Around the Web January 16, 2014

On more than one occasion we’ve talked about how great digital comics are and apparently we are not the only ones who think so. Comixology is the (non-game) iPad app with the highest profit for 2013. In the last seven years Comixology has sold 6 billion pages worth of comics, 4 billion of those were sold just in the last year. Assuming an average paper thickness of .1mm, if last year’s sales were physical comics, they would be a stack of paper that reaches from New York City to Washington DC. Thankfully for the trees, these were digital sales.

It is also interesting to note that many people who bought their first comic online have also started buying print comics as well.

Comics Alliance has a great piece about a new series called Nova Phase.  After reading this article, I went ahead and picked up the first two issues on Comixology (both released 1/15) and they were fantastic. It’s a familiar mix of science fiction and westerns much like Firefly, but of course it has little, wonderful touches that makes it feel unique. The art is fun and reminiscent of 8-bit style–though with more than eight colors–and it takes me to a happy place.  As someone who was raised on NES and SNES games, I think this is a well designed bit of retro that doesn’t allow itself to be handicapped by its limitations.

I want one!

There is a great varient cover that I’d love to get my hands on, so if anyone knows where I might be able to find it, I’d be a very happy man.

It is no secret that Nintendo has been having issues with its Wii U console. One of the biggest reasons for this is the startling lack of third party game support. As it turns out a lot of this lack of support is Nintendo’s own fault.  A senior designer for one of the third party developers discussed many of the problems they encountered which included an underpowered prototype CPU, language barriers and Nintendo’s impressive lack of knowledge and experience with online game play. Designers were forced to jury rig computers to mimic the Wii U’s lackluster processor.  It takes a week or more to find solutions to issues that arise, and these are still more often confusing than helpful.

Not winning any awards as a developer’s best friend.

While I do own a Wii U, I only use it for vintage games and I am unimpressed with the system as a whole. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I couldn’t even get it to play a DVD.

Finally, A Tolkienist’s Perspective gives us an insightful look at some of Tolkien’s lesser known works. I think we’re all familiar with The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit but many people don’t know about his shorter stories. Personally, I only knew of one of these works (Farmer Giles of Ham), but now I’m going to be adding the others to my reading list. A Tolkienist’s Perspective provides context for these stories without giving away all of the delightful details that are Tolkien’s trademark.

I’m just glad that The Adventures of Tom Bombadil only contains two poems about Tom Bombadil. I really don’t like Tom.