Pads & Panels

Title: Superman/Batman: Finest Worlds

Publisher: DC

Writers: Michael Green and Mike Johnson

Artists: Rafael Albuquerque

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

Superman/Batman: Finest Worlds collects three separate stories, examining the relationship dynamic between Superman and Batman that manages to walk the fine line of entertaining without falling apart at the seams. The three stories are independent of each other, with two of the stories answering fan service and the remaining delving into some untold history.

The first story concerns a pleasant story of Superman’s and Batman’s fathers and their random-chance encounter. Thomas Wayne witnesses an object plummet to the planet and land near his car as he and Martha are driving on the highway. He investigates only to be transported to Krypton prior to its explosion. Jor-El sent a reconnaissance device out to multiple planets in search of a planet to raise his only son. Readers know the ending, but the emotionally touching dialogue sheds a bit of light on the good of humanity and the two superheroes’ differences, as well as their similarities. It may not be an earth shattering revelation or a story with huge ramifications, but it certainly proves to be a good read. (more…)

Title: Superman/Batman: Enemies Among Us

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Mark Verheiden

Artists: Ethan Van Sciver, Matthew Clark, Ron Randall and Joe Benitez

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

Aliens are among the DC superheroes in Superman/Batman: Enemies Among Us. Some are heroes themselves or outright villains. Either way, Enemies Among Us addresses the fear the populous has in regards to the beings from “elsewhere,” including Earthbound supers.

With individual attacks on Gotham and Metropolis, Batman and Superman work together in an attempt to solve why the earthbound aliens are revolting against a world that welcomed them. Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Kilowog, The Martian Manhunter, Firestar, The Multi-Alien and Supergirl are just among some of the characters who fall under the influence of an unseen controlling presence. As the influence grows stronger, eventually Superman is manipulated, leaving Batman to free him before more harm comes to the planet. (more…)

Title: Superman: New Krypton Volume 2

Publisher: DC

Writer: Geoff Johns

Artists: James Robinson and Sterling Gates

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

The Kryptonians of Kandor managed to “kill” Doomsday in the previous volume of Superman: New Krypton and have taken it upon themselves to round-up the rest of Superman’s earthbound enemies. Their reasoning is simple; if these individuals pose a threat to The Man of Steel, they will eventually come knocking on their door.

A solid plan if one does not consider the ramifications of extracting said villains from their current imprisonment situations. Naturally, the collection of the bad guys ruffles the humans’ feathers because the Kryptonians are breaking these guys/gals out, and using violent means to do so. Members of Metropolis’ Science Police have been killed by a particularly irritable posse of Kryptonians and various superheroes that stand up to the break-outs are violently put down, and in some cases hospitalized. Alura, Supergirl’s mother, naturally orchestrated the plan, and authorized lethal force if necessary. (more…)

Title: X-Men [TV Series] Volumes 3 and 4

Format: DVD

Producers: Marvel Entertainment and Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Review by: John Gustafson

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released Volumes 3 and 4 of X-Men, the animated series, now that everyone has had plenty of time to re-watch the first two volumes.

It goes without saying that as Marvel Comics’ longest running animated series there is a special place in old fans’ hearts for this excellent cartoon. Having run from 1992 to 1997, with a total of 76 episodes over the course of five seasons, there was a favorite episode for each viewer, and plenty of opportunities to keep up with new episodes. (more…)

On Thursday, Sept. 24, Red Octane held a special DJ Hero event at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco. Chris Park attended, admittedly knowing little in advance about the game, but took some photos and videos, and gave the turntable a spin. He reports his impressions on the upcoming game… (more…)

Title: Roogoo Attack!

Platform: DS

ESRB Rating: E

Publisher: SouthPeak Games

Developer: SpiderMonk Entertainment

Review by: Sarah Kumley

In Roogoo Attack, Planet Roo has been taken over by the evil Meemoos. Roo was kept powered by colorful, falling shapes known as Magical Meteors. Some of the planet’s population of Roogoo, including the prince, has become corrupted by the power that the Magical Meteors hold and steal them for themselves. The player’s objective is to make sure that the Meteors reach Planet Roo and restore it to its original happy state. (more…)

Title: Raven Squad

Platform: 360 (Also on PC)

ESRB Rating: T

Publisher: Evolved Games

Developer: Atomic Motion

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

For every great game there is an equally poor one. It is called natural order, or the great balancing act. Whichever attribute one applies to the nature of the gaming scene, Raven Squad sits at the very bottom of the heap, promising to make every game that came before and after look that much better. Thank Raven Squad for being as bad as “playable” can be and Pads & Panels for playing it so the reader does not have to. (more…)

Consistently revered as one of the most realistic racing simulators ever created, the Gran Turismo series is set to hit the PSP in North America this Thursday, Oct. 1. We’ve been playing it for review for a couple weeks now, and will have a review posted day one! Sony Computer Entertainment was kind enough to send an extra redemption code for the downloadable PSP title for us to give away to one of our lucky readers. (more…)

Nintendo has officially confirmed a price drop for the Wii, and it officially goes into effect tomorrow, Sept. 27! The new suggested retail price for the Wii is set to be $199.99.

Microsoft also announced last month, for those that missed the news elsewhere, that the Xbox 360 Elite has dropped in price to $299.99, while the Pro model dropped to $249.99.

To round out the news, PlayStation fans will be happy to know the new 120GB slim model of the PlayStation 3 is retailing for $299.99.

Capcom announced last Wednesday at the Tokyo Game Show that Dead Rising star Frank West has been added to the official lineup for Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars. The fighting game is scheduled for North American release Jan. 26, 2010.