Bayonetta sales, worldwide, for the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined has hit 1.1 million. If so, great news for Platinum Games/Clover Studios! There is some debate as to whether that number represents games shipped or games actually sold... either way its a nice step forward for a company known for creating quality games that have consistently struggled to find an audience. I loved what Kamiya-san and his team did on games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, God Hand and Madworld. It's good to see that they've found a decent following with their latest action game. I wonder who is buying Bayonetta. Is it just the old-school fans feenin' for a new beat-em-up style game? Or has Bayonetta found a way to attract gamers that would normally play a game of Halo or Gears of War? There have been many arguments that traditional gamers (who are mostly male) hesitate to play as a female protagonist. It's nice to see that Bayonetta has been able to challenge that conception. I have yet to play Bayonetta (as I niether own a PS3 or Xbox 360). But my interest in the game is there. I've heard it's a lot of fun to play. Design-wise I really like the main character's look... but have a hard time appreciating the cast of villains in the game. Overall it's got a very garish SquareSoft Final Fantasy design style going for it... which has never been a look I've really liked. With all the trinkets and metal the characters are wearing it's very difficult to make out what the characters actually look like. To my eyes it just looks like blobs of 'bling bling'. Despite that snafu, Kamiya's got my trust. I assume it all makes sense once you give the game a little playtime. As I love the Bayonetta character you play as, I decided to include a selection of some really nice development sketches of the character from Platinum games. You can find more on their flikr account.

If you have a decent familiarity with manga (Japanese comics), there's a good chance that you've heard the name Naoki Urasawa. Over the last 10 years Urasawa-san has become the gateway drug to the world of manga. His style is just realistic and cinematic enough to appeal to American and European comic fans unfamiliar with the more extreme stylistic choices found in most manga titles. I'm ashamed to admit that I've been lagging on my Urasawa "fix". A friend living in Japan told me I MUST read Urasawa's MONSTER manga. I picked it up, flipped through a few pages and wasn't really intrigued by Urasawa's art style. I later heard great things about Urasawa's 21ST CENTURY BOYS. The art style in 21ST CENTURY BOYS was mighty impressive. Urasawa brought a more sophisticated line and rendering style. It's a bit more European in its complexity while still retaining a clean and simple Japanese cartooning sensibility. It's gorgeous to look at. With tons of willpower I held off from jumping into a 21st Century Boys comic buying binge. But I kept hearing about its brilliance from various comic readers and friends. I was ready to buy everything that's available in English... and just as I was about to buy them, the Comic Gods must have heard my plea, as I got volumes 1-3 of Urasawa's PLUTO manga for Christmas. SWEET!

PLUTO is Urasawa's reinterpretation of Osamu Tezuka's "Greatest Robot on Earth" story from the ASTRO BOY/MIGHTY ATOM manga series. As a HUGE fan of Osamu Tezuka's comics, PLUTO was the perfect way for me to officially discover Urasawa's work. After flipping through a few pages, I had a feeling that I'd enjoy the series so I purchased the remaining volumes that are available in English (4-6 of a 9 volume story) and began reading.

Even though I am a Tezuka fan, I never had the pleasure of reading much of his Astro Boy comics. I recall buying and reading 2 of the 20+ volumes that Dark Horse released... but neither volume included any part of the "Greatest Robot on Earth" story. So it's impossible for me to compare and contrast the story to the source material. But based on my experiences reading Astro Boy (which, from what I read, focused predominantly on the Astro Boy character) PLUTO takes many creative and narrative liberties to make this as much an Urasawa story as a Tezuka one.

One thing I found very shocking and effective is that we don't meet the Mighty Atom/Astro Boy until the final pages of Volume 1. Essentially the story is a detective mystery. Somebody has been killing off the most powerful robots on planet Earth, and the remaining Robot super powers try to solve the mystery as they are murdered one by one.

Urasawa's style is incredibly realistic compared to the hyper-stylized Manga standard. His work feels closer to Otomo's work on AKIRA with it's realistic human proportions and environments. The characters never overact like you often find in manga books. So the reading experience feels far more cinematic than what we get from other Manga books. It all works superbly in bringing the reader into the world of Pluto. Every character emotes and reacts in ways that are familiar and sincere. All the primary robot characters are designed to look human... and it ends up making the reader immediately connect with the characters strongly; something that wouldn't have been as natural if the robots looked like robots.

As a detective story, the story starts with a detective character (complete with trench coat and the big nose) so on many levels the visuals give you cues to the appropriate mood and style. Once you're in that world, Urasawa uses tricks in narrative and plot development unique to the robotic characteristics of the primary characters. And amidst all this, Urasawa creates a story that explores philosophical quarrels regarding life, humanity, and the makings of the soul.

The pacing of PLUTO is impeccable. Much like the TV show LOST, very little new information is given to the reader... but the murder mystery and reveal of the various characters at play is unspooled in a manner that tantalizes you just enough that you HAVE to continue reading. I've been warned that a common problem in Urasawa's work is his conclusions never match the masterful way he teases the reader... but as I haven't read the final 3 volumes, I'll have to reserve my own feelings about this until later. For now, PLUTO has been a helluva ride... one that I'm sad will have to eventually end! Thus far, I am LOVING Pluto. So much so, that I think I'm going to have to get my hands on 21st Century Boys as well!

I found some amazing comparison pic between Tezuka's original design (in sepia) and Urasawa's (in black) on this website. They can be found below along with some samples of Naoki Urasawa's beautiful pages.

I rented WHIP IT, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, and watched it with my wife this past weekend. While it wasn't perfect, it was a really fun coming-of-age film with a heckuva ensemble cast and a really beautiful portrayal of the sport of Roller Derby. Ellen Page (of JUNO) stars as a high school girl trying to find herself despite the pressures and expectations of her controlling mother. She finds a sense of self in the tomboyish sport of Roller Derby but has to lie about her age in order to participate. It's a very standard coming-of-age story that does little to tread new emotional territory. It's a bit difficult to swallow that the beautiful and intelligent protagonist feels that her only way out of her boring small town is by playing Roller Derby. Also the love interest/boy toy of the film is kind of ugly (at least by my wife's standards). But if you're willing to look past those odd qualities it's a pretty fun movie. The cast is pretty awesome. The main roller derby team (known as the Hurl Scouts) includes Drew Barrymore, Kristen Wiig (of SNL), and Zoe Bell (from Death Proof & Uma Thurman's stunt double in the KILL BILL films). The main rival team is led by Juliette Lewis (who has the PERFECT look and attitude for Roller Derby). And you have some nice bit parts from Jimmy Fallon and Andrew Wilson (the 3rd Wilson brother... I didn't know there was a 3rd one!). The star of the movie are the Roller Derby events which seems like the female equivalent of Mexican Wrestling. An impressive directorial debut by Drew Barrymore.

Fellow Muttpop artists: Gobi, Bill and Fabien have donned themselves the Catfish Deluxe and are doing a live art performance on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th at 6pm at the Angouleme International Comic Festival in France. Angouleme the biggest comic convention in Europe (think of it as the San Diego Comic-con in a castle!). Those lucky enough to attend can watch the character designers behind Tequila, El Panda, Red Demon, Dr. Destruction and King Katch work their doodling magic live and on stage. Sadly Jerry and I will not be there... but we're sure the Catfish Deluxe will put on a helluva show!

For more details and information CLICK HERE. Some teaser illustrations can be seen below!

I have just received confirmation from our distributor, DKE Toys Distribution, that the solicitation for the latest Frank Kozik X Muttpop collaboration, Tequila Ocran Ocinatas goes out tonight. That means that beginning tomorrow, your favorite Designer Toy retailers will be able to order Ocran Ocinatas from DKE. We figured that Ocran Ocinatas was an appropriate way to start 2010. I hope he was worth the wait!

Today No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle comes out in the US for the Nintendo Wii. I'm really looking forward to playing it. Suda 51 created an amazing universe in the first game and I am very happy that we'll have another opportunity to play in it one more time. From a stylistic standpoint, there are very few games as cool as NO MORE HEROES. It's got a great sense of humor, beautiful character designs, and a very refreshing take of the West Coast. As with what our artists do on Lucha Libre, it often takes an outsider's eyes to effectively distill the beautiful qualities of an environment. Even though Suda 51 and Grasshopper Studios are in Japan, they really got the tone of the West Coast with its mix of Surf, Punk, and Urban style. And, unlike some of the wackier fashionable choices you often find in Japan videogames (*cough* Squaresoft *cough*)... Grasshoppers Studios found a nice mix between the bolder design choices of Japan, geek culture, and general fashion. To me, the No More Heroes cast of characters are some of the coolest and most refreshing designs since Kojima's Metal Gear Solid. The characters are eclectic, beautiful, and yet somehow feel like they organically belong to the same universe. It's a delicate balance that is rarely found. As a showcase of the strong design found in the first No More Heroes Game, I've chosen some of my favorite character designs from the amazing Creative Uncut resource library. I've also included a trailer to No More Heroes 2 below.