The King's Artwork Returns To Cover Doctor Doom's Wedding Celebrations...

Hidden Gem Variant Cover by Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Morry Hollowell

To get us all in the right mood for the wedding of Victor Von Doom to Latverian superhero Victorius, Marvel is offering up a selection of gorgeous variant covers for May's Fantastic Four #32, where The Bride of Doom arc begins.

art by Skottie Young

wraparound art by Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia

art by Peach Momoko

art by Ron Lim and Israel Silva

🎶 Staycation, All I Ever Wanted 🎶

From tomorrow (Monday), Rachel is having her first week-off since the middle of last year, and has a ton of things planned for our "staycation".

Some of this is around the house and garden, other bits could take us further afield.

I can't say how this will affect HeroPress posting as much depends on the weather, health, fatigue levels etc

But if things go a bit quiet then you know why.

#RPG I'm Very Happy With How Knight City Is Shaping Up In This Latest Iteration...

With the arrival of the eagerly-anticipated new superhero RPG Amazing Heroes (in PDF form, at least) - and the fact that it appears to be everything I hoped it would be - work on reviving Knight City has been proceeding at a fast pace.

Outside of the usual tinkering with locations, adding new places and people to my fictional American East Coast metropolis, there have been some major "news" developments as well.

These have included the recent passing of the veteran publisher of HeroPress Comics, and a summation of how (in the world of the game) scientists had managed to "beat" COVID-19.

As I'm trying to maintain a "realistic", and comprehensive, timeline for the campaign, it means that big events will continue to occur, even though there are no player-character superheroes in play yet.

This work has also included weaving elements of the default Amazing Heroes setting, Storm City, and its backstory into my campaign world as well, as much of it slots in with only the slightest tweaking required.

I also unveiled my first attempt at an Amazing Heroes player-character. Unsurprisingly, it was a new iteration of the Acrobatic Flea, this one with a backstory suited to Earth-A, the new designation for the campaign homeworld ('A' standing, of course, for Amazing Heroes).

And I have to say, I haven't been this pleased with a fresh take on my signature character in a long while, and I finally got to use the brilliant artwork of the Flea that Adam (of Barking Alien) kindly did for me ages ago.

Something feels very right about setting my campaign on "Earth-A", and, naturally, all this also necessitated some revamping of my "multiverse" page (an article I always enjoy writing new "alternate Earths" for).

However, even more exciting than that, I've "signed up" my first player: my godson Alec wants a Zoom game in Knight City (apparently he's rather chuffed that he - and his family - are already part of the venerable city's architecture).

He's currently working on finalising his Amazing Heroes character. 

Meanwhile, I've also revamped the "introductory booklet" for the campaign and have ordered a proof copy from Lulu.

Since pressing 'send', I've already made some changes to the text, even though this first printing of the second edition hasn't even shipped yet.

But I shall then read it through, almost certainly make some more changes, and then order enough copies for all the Tuesday Knights.

Batman: Dying Is Easy (2021)

Batman: Dying Is Easy is the latest slick fan film from Bat in The Sun.

Look out for appearances from such big names as Michael Madsen, Doug Jones and Casper Van Dien, who join Kevin Porter as Batman and co-director Aaron Schoenke as The Joker.

Aaron co-directed this psychological exploration of the relationship between The Dark Knight and The Clown Prince of Crime with Sean Schoenke.

Early Anniversary Presents Speak To The Comic Book Passions of My Childhood...

Although our wedding anniversary is still over a month away, Rachel and I have already exchanged gifts.

I got her some tiny trinkets for her latest dolls house project (which I hope to be able to show you next week), while she got me the latest Rebellion/Treasury of British Comics graphic novel, The Spider's Syndicate of Crime, and a Marvel Legends action figure of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu.

Both these gifts conjure great childhood memories for me.

While The Leopard from Lime Street was really my jam in the British comics I read as a youngster (before the arrival of 2000AD, of course, which changed the landscape completely), I remember the 1960's adventures of criminal mastermind The Spider, fondly.

I couldn't for the life of me recount any of the actual plots of his stories, but Reg Bunn's sharp, black and white art, and the striking design of the protagonist, lodged firmly in my brain.

Look at that gorgeous artwork!

I only discovered this week that Superman's co-creator Jerry Siegel helped shepherd The Spider into existence, taking over the writing duties from The Spider's third outing.

Check out this blurb for the book (released this week) from the 2000AD website:

"Equipped with a razor-sharp mind, superb athletic ability and a vast array of cutting edge gadgets, The Spider has his sights set on taking over the New York underworld and establishing a ‘Syndicate of Crime’. 

Join the menacing Spider on his earliest adventures, recruiting other fiends into his fledging empire and seeing off competition from other villainous foes, including the master of illusion, Mirror Man! 

Fully remastered and collected for the first time, this volume presents many of the super-crook’s exciting 1960s adventures which featured the most popular British comic book villain and sprang from the imagination of Superman co-creator, Jerry Siegel, with fellow creators Reg Bunn and Ted Cowan!"

It was also the art of the old Marvel Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu that mesmerised young me, when I was able to find his adventures on this side of The Pond.

He was another character that piqued my interest from an early age, and now I'm going to be able to see him brought to life in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

Young me's head just exploded, because outside of rewatching old Bruce Lee movies I never would have imagined that Shang-Chi would actually be realised on the silver screen.

I suspect I might be investing in a lot of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings merch as the film's September release date draws nearer.

Because the 14th anniversary is the "action figure" anniversary

Is More Destination Fantastic On The Way?

As I hoped when I reviewed the pilot episode here, the Stefan Pokorny/Satine Phoenix-fronted, Dungeons & Dragons-inspired, travel show, Destination Fantastic is now being developed as a full series.

Legion M, the fan-owned entertainment company, is pitching the concept to potential buyers, using the video shown above.

This four-and-a-half minute promo is composed of clips from the pilot, footage from The Dwarvenaut documentary, and other sizzle shots Stefan and director Josh Bishop have compiled.

The company says:

"An exciting adventure awaits...

"We want to take you on a journey to the places that inspired the fantasy/sci-fi genre in art, literature, music, and film, and when possible, talk directly with the creators of the world's greatest fantasy and genre works.

"Introducing our latest TV series in development: Destination Fantastic.

"Think of it as Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown but for geek culture, hosted by famed Game Master and fine artist Stefan Pokorny. 

"In Destination Fantastic, the world is the limit. Some weeks may even see special guests!

"What if we went to the New Zealand set of The Lord Of the Rings with director Peter Jackson? Or attended a gaming convention in Italy with Joe Manganiello? Or toured the Game of Thrones locations in Iceland and the UK with George R. R. Martin?

"We're beyond excited to pitch Destination Fantastic to buyers and can't wait to take you on the journey with us."

Hooray for Mary Jane!

Snyderverse Trilogy Trailer...

Their time spent in hiding is over. Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck), and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) must stand together to save the world.

• Man of Steel
• Batman v Superman - Dawn of Justice
• Zack Snyder's Justice League

Got My DNA Up In Froth's Humpday Pod...

art by Evlyn Moreau

In the "final topic" of  this week's Humpday RPG Show, Jeremy 'frothsof' Smith uses a link to my earlier post about RPG DNA to discuss his own formative game systems (Judge Dredd, 1st Ed D&D, Marvel Super Heroes, Warhammer Fantasy) that made him the gamer he is today.

Listen to the full podcast below:

Whatever Happened To Star Wars Detours?

Before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, we all knew that George Lucas was working - with the Robot Chicken gang - on a parody show called Star Wars Detours.

Despite many, many episodes being completed the show was shelved after the Disney buy-out and never really heard of again.

However, recently, one segment of an episode (it's believed each half-hour episode would consist of three or four 'skits') magically leaked onto the Internet and everyone started talking about the show again.

And now (with an h/t to What's On Disney Plus), we're hearing that the show could be coming to Disney+... possibly even on May The Fourth.

There were supposedly already around 40 six-minute sketches in the can, and rumour has it that there could be as many as a dozen additional previously unfinished comedy numbers that have now been completed.

When first mooted, it felt like "parody" was set to become the future of the Star Wars Universe, but now, with the passage of time, and now that we have The Sequels, the two Star Wars Story movies, and The Mandalorian under our belt, attitudes have changed.

Whereas years ago, I would have baulked at this "blasphemy", I now reckon with the tsunami of new Star Wars content heading our way, there's room for some non-canonical chuckles and self-aware mickey-taking. 

Weird Wednesday...

#RPG Episode Five: New Year’s Death Day...

Previously On The Theoretical Science Foundation:

The dead have risen and America is on the verge of falling to a zombie apocalypse. Our heroes recapture their underwater base from a rogue militia troop that had sought to take it over, but then an alarm went off in the monitoring room. What new threat was approaching?

Having secured the prisoners in the gymnasium, our attention was suddenly drawn back to the monitoring room by the blaring alarm.

Our radar expert, Dick (Kevin's G-Man), checked the scanner and revealed that a large, submerged, object was approaching the base.

Our best course of action was to take out one of the subs (The Yemoja) to investigate.  

Joined by Dr Jill Davidson, a scientist qualified to pilot the submersible, we changed into appropriate clothing, secured our weapons, and boarded the craft. 

What mysteries lurk under the frozen waters of Lake Tahoe?

Mere seconds out of the underwater dock, Buck (my explorer) spotted a large flipper through one of the view ports, and suddenly this...

Mysterious image sighted on the radar!

became this...

The legends of Lake Tahoe's own lake monster "Tessie" were true. We were "eye-to-eye" with a 30ft plesiosaur, which should have died out 80 million years ago.

Some of our crew were shocked by the sight, but Freya (Clare's photojournalist) had the good sense to start snapping photographs.

Buck wanted to study it, possibly even follow it as he was convinced it might lead them to a network of tunnels into the Hollow Earth.

The dinosaur had other ideas and started circling our sub, then nipping at it. 

To make matters worse, as we tried to decide what to do, a second creature appeared, a smaller plesiosaur that Buck deduced was Tessie's mate.

Jill turned the sub back towards the base, but not before one of the creatures had come close to breaking the observation dome, so Dick fired off a torpedo at it, wounding it quite severely.

We got back into the underwater dock... and, as we started to disembark, that's when things really went wrong.

Somehow distracted Buck slipped as he made for the gantry, falling into the water, grabbing hold of Father Ned (Simon's priest) as he fell.

Ned, in turn, caught Jill - the last of us to leave the sub - and knocked her into the water as well.

Just as two dinosaur heads emerged from the water nearby. 

Oynx (Erica's cat burglar), who had been the most affected by the appearance of the plesiosaur in the first place, had regained her senses and threw a rope towards her splashing colleagues.

Father Ned took a couple of bites from one of the creatures, but Onyx managed to drag him out, while Dick unloaded a fire extinguisher into the plesiosaur's face, scaring it off.

Jill, unfortunately, wasn't so lucky. The other dinosaur grabbed hold of her and dragged her down. Buck tried to swim after her, but his initial bad fall had rather discombobulated him and he cramped up before he could get far.

Using a pole she had found on the dock, Freya helped Buck out of the water.

But Jill was never seen again.

R.I.P. Jill Davidson

 
To Be Continued...

The Theoretical Science Foundation - The Cast:

• Buck Hannigan - played by me
• Dick Tate - played by Kevin
• Father Timothy 'Ned' O’Flaherty - played by Simon
• Freya Larson - played by Clare 
• Onyx Jones - played by Erica 

Showrunner - Pete

Missed an episode? Catch up with this hot new show right here.

Wonder Woman Wednesday...

Could Alien Intruders Make This Be The Best Season of Legends of Tomorrow Yet?

This brief trailer for the new season of Legends of Tomorrow has me more excited about the show than I have been in years.

Cool-looking aliens? Thank you very much!