Editor's note: Derek Lavigne helped Bitmob cover PAX East in Boston. Look for his stories -- along with stories from me, intern Mike Minotti, and community members -- to appear on Bitmob throughout the week. You can find all stories related to PAX East at our regularly updated hub page. -Brett

A little more than a year ago, Twisted Pixel Games was a relatively unknown developer comprised of a few guys who decided one day to up and quit their day jobs in order to make video games. Now they have two hit Xbox Live Arcade games under their belt in the form of The Maw and ‘Splosion Man and are prepping to unleash their third title, Comic Jumper.

In order to meet the demands of a third game with a much longer lead time, CEO Mike Wilford shared with me that they have slightly expanded their team to include Matt "Chainsaw" Chaney, creator of the ultra-catchy "Everybody Loves Donuts" tune from 'Splosion Man. Chaney will be lending audio aid to protagonist Captain Smiley in the first part of his adventure. Here's a sample of Chaney's work:

In the footage already shown to the public, Chaney’s influence can also be heard in the theme song for Captain Smiley’s arch-nemesis, Brad. When asked about the origins of this dudebro bully and whether he was directly inspired by anyone he knows, Wilford told me that everyone on the staff was unable to think of a single Brad they knew that didn’t deserve the classification.

The immediate exchanges between Captain Smiley, his stuck-in-his-chest sidekick Star, and Brad makes it obvious that this will be Twisted Pixel’s first game to feature extensive voice work. Although these are uncharted waters for the young company, they're diving right into it. The demo included some lengthy exposition -- thankfully, all of it coated in the same wicked sense of humor present in The Maw and 'Splosion Man.

Although the 10 minutes of beat-'em-up, gun-slinging action shown at PAX East was the same that had been released prior to the show, Wilford mentioned that the full game will feature a much more diverse set of game mechanics and graphical styles. Captain Smiley will jump through four separate comics -- the first and last being his own and the middle two featuring him as a guest -- as he tries to regain the popularity his comic enjoyed in his youth. Wilford told me that anyone who had a passing acquaintance with popular comics would likely be able to pick out which comic books influenced the different stages.

Even at this early stage in development, Comic Jumper looks to be headed in the right direction, full of the same engaging game mechanics and giddy humor present in Twisted Pixel's previous games. The second comic of the game is set to be revealed in April, and the game itself will come out later in the year.