"Erenshor," is a Single-Player Game That Simulates Being an MMORPG; That Sounds Strange and Interesting!

I used to dabble in Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games, back when I had a lot more time to burn. I'm old enough to have dipped my toe into, "Ultima Online," and never played, "Everquest," but recall how huge it was. Then, of course, it seems like we've all played a significant chunk of, "World of Warcraft," at some point in our lives. Still, those games can be a huge time-sink and other players can be heavily dependent on you to join them for quests/raids if you're in a guild that enjoys those high-intensity dungeons and such. What if you want to play an online game where there is less of a grind and you won't be letting any real people down if you miss a few events? Why not try an MMO...that's actually offline? Enter the intriguing new game, "Erenshor."

"Erenshor," is essentially a single-player MMO. It takes place in a big fantasy land and is full of other players who go questing, trade loots, and level up when you're not around while hanging out with various guilds...except these other players are all NPCs and the game isn't on the internet. Everyone besides you is a, "SimPlayer," with a computer-generated personality, appearance, and the like. It is a game for just you that feels like a big online title but requires a lot less time, dedication, and the like. The graphics look inspired by, "Runescape," and I love the idea of, "An MMORPG...on your time." I can explore a fantasy world that is just like an MMO but has nary the usual stressors of it taking forever to level up, or having to play with a bunch of people to enjoy the best quests/raids/etc.

Looks like an online game, yet it isn't at all!

You can play a demo of, "Erenshor," now on your computer via Steam. The old-school design gives it relatively modest system requirements--although my current setup is so basic it can't run it. Do please give the demo a try and let me know how it is. If I get a slightly more juicy computer in the future I'd definitely give, "Erenshor," a try sometime either via its demo or once development is complete.

Today's Quad Con in Saint Charles was Stellar!

 

Whenever the Quad Con comes to town I get excited. The Saint Charles one is always held at the Steel Shop Event Center and is a hoot. Full of vendors, creators, and other cool folks, you can spend a bunch of time having fun at any Quad Con show--and that is just what I did today! I made new friends and saw old chums, bought a bit of cool stuff, and otherwise found the show to be quite an enjoyable experience. I'll share some highlights below...

I saw some of my good friends that I often run into at other shows. My chums I had the pleasure of chatting with included John Chaffee of Bigfoot Comics, Spike from Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles, Marcus Mosley, Eric and Tricia of STL Comics, Larry of Bug's Comics, the good folks of Comic Book Relief and That Comic Book Guy. I also was excited to see my good friend Jack Thomas of Fortress Comics. He was kind enough to pose for a photo with his impressive wares:

There were even more vendors of comics/toys/Funko Pops/etc. as the show was packed with folk selling cool items. I met the vendors of Magnitude 10 Comics for the first time and they had a cool giveaway they were doing! Besides folk selling wares, a lot of cool folks who made neat items were present too. The cool fellows of Biff! Bam! Boom! Comics were there and always a treat to speak with. Friend of the blog Ria Leso was at Quad Con, promoting her cool works including the upcoming release of issue 2 from, "The Sleepless Ones," comic. Here she is with her cool banner:

I met Matthew Kreke, an author of the young adult book, "Beacon--The Hero of the Heartland," as well as, "The Night Slayers," comic. The show was really big and I was busy checking all the cool booths for sure, and during the show I made the acquaintance of Marisa Carbonell of Mariposa. She had a ton of cool stickers, bookmarks, and so forth featuring her artwork. Here is a picture of her cool booth:

This Quad Con in Saint Charles was immense fun. The show was packed with vendors, creators, some cool cosplay, and everyone was having a great time! I already look forward to the next one in this region on April 13th, 2025. Thank you again to the folks behind Quad Con for having me attend as it was superb!

The Variety Saint Louis Trunk-or-Treat Event Was Great Fun!

I've written about the wonderful organization here in Saint Louis known as Variety on a previous occasion. They help families in a multitude of ways and were kind enough to highlight how their assistance in getting Clarkson his Novachat device was incredibly helpful when it came to his communication skills. Variety held a Trunk-or-Treat event today and it was a lot of fun!

Samii, Clarkson, Gibson, and I all drove to the event and our good friend Emily met us there to do the trunk-or-treating with us! Clarkson loved one spot where they had made slime (as seen above). He kept making faces as he touched it but didn't want to stop! Everyone loved his Halloween-themed shirt as well with bats on it.

Gibson and Samii had fun outfits themed for the event as well, with Samii sporting a Jack-o'-lantern shirt and Gibson dressing as Donald Duck--he got lots of compliments for his adorable outfit. I need to make sure to thank our friends Doug and Rachel who gifted us the getup! Here is a better look at the boys in their clothing before we left--I tried to crop out the cat the best I could who desperately tried to pop into the picture:

Variety's trunk-or-treat event was fantastic! The cars were all decorated wonderfully with an assortment of themes, everyone was incredibly nice, and the weather was about as perfect as one could have hoped for today. We want to thank Variety for all they do and look forward to attending more fun shindigs they have throughout the year!

Flashback Friday: "Hellspawn," Was a Horrifyingly Good Read

D. Emerson Eddy of The Comics Beat reminded me of a great little series the other day with one of their, "Classic Comic Compendium," articles. It was, "Hellspawn." Published by Image, it was an out-of-continuity series that hard Brian Michael Bendis writing and Ashely Wood providing art before Steve Niles took over writing and Ben Templesmith provided illustrations to close the 16 issue run out. It's creepy, ominous, and while I'm a big fan of Niles and Templesmith, I'm a huge fan of Wood's art and when Bendis' writing is on, it is good. This is an example of some quality Bendis storytelling.

I've always said I enjoy, "Spawn," comics the most when Todd McFarlane isn't writing them. This isn't meant as an outright insult to McFarlane either. McFaralne is an incredible artist and has some stellar ideas. I just don't think his writing/scripting is the absolute best. When other people take his ideas and run with them, however, the result is generally awesome. Whether it is how David Michelinie and McFarlane gave us Venom or that the, "Toddfather," and his Spawn helped create some cool stories when other folks wrote the character--such as, "Hellspawn," and other works (Alan Moore of all people kind of was slumming but gave us some interesting yarns). 

When McFarlane is mainly doing the art and contributing ideas as opposed to full-on scripting, the results can be pretty snazzy. Hence, I enjoy the character of Spawn the most somewhat paradoxically when McFarlane isn't writing him. "Hellspawn," with its demonic creatures, scary tone, and great dialogue stands as a prime example of that assertion. "Hellspawn," is going to have a new collected edition coming out in March of 2025. I look forward to it and hope that this new printing helps other folks discover a fantastic piece of work.

The Latest IDW Logo is Just Plain Ugly

IDW as a company has been through good times and rough times. They are shifting the focus of the company to go heavier on creator-owned genre works in the realms of horror, superheroes, and mafia tales. I suppose with this change a new logo was called for, and how bad could it be? It was unveiled at New York Comic-Con and, well, look above and marvel at that ugly thing. IDW Comics and Entertainment, you okay?

AIPT was kind and said it was, "Slick," while Creative Bloq felt it was, "Too clever for its own good," in how it uses the I and the D to make a W. Bleedingcool was as eloquent as ever and called it, "Stupid." The thing is hideous, for sure. You have to really stare to see the idea of a W and for a good minute, I thought the company had changed the name to be ID Comics and Entertainment without the W for some reason. The W isn't there, but it kind of is? It's gruesome, ya'll. Someone who thought they were really good at typography came up with that logo, patted themselves on the back, and took the rest of the day off when they actually should've tossed this in the bin as a first-draft failure. 

If you stare long enough you can kind of see the W.

It almost could work with the W being visible to a better degree without the weird slice in the I and D; why is that even there? I have little to no artistic skill, so if I think your logo is an epic fail that is saying something. I'm sorry to pile on with most folks here...but that thing is just nasty. No, IDW, just no.

A New Printing of, "The Filth," Has Been Released, so Go Buy it!

"The Filth," is a creator-owned comic that was published over 13 issues by DC's Vertigo imprint (when it existed). Written by Grant Morrison with art by Chris Weston and colors provided by Gary Erskine, it is my absolute favorite thing Morrison ever wrote--and they've written a ton of stellar comics. Describing, "The Filth," is incredibly difficult as there is a lot going on within its pages. Basically, it focuses on a secret organization known as the Hand who serve the World by removing or recruiting those who could pose a danger to the stability and safety of society. This results in stories about a massive cruise ship that descends into violent chaos, a hyper-fertile porn star with amnesia, living inks being used to create comic-book-inspired weapons, a Russian chimp that claims to have killed JFK, and more! Now, thanks to DC, you can get a new 2024 edition of, "The Filth!"

I don't use the word, "Masterpiece," a lot, but, "The Filth," is one. I'm pleased that DC has re-released this amazing comic--now under their, "Black Label." This printing also includes some extra content including pieces of artwork that did not appear in the original comic due to it being a bit too risque but which was included in certain other printings as backmatter--so if you like bonus stuff, this publication has it! The only strange thing is multiple sections refer to Morrison with male pronouns and a chunk of years ago they came out as nonbinary--a bit of an editorial oversight. I understand old review quotes would use he/him terms, but the biographic section too? That note aside, go get yourself a copy of this newest printing of, "The Filth," and enmesh yourself in its amazing weirdness.

"Heavy Metal," Magazine to Return in 2025

There was never much of an official announcement, "Heavy Metal," magazine just kind of ended with a whimper. It was a bummer as the magazine had been through so many highs and lows, and petered out in 2023. The publication sometimes had really thoughtful and mature comics. Sometimes it was mostly boobs, butts, guns, and sci-fi-influenced mixtures of the three in an effort to be experimental and erotic. It was always an interesting publication, however, from the early days in the 70s all the way to when Grant Morrison was briefly at the helm later in its term. The thing is, when I wrote about the end of, "Heavy Metal," (linked above) I did say how barring some unforeseen rising from the ashes of failure like a mythical phoenix I thought it was done. I guess the Phoneix is rising because--you guessed it--"Heavy Metal," is due for a return.

Heavy Metal International has CEO Marhsall Lees confirming the magazine shall relaunch in 2025. Frank Forte will be the Editor-in-Chief, Dave Kelly the new Executive Editor, and Chris Thompson the Editorial Manager. Preorders for the extra-big first issue shall be done via Kickstarter (which will also offer limited edition covers and such). I hope this relaunch is successful so that creators who want to make weird and interesting stuff have a platform to do so for the fans that want to buy the aforementioned interesting and weird stuff. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for more information as well--such as when the Kickstarter launches and who will be contributing to this new debut issue!

The Hot Comics Revue 19--Talking Absolutes With Batman

"Absolute Batman," was promoted heavily as a part of DC's new, "Absolute," line. Stores ordered tons of copies. It sold out the first printing at the distributor level but that happens with plenty of comics that sit on store shelves. People on Reddit and in my comic forums scoffed at the idea such a, "Big," book could heat up significantly. AND YET! Comic stores found that even if they went heavy on the first issue, people wanted it, and now the shelves are bare in many places. 

Absolute Batman's cover A.

The comic is getting really good reviews with its fresh take on Batman by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta and that mixed with curiosity from fans and regular folks hearing about it has resulted in a run on the book. Supply has dried up of a book that should have--in theory--been clogging up dollar bins in a year from being supposedly so overprinted. Still, the A cover of, "Absolute Batman," keeps climbing in popularity and price to the point people will pay 20 or 25 bucks for it online. Will this book keep gaining in popularity? Will it fizzle? Could it end up being like a, "Spawn," #1 where even though tons of copies exist it always sells for $20-$30 over the decades? I don't know, but I can say this book is currently quite hot and everybody wants a piece. A second and third printing are already coming and this has interest piqued in the other, "Absolute," books coming down the pipeline too.

Other incoming titles.

I was able to grab a copy of, "Absolute Batman," as the variant covers are still pretty cheap for now. I plan to read it once I have some time to sit back and properly enjoy it. I dug the, "DC All-in Special," so between that and the debut of this new Batman it looks like DC might actually have a hit new line of books on their hands thanks to some great ideas and quality storytelling. Sometimes effort is rewarded, I suppose!

That, "Joker: Folie à Deux," Really Bombed Hard

I didn't see the first, "Joker," movie. It seemed to barely have anything to do with, "Batman," conceptually, and looked like a really negative, sour, and unpleasant movie--even if Joaquin Phoneix is a great actor. The sequel--"Joker: Folie à Deux," looked quite strange but still tonally dark, with the movie becoming a musical, somehow. Then it got awful reviews, had an ending few liked, and technically bombed in theaters as it did come in first at the box office the week it debuted, but didn't make nearly as much as was hoped for. It even has set a record of sorts for the, "'worst second-week box office drop' in comic book movie history," according to the AV Club. It fell off a metaphorical cliff. Everyone is blaming everyone else who was involved with the movie. Is it Phoenix demanding rewrites and new scenes? Is it how Lady Gaga had a lot of scenes cut? Director Todd Philips' refusal to work with the studio and let them offer opinions? 

I think the first, "Joker," movie was a bit of a, "Lightning in a bottle," moment that had people curious enough to check it out. Still, nobody wanted more in the form of, "Joker: Folie à Deux," perhaps. It looked like, "Joker," but with more confusing elements (why a musical?) and narrative shifts to the, "Saga," of this Joker that everybody seems to have hated. The , "Joker, " sequel thankfully is its own, "Elseworlds," kind of tale and not related to the main DC continuity now being built up by James Gunn and Peter Safran. That take on the DC Universe has me more optimistic for a good time than I ever had for these, "Joker," flicks, which just seemed to be saturated with negativity, cynicism, and little else of a point besides saying, "Life sucks, oh well." I don't know who to blame for how badly this sequel went, but this particular take on a DC character is clearly finished and ended as a big ol' awful mess.

The Latest Saint Charles Quad Con is Just Over a Week Away!

I always have a grand time at the Quad Con held in Saint Charles at the Steel Shop Event Center. The next one is a week from tomorrow on October 20th, starting at 10AM (and going until 4PM). It is just $5 to get in with free admission for military and free entry for all after 2:30 PM. The Quad Con always has a metric ton of vendors selling everything from comics, to toys, crafts, trading cards, Funko Pops, vintage video-games, original art, cosplay, and more! I highly encourage anyone in the area to be at the Quad Con on Sunday the 20th, I plan on attending and having a fantastic experience! See you there!