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Comic Book Review – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Black & White Collection Volumes One & Two

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection Volumes One & Two (2014)
Reprints (V1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1-7 and Raphael One-Issue Micro-Series
(V2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 8-11, Michelangelo One-Issue Micro-Series, Donatello One-Issue Micro-Series, and Leonardo One-Issue Micro-Series
Writing and Art by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird

I won’t go over the backstory of how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came to be. That is a well-trod path you can find in various forms online. Instead, I want to share my first encounters with these characters in animation and comic books. Like almost every child in 1987, I watched television, unaware of what would be coming next. It was around Christmas, and our local Fox affiliate was showing a new episode of the opening mini-series each day of the week. I couldn’t remember the full name of the show, so I just called them “The Turtles” until I had it down. I was six years old at the time.

PopCult Podcast – What We’ve Been Reading/Godland

So many books and so little time in life to read them, but today we have some you should add to your To Be Read list. Also, we take a journey into the harsh & surreal landscape of Iceland along with a Danish priest out to tame the people and the land.

TV Review – I’m a Virgo

I’m a Virgo (Amazon Prime)
Written by Boots Riley, Tze Chun, Whitney White, Marcus Gardley, and Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Boots Riley

When I saw Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You years ago it didn’t click with me. That was weird because so much of the underlying themes of the film meshed with my own beliefs. On reflection, having watched and loved I’m a Virgo, I think this has to do with the conflicting structures of film vs. television. There was so much to the world Riley was creating in his film that never got the time it needed to breathe, so that the audience could fully feel the impact. I’m a Virgo, with seven episodes, is able to avoid that while still feeling like a cohesive seven part film. Ideas are introduced and allowed to be fleshed out. Characters don’t just linger in the background, the focus will shift away from our protagonist to spotlight important figures. And it’s a story of superheroes that doesn’t suck like all the Marvel stuff.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Supersworn Part Five

Supersworn Pre-Alpha
Designed & Written by Ben Adams

You can check out this game and many other hacks of Ironsworn here.

Read part four of our Supersworn actual play here.

Once again, I used Mythic GM Emulator 2ed tools to set up this session along with Starforged’s built-in Start of Session move. That latter move generated this for me: “Unforeseen aid is on the way or within reach.” I got this at the start of the last session in the context of a comic book adventure; I interpret this as another hero guest-starring. I had a list of names and randomly picked one: The Forever Kid. So at some point, we will meet The Forever Kid and learn what he is about. Then, I decided the Chaos Factor from the last session had gone up from 7 to 8 and rolled on Mythic’s scene table. I was told to go with an Altered Scene with the prompt “Remove a character.” This was the moment I decided to just reveal the phone call from Aunt Laurie was an illusion removing her from the moment.

Solo Tabletop Actual Play – Supersworn Part Four

Supersworn Pre-Alpha
Designed & Written by Ben Adams

You can check out this game and many other hacks of Ironsworn here.

Read part three of our Supersworn actual play here.

Before I started this Supersworn series, I decided to delve into Tana Pigeon’s The Adventure Crafter and see if I could incorporate elements into this. It has worked really well. The Adventure Crafter has the solo player organize a list of Themes in order of priority for their game: Action, Mystery, Tension, Social, and Personal. Then, to create a plot point, you roll to determine the Theme and then roll a d100 to be given a random plot element related to that Theme. Each plot point can consist of five of these elements, and they generate hooks to get a story going. In the spirit of classic Spider-Man comics, I have a list of five plot points, each following a separate story, that I have randomly rolled on to see if we pivot from where we are to something else. I hoped it would create the sense of a vibrant living world populated by a host of characters, and it has certainly felt like that while playing.

Comic Book Review – Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby

Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby (2017)
Reprints Mister Miracle #1-18
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, and Vince Colletta

Of all Jack Kirby’s DC Comics creations, Mister Miracle (along with Darkseid) has resonated the most with fans and those who would write the comics in the future. It makes sense because Mister Miracle’s comic was the most straightforward superhero book of all the titles Kirby wrote & drew for the company. The character’s design is familiar to capes & tights fans with its use of primary and secondary colors (red, yellow, green) but also different, particularly with the face mask and high-collared cape and clasps. Mister Miracle’s premise is new but feels entirely authentic for the genre, a super escape artist. It’s one of those “of course, why didn’t I think of that” ideas. Kirby does one better, though, and links this character to his grand mythos so that Mister Miracle both stands independently and operates as part of the space opera.

Solo Tabletop RPG Actual Play – Supersworn Part Three

Supersworn Pre-Alpha
Designed & Written by Ben Adams

You can check out this game and many other hacks of Ironsworn here.

Read part two of our Supersworn campaign.

Here is a map of Forge City with essential locations marked that we have visited, will be visiting, or may visit in the future.

Slingshot travels to South Gardens, where he lives with his Aunt Laurie and sister Mari. He slips in through the upstairs window, which Sling leaves unlocked each night when he goes out on patrol. Stepping gingerly, he attempts to make sure not to wake anyone. It’s 4am, and now, back in his Chris Kelly persona, our hero decides to skip his first class. This is risky as he’s missed so many sessions of his MWF Investigative Journalism classes that the teacher, Professor Mercer, has given him both a verbal and written warning that he is in danger of failing. However, Chris’s body screams at him for rest. He disinfects & bandages his wounds with a first aid kit. He hides in his closet and finally collapses into the warm embrace of his bed. Sleep comes like a wave, washing over him.

(Oracle question: Is anyone in the house when Chris wakes up? 50/50 odds. Answer: No)

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Supersworn Part Two

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Supersworn Pre-Alpha
Designed & Written by Ben Adams

You can check out this game and many other hacks of Ironsworn here.
Read part one of our Supersworn campaign.

Before we jump into the game, I’d like to review more of how I built my character of Slingshot. In Supersworn, you switch out your spaceship for your headquarters. As for my other Assets, I chose Tendrils as it was the very “slingin'” power I had in mind for this blatant Spider-Man knockoff. Starting out, Tendrils can provide +1 if used in a non-combat Move, and they add another Momentum to whatever the specific Move offers typically. I chose Journalist to go with Christopher Kelly’s background as a collegiate reporter, which gives me +1 to any Gather Information or Compel moves in the context of a story I’m working on. Finally, I picked Loyalist, which lets me add +1 when I Aid an Ally (in a solo instance, this would be friendly NPCs). On a strong hit with a match, this Asset lets me mark my Bonds track.

Solo Tabletop RPG Review & Actual Play – Supersworn Part One

If you enjoy the reviews, podcasts, and other content we make here at PopCult Reviews please consider sending a tip of appreciation through our Ko-Fi. Thanks!

Supersworn Pre-Alpha
Designed & Written by Ben Adams
You can check out this game and many other hacks of Ironsworn here.

Stepping away from my regular routine with these solo tabletop RPGs, I will be playing with a very preliminary but still well-developed fan hack of Ironsworn: Starforged that is superhero themed. I previously reviewed and played with Ironsworn and Starforged; however, superhero tropes are in my wheelhouse more than fantasy ones, so I expect this to go even smoother than those. Supersworn takes these systems and makes some tweaks so a player can be a superhero in a world similar to those of DC, Marvel, or even a universe with a wildly different take on capes.

Comic Book Review – American Flagg! The Definitive Collection

American Flagg! Definitive Collection (2007)
Reprints American Flagg! #1-12
Written & Illustrated by Howard Chaykin

An acceptable madness. That’s what you are pressured to find under our current system. The development of technology & societies certainly has brought much comfort to people’s lives…well, for a minority of us. The comforts you and I experience are actually rarities on this planet. Most humans can’t just walk over, flip a switch on a wall, and have light. They can’t go to bed confident they have enough food to make it through the next week, much less the next day. They can’t turn on a showerhead and easily bathe themselves. They can’t flush their waste away and not think about it again. If you are reading this, more likely than not, you are part of that minority of people who can take comfort in the seeming ever-presence of these amenities. A vast system of propaganda ensures you always take them for granted and never think about the rest of the world. That is the acceptable madness of our times.