My friend Layer recently sent me some very interesting info. Before I continue, let me state that I have no way of verifying the information. What I'm about to state is pure speculation, based on what I saw. But I still thought it would be interesting to share this with you all, and let you draw your own conclusions.

It would appear that a TRON graphic novel was once planned, to be published by a company called Cho-Zen Publishing. As proof, I was sent a link that allowed me to see mock-up front and back covers of this graphic novel, which hint that it was going to be an adaptation of the movie's story. (However, I will not post the images or the link to them, since I do not have permission.)

What leads me to believe that this is a past project that was canceled — as opposed to a current project that is upcoming — is the following.

• Doing a search on "Cho-Zen Publishing" (or "Books") reveals that they only have one published comic to their credit, called Shao Tzu, dating back to 2003.
• SLG is the current rights holder for comic books related to TRON, so any new books would likely be coming from them and not another company.

Considering that Cho-Zen only has one title released in 2003 to their name . . . it lends credence to the conclusion that Disney may have been floating the idea of a graphic novel based on the film, to coincide with the release of the TRON 2.0 game, but that this idea never made it past the planning stage. Either that, or this was a "spec" work, someone's wishful thinking that never came to pass.

VMan is bringing us another map soon, this time an attempt at making one with Co-Op objectives. Should be very interesting to see how it turns out!

Sample screenshots of VMan's Co-Op map

According to the latest update on SLG Publishing's site, TRON: The Ghost In the Machine Issue #3 has been delayed to January. Unfortunately, my prediction ended up being correct.

Well, the year is almost over anyway . . . perhaps the issue will be released in early January? What's a few more weeks? No matter how you slice it, it won't be that much longer. Patience, TRON fans. And please, please buy every issue of the TRON comic. The people creating the comic are doing a wonderful job on it, and deserve to be supported for their work.

Here is the estimated sales figure for TRON: The Ghost In The Machine Issue #2 from SLG Publishing, according to ICv2 News:


231 7.06 TRON #2 $3.50 SLG 6,661


It placed 231st in the top 300 comics for November, and once again was SLG's best-selling title of the month, just like last time when Issue #1 debuted in April.

TRON #2 was one of only two comics from SLG in the top 300, and far ahead of their other entry on the list: Haunted Mansion #5 at 3,519 copies.

Compared with sales of 8,688 copies for TRON #1, Issue #2 actually beat my expectations and compares quite favorably to the first issue. Yes, sales are down, but not nearly as much as I would have guessed. Taking the absurdly long delay of TRON #2 into account — where TRON fans had to wait even longer than fans of Gargoyles did for their delayed copy of Gargoyles #2 — color me impressed. Still, I'm not counting out the fact that the delay did have an impact, and TRON #2 probably could have sold even better if it had been released on time.

For those of you who haven't picked up TRON #1 or #2, read my reviews of Issue #1 and Issue #2 (which contain some spoilers) to get an idea of what you've been missing. You can order Issue #1 from Amazon.com, or both issues directly from SLG Publishing, if there isn't a local comic store in your area.

If you're a fan of TRON and haven't bought the comic yet, please consider buying it. And keep buying it! The numbers need to remain relatively steady throughout its (tentative) six-issue run. Otherwise, Disney will have another excuse to ignore TRON and never do anything with the property again. (No movie sequel, no more comics, no more games.)

The site Newsarama posted an interview a while back with Andrew Dabb, that I thought was worth bringing to everyone's attention and that they should read. Why? Because Andrew was the writer on the canceled TRON 2.0 comic from 88MPH Studios, as mentioned in a previous article.

In it, he elaborates a bit more on what it was like working with Disney, and shares his thoughts on the canceled comic, along with the current TRON comic by SLG Publishing.

Arriving a bit earlier than expected, Layer has released his new TRON LightCycle map.

Relive the excitement of the film TRON with this Light Cycle map, that recreates the grid and escape scenes in almost exact detail. It features voices, sound effects, models, and events that are true to our favorite film.

Screenshot montage of Layer's TRON LightCycle map
You can download the map from HERE.

Don't forget to check out the bridge of Sark's Carrier for some nice interactive features, that can be used with the action "F" key on the keyboard.

Congratulations to Layer, for creating a map that so faithfully honors and respects TRON. :)

UPDATE: Layer discovered a problem with the map, so he has released a new version. Please delete the map if you've already downloaded it, and get it again. The download link has been updated to point to the new version.

October 31st, 2012 UPDATE: This article is out of date. An updated User Error v1.1a is now available.

Last year, a problem was discovered with the Single Player mission User Error, created by Meatsack. This problem prevented the expansion from running in TRON 2.0 if the player was using Windows 98 or Me. (It would run fine in 2000 or XP, however.) I assisted Meatsack in fixing the problem, and the version for download from this site and the Unofficial FAQ is the 98/Me compatible version. (Boxhat is still hosting the version that will only work with 2000/XP.)

The problem was due to a file that stored the text for the mission. I thought I'd fixed the file, but didn't test it properly. It wasn't until now that I realized I had still made a mistake. While the mission would work in all versions of Windows, the e-mails in User Error were accidentally cut short. This didn't prevent you from finishing the mission, but the text for most e-mails you downloaded would be incomplete.

I'm sorry I didn't catch this mistake earlier. For those of you who have downloaded User Error already, please delete the file and re-download it from HERE. This new version works on all versions of Windows, plus the e-mails have been restored.

Note that "Uplink" is the last level in User Error. Once you complete that level, you have finished the mission. Hopefully there will be additional levels released in the future.

Aside from The Digital Messiah, and another potentially forthcoming User Error mission: Johnny LaRue, a map maker from the No One Lives Forever game community, is also working on a Single Player mission for TRON 2.0 called Abyss.

Sample Screenshots from Abyss


This expansion looks very promising. You can visit the author's home page to find out a bit more about Abyss, and his other map projects.

According to the latest update on SLG Publishing's site, Issue #4 of TRON: The Ghost In the Machine will be released in March of 2007.

Considering that this would mean another fairly large gap between issues: I can't help but wonder if Issue #3 will actually slip from December, and appear in January instead.

VMan seems to be keeping himself busy these days with TRON 2.0 maps! He's just released another one, a Multiplayer Light Cycle map called CrashLand.

You can download it by clicking HERE.

Screenshots from
VMan's new Light Cycle map

Many thanks to fellow LDSO member Mor.Evil-1 for bringing this ad to my attention. Seems some folks at a certain computer store chain, are fans of the TRON comic. And it goes without saying, that TRON and computers are synonymous. What better way to advertise PC components, than with an homage to TRON?

Click the picture to see it full size
I've cut-and-pasted the relevant parts of the ad together, in the picture above. You can see the original ad in its entirety, HERE. The ad is partially animated on the original page, which is not reflected in the picture.

November 25th UPDATE: After doing a little more investigating, I discovered the home page for these comic strips. This series is indeed called Screenshots, and two TRON-inspired comics preceded this one. Check out Episode #36 Nort, Episode #37 Almost to Level 50, and finally Episode #38 Ghost in the Machine (a larger version of the one above, without all the advertising).

While I have tried to keep them to a minimum, this article contains spoilers about the second issue of the TRON: The Ghost In the Machine comic. So if you haven't read the comic yet, you may want to stop reading this!

After a delay of four months (this issue was supposed to have been released in July), Issue #2 of TRON: The Ghost In the Machine has finally arrived. It's been a long wait between Issues #1 and #2. Let's hope people are still looking out for this comic, and haven't forgotten about it!

Issue #3 appears to be on track for December, so there shouldn't be such a huge gulf between issues this time. (Hopefully. Crossing fingers.)

Where to start. Well, first off, once again the print and material quality of this comic is outstanding. Just like the last issue. Now — I have to admit that I am not an avid comic book collector. At least, not any more. But I have collected a fair amount of comics in my time. And I can't ever recall a more beautifully done, slick-looking book. Maybe I just need to start collecting more comics. But for a small publisher, SLG Publishing sure puts out an impressively "packaged" product.

As to the contents of the issue itself? There is good and bad. The story is kept moving along at a great pace, and leaves you wanting more. Which is a good thing. But the artwork will also leave you wanting more. Which is, of course, a bad thing. I'll discuss the art a bit later.

Also like last time, the issue features a text recap that helps to bring the reader up to speed: about what happened in the last issue, and about TRON in general. (I noticed that this time it makes mention of the fact that Alan Bradley programmed TRON. ;)

Before I continue — and discuss the story and art elements — I'd just like to say that this is a dark issue. This isn't your typical Disney-approved fare. This issue deals with suffering and death, more-so than the last issue. It may be occurring in the electronic world inside the computer, but it's still strong stuff. This comic probably isn't for children. However, as a TRON fan, I personally enjoy the fact that this book is dark and adult. A Disney-fied happy, fluffy story is definitely not what I wanted to see. So thank you Landry, Eric, Louie, and the rest at SLG for giving us a serious TRON comic.

Last chance! Spoilers start here!

Issue #2 starts exactly where we left off in Issue #1. Jet Bradley (Alan Bradley's son) is now in the computer, greeted by a female program. And right on the very first page, she de-rezzes (dies) in front of his eyes. Shot down. Wow, what a bold beginning. Depicting death in TRON like this takes balls. I'm amazed Disney let this go through. But I'm not complaining!

There was considerable speculation as to whether this female program was Lora. Lora is Jet's mother, who has unfortunately passed away since we last saw her in TRON. So, of course, seeing his mom inside the computer would have been something of a shock. But alas, it appears this was not the case. Nice work on the writers' part for making us think otherwise, though.

After witnessing the death of the female program — who is a soldier — we come to realize that there is a war being fought inside the system. Jet finds himself caught in the middle of it, with death and destruction all around him. At first you might be led to believe that this could be some kind of simulation. In fact, I'm still not one-hundred percent sure it isn't. Even after reading the comic more than once. But for now, I'll go on the assumption that it all did actually happen.

Jet is disoriented and confused from the digitization process, and the fact that he was probably wounded when the police shot at him in the last issue. Some programs help him out, and he is brought to a gigantic meeting being held. The leader of one of the factions in the war is presented on a giant screen, his face bearing down upon the gathering. This moment has a distinct Orwellian tone to it, most likely intentional. Soon, Jet discovers that the MCP has survived! Recognizers from both factions populate the sky as well, in great numbers. (I'm sure many TRON fans out there will smile with glee when they hear this.)

Shortly afterward, in fact, Jet unwillingly battles one of these Recognizers single-handedly without any aid, except for an identity disc. Although "injured", he survives. The other programs are astonished. He should not have survived. The leader of the faction that is fighting for the Users (the Blue programs) is alarmed about Jet. He considers him a rogue element and a possible threat to their cause. But soon he is accepted (in a very remarkable way, as you'll find out), and is asked to join. Apparently, no one knows he is a User yet, except for Mercury — who shows up and greets him. Jet knows Mercury from the story that took place in the TRON 2.0 game, and she became his friend during the time they spent together.

The issue ends with Jet accepting his role as a part of the Blue faction, and will attempt to help eliminate the MCP and his Red faction once and for all. But Jet is still troubled, deeply, by something he can't understand. I won't get any more specific than that, or else I will spoil the storyline too much. Let's just say that I believe the MCP knows of his existence in the system, and is setting him up for a fall.

Time to make some observations now, about the story and artwork. Let's start with the art.

It could be argued that since Jet is confused and hazy upon entering the electronic world, maybe the art should reflect that. But I don't actually believe this was an intentional story device. I feel the art was rushed in some parts, and overall is simply not on par with the first issue. There are certain panels that are as lush and detailed as the previous issue . . . and then there are many which appear muddy, hazy, and crude. The last two pictures above, are examples I've specifically picked out to show you. The fourth image exhibits probably the worst page in the entire book. The fifth image also shows how dark and muddy the art is, at times.

As Louie De Martinis apparently will no longer be doing the artwork starting with the next issue, it seems such a shame and a disappointment that he is leaving us without producing his best work. The comparison between Issues #1 and #2 is pretty striking. Once more, that is not to say that parts of the book aren't very well done. But on the whole, it's quite uneven.

In the third image, you'll notice that some of the word balloons are partially transparent. It's pretty odd that this was not caught before the book went through to the printer. It doesn't bother me that much, but it is quite noticeable. Also, while the lettering is well done, it's a bit smaller than in the first issue. The larger text in the last issue was easier to read. But right now I'm just being overly critical, I know. ;)

On pages 4 and 5, and also on pages 17, 18, and 19 — the layout and flow of the panels is somewhat confusing. Again, I'm not sure if this is intentional or not. But I have to admit that when I first read the issue, I was somewhat put off by it. For those of you out there — when the time comes that you get your hands on Issue #2 — do yourself a favor, and read it more than once. It took more than one reading for this issue to click with me. And even then, I still find these layouts hard to follow.

Something that bothered me about the story, is how Jet joined the Blue faction. It's hard to explain what troubles me without spoiling what happened. But I guess I'll simply say it's a bit surprising, that little concern was shown when Jet took his place among the Blue faction. We never got to know the name of a certain character beyond his title, and Mercury's reaction was very matter-of-fact. I'd think a program of his stature — leaving in the way that he did — would elicit more of an emotional response. He became a part of something else, and is most likely not coming back. He should be missed, to some degree.

Spoilers end here!

Further nitpicks. Sorry, but somebody's gotta do it. ;)

• The inside-front cover lists this issue as being published April 2006.
• The inside-rear cover only mentions the TRON-Sector web site. While I fully agree that TRON-Sector should be the official site for discussion about TRON: The Ghost In The Machine, and deserves top-billing, it would have been nice to mention at least some of the other TRON sites out there too. (See sidebar on right. :)
• Once again, nowhere in the issue is it mentioned that part of this comic's story is based on the game TRON 2.0. For all the readers know, the "Hit Game" mentioned on the front cover could be referring to the arcade game. It might not be in SLG's interest to promote TRON 2.0, but it sure as hell should be Disney's. This is a prime opportunity to do some cross-promotion of TRON products, and the game is extremely relevant to the comic. Why has this opportunity been passed up again? Sigh. Disney can't market TRON to save their lives.

Final thoughts. On the whole, the story is what drives this comic and is the reason you should be purchasing it. It's definitely turning out to be an adult, lively take on the TRON universe. You'd be doing yourself a disservice not to pick it up. It's only $3.50 per issue, and the quality of the print and materials is exceptional for that price. Unfortunately, I felt the artwork and layouts were something of a mixed bag this time around. But, again, don't let that stop you from picking this up.

I look forward to the next issue, with new artists Mike Shoyket and Joe Weltjens. Hopefully TRON: The Ghost In the Machine will become more consistent now: both in terms of release dates, and artwork. I found it a bit odd that SLG's web site never paid much attention to the delays on Issue #2, while TRON fans were left to wonder what was going on. :/

November 17th UPDATE: Issue #2 is now available for purchase online from the SLG store. As of yet, Amazon.com is not offering it. Check out my review of Issue #1, where you can also find links to purchase the first issue online.

Landry Walker, co-author of TRON: The Ghost In the Machine from SLG Publishing, has posted preview images of Issue #3 in a message thread on the Tron-Sector site.

So far, the preview artwork is looking very good. The different look for Jet will take some getting used to, but the art and coloring appears top-notch.

Yup, I have more YouTube videos for you. A couple of them are peculiar, and the other two are just damn cool.

Let's get the peculiar ones out of the way first. One is called RON. It has a slow beginning that's kind of odd, but after that it becomes pretty fun to watch. The animation seems to be a mix of TRON and TRON 2.0 styles. The other video is called Internet Romance, and it's really odd . . . yet, I had to show it to you anyway.




RON








Internet Romance






Now for the cool ones. The first was discovered by fellow LDSO member Jademz. Aside from the brief moment showing a Light Cycle race from TRON, what makes this video so damn cool? It's showing off a demo called 8088 Corruption on an original IBM 5150 PC, that has an Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz and CGA graphics capability.

This demo has been around for quite a while, but I didn't find out about it until now from Jademz. Once you watch the video, you'll understand why it's so impressive. You want to see elite coding? This is a great example.





8088 Corruption






My friends, my fellow conscripts . . . we have scored! - Ram in the film TRON

This second video, is like striking gold. Finds like this are what make YouTube worthwhile. It's a special about computer graphics from 1982 called Computer Realities, and it heavily focuses on TRON. Richard Taylor appears in the video, briefly. I've never seen this before, and I'm betting it would never be seen again if it wasn't thanks to the person who uploaded it to YouTube. The video is about seven minutes long. Enjoy!

As previewed here several months ago, VMan has finally released his new Derez map called VMan Hub.

It's a very nice looking map, that you can download by clicking HERE.

Screenshots from
VMan's new Derez map

SLG Publishing has corrected the production schedule on their site, and we now have a release date for TRON: The Ghost In the Machine Issue #2! (Finally, the wait is over. This issue is long overdue!)


Look for it in comic stores, starting November 15th!

The COMICON site has recently posted an interview with Cindy Morgan. In it, she discusses her film career among other things, and briefly touches upon her time working on TRON.

You may also want to visit Cindy's web site, to find out more information about her convention appearances.

As mentioned in a previous article, a new TRON 2.0 cell phone game was recently released by Living Mobile (a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group). Details on the game itself and its availability, have been very difficult to come by. But I've recently discovered some new information.

Mobile Game FAQs has a review of TRON 2.0 3D, where the reviewer states that the game is good but very hard to play. The site also has a list of phones that the game will work on.

More importantly, I've finally found a site that offers TRON 2.0 3D for sale. Click here to visit the site, and decide whether or not you're interested in purchasing it. Your cell phone will need WAP/GPRS (aka Mobile Internet Browsing) enabled, in order to download the game. The U.S. price is $9.00, and a credit card is required to purchase.

November 27th UPDATE: I've recently found a video of the game in action on a Nokia 6265 cell phone. The clip isn't the best quality, but at least it will give you an idea of what the game is like.

According to SLG Publishing's site, Issue #2 of TRON: The Ghost In The Machine has been delayed yet again to December.

The issue has been delayed five times in a row. It was originally supposed to have come out in July. I'm at a loss for words at this point.

November 3rd UPDATE: Landry Walker (one of the writers of the comic) has just informed me that the production schedule on SLG's site is in error. Issue #2 is still set for a November release, and Issue #3 will appear in December.

It's the Attack of the YouTube videos! (Anyone still watching G4 TV might get a chuckle out of that. I think.)

This video seems to have been posted by Paul Baumgaertner, just in time for Halloween. Paul is the most well-known creator of a TRON costume, after Jay "The TRON Guy" Maynard.

In the video, we see his appearance on The Screen Savers from a couple of years ago, while in costume. This was back when The Screen Savers was still on G4, and Kevin Rose was still a host. (Damn you, Comcast, for ruining TechTV!) Jay's costume is also briefly talked about.

I came across a video on YouTube, that was created as an advertisement for the UK version of the Sci-Fi Channel. This animation was inspired by TRON, as will become evident when you watch it.

The video had a link to the video creator's blog site, where he explains the making of it. You can find out more for yourself, by visiting The Gagaman Is In. It's quite cool to read the creative process that goes into an animation like this. And the animation itself is very creative. Nicely done!

I'm late with this update. Really late. And most of you probably know about this already. But for those that don't . . .

Xistence is preparing an update for his 4 vs. 1 Derez map, which is also now called The Pit. This map was never completely finished, as some of you might have already guessed. The completed version will feature the holding cells as seen in the film, and ICP AI opponents guarding them.

Sample screenshots from The Pit

There's no release date for this map. But I still thought it was worth bringing to the attention of those who weren't aware of it, as another project to look forward to.

The Disc Arena and Derez Mac map pack has been updated.

Changes in Mac DA/DM Map Pack
Airstrike UPDATED
CLU Dispatch ADDED

There is also a new, specially prepared version of the Capture the Bit (aka CTB2 TDM) Team Derez map available. Because of the nature of this map — which is also a mod, at the same time — it has been kept separate from the DA/DM map pack.

Both map updates are available in the All TRON 2.0 Files section.

This is a clip from VH1's I Love the 80's program, where celebrities from the 80's and today discuss what they think about the movie TRON. It's interesting to see how many of the celebs liked the film, and "get it". Only one of them really hated it.

Better hurry and watch the clip before it possibly disappears, though. Now that Google owns YouTube, they've started cracking down on any videos that come from media sources.

The Boxhat site has been intermittently going down and coming back up, during the last 48 hours. If you can't get through at first, keep trying.

The continual problems Boxhat has been experiencing the past few months, is due to poor service from the hosting company. It seems the only way to eliminate these issues is for Bigred to switch to another host, but the company is making that difficult for him the last I heard.

Hopefully he will be able to switch hosts soon, and eliminate the problems once and for all.

As mentioned on the home page for director Joaquin Montalvan's documentary, Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead: an interview with Syd has appeared on the Pasadena Weekly web site.

The interview briefly talks about Syd's careeer, as well as the documentary. There is also brief mention that the documentary will become available for purchase, next year. Seems like distributors are interested in making the film available on DVD. Which is great news.

Normally, I prefer not to copy news headlines that have already been featured on another major TRON site, but this was just too cool to pass up.

DaveTRON posted a link to a video on TRON-Sector, sent to him by Richard Taylor (who I suspect may have even contributed to the commercial, in some way). You'll need QuickTime to see it.

This Honda Civic ad kicks some serious ass!

October 6th UPDATE: The site Digit Online has an article discussing the creation of this ad.

Click here or on the picture to see the commercial

According to the latest update on SLG Publishing's site, Issue #2 of TRON: The Ghost In The Machine has been delayed for the fourth time in a row. It's now scheduled to be released in November.

What else can be said, except, this really sucks. I've been waiting patiently for the release of the second issue . . . meanwhile, I'm not so sure other, more casual fans still are.

These repeated delays are bound to hurt sales of the title.

I'm guessing Landry and Eric, the writers on the comic, are equally as dissatisfied with this situation. Here's hoping things get back on track, soon.

Click here or on the picture to see the video
It's amazing it's taken them this long, but the producers of Robot Chicken have finally done an awesome TRON spoof. (WARNING: If you're easily offended, then don't watch it!)

Click on the picture or link above, to see the clip. You can save a copy of the video, by looking in your browser's cache and copying it out of there.

The COMICON site has posted an interview with the writers of the TRON comic: Landry Walker and Eric Jones.

In it, they talk about the challenges of bringing the comic into being, and hint of what the future of the comic has in store for us. They also mention the possibility of more new TRON comics in the future.

Additionally, you'll find preview pencil sketches (SPOILER WARNING!) of the new artist on the comic: Michael Shoyket. And I can now say that any worries I had about the change in artists, have been put at ease. The sketches are incredible.

Michael's style appears similar enough to Louie's, that the change won't be that startling. And if he can get the coloring and shading down — particularly during scenes inside the electronic world — then we will have nothing to worry about.

What the?! A new TRON 2.0 item from Disney, out of the blue.

Living Mobile, a division of WDIG (the Walt Disney Internet Group, the same people who made the TRON VMK), has quietly released a new game for cell phones called TRON 2.0 3D. Though if you do a search on Living Mobile's site, you won't find anything about it.

Apparently, this game was announced two years ago and to be released by a company named Superscape. But the deal must have fell through, and the game didn't come out until now.

There have already been two TRON 2.0 cell phone games released in the past: TRON 2.0: Discs of TRON, and TRON 2.0: Light Cycles.

Both received poor reviews. Hopefully, this new game will fare differently. It certainly looks quite nice.

Sample screenshots of TRON 2.0 3D

Hmm, first the TRON room in VMK. Now a new TRON 2.0 cell phone game. WDIG is certainly showing a lot of interest in TRON these days, unlike their sister company BVG.

Get with the program, programs! BVG, give us that TRON 2.0 expansion — for the PC and Mac, not just consoles — that we've all been waiting for.

YouTube has been a great source for TRON-related videos, as of late. There are some really cool things to be found there, that I'll continue to share with you all from time to time.




MCP on God
(Don't watch if you're easily offended)






TRON Project







TETRON



Saved the best for last. It's a video of the PeopleMover ride at Disneyland, recorded in 1991. (This ride is no longer in operation.) At about the 1:50 mark in the video, you'll see the TRON segment of the ride. Pretty cool. They goofed on the MCP's name, though. (Master Control, not Master Computer.)

Had you for a second, perhaps? Were you thinking "oh no, not another delay"? No, I'm talking about Issue #3 now. According to SLG's site, it's scheduled for December.

Let's hope so. The huge gulf between #1 and #2 has been a bit disheartening. As you can see in an earlier article: Issue #2 has been delayed three times since July, and is now scheduled to come out in October. My suspicion as to the reason for the delay has changed, which I will get into in a moment.

Above is the proposed cover for Issue #3. Also, here is the description from SLG's site. (Strangely enough, Issue #2 is not listed on the updated "New Releases" schedule yet.)

Highlight the description with your mouse to read it (SPOILERS!):

Trapped in the digital realm, at war with the Master Control Program, and now plagued by nightmarish visions of talking rabbits, Jet Bradley fights for his sanity as his descent into cyberspace takes a turn for the bizarre.

Now, I have to admit: that synopsis for Issue #3 does not exactly sound all that appealing to me at this moment. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised, and there will be a good explanation for that description, once I actually get to read the story.

As for the reason that Issue #2 has been delayed so long. Well, when I saw the preview cover for Issue #3, I thought something was odd. The artwork didn't really look the same. Then it struck me. The page on SLG reveals that the artist has changed. Louie De Martinis is gone, and in his place is Mike Shoykhet.

Uh oh.

I'm definitely not pleased to hear about that. I don't like it when artists change. Especially on a limited-run title, like TRON is going to be. It's jarring to see the art style change from one issue to the next. I just hope that the new artist does justice to the TRON universe. Louie was doing a pretty damn good job, I must say.

So, now I'm guessing the delay has something to do with the change of artists. Perhaps Louie became too busy with other projects and had difficulty completing the work for Issue #2. Hence the delay, and the change. Just speculation, mind you.

At any rate, here's looking forward to Issue #2 next month. And hopefully Issue #3 will come out on time.

It's finally ready . . . the TRON 2.0 chat room mentioned earlier on Boxhat, is up and running. A little fine-tuning may still be required, but the testing went well.

The address to reach the chat room is: http://tronchat.boxhat.com/


Screenshot of Login page        Screenshot of Main page


For site owners that would like to direct players to this chat room: one line of HTML code on your web site will present a sort of "chat box" that will indicate who is in the chat room at that moment, and also provide a way for them to log in and enter the chat room. This box can be seen on the right side of this page, in the grey sidebar area. Bigred will be working on integrating the box into the front page portal of the Boxhat site soon.

The code to use is:

<iframe src="http://tronchat.boxhat.com/online.php" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="150" height="322"></iframe>

In the future, the LDSO site, the upcoming REZ Handler 2.0, and TRON Link, should also all point to this chat room. So hopefully it will be put to good use.

The main purpose of the chat room is, of course, for players from around the world to arrange times to play in TRON 2.0 Multiplayer. But it can also simply be a place to hang out and get to know one another.

Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead director Joaquin Montalvan has recently had another interview, this time with site Artist Interviews.

This interview provides a lot of insight into how the documentary came to be: which is definitely something I've been curious about, ever since I first learned of Visual Futurist last year. You really owe it to yourself to read this interview, if you are a fan of TRON or Syd's work in general.

Also, don't forget about the second screening of Visual Futurist at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, mentioned earlier.

As an aside: I appreciated reading Joaquin's comment about how Blade Runner was considered a failure at the time of its release, yet today it's clear that the film's impact was monumental. And I think this very same comment could also be applied to TRON.

Yes, the site is down at the moment. Again.

Bigred already knows about it. The site will likely be back up before noon today. (This was article was posted shortly after midnight.)

He's probably going to switch hosts, due to the current host being very unreliable as of late.

UPDATE: Sure enough, Boxhat went back online again today. :)

Wow, this is kind of depressing. The SLG Publishing web site indicates that Issue #2 of the TRON comic has been delayed again, for the third time in a row.

I was beginning to suspect another delay, when I read this blog entry by SLG's Editor-in-Chief Jennifer de Guzman.

I hope these delays don't impact the sales of the second issue, as people begin to forget about or lose interest in the title.

TRON-Sector admin DaveTRON has come up with a really intriguing idea for a campaign, to let the people at Disney know that we want to see another TRON film.

His plan is for TRON fans to (preferably) record themselves on video, or send in a photo, with a message stating how they are a TRON fan and want to see a film sequel. The videos will be collected and put together into one longer piece, along with the photos, and then sent to Disney.

I also have plans for mailing a hard-copy of the TRON 2.0 Petition in the near future: so hopefully the combination one-two punch, will have a significant effect.

If you want to participate or simply find out more, visit this message thread on Tron-Sector and make yourself seen and heard!

The documentary Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead by director Joaquin Montalvan, will have a second screening at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival, which is taking place September 15-17, 2006 in Big Bear Lake, California.

If you missed the premiere screening at the Dances With Films festival, then here is another chance for some of you to see it!

I'll update this article, once I have a specific date and time for the screening.

September 6th UPDATE: The film will be screened on Saturday, September 16th, at 1:30 PM. Get ticket information HERE.

Wow, just when you thought nothing new was happening with TRON at Disney: along comes something to surprise us all.

Fellow LDSO member Mor.Evil-1 reports that Disney Online's Virtual Magic Kingdom — which is sort of a combined game and chat room in one for kids — has just added a TRON room to the lineup.

Sample screenshot of the TRON room
Check out the message thread posted by Mor.Evil-1 on the LDSO site, as he posts more upcoming screenshots and further details.

I wonder . . . is this the end result of the TRON MMO rumor I heard about? Or is this a different project, and we can still expect something else to arrive in the future?

Boxhat has been down again since this morning. I've been in contact with Bigred, and he's aware of it. He's working to get the site back up once more.

August 29th UPDATE: The site went back up some time this morning. Thankfully, it went quicker than last time! :)

If you type in the address http://www.tron20.net, you will now be redirected to the BVG front page.

And rather than fix the mistakes I pointed out back in my BVG Updates Web Site: Killer App Now Available For PC! (HUMOR) article, they've decided to simply de-list TRON 2.0 from the site entirely.

Now you know why I won't likely — ever — buy another BVG product again. Game companies with horrible support and business practices like this, don't deserve our hard-earned money.

TRON Spoof






Check this one out . . . a clip of the TRON segment in the Video Games Live tour!


I found it interesting that every time an actor would have appeared on the screen on stage, video from the TRON 2.0 game was substituted instead. (Probably because the actors would have to be compensated for their appearances on-screen.) This makes for a nice advertisement for the game, I suppose. Provided anyone in the audience actually figures out where the scenes came from.

The online TRON 2.0 community has had a bit of a bumpy ride lately, with the LDSO site and Unofficial FAQ down for a while . . . and now Boxhat has been down for over 24 hours.

But I know that Bigred (the site owner) is aware of the problem, and is working to get the site back up again shortly.

August 14th UPDATE: Boxhat has gone back online, within the last few hours. (Which at the time of this update, is just after midnight on Monday the 14th.)

The LDSO site is back, with a new address: http://www.ldso.net!

The forum and its content has been completely preserved. Members will still be able to log in using their original account name and password. All member accounts were saved, in the site's transfer to the new address.

File downloads have also been restored. So you'll be able to grab all the maps and other files again, that have been created by LDSO members.

Now that the site is back online, the Unofficial TRON 2.0 FAQ will be returning shortly! I just need to finish making some updates to it. Expect it to return before the weekend is over (if all goes as planned).

August 8th UPDATE: A couple of days late . . . but the Unofficial FAQ is back online. Not only that, it's now up to date too. The link in the grey sidebar, to the right, will take you to the updated FAQ.

The FAQ will answer many of your questions about the game, such as: what are the names of all the maps and mods available, and what do they look like (screenshots); what bugs are in the game, and how to do you get around them; what are the cheat codes for Single Player; Walkthroughs with screenshots for the first 12 levels (so far, more are on the way); and much more.

I thought it would be interesting to check in on the results of the site's polls, so far. Here's where they currently stand.



As we can see . . . so far it's pretty clear that the vast majority of fans want to see a sequel to TRON, with director Steven Lisberger at the helm.



It's been almost a 50/50 split between those who already bought the comic, and those who voted that they still intended to buy it. And so far, virtually everyone who voted has shown an interest in the comic.



Opinions on the first issue were almost evenly split again, between "great" and "okay". Meanwhile, no one said they disliked it. (Which is pretty amazing!)



If you'd like to vote in the polls yourself: they will remain open for an indefinite period of time. You can now find them on the right side of the page, in the grey sidebar area, toward the bottom.

While searching on YouTube again, I found some more cool TRON videos.




Cool TRON Techno Music Video






MCP Cameo on South Park
(Don't watch if you're easily offended by religious humor)




There was also one that popped up recently on YouTube, with the sweet TRON parody from Family Guy . . . but YouTube removed it. Fortunately, I found another source.



Family Guy TRON Parody (in .WMV format)





I also stumbled upon a Steven Lisberger interview from a couple of years ago, back when the (then) new 20th Anniversary 70mm film print was being screened in 2004. I'd never read it before: so I thought it might be "new" to most of you, as well.

UGO Interview with Steven Lisberger