19/f/Medic 19/f/medic [monkeyblah]

[Tech Amok]

BlizzPlanet reports that a World of Warcraft comic book may be announced at next week's Comic Con. The rumor apparently started when the site noticed that there was going to be a panel at the event featuring Jim Lee, Chris Metzen and Mickey Nielson.

Chris "Thundergod" Metzen is the Vice President of Creative Development for Blizzard Entertainment and Nielson an artist for the game. Meanwhile Jim Lee is the artist behind the second series X-Men number 1.

The Comic Con site itself seems to indicate that a big unveil is coming during the Friday event:

3:30-4:30 WOW! It's World of Warcraft!— Are you ready? Comics, collectibles, and online gaming are about to collide! How does the world's most popular online game, World of Warcraft, plan to crash the comics and collectibles world? Find out here! As a special incentive, a collectible comic will be distributed to fans at the panel. Join Jim Lee (editorial director, WildStorm), Chris Metzen (VP of creative development, Blizzard), Mickey Neilson (writer/voice director, Blizzard), Hank Kanalz (VP/general manager, WildStorm), and Georg Brewer (VP, design and DC Direct creative) to discover the results of these combined forces! Room 4 Categories: Action Figures, Toys and Collectibles | Comic Books | Fandom | Gaming | Science Fiction & Fantasy

It stands to reason that that "collectible comic" will be a sneak peek edition of a new WoW series. And why not, as McWhertor says, WoW gamers need something to do when they're in the bathroom.

Wow Comic Book - Wildstorm / DC Comics [Blizz Planet]

What a cool idea. Kaplan and Tokyopop have teamed up to produce a series of mangas designed to increase your vocabulary and thus your SAT and ACT scores.

Among the list of smartifying books (how do you like that vocabulary right there?) is Warcraft: Dragon Hunt, the first volume in the Sunwell Trilogy. All of the books include more than 300 words that frequently show up on the SATs and ACTs. The words are highlighted and their definitions show up in the margins of the book. Love this idea. Brian Crecente

Study for the SATs with Warcraft Manga [Wired]

This is sort of random, today's Get Fuzzy strip deals with Sony's Goat Gate.

In it, Satchel says he doesn't want to go to a video game store because "at a game's launch party, they wanted people to pull stuff out of a dead goat."

OK, there's no way Darby Conley isn't a gamer if he knows about the God of War II launch party in Europe, I don't think it made that big a splash in mainstream media. So what do you think? Is he a PS3, Wii or 360 owner? Brian Crecente

Kotakuite, Chad had the pleasure of attending Free Comic Book Day yesterday and came upon a Sonic the Hedgehog comic book.

This Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, and Archie Comics released an exclusive issue of Sonic The Hedgehog as a lead-in to Sonic #175. In the issue, Robotnik captures Sonic, attaches a "Neuro-Transceiver", and controls him via a video game pad against his friends.

Sonic #175? I'll just let my confusion and horror go on that one. But the real meat of the story, if you can call it that, is what happens when Robotnik actually starts playing his Sonic game. (I apologize for the poor quality of the attached picture, but that's how it came to us) If you can't read it, Robotnik exclaims

It's not my fault! The controls are horrendous! I should've spent more time in development.

I love it when a company has enough of a sense of humor to be able to make fun of itself. Now let's talk about Shadow of the Hedgehog... Flynn De Marco

I love watching this slow migration of gaming into the mainstream consciousness, even when it involves poking fun at gamers. Brian Crecente

I don't often link directly to comics mostly because there are so very many of them and I'm fairly certain you guys can get out there and find them yourselves.

But the latest VG Cats made me really laugh out loud and despite my constant use of the annoying lol, I don't do that too often. Also, I sorta started feeling that way too while playing Smooth Moves. It's good to know that my particularly sick mind isn't alone. Hit the link for the full comic and its oh so wonderful... um... money shot? Brian Crecente

Smooth Moves [VG Cats]

We've been hearing a lot lately about the upcoming Hellboy game, including the recent news that Ron Perlman, who played Hellboy in the movie, will be providing the voice for the comic book demon. This new trailer shows a bevy of monsters and destructible environments for your viewing pleasure. The European gothic village setting is a particular favorite! Hellboy and his Fist of Doom is set to bust out onto PS3, PSP and 360 later this year. Let's just hope that Konami can make Hellboy's trip from the comic page to the game console as smooth as his 2004 visit to the silver screen. Flynn De Marco

Be Scared Penny Arcade, Be Very Scared.

A friend of mine sent me this XKCD comic from last week or so. It's not so much a parody of Penny Arcade as it is a bit of homoerotic fan fiction. Restraining order FTW. Brian Crecente

Penny Arcade Parody [XKCD]

So there were actually two varients on the strip that Mike and Jerry made live for the crowd. This is the original one. The jump has the scaried up version. I love the demeated arm, nice touch.

I'm back at the main theater. I'm sitting up front waiting for Mike and Jerry to take the stage to start creating a strip for onlookers, and answer questions. They've reserved the very front of the center section for their friends and family.

As usual, I'll do my best to live blog this, but I'm relying on willy nilly WiFi connections and a cellphone that like to lock up ever few seconds. Hit the jump for photos and updates from the panel. Brian Crecente

Jerry is writing the scropt in Notepad. Make that Wordpad.

Right now it says: Frame 1:, Frame 2: Frame 3:

(This comic is about what we think the game reviewers might be thinking when they heard about our new game coming out.)

Frame 1:

Gabe: Should we even be getting into games: We've been pretty ciscious to IGN and Gamespy.

They will be unkind.

Tycho: Gabriel, these people are professionals! I'm sure that (This line is cut off by the next panel)

Frame: 2

This panel open on a scene of INTENSE revelry. This reverly is taking place at the IGN office.

Drinks are being drunk.

A man *may* be dacing on a table.

And it goes on from there. They wrote it so quickly I couldn't keep up. They're already onto the art.

Mike says he already drew rough sketches last night. Now he's coloring it in on photoshop.

Jerry just busted out a rhyme. Now he's answering questions.

Mike just finished the first stage on the first panel, onto the second.

Jerry: When I was typing the script into my phone it has helpful suggestions for spelling. When I typed in IGN it suggested: Ignorant?

Question: Would you like some gummy frogs?

Jerry: Sure?

Mike: Um, you're not suppose to eat things people bring onto the stage.

Jerry: Shut up! Gummy frogs.

Mike: Don't eat that!

Jerry pops them into his mouth.

Jerry: Are they supposed to be salty?

Mike: And taste like Almonds?

OK, they just decided to throw a still beating human heart into the hand of one of the IGN partiers in the second panel of their strip to please a fan. I think I caught most of it on video.

Jerry: This is what I used to have to do to get him to do a strip. I'd microwave a hotdog, cut it up into little bits and put it by the computer.

Mike: You told me that was the hot dog fairy.

Coloring is just about done now.

Question: Who would you imagine being the voice actors for Gabe and Tycho.

Answer: Sean Connery and Edware Norton.... Samuel Jackson as Tycho?

OK, Mike just called out on not including a lampshade on any of the IGN folken. He's erasing the party hat to replace it with the lampshade... and now the crowd want's a PAX blue ball in the strip.

Now Mike is adding acne to the strip, a missing took and a crab claw. Huh... Yeah, that's no good.

Things just wrapped up and they're kicking us out to prep for the next event. Check out this post for the final strip and the alt version.

Back in 1983, when Penny Arcade referred to something old man Crecente used to play at the Jersey shore, a book of game cartoons was published by schoolyard favorite Scholastic Books. Titled Blips!, the work was penned by "Jovial" Bob Stine (today known as kiddy horror writer RL Stine) and illustrated by Bryan Hendrix (today known as illustrator Bryan Hendrix). Kotaku reader realyst proudly owns a copy of this yuk-yuk masterworks, saying:

While it was mostly aimed towards tweens and younger teens, there are a quite a few jokes that'll get a chuckle even from adults, and the art style is great (the people are very reminiscent of MAD Magazine, and the cartoonization of Pac-Man is awesome).

All the humor predates the NES and deals strictly with Atari era when arcade boxes were still the big thing.

Realyst even scanned every page, which we've included in a gallery after the jump. We're sure Jovial Bob won't mind. Brian Ashcraft

It looks like the Halo graphics novel is just the beginning of the Halo comic franchise. 1Up's Luke Smith reports that Bungie and Marvel announced at the San Diego Comic-Con that they will be collaborating on a monthly Halo comic book.

Smith goes on to impress the Interweb with his mad comic nerd skillz by showing how the Bungie/Marvel deal is like the deal struck for the GI Joe franchise and how both deals include a "silent" issue. Brian Crecente

Marvel Annoucnes 'Halo Ongoing [1Up]

Jerry "Tycho" Holkins from the little, up-and-coming webcomic Penny Arcade talk movies with game site FiringSquad. Are there plans for PA: The Movie? Tycho lays out the situation:

We've been in quote talks with three separate entertainment entities, and in every case these people imagine that they are descending from heaven in a shaft of light, hand outstretched, offering to raise us from the ghetto squalor of comics and the Internet. They offer terrible money for a tremendous amount of work, and we're supposed to accept whatever they say because they are from Los Angeles or New York. We don't need them, and never will. Our readers have assured this. The next emissary from those debased kingdoms can fall to one knee before my golden throne and kiss my signet ring.

I'll take that as a "no." Brian Ashcraft

More Here [FiringSquad]

As a bizzaro sidenote, he has a show coming up at Rooster T. Feathers in Sunnyvale, which happens to be the place where, in 1972, Nolan Bushnell installed the first coin-op Pong video game.

Anyone in the Bay Area who wants to see him live can catch him at Rooster's on June 7, in the "Summer School with the S.F. Comedy College," show. He also plugged the June 14 "Geek Comedy Night" at Rooster's, which should be chock full of riffs on computers, Star Trek, video games and other gamer friendly subject. Both shows are at 8 p.m.

The entire bit is after the jump. He says he's working on getting me a video.

"Meeting women is easy. Taking them home, much tougher. And for me, I have to plan ahead. I can't just take a girl home, because I usually have stuff laying around the apartment that doesn't make me look like a well-adjusted man who has normal relationships with women. You know, I've got to hide ... the Xbox.
"No, really. I'd be better off with hardcore porn out in the open rather than the Xbox. Because there is a slim chance - slim - that she'll be a freak and really turned on by that shit. But there is zero chance - none - that she's turned on by 100 percent completion in Grand Theft Auto.
"There's a name for a girl who both likes porn and video games. It's called a guy. With a really short penis."
"I have a buddy whose wife hates video games so much he can't play them with her around. He has to sneak home at lunch, get a nooner with Sonic the Hedgehog. I'll get these e-mails now and then: 'Guys, she's out of town on a business trip. I can host. Want to come over and play?'
God that just sounds bad. That's like a Three's Company misunderstanding of galactic proportions. And then the neighbors would see a bunch of guys park on the street, carry up duffel bags and energy drinks and Gatorade and shit, and disappear inside for 7 hours on a sunny day. So to them, we're either playing Halo or having a gangbang. I think his wife could get over a gangbang, but being cuckolded by Master Chief ...
And of course because I make that punchline, now none of you women in the room will go home with me, thanks. ..."

It's funny because it's true. Brian Crecente

We're holding our breaths until November [Destructoid]

Gabe and Tycho present an inside look at how they create their popular Penny Arcade web comic with their first Podcast. "We sit around and look at game news and we talk about it until we start laughing at something," writes Gabe. "It sounds boring and I think it probably is. That s why we decided to record the process and let you download it." Glad they did. It's actually quite interesting to hear Gabe and Tycho banter, talk shop and riff on Kotaku posts. To listen, download the mp3 here. Looking forward to future casts.

Penny-Arcade [Official Site]

Crecente is probably stoked and if he could take his computer to the bathroom he probably would for some required reading while he thumbed (moused?) through the pages of an Ultima VII comic book on the good ol' internet. The comic is a fan project and it's pretty slick. Now I need to figure out how to drag my computer up to the washroom.

Ultima VII Comic Book [Fantasi]

...and Natalie Portman. And no, they're not lesbos are anything like that. Instead, WaffleHouseNinja offers witty insights into gaming via an hommage to Penny Arcade. There's a wide array of comic stuff, including Paris Hilton and Natalie Portman as roommates in South Carolina that geek out over games. Gimmicky yes, but so far, so good — even if the irony does seem a little on the heavy side.

Read This Page [WaffleHouseNinja] Thanks Shigeharu!

You'd think it would at least go for $124.99. You'd think.

See the Comic Here [DrinkAtWork] Thanks Janine!