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Champions Of The North


ghost-angel

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

IMO the most intriguing suggestion from the second, later run of The Littlest Hobo (1979-85) was that this dog was the same one whose adventures were chronicled in the first series in the early 1960's, and was thus a true "superdog," not only extraordinarily intelligent but long-lived as well.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

Similar to the Benji tv show... or was it the same show?

 

Benji TV show? The only Benji TV show listed in the IMDB is "Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince" which apparently was about Benji finding a crashed spacecraft with an alien prince who hides form others of his race on Earth, being protected by Benji and his robot bodguard Zax. iSo, if that's what you're referring to, then they're not similar :).

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

It's actually very much a "Wandering character enters setting and through his presence, changes situations in the setting usually for the better" show.

 

This (apt) description makes me think there should be a link between this line of wonder dogs and a figure like Kane from "Kung Fu"...

 

Perhaps the dogs' line started in the wild west era, when the original crossed paths with an oriental martial artist/mystic? "Dog Fu", anyone?

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

Benji TV show? The only Benji TV show listed in the IMDB is "Benji' date=' Zax, and the Alien Prince" which apparently was about Benji finding a crashed spacecraft with an alien prince who hides form others of his race on Earth, being protected by Benji and his robot bodguard Zax. iSo, if that's what you're referring to, then they're not similar :).[/quote']

 

Nah, there was some cheesy wandering dog show that had Benji or a lookalike in it. Didn't last long and I barely remember it. I was wondering if it might be the same show or a clone.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

Nah' date=' there was some cheesy wandering dog show that had Benji or a lookalike in it. Didn't last long and I barely remember it. I was wondering if it might be the same show or a clone.[/quote']

 

Well, given that the Littlest Hobo was a german shepherd, I can't see him being confused for Benji. There were some made-for-TV Benji movies maybe that's what you're remembering.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

This (apt) description makes me think there should be a link between this line of wonder dogs and a figure like Kane from "Kung Fu"...

 

Perhaps the dogs' line started in the wild west era, when the original crossed paths with an oriental martial artist/mystic? "Dog Fu", anyone?

 

Well, there is Dog Style Kung Fu. It involves rolling on your back, begging, and striking from the ground. I am not kidding.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

Moving off the dog-show for a moment :rolleyes: , what if any changes to Borealis are in the new COTN versus the previous one?

 

No disrespect intended toward Scott Bennie, whose writing I admire greatly, but B's motivation never quite worked for me. Outside of Quebec, a Canadian ultra-nationalist is almost a contradiction in terms.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

His back story, extremely summed up.

 

He is infused with the Land (one of Canada's supernatural entities that simply Is). So his prime motivation of Canada Is Great combined with Land's desire to protect and save the land itself (especially from Ice) made him a megalomaniac bent on taking over Canada the same way Eurostar wants Europe under its rule.

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

I'm also posting a review of CotN to RPG.net. It seems to be a trend. :D

 

JG

 

Which is up there now.

 

I'm not especially comfortable talking about reviews -- I've seen too many authors go stupidly ballistic over them -- however I do appreciate both of you sharing your opinions in a public forum. (Whether I'd be less appreciative if the reviews were more negative is a hypothetical question that I'll weaselly avoid answering. :-)

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Re: Champions Of The North

 

I finally got my copy and despite my joshing earlier in the thread, Scott did indeed present a fairly even-handed view of the country. Overall, I liked the book a lot -- much better than the 4th edition Champions of the North, which I felt did not make Canada an interesting place to adventure. Based on a quick look through the book, here are my basic thoughts.

 

Big Things I Liked

  • The superpowered history of Canada
  • THe influence of the Land, Ice, Sky, and Sea

Big Things I Disliked

  • Nothing I can thing of right now.

Little Things I Liked

  • The twist on the Due South mountie in The Constable
  • The ForceKnight armor being derived from technology used in the Avro Arrow.
  • The Swedish hero brought into lead StarForce being criticized for lacking the fighting spirit and toughness of Canadian heroes. For those who don't know, the Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa franchises in the NHL all have Swedish captains who have been ridiculously criticized ("A European captain has never won the Stanley Cup") for this very lack.
  • Borealis getting worked up over the resolution of the softwood lumber dispute.
  • Byrne Industries.
  • Justicar's costume being described as being reminiscent of a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform (but if it's white with blue trim, it should the Leafs' road uniform rather than their home uniform).The etymology of the word "hoser". Even a well-informed Canadian can learn something from this book. :)
  • The Leafs Nation Frustration plot seed for Toronto.
  • The plot seed involving the Statue of Liberty appearing in Halifax harbor apparently requesting political assylum.
  • Newfoundland students adopting Foxbat as a kindred spirit.

Little Things I Disliked:

  • By using the real name for the CBC network, it creates a conflict with the Champions Universe American network CBC (the fictionalized version of CBS). Given that in the real world, CBS existed first, one might assume that the CU American CBC existed first, making it doubtful that Canada would give the same name to their national network. However, I suppose it is quite possible that the CU American CBC didn't exist first or that it started as something else and was renamed CBC later. Either one would result in the Americans not caring that there was a Canadian network of that name and the Canadians going "well, we had it first and we're not changing it".
  • The editing error that resulted in the Giants of the WHL being listed as both a Vancouver (correct) and Toronto (incorrect) sports franchise.
  • No mention of the Thousands Islands - a great setting for hidden bases and conflicts with American heroes.

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