Spotlight on Dynamite's "Warlord of Mars", a true epic.

Thinking outside of the box is an uncommon thing when it comes to comic books, everybody seems so wrapped up in spandex clad superheroes and mutants to the point where so many fantastic comics go unnoticed and unread. It’s sad. Today I wanted to discuss some of these non-superhero based comics in an attempt to get the word out there that Marvel and DC are not the only two publishers in the industry putting out good comics and consumers within the industry need to understand that. This entry into The Thought Corner is going to focus on a series by Dynamite Entertainment called Warlord of Mars and the reasons as to why this is one of the best comics currently on store shelves, strap yourselves in because there is a lot to talk about.

First things first, I’m sure many people are wondering what the heck Warlord of Mars is all about and why I’m posting a blog revolving around this title specifically because lets face it, there are tons of fantastic comics out there that are not put out by the “big two”. I chose this title because of the effect that it’s had on me, it’s an unconventional story based off a series of public domain books that are now long out of print but with a twist on the story and original elements added to craft this tale of a man known as John Carter. The basic plot of it all is that this man, John Carter, and his friend get into a tussle inside of a bar in Virginia way back in the day when people traveled by horse back, they kill a few important people and are hunted down where they eventually kill John’s friend. Without revealing much of the story lets just say that John finds himself on Mars where he is captured and imprisoned by a barbaric race known as Tharks, not liking how he and other members of their race are being treated he kills one of the Tharks in front of the high council and is given the rank of “chieftain” among them. Even though he is one of the clans chieftains, John is still considered a prisoner and does not have complete freedom to do what he wants so he has no choice but to serve the Tharks as a leader and accept the fact that he is their captive, it’s really interesting to see how limited he is knowing that they could kill him at anytime and someone else would just take over his rank. As the story progresses John meets a princess of another part of the planet by the name of Dejah Thoris, who is not cast in the mold of an alien and looks human with a slight red tint to her skin. They become friends and their feelings for each other grow, the problem is that Dejah is held captive by the Tharks because their clan is at odds with her homeland and the capture of her puts the Tharks in a good position within this argument between the two parties. While this is happening, John grows close to one of the Tharks thanks to her kind demeanor as well as an animal that has been appointed to him, they plan an escape and decide to take Dejah along with them. Soon after they agree on the escape plan they take off like thieves in the night only to be hunted down by the Tharks and separated from each other which is where the story is as of this writing.

There really is a lot more to the story that I don’t want to discuss here because it would give too much away, I just wanted to go over the basic plot of the book and talk about some of the characters, if you do decide to read it then prepare to shed a tear at the story revolving one of the Tharks, Tars Tarkas, and his estranged daughter. It’s very tragic. Another scene that gets to me is when John Carter reveals his love for Dejah and then an issue or two later we find out that she may be forced to marry within an enemy faction to prevent a long standing war between them and her kingdom, the look on Carter’s face was that of confusion and sadness.
The book as a whole is very story driven with lots of important moments shared between all the core characters, some issues are more action heavy than others but it all comes together to create one awesome story and I can see why the book is selling extremely well. Warlord of Mars usually finds itself within the top 150 (out of top 300) comics ordered each month which is very good for a small press publisher considering that Marvel/DC combined publish an average of about 290 comics every month. The online buzz for Warlord of Mars has been favorable too with many comic book forums having dedicated threads centered around discussion for the book and there is even a movie in the works, though the movie is not connected to Dynamite or the comics published by Dynamite. The series has sold so well for Dynamite Entertainment that they have even started publishing a spinoff series for Dejah Thoris and are currently working on another spinoff called Fall of Barsoom, which will be based on ancient tales that have taken place within the same continuity. The fact that this book is doing so well proves that there is a market for non-superhero titles in comics, it’s just up to the bigger publisher to realize this and publish more books that think outside of the box, but I’m not holding my breath on that because superheroes are still the big thing in comics and that isn’t going to change anytime soon.



One thing I wanted to touch upon was the production of Warlord of Mars and just how good it actually is, especially the covers which is the first thing people are going to notice when they see the books. The series has a host of different cover each month since Dynamite loves playing the variant game so much, but there are two cover artists that have really left their mark on me with this series and those artists are Joe Jusko and J. Scott Campbell. Jusko’s covers are heroic, detailed, and incredibly painted to the point where I would actually put him on par with someone like Alex Ross, the covers Jusko has been putting out for this book are absolutely some of the best covers I’ve ever seen. Period. Joe’s portrayal of John Carter and Dejah Thoris have fans talking, they are so enthralled by his artwork that collectively they have all but named Joe the definitive Warlord of Mars cover artist, and I can’t blame them one bit since the work he’s done has been simply impressive. J. Scott Campbell on the other hand usually does not make use of John Carter on his covers and tends to stick to sexy poses for Dejah Thoris which have been a true delight to look at. Campbell’s covers are some of the sexiest I’ve ever seen for a comic book that can be purchased without having a black bag covering it and he has really drawn the fans in and made Dejah Thoris one of the most physically appealing women in all of comics.

Aside from excellent covers the interior art in Warlord of Wars is pretty darn good as well, I have read a lot of mixed reviews for this series and it's mind boggling to me because I don't know exactly what it is that people are actually looking for. The interiors pencils are on par with just about any other book on store shelves and I really enjoy the depictions of John Carter and the rest of the cast and I feel that the inks and coloring within the book are exceptionally done as well. The same goes with the writing, the script for the series is clever and intriguing and I find myself looking forward to each issue because of the way each book ends with a cliffhanger coupled with an interesting turn within the story that I feel I must follow, that is the mark of a good writer. If you're looking for a comic book that rejects the norm and paves the way for a fun adventure with interesting and unique characters than Warlord of Mars is certainly for you, I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and readers and until Dynamite gives me a reason I will continuing supporting it through word of mouth and through my wallet.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Memoirs of a Star Wars figure collector.

Since the early part of the 00’s I’ve been an on again off again Star Wars figure collector, it’s a hobby that I hold in high regard as one of the funnest hobbies I’ve ever had. A big part of the fun had to do with a close friend of mine, known as Stelfo64 (for identity protection), was a fellow collector as well and we would go on many adventures all across our great state in search of Star Wars figures to add to our collection. Another thing that added to the fun of collecting was that usually the figures would come out a month or so before the movies did and it gave us more fuel to be pumped up about the upcoming films and often times the toys would have clues to certain things within the movies that would make you rattle your brain in an attempt to figure it all out before you actually see the movie in theaters. 2002-2006 was a grand time to be a Star Wars collector, hundreds and hundreds of figures were being released and product from Episode 1 was still being found on store shelves, it seemed like everywhere you went there was something Star Wars related staring you straight in the face and the mania certainly added to the excitement of seeing the movies when they came out. Back in those days I was an opener, I would seek out figures and open them up for display purposes and pose them on book shelves in various stances and battle scenes, but by 2004 I was strictly a mint on card (MOC) collector and luckily much of the Episode 2 stuff I hard purchased previously was still available on store shelves, so like a man possessed I went back and bought it all again. For the stuff I couldn’t find again in stores I used eBay, BriansToys.com, and BigBadToyStore.com, so I always had an avenue to add to my collection and had spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars to ensure my collection was “impressive…..most impressive” (yikes!).

Thinking back on the great times I had as a collector I often think about the memories of me and Stelfo64 scouring Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Toys R’ Us, Toy Works, and various other stores over the course of a day as we tried to find everything we could, often times just trying to find 1 figure would cause us to go crazy and put some serious miles on the old car. One day in particular I remember driving all over the state, we would hit up a series of stores in one part of the state and then drive 40 minutes to an hour down to another part of the state and do it again just so we could travel another 30+ minutes out of the way to visit another group of stores and so on. It was a lot of driving but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. I even remember him running out of cash because he purchased so many figures, that one day alone he must have bought 20-25+, so he would call up his credit card company to see how much money he had on his cards so he could buy even more. Was it a sickness? Possibly, but he would do these kinds of things with comic books and vintage video games as well, we called it “pulling a Stelfo” and whenever he was in the mood to add to his collection it was always a fun time had by all. Heck, I remember one time we went into a comic book store and we were looking around and I decided to grab a few books off of the new arrivals shelf and when I turned around he had a giant stack of about 20-30 comics in his hands and we had only been there about 5 minutes at best. That day he ended up purchasing over 120 comics, a giant comic box, and a bunch of protective supplies such as bags and boards. It was insane, fun but insane.




Some other great memories I’ve had as a Star Wars figure collector came around the time that Revenge of the Sith was coming out, the ROTS figures were everywhere and I remember store hopping to find all the latest figures and often times I would bump into the same people who were doing the same thing. A few different times I would see someone scouring the Star Wars figures at Wal-Mart and then I would grab what I needed and then bump into him at Toys R’ Us, and then once again at Target mere moments later, it was really interesting. Sometimes I would get into conversations with these people and we would discuss the different aspects of collecting and how we display our collections and whatnot, it was really engaging and I miss that about being a collector. The worst part about it was the re-sellers who would often be visiting stores in search of the rare figures that they could make the most money on from eBay, more than a few times I would visit a store and see someone searching pegs for a rare find, often they would try to block you from going near a peg they haven’t searched yet to the point where they would even scowl at you to come back when they were done. I would often laugh and barrel my way through and have even ticked one or two re-sellers off when I located a figure that they’ve been searching for, one time to the point where the guy tried to order me to give it to him because he was there first claiming it was his right. Yeah, needless to say I was the one who left with the rare find and not him.

One thing I started doing in an effort to find rare figures and early releases was joining a popular Star Wars collectors forum, much of the forums were broken up by state and people would post findings and availabilities they’ve come across within the forums along with pictures and locations to tip off the serious collectors. More than a few times I was able to use this information to hunt down something I really needed, I just feel sorry for the young children who want to go to the store and grab a Yoda or Darth Vader figure and show up to find pegs filled with Battle Droids because all the hardcore collectors have blown threw the stores like a tornado in the south.



Sadly, after about 5 years of hard work building my Star Wars figures collection it was maliciously given away by an ex-fiance` back in 2007 who saw fit to decide what to do with my belongings and suddenly everything I've spent my hard earned money on throughout the years was gone. I was very up but since it happened during an off period of collecting for me I wans't too devistated since my sights were set on collecting comic books as well as Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings action figures, but that giant hole in my heart was left unsatisfied as I knew that someday I would want to collect Star Wars once again. After the collection was gone I actually made it a point not to watch the saga or involve myself with much of anything to do with Star Wars because I knew my love for collecting would return and I would have to start over from scratch, finally last week the bug has bit me once again and I took to the stores in hunt of current figures as well as small collectors shops and the internet for figures that I've had before that I wanted again. I have a long way to go before my collection is anything like it once was, but it's something that I want to do and I feel like it's something that I have to do if I'm ever to get over what was done to my previous collection and move forward with filling the void that was left in it's place.

I've already jumped back into the fray with a couple very successful hauls last week which consisted of 9 Saga Legends figures as well as 4 Vintage Collection figures I've gathered from a Wal-Mart and Toys R' Us, I've also put an order into BigBadToyStore.com for some old Power of the Force 2 figures and have located 3 small collectors shops in my area that have a decent selection of figures from the early 2000's. I can't wait to make my next haul and I'm hoping that when the Star Wars films are re-released in theaters starting in 2012 that the mania will be as high as ever and the collectors will be out in droves which will in turn help to create the next chapter of memories in my Star Wars collecting memoirs.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Remembering "Sovereign Seven" by Chris Claremont, Dwayne Turner, & Ron Lim.

Back in early 1995 comic book collecting was a whirlwind for me, there was so many fun books on the shelves each week that I was spending every red cent I had on titles such as anything X-Men, anything Spider-Man, anything Batman and other popular comics that a little gem by one of the industries greatest creators almost flew underneath my radar. That creator was the incredible Chris Claremont of X-Men fame and the book was a team comic called “Sovereign Seven” (S7), a series that turned me from a comic book collector that would buy anything that was popular to a comic book collector who actually sought out books that went unnoticed by the general “funny book” buying population.

I was somewhat new to buying X-Men comics in early 1995, I was building my X-Men collection from scratch and a huge chunk of the stuff I was buying was stuff that Chris Claremont was writing. I fell so totally in love with what he was doing on X-Men and other X-Men related titles that when I found out he was coming out with a team book under the DC banner I just knew I had to be a part of it, but unless I picked up my comic book store’s monthly newsletter I wouldn’t have even known that Sovereign Seven existed since I didn’t pay much attention to DC at the time aside from Batman. There they were on the front cover, all 7 members in an epic pose that ended up gracing the cover of their first issue, the title said “coming in June” and since it was May I was pumped up knowing that the book was only a month away. Man, those were the days, back then I used to get so jacked when there was a comic book coming out that I wanted to get my hands on, I still get excited when something tickles my fancy but it isn’t nearly the feeling I would get back in those days. After a long month of waiting I was finally able to get my hands on the first issue of Sovereign Seven, I don’t know what it was about that first issue but I felt like I had struck gold and treated that comic as if it were made of the most delicate of materials. I was simply ecstatic and after reading S7, I felt like I was a part of something special and read the publication from cover to cover about a thousand times, and while everyone in the world was reading X-Men books and everyone who wasn’t reading those were reading whatever the hot Image team books were, I was reading S7 and I felt like I was reading the best team book on the stands. It wasn’t though, in fact, not many people read Sovereign Seven and aside from it’s first 6 issues or so the title had a hard time competing and usually found itself toward the lower half of the top 100 monthly comics, which by today's standards would make the book a runaway hit. Critics found the story to be too confusing and many others considered the book to be a poor man’s X-Men title by a creator who wished he was still working on the merry mutants but wasn’t, but I didn’t care what everyone else was saying because I loved it and that’s all that mattered to me.

Sovereign Seven did achieve something that has never been achieved in comics before, it was the first comic book to ever be a creator owned title that took place within the core DC continuity. Not only that, but it was the first creator owned book to actually take a well known DC owned character and placed them within the book as a permanent member of the cast. That was unheard of back in those days (still is) and never has a group of characters interacted with company owned properties within the pages of a book that was not self published, so if anything I guess both Claremont and the S7 creative team had that going for them. As for the plot of the book? Well, the story in itself was an interesting one, 7 individuals were taken from their dying worlds to form a team while they are repeatedly chased by something they only knew as being called “The Rapture”. While they waited for The Rapture to strike they often dealt with a wide array of enemies ranging from classic DC super-villains to the evil mother of the groups leader, and even a shape shifter who took control of one of the members early in the series who revealed to have not been who they thought she was some 10 issues later. Those who enjoyed the series hoped for Sovereign Seven to take off with popularity and spawn an action figure line, multiple spin-off comics, cartoons, movies, and other such media like X-Men had enjoyed over at Marvel, but unfortunately it was not meant to be. S7 as a series lasted only 36 issues and a couple different annuals before it was cancelled by DC due to poor sales toward the end of it’s run, which I felt was a shame since the title really seemed to be getting very interesting around issue #30 with a storyline that was leading into the Sovereigns coming face to face with The Rapture. In the final issue of s7 titled “The Final Victory”, the Sovereigns faced off against the very enemy that they’ve feared since the beginning and landed the definite victory, it was a shame because the final issue felt rushed and the victory seemed forced, it turned out that way most likely because the creative team probably found out about the series cancellation and wanted to have the series end with an end to the story. So with no time left on the clock they tossed a story together as a way to give the fans a certain ending and they creatively came up with a way to make it so the series had no real connection to the real DC continuity, which personally ticked me off as a fan of the book. The final few pages revealed that the team and their adventures were nothing more than a dream shared between the two owners of the Crossroads Inn, an inn that the Sovereign’s worked for in the story. And just like that, the series was finished.



Despite Sovereign Seven’s highs and lows I stuck by the book for all 3 years of it’s publication and loved every minute of it, I must have read through the entire 36 issues more than a dozen times and I felt like I really got to know the characters and bonded with them, something I have a hard time with these days (especially with Marvel/DC). Oddly enough, S7’s cancellation started an unusual turn of events that eventually saw me leave comic book collecting for a little while, it wasn’t long and it didn’t happen right away but I was done from around late 1998-early 2000 before I picked up another comic from the stands. I felt like a small piece of me had died when S7 was cancelled and for the next several months I tried to confide in X-Men titles and the “Heroes Return” storyline from Marvel to soften the blow, as well as books from DC and Image but nothing could fill the void left by Sovereign Seven’s cancellation. I honestly can’t say why I felt so attached to this comic, I’ve read 100 team books that told a better story and had better artwork but there was just something special about S7 that stuck with me and I guess I have no choice but to chalk it up to one of those weird things that a person just can’t explain, sort of like falling in love or something to that effect. Regardless of everything I’ve said I would urge comic book fans who enjoy reading team books to check out Sovereign Seven, it’s a fun comic that was a first of it’s kind with the whole creator owned storyline behind it and it’s definitely an interesting piece of comic book history, or DC history at the very least. Heck, mycomicshop.com has the entire series for about $1.10 per issue in NM condition with issues dropping below the $.90 mark if you don’t mind scuffs, prices like that are very generous and make the comic worth checking out if you haven’t already. Well, I guess it’s time to bring this blog post to an end, I just want to take this time to thank Chris Claremont, Dwayne Turner, Ron Lim, and the rest of the awesome Sovereign Seven creative team for making this series one of my favorite all-time comic books and for giving me something to look forward to every month for 3 whole years of my life. You guys eternally rock.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ, CBR, and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

The XboX 360 and why it's superior over the Playstation 3.

So, lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the video game industry and especially about the XboX 360/PS3 and which system is better. I know I have a lot of online friends who have an Xbox 360, and some of you even have both, but there are the few of you out there who have just the PS3 and I know a lot of the comments I’ve made on Twitter and elsewhere online has angered some of you. I just wanted to create this entry for The Thought Corner to justify my position as to why I think, more like know, the XboX 360 is superior to the PS3.

To start things off I just want to solidify the fact that I’ve had plenty of experience playing the PS3, so when people are reading this I don’t want them to think that I’m some XboX 360 fan boy who refuses to give anything other than my system of choice a fighting chance. If that happens to be what your thinking then allow me to hand you a huge slice of humble pie and go into detail about my experiences with the PS3 and why I‘ve come to the conclusion that I‘m writing about on this blog.

My experiences with the PS3 date back to mid-2008 when I got a chance to sit down and play it for the first time (stores aside) at a friends house, he is huge into fighting games and he tossed in one of the popular fighting games of the year (Soul Caliber, maybe?) and we fired up quite a few rounds of butt kicking action. The unbalanced controller made it difficult for me to get used to, something I’ve always hated about Playstation controllers, and I had a hard time learning combo’s and special moves as I played through all the different rounds we played. I’ve felt this way about the PS3’s controller when I played it at a Best Buy and then a Wal-Mart months before trying it at my buddies house and I’ve never been sold on the side by side dual analog joysticks, it’s just unnatural feeling and not ergonomic enough.
After I tried my hand at fighting games he went ahead and threw in a racing game, I think it was Midnight Club or something along those lines, it certainly wasn’t my cup of tea but it was okay for a racing game and I was actually able to beat him in a couple of races so my adrenaline was pumping and we moved onto COD4: Modern Warfare. I was impressed with Modern Warfare, the game had amazing graphics and the game play was solid as a rock, but it came down to the controller being the bane of the situation and my hands were quickly cramping up. It was time to move onto something else so we played a few different games that were apparently PS3 exclusives and I was excited to see what these games were all about, but unfortunately nothing held my interest and everything was lackluster at best.

The 2nd time I really got to sit down and play the PS3 was when my girlfriends brother received one for Christmas in 2009, shortly after I had made the decision to purchase an XboX 360. I came over to pick her up so we could go shopping but she woke up late and still needed to show and get ready to go, her brother was playing the most recent John Madden football game and asked if I wanted to play with him, I agreed and we played Madden for a little while. The game was certainly nothing special and when we were done with Madden he wanted to know if I wanted to play a shooting game called “Haze” which, for a long time, was a PS3 exclusive. I had time to kill so he put it on and we played for about a half an hour before my girlfriend was ready to get going, the game was terrible, when I was playing Haze I couldn’t get into what was going on and the controls were so jerky that it created such a huge distraction that I eventually had to put the controller down and stop playing.

Since then I spent some time playing the PS3 inside of random stores such as GameStop, Toys R’ Us, Best Buy, and Wal-Mart, usually trying out whatever games they have on display to draw the customer into buying that specific game and/or system and some of the games were enjoyable while most weren’t. I did make one final attempt at playing the PS3 at the person’s house where I got acquainted to it the first time and my experience is usually always the same, decent game coupled with a terrible controller or unenjoyable game coupled with a terrible controller, either way there was nothing that grabbed me in and convinced me that the PS3 was the way to go and the systems controller deserves the negative press that it gets.

Now, from here on out I’m going to compare the two systems in a series of categories and explain why the Xbox 360 is by far and away the better of the two consoles, some of the categories are going to include online play, hardware, software, content and other aspects of the systems that help to make Microsoft’s machine the king of the hill to the serious gamer. The first category I’m going to discuss is the hardware aspects of the machines and the differences between them.

Hardware

When comparing the hardware of these two machines it’s hard to fault the PS3 for it’s power and inclusion of a blu-ray DVD player, Sony’s machine is clearly packing more power than Microsoft’s and for the few and the proud who actually buy blu-ray DVD’s they have a nice option to watch them on the PS3 instead of purchasing a separate machine to view them on. Also, the fact that you can use any SATA hard drive for the systems memory source is a plus because if you hunt hard enough you could get a new drive for under $40 on sale in many retail outlets, the XboX 360’s hard drive is much more expensive. But that’s basically where the PS3’s praise comes to an end. Unfortunately for Sony the system itself was originally large and bulky compared to the XboX 360 and featured an ugly design and an extremely high price point for what you were actually getting, the controller for the PS3 has been lambasted by almost every reviewer on the web and in print due to it having a “L1/L2” scheme and not including a trigger like on the XboX 360. This coupled with the fact that the controller isn’t very comfortable or ergonomic due to having the two analog joysticks sitting right next to eachother on an even level didn’t help Sony’s cause either, meanwhile the XboX 360‘s controller has the analog sticks at a “10&2“ style position so it feels more natural and molds to your hands better. In fact, I’ve never spoken to someone who owned both systems who preferred the design of the PS3 and it’s controller to the XboX 360’s, so because of the reasons listed above I would give the edge to Microsoft by a huge margin, though I do admit that the power of the PS3 and the blu-ray player are really nice.




Online Play & Content

These days one of the biggest and most important aspects of gaming is the online play, another huge reason as to why the XboX 360 is superior to the PS3. I’ve played both systems online and the 360 certainly offered a smoother and more rich gaming experience when playing against others over the web, and of all the reviews and editorials I’ve read that helped me toward my decision to purchase the XboX 360 I’ve yet to come across a writing that has disagreed with me. Sure, the PS3’s online service is free and you get an included web browser when you purchase a PS3, but the gaming experience isn’t nearly that of the XboX’s and for the monthly fee you are given something that is a lot more polished and accessible. Heck, up until recently you couldn’t even use the PS3’s online content due to a major hack that had the Playstation Network down for almost a month, oh and there was the little issue where credit card numbers for those who have their PS3‘s online were stolen and owners have been getting fraudulent charges in their statements, so yeah, security is a huge plus for Microsoft as well. Also, it’s been great getting a lot of downloadable content available to XboX 360 owners first, usually it’s only by a few days to a whole week but for the most part I’ve been noticing a lot of IGN articles where they mention that DLC has been hitting XboX Live (XBL) first before the Playstation Network (PSN) users have access to it (though this isn‘t always the case). And last but not least would be the XboX Live Arcade itself which offers a deeper library of downloadable games and other fun activities, lot’s of which are media based, and a richer experience when it comes to finding downloads you want and grabbing them.

Games

One big thing that draws people to a certain gaming system is the games themselves, so software companies are paid big bucks to develop exclusive titles for consoles to attract people into buying their hardware, both XboX 360 and PS3 have a sufficient amount of exclusive games but only one system can reign supreme. Games are often a matter of taste with the player who’s purchasing these titles, certain players like certain things while other players may prefer something different, so this part of my editorial is all up to you: the consumer. But judging by overall sales of the exclusive titles to each console I would say that the XboX 360 has won the battle of the exclusives (PC excluded) with games like the RPG’s Fable II and Fable III which enjoyed high sales figures and praise from review publications and web sites such as IGN, Gamespot, Gametrailers, GameInformer, and Joystiq. Other exclusive games to note would include the Gears of War franchise which had taken off like wildfire and landed stellar reviews from almost ever publication in the industry, and of course Halo 3 and Halo Reach which were met with amazing reviews and massive sales. Also, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 were both huge hits for the XboX 360 and helped to draw in fans with it’s zombie killing action, the L4D series has enjoyed huge success with the critics which has rolled over into high sales figures for the franchise and for Microsoft‘s console as well. To be fair, the PS3 does have it’s share of exclusive titles that are available for it, some have been met with critical success as well, but the general public has spoken and the XboX 360 defeats Sony’s machine when it comes to exclusives. And also, of the 7 or 8 exclusive titles for the PS3 I’ve played I think I was only floored with excitement for maybe 2 of them, that’s not exactly something that got me excited to go out and plunk down my hard earned cash on a Playstation. Games aside, one huge win for the 360 would be the fact that the controller was basically created with first person shooter’s (FPS) in mind, the developers aligned the analog sticks perfectly for playing FPS games and instead of an “L1/L2” system they gave the players triggers at the top of the controller’s for a better shooting experience which makes FPS gaming a lot more enjoyable on the XboX. Huge win indeed.

When it comes to picking a video game system it’s very much a “to each their own” kind of thing, but in this case one is clearly better than the other and there really is not much argument toward the contrary. But again, I don’t fault people for owning a Playstation 3, the PS2 was a juggernaught of a system and had more exclusives and big titles than anyone in that generation of gaming and consumers didn’t know that Sony was going to stumble and not release anything worthy of playing for almost 2 years after it’s launch. It’s not the players fault, it’s the company’s fault and they are a distant 3rd in the console race for the first time in it’s history because of 3 key ingredients: High price point, not enough games for too long, and lackluster online experience compared to the XboX 360. Had Sony came out swinging right out of the gate upon the PS3’s release then it may have been another story, heck, Sony picked up the slack around 2009 and all the way through 2011 and started releasing some big titles and just as it seemed that it was more of a 3 horse race instead of 2 horse and a pony, their network gets hacked. Players were left without being able to download content or play their games online and Sony has opened themselves up for a massive class action law suit thanks to many PSN subscribers having their credit card information stolen from them. It’s hard to believe but the future of Sony in the video game market looks somewhat bleak at the time of this writing and after almost 15 years of running strong within the video game industry we could be looking at an entirely different market without them.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Manga4life reviews Corpse Princess!

Hello everybody, it’s Manga4life and today I've decided to write a review, in fact, I've decided I would review a series that kind of flew underneath the radar with a lot of anime fans, not because it wasn’t a good series or anything but more or less because it wasn’t heavily promoted and wasn’t overly popular over in it’s native country of Japan. The series I plan to review today is called Corpse Princess and it’s interesting story and fun characters make this one worth watching if you’re a fan of chicks with guns and enjoy a little bit of mystic flow in your plot line.

The story of Corpse Princess is simple, it revolves around a couple of dead girls called Shikabane, who have to kill 108 other corpses in order to get into heaven, to do this they are given semi-automatic weapons as well as mentored referred to as contracted monks. Most of the series is spent following Ouri as he builds relationships with the good Shikabane while trying to be a normal high school boy in the process, he’s basically forced to come along on adventures with his brother Keisei and his bonded Shikabane Makina as they try to reach the 108 corps limit that they need to obtain. When Keisei meets his doom toward the middle of the series Ouri finds himself in the position of having to become a contracted Monk in his place, the story basically shifts toward the relationship Ouri builds with Makina as they battle off enemies that they’ve created throughout the series. Again, nothing too special but fun nonetheless, there is a sense of mysticism as well as macabre in Corpse Princess and it’s actually a very enjoyable series to watch if you’re into that sort of thing, I wouldn’t watch this series more than the couple of times that I did but I’m glad I gave it a shot and I think those who are reading this should do so as well. Even though this show wouldn’t make my top 20 favorite anime’s of all time or anything like that I would still label the show as something that should be watched by the casual and hardcore anime fan alike, it’s very entertaining and offers a little something for everyone and has a voice over cast that you‘ve heard (and loved) in the past. The flowing plot lines mixed with the way the characters build their relationships is what really made this series worth watching in my opinion, the scene where Makina bids her final goodbye to Keisei is probably one of the most powerful moments in an anime that I’ve seen (although overdone a bit) and it goes to show you how important everyone has become to each other both pre-story and throughout the show.

One thing that has kind of bothered me for some reason is that leading up to the release of this show on DVD, FUNimation didn’t really put any major promotion behind it and there was basically no buzz for this show’s release whatsoever, I came across the first 4 episodes on FUNi’s video player by accident and decided to watch them and that’s how I learned of this series. I really feel as if FUNi has missed the boat on Corpse Princess, the show has a small and loyal fan following and I really think that FUNi could have garnered a larger audience for Corpse Princess had they put a little mustard behind the program months before it’s release, heck, I never saw any kind of ad’s in Otaku magazines or on anime related websites or anything related to the medium. It was basically a breech birth.



Now it’s time for one of my favorite things to do and that’s to analyze the production values of this series and to go over where I felt the show hit or missed in it’s animation and sound department, first things first, I think I’ll start with the animation side of things. First of all, the animation in Corpse Princess is good but I felt the attention to detail was kind of weak and some of the character animations came off as a little strange at times but overall I would say that the series had solid artwork to it and the character designs were well done, other than that there was nothing really special to boast about and I would say it’s animated fine for what it is. Don’t go into this series expecting a landmark in the animation industry because you will come out disappointed, but it worked for the kind of story they wanted to tell and the dark overtones to the art helped to set up certain scenes wonderfully, it most certainly wasn’t a dud but I would say that Corpse Princess was a stud when it comes to how the series looks as a whole.

One plus side to this series is that it was voiced wonderfully for the English cast, sure there was a scene or two that was overdone and I wouldn’t say that it ranks as one of the best voices anime’s of all time, but the voice over cast did a great job lending their voices to the characters and many of the voices you hear are people who’ve you certainly have heard in other show in the past. On top of the voice overs being done nicely, the sound effects were superb as well with everything sounding pretty nice and background sounds coming off fairly realistically, it wasn’t perfect but it did the series justice and I would say that the audio was one of the stronger points of the show. The music was done pretty good too but nothing really remember able came out of it so it’s hard to say that it will leave a lasting impression on you because it probably wont. Still, the music that was used was actually pretty good and alongside the sound effects it definitely helped out with the general feeling and mood of the program, but again, you probably won’t be humming any of the tunes like you would with music from other anime series in the past.

And now it’s time for me to rank the shows based on the same grading system I’ve used since my first review, this is one of my favorite things to do when reviewing a certain series and I feel like I’m fair in my judgement and I hope that my friends and readers agree. As for Corpse Princess, it’s certainly worth a viewing if you haven’t seen it before but I wouldn’t say that it’s a series you will watch over and over again, maybe twice at best like I did, but it’s deserving of your eyes and the eyes of others and it would have achieved that had FUNi promoted it a little better than they did

Art & Animation - 7.0/10
Music & Sound Effects - 8.0/10
Story & Writing - 7.5/10
Fun - 7.5/10
Overall - 7.5/10

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

New project for Cozy Cabin/The Thought Corner!

Hello everybody, this is Manga4life with some pretty interesting and exciting news about The Thought Corner blog and a new project that I'm in the middle of planning out that will be pretty damn epic in my opinion. As many who know me from Twitter have learned recently, I am planning to write a book based around World of Warcraft and my favorite character that I've been playing a lot of as of late, it's something I've been planning for about a week now and the other day I announced it on my Twitter account and today I'm posting an official press release for those who don't follow me on there or know me from elsewhere on the web. Now, I to clear something up right off the bat, since I don't own any stake in World of Warcraft or have the publishing rights to any content pertaining to the game and/or it's property then I cannot officially publish or distribute any material centered around the license for profit, so instead I plan to release chapters free of charge right here on The Thought Corner blog! So even though this is not a true publication of Cozy Cabin Publishing it will still be available for the 30,000+ people who have visited this blog or the 120+ people who view this blog on a daily basis, it's my pleasure to supply the friends and readers of this site with fun and exciting reading material on a monthly basis and this project will no doubt be any different.



The plot of this story will follow the adventures of Cavendar (my character in WoW) and his growing up in Darnassus after learning that the city has been demolished by Thrall and his horde of orc's in an attempt to kill Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind to take control of the Night Elf race, when Cavendar learns that much of his dear family has been slaughtered in the brawl he decides to train as a warrior in Darnassus so that he can acquire the tools possible to get revenge for what happened to his relatives. As Cavendar sets off on his quest he finds that it may not be nearly as easy as it seems and that the original goal he had set for himself has quickly become a distant memory thanks to the rising evil of the Black Dragon Flight and their obsession with destroying Azeroth as a whole. Sound exciting? Well, I guess we'll see in due time, wont we?! I've already mapped out the timeline for the story as well as chosen some key characters from WoW's deep lore to compliment the main characters that I've actually created from scratch, other key figures in the book will be real players in the game from my guild, The Grandmaster Gods. Once the first chapter is edited and complete I will post it up right here for everyone to see, this may take a week or two since I want to carefully craft this tale with razor like precision so I can't make any true promises as to when it will be ready to post, but it will be worth it my friend. Trust me.

See you in Azeroth guys, and as always: Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride!

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC

Remembering "Hitman" by Garth Ennis & John McCrea

For comic book fans, once in a while a title comes along that maybe doesn’t find the mainstream success of an X-Men or Batman but yet it finds a home near the top of your personal read list due to it’s fantastic writing or likable characters. Today I’m going to write about a series that has done just that for me, today I am going to write an article about a comic called “Hitman” by Garth Ennis and John McCrea.

“Hitman” told the story of a gun for hire named Tommy Monaghan who had meta-human superpowers and lived in Gotham City alongside some of the best known heroes and worst feared villains of DC Comics, in that city people would go to Tommy to kill a wide array of individuals (both super powered and not) and if the price was right he would gladly oblige. Doing hits on people was his job but Tommy was most certainly not a one dimensional character who spent his entire 60 issue series knocking off scum to get rich, Monaghan was a true to life average guy who had a girlfriend, best friend, and people who cared deeply about him, most of which all hung out in a downtown dive called Noonan’s. Throughout the series Tommy found himself coming face to face with multiple iconic DC characters, some of the interaction between them was actually quite hilarious, other dealings were downright serious, but it was nice to see a character like his to be accepted into the DC universe at a time when superheroes were the extreme focus of DC, not an average looking guy in a jacket flashing a gun. Some of the funniest moments within this book were the ones that took place between the characters that hung around Noonan’s Bar, one scene that comes to mind had Kyle Raynor being told by an intoxicated local bar fly that he wouldn’t amount to much as a superhero because the JLA only accepted original members, and don’t get me started on a wannabe hero that went by the name of “Dog Welder” who was absolutely knee slapping in his pathetic attempt at an outfit.

Garth Ennis' hilarious shots at superheroes made for some fantastic comedy in Hitman and his treatment of the characters in this series as it pertains to their relationships with eachother was handled perfectly, especially both early on and then later in the story when we were treated to some of with most breathtaking scenes of friends departed. One thing I do have to say is that some of the best characters in this series were without a doubt the supporting cast with my absolute favorite being a guy named Pat, a childhood friend of Tommy’s in which he had plans to move out of Gotham with once he had saved up enough cash. Pat was unfortunately tortured and left in a pool of his own blood in his own bathtub by one of Monaghan’s rivals, when Tommy discovered his best friend clinging on to dear life he found that he had no choice but to put his friend out of his misery but putting a bullet into his head himself. It was tragic and remains one of the most powerful scenes I’ve ever read in comic books to this day.



It's been a long time but I remember the first time I purchased a Hitman comic book. It happened to be issue #3 and it was on the new arrivals shelf at my local comic shop, I can't explain why but something tickled my fancy and told me I should buy it, I just had the feeling as if I should really see what this title was all about, I picked it up and thumbed through it and thought it looked cool so I added it to my overgrowing stack of books. After the decision was made, I looked around for the first 2 issues of the series but couldn‘t find them anywhere so I focused on finding the rest of my weekly purchases and moved along. I don’t know why but for some reason this particular visit to the comic book shop sticks out alongside other important comic book visits I’ve made throughout my lifetime, I probably remember it so well because I didn’t think much was going to come out of Hitman but yet I gave it a shot and I also made a couple other important pick up’s that day as well, including a 6 card set of metallic Star Wars trading cards that came in a tin holder. Anyhow, when I got home to organize my new purchases I made sure to read Hitman in my first sitting and instantly I began to fall in love with Tommy, Natt, Pat, Tiegel, Noonan and the rest of the cast, their characters were just written so awesome and I was instantly hooked thanks to the fun storytelling of Garth and the simple but fantastic art by John McCrea. McCrea's art was nothing to write home about by any means, it was simple and didn't really offer much in the way of detail or pazzaz, but it fit Hitman perfectly and I couldn't imagine anyone else illustrating the series but him. I really felt that John's art was so crucial to the book that for the few issues they had a fill-in artist take over the pencils for John that it threw everything off and those particular issues just didn't feel right to me.

Ever since I picked up that 3rd issue I made sure to pick up Hitman each and every month afterwards for as long as I could, sadly though, I stopped buying the book somewhere in the middle of it’s 60 issue run due to me losing interest in the story and other comics that were being published at the time were too much of a necessity to continue along with Hitman. Since those day's I’ve recently gone back and grabbed every issue that DC ever published of this series to ensure that I had the complete story, it's something I've always wanted to do and it's something I’m sure glad that I did, this title was too important to just let fade away into a sea of comic book obscurity and for the rest of my collecting days Hitman will continue to have a spot in this comic guru's collection.

Reach for the stars and enjoy the ride.

As always I want to thank those who took the time to read my blog, it's much appreciated and you can always check me out at www.twitter.com/manga4life as well as TZ and FUNI.

Take care,
***Manga4life***

©2011 Cozy Cabin Publishing LLC