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Enker

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After a series of terrible events my old webcomic Enker's Tale went offline and the backups were lost. Usually that's the end of a webcomic, but in this instance readers united to send me pages they'd got stored on their own computers. This book of almost 400 pages contains almost the full comics run in trade paperback format for easy reading and can be found online at my Devart account here:

fav.me/d5h7jzk

A MASSIVE thankyou to everyone who sent me pages!
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As some of you will no doubt remember, last year I partnered with Wombat RPGs to produce artwork, scenario, sprites and story for a dungeon crawl role playing game (or RogueLike) set within the setting of my successful fantasy radio show - the game for which can be found for free at the link below:

rpgmaker.net/games/3043/

HOWEVER as part of a massive seven-day contest being held to create a whole RogueLike from scratch, myself and Wombat RPGs have returned to the genre to deliver a huge sci-fi entry entitled STEEL KNIGHTS that can be downloaded free in beta form at the link below:

rpgmaker.net/games/3885/

Eventually it will be released onto Facebook just like Golden Age: Endless Dungeon - but first there's a few things to tweak for the format. This new game offers three linked scenarios with MASSIVE dungeons and epic boss encounters that you can tackle in any order, ranged and close combat and a full-on sci-fi story. What are you waiting for? Download it NOW!
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Appologies to those of you looking for the original Shadows Reach demo (V1.1) at rpgmaker.net/games/239/ as it has recently been removed. The reason for this is that the games demo was of a file size large enough for me to warrant hosting it on Megaupload.com - which due to the American federal government being frankly stupid and attempting to vet the internet (Team America World Police gags on standby) has been closed. The site now only shows this message: www.megaupload.com

What this means for my demo is that it was deleted immediatly, without notification by the American government that it was going to happen - dispite the fact that I was a paying member of the site and entitled to know. As a Graphic Designer and Illustrator by profession I have regularly uploaded artwork too big for clients to have emailed to them to Megaupload and have found it a valuble resource these past few years. One I will miss. I am an Englishman doing legitimate business, Megauploads was based in Hong-Kong, the only reason the Americans felt they could touch it was because it used Paypal for business transactions and Paypal is American - this seems a very fine line to me and I think we will be seeing them overstep the mark with increasing regularity over the next few years. Wikipedia and other sites went black to express how they felt about these proposed actions and I'm not sure we've paid this issue enough attention. This week I will be re-supplying nine clients artwork they've lost because they kept the backup on Megaupload.com rather than on their harddrives for file size and easy access reasons.

For Shadows Reach this isn't too kig of a problem - I was planning on releasing a second 'tweaked' demo with new areas and a bigger chunk of the story to enjoy soon anyhow. However the game is BIG in file size as it contains so much and uses some big wav files, leaving me in search of a new home to host it. Please be patient as I finalize the demo and do so and I appologize for any inconvenience.
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I was mighty sceptic when DC announced that they were rebooting all their comics. The loss of some of my favourite characters came as a bit of a blow, after all where was Wally in this new universe? Where where the Justice Society? How does Azrael fit into the new timeline? So after a little dread I eventually scooped up all 52 of the new comics, and have to admit that whilst some of the low points are REALLY low, the high points are spectacular. I'm not sold on the changes to Superman yet, and Justice League is a fun read whilst not being amazing considering it was touted as the flagship title of the new series, but there are several comics I really would recommend that perhaps people wouldn't have brought before for fear of jumping in on too much character history. For the sake of argument I will only list five - with the last one being my star recommendation.

5 - Demon Knights
Essentially 'Justice League Medievil' in all but name, it's an excellent historical take on the DC universe with more magic-based characters grouping together to defy an army that is sweeping across the land. The demon Etrigan is kind of the unofficial star, but he's backed up by an amazing cast of co-heroes including Savage, the DC immortal who is a refined bad-guy and master plot maker in the current continuity, here shown at an earlier point of his life as a life-gripping barbarian hero. His cry of delight when somebody launches magical dinosaurs at the team is excellent, as if his following comment 'I've not eaten one of those in ages!'. The comic does keep up a dark and violent edge, but the interaction between characters keeps it flowing wonderfully, especially that of the Amazon and the knight, who everybody believes is a girl due to his femanine features. If you're going to read any team-book this year be sure to pick this one up.

4 - Justice League International
Booster Gold is a fantastic hero - they are even talking about SyFy (still a dumb name!) giving him his own show or special some time soon. He built up a massive amount of credability in series such as 52, Generation Lost and his own comic title, but most people will always remember him as he was in the original Justice League International run - a wacky ego-driven clown of a hero with a heart of gold. I was worried when this title was launched that it'd be a step back for him, but to my pleasure he's at the top of his game leading this super-team. It's an international rosta that includes characters from all nations tackling global threats as the government tries to put together its own version of the Justice League for PR reasons. Everybody has a clear voice in the team (though some are just stereotypes for their country at the moment) and have begun to be fleshed out as the series takes shape. Batman and Guy Gardener's version of Green Lantern are popping in-out of the book without joining YET, and there's great dynamic between Booster in the role of 'crap I'm team leader!' and Batman's cool and collected 'You're capable, make the call' attitude towards him. It's fluffy stuff and reads like a Silver Age classic comic. This is the most out and out 'Super' super team on the rosta and embodies everything people think about when they imagine a team comic. No dark and gritty here!

3 - Batman
Be sure you check the name when you look for this one because there are four titles on the shelves based on the character at the moment. This one is just titled 'Batman' and is written by the man who handled Dick Grayson's run as the man in the cowl so well this past year or so. He's writing Wayne now and it's an excellent story that puts the enthesis on making Gotham city itself into a character. Bruce has never been better or more at the top of his game, but just as he's getting back into the swing of things the mysterious 'Court of Owls' begins to make itself felt in Gotham, and the realisation that they've ALWAYS been there and have simply been letting him play around up until this point gives real weight to their credability as a secret society and threat to the Bat family. There's a very 'Order of St. Dumas' feel to them so far that reminds me of the 'Sword of Azrael' run, which isn't a bad thing but it does make me feel a little nostalgic for Azrael (the Court has an enforcer called the Talon, the Order had Azrael, both are secret societies with big stakes in running things, etc) but I am a long-time fan and new readers will appreciate the excellent writing that really does go above and beyond the call of duty.

2 - Aquaman
He's probably a joke to you, but in the DC universe Aquaman has always been a heavy-hitter. Founding member of the Justice League? Check. Capable of giving Superman a run for his money in a fight? Check. Interesting and deep back story? Check. So why do people see him as a joke? The old 'Super Friends' cartoon has a lot to do with it, they put him across as 'the fish guy' and it's stuck in the public conciousness. It's an unfair wrap, but this comic does an amazing job of saying 'yep, you think that' then proving it wrong. Aquaman is written ion such a way that the average people of the DC universe thing the SAME THING about him, even police officers in the opening issue make jokes about how they'll never live down being saved by Aquaman. One scene in a fish restaurant has a customer ask him if he is allowed to eat fish 'because you talk to them', which is laugh outloud funny. The thing is, Aquaman spending most of his time underwater policing and ruling the oceans means he had no idea the surface world took him as a joke, and he starts going about setting that straight. The villains are interesting too, deep sea monsters that glow because they come from so far down there's no light, and eat anything - with their eyes set on the surface world. It's an excellent reads and well worth picking up. You won't laugh at Aquaman again.

1 - Wonder Woman
With the relaunch of Wonder Woman the writers have taken it back to basics. We're re-learning what we thought we knew from a new light and re-visiting the Greek Gods to see their new interpritations. Some, such as Apollo live in man's world and are modernised. Others, such as Hera see no need to leave Olympus and remain semi-classic in appearance. All appear to be bastards and what stands between them and us is Diana, princess of the Amazons and commonly known in our world as Wonder Woman. Of late pre-reboot the comic hadn't been hitting it's high points, a recent stint trying to re-design and reboot the character was a flop and she'd not done much of note in her own title for years. Whilst she was iconic her comics were nothing special. Not a great fate for the third member of DC's tinity of characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman). NOW she's top of the pile. Her books have a current and contemporary feel, there's an almost Percy Jackson-like feel to the way Gods are intergrated into the setting (I know that they modernised the Gods way back in the old title, but in that rendition they were all modernised. This mix between fable and modern they've struck now comes off better and does indeed have a PJ feel to it - and by that I mean the BOOKS and not the film adaption!). The book opens with monsters coming for a young woman in her home one night, a chicken-footed greek character tries to defend her but is injured in the process and with no other way to save her he uses magic to send her to the one person he knows can protect her, Wonder Woman. The stranger is the messenger of the Gods, the girl is carrying a baby that just might be the first demi-god since Hercules . . . it's all excellent stuff. Wonder Woman is well written, if lacking in compassion at the moment, and her own background gets a shaking too. The idea that there's a thin layer of protection between us and the Greek Gods does make her place in the new universe feel VERY important and she's dealing with this problem solo, sword in hand. It's very gripping stuff, well drawn and a great read. When the trade paperback comes out I expect it to zip to the top of the charts at once. Please give it a look, you'll enjoy it.

So there are the top 5 DC pics for me at the moment. And for that part of me that misses the old continuity and characters? DC Universe just went free to download and play on the PS3 and PC! Hell YES. If you're playing look out for 'Knave' or drop me a hello email on the games message server. It's an excellent MMORPG with a price that just cannot be beaten. Truly the most immersive sense of 'world' in an mmo I've ever felt - I'm a guy who quit Warcraft and gave up on City of Heroes - and there's something to be said about battling Brother Blood as part of a 4-man teamup of Doctor Fate, Zatanna and Raven. This game just feels . . . epic. And it's FREE!! There's no reaon that anyone with a PS3 shouldn't have it on their harddrive!
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I've been on a bit of a quest to get the most out of my PS3 lately, and have been raiding its back-catalogue of rpgs (which anybody who has ever met me will know are my passion). After completing 'Disgaea 3', 'Cross Edge' and 'Agarest: Generations of War' back to back I found myself finally getting round to Final Fantasy XIII and was massivly dissapointed all-round. Sticking with it because a friend insisted it got better some 20 hours in, I found that 'getting better' consisted of being marginally less crap - so an all-round dissapointment for the man who was late picking up his A-Level results at school because Final Fantasy IX came out that day and I had to buy it at launch. Needless to say the announcement of a sequel was expected with SquareEnix's business stratergy these days, but totally unnecessary. Hell even XII was better and that was basically an MMORPG without the MMO.

To make up for it I treated myself to a shopping spree after a recent income flush from a freelance illustration job and found to my delight a cheap copy of 'Star Ocean: The Last Hope'. Now the game has had a lot of flack for its OTT dub, but frankly the gameplay is a dream and combat system the best I've ever played. This game hits high up for best rpg on the system and is a BEAST in scale. I completed it AND all of the side quests and still don't have all the many trophies. It's possibly the hardest Platinum on the system - I kid thee not! Still it made my week and sent me back on a run through the last three games on PS2 and PSP for a replay, to my pleasure (and wife's horror).

The thing I really enjoyed about it was the character interactions, I'm a fan of good writing and giving characters personalities in an rpg really makes them stand out as people (something that FFXIII could stand to learn - and no, reading through a billion character profiles doesn't count!) and on a (different!) friend's advice I tried my hand at 'Dragon Age Origins' for a bit more of the same. I'm about 20 hours in now and thoroughly enjoying it - though it's going to take a couple of playthroughs and some downloadable content to see everything. I like the characters and feel attached enough to form a party from the ones I like the most. The romance system makes me feel a bit of a bastard at times (largly because I accidentally discovered a physical relationship with Morrigan then ditched her for Leliana because I was playing nice-guy to both of them, worryingly getting a trophy for both) but having played other Bioware games I should have been thinking ahead. Alistair is a firm favourite of mine, with a similar sense of humor and good back-story, and though I enjoy Morrigan's powers and input into events I hardly use her these days because every other choice I make get dissaproval from her. But the point it that the game is making me THINK about these characters, which is a massive difference from wanting to reach through the screen and punch Snow and/or Hope in the face (Vanille never bothered me, at least she DID something now and again rather than emo out or be overtly sure of herself in the face of total failure). So are we seeing a shift in the market here? Are Western styled RPGs getting better stories and characters than JRPGs now? Mass Effect and Dragon Age do have the advantage of being made by the masters of the genre Bioware, but with the exception of some Stratergy RPGs and Star Ocean I'm not seeing a great deal of awesome on my PS3s rpg library. Which should I try next, Dragon Age 2 or the new Altier game?
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Featured

Enker's Tale: Collected Edition 2004-2010 by Enker, journal

STEEL KNIGHTS - FREE RPG GAME! by Enker, journal

Bloody Federal Government! by Enker, journal

DC New 52 - Top 5 Comics by Enker, journal

STAR OCEAN and DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS by Enker, journal