Month: January 2019

The first eight characters in Mortal Kombat 11 have been officially confirmed, plus a few others that we can pretty safely reserve a space on the character select screen for. And while the current roster is mostly made up of familiar faces, there are two mysterious characters that are brand new to the series. One, Geras, is a confirmed playable character, but the other, named Kronika, has only been seen in cinematic trailers. To learn more about these two newcomers, we went straight to the source, the godfather of Kombat, Ed Boon.

“Kronika is the boss of bosses. All the Mortal Kombat events that have happened, since MK1, she’s the one kind of architecting everything that’s happened,” said Boon. “Everything that’s happened has occurred according to her plan, with the goal of having Shinnok be the final victor.”

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Batman’s current “Knightmares” storyline has been a disorienting read, to say the least. Initially, that was a bad thing. Issue #60 wrapped with one of the most significant cliffhangers yet in Tom King’s run, yet #61 proceeded as if that twist never happened at all. But issue #62 showed a method to that madness, urging readers to question the very reality of Batman’s surroundings. And now this new storyline shows its full hand in issue #63, reminding us once again that it’s all part of King’s plan.

While the cover highlights the team-up between Batman and John Constantine, it’s not really that Dynamic Duo that anchors the book. King mainly uses this issue as a means of reflecting on the tragic failure of the Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle romance. Readers are given brief glimpses at the life the two might have shared together had Bruce not been abandoned at the altar. This, as much as anything else, speaks elegantly to Bruce’s troubled state of mind following the recent tragedies in his life. And given how much King has emphasized this series as one massive tribute to the Bruce/Selina relationship, it’s good to see her actually put in an appearance for the first time in half a year.

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According to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s co-writer and co-director, a scene that featured appearances from previous Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland was written but ultimately left unused for the film.

As reported by Flickering Myth, Spider-Verse co-writer and co-director Rodney Rothman participated in The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith podcast and revealed there was a scene written that featured all three live-action Spider-Man actors, but decided against including it as not to confuse the audience.

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Imagine sitting down in a concept car that has all kinds of awesome extras and amenities – things you’ve wished cars had for ages! But then you try to take it for a spin and a lot of the basic stuff that your beat-up sedan back home can do fine seem to be a challenge for this flashy wonder. Things like… brakes. That’s what At the Gates is to the 4X genre. Conceptually, there are so many reasons to be excited about it, but once you start playing it falls apart pretty fast.

Coming from Jon Shafer, the lead designer of Civilization 5, Sid Meier’s storied series is the closest point of comparison for this hand-drawn, turn-based trek through the early 400s CE. But where recent Civ entries have stuck a bit too close to familiar design space, At the Gates holds no cow sacred – and that’s the best thing about it.

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