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Archive for the ‘OneMetal’ Category

Published: Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Review: Tank Girl: Skidmarks

The movie Tank Girl grabbed my attention, showed it a good time, and then debased it (and my morals) while skipping around singing musical numbers and making out with kangaroo men. The new Titan Books trade Skidmarks pretty much pulls the same trick, only I’m wise to its act—or at least indifferent.

Read the full review at OneMetal, or hey, hunt down the book and see for yourself: Bollocks.

Conceived from the British minds of Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, the punk rock female powerhouse known to indie comics readers as Tank Girl struck infamous gold for its brash dialogue and dramatic, almost psychedelic visuals (Hewlett would later animate the band Gorillaz). The title even inspired a film that bombed the box office despite rocketing ambition. Previously, Titan Books introduced audiences to a compilation book called The Cream of Tank Girl. Now Skidmarks ranks as the publisher’s latest, first appearing as a twelve-part series in Judge Dredd Magazine.

With her reckless friend Barney needing expensive medical care, Tank Girl enters the no-rules Watermelon Race at a chance at snatching the first place, multi-billion dollar cup prize. Rufus Dayglo, whose talent has decorated Tank Girl comic pages before with The Gifting and Visions of Balooga, illustrates Rebecca and her pals as they squash rival cars and speed toward the finish line, her beloved Balooga co-manning the tank. Of course, their hopeful clean victory hits a few bumps along the road, including a technical snag, a dangerous shortcut, and a lead-footed new competitor.

Published: Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Preview: Knights in the Nightmare

Yesterday I attended a demo for the upcoming PSP edition of Knights in the Nightmare. For those who have played the game on the DS, Atlus is tweaking a few key details that might have given you a headache before. Even I’m excited for this tactical RPG/bullet hell mania title, which hits stores October 19.

Check out my full preview at OneMetal.

Knights in the Nightmare, the tactical RPG that advertises “Bullet-hell heaven in the palm of your hand,” crashes onto the PSP this October. Atlus is adapting the Nintendo DS original that broke fingers and throbbed heads with its complicated and super real-time insanity into a much more user-friendly format. After sitting in on the latest demonstration, we at OneMetal have your inside scoop on both the story and fast-paced gameplay action.

During the demo, the good folks at Atlus stressed two main aspects of the Sting Entertainment-developed game: story and battles. A good chunk of our time was spent examining the actual battles and the renovated tutorial features, so let’s first breeze over the story highlights that will interest both new and old players.

Published: Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Review: Fogtown

Personally, I don’t get noir. I mean, I get noir, but I don’t understand why anyone in the twenty-first century still enjoys film or book noir, in which misogyny and frivolous women reside. Maybe it’s a girl thing, but hey, misogyny is kind of dumb if you ask me, not all women are fickle, and anybody who calls me a dame will promptly get punched in the face.

Anyway, Fogtown is a good example of what doesn’t work about noir, which is a tricky genre as it is.

Check out my full review over at OneMetal.

Vertigo Crime invites readers into the seedy underbelly of a 50s San Francisco with Fogtown, a noir-styled graphic novel told from the perspective of a private eye named Frank Grissel. The often drunk detective has more than a skeleton or two hidden in his closet.

Published: Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Marvel Hypes Iron Man – Extremis

Today Marvel announced the upcoming Iron Man – Extremis DVD. While the press release made no mention of the motion comic, I’m guessing since Marvel Knights Animation’s name is attached, this is basically a mainstream release.

Iron Man blasts onto home entertainment shelves later this year … probably knocking out a wall or two with the sheer, unbelievable Repulsor force. Oh, yes. You’ll need these coming months to prepare.

Check out a trailer for the motion comic below. You can read about the DVD details here, at OneMetal.

Published: Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Review: Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story

Mat Johnson, writer of Incognegro, and Simon Gane, artist on The Vinyl Underground, release their Hurricane Katrina tribute Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story tomorrow. The style of this book reminds me of more “serious” graphic novels like Fun Home and the recently published Revolver. Vertigo Comics puts out another good one.

You can read my early review of Dark Rain at OneMetal.

Five years after the water hit shores, Mat Johnson and Simon Gane still acknowledge the need for remembering the widespread destruction Hurricane Katrina caused. Their tribute, Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story, goes on sale tomorrow from Vertigo Comics and inspires a story of hope.

When Katrina lands, surprising even New Orleans locals with its severity, wronged ex-cons Dabny Arceneaux and Emmit Jack leave their assigned halfway house to capitalize upon their blessing in disguise. With the flooded population seizing every opportunity to escape to higher and safer ground, “J.D.” and his unlikely partner “Rockefeller” contact the security force Dark Rain, hoping they’ll lend their expertise in robbing Louisiana’s now vulnerable Banque de Congo Square. But Driggs, who leads the Dark Rain company of post-duty soldiers embittered over the government’s cold shoulder treatment, also specializes in backstabbing and corruption (a theme that undercurrents the book), and he tasks his team with beating the undermanned and unprepared Dabny and Emmit to the bank.

Published: Saturday, August 14th, 2010

High in the Clouds: Bioshock Goes Infinite

More Bioshock, please! Check out the star-spangled news (with a teaser trailer and screens) at OneMetal.

Irrational Games promises to return the Bioshock series to red, white, and blue form with Bioshock Infinite. The sea is so three years ago. Come visit the city in the clouds.

2K Marin departed Bioshock from its original creative talent for the lesser praised sequel, but the company is graciously stepping aside for the third installment in the series, a property that Irrational Games has reclaimed. 2K president Christoph Hartmann recently announced, “We believe that Irrational Games will lend their meticulous attention to detail and unique storytelling expertise to make BioShock Infinite an incredible entertainment experience that will immerse new and diehard fans of BioShock alike.”

Published: Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Review: The Iron Saint Vol. 1

Jason Rubin struts his creative stuff with the trade release of The Iron Saint (formerly Iron and the Maiden). These spunky characters should be video games bosses!

After reading that Jason Rubin, co-founder of Naughty Dog and the creator of Crash Bandicoot and other successful platforming series, had dipped his creative pen in Top Cow’s ink, my heart was won. Rubin originally produced Iron and the Maiden for Aspen Comics before turning the characters over to the capable publisher Top Cow. Renamed The Iron Saint (an apparently acceptable substitute for the sue-happy Iron Maiden band), the comic’s first volume hit stands today. So does Rubin work his magic for creating iconic, cartoon mascots onto a hundred-plus colored pages illustrated by Joel Gomez and Francis Manapul? You can bet your furry whiskers on it.

Read the full review at OneMetal.