The story of Rick Grimes and his fight for survival starts here. In The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye, he wakes up alone from a coma to find the world overrun with zombies. He races out to Atlanta in hopes of finding his family while trying to make sense of what the world has become.
DC Universe: Legacies is the tale of a common man who grew up living in the DC Universe. As a child, Paul Lincoln saw the advent of the original Justice Society of America and grew up to watch the universe unfold from there. Now an old man, he recounts those stories of superhero heroics and how they connect with his own life. It’s a novel approach to retelling the rich history of a comic book juggernaut, though it also proves to be one with inherent flaws.
Holy blast from the past Batman! One of DC’s newest takes on The Dark Knight is actually a throwback to one his oldest, campiest and most iconic eras. Batman 66′ Vol. 1 contains all new stories set in the Batman universe that was popularized by Adam West and Burt Ward. No longer bound by the technology and production budgets of television shows of that time, Batman ’66 retains everything that made that show tick while blowing out the scale of their adventures in ways the show never could.
There was a time in the late 2000s when the game that eventually became Yomi was actually the Street Fighter card game. Created by David Sirlin while he was a developer at Capcom, the Japanese publisher unfortunately denied him the rights to the license and the game was released without Ryu and company. While Yomi is fantastic on its own, I can only imagine how much better and successful it could have been had it been able to use the Street Fighter license to add further credibility to the final product.
Years later, we finally get an official Street Fighter card game, courtesy of Cryptozoic Entertainment. Unlike Sirlin’s effort, which was crafted to simulate the Street Fighter experience as closely as possible, the Street Fighter Deck-Building Game is designed around an existing gameplay engine that currently powers deck-builders for DC Comics and The Lord of the Rings. Going in this direction doesn’t necessarily make for a bad game, but it’s lip service towards the source material will surely irritate fans of the franchise.
During the beginning of my X-Men vision quest, a vendor at Comicon strongly recommend checking out Astonishing X-Men. In particular, he told me to check out Joss Whedon’s run from issue #1-24. According to him, these were some of the best X-Men tales ever. I’ve kept that thought in the back of my mind until I stumbled upon both books in the Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection for half price.
For the purposes of this post, I’m just going to write about Book 1, which covers our heroic mutants through two story arcs: Gifted and Dangerous. I haven’t read enough X-Men to say where this fits in the pantheon of X-books, but this is at the very least some of the best material I’ve read yet.
Meeting your significant other’s parents is a big – and oftentimes awkward – step in anyone’s relationship. This adage holds true for Marko and Alana, as she meets her husband’s parents for the first time. With that said, the stress of this initial encounter is amplified by a number of different factors, such as tense race relations, a missing spirit doubling as a babysitter, and a host of assassins out for their blood, including Marko’s ex-fiancee.
Twenty episodes in, and Morning Glories is already rolling out their Saved By The Bell: The New Class? Introduced at the very end of Vol. 3, the Truants are a militaristic group of students on a mission. In this series of issues, their origins are explored, their connection to the original gang is explained, and their mission is outlined. These kids do kick butt, but do they make for entertaining comics?
Before Bruce Wayne wore the cape and the cowl, he fought crime as a faceless vigilante. Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year – Secret City focuses on his early days of crime fighting during a time when the people of Gotham presumed he was dead. At this point in time, the Red Hood Gang has the city in a stranglehold, and one Edward Nigma emerges from irrelevance to become one of Batman’s biggest foes.
Who you gonna call? The Phantom Society! Ok, that doesn’t have the same ring to it, but busting ghosts is goal in this board game from Iello. Of course, the thought of translating the Ghostbusters experience into a board game sounds sweet, though I was ultimately disappointed in it.
Do clones have souls? This existential question is the driving force behind X-23 Vol. 1: The Killing Dream. Conceived and raised as a killing machine, Laura Kinney goes on a quest to find her own path through life. Conceptually sound, the actual execution of issues 1-6 of X-23 fall a bit short in almost every respect.
In Third Person 