Top Products For August 2013

August was a weak month for comics and graphic novels. Money-wise, as compared with July 2013, comics sales were down 15.30% and graphic novels were also down 24.55%. As compared with August 2012, comics were down 10.39% and graphic novels down 22.09%. Notwithstanding these numbers, the year 2013 is still panning to be a better year overall than 2012. Comparing Year-To-Date 2012 with 2013, comics are up 9.82% and graphic novels are up 6.59%.

TOP 10 COMIC BOOKS
1.  Infinity #1
2.  Superman Unchained #3
3.  Batman #23
4.  Justice League #23
5.  Justice League of America #7
6.  Batman Superman #3
7.  Superior Spider-Man #15
8.  Superior Spider-Man #16
9.  Avengers #18
10.  All-New X-Men #15

TOP 10 GRAPHIC NOVELS
1.  The Walking Dead Vol. 1: Days Gone By (TP)
2.  Chew Volume 7: Bad Apples (TP)
3.  Rocket Raccoon: Tales From The Half World (TP)
4.  Saga Vol. 1 (TP)
5.  Saga Vol. 2 (TP)
6.  My Little Pony Digest Vol. 1 (TP)
7.  Deadpool Volume 2: Soul Hunter (TP)
8.  Superior Spider-Man Volume 2: Troubled Mind (TP)
9.  The Flash Volume 1: Move Forward (TP)
10.  B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth Volume 6 (TP)

TOP 10 TOYS
1.  The Walking Dead Series 2 Action Figures
2.  Batman: Arkham City: Solomon Grundy Deluxe Action Figures
3.  Batman: Hush: The Joker/Harley Quinn/Stealth Batman Action Figure 3-Pack
4.  Man Of Steel Play Arts KAI: Superman Action Figure
5.  Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Unbound Fine Art Statute
6.  DC Comics: Wonder Woman "New 52" ArtFX+ Statute
7.  Man Of Steel Play Arts KAI: General Zod Action Figure
8.  Batman: Arkham Asylum: The Joker with Scarface Action Figure Pack
9.  Injustice: Nightwing vs. Superman Figure 2-Pack
10.  Batman: Arkham Asylum: Harley Quinn Action Figure

TOP 10 GAMES
1.  Marvel HeroClix: Wolverine And The X-Men Booster Brick
2.  BioShock Infinite HeroClix
3.  Marvel HeroClix: Fear Itself: The Mighty Scenario
4.  Kick-Ass 2 HeroClix
5.  Pathfinder Battles: Skull & Shackles Booster Brick
6.  Star Trek: Attack Wing Starter Set
7.  BioShock Infinite HeroClix Starter Set
8.  Risk Legacy
9.  The Lone Ranger HeroClix
10.  Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Judgment of the Light Booster

*The statistics above were compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from a universe of over 3,500 comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. The account base includes brick-and-mortar comic book specialty shops, Internet merchants, and other specialty stores.

Saga Wins Three Eisner Awards, One Hugo Award, And Six Harvey Awards

Saga, Vol. 1, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' science fiction graphic novel about two star-crossed soldiers on opposite sides of an intergalactic war who fall in love and become fugitives when their pregnancy is discovered, won the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. Other winners include The Avengers, Game of Thrones,and Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas.

The other nominees that lost to Saga, Vol. 1, included: Howard Tayler and Travis Walton's Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia (Hypernode Media); Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez's Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks (IDW Publishing); Paul Cornell, Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudzuka's Saucer Country, Vol. 1: Run (Vertigo); and Bryan Talbot's Grandville Bete Noir (Dark Horse).

Saga has become a truly groundbreaking book, particularly because it is not about zombies and, yet, has gained new heights of popularity. In July of this year, Saga won Eisner awards for "Best New Series", "Best Continuing Series", and "Best Writer".  Saga, Vol. 1, was nominated for 7 Harvey Awards, of which it won 6: "Color", "New Series", "Best Writer, "Best Artist", "Best Single Issue or Story" (for Saga #1), and "Best Continuing or Limited Series".

HBO's True Blood Will End in 2014

After seven seasons, HBO's True Blood will come to an end in 2014, after a 10-episode season.  True Blood used to be a huge hit for a HBO, but has since been opaqued by Game of Thrones.

Based on Charlaine Harris' The Southern Vampire Mystery series, True Blood centers around the adventures of telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who lives in the fictional Louisiana small town of Bon Temps at a time when vampires co-exist with humans. The show averaged 10.6 million users per episode for its sixth season.

Products tied to the True Blood series include comics and graphic novels from IDW Publishing and trading cards from Rittenhouse. True Blood: Night Eternal, a card game, will be released by Cryptozoic Entertainment this fall.

Star Wars RPG: Suns Of Fortune

The fourth quarter of 2013 will see the release of another sourcebook for Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. The upcoming book, Suns of Fortune, will focus on the Corellian sector and the vehicles it is famous for.

The setting described in Suns of Fortune is famous for being the birthplace of smuggler extraordinaire Han Solo, as well as Wedge Antilles. It is a region of space struggling to remain independent during the Empire's consolidation of power.

Suns of Fortune will feature nine "modular encounters" for the Game Master to integrate into his Edge of the Empire campaign, as well as dozens of new vehicles and three new alien species. SRP will be $39.95.

Bad Break - A Graphic Novel Review

The following review of Philippe Riche's 'Bad Break' graphic novel was made by Nathan Wilson and published in the September 11, 2013, issue of ICv2.

Bad Break HC
Publisher: Humanoids
Release Date: August 2013
Price: $29.95
Creator: Philippe Riche
Format: 216 pgs., B&W, 7.7" x 10.5", Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-5946-5047-5
Age Rating: Teens/Adult
ICv2 Rating: 4 out of 5
 
The sense of levity and brand of humor Philippe Riche brings with his latest book Bad Break is a welcome, albeit not-fully-realized, follow-up to his Alliance of the Curious, published by Humanoids in 2012.
 
Originally released as Pas de Chance by Les Humanoides Associes, Bad Break is a bizarre inversion of the traditional crime story.  Billed as noir, Bad Break's connection to the genre label is tenuous at best.  While cast in chiaroscuro-heavy black and white art with deep greytones, Bad Break is better described as neo-noir due in large part to the repeated utilization of flashbacks, the at times convoluted narrative, and the infusion of ridiculous and comical exploits faced by the three protagonists.  The end result, however, is mixed as some audiences may find that Riche is trying too hard in forcing together such varied story elements.
 
Fans of classic crime will revel in Riche's opening, unfolding tale.  In fact, within the first forty pages, Bad Break mirrors the recent graphic noir of Eric Skillman and Jhomar Soriano's Liar's Kiss as well as Andy Diggle and Victor Ibanez's The Rat Catcher--a mysterious, bandaged stranger needing assistance, a disturbed, blind auto-parts dealer, and an ever-helpful , unworldly assistant who becomes entrapped in the stranger's presumably criminal endeavors.  It is when Riche diverges from these noir tropes and delves into redundant flashbacks that Bad Break's source of strength and innovation also becomes a weakness to the evolving plot.
 
Readers familiar with Riche's Alliance of the Curious will immediately recognize the trio of misfit heroes in Bad Break.  Interestingly, Bad Break is a prequel to the adventures of Ernst-Lazare, Simon, and Rebecca.  Here, Lazare is the injured man, Simon the assistant who aids him, and Rebecca a porn star with a tattoo that holds the secret to a mystery involving a sailor, a tropical island, and an indigenous creation story.  The greatest problem for Bad Break, however, is that the mystery is not all that mysterious or interesting.
 
Bad Break's moments of strength arrive when the trio is pitted against each other, in the humorous beats and sequences as they get to know each other or survive assault from tribal assailants.  The dilemma is that these are few and far between as Riche devotes greater attention to backstory through repeated flashbacks that distract and do a disservice to the characters he has created.  These narrative flaws could be excused or even lessened if Riche employed a more diverse and fluid page layout.  As it stands, Bad Break routinely cycles through the same panel designs on each page, which reduces the grace, clarity, and sharpness of his line found in Alliance.  The consequence is a monotone visual palette that sometimes lacks the proper narrative punch these characters deserve.  
 
Yet, there is enough of the good with Ernst, Simon, and Rebecca to warrant giving Bad Break close attention.  Riche's distinctive voice and vision should be commended, and along with Alliance of the Curious, he has created an ongoing saga with these characters that demands a stage with American readers. 
 
--Nathan Wilson

The Devil's Spine - A Numenera Supplement

The end of August saw Monte Cook Games new RPG Numenera hit retail stores after a very successful Kickstarter campaign. October will see the release of The Devil's Spine, an adventure campaign book for Numenera.

The Devil's Spine was originally conceived as three separate adventures that were stretch goals for the Kickstarter. However, it has now evolved into a 96-page full color softcover book with three distinct adventures. The adventures can be run individually or together in any order as part of a mini campaign. Even if you are not interested in the three adventures, The Devil's Spine also introduces new Ninth World territories that are not covered in the core rulebook, as well as new creatures, characters and items. The suggested retail price is $24.99.  ICv2 summarized the supplement as follows:

"The story revolves around the terrifying Devil's Spine graft which will claim a character's life. If it is removed, the characters will be sent to the Mechanized Tomb, into a web of Viral Transmissions, into uncharted territory when they go Beyond the Maelstrom."

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends you contact The Gaming Pit, Guaynabo, where you can buy both the Numenera RPG: Core Book, Numenera RPG: Players Guide, as well as preorder Numenera RPG: The Devil's Spine. Reserve yours now.

Firefly: Breakin' Atmo' Expansion

Last month, Gale Force 9 premiered its Firefly: The Game board game during Gen Con 2013. The game is expected to hit retail stores sometime this month. Expecting brisk sales, Gale Force 9 just announced that it will release an expansion to the yet unreleased board game: Breakin' Atmo'.

The Breakin' Atmo' expansion adds 50 new Job and Supply cards, featuring new and challenging missions, such as "Riot Supression - Dock Worker Strike", "Street Sweepers", and "Gentleman's Dueling Sword" (ouch, I hope players have better luck than Capt. Mal in that episode...) Breakin' Atmo' requires Firefly: The Game to play.  It is not a stand-alone expansion.

Breakin' Atmo' is expected to be at your friendly local game store in November.  Suggested retail price is $11.99.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends you contact The Gaming Pit, Guaynabo, where both Firefly: The Game and Breakin' Atmo' have been preordered in limited quantities. Reserve yours now.

Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak & Toxic City Mall

Zombicide publisher CoolMiniOrNot will release two follow up games to its highly successful Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter project. You need not miss out on all the fun just because you did not fund the Zombicide Season 2 Kickstarter project. Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak will be a standalone follow up to the hit and totally sold out original Zombicide game, while Zombicide: Toxic City Mall will be an expansion compatible with both Zombicide and Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak.

Like the original game, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak is a cooperative game where players take the role of survivors, each with a unique ability, who must use teamwork and their unique abilities to complete varying and challenging scenarios while evading or killing ever increasing zombie hordes. Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak includes 10 missions on 10 maps, and like with the original Zombicide, players can create their own missions and maps.

Following on Zombicide's steps, Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak will include nine reversible prison-themed map tiles, 90 miniatures (including six survivors and zombvivors (where players get to continue playing as zombies) and a new berserker zombie), new equipment cards (baseball bats, shotguns, katanas, concrete saws, and gunblades), and tokens that customize missions, such as a rotating security gate. The game is for 1 to 6 players ages 13 and up, and retails for $99.99.

The expansion Zombicide: Toxic City Mall takes place in a shopping mall (duh!).  It also includes 10 missions, new tiles and new equipment (hollow point bullets!), and the dreaded new Toxic Zombies. Zombicide: Toxic City Mall introduces a new Ultrared mode, super weapons, and allows players killed by zombies to continue playing as zombvivors.

The expansion includes 4 mall-themed reversible tiles, 43 miniatures (including four new survivors with both their human and zombvivor states, as well as zombvivor versions of the original Zombicide survivors), 29 equipment cards, tokens to improve missions, and new rues and game modes. It requires either Zombicide or Zombicide Season 2: Prison Outbreak to play. Zombicide: Toxic City Mall is for 1 to 6 players ages 13 and up, plays in about 60 minutes and has a retail price of $49.99.

Is DC Comics A Sinking Boat?

A few months ago, James Robinson announced that he was leaving DC Comics. Robinson's departure came on the heel of Rob Liefeld, Andy Diggle, Joshua Hale Fiakov, and Tony Daniels, who had also left DC Comics because of editorial defections. Now, J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman are leaving Batwoman after issue #26, also because of conflicts over editorial decisions:

"Unfortunately, in recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series[.]

We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc's origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman's heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end. [...]

We can't reliably do our best work if our plans are scrapped at the last minute, so we're stepping aside."

With the above, Williams and Blackman leave what they both call "a dream project for both of us". Despite the number of departures from DC, their co-publisher Warner Bros. stated during a Comic-Con interview that departures are "the normal course of business" and that "it's actually been a little bit less in the last decade than it's ever been."

Blue Moon Legends - All Expansions Included

Reinier Kinzia's Blue Moon is a 2-player card game where players struggle to gain allies, raise an army and earn the favor of the elemental dragons to establish their claim to the throne. Gameplay can be complex as players must learn to use leadership and booster cards, all the while remembering to keep enough power in their hands to ward off attacks.

Fantasy Flight Games recently announced the upcoming release of Blue Moon Legends. At a MSRP of $49.95, Blue Moon Legends will include every deck expansion ever released for the Blue Moon game. This will give players the option of playing any of the nine pre-constructed "people" decks or constructing their own deck from a collection of almost 300 "people" cards.

Blue Moon Legends contains one game board, one basic rulebook, one Advance Concepts booklet with rules for deck customization, close to 350 bridge-sized cards, three plastic dragon figures, and nine plastic crystals.

$16,000 For New Mutants #98

Today, Deadpool has his own comic book series and a movie adaptation is also in the works. However, Marvel's "Merc with a mouth" made its debut appearance in the February 1991 issue of New Mutants #98. In what could quite possibly be a record for books published from 1985 to the present, a mint copy (graded "10") of New Mutants #98 sold for almost $16,000 at a recent Comiclink auction.

Hopefully, FOX will take notice of Deadpool's growing popularity and will push forward with the many times delayed feature film. Undoubtedly, the future of the Deadpool film will be affected by the 2014 release of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Poor box office performance of the upcoming X-Men feature film will in all likelihood seal Deadpool's future with FOX.

'March' Civil Rights Graphic Novel Hits #1

March Book One is the first volume in Congressman John Lewis' autobiographical series about the U.S. civil rights movement. Not only is March Book One getting a massive amount of press, last week it hit #1 in the New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller List. The fact that former President Bill Clinton gave the book his recommendation surely helped matters.

Besides Presidential seal of approval, Congressman John Lewis has been busy making the media rounds. Earlier last month, he appeared on Colbert Report and NPR, and last week he appeared in CNN's Newsroom, CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley, NBC's Meet the Press with David Gregory, CBS' Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, BBC's World News America, PBS' Charlie Rose, and CNN's The Lead with Jake Tapper.

If you are in Puerto Rico and are interested in obtaining the best in graphic novels, Bad DM recommends you visit The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, and Paladin Books and Games, in Isabela.

King of Tokyo - Halloween

Iello announced Halloween, a limited and spooky expansion for its hit game board game King of Tokyo. The expansion will add two new monsters to the game: Pumpkin Jack and Boogie Woogie. Each monster will have eight personal evolution cards, as well as a new evolution card feature that will allow players to pass evolution cards to other players.

King of Tokyo - Halloween will also include 12 new power and costume cards to allow your monsters to look scary, a set of 6 orange and black engraved dice, and a promo card for the as of yet unnamed King of Tokyo stand alone game programmed game planned for 2014.

Considering the name of the new monsters, one can only wonder how much Iello designers were influenced by Jack "The Pumpkin King" Skellington and Oogie Boogie, from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Sons Of Anarchy Board Game

If you were at Gen Con last month, you had the opportunity to buy an advance copy of Gale Force 9's new board game Firefly: The Game. Inside the box, Gale Force 9 was inserting the Sons of Anarchy teaser page you see on the left side of this article. It seems Gale Force 9 has purchased the right to produce a board game based on Sons of Anarchy, the FX Network motorcycle gang show starring Charlie Hunnam and Katey Segal, and which has averaged 4.9 million viewers per week.

The release of the Sons of Anarchy board game is expected for the end of 2013 or early 2014. Until then, you can supplement your thirst for Sons of Anarchy by reading the Sons of Anarchy comics, the first of which is expected to ship at the end of this month.

Warhammer: Lizardmen Army Book

Long before the rise of Elves, Dwarfs, or Men, the Lizardmen existed deep in the jungles of Lustria. A dangerous civilization of hulking reptilian warriors and gargantuan monsters, led by the bloated Slann, they seek to restore order to the world and will mercilessly punish any who stand in their way!

Detailing the story of the rise and fall of the Lizardmen and their place in the Old World, this hardcover Warhammer Army Book also includes descriptions of, and rules for, the forces of the Lizardmen, the monsters that are contained within their armies, and their special characters, as well as a comprehensive army list to help you muster your Lizardmen collection into a battle-ready force, and a stunning showcase of expertly painted Lizardmen Citadel miniatures, with variant color schemes.

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Wrath of the Righteous Part 1 - The Worldwound Incursion

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Wrath of the Righteous Part 1 – The Worldwound Incursion

For over a hundred years, the demon-infested Worldwound has warred against humanity, their Abyssal armies clashing with crusaders, barbarians, mercenaries, and heroes along the border of lost Sarkoris. But when one of the magical wardstones that helps hedge the demons into their savage realm is sabotaged, the border city of Kenabres is attacked and devastated by a demonic army. Can a small band of heroes, destined for mythic greatness, survive long enough to hold back the forces of chaos and evil until the cavalry arrives?

A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 1st-level characters, The Worldwound Incursion begins the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path.

Pathfinder Item Cards: Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path

Be they lost relics of prior crusades, sinister weapons liberated from demonic forces, or ancient wonders from a land murdered by the formation of the Worldwound, this deck presents a trove of treasures for use in your Wrath of the Righteous campaign. Each of this set's 54 beautifully illustrated, full-color cards includes space on the back to add notes for each item, allowing players to track their favorite treasures.

If you are in Puerto Rico, Bad DM recommends you visit The Gaming Pit, in Guaynabo, to get a copy of Wrath of the Righteousness Part 1: The Worldwound Incursion and Pathfinder Item Cards: Wrath of the Righteous.