Episode 56 – September Comics

Episode 56 – September Comics

 

Pick #1 – Futures End: Booster Gold #1 (one shot)

Publisher: DC comics

Art: Dan Jurgens and 10 other artist

Writer: Dan Jurgens

Cover: Jurgens, Rapmond & Hi-fi

Characters: Booster Gold, Booster Gold, Blue Beetle

Ratings –

Art – 5 out of 5

Story –  4 out of 5

 

Pick #2 – Dresden Files #4

Publisher: Dynamite

Penciler: Carlos Gomez

Colors: Mohan

Letters: Bill Tortolini

Writer: Jim Butcher & Mark Powers

Cover: STJepan Sejic

Ratings –

Art – 4 out of 5

Story – 2 out of 5

Pick #3 –  Usagi Yojimbo – Senso #2

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Art: Stan Sakai

Writer: Stan Sakai

Cover: Stan Sakai, colors by Tom Luth

Characters: Usagi, Jotaro, Lady Tomoe, Lord Hikiji (enemy army), Lord Noriyuki, Chizu (neko ninja),

Ratings –

Art – 5 out of 5

Story –  5 out of 5

The Sakai Project

Pick #4 – Constantine #17

Publisher: DC

Colorist: Richard & Tanya Horie

Letter: Taylor Esposito

Inker: Jay Leisten

Penciller: Edgar Salazar

Writer: Ray Fawkes

Cover: Juan Ferreyra

Ratings –

Art –  5 out of 5

Story –  4 out of 5

 

 

Kensei (War Gaming miniature) Army Update – 2

As requested, here is an update on my progress.

I decided to change up the arrow placement.

Hello everyone, I have been working (in my spare time) to assemble my Army Box and Indiegogo Perks. I started with the exclusives / Heroes and here are the first minis to be assembled and primed.

Here are a few more pics of the pre-assembled figures

After the figures are glued to their bases, I used a silicone adhesive to fill in the gaps in the base. It came in a couple colors, but I chose clear and it is fully printable.

Comic Review- Bushido #1

Bushido is inspired by the screenplay “Rising Sun” by Shahin Chandrasoma

Stars: 4 out of 5

Publisher: Top Cow

Writer: Rob Levin

Artist: Jessada Sutthi (Studio Hive)

Letterer: Troy Peteri

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“When young Kichiro’s ship is attacked by vampires, he’s forced to jump overboard. Waking up on a beach in Japan, a good samaritan, Isamu, finds Kichiro and raises him along side his own son to become a Samurai. However, when the vampires that wrecked Kichiro’s ship come to Japan, there’s nowhere for Kichiro to run. ”

 

Let me begin by saying I love pretty much everything samurai related, and this just adds to my collection of cool comics. The story follows our unlikely young hero Kichiro, who after surviving a vampire attack at sea washes up on the shores of Japan. Luckily for him the Shogun just happens to be riding by and takes him in.  The book moves very fast from this point on, making me kind of wish we had a chance to see the character develop a bit more. But this is a 5 issue limited series so you take what you can get.

The writing is sound and sets up the underlining plot lines rather nicely. The Vampires are trying to take over Japan to make an island buffet and Kichiro’s bad luck gets him into trouble with more than just vampires. The art is very cool, with great inking and color that really set the mood for the book.

If you are looking for something different in your comics, check out Bushido #1 (of 5) it moves fast and tells a good tale at the same time. (Issue #2 is in stores 10/9/2013)

 

Zenit Miniatures – Kensei

 Kensei is a new miniature wargame inspired in feudal Japan designed for two or more players.

The characters, histories and legends from Kensei ” War in Hymukai” are inspired by the history and mythology of feudal Japan and Asia. Created by Zenit Miniatures

These are the most beautifully sculpted Samurai miniatures I think I have ever seen. They have a really nice variety of military  units: Dai-Katana Samurai, No-Dachi Samurai, Yari and Yumi Ashigaru, Naginata Monks, Ashigaru with Teppo(Rifles)

I like the fact that these are sold as sets, the Basic army pack includes 21 miniatures ($65.93/$3.10 per mini) for you to start forming your armies. The other sets contain 5 Samurai each ($26 -$35/ $5 – $7 per mini) Very reasonable considering the quality of sculpts.

Check out the Kensei store for more details

They also have the individual Heroes from  each of the clans, these are so cool. I wont go into the rules set for the system, i’ll let you look over the free Kensei Rulebook PDF and decide for yourselves if it will work for your play style. (updated version dec 4th 2012) Let me know what you think.

Also I wanted to mention one section of the rule book that I found very interesting:

Three factions: Before you start to play
you must choose one faction to play your
games. In this game there is a conflict
among three social classes who struggle
to dominate the Himukai Empire; these

are represented by three different factions:
the Buke, the warrior class; the
Kuge, the aristocratic class; and theSohei, the religious class. Choose your
faction and create a clan belonging to
it. In order to give more depth to your
games you can make up the whole history
of your clan, its name or its symbol
(mon); you can also name your characters,
name your Daimyo, establish the
lands they rule over and the internal
relations within the same clan. It all
depends on the depth you want to provide
the game with. Nothing prevents
you from creating a campaign for you
or at your game club; your only limit is
your imagination.

I love this! I love a system that encourages its players  to expand the game out side of just war gaming. I can see this system working great in conjunction with a Legend of the Five Rings RPG campaign. Which I plan on starting after I order my Army Box set! So plan on seeing a follow up review down the road. One other item I want to mention is a product by Craft Plast Games who make oriental buildings and bridges specifically for the 28mm Kensei miniatures.