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Comics Buyer's Guide #1659, where I review:

Chew #1
Image Comics
$2.99, color, 28 pgs.
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Rob Guillory
Grade: 3 Stars (out of four)

Tony Chu is a “cibopathic,” meaning anything he eats (other than beets) gives him information about that food, such as where it came from, who picked it (in the case of apples), or who slaughtered the cow to get it (in the case of beef). Naturally, Tony’s gift makes him an effective police officer, but perhaps a little too effective. After biting off the face of a perpetrator to glean information regarding the deaths of several young women, Tony gets in trouble with his boss.

Chew #1 begins as a buddy cop team type of book—picture Beverly Hills Cop decorated with gore and psychic phenomena—but takes a different turn about half way through the issue. The concept is gross and a little off-putting, but this is a fairly entertaining take on the psychic detective subgenre. There’s a bit of sociological science fiction at work as well, thanks to the bird flu making the consumption of chicken illegal.

The stylized art is at once grim and cartoonish, making it a nice fit for the funny, funky story.

Cheap Trick @ Kate's Track Shack

Like many retro-gamers, I enjoy many old-school endeavors, including building models, watching classic movies and cartoons, and collecting and listening to LPs (love that thick, rich, meaty sound). One thing I've left safely in the past is 8-track tape technology, which is a fragile, flawed, outdated way of enjoying music. I'll never forget listening to Kiss' Destroyer in my Dad's old truck, with songs fading out, only to kick back in as the reel would change to the next track (or however the technology worked, or, more accurately, didn't work).

Despite my current disinterest in 8-tracks, my retro sensibilities find it incredibly cool that Cheap Trick, a band I grew up listening to, recently contacted my sister's sister-in-law about producing copies of their new CD in 8-track form. Kathy and Dan Gibson run Kate's Track Shack (http://www.katestrackshack.com/), which is located in Arlington, Texas, about 25 minutes from my house. They buy and sell 8-track tapes and players and have become quite well-known in their field (as exemplified by Cheap Trick actually contacting them).

To purchase a copy of Cheap Trick's new album (called The Latest) on 8-track (or on CD or LP), check out the band's website: http://cheaptrick.shop.musictoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=10_21036.

I may no longer listen to 8-tracks, but hats off to Cheap Trick and to Kathy and Dan for helping keep the '70s--an era that gave us Alien, the Atari 2600, Star Wars, and a million other great things--alive and well.

Classic Home Video Games 1985-1988 -- REVIEWED!

The first review for my new book showed up on Amazon today:

For anyone that is interested in the Nintendo NES, Atari 7800 and Sega Master System this book is well worth purchasing. This guide does a good job of providing a quick and informative overview of all US licensed games for each system. Considering that there are over 700 games for the Nintendo NES alone, a guide like this helps the potential gamer to home in on games that fit their taste. That way you can only purchase games that you might enjoy.

Overall the book is an interesting read and I doubt that anyone who plays video games wouldn't find it interesting.

~By Starwander

A Stop at GameStop

GameStop recently opened one of their signature stores in Southlake, TX, which is a super rich city near Dallas/Fort Worth (a recent survey found Southlake to be the highest median income city in the entire United States). I missed the grand opening (which promised game tournaments, character appearances, and the like), but I did make it out to the store this past Sunday.

On the way to the fancy new GameStop, I stopped at a regular GameStop right down the road and asked them about the new store. The guy behind the counter, who appeared to be in his early 20s, said it was a great store, but that it had only one problem: they didn't carry GameCube titles. He further stated that his store was an "old-gen" store while the new store specialized in "current gen."Characterizing any GameStop as "old-gen" is amusing at best, but I guess GameCube is retro in some people's minds.

Further, when I went to the checkout stand at the regular GameStop, Mr. "my store specializes in old-gen" looked puzzled when I placed Gradius V forthe PS2 on the counter. He said he had never heard of Gradius, which is no crime (actually, I think it is a misdemeanor in some states), but his "old-gen" cred certainly took a hit.

When I arrived at the super duper, fancy shmancy GameStop, I was impressed with its lighting, ultra modern fixtures, and the like, but it was an exercise in wasted space. I'm sure GameStop has a business model that works with McDonalds-like proficiency, but it's a shame they can't carve out a small section in their stores (especially their jumbo super stores) for homebrews or some other product that shows the corporation has a soul.

I'm not a GameStop hater like some (I've gotten many MIP bargains over the years from their previous-gen display racks, and independent game stores benefit by GameStop not carrying old-school games), but wouldn't it be cool if they carried new Atari 2600 titles (and other homebrews)? Surely, it wouldn't bankrupt that black, white, and red behemoth.

Sample Pages of My New Book

McFarland has posted sample pages of my new book on their website. You can check them out here.

You can read sample pages of my first book here.

Classic Game Fest 2009 -- Austin, TX

Friday, July, 31st, while my family gets the house ready for my son's 13th (gasp!) birthday party, I'll be doing a book signing at Game Over Video Games for Classic Game Fest 2009, a fun-filled event featuring a Dr. Mario Tournament, a costume contest, a screening of the Super Mario Bros. movie, and more. For more info, check out Game Over Video Games.

For a look at pics from the last autographing I did at Game Over, check out this previous post.

(BTW, I'll be home in time for the actual birthday party, Ryan, so don't worry.)

Cover Me

The other day, after returning home from a trip to Galveston (where I had a great time with the family, swimming, wakeboarding, and building sand castles), I was pleased to discover these two magazines in the mail.

Video Game Trader #13, which published my Super-Hero article as their cover feature.

And McFarland's Fall 2009 Catalogue, which includes listings/descriptions of hundreds of new books from my publisher.

I was surprised to find my book featured on the back cover.