the fun of being a teenage trillionaire again! If only the fun aspect of the series had been showed throughout the series.  

Snowden May Be Right

When Edward Snowden stolen all those records from the US government, he said he did so to show the world how pervasive the US spying online truly was. I will admit when I first heard of him, I thought he was slightly naïve. I mean everyone spy on everyone else right?

However as more and more data is released, I must say I am slowly changing my mind on Edward Snowden. It does seem that he has a point. In the latest release of documents stolen by Snowden, the report show that US and British spy agencies even routinely spy on people who play online games!

According to the report, published by the New York Times, ProPublica and the Guardian, the NSA and Britain's GCHQ had been worked together since 2007 to develop ways to gain access to information from applications for mobile phones and tablets. This means that if you play an online game like Angry Birds or used mobile applications like Google Maps, you can be tracked by the spy agencies. Even other applications like Flickr, Flixster and applications connected to Facebook, are being tracked.

It doesn’t help that the US government openly admit to this. In a statement, the NSA said "Any implication that NSA's foreign intelligence collection is focused on the smartphone or social media communications of everyday Americans is not true."

That statement basically admits that domestic intelligence collection on the social media communications of everyday Americans is happening. Sorry but what in the world do you expect to find on Angry Birds? That is even more stupid than the story that US spy agencies track players who played World of Warcraft!

And that’s saying something! As more info is released by Snowden, I have to say his case is getting stronger and stronger. The US spy agencies have overreached and even that may be an understatement. 

Dance Duo Wins Best Album At Grammy Awards

This year, French dance duo Daft Punk took top honors at the Grammy Awards by winning five prizes including album and record of the year. Wait…what? A dance group took Best Album and Best Record?

Just to twist the knife a little harder, the next big winner of the day was rap duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis who took home four awards including best new artist. Yes, a dance duo and a rap duo took home 9 awards this year, including some of the top awards.

Not to knock dance music (okay, that’s not entirely true), but what the hell is wrong with the music industry nowadays? The album that won for Best Dance/Electronica, also won for Best Album. Not a single album from…well, anyone else in any other genre could manage to beat a bloody dance album? Seriously, if that’s the case then it's no wonder the whole music industry is in the toilet! 

Comics this week

Bad Ass #1- I'm a comics fan who thinks Deadpool is stupid and Kick Ass is over-rated, so it's saying something when I find myself enjoying Bad Ass #1. The main character Dead End is also a Deadpool clone, the action remains me of Kick Ass but writer Herik Hanna and artist Bruno Bessadi managed to put together a hell of an issue. This is the kind of comic book whose sum is greater than it's parts and I think Dynamite got a surprise winner here.

Deadly Class #1- This issue started simply. A homeless kid on the street trying his best to survive with only a backpack, a journal, and the clothes on his back. Next thing we know, he is been chased by cops, saved by a hot chick with a katana, and got into a school of assassins. Writer Rick Remender bring a steady hand to the story but the star of this issue is artist Wes Craig and colorist Lee Loughrigde. Wes' style is prefect for this story. It is striking and show the frantic energy of Remender's story. Lee's work give the art a bleak outlook but the bluesy colors also give it an uplifting air at the same time. Pick this up but be warned; it's so good, you will be back for #2!

Justice League #27- Of all the "Forever Evil" tie-ins so far, most of which were crap, this issue is one of the best. Writer Geoff Johns has decided to move away from all the battles and concentrate on character development. Cyborg has been slightly forgotten on the JL team as most of the attention are focused on his more famous teammates. This issue show the character as he could be done with his troubled relationship with his father coming to the fore. Of course it help immensely that artist Ivan Reis is on hand to give us a much better looking Cyborg. An excellent issue all-around. 

No Death Threats Please

In 2012, Mitt Romney’s campaign for the presidency of the United States of America was effectively over when he was caught on video in his now infamous "47 percent" speech. Here in Singapore, we have our own 1-percenter who got his foot caught in his mouth.

British wealth manager Anton Casey is the one in the hot seat when screenshots of some his Facebook posts surfaced on various Singapore websites and forums on Monday. In the posts, he referred to public transport commuters as "poor people" and how he looked forward to washing "the stench of public transport off me" when he got his car back. One of the post even show a photo of his son seated on an MRT train with the caption, "Daddy where is your car & who are all these poor people?"

Needless to say, Singaporeans are outraged with even Law Minister, K Shanmugam, publicly stating that Mr. Casey's posts were "deeply offensive". It doesn’t help that Mr. Casey drives a silver Porsche, is staying in the ultra-rich, ultra-exclusive Sentosa Cove and is married to 2003 Miss Singapore Universe pageant winner Bernice Wong. However, as moronic and idiotic as he is, a line must be drawn somewhere.

For me, that line is crossed when people issued death threats to him and his family. The guy is an idiotic, moronic, foolish, elite dirtbag, but that doesn’t mean Singaporeans have a right to issue death threats to him and his family. Whether they were issued to Mr. Casey, his wife, or his son, does not matter. They are all wrong. 

Mr. Casey isn’t the first person to get into problem for posting stupid thing on Facebook, and he will not be the last. I agree that even counting that in, his posts were ultra-stupid but you can’t kill someone for being stupid. He’s an idiot, but death threats to him and his family are crossing the line. 

Put It Under Entertainment

Young local singer and reality TV star Steph Micayle recently posted a video on Youtube titled "Why I am not proud to be Singaporean" which has generated more than 800,000 views and 15,000 comments, mostly from Singaporeans. Some have been praising her for speaking her mind, while others had called her naïve and silly.

The clip has been so viral it landed her in the newspaper under the ‘Singapore News’ section. I do not understand what the big deal is. I don’t understand because

a)      What she is saying is not new

b)      She’s a reality TV star

I’m not saying she’s wrong, a lot of young people like Steph have similar views, but come on, is it really that big of a deal? A young reality TV star post a clip on Youtube publicly stating views many people have in private should not be such a big deal.

People need to calm down. A Youtube rant by a reality TV star shouldn’t be in the ‘Singapore News’ section of the newspaper; it should be under ‘Entertainment’. 

Stupid Rule That Help No One

If you are good enough, you are old enough.

That’s the saying in football circles emphasizing that a player’s skill and ability are more important than his age. Evidently,this saying is not accepted in Singapore football circles.  

That’s the thinking I have when it’s announced that the National Football League (NFL), which is basically Singapore’s minor league, is going to propose a rule which state players in the NFL must be below 35 years of age. Many players and fans have come out to condemn this proposed rule, and you can count me in as one of them. 

This has to be one of the stupidest rules I have ever heard. It’s stupid because for the life of me, I cannot understand the reason for this rule. This is not a youth rule because players above 30 but below 35 can play, yet at the same time it also doesn’t improve attendances or the quality of the game.

There are some former national and S-League players currently playing in the NFL which help boost attendances because they used to be names. Some of them are on the wrong side of 35 but are still good enough to be playing in the NFL. Taking out these players will kill attendances and cause a drop in quality because skillful, experienced players will no longer be able to be playing there.

So who does this new rule helps? No one. So why the need for this new rule? Your guess is as good as mine.      

Bad Planning

Last week, the Public Transport Council (PTC) approved a fare increase for bus and train rides from April this year. This was done despite a fault on the North-South line affecting trains from Woodlands station to Choa Chu Kang station the week before.

Today, there is yet another train fault on the North-South Line. A 90-minute disruption during the morning rush hour caused commuters to be late for work and school and Singaporeans have taken to social media to complain loudly about the train disruption.

I think the complaints are very valid, and not just for the train delays. Complains about the price hikes are also very valid because we have two train delays sandwiched between a fare hike. There had been constant train delays for years and the week after a train delay, the PTC announced a price hike. Now a week after the price hike announcement, there is yet another train delay. That’s just bad news on top of bad news for Singaporeans and it’s small wonder why the complaints are flooding in. 

The PTC have no one to blame but themselves. They should have waited for a period of time to pass before announcing the price hike; if possible they should have waited till after Chinese New Year. Honestly, I think most Singaporeans are used by now to price hikes; what they are not willing to accept are hikes for broken down services. 

Since the SMRT are still unable to publicly say what caused the fault two Saturdays ago, chances are the faults will continue on for some time (with Chinese New Year coming up to boot). I’m willing to bet that the guys at the PTC will blame this fiasco on bad luck, but unfortunately it’s a lot more than that. It's not just bad timing, it’s bad planning. 

It's bad planning on their part to announced the price hike before the Chinese New Year, a week after a train delay. The fact that there's another train delay after the announcement of the price hike...well, that's just those guys at the PTC asking for it. They should have waited.   

MAS vs Forbes Magazine

The rising Singapore property has been targeted by Forbes magazine with Forbes contributor Jesse Colombo warning that Singapore is headed for an "Iceland-style meltdown". In 2008, Iceland was brought close to bankruptcy due to the vast over-expansion of its banking system and he argued that Singapore is heading down a similar road.

With the report coming out, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) moved quickly. The MAS released a statement stating that Singapore is not facing a credit bubble and that "serious observers and investors are not in doubt about the country’s financial health."

Now I give them credit for moving so fast on the report, but that statement is just the wrong thing to say. This is Forbes we are talking about. They don't come any more respected and prestigious than Forbes. You are just not going to get any traction going against Forbes magazine. 

What the MAS need to do is argued against the case Mr. Colombo made against Singapore. Mr. Colombo say that Singapore's ultra low interest rates have led Singaporean households and companies to borrow more, fueling a surge in property prices that similar to the US housing bubble which imploded in 2008. 

The MAS should be arguing against this. They should state the various steps the Singapore government has taken to cool property prices (weak as they are) and that Singapore's position is hardly unique. For example, China's property bubble is far far worse than Singapore's. 

That's what the MAS should be saying, not going after Forbes. When you say "serious observers and investors", you don't get much better than Forbes Magazine.

Comics this week

Astro City #8- I'm one of those fans of Astro City that believes its standalone issues are better than its multi-part arcs. Writer Kurt Busiek pull out all the stops for the first multi-part arc of this new Astro City series, calling back favorites like Samaritan, the Confessor and Winged Victory, and the issue was excellent by itself. However I just feel its just missing the energy of the earlier issues. #8 is a solid issue, just not great like the earlier issues of this series. Unfortunately for Busiek and artist Brent Anderson, that's how high the bar has been set. 

Justice League of America #11- For a series named Justice League of America, JLA has been showing nothing but Stargirl and Martian Manhunter for past 3 issues. Okay, now can writer Matt Kindt tell us why? Catwoman is part of JLA and she's not captured right? Where is she? Also, what's with the rushed and messy Denver scenes by artist Tom Derenick? Get this book back to the Crime Syndicate. If the Forever Evil event is going to bury this book, at least show us the reason the villains that will caused it.

Superman/Wonder Woman #4- When this series was announced, I had my doubts about this. This issue showed some of them. Thus far I think Superman/Wonder Woman has been a good series with writer Charles Soule and artist Tony S. Daniel delivering some great work, but #4 broke the hot streak. Writer Charles Soule decided to spilt the loving couple apart for awhile and the issue was poorer for it. Fact is, the thing that made this series worked thus far was the budding relationship between the couple but both of them are superpowers with separate responsibility and lives. Soule did the right showing that even though they are in a relationship, both Superman and Wonder Woman has their own lives to live, but why would anyone buy this series to see that when they can buy their own Superman and Wonder Woman title? We need to see them together or else it doesn't make sense for a series names Superman/Wonder Woman.

Not What Comics Fans Need

People who read my blog regularly know that I take regular potshots at Marvel. In Marvel, we have X-Men comics, Avengers comics, Spiderman comics...and nothing else. They are an easy target; there are currently more than 10 ongoing monthly series under the X-titles!

One of the best thing about DC and it's New 52 launch was the fact that they gave room for fringe titles like "I, Vampire", "Animal Man", and "Demon Knights" to be released. All 3 of these titles had ended (or ending as in the case of Animal Man) and unfortunately it seem DC is going the way of Marvel. 

With Forever Evil ending in March, DC will release some new series in April. First up are "Sinestro" and "Aquaman and the Others". Now I actually look forward to "Sinestro" (have to watch and see with The Others), but I also wish DC hadn't announced the titles. 

This is because with "Sinestro", we now are going to have 5 Lantern series! We have "Green Lantern", "Green Lantern Corps", "New Guardians", "Red Lanterns", and now "Sinestro"! If that's not taking a page out of the Marvel playbook, I don't know what is. 

We, fans of comic books, don't need 5 monthly Lantern titles! We need more titles like "I, Vampire" and "Animal Man"! Yes, for those wondering I am still pissed that "I, Vampire" got cancelled and we need titles like them. Fringe titles that tackled the niche, quirky side of comics. That's what we need. 

Get Ready For A Rise

From February 2014, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will refine our much hated COE quota system. In Singapore, in order to buy a vehicle, you must first bid and get a COE. Basically, this is just a piece of paper which state you can own and use a vehicle in Singapore.

The COE system was implanted to control the vehicle population in Singapore (accordingly to the Singapore government), but most Singaporeans think of it as nothing more than a way to make Singaporeans fork out money to the government. Currently, the number of COE is determined by taking into account the number of vehicles de-registered in the previous six months. The idea is to maintain the number of vehicles on the road. LTA has now decided to change the period from 6 months to 3 months.

According to the LTA, this will make the COE system more responsive to de-registrations of vehicles. Most industry players in Singapore were quoted by the government newspapers that the idea could be both good or bad, depending on the future situation.

I'll be honest; I think Singaporeans need to get themselves ready for a rise in COE prices. If the Singapore government newspaper can only quote industry players as being mixed on the change, then it should come as no surprise that the reaction of normal Singaporeans is more negative than positive. This is the reason why.

For the COE price to fall, you basically need Singaporeans to get rid of their vehicles first, then buy their replacement vehicle at a later date. If there are less vehicles on the road, then more COE will be released, and the price will go down.

In car obsessive Singapore, that's not going to happen. Singaporeans will not get rid of their cars in the hope that COE prices will drop in the months ahead. Losing their cars is a loss of face in Singapore so that's just not going to happen. Also if this COE change will make things more "responsive" to price changes (as hoped by LTA), that might not be a good thing because the COE prices are so high at this moment. A Cat E COE is worth $79,000 right now!

In short, this COE change will do nothing to lower prices. Instead, the price will rise.

The New Normal

On Saturday, there was another breakdown on the MRT. This time it’s on the North-South line affecting trains from Woodlands station to Choa Chu Kang station. The SMRT publicly say that the latest breakdown on out local subway system was "probably a cable fault".

In short, 2 days after the fact, they are still not sure. However the most telling fact of this latest breakdown is the reactions of Singaporeans. Basically, their reactions amount to…almost nothing!

Singaporeans are now just so used to trains breakdowns most of us just have to shrug our shoulders, grumbled a little, and move on. We have no choice in the matter because the SMRT and Ministry of Transport seem powerless to stop the disruption. In this latest breakdown, they can’t even pinpoint the fault, much less fix it!

So it seems that we Singaporeans have no choice but to accept trains breakdown as a way of life. It is as people say, our new normal. 

Comics this week

Earth 2 #19- It just gets better and better. I admit I was a little worried when James Robinson left but Tom Taylor has taken to this series like a fish to water. Writer Tom Taylor covered a lot of ground in this issue with evil Superman destroying everything in his wake; Aquawoman, Jimmy Olsen, Red Tornado and Batman trying their best to find a way to beat evil Superman; and even another possible survivor from Krypton. All these plot development with action to boot! The only drawback I have in this issue is the array of artists taking charge here. I’m not certain about the numbers but I think there are at least 4 artists in this issue. Why would you need 4 artists for one regular sized comic? I have no idea but if you can overlook this minor drawback, this is a great issue.  

Green Lantern #27- There’s just something wonderful when a plan comes to fruition, especially when it’s the plan of the bad guys. As the good guys win 9 out 10 times, it’s fun (at least to me) to see the bad guys put together a good plan to get a win off the white hats. In this issue, Hal Jordon and the GLC got it hook, line and stinker. The set-up, the execution, and then the payoff by the Braidman was a thing of beauty. Writer Robert Venditti with artist Gale Eaglesham held nothing back in showing just how screwed Hal was by the end of the issue and I have to say both writer and artist covered themselves in glory in this issue. Venditti even managed to squeeze in a cameo for Simon Baz and B’dg! Superb!

Hinterland #4- After 3 issues of moving people about and showing off the post-apocalyptic world, writer Ian Edginton decide it’s time to turn on the tension and action. He did it well and a lot of the credit has to go to artist Francesco Trifogli. I know his style is not for everyone but I think it suits this series very well. I also like the fact that the throwaway joke of mutants 2 issues ago is coming back to haunt the characters as a bunch of maybe-immortal science mutants really did turn up. Thus far, this series has been an enjoyable ride and there's promise of more of the same. It seem DC and Vertigo has a sleeper here.

The First Step

Deputy Prime and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced yesterday that the government will mandate an up-to-20 per cent increment in the entry-level wages for cleaners. Frankly, it’s about time.

Steps like this are what labor activists have been asking for and it seems they are finally getting their wish. The 55,000 cleaners in Singapore earn an average wage of $850 per month. That’s on average, so it’s not unheard of for cleaners to earn just $600 per month.

In Singapore, no one will even bother arguing that this salary is too low to survive. So for all their talk of not having a minimum wage, it seems that the Singapore’s government has finally admitted (without saying so) that salaries in Singapore are just too low.

Yes, I agree that setting a minimum wage of S$1,000 for cleaners should be a no-brainer and that they shouldn’t have taken so long to take what should be a simple decision but hey, this is a step in the right direction. Let’s not take this decision for cleaners to be the endgame but a significant first step for the future.

Hopefully, this minimum wage policy for cleaners will be expanded to all workers in the near future. 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

With superheroes ruling the movies, there have been more and more superhero books been published nowadays. “Steelheart” by Brandon Sanderson is the latest book in the sub-genre but with a twist. There are no heroic rescues, no saving the planet from villains, or even superheroes. This is a book about the human race and how “with great power, comes great greed”.

The story begins when an event named “Calamity” struck. A burst of light in the sky, “Calamity” gave some ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling these people Epics.

Soon, everything changed. Super-powered people started to rule over normal humans and within ten years, the most powerful of these beings have their own personal fiefdom in the world.

In Newcago, the former Chicago, this super-powered being is called “Steelheart” and he is supposedly invincible. David knows that he’s not because ten years ago, Steelheart killed David’s father and his father injured Steelheart. David want revenge and now has a chance as he had hooked up with a small group of rebels to kill Epics.

Now most people may know Brandon Sanderson as a fantasy writer and they would not be wrong. To my knowledge, this is his first superhero book and the concept is pretty interesting.

Although a superhero book, (almost) all the super-powered beings in the book are bad guys. The main character, David, has no powers outside the fact that he’s a superhero nerd with great knowledge of the various superpowers the Epics has. Personally as a guy who has collected comics for over 20 years, I like to think that this is a cool superpower but…back to the book.

First off, I like the fact that “Steelheart” is an action packed book with intelligence. David and his rebel friends, the Reckoners, are all seemingly normal humans so they need to use their wits to take down even the lowest Epics. In many ways, the backbone of the book is the tactical planning the Reckoners undertake before each hit. I find these “slow” parts of the book to be great.

In fact, most of the characters in the book are great. The members of the Reckoners are distinct, each with his or her specialty but at the same time, each of them is different enough that they do not come across as a stock character. Even the Epics like Steelheart have hints of personalities instead of generic villain characters.

I also enjoy the character of David. A strong young man with a palpable desire for vengeance, he was very relatable. He is determined and courageous but also smart enough to understand that taking down Steelheart may do more harm than good, especially to the people of Newcago. His internal questioning of his need for vengeance was a good touch by Sanderson.

Of course the book is not perfect. I especially dislike the ending when David discovered how the powers they have affect the personalities of the Epics. I think this plot revelation was a mistake by Sanderson. It undercut the book somewhat by giving an out for the Epics, that their mistakes are due to their powers instead of their inability to deal with the responsibility that comes with these powers.

Also some parts of the book are rushed. The attack on the power plant is case in point. Things just fall into place for the Reckoners during the attack even though their plan of attack fell into pieces.

Still, “Steelheart” is a book I would recommend. It’s not great but it is fun well-written book with a good twist on the superhero genre. Read it for a good fun time. 

Laughing About Ice

                                Ice builds up along Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois

You have to hand it to the Americans. Almost the entire eastern seaboard of North America is under ice and there's reports that things are going to get worse with a blast of arctic air heading that way, but what do Americans do? 

They laugh about it! 

With temperatures going dangerously low, New York expect temperature to plummet to -26C (-15F) with wind chill, American media are full of reporters joking about how cold it is. On CNN, the reporters were comparing temperature in cities across the world, with one saying it was colder in the American city of Atlanta than it was in Moscow! Another even compare their temperature to those in Iceland! 

With temperatures expected to go lower in the coming days, humor is a good thing to have. Now if only they can convince their politicians that there really is such a thing as global warming... 

Do Not Rule It Out

The U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, has publicly said that the U.S will help Iraq fight al-Qaeda-linked militants who had taken over the city of Fallujah, but the Americans are not planning to send troops back into Iraq. Honestly, as war-weary as I know the Americans are, this is a bad decision. 

Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has not asked for help and the Iraqi army could very well defeat the militants without American help, ruling out helping the Iraqi outright sent out a bad signal to the rest of the world. Or to be more exact, it sent out a bad signal to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Taliban will see what's happening in Iraq and go, "hey, we can do that here in Afghanistan after the American leave later this year!" And you know what? They would be right. Even if you are not sending any troops back to Iraq, the U.S government should/must not publicly say sending troops back to Iraq is out of the question.

Think about it; The U.S invaded Iraq in 2003; ended combat missions in 2010; left in late 2011; 2 years later, al-Qaeda took over a city; and the Americans confirm to the world they will not sent troops to help the Iraqi government they left behind. That's almost as if you're are leaving a playbook for the Taliban.

Even if it's true, even if the world knows it's true, you still must not say you are not going back to Iraq. That's not just bad policy, that's giving hope to your enemies.

Men & Women Are Different

The U.S Marine Corps is trying to get women into combat roles and as such, there is a change in the physical requirements women need to meet to get into the Marine Corps. Unfortunately, more than half of female Marines in their boot camp can't do three pull-ups, the minimum passing standard under the new rules, so the U.S Marine Corps have to delay (aka ignore) their new rules.

Now as a guy who was in an army myself, I can say the pull-ups are a bitch. I always have problems with them so I can understand why women would have problems with them as well. However I think the blame lies not with the women here but with their commanders. I don't why they are trying to raise the standards of women physical tests. 

I don't get it because men and women are physically different. That's just a simple scientific fact. From what I read so far some idiot in the U.S Marine Corps thought that men and women would be able to have the same physical standards?

I mean if you want to move women into combat roles; do it. Other armies have done so but anyone who think men and women would be able to take the same test and reached the same standards (even the minimum standards) are in dreamland. Even if women passed the tests, they would never reach the maximum standards of men. It's just not physically possible.

I am all for women in combat roles. I don't understand why but if they want to do it, let them do it. However men and women will always be physically different and refusing  to accept that is just going to cause more problems than solving them.  

Comics this week

The Green Team: Teen Trillionaires #7- I admit; I was going to drop Teen Trillionaires but when I heard that DC was cancelling the title, it was a case of "why not finish the whole series"? #7 is a showcase of the good and the bad of the series. The action was kinetic with artist Ig Guara putting in some good clean work while writer Art Baltazar and Franco keep the story quick and fast. At the end of the issue, I still have no idea about the characters that make up the Teen Trillionaires. Commodore, Cecilia, JD and gang are practically interchangeable and this failure of character development is the main problem of the series. At the start of the series, the writers took chances with the characters but halfway it stopped and the series morph into an action series. This change in tone was a problem the series never recovered from.