The women of comics barely ever get their due. Last year’s Womanthology HC (which we just got a restock on last week), a giant collection of stories written and drawn by only women, was a huge success both as a Kickstarter project and as published through IDW, so a sequel was in order. Womanthology: Space is a five issue miniseries, containing three stories an issue, based around the concept of “space” in all its various definitions. Packed full of artwork, in both written and drawn forms, this series is a one-of-a-kind showcase of female comic talent of all experience levels and a wonderful example for any young woman hoping to break into the business some day.

If you’ve had dreams about Star Trek mixing with Back to the Future, those dreams have just come true. No, there’s not actually a Star Trek/Back to the Future crossover, but Star Trek the Next Generation: Hive is the closest you will ever come. Written by Brannon Braga, former TNG producer and writer, this four issue miniseries has the Next Gen crew jumping into a future where the Borg have overtaken the entire galaxy; they are its only hope. IDW has been kicking butt with their current Star Trek ongoing title as well as their Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover, so I expect great things from this series.

Ed Brubaker has written the main Captain America book for around eight years now (soon to be replaced by Rick Remender), and in those eight years he has turned Bucky Barnes into one of the most fascinating characters in the Marvel Universe. So, couple his love of Barnes (aka the Winter Soldier) with his absolute talent for crafting espionage stories and you have the extremely enjoyable Winter Soldier v.1 trade paperback. In this first volume of the highly under rated series, Bucky and the Black Widow team-up to uncover what happened to the other brainwashed soldiers who went through the process that turned Barnes into the Winter Soldier. Expressively illustrated by Butch Guice, Winter Soldier is a dark, gritty, mysterious compelling spy movie spread across the comic page. And it has gorillas with machine guns.

To end the evening, I pose to you one question.

Why open your own beer when you can acquire a herald to do it for you?

 

Close, close in a gaming store not so far away…

STAR WARS CARD SLEEVES!!!!!

Yes, hum the theme song in your head if you must. Fantasy Flight has released an exceptional limited run of specialty Star Wars backed card sleeves. So, play Magic with the man who shot first or catch’em all with Lord Vader or throw them on any other card game that needs some sci-fi spice. But whatever you do, pick them up before an X-Wing comes along and vaporizes them because there will not be any prequels here.

Of course, if space battles and laser swords aren’t your thing, maybe the other limited edition Lord of the Rings sleeves will be. Slip them over your favorite standard sized cards to give them a Samwise Gamgee to their Frodo Baggins. Or grasp the One Ring to rule all other swag-less individuals. Whatever you choose, wield them responsibly.

You want to kick your Warhammer Fantasy RPG game up to level 4? How about level 5? Then let Hero’s Call be Fantasy’s version of the Spinal Tap speaker! Chocked full of new hero and GM options for careers, action cards, talents, spells, and region options, this player’s resource is loaded with must-have ingredients for kicking your game up a couple levels.

Bringing Cthulhu to the deck-building party, Penny Arcade: Rumble in R’Lyeh is both a standalone game and an expansion for last year’s Penny Arcade: The Game, Gamers vs. Evil! So, players can enjoy Eldar God gaming goodness in the base 2-4 player version of the game or combine it with the previous game for excessive nerd overload. Rumble in R’Lyeh specifically adds Gold cards to the gameplay, which must be acquired through the use of Token and Power cards. Totally worth it when they have names like Gunhorse (a horse made of guns, duh!), Sad Zombie, and Gabe’s Gross Mouth.

Bridging books and board games, the Where the Wild Things Are board game from the Tales to Play series, lets families take control of Max’s journey to the land of the Wild Things. Each player controls a different Max miniature game piece on his trek through the becoming king of the Wild Things. Players draw cards and roll dice to decide their success or failure across the illustrated game board. Great gameplay and Wild Thing miniatures for the whole family.

Gamers have been waiting for this next exapnsion since somewhere around the dawn of man. Yes,  has finally arrived. Adding not only a fifth player ability to the game, but a new item dubbed decoration. Players may now trade their resources for this item in an effort to gain further points. Club someone if you have too, fight a t-rex, do whatever you have to for a copy of this valued expansion.

 

Errr. Game make Game Caveman happy.

Game Caveman not smart enough for Power Grid.  Game Caveman CAN play First Sparks!

Okay, that’s enough of you Cavey. That’s right, though, folks, a new version of Power Grid, The First Sparks releases today!

A standalone edition, The First Sparks maintains most of the original game’s mechanics, but transports the gameplay to the first days of human existence. Keeping with the theme of early man, the game moves faster than the original, while also adding new elements of play. Players work to build better equipment for hunting and surviving in the wilderness while also attempting to keep the rest of their tribe alive. So, in the words of Game Caveman: Rrrrrgggghh, game good.

A bit of trivia for you folks out there, Clint Eastwood’s classic western, A Fistful of Dollars, was originally titled A Fistful of Penguins. Sergio Leone changed it, though, for fear that audiences wouldn’t get the inclusion of an Arctic animal in the desert. Luckily, the new A Fistful of Penguins game reclaims the title. Another dice game in a series of popular dice rolling games like Zombie Dice, BEARS!, and Martian Dice, this time around players are attempting to collect various animals for their zoo. Be forewarned, though, each animal comes with their own benefit and flaw. Having a fistful of penguin tokens, however, will always help you gain more dice. A fun, quick little game for the family, A Fistful of Penguins takes the best of dice games and Zooleretto, binds them together, and delivers a good time for all.

Captain’s log 4458. WizKids has yet again released an appealing miniatures game, this time based around the ships and battles of Star Trek. For the record, there are two ways to collect and acquire these prepainted ship miniatures. One, would be to pick up a Star Trek Heroclix Tactics box set, which comes with four key ships, including the Enterprise. Two, would be to beam up one or more of the individual Star Trek boosters, each coming a single, random ship. Both are perfect for use with any Star Trek miniature game, such as Expeditions or Fleet Captains.

And speaking of Expeditions, it should be noted that a new expansion set for the game also shipped today. Containing three new characters (Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov) and their character cards, when playing with this expansion the game will now be able to accommodate up to five players at once.

As the Apostasy Gambit reaches its climax, the third chapter in the Dark Heresy adventures RPG makes its entrance. This supplemental edition, Chaos Commandment, presents four new chapters for gameplay, all focusing on the Acolytes and their effort to save the Calixis Sector.

Anyone who doesn’t like pandas has no heart. It’s just a fact, people. So, if you have a heart, love pandas, and want to see them thrive, then Takenoko is your game. Players raise and care for bamboo crops, of various varieties, in an effort to feed and keep the emperor’s panda happy. Colorful game pieces, artwork, and miniatures combined with fun, easy to learn gameplay, make Takenoko quite the enjoyable experience. That and pandas.

Ecpecto gamtronum!

Though Wiz-War is indeed about wizards, they are not the cutesy, lovable kind from Harry Potter. These wizards are greedy and desperate to beat their opponents into the pavement. To do so, two to four players compete with spells of varying types across a segmented board. Updated from the classic game created by Tom Jolly, Wiz-War is the newest version of the classic wizard battle game.

© 2013 Pulp Fiction Comics & Games Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha