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The Suicide Squad comes to Lego Batman 3 in early 2015
Following Warner Bros.' recent announcement that a film based on DC Comics' Suicide Squad will debut in 2016, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced that Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will soon receive Suicide Squad-themed DLC. Excuse me, that should read "The Squad." Despite taking place within Belle Reve prison and granting players control of iconic Suicide Squad fixtures like Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and Deathstroke, the DLC and its characters are only ever referred to as "The Squad." Much as comic book devotees might hate the change, this makes sense. The grim moniker isn't central to the group's appeal and Lego Batman 3 is aimed at a younger crowd. Plus, the DLC's description makes no mention of the explosive collars that earned the Suicide Squad its name, so it seems likely that the more graphic elements of the comics have been excised from the DLC or purposely shied away from. Still, any excuse to feature Amanda Waller in a video game is a good one, even if her team is less sociopathic than usual. The Squad will be available in early 2015. It will be priced at $3, but can also be purchased alongside all of the other Lego Batman 3 DLC packs in the game's $15 season pass. [Image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]
Recommended Reading: a brief history of female superheroes
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Suffering Sappho! The Tortured History of Female Superheroes by Molly Lambert, Grantland With the truckload of recent comic book movie announcements, female superheroes are poised to make a big splash at the box office in the years to come -- including Gal Gadot (above) as Wonder Woman. However, previous female-led efforts in the genre haven't done well, and the biggest films continue to have dudes as the lead actors. Grantland takes a look at the troubled history of female superheroes as both Marvel and DC Comics prep to give the ladies another shot at Hollywood glory.
Valiant Hearts comic barks up the iOS tree for free today
Valiant Hearts: Dogs of War is a four-chapter, interactive comic book that tells the backstories of Walt, the dog star of the game Valiant Hearts: The Great War, and his canine sister, Cassie. The comic is free to all who own Valiant Hearts: The Great War on iOS, and the game is $5 for the first chapter and $4 each for the remaining three chapters. Or, get the final three installments in a three-chapter bundle for $9. "The loveable pair grew up together until one day events of The Great War sent them down vastly different paths," Ubisoft says in a press release. "In this tale of heroism, both dogs are thrown into the maze of trenches across the Western Front, and will have to navigate their own way towards survival amidst the horror of the war. Walt and Cassie won't share a common fate: While one will become a messenger, the other will become a medic who rescues fallen soldiers." Valiant Hearts: The Great War launched on iOS in September, following its release on consoles and PC in June. In our five-star review, we mentioned the emotional power working behind the comic book art style: "Valiant Hearts doesn't simply use comic portraits as a stylistic crutch. There are smart details in the art that connect to the story, sometimes in a simple foreground photo that tells you something about Anna's only family, and other times in a cutaway panel filled with peril – Freddie screaming for Emile to save him and quickly. Valiant Hearts won't always let you pass through its puzzles at a tranquil pace, and death can happen in an instant." [Image: Ubisoft]
French students built an interactive celebration of Marvel comics' 75-year history
Keeping tabs on all of Marvel's superheros is pretty challenging work -- the company has been publishing comics for 75 years. Over 2,500 characters have lived in its pages, spanning more than 3,000 individual issues over more than 440 series. How did I know all that? Well, I stole the stats from Ultimate 75th, a student-made website that pilfer's Marvel's own database to celebrate 75 years of comics. Students at the Hétic school in France built the site in just four days using the REST API used on Marvel's official site. This allowed the group to pull comic and character data directly from the publisher's database. The result is impressive, but it isn't perfect.
DC Comics is publishing a Mortal Kombat X komic
Look, we get it. You're thinking about picking up Mortal Kombat X next year, but there's a problem. You missed the last Mortal Kombat, and you're worried that Mortal Kombat X's plot will leave you totally lost. But never fear, lapsed virtual pugilists, because DC Comics has announced that it will publish a prequel comic series. The new series "will serve as a prequel to the game and will feature many favorite characters and the next generation of Kombatants," according to DC, and will be written by Shawn Kittelsen with illustrations by Dexter Soy and cover art courtesy of Ivan Reis. The series is set to debut in January 2015, at which point we can finally learn why that Scorpion guy is so crabby.
EVE: Valkyrie comic starts on June 3rd, 2015
EVE: Valkyrie fans won't have to wait until the game goes live to start exploring the lore behind this spinoff of EVE Online. A comic miniseries is being published by Dark Horse comics, written by Brian Wood and drawn by Eduardo Francisco. This four-issue series will start selling on June 3rd, 2015, giving potential players or just general science fiction fans a chance to start exploring the lore before the game is finally launched. Valkyrie is still on track as a launch title for both the Oculus Rift and the Sony Morpheus, bridging both consoles and PCs. No specific release date has yet been announced.
New Blackhand comic at the official site
So, have you ever wondered how he got the name Blackhand? Wonder no more. The latest Warlords of Draenor comic, Blackhand, gives you a glimpse into the history of the Blackrock orcs on Draenor, shows us a tantalizing glimpse of a character we haven't seen much of yet, and answers questions like What happened to Blackhand in this timeline with more questions, really. Still, if watching orcs battle ogres, negotiate with the spirits, and risk death for their people sounds good to you, this is the comic you want to read. Written by Robert Brooks and with art by Alex Horley, it's up now, so go get it.
Turn your text messages into comic strips with this app
Regardless of which platform you're on, sending text messages is pretty boring. The folks behind comiXchat think they have the solution to that, however, with an app that turns your short-form correspondences into comic strips. More than just throwing avatars onto a static background, though, the app promises real-time changes to character position, facial expression and camera angles among other things, based on implied emotion, tone and attitude. And if any of that goes horribly wrong, you can share the comics either per-pane or the entire conversation via your social media network of choice. For it to work, you need to rope your friends into downloading it too. Ad-supported, free versions are available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone and if you'd like a preview of what it all looks like in action, there's a dubstep-accompanied video just below.
Marvel Super Heroes star in LittleBigPlanet Vita re-release
Just over two years after the adorable burlap creatures of LittleBigPlanet first reached Sony's Vita, the charming, creative platformer is being relaunched with an extra helping of Marvel Comics cross-brand synergy. Dubbed LittleBigPlanet PS Vita: Marvel Super Hero Edition, the new version of the handheld game features all the content included in its original release as well as a host of Marvel Comics-themed DLC. Exactly which heroes might appear is unknown, though given the long history of Marvel Comics character skins in LittleBigPlanet, it could be anyone from the ubiquitous Thor and Iron Man to more esoteric faces like Forbush Man and Squirrel Girl. In total, 18 character costumes will appear in the re-release, alongside three mini-games, "Avengers: Ultimate Escape, S.H.I.E.L.D Interceptor and Hero Rush." According to the EU PlayStation.blog, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita: Marvel Super Hero Edition will reach European territories on November 19 at a price of €20. There's no word on a North American release just yet, but we've attempted to contact Sony and will update this piece when we hear more. [Image: Sony]
Lego Batman 3 goes Beyond Gotham on November 11
No longer content with striking fear into the hearts of superstitious criminals in the back alleys of his hometown, Batman is branching out to more exotic climes in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. According to publisher Warner Bros. Interactive, the Dark Knight's latest blocky adventure sees our hero battling Superman villain Brainiac to prevent the destruction of Earth. It seems the hyper-intelligent alien has swiped a handful of Lantern rings and is using their power to shrink worlds for his creepy collection of tiny civilizations. Batman must join forces with the "greatest super heroes and the most cunning villains" to travel through the cosmos, collecting Lantern rings and eventually using their Oan might to topple Brainiac's plot. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham will debut on November 11. As with all DC Comics/Lego mashups, the game will appear on myriad platforms, including the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PS3, Vita, Wii U, 3DS and PC. [Image: WBIE]
Archie Comics app offers 100 free issues of classic fun
The world of comic books is often thought to just be the domain of dark gritty violence or melodramatic superhero fights, but there's another side of comics.: a fun-loving, thoughtful place we call Riverdale. It's the place where Archie lives. For decades Archie has made children and adults alike laugh with his screw-ups, adventures, and romances. Now thanks to Archie Comics new iOS app you can get your foot in the door with 100 free issues of classic Archie. For a limited time, the all-new app is featuring 100 free comics from Archie's incredibly deep back catalog. It's a golden opportunity to get a taste of the wide range of storytelling thats possible from the simple premise of a group of lifelong friends and their adventures. There's romance, comedy, time travel, horror (yes, After Life with Archie is a zombie book), and the classic stories from the supermarket digests you loved as a child. Best of all, you can read a few free issues of Life With Archie, the publisher's groundbreaking parallel reality series that follows how Archie's life would have been different if he'd married either Betty or Veronica. The title marks an almost Doonesbury-like acceptance of the importance of allowing comic characters to age, and it is incredible. Along with Life With Archie, the app also includes Kevin Keller #1 featuring the first gay character in the series history and his adventures as a teenager in the wholesome world of Riverdale High. Archie Comics' new app is optimized for Retina display iOS devices and features an easy-to-navigate menu. Best of all, with over 100 free books to try out even if you're not interested in the more progressive titles in the series, there are plenty of classic titles to choose from like Sabrina the Teenage Witch or the old Archie Digests you used to pick up at the grocery store. If you've never read an Archie book, you're missing out. The stories have never gotten as much credit as they deserve for their wholesome nature and honest to god wonderful humor. To some, these characters may seem too corny, but their basic archetypes are what allow them to so seamlessly fit into hundreds of different kinds of stories. You don't have to take our word for it. Go download yourself some free books and see for yourself while you still can.
Bandai Namco reunites Spider-Man with The Avengers
Thanks to an unending tangle of intellectual property laws, it's unlikely that American gamers will see Spider-Man joining forces with Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, but Japanese gamers will receive just that in the upcoming Disk Wars Avengers: Ultimate Heroes. Based on the Marvel Disk Wars animated series from Toei Animation, Disk Wars Avengers: Ultimate Heroes stars Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, The Wasp and Spider-Man as playable Marvel heroes. It's unknown what foes this team will be battling in the game's Story Mode, but screenshots published by Bandai Namco feature images of AIM troopers and a hapless purple lizard creature on the wrong end of a Mjolnir lightning strike. Disk Wars Avengers: Ultimate Heroes is slated to hit the 3DS in Japan on November 13. There's no word on an English-language release, but it's not entirely outside of the realm of possibility as Disney Magical World, another Bandai Namco production based on Disney properties, made the jump from Japan to the United States in March of this year. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Guardians of the Galaxy sets Marvel Pinball free on iOS
To celebrate Zen Studios' new table modeled after Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy, the virtual pinball developer is now offering the iOS version of Marvel Pinball at no charge. Like all of Zen's recent pinball games, Marvel Pinball is less a game itself, and more a shell that DLC tables can be bolted onto via in-app purchases. Those tables are usually priced at $2 each, but the gratis game also includes the Avengers table Zen released in 2012. If you're intrigued by this offer, don't put off downloading Marvel Pinball. This discount is only available for the next week, after which Marvel Pinball will return to its standard $1 price. [Image: Zen Studios]
Guardians of the Galaxy skins to appear in Minecraft
The latest intellectual property to appear in the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft via DLC skin pack are the Guardians of the Galaxy, just in time to promote the Marvel Studios film of the same name. According to Play XBLA, the Guardians of the Galaxy skin pack will include 24 skins "inspired both by Marvel's blockbuster film and the comic books." This means you get the expected faces like Starlord and Thanos, but also more esoteric characters like Angela, an angel Neil Gaiman first debuted in the pages of Spawn, before convoluted legal wrangling and a cosmic wormhole recently shunted the half-naked celestial warrior maiden into the Marvel Universe. Lacking from the Play XBLA announcement are any details on when this DLC pack might arrive or what price point it may feature. Instead, we're told that more information will be coming soon. [Image: 4J Studios]
Allons-y! Doctor Who: Legacy gets new companions, levels
The fabric of space-time gets a little wibbly-wobbly today, when The Doctor from the BBC's Doctor Who invades multiple comic books and the mobile Doctor Who: Legacy game. Well, actually it's not The Doctor who we're surprised to see, but two of his companions: Gabriella Gonzalez and Alice Obiefune. These new characters will simultaneously debut in Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1, Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #1 and Doctor Who: Legacy. Legacy players looking to add the companions to their roster of allies will have to pick up copies of the new comics, each of which contain an exclusive link to a code used to unlock Gabriella and Alice, as well as new levels and enemies taken from the comics. Copies should be available either through your local comic shop or online via publisher Titan Comics. "It's a real delight for us that Gabby and Alice can now go on new adventures with the Doctor in between issues – and we look forward to sharing more comics-driven content through Legacy in the future," Doctor Who comics editor Andrew James said in a related press release. [Image: Titan Comics]
Marvel's giving you the key to over 13,000 comics for 99 cents
To celebrate the start of Comic-Con tomorrow in San Diego, Marvel is kicking off a promotion that provides an all-you-can-have pass to its entire digital library for less than a dollar. There are a few caveats, as expected, but not enough to make the offer seem any less attractive. According to Wired, Marvel Unlimited, which is home to more than 13,000 comics, can be accessed over the next week with a simple payment of 99 cents. The deal will only give you an in to the service for one month, but the renowned publisher is hoping that's plenty of time to keep you locked in beyond said period.
Six retailers, six pre-order bonuses for Lego Batman 3
If you're planning to pre-order Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, you've got some homework to do. Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive is rolling out a bevy of pre-order bonuses, but all six are retailer exclusive. In nearly alphabetical order: Amazon offers players a Lego Batgirl keychain, Best Buy hopes to pull in pre-orders with the official Lego Batman 3 digital comic book, while GameStop has a Lego Plastic Man minifigure and Toys R Us is promoting its pre-orders with a Lego Joker keychain. Target and Wal-Mart are the only retailers offering Lego minisets, a Lego Batwing for Target, and a Lego Tumbler for Wal-Mart. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham is currently slated for release on nearly every platform (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Wii U, 3DS) toward the end of 2014. [Image: WBIE]
PS Plus subscribers get free Powers in December
The PlayStation Network will be bitten by a radioactive crime drama series later this year; Powers, a live-action adaptation of the comic of the same name, will be available via the PSN starting in December, with the debut episode available for free. Meanwhile, PlayStation Plus subscribers will be able to view the entire series at no charge. David Slade (Hannibal, Breaking Bad) will direct the first two episodes of the show, which focuses on detectives who investigate cases involving people with superhuman powers. The original comic, published by Image until 2004 and currently by Marvel, is written by Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy) and illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming (Judge Dredd, Catwoman). [Image: Marvel]
Halftone 2 adds video and sound to an already great app
We've looked at the Halftone comic book creator app in the past, and our reviewers have always liked its many capabilities. A new version, a major update to Halftone 2 (US$1.99) is out today, with many increased capabilities including video export at 720p, sound effects for each panel, new effects and transitions, and soundtrack support. What started as a clever app has now morphed into a complete production environment. The app works as before. Find some photos and import them into a variety of provided layouts. Add speech bubbles and comic-like banners, then render the project with a halftone look that makes it look like a professional comic book. Of course the content can be anything -- a vacation, pet photos, a party -- and the final results will likely please you and whoever receives your comic. Halftone 2 is extremely easy to use, and I had no trouble getting photos in, assigning captions, and moving the photos to frame them for best effect. The camera effects as the app animates and moves from frame to frame are extremely well done, and there are plenty of effects available to match any mood. If you add your own music, the video will "stretch" to match your audio clip. Video and sound are the big additions to this latest version, and the app has the "smarts" to make the addition of movement and audio easy, not at all like standard video editing. Your project can be shared via email, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox, Weibo, MMS or saved to your camera roll. I continue to be amazed at the content creation abilities that iOS presents, especially after the oft-mentioned but inaccurate tale of how the iPad in particular is for consumption of content. To create art like this on a computer would be impressive enough; to do this on an inexpensive tablet is astonishing. Halftone 2 requires iOS 7 or greater. It's a universal app and it's optimized for the iPhone 5.
Alan Moore's Electricomics promises to reinvent the medium, but not too much
If you've seen V for Vendetta, Watchmen or even The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, you've encountered the work of Alan Moore. He's one of the comic industry's most prolific and influential authors, and now he's trying to take the medium into the modern era. Moore is building a digital comics app designed to serve as both comic itself and a collection of open-source tools for creating the next generation of digital comics. The project, due for launch in early next year, is called Electricomics -- but don't expect books published on the platform to be animated or overly interactive: Moore insists that adding digital effects to comics won't make them better.
