Witch Doctor:

Demon Hunter:

Barbarian:

Monk:

Wizard:

Which is your favourite?

Above, you see the results of the experiment – yes, these [...]]]> Last week, artist Chip Zdarsky, who in his secret identity as Steve Murray of Canada’s National Post, ran a rather interesting online experiment to find out who the most popular Avengers are. This is done, of course, in light of The Avengers movie, which was released in North America last Friday.

Above, you see the results of the experiment – yes, these are the four most popular Avengers as voted by fans: Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine and Captain America (well, Bucky-Cap, to be precise). Of course, certain stipulations had to be laid down in order to avoid a totally inconsequential and rather ridiculous result (Wolverine and Spider-Man garnered more votes than Iron Man, Captain America and Thor combined for example), but it is what these findings say about the Avengers and their impact through the past five decades that make this poll worth analysing.

The experiment is interesting for two reasons: Firstly, he’s grouped them according to their chronological date of joining the team, and then divided them into four groups of 21-22 heroes each. For example, fans had to choose their favourite Avenger from a group which included founding members like Iron Man and Thor in the 1960s were pitted against members from the late 1970s, including the lesser known Mantis and Moondragon. Secondly, Murray includes all the members found on Wikipedia’s list, including reserve members who never received full membership (like Sandman and Rage), and members of all three Heroic Age teams (up to and including latest Secret Avengers member Venom), yet does not include “honorary” members (like Rick Jones and the original Captain Marvel) or any of the Great Lakes Avengers (not that I’m complaining).

By the time I got wind of this little poll, unfortunately, the first group already had its winner and, to no one’s surprise really, it was Iron Man. Given his exponentially increasing popularity ever since his first movie in 2008, he far outshadowed his fellow founding members and movie co-stars. I am rather vindicated to see that Captain America was in second place and Thor in third. It would appear that the movies have rekindled mainstream interest in both the Star-Spangled Avenger and the God of Thunder, and that’s always a good thing.

The second group, representing members who joined between 1979 and 1990, was a more interesting lot. With stalwart members like Ms. Marvel and War Machine, alongside the equally familiar She-Hulk, U.S. Agent and cult favourite Tigra, it was anyone’s guess who would top this group. Though I assumed the same fanbase that helped Tony Stark win the previous day would return and vote for James Rhodes aka Iron Man (II), it took a Twitter retweet from upcoming Captain Marvel scribe Kelly Sue Deconnick to drive votes towards Carol Danvers instead, helping her to win the second day’s poll.  War Machine took second place and She-Hulk came in third.

The third day was a two-horse race right from the start. Due to a relatively stable cast of characters in the 1990s, thanks to the likes of writers Bob Harras, Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek, this group of members were drawn from a period of almost two decades, which meant reserve members that joined due to the UN Charter (from a 1992 storyline) were eligible, as well as those that joined in the aftermath of Heroes Reborn, and finally, the New Avengers team created by Brian Michael Bendis in the wake of Avengers Disassembled. Appropriately, this meant that right from the get-go, the two most popular Marvel characters, Spider-Man and Wolverine were neck and neck, leaving Eric Masterson’s Thor in a distant, distant third.

The final day was the most crucial, because it was an indication of how popular the choices that Marvel Architect Bendis did for the Avengers so far in his run, handling two Avengers titles instead of only one. In the past three years, the Avengers have seen a significant influx of new members from all corners of the Marvel Universe, with Bucky Barnes’ Captain America leading the pack in popularity. To no one’s surprise, familiar names Dr. Strange and Daredevil were second and third, respectively. Though the latter only just joined the Avengers last year after Fear Itself, both have been Marvel Comics mainstays over the past fifty years.

The poll also reminds us that only two female characters among the top twelve are popular because they are strong, powerful women who can hold their own against their male teammates. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see them appear on our screens, big and small.

Also, looking at the twelve names who made it to the top three of each of the four weeks, seven of the characters have been around for half a century, with the five exceptions being Ms. Marvel and Wolverine, who’re both a whole decade younger, James Rhodes aka Iron Man (II) and She-Hulk, children of the 1980s and Eric Masterson aka Thor (II), created in 1990. It simply goes to show the longevity of these Avengers, that their popularity and familiarity still remains high among fans, despite the years since their creation.

Finally, I think the poll, as well as the box office records for The Avengers vindicates the decisions of executive producer Kevin Feige and director Joss Whedon to utilise the icons of the Marvel Age of Comics – at the end of the day, it is still the original founders of the Avengers who have kept the team going through all these years.

While the first game had us escaping from the cathedral (well, CHIJMES), this second installment has us escaping from the werewolf village – a chilling [...]]]> It’s only two days away, but I think it deserves some mention: Real Escape has returned to Singapore and will be running it’s second ever “escape game” at *SCAPE.

While the first game had us escaping from the cathedral (well, CHIJMES), this second installment has us escaping from the werewolf village – a chilling proposition indeed. If you’re unsure of what a Real Escape Game entails, check out our review here, but as for the quest you’re undertaking, perhaps the description on official website would help:

You lost your way and wandered into a village where werewolves attack people night by night. As the villagers disappear one by one, you can feel the fangs of the werewolves getting closer and closer to you.
Can you reveal all the mysteries in time, and escape the Werewolf Village?

So be prepared for an exciting time of teamwork as you crack your heads and try to solve your way out of the werewolf village. The first installment was sold out had great buzz around it, so this will be a great way to spend this weekend.

Real Escape Game: Escape From The Werewolf Village runs from this Friday May 11. Time slots on Friday at 230pm, 530pm and 730pm, on Saturday at 930am, 12pm and 230pm and on Sunday at 930am, 12pm, 230pm, 5pm and 730pm are still available. Tickets cost $20 for students and $25 for the rest of us – and will cost $30 at the door. We’ll be gaming on Saturday at 730pm, so I’m afraid you can’t join us :(.

How many of HBG can you spot here?

With the launch of D3 just around the corner, many of you may have yet to decide what character to build. Should you go with the Monk or Barbarian for a melee character? Or should you play a magic-focused character in the Wizard or Witch Doctor? We’ll go through the list of characters available [...]]]>

With the launch of D3 just around the corner, many of you may have yet to decide what character to build. Should you go with the Monk or Barbarian for a melee character? Or should you play a magic-focused character in the Wizard or Witch Doctor? We’ll go through the list of characters available to you in Diablo 3 and try to help you answer those questions; as well as provide some tips for playing each character. This is based on the final versions of the CBT and should provide some insight into what the final game will be like.

Barbarian

The classic melee class brought over from Diablo 2, the Barbarian is a walking juggernaut on the battlefield. The best option for someone playing a Barbarian is to rush into battle and take your enemies out with strong melee attacks. The attack skills for the Barbarian at lower levels have a very clear distinction between skills for crowd management and skills for single target damage, and players should take the chance to switch skills before boss fights to deal damage effectively. The Barbarian will have the ability to stunlock single enemies early into the game.

Monk

The monk is a fast, high damage melee attacker focused on crowd control. Often incorporating knockbacks and debuffs, the monk performs well against mobs but is less effective against high health boss targets. To compensate, attacks hit faster than other classes, allow you to chain debuffs on a single target, and attack skills tend hit for increased damage.

Witch Doctor

The witch doctor is a mixed class, with the ability to control large numbers of pets (Dogs, Gargantuans, Spiders) on the battlefield and assist them with ranged attacks. What is interesting is that players can also opt to rely on powerful short ranged attacks and debuffs to more directly engage enemies instead of pets or confuse enemies and make them attack each other. The range of options available to the Witch doctor makes it the most interesting class to watch as individual builds are likely to vary.

(Author will be rolling a witch doctor on launch day)

Wizard

The obligatory magic wielder in all fantasy games, the wizard is more akin to the Demon Hunter than the Witch doctor. The wizard is a focused damage dealer, with very few attacks (at least in the CBT) that deal AOE damage. As you level you do gain more AOE attacks, but those typically deal less damage than single target spells. Wizards also have a large number of highly effective defensive spells, ranging from freezing nearby enemies in place to several armor modes. Will you be donning a robe and wizard hat?

Demon Hunter

The demon hunter is a class highly reliant on debuffs and evasiveness for its combat effectiveness. With multiple debuffs among the active skills and the ability to set traps, the demon hunter most benefits the player who can react quickly to any given scenario. That being said, to balance the multiple debuffs and high damage output, the demon hunter has the least health, and cannot survive a toe to toe fight with boss mobs, ranking with the wizard as one of the hardest classes to fight a boss with due to the need for constant kiting.

Final notes

This particular Diablo puts a lot of emphasis on multiplayer gaming, and playing with friends will make the game spawn both more and harder to kill monsters which give more experience upon death.
Weapons are also largely non-class specific, so feel free to use a battleaxe as a wizard if it gives you a better damage output than your wand!

See you in Sanctuary!

This is the [...]]]> It’s a day after Free Comic Book Day and what a day that was! The last time I had to dash from shop to shop grabbing comic books was couple decades ago when I was a kid and running from newsstand to newsstand looking for my weekly fix but I digress.

This is the one day of the year when comic book stores around the world become creative magnets for fans both old and new, and comic professionals. And let’s not forget grabbing all those the free comic books too.

Started the morning with a visit to GnB Comics at Rochor Centre. By the time, we got there at about 10.30am, there was a queue stretching round the store. Fresh from The Avengers screening the previous night, guest artists Nicola Scott and Ardian Syaf were already behind the table and signing furiously for all their fans. There was just so much happening; you got free comics, exclusive art pieces for sale and autograph signings. Definitely another winning experience at GnB Comics.

We hung around for almost an hour before taking the train to Orchard where we planned to hit three more shops celebrating FCBD. First stop in town was at Kinokuniya bookstore at Takashimaya. The bookstore had recently renovated their graphic novel section and if you haven’t checked it, you should cos it looks awesome. Unfortunately by the time we got there, we found out that most of the free comic packs had already been given away as there was a much larger and earlier turnout of fans! Well, for those who missed it, they had the amazing hardcover Mouse Guard in their pack and as far as freebies go, I thought that little hardcover was the best of the entire FCBD lot.

Plus just like for the last few years, the folks at Wizkids came up with a free Heroclix figure. This year, it’s none other than movie Thor. Now together with the hardcover Mouse Guard, they were my Best. Loot. Ever.

Next up was Harris Planerds at 313@somerset and I was immediately struck by the large turnout at the store. Seriously this was the first time I have ever seen Planerds so crowded which is a good thing of course. Everyone was grabbing tons of stuff, thanks to their incredible ‘60% off 6 items’ sale that they got going. The only thing that stopped me from splurging was a lack of display space on my shelves.

Artists extraordinaire Wendy “Mashi” Chew and Rudy Ao were also there doing sketches. With this being Planerds’ first anniversary as well, it certainly looked like a great FCBD for them.

After a quick lunch at the Food Republic food court upstairs, we zipped across the road to Paradigm Infinitum at Midpoint Orchard at about 1pm. It’s Paradigm Infinitum’s first FCBD celebration and also the soft launch of their very own graphic novel section!

Once again we were a little late getting there as the fun had already started. Piles of free actual comics, not the official FCBD ones, were given out to customers who showed up earlier. Happy customers with free comics books, you can’t ask for a better start or launch for Paradigm Infinitum’s graphic novel section.

Now if there’s one thing we learned this year is to show up early to support FCBD cos if you are late, you can say goodbye to cool stuff like exclusive sketches and the more popular free titles. It was an exhausting but a really fun Saturday morning, we hope everyone had a great time too and a big THANK YOU to all the stores who made this year’s FCBD possible!

With HULK and The Avengers SMASHing our box office (see what I did there?), geek culture has never been so in demand, and there’s no better time to bring out that significant other, sibling, cousin, niece and nephew, classmate, colleague, random dude you’re trying to impress on a quest. For [...]]]> Welcome to Free Comic Book Day, Singapore!

With HULK and The Avengers SMASHing our box office (see what I did there?), geek culture has never been so in demand, and there’s no better time to bring out that significant other, sibling, cousin, niece and nephew, classmate, colleague, random dude you’re trying to impress on a quest. For freebies.

That’s right, Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is held every year on the first Saturday of May, and today is the day when stores give out comics FOR FREE. Some participating outlets are even giving massive discounts up to 60%. So join us as we tell you how to make the most out of today!

Disclaimer: The following itinerary is a personal recommendation by HereBeGeeks and we will not be responsible for any changes made to the schedule by the respective participating stores.

If you are a Books Kinokuniya Privilege Card member (and honestly, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be), then enjoy a 20% discount on all comics of all languages at all three stores (Takashimaya, Liang Court, Bugis Junction) on the island! Also, while the official website did not mention any specific location, we understand you can also get your FCBD comic book bundle (it is unclear how many comic books are inside) bright and early by presenting your Privilege Card. We recommend visiting the main store at Takashimaya when it opens at 10am!

Books Kinokuniya (main store)
391 Orchard Road
#03-09/10/15 Ngee Ann City
Takashimaya Shopping Centre
Singapore 238872
www.kinokuniya.com.sg

But don’t spend all your money at Kino because Harris Planerds is offering discounts of up to 60% on almost everything in the shop! That’s right, with the exception of magazines, gift vouchers and certain nett-priced items as determined by the staff, everything else is on sale. Simply buy SIX or more items to enjoy the maximum 60% discount. Of course, if you don’t mind a lower discount then you can buy less items, but honestly unless you foolishly busted your budget earlier, there should be no reason not to take full advantage of the massive discount. We recommend getting to Planerds as early as possible, they open at 10am.

As for the free comics – non-Planerds members get a random bag of three comics, while Planerds members get a whopping TWELVE random comics in their bag, so don’t forget your Planerdteer card! Especially if, like us, you’ve been a Planerdteer for a WHOLE YEAR! That’s right, Planerds will be turning ONE year old on Monday, May 7th!

Harris Planerds
313 Somerset Road
#04-25/28 313@somerset
Singapore 238895
www.facebook.com/Planerds

And then, opening at noon, the soft launch of Paradigm Infinitum‘s graphic novels section! We recommend getting there as soon as the clock strikes twelve (which should be no problem since they’re just across the road from Planerds) because once they open, they’re giving you up to TEN proper comic books (not the official FCBD ones, but ACTUAL comic books released in 2010) FREE. For more details on what comics you can get, check out our earlier post, but if you’re too excited to leave this page, we highly recommend getting Jason Aaron’s Wolverine at least.

We also love Paradigm Infinitum (PI) because they’re Singapore’s premiere board and tabletop gamers so naturally they’ve brought in the Marvel Heroic RPG Basic Game as well as the Marvel Heroclix Avengers movie Starter and Booster packs to tie in with FCBD!

Paradigm Infinitum
220 Orchard Road
Midpoint Orchard #03-01
Singapore 238852
www.pi.com.sg
www.facebook.com/Paradigm.Infinitum

When you’re done at PI, double back to Planerds across the road at 313@somerset because you don’t want to miss the likes of brilliant artists Wendy “Mashi” Chew and Rudy Ao, who will be there from noon to 6pm, taking on commissions and wowing you with their talent. We seen both in action and they are amazing! Mashi’s chibi-inspired artwork, in particular, is always a crowd pleaser, so do come down and support them! If you spend $150 in one receipt at Planerds, you get a FREE sketch from either artist! How’s that for making your money work for you!

If you’re a big Star Wars fan (and honestly, who isn’t!) then head back to Kino at Takashimaya and join members of the 501st Legion at Kino from 2pm to 4pm for photo-ops and other Stormtrooper hijinks. With that, you’re done for the Orchard leg of FCBD, so head down to Bugis and meet some more artists!

We’ve already posted earlier about how GnB Comics continues to bring in big names in the industry and this year it’s no exception. DC Comics’ artists Nicola Scott and Ardian Syaf are in town to bring some star power. They’ll be on hand from 10am till 4pm at the Bugis shop to sign autographs. Also, the now-traditional Cover Price Graphic Novel sale will last till 4pm, so if there’s still some books left unchecked on your wishlist, this is the place to get them.

GnB Comics
Blk 1 Rochor Centre
#02-500
Singapore 180001
www.comic.com.sg
www.facebook.com/GnBcomic

If you’re late to the party, don’t fret! The GnB FCBD celebration continues at The Cathay from 6pm onwards.

Last but definitely not least, also celebrating FCBD are Invasion! Toys and Collectibles, recently moved to Funan DigitaLife Mall. Creator of graphic novel “Jack Doe: Anonymous” Shawn Yap will be at the store selling prints and taking comissions. Shawn’s got a pretty diverse portfolio, so be sure to drop by Funan and support local talent! For example, if you’ve been wondering about the cute Avengers artwork that headlined this article, it’s by this guy! Who also did this X-23 sketch to the right! Pretty cool stuff created solely for this event, so don’t miss the opportunity!

While you’re there, marvel (pun totally intended) at the wide range of comic book inspired collectible toys and statues on hand! If you can imagine it, Invasion! probably has it.

Invasion! Toys & Collectibles
109 North Bridge Road
#05-36 Funan DigitaLife Mall
Singapore 179097
http://invasiontoysandcollectibles.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading this far! Enjoy Free Comic Book Day 2012, Singapore!

Free Comic Book Day is coming real soon, and this year’s event seems to be even bigger than last year’s, starting off by having great coverage in the local print media – and a half page at that! In the article, Life! journo Nicholas Yong gets to speak with the wonderful Nicola Scott. If [...]]]>

Free Comic Book Day is coming real soon, and this year’s event seems to be even bigger than last year’s, starting off by having great coverage in the local print media – and a half page at that! In the article, Life! journo Nicholas Yong gets to speak with the wonderful Nicola Scott.

If you were to ask me, I’d have been the worst person to interview Nicola Scott, especially since I’ve not read many DC Comics (darn you, exclusive deals). Nonetheless, I quite like the angle Nicholas approached the interview Nicola, but more than that, I like her responses.

It’s always interesting to see how ladies draw / write females – especially for the art aspect. As Nicola herself says, “it depends on the character”, which is what it should be, and that should define their dress sense. On the flipside we do have characters who just go totally askew thanks to bad writing – honestly that’s just the editor’s fault. I think we could go on forever about sexism in comics, whether in print form or between creators, but no matter what it’s nice to see creators go against all perceived odds and just show everyone that’s sometimes it’s just talent that cuts it – and also nice to see companies that recognise that.

At any rate, Nicola definitely knows her stuff, and it’s a pleasurable interview to read … I do wish the picture of her was in higher resolution tho.

And don’t forget to meet Nicola Scott this Saturday at Free Comic Book Day!