Robotech RPG Tactics

Before we get started with today’s updates we need to get a few things out of the way.  We’re talking about Robotech.  Yes, I know Robotech was originally three cartoons before Harmony Gold combined Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA.  There may also be spoilers for a cartoon that came out in 1985, so if for some reason you want to view the series for the first time you probably want to skip the next paragraph.

I was 9 when Robotech started airing on television.  Despite the fact that my local television station didn’t always air the episodes in order I was fascinated by it.  It’s the first cartoon I can remember that didn’t talk down to the audience.  There was a lot going on in those plots and while the younger me might not have understood all of it, I was never lost.  I can still remember the impact Roy Fokker’s death had on me; people in cartoons weren’t supposed to die.  Most people think of the Macross saga when they hear the name Robotech.  My personal favorite was the New Generation but Macross saga has Khyron.  Khyron was so cool he made sitting through Minmay scenes almost bearable.

So why am I talking about Robotech today?  Palladium the long time holders of the Robotech RPG license have created a Kickstarter for a Robotech Tactics game.  When I say Palladium has had the license for a long time, understand that I used to play the Robotech role-playing game they created back in high school.  Their newest game is going to fill your table with Macross saga veritechs and Zentraedi battle pods.  As of this writing there are 20 days left to go in the Kickstarted and it is already fully funded.  They’ve actually made enough to fully fund the project 6 times.  Palladium is going above and beyond and adding stretch goal after stretch goal. 

There are numerous different levels that you can pledge.  The level I want to talk about is their Battle Cry level.  It isn’t cheap, that level will cost you 140.  But for that you’ll get a 90+ page rule book, 12 Zentraedi dice, 12 UEDF dice, 40 game cards, an art print, and 45 game pieces (including the Kickstarter exclusive Rick Hunter veritech).  That’s the basic set.  You also get another 14 game pieces that have been unlocked by the stretch goals.  Roy Fokker’s Veritech is included in those pieces, like Rick he is also a Kickstarter exclusive.

That’s a fantastic amount of plastic to move around your table.  You could have 10 Veritechs and 4 Destroids defending the Earth against 21 Regult Battlepods, 2 Reconnaissance Battlepods, and 2 Glaug Officer’s Battlepods.  If that isn’t enough for you there are plenty of add-ons to purchase.  You can buy extra Battlepods of all types.  Or extra Veritechs.  Or Gnerl Fighters. Want some real firepower?  The MKII Monster is available for 40 bucks.  If you’re a fan of tabletop war games or just a Robotech fan this is a Kickstarter you need to check out.  With 20 days left to go I’m excited just to see what else is coming.

Games Day 2013 Ticket

Brandon and I are going to Games Day again this year.  You may remember last year when I posted the unboxing of my 2012 Games Day ticket.  That was odd just because of the giant box used to send a matted print.  This time around I’m posting the ticketing package because it is awesome.

This plain white envelop came in a packing sleeve.  I didn’t really know what to expect inside it.  To be honest I didn’t give it much thought.

Inside was a ticket holder and yet another envelope.  Suddenly it was turning into the postal equivalent of a nesting doll.  Open a package to open an envelope; which opens to reveal a smaller envelope.   But wait, what is that horribly blurry smudge in my picture?  Why am I so bad at photography?

Oh, it’s just a wax seal of the Dark Angels symbol.  Yeah, that’s pretty awesome.  I know I’ll eventually end up throwing it away, but I didn’t want to break the seal just yet.  Remembering at a long ago convention I actually bought a Dragon Age letter opener I ran to my desk and grabbed my Grey Warden sword. 

Finally done with envelopes we have an embossed Imperial Aquila.  Not much to say here, but again it is just a gorgeous presentation.  Saying any more would turn it into that scene in American Psycho.

Finally inside the letter is my ticket and a thank you for purchasing it.  I’ve been to conventions all across the United States and I’ve never received anything even close to this.  Bravo Games Workshop.  You’ve certainly raised the bar this time.

Flash Friday: DC Super Friends Busy Book

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I picked up the subject of this week’s Flash Friday a little while ago but every time I went to write about it something else exciting came up.  As a lifelong Flash fan I realize that Flash items are few and far between when compared to Superman and Batman.  Because of that I’m keeping an extra close eye on Flash merchandise aimed at children.  I want my son to be able to have his own Flash stuff.  I’m sure it won’t stop him from wanting to play with the things in dad’s glass display cases, but it can’t hurt.

With this strategy in mind I realize I’ll be buying things when they are available even if they aren’t age appropriate.  I can’t chance seeing something on the shelf and hoping it will still be there in two or three years when my son is finally ready for it.  So I’ll buy them early, stash them away, and just surprise him with them when he’s old enough.  The first of these is the DC Super Friends Busy Book.

I ran into these and Barnes and Nobles.  It was on one of their center tables and marked down for 10 dollars.  There were Busy Books for all sorts of different licensed characters.  I picked up the Super Friend set and flipped through it to make sure the Flash was in.  Once I had seen that I knew it was coming home with us. 

The Busy Book is a large book with about 10 pages.  They’re made of the thick cardboard type material used in kid books.  It’s glossy and has bright illustrations.  It also has a large box at the end of the book that contains a fold out play area and little figures.  What figures are included?  Of course it comes with Batman, Superman, and Robin.  To round out the Super Friends there is Flash, John Stewart Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Hawkman.  .  It’s surprising that Wonder Woman got left out here.  Instead of Wonder Woman we get an adorable little Krypto.  Of course you need villains so Lex Luthor, Joker, Penguin, and Riddler are thrown in

I can’t wait to see the play mat laid across the floor.  As I stated before, it’s too early for this set at the moment.  If I gave it to him now he’d enjoy turning the book’s pages.  The action figures would quickly go into his mouth.  Superman is tough, but I’m pretty sure he’d come out with some bite marks.  One day the Flash and Hawkman will defeat the Joker and Penguin at the abandoned carnival but for now the Busy Book will be up on the shelf until the time is right.    

Hangover Thursday: Maiden’s Kiss

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head?  I spent Sunday with a good amount of Session Black so I haven’t really picked up anything new to drink.  I’m also made plans to be in Memphis at the end of July.  So if you’re familiar with the area and no of a good bar in the downtown Memphis area Brandon and I would sure appreciate the tips.

If you’re in Colorado you’re about to get one of the coolest looking beer labels I think I’ve ever seen.  Grimm Brothers Brewhouse is debuting their new Maibock Lager on May 1^st.  The beer is named Maiden’s Kiss and the kickoff event will be at the World of Beer in Glendale, Colorado.  After that it should be available in Northern Colorado on May 3^rd.

I am far outside the Grimm Brothers distribution area so I can’t really speak to their quality.  I shouldn’t want to try a beer just because of the name or label, but obviously I am easily swayed.  It isn’t just their newest beer either; the entire line has brilliant names and beautiful labels.  I’m a fan and I’ve never even tasted it.  If someone out that way wants to send a few bottles to Florida I wouldn’t complain.

Organ Trail Director’s Cut

I’ll admit it, my love for Oregon Trail is a nostalgia thing.     In middle school one of science classes had it on the computers.  It was a special treat to get on the game during class time.  I’d load up on bullets, give my family dirty names, and try to shoot dear until I died of typhoid.  For an extra giggle I’d write more profanity on my tombstone when I died.  Things like “Fucker died on me,” showed just how tough and edgy I was as a child.

Organ Trail takes that classic Oregon Trail feel and shoves zombies into it.  I know, I know, everything has zombies now.  I’m pretty over them too, but this is fun.  Instead of an ox driven wagon you’re now traveling cross country in a station wagon.  You don’t ford rivers; you have to sneak our shoot your way through giant zombie hordes.  The shooting mechanic took me a while to get used to.  Drag and release works great for slingshots, it made my head hurt using it for rifles.  Once I finally got used to it, I was making head shots like a pro.

Organ Trail was originally a flash game.   It was then moved to Facebook.  After that the game’s creators The Men Who Wear Many Hats took it too Kickstarter.  That’s how the Director’s Cut was created.  You can get the game on iOS and Android devices.  It’s also available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.  There is an expansion pack for a few dollars more, but I haven’t thrown down on that one yet.  I might pick it up after my current play through.  

DragonCon

Before I get to far into my topic today I have to give you some personal history so you’ll better understand everything I’m going to be covering.  DragonCon is a giant convention that takes place in Atlanta every Labor Day.  It’s Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics, and everything else you can think of crammed into three hotels.  The real appeal is that everyone is staying in these (and the surrounding) hotels.  Because it’s inside the hotels, and the hotels are more or less connected, it doesn’t ever really stop.  Sure the signing areas close down and the dealer’s room is locked up; but at night it becomes a drunken parade of cosplayers.

I first went to my first DragonCon 11 years ago.  I’ve met people there who’ve become such dear friends that I consider them family.  I met my wife there and drunkenly proposed to her to get her attention.  Years later I proposed to her there again; this time it wasn’t a joke.  I haven’t been the past couple years because of other life events, but we were planning on going back in 2014. 

Over the years DragonCon has gotten more and more successful.  That makes its founders quite a bit of money.  Ed Kramer is one of those co-founders and I knew he resigned from DragonCon in 2000.  You see that was when Kramer was first accused of molesting three teenage boys.  So while he wasn’t involved with running DraconCon he was still getting paid by them.  I didn’t know that part.  His 2011 dividend from the convention was 154,000.

DragonCon has been trying to sever ties with Kramer, including trying to buy out his shares.  Kramer is unwilling to do that and has filed litigation against DragonCon to stop any attempts to remove him.  So that’s where we are now.  Those 120 dollar weekend passes and DragonCon shirts add up fast and unfortunately part of that money ends up going to a child molester.  I can’t support that.  I’m not going back to DragonCon while he is still profiting from it. Maybe this Labor Day I’ll invite all my friends to my house, dress up silly, and drink till the sun comes up; that's pretty close to what I did at the con anyway.

Sleeping In

I’m still getting used to waking up early and not actually being at work on a Saturday.  Saturday updates are still going to be a thing.  This week I’m (hopefully) sleeping in.  

Flash Friday: DLC Among Us

Happy Flash Friday everyone!  I know we stumbled for a bit at the beginning of the year, but the Flash Friday updates are going strong again.  In fact I originally had a completely different update planned for today but a trip to the Xbox Live changed all of that.  So not only is there a Flash Friday for today, you are guaranteed one next week.

This week Injustice: Gods Among Us, the DC fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat, came out.  Despite the Flash being included on the fighting roster I didn’t pre-order this one.  I actually haven’t planned to pick it up at all.  A few years ago I had jumped on the Mortal Kombat vs DC game and was overwhelmed by mediocrity.  It wasn’t bad enough to hate and it wasn’t good enough to enjoy.  Unfortunately it’s because of that game I haven’t really been able to get excited about Injustice.

As I turned my Xbox on the other night to spend some time with the fantastic Battleblock Theater I was greeted with ads for Injustice that informed me that the game was now available.  Knowing how things work in Xbox land I quickly went to the avatar store to see if Injustice had its own extras.  I was not disappointed.  For 400 Microsoft points you can clad your avatar in the Injustice version of the Flash’s costume.  Unlike Batman who has 5 or 6 options to go with, this is the only Flash costume currently available on Xbox. 

For 80 Microsoft points you can forgo the full costume and instead choose to rock the Flash T-Shirt.  I won’t lie, I picked this one up.  As I clicked to add the shirt my wife looked at the TV and said, “That’s scary, it looks just like you.”  That’s all I’ve got for you today, check out the Xbox Avatar store for more superhero goodness, and if you picked up Injustice let me know what you think about it.

Hangover Thursday: Bowtie Cans

It’s Hangover Thursday, how’s your head?  I wasn’t brave enough to go out for drinks when I’m still getting used to waking up two hours earlier than I’m used to so my head is pretty clear.  Hangover Thursday’s have been pretty hit and miss lately, but today I’ve got some strange beer news for you.  This isn’t about some crazy craft brew I’ve fallen in love with either, it’s about one of the big boys; the self-proclaimed “King of Beers”.

Starting May 6^th you can now buy Budweiser in cans shaped like their logo.  I know if you’re like me, you’ve been dying to drink out of a bow tie.  Wait…what?  Bowtie cans have apparently been in development since 2010 but getting the aluminum to bend like that and still manage to contain beer was a difficult task.  These cans will only be available in the United States, aren’t replacing the old cans, and will be available in 8 packs.  It’s a good thing they come in 8s, the shape of the can makes it hold .7 ounces less than the normal can.

In beer news from companies I actually like, do you remember a year ago when I mentioned how an error caused Shipyard’s Portland brewery to somehow not be charged correctly for water and sewage?  It was a 15 year mistake that cost Portland almost 1.5 million.  Shipyard has just settled to the tune of 300K.  That’s a lot of money, but still better than what they could have been charged.

Hem: Radiation Vibe

In news that’s only important to Ken, I started a new work schedule this week that has me waking up two hours earlier than I have been for the past two years.  Considering I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep before the work change, this week has been a little rough.  For some reason this song stuck in my head this morning.

I first heard Hem’s cover of the Fountains of Wayne song “Radiation Vibe” because of local musician Joseph Martens.  It’s a little slower than most of the music that gets posted here.  It’s still a fantastic song though.  I always loved Fountains of Wayne’s first album, if for no other reason it has the amazing song “Leave the Biker.”  

Kre-O Springer

When the first Transformer building sets came out I remember thinking to myself that they were okay, but I thought the mini-figures were far cooler than the Lego-like building blocks.  I didn’t worry about it too much because I had assumed they would stick more to the movie characters or the characters used on the latest cartoon.  I was wrong. 

 Kre-O realized how popular their Transformer mini-figures were and released a set of blind bagged characters.  I didn’t realize these were coming out, so I was surprised to see so many G1 favorites represented when I found them in the store.  As soon as I saw that the set contained Springer I knew I had to have one.  I didn’t want to test my luck though, so instead of grabbing a handful of the packages I went to eBay.  I won't lie, I was really tempted to buy a bunch of them and hope for the best.

When I received my package from eBay it was still in the blind bag.  I don’t know how the seller knew it was Springer without opening the package; I think he must be a wizard.  Springer comes with two swords; a gun and a sword would have been more accurate.  The package says you can build a robot or a vehicle, but his helicopter mode just looks like the robot is laying face down.  So really this is something you want displayed in robot mode.

Springer looks better if you don’t use all the pieces he comes with.  There is a connector that fits over his chest that allows you to plug helicopter blades onto his back.  Doing so covers up the chest details that make him look more like Springer.  I get that Kre-O didn’t want you to have a handful of extra parts, but he looks so much better without all the extra blocks strapped to him.

I Needs My Comics, Man!

I have talked about digital comics a few times before. Both of those posts were from a "theory" point of view. I had yet to get a tablet and was just going on conjecture. Well that time has passed, and I think I might be addicted.

I picked up a IPad on the cheap recently and one of the first apps I downloaded was Comixology. Let me tell you, it has gotten much more robust then the last time I talked about it in 2011. Now most if not all comics from the major 2 and most of the myriad of other publishers are day and date with the physical release. So I browse through the new releases and many (many, many, many) back issues avalible. I settled on a book I have been meaning to pick up for a while, but could not find the first issue as it was sold out. Not in the electroic form however. With that I bought issue #1 of the new(er) Hawkeye series by Matt Fraction and David Aja.

Let me tell ya, that is a damn good book. But that is for another day. So I enjoyed the experience of reading a digital comic. You can read it "traditional" style - meaning you see the entire page or you can put it in more of a "cinematic" mode. That is the way I would recomend reading in this form. With this mode you tap the screen and it zooms into the panel and when you tap again it goes on to the next bit. It is pretty cool and allows you to be awed by that splash page or villain reveal.

So after reading and enjoying Hawkeye #1, I grabbed #2 and #3 and so on. Also I had just picked up my physical books from the local shop, and amongst those was the Thunderbolts, by  Daniel Way and Steve Dillon, which features the new Venom.

Well I am not super familiar with this Venom, so out comes Comicxology again. The first trade of Venom is there huh? Bought. Look at that...there is a sale on the entire run of Avengers Vs. X-men I was vaguely interested in that story. Bought. You see where this is going. It is almost too easy. Therein lies the rub. With just a quick tap of a screen you can have sweet, sweet Comic injections. I have had to dial it back and not just grab stuff that had a passing interest to me.



On a side note: you can expect a Monday post about every two weeks. When I can do a weekly post I will, but don't expect it all the time. It is only for special occasions like your birthday or our anniversary.

Princeless: Volume 2

The second series of Action Lab Comic’s Princeless is hitting comic book shelves.  I really enjoyed the first volume so I was excited to see the story continuing.  Years ago I was sitting at a friend’s house and having a couple drinks.  Her daughter was pretty young at the time and the friend commented how she wanted a series of fairy tales where the princess didn’t need a prince to do the rescuing.  That the princess was important enough to have adventures on her own.  When I read through the first volume of Princeless I thought back to that old conversation and just smiled.

Action Lab sent me the first issue of the new Princeless and I jumped at the chance to read it.  The story picks up right where the first volume left off.  I think the first issue recaps the prior adventures enough that a new reader wouldn’t be lost, but I’d recommend tracking down the other issues.  The humor and warmth are still there.  Writer Jeremy Whitley is fantastic at getting laughs out of fantasy archetypes.  The adventurers introduced in this issue are worth the price of admission; everything else is just a bonus.  Emily Martin provides the art this time around.  It’s a solid effort too, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I missed M. Goodwin’s pencils on this.

Check out Princeless for yourself, either at your local shop or at Action Lab’s own website.

Flash Friday: New Solicits

Happy Flash Friday Everyone!  I had a completely different Flash Friday planned for today but when DC’s new solicits hit I knew that we needed to talk about them.  That means there will be a Flash Friday next week also.  So what new DC products are so important that I’m bumping another article?

The big news of course is that the New 52 version of Captain Cold is getting an action figure.  I know that some people hate the new redesigns used in the current comics.  There are people that hate that the Rogues lost their gadgets and have powers now.  I get that.  I may even feel the same way, but the above figure does reflect the way Cold looks in the current comics.  Its worth mentioning any time we get a new Flash related figure.  I probably won’t be getting picking up this figure.  I’m buying less and less action figures as space becomes an issue. 

The other item worth mention is the Justice League chess set.  Both the Flash and the Reverse Flash are represented in this set as pawns.  At first I was let down the Flash was considered a pawn.  Then I started rationalizing to myself that it’s because his speed makes him look like he is in multiple places on the board at once.  I told myself that any good chess player knows that pawns can be important pieces.  Finally I just said that we’re lucky he was included at all and to be happy about it.  It’s a nice looking chess set with a $250 price tag.  Besides if you want to really feel bad for someone Aquaman really is a king and he is being used as a rook.

Kill All Monsters Kickstarter!

I was minding my own business last night on Twitter (@FingMonkeyKenO) when I ran across something glorious.  Michael May and Jason Copland’s comic Kill All Monsters has it’s very own Kickstarter.  You can check it out by clicking HERE!  So now you can pre-order a copy at your local store, but if you don’t have a friendly local comic shop or you want even more Kill All Monster Goodness you can check it out on the Kickstarter.

I know you’re thinking to yourself, “Ken you keep talking about his book, how good can it be?”  I read the web comic.  Michael was kind enough to send me a PDF, so then I read that.  I can’t wait to read it again when I have a physical copy in my hands.  It’s people in giant robot suits fighting giant monsters.  It’s people out of robot suits fighting people sized monsters.  If that doesn’t have you stomping around the room making Godzilla sounds I don’t know what else I can tell you.

Make sure you check out the Kickstarter though.  They have a number of different rewards beyond just copies of their book.  There are some fantastic looking prints for those of you who still have empty space on your walls.  There are shirts for those of you who wear clothes.  There are sketchy pledge levels where you can get some awesome Copland art.  You have to move quickly, those are going fast.

Last night I made the joke I need my own Kickstarter to afford the $600 tier.  Jason must have been crazy when he agreed to pencil a 5 page story that the funder has written.  I want it just so I can play in the amazing setting that he and Michael have created.  Couldn’t you see me in a KAM prequel?  Fighting in a half sized prototype robot suit.  Hitting monsters with a hammer, setting them on fire, and then dying horribly?  I wonder if the wife would notice if I spent on tax refund….

In all seriousness, please check out the Kill All Monsters Kickstarter by clicking HERE.  You’ll be glad you did.

Stoutheart Brewers Progress Update

I’m still hard at work at getting my Dwarf Blood Bowl team and their stadium together.  Our Spring Training league starts the last Sunday of April so I still have some time but I know that there is no way I will be completely finished with all of my projects before the first game is played.  Who am I kidding; I probably won’t be completely finished until after Spring Training is over.

I’ve split my players and support staff into three groups.  The first group consists of the 11 players I’ll be fielding at the start of the league.  My next group will be things like my coach, turn counters, the runner I hope to purchase after a game or two, and my apothecary.  The third group is filled with the other ridiculous things I’ve purchased to support my team.  Picture above is my apothecary; I made him with bits out of the Dwarf Cannon/Organ gun set.  It took be forever to find a Dwarf doctor, so I’m really happy with him. 

The stadium is another project that just keeps on growing.  I decided to use Klinkarhun, the Dwarven Runes for all the writing on my field.  I didn’t have much time last weekend but I still managed to finish most of the detail painting on the board.  I still needed to letter the end zones and get them fully painted.  I also need to finish painting the gravel pits.  I have sketched out my plans for my dugouts, but I haven’t bought the supplies I need to make them yet.  The best thing about the stadium right now is I could play a game on it if I wanted to.

You’ll notice the empty space below one of the end zones.  At this point I’ve decided to name my stadium “The Mountain”.  I have planned to put a mountain in that area.   So at this point I’m just making a ton more work for myself.  The good thing is that I’ll be using the same material that I’ll be using on my dug outs.  Still I need to get the supplies for all of that, so it’ll probably be a week or two before I have any more progress to show on that.

Blog Update

There was some site strangeness this morning, but I believe it has cleared up by now.  I figured since it was a strange day anyway I’d take some time to update everyone on what is going on with That F’ing Monkey.

First things first, Kid Largo will be returning.  I think I’ve got the problem I was having with the updated filters figured out.  That solution involves putting the strips together on the PC I like working on, sending them to a pc that still has the older filters on them, and then finishing on the better PC.  I want to test this before I commit, so I’d expect them to really start running again in May if everything goes well.

Flash Friday will remain an on again an off again feature.  But I do have some things planned for the next couple weeks.

You may have noticed more reviews on the site.  We’ve been getting sent comp copies of things.  I will always include if we were given the preview copy in the review, which just seems to be the right thing to do.  I also don’t believe in scoring reviews.  Once you put a number to it anything else you’ve said becomes meaningless, so my reviews will remain to just be about my thoughts.  Considering we only update once a day there are actually some review opportunities we’ve passed up.   

I’m a father.  We are quickly approaching my son’s first birthday.  This site is not going to fill up with pictures of my son.  It will feature a little more content about me being a father and trying to raise my son to appreciate the geeky things I do.  Things like, when and how to introduce Star War or how do I teach my child that Flash is the best superhero?  Important things like that.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for the day.  We’re all fine here now, thank you.  How are you?

Poker Night 2

Telltale games is incredible.  The newest trailer for their game Poker Night 2 just hit the internet this week.  I won't lie I'm a little excited.

Yeah.  Brock, Claptrap, and GLaDOS.  That’s kind of fantastic.  Sam is also a welcome addition since the first game had Max.  I’m going to miss Strongbad from the first game though.  There isn't much to say about a Poker Game.  If you like Poker, this is a fun way to play it.  The best part of the first one was the conversations the characters had with each other.  It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this match up.

Flash Friday: Carmine Infantino

As a site that has a reoccurring feature named Flash Friday there would be something very wrong if we didn’t take time out and honor the passing of a legend in the comic book industry.  The news of his death spread like wildfire across the comic community last night, he was 87.

Carmine began his work with DC comics in 1947.  In his first published work he co-created the Black Canary with writer Robert Kanigher.  The list of characters he had a hand in creating is amazing.  I already mentioned Black Canary add to that the Barbara Gordon Batgirl, Animal Man, Bat Lash, Deadman, Detective Chimp, and the Elongated man.  That’s already an impressive list so let’s add the Flash characters to it.  Barry Allen, Kid Flash Wally West, Iris Allen, Abra Kadabra, Captain Boomerang, Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Mirror Master, Trickster, and the Weather Wizard. 

Carmine went from artist to Art Director to Editorial Director to Publisher of DC comics.  After he left that position he became a freelance worker.  In 1981 he returned to the Flash and worked on it until the series was canceled.  I had only met Carmine twice.  The first time I had been too starstruck to say anything of any real importance.  A stammered “I love your work, the Flash means so much to me,” that kind of thing.  The second time I got to actually have a conversation with him and he was especially kind to me.

I’m going to be cracking open some of my Flash Archives this weekend in tribute.  Thank you Carmine, you are already missed.

BattleBlock Theater

The Behemoth has released their newest game on Xbox Live this week.  You may remember them from the super challenging game Alien Hominid and button mashing Castle Crashers.  The game is called BattleBlock Theater and it is every bit as quirky and fun as their other games.

In BattleBlock Theater you are shipwrecked on an island, taken prisoner, and forced to complete levels in a theater run by cats.  The prison is run by cats too.  I told you it was quirky.  Each level is a platforming puzzle that requires you to collect gems as you search through the level to find the exit.  Each level also has a ball of string hidden somewhere.  Collecting gems will unlock more prisoners to play as and string can be traded in for different types of weapons.

The game can be played single player but really shines in co-op.  A number of areas are made easier by having a partner.  You can give the other player a boost or pull them up from a ledge.  You can also make it extremely hard to complete by spending all your time back stabbing each other.  Both options are tremendously fun.

The art and music style are reminiscent of Behemoth’s earlier games.  To me there are good things.  You may not care for the blocky shapes and bugged out eyes as much as I do though.  If you already have Castle Crashers installed on your Xbox you’ll be getting a couple of extras too.  You’ll unlock a Castle Crasher prisoner to play in BattleBlock Theater.  Make sure you’ve got the latest Castle Crasher update, by getting a BattleBlock achievement you’ll unlock one of the BattleBlock characters in Castle Crashers!  Behemoth is awesome like that.

WWE App

When the WWE 13 game came out I picked it up because I love wrestling video games and it was full of “Attitude Era” nostalgia.  I quickly started filling the save slots with my own created characters and used less and less of the real life wrestlers in the game.  What I didn’t expect was that it would get me watching and enjoying wrestling again.  It’s been a few months now and Wrestlemania is upon us.  This is the biggest show of the year for the WWE and I want to watch it.

Now I have cable, but to save money we went to the most basic version.  So the digital channels, DVR boxes, and other things all went back to the cable company.  When Wrestlemania was announced I said, if it isn’t too much hassle to order it I’ll get it and invite some friends over.  Well, getting it through the cable company pretty much meant bring the DVR and digital stuff back into my house.  By getting rid of all that I was saving 30 bucks a month, I wasn’t diving back into it.

Thankfully X-Box came to the rescue.  Yesterday they released the WWE PPV App.  Now I can pay for the PPV on their website, enter the code into my X-Box, and watch Wrestlemania.  I didn’t see anything about it on the X-Box’s dashboard so I wanted to talk about it here.  Hopefully it saves someone else from ordering a cable box just for the PPVs.

Axe Cop Trailer

Recently at Wonder Con the ADHD team debuted their trailer for the Axe Cop cartoon on Fox.  If you are somehow out of the loop on the Axe Cop goodness, here is a brief overview.  Back in 09 comic artist Ethan Nicolle was visiting his family and was playing with his 5 year old step brother.  Ethan drew 4 comic strips detailing the events of game they played and then introduced the internet to his brother’s imagination.  When those first strips began getting popular Ethan knew they needed to continue the story.  Malachai is responsible for the ideas and plots while Ethan provides the art and everything else needed to put the strips together.

Axe Cop took off from there.  It went from being a web comic, to getting published by Dark Horse, to getting motion comics, and now it is going to be a cartoon on Fox. We won’t actually see full episodes until July 27^th, but the trailer already confirms that it will still contain the randomness that makes Axe Cop so much fun.

Cake Fucker: The Return

What's all this then? A post on Monday? I don't even check this site on Monday any damn more. I forgot that Cake Fucker even posted on this site.

I know, right? Well I am back. 

There is a caveat however. Shit's about to get real. Even with the unfortunate post date this is not a joke, you will get plenty of that all over the internet.

I have decided to refocus my life. In the past six or seven months I have gone way down hill. I have put on about 20 pounds, started smoking off and on again, and generally let myself go to shit. What brought this about you ask? Well I am about to open up to the Internet at large here, folks. I have what is called Dysthymic disorder, also known as neurotic or chronic depression. In layman's terms it means I am sad a lot. Most people that know me don't know this, even my closest friends and family. The main reason for this is that mental heath issues have a massive stigma attached to them which makes it really hard to talk about. You don't know if someone will reject you if they find out. Having depression, which comes with other things like self worth and body image issues, amplifies this feeling of non-acceptance. So you just don't talk about it. Well now I am.

So what does all this hippie sharing of feelings mean to you? Not much. I am still going to post about Comics, Games, and Booze with my own brand of "humor". It's just that sometimes I am going to talk about what is bringing me down in life. Not always, just sometimes. In some things I am going to be looking for accountability - such as quitting smoking for good - in others I might just need to get shit off my chest. This will be a way to do just that.

If you don't like it, fine don't read the site on Mondays you're not going to hurt the feelings I have left (even if you call me a pussy in the comments...I will just dwell on it for months). 

With the State of the Cake Fucker out of the way, come back next week when I will talk about the crushing weight of loneliness.




Just kidding, it is going to be about digital comics and way more upbeat. Promise.