Not too much this week of interest to me except for a new comic by Antony Johnston. I’m still trying to get that new Behemoth album at BestBuy. Didn’t see it today, but the web site says it’s there so I’ll have to go back and ask someone. I’ll have to blog about that tomorrow.
Nothing in the games category. I did add The LEGO Movie Videogame to my list for Xbox 360 but not as a priority buy. I labeled it 3 stars meaning, “I’d like to play it” (my system is based on Netflix: * = hated it, * * = disliked it, *** = liked, **** = really liked it, and ***** = loved it. I think it’s a pretty great way to think about it).
In comics that’ll be out tomorrow there’s issue 14 of the Brian Wood penned Star Wars ongoing comic series that takes place just after A New Hope with all the familiar characters of the first series of movies. It’s been very good so far with Leia and the Rebellion on the run from the Empire and looking for a new base after the destruction of the the Death Star. There are lots of Star Wars comics out there and I used to follow a few, but I’m now down to just this one. I kinda burned out on all the other series a while ago. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.
I’m really excited for this new comic Fuse by writer Antony Johnston and artist Justin Greenwood. They did my favorite series Wasteland that’s just finishing up after 50 some issues. Antony Johnston might be familiar to gamers as the writer on the first Dead Space game and accompanying comic series. Fuse is a gritty and dark murder mystery set in a orbiting power station in some near future - scifi noir?. I can’t wait ‘til Wednesday!
Very little in books. There are some interesting stuff concerning Queen Elizabeth’s bed chambers (I’m not joking), Internet search technology, and The Habsbergs of Europe but I’m trying to not get side tracked by stuff that may not contribute to any career goals, so I just added The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus and others. Focus, focus, focus is my motto at the moment.
I did however just get Okami: Official Complete Works in the mail, using up the last of my Amazon gift card. Notice the spine is on the right side so that you have to read the book right to left. It’s full of gorgeous ink drawings from the game. I’m trying to remember when Japanese art style was introduced to the West. I believe there was a big art show in Paris around the late 19thc that influenced the Impressionist movement. No time to look that up at the moment.
Finally, I’m thinking about preordering EDF: 2025 for next week’s release. I found out from a podcast that it’s by the devs of the first game EDF: 2017 and the Japanese EDF games. I wonder who did EDF: Insect Armageddon then?
I'm drooling over that Okami art book.
It's a pretty large book. Many more pages than the Dark Souls Design Works one.
I wanna see that Lego Movie. I hear it's very relatable.
I was just listening to film critic podcast Filmspotting and they liked it too. A lot. It's by the directors of the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies and 21 Jump Street.
The cover alone of that artbook looks great.
I'd love to pick up some comics, but there's so much other stuff I want to get as well.
I'm really locked in to the weekly comic habit now. I've occasionaly thought of quitting or switching to trades and thus buying less, but I really love the single issues.
You should go see the LEGO movie. It was way better than what I thought it would be. Some parts are near Pixar quality in terms of writing. My review of the LEGO movie videogame goes up at the end of this week. I'll probably get to review that new Earth Defense Force game, too.
Everybody is raving about it. If it's not snowing yet again this weekend I may go see it.
whoah that Okami book looks fresh.
I don't really keep up with comics around here. I wish there was a store nearby, I would go and check them out. I used to love getting new issues.
You can get most of them as downloads now at places like Comixology,com. I still like the paper stuff though and going to the store.
There are tons of video game art books I'd love to have, but that Okami one is a great choice. (On a related note, I finally ordered Okamiden for the DS! Super excited to get it but I still need to play the original game lol.) I've never been able to get into comics. I think there's just not enough bang for my buck. If I had the money, though, I wouldn't mind getting some of the graphic novel compilations out there.
I'm sure there are many other cool game art books out there. I'm scared to look because there will be a lot of them I'd like to have, I'm sure.
Ooh the Lego game. I do have to say I've encountered a couple of bugs (one of them I always have to restart the game) I hope it's patched soon.
That is one nice looking Okami book. I really should give that game a try.
I wonder if the game is as good as people are saying the movie is now. I'm probably going to see it on Sunday.
I told my cousin who loved the movie, that game feels short (I beat it on a weekend) and currently at 70% completion. I'd wait a bit for a sale, but the game is fun.
My first thought on an Okami artbook was that all the artwork would look similiar to this famous Japanese painting. I doubt that's the case, haha.
I was thinking of the importance of the Cherry Blossom to the Japanese recently. Then I realized it was all over the place in Okami. Like this painting.
But I'm sure Hokusai's "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" had some influence too. I mean it's only THE most famous Japanese painting.
Yeah, the Japanese loves Cherry Blossums. Though they almost always seem to be used in romantic situations. Of course, that's not the case with Okami.
I've dropped out of STar Wars so bad that I woudln't know where to begin in which series I'd like to get into. I'd like to read about the fleshing out of the saga between movies. So far I've only gotten as far as watching the Clone Wars TV series on netflix, when my internet connection cooperates with me.
I dropped out of Star Wars too at one point but got pulled back in with the Darth Vader centered comics. This Brian Wood series intrigued me because it uses the actors from the first trilogy. It was good, so I stuck with it.