"Happy 4th of July!!" Thursday July 3rd 2008

So to celebrate the good ole Independence Day here in the States, here are the first appearances for Dawson and Sydney in Chapter 6. This scene was actually going to take place before the last two comics, but I thought it would make more sense to move it forward to this order. As far as the character designs go Dawson didn't change too much. I made his hair a slight more streamlined, but that might be about it. Sydney is the more changed of the two. I definitely like her new hair. She still has a lot of hair, but it's not as huge as it used to be. I also adjusted my initial mock up of this comic to hide Sydney till the fifth panel. I was going to be mean and not show her till next comic, but it would have looked kind of stupid to just show Dawson all comic. Though Rob may have liked that being the Creek fan that he is.

As far as story goes it seems as if Dawson and Sydney don't trust Dai as they sneak out to meet in private. From there they were only a stones throw away from where Tom and Dave are having their little fete so now their hidden arrival throws a whole new screw in the Dave and Tom fight. You'll see just how big or small of a screw in the comic next, next week. More on that later...

I finally beat MGS3 the other night and I started playing MGS4 tonight. I'm still trying to get over the learning curve. The controller mapping is really different compared to the other MGS games. One of the most annoying things about the earlier MGS games was that the "accept" or "enter" button was the Circle button on the PS controller. The X button is used as the "cancel" button. In almost EVERY other game on the face of the Earth, it's the opposite way around. I don't know how many other people were annoyed by this, but I was. So now that MGS4 has gone "normal", I find myself fighting to not do the opposite. Damn you Kojima! Still the game is BEAUTIFUL. I expected it to look fantastic, but it is quite simply the best looking game I have ever played. The whole opening stage really feels like a battlefield is erupting around you as you try and sneak through it. Very intense. I'll post more thoughts about the game once I get more into it. I will say this though, I really ended up liking MGS3. The story was awesome and The End boss fight was one of the best ever. I definitely liked the ending and how I should have seen that ***SPOILER*** the Snake in this game was really Big Boss.

I also went to see the Incredible Hulk on tonight and I thought it was actually pretty good. I had heard good things about it. Everything from it's good to it's better than Iron Man. Well it's definitely NOT better than Iron Man, but it was still a pretty good movie. Edward Norton was solid if not awe inspiring as Bruce Banner. The parts that got me were the Hulk and action sequences. I has seen the trailers and to me it made me less excited about seeing the movie, because the Hulk still looked kind of fake. That kind of went away on the big screen for some reason, whether it be the echoing booming sound system or the hugeness of the picture. I'd give it a solid B+ and not an A only because Liv Tyler was less than ideal and Edward Norton while solid, felt like something was missing.

I also started playing Fatal Frame and I have to say that it is one of the scariest f'ing games I ever played. It's as good as Silent Hill and I really don't like to play it with the lights off even though I will because I'm a freak like that.

Anyway I need to get back to MGS4 and Fatal Frame. I hope those of you in the States have a fun and SAFE 4th of July weekend. Like I mentioned earlier in my post, there will be filler next week because I will be spending TWO nights at Shea to watch the Giants try and kick the Mets collective asses. I feel bad that you have to deal with filler so soon after the last, but this is the Giants and this is the only time I get to see them all year. I hope you can understand. Anyway have a great weekend everyone and I will see you in a week!

River's Top 5 Current Giants He Would Love To Interview
1. Tim Lincecum
2. Omar Vizquel
3. Rich Aurillia
4. Bengie Molina
5. Keiichi Yabu