“In Real Life” is one of this year’s most intriguing graphic novels as it raises questions not asked often enough. A New York Times bestselling graphic novel written by Cory Doctorow and drawn by Jen Wang, it is the story of Anda, a gamer, who discovers a black market system through the friendship she makes with, Raymond, a poor boy in China. The focus is on what exploited people must do in order to survive and what can be done to help them rise up and out of their circumstances. But it’s also about the avatars we use to hide from the world. As is clearly depicted here, Anda has problems with the real world and her place in it.
Paul Tobin is a comic book writer who is known for his work with Marvel Comics, among a full roster of other works. With Dark Horse Comics, Tobin has worked, with his wife, Colleen Coover, on BANDETTE; with Joe Querio on THE WITCHER; and with Juan Ferreyra on COLDER as welll as PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE. For this interview, we focus on the writing in The Witcher and chat a bit about the Aliens Predator Prometheus crossover event.
From THE WITCHER by Paul Tobin and Joe Querio
Based on the popular book series of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is an action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt RED and published by Atari, Inc. Selling millions of copies, the short stories by Sapkowski feature a fantasy world inspired by Polish folklore with supernatural themes. The next game release is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, set for February 24, 2015, and it will make the perfect companion to the trade paperback release of The Witcher graphic novel.
Look for the trade paperback of The Witcher Volume 1 to come out on September 24, 2014. For more details, visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics right here.
As Tobin explains, he breaks everything down by panel while making sure not to crowd the artist. Panel by panel breakdown is essential in many ways, not to mention continuity. We take a close look at some panels that set up an important plot point: the introduction of the character, Marta, hovering in the distance, who Jakob is inextricably linked to.
From PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE by Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra
And we talk about Tobin’s Prometheus: Fire and Stone. It was Editor-in-Chief Scott Allie’s brilliant idea to bring together all the writers on the crossover event. While each writer had a separate stand-alone book to work on, getting together allowed them to share ideas and actually make each other’s work better.
Tobin acknowledged that he’s a very private writer but he loved this format with ideas flowing back and forth in a supportive environment. It will make reading all the books that much smoother. This blockbuster crossover event begins with Tobin’s Prometheus: Fire and Stone.
Look for the first issue of Prometheus: Fire and Stone out on September 10, 2014. For more details, visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics right here.
One thing I’ve been daydreaming about lately is the original Rat Pack from “Ocean’s Eleven.” I just recently posted a review on the original movie from 1960. This detour into retro Las Vegas has led me to games of chance you can play in the comfort of your own home. I stumbled upon a nice virtual Vegas experience over at Slots Heaven. It’s interesting how there are games catering to every taste, including comics, particularly the Iron Man 3 Slots.
Visitors select comics products during the 9th China International Comics Games Expo (CCG Expo) in Shanghai, east China, July 11, 2013. A total of 325 animation and game companies from home and abroad took part in the five-day expo, which kicked off here on Thursday. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Xiaojing]
Entering its 10th anniversary, CCG EXPO must be quite an event. For us in the West, we’d do well to take a closer look. How many comics and game creators in China are you aware of? We’ll give you some time to think that over.
China Daily: CCG EXPO 2014-The 10th China International Cartoon & Game Expo(CCG EXPO) is held by People’s Republic of China Ministry of Culture and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, and organized by Shanghai Municipal Culture, Radio Broadcasting, Film and Television Administration and Shanghai Media Group co., LTD. (SMG). So far, it has been successfully 8 times. SInce the 1st Exhibition, after 8 years, annual CCG EXPO has featured as professional, international, high-level, large-scale. Now, this event aims to give the priority to B2B and partially depends on B2C.
If you’re looking for games of chance, you will want to check out Get Minted, the original instant-play online casino. If you’d like to play like you’re in Las Vegas and never leave home, then look no further. There’s a fun selection of some of the most popular games with a variety of themes, including Marvel Comics superheroes. You can play Marvel Slots which include Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Thor. Each game incorporates aspects of each superhero and follows the rules you’d expect if you were playing it in an actual casino.
Thanks to the power of Kickstarter, we have MOEBIUS, an awesome new spy game by veteran game designer Jane Jensen. MOEBIUS is currently in development. It is right in step with the trend in recent years to give a more cinematic experience to a game by having it fully integrate with the narrative so you really feel like you’re in an exciting movie. Who wouldn’t want to enter the MOEBIUS world of espionage?
Along with the spies, the story involves “a theory of time and space that has the world’s governments scrambing.” Currently on Comics Grinder’s mind is BROKEN REALITY by Jane McGonigal, a world-renowned game designer. She argues that we need games for a myriad of reasons including entertainment, stimulation, and for a good ole challenge. Well, MOEBIUS has got you covered.
You can view a new MOEBIUS trailer here. You can view the MOEBIUS website here.
For gamers, everyone knows about “The Jace Hall Show.” But, if you happen to be new to it, you’ll want to see Jace take on the great debate over which is the ultimate game company of all time, ATARI (joystick) or INTELLIVISION (no joystick), in a very funny episode from last year that you can view here. Jace definitely has a knack for getting the most out of his guests. You wouldn’t expect the founder of ATARI, Nolan Bushnell, to be so funny. Or INTELLIVISION’s Keith Robinson. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re also in for a very special treat as Eliza Dushku raps about her game cred. You can go straight to Eliza’s music video, “My Console,” here. And you can check in on INTELLIVISION here. And visit ATARI here. Plus, you can see what Nolan Bushnell has been up to since “Pong,” a whole new way of looking at education, “BRAINRUSH,” over here.
It’s official, the new Wii U console comes out November 18, 2012, just in time for the holidays. Following today’s Wii U announcement, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WB Games Montreal have presented some screenshots for “Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition,” the enhanced version of the award-winning blockbuster videogame coming exclusively to the Wii U this holiday season.
It was 32 years ago, that Pac-Man was born. According to PC Mag, Pac-Man has a big day. But can a video game have an exact b-day? Well, I looked it up on Wikipedia and yeah, the game was released on May 22, 1980: “…an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980.”
From 1980 onward, Pac-Man has given us all some wonderful entertainment. It ruled the ’80s and, in some arcades, it never left. It was, and is, an honest and smooth game that leaves you feeling better for having played it.
We’re always up for a new game, aren’t we? And we like our games to have style, don’t we? Here is news about “Squids,” something that should fit the bill from the Paris studio of The Game Bakers.
![Visitors select comics products during the 9th China International Comics Games Expo (CCG Expo) in Shanghai, east China, July 11, 2013. A total of 325 animation and game companies from home and abroad took part in the five-day expo, which kicked off here on Thursday. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Xiaojing]](https://i0.wp.com/comicsgrinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ccg-expo-2013.jpg?ssl=1)
