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It’s Wednesday everyone, Happy New Comics Day! Chris here again from Obsessive Comics Disorder (http://ocdcast.com). While I, like many of you, wait patiently to get into Diablo III, I thought I’d post this week’s comics review – “Fables #1″ by Bill Willingham/Lan Medina/Steve Leialoha (Vertigo, $0.99). Okay, now I know that *technically* Vertigo is a part of DC Comics and I said I’d review something other than that, but given the popularity of Fables and the fact that A) I hadn’t read it yet, and B) they had a big sale on the comics this week, and C) it isn’t your standard Batman/Superman or other super hero comic book that you guys would let it slide. Am I right?
Fables is all about what happens with “Happily Ever After” meets reality. All of the characters from various children’s fairy tales seem to be involved in the story, where these characters have been evicted from their fantasy homes and forces to live in New York City. Those that can’t pass as “normal” get magical disguises so that they can move through the city without raising any suspicion. In fact, this is the number one rule of the “Fables” — as they call themselves — that they must not reveal the existence of themselves to the normal world. Therefore, a small underground government has propped up to take care of matters between the various characters. We get glances into what these characters would be like if they had to face the harsh realities that we deal with everyday.
When I finished this book, I was very conflicted. I have heard from years from many different people how good this book is. Yet, from just reading the first issue, there really isn’t much here to pull me in. A story is set up involving the disappearance/possible murder of Snow White’s sister Rose Red, but I am not pulled into the storyline as much as I feel I should be. Honestly, if it were not for the reputation of this book, I wouldn’t bother picking up any more issues of this book. I find myself wondering more about how these characters got to this point than what is going on now. If the comic had started with some of that storyline, I would have been more drawn to this.
As far as the art goes, it seems to blend nicely with the storyline. By that I mean while this is a story set in modern times, you get this fairy tale-like experience while reading the book. Even though I was reading this on my iPad, I could see this comic getting made into a giant leather-bound book. I’m not the biggest fan of this art style, but it seems to work in this book. It would just take me awhile to get used to it.
My Rating: 2 out of 5. As of right now, this comic seems to suffer from the problem of being over hyped. Coming in fresh, I just do not see what people see in this comic. However, I am willing to give this a couple more issues to see if it grabs me. Yet, as the first issue is still only 99 cents, anyone out there should give this a try. As always, if you have any opinions, feel free to comment below or send me an email at chris@ocdcast.com
The answer is a bit surprising, and it’s noted that the video was loaded from an Android phone. Some have said that different variations of this question have produced “You’re kidding right?”
I never thought I’d ever link someone to TMZ, and after wrestling with my moral qualms on the topic I’ve concluded that this particular link is worth it so long as I link you to something else of equal or greater moral value. Ashton Kutcher is portraying Steve Jobs in an upcoming film and he’s beginning to look the part.
N.O.V.A. 3
Battleship
This Could Hurt
Wolfenstein 3D - Free for a limited time!
Mole Kart I
Angry Monsters - Free for 24 hours!
Tap Creepy Manor
Jake Escapes HD
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Skylanders Cloud Patrol
Empire Defense II
Juggernaut: Revenge of Sovering
Penny Time
ChickenBreak
Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels
Hello everyone! Chris Renshaw here again from Obsessive Comics Disorder (http://ocdcast.com) with a new digital comic to share with you guys.
A bit of a disclaimer up front: I am a HUGE DC Comics fan. I’ve been in love with all the great stuff that has come out of the new 52 push that they have been doing since September. I do love other comics as well, so I will make sure that next week’s pick will not be from DC. However, this weekend I happened to be at my local comic book store for Free Comic Book Day and one of the titles that caught my eye was “Earth 2″ (DC Comics, $3.99) by James Robinson, Nicola Scott, and Trevor Scott. I decided to wait on it for the time being, as I mentally added it to my “I’ll wait a month and get it for a $1 cheaper on comixology” list. Yet, for the rest of the day it kept nagging at me, so I decided to take the plunge and buy it early on comixology for the regular $3.99 price.
With the “Second Wave” of the new 52, DC cancelled a few books that were not doing so well and replaced them with different titles. Two of these titles, Earth 2 and World’s Finest bring back the idea of the multiverse to this newly rebooted DC Universe. “Earth 2″ is the designation for another Earth in another universe that is much like our own (if you remember the TV show “Sliders”….it’s kinda like that). The book titled Earth 2 gives a look into this world and its superheroes. The book starts out with a storyline much like the first arc of the new “Justice League” book by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee; with demons from Apokolips coming to take over our world. In the main DCU, this is what brought the Justice League together in the first place. For Earth 2, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman have been around for quite awhile before meeting these forces. By the end of the book, circumstances arise where a new breed of superheroes may be on the horizon, yet these characters may be familiar to those that have read DC books before.
From the beginning, I loved this book. It has everything that you would want from an alternate universe tale: characters that we are used to acting from a slightly altered point of view. For instance, we get to see a very touching moment between Batman and his Robin (who in this universe is his daughter). Yes, it is very cliche, but at the same time it isn’t because it’s Batman we are talking about, and we aren’t given the chance to see his fatherly side come out that much.
In addition, the story doesn’t spend an eternity dragging out the Apokolips War – if you want that you can read “Justice League”. No, the story quickly wraps up and proceeds to introduce us to these “new” characters – which is the most interesting part to me. A bit of back story: in the past, the entire premise of Earth 2 has been that it is where the “Justice Society” lives – heroes like the FIRST Flash and Green Lantern (Jay Garrick and Alan Scott). Earth 2 originally was DC’s way of retconning what happened to those heroes and why we have a Barry Allen Flash and a Jay Garrick Flash. When DC smashed all of their universes together, these older heroes were now the Golden Age heroes who would later inspire the Modern Age heroes such as Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman.
Now, we are given a story where these heroes do not even emerge until after the War is over and the planet is hoping for a new wave of heroes to emerge. It’s a twist on the characters and idea behind Earth 2 and in my opinion it’s executed very well. It serves as a mirror counterpiece to Johns/Lee’s Justice League, with the art and style looking very similar, especially when dealing with the extra-terrestrial look of the Parademons from Apokolips.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Just about anyone can pick up this book and have a good understanding of this book. Those that have read Justice League will see the connections to that book and those who have been fans of the Justice Society will want to see the new take on these characters. As always though, it might be worth waiting a few weeks until this book drops to $2.99 — depends on if saving a dollar is more important than reading the book now.
Am I wrong? Let me know; either in the comments below, via email (chris@ocdcast.com), or send me a message via Twitter (@ChrisTheProf).
Comments for AppSlappyHonestly, Apple should slap EA on the wrist for this, big time. There’s absolutely no need for an app like this to just be shut down and unplayable. A final update should be released that eliminates connectivity to EA servers so that the game is playable standalone and people can play the content they have paid for.
But hey, this is where gaming is going if we continue this madness of allowing game makers to create games that require online connectivity needlessly. Eventually you won’t be able to play the game you paid for (I’m looking at you Diablo3) when it is no longer profitable for the game producer to support it.
Thanks for the show – it’s terrific! Really loved the recommendations this show. The SayHi translator app was also on sale in the Australian App store for 99c. (I’m from Perth, WA.) FTW!
Downloaded several of these. The devs will be a few bucks happier…
Cheers. PeterSW
And just like magic, things have updated! 
Tabletop Clock’s price is now 99 cents.
Darn. I was hoping it was going to be an app that somehow measures facial symmetry and proportion: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Measuring-Facial-Perfection-The-Golden-Ratio . That would still be a bummer if you tried it and discovered you rated really low, but at least it would be interesting. This app apparently decides randomly, just to mess with your head. No thanks. 
| Hosted by Scott Johnson, Eric VanSkyhawk and Eileen Rivera, AppSlappy is a weekly show covering the world of iPhones, iPods, iPads, and the ever growing App Store. Follow us on Twitter Codes & PromotionsThere are a few ways you can help support this site, and others in the Frogpants Network, and Scott Personally. And that's by using these codes when you use these vendors. It will save you money!GODADDY Domain and order savings: (All of these codes work) LIFE1 LIFE2 LIFE 3 WOW1 WOW2 WOW3 APP1 APP2 APP3 FROG1 FROG2 FROG3 Free Go Daddy Standard SSL Certificate with the purchase of 12 months or more of web hosting: extrassl TYPEFRAG 50% off your first month's 25 man vent server: instance OR score DOGHOUSE SYSTEMS Use one of these codes at checkout and get 2 months of prepaid WoW and a $25 J!NX code: gerp OR henry |
