LTTP: WCW vs. NWO: Revenge!

This story begins on a dark and stormy night. The place is Atlanta, Georgia and the year is 1998. A tractor trailer drives down a lonely, dusty road. Ahead, something goes up in flames! A man in dark clothes and a baseball bat stands in the middle of the road! The semi can do nothing but slam the breaks halting only inches from the face of...Sting (The wrestler, not the singer)! The driver is visibly distraught as a poorly voice-acted 'WUUUT?!' escapes his lips. Fade to black and cue the music.
This is the opening cinematic to THQ/AKI's WCW vs NWO: Revenge in 1998. This blew my mind the first time I saw it. It impressed me so much, in fact, that I called my father (A man who to this day disdains video games) into my room and said "Still think all video games are stupid? Well look at this!' My dad watched the cinematic, obviously unamused, looked at me, then to my Michael Jackson cardboard cut-out and my Theodore Rex movie poster, sighed with disappointment, simply said 'Yes, I do.' and left the room.
Now that my far too personal issues are out of the way we can talk about this amazing game. As you may remember it was a sequel to WCW vs. NWO: World Tour. It had only come out a year prior to  Revenge and introduced the best grappling system ever created. One major problem with World Tour; It looked like crap. Or perhaps the game was secretly sposered by Play-Doh, so therefore all the wrestlers had to look like they were made of it. I think THQ thought this game could use a major face-lift and put out Revenge.
And what an improvement it was. Everyone on the roster had a detailed model with characteristics that made each one different from the other. Except for Eric Bishoff's model, it was pure garbage.  So lets talk about this awesome looking roster. There were so many wrestlers to choose from.

NWO White/Red, WCW 1-4, Raven's Flock and a couple to made up factions to shove Japanese wrestlers in there. Some roster highlights: Eddy Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Hollywood Hulk, Bret Hart, Macho Man, Goldberg, DDP, British Bulldog ect, ect, ect. Roster Worsts: Eric Bischoff.
In addition to the grapple system, Revenge added the spirit meter. This meter showed you just how pumped your wrestler was. When your meter was full you could strong grapple into your wrestler's special move by wiggling the N64 toggle stick. If the meter was low, there was a good chance you would get pinned or tap out. Interesting note; Revenge was one of the few N64 games that had you hold the controler at the 9 and 3 postitions and not the more common 6 and 3. Also, just for fun, do  you know what wrestler could not make full use of the revolutionary grapple system? Eric Fucking Bischoff.
You could also pull weapons out of the crowd. Chairs, bats, trashcans (My favorite.), mallets and trashcan lids. There was a fine art to using the weapons however. If you used them sparingly your spirit meter would rise and the crowd would cheer. Relentlessly pummel someone and the crowd would turn on you causing your meter to fall. There were some wrestlers who had some special advantages when it came to weapons. LaParka always starts with a chair and Dake Kim would always pull a wooden mallet from the crowd.
There two things this game did not do well and I'm finding is a problem with most wrestling video games. First, look at that box.

No, YOU were supposed to bring the buns, Brother!

 Are they arguing in a sauna? No wait, they were Photo-shopped into one. Someday they'll figure out how to make a good looking box. Also, note Raven's Sandman shirt, Neil Gaiman must have loved the free advertising for his comic. Considering Revenge ultimately sold just under 2 million copies, that's a lot of eyes on your overrated comic. (Comic nerd rage)
Secondly, the music just sucks. Imagine the worst dub-a-wub-a butt rock you can, put it on infinite loop and then try not to go insane.
There is so much more to this game but I feel I've already rambled too long. All I'm going to say is you have the means, buy a N64 and play this game. Sure, later games have more features, modern wrestlers, no Eric Bischoff and create you own wrestler modes. None of them hold a candle to this game. Sadly, with developers more interested in better graphics over game-play and THQ barely able to keep its head above water, we may never seen one like it again.

This article was originally posted on www.hipsquaredcircle.com a site dedicated to the modern wrestling fan! Go check them out!

LTTP: Preacher

It's hard to pin-point what Garth Ennis' critically acclaimed Preacher is all about. The series is an ode to 'The Greatest Generation', cowboys and war veterans. The series is a sharp knifed rebuttal against the disenfranchised self-loathing/indulging of the 80's and 90's. The series is a critique on modern religious super powers and it is also an eulogy to the self-made man of morals in a complicated world. I could tell you fifty more but what it all boils down to is that Preacher is damn good book.
Jessie Custer is a frustrated preacher in Texas. One day a supernatural being from Heaven inhabits his head, giving him the power of the 'Word of God.' When Jessie uses his power, no being -not even God himself- within earshot can do anything but obey his commands. This is the world created in the first few issues of the series. The dirty little trick and genius of Ennis' writing is that Jessie -in the entire 66 issue run of the series- uses that power less than 10 times. What is even more awesome as a reader, you don't even care.
Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon have created one of the most interesting and amazing cast of characters I have ever read. I really care about what is happening to each and every one. My palms sweat when a hero is in peril. My mind races when a villain, that I hate to love, is about to meet his doom. I pour over every sentence of back story, even for the most minor of side-characters. There is an entire 8 issue run, where none of the main-characters even show up.

Each character has a disturbing history

 So what kind of stories do these characters get into? Well, to be simplistic, all the story arcs, including the main plot is about revenge. Characters forced into impossible situations by despicable villains and the reader squirms as the heroes some how exact perfectly timed revenge.
No character embodies the book's motif of revenge better than the aptly named Saint of Killers. I don't think I'm alone when I say he is my favorite character and he has the best story. His plot line follows closely to that of Jessie's and (I might be alone when I say this) is the true Hero of the series. He is the ultimate cowboy. He is the self-made man, doing his duty. Imperfect? Yes. Conflicted? Not at all. Willing to kill God by using a complicated loop-hole that God himself unwittingly created just so he can have his revenge and rest at the throne of the almighty so as to be finally at peace? Oh hell yeah.

'There ain't worse than me in all of Hell....Go an' look!'

Just for fun, when you begin to read the Saint of Killer's origin story take a good look at the young guy the old man is speaking with. Then as you read watch the progression of the main antagonist's character art in the story. That's story telling genius that can only be pulled off in a comic book.
Now, I am in no way saying this book is perfect, it most definitely has its flaws.
-The first 7 issues are not even good. They do just enough to create the world until the real story telling begins.
-All major antagonists are deformed sexual deviants.
-It puts bestiality, pedophilia, and rape on the same level as homosexuality.
-A few -extremely rare- times some major plot holes are opened never to be resolved. (I can only think of one off the top of my head.)
-A few characters are never given the proper back story that is afforded to almost every other character.
Though the last two may be because the comic was obviously ended somewhat too soon. The first can be written off as Ennis not having a 'feel' for his creation that early in the series.  The villains being sexual deviants is boring and juvenile but even Spielberg uses this trope in his movies.
But to equate homosexuality to pedophilia?  Characters are hated and hate themselves for being gay. It's inexcusable and ignorant.

It's kind of a sad joke around the comics community that Preacher would make a good movie or mini-series. Considering it has been in development hell since 1998 and it's major theme is killing the Christian God, I'm inclined to believe it will be there for a long time.
I'm also of the thinking that Preacher is already in it's best medium, preserving the pre-911 era and attitude in an extreme and somewhat backwards tale of revenge.
I highly recommend this book. If you're worried that I may have spoiled too much of the book with this article -trust me- I have not even scratched the surface. It would take me a 100 posts to even come close to spoiling this comic. I don't want to write a 100 posts on Preacher so go out and rent it, borrow it, steal it if you must but just read it!