Jan 112013
 

A fool and his money are soon parted, as they say, however you’re no fool if you pick up a copy of A Fool’s Fortune.

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In the tradition of Rummy and other set-building card games, A Fool’s Fortune from Rio Grande Games elicits a tarot vibe as it has players deciding the fate of their opponents and themselves.  As you and up to two friends select and play cards, attempting  to build a perfect set, you’ll run across special fortune and character cards with special abilities.  Play them right, and you may just win A Fool’s Fortune.

Monkeys combined with just about anything usually results in both comedy and destruction.  Taking advantage of that equation is the new Spin Monkeys board game from Rio Grande.  A slew of bumper cars have been dropped into the jungle, only to be found by a pack(?) of simians.  With that in place, players attempt to spin their monkeys around the board, using rotation cards, trying to gather fruit and attack other monkeys.  If you hit another monkey, then you get to choose where they spin next.  As you might imagine, humor and destruction follow.

It’s been zero days since an incident at the Monster Factory.  Let’s all try and keep it that way, hmm?

From the creator of Kingdom Builder and Dominion comes Monster Factory.  This family friendly tile laying game of monster creation.  Simple to learn, gameplay revolves around players placing specialized, illustrated tiles, each with a piece of monster body on it, in hopes of completing the largest monster.  However, if your monster is left unfinished by the end of the round, you lose.

Continuing to live up to its name, Innovation: Figures in the Sand is the newest expansion to the popular card game and it continues to advance the gameplay mechanics of the series.  Instead of the cards in this expansion being representations of inventions or concepts, this time around the cards are famous historical figures.  That means Albert Einstein or Napoleon Bonapart could come to your rescue or, if you’re unlucky, to your opponent’s.  Dogma powers here are replaced with Karma, an ability that alters the course of the game by changing rules.  For instance, an instruction to give cards to another player may become an instruction place them in the center of the table.  Decree cards have also been added to the game, accomplishing the same effect as achievements, but with the caveat that they can be stolen.

Let me ease your worries, Village, the new tactical board game from TMG, has absolutely nothing to do with M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.

No, instead players take part in a strategy heavy, turn-based game of tactics that covers the length of the village residents lives.  As you play, you will carefully choose where and how your peasant characters make a living and earn their keep.  Will they be a part of the government?  A clergy member?  A farmer?  It’s up to you, but realize that no matter what profession you choose, they all are accountable to the ticking clock of life.  With time not on your side, you’ll have to strategically balance your time and actions for the most benefit.  Or find yourself in a shallow grave.

Greek gods can never just sit down and have a calm, relaxing cup of tea together.

Since that’s the way of things, Athena and Hades are the two combatants in the new Mythic Battles miniature board game.  Each god controls a sizable army of soldiers, monsters, and demigods, pitting them against each other on a field of battle.  Before the fight commences, though, each player gets to assemble their army however they choose.  Once that’s done, players activate their forces with battle cards, then roll dice to complete the interaction.  This combination of cards, dice, and miniatures creates a new system called Building Battle Board gaming that is exclusive to Mythic Battles.

 

Tonight’s topics of discussion where easy to choose, because I’m, literally, going to mention every book that comes out next week.  Thank the holidays, folks.

First up, the most prominent of all the releases is the 700th issue of Amazing Spider-Man.  It is also the last.

As some of you might know (by either reading the book or a comics news site in the last three months) Peter Parker has been having a rather bad time lately.  Doc Ock has swapped brains with Peter, only moments before the his own death, leaving Peter with minimal options of escape.  Having managed to survive, Peter as Ock, calls on the Sinister Six to aid him in returning his brain to his body.  #700 picks up from there, answering the dire question of whether Peter can return his consciousness to his body before the one he’s in gives out.  Trust us, True Believers, if you thought the twist ending of AMS #698 was a doozy, your brain with self-destruct over this one.  Truly an event that will change the course of the Spider-Man universe for the foreseeable future.  And, if you’re the collector type, the issue ships with multiple variant covers by Humberto Ramos, Marcos Martin, and more, each celebrating the many decades of web-slinging that has lead to issue #700.

Avenging Spider-Man 15.1 is the only other book that comes out from Marvel this holiday week, adding an important epilogue to the landmark issue.

On the DC front, the first massive crossover between the Justice League and Aquaman series begins, with Justice League #15 and Aquaman #15.  Both issues also come with their own variant covers (like the one pictured on the right).  And what has drawn these two flagship DC titles together, besides the mutual presence of the King of the Seas?  As Aquaman has been away from Atlantis since he was a young boy, his half-brother, the Ocean Master, has ruled in his stead.  But now Arthur wants his throne back.  This Grecian-esque power struggle will rage across land and sea, drawing in the other heroes and villains of the universe, including the newly created creatures known only as The Trench.  As Geoff Johns writes both series, expect a tightly controlled, character-driven event kept lively by sprawling battles.

DC also finishes up another of the terrific Before Watchmen series this week, with Nite Owl #4.

With the big two out of the way, let’s focus on the artistic world of creator-owned independent comics.

And by that I mean a balls-to-the-wall smash’em up extravaganza known as Deathmatch!  Written by Paul Jenkins (Sentry, Hellblazer, Thunderbolts), Deathmatch may remind you of the Hunger Games, Battle Royale, Running Man, Civil War, and, oh, possibly that recent Dennis Hopeless title Avengers Arena.  Basically, a bunch of superheroes are trapped by a villain of unknown origin and told to murder one another to get free.  Not a new concept, but one that will be taken to its most violent conclusion by this series; if Avengers Arena is the character-driven version of this premise, Deathmatch is the gorey, all-fights-all-the-time version.  And issue #1 is only a $1.00!!!!

Brian Wood, author of such politically-motivated, socially conscious series as DMZ, Local, and The Massive (Plus the upcoming Star Wars series from Dark Horse), tackles the topic of celebrity worship with his new Image miniseries, Mara. Starring a young woman, who’s already world-famous from her exceptional physical prowess as an athlete, spontaneously manifests superhuman abilities on live television.  As the only superpowered individual in the world, Mara immediately becomes the center of global attention.  Things don’t play out so well from there.

And that’s the entirety of next week’s comics, folks!  Happy holidays!

 

Before we get into the pimping of cool merchandise, everyone at Pulp just wants to give a special thank you to everybody who came out last Wednesday and made Dennis Hopless’ signing a HUGE, HUGE success.  We’re all very proud of Dennis and watching him rise to prominence as a Marvel writer, so it’s nice to see so many of our customers are ready to support him.

Now with the mushy stuff out of the way, let’s talk about another kind of mushy stuff.  I mean seriously, was anyone not shocked speechless after Avengers Arena #1?!!  Well, luckily, you don’t have to wait that long to see which hero bites the dust next and what the fallout will be regarding the first major death of the series, because issue #2 drops this Wednesday.  That’s right, only a week after issue #1, you get to have another helping of violent, grisly teen drama served to you on a platter.

And, not surprise here, Cable & X-Force #2 also ships this Wednesday, providing answers for the Phalanx infection that seems to be encroaching on the pleasant beach at the end issue #1.  Plus more firing of absurdly giant guns.

Comic readers have spoken and Marvel has listened.  Because of the outcry for more female creators and characters in comics, Marvel has begun to publish a number of series either written or drawn by women, as well as many featuring the superheroines of the universe.  First among them is the most recent ongoing Captain Marvel series.  Written by the quirky Kelly Sue DeConnick, Captain Marvel brings Carol Danvers back to prominence by bringing her name and costume out of the dark ages of comic sexism and into the modern era.  The first issue of the collection will bring any new reader up-to-date while the second storyline sends Carol back in time to team-up with one of her airwomen idols of World War II.  Certainly a great gift for a daughter or niece looking to get into comics.

Remember, the D is silent.

Read the story before seeing the film with the first issue of Django Unchained.  Usually film-to-comic adaptations are weak sauce, but a there’s a couple special aspects of this series that set it apart from the others.  Foremost, R.M. Gueara, the artist of Jason Aaron’s gritty, legendary crime epic Scalped, lends his chalky, scratchy pencils to Tarantino’s vision, grounding the book in a moody atmosphere.  Also, given that Gueara did little other work while working on Scalped, Django Unchained offers another rare chance to see his skill at work.  Along with the artwork, the book’s plot and dialog is lifted directly from Tarantino’s screenplay, including scenes that didn’t make it to the theatrical cut of the movie.

With the cold weather encroaching this winter, there’s only one acceptable way of warming yourself up:  wrapping a schizophrenic, murdering superhero around your shivering body.  And if that’s your plan, there’s only one of those around, and that’s Deadpool, baby!  So, grab yourself a merry little Deadpool Hoodie this season, whether it’s in medium, large, extra large, or double XL.

No one will question why you’re talking to yourself in public ever again.

 

Only the good die young.

That’s the case with Dennis Hopeless’ Avengers Arena, anyway.  As one of the characters in the first issue points out, there’s been a recent popularity in the teenagers-forced-to-kill each other genre of late, but there’s never been any superhero books that have adapted the concept.  Until Avengers Arena #1.  Spinning out of Christos Gage’s Avengers Academy, Brian K. Vaughn’s Runaways, and the X-Men books, this Battle Royale of teen heroes is violent, emotional, and shocking.  Fans of LOST will love the series, as well, since each issue is structured around one or two characters, making the large cast accessible as well as heightening the tension of who will live and who will die.  And, trust me, there’s a lot of death going around here.

And if you are planning on grabbing a copy of Avengers Arena #1 and, Dennis’ other Marvel NOW! series, Cable & X-Force on Wednesday, he’ll be at the store from 12-8 signing copies of these books as well as any of his previous work!  We’ll also have copies of every variant cover for the book, so if you’re the collector type have Dennis sign one of those for piece of Marvel memorabilia.

One of the most popular cult series of all time, The Crow, receives a new chapter from its creator, James O’Barr, this Wednesday.  After having been away from the series for nearly twenty years, O’Barr returns as both writer and artist for the three-part Crow:  Skinning the Wolves miniseries.  O’Barr has been planning to write this story ever since he created The Crow, setting the character into one of the darkest situations in human history: the holocaust.  Seeking vengeance against his captors, one victim is brought back from the dead by The Crow‘s powers, setting him on a course of violence against the Nazi scum who are committing the atrocities around him.  Anyone who knows anything about The Crow knows that the series has had troubles with remaining in print since it first was released, so if you want a copy Wednesday, show up early.  You may not get the chance later.

If movies have taught me anything, it’s that small towns are invariably supernatural.  Revival has become one of Image Comics‘ most popular ongoing series since its release, being dubbed the new Walking Dead, in some cases.  Taking place in a tiny rural town, the story revolves around the town’s residents coming back from the dead.  Not, however, in a zombie-esque sort of way, though, but instead returning just as they left and having to reincorporate themselves into the population.  Obviously, there are some questions over how and why this is happening.  Tim Seeley, the creator of Hack/Slash, and Mike Norton, artist on Battlepug, are making Revival a must-read series each month, and this collection of the first six issues is exactly where you need to jump in.

What do a wealthy rapper, a thieving screenwriter, and a cosmonaut on his last legs have in common?  They star in Ales Kot’s new Image comic, Change.  Also, they are Los Angles’ only hope against evil forces who threaten the city in time periods throughout history.  His sophomore comic effort after the surreal experience that was the Wild Children one-shot from earlier this year, Ales Kot brings his unique voice to the sci-fi genre with the time-jumping madness that is Change #1.
 

Why does Otto Octavius want to see Peter Parker?

Actually, how does he even know to ask for Peter Parker?

This Wednesday’s Amazing Spider-Man #698 answers both of those questions as well as creating a whole bunch more.  Dan Slott, who’s been writing the Web-Slinger for around the last eight years, has been claiming for the last couple of months that this issue of ASM is going to change EVERYTHING.  Now, usually, that’s a whole lot of baloney, but there’s some strong indication in this case that he’s telling the truth.  For one, Doctor Octopus has been in a bad way, even near-death, over the last couple of storylines, which means he might be on the chopping block.  Certainly a character who’s been around as long as Doc Ock biting it would be a big event in the Spider-Man universe.  Or maybe Peter bites it?  Or maybe both?  Who knows?  All I can say is that every should pick up a copy of this issue, because what comes after is going to be unlike any Spider-Man story that’s come before.

Marvel NOW! rolls on this week with Captain America #1 and Indestructible Hulk #1, as well.

Rick Remender, writer of Uncanny X-Force, Venom, and Uncanny Avengers, is going to be taking Captain America to places he’s never been too before.  Utilizing the immense range of artistic talent that lies within John Romita, Jr.’s hands, Remender sends Captain America and a young girl far across the known universe to Dimension Z.  It’ll be a fight for survival, as Cap has to fend off disgruntled denizens, dangerous terrain, and unusual weather, he proves exactly why he’s a living legend and the best soldier in the, apparently, entire universe.

The Hulk may not appear to be the most complex or emotive character around, but if anyone can find the humanity within the monster, it’s Mark Waid.  Waid has been around the block a time or two, having written some of the best stories in comic book (Kingdom Come, The Flash, and “Tower of Babel“), plus he’s currently writing one of the best Marvel series being published, Daredevil.  Dropping The Hulk into the middle of Marvel‘s top espionage agency, S.H.I.E.LD., and not to destroy them but work for them.  Such an unusual situation is sure to bring about some of the most unique Hulk stories to be written.  Just imagine the conversations around the water cooler at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier the day after the Hulk “accidentally” smashes an agent.  

You remember that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where there were two of him ’cause somebody decided it would be a good idea to have to inaudible main characters in a single film?  No, I don’t either.  But I can promise you that Image Comic‘s Clone ongoing series will be nothing like it.  Produced by Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint, Clone lives up to its name as a horde of identical versions of Dr. Luke Taylor begin to descend upon his life, attempting to murder his wife and child.  As you might imagine, this doesn’t go well.  Juan Jose Ryp (Wolverine: Best There Is) brings every bit of dirty, blood, sweat, and grit to life with his hyper-detailed art style, so not only will this book be unlike any Arnold Schwarzenegger movie you’ve ever seen, it’ll look a damn sight better, too.

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