Cover Reveal: Barbarian Emperor

Newsletter readers and those who follow me on Twitter already know about my next release.  As a quick break from the Heroes Unleashed Universe, I knocked out a nice fantasy epic that features a gladiator clawing his way out of the arena, crossing half an empire and back, and confronting...

Cirsova 8’s The Dream Lords, by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt

Uitvlugt has become mainstay in the pages of Cirsova, with offerings going all the way back to The Hour of the Rat in the inaugural issue. This time around he takes the reader on a journey to one small corner of the Dreamlands, a strange village whose inhabitants serve...

Cirsova 8’s Breaking the Accords, by Amy Power Jansen

With her people’s backs pressed to the sea, the Queen of a fallen empire convinces her high priestess to break the seal that binds a fell power. Locked away in previous generations, that fell power and her cousins nearly ruined the earth for mankind, and would have succeeded had...

Jack Ryan Closeout Spectacular

Episodes seven and eight manage to continue Jack Ryan‘s uneven trend.  A final showdown in which the villain’s plan slowly unravels, and an ultimate confrontation resolved though the sort of cunning instincts we’ve seen from Jack Ryan cap things off in a satisfying manner, even as these last two...

Cirsova 8: Brandy and Dye, by Jim Breyfogle

The second story in Cirsova 8, Brandy and Dye by Jim Breyfogle, is a delight to read.  Two mercenaries get thrown into a tight economic battle between the providers of the eponymous Brandy and Dye.  Let’s look at the things that elevate this story above the usual fare: The...

Jack Ryan Turns Six

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan pulls off a neat trick in its sixth episode.  The conclusion of the show presents a four sided Mexican standoff with more guns and more seriousness than a Tarantino movie.  It also resolves a hell of a lot more satisfyingly than a Tarantino movie, which...

‘Member Jack Ryan? Episode Five

The kids reminded me that we are long overdue for the next installment of Jack Ryan and the Sarin Gas Ensemble Show sponsored by Monsanto, doing our part to keep internet mobs gainfully employed since [redacted]. In  this episode, our main character makes her way ever so slowly toward the...

Littermates (Pt. 1 of 2)

It’s high time I got back to doing some short reviews and got caught up with my hard copy reviews, all too many of which languish in my to-read pile. In issue number eight of this fine magazine, the editor’s thoughtfully present us with a space pirate tale that...

Not Tall Enough for the Wild Stars Comics

Are you up for a galaxy spanning multi-versal tale with dozens of characters, settings, and a whole lot of strange goings on? Have I got a comic series for you! Michael Tierney first came to my attention with his modern man against gods tale, Shark Fighter, in Cirsova #2. ...

Cultural Strength, Not Organizational Strength

Regular readers of the blog know that I’ve enjoyed a few titles from Alterna Comics based solely on the proprietor, one Peter Simeti, being a stand up guy who just wants to publish good stories.  This naturally put him square in the cross-hairs of Team Awful who dragged him up on...