Seth Harris

Comic Book Review – Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol. 1

Wonder Woman by George Perez Vol.1 (DC Comics)
Written by George Perez, Greg Potter, and Len Wein
Art by George Perez and Bruce Patterson
Collects Wonder Woman (1987) #1 -14

ww perez

With the release and overwhelmingly positive response to the Wonder Woman film, I thought it would be interesting to go back to a run on the comic book that has always felt definitive to me. When I was first collecting comics, I would eagerly save up $10 and purchase one of the grab bag boxes offered up in the Sears catalog. They were typically split by a company, DC Comics or Marvel, and I have always had a soft spot for DC when it comes to the periodicals. In one of these random assortments, I ended up with three issues from writer-artist George Perez. I can’t say I was a huge fan of Wonder Woman beyond seeing her on Saturday morning cartoon appearances, but Perez’s reimagining of the character had me captivated.

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Twin Peaks: The Return – Episode 8 Breakdown, Thoughts, Analysis

Part 8
Written by Mark Frost & David Lynch
Directed by David Lynch

laura light

What Showtime, David Lynch, and Mark Frost presented to us in last night’s Twin Peaks is nothing short of a visual masterpiece of horror and drama. In the same way that the Cooper’s dream sequence moved me as a child, this episode’s travel back to the birth of the Atomic Age, with its references to elements of the series while visually presenting as a 1950s monster movie, enthralled me. We are seeing work that is operating at the level of the some of the most profound artists in any field. And it is okay if you are confused. There is a lot of non-linear, experimental storytelling happening. Just sit back and absorb rather than try to actively decipher.

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Movie Review – Tank 432

Tank 432 (2016)
Written & Directed by Nick Gillespie

Tank-432

A group of soldiers fights an enemy unseen. They tow a couple hooded prisoners in orange jumpsuits along behind them. The war is happening in what appears to be the English countryside. They stumble across scenes of massacres, other soldiers killed in brutal and obscene manners. On the run from a strange figure that appears seemingly out of nowhere, the group holes up in an abandoned British bulldog tank in a field. As their minds begin to splinter and they are plagued with disturbing dreams, the dreaded reality of the situation starts to become clear.

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Origins 2017: The Networks

The Networks (Formal Ferret Games)
Designed by Gil Hova
Artwork by Heiko Günther and Travis Kinchy

Damn, I love this game! The premise of The Networks is that each player is running a fledgling television station. Each network has a minuscule deck of three starting shows with zero viewers, one star, and one advertisement. The game is played over the course of Five Seasons, or rounds, with each season 1, 2-3, and 4-5 bringing different television shows with different requirements and benefits. At the end of each season, income/expenses are calculated, and viewership (the main scoring mechanic) is tallied. At the end of season 5, whichever network has the highest number of viewers wins.

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Movie Review – Kong: Skull Island

Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Written by Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly, and John Gatins
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

kong skull

It’s 1973, and the United States is withdrawing from the war in Vietnam. Lt. Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) isn’t happy about what he sees as an admission of defeat and a mark of shame for his helicopter squadron. His crew is assigned as escorts for a science expedition to an uncharted island in the Pacific, led by a government contractor, Bill Randa (John Goodman). British tracker James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) and photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson) round out the crew. They arrive on the island and immediately being dropping explosive to map out the density and structure beneath, but they awaken something ancient and furious, Kong.

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Origins 2017: Cestina Saga & Games on Demand final thoughts

Cestina Saga
Written by André La Roche

fate-core-cover

Cestina Saga is a deep fantasy setting using the Fate Core mechanics. Akin to Game of Thrones, this is a world where the power rests in the hands of aristocratic houses. Unlike GoT, the fantasy elements are more prevalent with centaur-like Khorsa, vegetative fey, and wolf people intermingled with humans.My game was by Mark Diaz Truman, co-founder of Magpie Games and co-author of Urban Shadows, Cartel, and co-author on a seemingly endless stream of great gaming content. I’d played Cartel and Magpie’s still in development Zombie World with Mark before and knew this would be a fun experience.

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Origins 2017: Impulse Drive

Impulse Drive
Written by Adrian Thoen

The game space Powered by the Apocalypse occupies has become fairly bloated in the last five years. With any mechanic that becomes popular, there is a high chance of the output becoming diluted with less than stellar content. One genre that designers have made multiple attempts at using the PbtA framework with has been space opera/science fiction action. It’s this type of game that designer Adrian Thoen has sought to leave his mark on with the ever evolving Impulse Drive. Thoen credits Firefly, Mass Effect, and Farscape among his influences and they can be felt in every aspect of the game.

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Steam Summer Sale 2017 Recommendations

steam-summer-sale-2017

It’s that time again. Gabe Newell opens the floodgates and lets loose the sales. Here are some of my recommendations for games I’ve spent a lot of time on in the past year and thought you might enjoy. If you missed my list from last year, check out my Steam Summer Sale 2016 Recommendations for more titles.

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Movie Review – Power Rangers

Power Rangers (2017)
Written by John Gatins
Directed by Dean Israelite

The-cast-of-The-Power-Rangers-Movie

In the Pacific Northwest town of Angel Grove, five disparate teenagers are brought together when multicolored stones are unearthed. These coins imbue them with superhuman powers and lead the quintet to a subterranean alien craft buried millions of years prior. The inhabitants of this vessel, Alpha 5 and Zordon, inform the youths of an impending attack on their planet. The only way to stop this growing force of evil is to somehow unlock the power within their coins and become the Power Rangers, defenders of life.

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Origins 2017: Cthulhu Dark

Cthulhu Dark
Written by Graham Walmsley

cthulhu dark

Cthulhu and Lovecraft are so prevalent in the world of tabletop it is often hardly worth noticing when someone comes along with these names slapped on their product. Every noteworthy game like Munchkin, Gloom, or Smash Up will inevitably have the Cthulhu expansion. The tabletop RPG world has Call of Cthulhu at the top of a virtual mountain of madness of games (Trail of Cthulhu, Age of Cthulhu. Delta Green, etc.). There are some great games amongst all of this, but for me personally, I am very picky about how horror and games meet, especially the weird fiction genre of Lovecraft. My preference is always for a role-playing system that is light and allows for a lot of creative freedom at the table. I know this is not everyone’s style of game, but after writing lesson plans for weeks and weeks and weeks, if I run something I want to have to do very little prep-work and be surprised by my players and where they take the story. Cthulhu Dark seems to do just that.

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