X-Factor #245 Review

Another month, another mile in Peter David’s marathon revamping of X-Factor. This time, we say goodbye to another member of the team and work through some fresh emotions left buried for far too long. As a whole, the book is a solid group of character studies bereft of major action pieces, which may not tickle every X-Factor reader’s fancy.

If you’re not into hearing about emotions and implications, this may not be the best book for you. There are hurt feelings and cute, romantic moments to be found but not much in the way of action. Now, you may be saying, “But Poet, David’s character work is the best part of X-Factor! It’s the reason I keep coming back!” Fear not, gentle reader. I understand where you’re coming from, and you stand a very good chance of enjoying this story. Monet provides some nice moments of levity to contrast the seriousness of Lorna’s engaging dilemma. The problem is, not every reader will have the necessary attention span or interests for an episode of Gilmore Girls in comic form.

Peter David’s trusty comic book partner, Leonard Kirk, is once again the artist in charge of X-Factor, but his work fails to meet his usual standard. It’s not too tough to find instances of stiff character posture, and some images seem a bit rushed, with inker Jay Leisten needing to guess at facial features in some backgrounds and smaller panels. The expressions on characters' faces – usually Kirk’s strong suit – are noticeably inconsistent as well, especially during the confrontation in the bedroom. The small degree of visual spice to be found here is underwhelming, with most large format images serving better to chew up space than to improve the story.

Don’t let the score sway your opinion, here. This is one of those issues that will appeal strongly to one type of reader and repulse another. It’s not terribly difficult to find technical flaws in this issue, but, overall, it’s a sturdy episode. When deciding on this one, it’s best to be honest with yourself about whether or not you can stand an issue entirely comprised of superheroes emoting.

Poet is a freelance writer, mid-core gamer, and frequent IGN contributor. Follow Poet on Twitter @PoetMase, or post a message on his IGN profile PoetMase.

Source : ign[dot]com

Xbox Music Is Useless on Xbox

When Xbox Music -- goodbye, Zune Marketplace -- launches on your 360 on October 16, the ad-supported streaming service will debut globally with a song library of 30 million, 18 million of which will be available instantly for United States users on a free or subscription-based basis. The catch (of course there’s a catch!) is that Xbox Music is a fantastic application for a very specific kind of person.

Beyond the broad scope of “the music lover,” Xbox Music is built with the Microsoft fanatic in mind, someone committed to the idea of owning Windows 8, a Surface slate, and a Windows Phone. Ironically, no matter what the name implies, the person Xbox Music is engineered against is the Xbox 360 owner.

So, it’s October 16, you’re an Xbox owner, and you want Xbox Music’s free tunes. You love the idea of streaming Pixies, Black Keys, Boston, Bruce Springsteen, and obscure Canadian artists like Plumtree, Imaginary Cities, and Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. You happen to have impeccable taste, as it turns out. Here’s how it goes down:

You must be an Xbox Live Gold subscriber. From there, you can build playlists and stream all the Weezer and Lana Del Rey you please for 30 days, after which you’ll start paying the $9.95 fee to become a Pass member. To become a full-fledged Xbox Music user, you’ll need to pay $60 for Xbox Live Gold and another $120 for Music per year.

If you’re keeping score, that’s nearly $200 per year simply to have access to Xbox Music on your Xbox.

Ouch.

Windows 8 is the only platform on which you’ll be able to stream unlimited music for free – and for the time being, Microsoft says there’s no ceiling on the number of tracks you can listen to. Better still, you can skip as many junk tunes as you want. Take that, Spotify.

Microsoft isn’t buying much more goodwill with the majority of its audience, though, especially those who’d likely want to use Xbox Music most. Want to use SmartGlass? It won’t be available just yet. Surface? Also unavailable at launch. Oh, you’re an Android or iOS user? Sorry, support for those devices is coming “within a year.”

Even PC users need to wait for Windows 8’s launch on October 26 to take full advantage of the program. The only user who can use Xbox Music out of the gate is the one who gets the raw deal.

Of course, this is a short term problem. Look ahead six months or so. Assume Xbox Music is on your iPad and iPhone and Windows 8 has any launch kinks straightened out. You've adopted a new operating system or tablet and they can all talk to each other. The cloud is great for shooting tracks between devices. In the near future, Xbox Music will be excellent -- possibly outdoing its competition at every corner. It has the edge over competitors like Grooveshark, Pandora, and Spotify because it shares similar features (Smart DJ is your radio), plus it adds Vevo-powered music videos and Pass members can download albums for free. And if you’re streaming on your phone you shouldn't have any interruptions – progressive downloading stores the song without saving it to your device, allowing you to listen to tracks on your tunnel-filled commute even if you lose signal.

But will this be enough to create an audience out of built-in Xbox users as well as tear the Spotify- and Pandora-obsessed away from what’s working already? At launch, probably not. Looking ahead a year, though, and this could be the one and only music service we need.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor at IGN. As a Canadian, he appreciates Microsoft launching Xbox Music in the motherland. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

iZombie #28 Review

After just over two years, it’s time to say goodbye to Gwen, Spot, and the rest of the inhabitants of Eugene, Oregon. This issue marks the conclusion to iZombie, and rather surprisingly, Chris Roberson and Mike Allred manage to wrap up the many plot threads and deliver a satisfying, if bittersweet, end. Though the arc has felt somewhat truncated over the course of the last few issues, this installment takes its time to deliver the necessary send-off to the many characters we’ve come to love over the course of 28 issues.

Right from the beginning, Roberson makes it clear where Gwen’s story is headed. She’s spent the entire series trying to live a normal life despite being a brain-eating zombie. Where Roberson leaves her is a shockingly heartwarming place, and one that makes total sense in the scope of her overall character arc. Of course, there’s insanity dispersed throughout – an interdimensional squid monster trying to kill a population that includes were-terriers, vampire babes, and a secret government organization known as the Dead Presidents, for instance – but by and large Roberson keeps the finale focused squarely on Gwen and her destiny. Though it’s not as bad as the last issue, there is still a great deal of exposition and catch-up dispersed throughout dialog and narration. With the issue being the series finale, it probably could have just coasted on the assumption that anyone reading it had a fair idea of what was going on and allot that space to something else.

Mike Allred delivers work up to his usual standard, if not surpassing it. The level of detail in this issue is exceptionally high, as even when the action is in the foreground he doesn’t neglect adding a few dangling tentacles snatching up innocent bystanders in the background. Add to that his natural ability to render some of the most out-there sequences in the book thus far – like when a giant, naked Gwen takes to the skies to battle the aforementioned squid monster – while managing to keep it suitably emotional, and you’ve got a rock solid conclusion, visually and narratively.

iZombie #28 is a fitting conclusion to the series, wrapping everything up thematically as well as in plot. While I’m certainly sad to see this book go, I can now enjoy the full series in one fell swoop. Farewell, iZombie, you’ve served me well.

Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He will love Star Wars until the end of his days.

Source : ign[dot]com