Pads & Panels

Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up

Platform: Wii (PS2)

ESRB Rating: E

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Game Arts

Rating:

Review by: Dan Braun

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up is a perfect example of cashing in on a popular franchise without having to do anything creative or fun. The game unabashedly flaunts itself as a game in the same fighting vein as the Smash Bros. series, but it is clearly an inferior title, due to lame voice acting, muddled animation and just a poorly-executed fighting system.

The game offers an array of modes, ranging from arcade beat-em-up to a convoluted story. Unfortunately, it all plays relatively the same, save for the addition of some terrible cutscenes that provide an abhorrent plot and an earful of some of the crappiest dialogue performances one would ever want to sit through. (more…)

Product: “Big Baby” 1:4 Scaled Replica (Hellboy)

Company: Sideshow Collectibles

MSRP: $64.99

Review and Photos by: Eric Stuckart

When buying collectibles and novelty items from one’s favorite television, movie, comic or video game series, a number of criteria comes into play – the “cool” factor, craftsmanship and cost, among other things. While Sideshow Collectibles’ Hellboy “Big Baby” 1:4 Scaled Replica scores big points on the coolness scale, it loses on some other, more important factors. (more…)

Title: Bookworm

Platform: DS

ESRB: E

Publisher: PopCap Games

Developer: PopCap Games

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Kumley

The PC addiction of Bookworm is now available on the Nintendo DS. This version plays much like the original, with some new additions. The goal is to find and spell out words in a collection of letter tiles. Longer and more complex words net the player more points. The player can also unlock more library rooms by spelling longer words. Twenty bonus books offer players a chance to find specific words in the tiles. Each book has a different theme, with twelve words to find that vary in length and difficulty. There are three different modes to play: classic, action and multiplayer. The classic mode is just that – the original version. Action mode really keeps the player on edge by causing fire tiles to appear every few seconds and the game is over if they reach the bottom. Multiplayer mode pits players who also own Bookworm on the DS against each other in a race to be the first to reach a goal score. (more…)

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Sigh. It’s been a long weekend. Since becoming a “full-time” freelance writer, I’d almost forgotten until this weekend what it’s like to be on a work schedule, have to go out and put in 8 or more consecutive hours somewhere. I generally put in more than that a day with my writing, but being on a flexible schedule means it’s usually more broken up and interrupted a lot more often by the silly distractions that come so easily around the house. But it’s been both tiring, rejuvenating and a bit of fun to get out and do a few solid days of real work again.

Archie and I both worked, full disclosure, indirectly for Sony PlayStation this weekend at the Alli Dew Tour at Soldier Field in Chicago. It doesn’t mean we’re fan boys, and it doesn’t mean we’ll be giving preferential treatment to Sony’s games or hardware. We’ll still always provide honest opinions on games, and keep an objective view of what we do. It just means we needed some extra cash, and got hired by a marketing agency that handles Sony’s event marketing in Chicago, which for us meant standing inside and outside of a Sony tent, getting a chance to get our hands on PlayStation Move and talking to people about it, helping them play and learn more about it. (more…)

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I might actually be becoming a vampire… As I write this, it’s after 3 a.m. and just about every sane person that doesn’t have to be awake has long since gone to bed. Why am I awake at night and sleeping during the day? Despite my strong aversion to the works of Stephenie Meyer, I may be becoming what I most hate.

As far as I know, my skin doesn’t “sparkle” in sunlight yet, so that’s good. (more…)

The Walking Dead

Interview with Robert Kirkman

Interview by: Bill Jones

Robert Kirkman may be one of the greatest ambassadors to the comics medium alive. As a writer, he has created the best ongoing zombie series comics have seen in The Walking Dead, carved his own space in the realm of superheroes with the popular Invincible, and has tackled the horror-meets-superhero genre with The Astounding Wolf-Man. All of this while keeping control of his properties through the creator-owned publishing model of Image Comics. That is all, of course, in addition to his work at Marvel, where he became known for his run on Ultimate X-Men and launched the Marvel Zombies series. He also earns cred for starting his career with a concept as awesome as Battle Pope.

In addition to juggling a number of comics franchises, Robert Kirkman has been hard at work in the position of executive producer of AMC’s television series adaptation of The Walking Dead, set to debut this October, directed by Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile). Kirkman took some time earlier this month to answer some questions about his long-running zombie series and delve into the gory details of the upcoming show. Kirkman talks about seeing his comic come to life as a show, his philosophy on adaptations of his work, AMC, working with Frank Darabont, how fatherhood influences his work and what fans can expect from both the show and comic. (more…)

Title: 28 Days Later: London Calling

Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Writers: Michael Alan Nelson

Artists: Declan Shalvey

Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

London Calling catches up with Selena, one of three survivors from the original 28 Days Later, who is now hiding out in Norway after escaping the nightmares of a London completely infected with the Rage virus, turning all in its path into rabid, bloodthirsty monsters. Clint Harris is an American reporter looking for someone to lead him into quarantined London after getting a tip that a U.S.-led NATO force will be going in to start restructuring the area. Initially, she tells him to piss off, then something changes her mind. She joins Clint and his team – four “hardened” journalists who think they’ve seen it all and can withstand anything. Quite frankly, they’ve never withstood the Infected, and when the shit hits the fan by the end of the book, they’re left for dead on an island full of zombies. The main problem with the book is that the claustrophobic feel of the films is lost in the transition back to the comic book medium, and Selena is portrayed more like a badass zombie hunter, rather than a survivor fighting for her life. Although the artwork is good, the book is more action than suspenseful horror, and that’s where it forgoes what could have made for a great start to the new series. (more…)

Title: Daredevil Noir

Publisher: Marvel Noir

Written by: Alexander Irvine

Illustrated by: Tomm Coker

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Effectively Marvel’s answer to the Vertigo Crime line, the publisher has opted to give its most famous superheroes a once over with the noir style rather than create entirely new properties. While the idea sounds like a fantastic chance for readers to see their favorite characters in a new light, or lack thereof, the results have thus far been a mixed bag.

Case in point, Daredevil Noir, a title many have pointed out to be quite redundant. Daredevil, after all, in his mainstream incarnation over the last three decades, largely credited to a revamp by Frank Miller, has already had quite a touch of the noir influence. The only thing that really changes in Daredevil Noir is that Hell’s Kitchen reverts to the 1930s. Instead of being lawyers, Matt Murdock and his partner Foggy are private detectives, and the art style gets an overhaul courtesy of Tomm Coker. (more…)

Title: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Format: Blu-Ray

MPAA: PG-13

Director: Brandon Vietti

Writer: Judd Winick

Producer: Warner Bros., Premiere

Film Rating: Rating:

Blu-Ray Rating: Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

The Film

Based on Judd Winick’s original six-issue Batman story arc Under the Hood, Under the Red Hood streamlines and slightly modifies the original without compromising the writing or integrity of the story in the process. The end result is one of DC’s best animated films to date, and an absolute must-see for fans and newcomers alike. (more…)

Title: Red Dead Redemption

Platform: 360 (PS3)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Developer: Rockstar San Deigo

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

The Western is a dying genre. Kids aren’t outside playing Cowboys & Indians anymore. Western films have been few and far between, and recent ones haven’t been given wide releases. Unless of course, we count the recent adaption of Jonah Hex, but that crapfest would hurt the case for the Western.

A great reflection of society’s one time love for the Wild West and current disinterest in it could be summed up with Woody’s plight in the Toy Story series. Thankfully Rockstar dug up the Red Dead Revolver franchise and crafted an amazing Western experience with it in Red Dead Redemption. (more…)