Today we get to see our first official look at the Xbox live and PSN version of TMNT: Turtles in Time. This game was origianly in the arcades and later ported to the SNES and the Genesis (as the Hyperstone Heist). The game will be available this week on Xbox live and later this year on PSN.
Tom Scioli is my favorite comic book artist. He takes the style of Jack Kirby and cranks the psychedelia meter to the proverbial eleven. Tom’s art is dynamically stylish, unapologetically bold, and completely contrary to the bland trends of the status quo of modern mainstream comics. Nerd City was lucky enough to have a quick chat with Scioli about the upcoming release of The Myth of 8-Opus: The Labyrinth, Godland, and his influences, from Jack Kirby to The Who.
You’re set to release The Myth of 8-Opus: The Labyrinth in August. What can we look forward to in the next installment of the 8-Opus saga?
You’ll see cosmic romance, danger and excitement! Lots of large-scale epic battles. A lot of planet-hopping. This one is an odyssey, lots of smaller adventures inside one giant adventure. It’s got the types of things people have come to expect from my 8-Opus comics: robotic cherubim, Kirby-esque god-machines, planet-sized monsters, universe-sized monsters, men and women of mystery, morphing metallic bird-creatures. It’s a space opera.
Obviously, your art on Godland is beyond awesome, but the visual designs of many of the characters and imagery in general are equally mind-blowing. How much say do you have in the visual design of Godland and its inhabitants?
I’m responsible for most of the design on the series. Pretty much every thing in it is reflective of my aesthetic. It varies from character to character. I had sketchbooks full of character designs and environments that I had come up with that I sent to Joe, so some of the characters were refugees from my sketchbook, Basil Cronus being the most famous example. Sometimes Joe will make special requests which run the whole range of we need three aliens for next issue, to more specific requests that pretty much say it all, like wild west gorilla-headed prostitutes. Sometimes we go with the first thing I come up with, sometimes there’s a lot of back-and-forth and revision.
Another big factor in the Godland aesthetic is that we started in a very weird place. Meaning, the character designs were pretty crazy right off the bat. You can’t start out weird and get less weird as it goes on. You have to escalate. Our “earthbound” menaces like Basil and Discordia were pretty exotic-looking, so when it came time to introduce the aliens, we had to get even wierder. The Space Gods had to be stranger than the aliens. When we got to issue 13, we had characters from a different dimension. That issue presented a really difficult challenge because how do you show a strange new dimension when what you’ve shown already has been so out there. I was pleased with what I came up with. One reviewer said about that issue, that it looked like I broke into the Jim Henson creature shop and put things together with the spare parts.
Much has been made about the strong Kirby influence in your work. Is it frustrating that so much focus is placed upon this? And, in an artistic era where everyone from musicians to fashion designers wear the influence of their idols on their sleeves, what does the evoking the Kirby style mean for you philosophically and artistically?
The comparison itself isn’t frustrating. I’m proud of the fact that my work is similar to Kirby’s. It’s what I’d initially set out to do when I made the decision to give comics a try.
It is funny to me that some people seem absolutely horrified by it. I’m glad you brought up music, because, yeah, what I’m doing is perfectly acceptable. Most bands, particularly every rock band since Chuck Berry, do exactly what I do. Someone once asked me if I feel like a Kiss tribute band. Looking at that comparison, I’d say no. First of all Kiss isn’t like Kirby. For the Kiss comparison to work, they’d have to be hands-down the best band in the world, the way Kirby is the best comics artist ever. The Beatles would be a better comparison. I’m like a Beatles tribute band because I’m imitating the greatest. But the “tribute band” part doesn’t fit either, because if I were a tribute band, I’d just be telling the same Kirby stories, using the same Kirby character designs, the way a tribute band just plays the same old songs. But I don’t. I write and draw my own unique stories. I create my own unique characters and settings. So I’m like a band that imitates the Beatles in terms of their approach, but writes and arranges all their own original material. I’d say a more fitting comparison is that I’m the Kinks. The Kinks sounded like the Beatles. The Beatles are their main influence and it shows. Yet, as much as they owe to the Beatles, they are their own unique thing, with their own voice, their own point-of-view. There are a million examples like this in music. Not so many in comics.
What comics are you reading at the moment?
Lone Wolf and Cub. Buddha. Dr. Strange stories, Ditko’s run and Colan’s. The new Supermen book. Barry Smith’s Daredevil issue. Kirby Hulks. I just picked up another issue of Heavy Metal with Steranko’s Outland adaptation.
Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what are you listening to?
Yeah. The new Green Day. Junior Senior. Ian Hunter’s solo album that Mick Ronson produced. Genesis (early stuff before they got sappy). T-Rex. Pink Floyd. The Kinks. The Who (”I can See for Miles” gets me in the cosmic mood). Apples in Stereo.
What’s on the horizon for you, artistically?
More comics. More Godland, we still have a bunch of issues to go. More 8-Opus, I have a new volume 8-Opus: The Labyrinth which is the first new one in 5 years. I promise the next volume won’t take that long. I’m working on another concept that I’d like to be my next new series after Godland ends. It’s still in the early stages so I don’t want to say too much about it.
Thanks, Tom!
Check out Tom Scioli’s blog here and his official site here.
With the 25th anniversary of TMNT going on, there are Turtle Wagons traveling throughout the US promoting all things turtles. At this wagon party there are playable demos for what appear to be TMNT IV: Turtles in Time. The game was originally released in arcades and later ported to the Genesis and SNES. As of now the demo is being played on Xbox 360, so I’m hoping that it will be available on the PS3 (considering the PS3 still hasn’t gotten the original arcade game, I may be out of luck on this). The youtube video shows minor gameplay but shows off the new 3D style of gameplay while still staying true to the side scroller beat ‘em up genre. As of this time there are no official announcements of this game being released.
R. Crumb is illustrating the book of Genesis? Where have I been?
Weighing in for the Beat’s end-of-year industry feature, Abrams Executive Editor Charlie Kochman predicts that the “biggest story in comics in 2009″ will be “the long-awaited publication of Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis, an adaptation of the Bible story, which Norton will be publishing in Fall 2009. I had the privilege of seeing some of the pages in France two years ago, and the scope of the work has haunted me ever since.”
The Comic Book College Weeklies blog carries corroborating commentary from Denis Kitchen, who acted as the book’s agent, that The Book of Genesis According to R. Crumb is “coming from W. W. Norton probably late 2009.”
Read the full article at on panel
Now rappers talking about video games is nothing new. Whether it be Biggie Smalls talking about how he could never dream about having a Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis, The Wu-Tang Clan having their own fighting game and of course those fantastic 50 Cent games. Starting a while back Lil Flip sampled Pac-Man and other Namco sounds then we received the fantastic U-N-I sampling Castlevania and rapping about games, that lead to the 5 track album released for Street Fighter II HD Remix featuring Redman and others. So it was interesting to see Ludacris get in on this action with the release of his new album “Theater of the Mind” and the track “Press the Start Button”. The track is nothing spectacular but still interesting to hear all the game references. I’ve also included the U-N-I video as well in hopes that some of you suckas will pick up their album “Fried Chicken and Watermelon”
With every Monday we have our weekly Virtual Console update, which I will get into later. Today’s big news is the trailer for Praise Hero has finally been released. For those of you not in the know, Guitar Praise is the Christian equivalent of Guitar Hero/Rock Band. So if you love God/Jesus and don’t mind playing your video games on a PC or Mac then Praise Hero is for you.
And as promised here is today’s virtual console update information:
WiiWare™
Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3 (Telltale Games, 1 player, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older – Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Move over, generically buff action heroes. Strong Bad is here to show you how it’s done in his hand-crafted cinematic masterpiece, Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective. You play Dangeresque, a dirty cop in pursuit of a little action and several big sacks of cash. Can our hero stay alive long enough to defeat his arch-nemesis, save the world and get the girl? Looks like he’s gonna have to jump.
Target Toss Pro: Bags (Incredible Technologies, 1-16 players, Rated E for Everyone, 700 Wii Points): Target Toss Pro: Bags is a new video game based on beanbag toss, the nation’s hottest backyard and tailgate sensation. Bags – or Cornhole, as it’s called in some parts of the country – originated in the Midwest in the 1960s and has since become a staple at outdoor social events from coast to coast. Similar to horseshoes, Bags is a deceptively simple yet extremely competitive game where players try to toss beanbags into a hole in a slightly raised platform or “box” for points. Whether at a tailgate party or a summer barbecue, the game has become a social focal point, and the unmistakable thud of bags hitting the box is now a universal party soundtrack.
SPACE INVADERS: The Original Game (Super NES™, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Experience one of gaming’s iconic franchises in this perfect rendition of the arcade classic. Take aim at the field of invaders relentlessly marching toward you. Move quickly but carefully, using the barriers for protection as you avoid missiles fired by the aliens and try to destroy all of them before they reach the bottom of the screen. Further enhance the nostalgia by choosing from several modes that simulate different versions of the arcade game (such as upright cabinet or black-and-white). Or if you want to prove your superior skills to a friend, try the new VS mode and see who can stop the alien menace the quickest. All in all, it’s pure gaming at its best, now with no quarters required.
FORGOTTEN WORLDS (SEGA GENESIS, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone – Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): FORGOTTEN WORLDS is a one- or two-player side-scrolling shooter made by CAPCOM. It was one of the first games to incorporate 360-degree aiming and shooting. This SEGA GENESIS version provides the same impact and intensity of the classic arcade game. In the 29th century, without warning, warships broke through the sky, loaded with fiendish aliens. They rained down fire, bombs, missiles and napalm, leaving the land barren and inhospitable. Humanity was enslaved and Earth became known as the Forgotten World. In a hidden place, a group of brave humans raised two male children in secret. They brought up the young men as warriors, training them for battle. The two warriors emerged as armed machines of might, strength and super power – the Nameless Ones. Fight the hateful invaders as the powerful Nameless Ones. Collect Zenny to upgrade your weapons and satellite, and free the planet.
So we have a semi-great update today for the Virtual Console. Another episode of Strong Bad for Wii Ware, but the good news is we finally get Earthworm Jim. This is a game me and my friends spent hours on the Genesis, offering us hours of low brow humor with great gameplay. Please download this for the Virtual Console you will not be dissapointed.
Also on the virtual console front (along with PS3 and XBOX 360) we saw the release of additional Mega Man 9 DLC last week. On top of being able to download two new difficulty modes (Hard and Expert) you can download an additonal stage for time trials which gives us a whole new robot boss in Fake Man. This stage is fun to go through, but difficult as you only have one man.
Finally, Guitar Hero: World Tour came out yesterday and it is exactly what I was looking for. After playing for around four hours I have only begun to get decent at playing drums, experienced little with the new slide guitar feature, have not tried the create a song, have not created custom characters and haven’t even played all the songs yet. So obviously there are plenty of things to do in this game and with the DLC that will be available will only add to the list of things to keep you busy. Of course with any Guitar Hero, they find a way to get me to like playing a song I couldn’t stand to listen too in real life. With Guitar Hero 3 it was “Before I Forget” by Slipknot, this time around it is “Misery Business” by Paramore. The song drives me crazy but is so fun to play on drums. I’ll let you all take a listen to the song so that it gets in your head all day as well.
Today is the day that Mega Man 9 comes to the Wii through the WiiWare service. For only 1000pts ($10.00) you will be able to enjoy the greatness of 8-bit gaming. I really don’t know what more I can say about this that I haven’t stated before, but I look to have my impressions of the game posted later on this week. Now for those who may not be looking forward to Mega Man 9 then the Virtual Console still has some good stuff this week like Vectorman for the Genesis and Super Dodgeball for the NES. All games will be available for download by noon today CST. Press release about all games below.
WiiWare
Mega Man™ 9 (CAPCOM, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Mega Man fans, the wait is over! The classic Blue Bomber that debuted in 1987 is back with the ninth installment in the classic series. It’s a new adventure for Mega Man done in an 8-bit style-graphics, music and gameplay are all like you remember them.
Super Dodge Ball™ (NES™, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Cartoon Violence, 500 Wii Points): In Super Dodge Ball, you take control of the USA Dodge Ball team and travel the world in an effort to become the best dodge ballers around. Step onto playing fields in countries all over the globe and use a combination of normal and super shots to help take down your opponents. But be careful, as some destinations have surfaces that can affect your footing. Manage the team as you think best, and swap out characters with other players that better fit your playing style. Two players can enjoy a head-to-head game or play a spirited round of Bean Ball, a six-character free-for-all. Three difficulty levels are available (Easy, Medium, and Hard); which one you choose will depend on your skill and courage. Do you have what it takes to lead Team USA to the ultimate prize and win the world championship of dodge ball?
Vectorman™ (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone-Animated Violence, 800 Wii Points): In the year 2049, mankind is forced to abandon an over polluted Earth and seek out other planets for colonization while the mechanized Orbots stay behind to clean up the mess. When the Orbot leader, WarHead, starts blowing a few circuits and causes a war among the mechanical brethren, a sludge pilot named Vectorman is the only one willing to step up and fight him. You’ll morph into a speeding train, a power drill, a mechanical fish and a mighty dune buggy in this action-packed adventure. Equip yourself with weapons, pick up morphs and power-ups to defeat WarHead, and restore peace on Earth.
Well folks, I was wrong. No Mega Man this week but here is what we are looking at. I’m intrigued by Sonic as I never played the master system version, but once again things are not looking very good.
WiiWare
Wild West Guns (Gameloft, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Violence, 1,000 Wii Points): Draw your revolver to see if you’re the fastest gun in the West. Adjust your speed and precision as targets or enemies appear in front of you. Point and shoot to earn more points. You can aim at anything, so be sure to explore the environment for elements that will earn you more shooting points. Identify your enemies among the characters you encounter, but don’t shoot at innocent citizens. Take part in an Old West-style train attack, or challenge your skills in a variety of increasingly difficult shooting challenges in other beautiful, classic and lively Western environments. As you progress through challenges, you’ll earn medals and rewards, making for nonstop, addictive action. Play in a two-player multiplayer mode where you and your partner can combine points, or play against each other to find out who’s the fastest gun in the West.
Sonic The Hedgehog™ (Sega Master System, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Based on the original Sega Genesis version, Sonic The Hedgehog was re-created as the first Sonic game for the Sega Master System. Not just a straight port, this version includes new stages, bosses, some different zones and a level map. The most noticeable difference, however, is that the Chaos Emeralds have to be found within certain stages other than the Special Stages. Dash through six Zones (including special zones that were only available for the Sega Master System version) and face Dr. Eggman (a.k.a. Dr. Robotnik) at the end of every Zone.
Direct Youtube Link
SPLATTERHOUSE™ 2 (Sega Genesis, 1 player, Rated M for Mature—Blood and Gore, Violence, 800 Wii Points): SPLATTERHOUSE 2 is the sequel to SPLATTERHOUSE, released only on the Sega Genesis. A few months after escaping from the first mansion in SPLATTERHOUSE, the main character, Rick, once again encounters the Terror Mask and must use its powers to rescue his beloved Jennifer. Rick will need to punch, slash, smash and even chainsaw his way through a haunted mansion against unspeakable horrors and terrifying bosses to make it out alive.
Direct Youtube Link
| « Feb |
|
Apr » |
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | 31 | ||||
Use Priority Code WL192 When Ordering Tickets!
