Month: January 2021

Barely ten days into 2021, the world remains more chaotic than ever. If you’re looking for some way to escape the madness outside, then Bandai and Nintendo may have a solution for you: A massive Pokemon pillow that allows you to stick your head into the gaping maw of the ghostly Gengar.

More than just a comfortable plushy portal to block out the outside world and possibly scream into, the Gengar cushion also allows you to unroll the Pokemon’s trademark lengthy tongue out as a convenient blanket. At five feet and five inches in length, it looks to be a comfortable surface to lay on before you enter the sensory deprivation chamber that is Gengar’s mouth.

Good luck getting your hands on one of these pillows right now though. According to Pokemon merchandise-tracking website Pokeshopper, the Gengar cushion–which costs over $250–sold out after an hour of going live. It’s also worth noting that in Pokemon lore, Gengar’s mouth is capable of breaching the dimensional barriers between life and death.

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In Pokemon Sword, Gengar’s Pokedex entry says that “its gigantic mouth leads not into its body, filled with cursed energy, but instead directly to the afterlife,” while its Pokemon Shield entry states that “if you stand in front of its mouth, you’ll hear your loved ones’ voices calling out to you”.

While you probably won’t be transported to the afterlife by this plush collectible, there are alternative pieces of Pokemon merchandise currently available such as a fantastically detailed Pokeball replica.

Note: this article contains spoilers for Batman: Three Jokers. If you need a refresher on what happened in that series, check out our full breakdown of the Three Jokers finale.

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Jason Todd, once so greatly reviled that an overwhelming majority of Batman readers voted for his death, has, in the incarnation of Red Hood, become something of a fan-favourite in later years. His complexities and moral ambiguity make him a compelling and distinct character among his more strait-laced Robin-brothers. Sadly, the character has seen little growth since his rage-filled reintroduction into comics. The ‘former Robin becomes a villain’ idea was enough for DC to coast on for a while but since rejoining the heroes, Red Hood has done little else. His personality expanded through his partnership with Roy Harper in the Red Hood/ Arsenal mini-series. But when not paired with Arsenal, Red Hood becomes one-dimensional. His history once mirrored Dick Grayson’s—his personality now mirrors Batman’s.

Batman’s mission has been a war on crime in Gotham City—it informs his every action and relationship. Similarly, Red Hood’s singular refrain since his return has been his simmering anger towards his adoptive father, Bruce Wayne. His rage stems from the fact that Batman let the Joker off the hook despite him murdering Jason. Though this is a solid character trait to explore, it begins to lose its appeal when there’s no other dimension to the character. Especially since DC Comics already has a single-minded protagonist in Batman—Red Hood needs to be more than ‘Batman in a red mask’ to carry a series.

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Three Jokers and the Theme of Trauma

Throughout the New 52, and Red Hood and the Outlaws, Jason Todd has been trying to convince his father to get revenge on the Joker, or to at least explain why Gotham’s greatest villain is still wreaking havoc. The recent mini-series Three Jokers promised to give Red Hood closure. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, writer Geoff Johns described the events of the series like this:

“Barbara and Jason have gone through so much, as has Bruce, and it’s really focused on healing, on scars and wounds and what that does to somebody. If you suffer some trauma, you don’t just get over with it and move on with your life, it changes who you are. Sometimes it changes you for the better, sometimes it changes you for the worse. You can heal right, and you can heal wrong. That’s really what the book’s about: Healing right, healing wrong, and surviving.”

But instead of healing Jason, Three Jokers essentially re-traumatizes him. The series reveals that young Jason, as he was being crowbarred to death, promised to be the Joker’s Robin in exchange for his life.

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Whether or not this series is canon, such a statement comes across as gross, gratuitous, and unnecessary. Then to have Jason murder one of the Jokers in cold blood proves that the character has no healthy coping mechanisms. Three Jokers tries to bring Red Hood some solace by introducing a romantic relationship with Batgirl, who was similarly traumatized by the Joker. Unfortunately, the relationship goes nowhere—as has been the case with most of Red Hood’s romantic dalliances.

The character’s relationship struggles can easily be traced back to his anger with his father. Batman still hasn’t done anything to alleviate his son’s sense of betrayal. In Three Jokers, Batman point-blank refuses to engage with the topic. By the end of the three issues, not only has Batman not apologized to Red Hood for failing to avenge him, he doesn’t give him an explanation as to why he’d done such a terrible job at keeping the Joker off the streets. Instead, we learned that Batman always knew the Joker’s real identity and just didn’t bother to do anything about it. What a superhero Gotham City has. That this dance has continued for so long explains why Red Hood is running in place.

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It isn’t just his own death that Red Hood must deal with. He’s recently lost his best friend, Arsenal. This could have been a great way to pivot Red Hood’s story, but his solo series series has him brush off the events of Heroes in Crisis like it was nothing instead of mourning Arsenal’s death or finding healthy ways to grieve. In canon stories like his own team series, or in miniseries like Leviathan or Three Jokers, Red Hood has been unable to move on precisely because he can’t get any resolution to his trauma.

Jason Todd is compelling when read in short bursts, but for fans who engage with all his arcs, he becomes repetitive. There are now fanfiction stories out there that examine and resolve his relationship with his father and brothers, all without resorting to him murdering people in cold blood or mourning off-page. Fanfiction writers looking for depth in Jason have had to delve into their own imaginations because what they’re getting in the comics is too shallow and repetitive.

How to Move Jason Todd Forward

What Red Hood really needs is for DC to let him have emotions, like a real human being. If the Lazarus Pit changed how he processes and expresses feelings, his stories should engage with that aspect of his personality. Red Hood still needs to exist in society—and society runs on emotional connections. How does a person who doesn’t emote like the people around him adjust in the world?

Readers do know that Red Hood clearly still has some feelings—even if they are on the negative spectrum. But again, this is an area that is aching to be explored. If Jason Todd is essentially a sociopath with memories of being a functioning member of society, his series could explore how he reins in his violent tendencies so he can be a hero.
There is room to move Red Hood away from being a primarily action-oriented character to a cerebral one and take readers into the inner workings of his mind.

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It’s also time to give Red Hood a book where he sits and talks to his father. Really talks. This shouldn’t require much effort. Though Batman has his finger in many pies, his strained relationship with Red Hood hasn’t filtered into his solo title. The few times Jason has appeared in the Batman comics, he has been surrounded by his brothers and is almost jovial.
This comes down to different writers taking a stab at the character in their series, but there must be a way for the creative teams of these varied books to get together to move the character forward. Especially now, with a new writing team taking over Red Hood and the Outlaws, this is a great opportunity to introduce new storylines, characters, and different ways to explore how the character works.

Alongside mending Red Hood’s relationship with Batman, he also needs to be allowed to have a good old cry about Arsenal. It’s 2020 and high time to let the “boys don’t cry” mentality die out. Red Hood’s story feels unfinished because he hasn’t mourned one of the most significant deaths in his life. His relationship with Arsenal colored Red Hood’s personality and his actions—Jason went from being a solo vigilante to becoming Arsenals’ partner. He should be getting grief counselling to process the loss he has suffered and begin the process of moving on.

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This is particularly true in 2021 when so many people have lost someone and are unable to grieve because of the pandemic. Red Hood’s circumstances may not mirror the world as it is now, but they are still extraordinary. If he can’t exactly schedule regular visits to a therapist because of his efforts to protect the world, he could be shown to have video calls with a counsellor—not only will readers find such panels relatable but it will also help remove a lot of the stigma around men getting psychological assistance.

Taking Red Hood past his trauma requires a new perspective on the character. The mainstream comics world is still overwhelmingly cis, straight, white, and male. That not only makes the characters seem similar, but it also holds them back from reflecting the times they are living in and the readers who devour their stories. It is time for characters like Red Hood to step into the 21st century—to accept that they need a mental health day (or at least a few comic book issues) so that they can become functioning members of society. Wouldn’t that make for a much more compelling story than a trigger-happy man with two guns?

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A writer at heart with a fondness for well-told stories, Louis Skye is always looking for a way to escape the planet, whether through comic books, films, television, books, or video games. Louis always has an eye out for the subversive and champions diversity in media. You can find er on Twitter @LouisSkye77.

Killzone developer Guerrilla Games had a smash hit with 2017’s Horizon: Zero Dawn, and the sequel Horizon: Forbidden West is set to release later this year. However, it appears the Killzone franchise may have been a casualty of this success. The official Killzone website is no longer available, instead directing players to visit the main PlayStation site in its place.

As spotted by VGC, the official Killzone site now only shows a notice page letting visitors know it has been “retired” and that it will soon forward them to PlayStation.com instead. You can no longer create or manage clans in the PS4 launch game Killzone: Shadow Fall, either, though you can still play online multiplayer in the game as normal.

“Thank you to Killzone.com’s many fans and visitors throughout the years for their enthusiasm and support,” Guerrilla Games said on the site.

The notice does not say the Killzone franchise has ended, though we’ve heard little on the franchise since Shadow Fall released in 2013. That game ended on a cliffhanger with the ISA and Helghast armies seeing renewed conflict after a period of Cold-War-like silence. A Vita game developed by the defunct Guerrilla Cambridge, Killzone Mercenary, was also well-received for its bite-sized campaign missions and engaging online multiplayer.

Though it would certainly make sense for Guerrilla to focus all its attention on Horizon going forward, it does leave the PS5 without a big exclusive first-person shooter. The Resistance series has also been on ice since the early days of the Vita, with Insomniac Games now focused on Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank.

Jonas Neubauer, a Tetris player who won the Classic Tetris World Championship seven times, has died following a medical emergency. He was 39 years old.

In a statement on his own Twitter account, the emergency was called “sudden,” with those running his account saying they were “overwhelmed with grief” and more information would be provided when they had it.

The official Tetris account offered its own tribute, calling him “one of the greatest classic Tetris players of all time in skill, spirit, and kindness.”

Neubauer won the majority of Classic Tetris World Championship competitions, and he specialized in the NES version of Tetris. This included a stretch of winning the first four iterations of the tournament from 2010 to 2013, and another three in a row from 2015-2017.

On his YouTube channel, Neubauer shared footage of some of his best games and offered tips to aspiring players. Fans expressed support in the Twitter replies to the news with their condolences, as well as their appreciation for the positive and non-toxic attitude he brought to the competitive scene.

Our condolences and thoughts go out to Jonas Neubauer’s friends and family.

As one of the most-anticipated games of 2021, Gotham Knights has some big bat-shaped boots to fill when you take to the streets as one of Batman’s four protégés. While the Batman: Arkham series of video games focused on a lone caped crusader, developer Warner Bros. Montreal is taking a different approach and emphasizing co-op play as you protect the city in the wake of Batman’s death.

“We have entirely redesigned the combat system in order for it to work well in co-op,” executive producer Fleur Marty said to GamesRadar. “Of course, we’re still a brawler, and some of the mechanics won’t feel totally alien for people who played and enjoyed the Arkham series, but it is in many ways very different.”

According to creative director Patrick Redding, the drop-in and drop-out co-op gameplay resulted in a redesign of Gotham City, so that enemy encounters wouldn’t feel claustrophobic. “Gotham is a city of alleyways and rooftops, so the footprint for gameplay needs to be compatible with that,” Redding explained.

As players progress through the story, they’ll be able to level up their skills and abilities to keep pace with the supervillains who have taken over Gotham’s five boroughs. Progress is shared between characters, and you’ll be able to swap between Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin whenever you return to their base of operations, the Belfry.

New gear, costumes, and gear can also be unlocked in the Gotham Knights base of operations, allowing you to further refine your playstyle between the heroes. Enemies will also scale to your level, which results in you being able to spend more time experimenting with different characters and playstyles, which also results in less time spent grinding for experience points.

You can also check out our Gotham Knights interview with Redding and Marty, where we discussed making a distinctly new story, how the RPG systems work, and more.

If you love Bob’s Burgers, you loved Dave Creek. He was an adventurous funny outgoing amazing artist and one of the most incredible, interesting people I ever met. I often thought that Dave really knew how to live, and I wish he got to live some more. Rest In Peace, buddy. 💔 https://t.co/PMf1jKT0Zc

— Wendy Molyneux (@WendyMolyneux) January 8, 2021

Today we tragically lost our Lead Character designer and friend, Dave Creek. A wonderfully brilliant and talented man who I can guarantee designed your favourite character on Bob’s at some point. I’ll miss you, buddy x https://t.co/NOxEq1VOGw

— Simon Chong (@chongster62) January 8, 2021

We lost a great artist and a great friend at Bobs today – our lead character designer Dave Creek. Here’s one of his many designs, Lady Tinsel, and one of his incredible tree houses. pic.twitter.com/5yX4fZ8ZiQ

— Bernard Derriman (@derriman) January 8, 2021

Walter Hamada is the most dangerous kind of enabler.
His lies, and WB PR’s failed Sept 4th hit-piece, sought to undermine the very real issues of the Justice League investigation.
I will not participate in any production associated with him.
A>Ehttps://t.co/07OJ74PJra

— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) December 30, 2020

I strongly suggest that @TheWrap amend this article immediately.
While I appreciate the reporter’s undying desire to do @wbpictures and Walter Hamada’s bidding—it is factually inaccurate.
I did not publicly step down from anything.
1/5https://t.co/905q9eX2QX

— Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) January 7, 2021