COLUMNS
WildStorm - The Storm Front: June
June 1, 2009
What I love about MMORPGs over regular videogames is the ability to create a super-immersive world while dealing with other real-life people. Persistency becomes a valuable trait along with a shared sense of community, which both go beyond just having fun and moving on to the next level of gameplay. That's something I work to instill on the DC Universe Online game everyday and it's something Sony Entertainment's tapping into with Free Realms.
That's their latest free, online game aimed at all ages—and it's also a new WildStorm title for July. When young Dane tries and fails to save a pixie, she's forced to return the favor and rescue him! Their luck turns even worse when a horde of creatures captures them. But we trust best-selling fantasy writer J.S. Lewis (of the Grey Griffins series) and artist Jon Buran (WORLD OF WARCRAFT) to bring him (and you!) through the adventure.
From a dark forest full of trolls, we turn to Middle America: full of corn and rednecks and…horrors. When a bored teen in a small town just off Interstate 40 checks the wrong book out of the library, entities are set free and the townspeople are changed. Then things go to hell, and anyone who tries to pass the town limits finds that there's no way out.
Aaron Williams (who is usually a funny guy: see PS238 if you don't believe me) and Fiona Staples (who drew one of my favorite WSU books last year in SECRET HISTORY OF THE AUTHORITY: HAWKSMOOR) take a dark look at the intersection of boredom and literacy in NORTH 40. And keep a close eye on Fiona's covers—if you ever wondered how to show tentacles menacing the population? Well, this is how you do it.
As long as we're talking covers, keep an eye out for GEARS OF WAR #9, with interiors by regular series artist Liam Sharp and a cover by…me. Series writer Joshua Ortega and Epic Games President Mike Capps introduce a new female character here, and being a huge fan of the game, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to draw her first cover. It's the most visceral yet elegant game I've ever played and I am thrilled to be able to contribute something new to the ever-expanding mythos of Gears!
-Jim Lee