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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. Unlike the other Level Up! websites, Game Heroes will look and feel more professional. All of the featured gamers will have their own personal profiles and photos posted in the site, as well as their achievements in the games they play and even video interviews. Ople said that the local game publisher will continue building the content of the site. Soon, it will add profiles of the international players of some of the games particularly Ragnarok Online World Championships in October. "We've gotten support from our gaming partners. For one we are hosting the upcoming Ragnarok Tournament so we will be posting the profiles of the Ragnarok players who will compete," he said. One of the future plans for the site is to turn it into a social networking portal, though Ople did not mention details as to how this would be done. Game Heroes features the best and the most unique players in the company's roster of online games, including Ragnarok, Perfect World, and Freestyle. Here's my video interview with Level Up! Philippines's marketing manager.

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. Coladilla also said this was the first time their event was live-streamed through the Internet, enabling people abroad to watch. Another highlight of the event was the presence of renowned Filipino comic book artists Gerry Alanguilan and Edgar Tadeo, who were there to sign autographs and create sketches of visitors. Alanguilan, in particular, was signing copies of Graphic Classics, which were given away to the first 200 people who attended the event. This issue of Graphic Classics features art and cover by Alanguilan. Check out this video interview with Alanguilan. Coladilla said the event will become a regular activity as long as there are comic book enthusiasts in the Philippines. Editor's note: Videos taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

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. Instead, Stark makes his first armor, which he uses to escape. His imprisonment makes Stark realize the full extent of the death and destruction his weapons are wreaking, and in his first public appearance he announces that he is shutting down his company's weapons division. After the board of directors opposes his decision, Stark fashions two new armors, the last one carrying the more familiar red-and-gold color scheme of the comic book version of Iron Man, which he uses to battle his former captors who have overrun a village. It is here that the full arsenal of the Iron Man armor is seen, as Stark uses a variety of weapons, particularly the repulsor blasts that come out of the palm of his hands. He uses a rocket launcher attached to his arm to destroy a tank, while a shoulder-mounted multi-barrel gun shoots several enemies at once with pinpoint accuracy. Iron Man's armor is also tough enough to absorb the blast from a tank round, and he is also shown outmaneuvering fighter jets. Unfortunately, Obadiah Stane (played by Jeff Bridges), who was the partner of Stark's father and who headed Stark Industries before the younger Stark took over the reins, turns out to be the villain in this movie. He manages to get hold of the plans of the first Iron Man armor Stark used to escape the terrorists as well as the remaining pieces of the armor, and orders the scientists at Stark Industries to create the behemoth Iron Monger armor. (Editor's note: The armor wasn't referred to by the comic book name Iron Monger, though Stane has a line early in the movie about the company selling weapons because they are "iron mongers," just as Stark initially did not refer to himself as Iron Man until after he saw the headline of an article that used this moniker.) This sets the stage for Iron Man and Iron Monger, with Stane inside controlling the armor, to face each other man-to-man and iron-to-iron. Apart from the special effects (the movie tapped George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic to do most of the digital effects in the movie, and visual effects master Stan Winston to create the Iron Man costume), the film makes sure that audiences will enjoy watching the characters. Downey gives a good portrayal of Tony Stark, though Downey injected a welcome dose of sarcasm. There is also a lot of comic relief in the form of Jarvis, Stark's artificial intelligence program (as opposed to the butler in the comic books), who clearly matches Stark's attitude. One particular toy in Stark's arsenal is a fire-extinguishing robotic arm that Stark keeps berating due to the machine's over-enthusiasm in extinguishing even the smallest fires while he tests his rocket boosters. Gwyneth Paltrow plays the caustic but dependable Pepper Potts. The movie versions of both Stark and Potts stuck true to their comic book sources as Potts and Stark have always had a strong sexual tension, much like James Bond and Miss Moneypenny. Meanwhile, Terrence Howard plays a good role as Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, who always gets into debates with Stark but remains loyal to him. In one part of the film, Rhodes sees the Mark II suit in Stark's mansion and seems to consider wearing it, but then says, "Next time." This is a reference to his wearing the War Machine armor in the comic book series, and indicates the possibility that War Machine will be part of the next Iron Man movies. As you can see, Favreau made sure the movie has plenty of references that comic book fans will recognize, and in fact Favreau himself has a small, if not recognizable role in the film as Stark's driver Happy Hogan, who is his longtime friend in the comic book. The legendary Stan Lee, who was one of the creators of the original comic book Iron Man, of course also makes a cameo in this movie, as he has in other Marvel films. So does S.H.I.E.L.D. (Editor's note: The movie also has a reference to longtime Iron Man foe the Mandarin, in the form of a line referring to the foreign fighters aiding the terrorists as the Ten Rings. In the comic books,  Mandarin is a villain who has ten actual rings, each with a different power.) All in all, Iron Man is a good popcorn movie filled with much-to-be-expected action sequences and special effects. While some might just watch it for the visual treat, the movie also features good performances from the actors, a smoothly flowing storyline and lots of humor. It surely deserves a sequel.

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.

ERASE the Ang Lee disaster from your memory. "The Incredible Hulk" is a new beginning, and we've got the trailer courtesy of Solar-UIP Philippines. The movie stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt. Here's a pic of Edward as Bruce Banner, also provided by Solar-UIP Philippines.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net THE LATEST installment in the Turok first-person shooter series will become available starting Thursday at DataBlitz stores, according to Maricel Espiritu of DataBlitz. "Turok for the PS3 will be available tomorrow at all our branches, though there is still no advisory yet when it will be available for the Xbox 360," Espiritu said. One thing going for this latest version of the game is the simplicity of the story. No longer are alien masterminds or alien technology involved (well, not too much, anyway). Also, what sets it apart is the multiplayer FPS setting where aside from worrying about your opponents, you have to worry about dinosaurs walking around trying to have you for lunch. Turok has the beginnings of a survival horror survival game as you start with nothing but your trusty knife. But from the initial images and videos, you will be using your trusty knife a lot as the game has a lot of cool knife action scenes built into it. Considering that Turok has always been a great bows and arrows and knife game, this was sort of expected, but using current generation console technology, it is an immense leap from the unrealistic dagger waving of old. Turok, Son of Stone began as a comic book character that first came out in 1954. Since then he has appeared in various incarnations of the comic, the last being from Valiant Comics and Acclaim Comics. Turok will also be available for the PC in March.

HEY, check out this 30-second "Iron Man" ad that was aired during the Super Bowl. This upcoming movie based on the Marvel Comics character stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the billionaire industrialist who becomes the armored superhero.
Online Videos by Veoh.com Video provided by our friends from Solar-UIP Philippines.

THIS is the 30-second "Wanted" ad that was aired during the Super Bowl. Loosely based on the comic book miniseries by Mark Millar, this upcoming movie from Universal Studios stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Common, and Kristen Hager.
Online Videos by Veoh.com Video provided by our friends from Solar-UIP Philippines. For more videos, visit INQUIRER.net VDO.

STEVE ROGERS may be dead, but Captain America lives. But who's the new Captain America? Whoever he is, the new Captain America makes his debut in Captain America #34. Actually, it's not a big surprise -- he's someone you already know if you're a Captain America fan :) Here's an excerpt from the Marvel Comics announcement.

The Eisner award-winning creative team of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve Epting, joined by special variant cover artist (and industry legend) Alex Ross, present the beginning of a new era that has everyone from The Colbert Report to NPR buzzing!

Here are images of the two covers provided by our friends from Marvel. Here's the Epting cover. And here's the one by Ross. CAPTAIN AMERICA #34 Written by ED BRUBAKER Pencils & 50/50 Cover by STEVE EPTING 50/50 Cover by ALEX ROSS Rated T+ …$2.99