superheroi: setembro 2006

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An Unlikely Hero

Here's the first in our occasional series of discussion features. Add your thoughts using the 'Comments' link below.

The bestselling videogame in the UK last week was Sonic Mega Collection Plus, a compilation of Sonic's greatest hits from the Mega Drive and Game Gear years. And in 2004, Sonic Heroes was the sixth bestselling game in the UK overall, outperforming big hitters like Burnout 3 and Spider-Man 2. Surprised? How about this: that same game, a full year after its release, is still at number eight in this week’s all-price chart.

Nor does Sonic’s current popularity end there. Last year, at the Golden Joysticks awards, readers of The Sun voted Sonic their Ultimate Gaming Hero, beating out Tommy Vercetti, Master Chief and the once-ubiquitous Lara Croft. As well as producing the extraordinary spectacle of Little Britain’s Marjorie Dawes cuddling up to an eight-foot hedgehog, the award also raised an interesting conundrum: just how does he do it?

It should be all over for Sonic. The videogame giant for whom he was an emblem has long since admitted defeat in the consumer hardware space. His transition to the 3D world has not been convincing, steadily declining in quality from his debut in Sonic Adventure (itself far from flawless). His characterisation has become increasingly unlikeable, the 16bit charisma replaced by whiny off-the-peg Americanisms. And his 2D incarnations? Well, few videogame commentators would argue that 2D is alive and kicking. With no hardware for him to represent, and no standout software to represent him, it should be all over.

And yet it isn’t. He’s riding high, maintaining a profile against all the odds. Mario, once the most widely recognisable game character in the world, didn’t make a dent on The Sun’s readers’ consciousness. Tommy Vercetti, the antihero who led a gaming revolution, didn’t stand a chance. So what is his secret? Is it good box art? Sonic Heroes’ vibrant foil treatment was certainly eye-catching. Is it canny pricing? The £29.99 price tag of the Mega Collection certainly takes it one step further into ‘impulse’ territory. Can his cartoon second life, currently showing on Jetix, really be pushing the game to number two in the Xbox charts?

Or is the answer simply that new gamers are a lot more like old gamers than many publishers give them credit for? Is it that new gamers like bright colours just as much as old gamers? Can it be that new gamers have just as strong an enthusiasm for geeky videogame heritage as 16bit enthusiasts do? Is Mega Collection Plus’ brutally old-fashioned approach to unlocking its content still exerting its masochistic appeal? Can it be that the thirst for truly excellent, truly pure platformers is as strong as it ever was? Can it be that 2D gaming isn’t dead at all?

We want to know what you think. So tell us.

Source: www.edge-online.co.uk

Saiba mais em: www.heroesonline.com

Hellboy

1st app- San Diego Comic Con #2

On 12/23/44 in East Bromwich (England), a ranger group, professor Frost, from Blackfriar University, Trevor Bruttenholm and a first class medium, lady Cynthia Eden-Jones, worked together to frustrate a german project named Ragna-Rok. The Reich was trying to create a weapon to destroy its enemies with the help of a black sorcerer, Rasputin, whose purpose was to destroy life on Earth bringing back the age of the snake. The power they released was rechannelled by lady Cynthia, so that the creature they were summoning appeared in East Bromwich instead of in the Scotish isle where the germans were holding the ceremony. This creature was a kid, which they named Hellboy for his demon appearance. Bruttenholm adopted and raised him and he received the status of human being in 1952. He joined the BPRD the same year.

Hellboy grew very fast, even though he did not age like human beings do. Thus, he has been a young adult most of his life. He had some trouble accepting himself at first, but he soon adjusted and tried to be just a regular guy. He even got himself a girlfriend once, Dr Bransfield, but
they eventually finished their relationship as good friends. He also became friends with other agents, specially Liz Sherman, Abe Sapiens and Kate Corrigan.

Not everybody accepted Hellboy as easy as Bruttenholm. Frost was sure that he was a harbinger of destruction and dedicated his life to destroy him with no result. His son would talk to Hellboy when Frost died to tell him about the man's hatred: apparently, his coming had been foretold and he was the holder of the hand of doom, which would destroy the world. In fact, he knows nothing about his seemingly undestructible and unproportionated stone right hand. Hellboy decided not to accept his destiny, but he could not help but worry a bit. Specially, because evil sorcerer Rasputin had also told him something like that. He got a third call on the subject in Lockmackben, Scotland, when count Guarino made a pact with a demon who tried to be what Hellboy was meant to be.

Hellboy was tired of so many secrets, specially because he thought that the Bureau knew more about him that they had told him. He also was a bit angry at how the Bureau treated some of his friends, like poor unstable Liz Sherman. Thus, when they put a bomb into Roger's chest, he decided to quit and go to Africa. Right now, he is not part of the Bureau anymore.

Source: www.comicmonsters.com

Frankenstein #1: Review by Grant Morrison

Writer: Grant Morrison
Art: Doug Mahnke
Colours: John Kalisz
Letterer: Phil Balsman
Publisher: DC comics

Frankenstein

This book should be excellent. There are no real indications to the contrary when casting a cursory glance at the cover. Grant Morrison is a well-known comics master, and Doug Mahnke has a style that reminds me of Richard Corben – one of my favourite artists of all time. So why is it so dull and derivative? The fact that two of my favourite creators are collaborating on a character with such raw potential should be enough to have me writhing in ecstasy on the office floor, with puppies and tiny kittens rejoicing around me. However there are no puppies here, certainly no rejoicing kittens, and much to the relief of my co-workers I am not writhing on the floor in ecstasy. Frankenstein #1 is stagnant. The dialogue is corny throughout; the themes used by Morrison are old and tired (such as popular teenagers being insecure about themselves) and the ending is rather unimpressive. It pains me to type this: but in terms of writing, Frankenstein #1 is a bit of a stinker. Usually it bothers me when a title character hardly appears in his own comic, but this time I was rather indifferent about it. I imagine that Morrison was trying to paint Frankie as an undead bad-ass (which he really should be), but the effect I got was more of a lumbering bag of pretentious insults and clunky metaphors. The main chunk of story revolves around a psychic (or is he?) teenager shunned by his peers. Through his mental gifts, he is able to coerce and psychically break down the defences of the student body, and turn them to his cause. Yet as the story unfolds, we see there is more to the child’s gifts than meets the eye. This feels like treading old ground, and in truth the story of Frankenstein taking on this kid doesn’t stitch together too well.

Stitch together? Frankenstein? Huh!?

Sigh…

It pains me to type this. Morrison is a fantastic writer; his past stories (such as Animal Man) have really had an effect on me. He’s also from Glasgow, which makes it even harder to bash his work since we share a special Scottish bond. I shed a tear for this book, I really do…
Thank goodness then for Mahnke! Talk about getting it right on the button! Frankenstein looks amazing, despite his shortcomings in the speech department. The short-lived action sequences flow brilliantly, and even the slower pace of the main story are executed with flair and panache.

Panache? I just used the word…panache? I’m cutting this section short.

Colouring is again handled competently, with no real ‘wow’ factor. We need to see more colourists in the mainstream that can really impress us. Nothing against John Kalisz you understand, I think he’s a fine colourist. However there are no moments in the book that really caught my eye or made me study the panels. What can we expect though? Until people really appreciate the so-called ‘smaller contributions’ such as colourist or letterer, can we really expect them to push the envelope, so to speak? I suppose it’s a two-way street, to be fair…

Ahem…

On the subject of lettering, Phil Balsman does a great job with the words of Frankenstein himself. The font choice is perfect, and hey – at least it isn’t ‘sand’ right?
On a slight tangent here, but can I just say how much I hate the font ‘sand’?
It is the laziest choice for a letterer. If you need a spooky or ‘krazy’ font, and you can’t be arsed looking up one that looks good, choose sand! I swear to god, in design school when we were asked to design something in a horror theme, 99% of students used sand. In conclusion I HATE SAND!

Source: www.comicmonsters.com

9/11 In Comic Books

The Amazing Spider-Man v. 2 #36: This was the first comic book that covered the events of 9/11. The writers stopped the current storyline to produce this very special issue. Notice the all-black cover. By Marvel Comics.

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