comic
Latest
Massively webcomic: Grinders - See, It's a Metaphor
Especially during press and publicity events like San Diego's Comic Con, we are teased with what future games are to come, and lament the games that we cling to yet so desperately yearn to abandon. Grinders understands your pain. We're also pretty entertained by all the silly acronyms.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be allowed to ripen on the vine. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and inventing a paint-drying MMO, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
Free Realms comic coming July 29, includes in-game bonuses
Looking for some supplementary materials for Sony Online Entertainment's utterly adorable, free-to-play MMO Free Realms? You're in luck. DC Comics brand WildStorm and SOE are teaming up to publish a comic book series based on the popular online game. J.S. Lewis, the author of the Grey Griffins children's book series, will be penning the story, but let's be honest -- you won't be picking up the comics for the story.No, we wager you'll purchase the comics because of the unlockable in-game items they'll contain. The first issue, which drops July 29, includes the "Spider Bite Sword." We imagine the following 11 issues will include equally enticing armaments. If you are interested in the story, you can check out a brief preview of Issue no. 1 right here.[Via Massively]
Free Realms comic to be released on July 29th
The first issue of a brand new comic based on Free Realms will be released next week, on the 29th of July. The series comes from a collaboration between WildStorm and SOE, with J.S. Lewis (best known for his Grey Griffins series of children's books) writing the story. MMORPG is also reporting that those who pick up the first issue will be eligible to receive an in-game item, the "Spider Bite Sword". Each comic in the series should continue in this manner, offering a new in-game item for the 12 issues that are planned. A handful of pages from the first issue can be previewed right now, along with a short snippet of the plot: The story begins when a young boy is abducted and dragged into a darkened forest teeming with twisted monsters. It's up to a relic hunter and a pixie to save him, but their mission is cut short when a horde of troll-like creatures captures them! Maybe we're just wusses, but that sounds kind of scary.[Via MMORPG]
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Cronyism Cronies
The Grinders gag today is from our own James Egan, who made a critical typo while working on an All Points Bulletin article. Swapping words in the title gave us a whole different game concept, the gritty underground world of white collar crime. Which reminds me, time to check my Swiss bank account, I'm sure Realtime Worlds' check has cleared by now.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be held over the shredder until they talk. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and inventing a paint-drying MMO, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
DC Comics to offer God of War mini-series this October
IGN is reporting that DC/Wildstorm Comics and Sony are teaming up to chronicle the events of Kratos in a God of War comic series. Spanning six issues, this new comic will hit stands this October and is being written by Marv Wolfman who, among being a notable dude in the comics biz, is also a big fan of the games. The series, which will run up until the release of God of War III, focuses on the sordid tales of Kratos' past, detailing his enrollment in the Spartan army at the age of seven, as well as events that occur between the first two games. What we're wondering is how the comic will include the QTE sex scene. You can't have God of War without that!
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Leave the Vase, Take the Cannoli
Every MMO with a floating economy seems to have problems with gold farming, but Final Fantasy XI makes the issue even more peculiar by having actual plant cultivation involved in the process. With Grinders I'd prefer to imagine some angry moogle mafioso running an underground botanical operation for money and power.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be ruthlessly sold by moogles for fun an profit. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and inventing a paint-drying MMO, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
Comic download service hitting PSP by end of year in Japan
Remember when we discovered an early prototype of a downloadable comics service for PSP? Well, it looks like it's coming to fruition. According to a release by PlayStation Japan, comics will be made available through the PlayStation Store by year's end. The comics will take advantage of the high resolution screen offered by the PSP, and will be compatible with all versions of the PSP, from the original 1000 to the new PSP Go.SCEA and SCEE have not announced plans to follow in Japan's footsteps. However, we're hopeful that by year's end, PSP owners will be able to read both English and Japanese comics on the go.
The Old Republic's free online comic Threat of Peace begins act two
Well that didn't take very long. The second act for Star Wars: The Old Republic's Threat of Peace is now live over at the official BioWare site and it starts off with a classically delicious Jedi vs Sith fight. The comic is still adhering to the four pages per installation approach but at least this week they're really good pages. You can never really go wrong with lightsabers and a battle.Ever since the series first began several weeks ago we've noticed that forcing the creators into four pages sometimes caused odd panel transitions. That doesn't seem to be the case here, as the story is well conveyed from start to finish. It seems like the writer and artist are finally figuring what works in this small space, so it should be interesting to see how act two develops over time.
Wrath of the Who?
I love this comic from the very talented miggy over at WoW Ladies, not only because it's funny, but because she's got a point. Back when the Battle for Mount Hyjal instance in the Caverns of Time appeared in game, we all wondered why we were going there in the first place -- unlike the other CoT instances, there were no dragons to fight or strange factions messing with the continuum. All that could happen in there is that we'd screw everything up and ruin time as we know it (and given all the wipes that went on in there, we probably did). But with the Argent Tournament, Blizzard seems to have gone even further: not only is there no clear reason for us to do it, but we're actually ignoring the threat at hand.As you know if you've read Sacco's excellent (and completely spoilerrific) guides to the Coliseum raid and the Tournament 5-man, there is a tacked-on reason we're doing all of this stuff, and it's that the Horde and Alliance want to send their strongest people to go after Arthas, and the Tournament is a way of sussing out who's most worthy. But though that makes for some great lore cutscenes, doesn't it still undermine Arthas' strength? How powerful can the guy be if there are so many people lining up to kill him we have to fight over it?Don't get me wrong, we're definitely looking forward to the Coliseum, and it's definitely brought some interesting things and rewards to the game. Just like CoT, in the light of the lore and the MMO genre at large, it's a great addition. But it is funny that the great Lich King's main tactic seems to be to have us fight it out between ourselves way before we ever bother taking a shot at him.
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Gender Equality
City of Heroes continues to fulfill items on the long list of player requests, next up being the option to change your height and gender, the only to pieces to the costume editor left static. While I think it's neat you'll finally be able to make that Mr. Hyde knockoff you've been waiting to build, Grinders today reflects other possible gameplay options.On a side note, I wonder what this'll do to the character gender debate. Now in CoH, your character doesn't need to have a gender, just a costume slot does. You could make a character that is in fact five distinct characters. Food for thought.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will also probably involve boobies in some form or another. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making glib social commentary, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
The Daily Quest: Best in slot
We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Wildstorm has hired a new artist to create #20 in the World of Warcraft comic book series. BlizzPlanet has the low down, along with a sample image. No Stock UI takes a look at the Taeo UI Compilation. Skeleton Jack is back, and this time covering the 10 Best in Slot Death Knight Bracers. 4Healz shows how you can Use Recount to its Full Potential. Rolling Hots studies the Resto Druid Gems in Patch 3.2. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Massively webcomic: The Haves and the Have-Nots
I suppose I should legally declare that Grinders is not paid by Sony to do comics about Free Realms, but on a completely unrelated note, I do so enjoy flossing my teeth with hundred dollar bills.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be put under a microscope and checked for the latest strain of Murloc Flu. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and sporting a fancy tophat and monocle, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
The inFamous comic comes to an end
Chances are you've already beaten inFamous by now -- and boy, what an ending! (No spoilers in the comments, please.) We're proud to present you the last half of the inFamous comic, which chronicles events that occur before the game's main adventure. Get insight into John's investigation of the Cole and the Reapers. You'll even find out why there are so many manikins on Zeke's roof. Start from the beginning, or jump to the new content: Issue One Issue Two Issue Three Issue Four
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Urban Adventurers
Welly welly well. It's about time the MMO scene started seeing some real deviation. Grinders is more than proud to get revved up for Cities XL, and try out some more playstyles than just leather armor and pest control. Though, it'll be really interesting to see what similarities do come out of the game. It'll also make us rethink what an MMO is, because if 'lots of players' and 'online' are the only two sticking points, I don't think that it'll stay a genre of its own for much longer.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will he harangued for showing up the rest of them and upsetting the curve, but will be probably worked into the comic somehow. %Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and taking naps at his desk with his nose on the H key, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
World of Warcraft comic issue #20 preview
The World of Warcraft comic train keeps a-rollin' with the upcoming twentieth issue, with this one focusing on everyone's favorite pre-Wrath Scourge invasion. Here's what the official PR solicitation has to say:The Scourge makes their move and attacks from all fronts intent on taking no prisoners! No longer united, can Varian and Thrall survive the onslaught? And will Valeera once again succumb to her addiction to magical energy? Oh no, dear readers! Can they? Will she? I guess you'll just have to pick up the comic. If you need a quick fix, though, you can check out BlizzPlanet's scans of the preview that they've so graciously provided. At a glance, the art seems to be a bit improved over the Onyxia arc (thankfully) and, possibly more importantly, we're finally getting into recent and familiar territory. Heck, the comic's only a few months behind us now! Maybe soon you'll read about yourself killing Yogg-Saron before you even do it.
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Hot or Not
Sticking to the theme of horrible MMO ideas that shouldn't, but are, the Grinders thinktank has aimed its sights at the new Seventeen MMO. Though, I bet calling it an MMO is really starting to abuse the term, much like Virtual Laguna Beach and Habbo Hotel have caused us to do in the past. Still, I expect there will be a few fun-loving fuggos who will want to mix up the bubbly suburban content. You've been warned.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will he harangued for showing up the rest of them and upsetting the curve, but will be probably worked into the comic somehow. %Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and taking naps at his desk with his nose on the H key, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
Massively webcomic: Grinders - MMOs for Anything These Days
I like to think of Grinders as having the potential to be a window into the absurd, which is exactly what category a Tom and Jerry Massive Multiplayer game would fall under. As it is with these things, truth is stranger than fiction. Still, if I had my hands on the art direction I'd gritty it up a bit.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will probably not involve Tom or Jerry in any way, and will be worked into the comic somehow. Magic, I bet.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making too many alts in City of Heroes, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
Massively webcomic: Grinders - Didn't Make the Cut
Often times Grinders is a story of something that has actually happened, but today we dabble in the wonderland of the Free Realms that could have been. Honestly I think taxidermy would work great with the Pet Trainer job. Keep little Bella around forever. Yeah, I'm sure you named your pet cat Bella.Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be put under a microscope and checked for the latest strain of Murloc Flu. Or just put in the comic.%Gallery-63060%Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making too many alts in City of Heroes, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.
Why Varian Wrynn is a fool (and why it may not matter)
For a while now I've been mulling over points raised by Daniel in his much-discussed article, "Why Varian Wrynn Is Right," and we've received a number of requests to address the issue from the Horde's point of view. Well...this article isn't going to do that. It started off that way, and then I realized that Varian's personal issues and the Horde's approach to the problem are really two entirely separate matters. At some point in the future, I'd like to examine the Horde's take on the newly-resurgent antagonism between the factions, because it's not something I can adequately address here without turning this into a 10,000-word tract. Today, we're going to deal almost exclusively with Varian and his share of responsibility for the current mess. I'm a little ambivalent over Blizzard's decision to include most of the backstory and explanations for Varian's behavior in a comic series, because I think it's one of the factors that's resulted the character's being poorly received by most players. Choosing to include so much of his characterization out of the game in a product most players will never read necessarily impacts how Varian's motives are going to be evaluated. If all you've got to go on is what you see of the king from ingame events...he doesn't look so great. This isn't a defense of Varian so much as a commentary on the somewhat inconsistent approach to his character that's resulted. I haven't read each of the comics, but I'm familiar with the storyline, and this article doesn't assume that you need to have read the out-of-game books or comics in order to follow the argument.
More inFamous comic pages available to read now
The inFamous comic continues today with another seven pages, which we've added to our gallery below. You can either start reading the comic from the beginning or start directly from the new pages. We've put them in the correct order in our gallery, so just click through and enjoy. If the comic's story and gorgeous art style -- which mirrors inFamous' in-game cutscenes -- hasn't persuaded you to grab this game when it comes out next week, be sure to check out our review. There's also a behind-the-scenes video to watch after the break. %Gallery-63066%
