September 2015 Comics Update

Greetings Comic Fans!  It has been a while since one of our blogposts.  Well, we have so much incredible comic news that we decided to let you all know about the crazy good Fall we have coming up for comics and comic related stuff.  So, Up, Up and Away…

Star Wars

You know the movie is coming out December 18, and we will be doing some really cool stuff for that, but more on that a little later. We hope you are all reading the Star Wars comics because, if not, you are missing great writing, awesome art, and some key plot points that are being revealed. No true Star Wars fan should miss these, but the most important book, Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shattered Empire, is releasing September 9, 2015. This book starts filling in the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens movies.

If that is not enough, everybody’s favorite Wookie is also getting his own series as well. Chewbacca #1 hits stands in October. While we have plenty of copies coming in, reserve yours to make sure some jawa doesn’t beat you to it. To make life easy, here’s a list of all the Star Wars titles as links to their comiXology page:

Star Wars	Darth Vader
Lando	Princess Leia
Kanan - The Last Padawan	Chewbacca
Journey Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shattered Empire

What’s Red, Blue and White?

Captain America White #1 of course! Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are back at it again with their insightful look at the early days of our favorite red, white and blue avenger. As with their earlier books, Daredevil Yellow, Hulk Gray, Spider-Man Blue, this talented team takes a close look at the hero’s early days, long before they were the legend they later become. Cap White #1 will be here September 16 with my personal favorite cover being the Skottie Young variant. Order now--it’s what Uncle Sam would do!

What’s Red and Gold?

Yup, Invincible Iron Man #1 is coming out too. You know Tony can never let Cap upstage him, so Shellhead  gets a new series starting  October 7, 2015. It promises to be Marvelous and world changing, but when is Stark anything less than grandiose at the extreme? There is a launch party for this book (Gee, Iron Man miss a chance to party?) with exclusive variants and lithos plus more. We’ll send out invites as soon as Tony gets done picking a caterer, so prep your tux and watch the email box for details.

As long as we’re on Marvel…

Secret Wars ain’t over yet folks, but Marvel is already announced their new list of #1s. Some old favorites are back (still here maybe) and there are some new titles, of course. To help launch the titles, Marvel is doing a series of variants based on famous and infamous Hip-Hop record covers (those round things made of black vinyl before CDs--Invincible Iron Man #1 Hip Hop variant cover is seen here). As usual with Marvel, figuring out how many we’ll be getting is harder than finding a good FF movie, but we’ll get it figured out. We are also planning a special deal for the new Marvel #1s but still have a few details to pound out on that. Stay tuned, True Believers.

Now this Bombshell…

DC Bombshell Covers are coming in fast and furious and surprise, my favorite is Sinestro!  We still have plenty in stock so get ‘em while they last, sailor.

Ever wonder what Bruce Wayne and Elmer Fudd have in common? No, we didn’t either, other than a mansion and a yacht, until now. Well, we can add appearing on DC Comic covers to the list! Suffern’ Succotash, Warner Bros Cartoon characters are the latest round of DC Comics variants. Well, they are both owned by Warner Brothers, so it is not a huge surprise that these two iconic animated brands should one day meet. My current favorite is either Yosemite Sam vs Deathstroke, or Superman and SuperBugs, or Wonder Woman and ‘What’s Opera Doc’ Elmer Fudd. Check them out and reserve your copies early.

The Dark Knight Returns... Again

They say Third Time’s the Charm and we certainly hope so for this Batman issue! The original The Dark Knight Returns may be one of the best storylines ever created and, in our opinion, helped launch the comics revival of the late 80s. While the second installment was not as well regarded, we can have high hopes that the upcoming installment, titled Dark Knight III: The Master Race and landing in stores November, will be up to the standard of the first series.

Frank Miller will be joined by Brian Azzarello on the writing side, and the book will be drawn by Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson. There will be a ton of variants and even some sort of slip case option, plus many other cool aspects to this new classic. Stay tuned, same Bat Channel, same Bat newspost.

On the Red Carpet

OK, this may be one of the best seasons for TV shows based on comics EVER! So for my fellow comic fans, here is a list of this Fall’s TV Shows and their premier dates. Don't forget to tune in, and we'll be seeing you Wednesdays!

Live Action:
Arrow, The CW, Wednesday, October 7 at 8 PM
Flash, The CW, Tuesday, October 6 at 8 PM
Gotham, Fox, Monday, September 21 at 8 PM
Supergirl, CBS, Monday, October 26 at 8:30 PM
Heroes Reborn, NBC, Tuesday, September 24 at 8 PM
IZombie, The CW, Tuesday, October 6 at 9 PM
Walking Dead, AMC, Sunday October 11 at 9 PM
Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, Sunday, August 23 at 9 PM
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, Tuesday, September 29 at 9 PM
Marvel’s Agent Carter, No Info yet, 1st quarter 2016 most likely
Legends of Tomorrow, No Info yet, 1st quarter 2016 most likely

Animated:
Avengers Assemble (Stay Tuned for Details)
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Disney XD, Saturday, September 26 at 9:30 PM
Ultimate Spider-Man (Stay Tuned for Details)

Weekly Comics Update - November 19th

Next Week's Releases

Continuing the new tradition of our weekly blog entries for comics, I bring you the next entry of WHAT TO LOOK FOR NEXT WEEK, that's the working title for now. Starting us off is the first issue of a new ongoing series called Capture Creatures. Both Jess and I are very excited about this series. If you can imagine a cross of post-apocalypse, Pokémon and magic then you've more or less got the idea of the series.  With gorgeous artwork and a cool concept, I'm willing to back this book 100%!

Next week we'll also be getting a restock on Death of Wolverine #3 & #4, which will be 2nd printings. I've got one more book to plug this week, Batman '66 #17. I'm plugging the new Batman '66 because it will feature my favorite '66 villain of all time, King Tut.  It ought to be a fun read. Also check out our Comics Specials section on our website at gamersgambit.com, we've got all our available variant covers up, and you can pick them up in store once you've ordered them!

Super Flemish

There is a French photographer named Sacha Goldberger who has taken the Flemish School of portraits, which is the stereotypical kind of portraits for 1600's gentry, and applied it to Superheroes, Star Wars characters and a few Disney heroes. It sounds like a strange mash up, but surprisingly interesting to look at.  She even managed to find some stand in models that look just like Christopher Reeves, Carrie Fisher, Lynda Carter and a few others as their iconic roles.  Here's a link to her site to take a gander!

Stay Classy Denizens!
Zach

Zach "Erik" Burruby
Comics Manager
Dragon's Den

Star Wars X-Wing Future Wave

So I know many of you are hoping and expectantly waiting on the Imperial Aces, Rebel Transport, and Tantive IV... BUT, they now have listed the newest ships that are coming down from Fantasy Flight Games! Don't worry, I know that the Imperial Aces is now coming soon, so don't lose the excitement for 2 NEW TIE Interceptors.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time discussing what you can read on their website, but here are their names.

Z-95 Headhunter (Rebel)

TIE Defender (Imperial)

E-Wing (Rebel)

TIE Phantom (Imperial)

If you want to do to check out all that Fantasy Flight has to say about the new release click on their name and scroll down.

Looking for a place to play???  Check out our calendars below (Just click on the store name to see more):

Dragon's Den Poughkeepsie

Gamer's Gambit CT

Gamer's Gambit NJ


Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

New York Comic Con 2011

Well we are putting on the finishing touches and packing up all the product for New York City Comic Con! There is so much to do and so much more to prep for, but I think we have a handle on it and will be ready for a spectacular con!

So if you are heading down, then stop in and see us, we will be at booth #2920! This is our first trip to NYC Comic Con, so we were really putting a lot into what to bring and how much, so here is an idea of what we are going to have at the show:

• Variant Amazing Spider-Man #666 with our custom cover
• Video Games: Nintendo, Nintendo Gameboy, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and more!
• Magic the Gathering: Innistrad, M12, Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia, and more special items!
• Yu-Gi-Oh:  XYZ Starters, Hidden Arsenal SE, Generation Force SE, Gold Series 4
• Pokemon: Black and White, Black and White Emerging Powers
• Heroclix: Superman, Captain America, Giant Sized X-Men
• Etched Glasses: Marvel, Hobbit, and Walking Dead
• Star Wars and Ghost Busters talking plushes
• Power Rings, Flash Point Pins, Select Back Issue Comic, Variant Cover Comic Books
• RA Salvatore's new Hard Cover "Neverwinter" The Neverwinter Sage Book 2 **(Don't forget that he will be there for signing later in the show)

Stop and see some of our friends from up here in NY:

Zombie Petz: Booth #2838
Iron Age Production (Jaded Comic Book): Booth #1924

Who from the store might you run into at NYC Comic Con:

Dave
Sean "Striderlotr"
Stasi "Dengirl"
Scott
Brittani "DnDPrincessAria"
Amanda


Hope to see you at NYC Comic Con!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Gen Con 2011 The Best 4 Days of Gaming

Welcome back from the "BEST 4 DAYS OF GAMING" also know as Gen Con!

So we got back from Gen Con last night, and it was a fantastic show! We had a chance to try many different games, check out product that is not released just yet, and see all the greatest product that could be seen.  We are going to share some pictures, share some stories, and give some insight into some games.  To make life easy, I'm breaking it down by vendor so you can see the different areas you'd like more info about.  So if you are ready to read on and want to learn more, continue through the trip to Gen Con 2011!

Wizards of the Coast:

There is a lot to talk about with WotC. They had a great booth set up as a ruined castle, and a live action D&D event behind it.  The booth was amazing as was the D&D Mega Adventure that was set up through out Gen Con with QR Codes.  The players got into trying to find the codes and earn points for their faction.  All of this was for the soon to be released Neverwinter campaign setting.  Away from the booth you show the two locations for all the events: The Sagamore Ball Room and the TCG Hall.  At the TCG hall you had so many Magic events, it was almost overwhelming, with the highlight being Nationals!  So many players going in and between events, it was incredible to see.  Upstairs in the Sagamore there was Dungeons and Dragons. It was not just the RPG though, they also had 3 Dragon Ante, all the board games, and the D&D National event as well.A big announcement was for the Lords of Waterdeep board game which is a Euro style board game set in the Dungeons and Dragons world.

Wizkids:

What can I say about Wizkids other then WOW! The new Star Trek game that involves fleets of Federation and Klingon ships looks amazing.  The price point at first looked a bit high, until you started to count up all the ships you got in the base game.  We would love to get a copy of this game a give it a try to get the Trek fans into a great looking ship to ship minis game.  Another game that they had out was Quarriors! Quarriors is a fantastic game involving dice that is similar to the deck building games.  We had such a blast playing this game, that I had to buy a copy for myself then and there.  It played fast and had the option of adding new abilities to the dice without having to make all new dice.  We will be demoing this game soon and getting players excited to try a new type of game.  I really can't talk about Wizkids without mentioning the Heroclix.  They had a number of great items out for sale including Heroclix, Street Fight, and Gears of War... BUT the items that had people looking were the painted pieces (not on bases) of The Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder.  They all looked great!  Check back as more information becomes available we will be writing more.

AEG:

We had the opportunity to go over and talk with the people at AEG as well as attending their Big Game Night.  I would have liked a little more structure to the big game night and maybe in an area that was a little quieter so that we could really check out the games.  We did have a chance to play Ninja, which is a very secretive board game involving Ninjas and guards set in the L5R world..  It was a blast! We will have a copy in this week and will be running some demo games to give players a chance to check it out.  We also got a chance to see Thunderstone, Parthenon, and Legend of the 5 Rings CCG.  AEG has a bunch of really great games out now and if you are looking to give something new a try, they would make a great choice.

Gary Games:

Gary Games is the publisher of the game Ascension.  This is a great deck building game that was created by a number of Magic players who were looking for another game to play between Magic.  The same design group also created Redakai, but we can talk about that later.  I had a chance to play in a tournament for Ascension, but sadly came in second in my pod, so did not advance.  They also had a number of great promo cards that you could pick up at their booth.  We also had a chance to discuss the Dragon's Den becoming a part of the Game Day program that they run, so hopefully we will be a part of the next one which is coming up soon.  

Fantasy Flight Games: 

Well the big announcement here was that Fantasy Flight Games picked up the rights for Star Wars.  To show case this, they had several games on display and were running demo games of several of them.  Star Wars X-Wing looked fantastic! It is a miniatures ship to ship combat game that takes a few elements from Wings of War.  Instead of a deck of cards for movement, each ship has a disk that you pick your movement from and place face down next to the ship (for that hidden movement similar to Wings of War).  They used different templates then for movement and attacks.  They kept some of the flavor with the weapons and abilities on the different star fighters, but we only got to see the X-Wing and Tie Fighter.  They also did a new card game for the Star Wars universe, but we did not get a chance to demo that game.  Some other items of note at the booth would be their release of the Gears of War board game and the new revised edition of Dust Tactics. 

Plaid Hat:

Plaid Hat is the maker of Summoner Wars.They have a new starter box that will be coming out in a month or so... or maybe we will have several copies in a few days! We had the chance to demo the game with them at Gen Con, and they allowed us to get a few copies while we were there.  The new starter has new factions, which if I remember correctly is an addition 6 new factions.  It also has a double board so that it is a little easier to play on and see your side of the board.


I hope that you have found some new information or got to experience some of the Gen Con trip from the write up.  We will be adding more information over the week and get some other impressions so you can hear about some other games and events.  There will always be more to add about Gen Con, but I think this is long enough, so watch for the next post soon.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks