Comics
11 Most Tragic Comic Characters: Honourable Mentions
Here are the tragic comic characters that didn’t make the final cut!
This series has been a strange one to right about. The majority of the work I do is entirely subjective in nature but I actually had to find myself really stacking up which characters I thought were objectively more tragic. In fact, my soul reason for creating this list was because I wanted to talk about Amadeus Arkham at further length.
That and I wanted to stress in my introductory essay that comic books are not just low brow forms of art. As comic book writer Kevin Smith pointed out in his four hour interview with Grant Morrison, comic books are simply novels that are pretty to look at. I wanted to show some three dimensional characters that go beyond what we typically see in straight up comic book adaptations, that the average person does not truly get to see and appreciate the massive amount of depth that this medium has. This is why I bookend my series by talking about Greek theatre and Amadeus Arkham, who’s story is positively Shakespearian in its depravity.
There were, as always, comic characters that did not make the final cut and in keeping with tradition I will be talking about them here.
Originally I planned to have The Lizard in place of Mr. Freeze and the reason he lost out in the end was because I didn’t really think there was much I could say other than the typical things we usually hear from most stories dealing with topics such as lycanthrope. There is a beast trapped inside him and it’s not his fault, and it’s all because he wanted his arm back. It’s not that I don’t think he has a sad story, he does, but Mr. Freeze allowed me to talk beyond just the tragedy of the character, it allowed me to talk about comic book history using him as a jumping point. This is something I just couldn’t do with The Lizard.
The second one was Yorick Bowe from Y: The Last Man. Yorick and his pet monkey, Ampersand are the only male mammals left alive on planet Earth. The idea of being the last man on earth is scary enough, yet alone trying to reconcile with a loved one who is miles away. The story of Yorick is certainly tragic however I left him out purely because despite his name coming up a lot when researching I just plain don’t know enough about the character and story of the comic. This is something I of course want to change, and maybe he should have made the final cut, but I couldn’t include him in good conscious knowing that I could entirely be talking out of my arse.
An obvious honourable mention goes to Batman, but the reason I didn’t include him was because it’s so tiring to see him on every list that’s remotely similar to this one. That and I’m not really sure I agree that Batman’s story is as tragic as it is dark. While of course it’s true that losing your parents at any age, let alone as a child, is certainly sad there just wasn’t enough to put him on the list. Part of the reason I included Spider-Man as an honorary eleventh member (even if his article was using him as an example of classical Greek tragic hero as opposed to a full article) was that Spider-Man holds responsibility for the death of his Uncle, whereas Batman holds no responsibility for the death of his parents.
While it could be argued that some interpretations of Batman’s origin story have them leaving the theatre because he is afraid, this still does not give him responsibility over his parent’s death. He was only a little boy who would have been powerless to stop the mugger anyway. Spider-Man, on the other hand, had the power to stop the mugger, but lacked the sense of responsibility to do it. Hence the famous phrase now attributed to Uncle Ben.
There was also characters like Martian Manhunter and the Silver Surfer, who like Yorick Bowe, I just didn’t know enough to write about but one that I had to stop short of writing about was Tim Harrison.
Tim Harrison is a character who might not be known to a lot of people however to Spider-Man fans he is a very beloved minor character. Tim Harrison is Spider-Man’s biggest fan, collects as much to do with the webslinger as he can, and he requests to meet Spider-Man. After their long talk he asks to see Spider-Man’s real identity, to which Spider-Man obliges. Of course many fans would be puzzled as to why Spider-Man would do this until the last few panels of the comic, where it is revealed that what Spider-Man did was grant a little boy dying of leukaemia his dying wish.
This comic, known as The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man is widely regarded as being one of the greatest Spider-Man stories ever told, and while it certainly lacks the depth of Kraven’s Last Hunt it was very sad and very touching. Ultimately the reason I didn’t include him was because I only thought of him very late into writing this series and I wasn’t sure there would be a lot that I could say outside of: “it’s sad that kids die”.
What his character really served to do was add another layer of heroism to Spider-Man, and while it certainly does its job well I just didn’t feel there was enough to Tim Harrison as a character to give him his own article.
Well, we’ve reached an end to this series. Thank you to all those who have stuck with it to the end. , I’m very grateful, and I will see you next time.
DISCLAIMER: I am taking a brief break from comic books to write about some other topics, as I’ve said before: You don’t want me to hate them! 😛
My next few articles will be about some different topics but you’ll see me back on comic books soon!
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Artificial Intelligence
Gaming models are created by Auctoria using generative AI
Aleksander Caban, co-founder of Polish VR game developer Carbon Studio, noticed a major problem in modern game design several years ago. He manually created rocks, hills, paths, and other video game environment elements, which was time-consuming and laborious.
Caban created tech to automate the process.
In collaboration with Michal Bugała, Joanna Zając, Karolina Koszuta, and Błażej Szaflik, he founded Auctoria, an AI-powered platform for creating 3D game assets. Auctoria, from Gliwice, Poland, is in Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2023.
Auctoria was founded on a passion for limitless creativity, according to Zając in an email interview. It was designed to help game developers, but anyone can use it. Few advanced tools exist for professionals; most are for hobbyists and amateurs. We want to change that.”
Using generative AI, Auctoria creates various video game models. One feature generates basic 3D game levels with pathways, while another converts uploaded images and textures of walls, floors, and columns into 3D versions.
Like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, Auctoria can generate assets from text prompts. Or they can submit a sketch, which the platform will try to turn into a digital model.
All AI algorithms and training data for Auctoria were developed in-house, according to Zając.
She said “Auctoria is based 100% on our content, so we’re not dependent on any other provider.” It’s independent—Auctoria doesn’t use open source or external engines.
In the emerging market for AI game asset generation tools, Auctoria isn’t alone. The 3DFY, Scenario, Kaedim, Mirage, and Hypothetic startups create 3D models. Even Nvidia and Autodesk are entering the space with apps like Get3D, which converts images to 3D models, and ClipForge, which generates models from text descriptions.
Meta also tried tech to create 3D assets from prompts. In December, OpenAI released Point-E, an AI that synthesizes 3D models for 3D printing, game design, and animation.
Given the size of the opportunity, the race to market new solutions isn’t surprising. According to Proficient Market Insights, 3D models could be worth $3.57 billion by 2028.
According to Zając, Auctoria’s two-year R&D cycle has led to a more robust and comprehensive toolset than rivals.
“Currently, AI-based software is lacking for creating complete 3D world models,” Zając stated. “3D editors and plugins offer only a fraction of Auctoria’s capabilities. Our team started developing the tool two years ago, giving us a ready-to-use product.”
Auctoria, like all generative AI startups, must deal with AI-generated media legal issues. Not yet clear how AI-generated works can be copyrighted in the U.S.
However, the Auctoria team of seven employees and five co-founders is delaying answering those questions. Instead, they’re piloting the tooling with game development studios like Caban’s Carbon Studio.
Before releasing Auctoria in the coming months, the company hopes to raise $5 million to “speed up the process” of creating back-end cloud services to scale the platform.
Zając stated that the funding would reduce the computing time required for creating worlds or 3D models with Auctoria. Achieving a software-as-a-service model requires both infrastructure and user experience enhancements, such as a simple UI, excellent customer service, and effective marketing. We’ll keep our core team small, but we’ll hire more by year’s end.”
Comics
Syphon Filter on PlayStation Plus Premium: Dark Mirror and Ape Academy 2 Have Awards
Even though trophy support for older games on PS Plus Premium isn’t always great, you can always count on Sony’s first-party games to have it.If you like collecting these digital trinkets, you’re in luck, because today’s big PlayStation Plus update includes two classic games that can now be used to earn Trophies.
Each trophy list for Ape Academy 2 and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror includes the platinum cherry on top. You can look at their respective listings here and here if you’re interested.
The list for Dark Mirror appears to be quite simple—you can basically earn them all by finishing the game. The trophies in Ape Academy 2 appear to be a little more complicated, requiring you to complete particular objectives in card battles and advance to specified rankings. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem too difficult, so we’re looking at a couple of quite simple platinums.
Ridge Racer: Type 4 is this month’s other premium classic game; sadly, it does not offer trophies. But it makes up for it by being a complete banger.
However, will you be obtaining some of these trophies with a nostalgic flavor?
Comics
Beautiful New Book Teaches About the Art of Horizon Forbidden West
This year, Sony produced some truly outstanding work, releasing four high-profile games on the PS5 and PS4 (not to mention the numerous PC ports). The earliest of these, Horizon Forbidden West, arrived in February of 2022 and got the year off to a strong start. One of Aloy’s sophomore journey’s greatest strengths, among the many other things we like about it, is its excellent art direction. The Art of Horizon Forbidden West allows you to now delve deeply into the game’s visuals.
This coffee table book, which was published by Dark Horse Books, contains 200 pages of concept art and developer commentary. It provides an inside look at the process used to develop engaging characters and settings, and Forbidden West is certainly not lacking in either.
There will be two editions of the book: standard and deluxe. Both are hardback books, with the deluxe edition having pages with metallic edges and a unique slipcase. These are now up for pre-order and will go on sale on April 25, 2023.
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