Superman: Earth One 10/28/2010
 Superman: Earth One is a new graphic novel out from DC Comics as of October 27th and it's unique in a lot of ways. Earth One tells the origin of Superman, but in a contemporary setting with modern take on the classic story. This quickly sold out at my local comic book store. Luckily I pre-paid for my copy! To be honest, I was really excited about this new twist to the Superman story. Bringing the story into the modern day to appeal to a whole new generation of readers. Superman is such an iconic character and I can't imagine anything that would make it resonate better with wider audiences, but this managed to do just that. Though I've read and scene the Superman origin by dozens of creative minds (maybe more), J. Michael Straczynski and Shane Davis managed to breathe a new perspective into the character, full of all the classicism the character demands, but full of all the modernity required to make it fresh for a brand new audience. Dan DiDio, the publisher of DC Comics, told me the purpose of this new iteration of the comic had a few different purposes, most notably they wanted to bring Superman to a wider audience of people who didn't need to worry about being bogged down by years of continuity. This is a definite advantage. I count myself as a Superman fan and sometimes keeping all of the stories and characters from the last 75 years can be incredibly difficult. Wiping the slate clean allows you to get to the heart of the character and allow you to update it without years and years of baggage. And Straczynski and Davis have managed to boil the character down to the modern equivalent of his essence and change just enough to make it unpredictable. This Superman is a little darker, a little edgier, a little more brooding. Which has been a mainstay of Batman's personality for years. This Superman is all about Truth, Justice, and the American Way, but he has an added layer to his struggle in that there is a vengeance he must seek out. The plan is to put out a graphic novel set in this universe every year, bringing new readers into the fold and working hard to bring non-traditional comic readers into the story. I'm excited about it and can't wait to read more. A Batman: Earth One book is next on deck and we'll see more Superman next year. I think as far as the comics medium is concerned, this is a very good move. Anything that can bring a more diverse array of readers into the medium is good news in my book. But I'm biased, I've been fascinated by the combination of art and literature uniquely offers us since I was just a boy.  Add Comment Nintendo turns 25!! 10/19/2010
 October 18, 1985– not exactly a day that will live in infamy but one which forever changed the world. Twenty-five years ago, the Nintendo Entertainment System was first sold in America, almost two years after its introduction in Japan as Famicom. Initial sales were not good. Nintendo had to guarantee purchases of systems by retailers, who were promised they could return unsold units for a full refund. What a contrast to today’s blockbuster releases of the PS3 and XBox 360, or the NES’s great-great grandchild, the Wii. Like the Wii, Nintendo marketed its system differently– as a system that came with a zapper light gun and a robot– A FRICKIN’ ROBOT!!! –as opposed to just controllers. NES launched in the US packaged with Duck Hunt and Gyromite and only had 11 other titles:
I have fond memories of most of those games– probably more than they deserved. Especially since in that first year, Nintendo only sold about 50,000 units. Our family, didn’t get an NES until Christmas of ’87, AFTER Nintendo found their blockbuster (and seemingly everyone else had one–t hanks mom and dad!): Super Mario Bros. Come on, now. Who can’t sing that theme music? “I’m sorry, but our princess is in another castle” was a meme before anyone knew what the internet or a meme was. Other classic titles followed: Contra (up, down, up, down, left, right….), Ikari Warriors (A, B, B, A), The Legend of Zelda– in it’s distinctive and beautiful gold case!, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out (before he raped someone and went to prison, before he bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off, and before his redemption in The Hangover), Super Mario 2, Super Mario 3, Metroid (JUSTIN BAILEY), Castlevania I, II, and III, Dragon Quest (“Thou encounterest a slime!!” “Attack the slime!” “Thou Art Dead”), Tetris, Dr. Mario, Battletoads, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, Double Dragon (Anyone else feel weird beating up women in that game? Or using the whip on them?), Blades of Steel (speaking of fighting), Ice Hockey, Major League Baseball, Bases Loaded, Double Dribble, and, of course, the Final Fantasy and Mega Man franchises started on NES. I’m sure I’ve missed some, even some obvious ones. Huffington Post has a top 25 list of the greatest NES games of all time. Thoughts? (Damn those liberals for not including pro-NRA games like Hogan’s Alley!) The venerable Nintendo entertainment System may turn 25 today, but my inner child will always be 10 years old for the joy it brought into my life. Too bad this newest generation will never know the joy of blowing on a cartridge to get it to work… What about the rest of you robots? Favorite game? Favorite NES-related memory? Gauntlgrym Scavenger Hunt Winner 10/18/2010
SCAVENGER HUNT UPDATE: Congrats to Jonathan Westmoreland, the first eligible participant who correctly answered today's clue question (and both of yesterday's clue questions, too!). Here's the correct answer, since everybody will need it in order to solve the riddle at the end of R.A. Salvatore's online tour beginning 10/22/10. Remember to visit all the other tour stops to find the rest of the clues clues. Schedule, contest details, and official rules are available here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/promotions.aspx  Gauntlgrym Online Scavenger Hunt 10/18/2010
The following question relates to the riddle that @Wizards_DnD tweeted yesterday. Solve this question for a prize. And a clue! Because the answer is the third of eight clues that will help you solve the riddle at the end of the week when the online tour wraps up. The first person to comment on this blog post with both the correct answer to the following clue question and his/her Twitter user name wins today's prize. Please note that in order to be eligible you must: 1) Follow @Wizards_DnD on Twitter; 2) Read the official rules and complete the online entry form -- both of which are available at: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/promotions.aspx  FROM WIZARDS OF THE COAST: Visit all the stops during R.A. Salvatore’s week-long Gauntlgrym online tour to find the seven other clues. At the end of the online tour on 10/22/10, put all the clues together, be first to solve the riddle and tweet about it, and win a signed copy of Gauntlgrym and a trip for two to D&D Experience in Fort Wayne, IN. You must include @Wizards_DnD and #gauntlgrym in your tweet. Riddle-solving tweets won’t be accepted until 12:01 a.m. EST on 10/22/10. Motivational! 09/22/2010
Here are a few motivational posters to help you get through your day. All brought to you by our super powered friends!           Epic Failures!! 09/22/2010
On Monday nights show (September 20th 2010) we were talking about epic failure posters that are out there on the net and how funny and crazy some of these are. Well one of our listeners reminded us of one simple fact. We are on radio and though we can see you folks out there can not. So here we are posting those Epic fail posters on the blog for your enjoyment!        Captain America Set Photos! 09/09/2010
 So Malak has been salivating at the bowl just waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of what Steve Rogers would look like in his full Cap attire. With Captain America: The First Avenger rolling at full steam now, we were bound to get that sneak peak. Daily Mail is the first one to snag some set photos featuring our patriotic hero himself filming a motorcycle chase scene – from Agents of H.Y.D.R.A.! The report states that that isn’t actually Chris Evans in the costume, but a stunt man, but it’s still pretty cool to see the costume “IRL” – and there are wings painted on his helmet/mask thing! My first impression was that the costume looks a little cheesy, but sometimes things don’t translate from a basic set photo but that was more about casting complaints, not the costume . . . Also, if I remember correctly, the costume stems from something Steve Rogers is forced to wear to support the troops at a USO-type show – which he then modifies into the costume he continues to wear. So maybe this is the former? In any case, pretty exciting to see! You can check out two of the photos below, and the rest of them along with a set report over at Daily Mail!   Helm give me warp factor 2!! 09/01/2010
 So last night the three of us including Bane, Nate from Mountain West Paranormal, and the 14 year old engineering genius Jayden traveled from the Salt Lake Valley down to Pleasant Grove, UT to have the chance at a real scifi space mission. The Alpine School district is home to the Christa Mcauliffe Space Education Center. They run space flight simulators for the kids to teach them about space flight as well as with private parties. Author Jaleta Clegg is one of the many amazing people that work at this center and since meeting her she has always talked about this space camp/flight simulator she helps run. Well last night we had the chance to fly a mission for the USS Odyssey. Malak to command of the ship as its Captain, A Guy Named Joe was Number one. I was at the Helm and running communications, Nate was tatical, Jayden was our engineer, and Bane did the scanners and everything else he could to help including transporter controls! We had a great time flying the Odyssey through the mission, some of us were flying all over the place like a crazy mad scientist! Others were overwhelmed with the responsibility of command! In the end though we were floating in space with no Impulse or warp engines, No Weapons, Shields on Full, and infected with an Alien virus. Thanks to the mad last second and I do mean last second, Bane literally transported an active torpedo in our ship that was one second from blowing up over to the enemy ship to save the day and defeat the eveil ghost ship! At the end of the day we were able to say we hadn't died and defeated the mission. If you haven't done this before and you are a huge Star Wars or Star Trek Geek you have to try this out!! Batman: Under the Red Hood 08/01/2010
DCR recomends the latest DC animated film BATMAN: Under the Red Hood for you adults out there, This one is not for the kiddies. Unfortunetly Kevin Conroy wasn't hired on to do the voice of Batman in this movie but they make up for it with a great story line, great animation and a Bad Ass Joker beating a kid with a crowbar! How can you not love this movie?? So with DCR and the Geek Show Podcast recommending this title how can you not want to check it out??  Reality Check - What a ride its been! 06/09/2010
This morning something amazing happened that at this moment I can't announce yet. However I was thinking that wow! We are a year and a half old and look at everything we have accomplished. Back in December of 2008 when Malak and I sat down deciding to do a podcast based on a geek show we made some basic goals. 1. Learn how to do a podcast. 2. Publish our podcasts. 3. Get a website. 4. Get on-air on a radio station. We then jokingly set up the goal of interviewing Tracy Hickman and RA Salvatore. Both amazing fantasy authors, which have made huge impacts on our lives both with gaming and reading. For those of you that have been following since the beginning we have had our bumps and bruises along the way. We have lost our hosting for our podcast and we went to a CON with no experience in interviewing people. So we were able to get our first three goals out of the way and put out fifteen podcasts and then got online with CONDuit a large CON based in Salt Lake City. CONDuit really changed our lives and the direction of the show in May of 2009. We were pretty much the newbies on the block but everyone treated us like friends. They sat us down with our very first interview. Up until this point the podcast had always just been Malak and I. So here enters in Howard Tayler. Author and Illustrator of Schlock Mercenary and we knew nothing about him and boy did he let us have it! Now don’t get me wrong Howard wasn’t rude in any way but he seemed a bit put our or annoyed that we didn’t know who he was. After that we did an interview with Dan Wells a great guy that was a friend of Howard’s. They do a radio show Writing Excuses and he said he enjoyed interviewing with us and they would do a plug for us. Little did we know that this would be the catalyst that changed our fate forever. You know how you watch a movie and there is that one pivotal moment in the movie that forever changes what happens from that point on? This was that moment. We went in to this panel for writing excuses thinking that this would help get our name out there. Well then that moment struck and the guys at writing excuses had forgotten their recording equipment. We offered to help out since we had all of our equipment on hand at our table. We rushed back got all of our equipment and the rest is history. After that panel we had tons of interviews and we really grew stronger in our interviewing skills. Then form there we were approached to do a live internet radio show. Two months later we were live on-air with UtahFM. Since then we have had many great experiences and met many great and talented people. We have interviewed L.E. Modesitt Jr., John Brown, Dan Wells, Clint Johnson, Dan Willis, Larry Correia, Paul Genesse, Howard Tayler, Sandra Tayler, Jaleta Clegg, B.C. Hailes, and Brandon Sanderson to name a few. And finally after all this time in May of this year we interviewed Tracy Hickman a dream come true to be sure! That interview will be posted as a podcast later today. And now today I spoke with RA Salvatore and Bob gladly agreed to interview on our show. We are now in the works of arranging an interview with WotC. Malak and I are ecstatic! This last year has been a dream come true and has really helped to fuel our passion and desire for the show. We want to thank all of our listeners new and old. Please tell your friends and family about us! We want to thank everyone that has given us a portion of their time to sit down and interview with us. We are very excited for the upcoming GeeX Expo at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, UT and the upcoming to air interviews. Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings book release party and the many more things we have coming in the future. Who know what the next year will bring but if anything it will be a fun and wild ride!! -Revan | AuthorWELCOME TO DUNGEON CRAWLERS RADIO, the internet radio show and podcast about and for all things considered Geek and Music. Join your hosts Revan and Malak for events, news, people, tech, games, movies, and other things geek. Your guides to the other side of the taped up glasses. The dark side of the force. Tune in and listen to Revan and Malak every Monday night from 6:00pm to 9:00pm MST on www.UtahFM.org  We want to thank Howard Tayler, writer and artist of the Schlock Mercenary webcomic for drawing the awesome caricatures of The two of us.
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