Fire and Brimstone fall from the sky! It is the end times! Pay attention as we discuss Batman: Three Jokers, chapter 1, verses 1-54! It may just save your soul!
“Three Jokers reexamines the myth of who, or what, The Joker is and what is at the heart of his eternal battle with Batman…find out why there are three Jokers, and what that means for the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime. It’s a mystery unlike any Batman has ever faced!”
The official story has a lot more pomp and circumstance than this…but I edited out all of the self serving stuff. I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that this description is intended to cover the whole series…because we certainly don’t get the promised explanation.
What is good: There actually are three Jokers. I was surprised they didn’t pull a multiple personality or alternate universe thing. (But there’s still time.)
What is also good: Just enough flashback to Killing Joke and A Death in the Family
What was best: The revelation that Jason is really the Joker’s Robin. (Got to love the alternate take to Jason’s death.) [Editor’s note: Dick/Nightwing is Joker’s Robin in a more official way in the Joker War event!]
What was just okay: Artwork was mostly good, but there were way too many smiling fish.
The not so good: It’s just a little on the slow side…but worth it in the end.
Joker vs Jason round two!
Notable Appearances/Events:
Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Joker
Joker
Joker
Red Hood (Jason Todd)
Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)
Death of a Joker
Bottom Line: 5 Stars!
Everyone, who’s anyone already has multiple copies. May I suggest the Red Hood (Jason Todd) variant cover?
WELCOME TO THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF A NEW SERIES WHERE WE WILL BE FOCUSING ON ONE OF THE EXCLUSIVE CHAOS WARBANDS FROM WARCRY. TO START THINGS OFF WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE IRON GOLEM.
The Iron Golem is one of the warbands in the core box for Warcry and hail from Ferrium Mountains in Chamon. For those that aren’t aware Chamon is the Realm of Metal in the Warhammer world. It is home to the Yellow Wind of Magic, specifically transmutation. Being from the realm of Metal it is not a surprise to see the members of Iron Golem to be covered in armor.
The units within Iron Golem are slow, deal decent damage but can really take a beating. This warband is best used as a training faction. Most units only have short ranged attacks, moderate melee attacks and a high defense.
Out of the box, either the core set or faction only box, a couple of the models offer some customization options. Specifically the Signifier can be modified to be a Prefector. By name these don’t mean much but the Signifier is essentially the Banner Bearer for the group. Changing him to a Prefector offers you a higher critical hit damage but in exchange you lose the Buffs provided by the Signifier. Personally I went for visual aesthetic of the Signifier. I typically go for the higher damage units and minimal buffs but the look of the Signifier was so awesome I couldn’t not use him.
The reason I say this is best for learning the game is because of the high defense. The more of a beating you can take the longer you are in the game. For trying to win with this faction you are best off using your lower cost Legionnaires to soak up damage while you move your heavy hitters into position.
PLEASE ENJOY PAINT JOBS PROVIDED BY THE AZ WARCRY AND AGE OF SIGMAR PUBLIC FACEBOOK GROUP:
“The city of Metropolis has been rocked by Luthor’s latest attack and the drama surrounding Superman’s truth, and that gives the invisible mafia a new foothold to change the City of Tomorrow forever. Meanwhile, the Daily Planet is under siege! The fallout from Superman: Villains continues as Clark Kent steps out into the world as a reporter for the first time.”
Almost all of this is untrue. Only “Meanwhile, the Daily Planet is under siege!” is correct…and the siegers are the FBI!!!
LIES!!! There’s NOTHING about a new boss in this issue!
My Impressions:
What is good: The story is way better than the stupid PR blurb above! The “Invisible Maffia” steps it up a notch and straight up murders one of Superman’s new friends and damn does it affect him. By the end, Big Blue has rounded up all of the “super” members of the Kent family (Connor Kent too!) and they have murder in their eyes!
What isn’t so good: The artwork. Sorry Mr. Romita Jr. your style isn’t all that great. Especially the sudden emotional collapse, what were you thinking?
This is gonna be good!
Notable Appearances/Events:
Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent)
Superboy (Jonathan ‘Jon’ Samuel Kent)
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers)
Superboy (Kon-El/Conner Kent)
Red Cloud (Robinson Goode)
Character Death: Deputy Fire Chief Melody Moore (off panel)
Bottom Line: 4 Stars!
You’ve got to love a pissed off Superman! Go look for parts 1 & 2…and get on board.
WARCRY IS A GAME THAT FOCUSES ON SMALLER SKIRMISH BATTLES AND NOW YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE EXPLOITS OF YOUR FAVORITE WARBANDS!
Each story follows a specific warband at their core, focusing on what really makes them tick. One of my favorite warbands by appearance was the Unmade and David Annandale’s tale about them, The Harrower, made them actually make sense. They are addicted to pain, sometimes cutting off their own limbs and attaching weapons to them. Seems rather extreme to me but seeing it through the eyes of the warband you could see why they relished losing their limbs. Each drop of blood, each ounce of pain they feel is joy for them, a blessing from their gods. At least that’s what they tell themselves and each other. This is just one example of the great stories within.
Each story is full of action and more than that just sucks you in as a reader. Most books take me months to read as I typically read about two or three pages a day due to my schedule. This book only took me two weeks to read!
If, like me, are a fan of the chaos gods, the game of warcry or stories about anti-heroes cutting down their foes you will absolutely love this book!
Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):
The Harrower by David Annandale The Method of Madness by Peter McLean The Devourer’s Demand by Ben Counter Proving Ground by Sarah Cawkwell Eight-Tailed Naga by David Guymer The Iron Promise by Josh Reynolds
Invocations is a Warhammer Horror Anthology from the Black Library and features such names as C L Werner and David Annandale!
Invocations is a collection of horror stories, most of which are exclusive to this collection, while four were previously released as ebook short stories. Perhaps my favorite story from the list was From The Halls, The Silence which took us back to Solus as a followup to The House of Night and Chain. The original tale had a solid ending that still left me with questions and this tale resolved some of them.
The worlds of Warhammer 40k have always had a tendency to fall along the lines of horrific between the machinations of Chaos or the terrifying swarms of the Tyranid. This means that these stories must be absolutely dreadful to be labeled as Horror. Many of these stories however are about on par from what we’ve come to expect from the Black Library but a few definitely pushed the envelope a bit further. This is the second Horror anthology and also the second contains both Warhammer Fantasy AND Warhammer 40k stories. Overall this book is a great read when you are looking for easier to digest stories. These stories still kick some major ass despite their length.
Here’s the full story and author list (some of which were previously released by the Black Library as short stories outside of this collection):
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to deliver packages in a world of ragdoll physics? In Totally Reliable Delivery Service from Epic Games and TinyBuild you can!
Totally Reliable Delivery Service was a title I was given to review courtesy of Epic Games and TinyBuild, but their generosity has in no way influenced my thoughts on this game. We were able to test it out on both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. My son preferred the controls on the Switch and I thought they felt more natural on the Xbox.
The concept of the game is that you play a delivery person who must deliver an assortment of packages. The base idea is rather dull and I’m sure there are more than enough people that would not want to play a video game based on their day job. Epic Game and TinyBuild took a very different approach. Instead of the tedious driving door to door and dropping off of packages you drive, fly and carry packages across dozens of scenarios including up a steep hill to a ski lodge while avoiding falling trees or using a forklift to deliver an explosive through a second story residential building. There are ramps to jump your vehicles over, hidden castles and plenty of challenges to keep you having to replay missions to grind them all out.
My son found the game to be dull and gave up playing after his first time playing it. I spent probably about five total hours on the title, messing around more than trying to score well on challenges and agreed. It is a bit dull in terms of story and excitement but the game is cute, family friendly and easy to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time. Longer doses of this game leaves me prone to yawning after I explored all of the areas I felt there was no need to keep at it and removed the game from my system. One day I may revisit it but chances are slim on this title.
IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO 20TH CENTURY FOX I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!
Recently the fine folks at 20th Century Fox (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part One of this article (shared a couple weeks ago) I discussed The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Red Sparrow. Part Two discusses Maze Runner: Death Cure, Alien Covenant and Love, Simon. Part three covers Super Troopers 2 and Murder on the Orient Express. Part Four discusses Sorry To Bother You and Darkest Minds. Part Five discussed The Predator and Bad Times at the El Royale. Part Six covered Bohemian Rhapsody, The Hate U Give and Once Upon a Deadpool. Part Seven talked about The Sisters Brothers, London Fields, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Widows and the Favourite! Part Eight covered Destroyer, The Prodigy, Alien 40th Anniversary Edition, Vice, The Kid Who Would Be King and If Beale Street Could Talk, and Part Nine we discussed Missing Link and Alita Battle Angel. Part Ten we discussed Tolkien, Booksmart, X-Men Dark Phoenix and Stuber. Part 11 discussed The Art of Racing in the Rain, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Ad Astra, and Ready or Not. Part 12 talked about Ford v Ferrari, Spies in Disguise and A Hidden Life. Part 13 was the last part I did with PNTV and discussed Downhill and The Call of the Wild. Part 14 (and our first with the Nerd Cult) is all about Underwater!
Underwater
When I heard about this film I was certain it would be garbage. The lead is Kristen Stewart, that alone was reason enough for me to not want to watch this film but after seeing her in Charlie’s Angels I knew she had the ability to rise above her role in the Twilight movies. She plays an Engineer, a believable one too, in an underwater station and within the first few minutes of the film the station starts to collapse. Her and the other surviving members of the crew must escape to the surface and the captain is determined to save as many of them as he can. Expectations were low but I must admit that this film was quite enjoyable. The suspense was well managed, visuals were stunning and the acting was great. I highly recommend this film for fans of science fiction and survival horror.
WHICH OF THESE FILMS FROM 20TH CENTURY FOX HAVE YOU SEEN? WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE?
THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT POSTAL FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, THE END OF THE VOLUME BUT NOT THE END TO THE CHARACTERS….HOPEFULLY.
The final installment of this volume of Postal is here and it is by far one of the most perfect endings to a story we’ve ever had the pleasure to read. The issue gives a perfect ending while leaving it completely open for a new story arc. Last issue resolved all remaining threads concerning Mark’s father by giving him a homemade lobotomy in the basement of a church. This issue focuses on Mark as he becomes the mayor he wanted to be instead of the mayor his mother wanted a year after his father was defeated.
Oddly Mark visits his mother’s grave. The act itself is not odd but the fact that she died and we didn’t see it happen in previous issues, does that mean she’s really dead? Is there a flashback showing what happened? To find out you will need to read the issue and I can tell you that this issue does answer those questions.
The artwork was by far some of Isaac’s best and I hope to see him back on the book when it finally returns. It won’t be the same without him. The same can be said for the rest of the creative team as well. This book continues to be one of the best series I’ve read and even though all good things must end I must say that I wish it wouldn’t.
UNTIL THE NEXT VOLUME BEGINS PLEASE ENJOY THIS PREVIEW COURTESY OF TOP COW PRODUCTIONS AND IMAGE COMICS:
HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD IS THE STORY OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IN THE LIFE OF HARRY POTTER BUT IS CENTERED AROUND HIS SON ALBUS.
The folks at the Curran Theater invited us to attend the opening night showing of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. With showings in only four cities we knew this was our only chance to attend in the near future. Taking the long drive we arrived and were excited for the show. Entering the theater we made two immediate observations. The first was that the theater was gorgeous. The design speaks to years of history. The second observation was that the carpets and walls were adorned with the letter H. Speaking with my contact at the theater I was able to confirm that this H was for Hogwarts and was part of the transformation the theater underwent for the play.
The Cursed Child follows as Albus, Harry’s son, decides to try to go back in time to save Cedric Diggory, believing that his death was needless. The book is written as a full script which was intended to see stage instead of a screen.
The play was not only performed by a fantastic cast but it featured effects that made magic come to life on the stage. During the moments of time travel the effects team performed some lighting tricks that made the physical set appear to become liquid. Every time this happened I tried to figure out how it was done and could not.
The play was a stunning masterpiece that should be required viewing for all fans of the Harry Potter films or books. It is divided into two parts, each about two and a half hours long including intermission and as the world is changed by the actions of Albus the staff and decorations have shifted to a Voldemort theme and we’re greeted with “Happy Voldemort Day”. It’s touches like this that made the experience even better.
GAMES WORKSHOP HAS NOT BEEN SITTING AROUND DURING THE QUARANTINE AND INSTEAD HAVE PREPARED THE NEW EDITION OF WARHAMMER 40K!
It feels like it was only months ago when Games Workshop released Eighth Edition but in fact has been close to three years! Based on the fact that this is only the sixth edition in about 20+ years I would consider three years plenty of time. I will say it now, some of the changes that have been leaked are very much needed for the betterment of Warhammer 40k. (Keep in mind when this article was written this was first announced.)
SO WHAT CHANGES ARE COMING?
There are a ton of changes but the best part is that the recently released codices and expansion books (ie Psychic War) are still compatible! The best change in my opinion is the fact that even when in close combat tanks and other war machines can still fire! Realistically this makes sense because if I’m driving a tank and you are poking it with a stick or a sword I’m still going to fire my massive guns at the targets that are a bigger threat. In Eight Edition we saw a major decline in the use of armored units because a horse based army could swarm it and make its weapons useless so I expect to see armor coming back in a big way for tournaments and local games alike.
Another great addition is Conquest gameplay. It is essentially a way to play narrative games where your characters or units improve over time. This is similar to Necromunda and how your gangs improve as you continue. This will even help promote slow grow leagues as players will become more invested in the successes and failures of particular units and less on their win/lose ratios.
SO WHAT DOES THE COMMUNITY THINK ABOUT THIS ANNOUNCEMENT FOR WARHAMMER 40k?
Regularly on my show #TableTalk I mention my local community through our sponsors at Games U in Gilbert, Arizona. With the owner’s permission I reached out to the public Facebook group to gather their thoughts.
Dylan Smith- “The timing seems a tad misplaced. Granted, they likely planned this out years in advance, but to me it overshadows anything else Warhammer 40k related until it drops. Plus, COVID messed everything up I feel rather significantly for the consumers.”
Jeff Caples (owner of Games U)- “
I personally am encouraged by what I see so far. Tanks firing in CC is great news, the changes as I understand them to flying vehicles seem on point and I am very interested to see how they address terrain as I felt it was mishandled in the last edition.
I am also very keen to see what they have put together for the very small combat patrol scale. My son is almost 10 and I am hoping it will be something he can really sink his teeth into without me having to sort of water it down for him.”
Patrick Cortez- “Wishlisting here
I’m hoping Command Points and Strategems are less of a crux or focal point of darn near every turn, every “major” activation.
Some armies have fantastical “cheap” monster strats and efficient CP generators.
I miss clean Warhammer 40k and not the MTG card hijinx feel. Of strat this or that.
I’m sure stratagems and CPs aren’t going anywhere.”
Matt Campbell- “I don’t see any updates to Character targeting and I think it needs to be addressed. Characters have to be the “closest model” and it should be more like “closest targetable model.” When I cannot shoot something 5″ away in the open, because something else is 3″ away on the other side of a wall and I cannot see it, that’s a broken rule. I don’t have models that ignore terrain or los rules so why does the closer out of los model protect that Character?”
Alexander Zhang- “I’m hoping the game scales better when it’s small like they suggested. I think I’d be able to jump in more if smaller scale games were a more regular thing.”
Edward Morlan- “
After the QnA I like what I am seeing. I have sent them feed back on every one of their questionnaires that the terrain rules need to updated and changed.
It seems like others have felt the same. From the sound of it we will have options before the game to announce the different terrain types. Honestly obscure is the only type they mentioned and the only one we need. Simply saying you can not shoot through a piece of terrain because that template is obscuring is soooo good. Suddenly the forest templates become usable again.
The Tank and Monster rules really help a few armies that we have not really seen in several editions, namely Tank commander guard like the armageddon steel legion, and Nidzilla. I for one am fine with that. Sure it makes getting into combat with tanks and Riptides risky but honestly it should be! There is a reason you put tankbusta bombs and power klaws in your units of boys! You will have to commit to charges versus those things and have some weapons that can help you finish them off.
Going back to 7th edition flyer rules is also great. I have frankly hated the battle filed force bubble that 8th had for them. The cap on -1 or +1 to any units saves means that while the eldar flyers are still good they will no longer be game breaking. Heck we might even see a drop in points now that the negative is capped.
Excited to see all the CP mechanics. I like everyone starting with the same size pool based on the game size. I hope the CP starting pool for 2000 points is large at loke 15cp. I also wonder if their will be ways to increase the cp pool with army choices not just take them away. Really looking forward to this and the terrain rules the most.
Never got a answer on how they will address the slower dice for horde armys in combat. Currently if you have 2 units in combat with 4 units all together in a big blob ( common with orks vs guard ) it can take 45 min trying to roll that one combat out. I puts a serious disadvantage on horde armies in tournament. If we are only ever able to get through 2 or 3 turns in 2 hours we will average way less points then a elite army that finishes all there games.
I hope the missions hit where they are supposed too. That between them and the new rules we no longer have to ask people if they want to play ITC, Book, or some other tournaments rules. If they pull it off it will be nice to just play out of the book with no other 3rd party rules mixed in.
Crusade sounds like the most fun. Nothing to say except I am looking forward to having the info in my hands and will likely be playing most of my games as crusade games.”
There were several other comments but to avoid making this overly long we’ve had to drop some of those from the list. Personally I am very excited about the announcement and love the teases models for both the Space Marines and Necrons.
NO ANNOUNCEMENT WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT SOME TEASER IMAGES OF THE NEW MODELS, RIGHT?
I have seen some complaints about the new logo but it reminds me a lot of the one they had in second or third edition when I first started playing so I approve.
If you haven’t yet be sure to check out their cinematic trailer for the new release:
I still get chills watching that! oh and James Workshop did a video highlighting the big changes as well:
