52, yes fifty-two! DC Comics, on August 31st 2011, will do something very bold and release, renumber the entire DC Universe line of comics. This means 52 issue #1’s and a new look, a more updated and relevant look for Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Justice League and more. It’s a radical idea but just how radical is it really? How many offshoots, one time stories and re-tellings have readers seen over the years? The core mechanics for each character and their universe are set; this is not a combining of a Super Batman type hero but a new telling. So what’s it mean, what are some of the details? Let’s take that gander we mentioned.
New Issues – 52 x market value = get to work and earn some dough for a slew of new comics that allow readers to get on from the first floor. Action Comics, Detective Comics … who has a copy of #1? It’s a new beginning but not a new venture like Image Comics back in the 90’s. These are established characters that are getting revamps and if readers are fans of the various animated shows for DC properties then these new issues will feel warm, comfy and cozy.
New Costumes – Jim Lee, Cully Hamner and Mark Chiarello are the minds behind over 50 new costume designs that make modern those that are iconic. Easy task, not quite but with these three doing the heavy lifting the faith is there.
Diversity – Interesting angle from DC, but the focus on a diversified cast across the board means minority characters are not just throw ins but solid primary characters. As DC points out they include; Cyborg, Static Shock, Blue Beetle, Batwing (aka the Batman of Africa), Firestorm, Mr. Terrific, the Atom and Voodoo, and LGBT characters like Batwoman, Apollo, Midnighter, and Voodoo.
Imaginations Unleashed – Creative minds such as Geoff Johns and Jim Lee are just two of the folks behind these new 51. There is a ton of top level, bright, brilliant and amazing minds collaborating on these various titles. They bring their own takes and re-takes to each series so this is a lot of experience and plain awesomeness put towards these new #1’s.
Going Digital – DC Comics has long been available on smart phones and tablets and this reach makes the consumption by readers all the easier, portable and easier on the pockets.
Overall the future looks very bright and exciting. Personally I’ve always loved the Elseworlds, ‘what if’ stories found annually for established characters and now fans get a chance to see this concept in a standard format which plain rocks. It’s a new take on so much, so many characters that it’s close to overwhelming so get ready DC fans, the future is about to get very wild with the new 52.
Loving some Dark Knight pre-order, special edition goodness
What’s not to love gamers? Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, (a cool) Robin, Two-Face and of course Batman are all making it into Batman: Arkham City which will hit stores this fall and in addition to a prequel comic from DC Comics gamers now get to see the sweetness that is the special edition. Let’s take a look at what true bat-maniacs can look forward to direct from the source …
The package will be available in limited quantities for $99 beginning Oct. 18, 2011 in North America for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows PC. The Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition will include the following extensive bonus content:
Custom Batman statue produced by Kotobukiya
Collectible art book
Early access to the Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns skin
Batman: Arkham City album from Water Tower Music including original songs by hit artists, available via digital redemption
Bonus DC Universe animated original movie, Batman: Gotham Knight
Four collectible cards
Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.
Horror reaches the perfect first-person peak in F.E.A.R. 3 as writer Steve Niles details
F.E.A.R. 3; a true horror gaming experience, a bloody thrill ride that’s perfect for the proper age group. A tale of twisted terror crafted by Steve Niles who took time to reveal his thoughts on working on F.E.A.R. 3, the franchise, working with John Carpenter, his view of 3D and more. Sit back and enjoy a trip inside the mind of Niles.
Q: Did you have a chance to go to E3?
Niles: I didn’t go this year but I went last year when they were doing the big F.E.A.R. 3 promotion. I actually went there with John Carpenter as well. It was nuts; I thought Comic-Con was crazy, nothing compares to these game shows. The thing they do at E3 that they’ve been doing for a while Comic-Con is playing music so every booth was thundering their own music so on top of the crowd you can’t hear anything. It was really fun and fun seeing fans react to John Carpenter because he does not do that many public appearances. Having him there to sign video game posters was pretty cool.
Q: How was it working with John Carpenter?
Niles: I have to admit I was really nervous. It’s one of those things where whenever you meet your heroes you want them to be cool because basically if they’re not, that’s my entire childhood destroyed. So I was really nervous meeting him and he turned out to be the nicest guy in the world and really generous. A lot of directors and filmmakers don’t like to talk about their old work very much but I was able to ask him questions about Dark Star, Halloween and The Thing and he was completely open talking about that. It was really great and just working with him was like sitting around with one of my friends who I’ve collaborated with for years and just jamming on story and having fun. It was definitely one of those situations, working with him; it was a sin to call it work because I was having a lot of fun.
Q: How were you approached to work on F.E.A.R. 3 given you’re having played the original F.E.A.R. and F.E.A.R. 2?
Niles: It was really boring. What ended up happening was John and I had been working on a movie that didn’t happen for either of us, me as a writer and him as director, we both ended up not participating in the movie but we got along really well. We talked about video games and I know we talked about F.E.A.R. as we both played every single game. Then my rep calls me and says do you have any interest in writing this video game called F.E.A.R. 3 and it was just this perfect timing and everything where I said yes on the spot and I said would it be ok if I invited a friend? They were like who is your friend and I said it’s John Carpenter. The whole thing fell together in about a week. I’ve never had a project fall together quite as easy as this and it helps so much as me and John had both played F.E.A.R. 2 which ended very strangely. Our first question was do we get to work with those characters and that storyline; it was just one of those things that was perfect timing.
Q: How did the established story help or hinder your creativity with F.E.A.R. 3?
Niles: For me it helped. It’s different from when I write my own comics or if I work on Batman. You’ve got a whole toolbox full of stuff to play with and what Warner Bros. and Day 1 Studios really wanted from us was, they wanted you know to not really wrap things up but kind of start bringing all the threads together which really you know as a fan playing the game was a sense that I had. There’s all these characters that have sprung out of these events from a long time ago now, how do we make them all come together and sort of form a semi-conclusion to what could be a trilogy. That’s what they wanted us to do so honestly it was a challenge like anything else but I already had the curiosity there especially. The F.E.A.R. games were one of the few that I did actually finish. What winds up happening towards the end is that one of the characters that we’ve been introduced to somehow manages to impregnate Alma so we’re talking about a ghost now possibly having a human child and that’s what John and I were given to work with so I was thrilled. We talked to everyone for a while on what we were going to do and everybody just agreed that the core characters that everyone cares about are Alma, Point Man from the very first game and then Becket from game 2. So what we did was end up just finding a really good theme and the theme is family. All these people whether they’re created in a lab or not, are related and as twisted as it is it’s still a family. That was very much the theme we pitched and like I said Warner Bros. and everybody was really great and open about the whole thing.
Q: Alma was one of those characters that felt pulled from a Japanese horror film like The Ring or Ringu with that creepy long haired girl. How do you take a character like that and make the gamer care enough to get that emotional involvement with the game?
Niles: With this one, using the example of J-Horror, the Japanese horrors, is perfect. Trying to get any sympathy for a monster or ghost it can be pretty tough especially when we have two games of massacres behind them but what we found was that Alma is a ghost because something horrible happened to her in life and it happened to her when she was a child so one of the things we did in F.E.A.R. 3 was underline what made her what she is, and like Frankenstein’s monster as much as you’re afraid of them you have a lot of sympathy for them. The same things works for The Creature from the Black Lagoon, he’s killing people but he wouldn’t have killed people if these scientists hadn’t messed with him, or King Kong, where he’s taken out of his element and turned into a monster. Alma is very much like that as she’s a horrifying ghost with really terrifying powers but at the very core she’s a little girl who suffered. I think that’s something we can all have sympathy for.
Q: Did you find it easy working with the game developers; were they receptive to your ideas?
Niles: The toughest thing is I took the first couple weeks to figure out; I was very confused about the technical stuff. I would have to learn how a video game was built from the ground up and what we finally decided to do was John and I just wrote a screenplay. We wrote a screenplay about F.E.A.R. 3 and the technical guys took what we did and figured out how to work it into the scope. I didn’t have to sit around worrying about stuff like that. The worst it got was I wrote in a character that I first came up with on the spot, I’m used to writing like that. In a comic book it doesn’t matter, you write a character and they just draw it up but with this they had to call me and tell me “well you can’t just create new characters because you have to build new assets.” So once we functionally understood each other then things went really smooth and if anything they kept pushing me for more and more.
Q: You mention screenplay. Do you see the F.E.A.R. franchise and video games in general going in that direction as a movie or direct to TV movie like on SyFy?
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Niles: It is an entertainment medium in that it’s very interactive but the line between interactive and a movie are blurring every day. I honestly believe video games, as the writing improves, as the story, as they learn more ways to tell story, I think that video games themselves are a vital way to tell stories in the future especially as we move forward. I can see us having basically movies that we interact with like video games. As for F.E.A.R. 3, yeah I do, I think that especially, I hope now, that we clarify what the F.E.A.R. 3 universe is and who are the active characters and then there’s some stuff we came up with, I think it’s a really viable story for any medium. I could definitely see a F.E.A.R. movie and I did a mini comic for this.
Q: What about technology such as 3D and motion controls? Did these technologies come into play with your writing?
Niles: We didn’t work on that with this. My own personal opinion on 3D is I think it’s something people want people to want. We’ve been here before, we were here in the 50’s and I think at the end of the day, for video games 3D makes a lot more sense than for movies. When I’m in a movie theater the only thing I want flying in my face is a good story, that’s it. If things are popping out of the screen it just seems like a separate experience. 3D is something for an amusement park not a movie, but for video games, yeah. I didn’t have to deal with that on this and as far as the technical issues I did, it was really great because I would just call Day 1 and describe what I wanted in very pedestrian terms and they would tell me what the technological solution was. We did have a few situations where I came at them with ideas. There’s a couple inherent problems with horror video games, one in particular that really bothered me which was one of the first things I brought up with them and they solved it immediately. It had been something they were really worried about and all that is, horror works when you’re really surprised so if you play a level through and the monsters always in the same place, how’s it going to scare and surprise you? That’s what I knew from playing Resident Evil and old games like that is once you memorized it the fears were gone because you know they were coming. Day 1 came up with some really, really interesting solutions for that by randomizing certain events within the game so that nobody knows when stuff is going to pop up. I love, it’s a great simple solution to the problem. When I played that game (Resident Evil) I would sit and wait and edge up trying to trigger it (dogs through hallway window) because I knew it was going to be there as opposed to the first time I played it and threw the controller into the air. NOTE: This randomization system is called the Degenerative System.
Q: What is it about horror and the supernatural that inspires you? How did you get into this genre of writing be it personal interest or an event from your past?
Niles: It’s just a personal thing that I love. I love watching horror, I love being scared so very early on when I wanted to be a writer, I wanted to scare other people the way I’d been scared. The thing I constantly love about horror is horror I get to do …you can play with any themes you want to and you really do have a captive audience. Everyone is sitting on the edge of their seats waiting to see what you’ll do. There’s no particular reason. I’ve always tried to figure out but for me it’s just the genre that I’ve been able to do the most in. I’ve tried comedy, super heroes, all that kind of stuff and have fun with it but the horror stuff I do is just from decades of enjoyment of it, how much fun I have watching, reading other peoples work and it’s just really fun to participate in.
Q: Did the video game medium allow you to do something scary, gruesome, just twisted that you would not be able to do in comics or movies, anything just way out there?
Niles: There are things that are added elements. With comics I kind of can do what I want. Movies, not so much. I can write you a grocery list of things you can’t do in movies that I was able to do in the video game, it’s just much more wide open. The other thing about video games is because there’s a good rating system that people actually pay attention to, parents are savvy to it and people know where to look, we don’t have that hesitation about putting stuff out there. When you do a movie, even an R movie, they judge it as if children are going to watch it, it’s very strange, which is why now you can’t even have smoking in a movie. Smoking makes it an R, automatically. We just don’t have those censorship rules for video games right now and I hope that’s something that stays because I do stuff for adults. The stuff in F.E.A.R. 3, the whole thing, it’s a bloody scary ride and there’s a lot of stuff in there that might be questionable for little, little kids but for older teens and adults it’s perfect.
Q: How would you sum up F.E.A.R. 3 for someone unfamiliar with the franchise and the horror it entails?
Niles: One of the things I love about F.E.A.R. the most is that it does this great job of combining something that we’re very used to in video games and, the first-person shooter dealing with a bunch of military conspiracies then it gets really weird. What I really like about it is it plays with a very standard comfortable situation in games, which again is a great thing to do with horror, and this it slowly just starts to get stranger and stranger. I just think that F.E.A.R. 3 is one of the most honest, up front, straight forward horror experiences you can get in a video game right now. There’s always that safety with games like Resident Evil because you’re standing away from the character. With F.E.A.R. 3 you are in the nightmare; you just can’t beat that
On this one I’m noticing as I play it that the soundtrack is exceptionally fear inducing. They’ve changed up the soundtrack a little bit and there’s a couple things they do that just get your blood pressure up so much, the way it would watching a horror movie, I’m really impressed with it. There is one of the simplest things I don’t have in comics that I wish I did; the ability to have sound and music to set the mood and bring tension up to the surface. It’s amazing and in this game I meant to ask about that as its noticeable better in this game. NOTE: Composer is Jason Gravesfrom score to sound effects and he also worked on Dead Space.
Q: How do you like final product?
Niles: I got my copy and I’ve been playing it through. If I didn’t like the game I wouldn’t be here talking, I love it. I’m really enjoying it and I’m so glad I was a fan of the first two games so I have something to compare it to and I just think this is the next logical progression for this game. If I had nothing to do with this game then I’d be buying it tomorrow.
The Boy Wonder looks a bit tougher as he makes his Arkham City debut
That’s the new, it’s time for Robin to get in on the action along with Batman and Catwoman in Batman: Arkham City. Here are the official details …
Tim Drake Version of Robin Confirmed as Playable Character in Batman: Arkham City Challenge Mode: Pre-Order at Best Buy North America for Exclusive Access to the Robin Pack!
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today confirmed that Robin will be a fully playable character in the new and improved challenge mode in Batman: Arkham City. The Tim Drake Robin pack is currently available exclusively to North American fans who pre-order the game from Best Buy on any of the platforms for which the game will be available: Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows PC and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.
Robin will come complete with his own unique gadgets and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that are included with the pack – Black Mask Hideout and Freight Train Escape. The pack will also contain a bonus Red Robin character skin.
Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.
Batman: Arkham City is based on DC Comics’ core Batman license. Fans can visit www.batmanarkhamcity.com to sign up to receive updates regarding the game and join the discussion on the community site at http://community.batmanarkhamcity.com to participate in forums, read upcoming developer diaries and stay abreast of all the latest Batman: Arkham City news.
With Green Lantern hitting theaters it’s time to go back and take a look at Blackest Night, an excellent tale of the various Lantern Corps.
The new Green Lantern feature film is getting reviews that are … less than spectacular which is sad for both Ryan Reynolds and Hal Jordan. Green Lantern is so much more than the film shows and for viewers new to the franchise do not judge on the film alone. The collected comics found in hardbound form for Green Lantern: Blackest Night is an excellent read that recounts what the Green Lantern Corp is all about while setting up the other seven corps of Rage (red), Avarice (orange), Fear (yellow), Hope (blue), Compassion (purple), Love (pink-ish purple) and Death (black). These seven along with Will (green) make-up the seven corps and Death as technically Death is not a corps in the sense of the others but that will be explained. Blackest Night is not an introduction as the film is but rather a telling of a great story with excellent art and pacing that is wonderful for fans both old and new.
The Story – Writer Geoff Johns takes readers into a world where there are seven corps formed from the emotional spectrum. Hal’s reason for wielding the ring are revealed and as the dead begin to rise a new battle and revelations loom on the horizon. The dead rise and confront those they left behind and behind it all is the mysterious black lanterns and each of the dead wear their rings and wiled a power born of aggression. As this darkness engulfs the entire galaxy the various corps must come together as only the full emotional and color spectrum can overcome the blackness created by death.
Consisting of a solid introduction, prologue and eight comic issues there is much more to Blackest Night than the paragraph above reveals but reading is the joy of revealing so no ruining here. Johns shows his chops and history with a tale that shows deep history for so many DC Universe characters from Hawk to Aquaman and the sheer number of characters involved never gets to be too much which is a true accomplishment. Johns manages to keep the story centered on Hal while branching just enough to bring in primary story threads and hinting at much more going on. This is the central tale in a large branched tree. For fans and noobs alike the movie may be fun but to see the true power of the rings, of the corps, well it does not get any better than Blackest Night, a well told story.
The Art – Ivan Reis makes the dead look gross-alicious. Skin hanging off and limbs bent each direction, oh yes this is no easy look at the dead heroes of the DC Universe, it’s not pretty or nice, it’s just dead. There are times readers can almost smell the decay and dirt, it’s just a well drawn comic that Reis brings to life. Each hero and villain looks as iconic as ever and the style is overall rock solid but that’s not the most impressive aspect. Nope, it’s the large group shots from all the Lantern Corps to all the heroes of earth in large action packed shots. Hours must have been spent on these layouts and they look outstanding. The included cover gallery collection and a scattering of the pencil drawings just enhances the overall experience and seeing pencils vs. final product also shows off the chops of the inkers and colorist. It’s a rock solid story well told and brought together with awesome art that is very poster worthy.
More Green Lantern – While Blackest Night does a good job of recounting the core points in Hal’s past if readers are looking for more check out the Green Lantern App with movie trailer, comics, previews and tons of features that will leave nobody and I mean nobody lacking in Green Lantern lore.
Overall, there is a ton of history to Green Lantern and not just Hal Jordan. The movie has its focus and picks its core story points to explore but keeping it simple may have helped. How about a Star Wars style scrolling recap of what’s happened? Can’t change the past but for those who love DC comics and Green Lantern, well they should already own Blackest Night but for comic fans in general and those who had to see the move then go out now and buy or download this story. It’s only part of the larger DC Universe but so much fun to read and enjoy.
A look at some of the new pics for Spider-Man’s next adventure.
Spider-Man: Edge of Time is looking quite nice. Taking the Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 versions of the web crawler and combining them into a time-rift spanning adventure sounds perfect for a comic and should translate well as a video game. The fact is that comic based video games are getting better production and development efforts due in no small part to the rise in cost to make games. No more slapping a big name on a cookie-cutter titles and calling it a day. With writing from Peter David (co-creator of Spider-man 2099) there is no doubt the story will rock and from the looks of these new images the game too shall look amazing. Check back for more as E3 week is just getting started.
The sultry love interest gets to belt out some beatings as Catwoman is indeed playable in Batman: Arkham City
Yes, Catwoman is playable in Batman: Arkham City and from the trailer and new screenshots she has a slew of her own moves and style. A female character with the gumption to go up against Batman and all his baddies who retains her strength, femininity and assets while be downright awesome. That’s the assumption and there is no reason to doubt she will deliver.
Enjoy another side of Power Rangers: Samurai with a coloring sheet, recipe and exercises
Love them or not, there is no denying the staying power of the Power Rangers. The most recent iteration is Power Rangers: Samurai follows yet another group of young adventures and has impacted yet another generation of young TV viewers so in order to take the fun off the TV set we’ve got a few features for fans to enjoy. Check out the included coloring sheet, ready to print and enjoy and dealing with the food groups. Also we’ve got one egg-tastic recipe and a handful of exercises to help Power Rangers fans train like the Samurai.
Emily’s Egg-cellent Eggs In A Nest!
Ingredients:
1 Organic Egg
1 Slice of Whole Wheat/Grain Bread
¼ cup Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese (you can use soy or rice cheese)
½ tablespoon of oil
Salt and Pepper
1 Kiwi
Directions – Cut a 1 to 2 inch hole in the center of your bread. Heat a skillet with the oil over a medium flame. Place the bread in the skillet and after about 2 minutes or until the side facing down is brown, flip the bread and crack the egg in the hole. Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, until the egg is almost firm. Flip. Sprinkle cheese on the top of the egg and cover with a top. After 2 minutes, or when cheese is melted transfer to a plate. Slice the kiwi as your side healthy fruit and more Omega 3s! ENJOY!
Click to enlarge and print
Power Rangers: Samurai Training Exercise
Green Ranger Jacks – Put your hands on your waist. Put your feet shoulder width apart. Jump and bring your knees up and together and land with your feet together. Then jump your feet out to where you started, and do it again! Do 5 Ranger Jacks, then rest, then do 5 more.
Yellow Ranger Cobra Pose – Start by sitting on your knees with your hands on your waist. Put your hands out in front of you. First dip your head down towards the floor, then push up with your hands and arch your back like a cobra! Do it in reverse to end up back on your knees. Do it 3 times slowly.
Pink Ranger Upper Body Stretch – Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Bend your knees, turn to your right, and stretch your left hand out in front of you as far as it will go, and stretch your right hand behind you at the same time. Repeat on other side. Do 5x each side.
Blue Ranger Crab Crawl – Sit down on the floor. Put your feet out in front of you, put your hand behind you. Raise up your body on your hands and feet, and crawl around like a crab! Try and crawl on your hands and feet for 3 mins.
Red Ranger Mirror Stance – Stand facing a friend (you can also do it at home in the mirror by yourself!). Decide who is going to lead – the other person tries to copy the leader exactly. Watch the move first, and then we can try it together. Step right, crossing over your feet and your hands. Then step right again and uncross. Try and be a perfect mirror! Now go the other way. Practice until you can follow your partner.
Gamers have already been introduced to Aimi Yoshida and now it’s time to meet the next member of the crew in X-Men: Destiny video game hitting consoles this September. Grant Alexander goes from the football field to battling alongside Aimi and others in the third-person action/RPG. The concept of controlling ones evolution will add an unique twist as these characters are not locked into an already established doctrine of moves, nope; the sky is indeed the limit. More to come as additional characters are introduced.
Name: Grant Alexander
Background: Sandersville, Georgia
Ambition: To be a football superstar
Back Story: Grant is in San Francisco hoping to land a starting spot for the University of California, Berkeley, Varsity Squad. Oblivious to the world tensions, Grant doesn’t see that the peace rally and threatening protesters around him have any connection to his life. When he discovers his own mutant powers, Grant is faced with the realization that mutant/human relations are absolutely his problem.
Check in with Dark Horse Digital to get the free web comic now
Continuing the trend of comics as a prequel storytelling device for video games Dark Horse has released the Dungeon Siege III web comic at www.digital.darkhorse.com. Learn more about the epic role-playing saga in three stories by writer Jeremy Barlow (Star Wars: Rebellion) and artists Iban Coello (Iron Man: Iron Protocols) and Sergio Abad (Transformers: Prime). The story goes as follows … “The 10th Legion has fallen, but heroism is not dead in the kingdom of Ehb, even as the Azunite faction continues their control …” Not the biggest description but get on over and checkout the full tale now. Also from Square Enix and Dark Horse, “The three comics will be released weekly, each introducing one of the four playable heroes from the upcoming game, making this an absolutely essential experience for players.”
Looking for some bonus content …
“Finally, an all-new, full-color print comic introducing the fourth character will be packaged with Dungeon Siege III exclusively at Wal-mart. Dungeon Siege III, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, Inc., arrives on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and on Windows-based PCs on June 21, 2011. The three Dungeon Siege III comics are now available for free download on DungeonSiege.com at the Dark Horse Digital Store. www.digital.darkhorse.com”
Green Lantern, The Darkness and Spider-Man ... oh my! Comics to video games and back again galore.
Video games and comics go hand-in-hand and given the commercial success of recent comic based movies now there are three. Movies based on comics with video game tie-ins and ones that deliver the goods in gameplay and story. The most recent is Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters which goes hand-in-hand with the upcoming Ryan Reynolds movie. The game looks solid as seen in these new screenshots with a more cartoony look on the Nintendo 3DS.
Second announced title, sans the movie tie-in, is Spider-Man: Edge of Time which marries two (only two this time) Spidey universes in a time spanning adventure. It looks very pretty and we shall have to see how the story plays out.
Third and final is The Darkness II which is getting the comic book treatment based on the video game based on the comic. No, nothing near as cosmic bad as Street Fighter The Movie Video Game but still a funny path to follow.
So why I am chatting about these? Well first is to share the links of new images, news and details but second is to spread the love for a trio of games that really look poised to deliver the goods and hopefully encourage more good games based on comics and anime we love. Support the industry.
The upcoming X-Men: Destiny video game will introduce a new cast of characters to the lore that is one of Marvel’s mightiest. These new characters follow a legacy of mutants began with Professor X’s first mutant team so not the easiest of burdens to bare. So who are these new mutants, what are their power and how will they play in-game? Let’s take a look at the first; Aimi Yoshida.
Name: Aimi Yoshida
Age: 15
Height: 5’ 1’’
Weight: 95 lbs
Powers: Small in size but strong in mental focus, Aimi is the mutant ability expert. She specializes in efficient mutant power usage. Aimi’s fighting style is very acrobatic and graceful
Back-story: Smuggled out of Japan by her mutant parents before the entire family could be rounded up and incarcerated in the new mutant camps, Aimi arrives in San Francisco hidden on a tanker ship. She is too young and frightened to appreciate her parents' motivations for sending her away, and instead feels only the bitterness and anger of abandonment.
The Dark Knight gets even more back-story for the upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game
Batman fans, get excited, get very excited. The upcoming Batman: Arkham City is receiving its own six-issue comic series from DC Comics. This series will help bridge the gap from 2009’s excellent, nay amazingly amazing Batman: Arkham Asylum to Arkham City. The writer is Paul Dini who’s handled the two games as well as Batman: the Animated Series. What this means is the story is in very rock solid hands. The first issues land in May, yes two issues a month, in both digital and print modes. The accompanying image is by concept artist Carlos D’anda and it’s a thing of beauty that moves the gritty realism of the Arkham games into comic form.
Here are some official detail but needless to say this should make the wait for Arkham City all the easier.
“BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY comic book miniseries announced!
Written by Batman: The Animated Series writer Paul Dini (who also penned both Arkham games) and drawn by Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City concept artist Carlos D’anda, BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY picks up one year after the original game, where former Arkham Warden turned newly elected Mayor of Gotham City Quincy Sharp has decided to close down the infamous institution. In its stead, he establishes “Arkham City,” the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, inmates can roam free and do whatever they want as long as they don’t try to escape. To run this urban prison, Sharp has appointed Dr. Hugo Strange, a man who knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman.
Each issue of the miniseries will be available day-and-date digitally worldwide for $2.99 each. These releases will alternate with 8-page digital-first interludes that will expand on the story included in the miniseries. Written by Dini and drawn by a variety of artists, these digital stories will focus on The Dark Knight’s many enemies as they vie for power in this new city within a city. Each eight-page digital-first interlude will be available for .99 cents, releasing in between issues of the miniseries, and will later be included in print in the BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY collected edition.
“The digital first stories offer a unique incentive for fans to experience interesting and exciting stories beyond the pages in the printed comic,” said Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-Publisher, “The additional pages will serve as interludes within the regular issues and won’t be necessary to follow the main story of the miniseries. Fans will also be able to read these interludes in print later, when we publish the collected edition.”
Read the comic before you play the game, and keep an eye out for the issue #1 variant cover, utilizing in-game graphics. BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY will double-ship in its first month, with issues 1 & 2 landing in May.”
UDON and Capcom are set to unleash another great title. Are you paying attention?
Comics and video games go together like peanut butter and jelly, Mork and Mindy, beer and … well the point is they exist very nicely together. While big boy publisher like Marvel and DC Comics put out many video game tie-ins they are not the leader when it comes to comics based on video game series. UDON rules the day thanks to their relationship with Capcom and the slew of Street Fighter, Darkstalkers and Mega Man comics (just to name a few). UDON keeps the stories going through every iteration of their games from the more well known titles to the little guys. The latest video game related title is Mega Man Gigamix. Check out the exclusive images below then head over to UDON for more on Gigamix.
The question is why should gamers care? Simply put, for fans of these storied franchises getting this quality of artwork and story is just plain awesome. UDON hooks up some silly comics (check out the upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom) to hard bound beautiful art books for the classy collector. The manga follows a more traditional manga format smaller than comics and in black and white. Mega Man Gigamix offers up very detailed art with the same unusual cast of baddies to fight found in the games. Here is the synopsis from UDON …
“This past year, Hitoshi Ariga’s classic Mega Man Megamix manga series was finally brought to English readers, much to the delight of Mega-fans who had been waiting to read the manga since its Japanese release over ten years ago. Now, with another decade of experience under his belt, Ariga is back with the all-new Mega Man Gigamix, an epic 3-volume manga series set to become the greatest Mega Man story ever!
Gigamix Vol.1 sets the stage with an exciting outer space adventure where Mega Man faces off against the Robot Masters of Mega Man 3, as well as the gigantic Gamma robot! The space setting of this tale acts as a prelude to Gigamix Vol.2 & 3, where all robots good and evil alike must join forces to defend the Earth from the ultra-powerful Stardroids! This two-part epic features every single Robot Master from the first eight Mega Man® games, plus fan favorites like Bass, Treble, Proto Man, Duo, the Stardroids, Rush, Beat, Roll, Dr. Wily, Dr. Cossack, Dr. Light, and of course the blue bomber himself – Mega Man!”
So there it is. UDON, a fine publisher of Capcom based comics (and more) is hooking up fans of Mega Man with some excellent content and that’s just the tip of the ice berg folks. Checkout UDON for more and enjoy the images.
Dusk volume 2 from David Doub gets deeper into the vampire world main character Eve lives in and shows the harsh reality she has to embrace as well as a lighter side. Eve is a deep character and even after reading two volumes of Dusk there is still so much more to be explored. Let’s take a look at each chapter and see how the unique art and story compare, which dominate, which wither. Most defiantly worth noting that the cover art by Joamette Gil is outstanding and shows off a level of passion only a master and servant in love could share.
Route 66 – Art by Sean Carner: Eve encounters a hunter and after some banter it’s time to race in two slick cars. Storywise that’s it, an evening race for Eve that introduces the threat and thrill of hunters. Fun story with art that reminded me of Archie comics (look it up young-uns). A fun look at Eve with a serious ending, great way to start the book.
Bad Mojo – Pencils by Jolene Houser, Inks Jerry Gonzales: A darker tale that shows the world of those with power, the ability to create hexes. One such user targets Eve but finds her power is not up to snuff. Story point of note is the introduction of another faction against the vampires, regular human, thinks wiccans, which know how far they can go against not only vampires but their servants such as Eve. The art goes from being solid to lose but overall relays some great emotion in the characters for their loss and anger. Using Eve as more a third party in this tale shows the flexibility of Doub’s world.
The Endless Desert War – Art by Zhongping Chem: A short tale about Eve and a dead soldier. Not too long on story but the art is unique, very heavy on shadows that reminds of a younger day of Hellboy art. Lots of potential, good start but overall not too memorable.
Obey Your Master – Art by Jerry Gonzales: The art is very simplistic with minimal background work but it’s the story, building a connection with a servant to see the brutal ending. If ever a tale shows the fine line Eve tows with her master it’s this one where humans are cattle to the most powerful of vampires and their ways.
Love in a Bottle – Pencils by David Faught, Inks Walter Jimenez II – Another short tale for Eve that shows off her partying, fun side. The art is a more grownup, detailed take on Eve and it works well, again with potential.
Teenage Vampire Drama – Art by Jolene Houser: The art style is closer to being pure pencil work with minimal ink, but it works really well. Yes there is the polish issues seen in other tales but the story is a trip. Is this a poke at all the teen vampire tales? That’s all I can think as the story of a teen vampire and his human love, how it plays out and how Eve scares them straight is great.
Good Samaritan – Art by Jerry Gonzales: Few pieces of art, not too detailed but they are meant to support the novel style story. Yet another new direction for talking about Eve as her style and world has been established. Could we see a longer novel format for Eve, an origins tale down the road?
Overall if you picked up the first Dusk and enjoyed it, this is more of the same. Solid story telling with art that ranges from simple to solid. A great mixture of fun, action packed and sad tales that shows a world of vampires both brutal and full of rules. The bonus sketches look great and I personally would love to see a tale with just these pencils, free of ink just for a changeup … but that’s just me. Vampire tales are so much fun and unique and Doub has entered this world with both fangs blazing.
DC nails another feature this time detailing the arrival of Supergirl
Thank you DC for bringing back the voices that matter. The voices I’m referring to are Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tim Daly as Superman in the latest DC Comics animated feature Superman Batman: Apocalypse. While the animation may vary, having a stable and close to iconic group of voice actor’s helps fans identify and tie together these heroes whom we love. The banter, the way the actors work together, it’s just nice to see and it continues what has been an outstanding and somewhat surprising run of animated features from DC, ones that tie into various comic story treads. Past dandies include Superman/Batman: Public Enemies and Green Lantern: First Flight which have been good but Apocalypse takes it to such a sweet level … let’s take a look at what I’m blathering about.
A crash landing in Gotham harbor triggers a series of events that will see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman go head-to-head with Darkseid. The question is what crash landed to cause such a monumental battle? Her name is Kara and she’s another surviving Kryptonian and Kal-El’s cousin. Kara holds untapped power, power Batman does not trust, that Wonder Woman wants to train and that Superman wants to embrace and believe in. If having the holy trinity of heroes interested in you wasn’t enough Kara has also drawn the attention of a more sinister, purely evil player in Darkseid. As Darkseid puts his plans into motion its Kara who’s front and center as the battle begins on Apocalypse and continues on Earth. What’s a girl to do with so much power, a new life and all shades of good and evil wanting to control you … shopping anyone?
Ok so cheesy ending to the synopsis but not too far off once you watch. That’s the key, you will need to watch if you’re a DC Comics fan, fan of Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman or just love what’s a well created piece of comic animation. The character design is mostly great. The ladies have a very anime vibe to them with nice curves, clean figures and larger ‘anime’ type eyes. Superman and Darkseid retain their closer comic and animated Justice League look while Batman goes in a taller, darker model. Its bats that seems a bit off in certain scenes as he does not have the heroic look of Superman and Wonder Woman all the time … hard to describe but he misses in a few scenes in his looks. Now this is nit picking at its finest as this feature really comes close to the feelings, the epic battles felt in Justice League and the voice work really, really makes this feature shine. The story moves along at a nice pace and manages to touch on enough key points without glossing over too much. Days, weeks and months pass but there is not feeling of drag or missing pieces in the story. Knowledge of DC Comics will help but is not 100% needed to enjoy Apocalypse.
So where does that leave the overall package? Solid voice work, great character design, quality animation and a story that paces itself between plot and action without missing a beat, well it’s a can’t miss feature. No quirky trouble in parallel worlds here, this is a great animated feature and one that’s I highly recommend. Hell, it even made me like Superman a little, a little.
Mass Effect Redemption Dark Horse comic Impression
Another massive, popular gaming franchise gets the side-story treatment with Mass Effect: Redemption from Dark Horse comics. This collection bridges the gap from Mass Effect to Mass Effect 2 and with PlayStation 3 owners about to get a taste of the franchise it’s good to get all the story one can. So what’s the deal with Redemption and why should gamer care, let take a look.
The Story – Commander Shepard is dead … or is he? This is a question Dr. Liara T’Sonia looks to answer as she travels to the Terminus Systems and the lawless Omega station. Teaming up with Feron, Liara must deal with the militant Blue Sun, Cerberus and the Collectors all in a race to recover Shepards body and find out exactly what value the body of a hero holds.
The story is very straightforward even with the various factions involved. Liara gets her answers and the stage is set for Mass Effect 2. While it’s a good story it is needed more for those familiar with the franchise. Characters, settings and factions are explained in enough detail but for such a massive game it just feels a bit light. Liara is an annoying character and frustrating as she shows such strength and weakness at the same time. The action does pick up and the pacing is well done but it’s a link in the larger chain the is Commander Shepards story, one where he is pretty absent.
The Design & Art – The cover art is poster perfect but the internal art is, well it’s adequate. This is not art that will blow comic fans away but it’s not bad by any means either. Characters and settings retain the look established in Mass Effect and the level of detail is sufficient it’s just not top level, detailed art. A good looking comic that lets the story shine as the star.
Why Gamers Should Care – Mass Effect fans on Xbox 360 get to learn a bit about the story between the games already enjoyed while PS3 owners can get a taste of what’s to come. Gamers should care because Mass Effect has such a strong storytelling element getting more in comic form is just too sweet to pass on.
Overall Mass Effect: Redemption is a must have for true Mass Effect fans. It’s got decent art with a strong story that bridges the gap from one outstanding game to the next. Comics as well as anime are intertwined with the world of video games so don’t miss out when media such as Redemption presents itself.
