Okay, this is the second week of Meka Town, but you most likely missed the first. So if you hit the button on the top left you can go back and start at the beginning. There were some formatting problems so the launch was delayed a bit. As you can see I've been playing video games this week, "Armored Core 2: Another Age" and "Panzer Front".

This week also saw the release of "War Story: Johann's Tiger" a comic book from Garth Ennis. Since Armored Core 2: Another Age isn't much different from other AC games I thought I'd just focus on German WWII armor this week.

Oh, a tank comic! That's rare. "War Story" is a 4 issue series written by Garth Ennis and published by DC comics by way of their Vertigo line. Chris Weston and Gary Erskine are the artists for this story.

It's good, buy it. Support mecha comics!

No I mean it, it's a really great comic. The story is tight and angst filled. It concerns a tank commander in the last days of WWII. The art is very good and accurate as well. (Or at least as far as I can tell, I'm no Grognard. Oh I suppose you could complain that the tank battles wouldn't be so close but why nitpick?) "Johann's Tiger" really is a mecha comic. It tells a story of man and his machines.

Tank comics are published so infrequently that you owe it to yourself not to miss this one. Now I can't wait to see the other "War Story" issues.

Although recently released in North America, Panzer Front has been available in Japan for a long time (2 years?) That age really shows in this Playstation one game. It looks old, the graphics engine creaks alongs struggling to move blocky , pixelated textures around the screen. The controls are sluggish and the tanks are slow--so just what is it that this game has to offer our PS2 enhanced world?...

...a bunch of custom designed tanks by top mecha designers in Japan. Works for me.

Maybe it's only a gimmick, but it warms the heart of this mecha fan. Mamoru Nagano (Five Star Stories), Kazutake Miyatake (Aura Battler Dunbine), Kow Yokoyama (M.a.K.), Kimitoshi Yamane (Cowboy Bebop), Yasushi Ishizu (Dirty Pair) and artist Michiaki Satou all contribute their own tank designs for a game supervised by mecha king Yutaka Izubuchi--who cares if the game itself is bad?

It's not really bad, actually I somewhat enjoy it. You control your tank, while giving orders to others in your platoon in 25 scenarios. You have ten different options to control your level of realism, but even at the easiest a sherman will light up in flames with one shot. It's a slower, more deliberate than you'll find in other mecha games, and it's a nice departure from frantic giant robot battles. You have to make sure to keep your front to the enemy, and don't proceed unless you know what's ahead of you. There are tank destroyers hiding in the woods, waiting to hole you in the sides. One false move and you're dead real quick.You have a mix of shells to choose from, AP, smoke, HE, APCR, HEAT. You can call down artillery support if available. The sound effects are good but the music is repetitive. If you get sick of the very slow moving WWII tanks there is even a bonus scenario where you get to drive an M1A1 against a hoard of modern Russian tanks.

I am enjoying "Panzer Front" but I'd only recomend it if you're willing to accept the primitive graphics and deliberate gameplay. Panzer Vor!

Bonus: The Japanese "Panzer Front" site has some great wallpaper of the new tanks designs. Thanks to Shin Matsunaga for finding it.