JoeMD.net Is No More

JoeMD.net has been closed down. Now I'm running the new CC it's hard to keep on top of everything. So, in an effort to make my on-line life a little simpler I've moved to Tumblr. The tumblr page is somewhere I can continue to geek out over the things I enjoy.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. I hope you take a moment to check out the new site.

Cheers.

Cool Comic Covers - House of Night #1

It's been a while since I did one of these, but after picking up the first issue of Dark Horse's House of Night series I thought it was time for another. The beautiful cover for the issue, which is by Steve Morris (the issue's B cover), stood out among all the others on the new releases shelf so I just had to have a look.

Completed Game - Dead Space 2

I just knocked over Dead Space 2. Really enjoyed the first game but feel this one is even better. It wasn't as scary as the original, but I found it more intense with some really stressful (in a good way) sections and some pretty epic set pieces. It did suffer from some similar problems to the original such as not being able to see anything when backed into a corner and that the 'bosses' repeated, but it was done in an interesting enough way. The end-of-game-boss was a right bastard.

Like all sequels, it upped the anty on the aspects that made the original successful. Here, it's defiantly the violence. There is blood everywhere and in some parts I looked away from the screen on instinct it was so graphic. I'm not against this kind of thing, but squeamish people really need to steer clear of this game!

Oh, and I felt that the exploding babies was a bit...tasteless.

I can understand why some reviewers felt the sequel didn't push the Dead Space formula enough as it's very similar to the first game. However, I think that it's enough of an improvement on the original to stand on its own. The ending totally sets up for a third game, so I'll be looking forward to that.

Marvel Comics: Floppies No More

Looking through that latest Previews catalogue, I'm amazed at just how many Marvel titles are $3.99US or more now. It seems that every new Marvel title (including Defenders, which I was very much looking forward to) is now going to be $3.99US and, as mentioned previously, only 32 pages (22 pages of actual story). I've already mentioned a what I think of Marvel's current price point (see the above link) but now, after seeing those listings, I've made my mind up to drop ALL my Marvel $3.99US titles and not buy any new/ future Marvel titles at that price point but rather wait for the trade or buy them digitally. I'm even considering no longer getting the $2.99US books.

$3.99US is not a price point I'm willing to support for only 32 pages of comic. Honestly, I think Marvel - and the comic industry in general - is going to price itself out of business if it keeps going the way it is. I'm currently spending $95AU a month on comics - that's WITH those $3.99US books dropped - so I need to be selective about what I buy. 22 odd pages of story is NOT worth $4US!

While I DO hate to drop many of those $3.99US titles such as Amazing Spidey and X-Men, the price really is forcing me to do so. It's a shame, but I guess I'll no longer be makin' mine Marvel....

Sonic Generations Collectors Edition Unpack Video

Today my copy of the Collectors Edition of Sonic Generations arrived. As such I thought it the perfect time to do another video seeing as I've not done one for a while. In the video I unpack the box and take a look at all the goodies inside. If you've like a more close up view of the items that come in the Collectoes Edition, you can see photos of them in my Picasa Sonic the Hedgehog gallery.

Enjoy

Ghostbusters Bishoujo Lucy

If you've been following my collection galleries over at Picasa you'll know I'm  big fan of the Kotobukiya Marvel Bishoujo statues. So, of course, I couldn't resist when a Ghostbusters bishoujo statue was announced. And, it arrived today.

As with all of Kotobukiya's Bishoujo statues this Ghostbusters one is of a very high build quality. Beautifuly moulded and painted, the statue looks an absolute treat on my shelf. The detail in the base and trap upon it, as well as the proton pack - while it is smaller than a proton pack would actually be - is superb.

As nice as it does look though, I wouldn't be a true Ghostbusters fan boy if I didn't nit pick a few things. Firstly, and most strangely, the girl is for some reason named 'Lucy.' No idea why Kotobukiya didn't just do a mangaesque characterisation of Janine Melnitz. She did pull on the proton pack several times in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series, after all.

I must say that I don't find Lucy's face to be as attractively sculpted as the girls from the Marvel line, but it is still pretty in its own right. My biggest problem, however, is that they've changed Lucy's pants into short-shorts by having the legs conveniently ripped. While I realise that all of the Bishoujo statues are supposed to be sexy - indeed their pin-up like quality is part of the appeal - this just seems a little cheap. Why not give her short-shorts straight up, or have her wearing tight pants similar to the Black Widow Marvel statue? At least then it'd be a somewhat legitamate reason to show off her sexy bum, rather than have her pants look like they lost a fight with a Terror Dog.

Still, even with the strange name change and the somewhat questionable 'wardrobe malfunction' this is a trully beautiful statue that I'm very happy to have as part of my Ghostbusters collection.

 

Spider-Man, No More!

Marvel is REALLY beginning to turn me off. They have dropped the page count of Amazing Spider-Man to 22 pages of story but are keeping the price at $3.99US/8.80AU. When they started the Big Time event back in January, the book was boosted up to 30 pages of story. I'm happy to pay for 30 pages at $8.80, but 22, no way. I should say that the main factor is this is that the book is TWICE a month, not just once. If it was once, OK, I can manage that, as I but other once-a-month books at $8.80. But twice? And the worst part it I knew they'd do this, I KNEW it! I even had a discussion about it with a friend.

It's just ridiculous. If it's twice a month at just 22 story pages the book should be $2.99US/6.60AU, NOT $8.80. So I'll be dropping the title once the current Spider-Island arc finishes in two issues. Haven't decided yet if I'll move to digital copies of the book or wait for the trade, but I'm won't be buying the physical issues of Amazing Spider-Man until the issue price drops back to at least $2.99US. Marvel are doing similar thing with other $8.80AU books, dropping the story page count back to 22. Guess I'll have to re-evaluate those as well...

My New Theme Song!

If I were a hardcore gansta playa, this would totally be my theme song! From Kirby Krackle's new album Super Powered Love.