Archive for February, 2010

In case you haven’t been keeping up with DC comics lately, or my articles over the last two months, I’d like to show you the first few pages of Brian Azzarello and Rags Morales’s First Wave.  It’s going to be  a Golden Age fan-boy’s wish come true.  Their goal is to harken us back to a time before super powers, when justice was best served by a good slugfest and warm lead.  I’ve seen other glimpses and am very excited myself.  Other than what you will see below, Blackhawk, the original Black Canary, and various vintage crime syndicates will find their way onto the pages.  Hopefully they get the rights to The Shadow, because that will truly round things off.  And yes, you can most likely expect Batman to be packing his twin guns under his cape!

—Your Buddy, ExSleepyInk

Microsoft is not holding back. They will gladly take all of our money. The Xbox exclusive psychological thriller Alan Wake will receive the Special Edition Treatment. It’s cool. Why?! Because it’s in the shape of a book. And books are always cool.

The collector’s edition features an in-game commentary, a soundtrack, companion book with short story, coupon for Alan Wake’s first piece of DLC and a disc that has an Alan Wake Xbox theme and avatar gear on it. This will cost you $79.99.

Death is my calling. Vengeance is my creed. I will wash away the past with the blood of Olympus. CHAOS WILL RISE AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was once one of the biggest fans of this show. Pulled in by the characters. The superb writing. And strong sense of direction the series had. After four years the show has now become a great disappointment. The writers have abandoned the mythos of the show. There is little in the way of continuity. And character development is non existent.

Can anyone even remember when Future Hiro first Peter on the subway train, with the message “Save The Cheerleader. Save The World.” Whatever happened to the intrigue of being hunted. The survival of keeping your secrets. “Are You On The List.” Where is the gathering of all these strangers in one place united for one moment with one purpose. “How Do You Stop An Exploding Man?” This is the foundation that Heroes was built on. Many of you didn’t like season 2. I myself loved it. Even though it was cut short by the writer’s strike. Tim Kring and his writer’s were able to bring that season to a very nice close with an awesome cliffhanger. If you bought the DVD or Bluray (Same on you if you didn’t) you know that Tim Kring had a ton of things he wanted to do. But alas that was cut short. Some of those ideas never saw their way on to the show, even though they could have.

Season 3 started in a sprint to the finish line. Villains seem to be just what the doctor ordered to bring Heroes back from the stab in the back that the writers strike gave it. It had just enough of everything to make the show what we always enjoyed in season  1.Villains had been well thought out almost perfectly to the end. The death of the God like Author Petrelli was a mild disappointment. I mean if he really had to die, well ok. Just kill him and be done with it. Now is when you think the show will take another turn. heading in a new direction that is sure to stun all fans. But it seems that not only have the writer’s forgotten to step back into continuity. They also assume that their audience is plain stupid. I mean, Heroes fiction is strongly based on comic books and science. Fictional or other wise. Why would they thing no one saw the light leave Author Petrelli’s body. And what energy transference. Peter got NOTHING from his father after he died. Yet he was standing right over his body. Okay you can hide from that with all the subtly of a Rhino. But I can still see the mistakes. But now after he injects himself with the formula he can only hold one power at a time. Peter gets weaker and even more uncertain of himself. All the while Sylar turns into Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet. Peter as a character just doesn’t grow. As well as other characters.

Will Heroes end now. Season 4 is over. And thank God for that. This has to be the worst season ever. Nearly everything that has gone on this year was terrible. I just think Tim Kring gave up on the show. My friends and I believe he’s just biding his time until his contract wears off. Heroes could have been another 24 or Lost. Now it will just die off. Hardly a memory in the minds of fans. And I say good riddance, Especially because our idea of A Brave New World was stolen. And not only was it stolen. It was done poorly at best. I knew a guy that always said “You can’t win them all”. But Heroes was a winner. I refuse to let the show go out like that. I will write my own little season 5 right here. Join me as I finish Heroes my way. NBC has done a bad enough job already. And it’ll be fun. These stories will be just little ideas of what I would like to see. And how I would have ended Heroes. The stories will be small. Just enough to get the point across. Look for them every 2 weeks or so. It’ll be one heck of a ride.

Every thing that has a beginning has an end. And this will be my ending.  Join me as I dream and write of a Heroes that could have been.

There haven’t been any real reasons for my wife to pick up a joystick in a long time. With games such as Heavy Rain and this Alan Wake, I hope to get her playing some of my video games. These types of games aren’t anything new. But hopefully Alan Wake will be done right. More of a thriller mystery genre I hope to draw upon my wife curiosity for solving things. If the games proves too spooky, well I guess I’ll be playing Alan Wake just like the other games. Alone.

It seems that Microsoft has all the answers. I knew this was coming. But I didn’t think they would beat Sony to the punch. A game that really shouldn’t even be running on the Xbox now has it’s own bundle. Well for all of you who have been waiting for that one good reason to buy an Xbox 360. Here it is. One of the greatest games to appear on both consoles this year. It will come nicely decorated with a decal on the hard drive, which happens to be 250gb. And an awesome face plate. All yours for $399. Lands in stores March 9th.

Hey all. I hope you enjoy these fantastic covers by Andy Kubert for Grant Morrison’s upcoming, time-spanning, Batman:The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries. After shooting Darkseid at the end of Final Crisis, Batman was blasted back through time by the Omega effect. Meanwhile the evil New God left a Bruce clone for everyone to grieve over.  Believed dead by his family and friends, join him as he taps into his lifetime of training on an epic quest through the centuries to take back his rightful place in Gotham City, and hopefully, under the cowl. It is due out in April.

I might have gotten the order wrong between the pirate and puritan scenes, but I’m sure you see where it’s headed (plus I blew them up extra big for you!) —ExSleepyInk

Warner Bros has supposedly asked filmmaker/producer Christopher Nolan to act as a mentor in the development of the studios next Superman movie. Deadline.com reports that Warner Bros hopes Nolan will guide Superman to the same kind of box office success seen by his Batman franchise. The studio is looking for a direction (do not confuse this with direct-or) to take the Man of Steel’s future film in; especially after the previous incarnation, Superman Returns, failed to make much of an impact among audiences. An unidentified insider revealed that the new film will not be a follow-up to the previous Superman attempt. This would lead us to believe that the project is going down a fresh new avenue. Sources have yet to say whether Brandon Routh will be participating in this venture. Some sites have also remarked that, because of The Dark Knight’s runaway success, they were looking to go with a darker, grittier take on Supes. What do I think? I think the reason why Batman worked for Nolan is because he was acclimated to creating dark, brilliant, noir atmospheres in all of his previous movies. His tone was perfect for THAT character and HIS struggles. If they are using Nolan to merely boost up revenue in the conception of their new franchise, I think that is short-sighted…but…if they are using him to do what Marvel has set out to do, and find a way to develop a lush interconnected universe of live-action DC characters, then bring on Superman, bring on World’s Finest, and finally, for the love of all things holy, bring on The Justice League! The only thing is, Chris Nolan’s vision of Batman has been that of realism (as real as it can be); how would a orphaned, flying alien man fit into that world? A world that didn’t even want Robin. Would we get to see some more outlandish rogues in Batman? Maybe Clayface? Killer Croc? The Mad Hatter? Am I getting ahead of myself? Maybe…but a boy can dream, can’t he?
As for the mentoring gig; why not give Geoff Johns, Richard Donner’s old protege’, a sort of co-advising position? Maybe even let him team up with Goyer and pen a story? Sounds full circle to me, and fluid enough. Let us not forget that Johns is the hottest thing in DC comics right now, and Goyer helped, with his knowledge, to shape the Batman franchise into a global phenomenon. Not too shabby, wouldn’t you say? I’m sure this team would do everything they could to please the fans, being big nerds themselves (no offense guys, it’s a compliment)! Maybe instead of Nuclear Man (snicker) we’d finally see fleshed out versions of Brainiac, Metallo, and Parasite!! Let me know what you think, boys and girls.
—Yours truly, ExSleepyInk

Described as an interactive drama; Heavy Rain, an upcoming PS3 title by Quantic Dream, looks to raise video game storytelling to a new level. The title, which most reviewers are labeling a masterpiece, puts forth groundbreaking strides in story and character development, to show us that there is still a deep, untapped trove of potential in interactive gaming. Unlike the choice system that most games employ, the black and white moral forks in the road before paths meet, this venture promises the type of decisions that send ripples through the fabric of the entire experience. This will change what you see in the game, as it will your perception of the characters.
The main storyline of the game involves watching the mystery of the Origami Killer unfold and bloom. Anything after that, how the plot and cast develops, is up to you. Do you fight or escape? Do you kill or risk dying yourself? Do you surrender or face the consequences? Your choices aren’t short lived novelties; two different players could follow a unique path through the story, see completely different fates for the games characters, and leave with a separate idea of what actually happened and why. You switch between four protagonists, like chapters in a book, each collecting clues and all driven by their own agenda. The order in which you play in and the direction of their stories changes depending on how you interact during freeform exploring. There are casual, slower cinematic themes and scenes that are just as important and integral in shaping your world. Relationships,and inner demons play a big role, as do the complex emotions like trust, grief, and love. These come into play later on when faced with selecting their actions in high-stakes plot points and crescendo events. Enjoy this early trailer and one of the many awesome game play videos.


Heavy Rain is due for release on February 23rd. Stay tuned for a preview of Rocksteady’s groundbreaking period piece sleeper hit, L.A. Noire.
–ExSleepyInk