Forever Geek

A Formula For All-Winners
This Is Why We Love Assassin’s Creed
Ten Heroes Who Died To Start Their Carreers
The Simpsons in Minecraft

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 02:03 PM PDT

All-Winners Squad Band Of Heroes #1

Cast your mind back some twenty years, and you may remember the great legacy that Roy Thomas tried to tie together in the form of the All-Star Squadron. Taking multiple stories based during war-time from the then nearly fifty years worth of history that DC had already produced, Mr Thomas added a smidgeon of his own material and crafted the All-Star Squadron.

Based mainly on the-then Earth Two, DC’s star-spangled wartime heroes and mystery men gathered under presidential decree and fought in World War Two as much as they possibly could. To prevent them winning the war over-night, Hitler was said to possess the Spear Of Destiny, which would immediately turn a super-human to his cause.

Hopefully, once the Justice Society comes back into print, the DCnU will consider re-visiting the concept, again for the new Earth Two.

The Marvel Universe however never had the limitations set upon its heroes by the Spear. However, no one yet has tried to gather together the various legacies of World War Two in the House Of Ideas, despite the slow trickle of Golden Age era characters that have finally resurfaced in minis like Mystery Men or The Twelve. (Both are quality series, and I highly recommend them.)

Let’s face it, the Invaders at a title were never more that a two-dimensional attempt at a wartime story. They lacked that certain something that Roy Thomas captured in the pages of the All-Star Squadron; that being the actual atmosphere of war and the personalities of the central characters. Even the Liberty Legion’s short stint in Marvel Premiere had more guts to it than the average Invaders story.

The most masterful attempt at this so far was in the realm of fan-fiction, with the excellent Liberators from Jess Nevins. The story is now easily at least a decade old, and not all of the chapters remain online. Even so, I recommend you dive in and read what you can.

With the release of the All-Winners Squad: Band Of Heroes #1, this is no longer true. Set equally within the present as in World War Two, the opening pages show a troop of G.I.s who are all Golden Age Mystery Men. I saw the name ‘Merzah‘ and nearly whooped for joy. (And then gave thanks to Mr Nevins, else I wouldn’t have known who he was.)

Finally, we see a title that really feels like war, set in the chaos that is the world of the Marvels, at the dawn of the Age Of Marvels. I hope that this will lead to an ongoing series; after all, it does rather seen that Nazi’s are the en vogue villains once again.

This Is Why We Love Assassin’s Creed

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 01:21 PM PDT

Sit back and settle in, because I’ve got three videos for Assassin’s Creed Revelations that show off its awesomeness in three very different ways. These are required viewing. Seriously, you have to watch. There could be a quiz later.

The first one, above, is a fully cinematic, pre-rendered CG trailer. It’s similar to the one seen at E3, but with extended footage and more of the game’s story on display.

The next one zeroes in on the Hookblade, the new Assassin weapon that Ezio acquires when he travels to Constantinople. As the video explains, Assassins in this city have their own way of doing things, which primarily revolves around the use of the Hookblade for climbing and zip-lining, as well as fighting. I can’t wait to try out this new weapon. It’s a simple idea but it looks like it will transform every aspect of what Assassins do.

For the last trailer, I offer you a warning: if you’re opposed to violence, run as far from this video as you possibly can. Because it’s two minutes of bloody death, dealt at the hands of Ezio himself. Is it just me, or does Ezio seem more brutal, more vicious than he used to be? Maybe it’s part of his character arc. Or maybe it’s just the rock music. Decide for yourself.

Is it November yet?

Ten Heroes Who Died To Start Their Carreers

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 01:15 PM PDT

The subject of much derision or anticipation, resurrections within the pages of the monthly pull list are almost commonplace. Superman has done it, Hal Jordan has done it, Jean Grey has done it twice.

Yet for many heroes, death is not the mid-point of the story, but the beginning. This follows a timeworn tradition that has encompassed horror through the ages, tales of mythic romance and tragedy, and forms the backbone for shamanic or religious transformation in myriad traditions.

There is little imagery so powerful as the sacrifice of the self, whether though voluntary means or otherwise.

Frankenstein's Monster

Frankenstein Seven Soldiers 470x532 Ten Heroes Who Died To Start Their Carreers

Frankenstein as one of the Seven Soldiers

Frankenstein was a ground breaking fiction in its time, combining elements of horror and romance, and considered by many to be the very first science-fiction story; despite an initially unfavourable reception.

The Monster has seen a resurgence in the past few years, becoming an important character for both DC and Marvel, as seen by the release of his own title as an Agent Of S.H.A.D.E., while joining forces with Howard the Duck and the Man-Thing in the Fearsome Four.

Never having been one specific person himself, our Frankie was composed of a combination of corpses, not all of which were human. His appeal has never faded, and in the real world, he is the oldest of the characters having first appeared in 1818.

Spawn

Vanguard of the 'Image Revolution', Spawn was the brainchild of Todd McFarlane after his amazing (excuse the pun) run on Spider-Man. Once a CIA hitman and former Marine, Al Simmons was murdered on the order of his superiors, went to hell for his crime, made a deal with the devil for love and returned to watch over his wife and daughter.

Of course, it was not that simple. In undeath as well as life, Simmons was a tool for the powers that be, but managed to turn the tables on both his agency boss and the Devil himself, by becoming God. Although not unheard of in the world of comics, very few central characters reach these lofty heights and still manage to sustain a title. Spawn just passed its bicentennial, yet I think he had become God by about issue 150.

Haunt

One could easily detect a theme here, as Haunt was created by Todd McFarlane and Robert Kirkman, featuring a CIA operative dying, coming to haunt his brother a priest; and lots and lots of webs. He is only one of the most recent titles that demand a death to kick-start not just the action, but the entire super-powered identity.

With an engaging cast of characters that we have come to expect from Mr Kirkman, a glance at the covers of Haunt make imply you have seen it all before, but you haven't.

Brother Voodoo

Dr Voodoo 470x691 Ten Heroes Who Died To Start Their Carreers

Dr Voodoo, the excellent beginning to a tragically dismal career.

Haunt was not the first man to be haunted by his brother. The 3-D Man comes to mind, but perhaps the most interesting of the archetype is the recently failed Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Universe, Brother Voodoo.

The educated psychologist Jericho Drumm returned home to find his twin Daniel, the local houngan, dying of a voodoo curse. After a vow elicited on his brother's death bed, Jericho seeks out Daniel's teacher, and ends up leaving the world of science behind. Assuming you call psychology a science.

Jericho was thrust from being one of the many victims of the Skrull infiltration of Earth in Secret Invasion, to replacing Doctor Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. It didn't end well, but for the master of the Loa, would death really be such an obstacle?

Ghoul

Ghoul's first appearance in Exiles #1

In the early days of the Malibu Ultraverse, Johnathon Martin contracted the Theta Virus in the pages of the original Exiles. This virus delivered superhuman powers, but also killed its host. In Johnathon’ case, both outcomes occurred fairly instantly; he became a zombie-like being, neither truly alive nor dead.

Eventually becoming a member of Ultraforce, Ghoul was perfect grist to the mill of Warren Ellis, frequently being the main comedic character against a backdrop of darker and darker storylines.

SwampThing

Swamp Thing as a Black Lantern, or not.

Of course, this is comics, and nothing is ever as simple as just simply dying. Alec Holland was immolated in a fire, covered in a bio-restorative formula, in an isolated laboratory in a swamp. Death ensued, and he rose again as the muck-encrusted Man-Thing. Sorry, Swamp Thing. Back in 1971, their first appearances were but a month apart. Swampy may have been second, but was an entirely different shambling mound of moss.

Selected by the Parliament of Trees to be the protector of The Green, (that's the plant kingdom to you and me), Swampy generated his own revolution in the world of horror comics, becoming one of the initial flagship characters of the Vertigo label.

Recent developments have shown that the soul of Alec Holland was nowhere near the elemental, but now may well be forced to carry on in his cellulose caricature's footsteps.

Spectre

The Spectre delivers a scolding to five Earths at once.

While Frankenstein's Monster is the oldest character in our world, you don't get much older than the Angel of Vengeance, God's wrath incarnate. Forever fated to be bound to a human host, in the 1940's he joined with a cop Jim Corrigan, who had had the inestimable pleasure of being murdered, stuffed into a barrel which was then filled with cement and dumped into the river.

Initially serving 'The Voice', his master evolved into 'The Presence' and his mission in the world of man solidified from eliminating evil to serving divine justice, (and all ideas inbetween). He sees all acts, from the tiniest indiscretion to the great cosmic sagas that tend to befall the Earth every other month of so, as we see above, in the Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Deadman

Deadman in his 'Life's so unfair!" pose

Clue's in the name really. Boston Brand has really taken centre stage in the DCU since the events of the Blackest Night/Brightest Day. A circus acrobat who was more than a little self-absorbed, he was denied his eternal rest and made into an Eastern deity's errand boy.

Immortal Man

The Immortal Man, thinking he is more influential than he was ever allowed to be.

First appearing in the pages of Strange Adventures in 1965, the Immortal Man erupted from the eight or twelve page tales so common in the anthologies of the time. Originally Klarn of the Bear Tribe, he was the mortal enemy of Vandal Savage, and thought erased from existence in the Crisis On Infinite Earths. Turns out he was only kidnapped and hidden by his counterpart caveman, yet had to sacrifice himself again to protect reality on meeting with the man who would become his replacement.

Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man #1,000,000

Death is not so much an origin for Mitch Shelley, as it is a way of life. Receiving new life in the New Fifty-Two, Shelley was an unwilling experiment, infected with 'tektites' that would only allow him to rest for mere seconds after every death. Each new rebirth would grant him with some new combination of super-powers.

We saw his potential in the pages of DC One Million, a major crossover during the run of his first title. Tactical advisor to the Justice Legion Alpha of the 853^rd Century, Mitch embodied the qualities of patience and planning so very absent in his origins.

Do I really need to mention the buffoon Mr Immortal?

The Simpsons in Minecraft

Posted: 30 Sep 2011 11:21 AM PDT

Since the world was graced with Minecraft, players have used the game like a virtual play set of LEGO blocks, in order to build… well, anything they can think of. Here’s one of the most clever uses I’ve seen yet: the entire opening credits sequence of The Simpsons, filmed in the gloriously low resolution of Minecraft.

This particular short film was made by a YouTube user known as “CraftedMovie” (they also have a Facebook page)– a person or group that’s racked up some 29 Minecraft videos devoted to of all sorts of wildly diverse things, such as Pokemon, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, parkour, mazes, and more.

It couldn’t have been easy to reproduce The Simpsons‘ title sequence in Minecraft‘s blocky world, so you’ll notice a number of creative liberties taken, including the square forms of the characters (poor little Maggie is reduced to nothing but a head!). It required the creation of several custom yellow skins, as well. But you’ll instantly recognize what’s taking place.