It's My Birthday - Read Hellrazer

Yeah, I'm laying a guilt trip on you all.

Most of you know me as Tommy the RPG Reviewer.

I do wear a few other hats (and adding more all the time)...but the one I am the most passionate about is that of Comic Book Writer.

It is also my birthday.

To that end, I implore you to go read my webcomic. It's free, and I don't think it's horrible (and I think it's getting better all the time). You can also follow it on Facebook.

Two complete stories are up (Living in Shadows and Voodoo), and we've just started the third (the cover and two pages of which I'm posting here).

If you feel so inclined, you can help support my writing by ordering the comics I've been published in as well...

Without further ado - Hellrazer: The Chronicles of Rachel Strand Issue #1.

More Shameless Self Promotion

By the nature of the site, I do a lot of pimping for other people's stuff...today, I need to do a little pimping for my products again.

Hellrazer: The Chronicles of Rachel Strand was selected by DrunkDuck.com as their feature this past Thursday, drawing extra attention to mine and Johnnie Johnson's hard work. That was a great moment for me this week. Every little bit of recognition helps, you know? Facebook users can also follow us on the Hellrazer Facebook page.

We also had a comic book signing last night for Equinox #2, which continues the Genesis story from Equinox #1 and includes a back-up story introducing The Curse, a story I previewed on here a few months ago. The Curse will be appearing in Hellrazer later this year, and you can order copies of either issue of Equinox at IndyPlanet.com.

Finally, preorders are open for War of the Dead Chapter 4, written by Lee Szczepanik Jr., edited by me and published by Daring Entertainment. This is the grand finale of the War of the Dead saga, taking your zombie apocalypse survivors into Legendary and setting up the World of the Dead Savage Setting. You can still order Chapter One (print or PDF), Chapter Two (print or PDF) and Chapter Three (print or PDF) at RPGNow.

More great stuff to come on the blog! Two more Wild World Wrestling stars, more Comics You Should Read, an advance review of the Rogue Mage RPG, the Mistborn Adventure Game and more SAGA of Spider-Man with my son!

Hellrazer: Living in Shadows (SAGA/BASH/ICONS)

Here ya go, folks...

Game stats for Rachel Strand, half-vampire hero of HELLRAZER: THE CHRONICLES OF RACHEL STRAND and Tonton Macoute, her first adversary.

Special thanks to Greg Kerner for putting these guys to character sheets. I compiled the PDFs, so if anything got jacked up, you can totally blame me.

Hellrazer BASH version

Hellrazer ICONS version

Hellrazer Marvel SAGA version

Hellrazer: The Series begins!

I was gonna do the whole "press release" thing over here, but it would be a bit disingenuous.

HELLRAZER, the first comic project that I worked on that saw any kind of publication (okay, only), has officially launched as a webcomic over at DrunkDuck. It's inspired a bit by shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, as well as Marvel's old Midnight Sons books. It'll be updated every Tuesday and Friday, and the stories will be bundled together for print purchase after their completion online.

I sure do hope you check it out...I'm VERY excited about what's to come here.

Some End of the Week News

RPGNow Wants To Know About Your Character


I know, right? Well, RPGNow is holding a big honkin' contest with some great prizes for the person that not only impresses the judges, but the voting public. Click on through to check it out.

Pinnacle Gets Into The EBook Business


Pinnacle Entertainment, makers of Savage Worlds, recently announced that they are getting into the eBook business, with fiction lines based on their game worlds, such as 50 Fathoms and Deadlands. They followed that up by blocking my e-mails and phone calls so I couldn't bug them for work.

They were right to do so.

I'm excited about this...as you may recall, I purchased a Nook last year, and ePub is being supported by Pinnacle's new publishing efforts.

War of the Dead Chapter Three Goes On Sale 6/13/11


Daring Entertainment has made the release date official. I am particularly excited about this, because this is my first professional RPG gig (for those who missed the announcement, I was brought on as the editor) and I am gleefully enjoying the twists as turns as much as I know you will. Hurry up and take advantage of those pre-order deals, though...they are a freaking steal.

Next Week, Postmortem Studios Takes Over The Blog


Well, not exactly...but I have reviews lined up for four of Postmortem Studios' games: Chav the Knifing, Bloodsucker the Angst, Tough Justice and Agents of S.W.I.N.G...and I'm planning an e-mail interview with Postmortem Head Honcho James "Grim" Desborough. I'm hoping to have a couple of other reviews in place over the weekend.

Caladon Falls Fundraiser Is Still Going On


Caladon Falls, which I hope to be running online very soon, is getting closer to the end of its fundraiser period, and still has a deficit to make up. Really, if you like Savage Worlds and fantasy at all, I STRONGLY encourage you to chip in. It's not like you don't get anything for it, and it's a tremendous book.


The Part-Time Gods Kickstarter Just Keeps Going


Third Eye Games' Part-Time Gods Kickstarter started strong and just will not stop. Indeed, with 24 days left to go, they have raised more than twice their goal and rising.

Everything's Coming Up Aces


On a personal note, I just landed a new job that I start at the end of the month, and things are falling in place for my Hellrazer webcomic with the amazing Johnnie Johnson. We hope to be in full-swing with it by summer. One way or another, I will have something special lined up for Halloween this year for Savage Worlds fans...I am looking into a commercial release, but am skeptical about being able to meet Pinnacle's licensing requirements...either way, I'm prepping a Savage Worlds horror release that will be available by mid-October, one way or another.

Thanks for reading!
T.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I started this blog at the beginning of the year as an exercise in making myself constantly write SOMETHING.  I've hit 75 blog posts since the beginning of the year...that's not bad at all.

It is still pretty much a catch-all for what interests me, but at the moment that seems to be largely role-playing games, due in no small part to becoming a member of RPGnow's blog support program.  If you're reading this, you have surely noticed that I review a ton of RPGs these days, but I will say this: I never review an RPG that I either did not already have a pre-existing interest in, or that I was not specifically contacted by a publisher about reviewing.

Some reviews that I plan on tackling in the near future include, but are not limited to, and in particular order are:

1) Slasher Flick: Director's Cut
2) Wild Talents: Progenitor
3) Apocalypse Prevention Inc. - Not the book, but the entire game line.
4) The Crime Network - I had agreed to review the Old Country adventure, but after doing so, I now have the desire to post a review for the base game itself.
5) ION Guard - ICONS Edition
6) ICONS
7) BASH Ultimate Edition
8) ARGHH! Thar Be Zombies

In addition to RPG reviews, I have been posting the TMNT Thursdays, statting out the Ninja Turtles for ICONS.  I've pondered expanding this, with something like Masters of the Universe Monday, covering He-Man and gang, but that's still up in the air.  I don't know for sure just how deep I'll actually go with the Ninja Turtles, but I do know that Casey Jones, Leatherhead, The Rat King and Slash are coming, I'll probably hit Ace Duck, Bloodbath, Wingnut & Screwloose and maybe Cudley the Cowlick in a post together (they were all involved in Stump Wrestling in the Archie comics), as well as Tokka, Rahzar, Tatsu and Super Shredder in a likely "Movie Villains" post.

I'm kicking around other ideas for articles and features for the blog, maybe some Savage Worlds stuff, revisiting my Marvel SAGA houserules and charts, maybe rejiggering them so that they mesh with BASH and ICONS, who knows?

I have at least one more little piece of short fiction I'm going to post, maybe this weekend...one last remnant from my ill-advised return to school.

I am unofficially consulting on two RPG projects, not an area I feel terribly comfortable in, especially when we're focusing on rules because I Am Not A Designer, and trying to design RPG rules makes my head hurt.  I've had a couple of people tell me I should try to do more RPG stuff, but I would only be able to do that working within an existing rules system...I'm just not wired to design at all.

For those who missed it in Oklahoma, my first published comic work - EQUINOX #1 - was released in POD format at IndyPlanet, and DriveThruComics is selling the electronic version.  I wrote the back-up story, "Living in Shadows", which stars HELLRAZER and will hopefully just be the first of many stories I tell with her.  Johnnie Johnson and I are working on a special "commentary" for "Living in Shadows", which will be available at the Equinox Comics website.  Also, this fall my first full comic, HELLRAZER VS VOODOO, will be released as well, which I am VERY excited about.  I co-plotted it with Shawn Cowan, scripted it myself, with art by Johnnie Johnson and Jason Coody as well as colors by Trey Bishop.  Meanwhile, Ben Soto is finishing work on The Curse for EQUINOX #2, which is exciting stuff.

I'm working on what will hopefully be a fun twist on a superhero anthology with three other writers that is in very early planning stages at the moment, and I've received an interesting offer to collaborate on a children's book that I'm going to try to run with as a nice change of pace.

This month I also filed my first stories with Melanie Jordon of Imagine Daily, including an interview with Pinnacle's Shane Hensley...which will hopefully just be the tip of the iceberg for my collaborations with Imagine Daily.  Lining up some features and articles for the October issue, which I'm looking forward to.

I also have another comic project I'm hoping to start very soon, just waiting on my collaborator to get some stuff cleared off of his plate is all.

Oh, and I got an offer for a supersecret RPG playtest opportunity that I've tried not to mention in any way, shape or form, but I'm PSYCHED about, and should know more about within a week.

ANYWAY...thanks for visiting the blog!  I am a bit of a feedback whore, and even if you don't leave comments, I can still see the number of hits and that works alright for me.  Special thanks to Michael Wolf of Stargazer's World,  who not only directed me to the right people to get enrolled into the RPGnow Affiliate Program and Blog Support Program, but also plugged my blog on his site and absolutely spiked my readership, and I can't say thanks enough for that.

That said, I ask that whenever you can, especially if you like my reviews, use my affiliate links to make your purchases...every little bit not only keeps me blogging, but at the moment it literally keeps my car on the road to my day(night) job.  I've also applied for affiliate status with Lulu, and I really need to properly use my Amazon affiliate status as well.

Looking forward to much more blogging fun!

T.