They Announced a Lot of Interesting Video-Games at the 2021 Game Awards

The 2021 Game Awards were held yesterday. They honored a bunch of video-games and a slew of new ones were announced. This link discusses basically everything from the show, but I thought I'd mention what specifically caught my eye of things that were discussed.

Quantic Dream has made some notable games (I liked, "Heavy Rain," a lot) and is known for its founder/head, David Cage, having some PR fiascos and really going heavy on the melodrama in his titles. Quantic Dream will be making a Star Wars-themed game that will doubtlessly look pretty--whether it is good or awful will remain to be seen. It shall be named, "Star Wars: Eclipse."

I've always loved Sonic the Hedgehog video-games, from the classics to more modern, "Sonic Adventure," interpretations. Hearing there will be an open-world Sonic game titled, "Sonic Frontiers," where you can run around beautiful vistas makes me cautiously optimistic. If we could get something like, "Breath of the Wild," but with the speed of Sonic, well, I'd love that.

In news that really excites me, "Alan Wake 2," is coming and will be a bit less action-focused and more of a survival-horror game. I loved the first, "Alan Wake," and suppose the recent remastering was a clue of a future game, so all I can say to this is, "Yes, please!"

Lastly, the, "Suicide Squad," video-game is still coming and a, "Wonder Woman," video-game was announced. That could be pretty cool and I really hope we get to fly the invisible jet.

Image Won't Publish the Fourth Issue of, "Second Chances," and Just is Gonna Release the Trade

Update: I posted about this on Twitter and my friend (who is also a comic creator), Larime Taylor, pointed out how sales are probably low enough that the creators would end up owing money if the fourth issue came out, which would result in getting trade profits deducted from them. They make a good point as I don't want the creators to be at a disadvantage.

Something that annoys me is when a comic is coming out with individual issues and then suddenly we learn some of the last issues will not be coming out. Instead, the series will be resolved with a trade paperback which will require anyone interested in the comic to buy the whole TPB. Image is kind of doing this with the series, "Second Chances." The fourth issue will be digital-only and if you want a physical copy of it you will have to buy the trade paperback collecting all four issues. There will be no printed fourth issue. The only thing worse than this is when a comic is outright canceled and we just don't get the final issues because a company doesn't want to bother releasing them. I vaguely recall this happening with a Marvel series that didn't get its fifth or sixth issue but I can't recall the exact name--this happened with the recent, "Gwen Stacy," comic too, I believe, but I digress. I only read the first issue of, "Second Chances," and found it decent, but those who have been picking up every issue are surely annoyed.

When you're told a comic is going to be a certain number of issues you either expect those issues to come out or maybe if a comic is really popular it goes from a mini-series to an ongoing series. You don't expect something to suddenly not come out anymore, however. This is lame.

I've Got Another Post Up on Cinemaways About 10 Movies That Are Secretly Holiday Movies

I occasionally contribute to other sites and I have a new post up on Cinemaways. It was a fun one to write where I discussed 10 movies that are first blush don't seem like holiday movies, but totally are once you think about it. Give the article a read and let me know what you think in the comment section over there or you can always comment here.

My Bubbie Has Passed

Evelyn Bitterbaum AKA Bubbie

Evelyn Bitterbaum died yesterday at the age of 96. I called her Bubbie. She was my last living grandparent. Her mind was still very sharp but he body was just tired at nearly a century old. Bubbie was a wonderful woman who had tons of stories, wisdom, and was very funny too. I recall her in some of my earliest memories as a toddler and it was surreal in a way to think she raised my Dad as a baby, saw me as an infant, and then back in 2017 met her great-grandson, Clarkson.

Bubbie and a young David Bitterbaum

Bubbie lived a long and wonderful life, which doesn't make it any easier for her to be gone. It is hard anytime someone we love leaves us. I loved my Bubbie very much. She will be missed.

"Fall Guys," Season 6--My Initial Thoughts

I've written previously about how our household enjoys the game, "Fall Guys." Clarkson always laughs when I play it and the little players run around. The game just launched is sixth season. The last one was a jungle theme which was fantastic. Before the jungle theme, some other seasons happened that involved medieval vibes (it was okay) a weird electric sci-fi style (it was decent), and a snow theme (that was one cool). The sixth season is all about parties. It is a celebration theme and it's full of wild see-saws, water balloons, and tubes straight out of a Mario game. It's pretty cool.

With any new season, it takes a bit to adjust to little tweaks in the gameplay. That's part of the fun, however. "Fall Guys," always manages to keep players on their toes and throws little twists into the game that allows everything to stay just a smidgen unpredictable. This new party theme is good fun and I quite like it so far.

Oh Dear, the Chicken Tender Shortage is Coming

I've discussed how much I love chicken tenders/fingers on this blog. Back in 2014, they were my food item of the year. I have continued in the time since to still be a big fan of these breaded pieces of heaven. Therefore, you can imagine my concern upon reading that chicken tenders are in increasingly short supply worldwide. Previously, I reported on paper shortages impacting comics. Now, this happens. 

It looks as if it will be increasingly difficult for me to enjoy a platter of chicken tenders while I read a comic (I'm careful not to put my greasy fingers from the tender-touching hand on the comic). In the relative scheme of how awful things can be (and have been at points), this is a minor inconvenience. Still, I and all the other adults who love tenders (as well as the countless children) are a bit annoyed at the thought of no tenders on the menu at our favorite restaurants.

Dark Horse Comics Wants to be Acquired

According to Heidi MacDonald of The Comics Beat, Dark Horse Comics wants some bigger company to acquire it and utilize any intellectual properties (IPs) it has--that one assumes aren't already creator-owned. Dark Horse was one of the largest independently owned comic publishers for a long period of time before a chunk was sold to the Chinese investment firm, Visionary Vanguard, in 2018. Still, a majority stake being acquired by some other company interested in the content library Dark Horse has would possibly result in some cool stuff being made into movies or television shows. I doubt the price would be anywhere near what Disney paid when it acquired Marvel, but there would still be plenty of ones and zeroes in a deal. We shall see where this all goes.

Film Friday: We're Getting a 3rd, "Magic Mike," Movie, Ya'll!

Magic Mike will return for a third movie, completing what I and many others always hoped would be a trilogy. Titled, "Magic Mike's Last Dance," it will have the director of the first (and he produced the second, Steven Soderbergh, back directing. It seems it will be coming straight to HBO Max and possibly skipping theaters, so that'll save some scratch too. Channing Tatum and a chunk of the cast are returning. I quite enjoyed the first film and really liked the second, so I am pumped.

Why am I, a cisgender heterosexual male, so excited for a movie about dudes stripping? Well, Soderbergh is incapable of directing a bad movie (pretty much anything he's made I've enjoyed) and the, "Magic Mike," movies are just simply quite good. They are tonally a bit different, but each has a lot of charm. The first one is a bit like a dramatic arthouse flick and the second one is a hilarious buddy road trip movie. Plus, both have some amazing choreography. I like the second a bit more however because--as I mentioned--it is so funny. Also, the sequel has Donald Glover singing, so that's a plus. Details are sparse on what the plot is like and how serious or humorous we should expect things to be, but with Soderbergh involved it is bound to be great!

The Debut Issue of, "Hulk," by Donny Cates and Ryan Ottley is a Little Confusing, Pretty Fun

I reviewed the final issue of, "Immortal Hulk," and had fond feelings about the 50 issue run of that title. It was amazing and beloved by tons of readers. Then it was announced Donny Cates would be writing a new Hulk comic with Ryan Ottley on art. Simply titled, "Hulk," it faces some impossible expectations after a run some are calling the best Hulk comic ever. All Cates and Ottley can do is try and make a fun Hulk comic without worrying about what came before too much. That seems to be what they're doing.

This issue of, "Hulk," opens with Bruce Banner having turned the Hulk into something he can pilot while still totally mentally in control. The Hulk has become less an unfocused force of rage than a tank Banner is piloting. Vague mentions are made of an event in El Paso that we do not get to mention, and the comic does make a fun little callback to the previous run with Banner remarking he is trying to break into a base Tony Stark (Iron Man) has with a unique armor because while the Hulk might be immortal, Banner isn't.

This issue raises a lot of questions about just how Banner has been able to tweak the Hulk in the manner he has and why Banner is really acting more villainous than we usually witness in the pages of Hulk-related comics (usually the Hulk fights other heroes when he's having difficulties, not Banner). It's odd and has my interest. Plus, Ottley's artwork is just gorgeous. Ottley knows how to illustrate epic fight scenes as his work on, "Invincible," and other titles shows, and he doesn't shy away from some kinetic and surprisingly violent moments with, "Hulk." The Hulk can take a lot of damage and keep going, as Ottley makes abundantly clear as the page fills with green blood. It's nasty yet gorgeous, if that makes any sense.

This first issue of, "Hulk," is a big tonal departure from, "Immortal Hulk." It is unfair to compare this to that previous run that just wrapped, but I and others can't help it. This is much more of a mystery and sci-fi story than the strong horror-vibe we witnessed in, "Immortal Hulk," but it's still a good debut issue. I'll be interested in seeing where this goes.

4 out of 5 stars.

I Attended the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Altered State Comics Today!

Altered State Comics had a ribbon cutting ceremony today with the local chamber of commerce and mayor to welcome them to the area as a fantastic business! I enjoyed visiting them previously and have stopped by a number of times to say hello and browse their wares. I was excited to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and look forward to Altered State Comics having many years of success!