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Press Release

Image Expo is the premier comic con experience of Northern California in 2012. The three-day event takes place at the Oakland Convention Center February 24-25-26. Celebrating the creative spirit of independence, The Image Comic Expo commemorates the formation of IMAGE COMICS 20 years ago. But more than just looking to the past, the event showcases the evolving the comic market by spotlighting the future of the publisher.

Headline guests include IMAGE COMICS Founders & Partners Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri, and Jim Valentino. Special guests for Image Comic Expo include BK Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Blair Butler, Ed Brubaker, Joe Casey, John Layman, Jonathan Hickman, and many more!

The Image Comic Expo is a fan fest spanning the latest and greatest from the world of comic books. From a show floor packed with over one hundred exhibitors, to an exciting artist alley, and autograph sessions and master-class workshops that give fans a chance to interact with their favorite creators, the Image Comic Expo brings the best of popular culture to the Bay Area!

Ticket Sales for the 2012 Image Comic Expo are now available ONLINE. Please be sure to check back for General Admission and MVP Ticket Packages.

For more information please go to www.imagecomicexpo.com

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Gotham City Impostors, The upcoming first-person shooter featuring the DC license launched its beta yesterday. Here's the official word from the PR team:

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced that the Gotham City Impostors public console beta is now available in the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®Network. 

Those interested in joining the Xbox 360 version of the beta can go to https://www.gothamcityimpostors.com/beta/ to register for a chance to receive a key.  The PS3 version is available in the PSN and can be downloaded without a key.  

Gotham City Impostors is a download only title that will be available in the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network and Windows PC.  Fans of the game can go to www.GothamCityImpostors.com for the latest updates and news. 

Gotham City Impostors is an original first-person shooter where up to 12 players battle for control of an unhinged Gotham City overrun by impostors inspired by the DC Comics characters Batman and The Joker.  Players can engage in deliriously fast paced, uniquely vertical, completely unconventional urban warfare to level up and unlock a mind-boggling array of customization options that let them personalize their Batz or Jokerz Impostor with insane costumes and a huge assortment of traditional and homebrew weaponry, equipment, and perks. Gadgets such as the Glider Rig, Grappling Hook, and Spring Boots give gamers unprecedented mobility options, while support items like bear traps, boomerangs, and body armor open up crazy new tactical options.  The game will feature maps and modes inspired by DC Comics’ Batman license.

You can check out a couple of trailers for the game below. The gameplay looks like it could be a lot of fun.

--Brian
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by Brian LeTendre

I've been pretty interested in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for some time now. As a fantasy fan, the fact that R.A. Salvatore was writing the story and help create the world for a fantasy RPG was exciting. Todd McFarlane bringing his artwork to the game was also pretty intriguing. Add to that the fact that former MLB star Curt Shilling's game studio (38 Studios) was working on the game, and I was definitely interested in seeing what the creative team came up with.

The demo of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning arrived on the PS3, XBox 360 and PC last week, and I spent a good bit of time with it on PS3 last weekend. While the game wasn't exactly what I was expecting, I'm still leaning toward checking it out when it releases on February 7th.

When I say the game wasn't what I was expecting, what I mean is that I was expecting a dark, gritty, gory RPG--something of a cross between the original Dragon Age and the Elder Scrolls series. After playing the demo though, I think Reckoning is a lot closer to the Fable series than those other games. The tone of the game is by no means whimsical, but the presentation is more lighthearted, the character design is fairly cartoonish, and the color palette is much brighter than Dragon Age or Skyrim. It definitely reminds me of Fable.

From a mechanics standpoint, the are also some parallels to Fable. The combat is designed to be simple like in Fable, but Reckoning takes things a step further, and the result feels more like an action game than a tradional RPG, something more akin to God of War. The way weapon and magic wielding compliment one another in combat is very smooth, and combat overall is fun in Reckoning. In fact, the combat was easily the strongest part of the demo for me.

The story in Reckoning seems pretty interesting. You begin as a character who was recently killed, but through some new Dwarven magics, has been resurrected. The beginning of the demo involves an escape from the Dwarven stronghold that is under attack. After that, you get forty-five minutes to roam around the world, take on quests and explore.

One thing I wasn't really impressed with is the menu system in Reckoning. Looking at the various stats for your character, equipping items and paging through quests is just not as smooth as it could be and I felt like the descriptions and stas were too bare bones in that they didn't give me a clear enough picture of my character's status.

The other underwhelming part of the demo was the character creator. There just wasn't a lot of options for races and character appearance. I was really disappointed when I saw that Dwarves were not one of the playable races. I'm hoping that the options in the demo were just limited, and the character options in the final game will be greater, but I suspect that isn’t the case.

I think Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has the potential to be a really solid game. The moment to moment gameplay is fun, so if the story turns out to be good, then the things that bothered me in the demo won't be that big of a deal in the long run. I would definitely recommend downloading the demo and trying it. You can check out the trailer below, and then head to www.reckoning.amalur.com for more info.
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Next month, The Star Wars saga returns to the big screen in eye popping 3-D! The plan is for one release a year for the next six years. I’m surprised that there seems to be more anger and backlash about this than excitement!

For me being able to see prequel and original trilogy on the big screen is real exciting for me. I admit I’m a George Lucas apologist and with good reason… he created the best memories of my childhood!

In 1977 I was in 4th grade and moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut I was terrified. Of course I didn’t know anyone but I soon realized no one in East Windsor liked comic books, the New England Patriots or hockey. But what every kid loved was Star Wars! And because of that I was able to walk right into any conversation and be ok. So for that alone I love George Lucas.

And of course I will always defend him; new trilogy, ‘Howard the Duck’ and Greedo shooting first. Why? Because it’s his vision and his universe so he can do what he wants to with it. He is currently taking so much flack for the 3 – D releases as just ways to make money. So what is the problem with that? He has made money off me for years but I want to give it to him. I wanna see these movies in the theatre again and as long as George keeps putting them in there, I’ll be going. My choice!

So instead of taking it so personal or feeling like you wanna ‘stick it to the man’, just go or don’t go. Make your point with your wallet. If you don’t like ‘The Phantom Menace’, than don’t go see it. I happen to love the film, Jar Jar Binks and all! I will defend Mr. Lucas until the day I die for the way he colored my world. Luke Skywalker is as important to me as Captain America and The Beatles as far as the man (or at least the geek) I became.

I hated the Ewoks but I also don’t like ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’. However not liking those two things don’t make me angry; I just work around them. Those things shouldn’t distract from the entire bodies of work.

I can’t imagine my world without Star Wars… can you?
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Press Release

When Steve Niles (Criminal Macabre, 30 Days of Night) premiered artwork from his upcoming collaboration with artist Menton3 (Monocyte, Proof: Endangered, Crawl to Me) via his Twitter feed, speculation and anticipation spread like wildfire across the Internet. Dark Horse is proud to announce that this new vampiric tale will premiere in Dark Horse Presents! 

The Black Plague was a time of death and misery . . . except for the undead. For vampires, the Black Death was a welcome relief from being hunted and a time of incredible growth for the undead. On the night of their wedding, two vampire lovers are torn apart and separated for five hundred years, setting off a sequence of events that will bring the modern world to its knees!

“I haven’t been this excited about working on something in a long time. Menton3 is the perfect artist and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be doing this at Dark Horse,” Niles said. “This year I’m making a big push to become 100 percent creator owned. Nosferatu Wars will be a big part of that, I hope.”

Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith redefined the vampire genre with the groundbreaking comic series 30 Days of Night in 2002. Ten years later, Niles is poised to make history again, as he and Menton3 blow the sparkle off of the undead in Nosferatu Wars, premiering in Dark Horse Presents later this year!
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Folks who listen to the podcast have heard me talk about how much I've been digging Rob Liefeld's stuff lately. One title I was really enjoying was The Infinite, a book Liefeld was doing at Image with Robert kirkman. The book was about a time traveller named Bowen who goes back in time and recruits a younger version of himself to fight against a maniac who rules the future.

I've been following Liefeld on Twitter for awhile, and he tweeted a couple times about possibly having someone help out on inks for the book. A couple days ago, he tweeted that he had someone ink some pages of issue #5 that he really liked, but the rest of the team had a mixed reaction to.

Then on Saturday, Liefeld dropped this bomb on Twitter in response to a question from someone about the book:

"Unfortunately creative differences have sunk The Infinite. It's over."

He later tweeted in response to a follow-up question:

"Because of my desire that my work [look] the way I intended...it's over."

So...that's a big bummer. Like I said, I was really digging The Infinite, and there wasn't really another book like it out there. Liefeld will be busy of course, with all the stuff he's doing with DC's new 52, but it's sad to see The Infinite go. 

I'm sure we'll hear more about this story in the next few days.

--Brian
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So when I found out that DC was changing their logo I thought this may not be a good thing! But then when I saw it I was excited! Wow, this looks so cool…

(OK are all the DC suits gone?) 

So the reality is when I first saw it I thought this is not only a bad time to do this, but the new logo is downright awful looking!

When DC launched the ‘NewDC’ any changes should have been done there. After all, maybe a new universe could use a new logo. If a change was coming, than why not do it all once and create more of a distance between the old and the new. New DC and a new logo.

So now that we got the timing out of the way, let’s talk about the actual logo! With DC being in the visual business and having a zillion artists to draw upon to do a logo, how did they end up with this? This logo (the D peeling away to reveal the C) looks like it belongs on some old school equipment from the 1980’s. Compared to other current comic logos, this one doesn’t even catch your eye. If you’re not looking right, you may not even see a D and or a C! Wow. I don’t care what colors they use or the plan to customize it for each character (the above is a customized Flash one), this is not good at all.

Now before you start saying I’m just old school and that is true! I still long for the days of the classic ‘DC Bullet’ but I’m looking at this from a marketing and graphics design. This logo stinks! Check the message boards of any comic site and see that I’m not alone!

I hope this logo was released to throw people off the trail of the real logo, but I do think this is what we’ll be stuck with! A new logo won’t sell more books, but it sure can distract you when you read the ones you do get.
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It's a good day to be a Resident Evil fan. 

For starters, a demo of the upcoming Resident Evil Revelations showed up on the Nintendo 3DS eShop Thursday, and is available for download now. 

The game itself comes out on February 7th in North America. Here's the official synopsis:

Built from the ground up to take advantage of the Nintendo 3DS features, Resident Evil Revelations delivers an exceptional survival horror experience with outstanding visuals that bring the fear to life.

Resident Evil Revelations introduces a brand new storyline, locations and characters to the series. Playable , characters include BSAA members Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Keith Lumley with their partners Parker Luciani, Jessica Sherawat and Quint Cetcham.

Jill Valentine and BSAA partner Parker Luciani have been sent to search for Chris Redfield, whose last known GPS data positions him as being onboard a supposedly abandoned cruise ship. Danger hides around every corner as they explore the confined space of the ship and face a menacing new enemy and virus: the T-Abyss. 

If that wasn't enough, Capcom also announced that Resident Evil 6 will be arriving this November for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (a PC version will come later). You can check out the trailers for both Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 6 in the players  below. For more info on both of these games, head over to www.residentevil.com.
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So when I found out that DC was changing their logo I thought this may not be a good thing! But then when I saw it I was excited! Wow, this looks so cool…

(OK are all the DC suits gone?)

So the reality is when I first saw it I thought this is not only a bad time to do this, but the new logo is downright awful looking!

When DC launched the ‘New DC’ any changes should have been done there. After all, maybe a new universe could use a new logo. If a change was coming, than why not do it all once and create more of a distance between the old and the new. New DC and a new logo.

So now that we got the timing out of the way, let’s talk about the actual logo! With DC being in the visual business and having a zillion artists to draw upon to do a logo, how did they end up with this? This logo (the D peeling away to reveal the C) looks like it belongs on some old school equipment from the 1980’s. Compared to other current comic logos, this one doesn’t even catch your eye. If you’re not looking right, you may not even see a D and or a C! Wow. Apparently the logo will be customized to the character (above pictured is The Flash)I don’t care what colors they use, this is not good at all.

Now before you start saying I’m just old school and that is true! I still long for the days of the classic ‘DC Bullet’ but I’m looking at this from a marketing and graphics design. This logo stinks! Check the message boards of any comic site and see that I’m not alone!

I hope this logo was released to throw people off the trail of the real logo, but I do think this is what we’ll be stuck with! A new logo won’t sell more books, but it sure can distract you when you read the ones you do get.

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