ARTIST: All Out War
ALBUM TITLE: Into the Killing Fields
RECORD LABEL: Victory Records
RELEASED: August 3

By Eric Stuckart
Creator, Destroyer

I’m starting to think that there’s something in the water in New York. Aside from that thing that makes everyone pissed off, that is. Like many New York hardcore bands, All Out War has been around for nearly twenty years but has managed to release a number of consistent albums that always sound as though the band hasn’t aged at all.

Some things clearly never change, and that’s probably for the best. All Out War were one of the forerunners fusing metal riffs with their hardcore, and their fifth album, Into the Killing Fields, takes their long-running trademarks to make yet another album full of pummeling drums, thrashy riffs that imagine Slayer on steroids, and Mike Score’s eternally pissed screams.

Strange thing is, Into the Killing Fields sounds like it could have been released anywhere in their discography, and I don’t have a problem with that. They have managed to develop their sound into a no-frills killing machine and they know what they’re doing and how to do it. If it weren’t for the great production, I could easily see this album coming out ten, fifteen years ago just as well as it has now. And that’s no easy feat.

There has been a bit of a throwback to the old thrash sound emerging the past couple of years now, and most of the bands always end up throwing a bit of contemporary influences, or worse, irony, making the approach seem slightly less than genuine. All Out War doesn’t make that mistake, and it shows, making for one of the most pissed off hardcore albums I’ve heard this year.

Photo from xstuckinthepastx.blogspot.com.

The times have definitely not eased Score’s lyrics either. The band has always had a penchant for themes and imagery that brings thoughts of nuclear holocaust to mind, and this one is no different; war, death and a genuine sense of outrage saturate the songs. There’s slight of a more death metal influence this time around, with some tremolo picking here and there, but it’s all done so in a fashion that doesn’t take away from their sound, and they don’t sound like they’re planning on slowing down either.

Into the Killing Fields is short and sweet, and they waste no time and no space on the record. In a mere nine songs, they say everything that they have to say, with no filler, no interludes, no bullshit. They say the more things change the more they stay the same; sometimes it’s nice to see that in action.

RATING: 7.5/10

Image from obsessedwithfilm.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder 

Jay Baruchel, while on a promotional tour for The Sorceror’s Apprentice, spoke with Digital Spy about the Justice League movie George Miller was at the helm of, but was eventually scrapped. Baruchel was one of the actors that was slated to be involved with the film.

“I’ll just say this, if we had been able to make the movie that we had gone down [to Australia] to rehearse, if you had seen the production art I’d seen…it would’ve been the coolest thing ever,” Baruchel said. “It would have been the neatest vision of Batman and the coolest vision of Superman you’ve ever seen. It would have been dark and fairly brutal and quite gory and just f—ing epic.”

Baruchel said the major problem with the film was its price tag, alleging that it would have cost over $300 million to make. 

“My friends, who were training to be Batman and Superman, they were down there for three months training and going to Weta in New Zealand to get their costumes,” Baruchel said. “Weta, which is arguably the greatest special effects house on Earth, they had to cancel everything else. They were doing nothing but our movie. It was going to be f—ing dope!”

The film would have starred Armie Hammer as Batman, D.J. Catrona as Superman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, and Adam Brody as The Flash. Teresa Palmer was to have been involved as well.

Photo from aceshowbiz.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Matthew Vaughn, director of the upcoming X-Men: First Class film, recently told Hero Complex that after seeing Inception, he had to cut roughly 12 pages from the First Class script.

“…My heart sank when I saw that a few of the ideas we had were up [on the screen],” Vaughn said. “So it’s either leave it in and look as if you’re copying or change things. We completely ripped out about 12 pages of the script and the storyboards.”

The cut sequences allegedly involved dream-space combat, which needless to say is seen quite a bit in Inception.

First Class will focus on the early years of Dr. Charles Xavier and Magneto. Beast, Mystique, and Banshee will also appear in the film. The movie is scheduled for a June 23, 2011 release.

TITLE: Batman: Arkham Reborn
AUTHOR: David Hine
PENCILLER: Jeremy Haun
COLLECTS: Arkham Reborn #1-3, Detective Comics #864-865
FORMAT: Softcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $12.99
RELEASE DATE: August 4

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

In a recent interview with Comic Book Resources, David Hine said: “I have a natural affinity for crazy people. If you look at my work, particularly [my Image graphic novel] ‘Strange Embrace,’ you’ll see I’m more interested in twisted psychological thrillers than action stories. I’ve learned to write action scenes because that’s so much a part of the American mainstream comics scene, but those scenes are always less important than the psychological stuff. The trick is to externalize the psychosis so that you can make it work dramatically.”

If he was looking for psychosis, he came to the right place with Arkham Reborn.

The book picks up where Hine left off in his Battle For The Cowl: Arkham Asylum one-shot (collected in Batman: Battle For The Cowl Companion). The asylum has been rebuilt after it’s destruction at the hands of the mysterious new Black Mask. Under Dr. Jerimiah Arkham’s guidance, it now looks more like a temple of healing than a prison for the criminally insane. But Arkham’s honeymoon is short-lived, as strange things start happening to the inmates, pushing the doctor himself to the brink of sanity. The story then jumps forward to shortly after the events of Batman: Life After Death. Black Mask is now an inmate, and Jerimiah Arkham must ask himself if he’s the one truly running the asylum. Or for that matter, if he’s ever been the one.

I’ll be honest: It’s tough to review this book without giving away the best part. There’s a big M. Night Shyamalan-style plot twist about 3/4 into it that changes everything. If you haven’t read Life After Death, it’ll come as a bit of a shock…or maybe it won’t. Perhaps it all depends on how one reads into certain plot details. Personally, I was a little confused at first. Either way, if you read both books it’s obvious David Hine and Tony Daniel worked together to a certain extent.

Hine certainly lives up to his words about his interest in the human psyche, as this book is a psychological thriller as opposed to an action adventure. Obviously there are action elements present, but the story’s core lies with Jerimiah Arkham, and what’s happening on the battlefield that has become his mind. Is the man watching over Gotham City’s domain of the doomed about to break? Has been broken already?

What’s nice about this book is introduces some new, interesting characters to the continuity. Aaron Cash, the Asylum’s head of security, is brought straight from the Batman: Arkham Asylum video game to the printed page. We also get Alyce Sinner, Dr. Arkham’s uncomfortably-named assistant director. We also get Dr. Arkham’s three secluded patients, his “lovelies,” that he keeps away from the rest of the inmates and has allowed himself to have a personal relationship with.

The art works well with the overall tone of the book. Jeremy Haun handles almost all of it himself (John Lucas is a co-inker on Detective Comics #864). The way he shades and uses colors, he conveys a sense of grim foreboding in every panel. Though in all fairness, the fact that Arkham Asylum isn’t exactly known as a happy place likely subconsciously guides the reader toward that foreboding sense anyway.

Overall, a nice little book. But it really helps if you read Life After Death beforehand.

RATING: 7/10

Front page image from jeremyhaun.com.

TITLE: Final Crisis: Revelations
AUTHOR: Greg Rucka
PENCILLER: Philip Tan
COLLECTS: Final Crisis: Revelations #1-5
FORMAT: Trade Paperback
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $14.99
PAPERBACK RELEASE DATE:  August 11

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder 

This book was the best thing to come out of DC’s big Final Crisis event comic in 2008. Grant Morrison’s story was confusing and convoluted, and the stuff Geoff Johns did was uncharacteristically…blah. 

But Greg Rucka’s story about The Spectre, and God’s almighty plan ultimately stole the show. Johns even called it the best thing Rucka had ever written. It’s odd, because superhero comics and real-world religion/spirituality aren’t always the best things to mix. But Rucka pulls it off with a story that’s actually quite touching. 

Revelations stands on its own, but to get the full scope, you really should read (or maybe just skim) Final Crisis, as well as Rucka’s work on the Gotham Central books. Long story short, Central mainstay Renee Montoya has become The Question, the DCU’s resident crime-noir detective, and has been targeted by the Religion of Crime as their chosen leader. Montoya ultimately sought to bring down the group, but nevertheless has caught the attention of The Spectre…God’s angel of vengeance, which has attached itself to the spirit of her dead partner, Crispus Allen. 

During his time as a spirit, Crispus Allen has grown furious with God, as He ordered The Spectre to kill Allen’s own son, because he murdered the man who killed his father. Thus, Allen’s faith in his new duty has been put to the ultimate test, and when he is ordered to kill his old partner, the test only gets harder.

While this is all going on, the spirit of Cain (yes, THAT Cain), has been reincarnated into the body of supervillain Vandal Savage, who seeks vengeance on The Spectre for marking him as a murderer. And while THAT’s going on, Darkseid has turned the majority of the world’s population into mindless zombies via the Anti-Life Equation.

Didja get all that? 

Though the plot is multi-layered to say the least, Rucka does a masterful job keeping all the plates spinning. It really is one of his best works. In some circles he’s probably best known for his gritty crime fiction, but he’s perfectly capable of working in the realm of the supernatural. Oddly enough, he incorporates both in this book by using characters from the former and incorporating them into the latter. 

Obviously, the element that might turn some readers off is the religion factor. The Spectre is “God’s hitman,” and in addition, we also get a look at Radiant, God’s angel of mercy. There are some Bible passages quoted, an image of Jesus on the cross, and even an image of The Question going into action with a large cross behind her. Though it’s a great work, Revelations has the potential to make a lot of people uncomfortable. But at its core, it’s really not about Christianity, or any particular religion. It’s about keeping your faith and hope, even in the most dire circumstances. And it doesn’t get much more dire than a sadist zombie apocalypse. 

Philip Tan’s work has been hit or miss for me lately, but he gets a hit with this book. The facial close ups are nice, especially on Vandal Savage and Batwoman. Because the world is coming to an end in this book, Tan and the inkers had to deal with a lot of dark atmospheres. I normally don’t get into comics that cake on the black stuff, but this team balances it out quite nicely with bright colors. For instance, the a supernatural entity using his powers often comes with a bright flash of red or blue. 

As you may have noticed, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Probably not a good gift for the Athiest in the family, but as someone who considers himself spiritual as opposed to religious, I liked it a lot. 

Plus, there’s a scene where we see Batwoman and Catwoman acting slutty all over Vandal Savage. There’s a border-line religious experience right there.

RATING: 9/10

TITLE: “The Signal” DLC for Alan Wake
PLATFORM: 360
DEVELOPER: Remedy
PUBLISHER: Microsoft Game Studios
ESRB: T
RELEASED: July 27

By Cameron Miller
Staff Writer, Crowd Control

The Signal is the first DLC add-on for Alan Wake, picking up right after the events of the game and continues the nightmare in which Alan Wake had a part in. Just like the main game, this will take you for a psychological ride.

Alan is trapped in the Dark Place, a place beyond our world in another dimension. Starting off in Bright Falls, in a dream-like world, he walks into the diner surrounded by familiar faces and familiar circumstances. Alan isn’t sure what is going on but he knows that something is waiting for him in the back of the diner and he needs to get there.

Alan goes to the back bathroom and meets with Thomas Zane, a writer that helped him save his wife Alice. Zane warns Alan that he is going too deep into the Dark Place and that he is unable to hear him. He gives Alan some tools to use against the darkness while Alan goes off to find a better place on contact. On his journey he find a page of his that were jumbled fragments, these words appear in the air hanging, and when Alan sees the word “phone” he shines his flashlight on it to make the word turn into the real thing, a Verizon phone with navigation. The phone rings and Zane is on the other end telling Alan to follow the GPS signal.

Image from www.facebook.com/alanwake?ref=ts.

I am a huge fan of the original game and if you are like me and bought it you will receive this DLC for free. To be perfectly honest, this DLC is actually harder than the main game was, interestingly enough. There seems to be more Taken ready to take you down around every corner, where in the first game there were maybe 2-3 in a group, there are 4-5 in this DLC. While you might not think that is a big difference when you play it you will easily see why it would cause a problem.

Though it is DLC, it doesn’t really feel like that to me, it feels like you just finished another chapter from the original game. It has the horror elements along with the classic comedic relief in the form of Barry Wheeler. The path to the end is a tough and enjoyable one and you will be rewarded with some answers and some questions. Bottom line, if you enjoyed the game at all you will definitely have to pick up this add-on to the world of Alan Wake.

RATING: 9/10