I know you all know about Final Fight, Captain Commando, and maybe even Alien vs Predator, but whatchu know about King of Dragons, The Punisher or even the two Dungeons and Dragons games? Sit back and let me tell you of the secret history of one of the masters of the brawler.

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Not too long ago, news hit the Castlevania fan community that Paul S. Anderson would be directing a live-action adaption of one of the longest running gaming series to date. And, we all wept. Or at least I did. However, it looks like there might be an alternative in the works – a Castlevania animated movie.

It seems that Project 51 Productions Ltd. has aquired worldwide animated rights from Konami Entertainment to the Castlevania franchise. Representing Project 51 in the deal were Rick Privman and Yumiko Miyano from JEA and Eric Gardner from Panacea Entertainment. Their announced first project is an animated movie based on Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse; with Award winning comic book writer Warren Ellis writing the script and Eisner Award winning artist James Jean slated to be the art director. To enlighten the casual gamer, Dracula’s Curse was the third and last of the NES Castlevania games released in 1990, and has been argued by fans as being the best of the original trilogy, if not the series. Set 100 years before the original game, it follows the quest of Trevor Belmont to defeat Count Dracula before his curse spreads throughout the land of Warakiya, Transylvania.

No planned release dates have been announced as of yet, but the project seems to hold some promise despite being in the early stages of production. A production blog has been set up to track details of the flick as it developes – http://www.castlevaniadraculascurse.com/

Invincible #38
written by Robert Kirkman, art by Ryan Ottley

I’m hesitant to recommend this specific issue, as it seems to be running a couple of the longer-running subplots, specifically involving the Viltrumites, Allen the Alien (who is totally awesome), and that weird alien business from Mars. Kirkman clearly always tries to make the book accessible, but there’s just so much more to appreciate if you’ve been reading it for a while.

In fact, if you’re going to start reading this book, there’s really one best way to do it – From the very beginning. Buy the first two trades (or just the Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 – the stuff is collected in a couple different ways). I promise you, if you regret that purchase, then YOU ARE NOT HUMAN. Because once you’ve read the first 8 issues, you will hit the mindjob that is the overarcing story of the entire book – the deep issues between our developing superhero, Mark (Invincible), and his veteran superheroic father (Omni-Man). And the third trade only gets better from there (though again, that’s all part of that one Ultimate Collection – only $25 on Amazon or MileHighComics.com).

This book is a non-stop ride of excitement, classic superheroics, and heart-wrenching twists. Kirkman’s recent work at Marvel has failed to come anywhere near the heights of this joyride of a book, but that has more to do with just how incredible this book has consistently been.

It’s really difficult to talk to much without giving away the amazing plot points. Simply put, if you like superheroes, and you love a great story, just go buy those first two trades – or the Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1. If you’re feeling hesitant, maybe at least give tomorrow’s issue a try though – if you like that, THEN go buy the trades. And then you’ll understand that you must always trust my word on such matters. Because, like this book, my word is GREAT.

Updated – 1/22/2007, 8:20 PM

Recently, forum member Blanktoe brought some spoilerish information to our attention, thanks to Amazon’s early-solicitation schedule for trade paperbacks. Continue reading after the jump for a screencap of the listing, a copy of the image it revealed, and some discussion on how believable it may or may not be.

I repeat, last chance to abandon ship –

SPOILER WARNING – SPOILERS BE AHEAD…
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This station identification has been brought to you by another lazy sunday with too many toys.

1up.com‘s Luke Smith and Kathleen Sanders spoke at length with Sony’s David Jaffe on his new game Calling All Cars in this week’s 1up Show. After all the talk of the downloadable PS3 game, the focus shifted toward what Sony is doing wrong, what Nintendo is doing wrong, and what Microsoft is doing wrong. 1up is making a reputation for throwing out tough questions, but I think Jaffe deserves some credit for answering them and being so candid. Few within the industry openly praise the competition or slam their own employer like he does, but the root of it seems to be he is a regular gamer like us, he just happens to have access to the process. The 20 minute interview is posted above.

Numerous sources confirm that the unattractive and untalented Gwyneth Paltrow will star as Iron Man’s love interest Virginia “Pepper” Potts opposite on again off again drug addict Robert Downey Jr. Some people consider this stain on the film industry to be talented since winning an Academy Award for her performance in the unforgiveably bad Shakespeare In Love. This does not change the simple fact that with nearly 40 sub par film performances under her belt she has only managed to make a single good movie.

Here’s hoping for #2!

Who the hell calls their kid Apple? Seriously?