Francavilla and “Skeleton Cases” in Detective Comics

I’m going to have to watch this one closely to see how DC collects the Commissioner Gordon back-up feature, “Skeleton Cases” because I definitely don’t want to miss this. Francesco Francavilla’s Toth-esque art immediately blew me away when I stumbled upon it in the pages of The Black Coat ~ 2006 and I’ve been following his work closely ever since over on Pulp Sunday from week to week. He’s one of the most creative talents in comics, and teaming up with writer Scott Snyder, I reckon this is going to be a heck of a fun ride. Can’t wait to make space on my book shelf for this one.

More on Detective Comics: Skeleton Cases from Francesco via The Source:

I have been a fan of everything Batman since… ever! I’ve also been a fan as of late of the terrific storytelling of that talented fella known as Scott Snyder, so you can imagine my reaction when I got the invitation to be part of this run of DETECTIVE COMICS. I pinched myself, then asked my wife to pinch me, and only then did I realize it was real. All I can say is–can’t wait to start on this! I read Scott’s script and… you guys are in for a treat!

Look for it this November!

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Help Yoshinori Ono Create a New Darkstalkers Game!

“I am desperate to make this game!” – Yoshinori Ono

You may have heard of Yoshinori Ono, he’s the man responsible for pushing and producing Capcom’s Street Fighter and most recently the wildly successful Street Fighter IV. Pick an interview and you’ll witness the passion he carries for these games and characters — a drive that has led him to create the most critically acclaimed fighting games around.

And apparently he’d love to revisit the Darkstalkers franchise, Capcom’s quirky 2D fighting games featuring their zany take on familiar monster conventions. The only problem is that the ‘higher-ups’ want to make sure that there’s demand for the game, particularly here in the U.S., before giving him the go ahead. And that’s where we come in. On any given day there are several hundred people reading the blog (and I appreciate all that take the time to stop by and visit) so if even one of  you good folks can take a moment of your day to help show your support for a new Darkstalkers game then the time I took to type this up was more than worth it.

You can do that by visiting Capcom’s official blog and posting on the “Ask Capcom” forum and tell them sincerely about your interest in the game. Capcom is one of the few video game companies that takes an awful lot of their time hanging out and shooting the breeze with their fans, as well as listening to their praise, concerns and criticisms, so its likely that someone will see your post and it will be one more indicator that we would like to see a new Darkstalkers game. One additional person voicing their opinion in the affirmative would be a big help. Three to four hundred doing so would be huge.

Thanks for considering it, and hopefully I’ll have some good news to report in the months and years to come about the game!

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Batman: Arkham Asylum Sequel Get’s a Title

Well that’ll get the blood boiling — in a good way. Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of the most entertaining games I’ve ever played (I still can’t get enough of the extra detective mode challenges) so it’s an understatement to say that “I can’t wait” for…Batman: Arkham City!

Here’s the official press release:

You’ve played the first game. You’ve seen the teaser trailers. Now we’ve got a title for the most highly anticipated video game sequel in years.

Today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment announced BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY as the title for the follow-up to the award winning and critically acclaimed videogame BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM.

The game, which will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC next fall and developed by Rocksteady Studios, expands upon the gritty, atmospheric scenery and characterization that catapulted BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM to the forefront. It is set in a sequestered section of Gotham City that has become the home for the criminally insane. Players are introduced to a brand new story that bring together an ensemble cast of characters and villains from the Batman universe, as well as enhanced gameplay features that build upon the ultra-realistic Dark Knight experience that fans enjoyed with BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM.

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Dragon Quest Adventure Log: 7/31 DQ Sampling Event

I don’t often get a chance to participate in some of the interesting comic and gaming events that go on here in the North Texas area, and normally I’m alright with that, but as you’re probably well aware of by now the Dragon Quest series holds a special place in my heart and it just so happened that a local Gamestop was participating in one of the Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (DS) “Sampling Events” that took place Saturday 7/31.

These events were set up so that you could take your copy of the game to the designated area and download a special map that Nintendo was offering (a dungeon adding extra content to the game) as well as “tag” other Dragon Quest players and download any extra dungeons that they had unlocked in their play through the game. You could also link up with the worlds other fans were playing in and battle with each other to gain more experience, loot, etc. (I didn’t have the time to try this but others were definitely having fun battling together). It was really cool to be able to participate in something like this and I ended up with ~ 5 extra maps for my effort, including the official one Nintendo offered.

But that wasn’t all that was great about spending ~ an hour checking out the DQ event. In addition, Nintendo and Square-Enix provided some Dragon Quest goodies for the fans that attended. The first handful were given a classic blue slime t-shirt (happy to say that I was one of them) and most were awarded a DQIX poster, sticker sheet and introduction booklet for coming. I didn’t expect anything like that and really appreciate Nintendo and Square-Enix’ extra effort in setting this up. I’ll proudly be adding these items to my Dragon Quest collection (which I’ll definitely have to show you guys at some point) and keeping an eye on any future events like this that I may be able to participate in. And anything that will allow me to enjoy more time with the game, like those 5 extra maps, is that much more icing on an already fantastic cake.

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