Metro: Last Light

A new game THQ Studios promises the best of survival-horror and stealth in 2012.

A new game from THQ Studios and developer 4A Games promises the best of survival-horror and stealth for PC, XBOX and PS3 in December of 2012. The game itself is hauntingly rendered with wall-to-wall texture maps to create a ruined Moscow set in a metropolitan atmosphere of decay.

What THQ did to add to the game-play was succeed where many, many games have failed. In games like classic FPS Black live action vignettes are incorporated to create/enhance story and interest but they fail by being relegated to a B-Team who don't have the budget or expertise to fully realize the main story arc. In Metro Last Light, this is not the case. The live action sequences and teasers for the game are on par with Hollywood productions such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) - truly amazing stuff.

This game is available for pre-order now and due out December of 2012.


References:

• Metro: Last Light, Video Gallery
• IGN, Game Preview

Off The Shelf: Concrete

Paul Chadwick's Concrete grew from a character first considered to be a rip-off of Marvel's early sulky incarnation of The Thing into a thought-provoking hero tortured by being unwillingly locked in a large, unwieldy body of stone. Instead of becoming a villain, because what else do you do when you're a giant concrete ogre, Concrete chose to be a low-key superhero who fought in very human arenas from environmental activism to political unrest.

Chadwick, who previously worked as an artist on Marvel's short-lived Dazzler series and also drew storyboards for Disney, wrote and illustrated stories that were much more slice-of-life by being focused on realistic situations rather than over-the-top fight sequences. His Concrete series, first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1986 won Chadwick the Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist in 1989.

Chadwick is currently drawing a miniseries for DC, Seven Against Chaos, written by Harlan Ellison as well as writing for the MMORPG, The Matrix On-line.

References:

• Wikipedia, Concrete
• Concrete, Blogs
• Continuity Pages, Concrete

Screen Shots: Japanese Spider-Man

Japanese Spider-Man's main power is baffling the enemy with the unlikelihood of his premise.

In 1978, Marvel lent the rights to franchise character to Toei Studios (Fist Of The North Star, Devil Man, Ghost In The Shell) who were still mainly a kid's TV animation studio in the late 1970's. Toei pronounced ("toe-ay") produced a live action version of Spider-Man and used the Japanese kid's TV formula of giant robots, colorful vehicles and full-body costumes to create something utterly bizarre and entertaining.

For 41 episodes, the show had a pretty unremarkable two year run on Japanese TV but received high praise from Spider-Man co-creator, Stan Lee, who praised the show for it's special effects and expert stunt work. A theatrical version of Spider-Man was shown at the Toei Manga Matsuri film festival on July 22nd 1979 before the show went off the air in 1980.

In 2010, Marvel has subtitled many episodes of the show and re-released this original series as web based video on the official Marvel site.

References:

• Wikipedia, Toei Company
• Wikipedia, Japanese Spider-Man (Toei TV Series)
• IMDB, Spider-Man (TV series 1979)

Screen Shots: Secret World

A 5-star MMORPG featuring world wide conspiracy set in the not-so-distant future from Funcom.

A 5-star MMORPG featuring world wide conspiracy set in the not-so-distant future is coming April 2012 from Norwegian based Funcom. Funcom, creator of PC, xBox and PS3 titles like Age Of Conan which is currently on-line as a MMORPG, promises the same superb SFX and Voice-Over work in Secret World.

As proof, The Secret World is on the cover of November 2011 PC Gamer’s holiday issue and Funcom's CEO Tronde Aas is interviewed. Part of his interview is here:

“We are thrilled to see ‘The Secret World’ on the cover of what is undoubtedly the world’s most prestigious PC gaming magazine,” said Funcom CEO Trond Arne Aas. “This is a solid indication of the quality of ‘The Secret World’ as well as the expectations for the title among gamers and the press.”

The Secret World is consistently mentioned as one of the most anticipated MMOs in development, breaking new grounds and genre conventions by introducing a modern-day setting, a story-focused MMO experience, and a free form progression system using no classes and no levels. Recently, Funcom announced that over 500,000 gamers are now registered for the ongoing beta testing. The Secret World is published by Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and will ship in April 2012.

References:

• The Secret World, Official Site
• Funcom.com, Action and Adventure Games

Off The Shelf: Full Metal Alchemist

The manga and animated series The Full Metal Alchemist has reached a level of international readership that only a few Japanese titles have achieved over the past 50 years.

The short list includes Otomo's Astro-Boy, Okamura's Fist Of The North Star and Ken Miura's Berserk. Each are undeniably in this world class of artist category. Today, Hiromu Arakawa, is the only female manga-ka artist to reach this level to date. She introduced the world to Full Metal Alchemist in 1999 in self-published books (Dōjinshi) and locally produced manga magazines (Tankōbon) published in Hokkaido.

Her graphic novel series ran from 1999 to 2011, faithfully reproduced by Funamation Studios as two animated series, featured the Elric Brothers in a European steam-punk country ruled by magicians. There are dozens of fully realized characters playing major roles in the series - from the evil Homonculi, the indomitable King Bradley, the fanatical rebel Scar and many, many more strange individuals and secret organizations that the Elric Brothers encounter on their unflinching search for a means to undo the magic that made them The Full Metal Alchemist.

References:

• Wikipedia, Hiromu Arakawa
• Wikipedia, Dōjinshi

Off The Shelf: There Is No Authority But Yourself

Dutch film maker Alexander Oey examines the history of punk rock social phenomenon Crass.

Punk rock. The unflinching unofficial religion of a sea of disenfranchised, socially and geographically isolated kids and cranks in Western culture.

Made in England by bands like the Sex Pistols and The Exploited then commercially perfected in America, Punk rock is a lot like that Angry Kid From high school. The odd one in the corner. That Kid who, each day, scribbled lyrics into his beat up binder. The one who consistently got D's and worked a night job. The same one who secretly carried a red-flecked pipe wrench in his back pocket like some kind of hidden talisman to ward off gangs of crack fiends and packs of ultra macho jocks who dictated what was Right and Wrong behavior.

Yet, instead of resigning himself to a meaningless life he picked up his beat up binder and screamed out to the world, waving a guitar instead of pipe wrench, that The Kid wasn't taking it anymore and that his audience didn't have to either.

This is a good introduction to Crass. An English punk rock act who railed against corrupt authority figures, institutionalized racism, mindless violence, out-of-touch splinter cells w/in government, smothering social anxiety and the ever present pressure to conform to an impossible ideal - an ideal that only existed on celluloid or in the dancing scanlines of television.


Core Crass members performing live in the early 80's Pete Wright, Steve Ignorant and Andy "N.A" Palmer.

Crass, formed in 1977 from of a group of edgy artists and actors, promoted Anarchism as a political ideology to combat corruption. Crass went on to form the base of a resistance movement against exploitative English policies and popularized the Anarcho-Punk movement of punk subculture by advocating real and direct action in social arenas as varied as political protest, animal rights, personal accountability and environmentalism.

Crass utilized and advocated a DIY punk ethic approach by producing sound collages, graphics, anti-Nuke pamphlets, solid albums and films that remain nearly unique in Western culture outside of Medieval monasteries and the utmost levels of Higher Education.


Promotional material typical of Crass who advocated positive and lasting social change.

Alexander Oey's rockumentary of Crass, There is No Authority But Yourself, was premiered at the Raindance Film Festival at the Piccadilly Circus, London Trocadero in October 2006 and part of the Official Selection film program at the Flipside Film Festival in May 2008.


References:

• Wikipedia, Crass
• Wikipedia, There Is No Authority But Yourself
• Wikipedia, Steve Ignorant
• Amazon, There Is No Authority But Yourself (2006)
• Punk Rocker UK, Crass Profile
• Southen Records, Crass Merch!

Off The Shelf: Troll Hunter

Finally, scientific proof that Outernet trolls are no different from their cousins the Internet trolls.

In director André Øvredal's excellent Troll Hunter (2010) a group of very Norwegian film students and one cantankerous troll "expert" set out to capture real-life trolls on camera. The hunt becomes even more bizarre after the group learns the trolls existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy.

The film's premise is a "mockumentary" or a faked documentary much like The Blair Witch, District 9, Cloverfield or anything on Fox News. Troll Hunter's premise is easy to get into quickly, with amazing 3d models and animation that brings the special effects to life in the same way that Battle Los Angeles did. A truly remarkable film.

This unique foreign language film is coming to DVD and Amazon Instant Video on August 23rd!



References:

• IMDB, Troll Hunter (2010)
• Wikipedia, The Troll Hunter
• Capital City Weekly, "Found" Footage
• Facebook, Troll Hunter

Off The Shelf: Instrument

Ian MacKaye, Guy Piccioto, Brendan Canty, Jerry Busher and Joe Lally are Fugazi.

Director Jem Cohen (long time R.E.M. rockumentarian) presents a look at 10 years of Fugazi's 16 year run as a meaningfully central force in punk/indie rock. Although the band has been inactive since 2002: fans, musicians and artists have come to deeply respect Ian MacKaye's no nonsense approach to rock and massive song library.

Instrument is possibly the best and least self-aggrandizing rockumentary ever made. This documentary contains the same biting, unflinching insight that inspired a small white kid in the mostly black inner city of Washington D.C. to aspire to lead a band called Minor Threat minus the racism and alcoholism. In the 80's Minor Threat and Black Flag they were Punk Rock to the world at large.

Today in 2011, Ian is active in a two-piece band called The Evens, drummer Brenden Canty is a highly active composer with 19 indie films to his credit, vocalist/guitarist Guy Piccioto has produced two Blonde Redhead albums and bassist Joel Lally released a solo album in 2006, toured with the Melvins and now lives in Rome.



References:

• IMDB, Jem Cohen
• Wikipedia, Fugazi
• Laser Eater, Q+A w/Brenden Canty
• Southern Records, Rock + Docs
• Dischord Records, The Evens

Off The Shelf: Winnebago Man

Mr. Jack Rebney is what is known the recreational vehicle industry call a "hard sell" salesman.

Internet video-based television shows like Comedy Central's Tosh.O or True TV's endless parade of security cam footage is enough to give every oddball and mugger his own 15 minutes of shame. Many of the clips on these Internet based shows come from funny moments in relatively normal lives or from new web-based comedy series like The Retarded Policeman or Tourette's Guy. These shows and clips get serious attention in terms of millions of daily viewers.

In July of 2010, Winnebago Man, a web-based film based on the life of a video and internet celeb named Jack Rebney was released in U.S. theaters. The comedy-documentary concerns Rebney, an angry white Winnebago salesman, who can't seem to maintain his composure or remember any of his lines. His on-the-job meltdowns were all captured on video in the 80's and passed around on VHS tapes as collectors items, before exploding into an Internet phenomenon seen by millions.


Director Ben Steinbauer, Jack Rebney and Michael Moore at SXSW 2010.

Film maker Ben Steinbauer sets out to interview Mr. Rebney who, 20 years from the original video shoots that made him a poster boy for Tourettes, is now in his 60's and living in a remote mountain area in California.

Steinbauer's film is extremely funny as well as sometimes a touching tearjerker. Jack Rebney is a fascinating and lovable character who is extremely intelligent, honest and full of colorful dialog.


References:

• Official Site, Winnebago Man
• Wikipeida, Winnebago Man(2009)
• IMDB, Winnebago Man (2009)

Off The Shelf: Take A Joke

Volume #3 of the notorious Angry Youth Comix serves up some of the most pointedly politically incorrect strips from Johnny's Ryan's work - including the infamous "Rape Tank" bit from Angry Youth Comix Vol. 2 #14 plus Loady, Sinus, Waqi Iraqi and the whole demented gang.

Artist Johnny Ryan's Angry Youth Comix was originally self-published and released as a series of ten issues from 1994 to 1999. In 1998, Ryan's work came to the attention of Peter Bagge, creator of Hate comics, who introduced the material to Eric Reynolds of Fantagraphics where the series was picked up and published by Fantagraphics starting in 2001.

This 160 page color and black and white collection also features some of Ryan's more bizarre ventures into talking condiments, sci-fi ass assassination (it exists), time machines and even horror - which for the record has always been a pretty strong component of his work.


References:

• Wikipedia, The Angry Yutes
• Johnny Ryan, Angry Youth Comix
• Hyper Geek, Johnny Ryan's Take A Joke

Off The Shelf: Burning Down The House (2009)

CBGB's was an iconic NYC club that fostered the growth of Rock n Roll in America.

Mandy Stein (Too Tough To Die: Johnny Ramone (2006)) presents Burning Down The House (2009) featuring Hilly Kristal, who passed away at the age of 75 in 2007 one year after his iconic rock club finally shut it's doors. Kristal owned and operated CBGB's beginning in 1973. His run-down Bowery club eventually became an icon of Punk Rock and fostered the growth of Punk, Alternative and Indie music in America through out three decades in NYC before closing in 2006.

Stein's film features superstar interviews from surviving Ramone Tommy, to NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and David Byrne (Talking Heads). Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man (1995) w/Johnny Depp), Kurt Loder, Henry Rollins and Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) also talk about the music that came through for the 30+ years the club was open.

Another new CBCG movie is in the works for 2012 tentatively-titled CBGB.

References:

• Wikipedia, Hilly Kristal
• IMDB, Mandy Stein
• Paste Magazine, New CBGB Movie Upcoming

Off The Shelf: Great

Life's savage turns are chronicled in Ryan Armand's American manga Great.

2007 Eisner Award Nominated artist Ryan Armand's American manga series Great features a 28-year-old man's life comically falling completely apart and eventually re-assembling.

Nibbish yuppie Lyle falls through the basement levels of his life, loses his job, his wife and is robbed repeatedly before finally being rescued from homelessness by a Ramen Noodle restauranteur's daughter. Soon after, he becomes determined to take up the self-help concept of being "Great" in all aspects of his life from creating a furniture based martial art to making soup.

The protagonist establishes a better way of life only after completely abandoning his old one. Lyle becomes a chef and new father while dealing with street crime and fatherhood - a far cry from the shallow, corporate and plastic life he once tried everything to save.

The theme of the graphic novel (available directly from the artist) is finding a sense of purpose and optimism in the face of an incredible amount of crushing defeats. By relentlessly pursuing this concept of dedicated determination, with a healthy does of humor and respect for family included, Armand examines the nature of superficiality, relationships between husbands and wives and personal bravery all while illustrating Lyle's many attempts to be great.


References:

• Kiwis By Beat, Store/Illustrations
• Smack Jeeves, Comic Archive
• Comix Talk, Armand Talks 2007 Eisner Nod

Off The Shelf: Strange Tales

Marvel's long anticipated indie take on super-powered heroes arrived on book store shelves in March of 2010. This unique and humorous three-part series is now available in one hard bound collection with Strange Tales II w/Gene Yang due out April 6th of this year.

The first collection features Peter Bagge's The Incorrigible Hulk whose story Bagge describes in a 2009 interview with Sean Collins of Marvel.com as "... about both the Hulk and Bruce Banner trying to cope with their many issues via the use of modern pharmacology, in the form of head pills, Viagra, etc. Needless to say, wackiness ensues." The comedy gold that Bagge is not pointing out is the cover art of the Hulk arriving in cramped dress shoes at his date's door step with a pained expression on his face and a heart-shaped container of Valentine's Day candy tucked under one arm.

Blogfoot favorites Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix, Prison Pit and Blecky Yuckerella) and James Kolchalka (American Elf) also are featured in Strange Tales as Dr. Strange records a gangsta rap album, the Hulk goes out on a date and Spidey and Doc Ock get into a drunken bar brawl. What more could any body want? $30.00 gets you the the entire set at Amazon.



References:

• Marvel.com, Bagge Talks Strange Tales
• Again With The Comics, The Incorrigible Hulk
• Bloody Cool, Incorrigible Hulk Gets Marvel Stamp

Off The Shelf: Taskmaster

Beginning in 1980, as a nemesis for the entire Avenger team in Avengers #195-196, The Taskmaster has stalked, barrel-rolled and back-flipped his way into the hearts of many comic fans. Mr. Master has even been included in the third installment of Marvel vs Capcom in 2011.

His origins, although mysterious even to himself, were humble, beginning in middle-class America. It was there that his strange ability for a chameleon-like "muscle memory" manifested. By simply watching a task being performed his body "recorded" it allowed him to play it over and over again. Soon after, he began using his quasi-mutant ability (Taskmaster is listed in databases as strictly non-mutant) to commit elaborate crime, continuing to push his power by taking on larger super-heroes. Notably Taskmaster continues to emulate some of the heroes he's battled including the Avengers' Capitan America, Black Knight, The Swordsman and Hawk-Eye using the best of their strength and weaponry against them.

The drawback for Taskmaster is that as he learns new abilities, his body "forgets" old ones. This weakness is also generally believed to include his thoughts and memories making Taskmaster a creature of an eternal present - acting and reacting with no past or future. The perfect instructor for S.H.I.E.L.D. but also for Hydra, Taskmaster knows no lasting loyalty only the here and now.

Several new books featuring The Taskmaster, such as Avengers Initiative and his own limited series, are out on store shelves now.



References:

• Wikipedia, Taskmaster
• Comicvine, Taskmaster
• L.A. Times, Marvel v. Capcom Part 3

Off The Shelf: Jack Of Hearts

The rogue hero character Jack of Hearts was written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Keith Giffen (co-creator of DC's Lobo) in the early 1980's. Mantlo, a former NYC Public Defender, became a creative force in the 1980's creating the Jack Kirby inspired worlds of ROM and Micronauts.

Jack first appeared in the Marvel martial arts rag Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #22 and was also included in several successful cameos in Iron Man. He eventually starred in a self-titled, four issue limited series from January to April 1984 that traced Jack's alien origins off-world.

In the four issue series, it's revealed that Jack's parents, one human and one alien were each murdered and that Jack himself is a mutant. The limited series explores Jack's unique powers which involve projected concussive energy blasts, like Cyclops of the X-Men, plus a few technology based enhancements as a result of of his collaboration with Tony Stark.



References:

• Wikipedia, Jack Of Hearts
• Wikipedia, Bill Mantlo
• Comics.org, Jack Of Hearts Series
• Marvel Directory, Jack Of Hearts Bio
• Raving Toy Maniac Presents, Lars Custom Figures: Jack

Off The Shelf: Who Cares?

The Duane Peters phenomena involves a lotta stitches.

Duane Peters is nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for a reason. He's a punk rock singer/songwriter and innovative professional skateboarder. Active since 1978, he is best known as the singer in the California punk rock band U.S. Bombs, which formed in 1993.

Peters is credited for inventing many tricks, such as the "acid drop" into a pool/bowl, the "layback grind", the "Indy air", the "Sweeper", the "backside layback grind revert", the "fakie hang-up" (a.k.a. "Disaster"), the "invert revert", the "fakie thruster", and the "loop of death", a full 360-degree rotation in a specially designed loop.

He's added acting to his resume and will be in the 2011 indie film Hostility Hotel set in San Fransisco. The film features the darker side of underground culture smashed up into a two-day drug binge.



References:

• Wikipedia, Duane Peters
• Hostility Hotel, Check-In

Off The Shelf: Orc Stain

So. Buddy ... you say you're kinda into fantasy, huh?
Orc Stain is an amazing fantasy adventure title from James Stokoe and published by Image Comics. The art and story for the series almost defy an accurate description. The only thing that is evident is the deep influence of Jean Giraud aka Moebius, Ralph Bakshi, Heavy Metal, Wendy and Richard Pini (Elfquest) art styles and Tolkien's story arcs. But just not one of these is obvious at any one time ... It's either Tolkien vs Moebius or The Pini's vs Heavy Metal with each segment of the story interchanging with one of the above.

The influence of these Fantasy masters is thickly interwoven by Mr. Stokoe with his own original spin to such a painstaking degree that new world comes to life. This is definitely an R-for-adults title with a lot of gore, violence, nudity and um ... ritualistic castrations of enemies?



References:

• Wordpress, Orc Stain
• News-a-rama, Stokoe Interview
• Comixology, Orc Stain #5

Off The Shelf: Chuck Burns

Artist and Illustrator Chuck Burns has spent 30 years in underground comics.
Charles Burns, a Philladelpia based artist and illustrator, starting out as a freelance illustrator for a Sub Pop fanzine and Another Room Magazine of Oakland. Burns gained a wider audience when his unusually detailed underground comics were published for the first time in early issues of RAW, the avant-garde comics magazine founded in 1980 by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman (Maus).

In 1982, Burns did a die-cut cover for RAW #4. Raw Books also published two books by Burns as RAW one-shots: Big Baby and the hilarious Hard-Boiled Defective Stories. In 1994, he was awarded a Pew Fellowships in the Arts and in 1999, he showed nearly 20 years of his art and illustrations at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.


The critically acclaimed El Borbah, seen above, ran in Heavy Metal from 1983 to 1985.
Burns has worked on a wide range of projects from Iggy Pop albums (Brick by Brick), adapting his own series Dogboy for MTV's Liquid Television and having theatrical releases of his animation being featured in the amazing Fear(s) of The Dark (2007).

Burns, a humble, humorous and often self-effacing man, continues to enjoys a deep respect for his intricate art style and unusual story-craft among many artists and illustrators world-wide today.

Chuck Burns Interview Philadelphia 2009.mp3 (9.5 mb)



References:

• Wikipedia, Charles Burns
• Maximumfun.org, Charles Burns
• Thrilling Defectives, El Borbah

Screen Shots: Ask A Ninja

The first rule of Ninja Club - you do not talk about Ninja Club ... on Youtube. A lot... OK, OK you can talk about Ninja Club. A little.

Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine's hilarious and long running video pod cast Ask A Ninja is a fast-paced, sharply scripted and amazingly frenetically acted show where "a real freaking ninja answers the world's questions". The comedy series began in November of 2005 quickly began making $100,000 a month in ad revenue, merchandising and licensing from the show.

On October 4^th 2010 the web series re-launched as a daily series with new videos each week day.

References:

• Wikipedia, Ask a Ninja
• Ask-A-Ninja, Scroll Of Urls
• Ninja Burger, Secret Dojo

Off The Shelf: Me Write Book It Bigfoot Memoir

Graham Roumieu is an author and illustrator whose work has appeared in the The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times, Harper’s, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among other magazines and newspapers.

His side splittingly funny series of pseudo-autobiographical Big Foot books are complete with endearing art and page after page of hilarious "day-in-the-life" segments featuring that nebulous creature of rural legend: the often misunderstood Sasquatch.

On-line, the Amazon crowd, who are usually pretty brutal, have nothing but glowing 5-star reviews for Roumeiu's Big Foot books that feature the loping man-ape's Hollywood career in various ups and downs.

Roumeiu has four books available including Me Write Book: It Bigfoot Memoir, Bigfoot: Me Not Dead, In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot and the passive-aggressive masterpiece (in the style of Bill Plympton's 100 Ways To Quit Smoking), 101 Ways To Kill Your Boss.



References:

• Work of Graham Roumieu, Me Web Log
• Facebook, Graham Roumieu