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Got an email from Namco Bandai today…Afro is coming out as a video game January 27, 2009.  I hope this is good.  The anime was off the hook.  Thanks Gonzo/Funimation!  The quality and style of graphics are (dare I say) on par with Ninja Scroll. 

There, I said it! 

It’s really that good.

So if the video game is on par with the anime, then we should be in for a treat.

Problem is that sometimes a top anime doesn’t translate into video games.  Some fans of Spawn know what I mean.  I mean, I really TRIED to like the game play, but just got, well, bored, underwhelmed, disappointed. 

Bandai is gonna send us a copy of the game, so my man, Will, is gonna let you know how it plays on the 360.

Afro Resurrection Trailer…

For the Family Guy fans, including me, I’m ready for the internet-only cartoon series from Seth to debut on September 10 (I wrote about the cool distribution here as a different business model).  Check out the site at sethcomedy.com, where you can see the teaser.

The style of the teaser suggests that if you like the style of Family Guy, and to an extent, American Dad, then you’ll like Calvalcade. 

I’m pshyched.  Calvacade is supposed to free Seth up to do uncensored stuff.  Some of the DVDs he’s released in the past have been less censored (ie, he showed some cartoons that weren’t allowed to be aired). 

This time it seems like it’ll be no-holds barred.

I’m not much of a comics buff.  But what I like, I really like. 

Spawn is one of my FAVORITES (I also like Blokhedz, a cool hip hop cartoon, the movie version I hope will be out sometime in 2009).  I popped in HBO’s season 1 in the DVD player so I’m ampped, even though it came out in 1997 (the comic edition came out in 1992 after creator, Todd McFarlane, left Marvel with some others to form Image Comics). 

Basically, Spawn was a former CIA covert ops guy named Al Simmons.  He was one of the agency’s best hit men until Jason Wynn, Director of the United States Security Group (which oversaw the CIA), agreed to have him killed for asking one-too-many questions of missions having increasingly questionable purpose.  Wynn made the deal with Malebolgia, ruling demon of the 8^th Sphere of Hell, in exchange for psychoplasm, thereby giving Wynn super powers. 

Malebogia officially made Simmons a Hellspawn (a general Hell’s army against heaven), in exchange for allowing Simmons to see his wife again. 

Spawn has these really cool powers too (teleportation, quick-time healing, super-human strength).  Spawn has a symbiotic relationship with his costume, which protects him (his cape can attack and help him fly, and even creates a shroud to transform Spawn into anyone he wants; his chains can also attack).

Wikipedia does a really good job of giving you a more detailed background.

Last May 2007, Todd MacFarlane, creator of Spawn, came out with Spawn: Godslayer.  Here’s a free peak at the first edition.  He’s on his 8^th edition, now, which came out in April 2008.

So not only is Street Racer coming out on May 9, but we get a double dose of the Incredible Hulk coming out on June 13, 2008!  

 Trailer

The Quicks

Brucey B is the scientist whose cells were infected by radiation that causes him to transform into the Incredible Hulk when under extreme stress.  The new angle…after days of testing a captured Hulk (Bruce Banner), the Russians collect enough DNA to infect Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a KGB spy, with the same radiation to create the Abomination, who is billed as being badder and stronger than the Hulk, in calm state.  Until the Abomination, Banner (Norton), was trying to get rid of the Hulk…but now realizes that the only hope for the world is become the very thing he hates.

Let’s get down to it…

 Pros

·        CGI looks really good.

·        Looks like this will be much better than Ang Lee’s version a few years ago.  Then again, the bar is pretty low.

·        It’s got Ed Norton as Bruce Banner who should do right by Bill Bixby (for those who don’t know, Bixby was Bruce Banner in the TV series that helped bring Hulk to the mainstream).

·        Story line sounds sick

 Cons (or Fears)

·        While CGI is really good, is doesn’t appear to be as fluid (i.e., looks a little below the Pixar standard – which admittedly is the platinum standard).

·        I pray it’s not like the 2003 version.  That one took way too long for the Hulk to appear and some scenes really should’ve been cut out – like then one when Banner’s Father (Nick Nolte) and Banner (Eric Bana) discuss how bad a father he was to Banner – ugh.  My wife (then girlfriend) still has this as a black mark on my, otherwise, record J  - Ang Lee (director of 2003 Hulk) did a phenomenal job on CGO, though.  

·        Trailers sometimes don’t do the film justice (in good and bad ways).

All-in-all, I’m really excited about the spring with Speed Racer on the docket, backed w/ Hulk!!!

Quick side by side comparison of Hulk and Abomination…