Comics and video games have had a pretty storied history together. There are comic-based games like Superman on the Atari 2600 all the way to Marvel Ultimate Alliance on… practically every system in existence today; games that directly address the comics format like Comix Zone for the Sega Genesis where your main character can actually break through the panels and shred the pages; or of course, the many video game webcomics that currently litter the web today. Some, like Penny Arcade, are cultural forces onto themselves, providing intelligent and vital commentary on new games and industry happenings.
Ziff-Davis Media/1Up.com editor Jeremy Parish is well aware of this connection and has proclaimed his, let’s call it ‘admiration’, of the comics medium time and time again. He even started a group over on 1Up for the posting of original comics, an experiment that ultimately failed to pan out. But that doesn’t stop him from trying other things.
Maybe it’s because he’s been around a while, earned his dues, gained respect… or just a reputation, but Jeremy has gotten the leeway to post reviews which break traditional mores of what a review should be. Jeremy has explained them away by saying that sometimes he’s written enough about a game that another traditional review would be redundant. Probably true, but consider that these ‘gimmicks’ are often informative, witty, and they really stand out in the increasingly overcrowded field of Internet video game reviews.
And they’re really great examples of comics used for purposes other than entertainment. Check out some of his work, linked for your convenience over at his 1Up blog.