By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Let’s be honest: By many standards, 2011 was strictly okay at best. A lot of stuff sucked, both in the real world and the world of entertainment. But there were silver linings to be found: We finally got Bin Laden, Marvel had a great year at the movies, Kim Jong Il is gone, Beavis and Butt-head came back, US troops were finally withdrawn from Iraq, CM Punk cut one of the best worked shoot promos ever on live TV, Rod Blagojevich paid the price for his role in the corruption of Illinois politics, the DC Universe reboot happened, we got some cool music, we got the definitive Batman game in Arkham City, among other notable achievements.

But now it’s time to look to the future! Yes, certain things will suck in 2012. But let’s try and find that silver lining. Here are a few things we can look forward to in 2012…

1. Laughing At People Who Think The World Is Ending
Hey everybody! Y2K is back! Yes, because the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar comes to an end on December 21, 2012, many are pointing to that day in fear of cataclysmic events, the end of the world, etc. Hollywood even cranked out a movie based on the “2012 phenomenon,” starring John Cusack. And boy, I can not wait to let out a big guffaw when that day gets here and NOTHING happens. I’ll actually have to be careful that the sheer amount of laughter generated by my body doesn’t trigger some kind of cataclysmic event. Boy would THAT be ironic…

2. The First Major Superhero Crossover Flick
If The Avengers isn’t one of the best, if not THE best superhero movie ever made, Marvel will have REALLY screwed up. Thankfully, when it comes to movies they don’t seem to be in that habit. The Iron Man movies, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor were all really good, and The Incredible Hulk was pretty decent. We’ve got an all-star cast lined up, and in Joss Whedon we’ve got a director who knows his way around superheroes, science fiction and fantasy. When The Avengers opens, the world’s eyes are going to be on Marvel more than ever. To say the least, it’s a high stakes, high pressure situation. But the stars seem to be aligning for this movie, and I’m expecting great things. Before it’s all said and done, Marvel may make true believers out of everybody.

Meanwhile, in a true case of “everybody wins,” DC is pulling out their heaviest hitter in response…

3. The Dark Knight Strikes Again
As I said last week, I’m a bit worried about The Dark Knight Rises having “third movie syndrome.” But it’s piqued my curiosity regardless. The simple fact that this is another Christopher Nolan Batman film makes it a big deal, as Nolan and his crew have done so much justice to the Batman mythology, and made these movies so damn thrilling to watch. If The Avengers wasn’t coming out, The Dark Knight Rises would undoubtedly be the most anticipated film of 2012.

4. More Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters From IDW
As a child of the ’80s, when IDW started their Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing titles, I naturally rushed to check them out. But I never expected that they would jump near the top of my weekly stack the way they have. With the work of fan favorite artist Dan Shoening, combined with a writing style that’s as close to the movies as we’re ever going to get, Ghostbusters has proven itself to be the best comic book version of the boys in gray that I’ve ever read. Meanwhile, Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan seem to be doing something I’ve always wanted to see done with the Ninja Turtles: They’re picking and choosing the things that have worked well in various other incarnations of the Turtles, and merging them into one series. We’ve got elements from the ’80s cartoon, mixed with a tone that’s reminiscent of both the Mirage Studios comics and the 2003 TV show, helmed by Eastman, who co-created the original comic book! It’s really a treat to read, and it’s only getting better.

5. The Rock vs. John Cena
When these two finally lock up at Wrestlemania XXVIII, the wrestling world will quake. That’s what happened 10 years ago when The Rock faced Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania, and that’s what’s going to happen this time. But it’s more than that. To many longtime wrestling fans, John Cena epitomizes the stale nature of today’s WWE product. He’s PG, he’s PC, and he’s hated by many over it. These are the fans who chant “Cena sucks!” at live events, and greet Cena with a chorus of boos when he enters an arena. In contrast, many of these same fans grew up when The Rock was at the top of the wrestling world, and have desperately missed the electricity and charisma he brings to the product. At this year’s Wrestlemania, it’s not just icon vs. icon. It’s about two generations colliding. It’s about the “Attitude Era” vs. the “PG Era.” It’s about what the fans want from their wrestling. And I can’t wait.

Front page image from movies.sky.com. Image 1 from hollywoodgo.com. Image 2 from blogomatic3000.com. Image 3 from undertheradarmag.com. Image 5 from fanpop.com. 

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. R.K…Uh oh…
Oh jeez. Well, this isn’t good. Randy Orton, one of WWE’s two or three biggest draws, is now out for about six months with what is apparently an injured back.

Obviously it’s never good to lose one of your big name stars to injury, the loss of Randy Orton is particularly unfortunate when it comes to WWE’s B-Show, Friday Night Smackdown. Orton is Smackdown‘s most popular star. He’s not always in the most prevalent story beat on the show. But he’s the guy that consistently gets the biggest pops of the night, and is drawing the most money. Not having him around means WWE needs to find another big star to take his spot for the foreseeable future. They won’t match his popularity right away, but they can groom him to be Smackdown‘s next major marquee talent.

The only real choice for Orton’s spot seems to be Sheamus. Yes, Daniel Bryan is the World Champion on Smackdown right now, but that’s because WWE is still trying to build him into a big name, and they’re using the title as a means to that end. Sheamus has been steadily built up by WWE over the past few years, and even has his fair share of mainstream media experience to boot, having appeared on both Conan and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. He’s got a very distinct look, a decent amount of charisma, and has done quite well transitioning into a likable babyface. He’s even got a catchy new nickname in “The Great White.” The fact that he’s replacing Randy Orton in house show matches against Wade Barrett certainly seems to indicate that he’s the man for the job.

The Big Show is also more than capable of contributing, as he’s been doing a fine job working with Mark Henry these past few months. With any luck, Daniel Bryan will be able to build a bit of momentum and contribute. If all else fails, John Cena and CM Punk can always help hold down the fort every so often. But the focus should be Sheamus. His time needs to start now.

2. The Flames of Hate
Speculation has been running rampant these past few weeks about whether a heel turn is in John Cena’s future. The majority of grown male fans have been booing Cena for years, and the die-hard wrestling audience has been calling for it for the longest time. But Cena’s upcoming Wrestlemania match with the ever-popular Rock, combined with Kane calling for Cena to “embrace the hate” this week on Raw, not to mention the recent “Cena Sucks” shirt WWE put on the market, have added a good amount of fuel to the speculation.

WWE has kept Cena as the straight-laced hero for so long because he sells merchandise, pulls in TV ratings, and is WAY over with young kids. That being said, the majority of the fans (at least those at attend WWE events) are booing him. Watch him come to the ring on an episode of Raw. Initially, all you hear are boos. They’ve been playing with that a decent amount this year, acknowledging it more than they ever have. But the big question is, will they actually do it? Would WWE actually pull the trigger on turning their biggest hero into bad guy?

Personally, I think now is as good a time as ever to do it. I’m not one of those fans that always complains about Cena, but keeping him in the role he’s in now is a very safe thing to do. It’s been the safe thing to do for at least two or three years now. I think if WWE wants to continue to grow and evolve they need to try this, simply to freshen Cena’s character up a bit. I think it was Roddy Piper who once said that Cena is “too company,” i.e. he’s become WWE’s poster boy to such an extent that it’s putting a damper on his work. And he’s right. Cena’s promos sound like WWE press releases. He needs to reinvent himself as someone who’s not that guy, for his own longevity if nothing else. In recent interviews, Cena has talked about wanting to be around for several more years. That’s not going to work if he’s still doing all the same stuff. Huk Hogan, Bret Hart, Steve Austin and The Rock all went through periods where they turned to the dark side, if only for a little while, and they came out stronger for it. Now it’s Cena’s turn. If it doesn’t work, they can always transition him back into a babyface role.

I can certainly see how WWE would be concerned about merchandise sales if Cena turned, but I don’t think ratings would suffer at all, especially during those first few weeks. A Cena heel turn would likely garner a lot of attention from fans who’ve turned away from wrestling in recent years, much like Hogan’s heel turn in WCW did. That’s not to say it would usher in a new “boom period,” but it would certainly turn a lot of heads.

The ironic thing? I’ll betcha a hundred bucks all the adult male fans start cheering for Cena after he turns heel. It might take a few months, but it’ll happen.

Front page image from bleacherreport.com. Orton image from randyorton4u.com. Cena image 1 from 4shared.net. Cena image 2 from famouspict.blogspot.com. 

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Well, it’s finally here! A trailer for The Dark Knight Rises that gives us a look at Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, Tom Hardy as Bane, and the story itself. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look before we dive in.

I remember seeing one of the first trailers for The Dark Knight, where we saw Heath Ledger’s Joker for the first time.   The trailer was an experience in and of itself, as it was our long-awaited payoff after the final scene in Batman Begins. Plus, seeing Ledger’s Joker was obviously amazing. It was simply a well done, suspenseful piece of film that left me clamoring for more. I don’t have that same feeling with this one. Initially, that made me nervous that TDKR has a case of “third movie syndrome” (see The Godfather Part III, Spider-Man 3, X-Men: The Last Stand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, etc). But it’s actually starting to grow on me, and I’ve found myself with a renewed anticipation for it.

Though it’s inevitable, it’s not necessarily fair to compare TDKR to The Dark Knight. The latter had more going for it in terms of Batman mythology, i.e. characters that a lot of people knew. We had The Joker and Two-Face, arguably the two most notorious enemies Batman has. The Joker is certainly the most famous. These were two of the characters everybody wanted to see after Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight delivered on just about every conceivable level. A story like that is tremendously difficult to follow, and it’s going to prove tremendously difficult for TDKR to step out of it’s predecessor’s shadow.

Still, one of the many things I give Nolan’s Batman films endless credit for is the fact that they’ve made Bruce Wayne’s personal journey a pivotal part of this saga. In Batman Begins, he became the hero and the symbol. In The Dark Knight, he was forced to face the consequences of many of his actions. TDKR seems to continue this trend, as it appears he’ll have to bring himself to return to his hero role after a long time away. In many ways this runs counter to what the older Batman films did, especially the Schumacher films, which focused much more on the zany, colorful villains.

I’m very much intrigued by one of Selina Kyle’s lines in the trailer. As she dances with Bruce Wayne, she talks about a storm coming, and tells him: “You and your friends better batten down the hatches. Because when it hits, you’re all going to wonder how you ever thought you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us.” Obviously, this suggests an uprise against the wealthy. This would certainly be timely, considering what we’re seeing these days with things like the Occupy Wall St. protests. That kind of angle would undoubtedly make a lot of people angry. But I think it would go a long way in proving that superhero stories can be about more than action and suspense.

Incidentally, the action looks like it will be as thrilling as ever, and the acting seems great, but there are two things from this trailer that made me roll my eyes a bit. The first was the shot of the football field crumbling behind a player as he’s running toward the end zone, the event evidently caused by explosives planted underground by Bane. The show this guy running down the field while this gaping chasm is opening up, the ground is exploding, other players are falling in. But does he notice? NOPE. He gets to the end zone, turns around, and has an Wile E. Coyote “Yipes!” moment. C’mon, bro! You didn’t hear the sound of the friggin’ world caving in about a foot behind you? Were you that anxious to score a touchdown and do a silly little dance? See, this is why I don’t watch football…

My second bone to pick is the way TDKR is being marketed as the end of Nolan’s Batman legend. The trailer calls the film “The Epic Conclusion to the Dark Knight Legend,” and tells us “The Legend Ends.” This is stupid. Yes, I know these taglines refer to the fact that this likely Christopher Nolan’s last Batman movie. But even if Nolan and company don’t come back and do another Batman film, the franchise has brought in too much money for Warner Bros. to put it on the shelf after TDKR. Somebody’s going to have the unenviable task of following all of this with either a continuation, or a new continuity altogether. So why confuse people by calling this the “end” of Batman? Stop shoving that down our throats, guys. Because even you know it’s not true.

Is anybody else getting a vibe similar to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns from this trailer? That book, which  (to put it mildly) revolutionized the Batman mythos, sees an older Bruce Wayne return to the Batman role after years away from it, to once again bring his own brand of justice to Gotham. TDKR certainly seems to be painted with similar textures.

If I seem like I’m being harsh on TDKR, I don’t mean to be. I’m just a die-hard Batman fan keeping a sharp eye on the latest installment of his favorite franchise. We’re certainly seeing our fair share of speculation, which is always great for business. For what it’s worth, I’ve also had that “Rise” chant stuck in my head for the last few days…

Front page image from darkknightrisesrumors.com. Image 1 from undertheradarmag.com. Image 2 from stuffwelike.com. Image 3 from collider.com. 

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. Nyuking It Up
The trailer for the Farrelly Brothers’ upcoming adaptation of The Three Stooges came out this week. The reception hasn’t exactly been generous. Go ahead and judge for yourself…

As a lifelong Stooge fan, I’ve got mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s surreal to see anyone playing Moe, Larry and Curly except, well…Moe, Larry and Curly. In terms of their show business personalities, Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard were these characters. So to have anyone else playing them naturally feels like a cheap knockoff, especially because the classic shorts have been around for so long. Snooki of The Jersey Shore fame is also an unwelcome sight. The general public doesn’t seem to have a very favorable impression of her, which the trailer tries to take advantage of. But it reeks of the film trying to get extra publicity from her, which I don’t appreciate. The Three Stooges are American comedy icons. A movie based on their work shouldn’t need to resort to cheap tricks like that at this stage of the game.

On the other hand, the movie obviously has good intentions. If you watch some of the well-known Farrelly Brothers stuff, i.e. Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary and Me, Myself & Irene, the Stooges’ influence on their work is rather obvious. What we’re seeing here is a loving tribute to perhaps the greatest comedy team in American history. Yes, Hollywood is cashing yet again, but that’s not all we’re looking at.

The worrisome element here is that this isn’t a biopic. It’s a story starring the characters of the Three Stooges. The Farrellys are asking their three main actors, Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes and Will Sasso, to duplicate something that really can’t be duplicated. It’s one thing to be able to impersonate Curly, it’s another thing to try and capture the kind of chemistry these performers had when they were on camera together. Larry, Moe and Curly were like a torrential force of slapstick, personality and timing the likes of which is rarely seen anywhere. To have different actors simply impersonate them may not hold up very well for an entire movie, even if the impressions are pretty good, as they are here. I imagine it’s kind of like seeing an Elvis impersonator. You appreciate the tribute, but past that, does the presentation hold any water of its own? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the presentation consists of.

Regardless of what people are saying, I will probably end up seeing The Three Stooges out of respect for the original performers and their legacy. Moviegoers should walk in knowing that what their seeing is a tribute to these frankly amazing men and what they gave to the world. If it falls flat it’s not going to hurt the memory of the real Stooges. Plus, if it gets some younger folks to look at the old shorts, on some level it will have been worth it. This film is a big risk, but it’s a risk worth taking.

2. R.I.P. Jerry Robinson
Very sad to hear of the passing of Jerry Robinson December 7 at the age of 89. Anyone who enjoys Batman stories and the world of Gotham City should tip their hat to this man. While Bob Kane is widely credited as the creator of the Caped Crusader, Jerry Robinson was the man who developed the original looks of characters like The Joker, Alfred and Two-Face. He also came up with the name “Robin” for Batman’s young sidekick.

There’s some controversy as to what Robinson’s role actually was in the creation of The Joker. As the story goes, he came in with a joker playing card as the inspiration for a new villain for Batman. Conflicting stories have been told about how extensively Robinson was involved from there. But Robinson is generally credited as the man who created the character, and played a key role in the creation of a franchise that continues to thrill fans young and old to this day.

Robinson was also a major advocate of creators’ rights, and notably supported Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in obtaining credit and compensation for their work on the character.

In a press release, DC co-publisher Jim Lee said: “Jerry Robinson illustrated some of the defining images of pop culture’s greatest icons. As an artist myself, it’s impossible not to feel humbled by his body of work. Everyone who loves comics owes Jerry a debt of gratitude for the rich legacy that he leaves behind.”

Front page image from marquee.blogs.cnn.com. Stooges and Robinson images from latimes.com.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

After seeing the new movie earlier this week, I’ve been on a huge Muppets kick. My YouTube account has been flooded by old Jim Henson content, and I even downloaded “Rainbow Connection” on to my iPod. Because yes, I’m a dork like that. What can I say? I was touched by the film.

All this Muppet-related hype makes me think back to a moment in my distant past, way, way back in 2009, when karaoke night at a local bar suddenly found itself hosting a round of kids songs, courtesy of yours truly.

I really don’t do karaoke. The deeper I venture into it, the more I see people who take the whole thing way too seriously. I’m pretty sure a couple of drunk chicks getting on stage and belting out an old TLC song isn’t supposed to be considered serious art. To top it off, a large percentage of karaoke nights take place in bars, and I’m not always at ease in that atmosphere. When I’m in a bar, I can’t help but think back to some of the ones I went to in college. In my experience the thing about most college bars, and I suppose a decent amount of regular bars, is that at least half the people in the building are trying to have sex. I know because I was often one of those people. And the thing is, it never really worked out for me. Bars may be forever ingrained in my mind as the places where broskis go to pick up chicks with fake tans who’ve had too many appletinis. Nothing against appletinis, of course…

In any event, one fateful night in April of 2009, I went up to one of my hometown bars with some buddies, a few of whom were girls looking forward to singing karaoke. And of course, you can’t be in a group with girls who sing karaoke without being asked: “Why don’t you go up there?” at least once. I seem to recall being asked quite a few times, because it’s common knowledge that I have a flair for theatrics, and generally making an idiot out of myself.

So I started flipping through the big book of karaoke songs. Where does a beginner even start with one of those things? They’re bigger than phone books, with an apparent emphasis on twangy country songs. I swear to God, every time I’ve been to a karaoke night some chick has to get up there and sing “Man I Feel Like A Woman” by Shania Twain. I needed to find a song that fit my personality and didn’t make me look like a typical karaoke tool.

Then, just like that, it was there. “It’s Not Easy Being Green” by Kermit The Frog. It was perfect. In that environment it would be silly, in a non-conformist sort of way. It had been a long time since I’d heard the song, but nevertheless, I wrote it on that little slip of paper  that karaoke DJs hand out to people, and turned it in.

Oddly enough, when the song came up, I was in the bathroom taking a pee. All of a sudden I hear people outside calling for me, and I think the karaoke guy actually said something into the mic to the effect of: “Rob, come out of the bathroom, you’re up!” So in mid-flow I stopped what I was doing, zipped up and got out there. I got through the song pretty well, using my best Kermit impression. Obviously, no one outside of my party knew what to make of the whole thing. But the people I knew were laughing, at that was the whole point. If the only two or three people laughing in the crowd are people I care about, I’ll gladly take that ratio. Someone would later tell me “That took balls, man.” A kind sentiment, if not an altogether true one.

But then, something wonderful happened. About two songs later, a token karaoke fanatic who’d done a few songs earlier got back up on stage. But he wasn’t singing a hit single, nor a twangy country song that make you want to get to know the business end of a power drill. Amazingly, this karaoke broski began to sing “C Is For Cookie,” in his best Cookie Monster impression! And now both my group and his group were eating it up! I was flabbergasted. I didn’t even know this dude, but he’d taken the Muppet baton and run with it. I shook his hand when he got off the stage.

That would have been enough for me, but to my continued shock that wasn’t the end! Moments later, the karaoke DJ himself took the mic and said: “I’ve got to finish this.” I’ll be damned if he didn’t start singing “Rubber Duckie You’re The One,” courtesy of Ernie from Sesame Street. He had a hard time keeping it together during the song, but he made it. Afterward he pointed at me and said: “Hey, you started it, man!”

If I’m hogging the attention here, I apologize. But that was a pretty cool night for me, so I can’t help remember it fondly. For just a few minutes I took one of the prominent bars in my hometown, which consistently hosts a typical flock of over-bronzed broskis and chicas, and turned it into a place of childish fun and tomfoolery. I took that as a small personal victory. It just goes to show you the influence you can have on people when you don’t take yourself too seriously.

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. Abort Mission
Bumper stickers are a funny concept to me. The other day I was driving behind someone with a sticker that said: “Abortion – The Ultimate Child Abuse.” This struck me as odd, mostly because I didn’t realize we were ranking forms of child abuse nowadays. But also, what am I supposed to do with that statement? Is it meant to inspire an epiphany in the middle of the road? “Yeesh, this traffic really sucks…DUDE! That sticker’s right! Abortion is terrible! I’m going to grab a sign and start one of those incredibly uncomfortable street corner protests!

I’m not here to comment on the endless pro choice vs. pro life debate, but is there anything more awkward than one of those street corner abortion protests? From where I stand it’s the same principle as a bumper sticker. Why would you try and convey a message like that while people are zooming past you at 50 miles an hours? That’s like me trying to distribute free cupcake samples to the drivers at the Indy 500. I just want to get to Wendy’s, pal. Dead babies have nothing to do with Wendy’s…do they?

Of course, if text signs don’t work, you can always go the photo route. I’ll never forget driving down a major road and seeing a said that read: “Warning. Graphic abortion photos ahead.” Moments later, I drove by several protestors carrying blown up images of partial birth fetuses. I was shocked, and I don’t shock easily. That’s a good way to get somebody to lose their lunch.

The best one I ever saw was outside a Burlington Coat Factory. The protestors had all the usual signs condemning abortion, bringing religion into it, etc.. But next to them was someone who to say the least did not belong: Elmo. That’s right, the little red guy who hogs all the air time on Sesame Street. Amongst all these determined, straight-faced protestors holding up their angry signs was a man in an Elmo suit, holding up his own sign that said: “Burlington Coat Factory.” Yep, that’s what all protestors need to legitimize their operation, a muppet and some advertising space. If those folks down on Wall Street had Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang with them, they could tie it into The Muppets and make a ton of money.

The ironic thing about all of this? People don’t even read bumper stickers or signs when they drive. They read text messages.

2. Hooded Hero
What’s the deal with Robin’s hood in Batman: Arkham City? This is one of the few complaints I have about that game. Being a comic book character and wearing a hood are two choices that are downright suicidal when you put them together, in my opinion. This goes for not only Robin, but Dr. Doom, Green Arrow, everybody.

As Frank Miller and Jim Lee showed us in All Star Batman & Robin, any thug with half a brain would simply grab the hood and yank if down over your head. Is this really what you want when you’re facing maniacal clowns and portly umbrella-carrying gangsters?

Would a hood also mess with your peripherals? How are you supposed to see if somebody’s attacking you from the side? And couldn’t it potentially muffle your hearing? This whole hood thing is a tragedy waiting to happen! Who does Robin think he is? Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Robin has clearly forgotten that all superheroes need to do in order to keep their identity a secret is wear a simple domino mask that covers their eyes, leaving most of their facial features exposed.

Front page and Robin image from batman.wikia.com. Bumper sticker image from tmgcustommedia.com. 

By John Flickinger
Staff Writer, Coffee Fiend

The King of Fighters series has a long history, dating back to 1994. It started out as an experiment to combine characters from the Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting games to create a new series with a massive roster. In fact, the roster was so large that the tournament was comprised of three-person teams. Every year, from 1994 to 2003, saw a new entry to the series with new features and characters, and improvements to existing game mechanics.

All in all, it’s a pretty solid series with great characters, excellent gameplay, good storylines, and loads of replay value. It is a series that is sometimes dismissed as a generic Street Fighter, and around the year 2000 there were several crossovers with Street Fighter characters, but it has a cult following in America, and in Japan the games are so popular that a new King of Fighters release is a small event like new Madden and Call of Duty games are over here. It’s the kind of thing that has people waiting at midnight to buy a copy. There’s even a King of Fighters movie with a poorly written plot and bad acting like so many other video games.

King of Fighters has similarities to other fighting games, but what makes this series special is that nearly everything is in excess. The games feature massive 30+ character rosters, and the three vs. three format creates a lot of variety due to the fact that you can play through several times with the same team and have different match ups every single time. There is even a strategy element in selecting the order for your team members before each fight. In different situations, you may want to start different characters. This allows you to come out of the gate with a faster character, or a more powerful character, or save the one you’re best with for last. No corners are cut either. There aren’t lots of palette swap characters, or clones, and each character has a unique style. Even characters with similar disciplines play differently.

Another staple of the series is the boss fights. The bosses are absolutely merciless. It’s not uncommon to go through an entire game without losing a single round only to be completely annihilated by a boss. With King of Fighters bosses, all the rules go out the window. The standard roster characters are very balanced, but the bosses are cranked up to 11 with devastating special moves that are difficult to avoid, incredibly powerful, and in some cases humiliating. It is very satisfying when those boss characters are defeated, and for this reason many fans have a love/hate relationship with them.

One of the nicer touches of the series is that they often add extra animations that help to bring the characters to life. For example, rivals like Kyo and Iori have different pre-match animations facing each other than they would for other characters because they can’t stand each other. To contrast that, characters that are friends, or have a mentor relationship interact differently, and there are even special animations for couples. If Blue Mary faces off against her boyfriend Terry Bogard she’ll flirt with him before the match. Another character has a pre-match animation where he jams a steamed barbecue pork bun into his mouth, and most of the time he just eats it, but every once in a while he chokes, his face turns blue, and right before the match starts he recovers and quickly gets into his stance as if to say “I’m okay, let’s do this.” Before the fight even starts, the tone is set. The extra animations aren’t limited to just the pre-match introductions either.

There are great in-game animations that really give the characters depth. One of my favorites is for Vanessa, a boxer. She rushes in, lands a flurry of punches, punctuates it with two really hard hits, then as the enemy falls to the ground from the force of the blows she winces and shakes her hands in the air like her knuckles sting. The “time up” reactions are great too. Some of the more aggressive characters look disappointed like they were interrupted and wanted to finish, while the more well-adjusted characters look disappointed in themselves that they didn’t win before time was up. The detailed body language and animated facial expressions really give a sense for who each character is and what they are about.

These animations are subtle, but really add a lot to the characters. They don’t feel as rigid as characters in similar fighting games, and as a result they really improved the series. It wasn’t apparent to me just how important those animations were until a few 3D spin off King of Fighters games were made and these lively characters became just as rigid and lifeless as the ones in other games.

The animation is the heart and soul of these games, and in King of Fighters XII it completely changed. As the first high resolution King of Fighters game for the current generation of consoles, the decision was made to draw all of the characters and animations from a blank slate instead of re-using the archive they’ve built up over the last decade. It may have been out of necessity due to the new resolution, or it may have been to give the series a graphical overhaul. Whatever the reason, it was going to be a tricky process.

The catch here is that they were still using the traditional techniques to draw each frame of each character pixel by pixel. Since this was in high definition it was especially taxing on the development team. This process is like trying to create a wall mural by drawing individual dots the size of a pin head. Because this was very labor intensive, and each character took about two weeks. Ironically, they commissioned a 3D model of each character to use as a reference for these animations. You can read in depth about the technique they’ve used, dubbed “dot art” and check out some of the animations at their official website.

The end result gave it a look unlike any fighting game I’ve ever seen. It’s old school, but modern at the same time, and in terms of art direction it’s a pretty amazing game. Unfortunately despite the artwork and animations, the game itself was a bit disappointing.

Due to the intensive animation process the game had a limited roster similar to the 3D titles. As a result it also adopted the standard one on one, best of three rounds formula since there weren’t enough characters for the traditional three on three King of Fighters matches. That alone caused replay value to take a hit. There were very few stages, and the main game mode was a time attack where you try to go through a few fights as quickly as possible to get the best time. All in all, a full game takes only a few minutes to complete from start to finish. Don’t misunderstand me, what’s there is good, but there isn’t much there, especially for a series known for its massive rosters and animations. In XII each character has one win animation, with limited special moves.

Really, it felt more like an incredible tech demo more than a full game with a $60 price tag which, in reality, is what it was. The character selection was missing major characters, and most disappointingly, there was no epic end boss. The gameplay itself was solid, so it was still fun, but there just wasn’t anywhere near as much content as the others. If it was presented like Gran Tourismo 5: Prologue was, as a tech demo of what is to come, preferably with a discounted price of $20-$30, it would have been great. I’m not sure if it would turn a profit like that, but it might have gotten more people interested in the series which might boost sales when the full game was released, and it wouldn’t have felt so drastically over priced.

Personally I wondered if drawing the characters for high definition would have been a better way to go. I would love to see a King of Fighters game where the characters look as detailed as the ones in BlazBlue, but at the same time I respect their decision to use the traditional techniques. It’s admirable that a company would be willing to go to such lengths to create something with artistic merit; especially in an age where more and more companies try to cut corners to increase their profit margins instead of treating the medium as the art form which it is. King of Fighters is about tradition, and perfecting the same formula year after year. This animation was a massive undertaking, but it honors that tradition, and although XII felt like “King of Fighters Light” it’s still fun to play, and it’s a great reboot to the series.

In the long run this shift will likely pay off for them; realistically, they couldn’t just keep editing the same set of character animations forever. Now they have a new set of characters to work with, which were born out of countless hours of developers’ blood, sweat, and tears. We’re about to see the fruits of their labor firsthand.

It’s been in Japanese arcades since last summer, but finally, in November 22nd, King of Fighters XIII will be released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 here in America. From the looks of it, they are building upon the foundation that XII created, and if XII was the tech demo, then XIII is the real deal. Key characters are back, there are more game modes, and personally, I’m hoping that they give us an end boss worthy of the series. It seems like this new entry in the series will correct the shortcomings of the last, and give the King of Fighters its soul back with tons of animation and lively characters. For at least one more year, the tradition will continue.

Front page image from fanpop.com, KoF ’94 Ad from scottdecker.com, KoF XI boss fight screenshot from aznbadger.files.wordpress.com, KoF XII screenshot from strategyinformer.com, KoF XII character select screenshot from nerdiest-kids.com, KoF XIII screenshot from inthegame.nl

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

DC Comics has been in some hot water lately. The public hasn’t been too happy about it’s lack of female creators, nor it’s portrayal of certain female characters. Barnes & Noble pulled a bunch of DC books because of the company’s digital distribution deal with Amazon. Now, the publisher is catching some flack over its portrayal of the mentally ill.

The New York Times recently ran an editorial about a group of psychiatrists who are urging DC to tone down their negative depictions of mentally ill individuals as criminals. The story mentions The Joker, Harley Quinn and Two-Face by name, as well as the “criminally insane” orientation of Arkham Asylum. The story specifically calls out the solicitation for Batman & Robin#26, which reads: “Someone has freed the lunatics, and unless they can be stopped, they’ll turn Paris into a surreal Hell on Earth!”

In essence the article calls for DC Comics to redefine their definition of insane in an attempt to quell negative stereotypes about individuals with real mental health disorders. For instance, instead of “psychotic” The Joker might be called “psychopathic.”

I’ve got mixed feelings here. I understand that mental illness isn’t funny, or something to be taken lightly. While DC certainly isn’t the only entertainment company to use “criminally insane” bad guys, they’re definitely as guilty as anybody else. In addition to the comic books, their characters have now been featured in two widely successful video games about evil insane asylum inmates running around hurting people. That’s not even counting the stereotype’s presence in movies and on television.

But I think you have to give DC a bit of leeway on this one. No matter what version you’re seeing, Arkham Asylum never looks like an actual asylum for the mentally ill. It looks like a prison for wacky supervillains, because that’s what it is. The characters you see there aren’t heavily based in reality. Could there potentially be a homicidal clown or a schizophrenic man with half a face sitting in a an asylum somewhere? Sure. But that’s the exception, not the norm. Despite how thick-headed our society can be sometimes, I’m pretty sure most of us know that.

It’s also worth noting that villains like The Joker and Two-Face aren’t considered evil because they’re crazy. If anything it’s the other way around. Almost every one of these characters is portrayed as someone who at some point made a choice to be evil, just as they heroic counterparts have made the choice to be good. Do they think differently? Absolutely. But they’re condemned for their actions against others, not their thought processes.

But if that’s the case, why call them crazy at all? Why not just call them evil? I chalk it up to the simple matter of people being afraid of what they don’t understand, and most people can’t put themselves inside the mind of a madman. We don’t know what makes them tick, and that’s frightening to us. What’s even more frightening is the thought of what might drive us to lose our own sanity, and potentially be as outlandish as the characters we’re seeing.

Could DC stand to be a bit more sensitive? Sure. But so could just about everybody else in this world. I’m not suggesting we shrug this off, but let’s keep it all in perspective.

Front page image from dc.wikia.com. Image 1 from cognitivepractices.com. Image 2 from gaygamer.net. 

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. Unseen and Undead
I’ve been watching the new season of The Walking Dead thus far, and I’ve been sadly underwhelmed by it. It’s not horrible, but thus far it’s not quite up to par in terms of last season. Granted, this year the show has the luxury of being able to pace itself a bit more, with 13 episodes as opposed to six. But I’m still feeling a bit let down.

Tonight Eric reminded me of all the garbage that went down with AMC and Frank Darabont, who developed and executive produced the show. Allegedly AMC was concerned about the cost of the show, cut its budget from $3.4 million to $2.7 million, asked that it be filmed 50 percent indoors, and gave a note that asked something to the effect of: “Can’t we sometimes just hear the zombies sometimes instead of see them?”

I absolutely love that last one. “C’mon, guys! We don’t have to see the zombies all the time! Heck, do we even have to see them at all? Can’t they just be implied zombies? Remember how in The Happening the characters all got killed off when the wind blew the trees around? Let’s just do that! The trees can rustle around, then we can play the recording I’ve got of my dad sleeping off some indigestion, and that’ll be like zombie sounds! Aw crap! Trees are outside, aren’t they? Ummm, okay, I’ve got it! We’ll get some potted plants and a fan…”

This is exactly why left-brained people shouldn’t be telling right-brained people how to be creative.

2. What Makes A Bad Ass
I happened to catch a clip from the Spike TV Scream Awards this week. Darth Vader was honored as an “Ultimate Villain,” which basically consisted of a tribute package being played, someone in the costume coming out, and then George Lucas showing up to hype the 3D release of the Star Wars films.

While it’s lovely that Spike TV wanted to honor Darth Vader, to me there’s something unfitting about that “bad ass” song (which is by Saliva, by the way). Nobody who is a legitimate bad ass, legitimately cool, or has whatever the awe-inspiring “it” factor is, needs to run around shouting how cool they are. Their presence speaks for itself. That’s how you tell when someone’s a fake. They try too hard. Need to see an example? Walk into any high school in America. Particularly the ones in upper middle class areas. Those places are filled with pretend bad asses. Kids who’ll slam right into you in the hallway, and then look at you sideways for moving improperly through their space. As if somehow they’ve earned that through years of hard knocks. Then after school, they’ll park next to their dad’s Lexus and play the Playstation 3 their mommy bought them. Get real, Fonzie.

Remember in the original Star Wars film when that Imperial officer started lipping off to Darth Vader about how the Death Star was the ultimate power in the universe, as opposed to the Force, which was sad and ancient? Vader used that same “sad and ancient” religion to choke him out, and then delivered a classic one-liner: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Then, he simply walked away and went back to his business. He didn’t toot his own horn, he didn’t run to Grand Moff Tarkin and hype up what a big moment he’d just had, and he certainly didn’t need a damn song that repeatedly advertised what a tough guy he was. He simply was confident in who he was (Granted, he was a jerk, but still…). There’s your bad ass move, right there.

The cape also helped.

Front page image from sharenator.com. Zombie image from daemonstv.com. 

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

1. Glory Days Gone By
Tonight at TNA Bound For Glory, Hulk Hogan will step into the ring one more time, brother. It’s Hogan’s first match in quite some time, and he’s facing his old rival Sting. Make no mistake about it, this match is HUGE…assuming it’s 1997. In 2011 it’s kind of weird, and a little pathetic.

Bound For Glory is supposed to be TNA’s biggest pay per view event of the year. It’s their smaller-scale equivalent of Wrestlemania. At these kinds of events, it’s the promoter’s job to pull out all the stops and put on the absolute best show of the year. But having Hogan wrestle at a show like this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, if you’re going to have the biggest star in the history of the sport, you likely want to do it at your biggest event in order to draw as many viewers as you can. On the other hand, TNA desperately needs to establish fresh faces and new stars in their main event picture. To say the least, Hogan is not a fresh face. And yet, there’s talk that he and Sting may end up going on last at Bound For Glory. There’s something fundamentally wrong with that, in my opinion.

The big TNA Heavyweight Title match at Bound For Glory is between the champion Kurt Angle and Bobby Roode. Roode is the man TNA wants to be their next big star. He has the potential to be one of the fresh faces the brand is looking for. From a business standpoint, why would you choose to not put two great athletes who you know are going to give you an awesome match in the main even of your biggest pay per view, in favor of two men over 50 who are rehashing a feud from the mid-’90s? Are Hogan and Sting two icons in the world of professional wrestling? Absolutely. But regardless of what big angle or story they’re involved in at the moment, they’re the past. TNA needs to play toward its future to ensure that in five or 10 years there’s still a company at all.

I think I’d feel a little better about this match if Hogan was actually capable of wrestling anymore. Guys like Sting and Ric Flair may be older, but they can still get around pretty well. On his best day, Hogan was 90 percent hype and marketing. At 58 years old, with surgically repaired knees and hips, and less than a year after major back surgery, what exactly is Hogan going to give the fans that Angle and Roode can’t? Yes, he’s a bigger star than both of them, but that’s not enough when you move like a slug and are throwing punches that don’t look like they could burst a grape.

Am I being tough on Hogan? Maybe. But I’m mad at him. This weekend, Hogan made me — and I’d wager a lot of other wrestling fans — mad when he bashed Roode in an interview, saying “he’s not ready. He’s not the next guy. Ya know, they might think he is. Dixie Carter might think he is. The whole world might think he is. He’s not the next guy.”

You know what? Maybe he’s not, Hogan. But I’ve got news for you: You’re not the guy either. You haven’t been for a decade and a half. It’s time to get over it.

2. Silver Lining
So few things are absolutely certain in life. But in my experience, there are three things that are undeniable, undebatable, facts of life…

1. Death.
2. Taxes.
3. People REALLY don’t like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

Over the years, fanboy after fanboy and critic after critic have torn this movie to SHREDS. To give you just one example of how bad its reputation is, The Nostalgia Critic‘s video review of the film (found at the end of this video) simply consisted of him curled up in a bathtub sobbing. Ouch.

Released in 1993, this film saw our heroes travel back to feudal Japan to rescue April after she’s accidentally transported back through time. They find themselves amidst a war between a Daimyo and an army of local villagers. I actually didn’t remember the movie being SO abhorrent, so I re-watched it recently. Big mistake. The movie is poorly written, the animatronic puppeteering is off (Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which amazingly brought the Turtles to life in the first two films, didn’t work on this movie), and it lacks a colorful and charismatic villain worthy of the Turtles. At the height of Turtlemania in the early ’90s, this was NOT the Ninja Turtle movie that fans wanted to see. Sending the Turtles to feudal Japan isn’t a bad story idea per se. But most fans, myself included, were looking for this movie to be more reminiscent of the cartoon.

But at the risk of drawing ire from fans, I’ve decided to be a bit of an optimist in terms of this film. Everybody’s ranted about what went wrong with Turtles III, but what went right? What did the movie do well?

Firstly, the film brought Elias Koteas and Cory Feldman back into the franchise. Feldman had voiced Donatello in the first film, and Koteas played Casey Jones, the Turtles’ hockey stick-wielding vigilante ally. It’s nice to have Feldman back, but Koteas is the real treat. He plays two roles: Casey Jones, who returns in a supporting role, and Whit, an Englishman who spies on the rebels. Seeing Koteas play both roles is fun, especially because they’re so different. Jones is a loud-mouthed New York brawler, and Whit is a soft-spoken English schemer. It really speaks to his abilities as an actor.

In terms of villains, Shredder was sorely missed in this movie. But Stuart Wilson, who plays an English weapons dealer named Walker, does an admirable job as the main bad guy. The scene when he first meets April, who is seen as a witch by the Daimyo, is the best in the film as far as I’m concerned. Like Koteas, as well as Judith Hoag in the first film, he does a great job playing off of the big animatronic Turtle costumes, making them seem real.

Maybe I’m a bit biased because of his recent work in Polaris Banks’ fan film Casey Jones, but I’m kind of in love with Robbie Rist’s work as Michelangelo. Also known as Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch, he really was the perfect actor to voice that character. He’s actually funny when he does the character, even though the humor is…well, it’s ’90s kids movie humor. But it made me laugh nonetheless.

 This movie does have a few bright spots, but if you’re going to watch a Ninja Turtles movie, watch the original Steve Barron film from 1990. That movie amazes me to this day…

Front page image from dumri.net. Image 1 from bleacherreport.com. Image 2 from pwpix.net. Image 3 from kungfucinema.com. Image 4 from listal.com. Image 5 from thefullwiki.org.