Scott Pilgrim vs The World new trailer
New Scott Pilgrim vs the World trailer, starring Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim. Directed by Edgar Wright. How fantastic does this look?
You can also see the original teaser trailer here.
- Matt Price
Happy Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day to everyone, and thank you to the active-duty military and to all the veterans who have provided for our freedom. And we can never thank enough those who died in the service of that freedom.
- Matt Price
Which Flash should be the focus of the “Flash” movie?
Warner Bros. recently announced that a Flash movie was nearing a green light. But which Flash should be the focus? Given the comics’ recent refocus on Barry Allen, that’s the most likely result. But Jay Garrick, Wally West (shown) and Bart Allen have all worn the guise of the Flash at different times. Who would you like the “Flash” movie to feature? Vote below!
- Matt Price
The Guild Season 3 DVD review
Felicia Day (“Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”) returns as Codex in the third DVD collection of the popular Web series “The Guild.”
As the third season begins, the group of gamer friends who make up the “Knights of Good” in a “World of Warcraft”-like game are fracturing. When they are publicly humiliated by a rival guild, The Axis of Anarchy, led by Fawkes (Wil Wheaton of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”), Vork (Jeff Lewis) resigns as leader, throwing the entire mess to Codex to handle.
A member short after Tink (Amy Okuda) defects to the Axis, Codex invites a new member to the Guild. Hoping to avoid asking love-struck Zaboo’s (Sandeep Parikh) sadistic new girlfriend, Riley (Michele Boyd), she instead invites Clara’s (Robin Thorsen) completely game-inept husband, George (Brett Sheridan). He’s so hopeless at the game, the group thinks he may be a saboteur.
Meanwhile, the Axis continues to humiliate the Knights, in game and out. Bladezz (Vincent Caso) nearly gets expelled after questionable materials are found in his locker; additionally, his modeling pictures are posted online with disastrous results.
Codex eventually pulls the group together for a final confrontation with the Axis that’s enthralling and hilarious. “The Guild” remains a must-watch for gamers, but even those who don’t play online games will recognize these characters. More clever and deeper than it gets credit for, “The Guild” is among the Web’s best series.
This DVD includes all 12 episodes from Season 3, along with bonus material not seen on the Internet.
— Matthew Price
Book looks at at Jewish roots of ‘Funnyman,’ by Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
The first superhero created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, you’ve heard of. The pair created Superman, who is often considered one of the five most famous fictional characters in the world.
They split with DC Comics over the rights to Superman in 1946, and in 1947 took their next creation, “Funnyman,” to competing publisher Magazine Enterprises. Funnyman is a slapstick superhero that resembled Danny Kaye. He failed to find much of an audience, with only six issues and a yearlong comic strip to his name before fading into oblivion. Siegel and Shuster never worked together again.
Authors Thomas Andrae and Mel Gordon look at the creation and antecedents of this character in “Siegel and Shuster’s Funnyman: The First Jewish Superhero, from the Creators of Superman.” The book, set for release in July, explores the inspirations for Funnyman, by looking at the history of Jewish humor. They also provide a particular Jewish tie-in for Superman: 1920s strongman Siegmund Breitbart, who was billed as a “Superman of Strength” at a 1923 event in Cleveland, where Siegel then lived.
In addition to the essays, the book collects 35 pages of the “Funnyman” comic book stories, 11 Sunday strips and 57 daily comic strips. Synopses are included for the non-collected comic books and some of the strips.
The assertion of the title – that Funnyman was the first Jewish superhero — isn’t specifically supported, though the use of Yiddish terms by Funnyman is a good way to make that argument.
In the comic, Funnyman was TV comedian Larry Davis, who dresses as a superhero for a publicity stunt. But when he encounters a real criminal instead, he uses practical joke techniques to bring him down. Davis enjoys fighting crime, he decides, and goes on fighting crime in a clown suit, cracking jokes all the while, as “Funnyman.”
If there’s a failure to the included comics, it’s that they aren’t laugh-out-loud funny. They seem to work OK as light adventure of the time. But returns were high on the first issue of “Funnyman,” according to the book, and after six issues, it was determined to try “Funnyman” instead as a comic strip.
Shuster’s artistic skill is improved from the first “Superman” strips, and his women are defiant and sexy. In fact, it was the sexiness of his art that kept Shuster employed at all after the demise of “Funnyman,” secretly drawing racy booklets, as seen in Craig Yoe’s book, “Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-creator Joe Shuster.”
By early 1949, perhaps acceding to syndicate demands, secondary character Reggie Van Twerp came to the forefront of the “Funnyman” strip. Van Twerp was a wealthy young man put-upon by scores of female schemers. The authors see parallels between the Van Twerp storyline, and Siegel’s own costly 1948 divorce.
The authors maintain that the Funnyman strips “revealed the writer’s limitations.” While this may be true, it would be nice to have a complete collection of the “Funnyman” comic books and strips with which to make one’s own determination. Perhaps if “Funnyman” is a success, a full reprint project may follow it up. As it is, “Siegel and Shuster’s Funnyman: The First Jewish Superhero, from the Creators of Superman” is a fascinating look into Siegel and Shuster’s nearly forgotten other creation.
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
James McAvoy is Professor X in X-Men First Class
James McAvoy, who starred in “Wanted” (above) has signed on to star as Professor X in “X-Men: First Class” according to Heat Vision.
The movie is slated for a June 3, 2011 release and is to be directed by Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”). The film is expected to focus on the early days of Professor X and Magneto, and the rift that arose between them, according to the Heat Vision report.
No word on if McAvoy will shave his head to play the famous telepath. Patrick Stewart played the professor in the first three “X-Men” films, and in a cameo appearance in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” Professor X, aka Professor Charles Francis Xavier, first appeared in the comics in 1963′s “X-Men” No. 1 as the headmaster of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, at which he trained his mutant “X-Men.”
- Matt Price
Superman movie set for holiday season 2012
THR reports that Warner Bros. has confirmed the holiday season of 2012 as the planned release date for a “Superman” movie reboot. Warner chairman and CEO Barry Meyer said a “Flash” film is nearing a green light, and that Wonder Woman and Aquaman films are both in development. The “Superman” film is being mentored by Christopher Nolan (“Dark Knight”), but he’s not expected to direct. David Goyer is the reported screenwriter. No word as of yet on who will play the Man of Steel in the reboot. “Superman Returns” star Brandon Routh said recently he’d be up for another go in the role, but his original contract has expired.
The ongoing lawsuit over the Superman rights could play into this timing as well.
- Matt Price
Felicia Day of The Guild; Captain America movie news; reviews of Superman: War of the Supermen #4, X-Force 27, Mystery Society #1
Felicia Day of “The Guild” talks Season Three of the series, and the origin of the Guild in the comic book series. The first issue is now also available on the iPhone. 
In Captain America movie news, Tommy Lee Jones has reportedly signed on to the film, and Dominic Cooper tells Salon.com that he’ll play Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark in the film.
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman; find out about the other superhero they created in a new book from Feral House.
In the review file: Superman: War of the Supermen #4, X-Force #27 and Mystery Society #1.
Click past the cut for a preview of “War of the Supermen” #4.
- Matt Price
UFC Undisputed 2010 faster, more realistic, says UFC project manager Neven Dravinski
“UFC Undisputed 2010″ comes to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week, and Neven Dravinski, UFC Project Manager, answered some questions for Nerdage about the hard-hitting sequel.
Nerdage: Can you tell me about the development of moves for the UFC Undisputed game?
Neven Dravinski: The Moves in the Undisputed series of games has always been about conveying the realism of the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Our team watches a TON of footage, we have guys training in MMA, and we work with actual MMA coaches to really help convey the realism of the sport in the game. Marc Laimon (who also appears as the player’s Career Mode Coach) is one of the top Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coaches in the business but also a huge gamer. We worked with Marc on the 2009 and now 2010 game and it’s really great to have someone that understands the dynamic of video games helping you convey the nuance of the sport of MMA. Creating moves for a fighting game, especially one so complex as a fighting game that represents Mixed Martial Arts is extremely difficult and requires a lot of conversations between the Art, Animation, Programming and Design departments. Something that may happen in the blink of an eye for a player might be the result of weeks of discussions and agreements between all parties.
For example let’s look at a simple transition animation from say Open Guard to Half Guard. The designer indicates how many frames of animation the move should last from start to finish. The animator creates the move to that specification and make sure it is visually pleasing. Then there are points within the animation where the animation itself can be interrupted or branched. Then animator, programmer and designer have to work together to make sure all the nuances and permutations of the move and the moves that can come out of that move look and feel correct. A programmer has to take into account the physics and collision system, mapping the animation to the controller input etc. etc. When you look at the process from a 10,000 ft. view it’s incredibly complex.
UFC Undisputed 2010 plays a lot faster than the 2009 product. We didn’t just globally speed up all the animations but rather analyzed the game from a system level. In the 2009 game we had a lot of animated reactions (animations that play when the player gets hit). With a purely animated reaction control is taken away from the player receiving the damage. Even though it may be a second it still causes a feeling of unresponsiveness. In the 2010 game we moved a lot of those reactions to the physics system; which makes for a much smoother gameplay experience as the player is in control of their character for longer and you get great sequences of players hitting while being hit, all while running at 60 frames a second.
Nerdage: Tell me about the concept behind the virtual submissions.
Neven Dravinski: Our concept for the submission system in UFC Undisputed 2010 was to create something a little more elegant and analog that would effectively communicate struggle. In 2009 the game had very static states for the submissions. There would be an initiation animation, a mid-struggle and animation and then either a success or failure. The problem this creates is that there is no way to effectively communicate struggle. Visually the Undisputed series doesn’t use any graphical elements on screen (with the exception of the optional Stamina/Energy bar) as we try and mimic the broadcast look and feel.
In the 2010 game we created what we feel is a more analog system for submission. Once the submission is initiated (via clicking in on the right stick) you will see a more “educational” display of the submission. In an Armbar for example, you will see the arm bending back into the submission position as a player inputs more and more concentric circles on the rights stick (or the “shine” as we call it). As the other character fights against the submission you will see the arm try to curl back to safety. We use the camera as well to zoom in when a submission is closer to happening and zoom out on failure. This ends up being a much more descriptive way to convey struggle and really allows players to see who’s winning or losing a submission at an instant.
Nerdage: What is it that makes the UFC have so much appeal, both as a video game and as a sport?
Neven Dravinski: I think the thing that makes the UFC the brand and UFC the video game so popular is the realism. Fighting is something that is universal; there’s no cultural lines, it’s truly a global sport. The UFC’s mantra has always been “As Real As It Gets” and that certainly carries over into the development of the game. The strength of the UFC isn’t just one man but rather its arsenal of the best athletes in the world fighting against each other at the highest level of competition. The UFC puts on fights people want to see, they don’t put on cupcake fights to pad records, or protect their champions; I think they really put on very compelling matchups to give the fans what they want.
Giving the fans what they want is something that we’re very focused on with the video game as well. I think the success of the game is directly related to the fact that we made a very real interpretation of such a complex sport; but rather than passively watching on TV you’re actively participating in it. The game conveys impact in a very gratifying and realistic way. We really give you the opportunity to fight like a true Mixed Martial Artist. Most people initially gravitate towards the standup because that is more familiar than say the ground or clinch game. But if you want to win and win consistently, much like fighters in the real Octagon, you’re going to have to learn all aspects of the game; the clinch, the ground, the submissions as well as the striking. The game really allows you to fight how you want to fight. Are you a takedown, ground and pound guy? Do you set up your submissions with effective striking? There’s so many ways to play the game but that is the nature of a game that emulates such a dynamic sport.
Mixed Martial Arts is growing in popularity on an exponential scale around the world. Little kids don’t want to take Karate anymore, but rather Muy Thai and Jiu Jitsu. The UFC is the number one fighting franchise in the world, and they recognize how much impact the video game itself is able to have on global scale as we’re able to promote the brand and the fighters to territories that may not even have UFC programming yet. I certainly believe that having the UFC license is obviously related to the our success, but I’d like to believe we made and will continue to make good games as well.
Nerdage: What are some of the innovative elements in UFC Undisputed 2010?
Neven Dravinski: UFC Undisputed 2010 has a host of new improvements that make it an even better representation of the brand of the UFC and the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. The Aforementioned submission system allows for a much more realistic educational view of submissions themselves. This year we introduced southpaw stances, cage positions, and sways and leans. These three things I think really dramatically improve gameplay and just add to the realism of the game. Statistically, from 2009, we quadrupled the number of strike animations, tripled the number of ground animations and doubled the number of submissions. As mentioned the game plays faster, it plays smoother, but that’s just the cusp of the game improvements.
In 2010 we offer a more exciting Create-A-Fighter system which allows you to literally place moves per controller input per position essentially allowing you to create the exact Mixed Martial Artist you want! We have a Tournament mode, a Title (arcade style ladder mode) and Title Defense mode (survival mode). We have an improved Career mode where the player will have more emotion investment in their created fighter via picking fighter voices and participating in interactive cut scenes. A new system called “The Game Is Watching You” tracks your behavior, your fighting style and the choices you make, creating consequences down the line in your career. Undisputed 2010 also has an event mode where players will be given the opportunity to create their own Pay Per View broadcast, and they’ll be treated to a lot more presentation and interview segments from Octagon announcers Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg. Players will also be able to download event cards of real upcoming UFC matches which we’ll be able to track the results of. Speaking of Online we’ve upgraded our system and in addition to the online exhibition matches we also allow players to create Fight Camps which are essentially guilds or clans and you can train with Camp Members online and fight against other camps.
While sequel titles in the sports genre tend to have a stigma associated with them of “how much can they really do” I think people will be incredibly impressed with what we’ve been able to accomplish in only a year’s time. UFC Undisputed 2010 is a better game than its 2009 predecessor and we hope to enjoy the continued success the Undisputed franchise has achieved.
- Matt Price
Wonder Woman focus of new books, comic revamp
She’s the world’s most famous female superhero, but after a decade in development, there’s still little movement on a “Wonder Woman” film. But the star-spangled hero is still popular in the world of comics, and DC Comics is focusing even more attention on the character in 2010.
Writer J. Michael Straczynski (“Babylon 5”) will take over the adventures of the character starting with “Wonder Woman” No. 601, shipping in July.
“The chance to write Wonder Woman — the nearest analogue to Superman in the DC (universe) — is massively exciting,” Straczynski told DC Comics’ Source blog. “She’s a vital, powerful character, and we hope to bring a more contemporary sensibility to her character (while) retaining everything that makes her unique.”
If you want to get caught up on Wonder Woman before July, “The Essential Wonder Woman Encylopedia,” by Phil Jimenez and John Wells, is a 400-plus page reference tool with entries ranging from the ape queen Abu-Gita to the Central American kingdom Zarikan. This is an expansion of the previous Wonder Woman encyclopedia by Michael Fleisher, and it’s been revised and updated with more than 1,100 entries. “Essential” deals with the comic-book adventures of “Wonder Woman,” not her appearances on the Lynda Carter TV series or her various animated incarnations; but for comic aficionados who want the ultimate Wonder Woman reference, this is a very complete tool.
Also available for Wonder Woman fans is the Robert Greenberger book “Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon.” This coffee-table book examines Wonder Woman’s comic book origins and her effect on culture.
And if you want to read the very first “Wonder Woman” stories, they have been made available for the first time in a trade paperback format. “Wonder Woman Chronicles” Vol. 1 collects the original adventures by writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter in chronological order from the pages of “All Star Comics” No. 8, “Sensation Comics” Nos. 1-9 and “Wonder Woman” No. 1.
- By Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
