A screenshot from Darksiders.: Vigil

Games
• Normally the beginning of the year is an extremely dry week for releases, but not so this year. With the release of Modern Warfare 2 last November, lots of studios got cold feet and felt intimidated by the Call of Duty Juggernaut. Rightfully so, as CoD became the best media release ever. Props to Nintendo and Ubisoft for going against CoD:MW2 and holding their ground. So now we’re going to have a very interesting line-up for early 2010, and this first week is not disappointing.

Bayonetta: (PS3, 360) Extremely anticipated action/shooter from the people that brought you Devil May Cry What’s it about? I don’t really know, except that it has Sarah Palin as the lead character whose outfit is made from her hair and she has guns on her shoes. Okay, has a better story than that, but I like that idea better.

Darksiders: (PS3, 360) I’ve been waiting for this one. As a comic fan in the ‘90s I was exposed to Joe Madureria, and now he’s making video games. Described as a hybrid between God of War and The Legend of Zelda, I really have high hopes that it won’t be a clone.

Comics
After last week’s only release (Blackest Night #6) and Marvel’s New Year’s Eve Eve parties, the schedule is going back to normal.

• DC brings us three doses of Blackest Night tie-ins with Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, and Weird Western Tales (hmm ... could they be milking this?)

• Marvel kicks off its big Siege storyline with “Siege #1” and a couple of other tie-ins.

• Elsewhere, Mass Effect gets a comic in preparation for Mass Effect 2, and Starcraft gets a manga from Tokyopop.

• Lastly, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” is out on DVD, and I think it deserves a mention since it was one of last year’s most underrated movies. I mean come on - Bruce Campbell, Neil Patrick Harris, AND Mr. T in one movie?