video games
Is this logo the new look of DC Comics?
Less than seven years after replacing its long-established “bullet” logo with a 21st-century “swoosh,” DC Comics appears ready to make another change.
Bleeding Cool noticed that just last week the company submitted two versions of a new logo to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The design, which you can see at right, depicts a D flipping back to reveal a C below; one version includes the words “DC Comics” below, the other “DC Entertainment.”
Although the “flipping” aspect of the logo may not be obvious in its static form, it’s likely designed with animation in mind, for inclusion at the beginning of movies, television shows and video games. How that design might translate to comics remains to be seen.
Comic Book Resources has contacted DC for comment but received no response.
The publisher’s current logo debuted in May 2005 as part of an effort to emphasize the DC brand across all media. Designed by Josh Beatman of Brainchild Studios, the “swoosh” replaced the Milton Glaser-created “bullet” the company had used in one form or another since 1977.
- January 13, 2012 @ 02:00 PM by Kevin Melrose
Ken Penders releases new Julie-Su design
Last year, former Sonic the Hedgehog artist Ken Penders announced that he had retained the rights to all the characters and story lines he created while working on the comic (from issue #11 to #135), which is published by Archie Comics. Penders has sued the game companies Sega and Electronic Arts, claiming copyright infringement, and Archie Comics has sued Penders, asking the court to make a declaratory judgment on the rights question; that case is scheduled to go to court next month. It looks like a long shot, but if the court finds in Penders’s favor, Archie will be in a pickle, as they have not only reprinted those issues in digest form but also continued the storylines Penders originated, using the characters he now claims to own. (I reached out to the Archie Comics folks but they had no comment.)
In the meantime, Penders is keeping busy: He just revealed a redesign of Julie-Su, Lara-Su’s mother, for the graphic novel series he is working on, The Lara-Su Chronicles. It’s going to be an odd series, because even if the court decides that Penders should have the rights to the characters he created while working for Archie, they won’t give him the rights to Knuckles or Sonic, so the cast will be all supporting characters. On the other hand, it would be an interesting alternate universe for Sonic fans. Stay tuned!
- December 30, 2011 @ 12:25 PM by Brigid Alverson
Capcom axing Magneto costume following Spanish royal objections
Magento's downloadable costume from "Marvel vs. Capcom 3"
The release of downloadable content pack for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be delayed almost three months, apparently giving the video-game publisher time to remove the Magneto uniform that drew objections from Spain’s royal family.
According Capcom-Unity, the “Ancient Warrior” costume pack, originally set to debut today, now won’t be available until March 6 in the United States and March 7 in Europe. When it does arrive, however, it will contain only Firebrand, Arthur and Hulk; Magneto’s House of M-inspired skin will be gone.
The dispute dates back to 2005, when artist Mike Mayhew used the official portrait of King Juan Carlos as the basis for his cover of The Pulse: House of M Special. Except for the heads and the colors of their sashes, the images of Carlos and Magneto were virtually identical; even the medals and wall patterns matched (see below).
- December 20, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
D’Errico and Weibe team for Sky Pirates of Neo Terra webcomic
A couple of years ago, Image published Sky Pirates of Neo Terra, a fantasy-adventure miniseries based on the upcoming Nintendo DS game of the same name, and featuring gorgeous art by Camilla d’Errico (Nightmares & Fairy Tales, Burn). Now, with the impending debut of the game for Facebook and Apple devices, Day 21 Studios is launching a Sky Pirates of Neo Terra webcomic by d’Errico and Green Wake writer Kurtis J. Weibe.
The comic kicks off this weekend, with new installments appearing every other Friday telling side stories of characters in the Neo Terra world that weren’t explored in the Image comic.
“It’s in the stories that we don’t read or see in the main plot that characters can often come alive,” d’Errico said, “and in these snapshots we pull back the curtains to really get to know who they are.”
Day 21 is also giving away original pages of d’Errico’s art on the Sky Pirates Facebook page. You can see pages from the comic below:
- December 16, 2011 @ 01:15 PM by Kevin Melrose
‘Forget the movies,’ WB Montreal is focused on DC Comics games
Following the runaway success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and its sequel Arkham City, don’t look for Warner Bros. Interactive to return to movie tie-ins anytime soon.
Instead, the new Warner Bros. Games Montreal has been given a mandate: to just make good video games. Specifically, good games based on DC Comics properties. “It’s really about make the game what it needs to be and forget the movies,” Reid Schneider, the studio’s head of production, told Canadian Business.
“If you look over the past decade of superhero games, there were two. The first one was when Neversoft made Spider-Man — I think it was back on the PS1. People were like, ‘Wow, this is really good,’ and then a couple of things came out that were okay,” he said. “Then Rocksteady came out with Arkham Asylum and that again changed the expectations. If you look at the similarities between the two, they weren’t based on movies per se. They were just taking that really rich fiction from the comic books and exploring the characters. It’s not about hitting the movie date or some arbitrary date — it was giving the game the time it needs to be successful and really just concentrating on the quality of it.”
- December 12, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
New Angry Birds levels bring an Angry Birds Christmas webcomic
Although I fell off the Angry Birds bandwagon some time ago, based on the number of Halloween costumes I saw and all the Angry Birds merchandise on my nephew’s Christmas wishlist, the game still has a lot of devoted fans. Rovio, the game’s creators, have released another round of holiday-themed levels this month, and with them come a new Angry Birds webcomic, featuring holiday-stressed birds trying to find the missing Mighty Eagle. There are five strips up now, with more to come.
- December 6, 2011 @ 06:00 AM by JK Parkin
The Robot 6 Holiday Gift-Giving Guide, Part 1
‘Tis the season for decking those halls, trimming those trees, lighting the menorah and, of course, figuring out what to buy for your friends and family. To help give you some ideas, we reached out to a few comic creators, asking them:
1. What comic-related gift or gifts would you recommend giving this year, and why?
2. What gift (comic or otherwise) is at the top of your personal wish list, and why?
We’ve gotten back a bunch of suggestions, which we’ll run between now and the end of the week. So let the merriment commence …
Jim McCann
1. Exclusive 2011 Janet Lee Holiday Ornaments
Every year, Janet does about 12 ornaments, three sets of four. This year, she has done Hipster Animals, Scary Toys and Art Nouveau Angels. They are signed and dated, and at the end of the season, that’s it! She stops making them. I’ve been collecting them since 2007, and now our tree is almost completely filled with Janet’s art. You can buy them exclusively through her Etsy shop.
Oh, and if you’re REALLY nice, she MAY have a very limited Dapper Men ornament or two. Just ask!
2. This year, for myself, I’m going with a mix of Blu-Rays (portable Blu-Ray player, please, Santa!) and books. But the thing I’m REALLY excited for is the hardcover edition of the Complete Ripley novels, by Patricia Highsmith. Most people only know of Ms. Highsmith through The Talented Mr. Ripley (and classic film lovers through Strangers On a Train). There were actually five Tom Ripley novels, and the collection looks amazing. Why these books? My spouse recently Tweeted a quote from John Lithgow that struck me as a writer: “Duality, duplicity, truth and deception, good becoming bad and vice-versa are crucial elements of great storytelling.” Highsmith was and remains an unsung hero of mastering that, so I hope I learn something in the process!
Happy Holidays from the Dapper Lariosa-McCann household!
Jim McCann is the writer of Return of the Dapper Men and its upcoming sequel, Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol, Hawkeye:Blindspot and the upcoming Mind The Gap.
- November 28, 2011 @ 03:00 PM by JK Parkin
Magneto’s ‘House of M’ uniform again draws royal objections
King Juan Carlos of Spain, left, and Mike Mayhew's Magento
In 2005, Marvel drew the displeasure of Spain’s royal family when the official portrait of King Juan Carlos — right down to the sash, medals and wall pattern! — was used as the basis of Mike Mayhew’s image of Magneto for the cover of The Pulse: House of M Special. There were rumblings of legal action, followed by an apology and a new cover.
More than six years later, Magneto’s Juan Carlos-inspired uniform is back, this time as a downloadable skin for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. And so, too, are the royal family’s objections, apparently.
Courtesy of Kotaku and a Google translation comes word from the Madrid newspaper Heraldo that Zarzuela Palace has asked Spanish game distributor Koch Media to remove the skin, which is virtually identical to the uniform worn by Juan Carlos in his role as Captain General of Armies of the King.
- November 28, 2011 @ 11:15 AM by Kevin Melrose
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 posters by Francavilla and Shinkiro
From Francesco Francavilla's poster for "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3"
Marvel has announced the addition of Rocket Raccoon and Dead Rising protagonist Frank West to the ever-expanding roster of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, in the process unveiling new posters from Captain America & Bucky artist Francesco Francavilla and Capcom’s Shinkiro.
Check out the full images below. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be released Nov. 15 in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
- November 1, 2011 @ 09:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
Alfred is aces at dressing your wound or finding your website
Alfred At Your Service
Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred Pennyworth has proven himself useful in many situations, whether it’s helping out at dinner parties, seeing Wayne’s “friends” out with a fresh-baked muffin or even using his archery skills to help Batman fight crime. Now Alfred is moving into new territory by hosting a search engine, Alfred At Your Service, to promote the release of the well-reviewed video game Batman: Arkham City. While it operates like an ordianry search engine, putting in Batman-related phrases like “Harvey Dent” and “Crime Alley” produces quotes from Alfred about the search term.
Ask Jeeves better watch his back.
- October 19, 2011 @ 10:00 AM by JK Parkin
Take a peak at James Kochalka’s ‘Attract Mode’ from the Devastator
from Attract Mode
The fourth issue of the humor anthology The Devastator arrives Nov. 9, and the theme for this issue is video games, It includes contributions from James Kochalka, Danny Hellman, Corey Lewis and many more. Above is a brief taste of Kochalka’s contribution; if you’d like to see the whole thing, you can find a preview of a few pages from the book on their site. And hey, if you pre-order it before Nov. 9, you’ll get a mystery prize!
A trailer for the book is available after the jump.
- October 18, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin
What’s the mystery DC Comics video game coming next year?
In a Los Angeles Times profile pegged to today’s launch of Batman: Arkham City, Warner Bros. Interactive President Martin Tremblay drops an enticing crumb: In addition to a new Lord of the Rings video game and a sequel to LEGO Batman, next year the studio will release an adaptation of a DC Comics superhero he wouldn’t name.
That Warner Bros. is looking to develop more DC properties for its rapidly expanding games division is no secret — a new studio in Montreal is being set up specifically for that task. But what could this mysterious title be?
Kotaku notes that while a Superman game may be the obvious guess, given the release of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in June 2013, it hardly requires a veil of secrecy. After all, movie tie-ins are par for the course.
- October 18, 2011 @ 08:00 AM by Kevin Melrose
NYCC hangover | A round-up of additional news from the show
Age of Apocalypse
News and reports from the New York Comic Con rolled out even after the lights were turned off on Sunday; here are a few of them, as well as some tidbits we missed the first time around:
• Marvel announced an ongoing Age of Apocalypse series by David Lapham and Roberto De La Torre, spinning out of the current “Dark Angel Saga” storyline in Uncanny X-Force. [CBR]
• Designer Chip Kidd is writing a Batman book called Batman: Death by Design with art by Dave Taylor. It’s due out next summer. [ComicsAlliance]
• USA Today spotlighted Captain Brooklyn, due next May from Jimmy Palmiotti, Frank Tieri and Amanda Conner. The three-issue miniseries will be published by Image Comics. [USA Today]
• Following the convention, Marvel has released pages from the Prep & Landing story that will appear in a few of their upcoming November comics. [CBR]
- October 18, 2011 @ 07:00 AM by JK Parkin
Comics A.M. | Prosecution rests in Michael George murder trial
Legal
Legal | Prosecutors in Macomb County, Michigan, rested their case Friday in the second trial of Michael George, a former retailer and convention organizer accused of the 1990 murder of his first wife Barbara in the back room of their Clinton Township comic store. The judge this morning will hear a defense motion for a directed verdict, seeking dismissal due to lack of evidence, before testimony resumes.
George, now 51, was arrested in August 2007, after a detective reopened the cold case, and convicted seven months later of first-degree murder and insurance fraud, among other counts, and sentenced to life in prison. However, the judge later set aside the verdict, citing prosecutorial misconduct — George’s mug shot was shown to the jury — and the release of new evidence that could lead the jury to believe another person was responsible for the murder. His retrial began Sept. 14, and should conclude this week. Prosecutors contend that George staged the killing to look like a robbery so he could collect money from an insurance policy and a shared estate, and start over with another woman. George insists he was asleep at the time of the shooting, and that his wife was the victim of a robbery gone wrong. [Daily Tribune]
Publishing | Chip Mosher, marketing and sales director for BOOM! Studios, left the publisher on Friday after four years. Marketing coordinator Emily McGuiness will take over his duties. [BOOM! Studios]
- October 3, 2011 @ 06:55 AM by Kevin Melrose
A cold day in hell: Mr. Freeze trailer for Batman: Arkham City
Rocksteady and Warner Bros. have released a new trailer for the upcoming Batman: Arkham City video game, one that features the villain Mr. Freeze. The game is due Oct. 18 in North America and Oct. 21 in Europe.
- August 15, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by JK Parkin