Blog Archives
Injustice 2 is what the DC Cinematic Universe should aspire to
One of my favourite comic book series of the past five years has been the (mostly) Tom Taylor-penned Injustice: Gods Among Us. It originally began as a tie-in to the Warner Brothers Interactive video game released back in 2013. The game takes place in an alternate DC Universe, where The Joker kills Lois Lane and nukes Metropolis, leading a grief-stricken Superman to murder the Clown Prince of Crime and go about establishing a totalitarian regime around the world, dedicated to eradicating crime before it happens. This puts Superman and his associates against Batman, and the story plays out in fighter-style as the two teams rage against each other.
Taylor’s story became its own thing, adding faces not featured in the game and fleshing out character and motivations. Because it was and is a standalone story, deaths happen, matter, and last, which is a rarity in the regular DC Universe. The series and the original game were huge hits, and while the comic has been an ongoing release, it’s taken four years for a sequel to the game to arrive on shelves.
It was worth the wait.
Hot Docs: ‘Living the Game’ and ‘Ukiyo-e Heroes
Gaming culture’s gotten huge. It’s easy to miss, but the gaming industry makes more than either the movie or music industries. Hot Docs in Toronto plugs into the gaming world this year with two very different documentaries. Living the Game takes a revealing look at the world’s best competitive Street Fighter players, while Ukiyo-e Heroes is a subtler portrait of an unlikely collaboration, as an elderly master of Japanese woodblock carving teams up with a graphic designer to make classical Japanese prints of modern gaming characters.
The Princess Explores ‘LEGO Worlds’ And ‘LEGO City Undercover’
There is no stop to the LEGO in my house, and to be honest, I’m not complaining at all. And if you’re into LEGO video games, you shouldn’t be either.
The last month has seen the release of two new games based on the venerable bricks, but both are quite different from one another. And my in-house reviewer, my 6 1/2 year old Princess, is enjoying both of them.
‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ Is A Captivating PlayStation 4 Exclusive
What do you look for in a video game? For me, the most important thing is engagement. I want to be sucked in right away. Truth of the matter is, I sometimes have a pretty short attention span when it comes to gaming. If I don’t have a compelling reason to keep playing, it just isn’t going to happen.
Engagement, right? Or maybe even closer to the point, it all comes down to story.
And Horizon Zero Dawn has a hell of a story.
The LEGO Batman Movie Story Pack Takes You Back to the (LEGO Dimensions) Batcave
For the last two weeks at the box office, The LEGO Batman Movie has been on top. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Batman + LEGO = awesome, as anyone who saw the outstanding The LEGO Movie three years ago can attest. Will Arnett’s voice work as Batman is absolutely the best since Kevin Conroy took on the back in the early ’90s for Batman: The Animated Series. The new film manages to bring laughs to the character while also, perhaps surprisingly, finding a way to address the genuine gravitas that makes Batman so enduring.
The cinema isn’t the only place I’ve been enjoying The LEGO Batman Movie, though. Over the past week the Princess and I have been making our way through the LEGO Batman Movie Story Pack for LEGO Dimensions.
Holiday Gift Guide 2016: Comic Book Collections Part 3
Over the last few weeks, we’ve highlighted a series of comic book collections that would make ideal gifts for your comic book loving friends and loved ones this season.
You can find the first part of our trilogy of lists here, which showcases a number of more affordable trade paperback collections.
Last week, the second installment focused on hardcover collections, although slightly more expensive. You can find that list right here.
Today, we’re getting into the crème-de-la-crème of comic book collections. Save these for someone you really care for…or for even someone like yourself! Who wouldn’t want these tomes wrapped up?
With only a few days to go before Christmas, and without further ado, here is the final installment of our list of comic book collections for the 201 6holiday season!
DC Legends Is Great – Here’s How It Could Be Better
Marvel’s been making a lot of noise in the app gaming market for a few years. Although DC has remained competitive, the company may have just made its biggest move yet to take on the likes of Marvel’s Contest Of Champions and Marvel Future Fight. That new move is the rollout of DC Legends, a brand new app designed by Warner Bros. and combining all of the best elements of superhero mobile games.
In this game, the Blackest Night prophecy has fallen on the world and your job is to assemble your own team of DC heroes and villains, take on Nekron, and restore peace to the world. Along the way you can interact with a robust array of characters, master different types of combat, and take on other live players in various competitive leagues. Simply put, the game thrives for two reasons. It’s thorough in its content, and it is presented in a visually appealing, action-packed, and legitimately challenging manner. This is a high-end mobile superhero game.
BBP! Fan Expo Canada: Day 2 Guide (Friday)
Like an appetizer at a grand feast, yesterday was tasty – but a taste was all it was!
How are your feet? Wearing comfortable shoes? Good. How’s your back? Is the strap on your pack strong enough to carry a heavy load of books, toys and other weighty paraphernalia? Excellent. You’re very nearly prepped.
Today begins Day 2 of Fan Expo Canada – and it’s the first of the two longest days of the pop culture convention operation, starting at 10:00 AM and running until 7:00 PM.
If you didn’t get a chance to make a run to those exclusives tables, make sure you do it first thing this morning – they’re not going to be around much longer. And if you want original art from some of your favourite pencillers and painters in Artist Alley, take it from me and do it now.
Here’s what Biff Bam Pop! thinks you should be checking out on Fan Expo Canada Day 2:
The Endless Possibilities of “No Man’s Sky”
Pink Floyd is my favourite band. I’ve been listening since back in 1990, when a girl I was going to high school with loaned me a cassette copy of The Wall to listen too. I dubbed it, and while I didn’t really understand what I was listening to at the time, I still found myself transfixed by the double album, enough so that I began exploring the band’s entire catalog. I feel in love with the trippiness of albums like The Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, Wish You Were Here, and Meddle. There were layers to all these recordings – explorations of sounds and lyrical meanings. I didn’t need to “get it” to get into it.
And that, my friend, is how I feel playing the new galaxy exploration video game, No Man’s Sky.
There’s No Dark Side to “LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
We’ve reviewed the various LEGO games over the last few years here at Biff Bam Pop, and all of them have been highly recommended for the most part. The latest entry in the franchise, though, takes the games to a new level of fun, thanks in no small part to the outstanding intellectual property its based upon.
