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Why a Darker and Edgier Pokemon can not work

Pokemon's been around for a long time, and is perhaps one of the longest running anime that is successful in multiple countries (I have no idea if there is some Japanese only show that has been on as long as say, the Simpsons, so I'm going to just air on the side of caution).

However, it get's a lot of flack from people for being children based and not really being as potential dark, edgier and plot based as other series. Now, in its market place for children, this is not an issue, but with older fans it can be.

Recently they did a slightly more older audience OVA, Pokemon Origins, which goes into some of the darker themes of the series and is in fact a bit more mature, though with the feel that reminds you it is a Pokemon world. However, with a taste of this, there will be fans who want more darker stuff.

The question is, could that even work?

Allow me to reach across the pond to a rival franchise for my discussion.

Yu-Gi-Oh, unlike Pokemon, has a new Protagonist every few years. This gives it some advantages over Pokemon, but some disadvantages as well. Part of the advantage, and disadvantage, is the series can go from darker to lighter.

Yu Gi Oh 5D's, for instance, is a rather dark series, so dark that not even 4Kids could dub it away. It had a huge fan following, but after a few years like fellow Protagonists the series was ended and Yusei was swapped out for Yuma of Zexal

Now, in Zexal's defense, this series gets really, really dark later (Really, they just killed off a half dozen characters), but it is a far more lighthearted series overall, and has a lot more kiddy feel, less social issues being discussed, and swapped out the previous female lead character (A mildly sadistic and hot duelist), for a school girl. For darker type fans, this was a step down, but it actually gets better ratings in Japan than 5D's.

Now, American values and Japanese values differ, and this affects what programs are successful there. An example would be The Big O and Deadman Wonderland

These two anime did poorly in Japan, but are hugely popular in America. Despite this, they only had one season when they came over (Big O, however, got a second season made in America because the guy who wrote it was aware of this cultural divergence).

The Big Three of Anime: Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, have a slight issue of this. Partially due to the 4kids dub, Bleach and Naruto do better than One Piece in America, but One Piece does a lot better than them in Japan, and Bleach's anime was cancelled, and replaced ironically, with this on its native network.

A similar value clash exists in Transformers, compare an American Made Transformers

To a Japan made transformers

The simple manner is, darker and edgier material doesn't do all that well in Japan, and thus don't have that many seasons. If the Pokemon anime studios betted on a darker and edgier full series, and it failed....that would bring the end of the Pokemon anime itself, and possibly have nasty effects on the entire franchise, as in Japan it's Anime series makes up a considerable amount of its profit, so if it went under....

Well, the people who dislike new generations would win, and Pokemon would fade into memory and be lost forever.

Though that is not to say that a darker series couldn't be made in a country where that would sell (United States for instance), just not from the guys who do the anime itself.

17 Comments

Marvel-Star Wars Video Game script Part 1

Yes, everyone seems to despise a cross over of that nature more than if someone started cloning Bendis and had the clones take over all of DC, while giving Reifeld reign at Marvel in all its properties and art, but one has to face facts

Both fandoms are so huge that if Disney did not see this happen they'd be fools

So, how would such a story happen?

Here's a thought of my own about how it would go

The first game would start as a general Marvel game, to start the verse off, yet not actually showing the Star Wars characters at the get go.

As oppose to starting the story with the Death Star, a few Zillo Beasts and a Gungan, the video game woulds start with a series of alien attacks on a Marvel Earth with a odd level of desperation that the experienced Marvel heroes would note as unusual.

The attack would be less like 'I want to take over your planet because we can' and more like 'we need your planet or else we are doomed'

The alien invasions would be the Kree, Skrulls, Majesdanians, Shi'ar and Badoon, and as generally decided the invasion happens in New York City, as oppose to say, Australia. Though, getting rid of the Avengers, FF and...well, most heroes who aren't named T'Challa, wear an X-symbol or the British flag and other no namers.

There would be twelve levels to play for the game, each with a playable character and unique command style (Sort of like Fall of Cybertron)

Level and CharacterLevel playing style
Level 1; Mister FantasticAs the alien invaders take into the sky, the smartest man alive has to rapidly deploy across the city with his elastic action to set up a magnetic field to keep the alien invader's ship in New York (And thus not attacking the rest of the world while most of the world's heroes are stuck in New York. During the level, the other FF members appear to deal with obstacles and as NPC aides in massive fights.
Level 2: ThorWith the might of mightly Mjolnir and the power of Thunder, this mid air level would involve the Norse god fighting against the Shi'ar's mighty Gladiator in a epic aerial battle as Reed's plan takes effect.
Level 3: Captain AmericaThe first avenger and his mighty shield deploy against Kree foot soldiers as the player discovers if The Super Solider of Marvel can handle an empire of them.
Level 4; DaredevilWhile blind, the Devil of Hell's Kitchen can still see, even the cloaked Bardoon stealth troopers. Play as the Man without Fear to counter their trickery and ensure that the magnetic lock isn't destroyed.
Level 5: SpidermanWith an ability to create webs, move heavy objects and cling to walls, Peter Parker's level focuses on him saving citizens from the alien invasion in the main city, sort of like Ult Peter during Ultimatium, with some more butt kicking.
Level 6: CyclopsThe ranged leader of the X-Men arrives in the heart of the invasion with the X-Men to give Cap reinforcements. While his optic blasts are his main power, the level more or less focuses on Cyclops using his strategic knowledge to place various X-Men in the most strategic locations. NPC appearances and aide by Iceman, Gambit, Collossus, Nightcrawler, Jean Gray and Rogue
Level 7: WolverineWith no canonicity in this verse to Secret Invasion, the Best at What he does and his claws, animal senses and unique healing factor is deployed by Cyclops to track down Skrull infiltrators in the city and take them out before they take down the magnetic barrier
Level 8: StormA massive force of the sun absorbing Majesdanians are overwhelming the heroes. Only the weather controlling mistress of the elements can use her powers to block out the sun and depower the sunlight power aliens
Level 9: Iron ManAs an elite squad of Super Skrulls appear on Stark Tower, Tony Stark appears to evict him. The Skrull's range of abilities will result in the air born, suit bearing inventor to have to rapidly change his suit in response to each
Level 10: Miss MarvelWhile empowered by the Kree, Carol won't take kindly to Ronan the Accuser comming to claim the earth for his people. What will instead happen is a lot of smashing
Level 11: HulkThe massive goliath Bruce Banner, in all his Hulk glory uses his jumping and immense strength to lung at and destroy all large alien craft at the climax of the story, sort of like how he was with the Leviathans in the Avengers
Level 12: Doctor StrangeThe Shi'ar leader, Vulcan, appears as the game's final boss, with only the might of the Sorceror's Supreme can hope to match him

However, at the end of the game, as the aliens are driven off Mister Fantastic, Captain America and Cyclops discuss why the aliens acted so out of character and in such desperation, a scene is played showing a little boy about the age of 6 who Spiderman had ended up saving during his level and returned to his older sister, returns home with her to meet his very concerned twin sister, who then promptly utters something wham ish

"Luke, your okay" as the game shows the little girl's hair is done in cinnamon bun like style

A new 13th level is unlocked after the credits, featuring a playable Anakin Skywalker

During said extra length, multi part level, the game goes to a Galaxy Far Far Away as Anakin goes after a group of Jedi on the planet of Tython, the home world of the Jedi.

On planet, he fights his way through Antari Rangers and several Jedi (All left incapacitated, not dead) including Aayala Secura, Quinlin Vos, Luminara Unduli and K'Kruhk, during which he is revealed that this Star Wars universe went a little differently.

In this one, Order 66 wasn't caused by Sidious being attacked by the Jedi, it was caused by a Jedi killing Padme Amidala, with Anakin being the only Jedi who is not implicated.

A devastated Anakin has only resisted the dark side by two facts; that he believes (truthully) that Padme would not want her murderers to be punished without trial, and the fact that he can sense through the force that their children, having been believed dead, are still alive. But even those safe guards were slowly failing....

Believing that the Jedi Council is responsible, he searches for any member who is still alive, and a lead after Tython leads him to the world of Teth, where he encounters someone he was not looking for at the time, the rogue force user Barriss Offee

Enraged at the one who betrayed Ahsoka a year before Order 66, Anakin engages the Gray Force User in a vicious duel in which the Miralian barely manages to escape Anakin's vengeance.

Pursuing her ship and loosing it, Anakin feels defeated before he finds himself receiving a vision from the force, revealing to him that his children were beyond the Hyperspace Disturbance at the edge of the Galaxy, followed by several Republic forces.

Then, due to his powers having increased over time (Word of Lucas says that if he had not injured at Mustafar, his powers would have continued to increase until he became a physical god of sorts power wise), Anakin single handily tears a hole through the Disturbance as Galactic Republic forces, led by a rather determined Papa Wolf into the next galaxy over.

Several years later, this incursion ends up being responsible for the displacement of the Kree, Skrull and other Marvel Aliens.

As this end scene comes to a close, a second one begins, showing Barriss in the Coruscant ship yards.

A series of scenes reveals to the player several things; that the Jedi had been framed for Padme's death by Sidious's forces, and during said Assassination the twins had been saved by a nearby Ahsoka Tano, who was in the area due to a force vision of such an event.

The Dark Arcolytes pursed the Togurta to a Techno Union ship, which the Togruta was forced to steal and escape with a new prototype Hyperdrive to keep the 'Skylets' from being killed to drive their father to darkness.

The ship had also been carrying hologram disguisers, which would then allow the Togruta and her master's offspring to hide on whatever world the wonky Hyperdrive would bring them.

The force revealing to her not only where they were, but also of how Sidious was coming for them, Barriss herself embarked for the distant world that the three were hidden in.

Cue credits.

Second Game to be blogged later

2 Comments

Did Age of Ultron set up for a Marvel-Star Wars/Disney Crossover?

Let's be honest....

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Age of Ultron will not be hailed as a great classic. It isn't Annihiliation, or Civil War, or something of that measure. Its value, instead, lays elsewhere

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It broke reality. Now, normally this is considered a bad thing

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With universe chomping

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Anti-Hero Spider Smashing

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Angel rampages, Ect a small select issue of what could result from it: but what if this creates more than that

What if Age of Ultron has caused tears into alternate timelines of other canons, like Star Wars or even Disney?

Will this result in the event after Infinity with the Galactic Empire invading Earth 616 from a parallel earth to regular Star Wars canon?

Will this result in the Future Foundation ending up in a Disney world? Or perhaps the Jean Gray students?

What will be the end result of it all

9 Comments

Marvel Cinematic Universe mutant character explanation

This is just my theory

Now, due to Fox rights, they can not, in theory, say mutant. People have suggested numerous ideas for people

Some suggest magic based origins (Mostly for Scarlet Witch and by extension Quicksilver)

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Others have suggested it will be lampshaded as classified

It's Classified/Complicated, any questions?
It's Classified/Complicated, any questions?

Me, I have a theory....and it starts with Marvels latest star....

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In this universe, Hulk was a result of trying to recreate Captain America's Super Soldier Serum. Now, what else was an attempt at creating super soliders....

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But the Ultimate Universe Mutants!?

Now, I know that people HATE that revelation, but it is a known fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes a lot of cues from Ultimate Marvel. That gives an explanation that fits into the grander universe, and its done by Joss Whedon.

Lets give ol Joss a chance to make it work

3 Comments

New Zoo Tycoon to be released on the X-Box 360 and 1

I loved this game, and wished that there were more.....

Imagine my surprise when I found this after looking at Wikipedia. To be released this fall, in time for Christmas...

Then I also found a developers page...

An Inside Look at Zoo Tycoon with Frontier Developments (Start)

By Xbox Wire Staff posted July 10, 2013 at 9:00 AM One of the exciting new games we announced at E3 was the return of the wildly popular “Zoo Tycoon” series. For the first time on consoles, this newest chapter of the famous franchise will be available on both Xbox One and Xbox 360 later this fall. Microsoft Studios and Frontier Development are working hard to ensure that fans of the series feel right at home and have an authentic “Zoo Tycoon” experience, while providing new and exciting features that are only possible on the Xbox platforms.

“Zoo Tycoon” is being developed by Frontier Developments – the studio behind “Kinectimals” and “Kinect: Disneyland Adventures.” We recently had the opportunity to have an in-depth chat with Jorg Neumann, Studio Manager with Microsoft Studios, about the latest developments.

Tell us more about “Zoo Tycoon” for Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Jorg Neumann

:

“Zoo Tycoon” is a celebrated franchise with a tremendous and passionate fan base that deeply cares about this premier animal tycoon experience. We knew from the outset that it was critically important to retain the magic of “Zoo Tycoon.” We feel a great sense of responsibility to the fans and are incorporating the excellent feedback and suggestions we’ve received from them over the years. By bringing the franchise to the Xbox consoles, we are able to add awesome new gameplay experiences and groundbreaking social dimensions that will make this the best “Zoo Tycoon” experience ever.

We’ve heard numerous times that players want a “Tycoon” experience that is designed from the ground up for the consoles. At the top of everyone’s list is the desire to make the creation of highly personalized zoos more intuitive and easier, while maintaining a high degree of creative freedom and self-expression. It’s amazing to see just how much Frontier has succeeded and how easy it is to create the zoo of your dreams.

The second most sought after feature by fans is the desire for a greater connection to the animals they care for. I believe players will be very excited to see how we’ve integrated Kinect into the experience to deliver a whole new dimension of interaction in “Zoo Tycoon.” There is something special, almost magical when you have animals that recognize you, your voice, and that react to your movements and instructions.

Another area fans really wanted us to focus and innovate on for the new “Zoo Tycoon” is the social experience. Xbox Live backed by the cloud is the perfect platform for this ambition. We absolutely love the idea of building and maintaining the zoo of your dreams together with friends.

What does this mean for gameplay? You can upload your zoo to the cloud, share it with your friends, and have up to 4 players simultaneously contribute to the creation and maintenance of a zoo at any one time. Collaboration is a key part of this new “Zoo Tycoon” and we believe it will open up the experience on a truly global scale.

Xbox Live really is the key to establishing what will be the first worldwide community of “Zoo Tycoons.” For the first time, players from around the globe can share their zoos, communicate with other Tycoons directly via Skype, loan and trade animals with each other and engage in large scale community-wide conservation efforts. Players will be able to come together and work on achieving a goal related to the care and support of these amazing animals. Not only will they receive special awards for their participation, but we intend to also support related real-world conservation efforts, which I’ll talk about later.

These are just some of the new groundbreaking experiences that we can bring to “Zoo Tycoon” via the power of Xbox, Live, Kinect and the cloud. We can finally deliver the gameplay vision we’ve always wanted to bring to the console platforms and create the best “Zoo Tycoon” experience ever.

How is it different from “Zoo Tycoon 2?”

Jorg Neumann

:

“Zoo Tycoon 2” is the perfect reference for our game because it allows us to look at what made this fantastic franchise so popular and to look at how we can learn from the previous titles in the series. We aim to pay homage to what has gone before while enhancing the core experience. New features which utilize the power of Xbox One will enable the best console experience for our consumers, with the most accessible, collaborative and stunning “Zoo Tycoon” game in the series. We feel a great responsibility to the fans of the series and it's important to us that we retain the magic of “Zoo Tycoon” while delivering on gameplay that is in large part formed with the feedback we've received from players.

Construction and the “Tycoon” aspect of the game are incredibly important to the franchise and game as a whole. Certainly there was some temptation to simply reuse both systems from the PC series, however we identified a need and opportunity to develop a system that plays to the strengths of the console experience.

We have dedicated a lot of time and effort to offering players accessible, intuitive systems that work well on a console controller and interface, balanced with the greatest level of depth possible. After all, the best gameplay is often found in balance and I believe players will appreciate the improvement to gameplay by optimizing these systems. “Zoo Tycoon” fans will find themselves at home with the core game loop and key mechanics, while new players will find they can instantly grasp the core game and get hands on creating their zoos due to the improved accessibility.

In addition to optimizing the existing systems, we are bringing a lot of really cool new features to the “Zoo Tycoon” Franchise.

The animals are the core part of our “Zoo Tycoon” franchise. So we are making sure we create the most beautifully rendered animals, animated to capture the essence of what you’d experience when at a real zoo. The player can get up close to our stunning animals by switching to the animal camera that focuses in on the selected animal to give the player the truly staggering amount of detail going into these models which makes them look as realistic as possible.

They can also get close to the animals through the enrichment interactions that utilizes Kinect on Xbox One to create a level of interaction between players and their favorite animals which wasn’t possible before.

Combining natural gestures to interact directly with your animals via charming enrichment interactions and intuitive voice commands to access menus and infographics in the most intuitive way possible. We are bringing a level of immersion never before seen in a “Tycoon” game and it’s all possible due to the power of Kinect on Xbox One.

Another new feature we are super excited about is the animal conservation and preservation component within the game. There will be a great deal of focus on captive breeding and saving/rehabilitating and releasing animals back into the wild once they're ready. Once released into the wild, the player can keep tabs on each animal to see how they're progressing and adapting to their new home.

That desire to support the conservation and care of these animals is at the core of our community challenges. We love the idea of bringing gamers together and putting that collective passion towards the education about and conservation of the very animals that make this type of game possible.

For example, we are delivering in-game updates based on real world events that raise player awareness regarding the animals they love. These real world events, made possible by our strong partnerships with great companies like the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, are turned into in-game challenges. For example, if certain challenges are successfully completed by the “Zoo Tycoon” community of players, Microsoft has committed to donating resources to help assist the preservation of these animals. We love the idea of dedicated people making games for passionate players who in turn have a positive real world impact on the animals that make this franchise possible.

Education is also an important part of our franchise and players will be happy to know that each exhibit will have a plaque attached to it containing all the important information relevant to the animals in that exhibit. We feel strongly about educating players to drive awareness of the state of these animals in the real world. Hopefully we will inspire players to look into conservation efforts or support one of the many good animal conservation causes out there.

As with all games in the “Zoo Tycoon” franchise, satisfying the needs of the animals is still at the core of the experience, while trying to balance that against the needs of your guests. Fans of the “Zoo Tycoon” franchise will appreciate the improvements while still feeling a strong sense of familiarity. We’ve also improved on the original Campaign mode by adding in an adaptive challenge system which will help the players expand and maintain their zoo while throwing in a few curve balls to keep the player on their toes.

We also have more of a focus on getting down into the park and running around amongst the guests, although the player who wants to stick to Tycoon mode and fly around up in the sky can still do so. While running around the zoo the player will be able to see their guest's needs as they'll play specific animations to show how they're feeling. The player will also have to do other little jobs such as cleaning up litter to keep the park clean, cleaning out the animal exhibits and delivering food stock to concessions to stop them from running out. We have also added in a buggy to allow the player to travel around their park much quicker than running around, it handles really well and is a fun addition to the game.

What’s it like to work with Frontier again?

Jorg Neumann

:

What people may not realize is that we’ve never stopped. We’ve been working with Frontier continuously for over six years now. We initially started on a zoo-related concept back in 2008, but ultimately decided to put that project on hold in order to focus on an experience that was based on a deep and emotionally meaningful connection between the player and one single animal. That experience, “Kinectimals”, launched with Kinect in 2010 and is now one of Microsoft’s most successful franchises. After the success of Kinectimals, and the follow-up “Kinectimals: Now with Bears” in 2011, we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with the world-class people at Disney Interactive and the famous Imagineers at Disney who are responsible for Disneyland in California. We had a wonderful experience recreating the magic of Disneyland in the form of “Kinect: Disneyland Adventures”, which was released for Christmas 2011.

After that, we started working on “Zoo Tycoon” again and focused the development on fully embracing and utilizing the features of Xbox One and Xbox 360. We have a wonderful and very collaborative relationship with Frontier that has already yielded three excellent and charming console games and we can’t wait to bring this new and re-imagined version of “Zoo Tycoon” in glorious HD to the fans out there!

When can we play "Zoo Tycoon?"

Jorg Neumann

:

Very soon! As you could see from our E3 teaser trailer, the game is coming along well and it’s going to be the best “Zoo Tycoon” title to date. We are planning to have a fully playable version at GamesCom in Cologne, August 21-25. For those who can’t make it to Cologne, the game will be available for everyone for Holiday 2013.

An Inside Look at Zoo Tycoon with Frontier Developments (End)

Wonder how many animals will be in the game? Think there will be DLC animals? What animals should be included? The animals confirmed so far are the African Elephant, African Lion, White Rhino, Ring Tailed Lemur, Chimpanzee and Reticulated Giraffe.

What features should be kept from each game series and which should be dropped. I'd like to name exhibits again and have the diversity of the first game, with the flexibility of habitats from game 2.

What do you all think

4 Comments

Why the constant hate on the New 52?

It is natural to argue about the nature of comics

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Who is stronger? Who is hotter? Who is a better hero

But the arguments about Marvel and DC, particularly as the New 52 is compared to Marvel NOW, are nonsense. To be explained as such

Argument 1: DC has no good titles except (Insert generally Batman)

On the DC end you have, as of now.

Justice League, JLA, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Nightwing, Batman, Batman and Insert character here, Green Arrow, Animal Man, Justice League Dark, Constantine, Talon, All Star Western, Earth 2, Batwoman, Demon Knights, Batman Incorporated and Red Hood and the Outlaws. These titles are the ones generally regarded as the best rating rise from fan reactions on sight, and I probably missed one or two. (Insert something Justin Jordan is writing, say his Deathstroke, Dial H or Batgirl...)

If you count Dial and Barb's, that's 24 titles out of 52, from a limited perspective. While I read Teen Titans, Superman, New Guardians and a few others, I aimed for the least arguable in this rant here. And to that point, seeing as Green Team isn't out, we can't count it yet, so let's say 24 out of 51, then you have a bunch of average titles: leaving the titles that are generally considered to be 'bad' as few and far between, like World's Finest and Catwoman.

Marvel has good titles, I will not argue that. You have titles that are genually seen as great (Indestructible, Thor, Scarlet, Fantastic, FF), some that break base but are generally good (Superior, Avengers, Uncanny Avengers), and a few that are not doing so hot (Iron Man, Cable and X-Force) But DC's general top of the line pull list isn't as narrow as everyone seems to think

Argument 2; Marvels sells far more titles

Marvel

41.78%

DC

27.72%

Image

9.87%

IDW

5.59%

Dark Horse

4.09%

Dynamic Forces

2.60%

Boom

1.97%

Valiant

1.11%

Zenescope

0.72%

Archie

0.65%

Aspen

0.64%

Avatar

0.54%

Oni

0.33%

Viz

0.30%

Bongo

0.22%

Eaglemoss

0.19%

Random House

0.18%

Hachette

0.12%

Fantagraphics

0.09%

St. Martins

0.05%

Other

1.24%

This table is the percentage of comics sold per company as the industry whole. True, Marvel sells more ,however, their dominance in the market is due to near constant events, movie inflation and double monthing.

Marvel releases events all the time: events like Avengers vs X-Men and Age of Ultron that people rant about a lot. Yet DC doesn't, it's big events are generally once a year and a half.

The movies....well they are good, and get new comics fans. These fans in turn focus on Marvel titles, (and Batman). Though I have an odd feeling the Superman titles will jump after Man of Steel myself.

Now for the double monthing. Many of Marvel's big titles release twice a month. Avengers, All New X-Men, Superior Spiderman, ect. They make up a big percentage of their top titles, so you could almost say that they artificially up the curve.

Without them, Marvel would have this percentage.

Marvel

20. 39%

DC

27.72%

Image

9.87%

IDW

5.59%

Dark Horse

4.09%

Dynamic Forces

2.60%

Boom

1.97%

Valiant

1.11%

Zenescope

0.72%

Archie

0.65%

Aspen

0.64%

Avatar

0.54%

Oni

0.33%

Viz

0.30%

Bongo

0.22%

Eaglemoss

0.19%

Random House

0.18%

Hachette

0.12%

Fantagraphics

0.09%

St. Martins

0.05%

Other

1.24% + 20. 39% the blogger pulled off to distribute

And look, over time comics loose readers: events and author shifts generally are done to reverse this trend. Just think of how many readers started picking up Justice League after the kiss?

And look at Marvel

15Uncanny X-Men4$3.99Marvel80,047
16Uncanny X-Men5$3.99Marvel78,919
11Superior Spider-Man7$3.99Marvel87,945
12Superior Spider-Man8$3.99Marvel85,671

These are the sales of a few comics that come out bi monthly. They drop a couple thousand a month. While the faster comic production helps to start, it also hastens the decay.

Sales aside, the following titles were top of the Market after the first New 52 titles was launched, that are not Number 1's or events: Justice League 2-6, Walking Dead 100, Amazing Spiderman 700 and Batman 19. Only one non number 1 was on top for Marvel, and considering what 700 was, it isn't all that different really.

3: DC's titles are being cancelled like crazy

DC has cancelled a few titles, yes. From ones who never should have been conceived (G.I Combat after Man of War), to bad writing (Static, anything Rob Liefeld touched) to being somewhat niche (Demon Knights, Swords and Sorcery), titles have been lost to the New 52. If you count them up, it's 6 plus 4 plus 4 plus 2 plus 6 plus 4 plus Batman Inc, which is ending due to it's story ending, not ratings. That leaves 26 titles lost, with replacements. However, let's not forget that Marvel's time with NOW is just begone: NOW began in October, which was about 7 months ago.Marvel also ended a lot of titles to begin NOW, many of which were favorites. And still some are going out, like Dark Avengers (no one cares about it) or X-Factor (Got a lot of fans upset about it). Let me tell you, though, that Marvel Now will soon start loosing books. From what I understand, Marvel has a 20,000 book cut off line, and several of it's titles are at the cut off point now. Red She Hulk and Morbius for instance, and that is me only discussing launches for NOW. Believe me, soon Marvel will have to start culling it's own herd. DC's cutting policy is flawed, yes, but it does allow for a variable crop of titles to come up. Some like Team 7 wilter, others like Talon sell decently, and introduce a new writer to DC's group who shows promise.

4: Arguing about what you don't actually read

Perhaps this is the true reason?

Is the New 52 perfect? No. But neither is Marvel. Lost characters will return one day: the writers, such as Synder, Simone and Morrison are working to get Batgirl 2 and 3 back. The Kent's had to wait 4 decades to get shown as alive in SuperMAN stories, they'll be back before 2016 at the latest.

And yes, writers are currently in the process of departing in odd numbers, but these writer things happen. Look over at Marvel: in Civil War the writers were probably more at Civil War than their characters.

Before you bash the New 52, consider some of these points

16 Comments

How to begin the formation of a Runaways movie

First of all, this is not a joke. its not even a hope. They were working on a Runaways movie in 2010-2011, but setting up the Avengers sort of took over priorities.

Keke Palmer and Lucas Cruikshank even expressed interest in being actors in it. Lucas could so do Chase is you ask me, and Keke Palmer could probably due Alex Wilder's mom.

Or Fem Xavin I guess...

But the simple problem is: how do you introduce these...

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In a world of these

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Whose doable as it is

Pride And Joy
Pride And Joy

Alex Rider

Alex as you probably are aware, is a intelligent planner and the son of two crime bosses. He was their first leader, their only traitor and, while a short lived character, is vital to the story of the Runaways, as a founding member.

As a brainiac and a normal character, it is simple enough in reality to add him

Chase Stein

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Another member who is normal: the abused rebel who acts far like a regular teen who just happens to steal his parent's advanced tech.

There is already some advanced tech floating around the Marvel Cinematic Universe, (Particularly seen in the Iron Man films as well as S.H.I.E.L.D Hellicarrier), so the idea of his fistagons and Leapfrog is quite plausible.

I have a personal request for the goggles, but that's just me.

Gertrude Yorkes

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Now we move into tougher territory. The second of the founding six to die, Gertrude adds snark to the film. However, its her parents and Old Lace that make me wonder.

We have crime bosses and mad scientists in the cinematic universe, but time travelers are something else. Let alone time travelers who give their daughter a personal attack velociraptor.

That might just be a tad too weird...but hey they do have AntMan

Victor Mancha

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While the movie will probably use just the starting six, Victor has use elsewhere. With a lot of rumors of Ultron being jn Ant-Man's film, and that test footage with Ultron fighting Ant Man, likely means Ultron was made in the fities

So, could Victor's origin have happened? Its possible

Trickier

Molly Hayes

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One of the most popular runaways, she suffers due to movie rights. The x-Men are not in the cinematic universe, and while some Mutants, such as Quickilsver and Scarlet Witch still play in the Cinematic Verse, potentially, how can they explain her powers.

Can they even use the world mutant?

While they are very unlikely to use her, Klara Prast suffers a similar issue, plus Gert's.

Nico Minoru

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Another of the more popular runaways, Nico does not have the whole, rights problem, but its magic. Unless this movie takes place post Doctor Strange, she'd be the first example of magic in the verse, out of Thor the Science-Magic hybrid film.

Would they have the time to delve into magic properly?

Karolina Dean and Xavin too really

Karolina & Xavin
Karolina & Xavin

Potentially the first LGBT character in the cinematic verse, Karolina would also be a glowing rainbow alien girl. They would have to explain the alien topic....which is somewhat tricky with the only aliens so far being gods, cyborg minions and a vague Thanos.

to all these rules Xavin applies, but are Skrulls in the Marvel Cinematic or the X-Men, rebooted FF verse?

When should the movie be released? What needs to be done to bring it out

The big question. Should it be released in Part 2, after Guardians? Should it be in part 3 after Doctor Strange? Should they forget about any Runaway movie? Your opinion?

3 Comments

Could a 'Wolverine Family' work.

Wolverine is a character known for writers who seem to think there are a hundred different Wolverine's. He's a savage. He's a soldier. He's a hero. He's a villain. He's a beer guzzler. He's a murderer. He's a role model. He's a devout lover. He's one of Stark's playboy competitors.

Yet also, he is known for having many female companions, of a young female nature that are not put in refrigerators or lovers.

More like adopted daughters. Sort of like how Bruce sort ends up adopting half of Gotham's young heroes

Batman has a history of a Batfamily, but could Wolverine build his own?

What does the Batfamily have

Batman is a lot of older than Wolverine, and by the time the first arguable Wolvie kid, Kitty Pryde, was around, Batman had graduated one kid (Dick Grayson), led another to die and have massive grief (Jason Todd), had the old mentor guy (Alfred), and soon crippled the daughter (Barbara Gordon)

Over time, we added Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Stephaine Brown and Damian Wayne. Catwoman unofficially came up as a sort of mother figure (because its either her or Talia), and that's just my view of the core family.

You can call Batwoman, Huntress and the others extended relations.

Each member of the family plays with the strengths and weaknesses of one another. They all have helped one another grow. Dick became a hero arguably better than Batsy. Jason became cool. Tim became Batman's equal. Damian gives the prodigal sons a position of maturity. Barbara became something more than a super heroine after her tradgedy. Cassandra learnt to speak and gained a family. Stephanie.....well she's there.

Sorry, don't have anything on her.

Wolverine family

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What does Wolverine have?

You have Kitty, who stands somewhere between Dick and Barbara

Jubilee is like Tim and Stephanie mixed together.

X-23 is a Cassandra Damian smoothie

Daken is Jason Todd with no good qualities

I don't know what to call Armor, Rogue, Idie, or the other arguable Wolvie kids.

You have Xavier as a vaguely grandfathery guy, or did anyway...

And for Momma Wolvie...well Jean is still dead and Mariko doesn't come back

Should Marvel try to better make a Wolvie family? Can they even use the pieces to do so? Does Wolverine even deserve one.

No wait....the haters probably want him to suffer like images one ad three.

30 Comments

Marvel Cinematic Universe, what films come next

we all know that, while DC is the king of Cartoons, and regardless of some characters still being MIA, having a better comic writer feel right now (A recent poll on Comic Vine shows that of about 59 voters, only a quarter fave Marvel's writers over DC's.

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However, Marvel wins at movies. And for the movies, the biggest question is what's next?

The next six movies in order are Iron Man 3 (Featuring Mandarin with rumors for Wasp and Namor), Thor: Dark World (hello dark elves) Captain America: The Winter soldier (Bucky and Falcon), Guardians of the Galaxy (Trees and Raccoons oh my), Avengers 2 and Ant Man.

But, what is there to expect? How do these movies connect?

DC: bad at movies, excellent Cartoons
DC: bad at movies, excellent Cartoons

How do they fit into their shared universe?

Iron Man is featuring Mandarin, which could lead to Fin Fang Foom, whose an alien, which could tie to Guardians. If Wasp appears, that ties to Ant Man. If Namor pops up, that could tie in with both Captain America, Ant Man and Avengers (He was around in WW2, Hank will apparently pop up in the fifties and Atlantis could attack in Avengers 2)

Thor is dealing with a world falling into darkness, which could be connected to Death, aka Thanos, aka Avenegers 2. Also, Thor is the most sci fi title, oddly enough, so it could tie in with the Guardians.

Captain America, if he's searching for a Winter Soldier Bucky, will have history to deal with. Like say, Hank Pym old history. And isn't one of the Guardians an earthling? I'm not an expert on them, but its possible this has connection to the Guardians.

We only know about these movies in any significant plot detail, so I can't say what will pop up with the others.

Then, there is the inevitable question, of what comes after?

Potential movie fodder
Potential movie fodder

Of Marvel's cast of characters, the only ones I believe are not usable are the FF, X-Men, Spiderman, Ghost Rider, Blade and Punisher verses as Daredevil's rights are Marvel's again. And of them, talk of crossovers between the the X-Men (And most likely the FF by extension) and Spiderma movie verses are there.

So, what's next

Black Panther and Namor

The two guys with the cameo mentions in Iron Man and Captain America, such as map locations and Vibranium. So, they are possible, but there are issues

Twitch...
Twitch...

Namor.... flies around in Robin shorts, has wings on his feet and is practically Marvel's Aquaman. The only way this could generate movie revenue is he has to make some Hulk in Avengers moments to get public interest.

He also needs pants

Marvel's attempt at Justice League that would have worked better with less executive rehashing
Marvel's attempt at Justice League that would have worked better with less executive rehashing

Now, I used to like Black Panther. I don't read Marvel Comics, but I watch the cartoons. Its from there I first ran into BP. Here, he had action, dead pan snarking and was pretty much Marvel Batman.

Then in comics I found out he was married to Storm, a character I rather like. That gave him so much awesome points I'd have watched his movie in a heartbeat.

Then....

So you can say, my private opinion of his is very, very sour now. Its worse than One More Day, and a crowning reason why Marvel's comic writers just suck. At least when DC decided to refresh their character's romances, they used cosmic retcons. Not jerk moments

Really, if they wanted to experiment with A-List make ups, use another universe. Marvel has one after all...
Really, if they wanted to experiment with A-List make ups, use another universe. Marvel has one after all...

The characters weren't derailed, and I have not seen it fit to have Black Panther die from cancer, a long, draw out cancer like Mar-Vel. Believe me, if I ever write comics and get anywhere near T'Challa, I will give him a storyline that makes Daredevil's life look wonderful...pre Elekra.

Really, why didn't Cap give him the Ultimate Hank treatment?

Could be be a good movie character....well yes he could. But I won't like it.

Hulk and Daredevil

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Two characters who had pre-Marvel made movies that had critical problems, they are now in the firm hands of Marvel, with Hulk's movie potential re unlocked by his Avengers performance

Daredevil has cult fans of his first fan, and I am sure he can beat its performance with the directors at Marvel. Though, can he really fit into the Cinematic universe. He didn't fit into Ultimate after all....

And Hulk....the main problem is the storylines that are brought up for his movies: World War Hulk and Planet Hulk.

To do those movies, you need certain characters. Namely the Illuminati, which while you have Tony, you also need several others

Skrull likeness aside, it does heighten the Illuminati faults
Skrull likeness aside, it does heighten the Illuminati faults

Mr. Fantastic is off limits, as is Professor X without the proper X-over. That leaves Namor, Doctor Strange and Black Bolt, which could work...but with Black Bolt most likely in FF territory, that leaves a small Illuminati.

So, they might need to rethink their movies

Doctor Strange

The Supreme is Back
The Supreme is Back

If they want to do a Hulk film like above, Doctor Strange is desperately needed. He has a Iron Man like personality that could show the story of his rise to power in a similar way Iron Man did.

But, could he be too similar?

There is also the problem of the Doctor Strange world. Doctor Strange deals with a sort that is similar in special effects needing as Thor. But, with Marvel suggesting 20-40 million dollar budgets for a Doctor Strange film....it might just burn to watch.

Also, this guy can't carry a comic, how can he carry a movie? Though, seeing as that's something for Hank and the Guardians too...it all depends on how well they do.

Luke Cage and Iron Fist

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Call them Bendis babies if you want, these guys have some connection possibilities. Luke Cage was used as an experiment to replicate Cap, like how Hulk was. Compared to some other powers, these two's powers would easily be animated and their evolution from mercenaries to true heroes would be an interesting story.

Even under a 20-40 million budget.

Though I might prefer they use Cage's current costume.

Power Pack and Runaways

I am not kidding, Power Pack is one of the ideas that was tossed about by Marvel, and Runaways is said to have a movie planned somewhere, but delayed by Avengers.

And here, Disney might be a good thing

Marvel meets Disney
Marvel meets Disney

I've heard a lot of people complaining about Disney buying Marvel, but think about it a moment. Disney has tons of experience with kid stuff. They's be perfect for dealing with those teams, though probably more so Power Pack than Runaways.

And, universe fitting aside, I'm not sure either could work, if they release one movie, could they release the other?

Could they even do Runaways with Molly being a mutant and Xavin being a skrull? Well, Xavin might not be needed at first, but Molly is the comic's breakout character.

End Words

Marvel has a lot going for its film franchise. It has many options, even those not said here. Vision, Miss Marvel, the Maximoff Twins, Nova, even apparently Cable and Dazzler (Hey, I read the official press release about future films)

DC needs to get itself in gear to match it, or just wait for Marvel to bankrupt itself again as its stories continue to suck and DC's shine above it.

2 Comments

Trinity War: what is known prior to Christmas

Previously, I had wrote about what the Trinity War has to do to avoid the problems of Civil War and Avengers vs X-Men

Now, lets see what we have so far.

Geoff Johns works

Too much Booster
Too much Booster

As the main writer of DC's biggest hits (Aquaman, Green Lantern and the ever tricky Justice League, Geoff is doing a lot ot start up the Trinity War, more than what I could pick up from Marvel's combat events

That fateful month, you had Superman and Wonder Woman Kiss...which appears to have caused Booster Gold to vanish....apparently killed off in part by Rip Hunter, and you have Amanda Waller ask Graves to give her a way to take down the Justice League

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Then you have Cheetah, who appears to have an alliance with Black Manta...who is currently imprisoned by Waller.

In Aquaman, we have a brewing Civil War, which is crossing over with the Justice League, and in Green Lantern we have Hal Jordan currently 'dead', and Simon Baz currently at odds with the Justice League

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Then we have the JLA, with the roots of it already starting in his plays, and beyond even him

Hawkman and Green Arrow

I've lost track of who is writing these guys, but look at this

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They are working together, which might explain why they are going to be on the JLA together.

Scott Lobdell

Hate him for Red Robin if you will, he provides two bits of information I believe are big

First, in Teen Titan's, we have two things

While retrieving Wonder Girl's armor from Diesel, Tim Drake finds a Mark of the Trinity, which he then get connected to Trigon, a demon we know as a mildly dangerous threat to all of existence

Then, we have this scene

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The supposedly dead husband of Black Canary, who was brought out of sleep by Waller, is currently playing something with the head of Titan Solistce. Basically, in scenes like this he is saying he can turn her body back to normal, if she acts good....and if he's working with Waller, Good is not something we want to deal with.

Then in Superman, recent solicits from the Justice League's presence don't show Aquaman. Could that imply Throne of Atlantis will cost the JL more members?

Dan Dido

The writer for Phantom Stranger also has hints

Phantom Stranger 2
Phantom Stranger 2

You may notice how these two had crossed paths, again. Here, Pandora showed off her little skull, claiming how it can 'free her', but needs a pure soul to open it. This skull appeared in the Free Comic Book day ad for Trinity War, suggesting that this is a major event.

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Now, most of this information come from what books I have read or from what I have managed to gleam. I can't tell you if JLD has hints, or if Stormwatch, Flash or Scott's Batman (I admit that I got into comics when Teen Titans 5 came out, ad by the time I managed to start buying Batman books, 5 was out of print).

It shows a building of possible points from at least five writers, all elements connecting to the idea of a DC Civil War, spanning back to at least Justice League 8 where we saw Aquamana and Green Arrow not getting along. Far more development for a Hero War than Marvel has done.

DO you guys have anything else to add, or any comments.

4 Comments
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