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DrewEdwardJohnson In reply to kefkafloyd [2013-01-15 04:42:56 +0000 UTC]

I don't know if the issue got very far into production or not---I wasn't involved with it. I do know that after we got the inks for the cover turned in, the cover was never colored and my editor disappeared. Devil's Due still owes Ray and I money for cover work we did for them, and about once every year or two, we both get checks for a couple of dollars from Josh and a nice letter about how Devil's Due is still trying to pay all of it's freelancers even after they've been out of business for a few years now. It's nice that Josh is trying, but ultimately, I'm not sure how I feel about that.

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kefkafloyd In reply to DrewEdwardJohnson [2013-01-15 05:20:33 +0000 UTC]

Wow, I had no idea things went down like that. I'm guessing the Lost Planet guys never got their checks, either. If you had the original, I'd buy it off you and frame it (and maybe scan and give it a proper color treatment). I'm sorry to hear that went down with the publisher; the same thing happened to GRIN (the guys who made the recent Bionic Commando games); Squaresoft decided to stop paying them money and they folded. I've seen a few other covers and scraps of work out there (specifically for issues #0 and #2), but it looks like BC never got very far.

Thanks for the reply and I really dig your Masters of the Universe stuff.

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DrewEdwardJohnson In reply to kefkafloyd [2013-01-15 17:45:45 +0000 UTC]

No problem---And Thanks!
It's odd that Bionic Commando was so doomed. I had no idea the property took such a dive. It's too bad---The new game looked pretty cool. It's funny though---Nostalgia projects really seem to be hit and miss with the public and corporate cultures. Some, like GI Joe and Transformer seem to blow up all over again, and others like, Bionic Commando, and the old '60's Avengers tv show don't seem to find their audiences again. I guess it's just random what ideas will stick, or re-stick.

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kefkafloyd In reply to DrewEdwardJohnson [2013-01-15 20:47:22 +0000 UTC]

Well, I've been a fan of BC since the 80s, and I enjoyed the new game (and BC: Rearmed and Rearmed 2). I think the revival was doomed from the start for a variety of reasons, even though we only really think about them in hindsight. There's things about BC 09 that bug me, but on the whole it was a good (if misunderstood) game and I think it'll be a cult classic... kind of like the NES original. I would have eaten up these comics like you wouldn't believe. I think the story would have worked if it didn't get so dark/bleak at the end. People loved NES BC because Rad was this unlikely hero who said some cheesy lines (Your number's up, monster!) and, well, because you blew up Hitler's head. It had a happy ending, you saved the world, etc. BC 09 didn't really have that. It was that clash with people's nostalgia or expectations that relegated BC 09 to a one-note joke about wifearms. But I also think NES BC was one of those old classic games that, because it had a few memorable scenes, got blown up to be a much bigger title than it really was, in terms of sales and who actually played it. Still a wicked fun game, but very hard. It took a lot of investment.

BC '09 was a sales failure due to corporate culture (capcom was not interested in really promoting it, there was no real controls at GRIN) and the fact that it was released too early. There were fundamental story problems too... I will admit that I didn't care for Dread Spencer and I always used the "retro" redhead and shades skin in BC 09. It's not that Dread Spencer was a bad design, it was just too much of a change for a project based on nostalgia to swallow. Again, that whole expectations mismatch. But the meat and potatoes, the swinging action, was extremely good. I still replay BC 09 once or twice a year and wonder what might have been.

I was a bit too involved; I was one of two admins for the official BionicCommando.com forums at the time (though I did not work for Capcom) and was privy to some behind the scenes stuff. I'll still carry the torch for BC as long as I can play games, and at least Spencer did show up in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Based on my knowledge, the death of the comic series was probably linked both to Devil's Due collapsing and the fact that the Bionic Commando brand is, for all intents and purposes, tarnished. Fortunately, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has done a lot to improve Rad's stature.

Capcom has been burying all of their franchises that are not Street Fighter or Resident Evil these days. Mega Man is dead; we're lucky that the Archie comics have been as good as they are even though they are oriented towards a young audience. So many of their good franchises and ideas aren't going anywhere because the suits in Japan are not willing to give something a chance. It's a shame, and Bionic Commando will probably be asleep for another ten years until some guy decides to try to revive it again. Give Bionic Commando to a real AAA western developer (like EIDOS or Bethesda or Bioware) and you might see something really interesting. But Capcom is not interested in that and their in-house devleopers are not up to the task.

I liken it to the recent TRON revival. TRON: Uprising is one of the best shows on television right now, but it's just not sticking, due to Disney putting it on a network that nobody has and a time slot that nobody watches. It's a property that I think if they wanted to continue it in comics form that it would be very successful.

Anyway, thanks for reading my comments and maybe there'll be room in the world again some day for a wise cracking guy with a bionic arm.

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DrewEdwardJohnson In reply to Hart1000 [2008-12-12 18:42:51 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, Hart! Glad you like 'em!!!

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DrewEdwardJohnson In reply to PaulRenaud [2008-12-12 18:46:48 +0000 UTC]

Hope so too--Haven't gotten to see it yet, so I'm crossing my fingers!

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