tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42669077041506314392024-02-21T12:49:07.042+09:00Art of Gaming 101A look at video games as an art form.Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-86645979987938498992011-09-26T01:09:00.003+09:002011-09-26T01:49:13.753+09:00Comic Break (New DC comics week 3) part 2<div style="text-align: center;"><b>DC Universe Presents</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20067_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I don't really care about Deadman, and the writer on this book (Paul Jenkins) does not always impress me. However, I really like the idea of a book with a rotating cast of leads that focuses on heroes that can not sustain their own titles.</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> This book was exactly mediocre. I really didn't hate or love it. It was a decent enough introduction of Deadman, but did not do enough with him to really attract me. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; "> </b>I won't be reading this book while Deadman and this creative team is one it. But I will try it again once that changes. </div></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Green Lantern Corps</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20103_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This has always been a book I enjoy. Add in Peter J. Tomasi writing, who has already proven he can write fun Green Lantern Stories, and you have a sure bet.</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> This was a fun Green Lantern adventure with some new mystery added to it (seems someone is killing entipre planet polulations). The Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and John Stewart are really fleshed out in the book, and it makes a great introduction to new readers. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I have been reading this book for years. No reason for me to stop anytime soon.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Legion Of Super Heroes</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20178_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I really don't care about the Legion. I was already bored to tears reading Legion Lost, and I had zero expectations for this book to impress me. </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> I really can't talk about this book. I just don't get it in the slightest. I have no connection with these characters and the world they live in is of no interest to me.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it:</b> I could barely finish reading this issue. The idea of reading issue 2 is out of the question.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Nightwing</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20093_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I love Nightwing, and Kyle Higgins has been proving he is a real up and coming writer (Deathstroke was a nice surprise already). I was a little concerned since Dick Grayson (Nightwing) has been spending the last couple years as Batman and it seems like regressive storytelling for him to become Nightwing again.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> I really liked this book. In the first 5 pages Kyle Higgins sold the idea that Dick Grayson should be Nightwing again. Also this story line seems to be tying into what is happening in Scott Snyders "Batman" (either that or they both have very similar story lines happening). I like that Dick Grayson's old family circus is back in Gotham and it allowed for some great character moments. </span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it:</b> I am happy that Nightwing is a great book and I will be reading this for the long haul.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Red Hood and the Outlaws</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20096_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I had no expectations for this book a month ago (I really don't care about any of the title characters). But Scott Lobdell wrote a really cool Superboy last week so I now had a reason to think that this book was going to be fun.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This book is pretty good with one fatal flaw. Redhood and Arsenal are written well and their dynamic of a couple of Anti-heroes works. But Starfire has been turned into a walking talking sex toy. She seems to have no reason to be on the team other than to sleep with the two male leads. He costume and attitude would only work well if this was a pornography. It is sad that one character makes the rest of the book fall flat. It bothers me even more that Superboy has a strong female character in it written by the same writer, so I know he can do better.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I don't care to continue to read this.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Supergirl</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20073_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I have read Supergirl before, but this book has been billed as a complete reboot of the character. She is a character that in the right hands can been really fun and engaging. Michael Green and Mike Johnson are a writing team I have never encountered before so I had no expectations of them good or bad.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This was a nice surprise. It was a great comic for new readers and was really fun too. It was the quickest read of all the titles so far and mostly focused on action and setting up the premise. </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will contiue to read this book, and I hope it gets really good in the future.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Wonder Woman</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20054_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I have never read a Wonder Woman comic that I have liked. She is a character that I understand her importance, yet I really don't care about her solo book. However, they have thrown two creators on this book that I really like. Brian Azzarello uis a writer known more for his crime and dark and gritty stories. Cliff Chiang is one of the few artists that can drawn respectable woman making them more than sexual objects. </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This was a really great book. It leans heavily on the Greek myth background that Wonder Woman comes from and that is exactly what interests me. Azzarello has turned this into a horror/mystery book and that might be just the change Wonder Woman needs. The art in this book is also beautiful.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>It is strange but I feel like I will be reading Wonder Woman for a long time.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will Continue reading for a long time</b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Justice League</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Action Comics</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Animal Man</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">O.M.A.C.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Stormwatch</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Swamp Thing</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Demon Knights</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Green Lantern</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Resurrection Man</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Superboy</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batman</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Green Lantern Corps</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Nightwing</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Wonder Woman</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Will read but might be dropped</b></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batgirl</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batwing</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Static Shock</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Justice League Unlimited</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batman and Robin</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batwoman</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Deathstroke</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Mister Terrific</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Red Lanterns</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Blue Beetle</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Captain Atom (This would up a column is I could trust JT Krul)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Supergirl</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Done reading them</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Green Arrow</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Hawk and Dove</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Grifter</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Legion Lost</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Suicide Squad</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Birds of Prey</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Catwoman</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">DC Universe Presents (until the change)<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Legion of Superheroes</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Redhood and the Outlaws</span></span></div></span></span></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-37598727886461310062011-09-24T04:08:00.003+09:002011-09-24T04:46:55.241+09:00Comic Break (New DC comics week 3) part 1<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Batman</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20086_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Scott Snyder had been writing Detective Comics before this and created one of the best Batman stories in recent memory (it was at the same level as Grant Morrison's work). He also did an amazing job on Swamp Thing earlier this month, so I have every reason to be excited for this book. Add in the fact that Greg Capullo is doing the art and I had really high hopes before turning to page 1.</span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> This is the best book of the new 52 titles DC is putting out. It both ties into the work Snyder has worked on before and at the same being completely new reader friendly. The book starts off with a great action sequence beautifully drawn by Greg Capullo, that really grabs the readers attention. Once the main story is introduced it is filled with a lot of intrigue and really smart dialogue. Making this book just go over the top was the cliffhanger ending which made me want issue 2 immediately. </span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b>I will be reading this book as long as Scott Snyder is working on it for sure. I have complete faith in this team. Batman is my favourite character and it is just so much fun to see him in a book this good. </div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Birds of Prey</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20095_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> I never really got into Birds of Prey. It has characters I recognized and like in other books, but when they lead their own title it falls flat for me. I understand the intrigue of a strong all female lead book and I wish it was something I could like. Duane Swiercynski has always been a writer that I find serviceable and overall mediocre. </span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> This was a middle of the road book for me. One one hand it was the best example of women being written smart and strong (unlike other book I will get to this week), but it still felt kinda of dull to me. I really can't say more, this book was neither bad nor really good.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>Most likely not. It just was not for me.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Blue Beetle</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20176_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I like the Blue Beetle character a bunch. He is ethnically diverse and a teenager. In a lot of ways he is the Puerto Rican Spider-Man. Tony Bedard has been working on Green Lantern books in the past that I have really liked and therefore am willing to give things he writes a try. He has never blown me away as a writer, but I have also not felt let down to often. </span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> This book was very different than I was expecting. It completely reintroduces Blue Beetle and resets everything that came before (which makes sense since his old origin may have been too convoluted for new readers). It was nice to see a book with a strong family dynamic and a really likable lead. The only issue I have with this book was that it was a bit too much of introduction and not enough real plot unfolding yet. </span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left; "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Will I continue to read it: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I am looking forward to seeing how this book turns out. I am not really excited and can wait a month for the next issue but I am optimistic that this book can get even better. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Captain Atom </b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20064_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This is a JT Krul Book about a character who I really couldn't care less about. The art by Freddie Williams II is not enough to get me excited (and he is a damn great artist).<br /></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> This is the biggest surprise so far. I was ready to hate this book, but instead it was really fun with a great premise. Captain Atom is revamped as a new hero, the twist is that now every time he uses his powers he slowly dies. It is a simple premise and it was carried out wonderfully. The art on this book does a really great job and making it feel so much fun. I wonder why JT Krul doesn't write like this more often.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left; "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Will I continue to read it: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Yes, but I am still very cautious since JT Krul might forget how to write a good story.</span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Catwoman</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20094_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I like Catwoman, she has always been one of the stronger members of Batman's supporting cast. Judd Winick has already written one fun book so far (Batwing) so I had every reason to be looking forward to this title. </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:</b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> This book is a train wreck. It actually is pretty good for the first half of the book setting up Catwoman in an interesting situation, losing her home and everything she owns. Then the book turns into a softcore porn magazine having Batman and Catwoman just going at it. Silly jokes like Catwoman mentioning that Batman is a little too quick, and really sexual artwork make this book seem juvenile. If I was 12 years old I would have thought this book was so edgy now I find it really dumb.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left; "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Will I continue to read it: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I think we can leave the Batman/Catwoman porn to the fan fiction world and internet forums. I don't need to read this.</span></div></span></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-84697594346933234382011-09-18T17:37:00.003+09:002011-09-18T19:50:31.307+09:00Comic Break (New DC comics week 2)<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Batman and Robin</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20090_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batman and Robin first launched as a book for Grant Morrison to have his own Batman title to play with. Since he left the title it became a book pushed to the background with no real reason to be around. I was actually hoping it was not going to be relaunched, and instead having a Robin solo comic book. I like the team working on this book, Peter J Tomasi (writer) and Patrick Gleason (artist), I just had not interest in this book.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read</b><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This book was better than I was expecting. I liked the Batman and Robin dynamic (which better be well done or the title of the book has no meaning). A new villain is introduced, The NoBody, and he seemed like a interesting new addition to the Batman universe. All around it was a solid comic that was nicely crafted.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I feel like this first story line is interesting enough for me to follow through reading it to its conclusion. I hope the book can create a place for itself again.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Batwoman</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20092_400x600.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Batwoman had a really good run in Detective comics by writer Greg Rucka and artist J.H. Williams III, that everyone enjoyed. Now J.H.Williams is taking over the writing duties as well (with some help from W. Haden Blackman who I have no idea about). I was looking forward to the art knowing that J.H. Williams is by far one of the best artists in the business making every page worthy of something that could be in a museum. However, he has been paired with equally strong writers in the past and I was afraid his writing abilities might not be as great as his art.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>How it read: </b>This was a good issue that did a great job of reintroducing the character. The art was amazing and probably the best drawn comic I have seen in a while. It did suffer a little from the lose of Greg Rucka writing the book, as it no longer had the depth in the story. It is hard to tell but I wonder if the art really was the only thing that made me like thins book.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>The first story line is set to be 5 issues long so I think I can stay on that long and see if J.H. Williams matures as a writer. His art alone is worth looking forward to at least.</span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Deathstroke</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20154_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I have very little knowledge of the title character only knowing that he is traditionally a villain and has a history fighting the Teen Titans (a series I never got into fully). I was expecting this to be a somewhat ani-hero title that was going to be high on violence. I probably would not have been looking forward to this book in the slightest until I learned that Kyle Higgins was a very good writer (he recently co-wrote Batman: Gates of Gotham, which was a fantastic book). </span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This is a book that seemed to be very predictable and kind of boring for the first 80% of the book. I was ready to no longer care about the title and forget about this book. Then the ending of the book changed not only my outlook on the series but made the first part interesting. It started as a by-the-numbers book that copied 100% of espionage movies/TV shows/books out there introducing the main character (Deathstroke) and a colourful cast of background characters who each have a specialty working in the background without getting their hands dirty. However, Deathstroke kills his own team at the end of the book stating that his real mission was to remove the competition, signalling that this book is not going to follow the expected.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I was ready to hate this book but it made me love it. I will continue to follow what is happening.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Demon Knights</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20147_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I have already talked about how I read anything that Paul Cornell writes and this book was going to be no exception. However, I am not usually a fan of things set in Camelot (sure this book takes place after the fall of Camelot but the setting is similar enough). I was worried that even though I like the writer the setting would turn me off of the book.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This was the best book this week. It was really fun to read and the Demon Knights are a really well rounded group of characters. Paul Cornell introduced this concept in a single issue and I needed no prior knowledge of any of the characters. The art by Diogenes Neves was fantastic and everything just came to life on the page.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I don't see myself stopping this book anytime soon. I am very surprised of how much I love this book. </div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20112_400x600.jpg" /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Jeff Lemire proves time and time again his is one of the best writers working today, and I had total faith in this book. Also I am a sucker for things featuring classic movie monsters. Frankenstein was given a new and definitive version in the DC universe by writer Grant Morrison, and since then he has barely been used. I was really looking forward to be able to read more about him.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">After Demon Knights this book is a close second place for best thing I read this week. How could I not love a book that teams up Frankenstein, a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, and some black-lagoon type creature that go on missions to figure out paranormal activities. Not only does this book have a really interesting high concept, but it is also pretty funny. I have never read a comic that is like this and it is nice to see some new ideas coming forward.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I can't wait to read more of this. I am really excited to see more. This book seems like it will just be endless fun that will always put a smile on my face.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Green Lantern</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20102_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Geoff Johns has been writing Green Lantern for a long time now. The series before this had 67 issues and I have read every single one of them. He made Green lantern a great comic book. Doug Mahnke is a great artist who I have always liked. This book was a known quantity to me since I have already been reading Green Lantern books by this exact same team.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">If you read this as issue one and had no background with the previous series, this book fails. Even though it says Green Lantern #1 on the cover, it might as well say #68. But I have read everything before hand and loved all of it. This was a great continuation of the series. Now that Sinetro is the main Green Lantern in this book and Hal Jordan is a nobody (he might even become homeless) it does put an interesting twist on things.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I have been reading this book for 67 issues I have no reason to stop now. This team has been dependable on this title.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Grifter</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20152_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I know nothing about Grifter other than he looks kinda cool. I also know nothing about the creative team behind this book. All I was expecting was for Grifter to shoot guns at blue monsters while falling down a skyscraper. </span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I would have never guessed this book's story if I tried. This book was very confusing and I had to read it twice to completely get what happened in it. Grifter was basically a schizophrenic version of Sawyer from LOST who is trying to fight these invisible monsters. He does not dawn the mask until the last panel of the last page. I really don't know where this book is going. The upside is this ground zero approach made this book fine for those who have no idea who Grifter is, since the character is still finding himself.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I don't think I liked this book. It was confusing and I am not sure I care about the character enough. I might read issue 2 to see if it turns around, but that is a big maybe.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Legion Lost</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20179_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> I don't care about the Legion of Superheroes. I have tried many times to read books featuring the teams, but every time I just don't care. The writer, Fabian Nicieza, I am familiar with and have like things he has done in the past. So I was willing to go into this book open minded.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This was the worst book of the week. Normally I read a Legion of Superheroes book and realize that even though I don't like it I can understand how someone would. This book was just confusing (even more so than Grifter) and badly written. This book just had no real direction and I could not tell you what was happening in it other than the Legion is lost (and that is from the title).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will not subject myself to this series ever again.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Mister Terrific</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20066_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I have been a fan of Mister Terrific and have always thought he could support his own book. The team working on this book is one that I have no opinions on since I have not read a single thing by either of them (Eric Wallace writing and Gianluca Gugliotta artist). I was only semi looking forward to this book.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This book was in the middle of the road. It was OK and has lots of room for improvement. While it did not blow me away, it also was not bad at any part. The concept of Mister Terrific being a super genius who is also a millionaire, while at the same time NOT being Batman was pretty interesting.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will read issue two, but if it doesn't improve it really is not worth my time.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Red Lanterns</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20105_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I read anything that is in the Green Lantern universe so I was already on board. However, I do not feel like the Red Lanterns are strong enough to support their own book. They are interesting background characters in Green Lantern and I feel like that is their place. The creative team is a really mixed bag. Peter Milligan is a great writer but Ed Benes is an artists I cannot stand. He draws women like they are about to star in porn, which can be very off putting when trying to tell a story.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This book made me care about Atrocious a little more (the leader of the Red Lanterns and the main character on the cover). I still do not understand how this can become a full series and it read like it could just be a mini-series. I was actually really happy with Ed Benes's art until he starting drawing women in the Red Lanterns. It was just full of females standing around posing unlike they would pose naturally. This book was the mixed bag I was expecting.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will most likely continue to read this for a while for 2 reasons. 1) Peter Milligan is great and I trust he is going somewhere with this. 2) Green Lantern titles tend to tie together and are stronger when they do, when that happens it could pick this book up.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Resurrection Man</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20145_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I loved Resurrection Man and his original series in the 90s got cancelled before its time. He is such a simple concept that has endless potential, a superhero that every time he dies comes back to life with a new power. I also love stories that feature immortals and how they have imprinted themselves on the world through time. Add in the fact that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, the original creators and fantastic writers, are back on the book and I was really looking forward to this. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">This was another great book this week. Resurrection Man is back and this time both Heaven and Hell are after his soul. This is a concept that has real potential to be a great plot. Also Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have a tradmark ability to not only write deep storylines, but also make them fun and funny. This is another book that just bring a smile to my face when I am reading it.</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I have no reason to believe this book will do nothing but get better. I just hope that it doesn't get cancelled again.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Sucide Squad</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20155_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">The cover of this book looked more like a cover to weird fetish pornography than a comic book. I just hate the new design of Harley Quinn (front and center on the cover wearing something impossible for anyone to fight in). The art and writing team was an unknown quantity to me and therefore could not help me trust that this was going to be a good book. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">The premise of this book is interesting enough, a group of super </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">villains on death row are given their freedom to go on suicide missions for the government. This book does a fairly good job of setting up and selling that premise. I really feel like Adam Glass did a decent job of writing it, but the overall book was butchered by some key flaws. Harley Quinn just looks horrible in that outfit and every panel with her in it makes me feel like they don't get the character. More importantly they changed Amanda Waller, who previously was a short stocky black woman and had the nickname "The Wall." She was an original idea for a comic book female, in the fact that she was a more realistic and strong female character. Now she has been redesigned as a sexy young black diva. A change like that goes beyond aesthetic and drastically changes her appeal. </span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I don't think I can continue to care about this book and watch the artist completely forget that women are people and not just boobs. I feel bad for Adam Glass since I think his story is getting lost here.</div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Superboy</b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20074_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Again this is a team of creators I have no clue about. But I am very familiar with Superboy. It has been no secret that Superboy comics have actually been better than Superman comics for the last while. Superboy has been built up by writers like Geoff Johns, and Jeff Lemire into a character with real depth and personality and not just a a renewal of a copyright. From the cover it seems that they are reinventing Superboy which I was very scared worried about. He has gone through so much growth over the last bit that it would be a shame to not build on it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This was the surprise of the week. I was not expecting to love this book. It was worth reinventing Superboy and redoing his origin. He was always created in a lab to be a clone of Superman, but that was the least interesting thing about him to me. Scott Lobdell has written a story that made his origin really interesting. He is taking Superboy and making him his own, which I applaud him for doing. There is now some mystery and intrigue in this book.</span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b><br /></b></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I really want to see where this book is going. Count me in for a least a little while if not longer. </div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><br /></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will Continue reading for a long time</b></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Justice League</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Action Comics</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Animal Man</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">O.M.A.C.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Stormwatch</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Swamp Thing</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Demon Knights</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E.</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Green Lantern</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Resurrection Man</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Superboy</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Will read but might be dropped</b></span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batgirl</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batwing</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Static Shock</span></span></div><div style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Justice League Unlimited</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batman and Robin</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Batwoman</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Deathstroke</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Mister Terrific</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Red Lanterns</span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b>Done reading them</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Green Arrow</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Hawk and Dove</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Grifter</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Legion Lost</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">Suicide Squad</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div></span></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-73048099446987589952011-09-11T23:51:00.002+09:002011-09-12T00:50:16.109+09:00Comic Break (New DC comics week 1 continued)<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Hawk and Dove</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20174_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Sterling Gates has been know to write some good comics. He was solely responsible from turning Supergirl into something worth reading. But his artist on this title is just someone I cannot stand. Rob Liefeld can only draw people one way, gritting their teeth with a bunch of lines all over their face. Everything he draws just looks ugly to me and he is one of the few artists that can distract me from the writers work.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>How it read: </b>This was by far the worst thing I read this week (and maybe in a long time). About 3/4 through the book the art was so off putting that I just skimmed the last quarter. The whole book was nothing but people looking angry at each other and have very stilted conversations. The action in this book looked stiff and ugly.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>No. I cannot bring myself to care about or read this book again.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Justice League International</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20048_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><b><br /></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I only have a passing familiarity with</span><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "> </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">t</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">he team that is writing and drawing this book (Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti). Both are people I have found decent in the past but I never seek them out, only end up reading their books when either of them are working on a character I like. I have not read any Justice League International before so I am going into this book completely blind.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>How it read: </b>Well this book was OK. I found the first half of the book fairly interesting and I really liked the set up. I think Batman was really well done in this comic, and Rocket Red seems like he is going to be the comic relief of the team. The international aspect of the team is something that can be a lot of fun if the writer wants it to be. I did not put this book down blown away, but I was overall satisfied with what I read.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will read issue 2, but I can see this as a book that I will drop in the future if it doesn't improve.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Men of War</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20160_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I don't like war comics, movies, video games, or TV shows. Personally I just can't enjoy something set in a realistic war setting. I have never and will never play any Call of Duty games since they seem very out of touch with what I find "fun." I went into this book expecting to not care about it, but hopefully finding it well written enough that it would satisfy those people who enjoy war stories.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">I liked it a little more than I expected. This is for the sole reason that they seem to be introducing super heroes into a war setting. Removing it from reality a bit and making it a bit more "fantasy" makes this easier to read for me. The first half of this book just was not for me but the confrontation with the super powered villain/hero was entertaining. This book also had a back up story that was about the navy seals, and I really could not care less about that story.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>Maybe. It is really hard to say. I am somewhat interested in what happens with the super power element in the plot, but it might not be enough for me to really need to read it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>O.M.A.C.</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20156_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">A lot of people really do not like the writer, Dan Didio, since they disagreed with a lot of decisions he made as editor in chief of DC. I have always thought he ran the company well. As a writer I only read his Metal Man stories in Wednesday Comics, and those were really good. Kieth Giffen is one of the best artists working right now and I have no reservations about checking out what he is working on. Tie this in together with it being about O.M.A.C., a Jack Kirby creation, and I am pretty excited for this book.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">If this book was written in 1977 and written and drawn by Jack Kirby himself I would not be surprised. That is one of the biggest complements I can give to a title, especially one that is trying to do exactly that. I thought this book was a lot of fun. Also there was a some New God elements in the story that is always a real hook for me. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I am really looking forward to where this book is going. I think it will be one of the most fun books on the stands. Sadly, I see it being cancelled by issue 10 from a lack of people willing to try something new.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Static Shock</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20173_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I knew nothing of the team working on this book, and nothing about the character. I had no idea what to think about this book. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">c </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">It was enjoyable. It really reminded me of Spider-Man and I think that is what the team was trying to achieve. However, I still am not hooked on needing to know about this character. It was well written but I didn't have enough emotional investment in it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will pick up issue 2. Only because I think the team deserves another chance, I would like to see if I can care about this character. However, this book could be dropped fairly easily.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Stormwatch</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20148_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">I love Paul Cornell, if he is writing something I will read it. I love Stormwatch, that team has always been really fun. This is one of the books I was really looking foward to.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This was a solid comic book. It set up the current team very well, introducing them to new reader while at the same time not feeling very forced. The character Apollo seems to be in a different place in this new universe and I am liking where they are taking him. The introduction of Midnighter (one of my favourite characters) at the end of the book was just icing on the cake. Add in the fact that the moon is coming to life and wants to attack earth and that might be a storyline that is crazy enough to be awesome.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>There is no doubt that I will be reading this book for a long time.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Swamp Thing</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20108_400x600.jpg" /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How I felt before picking it up: </b><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">The Swamp Thing run by Alan Moore was revolutionary. It made Swamp Thing a character with real depth. Scott Snyder (one of the best writers in the industry right now) has everything going for him to make me believe that he can match what Alan Moore had done before. Add in art from Yanick Paquette and you have a book that has a perfect combination of great writing, art, and character.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; ">How it read: </b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This book was good and it served as a really good introduction. It was slightly hindered by the fact that Swamp Thing just came out of a series "Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search" that really convoluted his story line and was not very good. Thankfully Snyder seems to be pulling him out from the muck (pun intended) and this read as a solid chapter 1 to an great plot. Alos the art was beautiful.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>There is no way I am going to drop this book anytime soon. I have complete trust in the team.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">So that is all for this week. Next week I will review the next 13 titles and hopefully they continue to impress me overall. For now this is how the books stack up.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Will Continue reading for a long time</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Justice League</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Action Comics</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Animal Man</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">O.M.A.C.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Stormwatch</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Swamp Thing</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Will read but might be dropped</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Batgirl</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Batwing</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Detective Comics (Loved the first issue but can't trust Tony Daniel yet)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Static Shock</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Justice League Unlimited</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Done reading them</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Men of War (might be upgraded if there is room)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Green Arrow</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Hawk and Dove</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-36280802009142640092011-09-10T01:39:00.002+09:002011-09-10T02:38:26.624+09:00Comic BreakI have been having a bit of writers block lately. So rather than having a dying blog I have decided to take a break to talk about something other than video games. As you know my other hobby is reading <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-influences-video-games-comic-books.html">comic books</a> (sorry for the dead images I am working on that too) so I thought I would take some time to review what I am reading. <div><br /></div><div>I read comics from every publisher but it seems that DC is what I end up reading the most every week. This week in particular since DC has relaunched its entire line with new #1 issues and brand new story lines. I am going to break down how the new DC line up looks to me.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Justice League</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20046_400x600.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up: </b>I like Geoff Johns a lot, and Jim Lee is not a bad artist at all (I am not the biggest fan of his but lots of people love him). Also a book with this much history and big name super heroes is always worth a look. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>Out of all the new comics DC has put out since the relaunch, this one feels the most decompressed (I think it will take at least 4 issues to see the Justice League even together). In fact the cover is very misleading as only Batman and Green Lantern are the focus of the book. Cyborg is hinted at (before he is even a Cyborg) and Superman shows up at the very end. Really I think this book will read better as a collection than in single issues. I can't really pass judgment on it yet. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>Yes for two reasons, the fact that Geoff Johns has had a proven track record of pulling off long plots that pay off, and the promise of Darkseid eventually showing up (I am a sucker for anything to do with the New Gods).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Action Comics</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20068_400x600.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up: </b>It is Grant Morrison writing so I wanted to love this book when I heard about it. Grant Morrison is by far my favourite writer currently working in comics and I have not read a single bad thing by him. Also the artist Rags Morales has always been very dependable on turning out some great Superhero work.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>Well it this blew my expectations out of the water. Superman has returned to his roots of being a social justice crime fighter and it was a lot of fun. He is much younger, more brash, and less boy scout. We also get to see Lex Luthor who proves that this Superman may not be "Stronger than a locomotive." Grant Morrison created a script that at the same time feels completely new and different, while at the same time keeping the essence of what make Superman so fun.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I don't see stopping reading this book anytime soon.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Animal Man</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20110_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"> I pick up anything Jeff Lemire writes. He is a real up and coming writer that I think has the talent to be in the same league as Grant Morrison. The Animal Man series the Grant wrote in the late 80s is one of my favourite books every written, so any follow up has a lot to live up to.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>Animal Man is by far the best book DC is putting out right now. Not only did Jeff Lemire successfully live up to the expectations of the book, but he did so and still made the story his own. The art by Travel Foreman is really stylistic and helps add to the books horror atmosphere. The last page really made me want issue 2, more so than any other book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>The last page really made me want issue 2, more so than any other book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Batgirl</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20091_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; "> </b>Gail Simone is a pretty popular writer but nothing she has done has really stuck with me. I always try books she writes hoping that it will be the one that makes me a fan, and I always am left disappointed. I don't think this is a fault of the writer and more of my tastes not matching up. For the record I am not someone who got angry with the idea as Barbara Gordon as Batgirl again. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read:</b><b> </b>This read a little better than I though it would. It had some fun moments, and the new super villain seems like he might be pretty cool. I like what Gail did with the "Killing Joke" and am interested to see how that story line ties in. But many parts of the book just seem mediocre to me and I wasn't left with any excitement.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>This was fun enough to look at issue 2 but I am not sure how long I can be interested in this book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Batwing</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20088_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; "> </b>I love Batman but I always have a real problem following any other "Bat" title books, other than the main ones. I had no expectations for Batwing. Judd Winick can either write a pretty fun book or a really awful one and I had no idead which one I would get.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>I got the fun book. Batwing is basically Batman in Africa, throwing in all the social issues that go along with that. Judd seems to be able to write a superhero book that can at the same time be everything we expect from the genre and also closely tied to our real world. The only think I didn't like about the book was the art. Ben Oliver's art looks a little too much like it should be airbrushed on the side of a van.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I am really interested to see how this book goes. A very happy surprise.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Detective Comics</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20087_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; "> </b>Tony Daniel is both writing and drawing this book (something he has done on the Batman books many times). His drawing is almost always good, but his writing has always been pretty bad. I stopped picking up any Batman book that he was writing. Tony Daniel just can't tell a good story.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>Where was this version of Tony Daniel before? Why hasn't he written like this other times? I have read hundreds of Batman vs Joker stories and very few writers can pull it off anymore to make them stand out. Somehow Tony Daniel did it, he took that tired plot and made me excited to see what is next. This comic had the best final page of anything I have read in a while.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I will continue to read this, and I really hope Tony Daniel doesn't change into an awful writer again. If he keeps this up I have no reason not to read.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Green Arrow</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><img src="http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/2/0/20058_400x600.jpg" /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How I felt before picking it up:</b><b style="font-weight: normal; "> </b>J.T. Krul is just a bad writer. I don't know how he gets work. Anything I have read from him seems like it would have been popular in the 90s, when foil covers, and silly eXtreme story lines were all the rage. I picked up this book thinking I would give him another chance, especially since Tony Daniel on Detective proved me wrong. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How it read: </b>I don't know what to think of this book. It has only been a day since I read it and hardly anything has stuck with me. I didn't like how Green Arrow is now basically Steve jobs getting the whole world to buy qPads and qPhones. It came off very silly, too silly for a book that features a grown man playing Robin Hood with funny arrows. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will I continue to read it: </b>I really want to love a Green Arrow book I really do. But this is not the one. Thankfully Superman and Batwing can fill the "social justice" comic book need. I can't continue to read this book.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That is half of them check back soon to find out how I felt about the other half. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-22788801033125785162011-08-31T08:48:00.004+09:002011-08-31T08:57:18.524+09:00Mario + Portal!<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WtcGiZelPfk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
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<br />Someone is going to put two of my favourite games together and create something that I cannot wait to play. This worked out great for <a href="http://supermariocrossover.com/">Super Mario Crossover</a> (in which you could play Super Mario Bros using other classic NES characters).<div>
<br /></div><div>This just speaks to how timeless and amazing Super Mario Bros for the NES is and how easily adaptable and universal its appeal is. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-46899002129878448422011-08-24T23:12:00.002+09:002011-08-24T23:28:24.811+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b><span class="Apple-style-span">Favourite ability from a video game: Scorpion's Spear</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><b>
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<br />I am not much of a fighting game fan, but Mortal Kombat seems to be one of the few game series I always get (even the mediocre games that came out after MK3). Part of that comes from Mortal Kombat being the first "Mature" game I wanted to play. I can remember seeing the first commercial for Mortal Kombat on TV and needing to track it down. I had played Street Fighter 2 quite a bit before it, but the special moves in MK where just so much more interesting to me. I still think that there are few, if any, moves that are as effective and as brutal as Scorpions spear. Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-13521442790762713802011-07-31T00:37:00.002+09:002011-07-31T01:15:50.095+09:00Video Games are Art: A simple answer to a long debated question.Even within the gaming community the question of whether video games can be considered art has been a debate. I think it stems from the fact that video games largely started as a competitive "game" rather than as a medium to convey a message to the player. I would say part of the issue with people viewing video games as art is the fact it doesn't fit our traditional sense in what we assume art is. You will find no such debate in other mediums, basically the entire world agrees that music, visual art (paintings, sculptures, cartooning, etc.), film, architecture, drama, and literature all have concrete examples of "art." However video games which borrows heavily from most of these art forms gets tossed aside by many people. To sum up exactly how I feel on the subject we just need to look at the <a href="http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/art?rskey=KT9OvR&result=1">Oxford Dictionary</a> definition of art.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, Palatino, 'Palatino Linotype', Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; "><span class="grammarGroup" style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><b>1. </b>[<em style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; font-style: italic; font-weight: normal; ">mass noun</em>] </span><span class="definition" style="outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; display: inline; ">the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power:</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>In the first definition of the word video games easily can be classified as art. Many "artists" do work together to create video games, and the best of which are appreciated for their beauty and emotional power. I know many people may say a video game has never made them cry (I would be one of them) but I bet many games have evoked feelings of fear, excitement, or any overall care for the main protagonist and outcome of the story in almost any gamer. It is a medium that gets its message across beyond using language, and for that it fits the most basic definition of art.</div><div><br /></div><div>The debate should not be whether video games are art or not, it should be how can we progress this art form to be more accepted in society. There was a time when rock and roll would never have been considered art, and now the Beatles are hailed as the brilliant artists that changed music forever. Cartoons would have been seen as simple children's entertainment, but now I dare you to find someone who does not consider Walt Disney an artist. Video games will have its time in the main stream spotlight as a serious medium one day, we just have to hold it up to that light.</div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-3773732927125072032011-07-30T07:55:00.003+09:002011-07-30T08:01:45.499+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Favourite Level: Mega Man 2 Wily World 1-1</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px" width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y1L8OrVOh2g?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y1L8OrVOh2g?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object></div><br />Mega Man 2 is one of the best games ever made, it had a lot of charm, quick gameplay, and the best soundtrack on NES. Wily Stage 1 is the culmination of everything that makes the game great. It had the best music of any level, and was your first chance to play around with all the power-ups. If you want to read more about Mega Man check out my <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/04/mega-man-2.html">previous entry.</a>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-75222625445713592682011-07-22T01:24:00.005+09:002011-07-22T01:28:50.460+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Favourite Villian</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>GLaDOS</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object style="height: 245px; width: 420px" width="420" height="245"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sEC7UvOg-VU?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sEC7UvOg-VU?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="420" height="245"></embed><div style="text-align: center;"></div></object></div><br />The term "love to hate" should apply to any great villian and that describes GLaDOS. Every time GLaDOS speaks is a funny moment of pure dark humour. Just watch and enjoy, even if you have never played the game you will still find everything she says comedy gold.Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-46469629081996510862011-07-18T00:38:00.002+09:002011-07-18T00:41:05.931+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Awesome Video Game Music</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Duck Tales : The Moon Level</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-gee8UZZBmI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Not only was Duck Tales an amazing game, but it featured some of the best music of any NES game. The Moon level was particularly fantastic, and many gamers have fond memories of it. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-32950002484081960332011-07-15T03:03:00.002+09:002011-07-15T03:08:11.769+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Least Favourite Character: Vaan</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><a href="http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/art/ff12-misc03.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 380px; height: 538px;" src="http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/art/ff12-misc03.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Final Fantasy 12 is one of the few games I bought and stopped playing halfway through because I was bored to tears. It did not help the main character was a wimpy little boy. Japanese games traditionally have very androgynous looking male leads, but they usually at least have the persona of someone heroic. If you look at the leads in the previous final fantasy games, you can see that Square is really running out of ideas on how to create a lead character.<div><br /></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-75791447440369985712011-07-13T06:42:00.003+09:002011-07-13T07:13:13.270+09:00How gamers are viewed.I know video games have come a really long way in public acceptance. In fact a recent California Supreme Court ruling found that video games fall under <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/28/nation/la-na-0628-court-violent-video-20110628">protected speech.</a> However, that does not mean that a majority of people still understand what gaming is and what it means to the average player. This is no more evident than in something I saw in the Today Show the other day (which according the current figures puts their viewership around 5 million).<div> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><embed name="msnbc3b476b" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" flashvars="launch=43674965&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The idea to any man playing video games past the age of 30 seems ludicrous to these people. And again the idea that video games are only for children (the hosts say it is only OK to play games with your kids) shows that they have no real grasp of what a video game can be. Video games grew out of the "toy" market back in the 90s and is now a legitimate medium akin to film, TV, and literature. Sadly, it isn't just the Today Show that has no idea what gaming is, the media's lack of knowledge is evident in many ways.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;" object="" width="420" height="245"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FRhGPVYRsOY&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FRhGPVYRsOY&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="420" height="245"></embed><div></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>In this NCIS clip, the writers show that not only do they have no idea what a computer is but basic knowledge of MMORPGs. In RPGs there is really no such thing as a "high score" and it shows that the people responsible for this scene still think of video games are like the Atari 2600 or the Arcade's in the early 90s.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="420" height="245"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HFfJ4ZC1AtA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HFfJ4ZC1AtA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="420" height="245"></embed></object></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The gamer stereotype is perpetuated again. The only person who is knows how to play is the man who "lives in his parents' basement and owns a Captain Kirk outfit." As if people who play video games are all introverts who will never know a woman's touch.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hopefully things like this will change. The more people over 30 that are playing games, the more people will start understand, or at the very least accept it. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-64870350030239911462011-07-08T07:32:00.001+09:002011-07-08T07:35:20.309+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Favorite Character: Mario</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px" width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOANWI045Co?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VOANWI045Co?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object></div><br />Could it really be anyone else? Is there really another choice? Is there another character that adapts so well to many different gametypes? Is there another character that is so engrained in video game culture?<br /><br />No. An Italian plumber that saves a princess from a dinosaur turtle is the greatest character EVER! <div><br /></div><div>If you want to read more check out my older post about <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">Mario</a>.</div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-29034853490931803912011-07-06T08:39:00.002+09:002011-07-06T08:42:48.647+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Last Gamer I Completed</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YcDFkJWxY1M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div>I have always been a fan of Mortal Kombat. I even stuck threw the mediocre games because I really liked the characters. But, I was starting to grow tired with the series and had no plans to buy the newest game. Then the reviews came in and everyone was praising it. I picked it up and it is easily my favourite fighting game I have played.Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-3388661911359406642011-07-05T06:55:00.003+09:002011-07-05T07:03:07.215+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The First Game I played: Super Mario Bros</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div style="text-align: center;"></div></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 425px" width="425" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Aw4JccvxU-s?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Aw4JccvxU-s?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="390"></embed><div style="text-align: center;"></div></object></div></b></div><br />This one is difficult since I do not remember ever not playing video games. I am pretty sure as soon as I could use my hands I had a controller. However, I am pretty sure Super Mario Bros was the first game I played, since anyone who had an NES had this game. I also have fond memories of playing Mega Man 2, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out, and Duck Hunt. That was a great group of games to be introduced to!Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-66545068575556149712011-07-04T06:29:00.002+09:002011-07-04T06:37:34.885+09:00<div style="text-align: center;"><b>My least favorite Game</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DNpBwU3PTX8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I have played a lot of bad games but there is one game that really gets me, Superman 64. The game actually looked cool in the screenshots that were shown, and it was based on one of the best cartoons, as well as the greatest comic book hero ever. What we got instead was a game full of glitches, in which Superman spent 90% of his time flying through hoops. It is unbelievable that no one can make a great action game based on Superman. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-11724040656507815022011-07-03T15:02:00.003+09:002011-07-04T04:39:24.912+09:00Video Game Challenge!It has been a long time but I am finally back. I have decided to take everything in a new direction rather than having very long posts, I am going to try and stick with nice short posts. Hopefully this will keep me active.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">To Start I am doing a bit of a twist on the "30 Day Video Game Challenge" that you see on Facebook. I found there are a number of theses 30 day challenges and they all have different criteria. So I am going to take the best aspects out of all these challenges and create a series of posts.</div><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span><div style="text-align: center;"><b>My Favourite Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time</b></div><div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></b><b></b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E1OHj93E0X8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></b><div style="text-align: center;"><b></b></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I know this will seem to some a very "obvious" and "typical" choice., but I have great memories of this game. I remember playing this game and thinking that there was nothing else out there remotely like it. It was the first game I played that felt like a living breathing world. Sure many games had towns to visit and people to talk to, but this game had a day/night cycle and helped the player feel like time was actually passing. The dungeons were so perfectly created, giving the player just enough challenge to feel a sense of accomplishment once beating it. It was the perfect game of its era, and still holds to the test of time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you want to read more about this game check out my <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/04/legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time.html">earlier post</a>.</div></div></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-1792749448622213162009-07-24T06:07:00.001+09:002009-10-05T08:38:06.011+09:00What Influences Video Games? - Comic Books<div>My other main hobby, besides playing video games, is reading comic books. There was even a time when I was considering starting up a comic book blog, but changed my mind and created Art of Gaming 101 instead. Comic books and video games go together pretty nicely. If you follow comic conventions at all you will see that there is a chunck of coverage dedicated to video games (not all of which being comic book adaptations). Both comics and video games tend to capture the same audience making cross-overs from one to another inevitable. However, I will not be talking about comic book adaptations (like Spider-Man the game), but looking into how comic books influence game design decisions. Before gaming, comics were the rogue art-form not understood by many, and hated and feared by some. Since it is the older artform many things that comics made popular such as its take on story, art, and presentation have become standard in video games today. I will be focusing on Super Hero comics since they have loaned the most to gaming.</div>
<br /><div><strong>Costuming</strong></div>
<br /><div>Super hero comics and video game character design have a lot in common. The first: colour. Super hero comic books had to use their limited set of colours in order to make dynamic characters. This led to super heroes with very strange and multicoloured costumes. In many cases these would not translate to reality, but looked great as art on a page. The main reason these outlandish costumes worked on a page was because the colours drew the readers attention to the character and allowed action scenes to read more clearly.</div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Superman.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 462px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Superman.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Superman is the original and quintessential superhero. A lot of comic book design starts with him and builds on his characteristics. This can also be said for video game characters.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://www.headcross.com/dahr.php?q=aHR0cDovL2RpZ2l0YWxtZWRpYWFjYWRlbXkub3JnL2Jsb2cvd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzLzIwMDkvMDMvc3VwZXJfc21hc2hfYnJvc19tYXJpb18wMS5qcGc%3D"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 228px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7c/Mario.jpg/275px-Mario.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>
<br /><div align="center"><em>I talked before about</em><em> <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">Mario </a>and <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/04/mega-man-2.html">Mega Man</a> and how their costumes led to great game design. The overalls on Mario help break the character up into easy to read movements (since his arms are a different colour than his body). Even though Mario's colour scheme may only coincidently be the same as Super Man's, there is no denying the similiarities. </em></div><div align="center"><i><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/02/megaman.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 392px;" src="http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/02/megaman.png" border="0" alt="" /></a></i></div><div align="center"><em>Mega Man models his design directly after super hereos wearing his underwear outside his pants. Looking at Superman, Mario, and Mega Man together you can see how the video game characters owe something to Superman.</em></div>
<br /><div align="left">But not all super heroes and video game characters are created in capes and tights. Both gaming and comic books have a grotesque side to them, with characters who look much more ugly and not so heroic (at least at first glance). This doesn't neccesarily mean that these characters are not visually appealing though since they attract readers and players with their odd looks. The Incredible Hulk is a perfect example of this. He is one of the first main stream comics that had a odd looking character as the lead (there were tons of horror comics with strange looking creatures before this but none were as influencial as the Hulk or as consistently occuring). The Hulk's character design is one of many comic book characters that has influenced gaming characters.</div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Incredible-hulk-20060221015639117.jpg/250px-Incredible-hulk-20060221015639117.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 375px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Incredible-hulk-20060221015639117.jpg/250px-Incredible-hulk-20060221015639117.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>The Hulk has a fairly simple design - big and green. He was originally grey and more ugly in his first appearences but he didn't take off as a character until he was redesigned.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ad/Beastastonishing.jpg/250px-Beastastonishing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 405px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ad/Beastastonishing.jpg/250px-Beastastonishing.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Beast from the X-Men is another classic grotesque character. The big difference for him though is that he is heroic. Even though he looks somewhat frightening on paper, once you get to know him he becomes a lot more easy to relate to. He originally looked like a man and transformed into his current look much later. It wasn't until he was covered in blue fur that he took off and became an icon.</em></div><div align="center"><i>
<br /></i></div><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.strategywiki.org/images/7/74/SFA3_Blanka.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 183px; height: 214px;" src="http://media.strategywiki.org/images/7/74/SFA3_Blanka.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Blanka is almost like the perfect mix of the Hulk and Beast. His green skin definitely is borrowed from the Hulk and his features (facial, hair, and posture) are much more like Beast's.</em></div><p align="left"><strong>Gameplay</strong>
<br /></p><div align="left">When Action Comics #1 (first apprearence of Superman) came out, it started a pop-culture phenomenon. It was the first appearence of a superhero with super powers (their were other "heroes" in pop-culture like The Phantom and Zorro, but Superman was the first with real powers). Shortly after Superman every comic book company came up with their own superheroes each of which had their own unique traits. Currently there are thousands of super heroes in the comic book world. This idea of a specific character who has a certain set of specific powers is the basis for many action/adventure video games. Sometimes the powers and gameplay in a video game are very close to a comic book character.</div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/amazing-fantasy/15-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 220px; height: 315px;" src="http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/amazing-fantasy/15-1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Spider-Man is one of the most popular characters in the world. One reason he is such a fun character is because of his powers. He moves fast, and swings around on webs. The web swinging has made its way into games without being directly Spider-Man games.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/BionicCommando.jpg/200px-BionicCommando.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 323px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/1e/BionicCommando.jpg/200px-BionicCommando.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Bionic Commando was an arcade game and a hit NES game that took out the jump mechanic for a grappling hook to swing from platform to platform. It was better than playing Spider-Man games that were out at the time and still reminded players of the super hero. The newer game has the swinging mechanic even closer to what it is like to be Spider-Man.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/thumb/e/ea/Final_Crisis_7_cover_a.jpg/300px-Final_Crisis_7_cover_a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 470px;" src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvel_dc/images/thumb/e/ea/Final_Crisis_7_cover_a.jpg/300px-Final_Crisis_7_cover_a.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>It is hard not to keep coming back to Superman, but he does lend a lot to both video games and comics. One of the most notable aspects of the character is his flying ability. Seeing Superman fly through the sky has captured many imaginations. (Side note the comic in this picture is AMAZING. If you are a comic book fan pick up the Final Crisis hardcover).</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2c/Super_mario_world_box.jpg/250px-Super_mario_world_box.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 182px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2c/Super_mario_world_box.jpg/250px-Super_mario_world_box.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>In Super Mario World for the SNES, Mario took the Superman influence one step further. In this game Super Mario could gain a cape and fly through the sky. Without a doubt the game designers were thinking of Superman when designing this.</em></div>
<br /><div align="left"><strong>The 80s/90s</strong></div>
<br /><div align="left">When video games were first gaining steam in the mid to late 80s and throughout the 90s, comic books were extremely popular. However, many people see the 90s era comics as shallow. They focused more on action along with tons of characters appearing with big muscles and badly formed antonomy. Regardless of its merit it did leave an imprint on the video game industry as game designers took what was popular in character design in comics and transplanted them into their games.</div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/18/Cable-promo-image.jpg/250px-Cable-promo-image.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 380px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/18/Cable-promo-image.jpg/250px-Cable-promo-image.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Cable is the hallmark 90s era superhero. He is big and muscular with a tiny head, many lines all over his face, part metallic, and carries a big gun. You will see a lot of these traits in many video game characters. There were many characters before Cable who influenced games but he is an amalgamation of many character design choices. I have pictured him here because he is the easiest to compare to.</em></div><div align="center"><i>
<br /></i></div><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.yojoe.com/comics/covers/joe1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 243px; height: 379px;" src="http://www.yojoe.com/comics/covers/joe1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Another highly influencial series is the GI Joe comics, which predates Cable by nearly 10 years. It was a toy line at first but it was the Marvel comic series that gave the franchise its personality. This military/sci-fi/adventure was used a lot in the 80s.</i></div><div align="center"><i>
<br /></i></div><div align="center"><i><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/jax-da.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 416px;" src="http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/jax-da.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></i></div><div align="center"><em>Jax from Mortal Kombat was updated in the third game and redesigned with metallic arms. He is also a military man and could have easily been a GI Joe.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/Contra_cover.jpg/180px-Contra_cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 243px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/65/Contra_cover.jpg/180px-Contra_cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>Contra captures a lot of the comic book feel of the 80s that GI Joe built. The big guns, the military atmosphere, over the top villians were all made popular by GI Joe beforehand.</em></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Duke_Nukem_3D_Coverart.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 305px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Duke_Nukem_3D_Coverart.png" border="0" alt="" /></a></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Duke Nukem was a complete embodiment of the 90s. He was extremely violent, muscular, carried big guns, and trash talked. Duke Nukem could have fit in any comic book in the 90s and fit in perfectly. There is no doubt that the attitude of the 90s pop culture took some cues from comics and was then carried over into vide games.</i></div>
<br /><div align="center"><i><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Gow-cogs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 208px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/eb/Gow-cogs.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a></i></div><div align="center"><em>Even games of today are influenced by comics of the 80s and 90s (maybe because current game designers grew up reading these comics). Gears of War features big burly men with big guns and tiny heads. The all look like offshoots of Cable.</em></div>
<br /><a {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Bionic_Commando.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Bionic_Commando.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div align="center"><em>I mentioned Bionic Commando before with its gameplay link to Spider-Man. The newer game does have this gameplay but the lead character design looks a lot like it was influenced by Cable.</em></div>
<br /><div align="left"><strong>Complete video game/comic book crossovers</strong></div>
<br /><div align="left">I am not talking about games based on comic book properties but games that are almost completely linked to comic books in presentation. These games try to bring comic book ideas to life rather than just borrowing a few aspects.</div><div>
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<br /></i></div><div align="center"><em>Comix Zone is a Sega Genisis game from 1995. The gamplay was completely linked to comics by having the game take place inside a comic book. The lead character went from panel to panel in order to progress through the game.</em></div><div>
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZ0ZHtLj0Zo&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZ0ZHtLj0Zo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><i>
<br /></i></div><div align="center"><em>Crackdown is a game about cops who gain superpowers. It is a simple game that makes you feel like you are playing as a superhero. You can jump though the air and lift heavy objects, it really makes you feel powerful. The game is also cel-shaded thus has a cartoony look making it seem like a comic come to life.</em></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZ0ZHtLj0Zo&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fZ0ZHtLj0Zo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><i>
<br /></i></div><div align="center"><em>Prototype just came out and plays a lot like Crackdown giving the lead character insane power. This game though, is a bit darker and your lead character is not that heroic and more of an anti-hero. The game has a comic book feel to it. One of the main reasons this game is so closely linked to comics in presentation is because the designers previously worked on "Hulk: Ultimate destruction" and created a prototype as a spiritual successor. The game also has a 90s era feel to it, since it is bloody and dark.</em></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eYTHN3IKMhc&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eYTHN3IKMhc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>Infamous is another game that came out recently. You can either play as a super hero or super villian. The games cut scenes are also done in comic book style. The gameplay also borrows from Spider-Man, as you are climbing buildings a lot.</em></div>
<br /><div align="left">Next time you pick up a game take notice of how much comic books could have influenced it. You may be surprised to find how much of it was borrowed from the world of super hero comics. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-28557945706752472512009-07-21T06:49:00.000+09:002009-07-21T06:49:00.690+09:00Evolution of Mario - Super Nintendo into 3D<div><a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/07/evolution-of-mario-games-nes-years.html">Last time </a>I went through what created the foundation of Mario games. Each one is a classic in its own right but that didn't stop Nintendo from improving the winning formula.<br /><br /><div><strong>Super Mario World</strong></div><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.mariowiki.com/images/1/1a/Donut_Plains_1.PNG" border="0" />A launch game for the SNES and still one of the best looking games for the system. Super Mario World took the basic ideas behind Super Mario Bros 3 and enhanced them. The over world was now much larger with many more pathways through them. It was a deep game with nearly 92 levels (much of them hidden) making it one of the most robust platformers ever released (a fact that stands to this day)</p><p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 223px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/29/Super_Mario_World_gameplay.png" border="0" />The biggest change to the Mario franchise that Super Mario World brought was the introduction of Yoshi. Yoshi essentially brought vehicle gameplay to the Mario world. Yoshi changed the gameplay by adding the ability to eat your enemies (some of them even gave Yoshi special abilities). Later Yoshi became popular enough to star in his own games and become a stand alone character (Yoshi was even the central character to Super Mario World 2).<br /><br /><strong>Super Mario 64</strong></p><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 323px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.mariowiki.com/images/a/a4/Sm64story2.jpg" border="0" />While it is not the first 3D platformer it was by far the most polished and easy to play. Before Super Mario 64, 3D platformers were clunky and had many issues. Super Mario 64 came along and reinvented gaming the same way the original Super Mario Bros did. Super Mario 64 is the blueprint for every 3D platforming game.<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/super-mario-64-castle.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 335px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 252px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.videogamesblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/super-mario-64-castle.jpg" border="0" /></a>Many things were introduced and influenced the gaming world industry wide. Super Mario 64 had an open hub level (the castle and its grounds) with many different levels joining it (through paintings. This idea of a hub world was not new to gaming but it was new to platform games (hub worlds were typically only used in RPGs or Adventure games). The hub also provided the player with a safe area to explore and practice their new skills. Since Mario 64 was such a new game, and many players had not experienced a 3D game like it, it was useful to have this area. One of the most exciting experiences in the whole game was just running around and exploring the castle (which was full of secrets). Nearly every single 3D platforming game now uses a hub world and joining levels, just like in Super Mario 64.<br /><br /><br /><div>The way you progressed in Super Mario 64 was by collecting stars. You needed a certain amount of stars to get to the next area of the castle. Stars were hidden in each level and could be acquired by completing specific missions. The idea of collecting stars has been transplated into many games ("Banjo Kazooie" has his puzzle pieces, "Ratchet and Clank" have their bolts, "Sonic" has his emeralds, Prize bubbles in "Little Big Planet" and this list goes on and on). Many game designers did take this idea to the extreme giving players too many things to collect which became overbearing for the player. Super Mario 64 used stars as a means to allow the player to explore each level and test their skills. It was a great idea at the time and when used properly can really hook a player to the game. Collecting stars also influenced games past the idea of collect-a-thons, since they introduced the idea of a mission structure to each level. For example, the FPS shooter Goldeneye got the idea for their mission based levels from Super Mario 64; Martin Hollis (designer on Goldeneye) stated that, <a style="TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.zoonami.com/briefing/2004-09-02.php">"the idea for the huge variety of missions within a level came from Super Mario 64"</a></div><div><br /></div><div></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 378px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Super_Mario_64_jumping.jpg" border="0" />Super Mario 64 also changed around the core gameplay. Mario could still bounce on enemies to stop them but also had the butt-stomp which sent Mario down fast and hard. His jumping was also improved as he could now triple jump, backflip, and bounce off walls. He could also grab a hold of trees and poles and climb them, as well as hang on edges. Many of these gameplay tecniques were new to games in general and many games have copied these same moves (the double/triple jump is in many platformers now). One thing Mario borrowed from other games was the introduction of a health bar.<br /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 362px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 244px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.mariowiki.com/images/8/81/SM64BobOmbBattlefield.png" border="0" />One of the simplist additions is also one of the most important. Mario had a little camera man following him where ever he went, and the player could control that camera with the C buttons. The idea of mapping the camera to a seperate set of buttons was a great idea and gave the player the ability to move the camera around to the best position. This is something that has been copied in every single 3D game since (except those with fixed cameras).<br /><br /><div><strong>Super Mario Sunshine</strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Hover_Nozzle.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/Hover_Nozzle.jpg" border="0" /></a>Super Mario 64 was such a success that no 3D platforming game really topped it for a long time (some say nothing has yet). Even Nintendo shyed away from trying to improve on a perfect formula. It was not until the Gamecube came out that Nintendo gave it a shot (and it didn't come out until later in the Gamecube's lifespan). Super Mario Sunshine may be the biggest success and failure at the same time.<br /><br /><div>Nintendo has never been content with creating carbon copy Mario sequels (spin off games not with standing) and they have a drive to try and add something new to each game. Super Mario Sunshine kept a lot of the same gameplay from Super Mario 64 keeping the same skills and collecting "shines" (which were identical to collecting stars). However, Super Mario now had FLUDD a water based weapon, which he could use to perform attacks, fly through the air, and clean the environment. It complicated the controls but once the player got used to it, it was easy enough to use. Many players were turned off on this new aspect and wanted Mario to stay streamlined. Personally I had a lot of fun with FLUDD and found it added a new layer to the game. But, I also found Super Mario Sunshine to be the hardest Mario game I have ever played and part of that is thanks to the more complex gameplay. Sometimes it wasn't so much challenging as it was frustrating.</div></div><div><br /><div>Nintendo has scrapped most of the things they brought up in Super Mario Sunshine, and even though it is one of the less influencial Mario games it is still a solid game. Being the least loved Mario game is kinda of like getting an A on a test when you are used to getting A+.</div><br /><div><strong>New Super Mario Bros</strong></div><br /><div><strong></strong></div><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/MarioScreen3.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 297px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 456px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3e/MarioScreen3.png" border="0" /></a> Before the next full 3D game (Super Mario Galaxy), Nintendo created a new 2D Mario game for the DS. This game took most of Mario's moves from Super Mario 64, but everything was pulled off on a 2D plane. This game was not as robust as Super Mario 3 or Super Mario World, and almost acted like a successor to the original Super Mario Bros. The gameplay was simple, and the levels were short. This game was an astounding success mostly because of how easy it was to play. The simplicity of the game also helped the fact that this game was on a portable system, and most player play the DS for short spurts of time (I play my DS on my bus ride to work so I appreciate being able to finish a level in a short period of time). Playing this game felt a lot like playing a updated NES game, which isn't really a bad thing.<br /><br /><div><strong>Super Mario Galaxy</strong></div><div><b><br /></b></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/f/f3/Asteroid_Planet.jpg/800px-Asteroid_Planet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/f/f3/Asteroid_Planet.jpg/800px-Asteroid_Planet.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>The last Mario game Nintendo released and easily the best one yet. It took the basic principals behind Super Mario 64 (collecting stars and having an open hub world with many hidden and unlockable areas) and kept the controls the same. Rather than updating the gameplay with something radical (like FLUDD) they decided to change that way the levels work. Most levels took place on a series of planets and Mario could travel all around them. Gravity would pull you from one planet to the next and at points Mario would be completely upside down. It was flipping the gameplay on its head literally. The gravity aspect of the game was a little confusing at first but after a little bit of time with the game it became easy to understand. Super Mario 64 took gameplay and level design to full 3D but Super Mario Galaxy took it all to the next level. It is currently one of the highest rated games of all time!</div><br /><div><strong>The Future</strong></div><br /><div>Now even though I have described the main Mario games there are many more Mario spin-offs, some of which are great games on their own right. Nintendo is always careful to give their full attention and time to Mario's core series, and right now they are working on 2 new games. Super Mario Galaxy 2 seems to be an extention of the first game, but adding new level ideas and power ups (it worked for Super Mario World). Super Mario Galaxy will also bring back Yoshi as a vehicle in the game (He has only been that role in Super Mario World, and Sunshine). They are also building New Super Mario Bros for the Wii, and it looks like a more complex and robust experience. In that game 4 players can place at once which should add a new layer of gameplay that Super Mario games have not seen yet. I am really excited about the future of the series and you can guarantee they will both be smash hits.</div></div></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-91250675714053684332009-07-17T06:14:00.000+09:002009-07-17T06:14:00.332+09:00What influences video games - Animation<div align="left">Video Games started off with really basic looking characters and backgrounds. The idea of realistic graphics was impossible to pull off until recently. Therefore video game designers had to turn to more artistic representations of reality to get their ideas across. This lead to borrowing a lot of ideas from animation.<br /></div><br /><div align="left"><strong>Animals</strong><br /></div><br /><div align="left">Disney and a lot of early animators and cartoonists perfected the art of anthropomorphic animals. In this school of art it is not important to keep the animal looking like its reality. The reason artists wanted to give animal characters more human features was to make them more relatable to the viewer. These humanizing features also helped with portraying emotion and character. The basic idea was to take an animal and make a few key changes to it; have it stand upright on two feet, elongate its arms and legs, give it fingers and thumbs, enlarge the eyes, and widen the mouth. The changes to the arms and legs allowed for the animation to move more fluidly and represent gestures. Giving the animal fingers and thumbs made it so the character could now interact with the world around it. The enlarged eyes and mouth gave the animation more personality and portray emotion. Everything in animation is usually exaggerated and this can only work when the characters features are also over the top.</div><p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 175px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 314px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b9/Bugs_Bunny_Pose.PNG" border="0" /> <em>Bugs Bunny is a perfect examples of pulling these techniques off. He still looks like a rabbit while having exaggerated human features.</em></p><p align="center"><em></em><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 295px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5f/Klonoa.png" border="0" /> <em>Klonoa is suppose to be his own breed of animal but as you can see he has cat-like features mixed with human elements. The standard things are exaggerated and elongated (legs, arms, hands, feet) but his ears are also long. These ears not only create a unique animation but also add to the gameplay.</em><br /><br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/Sonic_1991.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 195px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/Sonic_1991.png" border="0" /></a> <em>I can't write about animal characters without mentioning Sonic the Hedgehog. You can read more about him <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/06/sonic-hedgehog.html">here.</a></em> </p><p align="left"><strong>Humans</strong><br /></p><div align="center" style="text-align: left;">The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 try and make human characters look as realistic as possible. However, before these consoles, realistic high definition graphics were not common (some games still tried to pull off realism but not to the extent they do now). Older games used highly stylistic art designs to create an appealing character without having to be realistic. When game designers are trying to create a characture of a person they also borrow a lot from Disney as well as Anime.<br /></div><br /><div align="center"> </div><div align="left">Many people do not realize but Anime and Disney have a lot in common. Anime is highly influenced by "Steamboat Willie" the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon. These Disney cartoons were such a success in the west as well as in Japan that the Disney signature (big eyes, overly expressed emotions, and slapstick humour) is still prevelant in Anime today. </div><br /><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/REbZO82tkgw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/REbZO82tkgw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Steamboat Willie. Probably the most important cartoon ever created. The styles seen in this cartoon were almost unheard of before. Disney was a pioneer in animation and how to make it look fluid and not stiff. Even though Mickey Mouse is far from being a human the animation in this short influenced everything.</span><br /></div><br /><div align="center"></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 222px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 349px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7b/AstroBoy1963.jpg/441px-AstroBoy1963.jpg" border="0" /> <p align="center"><em>Astro boy is one of the older Japanese characters. Notice the big eyes and exaggerated emotion. These are all traits the Japanese learned from watching Disney.</em><br /></p><p align="left">You will notice that most stylized humans in games feature big eyes. These big eyes help with expressing emotion (just like with animal characters). Also these characters usually have enlarged heads. The face is the most important thing for the player to read their character (especially in older games where the hero rarely spoke) and when you have a big head you can exaggerate the face.</p><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Mario.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 246px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Mario.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Super Mario is easily the most recognizable figure in video games. He is such a great character not only because of his <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">early design</a> but also for his later more polished design. Once Nintendo had the technology they made Mario more cartoon-like. His features could fit into any Disney movie.</em><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/FFVIInomuracastdesigns.JPG"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 327px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 334px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/8c/FFVIInomuracastdesigns.JPG" border="0" /></a> <em>Final Fantasy VII is full of anime characters. Final Fantasy VII is one of the first games to bring anime into 3D. The overly anime stylized characters in the game matched perfectly with the quirky storyline.</em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.virginmedia.com/microsites/games/slideshow/game-art/img_10.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 312px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 277px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.virginmedia.com/microsites/games/slideshow/game-art/img_10.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Link from The Windwaker. Rather than going with the realistic look, The Windwaker took Zelda into a cartoony animation style. It was a blend of modern Anime and Disney. Some features (such as the eyes and certain character emotions) came from anime, while the colours and enemy models look like they are straight out of a Disney movie. This cel-shading style (the use of 2D art on 3D character) has become extremely popular.</em><br /><br /><div align="left"><strong>Tex Avery</strong></div><br /><div align="left">If there is one other person who is just as influencial to animation as Walt Disney, it is Tex Avery. Tex Avery worked for Warner Brothers and later MGM, designing the characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. However, what Tex Avery is most remembered for is his animation style and direction. Tex Avery took the Disney school of thought to the extreme. Tex believed you could do anything with animation and proved it. His characters were much more flexable and had extreme emotions. Certain things we take for granted in animation like the double take, eyes popping out of a characters head, characters falling off cliffs into a puff a smoke, and cartoons having a sarcastic tone to them (Whats up Doc?) were all popularized by Tex Avery. He pushed animation into a truely unique form of comedy that was a perfect blend of both slapstick, and smart-humour. </div><br /><a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/hound.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 306px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/hound.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>A typical Tex Avery character emotion. Even though the character is very distorted it is still recognizable and easy to read.</em><br /><br /></div><div align="center">c<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OMNbcOsW9i0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OMNbcOsW9i0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><div align="center"><em>Daffy Duck is one level of Tex's comedy. Daffy is comepletely insane and is almost constantly on the edge of a mental breakdown. You can also see Porky Pig who was a much different character under Tex Avery (and the villian Porky evolved into Elmer Fudd).</em></div><div align="center"><br /></div><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2JMmyHWO424&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2JMmyHWO424&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><div align="center"><em>Bugs Bunny is the opposite of Daffy Duck. A complete straight character whose sarcastic tone and straight talk helps highlight the craziness around him.</em></div><br /><div align="left">These animation techniques were brought over into video games very early. Older games could not be subtle in their animations and needed exaggeration to get their point across. Tex Avery techniques were used to fully animate characters and make them more fun to play. It also helped introduce a level of humour to some early games.</div><div align="center"><br /></div><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ZPyv7_EaZc&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-ZPyv7_EaZc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><div align="center"><em>The Battletoads may have been a cheap Ninja Turtles rip off but their animations were almost completel borrowed from old Tex Avery cartoons. Notice how the characters are very flexible and eyes popping out of their heads.</em></div><div align="center"><br /></div><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ES667z0Eo6Y&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ES667z0Eo6Y&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><div align="center"><em>Sonic the Hedgehog was animated much like a Tex Avery cartoon. Sonic's speed lended itself perfectly to the rubber like aspects of Tex's style. In Sonic 2, the lead characters gained the ability to roll into a ball and speed off in a blur. This transformation is much like something Tex would have done. Also Sonic has a bit of a Bugs Bunny attitude.</em></div><br /><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pjcj1sgyGDs&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pjcj1sgyGDs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></div><div align="center"><em>The old NES Super Mario Brothers had a simple gag in it. When Mario died he faced the screen with an emotion of despair and fell off. This is exactly like when a cartoon charater walks off a cliff and looks at the viewer before he falls, which was a Tex Avery trademark. The death in this video is from a glitch but the animation is the same no matter how you die.</em></div><br /><a href="http://www.techspedia.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/4ae41_sf_turbo_hdremix.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 314px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 208px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.techspedia.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/4ae41_sf_turbo_hdremix.jpg" border="0" /></a> <em>Dhalsim was one of the more unique fighters in Street Fighter 2. What made him so strange was his ability to stretch and contort his body. The rubber qualities of Dhalsim are very similiar to a Tex Avery cartoon in which the characters were always stretched in every which way. This picture is from the newest revision of Street Fighter 2.</em><br /><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SCywgJt2EOQ&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SCywgJt2EOQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Nintendo character most influenced by Tex Avery is Kirby. Kirby may take a lot of cues from anime in his design, but the gameplay is all Tex Avery. Kirby stretches and contorts his body as he eats his enemies or flies through the sky. He can change his form into a completely different physical shape and structure to attack with special powers. If Tex Avery was designing video games you can bet he would create a character like Kirby.</span></p><p align="center" style="text-align: left;"><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">Because of the early cartoon like nature of video games it was only natural for designers to take some cues from animation. Furthermore, videogames started off as a children's market so it was only natural to tie it to another thing that children liked. Animation helped give designers the tools they needed in order to make a memorable and appealing game.</span></em></p></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-65795515285995723782009-07-14T06:04:00.003+09:002009-07-14T06:04:00.219+09:00Evolution of the Mario games (NES years)<div>Like I talked about in one of my first <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">posts</a> the original Super Mario Bros is one of the most important games of all time. It laid the blueprint on how to create a 2D sidescroller. However, the designers did not stop innovating and influencing other games with the first game. Everytime they went back and made a new Mario game it was a great experience that topped almost everything on the market. I will be looking into the basic evolution of the core Mario series and how each one changed gaming. Only the core Mario games will be talked about (no Mario Kart, or even Yoshi's Island).<br /><br /><strong>Super Mario Bros</strong></div><div><p><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/NES_Super_Mario_Bros.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 298px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/NES_Super_Mario_Bros.png" border="0" /></a> I have already talked about this game <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">at length</a> so I am going to keep it short this time. Super Mario Bros is one of the first platformers ever, and easily the most polished. It used power ups to give the player new skills and abilites which has become a staple in all Mario games since (even the non-platform ones). It was one of the first games that had an extensive amount of hidden secrets and pathways (they appeared before in games but not to this extent). It had 32 levels, all of them were fairly unique from the last. Players could transverse the levels in many different ways, using different pathways and skipping certain levels. It not only brought in the idea of running through levels but also swimming, changing the gameplay. Being the first game in the series it introduced Bowser as the main antagonist and he has held that spot steadily since. It is, without a doubt, one of the most influencial games of all time. Every platforming game owes some of its design to Super Mario Bros.<br /><br /><strong>Super Mario Bros 2 (Japan)</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.adventureofhyrule.com/game/screens/supermariobros2jpn9-2.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://www.adventureofhyrule.com/game/screens/supermariobros2jpn9-2.gif" border="0" /></a> Only in Japan was this true sequel released (only much later on Super Mario All-Stars did we get the game in the west). It is basically the original game only much harder. Jumps were trickier, enemies were more abundant, and the levels were designed in bizarre ways. The hidden pathways were still in this game along with warp pipes that let you skip levels. However, in Super Mario Bros 2 some pipes sent you backwards in the game, forcing you to play levels over again. Players had to be extremely careful while making decisions in this game. It was such a difficult game that it forced players to beat it 8 times before arriving in the true final level. Another strange turn of events happened if you used no warp pipes, as you would end up in World 9. World 9 was a truely bizzare world in which fire would fly underwater, Bowser was in the 9-3 not 9-4, and clouds were underwater. This game was the programmers having as much fun as possible with the Super Mario Bros engine.<br /><br />One notable thing the game did change was Luigi. Luigi was now a selectable character (not forced on player 2), and had a new gameplay which set him apart from Mario. Luigi could jump higher and run faster, but was also less stable than Mario. The idea of Luigi playing this way has carried over in other games.<br /><br /><strong>Super Mario 2 (USA)</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Smb2_comparison.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Smb2_comparison.png" border="0" /></a> Many people already know the story behind this game but I will sum it up for those who don't know. A Japanese game called Doki Doki Panic was transformed into Super Mario Bros 2 for an American release. Nintendo felt the Japanese Super Mario Bros 2 was too difficult for the American gamers.</p><p><a href="http://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/neswomen/smb2_birdo.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 330px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 263px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://sydlexia.com/imagesandstuff/neswomen/smb2_birdo.png" border="0" /></a> However, even though it wasn't originally a Mario game it has become an important part of the evolution of the series. Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto did design Doki Doki Panic along with some of the team that made the Mario games. This is why the transformation wasn't so jarring. The enemies in Super Mario 2 (Shy guys, and Birdo) have carried over into more Mario games since. Doki Doki Panic had many levels and there was an ability to find warps and hidden pathways, which also translated perfectly for a Mario game.</p><p><a href="http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload//8000/400/10/8/68418.png"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 346px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 284px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://cdn-write.demandstudios.com/upload//8000/400/10/8/68418.png" border="0" /></a> Super Mario 2 was unique for having 4 selectable characters (because Doki Doki Panic had 4 characters) and each of them fit naturally with estabilished characters. Luigi was a high jumper and very fast (much like in the Japanese Mario 2 but taken up a few notches), Princess could float through the air, Toad was a sturdy character who controlled well on ice, and Mario was the balanced character who was the jack of all trades and master of none. In Mario game offshoots (the Mario Sports series, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and other random action games) these character traits have been used again and again.<br /><br />One change that has not stuck since was the way enemies were attacked. Rather than jumping on enemies and instantly killing them, you had to pick them up and throw them at another enemy. This was a fun and unique way to play but slowed the game down a bit. Mario games since have used quick attacks to finish off the enemy.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Super Mario Bros 3</strong></p><p><a href="http://toadscastle.net/images/ss_smb3_22.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 256px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://toadscastle.net/images/ss_smb3_22.gif" border="0" /></a> The first Mario sequel that was built completely new from the ground up. Many players still hold this game to be one of the greatest platformers of all time, if not one of the greatest games in general. Personally I cannot see much fault in this argument as it is the penacle of 2D platformers on the NES (which had a lot of great games in that genre). </p><p>The game returned to its roots by just having Mario as player 1 and Luigi as player 2 both of whom played identical. It took the basic idea of the original Super Mario Bros and added better graphics, more power-ups, more enemies, bigger levels, more secrets, and more bosses. Everything was bigger and better. Instead of just facing Bowser at each castle you fought his children, each of which had their own personalities. This made for much more interesting boss battles. On top of that each boss resided on an airship which had the level moving while trying to move across it. Things like bullets and fireballs reacted realistically to the movement of the level and added an extra layer of gameplay. The standard castle levels were still found in this game as well and acting as mid-way points in the world. Each castle ended with a mini-boss. </p><a href="http://selectstartgames.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/supermariobros3.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 315px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 236px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://selectstartgames.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/supermariobros3.jpg" border="0" /></a> The best addition to the game was the overworld map. Each world had its own map and the player could move across it in many different ways. Some items collected in the levels could be used to break down walls in order to skip sections of the game and fast-track. It really showed the size, scale and interactivity of the game. Each world also had its own trait. There were the standard fare of levels (such as an ice world and a lava world) as well as some unique levels (a world filled with pipes that created a maze, and a world where everything was much bigger). Because of this massive variety in levels and the ability to move across the overworld in many different ways, the game never got stale.<br /><br />Part 2 will continue next week and we will look at the SNES as well as the 3D Mario games. Come back friday for a new feature article.</div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-33881818478267641942009-07-10T10:39:00.000+09:002009-07-10T18:48:29.024+09:00Street Fighter II - Part 2<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">*Make sure to check out <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/07/street-fighter-ii-part-1.html">Part 1</a> of this article. </span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">The Bosses</span><br /><br />Even though they are playable in every version afterward, in the original Street Fighter 2 players could not select them. M.Bison, Vega, Balrog, and Sagat made up the final four fights. The were all powerful and had an extra special character trait that made them stand out against the regular cast of fighters.</div><div><br /></div><p><a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/8/85/Sf-balrogold.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 62px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 110px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/8/85/Sf-balrogold.gif" border="0" /></a> Balrog was a boxer who could only punch and not kick. He was very strong letting the player know that the difficulty was ramping up. In the Japanese version he was named M.Bison (a play on Mike Tyson's name) and had to be changed in America in order to avoid a lawsuit. Balrog clearly looks a lot like Tyson and takes almost all of his character design from him.</p><p><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/e/e0/Vega-oldstance.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 76px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 113px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/e/e0/Vega-oldstance.gif" border="0" /></a> Vega was an extremely fast opponent. He could climb on the walls of his level and was the only fighter who had a weapon. He is the complete opposite of the Balrog fight beforehand trading in slow powerful punches for lightning fast arial manuevers. Since Vega was so different from any other fighter the difficulty ramped up again creating a great build to the climax of the game.<br /><br /><a href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/6/65/Sagat-sf2-stance1.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 94px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 129px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/6/65/Sagat-sf2-stance1.gif" border="0" /></a> Sagat is the third fighter returning from Street Fighter 1. He was the boss of the original game and now stands as the penultimate boss. He has fireballs like Ryu and Ken but was stronger and because of his tall stature had a very long reach. He may have been a more tradition fighter but his attacks and special techniques made him a perfect boss.<br /><br /><a href="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/0/09/Bison-sf2-s1.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 119px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 108px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/0/09/Bison-sf2-s1.gif" border="0" /></a> M.Bison was the final boss of the game. He was incredibly strong and fast. He was given a military look making him seem more menacing and powerful. Since he was the last boss he was by far the hardest battle in the game, and beating him was a reward in itself. His main colour scheme is <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/04/colours-red.html">red</a> so it is more than a coincidence that this colour was chosen for the final battle.</p><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/07/sf2-blanka.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 520px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 187px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/07/sf2-blanka.gif" border="0" /></a></div><div align="center"><em>Not only was each character unique but everyone had their own level. The backgrounds gave the game a little more personality. These backgrounds had minimal animations, which gave it enough feel to look alive while not becoming a distraction. </em></div><br /><div align="left"><strong>Music</strong></div><br /><div align="left">Street Fighter II had a great soundtrack. Music is extremely important in a fighting game since the score should get the player in the mood. Street Fighter II needs fast thinking and requires a lot of action, so the music should match the pace, or it would seem out of sync. Luckily, Street Fighter II has a wide variety of music (each stage has its own tune). Not only does the music successfully match the gameplay but adds personality to the levels.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5mRKXhwxxLQ&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5mRKXhwxxLQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Guile's music is by far my favourite. It sounds like something straight out of an American military movie. It's fast paced and really captures the mood of the stage and the fighter.</span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-PwvDblmzE0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-PwvDblmzE0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><div align="center"><em>Blanka, being one of the bizzare characters, has equally unique music. It has a tropical feel to it that matches the Brazilian location. It is on the edge of not feeling like fighting music but never crosses that line. It is a strange blend of the bizzare, tropical, and action. Thankfully it works.</em></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6FN4av513n8&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6FN4av513n8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><div align="center"><em></em> </div><div align="center"><em>Dhalsim has some really great music. The designers took cues from Indian music but changed it to fit a fighting game. Indian music traditionally doesn't follow the same rules as western music so some changes need to be made in order for it to fit the game.</em></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gvOzRcGP9qw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gvOzRcGP9qw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><br /><div align="center"><em></em> </div><div align="center"><em>M.Bison is the last battle and thus has some of the fastest music. It is hard hitting and suits the climax of the game. A final boss needs a strong score to add tension to the fight.</em></div><em></em><br /><div align="left">Street Fighter II was a huge success, both in arcades and on the SNES. However, the designers never stopped trying to perfect the formula and went on to create many revisions to the game. Street Fighter II: Championship Edition let players select the bosses as well as play as the same character. This added a whole new set of strategy for the player to learn. Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighter (or Turbo on the SNES) sped up the game giving it an even faster feel. After playing Hyper Fighting the old game seems a bit sluggish. Hyper Fighting was the best change to the series by far. Later editions added new characters and balancing of gameplay. But no matter how often the game was re-polished Street Fighter II still remained the blueprint. </div><div align="left"><br /></div><div align="left"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/Street_Fighter_II_comparison.PNG/211px-Street_Fighter_II_comparison.PNG"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 211px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 599px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/Street_Fighter_II_comparison.PNG/211px-Street_Fighter_II_comparison.PNG" border="0" /></a></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="left"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-STYLE: italic">The progression of Street Fighter 2.</span></div><br /><div align="left">Even the current game, Street Fighter IV, takes a majority of its inspiration from Street Fighter II. Outside of its own series Street Fighter has been the inspiration for almost every fighting game (especially 2D fighters) making it one of the most important games of all time and a piece of art.<br /></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-86831315130799625252009-07-07T06:08:00.000+09:002009-07-07T06:17:19.605+09:00Street Fighter II - Part 1**Because there is so much to say about Street Fighter II, I have had to break this post up into 2 parts.<br /><div><div><br /><div>There were some fighting games before Street Fighter II (like the original Street Fighter) but no game brought the genre to the forefront like it. Street Fighter II was a huge hit at the arcade and later successfully ported to the consoles (the SNES version was exceptionally great). It was the perfect fighting game of its day and it still stands as a solid game that gamers come back to. Many things went into making Street Fighter II so memorable that it became a true piece of art.</div><div><br /></div><div><strong>Gameplay</strong></div><div><br /></div><div>I have said this many times but the interactivity of a game is by far the most important aspect to the art form. Street Fighter II easily had the most polished gameplay in the arcade. Characters reacted to the controls naturally, and players found themselves learning the ins and outs of the game thus pulling off some fantastic techniques. It was the first fighting game that had multiple characters each of which had their own control styles and wide range of special moves. Players became attached to a certain character and tied themselves to learning the best way to play with them. The game had 8 fighters which allowed for 7 different play styles that welcomed a variety of players and suited their needs (Ken and Ryu were identical in the original version which accounts for the missing play style).</div><div><br /></div><div>The special moves is what really caught a lot of player's attention. It gave the game a fun feel to it and a sense of accomplishment when you could pull the move off effectively and consistently. Most of the special attacks where over the top and departed from reality. Some of the fighters could throw fire balls while others could pull off impossible physical techniques. Since no two fighters had similiar attacks (aside from Ryu and Ken) each match required a different defense strategy. </div><div><br /></div><div>When you add all the gamplay variations together you get a really deep game that is still deeper than many fighting games today. In Street Fighter you could not simply button mash (the act of randomly pressing buttons in hope of hitting your opponent), you had to watch every move and plan your attacks. The game did move fast so you had to think on your feet, but it rewarded players with a strategy. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qAPbXNq0dc&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qAPbXNq0dc&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>A match in Street Fighter. You can see how it moves fast and fluid. Fighting games that came out before felt a little stiff and unnatural. Street fighter helped break that barrier. </em></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Characters</span></div><p>One of the things that drew players to the game was the cast of fighters you had to choose from. Not only was their gameplay different but each of them had their own unique design. The visual artistry of Street Fighter was astounding and it created some of the most memorable characters of all time.</p><p align="center"><u>Ryu</u></p><p><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/7/72/Sf-ryuold.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 62px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 95px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/7/72/Sf-ryuold.gif" border="0" /></a> A somewhat central figure in the game and one of 3 characters returning from Street Fighter 1. He was the typical "Japanese Karate" fighter. In the spectrum of fighters in the game he would range in the middle of character design. However, the designer did add a little to the character to give him more personality. His outfit is a little loose and allows the character to more more freely without looking like the clothes are stiff. His head band and facial expression give Ryu a little more attitude than the other fighters.</p><p align="center"><u>Ken</u></p><a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/6/6b/Ken_breathe.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 60px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 93px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/6/6b/Ken_breathe.gif" border="0" /></a> Another returning character from Street Fighter. His design is just a head swap with Ryu, and a different colour outfit. Since his body and animations are identical to Ryu it is only his head that gives him some new personality. His shaggy blond hair, and facial expression gives Ken the same rugged attitude that Ryu has. Ken and Ryu are the center piece of the game as well as the standard fighting game characters.<br /><br /><div align="center"><u>Guile</u></div><br /><div align="center"><u></u></div><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/5/5c/Guile-oldstance.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 76px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 90px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/5/5c/Guile-oldstance.gif" border="0" /></a> For the most part the fighters all come from different countries (some do share nationalities) and some of them are overdone stereotypes. In all these cases the stereotypes are not offensive but somewhat humours. Guile is the typical all-american war millitary man. He has an exagerrated flat top hair cut, blond hair, a tattoo of the American Flag, and wears military fatigues. He has little touches to show that he is the "perfect" American boy as he combs his hair in between rounds and smiles. He was designed in part to appeal to American fans and for the most part it worked. Guile is also one of the few characters who could throw a projectile making him stand out. He could do large bicycle kicks and moved realitivly fast. He is a lot of fun to play and you can see his good natured all-american attitude come out in his gameplay.<br /><br /><div align="center"><u>Chung Li</u></div><br /><div align="center"><u></u></div><br /><div align="left"><a href="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/9/93/ChunLi_breathe.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 72px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 87px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/9/93/ChunLi_breathe.gif" border="0" /></a> The only female character in Street Fighter II. She is one of the more important characters from a game design standpoint. Chung Li is fairly weak yet is the fastest fighter. This blueprint of creating a female fighter as the weakest yet fastest character has been used in almost every single fighting game since. Her main attack is her kicks since she has long strong legs (in later Street Fighter games the designers even made her legs larger and stronger looking). Even her uniform places emphasis on her legs.</div><p align="center"><u>E.Honda</u> </p><br /><p align="center"></p><a href="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/f/f1/EHonda_breathe.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 115px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 94px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/f/f1/EHonda_breathe.gif" border="0" /></a>Even though he is yet another Japanese fighter in the game he comes from a completely different school of fighting. E. Honda is a sumo wrestler and therefore is slow but very powerful. He does have some quick attacks such as a flying head-butt and a rapid fire of palms. His design is taken straight out of what real sumo wrestlers look like. The only thing that makes E.Honda stand out against real life sumo wrestlers is his face paint. He is one of the few fighters who is a bit more linked to reality in his character design.<br /><p align="center"><u>Zangeif </u></p><a href="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/0/07/Zangief-sf2-s1.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 117px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 118px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/0/07/Zangief-sf2-s1.gif" border="0" /></a> Easily the most powerful fighter in the game but also one of the most difficult to use. His special moves are much harder to pull off effectively, thus balancing him against other fighters. He is also much slower than most of the fighters. His character designer is very much influenced by the stereotypical portrayal of Russians during the cold war. Street Fighter II came out at the very end of the cold war and the USSR was still a nation. Zangeif is big, tall and hairy, and has scars on his body from fighting a bear. Out of all the fighters he does look the most menacing, and he wears red, the colour of the USSR. Zangeif is basically a symbol for how frightening a lot of people felt about what went on behind the iron curtain. Now that the cold war is over Zangeif seems a lot more comical to players.<br /><p align="center"><u>Blanka </u></p><br /><p align="center"></p><a href="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/1/15/Sf-blankaold.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 99px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 100px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/1/15/Sf-blankaold.gif" border="0" /></a> One of 2 fighters that are just bizzare. Blanka is a green monster that was created after a plane crash left a young boy, named Jimmy, to be raised in the wild. Blanka's origin and character design is closey tied to comic books. Much like many super heroes and villians, Blanka is created out of a tradegy, and gains some sort of special powers and abilities from it. Blanka also has electric powers linking him even more toward the comic book realm. Blanka plays very low to the ground and has some strange animations in the way he moves. Many players when they first saw Blanka became immediately attached to him since he was so unique and different from everyone else in the game.<br /><p align="center"><u>Dhalsim </u></p><br /><p align="center"></p><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/c/c6/Classic-dhalsim.gif"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 88px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 107px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/streetfighter/images/c/c6/Classic-dhalsim.gif" border="0" /></a> The other character who is a bit more bizzare is Dhalsim. Dhalsim is a yoga master who can stretch his body and teleport around the screen. He also can breathe fire. The way Dhalsim is presented is in a very comical manner. His streched out limbs look odd, and he is one fighter who will have a smile on his face from time to time. In a game full of mostly stern looking characters he stands out and provides a nice break in pace. His design and animation may even be stranger and stand out more than Blanka (when you see him in motion). Dhalsim is not one of the stronger fighters but his reach is far greater than all the others.<br /><br />Check back on Friday for Part 2.</div></div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4266907704150631439.post-48780372909338195032009-07-03T06:18:00.000+09:002009-07-03T06:26:18.158+09:00Half Life 2 (And the episodes)<div>In 1998, Half Life came out for the PC. It was an exceptional first person shooter that focused on storytelling as well as gameplay. It presented itself through the protagonist's eyes (Gordon Freeman) and never let the player out of that experience. There were no cutscenes that took the player out of the game; everything unfolded in real time in front of the player to watch and interact with. However, 6 years later Valve (developers of the game) created their real masterpiece with Half Life 2. They took their interactive cinematic experience to the next level. It was much more polished and stood alone as its own game even though it was a sequel. Half Life 2 is one of the most loved PC games of all time, and there are many reasons for that.</div><br /><div><strong>Gordon Freeman</strong></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/300px-Gordon_Freeman.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 393px;" src="http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/300px-Gordon_Freeman.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>I went into this a bit already with my post on <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/04/silent-protagonist.html">Silent Protagonists</a>. Gordon Freeman is essentially an every-man. He is not physically built and looks somewhat average. He was just a scientist at Black Mesa when everything went wrong (an alien invasion). He gets his strength and power from 2 things; his suit of armor, and his personal drive. Valve does everything in their power to make Gordon Freeman a believable character. They want the player to feel that they could be in Gordon's situation and pull off everything he does. This is also highlighted by making Gordon silent through the whole game. He never talks but many characters talk to you. Gordon's response is essentially the players response. There aren't many characters in video game history that have a greater player-character connection than Gordon Freeman.</div><br /><div><strong>Level Design</strong></div><br /><div>Before Half Life, first person shooters were still somewhat built on the "Wolfenstein 3D" blueprint. This school of level design led first person shooters into a very particular gameplay type. FPSs usually entailed going through a room clearing out the enemies and then picking up a key that led to the next room, repeat this over and over again. This did lead to fast paced gameplay that bombarded the player with multiple enemies forcing him/her to think fast. There were some games that did deviate from this gameplay type but none did this as much as the original Half Life. In the first Half Life, Black Mesa felt a lot more open to explore, and even though you were sent down a linear path it never felt that way. The game unfolded organically and there was a reason to move from one location to the next.</div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.kotaku.com/images/2006/06/750px-HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/images/2006/06/750px-HalfLife2_City17_TrainStationSquare.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">City 17. Where Half Life 2 starts.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Half Life 2 built upon the concept that the original layed out. Now that Gordon Freeman was out of Black Mesa and in "City 17" the world was a much more open place. There was a sense of the area you covered when you went across from one location to the next. Again Valve was leading the player down a set path but it never felt that way, and there was a real motivation to get from one area to another. Half Life 2 feels like going through one big level rather than exploring many smaller levels with breaks in between. Each section of the game blends into the next. This intensifies the experience Valve is going for, which is an unbreaking game from beginning to end, and thus really connects to the player. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.visualwalkthroughs.com/halflife2/highway17/5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 289px;" src="http://www.visualwalkthroughs.com/halflife2/highway17/5.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">You will be spending a lot of time in Half Life driving from location to location.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>One area of the level design that some players found grating was the long vehicle sections. Half Life 2 is about a 12-15 hour games (can be longer or shorter depending on skill) and when the game plays like one big level without breaks it really gives the game a sense of time passed. Valve decided to break up the action in the game by using vehicle levels. During these parts of the game Gordon Freeman is driving for long periods of time in order to reach a far away destination. Many people felt bored by these sections of the game and Valve has addressed this issue in later games. However, this misstep was so minor in a game full of so many new experiences that it really didn't drag the game down that much.</div><br /><div><strong>Physics</strong></div><br /><div>Half Life 2 wasn't just a game it was also a showcase for Valve's Source Engine. This engine not only gave the game clean visuals but also fairly robust physics. I mentioned this way back in my post about <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/03/super-mario-bros.html">Super Mario Bros</a>, and how the physics can help make the game feel more real. Simple things just reacted the way they do in reality in Half life 2. For example, you can pick up and drop things and they would bounce on the ground as the real object would, and you can throw things with your gravity gun each having their own weight and velocity. The gravity gun in particular was a really fun addition to gameplay. No longer did the player need to worry about finding ammo for all their weapons. If Gordon Freeman was out of bullets he could use his gravity gun to pick up and throw things at enemies. Part of the fun with the gravity gun was seeing how everything reacted to it, and each item in the game did behave differently. These measures Valve took in their physics engine added a new layer of depth and gameplay that was unseen by players before. After Half Life 2 came out, many developers started to get their own physics engines working in their new games. Today most action games have realistic physics and if they don't the world feels more stiff because of it. Half Life 2 and the source engine changed the way games played. Gamers could not go back to a game world that lacked this new interactive gameplay. It also says a lot about Valve's Source Engine that it is still used in games today (even though it has gone through some updates the foundation remains the same). </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zam5yw8idDg&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zam5yw8idDg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">When you first get the gravity gun you practice with it by playing catch with "Dog." It's a fun little experience and one of the first times you really get to mess with the physics engine. </span></div><br /><div><strong>Story</strong></div><br /><div>The other thing that Valve really revolutionized was creating a new way to tell story through the video game medium. Valve is against the philosophy that grand pre-rendered cutscenes are productive in the video game artform. Rather than taking the players out of their game (even for a second) they have all the story beats play out in front of the players eyes. If a character is speaking to you, you can walk away from them and their voice will fade and you can wait until they are done rambling, or you can stand right next to the character and listen to everything they have to say. In order to avoid players running around and missing key points they have amazing set pieces that the player cannot help but watch. Even the simple dialogue between characters has superior voice acting and writing that is hard to ignore. But the fact remains that you can ignore everything and look at a rock instead of watching the citadel explode. Since you are in control of the character and thus in control of the camera every player sees the game differently. It is a brave choice and one that Valve pulls off perfectly. Throughout the game you are immersed in the story without ever having to sit back and listen to it unfold. You are an active member in the game rather than a passive one.</div><br /><div>The story in Half Life 2 is deep enough that it is something the player wants to involve him/herself in it, but not too deep and drawn out that it gets in the way of playing the game. The storyline revolves around a basic alien invasion, but there is a bit more to it than the standard affair. There is always a sense of mystery and intrigue about why these aliens are here and what their true intentions are. Another part opf the mystery is who exactly Gordon Freeman is and what makes him so special. The game hints that there may be a reason why he is in the situation he is in. Both of these plot threads are still playing out and have not had their final pay-off yet.</div><br /><br /><div>As I stated before Valve relies on the player witnessing the story rather than straight out telling the story. This is a creative use of the video game medium and one thing that video games bring that other art forms cannot. One of the prime examples of the mystery aspect of the story and the player interaction is the G-Man. The G-Man is a strange person who talks to Gordon only on the rare occasions. The first game ends with Gordon Freeman being taken on a train with the G-Man and Half Life 2 starts on that same strange train trip. The G-Man also appears at random moments throughout the game but it is up to the player to catch him. You can never appraoch the G-Man but you may see him in the background of certain areas. It is obvious that this character has all the answers to the questions the player has, making him even more elusive and interesting. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wmgEN5Crr2c&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wmgEN5Crr2c&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>The strange ending to the original Half Life. It was abrupt and odd but set the tone for the games to come.</em></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vUUZfcSErn4&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vUUZfcSErn4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>Some examples of the G-Man's appearances throughout Half Life 2.</em></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Valve takes great pride in their storytelling technique and it really shows off how to effectively use video games to tell an engaging story.</div><br /><div><strong>Episodes</strong></div><br /><div>After Half Life 2, Valve started work one a semi sequel to the game called Half Life: Aftermath. However, the developers quickly changed their plans and split up Half Life:Aftermath into 3 episodes. So far only Half Life 2: episode 1 and 2 have been released with no real date for the arrival of episode 3 (Valve is known for taking a long time on their games). These episodes are shorter experiences than the first two games (episode 1 is about 3-4 hours while episode 2 is about 5-6 hours). Since the episodes are much more condensed than the other games, they play much differently. The long driving sequences of Half Life 2 are completely removed (there is still driving but it is much more fast paced) and the story line is not so drawn out as set pieces are unfolding constantly. The Half Life 2 episodes are very focused and deliver a fast paced experience. They are the best part of Half Life with all the filler cut out and the action and story ramped up.</div><br /><div><u>Episode 1</u></div><br /><div>In Half Life 2, Gordon Freeman befriends Alex, a daughter of one of his friends. Alex is a lively character and brings a lot of charm to the game. She fills the silence that Gordon Freeman brings and gives the player someone to care about. In Episode 1 she is by Gordon's side for nearly the entire game and the player gets attached to her. It helps that she is animated realistically and her voice actress is near perfect. On a gameplay level Alex's AI is about as close as a game designer can get to perfect. In many games computer controlled characters end up causing more of a problem then a positive addition to the game. There are many games in which the player has to spend more time worrying about the computer controlled allies than his/herself. Sometimes AI characters rush into a situation blowing the players cover, while other times they stand in the corner doing nothing. Alex on the other hand, can take care of herself and reacts to each situation in a way that helps the player. It was the first game I have experienced where the AI character caused me no problems and in fact was an all around positive addition to the game. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D-uNSymNgdM&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D-uNSymNgdM&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>One of the best uses of Alex and the AI is a section of the game that has Gordon controlling a flash light. All the player has to do is shine the light on an enemy and Alex will shoot it. It is a neat way to help control Alex while still leaving her as her own seperate character.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Episode 1 is also the first time that Valve got to show off their new interactive cutscenes. As I stated previously these set pieces were standard fare for the series, but since the episodes are much shorter games they appear much closer together allowing the story to move faster. Also since the episodes are newer games Valve used their updated source engine making scenes more polished and exciting. </div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xu8MfDvTIe8&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xu8MfDvTIe8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>An example of the very start of Episode 1. Already Valve is exploring new ways to tell the story through interactive cutscenes. This sets the tone for the faster paced Half Life 2 episodes.</em></div><br /><div align="left"><u>Episode 2</u></div><br /><br /><div align="left">Episode 1 had Alex by your side and she still has a presence in this game, but she gets hurt early on and Gordon Freeman has to go through the game mostly solo. While the first episode was about teamwork and growing the personal connection between Alex and Gordon, episode 2 deals with the invasion and creating the fastest paced Half Life yet. This episode revolves around trying to get to the science lab and helping them launch a rocket. It is non-stop action from where you start off to the very end. Even though it is almost double the length of episode 1 it feels more chaotic. The story really moves forward (which is especially seen in the ending). The game also introduces a new mystery with the missing <em>Borealis. </em>This is an Aperture Science research vessle that disappeared (you may remember Aperture Science from <a href="http://artofgaming101.blogspot.com/2009/06/portal.html">Portal</a>). Since the game is finally giving the player some slight answers and a new storyline the plot of Half Life is finally getting some payoff.<br /></div><br /><div align="left">The greatest challange in the game comes near the end where Alex and a small army have to protect the base from large intruders, called Striders. The teamwork and gameplay here is unlike anything done in Half Life before. It combines driving, fighting against giant eneimes, and working with AI. Even though it is hard at points it is an extremely rewarding experience when completed.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sQdoDpK0120&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sQdoDpK0120&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>The last battle in the game is fast paced and takes all the skills learned in Half Life so far to complete.</em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uXjw2M5Pl28&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uXjw2M5Pl28&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>The ending to Episode 2, do not watch this if you haven't played the game. The ending originally looks like it will finish off happy but a twist leads the player down a dark path and wanting to play the next game.</em></div><br /><div align="left">Sadly, Half Life 2: Episode 3 is not out yet. Valve takes their time making sure their games are near perfect and it shows. No matter how long the wait is there is no doubt that it will be a piece of art that will stay with gamers for a long time. I have complete faith that once Half Life 2 and the 3 episodes stand together they will be remembered as one of the best video game experiences of all time. </div>Zach Senseihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13909898525890807002noreply@blogger.com2