Just a reminder that Batwoman #1 comes out this Wednesday. I’ll be signing a few copies at Blue Moon Comics early that afternoon. And there’s a new interview up at Broken Frontier.
A few two-page spreads have been making the rounds as well, which I’ve reposted below for those who missed them:
Only a few more weeks until the September 14th release of Batwoman #1! As part of the “New 52” initiative, I did an interview with DC’s official blog — the Source — last week. Read it here (though I mostly just talk about Bernie Wrightson). Be sure to read Jim’s interview as well.
And below is the cover to issue #3… Click to enlarge. Enjoy!
Originally released by DC’s blog, The Source, as part of comic con… A two-page spread from early in Issue #1. Batwoman vs. The Weeping Woman! Click to enlarge.
Just a quick update about some hardcovers coming out this Fall…
On November 30th, Dark Horse is releasing a hardcover edition of the 5-issue limited series Darth Vader & The Lost Command. I’m really proud of the series — which I think shows how Vader can both succeed and fail at the same time — and am thrilled that it’ll get this treatment just in time for the holidays. Thanks Dark Horse! (Mom & Dad, you can pre-order it at TFAW).
And as noted previously, Batwoman is part of DC’s “New 52” — fifty-two brand new #1 issues that redefine the DCU. We also have an official release date: Batwoman #1 will be on stands September 14th. We’ve had Issue #1 in the can for a while now, so I’m personally very excited to finally see it in print. Then on December 7th, that first issue of Batwoman will be included in the hardcover collection: DC COMICS: THE NEW 52, which weighs in at over 1,200 pages and includes each and every single “debut issue” of the New 52. Thanks DC!
After an eight year run, SOE and LucasArts recently announced plans to shut down Star Wars Galaxies. SWG represented LucasArts’ first foray into the MMORPG space, and I was fortunate enough to be involved with the project as LucasArts’ lead producer for several years. Other, more intelligent people have already discussed the whys and wherefores of the shutdown (see: an interview with SOE’s John Smedley) and what they would have done differently (see: the aforementioned interview, and Raph Koster’s post on SWG), but even years after last touching the game, I feel a little melancholy about the news.
I left the project in late 2004, right after the launch of the add-on Jump to Lightspeed in order to begin concept development on a number of new Star Wars projects (one of which eventually became The Force Unleashed). At that time, the only way to focus on my new projects was to completely divorce myself from SWG, so we hired someone to take my place and I moved my office to another part of the building, then went through my own private mourning period while the rest of the team moved on with evolving the game. But I guess this is like hearing that a girl you thought you were over just got married; it gets you thinking, about all the good and all the bad, all the things you learned and did right, and all the things you could have done differently.
My last act before leaving the project was to write up a detailed post-mortem — basically a list of things we should and could have done better, but also the things that went well and we did “right” for future reference. I have no idea what happened to that document, but I know that much of the high-level feedback agreed with John and Raph’s thoughts (we should have launched with space flight already part of the service, combat needed more time to bake and more polish, etc.). Personally, the one thing I’d really love to change is how we treated Jedi and Sith, which were rare in the game, something you really had to work very hard to unlock. There were a lot of reasons we had to go that way (and ironically, this is is now a pretty common design in (allegedly) free-to-play games), but we should have found a way to make those characters more widely available at launch.
However, looking back now (perhaps through rose-colored glasses, I’ll admit), I feel that the game changed the MMO landscape, everyone who played it, and everyone who worked on it for the better. I have always believed that the in-game community-building tools are still unmatched in the MMO space; and Raph is right when he stresses the importance of the game’s sandbox design. But in the end, SWG wasn’t just a collection of mechanics and design theories. The love and passion that the team put into the game resulted in something capable of eliciting a wide range of emotions (call it “art” if you want; I do). I will never forget the awe I felt the first time I spotted a massive Krayt dragon lumbering along the Tatooine desert; the excitement of entering the swamps of Naboo; the sense of camaraderie when swapping stories in a cantina; my sheer amazement at the creativity on display when players started hosting their own events and building stores and cities… The game always felt alive to me, a real organism that started to evolve on its own as soon as we had the first prototypes up and running.
But when I am old and senile, and I can no longer remember the names of servers and cities, when I’ve forgotten about the first time we could wield a lightsaber in-game and the day we generated our first terrain, when I can’t tell a Mon Calamari from a Bothan, I will always fondly remember the sense of belonging that came from being part of the SWG community; from the moment we opened up the forums to the first fan fests, I was always truly honored and humbled to be a member of that very special group. I know that is what I will always miss the most.
DC’s official blog, The Source, is hosting interviews with all the creators working on the 52 titles launching this September. Today, it’s Batwoman’s turn. Check it out here!
Fearless Studios, the game development studio I co-founded with friend and fellow LucasArts alum Cedrick Collomb, has been hard at work on a number of projects over the past few months. Today, we’re thrilled to be part of HP’s most recent press release regarding the Touchpad. We’re not ready to reveal many details about this particular project yet, but we feel that it supports many of our core values as a company — including our central mantra of “creative risk mitigated by smart technology decisions.” It’s been a blast to develop for the platform — the first night we got the game up and running on one of the devices was an exhilarating milestone for us — and it’s allowing us to evolve as game developers in a number of exciting directions. The core team at Fearless has done an outstanding job of staying nimble, exploring several different concepts in a short window and prototyping like mad. This week, we’re focusing on control schemes and prototyping game spaces.
Hope to update more soon!
DC comics recently announced a plan to renumber the entire DC comics line — 52 titles, all getting brand new First Issues with some incredibly talented creative teams behind them — starting August 31st. There’s been a lot of speculation about exactly which titles will be included in the 52, but today DC confirmed that Batwoman will be part of this historic event. We’re really excited to be included in this initiative, and hope that everyone checks out the first issue when it hits this Fall. Cover art below…
The final issue of Darth Vader & The Lost Command will be on shelves this Wednesday (5/25). Last issue saw Vader betrayed, ambushed, set on fire, and left chained up to face his past in the bowels of an alien cathedral. In Issue 5, Vader has to dig deep to escape his captors and finish his mission to find Moff Tarkin’s son… In the preview below, Vader finally confronts Captain Shale during his search for Garoche Tarkin and the Lady Saro.
Again, the entire art crew (Rich Leonardi on pencils; inker Daniel Green; colorist Wes Dzioba; and letterer Michael Heisler) has done a fantastic job, and Tsuneo Sanda’s cover is stellar.
You can pick up Darth Vader & The Lost Command #5 at your local comic book shop or order from TFAW.
As always, Free Comic Book Day was a blast. Blue Moon has posted a few pics here.
Along with signing a bunch of our own stuff, Michael Stribling and I were also scribbling on a special print that he produced based on a setting and characters I’ve been kicking around for a while. Currently codenamed “The Dark Divide,” I’m working on bringing the world to life in several arenas: One of our current projects at Fearless Studios is a prototype of core gameplay inspired by the concept; I just wrapped up the rough draft of Chapter 11 of a novel; and Cedrick (my Fearless co-founder) and I are discussing funding for a comic book limited series or graphic novel.
The image below is a teaser with early concepts for two of the (probably way too large) cast. The version we signed had some text on it, but none of the logos are final, so I’ve opted to post the unadulterated version here (mostly so I could type “unadulterated”). Click on the image to enlarge (but be warned; the final image is pretty big…).
Without going into virtually ANY detail on the concept or characters, I will say that I love the semi-transparent tentacles… And, I’ll mention that we’re really working hard to make these characters as iconic as possible – hence the big green goggles on the gunslinger in the foreground. We’re not completely there yet, but it’s coming along. Any feedback is welcome!
