As revealed last month, DC Comics has more Before Watchmen on the way in the form of Before Watchmen: Moloch. Today, BuzzFeed revealed the cover to issue #1.
Before Watchmen: Moloch is written by J. Michael Straczynski with art by Eduardo Risso.
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The cover might feature a sexually aggressive Scott on top of Emma, but the best part of this comic comes from Colossus and Magik’s conversation after losing their Phoenix powers. Luckily there’s nothing sexual about their encounter. Instead, Kieron Gillen brings a long-brewing tension between the siblings to a head and we are treated to a surprising revelation that comes as no surprise at all.
This issue takes place during Avengers vs. X-Men #11 (so read that first) and showcases a mental conversation between Scott and Emma. They eat mind-steak and drink mind-wine at a fancy dinner table in their minds while in reality they are waging a war. Unfortunately, Gillen does not give us any real insight into Scott’s motivations to commit the acts we see in AvX #11. Their whole interaction feels like the sparsest of appetizers, while the real meat and potatoes comes from the first half featuring Colossus and Magik.
Ron Garney does a fair job at rendering the events of the story, but at times his linework becomes too erratic and saps the sharpness from his drawings. There are a few standout moments, namely Colossus’s Juggernaut rage-out and Scott’s last two pages, but a lot of the smaller moments do not look as good as the big ones. While this issue does have a tidbit of interesting content, it ultimately becomes just another victim to the nature of event crossovers: you can hint at something cool that happens, but only the main event title gets to show it.
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Normally, playing a match of Gears of War’s multiplayer involves taking a lot of cover. But in the recently announced free-for-all mode for Gears of War: Judgment, it just doesn’t work for me. When nine other players barrel down on me from every angle I find I become paranoid, constantly spinning around and looking for the next chaotic gunfight.
The average life in free-for-all Judgment match is short. With no teammates around to chase off a would-be executioner, you’re dead when you get downed (and in the case of the PAX build, you died immediately). Free-for-all matches thus end up making you feel much more vulnerable than you do in other Gears gametypes. No one is there to pick you up when you fall, and the other nine people are out for blood as much as you, so they aren’t going to watch your back or protect your flanks.
Maps have specifically designed for Judgment’s free-for-all mode as well. Unlike past Gears games, where they basically adapted various maps to whatever game mode you were playing, these maps have been tailored for 10 player insanity. If the match at PAX was any indication, they're also a bit smaller than you’d expect. The result is that you never go more than a few seconds without running into someone to shoot, and more often it’s the third player who rushes in to clean up two wounded fighters than scores big.
If you want to play team-based matches Judgment has those too, but free-for-all looks like the most approachable option for someone looking to learn Judgment’s mechanics. Anyone who’s hopped into an older Gears multiplayer match knows how hard it can be to get into. What often happens is that you queue up, you finally join, you run to cover and then you’re summarily blasted into pieces by a super-skilled player with a shotgun and get to be a spectator for a few minutes before repeating. In free-for-all, though, you can respawn a few seconds after being killed. Thus you can play a bit more reckless and experiment more, learning to use weapons you might normally try, or even going for melee kills just for the heck of it. Sure, you might not be the one who comes out on top in the end, but you’re not going to have to wait for long respawn timers or let down a team.
Even if you're a super seasoned Gears player you'll have a few new control changes to get used to in Judgment. While Epic hasn't messed with the now-iconic Active Reload, they have basically eliminated the need for you to use the D-pad. Switching between your two weapons has been moved to the Y button, and throwing grenades is now as simple as tapping the left bumper. As obvious as these changes sound to anyone who plays other competitive shooters on the Xbox, it's a bit odd to never reach awkwardly with your left thumb to switch beween your gear. It makes Gears combat feel a lot more flexible and makes reacting to different situations much easier, and fits perfectly with the amped-up pacing of free-for-all mode.
With many more modes yet to be announced, Gears of War: Judgment already looks like it has something for longtime fans and newcomers alike. Judgment releases March 19th, 2013.
Since the budding romance of Superman and Wonder Woman is selling like hotcakes, Jim Lee has already crafted a cover for the upcoming second printing of Justice League #12. It's the same general idea, but you'll notice that Wonder Woman seems to be taking the initiative this time around, plus it's more lovey-dovey than the original cover. BuzzFeed debuted the cover earlier today. Take a look:
Check out our review of Justice League #12!
Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.
With the Aquaman-centric Robot Chicken DC Comics Special set to air on September 9th, DC is offering a very amusing variant cover to the upcoming Aquaman #12. TV Guide broke the image:
"Aquaman will play a pretty big role in the show. In fact, the title could just as easily be How Aquaman Got His Groove Back!" said Aquaman scribe Geoff Johns of the special. "This is the last thing I ever thought we'd put on an Aquaman cover because it's such a bizarre collision of worlds but I think it's one of the best covers we've ever done...I just love the look on Superman's face!"
For more with Johns and the minds behind Robot Chicken, head over to TV Guide.
Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He loves superhero pets so hard.
According to sources close to IGN, Wayne Rooney will not appear on the cover of FIFA 13.
It's the first FIFA game in seven years not to carry the image of the Manchester United and England striker. Over the years, he's appeared alongside other footballers from the Premier League and other European leagues, including Frank Lampard and Kaka.
The world's best player Lionel Messi will appear front and centre on the FIFA 13 box (EA signed him up last November), flanked by two players, both presumably from the Premier League.
You can watch EA announce who's on the box at 6pm this evening via the YouTube livestream below:
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