Comic Book Feeds

The crew from That Silverline Show On Tuesday with special guest ARGO COMICS creator Dan Sehn! Originally aired June 04, 2024. Included in this episode are Tim TK, Jose Fuentes,…

I showed Mary the map I had started for Meridian, and she was... not a big fan. She doesn't think it should look like a GPS map, but an isometric view like the Disneyland and Batman LEGO maps that follow... but to do something on the scale I'm thinking would be... massive. It would be a HUGE project. It would be awesome, but man that would take a few weeks (not that I have a lot of other stuff I NEED to do... but still).

NEW COMICS 4 THIS WEEK (07/03/24) *All comics will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10* Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 1 Batman # 150 Free Agents # 1 …

(New Bedford, MA/USA–July 4, 2024) The Inkwell Awards, a non-profit devoted to promoting the art of comic book inking, has announced the winners of their lifetime achievement awards, The Joe Sinnott Hall…

In shifting the game (a bit) from focused on my stories to focusing on stories that players could tell, I've been thinking that I'd like to publish a series of adventures (crosses fingers that I FINALLY get this right... it's been my big bugaboo in expanding games in the past - so I need a plan for it to work this time). I think that the adventures will be set in a 'new' comic series from Stalwart Press. The idea is that after Doc Stawlart #250, New Stalwart Press launched a new comic series, "the New Stalwart Adventures", that followed 'new heroes' on 'new adventures' (the PC heroes, in the new adventures I publish). 
While these stories are not limited to one location, I need a default city for the game to build from. I have two cities so far: Echo City (which I detailed pretty thoroughly in Sentinels of Echo City - I mean, it's in the name), and Midvale (which I detailed more briefly in Stalwart Age and then ported over to the World of Stalwart Vol. 1 with some edits and clarifications). I see my options as:
1. Build on Midvale. It's got a foundation in place, and it wouldn't be hard to add some things to it. This is the cleanest option; it's a smaller city with fewer moving parts. It's a great starter location for heroes (that's why it's in the book). However, this is also its biggest limitation; there's only so much to do here, and the heroes are likely to 'grow out' of the city in short order. There is not a lot of intrigue here; the mayor goes to the July 4th Parade and eats too many hotdogs, and his blood pressure is a bit too high. That's about it for local drama.
2. Continue to build Echo City. This is the most well fleshed out of my three cities so far, and there are lots of things I really like about it. There are many places where this setting could grow. However, what I have could also get cleaned up, revised, and moved into the World of Stalwart Volume II... that's NOT a bad idea... also, in terms of tone, this is more Gotham City and less Metropolis. In fact, if I make this the focus on World of Stalwart Volume 2, that gives me more nitty-gritty to build.
3. Design a new city. This was where I started yesterday morning. The drawing above is for a city I was calling Brimsbay, in the Pacific Northwest. I like this drawing, but I can move it anywhere (I'll be finishing and coloring it. obviously... but it's the line art). This gives me a blank canvas to work from. I could also do this with a city I have only minimally mentioned (San Helios or Gap City, for instance). 
4. Design Meridian. Honestly, as I've been writing this post, I've convinced myself this is probably what I should do. It has the most stuff happening, I've already made this the 'most important' city in the game world, and I know that in the future, it's key to other events (if you have read Sentinels of Echo City, you know that it's doomed - at least in one timeline. I have already decided that Sentinels of Echo City takes place in an alternate earth... because I've already diverged from some events there, so it's now a different world. I don't think the Powers Family ever shows up in this reality, for instance). It's been the historic 'center' of superhuman activity, but it's also largely without heroes right now; Doc is off at the North Pole, the Victory Legion has broken up, and the villains haven't gone anywhere. It's a great place to set new adventures, and it's large enough to encompass a lot of things happening. Plus, I could make the arrival of the Messari (and another competing alien race) a central part of the new setting (and the new adventures that take place there)...
The idea is that this city gets its own 'sourcebook' (maybe 16 pages? maybe 24? I don't want to go much larger than that... the idea is that it's the foundation I can build upon as we go)... then the new adventures ("The New Stalwart Adventures") would be set here. The covers would feature the villains doing their villainy, with heroes either not on the cover at all, or at the edges in silhouette (to suggest that these are the PCs of the game). This gives me at least 16 'issues' I could produce before being 'caught up' to the current Doc continuity. That gives me a lot of room to grow.
By the way... I've realized that stealing what Marvel is doing with the MCU and the multiverse saga is probably the best move of all... all of my games and superhero game worlds (including the old Resolute RPG) happen in divergent realities from the main one (Stalwart Earth). So, I now have liberty to cross-pollinate my own work over 20+ years and have it all be interconnected in some grand way. The best thing about Spiderman: No Way Home was that it made all of the Spiderman movies 'canon' (and it will do that with X-Men next, which is a brilliant move). It's a way to honor the messy history of comics and make all of that work, and all of those stories, still matter. 

The staff of First Comics News would like to wish our fans a happy Fourth of July! Alex Wright, Barry Gregory, Ben Herman, Bill Black, Bob Almond, Christopher Watts, Dærick…

Captain Freedom -AC Comics Don Wright, a newspaper publisher who adopted a costumed identity to fight agents of the Axis. He was assisted by Young Defenders, four kids who worked…

Grommets # 1 (2nd Print) Written by: Rick Remender, and Brian Posehn Illustrated by: Brett Parson Image Comics 2024 *Spoilers, but it’s a story about growing up, so not really..…

Title: The Creature from the Black Lagoon Lives # 3 Publisher: Image Comics Writers: Dan Watters & Ram V Artist: Matthew Roberts Colorist: Trish Mulvihill Letterer: DC Hopkins Covers: Matthew…

Hi, Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics are pleased to reveal the first look at a new Conan mini-series, CONAN THE BARBARIAN: BATTLE OF THE BLACK STONE. This four-issue series is written…

I'm realizing that I'm pretty good at writing games, and very not good (whatever the opposite of good is) at promoting them. Any positive word of mouth or talking the game up on other platforms would be greatly appreciated (and I am VERY grateful for the reviews people have already left - those are HUGE).
That said, I'm going to be on Reddit more often to try and engage in conversations around superhero games, and maybe create a little more awareness for my game in the process. I asked a question there about superhero cities, so if you are on Reddit and feel like jumping into the conversation, please do!

(Augury is mind controlling you... go do that... go do that...)

Thanks!

A brand new story arc of the now ONGOING SERIES! LOS ANGELES, CA (July 3, 2024) – BOOM! Studios is proud to begin the ROAD TO SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON with…

  The cover and details for the fourth Deluxe Edition hardcover volume of Yasuhiro Nightow’s beloved manga series revealed MILWAUKIE, Ore., (July 3, 2024)— Dark Horse Manga and creator Yasuhiro Nightow…

  Featuring stories and art by talented creators in consultation with the cast of Critical Role MILWAUKIE, Ore., (July 3, 2024)— Dark Horse Books and Critical Role present Critical Role: The…

Spoilers for the reveal of the last Nova in ANNIHILATION 2099 #1, on sale now!   Following ANNIHILATION 2099, Steve Orlando’s next 2099 epic, CONQUEST 2099, arrives in October.  …

Join G.I. Joe or Cobra via Skybound Insiders Today in Anticipation of New Series Debut in November   LOS ANGELES 07/03/2024 — Today Skybound and Image Comics, in collaboration with…

Gail Simone and David Marquez’s UNCANNY X-MEN #1 hits stands on August 7. Check out an action-packed trailer and all-new preview pages! New York, NY— July 3, 2024 — Next…

Following Zeb Wells’ landmark run, writer Joe Kelly and Justina Ireland alongside artists Ed McGuinness and Gleb Melnikov bring you a new Spidey epic titled THE 8 DEATHS OF SPIDER-MAN.…

Greg Capullo and Jonathan Hickman’s WOLVERINE: REVENGE, a five-issue prestige limited series which will also be available in blood-soaked RED BAND EDITIONS, begins on August 21.   New York, NY—…

American Mythology Productions is unleashing the infamous HOGZILLA on innocent comic fans summer with issue one of FLORIDA MAN v. HOGZILLA arriving in the all the best comic shops on…