Author: GaryMKenny

Ex-Comic Book editor for cc2konline.com Lives in NYC area. Was in various touring bands and currently works for the entertainment business. Married with two kids. Still reads comics weekly.

Telltale Games Reveals ‘Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’

by GaryMKenny

If this is anything like Batman, we are in for a treat! Here is the press release:

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Dec. 1, 2016 – Award-winning developer and publisher of digital entertainment, Telltale Games, along with Marvel Entertainment, today announced an interactive episodic game series based on Marvel’s iconic sci-fi franchise Guardians of the Galaxy. The first of five episodes in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series will premiere digitally in 2017 on consoles, PC, and mobile devices.

“The energizing blend of humor, emotion, teamwork, and full-on sci-fi action-adventure of the Guardians provides an enormously satisfying space to explore through Telltale’s unique style of interactive storytelling,” said Kevin Bruner, Co-Founder and CEO of Telltale Games. “In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, players will take on multiple roles within the ragtag band of heroes, and take the pilot’s seat in directing their escapades around the universe. We are always honored to be working with the best creative partners and storytellers in entertainment, and working with Marvel on this series leaves us excited to share what we’ve been developing when it premieres in 2017.”

“With story at the core of everything that Marvel creates, who better to team with than master storytellers Telltale Games,” said Jay Ong, Senior Vice President, Games & Innovation, Marvel Entertainment. “Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series fully showcases Marvel and Telltale’s rich legacy of storytelling, and fans will find themselves immersed in an original, character-driven narrative. As part of our strategy to establish a new standard for Marvel games, this is certainly among the great titles to come.”

The series will also be coming to retail as a special season pass disc, which will include the first episode in the season, and will grant access to the subsequent four episodes as they become available for download via online updates. Specific platform details are yet to be announced.

Revealed today on stage at The Game Awards 2016 in Los Angeles, you can watch the announcement teaser trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Koy_e_ipwng

For more information on Telltale Games, visit the official website, Facebook, and follow Telltale Games on Twitter @TelltaleGames.

Boom Studios: Skybourne #1

by GaryMKenny

Growing up in the 1980’s, we had Indian Jones, some terrible James Bond films (the A-team made up for it), and a lot of great adventure cartoons and movies. Frank Cho is a child of the 80’s and his new comic: Skybourne is a mashup that every kid who pretended that he or she was a sword fighting hero will love.

Skybourne’s story and art come from the bodacious mind of Frank Cho (Totally Awesome Hulk, Savage Wolverine). What’s known about Frank Cho is that he draws his women strong and his monsters ferocious. One look at the art and anyone can tell it’s a Cho. However, his model drawings of voluptuous women have put Frank on the hot seat against some fellow comic writers/artists. You either understand Frank’s love for strong, muscular, curvy women and see that as empowering or you view his artwork as sexist. There’s no middle ground and you can find plenty of articles written about Frank Cho’s art that argue this. This review will not be one of them.

Skybourne_001_C_VariantThe story, again, is a mashup of James Bond (spy organization), Indian Jones (exploration) and King Arthur. Our leading lady goes by the name of Grace Skybourne who is on the hunt for a very priceless artifact: King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur. The comic is set in the modern world (middle east), where Grace tries to buy Excalibur from a bad organization, but the deal goes awry. Issue #1 is action based and Grace has the power of She-Hulk (we don’t know how or why, and no she’s doesn’t become green). She basically punches human heads right off their necks. This comic isn’t not for children or the squeamish. It is for fans of Heavy Metal or WWE or/and a good majority of superhero readers.

Without going too much into it, the comic ends with a battle verses a hobo-looking wizard (from Boom Studios description of the comic, it’s Merlin) and ends badly for Grace. Grace is basically indestructible this whole book until she fights hobo-wizard. The comic is cookie cutter action but it’s theme and story hold promise. I find that many 1st issues of new series, either throw everything at you (the story, the characters, their blood types) or they tend to give you an overabundance of eye candy. For a Frank Cho comic, you want the latter. That’s why you stick around. Cho’s beautiful leading ladies, his over-the-top action, and his crude death scenes are what make this comic enjoyable. It’s just a plus that this story isn’t half bad (yet). He’s got me for a least two more issues.

3.5 out of 5.0