“I can’t believe we just melvined Death!” The Indiegogo campaign for Velvet Comics’ Melvin issue 2 recently ended, successfully raising more than $750 during the crowdfunding period. Written and created by Timothy Olson and featuring illustrations by both Sid Teles and Andy A., issue 2 is a 24-page follow-up to the first Melvin book, this time promising “more action, more
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s celebration of forgetting auld acquaintance. Today, we’re going to take a look at The Rogues: New Year’s Evil, published by DC Comics in 1998 (or late 1997, depending on how you’re counting).
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s celebration of all stars of royal beauty bright. Today we’re going to pick apart Big Dipper, a visual novel “game” published by Top Hat Studios and developed by Zimno Team for the Nintendo Switch and Steam PC. Why the quotation marks around “game”? Because Big Dipper isn’t a game in any sense. Zero. It is merely
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Why did it have to be mannequins? 100 GAMES has announced that their upcoming horror game, Anthology of Fear is coming to Steam PC on 17 March 2023. Co-developed by 100 GAMES and OhDeer Studio, Anthology of Fear is a psychological horror mystery “that will focus on human subconsciousness.” Plus, there appears to be more than an adequate amount of
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Publisher 110 Industries and developer Soleil have released a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Space Runaway on Steam PC… and it’s completely free. Yep. Free. Frei. مجانيًا Why free, though? Because it’s only part of the upcoming third-person action/adventure game Wanted: Dead, which is due out in February. According to 110 Industries, Space Runaway is more than just a mini-game turned
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all pipers piping and ladies dancing. Today we’re going to take a look at “Gen 13: A Christmas Caper,” published by Wildstorm in 2000.
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all things humbug. Today we’re bringing you another Silent Film Review, this time taking a look at A Christmas Carol produced by Edison Studios and released on Christmas Day, 1910.
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Just a few months ago, I decided to bust out my old copy of Chrono Trigger and relive a bit of my youth. As I played I was reminded why it is considered by many one of the best games ever made. The music, the gameplay, and the innovative ideas put Chrono Trigger into a whole new category of what
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On Wednesday (or Tuesday, depending on where you fall on the date line), the developers at Luna’s Tail Creative released the elaborately titled Luna & Monsters Tower Defense: The Deprived Magical Kingdom on Steam PC and mobile. As the name implies, Luna & Monsters Tower Defense is a tower defense strategy game starring a demon-battling black cat named Luna. Here’s
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PLASMAAAAAAA! I mean, MAGMAAAAAA! Nellyvision has announced that their 2D action game Magma is now available for both PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Magma is a procedurally generated bullet-hell shooter that is heavily inspired by retro arcade-style games of the 90s. Good stock, there. Here’s the official breakdown of Magma from Nellyvision: Frantic action and challenging foe all the way in
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s celebration celebration of all things that shake like a bowl full of jelly. Today we’re going to take a look at Pete the P.O.’d Postal Worker: Pete’s Very Special Christmas, which was published in 1997 by Sharkbait Press. Written by Marcus P. Meleton and illustrated by Pete Garcia, the book follows the titular Pete,
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I’ve been really into doing art cards lately, so today I’m showing a few cards that I’m sending off to a few folks: The Scarlet Heart (from Johnny Phantasm), Cyberfrog, The Spectre, Chakan the Forever Man, King Cryptid & Rhys Randall (from the Star Fetched video game). I’ll probably do this again moving forward with other cards, but maybe not
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“I want to be an airborne ranger!” Atari has released Airborne Ranger for modern PCs via GOG, with a Steam version coming on 22 December. Originally created by MicroProse in 1987, Airborne Ranger is a war game known for its realism and the inclusion of stealth elements. Here’s the official breakdown of Airborne Ranger from Atari, followed by a handful
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It may be a bit early for Attack Helicopter Week, but indie game publisher Tendokore is already getting into the festive spirit by officially releasing 2D shoot ‘em up GyroBlade for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by H.T. Project Games, GyroBlade is a vertical scrolling shooter inspired by the classic games of the 8-bit era (Tiger Heli comes to mind), complete
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Because “Crow” was taken. Independent comic book creator Lynsey Leigh recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Compendium of the Unmasked: The Hollow Raven, a project that spans six issues (0-5) and is intended as the first volume of a seven volume story. Ambitious, no? The project is already fully funded, having raised nearly $1 thousand at the time of this
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PikPok recently announced the latest entry in the Into the Dead series: Our Darkest Days, which is planned to launch on Steam early access sometime in 2024. Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days is a sidescrolling zombie survival game set in God’s blessed land of Texas in the glorious year of 1980 (yeah, editorializing a bit). Are you prepared to
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What’s the “key” to his success? (Kill me) Earlier this week, the crowdfunding campaign for Compass Comics’ horror graphic novel Ghosts of Matecumbe Key crossed the blessed six-figure threshold, raising more than $100k while available in-demand. Written by and illustrated by Graham Nolan (Detective Comics, Monster Island), Ghosts of Matecumbe Key is the third book in the loosely connected “NolanVerse”
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No Sleep Press recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for issue 5 of Dirty Work at the Crossroads, a 32-page comic book. The Indiegogo campaign follows a successful run on Kickstarter, so this is a second chance for those missed out the first time around or prefer Indiegogo as a crowdfunding platform. Set in a post apocalyptic future, Dirty Work at
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Today, we take a look back at DC’s Christmas With the Super-Heroes #2 in this Jolly Jinglings Throwback Review special
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There was clearly a lot of love that went into the making of Jitsu Squad – love for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, that is. Aside from the obvious inspirations and comparisons to TMNT, there are a plethora of other video game and pop-culture references throughout Jitsu Squad.* Naturally, some light spoilers will follow. Much like the aforementioned TMNT arcade game, Jitsu Squad lets you pick from four
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How are you gentlemen! All your Toaplan shooters are belong to Bitwave. Publisher Bitwave Games recently announced that the first wave of four classic Toaplan shoot ‘em up titles is coming to Windows PC on 14 February 2023 (Yep- St. Valentine’s Day). Here’s the list of the games and Bitwave Games’ official announcement trailer from Steam: Today we’re pumped to
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Game publisher Phoenixx recently announced that twin-stick shooter NeverAwake will be released on 19 January for PS4, PS5 and Nintendo Switch. A PC version is already available via Steam. Developed by Neotro Inc, NeverAwake is set in the psychological horror world of a young girl’s nightmares. I wish I could turn my dreams into twin-stick shooters… I’d shoot so many
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It’s short for Isabelle, methinks. Publisher Ratalaika Games recently released the retro-inspired 2D platformer Intrepid Izzy for modern consoles.* Developed by Senile Team, Interpid Izzy started its life as a small-scale indie project for the SEGA Dreamcast successfully crowdfunded in 2017. While the game is fairly light on plot, the titular “Intrepid Izzy” seems to be some kind of explorer who happens
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No, it’s not a new ad campaign by Balenciaga… it’s The Continuing Adventures of Pillowman & Blanketboy! On Monday, Shaun Davis launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Continuing Adventures of Pillowman & Blanketboy issue 1, a 28-page superhero story aimed at readers of all ages. Co-written by the father and son team of Shaun and Parker Davis and featuring illustrations
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A totalitarian government has taken control of its people’s lives (not based on actual events)… time to start slashing! Game publisher The Arcade Crew recently announced that action platformer Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is planned to release on 12 January 2023 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and PC. Developed by JoyMasher, Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider is inspired by the 2D action games of
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Welcome back to Jolly Jinglings, The Splintering’s month-long celebration of all dancing sugar plums, fairy type or otherwise. In 1992, “Batmania” was in full effect. The success of Tim Burton’s Batman film in 1989 had reignited mainstream interest in the Dark Knight, what followed was a marketing blitz of toys, school supplies, breakfast cereal, and every other piece of cinematic synergy that
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Independent comic book creator and YouTube personality A. S. Rivera (aka Literature Devil) recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Dr. Alpha: Dead Man’s Lullaby Vol 1, a 70+ page graphic novel intended for mature readers. Written by Rivera and featuring illustrations by Preston Asevedo (aka The “Good” Preston) and colors by Oliver Lee Arce, Dead Man’s Lullaby serves as a
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A “mostly peaceful” rampage across the city. On Friday, publisher Digerati released the retro-inspired monster destruction game Terror of Hemasaurus for Xbox consoles. The game is already available on PlayStation and PC, and a Nintendo Switch version is planned for 12 January. Developed by Loren Lemcke (Super Blood Hockey), Terror of Hemasaurus is inspired by the arcade “smash ‘em ups”
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Braly Image Group recently launched a crowdfunding campaign for Private American, a 66+ page graphic novel set against the current US border crisis. The project is fully funded, having raised nearly $38 thousand at the time of this writing and still available in-demand.* Written by Mike Baron (The Punisher, Nexus, Thin Blue Line) and featuring illustrations by Richard Bonk (Superman,
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I don’t know what she’s saying, but she’s speaking my language!
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The Splintering 