New Dork Tower Comics

It's been 3 years since the last issue of Dork Tower got published, one issue before the end of the Tao of Igor storyline. Sure, the 4 panel gag strips have appeared regularly on the website but 4 panels does not a comic book make. Now, Dork Tower creator John Kovalic has announced the return of Dork Tower in comic book format, with issue #37 appearing either in PDF or paper format (or both) later this year with the collected Tao of Igor appearing Spring 2011. Thank goodness. I've been waiting to see what happens with Mud Con for three years now. The plan is to drop the ongoing series and release DT as mini-series with the issues collected as a trade paperback, much as Phil Foglio does with Girl Genius.

Still up in the air is who will publish the book, Kovalik under his Dork Storm Press imprint or through another publishing house. I'd lav even money it comes out through Steve Jackson Games, as SJG has a good track record of getting books out and Jackson and Kovalic have a good working relationship.

Origins Awards Winners

Here're the 2010 Origins Awards winners:

On behalf of Game Manufacturers Association and the Academy of
Adventure Gaming Arts & Design, the 36th Annual Origins Award winners
of 2010 are:

Best Historical Miniature Figure or Line - Wings of War: Albatross
D.III by Nexus Editrice

Best Historical Miniature Game Rules Supplement - Flames of War: North
Africa by Battlefront Miniatures, LTD.

Best Historical Miniature Game Rules - Wings of War: WWII, Deluxe
Edition by Nexus Editrice, designed by Andrea Angiolino & Pier Glorgio
Paglia

Best Historical Board Game – Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! By
Academy Games, designed by Uwe Eickert, John Hill & Dana Lombardy

Best Game-Related Book – BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction by
Catalyst Game Labs, written by Randall N. Bills, Jason Schmetzer &
Matt Heerdt

Best Game Accessory – Knights of the Dinner Table by Kenzer & Company,
designed by Jolly R. Blackburn

Best Miniature Figure or Line – Marvel HeroClix Hammer of Thor
Expansion by WizKids, designed by Eric Englehard, Kelly Bonilla, Jake
Theis & James Szubski

Best Miniature Game Rules - BattleTech: Strategic Operations by
Catalyst Game Labs, designed by Herbert A. Beas II & Randall N. Bills

Best Role Playing Game Supplement - Big Damn Heroes Handbook by
Margaret Weis Productions, designed by Cam Banks, Jennifer Brozek, Jim
Davenport, Jason Durall, Tony Lee, Nathon Rockwood & Clark Valentine

Best Role Playing Game - Eclipse Phase by Catalyst Game Labs/Posthuman
Studios, designed by Rob Boyle & Brian Cross

Best Children’s, Family or Party Game - Are You The Traitor? By Looney
Labs, designed by Andrew Looney

Best Traditional Card Game – Poo by Catalyst Game Labs/Labs/WildFire,
LLC., designed by Matthew Grau

Best Board Game - Space Hulk by Games Workshop

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Shoplifer Redeax

For those interested, we caught another shoplifter last Tuesday. This gentleman was very pleasant, came in asked a number of questions about Star Wars items we had that he though about getting as a present for his kid. He also said he had dislocated his shoulder, as a reason why he walked somewhat awkwardly. He left without buying anything, saying he was going to come back with some video games to trade.

About 15 minutes later, I received a call from Book World, saying that a man matching his description had tried to sell a couple of Dark Heresy RPG supplements. I check the shelf and, sure enough, two of the four sued ones were missing. Book World hadn't bought them, since the shoplifter asked $75 for the pair. Figuring he would try the other used bookstore, I called Book Worm and warned them he might visit them. Sure enough, he showed up about 15 minutes later. I got a call from Book Worm and called 911 right away. The Carbondale Police showed up at BW while I was on the phone letting them know I had called. The shoplifter had left BW already, but police picked him up a few minutes later, still with the books.

Free RPG Day

Interesting Free RPG Day. We ordered two kits of stuff to give away and only went through about one so will give away the rest along with purchases and at the Halloween party. People coming into the store broke into two general groups: those who were coming in as regular customers and had no idea the 19th was Free RPG Day and those who know it and came in with cans of food and headed right for the rack of freebies.

The first group kinda nodded when the rack of free stuff pas pointed out to them and after looking at the selection for a bit, wound up taking a dice. Most of them were card customers who had little to no interest in RPGs, so the dice was perfect.

The second group already knew about how many items were offered and had brought enough cans of food to score one of each. Yes, if you brought in cans of food for the food pantry, you could take 1 additional item per can. A couple of members of this group tried to push to get a second copy of some of the items, especially the Dark Sun 4e module, which is selling for $18-$20 now. However, we told them no so we could make sure everyone who wanted one got it. However, we do have some left, which we will give to people who pre-pay for the 4e Dark Sun Campaign setting, releasing August 6. Samething with Pathfinder, anyone buying $40 worth of Pathfinder will get a copy of the Free RPG Day module.

Interstingly, most of the seond group were irregular customers. They come to the store about once a month or so. Today, they made a special trip just for Free RPG Day, got the stuff they wanted, gave us cans of food and left. Very few bought anything else. Group one was much more likely to make purchases and looked at Free RPG Day as an afterthought.

Brightest Day HeroClix

Hot on the heels of the Blackest Night Starter Set, NECA is releasing a Brightest Day ACtion Pack. No rules, but it contains 7 figures and a double sided map. Get a look at Aquaman and Osiris here.

Back to the Future

LOO-044 Back to the Future: The Card Game $20.00 SRP

Now you can jump into the action of the Back to the Future movies, with this ingenious new time travel card game! Play as the descendants of Marty McFly, Biff Tannen, Doc Brown and others, as you travel back to the events depicted in the movies. Your mission is to make sure pivotal events are not changed by other time travelers before time travel itself gets un-invented. Using a unique, patented game mechanic for simulating time travel, Andrew Looney now puts you in the driver's seat of the famous DeLorean! 100 cards + instructions, in a two part box.

Out in early September. Scheduled release is Sept 3.

New Munchkin Goodness

Arriving In August

SJG1465 Munchkin Cthulhu 4-Crazed Caverns $10.99 SRP	SJG5514 +6 Bag O' Munchkin d6 $4.99 SRP
Subterranean Secrets! The hunt for forbidden knowledge goes underground! Explore the Midden of the Mi-Go! Dig yourself out of the Dunwich Ditch! Brave the blue light of K’n-Yan! Maybe all at once…. Munchkin Cthulhu has already driven you mad, and now it’s even madder! The 16 Portals and 20 Dungeons in Crazed Caverns open up whole new dimensions to explore…and we all know what a great idea THAT can be, right? What could go wrong! This is an expansion for Munchkin Cthulhu. It is not a stand-alone game.	He Who Toys With The Most Dice . . . Wins! We refuse to write a complex description for dice. These are 6-siders, and there are six in the package. They are the color of coffee with just enough cream, if you like too much cream in your coffee like SJ does. They have the Munchkin head in place of the 1. Buy them. Kill monsters and take their stuff.
SJG5518 Munchkin Boxes of Holding $9.99 SRP	SJG1904 Revolution! - The Palace (5/6 player) $24.99 SRP
Have you been going through half a dozen game boxes to dig out all your Munchkin cards? How about getting it down to two special card boxes? The Munchkin Boxes of Holding are sturdy cardboard, sized to hold 500 Munchkin cards apiece! One is labeled Doors, and one is for Treasures. Bonus: The set includes two new Munchkin cards that aren’t available anywhere else!	Welcome to The Palace! In Revolution!, three or four players matched wits. Now, with The Palace, up to six can join the bribing, blackmailing, and backstabbing! The Palace is a new location which fits on the Revolution! board. It's worth 55 Support at the end of the game, and has a special space: the Guardhouse. The player who controls the Guardhouse is immune to the Spy and the Apothecary! Also included are six new bidding boards, adding four new characters. The Viceroy controls the Palace. The Messenger moves your influence cubes from their location to any unoccupied space. The Mayor influences any open space. The Constable rewards a winning bid with a bit of Support and Blackmail. This expansion also includes purple and orange blocks, bidding shields, and score tokens for the fifth and sixth players. The Palace increases the maximum number of Revolution! players to six. The new rules can be taught in minutes, and a complete game still takes less than an hour.