Because it's all too easy to miss out on a post or two (or dozens) along the way, we here at Exfanding Your Horizons thought it might be helpful to periodically recap our major posts for each month. Here's what you might have missed from August - September 2008:
- A Bit About Alex, introducing half of the blog's writers
- A Bit About Nathaniel, introducing the other half of the blog's writers
- An introduction to Firefly, a space western, and a purchasing guide for fans of the show
- An Introduction to Comics Fandom, Part One (stay tuned for part two)
- A somewhat philosophical post on how everyone plays video games... even those who don't
- An Introduction To Action Figure Collecting, Parts One, Two, and Three
- An introduction to the TV show Ghost Hunters
- An introduction to the world of webcomics and some suggestions of where to start
- Comics recommendations for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the vampire genre
- An introduction to parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic
- An introduction to Progress Quest, a simple and amusing fantasy RPG computer game
- Rantings about certain kinds of comics fans, and its continuation
- An interview-style introduction to Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy roleplaying game
- An introduction to OCRemix, a video game music remix website
- A discussion about the profanity-laden "potty mouth Batman" comics
- Rantings about the changes in video game controls and controllers over the past few years
- Rantings about the New York Yankees
- A review of Good Omens, a humorous book about the apocalypse by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- A look at Virsona, a website where you can chat with artificially intelligent historical figures
- An introduction to and comprehensive overview of the classic Mega Man video game series
- Tales of Alex's "White Whales" of comics, parts one and two
- An introduction and beginner's viewing guide to Homestar Runner, a humorous Internet cartoon site
- An introduction to collecting orchids
- Brief stories from Alex's trip to Baltimore for Comic Con, covering everything except the convention itself (which is discussed in October), and also stories about the baseball game he attended there
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Baltimore Comic Con Report..and a little White Whaling
Today, finally, my dear, sweet, patient Exfanding readers, a report from this past weekend's Baltimore Comic Con. Huzzah! (Oh, boy. I just said "huzzah," didn't I? Doing this blog on a semi-daily basis is doing some strange things to me. I think I may be too far gone at this point...)
Ah, well. Live and learn. In any case...
On to Baltimore! The con ran this past Saturday and Sunday, and I have to say, I think this may have been my favorite convention that I've ever gone to. Now, as any readers from the beginning of this blog will likely remember (sure you will!), I am really not a big fan of conventions. Like, at all.
Typically, they are hot and smelly (conventions, not our readers) and there's never enough space for everyone to share the same air. And, while there were plenty of people at the Baltimore show trying their darnedest to steal my precious, precious air...it really wasn't that bad.
I went to the show on Saturday only, since I had to drive on back home to my undisclosed location on the next day, so I wasn't privy to how things went on Sunday. But, Saturday ran incredibly smoothly, and even though there was a pretty massive line of people waiting to get in when I arrived at 9:45 (doors opened at 10:00) the convention staff did a great job getting everyone inside without too much hassle.
Immediately upon entering, I could tell that this was going to be a relatively big con with a small con feeling. Meaning, though it was nowhere near the size of San Diego or NYCC, Baltimore still had some pretty heavy hitters as guests. Included in this year's lineup were Jim Lee, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Mignola, Frank Cho, and Bernie Wrightson, among many others. Baltimore consistently gets great guests, and this year was no different.
More than that, though, Baltimore proved to be a great mixing of the mainstream and the small press. Creators of some of my favorite independent comics were there, too, including Alex Robinson (of Box Office Poison fame) and David Petersen (writer/artist of the fantastic Mouse Guard).
To that point, if you are an autograph seeker or a collector of sketches from artists, then this con is definitely worth checking out.
Personally, I'm not huge on autographs, and I don't like waiting in line for sketches, but I'm just a big fat Grinch, mostly. For me, just being able to shake a creator's hand and tell him or her what their work has meant to me is enough. That said, it is nice (and polite) to have a book in hand for the creator to sign.
There were some pretty cool retailers selling their wares at this con, too, though not nearly as many as I would have figured. Of the stores represented, prices all around seemed a bit high, which took me by surprise.
In case you've been in a box the last year or so, the economy is pretty awful right now, and I was kinda shocked to see so many of the retailers selling high grade books at high grade prices.
Dollar bins are always the hit of any convention, and I didn't see all that many of them in Baltimore. Maybe I just missed them, though, as digging through grungy old comics was never one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. (Ya know, as I write this thing, I realize that I'm a really bad comics fan!)
Anyway, my convention experience boiled down to two main goals--both of which were equally important to me. First was to meet Eric Powell, creator of the greatest comic ever produced, The Goon, and maybe just maybe score some original Goon art. (Which, if you read the blog last week, you'll remember that original, full page Goon art is one of my two White Whales)
Now, I'm not sure if Eric always brings original art to shows, and on his forum a couple weeks ago he mentioned that he didn't have anything for sale. Reading that, I honestly had no intention whatsoever of actually buying art.
And, truth be told, that really put me in a lousy mood as I made the nearly four hour drive down to Baltimore in the increasingly cloudy and scary weather, as I figured my heading down to Baltimore was going to result in an empty-handed return.
But, still wanting to let him know how big a fan I am, and figuring that Mr. Powell's line would be pretty long all day, I decided to head over there first.
I stink at directions, so the floor plan was useless to me, and I just decided to walk around until I found his booth.
As usual, my plan backfired and I got annoyed pretty quickly.
Finally, I spotted the big Goon banner, and made my way across the hall. As I got closer to the booth, I noticed a closed black artists' portfolio, and my hopes shot straight up.
There were a few people ahead of me in line, and I managed not to throw any of them out of my way. (You have to understand that I am not a glass-half-full kinda person, and right up until I actually got to the portfolio I thought someone was going to swoop in and buy up all of the art, Simpsons style--and, if you get that reference, then you're a good man/woman, Charlie Brown).
So I said hello to Eric, and I was able to tell him how great his work is, and it was incredibly cool for me to say thank you to a writer/artist that I really admire. And, I can't help thinking that, only in comics can there be this kind of interaction between professionals and the fans. I mean, think about it--imagine [pompous athlete A] at a signing, sitting and just talking with his or her fans. It would never happen.
Anyway, it was very cool to chat with Eric about his work, and about the upcoming election. Then, I opened up the portfolio (and, yes, there was art in it!) and I braced myself for unaffordable prices--again, glass half empty kinda guy here--and expected to leave my White Whale behind.
But, to my surprise, while the pages were by no means cheap, they were within my spending budget for the trip! Now, all that was left for me to do was choose which page I wanted. And that, my friends, was not an easy thing to do.
But, I found a page that I really liked, with both Goon and his little pal Franky on it, and...I bought it! And let me just say this, WOO-FREAKIN'-HOO, I own a Goon page!!! And here it be:
And here's some other Goon swag I picked up at the show (the sketch, the two sketchbooks, and the hat were all purchased at Eric's booth. The other stuff was picked up from retailers):
Yep, it was a pretty Goon-centric con for me. But, that was my plan, and I actually stuck to it!
More stuff on the con tomorrow, specifically about my second goal of the show, and some photos from Geppi's Entertainment Museum, which was pretty cool.
In a geeky kind of way, of course.
Ah, well. Live and learn. In any case...
On to Baltimore! The con ran this past Saturday and Sunday, and I have to say, I think this may have been my favorite convention that I've ever gone to. Now, as any readers from the beginning of this blog will likely remember (sure you will!), I am really not a big fan of conventions. Like, at all.
Typically, they are hot and smelly (conventions, not our readers) and there's never enough space for everyone to share the same air. And, while there were plenty of people at the Baltimore show trying their darnedest to steal my precious, precious air...it really wasn't that bad.
I went to the show on Saturday only, since I had to drive on back home to my undisclosed location on the next day, so I wasn't privy to how things went on Sunday. But, Saturday ran incredibly smoothly, and even though there was a pretty massive line of people waiting to get in when I arrived at 9:45 (doors opened at 10:00) the convention staff did a great job getting everyone inside without too much hassle.
Immediately upon entering, I could tell that this was going to be a relatively big con with a small con feeling. Meaning, though it was nowhere near the size of San Diego or NYCC, Baltimore still had some pretty heavy hitters as guests. Included in this year's lineup were Jim Lee, Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Mignola, Frank Cho, and Bernie Wrightson, among many others. Baltimore consistently gets great guests, and this year was no different.
More than that, though, Baltimore proved to be a great mixing of the mainstream and the small press. Creators of some of my favorite independent comics were there, too, including Alex Robinson (of Box Office Poison fame) and David Petersen (writer/artist of the fantastic Mouse Guard).
To that point, if you are an autograph seeker or a collector of sketches from artists, then this con is definitely worth checking out.
Personally, I'm not huge on autographs, and I don't like waiting in line for sketches, but I'm just a big fat Grinch, mostly. For me, just being able to shake a creator's hand and tell him or her what their work has meant to me is enough. That said, it is nice (and polite) to have a book in hand for the creator to sign.
There were some pretty cool retailers selling their wares at this con, too, though not nearly as many as I would have figured. Of the stores represented, prices all around seemed a bit high, which took me by surprise.
In case you've been in a box the last year or so, the economy is pretty awful right now, and I was kinda shocked to see so many of the retailers selling high grade books at high grade prices.
Dollar bins are always the hit of any convention, and I didn't see all that many of them in Baltimore. Maybe I just missed them, though, as digging through grungy old comics was never one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. (Ya know, as I write this thing, I realize that I'm a really bad comics fan!)
Anyway, my convention experience boiled down to two main goals--both of which were equally important to me. First was to meet Eric Powell, creator of the greatest comic ever produced, The Goon, and maybe just maybe score some original Goon art. (Which, if you read the blog last week, you'll remember that original, full page Goon art is one of my two White Whales)
Now, I'm not sure if Eric always brings original art to shows, and on his forum a couple weeks ago he mentioned that he didn't have anything for sale. Reading that, I honestly had no intention whatsoever of actually buying art.
And, truth be told, that really put me in a lousy mood as I made the nearly four hour drive down to Baltimore in the increasingly cloudy and scary weather, as I figured my heading down to Baltimore was going to result in an empty-handed return.
But, still wanting to let him know how big a fan I am, and figuring that Mr. Powell's line would be pretty long all day, I decided to head over there first.
I stink at directions, so the floor plan was useless to me, and I just decided to walk around until I found his booth.
As usual, my plan backfired and I got annoyed pretty quickly.
Finally, I spotted the big Goon banner, and made my way across the hall. As I got closer to the booth, I noticed a closed black artists' portfolio, and my hopes shot straight up.
There were a few people ahead of me in line, and I managed not to throw any of them out of my way. (You have to understand that I am not a glass-half-full kinda person, and right up until I actually got to the portfolio I thought someone was going to swoop in and buy up all of the art, Simpsons style--and, if you get that reference, then you're a good man/woman, Charlie Brown).
So I said hello to Eric, and I was able to tell him how great his work is, and it was incredibly cool for me to say thank you to a writer/artist that I really admire. And, I can't help thinking that, only in comics can there be this kind of interaction between professionals and the fans. I mean, think about it--imagine [pompous athlete A] at a signing, sitting and just talking with his or her fans. It would never happen.
Anyway, it was very cool to chat with Eric about his work, and about the upcoming election. Then, I opened up the portfolio (and, yes, there was art in it!) and I braced myself for unaffordable prices--again, glass half empty kinda guy here--and expected to leave my White Whale behind.
But, to my surprise, while the pages were by no means cheap, they were within my spending budget for the trip! Now, all that was left for me to do was choose which page I wanted. And that, my friends, was not an easy thing to do.
But, I found a page that I really liked, with both Goon and his little pal Franky on it, and...I bought it! And let me just say this, WOO-FREAKIN'-HOO, I own a Goon page!!! And here it be:
And here's some other Goon swag I picked up at the show (the sketch, the two sketchbooks, and the hat were all purchased at Eric's booth. The other stuff was picked up from retailers):
Yep, it was a pretty Goon-centric con for me. But, that was my plan, and I actually stuck to it!More stuff on the con tomorrow, specifically about my second goal of the show, and some photos from Geppi's Entertainment Museum, which was pretty cool.
In a geeky kind of way, of course.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Such a Tease...
Before I post up my Baltimore Comic Con 2008 Con Report tomorrow, I'd like to leave you all with a little teaser.
Check it out:
Now what in the world could that be?
Check it out:
Now what in the world could that be?
Crystalis: Better than The Legend of Zelda
And that's how the game begins: 1997, October 1, The END DAY. A terrible war that all but wiped out humanity and left the planet dominated by mutated monsters.To celebrate the 11th anniversary of the end of the world, we're reviewing the classic video game that made the world aware of the apocalypse that we apparently all missed.
...Well, perhaps "made the world aware" is a bit too broad a statement. Crystalis to this day is largely unknown, despite its excellence.
Crystalis was released in 1990 for the old-school Nintendo Entertainment System, gained a cult following, and was remade in 2000 for the Game Boy Color. In many ways, the GBC version is not the same game, so treat it as you would a Swedish meatball tumbling out of a speeding car.
Take that however you will.
In Crystalis, you play as a young man who emerges from a high-tech sleep chamber hidden in a cave, possessing nothing but a name. (Well, and clothes. There are clothes involved.)
You, of course, are the hero who will save the post-apocalyptic world from the monsters and villains that plague it. Your quest takes you through towns, fields, mountains, caves, swamps, deserts, seas, and more, guided by four wise men who teach you to use magic along the way.In addition to magic, a variety of armors, shields, herbs, boots, and flutes are at your disposal, along with the centerpieces of the game, your weapons, the four elemental swords.
Throughout the game you collect the swords of wind, fire, water, and thunder, each with their own special powers, and each with the ability to eventually be charged up for more powerful and dramatic elemental attacks. These can also allow you to do nifty things such as knocking down rock walls and building ice bridges over water.
By the end of the game you are able to launch tornadoes, create firey explosions, launch swirling blizzards, and call down devastating thunderstorms to smite your enemies. Needless to say, this is very cool (and the pictures don't quite do justice to these effects).
Unlike many other games, your weapons never go totally obsolete: though the Sword of Thunder is the most powerful, there will still be times where only the Sword of Wind can harm an enemy.
Much of your equipment never goes out of style, as well: while the armor that restores your health is the strongest in the game, sometimes it's helpful to change into the slightly weaker armor that defends you against being poisoned.
Crystalis plays like The Legend of Zelda (and its 2-D brethren) in that it's a real-time, top-down perspective adventure game with lots of sword swinging, but with different types of puzzles (and fewer of them).
However, I hold that Crystalis is superior to The Legend of Zelda because:
- The weapons are more visually interesting, more powerful, and generally cooler (thunderbolt-hurling sword vs. bow and arrows... hm...)
- The RPG elements (leveling up and buying/finding numerous equipment upgrades) keep your character from stagnating
- The plot is more developed, and the characters seem more like they actually live in the game world and aren't just there for decoration, clues, or plot advancement
- Overworld areas between "dungeons" aren't just filler; every location has a distinct purpose and a unique feel to it
- Magic serves a support role rather than a strictly offensive role, allowing you to heal yourself at any time, teleport back to any town you've visited, and telepathically communicate with the wise men when you're completely stumped about what to do next
Still, though, Crystalis isn't perfect. The menu system, the mechanic for charging up your weapons, somewhat frequent graphics flickering, some instances of excessive monster battling (especially at the end), and a wimpy final boss might draw criticism from some gamers, but if you can overlook these minor or relatively minor issues, there is a truly great game to be played, if you can get your hands on a copy of it.
One that's even better than Zelda.
...And I'm already bracing myself for the terrible wrath of the hardcore Zelda fans I've just offended who haven't even played Crystalis.
Happy End Day!
[Cover art photo from www.racketboy.com; screenshots from www.gamefaqs.com and www.mobygames.com]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)