The Huzzah! heard around the Mondo.

One of my customers and good friend Ian Culbard (get his excellent adapation of A Study in Scarlet in store now) contributes to a round robin comic blog.

Called Huzzah! (each new artist announces his intention to do the next page by writing ‘Huzzah!’ in the comments of the current image) it has recently entered it’s second year, and second volume, sub-titled Vengeance of Voldar.

With creators including:
geraint ford
paulhd
Rob Davis
I. N. J. Culbard
Colin Fawcett
Simon Fraser
Sean Longcroft
D.TAYLOR
WJC
D’Israeli
Faz Choudhury
PJ Holden.

It’s a fun, pulpy blast of science fiction and great art and is very interesting to see how each person will twist the story in different directions and deal with any cliff-hangers that may have been presented.
Start here to get reading Chapter 1 of Volume 1 – Prison Planet.

A Mondo of Adventure

“No Dice RPG (www.nodicerpg.com) will be coming to Mondo Comico to demonstrate their products on 13th of February. No Dice is a completely new approach to role playing that uses a basic rules light approach. On top of their Vanilla system which arbitrates most “general” role play situations the system adds customised rules to impart a particular flavour to each gaming experience.

So far the team have published two books their Core Rules and a collection of adventures. This summer will see the release of their first full system, Levercastle, which is a game of fairy tale magic aimed at a broad audience.”

Around the Mondo in 80 Days

So here we are in 2010, according to Peter Hyams, ‘The Year We Made Contact’ (though I’m sure Jodie Foster made that some time ago).

I have been open for almost 3 months and things seem to be going well.

The Boardgames night on Tuesdays 5-10pm is popular with everything being played from Saboteur to Battlestar Galatica, Dominion to Le Havre. On the 30th December we had an all day event from 10am -10pm and hope to have more gaming events lined up soon.

Wednesday night Magic (6.30-10pm) continues to be strong, ably ran by Dave Sissons who’s been running events for many years now.

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays often have an RPG group or two in, and with 2 rooms, 8 tables and over 35 chairs plenty of room for more.

As is traditional this time of year I present my best of list but am limiting to the last 3 months of the year to cover things that have come out since I’ve opened.

Best New RPG
Fantasy Flight had a fairly strong showing with Rogue Trader, a more accessible and immediate take on the 40K universe than their previous release. But their new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with it’s lush design and interesting mechanics takes the prize.

Best RPG Supplement
Pathfinder Bestiary. A great resource for those playing 3.5. Well put together and incredibly pretty.

Best New Miniatures
Well D and D Savage Encounters had a Zombie Hulk but Heroclix Hammer of Thor had not only The Runaways but also The Agents of Atlas. Heroclix wins.

Best New Boardgame
Chaos in the Old World is a fun take on the chaotic powers of Warhammer, well balanced and as ever with Fantasy Flight, good looking.

Best New Comic
Stumptown had a strong opening issue with a good sense of location and tone. Honourable mention to SWORD a massively fun, fast paced first issue and an appearance from Death’s Head.

Best Collection
Powers Hardcover Vol. 3. Great read, viscious and funny and packed with the usual Bendis and Oeming extras. Honourable mention to The Rocketeer Hardcover.

Best Original Graphic
Goon: Chinatown softcover. Awesome work from Eric Powell. Honourable mention to PTA Night.

Really I could mention so much more. Even in the 3 months I’ve been open there’s has been so much great stuff out there, every week something new and exciting.
One of the many reasons I love this job.