Blake Worrell

Author Archives: Blake Worrell

New Alterna Comics Indiegogo Campaign Includes Exclusive Zero Issue of “It Came Out on a Wednesday”

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Blake Worrell One comment

“Because YOU demanded it!” On Tuesday, Alterna Comics founder Peter Simeti launched a special crowdfunding campaign celebrating 14 years of the company. Since Trick-or-Treat events are cancelled in many areas this year thanks to the Bat-Soup-Sniffles, this campaign essentially replaces the annual “AlternaWeen” event. So what’s being offered? Quite a variety of stuff, and according to Simeti, much of it

Splatto Comics’ “Impossible Stars” Now on Indiegogo

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Blake Worrell 3 comments

Break the Alien Quarantine! Earlier this week, Splatto Comics launched a crowdfunding campaign for Impossible Stars, an all-new sci-fi graphic novel set in the same timeline as Desolation Wave (a back-up story in Jawbreakers: GØD-K1NG). Written by Richard C. Meyer (Jawbreakers, Iron Sights) and Chuck Dixon (Batman) and featuring artwork by Renzo Rodriguez, Impossible Stars is set approximately two hundred years

“Edens Zero” Game Coming from Konami

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Konami has announced a new game based on sci-fi manga series Edens Zero, which is created by Hiro Mashima (Rave Fairy Tail) currently published in Weekly Shonen Magazine. For the moment, details on the game are scarce. However, Konami intends to share more information on Edens Zero during Tokyo Game Show 2020 Online at an event titled “Edens Zero Game

“Defenders of the Universe” – The Unreleased “Tiny Toon Adventures” Game for PS2, GameCube

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Thirty years ago this week (14 September 1990, to be exact), the first episode of Tiny Toon Adventures television show premiered. To commemorate this landmark anniversary, we’re highlighting a piece of Tiny Toons vaporware from the early 2000’s. Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe (also named as Defenders of the Loony-verse and Acme Invaders during development) was announced for

Horrific Hero Comic “Super Dead” Ends Successfully; Still Available In-Demand

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Blake Worrell 5 comments

On Tuesday, the crowdfunding campaign for the horror superhero comic book Super Dead ended successfully, raising more than $15 thousand from 265 backers. Written by Mandy Summers and featuring illustrations by Peter Gilmore, Super Dead is about a former hero who has become an undead shadow of his former self. Has he “lived long enough to become the villain?” Here’s

Dark Fantasy Comic “Deepstalker Crow” Takes Flight on Indiegogo

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

On Tuesday, independent comic book creator and Dark Sand Oasis Productions founder Antonio Cooper launched a crowdfunding campaign for Deepstalker Crow, a 22-page “dark fantasy” comic intended as the first book of a series. Written by Cooper and featuring artwork by J. Travis Smith and Edgar Tavitas, Deepstalker Crow follows the haunting adventures of a young heroine who confronts dark

Retro Review: “Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose” (SNES)

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

It’s now been three full decades since Tiny Toon Adventures premiered. Based on a group of young “cartoon characters in training,” the Tiny Toons themselves were re-imagined stand-ins for classic Warner Bros. characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The show was at the forefront of a new age of kids’ programming, laying the groundwork for shows

Retro Review: “Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster’s Hidden Treasure” (SEGA Genesis)

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Blake Worrell 3 comments

The very first episode of Tiny Toon Adventures debuted on 14 September 1990, so to mark this anniversary, we’re going to review one of the several video games based on the groundbreaking show. I was hitting middle school around the time that Tiny Toon Adventures first aired, and given that it landed at such a formative time in my life,

Horror Graphic Novel “The Kill Journal” Launches this October via Indiegogo

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

“God has his Book of Life, and St. George has his Kill Journal.” The comic creation team of Adam Lawson and Raymund Bermudez are prepping for their next project, The Kill Journal. Written by Lawson (The Eighth) and featuring artwork by Bermudez (Wolverine), The Kill Journal is a an 88-page horror graphic novel that will feature a unique, limited-edition leather

“Pocky & Rocky” Sequel Coming to Switch

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

In the latest issue of Famitsu, publisher Taito and developer Natsume Atari announced that a new game in the KiKi KaiKai series is headed to the Nintendo Switch. The unique, vertical-scrolling shoot ’em up series is known as Pocky & Rocky in the West, and the new game is tentatively titled KiKi KaiKai: Kuro Mantle no Nazo (whatever that means).

“Detective Dead” isn’t Dead? Cridious Shares First 27 Pages of the Sci-Fi/Noir Graphic Novel

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

On Wednesday, Detective Dead creator Antonio Malpica (aka Cridious) took to social media to freely share the first 27 pages of the book in PDF form. This is the first update on the project in several months, but it does appear that Malpica is making good on his promise to finish the Detective Dead book despite his mismanaging the funds

D3 Publisher Announces Fantasy RPG “Maglam Lord” for PS4, Switch

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

D3 Publisher has announced Maglam Lord, a new “magic sword creation action RPG” developed by Felistella, who have previously worked on such series as Genkai Tokki and Hyperdimension Neptunia. The game is expected to launch this winter in Japan for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Here’s the official breakdown of the game from the Maglam Lord website: Endangered demon lord

Supernatural Fantasy Comic “Otis Stein” Now on Indiegogo

Posted on September 4, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

“Sometimes dead is better….” Earlier this week, independent comic publisher Gravestone Press launched a crowdfunding campaign for Otis Stein, a 36-page horror/fantasy book that features a new spin on the classic Frankenstein story. Written by Matthew Vealey and featuring illustrations by Carlos F. Rodriguez, Otis Stein originally began as a short story in Ashcan Comics’ Old School Monsters anthology book

Art Highlight: “Shadow Sentry” by Eric Ninaltowski

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Blake Worrell One comment

Today I’d like to take an in-depth look at some art by Eric Ninaltowski, who is currently working on an independent comic book project Shadow Sentry. Ninaltowski was kind enough to send me the below artwork after I entered a contest on social media.* I won fair and square, bitches. I didn’t promise him anything in return before being announced

Atari Historian Curt Vendel Passes Away at 53

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Blake Worrell One comment

Curt Vendel, Atari historian and founder of the Atari History Museum has passed away on 30 August at the age of 53. Vendel’s passion for Atari began in his teenage years, when he collected games, engineering logs, schematics, drawings, and technical materials from former Atari employees. He was also known to have dug through the dumpsters at Atari’s California properties

Retro Graphic Books Launches Indiegogo Campaign for “The Prospectres: Sigil of Stolas”

Posted on September 1, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

On Tuesday, Retro Graphic Books launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Prospectres: Sigil of Stolas, a 48-page graphic novel described as a “supernatural western.” Written by Matthew Fowler and featuring illustrations by Ricardo Jaime, colors by Marcos Martins and lettering by the ever-prolific Eric Weathers, The Prospectres is described as a “supernatural western” that thematically blends Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters.

Wave 3 of Allegiance Arts Comics Delayed Until November

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Blake Worrell 3 comments

On Monday, Allegiance Arts announced that issue/episode 3 of all four of their comic book titles are being delayed until November. Originally slated to release in September, that’s a 2-month delay for those who can do the math. Allegiance places the blame on a resurgence of COVID-19 over the summer, specifically noting that the current retail environment isn’t optimal for

Anthology Comic “Tales from the Natverse” (Finally) on Indiegogo

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

After a few delays, independent comic book creator Simon “Sim” Pothier has launched a crowdfunding campaign for Tales from the Natverse, a sci-fi fantasy book originally planned to launch last March. Eh. 2020 happens, right? Written and illustrated by Pothier (BLOODHUNT, Daemona) and featuring colors by Michael Beacon and Jon Jay, Tales from the Natverse is a 64+ page anthology which sets

Remastered Version of Science Fiction Comic “SpaceMule” Coming Soon to Indiegogo

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Independent comic book creator Jonathan Halley Tang has been hard at work remastering SpaceMule, a 32-page, previously-unreleased sci-fi book. Work on SpaceMule was halted while Tang worked on other projects, but now that some of his time has been freed up, he’s using it to finish the book. Keen. Tang promises an optimistic story in a world surrounded by nihilism.

“Blacklisted” horror RPG “Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story” Now on Steam, Coming Soon to Consoles

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

Successfully crowdfunded in 2018, Suzaku’s Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is finally available for Steam PC and is coming to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS Vita in October 2020. Inspired by retro horror classics Clock Tower and Fatal Frame, Sense is described as a 2.5D horror RPG that blends cyberpunk elements with Cantonese folklore. If you jump

Klabater Releases “Heliborne – Enhanced Edition” on Steam (Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Klabater have released Heliborne – Enhanced Edition, an updated version of their helicopter-based combat game originally released in 2017. The Enhanced Edition comes with a variety of goodies, including new content, enhancements, and all of the game’s DLC packs. The price of this new, girthier package has been increased to $29.99, but if you already purchased the game, all of

Cyberpunk Sci-Fi Comic “Grey Matter” Now on Indiegogo

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

On Wednesday, independent comic book creator Erik Bitmanis launched a crowdfunding campaign for Grey Matter, a 28-page comic book set in a gritty sci-fi future. Written by Bitmanis and illustrated by Sara Setna, the creative team specifically recommends Grey Matter to fans of Blade Runner, Children of Men, and The Fifth Element. Here’s the official plot synopsis taken from the

Retro Review: “3D Thunder Blade” (Nintendo 3DS – Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

There’s quite a selection of SEGA’s 3D Classics line on the Nintendo 3DS: After Burner, Space Harrier, Fantasy Zone II; many of them are considered to be highly-regarded classics, but Thunder Blade isn’t usually part of the conversation when SEGA fans reminisce about the company’s glorious arcade past. Why is that? I contend that one reason is that Thunder Blade

Travel Across Time with Tonic Comix’s “Lilly and Wepwawet”

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Earlier this week, independent comic book publisher Tonic Comix launched a crowdfunding campaign for Lilly and Wepwawet, a 44-page spin-off book set in the Saving the World universe. Written and illustrated by Tonicmole and featuring a back-up short story illustrated by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Jim Lawson, Lilly and Wepwawet is a sci-fi adventure featuring a time-traveling bank teller

Small Texas Town Declares “Johnny’s Law” in Deltaverse’s Latest Graphic Novel

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Earlier this week, independent comic book publisher Deltaverse launched a crowdfunding campaign for Johnny’s Law, a 50-page graphic novel that promises “action, martial arts, ‘gun-fu,’ wrath & revenge.” Written and colored by Alejandro Garcia and illustrated by Ibai Canales (Iron Sights), Johnny’s Law follows the adventures of the titular Johnny, an elite assassin who gets in trouble with his employer

Impressions: “Preventative Strike” (Nintendo Switch – Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

Welcome back to The Splintering’s Attack Helicopter Week. I wish we were meeting again under better circumstances… When I don’t or can’t fully complete a game, I try not to call my critical write-ups “reviews”, and instead opt for the term “impressions”. I did not finish Preventative Strike, and I’m not sorry. Developed by TocanaDev, Preventative Strike is an old-school,

“Orwell’s Animal Farm” Coming to PC, Mobile in 2020; Will the Book’s Themes Be Kept Intact?

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Blake Worrell Leave a comment

The Dairymen has announced that their narrative adventure game Orwell’s Animal Farm will be available sometime this Fall. Based on George Orwell’s 1945 classic Animal Farm, this new narrative-based game looks to put players in control of Napoleon, the pig who goes from proletariat leader to brutal dictator over the span of the original story. Players will make decide how

Retro Review: Tiger Heli – NES (Attack Helicopter Week Special)

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Blake Worrell 4 comments

Welcome back to Attack Helicopter Week here at The Splintering! Today, we’re going to feature an old-school shooter close to my heart, Tiger Heli! When my family first got an NES, it was a Christmas gift from my aunt and uncle. With it, we received three, non-Mario related games: Rad Racer, Hogan’s Alley, and Tiger Heli. Nice spread, right? That

Second Chance to Grab Superhero/Western Comic “The Bobcat” Now on Indiegogo

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Blake Worrell 2 comments

Over the weekend, independent comic book creator James Hostler launched an Indiegogo campaign for issues 1-5 of The Bobcat, a steampunk fantasy comic series that takes place at the dawn of the Industrial Age. Written by Hostler and illustrated by Jim Mehsling, The Bobcat blends superhero and Western elements with steampunk technology and Native American mythology. Here’s the official plot