DC Comics: Zero Year (New 52) – Comics Review

Excerpt of the cover of DC Comics Zero Year

DC Comics: Zero Year is meant to be something of a starting point for various characters in the DC Universe, showing Superman, Batman, and Catwoman in the early days, if not the start, of their superhero careers. The book also shows Dinah Lance, Barry Allen, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, John Stewart, and Oliver Queen either before they started superheroing or, in the case of Barry and John, before they got their powers.

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The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings – Review

Xbox 360 Box Art for The Witcher 2

The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings is part of a series I bounced off of at first. I bounced off of the PC release of The Witcher for a variety of factors. Some of them were bugs – like one where the game would crash whenever I walked into a particular quest-giver’s hut. Some of them were because of the combat, and how the game handled the combat with rhythmic mouse clicks (more on this later). Some of this was due to the re-use of character models and portraits to enough of an extent that it made the game lifeless and hard to navigate.

What kept me hooked enough to finish experiencing the game through a Let’s Play was the story. The narrative was engrossing (though the rampant misogyny was grating). So, when I saw that The Witcher 2 fixed the control issues, was less buggy, was on sale on GoG (and later on Games with Gold), I decided it was time to play this game all the way through.

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Space Runaway Ideon: Anime Review

Japanese box art for Space Runaway Ideon

Yoshiyuki Tomino has something of a reputation as an anime director, for multiple reasons. Tomino has a reputation for being full of himself. His interviews about Brainpowerd in Animerica magazine demonstrate this. Anyone who has gone to an anime con and asked a Japanese guest who worked with him for a “Tomino story” can attest to this. Tomino also has a reputation for his absolute ruthlessness for killing off characters in his work. The normal examples of this are Zeta Gundam, the last half of ZZ Gundam, and Char’s Counterattack. However, the work that started Tomino down this road was Space Runaway Ideon. (Pronounced E-day-on).

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