More Motion Comic Goodness

 

Well, you can't really have anything happen in the comic book world ever without the X-Men showing up at some point and taking it over for themselves.  So it seems to be with the newest big thing in the comics world too . . . Motion Comics.

 

As my fellow Geek-tastic contributer Johann has pointed out here before, the success of the Watchmen Motion Comic DVD has made both Marvel and DC sit up and take notice.  Fans like motion comics, and they want more.  The two big comic companies, with dollars shining in their eyes, are only too happy to provide them.  DC followed up their Watchmen Motion Comic with Superman: Red Son and  Batman: Black and White.  It makes sense that their two biggest characters would get the motion comic treatment first.  Marvel suprised us though with making Spider-Woman their first big Motion Comic release.

 

I think we were all thinking the same thing.  Spider-Woman?  Why?  Why not start with Spider-man or the Avengers or Iron Man or any of the bigger characters.  Hell, even Blade would have been a bigger character to start with.  Well, worry no more true believers because Marvel has finally announced their second big Motion Comic series, and this time it's got some major marquee name power behind it.  That's right, the X-men.  And not just any X-men story mind you.  Oh no, they're pulling out all the fanboy stops here and are adapting Joss Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men to Motiony Comicy goodness.

 

So, take some of Marvel's most popular characters, mix them up with one of fandom's most beloved writers, then take the critically and fan acclaimed comic series that came from said pairing and make it into a pseudo-movie that you call Motion Comics.  I'm sure the results will be spectacular.

 

On a personal note, I'm not sure how I feel about this whole Motion Comic thing just yet.  I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest.  On the one hand I am stoked because this is as close to 100% faithful film or TV adaptations as we're ever going to get.  You really can't get more faithful than panel for panel stories and line for line script readings.  On the other hand though, why does everything have to be made to be like movies or TV shows now?  What's wrong with comics just being comics?  Can't some things just stay in print form and be awesome there?

 

I'll have to ponder this some more.

Pixar Is Being Sued By It's Own Lamp

 

 

Well, sort of.  The famous animated filmmakers are actually being sued by Luxo ASA, the company which originally created the Luxo lamp that Pixar based its first ever animated short on.  You've all seen the little hopping lamp that squishes down the I in Pixar's name in all of the Pixar logos (as seen above).  Well, that little hopping lamp is called Luxo Jr., and he was the star of the first animated project ever worked on.  That film, simply enough, was called Luxo Jr. and it won an academy award back in 1986 when it first came out.  Now here we are, 23 years later and the Luxo lamp company have filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Pixar Studios.

 

Why did they wait so long to sue, you may ask?  It turns out that the Luxo company had no problem with Pixar using their name or their lamp's likeness as their logo.  In fact, the two companies had an agreement allowing them to do so and relations between the two were rather positive.  Pixar got to use a logo which had sentimental value to them as it was a reference to their beginnings, and Luxo benefited from free advertising every time the logo was shown or the name was referenced.  That recently changed however when this little item here was announced for sale later this year.

 



 

You're looking at the Luxo Jr. Premium Combo Pack for Pixar's latest film Up which will be coming out on Blu-ray and DVD on November 10th, 2009.  Packaged with Up in this combo pack is a fully functional replica of the Luxo Jr. lamp.  It turns out that the folks at Disney merchandising didn't care to notify the folks over at Luxo that they had decided to go into the lamp making business and Luxo didn't really appreciate that.  While they were fine with the existing arrangement of their lamp being used as a logo, they were far less happy with Disney making actual Luxo lamps complete with the Luxo name on them without paying Luxo any royalties or fees for them.

 

I can totally understand that.  If I was Luxo, I'd be upset too.  It's one thing to allow your likeness to be used, but it's totally another for someone else to take your name and creation and sell it as if it was their own.  While I disagree with Luxo's statement that Disney's DVD and Lamp combo pack will "cause devastating damage to Luxo and dilute the goodwill which Luxo has built up", I'm sure the move must definitely break whatever existing agreement the two companies had before.  I'd chalk this one up to Disney being stupid for not notifying Luxo of their intention to make the lamps beforehand and working out an agreement with them where they got a cut of the money.

 

I'm sure this will be worked out without much hassle.  Most likely, Disney will pull a few coins from their giant Scrooge McDuck money bin and throw it Luxo's way and they'll be perfectly happy. At least, that's how I hope it goes.  If Luxo decides to get all pissy and Pixar has to consider changing their logo, I think I'll be really annoyed with Luxo at that point.  I really like that little hopping lamp and will be pissed off if Pixar has to get rid of it.

 

Let's hope that doesn't happen.  Afterall, just look at how cute that little guy is.

The New Halo: ODST Commercial Makes Me Want To Cry

 

 

Make no mistake though, these tears I shed as I watch this new live-action commercial for the upcoming Halo: Odst game are not because the commercial is bad, or because the game looks bad.  Far from it.  The commercial is so mind blowingly awesome it made me have to go change my pants after seeing it.  No, the reason it makes me want to cry is because it is a cruel reminder of the fact that I doubt we'll ever get to see a real live-action Halo film, and even if we ever do I would bet good money that it will be nowhere near as cool as this commercial is.

 

If Neill Blomkamp can no longer direct a live-action Halo film, can we get whoever made this commercial to do it?  Please?  Don't keep teasing me Microsoft and Bungie.  I can only hold out hope for so long.

Hello Comrade...

 

With the release of Watchmen the Motion Comic, DC started to prime and ready more of them to shoot out. Superman: Red Son seems to be the quickest off the block with about 6+ episodes already on iTunes.

 

On The DC website they have also put up Batgirl: Year One and Batman: Black & White.

 

DC isn't the only one to notice that the Watchmen motion comic did well. Marvel has Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. by Brian Michael Bendis and Astonishing X-Men by one Joss Whedon.

Marvel Comics does have the first episode of Spider-Woman on there site FREE right now for a limited time.

 


 

Watch it, form your opinions. I think that Marvel has bammed it up a notch with the way the Motion Comic is done.

The "Google Doodle" Phenomenon

 



 

I'm sure you've seen it by now.  That cute little drawing wrapped around the letters G-O-O-G-L-E as you make your morning internet rounds.  Usually it brings a smile to my face and even sometimes reminds me of an event that I otherwise would have forgotten.  I'm ashamed to admit it: I knew it was Earth Day only because animals were lounging around a search engine logo.  Today I found out the official name for these unique and ever-changing pictures, "Google doodles."

 

And for the first time, I am also thinking about their potentional power.  They have served as both reminders and amusement for me in the past.  Consider my nerdy happiness when I woke up the morning of Comic Con, opened my browser, and saw this staring right back at me:

 



 

My first thought was, "geez.  Look how big Comic Con has become if it's noticed by Google."  But maybe the more significant observation is actually, "Look how big Google has become."  It not only references established holidays, but it also now picks up on pop culture.   Think of the advertising potential.

 

So what made me think of this?  To Google's credit, Google.  If you click on today's image, a UFO doodle, the top search result as of 10:15am is an article called, " Unexplained Phenomenon: A Mystery Created by Google?"  The author explores some of the serious possible ramifications of having a not-so-innocent Google doodle.  "As far as I know, the Google doodle thus far has primarily been used to bring attention to events such as holidays and the birthdays of famous people.  But what if the Google doodle were to be used for more commercial purposes? Would it be a source of controversy? Would it give an unfair advantage to those who could afford to pay for it?"

 

Now I'm wondering what goes on at Google?  Who is Google?  Will the personalities, tastes, and motivations of its creators stay the same?  Perhaps the "unexplained phenomenon" of the Google doodle itself will turn out to be some evil plot to destroy us all.  Hopefully, the great minds behind the Google curtain reveal themselves to be better than that.   More... more... well, free-thinking and at times, nerdy.  Here's to hoping.

 

More steampunk! More steampunk!

 

To be released October 20 this year.

 

After watching the trailer you may think some of the character designs look familiar. If it does, good on you. It's the same creators of the Final Fantasy port series to the DS. By which I mean when they released Final Fantasy 1-6 with the 3D battles and maps.

 

Your airship is customizable with engines and weapons and as seen in the trailer, actual special attacks that can be performed by the ship itself.

 

And battle engines does make me reminise on Final Fantasy games and combo attacks like Chrono Trigger and lesser known Saga Frontier.

 

This is on my pre-order list and since I don't expect this to be heavily marketed in the next month, I thought I'd share some knowledge.

Will all be well in the Magical Kingdom?

Now that some of the hype has finally died down on why it is bad that Disney bought Marvel, here is something I've seen that I wanted to share the news about.

 

This is concept art, not some spoof . That's the Mickey water tower on the head of Monstro. And a lot more fucked up looking buildings in his tow. Now why does it look like that? Because it is concept art for a game called Epic Mickey. It supposed to take place in a dystopian future with a heavy steam punk element.



 

Now what mad madness could think up this idea? His name is Warren Spector. Those that don't know, he is a video game designer of the Thief series, Ultima Underworld I & II and Deus Ex & Deus Ex: Invisible War. All good games in my opinion, especially Deus Ex.

 

Now he is on point with a full on Disney themed game that looks to be as dark as Maleficent's coat. What I'm trying to say is, maybe Disney has already started to realize "Some of our die hard fans aren't ages 4-10 anymore, they are the ones bringing the kids of that age". I really can't see a song and dance number breaking out on Monstro's back when he's carrying the shambled remains of the Epcot Center. Well I hope not of course.

 

Since Disney bought Warren Spector's company back in 2007, Junction Point Studios, this put a great mind in the fold of a company that does squeeze blood from stones. According to wiki there was already a job listing for his company back in 2005 that called for artists for a game that has "classic Hollywood cartoons" featuring "cartoon mice, cats and wabbits". The game was slated to run on the Valve engine, which is games like Half-Life and the Orange Box set. Which can run in either first person or third person. And the design is supposed to be released as an exclusive on the Wii. Now you have a general idea of what could hopefully be done in the future of Disney.

 

Now why bring it up in the midst of this Disney/Marvel merger? Here's the circle of life...

 

Warren Spector had also worked on the Marvel Super Heroes pen & paper RPG back in 1984, to which I was a proud owner of.

 

The idea that a mind like this also possibly backing Marvel video games, really does bring me hope to the future of this merger.

 

Just a few more art pieces to tickle your fancy:





Edit:
I found another concept art, which raises my suspision. Look at it, tell me what you see

yes it is the space rocket from the Land of Tomorrow, but on the rocket itself is Oswald the Rabbit, not Mickey. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a Mintz created character for Disney who hasn't seen the light of day since the near 1930's when the animated features were distributed by Universal Pictures.
After that time, Mickey replaced Oswald...
These are some drastic changes. I really hope to have more news to report on in the future. Im definitely keeping my eye on this