And now for something pretty AWESOME...

If you thought that talk of a Transformers movie was just a load of bull, check THIS out.



I can almost hear "You've got the touch" playing in the background... WOOHOO!

Overtime X


Overtime, Assemble!

Who says I haven't been able to do any comics lately? Take tons of overtime, inebriation from soft drinks, a random discussion about Image Comics in the 90s, a digital camera, Photoshop and an inexplicably large amount of free time and you get THIS. The Salt Mines Crew just flipped our collective lids and struck a group superhero pose ala WildC.A.T.s or Stormwatch. It's actually grown into a full-blown digital comic- glorious non-action in multiple panels that you can find here. Unfortunately I'm not really in the issue but what the heck. Heh.

Local Comics Stuff

On my end of local comic publication, the Angel Ace graphic novel is still main on my thoughts. I've decided to include the Angel-Kai friendship and the SIVA origin chapter (which is a book in itself) into it, as well as tying up the loose end from Angel Ace Next (which gave rise to K.I.A.) in the book... it won't do for Angel to just let her best friend get sent through hell and back without batting an eye. The book is still in the writing/concept phase, though I am trying to get started on actual pencils. It's hard, I have to admit. But once I get started, this should go fast.

On the flipside, Project KRIS is happening. I am going to say though that this comic is NOT what anyone here probably expects- for one thing, it's not a mainstream release comic and I am only writing it (art is being done by someone else). Once it is done, I may show it here. Suffice to say that Project KRIS is funding Angel Ace, so that's what's making it worth my while.

As for other stuff, I still am seriously considering doing a webcomic. It's just a matter of deciding on the content. Kunoichi Boy and K.I.A. installments are okay, but I want something new. We'll see what I think up of as it happens.

On other local comics releases, I got to see the manga zine edition of Psicom's Otaku! zine. All I can say is... they need an editor, bad. Typos and wrong grammar abound, while the content is all derivative of existing manga/anime with art varying from amateurish to passable in quality. Not even the glossy paper and color printing can make me get into this. Can't fault them for trying, but it's not a good try.

That's that for now. See you on the comic stands, people!

Hitting Pause

After a week of continuous brainstorming, overtime office stay-overs, delivered fast food and lost weekends, I finally got a bit of a break today. Of course, it's just a day off but these little things are enough to keep a guy sane (even MADmen need to keep a bit of sanity). I'm not sure it it's a sign of age or just of the times, but I'm now pretty content to just stay in at The Sanctum to kick back and enjoy the abundant baubles and pleasures I collected during my more outgoing, impulse-buying days. Maybe it's because of the DSL connection that lets me download my anime and media instead of having to hunt for it in some mall or black market.

Anyway, today is a rest day so the only stress I am allowing myself is to decide on what to do tonight- either traipsing into some musty tomb with my brand new copy of Tomb Raider Legend on the Xbox360 or watch some DVDs. Decisions, decisions.

Finger-licking Good


Click Play to see the Trailer!

From Gerry Alanguilan, comics extraordinaire and creator of Wasted and tons of cool grafiction comes Elmer, a truly unique local comic in these days of generic superheroes and manga rip-offs. What is Elmer all about?

ELMER is a window into an alternate Earth where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, where they consider themselves a race no different than whites, browns or blacks, and push to recognize rights for themselves as the newest members of the human race. It tells the story of a family of chickens who live and struggle to survive in a suddenly complicated, dangerous and yet beautiful world.
ELMER is published through Komikero Publishing and Alamat Comics, and will run a projected 4 issues. First issue is 32 pages. 5.5"X8.5" Color covers, black and white interiors.
Elmer is now available in Comic Quest Megamall, Comics Odyssey Robinson's Place Malate and Druid's Keep in Magallanes. For a look, go visit Gerry's Komikero Website.

I've yet to read this, but I'll be sure to grab a copy once I get to pass by CQ. As a lover of fried chicken myself, this is sure to be an interesting read...

Out of the Closet


The new Batwoman. Cross Silver Age design with Batman Beyond colors and personality from Will and Grace.

Recently, DC has just revealed the all-new, controversial Batwoman, who will be appearing in the weekly series 52 (which chronicles the missing year that passed after the company's monumental Infinite Crisis and just before the One Year Later issues. Batwoman first appeared in the final issue of IC, but only recently has there been solid info on her.
This new Batwoman's secret identity is one Kathy Kane, a lesbian woman who apparently has ties or past links to both disgraced police officer Renee Montoya and Bruce Wayne. According to DC's Executive Editor Dan Didio, they wanted to refresh the Batwoman character, giving her an all-new ideology, personality, backstory and treatment that's in line with the radical changes brought about by Infinite Crisis. "Blame Superboy Prime," is the catch phrase. This new Bat Family member is a member of high society as well as being gay, and will have been operating in Gotham in the year that Batman left for his sabbatical after IC. The character's costume was designed by none other than Alex Ross, who gave nods to both the Silver Age Batwoman design and the black-and-red color scheme from Batman Beyond.

So what will Batwoman's sexual orientation do to affect her storylines? Will we see her getting intimate with Gotham's femme fatales? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It should make for some new ways of approaching interactions between characters. The new Batwoman will be making her debut in July's 52 #11.

As for me, I'm curious about the character but I'm still quite pissed by the fact that Cassandra Cain has been transmorgified into a "Lady Shiva Junior" as head of the League of Assassins in the Robin title. Well, according to Didio's teasing remark, there may be a future yet for Cassie as Batgirl... maybe. Grrr. Whatever. We'll see what happens in the colorful world of comics in the next several weeks.

Bullets and Broads


Trash-talking, tattooed, gun-toting, violence-prone Levi. Yep, I like her.

I've already been through every single episode of Avatar, including the latest one (which I was able to download and watch a day after it premiered). Since the next episode of the Aang Gang's adventures won't be for another week, I decided it would be good to get myself interested in another show while I'm waiting.

That show turned out to be Black Lagoon, a slick new anime from Madhouse (Ninja Scroll) and Geneon. While Avatar, a US cartoon, is all about positive values along with the solid, epic storyline and martial arts magical action, this properly Japanese anime is pretty much everything a parent would probably NOT want her kids to see. Black Lagoon is, to put it simply, about the adventures of a gang of pirates. No, not even loveable rogues like Captain Jack Sparrow... these are mean, nasty folk who tote guns and would shoot you as soon as look at you. The only thing that separates the crew of the PT Boat Black Lagoon from the rest of the armed rabble and mercenary scum of their world (which seems to consist of the waters in the East China Sea) is their hard sense of honor and a slight nice streak. Very slight.

The first episode of course introduces us to our surrogate into this vicious world of modern buccanneers- Okajima Rokuro, a young Japanese salaryman who just wants to live a normal life in his regimented, regulated office. Unfortunately for Okajima, he gets sent on a ship to transport a valuable disk containing critical information that gets hijacked on the high seas. The kidnappers are, of course, the crew of the Black Lagoon- consisting of big, black brother Dutch, super-hot and kinda-psychotic superkiller Chinese babe Levi (or Revi) and Jewish tech guy/communicator Benny. As the Lagoon crew takes the disk, Levi snags along hapless Okajima so they can get extra cash for his ransom. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Okajima's employers have given up on him and the disk, sending a bunch of mercenary assassins to get rid of all of them, in one fell swoop.

And so, in the course of dodging bullets and battling helicopter gunships, Okajima eventually ditches his last chance to rejoin his former world and instead joins the Lagoon crew as a sailor, taking on the name Rock and becoming a pirate himself. Hey, if I had a choice between being continually bullied by either some corporate SOB or a gorgeous babe in super-skimpy cut-offs, I'd become a pirate too. Heh. From there on in, much of the drama in the show will showcase how mild-mannered salaryman Rock interacts with his new (and slightly mentally imbalanced) mates... and how the skills he's learned as an office worker actually prove useful in the dangerous underworld of organized crime syndicates and assassins. Hmm. Interesting.

Anyway, Black Lagoon is excellently animated and seems, for now, pretty much all about brainless, spectacular and violent action and the occasional sexy pose from Levi- not a bad anime combo. It's a pretty mature anime that isn't afraid to be bad-ass and nasty. The fan service though is nowhere near the uncomfortable levels as in the Aika series, so it's really more of a straight action title than a fetish show- so it should be quite watchable by most mature anime fans. It's pretty clear that Levi's a big draw for this title... in any case, there hasn't been a good girl-with-guns anime for a while that really lets itself cuts loose. This looks to be a cool ride.


As crazy as she is hot. Uh-oh...

Storm

Yeah, Halle Berry still kinda sucked in X3, but she did have her kick-ass moments... but the movie Storm was nothing compared to the real thing.

As a sidenote to my X3 review, the aftermath of our movie night was no less memorable. As the gang headed off in separate ways to eventually rendezvous at some dinner place, nature exploded in a pretty spectacular lightning storm. For about an hour, rain fell in fierce buckets and there were more flashes than a paparazzi party. Whole areas of the metropolis around us blacked out as power lines failed. There didn't seem to be any refuge as the resto we were originally headed for- Dampa at Libis- also fell into darkness. It was so bad that a taxi was even hit by lighting on the road, according to the others in the gang, who saw it from their car (relayed to us by text).

Vin, Andrew and I spent the whole time weathering through traffic-choked and flooded roads to make it back to the central Ortigas area, where we eventually decided to dine at The Podium's Chinese Star restaurant for some hot Chinese food. What a storm. But I feel good at having gone through it. Darn, that was exciting, if a bit scary.

X-men: The Last Stand


Death, triumph and mutant fighting aplenty.

Last night, the gang got together in a rare outing to watch the third and supposedly final installment of the Marvel Comics' X-men films. Now, whether the Last Stand is truly the last time we'll see the alumni of Xavier's School onscreen depends really on time and box office receipts.
X3 has been beset by a slew of problems in its making- the so-called super-director Bryan Singer bailed out of the series to meg DC's Superman Returns. The script, which was leaked online early on, had fanboys and geeks foaming at the mouth at various character deaths and other nitpicks. Particular rancor seemed to be aimed at director Brett Ratner and producer Avi Arad. I have to admit I saw the script leaks and I got a bit apprehensive, but I resolved to not judge the film until I actually saw it. I saw the trailers, and I was interested. Let's see the movie and get it over with.

So, did I like the movie? Nope.

I loved it.

The movie kicks ass with easily some of the best scenes and moments in the whole trilogy- stuff that will have you clapping of smiling or grinning at the coolness of it all. There are fewer if any 'iffy' moments as in previous films (No 'What happens to a toad when it get hits by lightning' lines, thankfully) and the pace is fast and never boring.
One big thing that I disagree with a lot of negative reviews is the so-called way that several major character deaths are handled without emotion- I have to say with the exception of the first death, which was intentionally hidden, this is not true. The second, monumental demise had the right sense of finality and power (in fact, it was one of the highlights of the film) and was addressed excellently. The third major character demise was the climax of the movie so that is also a major moment that struck the right tone.

What lacked in previous films (too little in the first and none in the second) was the simple fact that the X-men weren't fighting foes that measured up to them. The final fights in the first X-men were kinda lame (save for the Wolverine-Mystique tussle). The second film had zilch. In X3, we see the X-men take on a literal ARMY of mutants, and it really turned out excellently- Ratner knows how to stage great action, which is an improvement over Singer's stunts in X1 and X2. There is speed, brutality, comedy and smarts in the various action setpieces, and it kicks arse.

In terms of characters, this is pretty much Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Storm's (Halle Berry) movie... James Marsden's Cyclops is a shadow of his former self and has little screentime (one can't help but think this was caused by the actor's defection to DC with Bryan Singer), while returning Jean Grey (Famke Jansen) gets to go all goth-like and scary as the Phoenix (No, not the Power Cosmic entity, but close enough in this universe). Finally, after spending most of the first two movies comatose or captive, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart)gets his chance to get into the frontlines and shine (literally).

Gladly, new faces take up the slack that opens up when old characters vacate. Kelsey Grammer makes for a perfect Beast/Hank McCoy, and in particular, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) is note-perfect and shows off the character that made her a favorite in the comics... what can I say, Kitty ROCKS. Which is a big bash against onscreen (but unintentional) rival Rogue (Anna Paquin) who loses out on looks and action (but she still gets the guy, who never really was in conflict anyway).

On my own personal fave, Mystique (Rebecca Romijin) gets lesser screentime here, but easily has her BEST scenes in the whole trilogy in X3, plus she gets a fitting resolution (that nicely leaves her open to a return someday...). As for Magneto, Ian McKellen predictably has some of the most impressive scenes in the film (including a jaw-dropping stunt with a bridge), and he just exudes power and class along with the villainy.
I would have liked to see more Colossus (Daniel Cudmore), but at least he gets to do the 'Fastball Special' twice in the movie. We finally get to see Iceman (Shawn Ashford) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford) get a decisive one-on-one, which is er, cool. Despite lacking the neck-less costume, Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones) was also well done.

Is it perfect? Well, a lot of characters show up, albeit briefly, and so it's inevitable that a lot just get cameos or quick do-aways. I felt brief nicks and pangs a seeing Arclight and Psylocke appear and disappear so fast, but what the heck. Then there's that scene with the never-seen Sentinel, which was kinda a cop-out but still pretty cool.

This stands as a grade-A superhero movie in my book, the best of the X-movie franchise. Thankfully, Brett Ratner kept the look and feel of the movie almost seamless from the previous two films, and at the same time doing away with the previous movies' tendency to keep the X-men inferior to Magneto. In this movie, finally, the X-men give Magneto his come-uppance deserving from X2.

If you're a fan of the characters who DIE, you may get a bit miffed, but in all, the movie is optimistic and forward-looking, with the X-men standing perfect to the way they are in the comics- never giving up and taking up the fight even when the chips are down, no matter how great the odds, as long as they feel they're doing the right thing. They made their stand, and they won.

Highly recommended.

Is it the last X-movie? Hopefully not. The movie DOES open the possibilities up for more chapters in the future, but we'll just have to see. Obviously, the more people who see this one will affect this franchise's future. So, what are you waiting for? GO SEE IT. I want my Mystique movie! Heh.

X-men: The Last Stand is now showing in Metro Manila theaters. Go, go, go! Now!!!

Up and Running

Thanks to my pals Andrew and Pot, my home PC's working again. Apparently all the trouble that's been plaguing it recently was due to the thing being underpowered. Well, after taking a couple of things off the plug and installing new software, the ol' computer's working again, and I can finally work and play with impunity. On the same vein, I was feeling quite under the weather earlier today but I'm feeling a lot better.
Darn, am I and my old PC linked in some way? Woooh.

X-Cited

X3: The Last Stand opens today in Metro Manila theaters. Despite all the negativity people online have been throwing at the sequel, there has been positive word on it from some reliable sources... plus, the trailers so far have been pretty cool. I'm actually looking forward to seeing this final chapter (supposedly) of the franchise. It's kinda foolish to suddenly end the X-movies, IMO, but that's Fox's decision... maybe keeping on the cast after all this time is too expensive. Oh well. Anyway, I hope to catch X3 over the weekend or so. Expect a review shortly after.

Overhyped

Yesterday me and my buddy Pot went off to Greenhills to watch The Da Vinci Code. Well, I went in without reading the book but I pretty much knew what it was all about.... which honestly KILLS a lot of the film's power. I mean, EVERYONE by now knows what the big hullaballoo is about, so when it's finally said in the movie there's no surprise.

The Da Vinci Code is in the same vein as past 'conspiracy' thriller movies like The Pelican Brief or The Firm- featuring a bookish, non-combative hero trying to piece together the truth while being pursued by an assassin or what not. In this case, it's symbolism expert Robert Langdon played by Tom Hanks, running all throughout Europe with French beauty Audrey Tatou, trying to solve the mystery of the death of the Louvre's curator. On the way, they get caught up in the ages old search for the Holy Grail and 'one of the greatest cover-ups in human history'. Paul Bettany plays the baddie- a creepy, self-flagellating monk and assassin, taking orders from a sinister bishop played by Alfred Molina. Stealing the show from the moment you first hear his voice to his last second onscreen is Sir Ian McKellen.

Depending on the viewer things like the Knights Templar, the Grail myths, supposed Vatican conspiracies and the Opus Dei may be of interest. The film doesn't really do action too well, with a horribly-shot 'car chase' scene early on and just a few tussles on the way. All suspense and tension disappears about a half hour before the film ends, which is kinda iffy. If you're not too much into these things, you may get bored... bored enough to sleep, honestly.

I myself watched the film from beginning to end without mishap, and the final revelation was kinda cool but not mind-blowing. I didn't find myself questioning my faith or even hankering to get a copy of the book. For something so talked about and hyped, this just doesn't measure up too much other than being a watchable flick. Oh well. Bring on X-men 3, I guess.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book One - Water


High-flying Martial Arts Fantasy Epic.

I've been talking about Nickelodeon's Avatar a lot. Well, don't expect it to stop anytime soon. The series is simply one of the best, if not the best, cartoon shows I've ever had the pleasure to watch. From the story to the characters, the designs and the music, to the animation to the awesome martial arts fight scenes to the genuinely funny banter between the characters... this show ROCKS. It's perfect from head to toe. Except maybe for fan service, but this IS a family TV show, so that's excusable. But the lack of bouncy boobs or skimpy outfits aside, this show is IT.


12-year old Aang would rather have fun than fight fierce firebenders. But then, wouldn't anyone?

Avatar is about the adventures of Aang, the latest incarnation of the Avatar, a champion who has the power to master all four elements (fire, earth, air, water) in a world where most people can only master one. When the evil Fire Nation attacks, only the Avatar can keep the peace. Unfortunately, Aang's youth caused him to freak when he was told that he was the Avatar. This resulted in him running away and getting trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years. Finally awakened from his imprisonment, Aang now has to face up to his destiny. But can a child truly handle this immense burden? Well, if the world is to be saved, he has to.


Katara is an anime heroine if I ever saw one. Smart, beautiful and powerful (eventually), Katara supports Aang throughout the quest as his travelling companion, big sister figure, later teacher and perhaps... love interest?

The characters of Avatar are all excellently designed and realized, with wonderful dialogue in both dramatic and humorous moments. You'll surely find a favorite among the cast, whether it's main hero Aang, or companions Katara and Sokka, or even antagonists Prince Zuko and General Iroh. As the show goes on, more cool characters, both good and evil, join the drama and give this great show even more depth and layers.


While he doesn't have any bending talents, Katara's older brother Sokka is a capable warrior with surprising technical ability. He's also got a sarcastic streak that makes him the source for a lot of the show's comedy.

Every episode of Avatar is tightly written and excellently-paced, containing lots of action, humor, drama and plot development that continues the over-reaching saga. The first Season of Avatar, collectively titled Book One: Water, concerns Aang's quest to master the Waterbending arts, and has him being pursued relentlessly by the exiled Fire Nation Prince Zuko. There are GREAT plot twists, character development, riveting drama and surprises aplenty, and the show only gets better and deeper with every new installment.
What's great about Avatar's writing is that it doesn't really hold back anything or talk down. Things like love, death, war, duty and so forth are handled maturely but safely, and there are great positive values espoused in the episodes. Both kids and adults can easily find something to latch onto this show.


While initially a villain, Prince Zuko will easily become a favorite character thanks to his tragic and intriguing back story and a sense of honor. Truly a villain you actually root for even though he's hunting Aang and the gang.

Avatar was created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael DiMartino, whose previous credits include Family Guy, King of the Hill and Invader Zim. They were heavily influenced by anime and Asian culture for Avatar, and went as far as hiring a martial arts expert to keep the show's martial arts and bending arts authentic-looking. Each specific bending art is actually based on a real-world martial arts style: Firebending is based on Northern Shaolin Style, Airbending on Ba Gua, Earthbending on Hung Gar and Waterbending on Tai Chi.


Retired Fire Nation general Iroh is Prince Zuko's uncle and ally. Laidback and wise, Iroh may be on the bad guys' side (initially), but he's definitely a good guy. His genial exterior hides his awesomely powerful Firebending skills.

The Second Season of Avatar, Book Two: Earth, has already begun and is into the 7th episode as of this writing. The second season introduces new characters and continues Aang's quest to master the four elements as time grows shorter to the victory of the evil Fire Nation. So far, the quality of the show has remained flawless. The series will supposedly end with the third Season, the Book of Fire. You can catch episodes of Avatar on Nickelodeon on weekends in the morning and in the afternoon.
On other mediums, there are videogames and a card game based on the series coming later this year. It seems like Avatar is destined to be a classic. Well, for me it already is.
I recommend getting this show anyway you can, whether through online or on VCD or DVD, and watching episodes back to back. It's just that good.

Quirky

Vin tagged me to do this meme about '6 Weird things/habits about Myself', so here's some odd tidbits about the MADman...

I buy clothes about as often as I see my friends Arnold and Cynthia. That means if I buy articles of clothing more than once or twice a year, that's unusual. Clothing would consist of less than 1 percent of my yearly spending.

I have a Salt Tooth. I cannot do without patis or fish sauce at the table when I eat rice. I do so with pretty much any kind of viand.

I apparently snore like a motor running full tilt when I sleep on my back. As a result, if I have any roommates I must make sure I sleep on my side and stay that way (since that posture seems to negate the problem).

I cannot eat any seafood that requires shelling or removal of carapaces. I can only eat shrimp if it's served as tempura. I guess I'm just too lazy.

I have a favorite pillow. I don't consider it a security pillow, since I can sleep without it (I don't pack it in my bag on trips, at least), but I just have a combination of sentimental value and the genuine belief that no other pillow has the right balance of softness and firmness than my old pillow so I keep it even after years and years. How old exactly is my favorite pillow? I've had it since I was in elementary school.

I hate crowds, and this is something I realized only recently. I hate people who walk too slowly or try to overtake me. I hate people who block the way walking side by side or walk erratically like they have a broken gyroscope. In another world, I'd probably go wild with a machine gun in Cubao or Megamall on a random crowd. That's why I take taxis a LOT these days. The cost is worth the peace of mind... and the safety of the populace.

The last part of this meme requires that I tag it to 6 other people. I therefore tag El, Camy, Cams, Jamie, Jeremy and Cynthia. That's that.

Son of a Beach

I'll be heading off with the rest of the Salt Mines crew to enjoy a cloudy day at the beach from tomorrow until Friday. It's a bit of a reward I guess for all the salt production and elbow grease all these months, so that's good. The most worrying thing on my mind is that I tend to overpack for any trip, so I should make it a point not to stuff in four pairs of pants, ten t-shirts and the five pairs of socks into a valice. All I need I guess is a change of clothing from what I'll be wearing going there, underwear for sleeping and swimming gear... then pad it out with one extra article. Then there's the usual toileteries, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap and towel. Just wear sandals coming and going. That should all fit in a small bag.

As for gadgets, I'll be bringing along my mini, of course, so I'll keep in touch and have my media in hand. I'll also be bringing along my new digicam hopefully to snap a lot of pics and hopefully catch a ghost or two (the resort we're going to may have a spirit or two). Anyway, the best thing about the outing is that it ends going into the weekend. Coolness. I need this break. I need it a lot. Here's to a not-so-sunny but very funny (and safe) outing.

Avatar


Toph the Earthbender is just the latest face to join the Avatar cast.

I've probably posted about this animated series on Nickelodeon before, but really, I haven't posted enough. Avatar: The Last Airbender is just an awesome series. Mixing anime with western animation like never before, Avatar is a refreshing quest adventure starring a party of young heroes battling to save their world from evil.
While outwardly looking a bit kiddy and liberally laced with humor, Avatar is actually a series as deep and powerful as a lot of the best anime out there. There are complex characters, plot twists and themes that are more mature than you'd think, and the characters are brilliantly conceived and designed. Best of all, while not as violent as the usual anime tends to be, Avatar boasts of a lot of awesome, super powered action thanks to it's magical, martial arts-based fight scenes.

I'm pretty sure local cable hasn't shown the Second Season episodes yet (thankfully there are other places to get your Avatar fix), but suffice to say that the series gets a LOT better into the second season, if only by expanding the number of characters to follow even more than your simple good guys-bad guy mechanic. The series gets a kick-ass trio of female villains while Aang's party gets a butt-kicking and cute new member in the form of Toph, a spunky and powerful earthbender girl. Awesome stuff!

With one season down and the second season only about a third of the way through, there's a lot more Avatar to enjoy. I wholeheartedly say that this show is one of my favorite anime right now. Simply awesome!

EDIT: Had me an Avatar marathon last night, and it just made me appreciate this wonderful series even more. The action, humor, story and characters are simply sublime. A perfect series? Well, as perfect as a kid-friendly fantasy action title can be (fan service would have made this an instant anime classic), I guess. Avatar ROCKS. Can't wait to get the new episodes as they appear. WOOHOO!

Codebreaking

The Da Vinci Code movie is showing in a week or so, and I have to say that I am interested. I haven't read the actual book but I've seen so many specials on all the Knowledge Channels that all that's missing from my actual experience are the action scenes that will inevitably be part of a movie about bookish heroes dodging ordained assassins trying to uncover a scandalous 'secret' about the Christian faith. I'm not sure that I'll be moved to read the book after watching the film- that usually happens for me with the Harry Potter films (I'll probably read Order of the Phoenix right before the actual movie), but who knows. How can several million pageturners be wrong? We'll see soon enough.

Figurativity


Justice Alex Ross Series 3 Figures.

Yesterday, while getting my comics for the week, I noticed that also in this week were the newest action figures in the Alex Ross Justice line. I've been eyeing this particular wave for some time thanks to the really nice female figures of Poison Ivy (at her most...um... non-veggy) and Wonder Woman, but unfortunately they weren't selling Ivy as a single. So I eventually ended up getting the whole kit and caboodle. So now I've got Green Lantern, Plastic Man and The Joker as well as the two DC babes. Well, I'm happy since Alex Ross' Nicholson-esque Joker is just awesome, and the GL and PM figs aren't bad either. The detail on these toys is pretty awesome. I can't wait to get them out of their boxes and up on top of my display space in The Sanctum. Lovely, lovely.

The Future of Gaming


Thanks to the Power of the PS3, Raiden finally becomes cool.

I've been on the PC like crazy at home, revelling in the speed of DSL (finally it seems to have settled well) and downloading gobs of stuff as if there was no tomorrow. I've discovered the magic of Bittorrent downloading, and it's incredible... it's like going on a treasure hunt. Of course, this pretty much means I haven't turned off my PC in, like, two days, but it looks to be worth it.

Anyway, I've also gotten into the nitty-gritty of this year's E3 Entertainment Expo 2006, the yearly event in the US where the gaming giants show off their best and latest. Sony of course showed off their upcoming Playstation 3 and finally gave concrete details. The console will make its worldwide debut this November. Like the Xbox360 before it, the PS3 will come with a Hard Drive and will retail at about $499 for the regular set, while a more deluxe version will be priced at $599. WHOA. I bet the damn thing will be grossly overpriced when it finally appears here- the Xbox360 went as high as 100k here (a ridiculous price from some shipper). But something like the PS3 will eventually be mainstream and commonplace, as was it's earlier version the PS2.

This early, the reasons to get a PS3 are flying fast and furious. There's of course the next generation of Final Fantasy games, headlined by Final Fantasy XIII, which seems to feature a kick-ass female protagonist (think Yuna in FFX2 but more bad-ass and armed with a short sword and pistol combo). Another title is Final Fantasy VS XIII which I believe may be a fighting game or action-oriented title. The graphics shown are pretty slick and there seem to be even realtime gameplay elements shown.

Then there are the fighting games: Virtua Fighter 5, which is still slated to come out soon in arcades, will be a PS3 Exclusive. So far, the graphics of the PS3 port seem at par with the arcade counterpart. The game of course will feature all the combatants from the arcade, including two newcomers (Eileen the cute monkey-style fighter and Rey Mysterio-lookalike El Blaze). The game will feature extensive customization features and items to trick out your fighter.

Tekken 6 debuted as well with a VERY short teaser clip showing Jin Kazama fighting it out with Lili, the blonde-haired heiress who first appeared in Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. The graphics were very detailed but not up to par with the ultra-realistic look first teased at months ago... looks like Namco has scaled down their target somewhat. Anyhoo, the clip ends right before Jin lays the smackdown on Lili when TKD thug Hwoarang suddenly bursts onto the scene on his motorcycle. Looks slick, and I can't wait to see next-gen versions of Nina Williams and Asuka Kazama- here's hoping Character Creation or at least deeper customization features makes their way into the game.

And of course, the BIG gun of the PS3 is none other than Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The latest game from Hideo Kojima features a now-aged and rapidly weakening Solid Snake, now known apparenlty as Old Snake. Details of the story are still kinda sketchy, but basically involves Snake's last mission before he croaks (from old age?). While Snake looks like an oldie, the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast- most of whom are returning faces from previous MGS games. It seems that Snake's condition may be an effect of the FOXDIE virus from the first game, or a result of his being a clone of Big Boss.
Returning characters include Roy Campbell, or 'The Colonel', who seems to be the one convincing Snake to go on one more mission. There's a haggard Naomi Hunter, a more formidable-looking Meryl Silverburgh (who is apparently part of a 'new' FOXHOUND unit) and a 70's style Liquid Ocelot (who seems to be old Revolver Ocelot now taken over by Liquid Snake's grafted arm). Oh, and there's pretty boy Raiden who's now decked out in the cyborg ninja outfit complete with slice-and-dice sword. Can you say... awesome?

The new E3 trailer is pretty dramatic, and has comments about how war becomes routine and antiseptic when every aspect of it- every element of a soldier's capabilities and factors throughout the battlefield- becomes controlled. Snake, an old soldier of countless wars, laments this development, and ends the feature video saying that he has 'one more punishment to endure'. At which point he loads a single bullet into his pistol and aims in into his own mouth.

WHOA.

The trailer as a whole has a sad, melancholy feel- kinda like the autumn flavor of Godfather III... will this truly be the end of Snake? We're gonna have to just dig into our foxholes... it's gonna be a while.

It's gonna be a loooooooooooooooong wait till November. Darn.

Gotta start saving those quarters, people.

Sigh. So many games, so little space in my little Sanctum. Oh well. I could always get rid of the bed. Heh.

A Date with the DOA Girls


Ryu Hayabusa (Kane Kosugi) grips his ball while a bikini-clad Kasumi (Devon Aoki) looks on. Mm.

Ever since word of the Dead or Alive movie was sent out, reactions to the upcoming fighting game translation tot he big screen has been less than enthusiastic. Over at pretty much every DOA forum or message board, the feeling is almost universal that the movie will suck. I beg to differ. First of all, the DOA storyline really isn't a big deal... it's about ninja and various martial artists fighting for a big prize at the end of a tournament being held by the less-than-benign DOATEC Corporation... nothing really groundbreaking since this is pretty much the storyline for every fighting game from the dawn of man.


DOA is actually two game-to-movie translations in one, thanks to the DOAX vollyeball segment.

Not surprising given the fact that DOA's popularity rests almost solely on the assets of it's female characters, the movie as well will apparently be all about the ladies. Early word is that the story centers on the character of Christie (Australian actress Holly Valance), a sexy blonde bounty hunter who's after the head of the Tournament managing committee and probably the movie's main baddie, Donovan, played by Eric Roberts. This is a bit of a surprise for gamers since in the game, Christie was an assassin working for Donovan, and she was a pretty nasty piece of work.


Looking good.

Thankfully, the game will also focus on other DOA heroines- notably Kasumi(played by Sin City's Miho, Devon Aoki), the renegade ninja girl who has been the main DOA character for most of the games. Gunning for Kasumi as she does in the games is her purple-haired half-sister Ayane, played by the lovely Natassia Malthe, last seen locking lips with Jennifer Garner in the tragic Elektra movie. Then there's Tina Armstrong, a pro-wrestler with dreams of stardom played by sultry Jaime Pressley (I wonder if director Corey Yuen was staking out the Sin City set to cast his film) and finally Helena, an opera singer and martial artist played by Sarah Carter.


Kasumi shows off some of her ninja techniques.


Of course, there's the obligatory 'girl gets attacked while coming out of the bath' scene.

Fans of the game can look forward to seeing other DOA fighters like Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa (Kane Kosugi), Hayate, Gen Fu, Bass and others in supporting roles. Noticeably missing so far are fan favorite Chinese femme fatale Leifang and karate kid Hitomi.

Outwardly, the film looks to be a cross between the past Charlie's Angels movies, Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon and Game of Death, with bits of Kill Bill and American Ninja thrown in. Conceivably, it could actually be pretty cool.


Zack (Brian J. White) and Tina (Jaime Pressley) continue their non-existent relationship.

Anyway, the girls are gorgeous. The fighting looks decent, and there looks to be a lot of it. All I want is to see the lovely cast kick butt (or get their butts kicked) spectacularly, and for the movie to have a sense of humor but still remain reasonably faithful to the material. So far, the film looks fun. I'll be giving it the benefit of the doubt and declare that I am excited to see this flick. But hey, I was excited about the Street Fighter movie too years ago. Sigh.

Dead or Alive the Movie is set for an August 25 release.