Jevon Phillips

Ubisoft’s November title “Watch Dogs” had attendees at the recently concluded Electronic Entertainment Expo lining up for an in-depth look. The Chicag0-set game explores the world through the eyes of a technologically savvy vigilante whose motivations and intentions can vary according to the player’s wishes. To learn more about “Watch Dogs” and the history behind the project, Hero Complex spoke to lead script writer Kevin Shortt (“Avatar: The Game”). HC: How did the concept for “Watch Dogs” originate? KS: We started with a small core team very early on, four years ago actually, and mostly we just talked about what we wanted. We quickly zeroed in on the idea of having a cellphone and being able to use the cellphone to basically control the city, and what that would mean. For us, that then became, OK, there’s privacy issues in […]

At E3, a number of things catch your attention, but a video and a simple banner showing an ancient warrior who looks strikingly like actor Jet Li can draw any casual fighting-game fan over to the Snail Games booth for a look at “Age of Wushu”. And as it turns out, the action-film star/former Wushu (which just means “martial arts” in Chinese) champion does in fact have a little something to do with the game. “There is a character in the game that is Jet Li. He has a character name, then in parenthesis it says Jet Li next to it. I guess they really wanted to drive that point home, in case you did recognize him,” said Chris Toft, a lead QA producer for SnailUSA, the Chinese company’s stateside division. “He is a character in the Twilight Village story. […]

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center echoed with cheering, gunshots, tire screeching and music from hundreds of game demos Wednesday as more than 45,000 attendees gathered for the world’s largest annual video game trade show. E3, now in its 18th year, has become a mecca for video game developers, retailers, industry professionals and journalists. The trade show, which runs through Thursday and is not open to the public, often serves as the pulpit for the industry’s biggest announcements. On Wednesday, convention-goers were greeted by an enormous “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures” display outside the main entrance, complete with painted Mini Coopers. The big three game companies dominated the floor, with Nintendo’s bright white walls and whimsical displays setting it apart from its darker (and considerably more adult) neighbors, Microsoft and Sony. FULL COVERAGE: E3 […]

“Pacific Rim” opens in theaters July 12 with its tale of an invading alien species of kaiju and the massive Jaegers developed by man to save life on the planet from the beastly threat. For those looking for a comprehensive grounding in the universe of the film before it opens, a new prequel graphic novel has arrived. “Produced” by the film’s director, Guillermo del Toro, and written by co-screenwriter Travis Beacham (“Clash of the Titans”), the “Pacific Rim” graphic novel features pencils by Sean Chen, Yvel Guichet , Chris Batista, Geoff Shaw and Pericles Junior; inks by Junior, Steve Bird, Matt Banning and Mark McKenna; and a painted cover by Alex Ross. Beacham recently spoke to Hero Complex about the genesis of the Legendary comic tie-in, out Wednesday, its relationship to the film and working with Del Toro. HC: The […]

The new game “Injustice: Gods Among Us” begins with Superman killing the Joker after one of the madman’s plots results in the death of Lois Lane, who was pregnant with the Kryptonian’s child. And things grow more intense from there. Released last month, the game stages grand battles between an impressive number of familiar faces from the DC universe — a number that’s growing with the release of new downloadable characters. First was the interstellar bounty hunter Lobo. Next up, Commissioner Jim Gordon’s daughter Barbara, otherwise known as Batgirl, will join the fray. Batgirl will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points and PlayStation®Network for $4.99. Wii U players will have to wait until summer. NetherRealm Studios and DC spent two years developing “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” which was accompanied by a comic book prequel written by […]

For Free Comic Book Day on Saturday, Image Comics is focusing on the past and the present — the publisher will revisit one of its classic titles, “Aphrodite IX,” with an eye toward rebooting its green-haired assassin, and will release a new issue of “The Walking Dead” that contains a new Tyrese-focused short story and reprints short stories featuring Michonne, the Governor and Morgan. Robert Kirkman’s zombie comic book might be top of mind in the pop cultural consciousness thanks to the wild popularity of the AMC television series it spawned, but “Aphrodite IX” might benefit from an additional promotional push. Originally created by David Wohl and David Finch, the title debuted in 1996, but only generated six issues and one trade paperback. Now Matt Hawkins, president of Image’s Top Cow imprint, and artist Stjepan Sejic are teaming to bring […]

Iron Man is back in the multiplex in a big way this weekend with “Iron Man 3,” but the character also features prominently in “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble,” a new animated series set to premiere July 7 on the Marvel Universe block on Disney XD, with a special one-hour sneak preview on May 26. Hero Complex is bringing you a new look at the team. The heroic lineup, which also includes Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow, is the same as the Avengers who assembled for Joss Whedon’s 2012 blockbuster, with the notable inclusion of one of Captain America’s oldest friends and partners, the Falcon. A previous series, “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” offered glimpses of numerous Marvel characters, but “Avengers Assemble” marks the first time this lineup has appeared on a television show. The series stars Adrian Pasdar […]

Perhaps one of the oddest and underutilized groups of characters in the Marvel Universe, the Inhumans are having a moment. The mutant family of  superheroes originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby is starring in a new DVD offering from Marvel Knights Animation and Shout! Factory released this week, titled simply, “Inhumans” with an internal tale written by Paul Jenkins and drawn by Jae Lee. The group, led by king, Black Bolt, also promises to be one of the central players in the upcoming “Infinity” crossover saga, which Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso calls “a Marvel event in every sense of the word because it narrows the gap between Earthbound and cosmic heroes.” Hero Complex recently caught up with the busy executive to talk Inhumans, Marvels’ “Age of Ultron” event and the general outlook for the company. HC: Do you […]

“Smallville” concluded its television run on the CW with a series finale in May 2011 that saw Tom Welling’s Superman finally take to the skies, but the emotional moment didn’t exactly signal the end of the show. Almost a full year later, the show’s 11th season kicked off via a digital comic penned by former “Smallville” writer Bryan Q. Miller, and last week the first four issues were released as a single print graphic novel with cover art by Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez. Set six months after the events of the finale, “Smallville Vol. 1: Guardian” sees Lex Luthor launch his “Guardian Defense Platforms” to ward off alien invaders after the scare of Apokolips — but he obviously has other, more nefarious plans in mind. Hero Complex caught up with Miller to ask about the creative impetus […]

Revenge is more of a driving force on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” than romance but Marvel Entertainment, having joined with the Disney-ABC Television Group, is releasing a graphic novel that tells more of the story of how the Evil Queen took the Huntsman’s heart — literally — and used it to control him. Marvel and Disney on Monday released the cover (drawn by Nimit Malavia) for the graphic novel “Once Upon a Time: Shadow of the Queen,” which shows the Evil Queen flaunting her hold on a reluctant Huntsman, flanked by images of Red Riding Hood and Snow White. The story picks up after the events of the Season 1 episode “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter,” in which the Huntsman lets Snow White go after tracking her, and centers around another of Regina’s plots to capture her stepdaughter. She […]