Ever wonder just why grunts look the way they do? Or if the inspiration behind the Forerunner architecture came from Frank Lloyd Wright? Or if the Warthog always looked like a jacked up Jeep 4X4?

Just in time for the 10th anniversary of Halo: Combat Evolved, Titan Books along with Bungie have released The Great Journey: Halo: The Art of Building Worlds. Inside is close to two hundred pages of original concept art from Halo: Combat Evolved all the way to the most recent Halo: Reach and everything in between.

Halo: The Art of Building Worlds takes players through the journey of Bungie as they created not just Halo: Combat Evolved but the universe that surrounds it. Some of the artwork are full two page spreads, beautifully painted works, that show the lush environments of the Halo universe. Other pages include series of sketches of everything from variations of Elite and Spartan Armor to the unused fauna concepts that never made it into certain games.

These pieces are some of the most interesting as you get insight into the Halo that never was, including the original concept for Master Chief and the completely un-iconic name he was almost graced with back when Halo was still an RTS game. Much like looking at classic Star Wars concept art, this book is a literal nerdgasm of “what if”.

In his foreword, 343′s Frank O’Connor explains how Halo has become this generation’s Star Wars. Looking at the artwork and stories that have come from them in this book, we have to agree with him.

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I’m still anxiously awaiting the day I get to see Kick-Ass, and be as cool as our SXSW team that caught its Austin premiere. (Be sure to check out Shannon Hood’s review.)   But at least I could content myself with Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass: Creating the Comic, Making the Movie which the gang at Titan Books was kind enough to let me review.

Anyone who viewed the trailer knows that Kick-Ass is going to be a unique movie. One look at Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl can tell you that much. But I hadn’t realized just how unusual its page-to-screen transition was. Millar was still in the process of sketching the book out when he approached Matthew Vaughn (licking his wounds after leaving Thor) about directing.

The movie took shape as the comic did, with Millar running back and forth between the production offices and his own keyboard, incorporating ideas from Vaughn and screenwriter Jane Goldman as he went. Characters who were meant to be minor players such as Red Mist took on a life of their own after they were cast, and ended up becoming major players in Kick-Ass’ story arc. If there’s a sequel to Kick-Ass, it may be entirely due to Christopher Mintz-Plasse single-handedly rewriting his character.

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