Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1

Title: Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1

ISBN: 9780785136934

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: Marvel, 2009

Artist: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko

Writer: Stan Lee

Rating: 2.5/5

Spider-Man was the third of Marvel’s 1960s superhero creations, and while it’s arguable that the Fantastic Four and the Hulk, when introduced, had greater ties to Marvel’s monster material than what they’d develop into, Spider-Man sparkled from the off. These earliest issues may seem a little old-fashioned now, but in 1963 this was a quantum leap forward, and it remains the template for most solo superhero comics to this day. The astonishing success of the approach has rendered it commonplace ever since.

Stan Lee’s intent was to write about a hero who lived in the world as it was in the suburbs of New York in 1963. Peter Parker was intended to be ordinary. He’s a skinny, bespectacled high school kid raised by his Aunt and Uncle, tormented and ridiculed by the class jocks, and Spider-Man appears his way out. Lee has related that the comic mimicked the structure of daily radio soap operas, with Parker’s home and school problems intended to be every bit as compelling as his superhero exploits. This was all very novel in 1963, and revolutionized superhero comics.

The eleven page origin sequence is a compact gem, introducing Parker, his family, his school life, his transformation, his hubris and its tragic consequences. Yes, there are dated elements, and Lee loves his words, but the power remains, and much of this is contributed by Steve Ditko. The quirky, off-kilter realism of his depictions, and the deliberately awkward poses of his Spider-Man supply a slight other-worldliness that the feature required. It closes with a classic, and later much used, line of “…with great power there must also come great responsibility.”

Having produced a strong origin story, Lee and Ditko’s focus on Peter Parker’s problems continues to be inventive. Irascible and headstrong newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson arrives in the first issue of Spider-Man’s own comic, and Parker exploits Jameson’s hatred of his alter-ego by selling him photographs of Spider-Man. Over an extremely fertile creative period the following issues reprinted here introduce Doctor Octopus, the Vulture, the Sandman, the Lizard and Electro, all still in use today.

That’s not to say everything works. Lee fell back on stock monster comic clichés with the Terrible Tinkerer, a battle with Doctor Doom is misguided, and Ditko’s design for fighting robot the Living Brain hasn’t stood the test of time. What consistently ensures the stories never slip into total mediocrity are the soap opera elements. Only a total curmudgeon is unable to cheer at Parker besting Flash Thompson in the school boxing ring, or Aunt May warning him not to forget his umbrella. Her first heart flutter still retains a genuine tension, and Lee promotes the wise-cracking Spider-Man as Parker’s release from very early on.

The finest story here after the origin is the finale. The featured villains enable Ditko to display Spider-Man’s athleticism at its best, there’s a well-plotted mystery, false clues as to the identity of criminal mastermind the Big Man, and a lot of plot packed into 22 pages.

Lee originally intended Jack Kirby draw Spider-Man, but his dynamic pencils didn’t suit the ordinary world integral to the strip. A brief battle with the Human Torch displays this, despite Kirby’s pencils being swamped by Ditko’s inks.

Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins – Nott the Brave

Title: Critical Role: The Mighty Nein Origins – Nott the Brave 

ISBN: 97815067423785

Price: $17.99

Publisher/Year: Dark Horse, 2023

Artist: William Kirkby

Writer: Sam Maggs, Matthew Mercer, Sam Riegel

Rating: 4/5

When you become that which you fear most, how do you carry on?

Veth Brenatto doesn’t have an exciting life, but she likes it that way. Unlike her childhood, it’s safe. Predictable. And her husband and son love her almost as fiercely as she loves them. But Veth’s cozy existence is turned on its head when she and her family are captured by raiders. In order to save them, Veth will commit an atrocity that will sever her from all that she loves–maybe forever–and lead her to become Nott the Brave of the Mighty Nein.

Celebrated writer Sam Maggs (Captain Marvel, The Unstoppable Wasp) is joined by Critical Role cast members Matthew Mercer and Sam Riegel, with the expert art of William Kirkby (Rat Queens) and colors by Eren Angiolini (Multiversity: Teen Justice) for a heartbreaking look at a halfling’s end and a goblin’s beginning.

Nott’s back story is the one that made me cry during campaign two. Unfortunately, I don’t think this graphic quite grasped the emotion of it. Maybe because Sam Riegel is such a beautiful storyteller, but it felt like something was missing. That doesn’t mean it was bad. Not at all. I’ve loved every instalment in this series so far.

The character designs in particular are the standout part of this graphic novel. One of the biggest appeals of The Mighty Nein for me is that they look so varied. No offence to Vox Machina but they were a bunch of human looking characters and then Grog. What makes the Nein so special is how every character looks completely different. I especially love Nott’s design. Veth is very cute, but as someone that has always loved the weird and wonderful, Nott’s design is perfect.

I was hoping we’d get a little more out of the goblin scenes. Nott talks about it a little during the campaign but you don’t get a lot as Sam’s an excellent role player and he knows she wouldn’t want to talk about it. But saying that, the story of this instalment is the strongest of the ones I’ve read so far. It’s cohesive from start to finish and you follow just one timeline so it’s easy for those that don’t know anything about this world to follow along. 

Going back to the art, it’s great. I’ve never seen anything by this artist before but I’ve noticed they’ve also illustrated the Yasha instalment.

Doomsday Clock Part 2

Title: Doomsday Clock Part 2

ISBN: 9781779501189

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: DC, 2020

Artist: Gary Frank

Writer: Geoff Johns

Rating: 3.5/5

In Watchmen Adrian Veidt, Ozymandias, concocted a monstrous plan to save a world. It failed, and he became reviled. He still believes he can save his world, but to do so must track down its most powerful hero Dr Manhattan, who has decamped to the main DC universe. Their meeting occurs in the opening chapter, and doesn’t go to plan.

Of all of Alan Moore’s characters to whom Geoff Johns gives a new voice, his most authentic is Dr Manhattan, provided with the same clipped, puzzled tone of a man to whom time is simultaneous. It was impressive in Watchmen and is a trick that bears repeating. How much the remainder of that story should be disinterred is another matter. Watchmen was so powerful because it stood alone. Mixing the cast with Batman and the Joker is wish-fulfilment rather than narratively compelling, and the Joker prancing about with a flamethrower aimed from between his legs is a sorry sight. Until the final reckoning Doomsday Clock is at its best when the characters from separate worlds are kept separate, and the best chapter here is an evolving tragedy without any of the Watchmen cast and a good role for Superman. He eventually becomes pivotal.

The problem is that while Moore had the density of his plot under control, Johns doesn’t cope well with the complexity, using a device to get a person from A to B, then forgetting about it. The key to Marionette helping out in Part 1 was Rorschach promising to locate her son. It doesn’t happen. For a long, long time one can also question her purpose at all. She leads into diversions, but has no impact on the main plot, despite an unconvincing attempt at explaining her presence toward the end before her true impact in the final chapter. That’s eventually cranked up by Dr. Manhattan. “I am a being of inaction”, he muses, “on a collision course with a man of action”.

If the plot creaks at times, the art shines throughout. Even allowing for Frank being compromised to some extent by following the artistic style of Dave Gibbons, he’s magnificent. Page after page swells with heroic figures, or people questioning themselves, all within fully formed locations, the technology as lovingly detailed as the personnel. And the storytelling is faultless. While becoming irritated at the plot flaws there’s always another stunning page of art to mitigate.

At the halfway point Doomsday Clock was proving a poor sequel to Watchmen, which continues over the opening chapter here, but Johns pulls the story back from the brink, tying almost everything together neatly along with a message of hope. The use of some characters followed for many chapters is revealed to be trivial, which is disappointing, but there’s a glorious purpose for an actor from the 1950s. Overall the spectacle is present, the reasoning is present and the revisions made to the DC universe make sense. The actual ending is open to interpretation: has Dr Manhattan merged with a young Superman on his original world? Is it the best of both worlds to safeguard the future?

The major problem remains so many points of slavish imitation, one being Ozymandias having another horrific plan, and there’s too much meandering before the end, but it pays off. Doomsday Clock is, however, best experienced in a single edition.

[PRESS RELEASE] ROSE CITY COMIC CON PREPS FOR ANOTHER JAM-PACKED EVENT

ROSE CITY COMIC CON PREPS FOR 
ANOTHER JAM-PACKED EVENT

 

Highlights Include the Villains of ‘The Boys’, Stargate: SG-1 & Atlantis Reunions, the Return of Retailer Day with ComicsPRO, Professional Master Classes, and
Over Fifty Comic Book Creators

This Year Offers Something for Everyone in the Family, Including Book Fair, Destination Cosplay, Rose City Jr., Top Comic Creators and Introducing Dave’s Hideaway

PORTLAND -- Having debuted in 2012, Rose City Comic Con has become one of the largest fan conventions on the West Coast, with guests and programming targeting all ages and interests. This year, Rose City Comic Con will take place September 11-13, 2026, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. Some highlights include a star-studded line-up of actors from properties like The Boys, Daredevil, Alien, Guardians of the Galaxy, Stargate, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Resident Alien, Brooklyn Nine-Nine,and many more! Plus, comic book royalty, New York Times best-selling authors, and the introduction of Dave’s Hideaway.

Rose City Comic Con pulls together over 60,000 fans with their favorite comics, movies, television shows, books, toys, games, cosplay, and more. Section highlights include Book Fair – for book dragons, aspiring authors, and lit lovers of all ages, Rose City Jr. – a family-friendly destination for the next generation of fans, Anime Yokocho – a haven for lovers of anime, manga, and Japanese pop culture, and Destination Cosplay – where cosplay fanatics can meet, pose, and learn to improve their craft. Video & Tabletop Gaming features are where gamers, young and old alike, can enjoy everything from retro classics to the console hits of today! And new for 2026, Dave’s Hideaway – a spot for grown-ups to enjoy refreshing alcoholic beverages, live tattooing, live entertainment, and more.

"Rose City Comic Con has always been about finding your community, whatever your fandom, and this year, we've made room for all of them," said Lauren Dabb, Event Director of Rose City Comic Con. "From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Daredevil reunions, to fifty-plus mega-talented comic creators and Creator Pro masterclasses, to the debut of Dave's Hideaway, we've built a weekend that's equal parts nostalgia, discovery, and pure Portland weirdness."

Rose City Comic Con panel highlights include: 

Friday (September 11, 2026): 

• Gotta Go Fast: The Voices of Sonic the Hedgehog – Featuring Roger Craig Smith, Lisa Ortiz, Pete Capella - Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 1:15 PM

• Dark Horse: Star-Powered Storytelling with Patton Oswalt & Jordan Blum – Featuring Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 2:15 PM

• Stephen Amell Spotlight – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 3:15 PM

• Chevron Seven Locked: A Stargate SG-1 Reunion – Featuring Richard Dean Anderson, Tony Amendola, Ben Browder - Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 4:15 PM

• Off the Wall Drag Show – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 6:00 PM

Saturday (September 12, 2026):

• Greetings, Humans: The Cast of Resident Alien – Featuring Alan Tudyk, Alice Wetterlund, Sara Tomko – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 10:30 AM

• Dark Horse Comics: 40 Years of Comics Nerds – Room E141-144 – 1:00 PM

• Nine-Nine! A Brooklyn Nine-Nine Reunion – Featuring Joe Lo Truglio,       Melissa Fumero – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 2:00 PM

• A Spotlight on Gail Simone – Room E141-144 – 2:45 PM

• Boldly Forward: The Cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Featuring Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Christina Chong - Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 3:00 PM

• Smut or Angst: The Fanfiction Gameshow – Keep it Weird Stage – 3:15 PM

• Indie Comics City: How Portland Built Its Own Comics Universe” from OPB’s Oregon Art Beat – Room D137-140 – 3:15 PM

• In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream: Celebrating Alien – Featuring Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright - Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 4:00 PM 

Sunday (September 13, 2026):

• Super Secrets: The Stars of The Boys – Featuring Antony Starr, Chase Crawford – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 10:15 AM 

• Puppetcore Studios: Five-Fingers of Death Puppet Show – Keep it Weird Stage – 10:45 AM

• A Queen Among Legends – Featuring Lena Headey – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 11:15 AM

• The Ravagers Return: A Guardians of the Galaxy Reunion – Featuring Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 2:00 PM

• Rising to the Stars: A Stargate Atlantis Reunion – Featuring Rachel Luttrell, Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 3:00 PM

• Justice Is Blind: A Daredevil Reunion – Featuring Vincent D’Onofrio,       Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson – Main Stage (Portland Ballroom) – 4:00 PM

(All times and guest appearances are subject to change)

Other Key Highlights at Rose City Comic Con Include: 

• Comic Guests: Rose City Comic Con is proud to host more than 50 comic book creators from up-and-comers to seasoned professionals. Attending this year will be Gail Simone, Patton Oswalt, Cullen Bunn, G. Willow Wilson, Tom Raney, Sean Galloway, Tom Sneigowski, Jim Valentino, Brian Michael Bendis, David Mack, David F. Walker, and many more.
  

• Book Fair: Panels with featured author guests and free author signings at the   Rose City Comic Con Bookstore Powered by Powell’s Books (Booth #201). Authors attending include TJ Klune, Chloe Gong, Caitlin Starling, Terry Brooks, Delilah S. Dawson, Kamilah Cole, Annalee Newitz, Evan Leikam, Petra Lord, Sarah Gailey, and Soman Chainani. Readers can enjoy book-themed meetups throughout the weekend, which include a free ribbon as part of the Ribbon Rally! More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/book-fair/
  

• Destination Cosplay: Cosplay Meetups will take place in Prefunction C, across the hall from the Cosplay Repair & Community Room powered by the PNW Guild of Cosplayers (C-120-122) and Cosplay Photoshoots with Mahou Photo (C125-126). Our Cosplay Competition will be held Saturday, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM on the Main Stage in the Portland Ballroom. More info is here
  https://rosecitycomiccon.com/destination-cosplay/
  

• Rose City Jr.: NEW LOCATION! Now located outside the Exhibit Hall in the Oregon Ballroom, Rose City Jr. keeps the energy high with the Movement Zone featuring lightsaber training, princess meet-and-greets, three appearances by PBS star Daniel Tiger on Saturday, and a storytime with Matt Hutchinson, the voice of Tiny Chef on Sunday at 1:30 PM! In addition, there will be Kids Cosplay Parades on both Saturday and Sunday at 12:00 PM. Drawing and creating workshops in the Workshops area include a chance for young artists to design next year's official artwork for the Child badge at the Sasquatch Dave Kid Art Contest with Chris Mariano, which will be held on Saturday at 2:00 PM. And on all three days, there will be Slime Making with the Portland Ghostbusters from 7:00 – 7:45 PM on Friday and from 10:30 - 11:30 AM on Saturday and Sunday. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/rose-city-jr/ 
  

• Dave’s Hideaway: NEW! Named after Rose City Comic Con’s beloved sasquatch mascot, the all-new Dave’s Hideaway is a (mostly) adult oasis that is equal parts bar, tattoo parlor, performance stage, and wrestling arena. In short, everything you’d expect from a Portland comic convention that refuses to be ordinary. Within Dave’s Hideaway, the Cryptid Cantina, sponsored by Portland’s own Gigantic Brewing and Portland Cider Co., will offer craft beers, cider, and soft drinks in a relaxed lounge setting. Tattoo Trail will bring together eight tattoo studios – Inkheart Tattoo, Medusa Slays, Upper Moon Tattoo, Needle & Magpie Tattoo Studio, Medusa Tattoo, Capriotti Creations Tattoo, Beardedmoney, and Anatomy Tattoo – for live tattooing throughout the weekend. Attendees looking for live entertainment can catch standup comedy, lip sync competitions, puppet shows, angsty game shows, and more on the Keep It Weird Stage, with a Sunday takeover by the Portland Weird Festival delivering what we believe will be “the zaniest performances imaginable to the feeble human mind.” More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/daves-hideaway/
  

• Creator Pro Track & Retailer Day: Rose City is excited to continue to support comics and local comic retailers with the expansion of Retailer Day in partnership with ComicsPRO. Dark Horse Comics will return to Retailer Day with a special keynote address celebrating the publisher’s 40th anniversary. Retailers can sign up here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/retailer-day/. This event will run alongside the already stacked comic programming that Rose City Comic Con offers and the dedicated Creator Pro+ Academy, which is designed to help young aspiring artists break into the business. This year, intimate Masterclasses are available from comic creators and authors like Brian       Michael Bendis, Steve Leiber & Jeff Parker, Richard Case, Patton Oswalt & Jordan Blum, Caitlin Starling, and Chloe Gong. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/creator-pro/
  

• GeekFest Film Fest at Rose City Comic Con: Celebrating its 13^th anniversary, the short film festival will be happening Saturday, September 12th. It features films across all genres, including action, horror, comedy, drama, sci-fi, and beyond, and fans can vote for their favorites.
  

• Tabletop Gaming: In partnership with GameStorm and presented by Misty Mountain Gaming, fans can explore an expansive tabletop gaming experience featuring a free board game lending library packed with modern favorites, beloved classics, and role-playing games. Attendees can join learn-to-play sessions and live game demos led by experienced volunteers, making it easy for players of all skill levels to discover their next favorite game. Fans can also get creative with a free Miniatures Paint & Take activity. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/tabletop-gaming/
  

• Video Gaming: Gaming fans, young and old, will be delighted to find a little bit of everything—from Ground Kontrol’s classic arcade cabinets and pinball machines, to a free-play retro console arcade from Portland Retro Gaming Expo, to claw machines by Claw City. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/video-gaming/
  

• Other show features include Ribbon Rally, Pinpalooza, Anime Yokocho, and the Star Wars Fan Experience from Star Wars Oregon.
  

• After Hours Events: Friday night, the fourth annual Drink & Draw (21+), will take place at Spirit Of ‘77. Comic creators slated to attend as judges include Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Brian Michael Bendis, Cullen Bunn, and Tom Raney. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/drink-and-draw/. On Saturday, fans of Magic: The Gathering can attend the official Commander After Party at Guardian Games. Also on Saturday night is the Amberleaf Masquerade Ball, a formal fantasy ball at The Sentinel hotel in downtown Portland in association with Rose City Comic Con’s sister show, Romancing Portland. More info is here https://rosecitycomiccon.com/afterparties/

Rose City Comic Con will be held September 11-13, 2026, at the Oregon Convention Center. Attendee badges may be purchased at rosecitycomiccon.com.

About Rose City Comic Con

Rose City Comic Con is Portland’s largest and most dynamic pop culture convention, uniting over 60,000 passionate fans for an unforgettable weekend celebrating comics, cosplay, anime, gaming, books, celebrities, and all things geek. With a bold spirit as unique as Portland itself, Rose City Comic Con is proudly weird, wildly creative, and fiercely inclusive. Signature experiences include Rose City Jr. for families, the whimsical Book Fair, cosplay haven Destination Cosplay, anime hotspot Anime Yokocho, and Creator Pro for industry pros and aspiring talent alike. Produced by LeftField Media, Rose City Comic Con is where fandoms thrive, friendships form, and creativity takes center stage.

 

About LeftField Media 

LeftField Media, LLC is an events company focused on developing face-to-face events in a range of communities rooted in contemporary culture and shared passion. LeftField was formed in 2014 by Greg Topalian (President, LeftField Media) and is now owned by Topalian and Clarion Events Ltd. With a keen sense of the evolving needs of businesses and their consumers, as well as new opportunities created by change, LeftField takes a clean-slate approach to its work. LeftField’s portfolio includes Awesome Con (awesomecon.com), Washington D.C.’s Comic Con; Rose City Comic Con (rosecitycomiccon.com), in Portland, OR; Anime NYC (animenyc.com), New York City’s Japanese pop culture festival; and Anime Frontier (animefrontier.com) in Dallas-Fort Worth. LeftField Media is headquartered in Shelton, CT (leftfieldmedia.com).

[PRESS RELEASE] ROSE CITY COMIC CON HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL RETAILER DAY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMICSPRO

ROSE CITY COMIC CON HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL RETAILER DAY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMICSPRO

Oni Press with Special 40th Anniversary Keynote Address

PORTLAND -- Rose City Comic Con, in partnership with ComicsPRO, is proud to announce the 2nd annual Retailer Day, an exclusive experience limited to comic retailers that’s designed to connect them with publishers, distributors, and industry leaders. Dark Horse Comics returns to Retailer Day with a special keynote address celebrating the publisher’s 40th anniversary. Expanding from a single day to two, Retailer Day will take place Thursday, September 10, 2026, and Friday, September 11, 2026, and will feature panels, announcements, an exclusive signing, and more.

 

“Last year’s inaugural Retailer Day exceeded every expectation, and the response made the decision an easy one,” commented Lauren Dabb, Event Director of Rose City Comic Con. “We are thrilled to expand this space for retailers for two full days at Rose City Comic Con.”

 

Feedback from the first Retailer Day was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees and publishers calling the event insightful, motivating, and great for quality networking.

 

“We're very excited to be teaming up with Rose City Comic Con for their second annual Retailer Day,” said Shannon Live, Vice President and Director of Education of ComicsPRO. “At ComicsPRO, we are always looking for ways to help retailers connect, learn, and grow together, and Rose City has done a great job building a fun environment where they can do just that. The opportunities they are creating this year continue to elevate the Retailer Day experience." 

 

A favorite perk of last year’s event was the exclusive variant release of Matt Fraction’s Batman #1 with cover art by Liam Sharp. For 2026, the tradition will continue with a Rose City Comic Con variant of Archie #1 from the new series slated to launch later this year from Oni Press. Series writer Ben H. Winters (Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) and three-time Eisner Award-winning comic illustrator Steve Lieber, who drew the variant cover, will be in attendance to sign highly limited copies.

 

Admission to Retailer Day includes a commemorative collector's badge and is completely free to all verified Comic Retailers. Retailers can apply to attend on the Rose City Retailer Day page.

 

Rose City Comic Con will be held September 11-13, 2026, at the Oregon Convention Center. Attendee badges may be purchased at Rose City Comic Con.

 

About ComicsPRO

ComicsPRO is an international network of comic store owners dedicated to building an industry-forward community of shared knowledge and culture. By bridging our member network and industry partners, we build our social capital, develop solutions-based resolutions, and advocate for change that can ensure a stronger future. For more information about ComicsPRO, please visit www.comicspro.org.

 

About Rose City Comic Con

Rose City Comic Con is Portland’s largest and most dynamic pop culture convention, uniting over 60,000 passionate fans for an unforgettable weekend celebrating comics, cosplay, anime, gaming, books, celebrities, and all things geek. With a bold spirit as unique as Portland itself, Rose City Comic Con is proudly weird, wildly creative, and fiercely inclusive. Signature experiences include Rose City Jr. for families, the whimsical Book Fair, cosplay haven Destination Cosplay, anime hotspot Anime Yokocho, and Creator Pro for industry pros and aspiring talent alike. Produced by LeftField Media, Rose City Comic Con is where fandoms thrive, friendships form, and creativity takes center stage.

 

About LeftField Media 

LeftField Media, LLC is an events company focused on developing face-to-face events in a range of communities rooted in contemporary culture and shared passion. LeftField was formed in 2014 by Greg Topalian (President, LeftField Media) and is now owned by Topalian and Clarion Events Ltd. With a keen sense of the evolving needs of businesses and their consumers, as well as new opportunities created by change, LeftField takes a clean-slate approach to its work. LeftField’s portfolio includes Awesome Con (awesomecon.com), Washington D.C.’s Comic Con; Rose City Comic Con (rosecitycomiccon.com), in Portland, OR; Anime NYC (animenyc.com), New York City’s Japanese pop culture festival; and Anime Frontier (animefrontier.com) in Dallas-Fort Worth. LeftField Media is headquartered in Shelton, CT (leftfieldmedia.com).

Doomsday Clock Part 1

Title: Doomsday Clock Part 1

ISBN: 9781779501202

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: DC, 2019

Artist: Gary Frank

Writer: Geoff Johns

Rating: 3/5

While DC have the rights to use the cast of Watchmen, there are ethical reasons why they shouldn’t. That’s a separate discussion, the pros and cons of which are easily located online.

It’s apparent from the start that none of those arguments have any resonance for the creative team of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, who open Doomsday Clock as a sequel to Watchmen, picking up near enough from its memorable final page. It’s not just that the narrative voices and page layouts resemble Watchmen, so does the cover design and the lettering. Watchmen concerned a monstrous plan to save a world on the brink of war that seemingly worked, except a newspaper was sent the truth. The publication has accelerated that war, but wait, Ozymandias has another plan…

“Where are we now?”, asks Rorshach. “On an Earth that appears not entirely unlike ours”, replies Ozymandias, and that’s the gist of Doomsday Clock. In order to save their universe, Dr Manhattan must be traced and he’s relocated to the usual DC universe. As that spins out, there’s barely a superficial tick from Watchmen not imitated. The pirate sequences are replaced by the 1950s televised noir crime show Nathanial Dusk, a 1980s DC comic; there’s a new Rorschach, created through horror like the old; the past connects with the present; Frank uses simple dissociative images and visual segues; political tensions in the DC Universe are escalating the same way as that of the Watchmen cast; and prominent new characters are reworkings of characters from old Charlton comics, just as the Watchmen cast was based on its heroes. It’s intended as clever, but it’s derivative, falling somewhere on the scale of superficial homage to graverobbing.

However, given the promotion and controversy, someone could pick up Doomsday Clock without having read Watchmen, and would miss many of the attempts to be clever and the forced connections would pass them by. In that case Johns and Frank serve up a viable mystery. Their additions are the contrast between Gotham and Metropolis, the dark and the light, and toying with the Watchmen characters around that. The use of long forgotten DC heroes is interesting, and in its own way Frank’s art is every bit as impressive as that of Dave Gibbons. He provides full environments, people with genuine emotions, neat visual touches and considers the design of the entire page, not just individual panels.

The conflicts affecting Doomsday Clock are exemplified by the hot and cold final chapter. The fleshing out of new character Marionette is heartbreaking and strong, indicating a bigger purpose for what’s been a random presence until now. That thread is fused with the weakest material, featuring a really stupid meeting of super villains, and the return to action of another old character fused with an origin story that’s supposed to be tragic, but repeats a trick already used.

The Forge of Fury (3e)

Title: The Forge of Fury

Price: $4.99 (PDF), $9.95 (Softcover)

Publisher/Year: Wizards of the Coast, 2000

ISBN: 0786916443

Author(s): Richard Baker

System: Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition

DriveThruRPG Link

Rating: 4/5

The Forge of Fury is the second of eight stand-alone adventures from Wizards of the Coast and will take a party from 3rd to 5th level. Like The Sunless Citadel that came before it, The Forge of Fury is a dungeon, or rather an exploration of an underground stronghold. It consists of 5 separate levels each with it's own feel and each can be completed in a single session. This gives the players a sense of accomplishment when they need it most, eliminating the fatigue that can set in when exploring more vast underground settings such as those found in The Ruins of Undermountain, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Night Below, etc. This is a good design decision, since even the more enthusiastic spelunkers will begin to long for the surface after about six sessions in the same dungeon.

The first level is "The Mountain Door" and consists of orcs defending the entry level of a dwarven underhold. Our group finished it in about four hours of play and frequently cursed the dwarves for their efficient design. This area feels like it sounds - an underground running battle against organized enemies who have the advantage and know how to use it. My players loved it, even though one of them was killed, and as a DM I had only a few minor complaints. The map scale is 5' per square, which is obvious from a close reading by someone with that very question in mind, but this isn't noted on the maps. The levels connect to each other in various ways and there are uppercase letters to indicate where these connections occur, but again, no explanation is given and the prepared DM is left to figure this out on her own.

The second level is "The Glitterhame" and it's a natural cave complex that the dwarves left as unworked as possible. Occupied by some troglodytes who just want to be left alone, a few natural hazards, and a handful of creatures native to the environment, this level feels very different from the one above. It totals about 12 elements and from here the party can go up to "The Foundry", or down to "The Sinkhole." My party moved through here briskly, not even encountering the main Troglodyte force, so we only spent about three hours of play time here.

The Foundry is where the dwarven presence is felt once again as it's almost all worked stone and was used ages ago as both a foundry and main living area. There are Duergar here who my party found easier to defeat than the orcs in the Mountain Door, a succubus in disguise provides some roleplaying and a warning of what's below in "The Black Lake", and the main dwarven living area is now the resting place of some unquiet spirits and some animated furniture. There are 14 elements here, but one of them (room 44) is repeated no fewer than 10 times! Do yourself a favor and leave 8 of them out, your players won't miss them. Our party spent four hours of play time here and had a good time of it, though it just wasn't as compelling as The Mountain Door or The Glitterhame. From here the party can go down to "The Black Lake."

The Sinkhole was skipped entirely by our group, but there's not much here. Apparently used as a storage area by the dwarves it's a mix of natural caves and worked stone. A portion of it is flooded and it has only 6 elements, so most groups won't be here long - at least not while they're alive. There are only two creatures down here, but one of them is so nasty it could easily kill the entire party. The text even suggests not including it if the party is one that's not likely to retreat from a fight, but a Roper is one CR10 monster that a 4th level party is unlikely to get a chance to run away from. These are just impressions though, as mentioned earlier, our party didn't even go down here.

The Black Lake is the climax of the whole adventure and it feels like it. A long descent to an underground lake, tracks left behind by a good sized reptilian creature, the strange pitting on the stone bridge, and being told that a dragon lives down here - all contribute to the players absolute certainty that the entire party is about to die screaming. My players absolutely loved it. I loved running it, but I did have one complaint: the Encounter Level given (EL4) is wrong. This encounter will tax a 5th level party to the limit, so EL7 is more like it.

The bottom line: if you're looking for a character driven story-arc, look somewhere else. This is a treasure hunt, and a memorable one at that.