Tagged: Spider-Man

Marvel Interactive on Iron Man and Hulk: New Deal For Comic Book Videogames?

Marvel Interactive on Iron Man and Hulk: New Deal For Comic Book Videogames?

  • News
  • April 24, 2008

Comic book and videogame fanboys freaked out a little recently when the news broke that Sega would be handling Marvel’s movie-based games. After years of bad Marvel Comics videogames, Activision turned out solid hits that satisfied the mainstream and comic fans alike, such as Spider-Man and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. While the Activision partnership continues, the New York Comic Con panel Marvel – Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk: Making the Video Games emphasized that Marvel themselves were taking a greater hand in game creation.

Justin Lambros, VP of Marvel Interactive, operates out of the same West Coast office as Marvel Studios. The philosophy is that his division can oversee the partners, and with their studio ties they can improve the process by increasing development times, granting access to movie assets earlier, speeding approvals and allow for movie talent participation. They can also relate to the studios what the limitations are of the current systems.

It’s an interesting idea that brings to mind the ’90s buzzword "synergy," but in this case it seems to be making good on its promises. As mentioned in earlier articles, the Iron Man movie-based game producers were granted access to the CGI models for the armor much earlier then usual. Iron Man game director Jeffrey Tseng said that meeting the cast while doing the voices made a difference.

"Robert Downey gave us insights into the character," said Tseng — something they wouldn’t have received with sound-alike voice actors. Also, the action figures for the Iron Man and Incredible Hulk movies will feature characters only seen in the videogame adaptation.

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ComicMix Radio at NYCC: Familiar Faces and Plans for ’09

ComicMix Radio at NYCC: Familiar Faces and Plans for ’09

It was the homestretch here in New York City yesterday when we rounded up some of the biggest news items from New York Comic Con, including a new Farscape series, more Dark Tower from Marvel and Mark Waid on Spider-Man. We also spent a family-friendly minute with comics legend Joe Kubert.

Head back to the floor – just press the button!

 

 

 And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via iTunes - ComicMix or RSS!

NYCC Interview: Activision on ‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Videogame

NYCC Interview: Activision on ‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Videogame

  • News
  • April 18, 2008

One of Marvel’s most popular and beloved characters, Spider-Man has appeared many different media including movies, comics, TV and video games. Previously, Activision has released video games based on all three of the Spider-Man films as well as other Marvel tie-in titles like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and many others.

Now, they’re set to come out with a brand new game featuring the web-slinger called Spider-Man: Web of Shadows — which we previously brought you news of yesterday. Today at the New York Comic Con, ComicMix caught up with the producer of the game, Graham Fuchs, to get more on this exciting new project.

COMICMIX: Graham, thanks for taking the time to talk with us.

GRAHAM FUCHS: Sure, no problem.

CMix: Okay, a new Spider-Man game. Tell us a little bit about it?

GF: New York City has been invaded and martial law has been declared, so you’ve got S.H.I.E.L.D. downtown trying to get civilians out of new York.

Luke Cage is making his last stand up in Harlem and Kingpin is hold up in his stronghold in midtown. You play as Spider-Man and you’re at the center of it deciding how it will all turn out.

CMIx: Is this story based on a movie or anything?

GF: Its an original story created by us set in the comic book universe but not based on any of the films or anything. It was actually nice to not have to follow the movie storyline and sort of come up with things on our own this time.

The comic book universe gives us the ability to tailer the game play and chioose the characters we chose and the events that happen to make a fun game.

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Black Panther Cartoon in Development

Black Panther Cartoon in Development

  • News
  • April 18, 2008

Spider-Man and the X-Men are almost always on television in one animated form of another. Heck, even iron Man is getting an animated series these days. Can’t we see new characters getting a shot at animated success instead of the same old same old?

Apparently, we can. During BET’s network upfront presentation, it was announced that a Black Panther animated series will debut on the channel in the future.

No information was given as to when we can expect to see the series or what it will be like, but considering Reginald Huldin is BET’s president of entertainment and also the current writer for the Black Panther comic series, the character should be in good hands.

 (via Variety)

Happy Birthday: Keith R.A. DeCandido

Happy Birthday: Keith R.A. DeCandido

  • News
  • April 18, 2008

Born in New York’s the Bronx in 1969, Keith R.A. DeCandido was a science-fiction fan from the very start—his parents were fans of the original Star Trek, as well as classic SF/Fantasy novelists like Heinlein, Le Guin, and Tolkien.

DeCandido attended Fordham University and edited the college newspaper, and after graduating he worked for several New York publishing houses.

In 1990, he and John Drew created the public-access SF TV show The Chronic Rift, which DeCandido also co-hosted. In the late ’90s, DeCandido worked for Byron Preiss, editing anthologies and novels, and began writing stories for Preiss as well.

DeCandido’s first novel, Spider-Man: Venom’s Wrath (written with Jose R. Nieto) was published in 1998. In 1999 DeCandido got the opportunity to write for the Star Trek franchise, authoring the four-issue comic book miniseries Star Trek: The Next Generation: Perchance to Dream. Since then he has written over a dozen Star Trek novels and over a dozen novels for other licenses.

 

‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Leaked, Then Confirmed

‘Spider-Man: Web of Shadows’ Leaked, Then Confirmed

  • News
  • April 17, 2008

Oopsey! Activision was probably waiting for their New York Comic Con panel this weekend to announce this, but retailer Gamestop accidentally released some advertising materials for a new Spider-Man videogame called Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. The ad listed a website (currently inactive) for customers to vote on what promo they would like if they pre-order the game.

At first, not much was known about the game. The rumor mill had been gossiping for a while about a game called Spider-Man: Red Vs. Black. But then IGN got confirmation from Activision on what the game was about. A free-roaming game with a emphasis on vertical combat — that means "swinging web fights" to the rest of us. It will be released for pretty much any system that games are still being made for. They even released a trailer shown below.

Stay tuned to ComicMix this weekend where we’ll be sure to followup with Activision… and to see if Spidey could battle Video-Man, the arcade monster Electro created in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

 

 

ComicMix Radio: Look Closely and Get A Clue!

ComicMix Radio: Look Closely and Get A Clue!

DC is warming up to jump from Countdown to Final Crisis with a "filler" called DC Universe #0. The clues are in the cover, so grab your eyedrops and we will explore it together (we’ve also posted a larger version of the cover after the jump), plus:

— Iron Man toys invade 7-11

— More Spider-Man on the WB plus another look at a legen-(wait for it)-dary Spidey series

— The rarest Harry Potter book – you might get a peek!

— Start the argument now – what were the "Top 5 Happiest Songs of the ’80s!"

—  Of course,  another  exclusive Graham Crackers Comics variant that could be in the mail to you – if you win by e-mailing us at: podcast [at] comicmix.com

We did the work – you just press the button!

 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via iTunes - ComicMix or RSS!

 

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Images of New ‘Iron Man’ Game Armor Revealed

Images of New ‘Iron Man’ Game Armor Revealed

  • News
  • April 11, 2008

One of the staple of comic book videogames is that players can unlock alternate costumes that the characters have had at one time or another. (My favorite is still the Spider-Man costume featuring a paper-bag head, Fantastic Four uniform and "Kick Me" sign pulled from Amazing Spider-Man #258 and available in the Spider-Man videogame that was released with the first film.)

Since Iron Man rarely settled on a suit for very long, it’s no surprise that Sega decided to include a variety of unlockable costumes in the upcoming Iron Man movie-based game in addition to the three models seen in the film.

To add a dash of "Armor Wars" to the eternal war over which console is the best, there will be exclusive armors for different systems: PlayStation 3 gets Ultimate Iron Man from The Ultimates. Xbox 360 gets the Silver Centurion Iron Man from Iron Man #200.

A gallery of 360-degree visuals of all the armor is posted after the jump:

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ComicMix Six: Why Marvel’s ‘Secret Wars’ Was Better Than ‘Civil War’

ComicMix Six: Why Marvel’s ‘Secret Wars’ Was Better Than ‘Civil War’

  • News
  • April 9, 2008

 

[EDITOR’S NOTE: In last week’s edition of ComicMix Six, we told you why the Skrulls’ "Secret Invasion" probably isn’t worth losing sleep over, given our list of the worst moments in Skrull invasion history. This week, we’re playing in the sandbox of big events yet again, with a list of reasons why Marvel’s recent  Civil War event doesn’t stack up against one of its popular predecessors, the 1984 series Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. -RM]

Just over a year ago, Marvel shook up their universe with Civil War, a series-spanning event wherein the U.S. government decided, after a tragic accident involving super-powered heroes and villains, that anyone with superhuman powers would be required to register and become official federal operatives. Costumed crime-fighters picked sides, Marvel picked a slogan ("Whose Side Are You On?"), Spider-Man unmasked, and Iron Man’s pro-registration camp hunted down the anti-registration crowd led by Captain America. In the end, Cap tearfully surrendered, only to be "killed" for his troubles a few issues later.

Throughout the series’ seven issue (and countless tie-ins), the Merry Marvel Marketing team hailed Civil War as the most mind-blowing storyline since, well… ever.

Here at ComicMix, we’re not quite sure we agree. After re-reading Civil War and comparing it to one of the first epic Marvel crossover events, the ’80s action-fest Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, there’s a good argument to be made for the superiority of the earlier project.

Oh, and remember, what’s being discussed here is the 12-issue Secret Wars series, published by Marvel in 1984 (and featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man’s famous black costume), not to be confused with Secret War, the 2004-2005 five-issue series written by Brian Bendis.

Got it? Good. Now let’s begin…

6. REMEMBERING THE LESSONS ‘SESAME STREET’ TAUGHT THEM: In Civil War, heroes who fought alongside each other for years decide that the best way to debate the merits of a new law is to spy on one another and brawl at each and every opportunity. In Secret Wars, heroes who don’t necessarily trust each other decide that, despite their differences, teamwork and cooperation will improve their situation.

Sure, Spider-Man had a skirmish with the X-Men and the Hulk was shouting at everyone, but they still came together in the end. Wolverine and Captain America shared a heart-to-heart, and the heroes even accepted Magneto’s help, knowing that the greater good was more important than issues of mistrust.

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