Game Day!

This is probably the best representation of my character,
Ahnuld, Barbarian/Fighter/Favored Soul.

Finally, after weeks of having to postpone, we are set to get back to our D&D game tonight. Our intrepid adventurers have found themselves in Norway, on their way to a secret island that appears on no map. Why? To find an ancient and powerful sword that may turn the tide in the war against the powers of darkness.

That’s assuming we don’t get distracted at the mall.

I love my group, but sometimes they get a bit obsessive over buying provisions and spending our copious amounts of gold, all in the name of planning for every possible contingency. So much so that we have had several sessions that were little more than RP’d shopping trips. As the resident barbarian warrior, you can imagine that the extent of my RP during this is “Roll to see if I’m getting drunk!”

And don’t get me started on when they have the Cleric NPC commune with his god in order to ask 10 yes/no questions…

Regardless, I still enjoy the game, and the camaraderie. But this does get me to thinking about how gaming worked in the past. “Old school” if you will. I kind of miss the days when the DM would simply hold up his copy of the module we were going to go through, or read his background text for his homebrew adventure, and then say “Create a 1st level character according to the Player’s Handbook.” Nice, simple and straightforward.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy games that are non-traditional, or don’t follow a published module. But sometimes I just want to roll up Ulric, human fighter and former member of the King’s Army, and have him meet his party in the Red Dragon Inn. Only to be dragged into a grand adventure that takes us to points far and wide, and dungeons deep and dark.

I guess I shouldn’t bitch (which, really, I’m not doing right now). Any game is a good game at this stage in life. Oddly enough, this lack of game over the past few weeks has made it abundantly clear to a few of us how much we enjoy the whole experience. And how much we miss it when it doesn’t happen.

In other news, tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. I am looking forward to my annual Atomic Robo comic, as well as all of the neat stuff other companies put out. In addition, tomorrow is also Star Wars Day (“May the fourth be with you”), so maybe tomorrow afternoon we will celebrate by watching The Empire Strikes Back.

Comic Book Goodness

We saw The Avengers yesterday. I was considering doing a full review, but why? It did so well this weekend, and promises to continue doing well for a such a long while, that virtually everyone will see it anyways, so what impact could my comments have? That being said, it was brilliant! Loved it! Just about every minute was awesome. There were a couple of spots that annoyed me, but nothing that detracted from the film. We saw it in 3D, but honestly, it would have been fine in 2D. The 3D was good, but not over-the-top. One other note; I am now completely sold on Mark Rufffalo as Bruce Banner.

Before that, Saturday was Free Comic Book Day. So, between my wife, my daughter and me, we got a good stack of free stuff, with only one duplicate (stupid Dark Horse, and their reversible double-issues). Of course the annual Atomic Robo issue is always a treat. The series itself is really cool, but the FCBD issues are self-contained, and don’t feel like they “require” you to continue reading (unlike the Marvel ones).

These two elements, combined with the fact that I have watched more than a few comic-based animated films on NetFlix recently, have me almost wanting to collect comics again. Which I’m well aware is the point of FCBD. However, comic books have become an investment these days. Used to be, you could collect a single title, or maybe a small handful, and get the complete story. But not so anymore. Now, with so many crossovers and over-arching storylines, you have to practically buy everything on the shelf to get the whole story. And I just can’t afford that.

This makes me wish that someone would start a comic book company with four-color superheroes, but in self-contained titles. If I want to read Amazing-Dude, I don’t want to have to also read The Avenging League, and all the members’ individual titles, just to get the whole story. I’d like to be able to read 3-4 titles a month and be happy. But, with so much digital media and everything else out there, such a business model no longer works for a medium that has remained in its current form, virtually unchanged, since the 60’s.

So, chances are, I will not be buying comics. Instead, I may start buying occasional graphic novels that collect individual issues together, and tell a complete story. Then I can pick and choose what I read.

Also, we need to see Marvel’s Hercules on the big screen. He needs an individual movie, and then be included in The Avengers 2. It won’t happen, though. The Avengers and all of the other current Marvel movies are highly tied to the “Ultimate” Universe of Marvel (which is why we have Sam Jackson as Nick Fury), and in that universe, there is no Hercules. So, if I want to see my favorite Olympian on the big screen, I will have to wait for a movie based on the mythology. Still, it would be cool to see Herc and Thor go at it like they do in the comics.

Anyone else have a comic book geek-out weekend?