READS: Super Graphic Is A Must For Comics Fans AND Statistics Hounds

9781452113883_super-graphic_largeWriter/editor/designer Tim Leong is a genius, packing all 192 pages of his VERY informative (and a lot more hilarious) new book Super Graphic with graphs and charts and statistics on a wide range of comic book trivia. Ever want to know how much leg Wonder Woman has shown over 70 years? Or how many places in the world (and off it) Tintin has been? How about the difference between cosplay and crossplay? Maybe you’re really curious about How many times the letter “V” was used in each volume of V for Vendetta? Don’t guess, now – buy this book instead!

These and many more answers await in this amazingly cool book which doesn’t use a single illustration from any comic out there. Instead, it’s all an amusing collection of stylized lists and artwork that never fail to entertain, educate and inform with a fine sense of humor throughout.

The book is chock full of serious info as well, but it’s the humor that ties everything together. If you don’t laugh upon seeing the Gotham City Police Department’s Utility Bill (page 154) or the two pages on Why Guys Like The Invisible Woman and Why Guys Like Spider-Man (pages 84 and 85), you may need to go to Doctor Strange and get your head shrunk for a spell. Oh, and that Venn diagram with Stan Lee’s Nicknames for the Marvel Bullpen (pages 68 and 69)? Priceless. Disney and other comic and comic strip characters, manga, anime, animated movies and indie comics also get covered here as well as lots of non-comic, but related info. So if you’re not a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society or a junior member of the Justice League, you’ll still find a great deal of interesting stuff here to pore over. Pick this up for $18.95 over at the Chronicle Books website.

NAtURAL DOCtRINE Trailer: Or, An Easy Pick For RPG Fans This Fall…

ND_BGWhile Kadokawa Games’ NAtURAL DOCtRINE garnered decent enough scores from Famitsu (31/40 for the console versions and 30/40 for the Vita), it didn’t exactly sell like hotcakes in its native land. Still, here in the west, the hunger for decent JRPGs needs to be sated, so thanks to the fine folks at Nippon Ichi Software America, we’ll be seeing (and playing) this one soon. I’m going to get this because I’m interested in that PS3/PS4/Vita play and how the game will look across the three platforms.

Granted, I’m NOT the graphics whore type who gets cranky that an game isn’t mapping every bump nor using all of a console’s power at all. I’m just curious as to why MORE games aren’t compatible across the three platforms other than Sony wanting people to buy more PS4s as opposed to hanging onto that older PS3 (or buying a new one). I’m seeing a bunch of games that are only PS4 and Vita compatible and that seems odd because some of them can CLEARLY run on the PS3 with no hassles. Anyway, mini-gripe over. More on NAtURAL DOCtRINE soon – stay tuned…

Funko’s Hikari Friday Giveaway Continues (This Time, It’s A Double Shot Of Turtles!)

Hikari logoFunko is upping the chances to win one of their Hikari Japanese Vinyl figures this week with TWO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vinyls up for grabs.

As you probably know (or in case you didn’t), Leonardo was the first figure they gave away two weeks back, so it only makes sense that Raphael and Donatello get gifted at some point, each to ONE lucky random winner. Remember, there will only be 500 of these made and you could win the first off the line for that collection of yours.

Hikari Raphael
Yeah, yeah, there’s one more Turtle to go, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Anyway, to enter, just hit up one of Funko’s facebook page and look for those grimacing Turtles glaring back at you, enter and keep those fingers crossed. A winner could be YOU! Or me, if I luck out. I don’t ask for much these days now, do I? Hmmm.. maybe they should give Michael Bay one of these so he knows what a Ninja Turtle SHOULD look like!

Hikari Donatello

Appleseed Alpha Trailer: Slick CG + Skrillex = You Probably Need This Blu-Ray/DVD…

 
Well, now. I was surprised I actually liked that first Appleseed CG movie, so imagine my surprise when I see that (whee!), there’s a sequel and it’s looking like another winner in my book. Granted, I liked what I saw in the anime way back in the day, so I guess it’s a no-brainer that I wasn’t (and am not) turned off by the movies. As for that Skrillex soundtrack? Well, it’s fine, although I tend to appreciate orchestral scores over what the kids and hipsters call “cool” these days. Yeah, I can take or leave Daft Punk, too. I don’t need some “robots” to tell me what to like, that’s for sure. Anyway, you can grab Appleseed Alpha pretty much anywhere you buy movies from these days. Yeah,I’m talking about an actual DISC, you crazy kids.

Some Silly Stuff I Have Discovered This Week…

Mr. Bagel 2

1. Yeah, it’s a fuzzy picture of a cinnamon raisin mini bagel with two raisins that look like eyes and a big grin. Amusing and kind of creepy if you can imagine it suddenly talking or singing or something. This made me laugh because it wasn’t the ONLY one in that bag of bagels either. I think I saw three more, meaning someone at the factory was having a clever day and wanted to share, there’s a bagel-making robot that’s creating not so sentient life in an effort to try and start some sort of revolution, or there’s REALLY something funky going into those bagels that turns them ALIVE before they’re bagged. Well,I never did find out if the darn thing could speak, as I ate it before it could do anything funny.

Rez Plus2. Yep, that’s a copy of Rez for the Japanese PlayStation 2 and yep, that’s the infamous Trance Vibrator peripheral next to it. While I’ve played the game numerous times to completion, I’d actually never used that Trance Vibrator until earlier today when I decided to crack open the box and plug it into my Japanese PS2 to see what all the fuss was about. In a word. Oh. In another word. My. Yeah, I can see why it was marketed as and written up as just what some of you think it is. Shocking! Well, not in the least, because we could all use some good vibrations every now and then, right? Throbbing! Yeah, that’s more like it.

3. Uhhhh.I forgot what number 3 was and I blame number 2 for that. Back in a bit…

It’s Hikari Friday! Funko Wants To Make You Bats This Week With Another Awesome Giveaway!

Hikari logoWell, Oooooh. This week’s Hikari Vinyl giveaway from Funko will make you Bat-fans get nuts and really fast. Well, you’d best act fast if you want to score this one, folks. Just Batusi on over to Funko’s facebook, twitter, or Instagram pages and enter NOW or else someone other than YOU will win this super cool Batman figure (the FIRST one off the line of 600, at that).

Of course, even if you don’t win, you still have 599 other chances to BUY this super-limited edition figure when it ships out in August. I like the “sharkskin” effect that paint job gives off and that red cape? Not standard Bat-issue, but it fits the stylized figure just fine, I say.

Hikari Batman

Gallery: Game Library Odds & Ends (Mostly Odds)…

Odds n Ends PS Version
Hokay, I have some ‘splainin’ to do here:

I’ve played both Kane & Lynch Dead Men and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, but I’ve never actually owned the first game until a few weeks back when I saw this in a stack of games some guy was selling at a sidewalk sale. Two bucks? No problem. As for the much maligned Aliens: Colonial Marines? I never played the demo and didn’t see that footage everyone says was mocked up and not representative of the final product, so the whole controversy went over my scalp. That said, I nabbed this sealed with ALMOST all the collector’s edition goodies (no Power Loader) for ten bucks, which may seem like too much based on the acid spewed upon the game worldwide. I’ve only played about an hour and while it’s far from great, as a FPS, it’s got some fun bits here and there. My money is on Alien Isolation being a more compelling experience and provided the dopes lurking and jerking on message boards REALIZE that the new game is from a C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-L-Y different development team known for all of their games being solid experiences through and through.

Remember Me? Yes, Nilin… I do, my dear. I played the PC version (thanks, Capcom!) and loved it for the most part. Capcom also kindly sent me the Xbox 360 version, but I couldn’t play it when I got it thanks to my two busted 360’s collecting dust here. So, I gifted it to a friend so he’d crack it open (and let me review it at his place, of course) and ended up picking up the PS3 version recently for about five times less than what it retailed for last year. As for Silent Hill: Book of Memories? I love Wayforward’s games and the demo of this Vita exclusive was interesting in a “Hey, it’s like Diablo, but NOT!” manner. A few levels in, and I read that the game is pretty much the same thing from beginning to end, but has a level cap and some other stuff that makes it a bit tedious. I haven’t reached that point yet, but thanks for the forewarning, Internet… Continue reading

The Ultimate Godzilla Collection: Destroy All Mondays? Sony Pictures & Toho Would Probably Appreciate That…

TGC_May 2014Sony Pictures Entertainment has released the latest in its Toho Godzilla Collection Blu-Ray collection, this time featuring two more films with everyone’s favorite ticked off giant radioactive lizard: Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah and Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus. You can grab yours at your nearest Wal-Mart or Best Buy location or if you’re an online shopper, Amazon.com is most likely your poison.

Of course, you’ll probably want a few more of the films from this monstrous set and I’d bet each of these retailers can help you out on that front. As you already know, that new Godzilla opens up May 16th here in North America, so if you want to go through every single Godzilla flick before then, now is a good time to start. Granted, that new film is a totally different bird – a re-imagining/reboot, if you please. But I know that canon-crazed fans out there will be looking for all sorts of Easter eggs and nods to their favorite films in this well-aged franchise…

So, It’s James Brown’s Birthday Today (Or You WILL Be Dancing At Some Point)…

 
Yeah, I knew you needed a lift today, so here you go, lemon-face. Thanks to the always informative Professor Mortis over at The League of Dead Films for noting this in his excellent post today about Black Caesar, a film I absolutely NEED to write up as a Random Film of the Week or Week(end) soon. There’s nothing like a Larry Cohen flick when he’s in full-on guerrilla mode and this one’s a classic (despite the dubious idea of reviving a character who was killed dead in the first film, it works well as it is with all its unapologetic content intact). Anyway, Please, Please, Please enjoy this super Saturday, whatever you choose to do with it!

Funko Introduces Hikari Vinyl Line (& A Chance To Win BIG!)

Hikari logo 

Funko is at it again, trying for (and succeeding) your collectible dollar with yet another awesome new lineup. This time it’s Hikari (meaning ‘light’), a very limited edition set of Sofubi Vinyl Figures made in Japan, with runs of between 500 and 5000 per figure. To kick things off right, the company is also introducing Hikari Fridays where a new Hikari Japanese Vinyl Figure will be announced and ONE lucky winner will walk off with the FIRST one from the line. This week, it’s revenge on Michael Bay for his UGLY-ass take on the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Funko wants you to say hello to the Metal Mix Leonardo Hikari Vinyl Figure, which is limited to 500 pieces:

Hikari Leonardo 1 of 500

Cute and shiny, isn’t he? Anyway, Leo officialy goes on sale in July, but if you’re wanting a chance to win this sooner, boogie on over NOW to the Funko Facebook page for details on how to win and GOOD LUCK, because I can see a LOT of people wanting this one.