Last Thursday, 26 July 2007, Thomas K.Y. came by for a little while to demonstrate Mids' Hero Designer, a shareware program designed to aid in the advancement of characters for the "City of Heroes" multiplayer online game. While David I.S. and I haven't had the time or inclination to investigate features such as auctions, salvage, and invention as Thomas and Steve M.R. have, we hope to keep up with our fellow "Dimensional Corps Online" teammates, including Kim A.G. and Shari S.
My primary "toon," Scrapper "Scarlet Saber 2," wears a red fedora and duster coat and wields a magical sword. My secondary character right now, Blaster "Emerald Quarrel," is an homage to D.C. Comics' "Green Arrow" and, of course, legendary archer Robin Hood. We're still playing on Sunday mornings and Thursday nights. For more information about our supergroup, visit http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/dimensionalcorpsonline/
For much of the past weekend, I was following the coverage of this year's San Diego Comi-Con on G4 and online. Of the numerous genre multimedia announcements, I thought the previews of the upcoming live-action "Iron Man" and "Batman: Dark Knight" movies looked most promising. We'll have to wait and see whether the fourth "Indiana Jones" film and Conan videogame are any good, but I do plan to pick up the updated "Blade Runner" cyberpunk DVD.
In addition, Zachary Quinto, who plays villain "Sylar" on NBC's "Heroes," appeared with classic "Star Trek" actor Leonard Nimoy for the announcement that Quinto will be playing Spock in the upcoming reboot of that long-running space opera franchise. I was also impressed to learn that Ed Norton is co-writing and acting in the "Incredible Hulk" film and that he is a fan of 1970s Bill Bixby television show, which I also have fond memories of.
Speaking of television, I'm looking forward to the coming season of "Heroes" (and "Origins," the first episode of which will be directed by Kevin Smith), "Smallville" (Supergirl to join the ensemble), "Avatar: the Last Airbender" (Season 2 of the best animated fantasy on the air will be on DVD later this month), "Legion of Superheroes" (two years will elapse between seasons), and "The Batman" (who joins the Justice League)!
In the meantime, there will also be "Stargate SG1" and "Battlestar Galactica" miniseries, the SciFi Channel's new "Flash Gordon," and more of the BBC's latest "Doctor Who" and "Robin Hood," both of which I've been pleased with so far. I may also try to catch up on USA's quirky mystery/comedy "Psych" and anime on Nicktoons and Funimation, such as "Skyland."
I've recently posted about my favorite comic books, so I won't repeat that here other than to say that I've been enjoying several of D.C. Comics, Marvel, and Dynamite's titles each month. Lots of ideas for my D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero scenarios! Fellow bloggers Steve M.R. (http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-zA8iOK8iaalgc0hpoQY-?cq=1&p=382) and Ken G. (www.showbits.net), among others, have also blogged about Comi-Con, and I hope to get to the convention in San Diego or New York in the coming years.
On Sunday, Janice and I had brunch at the International House of Pancakes in Norwood, Massachusetts, and I picked up my subscription at New England Comics. On Friday, we had gone to dinner at "Acapulco's" in Newton and stopped by Newbury Comics.
On Saturday, July 28, I hosted another higher-level "Dungeons & Dragons" Edition 3.5 one-shot because of Byron V.O.'s availability. This time, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Monastery/Ninja Dojo" scenario used the "Oriental Adventures" and related sourcebooks, and Paul J./"Tetsuo," Beruk A./"Sukhov," Byron/"Melchior," and guest Gabe/"Eva" managed to defeat the four evildoers who had taken over a martial arts school!
After a late start and telephone calls by Dexter V.H. and James B., I thought the game went very well. Paul's friend Gabe turned out to be a good role-player and a team player, and despite the rushed ending, I thought the infiltration and duels were properly cinematic and challenging for all involved. The next weekend game will be Dex's D20 "Star Wars: Saga Edition" later this month.
Yesterday, I ran the latest D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy session, in which the current Boston-area party ventured into the swamps while on one Player Character's spiritual quest. Tonight, Byron/"Ibrahim" and Dexter/"Faelonia" should wrap up "Holy Steel's" battle against Beholders to relieve the siege of Palerias in Paul's world! For more updates, visit: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/DnD3VanishedLands/
This coming weekend, I'll be visiting family and friends in Virginia, but in the meantime, I hope all is well with each of you. …
Gene's Worlds 