Well, the holidays are behind us, and I've barely had time to unwrap all of those comic related games mentioned in my last post.

Of particular interest is Marvel Ultimate Alliance. This game allows you to play twenty of Marvels top super heroes including Spider-man, Wolverine, and all of the Fantastic Four. While it had many elements that were clearly taken from the successful X-Men Legends series, there were a number of new features which made the game particularly fun. The environments included just about everything from one of Nick Fury's Super-carriers, to Stark tower and the undersea kingdom of Namor.

On top of the large and complex campaign game, there are also dozens of special mission disks that can be discovered during game play. These unlock historical scenarios that allow the gamer to recreate some of the great moments of each of the characters, like Captain America taking on Winter Soldier.

While the hardcore gamers might find Marvel Ultimate Alliance isn't quite up to the toughest standards, any full fledged comic fanatic should find more than enough goodness here to keep them entertained while playing their favorite Marvel characters.

The holidays are coming, and not surprisingly that means that the game companies will be showering us with new games. What's a comic book lover to do?

First up on the radar is Marvel's Ultimate Alliance. This game promises to take the system that started off with X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II and expand on it. The developer, Raven software, is one of my all time favorite. They always come up with something that surprises and entertains. The information out about this game so far is that we will get to play with at least 20 of the Marvel Universes top characters, including Spiderman, Cap America, Wolverine, and my personal fave, Ironman. From the Previews I've read so far, this is going to be a Must Play game.

DC Comics has really been struggling to keep up with Marvel of late. While X-Men III set box office records this summer, Superman Returns had disappointing results. That saddens me, because I have always been a big fan of the Man of Tomorrow. Still, on the gaming front this fall we will get Justice League Heroes featuring Supes, Batman, Wonder-woman, GL, the Flash, Martian Manhunter and Zatanna. I am really looking forward to this, as there hasn't been a lot of good DC based games (have there been any). I hope they can hit the right balance with this game. Trailers and previews look pretty promising.

Last, and a tad off topic, is Avatar: The last Airbender. While it isn't a comic book, I've become a big fan of the cartoon series from Nickelodeon. The first epic animated series made in the U.S. (animation is done in Korea) while influenced heavily by Japanese Anime and Asian martial arts films. The game is being published by THQ, and should be in stores very soon. While it is aimed at the younger crowd, I recommend you check out the show and give the game a try.

What Comic book based games are you playing?

If you haven't looked at a comic book since the Carter administration, you might be very surprised at how much the industry has changed. Not just the characters and stories, but the writers are at a whole new level in the industry.

Over at Marvel, for instance, we have Joss Whedon writing the Astonishing X-Men stories. You know, the guy behind Movie scripts like Speed and Serenity, and the creator/writer of TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angle and Firefly. That Joss Whedon. He is also working on the script for a live action production of Wonder Woman, for DC Comics.

Also at Marvel Orson Scott Card (author of Ender's Game and many more SciFi novels) has recently published a new Ultimate Ironman story that retells the origins of Tony Stark, the man inside the iron suit.

Not to be outdone, DC Comics has best selling mystery writer Brad Meltzer penning the current run of Justice League of America (JLA). He recently wrote the controversial DC graphics novel Identity Crisis which I believe is one of the great super-hero mystery stories ever written. It goes head on with some very difficult topics, and puts together a seriously heart pounding storyline. It asks the question "If super-heroes take the law into their own hands, how far might some of them go."

The bar has definitely been raised on comic book story telling. They aren't just for kids any more, if they ever were.

Not convinced that the comic book industry might have a few surprises for you if you were to come back? Take a look at this partial list of things that you may have missed since you were a kid:

* Superman Died (check out Death of Superman)
* Superman returned (check out Superman Returns)
* Clark and Lois finally got married (Superman)
* Peter and MJ finally got married (Spiderman)
* Gwen Died (Spiderman)
* Kansas was wiped out by some super-heroes (Superman alternate story line in Kingdom Come)
* Cap and Tony Stark are on opposite sides in a Civil War (Marvel Comics Universe)
* Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Peter Parker and Logan are on a team together (New Avengers)

Why am I writing this? Because I hope to tantalize you into going out and reading a comic book. If you haven't done so in twenty or thirty years, you may find a new love for an old flame.