Comic Roundup: May 21, 2008

• So I went to the comic shop Wednesday in the hopes of feasting on some Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men. My eagerness blinded me to the reality that, due to Monday's holiday, comics ship late this week. Back to work I went, empty-handed and down-hearted. But my wallet was lighter because, wow, do gas prices suck or what?


• Casey Blue: Beyond Tomorrow issue 1: I had to go back and look at this book again because I had no idea what it was about. That's right, it left absolutely no impression on me. I picked it up because I like B. Clay Moore (especially his Hawaiian Dick series which I can't find anymore.)


• Echo issue 3: I find with most comic book series that it is the third issue that tells you whether or not the whole thing is any good. If the parties involved can maintain the momentum of a strong first issue that long, you can count on it going the distance. Terry Moore's new series is only getting better. The characters are more layered and the plot gets deeper and more interesting each issue. The art is still up to his expected standard, quite attractive, with his confident display of emotions. Echo can't help but remind me of Lost with the great mystery serving and the backdrop to tell so very human stories. You only have to look at his Strangers In Paradise to know he's not copying anyone. He was playing this great game with his readers for years. A great read and I'm still on the hook for many issues to come.


• World of Warcraft issue 7: The WoW comic continues to be pretty and very fan service-y, though not in the perverted way. Still enjoying it, though, so I'll keep at it.


• Next week: GSAXM, baby!

Played Lately: Lord of the Rings Online

• If it hasn't become perfectly clear, I've recently become disillusioned with World of Warcraft. After a year and a half of any game, it would be hard not to look toward greener pastures. As of late, the grass has been kind of green over in Lord of the Rings Online.
• I tried playing one back in December and had a decent time, but all the running around back and forth for quests was driving me crazy. I don't know what happened in the meantime, but Turbine tightened up the game enough that the early leveling experience is very smooth. I started over at level one with a human champion, wanting to try out the pure melee damage dealer that I've never played in WoW. I actually found the play mechanics well polished. And as befits the license, the storyline is interesting to follow. Yes, I know I'm a side character in the main story, but they make you feel an important part of a larger world.
• Another aspect of the game I've found myself interested in is the crafting game. Crafting is only a little bit more involved than in WoW. You have to construct base components before you can make final products, earning points toward proficiency to mastery of a crafting ability level. Once an crafting level is mastered, you can get critical successes while crafting, resulting in additional components or higher quality items. High quality recipes can be found just by adventuring which is a great incentive. Although I understand the decision, I wish LotRO allowed you to choose individual crafting abilities instead of bundling them into professions. Just about every profession has two abilities that are really great with one that is dead weight. Overall though, crafting is actually useful in the game and doesn't seem like the time filler it's become in other games.
• One of the things I'm not a fan of is the death penalty. At first, being defeated meant teleporting to somewhere safe with a minor debuff. Now that I've progress sufficiently, that debuff has become harsher. Harsh enough, even, that I actually log out of the game any time I am defeated to do something else while I wait for it to expire. Turbine gets paid whether I'm logged in or not, but do they really want people to decide it's better not to play their game at all?
• While I can't universally recommend LotRO, I think there is enough of a game here and a good community that gamers may find something that is comfortable. I've enjoyed my time already and I look forward to many more hours in Middle Earth.

Comic Roundup: May 14, 2008

• Another slow comic week, just how I like them.


• Newuniversal: Shockfront issue 1: Warren Ellis is finally back with his previously preempted series and it picks up about where the last left off. Except it also left off Salvador Larocca, though he is amiably replaced by Steve Kurth. Big shoes to fill, but everyone looks like themselves so there is little argue with. This is issue shows the emergence of additional superpowered people as the chaos that brings. As this is a long form serial, there isn't much to review. However it is nice to see Newuniversal back on the shelves and another dose of the Warren Ellis crazy.


• Serenity: Better Days issue 3: Really? That's it? I don't know that it is, but these comics completely fail to catch my imagination anymore. Firefly was such a brief and wonderous flame that, once snuffed, looms greater in my memory than it ever did in real life. So maybe these comics are okay, but I can't see it.

By Request: WoW Gear Auditor

• UPDATE: Be Imba does not exist anymore. So good luck with your Google searching. I have no idea what to tell you.



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• Much like the definition of bullet points that I wrote earlier, I've decided to start a series of articles to address other search terms that come up from time to time. I'll cover just about anything except any "adults only" terms that show up. That would be a little creepy.


• Today on By Request, the WoW Gear Auditor. I've been getting hits on this because I've linked the audits for both of my level 70 characters over in the sidebar. Not that anyone but me cares, but I like to share my WoW exploits with the world, no matter how weak they may be.


• The gear auditor I use is Be Imba! found at http://be.imba.hu. If there are any others out there, I don't know about them. Be Imba! does just about everything I could ask, so I've never been tempted to look that hard.


• The primary function of the site is to provide an analysis of your current gear. It looks at whether you are undergeared and links to the WoW Armory for potential upgrades. It also looks at your enchantments and provides suggestions were it finds items that are unenchanted or misenchanted. It will also point out if you are missing gems or if your gems are of low quality.


• One item that I enjoy about the site is that it points out which raids your gear is well suited for as well as where you can pick up upgrades. The site also implies that it will be reviewing talent builds in the future, but that has yet to appear. Overall, it is a good resource to point out your current weaknesses and give a direction about how you can improve.

Comic Roundup: May 7, 2008

• I ended up picking up my books two days late this week. Thank goodness I don't read anything too popular.


• Buffy The Vampire Slayer issue 14: Part three of the Buffy and Dracula go to Japan story line and we get a huge, very Whedonesque, shocker. I have to remind myself that no one ever gets to be happy in the Buffyverse. Man, I'm so annoyed but at the bad guys, not the writers. Sign of a good comic, I suppose. Looking forward to next issue.


• Conan issue 50: Wrapping up this first series, Conan hits with a slab of comic, essentially a double issue plus an old Conan comic in the back. I picked this up on a whim, just to see how the story is coming along. I was surprised how many of the plot threads I had remember came up again here. Timothy Truman's writing is almost as effective as Kurt Busiek's before him. But I'm not nearly as enthusiastic about the art in comparison to Cary Nord's. It was a good issue, though Conan's heyday seems to have past.


• The Invincible Iron Man issue 1: What with all the Iron Man hype, and based on how much I enjoyed the movie, I thought I'd pick up the relaunched comic and see if any of that carried over. Salvador Larocca's art is just as amazing as his work on the very good Newuniversal. The writing is good and dense, just how I like a comic. But Iron Man as a comic character is just limp for me and I'm not sure I'll pick up a second issue.


• Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas issue 1: See above, just not quite as interesting.


• Secret Invasion issue 2: So, last issue a bunch of old school superheroes show up to confuse the situation, which was really interesting. This issue, it turns out that most, if not all of them are Skrulls. Really? Feels like a cop out. Lots of good action and Hawkeye got to really shine, but this was just an okay issue.