I have to be honest, I’m not the biggest Green Lantern fan in the world. I’ve never not like him, but he’s always just been a background character in my mind. What little I know about him are from the WB/DC Animated films that have been released and from trades such as Justice League: The New Frontier. So, my interest in this film to begin with on a scale from “This Looks Horrid” to “I Must See This at Least 3 Times in Theaters” was right around “Meh, looks pretty fun”. But the more I see of this film from trailers and TV spots, the more excited I get about it.
This most recent trailer literally gave me chills, especially towards the end with the reciting of the infamous oath! Perhaps my lack of familiarity with this character is raising my hopes about this film, but as of right now I will be at my local cinema opening weekend!
Green Lantern hits theaters on June 17, is directed by Martin Campbell and stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, Temuera Morrison, Jay O. Sanders, Taika Waititi, Jon Tenney, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan.
All you Green Lantern fans who are much more familiar with the character than me, weigh in with your thoughts on this latest trailer in the comments below!
The hit show on Cartoon Network, Young Justice is coming to DVD on July 19! Produced by Warner Bros. Animation this new series follows the adventures (and sometimes, misadventures) of Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis as they execute missions given to them by Batman and bring down the bad guys from the DC Universe.
Being a big fan Teen Titans when it was on the air, I was pretty excited for this series, and it met my expectations. The animation is fantastic, the episodes are full of great action, the stories are skewed a bit towards a slightly older audience (but still appropriate for the main demographic of children) and the producers have done an excellent job intigrating the DC big-hitters while still keeping the focus on this team of side-kicks. If you have yet to check out Young Justice I highly recommend picking up this DVD when it hits shelves.
Official Press Release:
THE NEXT GENERATION OF DC UNIVERSE SUPER HEROES PUT THEIR TRAINING TO THE TEST AS WARNER HOME VIDEO RELEASES YOUNG JUSTICE SEASON 1 VOLUME 1 ON DVD JULY 19, 2011
One Disc Featuring Four Fantastic Episodes of the Brand-New
Cartoon Network Show from Warner Bros. Animation
BURBANK, CA (May 4, 2011) – The newest Warner Bros. Animation–produced hit series on Cartoon Network finally arrives on DVD as Warner Home Video (WHV) unleashes its secret weapon with Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1. These DC Universe teenage super heroes have quickly proven to be a hit as the favorite show among boys 9-14. With non-stop action, Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1 comes to DVD for the first time on July 19, 2011.
In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over — to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? How much harder will it be to prove yourself in a world of super powers, super villains and super secrets? Are you ready to come of age in such a world? Are you ready for life or death rites of passage? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice — Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis — will find out: whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero.
These teenage heroes collectively become the Justice League’s secret weapon against the forces of evil. The young protégés must put their super hero education to the test and band together to covertly fight the evildoers that exist on Earth-16. Utilizing The Cave as their home base, the teen heroes will take on under-the-radar missions that would be impossible for the league’s famous and identifiable elders to handle secretly.
While the team works to take on more super hero responsibilities, they are in constant training by the Justice League to eventually take their place alongside the great heroes. Red Tornado is their supervisor; Black Canary is in charge of their training; and Batman determines and directs their assignments. Of course, in true teenage fashion, the members of the team push the limits of their missions, often turning a simple assignment from Batman into something significantly larger.
“DC fans have been vocal about their love for Young Justice, so I am particularly pleased to announce our first DVD release,” said Sam Register, Executive Vice President Creative Affairs, Warner Bros. Animation.
“We are thrilled to bring the newest and youngest members of the DC Universe to homes with the release of Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WHV Executive Director of Family and Animation Marketing. “As a brand new series, Young Justice is already a favorite and will continue to excite fans with its group of crime-fighting teenage super heroes.”
Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1 is executive produced by Sam Register and produced by Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman. The voice cast includes Jesse McCartney as Robin, Khary Payton as Aqualad, Jason Spisak as Kid Flash, Nolan North as Superboy, Danica McKellar as Miss Martian, Stephanie Lemelin as Artemis and Bruce Greenwood as Batman.
Episodes:
Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1
1. Independence Day, Part 1
2. Independence Day, Part 2
3. Welcome to Happy Harbor
4. Drop Zone
About Warner Home Video:
With operations in 90 international territories, Warner Home Video, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc., commands the largest home entertainment distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video’s film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Video and New Line Cinema.
About DC Entertainment:
DC Entertainment, home to such iconic DC Comics properties as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, MAD Magazine, and Fables, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its superheroic characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing over 1,000 comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Comics is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.
Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) is one of the leading producers of animation in the entertainment industry, with an innovative and talent-rich roster boasting some of the most accomplished writers, producers and artists working today. The studio is on the cutting edge of animation technology, and has both CG and traditionally animated projects in current production and development. In 2010, WBA unveiled three new theatrically released CG cartoon shorts that feature iconic Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, rendered in stereoscopic 3D. For television, WBA currently produces Batman: The Brave and the Bold, MAD, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Young Justice for Cartoon Network, and will soon launch The Looney Tunes Show, ThunderCats, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and more. WBA also creates the highly successful series of DC Universe Original Animated Movies for DVD. Producing for multiple platforms including TV, digital and home entertainment both domestically and internationally, WBA is highly respected for its creative and technical excellence, as well as for maintaining the Studio’s rich cartoon heritage. It is also the home of the iconic animated characters from the DC Comics, Hanna-Barbera, MGM and Looney Tunes libraries. One of the most-honored animation studios in history, WBA has been honored with six Academy Awards®, 35 Emmy® Awards, the George Foster Peabody Award, an Environmental Media Award, a Parents’ Choice Award, the HUMANITAS Prize, two Prism Awards and 20 Annie Awards (honoring excellence in animation).
It’s chock full of goodness, to be sure, but there are some rather shocking omissions.
For what will probably be the best deal on this, I would pre-order on Amazon, they’ll guarantee you the best price on it and have it to you the day of release.
Here’s the list of specs:
Special Features:
STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY is presented in widescreen with 6.1 DTS Surround Sound. Special features include:
DISC ONE — STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC TWO — STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC THREE — STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC FOUR — STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC FIVE — STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC SIX — STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI
* Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
* Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew
DISC SEVEN — NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III
* Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more
DISC EIGHT — NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI
* Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more
DISC NINE — THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES
* NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) — Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
* NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) — George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
* NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) — The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
* The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) — Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
* The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) — Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
* Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) — Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.
* Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) — See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
* Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) — Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.
Feel The Force of the Star Wars Infinite Saga Site!
This September, the Star Wars Saga comes to Blu-ray for the very first time. Now you can be part of this groundbreaking release, through the magic of “infinite zoom” technology.
When you share this site with your friends, exclusive imagery from the release will be revealed. And the more the site is shared around the world, the more the world will see.
So spread the word today and “zoom” into the the ultimate insider’s view of Star Wars on Blu-ray!
I was hoping that with this much pomp and circumstance, the announcement would be big enough to include the pre-Special Edition versions of the films in as high a quality as possible. Not because I need them, per se, but because it would shut up a lot of fans.
But the biggest thing I’m curious about is the absence of “From Star Wars to Jedi”. It’s clear it looks like they picked one documentary from each classic film, and “From Star Wars to Jedi” seems to be the most iconic and much beloved. But I still have my copy, so I won’t worry too much about it.
About a month ago I was planning a trip and wanted a good lens for some landscape shots, I only have my kit lens and a Nifty Fifty. There are quite a few options for renting lenses and they all vary in price. Of course the first place I checked was my local photography store. Dropping in, picking out a lens and renting couldn’t be bad right? Sure the shop is a dangerous place for a gear junkie like me, full of bags, gadgets, printers and all kinds of stuff made to devour paychecks but I could put my blinders on and just check for rentals (Or so I always tell myself even though last time I spent $100 before I knew what happened). Well I’m damn glad I checked their online prices first. I was looking to do some landscape shooting and was going to be hiking at least a 3 mile slick rock trail so I wanted a lens that wasn’t a bazooka but could still give me some really sharp images. I got some advice from some friends that are much better photographers than I am and decided on the Canon EF 24-70mm F/2.8L lens that was super sharp and would be a good walk around lens while I was down in Moab.
I hopped online to check the price at the local store…$60 a day. So for my trip I was looking at $240 at least. I was only going for a weekend and that was more money than I was going to spend on my entire trip, even with $4 a gallon gas. So I checked out a few online shops seeing which ones seemed the best. Borrowlenses.com seemed like they had the best looking site and inventory and their prices were great. I got my lens for a week, with insurance and two way shipping for $96 ($26 shipping, $14 insurance). They verified my shipping address and confirmed my order a month out so that I knew I would have my lens when the trip came and that I still had time to add equipment if I wanted to without making a separate order.
Week of the trip came I got an email notification letting me know it shipped and I made plans to pick it up from Fed Ex. The only issue I had is that the orders must be signed for, which is completely understandable considering the value of the lens. I was stuck at work and not at home so I had to call Fed Ex that evening and make arrangements to pick up the package the next day. I had planned for this which is why I had the package delivered on a Wednesday when I knew I wouldn’t be leaving until Friday, I just moved into a new neighborhood that Fed Ex for some reason cannot find.
The lens came packed in foam but actually not as much as I expected. I figured maybe a pelican case or different foam because I don’t trust Fed Ex or any shipping company to not break things. The lens however was fine and came with a hood as well as the return shipping label and instructions in case anything had happened in transit. A day later lens in hand I headed down for my vacation snapping away and testing out a lens I would love to have and seeing if I really needed it. Sadly, the weather wasn’t great and I picked spring break and National Park Week (free entrance) to go down so getting shots without tourists in them was damn near impossible.
Sending the lens back was super easy, and I even got a reminder email that it needed to be postmarked by the next day so that I wouldn’t get late fees. I just popped the lens back in the box slapped on the label and dropped it off at Fed Ex, thinking that this could become a dangerous new addiction. In fact if I lived in any of the California locations that you can pick up orders locally from Borrowlenses.com I would probably be trying out new glass all the time. So if you are looking for a great way to try out a new lens or maybe taking a trip and want to take some better pictures with a lens out of your price range I highly recommend Borrowlenses.com. It was much cheaper than my local alternatives and a completely painless experience with great customer service, they even respond via twitter and I love when a company does that.
Marvel’s Thor movie has already been released around the world, but here in the US, it doesn’t officially open until this Friday. In my ongoing mission to appraise moviegoers about the Thor cast’s comic history (and to hear myself talk), I’ve spotlighted a few Asgardians in the past, with Loki, and Beta Ray Bill. I didn’t think I’d touch on Goldilocks himself, and technically I’m still not. This, my friends, is the tale of Thor’s earthly identity. He who is lame of leg, but pure of heart, he with the enchanted Uru cane, he with the M.D. on his shingle. Yes, prepare yourselves for the Secret Origin of… Dr. Donald Blake!
Don Blake is one depressed guy. He’s been fighting the good fight in Asgard as Thor for so long, his medical practice is in shambles. Since he has no clients, he has ample time to contemplate his existence. It’s actually quite a predicament. If Don is truly Thor, son of Odin, God of Thunder, and all that jazz, who in the heck is Don Blake anyway? Dr. Blake retreats to the only refuge he can at the moment, which is the time-honored flashback! We travel back with Don as he’s vacationing in Norway. I am sure the Norwegian tourism board was thrilled that he picked them instead of say, Waikiki. Anyway, before he can enjoy himself a bunch of vaguely Moai-headed aliens show up. No, I’m not kidding!
Only in the Silver Age can Sci-Fi and Mythology clash so succinctly!
Before the aliens can say “Kill anyone who sees us!” Dr. Blake stumbles, making enough noise for the Moais to detect him and they give chase. For having a bum leg, Blake seems to be doing ok. My bet is that the aliens, being made completely out of rock run veeeeeerrrrry sloooooooowly. Dr. Blake still manages to trip on a cliff face and lose his cane. He seeks refuge in a nearby cave. Unfortunately, the only other exit is blocked by a boulder so huge even he himself couldn’t lift it. Then, inexplicably, a wall opens revealing a hidden room. It has a convenient cane on a pedestal. Blake grabs it, and tries to use it as a simple lever to move the boulder. After that doesn’t work, the frustrated man of medicine lashes out, with incredible results…
"Those not worthy will find themselves pummeled within the furthest extent of the law of Odin!"
So, we know what happens after this. Dr. Blake becomes Thor, spends the next 10 or so pages chiseling some rocky alien butt, and finds his way to Asgard eventually. This is Blake’s story, not Thor’s. If you want to read what happens, check my “this story appeared in” footnote. We find ourselves back in the present with Dr. Blake, and his reminiscence has left him even more frustrated. With no answers to turn to, he does what introspective Marvel characters do best, he mopes/shouts to no one in particular!
I guess being "star-kissed" is what gave him that yellow-orange pallor?
The next day, Dr. Blake is back to being a surgeon. His thoughts from the previous night are nagging at him all through a delicate procedure. He still manages to perform admirably (he’s the man), but one of his colleagues notices the far away look in his eyes, and tells him to sleep it off. As Don drifts off, he turns his thoughts away from earthly affairs, and lets the memory of Thor take over. That’s what the book says, but given what’s about to happen it seems instead that while Blake is asleep, Thor is back in Asgard. I’m just gonna chalk it up to “comics!” and continue the tale. Thor, in Asgard, makes nicey-nice with Heimdall at the rainbow bridge, greets all of his godly pals, all the while basking in the glow of his home. His thoughts too turn to the meaning of Blake’s life. As he comes across Loki, he nearly asks his half-brother, before realizing that the dude is the God of Lies and Mischief. Finally, Thor makes his way to the one man who can answer his yearning question.
Translation: "It's good to be (son of) the king!"
Odin, being the all-knowing type of deity that he is, already knows what’s up. Odin decrees that “Knowledge shall be had! Then, we’re back with a startled Don Blake saying he’s himself again (see what I meant?). Don isn’t alone though, as he’s accompanied by the disembodied hand of Odin, big as life and twice as Kirby-eqsue! Blake is very lucky that he inherently knows that the voice accompanying the hand is that of Odin, otherwise he might have had to change his name of the God of Urea, if you know what I mean. Odin peels the veil of time to look upon Thor as a young man. It seems that there was a truce between Asgard and Niffelheim, home of the Storm Giants. The decree is that none of Asgardian blood shall enter Niffelheim. By fate, a ravenous Birdbeast has just flown into Niffelheim’s side of the fence. Thor, being both headstrong and noble, dispatches the creature, but well, he did just break a truce…
"Dost thou haveth an installment plan!"
Thor does what is most logical (for him) in this situation. He gets offended that anyone would dare strike the son of Odin and proceeds to give the stone giant a full-flavored taste of Mjolnir! Their leader soundly defeated, the other stone giants try to dogpile Asgard’s favorite son. Thor is having none of it though and uses his hammer to shatter a mountain on top of his assailants! He is about to give the coupé de grace when Balder, the Brave shows up and tell him: “Dude, you’re in a crap-ton of trouble with your pop.”, albeit with more verilies and forsooths thrown in. The duo flee the fray, ready to face Odin’s wrath. We pause our story there, for Dr. Blake to whine a bit…
Dr. Blake needs to go back to school to learn how to read between the lines.
Odin is all like, “I planned it that way. You weren’t ready yet!” In comic-speak, that means “Stan and Jack are making it up as they go along, cut them some slack!” Right, so we return to Thor’s past. He’s back in Asgard at a tavern with his buddies, engaged in the time-honored sport of arm wrestling! It looks like his opponent Gondolff may have the upper hand, but just before Thor can go all “Lincoln Hawk” on the guy, Volstagg the Voluminous (look it up) does his clumsy oaf shtick and ends up shattering the wrestling table asunder. Now, since he thought he was winning, Gondolff says Thor signaled to the ‘Stagg to put on an act. Thor says “No way guy! I was about to use ‘the wing’!”. Now with hurt Asgardian pride on both sides, it of course devolves into a fracas. With most of the bar against them, Thor summons all of his crew… well almost all of them.
"What? Dost Thou take noble Volstagg for a base liar!?"
The boys do battle, as they are wont to do. There are punches, blades, and insults flying everywhere. Truly it is a bar brawl for the ages, but it is cut short when the booming (literally) voice of Odin, the All-Father breaks it up. Yup, it looks like Thor is about to get sent to Midgard without his supper. Before that though, let’s do a quick cut back to Don Blake, who’s anguish may finally be coming to an end.
"But noble father, I humiliate Volstagg ALL THE TIME!"
Odin has had about enough of his son’s lip, so he sends him packing to Midgard, aka Earth, and strips him of his godhood while he’s at it. He goes on to say that, until he can learn to be humble, Thor won’t ever be a true hero. Just for good measure, he strips Thor of his memories. Now honestly, I guess I shouldn’t question the wisdom of someone who is supposedly omniscient, but if Thor doesn’t know who he is, how is he supposed to know what he has to learn? Regardless, when Thor materializes on Earth, it is in the form of Dr. Donald Blake. After this revelation, Blake seems to relive his newfound memories…
"My life is a lie, but it's OK because Odin said so!"
Odin then reveals the rest. Namely, that he recreated his son as a doctor so he would learn compassion for the weak and therefore humility. Odin is also the one who compelled Dr. Blake to visit sunny Norway once he thought the lesson was learned (the Moai guys were just a coincidence). Blake takes all this much better than I would in his place, and as our tale ends, Blake vanishes into the countenance of Thor, possibly forever?
"Unless I need to perform an emergency appendectomy!"
Actually, Thor would continue to use the Donald Blake identity for many years, until Odin bestowed that particular enchantment to Beta Ray Bill. After Ragnarök, Don Blake surfaced again, but that’s another tale! Suffice it to say, Thor’s time as Blake endeared him so much to life on Earth, that he truly became one of its mightiest heroes! Now go and see the movie, where they probably won’t even mention Blake!
This week: K-On movie announcement, Akira issues 1 – 6 re-printed and flying off the shelves, some new Netflix streaming titles, and a new digital manga app. for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. (Bonus at the end: Japanese Zelda commercial with subtitles!)
First up: K-On! – a show about a group of high school girls who join their school’s “light music club” in order to save if from collapse – already has a movie in the works. This is no surprise considering the huge popularity of the show (especially in Japan). You can check out the Japanese trailer here. If you watch the show, you’ll get the idea. There’s not really much to translate – Yui introduces the group and explains that they will be back in an upcoming movie in which you’ll get to see some more of their high school adventures. The movie’s release date is currently set for December, 2011 and considering the speedy release that this series got I’m sure we’ll see the movie get subbed and dubbed pretty quickly.
Second on the list: The highly acclaimed manga version of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira has recently been re-printed by Kodansha comics. Volume 6, which just released on April 12th, has already made its way onto the New York Times Bestseller’s: Manga list. If you’re interested in reading this story in its original form, and getting the rest of the story if you’ve only seen the movie, definitely pick these up before they goes out of print. Volumes 1 – 6 are available at all major stores and Amazon has a deal on Volume 6 for $19.79.
Third: here’s another great chance to watch some more staples of anime if you are a Netflix subscriber! As of this week, both Death Note and FLCL (pronounced: “fooli cooli”) will be available in the “watch instantly” section. FLCL is a title I would highly recommend to anyone new to anime – it’s a strange combination of fun, weird and crazy that works quite well. Allow me to suggest that you watch all six parts in one sitting to really take in the weirdness of the plot.
Lastly: if you’re an iPhone or iPod Touch owner and a manga reader, you should know that Viz Media has just announced that their Manga App will now be available on these devices (plus the iPad). It’s a great way to get access to tons of digital manga titles and take them with you (I really enjoy reading manga on the train.). Viz currently has 28 series available in full through the application.
They’re giving away a discount to those who decide to pick up some titles. Download of the application itself is free. Check out more details and available series over at Viz’s website.
To support the launch, we’ve also kicked off a special promotion for 40% off select Volume 1 manga (only $2.99 ea, through midnight May 9th)! This is across all devices – iPhone, iPod Touch AND iPad!
Here's a preview of what the app looks like on an Iphone.
Well, that’s all for today. Remember to stay caught up with all your anime, manga and geeky news just stay surfing on BSR!
Since this week was a bit light on anime news – I give you this fantastic and hilarious Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past commercial from Japan in the early 90’s. It’s one of my favorite videos on youtube. Enjoy!
New Stills from ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1’
Here are some new stills from the upcoming first part of the final chapter of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.
Now, if you are a frequent reader of this site, you probably know that hardly any of us bots here care for Twilight, especially me. So, you may be asking yourself, “Arse-bot – if that is your real name (spoiler alert: it’s not.) – why do you continue to post this stuff if you have so much hatred for this series and everything to do with it?” Well, the answer is simple: I find pleasure in belittling this travesty of a “vampire”/”werewolf”/mopey girl love story and quenching myself on the tears of those who try to defend it.
That being said, if I were to ever see an installment of this series in theaters, it would be this one. If for no other reason than to see how the studio handles Edward *&$#ing Bella into a sex-coma and knocking her up, giving her a c-section with his teeth, and then having Jacob turn into a pedophile and falling in love with their child (a transformation that, if you ask me, is much more convincing).
By now, if you’re reading this and are a Twilight fan, I’m sure you’re worked up into a frenzy and are about to leave a comment about how “dumb” I am and that you will never be coming back to Big Shiny Robot and that Twilight is an epic love story and blah blah blah blah blah. If you wouldn’t mind doing me one favor before you leave this site forever and erase it from your cache and history just to ensure there was no evidence you were ever even here: Please explain to me why two supernatural beings that could probably have any woman in the world are wasting their time fighting over a mopey 17 year old girl? I mean, if I was a 100+ year old vampire I think my taste in women may have grown past, “You know what I look for in a woman? I want her to be young, immature, super clingy and depressed as all hell with a shit-ton of emotional baggage.”
Anyway, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 comes out sometime this year – I’m not sure. I know it’s not this weekend because a good movie comes out this weekend. THOR!
Feel free to leave your hatred in text-form below.
Red Fly Studios, who most recently brought us Ghostbusters and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 for Wii, drops the might of Mjolnir on the unsuspecting public today, and we were there to cover their launch party at Austin Books and Comics here in Austin, TX.
So I showed up, took some amatuerish video, played the game, talked to some folks, and here you go:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miCXb1G4sqk
So let me say a bunch of stuff about Red Fly and Austin Books and Comics. I first met the developers for Red Fly at SXSW, and they pulled me over and forced me to play the Thor game. It was awesome, and I gushed about it a little in my mini-review. There are a lot of “developers” who just port over next gen console games for Wii, DS, etc and…. they. just. suck. Red Fly is not that. They take an incredible amount of care into adding value into the games they work on, and the incredible fun factor in the games they’ve done (Ghostbusters and SW: FU 2 especially) shines through. They’ve really pulled out the stops for Thor, and beyond that they are a bunch of great human beings. After SXSW they reached back out to us and we’ve been talking about Thor ever since.
Next, Austin Books and Comics. This is my favorite comics store. I drive past two others to get there, and it’s worth it. Knowledgeable (and nice!) staff, it’s amazing just how much they want to talk about comics with people. My first experience with them was walking in and saying “I haven’t kept up on (insert titles) for several years- what do I need to get caught up so I can understand the new crossover event? I dropped almost $100 that day, but it was sooooo worth it. Also, they are incredibly kid-friendly and love it when I bring in my kids. In short, they can keep up with you at the highest and nerdiest level, but also aren’t “that” type of comic book guy who barely tolerates children. As an example, in the video below you’ll see I talk to one of the employees who is dressed up as Syf. Not only did she play with my kids, who were dressed as Thor as Wonder Woman, she actually went and found a back issue of Thor where he was turned into a woman, as that related to a conversation we had in the video above. Awesome, awesome people.
So this was just a match made in heaven to have Austin Books and Comics play host to the launch party.
I also spoke with Chris Frechette, the AI/Combat designer for Thor about some of the overall concepts of the game:
Me: I once heard from some of the developers on the first Force Unleashed that their underlying concept for the game was “Kicking someone’s ass with The Force.” Especially when thinking about making this game playable for Wii, was there a similar underlying concept for you?
CF – While making Thor, our focus was to make the player feel like the Wii remote was Mjolnir! This meant making gesture attacks have strong impact and really be the exclamation mark as combo finishers! At the same time, with a character like the God of Thunder, it was extremely important that we empower the player use his Storm Powers frequently and not horde them for a boss. When combat gets hot and heavy there should be lightning and cyclones and Mjolnir swinging all over the place!
Me: The Wii brings a whole different style of gameplay to this game compared to other consoles, as well as others RedFly has worked on. When designing for Wii and motion gaming, what do you aim for, what do you try to keep in mind?
CF – With an action basher like Thor, it could have been easy to go overboard with motion controls. We tried multiple control schemes in an attempt to keep it impactful and really correspond to what the character is doing. Combo Finishers, Storm Powers and QTEs are the real focus of the motion controls. Thor also has a couple point and shoot style Storm Powers (Lightning Bolt and Wind Cage). The Wii also has exclusive flight levels that show Thor off in a complete different way and utilize the same point and shoot style of gameplay… he flies through the trenches of Nifelheim and Muspelheim casting down lightning and destroying everything in sight.
Me:What’s your favorite combo/power that you have in this game?
CF – Thor has several combos… my favorite is the Thunder Quake (A, A, gesture, gesture), which is a group juggle attack. It is not his most powerful combo finisher, but it can launch multiple enemies into the air! Its really gratifying to follow it up with a Storm Burst and send them all flying! There is a clip in the Wii trailer that shows this off… right about 42 seconds in.
Me: Any reason you chose to give it that particular motion/button combo?
CF – We did a lot of playing around with combos branching based on remote gesture directions… it was originally A, A, Right, Down. After a bit of focus testing, it was obvious that players would commit to gestures at various levels of intensity and were getting misreads. We went to a system that only cared about generic gestures for combos. So in the instructions it will say do A, A, Down, Down… but truthfully it is A, A, any gesture, any gesture.
Me: Thor’s a god. How do you balance giving someone god-type abilities without either making him too invincible or too weak? How do you make the gameplay graceful while also exuding all that power?
CF – Designing a game around a god was tough. How do you platforming if he can just fly? The door is locked, why doesn’t he just bust it open? We didn’t want to go the traditional route of humbling him and stripping his powers and having him start really weak and grow stronger. We did it from the direction of Thor is continuously presented w/ situations that requires him to use powers that he hasn’t had to use before. In the end, it is a game and you do earn XP to unlock combos and powerful storm powers. Thankfully Thor has a rich history of fighting some of the biggest baddies in the Marvel Universe. So we can go from throwing hordes of fodder enemies at the player to then putting them toe to toe against Surtur who is the size of a building!
Me: Have you had a chance to play this on another console and if I’ve got an XBox 360 (let’s not include PS3 in this discussion for various, obvious reasons) and a Wii at home, why do I want to play Thor on Wii?
CF – The Wii version of Thor is a unique title… it is not a port of the 360 game. The fast paced fluid combat and responsive motion controls really make this a fun game to play! It is an action basher the likes of which the Wii hasn’t seen. Plus, the Wii version has exclusive Flight levels, Midgard levels, Vanir Spirit enemies in the final chapter, Motion Comics, Combat Challenge levels (the player can create custom battles), and the entire Thor episode of the Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heros cartoon!
Me: With the advent of Kinect and PS Move, do you think the future of arcade smash em up games like this/Force Unleashed 2 is going to be using motion-gaming, or are we going to stick to the buttoned controllers?
CF – It will be interesting to see what the future of motion controls in this genre are. I’m afraid hard core gamers will prefer sticking to their familar stick and buttons. But with what we’ve done with the combat and controls in this game, it is not only fun for young gamers but will give those hard core gamers a really unique basher experience. I bet we’ll likely see developers supporting traditional controllers and Move in the future.
Me: In my previous mini-review of the game from SXSW, I compared this game favorably with Force Unleashed 2, which you also worked on. How did working on Force Unleashed inform what you were going to do with Thor or were they very separate development projects?
CF – Part of the development process was done in parallel. I don’t know that FU2 informed us much on the design side, but there were technical advancements made on our engine that ultimately got incorporated into Thor as well.
Me: What’s next? Redfly, in my mind, is batting 1.000 with thee games in a row you hit out of the park (Ghostbusters, SW: FU2, and Thor). I expect more great things from you- what’s on the horizon?
CF – We can’t say much about our currently project except that it is a PS3/360 game. You can trust that in the same way we pushed the envelope on the Wii, we will strive to create another beautiful exciting game!
Me:. Speaking of what’s next, we’ve heard a lot the past few weeks about the follow up console to the Wii. Do you have any more information than the rest of us about what to expect? As a developer, what do you hope we see? What would you like to add to the mix that you think Nintendo can capitalize on?
CF – I don’t know anything other than they plan to show something at E3 and it could be pretty powerful. Obviously graphics is where the Wii is lacking. I think Nintendo would be smart to package a traditional controller if they really want to get hard core gamers. Also I hope that Nintendo does a better job of supporting 3rd party developers early on so that better quality product can be created.
Me: And finally, there’s always a lot of skepticism from gamers about both movie tie-in titles and superhero titles. Why is Thor worth picking up?
CF – Thor: God of Thunder is not your typical movie tie-in game. The game shares vary little with the movie. Our characters share the likenesses of the actors and some of the VO is done by the actors themselves. Other than that, the story is different. We worked in conjunction with Matt Fraction and Liquid (Thor PS3/360) to create an epic tale fit for a game. Comic fans will especially love it and really enjoy throwing on some of the classic Thor costumes, like the original Jack Kirby… bright blue, yellow and red!
So there you have it, folks. The only reason, and i do mean the ONLY reason I’m not picking this game up today on Wii is because my job is killing me until the Texas Legislature gets out at the end of the month. At that point, I am going to take an entire week off, and probably spend a great deal of it getting my Thor on.
In case you missed the announcements on our Twitter and Facebook pages last Friday, the winner of the Superhero of the Month Atom Eve Redesign contest has been chosen!
Alex from Superhero of the Month, Caanan – last month’s SHotM redesign contest winner, and Lucas (Kill-tacular-tron) from right here at BSR all went through many, many entries to cast down their judgement on all of the great submissions. But of course, there can only be one winner!
Congratulations “Ally Cat” who’s submission (above) scored a 25 out of 30 possible points in the judging! Here’s what Ally Cat had to say about her submission and the judges comments from the scoring:
Ally Cat: I modified her costume a bit to reflect Atom Eve’s age. I wanted to tone down the use of pink and see how that worked out as she can manipulate things to start a new and white is ‘virginal’ (despite how we all know that Eve’s gotten it on, her power gives her a chance to clean slate, or make things “grow” and change). Did away with the slipper/sailor moon boots, but had to keep the cape (despite it being a hinder during battles and a weak point when trying to flee)! Her logo is different as well, which is a modified nuclear fission illustration, but with little female symbols. (I am always tempted to turn her into a villan! She has so much potential for evil! With great power comes great responsibility!) A few air vents to show some skin. I love the shoes!
Judges
Alex, SHotM: The abundant use of white really makes this. The pink jumps out and really accentuates the costume. Like with the other submissions, I love the high boots; regardless of how impractical the heels are, I love them. And I like how the symbol was tweaked to include the female symbol, whole still retaining that atom identity. The only thing that doesn’t entirely work for me are the holes in the elbows. I can buy them on the feet, but the elbows don’t do it for me. Other than that, fantastic redesign.
Caanan, SHotM Contest Winner: I love that this looks more like a Super Science Action Hero outfit than the rest. I like the bands that accentuate the curves in the right places, and I like the white. White is all the RAGE these days, huh, Spider-Man?
Lucas, BSR: I dig the funky nature of Ally’s piece. The pose and the color scheme are awesome, they work well with the style. If anything, I’d just love to see Invincible drawn in this same style interacting with Eve.
In addition to the Volumes of Invincible Ally Cat will be receiving, she will also have the option to be a judge for next month’s contest and will have her winning submission featured on the top banner of SHotM’s home page! So, congratulations to Ally Cat!
You can check out the runners up, as well as get all the info on Superhero of the Month’s May contest, redesigning X-23, at superheroofthemonth.com!
