Comic Book Feeds

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) describes Howard's Hyborian Age and similar imagined worlds as "fantasylands" in contrast to the more serious, Tolkienian worldbuilding of "secondary worlds." This perhaps undercuts the quite serious world-building Howard did in places like his "Hyborian Age" essay but also obscures the fact that all world-builders (Tolkien included) borrow or are at least derive inspiration from history or other works of literature.

Still, it's hard to deny that the Hyborian Age tends to wear its undiluted influences or antecedents proudly. Perhaps not as totally as say D&D's Known World or some other rpg settings, but to a greater degree than Middle Earth or most other literary fantasy settings. I can't be too critical of these game settings as it allows people to get a handle on different lands or cultures quickly, but it does strain suspension of disbelief for some folks.

The Hyborian Age does those similar gaming settings one better, however. In what I think was possibly Howard's best world-building idea (at least so far as things to steal for gaming), the overall action and theme of regions come through, even when his cultural inspirations are less clear. Visiting different Hyborian lands may not just mean travel through history with Fantasy Vikings here and a Fantasy American Frontier there but travel through different subgenres or modes of pulp/adventure fiction.

In his Conan yarns he gives us Golden Age of Piracy adventure stories, tales of the Crusaders and the Outremer, Frontier stories in the vein of the Leatherstocking Tales, and a few stories recognizable as just fantasy in today's genre standards. He does this often by dispensing with a lot of the historical things that led to these settings and situations and just gets down to the action readers (and presumably players) are looking for.

Vague or passing homologies are all he seems to need to get going. He doesn't worry about establishing a Christendom or an Islamic World--or even really a Holy Land to get his Outremerish setting. He handwaves some former colonies (now independent) of Koth (which is vaguely Italic maybe, but hardly Imperial Roman and with a capital whose name is borrowed from the Hittites) on a borderland coveted by Turan, and he just describes the players, setting, and action in a way that the vibe of crusades and Crusader Kingdoms comes through, regardless of the background differences.

Likewise, "The Black Stranger" deals with pirates and a treasure, sure, but to drive home we are now in Treasure Island territory, he dresses Conan for the part:

The stranger was as tall as either of the freebooters, and more powerfully built than either, yet for all his size he moved with pantherish suppleness in his high, flaring-topped boots. His thighs were cased in close-fitting breeches of white silk, his wide-skirted sky-blue coat open to reveal an open-necked white silken shirt beneath, and the scarlet sash that girdled his waist. There were silver acorn-shaped buttons on the coat, and it was adorned with gilt-worked cuffs and pocket-flaps, and a satin collar. A lacquered hat completed a costume obsolete by nearly a hundred years. A heavy cutlass hung at the wearer's hip.

Does this undermine the essential Medieval character of the Hyborian Age? Probably! Does it weaken one's ability to think of it as a sustained and complete world? Could be! Does it make it clear "we're now on the Pirates of Caribbean ride, behave accordingly?" Yep!

I feel like this tool can be put to good use by GMs. Even ones that are more interested in setting consistency perhaps than Howard. Even small details can do a lot.

First Comics News: What does it take to be a great writer? Pat Mills: A writer should have something important and unique to say. They also need some experience and…

Source

The latest statistics on gaming reveal that there are 3.3 billion active video gamers globally, with billions of dollars worth of revenue being generated by social gaming. Games involving social interaction are…

Source

Cyanide & Happiness: A Guide to Parenting (20th Anniversary) (2025) Writers/Artists: Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker & Dave McElfatrick Rating: This week, I’m diving into the 20th anniversary edition of “Cyanide…

Source

G-MAN COMICS IS BACK! We’re kicking off 2025 with an all-new Kickstarter launching on February 1, 2025! The talented Cody Conyers is joining G-Man Comics for the first time! Hailing…

Source

Happy New Year! I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics hitting the stands on December 29, 1983.

Action Comics #553: Kane sends the Forgotten Heroes charging out of the cover, at least. As Vandal Savage tries to deceive the people of Metropolis into thinking Superman as turned against them, the Man of Steel and Rip Hunter's team go back to the dawn of time to try and stop the villain from harnessing the powers of Creation. The Forgotten Heroes get some screentime investigating the alien pyramids, but really it mostly comes down to Superman, so it's effectively glorified cameos for them.

Camelot 3000 #10: Barr, Bolland, and Austin have Mordred, Morgan Le Fay, and their alien allies take out the buffoonish leaders of the Earth's world powers. Tensions are beginning to appear between Mordred and Morgan. Meanwhile, Arthur and his knights break into a spaceport and steal a spacecraft. Their destination is the 10th planet and Castle Le Fay.
I feel like this series has dragged on a bit two long, but it still looks really good.

Detective Comics #535: Nice Cullins/Giordano cover. Moench and Colon/Smith continue the story from the last couple of issues. After Deadshot's claim that Jacques Remarque hired him, Julia is convinced the man who has been a father to her is still alive, and Alfred's urging of caution cause friction between them. Batman learns from the Montreal Police that Deadshot was somehow connected to terrorist and a scheme involving stolen art from France, which would explain how Jacques Remarquebecame involved. In transport, Deadshot escapes but winds up leading our heroes to the terrorists' hideout. Julia brashly rushes in but is rescued by Alfred and Batman. The criminals as apprehended, and Julia accepts that her adoptive father is dead.
Meanwhile, in Gotham, the new crime lord, Dr. Fang, prepares for a meeting with Bullock.
In the Green Arrow backup, Oliver is taken down by the Detonator, who discovers that the archer doesn't have the black box (he stashed it). Ollie awakens in a hospital, surrounded by Rick and Ozone, who has picked the box up. Turns out, there is no pilot voice recording on it. Green Arrow calls in the suspects so he can play detective and reveal which one is the Detonator: Coopersmith, the pilot, who gave himself away by not calling for help. 

Arion Lord of Atlantis #17:  Kupperberg and Duursema send Arion and crew back to the land of the Khe-Wannantu so Arion can get the aid of the shaman Moonstalker to help rid him of Garn Daanuth. They arrive just in time to see Wyynde's wedding which causes Mara to get upset and run off. 
Not only can't the shaman help, but Garn's power is able to penetrate into the physical world causing madness in the village. Arion tries to use illusions to help but that only weakens him, and Garn is able to gain control and free himself from Arion's body.

All-Star Squadron #30: Thomas and Hoberg/Machlan re-introduce a number of characters that DC acquired from Quality comics. At the first meeting of the massively expanded roster of the All-Star Squadron at the Perisphere,  Uncle Sam appears to request help to rescue Earth-X, a parallel world in peril. He reveals that he took several heroes from Earth-2 to Earth-X already, but they all died, including former JSA member, Hourman.
Just as the Squadron prepares to vote on assisting Uncle Sam, Midnight busts in, having escaped from some Nazis. He passes out, and the All-Star’s discover he's carrying an injured Doll Man with him in a shoebox.

Nathaniel Dusk #2: Still not a fan of the decision not to ink this. It makes it look like there's some sort of book-long printing error. That aside, McGregor and Colan continue to deliver a satisfying detective story. Dusk manages to avoid falling to his death off the building and escapes the two goons trying to kill him. He goes to Joyce's apartment and finds the police are there. His friend, Lt. Abrahams tells him Joyce has been murdered.
After attending Joyce's funeral, Dusk begins to suspect the attempt was made on his life because he was dating Joyce, but he doesn't know enough about her to know why. Arthur Squire calls Dusk and offers to feel in some of the blanks, but when Dusk gets to his house, Squire has been murdered, and the goons are there. They chase him on to a train and appear to have him dead to rights as he's trying to climb onto the roof.

New Adventures of Superboy #51: With a Frank Miller cover depicting Superboy walking out of Smallville, this one gives "new direction" vibes, but actually it's a reprint collation of the "Superman: The In-Between Years" backups by written by Rozakis with various artists from Superman #359, 362, and 366. I didn't compare them to see if they are complete reprints or whether they might have been re-edited like a TV clip show, but they are definitely the same stories. I can't fault them too much for this though. Many of their current readers likely missed some or all of those stories from 1981. I would think it was even better if this was placing them where they should go in Superboy's life chronologically, but I'm pretty sure that isn't the case.

Jonah Hex #82: Fleisher and Ayers/DeZuniga handle the carriage laden with explosives cliffhanger at the end of last issue in the manner of movie serials. They back up and show us Hex and Turnbull escaping before it exploded. Papagayo realizes they got away, but he's having too much fun to bother going after them. Eventually, Turnbull and Hex make it to down and Turnbull, in recognition of the multiple times Hex saved his life, agrees to clear Jonah's name-- but after that, they will be enemies again.
The new couple of Hart and Mei Ling are in town, but Hart is shot, and Mei Ling is kidnapped by men with a grudge against Hex. Hart and Hex track the men down and rescue her, but when Jonah catches the two embracing, he punches Hart out and storms off.
Meanwhile, Emmy Lou has left town on a stagecoach gets to think back on how she came to be among the Crow and how she met Jonah. Then the stage is robbed, but the robbers choose to take Emmy Lou as well as the valuables. 


World's Finest Comics #301: This story by Mishkin/Cohn and Chen/Marcos takes place before the arc that concluded in last issue. The cover of this issue is misleading in that it suggests a giant Superman is menacing Batman and the villain, Siphon. In the actual issue, Siphon's attempt to...well, siphon Superman's power has left him a raging being of pure energy. Batman makes common cause with Siphon to restore Superman to normal and keep him from killing the villain, which he knows his friend will forever regret. Siphon still plans to siphon all of Superman's power for himself. In the end, Superman is restored to corporeal form, and it's his powers that defeat Siphon as the villain is overwhelmed by super-senses.

Happy New Year! Hope that you and yours have a wonderful 2025.

This morning, I was looking at bills that have to get paid in the next few weeks, and I decided that ‘water bill’ would be sort a ridiculous name for a character. And then I got silly. Blame my meds.

It’s a team of guys all named William with elemental powers, so they name themselves… 

• Electric Bill
• Water Bill
• Heating Bill
• Property Tax Bill (best I could come up with for earth-based powers... I mean, Dirt Bill? Clean Fill Bill? Pavement Bill? Stone Bill? Suggestions welcomed)

They had a fifth member, Income Tax Bill (his immense wealth makes him Luthor-like), but he went rogue and is now their arch enemy. Other enemies include School Tax Bill (a super genius – or maybe just a really strong brutish bully who always wants to meet you at the flagpole at 3 o’clock), Phone Bill (telepath – but he has to hold his hand up in the ‘phone gesture’ for his powers to work), and Insurance Bill (sort of like the State Farm chaos guy who goes around bringing destruction in his wake).

You know this is entirely idiotic, but you also know you would at least play a one-shot of this game. I was thinking that there could be a female somewhere named "Rent-To-Own Rhonda", but then realized immediately that the implications of this name are very... yeah. So maybe don't include her. 

Again, it's the meds. This is why I can't teach right now. I'd just start saying whatever crossed my mind, and weird stuff crosses my mind, and then I'd be sitting in a superintendent conference trying to figure out what exactly I said and why.

Title: Conan: The Barbarian # 16 Publisher: Titan Comics Writer: Jim Zub Artist: Doug Braithwaite Colorist: Diego Radriguez Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft’s Tyler Smith Cover: Colleen Doran Variant Covers: Mr.…

Source

Casino Slott: Your Top Gambling Destination Online casinos are evolving quickly. Playing at a reputable gambling site, you can enjoy top-tier slots, table games, live titles, and more. They imitate…

Source

Who could threaten a duo of animal-costumed heroes more than a trio of animal-costumed villains? The vivid criminal gang of the Fox, the Shark, and the Vulture debuted in Detective…

Source

THE LOOSE END ISSUE #1 Hi, Hard Case Crime and Titan Comics are pleased to reveal an extended art preview at a brand-new crime caper mini-series, THE LOOSE END. This four-issue series…

Source

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of demonic truckers, Luke finds an unexpected ally in Celine—the very woman his crew had stolen from. Desperate times call for desperate measures as Celine…

Source

Has Skye Mathers, the Guardian of the Nexus, truly joined the Dark Horde? As the Dark One nears his end goal, and the realms of power inch toward annihilation, the fate of…

Source

If you backed the Kickstarter, you've likely seen (or maybe will now) that you can download the expanded rulebook with the Public Domain characters. That book clocks in at 200 pages, so it's a pretty hefty book (about 150 drawings and almost 49,000 words)... and people are saying the nicest things about it there. I just engaged in a conversation where Aldo mentioned the enthusiasm he felt in the pages, and I started thinking about that idea... I joked about how the secret ingredient is love, but I wasn't really joking. I loved working on it.

And that got me to thinking about the research I did for my doctorate. I did a really deep study of the concept of grit - how we leverage passion and persistence in the pursuit of long-term goals. I found a number of things that were (to me) interesting, but the one salient to this conversation is the idea that we default to passion, but then we have persistence in place as the backup generator for when we run out of passion. We sometimes really want to work on that project, and sometimes we just do it because we know we should, and stuff has gotta get done. A gritty person is able to use both, and tends to finish what they start. People with less grit tend to run out of enthusiasm, and then cannot really find the motivation to follow through. 

But it hit me that for this project, I only ever worked on it when I was passionate to do so. I knew that the persistence was there, and I could always draw on it if I needed to, because I was determined to get this project done, but I knew (at least on a subconscious level) that I didn't want that mindset filtering into the work. Because I think I've realized something new about grit - you do your best work, your most creative and sincere, when you are leaning on the passion side of the equation. As soon as it's about a gut check to make your way through it, you're not as genuinely and deeply invested anymore. If you approach your work with any level of professionalism, it will still be of a certain quality, and you'll still be able to be proud of what you've accomplished, but it won't be quite as inspired. 

This is not the same as 'phoning it in'. That process leaves you feeling like you need to justify why it is markedly below your usual standard - I have had classes that I taught that were strong (most days, in my estimation), mediocre or worse (those phone it in days - not a lot, but enough that they count), and a handful of inspired days, where I wanted to keep teaching after the bell rang, and where some of the students maybe even wanted to keep going with the lesson. I'm ineffective or modestly effective on those phone it in days, highly effective most of the time, and highly effective +1 on those inspired days.

With teaching, I don't have the luxury of just not working on it for a few weeks if I don't feel all that enthused, but with Stalwart '85 I did - and I took it. There were days (and even weeks this summer), where I was brimming with inspiration; I woke up excited to work on it, and kept tinkering with it long after I was tired and should probably get to bed. This fall, several things got in the way of that - getting back to teaching, then the fall play, and then my diagnosis - that meant I went for weeks at a time without feeling genuinely inspired. So, I waited. I had Christmas break on my mind... if I got to Christmas break without the game finished, then I would start leaning on persistence and wrap it up. Luckily, it never came to that. I had a day of inspiration last week, and a few hours on a few days last week, and then a burst of inspiration this week that got me across the finish line. 

I am working on the commissions with the same philosophy. I have started every commission - if you haven't received yours yet, it is because I started to work on it, wasn't feeling it for whatever reason, and I set it aside. If I got yours done, it's because there was some synergy of time and space and a visual in my head and the need to get this done right now that all came together.

  

CELEBRITIES AND CLOSE FRIENDS AMONG THOSE TO REMEMBER THE LEGENDARY CREATOR THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA FANS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD ARE ENCOURAGED TO POST THEIR TRIBUTES TO STAN LEE SOCIAL MEDIA…

Source

NEW COMICS 4 THIS WEEK (12/25/24) *All comics will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10* Absolute Wonder Woman # 3 Action Comics # 1081 Amazing Spider-Man #…

Source

Females and felines. They go way back. But why that particular popular cultural association? Perhaps partly because both women and cats are often seen as graceful, beautiful, and somewhat mysterious.…

Source

My mission: read DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm looking at the comics Santa might have stuffed in a stocking that were published December 22, 1983.

Infinity, Inc. #1: The Thomases with Ordway/Machlan sort of revive the "Super Squad" concept of the mid-70s, in the sense that they give us a younger generation of Earth-Two characters, most of them legacies. Here they are in their own book after the backdoor pilot in the All-Star Squadron. Nuklon, Fury, Northwind, and Silver Scarab, crash a Christmas Eve meeting of the Justice Society of America and petition to be allowed membership. Before the JSA can render their opinion, Jade and Obsidian show up. After a brief scuffle (this is a late Bronze Age supers comic, after all), the Society members have discovered they have familial connections to the youths (though in the case of Jade and Obsidian, Green Lantern does know how) and decided that the newcomers are too inexperienced as yet. The kids leave in a huff. Minutes later, another party-crasher barges in: Brain Wave.
For someone that has been enjoying All-Star Squadron this was no doubt a promising start. For those that weren't, well, maybe the new characters had some allure. I have to say I have frequently appreciated legacy characters such as these without necessarily wanted to read their adventures.

Batman and the Outsiders #8: As Christmas nears in Gotham and the Outsiders train, Batman investigates the abduction of an infant. It's a strange case, since the only physical evidence (a fingerprint) points to the infant himself! Infants all over the city begin rapidly aging to old age, and the Phantom Stranger shows up to make cryptic statements. Geo-Force brings an expectancy couple with car trouble to the hospital, and their newborn reveals himself to be Tannarak (last seen in the backup written by Barr in Saga of the Swamp Thing #5), who has been stealing energy from the other infants. The Outsiders show up to watch Phantom Stranger defeat him and restore the other infants to normal. The family Geo-Force brought in have a second, miracle child, so we get a happy Christmas ending.

Green Lantern #174: Wein and Gibbons continue the story from last issue with Hal falling to his death, encased in yellow plastic. He uses the air he exhales to push out against the plastic with his power, breaking it at the last second. He traces Javelin to a junkyard, but there's just one of his weapons there, so Hal believes he's been given the slip. He find out Jason Bloch is behind this, still out for revenge on the Ferris family. 
After been given an accidental pep talk by Clay Kendall, Hal again tries to find Javelin and the stolen engine. He realizes that the villain's secret lair was right in front of him: under the junkyard. He gets defeats Javelin's goon and confronts the man himself. Just as Hal is about to claim victory, He sees the yellow rocket, powered by Ferris' solar engine, shooting off toward Ferris Aircraft. It's tricky redirecting the rocket and rescuing the engine as it's been painted yellow, but Hal figures it out.
Meanwhile in the Pacific, a drops some toxic waste into the water, causing the Shark to return to his mutated form.

Legion of Super-Heroes #309: Levitz, Giffen, and Mahlstedt have the Legion confront the Prophet in force, setting political considerations aside, but he seems more than a match for all of them, until Invisible Kid seems to notice a tell for the source of his power: his eyes are absorbing solar energy. Shadow Lass blocks his eyes with her power, allowing them to defeat him--but that only seems to open the way for Omen.
There's again a backup by Levitz/Giffen and Broderick/DeCarlo. Karate Kid and Princess Projectra have their beachside honeymoon interrupted by an attack by the would-be usurper, Prince Pharoxx. 

Sgt. Rock #385: The Kanigher/Redondo main story is a solo take for Jackie Johnson, Easy Company's only (ahistorical) black member. Jackie winds up helping liberate a French village being terrorized by the Germans. Next up is a grim tale of the storming of a beach where a hero finds an early death.  The final story is a reprint from 1972 by Kanigher and Thorne about two West Point rivals who meet in real battle during the Civil War and the place and limits of "honor."

Supergirl #17: Some thugs kidnap Dr. Metzner for the manuscript of an unpublished biography he's written about Jackson Burroughs, an international businessman with a criminal reputation. Since Linda Danvers has the manuscript, she's also a target. Burroughs later explains that Metzner has discovered he is working with two rival criminal gangs, and he doesn't want them to know that, so he gives Metzner the choice: revise the biography to hide this detail or be killed and he'll revise it. Supergirl trails Metzner and the thugs and has to fight Matrix-Prime who is working with Burroughs. She rescues her boss, captures Burroughs, and also comes up with a higher tech way to hide her identity instead of a brunette wig.
There is at least on panel in this issue where the art is really bad. Supergirl's hand is strangely elongated. In general, I think the Oksner inks over Infantino is more pleasing that Infantino's work in Flash, but that panel managed to get by them both. On another art related note, Supergirl adds a headband to her costume at the end of this issue. This was supposedly done to match the then-upcoming film, but the film wound up not using the headband after all.

Superman Special #2: This story by Bates and Kane bills itself as an "imaginary tale." It presents an alternate timeline branching from Action Comics #530 and in conflict with the debut of the "new look" Brainiac in Action Comics #544. It does make me wonder how this story came to be. Was it written before #544, but not completed until later, so rendered "imaginary?" Were they competing proposals for Kane's time and editorial liked them both? It just seems less likely to me that they commissioned a special imaginary story in 1983. 
Anyway, Brainiac escapes the certainly doom of #530 and arrives at a planet that ignorantly worships a computer made by their ancestors and sets himself up as it's oracle. Like Luthor he can't just let a good thing be, so he sets about demonizing Superman then lures the Man of Steel to the planet to spring a trap. A telepath among the people senses something is off and comes to believe Superman's story, helping him escape execution. Brainiac is defeated and the world is liberated.

Swamp Thing #22: Moore and Bissette/Totleben spend this issue dealing with the fallout of last issue's bombshells. Swamp Thing, now knowing he is only a plant, has taken root in the swamp, ruminating on his life and quixotic search for a return to humanity, and is unresponsive to Abby and Matt. Woodrue performs experiments on him, hoping to connect to the Green through Swampy and eats one of his tubers. Eventually, he succeeds and is stripped of humanity and transformed into the Floronic Man.
This issue really cements that Moore is going someplace interesting with Swamp Thing. Even with last issues surprises, he could have returned to telling the same sort of horror stories the series was doing before. This is where makes it clear, I think, that his run is going to be special.

Thriller #5: Fleming's and von Eeden's approach storytelling continues to be confusing. We're introduced to Kane Creole who is (apparently) a famous Elvis-esque musician and also potentially a bank robber. He runs afoul of the Seven Seconds, and shoots Crackerjack with an anesthetic bullet, but for a moment Data thinks his friend is dead and pins Creole against a wall with his car. Marietta learns the truth about Angie and also uses the power of Malocchia's eyes to make Tony eat a lot of Italian food. Angie and Edward reconcile, and Angie fixes all of Dan's torn photographs.

Warlord #79: My brother and I bought this issue of the stands. I have always liked this Jurgens cover. I talked about the main story here. In the Barren Earth backup by Cohn and Randall, Jinal and her friends are transported to a slave market in a distant city. Their Harashashan allies show up ostensibly to purchase them, but actually just to set them free. They flee the city together with the cheated slavers on their tail.

New Talent Showcase #3: Sky Dogs is absent this issue and the Klein/Hampton Class of 2064 and theMargopoulos/Woch Forever Amber come to lackluster conclusions. I think 2064 is the better of the two, in that it pretty much ends in a way consistent with the story up until this point with our young heroes discovering the Free Earthers aren't really the bad guys, merely desperate to get a medical advancement that could help them. Chryse turns it over willing. And in the end, sidekick Tycho gets the girl instead of Pern.
Forever Amber detours into a "ripped from the headlines" condemnation of Agent Orange and government coverup and indifference after Amber finds her Dad and doesn't kill him after hearing his side of things.
The other two stories are oneshots. Sabatini and Day present a Medieval fantasy story of a king close to losing his throne thanks to a magical contract with another ruler because he doesn't have an heir, but in the midst of a siege, his queen gives birth to a son. Jacobs and Isherwood present the strange tale of Ticker Blood, a U.S. army soldier in prison in 1892 for supposedly going mad and massacring a town and his fellow soldiers. He's brought before a commanding officer who seems to believe his incredible story that it wasn't actually him that killed the town but monsters, and he had fled in terror, abandoning the others to their fates. He's given a chance to set things right and destroy the monsters who now have the semblance of the townsfolk, but when he thinks that is done, he wakes up back in his jail cell. We're left to wonder at the reality of what we have been told.

At our 87th Live show (courtesy of the East Meadow Public Library), Card Game Marker Joseph Munisteri joins Mark and Jenny Feldy as our guest.

Source

Title: Simon Says (Ashcan) Publisher: NBM Author/Artist: Jeffrey Brown Price: free Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Website: www.nbmpub.com Comments: This is a small short companion book to “Kids Are Still…

Source