Monday, March 29, 2010
RIP Dick Giordano
Comics professional Dick Giordano passed away recently. In honor of his contributions to the comics medium, I just want to pay my respects via my blog.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Previews (aka Diamond) and Cancellations
One feature I liked about the Previews Costumer Order Form was the list of cancellations in the back. I appreciated knowing whether or not a particular item was late or cancelled. Now there were times when such an item would show up, which made gauging the list's accuracy difficult. Furthermore, reading the cancellation list could be tedious at times cause not every product would concern me.
Then one catalog came and the list was gone. I understand the need for space so I accepted the change. Since I have had cancelled items in the past, I went to the Previews site as suggested by the order form. To my frustration, there was not section that conveniently listed cancellations. Modifications, yes. Cancellations, resolicitations, lateness were not readily apparent. In other words, if I want to know the status of a particular item I have to ask the retailer.
Incredibly frustrating.
Then one catalog came and the list was gone. I understand the need for space so I accepted the change. Since I have had cancelled items in the past, I went to the Previews site as suggested by the order form. To my frustration, there was not section that conveniently listed cancellations. Modifications, yes. Cancellations, resolicitations, lateness were not readily apparent. In other words, if I want to know the status of a particular item I have to ask the retailer.
Incredibly frustrating.
A ton of Anime currently on Hulu
Just want to mention that right now, Hulu has added many new anime shows within the last couple of weeks. Honestly, there's more anime on that site than I have seen before which is one reason why I'm mentioning it. Another reason is that as a not-quite casual, not-quite otaku I am excited that at the moment many anime shows are readily available. Its also good news for anyone on a budget. So some anime reviews/thoughts will come.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
GM's Day Sale at OBS sites
Sometime between March 3rd and 8th is GM's Day. To celebrate many companies are offering discounts on select PDFs. Over at OneBookShelf sites such as RPGNow and DriveThruRPG the discount is generally 25%. I believe Your Games Now or whatever the site is called has the same discount.
Why am I mentioning this? One, I do not benefit from plugging these sales whatsoever. Its a conversational point for me. If I do purchase some PDFs due to the sale, its now a conversation point having mentioned the sale prior. Second, I am thankful when companies discount their products. Such a gamble does not always pay off and may hurt sales in the long-term.
Why am I mentioning this? One, I do not benefit from plugging these sales whatsoever. Its a conversational point for me. If I do purchase some PDFs due to the sale, its now a conversation point having mentioned the sale prior. Second, I am thankful when companies discount their products. Such a gamble does not always pay off and may hurt sales in the long-term.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Marvel Digital Comics pt 1
Since its inception, I have planned on purchasing a subscription to Marvel Digital Comics. After a year, I finally purchased a subscription. Has it affected my purchases? Not so far. But then again, I have considered this for quite some time. Sure I don't buy as Marvel as I used to but that is as much a reaction to the product as it is to anything else. Furthermore, I have come to the sad conclusion that I am more likely to read a comic online than I would in print.
Not that this is the end of trades and pamphlets. I'll still buy and, at some point, read them. This is just a new and, perhaps, better means of sampling comics.
More later.
Not that this is the end of trades and pamphlets. I'll still buy and, at some point, read them. This is just a new and, perhaps, better means of sampling comics.
More later.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Facebook and RPGs
A recent blog entry at Wondrous Imaginings mentions the growing generation gap concerning social media. Towards the end, Joethelawyer asks a series of questions about role-playing games and Facebook. Rather than comment there, I decided to do so here.
How much do I use Facebook for RPG-related social interactions?
While I use Facebook for some RPG-related interactions, I don't use it very much.
Do you use it for some types of interactions but not others?
Yep. Facebook is not set up to foster actual play. Well, it could do play-by-post but would only work as a private group. Facebook is excellent for organizing events and getting vague idea about attendance. I have seen Facebook used as method of conveying general campaign information via private groups.
Do you find it useful for...?
Facebook is useful for organizing gaming events and can take the place of group emails to campaign participants. As for the exchange of RPG ideas, I don't think so. One, the sample pool is too small. Second, I haven't seen much of any discussion of ideas unless someone either linked to their blog or displayed the contents via a note.
How much do I use Facebook for RPG-related social interactions?
While I use Facebook for some RPG-related interactions, I don't use it very much.
Do you use it for some types of interactions but not others?
Yep. Facebook is not set up to foster actual play. Well, it could do play-by-post but would only work as a private group. Facebook is excellent for organizing events and getting vague idea about attendance. I have seen Facebook used as method of conveying general campaign information via private groups.
Do you find it useful for...?
Facebook is useful for organizing gaming events and can take the place of group emails to campaign participants. As for the exchange of RPG ideas, I don't think so. One, the sample pool is too small. Second, I haven't seen much of any discussion of ideas unless someone either linked to their blog or displayed the contents via a note.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Got my copy of the Doctor Who RPG
Recently, my copy of the latest Doctor Who RPG arrived at my LCGS. As both a gamer and Doctor Who fan, I perk up at the mention of either an adaptation or RPG dealing with our favorite time lord. Way back, I picked Time Lord. Overall, I thought Time Lord wasn't a bad game. What saddened me was a lack of character creation rules. So I never played or ran it. It also didn't help most of my friends at the time had no experience with Doctor Who.
The current batch of folks I game with are familiar with the good Doctor. So when Cubicle 7 announced that they had the Doctor Who license, I was excited to order a copy. Now, I didn't expect to play or run it. I just wanted to have a copy and show to those who were at least familiar with the property. With that said, I was delighted when my copy of the boxed set arrived. At some point in time, I'll probably provide a review of some sort although I don't know if it'll have play experience included. That's really up to my gaming group.
The current batch of folks I game with are familiar with the good Doctor. So when Cubicle 7 announced that they had the Doctor Who license, I was excited to order a copy. Now, I didn't expect to play or run it. I just wanted to have a copy and show to those who were at least familiar with the property. With that said, I was delighted when my copy of the boxed set arrived. At some point in time, I'll probably provide a review of some sort although I don't know if it'll have play experience included. That's really up to my gaming group.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
At least I got to research my character more...
On Tuesday, I expected to game for the first time in three weeks. Alas, that was not meant to be as the game was cancelled. On the bright side, I got to pour through the Star Wars Saga RPG core rule book. The usual d20 ritual of examining the pros and cons of various options commenced. While I am not done with that character, I am a lot further along than I otherwise would have been.
Then tonight I had the option of going to the local gaming club and ... chose not to. Problem with gaming clubs is that unless you're a part of a game, its hard to justify going to one during winter. Maybe next week as its been awhile since I attended last.
Then tonight I had the option of going to the local gaming club and ... chose not to. Problem with gaming clubs is that unless you're a part of a game, its hard to justify going to one during winter. Maybe next week as its been awhile since I attended last.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Human Target
Last week, I watched the first two episodes of the Human Target. So far so good. Its a nice action/adventure show about a bodyguard named Christopher Chance that, as the name implies, makes himself a target. Jackie Earle Haley (I think) who played Rorsach and will play Freddy Krueger also stars as a regular. So that is two performances in adaptions of DC Entertainment properties.
Honestly, I am not all that familiar with the character so I don't know how faithful the show is. I never read the earlier comics nor the most recent series from around 2004-5. DC is releasing a 6 part mini-series, which if I get it will be via trade paperback.
For those that are interested in reading a little bit more of the early (circa 70's) comic book appearances of Christopher Chance, the blog Diversions of the Groovy Kind has a snippet or two.
Honestly, I am not all that familiar with the character so I don't know how faithful the show is. I never read the earlier comics nor the most recent series from around 2004-5. DC is releasing a 6 part mini-series, which if I get it will be via trade paperback.
For those that are interested in reading a little bit more of the early (circa 70's) comic book appearances of Christopher Chance, the blog Diversions of the Groovy Kind has a snippet or two.
3 Weeks Off, 3+ Weeks on Gaming
Haven't posted much recently. Some of that has to do with my schedule. Some of its motivation as I haven't been in a blogging mood. Some of its content. Due to scheduling conflicts, I have not been able to attend the Tuesday night gaming group. What makes me happy is that my schedule allows me to attend the next three weeks worth of sessions. Possibly more.
The group has decided to play Star Wars Saga Edition and Vampire the Masquerade on alternating Tuesdays. I have come up with two bare bones concepts for both games. For Star Wars, I am thinking about playing a human soldier type whose a rifleman. For the Vampire the Masquerade game, I am playing 13th generation Ventrue whom was (is?) a director at a local hospital. He appears to be middle-aged and was a former surgeon before his promotion to management. Notable Disciplines: Dominate. A neonate only recently released from his sire's stewardship. I no longer remember the proper terminology.
The group has decided to play Star Wars Saga Edition and Vampire the Masquerade on alternating Tuesdays. I have come up with two bare bones concepts for both games. For Star Wars, I am thinking about playing a human soldier type whose a rifleman. For the Vampire the Masquerade game, I am playing 13th generation Ventrue whom was (is?) a director at a local hospital. He appears to be middle-aged and was a former surgeon before his promotion to management. Notable Disciplines: Dominate. A neonate only recently released from his sire's stewardship. I no longer remember the proper terminology.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Doctor Who on Youtube - the link
Awhile ago, I mentioned that some classic Doctor Who stories are available on YouTube. At the time, I didn't provide the link. Since that time, and courtesy of the blog HeroPress, I now present said link. Here it is.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Two Yuletide Comics Reviews
Here are reviews of two comics with Christmas themes. They are Ghostbusters: Past, Present, and Future and The Tick New Series. Both reviews are short snippets.
Ghostbusters Past Present and Future is a one shot Christmas special. In a nutshell its a modern day A Christmas Carol with a twist. As someone who grew up with the Ghostbusters this was nice nostalgic trip that didn't feel re-hashed. Honestly, I didn't expect the twist at the end as Venkman figures out what is going on. The characterization is adequate and the 'continuity' feels closer to that of the movies than the cartoon. What I found amusing that I kept imagining the Real Ghostbusters Ray's voice instead of Dan Akroyd every time I read Ray's line of dialogue. Story-wise it as a decent Christmas story. As for the art, it was good. The storytelling and backgrounds were rather good. The only downside was the character likenesses. Both Peter and Ray looked awfully alike. Furthermore, the main characters don't resemble past incarnations although both Egon and Winston come close. It was also neat to see that penciler Diego Jourdan's work outside of the occasional Tales of the TMNT foray.
Rating 3 out of 5 stars. Read this if you're a fan of the Ghostbusters, Christmas stories, and/or A Christmas Carol pastiches.
The Tick New Series #1 serves not only as the first issue of a new, bi-monthly full color on-going series but as the Christmas special as well. I found it amusing that intsead of putting 'new' in front of 'the Tick' they put it at the end and then discussed that reason. Other than that this issue concerns The Tick, Arthur, and some of the Tick's rogues gallery at separate Christmas, or not, related gatherings. There's four recountings of the Tick spoiling four different Christmas or winter themed evil-doings of several ne'er do wells. Of them Chairface's struck me as the most hilarious and ironic. The reader need not have too much familiarity with the Tick to enjoy this issue as this story wasn't all that continuity heavy although it may help.
Rating 3 out of 5 stars. Read this if you're a fan of The Tick, Christmas stories, humor, and done -in -ones. Its also accessible to both new and old readers.
Ghostbusters Past Present and Future is a one shot Christmas special. In a nutshell its a modern day A Christmas Carol with a twist. As someone who grew up with the Ghostbusters this was nice nostalgic trip that didn't feel re-hashed. Honestly, I didn't expect the twist at the end as Venkman figures out what is going on. The characterization is adequate and the 'continuity' feels closer to that of the movies than the cartoon. What I found amusing that I kept imagining the Real Ghostbusters Ray's voice instead of Dan Akroyd every time I read Ray's line of dialogue. Story-wise it as a decent Christmas story. As for the art, it was good. The storytelling and backgrounds were rather good. The only downside was the character likenesses. Both Peter and Ray looked awfully alike. Furthermore, the main characters don't resemble past incarnations although both Egon and Winston come close. It was also neat to see that penciler Diego Jourdan's work outside of the occasional Tales of the TMNT foray.
Rating 3 out of 5 stars. Read this if you're a fan of the Ghostbusters, Christmas stories, and/or A Christmas Carol pastiches.
The Tick New Series #1 serves not only as the first issue of a new, bi-monthly full color on-going series but as the Christmas special as well. I found it amusing that intsead of putting 'new' in front of 'the Tick' they put it at the end and then discussed that reason. Other than that this issue concerns The Tick, Arthur, and some of the Tick's rogues gallery at separate Christmas, or not, related gatherings. There's four recountings of the Tick spoiling four different Christmas or winter themed evil-doings of several ne'er do wells. Of them Chairface's struck me as the most hilarious and ironic. The reader need not have too much familiarity with the Tick to enjoy this issue as this story wasn't all that continuity heavy although it may help.
Rating 3 out of 5 stars. Read this if you're a fan of The Tick, Christmas stories, humor, and done -in -ones. Its also accessible to both new and old readers.
4 More Blogs added to my blog roll
Once again, I have added some more blogs to my blog roll. Four of them in fact. Three of them are comics-oriented while the fourth includes comics amongst the discussion. I had been following the three comics blogs for awhile and decided to add them to the roll.
The blogs are: Diversions of the Groovy Kind (70's comics), Golden Age Comic Book Stories, Flashback Universe (webcomics, discussions on comics new and old), and A Fistful of Cult.
The blogs are: Diversions of the Groovy Kind (70's comics), Golden Age Comic Book Stories, Flashback Universe (webcomics, discussions on comics new and old), and A Fistful of Cult.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Added a new blog to my blog roll
By now, it should be well known that I am a huge fan of Doctor Who. With that said, I have added the blog, Doctor Who News Page to my blog roll. As the name implies it has Doctor Who news.
Honestly, I check out the blogs I have on my blog roll more often than those that I am a follower of. With that said I'll probably be adding more blogs to the blog roll in the near future.
Honestly, I check out the blogs I have on my blog roll more often than those that I am a follower of. With that said I'll probably be adding more blogs to the blog roll in the near future.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Link to Images from WWE Heroes Comic
Found out recently that apparently there's going to be a WWE comic. What's sort of weird is that Titan Publishing is the publisher for it. I'm not used to Titan providing new material. Although its possible that this is a subsidiary of Titan Sports in which case it makes sense. So possibly a different publisher then. Anyway, Titan Publishing sent PWInsider images from the comic. Here's a link that has both images of both covers as well as sample pages. Based on the sample pages I get the feeling the comic is going to be a bit on the strange side. Then again I was expecting something off-kilter from usual wrestling...er sports entertainment.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
4 Classic Doctor Who stories for free on YouTube
Over at ComicMix, it has been reported that BBC has released four stories from the classic Doctor Who run for free on YouTube. Here's the link to the original story.
The stories in question are: Edge of Destruction (Hartnell), Krotons (Troughton), Carnival of Monsters (Pertwee), and Caves of Androzani (Davison).
I am curious how long they will be available as well as whether or not more stories will become available later on. Honestly, its a nice a change of pace from the high price DVDs. Granted those DVD's have some nice extras they are about as expensive, maybe more so, than blue-rays. Perhaps the BBC feels it has reaped enough of profit on the DVDs to justify making these four stories available for free consumption?
The stories in question are: Edge of Destruction (Hartnell), Krotons (Troughton), Carnival of Monsters (Pertwee), and Caves of Androzani (Davison).
I am curious how long they will be available as well as whether or not more stories will become available later on. Honestly, its a nice a change of pace from the high price DVDs. Granted those DVD's have some nice extras they are about as expensive, maybe more so, than blue-rays. Perhaps the BBC feels it has reaped enough of profit on the DVDs to justify making these four stories available for free consumption?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
GIJoe, Star Trek, and RAW 11/23 Thoughts
On the 23rd, I saw GIJoe and the latest Star Trek movies for the second time as well as watched the 11/23 Monday Night RAW. Since its been awhile since I last updated my blog I figured I'd share my thoughts. Besides I have been meaning to comment on both the Star Trek and GiJoe movies.
11/23 Monday Night RAW - This week's RAW was a three hour Thanksgiving celebration that had Jesse Ventura as the guest host. While not a stellar show, it was still a very good episode that advanced things nicely. We got two matches set up for the next PPV, two new stars getting a decent push, and a stellar appearance from Jesse Ventura. Every segment that had Ventura in it was golden. John Cena and CM Punk put on an excellent match for "free". Chris Jericho as usual was excellent on the mic. On the downside, all matches has predictable outcomes with the exception of the battle royal.
GIJoe - First time I saw GIJoe I thought it was an excellent movie. Upon a second viewing months after that I am glad that my impression is still the same. I felt GIJOE was an excellent adaption of a childhood favorite to the silver screen much like Transformers. Unless one does not tolerate deviation I don't see why any GIJoe fan would not want to see this movie. Heck, those unfamiliar with GIJoe would probably enjoy this as well. I look forward to any sequels.
Star Trek - Like GIJoe, Star Trek was just as good the second time around months after first seeing it. In other words, awesome. Other than that I am not sure if I can add any more praise to this successful revamp of a beloved franchise that hasn't been said already. Definately looking forward to sequels.
11/23 Monday Night RAW - This week's RAW was a three hour Thanksgiving celebration that had Jesse Ventura as the guest host. While not a stellar show, it was still a very good episode that advanced things nicely. We got two matches set up for the next PPV, two new stars getting a decent push, and a stellar appearance from Jesse Ventura. Every segment that had Ventura in it was golden. John Cena and CM Punk put on an excellent match for "free". Chris Jericho as usual was excellent on the mic. On the downside, all matches has predictable outcomes with the exception of the battle royal.
GIJoe - First time I saw GIJoe I thought it was an excellent movie. Upon a second viewing months after that I am glad that my impression is still the same. I felt GIJOE was an excellent adaption of a childhood favorite to the silver screen much like Transformers. Unless one does not tolerate deviation I don't see why any GIJoe fan would not want to see this movie. Heck, those unfamiliar with GIJoe would probably enjoy this as well. I look forward to any sequels.
Star Trek - Like GIJoe, Star Trek was just as good the second time around months after first seeing it. In other words, awesome. Other than that I am not sure if I can add any more praise to this successful revamp of a beloved franchise that hasn't been said already. Definately looking forward to sequels.
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