game | ComicMix

Nintendo Wii U digital promotion offers benefits for Deluxe owners

News
November 2, 2012

The Nintendo Wii U Deluxe Set, listing at 349.99, is already sold out before its release on the 18th

Nintendo of America today announced a benefits incentive program for purchasers of its new [[[Nintendo Wii U Deluxe Set]]]. By signing up with their Club Nintendowebsite and registering their system purchase, users will receive a ten percent “points rebate” on purchases of WII U made through the Nintendo e-Shop. In addition, for each five hundred points earned in this fashion, users will receive a five dollar credit on future purchases in the eShop.

Club Nintendo allows users to earn points by registering their Nintendo purchases, and by taking brief surveys about the reasons for purchase and opinions on gameplay. The points can be redeemed for downloadable games or collectible accessories. High points earners are also eligible for rarer limited-edition items, made available for free.

This is the latest in a series of promotions intended to drive business to the Nintendo eShop. The release of [[[New Super Mario Bros 2]]] for the 3DS offered a 50 point Club Nintendo bonus for buying the downloadable version of the game. Another promotion running now allows users to receive a free downloadable game with the purchase of one of a select set of new releases for the 3DS. Nintendo does not offer their downloadable games at a discount over the store-bought versions, which makes them far more profitable to the company – while saving money on printing and shipping of physical media, they also receive the full price of the game, not just the wholesale price made if sold to a retail store. It also eliminates the resale market – the downloaded games cannot be sold back to a store, and can only be transferred from one system to another a limited number of times. Special offers like this are clearly intended to make the digital purchase more appealing to the user.

With this offer, a fifty dollar or higher game would effectively earn an immediate five dollar rebate towards further eShop purchases. However, the final list of Wii U games available through the eShop has not yet been revealed; only four retail games have been announced so far, including NintendoLand, which already comes with the Deluxe Set. Nintendo customer service reps have stated it will include their both “full-size” retail releases like New Mario Bros Wii U, as well as many smaller games at lower price points. Their retail games are delivered on a DVD, which holds up to 4.2 GB of data. It’s almost certain most of their releases do not fill those discs to bursting; if they did, only about 8 retail games could be stored on the system’s 32GB internal storage. The system does support additional storage via SDHC cards, and while external hard drive support has been reported, no details are available. So at the moment, the viability of downloading a high number of their retail games is questionable, rendering the ability to truly take advantage of the promotion somewhat limited.

The Wii U Deluxe Set retails for 349.99, but is already sold out via pre-sale, and like many new systems, is commanding usurious prices via ebay and other secondary markets. It features, for an additional fifty dollars over the basic system, an extra 16 GB of storage, the game Nintendo Land, and additional accessories including a charging cradle for the new Wii U Game Pad.

While the promotion begins officially in December, all Wii U purchases made starting on the day of release (Nov. 18th) will qualify. Details on the promotion are being made available at the Nintendo site at http://ddp.nintendo.com/

IDEAS LIKE BULLETS RETURNS TO ALL PULP!

News
October 31, 2012

IDEAS LIKE BULLETS- A Column by Tommy Hancock

That’s right. Although I’ve struck out with my own blog (ideaslikebullets.blogspot.com), I have been encouraged in the last few days to restore the ILB column to its first home. So, when there is an idea that I feel I want to share, it will most definitely appear here. There may even be a frew ALL PULP exclusives, ideas that I don’t share anywhere but here…. but now to our first new ILB!

How this game is played, guys and dolls, is simple. Generally I share an idea that I don’t have time to write or run with and give any and all of You a chance to write it. Sometimes I want to retain ownership and let you play with it. Sometimes its a freely given seed of inspiration that You may take and do with as You please. Today’s is a bit of both.

This idea I have is very much just an inkling, but it is for a character that I will hold onto at least most of the proprietary rights to, in a ‘Concept created by’ sense. The reason for that is I’m toying with this character becoming a regular addition to the Pro Se line up, someone who might show up in every magazine or somesuch like that. But other than that, I’m going to leave the door pretty open to whatever you as a writer want to do with it….and, if enough of You play along, you’ll all even get to see your take on this concept in print.

Here we go, first with the idea- A man, six feet tall, athletic build, black suit and shirt, red tie, red gloves, black shoes, black fedora, red mask that is pulled over the top of his head and ends at the bridge of his nose..so sort of like a full face mask cut in half, the bottom hem resembling a domino cut. He has a plethora of weapons, reliant on no one in particular, but the weapons are not high tech gizmos- just guns, knives, anything that is needed to fight crime and destroy evil. No one knows who he is under the mask, but one key element is that when he slips that mask on, he is a total and completely focused Pursuer of Justice. Justice as he defines it, by the Law if that fits, in the Spirit of Justice if that is more applicable. He investigates…He brings to trial…and he prosecutes in his own unique way…That is why they call him… THE D.A.!

Now, the actual reason they call him The DA is, except for the mask, he wears an outfit that is exactly what prominent up and coming D.A. Frank ‘Two Fisted’ Finnegan wore on every single day he was seen in public. Finnegan was also mercilessly killed and butchered, first riddled with bullets by unseen gunmen and then literally sliced into pieces by a fast moving blade wielding assassin known only as The Knife…in front of over 300,000 people at a campaign rally in the largest park in the city in October, 1938. On January 1st, 1939, this character in a mask and Finnegan’s outfit delivered The Knife and six gunmen to the city police station, beaten, unconscious and bound. The papers immediately picked up on the resemblance to Finnegan and theories abounded….so the name- The D. A.- struck and stuck hard.

So, that’s the idea…and here’s the rest of it. You, if you’re interested, write a 1,000 word story (I know, didn’t say it would be easy) focused on the D.A. Not one word more, not one word less. 1,000. It must be complete, beginning, middle, and end. Any and all who write one will not only be reprinted here, but will also find their way into a future issue of PRO SE PRESENTS (after editing of course).
So, you get a chance to breathe life into this character and get published as a result. Oh and let’s say by December 1st, that thousand words. Work for you? Good. Just email to tommyhancockpulp@yahoo.com as you get it done with the subject -THE D.A.-IDEAS LIKE BULLETS. And don’t ask me questions about the character…You have all the information you’re going to get…the rest, dear Bulleteer, is up to you.

iVerse Adds Contraband Comics for Digital Distribtion

Press Releases
August 16, 2012

(August 15, 2012—Waco, TX) – iVerse Media, creators of some of the world’s most popular and widely used technologies for reading and distributing digital comics, announced today that the company’s Comics Plus platform has been selected as the exclusive digital distribution platform for Contraband Comics, a new independent, creator-owned comics publishing initiative.

“We’re extremely happy and excited that Contraband Comics has decided to launch with us exclusively,” said Michael Murphey, iVerse CEO. “Their creative team is outstanding and, from the work we’ve seen so far, we know that our readers are really going to enjoy their lineup.”

“iVerse’s dedication to creator-owned projects is what we were looking for in a distribution partner,” said writer/artist and Contraband founder, Jon Goff. “Their ability to deliver content on a level that meets the high standards everyone at Contraband strives for made this a very easy choice for us. We plan to utilize the Comics Plus app’s many features to their fullest, as Contraband continues to roll out titles that push the envelope of storytelling and innovation.”

The first wave of Contraband titles that will be available exclusively on Comics Plus include:

BLINDSIDE by Marat Mychaels (creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (writer) – The worlds of superheroics and espionage merge head-on in an all-out, bullet-riddled, adrenaline rush blockbuster! Debuts August 22^nd exclusively on Comics Plus.

BIG HITTERS by Travis Sengaus (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – This science-fiction action/adventure follows the exploits of a pair of sanctioned hitmen – called “Hitters” – as they navigate the seedy underbelly of an advanced post-war universe. Debuts September 5^th exclusively on Comics Plus.
JACK RABBIT by Jim Hanna (co-creator/illustrator) and Jon Goff (co-creator/writer) – A supernatural crime-noir thriller that follows an ex-boxer-turned-private detective as he investigates the darker corners of 1930’s Los Angeles, where truth and myth merge in a surreal mixture of violence and hope. Debuts September 19^th exclusively on Comics Plus.

“A big goal for us at iVerse is to help talented creators like Jon get their creations out to millions and millions of people,” said Steve May, iVerse Director of Business Development. “There are many amazing creator-owned books out there just needing the right distribution partner to take them to the next level. With talent like Jon, Marat, Travis and Jim on board, I have no doubt that Contraband Comics will quickly reach that level and grow beyond it.”

About iVerse Media. LLC

iVerse Media (http://www.iversemedia.com) is a digital content distributor focused on the world of comics and popular culture. Founded in 2008, the company was one of the first to launch digital comics on Apple’s iOS platform. As of April 2012, over 12 million products in the iOS App Store have been downloaded that are powered by iVerse, making the “iVerse Engine” one of the most popular and widely used platforms for reading digital comics in the world. The company is principally located in Waco, TX. For more information, visit www.comicsplusapp.com.

About Contraband Comics

Launched in 2012, Contraband Comics is a creator-owned, independent comic book publisher with a focus on providing quality titles across multiple genres. Founded by writer/artist, Jon Goff, and featuring a talented line-up of comic book creators, including Travis Sengaus, Marat Mychaels, Jim Hanna, Fco Plascencia, Comicraft and more, Contraband’s only goal is to entertain. Contrabrand Comics are available exclusively on iVerse Media’s ComicsPlus digital platform. Learn more about Contraband Comics on their Website: http://www.contracomics.com

About Jon Goff

Jon Goff has developed content for comic books, action figures and video games while working with many of the top companies across the entertainment industry, including The McFarlane Companies, 343 Industries, Microsoft Game Studios, Marvel Comics, MEGA Brands, Gentle Giant Studios, WETA Workshop, ABC Studios, Tor Books, DK Publishing, Prima Games and more. Jon’s credits include Tor Books’ Halo-themed anthology, Halo Evolutions, the monthly Spawn comic book title and The Adventures of SPAWN online comic. Follow Jon on Twitter: @Jonathan_Goff

About Marat Mychaels

Marat Mychaels (Grifter, Deadpool Corps) is a veteran of the comic book industry, having provided artwork for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Image Comics and more. Marat’s current focus is the launch of his creator-owned title, Blindside, as part of Contraband Comics, along with steady work on DC Comics New 52 titles, including Hawk and Dove and Grifter. Follow Marat on Twitter: @MaratMychaels

About Travis Sengaus

Travis Sengaus is an illustrator and animator from Calgary, Alberta, who has provided artwork for various comic, video game and animation projects. His credits include The Adventures of SPAWN online comic book and production work for Table Taffy Studios. Follow Travis on Twitter: @TravisSengaus

About Jim Hanna

Jim Hanna is an artist/writer based in Mesa, Arizona. He has provided art for Arcana Studio, Upper Deck, Red 5 Comics, Cryptozoic Entertainment and Marvel/The Hero Initiative. Jim’s newest project is the creator-owned title, Jack Rabbit, part of Contraband Comics’ initial wave of titles. Follow Jim on Twitter: @jimhanna

“Electric Man” premieres at SDCC tonight

News
July 13, 2012

Electric Man, the micro-budget comedy shot in Edinburgh, has been selected for the prestigious San Diego Comic Con International Film Festival on July 13th – and is the only UK feature film to play at the world famous comic convention this year.

The film tells the story of Jazz and Wolf, two cash-strapped comic shop owners who need £5,000 in a hurry if they are to save their comic shop in Edinburgh. As luck would have it they chance across a copy of Electric Man issue 1 which just happens to be worth £100,000. But there are other people after the comic and it is soon lost, stolen, switched and switched again as Jazz and Wolf try to save both their business and their love lives.

Shot on a micro budget, the film has already gained BAFTA New Talent Awards nominations for its script and score as well as being shortlisted for Best Feature at the Celtic Media Festival. Selection for San Diego Comic Con places the film with the industry big hitters. The movie was selected as only one of three feature films to play this year’s festival from over 200 initial entries.

Director David Barras explains: “This is a game changer for us. We had already planned for digital distribution later in the year but we were going to limit that to the UK. Comic Con is enormous and we’re now looking to give the film a global launchpad. As a small independent movie we have to pick and choose where we go. But San Diego was the holy grail for us. Yes, it has blown a massive hole in the budget but we would be mad not to go. Who wouldn’t want to be at the same convention as Iron Man 3 and the new Superman movie?”

Cinema goers in London had the opportunity to see for themselves what all the fuss is about on Sunday 8th July, when the film played at The Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Place. The film has already played to a sold out audience at the cinema in May but the team are bring it back to coincide with the London Film and Comic Con and give the capital’s movie goers a sneak peak before they fly to California for the film’s big night at Comic Con.

Electric Man is already a UK success story but the movie is far from your typical British fare. In an industry that is used to producing Scottish films that are usually about shooting up or shooting grouse, Electric Man is a distinct change of pace. Billed as ‘The Maltese Falcon meets Clerks’ the film makers have produced something set in the UK but with a definite American flavour.

A New Trailer for Wreck-It Ralph

News
June 7, 2012

Now that we’re saturated in all things Brave, Disney has ratcheted up the marketing for its November 2 release of Wreck-It Ralph. Featuring the vocal talent of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Jane Lynch the film was directed by Rich Moore (The Simpsons).

Ralph (John C. Reilly) is tired of being overshadowed by Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer), the “good guy” star of their game who always gets to save the day. But after decades doing the same thing andseeing all the glory go to Felix, Ralph decides he’s tired of playing the role of a bad guy. He takes matters into his own massive hands and sets off on a game-hopping journey across the arcade through every generation of video games to prove he’s got what it takes to be a hero.

Video: ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ movie trailer

On his quest, he meets the tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) from the first-person action game Hero’s Duty. But it’s the feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) from the candy-coated cart racing game, Sugar Rush, whose world is threatened when Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens the entire arcade. Will Ralph realize his dream and save the day before it’s too late?

REVIEW: This Means War

Reviews
May 30, 2012

This Means War, out now from 20^th Century Home Entertainment, had all the makings of a unique and fun romcom that instead turned out to be a dreadfully dull and predictable film that fell flat for audiences, critics and did dismally at the box office. The basic premise has Captain Kirk A and Shinzon as buddy spies vying to win the heart of Elle Woods, which meant they took the eye off their mission with horrible results.

McG is clearly a visually director who cares little about characterization or story structure which is a shame because with some effort, this could have risen above the obvious and been a modern day action romance along the lines of True Lies. In Los Angeles, CIA field operatives played by Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are the best of friends and have been for some time. But we’re shown how lonely they are and both coincidentally use the same online dating service at the same time.

Meantime, Product focus group facilitator Reese Witherspoon has also been out of the dating game for too long and is urged by her best friend Chelsea Handler to try online and guess which site she uses? Sure enough, she and Hardy, who is unhappily divorced from Abigail Spencer, agree to meet and find a spark. By sheer coincidence, she then meets Pine at the video store and there’s another unexpected connection. (more…)

SONAR ENTERTAINMENT AND ECOSSE FILMS JOIN FORCES TO DEVELOP AND PRODUCE NEW ACTION-ADVENTURE SERIES "QUATERMAIN"

News
April 2, 2012

Reports indicate that a new 10 part series is based on H. Rider Haggard’s classic swashbuckling adventures is on the way from Sonar Entertainment and Ecosse Films.

PRESS RELEASE:

CANNES, APRIL 2 – Sonar Entertainment Inc. and Ecosse Films have joined forces to develop and produce Quatermain. The new 10×60 action-adventure series is based on the classic swashbuckling stories by iconic Victorian-era author H. Rider Haggard. The announcement of the project, which is being introduced at Cannes during MIPTV, 2012, was made today by Stewart Till, CEO, Sonar Entertainment and Douglas Rae, Founder, Managing Director and Executive Producer, Ecosse Films. Rae will serve as executive producer on the project. Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle (Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal) are the writers.

Allan Quatermain, a rugged expedition leader based in the busy, wild port of Durban, has recently turned his back on the lucrative but bloodthirsty practice of game hunts. He is approached by Baron Henry, a wealthy German noble, and Clarice Good, the beautiful but disgraced daughter of a US Governor, to help them find Baron Henry’s brother, who’s been missing since embarking on a dangerous attempt to locate the lost diamond mines of King Solomon.

Quatermain resolves to take on the mission to pay for his young son’s schooling in London – a boy he hopes to give a life very different from his own. Using a rough-sketched map left behind, Quatermain and his African tracker Umbopa lead Baron Henry and Clarice set off across the scorching desert, where they encounter constant dangers and incredible, non-stop adventures along the way.

“Allan Quatermain is one of the greatest adventure heroes in all of literature. In the years since his introduction, he has subsequently inspired many hugely successful characters and franchises, including the Indiana Jones series,” said Till. “We are extremely excited about this opportunity to partner with Ecosse as we introduce Quatermain to a new generation and bring his timeless exploits into the 21st Century.”

“We are delighted to be developing this ambitious new international series with such an experienced and inspiring company as Sonar Entertainment,” added Rae. “Quatermain has huge potential for an international audience.”

About Ecosse Films
Ecosse Films is a multi award-winning company, specialising in high-quality drama for film and television, producing 11 films and over 300 hours of network television for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Showtime, Starz Channel and WGBH. Credits include the hugely successful film Mrs Brown, starring Judi Dench, Charlotte Gray starring Cate Blanchett, Becoming Jane starring Anne Hathaway and James McAvoy, Brideshead Revisited starring Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon, the global family hit The Water Horse and the BAFTA nominated film Nowhere Boy, the teenage biopic of John Lennon.
TV series include BBC1’s acclaimed long-running drama Monarch of the Glen and more recently the BBC 1 hit series Mistresses. Ecosse’s $50 million international drama, Camelot, a 10 part series for Starz Channel and Channel 4, stars Joseph Fiennes, Jamie Campbell Bower, Tamsin Egerton and Eva Green.

About Sonar Entertainment, Inc.
Sonar Entertainment, Inc. is a leading developer, producer and distributor of award-winning television series, mini-series and movies for the global television marketplace. Sonar owns rights to over 1,000 titles comprising more than 3,500 broadcast hours of programming. The company maintains strategic creative and licensing partnerships with producers and broadcasters throughout the world.

HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO ‘WHAT IT WAS’!

News
February 14, 2012

TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT- Reviews of All Things Pulp by Tommy Hancock

WHAT IT WAS

George Pelecanos

Little, Brown and Company

There are a few tricks to building a character that can maintain and entertain the full length of a novel. Those and a few other skills come into play when developing a lead that will headline a series of books. That sort of character requires layers, history, motivation, and secrets. And best of all, handling by an author who knows when to show what cards and plays them with at just the right pace.

“What It Was” is the latest novel by George Pelecanos featuring Derek Strange, his well known former Washington DC cop turned Private Investigator. With Strange today framing nearly the whole novel as if telling a story, Pelecanos takes the reader back to DC in 1972. Strange has left the Police department and has recently started his private career. He takes on a case that on the surface involves retrieving a ring stolen during the murder of a drug addict. At the same time, Frank Vaughn, Strange’s mentor and former partner in the Department, draws the case of pursuing the murderer of the junkie, a favorite informant of Vaughn’s. All of this is stirred by Red Fury, a mad villain who essentially starts a killing spree with the addict and has no fear of being killed, no respect for anything except his own needs, and every intent to add buckets to his growing bloody legend.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book if you came to it looking for Pelecanos at the top of his game. This is a fantastic noir pulpy type crime tale, giving equal focus to the work of the men both committing crimes and those tracking them down. The action unfolds believably and almost cinematically on a canvas that is 1972. The attention paid to the music, the cars, the clothes, and the way people in that era paid the utmost attention to all the above, weaving them into their lives as much as the food they ate, the hearts they broke, and the people they killed.

Pelecanos wastes no time with cardboard cutouts. From the three leads of Strange, Fury, and Vaughn, all the way down to bit parts, he fleshes out every single character, bringing flesh and blood to them with wonderfully chosen words and excellently executed turns of phrase. Also, he stamps this story with real life. No one gets out unscathed. The heroes are tarnished, the villains aren’t vanquished at every turn, and yet people go on, live, and grow, wounds, scars and all.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT- ‘What IT Was’ is raw, real, and unforgiving. A fantastic piece of crime fiction. Down, dirty, and determined.

Look! Over in Indianapolis! It’s a patriot… it’s a giant… it’s Super Bowl!

News
February 5, 2012

Yes, it’s Super Bowl, strange visitor from another… oh, you know the drill.

If you’re like us, you’re watching the game for the trailers for all the comic book movies that are coming out in the next year… which ones do you think worked? Which ones got you excited? Consider this an open thread to discuss.

Dynamite To Reprint Howard Chaykin’s The Shadow

News
January 13, 2012

The Shadow: Blood And Judgement by Howard Chaykin was originally published by DC Comics in the eighties around the same time as other gritty takes on characters in comics such as Watchmen and The Dark Knight. This story was last collected in 1991.

Now, twenty-one years later, Dynamite – the current license holders of The Shadow – is bringing Howard Chaykin’s The Shadow: Blood and Judgement back into print.

Dynamite has gathered a bunch of quotes regarding the series from some comic book professionals…

“Not since Walter Gibson has anyone been better suited to The Shadow than Howard Chaykin” – Mark Waid

“This is my all-time favorite Howard Chaykin comic book. This is him at the tip-tip-top of his game and, yeah I’ll say it, the best Shadow story ever published!” – Brian Michael Bendis

“IT’S TIME TO GET OFFENDED AGAIN. Welcome back, Mr. Cranston. Welcome back, Mr. Chaykin… we need you both now more than ever. Who knew that underneath all the cocaine, black marble, and rayon that the Eighties had a heart of pulp? As always, Chaykin — and the Shadow — knows…” -Matt Fraction

“Chaykin at his ballsiest and most dynamic. This is how the Shadow should be done.” – Jason Aaron

“Chaykin’s Shadow is a modern legend at his best.” – Rick Remender

“Sharply written, uber-stylish and dead sexy. Yes, Chaykin made The Shadow sexy!” – John Cassaday

“Howard Chaykin was one of the few who dared to make mainstream comics different back in the eighties; it was guys like him, Alan Moore and Frank Miller who made sure there’d be no going back. Howard’s work on The Shadow is amongst his very best: razor-sharp character work, sizzling dialogue and an unsurpassed sense of layout and design.” – Garth Ennis

“The reintroduction of The Shadow in the 1980s in Howard Chaykin’s mini-series was one of the most striking comics of the era. A bold, violent, and modern vision combined with the original caped hero archetype captivated me as a reader.” – Alex Ross

“A comically insolent and graphically innovative re-invention of the grandfather of the superhero.” -Warren Ellis

“There are many reasons to consider Howard Chaykin a comic visionary. This is one of them.” – Brian Azzarello

“The iconic 80s miniseries is back. Some creators use noir themes and images as though they’re throwing them into a shopping basket. Chaykin makes them look as though they didn’t even exist until he came along.” – Mike Carey

“Who knows how to write and draw great suspense, action, and characters that literally pop off the page? THE CHAYKIN KNOWS — HAHAHAHAHA!!!” – Peter J. Tomasi

“Sex, money, intrigue, betrayal, revenge. This is Chaykin. Try to keep up.” – Andy Diggle

“Bloody, brutal, vital and violent, with a striking sense of energy and a huge amount of style on every kinetic page. Howard Chaykin transference of The Shadow from its pulp roots to the comic book gold rush era of 1987 is a gem. It’s good to see it back in print.” – Rob Williams

“My favorite comic growing up in the eighties was THE SHADOW. Howard Chaykin’s Shadow was a breath of fresh air to me and I gobbled up every frame of that miniseries. Chaykin didn’t go onto the regular series when it launched, leaving me to look around for other comics Chaykin had done.” – Aintitcoolnews.com

You can learn more about Dynamite Entertinament at http://www.dynamite.net/.

Thanks to Bleeding Cool for the scans of the original comics below. Click on images for a larger view.