Death of a (Comic Book) Hedgehog

290. In this day and age it is incredibly rare to see a comic book have that number slapped on it. You'd think characters like the Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Spider-Man, huge, iconic comic book characters that have been around since the late 1930s, 1940s and 1960s would be immune to having their high numbers stripped away. You'd be wrong. One character, however, has managed to avoid such a fate and he's only been around for 26 years. On top of that, his home domain wasn't comic books, but video games. The speed blue hedgehog known as Sonic was able to avoid the dreaded renumbering fate that has hit the comic boob industry like a hyper aggressive tidal wave time and time again. Sadly, it looks like his run has come to an end at 290 issues.

From Sonic the Hedgehog #134, universally
reviled as the worst Sonic comic. Ever.

If we take into account the plethora of mini series and spin-off titles like Sonic Universe, Sonic's comic numbers surpass 500. The main series Sonic the Hedgehog comic book is only at 290 issues but that's still pretty dang impressive. Like any comic book, Sonic the Hedgehog had it's down periods, crappy story arcs and such. The comic even underwent a couple of reboots but unlike the reboots of the Marvel and DC variety, the numbering on the comic book never changed.

Comic companies want to draw in new readers and fear that those high numbers will scare off potential new customers. This is why in 2011, DC threw out decades worth of continuity for it's entire universe in what was known as The New 52. This tactic did bring in plenty of new readers but it also alienated many longtime fans. At the end of the day, The New 52 ended up being a short term sales boost. DC will never come out and say it, but DC Universe Rebirth, which brings back the continuity that hastily threw out the window while keeping The New 52 stuff, is basically an admission that The New 52 did not work. During The New 52 era, every single DC book was renumbered, including long running books like volume one of Action Comics and Detective Comics. Those titles have since had their original numbering restored in DC Universe Rebirth, but that still doesn't change the fact that each of those books were still renumbered for the purposes of an event that, in the long run, did not pay off.

To those outside of the Sonic the Hedgehog comic fandom, it might fascinate you to know that the behind the scenes nature of the cook has been, well, interesting, in a word. In a bit more detail, there were several lawsuits by Ken Penders, a former writer of the comic about royalties of the characters he created. The lawsuits are the reason the comic had a few reboots. The last reboot, which started in Sonic the Hedgehog #252 saw SEGA issuing some mandates to Archie, which has been detrimental to the book for a lot of fans. To keep Penders off their backs, any character he created was whipped clean from the comic. SEGA also wanted the comics to be closer to the games, which may sound cool in theory, but this doesn't allow the comic to have it's own identity. To make matters worse, characters that were from the games apparently had to behave in a very specific way and any form of character development for them was a no-no. Ian Flynn, the writer of the comic book for the past ten years, a very talented man, often cited as bringing the book out of the abyss that Penders threw it in, has done the best he can under some pretty lousy circumstances but it may not have been enough.

The last(?) issue.

Sonic the Hedgehog #290 was released seven months ago and issues beyond that have been cancelled. Neither Archie or SEGA has confirmed the death of the book, but the writing is on the wall. I started reading this comic in 1993. I was able to see it transition from slap stick comedy to deadly serious. I hate to this this comic go but at the same time, I hate seeing the book's creativity stifled under SEGA's mandated thumb. If 290 is indeed the last issue of Sonic the Hedgehog, that number is something to be very proud of. Sonic has had a lot of crap happen to him in his 20 plus years, but the one thing that never changed was the number on his comic and in this business, that is a really freaking huge accomplishment.

Comic Book Fans Never Had It So Good

I have never been more excited to be a comic book fan than I am now. My love for comics has been renewed with a new perspective on the medium and I got another favorite super hero. There are a ton of reasons to be stoked for comic books right now. The only reason I could see someone not getting hyped is if they are dead.

There are a smorgasbord of high quality live action movies and TV shows for comic fans looking to get their super hero fix. CW has four nights in a row of comic book shows with Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. From what I hear, Arrow is getting better after the suckfest that was season four. Superman is finally making actual appearances on Supergirl and he's a really likable character, leaps and bounds better than than Zack Synder's version of Superman.

Marvel is killing it with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America: Civil War was so much better than the comic book that it was inspired by. It probably helped that it was a loose adaptation of the graphic novel. Spider-Man was *ahem* spectacular in the movie and I cannot wait to see his solo movie next year. Dr. Strange looks like it's going to drop jaws and it already has me looking into picking up that sweet-looking Dr. Strange Funko Pop figure.

I should probably start watching Luke Cage already. My dad has already seen all of it and I'm the one that told him about it. Daredevil and Jessica Jones really impressed me and I already know Marvel is working their way up to the Defenders with Iron Fist dropping in 2017. And what I've wanted to happen finally is. Daredevil season one will release on Blu-ray in November. Nice to see Marvel's killer Netflix shows will be getting physical releases.

But it isn't just live action comic book adaptations that are making things great for comic geeks. Better availability of comic books always helps. DC has started releasing trade paperback golden and silver age versions of their key franchises like Superman, Batman, the Flash and the Justice League of America. The price of these books are pretty reasonable, too, ranging from $19.99 to $24.99. Not bad considering you get from over 300 to 400 plus pages of golden age/silver age comic goodness. I've been making my way through The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 1 and I like it a lot. True, it is Barry Allen heavy, but DC has brought Geoff Johns Wally West Flash run back into print with books one and two already available and book three releasing in November. Mark Waid's run on the Flash will begin being collected in TPB format with the first volume dropping in December. Cannot wait.

Marvels TPBs tend to be more pricey. Most books in the Epic Collection line run the $34.99 to $39.99 route and are roughly the same amount of pages as DC's aforementioned golden age and silver age books. I find these are better purchased online as opposed to in stores to save some cash. At least some of Marvels older works are becoming more easily accessible. The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Great Power collects a good chunk of the Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Spidey run and is a much cheaper alternative than buying The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus Vol. 1.

I feel I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the ever rising age of digital comics. After seeing ads for Comixology, I finally payed the site a visit. They've got tons of comics both new and old. I bought Spider-Man: Parallel lives and The Flash (vol. 1) #139 for chump change. I've always wanted to read Parallel Lives and I didn't feel like waiting until DC eventually made it to The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 3 to read about the first appearance of The Reverse Flash. I can even snag a few books from Mark Waid's run if I get impatient and can't wait for December.

So we got stellar comic book shows, sweet flicks (on Marvel's end, at least) and comic book access has never been easier. I don't think there has ever been a better time to be a comic book fan than there is now. I'm off to read some silver age Flash stories and count the seconds until the next episode of the Flash hits the CW app.

Thoughts on Batman: The Killing Joke

Whenever the topic of the greatest Joker stories come up, you can bet the farm that The Killing Joke will be among the lot. Written by the famed Alan Moore and lusciously illustrated by Brian Bolland, The Killing Joke tells a possible origin of the Joker's past in between his scheme of proving a point that one bad day is all it takes to drive a sane person loony.

For all the hype surrounding it, The Killing Joke is a surprisingly low key tale compared to the other events in the Caped Crusader's life. Most huge comic stories span multiple issues but The Killing Joke is a one and done comic, clocking in at only 46 pages. By the standards that it was released in 1988 and even today, that's pretty darn impressive.

After DC started doing animated feature films of popular comic book stories like The Dark Knight Returns, I was hoping that they would eventually do The Killing Joke. When they finally announced that what is arguably the greatest Joker story of all time would indeed be animated, the internet erupted with thunderous applause. Kevin Conroy was returning to voice Batman, Mark Hamill would once again be the Clown Prince of Crime and the hype train was set into overdrive. Like many Batman fans, I was salivating for the Blu Ray release of this baby. And then the reviews came out. And well, they were not the rave reviews we were expecting.

It is impossible to talk about the animated adaption of The Killing Joke without  mentioning the first 30 minutes of the film and that infamous scene that has everyone in an uproar.

Batman and Batgirl's relationship is painful to watch and not
just because it gets sexual.

If the the film makers did a straight up adaptation of the comic, this would have been a forty something minute flick. Most DC animated films are over 70 minutes long. To add to the the movie's length, the film makers decided to give Batgirl a greater role. I was aware they were doing this for months and I was looking forward to what they would produce. I did not, however, know that Batgirl's involvement would take up 30 minutes of the movie. More on the lines of 10 or 15 is what I had in mind. Not only that, but it isn't really all that interesting, including her relationship with Batman. Yes, Batman and Batgirl have sex on a rooftop. They don't show the nasty being done, but it is something that happens and is this infamous scene along with the rest of the baggage that Batgirl brings that makes the animated version of The Killing Joke a deal breaker for so many people. But not for me and I'll get to why in just a bit.

In the DC Animated Universe, Bats and Batgirl also have a relationship.Not a great deal of it is played out on screen and certainly not to the extent of what was done in the movie we're talking about, but Bruce and Barbra were involved. Their relationship in the DCAU never really bothered me even after Barbra more or less told Terry how far said relationship went with a very suggestive look in Batman Beyond.

Despite the fact that Hamill isn't much of a singer, the
Joker's musical number is still in the film.

Having said all of that, The Killing Joke is not in the DCAU. I know Bruce Timm is very proud of the universe he helped create and he should be. The DCAU is among my favorite shows to watch. But there comes a time when you've got to have a disconnect from previous shows you've worked on. Batman and Batgirl's relationship in The Killing Joke feels like it's trying to hit the notes from the aforementioned series. People often bring up the age difference between Bruce and Barbra but people of their age have sexual relationships in real life all the time. Believing that all or most people only stick to their own age when it comes to relationships are in some serious denial. But being close in age or no, Batman and Batgirl's relationship in The Killing Joke is completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the movie. Seeing Batgirl act like an emotionally driven, whinny girlfriend really is hard to watch. In the end, I was just waiting to get to the second half of the moving, The Killing Joke stuff, which is the reason why all of us were here to begin with. Does it ruin the original story or rape your childhood like some overly dramatic fans say? Not at all. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't hinder the film. If the first 30 minutes had been executed better, I wouldn't have minded all that much. But as it stands, the first half is filler of the uninteresting variety.

The second half of The Killing Joke is the kind of stuff you can't take your eyes off of. It matches the comic book so closely, its like watching moving panels. How the book begins in the rain with Batman walking into Arkham to talk to the Joker about the possibility of preventing an murderous outcome between theme, all of it is here.

The scene where Batman makes a heart felt
attempt to help the Joker are some of Conroy's
best Batman lines.

What I really loved about this movie and one of the main reasons I wanted an animated version was to see my favorite scenes from the book brought to life on TV. Seeing the flashback where we get to see a possibility of what the Joker was like before he became the Joker made for one of Hamill's best performances. He makes the man who was just an ordinary, struggling comedian before his chemical bath sound like a completely different person from the Joker. He's a man trying to support his pregnant wife and you really do feel for him in these scenes. Hamill really knocked it out of the park here. While he's been my favorite voice actor to play the Joker, I've noticed age really taking a hit to his voice in the since the Arkham games. He's always handed in an admirable performance but you can tell the voice he once had voicing the Joker isn't there. Even so, the Joker he portrays in The Killing Joke is chilling. It's great to hear him deliver classic lines from the graphic novel like "Here's to crime," and "If I have to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice." And then you've got his first maniacal Joker laugh after seeing his new look.

Kevin Conroy gives us another solid Batman performance as always. Granted he doesn't have as many lines in the actual Killing Joke part of the movie as Joker, but when he does speak, he delivers the Batman voice. Just as it was with Hamill, I love hearing the lines from the comic delivered on screen. You can really feel the emotion when Batman reaches out to the Joker to help him only for the Joker to respond that its too late for that. And having Batman laugh at the Joker's joke is both cool and creepy at the same time.

The Joker does the impossible: make Batman laugh.

While the first thirty minutes of the film are filler and really bring down Batgirl as a character, the rest of the film is amazing and the first half ins't enough to make it a terrible film. If you've read the graphic novel and loved it, you owe it to yourself to pick up this animated feature.

How the Flash Helped Me Get Back into Comics

I first got into comics when I was a kid. The very first comic book I picked up was a single issue out of the Darkwing Duck Mini series in 1991. It was a comic adaption of the series premier, Darkly Dawns the Duck. I'd read it and looked through it so many times that if I still had the thing, it would probably get lower than a 2.0 grade.

The second comic book I would come across was Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog, issue #2 in 1993. I looked through my friend's copy and I just had to have my own and soon after, I did. Sonic the Hedgehog would be the first comic book series I would read on a regular basis. It had some elements from the video games, but by and large, the comics were largely different from the games.

In 1994, I begun reading buying Spider-Man and X-Men comics. I had always been fascinated by Spider-Man ever since I was exposed to Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends in the 1980s. The 1994 Spider-Man series sparked my interest in the character even further so picking up the comics seemed only natural. Ditto for the X-Men series that was airing at the same time.

Sometime in 1996, I would stop buying Spider-Man and X-Men comics and before that, I had already stopped purchasing Sonic the Hedgehog. It wasn't that I thought the comics had gotten dull. My first love, gaming was becoming even bigger. I was reading GamePro cover to cover and the N64 was set to release that year. I would still flip through issues of Sonic the Hedgehog and the numerous Spider-Man comics at the time to see what was going on, but they didn't get my money. 

My relationship with comics has been estranged for almost a decade and there were a number of contributing factors to this. 

After the Avengers: Disassembled story, I thought comic book events were the bees knee. But then came House of M, Civil War and World War Hulk. House of M was in 2005 Civil War in 2006 and World War Hulk in 2007. Event fatigue had hit me hard. Since I had an on again, off again relationship with comics, I wasn't aware that events were a yearly thing. By 2008, I didn't want anything to do with these huge, cataclysmic events that would "forever change the fabric of the !" How many times have we been told in comics that "Things will never be the same!" only for the status quo to eventually undo whatever mess was made? While Civil War did have a huge impact on the Marvel universe, the story had to have some of the key characters do things that were way out of character, like Spider-Man unmasking to the entire world, to name a few. When I heard Civil War was going to be the third Captain America movie, I was worried that the characters were going to do some repeat performances of their boneheaded moments from the comic, but from what I hear, the film is actually better than the comic it is based off of, leaving the idiot moments on paper.

In 2007, I read one of the most horrific Spider-Man stories I've ever read, One More Day. This train wreck of a story was devised so Marvel could have Spidey be single again and have things be "just like the good old days." Not only did Peter lose his loving wife, he lost most of, if not all of his common sense, becoming a huge imbecile, making stupid, rookie mistakes just about every single freaking issue. I hadn't picked up Amazing Spider-Man since One More Day and from 2008 and on, I would Byrne Steal it. There was no reason to undo decades of character development and make Peter a wifeless loser just because old comic book farts in power have a hard on for the days when Spidey wasn't married. They even started talking all this youth crap, saying that's what Spider-Man was all about. Spider-Man may has always been about responsibility and if the brass at Marvel couldn't see that when they were reading the books, they must not have been paying attention. 

Oh but the wife drops didn't end with Spidey, oh no. When DC relaunched their entire comic line, dubbing it The New 52, Superman was no longer married to Lois Lane and instead hooked up with Wonder Woman. Keep in mind, Supes has loved Lois since 1938. Pairing him with Wonder Woman just because she's a super heroin and also insanely strong is just stupid. The Flash also had his marriage to Iris Allen removed because according to DC, he's fast enough for all the ladies. Make of that what you will, but during this time of sweeping changes, it seemed as if anyone with a long history of comic book marriage was not safe unless your names are Reed and Sue Richards.

And then you've got comic book death. I'd just call it death, but then that would imply that dying in a comic book actually sticks and well, anyone that's read comics for a while knows better. Whenever someone in a comic book, hero or villain kicked the bucket, you're just counting the days until they come back. Comic book characters come back to life more times than the zombies in a Ghost 'n Goblins game and I want so much for writers to stop relying on comic book deaths to tell a story.

I was thrilled to hear about the revival of Darkwing Duck in comic book form in 2010 and I picked up a some of the trades in 2012, but my comic book purchases would sit on an extremely small scale for years with Sonic the Hedgehog and Archie Comics Mega Man being my main buys.

Then in 2015, something amazing happened. OK, actually it was in 2014, because that's when the show began airing, but I didn't start watching it until the following year. My father and sister watched the Flash and would frequently discuss it. Knowing how much I enjoyed super heroes, they would ask if I started watching it and always, my answer would be no. They told me that the first few episodes were up on Hulu and that they would air the entire first season to prepare for the coming second season. One night, I finally decided that it was time to sit down and start watching the Flash. My father and sister had hyped it up so much and I figured the only way to get them off my back was to see what it was all about.

Now I'm no stranger to the character that is Flash. the DC Animated Universe is among my favorite shows and I have all of the Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond and Justice League animated series that make up the universe. I thought Justice League and Justice League Unlimited's version of the Flash was a good, fun character and I was always delighted to see him in an episode. I liked Flash, but not enough to start buying comic books like I did Sonic, Spider-Man and Mega Man. The live action Flash TV show changed that in more ways than I can imagine.

I thought I would watch maybe an episode or two of Flash since the run time for a single episode was over 40 minutes. But before I knew it, I was hooked like a sea bass. The writing was intelligent, the way the show portrayed Barry's speed, that ultra cool lightning effect, it was all awesome. When the next episode ended, I ecstatic to watch the next one. I ended up watching the first six episodes in one night and continued to watch the rest of season one as more episodes were uploaded each week.

From Book 1 of the Usagi Yojimbo Saga.

I always thought the Reverse Flash was a pretty sinister villain from watching Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, but season one of the Flash sold me on Barry's arch nemesis even more. Yeah, hes grand scheme ultimately failed but the way he played everyone for nearly an entire season was brilliant. It helped that the writers let us know early on that there was more of Dr. Wells than what it seemed since he wasn't paralyzed from the waist down and he kept talking about the future as if he'd live there and seen some of it, which the Reverse Flash, of course, has.

It wasn't just Reverse Flash that made the show great in terms of villains. Captain Cold is another character I really came to enjoy seeing. I liked that he was a criminal but he had a strict code that he stuck to. He didn't believe in doing anything unnecessary and even thought he knew who Flash was behind the mask, he told no one.

Coming in to the the show late was actually a blessing for me because this meant that I didn't have to wait long before season two started airing. And man, season two was awesome! Arguably better than the first season! We got Zoom, more unexcpted plot twists, Earth-2 and the multiverse, Wally West and so much more.

Throughout season two and after it condluded, I found myself buying more and more graphic novels, both online and in my Barns & Nobles. I bought the first three books of the Usagi Yojimbo Saga. I haven't started reading them yet, but I've peeked at a few pages in each one and I'll be picking up the series as the books get released. I also bought Batman: The Long Halloween and the follow up store, Batman: Dark Victory, both of which are some of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's best work. I finally got around to buying DC: The New Frontier, a comic I have always wanted to read after watching the animated film back in 2008. I bought the first two volumes of Marv Wolfman and George Perez's New Teen Titans. I'm a little bummed that these New Teen Titans books aren't getting the same treatment as DC's other trades, but I'm just happy I can get my hands on these babies at an affordable price. Can't wait for the volumes contain the Judas Contract to drop.

From The Return of Barry Allen. Three against one?
That's so unfair. The three of them are totally outmatched.

The trades that most have my attention, however, are Flash trades. The Flash show made me a die hard fan. After watching so many outstanding episodes, I have to read about the adventures of the scarlet speedster. I picked up Grant Morrision and Mark Millar's Flash trade and from what I've gathered, there are some pretty crazy stories in this one, plus it introduces the Black Flash. DC has started reprinting Geoff Johns Flash run, which lasted five years. It looks like a year's worth of material is in a single book and I've got the first two books in my collection. I also have Flash: Rebirth, and since Flashpoint Paradox is one of my favorite DC animated films and season three of the show will have its own version of Flashpoint, I grabbed the Flashpoint graphic novel.

A story every Flash fanatic has heard or red about is The Return of Barry Allen. This tale came to my attention while I was making my way through season one of the show and it sounded like a really interesting story. I did some searching on Amazon and the prices are what initially kept me from picking it up. With Flash being so hot over the last few years, you'd think DC would capitalize on it by re-releasing this story. I mean, the Death of Superman gets re-released on a regular basis. Same for Dark Knight Returns. But early 1990s Flash stuff? Nope. So including shipping, I spent over $46 on Return of Barry Allen. I hated myself a little for doing so, but after reading it, the book was worth every penny. Return of Barry Allen is the first of Mark Waid's Flash work I've been exposed to so the bar has been set astronomically high. We got some great character development for Wally, we got to see Jay Garrick, Johnny Quick and Max Mercury all take on who they thought was a wacko Barry Allen and we get the origin of the Reverse Flash. The art was pretty impressive as well. I was slightly annoyed to find out DC will start reprinting Mark Waid's run on Flash later this year, so Return of Barry Allen will get reprinted on better paper, but its nice to have an original copy of the first trade in my possession. I cannot wait to read more of Waid's run on Flash in December.

Wally West dishing out some truth to the
Reverse Flash.

The Flash is on the way to becoming my favorite super hero, I haven't been this much into a super hero since Spider-Man, who just might be getting put in second place. Yeah, I still love Spidey, and Marvel has put out a few Spider-Man trades I want to pick up but with the first six volumes of The New 52 Flash books,  The Flash: The Silver Age Vol. 1 and The Flash: A Celebration of 75 Years, I'm fare more interested in the Flash.

It wasn't until I got back into comics again that I took a good, hard look at the things that got me out of it. Cheap deaths, events, reboots and so forth. As angry as those things make me, they are, for better or for worse, a part of the comic book industry. I'm not even sure how many times the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics have been rebooted. There are always going to be bad stories and really stupid decision making behind the scenes in comics but it isn't like all the good material will suddenly dry up. It's like with gaming or anything you enjoy: you take the good with the bad. The crappy video games I played, never made me stop gaming. Why should I let the usual comic industry woes ruin comics for me?

So Long, Mega Man (Archie Comics)

True to form, I am once again late to another party. I recently picked up Archie Comics Mega Man #55 and upon looking through the issue, I was shocked to discover that this would be the last issue of one of my favorite comic books, placed on an "indefinite hiatus." What was news to me was announced on the internet in the summer of 2015. 

Man, it really has been difficult being a Mega Man fan over the last six years. He's hardly had anything in the way of new games and what releases he does get are re-releases of his old titles. Mega Man's monthly adventures in Archie's comic book series was absolutely enthralling and it breaks my heart to see it coming to an end. Yes, they say all good things come to an end but this is a premature ending if ever there was one.

The comic had some pretty
amazing covers.

Mega Man had some truly wonderful characterization. Dr. Wily is a bitter man, fueled by his jealousy of Dr. Light's overshadowing success and this drives him to be recognized as the superior in the field of robotics. He wants to humiliate Dr. Light, not kill him and that alone paints in a different shade from a villain like Dr. Eggman. Blues feels that Dr. Light replaced him with Mega Man and sides with Wily, only to decline coming back to Light Labs to be with his family due to his past transgressions. Xander Payne has a pretty good reason to despise robots with a passion seeing as how it was Elec Man (under Wily's programming) took out his left eye. In this comic series, Xander is actually Mr. X and he urges Wily to cause as my chaos and destruction with his robots so humanity to see robots for the same menace that he does. Even Mega Man himself is a complicated individual, wanting to save anyone he can and questioning why he feels joy in the destruction of something as sinister as Ra Moon.

Anything I could write here to describe this
wouldn't even come close to doing it justice.

Speaking of Ra Moon, what a story line, that was! Super Adventure Rockman is not a high point for the classic Mega Man series but the adaptation of it here was superb! Ra Moon caused a planet wide blackout. When it occurs we see all of the robots of the world shut down, planes going down, an entire hospital blackout during surgery among other things. Its a pretty grim scenario and one of the darkest turns the comic has taken.

The exploration of robots and their programming is something I loved so much about this series, When Dr. Wily is thought dead after the conclusion of the Mega Man 3 story arc, the Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 and 3 are all given new purposes. Not all of them are fine with this, however, as it clashes with what they were programmed for. Quick Man was designed to be a weapon and he'd rather be shut down than be a speedy mail man because he wouldn't be himself, much to Mega Man's dismay. Earlier in the series this even one point where Elec Man gets fed up with the mistreatment he receives from a few humans to the point to where he wishes he had Wily's coding in him. I am going to miss this stuff so much.

Mega Man was a well written, thought provoking comic with some colorful characters and it pains me to see it go. Yes, they said "hiatus" but they also said "indefinite"so for all we know, Archie's Mega Man could be gone for good. I don't want to torture myself with false hope. Goodbye, Mega Man. The last four plus year have been an unforgettable ride. 

Latest Purchases #79

I've missed the last few issues of Retro Gamer, I'm sorry to say. The price has regrettably gone up, but the magazine remains one of my favorite printed books to read. Yeah, my backlog on Retro Gamer is insane (lost count of how many issues I'm behind on) but when I do read an article in this mag, it never fails to be enjoyable or informative. There's a nice article celebrating the PlayStation's 20th anniversary, which was last year for the five of you that didn't know. I suppose I should toss up my own PS 20th anniversary article as well since all the cool kids are doing it.

Currently, Mega Man is adapting the story line of Mega Man 3, my favorite Mega Man game. I've already got all four issues of Legend of the Blue Bomber, which covered all of Rock's fights with the initial eight Robot Masters from Mega Man 3. In this issue Wily steals Gamma and Rock gets ready for a big showdown with Break Man. I'd like to jump right into this issue but I have a ton of catching up to do. I never read the Ra Moon story (I'm even missing an issue in that arc) or the follow up issues, and I completely missed out on the Dawn of X arc. I may just have to spring for some trades.

Yet another Dragon Ball manga, this time a Viz Big edition. This is the fifth volume that collects volumes 13-16 of the Dragon Ball story arc. Unlike the 3-on-1 books, these are printed on high quality paper with a sturdier cover. There's even a few color chapters. I suppose I should have started collecting Viz's Big Edition of DB with volume 1, but this was the only one Barns & Nobles had. Some day I'm going to make a blog post about the different Dragon Ball manga.

Super Saiyan Goku is my very first Pop vinyl figure. I've been seeing these things around and I've been wanting to start buying certain sets like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set and those from Wall-E. This was fye's only Super Saiyan Goku and I gotta say, these things feel much lighter than I thought they would be. I've got my eye on a Perfect Cell that just arrived at the store.

I thought $30 was a bit much for Nintendo Land so being able to cop it for $13.99 at GameStop is a much better deal. I played some of the attractions on Christmas day with my nieces and nephew when they got their Wii U. I may not invest as much time in Nintendo Land as I have Mario Kart 8 or Super Smash Bros., but I do find the idea of behind Nintendo Land to be quite intriguing.

Zombi U got so much hate from the press. I hear this is one of the best Wii U games to use the Game Pad and it sounds like the kind of zombie game that I can get into that doesn't have horrid tank controls. Maybe I'll play this one with all the lights out. Maybe.

As the date drew closer and closer for this release, the hype took hold of me and I ended up walking out with fye's last copy of Majora's Mask 3D. I never really did play my N64 copy or my digital copy on my Wii. The time limit was felt like a noose around my neck but watching SomeCallMeJohnny's review of the game has me willing to give this one another shot.

I guess it was only a matter of time before I picked up a Pokemon plush. In truth, I bought Pikachu just because I thought I should own some merch of the most famous Pokemon. I really didn't appreciate this thing until I got it home. This is an extremely well-made Pikachu plush, It's soft, huggable and disgustingly cute. I actually wanna hug this thing.

$60 is a lot of cash to spend on a game so when I see one going for $40 and a Nintendo first party title, no less, my eyes grow wide in anticipation. I was already planning to grab Kirby and the Rainbow Curse but the price tag made buying it on launch day a lot easier to do. This is a fun, adorable, and surprisingly difficult Kirby game. More on this one in an upcoming Currently Playing post.

I was jealous of everyone playing Hyrule Warriors back on launch day in September but I just couldn't afford it. This is another one of those $60 games. And I didn't have to pay a dime for it because I won an award from my job. I got a $100 gift certificate to spend at the place of my choosing and since Beats headphones cost way too much, I went to BestBuy.com and picked up Hyrule Warriors. I'm thinking of starting this one on Sunday, my next off day but I've already got so much on my plate so I may hold off.

Super Mario 3D World isn't a latest purchase, but the little Cat Mario next to the game is. I went to my Wallgreens for a snack run last night and I thought I'd take a peek down the toy isle. Inside the Super Mario red plush box is a World of Nintendo Cat Luigi and Cat Mario. I already picked up a Cat Luigi a while back but Cat Mario was new to me. He was the only one there and I certainly wasn't gonna let someone else walk out with him. If there's one a World of Nintendo plushies for the rest of the Super Mario 3D World in Cat form, I must have them.

Latest Purchases #65

I bought all this stuff within the span of few weeks. I just didn't feel like making multiple posts about all these things, so, here it is, all jumbled up in one.

The NES shirt was an unexpected surprise that I came across in Target when I purchased The Wonderful 101, which was lowered down to a price of $29.99. Said shirt was discounted to $9.95 compared to the original $19.99 price tag. It was also the very last one and in XL size. No way I was gonna pass that up. Back to The Wonderful 101, I've heard that no new copies are being manufactured so whatever copies are on the shelves now are the only physical ones out there. Another title by Platinum Games that sold like dirt. Such a pity. The Wonderful 101 is actually the very first game I picked up in 2014.

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Man, that is one mouthful of a title. I'm a big fan of anime and Joe Hisashi's music and since this game looks to combine both of those, it seems like it'll be a match made in heaven. I didn't really think about getting this game until I saw under the Greatest Hits label. That's the good thing about jumping into the PS3 late in the game. A lot of the best titles are $20.

I've had my eye on Journey before I picked up my PS3. The box art of a long figured staring off at a mountain in the distance spoke to me, prompting me to do some research on the game. After getting my PS3 and hoping on the PSN, I saw the game was up for grabs digitally, which is fine and dandy, but I really wanted to get Journey The Collector's Edition, which includes Flow, Flower, three unreleased games and some nice bonus content like commentary, art work and soundtracks for all three games. This is one sweet little compilation release. For $20 on Amazon, I feel it was a better deal than picking up all three games on the PSN separately.

I played the 3DS version of Sonic Generations in 2012 and thought it was a nice game, but I'm defintiely digging the console version more. Everywhere I looked in stores I would see this game for $30, which I probably would have paid if I had a 360 but Amazon had the PS3 version for under $15.

The Spider-Man Vault is a book I lightly contemplated buying if I had more change. I may not be reading Spider-Man anymore, but he'll always be my favorite super hero and I welcome the chance to add some memorabilia of his to my collection. Barns & Nobles had a huge price cut on this thing that was originally $30 to $10. It's a lovely hardback binder book filled with all kinds of Spidey goodies like artwork, sketches and replicas of previously unreleased material.

Fun fact: at one point in my life, I wanted to be a cartoonist. To that end, I would look to FoxTrot as inspiration. That and it was a huge source of entertainment for me in my mid teen years. I haven't picked up a FoxTrot book in ages but I really liked the look of this The Best of FoxTrot book. It comes with a sturdy slipcase box for the two volume paperback books. Originally priced at $40, Barns & Nobles was selling it for $10. It's really hard to say no to those kinda bargains.There are comics from the early days as well as strips from the later years, each selected by Bill Amend himself with some commentary for insight.

Latest Purchases #58

I'd been meaning to pick up more t-shirts this year so when fye reopened, I couldn't wait to check out their selection again. I had been thinking of picking up a Flash t-shirt and after watching Flashpoint Paradox numerous times, that encouraged me to nab one. Oh and in case you're wondering, Wally West is my favorite Flash.

I've never played either of the Portal games, but I thought the design of this tee looked awesome so I picked it up. I suppose I'll have to check the games out someday.

While I was in Wal-Mart finishing up shopping for my sister's birthday, I came across the Marvel and Deadpool tees for only $7.50 each. No way I was gonna pass those up. I'd seen a black Deadpool shirt at fye with a less damaged Deadpool logo but I really like the gray of this one. That and it was a lot cheaper.

Long have I heard about the greatness that is Carl Barks and his Donald Duck add Uncle Scrooge comics. They may have been made well before my time but from my understanding, Barks' works are timeless. I never imagined I'd get to check out Barks' original stories, but Fantagraphics Books is releasing the whole set under what they are calling The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. Only a handful of these books are out right now and each one collects over 200 pages of duck comics in hardcover format and include extras like a plethora of story notes and comic covers. The collection well clock it at thirty books total so I predict that it will probably take some time for anyone looking to collect the whole set. The two books I picked up are The Old Castle's Secret and A Christmas for Shacktown.

Back in 2011, I picked up a lovely hardcover, my first Fantagraphics Book to me precise. It was called Mickey Mouse: Race to Death Valley, by Floyd Gottfredson. See, I'd known that Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge had comics but the Mouse having comics that date back to the 1930s? That was news to me. Given Mickey's immense popularity, I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, but I really was. Mickey Mouse appeared in daily newspaper comics from 1930 to 1975. That's 45 years of Mouse comics! Race to Death Valley is the first book of the Floyd Gottfredson Library and with 45 years worth of comics, it's going to take quite a while before the whole library is finished. Like The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library, only a few books are out in the Floyd Gottfredson Library. What's available right now are Volumes 1-4 and Volumes 1-2 of the Color Sundays. Thus far, I have Volume 1 and Volume 2 and 4. Volume 2 is Trapped on Treasure Island and Volume 4 is House of the Seven Haunts. The reason I picked up Volume 4 before Volume 3 was an issue of price. Amazon had Volume 4 for $8.27 and Volume 2 for $12, each brand new. These hardcovers usually go for around $30 in book stores so that was an incredible bargain. Still, $20 for Volume 3, isn't too shabby and that will be the next book in this series that I pick up. Each of these books have a ton of bonus material in addition to the comics and these come highly recommended to anyone with even the slightest interest in Mickey Mouse or comics in general.

I picked up two sketch pads because I've been meaning to get back into drawing and the two in the above picture had really nice hardcovers, which was part of the reason I nabbed them. They were also quite cheap.

I've been playing DuckTales and listening to the music of DuckTales: Remeastered and that got me in the mood to pick up some DuckTales on DVD. I had the first two volumes but they ended up getting lost. It still kills me that Disney refuses to finish releasing most of their Disney Afternoon cartoons on DVD.

It really does pay to look through the bargain bins. A mist the junk, I found some real gems. I did not expect to find a case containing a code for DuckTales: Remastered. It also comes with a pin. Even though DuckTales: Remastered is a digital game, it will still be nice to have something to put on my shelf. And for $10, I can't really complain.

Also in the bargain bin was Zone of the Enders HD Collection. I know this isn't the best HD Collection out there but for $15, I wasn't gonna pass on the mech action. That and 2nd Runner is not easy to come by.

My Gripes with the Comic Book Industry

As a boy, I was always in a rush to read the comics in the newspapers. Seeing what kind of mischief Calvin and Hobbs were getting into never failed to bring a smile to my face. When I turned thirteen, I started picking up comic books, really getting into Spider-Man and X-Men. In the years that followed, I found out more about Marvel and DC's world than I'd previously known. I wasn't a the go to guy for happenings in the comic book world, but I was still very much a comic book geek. These days, well, not so much. I mean, I still like comic books, but I haven't paid a dime for a Spider-Man comic over three years. Four industry practices have pretty much burned me out on mainstream comic books to the point that I've been looking elsewhere to get my fix.


1. Reboots/Relaunches

DC said their New 52 wasn't a reboot. I'm calling bull on that one. Why? Because they told us it wasn't a reboot. When you cancel all of your comics to relaunch them with new number ones and the Justice League is coming together for the first time, that's a reboot. DC is the biggest offender of this. They wanted to draw in new readers (that's what they say, anyway) so once Flashpoint was done, they rebooted their entire comics line. I'm a fan of a lot of DC's super heroes but I've never actively purchased their comic books like I did a few of Marvel's titles. Most of the Superman and Batman comics I own are trade paper backs. I was thinking of getting into DC's books but when I heard they were pulling this stunt, my interest dropped faster than Mega Man when he falls through those platforms in Guts Man's level.

I miss the red underpants.

Marvel is no saint when it comes to this either. I've lost count of how many times Dardevil has been rebooted. The Ultimate Comics line, wasn't even safe from this. Though to be fair, many pretty much agree that Jeph Loeb was screwing it up with Ultimatum. Still it was irritating to have Ultimate Spider-Man get reset back to early numbers, only to have it revert back to the original number again and then reset once more when Peter Parker died. Yeah, he died in the Ultimate world as well, but he died a comic book death.

Reboots can increase sales and draw in new readers and DC's New 52 has been a huge success as far as money goes. I've peeked in on a few of the books and really haven't been impressed. If the first issue of the new Justice League was any indication, I don't know if I'll enjoy the DC animated movie Justice League: War, which is supposed to be based off off the first six issues of the New 52 Justice League.

2. Death is a Joke

The Joker, great arch villain that he, used Joker Immunity to escape the Grim Reaper's scythe once more in one of my favorite episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Batman asks him how he survived. The Joker's response?

"I've been blown up, dropped down smokestacks, fed to sharks. I'm the Joker, I always survive."

It's just a flesh wound, he'll be all right.

Without question death is the biggest laughing stock in comic books. It doesn't matter how someone dies or how convincing it looks. They'll always be back. Even the Grim Reaper must yield to a higher power and that power is sales. It's the only reason anyone in comic books "dies" these days.

When Superman was killed off by Doomsday in the early 1990s, everyone on the planet heard about, even those that don't read comic books, because, well, it's Superman. That story made newspaper headlines, had spotlights on the TV news and just about every news outlet can think of. Supes dying was terrible but DC was laughing all the way to the bank about it because big blue's death made them truckloads of cash. When Captain America was killed in 2006, it was the Death of Superman all over again. Everyone heard about it and it made the news. Of course, just like Supes, Cap didn't stay dead. Or in some cases, they were never dead in the first place. Sometimes they're locked in a deep coma or are last in time or whatever contrived plot device the writers can pull out of their butts.

I no longer feel sad for the passing of fictional characters. What I do feel is annoyance. Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four was only killed off so Marvel could boost sales. After hearing of his death, I merely rolled my eyes, wondering how many months we'd have to wait for him to return. Spider-Man died earlier this year. To anyone feeling upset about that and having Doc Ock running around in Peter's body, to that I say, chillax. Peter will be back and this farce will be over eventually.

One of the few cases where a comic
book death has actually stuck.

Death in comics is nothing more than a means for publishers to see more dough. Ever since Superman kicked the bucket, death has always been about the almighty dollar. Rather than trying something new, giving readers more creative stories, or further fleshing out characters, writers take the easy way out and kill off a big name character for nothing more than shock value and a sales boost. Death has no impact, no lasting effect and no power in comic books anymore so I no longer give a crap when someone dies. In this medium, killing someone is easy. Keeping them dead? Now that's the tricky part.

3. Big Events

What used to occur every now and then has turned into a yearly thing. I didn't mind this at first but after House of M and Civil War, I had my fill of these big event crossover stories, but they've been a staple for both Marvel and DC for years.

Now some of my favorite comic book tales actually stem from big events and crossovers. Marvel's original Secret Wars may have been all about selling toys, but it really was a pretty sweet tale. We saw, Spidey trash the X-Men, Dr. Doom get god-like powers, the Hulk holding up a couple billion tons to keep the heroes from dying and a lot of other good stuff. And if it weren't for crossovers, Mega Man and Sonic never would have teamed up in Worlds Collide this year. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox was based off of the main five issue mini series, Flashpoint, and I really dug that animated flick, as violent as it was.

Not a world war by any means.

Still, I honestly don't think the comic book industry needs to have this big event stories every single year, especially when they result in some pretty underwhelming stories. I never read DC's Blackest Knight, but from my understanding, it sucked hard. Joe Quesada said Marvel's World War Hulk was said to rival Civil War in impact. You'd think that having the words "World War" in the title that the scope would be much more grand. In reality, a very peeved Hulk comes back to Earth after being sent out into space by the Illuminate, beats up the Marvel Heroes and gives New York some more collateral damage. That's World War Hulk in a nutshell.

4. Marriage Makes You Boring

Many people in the comic book business tend to (foolishly) hold firm to the belief that when your star character gets married, the story is over. Lots of movies end when the two people that are in love get married so I can only guess that that's where that type of thinking comes from.

In the case of Spider-Man, the folks at Marvel felt it limited Spidey's potential for good stories and made him older. One More Day, the four part story line made for the soul purpose of killing off Spidey's marriage was released in 2007. By the time the story was finished, Spidey had been married for twenty years and had remained one of the world's most iconic super heroes. So Quesada's fears that a married Spidey damaged the character were very much all for naught.

As someone who is not married, I never once felt Spidey being wed killed my ability to identify with him. If anything, I thought it was cool that he could be a super hero and still hold down a successful marriage. But to Quesada, that took quite a bit a drama out of the books. By "drama" I mean all sorts of ridiculous Threes Company crap and will they won't they nonsense.

Yes, Spidey was made single so they could rehash the same headache inducing romance subplots that grew stale eons ago. Such pathetic attempts at romance were done with Michelle Gonzales, the feisty Latina, and on an even more vomit-inducing scale with Carly Cooper. Carly was fellow science nerd that was named after Quesada's own daughter. Make of that what you will. Carly actually wasn't so bad in the beginning. She was one of the new members of the supporting cast that didn't bother me. But when the writers constantly threw her in my face and had long-time supporting cast members harp on and on about how great she is, I wanted to jump through the pages of the book and strangle her. When Carly and Peter did get together it felt so forced and fake, wreaking of editorial mandate, because well, that's exactly what it was.

Superman wasn't spared the same fate that Spider-Man suffered. When the new 52 was set in motion, Clark's marriage to Lois Lane was given the axe. But hey, it's all good because now he's hooked up with Wonder Woman. I mean, that's got to be a better pairing because both are in the same line of work, are super strong and OK, that's enough. Even I can't drag that out any further. The only reason Superman and Wonder Woman were thrown together is because it was the obvious pairing. True, they do have things in common, but Superman has loved Lois Lane since 1938. DC is never going to truly convince us that he belongs with another woman, even one as wonderful as Wonder Woman.

I don't expect someone like Batman to get married because, he's got serious issues and is arguably more dedicated to the cause of being a hero than anyone else. But heroes like Spider-Man, the Flash and Superman? Oh, yeah, I can totally buy the idea of them being married. Yet so many writers want them to be single so they can keep their iconic status. If someone can tell me how unmarried equals iconic status, I would be ever so grateful.

Just how does being married limit the potential for good stories? There was all sorts of drama between Peter and Mary Jane during the twenty years they were married. The same goes for Lois and Clark. I think a lot of these writers are admitting their failings as writers if they can't find anything to write about for a married couple. The only reason Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman were left alone is because they were married back in the 1960s. If you were married after that time, you'r marriage in the comic book world is not safe.

--------------------------------------------------

I'm still a comic reader, but not on the same level that I once was. These days I'm only reading a handful of comics, two of them which star video game characters and the rest are through trade paper backs. Maybe someday I'll get back into mainstream comics but right now, I'm doing just fine without them. I've got The DC Animated Universe, and a plethora of other DC and Marvel animated shows to watch for my super hero needs.

Latest Purchases #56

The Sandlot was one of my favorite movies and I really should have picked it up on DVD years ago. It was only $4.75 at Target. Been a few years since I've seen it so the next time I get a day off or maybe one night after sit down and give it a watch. 

The Iron Giant is an animation masterpiece. At least it is in my eyes. I've always been fond of robots and this is flick would certainly earn a spot on my list of top robot flicks. The animation is still very nice in this one.

In the early 1990s my family used to rent videos from Block Buster Video all the time. One weekend we rented a movie called What About Bob? It's about a crazy patient that goes sane and drives his doctor insane. This movie left my family and I in stitches and is one of Bill Murrays best films. It's been a long time since I've seen this movie and I was really surprised to see it for $5 at Target. Nothing in the way of extras but I'm not complaining. 

I love Independence Day. When the VHS came out I would watch it religiously. This version contains the special edition with the bonus material and the theatrical release.

I've never read the comic book mini series that Just League: The Flashpoint Paradox is based off of but after I watching this incredibly awesome movie, I just may have to check it out. Essentially a Flash movie, it explores an alternate reality after something in the past changes the future. The animation is easily some of the best among these DC animated films and that makes for some incredible action scenes. It's also one of the few DC animated features on Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack that I've been able to pick up for under $13. I usually end up forking over $20 for these so that was plenty nice.

That Spidey cup was actually in the kids section but I've always considered myself a big kid. That and I love Spider-Man. 

I've finally added The World Ends With You to my library. I'm so caught up with the awesomeness that is the 3DS that sometimes I forget that I still need to track down DS games. I got this off Amazon for $20 brand new.

Speaking of 3DS, that's three more games to the collection. I wanted to get Code of Princess for my birthday but no stores had it in. It is an Atlus game, after all. So I hoped on Amazon, and bought it for $30.

The Year of Luigi continues with Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. I absolutely love that cover with Luigi dozing off, dreaming of a bunch of other Luigis. There are times when I think Nintendo really does adore the man in green over their own mascot.

I picked up Fire Emblem: Awakening just for the $30 eShop credit, which I already used. This is actually the second Fire Emblem game I own. Years ago I picked up Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones on the GBA, which, surprise, surprise, I've yet to get around to playing.

Darkwing Duck: Campaign Carnage is actually the fourth TPB from the Boom! comic book series. So I still need to pick up F.O.W.L. Disposition, which seems to be the mostly costly on Amazon for some reason. 

I've been reading Hardcore Gaming 101 for years and I was really surprised to see they'd put out a book. This particular book focuses on SEGA's arcade games. That's over 160 pages of SEGA arcade goodness. I'm gonna have to get caught up on my books soon and get around to reading this one.

The Sonic and Mega Man Worlds Collide crossover has finished. I like it but I'm glad it's over. The adaptation of the Mega Man 3 story, which picks back up in Mega Man #28 is looking good. Spoilers: Roll gets shot by Break Man and all the robots across the world shut down because of Ra-Moon.

 

Latest Purchases #55

Where to start? How about the comics?

I was fortunate enough to find parts eight, nine and ten of the Sonic & Mega Man Worlds Collide crossover all in one go. Archie listed part eight, which takes place in Sonic Universe #53 as a June release but no matter how often I checked in Barns & Noble, they didn't have it. So I feared I may have missed it. Thankfully, this was not the case. Maybe there was a delay or it just shipped late, but whatever the reason, I haven't missed a single issue of this lengthy cross over. Sonic the Hedgehog #250 opens up with a two page spread of the heroes facing down what looks like most of the Robot Masters from the Mega Man series.

de Blob is a game I've had my eye on for quite some time but I never got around to picking it up. When I saw de Blob 2 on sale at K-Mart for  whopping $5, I knew it was time to get both games. Thankfully, GameStop had the original for a low price and complete to boot.

Battalion Wars is a game I already own but now I have  complete copy, which is always nice to have. Still need to get around to playing it and get the original on the GCN.

Red Steel 2 is a game I came close to grabbing about a year ago, but I can't remember why I never did. Well, I coped it complete for the super low price of $6.29, complete. I never played the first game but heard a lot of good things about this one. From what I hear, I could easily pass on the first Red Steel.

The Fire Mario candy makes the second version of Mario candy that I have. I bought my first one over a year ago and I never touched the candy as I bought this purely for Mario.

I didn't lose my 3DS stylus but it's always nice to have extras. But the main reason I bought Write & Protect Pack was to get some screen protectors. The 80 plus hours I poured into Theatrhythm Final Fantasy has produced some scratches in the center of my touch screen. To avoid anymore of that, I'm really hoping these screen protectors do the job.

Two more Super Mario 3D Land figurines are added to the collection, this time regular, small Mario and stone Tanooki Mario. Only three more to go! The New Super Mario Bros. Wii Danglers will take longer to collect since there's 10 of them and my Target is all out. Of all the enemies to get, I got one of the most bothersome foes. I didn't even bother to hit the Mario wikia to look up his name.

Gotcha Tomy has added more figurines to their current Zelda line. Two Link and Zelda figurines from Ocarina of Time and Skyward Sword join Tetra and Toon Link from Phantom Hour Glass. I was fortunate enough to get Skyward Sword Zelda, my favorite Zelda design from the whole series.

Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! is a game I wanted to pick up when it released but I was preoccupied with other things. I've always been an art love and I love to draw but I've slacked for years. With this game, I hope to greatly get back into the hobby and improve my skills.

It's the Year of Luigi so I have to pick up Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. Besides, I loved the original and this one has more than one mansion to explore.

Shin Megami Tensai IV is currently the most money I've spent on a 3DS game. At $50, you get the game a soundtrack CD and a strategy guide/art design book. I'm disappointed that the strategy guide talks up the bulk of the book. Not only that but the guide is by Prima, a company that has put out shoddy strategy guides in the past. If someone can tell me if Prima has improved, I'd appreciate it. Then again, I'll probably need all the help I can get since I hear Shin Megami Tensai IV is killing players in the tutorial dungeon. This is actually my first time buying any of the games in this series and I admit that I mainly did it for $30 in eShop credit. I'll be picking up Fire Emblem: Awakening next week.

Latest Purchases #50

Like so many others that watched Darkwing Duck in the early 1990s, I was thrilled when news broke that BOOM! was doing a revival of the character. Not only that, but DuckTales and Chip 'N Dale's Rescue Rangers were also getting their own comic books. Sadly, Marvel refused to keep publishing these when Disney bought Marvel so these wonderful new comic books were given the axe. I never did get to pick up the individual comics when they released but I've never been a stranger to trades and I was pleased to see that Amazon had the Darkwing Duck graphic novels (along with the aforementioned DuckTales and Rescue Rangers books) for very reasonable prices.

I've been reading Darkwing Duck: The Duck Knight Returns, the first TPB and as I knew I would, I'm loving it. The art is very faithful to the cartoon show and so is the writing. It's as if Darkwing Duck never ended and I find myself grining like a school girl every time I read it or flip through the book. The second Darkwing Duck TPB, Crisis on Infinite Darkwings (an obvious title play on DC's 1985 mega story, Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline) has Negaduck teaming up with Magica DesSpell to kidnap Darkwings from other realities, brainwash them and have them wreak havoc on St. Canard, smearing Darkwings reputation. It seems like a simple villain team up but it soon goes in a different direction when Paddywack makes a comeback (he was in the episode The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain that had an ending that left things very much open that he could return). I think it goes without saying that I cannot wait to purchase the remaining two BOOM! Darkwing Duck TPBs.

I finally finished reading the fourth Archie Mega Man story arc that took place in Mega Man #13-16. When Issue 16 originally went on sale, I got the street date confused and missed my chance to pick up my copy. So I went through Amazon to get it. While I'm thankful to know that obtaining certain back issues on Amazon is an option, I'm not sure it's one I'm willing to use often. I think I ended up paying more than $6 for this issue, including shipping, which I personal think it outrageous. A comic book subscription is sound better and better.

Part two of Worlds Collide in the Sonic and Mega Man crossover. I knew Sonic and Mega Man would start out fighting each other as evidenced by the first few teasers, but part two in the story shows just how Eggma and Wily pit Sonic and Mega Man against each other. I do think Sonic's friends being turned into Roboticized Masters is a nice angle but I feel it gives some of the side characters in Sonic's world less time to shine but maybe the metal will fall off of them before the story ends. Even if it doesn't, I'm glad this crossover has finally gotten underway.

Another month, another issue of Retro Gamer. I had no idea Dragon's Lair was 30 years old. Since I'm currently playing the Wii version of Punch-Out!!, I do find it coincidental that this issue's Ultimate Guide is centered on Punch-Out!!, the NES version at least. I was never able to finish this game but I've always wanted to so maybe this guide will shed some light on things. 

fye was still having their sale when I picked up Patapon + Loco Roco Dual Pack. Instead of $14.99 I paid a little under $7. I really need to get a PSP so I can play all these games I have for the thong.

Latest Purchases #32

Another month means another issue of Retro Gamer. I had no idea it was the 40th anniversary of Pong. Pong is one of those games that everyone has played. Basically, Pong was like the Tetris of it's day. Without Pong, well, the gaming industry wouldn't be what it is today. Should be a really good feature to read.

Nintendo Power Vol. 280. No surprise that the Wii U made the cover. What I'm really looking forward to reading up on, however, is the feature on New Super Mario Bros. 2. With the game releasing next month, I need to learn all that I can about this one.

The original Ape Escape is one of my favorite PSone games. I'd completely forgotten that it was ported to the PSP as a launch title in 2005 in Ape Escape: On the Loose. This was only $3.99 at fye and complete. I really should play through Ape Escape 2 and 3.

I have been loving the Sonic the Hedgehog comic since I picked it up again in 2009. The comic has been red hot as of the Sonic Genesis story arc. Mecha Sally, Antoine in a coma, Nagus as king, man, its getting to where I cannot wait for the next issue each month. As of #36 I started picking up Sonic Universe to help fill in some gaps as things were being referenced that I had no clue about. The Secret Freedom Fighters have been talked up a bit for months now and we finally get to see them all in action. 

Mega Man may not be seeing much action in games, but he's getting plenty of it in the comics. Part three of Spirtus Ex Machina we find out why Dr. Linda feels the way she does about giving robots souls and more of Dr. Wily's next plot is revealed. We also see more of Proto Man. Agh, I sooo want the next story arc to hit the shelves already.

And finally, there's that insanely cute Kirby plush. I've always wanted a Kirby plush. I was in fye killing time before work and I saw this thing in a pile of Sonic plush toys. I couldn't believe it. This is the first time I've ever seen a Kirby plushy in the USA. Every time I look at the thing I just wanna hug it. Hopefully there are plush toys for Meta Knight and Dedede as well.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

Sonic & Mega Man: When Worlds Collide

What fans have been dreaming about since Archie got the rights to publish the Mega Man comic is now a reality. Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man will be teaming up for a 12 issue crossover event. You can check out the press release here. 

I am beyond STOKED for this! I mean, two of my favorite video game characters teaming up?! That is so unbelievably AWESOME! I will buy every issue of this crossover. I will buy the trade as well. And if there's a hardcover, I'll pick that up, too. 2013 seems so far away now.