The fortress remained sealed for centuries, keeping the evil within trapped inside. The spell was meant to hold forever. But there are always people who will do something regardless of the dangers, simply because it is forbidden. Worse, rumors of the treasure buried in the darkness spread almost before the wards were laid. It was inevitable that someone would break that seal and sneak in, releasing ancient horrors on unsuspecting people. Fortunately, germ theory had progressed significantly in the interval. The sages of the present were able to quickly isolate and treat the plague before it did too much harm.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
Crowded Vol. 3: Cutting-Edge Desolation Written by Christopher Sebela Drawn by Ro Stein & Ted Brandt Colored by Triona Farrell & Diana Sousa Lettered by Cardinal Rae Published by Image Comics
Crowded Vol. 3 Cover
The Skinny: The Near-Future Dystopian Mayhem reaches its finale. Crowded is one of the comics of recent years that floored me with how of the moment it was. Originally published as a monthly series in 2018, The pandemic and resultant shortages shifted the last volume from a monthly comic to a graphic novel format, but it has been worth the wait.Charlie Ellison, human disaster and the famous $3 Million Dollar girl, may have made the last mistake of her life. Having fired her bodyguard Vita after a brief but passionate fling, she’s now being defended by Circe, the assassin who has been following the pair since the beginning of their disastrous road trip. But with the organizers of the assassination campaign against her in her sights, will she turn the tables on them, or will Vita, not to mention everyone else in America, get to her first?The final act of Crowded continues with the elements that made the first two volumes such a joy to read. The over-the top characters and setting remain horrifyingly engaging. From a drone-army of weekend warriors to a a staggering number of wrecked self-driving cars to a queer utopia in Oklahoma City of all places, the trail of destruction crosses the U.S. as the story rushes towards its conclusion.Sebela’s writing is as sharp and incisive as ever, with all the shouting and explosions pierced with quiet scenes of actual depth and emotion that caught me off guard.Stein and Brandt continue to impress with their skills on art. Aided by Triona Farrell and Diana Sousa on colorist duties. Their skill at facial expressions in particular is a driver of the story, and if you go in thinking how many ways could they possibly have to draw Vita looking angry, it’s an impressive list.While I would’ve liked to have been able to pick this book up monthly from my local shop, I’m glad we got this final volume, which is a very satisfying conclusion. While new readers should start with volume one, I highly recommend this series. You can order digital or print editions from the your local bookstore or comics shop!
The hermit woke to voices in the Sacred Forest. By tradition, their people left them to their own devices. Curious, the hermit threw on a cloak and stepped out of their hovel to investigate. They paused and hid when they saw the grotesque aliens. The beings were short, squat bipeds with only two stumpy arms. They had heard of them, a raider species obsessed with collecting resources across the galaxy. By the number of mechanical saws and other tools they carried, they intended to harm the Sacred Forest. The hermit decided to teach these Humans the error of their ways.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
The traffic cop watched the banana peel fall from the elevated highway and land on top of a streetlamp. High above him, the roar of engines cut through the still night air. Those illegal street racers were at it again. And this time he’d have them dead to rights. He flipped on his lights and sped up an onramp. Sure enough, there was the king’s delinquent daughter and her criminal friends. A barrage of green shells slammed into his cop car, sending him spinning out as they all scattered. He sighed. He had to get out of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
Yu found the bootprints and telltale groove in the sand on his morning walk along the beach. He fished into his robes and pulled out a spyglass to confirm his fears. There was a tall ship on the horizon, sails billowing in the wind. They had pirates again. He pulled out a whistle and piped out a sharp, distinct call to alert the other islanders. Then he turned inland and followed the trail up towards the mountain. Not for the first time, he considered blowing up that damn rock. But then Skull Island might not get any visitors at all.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
He brought his son to the window to watch the shuttles launch. Under rocket power, it would be days before the shuttles reached the colony, but they started their journeys today. His son, only three, put his hand to the alumiglass of the window. “Look daddy!” he said, pointing to each one. “Shooting stars!” “Not quite, buddy.” He’d helped build the space colony, and one of the perks of that long and dangerous job was that he got to move his family up before the rush. He held the boy and wondered if he would even remember living on Earth.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
The crew looked down at the Devil’s Road and considered their odds. The road was prime salvage if you could make it. A line of pre-collapse automobiles that stretched for miles meant more steel and rubber than most salvagers saw in their lifetimes if you could avoid the devil. Flanked by the skeletons of old towers, it loomed over the dead highway. Black clouds roiled with electricity, casting lightning bolts down on anyone foolish enough to get close. They looked at each other and nodded. They just had to be fast. They revved the engines and started down the bluff.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
The Solitaire Conspiracy: A Mike Bithell Short Developed by Bithell Games Published by Ant Workshop Played on Nintendo Switch
The Skinny: A tense, techno-espionage thrill built from a deck of cards. Mike Bithell has some brilliant thoughts on game design and post/transhumanism. He’s also known for his tight, compact game design, compressing his point-of-view into tiny games. He made his mark with indie storytelling platformer Thomas Was Alone and cemented it with the robot detective game Subsurface Circular. His recent project The Solitaire Conspiracy mixes intense spy thriller action with an unlikely gameplay mechanic: a game of solitaire. Players fill the shoes of Spymaster, an analyst candidate tapped to save a shadowy spy network when a supervillain locks them out of their coordination software, C.A.R.D.S. Working with the last remaining analyst, it’s your job to coordinate scattered spy crews and get everything up and running, but in the world of spycraft, nobody can be trusted. As you play through missions and rank up, you gain access to colorful crews of operatives, each with their own suit and special abilities. Face cards represent not only the faction but individual members of the team, and placing active cards uses their team power. This can be things like shuffling a stack or redistributing a suit or moving a card of a specific value or suit around. They are powerful twists on the game, but in fitting the theme, they can hinder you as much as help. The UX is where the game really shines, with the board appearing as a virtual space lit in the slick blacks and scintillating neon of a cyberpunk wonderland. The design made it a bit difficult to read at times, especially playing in handheld mode on the Switch. Fortunately, there is a zoom feature that makes everything a bit bigger and easier to see. The cool sci-fi colors, along with the pounding, synth-filled soundtrack, lends a tension to the game that traditional solitaire lacks. Missions add both flavor and drama to the gameplay. I frequently found myself playing just one more mission to reach the next rank and advance the story, or get the report on a thrilling mission. The Solitaire Conspiracy is a masterclass in design and proves that engaging storytelling and slick aesthetics can spice up even the most mundane gameplay mechanics. Like most Bithell games, there are only a few hours of the main story here, but they’re a thrill ride. The Solitaire Conspiracy is available for download from Steam, the Nintendo eShop, and the Xbox game store.
In ancient times, we believed that the gods played games with the lives of mortals, pitting them against one another in wars for their amusement. They granted boons and bestowed curses. These days, we say that ‘God does not play dice with the universe.’ We take those stories to just be artistic license, or an attempt by primitive people to explain natural phenomena. So the giant cubes we found beneath the ruins were something of a mystery. They were too heavy to move, their markings couldn’t be deciphered, and their composition defied analysis. But somehow, I wanted to roll them.
Thanks for reading! You can support me and find links to all my other work via my Linktree!
In this episode: Domon immediately forgets that he is injured, Rain also can heal Domon’s clothes, and George delivers a sinister ‘Bounour!’ Pllus, the Shuffle Alliance believes in the heart of the cards, and the nostalgia pilots look forward to a multi-episode training montage!
Hugh J. O'Donnell 