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I know a lot of people who were pretty angry with Wizards of the Coast when they ended their licensing agreement with Paizo Publications, thus ending the print publication of both the Dragon and the Dungeon magazines. Okay, I don't actually "know" a lot of people who were angry -- most my friends aren't gamers -- but I do visit the aggrosphere (message boards) from time to time. Trust me, there are some angry people out there.
Dragon had been in publication for over 30 years, with one year long hiatus (which most people seem to have forgotten) as TSR was going under, and Dungeon has been around for about 20 years -- with a similar hiatus, so it's understandable that many might feel a sense of loss now that they are no longer available in print. They are becoming available as ongoing "online" magazines, but the process of migration from one medium to another has been less than rapid and equally less than fluid. As I mentioned earlier, this isn't the first time that Dragon and Dungeon were not available for purchase during their long runs. In the late 90s, before Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR, there was a period of almost a year when no issues of either (in any format) were being produced. Needless to say, current fans of the magazines have a lot to complain about and a moderate wait before the "digital editions" come close to filling the void left by the absence of these wonderful magazines.
But these fans do have one very exciting replacement option available to them. Wolfgang Baur, who has in the past edited both Dungeon and Dragon magazines, has begun publishing his own quarterly magazine devoted to "the world's most famous roleplaying game." The magazine, Kobold Quarterly, began as an extension of Baur's very successful Custom Adventure series of patron sponsored gaming adventures. Initially, Kobold Quarterly was solicited as an "online magazine," but Baur was able to make the magazine a print/pdf publication before the first issue was released. This was partly due to the rapidity with which Baur's patrons, of whom I am one, became subsribers and partly due to the desire in the gaming community for a d20 based gaming magazine. I have been a subscriber since day one, as I wrote I am one of Baur patrons for his custom adventure design experiment (I write this in the interest of full disclosure). I am also repeating my patronage so that he might, just might, become a guest on my weekly podcast.
Having said that, I would like to say that Kobold Quarterly is rapidly heading toward Dragon Magazine quality (it doesn't contain adventures so is not a replacement for Dungeon) with regard to both the quantity and quality of content. The first issue was reminiscent of the old Strategic Review newsletters, the second issue was like an 80s issue of Dragon, and the third (most recent) issue is approaching the high standard that Paizo set in the final days of the Dragon. In the first three issues, Baur has already expanded the content from 30 to 60 pages and the quality of advertisers has increased. The magazine has also gone from almost entirely Baur written to containing articles by leading freelancers in the rpg industry. That's quite an achievement for a one man publishing show. Before you run over to his website and purchase PDF copies of his first three issues (linked here), let me give you a rundown of their content -- with brief quips with my opinion regarding each article, but minimal spoilers.
You can read the rest of the article here.
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When I arrived home from work the other day, I was greeted by a small parcel sitting in front of my screen door. I hadn't ordered any Amazon packages recently, at least not any unreceived Amazon packages, so I quickly looked at the return address. To my pleasant surprise, the box had been sent by my dear friend Jay. I hurriedly opened the package to see what treasures lay within, since Jay has a keen knowledge of many of my obsessions. The trove was better than expected. It was filled with fantastic fiction of the sort I adore, and included two extraordinary gems.
So what did Jay send?
Glad you asked.
- Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein (1981 Ballantine edition)
- Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein (1974 Berkley Medallion edition)
- Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein (1965 Signet edition)
- Tales from the White Hart by Arthur C. Clarke (1966 Ballantine)
- Justice, Inc. by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Paul Ernst (1972 Paperback Library)
- The Hate Master by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Paul Ernst (1973 Warner Paperback Library)
- The Fantastic Island by "Kenneth Robeson" aka W.Ryerson Johnson and Lester Dent (1966 Bantam books)
- The Sea Magician by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Lester Dent (1970 Bantam)
- The Stone Man by "Kenneth Robeson" aka Lester Dent (1976 Bantam)
- A Gent from Bear Creek by Robert E. Howard (1975 Zebra Books)
- Son of the White Wolf by Robert E. Howard (1978 Berkley Medallion)
- Pirates of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1979 Ace)
- The Mask of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1966 Pyramid)
- The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1965 Pyramid)
- Tower of Zanid by L. Sprague deCamp (1963 Airmont)
- Day of the Giants by Lester del Rey (1964 Airmont)
- The Cactus Kid by Tom West and Kansas Guns -- Abridged by Paul Durst (1959 Ace Double Book)
- Winter Range by Al Cody and Pistol Whipper by Lee Floren (1960 Ace Double Books)
- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1962 Crest Book)
I want to take a moment to highlight the two Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu novels, The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu and The Mask of Fu Manchu. I am a fan of this particular member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and am a proud owner of The Romance of Sorcery. Jay and I watched one of the old Fu Manchu movies, The Mask of Fu Manchu to be specific, starring Boris Karloff when we were in a film class together as undergrads. I was shocked at the film's ending when Nayland Smith throws the Sword of Genghis Khan into the ocean.
Smith's disdain for an artifact from Chinese history, admittedly one which could be used for world domination if it fell into the wrong hands, was a perfect example of British Imperialism and attitude of superiority. I wouldn't have been shocked if Smith's action was shown in a negative light, but it is shown as a good and necessary action. The boat scene, combined with my love of many Hong Kong martial arts films which show the other view of British Imperialism, has led me to swirl an idea in the back of my head. I eventually want to write a story where both Manchu and Smith are the villains.
The idea is still in a primordial state, but I think it is a pretty good one. It is admittedly high concept, and very much influenced by Marvel Comics' Master of Kung Fu, Grant Stockbridge's The Spider: Master of Men, Lester Dent's Doc Savage the Man of Bronze, and Jet Li's Wong Fei Hung (who would be anachronistic, but cool). If I can find a way to throw in Sun Wu Kung, I'll do that too. Hmm... maybe as "The Avenger," both are shapeshifters of a sort.
I have always found the Chinese nationalism of films like Once Upon a Time in China and Drunken Master II very compelling. I can only wonder what it would be like to have another culture pilfer the treasures of my nation's past to sell them as mantle placements.
As for the gems, A Gent from Bear Creek is a collection of Robert Howard's Breckinridge Elkin's stories which can be hard to find. Howard's name equals only Conan to some readers, but those people are really missing out on some good yarns. One of the joys of the Elkins stories is Howard's attempt to capture vernacular in the writing. It's not an easy thing to do without coming off as ridiculous. Manly Wade Wellman does a great job of it in his John stories, and Howard does a pretty bang up job himself, in part because it makes the "tall tale" aspect of the stories all the more convincing.
The other gem is the novel that one of my childhood favorite science fiction films is based on, The Day of the Triffids. In all honesty, I only have vague memories of the movie (similar to my Asphyx memories), but I really liked the movie as a kid. Hopefully, the novel will rekindle those memories and maybe even add some new ones.
Thanks Jay. |
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I know that the A's moving to Fremont might be more "important" news, but I am very intrigued by the fact that Marvel Comics is doing a bit of cross-promotion with Guiding Light.
According to ICV2 News: "Marvel plans to add an 8-page backup story written by comic-and soap scribe Jim McCann to a number of books starting with four titles releasing on October 25th, while Guiding Light episode telecast on November 1st will provide the origin of Springfield's first costumed crime fighter and plenty of "Easter Eggs" for sharp-eyed Marvel fans."
That's right, all us comic book geek completists will need to set our TiVos to CBS and record Guiding Light.
A lot of people I know are surprised by the move by Marvel, but I am not. This seems a perfect way to reach out to new audiences, especially young female readers. Even the idea of having a superhero on a soap doesn't seem all that bizarre to me. I grew up with Scorpio's spy escapades on General Hospital, the show was like a really bad Man From UNCLE for a while. More recently, Port Charles had a "Buffy" storyline where Lucy was a vampire hunter and nearly all of Port Charles were turned into vampires.
How do I know this? Oh, the storyline was so bizarre that I had to watch. Leaving out that storyline, it doesn't take much to find genre soaps, Dark Shadows, Babylon 5, and Battlestar Gallactica all come to mind, at least as far as having what are typically soap operatic conflicts. |
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You can read my blog at Cinerati. |
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