Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

What’s In Winnipeg – Trip Overview

Posted in Life Lately by

The running joke of my trip to Winnipeg was “What’s in Winnipeg”. My husband was kind of along for the ride. He has been to Canada before specifically Toronto, but didn’t have an idea as to what could be in Winnipeg. Since Winnipeg is within driving distance of the Twin Cities, I figured it would be fun to go and check it out. As someone who has never been to Canada before, I wanted to be able to use my passport. For what it’s worth, I think Winnipeg was fun to visit and I’d be open to going back again.

[Image is a welcome center with a huge sign that says Manitoba with the Canadian flag. A woman is standing in front of the sign smiling]

To get to Winnipeg from the Twin Cities, we had to drive to Fargo, go straight north through Grand Forks, to finally cross the border into Canada. Winnipeg is in Manitoba which is the province directly above North Dakota. This was one of the most boring drives I have ever been on. I think I have burned my husband out from road trips. Oops. As we entered Canada, we were greeted with the Manitoba welcome sign which I politely asked my husband to take a picture of me in front of the sign. I can now officially say that I have been to Canada.

[Image shows a warehouse type building with several upper walkways. In the middle, are several tables and chairs. There are shops inside with banners pointing out their business]

One of the first things we did in Winnipeg was to check out The Forks. The Forks is an indoor market with several local shops and businesses. We found several coffee shops along with a breakfast cafe inside. While The Forks advertises itself as an indoor market, it’s so much bigger than that. There’s a riverfront and a small stage for live music. It was cool to walk around and see everything. Inside The Forks, there was a bookstore which made me happy. Of course, I bought a few books.

[Image shows downtown Winnipeg. Off to the left, there's a huge blue building with a tower on top. To the right, there's a red stage that says "CN" Several tents are posted below with various vendors selling things]

Another notable thing to do in Winnipeg is the Canadian Human Rights Museum. The Canadian Human Rights Museum is the blue building off to the left and a core staple of downtown Winnipeg. There are seven floors to the museum including the tower that you can walk up to. This museum was gorgeous! There are glowing yellow stone ramps that lead to each section of the museum. There were several sections that included the Holocaust, missing Indigenous women, and a section on LGBTQIA+ rights. There were sections of the museum that were difficult to process. There was one story I read in the Holocaust section about a boxer named Johann Trollmann. He was forced to fight in a “German” style of boxing. In protest, he put flour on his skin and died his hair blonde to mimic the Aryan look. He was taken to a Concentration Camp where he was killed. Reading stories like this makes you realize how one small act of defiance can be so powerful. There were several stories that stuck with me and I still think about even weeks after visiting this museum.

[Image shows yellow stone like walkways that proceed up the museum]

In between various activities, me and my husband visited a few breweries including Brazen Hall Kitchen & Brewery, Lake of the Woods, and Barn Hammer Brewery. Barn Hammer had live music when we were there which was great to listen to. Lake of the Woods was right in the heart of downtown. Brazen Hall was a little more out of the way but had great food. I had a Juicy IPA that I liked.

The one other thing that I wanted to mention was we went to several board game stores and a board game cafe while we were there. Across the street from Barn Hammer Brewery was A Muse N Games. My husband commented that A Muse N Games was one of the nicest board game stores that he has ever been in. There were several shelves with board games, and all of the Dungeons & Dragons merchandise was located in the back. There were two people who came up to us asking if we were looking for anything specific. I ended up buying a new set of dice with seals in them along with a card game. I would go back to Winnipeg solely to visit A Muse N Games again.

The board game cafe that we went to was Across The Board. Across the Board was huge! There were a lot of tables and close to 100+ different games to play. There were a lot of menu options too which I wasn’t expecting. It was the perfect place to have lunch and unwind while on vacation.

Once me and my husband drove home, I asked him what he thought about Winnipeg and he said he had a lot of fun. I think Winnipeg is not the first choice when thinking about visiting Canada, but I do think there’s a lot worth seeing.

[Image is of me and my husband with the Winnipeg sign in the background]

May the 4th Be With You 2023 Plan Recap

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches, Gaming, Reading/Books by

I’m excited to write this post. I was pretty ambitious with my Star Wars plan last month and I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do. This includes having two weekends last month when I was out of town. I wanted to share what my goals were and where I ended up.

Books and Comics

[Image is a book cover. It's Master & Apprentice Claudia Gray. It shows Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan holding their lightsabers next to each other]

I originally wanted to read three books; Master & Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Star Wars Leia: Princess of Alderaan also by Claudia Gray, and Star Wars Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson. I ended up only finishing Master & Apprentice. Master & Apprentice was really good! I liked how it added depth to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s working partnership. It’s clear that there are differences in how they feel about the Jedi Order. I liked the story and there was a twist that felt fitting to some of the tonality of the book. I rated Master & Apprentice five stars on Goodreads.

For the other two books, I’m going to try and work them into my TBR throughout the year which I think I will start doing from here on out. Normally, if I don’t finish a Star Wars book in May, I save it for next year, but instead, I think I want to still aim to read them by the end of the year.

Movies & TV

This is perhaps the most exciting part of this post, but I finally finished watching Star Wars: Clone Wars!!!!! It has taken me two years to watch all seven seasons which feels like a long time. I’m glad I took the time because seasons #4 – #7 are so worth watching. They include finding Maul alive, Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order, and how the show builds into Order 66.

It’s fitting to watch Clone Wars now since Ahsoka is set to release on Disney+ in August. I’m still not over how Ahsoka saves Rex in the last few episodes of season #7. I’d love to see Rex appear in Ahsoka.

Since I spent my time watching Clone Wars, I didn’t do a rewatch of the movies.

Gaming

[Image is a video game poster for Jedi Fallen Order. It shows Cal holding his blue light saber with a red light saber in the background.]

Okay, so I didn’t finish Jedi Fallen Order, however, I’m much farther in the game than I was when I played in 2020. I am enjoying Jedi Fallen Order a lot more than when I played the first time. I think part of it is mindset since 2020 was a whole thing. Another thought was I had more of an expectation this time around. I wasn’t prepared for the difficulty when I played the first time, and now, I was prepared.

I’m planning on finishing Jedi Fallen Order before the end of the year and I do plan on moving onto Jedi Survivor right away.

I’m thrilled with how everything turned out! As far as what’s next, I have my books lined up for this month that I want to read. I want to continue playing Jedi Fallen Order and finally, I think I want to watch Star Wars Rebels along with The Legend of Vox Machina.

Chainsaw Man Vol #1 – Dog and Chainsaw

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image features two cosplayers. The first has a red helmet with a chainsaw protruding from it. There are two chainsaws on both arms. The other cosplayer is in full armor with a red cape]

When I was at Planet Comicon this year, I saw a Chainsaw cosplay which was really cool looking. I had no idea where this was from. A friend pointed it out to me and said it was from a manga and anime series called Chainsaw Man. My interest was piqued and I was able to find a copy of the first volume of Chainsaw Man. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Chainsaw Man is a gore filled revenge story featuring the cutest chainsaw dog I have ever seen.

Image is a manga cover called "Chainsaw Man #1" It feature a man in a suit and black dress slacks chainsawing and stepping over people]

Chainsaw Man centers around Denji who is trying to pay off his father’s debt. He partners with the Yakuza by working as a devil hunter. Denji finds friendship in Pochita, a devil dog with a chainsaw on the top of its head. Eventually, Denji is betrayed by the Yakuza and is saved by Pochita. Pochita lives within Denji and when Denji becomes threatened, he can become the Chainsaw Man. Denji can’t keep his newly acquired abilities secret which leads him to be recruited to be a devil hunter for the government. As Denji gets more involved in professional devil hunting, he realizes that the people he’s working for may also have their own agenda in Denji’s life.

Let’s be real, Pochita is the cutest demon dog I have ever seen! I would continue reading this series for Pochita and that’s it. Pochita is the demon Denji befriends early on and becomes a major reason why Denji is able to turn into Chainsaw Man. Besides Pochita, I felt that the first volume was a lot of build-ups. There isn’t a whole lot revealed about the other characters and their backstories. I’d be curious to read more about Makima, the woman who is leading Denji’s team. It seems like she’s up to something and it’s difficult to interpret whether it’s good or bad. I will say that even though there’s a lot of story-building in the first volume, I read through it pretty quickly. Each chapter had its own adventure which I found interesting.

I think the only thing that bothered me or got old fast was Denji’s obsession with boobs. This feels stereotypical of a manga series or character where there’s a male protagonist who is obsessed with women and their bodies. I don’t think this ruined the experience of reading Chainsaw Man, but it was constantly mentioned a lot about Denji wanted to be with a woman. I’m curious if that will exist in future volumes or if Denji will mature and grow up.

With all of that being said, I liked Chainsaw Man a lot and I would continue on in the series. I rated Chainsaw Man Vol #1 four stars on Goodreads.

Gotham Knights – Review

Posted in Gaming by
[Image is a video game cover. The image shows four people walking in a street. The city is glowing bright purple and pink. The individuals are all in masks and carry a variety of different weapons.]

I have been looking forward to Gotham Knights since the game was originally announced. I loved the idea of being able to play as members of the Bat Family, especially Batgirl. I was hoping for Gotham Knights to be Batman Arkham Knight 2.0. I think many other gamers were thinking the same thing based on comments I had been reading online. As of right now, Gotham Knights is rated 6/10 on Steam and 73% of gamers liked the game. I can only speak for myself in saying that I enjoyed playing through Gotham Knights, but I don’t think the game is as good as I wanted it to be.

Gotham Knights has an incredible opening sequence featuring Batman fighting against Ra’s al Ghul. During the fight, Batman is mortally wounded. With no way out, he sets off the Batcave’s self-destruction sequence, trapping himself and Ra’s in the rubble. The Bat Family (Red Hood, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin) come together to become the Gotham Knights with the intent of continuing what Batman started. While following up on one of Batman’s leads, they discover a scientist, Kirk Langstrom, murdered. This sets the Knights on a path of lies and treachery in uncovering The Court of Owls an elite group operating in Gotham. If that wasn’t enough, Talia al Ghul and the League have also been making an appearance. Can The Knights prevent an all-out war that could leave Gotham in ruins?

I already know that this review is going to be biased. I loved playing as Batgirl. She was easily my favorite. If I wasn’t playing as Batgirl, I would alternate between her and Nightwing. I did try to give the other heroes a chance, but Batgirl always remained supreme. I think being able to interchange between each of the Bat Family helped as each of their powers was better equipped for certain combat scenarios. I think one of my favorite powers to unlock later was Batgirl being able to pull up her own drones that would fire on enemies. It was very powerful and I activated that ability a lot.

The combat in Gotham Knights didn’t feel as smooth as it was in Batman Arkham Knight. There were times when the game would glitch during an intense fight scene which was annoying. I would have to grapple away until the game would be better and then try and start over in the fight. I do feel that the characters in Gotham Knights could handle firepower better than Batman Arkham Knight. There was more stealth in the Batman games whereas in Gotham Knights, I could enter a combat scenario even if the enemies were carrying assault weapons. As someone who isn’t a stealthy type of gamer, this worked well for me.

I think the biggest gripe I would have about Gotham Knights is the leveling system. In order for the Bat Family to gain more equipment or powers, there was a need to level up in the game. This got old really quickly. There were times when certain missions, the Bat Family would have to be at a certain level. I would try and play through the level even if I was a little bit below the suggested level and it made a difference. It was much more difficult and intense. I was playing through the game on Medium, as I like the challenge without it being too much. The leveling system was grueling in my opinion and I felt I had to do side quests to level up quicker when really I would have preferred to finish the main story first without interruption. I wish Gotham Knights wasn’t made as an RPG and instead, a story that gets increasingly more difficult as the levels progress.

At this point, I haven’t actually finished the full campaign. I have the last bit with the Man-Bats attacking Gotham. I tried to get past them and it was brutal. The Man-Bats are difficult and there are three of them. Additionally, if the Bat Family uses all their health packs, they don’t get any more unless they go back to their hideout which may reset the progress made, but I’m not 100% sure on that. It was enough that I needed to take a break from the game. I honestly may drop the difficulty mode to get past this section.

I had a fun time playing through Gotham Knights. It wasn’t the Batman Arkham Knight sequel I was looking forward to, but I’m still glad it exists and I enjoyed playing through the game.

Gen Con Events Schedule

Posted in Life Lately by

Last Sunday was the Gen Con Events schedule sign-up. Gen Con has hundreds of gaming and non-gaming events to choose from. To ensure that there aren’t too many players at one table, events need to be pre-registered in advance by acquiring event tickets. The Event sign-up process can be a little stressful as the sign-up opens at a particular time and everyone is trying to acquire their tickets at once. While I thought I clicked the button fast enough, I was still the 1100th person in the queue. It took about an hour, but I was finally able to sign up for events. I wanted to share a preview of my schedule for Gen Con this year.

Before I go into this further, I wanted to share what I’m doing differently for Gen Con this year versus the first year I went. The first year I went to Gen Con, I signed up for so many things! While that seems fun, it was overwhelming. Instead, I only have two events per day with Thursday being the day where I signed up for three. There will be plenty of time to roam around the convention, take pictures, and take breaks to eat. I’m feeling good about my event schedule.

Non-Gaming Events

While Gen Con is a gaming convention, there are events that aren’t gaming-related. On Thursday, I signed up for the “Decoding Downtown Indy Walking Tour”. Walking is one of my favorite forms of exercise and while I have been to Indianapolis twice, I don’t know the city that well. I’m looking forward to the activity and getting to know Indianapolis more. The tour is an hour and a half which I think will be a perfect way to start the convention.

Another event that I’m considering, but didn’t sign up for is the 5k. On Friday morning, Gen Con hosts a 5k. One of the main reasons that’s holding me back is that I’m not a runner. I remember the feeling of being forced to run a mile in P.E. class and feeling humiliated that I couldn’t run the full mile. Running carries a lot of shame for me. If that’s the case, why am I considering the 5k? I think the 5k would feel like I’m reclaiming running and doing it because I enjoy it, not because I’m forced to. I’m still mulling this around, so I may sign up for it or I may not.

Gaming Events

I have five gaming-themed events on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In chronological order, I will start with Thursday. I have two demos for Thursday. The first game is called Beer and Bread. Beer and Bread is a two-player game with each player trying to compete to brew the best beer and the best bread. I thought this game sounded so wholesome. Besides Beer and Bread, I am signed up for a demo of Distilled. Distilled is a one-five-player game about creating a distillery, upgrading it, and making craft cocktails. I’m not sure why I chose alcohol-themed board games to demo on Thursday, the theme was not intentional.

On Friday, I only signed up for one event called “The Beach Dolls Affair – Trail of Cthulhu 1st Edition” When I first started playing roleplaying games, I was introduced to Call of Cthulhu and loved it. I have no idea what I’m in for, but I’m looking forward to it.

Saturday will easily be my longest day. I am going to be in straight roleplaying games from 5:00 PM – 1:00 AM. The first three hours will be “Rise of the Separatists: Darkness Rising on Naboo!” which is using the Star Wars: Force and Destiny rules. It should be no surprise that I signed up for this. I’m a Star Wars prequel fan as I grew up with the movies when they came out. I haven’t played Force and Destiny yet, so I’m curious how this will be. After Star Wars, I signed up for “Survive – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” which is a story built around Vampire the Masquerade. It’s fitting because the first time I played Vampire the Masquerade was at Gen Con, so it will feel a little nostalgic to play a five-hour session on Saturday night.

On Sunday, I’m signed up for one event and that’s “Unlife as an Anarch – Vampire the Masquerade, 5th Edition” at 10:00 AM.

Now that the event registration has happened, it’s becoming more real that I’m going to Gen Con. I can’t wait for August!

Suicide Squad Bad Blood

Posted in Reading/Books by
[Image is a graphic novel cover. It says Suicide Squad Bad Blood. It shows a rotation of various people on different sides of the cover]

I picked up Suicide Squad Bad Blood at Free Comic Book Day this year. I think I may have mentioned this before, but I tend to pick up more DC Comics as trade paperbacks and I read Marvel single issues, is that weird? I have a soft spot for the Suicide Squad as I find their missions to be over the top and chaotic. I found Suicide Squad Bad Blood on a shelf and purchased it without knowing much about the story. I’m so glad that I did; Suicide Squad Bad Blood was such a fun read.

The Suicide Squad is sent on a seemingly ordinary mission. They’re tasked with stopping a group of super-powered individuals from destroying warships. This group is revealed to be The Revolutionaries, a group of people who feel that their actions are in good faith in saving the world. The Revolutionaries are much more potent than The Suicide Squad predicted. The Revolutionaries and The Suicide Squad become one team after Amanda Waller steps down as their leader. Instead, The Suicide Squad is introduced to Lok who is much more sadistic. Will The Suicide Squad and The Revolutionaries learn to work together?

I loved the story. I think it’s easy to introduce all of these characters and have them fade away into the background. Instead, I felt that the members of The Revolutionaries each got their own back story as to how they got their powers and how they joined the group. Osita was one of my favorite characters to follow along with. Besides The Revolutionaries, Harley Quinn and Deadshot have their moments to shine. Deadshot in particular has a really strong character arc, especially with the relationship he has with his daughter.

The art coincided with the story. The alternative covers throughout each issue were cool to look at. There was a realistic cover image featuring Osita along with a creepy, smiley Harley Quinn towards the end of the book. There’s a particularly violent encounter that is depicted towards the beginning of the story and I feel the art helps to illustrate that scene.

I was pleasantly surprised by Suicide Squad Bad Blood. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting as there were certain Suicide Squad comic series that I read a few years ago that I wasn’t a fan of. Suicide Squad Bad Blood was entertaining and I’m curious to read more of Tom Taylor’s work in comics.

Storming Strahd’s Castle – Curse of Strahd

Posted in Gaming by
[Image is a woman in a smokey forest that feels very off putting. The woman is in armor holding a rapier. She has black hair with some strands of white hair laying on her face. ]

I have talked about the Curse of Strahd campaign on my blog before. I have been playing in this campaign since January 2022, so almost a year and a half. Our group changed from meeting every other Thursday to every Thursday to help speed up progress through Curse of Strahd. While this campaign has been ongoing for a while, I still enjoy playing as my character especially since she’s been unlocking blood curses. The pinnacle of Curse of Strahd is when the players finally accept Strahd’s dinner invitation. Our group has been avoiding Strahd for a while, but after finding out some lore for another side quest we were working on, we realized we had no choice but to accept Strahd’s invitation to dinner at Castle Ravenloft.

**Slight Spoilers for Curse of Strahd**

Our group accepted Strahd’s invitation to dinner and was greeted by Strahd’s guard or assistant, Rahadin. As a side note, Rahadin is a pretty evil character and I’m hoping our group has a chance to encounter him and bring him to his demise. Anyway, Rahadin led us to dinner where Strahd gave his imposing villain speech. Suddenly, our group was locked in and I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, Strahd locks us in his castle, so we can fight for our lives and entertain him. The only good thing about this was the artifact we were looking for is in Castle Ravenloft. Before entering the castle, our group kept throwing out ideas on how to steal this artifact, and now Strahd locking us away gives us the opportunity to do that.

Castle Ravenloft is essentially an adult version of a Scooby-Doo mystery. I faintly remember several Scooby Doo old cartoon episodes where the gang would discover hidden pathways in the mansions they were exploring. One of the first traps was when we went to the prison cells and this pressure plate was activated. Our group was then thrown up toward the upper floors of the castle. I tried to climb out of the box we were in and saw concrete. Thankfully, I was able to head back down, otherwise, I would have taken 8 d10 of bludgeoning damage. Major yikes.

Will our group make it out of Castle Ravenloft? I genuinely don’t know. The fight against Strahd could get ugly and while I already mentioned fighting Rahadin, he will probably be an intense fight. The one thing I will say is that I’m grateful that my character has made it this far because honestly, there were several close calls. No matter what happens, I will be happy with the outcome.

Cosplay – What’s Next?

Posted in Uncategorized by

One thing that I’m thrilled about is how I have gotten back into cosplay. Cosplay was something I put on the back burner for several years, which is sad because I genuinely enjoy it. This year, I have been more strategic in the cosplays that I have put together and planning out conventions in the future. I wanted to share a little bit of what’s next as far as conventions, cosplays, and geek events in the future.

[Image is a woman posing in a red dress, blonde wig, and red lips]

Regarding conventions, the next convention that’s coming up is Minnesota Con. Minnesota Con is a new convention happening on June 2nd through the 4th at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Since this is a new convention, it will be interesting to see how everything pans out. The same weekend as Minnesota Con is Des Moines Con. I would love to go to both conventions on the same weekend, but realistically, I’m not sure if that will work out. One of the best ways I find out about local conventions is through Twin Cities Geek Convention Guide I have it bookmarked in my bookmarks bar and I reference it quite often to figure out which event is coming up next.

As far as cosplay, I have been mulling around what cosplay would be fitting to do next. Part of me was drawn to a gender-bent Peacemaker cosplay since Freddie Stroma is appearing at Minnesota Con this year. I still think cosplaying as a Splicer from Bioshock would be fun. I haven’t definitively come up with the next cosplay yet. With that being said, with Minnesota Con coming up in June, I do want to have an idea narrowed down within the next week or two to ensure that I would have everything I need in time for the convention.

It’s funny because this post is titled “Cosplay – What’s Next” and I don’t even answer the question of which cosplay I plan on completing next. I’m sure other cosplayers must feel this way where it’s so easy to be indecisive. There are so many cosplays I want to do and such little time to do them all. I will say that even though I’m not exactly sure what I will cosplay as next, I’m looking forward to the future as there are many conventions that I will be attending coming up.

Free Comic Book Day – Haul

Posted in Reading/Books by

May is arguably the geekiest month of the year. With May the Fourth and Free Comic Book Day, it’s such a busy month in geek culture. I always celebrate Free Comic Book Day because why not? I love not planning out what I’m looking for and instead showing up to comic book stores and finding cool items that I didn’t know I needed. I stopped at two local places: Mind’s Eye Comics and NerdinOut. Mind’s Eye is one of the best local comic book stores. It’s always relaxing to show up and shop for comics. NerdinOut is more toy focused which isn’t my cup of tea, however, I like that they have pinball in their store. This would be a great place to take kids if you wanted to shop for comics and keep the kids entertained. I wanted to share my Free Comic Book Day purchases from the day.

Punchline Issues #1 – #6 – T. Howard, B. Howard, Melnikov, and Guerrero

[Image features six comics and their covers. The first one is prominently displayed while the other five are back beneath the first issue]

When Punchline was first introduced, I feel that she got a lot of hate right away. I think fans thought of her as the next Harley Quinn. I don’t know much about Punchline, so I figured reading these six issues will be a good introduction to her character.

Suicide Squad Bad Blood – Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Daniel Sampere, Adriano Lucas

[Image is a comic cover. The title is "Suicide Squad Bad Blood. There are several people on this cover who are rotated throughout the image. Most of them look extremely menacing]

I love The Suicide Squad. This shouldn’t be a surprise since I tend to cosplay the Harley Quinn looks from the Suicide Squad movies. I love the chaos that the group brings and how these supervillains are forced to work together to do something good. I’m not exactly sure what Suicide Squad Bad Blood is about, but I’m automatically intrigued.

Sana Starros Issues #2 & #3 – Ireland, Pérez Sanchez-Almara

[Image is a comic cover. It shows a woman holding a blaster with a green robe / cape. In the background, it shows a woman wearing a pilot helmet.]

Sana Starros is one of Doctor Aphra’s biggest allies. Unfortunately, I fell behind in the Doctor Aphra comic series. I do intend to catch up one day, but I’ll probably have to pick up the trades versus the single issues. Sana is a character that was introduced early on, but there isn’t much known about her, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that Sana has her own series. I’m looking forward to reading this despite missing out on the first issue.

Darth Vader Black, White, Red – Aaron, Kirk, and Fajardo Jr.

Star Wars Lando – Phillips, Lopez, and Fabela

[Image is of two comics. One is Darth Vader, Black, White, and Red. It's showing Darth Vader with his red light saber in a shadowy hallway. The other comic on the right is Star Wars Lando. It shows some of the guards in Hutt's palace looking menacingly at the reader]

More Star Wars comics! This shouldn’t be a surprise since I tend to purchase more Star Wars comics and books this month than any other month.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 – Lanzing, Kelly, Walker, and Hollingsworth

[Image features five characters. One is prominently on the cover on the left side. The other four on the bottom right corner. It looks like they are in a desert]

It must be the hype from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being released this month that made me purchase this comic. I haven’t seen Vol. 3 yet, but this issue will keep me entertained until then.

This was a much bigger haul than I anticipated. It’s funny because normally I have a small stack of the Free Comics, but this year, I ended up not picking up any of them. I found myself reading through the Free Comics and donating them a month or so later. I figured I’d save space on my comics shelf for all of my purchases instead. Feel free to post in the comments which comics you picked up on Free Comic Book Day!

Darrington Press aka. Critical Role at Gen Con!

Posted in Gaming by

Gen Con is in three months and I’m getting more excited as it gets closer. Event registration is coming up shortly, so I’m looking forward to signing up for demos and other events that Gen Con is hosting. There are so many vendors to see and one that I have had my eye on is Darrington Press. Darrington Press is a subsidiary of Critical Role, so it’s basically Critical Role’s board game publishing company. In Darrington Press‘s most recent announcement, they address that they will be at Gen Con this year.

In watching the announcement, Darrington Press will be at Gen Con as it sounds like they are promoting a new game called Queen by Midnight. Queen by Midnight is a deck-building game where players take on the role of princesses trying to outlast the night and become the new Midnight Queen. The game itself looks stunning. I love the clock design and how the time is set throughout the game. Deck-building games can be a hit or a miss for me, but I think Queen of Midnight has a lot of potentials. I hope that there will be demos of the game either as an event at Gen Con or at the Darrington Press booth.

In the above announcement, Matt Mercer did address that Critical Role isn’t doing a live show this year. Honestly, it makes sense. Critical Role has gotten so big and I don’t think there would be a venue at Indianapolis that would hold everyone who wanted to see their live show. Additionally, that must be a lot of work for the cast to organize and they probably want to promote more of their side gigs which include Darrington Press.

I’m looking forward to seeing Darrington Press at Gen Con. I would love to demo Queen by Midnight as it seems like an interesting concept and the art in the game looks so pretty. I’m counting down the days to Gen Con even though it will be here before I know it.