Showing posts with label Spider-Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider-Island. Show all posts

Thursday 3 December 2015

Playing Catch Up



While I was planning on making a more extensive post about particular topics soon-ish, I felt the urge to put keystrokes to computer screen and make another entry on here on my much-neglected blog. So I'll briefly touch on various little things not worthy of a full post (or perhaps not until later, when I find time) and see how far that takes me.




The mobile-platform game Spider-Man Unlimited continues to be the only video game I can find time for in my busy schedule. Considering I can play it anywhere (at home, at work, on the loo) certainly lends itself to my lifestyle far more than a console game. Rumblings behind the scenes at Gameloft have told us Spider-Ham and Spider-Ham related characters are coming very soon.



 Interviews with the development team previously indicated they would have to build a know new character model for smaller characters such as Spider-Ham However the most recent character added to the game, Annie Parker (from the Renew Your Vows story) appears to use a scaled down version of the female character model...which sometimes glitches back to the standard size while retaining the proportions of the smaller character.



But more importantly, the character comes with a new voice over. The credits of the game currently don't indicate any new additions to the voice cast and the dialogue can't simply have been designed for little Annie because when kicking an enemy, she'll sometimes exclaim 'Taste my hooves!' So, positing a theory here....I think this new voice over is intended for a female Spider-Ham related character....namely Swiney-Girl.



Moving onto comics now, I finished and thoroughly enjoyed the MC2 back-up stories in the Spider-Island mini series. I have some very mixed feelings about the actual events leading into the story (both Spider-Verse and Secret Wars) but I believe on it's own merits the entire 31-page mini-epic was a strong read and a welcome return to down to earth, emotionally based storytelling for Mayday. On a more personal note, the story ended around the one year anniversary of my fathers death. Seeing May struggling to define her role in her family while dealing with the guilt and anger she feels surrounding her fathers passing hit home for me. I generally try to avoid placing personal bias into my thoughts about a comic, but once again I find myself truly connecting with May's swath of emotions. Her journey in many ways reflects my own. Learning to live without a loved one after they die is something that permanently alters your outlook and irrevocably changes your life. I respectfully and sincerely appreciate Tom, Ron, Sal and the entire creative team for their dedication to portraying the fallout of such a life-altering event.

I'm very glad May is not stuck wearing her fathers old costume.


On a lighter note, the ongoing series Web-Warriors will feature Mayday's Spider-Girl--erm I mean Spider-Woman as a recurring member of the cast. Judging by the first issue, I like the concept of a reality-hopping team reminiscent of the Exiles comprised of Spider-People. I think the series could be a fun ride, but I do question how Friendly Neighborhood May can be if she is flitting about across the Multiverse. Obviously, it's not the writers fault May comes to the series a changed character from the one Spider-Girl fans remember, so I won't hold that against them. Honestly, I found the characterization fairly on-target, all things considered. But why hasn't she been on any of the covers?! I'm giving this a chance. Stay tuned, I guess.

Until I find the time to actually write a wordy and well-researched blog entry again, I remain

frogoat

Thursday 9 July 2015

Mayday as Spider-Woman in Spider-Man Unlimited

The Spider-Man Unlimited mobile phone game created by Gameloft will soon be adding Spider-Island themed characters to it's already extensive roster. In addition to a new playable Spider-Island Mary Jane character, it looks like we will also be getting a new playable costume for the MC2's own May 'Mayday' Parker in the form of her current appearance as 'Spider-Woman' in the Secret Wars tie-in series Spider-Island which recently started publication.























Last year, the MC2's Spider-Girl became the first female Spider-Character introduced into the game. Then the MC2 took home another first with the Scarlet Spider (Felicity Hardy) becoming the first playable character introduced with the new 8-Star Rank called Titan. And now this! I wonder if there is an MC2 fan amongst Gameloft's development team?






















The recent Mary Jane love going on with the current 'Manga Mary Jane' Event which allows players to snag the new Mangaverse Spider-Woman aka Mary Jane and the upcoming Spider-Island promo image both make me very happy, too. These instances and past uses of Mary Jane over other female love interests within the game (for example the Valentines Day Event) suggests people at Gameloft know how important Mary Jane Watson is to the Spider-Man mythos. Good going, Gameloft!






















Until actually manage to obtain these new characters, I remain


frogoat 


Saturday 13 June 2015

First Look: Colored Pages for Spider-Island MC2 Story

Once again, Ron Frenz goes the extra mile and shares a first look at the inked and colored pages for the upcoming Spider-Island MC2 story he is working on along side co-writer Tom Defalco, inker Sal Buscema and colorist Andrew Crossley.

SWSPISLAND2015001001_B-2
SWSPISLAND2015001002_B

Thanks once again to Mr Frenz.