Few creators have done as many things in life as Alejandro Jodorowsky. He range of creative experience includes being a published poet, playwright, tarot reader, film director, and comic book author. Naturally, with his great gamut of experience comes many, many stories. Many of them are fascinating. But one of the most interesting stories is how his failed attempt at making a Frank Herbert’s DUNE film in the mid-1970s indirectly led to the creative team of the classic sci-fi/horror ALIEN film. Arguably, Ridley Scott ought to thank Jodorowsky for his influence.

From the start, Jodorowsky’s adaptation of DUNE was doomed to fail. The scope and passion for the project were evident, but it was impossible for it all to coalesce into something complete. The films Jodorowsky completed prior to his work on DUNE are brilliant surreal experiments in film-making, but were very challenging to narratively follow. Rumors claim that the release of his first film, FANDO Y LIS, in Alcapulco led to a full scale riots. EL TOPO, his spiritual Western was beloved by Beatles’ John Lennon and Yoko Ono... so much so, that they assisted in the financing of his third film THE HOLY MOUNTAIN.

In 1974, Jodorowsky was approached by a team of French investors that had acquired the film rights to DUNE to direct the film. Immediately, his scope for the film became epic as he planned to film the project as a 10-hour feature film with a cast of actors that included Salvador Dali, Orson Welles, David Carradine, and Mick Jagger. For the art production of the DUNE film, Jodorowsky hired artists Moebius, H.R. Giger, and Chris Foss. He had also hired Dan O’Bannon as head of the special effects department.

With $2 million already spent of a $10 million budget, the project eventually came to a standstill. Years later the film adaptation would resurface with David Lynch helmed as director in 1984.

Despite the production failure of Jodorowsky’s DUNE, many wonderful things came from the experience. The relationship he began with comic artist Moebius led to a series of comic book collaborations including their memorable run on the INCAL. Many argue that you can see the inspirations from Herbert’s DUNE in the INCAL and it’s many spin-off series (including TECHNOPRIESTS and METABARONS).

But the most successful ramification from Jodrowsky’s DUNE may very well be something that is rarely associated with Alejandro Jodorowsky: Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. Jodorowsky gathered an “All-Star” group of fantasy artists of disparate styles for Dune with the intent of having each artist create the distinct civilizations and cultures of the DUNE universe. It was a brilliant idea; so much so that when Dan O’Bannon wrote the ALIEN screenplay, he suggested to Ridley Scott that the same group of artists be used to develop the look of the ALIEN film. Ridley Scott agreed. As ALIEN was smaller in scope than DUNE, the design elements created by the 3 artists are more focussed. But none can argue the overwhelming influence they had on the general vision of science fiction worlds. H.R. Giger designed the Alien and the Alien infested world visited at the beginning of the film. Chris Foss worked for several months on conceptual art for ALIEN (which was never used in the final film). Moebius designed the spacesuits used in the ALIEN film.

Below I have included HR Giger, Moebius, and Chris Foss’ ALIEN Art above their respective work on DUNE.

If you haven't heard, now you will: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World movie trailer is out. I love it and can't wait to see the film. Bryan Lee O' Malley, Scott Pilgrim's creator is one of the good guys. He's done some great comics for many, many years. I loved his Lost At Sea comic and have also enjoyed the heck out of his Scott Pilgrim books. Many, many years ago I even paid him something super cheap (I think it was $25) to do a beautiful watercolor painting of the main character from Lost At Sea for my girlfriend at the time (she later became my wife). I have no clue why O'Malley decided to be so generous to his fans at the time... but I continue to cherish the gorgeous painting he did for us.

It's wacky and exciting to see that Scott Pilgrim is now months away from becoming a live action film. The director (Edgar Wright) has proven his uber-sense of awesome (with his Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz films). About the only thing I'm not too jazzed about is the casting of Michael Cena as Scott Pilgrim (way too dorky for Mr. Pilgrim, if you ask me), but I'm sure it'll make for a great time.  

What brings the buzz-factor on this project from awesome to unchartably-super-curse-words levels of excitement is the reveal that sprite-art-master Paul Robertson is handling character art duties for the beat-em-up video game based on the movie/comic. Gobi introduced me to the genius of Paul Robertson's art (you can even read Gobi gushing directly to Paul Roberston HERE). He's the PERFECT guy to handle the zany insanity that is Scott Pilgrim.

The Wii Ware version of CAVE STORY came out this week. Miraculously, it's peeled me away from my addiction/love affair with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It's not the perfect Cave Story adaptation that rabid fans of the freeware original were hoping for, but there's enough to it to both justify the $12 purchase and understand why there's so much love for the original game.

For years I've heard about CAVE STORY. It's a platform adventure game that has elements of Metroid, Zelda, Mario Bros, and Mega Man. Amazingly, the original version of the game was conceived of and programmed by a single Japanese programmer known as Pixel over 5 years and released in 2004 as a freeware game (you can download and play it for free). Since it's release, CAVE STORY has been widely regarded as one of the best freeware games ever created.

As I'm not much of a computer-based gamer, I've had limited experience playing the original. The most time I had playing it was 5-minutes on Ohm's PSP when he came to the US in July 2009. I could immediately feel that it was a game that I would enjoy and decided then and there that I'd buy the Wii Ware version upon release.

The game itself is brilliant. The play control is tight, responsive and feels perfect on the Wii Classic Controller. I'm amazed at how well conceived the games weapon systems and enemies are. There is a basic but rich strategy to all the elements that contribute to the overall game experience. Like Metroid and Zelda, power ups and items will help you get further in the game but the game is wisely divided into distinct sections you can teleport to (kind of like Metroid Fusion). This helps the player stay focused as he attempts to complete the objective necessary to progress. I am also incredibly impressed with the rich story that, while presented using old-fashioned sprites and text boxes, is more engaging and fulfilling than what was presented in the games that inspired Cave Story.

This Wii adaptation includes revamped graphics, remixed music, and the option to play the game with a female character. You can also play the game with it's original graphics and music. Since I'm playing the game on a Standard TV, the graphical improvements are more subtle than I anticipated. Unfortunately, the remixed music is inferior to the original tracks (something that seems to be caused by a poor audio conversion) and the default FX sounds are ear piercingly too high. With a few adjustments (lowering FX volume and changing the game to its original soundtrack), the game is a lot of fun to play and a reminder of how to make a superb old school game play experience.

I've played about 2.5 hours of CAVE STORY (I'm in the Sand area looking for dogs) on its Original challenge. I'm a little nervous to see how hard it gets in later levels but am having a helluva time playing it thus far.

Wii Trailer:

Original Freeware Game:

It's odd how things seem to come in cycles. Jerry and I first met while working at Humanoids Publishing in 2002. So I guess it's appropriate that Jerry and I will be actively involved in bring the latest incarnation of Humanoids to the US Comics Publishing market. I can now officially announce that, in addition to our work on all things Muttpop, Jerry and I will be helping Humanoids Inc. reestablish its presence in the US. Jerry's official role is Senior Art Director. I will be working as the Editor In Chief. As a whole, our role will be an extension of the things we do at Muttpop. Jerry's handling the overall look and design of the entire line of Humanoids Inc. comic books and graphic novels. I will be overseeing the development of the line of books we are releasing including translations of some of European books and the development of some new books in the US. As a guy who's passionate about comics, toys, and games I am incredibly grateful that I've had opportunities to work in those fields. This will just be another step in that journey.

As for Muttpop, things will continue as they have. We're still fully committed to the Lucha Libre, Minis, and other projects we have in development. As guys that have had their hand continually in both the toy and comics industry it's a natural way to keep ourselves involved and contributing to both. One bit of exciting news that I can announce is that Humanoids will now be the official Publisher of all Lucha Libre comics. We had quite a bit of a break after Lucha Libre #6 and the first Graphic Novel. We're now returning with a monthly publishing schedule beginning this June. We're changing the format a bit. The price per issue is dropping to $3.50 per issue. We are also going to reformat the Lucha Libre comics into a series of miniseries in the traditional comic book format. Our first mini-series is 4 issues of Unfabulous Five (formerly called the Luchadores Five). Once that's complete we'll do a 4-issue Tikitis mini-series and finally a 4-issue Tequila mini-series.

This should be fun. I hope you join me on the ride. CLICK HERE to check out the revamped Humanoids website.

All of my video game playing time as of late has been spent playing some version of a 2D Mario game. The latest Super Mario Bros. incarnation on the Nintendo Wii is to blame. Even though the majority of my time has been spent playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii, my recent experiences revisiting the older gamers in the series has given me the clearest idea of the brilliance of all the games in the series and, more specifically, what was done right and wrong with each game.

10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (US version: NES): I did not like this game. Way too slow and it felt nothing like a Super Mario game. I like Birdo as a character and the unique abilities the 4 chooseable characters have was clever. But pulling radishes from the ground was not fun for me.

9. Super Mario Land (Game Boy): This was a fun way to play a Super Mario game on-the-go, but there is nothing particularly memorable or revolutionary about the game play. The two big contributions are Mario using vehicles (which is odd for a game series built on the nuance of jumping from platform to platform) and a fireball that bounces around the screen instead of just disappearing.

8. Super Mario Bros. 2 (JPN version: Famicom): This game is SADISTIC in its difficulty. I feels like Nintendo just wanted to mess with hardcore Super Mario players. It opens with tricking players to grab a poisonous mushroom that kills you. 'Nuff said.

7. Super Mario Land 2 (Game Boy): This sequel made huge leaps in the graphical department. To make it look better, characters had to be bigger resulting in a far smaller portion of a level being visible on screen. The best thing about Mario Land 2 is the introduction of Wario. Levels looked great and the weird jelly stuff you can get stuck in was interesting. The Rabbit Ears power up was a pointless and too-easy-to-use tweak on the Raccoon Tail from Mario 3.

6. New Super Mario Bros. DS: The DS 'NEW' addition to the series took a lot of the right steps to finding the elements that make a great Super Mario game. Unfortunately it wasn't able to bring a sense of polish that would make it a Super Mario classic. As with the Super Mario Land 2, it felt like the level layout suffered from having to make the characters big enough to look attractive. I like how all the power ups were built around the core jumping and platforming game play. But the levels feel bland and forgettable. Using the touch screen for an emergency power up was distracting and counter-intuitive. I also don't like that to get many of the hidden coins, you have to use a power up that is not included in the level (like the Micro Mario mushroom).

5. Super Mario World (SNES): The game had a lot of great things and a lot of bad things going for it. The good levels were great (like the fortresses, haunted houses, and castles) but some of the regular levels were forgettable and/or confusing. Yoshi was fun and created some variety. The weird choice of having koopas pop out of their shell when you stomp on them was a very odd game play change that disrupts the standard Super Mario game flow. The flying cape technique is non-intuitive and gives players the unfair advantage to just fly through levels. There are also way too many buttons to use, confusing game play.

6. Donkey Kong (Game Boy): Although not traditionally considered a Super Mario game, I think it deserves to be here because Donkey Kong showed how to give players a variety of intuitive moves without the need for extra buttons. In many ways, what Super Mario World did wrong, the Game Boy Donkey Kong did right. In the Game Boy Donkey Kong you can back flip and time your jumps perfectly to get an extra boost. This awesome move set made many of the Donkey Kong levels too easy, but showed how to make a simple yet nuanced 2D Mario gaming experience.

4. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES): I struggle putting this here because, as much as I love this game, it's not a Super Mario game. I love the unique way Yoshi floats a bit when he jumps. I also think the throwing egg technique was cleverly implemented and had a sense of intuition that was not prevalent in Mario World's Cape power up. Level designs were awesome but a little too long. As a whole SMW2: Yoshi's Island was a brilliant 2D platform game (one of the best) but was a bit too methodical and slow-paced to be regarded as a true Super Mario game.

3. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES): This game got so many things right. My main problem with it is it had too many ideas. It could have benefited from a little editing. We didn't really need Raccoon Tail AND Tanooki power up. The Hammer Bros. power up a waste. And the game often got absurdly hard (those air ships are NASTY!). But it did so many other things right: the level maps, distinct over world themes, Koopa Kids... The raccoon tail power-up was a fine example of a simple but clever way to introduce flight to a game based on jumping. Three things that bummed me out were that some levels were way too short, that fortress boss was pointless, and I didn't feel that the Koopa Kids were used to their fullest potential.

2. Super Mario Bros. (NES): Perfect level design. Tons of variety. A level of nuance to game play that not only was ahead of its competitors but still feels rich over 20 years after it was made. Call me crazy, but I also think that graphically Super Mario Bros. looks better today than Super Mario Bros. 3.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii: This game takes all of the best elements from previous games and refines them. By choosing to use the Wii Remote like an old NES controller, Nintendo forced themselves to make a play control approach that was easy to understand but hid great depths of game play. Every power up adds something new to the gaming experience. Level designs are memorable and carefully hint at hidden coins without giving away too much. Challenge felt just right. It's tough but not as merciless as Super Mario Bros. 1, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario Mario World sometimes become. The one flaw is the generic graphics.

Here are some design sketches that Bill (artist of Red Demon, Dr. Destruction, and the Luchadores Five) did based on a conversation Jerry, Bill and I had with some of the fine people at Todd McFarlane Productions. Todd McFarlane was the superstar Marvel/Spider-man artist in the 1990s who later co-created Image Comics and the Spawn comic character. As mutual fans, we met with a handful of people working for McFarlane. In an attempt to explore the possibilities of collaboration, we were thinking that it'd be cool for the Muttpop Lucha Libre art team to create a Kaiju version of the more familiar characters of the Spawn universe. In exchange, we thought it'd be fun to see our Lucha Libre characters redone in the hyper-realistic Spawn style made famous by artists like McFarlane and Greg Capullo.

I asked Bill to come up with some design sketches for Spawn based on our conversation. Which are seen below.

Later on when the Spawn team was thinking of doing a Spawn comics anthology, we were asked to take our Kaiju concept and pitch it as a comic short story. I was pretty proud of what we came up with (a mix of Spawn X Ghost Rider X Shadow of the Colossus X Kamen Rider) but, sadly, the Anthology project was eventually canceled.

Fortunately we still have Bills amazing designs to share with you guys!