Thursday, February 22, 2007

SPOTLIGHT: Tae Kim Hyung



Tae Kim Hyung,Korean Video Game RPG artist best known for MAGNA CARTA for PS2, I enjoy his work despite the fact that I feel his designs are reminicent of the earlier works of CAPCOM artist Akira Yasuda aka AKIMAN, he manages to add his own flavor to his characters. From Color pallets , costume designs even unique choice of weapons are Unique to Tae.
check out his gallery at this site.
enjoy

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

CLASSIC GAMING COIN OP : ARABIAN FIGHT

Manufacturer: Sega
Year: 1992
Genre: Player beat em up
Conversion Class: Sega System 32
Number of Simultaneous Players: 4

Description

Using one of four sprite-based humanoid characters overlayed on several layers of scrolling backgrounds, the player punches, kicks and jumps over enemies in a simulated 3-D playfield as he seeks to save Princess Luruna from the evil Sheikh Sazabiss. Power-ups enable use of magic and recharging of life energy.

A four-player simultaneous beat-em-up game based on the Sega System 32 arcade hardware. Four player-selectable Arabian-themed, anime-drawn heroes: Sinbat, Ramaya, Goldor and Datta fight through a number of levels to save the kidnapped Princess Luruna from the demonic magician Sheikh Sazabiss. The most interesting feature of Arabian Fight is the use of scaling.The sprites are huge,and as the player moves 'into' the screen,they decrease in size, increasing as you move 'out' of the screen.

REVIEW

This is a very rare game, I remember palying this game in between rounds of Street fighter Champion Edition and Samurai Showdown 2 in NYC penn station arcade before they closed down and turned it into a KMART, Very nice graphics With fun little out of the foreground action and large animated "Supers" that made this game unique.

I haven't seen this game anywhere else since then. If anyone knows where I can get my hand a
working MAME pack for this game please email me with the info.

Here are some pics and a video












Tuesday, February 13, 2007

NY TOYFAIR NEWS (HASBRO)

Hey Kids,


Here's some intresting news reported by Josh B. over at www.collectiondx.com :


We got to take a look at Hasbro’s new stuff for G.I. Joe and there are some big changes happening.


G.I Joe: A Real American Hero

Hasbro is doing a reboot of their 3¾ scale figures by going back to the original characters and original looks done with today’s engineering. Each figure sports at least twenty two points of articulations and numerous accessories. Figures will be sold in sets of five each, with two sets due in June, a Cobra set and a G.I. Joe set.

Here are some picks care of CollectionDX.com













Thursday, February 8, 2007

Very Nice Piece

Another hot collecable from japan:

MAP-02 Microman Merowlink w/Military Bike

Code: TKT71953 Series: Votoms

"Armor Hunter Merowlink," the 1988-89 OVA series spun off from "Armored Trooper Votoms," had a fervent following but no toys or kits back in the day. Now Takara makes up for lost time with this Micro Action Plus set of Merowlink Ality and his military bike with sidecar!


Pony-tailed Merowlink has 37 points of articulation, and comes with an optional goggle-wearing head, five pairs of optional arms, a removable nylon mantle, and of course an anti-AT rifle and pile bunker, his weapons of choice to give ATs back a faceful of their own kind of firepower! A lifesize dogtag base is included to display Merowlink standing, but he'll be most at home on his military bike. The motorcycle and its removable sidecar are loaded with details, from brake cables to opening sideboxes (and do not have the dirty splotches on the prototype pictured below). All in a sturdy display box with wide windows fore and aft that let you enjoy seeing the set if you'd rather not open it. Thanks, Takara!




Monday, February 5, 2007

Sorry...

No Posts today , My wife has the Flu and I'm Taken care of both her and my baby daughter so stay tuned

(here's something dirty to tide you over)


Cesorship in comics Part 1 ( DC )

It's my personal opinion that most comics published today are shit ( with exceptions of course ) but it doesn't help the consumer when Board members & Corporate PR management within these companies begin fucking with the art and story content of these books in the name political correctness. God forbid they Allow something different and new to make it onto the racks

case in point DC cancelled Garth Ennis's "THE BOYS" due to what they are calling "A difference in creative vision" the also released a statement saying that they are cancelling any future Trade publication of this book. Now I agree that "The BOYS"
is a little graphic with it's content, But considering DC's history with Garth Ennis ( PREACHER ) they knew what they where getting and what to expect from Mr. Ennis's writing style. DC should never have green lit the project if they where going to bail on the book by issue six. I'll do a retrospective on "the Boys" soon.

Here's a great article on the subject by Julian Darius From www.sequart.com regarding censored pages from "the Authority" originally published by WildStorm Comics ( DC ). Julians a far better writer than I ( with a lot less swearing ) and he makes great observations on the subject.

At the very least it's worth A look for the unpublished Brian Hitch, Frank Quietley & Aurthur Adams Art Work:

Julian Darius

The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks upon the United States of America left many Americans, and much of the world, seriously shaken and disturbed. Almost immediately, the shockwaves echoed throughout the artistic world: many speculated that Americans craved escapism and many artists experienced an existential crisis, wondering what their occupations meant in the wake of the trauma of the event. While Americans repeated the mantra that "the terrorists win" if their lives were altered because of 9/11, a simultaneous concern about being "insensitive" -- or receiving bad press -- led many companies to tone down violence in art, particularly terrorist or mass-scale urban violence. The trailers for the movie Spider-Man, for examples, featured criminals caught in a web spun between the two World Trade Center towers -- which, of course, were no longer there; the trailer was pulled and portions of the film reshot. Other films were delayed indefinitely. No artistic medium was spared from these reactions -- or perhaps overreactions -- and comics were no exception.


The Authority, then in its famously trailblazing run under writer Mark Millar, seemed an immediate target of corporate censorship. Since its inception under writer Warren Ellis, the title had been known for its "widescreen" violence on the scale of city-wide devastation. But this controversy went beyond violence into sexuality and politics. Team members Apollo and Midnighter -- analogues for Superman and Batman -- had been implicitly homosexual since Ellis had created them, but Millar had made this explicit. The team had deposed otherworldly governments under Ellis, but under Millar had moved to deposing real-world governments and opposing the U.S. government. DC (owner of WildStorm, which published the title) had censored the book at least since Millar's first issue (#13, cover-dated May 2000), including obscuring panels depicting violence and removing a kiss between Apollo and Midnighter. Reportedly, the company was concerned that the mass media would pick up that it was publishing an alternate version of Superman and Batman who were involved in a homosexual relationship, leading to a crisis within the cross-media Superman and Batman franchises. As 9/11 hit, The Authority #27 was scheduled for publication, offering the second chapter of Millar's final storyline; the first chapter had been published at the beginning of 2001, after which the storyline had faced a long hiatus (although fill-in issues were offered).





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The cover, as publshed, to The Authority #27.


The first effect of 9/11 upon the Authority was the cancellation of The Authority: Widescreen, a special that had been scheduled to include a number of different stories -- one of which, it turned out, featured a battle in New York City with civilian casualties. The story would not have been out of character for the series, but were clearly regarded as unacceptable in the post-9/11 environment. Almost simultaneously, The Authority #27, with its long-delayed continuation of Millar's final storyline, was delayed in order to be reworked. Fans, already upset over DC's treatment of the revolutionary title, chaffed but generally prefered to see the conclusion of the storyline, even if it had to be delayed in the wake of history. The issue, pencilled by Arthur Adams, at last saw publication in December 2001.


It was only then that the real scandal hit. Rich Johnston, the comics gossip writer, broke the story that large-scale changes had been made to the issue. Apparently leaked by people at WildStorm who had been upset by DC's micro-management, many uncensored panels began appearing through Johnston. Some panels had been altered; others entirely redrawn. It soon became clear that most of the instances could not be attributed to 9/11. Many instances seemed related to sexual content and probably would have been censored anyway. Moreover, the fact that Arthur Adams had already drawn the issue prior to its censorship suggested a problem within the editorial ranks: the original version of the issue had apparently neared completion through WildStorm before being censored from further up at DC, itself owned by AOL / Time-Warner. It seemed to many that 9/11 had been used as an excuse for often unrelated censorship. All of this led to several conspiracy theories by the title's outraged fans.


Some changes were perhaps understandable from a commercial standpoint: The Authority was neither approved by the Comics Code, the censoring body established by the major comics companies in the 1950s in the wake of popular criticism (and the published theoretically sound but morally indignant articles of Dr. Wertham), nor labelled "suggested for mature readers" like DC's Vertigo line. Necrophilia, for example, just wasn't going to fly; the mere suggested desire for the same had been controvertial in Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, and even DC's Vertigo imprint had not ventured so far. DC almost certainly was not interested in publishing the corpse of the team's dead leader, star of a recent mini-series, being used as a necrophilic object.


The censorship would continue in #28, which also saw censored panels leaked to Rich Johnston -- although not as many. Arthur Adams, who had himself been an artistic replacement on the storyline, himself quit -- while writer Mark Millar moved from polite understanding for DC to outright condemnation. Additional delays only compounded the outrage of fans. The storyline would at last conclude, under other artists, with #29 -- Millar's final issue and the final issue of the series. The Authority had become under Millar a top-selling title known for its aggressive and controversial nature, but this same nature lead to its censorship, delay, and ultimate cancellation.


The reality of leaked alternate versions, made possible by the internet, has allowed the following scholarly study of particular instances of censorship. I have attempted, wherever possible, to provide side-by-side comparisons between the printed and the censored versions. I have also included some material that, while not outright censored, simply never saw print.


The images themselves are copyrighted by DC Comics and are used here for scholarly purposes without depriving their owner of income. In fact, I encourage readers to purchase and study the comics themselves, conveniently available in trade paperback form. Both versions are enjoyable and The Authority, in either form, remains revolutionary -- which is, of course, why this scholarly study is of such importance. My hope is therefore that understanding these changes increases not only scholarly understanding but also interest and appreciation for the printed version.








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Censorship of The Authority went back at least to Millar's first issue, #13, which originally specified the nation and its leader that the Authority invaded and toppled: Jakarta and President Habibe, then in the news for crimes against the population. Apparently, DC thought that the appearance of a murder fantasy against a living president was going too far, but thought too few people would recognize the president to change his visage.


Upper-right: the top of the original version of page 2 from The Authority #13, naming the nation as Jakarta.

Lower-right: the top of the original version of page 4 from The Authority #13, naming President Habibe.







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Mark Millar's first storyline, running from #13 to #16, featured analogues of many Marvel Comics characters, most prominently including alternate versions of the Avengers. Neither Marvel nor the editors at DC were thrilled with this appropriation, and the design of the Commander -- the Captain America analogue -- was changed to render him more unique.


Right: the main section of the original cover to The Authority #14 (as it was solicited on page 85 of Previews volume X, number 2, cover-dated February 2000). It shows a version of the Captain America analogue that looks decisively more like the original.








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Right: the original version of page 16 from The Authority #14, showing The Engineer's killing of the character analogous to the Hulk. In the bottom panel, The Engineer gives the middle finger to her foe's corpse. The original was changed to the British "two finger salute" for the printed version, a change easily discernable because the raised finger was simply copied and pasted to create a second raised finger. There seems little logic in this change, given that The Engineer is not British, and it seems to have been made to obscure the gesture that is considered by many to be obscene: most readers of the American comic would not recognize the British version. (The change also has the effect of emphasizing the fact that Mark Millar is British -- which has considerable cache since the British invasion of comic book writers, including Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, in the 1980s.)





Additional changes occured in #14 as obscuring red filters were placed on a few panels showing the Authority kill.









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Reports vary as to how much unpublished work Frank Quitely had completed upon his departure from the title, almost immediately following the publication of #22. Most reports specify only a few pages of #23 had been completed, meaning that #23 would almost certainly have been delayed in any case. Quitely had completed the next few covers, however, in order for them to be included with those issues' solitication. These covers were not censored and were probably not used to emphasize the replacement artistic team.


Left: the covers to The Authority #23, #9, and #27, respectively, as they were printed. The first, #23, contained the first chapter of "Transfer of Power," the four-issue fill-in storyline featuring the "new" Authority that replaced the team in #22. This change has been reflected in the logo and in the cover, which is itself an homage to that of #9. #27, the third issue at left, contained the second chapter to Mark Millar's "Brave New World" storyline, the first chapter of which appeared in #22 and was illustrated by Frank Quitely just before he quit.

Right: the cover (printed on the letters page of #22) that would have been that to the second chapter of "Brave New World" if Frank Quitely had not quit, in which case it would have been published in The Authority #23 (rather than #27). Note that the logo was scheduled to change to reflect the new team prior to the fill-in storyline. While not an homage to any particular issue, Quitely's cancelled cover is reminiscent of several earlier covers for The Authority that featured the entire team.









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Left: the main section, sans titles and indicia, of the cover, as it was printed, of The Authority #28, containing the third chapter of "Brave New World."

Right: the main section, sans titles and indicia, of Frank Quitely's original cover for The Authority #24. The issue was to have contained the third chapter of "Brave New World," which saw print as #28. Note that both covers show Apollo and Midnighter fighting Seth.









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The Authority: Widescreen, a special featuring various stories, was cancelled in the wake of the 11 September attacks because it featured urban carnage in New York City -- including people being pulled out from under wrecked buildings. Reports vary as to how much of the contents for Widescreen were complete at the time of its cancellation.


Right: the cover to The Authority: Widescreen.









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By the time The Authority #27 was published, featuring the second part of "Brave New World" (originally intended for #23), Arthur Adams had replaced Frank Quitely as artist. His cover (Quitely's having been scrapped) was noted as a bloody close-up, although an earlier version has materialized.


Left: the main section, sans titles and indicia, to the cover of The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right, an earlier (though, as far as anyone knows, not censored but simply redrawn) version by Arthur Adams. (Note that the "X"s are common comics illustrators' vernacular to indicate that an inker should fill the area with solid black.)





Just as Authority #1 introduced the original team by showing them in combat accompanied by introductory captions, so Millar cleverly introduced the new Authority in #27. Here Teuton, the German replacement for Apollo, is introduced; in the entirely redrawn printed version, he throws some 30th-century teenagers to their deaths, but in the original he used himself as a projectile -- much as the terrorists used commercial flights filled with civilians as projectiles in the devastating 11 September attack.




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Left: a portion of page 4 from The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the same portion of page 4 as Arthur Adams originally drew it based on Mark Millar's script.









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The introductory sequence concludes with the Colonel, an English football hooligan who serves as replacement for Jenny Sparks. The printed and original versions are the same except that the details of the head being used as a football were obscured for publication.


Left: the bottom panel of page 5 from The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the same panel of page 5 as Arthur Adams originally drew it.











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Note the nipple in Adams's original.


Left: a selection from the bottom panel of page 6 from The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the same area of page 6 as Arthur Adams originally drew it.









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The egoism shown in the printed version of the Colonel's personalization of the beer can-strewn entrance to his room felt amusing but fettered. And indeed it was; in the original, it was covered with derogatory expressions of every sort (except of course for lesbiens, who are welcomed). But the real shocker here is the Colonel's perks, provided after he mentioned he fancied the dead Jenny Sparks. In the utterly redrawn printed version, he is provided with three look-alikes, beautifully shown half-dressed and clearly well-used. In the original, however, the powers-that-be dug up Jenny's corpse, letting the Colonel have his object of desire more directly -- and having necrophilia committed upon a valorized dead central character! Though the replacement here was nice, the issue's theme was that the new Authority has utterly conquered and humiliated the originals, and this theme is considerably lessened by not extending it to the humiliated originals' dead leader.


Left: the bottom of page 8 of The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the bottom of page 8 as Arthur Adams originally drew it based on Mark Millar's script.









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Both versions of Swift's humiliation in #27 have a domesticated Swift in the kitchen. Whereas in the entirely re-drawn printed version she (formerly a vegetarian) is slaving over an elaborate meal of chicken, in the original she was doing the dishes -- with her tongue.


Left: the top of page 13 of The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the top of page 13 as Arthur Adams originally drew it based on Mark Millar's script.









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In both versions, the domesticated Swift interacts with her new master. In the entirely re-drawn printed version, he brushes off her cooking, putting his cigar out in it. In the original, he calls her over (probably in a word balloon in what became a silent panel) and uses her mouth as an ashtray in a shot that is heavily reminiscent of oral sex. Indeed, the original version has a remarkable orality: Swift's mouth is used as a garbage disposal and an ashtray, leaving us to wonder what else it has received.


Left: the top of page 13 of The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the top of page 13 as Arthur Adams originally drew it based on Mark Millar's script.









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The original clearly features George W. Bush, the newly-elected President of the United Sates known for his corporate sponsorship. Speculation raged, after this panel was released in January 2002, that Bush's visage had been removed because criticizing him had been deemed unpatriotic in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks, especially since the cowardly word balloon assigned to him might recall his criticized fleeing the Eastern seaboard and his administration's evacuation of the White House on the day of the attacks. Compare this alteration with the depersonalization of President Habibe in #13 and the explicit depiction of President Clinton in the same issue.


Left: a panel from page 18 of The Authority #27 as it was printed.

Right: the same panel as Arthur Adams originally drew it based on Mark Millar's script.









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This censorship continued into The Authority #28 (published in February 2002), though apparently to a lesser extent because Millar and Adams had adjusted the script and illustration in the wake of their experience on the preceding issue.


Here Teuton confesses his plan to sexually experiment with Apollo before the latter's demise. The central two panels have been entirely redrawn. In the first of the two, Teuton originally had actually begun to molest Apollo. In the second, The Midnighter's shooting Teuton through the head was originally caught a moment later, allowing for greater detail of the carnage -- which seems to include a nail, which implies that The Midnighter is using a high-power nail gun. This is exactly the sort of "problem" that was solved by a red, detail-obscuring filter in Millar's earliest issues. (In any case, how a nail gun -- or even a plasma blaster -- could, to use a suggestive expression, penetrate Teuton's head is left unexplained.)




NOTE: The use of the word "censored" as opposed to "edited" can be troublesome, though I reject the notion that a publisher, even as the owner of the artistic property in question, should be said to "edit" when the same action, taken by a governmental institution or a distributor, would be called "censorship." I generally prefer lack of censorship for moral and artistic reasons, although I recognize a publisher's need to censor in certain circumstances as well as the fact that the result, especially when generated as a compromise by the artists, may sometimes be superior to the original, censored version. But let's call a spade a shovel, shall we?

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Next Gen Console Choices

Here's a nice little mock ad I found from G4TV for the Nintendo Wii.

(even if your not into games, it's worth a look for the oh so sweet Wii)

Bella....Bella....

oh my



John B.

out!

Friday, February 2, 2007

Much ado about.....

I Honestly think every one is making too much out of the Two guys who where involved in the so called "Terror scare" up in Boston promoting the Aqua Teen Movie.

I personally think that anyone who mistakes a fucking "Lite Bright" for a WMD should just Tuck their head up their asses like a fucking ostrich.

But what really tickles my pickle is that if the two guys responsible where anything other than two good ole "American" white boys , they would have wound getting the shit beat out of them, shot 40 times & would have been found dead with Plungers up their asses, instead they get to act all
" I Plead the FIZZ-IFFF" -N- Shit Ala Dave Chapelle.

here's the tape



John B. out.

maxspyder@gmail.com

Masterpiece G1 MEGATRON (MP-05) & More..

Bandai Has just announce this bad boy for a March 2007 release, check out the pic below,

Megatron looks True to form in both Robot and the Classic Walther p-38 form.





It may be a bitch getting this bad boy through customs since it doesn't have that fruity florecent

cap on the barrel, I'm hoping (if their smart) that they package it in Robot mode.

retail about $80 in the US import market.

( add one more thing to the list of shit I can't afford )