Dark Horse Comics and Sideshow Collectibles Wish You A Happy Hellboy Day (And How)!

Posted on March 22, 2014 by geelw

Hey! It’s Hellboy Day at comics shops all over the place, kids! Well, now. Sideshow Collectibles and Dark Horse Comics are sure in a celebratory mood, it seems. That explains not only the new BUY ME NOW $20 hardcover collection, Hellboy: The First 20 Years and that awesome $50 77-issue Hellboy Digital Megabundle, but also this pretty killer $399 Mike Mignola Hellboy Premium Format Figure, now available for pre-order for August delivery. Check it out:

Nice, huh? That gap in time will YOU time to find a spot for this big guy, as he’s 23″ H (584.2mm) x 12″ W (304.8mm) x 13″ L (330.2mm) and weighs in at a whopping 15 pounds. Yeah, that’s “small” for Hellboy if he actually existed, but for your real-life place with that wobbly coffee table with the matchbook shoved under one leg for “stability”) or shelf of questionable weight load distribution? Yeah, I’d say it’s time for an actual display case or just some new shelves entirely. Although I’m far from the one you want offering advice as far as shelf solutions. I’m just waiting for the day when I’m buried alive under a former Jenga-like tower of games. I’ll survive, though. Unless I decide to PLAY my way out and forget to eat at some point…

Spring Cleaning: I Want(ed) My MTV. Good Thing I Didn’t Get It, I Suppose…

Posted on March 22, 2014 by geelw

A ha ha and ha. I’d forgotten all about my failed attempt to get my 15 minutes of fame way back then. I actually don’t recall exactly what the introduction I sent to MTV was, but I do remember it was partially illustrated, which probably got me this response. Not only did I forget my to put my phone number on that intro, I do believe I forgot to include the hand-drawn business card I’d made (which had my number on it). Oops. The handwriting below that was done well after the show had been cast when I was piling up all the rejection letters I’d ever gotten (most from assorted comic companies) at that point. think that was in 1996 or so, but it’s been a while since I poked through all that stuff. This popped up while going through and old portfolio, but I may dig up the rest one of these days and do a post on that.

Game of Thrones S4 Trailer #4: The “Devil” Is In The Details…

Posted on March 22, 2014 by geelw

Getting warmer in here, isn’t it? Not because it’s spring, mind you (hell, next week we’re supposed to get a little late surprise from winter’s dying grasp, it seems), but because it’s alllllmost time for Season 4 of Game of Thrones to kick off. I’m still avoiding spoilers, but man was I ticked off to hear that a bunch of fans got to see the season premiere this week (boo!) and blab all about how lucky they were. Gee thanks, HBO. Oh well. One day they’ll take notice of me and send me an invite (name of my blog aside that SCREAMS that I might not be interested, har har)…

Turner Classic Movies Finally Gets With The Program on YouTube

Posted on March 21, 2014 by geelw

Like many of you out there, I love Turner Classic Movies quite a lot, although the popular classic movie site isn’t without its issues. I’m still waiting to see more imports (where are Cul De Sac, {The Mad Adventures of} Rabbi Jacob, The Tall Blonde Man With One Black Shoe and other intriguing foreign films that deserve a wider American audience?) and a more stable Underground (I can be the host, as I have a LOAD of ideas to make it better and more accessible to new viewers to the weird and strange!), but overall I’m happy with most of what they do. That said, they’re finally using YouTube a lot more effectively, posting videos for current programming for the day during the week, which goes a long way towards making folks like me see what’s coming on during the day without having to check the cable guide or just turn the channel on when we crawl home and hope we’ll see something we haven’t yet. Yeah, the frequent rebroadcasts need to be worked on a bit, but for now, I have one LESS thing to gripe about…

Some Sleight of Hand on the Second Day of Spring…

Posted on March 21, 2014 by geelw

Oh sure, there’s loads of work to do and yep, yep – I need to snap to it like two days ago. But I’ve been busy with a few things like playing some betas of games upcoming (*cough!* The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II *cough!*), and working on a few sets of interview questions for assorted people on assorted topics. Anyway, whee – it’s the second day of spring, but still a bit chilly out (not bad, but you still need a coat!). Anyway, here’s some art to ogle to keep you distracted. I’ll be back in a bit…

The Collectables Blasts Onto iOS Devices Today: Crytek’s Got You Good On A Few Fronts…

Posted on March 20, 2014 by geelw

I was certainly surprised that I’d like a mobile game as much as Crytek’s The Collectables (as I’m not a fan of touchy-tappy gaming at all) when I saw it a few months back, but thanks to the combination of fantastic visuals and easy to get into gameplay (Okay, and stuff blowing up every few seconds), I can say this one’s worth a try. There’s also an addictive card collecting element (thus the game’s title) and some more fun to be had here, but this isn’t a review and I’m keeping it short because I think you should take this for a spin and see what you think. So, yeah- go do just that, I say…

Cloudbuilt Now Available: Scaling New Heights Of Spectacular-ness (And Quickly, At That!)

Posted on March 20, 2014 by geelw

Yeah, yeah – it’s a rerun, but hey – this one’s worth the double vision. Coilworks’ awesome and super challenging Cloudbuilt is now LIVE on Steam and already there’s an update out that addresses some issues a few players have been having. While I’ll need to go play this this weekend at a friend’s place who has Windows 7 still running fine on his PC (all of mine here use XP and proudly, grrr!), my time with the demo (also at his place) revealed that the developer is onto something with this insane, fast-paced run/shoot/parkour hybrid that’s brilliant, tough as hell and extremely rewarding when you find that perfect line and start smashing records (and progress-killing enemies in your path). This NEEDS to be on a few consoles so more people can dive in and see what all the fuss is about.

Random Art: Okay, I Missed A Day Or Week, Or Something. Have A Tree Anyway!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by geelw

Meh, I’ve been a bit busy working on some stuff and riding out these last miserable days of winter, but here you go. This didn’t take me too long to do at all and in fact, like most of my trees, isn’t really “complete.” I just stop when I think I’m about to destroy something with another few lines and that’s that. Well, that’s it for this week. I may get another sketch up sooner. Or later. Depending on work I need to get done versus time I have to sketch up something.

The X-Files is BACK (…As A Board Game This July)!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by geelw

I think I only fooled two people with half that headline, but that’s fine by me. Anyway, this July, IDW Games will be getting fans of the show a new BIG box board game based on the first three (and some would say the best) seasons thanks to Pandasaurus Games, designer Kevin Wilson (Arkham Horror, Descent, Civilization) and comic book artist menton3 (Memory Collectors, The X-Files: Season 10).

That box art is sure mighty pretty (and pretty simple) and if the game INSIDE the box is like that art, it’ll keep anyone with even a passing interest in the show back in deep where they should be. Of course, chain smoking as you play like that Cigarette Smoking Man isn’t required, but if you DO get that far into character, make sure you ask your tabletop buddies if it’s OK. No one likes to get kicked out their friend’s place (or even their own home) even if they bought the game with them.

Child of Light Making of #1: Dream, Draw and Drink In The Delicious Results…

Posted on March 19, 2014 by geelw

Ubisoft is making game making an even more “magical” process these days thanks to its UbiArt Framework tech that allows for artists to see their work come to brilliant life while remaining unchanged from how it was created. The upcoming multiplatform role-playing game, Child of Light (April 30, 2014) presents the gorgeous storybook world of Lemuria and allows players to dive in and explore it using some tried and true gameplay along with some nice new features sure to bring on the raves from an audience hungry for new original properties and not more of the same old same old.

Given that the game is set ti launch on PC, PS3/PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Wii U (so far!), it looks as if anyone with a home console or decent enough gaming setup will be seeing what the fuss is all about soon enough. Yeah, I know you Mac and Linux users are all cranky right about now, but I guess there will be a version of this for you folks at some point down the road. In the meantime, I guess you could always make friends with someone who has one of the systems the CAN play on when it launches next month…