Kingbeast's Lair

Welcome to the second annual Kingbeast’s Lair gift guide. Just like last year I will be presenting two lists. One is my personal wish list and the second is a selection of products that I think would make great gifts for that geek in your life. This year I will also add a board game entry to the lineup. The boys and I have played a lot of board games over the last year and I think we have found some winners. So for each selection I will limit myself to one RPG, one board game, one anime series or movie, and one fun read.

My Wish List

For the first time I have more board game entries on my Christmas list than RPG entries…and the only RPG entry is the lowest priority item! GASP! 😀

Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide To Campaign Management by Engine Publishing
Odyssey appears to be the kind of RPG meta-gaming book that I often enjoy. It has a focus for GMs and tends to be broad in scope. In this case it is also written by the fine folks at Gnome Stew including Phil Vecchione. Phil’s book Never Unprepared: The Complete Game Master’s Guide To Session Prep was one of my favorite products of last year so I am hoping that same level of quality coverage will be founds here. You can get copies of Odyssey in softcover format at this URL for $24.95. DriveThruRPG sells copies in PDF format for $11.95 at this URL.

Memoir 44 by Days Of Wonder
As I mentioned earlier this year has seen a ton of board game play at my house and I could not be happier. We have several massive hits around home but probably the biggest is Memoir 44 from Days Of Wonder. The boys and I have collected nearly all of the expansion sets including the massively rare Air Pack and if our Christmas lists get filled then we may have everything. The number one entry on my gift list this year is a second Memoir 44 base set so that we can play Overlord scenarios. The Overlord scenarios use two Memoir 44 boards placed end-to-end to form a really wide battlefield. The boys are really looking forward to giving some of these longer more involved scenarios a try. You can get copies of Memoir 44 at lots of places online and at your FLGS. Here is a link to the Amazon entry where they are selling base sets for $49.48. Expect a longer review of Memoir 44 early next year.

Batman: The Complete Animated Series by DC Comics
I have been a massive fan of this series since it originally aired. Bruce Timm made a name for himself on this series for good reason. The stories are intricate and the animation quality is very high. The voice acting includes consummate professionals in the field. Mark Hammil playing the Joker and Arleen Sorken as Harlequin are off the charts fantastic. I’m such a huge Harley fan. 🙂 This box set includes the entire run of the show on something like 18 discs. Unfortunately I did not get it in the past so it sells for a fortune unless you want to pick up a bootleg copy on eBay.

For some reason this set is HEAVILY bootlegged. If you do an eBay search on the product you find tons of entries with low starting prices. Upon further investigation the sellers have no other sales and often include very strange buying guidelines. For example, they may have no returns allowed or ask to contact the seller to pay offline (i.e. NOT through eBay). Being a savvy eBay buyer the little hairs on the back of my neck start standing at attention. A quick Google search revealed that this product is HEAVILY bootlegged. Here is a fantastic video that I found that shows how to tell if your copy if a forgery.

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition Book Two by Vertigo
In an earlier blog post I reviewed 100 Bullets Deluxe Edition Book One. I think this series is really great so I added the second volume to my list. See that review for all the good reasons why this sucker tops my list of fun reads. You can get copies on Amazon at this URL for $32.04.

Wish List For That Special Person In Your Life

Here are just three of the items on my bookshelf that I think would make great gifts. Note that the first two of these entries have not yet been reviewed on Kingbeast’s Lair.

Champions Complete by Hero Game
Hero has finally put out a condensed version of the Hero System 6th Edition rules that is reminiscent of the old big blue book (i.e. BBB). The format and content of this book is truly amazing. Derek Hiemforth really knocked it out of the park with this homerun product. Immediately upon receiving my copy I had it spiral bound so I could open it next to me when I work on adventures. Every gamer and Hero fan should get a copy. You can pickup copies on Amazon for $30.81 at this URL. For a paltry $20 you can get a copy on DriveThruRPG at this URL.

Ticket To Ride by Days Of Wonder
Ticket To Ride is probably the second most played game in my household right now. It is great fun to play and is simple enough for the boys to play along at full speed. It is also my wife Sermin’s favorite game right now…but don’t play with her…she is a Ticket To Ride shark! 😀 We have the 1910 and Africa expansions but really the base game with 1910 are enough to play for quite some time. One of the best board games I have ever played and the winner of the Spiel des Jahres in 2004. Complete board gaming served up on a golden spike. Amazon has copies for $37.29 at this URL.

Samurai Jack Season 1 by Cartoon Network
After Batman: The Animated Series my next favorite animated series is Samurai Jack. With Jack Genndy Tartakovsky created a nearly silent hero that speaks volumes with his actions. The series is cinematic in scope and quality. You can read my review of season 1 in my blog post earlier this year. Although maybe not as great as Season 2 this season put Jack on the map. You can get copies for $16.49 on Amazon at this URL.

All-Star Superman by DC Comics
All-Star Superman does something that I didn’t think was possible. It expands the Superman mythos in a glorious display of words and pictures. Anyone even remotely interested in comics will enjoy reading these personal stories that capture what it means to be the Man Of Steel. You can read my review of the first trade at this URL. Copies can be had at Amazon at this URL for $20.78.

Merry Christmas everyone! 😀

I’m going to start doing shorter reviews for comics and graphic novels where I put more than one review into a single blog post. This is the first of those entries. Since I’m somewhat “anal” I decided to read my current backlog in alphabetical order. Here are the first two up for review! 😀

-== 100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition – Book 1 ==-

Author: Brian Azzarellow
Artist: Eduardo Risso, with cover by Dave Johnson
Layout: 7.5″ x 11″, 456 pages, hardback, with a color cover and interior.
Publisher: DC Comics / Vertigo
Year Published: 2011

-== What is it? ==-

100 Bullets is a crime drama set in modern times. The story follows the exploits of several mysterious men who apparently work for and/or formerly work for a shadowy organization with some type of secret agenda. Collects the first 19 issues of the comic series that was published starting in 1999. I am reading a copy that I purchased from my friendly local comic book store.

-== What I Like ==-

The stories are told in a series of short two to four issue runs. Each series tells the story of a character who is given an untraceable gun with 100 bullets and detailed information proving that someone who had wrecked their lives in the past is truly at fault. More importantly they are told that they will not be prosecuted for anything that they do with said gun and bullets. There is also a through-line story in 100 Bullets about the people who work for this shadowy organization and why they are doing it. The stories are gripping, pulse racing, and really hit home. This might be some of the best crime story writing for comics that I have ever seen and I have read a lot of it.

The artwork by Risso is not detailed buy carries a sense of purpose and emotion. In some ways it reminds me Bill Willingham and Tim Sale. Strong simple lines that really work to convey the story. I like it.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Development of the background story in 100 Bullets can be very slow. Even though I know that is intentional it feels overly done. I want a more significant tidbit every now and again.

-== Summary ==-

Top notch crime drama at its very best. The topic of revenge is a dish best served by 100 Bullets.

I give it 9 out of 10 paws.

Amazon has copies at this URL for $32.04.

-== All-Star Superman ==-

Author: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely with digital inking and coloring by Jamie Grant.
Layout: 6 5/8″ x 10 1/8″, 304 pages, softcover, with a color cover and interior.
Publisher: DC Comics
Year Published: 2011

-== What is it? ==-

After saving our sun Superman’s body is overloaded with solar energy. According to scientists Superman has only a short time to live. This trade paperback collects issues 1 through 12 of the series which was published in 2006 through 2008. I am reading a copy that I purchased from my friendly local comic book store.

-== What I Like ==-

This is one of the most original Superman stories that I have read. All-Star Superman really shows the strengths of what makes Superman comics interesting. The Man Of Steel has to deal with telling Lois that he is Clark Kent, that he is alone and alien, the impact it will have on Lex Luthor, and the weight that his powers entail. The dialog is witty, funny, and powerful. This is some great storytelling.

The artwork by Quitely uses thin lines with a lot of detail. The effect is a powerful majestic feel that works great for Superman. The coloring by Grant is beautiful.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Each story is pretty short. At times I almost wanted to see it get stretched out a bit. I think as individual comics All-Star Superman may even be a bit more effective than the collected trade paperback.

If you are not a fan of the Superman mythos this book will not be for you. I know that may sound obvious but this book is really about the mythos and Superman only. You won’t find details on master villains or spiffy new characters.

-== Summary ==-

Morrison hit it out of the park with All-Star Superman. This is a great story that is worthy of the title. It deepens Superman and that is an achievement.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

You can get copies on Amazon for $21.19 at this URL.

-== What is it? ==-

Billy Fog And The Gift Of Troubled Sight (Billy Fog)
is a graphic novel that tells the story of a boy who can see things other kids cannot. Billy can see death and decay. The graphic novel was created, written, and illustrated by Guillaume Bianco. It was published by Archaia Press.

This hardcover graphic novel has a color cover. The interior pages are black and white with a few colored panels sprinkled throughout. Billy Fog is 8.5″ x 11.25″ and is 144 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought from my local comic shop.

-== What I Like ==-

Billy Fog is a collection of cartoon strips, letters, newspaper articles, poems, stories, monster details, ads, games, and other miscellaneous content. As I read through the book I couldn’t wait to see what would come up next. Amazingly this collection of various content forms a coherent and cogent whole. In this case this vast array of content acts to enforce the gothic mood of the work.

EVERY page in Billy Fog contains some amount of artistic content. For example, in a section with a cartoon script the page number show a strange knife. These “doodles” make every page deliciously time consuming to digest. The back inside cover has a fantastic Ouji board. There is literally no blank page in the entire book.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

There is some semblance of a main storyline in Billy Fog but because of the varied content it can be hard to follow at times. It can also be a bit twisted in parts depending on the content. Billy Fog is not a book that is intended for younger readers. I think teenagers would love it but younger folks would be confused and maybe grossed out by some of the content.

-== Summary ==-

Billy Fog feels like the offspring of Tim Burton and Edward Gory. It mixes childlike wonder with a strong dose of gothic horror. This is an enchanting romp that will keep you busy trying to examine every page for that tiny bit of content that you missed from the previous reading. For an $18.27 Amazon price tag this is a great deal for a quality product.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

Copies of Billy Fog can be picked up at Amazon for $18.27 at this URL.