Artists Assemble: Fullmetal Alchemist

A weekly event where members of the group can submit art based on a specific theme. The art must be your own and match the theme!

This weeks theme may require a little bit of homework, but relax but because there are lots of characters and lots of potential! This weeks theme is Fullmetal Alchemist.

Pinako Obachan by Ha Jim Mi

Olivier Mira Armstrong by Adam Bayes

King Bradley by Patrick Mohlmann

Edward Elric by Richard Chin

Risa Hawkeye by Kevin Miller

Winry Rockbell by Breannah Luini

Roy Mustang by Adam Bayes

Edward Elric - Fullmetal Alchemist by Adam Bayes

May Chang by Jason Graziano

Path into the Darkest Dungeon: Interview with Chris Bourassa

Darkest Dungeon is a brand new gothic roguelike RPG game coming out in January 2015 from Red Hook Studios. The game was successful funded on Kickstarter and reached its goal of $75,000 in a day and in total over $313,000. The game is both dark and scary, and something that horror and RPG fans will love. One of the main features of the game is "The Affliction System," in which the characters in your party can feel extreme amount of stress and pressure when encountering the different horrors in the dungeons. Certain characters in your party will develop stress, phobias, other emotional baggage. Making it a unique gaming experience for the player. A few weeks ago, CBNAH staff writer Panagiotis Drakopoulos spoke with Chris Bourassa, the creative director and artist of Darkest Dungeon. To talk about the game, combat system, Kickstarter and many more.

CBNAH: First off, how did Red Hook Studios started off?

Chris Bourassa: Well, it's a partnership. Red Hook Studios is basically a partnership between Tyler Sigman and myself. We worked together at Backbone Entertainment in Vancouver, about six or seven years ago and we hit it off and became friends. We always sort of tried to think of ways that we could team up because we felt like we had complementary skill sets. We both had different jobs for number of years and the timing just didn't really work out. When things kind of click, we decided to really take a shot at doing a indie game together and that's how we formed the company

CBNAH: You worked on the Max Steel series as an art director. Can you tell us you experience as an art director or working in animation?    

CB: So, I art directed the first season of the Nerdcorps reboot of Max Steel. It was a lot fun and intense amount of work. Very different from video games. I thought it would be cool after I spent ten years working in games as a concept artist and art director to try some TV to get a sense how things were different. It was a real learning experience and the deadlines are a lot tighter in broadcast television, the budgets are little tighter, but you learn how to get creative and you kind of sometimes turn some of those weaknesses into strengths. It was really a fun ride and I'm still in touch with a lot of the team that I had over there. They're really great people.

CBNAH: What's the genesis behind Darkest Dungeon?

CB: It just started as sort of sarcastic observation. I really respect what World of Warcraft has done with its art style and really brought so much color into the video game world. I think they had a huge impact but they done it so well it became a thing like Michael Bay, almost. Sort of poke fun at a little bit with the giant shoulder pads, huge weapons and all that oversize cartoon fun-fantasy vibe, which totally suits that game. I just started thinking it wouldn't really matter how much you had invested in your armor or how giant your shoulder pads were or if your sword was eight feet long, but if the actually person wielding it was useless or paralyzed by fear. You know, these dungeons that we run through in MMOs or RPGs are really just window dressing for a loot pinata basically. There are a lot of fun and I enjoy them but I just sort started wondering, in a half-joking way, what if the game actually treated it seriously? Like what if it was a big deal to be way underground with a bunch of strangers and everybody wants to get paid and you're running out of food and your getting sick and arguing. So from there I pitched that to Tyler a little bit and we talked back and forth, and movies like Aliens and John Carpenter's The Thing came up on how there's ensemble cast put under extreme amount pressure and stress. As you watch these films, what happens to these different personalities in these groups fracture and reform as they try to survive. So we thought it would be neat to try to shoot the dungeon crawler though a different lens. Though something that focus more on the personality and mindset of the people doing it as opposed to the abstract statistics of gear grinding.

          

CBNAH: What's the story about? 

CB: I'm a big fan of H.P. Lovecraft, pulp horror and Hammer horror films from the 60s and 70s. We wanted to try blend those elements with low fantasy Medieval European kind of vibe. So the story of Darkest Dungeon is essentially that you received a letter from the head of your noble family, perhaps a long lost grandfather. Imploring you to came back to your ancestral estate and set right what he sort of unwillingly or through greed unleashed on the land. You arrive at this ramshackle little hamlet and everything is just a mess. The lands is all poison, your house is a big wreck and no ones wants to go near it and your not really sure what happened or why things got this bad. But you've got a chest full of gold and enough money to hire some adventurers. So, you take on the role of this young noble person task with hiring a crew of mercenaries and cleaning up the area.

CBNAH: Speaking of Lovecraft, the art style has a Lovecraftian/Hellboy vibe. What are the main influences to the art style of the game? 

CB: Well, there were a couple of considerations, Mike Mignola is obviously a big influence. I wouldn't want to overlook Duncan Fegredo, who also worked on Hellboy. Viktor Kalvachev was the studio art director at Backbone while I was there. He could do this really incredible heavy black stuff that left a lasting impression on me. Artistically those guys are on the forefront of my mind. But we wanted to create an art style for this game, this isn't how I draw all the time. This is really crafted to reinforce the theme, tone and game mechanics. The hard edges kind of speak to the uncompromising quality of the game. The cooling black reminds you of always getting sucked into worst trouble. There's a whole a bunch of theoretical justification of blood. The other consideration is that I needed an art style to tell people that being loose was okay. So I can create a bigger quality as opposed to extremely high fidelity on a crass basis would cripple me as far as getting the game done. We wanted to come up something that felt expressive, dark, a little messy, and disorganized because that blends nicely with the game. But also it makes it easier on me as the artist on the game.    

CBNAH: The game has been a huge success on Kickstarter. What's your response to the backing?

CB: We're very very humble and grateful for the show of support we've seen. Honestly the most profound experience of my professional career just going through this whole process. We were hoping for $75,000 and we really want to demonstrate to people that we spent about eight-nine months of our own money working on this, that's how much we believe in it. What does this mean is we're going to be able make the game that we really want to make. Creatively this represents a huge win for us.

CBNAH: Can you tell us about the combat or turn-based system?

CB: We're really excited about our combat system. Obviously we're still in knee deep in early development but mechanically everything works. It's a pretty cool take on sort of the traditional RPG combat. Basically to reinforce the idea, we set characters up in ranks, they're in a lineup, single file from the side view. Front row guys or front row abilities can be hit and be launched from certain ranges. That translate into it's own little puzzle game where your trying to damage front row enemies with different front row attacks. Use your back row guys against their back row guys and every time you kill an enemy that entire row shifts forward. Some enemies will be forced out of their comfort zone and their attacks will diminish with power. So there's a real back and forth tension. Sort of modern RPG kind of mechanics and sensibility with on top of it, more classic turn-based strategic approach.

CBNAH: How many people are working on the game?

CB: We have four people in-house full-time and a couple of subcontractors and partners. So there's myself, Tyler Sigman who is the executive producer and game designer, Kelvin McDowell who is our lead systems engineer, Keir Miron is the gameplayer engineer, and we partnered up with Stuart Chatwood as our composer. He worked on the Prince of Persia games and he's in a very successful Canadian rock band called The Tea Party. Wayne June is our narrator, he's done a whole bunch of audiobooks. We hooked up with him to basically provide some sort of in-game color commentator, he narrated the trailers. And Power Up Audio which is Jeff Tangsoc and Kevin Regamey, there doing our sound mixing and sound effects. They have been fantastic to work with on the trailers. So we're really looking forward to getting right into development with all of these moving pieces.

   

CBNAH: Will you be appearing at PAX East or any other conventions coming up?

CB: Yes, Tyler and I are going to head out to GDC(Game Developers Conference) and then I think we're going to make an appearance at PAX. It'll be a lot of fun.

CBNAH: With the success of Kickstarter, where do you see the video game industry in the next few years with Kickstarter? 

CB: I, by no means I'm an expert or prognosticator on the video game industry. From somebody who is in the middle of their campaign, what I think is amazing about Kickstarter is that you can speak directly with your customer base. I look at our game as we're trying to provide entertainment to a community and how big that community is will determine how successful the game is. Sort of like a farmer, you farm your crops and sell them off to the surrounding village and return you use that to buy whatever else you need. It's been amazing from my perspective to be able to interact with these people directly and see what excites them about the game, and just engage in back and forth dialogue. That's been really cool. It's great for us as well that we're able to pursue our vision for the game and not have to pander to or be concern with executive reviews, feedback, and publisher relationships. Although, it's certainly not a giving thing due to there's some great publishers out there, as well. But just the creative freedom of just being able to go for it. I think Kickstarter provides that to creators because since your working directly with people who are supporting what you're doing it gives you a little bit more latitude of how you want to do it. It's a fantastic platform especially for indie games. It costs a lot to make a decent game nowadays. This type of platform is really great for the diversity in the industry. There's a lot of interesting indie stuff that's coming up. I find most of the innovative gaming mechanics are coming out of that community as opposed to the giant companies are sort of sticking with the tried and true recipes. It's definitely a hub for innovation.

CBNAH: Did you get to play the new Thief game?

CB: No, I'm preloading it right now. I can't wait. I'm on the PC and I'm really scared because the reviews have not been to kind to it. Thief 2 is probably my favorite game of all time. So, I have not a lot of expectations for this game more like a lot of trepidation. I'm staying up a bit late tonight as soon it goes live and check it out. My fingers are crossed that I will enjoy it.

CBNAH: Where do you see Red Hook Studios in the next few years?

CB: I don't know, quite honestly. I think we're such a small team we have to wear a lot of hats. So, we're really focus on this game and getting this game to be as good as we think it can be. To get it finish and out the door in the hands of the people who pledged their support to make it happen. If it does well, I think it would be awesome to continue working in the same vein with the same people. Everything hinges on how well this game does. I kind of look at it almost like a heist. We assemble the team, we're going in and get the diamonds, we're going to meet up by the fountain at midnight, split up the take and then never talk to each other again (laughs). That was at least the plan going in but if it continues to go the way it has been, I think it will pave the way for much more stable kind of relationship, perhaps something long term. It's exciting

CBNAH: Before we go, can you give the hard sell of the game to our readers?

CB: Well, the game is called Darkest Dungeon. It's a Gothic roguelike that focuses on the personality and state of mind of your adventurers instead of just their gear. We've got a lot of really interesting features in the game, some pleasing looking art, cool horror angle, an Affliction System, and a pretty fresh a turn-based combat system. So, if any of that sounds interesting to you, we love to have you come and check out our Kickstarter page. It's under Darkest Dungeon.

VALIANT Solicitations for JUNE 2014

ARMOR HUNTERS #1 (of 4)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Chromium & Standard Edition Covers by JORGE MOLINA*
Character Design Variant by CLAYTON CRAIN
Armor Hunters Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE
Artist Variant by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Blank Cover also available

This summer, Earth will be the greatest hunt of all when VALIANT FIRST unleashes the first issue of 2014’s must-read crossover event – ARMOR HUNTERS – from superstar creators Robert Venditti (X-O Manowar, Green Lantern) and Doug Braithwaite (Unity)!

A relentless and surgical strike team from the farthest reaches of space – sworn to exterminate the X-O Manowar armor and all like it – have finally found their last target. They will hunt. They will trap. They will kill. And they will rid the universe of the X-O Manowar’s incalculable destructive power…even if it means taking the Earth with it.

In the tradition of the universe-shaking HARBINGER WARS, Valiant’s biggest heroes begin the summer’s blockbuster 18-issue crossover event right here in Armor Hunters #1 (of 4) – and then launch the resistance against the world’s first full-scale cosmic threat with new arcs beginning in Unity #8 and X-O Manowar #26 in June; and Armor Hunters: Bloodshot #1 (of 3) and Armor Hunters: Harbinger #1 (of 3) beginning in July!

*RETAILERS BE ADVISED: Due to the lead time needed to produce chromium, Armor Hunters Chromium Editions will be available in robust but limited quantities set prior to solicitation, and orders may be allocated.

CHROMIUM EDITION: $5.99 | STANDARD EDITION: $3.99
32 pages, full color | T+ | ON SALE JUNE 11 

UNITY #8 (ARMOR HUNTERS)
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by STEPHEN SEGOVIA
Chromium & Standard Edition Covers by MICO SUAYAN*
Character Design Variant by CLAYTON CRAIN
Armor Hunters Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE

ARMOR HUNTERS descends on Valiant’s all-star superteam in an all-new story arc from New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and red-hot artist Stephen Segovia (Superior Carnage)!

When an ultra-powerful threat from deep space begins brutalizing Earth, humanity’s first response is – who else? – the fearless team of heroes, soldiers, and short fuses called Unity! Now it’s down to Ninjak, Eternal Warrior and Livewire – plus some special surprise recruits – to lead the assault on the ARMOR HUNTERS’ frontline...even if they die trying!

*RETAILERS BE ADVISED: Due to the lead time needed to produce chromium, Armor Hunters Chromium Editions will be available in robust but limited quantities set prior to solicitation, and orders may be allocated.

CHROMIUM EDITION: $5.99 | STANDARD EDITION: $3.99
32 pages, full color | T+ | ON SALE JUNE 18

X-O MANOWAR #26 (ARMOR HUNTERS)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by DIEGO BERNARD
Chromium & Standard Edition Covers by CLAYTON CRAIN*
Character Design Variant by CLAYTON CRAIN
Armor Hunters Variant by TREVOR HAIRSINE

ARMOR HUNTERS unleashes an all-new starting point for the world’s most wanted hero – X-O Manowar – right here with a brand new story arc by Robert Venditti (Green Lantern, The Flash) and Diego Bernard (Eternal Warrior)!

Abducted from his own time by a vicious alien race, the courageous Visigoth warrior known as Aric of Dacia spent years in slavery among the stars before escaping with his captors’ most feared weapon – the X-O Manowar armor. Now, stranded in the modern day, the world’s most primitive man also just happens to wield its most powerful weapon. But what is the X-O Manowar armor? And who before Aric of Dacia dared to wield its incalculable power? The ARMOR HUNTERS hold the key to the armor’s untold history and – one way or another – they’ll crush anything that dares threaten their secret.

*RETAILERS BE ADVISED: Due to the lead time needed to produce chromium, Armor Hunters Chromium Editions will be available in robust but limited quantities set prior to solicitation, and orders may be allocated.

CHROMIUM EDITION: $5.99 | STANDARD EDITION: $3.99
32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 25

   

RAI #2
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
Covers by RAUL ALLEN and MICO SUAYAN
Mask Cover by RIAN HUGHES
Variant Cover by BART SEARS
Variant Cover by PAOLO RIVERA

Discover the astonishing world of the 41st century! This summer, Matt Kindt and Clayton Crain’s one-of-a-kind adventure proves that there is nothing else in comics like RAI! 

In the far future of 4001 A.D., Japan is a single endless city-state, governed by a benevolent artificial intelligence and policed by one lone enforcer – the mysterious Rai, spirit guardian of the rising sun. But, soon, a single bullet will shatter the peace it has taken 2,000 years to secure…

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 4

HARBINGER #24
Written by JOSHUA DYSART
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover by LEWIS LAROSA
Variant Cover by CLAYTON HENRY

One of the Renegades is dead…but the battle isn’t over yet.

The penultimate issue of the most important Harbinger story ever told is almost here, and the countdown to the “EVERYTHING CHANGES,” mind-shattering spectacular of Harbinger #25 is heading toward you like a freight train. Hold on tight!

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 18

SHADOWMAN: END TIMES #3 (of 3)
Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art by VALENTINE DE LANDRO
Cover by LEWIS LAROSA
Variant Cover by RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

The curse of the shadow loa is a terrible cross to bear…and Jack Boniface is about to be crushed by it. 

As an army of voodoo invisibles makes war on Shadowman, the tortured spirit inside Jack will begin to consume his soul – and force a final confrontation with his greatest enemy, Master Darque…once and for all.

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 25

QUANTUM AND WOODY #11
Written by JAMES ASMUS
Art by WILFREDO TORRES
Covers by KANO and WILFREDO TORRES

Q+W=DEAD MEAT!

The mad super-scientists of Edison’s Radical Acquisitions are BACK! Well…the ones who aren’t dead, anyway. (Or the ones who were dead and…uh, came back?) WHO?! is the mysterious new leader calling the shots? And HOW?! will Quantum and Woody survive a second fight against the 1980s robots, mad vivisectionists, and evil astronomers who almost offed them the first time?! Wilfredo Torres (The Shadow: Year One) joins Team QW for this hilarious new two-parter!

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 4

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #21
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Art by PERE PEREZ
Covers by SHAWN CRYSTAL and MICHAEL WALSH

Living it up at the Hotel California!

Dead celebrities, an extra-dimensional hotel, the truth about The Doors…and that was all in our first issue! Fred Van Lente’s ground-breaking run continues as Archer & Armstrong face off against their greatest foe, The Lizard King, as the fate of reality itself hangs in the balance!

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 11

BLOODSHOT AND H.A.R.D. CORPS #23
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE & JOSHUA DYSART
Art by AL BARRIONUEVO
Covers by AL BARRIONUEVO and PERE PEREZ

BLOODSHOT VS. H.A.R.D. CORPS – ROUND II!

The six men and women of H.A.R.D. Corps are all that stand between Bloodshot and everything he’s ever wanted – the total destruction of Project Rising Spirit. The clock is ticking down to zero, the stakes are life-or-death…and no one in this fight has anything left to lose.

$3.99 | 32 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 11

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG VOL. 5: MISSION: IMPROBABLE
Written by FRED VAN LENTE, CHRISTOS GAGE, and JOSHUA DYSART
Art by PERE PEREZ and TOM RANEY
Cover by TOM FOWLER

Archer & Armstrong are going to war with Bloodshot and H.A.R.D Corps! (GULP!)

That’s right, Valiant’s globetrotting adventure duo have been targeted for elimination by Project Rising Spirit’s most elite kill crew. Their mission? Assassinate the the newly appointed leader of a homegrown fundamentalist terror sect named…Obadiah Archer?! And if they could take out his mentally ill, alcoholic bodyguard who just happens to think he’s a 10,000-year-old immortal, that’d be swell, too!

It’s an improbable mission with impossible odds. Do Bloodshot and the steely killers of the H.A.R.D. Corps stand a chance against two conspiracy-smashing heroes that never go down without a fight? Find out right here with the complete collection of the mayhem-soaked "Mission: Improbable” crossover, collecting ARCHER & ARMSTRONG: ARCHER #0, ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #18-19 and BLOODSHOT AND H.A.R.D. CORPS #20-21 by acclaimed writers Fred Van Lente, Christos Gage and Joshua Dysart, and all-star artists Pere Pérez and Tom Raney!

$14.99 | 128 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 11
TRADE PAPERBACK | ISBN: 9781939346353

ETERNAL WARRIOR VOL. 2: ETERNAL EMPEROR TPB
Written by GREG PAK
Art by ROBERT GILL
Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN

Long live the Eternal Emperor!

Two thousand years from today, the planet has been transformed by science, technology…and war. The centuries have not been kind to the Earth’s own undying warrior, but a battle that could change everything is only just beginning for the Eternal Emperor and the tattered remnant of humanity under his protection. Will this be a new dawn for the age of heroes – or its death knell? And what uncanny confluence of science, myth, and magic has rendered the world – and its own Eternal Warrior – into war-ravaged remnants of their former selves?

Collecting ETERNAL WARRIOR #5-8, the Fist and Steel’s battle continues right here as New York Times best-selling writer Greg Pak (Batman/Superman) and rising star Robert Gill (Batgirl) build a bridge to the year 4001...and unearth a brand-new era for the heroes of the Valiant Universe.

$14.99 | 112 pages, full color | T+ | On sale JUNE 18
TRADE PAPERBACK | ISBN: 9781939346292

The Console Slayer 3/18/14.

   Ports. To use the definition from About.com, porting a video game is: To modify video game software for one platform so it can be used on a different platform. Not a remake, but a modification to work on other platform(s).

   There have been numerous ports of games over time. Some of the more well-known ones come from arcade to home console. On a historical side note, the Neo Geo AES used cartridges containing actual Neo Geo arcade ROMs (games), no porting required. The only problem with the AES is that it cost $650 retail. Some of my favorite ports were TMNT: Turtles in Time (ported to SNES but not perfectly, also included an extra stage), Strider (ported to Mega Drive/Genesis) and the Mortal Kombat & Street fighter series.Some of my favorite home console to home console ports are the Resident Evil series from PS1/N64 to Gamecube/PS2. Nintendo also ported some of the best hits on the NES like Castlevania and Metroid to Gameboy Advance in the 'Classic NES Series'. Ocean/Midway did an awesome port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to the Nintendo DS as well. I enjoyed a lot of the games and spent countless dollars of my parents money playing them in the arcade but I also enjoyed a lot of these games at home on console, some times by myself but with others as well. It was always fun to be able to bring the arcade experience home with you, even if it wasn't exactly the same.

   What ports stick out in your minds? Do you have any favorites? Ones you dislike? Any stories? Lets hear them.

   For today's chiptune I'm going to share a track from TMNT IV: Turtles in Time again. It had such an amazing soundtrack that there's a lot of choices there. This is another of my favorite tracks from the game from the extra stage 'Technodrome'.

ARTISTS ASSEMBLE- Dalmatian Variant

Ladies and gentlemen, lasts weeks theme was the 100th AA! so to celebrate 101 weeks of AA this weeks theme is........Dalmatian variant!

Draw what ever you want as long as it has a Dalmatian theme in it! Deadpool holding Dalmatian puppies, Captain America in Dalmatian spot costume or even Wolverine in Dalmatian spot PJ's with a cup of hot chocolate! Just have fun!

Dogpool killed his first 101 Dalmatians by Rodney Celerio

This weeks piece is based off zarnala's artwork that I saw on deviantart. credit goes to her for the inspiration. here's a link to it. ---->http://zarnala.deviantart.com/art/Chimpanzee-Jean-Pierre-Bertolette-408981668 by Richard Chin

Mister Sinister by Adam Bayes

Dalmatian Doop & Wolvie in Dalmatian PJs by Kevin Miller

Batman by Thorsten Schmitz

Jamie Madrox by Romir Sucaldito

Deken by Adam Bayes 

Super dog Dalmatian style by Adam Bayes

Iceman by Zeena Benjamin

Dalmatian take on the new Prophet by Patrick Mohlmann

Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder by Jason Graziano

Origins Dalmatian variant by Adam Bayes

Deadpool variant by Adam Bayes

The Spot by Franklin O'Neal

Beast Boy Dalmatian by Breannah Luini