Proof That They Love Us
As we hurtle headlong into next week’s San Diego Comic Con, now is as good a time as any to remind you that postings next week will be on their own schedule. Cool? Cool.
- Previously noted, the hands-down best publisher of graphic novels, :01 Books will be at SDCC, but now it’s time for me to share with you some of who and what they’re bringing (many thanks to Gina Gagliano at :01 for passing along the info, as well as numerous advanced copies throughout the year).
To start, I realize that some of you may object to that “best publisher” claim that I made, so check out the Eisner nominees from :01 this year: Nursery Rhyme Comics (Best Publication for Early Readers and Best Anthology), Zita the Space Girl (Best Publication for Kids), Anya’s Ghost and Level Up (Best Publication for Young Adults), and Zahra’s Paradise (Best Graphic Album — Reprint). Bascially, a :01 publication has a one in three shot of being recognized by the most prestigious awards in comics.
Second, check out who will be visiting the booth: Jorge Agurre and Rafael Rosado, Vera Brosgol, Zack Giallongo, JT Petty, Thien Pham, Nate Powell (also an SDCC Guest of Honor), Dave Roman, and Jen Wang. They’ll all be signing at least a couple of times during the show, so drop by the booth for the schedule. Also check out the program guide for the many :01 creators and staff that will be talking about various topics near and dear to their heart; if nothing else, try to catch up with Colleen AF Venable to tell her how awesome her book designs¹ are. Among those book designs: the just-received, not-yet-released Sailor Twain, which I can’t wait to get my hands on (October, can you come quickly enough?).
- Know what you won’t be able to pick up at SDCC? The Schlock Mercenary boardgame. When my evil twin told me that his game guys wanted to send me a review copy, he didn’t mention it was going to be the single largest item ever delivered to The Fleenplex for review. This thing is heavy, on account of it’s stuffed full of thick cardstock pieces, in a box that is far more solid than anybody used to American boardgames would ever consider necessary. Those of you that like Euro-style games, it probably feels right at home.
So yeah, all those pieces (which, by the way, are double-sided) — gonna be a while before I get the chance to punch ’em all out but when I do, I can tell that the good folks at Living Worlds Games love me and want me to be happy, because one of the items in the box was a little bundle of sealable bags to sort those pieces into. Just saying, I had to make a trip to the supermarket for Zip-Locs when I bought Settlers of Catan.
My only complaint being (and this is preliminary, as I haven’t punched out all those double-sided pieces yet), the designers put in such necessary play-pieces as banana peels and cursing, but didn’t manage duct tape or an ominous hummmmmm? Priorities, man! On the other hand, the entire purpose of the game is to be recklessly violent and make a bunch of attorney drones go Pop! Mostly; the rules (which I have had time to read through) feature different styles of gameplay, from kill people and break things to retrieve the macguffin without dying. With all the characters, tools, objectives, floor layouts, and game styles, it’s going to have a hell of a lot of replay value.
Schlock Mercenary: Capital Offensive is up for pre-order at Game Salute, or you can get it from Howard Tayler at GenCon Indy (mid-August) or ChiCon 7/WorldCon70 (end of August), and eventually at his store.
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¹ You could also note that she’s got the Best Tattoo Ever, but if you lead with that it could come off creepy.
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