2020: The Year in Review

2020 has been a transformative year. Carol and I have both blended our families, supervised the ongoing renovation of the duplex into a single home, and managed setting up home offices for ourselves and the children… all within the context of the COVID 19 pandemic.  I’m just thrilled that we’re all safe and happy together.

Instead of ranking what I’ve read/watched/played over the year, I’ll just list them for posterity.

====BOOKS====

  • Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
  • So You Want to Talk About Race – Ijeoma Oluo
  • Comics Will Break Your Heart – Faith Erin Hicks
  • Called Into Being: Essays on Frankenstein – Alison O’Toole, ed.
  • Dark Run – Mike Books

Observations: When I packed up the bookshelves, I’m glad I put all the unread books in a single box… they’ll be the first to come out of the basement!

=====COMICS====

  • Glow vs the Babyface
  • Lois Lane
  • Once & Future vol 1
  • Dungeons & Dragons: A Darkened Wish
  • Delver
  • Afterlift

Observations: The stockpile of comics – both physical and digital – has only grown!

=====GAMES (Physical)====

  • Wingspan
  • Alien Frontier
  • Isle of Skye
  • Food Chain Magnate
  • Firefly
  • Sherrif of Nottingham
  • King of Tokyo
  • Draftosaurus
  • Dice Throne
  • Dungeon Mayhem: Monster Madness

Observations: In-person boardgaming started out strong in 2020. The final game was played at the office the week of the pandemic shutdown.

=====GAMES (Virtual)====

  • Arboretum
  • Cosmic Encounter
  • Splendor

Observations: I was gifted a copy of Tabletop  Simulator for my birthday, but time to play has been hard to find. That should change now that the home office is a better appointed.

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

  • Jumanji: The Next Level
  • Birds of Prey
  • Wonder Woman 84 – I guess it counts for this list!

Observations: I really don’t know how I’m going to feel about going back to movie theatres, when such a thing is possible again.

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

  • Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Echo of the Canyon
  • Memory: Origin of ALIEN
  • All is True
  • Secret World of Arriety
  • The Cat REturns
  • Lego Ninjago: The MOvie
  • Glroy
  • Grosse Pointe Blank
  • Porco Rosso
  • Princess Mononoke
  • The Big Short
  • Howl’s Moving Catle
  • Castle in the Sky
  • Juno
  • Lupin III & the Castle of Cagliostro
  • Into the Spiderverse
  • Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wing
  • Shaun of the Dead
  • Commando
  • Oh Hello! Broadway
  • Evolution
  • To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
  • PS I Still Love You
  • The Illusionist (animated)
  • Godzilla: King of hte Monsters
  • Lego Adventures of Clutch Powers
  • Spirited Away
  • Rush HOur
  • Spaceballs
  • Scream
  • Spider-Man: Far from Home
  • Thor: Ragnarok
  • Infinity War
  • Captain Marvel
  • Endgame
  • Ponyo
  • Pirates: Band of Misfits
  • Up on Poppy HIll
  • Frankenstein Conquers the World
  • Whispers of the Heart
  • Shazam
  • Black Panther
  • Knives Out
  • Pacific Rim
  • Blades of Glory
  • Talladega Nights
  • Superbad
  • John Mulaney: The Comeback Kid
  • The Photograph

Observations: As much as I love family movie night, nothing is as funny as listening to the four kids discover comedies on their own.

====TV SHOWS ====

  • Vanity Fair
  • Slings & Arrows S2-S3
  • Crisis on Infinite Earths
  • Doctor Who S12
  • Dear White People S3
  • Picard
  • Cheer
  • I Am Not Okay With This
  • Never Have I Ever
  • The Baker and the Beauty
  • Diggstown S2
  • Good Place S4
  • Queen’s Gambit
  • Star Trek Discovery: S3
  • Timeless

Observations: One interesting side effect of going all-in on streaming services is that I don’t really have the attention span for something longer than 12 episodes. I need to be able to finish something in a week, more or less.

====ANIME ====

  • Cells At Work
  • Inuyasha
  • Saiki-K
  • Ouran High School Host Club
  • Bleach
  • Devil is a Part-Timer
  • Soul Eater
  • RWBY
  • Love Chunibyo and Other Delusions
  • Ultraman

Observations: The kids are showing me anime shows! We haven’t finished anything except Cells at Work, but I’m having fun!

 

2019: Year in Review

====BOOKS====

Favourite: The Hogarth Shakespeare Collection
I read all the outstanding Shakespeare novels, and each one surprised/mesmerized me in a different way: Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson had the roughest jokes and best metafiction; New Boy by Tracey Chevalier was sadness and tragedy from start to finish; The Gap of Time by Jeannette Winterson made sense of The Winter’s Tale and found heartbreak in videogame design; and Macbeth by Jo Nesbo was a grotty crime thriller about addiction and childhood trauma that made me think very differently about MacDuff (of all people!). Now, I’m just waiting on Gillian Flynn’s Hamlet…should it still be in the works…

Disappointment: SLUGFEST: Marvel vs DC

I’m not actually disappointed in the book – it’s an interesting decade-by-decade history about the business-level battles between the publishing titans – but it’s filled with so many snarky asides and comparisons to pop culture in the later chapters that it reads like a couple of long-form blog posts. That’s disappointing.

Surprise: THE MAKING OF KUBRICK’S 2001
Reviews. All the reviews. Articles. All the articles. Clippings and references and photos and fan letters. This is a glorious deep-dive into the critical and cultural impact of 2001…from the industry press to the high school newspapers. Like reading the most exhaustive of Wikipedia entries.

Observations: I only managed to read 11 books this year…and it would have been 7 without a couple of West Coast flights!

=====COMICS====

Favourite: THE FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS, by Jack Kirby
A volume so big that I had to set it up on a lectern at my desk to read, covering ideas about good vs evil, destiny vs free will, and generational conflict that they could barely be contained between the covers! No wonder DC is still mining this universe for ideas all these years later!

Disappointment: X-Men
The Hickman-led reboot just isn’t for me. Going back to the Claremont well for characters only highlights how good that run really was.

Surprise: GLOW, by Tini Howard, Hannah Templer, and Rebecca Nalty
Compassionate cartoony comedy gold, just like the TV series! I had so much fun reading this series that I’m already

Observations: I built up a huge stockpile of miniseries and new stories this year that I have to work through: Wonder Twins, Female Furies, Lois Lane, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olson, Legion of Super-Heroes. Not to mention the new trade paperbacks I picked up at Crossover Comics, Montreal Comic-Con, and Kickstarter.

=====GAMES (Physical)====

Favourite: XIA: LEGENDS OF A DRIFT
A sandbox style game of space exploration that seems to cross the best of High Frontier and Roborally and Star Trek Acension into one tile-flipping, ship-upgrading, gravity-well dodging, element-trading mess of fun. I was intrigued as soon as I realized that ship components were laid out like tetrominoes on the ship diagrams…and hooked when I did a blind jump into a sun.

Disappointment: Nothing. Every game was gold this year! (which means I replayed a lot of old favourites)

Surprise: MERCHANTS & MARAUDERS: BROADSIDES
I love, in no particular order: pirates, poker cards, custom decks, two-player games, targeting grids, worker placement, diminishing options, clear endgames. This game has e v e r y t h i n g in a cool bundle – two ships with a custom decks choose their cannons, their shot, and their crew, and manipulate their decks to put the opposing cannons off-target…but there’s only so far they can delay the inevitable.

Observations: Weekly boardgaming at the office has fallen by the wayside, and I’ll try to bring it back in 2020.

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

Favourite: AQUAMAN
A film that crosses the Seven Seas manages to put together ten glorious sequences and setpieces, covering romance, revenge, horror, and parliamentary procedure…while remaining joyful and fun from start to finish.

Disappointment: ZOMBIELAND 2
A weird little movie that has no real reason to exist beyond the opening credits sequence, and the end credits sequence (no spoilers…but it’s amazing). The middle – particularly the casual misogyny – just doesn’t work. There’s no reason to believe that those characters and that world stayed unchanged for 10 years. It’s so…cringey.

Surprise: YESTERDAY
This movie is far better on the screen than it looked on paper – a pub musician named Jack whose dreams of making it big cause him to overlook the love and success he already is suddenly the only musician who remembers the music of the Beatles…and makes a career. What this stroke of fantastical luck doesn’t do is turn him into a jerk – he’s aware that he’s cheating for his success – but it does cost him everything he didn’t know he already had. Or…you could watch the film from Ellie’s perspective, who watches her best friend and unrequited love reach great heights…but she isn’t tragic about it, and moves on with her life. A lovely bit of film magic…with great excuses to reinvent the Beatles’ classics!

Observations: There are so many odd remakes and remixes hitting the theatres. I’m getting the same vibe from the film industry that I’m getting from the comics business…we’re in a strange rut, at times.

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

Favourite: THE OTHER GUYS
I was not expecting the end credits to focus on the mechanics of Ponzi schemes and undeserved Wall Street bailouts during the Great Recession. I just wasn’t. This is a Will Ferrell / Mark Wahlberg comedy – with all the greatness and pitfalls that entails (so much could have been cut!) – after all, but it explains what led to The Big Short getting made a couple of years later.

Disappointment: SOMEONE GREAT
A Netflix original that I should have loved because the actresses are individually amazing, and the flashbacks elegantly tell the tale of a long-term relationship going south…but I just wanted to snatch the e-cigs and whiskey glasses from their hands and tell them to grow up! (I’m old)

Surprise: THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR
I may be old, but a love a new take on young love and fate…especially one that has so many lovely touches about how sudden deep connections can inform the rest of your dreams…right down to the pink tips of your hair.

Observations: Slowly going through the classic 80s movies in my DVD collection with the kids. I still can’t believe that none of them were scared by Alien.

====TV SHOWS ====

Favourite: WATCHMEN S1
This series – which has no reason to exist except that it’s a perfect, self-contained marvel – has all the otherworldly perfection of intricate clockworks and it leaves me in awe. As does the acting of Regina King. As does the work of all the actors, the reinvention of the source material to inescapably reflect our present age of politics and culture. Watch it as many times as you like, and I suspect you’ll find something new to love.

Disappointment: WENTWORTH S6
Got halfway through, but couldn’t finish it. The bulk of the main characters have come and gone, and I can’t muster the energy to follow any more conspiracy, drug dealing, office politics, or other forms of subterfuge.

Surprise: THE PRISONER
Another show that I could watch again and again and always find something new to appreciate. I guess this is a study in how systems maintain their power over the individual, but that’s an oversimplification when episodes feature garden parties, art auctions, rocket ships, and a multiplicity of failed escape plans. A series so of its time that it could afford “All You Need is Love” in its contemporaneous soundtrack, but so timeless that we have yet to figure out how to beat the system at its own game (and I guess that’s the punchline).

Observations: The only way to keep up with all the available TV is to ignore most of the streaming services and focus on one show at a time. I end up rotating between iTunes, Gem, Netflix, Shout Factory, Crave, and Tubi. I don’t think I can take on much more. In fact, I should do away with at least one.

2018: The Year in Review

====BOOKS====

No clear split between fiction and non-fiction reading this year.

Favourite: DEATH’S END, by Cixin Liu
The entire THREE-BODY PROBLEM trilogy was an unsettling existential crisis, but the third book is my favourite because it was it’s own seven-part series in a single volume, showcasing different scenarios where the certainty of an unpredictable doom would render humanity mad.  Yes, it’s a little too convenient to have the same modern humans forever flash-frozen for the flash-forwards, but some frame of reference is required. In some ways, this book reads like a GULLIVER’S TRAVELS for the future, but without the happy ending.

Disappointment: THE ART OF THINKING CLEARLY, by Ralph Dobelli
As I get older, self-help books seem more and more nihilistic. Nothing is ever correct, nothing is ever good enough, nothing ever changes. This book is a collection of logical fallacies, illustrated by personal anecdotes from the author who seems driven to prove the point that no utterance or position can ever be considered true. This may in fact be true, but it’s no way to hold a conversation or live a life.

Surprise: DUNBAR, by Edward St. Aubyn / VINEGAR GIRL, by Anne Tyler
Two more entries from the Hogarth Shakespeare novel project astounded and amused me. DUNBAR covers KING LEAR, showcasing the dissipation of an oligarch’s crumbling media empire. VINEGAR GIRL covers TAMING OF THE SHREW which did away with the “courtship” of the play and focused on shredding the patriarchy with satire. I’m looking foward to four more books in 2019.

Observations: I only read 12 books in 2018. I think I have to get back to reserving at least two office lunch hours per week for reading.

=====COMICS====

Favourite: VISION, by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jodie Bellaire
The Vision builds himself a family and tries to give them a normal life. From this pitch – tragedy ensues, and I was moved from page to page. I’m glad a I took a gamble on returning to the Marvel Universe for this self-contained tale.

Disappointment: BLACK PANTHER: A NATION UNDER OUR FEET, by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze
It’s a testament to how much I’ve changed since my own Marvel Zombie days that I couldn’t much follow or be moved to care about T’Challa’s latest titles. I can’t believe in a war between Wakanda and Atlantis. I don’t get this importance of the Illuminati in the Marvel universe. And that’s okay. I can move on to other things.

Surprise: OMAC, by Jack Kirby
From military dictatorships to mega-conglomerate media wars, Kirby saw our present in his vision of the future. Based on these truncated eight issues, I’m spending 2019 reading a huge chunk of the rest of Kirby’s work for DC: Demon, Kamandi, and, of course, the Fourth World saga.

Observations: This was a year of endings: Astro City concluded its run as a monthly series; the Chapterhouse books disappeared from store shelves; and my friendly local comic shop closed after 20-odd years of service.  I found an excellent new shop to pick up books for the kids, and the odd limited series for myself, like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest…another ending!

=====GAMES (Physical)====

Favourite: BATTLE CON, by  D. Brad Talton Jr. (Level 99 Games)
2D fighting as a card game! So many decks and power sets to choose from! Perfect knowledge of your opponent’s moves will give you nothing if you can’t manage your own tempo and time your reversals correctly! I played this game weekly with Peter, trying a new hero every time, and I was astounded by the variety of possibly gameplay.

Disappointment: CENTIPEDE, by Anthony Amato, Jonathan Gilmour, Nicole Kline (IDW Games)
I’m thrilled that this game exists – a two-player arcade game simulator, for lack of a more elegant description – but for all the novelty of the nostalgia, the game itself is a little abrupt and unwieldy. The game is basically won or lost in the setup for the mushroom garden, but I love the finicky dice management and trying to figure out where the flea and giant spider will land next.

Surprise: MAGIC MAZE, by Kasper Lapp (Sit Down! Games)
High concept silliness – medieval heroes are trapped overnight in a shopping mall! But wait, it gets better! Each player can move any of the heroes…but only in one direction! Even better – the players can’t talk to each other, so if the situation requires the Up player to move the Barbarian, the other players can only stare at the Up player until they figure out what they are expected to do! So much fun!

Observations: I’m in a phase where my friends and colleague are introducing me to cool new games, while my own shopping and exploring is based on what would be fun to show the kids. And they’re getting hooked!

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

Favourite: BLACK PANTHER
This is the first Marvel movie that needs no excuses, that requires no geeky dispensation to explain away leaps in logic, that will thrill from the opening credits to the close. I love the fact that this isn’t a hero’s journey or a star vehicle…that every major character gets an arc in this film intead of existing solely to advance the plot.

Disappointment: THE PREDATOR
Misogynistic and baffling inept at action, horror, and comedy. Olivia Munn and Sterling K. Brown did great work respectively, but both deserved better. The concluding lab scene is the single dumbest thing I’ve seen committed to film in YEARS. And I’ve seen the dolphin in JOHNNY MNEMONIC.

Surprise: OCEAN’S 8
Watched this film during a late summer heat wave, and it was so cool I wouldn’t have noticed if the air conditioning gave out… The world needs more Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway scheming.

Observations: lorem ipsum

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

Favourite: MOLLY’S GAME
I find poker exceedingly dull to watch, but listening to Jessica Chastain explain poker and the high-stakes poker lifestyle quickly was endlessly entertaining. Also noteworthy for going to great lengths to set up a joke about THE CRUCIBLE.

Disappointment: SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD
I love everything about this movie except the main character. Every time I watch this movie, I marvel at the sight gags in the direction, and roll my eyes when Scott Pilgrim is on screen. Diminishing returns.

Surprise: PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN
When the cast and the cinematography are this gorgeous, any bit of ahistorical nonsense is fun to watch.

Observations: I finally bought a stripped-down Blu-Ray player, and have been diving into the discount bins to pick up cheap versions of the films of my youth, like DRAGONSLAYER and LAST STARFIGHTER.

====TV SHOWS ====

Favourite: BLACK LIGHTNING s1
I’ve enjoyed most the CW superhero shows, and I liked Cress Williams from VERONICA MARS and FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, so I was already confident the show was going to be solidly entertaining. I was not expecting the show to feature ripped-from-the-headlines plotting and social commentary right from the first episode. When Principal Jefferson Pierce warns a young gang member to put away his weapon “because the cops will kill you for fun” I got chills, and was hooked. The family drama is on a par with the action and crime drama, with every member of the family having a compelling storyline. This show is a gift.

Disappointment: TOYS THAT MADE US s1
This documentary tries so hard to be hip as it describes the origins of most famous mid-80s toys that it hurts. It’s the type of show that sounds a gong whenever China or Japan are mentioned. There’s no joy or child-like wonder or glee here…just a lot of smart-aleck posturing.

Surprise: DIX POUR CENT (CALL MY AGENT!) s1-2
This workplace farce about a small talent agency in Paris had me in stitches in every episode. Actual celebrities play themselves to great comic effect – likely made funnier by the fact that I don’t recognize most of them and am force to just roll with the laughs.

Observations: There is entirely too much television to keep up with, and this will only get worse as new streaming services are made available. I’m going to pay particular attention to the CBC Gem service, which has dramatically expanded its catalogue. We’ll see what remains to be seen!

Waterdeep needs WARRIORS!

The adventure begins! Warriors of Waterdeep is available from the Google PLAY Store in Canada! link: https://ludia.gg/WOW_Ludia

I’d only ever dreamed of working with the D&D brand alongside such talented team of developers, designers, artists, animators, QA – as well as the awesome folks at Wizards of the Coast.

The fate of the world now rests in the hands – and phones – of the players!

2017: The Year in Review

====BOOKS (Fiction)====

Favourite: CATCH-22, by Joseph Heller
When I first read this novel at the tender age of 20, I thought that 28-year-old Yossarian’s gift was being a smartass in defiance of goofy gasbags in the army, as if he was a raunchier version of Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. Now that I’m older, I laughed harder, more bitterly, and more hopefully at the same jokes. For all that Yossarian is quite reasonably deathly afraid of everything and everyone who allows Sheisskopf’s marches, Minderbinder’s self-double-dealing with the syndicate, Aarfy and Nately’s vileness, and Cathcart’s expanding mission caps to rule the world, he finds a way to appreciate life and beauty and sex and humanity (and love for the Chaplain)…and survives.

Disappointment: CRIME & PUNISHMENT, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Reading this novel feels like a punshment. Raskolnikov is a selfish, petty ass who, in modern times, would be lurking in the deplorable section of the internet reading Ayn Rand until he self-radicalized. I was angry every time the character spoke. I would much rather read the novel about Dunya, his sister, who is capable of shooting abusive men and would yet make any sacrifice for her worthless brother.

Surprise: BRAVE NEW WORLD, by Aldous Huxley
The real surprise is the age of the novel. I would have thought the novel was from the 60s given it emphasis on drugs, sex, and psychology, but it was a product of the inter-war period, the Great Depression, Ford, and Freud. Again, I think the supporting female character is more interesting than the male protagonists…Lenina actively questions her life of sex and soma in the Brave New World, whereas Bernard tries to game the system, and John is an empty vessel of misogyny, rage, and Shakespeare quotes. When the utopia looks this good…it’s a dystopia. Every time.

Observations: I managed to read 20 books this year, up from 12 in 2016. Blocking out at least one lunch hour a week certainly helped.

====BOOKS (Non-Fiction)====

Favourite: SPECTACULAR SISTERHOOD OF SUPERWOMEN, by Hope Nicholson
Learning about cool comics by talking with enthusiastic-yet-critical folks is my favourite way of discovering new comics. If you haven’t found that person, crack open this book and let Hope Nicholson tell you all about some of the most noteworthy characters in each decade, with just the right amount of admiration and admonition.

Disappointment: CANUCK COMICS, edited by John Bell
Given this essay collection and price guide was published in 1986, calling it a disappointment is a bit unfair…I pretty much knew that going in. My interest was mostly historiographical – to see how the history of Canadian comics was written thirty years ago, as compared to current research. I think I would have really appreciated it had a

Surprise: ON THE ORIGIN OF THE URBAN CRISIS, by Thomas J. Sugrue
One of three books that I purchased from a reading list curated by American political writer Jamelle Bouie because I won an Amazon gift card from a raffle on his site, I thought this analysis of postwar Detroit would be dry and technocratic. Instead, it was a horror story. I had no idea how thoroughly systemic racism harmed the labour and housing rights of black Americans from the ground up, opposing federal integration initiatives, to the specific detriment of black Americans and eventually the fortunes of Detroit as a whole. Two examples: white union workers went on “hate strikes” to protest integrated factory places, reserving the benefits of unionization as a white privilege; and real estate covenants prevented realtors from selling homes in white neighbourhoods to black families to “preserve property values” (sometimes based on racist property evaluation policies inherited from federal housing authorities)…and mob violence forced black families who nonetheless succeeded in buying homes in white neighborhoods to leave. Shocking, eye-opening, and regrettably modern.

Observations: A third of the books I read this year were non-fiction. I’ll try to hold to that ratio in 2018.

====COMICS (Print)====
Astro City
and Pitiful Human-Lizard are the pillars of my pull list. They are consistently awesome and should be in your collections as well!

Favourite: MAGNUS (Dynamite), by Kyle Higgins & Jorge Fornes
Yet another reboot of the Gold Key concept, this time under the Sovereigns multiverse umbrella concept. Kelli Magnus navigates the worlds where the A.I. retreat and the human world where robot bodies are abused. This is an interesting new take on the Robot Fighter story concept…because she doesn’t want to fight! Also, the AI world looks like old Kirby comics, which is, frankly, amazing.

Disappointment:none
My reserve list for physical books and Comixology subscriptions is so slight, that I don’t really buy anything that I suspect will disappoint me. Well, that’s not ENTIRELY true, because I did take a gamble on the new Dynamite Turok series wondering if it might be terrible, but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Surprise: FANTOMAH, by Ray Fawkes & Soo Lee
Ooooh! A paranormal crime thriller about a big sister possessed by a spirit of vengeance!  And she’s a public domain character! And it’s published by Chapterhouse! I’m keen to follow this as long as it’s published (waiting for Pitiful Human-Lizard crossover, naturally).

Observations: I collect miniseries, but I wait until they’ve all be released before I read them. It’s like trade-waiting, but it helps guarantee that the rest of the series gets published…and I don’t forget what’s happening from month to month. ORPHAN BLACK: DEVIATIONS and TUROK had their final issues released in the last two weeks of 2017, but they’ll count against the 2018 review.

=====COMICS (Graphic Novels & Trades)====

Favourite: ANGEL CATBIRD, by Margaret Atwood & Johnnie Christmas / FASHION IN ACTION by John K Snyder III
Hope Nicholson makes exciting things happen in the world of comics – from reprinting the Bowie-esque indie action comic Fashion in Action, to getting Margaret Atwood matched up with the right artist for a pulpy graphic novel trilogy in Angel Catbird, Nicholson’s Bedside Press is where fun and provocative comics are too be found.

Disappointment: none
I don’t buy enough graphic novels or trades in print to be disappointed in any of them!

Surprise: SWORDQUEST, by Roy Thomas & George Perez
Growing up, my neighbour across the street owned the only Atari system around, and I used to play the Sword Quest game. Badly. I was more interested in reading the mini-comic about the twins fighting the creatures of the Zodiac.. I never knew the game was part 1 of a projected 4 games, that there were more comics, or that there was a contest to win a prize for the playing the game. Only three games/comics were printed, but they’re finally reprinted here. And they hold up to my 10 year old memory.

Observations: Most of my graphic novel purchases are anthologies commissioned and purchased via Kickstarter. I’m guaranteed to see things I’ve never seen before. Looking forward to the print copies of GOTHIC TALES OF HAUNTED LOVE and WAYWARD SISTERS.

 

=====GAMES (Physical)====

Favourite: THE DICE MUST FLOW, by Heiko Gunther (Print n Play Productions)
This is dice-based streamlining of the classic Dune game from Avalon Hill, and it puts all the pressure and intrigue of the main game into a manageable 2-hour session, thanks to a press-your-luck based system of resource generation. It’s by no means a complete substitute, but it’s minimalist gorgeous fun.

Disappointment: DASTARDLY DIRIGIBLES, by Justin De Witt (Fireside Games)
A suit-based set-collection game that has nice art, but insufficient steampunk charm to keep me engaged past the first play session. Maybe the the dirigibles had something to do after they’d been built (I imagine collecting sets from a fleet would feel much different from collecting pieces of a single ship). It’s not bad

Surprise: KILL SHAKESPEARE, by Thomas Vande Ginste, Wolf Plancke (IDW Games)
This was almost the disappointment of the year, because the rulebook was so horrendous that I couldn’t figure out why we were playing. However, Peter, Kevin, and Ramsay insisted that we persist, watch a youtube playthrough, replace the cardboard chits with wooden cubes, and we had ourselves a  fun semi-cooperative game with multiple ways to lose and/or mess with your opponent’s score.

Observations: The lunchtime boardgame group helped me plow through my unplayed games collection…I can’t wait for the production pressure to relent so we can actually enjoy a lunch break from time to time!

=====GAMES (Mobile)====

Favourite: CALCULATOR: THE GAME, by Simple Machine
A calculator pad. A limit number of digits and operations. A target number. A move limit. It’s more than an arithmetic puzzle, because some of the operations involve inverting or reverting digits. Terrific puzzles for the morning commute.

Disappointment: CARD THIEF, by Arnold Rauers
This might be a case of loving the creator’s first game, CARD CRAWL, too much. I wasn’t prepared for a grid-based gameplay of evading guards, opening doors, and collecting treasure. Despite three attempts at figuring out the game, it’s just…not for me.

Surprise: WWE TAP MANIA: GET IN THE RING, by Sega
I love tapper games more than idle games, because I love the feel of the action, and I have to say that Tap Mania gives me a sense of the action (but it could do more! Some cut-scenes for the special boss fights would be nice!). However, this makes my list for the clever economy – you can only unlock the Rock by collecting shards earned from every 5th objective. I  was locked into the gameplay for about a month until I picked up what I needed…and then I was free.

Observations: lorem ipsum

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

Favourite: WONDER WOMAN / ANOTHER WOLFCOP / THOR: RAGNAROK (tie)
What all three movies have in common is they made me shout/cheer with delight in the movie theatre. Wonder Woman was perfect until the final 15 minutes, Another Wolfcop was lunacy from start to finish, and Thor: Ragnorak was comedy gold.

Disappointment: BLADE RUNNER 2049
This…was not the movie I was hoping to see. I didn’t want an ordinary mystery, or a funny Harrison Ford, or the cruelty to women. I loved the strange visual and auditory vistas, and Ryan Gosling’s search for an authentic connection among other replicants and his AI companion, but the silly plot of the film kept getting in the way of of the big questions that needed to be asked.

Surprise: CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS
Everything that is brilliant about the Captain Underpants novel series found its way into this film – even the notion of Flip-o-Rama pages for the big action sequences! Love for the source material is visible in every frame and the kids giggled their fool heads off…as did I!

Observations: I tend to see movies twice now – first with the kids, and then with friends – but I’m not seeing the same variety of films that I’d like. Maybe this will change in 2018, after the two great Marvel blockbusters run their course.

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

Favourite: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
An apocalyptic alien zombie story that explores what happens to the first generation of children born into this dystopia, and the seeds of the future planted in them. All the actors are excellent, but Glenn Close deserves special mention for how hard she commits to the role of the scientist driven to inhuman lengths to find a cure for the zombie outbreak.

Disappointment: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
It is a mystery how this movie looks so goddamn good and feels so sexless and lethargic.

Surprise: THE CONGRESS
Pre-House of Cards Robin Wright plays a down on her luck version of herself and sells her likeness and identity as a once-famous actress to a movie studio, where they can put her in any genre of film they like…and then they start to sell her identity as an organic compound for a more complete sensory experience, and things get really weird…and animated.

Observations: There’s treasure to be found in the 3rd or 4th layer of Netflix recommendations.

====TV SHOWS ====

Favourite: DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
Structurally and stylistically inventive, sexy, hilarious, and scary, this show had me laughing and thinking ruefully about the world. I recognised a lot of the dumb white people in this show (and myself in them as well) and appreciated seeing them taken down a dozen or so pegs. Loved every episode and can’t wait for the next season.

Disappointment: IRON FIST / DEFENDERS (tie)
That the realistic Marvel approach would falters as they approached the mysticism required for a good Kun-lun storyline was a risk at the outset, but I never imagined they’d drop the ball the badly. Also, they had a great opportunity to explore Danny Rand as a disposable child soldier (he’s literally a rich white kid with one trick that he doesn’t deserve), but they faltered. Still, the series that gives us Colleen Wing and more Madame Gao isn’t a complete failure.

Surprise: THE YOUNG POPE
I…have no words about this brassy American Pope who traffics in manipulation and seeming cruelty while reforming the papacy…all while looking like Jude Law, juggling oranges, chasing kangaroos, and demanding that God perform miracles. It’s a wondrous strange show.

Observations: As ever, I’m binge-watching shows on Netflix in 6-12 episode bursts. I don’t mind waiting a week between episodes if necessary, but I’ve no patience for commercials anymore.

2016: The Year in Review

Maintaining this tradition, despite everything that went wrong in 2016.

====BOOKS====

Favourite: WOLF HALL, by Hilary Mantel
The prose in this book – any time Cromwell thinks about the loss of his wife and daughters, the future of his son and nephew, or the own sacrifice of his happiness – feels like a punch in the heart. The Henry VIII / Boleyn scheming is just a bonus.

Disappointment: D&D and PHILOSOPHY
This isn’t the year for me to really enjoy nonfiction essay anthologies. Each essay trod fairly obvious ground, and there was nothing surprising

Surprise: ANCILLARY JUSTICE, by Ann Leckie
There are many comparisons to the Iain M Banks Culture novels for the sheer scope of strangeness, and those aren’t unwarranted, but this mystery/sci-fi/adventure novel is grounded into specifics of character that swept me up in a flurry of pages. The grammatical wordplay and notions of identity alone are worth the cover price. This novel is so good I’m almost afraid to read the rest of the series.

Observations: I set myself a goal of reading 12 specific novels (mostly gifts that had lingered on the shelf) by the end of 2016. I probably won’t make that goal, but I did read 10 books off the list, and I read two others on a round-trip flight to Seattle, so I think that counts. I’ll definitely repeat the process for 2017…though this time I might add a few important re-reads to the list.

====COMICS (Print)====

Favourite: THE PITIFUL HUMAN-LIZARD / ASTRO CITY
My personal reserve list is down to these two books – with the occasional mini-series thrown in.  Both books are twists on superheroic adventure, but I care for the characters as people first and foremost.

Disappointment: PREZ
I’m hugely disappointed that PREZ didn’t get the full six-issue concluding chapter. Instead, a story was placed as a backup in a Catwoman Election special. I’m sure I’ll pick it up eventually…on digital.

Surprise: GOLD KEY ALLIANCE
Reboots of the Magnus/Solar/Turok/Samson/Spektor characters are my kryptonite – they’ve kept me reading comics during summer vacations 30 years ago, and kept me collecting since the days of Valiant. But the reboots don’t always stick the landing – even if Jim Shooter is involved from time to time. This mini-series features five parallel stories of the revised characters – and the revisions are unique – leading to a multiversal clash of previous versions. The best crossover since UNITY, and I don’t say that lightly.

I wonder which company will be next to take a swing at those properties?

Observations: I’m buying more Kickstarted comics like Paradox Girl, Jill Trent, and reprints from Bedside Press than I am reserving books at my local shop…but I’m reserving many books for the kids!

=====COMICS(Electronic)====

Favourite: VELVET
I’m off the Brubaker/Philips bandwagon (except for CRIMINAL special editions) but these 60s-set spy series proves I can’t quit Brubaker entirely. To say that this story is about Moneypenny being the real agent in the field doesn’t do the concept justice, but it should get your attention.

Disappointment: JUPITER’S LEGACY
I don’t know why I keep giving Mark Millar another chance. At least the books were a free offer from Comixology.

Surprise: 4001 A.D.
Valiant knows how to build off their annual events and work a Comixology sale. This year, we see the rise and fall of Japan in 4001, with callbacks to the Book of Death event from 2015 and the Eternal Emperor plotline from 2014. The main story was fantastic…and leave me wondering what could possibly be next for the character.

Observations: I picked up blockbuster HumbleBundles for the kids for the first time, but they are less enthused by digital comics on the computer. I’ll have to find a way to put the books on their tablets to get them reading.

=====GAMES (Physical)====

Favourite: EPIC PVP: FANTASY
The mad scientists at Fun to 11 Games won me over with this fast-paced card battler. Pick a Race deck, pick a Class deck, shuffle, and start fighting your opponent with different move combos. Let me tell you that a Goblin Rogue fights very differently than a Goblin Samurai. I’ve played each individual deck once, but there are 30 combinations left to try…and that’s before the MAGIC expansion ships this year.

Disappointment: DOCTOR WHO: THE CARD GAME
Too many duplicate cards, too many end-of-game conditions, too many needless cross-references in the FAQ page…these are all signs of a half-baked game design. “Timey-wimey” handwaving for the Doctor’s paradoxes and time travels, but are terrible justifications for this game. I apologized to the lunchtime gaming group for inflicting this one them.

Surprise: GLORY TO ROME / MOTTAINAI
Two versions of the same game, which, like INNOVATION, are marvels of card design efficiency and depth. Each card can be a material, a location, an artifact, a worker, a role to play, or a bonus score depending on where it is on the table or in your tableau. This makes for some daunting rulebooks, but when everything comes together…you h ave to play again.

Observations: it took some extra lunches and the help of colleagues and friends, but I made it through my 12games2016 objectives. I think I’ll repeat the process next year.

=====GAMES (Mobile)====

Favourite: UNDERWORLD CCG
Totally obvious, self-interested, and shameless, but true: the Underworld CCG is the very best thing I’ve done in my game design career. I worked with an amazing team of developers and artists, everybody contributed ideas that made the game better, and I still have to play at least an hour a day. One day, I’ll get to Rank 1!

Disappointment: MR. ROBOT EXFILTRATION
Maybe if I watched the show, I’d care more, but this modernized epistolary AR story game left me cold and lost in a maze of options that didn’t lead anywhere. I spent 2 weeks without getting a notification about a next step, so I just deleted the app.

Surprise: CARD CRAWL
This is a game that I’d love to have in print, like DEAD MAN’S HAND – a solitaire management game, where you deploy shields, swords, potions and the odd magic ability to ward off monsters and reach the end of the 54-card deck intact. Grinding for coins to unlock new magic cards isn’t tough at all, but I suspect setting up the combos to unlock new characters will be.

Observations: I couldn’t stop playing TAP TITANS clones for a good part of the year: HE-MAN, ROCK GODS, NONSTOP KNIGHT kept me busy for many bus and metro rides this year (and I ate up a lot of cellular bandwidth running ads). I think the fever has broken.

 

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

Favourite: DEADPOOL / PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES
February was a glorious month for unexpectedly awesome films that are honest twists on genre conventions. Deadpool is a love story with flashbacks-within-flashbacks and the greatest Calendar Girl sequence of all time…OF ALL TIME.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies made me giggle from start to finish, but most especially during the Darcy proposal / Elizabeth rejection sequence. More marriage proposals should end in swordfights.

Disappointment: SUICIDE SQUAD
Harley Quinn is great. Amanda Waller is great. Enchantress is great. Diablo is great! Joker is great (but he doesn’t belong in the movie and his connection to Harley is vile Pick-Up Artist fantasy) but this movie is a mess of weird plotting.

Surprise: ARRIVAL
I’d read the Ted Chiang short story earlier this year, but even knowing how the story unfolds couldn’t let me hold my composure and heartbreak. If I was watching it on DVD, I’d stop it about three-quarters through and start again, just to prolong the experience.

Observations: Taking the kids to the movies is a blast, because now they want to talk about everything they see.

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

Favourite: BEEBA BOYS
This is one of those movie that I’ll have to watch until the end, no matter when I stumble upon it while channel-hopping. The rise and fall of the Beeba Boys – a gang of 2nd-generation Indo-Canadians in Vancouver – is sexy,  violent, funny (especially Waris Ahluwalia), and disconcertingly familiar.

Disappointment: MR. RIGHT
Max Landis should never be allowed to write another script…he managed to make Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick dance AND be incredibly dull at the same time in this hitman/romance/farce. Massively disappointing.

Surprise: MACBETH (2016)
I’ve been catching up with as many Shakespeare versions as I can (there’s always more than you think), but this Fassbender/Cotillard production was simply breathtaking. The director filled in some of the open questions in the play with some plausible and heartbreaking answers. You’ll never see a better “Out, damned spot!” or “Tomorrow, ad tomorrow, and tomorrow” soliloquies.

Observations: I bought quite a few DVDs – particularly from the mid-80s – to fill in gaps in my collection and nostalgic memory. Haven’t watched them all, though, which is telling.

====MUSIC====

Favourite: PAGEANT MATERIAL, by Kacey Musgraves
Her voice is as clear as summer love, but her lyrics are wintery and rueful.  I first saw her perform “Late to the Party” on the Colbert Late Show, and wanted to listen to nothing else for the rest of the day, and those days have stretched on.

Disappointment: BLACKSTAR by David Bowie
As the wits on Twitter say, “I’m not saying that David Bowie was the force that held the universe together, but… :: gestures at all of 2016 ::” I’m just sad that this is the last Bowie album.

Surprise: STRANGE LITTLE BIRDS by Garbage
So, I’m re-watching TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES on DVD, and I’m struck by Shirley Manson’s performance and then, lo and behold, a new Garbage video pops up in my Twitter feed. Well, I took Skynet’s hint and picked up the album, and it brought me right back to the good old late 90s/early oughts of her endless growl.

Observations: lorem ipsum

====TV SHOWS ====

Favourite: SCREAM
One could say that you can’t make a TV series out of a scary movie (and in fact one character did) but they’d be wrong! The mask has changed, but the pop culture references so on fleek they’re basically a time capsule from 2015/2016…even at the risk of being incomprehensible even two years later. Pure popcorn fun.

Disappointment: LUKE CAGE
Luke Cage was terrific in his appearances in JESSICA JONES, but this “will-he-or-won’t-he embrace his heroic destiny” just wore too thin by the third act. When the show worked it was amazing – every frame with Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Mahershala Ali as Cottonmouth, or Alfre Woodward as Black Mariah was a delight – but Diamondback was a profound disappointment…right down to his uniform, which featured (get this) a diamond on his back. Oof.

Surprise: FLAKED
This seven-episode half-hour comedy from Will Arnett is both a sly, smug, infuriating joy and the first non-Lego Batman work of Arnett’s I’ve enjoyed. He plays Chip, a kingpin of cool and harmony at a Venice Beach Alcoholic Anonymous, where he inspires everyone with his sad life story and his stoic recovery, but never manages to help anyone but himself. A great way to spend a long evening in front of the TV.

2015: The Year in Review

Looks like this really is one of the only blog posts I’ll write this year!

====BOOKS====

Favourite: Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
The pleasure of seeing Tolstoy’s words on the printed page was almost tactile. I very often read for plot and distraction. With this novel, I stopped by to visit the worlds created by the characters’ voices. Yes, even the dog.

Disappointment: too few candidates!

Surprise: too few candidates!

Observations: The saddest year of reading since I bothered keeping track. I think I know what one of my 2016 Resolutions will be

====COMICS (Print)====

Favourite: THE PITIFUL HUMAN-LIZARD
Pure comic-book fun: an office-drone takes his dad’s promotional lizard costume out for nightly patrols of Toronto’s streets as a “real superhero”… and is terrible at it. Even his dojo won’t take his money for martial arts lessons that don’t stick. But a funny thing happened when he tested an off-the-books experimental drug: he can’t powers of regeneration, just like a lizard! Now he’s ready to stand alongside the real superheroes of Toronto. It’s so darn cute and sweet and earnest and funny that I hope it lasts for years.

Disappointment: I HATE FAIRYLAND
Naomi loves Skottie Young’s art, and I loved his adaptations of the Wizard of Oz, so this crazed Mad-magazine style adventure of a human girl growing old and cranky while lost in Fairyland should have been a home run…but it’s just too gross for my tastes. Nobody tell Naomi about it.

Surprise: WE STAND ON GUARD/ PREZ
WE STAND ON GUARD is a war comic about occupation, rebellion and torture…set in a future war between the USA and Canada. The Yankees have invaded us ‘Nucks with their giant war robots because we have the water they need…or, at least, the water the elites tell their people they need. Contains the single most disturbing panel in a sequence about virtual-reality interrogation that I’ll ever read (there was nothing horrible to see, but the mental imagery lingers, which is the point).

PREZ is the latest timely reboot of the crazy Joe Simon character from the 70s: a teenaged President of the USA. Beth Ross stars in an unfortunate viral video, and is elected as a write-in candidate on the official Twitter ballot – actually, it’s way funnier than that, from a policy-wonk perspective, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Her avowed enemies are Boss Smiley and the megacorps, but she has unusual allies among the disenfranchised. Like Batman, we get the Prez we deserve.

Observations: Canada is the theme of my reserve list this year: We Stand on Guard, Pitiful Human-Lizard, a returned Captain Canuck, and two volumes of the True Patriot anthology kept me up late reading.

=====COMICS(Electronic)====

Favourite: THE MASSIVE
An engrossing environmental catastrophe series about the years after the oceans rose and upended the world. The crew of the pacifist environmental activist vessel Kapital try to find out what happened to their sister ship, the Massive. It all goes a bit predictably sideways in the final volume, but I was engrossed with the story of every ex-mercenary and wide-eyed college tourist on that ship.

Disappointment: EDGE OF THE SPIDER-VERSE
I bought these alternate-reality tales of Spider-Man for a single reason: Spider-Gwen. That issue was fantastic. The rest are dreck…senselessly gross and ridiculous.

Surprise: SHE-HULK
Charles Soule only had 12 issues with Jennifer Walters and Patsy Walker, but they were extraordinary. She-Hulk tries to help Doctor Doom’s son defect to America, and defends Captain America against charges of treason…all while uncovering a larger mystery. Terrific stuff. And those Kevin Wada covers were simply gorgeous.

Observations: Valiant really does a full-court press on Comixology sales, and I’ve been able to catch up with almost every book in their catalogue for just 99 cents an issue.

=====GAMES(Mobile)====

Favourite: TAP TITANS
I don’t know why this clicker game appealed to me: the art style? The adorable character names and abilities? The nested progression ladders? In any event, it keeps me busy on mass transit, and literally requires no attention and I can quit anytime I want. No really, I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough.

Disappointment: DUNGEON RAID for Android
I love the game on Apple devices, but the animations simply won’t run on my Nexus. The lag interferes with the fun.

Surprise: LITTLE ALCHEMY
Start with four elements (earth, wind, fire, air) and then mix them. Create mud, pottery, humans, knights, dragons, nuclear missiles and, eventually, the One Ring. Or earlier if you get lucky, or are just ridiculously single-minded about making combinations. I didn’t find everything, but I found items that my officemates didn’t, and that’s good enough for me.

Observations: I will love a game eternally if I can play it on the metro without needing a cell or wifi connection.

=====GAMES(Tablet)====

I downloaded a batch of tablet games, but barely played any. The kids have pretty much taken over the iPad for gaming. I use it to watch TV shows and read comics, nowadays.

====MOVIES (First-Run)====

Favourite: TURBO KID
The most fun I’ve had since stumbling into the theatre to see WOLF COP. I couldn’t imagine a more entertaining retro-cool apocalypse without Apple.

Disappointment: THE EQUALIZER
Angry Old Guy Denzel is just as fascinating to watch as any other Denzel, but this film is like the worse of the Bronson DEATH WISH sequels: no heart, just a series of coordinated death traps. Killing is easy…it’s the living that’s hard, and this movie doesn’t know how to live.

Surprise: FANTASTIC FOUR
It’s a much more interesting film as metatext: Josh Trank as Reed Richards, trying to follow his childhood inspirations despite interference from the funding classes, is fearful of losing credit for his work, and doesn’t see the damage cause by his single-mindedness until it’s too late.

But it’s not a superhero film, whatever else it is.

Observations: The hours were tighter this year, so I didn’t see as many films as I would have liked

====MOVIES (DVD/Stream)====

Favourite: TRACKS / Wild
Take your pick: Walking from the middle of the Australian Outback to the sea, with three camels, an Aboriginal escort, and the occasional National Geography photographer for company…OR…walking the entire length of the Pacific Crest Trail, from California to Oregon. Either way, I got teary at the sight of that struggle and beauty, and wanted to travel more.

Disappointment: COPENHAGEN
If I realize the movie stars yet another callow 20-something American boy on a Grand Tour, I’ll turn off the movie even faster.

Surprise: BOOK OF LIFE
Ben and Naomi told me I’d love this movie, and they were right. They have strong film recommendations now, and I want to see what they see. But they still can’t see Deadpool.

Observations: Funny story: I wouldn’t have bought a single DVD this year if it wasn’t for the kids.

====MUSIC====

Favourite: CALIFORNIA NIGHTS by Best Coast
When the guitar riffs jangle just right, you can see the moonlight on the surf. True story.

Disappointment: LEAVE NO BRIDGE UNBURNED by Whitehorse
This pains me…because they Whitehorse are a favourite. Only one surefire sizzler (“Fake Your Death and I’ll Fake Mine”), but, for the rest of the tracks, the production gets in the way of the songs. Also, I think I only really like Whitehorse songs where Melissa McClelland sings the lead.

Surprise: E*MO*TION by Carly Rae Jepsen
“History doesn’t repeat itself/It rhymes” and I am digging reinvented, reinvested vision of the 80s love and heartbreak tracks from Carly Rae Jepsen. Brings me right back to the high-school dancefloor. Amazing.

Observations: I’ve got to give credit to Twitter for helping me discover new music this year: following the various trade magazines led me down a couple of interesting rabbit holes.

====TV SHOWS (First-Watch)====

Favourite: JESSICA JONES
This is the only show that could knock ORPHAN BLACK out of the top spot – a self-contained survival story, and the best VERONICA MARS riff in existence. I never read the comics, so I could just sit back, relax, and be horrified/enthralled in equal measure. Everyone has a figure of abuse to overcome. Everyone has someone to protect. I have no idea what they could do for an encore.

Disappointment: DCCTOR WHO S9
Sonic sunglasses. A guitar. Just…no. I watch this show for the kids, and we’re six episodes behind. This needs a good boot to get in gear.

Surprise: SUPERGIRL / THIS LIFE
With SUPERGIRL, You will believe that superheroes can be fun. You will believe in sisterhood, women in the workplace, and feminism. Naomi is completely hooked. She identifies strongly with Supergirl, and I can’t say anything about the show because that’s her hero. It’s wonderful to see.

Carol and I were struck by THIS LIFE, a CBC drama filmed in NDG, about a single mother who is dying of cancer, and the way both she and her family face the remaining days. It’s not maudlin, but rather hopeful and hilarious as everyone’s private and secret lives are given a chance to shine, from the grandparents through to the teenaged children. And I can’t say enough good things about the sun-drenched opening title sequence.

====TV SHOWS (Catch-Up)====

Favourite: MISFITS S1
Good gravy, this was unexpectedly great, like the first season of HEROES. Simple powers, displayed with complexity, a time travel prophecy that surprises, and the finest comedic scenery chewing from Nathan. Really, the show lives and dies with him…

Disappointment: MISFITS S3-5
…without Nathan, there’s not much left to go on. The third season involved swapping powers, a plot to kill Hitler, and wraps up the last lingering bit of time travel paradox. Season 4 opens with new Misfits, and somebody sawing a handcuffed briefcase off somebody’s hand. I stopped halfway through that episode.

Surprise: BLACK MIRROR
Perfect horror films about how the paradigms of social media and ubiquitous recording devices perfect the worst in human nature. Instant opinion polls, microtransactions and gamification, perfect recordings, the political-entertainment complex, ghosts in social media, mob justice…it’s our recognizable world.

Observations: It’s possible to have access to too much TV. I cancelled a Shomi subscription within the 30-day trial period because I couldn’t stand the idea of increasing my backlog.

Brainstorm Box

Game pieces
Many boardgames sacrificed their tokens to make this kit…

Given that I got into the game design biz via technical writing and boardgame enthusiasm, I find it easier to think with my hands…pushing a pencil across the page, the buttons on a keyboard, or plastic figures on a cardboard map. Even if the game is distributed digitally, they’re still fundamentally tactile.

So, to keep the ideas flowing, I put together a brainstorm box out of materials scavenged from old boardgames. There’s a little bit of everything here:

  • Robot figures – from the Avalon Hill re-release of the much-loved Roborally
  • D&D Miniatures – from one of the many 2nd edition AD&D starter sets. Great for skirmishes.
  • Cthulhu – many games use a token to indicate who is the active player. People pay attention to Cthulhu
  • Wooden pawns – Simple, classic, effective. Four colours.
  • Cavalry figures and markers – in 4 colours. From a truly terrible game called Tenjo. Useful for goalposts and double-long figures
  • Dinosaurs – I mean…why not! From the Dino Hunt game by Steve Jackson Games.
  • Games Seeds – a terrific set of game mechanic inspiration cards with adorably blobby illustrations. Available here
  • Poker decks – 2 versions, so distinguish players 1 and 2
  • Chess set – magnetic, of course. Great for any time I need a board or want to map out a tactics game.
  • Rocket ships – A dozen stackable rockets in four colours. From the Avalon Hill edition of Cosmic Encounters. Great for indicating power-ups, captures, etc.
  • Letter tiles – 2 sets of 40. From Zynga’s attempt to break into the physical game space
  • Sand Timers – 30 seconds (from Roborally) and 2 minutes (from the kids’ dentist)
  • Glass Beads – a boardgame staple
  • Dice – Classic six-siders in a variety of colours and sides. use them as counters, pawns, randomizers or pieces!
  • Plastic coins – 12 glid, 18 silver, 24 copper. From a pirate-themed game called Bounty. Everybody loves money!
  • Tape Measure – for measuring distance and line of sight in tactical games
  • Pliyhedrons – I think Kepler was right: these shapes make up universe.
  • Rulers/Protractor – for sketches. I might use the protractor as a goal for a game of quarters
  • Scholi supplies – it’s not enough to have the ideas…you have to write them down.
  • Notebook – this is where the ideas live
  • Post-Its – for annotations, pirate sails or cozy blankets