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Title: Conan: The Barbarian # 15 Publisher: Titan Comics Writer: Jim Zub Artist: Robert De La Torre Colorist: Diego Radriguez Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft’s Tyler Smith Cover: Mahmud Asrar Variant…

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Bug Wars #1 Writer: Jason Aaron Artist: Mahmud Asrar Colorist: Matthew Wilson Letterer: Becca Carey Cover Date: February 2025 Rating: This week, I will review “Bug Wars #1” from Image…

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Christmas isn’t about some fat fella breaking into your home and leaving you wrapped goodies. It ain’t about reindeer and elves, either. And it ain’t about an animated snowman. Christmas…

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The first five years of my relationship with my wife–a converso–conversa?–were spent with her constantly apologizing for the awful things I say to people, and annually trying to get me…

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New York Comic Con took place recently, and one of the biggest news items released said that Vertigo was indeed coming back, this time called DC Vertigo! VERTIGO: THE RETURN!…

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 Lately I've been thinking about how well some classic adventures might adapted to real world settings. By real world, I mean historical fantasy--I'm not thinking of throwing out magic. Some monsters or at least, their abundance might be sacrificed, though. Harryhausen fil-esque beasts would be fine; tribes of orcs or goblins would likely be reskinned.

There are, of course, a number of dungeoncrawls which could take place pretty much anywhere with a little work. Here are a few that I recall with more distinct locations:

The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh: Given that we're told the setting of this one is meant to evoke a south-coast English town, the obvious placement for me (inspired by Captain Clegg) would be the set on the southeast coast of England in the area of Romney Marsh. Of course, that's not the only option. The Low Country would work, too. The significant presence of lizard men in the area might need to be reskinned as something else, but maybe having this have to do with Deep Ones off the coast would work?

Beyond the Crystal Cave: This one reminds me of The Tempest (though it's probably the similarity of the name Porpherio to Prospero and the island location that does that) so I would place it on Prospero's Island in the Mediterranean, which could be Pantelleria as some have suggested or a completely fictional Mediterranean isle.

Aerie of the Slave Lords: My initial thought on this one was the Barbary Pirates, but that name is usual reserve for pirates that are a bit later era than might be the sweet spot. Fortunately (in this context only!), slave trading in the Mediterranean was quite common in the Middle Ages. You don't have to go to an "evil" nation like a Pomarj, you just have to go to Venice.  Some Mediterranean port could be a stand-in for Highport, and a fictional mediterranean volcanic island in the Companian volcanic arc would be the sight of the slaver's secret base.

Anyway, you get the idea. 

March 2025 Solicitations OUT OF ALCATRAZ #1 (of 5) WRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL ART BY TYLER CROOK COVER A BY TYLER CROOK COVER B BY OLIVER DOMINGUEZ COVER C (RETURNABLE)…

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NEW COMICS THIS WEEK (12/18/24) All comics will be rated on a scale from 1 to 10 Absolute Batman # 3 Action Comics # 1080 Amazing Spider-Man 263 (Facsmilie Edtion)…

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Superheroes generally have one power of which even they remain unaware: they don’t age. We long-time fans here in the real world watched an unsettling progression: when we were children,…

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The gaming industry is vast and multifaceted, with different experiences appealing to different target audiences. Video games and iGaming may seem similar at first glance, but they are two profoundly…

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There are a lot of very reasonable criticisms regarding the Gygaxian Great Wheel of Outer Planes, though I also like a lot about it. I've spent a fair number of posts on this blog trying to make it truly it some sort of coherent set of competing paradigms as Planescape promises but doesn't really deliver.
This post, I want to go in another direction entirely and see if the Outer Planes can be configured in such a way as to have a bit more Medieval flavor, a possible monotheistic bend, and potentially mostly be about the afterlife.
Take a look at the cosmology presented in the works of Dante:

Dante (like OD&D) imagines an order where what in latter day D&D terms we would call Lawful Good. So the Empyrean, the realm outside the cosmos where the Godhead or whatever supreme principle of goodness resides is the equivalent of the Seven Heavens of Mount Celestia in the Great Wheel.
"Beneath" that we enter the cosm and the spheres of the heavens. Here mystical cosmology mixes with physical cosmology and we have the Aristotlean celestial spheres of the classic planets. Dante makes of them "not-quite-good-enough heavens, and I would too, but with a twist. These would be the afterlives or mystic realms of "pagan" deities (using the term here to mean deities other than our Supreme Godhead mention above). Something similar to how the cosmology of the Sandman comics series works or Jurgen by James Branch Cabell, but more systematized as Gary would have wanted it. I would probably nix specific alignments in this sort of setup, focusing on interesting themes and correspondences.
Frank C. Papé
Above the planets is the sphere of the Primum Mobile or Prime Mover. This will be the mindless demiurge or ghost in the machine that makes the physical and near physical universe run. This is Mechanus of the Great Wheel. Arriving at the Earth, we find Elysium/Elysian Fields, the Terrestrial Paradise. It can be found by the living, but it's difficult. Beneath the Earth is the gloomy, gray realm of Hades. 
In the caverns beneath Hades we begin to slip into the realm of truly evil souls, places where monsters have been cast down. There realms are probably all tied to a Deadly Sin. No doubt there are several infernal realms before we get to Hell (represented the sin of Pride) proper, where the rebellious angels have built their resentful kingdom in exile.
Immediately beneath heal would be Tartarus, where the Godhead has locked up frightening beings. Rival gods? The mistakes of former creation? Who knows?
Beneath Tartarus is the Abyss. The deep waters mentioned in Genesis, though this may not literally be water but some fluid. Liquid Tiamat (from Babylonian myth, not the the Dungeon & Dragons cartoon). Malign chaos incarnate.
Robert Crumb

Available for Preorder Friday, December 20 On Sale at Participating Comic Book Shops and Digital Retailers Wednesday, March 19, 2025 Since his introduction in Wonder Woman #800, the malevolent Sovereign has wreaked…

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Explore the Unknown in FAR DOWN BELOW, a Thrilling New Miniseries from Mad Cave Studios, coming 2025 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DEC. 17, 2024, (PORTLAND, OR) —  Deep beneath the surface, where…

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Ahh, the sweet scent of love! LOS ANGELES, CA (December 18, 2024) – BOOM! Studios today revealed a lovely first look at HELLO DARKNESS #7, the horrifying continuation to the…

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  A brand-new story from the writer of “Kickass” and “The Magic Order” MILWAUKIE, Ore., (December 18, 2024)— Dark Horse Comics presents a gripping new vampire survival saga in Vatican City.…

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  Friends will face off on the frontlines in ‘The Battle of Eriadu’ one-shot MILWAUKIE, Ore., (December 18, 2024)— Dark Horse Comics brings Star Wars fans to the front lines of the…

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The legend of the Black Angel statue of Oakland Cemetery looms large. Said to be cursed or haunted by a malevolent force, the angel is rumored to bring death or tragedy to…

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I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to Crisis! This week, I'm reviewing the comics released on the week of December 15, 1983. 

New Teen Titans #40: Perez delivers a great cover, but on the inside, he and Wolfman are back with the Brother Blood stuff I don't really like. The Titans are guests on Bethany Snow's TV show in a segment regarding proposed arms shipments to Zandia. The Titans, led by Wonder Girl, are unable to convince the other guests or the audience of the true evil intentions of the guy named Brother Blood whose live via satellite in a blood red outfit with a horned and fanged mask. He's just too darn charismatic! Dick figures out that the congressmen appearing on the program in support of Blood are actually his followers. Later, disguised as newsman Joe Walsh, Dick accompanies Bethany Snow and the three politicians on a fact-finding tour to Zandia, only to have his true identity uncovered by Blood's cult. Getting an emergency signal from Dick, the other Titans crash Blood's temple in their T-sub but get knocked out by gas. They awaken to find themselves about to be lowered into his weird pool of blood--and Dick in Brother Blood's thrall.

Superman #393: Rozakis/Cavalieri and Novick/Giordano discover yet another creep kind of obsessed with Lana: the super-villain called the Master Jailer. We last saw him back was in Superman Family #221 back in '82. He has a pretty ingenious plot, marred by his nuttiness. He targets Superman with missiles that fuse Green Kryptonite to his costume, and his costume to his skin. Superman appears to have succumb to the poisoning in the Fortress of Solitude. Next, the Jailer goes after Clark Kent. He looks all over town but has a tough time tracking him down. When he finally confronts him, Clark is revealed to be Superman--wearing a Clark Kent mask. He defeats the Master Jailer and reveals who he used a Bizarro device to make Bizarro copies of the Jailer's missiles that then exploded and de-Kryptonited him.

Arak Son of Thunder #31: Colon is back on art, though much of this story is a reprint of the Thomas/Colon/DeZuniga preview of Arak in Warlord #48 (1981). Arak relates that incident to Satyricus in context of a story about about a girl named Amber who was a slave to the viking jarl, Ottar. He contests with Sigvald for her, with Ottar planning to give the girl to whoever brings him the biggest piece of amber. Although, Arak successfully retrieved a larger piece of amber, he returned too late. Ottar died while he was away and, in the Viking tradition, his slave girl was killed with him. Arak began to think of leaving the company of the vikings as a result, which he soon would. 

Batman #369:  Moench and Newton/Alcala return to Alfred and his daughter, Julia. They're in Montreal investigating Jacques' murder. They must be on to something, because someone keeps trying to kill them. After more than one close call, Alfred calls in Batman for help. It turns out the assassin is Deadshot, who is so eager for revenge on Batman, he starts making blunders regarding the job he's supposed to be doing. Julia is desperate to avenger her father and is getting reckless, too. A well-timed Batarang at Julia's gun, keeps Deadshot from killing her and her from killing Deadshot. Batman interrogates Deadshot and the assassin reveals to their surprise that it was Jacques Remarque who hired him!

Flash #331: Bates/Cavalieri and Infantino/McLaughlin conclude the story from last issue. Flash lets Grodd think he's finished him, so the ape lets his guard down and let's Angelo go. Flash springs into action and uses his speed to actually move Grodd in front of his own mental blast. Solovar and the Gorilla City crew show up to bring the Flash home and take Grodd into custody. Meanwhile, the police are looking for the missing Barry Allen and somebody plants a bomb in the office of the Flash's lawyer. Hearing the explosion over the phone, the Flash races to save him, but will he be in time?

G.I. Combat #263: Continuing the story from previous issues, the Mercenaries managed to best the Yeti creature and grab the cobra statue--which doesn't appear to be made of anything like the gold and jewels they were promised. Still, the women with them are going to take it back to the temple, so the Mercenaries follow along to keep them out of harm. Good plan, because they do get attacked. Back at the temple, the old man uses some liquid to reveal it's true, golden, jewel encrusted form. He gives the Mercenaries a ruby each. They leave, but then Gordon decides he wants to go back for the woman he's sweet on, but the temple and its inhabitants have disappeared.
The two Haunted Tank stories continue to get mileage out of Craig's son, Eddie, now being a member of the crew. This particularly comes to the fore in the second story which has a frame story of Eddie writing a letter to his mother (Craig's estranged wife) regarding recent events where a fuel shortage for both sides starts as problem but ultimately becomes an advantage for Stuart's Raiders as they're able to take out a group of immobile Panzers solo after that fill up courtesy of captured German vehicles. In the first, Gus' background as a minster is highlighted as he struggles with the commandments of his faith and his duty as a soldier. In the end, though, Kanigher doesn't really have anything profound to say about that, but it's good to see Gus get the spotlight.
The nonseries story is about a bomb disposal team dealing with a bomb made with a particularly tricky fuse. It no doubt carries an additional air of verisimilitude as the writer, Paul S. Newman, served as a tech with a bomb disposal unit.

Omega Men #12: Broot and Shlagen part company with the rest of the Omega Men on Rashashoon. Broot feels he has delayed too long finding his wife. They follow coordinates stolen from the Citadel to a near-lifeless planetoid. There they discover radiation-poisoned Changralynian youth toiling away. They have never met their captors or heard of the Citadel. They work in the name of their religion. At their temple, Broot is horrified to discover that the blind priestess is his wife, Kattayan-Bish.
Meanwhile, the other Omega Men led by Primus race back to Euphorix. They arrive only moments too late. Kalista has re-activated the energy shield and destroyed the controls so that it can't be lowered again.

Star Trek #1: Barr and Sutton/Villagran continue from where last each left off with another almost pitch perfect evocation of Trek. Kirk and Lt. Bryce are in spacesuits attempting to get into the Klingon station hidden in wormhole space while Saavik in a shuttlecraft attracts the Klingon's attention. Captain Koloth (presumably not the same as the one in TOS) is smart though and suspects the shuttle may be a ruse. He orders extra guards and also has guys watch his helmsman Konom, who was the one who secretly signaled the Federation. After some fights and quick thinking, Kirk, Bryce, Saavik and Konom escape via the transporter--but only after Kirk leaves a bomb whose detonation causes the base to return to normal space. Koloth chooses to blow his crew up rather than be captured.
Interestingly, there is foreshadowing of STIII here in some of McCoy's thought balloons. The Klingons are very much of the ST:TMP mold, not the version with less elaborate makeup we'll get in STIII and later. The only detail that seemed off to me is Bryce opening fire on disintegration setting on a group of Klingon guards. It seems like the Starfleet way might have been to stun them, but I can't think of a completely analogous scene in a TOS episode to compare. 

The See of Medegia is a territory ostensibly within the Great Kingdom of Aerdy that is under direct sovereign rule of the Holy Censor of the Aerdian Church of Law. Though the reach of the Censor's ecclesiastical authority has diminished with the decline of the Great Kingdom, he remains one of the most powerful and wealthy rulers in the eastern Flanaess.

The Church of Law has ever tied to the Aerdi, their kings, and kingdom. While the various Hierarchs of Law of the Flanaess were independent, they were in communion, and the Hierarch of Medegia was invested as Holy Censor, guardian over the doctrine of Law and moral guide to the Malachite Throne and the entire Kingdom.

Most Medegian church houses, including its great basilica, were originally dedicated to Pholtus, the Blinding Light, though Legalism being a transtheistic faith, this was not true of other churches in other lands. Today, the iconography of Pholtus persists, but the stern-faced deity is little favored by the current Holy Censor, his most senior clergy, or the other highfolk of the land. The Divine Law has varied manifestations and champions, so why should they not pray to Zilchus, whose doctrine of material prosperity for the faithful is more amiable to their wealth and privilege?

Despite the Holy Censor's roll as advisor to the Overking, neither the indolent Hierarch nor his flattering and generous orthodoxy are favored at court. Ivid is rumored to have become enamored of an antinomian heresy wherein, as a divinely favored monarch, he is above the precepts that bind others. The Censor is, of course, concerned, but not overmuch, so that his enjoyment of his position isn't soured.

United Forces #6 Phil Foulder unknowingly makes a wish near the orb and is granted the wish. A chainsaw appears to help Phil take down the zombies while Viktor Vetika…

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