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In Video Games, You Are What You Wear

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I have written about costume design in games before, but of late, I have been increasingly aware that it's not just about how aesthetically pleasing a costume looks; how Link wears tights so well or how fitting Ezio's clothing is to the time, place and setting of Assassin's Creed 2.


Within the virtual threads, buttons and embellishments of their clothing lie subtle hints and clues about their personalities and these levels of complexity can go further by explaining the characters who wear them in surprising detail.

As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, "apparel oft proclaims the man". 

Take the BioShock games for example, the Little Sisters and later, Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite are represented as vulnerable characters who have been used as a means to an end. That's if you look at the story alone.

Look closer and you can see that what they wear is a visual metaphor of this; the Little Sisters clothing says to me "innocence defiled"and Elizabeth's costume highlights her naivety and innocence of the world. 


Elizabeth's costumes begin quite childlike and conservative, no skin is bare and she gives off an air of naivety and innocence, as the game progresses her clothing adapts, the shapes formed by them are more womanly. This is not unintentional, the games designers wanted to express the notion of a caged bird (Elizabeth) who has been kept safe away from danger is suddenly let loose into a harsh, unforgiving world. 

Discovering that world, Elizabeth's illusions are shattered and she discovers she was not being kept safe and that she has been wronged.

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CRAFT DORK: How To Use Glitter If You're NOT a Stripper

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It’s that time again.

Craft dorkin’ time, baby!

We’re nearing the holiday gift rush and each of these were selected because they all can serve as awesome presents.

And what says “holiday madness” more than an inordinate amount of glitter?

The answer: NOTHING.

Make them as-is or make them your own. All crafts are not terribly time consuming, making it easy to knock out any or all in an afternoons time. They’re each wildly unique and it’s guaranteed that the giftee will be floored.

Get your glue. Get your glitter. LET’S DO THIS.

So, take heed, and get craftin’!


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Christmas, My Father, and the Best Soft Jazz You've Never Heard

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The Christmas tree stands before me, boasting its baubles, beaming in motley colored lights and draped in tinsel, a winter angel presiding over all from on high.

A growing collection of gifts sit beneath our great shining tannenbaum. Lights are hung in all the windows, tinsel and ornament balls on nearly every surface.

It’s Christmas, y’all.

And at this time of year, so much remains the same: the anticipation, the rush of shopping and parties, the time to reconnect with the people you keep close.

But in Blerd Vision’s world, so much has changed.

The decorations adorn a new home, because we moved to a new town after I changed jobs. The kitchen features a bar, where the stockings are hung with care.

Once Santa Claus bribed Cleo with a treat, she was his best friend

The wife sits on the couch writing Christmas cards as our new dog, Cleo, lies sprawled out in slumber with a Christmas-themed bandana on her collar.

But, like a scene from A Christmas Carol, there’s an empty chair in this Christmas future. It’s the first holiday season since my father died in August.

As you can see, Dad was all about having a good time

I really have no idea what his absence at Christmas will do to me. They say the first one is really hard. The birthday definitely was – a week of doldrums-like sadness hanging on everything.

This Christmas, I don’t want to be blue. I told my wife we’d dress the house and think of good memories. I’ll feel whatever I am going to feel, but I am going to choose what I can. So it is.

I will feel one thing this Christmas regarding my father.

Or, rather, hear it. And that's soft jazz.

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Dark Horse Comics To Publish THE GOON Library Editions

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For 15 years Eric Powell’s THE GOON has been one of the most celebrated indie comic book series, beloved by fans and creators alike for its bold creativity, classic style and whiskey fueled humor. Next year, Dark Horse Comics will provide the high end, hardcover treatment the series deserves when they publish the THE GOON LIBRARY EDITION Volume One ($39.95; November 11, 2015) collecting The Goon: Rough Stuff (vol. 0), Nothin’ but Misery (vol. 1), My Murderous Childhood (vol. 2), Heaps of Ruination (vol. 3).

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Win DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS DEAD on Blu-ray!

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Martin (Vegar Hoel) hasn’t had the best vacation. He accidentally killed his girlfriend with an axe. He cut his own arm off with a chainsaw. And his friends STILL got devoured by a battallion of Nazi Zombies. This morning, he woke up in a hospital bed with a  new arm – but it’s a super-powered Zombie arm that wants to kill him, and anything else it can reach. Martin’s PISSED. And with the help of his new Zombie Squad pals (Martin Starr, Jocelyn DeBoer, Ingrid Haas), he’s gonna deliver some payback to Colonel Herzog and his precious Nazi gold – by raising an undead army of his own.


And we're giving away three copies!

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Tom Robbins on Writing, Imagination and Wishing He Could Write In Lizard's Blood

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Tom Robbins (Still Life With Woodpecker, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues) is the epitome of what young impressionable would-be authors think writing should be all about...becoming merely a vessel for imaginative, philosophical, fantastical stories bursting to come out.

With a voice that is wholly unique and a writing style that harkens back to another era (he writes with pen and paper) Robbins views the act of writing, not as a career dedicated to creating a salable product, but as a purely intuitive art that is all about getting in touch with the truth of the story.

In the following Blank on Blank episode, Robbins talks with Tod Mesirow (from 1994) for a film about writers that never came to fruition (which is too bad) about taking a two-by-four to an electric typewriting, wanting a nurse to serve him Tequila Sunrises when he's 85 years old and how he wishes he could write with a quill dipped in lizard's blood.

Like I said, Robbins is what you would call a "unique" kind of writer.

Video after the break.

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Warner Bros. Announces East Coast Premiere of JUSTICE LEAGUE: THRONE OF ATLANTIS at The Paley Center in New York

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Aquaman takes center stage at January 26 event;
Limited Free Tickets Available to Fans on First Come, First Served Basis

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and The Paley Center for Media proudly present the World Premiere of Justice League: Throne of Atlantis in New York on January 26, 2015. Filmmakers and members of the voice cast will attend the event for red carpet media interviews and a post-screening panel discussion.

The screening will commence at 6:30pm, and attending talent will be announced as confirmed in the coming weeks. The Paley Center for Media is located at 25 West 52nd Street in New York City.

A limited number of free tickets are available to the general public. Fans wishing to receive free tickets to the New York event on January 26 must RSVP via email to JLAtlantisNY@gmail.com.

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9 KISSES: This Year’s Best Actors Pair Up In A Series Of Intimate Encounters

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The New York Times used their journalistic powers to convince 18 actors to make out with one another...on camera...because it would be kind of cool to see. As a somewhat tolerated pop culture blogger for a reputable site the only thing I can get people to do is send me Linked-In requests.

(sigh)

If you are in the mood to see hot people going at each other in photographer Elaine Constantine's short film 9 Kisses (if, for no other reason than to stock the spank bank with some fresh scenarios) get ready to see the following people go at each other: Benedict Cumberbatch and Reese Witherspoon, Chadwick Boseman and Kristen Stewart, Jason Schwartzman and Patricia Arquette, Steve Carell and Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Jack O’Connell, Miles Teller and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Julianne Moore and John Lithgow, Roasario Dawson and Jenny Slate and finally David Oyelowo and Timothy Spall.

Now that's going to provide a lot of fantasies.

Video after the break.

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Amazing Heroes Handbook Preview From AMAZING HEROES Wave 1.5 Kickstarter!

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With only a few days to go, the Amazing Heroes Wave 1.5 Kickstarter campaign has released a preview of the upcoming digital Amazing Heroes Handbook, written by comic book historian Christopher Irving (Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comic Books, with photographer Seth Kushner) and featuring vintage comic book stories courtesy of the Digital Comics Library. The cover is by artist Mitch Ballard and designs is by David Go with Peter Go.

“The Handbook was a blast to write,” Irving says. “Black Terror and the Golden Age Dare-Devil are two of my first favorite Golden Age characters. To get the chance to write about them with Stardust, Captain Action, Silver Streak, and the Green Turtle was a dream come true. Now I’m just waiting to have the figures in hand next summer.”

Amazing Heroes Wave 1 was successfully funded last August. Wave 1.5 will add three more figures to this line of retro action figures: Silver Streak, Champion of Mars, and Michael Allred’s cult indy comics character Madman. It will also add Artist Edition cards for each figure, drawn by a selection of comics luminaries.



“I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for these talented artists,” Bill Murphy of Fresh Monkey Fiction says. “It's really been a dream come true to work with these guys, and I still can't believe how lucky we are to have them contributing to Amazing Heroes.”

Allred will draw both Madman and Dare-Devil, Erik Larsen on Stardust the Super-Wizard, Reilly Brown on Champion of Mars, Tim Seeley on Silver Streak, Tom Fowler on Black Terror, Sonny Liew on Green Turtle, and Phil Hester on Captain Action. If funded, the card backs will feature original four-panel strips drawn by each artist.

The Amazing Heroes Wave 1.5 Kickstarter is set to end at 3 AM Eastern time on Sunday, December 21.

After the jump, check out a preview of Irving'sAmazing Heroes Handbook.


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LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES: The Magic Christmas Tree...If The Holidays Make You Feel Weird, Then You're Going To Somewhat Enjoy This Film

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Okay, so this film isn't so much a Xmas movie as it is a bizarre combination of every Fall holiday, some kind of Genie-like Christmas tree that grants wishes and a young boy who gets completely fucked by the end of it. Oh, and was made with such a low-budget that it will start to annoy you in about fifteen minutes in, but since the whole movie clocks in about an hour long, you will stick with it because you have nothing better to do.

Which, is kind of what the holidays are all about anyway...sticking with it until it's over and done with.

Merry Xmas.

Movie after the break.

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Fan Entitlement, Because You've Earned It.

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve kept one leg planted firmly in comic book fandom, and the other in professional wrestling fandom.

Those are, after all, the two great loves of my life and I spend a lot of my time thinking about both.

That also means I spend a lot of my time interacting with other fans, both in person and online. For the most part, it’s a pretty fun experience. After all, where’s the fun in loving something if you’ve got no one to share it with? 

The problem with fandom of anything, though, is that oftentimes you find yourself mingling with folks who are consistently down about pretty much everything.

Nothing seems to make them happy and over the years I’ve come to realize that hardened comic fans and hardened wrestling fans tend to focus on the exact same arguments.

Sure, the names change, but the arguments are exactly the same.  Arguments like…


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Dark Horse To Publish THE ORDER OF THE FORGE—THE UNTOLD TALE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON!

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A historical fiction genre smash-up!

In spring 2015, creator and producer Donn D. Berdahl of Bronco Donn Entertainment and Dark Horse Comics, in association with Home Plate Entertainment, will present a tale left out of the history books. Set in 1753, this comic shows a young George Washington who ain’t your schoolteacher’s George Washington; this is The Order of the Forge!

Victor Gischler (Deadpool: Merc with a Mouth, Wolverine: Revolver, Angel & Faith) writes a three-issue miniseries that will surprise and shock scholars everywhere. Based on an original concept from Donn D. Berdahl and a treatment by well-known British author Andy Briggs, The Order of the Forge has “humor, vulgarity, and at times brutality,” according to Comic Bastards. This series is a must-read for fans of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and all other historical fiction works!
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Double Feature Movie Show: BOTH SIDES OF CHRISTMAS LOVE

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Christmas is a time for love….right?

That’s what I hear, anyway.

Sometimes that love comes with baggage. Sometimes it comes with just plain love.

Let’s take a look at two Christmas love stories.

Both great, but definitely on different sides of the world of love.


LOVE ACTUALLY (2003)
Written and directed by Richard Curtis



Remember when they used to make romantic comedies with 40 different stories going at once?

Oh yeah. They’re still doing that crap. And each one is worse than the last.

But Love Actually is where it all started (for better or worse) and it’s actually really, really good.

To summarize is almost impossible, but I’ll try a little bit.

Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) is making a comeback with a hit Christmas song based on Love Is All Around. He hates it, but rolls with the punches while he runs to the bank.

Meanwhile, everyone in London is in love.

Daniel (Liam Neeson after being killed in The Phantom Menace, but before being killed in Batman Begins and Chronicles Of Narnia) is trying to teach his young stepson about love while dealing with the death of his wife. J

ohn and Judy (Martin Freeman and Joanna Page) are body doubles for sex scenes. They simulate sex for a living and start to get feelings for each other. They’re great when they’re working, but aren’t sure how to cope with those feelings in the real world.

Colin (Kris Marshall) thinks British women are cold, so he decides to try to find a foreign woman.

Prime Minister David (High Grant) is single and slowly falling for one of his maids, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). What will he EVER do about that?

Jamie (Colin Firth) is on a writer’s retreat and starts to fall for a Portuguese maid at the hotel. They can barely communicate at first, but soon learn that they don’t really need to use words.

That’s just a few of the plot threads going through this flick and, strangely, they all work. (The others involve Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Billy Bob Thornton, Elisha Cuthbert and, of course (in a small role), Rowan Atkinson.

Also amazingly, they all pretty much tie together by the end.

If you ever think that all silly romantic comedies are crap, check this one out. It was much better than I thought it would be and even gave me a bit of hope for love back in the day. I mean, in a movie sort of way.



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THE TOP TEN CARTOONS OF 1938

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We’re already up to 1938 in our top ten series here, and there is once again a cornucopia of great cartoons to choose from. '

The Disney studio, fresh off of the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was still turning out top-quality Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Silly Symphonies shorts, even while working simultaneously on Pinocchio and Fantasia (both released in 1940).

And the Fleischer Studio relocated to Florida to begin work on their first animated feature, Gulliver’s Travels, which would be released in 1939.

New characters created in 1938 include Terrytoons’ Gandy Goose (first appearing in The Gandy Goose) and Disney’s Huey, Dewey & Louie (first appearing in Donald’s Nephews). MGM also brought Rudolph Dirks’ Captain and the Kids to the screen for a short-lived attempt at a series.

But the most notable debut was a certain wascally wabbit named Bugs Bunny, who first appeared in Ben Hardaway’s Porky’s Hare Hunt. However, Bugs was more or less unrecognizable at this point, being portrayed as an out-of-control lunatic rather than a quick-thinking heckler, and it wasn’t until Tex Avery’s 1940 cartoon A Wild Hare that Bugs became the character audiences known and love.

Speaking of Warner Bros., the studio lost Friz Freleng to MGM and Frank Tashlin to Disney, although Freleng would return in 1940 and Tashlin would return in 1943. A

s a result, Chuck Jones was promoted to the director’s chair, making his debut with The Night Watchman. His early years a director were mostly focused on cute Disney imitations, and it took until 1942 for him to come into his own and begin an incredible creative streak that lasted for about fifteen years and resulted in some of the greatest cartoons ever made.

In this list, we have quite a bit of Disney and Warner Bros., as well as an entry from the Fleischer Studio, a George Pal Puppetoon and an abstract short from the UK. Take a look:


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Among The Panels: ROCKET SALVAGE #1, LAST SUPPER #1, WYTCHES #3 & More!

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A world of four color magic arrives every Wednesday.

Stories and adventures of heroes and villains, good versus evil.

Tales that entertain and excite by talented writers and artists.

Here are my thoughts Among The Panels.


Rumble #1

Writer: John Arcudi

Artist: James Harren

Publisher: Image 
Comics
Price: $3.50


When I think about how many comics come and go each year, I am always tickled when I find one that inspires hope in the medium for me.

Rumble #1 by John Arcudi and James Harren is a shining light in the landscape of recycled stories.

The first few pages blew me away; even though the post-apocalyptic world is more common these days, this one kind of stands out.

I thought that it was going to dive into what happened to the world or explain that some kind of war broke out and most everyone perished but they didn’t.

Instead of what you might expect, we got a story about a scarecrow demon that wields a giant sword!

The scarecrow attacks an old man, who leaves a cryptic note with a lowly barkeep. The barkeep manages to stop the scarecrow with a well-placed baseball bat to the head. After running to contact the police the old man who now is missing an arm vanishes and leaves no trace behind.

The barkeep tries to explain it to the police but they seem like terrible police officers and just write him off as crazy. Just after they leave the barkeep to his business, we find out that the barkeep still has the giant sword. He straps it on his back and goes out into the night for help. He arrives at that owner of the bar’s house but is unable to rouse his friend. The barkeep hangs up the phone and comes face to face with two giant demons asking for the sword. He runs out into the street and pulls out the sword to fight. The demons are being quite nice but he is still afraid of them and ends up throwing the sword at them. He finally gives up and tells then to take the sword and the agree, but just as they get the sword back the scarecrow man appears once again and we are left with a cliffhanger.

The biggest reason I enjoyed this book was the art. James Harren’s was so different from the normal style of books in this genre, that really pulled me in from page one. I really enjoyed the character designs with elongated features and goofy looking expressions. The action scenes were awesomely rendered and the demons were drawn expertly.

John Arcudi and James Harren have created a sincerely original world that I hope will continue to grow. There are just so many questions asked in the first issue. I hope that when the second issue drops next month I am gifted with more of a great story packed with art that screams to be looked at.

Score: 4.5 out of 5


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2014 FOG! Holiday Gift Guide: Addendum

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You thought we were done with recommendations?

With Hannukah in full force and a visit from Saint Nick imminent, here are some more things that your pop culture loving giftees will dig including some awesome miniature editions from Running Press, a DVD box set that belongs in the library of every British comedy lover, some swanky Marvel t-shirts, two more must have Yoe Books titles and more!


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More Titles Added To The Humble Dynamite MEGA Bundle As It Enters Final Week!

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Total Value Now Over $600 USD

Following the launch of last week's Humble Dynamite MEGA Bundle with over ten thousand redemptions in the first twenty-four hours. Dynamite Entertainment is excited to announce the latest additions to its massive year-end promotion over on humblebundle.com/books.

In addition to an array of comics ranging from Gail Simone's Red Sonja, Shaft #1 from David F. Walker, Uncanny by Andy Diggle and Aaron Campbell, and the hit debut issue of Bob's Burgers, fans can now read all six issues of The New York Times Bestselling series Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: War Cry, the complete Mercy Thompson Moon Called Vol. 2, the original Doodle Jump comic inspired by the best-selling video game and more!



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Five Year-Old Praises Jabba the Hutt's Slave-Girl Fashion Sense

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Five year-olds live in a world absent of political correctness so this short animated conversation of a father and daughter talking about Princes Leia's slave outfit, and how lovely it was of Jabba to pick out such a cute one for her to wear, is going to upset some and amuse others.

What I find brilliant about it is how the father is trying desperately to appreciate his daughter's point of view while steering her into understanding why some people find the outfit demeaning.

Gotta love the tightrope act that fathers have to deal with when it comes to raising strong nerd daughters.

Animation after the break.

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MUSIC VIDEO MONDAY: Christmas Wrapping- The Waitresses

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Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses is one of the best holiday new wave/pop songs ever written. Sure, some people will claim that Last Christmas by Wham! should hold that honor, but fuck that, a song about someone who wants to spend the holiday alone without all the stress and who ends up running into her crush at the store when she forgot cranberries to go with her tiny turkey, is by all account much better than a song about being a whiny bitch.

And yeah, I stand by that statement.

Merry Holiday Whatever...video after the break.

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COMIC BOOK HEAVEN: A Short Film Follows The End of A Queens Old School Comic Store

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Joe Leisner has spent over 60 years in the comic book business and now, at 81, he is ready to retire. Unfortunately for the Queens neighborhood where Comic Book Heaven has stood for decades, the scent of old paper and cigarette smoke will fade away into the ether, leaving a hole where thousands of nerds wasted hours searching for a specific comic issue and reminding us that independent comic stores provide more than a place to buy back issues, they give nerds a place to hang out, discuss characters and feel connected to their fellow dorks.

So check out E.J. McLeavey-Fisher's short film after the break and hopefully, it will inspire you to visit your local store and buy a couple issues.

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