Guest Post
I like Batman. I really do. I just don’t read any of his monthly titles. In these books, I feel he’s too weighed down by his eighty-plus years of continuity. He’s just better in smaller doses. So, when I learned that one of my favorite comic guys, Matt Wagner, wrote and drew the miniseries Batman and the Monster Men, I decided to pick it up.
I was not disappointed. Continue reading “Batman and the Monster Men 1-6”
Q:
Early in your carreer you adapted a fair number of books to the comic medium. What has it been like to now take your original work and adapt that into books and movies like the upcoming 30 Days of Night?
A:
I feel bad that I practiced on guys like Matheson, Barker and Ellison! But seriously, all those adaptations taught me a lot about breaking down and/or expanding a story from one medium to another, and I certainly utilized those lessons while writing 30 Days in all its various forms. Learning to be true to source material can be tricky, but as the better comics-to-films have proven, the more accurate to the original material, the better the films seem to be. I mean there are very good reasons why people have loved Spiderman all these years, but it took Raimi following the comics to prove it. Continue reading “Interview: Steve Niles on 30 Days, Clive Barker and Rob Zombie”
Guest Post
If there’s one thing I love in life, it’s checklists. But when it comes to comics, their serial nature tends to clash with the finite simplicity of a title, an issue number and a check box. So, when I decided to start collecting comics again, I set my sights on a series no longer being printed by the House of Ideas Mutant X.
No…not that crappy live-action TV show. We’re talking about the series starring Alex Summers, a.k.a. Havok, the lesser-known brother of twice-adulterous boy scout Cyclops of X-Men fame.
At the climactic end of X-Factor 149, Havok was seemingly blown to bits by a time/space distortion device. That’s where Mutant X picks up, showing a disembodied Havok floating against a star field, saying he remembers dying. Continue reading “Mutant X 1-7”
Guest Post
When I first picked up World in Conflict, I really felt it even before I installed it. With the plethora of really good RTS games already on the market and soon to come – such as Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts and Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasty – it was going to be tough to give an accurate review of yet another game in the long line of games that:
1. Are based on killin’ things, and
2. Have tanks shooting other tanks.
To tell you the truth, I didn’t like the game much when I first tried it out. The units moved in an incredibly unrealistic way, the graphics weren’t as good as I thought they should be and damage was just weird. But I’ll come to that later. First, let me give you the premise. Continue reading “World in Conflict: Brain in Conflict”
Guest Post
Several months ago, shortly after the release of the World of Warcraft (WoW) expansion, The Burning Crusade, I had already leveled my rogue to 70, was keyed for every heroic instance, and was, quite frankly, bored out of my mind. I seemed to be faced with only two choices – go out and kill monsters to grind reputation, or run through a dungeon I had already completed twenty times. I was definitely ready for something new. Around that time, an e-mail arrived in my inbox advertising EverQuest 2’s new free trial, called “Play the Fae.” They had introduced a new fairy race in their latest expansion, and were offering seven free days to try them out.
I had tried EverQuest 2 (EQ2) when it was first released, but had been unable to get into the game before I got sucked into World of Warcraft with my friends. My old computer could barely handle the graphics load of EQ2, and now-gone concepts such as group experience debt (an entire group being penalized when one member died) caused frustration.
Nevertheless, I was intrigued by the idea of a fairy race (Could they really fly?), and decided to download the trial and give the game another shot. It was free, right?!? Continue reading “Everquest 2”
Eidos’s Touch the Dead is the best shooter on rails for the DS. It’s also the only one I can think of. In concept, the game is as brilliant as Snakes on a Plane, but much like the movie, Touch the Dead doesn’t live up to its hype.
Putting the game on rails – that is, not allowing the player the freedom of movement – was a good first step as it keeps the DS from working too hard on the 3D environments. It also doesn’t allow you to get lost; you’re simply dragged along until the zombies get you or you escape.
Of course, being locked into your movements also means you’re locked into your view as well. This is especially frustrating when you’re trying to shoot a box or a crate for health or ammo and you’re only offered a brief glimpse of your target. Typically, bonuses and power-ups like these are only shown once and if you miss it, that’s just too bad – you’ll have to do without it. Continue reading “Touch the Dead: Camp Attack on the DS”
Guest Post
It’s been quite a while since I dug through the comic bins, but I’ve decided to share with you a comic that marked my departure from reading Marvel Comics for roughly six years.
Growing up, I had been a huge Marvel Zombie. It had the most popular characters, the coolest adventures and the best artists, but the crapfest that was Onslaught and Heroes Reborn killed my affection for Marvel. I followed a few titles, including The Incredible Hulk, afterward.
The ridiculousness that was The Incredible Hulk #456 sealed the deal, however. And, as you read on, you’ll agree this issue should stay crammed in the back of your collection, never to see daylight again.
Currently, Hulk is receiving tons of well-deserved attention. World War Hulk is perhaps his brightest moment, especially considered how cut off from the rest of the Marvel Universe Hulk was during Bruce Jones’ run on the title. World War Hulk is as exciting as it is destructive. This issue, though, is embarrassing. It revolves around Apocalypse transforming Hulk into the Horseman War. Before we find out how that transpires, though, the issue begins with Rick Jones and his great-granddaughter (she’s from the future…don’t ask) driving around New Orleans. Continue reading “Bubonic Comics: The Incredible Hulk #456”
Guest Post
“No mercy for the weak, no pity for the dying, no tears for the slain!” declares the tagline for David Perry’s latest game in open beta; 2 Moons.
The game – yet another fantasy-based MMO – takes place in Haran, or “the Immortal Land,” during a period of growing dissonance. Centuries before, a heroine named Trieste had saved Haran from an event known as The Corruption by sacrificing her own life and sealing evil beings known as the Pitborn back into their own realm (along with their master, Abaddon).
Now, with Trieste’s magic wearing off, the seal is breaking and the Pitborn threaten Haran once again. And, as before, the people of Haran are forced to fight. Continue reading “2 Moons: Open Beta”
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s has less than half the number of tracks as Guitar Hero II for the PS2 yet carries the same price. Why wasn’t a lower price sought at launch?
Well it’s something we definitely took a careful look at. Comparing GHII to GH 80s, there were different timelines, licensing agreements and other logistical parameters to work within, though we strongly feel we put out a title that felt and played just as well as the other GH games. And just to put it into perspective – and from what the media is saying – Rock Band is only going to have forty songs available on the disc, yet it’s going to cost gamers a whopping $200 to play. As reference, Harmonix worked on both of these titles. What are your thoughts on that?
Although Harmonix’s new game will cost over $200 to play with the full experience, it must be said that it is a richer experience. At best, Guitar Hero allows for two separate instruments at once while Rock Band will allow four inputs simultaneously. It’s like comparing apples and pears: they’re close, but still different fruit.
It’s also important to remember that while GH 80s price per song is about $1.30 compared to the 360 version of GHII, which had a price per song of $0.88, the downloadable content is priced at a whopping $2 per song: double the price per song of the Xbox 360 GHII. Incidentally, at a $200 price point Rock Band comes out to about $5 per song. Continue reading “Interview: Bryan Lam on Guitar Hero”
Guest Post
These days, it’s not unusual to find a manga about almost anything. Having discovered that fantasy, sci-fi, magic, mecha and spiritualist storylines have been done so much they’ve practically become cliché, manga-ka (the people who draw manga) have been left scrambling to find interesting ideas for stories that draw upon the ordinary, rather than the extraordinary. Sports storylines have been popular for a long time – even going back to 1968 with Tomorrow’s Joe – but while artists continue to draw them, even the stories have started to seem a bit lackluster and overdone. Continue reading “Yakitate!! Japan”
