MAD #Superbuddies - A new name

Time for a lil' cartoon short!

This one comes courtesy of MAD TV, one of the animators officially released it on youtube.
It's from an episode from this past February:



This was actually pretty fun! :D

Loved seeing the Flash family, the JLI, and many others get some spotlight in there!

Since Warner Bros' been recycling some DC-related MAD segments in DC Nation (the new Cartoon Network cartoon block), I'm guessing this will air again some time soon.

Gamin' NEWS! more on #AnarchyReigns + Transformers

Here's a couple of videogame news!
3rd person action games it is for t'day!
First up, Sega and Platinum Games just released two new trailers for Anarchy Reigns, on both Sega's (SegaSide) and Platinum's (PlatinumSide) website of the game.

Duality is the key word here.

They both highlight Jack Cayman and Leo's scenario. (which just goes to confirm this game's simply MadWorld 2 at heart)
Enjoy:








Loads of gameplay and CGi cinematic scenes in there!
It is basically a continuation of the story of MadWorld. And the game itself plays pretty similarly in the singleplayer mode. (the multiplayer will be more action/match/arena oriented)


~


Meanwhile, Activision released an all-new trailer for their own Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.
This sequel to War for Cybertron is looking pretty promising, if you ask me.


And I'm not a fan of Transformers (mostly a casual fan you can say), but seeing these "dinobots", "insectbots", etc. come together in this epic conclusion.. High Moon did a great job of improving an already fun enough game.




Keep an eye out for this one, 'round August 28.

Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock - Recap!

So I finally managed to watch that new Dragon Ball Z "TV Special" short movie produced recently produced by Toei for this year's Jump Festa.

How was it? Well, I honestly found it rather pleasant, a nice surprise from something I wasn't expecting much to be honest.
[Warning! Might contain slight spoilers!]
First of all, lemme just start by saying I wasn't expecting much from this.
Announced as a ~20 minutes anime adaptation of a fan doujin by Naho Ooishi, not even Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, produced as a tie-in for some obscure Japanese exclusive arcade game.
It looked cheap and simple.
Unlike 2008's original Dragon Ball special, backgrounds looked more simplistic, there was less characters around/animated/voiced, simpler plot....

But Dragon Ball Z: Episode of Bardock's special turned out pretty nice in the end.
The art style Toei took is closer to Toriyama than Ooishi's.
The fights were well choreographed and if the story was pretty paper-thin, it was nice just for this once to get some all-new Dragon Ball material, featuring such different and original content.

Freezer (Frieza as you Americans put it) was pretty creepy in the little instance we saw of him, the "end" of Bardock, Goku's father, was well rendered and the plot continued from that point didn't really ruin the original OVA's ending to me.
Oh, and the new baddie Chilled was a pretty nice addition to Dragon Ball's universe!
He had a pretty neat design all around.

It was quite short so it didn't really go anywhere, but it was a fun story in the end.

Now, to the question Otakus/Nerds all around the world are raging about... Is this "canon" or not?
Well, I guess isn't that clear and even at Toei they wouldn't care less about this question.
I mean if you count this, or any of the anime's original fillers (Son Goku and Picollo learning to drive a car..), or the OVAs (Cooler,..) or even the anime's original continuation Dragon Ball GT is really up to you in the end.. as long as it doesn't detract from the Toriyama's original manga.
You can decide to ignore any of these or accept all of them. It's up to your "nerdiness" to decide what's ok or not, all these are official produced materials.

I find it funny how Bardock becomes the legendary Super Saiyajin in this movie (being the first to gain that form chronologically), creates that legend in the past and fullfils it as well.
Though it turns later Super Saiyajins "not legendaries" (and ignores Broly or renders him "normal").

And I also like the fact it leaves on an open note, leaving many questions to be answered.
(was he the first Saiyain? would he form planet Vegeta as we later know it? did he live on, did he die shortly? what would he do now, living in the past? why didn't he chase the rest of Freezer's family?)

All in all, nice little special.
As M. Ebert would put it "Thumb up!"

Dinicartoons - Jingle Belle animated!

Here's something I planned to post for Christmas..but totally forgot to do so...

Back when Top Cow acquired the rights to Jingle Belle from Paul Dini (which, since then, went on to Image Comics), Dini was quite interested into developing his own brand of cartoon characters, be it in the funny pages or beyond.

Thus were born the Dinicartoons.
For the occasion, a bunch of Jingle Belle "flash" animated shorts were produced for the official website JingleBelle.com and a few of them can still be found on youtube these days.
Here's all three of them you'll be able to watch...

"Jingle Belle in Gloria"

Jingle Belle contributes to the annual choral gathering... much to the dismay of the conductor.

"Jingle Belle in Picture Imperfect"

Parents are paying good money to have their childrens' photos taken with Santa, but Jingle Belle gets into the act.

"Jingle Belle in Santa's Throne"

Jingle helps her dad bring cheer to tiny tots at Christmas.

By now, you've probably gotten I'm a huge Jingle Belle fan^^

I find these shorts pretty fun, if only more had been made/released on youtube...

Anyways, that is all as far as Christmas blog posts will go for this year, I promise. That's enough already.

Jingle Belle is copyright Paul Dini. 

Uploaded courtesy of the creator.

CBR Untold Tales of Blackest Night

  

Remember DC's big blockbuster story arc Blackest Night?

Well here's something related, which I originally intended to post for Halloween, but kept delaying it...so anyway, here is...

(be sure to either known about or read Blackest Night before, or this book will seem pretty abstract to you :P)

Comic title: Untold Tales of Blackest Night
By Geoff Johns, Peter J Tomasi, JT Krul, Ehan Van Sciver, Ed Benes, Patrick Gleason, Sam Schlagman, Jason Fabok, Jeremy Love, Bret Booth & others.

Published by DC Comics
From 2010
Lineup Green Lantern/Blackest Night mega-event
Format: Halloween One-Shot special (as originally planned, but actually only later released on Christmas/December).

Did you like Blackest Night, did you want more of it, or at least one final look at that zombie invasion mega-event from DC?
Well, your in luck then, Untold Tales of Blackest Night is exactly here for that.

Claimed to be "deleted scenes" taken out of the blockbuster storyline. Deleted scenes they couldn't find any space on any of the other tie-ins book to squeeze these in.

Told via the "Book of Black" these stories are one last look at the longest night the DC heroes lived through this time from the point of view of some true underdogs, lesser known characters or simply the ones we forgot to stop by during the event.

Various creative teams worked on the several little chapters found in this One Shot.
The principal overlapping narrative is written by Peter J Tomasi and drawn by Patrick Gleason & Sandra Hope.
We're back with Sinestro Corps member Lyssa Drak. Trapped in Black Hand and Nekron's own "book", she narrates the tales (un)told in this book as she tries to get out of it...unsuccessfully.

The first actual deleted scene is a story about Shadowpact member Ragman, a magic based vigilante.
The story is by Geoff Johns, with the art provided by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert.
Ragman tries to escape the Black Lanterns, the souls in his rags are awakening...
Nice little story that is a bit too short and doesn't go anywhere much. But it was a character I like I was intrigued to know what he was doing during Blackest Night, so at least it answers that.
Would have loved seeing the rest of his gang Shadowpact around though. (Blue Devil and the Phantom Stranger did appear a bit more in the actual BL story though...)

The second scene is another one done by the above crew.
It's about Flash's enemies called the Rainbow Raiders (I kid you not!), who stolen the technology of a previous enemy who called himself Rainbow Raider and who want to join the ranks of the Black Lanterns through...an odd original way....

Then there's a very nice Animal Man story by Sam Schlagman with Jason Fabok & Ryan Winn on the art.
Another characters I would have wanted to see during the actual event, very nice to finally see the adventure through his eyes.
His connection to the green and animals life is briefly touched upon, and distorted thanks to the zombie invasion.

After that is a Donna Troy story from writer JT Krul with Ed Benes lovely artwork serving it.
Well I said Donna Troy? Let's call it a Wonder Girl story, since it kinda changes direction mid-point.
This one's taking place near the end of "the night". It kinda showed a bit more but wasn't really a self contained story, more like missing pages.

A very nice little mini Scarecrow story build the bridge into the last moments of the event.
From Jeremy Love with art by Bret Booth.
At some point near the end of the event, the Lanterns elected some "deputies". This little story take place at that moment. And it was the most "Halloween-ysh" tale of the bunch.
Always fun to explore Scarecrow from time to time, at moments like these.

Finally a story that isn't taking place on planet Earth!
The last one is written, inked and colored by Ehan Van Sciver.
It follows Sinestro Corps member Karu-Sil as she battles Black Lanterns alongside a Green Lantern.

Most of these stories feel kinda rushed and either quickly end abruptly or end up leaving you for more.
They do feel like missing scenes moreso than actual "Untold Tales" as the title implies.

Lyssa Drak is back in the end for an epilogue after BN, which end up making her story seemed the more intriguing, you kinda wish you could have more and followed her onto the next coming epic story...

Overall, it was a nice little "Halloween" comic filler to read.
Though I gotta say, if you're a Green Lantern fan it might leave you wanting for more, since Lanterns barely appear in here...
(couldn't they squeeze in there, oh I dunno, a G'nort story for example??)

Most of the tales feel too constrained, some pages too close to develop anything... I wish Ragman had more than 2-3 pages!!
Strangely though, Animal Man  felt like the main story, as it counted the higher pages number of the whole bunch, (kinda ties-in to what was coming in Brightest Day after that...)

If you enjoyed the Blackest Night as a whole, you will definitively be in for a threat :P
Though consider these as some kind of "deleted scenes" spotlighting some under used DC Comics characters.

I think I would quite enjoy if DC could revisit the whole BN event for Halloween, once or twice again down the road..
(though the "New 52" reboot makes it unsure for now...we'll see in a year or two!)

I give it:

  2 / 3 Plastic-trophies!

CBR Galacta: Daughter of Galactus

 

Here's a new comic review!
Something unexpected I hope.

What looked like a silly idea turned out...pretty good?

Comic title: Galacta: Daughter of Galactus
Art by Hector Sevilla Lujan
Story by Adam Warren 

Published by Marvel
From 2010
Lineup /
Format: One shot collecting Galacta's segment from Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 and all3 Galacta digital comics.

I know what you're thinking right now.
Galactus, the mighty World-Devourer, has a daughter?!
What is this? A parody comic? A what if../Elseworld story? A Marvel Ultimate/MC2/something else comic?

Well, not at all.
It's an actual story about Galactus' daughter living on our big blue planet Earth.

Meet Galacta.

Galacta.
Daughter of Galactus!
Galactus' Little Girl!
The World-Eater's Daughter!
Or simply put Gali.

This is the story of Gali as she struggles every day to not give in her hunger and eat our whole biosphere.

The concept and character first appeared in a one shot called Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular alongside other one off ideas. (Mini Marvels, etc..)
It was just a mean for writer Adam Warren to play with the more cosmic aspect of Marvel, beautifully rendered under Hector Sevilla Lujan's artwork and colors.
It's a bit manga-influenced in the portraits, sort of like Udon comics, but has a very nicely painting rendering.

Anyhoo, re: the certain doom of Earth’s biosphere: 

I continue to do my best to prevent it, 

but even Cosmic Awareness has its limits, K? 

10:45 AM Jun 3rd, 2009 via web

 
The story is pretty fun, and as silly it may sound, has some depth to it.
Gali spends most of her time looking at our world under her semi- godlike nigh-omniscient cosmic eye.

She seems to be rather fond of our planet's customs and loves twitter. 
That's right, it play a part in the story.
Since her original appearance and through her digital Marvel comics, Galacta stories use twitter as plot gimmick. Her current mood and impressions along the story could be seen over there "in real life".


Her official twitter.


Which plays the part of exposing another aspect of her personality and where "she" even took time to answer some fan-questions. (in her very own semi- godlike nigh-omniscient cosmic-like way)

Marvel rule for publishing comics: If the comic isn't Spider-man or Wolverine, always have either spider-man or Wolverine drop-by as a cameo.

Even if her original publication was through a special issue and digi-comics, it all comes together nicely in this new self-titled one shot.

Gali has a problem, her hunger grows more and ore very day. She can't just continue eating parasites and alien entities only. A cosmic tapeworm forces her hunger to grow bigger each time.
As she tries to find a solution for her problem (she doesn't want to succumb to her nature and become a mindless World-Eater like daddy G), she meets other Marvel Universe characters.
The guest stars are well integrated in the plot. There's the usual Wolverine appearance, Thor (briefly) and the Fantastic Four. (and the man himself of course, Galactus!)

The story is self-contained, develops and ends up in the same one shot.


It wasn't part of this year's Women of Marvel promotion. (though there's some advertisement and interviews relating to that initiative)
But it really should have been.
It's a lot better, more respectful and smarter than the actual comics that were published under the Women of Marvel brand, specially that god awful X-Women issue....

Overall, Galacta is a great read.
It shows a great funny and strong female character under a quite positive light.

Though the ending twist is quite...unexpected :P

All stories connect into a great bigger on-going adventure as she journeys across the Marvel Universe.

I really recommend you'll give it a try!
Since it was a one shot, you may have to search a bit or buy it online. (and on Marvel Digital comics, not all the story is available there)

I give it:

  2,5 / 3 Howards!