By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

IN an effort to expand services to its players beyond games, online game publisher Level-Up! activated last weekend Game Heroes, a Flash-based website that highlights the best and most unique players of its games.

In an interview, Level Up! Marketing Manager Carlo Ople said the website aims to create model players from among the ranks of gamers in the five games that the company publishes in the Philippines.

Ople said Game Heroes is seen as a website where their gamers “become legends.” These players have eventually made a name for themselves as consistent winners of tournaments or contributors to online forums.

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NO one doubted “The Dark Knight” was going to be a blockbuster, particularly since it’s the last movie of the late Heath Ledger and buzz has been building around his portrayal of The Joker. But I don’t think anyone really expected it to be this huge, as it posted $158.4 million in its opening weekend to break the previous North American box office opening record.

Fittingly enough, DC’s Batman beat rival Marvel’s franchise comic book character Spider-Man (but I’m still a big Spider-Man fan), as the previous record holder was “Spider-Man 3″ with $151.1 million.

Check out this video report from Access Hollywood.

Yup, Hollywood is definitely benefiting from comic book characters with all the comic book movies that have been coming out in the past few years. By the way, if you loved the graphic novel like I did (and who doesn’t heh), I’m sure you also can’t wait for the “Watchmen” movie. If you haven’t seen the “Watchmen” trailer yet, you can check it out here.

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

COMIC books still appeal to many people, collectors and non-collectors alike. And if there’s one thing that everyone loves, it’s freebies and what more can make a comic book fan happier than free comics?

At the Free Comic Book Day celebration at Comic Odyssey in Robinsons Galleria, comic book enthusiasts lined up just to grab copies of the comic books. The event, which is an annual activity for Comic Odyssey, is aimed at reinvigorating the comic book collection community.

In an interview, Azrael Coladilla, co-organizer of the Free Comic Book Day celebration at Comic Odyssey, said dozens of titles were available during the event, including DC and Marvel comics.

“Comic Odyssey had stocks that also needed to be disposed so those were also given away as part of Free Comic Book Day,” he said.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

LIKE previous movies based on Marvel comic book characters, the first film about a particular Marvel superhero is an origin story. The goal is to come out with a film that mostly stays true to the comic book version to satisfy longtime fans, while also appealing to a new audience unfamiliar with the source material. This is a formula that has been wildly successful for some Marvel films (i.e. “Spider-Man” and “X-Men”), though some have been less than spectacular (i.e. “The Punisher” and “Daredevil”).

“Iron Man,” Marvel Studios’ latest comics-to-Hollywood production and also its first self-financed film, follows the same formula, and thankfully this is a movie that will satisfy fans without melting the brains of the uninitiated. Marvel Studios tapped the directorial services of Jon Favreau, who made sure that the audience will care about the characters even without having read the comic books. It helps that the talented Robert Downey Jr. plays the role of fictional playboy billionaire industrialist Tony Stark and his alter ego Iron Man.

This review will of course contain spoilers, so those who would like to watch the movie without knowing anything about the plot should stop reading. The movie starts with Stark, whose company designs state-of-the art weapons for the US military, being kidnapped by a group of terrorists in Afghanistan. In a flashback, we learn that Stark is in Afghanistan to demonstrate his company’s latest weapon, the Jericho missile system. The terrorists now want to force Stark to create a Jericho missile for them, using parts from Stark Industries weapons that they have gathered.

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THE HERO from Hell is back in action. Check out this “”Hellboy II: The Golden Army” courtesy of Solar-UIP Philippines.

Did you love the first movie? And are you looking forward to this sequel? And have you read the Hellboy graphic novels and books?

I’ve got to admit that I’m relatively new to the world of Hellboy, after enjoying the first movie, and have just begun saving up for the graphic novels. So let me know which ones you’d recommend.