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Fox and Hare’s All Explosive Cyberpunk Action! (and May 25th Release)

Fox and Hare is all cyberpunk, and is finally headed to comic book stores near you this week. (or mail order)

Fox and Hare #1 From Vault Comics Not to be confused with the stop-motion animated series of the same name, Fox and Hare, by Vault Comics is all cyberpunk! That’s a good thing for the duo who take on this codename about two bounty hunters, or should that be mercenaries? Because of unforeseen circumstances, this comic originally slated for November 2021 was delayed. But it’s on track for release ‌soon.

Jon Tsuei (writer) and Stacey Lee (artist) have crafted a work that brings the colourful aesthetics from Blade Runner to life. It’s not as noir as the film, but instead comes through as slick and clean. Lee’s manga style presentation gives us a work that truly shows how Asian talents can reclaim the aesthetics of the cyberpunk genre. These talents wanted to demonstrate this ability, and I feel this debut issue does the job.

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The Usagi Chronicles isn’t Running at Full Throttle Yet

The first season of The Usagi Chronicles is rough and has some pacing issues.

Fans of Usagi Yujimbo by Stan Sakai are most likely thrilled that he’s fully crossed over to the animation medium in The Usagi Chronicles. His appearances in the past were scant and even though Miyamato is mostly a background character in this new Netflix series, it’s his ancestor, Yuichi Yujimbo, who is the star of Samurai Rabbit.

The emphasis is on the latter since it’s his story. This youngling’s goal to become a samurai. One day, he’ll be the leader of the team he’s friends with. The first episode sees him having difficulty gaining Gen the Rhino, Kitsune the Fox, and Chizu the Cat’s respect. This rabbit has much to learn, especially when making the rough and tumble streets of Neo-Tokyo his “home.”

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It’s Frantically Fun with Turbo Overkill Early Access in Review

Trigger Happy Interactive
Apogee Entertainment

Available on Steam for the PC

What would you do if you find that everyone in your city has been turned into violent half-cybernetic war machines, bent on taking over the world for a malicious artificial intelligence called Syn? As a cyborg with a chainsaw hidden in your leg and missile launchers up your sleeves, you’ll fight your way through the streets and take back the city. Blasting your way through hordes of enemies to put an end to the AI’s plans once and for all!

Turbo Overkill is simply a love letter to the 90s. It’s a first-person shooter that mimics what computers were capable of back in the early days of 3D accelerator cards while adding some modern touches like reflections and proper environmental lighting. The level design, brightly glowing power-ups, colour-coded keys, jump pads, and a huge variety of ways to blow up your enemies just screams mid-90s shooter. Playing this early access game over the last few days really brings back memories of playing Quake, Unreal tournament and Duke Nukem 3D for the first time.

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The Matrix Resurrections Missed Opportunity

This fourth film feels more like a cowboy western than anything else.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Spoiler Alert

To bring back The Matrix nearly 20 years later with Matrix Resurrections has fans wondering what happened in the meantime? There were two video games (one considered canon) and a spinoff animated anthology. The leads Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss said they’d love to revisit this franchise, and they’ve aged a lot. As for whether that’s important to the Architect (the enemy), it’s hard to say. That leader is gone.

Their feelings for each other is eternal, and is hard to comprehend by a hive mind. There’s no way to describe in code or an algorithm the concept of love. Their synergy is very different from others as apparently, it can help power the simulation.

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Shoot ‘Em Up Cyberpunk, with Turbo Overkill!

Turbo Overkill takes over-the-top to never-before-reached heights. Activate Hero Time(™), a new form of slow motion with a twist. Build incredible speed by wall-running and dashing.

TURBO OVERKILL - Gameplay Reveal - YouTube Turbo Overkill, the ultraviolent cyberpunk FPS from the creator of award-winning DOOM II mod Total Chaos and published by Apogee Entertainment, promises to paint Paradise blood red in 2022. This game will be delivered on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.

The trailer drop last week looks great! It shows a very fluid game as a player navigates through a neon city like the character is from Promare and delivers lots of carnage. In what isn’t revealing is in how Fifth Element the whole game feels. yes, players can jack cars in a race around the city to kill opponents and perhaps even blow up the digital web! But for good ol’ fashioned gun play, the smooth frame rates being teased at says it all.

From the Press Release:

Rev up the savage chainsaw leg and start chopping as Johnny Turbo, a mercenary returning to clean-up his crime-ridden hometown of Paradise. In this Blade Runner-meets-DOOM hellscape, Johnny finds the city’s entire population possessed by Syn, a rogue AI, and its army of augmented minions. Desperate for enough money to outrun his past mistakes, Johnny takes on the impossible job of destroying the greatest AI ever created. Rival bounty hunters want to claim the prize first… nothing is easy in paradise.

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‘Punk it up with Vault’s Fox and Hare!

The protagonists of our story are rebelling against the status quo of their world just as much as we, the creators, are rebelling against the status quo of the cyberpunk genre.

Fox and Hare Comic Book Cover Vault Comics
Coming November 2021

Vault is thrilled to announce Fox and Hare, a thrilling new cyberpunk series co-created by writer Jon Tsuei (Sera and the Royal Stars, Run Love Kill), and artist Stacey Lee (Marvel’s Silk, The Unstoppable Wasp, Gwenpool).

When black market coder Aurora Yi uncovers top secret data that has tapped into the past lives of the citizens of Mazu Bay, her world is turned upside down. The mega corporation Synastry Designs wants its data back and is hot on her trail. Aurora has no choice but to turn to the Fox and the Hare, the most feared mercenaries in the city, for protection. Rebellion. Reclamation. Rebirth.

“I’ve always been drawn to the cyberpunk genre, but I never saw myself represented in those stories, despite their heavy usage of Asian aesthetics,” said Jon Tsuei. “I began to wonder, what if Asian people reclaimed the aesthetics of cyberpunk and centered ourselves in the narrative? As I spent time with that question, I realized that it wasn’t enough to just place Asian faces in the story. We also had to reframe the themes of new technology (cyber) and rebellion (punk) through an Asian lens.

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