Art for Arts Sake - Not a review of Art & Arcana

I have recently been considering posting pictures of my favourite rpg related pictures over on Twitter (@got_your_games) as a kind of ongoing thread to show some of the things I love. To be fair I have never really been that interested in the art side of things - yes there are things I like but I have never really followed particular artists or art-styles. (This is not because I don't see the talent involved here - it's just never been my bag).

So as I was ruminating the possibility of this the above book came to my notice. I investigated it pre publication and did a bit of research and decided I had to have one - after all what true D&D fan wouldn't want this artifact?

And then, out of the blue, I was gifted the item above! (I don't think I can ever thank the kind donor enough - safe to say I am VERY grateful).

I won't do a review - I can't do it justice with my poor artistic knowledge but will simply say that I strongly encourage you to go out and buy one. I honestly stroked the cover of the special edition box and muttered "My Preciousssss" under my breath when I first opened the parcel.

Buy it now, and follow me on twitter because I'm going to start posting pictures regularly now - I'm empowered by this book - plus it will give me quite a lot of the pictures.



Speaking of books, I have just got a couple of gaming  related books that may get a review. Designers & Dragons by Shannon Appelcline - Looks great with the leather cover but may be tough to read straight through. Role Playing Mastery by Gary Gygax is the other one - wow, just wow. I'm going to try and read it but this looks like being hard work. (Am I alone in thinking Gary Gygax wasn't actually a god, and sometimes had issues with perhaps being a touch "wordy"?!)

Any way, cheerio for now, more to follow.

2000AD - A brief update and some sad news

Obviously this is all over twitter but just a brief note concerning the sad death of Carlos Ezquerra.
2000AD fans will need no reminding of his influence and talent. I won't go on - others will be more eloquent and informed than I ever could be.


There are plenty of places to get more information but here is a link to get you started from the Guardian.


https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/01/judge-dredd-co-creator-carlos-ezquerra-dies-aged-70


In other news, and also all over twitter and the internet in general is the "Judge Dredd and Worlds of 2000AD" Kickstarter.
Looks absolutely wonderful, funded in under an hour and a very short lead time for a Kickstarter.
I still haven't pulled the trigger - mainly because I simply don't play games!! It does say a lot about this though because I am still wavering!! My problem is I like physical books so the PDF is of no interest to me - we'll see how the bank balance is doing nearer to this items close.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/judge-dredd-and-the-worlds-of-2000-ad-roleplaying


Until the next time,


Carl

Dredd - and my lack of nerd cred.

I have just watched the documentary "Future Shock:The Story of 2000AD" which is frankly wonderful. I was spurred into reading this by my purchase of "Be Pure, Be Vigilant, Behave", which I am now even more excited to receive and read, as I had absolutely no idea of much of the behind the scenes stuff that went on at the only comic I have ever bought with any kind of regularity. (Even if I haven't brought a new prog in many years.


Not knowing about this stuff maybe says a lot about me and my own fandoms - I like lots of things, and have a decent grip on the minutae of much of the stuff that I do love but there are huge gaps in my nerd credentials.


Examples of these omissions -


I have only ever read one HP Lovecraft story, and no Conan ones at all.
Star Trek episodes, except those on at tea time in my youth, are a closed book to me.
I have only ever watched Dr Who with Tom Baker or Peter Capaldi.
Walking Dead, Farscape, Buffy - again, a mystery to me.
Almost all "Appendix N" literature - nope, not been there.


The list goes on and on, these are just some of the highlights. Does this make me a bad person? Will my opinions be ridiculed and dismissed because I am not a proper geek? Who knows, I guess it doesn't really matter and in certain cases I am trying to fill in specific blanks. (I watched, and loved, Firefly and BSG is wonderful though I am only trawling through it slowly).


But back to 2000AD. I have always loved it and have been up and down in my immersion levels over the years. I was always a Dredd fan rather than the other strips because I liked the whole Mega-City/ post apocalypse dystopian future thing. (Even when I didn't know what dystopian future was).
I had loads of the old Titan Trade paperbacks in my teens (because they were often advertised in White Dwarf) and am currently having a shot at buying up the Judge Dredd:complete Case Files Series as they are a decent way back in.


Few other bits and bobs.
The blockbuster movies - nice and easy this - pretend the Stallone one hadn't been made and just wish they had have used slightly different language in the Karl Urban one. (Fuck instead of Drok just grated on me a bit).
Favouite story arches - Cursed Earth/Apocalypse War always fun, Democracy was interesting and the Judge Anderson/Orlok the Assasin/Hour of the Wolf was a goodie too. My most loved though are the Chopper tales - from scrawling right though many Super-Surfs - wonderful stuff.


So that's kind of it for a hasty blogpost - let me know if there are any story arcs to hit up so I can get the right books and your own background in the Universes favourite comic.


Until the next time (still, possibly, a review of a charity shop find that hasn't happened yet!)


Carl