The fine folks at Boom Studios tell me that we can expect to see Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #3 in finer comic book stores next week. That’ll put us at the halfway mark for the series, and I can’t wait for you to all see how it all comes together.
Boom has posted the final covers for the issue, which I’ve put up here for you to see. These feature concept artwork from the upcoming Blood Bowl computer game from Cyanide Studio. Be sure to look for it soon in a store near you.
From what I’ve been told, my latest book–The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing Superheroes and Villains, Illustrated–is in stores as of yesterday. If you’re interested in drawing all sorts of different types of super-powered characters–or seeing a whole slew of new ones that I created for the book–be sure to pick it up.
While I’m plugging that, let me give a big thanks to Yair Herrera, the Argentine artist who took my concepts and breathed so much life into them. Without him, all I’d have would be words instead of all the wonderful pictures–which would make for a lousy book on drawing.
Lewis Pulsipher (designer of the board game gem Britannia ) had an article published at GameCareerGuide.com yesterday about the value of using paper (or tabletop) prototypes when designing video games. Good points all around.
Early last year, before Wizards announced it would release a new “fourth” edition of Dungeons & Dragons this year, I completed work on The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creating Dungeons & Dragons characters. Unfortunately, because the book was written for the game’s third edition (3.5, really), it was bound to be outdated pretty quickly. Delays in the process added up to the book never coming out.
Ironic, then, that I find a review of the book posted on the web. My favorite quote:
Overall it’s not a bad book and the author Matt Forbeck does a pretty good job and if you can’t find a gaming group then it’s worth a read.
I’m so glad to know that. And if there’s really a copy of the book somehow out there, I’d love to see it–no matter which reality it’s from.
My beautiful and amazing wife threw an excellent birthday party for me last Saturday night. I turned 40 earlier in the month, but we were out of town and so couldn’t have a proper blow-out. Ann corrected that in mighty fashion on Saturday night.
People from all around the neighborhood and southern Wisconsin came out to give me a hard time. The guests showed up with all sorts of gag gifts, including reading glasses, prune juice, hemorrhoidal cream, and more fun, like a sombrero labeled Señor Citizen and a voodoo doll, apparently for revenge on the young. Plus, fantastic choices in both wine and beer, about which I cannot complain.
Many thanks to everyone who showed up to help me celebrate the event. I’m truly blessed to have so many great friends, family, and neighbors, and I hope I have as many hardy souls join me every decade hence.
My pal James Wallis is growing a mustache to raise money to combat testicular and prostate cancer. This is a good cause, and James is a good guy, so I chipped in already. If you are so inclined as to encourage a stalwart Englishman to sprout facial hair for a good cause, I suggest you do so too.
The Madison ABC affiliate came down to Janesville this morning to interview my wife and her fellow school social worker Mandy Harvey about their work with homeless students in the Janesville School District. (In case you don’t know Ann, she’s the second woman to appear during the segment.)
Ann’s only been back at work after the summer break for three days, but she’s already back in the trenches, fighting to help the kids around her who need it most. This makes me think two things:
1) I couldn’t be prouder.
2) I’m a lucky, lucky man.
People wander in and out of the gaming industry all the time. For instance, this year at Gen Con, I ran into Matt Grau (formerly of Steve Jackson Games) and Nic Jequier (formerly of XID Creative), neither of whom I’d seen in years, and I had a wonderful time catching up with them.
Here’s a blast from the past that comes from a direction I would never have guessed. Mark Rein-Hagen (formerly of White Wolf, and the creator of the World of Darkness) is now married, has a child, and lives in Georgia.
No, not the state of Georgia, where White Wolf is based. The nation of Georgia, which is currently enmeshed in a struggle with Russia. When the recent conflict broke out, Mark set up a new website (SOSGeorgia.org) to tell the world about what he could see happening in Georgia.
Stop by the site and take a look at a nation in crisis, funneled through the perspective of a writer and game designer who’s married into it. It’s well worth it.
My pal John Wick has a funny video he’s made up from a series of photos he took at Gen Con. Most of these feature people at the show posing with John’s plush avatar Bear.
I show up in the first photo, less than 20 seconds in. Stick around and watch the whole thing for fun and to see how many people you recognize.
My friends at Patch Products are looking for a product designer. They make all sorts of cool things, including games, toys, coloring books, puzzles, and foam sports balls, and they’re best known for games like TriBond, which they sold to Mattel last year. They have a great benefits package, including an on-site gym and on-site day care. Best of all, the job is right here in beautiful Beloit, Wisconsin.
If you’re interested in the job and have any questions about Patch or Beloit, just let me know. I’m always happy to shill for my favorite companies and bring good people to the area.