Spawn Kill Favorites: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
The good people at SpawnKill were awesome enough to publish my Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune review up on their website. Go check it out and support them, too! 
Archive for December, 2009
Review: Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom
On January 6, Arcana Comics is publishing an all-ages graphic novel by writer Bruce Brown and artist Renzo Podesta. I can guarantee that Podesta’s work on Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom will blow you away with its inscrutable style, but Brown’s contribution is another matter. You’ll have to head over to OneMetal to see what I mean.
As an architect of a genre once dubbed “weird fiction,” the creative engineer Howard Phillips Lovecraft envisioned a vast bestiary of creatures still highly regarded in pop culture and lore today. But the monster fabled as the Cthulhu earned its place as one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most notable and infamous fictional designs. In a new graphic novel from Arcana’s line comes Howard Lovecraft and the Frozen Kingdom, an all-ages book that weaves the mythos from the very beginning—spotlighting Howard Lovecraft as a child swept up by a magical world beyond imagination.
Raven Gregory on The Waking
This week’s Impulse Creations article is up a bit early: an interview with Zenescope writer Raven Gregory. In it we discuss his upcoming comic, The Waking—which is a zombie book wrapped in a fresh disguise. It’s really good stuff, and I’m looking forward to reviewing it in February.
Raven Gregory is no stranger to fairy tales, myths, and the realm of horror. His work at Zenescope Entertainment has allowed him to transform classic tales such as Alice in Wonderland and Grimm’s Fairy Tales and redefine countless fable characters in between. Now the writer/creator is putting his zombie survival instincts to the test with a comic series called The Waking. Recently he sat down with us at Impulse Creations to discuss the book and what makes it different from the standard zombie fare.
Impulse Creations: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat, Raven, and for giving us an advanced look at February’s The Waking. I can now vouch for its quality—it’s absolutely chilling. But since you’re the writer, why don’t you explain a little bit about the story for our readers? Vic Drujiniu is on board with you as artist. What’s the comic about, and how long will it run?
Raven Gregory: The story follows four detectives, in New York City, investigating two random murders as they begin to discover clues that the victims of these heinous crimes may actually be returning to avenge their own deaths. Now, in a race against time they must discover those responsible for the murders and uncover the supernatural source behind the “wakings.” The series is four issues long and both issue one and two will be in stores in February 2010.
Impulse: One of the things that really sticks out, especially with the first issue, is the narrator. He basically talks to the reader and cautions him/her to pay close attention. Most narration simply describes the scene and what the main characters are thinking. Why take this approach?
Gregory: A lot of it is because whether we see it or not, the story really is told from the perspective of the narrator who is also Vanessa’s partner. He is our everyday man, and while there are many characters in the series, it is really his story. Another big reason is that the issue is laced with clues that will play into the the “who done it” aspect of the story that becomes more and more apparent as the series progresses.
Read the rest here.
Bleepin’ Blips: Never-Ending Fantasy
Another Bleepin’ Blips article is on the front page of RadNerd—and this time it deals with none other than Final Fantasy. But what’s not to like about Final Fantasy, you ask? Just hop on over to RN and find out, and leave a comment under the tree! 
I want to know what you think!
Happy holidays! Drink lots of special eggnog!
Do you suffer from uncontrollable, bleepin’ rage at something in the gaming industry? Have you smashed TVs by flinging controllers, or made your thumbs bleed with all that unrewarded determination and mad skillz you’ve been dishing out? Here at RadNerd, we feel your pain. Literally. This new ongoing feature will channel our anger in a healthy way … we hope.
Fans of the runaway savior, Final Fantasy, know its golden past with fervor and pride. Given life by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original RPG was devised to save Square from what looked like inevitable bankruptcy and doom. But gamers loved the shining NES gem—with its Light Warriors and sleeping elf princes and time conundrums—and the rest is … well, history.
Over the years, Final Fantasy has earned a reputation for more than just stellar graphic innovations and remarkable storytelling: It’s also put on its weight in hours. Each installment seems to bring another clock bursting with minutes that shower down upon gamers in pretty little sparkles, dazzling them with expansive worlds, epic battles, and tear-jerking plotlines. But is it becoming too much? Has the scurrying of feisty Chocobos feet swept dust over that line that begs, “Enough is enough?” Should I make like a Cactuar and flee already?
New Writing Gig and Review
When I said last time that it’s been a busy week, I really wasn’t kidding. Today I resigned from the Girls Entertainment Network, where I’ve been Comics Editor for almost two years. I’ll definitely miss the site and all the wonderful people who gave their endless support, patience, and friendship. If it wasn’t for them and the opportunity they provided, I wouldn’t have grown so much as a writer.
But where one door closes, another opens, as they so often say. I’ve accepted a new position at OneMetal.com, where I’ll mostly be publishing comics-related news, reviews, and the like—but also some video games and movies stuff now and then, too. It’s a very cool site, and the staff has been extremely generous and kind in welcoming me aboard. If you wouldn’t mind taking a minute to leave a comment and pass along the link to my first article, that’d be awesome.
Additionally, you’ll be able to track everything I write for OneMetal on my shiny author page.
The review is of The Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity, which comes out in early January from Vertigo. It’s fantastic, folks, so I hope you decide to pick it up (1/6 at your LCS and 1/12 in book stores). It’s only $10, which is even better.
Gifts won’t be the only things exchanged in the final days of 2009. Resolutions are the primary commodity of every new year, and they come and go with whims and that vulnerable platter of cookies your aunt just set out on the kitchen table. Everyone makes game-changing plans, sacrificing the little moments that become lost in the shuffle. This winter, instead of quaking boots and shattering earths, why not sit down with an equally breathtaking graphic novel? Sounds good, right? You bet your red and green-colored socks it is.
DC’s Vertigo division is essentially the dirty closet of the comics world. And while their books won’t make you lift an eyebrow at scandalous art, they will fulfill the expectations of readers looking for comics with a little more substance and mature themes. In comic shops on January 6 (or January 12 for book store browsers), writer Mike Carey and artist Peter Gross’ collaboration, The Unwritten, will arrive in paperback form. The volume binds the first five issues of the series, and before you let out that sigh of disappointment, keep in mind that these issues are particularly meaty. You know, in that wholesome good way.
