8 Bit As Good

Remember 8 bit games? I do and when I was digging out my closet the other day, I found some old GameBoy games. As I held these games I thought about how popular 8 bit games were 20 years ago and all of the countless hours I spent playing Super Mario Bros, amongst many other games. Understanding that the times have changed and gaming has advanced to the point that you can play an opponent from half way across the world, we have to respect the classic games that started it all and gave us such iconic symbols such as Zelda, Mario and Donkey Kong. Don't get me wrong, all the new games today being so fast paced, with graphics that are so real it looks like a movie, it's hard to play 8 bit games. However for me, 8 bit represents a journey back to my childhood. So the next time you're cleaning your room or accidentally come across an 8 bit game lying around, take a minute to respect and play it for 5 minutes. You won't be disappointed, I know that I wasn't.

My Favourite 8 Bit Games:

• Classic Mario Bros.
• Legend of Zelda
• Mike Tyson's Punch Out
• Burger Time
• Donkey Kong
• Pac Man 

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This week's On My Shelf item is a Hellboy pencil sketch drawn by Mouse Guard's fame artist David Petersen. I have a few of David Petersen's incredible water colours but among all of his artwork, this is one is my favourites. For more of David Petersen's work, check out this link: http://mouseguard.bigcartel.com/

The Savage Welker

In this looooong overdue blog post, I will be focusing on one of the all time greatest voice actors.. Frank Welker!!! For those of you who don't know who Frank is, well look no further than those 80's cartoons like Transformers. It was on that very successful show that Frank voiced the main antagonist and leader of the Decepticons: Megatron!!! One interesting fact of this native from Denver is that his first job in the industry was a commercial for Friskies dog food commercial. The most amazing thing for me is the fact that people love Peter Cullen's voice (Optimus Prime), but a hero can only go as far as the villian takes him. Welker's voice adds a strong presence and holds its own against the power deep monotone voice of Peter Cullen. As a young boy growing up, I loved Optimus Prime's voice as well as the character but now looking back over the years, it's both Peter and Frank that not only captivated a young man's imagination but cemented Frank Welker as one of my favourite voice actors of all time!

Frank's other notable roles -

1) Fred Jones, "Scooby Doo"

2) Marvin White, "Super Friends"

3) Dr. Claw, "Inspector Gadget"

4) Slimer, "The Real Ghostbusters"

5) Malebolgia, "Spawn"

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This week's On My Shelf item is Megaton Explosion # 3. This is the first appearance of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon. Savage Dragon was one of the first founded Image character and for a brief time, had a televisions series.  With a very low print run, this book makes as a very rare jem in an any collector's vault.