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.

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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.

 

For those that know their Shakespeare, Merchant of Venus might sound slightly familiar. Same for anyone who knows their board game history, because Merchant of Venus is a reboot of the classic Avalon Hill board game. This second edition of Merchant of Venus contains a new re imagined game design as well as Richard Hamblen’s classic design.

In Merchant of Venus, one to four players take roles of intergalactic merchants competing to trade goods with alien cultures. Will pirates, space junk, or sabotage end your business? Or can wheel and deal your way to financial superiority.

Any self-respecting Pathfinder GM needs to pick up a copy of the new NPC Codex. Quickly becoming an essential volume, this hardcover contains information on over 300 characters! A go-to guide to running, equipping, and stating out opponents and allies for your players to face, the NPC Codex will easily alleviate set-up time or on-the-fly awkwardness as you grope for enemies. Plus, the book comes with multiple versions of classic Pathfinder characters for easy pre-generated play. Pathfinder releases a ton of great books over the course of a year, but this is certainly one of the most essential!

Your fleet is growing! Wings of Glory today releases four new WWII fighter planes, each pre-painted, assembled, and packed with all the necessary elements to incorporate it into any Wings of Glory WWII games. This new set includes four miniatures, two American, two German. The North American fighters are B-25 Mitchell model planes, while the Germans are Heinkels. For easy-to-learn, mechanically inventive war games, Wings of Glory is the best out there.

It only gets worse in the world of Thunderstone. After defeating Mowtil and collecting three thunderstones in the Caverns of Bane expansion, players are now faced with an even worse threat as Doom’s ultimate plan is revealed. Root of Corruption is the second expansion for the Thunderstone Advanced base game, this time introducing a co-op as well as six new monster groups, seven new heroes, new village cards, and a new poster map board. If you’re going to continue crawling through this dungeon, you’re going to need to get to the Root of Corruption.

Deathwatch has made it to the Outer Reach.

With this new hardcover edition to the Deathwatch corpus players can take the Dead Stations Vigil and serve alongside the Dead Cabal, learning all their ancient secrets. Face the Necrons Suhbekhar Dynasty, an ageless foe clawing to earn back their fallen empire. And once your done defeating the Necrons, explore worlds beyond the reach of the Achilus Crusade, rich with weapons capable of defeating the coming darkness. This hardcover supplement to the base Deathwatch rule book details all the information GMs and players need to explore and conquer the Outer Reach.

Time to get all shirtless up in this Enterprise!

The captain’s log needed a little Shatner-ing up, so Bandai decided to publish an original series Star Trek Deck Building Game to go along with their Next Generation games. This new base game can be combined and played with the previous two Next Gen releases or simply as a stand alone game. Either way, players begin as a captain of a starship, controlling a standard crew and basic weaponry. From there, however, you choose to improve various aspects of your ship and crew, attempting to complete the mission directives of two diverse scenarios. If you want to go boldly where no other deck builder has gone before, go on a Star Trek.

 

Hrrrmmmm.

When the gutters fill with the dirty, filthy dross of bad comic writing, you’ll look up and you’ll see Before Watchmen Rorschach. And you’ll say, “yes”.
That’s right, saving the best for (almost) last, the Rorschach miniseries begins this week. Written by gritty crime writer Brian Azzarello (Wonder Woman, 100 Bullets) and drawn by extreme realist Lee Bermejo (Joker), this is the beginning of four grimy, dark, well-written issues. And if you want to really get in the insane spirit of the ink blotted vigilante, pick up one of the Rorschach t-shirts, also coming in this Wednesday.

AND if you haven’t been reading any of the Before Watchmen books,

your are missing out on some of the best comics on the shelves right now. But you won’t have to miss out for much longer, because Pulp has restocked copies of both the first and second issues of each series.

Speaking of things that are black and white, the newest edition to the Batman Black & White line of statues comes out this week, too. If you’re not familiar, these statues are based off famous comic artist’s renditions of the caped crusader, struck in monochromatic tones, and placed on Bat-symbol bases. Using Darwyn Cooke’s version of the Dark Knight, this month’s statue brims with 50′s nostalgia.

Never let it be said that writers are done experimenting with the comics medium. The Red Diary is a graphic novel shipping this Wednesday with a unique twist. In fact, twist is exactly the right word for it, as readers are given the original story, as well as a variant story, simply by flipping the book. Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen have written two versions of the same story, about art forgery during WWII, and presented both of them here, each by way of a minimalist painterly art style. For those with heightened Indy taste buds, this is a graphic experience to sink your teeth into.

 

Tonight you’re all getting a two-fer, the chocolate and peanut butter, the Bert and Ernie, the Penn and Teller of Comic List Highlights. Because not only are you receiving highlights of comics, but games, too (mostly because we didn’t have time to write a post last night).

To start things off, lets recite the oath: In brightest day, in blackest night… Yup, the first hardcover collection of the New 52 Green Lantern comes out Wednesday. Easily one of the best ongoing series of the relaunch, Green Lantern has focused more on Sinestro than regular protagonist Hal Jordan, which has enlivened the book. And the reason for the shift in hero is due to Sinestro being allowed to wield the ring again, while Hal cools his jets on Earth. Until, that is, Sinestro comes a’knockin’. Geoff Johns has been writing some of the best Green Lantern stories ever since he got on the book around eight years ago, but this new volume offers a perfect jumping on point for anyone who’s wanted to read up on the character.

Keeping the superhero/comic base at a boil, but mixing in a smidge of gaming, next up is the second volume of Mutants and Masterminds DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains. As the first volume contained all characters ranging from A to K, this second edition picks up with L and runs it all the way to Z. That means you’re going to get classic characters like Lex Luthor, Superman, and Plastic Man, plus icon teams like the Justice League and the Secret Six. Offering gamers a shortcut into the DC Universe, these volumes contain all the stats, histories, and information you’ll need to BAM BIFF POW your way through the DCU.

Re-releasing in a new swanky graphic novel collection is BOOM Studio‘s 7 Psychopaths. A greater hook has never been created: what do you do when you want to kill Hitler and end WWII? Send in seven of the worst human beings ever to hunt down and murder the bastich. Of course, not everything always goes as planned. A grim, gritty spy series with artwork from exceptional Criminal and Incognito artist, Sean Phillips, 7 Psychopaths makes for a great, moody read.

As deck building games boldly go where no game has gone before they reach the Star Trek the Next Generation game. Using the base premise of deck building developed in games like Ascension, Dominion, and Resident Evil, Star Trek puts players into the role of a star ship captain, commanding their meager crew toward victory. Do you recruit further crewmen? Develop your ship’s equipment? Conquer worlds or make peace with them? These are the choices you will need to make in either the base version of the game or its Next Phase expansion. Both are stand alone and both go boldly yadda yadda blah blah.

 

Because we enjoy torturing our customers here at Pulp Fiction, allow me to wave some slick Warhammer 40K miniatures in front of your face then inform you they won’t be on sale until tomorrow.

Yeah, sorry about that.

However, if you are swinging by tomorrow you should look into the new Space Wolves and Necron miniatures for 40K. These include a Wolf Lord on Thunderwolf, Fenrisian Wolf Pack, the Thunderwolf Cavalry, and the new Tyranid Tyrannofex/Tervigon.

Showing its Dungeons & Dragons roots, Thunderstone Advance goes on sale today. Some folks out there may find that surprising to hear because the game isn’t officially scheduled for release until later in the month, but Pulp is allowed to sell the game early as a pre-release benefit. This redesign of the game refines many of the previous version’s elements. Mostly, the game works overtime to give players as many options to tailor their experience as they please. A new two-sided board lets players select the level of difficulty they wish to play as do the new monster card levels. If you’ve never gotten into the game before, but are a fan of D&D and/or Dominion, this is the time to start playing.

Triple the Dominion, triple the fun.

Following in the footsteps of Alhambra and CarcassonneDominion now has its own Big Box edition coming packed with three versions of the now classic deck building game. Those three versions, by the way, are AlchemyProsperity, and the original, base Dominion game. If you’ve never gotten into this hit card game, this is a great way to purchase three of excellent versions of the game for a cheaper price.

Today we also received a restock on some Indy RPGs that need a little love and affection. First up is Umlaut: Game of Metal, a storytelling, GM-less game akin to Fiasco where players create their own heavy metal groups then chart their rise to the top of the heap. On the darker side of things are Hot War and Cold City. Hot War is set after an apocalyptic Cold War-era nuclear barrage, giving gamers a setting of horrific violence and power-jockeying survivors to explore. Cold City is a companion volume set in Berlin after the terrors of WWII. Players command the Reserve Police Agency as they round up monstrous creatures risen from the ashes of the war.

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