Thursday, December 20, 2012

New Comics Day - 12/20/12

Mayan Apocalypse Edition :

  • Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who #8
  • Fables #124
  • FF #2
  • Avengers #2
  • Empowered Special
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #5
  • JSA Liberty Files : The Whistling Skull #1
  • Wonder Woman #15
  • Sword of Sorcery #3
  • Batwoman #15
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #15
  • Green Lantern #15
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #15

That's all.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

New Comics Day - 12/13/12

This week, it's :

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #192
  • Supurbia #2
  • Mega Man #20
  • Fantastic Four #2
  • Atomic Robo : Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #5
  • Before Watchmen : Dr. Manhattan #3
  • Before Watchmen : Rorschach #3
  • Legion Lost #15
  • Green Lantern Corps #15
  • Demon Knights #15
  • Batman #15

That's all.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

New Comics Day - 12/6/12

This week's.

  • Fairest #10
  • Invincible #98
  • The Hypernaturals #6
  • Avengers #1
  • Before Watchmen : Minutemen #5
  • Phantom Stranger #3
  • Dial H #7
  • Stormwatch #15
  • Action Comics #15
  • Earth 2 #7
  • Worlds' Finest #7

That's it.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

New Comics Day 11/28/12 - Double Dose

Two weeks' worth.

  • Fables #123
  • Supurbia #1
  • Wonder Woman #14
  • Sword of Sorcery #2
  • Batwoman #14
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #14
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #14
  • Justice League #14
  • FF #1
  • My Little Pony #1
  • Before Watchmen : Ozymandias #4
  • Before Watchmen : Silk Spectre #4
  • Phantom Lady and Doll Man #4
  • Justice League Dark #14
  • Teen Titans #14
  • Superman #14
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #10
  • The Flash #14
  • Aquaman #14
  • Batman Incorporated #5
  • War Goddess #11
  • Tarot #77

On the bubble : Batwoman, JL Dark, Teen Titans, and Superman. I may be lightening my pull list again..

Thursday, November 15, 2012

New Comics Day - 11/15/2012

Sizable week, relatively speaking.
  • Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who #7
  • Atomic Robo : Flying She-Devils #4
  • Invincible #97
  • Mega Man #19
  • Fantastic Four #1
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #4
  • Green Lantern Corps #14
  • The Phantom Stranger #2
  • Legion Lost #14
  • Demon Knights #14
  • Batman #14

That's all, folks.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

New Comics Day - 11/8/2012

This week's.

  • Pathfinder #3
  • Fairest #8 and #9
  • G.I. Combat #5 and #6 - I decided to give these two books a chance, because I like Haunted Tanks and naked ladies. Or naked tanks and haunted ladies. Something.
  • Dial H #6
  • Green Lantern #14
  • Stormwatch #14
  • Action Comics #14
  • Worlds' Finest #6
  • Earth 2 #6

I am pondering relocating this blog to Tumblr. Tumblr has no real comments system - just a sort of half-assed one - but on the other hand, nobody reads this blog, so no one ever comments. Hmm.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

New comics Day - 11/1/2012

And this week, we have :
  • Liberty Annual 2012
  • Phantom Lady and Dollman #3
  • Justice League Dark Annual #1
  • Action Comics Annual #1
  • Teen Titans #13
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #9
  • Aquaman #13

Wow. Tiny haul..

Thursday, October 25, 2012

New Comics Day - 10/25/12

This week, it's :

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #191
  • Star Trek : The Next Generation / Doctor Who #6
  • Invincible #96
  • Fables #122
  • FF #23
  • Justice League Dark #13
  • National Comics : Madame X #1 - Is this Madame Xanadu? I really don't think it is, but..  Oh! Wait, I have a quip. More like Madame Expy, amirite?
  • Superman #13
  • The Flash #13
  • Batman Incorporated #4

That's it.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

New Comics Day - 10/18/12

This week's list.

  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #3
  • Before Watchmen : Minutemen #4
  • Sword of Sorcery #1
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #13
  • Batwoman #13
  • Wonder Woman #13
  • Justice League #13
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #13

That's it!

Friday, October 12, 2012

New Comics Day - 10/11/12

This week's, slightly late :

  • Mega Man #18
  • Fantastic Four #611
  • Before Watchmen : Dr. Manhattan #2
  • Legion Lost #13
  • Green Lantern Corps #13
  • The Phantom Stranger #1
  • Demon Knights #13
  • Batman #13

That's it.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

New Comics Day - 10/4/12

On vacation this week. Did some bagging and boarding..

  • Pathfinder #2
  • Before Watchmen : Rorschach #2
  • War Goddess #10
  • The Hypernaturals #4
  • Danger Club #4
  • Dial H #5
  • Stormwatch #13
  • Worlds' Finest #5
  • Green Lantern #13
  • Action Comics #13 - I'm a sucker for Krypto stories.
  • Earth 2 #5

That's all.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

New Comics Day - 9/27/2012

This week's list.

  • Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who #5
  • Invincible #95
  • FF #22
  • Before Watchmen : Ozymandias #3
  • Phantom Lady and Doll Man #2
  • Voodoo #0
  • I, Vampire #0
  • Justice League Dark #0
  • Superman #0
  • Flash #0
  • Teen Titans #0
  • Batman Incorporated #0
  • Aquaman #0
  • Tarot #76

That's all, folks.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

New Comics Day - 9/20/12

Well, the new blogger interface is here. Meh. Here's this week's books :

  • Atomic Robo : The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #3
  • Atomic Robo : Real Science Adventures #6
  • Fables #121 - I've set a final book for this series. #125, I think. Just.. tired.
  • Before Watchmen : Nite Owl #3
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #8
  • Sword of Sorcery #0 - This was actually really good. It won't last ten issues.
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #0 - So Kyle's Torchbearer thing is still canon? Whuh? How?
  • Wonder Woman #0
  • Batwoman #0
  • Justice League #0 - Wow. No. Just, no. Shazamfail.
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #0

That's it.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

New Comics Day - 9/13/2012

Another week, another pile! almost time for a sorting run soon..

  • Mega Man #17
  • Invincible #93 - hey, it finally showed up!
  • Fantastic Four #610
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #2
  • The Shade #12
  • Resurrection Man #0
  • Legion Lost #0
  • Green Lantern Corps #0
  • Demon Knights #0
  • Batman #0

That's all.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

New Comics Day - 9/5/2012

City of Heroes is going to be ending - I am saddened, and I think I may have to do some kind of tribute to my characters on here, or maybe one of my other blogs. I need to grab some screenshots before it goes down for good..

Today's comics :

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #190
  • The Hypernaturals #3
  • Before Watchmen : Silk Spectre #3
  • Night Force #7
  • G.I. Combat #0
  • Dial H #0
  • The Phantom Stranger #0
  • Stormwatch #0
  • World's Finest #0
  • Earth 2 #0
  • Green Lantern #0
  • Action Comics #0

That's it.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

New Comics Day - 8/30/2012

The list.

  • FF #21
  • Star Trek : TNG / Dr. Who #4 - The art leaves me cold on this, but I like the story.
  • Before Watchmen : Minutemen #3
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #7
  • Phantom Lady and Doll Man #1
  • Superman Annual #1
  • Justice League International Annual #1 - Aw, screw you, DC.
  • Justice League #12
  • Aquaman #12
  • Flash Annual #1
  • Green Lantern Annual #1 - And the villainization of the Guardians is complete.

Sigh.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

New Comics Day - 8/23/2012

This week :

  • Invincible #94 - apparently, I will just have to guess what happened in #93. Think this one's going to get dropped with #100.
  • Knights of the Dinner Table #189
  • Fables #120 - And this one's going on the bubble, too - I'm just tired.
  • Before Watchmen : Dr. Manhattan #1
  • Voodoo #12
  • I, Vampire #12
  • Teen Titans #12
  • Justice League Dark #12
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #12
  • Superman #12
  • Flash #12
  • Batman Incorporated #3

That's it.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

New Comics Day - 8/16/2012

This week's bunch.

  • Pathfinder #1
  • Before Watchmen : Rorschach #1
  • The Shade #11
  • DC Universe Presents #12
  • Batwoman #12
  • Wonder Woman #12
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #12
  • Green Lantern Corps #12
  • Green Lantern #12

That's it!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

New Comics Day - 8/9/2012

This week's.

  • Atomic Robo Presents #5
  • Atomic Robo : The Flying She-Devils of the Pacific #1-2
  • Mega Man #16
  • Fantastic Four #609
  • Before Watchmen : Ozymandias #2
  • Resurrection Man #12
  • Night Force #6
  • Legion Lost #12
  • Batman #12
  • Demon Knights #12

Ta-da.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

New Comics Day - 8/2/2012

This week's bunch.

  • War Goddess #8
  • Hypernaturals #2
  • Before Watchmen : Nite Owl #2
  • Dial H #4
  • Justice League International #12
  • Stormwatch #12
  • Aquaman #11
  • Action Comics #12
  • Earth 2 #4
  • World's Finest #4

That's all. Pretty good week.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

New Comics Day - 7/25/2012

This week's.

  • FF #20
  • I, Vampire #11 - no longer on my pull list, but it's cancelled, so I'm picking it up off the rack.
  • Voodoo #11 - also cancelled.
  • National Comics : Eternity #1
  • Teen Titans #11
  • Justice League Dark #11
  • Superman #11
  • The Flash #11
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #11
  • Green Lantern #11
  • Tarot #75

Wow, I just realized.. Tarot now has a higher issue number than every DC comics. And it's a bimonthly, so that's twice as impressive.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

New Comics Day - 7/18/2012

This week's haul.

  • Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris - should be my last.
  • Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who #3
  • Fables #119
  • Fantastic Four #608
  • Before Watchmen : Silk Spectre #2
  • Green Lantern Corps #11
  • Batwoman #11
  • Wonder Woman #11
  • Batman Beyond #6
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #11
  • Justice League #11

That's it.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

New Comics Day - 7/11/2012

This week's bunch.

  • Mega Man #15
  • Atomic Robo Presents #4
  • Before Watchmen : Ozymandias #1
  • Before Watchmen : Minutemen #2
  • The Shade #10
  • Resurrection Man #11
  • Legion Lost #11
  • Demon Knights #11
  • Batman #11

That's it.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

New Comics Day - 7/4/2012

Fairly big day.

  • Warlord of Mars #19 - I think this should be my last issue.
  • Knights of the Dinner Table #188
  • Danger Club #3 - This is so good.
  • He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1 - I really like this.
  • G.I. Combat #3 - This one's wearing thin for me.
  • Dial H #3
  • Night Force #5
  • Red Lanterns #11 - Last one, I think.
  • Stormwatch #11
  • Justice League International #11 - ending soon, sadly. DC just didn't know what to do with it.
  • Action Comics #11
  • World's Finest #3
  • Earth 2 #3 - I'm warming to this..

That's it!

Thursday, June 28, 2012

New Comics Day - 6/27/2012

At long last!

  • League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Century : 2009
  • Dungeons and Dragons : Forgotten Realms #2 - just isn't grabbing me.
  • Star Trek TNG / Doctor Who #2
  • The Hypernaturals #1
  • FF #19
  • Atomic Robo Presents Real Science Adventures #3
  • Before Watchmen : Nite Owl #1
  • Voodoo #10
  • I, Vampire #10 - had to grab one more just to be sure, but yeah. Dropped.
  • Teen Titans #10 - Riding this one till I know Bart's deal in the New 52.
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #10
  • Justice League Dark #10
  • Superman #10
  • The Flash #10
  • Aquaman #10
  • Justice League #10
  • Batman Incorporated #2
That's it.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

New Comics Day - 6/20/2012

Very light week.

  • Fables #118
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #5
  • Green Lantern Corps #10
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #10
  • Wonder Woman #10
  • Batwoman #10

I think Batwoman's going on the bubble for me. It's pretty, but the story just isn't grabbing me, and the disjointed narrative hurts it.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Long Live the Legion (Campaign)

So after writing about it a scant few months ago, my Legion campaign has come to fruition. Soon after that post, in fact, the ideas for the game began rolling down on my like an avalanche, so I started preparing my group for its onset.

I'm running this one a little differently than I usually do, in a couple of ways - trying to evoke the feel of the Legion comics as much as possible. Firstly, I'm eschewing the episodic format that I have pretty rigidly used with my past superhero games. In this campaign, it's going to be more like my D&D games - with the illusion of continually passing time that doesn't allow adventures to always map exactly to one session. There will be running subplots and matters that the team can choose to address or not - but there will be consequences either way.

Secondly, I'm going to try to be a bit more of a hard-ass when it comes to character death. Legionnaires die, fairly frequently. My players have been told their characters are not safe. Of course, each of them has two (the better to have a large Legion) so there's room for death. This is actually part of a larger theme for the game, though - this universe is a darker one than I usually run. Cynical. Harsh. The team is, collectively, the ray of light that keeps things from sinking too far into grim and gritty. That isn't to say that the characters can't be grim - but each of them, deep in their hearts, should have some little spark of hope that resists all attempts to extinguish it.

Lastly, I am encouraging the players to focus on their characters' hobbies, personal relationships, secrets, and the like. I want more of a roleplaying focus and less of a combat one than my usual games. I've usually tried to strike a balance between the two, but for superhero games, the combat often takes the most time. To the end of encouraging Legion-style melodrama, I'm encouraging the players to pass notes - at the table, or via email after the game.

Saturday, though, we were just getting started. I actually had preparation for both the Legion opener and for my Golden Age game, and let people vote as to which to play - the overwhelming choice was (unexpectedly) the Legion! So we finished up a few character details for those that hadn't finished generating them, and printed up sheets, and got underway :

August 1st, 4001. The 17 year old Princess Orinna of Atlantis makes her public debut on dry land, landing in an Atlantean transport in Metropolis's Centennial Park. The press and a variety of dignitaries are there in force, as well as thousands of onlookers. Suddenly, the dull ceremony is interrupted as the vidscreens in the area go dark - a dark-haired man declares that the galaxy will change today, and directs his 'Liberators' to attack! Even as he speaks, they materialize - twenty-four heavily armed and armored men and women, launching attacks on the Princess's retinue. They've even brought sonic devices to hamper the Atlantean bodyguards with their enhanced hearing.

The Science Police try to leap into action, but their combat robot personnel unexpectedly shut down, and the terrorists seem to be insulated against the common armaments of the S.P. - fortunately, there are others in the crowd, inspired to action by this attack. As the Princess sheds her demure public persona with her dress to reveal her warrior training and protective Atlantean armor, those individuals spring into action - saving bystanders, aiding fallen Science Police officers, and engaging the terrorists directly. The terrorists fight hard, but these heroes seem to slowly gain the upper hand - and finally, a gambit from a young illusion-caster of Orando tips the scales.

Kid Galahad : "Princess, activate the Infinity Gate!"
(he conjures 51 duplicates of the Princess, all with slight variations in costume - the terrorists are utterly baffled, setting them up for the next part)

Princess Orinna (catching on) : "All together, now!"
(she uses her hydrokinesis, sweeping through the remaining terrorists with 25 tons of water from the nearby pond, tripping and hindering most)

(Lady Pyrrha uses her powers as a native of Tharr to freeze the rushing water, trapping all but four of the remaining terrorists - who are then easily dealt with.)

In the aftermath, the slightly irate Princess speaks with the United Planets officials, ultimately soliciting their support for a vote of the U.P. Council on the creation of a new team of the Legion of Super-Heroes - to be shining examples of heroism in these dark times. The gathered heroes then head to Science Police Headquarters - they're able to glean some useful information from the terrorists, but two hours after they've arrived, the terrorists and their gear all vanish. The group's scientifically-inclined members make a shocking discovery - the Liberators are using the long-lost Zeta Beam technology!

With nothing further to be learned from the terrorists, the group heads to the Martian Embassy - to state their case before a holographic gathering of the United Planets Council as to why a new Legion should be formed. After the vote, Council Chair Zern Thall gives the Princess a case containing two dozen Legion Flight Rings, along with the access codes to the old Legion HQ in Metropolis.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

New Comics Day - 6/13/2012

New this week!

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #187
  • Warlord of Mars #18 - Dropped now.
  • Incorruptible #30
  • Invincible #92
  • Mega Man #14
  • Fantastic Four #607
  • War Goddess #8
  • Silk Spectre #1
  • The Shade #9
  • Legion Lost #10
  • Resurrection Man #10
  • Demon Knights #10
  • Green Lantern #10
  • Batman #10

That's it!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Origins 2012

One post ought to do it this year - due to a desire to leave myself some shopping time, and the fact that a double-dose of the Smithee Awards left me with less gaming time than usual, I attended fewer events than most any year previous.

Day One (Wednesday) : Warhammer 40K Introductory Session. There was also a mash-up game of My Little Pony and the Warhammer 'Death Watch' RPG that I wanted to get in, but it sold out less than eight minutes into registration.

Day Two (Thursday) : Two sessions of the DC Adventures game, both starring actual DC characters. Also, a playtest session of D&D Next. I had fun playing Martian Manhunter, and then Booster Gold, in the DC games. D&D Next was interesting, but the slot was overbooked and the poor, drafted extra GM running the overflow table had not had a chance to read the latest revisions thoroughly, and was short on sleep - he'd occasionally nod off while we were running combats.

Day Three (Friday) : Tried the Alien Frontiers boardgame, which was cool, and attended the MetaMegaSmithee awards. Also had another Warhammer session - a few squads of Imperial Guard trying to survive long enough to evacuate, against a Tyranid swarm.

Day Four (Saturday) : Blew off my morning event, shopped around, attended the regular-sized Smithee Awards.

Highlights :

  • Martian Manhunter, disguised as Superman, tricking Metallo into opening up his chest, exposing his Kryptonite heart - and then plucking it free with a stretchy Martian arm. Bonus : Using a hero point to go intangible as Zoom tried to recover the Kryptonite.
  • Booster Gold asking Captain Marvel if the Wisdom of Solomon allowed him to count cards (as we descended into Las Vegas).
  • The Smithees, as always.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

New Comics Day - 6/6/2012

Post-Origins double edition! I will talk about my trip to Origins a bit later, hopefully, but for now..

  • Empowered Volume 7
  • Star Trek : TNG / Doctor Who #1
  • FF #18
  • Minutemen #1
  • Night Force #4
  • G.I. Combat #2
  • Dial H #2
  • Justice League International #10
  • Earth 2 #2
  • World's Finest #2
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #4
  • Stormwatch #10
  • Batman Annual #1
  • Action Comics #10
  • Mediterranea #7
  • Tarot #74

That's all.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

New Comics Day - 5/23/2012

This week's haul, somewhat larger..

  • Hero Comics 2012
  • Fables #117
  • Irredeemable #37
  • Knights of the Dinner Table #186
  • Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris #12
  • Fantastic Four #606
  • I, Vampire #9
  • Voodoo #9
  • Justice League Dark #9
  • Teen Titans #9
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #9
  • Superman #9
  • Flash #9
  • Aquaman #9
  • Batman Incorporated #1

And Voodoo goes on my personal cancellation bubble.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

New Comics Day - 5/16/2012

This week's bunch.

  • War Goddess #7
  • Fantastic Four #605.1
  • Atomic Robo #2
  • Danger Club #2
  • The Shade #8
  • Wonder Woman #9
  • Batwoman #9
  • Green Lantern Corps #9
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #9
  • Justice League #9

That's all.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

New Comics Day - 5/9/2012

Hey, the first post FCBD one of these! I am so very disappointed, annoyed, and frustrated with DC and their New 52 Free Comic Book Day Book - they've ruined one of my favorite DC characters. Feh.

  • Invincible #91
  • Incorruptible #29
  • Dungeons and Dragons : Forgotten Realms #1 - This was.. not very good.
  • Mega Man #13
  • Mystery in Space #1
  • Night Force #3
  • Resurrection Man #9
  • Green Lantern #9
  • Batman #9
  • Demon Knights #9

That's all, folks. I'll be doing my Previews order soon, and dropping Red Lanterns; I, Vampire; Warlord of Mars; and Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

New Comics Day - 5/2/2012

And the haul before Free Comic Book Day :

  • Supurbia #3
  • Teen Titans Annual #1
  • Dial H #1
  • G.I. Combat #1
  • Red Lanterns #9
  • Justice League International #9
  • Stormwatch #9
  • Earth 2 #1
  • World's Finest #1
  • Action Comics #9

The new #1's from DC are pretty good, but Action is again the best book of the week.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

New Comics Day - 4/25/2012

Larger than usual week!

  • Warlord of Mars #17
  • Danger Girl : Revolver #4
  • Fables #116
  • FF #17
  • Justice League Dark #8
  • I, Vampire #8
  • Voodoo #8
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #8
  • Teen Titans #8
  • Superman #8
  • Aquaman #8
  • The Flash #8

And the second book of heroes and villains for the DC Adventures RPG! The 'Mars' books and I, Vampire are now officially on my 'drop' list - of course, since I just submitted my Previews order, I'll probably get them for a bit longer, but I'm just bored with them. FF, on the other hand, had the funniest last page of any comic I've read this year.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

New Comics Day - 4/18/2012

Oh, wow, I hate this new blogger interface. Anyway...

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #185
  • Irredeemable #36
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #3
  • Green Lantern Corps #8
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #8
  • Wonder Woman #8
  • Justice League #8
  • Batman #8

That's all.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

New Comics Day - 4/11/2012

This week's batch.

  • Dungeons and Dragons : Forgotten Realms 100 Page Spectacular
  • Mega Man #12
  • Danger Girl : Revolver #3
  • Fantastic Four #605
  • The Shade #7
  • Legion Lost #8
  • Green Lantern #8
  • Resurrection Man #8
  • Batwoman #8
  • Demon Knights #8

That's it.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

New Comics Day - 4/4/2012

The Flex Mentallo collection! At last!

  • Hell Yeah #2
  • Supurbia #2
  • Incorruptible #28
  • Danger Club #1
  • Invincible #90
  • Fairest #2
  • Night Force #2
  • Red Lanterns #8
  • Justice League International #8
  • Stormwatch #8
  • Action #8

That''s all!

Friday, March 30, 2012

New Comics Day - 3/28/2012

Fairly big haul this week.

  • Warlord of Mars #16
  • Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris #11
  • FF #16
  • Atomic Robo #1
  • Justice League Dark #7
  • I, Vampire #7
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #7
  • Voodoo #7
  • Teen Titans #7
  • Flash #7
  • Superman #7
  • Legion : Secret Origins #6
  • Aquaman #7
  • Tarot #73

That's it!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

New Comics Day - 3/21/2012

Here we go :

  • Hack/Slash #14
  • Star Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes #6
  • Fables #115
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #2
  • Green Lantern Corps #7
  • Wonder Woman #7
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #7
  • Batman #7
  • Justice League #7

Did not care for Justice League at all.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

New Comics Day - 3/14/2012

I've mainly been reading a bunch of back issues I've picked up on the cheap recently, but I still have new comics coming in..

  • Saucer Country #1
  • Knights of the Dinner Table #184
  • Mega Man #11
  • Fantastic Four #604
  • War Goddess #6
  • The Shade #6
  • Legion Lost #7
  • Resurrection Man #7
  • Green Lantern #7
  • Batwoman #7
  • Demon Knights #7

That's it!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

New Comics Day - 3/7/2012

Picked up a few tryouts this week.

  • Fairest #1
  • Irredeemable #35
  • Hell Yeah #1
  • Superbia #1
  • Night Force #1
  • Red Lanterns #7
  • Justice League Intenrational #7
  • Stormwatch #7
  • Action Comics #7

That's it..

Thursday, March 1, 2012

New Comics Day - 2/29/2012

Small day for comics, but I had a batch of toys come in too.

  • FF #15
  • The Shade #5
  • Batman Beyond Unlimited #1
  • Legion : Secret Origin #5
  • Justice League #6

That's it.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

DC Comics

Damn it, DC - I was all excited for the announced 'Earth 2' titles, but now it looks like they're going to be doing some kind of Grimdark version of Earth 2. It's like they're actively trying to get me to quit the hobby.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

New Comics Day - 2/22/2012

Decent haul this week!

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #183
  • Danger Girl : Revolver #2
  • Atomic Robo : The Ghost of Station X #5
  • Fantastic Four #603
  • Teen Titans #6
  • I, Vampire #6
  • Voodoo #6
  • Justice League Dark #6
  • The Flash #6
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #6
  • Superman #6
  • Aquaman #6

And Voodoo joins Teen Titans and I, Vampire on the bubble of dropping, and Justice League Dark better warm up soon, too.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Campaign Ideas : Legion 41

As campaign ideas go, this one couldn't be more simple to explain - a successor version of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 41st Century. I love super-heroes, and I love science fiction, and they're two great tastes that taste great together. This is another idea that's been kicking around in my head for a while, and the fires were stoked further by the release of the new DC Adventures licensed role-playing game.*

* Of course, the wait for the second book dampened the flames down again. And now we're waiting on the third (of four).. Sigh.


Of course, that thousand-year gap isn't just there to clean the stage so that the newbie player heroes aren't overshadowed by 'real' Legionnaires. I've got some history and backstory to fill in that gap. Specifically - in the 38th century, Earth geneticists created a supreme metahuman being that, true to form, ran amok*. This nearly omnipotent being was finally brought down, but not before it destroyed Sorcerer's World utterly - unleashing a flood of magic back into the cosmos.

* And why is it they never walk amok? Always in such a hurry.

The incident caused the United Planets to outlaw metagene research (with the exception of certain already-proven lines) and to form a task force to deal with the chaos caused by the return of magic. Metahumans and aliens with meta-abilities are somewhat distrusted as a result, except the U.P.'s genetically enhanced soldiers that protect everyone. Of course, after I came up with this, I got into Warhammer 40K a bit, and realized that except for dropping an order of magnitude on the year, this all sounds pretty similar.*

* Seriously, some of the backstory that I can't put on here, in case I use this idea? The parallels are even more obvious, though unintentional.

So in this grim, dark, grimdark future where There Is Only War, a new version of the Legion is founded, providing positive examples of metahumans and a dash of optimism. The NPC pulling it together at first would be a princess of the newly-returned city of Atlantis, a descendant of Arthur Curry, AKA Aquaman, thus giving her a tie to that first age of heroes. 'Hydro Lass'* would bring together a new group of heroes to fight the enemies of the United Planets, protect its citizens, and deal with the occasional magical problem, or forbidden research.

* Hero name is a work in progress. May vary in actual gameplay.

Unlike some of my campaign ideas, I've even got a few of the adventure notions down for this one. Such as :

  • What is the source of the metahuman DNA used to build the United Planets' superhuman soldiers?
  • A mysterious temporal disturbance is detected in Colorado - forbidden temporal research, or the arrival of a time traveler?
  • An immortal human warlord has emerged with the return of magic, called 'Ghul'. He's conquered a dozen planets already, can he be stopped?
It'd be a fun way to play in the DC Universe without getting bogged down with too many continuity issues. And it'd be a perfect fit with the DC Adventures / Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition game.

Just as soon as they finish the damn thing.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

New Comics Day - 2/15/2012

I guess I'll just have to get used to a smaller pile of comics each week.

  • Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris #10
  • Fables #114
  • Green Lantern Corps #6
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #6
  • Wonder Woman #6
  • Batman #6
  • Star Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes #5

The Trek/Legion crossover is awesome. And there's a splash page of time machines belonging to other time travelers who've tried to stop the main bad guy. And whatever fictional time machine you just thought of, it's in there. I love it!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

New Comics Day - 2/8/2012

Belatedly posted. Fairly light week - I guess that's the new normal with the DC relaunch.

  • Warlord of Mars #15
  • War Goddess #5
  • Mega Man #10
  • Dungeons and Dragons #15
  • Legion Lost #6
  • Resurrection Man #6
  • Green Lantern #6
  • Demon Knights #6
  • Batwoman #6

That's all..

Thursday, February 2, 2012

New Comics Day - 2/1/2012

This week's batch, including one that undershipped to my local store last month.

  • Warlord of Mars Annual #1
  • Irredeemable #34
  • Invincible #88
  • Red Lanterns #6 - I may regret promoting this to pull-list status already.
  • I, Vampire #5
  • Stormwatch #6
  • Justice League International #6
  • Action Comics #6

That's it!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Campaign Ideas : Agents of the Weird

Part one (sort of) of a series. I am often blessed - or cursed - with a preponderance of campaign ideas. And there's never enough time to run them all, so some of them inevitably get shoved to the side. The thought occurred to me, a while back, that it might be useful to document these ideas somewhere. I may get to run them somewhere down the road, and having them all listed on my blog (linked by a convenient 'campaign ideas' tag) could be useful.

This is one that's been circling my brain in various forms for a while now, and it was brought back to the forefront by Warehouse 13, on the Syfy Channel. In fact, my ideas for the campaign date back to my first encounter with the GURPS supplement Warehouse 23, which in turn was inspired by the same source material that Warehouse 13 is mining - namely, the big government warehouse featured at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the beginning of that.. other Indiana Jones movie*.

* You know. The one with the monkeys.

The core concept of the campaign is that the players would create characters from various government backgrounds, recruited into a secret organization to protect America and the world from things the public does not need to know about. It's a very broad concept, and it has been mined by several games, shows, or movies* in the past, varying only in the type of secrets they keep.

* Men in Black, GURPS Conspiracy / Warehouse 23, Bureau 13, Warehouse 13, et cetera. Heck, Call of Cthulhu fits.

The campaign, as I envisioned it, would take the kitchen-sink approach to the weird : it's all true. Aliens. Time travel. Psychic phenomena*. Cults and conspiracies. Vampires and werewolves, sorcery and the supernatural. Some of the adventures would fit the Warehouse 13 mold - recovering a dangerous artifact, or dealing with one that was already thought to be safely contained. Others would be more violently oriented - wiping out an alien advance force before they can call in an invasion, or hunting down a vampire preying on the locals in a small town. And of course, it wouldn't always be obvious what the problem was - investigation would be a must.

* Doo doo, da doo doo.


I'd probably run it in Mutants and Masterminds, because although there are dozens of 'action agent' RPGs out there, I'd need something universal and big to handle all the 'weird' things they'd be dealing with. Savage Worlds, HERO, or GURPS would also work, but Savage Worlds doesn't give me the detail I crave, and HERO and GURPS are too much work. M&M is usually pretty non-lethal, but with a couple of optional rules thrown in, I could have the players actually worried about their survival, I think.

The first adventure or two could be the gathering of the team, introducing their setting, sewing some seeds of mistrust and ambiguity about the agency they work for*, that sort of thing. I even have a couple of adventure hooks that I've written up - and generating quick sessions would be a snap under this premise.

* I mean, you basically have to.

If I were to have the necessary free time open up right now, I might be reluctant to run it, because it intrudes on the design-space of my friend Eric's game - which is basically a Hellboy / Planetary-inspired 1970's Investigation game. Covering aliens, time travel, psychic phenomena*, sorcery and the supernatural, et cetera. I think I could distinguish them with the tone and lower power level of the PCs, but I'd prefer to leave it with room to breathe.

* Doo doo da doo.

Still, this idea resurfaces any time I think about starting a new game, mainly because of my love of the 'Warehouse 23 Basement' feature on the website for Steve Jackson Games. It has apparently been discontinued due to overwhelming web traffic, but it was basically a list of thousands of 'weird' items that users had submitted, that you could view randomly, one at a time. Fortunately, even though the feature was shut down, I still have about 4500 of its entries saved in a spreadsheet on my home PC. Almost any one of those is an adventure hook.

In fact, one of the items might have been a literal 'adventure hook'. There was some weird stuff on there.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

New Comics Day

I knew a big one was coming up sometime soon.

  • Knights of the Dinner Table #182
  • Mega Man #9
  • Incorruptible #26
  • FF #14
  • Fantastic Four #602
  • The Savage Hawkman #5 - Soon, I will no longer receive this.
  • Justice League Dark #5
  • Teen Titans #5 - I extended the tryout period here.
  • Voodoo #5
  • Superman #5
  • Green Lantern : New Guardians #5
  • Aquaman #5
  • The Flash #5
  • Legion : Secret Origin #4
  • Justice League #5
  • Tarot #72

That's it!

D&D 5 : The Undiscovered Country

That's right, I just equated 4th Edition to "What does God need with a Starship?"

I am delighted and amused by the announcement of 5th Edition. The designer interviews and leaks for it thus far all scream "Oops, 4th Edition was a mistake. Our bad." Dungeons and Dragons was outsold for what I believe is the first time in the RPG market. Half the fans sticking with the previous edition, or its successor, Pathfinder. The designers threw out the baby, and kept the bathwater.

I was put in a position to defend 4th Edition the other day, which annoyed me, but I should be clear - it is decent at what it does. And what it does is gamist tactical grid-based combat. There is a certain visceral thrill in moving the DM's monster pieces into disadvantageous positions on the board and ultimately killing them. I'm in two 4th Edition games right now, and they're better than sitting around and watching television.

What 4th Edition lacks is a heart - the core of D&D, for me, is the roleplaying experience. And 4th Edition graciously allows you to do that. If you want. It's not combat, and therefore not important, so they didn't make any real rules for it, but you can.

It also lacks a soul - as gamist as previous editions have been, there were always simulationist elements to the game to make you feel as if it were self-consistent - not realistic in the traditional sense of the word, but that such a world, given these assumptions, could exist. It's a kind of plausibility that aids in suspension of disbelief, and therefore, aids in immersion. Which facilitates roleplaying.

An aside : My Monday night gaming group had a little Edition War - well, more like an edition skirmish - brought on by the DM's increasing frustration with 4E. He illustrated one of the problems thusly : "A bard gets up on stage and performs. Then she (indicating the party's PC bard) gets up on stage and performs. Who was better?" 4E has no mechanism that's truly appropriate for that. Charisma check, at best. I expanded on his example : "Then my Paladin gets on stage!" The DM nodded. "Because he says he can play an instrument! And he's a blacksmith now, too!" I agreed, "That's right, I forge my own instruments!"

Instead of a diverse array of options with unique flavor, we get vague, flavorless classes that really only differ from one another because of flavor text. Instead of realism, we get rigid balance and silly kludges to keep anything from detracting from the combat. It's a fantasy boardgame. I enjoy those from time to time, but it's not a substitute for a roleplaying game.

So now we have 5th Edition, putting 4th Edition on record as the shortest-lived incarnation of Dungeons and Dragons since the release of 1st Edition AD&D. And I'm a little bit excited for it. It sounds like they're making an honest effort to appeal to their entire fanbase, with a modular rules system that allows different players to essentially mimic whichever edition's playstyle they want in building their character, yet still play together. It sounds ambitious, but I can see how they could do it.

I'm hoping that we'll see a partially point-based system with the new edition - rather than getting a feat with your new level, you get a certain number of character points to spend, which would buy a feat, or maybe pool with other points to buy something cooler. You could make the system tiered - Basic, Middle, and Advanced - where the basic player has a handful of options, the middle player gets the points and can spend them more freely, and perhaps the advanced player doesn't even have a class - he gets a pool of points to buy abilities a la carte.

Whatever they come up with, the open playtest period (over a year's worth) is a good idea to get people looking at D&D again who may have migrated to other games, so I will give it a shot - I signed up to participate in the playtesting.

But I'm still going to laugh at each and every one of the people who mocked 3rd Edition diehards when we complained at the release of 4th Edition. 'You'll still have your books, they can't take those away from you!' 'What's the problem, you can still play the old game!' Justice at last. Of course, it only took five years, to maybe 'at last' is unnecessary.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

New Comics Day

And another light week. Wow.

  • Danger Girl : Revolver #1
  • Fables #113
  • Legion of Super-Heroes #5
  • Green Lantern Corps #5
  • Wonder Woman #5
  • Batman #5

That's it.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

New 52 - the First Casualties

So, I was going to write a post about the announcement of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons today, but I think I'll hold off on that, to talk about comics.

Blackhawks, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, Mister Terrific, OMAC, and Static Shock are dead, after issue #8. Five of them, I'd never picked up - OMAC was fun, but not really generating long-term interest.

Replacing them will be Batman Incorporated, Earth 2, World's Finest, Dial H, G.I. Combat, and The Ravagers. Some thoughts :

  • Batman, Inc - I was reading this before, and I will pick it up when it resumes.
  • Earth 2 - This is our James Robinson / Nicola Scott JSA title, so I will buy this.
  • World's Finest - I love that they're finally resurrecting the name. But it's the Huntress and Power Girl of Earth 2, stranded in 'our world' - meaning New Earth or Earth Prime? I'll probably give it a look at least.
  • Dial H - An update of Dial H for Hero, this one gets a few issues of try-out from me.
  • G.I. Combat - 'War That Time Forgot' as a lead feature, with backups of the Unknown Soldier and the Haunted Tank? This might be interesting enough to pick up a few issues, unlike Blackhawks or Men of War.
  • The Ravagers - Not even going to bother.

All in all, I think this is a change for the better.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

New Comics Day

Very light week, again.

  • Invincible #87
  • The Shade #4
  • Green Lantern #5
  • Resurrection Man #5
  • Legion Lost #5
  • Batwoman #5
  • Demon Knights #5

That's it! Stopped picking up Batman and Robin, and Batgirl.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

New Comics Day

Light week, as some of the titles drop away from the new DCU.

  • Warlord of Mars : Dejah Thoris #9
  • Irredeemable #33
  • Star Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes #4 - and the villain is revealed. Nice.
  • Red Lanterns #5
  • Stormwatch #5
  • Justice League International #5
  • Action Comics #5

That's it!