Category Archives: Random

Rocky & Bullwinkle are Back!

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Jay Ward’s The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, was known for its wry humor, quality writing, and appeal to both adults and children.  Now, in partnership with Bullwinkle Studios and DreamWorks Animation, IDW Publishing will keep that tradition alive through the magic of comic books with the release of Rocky & Bullwinkle this March.

This Rocky & Bullwinkle series will be brought to life by a creative team that is truly one for the books!  Best known for his humor work, Eisner-winner Mark Evanier is a natural fit as the series writer, while the incomparable Roger Langridge provides pitch-perfect interior art, and fan-favorite Stephanie Buscema brings her unique style to the not-to-be-missed variant covers.

Each issue will be a self-contained story featuring your favorite Rocky & Bullwinkle characters in all-new antics, as well as contain a supporting Dudley Do-Right story, just like the original show. Get ready, because the madcap adventures are about to start!!! But beware, Snidely Whiplash, Boris Badenov, and Natasha Fatale are always lurking…

Skirmish With Cthulhu

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Spartan Games and Modiphius Entertainment have announced a team-up to bring us some new projects starting in 2014, the first of which is Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish Game, to be launched in Spring 2014. Building on the massive range of Cthulhu creatures, Allied Investigators and Nazi Villains funded by the Achtung! Cthulhu Kickstarter, Spartan Games will launch a full-blown skirmish game line under license from Modiphius.

The Achtung! Cthulhu Skirmish Game will utilise the fast-paced, action-packed rules used in Spartan’s Dystopian Legions game, and plans for the range include starter sets, faction sets, hero sets, large creature sets and experimental vehicles, as well as a full-colour stand alone rulebook.

The first range of 49 miniatures, sculpted by Russ Charles, will be extended to include more Mythos creatures, Nazi Villains, Allied Heroes and strange experimental vehicles. Spartan plan to utilise their hugely popular laser-cut scenery line to add some stunning battlefield scenic accessories so that players can bring to lifesome of the stranger aspects of the Achtung! Cthulhu world, whilst Spartan’s high quality resins will allow some truly larger-than-life Cthulhu creatures and war machines to dominate the battlefield.

Which Comic Company Raised $2,000 to Fight Malaria… so far?

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Sequential announced earlier this month they’ve handed over the first check of $2,000 to Malaria No More UK — money raised with Neil Gaiman‘s Lost Tales comic for the iPad, via the Sequential graphic novel app. The digital platform is donating 50¢ for each person that downloads the comic! You can do the math to figure out the number of downloads.

British author Neil Gaiman is a phenomenon, with an international fanbase, nearly two million Twitter followers and a string of best-selling books and graphic novels to his name. They’ve so far rallied to help get some money to this worthy charity.

Knockabout Comics, publisher of comics legends including Gilbert Shelton, Robert Crumb and Alan Moore, and Sequential released an exclusive – and totally free – digital collection of Neil Gaiman’s ‘lost’ comic strips from the 1980s, in aid of charity Malaria No More UK.

The collection features Gaiman’s collaborations with Bryan Talbot, Dave McKean and others, and includes a very rare interview from 1988, Gaiman’s original typed notes for Sandman, sample scripts, project proposals, rarely seen early photos and more. Also included is an original cover by British underground comics great Hunt Emerson, specially commissioned for this collection, plus comment from Knockabout publisher Tony Bennett and comics historian Paul Gravett.

Neil Gaiman’s Lost Tales collects stories from the long out-of-print Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament and Seven Deadly Sins – both of which caused outrage upon publication – as well as SF tales from Trident Comics and a favourite from 2000AD, plus several others.

The free collection, which runs to over 100 pages, is exclusively available via the Sequential iPad app and a donation of $0.50 will be made to Malaria No More UK for each download before December 31st, 2013. Sequential and Knockabout aim to raise up thousands of dollars for the charity’s work to bring an end to malaria, a preventable disease that is tragically one of the biggest killers of children in Africa.

Neil Gaiman Comics for Charity

Marvel & Wizard World are Doing What for VIPs?

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Marvel and Wizard World have announced a program by which VIP attendees at each of the 16 scheduled 2014 Wizard World Comic Con pop culture conventions will receive exclusive variant covers of the best Marvel titles, beginning with Miracleman #1 at Portland Comic Con which takes place January 24-26, and Miracleman #2 at New Orleans Comic Con, which runs February 7-9. The first two limited-edition books, with covers illustrated by comics legend and Eisner Award Hall of Famer Neal Adams, feature interlocking covers, and will be available in both color and black & white sketch editions.

The colored version of Miracleman #1 will be limited to 3,000 copies and provided free at registration to all Wizard World VIP attendees, including any celebrity VIP packages. The Black & White sketch version is limited to just 2,500 copies and will be available for sale at the Wizard World Store on the convention floor. Quantities per purchase may be limited.

Adams is scheduled to be on site at each event to sign copies (autograph fees may apply). Leading professional comic grader CGC will also be on hand to accept books for grading and Signature Series.

SPX is Doing What in 2014?

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The Small Press Expo is one of the best comic conventions each year, highlighting fantastic indie and small press comics. The problem is, there’s so many, how do you decide who gets the limited space?

The convention has announced a new process to handle registration for exhibitors after difficulties experienced during the 2013 show sign-up. Last year, the convention changed table sign-up to a “first come, first serve” digital process that overwhelmed their system causing numerous headaches. This lead them to rethink the entire process for 2014.

For 2014, the convention has announced a split registration system. Half the tables will be awarded by an open lottery and half by invitation. And most importantly, total transparency as to how people get their tables and how the wait list works. The convention is putting together a simple initial registration and a lengthy window of registration so those interested in exhibiting won’t be dealing with website crashes. This will be a truly random and fair process to reserve your tables.

While the convention doesn’t want to broadly “curate” the show, they do work on a theme for each year, consisting of a group of guests that meet that theme. But, that’s nothing new.

Also important is the creators and publishers who have supported the show over the years, on top of the new up and comers who bring amazing energy to the show. Prior to the lottery, SPX will reach out to those legacy supporters of SPX offering them a window of opportunity to commit to their table(s).  If the table space is declined, it will then roll over to the Lottery pool and be available to all Lottery participants.

Here’s how it all breaks down:

  1. By early January SPX will notify all of the SPX Legacy members so everyone knows whether they need to register for the Lottery or not.
  2. In mid-January SPX will send out via both their exhibitor e-mail list and social media the start and end dates for Lottery registration. A web site will be provided to enter your information as well as further details on the registration process. SPX will also announce the final size of the number of tables in the Lottery pool.
  3. There will be a 3 week window to register for the Lottery, so they can avoid the crazy, mad rush to sign up online that plagued them last year. Weekly reminders will go out via their e-mail list and social media to be sure that this is kept on everyone’s radar.

The show has been fantastic every year, and having an overflowing amount of individuals interested in participating is a good problem to have. Here’s to an awesome 2014 SPX!

Small Press Expo

IDW Games Announces the Kill Shakespeare Design Team

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IDW Games has selected game designers Thomas Vande Ginste and Wolf Plancke as the creative team that will bring Kill Shakespeare to tabletops in 2014. The design team, best known for the sold-out critically acclaimed Yedo, will deliver a co-operative board game that pits several of the Bard’s most popular characters together in a struggle to protect the land from King Richard and Lady Macbeth.

Designed to be a “semi-cooperative”-style board game, players will unite to battle against evil forces controlled by board mechanics, while still jockeying to come out as the individual leader on the scoreboard. The design and content of the game will pull heavily from source material created by the Kill Shakespeare graphic-novel team. However, those unfamiliar with the works shouldn’t feel left out, as the board game will act as the perfect entry point to those unfamiliar with Kill Shakespeare.

With a 2014 summer release planned, IDW Games looks to be putting their best foot forward with this title. The previously announced art team of Dave Dorman and J.K. Woodward should give Kill Shakespeare a firm advantage in the art department, and this new addition of a high-quality design team loudly delivers the message that the publisher is here not just to play, but to win.

kill shakespeare

Get Penny Arcade Comics and Help Charity

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Penny Arcade Volume 1 Attack of the Bacon RobotsFans of Penny Arcade should head over to Humble Bundle right now. The platform which allows folks to buy awesome games for really cheap, and give a portion of that purchase to charity, not only has video games based on the popular website as a package right now, but comics too.

This week, pay what you want for the iconic comic strip, Penny Arcade Volume 1: Attack of the Bacon Robots, and the first two installments of the On the Rain-Slick series, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One and On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two. If you pay $6 or more, you’ll also receive Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3 and On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4, as well as the second volume of the charming comic series, Penny Arcade Volume 2: Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings!

If you bought all of these games separately, it’d cost you more than $50, but you’re able to name your own price and split what you give between the creators and the Child’s Play charity!

MAGFest 12, Jan 2-5 2014, Feat. Machinae Supremacy in Washington, DC

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magfestIn just under a week, Washington, DC will kick off the twelfth annual Music And Gaming Festival aka MAGFest The festival will again be held at National Harbor, MD (right next to DC), on January 2-5, 2014.

With over 12,000 people expected to be in attendance, this year’s MAGFest promises to be the biggest and best one yet. As in previous years, the event will feature non-stop 24 hour activites for four days straight, including (but by no means limited to):

Music
Over 40 musical performers, ranging from video game cover bands, to DJs, to chiptune artists, and why the hell not, a blue-grass style 80s pop cover band. MAGFest 12 will also be home to the first ever USA performances of Swedish SID metal band Machinae Supremacy, and Brazilian video game cover band MegaDriver.

Gaming
Consoles, handhelds, tabletop, LAN, and 100+ free-play arcades, all with a huge catalog of selections celebrating the past 40 years of gaming.

Guests and Panels

A whole host of gaming and internet celebreties join us for discussions on a variety of topics, both fun and serious. Duke Nukem and Leisure Suit Larry have some dirty jokes to tell, while Extra Credits writer James Portnow has got some knowledge bombs to drop.

Indie Game Showcase
20+ Indie studios showing off the fruits of their labor. This year’s showcase also features the sequel to Tales of Game’s Barkley’s Shut Up and Jam Gaiden.

“Games on Film” film festival
A dozen gaming-inspired films, and even more gaming-inspired shorts come together to be part of the the largest gaming film festival in the world a second year in a row.

Charity
Table flipping, pot smashing, beard shaving, auctions, and more. If there is any conceivable way to raise money for Child’s Play Charity, and be thoroughly entertaining in the process, then you will find it at MAGFest.

Four day passes for the event are available both through the website, and at the door for $60. Single day passes will be available for purchase at the door for $40 for Friday or Saturday, and $20 for Thursday or Sunday.

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