Death by Cliché 2: The Wrath of Con Friday May 4, 2018

My writing group has been critiquing, and to some degree workshopping, the Death by Cliché series with their author, Bob Defendi. I’ve enjoyed the process immensely, even just reading the first full drafts. The central premise of the series is that our protagonist, a game designer named Damico, is trapped inside a… Read more

Movie Review: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Saturday August 5, 2006

I'll try and make this review short, because tomorrow is my anniversary and I haven't gone shopping yet... This is not a great movie, and might not even be a great comedy. Somehow, though, I went in the right frame of mind, and with the right person (my brother Randy,… Read more

A Casual, Hacked Review of XCOM 2 Monday March 14, 2016

I have loved XCOM 2, but not unconditionally. There are some things you should know when you consider my review: I’m a “hardcore casual” gamer. I will spend dozens of hours exploring all the corners of a game, but only if it doesn’t abuse me with unrelenting punishment and frustration for… Read more

Book Review: Jack Knife, by Virginia Baker Thursday February 22, 2007

I saw a familiar face at LTUE, but was having a hard time placing it. You know how that is, when you bump into somebody from (for instance) the comic-book store while you're seeing an off-Broadway show? Virginia Baker worked with me at Novell, and I recall a couple of… Read more

Thursday January 17, 2013

Book Review: Mad Mike's Sniper series Thursday June 29, 2006

Let's get the obligatory disclaimers out of the way. Michael Z. Williamson is a friend of mine, and I'm happy to count him as such. He is a fan of Schlock Mercenary, and I am a fan of his work. Recently (well... Penguicon, so maybe not so recently) Mike handed… Read more

Book Review: Better to Beg Forgiveness Friday December 21, 2007

Okay, I love Michael Z. Williamson's heroes. They're tough, they're flawed, and when they break stuff it stays broke. When I saw that the title of his latest was Better to Beg Forgiveness I figured I was in for a great ride. I was right. But before I gush: I… Read more

No Time For Reviews: Fright Night and Rise of the Planet of the Apes Monday August 29, 2011

I've got too much script-writing and comic-drawing to give these two films proper reviews with pictures and stuff. I liked "Apes" more than Fright Night, but then again I'm not a fan of horror as a genre. Still, David Tennant and Colin Farrell were fantastic. The only serious failing of… Read more

Book Review: Boundary, by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor Saturday February 25, 2006

I just finished taking a vacation day. I decided to read a book -- Boundary, by Eric Flint and Ryk Spoor. I couldn't resist. It had a picture on the front of dinosaurs fighting over a crashed spacecraft. This was my kind of story: Hard science-fiction, Heroes-and-Heroines, and a Happy… Read more

Coming this Tuesday: Book 13, The Kickstarter Thursday September 14, 2017

On Tuesday, September 19th, we will launch a Kickstarter for the printing of Random Access Memorabilia, Schlock Mercenary Book 13. The book itself is complete, the bonus story is currently being illustrated, and our layout architect says the cover blueprint is almost ready for elements that have color in them.… Read more

DVD Review: Doom Tuesday February 21, 2006

For some reason I've had a hankering to see Doom for a while now. Last night I rented it via RedBox, and while it's certainly not great cinema, I enjoyed it a lot. I've played the game on which the movie is (probably very loosely) based, but not all the… Read more

Kickstarting BROKEN WIND and DELEGATES & DELEGATION Friday October 12, 2018

This Tuesday, October 16th, we’ll be opening a Kickstarter for print editions of Broken Wind: Schlock Mercenary Volume 14, and Delegates and Delegation: Schlock Mercenary Volume 15.   Each volume has a bonus story at the end, lots of margin art in the middle, and the same top-shelf quality of binding,… Read more

Ready Player One Thursday March 29, 2018

Ready Player One was a visual extravaganza with a story that gave it convenient excuses to feature pop-culture icons from the past thirty years. I enjoyed it a lot, but the most innovative part about the film was that zipper thing on an expandable suitcase which allowed the producers to say… Read more

Book Review: A Practical Guide to Dragons, by Lisa Trumbauer Friday February 23, 2007

If you're a D&D fan with kids, you need this book. I mean, you can't be letting your kids read the monster manual, even though they really want to, because they're not supposed to know how many hit dice that beholder has, right? A Practical Guide to Dragons is perfect… Read more

Sketching is About Half Done Friday February 8, 2019

I’m about half-way finished with the book sketching—a little over half of the Delegates And Delegation books are sketched, and a little under half of the Broken Wind books are sketched. I had a super-productive session Monday evening (Feb 4th), sketching in over 200 books over the course of about seven hours. Sessions… Read more

Coming to Gen Con Indy Saturday July 30, 2011

I'll be at Gen Con Indy next week, and I'm going to have some fun stuff with me. I'll also have some brand new stuff. All of these things will appear in the store eventually, but they're debuting in Indianapolis: Dice! I only have 100 of these Tagon-logo six-sided dice… Read more

DVD Review: A Mighty Wind Tuesday March 14, 2006

My buddy Dennis told me I needed to see this film. I'm not sure he and I have the same operational definitions of the word "need," but I confess to being entertained. If you're not familiar with the work of Christopher Guest, here's a quick primer: He creates "Mockumentaries," which… Read more

The Fleening of Chupaqueso.com Wednesday January 18, 2006

Ordinarily when a blog gets blogged, the blogged blog is the only blog to mention the blogging, and may blog back. When Fleen blogged Chupaqueso.com, however, the blogging blog was also a blog of topical interest in the blogged blog's blogger's OTHER blog (even if that relationship requires the blogged… Read more

DVD Review: The Man Friday February 10, 2006

I rented The Man this evening, and just now finished watching the movie, and then the blooper reel. The verdict? Don't bother. The movie was amusing, but neither laugh-out-loud funny nor edge-of-the-seat exciting. And the blooper reel was downright disappointing. The film had SERIOUS potential: Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene… Read more

Pre-Orders now open for The Body Politic Monday July 8, 2013

Pre-orders are now open for Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic, the ninth volume in the massively-serial space ope-- what am I saying? You people know all of this. I mean, you're here, right? This volume is different from every other volume we've done. There is no bonus story.  There is,… Read more