My wife and I are pretty avid video game fans. We own every Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft console produced in the past 20 years, with a few handhelds and a Genesis in there for good measure. Up until recently though, we didn’t own a PS3, and there was a pretty big reason for that.

The first reason was the price. I wasn’t down with paying half a grand for a console, no matter how awesome or cutting edge the technology was. I resisted purchasing almost out of principle, because it just wasn’t worth the extra cash. The second reason was the games. I love platformers, and the Ratchet & Clank series seemed like a pretty cool group of games for the PS3 – but not enough to justify the price tag. There really wasn’t any other PS3 game that made me really want the system. Little Big Planet was close, and I considered Batman: Arkham Asylum for the Joker download, but there was still nothing that made me pull the trigger. Besides, I could get almost any PS3 game for my 360, so why spend the money? When the price dropped to $299 though, I was all over it. I was just about to pull the trigger when I received a PS3 Slim as a gift, as well as a copy of Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank. Times were good.

So after the Blu-Ray haze had worn off and the games were played, I put the PS3 controller down for a little bit to focus on some family stuff. This weekend I decided to treat myself to a game, but now I had a choice: PS3 or XBox 360?

I was looking at 2 games: MLB2K10 (pictured) and MLB10 The Show. I had played demos of both in the store, and MLB2K10 was looking like the stronger game. As I stood there, holding a PS3 and 360 version of the game in each hand, my wife said to me, “Well, if the PS3 has the better graphics, go with the PS3 version.” So I did.

I get home and I’m playing the game. Almost instantly I’m having controller issues, where the PS3 isn’t responding to my frantic button jabs. Then the cursor starts freaking out when I’m trying to place a pitch, then I have problems stealing second. 30 minutes later I’m cursing my decision. Four hours later I give it another shot, and I find that everything is working great and now it’s all good. No problems at all, like it never happened. So what was it? Hell if I know.

This experience shook my faith in the console. I’ve got an old NES that fires up every time I need it, and never complains. Although I understand that newer consoles are substantially more complex that the NES, that doesn’t mean that they should suffer from problems. Consoles should be reliable electronics, not requiring random updates and constant syncing. That goes for my 360 too, because even though it’s working fine now, I have had two units red ring out on me.

So now, when I go to the store and try to decide what to buy, I think my decision may be a bit easier. If it’s exclusive, I’ll go with that console. Otherwise, I’m getting it for the 360.

Are the Martians coming?

So, despite the fact that the real Captain America has been wandering around the Marvel Universe for a couple of months now, this week has finally seen the conclusion of the Captain America Reborn mini, and it had everything that we could ask for. Wrap-around cover, the Red Skull possessing a giant robot body, an army of baby M.O.D.O.K.s….

I mean, who can argue with an army of baby M.O.D.O.K.s?

Right, fan-boy gushing aside, there was little in this series that grabbed me. After about the second or third issue the story was predictable, and so all I was waiting for was the series to conclude. And is it me, or was it very very late?

I’ve come to expect from a story at least a few elements of what is featured on the cover. Now I appreciate this would have been a big story had it shipped on a reasonable schedule and the cover is highly symbolic, but I would have preferred a cover that didn’t feature practically everybody.

There were a few nice touches, such as Sin being hideously disfigured like her father. (Euwwww, that is not a thing to call a nice touch!)

Even more enticing was the vision of the War Of The Worlds type scenario, with giant tripods walking through the ruins of New York. Only these tripods look more like something that would come out of the Fault.

Maybe my hopes for the Realm Of Kings storyline reaching earth will come true after all.

Ever since I read the original Guardians Of The Galaxy, or maybe even dating back to the ancient days of Amazing Adventures, I have always wanted to read a skilfully executed version of the Martians invading the Marvel earth. Unfortunately the GOTG never provided that, the best I can think of is actually the Wisdom mini-series, but that invasion was cut short. (And of course, the Martians first strike in that series was where it should be, London.)

Does this one panel make up for a rather lacklustre series? No, but it does whet my appetite for what comes next.

I read somewhere that Batman is also bouncing through time. Well considering he was killed in a space-time well caused by Darkseid’s descent and should really have been resurrected alongside the rest of the universe by Superman’s use of the Miracle Machine at the culmination of Final Crisis, I suppose that makes sense. More sense than a chronal bullet in an assassination attempt. Let’s hope the return of the Bat is a little more spectacular than Cap’s.

Adventure Comics #5

In keeping with following the major crossovers, I want to take a small interlude today to look at a character whom it seems only has a place within a major crossover. He was introduced in one, played the villain in another, and after becoming increasingly depraved has only recently glimpsed the dim light of redemption on the horizon. Even though we all know it will not last.

I am talking of course, of Superboy-Prime.

DC Comics #87 where the character first appeared was one of my earliest DC comics, right in the middle of the Crisis On Infinite Earths. I was not then aware that Earth-Prime, our home, had been visited by the JLA in the past, as it was the home of Ultraa (now there’s a character who deserves a relaunch), and was the tale of a young boy discovering that he was that, er this earth’s version of his favourite hero. In fact the back-up strip that told his origin was the better story of the two, certainly for me, not even in my teens at that point.

So part of me was horrified at what Geoff Johns did with the character. His innocence, his hope, the fact that he was the ultimate in teenage comic fan-boy self-identification was all torn away, and for me, it didn’t really make sense. Surely a Superman couldn’t sink to such depths?

Now, since that point Earth-Prime has been re-introduced to the DC Multiverse, and somehow it avoids the cheesiness of the previous visits. Having young Clarks’ parents follow his exploits by buying the comics was a masterful touch.

In the recent Adventure Comics #5, Prime is forced to face his demons by donning a Black Ring. The Ring attempts to bring him to death, but when it initially fails, he is confronted with each aspect of the emotional spectrum.

Green willpower – his demand for respect unearned. Blue compassion, his regret for what he did to Laurie, not that we have seen what he did, but let’s face it, we all assume the worst. His desire for approval creates the orange light of avarice. His own personal kryptonite, his comics collection and the heroes that it contains are the yellow fear he refuses to acknowledge. And the red rage that consumes his soul? That rage he holds for himself, for the atrocities he has commited.

Why a Black Ring should mutate into the rings of other colours is not even touched upon here. Considering that with the Black Rings, it is they that wear the body and not vice versa, this does not make a lot of sense. However, here we see Clark transforming eventually into a Red Lantern (vomiting blood and all), which I think is another clue as to just how many of the dead will be resurrected. The obvious choice being Batman.

Even if the conclusion of Final Crisis did rather intimate that Bruce was alive and well on the new Earth 51, now the alleged home of Kamandi and the reborn New Gods, not that we have seen them yet. Now there is a story I am eagerly awaiting,

I really hope that this is the first step in redeeming Superboy-Prime, although I’m not so sure about his undead girl-friend. Then again, in Outsiders, the zombie-Terra seems on the up-and-up. So far. Not that we are all waiting for that axe to fall.

However, the thought of a wholescale resurrection of everyone does not fill me with enthusiasm. One thought though – if Nekron’s reign over the dead is toppled, but the Black Rings keep working, without the need to empower themselves by eating hearts, now that might be cool. Anybody up for a Zombie-Lantern ongoing series? Or a zombie-Batman in Blackest Knight?

Guardians of the Galaxy #20

Guardians of the Galaxy #20 this week hinted at what I hoped to see the direction that Realm Of Kings is going in, and it looks like we shall receive the best of both worlds. Primarily focused on character development, the issue shows hints that the Magus is not as dead as the Guardians would like to see (which can only be a good, erm, I mean bad thing), and the Lovecraftian menace from the universe the other sidfe of the Fault makes its presence felt on Knowhere.

I don’t think I have mentioned just how much I adore the idea of Knowhere, the head of a decapitated Celestial containing the Continuum Cortex, the organ with which the former Celestial remained in telepathic contact with his brethren across time and the Multiverse. It is sort of a mix between the Nexus Of All Realities and the DCU’s Vanishing Point. It floats near the ‘end of the universe’ and all different species from all different points in space and time come to Knowhere to study and observe the end of the universe from the closest accessible structure.

With this, and the recent addition of the Infinite Avengers Mansion, the scope of the Marvel Heroes seems to have vastly increased. This is a welcome relief from the darkness of what’s going on on Earth currently, I have even found myself turning to Deadpool for some light relief. Still I cannot criticise the Dark Reign at all, it is spotlighting characters that otherwise would have languished in obscurity (such as Ghost in the Thunderbolts) and is making me hungry to see the overthrow of Norman Osbourn. However it is nice to take a break from it.

Looking at the other side of the fence, Blackest Night #5 picks up the pace of DC’s crossover event, with an ending that rather took me by surprise, although I rather think we can see how Bruce Wayne will be returning from the dead. I dearly hope I am wrong here, I would like to see him remain dead for a good few years yet. After all, we know he will return, that’s a when more than an if.

If anything should bring Batman back, it should be Darkseid. After all, whoever is slain by Darkseid’s Omega beams can be resurrected by the very same. Then again, the Dark God is dead, although we have not seen anything of the new Kamandi’s world where the New Gods are apparently reborn. If New Genesis is there, Darkseid cannot be that far behind.

However, the recent Outsiders crossover with Blackest Night has made me wonder. Just how much does Nekron control his zombies? The behaviour of the Black Ring bearing terra has made me wonder. She turns up all repentant and upset, not driven by the urge to consume hearts and emotional power from the team, but asking for their help! Is she merely preparing her food so that when she finally feasts, the betrayal is that much stronger? Terra is a mistress of manipulation, but that just seems way too obvious for me. Then again, the younger readers will not necessarily have seen that side of her personality, maybe the writers think we need a refresher course?

Brave and the Bold #29

J Michael Straczynski has done it again. Every time he slips from my attention, he comes out with another superb story.

I wasn’t even born when Brother Power the Geek #1 first hit the stands, my first exposure was in the pages of the original Who’s Who in the DC Universe, just as I was learning my way around the DCU. I found the idea of him, well, quirky to say the least. Kitsch. A symptom of the post-Werner (Seduction Of The Innocent) sillyness that swept the comics industry. Endearing maybe if you read it as a child, a very young child, but not for a young teenager in the Eighties. Happy days. I was so sure of my maturity, a good sign that I possessed very little of it.

So when I finally encountered the animated mannequin; given life by lightning and the gift of “wet and bloodied ‘hip threads’” hung upon it by a pair of hippies squatting in a tailors shop; it was at the capable hands of Neil Gaiman, in Swamp Thing Annual #5, way back in the early nineties. Gaiman turned him into a form of elemental, returning to earth after being fired into space by Govenor Ronald Reagan. Yet another being created by the Earth to defend itself, Power was now a doll elemental, connecting with human simulacra such as dolls, dummies, statues, etc. He could be called a toy elemental, or even a trash elemental. I remember a scene where Brother Power was leading a herd of lost socks, in fact that has alway stuck in my mind.  I never looked at laundry in the same way again. He returned in another Vertigo one shot, and then was never seen again.

And after a very long wait, he returns this week in Brave And The Bold #29, teaming with Batman. One may think that this is an unusual pairing, but it is not the first time they have encountered each other.

The highlight of the issue for me is more the contradiction between the two personalities, rather than between the two eras of today and the sixties. Still, Brother Power is based upon an idealised version of the sixties hippy culture, and the flashbacks are quite illuminating. The story walks a fine line between kitsch and relevance, if tending to the preachy a little.

However, this is what I enjoy about the current DC. Unlike the eighties they no longer throw the baby with the bathwater. After all, there was a reason why they didn’t go out of business in the kitsch years, and the preponderance of super boys, girls, cats and monkeys has a certain charm when handled right.

So I will be looking for a herd of crime-fighting socks in the future! I hope it’s not too long.

Marvel Apes: Prime Eight #1 Cover

I’m regressing again this week.

Last week was a big week for the Marvel Zombies, but I have to confess, the Marvel Zombies Return #1 was somewhat of a disappointment. It didn’t grab me like the previous stories had done, in fact it seemed more like a sterile intellectual exercise, more a lower grade “What If?” than a story that will keep me coming back for more.

The best zombie action was in my humble opinion in the Apeverse, with the Marvel Apes Prime Eight Special. A selection of Marvel Zombies, close to the original grouping but pretty obviously from yet another alternate arrive on this world, while the grand-daughter of Nick Furry (sic) comes back in time to ensure her timelines continued existence.

It was a long time before I would look at Marvel Apes, the concept seemed too much like another Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham to me. However, upon reading the later issues (I’m still hunting down the original series), I was hooked. The addition of the natural ‘survival of the fittest’ philosophy where the strongest monkeys raise to the top of their society took the series beyond just a cartoon version of the mainstream heroes. Not very far beyond admittedly, but far enough to engage me.

I have just developed a love of the Apeverse, and I do not want to see it fall prey to the zombies already, but there looks to be a very slow infection there. Prime Eight barely even touched on the story of the monkey Speedball, the Gibbon and their friends, but in no way did this detract from the issue.

Staying on the topic of zombies, after a very quiet week last week, today sees the release of Blackest Night:Batman #2, and Green Lantern Corps #40. If you haven’t jumped on yet, with the second printing of Blackest Night:Batman #1, now is an ideal time to grab both issues. I was sold on the Blackest Night, but the Batman tie-in has reawakened my love of all things Gotham.

Another catch-up this week is the trade release of the War That Time Forgot. An excellent series, that if you remember the days of the old war, historical or sci-fi titles of the sixties and seventies, is one not to be missed. It was a treat to see characters that have not been seen for a long time get an airing again. It looks like Merryman stuck in Limbo is losing friends hand over fist.

On that note, isn’t it time for a new Inferior Five series? Or at least Angel and the Ape?

Blackest Night #2 Cover

Recruiting today! Excellent new cosmic corps with prospects. Wanted, candidates who can give their hearts to the job. Essential requirements: Dead.

Blackest Night really picks up this week with the release of the second issue and Blackest Night – Batman #1. Both of which rock, and as I thought, all of my doubts have been vanquished. I refuse to give any spoilers here, suffice to say that all of my previous questions have been answered with one of the newest Black Ring bearers – Boston Brand, the Deadman.

The horror aspect of the story is played nicely against the form of Tempest the former Aqua Lad, and Mera, and we also get to see how the magical community perceives the threat of the Black Rings. Briefly. Dolphin shows us just how the rings repair their hosts. Meanwhile, we see the fate of Hawkman and it really sinks home – how many more will fall?

I would certainly add a parental advisory to this title. This is not for the youngsters.

Blackest Night – Batman continues some of the story of Deadman, and for a non-Batman reader like myself, grants a little insight into Damien’s personality and the new status quo (for as long as it lasts) in the Gothamverse.

Another treat this week is Adventure Comics #1, showing Superboy back in Smallville as promised, but the final page of his story has a wonderful twist, giving us another glimpse in Conner’s tortured mind. Yes I think he’s tortured, even at the best of times, wouldn’t you be? He hasn’t even had time to react to the knowledge he is half Superman, half Lex Luthor.

The Legion Of Super-Heroes back up story is promising, but I have one point to make. In a roll-call panel, they mix up Night Girl and Shadow Lass! My purist shock and outrage aside, with the enormous cast of characters in the Legion, this is unforgivable, and confusing (or at least it will be) to new readers.

That aside, we learn how the Legion Espionage Squads mission in the past is not yet over. I will contain my outrage and follow the story eagerly!

DC Comics has said that the events that are happening right now will have far reaching repercussions in the Batman universe. I can’t wait to find out what it’s going to be.

And speaking of repercussions, I am also eagerly awaiting the big things that are going to happen with Green Lantern. But that’s another blog post.

The story is entitled “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”. If you’re a big comicbook fan you’ll immediately know why anticipation is so great for this project. The title is an homage to Alan Moore’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, a two-issue story that basically closed a whole chapter on Superman, effectively closing his Silver Age roots and preparing him for the amazing reboot that John Byrne was readying for him. The story is considered as one of the greatest Superman stories ever told.

Hopefully, Gaiman and Kubert will equal this feat with the Dark Knight.

Newsarama reports that Batman fans, Lego Fans, and fans of the insanely popular Lego Star Wars games will have something else to geek out about in 2008.

Warner Bros. announced today that they will be releasing a Lego Batman game that follows the same style and model of the highly successful Lego Star Wars series.

The game is set for a 2008 release, most likely to coincide with the release of “The Dark Knight” which is set to hit theaters on July 18th of 2008.

We’ll have more info on the sure fire hit when it is released.