Tuesday 30 August 2011

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

No, I haven't gone mad and started to think that December follows August, it's just that September is my favourite month of the year.

It always was my favourite month growing up as it meant going back to school (yes, I liked school - but I much preferred sixth form and uni) but it now has the extra razzle dazzle that it's my daughter's birth month too. This September is shaping up to be the best ever though.

The action kicks off on the 5th when Hive of the Dead is unleashed on the world. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about that in the coming weeks... There will be copies on sale at Games Day and I'll be doing a signing in Warhammer World on 10th September. I'm sure it'll be a case of '...and puppet show' as the mighty Graham McNeill will be signing copies of The Outcast Dead at the same time but anybody who buys one of the 20 copies of HotD on sale on the day will be rewarded with a small free gift that will aid you greatly in playing through the book.

As excited as I am by the release of my first gamebook there are other pop culture items I can't wait to get my hands on in September. A mere four days after Hive of the Dead is unleashed, there's a pretty big video game release, one that allows you to kill stuff with a variety of exotic weapons. That's right - Dead Island is coming out! And if that wasn't a good enough reason for me to invest in a PS3, hot on its heels comes the long-awaited blu-ray release of the greatest movie ever made. That's right, Point Break will finally be available in full HD glory. My movie insiders assure me that the only reason Bigelow won the Oscar for The Hurt Locker is to make up for the fact that she was criminally overlooked for Point Break. OK, so my movie insider works at my local Blockbuster but it makes perfect sense to me!

Later on in the month comes the release of the first set in the next Magic block - Innistrad - and as if it being horror themed wasn't enough to float my boat, the mechanics and cards spoiled so far have raised my anticipation levels to 11. As I said to the Boy Lyon earlier, the only way I could be more excited about this set is if they printed it on bacon!

It's not all shiny and bright in September though. I've been a DC fanboy for years, almost to the total exclusion of titles from other publishers, but, in an effort to reclaim market share from Marvel, their Distinguished Competition have seen fit to reboot their universe and restart all DCU titles with fresh first issues. Many see this as a jumping-on point but I see it as a jumping-off point. The reboot itself was bad enough but retconning the JSA so they weren't the first superhero team and taking Barbara Gordon out of the wheelchair WHILE STILL KEEPING THE KILLING JOKE AS PART OF THE CONTINUITY is at best insulting, at worst offensive. The most galling thing about it is that I've really enjoyed the Flashpoint series and associated mini-series but its legacy will be shaping the universe I've been so faithful to for so long into something I no longer feel comfortable with.

But, in the spirit of September being THE BEST month, what are you looking forward to this (next) month?

2 comments:

  1. The release of Hive of the Dead.

    Games Day.

    The launch of House of Fear (featuring my short story The Doll's House).

    FantasyCon.

    The release of my first iDevice app gamebook Temple of the Spider God.

    Working on Project Fisticuffs...

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  2. Project Victoriana finally being over and getting to see the happy smiliing faces of multiple steampunks.

    World's Collider window closing and Xaphan The Faceless Window openinig.

    Looking forward to seeing Hive of the Dead come out as well.

    I'm actually looking forward to the DC launch, as I fell of the DC train a few years ago. Still finding Invincible to be the best hero comic out there at the moment though.

    Oh, and an airsoft/zombie larp I'm going to as part of a stag do. Should be fun.

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