Humanoids has just made available live streaming access to both the first issue of "Unfabulous Five" and "Bouncer" for FREE. The "Unfabulous Five" continues from where the "Luchadores Five" story left off in Lucha LIbre #6... so it'll be well worth checking out. Also, "Bouncer" is one of the best Western/Old West stories I can recall ever being told in comics. It's a worthy read that I highly recommend (it also helps that I edited them both!).

There's two ways you can read the comics: your computer's internet browser and iPad. The computer version is a competent way to read both comics. But we're super proud of our comics and the intuitive iPad interface we've developed. These two issues are the first of many we will be offering to comic fans and iPad users.
You can access them on either your iPad or computer by clicking HERE (for "Bouncer") and HERE (for "Unfabulous Five"). As long as you can access the internet, you can read them. Naturally, the better the internet connection, the quicker you can access them.

Humanoids will also launch a separate application called iHumanoids in the Apps Store by the end of this summer. With iHumanoids, many of Humanoids' comic titles will be available for downloadable purchase. Once downloaded, you'll be able to read them wherever you would like, with or without being connected to the internet.

Check out both comics and let me know what you think!

I'm looking forward to playing SIN & PUNISHMENT: STAR SUCCESSOR (aka Sin & Punishment 2) on my Nintendo Wii. As a fan of the first game on the N64 (I even spent $90 for an import copy!) I'm curious to see what Treasure (the game makers) are able to do with the Nintendo Wii system and controller. As any regular reader of this blog can gather, my gaming tastes tend to skew "old-school" and "Japanese". Treasure's one of the best developers to capture that.

A quick glance at the game screenshots suggests a somewhat bland art style (I'm not digging the washed colored and zombie puppet protagonists) but anybody that has played a game by Treasure knows that it's all about the gameplay. Treasure games are known for having responsive controls and so much stuff on the screen that your brain feels like it's on the fringe of exploding while maintaining an overall sense of order that makes you feel like you will progress further with a little more practice and skill. From that standpoint, this game looks like it will deliver.

There's an old gaming "legend" that claims that the developers at Treasure were the original programming team that developed several of Konami's classic action games including GRADIUS and CONTRA. A little investigation show that to not be entirely true (only 1-2 Treasure programmers worked for Konami)... but the spirit of many of Treasure's game can be found in many of those Konami classics. Despite having an almost religious reputation amongst old-school gamers, Treasure's never had a huge breakout success. Fortunately their philosophy towards games (making them punishingly difficult and arcade-like) and independent approach to making games (using a small but talented staff to develop games one-at-a-time) allows them to continue developing games for their devoted fans.

Anybody interested in checking out other Treasure classics should try and find Ikaruga (for the Gamecube and Dreamcast; I've talked about it multiple times on this blog), Gunstar Heroes (for the Sega Genesis), or Guardian Heroes (for the Sega Saturn).

Here's a first glimpse at the streaming online comic version of Unfabulous Five (formerly known as Luchadores Five) on the iPad. The streaming comics application is currently in the final testing stages for both the computer and iPad. Humanoids will be offering streaming access to the latest comic book issues of Unfabulous Five, free of charge, to both your computer and/or iPad once testing is completed. Humanoids will later offer a downloadable version of the comic for an undetermined fee.

Humanoids Publisher, Fabrice Giger, let Jerry and me play around with both applications. The iPad application is particularly impressive. The comics look gorgeous on the iPad screen. With a few taps or turns you can get a full page view, view equal to the width of the page, or  a 2 page simultaneous view. It's easy, intuitive and beautiful! Below are photos take of the comic as it looks on the iPad. As soon as more official information regarding the online comics are available, we'll be sure to share it with you at Muttpop.com.

I had the fortune of being in Chicago this past weekend. A family friend (who I've known for so long and so well that I can call him my little bro) graduated from Northwestern's Undergraduate school of Engineering. It was a great excuse to visit Chicago, celebrate, and bum it with my old college roomie who lives in the heart of Downtown Chicago.

The verdict? Chicago is the prettiest and most exciting city in all of the USA... if you can get past the schizophrenic weather. When it was sunny, it was as awesome as a city can get: tons of people and a magical sense of energy. But within the span of an hour it would go from bright beautiful sunshine to heavy rain and thunderstorms. At 3:30pm we were enjoying an uncomfortably hot, humid, and sunny Chicago-summer day. An hour later, at 4:30pm, we were being pelted by huge droplets of rain as lightning and thunder roared. When you factor in the bone-numbingly cold winters, there's a lot of Elements to battle in Chi-town. But when the weathers nice, it's awesome!

The streetlamps used in the city give nights a mystic and ominous hue of golden brown (just like those recent Batman films!). When the weather's good, it feels like one big party. Everybody is out and about and happy to enjoy the great weather. The positive vibe is addictive and endearing.

What I also found shocking was how distinct nearby parts of the city were. My former college roommate has a nice place in Lakeshore, right by Lake Michigan. A five minute walk from his place takes you to either an immense towering landscape of high-rise buildings, a Family-friendly Pier with gargantuan ferris wheel, or beaches crowded with youngsters enjoying the sun and playing volleyball.

Food was good but very heavy on the stomach. Restaurants tend to be more traditional American and Italian in cuisine. Portions are HUGE and typically smothered in butter, sauce and/or fried. I sense a couple of years in this town would have me 50 pounds heavier.

All in all, good times and an enthusiastic thumbs up to Chicago and Chicagoans. I'm just glad the Weather Gods gave me (mostly) clear weather and sunshine.

After Game 5, I gave up on the Lakers. I'm a lifelong Laker fan. I'm the kind of guy that firmly believes in cheering for your city's team. I was there for the Lakers during the lackluster seasons of Van Exel and Sedale Threatt. But, first and foremost, I am a fan of the game of Basketball. And what the Lakers were playing for a couple of games was an awful example of the game. So much so, that I was starting to feel that the Celtics deserved the Championship more than the Lakers did.

Going into Game 6, I was expecting the worst. I was in shock when the Lakers ended the first half up by 20 points. I was even hesitant to think the game was over until there were 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter and it was 100% clear that we would be having a Game 7.

It was great to see the Lakers second unit play with determination and focus. It was great to see Pau Gasol fighting in the post. It was great to see Artest playing competitively (even if some of his choices were questionable). It was great to see Bynum give it his all on an injured knee. Pesky defense. Lots of hustle plays. We were seeing a Laker team that wanted to win. And they won.

Let's hope that Game 7 brings out the best in both teams. More than a Laker Championship, I want to see a great game of Basketball!

Whatever your feelings may be about NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII, it proved to Publishers is that there is still money to be made in 2D gaming. After 10+ years of 3D over-the-character's shoulder games, we are now starting to see a plethora of high quality 2D games. I couldn't be happier. Three of the games that caught my eye from 2010 E3: SCOTT PILGRIM (an amazing 2D River City Ransom style brawler to be released in conjunction with the film), DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS (by the Metroid Prime game developers at Texas-based Retro Studios) and KIRBY EPIC YARN (by Kirby-creator Sakurai's new game studio). So far, Scott Pilgrim has just been announced as a PS3 and Xbox360 downloadable game. If there are no plans for a Wii release, I may have to conspire and find a way to finally own a PS3! It HURTS to think that I may not be able to play Scott Pilgrim when its released... :-(

NOTE: I forgot one more upcoming 2D gem: RAYMAN ORIGINS. Great looking game with a 2D animation style that reminds me of ODIN SPHERE. Thanks to Frédéric Smyczynski for the reminder!

SCOTT PILGRIM:

DONKEY KONG COUNTRY RETURNS:

KIRBY EPIC YARN:

RAYMAN ORIGINS: