One of my favorite games, from both a story and a gameplay standpoint, is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. I played through it on either Xbox or PS2, I forget which, but it was a great time. The gameplay combined platforming mechanics and traditional combat to create a kind of gameplay that was extremely fun. The enemies provided a way for the Prince to make his platforming easier, turning creatively acrobatic combat into a crucial gameplay component.

Where the game really shined for me, however, was the story. Shortly before the end of the game, you find out that the game you’ve just played, deaths and all, was not a game– it was a story that the Prince was telling Princess Farah, the daughter of the Maharajah. There are a number of twists involved, but what it boils down to is that, due to an error, the princess died. The Prince reversed time, and now he must convince her of what happened and save her life. So, he told her the story of his adventure.

This wasn’t exactly out of the blue. The Prince narrates the game, and every time you died, he’d say something to the effect of, “No, that’s not how it happened,” and begin again from just before your death. It turned the story of the game into a story within the game, and it’s a plot twist that I greatly appreciated. If anything, it heightened my love for the game and hooked me for life.

First Second Books released a Prince of Persia graphic novel late last year. I picked it up and read it a couple months after release, but never really got around to talking about it on here.

Rather than do a straight adaptation of any of the handful of Prince of Persia titles, writers Jordan Mechner and AB Sina and artists LeUyen Pham, Alex Pulvilland, and Hilary Sycamore instead told a tale that spanned two timelines under the loose umbrella of being about a “prince of Persia.” There is a nice nod early in the novel to the way that the Prince of Persia series has changed over the years. A king calls for his son, the prince, but all three of his children, two sons and a daughter, come together, rather than the prince he wanted. When quizzed about why they all came, they respond, “For I am the prince!”

In a way, I enjoyed Prince of Persia more due to Sands of Time. They both showed a deft way of telling their story in a way that I didn’t expect at the time. The story takes place over two timelines, and they tend to blend in and out of each other as the book goes on. It can be confusing, but not in an off-putting manner. It simply gives the book a different tone than I’d expected. It’s much more whimsical, or fairy tale-like, in tone than a straight up adventure novel. It isn’t quite magical realism. Everything that happens fits within the story and is perfectly believable. However, there is a definite dream-like quality to the story.
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I’ve noticed that occasionally almost all superhero comics have an occasional issue that shows the characters in it just, hanging out, having fun, doing non-superhero things.  Of course these issues generally throw in a fight or two, but most of the plot is the characters having some down time and talking.

These issues often get a great reaction from fans.  A lot of what’s driving that reaction, of course, is the rarity of such issues.  They’re a break from what we’re used to, and that always gets people talking.

It’s tempting to declare that more of such issues would boost sales.  I enjoy them when they come out, and even look forward to them.  But if they were coming out every month, would I still like them as much?  Would anyone?

Tough to say.  Still, I think I would enjoy seeing day-to-day lives of superheroes or teams, or even minor characters.  Perhaps a book that chose different characters each month, like The Brave and the Bold.  If you had to choose, which character from superhero comics would you like to follow around when they’re out of costume?

Click through, this is basically the best swine flu joke out there.

-We’ve got a few entries in our Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta code contest. Click over and check it out if you’re interested in getting into the beta!

-If you haven’t listened to the first Fourcast!, click here to go its page or here to subscribe in iTunes. To those of you who’ve listened– thanks!

-Speaking of podcasts, we’re recording the second Fourcast! this Saturday. We’re soliciting ideas and questions for the show. Is there something you want us to talk about? Some question you’re dying to ask? Some obscure trivia you want to test us on or whatever? Want to call me out on the carpet for saying that Hal Jordan has a dumb-looking face? Post it down in the comments and we’ll try to work it into the show.

–Emily Warren, colorist for Marvel and other companies (I know she’s done some work for Zenescope) has a sketch blog. She’s not just a colorist, of course– she has a few pages of sketches and finished pieces up there to check out. Go look.

from vertigo’s sentences, words by percy “mf grimm” carey, art by ron wimberly

(word to cheryl lynn)

Lone Wolf and Cub volume 2: The Gateless Barrier
Writer: Kazuo Koike
Artist: Goseki Kojima
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
ISBN: 1569715033
304 pages

I completely missed this last time around, but so far, the titles of each volume of Lone Wolf & Cub are very specific references to events in the book. The Assassin’s Road, obviously, is the path that Ogami and Daigoro walk. It’s filled with senseless slaughter and cruelty, and leads directly to meifumado, the Buddhist hell and home to demons and damnation. The Gateless Barrier, as explained in this volume, is mumon-seki, walking alone between heaven and earth. The assassin’s road is all there is, and nothing exists outside of it. You become mumon-seki of the assassin’s road.

This volume is a grab bag of stories. There are five of them this time, chapters ten through fourteen. “Red Cat,” “The Coming of the Cold,” “Tragic O-Sue,” “The Gateless Barrier,” and “Winter Flower” brings up the rear. The stories this time around are a good deal longer than before, giving Kojima more time to play with the storytelling of individual scenes and Koike more time to establish a setting. In “Winter Flower,” for example, Ogami appears on-panel for maybe six pages. His voice appears for more often, but he spends most of the story locked in a house. In “Tragic O-Sue,” Daigoro essentially stars for most of the story, up until the end.

Ogami remains just as invulnerable as he was in the first volume. The first story, “Red Cat,” features a tale that should be familiar to fans of The Punisher. Ogami allows himself to be captured and taken to jail to fulfill a job. When he gets there, he’s hassled by the prisoners. They sing a song to intimidate him (no, really). When that doesn’t work, they attack him. Just as in “Wings to the Birds, Fangs to the Beasts” in the last volume, he doesn’t even acknowledge their existence. He takes the beating, not even bothering to grunt. This just pisses them off more. When he finally speaks, it’s to ask where a man is. Once he finds out that the man is on death row, Ogami murders a lot of them. The guards come and he’s taken to death row, to be executed tomorrow with his target.

He finds his man on death row, and they speak briefly. The target is an arsonist, and indirectly caused the death of the warden of the prison. Last time he was arrested, he’d started a fire in his cell, forcing the prison to evacuate. Rather than returning to jail after being temporarily freed, he ran. The warden took his own life out of shame.

Ogami reveals that at some point before getting arrested, he’d fired an arrow into an alcove in the cell (which raises the question of the point of the song and dance earlier). Ogami engineers a situation in which the arsonist and the man who hired him in the first place die, complete with a brief remark to send the latter off. After that, since prisoners must be freed in case of a fire, Ogami walks right out and the chapter closes.

After that, though, we get right into the child abuse.
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For the past couple years, I’d take a second every once and a while to talk about CHIKARA, an indy wrestling organization based out of Philadelphia. Founded by wrestler and head trainer Mike Quackenbush, it’s a school that turned into its own federation. With seven years under its belt, it’s grown to have its own cult following and for good reason.

I regularly bring guests to their shows, tending to take those along who know little or nothing to do with wrestling. They always have a blast. Where else can you see a mute sea monster in a muscle suit team up with a amateur wrestling Rocky Balboa against two clown-like figures dressed up like ice cream people? And not only that, but the wrestling is actually GOOD! It’s routinely funny and the storytelling is top notch.

Back when I first got into it, I did a post about how a bunch of the DVD covers are homages to notable comic book covers. As time went on, the article became a bit popular, but I lost track after a while and kept putting off an update. Now, I think it’s time not to pick up from after I left off, but to redo it from beginning to end. Here we go!

Kids Eat Free On Tuesday & Pick Up Or Delivery
Based on: Flash #123
Features: Mike Quackenbush… and Mike Quackenbush

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When asked about the best significant other to pair up with Batman, the first choice I’ve gotten from nearly everyone I talk to is Catwoman.

I understand the symbolic pairing.  His sense of order and her lawlessness.  His grim quest and her indulgent enthusiasms.  Their two avatars complementing each other.  That really works in the comics.  I can totally get on board with them as the two those two people who can’t keep their hands off each other. 

But in every other way, I just don’t feel the pairing at all.  They don’t work except jumping across rooftops flirting with each other.  Whenever they interact in any other way, all I can think about when I see the two of them together is how he’s too good for her while she is, simultaneously, too good for him.

Professionally, he’s too good for her.  He’s a guy who works tirelessly to rid the streets of crime, to look out for the truly helpless, to make sure that no one else has to feel what he felt as a child.  She’s a klepto with some social skills.

But then, at least she has those social skills.  Good god, imagine dating Bruce Wayne even if you knew he was Batman.

“I don’t know Bruce, what do you think the Penguin is up to?”

“Gee, Bruce, that’s okay.  I don’t mind you missing dinner again.  It’s only been sixteen days in a row.”

“Wow.  That’s a picture of a really cute kid.  So how did you get estranged from this one?”

Even aside from all of that, honestly, what a boring, judgmental, withdrawn, sullen, self-righteous, and humorless prick Batman is.  I love him.  I got into comics reading Batman.  But he’s a trial to be around, and I can’t ignore that.

Selina Kyle, on the other hand, has consistently shown, wit, humor, empathy, charm and a joie de vivre that would make her a fantastic date and a great girlfriend.

So while these two are equally weighted and eternally paired in the public consciousness, and while they really do know how to steam up a fight scene, I’ve never been a fan.  You?

HEAT worked. It took ten years, but they finally got back their totally awesome better-than-everybody-else forever-and-ever-amen hero back.

All the others, though– Girl-Wonder (at least regarding Stephanie Brown), whoever it is that wants Ted Kord/The Question/Firestorm back, and various other comics movements– have any of those ever worked? I can’t think of one.

My problem with most comic book apparel is that it’s ugly. It’s all ugly faces, awkward logos, faux faded, and completely lacking in any real design sense. Graphitti Designs is a tremendous offender in this respect. It looks like kid clothes.

Freshness Mag posted about a neat bit of comics apparel yesterday. From their site:

Italian comic strip creator, Hugo Pratt, swept the world in 1967 with the Corto Maltese comic series, featuring an eponymous adventurer-sailor, Corto Maltese. Tying in with the current exhibition at Musée National De La Marine, Colette replicated two models (court and length) of sailor jackets donned by protagonist, Corto Maltese. These sailor jackets are included in the Fall/ Winter 09 Hugo Pratt Corto Maltese collection which is on preview at Colette from May 25 to May 31.

The wool sailor jackets are exact replicas of the coats that Maltese wore, in a vintage faded black. The forearm is adorned by a navy and gold ribbon pipping and the underside of the collar has Corto Maltese’s name embroidered in cursive. On the inside, a patch featuring Maltese’s profile portrait is sewn to the coat. The nautical inspired winter jacket is tailored and smart, and there are more styles to choose from the collection. Other items include a longer wool sailors coat, a bomber-inspired jacket and a t-shirt. The pieces are now available online at Colette.

A couple of images:

This is the kind of thing I prefer to something that just says “HEY WORLD I READ COMICS LOOK AT ME AIN’T HAL JORDAN AWESOME?” I hate it, but I’d rather see someone wearing a jacket designed like Hal Jordan’s Dad’s Bomber Jacket That He Almost Died In rather than a shirt with Hal Jordan in a circle. A gym shirt that says “PROPERTY OF XAVIER’S” is much better than something with the ’90s-era X-Men logo on it, or any X-Men logo, really.

I don’t know that I’d ever wear this jacket, but it’s nice to see some comic fashion that actually tries to be fashion, instead of a twenty dollar t-shirt with a logo on it.

Colette’s site is here.