PHOTO CREDITS – KELLY MUNDAY

There once was a swan, so beautiful and majestic, who loved to ride on air.

Along came an eagle, apparently hungry, to give the swan a scare!

“Excuse me, Swan,” the eagle said. “For this fright in flight.”

“I couldn’t help it. You looked so tasty! Can I have a teensy bite?”

“Get off my back!” the swan yelled out. “I’m no meal for birds of prey!”

“A teensy bite? Ha Ha! Yeah right! I don’t believe a word you say!”

Was it luck or skill? We’ll never know… but the swan lived to see another day.

Only ten days after having released NORTH WIND #1, the company announced that they sold every single copy in the original print run. This is a pretty special event when you consider anyone can read it legitimately for free online.

“This promotion with MySpace Comic Books has helped us sell through all of our copies of NORTH WIND #1 and has brought new customers into comic stores across the nation. I couldn’t have been happier when Diamond called to tell us that we sold out.” – Chip Mosher, Director of Marketing and Sales

“We are looking at the unfilled re-orders carefully at the moment. But a second printing looks like it may just happen,” said Mosher.

Perhaps the free distribution model will work as well in the comic book industry as it appears to be working in the music industry. It was only a few short months ago that Radiohead experienced international attention and success with a “pay whatever the bloody hell you want for these MP3s” campaign on their critically acclaimed and highly downloaded record, In Rainbows.

Seriously though, I’m not ashamed of my hobby. In fact, I quite enjoy advertising the fact that I’m a geek with a love for superheroes. Not everything I read is superhero based like Spider-Man and the X-Men. I really enjoy Y: The Last Man as well (a story about the sole surviving male human after the spontaneous, simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth).

I’m always looking at new titles and recently discovered some Warhammer books put out by BOOM! Studios, while researching material for my Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning fansite, The Greenskin. Upon reading my brief shout out, their sales and marketing department contacted me and placed me on the press list. How cool is that? I’m a bloody INSIDER!

Another book produced by Boom! Studios, but unrelated to Warhammer is NORTH WIND. Here’s a brief synopsis from their website:

The future: mankind has suffered a disaster. Where there was once a lush, thriving planet, there is now only glaciers and snow. The cities that still stand are buried under the surface in caves of ice. Skinrunners trade valuable pelts for rations, warmth and survival. Into this violent, damaged world, a hero will rise… in the vein of Mad Max and The Road Warrior and for fans of Antony Johnston’s Wasteland.

This comic is right up my alley. Niche dystopic scenarios are a great place to explore various aspects of human social behaviour and comment on our flaws. They’re also great at juxtaposing it with our greatest traits. Reducing humans to their baser selves is usually a recipe for explosive action and conflict.

BOOM! released a video trailer for this title, and you can view it here. They also released a completely free issue of North Wind #1 at MySpace Comics, and you can check that out here. According to a recent press release, they’ve had over 5000 views in 48 hours. Not too shabby if you ask me!  Here’s the full release:

NORTH WIND TRAILER FEATURED ON MYSPACETV WITH OVER 5,000 VIEWS IN 48 HOURS
Trailer supports simultaneous release of NORTH WIND in stores and online at MySpace Comic Books

LOS ANGELES- January 8th, 2008 – Five thousand views in fourty-eight hours. That was the final result when the trailer for NORTH WIND, BOOM! Studios’ latest mini-series, was featured on MySpaceTV over the weekend.

Supporting the historic simultaneous release of NORTH WIND in stores and online at MySpace Comic Books (http://myspace.com/comicbooks), the NORTH WIND trailer serves as another way to get people excited about BOOM! Studios’ latest comic book offering.“MySpace Comic Books directly targets their 145,000 friends, but we knew we wanted to reach beyond that targeted group. Getting the NORTH WIND trailer featured on MySpaceTv in conjunction with our current promotion with MySpace Comic Books allowed us to interest a wider group on MySpace. And, you know, doing a trailer is just a cool way to promote any comic!” Chip Mosher, Marketing and Sales Director for BOOM! Studios said.

The trailer for NORTH WIND can be seen here: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=25270023To produce the trailer, BOOM! Studios turned to Craig Kennedy of CK Creative, winner of last years’ LEFT ON MISSION trailer contest.

“It was great coming back and doing another trailer for BOOM! Studios especially as NORTH WIND is such a great epic concept. It gave me a chance to make a different style of trailer from the one I did for LEFT ON MISSION. Something eerie, desolate, cold and epic…well, that’s what I hope people get from it anyway,” said Craig Kennedy.Written by David DiGilio, best known for writing the film EIGHT BELOW and creating the ABC TV show TRAVELER, NORTH WIND is a five issue mini-series set in a future Los Angeles after a new ice age has covered the earth. NORTH WIND chronicles the rise of a new hero in a dystopian world where people burn books for fuel, and Skinrunners trade valuable pelts for rations and warmth. The first issue features a cover by Andrew Huerta with interior artwork by newcomer and soon to be fan-favorite, Alex Cal.

MySpace, the world’s most popular social network, and BOOM! Studios, a leader in comic book and graphic novel publishing, announced a partnership January 3rd to provide the MySpace Comic Book community with free digital downloads of BOOM! Studios’ highly anticipated new comic book series, NORTH WIND. Throughout the five-issue mini-series, MySpace users will be able to download all the issue of NORTH WIND for free exclusively on the MySpace Comic Books profile (http://myspace.com/comicbooks) the day each issue hits store shelves.About BOOM! Studios

Winner of Wizard Magazine’s “Best New Publisher,” BOOM! Studios (http://www.boom-studios.com) is a unique new publishing house specializing in high-profile projects from some of the industry’s biggest talents. Founded by the creator of the TV show EUREKA, Andrew Cosby, and his partner Ross Richie, BOOM! Studios continues to be on the leading edge of comic and graphic novel publishing.

BOOM! Studios co-founder Andrew Cosby’s television series, EUREKA, recently finished its second season at the Sci-Fi Channel, having launched to impressive ratings this past summer and consistently winning several key demographics on basic cable. EUREKA is the highest-rated series in the Sci-Fi Channel’s history.

I had a bit of spare time over the extended weekend and a friend convinced me to install Team Fortress 2. After racking up about 8 hours of playtime, I can safely say that I’m not disappointed with my decision!

It was a bit intimidating to start up without having read any instructions or even game reviews prior to my install, however, it didn’t take long to work out the rust from my old school FPS fingers. I used to be a big fan of Unreal Tournament 1 & 2 and even Quake 3 to a point. Since those games, I’ve been playing MMORPGs like DAOC and WoW, so the twitchiness sort of left me for a while.

My first few hours in TF2 were spent as enemy fodder. In fact, it probably took me about 30 minutes to even get my first kill. I slowly started to adapt and figure out key strategies for the various classes and by my 8th hour, spent late last night, I even managed to rack up 7 straight kills as a Demoman before finally getting sniped.

My top 3 favorite classes are probably the Demoman, Medic, and Soldier. I’ve yet to try out the Engineer, and I think honing my skills as a Spy would be a lot of fun in the long run. I don’t know how long the novelty will last, but for now it’s pretty fun, even though it can also be just as frustrating if you get on a bad team or face really skilled opponents.

Thumbs up for now anyway!

That’s one angry donut!

I finally ironed out the bugs and officially launched my Warhammer Online blog, called The Greenskin last week. If you click on this comic, it will take you to my contest page, explaining how you could win an MMO Calendar and WAR beta key.

Cheers!

I recently created a new blog (almost live… pesky technical glitches) dedicated to EA Mythic’s upcoming MMORPG Warhammer Online: The Age of Reckoning! Please take a moment to stop by and have a look around!

Find the latest Warhammer Online news, advice, opinions, and webcomics at The Greenskin!

I have the stories penned for at least 12 weeks worth of The Greenskin webcomic, but I’m a terrible drawer, so it may take a week or so before I start getting them up for everyone to enjoy!

UPDATE 1: APPARENTLY I FORGOT SEASON 3 GEAR. I’M ADDING IT NOW. PLEASE STAY TUNED!

UPDATE 2: ALL THE NEW SEASON 3 GEAR IS IN!

Back by popular demand, here’s version 2 of the Ultimate PvP Gear Guide for Shadow Priests (World of Warcraft). As with version 1, this guide showcases only the best armour, weapons, and accessories that can be gained solely through PvP (ie. purchased with honour and battleground/arena marks). PvE drops need not apply!

This set aims to provide:

• The highest possible + spell damage
• The highest possible stamina and intelligence
• Good resilience

Now, on to the good stuff!

***VIEW THE SPREADSHEET***

Buying this full set will cost you:

• Arena (13,525)
• Honour (158,312)
• Alterac Valley (60)
• Arathi Basin (60)
• Eye of the Storm (50)
• Warsong Gulch (20)

Stat/Effect Summary (before enchantments)

• Stamina – 674
• Intellect – 334

• + Spell Damage – 812
• + Healing – 804
• + Resilience – 416
• Other – 32 spell critical, +3% spell crit damage, 17 hit, 14 penetration, 6 mp5, -3 seconds Psychic Scream cooldown, -2 seconds Weakened Soul effect
  

• Trinket 1 – Medallion (use): dispel Fear/Stun/Poly/MC
• Trinket 2 – Battlemaster (use): instant HP buff 1750 (15 seconds)
  

Gear Links:

Weapon – Vengeful Gladiator’s Gavel (3,150 arena)
Offhand – Vengeful Gladiator’s Endgame (1,125 arena)
Wand – Vengeful Gladiator’s Touch of Defeat (1,000 arena)

Boots – Vindicator’s Dreadweave Stalkers (17,850 honour, 40 eye of the storm)
Chest – Vengeful Gladiator’s Satin Robe (1,875 arena)
Gloves – Vengeful Gladiator’s Satin Gloves (1,125 arena)
Head – Vengeful Gladiator’s Satin Hood (1,875 arena)
Legs – Vengeful Gladiator’s Satin Leggings (1,875 arena)
Shoulders – Vengeful Gladiator’s Satin Mantle (1,500 arena)

Back – Sergeant’s Heavy Cape (9,435 honour, 20 arathi basin)
Belt – Vindicator’s Dreadweave Belt (17,850 honour, 40 arathi basin)
Bracer – Vindicator’s Dreadweave Cuffs (11,794 honour, 20 warsong gulch)
Neck – Vindicator’s Pendant of Dominance (15,300 honour, 10 eye of the storm)
Ring – Vindicator’s Band of Dominance (15,300 honour, 10 alterac valley)
Ring – Vindicator’s Band of Salvation (15,300 honour, 10 alterac valley)
Trinket – Medallion of the Horde/Alliance (16,983 honour)
Trinket – Battlemaster’s Audacity (30,000 honour, 40 alterac valley)

Gem Links:

Meta (x1) – Chaotic Skyfire Diamond (crafted)
Red (x3) – Glowing Shadowsong Amethyst (crafted)
Orange (x1) – Potent Ornate Topaz (8,500 honour)
Orange (x3) – Potent Pyrestone (crafted)

There you have it! Please leave your questions or feedback in a comment below!

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

Here’s a list of all my other Shadow Priest articles:

• Shadow Priest – Best damage gear for PvP or PvE…
• Top spell damage gear for Shadow Priests
• Shadow Priest 5-Man Viability in TBC
• WoW Shadow Priest // Ultimate PvP gear (70)!
• WoW Shadow Priest // Ultimate PvP gear (60)!

Last night’s class only had about 8 students, so it was a great opportunity for us to ask Matt to demonstrate some cool techniques (e.g. flying ankle-lock). He also answered questions like: How can I escape a triangle choke?, What are some other ways for me to get out of someone’s full guard?, and Now that I have him in my full guard, what should I try going for?

These may all seem like basic questions but there are plenty of options and counters to each, so it’s nice to know several different escapes, subs, or submission preventions in case your favorite method isn’t working.

We also spent a bit of time at the beginning of the class working on several shoot-driven takedown techniques (single leg, double, etc.). I found this part pretty difficult because I stand 6’5″ tall and have to squat very low to nab someone’s legs. At my height, it’s very difficult to maintain a good “show ‘em what you got” posture when initiating a lower body grapple. “Show ‘em what you got,”  basically means that you stick your chest and ass out simultaneously while squatting low. I used to think I had pretty good balance for my height (it comes from being a hockey goalie) but these takedowns felt quite awkward…

Part of the problem is that I naturally want to lead with my right foot forward (Southpaw stance), however, my right arm is stronger than my left. I have this issue in hockey as well in that I play “normal” as a forward (stick blade to my right), but I hold the stick that way as a goalie too (catching with my right hand). It’s not very traditional. I suppose this would be more of a problem in boxing than jiu jitsu as there’s not really any striking involved. It definitely took some adjusting.

Here’s what we worked on:

• Single leg takedown -
• Double leg takedown -
• Chin control + choke from sprawl -
• Chin control + choke from grapple -
• Escape full guard 1 -
• Escape full guard 2 -
• Prevent triangle choke -
• Escape triangle choke -

I’ll fill these in when I get some time.

“I’m comin’ home again… Do you think about me now and then? Do you think about me now and theeeeeeeeen? Cuz I’m comin’ home again. Cooooooomin’ home agaaaain.”

Daaaaaaang yo. That’s come gangsta shit comin’ from one of the UK’s favorite sons. It’s almost surreal to hear the front-man from one of my favorite bands layin’ up-tempo chorus vox for Mr. West.  It gets even weirder near the end when he starts harmonizing “Oooh e oh e oh! Oooh e oh e oh!” It was like a throwback to his roots yo, a la Sting.

Listen at YouTube… if you dare!