last week’s comics this week, 2023w42-43

in

  • DAREDEVIL 02: big improvement over last issue. Intrigued by where it goes next. In, still.

  • NIGHTWING 107 / TITANS 04: love Taylor, et al's work with these characters. Still very in; along with Ryan North's FF, TITANS is the rare team book that I enjoy.

  • CATWOMAN 158: waiting for Gotham War to end so we can get on with the new status quo. Will decide with the next issue if I continue, as I do love Selina and how Howard writes her.

  • BENEATH THE TREES WHERE NO ONE CAN SEE 01: dark, disturbing, and utterly brilliant. So very, very in; my favorite release of the week.

  • CYBERPUNK 2077: XOXO 01: trend of amazing transmedia CP deepenings continues. Love / in.

  • SUBGENRE 01: I'm a sucker for over-sized genre playtime. In.

CYBERPUNK EDGERUNNERS (2022)

in

Bar none, the finest world expansion and exploration in recent memory.

Added an emotional depth to the world of Night City that was lacking in my playthrough – maybe I was going too fast? – through a deeply-felt exploration of the pain and agony of cyberpsychosis (a mini-game within the game itself) and the lengths one will go to to save a found family.

When I load up and replay 2077 for the 2.0 upgrade and PHANTOM LIBERTY expansion, I'll – thanks to these ten episodes, to these characters, to their story – be playing a wholly different game. Powerful, powerful stuff; recommended even if you haven't played the game.

in

Spent much of the morning answering interview questions about animation and transmedia and I remain shocked – and grateful – that, 11 years after it came out, I'm still answering questions (and capable of answering questions) about a 300-page book I wrote in five months (distilling a lifetime of experience, of course) in my grandparents' basement with much of my research material (comics and big sheets of paper) spread across a pool table while dealing with the foreclosure of my first house, quitting smoking, and the general upending of my life and identity up to that point. Back to it.