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Keep your Master Chiefs, bearded Kratos, fancy flux capacitor powered hardware. E3 2016 had one of the best line ups for those of us who love big comic book experiences in gaming. Batman, Spider-Man, Walking Dead just to name a few. Here’s the games based on comic book characters we’re most excited for from E3 2016: Spider-Man […]

  Thursday at E3 Comics Beat got a behind closed doors look at the first 30 minutes of Batman: The Telltale Series. With the caped crusader appearing in three other games in the next 18 months (4 if you count Arkham remastered), it’s looking like Telltale is poised to tell the best story out of […]

On Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, Telltale joined IGN to reveal the world’s first sneak peek at the next season of ‘The Walking Dead’ series, set to premiere this fall. Here’s what Telltale had to say in their official release: Clem returns and will play a key role, but this is a new story as […]

Telltale Games, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment, today unveiled the first look at BATMAN – The Telltale Series ahead of its worldwide debut this summer. The game will see footage debut this week at E3 in LA. “We’ve been hard at work at Telltale creating an all-new iteration of the iconic Batman […]

Today, Telltale Games published a new trailer for ‘Give No Shelter,’ the second of three episodes in The Walking Dead: Michonne – A Telltale Miniseries.   The miniseries stars the iconic, blade-wielding character from Robert Kirkman’s best-selling comic books, portrayed in-game by award-winning actress Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black). Haunted by her past and coping with unimaginable loss and regret, the […]

Telltale games cemented their place in comics with the release of The Walking Dead: Michonne – A Telltale Miniseries. Set directly in the world of Robert Kirkman’s award-winning comic book series, the game explores Michonne across a three episode miniseries event. It’s one of the prime examples of how transmedia can add to the cannon of its source material. […]

Telltale Games begins their next chapter of Robert Kirkman's zombie apocalypse epic.

Telltale games announces Michonne mini series start date.

Just a short time ago at The Game Awards we got the surprise announcement about Telltale Games taking on the world of Batman in 2016. Now they’ve debuted footage from the highly anticipated The Walking Dead: Michonne mini-series. “We’ve been hard at work on this very special exploration of The Walking Dead universe that will […]

Telltale drops quite a bomb at tonight's Game Awards

Telltale Games rolls out the redstone carpet for the Minecraft Community in LA

Though Robert Kirkman couldn’t be in attendance, it didn’t stop Skybound from bringing together members of there ever expanding collaborative universe at SDCC to celebrate the imprint’s 5th anniversary.

Hosted by gaming personality Geoff Keighley; the house of Kirkman’s dais consisted of Sean Mackiewicz, Skybound president David Alpert, Darin Ross, and from Telltale Games TQ Jefferson,

Alpert opened by talking about the organic growth of Skybound from Robert Kirkman’s creator owned manifesto. The company’s philosophy of an “open source” system hasnow paid more dividens with the upcoming TV adaptation of Outcast. From table top games to VR and movies, Skybound has grown beyond comics into a “creator company”. Alpert also teased some upcoming animation projects and even possibly “radio”.

Geoff brought up the company’s table top game “Superfight” which started with Darin Ross created a card game using Kickstarter. Alpert told a story of Ross playing the game at the Skybound office. Once the entire staff gathered to see it the studio immediately made an offer to publish the game. A new mobile app from 505 Games will expand the world by taking the cards digital. The trailer rolled showing the game in action which brings the game fully into the digital world with animations.

Next the panel went over Skybound games starting with Telltale Games. Former Marvel games executive TQ Jefferson and Mackiwicz came on stage to talk about the recently announce TellTale The Walking Dead Michonne game. TQ talked about a different feel for the game that the character naturally brings. As opposed to playing as Lee or Clementine, players won’t necessarily run from danger. It puts gamers in the feel of a bad ass in Kirkman’s universe. The story will tell the events of Michonne’s disappearance between issues 126-127. Some new concept art was unveild during the presentation; it’s not indicative of the final game but more of how Telltale are telling the story.

Keighly moved into Starbreeze VR’s Overkill’s The Walking Dead. At SDCC fans can play the teaser shown during E3 in the Skybound “VR RV”. The company’s also working on a live action experience with Samsung. Fans can pick up a set of cardboard glasses at the show and then download an experience you’ll go through by sliding your phone into the glasses. The RV will be touring around the country.

Shifting back to more traditional mediums, the panel talked about the upcoming Fear the Walking Dead spinoff show on AMC. With the setting shifting to Los Angeles and a different time line everything has to be reconsidered. The zombies you’ll see from one show will be affected differently from the other.

Outcast also got a bit of discussion. More, including the first footage will be shown Saturday during the Outcast panel.

Skybound’s first feature film, Air, showed the first trailer for the film. The script was co-written and directed by one of the creative leads on Rockstar Game’s western hit Red Dead Redemption, Christian Cantamessa.  The duel between Norman Reedus and Dijmon Hunsou looks intense. We’ll be at the premiere tomorrow night and give you a review shortly after.

The Q&A was short but did tease something in the works involving gaming for Invincible that fans can expect an announcement on for SDCC 2016.

We’re just a little bit over a week from one of the biggest video game trade shows around, E3. Publishers and developers are readying snipitets of their upcoming games for a select few to go hands on with. Before the madness ensues, Bethesda Softworks (Elder Scrolls, Skyrim) took it upon themselves to make a major pre-show announcement earlier this week. Meanwhile, Telltale Games revealed they won’t have much to demo at E3, but teased something big for Walking Dead fans. Finally, Microsoft wants to bring the general public a slice of E3…Let’s Go!

The creative force behind popular games such as Skyrim and Elder Scrolls confirmed the long rumored next chapter of the Fallout game series. This past Wednesday Bethesda Softworks officially announced Fallout 4 and dropped the game’s first teaser.

The only things certain about Fallout 4 is that it won’t be coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360. This one will be a modern console and PC only game. But from the trailer we can deduce for certain a return to Vault 111 with some good ol Nuka Cola, oh and it’ll have a dog and well that’s about it. More details about the game will be revealed during Bethesda’s E3 showcase on June 14 at 7pm PST. Fans can watch it live on the developers YouTube channel here.

Our thought:

Since the trailers debut the Internet has given Fallout 4 the scrutinizing response many a film and celebrity have enjoyed. Some have said “it doesn’t look as good as it should”, while others have made fun of the Baahston setting with Fenway Park. Bethesda’s previous entry, Fallout 3, was a technical and visual achievement for previous gen consoles. In this current shiny 4K era, visual achievements are few and far between. The room left for evolutionary leaps rests in the gameplay mechanics. If you enjoyed Skyrim on a PS3 or Xbox 360, then it’s fun to imagine what Bethesda’s mind could do with the power of this new generation of consoles, maybe even giving the game an online capability it’s never seen before.

What’s most interesting about the rumors still swirling around Fallout 4 is its possible release date. The Bethesda online store suggest it could be this year. Its estimated ship date is listed as “TBA 2015,” both before and after Fallout 4 is added to your cart. This could certainly just be a placeholder date because “dates subject to change” is always a thing. If gamers do indeed see the next chapter of Fallout in 2015 then it means Bethesda have pulled off something rare in today’s spoiler filled world. They’d have to have been working on Fallout since 2012 and kept it a secret from the public and press, something I didn’t think possible this day in age. Which will also mean we’ll see a heavy PR campaign bombard mainstream media and your favorite convention this Summer.

How mind-blowing would it be if Bethesda went on stage and said “pick up Fallout 4 this August”? The only thing that could top this is if Gabe Newell from Valve came to an E3 press conference and said Half-Life 3 is on STEAM today, then he Gallagher mallets an old Atari and walks off. Man I could go for some watermelon right now.

Just when we think we’ve got all the answers; Telltale Games changes the questions. While the award winning developers of story driven game adaptations such as Fables, Borderlands, and Game of Thrones won’t have a large presence on the E3 show floor; it doesn’t mean they won’t make waves. This past Tuesday the company’s Director of PR, Job J Stauffer, tweeted the following.

While they’ve previously made it clear their Walking Dead series would not get a season 3 in 2015; they haven’t said what fans will get in its place this year. Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman will be on the official E3 YouTube live stream to help make whatever this announcement is. You can watch it go down here Monday morning.

Also, fans of Minecraft expecting details on Telltale’s Minecraft: Story Mode game will have to wait till Minecon in London, this July 4-5.

Our Thought:

Kirkman has always spoken highly of simply having Telltale come up to him with the story and letting the developer run with it. With Robert on hand for the official announcement it could mean the developer’s first move into synergy with other Walking Dead properties. With AMC well into production on the upcoming Fear The Walking Dead spin-off we could see a game prequel that leads into the show’s debut.

Also, some have criticized Telltale for not showing Minecraft: Story Mode at E3. It’s actually far from a mistake. Minecon is the perfect setting to build a media frenzy with fans who are all but guaranteed to go crazy for the game in a market that often needs more push than the US. Telltale have been more questions than answers as of late but when they do peel back the curtains they have a knack for picking the most opportune time.

While we all knew Sony is sure to show more Uncharted 4 at their upcoming press event. PlayStation let leak the expected news of an Uncharted PS3 collection port for the PlayStation 4. Bluepoint Games, a studio with a portfolio full of stellar ports is tasked with bringing Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection to the PS4 on October 9, 2015.

In addition to the full 1080p 60FPS and texture upgrades, the game not only brings the story modes but includes all the previously available multiplayer goodness.  Buying the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection grants you exclusive access to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End multiplayer Beta version.

Our Thought:

Sony has put too much of its resources on ports. The ratio of good new PS4 experiences to ports is dismally lopsided. I love my PS4, but when I go long periods of time without turning it on… I start to wonder why I even bought it in the first place. Admittedly, when you consider that the PS4 console sales lapped the PS3 within its first year; it translates to an audience of Xbox 360 converts who might not have previously played Uncharted. In a way it makes them a necessary evil towards the success of a triple-A title like Uncharted 4 by removing any kind of high wall putting a #4 on the end of a game might place in consumers minds.

On a side note, Sony would be wise to include the six issue mini-series published by DC Comics as part of the Uncharted collection. Either as a bonus or on disc digital. Cause you know… comics!

Electronic Entertainment Expo or as it’s commonly known, E3, is the biggest trade show in gaming. It takes up the entire Los Angeles Convention Center and overwhelms the senses more so than SDCC ever could. So many have growled about it not being open to the public, but most trade shows typically aren’t for fans. While that’s not likely to change anytime soon, many developers and publishers that contribute to the spectacle of the show throw orbiting events the public CAN attend. Microsoft is taking full advantage of this.

Xbox want to bring Los Angeles gamers as close to the action as possible. While their social media guru, Major Nelson and company, will be delivering content from the show floor all week on the Xbox YouTube channel, the company is also putting together Xbox FanFest: E3 2015.

Xbox will give 500 lucky fans a one-of-a-kind ticket for E3 week, the gaming industry’s biggest showcase.  The Xbox FanFest Ticket will include:

• Entry into the Xbox E3 2015 Briefing on Monday, June 15^th, 9:30 am PT, at the Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles.
• Invite to the exclusive Xbox FanFest Party, Monday afternoon, June 15^th, where fans will get to play the best exclusives and biggest blockbuster games this holiday and beyond.
• VIP access to the Xbox esports Celebrity Challenge & Twitch Party sponsored by Xbox.
• Meet-and-greet with some of the industry’s top developers, leaders and influencers.
• Even more surprise events during the week.

To be one of the lucky 500:

Fans can begin lining up at Microsoft at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles, starting at 10 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 13. This Microsoft store is located at 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, though the line will start near the LensCrafters on Avenue of the Stars.

Tickets will be distributed on a first come first served basis beginning at 11am on June 14 at the Microsoft Store at Westfield Century City.

In order to be eligible, fans need to be at least 21 years of age with a valid Xbox Live gamertag (Gold Membership not required)

Our Thought:

Want to know a bit of insider info? Jeff Rubinstein of the Xbox team is a former part of Sony’s PlayStation Blog team. If you previously followed their E3 events, he was primarily responsible for all the run of the mill gamers getting into E3 every year they threw an event. Sony’s followers would line up like it was SDCC in front of the LA Sports Area to try and ensure their entrance into the press conference and be rewarded with a complimentary exhibits pass to E3. How the man did it, I have no clue.

So to anyone considering trying to be one of the 500, do it. Last year those at the Microsoft event had to go through a lottery to try and win their way in. From what I heard, 200 Xbox fans were granted entrance to the Xbox press event and access to the E3 show floor. Jeff’s highest number with Sony was 250, could he top that this year with Xbox? If you’re an LA area SDCC Hall H veteran, you’re no stranger to this and the loot is worth spending a summer night in an LA mall to find out.

With one week left till E3 don’t expect much in the way of major announcements in the next few days. If you’re one of those people that kills time on social media follow @Comicsbeatlive on twitter for some of the sights and free energy drinks of E3. Follow the Instagram account as well for blurry pics from the show as my finger partially covers cameras all week. How can I get fire on this iPhone again?

A few days off, one day on, then we go back on the road for another show. Hope your Memorial Day was well spent. I’m Back from Punk Rock Bowling and now we get set for our next destination, Phoenix, for one of the best comic shows around.  Let’s talk about the recent news in gaming and give away some more Secret Wars books. On the rundown today; Ashley Johnson reunites with Troy Baker, Resident Evil gets yet another remake, Arkham adds some new duds, Mad Max, and have you ever wanted to be a cat? Let’s Go!

Ashley Johnson grew up for a bit in front of our eyes on the tail end of the ABC sit com Growing Pains. (RIP Boner!) Little did we know back then Chrissy Seaver would grow up to be a pop culture darling when she loaned her voice to the iconic Ellie in Naughty Dog’s masterpiece The Last of Us. Recently, Telltale Games announced the actress would reunite with her TLOU co-star Troy Baker for the latest episode of the Tales From the Borderlands series. She is reportedly voicing a “core” character and from all of the indication of the developers on twitter; she’s stolen the show. Not much else is known at this time but episode three of this series is expected in Fall 2015.

You can catch up on the Tales From the Borderlands games so far digitally through PlayStation Network, Xbox Live, and Steam. Find more about the game on Telltale’s website.

Our Thought:

If there’s one thing Telltale is the best at, it’s telling a story. If there’s two things they’re the best at, it’s working with the most talented voice actors in the industry. With Telltale’s biggest endeavor still a head of them, it’s almost a sure bet we’ll hear Ashley, Troy, Dave Fennoy, Melissa Hutchison, and most of the previous talent the studio has worked with again soon. Maybe it’s their Marvel project, maybe it’s their “supershow”, but expect news on this soon.

Capcom dropped news over the holiday weekend of a remaster to the Gamecube classic Resident Evil Zero. Earlier today at an event in Japan, Capcom confirmed Resident Evil 0, a remastered version of the popular prequel to the original title in the Resident Evilseries, is currently in development. The game is planned for release on PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC in early 2016.

Here’s a video message from Director Koji Oda and Producer Tsukasa Takenaka about the project:

(If you don’t enable your subtitles, then it’s probably just a message about Japanese pot to you)

Our Thought:

Remaster! Remaster! Remasters!

Enough with the remasters already. At the very least, Capcom, for the most part, have done them based on older games in their library versus other publishers who’ve brought back PS3 games probably still stuck in our disc drives. It’s the same angst I have towards local LA radio station Alt 98.7 about calling Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” a throwback song. Apparently human history didn’t exist before 1999 when Skynet took over. All mostly kidding aside, Resident Evil Zero was one of those things I bought a Gamecube for but never finished. There’s hope this will one will A) be a noticeable visual upgrade and B) be priced at a point that makes it appealing to pick up an old game with a new paint job. We won’t have to wait long to see something about this as it’s sure to be one of Capcom’s offerings on the E3 floor.

We’re less than a month away from FINALLY getting to play Batman: Arkham Knight. Rocksteady, the studio behind the game, are determined to keep dropping surprises along the way. A few days ago a new live action trailer for the game was released. It’s common to have such videos produced to hype a game. However what’s not typical is having one of the most influential voices in the music industry be a part of it. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor is credited as a music consultant for the video below:

As if that wasn’t enough, a new set of Bat-suits were announced as pre-order bonuses for he game. The Batman’s future theme skins include a hefty version of Batman Beyond and a nod to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns with the –built like a tank– old Batman.  These come in addition other previous announced skins and appear to be part of most retailers offerings along with the Harley Quinn pack.

Batman: Arkham Knight releases on June 23, 2015 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Pre orders are available through the game’s website.

Our Thought:

Come on. Is there anyone out there not getting or excited for this game?

Shockingly the internet managed to, for the most part, agree on its love of the new Mad Max: Fury Road film. In a move that shocked no one, the Mad Max game long in development is back on everyone’s radar.

Avalanche Studios, the developer behind the action packed Just Cause games are behind this open world Mad Max game. You can see by the trailer much of the over-the-top blockbuster badassness is here. In the non-concrete timeline of Mad Max the game takes place before Fury Road. We only have to wait a few short months when the game is released in September for the PS4, Xbox One, and Steam. Find out more about Mad Max at the game’s website.

Our Thought:

With the heat from the astonishing response to Fury Road, it only makes sense WB would want to capitalize with both green lighting a film sequel and the release of the video game. Where most games based on movies fail is in not giving developers a proper cycle to make the game. It doesn’t have to mirror the film at all, but something that lives in that universe should speak to it as a whole. Most games never achieve this because they’re rushed to coincide with their counterpart movie. Avalanche have been at work on Mad Max for more than two years with next-gen hardware. They’ve got a great chance at being more a Riddick than a Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (I could barely type that without vomiting)

Finally to wrap things up something came into my inbox that just had to be shared with the world. It doesn’t have to do with games based on comics or vice versa, but it’s importance is no less diminished. Some time ago a game let you step into the hooves of being a goat. Chewing up everything insight, head butting objects out of spite, it was all there. Now cat lovers can rejoice!

Catlateral Damage is a first-person destructive cat simulator where you play as a cat on a rampage, knocking as much stuff onto the ground as possible. That’s the F**king description!

The game is available on PC download platforms. You can find out more about Catlateral Damage on the game’s website.

Our Thought:

Haven’t you ever wanted to wreck everything and blame it on the dog? As a society what’s left to conquer?

Now let’s giveaway a bunch of Secret Wars books (digitally)

I won’t tell you what’s what because I’m an awful human being; but here’s a few of codes for last week’s Secret Wars offerings including Battleworld, Secret Secret Wars, Loki, Planet Hulk, and more… (First Come First Served) Marvel.com/redeem

FMC6RDN62A6P

FMC19QSFR5LU

FMCTHKXQBTPL

FMCSI3LPWUSA

FMC53APWGV7W

FMCG8V9PYIHN

FMDQL3E9RUJX

We’re just a month away from the super comic-con bowl of video games, E3. Soon the entire Los Angeles Convention Center will be filled with creative giants, CEOs, journalists, “models” tempting you with cheap sunglasses or free T-shirts, and those fortunate enough to get into the show.

This special late Sunday night edition of WTGB comes sponsored by my DayQuil binge followed up with NyQuil chasers to even me out and an apology for not being able to write wrap ups for Marvel’s Secret Wars. With E3 and a few other shows fast approaching, there’s just no time to do it justice after that fantastic second issue came out last week. I will be posting digital codes of all the May tie-in and spine series issues at the bottom of Game Beat, starting with this one. Enjoy!

For now let’s turn the focus to all the things we want to see at E3 2015. Which means I can officially confirm Comics Beat will be on the show floor and the press events covering all the comics related games and more… but mostly to collect free bags, shirts, and magazines to level out my coffee table with.

From indies to first party exclusives, E3 2015 will be about games, games, and more games. Being in the middle of a new hardware cycle, the focus for this E3 will be soely on the games coming to the consoles and PC.

Batman: Arkham Knight is the first big release post E3, having a full on playable version at the show is a bit of a no brainer, though I wouldn’t expect any new announcements concerning its content. The boys at Rocksteady are already doing an excellent job of teasing the public, they’ve even released a new Arkham Insider video showing off the “dual play” system.

Ever since Lego announced their toy based game, Dimensions; it’s been radio silent on the Lego Marvel Avengers game coming this Fall. While it won’t be part of anyone’s presentations, the game should be playable on the show floor and word of a hard release date seems like a good bet. I’m curious to see if it will still have all the open world goodness of Lego Marvel Super Heroes.

With the recent word of Telltale Games not releasing Season 3 of their Walking Dead game in 2015, the developer has been vocal about announcing something big to come soon for Walking Dead fans. Telltale usually like to keep things intimate and off the exhibit floor at E3, it stands to reason they’ll be showing a brand new Walking Dead one-shot game that doesn’t tie directly into Clementine’s story behind closed doors once again. Perhaps some art, a teaser; but whatever they show will most likely be their September release.

Then there’s the Secret Wars event going on at Marvel. We know there’s going to be a toy line coming to Toys R Us in conjunction with it . Word has been quiet on how the Marvel’s current buffet of mobile titles or a new game would play off the Battleworld. Remember Marvel Super Heroes, the fighting game on PS1?

It was more or less the Infinity Gauntlet game. While we probably won’t get anything close to that for Secret Wars, we’re sure to hear about at least some kind of add-on content for one of these games tying into Secret Wars.

As for the big three…

Per usual, Microsoft will start the round of June 15 press events. Xbox head, Phil Spencer, brought a strong showing in 2014 that translated to boosted sales for the Xbox One. He’s certain to follow the same game centric formula as last year. On the non-gaming front, we don’t expect them to waste valuable time going over all the services, however a demonstration of the Xbox One’s long talked about DVR functionality might be in order. Could we also see a redesigned version of the Xbox One? While the 360 went through some variants in its lifetime, it never happened as quickly as this one would, should it be part of Microsoft’s announcements for E3.

Where Halo 5: Guardians places in the Xbox presentation will be very telling in terms of aces up Microsoft’s sleeve. The game’s hard release date of October 27 is just a few months away. We’ve seen a ton of art and pieces of the story thanks to its viral “Hunt the Truth” campaign. If Xbox’s presentation opens with Halo, weather it’s campaign gameplay or multiplayer, it would indicate Microsoft will end with the official announcement of the new Gears of War game for Xbox One, maybe even alongside footage from the original GOW remake coming to the new console. With, Quantum Break delayed to 2016 and original unproven IPs set to be announced; closing their press event with a new installment of a proven franchise makes the most sense.

Sony PlayStation will close E3 Media Monday at the LA Sports Arena. We’re sure to hear a lot of bragging about the millions of units PS4 has sold to date during their presentation. As for what they’ll show and announce during their time in the media’s eye… Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is a given. Even though it’s been moved to 2016 and an extended preview was previously shown during PlayStation Experience in Vegas; Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann will be onstage to tell us something we don’t know about the game that will make the wait feel that much longer.

If Druckmann is indeed on stage, what better time than having the eyes of the world watching to bring out Sam Rami and show the first clip of The Last of Us movie. Sure it’s a long shot, but E3 has a history of huge surprises. Could we also get the Uncharted trilogy remastered for PS4? So far the PlayStation 4 has been all about porting Sony’s previous system classics to the new one with The Last of Us Remastered and the next up God of War remaster. PlayStation has a ton of things they need to update consumers on such as their VR Project Morpheous, backwards compatibility, and the other big game of PS Experience No Man’s Sky. They could have an out of the blue announcement, but with so much they’ve previously confirmed yet not put in our hands they simply don’t need one.

There’s also the PlayStation Originals which brought us the polarizing Brian Michael Bendis adaptation of his creator owned book, Powers. Because of the season 2 announcement, it stands to reason the debut series was a success on some level for Sony. Why else would they be willing to invest further money in more episodes. If it exceeded their expectations expect solid viewer numbers to be part of their humble brag and some art or still from season 2 to be included. One of the few surprises Sony could have waiting in the wings might be an expansion of PS Originals content, maybe other adaptations of popular comics. Personally, I’m rooting for Matt Fraction’s Sex Criminals mainly due to my wanting to see Chip Zdarsky awkwardly appear onstage during another big presentation.

Nintendo is actually the gray area of the show. Their Tuesday June 16 digital press conference has already dropped news ahead of itself. According to Nintendo, we won’t be seeing the delayed Legend of Zelda for Wii U. They are however bringing the Nintendo World Championships to the show from the –long long long– ago film The Wizard. Would there really be much of a point to having Fred Savage and the Power Glove appear during a press event that no one will physically be in attendance for? Mario Maker will also be available that week for the general public to try at select retailers during E3.

The Wii U and DS are likely to have announcements about new Pokemon, Metroid, and Animal Crossing but those would probably be leaked a bit before the show. Nintendo also has the slim possibility of being the only console company showing off hardware with their rumored new “NX” system in development. Currently no details are known about the system. Nintendo wouldn’t want to deter any future Wii U sales by even talking about new hardware that isn’t coming out this year so the possibility that we’ll see it at the show is highly unlikely.

What do you want to see during E3 2015? Who do you think will win this year’s E3? What size shirts do you all use?

Also here’s codes for digital copies of Secret Wars 1-2, Magneto, and Mighty Avengers. (First come first served) We’ll also be giving away physical copies of all the May Secret Wars books at the end of the Month thanks to my LCS and if you’re in the LA or Long Beach, CA areas go buy your Secret Wars at Pulp Fiction. All this month they’re selling every new Secret Wars issue (and tie-ins) 50% off. 

Marvel.com/redeem

Magneto 18- FMC1M3NNXDX8

Mighty Avengers 18 – FMDUEP80DYIR

SECRET WARS 1- FMCJG76UTQDV

SECRET WARS 2- FMD7GMLM7F4B

Between convention planning, watching season finales, and a little thing called Secret Wars; this week’s gotten away from me real fast. Oh, AND I got hands on a bit with a major September game release. We can’t talk about it for a few more weeks but I will say Fall can’t come fast enough. Today we’ll gab a bit about Telltale Games remaining 2015 plans and some exciting stuff for the DCUO faithful. Let’s Go!

Telltale Games (The Walking Dead, Tales From The Borderlands) recently released a statement clarifying something it implied at SXSW. Looks like we won’t be seeing Walking Dead Season 3 the game in 2015. Although the developer did tease something from the Walking Dead universe would be coming this year. No word on if this would be part of their new “Supershow” project that merges TV and games or if it would be something like TWD: 400 days which was a standalone game released between seasons 1 &2 of the franchise. Telltale Games current projects include stories based on HBO‘s Game of Thrones, Gearbox Software‘s Borderlands, and Minecraft.

Our thought:

Telltale may not produce the most cutting edge games on the market, but they’ve amassed a library of excellent stories. With  recent hirings on the development side along with partnerships that include Lionsgate and Marvel, Telltale’s footprint in the industry has grown immensely. Naturally some projects will have to slow down to make room for others. Now we know Walking Dead is going to be one of them, but The Wolf Among Us also deserves to have its story continue in gaming. Hopefully we’ll hear more about that one soon.

We recently took part in a walkthrough of the latest DC Universe Online content addition, Halls of Power Part II. The studio behind DCUO, Daybreak Games, showed off the iconic DC Comics worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis. Comic fans will no doubt recognize them from Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Settings weren’t the only treat for long time fans, many of your favorite characters from Kirby’s creation make appearances in the game, such as Orion, Steppenwolf, Granny Goodness, and Mister Miracle. DCUO’s newest content adds solo player missions, duos, alert-sized parties, and even raids. This DLC drop will also coincide with the new new loot choice feature, DC Universe Online players can choose from a table of loot after defeating a boss. Once a selection has been made, the loot choice and any other loot the boss dropped will be delivered to the player.

DC Universe Online is about creating your own hero to be part of the publisher’s mythology and the game’s Design Director Jesse Benjamin and Sr. Creative Director Jens Andersen demoed new items to customize characters with which utilize elements like the fire pits of Darkseid’s kingdom, Apokolips. The hellish planet was also where the devs walked us through one of the game’s new missions. Players will face –pass or fail– trials consisting of some puzzle solving and combat against Parademons just before confronting brainwashed Mister Miracle and Big Barda and even Superman.

Halls of Power content has been teasing a confrontation with one of the DC Universe’s most heinous threats, Darkseid. Part II continues to tease the villain from the shadows and his quest for anti-life.

DC Universe Online is free to download and play on PC and PlayStation systems. The Halls of Power Part II DLC is available now for membership subscribers to download for free while non-members can purchase the content separately for $9.99 starting on May 16, 2015.

Our thought:

DC Universe Online has managed to carve out it’s own niche in an oversaturated market of MMO’s like World of Warcraft. Since it’s initial release in 2011, the game has delighted comic book fans and been a true to its source material bridge between the world of gaming and comics. The Halls of Power DLC joins such comic nods in the game as its War of the Light content. The publisher’s current event, Convergence, has become unreadable.  DCUO and its new content are a welcome time stealer to hold my DC Comics needs till the books come back in a few weeks.

Cosplayers, comic book adaptation fans, gamers; rejoice! Ubisoft has announced a new Assassin’s Creed game.

Set in London in 1868, the game will feature two playable protagonists, twins Jacob and Evie Frye. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will strictly be a single player affair. This decision was made to give the development team the resources to create the biggest map the series has ever seen. In fact from initial statements, the size of the game will be 30% bigger than Assiassin’s Creed Unity. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate will release worldwide on PS4 and Xbox One on October 23rd, with a PC version to follow later in Autumn.

Our thought:

Another year another AC. Though I have to admit this one has a bit of a steampunk feel to it that feels at home here. The series has a mixed bag of highs and lows, but the franchise has yet to make that one entry that earns a place in the legendary pantheon of gaming. This one’s even going to have appearances from Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir in old timey English bareknuckle fight club type sequences. If you put in steampunk Paul Heyman, then Ubisoft has sold a copy. Also I wouldn’t mind seeing another comic based on the series. The book written by Brenden Fletcher was one of the better adaptations based on a franchise.

What’s your favorite Assassin’s Creed game? Is DC Universe Online better than Convergence? Did you kill Kenny? Let us know here or on the social pagers and come back this weekend for the Secret Wars wrap up week 1. 

Telltale Games, the developer behind The Walking Dead game, have announced a new partnership with Marvel to develop a console and PC game in 2017.

The Marvel end of the announcement commented on the quality of Telltale’s work, “It takes a long time to find the right partner. We have one special game we’re excited about.” Their previous games include Tales From the Borderlands, Walking Dead, and Vertigo comic based game The Wolf Among Us.

Recently, Telltale announced an investment by Lionsgate towards developing a new transmedia experience that would utilize both video games and television.

Telltale’s blog only had the image and this statement:

Announced this evening in San Francisco, we’re excited to reveal an all-new partnership with the incredible team at Marvel Entertainment. We’ll be teaming up on the development of an upcoming Telltale game series project set to premiere in 2017!

We’ll update with more information as it comes in…

There’s snow on the ground here in Atlanta, and I can’t wait for Spring to finally arrive. Seriously.

Here are the big updates for this morning:

– This is not a big surprise, given that probably every actor that signs up for a superhero film these days has a multi-picture contract, but Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie has confirmed that she has one too. Get used to seeing lots of Harley Quinn in future DC movies, provide all goes well for the studio.

– Making the rounds yesterday was James Gunn‘s Facebook post regarding the awards-season/Birdman-birthed narrative that superhero movies are the death-knell of creativity in Hollywood, it’s pretty wonderful:

Whatever the case, the truth is, popular fare in any medium has always been snubbed by the self-appointed elite. I’ve already won more awards than I ever expected for Guardians. What bothers me slightly is that many people assume because you make big films that you put less love, care, and thought into them then people do who make independent films or who make what are considered more serious Hollywood films.

I’ve made B-movies, independent films, children’s movies, horror films, and gigantic spectacles. I find there are plenty of people everywhere making movies for a buck or to feed their own vanity. And then there are people who do what they do because they love story-telling, they love cinema, and they want to add back to the world some of the same magic they’ve taken from the works of others. In all honesty, I do no find a strikingly different percentage of those with integrity and those without working within any of these fields of film.

If you think people who make superhero movies are dumb, come out and say we’re dumb. But if you, as an independent filmmaker or a “serious” filmmaker, think you put more love into your characters than the Russo Brothers do Captain America, or Joss Whedon does the Hulk, or I do a talking raccoon, you are simply mistaken.

At this point, I have a hard time imagining that a comic-book based superhero film will ever win a live-action Best Picture Oscar (if The Dark Knight couldn’t even be nominated), but does it actually matter? Not really. Let’s just continue to hope for more Avengers, Dark Knights, Winter Soldiers and films with a nice personal stamp on them and less of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 variety.

– Telltale Games has, over the the past few years, sparked a revival of the adventure game genre with comics-based titles like The Walking Dead and Fables (along with Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands). Today, Lionsgate Films and Telltale announced the former’s investment into the burgeoning game developer. What does it mean for Telltales’ output? We may see some television and video game co-development soon, particularly in terms of an original property. At the very least more Lionsgate properties will surely be headed into the development cycle.

– Former Bat-Mite voice actor Paul Reubens is bringing his famous Pee-Wee Herman character back to television, as Netflix has announced that the feature, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, will be coming to the streaming service. The new film is co-written by Reubens and Paul Rust (Comedy Bang Bang), with John Lee (Inside Amy Schumer) directing. Judd Apatow will produce under his Apatow Productions banner.

by Edie Nugent

Writers: Dave Justus, Matthew Sturges

Artists: Steve Sadowski, Shawn McManus, Travis Moore

Colorist: Lee Loughridge

Letterer: Sal Sipriano

Cover Artist: Chrissie Zullo

Editor: Rowena Yow

Publisher: Vertigo

It seems fitting that Fables: The Wolf Among Us is Vertigo’s “first ever digital-first series” according to the publisher’s website. If you can parse that distinction, meaning Vertigo has never before released a comic series in digital format prior to it’s print debut, it makes a strange sort of sense that they chose this particular series to hold the title of first-ever first digital. Fables: The Wolf Among Us #1 is a comic series based on the popular Telltale video game series of the same name, which was itself based on the 14-time Eisner award winning series from creator Bill Willingham. While the digital version of Fables: The Wolf Among Us launched in early December 2o14 and is set to release “chapter 6″ of the ongoing story today, print-format fans get a good opportunity to catch up to digital readers with Fables: The Wolf Among Us #1 as it collects the first three chapters of the digital story in this first print issue.

The comic runs very close to the story, dialogue and plot of the Telltale game while also providing additional back story and details for a more in-depth story than the game provides. Having played the first installment of the game and now read this series, I found the first three chapters to be an enjoyable read. It was a solid decision to enlist Matthew Sturges in translating the video game story to comic form, his previous work on the Fables comic series that birthed the game that served as template for the comic (is your head spinning yet?) comes through in the additional material added to chapter 1. Sturges is aided by newcomer Dave Justus in the writing department and their collaboration is seamless: all the writing seems of a piece.

The decision to set the series as a prequel to the events in the original run of Fables was a good one: it is an easily understood entry point for new readers while also rewarding faithful fans of the aforementioned comic series, which began in 2002. The concept is simple: the fairy tale characters we all know have been chased out of their Homeland by a malevolent force. They’ve escaped to our world, setting up a new home in colonial America which later becomes New York City. Some are of means and can purchase glamours to hide their non-human appearance when applicable, others cannot.

We get to see Bigby Wolf (the second “b” stands for bad) as the newly minted Sheriff of Fabletown, as he responds to a domestic violence call from Mr. Toad (Wind in the Willows fans might be a bit shocked by his language) who reports a disruption in his upstairs neighbor’s apartment. Bigby is understandably not eager to take the call, as Toad’s upstairs neighbor is The Woodsman and their last confrontation of fairy tale legend didn’t end well for Bigby . The Woodsman proves he is still the brute with an ax he was back in the Homeland, beating up a mysterious woman called  Faith who has resorted to prostitution to make ends meet in our mundane world. Bigby’s efforts to subdue him, however, only serve to escalate the violence.

Faith proves to be pretty lethal herself, dispatching the Woodsman handily just as he gains the advantage in his fight with Bigby. Faith is unruffled by the proceedings, taking her injuries and unpaid work for the Woodsman in stride. Bigby takes pity on her situation, and gives her what little money he has on him to help cover the debt. He also arranges to meet up with her later to get a statement detailing her abuse after she has returned to her boss with Bigby’s cash. Of course, any character that essentially says “I’ll be right back” is in narrative danger. Charmingly, when Bigby returns to his apartment to decompress, we run into another of the Sheriff’s former enemies: one of the three little pigs is crashed out on Bigby’s couch. This pig, known as Colin, demands whiskey and chain smokes while chastising the Sheriff for his lone-wolf habits. Also featured are some of Bigby’s earliest interactions with Snow White and Beauty (who is hiding from her Beast for unknown reasons).

The art across all the issues is different enough to showcase the style of the three artists: Steve Sadowski (chapter. 1), Shawn McManus (Chapter. 2), and Travis Moore (Chapter. 3), but also cohesive enough to provide a nice continuity of design. The series will hopefully go on to introduce more of the iconic Fables characters, while also making good on the answer to the compelling mystery set out in these first three chapters of the series.

By David Nieves

Today during DC’s “Download This!” panel new books were announced that will expand the publisher’s digital comics universe. Wonder Woman 77  will be written Marc Andreyko with cover art contributed by Nicola Scott. No story details or interior artist were mentioned, but the comic will debut as a six-part weekly series in December with print editions to follow. The series follows Lynda Carter’s TV Wonder Woman and is a natural extension of what the publisher started when they launched Batman 66.

Fables: The Wolf Among Us spins out of the popular Telltale games series which was originally based on the Bill Willingham Fables series. The creative team on the digital comic will include Matthew Sturges who will co-write with Dave Justus with art by Steve Sadowski, Travis Moore, and Shawn McManus. Covers will be by Chrissie Zullo. This will be Vertigo’s first digital series.

Mortal Kombat X will be written Shawn Kittelsen and drawn by Dexter Soy with covers by Ivan Reis. The series serves is a prequel to the highly anticipated game of the same name by NetherRealm Studios and Warner Interactive Entertainment. The story takes place 25 years after the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat game and will tell the stories of characters both new and old.