Pads & Panels

Title: Tournament of Legends

Platform: Wii

ESRB: T

Publisher: Sega

Developer: High Voltage

Rating: Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

In May of 2009, High Voltage revealed Gladiator AD, a promising-looking and rather gory take on roman gladiatorial combat for the Wii. During the course of development, however, it eventually evolved into what is now Tournament of Legends.

Unfortunately, along the way it lost many of the things that made the original concept interesting. Combine this with the game’s numerous glitches and unresponsive controls, and the end result is a legendary amount of wasted potential. (more…)

Product: The ThinkGeek 8-Bit Tie

Company: ThinkGeek

MSRP: $19.99

Review by: Jason King

Need to geek out your wardrobe? ThinkGeek has just the tie for the occasion. If Link needed to go to a formal event in Hyrule, this is likely the tie he’d wear (and, owing to its blue color, he might even discover he took half-damage). The tie is a clip-on – it would be difficult to imagine this would work any other way, really – and comes in blue or red. It is made of silky microfiber polyester, it’s 20 inches long and handmade.  Be warned, though, to those that didn’t spend their youth playing 8-bit Nintendo, the boxy tie will look a little … odd.

For more info, www.thinkgeek.com

Pads & Panels received an 8-Bit Tie courtesy of ThinkGeek for review purposes.

Title: Almost Silent

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Writer: Jason

Artist: Jason

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Jason’s work is arguably some of the most masterful in the comics medium. He has a spectacular knack for visual storytelling, using the medium to its fullest, and words to their fewest. With a simplified style highlighted by anthropomorphic animals, a subtle sense of expression and the perfect dose of humor, his digestible stories are near-perfect reads. But at lengths that are more comics novellas and less graphic novels, the paperbacks can get a bit pricey at $9 to $17 a pop. But Fantagraphics stumbled upon a great idea last year in publishing Jason’s serialized “Low Moon” strip in a hardcover edition, filling it out with other short works from the author. The publisher has employed the same mentality with Almost Silent, giving readers their first shot at the collected material of Meow, Baby!, Jason’s short stories and gag strips, for the first time in years. This time, instead of filling it out with previously unpublished material, Fantagraphics compiles the previously released Tell Me Something, You Can’t Get There From Here, and The Living and the Dead, the former two of which are also out of print. (more…)

Title: Batman: International

Publisher: DC

Writers: Alan Grant, Mark Waid

Artist: Frank Quitely, Diego Olmos, Arthur Ranson

Rating:

Review by: Eric Stuckart

As the title implies, Batman: International details some of Batman’s adventures outside of his crime-infested home of Gotham City. What readers get is three stories. “Scottish Connection” is about Batman trying to solve a crime linked to his ancestors. “Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight” details another showdown between the Caped Crusader and Killer Croc, this time focusing on St. George and the Dragon. Finally, there’s “Tao,” in which Batman encounters an enemy he made during a trip to China during his formative years. Unlike many Batman story arcs, these stories are far too short to really go anywhere, which makes them good for a short Batman fix, but there really isn’t much to them. However, most Batman fans aren’t looking for a quick fix, and these tales don’t delve into the psyche or mystery of the character. The artwork of the three tales differs, too. Frank Quitely’s inimitable style complements references to Scotland’s weather, along with subtle, muted tones courtesy of Matt Hollingsworth and Brad Matthew. Diego Olmos depicts a more lithe, lean Batman than anyone is used to seeing. And Arthur Ranson’s artwork, while sketchy and old-school in nature, is vividly brought to life by now-defunct comic coloring house Digital Chameleon. (more…)

Title: Iron Man 2

Platform: 360 (PS3, Wii, PSP)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega Studios San Francisco

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

Games like Iron Man 2 only reinforce the stereotype that movie franchise games tend to allow for the quality to be completely thrown out the window in favor of getting it on shelves by the time the movie premieres. It also shows that the best of intentions don’t always pan out. (more…)

So we’ve been talking here at Pads & Panels, and we’ve come to a decision. You guys really need to start reading a bit more. We’re reasonable people, though. We’re not going to send you off to buy summer reading from the Victorian Era that doesn’t even include zombies. No, we accept comics as reading, and we’re prepared to give you some fun books.

From the people over at Pantheon, we’ve got a really nice hardcover copy of Dash Shaw’s latest, BodyWorld, to give away. If you’re not familiar with Dash Shaw, trust us when we say he puts a Chris Ware level of genius and insanity into the production of his books. And for the crafters out there, Penguin brought to our attention and then provided for giveaway two copies of a book by Diana Schoenbrun called Beasties. It’s a cool crafting book that shows readers how to make 22 monsters out of crafting supplies. So we’re going to do our usual contest, which involves commenting on stories throughout the week. At the end of the week, we’re going to randomly pick one first-place winner to receive a copy of each book, and a runner-up will receive only a copy of Beasties. Read more for the official rules. (more…)

Title: Madden NFL 11

Platform: 360 (PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS, iPhone)

ESRB Rating: E

Publisher: EA Sports

Developer: EA Tiburon

Rating:

Review by: Dan Braun

With EA owning the exclusive rights to football for the past few years, every fall, gamers face the same question: “Is this year’s Madden worth buying?”

It’s a nagging question, as nearly everybody on this side of the pond loves (real) football, but nobody wants to shell out for a paint job and roster update. Madden NFL 11 delivers enough to justify its place for both new users and veterans, but may not be the best update for the franchise. It looks wonderful and plays smoothly most of the time, but terrible play calls, online issues and a few other question marks and it’s hard to dub this the pinnacle of the series. (more…)

Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright

Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh

Producer: Universal, Scott Pilgrim Productions

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is 112 minutes of pure fun, plain and simple. In a world where comic book films have either hit the dramatic prominence and cinematic quality of The Dark Knight, fail trying, or lose themselves to bad jokes and shitty dialogue, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the reminder that comic books don’t have to be serious; they can be a hell of a lot of fun, and their movie adaptations can play by the same rules. (more…)

Title: The Vietnam War: A Graphic History

Publisher: Hill and Wang

Writer: Dwight Jon Zimmerman

Artist: Wayne Vansant

Rating:

Review by: Jason King

The graphic novel The Vietnam War: A Graphic History is quick to make its poignancy felt – immediately beginning with parallels to America’s current conflicts and the underpinning of “Vietnam” as a word in American history for loss, failure and for Pyrrhic victory. Despite this, most Americans know little of the war aside from the fact that it was a war America did not, and perhaps could not, win. Without a solid history book’s worth of reading, The Vietnam War: a Graphic History does an admirable job of conveying an important, well-written narrative of the war, while being an entertaining, informative read. (more…)

Title: “Marvel Level Kit” DLC for LittleBigPlanet

Platform: PS3

Publisher: Sony

Developer: Media Molecule

Review by: Bill Jones

Sony has teamed with Marvel to offer more developer-created platforming content for LittleBigPlanet in the form of the “Marvel Level Kit.” The kit hit the PlayStation Store the same day as the first of several planned Marvel Costume Packs, the first one comprising Iron Man, Thing, Daredevil, Doctor Octopus and Mystique. And while Sackboy versions of Iron Man and Doctor Octopus are absolutely adorable, it’s the level pack that deserves the real attention. Media Molecule gives Marvel the full treatment, with four brand-new levels created by the developer, along with an extra background, three music files, 24 create objects and 156 stickers for players to use on their own levels. But with four awesome levels that pit up to four heroes against the maniacal plans of Magneto, it’s the developer stuff that should attract the most attention. (more…)