The Lobo ParaMilitary Christmas Special, embedded above, is a surprisingly well done student film about a very disgusting character. Lobo is a crude, juvenile figure, initially conceived by Keith Giffen to be a parody of Marvel Comics’ Wolverine (who wins the Stresslines Worst Comic Character Fueled By Dew award every year without fail). I don’t really have a problem with Lobo because he doesn’t demand to be taken serious. He commits genocide for fun, uses nonsensical expletives (such as bastich) and is very protective of endangered space dolphins. He is a symbol of the ridiculous excess of 90s comics. It’s almost magical.

This afternoon I was reading old scans of Nintendo Power from Retromags (because that’s what nerds do when they’re drunk in the daytime). I was surprised when I stumbled across a Super Nintendo game I wasn’t familiar with: Lobo. Lobo the fighting game, staring Lobo the character! The reason I had never heard of it is because it was never released. Not surprising, after reading the full feature.

Here are high resolution scans of the entire feature: one, two, three, four and five. It’s worth reading for anyone who played fighting games in the 90s, as the preview has a moves list that’s almost identical to Street Fighter II. There’s something telling when a six page spread is filled with controller commands instead of gameplay impressions. No wonder this never made it onto store shelves.

But wait, there’s more! After some extensive detective work (a single google search), I uncovered a ROM of the Sega Genesis version of the game. Spoiler: it’s most certainly a prototype, and you’re life will be no different if you choose not to play it.

Hey, remember that British television show Spaced? The one by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and
Jessica Hynes? From back in the day, when we were kids. It was really great and quite funny.

Apparently there was an American pilot produced for Spaced, and some footage has surfaced on YouTube as part of an actor’s demo reel. It’s… uh, exactly the same. It’s almost a shot for shot remake of the first episode but with different actors. Just to compare, here’s the exact same scene from the British version. It’s quite painful to watch the American remake after that. Sort of like going to visit the house you grew up in after new owners moved in. It feels so familiar, but there’s something off about it that just makes you uncomfortable.

I just ordered my copy of the Korg DS-10+ synthesizer from Amazon and a peculiar thing appeared on the recommended items page: Jam Sessions 2. This game apparently came out in October, but I haven’t seen it mentioned on any of the 527 game blogs that I follow in Google Reader. There’s not even a Wikipedia page for it! Honestly, the first game was rather boring, so I couldn’t justify purchasing the sequel… until I saw these amazing screenshots.

It’s like the interface was torn out of the back of an old Nickelodeon Magazine. Gorgeous! If anyone knows the illustrator responsible for this, please let me know.

I live in Newbold, which is one of those fancy “revitalized” Philly neighborhoods. It used to be part of Point Breeze up until a few years ago, when nice families started moving in and local business owners stopped getting shot. One of my favorite parts about living here is walking past the Drexel School every day. It’s a big old 19th century elementary school. I think it’s been abandoned for as long as I’ve been alive… there are trees growing out of the top. It’s like something out of Jumanji, except I never have to see Kirsten Dunst’s stupid face. It adds a very cool touch to the neighborhood.

But the Drexel School’s days are numbered! The historic site is being destroyed. Workers appear to be doing it brick by brick, as if they want the ghost of Francis Drexel to slowly suffer. I can understand why it’s being taken down. I mean, the place is a total death trap right now. The interior is in shambles and it would take tons of fifty dollar bills to fix it.

You can check out many more great photos at this Flickr page. The big question is: what new structure will replace this awesome old building?

Luxury townhomes. Yay! That’s so much better than a grocer or a restaurant or a park or any of the other things my neighborhood could use. I will be calling these townhomes Douchebag Village.