Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote "do the thing and you will have the power."

To that end, I have begun the process of reinvesting in myself and my career as a web developer. I 'm experimenting with new techniques, such as Ajax and of course, ColdFusion. In the next few weeks I will be rolling out some new features and applications on continuumedia. Some you will be able to see, others will be more background process to make the site run smoother overall.

The first of these enhancements is the revamping of Delta Source...my Star Wars sub-site. I will be adding a Star Wars Miniatures application that allows one to look up any figure based on various criteria and build squads. This isn 't unprecedented functionality, I have some inspirations to look to, but what makes this application 'special ' is that it will use Ajax techniques to make calls to the server without reloading pages where appropriate. In the Web Development world, demonstrated ability is everything...well, almost everything.

I will also be unveiling a CFC powered Random Battlefield Condition Generator for HeroClix games where you want to use one battlefield over the entire game, or you can generate two in different windows...randomly.

I have some other ideas percolating, but these two will keep me busy for a week or two. Remember, do the thing, and you will have the power!

Wizkids has released the Alternate Team Ability cards via their Print and Play initiative based on 4 popular teams introduced the Marvel Heroclix: Web of Spider-Man booster expansion. These alternate team ability cards are tournament legal as of their release.

DC HeroClix: The Brave and the Bold has been released, and with the Blackest Night upon us, the dead have risen! Enter Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-2!

Weighing in at a hefty (but not unbelievable) 254 points, Kal-L brings serious power to the HeroClix table, but not without some suprises for a figure of his considerable cost. First off, the suprises. This is the only figure at this point level (250-275) that doesn 't possess at least a click of Impervious or Invulnerability. Instead, Kal 's less...living...form has a total of 8 clicks of Toughness backed by 3 of Regeneration. This isn 't necessarily a bad thing, given that his dial toploads at a 19 defense score, never dropping to less than 16. Still, he comes apart a bit easier at the seams than he did before his death at the end of Infinite Crisis.

As a Black Lantern, Kal-L can recover from virtually any injury to continue manipulating the emotions of his targets. This is partially evidenced in his Trait -- Power Levels Rising: Whenever an opposing character is KO 'd within 4 squares of Kal-L, you may heal Kal-L of 1 damage. Between this and Regeneration, Kal-L can make the most of his high cost by KO-ing figures (or being near KO 'd opposing figures) after he is damaged. He also has a synergy with the Black Hand figure (via the Avatar of the Black special power) and the Black Lantern Special Object. With the right circumstances (and a little help from the Golden Age Auto Regeneration Feat Card), Kal-L can conceivably heal up to 7 clicks of damage with just those elements in play! It will be much more common to heal one click or perhaps two, but that is an extremely potent ability in any case.

As much as can be made of Kal-L 's defensive abilities, he is very much a powerhouse offensively, worthy of the "S" Shield he created. Starting with 5 damage and never dropping below 3, Kal-L is an extremely hard hitting figure, which is even more devastating with the implication of the powers that go along with those statistics. Still faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive, Kal-L starts with Charge and Super Strength. And because he can READ THE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, he deals penetrating damage via Exploit Weakness. His attack value is a respectable 10, and he possesses the Indomitable ability, but his dial is very tempting when it comes to 'optioning off ' Indomitable and allowing the click of damage to occur on a push. His 10 attack raises to 11 and grants him use of another special power: FENDING OFF TWO SUPERMEN. Now, Kal-L can Charge and use Flurry for 5 base damage, and then use Force Blast as a free action on successfully hit opponents. This is advantageous because it allows Kal-L a measure of protection against a figure he may have damaged, but might not want to remain adjacent to when the attack resolves. With a little luck, Kal-L will possibly heal back to his first click at any rate.

Once he reaches mid-dial, he loses Fending off Two Supermen and gains Hypersonic Speed and Regeneration (where the auto-regeneration feat card comes highly recommended for games that it is available). His attack dips to its ' lowest 9, but he is still dealing 4 base damage at that point.

Thanks to Wizkids new figure inclusion code, I can do reviews on certain figures without going through the 'joys ' of getting the dial to be visible without undue work.

Brave and the Bold Sizzle Sheet

• Duos- Building off of the buzz of the most successful HeroClix figure of all-time, World’s Finest, Brave & The Bold brings high-profile Duo figures to the fore. In addition to having Duo figures at each rarity, all Super Rares in Brave & The Bold are team-ups of top-flight DC characters, such as Superman and Flash, Batman and Green Arrow, and Shazam! and Black Adam.

• Alter Egos- For the first time in its history, iconic DC Alter Egos such as Bruce Wayne, Clark, and Diana Prince appear in HeroClix boosters. The figures don’t stand alone, however, Alter Egos have the ability to change into their more famous superhero counterparts. That’s right, in game, players can change from Clark Kent into the powerful Superman!

• Army Building- Continuing the popular mechanics found in Hammer of Thor, Brave & The Bold features soldier and general units that help players use their entire collections of existing figures. Using keywords, the soldiers and generals can support figures from past HeroClix sets, allowing for creative army building from all of HeroClix’s history. Armies featured in the set include: the dangerous Batman enemies The League of Assassins, the strong and noble Amazons, the clandestine Checkmate operatives, and the powerful Apokolips alien Parademons. Here are some examples of Army Builders and the figures from previous sets that work in conjunction with these figures

• Parademon: Plays well with Lashina (Arkham) and Darkseid (Crisis)

• Checkmate: Plays well with Amanda Waller, Count Vertigo, and the thinker (Arkham), as well as Roy Harper and Red Arrow (Crisis)

• Amazon: Plays well with Wonder Woman from (Arkham) and both WW from (Justice League), as well as both Wonder Girls and Donna Troy from (Crisis).

• League Assassin: Plays well with Man Bat Assassin (Arkham), as well as Talia and Ra 's Al Ghul from (Batman Alpha), and Batgirl from (Crisis). Also Merlyn and Bronze Tiger (a top tournament piece) from (Justice League).

• Holiday: Plays well with 12 different characters from (Arkham)

• “Silver Bullets”- Brave & The Bold features three “silver bullet” characters that players can use to shut down opposing players’ strategies.

• Kryptonite Man works well against Supergirl and both "chase" Superman from Crisis, as well as the two Supermen in (Justice League) and several other figures in the current Brave and the Bold set.

• Kid Zoom plays well against 15 DC characters from Justice League - Arkham, including many top tournament pieces like Flash, Black Adam, and Superman. He also plays well against 20+ Marvel characters from Avengers - Hammer of Thor, including top tournament pieces like Skrull Ms. Marvel.

• Talia counter balances 8 characters from Arkham, including both "chase" Batman, and Robin, Batgirl, and Captain Gordon as well as 3 Batmans from Justice League

• Extant (the dimension-travelling villain) destroys armies that use multiple copies of the same figure. These silver bullet figures will be must have support pieces for any serious tournament player.

• “Upgrade”- Another exciting new, non-duo mechanic debuting in the Brave & The Bold set is “Upgrade.” Two figures in the set can “level-up,” after KOing an opposing figure. By leveling, players can switch a low-pointed character into a higher-pointed more dangerous version of that character. This mechanic encourages players to use more pieces in their collection, and rewards competitive, aggressive gameplay.

• Powerful Villains- Finally, in order to battle the powerful heroic duos in the set, Brave & The Bold features powerful high-point villains that can stand toe-to-toe with the duos. Characters such as Braniac, Metallo, and Ra’s Al-Ghul have the power needed to battle the top heroes in the DC universe.

What is not reflected in the above image is that Power Girl received a Trait that allows her to use Super Strength.

Power Girl is actually one of the bright spots in a potentially dark field when it comes to my overall anticipation for DC HeroClix: Brave and the Bold. Back in 2008, when the set was announced to be focused on the Duo mechanic that debut with Marvel HeroClix: Avengers, I joined the chorus of groans that ensued from such an announcement. Actually, I groaned when they were just talking about it. They hadn 't even 'announced ' it. The other thing I groaned about was that the new designer would be debuting with this set. See the Hammer of Thor impressions article for some background on my worries about dial design and then double it. When I saw Power Girl, sans Super Strength, my first thought was, "I knew they were going to louse up the dials", or something like that. Probably much more profane.

As it stands, she 's not 'terrible ', but at 199 points something definitely felt 'off ' about her. Not to mention her lack of range, considering she is the Kryptonian version ala Infinite Crisis. Something was defintely missing, and damage reducers aplenty or no, she simply wasn 't '199 points worth '. So, lo and behold, on Monday, Wizkids updated her preview with the following -

UPDATE: 03/15/10

HeroClix fans are among the most comics-savvy people on the planet, and they know that among the key abilities all Kryptonians share are the ability to Lift And Toss Very Heavy Things and the ability to Hit Other Things With Lots Of Oomph. So when our fans saw the preview of Power Girl I posetd on Friday, they realized something was missing – Super Strength. Good catch HeroClix fans!

Power Girl originally was playtested with a trait which reads “Power Girl can use Super Strength” – but that line was unintentionally edited out when we created the print master for the art team to lay out the cards. Thanks to the miracle of Print and Play, you can play her the way the design team intended. Power’s corrected cards are below, and are officially considered legal for all HeroClix play.

Keep on clickin’

-Drew

I was fortunate to have broke the story on HCRealms. I got lucky. At the time I was loading her stats into the Clix Cave, and in my habit I just happened to refresh the page, which said 'update ' where it intially did not. I figured I 'd better tell everybody, because she was getting her customary bad dial throttling on the 'realms (which participated in) and I knew that this could change the reactions, as well as give NECA a nice popularity shot-in-the-arm.

As a sort of bi-aniversary celebration of DC Heroclix: Crisis, I decided to dig up the original article put up on Wizkids web site about the Crisis chase Superman figures written by Seth Johnson. Superman is a trademark of DC Comics. No infringement is intended by reprinting this article.

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DCHeroClix: Crisis Supermen Preview by Seth Johnson, HeroClix Lead Designer As we previewed characters that were going to be included in Crisis, many HeroClix players had the same question as the people of the DC universe during the Crisis: "Where 's Superman?" As players began opening boosters of Crisis, they finally had their answer: it would not be one Superman coming to the Crisis battlefield, but two—two heroes that are among the most powerful ever to come to HeroClix, prepared to lead the biggest battles in HeroClix history as the Crisis tournament season begins. The first Superman is indeed the first Superman—Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-2. At 317 points, he 's the highest point value figure ever to be included in a booster, but it 's a cost justified by the powers he brings to the battlefield from his opening slot. An 18 defense with Impervious provides him with solid protection, and Super Strength lets him carry objects into battle and use them as weapons while his wing speed symbol lets him carry allies to the front lines…though he might not want to, due to his speed special power: This Is a Job for Superman! Superman can use Charge. When Superman is not carrying an object or a character, do not halve his speed value when he uses Charge. If Superman leaves objects and allies behind, he can Charge forward his full speed value of 10 and hit hard for 5 damage—a firm possibility with his 12 attack value. Of course, he may want to ferry allies with him so that they can take advantage of his special damage power: Leading the Attack If Superman is adjacent to an opposing character at the beginning of your turn, he can make a close combat attack as a free action, but he can 't attack that character again during that turn. If Superman causes a target opposing character to take damage, until the end of the turn all friendly characters attacking that target have their attack values modified by +1 for each 100 points (or fraction thereof) of the target 's point value. Note that this special power can be broken into two parts. Superman can use the first part whenever he is adjacent to an opposing character at the beginning of the turn, even using Leading the Attack to make a free close combat attack and then This is a Job for Superman! to rocket across the battlefield and attack a different opposing character (he can 't attack the character attacked with Leading the Attack again that turn.) In the second part, if Superman causes either of those characters (or both!) to take damage, any of his allies that attack those targets during the turn get their attack values improved. Like in the comics, you want this Superman to act first during you turn, and you want him to take the fight to the biggest targets on the battlefield. Deeper in his dial, Superman 's attack and damage values slowly flag, though Close Combat Expert on his last two slots ensures that his close combat attacks hit hard all the way to the end of the battle, and Super Strength down the length of his dial means that he 'll be a threat as long as he 's near objects that will help him do even more damage (which his opponents might have guessed from his sculpt.) However, his defense and speed values climb later in his dial, peaking at a 20 defense paired with Hypersonic Speed. Top it all with the Superman Team Ability that lets his movement and attacks ignore the effects of hindering terrain. All in all, a formidable package. But there 's another Superman in Crisis, and you might be just as happy to find him in your booster. It 's a Clark Kent from an alternate future, a hero who led the world 's metahumans back from the brink of darkness—the Superman of Kingdom Come. This Superman may not have the full-speed move and attack of Kal-L, but his special speed power may make him an even bigger threat to his opponents: Scorched Air Superman can use Charge and Flurry. He may only be able to move 5 squares on his opening slot before attacking using Charge, but since Charge grants him a close combat action, that action can be used to activate Flurry—allowing him to attack twice at the end of that movement, with an attack value of 12 and a damage value of 5. If the potential to deal a target 10 damage in one turn isn 't enough, the boulder he 's holding over his head might remind to make use of the objects strewn across the battlefield. But this Superman has a special attack power that makes those objects even more useful: Kryptonian Strength Superman can use Super Strength. Superman can carry two objects at the same time if they are both standard objects; he can use only one object per attack. Charging into battle, Superman can carry not one but two objects—one for each of the attacks granted to him by Flurry. Making him even more dangerous to his opponents is his third and final special power: Restoring Order When the result of a successful attack roll made by Superman is doubles, the target is dealt damage normally but not knocked back. Instead, if the target has zero or one action token after the attack has been resolved, give the target an action token. If any attack made by Superman—including those object-boosted Flurry attacks—results in doubles, the target not only takes damage but gets an action token that may deal pushing damage—or force the target to take pushing damage if they want to retaliate…or try to escape. In his closing slots, Superman is willing to use FORCE, IF NECCESARY (Close Combat Expert) to get in one final, solid hit on his foes—but he also has Charge with yet another compatible power, Quake—letting him choose whether to hit one opponent hard or dash in to scatter a crowd of foes like tenpins. Though he doesn 't have the inherent protection from pushing damage or the late dial climb in combat values that Kal-L has, this Superman does a solid slate of standard powers (Hypersonic Speed, Impervious, Super Strength, Invulnerability, Toughness) in addition to his special powers, as well as the Hypertime team ability that makes it harder for his enemies to bring the fight to Superman before he chooses to bring it to them. He 's also only 238 points, making him a solid tentpole for a force in a standard 300-point HeroClix battle, fights were the 317-point Kal-L won 't be able to come to the battlefield. So as you assemble your force of Crisis characters, keep opening those boosters—Superman might just be coming to your rescue.

The Uk 's Play.com has this image (along with two others) about an upcoming product clearly in line to run alonside a certain Armored Avenger 's return to the big screen. Hopefully the figures therein will sport new dials...

Check the original link HERE and be sure to check back with any updates to this new product as we get them.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, these dials are merely reprints of the existing dials (as they will be for other sets of this nature).

After the shocking events of last issue, things continue to erupt in IDW 's Transformers #2.

Synopsis: Spurred to action by the sudden death of Ironhide, Optimus Prime abdicated his leadership of the Autobots and left to turn himself in to Skywatch at the end of last issue. He begins a dialogue with Spike Witwicky, which may have been his plan all along. Believing the war to be over, Hot Rod takes this time to leave the Autobots, inviting any who wish to follow him to come along. It doesn 't take them long to run afoul of some Decepticon refugees after an unsuccessful conversation with Omega Supreme, which leads to a possibly treasonous alliance. Bumblebee wins an election to Autobot Leadership, and an unexpected visitor arrives at the Autobot Camp.

Review: This issue continues the positive trend of last issue with this new direction, but not perfectly (for my tastes). Plenty is 'happening ' in each issue, but it definitely feels written 'for the trade '. I think when the first arc is over, it will read as a great complete story, but in singles format it leaves you wanting a bit too much for the next issue. There is a balance between building anticipation and frustration, but I suppose IDW wants your attention with this book, and they are getting it for my money, at least. Don Figueroa continues to impress, and he has tweaked the faces a bit (although I don 't think that 's due to fan complaint, necessarily).

As an aside, the baby has come in and pretty much taken over, so my blogging schedule is obviously going to take a hit, but I 'm still going to review each issue of Transformers Ongoing, Transformers: Bumblebee and Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers (as well as other titles), it just might be really close on some release dates.

Well, it 's not all fun and games here at continuumedia. Sometimes, I have to have a go at something serious in life, much to my own dreadful disappointment. Today 's matter, is that of buying a house.

Upon checking my daily email, I saw an article on Yahoo.com about things to look for that might be a reason NOT to sign a deal to buy a house, and remembered the many recent conversations Victoria and I have had on the issue lately. Home ownership something I 've been thinking about for a long time, but am aware I have several barriers between me (now "us") and it.

Heroclix has returned in the form of Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor! As a result, my wallet has returned to a state of more emptiness! However, that is nothing to complain about, since as a whole the product is worth the cash I shelled out. While as a collector and player of HeroClix I have certain proclivities I will no doubt discuss in coming columns, I will skip as many of them as this product review will allow.

A bit of a history lesson - November 21, 2008 (or thereabouts). The dice roll heard round the world rang out when Topps announced they were shutting down operations of Wizkids Games, LLC. While many panicked, I did not. I had other worries prior to that event. These worries were primarily concerning the next two sets on the docket at that time, Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor and DC HeroClix: Brave and the Bold. You see, the cost of everything was up, and businesses everywhere were tightening their belts, and in August of 2008 Wizkids (or Topps) laid off many of the design staff, including one Seth Johnson, who you may know as the lead designer of HeroClix for the last 3 or 4 years to that point. Now, although I play CMGs, I 'm really not one for gambling. The departure of Seth and his replacement with former Mechwarrior lead designer Kelly Bonilla did not inspire in me a great deal of confidence. It 's not that I questioned Kelly 's dial design skills - I certainly didn 't. I was more concerned with her overall knowledge of the characters and therefore the accuracy of said characters when translated into HeroClix form. From where I sat, it was a reasonable fear. I made the choice at that point (yes, August 2008) that Hammer of Thor would be the last set I would complete in my otherwise stellar career of completion since I started playing HeroClix in 2002. The guard was truly changing, and I had no confidence in the incoming design team, who had no game design experience to speak of, even though they seemed like a swell bunch. I had my issues with certain dials of Seth 's, so my trepidation could only increase with a bunch of untested n00bs, and Kelly, while not untested as a game designer, was...an unknown quantity as a HeroClix designer.

Sometimes it 's good to be wrong. Hammer of Thor, while not perfect, certainly is good enough to allay my fears about accuracy and playability, always the foremost of my concerns in these licensed collectible miniatures games. The characters in these sets bring big numbers to the table, but none without merit to the core concept, which is that of The Mighty Thor and his Asgardian ilk.

From a packaging perspective, there are what are known in collectible card game parlance as "god packs". A god pack is essentially a pack concentrated with a number of the rarest (read: most sought after) tier of cards in the pack. The difference here is getting a 'god pack ' in a HeroClix booster changes nothing about the number of these 'rare ' elements you will receive, whereas in a card game, your net rare cards will increase by the amount in the pack, at the cost of some lower rarity "uncommon" elements. This is a description of Neca/Wizkids big error in judgement with this set. "I say thee, nay!" indeed. I have earmarked these 'god packs ' (a move purposely orchestrated by NECA/Wizkids in cooperation with the set 's overall theme) as 'little generators of ill will ', as it goes against the marketing philosophy of how the company itself sells HeroClix - in semi bulk, to bulk purchases at the case or (more to the point) brick level (half of a case). Should you buy a brick and receive a "god pack", the other brick has a very good chance of sitting unsold. This is because a 'standard ' case includes 5 to 7 Very Rare figures, and possibly an exceedingly rare Chase Figure, which the "god pack" will include 4 of these and a Chase in it alone. This doesn 't however, change the number of VRs you will receive overall from the case. Hence, the other brick may have only 2 VRs in it. A brick retails for a little over 100 smackers. It 's not hard math, people. Had they used the normal CCG collation with the 'god packs ', you would receive 9 to 10 VRs and a Chase Figure. Because they did not, ill will is generated by Wizkids, to the customer who buys and gets "screwed" by the fact that the other guy ahead in line got the half of the case with the "god pack" in it. Make sense? I suppose it does at the single purchase level, but that involves an inordinate amount of "luck", and dedicated players of the game are more likely to chafe at that circumstance.

Enough about negatives, now. It 's time to talk positives. As I mentioned before, the dial designs were not nearly as bad as I was fearing. Quite the opposite in fact. The advent of Special Powers continues, but perhaps are bit more subdued this time out, which is a change most welcome by yours truly. I love them, but it was starting to feel like they were taking control of the game. In Hammer of Thor, they feel more complimentary, which I think was the original aim.

As far as character selection, solidly half of the set is tied into the title of the set itself. Thor and Loki make a few appearances, along with the rest of Asgard and many of it 's heroes and villains. In fact, the only thing 'glaringly ' missing is the Frost Giant Ymir. I wouldn 't have minded a Fafnir, either. The other half do a good job of simultaneously bringing things back down to earth, and reaching for the stars. The Thunderbolts and Agents of ATLAS represent the former, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and characters surrounding the Annihilation series bat for the latter. There are also some stalwarts such as "Smokey Feet" Captain America (didn 't think I wasn 't going to mention him? Shame on you!) and Daredevil to round things out for the big names.

I don 't really have a 'favorite ' HeroClix set. They all bring something to the table for me. If I had to rate Hammer of Thor though, I 'd definitely give a 4 out of 5 possible stars. It gets many things right, and one major thing wrong, and that wrong affects the desire to purchase, so it can 't reach the "godlike" heights it aspires to, but it does a wonderful job for a mere mortal.

I 've finally got this to a point I 'm ready to reveal it to the world wide web! Introducing Nylah Sarai Bagby 's mini-site, with blog and photos. Over the coming weeks and months I will be updating it with more photos and whatever features and news I can come up with.

Click HERE or on the link under "Fun Stuff" to check it out.

IDW has been sheparding the Transformers IP in comic book form for Hasbro for about 5 years now, and all the while has been putting out stories about our favorite Robots In Disguise in limited series and one shots (called Spotlights). Not to say that they are all one-off stories, though. The continuity of the IDW comics is easily the richest (or some might say densest) it 's ever been. It should come as no suprise then, that there is an element of deck clearing involved with the latest restart of the franchise in an ongoing, although it 's not exactly throwing out the baby with the bathwather, either. Well, from a story perspective, anyway.

The story begins a few years after the events of the seminal All Hail Megatron limited series of 2008-2009, putting the Transformers on Earth (mostly Autobots) into an old and familiar position. There is good reason for this in story, and while some may groan at the nostalgia factor, it is what the toys were designed to do in the first place. Shocking events occur, and unless you been living under a rock, you already know. Still - SPOILERS ON. Ironhide is killed in action on a rescue mission, retrieving a suprising (to those who follow the IDW continuity) teammate. Because Ironhide is kind of a big deal, by the end of the issue, a major shake-up in Autobot leadership occurs, but it 's probably not what you 'd think.

Ironhide is no stranger to dying, but the story seems to be poised to make his death mean something other than to show Megatron means business this time. His demise certainly sparks a reaction from the Autobots at large, particularly Optimus Prime. The promise of solid character writing is in the offing when you consider what Prime decides to do in this latest predicament.

This iteration of the big robots franchise is written by one Mike Costa, who is currently best known for his take on Hasbro 's other gargantuan boys franchise, G.I.Joe. Specifically the G.I.Joe: Cobra limited series, which has been hailed by critics and everyday-joe comic readers alike as 'pretty awesome '. I didn 't read it. IDW gets enough of my money with Transformers. I 'm going to have to check out the trade, though, because coming from the other side of the Hasbro tracks I 'm definitely interested in seeing more of Costa 's writing. The story is obviously a set-up for future issues, with characterization perhaps taking a backseat to events meant to drive the story to a place where characterization can come into play. In the past, character work for Transformers has been spotty, but IDW have done several stories that prove these Robots can go beyond the little cardboard Tech Specs on the back of their packages. Hopefully Mike can continue that trend, as it 's very refreshing, and even exemplary of the 'change ' the entire franchise is supposed to represent.

Don Figueroa is supplying the pencil work for this comic, and Don is no stranger to giant freakin ' robots. However, this is Don with a completely new style and free reign to explore that style to it 's fullest. That said, the redesigned Transformers we see here may be offputting to some diehard G1 fans. I find the new style appealing, with the exception of the faces. It 's not that they aren 't emotive, Don has actually managed that, it 's just that they look to complex (or perhaps to simplify, movie-like). I prefer to keep my Transformers movie style faces in the movies. However, it 's not a dealbreaker, but it can be a distraction. My critique is by far the most gentle i 've read thus far.

The final data-dump is this: Transformers #1 is a great set-up issue that does it 's job without treading over, and indeed using the past for future stories. If you 've been on the fence about coming back to reading about 25 year old robot action figures, then I 'd say you 'd be hard pressed to have a better time to do it. In fact, as of this writing, Transformers ##1 has been sent back to the presses for a second printing! The word is out, and the future of the Transformers series is looking pretty bright from where I sit.

I plan to review every issue of the The Transformers as they are released, and I 'd like some feedback from the few people who actually read this page as to the format. I 'd like to get into a detail heavy, full on discussion of events in the issue, not more or less a primer to tell somebody whether or not they should be buying it. Sure, it 's my website and I can do what I want, but I 'd rather tailor it somewhat to others tastes.

And neither can I. Everybody who knows me know 's I 'm a huge Transformers fan, of the 'Geewun ' variety. I 'm talking 1984 Marvel Comic TV spot old-school. To this day.

That 's why it should be no suprise that this article is appearing here, on the eve of Transformers ##1, by Mike Costa and Don Figueroa and produced by IDW. In their custodianship of the Transformers franchise, IDW hasn 't been afraid to take some risks with our beloved Autobots and Decepticons, and this series starts off with a bang in that regard.

To see what all the hubbub is about, check out Diamond Comic 's Splash Page, and check back here next Tuesday for a full review.

Either way, I made a promise to myself I 'd keep this page updated, and so I shall.

To the right is a picture from the latest doctor 's visit. It 's my favorite of the ones we kept, because it can be clearly seen she shares her mother 's profile. Not to mention, she was in there sucking her thumb when it was taken.

I 'm currently (slowly) working on a mini-site for the birth of our bouncing baby girl. On it will be things like the sonogram photos we 've received with some captions, and stuff i 've collected around the internet and my own thoughts on parenting, cause I can use all the help I can get. We will also have links to the various registries we 've set up, cause again, we can use all the help we can get. :)

The New York Times has an article up about the comic book, along with some thoughts from Joshua Dysart, the author, about the series and some of the things he saw while doing research for it, as well as his hopes for the future direction of the book, should it last long enough for him to get to it.

There is also a blog, with some background on the Ugandan conflict.

Perhaps I 'm a bit bitter that people would rather read about storybook characters than two-fisted action at least tangentially addressing real-world events.

Transformers Spotlight: Cliffjumper - This little diddy focuses on Cliffjumper, the 'let-me-at-em ', 'Scrappy Doo ' Autobot, but reimagines him as a badass assassin whose name strikes fear into the Decepticon rank and file. No 'let me at em ' to be found. Some cute character moments, and a bit of commentary on the IDW Autobots ' idea of 'acceptable losses ' and a bit of redemption for the 'human ' element, but knowing Cliffjumper as I do, there was very little 'Cliffjumper ' as I understand the character. Moreover, the fight sequences seemed a bit over the top for the titular character. Don 't get me wrong, I don 't doubt that CJ is an effective warrior, but he 's magic in this one. Also, for all we learn of Cliffjumper 's 'badassery ', any Autobot could pretty much be inserted into the story and it would work just as well. Transformers get a bad enough rap for characterization as it is, and every single Transformer has at least a basic characterization to build from!

Don 't get me wrong, the issue wasn 't a bad yarn, but the writer has said Cliffjumper is his favorite Transformer. I 'm forced to wonder where in all of Transformers lore, has Cliffjumper behaved this way? Could he? Yes. But as a Spotlight, he could have at least been a bit of the character as he is known, and layered that, such as he did with Sunstreaker in All Hail Megatron. I know what 's possible from Mr. McCarthy, and this doesn 't really reach that potential.

Much like the titular character, Spotlight: Cliffjumper must unfortunately remain a 'C '.

Power Girl #2 - I love Power Girl. Not because of her ample mammaries like most grunting males, but because she 's the tough as nails cousin of the Earth-2 Superman. However, the comic seems to be not-so-subtly leaving Power Girl 's past in the past.

I don 't think the story is bad, but it 's nothing spectacular, either. I suppose I feel it should be somehow, though. If "Power Girl" is going to make it as an ongoing, there is going to have to be more to it than the art, which as penciled by Amanda Conner, is superb. She definitely has a feeling for the character. I know also that jimmy Palmiotti, the writer, has gotten some acclaim for Jonah Hex, so either that book is subpar but many read it anyway,or he 's phoning this one in. I 'm not ready to give up on PG just yet, so we 'll see how this arc holds up.

A nitpick - I didn 't like that there was too much of Power Girl 's ' blood, being that she 's a Kryptonian and all.

As far as a 'cover blurb ' goes, the above title is one I will never get tired of.

It 's no secret that I 'm a comic book collector and long time fan of superhero comics in general. It 's also nothing new that I 've been more or less displeased with the offerings of Marvel Comics for the last 2.5 years or so, due to a 'bleakening ' (not a word, so I made one up..it 's a blog, get over it) of the Marvel Universe, starting with the releasing of the 'public accountability ' genie out of the bottle in Civil War, to the current day, with the abominable Dark Reign of Norman Osborn. Nothing Marvel has done in this regard, however, holds a candle IMO to the capstone of the Civil War storyline - The Death of Captain America.

In Captain America #25 (written by the Eisner Award winning writer Ed Brubaker), Steve Rogers, the real name of the Star-Spangled Avenger, was shot down on the courtyard steps he was to be arraigned at in his part of the so-called 'Civil War ', in which he led other Marvel Super Heroes who would not bow to government regulation. His idea was to continue to fight the law from the courts, but the Red Skull had other plans. In a blaze of gun fire amidst a crowd of people, the life of America 's greatest hero was snuffed out. With hope in the real world becoming an increasingly rare commodity, the death of the Living Legend of World War II seemed like hope was being stolen in the comic books as well, at least for this author. However, time and tide have changed all that.

Captain America Lives Again!

In an upcoming storyline that will be sure to cause even more controversy considering Marvel 's brilliant move of replacing Steve with his long-thought dead sidekick, Bucky, Steve Rogers will return to the ranks of the living, or rather will return, as it seems clear he was not quite dead after all.

And what of Bucky, the new Captain America? Many fans feel that he earned his job as Cap, and hasn 't really gotten a 'fair shake ' in terms of the time he 's been Captain America. I can 't say I disagree with that sentiment, and honestly, I 'm loving the story of Bucky as Cap as much as I have always loved the adventures of Steve with the shield. However, this old warhorse definitely feels the absence of Steve most keenly. A poll on comics news site Newsarama.com currently has an overwhelming 41% of respondants wanting the original Captain America to 'stay dead ' and keep Bucky wearing the uniform. I can only say in response to that that Steve 's 'return ' was pretty much written when they killed him off, and now Marvel is the victim of their own storyline which was extended after Civil War. I could go into a longer explanation of how and where all this fits, but it 's out of the scope of this blog article. (Maybe later.). The larger point is really, it makes no sense to clamour for Cap to remain dead, as it seems he was never dead to begin with. However, all opinions are 'equally valid ' on the intrawebs...including mine.

More Captain America: Reborn News!

• Cup O ' Joe - Quesada on Cap #600
• Captain America #600 review SPOILERS
• Tom Breevort on Cap; Reborn
• Captain America: Reborn mini site on Marvel.com

ALSO - Unexpected technical difficulties forced me to miss posting on 6/10/09 and I 've only just gotten that resolved. Hopefully I will have something up sometime over the weekend.

It was 10 years ago, give or take a week that continuumedia.com was posted to the world wide web. I almost missed it. Heh. The domain is up for renewal. No, you can 't have it.

Due to my negligence, and my periodic fits of creativity, continuumedia is going to undergo something of a transformation. I 'm going to post my blogs and tidbits of information to this site, and start to give it the attention it has always deserved, but never really and truly received.

Continuumedia.com - Thanks for putting up with me for 10 years, and here 's lookin ' forward to 10 more!

For the last seven years, I 've been heavily into CMGs. "The hell is a CMG?" you ask. CMG is an acronym that stands for "collectible miniatures game". A collectible miniatures game is a type of strategy game played out on a tactical scale using a map or board, and in which the pieces are acquired through blind purchase, similar to that of CCGs (another acronym, I know), which are collectible card games, such as Magic the Gathering, or to the initiated, Pokemon. Each piece in the game has unique characteristics called statistics, which dictate the pieces use in the game. It 's sort of like chess on crack.

I started my CMG career playing a game called HeroClix. HeroClix is a super-hero based game, produced by a company called Wizkids, who got the licenses to Marvel and DC Comics characters, but all of the characters are compatible in the game, regardless of originating company. This game has provided me with no end of fun for the last seven years. Sadly, the company that produced the game was closed last November by it 's parent company, Topps, Inc. They 're the guys who make all the (low-quality) baseball cards. Less said about them, the better. However, neither HeroClix nor Topps, Inc. are the point of this blog - that 's just some background.

For a little while there circa 2002-2004, CMGs were a hot commodity. The ecomony hadn 't tanked yet, everybody was more or less happy, monetarily speaking. Wizards of the Coast, another big game company (owned by Hasbro, Inc.), took a foray into the CMG market utilizing their license of Stars Wars, producing the first Star Wars Miniatures set in 2003, called Star Wars Miniatures: Rebel Storm. Now, as an aside...anybody who knows me knows I am and have always been into two things - comic books and Star Wars (along with all the other stuff). Depending on your point of view, this is a recipe for disaster. I don 't see it that way. Obviously.

For the last few years, I 've been splitting my time (and money) between HeroClix and Star Wars Miniatures, but with the closing of Wizkids (more on this in another blog), I 've been more concentrated at improving my game when it comes to Star Wars Miniatures. A daunting task, in terms of playing and collecting. Star Wars Miniatures is alas, not cheap to collect. I have to plan out in advance how much I 'm buying and strategize how much that is getting me, as the secondary market for this game is and has always been fairly brutal. I could probably do a series of blogs on collecting, explaining the game, the differences it has with other games, the amount of luck vs. skill in winning the game, and various other things that many others better at it than I have already written, but you all would probably not read them..., so I 'll keep it basic.

Star Wars Miniatures allows you an immersion into the 'Star Wars Universe ' that few other outlets, including the movies, can boast. Case in point - You 've probably never heard of a "Muun Tactics Broker". Or even a "Muun". Or even a "tactics broker". I play the game, and own a few Muun Tactics Brokers, but I only know what a Muun is, and what the Muun Tactics Broker does in the context of a game, but i 'd have to do some research as to what a "tactics broker" is. I 've heard of information merchants and things of that nature, but I 've never heard of somebody who "sells...tactics". Beside the point, really. Ugly buggers like the Muun Tactics Broker (MTB for short) can hobknob with the likes of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and R2-D2, as well as video game characters like Kyle Katarn or Atton Rand, or characters from the novels like Grand Admiral Thrawn, all from the Expanded Universe of Star Wars to create a fun and strategic game of near-limitless combinations.

Want more information? Check out Wizards.com for their Star Wars Miniatures and Star Wars Roleplaying Game site. It features articles and previews about whatever 's latest coming out.

I 've recently decided to start blogging again. I suppose as a first new effort, this one is going to suck because I 'm out of practice, and don 't have anything definitive to talk about. Well, not much, anyway.

A semi-description of why I decided to start recording my thoughts so that no one in particular can read them migh be in order. It seems like a good enough start, anyway. I 've been feeling the "writing bug" for a while, with stuff to say on topics ranging from Obama in the whitehouse to how cool Street Fighter IV is to play, but I 've also become lazy/distracted/busy since I was "kind of" keeping up my blog at Myspace.com. Myspace is still good for that, if nothing else, however, I pay real money to keep continuumedia.com up and running so it seems to me I should get some use from it. I wish I was more of a "man about town", but you 'll have to settle for my homebody-ish topics (or not - I 'm not entirely sure of who will even read or see this). A turn of phrase I 'm not fond of, but is increasingly appropriate in this world of apathy is "It is what it is".

Anyway, for the next blog, I will try to have something of interest to someone other than myself to talk about, but no promises. I 've never been about making others happy, or even entertained. But if by being Melvin I can entertain you au natural, well so be it.

TOMORROW: The 5 year plan. And with any luck, a new photo of my ugly mug. :)