Second Annual Star Wars Read Day Announced

Lucasfilm, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and its publishing partners announced the second annual Star Wars Reads Day to be held this October 5, 2013.  Last year, 30 authors and 1,500 costumed volunteers participated in over 1,200 Star Wars Reads Day events across North America.  On October 5 of this year, Star Wars fans, authors, and artists will again come together in this multi-publisher initiative that celebrates reading and Star Wars.  Participating publishing partners include Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK, Quirk Books, Random House Audio, Scholastic, Titan Magazines, and Workman.

“Star Wars Reads Day is the kind of initiative that we at Lucasfilm love to support” says Carol Roeder, Director of Publishing at Lucasfilm.  “Reading and Star Wars have gone hand-in-hand since 1976, when the novelization of the original Star Wars movie was released.  Over the years, many fans have discovered the joy in reading through Star Wars books, and we hope to continue encouraging more people to read.”

Official Star Wars Reads Day author events are already confirmed at the following locations:

Ann Arbor, MI – Barnes & Noble

Austin, TX – Barnes & Noble

Carle Place, NY – Barnes & Noble

Cincinnati, OH – Joseph-Beth Booksellers

Denver, CO – Tattered Cover

Madison, WI – Barnes & Noble

New York, NY – The Scholastic Store

Portland, OR – Wordstock Festival

Redondo Beach, CA – Mysterious Galaxy

Richmond, VA – bbgb

Roseville, MN – Barnes & Noble

San Francisco, CA – Books Inc.

Seattle, WA – University Bookstore

Warwick, RI – Barnes & Noble

For updates and more information, follow Star Wars Reads on Facebook:

 https://www.facebook.com/StarWarsReads

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The Joker is in Batman: Arkham Origins!

What better way to commemorate the announcement of Batman: Arkham Origins than by confirming that other villains from Batman's famed rouge gallery are making the cut... and none other than the clown prince of crime The Joker! If you can't see him even though I've enlarged the picture he's in the middle  right corner smiling at you because you can't see him unless you look closely.

No word as of yet confirming if all the villains you can spot will appear in the game as villains you face off against or if they will simply make appearances but now it's time I make the controversial statement revolving who should voice Joker:

John DiMaggio
Micheal Emmerson

Mark Hamill's retired from voicing Joker and don't get me wrong we love his unique voice work as the clown prince but others have proven to be great at voicing Joker and they should be given the chance to shine with the talent they have shown. 

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DCUO DLC will keep you laughing... all the way to pvp

For those of you playing DC Universe Online and loving the game do i have good news for you.. Dont worry i have more good news so dont worry i've got everyone covered. New DLC for DCUO is going to have us all jumping out of our seats because as you can tell its about the Joker and.... MARK HAMMILL IS COMING BACK TO VOICE THE CHARACTER!!! Great news indeed, i knew he couldnt resist playing the clown prince of crime once again and now we have it and i couldn't be happier for that news. Also Arleen Sorkin who voiced Harley Quinn for the Batman: Animated Series and Batman Arkham Asylum returns for the DCUO DLC also (Wonder where she was for Batman Arkham City?) Adam Baldwin returns from Superman/Doomsday and DCUO to voice Superman.

If the superior voice cast didnt sell you let's break down the new gameplay features that will surely have you playing more and ignoring that sunlight and your friends.


The Last Laugh will include an all-new weapon, hours of multiplayer gameplay in the Safe Houses and Headquarters, and new Legends PvP characters:

• The Shield – Players can unleash this vicious new weapon to bash their opponents, or hurl it to take them down from a distance.

• Safe House Battles – No one is safe now that heroes and villains can invade each other’s Safe Houses in these four on four battles.

• Graviton Technology Recovery – Players will be tasked with unscrambling teleporter codes that The Joker has mixed into fragments. Located at the Watchtower or Hall of Doom, players must retrieve eight code fragments to successfully rebuild useable teleporter codes.

• The Rescue – Heroes must rescue hostages, while Villains will be freeing arrested criminals from opposing Safe Houses.

• Bomb Disposal – Thanks to The Joker, the encryption on the Email terminals has changed and can only be bypassed by the robot he provided. Players must gain control of the robot and either upload the data to their HQ or add new encryption to keep their enemies and The Joker away from it.

• Headquarter Battles – In this two-part crusade, 16 players – eight heroes and eight villains – will face off for the ultimate player reward. At the request of Superman, heroes must take over the Hall of Doom, while villains, egged on by The Joker, will breach the Watchtower in order to create chaos.

• Legends Characters – Combat illuminates with the introduction of the first light-powered Legends for multiplayer combat. Players will soon have access to Kilowog, a Green Lantern, and Amon Sur, a member of the Sinestro Corps.

The DLC will be free no matter what service you pick and the rescue in my opinion is the releast superhero mode to date!! We can now free our friends who were captured gives that full experience of being a hero or a villain.

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DC Needs to make Batman: The Last Arkham into an animated movie

Oh boy guys one of the literal craziest storylines that DC has brought to us is on my list of "Needs to be an animated movie." I hope you all didn't think i forgot about it or anything.

Just for the sake of argument this movie has to be R-rated with the disturbing images, blood, mental trauma and downright normal things that happen in Arkham, 1:30min runtime.

This movie needs to take us on a tour of the famous Asylum for Gotham's crazy house for murderers, psychos and downright evil individuals, the bloody walls of haunting words of the insanity they suffer through, the horrific images of what actually goes down in an asylum of this magnitude.

The old Arkham Asylum is destroyed by Jeremiah Arkham who inherits it from Amadaeus Arkham his deceased uncle... that's one heck of a thing to leave to someone in a will.

Zsasz is one of the main characters of this tale of murder and bloodshed, murders that have Zsasz and his bloody knife on the scene it seems like he did it right?

Batman does the... next level of unthinkable and decides that in order to prove Zsasz guilty he and Commissioner Gordon hatch a genius plan to stage Batman's insanity.... (Shouldn't be hard right?) to gain him access to Arkham Asylum and investigate.

A lot of villain cameo's would be nice in this kind of movie: The Joker, Harley Quinn, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Riddler, Clayface, Two-face, Ventriloquist etc just to name a few of the villains that can turn this movie into a mental roller coaster of insanity.

I would imagine The Joker as Mark Hammill since a movie this dark and twisted needs to be portrayed by the man whose vocal range as the Clown Prince knows just the bounds you need. Sadly he "retired" from the role but a few speaking parts and images would be ok not full dialogue would be ok with his voice included.

Kevin Conroy should get the call to be Batman in this i would love to see how far he can delve into insanity with this kind of movie and his job as a well known and talented Batman voice actor.

Zsasz bluntly murders people no sugar coats or anything just vicious stabbings and he goes on his way... until Nightwing comes tot he rescue.

Batman: Arkham City Review

I am Blogging! I am a nerd! I AM MRDARKPHOENIX!! Ok i couldn't resist its one of the most iconic quotes from my nerd childhood. What's up Batmen, Robins, Batgirls, and Joker's i have taken time out of my busy days of pummeling thugs and my extensive investigation from the Dark Phoenix Cave to bring you my review of Batman: Arkham City. Is it the best comic book based game? Is Batman our hope to other great superhero video games? Do BatNipples make a come back? Enough questions damn it read on!

Better read on i don't like that face at all.....

Six months after braving the insanity that was Arkham Asylum, Batman is back and having to fight the corruption that has now taken over a part of Gotham known as Arkham City an entire city which is home to the craziest and most dangerous rouges Batman has put away all in one place. With Batman their to stop them and all the villains wanting to kill each other you guys think Batman has his work cut out for him? Can any of you think of a worse trial Batman has to face.... Oh yea DODGING DARKSIED AND HIS OMEGA BEAM! AND DYING!! Put that feat in a game... moving on from that, you interact with an upgraded roster ranging from Mad Hatter, Joker, Harley Quinn, and Hugo Strange to name a few (Trust me your no where near done yet with the villains your facing.) Its your duty from stopping these villains and more from totally ransacking Arkham City with violence and destruction and make sure they know who to fear in Gotham no matter where you are.

Something else about the story that's just well.... purrrfect is the addition of our favorite cat burglar extraordinaire Catwoman aka Selina Kyle, only in Arkham City for her needs? Going to where Batman goes to stir up some kindled romance between them? Blackmailed by someone higher up due to her skills? Well no matter what you think her motives or the plans for our cat she's here and man does she come prepared: A unique fighting style that fits her perfectly to a T, Her own gadgets(not a lot but still.), her own place in the story not a big part but Catwoman always stirs up trouble and we see just how much trouble and who she gets into trouble with.

Your gameplay remains untouched.... Oh wait i can use gadgets now mid combat, double and triple take downs and special barrages where you can really unleash your fury on idiots who think they can take you out... what i never said they were smart in Arkham City. Aerial traveling has been changed up as well now you have the option of pulling a Spider-Man and swinging high with a little boost, and rocketing down known with the dive boost. I'M BATMAN!!

The graphics in this game, I'm not sure if there is a world that can allow my eyes to see the absolute and sheer beauty this game gives me when I'm looking at it on 1080p HD but Rocksteady my eyes thank you and i will never game the same knowing The Joker, Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Batman look this great ever again, i mean its like the HDTV punched me and went ZAPOW! Environments are what you would expect from Batman over the years of knowing him, dark and gritty re imagined New York on steroids.. i mean Gotham looks pretty amazing also.

Now we move on to my points on whether it is a Try, Buy, or Shy:

Good Points:

• By far the best intro mission for a superhero game to date!
• Character representation seems big but everyone gets their fair shot in and that's how you know they took their time with this game.
• Villain selections are not what you would expect and keep me on my toes scared/wondering who I'm going to fight next.
• Complete nerd fan service to the max! 
• Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Tara Strong, and Quinton Flynn grant their voices to this game and its something that brings the game to respect the fan base and know who we want to voice who in a game of this magnitude.
• Surpasses Arkham Aslyum in both stage presence and design... I don't think were in the asylum anymore.
• Catwoman is an excellent addition to the story mode and to challenge maps with her speedy and unique gameplay followed by her two alternate costumes she's packing claws and catswag.
• All the added features greatly improve on the games already great stepped up system.
• Finding certain villains requires you to use your brains and gadgets making exploring Arkham City a chore in itself.
• Character cameo's are complete nerd nostalgic and make my nerd meter go off the charts (Not a lot of comic book based games do that.)

Bad Points:

• ..... ummmm I'm not Batman.....
• This game will be Mark Hamill's last performance as The Joker :-( 

With the points i have brought to you and your utility belt my final verdict for this game is........ BUY!! Go out right now and get this damn game!! Its if not Game of the year than someone has a sick vision of what the best is because this game offers you the whole package and Rocksteady has worked insanely hard to get this game right and they have succeeded greatly.