George Romero Praises ‘Zombies That Ate The World’ Comic Book

George Romero and Tobe Hooper, no strangers to the undead, are giving a big thumbs up to Devil’s Due Publishing’s forthcoming comic book title The Zombies That Ate the World, as seen in the ad below. The monthly series kicks off for the first time in the Unites States in February.

Given birth within the pages of France’s Metal Hurlant by writer Jerry Frissen and artist Guy Davis (B.P.R.D.), Zombies picks up in the year 2064. Knowing full well that it can’t dispense with the rising number of the undead, the U.S. government implements a new policy allowing zombies to dwell amongst the living. Naturally, this “plan” doesn’t go so well.

The Zombies That Ate the World was translated into a cartoon. Scroll down to see a ten minute preview that was completed before the project was scrapped. The short plays on themes of coping with undead loved ones, something Romero is currently exploring in his upcoming film. Read more

Video Review: A Game Of Thrones - The Roleplaying Game

Since the announcement that there is going to be a pilot episode filmed based on ‘A Game Of Thrones’ by George R. R. Martin, there has been a lot of interest in the project.

In accordance with the excitement and anticipation generated by the announcement, here is a video review of ‘A Game Of Thrones Roleplaying Game’ by Kurt Wiegel of Game Geeks.

George R. R. Martin’s Bestseller Comes Alive

Countless readers have followed “A Song of Ice and Fire,” George R. R. Martin’s masterful epic fantasy series. Now, the knights and nobles, politics and poisons, creatures of darkness and powers of blood of Westeros and beyond are yours to discover—and make your own.

An OGL Roleplaying Game and Reference Guide for A Game of Thrones

• This complete OGL rule book explores the setting of the best-selling fantasy series as never before, from the factious continent of Westeros to the exotic Free Cities to the expansive plains of the Dothraki Sea.
• Includes dozens of customized character classes and prestige classes that capture the spirit of the setting, enhanced by the new social maneuvering rules of Influence and Reputation.
• Provides a comprehensive encyclopedia of characters, places, houses, and alliances, with detailed insight on integrating the setting into your campaign.
• Details the first novel in the series, A Game of Thrones, presenting a wealth of material about the dynamic and mysterious lands of the Seven Kingdoms.
• Includes a pull out poster-sized map of Westeros.
• Every fan of George R. R. Martin will want this comprehensive encyclopedia of his beloved series — even if they aren’t gamers. Read more

First Look: Taylor Kitsch as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Empire Magazine has the first official photo of Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch as Gambit in Gavin Hood’s Wolverine.

Attendees at Comic Con were lucky to see an early preview of the film which featured Gambit in action. I still think Lost star Josh Halloway would have been a better fit for the character.

Gambit first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #266 in August 1990. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artists Jim Lee and Mike Collins, Gambit is skilled in card throwing, hand-to-hand combat, the use of a b?, and possesses the ability to manipulate kinetic energy. A professional thief and self described ladies man, the character has had a longtime on and off again romantic fling with Rogue.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be the character’s first appearance in a movie. The fan favorite has appeared in previous television cartoons and video game releases. The character was supposed to make a small appearance during the prison convoy scene of X-Men: The Last Stand, but Marvel decided the role was too small for the character. James Franco supposedly auditioned for the part.

The Wolverine movie trailer will be attached exclusively to The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Source: /film

First Look: Battlestar Galactica’s Final Season

Holy frak, Battlestar Galactica fans! The trailer for the show’s final batch of episodes is out now, and it’s a pretty dramatic-looking batch of scenes. There’s Cylon-seeking, lots of talk of suffering, and some things blowing up. Much of the imagery is minimalist, gray and black, and almost more like an independent film than a big-name Sci Fi series.

Battlestar’s final episodes, dubbed “The Epic Journey,” start airing Jan. 16. How are you all hoping it ends? You can always test your knowledge of the last batch of episodes or catch up on the whole show in just over eight minutes, and to check out the final promo, just view the clip below. Read more

First Look: Deadpool #5 - Shipping 12/17/2008

Courtesy of Marvel, here is a sneak peek inside Deapool #5.

COVER BY: JASON PEARSON
WRITER: DANIEL WAY
PENCILS: CARLO BARBERI

THE STORY:
“HORROR BIZNESS,” Part 2 (of 2)
This is what Deadpool has to resort to, only days after single-handedly saving the entire planet from Skrulls? Oh, that’s right—nobody knows about that…Deadpool didn’t even want this job. But here he is anyway, in some dank corner of Eastern Europe, going toe-to-toe with an undead plastic surgeon and his flesh-eating clientele, contracted by the head of a greasy paramilitary unit to avenge the zombification of the guy’s young, ex-model trophy wife — and all because Wade’s dead broke.

Parental Advisory …$2.99

IN STORES: December 17, 2008

Diverting Power During Combat In Star Trek Online

This edition of Ask Cryptic is especially interesting for Star Trek fans wanting to know how combat is going to play out in Cryptic’s Star Trek Online. We now know that it will be possible to divert power from one system in the game to another. So a player will be able to drop engines by 40% and boost weapons with that diverted power, allowing them to make a heavier attack.

Related to this is the new knowledge that there won’t be a “mana bar” style power system in the game. Players will never have to worry about being able to fire their phasers because their energy is too low, but of course if they divert too much power from said phasers they won’t be hitting very hard with them. Another possibility — although unconfirmed as far as we know — would be if your phasers were damaged too much from concentrated fire.

Finally, we’re happy to hear that Cryptic is certain that a grouping of smaller ships will definitely be able to take down a larger battleship. This means that Star Trek Online’s leveling system will not be the norm, another plus for anyone hoping that the game won’t be “WoW with starships” or anything of the sort.

Source: Massively.com

Kristen Stewart Anxious for ‘Twilight’ Sequel

We don’t make many references to Ryan Seacrest here at The Big Picture, and can you blame us? But Kristen Stewart from Twilight this week went on Seacrest’s radio show to talk about the phenomenon and the recently announced sequel, New Moon.

“A lot of the book takes place in Italy, and I think we’re going to get to go to Italy, which is so cool,” said Stewart, who also hinted that the sequel might begin filming as soon as March.

In its opening weekend, Twilight made just under $70 million, and seems likely to hit $125 million without much effort. The 18-year-old thinks she understands why the books and now the movie has been so successful.  adding that production will probably “You read the book and you feel like you are the character. It’s a totally vicarious experience,” she told the radio host.

“She’s such a good strong female character. I can understand why girls put herself in that position.”

As for the quick turnaround on the sequel, Stewart sounds unsurprised. “For a while there, they were like, ‘oh, we don’t know if we have the money’, but now I think we may have the money!”‘

Source: GetTheBigPicture.net Read more

New Images Posted From Xmen Origins: Wolverine

Empire has just released two new images of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, one of which graced the cover of the print magazine. Take a look at the new images from the film, which is set to open on May 1, 2009.

Leading up to the events of “X-Men,” X-Men Origins: Wolverine tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program. Along the way, Wolverine encounters many mutants, both familiar and new, including surprise appearances by several legends of the X-Men universe.

“There’s a scene in the first X-Men movie,” said Jackman, “where Wolverine’s introduced in a bar, fighting in a cage, and you felt that he did this every night of his life. If this movie is successful, you should feel that this guy can walk straight off the end of this film and into that bar. ” Read more

David Petersen on Mouse Guard’s Return

Newsarama has an interview with Mouse Guard creator David Petersen on Mouse Guard: Winter 1152’s delay…

Today, comic shops will get the long-awaited fourth issue in the Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 volume of the series, a relief for fans who have been rooting for the little series to survive the restructuring of its publisher, Archaia Studio Press.

After the David Petersen series debuted from Archaia in 2006, Mouse Guard won the hearts of critics and fans of all ages — as well as a couple Eisner Awards earlier this year. Telling a Lord of the Rings-type story starring mice, the all-ages comic looked to be a huge success for the small independent publisher. The first volume was collected into a hardcover, Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, Diamond Select released a series of toys, a role-playing game was announced, and a feature film adaptation of the series was in the works.

But three issues into the series’ second volume, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, the comic came to a surprise halt when Archaia announced in May that the company was restructuring, meaning Mouse Guard was delayed indefinitely.

For months, readers have been waiting for news of more Mouse Guard, the series that used to be published bi-monthly, but now seemed questionable as all of Archaia’s comic books disappeared from shops.

Finally, last month, Archaia founder Mark Smylie announced the publisher would be purchased by Chicago-based Kunoichi Inc.

The delays behind him, Petersen talked to Newsarama about today’s issue and the future of Mouse Guard.

Newsarama: For fans who have been waiting, is it true? When are we getting a new issue of Mouse Guard? Read more

StarCraft Patch 1.16 Released

Ten years later, Blizzard is still releasing patches for StarCraft.

Today’s update, now available at FileShack, comes in two flavors: one for those with plain old StarCraft and one for those with the Brood War expansion.

Patch 1.16 brings some CPU optimizations–the game “now only uses as much CPU as it needs to run smoothly.” In-game chat but not whispers is now saved in the replays. There’s also a few bug fixes and the removal of numerous exploits. Sorry Terrans, no more drop-anywhere nukes. Don’t worry, the Zerg lost some exploits too.

Feature Changes:

• • In-game chat is now saved in replays. Note: whispers are not saved.
  • Hitting the Escape key while in the chat room will clear your typed text.
  • “/reply” (or just “/r”) will send a whisper to…

Source: ShackNews.com Read more

Next Page »