Wizard World Portland - My Experience

The weekend of the 1st ever Wizard world Portland has come and gone. I was able to partake in the Friday festivities... to a small degree. Unfortunately, do to my schedule I wasn't able to sit down with anyone for an interview as I had hoped. We'll try again later. Here are my experiences from my time at this con.



The traffic was horrible, as to be expected, but fortunately parking was not an issue as there was plenty in the underground parking structure for the Oregon Convention Center. I arrived around 3:30pm and registrations was quick and easy since I had purchased my ticket via Groupon at 50% off. I got my swag bag and was on my way in.

I was kind of sad that they used bracelets instead of badges, but oh well. The bag included a small selection of swag pictured above and below.

When I finally entered the actual convention hall, I took a moment to take it all in.

Having the most experience at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Wizard World seemed quite a bit smaller. This wasn't a bad thing, I was just expecting that with the Wizard World title there would have been more. As it was, I was very pleased with the layout of the booths and I appreciated the positioning of the artists and media guests.



The one thing that struck me as odd was that there wasn't horribly huge lines for the media guests like there were at Emerald City. Perhaps this is by the design of selling tickets in advance. I found this to be very refreshing and almost made me want to get some autographs.



My first stop was to make sure that what I had brought with me to get signed got signed, so it was off to artist alley for me. My first stop was at Gail Simone. This was my first chance to actually meet her, but I have been following her on Twitter since I joined a few months back. She is a peach and very nice to talk with. I look forward to continue reading her books. As I didn't bring too much for her to sign, I kept my time there brief. I look forward to having another opportunity to see her again.



Next, I went looking for Scott Lobdell. As an old school X-Men fan, I am a fan of his writing and had a few items for him to sign. I met him a couple years ago in Seattle and was looking forward to another meeting. When I found his table, it was bare without a writer. I came back a few additional times before I left, and he never showed. What really disappointed me was that Chris Claremont, who was only scheduled to appear Saturday & Sunday, was there on Friday. Again, I mention that I am an old school X-Men fan and have several items that I would have loved Claremont to sign... but I didn't bring them since I was only attending Friday. Fortunately, this would be my biggest disappointment.



After finding that Scott Lobdell was a no-show, I then went to find Joe Keatinge who is currently writing the new Morbius comic for Marvel. When I first arrived at his table, it was setup, but with no Joe. I was very hopeful because he had a few variants of Morbius #1 that I didn't have in my collection (see my Variant Covers post to learn about my fixation on them). It only took a few second before I was greeted by Joe Keatinge himself where we spoke about our mutual desire to see Marvel publish trades of the Midnight Son's material. I didn't realize that he was a local writer from Oregon, but when I got home I made sure to follow him on Twitter so I can keep up-to-date on his writings.



Now that my quest for signatures was at an end... yes, I didn't have much to bring for others to sign... I went to Arthur Suydam's tables where I was met with a multitude of prints for sale. The guy who was helping to run the table informed me that there was a buy 5, get 2 free sale. I couldn't pass on that. I picked my favorite 7 and had Suydam sign them.

I then decided to wander to see if I could find some good books to add to my ever-growing collection. Even though I had (kind of) promised I would add to my collection of trades and graphic novels until I had significantly reduced the number in my "to read" AND "to review" piles, I couldn't pass up a chance to add more when I came to the I Like Comics booth. They had their trades at 60% off, so I couldn't turn away. I limited myself a bit, and here's what I picked-up:

I also bought a copy of Marvel Zombies 3, but when I got home, I found that it was already in my collection. These things happen when your mobile database doesn't account for graphic novels in your wishlist.

As I continued to look, I found a couple other items that screamed "Must Have" for my collections:

Jabba the Hut (top) completes my non-exclusive collection of Star wars Funko bobbleheads. I couldn't pass this up.

Walking Dead #100 SDCC variant signed by Robert Kirkman. I found this for a very reasonable price, so it had to go into my collection.

And then I came to the CBLDF booth where I picked-up these 2 wonderful trades to add to my collection. Of course, from CBLDF, they were also both signed. I am proud of myself that I didn't go overboard while I was at their booth as there was so much wonderfulness to choose from.



Another wonderful thing happened while I was waiting for my debit card to be charged for these trades. I was mentioning that I didn't receive the Walking Dead #1 Michael Golden variant cover that was exclusive to Wizard World Portland attendees. I guess that you actually had to buy a VIP ticket to receive one. A gentleman overheard my conversation and proceeded to offer me his copy as his would likely "just end up in a box somewhere". I expressed my gratitude (THANK YOU again, if you happen to read this) and once my transaction was completed with CBLDF, my course was set to Michael Golden.



When I arrived, Micahel was just opening-up his Subway sandwich. I asked if he wouldn't mind signing once more before digging into his Subway. His handler/assistant informed me of the signing fee and that if I purchased one of his prints, this fee would be waived. I agreed to that, and this is what I have to show for it:

I'm a sucker for G.I. Joe prints. :)



This isn't the actual copy of Walking Dead I got signed. At the time of this writing, I hadn't scanned it yet. Once I do, I will replace this placeholder for an image of the real deal with Michael's signature. :)



















I guess the theme for me for this convention was about artist prints. I've never been an avid collection before, but I do have a small collection. If I were to have stayed for Saturday, I probably would have found myself pawing through longboxes to fill the holes in my collection of comics. I would have also been able to take part in some great panels.



I did make a major rookie mistake by not eating before going to the show. After 3-hours, my stomach was telling me to eat and the rest of my body was telling me to rest. I took their advice and made my way back home. I look forward to next year, but now my sights are on Stumptown in April.

The Games We Play: Technology And Your Game

When I first started role playing, our highest tech was an electric typewriter. Later, I owned an electric typewriter that I could program to print entire character sheets... which I then took to my mother's work to make photocopies of. As time went on, computers entered our lives and we gained access to so much opportunity. The world became our oyster.



In the past, when you wanted to send a discrete message to the GM or other player, you simply wrote it down and passed the note like you were in 6th grade. With the addition of instant messaging (IM) and texting, things became a lot easier.



There were several times where I would use IM to my advantage. Often times, players didn't realize anything was up. With today's smartphones, it's even more discrete. Does this make the game more enjoyable? I think it definitely adds to the game... but as a GM I would advise you to be wary of your players using this too much. I understand multitasking, but often times people get too engrossed in what they're doing on their computer or phone and not concentrating on the game at hand.



Recently, the owner of our cities game store... where we play a weekly game of Pathfinder... asked our group what additions we could come-up with to help make the private game room better. One idea came up that really struck a chord with me, and I have been pondering the idea ever since. The idea was of adding a digital projector to the room. I guess this would be for easily sharing images of characters or perhaps maps of the locale/dungeon. The room already has a couple of white boards on the wall and a large battle map so I'd never even considered a digital projector.



I know that I have some friends that have connected their computers to their large screen television's so they can stream whatever they want from the internet. I've done it a few times myself. There has been the idea that, while I enjoy purchasing laminated city maps to use in my games, the same thing can be accomplished with Google Earth and the aforementioned TV. While I have yet to actually utilize this idea, I look forward to the day I can give it a try and see if it performs to expectations.



I admit that I bring my iPod Touch to the Pathfinder game I'm in. Even though the store we play in doesn't have free wi-fi, I have some great apps that are very useful to someone who only owns the core player's guide. Spellbook helps me keep  wraps on what my Cleric can cast and is a quick reference for what each spell actually does. Dice Bag, for those times when you forget your actual dice... not that I've ever done that. Criticals for people who remember the create critical charts from Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP). The one that I actually had to pay for is called PF RPG rd which includes most of the published Paizo source books that you might need for your game.

Angel: Immortality for Dummies

Title: Angel: Immortality for
Dummies

ISBN: 9781600106897

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: IDW, 2010

Artist: Brian Denham

Writer: Bill Willingham

Collects: Angel #28-32

Rating: 3/5

Angel is a celebrity, Kate from season 2 is back, and there are a
couple of new characters that don’t really matter. There’s an angel guy, and a
cat lady. But they don’t really matter. There is a great recap of the previous
issues at the beginning of the book that will catch you up to a point if you
need.

In Immortality for Dummies we get to see Connor not be a pussy for
once. He is out on a mission when he runs into some demons from the dimension
he came from. Some demon chicks show up and help him out, call him the chosen
one and then tell him they are offering him an army. This can’t possibly go wrong
right. I mean its Connor.

Anyway like I said everything is kinda back to status quo. The hangout
is the Hyperion and everyone is back, with some extras with the exception of
Wesley. Which is better than having him back for no reason at all like before.
It looks like there will be someone who will fill the whole that Wes left in
the group though.

The meat of the story lies in trying to get Angel back from this
corporation that is using Angel to turn celebs into vampires, and then restore
their souls. It wasn’t with evil intent, but I mean how could this not go
wrong.

The art here is pretty amazing. Every character looks just right, and
that coupled with the dialogue means that it was very easy to hear the
characters in my head as I was reading. Something I can’t say for any other
Buffy/Angel comic.

I don’t want to spoil anymore of the story, because it is clearly
setting up for something big down the line for Mr. Willingham. The art is
great, the story feels like an Angel story, and everything just seems to work.
Go ahead and give this a try even if you didn’t read/enjoy the previous arc. It
will be worth it.

Variant Covers

I remember in the 90's that we were plagued by a multitude of different covers (before the term variant was used as much as it is today). There were chromium this and die-cut that, it all seemed too much.



And now here we are in 2013. There are ton's of variant covers from all over the place. There are sketch variants, blank variants, alternate covers, different artist's covers and so on.



Why do those who collect comic book subject ourselves to buying so many of these variants? Is it because we feel that they'll increase in value, somehow legitimizing our purchase? Is it just because the art is good and we like the way it looks, even though we buy a copy with a different cover that has the same internal material in it?



My excuse is that I am a bit OCD when it comes to my collecting, and I feel the need to have a copy of every variant in my collection for most of the titles I get. Good for my LCS. Not so much for my savings. :) I'm not complaining, just putting it out there.



Who is the worst offenders when it comes to printing variant covers? Marvel? DC? IDW? Dynamite Entertainment?



For what I have on my subscription at my LCS, I regularly get the variants of Lady Death, Vampirella, TMNT and Evil Ernie. I used to get all the variants of ever G.I. Joe title as well, but unfortunately the demand for those titles has gone down enough the my LCS doesn't get the variants any more... so I found a few places online to fuel that need.



With Lady Death, I can count on 4 separate covers for every issue when it is originally released. Then, they will occasionally put out additional covers ranging from holidays to conventions to auxiliary... and I pick them all up as I can. There was even a recent Holiday VIP cover that had a cover price of $29.99! Can you imagine? Needless to say... it's in my collection.



Vampirella from Dynamite Entertainment is another that generally publishes 4-6 regular covers, and then has additional retailer incentive covers depending on how many copies your LCS orders. These incentive covers, or RI's as their also known as, are a real pain for collectors and retailers alike. As I explained above, I don't receive the RI's for G.I. Joe because of lack of demand. My LCS reduced the number of issues he was ordering because the issues weren't selling. A very reasonable and responsible decision. When the LCS reduces the number they are ordering, they stop receiving the RI covers and OCD collector's like myself are forced to turn to the internet to aid in completing our collection.



From my recent experiences, it seems to me that Dynamite Entertainment produces more variants per title than most other publishers. Granted, I don't generally buy many variants from Marvel or DC, so my knowledge on this topic is a bit skewed. I know that for many of their titles, both DC and Marvel push the variants, but I don't think it's nearly as much as either Boundless with Lady Death or Dynamite Entertainment with any of their titles. I could be wrong.

Where Do You Game?

There are the misconceptions that all role playing happens in someone's Mom's basement or some such. While I have had the occasion to partake in the occasion basement game, more often than not we've generally taken over the dining room table or even a front room with our tabletop games. When I moved to a larger house in high school, I had the entire upstairs to myself... complete with a half-bath. I originally had a large table with chairs setup in the room adjoining my bedroom. This was my little slice of heaven.



When my city gained a new gaming store, there was a back room that we used for many of our games. If the location was better, it would have been perfect. Granted, for many years it was situated between a bar and a liquor store, but there was not much else within short distance. Now that the store has moved to a better location, there are a plethora of options available including a mall within reasonable walking distance.



The back room of this specific store is well suited for our tabletop needs, but it seems like the tables and chairs have been through a great many gamers sitting on them. I'm to understand that the owners of this establishment are looking to replace them at the time of my writing. As it is, the location is ideal, the room is very useful and the fee to use the private room is reasonable.



There is now another gaming store that has rooms available for private use. Sure, this other store is not as convenient to get to and it's only opened recently and is still growing in stock and clientele. The fee's to use the private rooms (yes, multiple rooms are available) are still fairly reasonable... especially if you happen to schedule them in advance... yes, I meant a discount.



The problem of playing in a store that has competition is that you will always find at least 1 person who will put down the other store... asked to or not. I understand competition, but bad-mouthing another store is very disrespectful and it only breeds contempt. When I have a complaint about a specific store, I generally let the management or owner know about it. In this respect, they hear what's wrong and can work to resolve the issue. If the issues are not brought to the attention of the management, then they will never be fixed.



There have been homes that have specific setup's for gaming, and then there are those that simply use a front room where it's comfortable. As much as I like playing at a table, I also enjoy feeling comfortable if I'm going to be spending several hours in a location. For many years, I have dreamed of creating the ultimate gaming nirvana if I were to ever win a large lottery. If I ever do when, you can bet your final dollar that I will post about it here. :-)

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Pandemonium

Title: John Constantine,
Hellblazer: Pandemonium

ISBN: 9781401220358

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: Vertigo,
2010

Artist: Jock

Writer: Jamie Delano

Rating: 3/5

In the 25 years since his first appearance, we've seen John Constantine
in many places, from Swamp Thing to a reality television show in Hell, a God-awful
film adaptation, and everything in between. In Hellblazer: Pandemonium,
Vertigo's new original graphic novel from the first Hellblazer writer Jamie
Delano and artist extraordinaire Jock, Constantine goes someplace new: Iraq.

That's right, the man who is devoutly against standing for something
blindly with a uniform on is coerced by some government spooks to be their
interrogation expert on a POW they've acquired that seems to be driving
previous interrogators mad by some means of magic. After setting up an
elaborate scheme to trap Constantine in their politics, our hero and a double
agent named Aseera are en route to the center of the War on Terror.

Originally, I was a bit apprehensive at Delano using John Constantine
as a soapbox for his opinions on the Middle East situation, but was relieved to
find that Pandemonium was as much an exploration of the merits of war and
torture as it was another occult adventure for everyone's favorite
chain-smoking occult investigating cynic.

That's not to say I don't appreciate the merging of established
characters and politics; it's been done before to great effect. Delano is
cleverly able to tie in the war in Iraq with Middle Eastern mysticism, creating
a world in which Constantine fits into easily, despite my initial trepidation.
Delano's characterization of Constantine is spot-on with where he left him when
he exited Hellblazer in 1991: potty-mouthed with self-indulgent wit, but always
with that sliver of a soft spot. Though the relationship Constantine develops
with Aseera is fairly predictable and winds up being one of the more drab
elements of the story (though one of the most significant), the supernatural concepts,
musings on the War on Terror, and trademark Constantine moments more than make
up for it.

Delano is quite heavy on Constantine's inner monologue narration, which
I normally find a distraction and/or cheap storytelling device. However, nearly
every page is filled with intelligent words and nothing is wasted. There's no
restating of what is happening in the panels, just emphasis. One scene in
particular, in which Constantine is in the underworld of Nergal playing a poker
game of sorts with an assortment of demons, is beautifully written. It's only a
few pages long and told almost entirely through Constantine's monologue, but I
can honestly say I can't recall any card game played out in a comic book that
was even remotely interesting. Delano enhances the entire scene through the
intense and meaningful words of his main character. Of course, the fact that
Constantine's chips are human souls adds a little something as well.

Of course, Delano's script could be the most poetic Hellblazer piece
ever written and it wouldn't mean squat if it wasn't rendered well. If you're a
fan of Jock's, be it from The Losers, Detective Comics, Judge Dredd or his
cover work on books like Scalped, you know what to expect. His work is frantic
but with careful planning; his lines are incredibly sketchy and often thick
with heavy inks and plenty of shadow. His coloring is very washed out and adds
an appropriately grim aesthetic to the entire book.

It might seem like a wild comparison, but in many way's Jock's work is
akin to impressionism. So many of his images, if analyzed up close, look like
nothing more than a chaotic mess of scratches and shadow. When you look at the
page as a whole, all of these lines come together in a way that tell the story
beautifully and you realize the meticulous organization that goes into his
work.

I'm not sure that Pandemonium will go down as one of the prototypical
Hellblazer tales, nor will it be the definitive mainstream comic’s political
commentary of the War on Terror, but it damn sure is an enjoyable, visually
poetic rendition of Vertigo's most enduring character.

Why Do You Game?

In all the years I've been role playing, I don't think I've ever been asked this question. I have been told that I should play these games, but I've never had someone question my reasons behind my fascination.



I guess I've always had an overgrown sense of wonder and imagination. When I was a child, my first movie experience was the original Star Wars and I think this may have provoked my interest into escapism and fantasy. This was promoted through the ample supply of toys and action figures that pressed my young mind into utilizing my imagination on a regular basis.



The answers are different for every person. Some hope to use it to escape from the banality of real life. Others may use it as a crutch to seem socially active. I'm sure there are those who see gaming as their only method of finding friends. I'll even bet there there are more than a few of the rare gamer girls that will secretly admit that the only reason they game or at least got into gaming is because of a significant other; either boyfriend or girlfriend.



With gamer celebrities like Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton, it has become increasingly popular to be known as a gamer these days. It makes one wonder what brought them to the table.There are now so many different Facebook groups that proclaim "Geeks Are Sexy" and similar notions that stimulate the idea that being a gamer is now considered "cool". 

John Constantine, Hellblazer: The Gift

Title: John Constantine,
Hellblazer: The Gift

ISBN: 9781401214531

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Vertigo,
2005

Artist: Leonardo Manco, Frazer Irving

Writer: Mike Carey

Collects: Hellblazer
#207-215

Rating: 3/5

Following a battle with his three demonic offspring, occultist John
Constantine is left with most of his friends dead and his sister Cheryl
murdered and her soul damned to Hell.

The only solution is for Constantine to make the perilous journey into Hell
himself to rescue his sister. However, his only guide is the treacherous demon,
Nergal, whose blood Constantine once accepted into his veins. Along the way,
Constantine encounters enemies both old and new and quickly discovers that
there is far more going on then he could have suspected. As Constantine is
pitted against some of the oldest and darkest forces of Hell he is forced to
relive painful moments from his past and confront the terrible price that must
be paid for his powers.



This graphic novel contains the final nine issues of Mike Carey's work on the
monthly Hellblazer comic book. The book is
a powerful piece of urban horror taking the charismatic, chain-smoking
"urban mage" and con-man antihero John Constantine into some of his
darkest places yet. It collects three linked stories from the series which all
follow on from each other, the six part "Down in the Ground, Where the
Dead Men Go", the one issue "The Gift", and the two part
"R.S.V.P.".

Blending gritty urban reality with startling supernatural horror, this
collection is an example of Hellblazer its best.

This is a must read for fans telling a gripping and disturbing narrative with
some powerfully evocative artwork, however it is not recommended for newcomers
to the Hellblazer universe, due to its multiple references to earlier
stories and the fact that it is a direct continuation of the previous collection
Reasons to be Cheerful.

Mortality of Characters

I'll be the first to admit that I often reuse character's. Not just the concept, but the entire character. I have played 1 LARP character in 2 separate chronicles, and there have been a multitude of tabletop characters that I have been able to play again and again.



For the first time in my life, I'm actually taking a Vampire: The Masquerade tabletop character and bringing him to LARP. Unfortunately, this specific character won't convert 100% over to LARP due to the fact that several of the options available through tabletop are not currently available in the MES LARP rules right now. He'll have to be toned down quite a bit, losing starting generation plus a special merit that allowed him to actually have 4 in clan disciplines rather than the normal 3. We'll see how it works out in the end.



It's actually this character that I've brought back time and time again in several tabletop games... both as my PC and as an NPC in games I've run. My ex-wife and I actually went back-and-forth running games that involved this character and one of her design. This created a large arching story which I hope to bring to this blog in the near future. (I'm currently working to get proper permission to use the White Wolf specific terms without infringing on copyright laws.)



Another method of keeping your characters alive is to use them... or variants thereof... as NPC's in your own games. I insert characters from my previous games as NPC's into every game I run. Some may see this as a lazy method of designing your chronicle, but I enjoy reviving the old characters and allowing them to interact with new PC's under new circumstances.



When you run games with a common set of friends, these NPC's spark old memories of games past. I've even taken characters from a modern day game (Vampire: The Masquerade) and inserted a version of them in a fantasy setting (Dungeons & Dragons). This way you not only invigorate the former character, you also have the option to design them anew the way they may have been in a different world.



To give you an example...



A D&D game I ran several years ago was one of my M Night Shyamalan style games where I actually started the game with a twist. I had the players create regular D&D characters that they'd like to play, and the prelude to the actual game went something like this:



"We're all here, sitting at the table and putting the finishing touches on our characters. Each of you have told me you're ready, and I excuse myself to the bathroom before we actually begin. When the door of the bathroom closes behind me, there is a bright flash. When you wake-up, you are lying in a field. As you move around, you don't recognize your surroundings... and you won't seem to recognize your body as you look at it. You are also surrounded by others whom you don't seem to recognize."



The players soon realized that their personal consciousness had been transferred into their characters bodies. Everyone seemed to enjoy the concept, and I inserted character we had each played as NPC's. The one I recall best is my former Tzimisce priest from our Sabbat LARP game was a sorcerer that helped to guide them in their travels. Obviously the powers and abilities of the Tzimisce (mainly the ability to mold flesh and bone) were not converted, which is why I decided to make the NPC version a sorcerer... and less "evil".



I'm sure I'm not the only person who tries to keep a copy of their old characters so they can reminisce when they happily happen across them while cleaning or organizing. I try to re-invent many of these character from time to time. Even though the concepts are old, bringing them back to life helps get the proverbial creative juices flowing.



To date, even though I have had my fair share of LARP character die, I have never had a single one of my tabletop characters die inside of a campaign.

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Joyride

Title: John Constantine,
Hellblazer: Joyride

ISBN: 9781401216511

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Vertigo,
2008

Artist: Leonardo Manco

Writer: Andy Diggle

Collects: Hellblazer
#230-237

Rating: 3/5

Modern trickster mystic John Constantine has been many things in the
decades since his introduction in the Swamp Thing story arc American Gothic.
But what he’s never been since that debut is exactly what new writer Andy
Diggle returns him to in this trade. When he first introduced himself to the
giant vegetable Bog God, Constantine was a cool, sharp-dressing, smug,
in-control and very dangerous man-of-mystery we weren’t supposed to like. He
oozed menace and untold secrets and was always in charge of the situation.

After twenty years and more of going to Hell and Back, that menacing
stranger returns, but with enough accumulated shared history now that the
reader can still empathize with this unlikely hero whom no sane man would
actually want to have a pint with. Moreover, despite being a Scouser (someone
born and bred in Liverpool) by birth, Constantine is a Londoner by disposition,
and Diggle writes him with that so distinct voice and attitude.

Back on top and dressed to impress, the hard man does a favor for an
old acquaintance in the first tale of this chilling collection. Pearly Grey was
an old-school East End gangster, but he’s in Wormwood Scrubs now, at Her
Majesty’s pleasure. His daughter’s dead and she was murdered. He knows how but
not who because she told him when her ghost appeared in his cell. Pearly knew
everybody once, and if this isn’t a normal job, it needs the attention of a
specialist…

Solving the problem of the unquiet dead is only the first step however.
The grateful Grey repays his debt by giving Constantine a chance to clean up
old business at Ravenscar, once the scene of the Magician’s greatest failure,
but now part of the gangster’s extensive property portfolio. It couldn’t have
gone better if Constantine had planned it…

The final tale introduces a new nemesis for the chain-smoking wizard in
a grimy, nasty tale of possession in the blighted urban hell of South London.
With triggers lifted from any daily paper, this is a tale of murderous wasted
youth, privilege and social disorder, murder and witchcraft, prompted by greed
and the utter contempt of the elite for the rest of society. Political
corruption stalks hand-in-hand with blood-hungry monstrosity in this very
British horror story and at its blood-soaked centr is a bloke in a raincoat
with a smile that can make a statue sweat…

This is a welcome advancement and return to terrifying form for one of
American fantasy’s most striking characters. Thoroughly British once more (our
comics never got the handle on heroism: All the best and most memorable
characters were villains like The Spider, The Dwarf, Grimly Feendish and
Charlie Peace or maniacs like Judge Dredd) this is a unique character at his
compelling best, and another superb horror tome to add to your “spooky” shelf.