Observing the 75th anniversary of the first ongoing horror series in comics!

In 1940, inspired by the great novel Frankenstein and the 1939 film Son of Frankenstein, Dick Briefer brought the immortal tale of science gone wrong to the pages of Prize Comics magazine. Like Mary Shelley's novel, like the Universal film adaptations, Briefer's comics have stood the test of time, and they are now certified must-read classics for fans of horror comics.

The character would become Briefer's signature creation. He wrote and drew some 100 different Frankenstein stories over a 15-year period that roughly coincided with the Golden Age of Comics itself--chronically the Monsters rampages and misadventures through three different incarnations--first as a horror character, then as a zany comedy figure, and then once again as a horror character.

2015 marks 75 years since the Briefer's Frankenstein made its debut. NUELOW Games will be observing this milestone by releasing a few books featuring some of his best efforts, together with all-new game material inspired by them. L.L. Hundal is a fan of Briefer's early stories, and she's plowing through all of them and making an initial selection of the ones we'll present. Publisher and game design Steve Miller will then narrow down the selection and write the new material for each book.

NUELOW Games actually released our first New Adventures of Frankenstein book at the end of 2013. Hundal fell in love with Dick Briefer's Frankenstein while rooting through old comic books back when we were considering a more limited program of comics/game products than what has evolved, and she put together a color collection of the first two "New Adventures of Frankenstein" episodes. It also contained a full ROLF! battle scenario and a preview of our-then forthcoming Werewolf Hunter anthologies. The book details the origin of Briefer's Frankenstein Monster and sets him up as an indestructible creature driven by hate for his creator and a heart of the blackest of evil. The strip kicks the action into high gear as of page two... and it never slows down after that.

"We're used to bloated story-telling in comics these days," Hundal wrote in an email to Miller at the time. "Briefer got more action, frights, and tragedy into eight pages than most modern creators fit into eight issues."

Cover for New Adventures of Frankenstein.
Art by Dick Briefer.

That initial book was conceived as a one-shot, but when Steve Miller noticed that 2015 was the 75th anniversary of Briefer's Frankenstein, Hundal thought it was a great reason to assemble and release more New Adventures of Frankenstein collections. She is projecting three to six of these books, with the first one coming out just as 2015 became a reality.

New Adventures of Frankenstein: The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny picks up where the first NUELOW Games book left off--with Frankenstein's Monster menacing society and tormenting his creator every chance he gets. But Briefer quickly leaves the sources that inspired him behind, and he introduces a powerful foe for the monster--a boy who was a victim of his evil but who grew up to be his most dedicated enemy. The book presents four action-packed horror tales as only Dick Briefer could create.

Cover for The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny.
Art by Dick Briefer.

You can see sample pages from The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny here.

 

The forthcoming books will cover the phases of Briefer's Frankenstein to varying degrees. The stories won't necessarily be presented in the order they originally appeared, and some will be collected entirely out of sequence to fit with the overall theme or storyline of the book in question. For example, the next book will continue the chronicle of Bulldog's battle against the Monster, but it opens with a "flashback"--a story that was skipped between NUELOW's first New Adventures book and the second one, because it flowed better story-wise to organize them that way. Tentative titles for projected books are Bulldog Denny Strikes Back, The Life and Death of a Monster, Weird Tales, The Trouble with Zora, The Monster Reborn, and The Tombs of Frankenstein.

 

We hope you'll feel like checking out some of the offerings and give us your opinions. Meanwhile, here's Bulldog Denny and his girlfriend Joan Knight ala ROLF!... so you can create your own battles pitting him against the Monster using the stats featured in New Adventures of Frankenstein.

 

 

BULLDOG DENNY (Male)

Real Name: Dennis Dunsan

Brawn 25, Body 17, Brains 8

  Traits: Honorable, Improv Master, Nimble.

  Combat Maneuvers: Backflip, Basic Attack, Dodge, Furious Fists, Murderous Mitts, Signature Move, Strike Pose, Withering Insult.

   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Thigh-high Boots (Leggings AND Armor, absorbs 1 point of damage). Black pants and black shirt with a bulldog logo on the chest (Clothes).

 

JOAN KNIGHT (Female)

Real Name: Joan Knight

Brawn 18, Body 18 (includes +1 Hat Bonus, Brains 7)

   Traits: Improv Master, Nimble.

   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Disarm, Dodge, Run Away, Seduce, Strike Pose.

   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Fashionable Dress (Clothes). Stylish Hat (+1 Bonus to Body when worn). Designer Purse (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).

 

Spacehawk... he's the lone wolf of the void!

In 1941, it was still a time of "anything goes" in comic book story-telling. It was at this point that cartoonist Basil Wolverton created Spacehawk, which to this very day stands as one of the most visually interesting sci-fi comics to ever see print. Wolverton's unique art-style was on full display in his portrayal of the rubbery Martians and other aliens that Spacehawk went up against, as he battled space pirates, despots, and others who threatened the lives of innocents.

Spacehawk cover art by Will Eisner

NUELOW Games has collected the five best Spacehawk stories in Spacehawk: Lone Wolf of the Void. We are presenting them in color, so readers can see a close approximation of what readers in 1941 experienced. Click here to see previews or to get your own copy of the book

In addition to the classic Basil Wolverton comics, NUELOW's Spacehawk book also contains d20 OGL Modern rules for creating sci-fi heroes like Spacehawk.

Spend Christmas with ROLF!

Get all six NUELOW Games Christmas Specials, plus the core rulebook for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters, as well as the horror- and suspense themed fiction anthology Horror for the Holidays, for half off what it would cost to get them separately.

Give yourself (or someone you like) the gift of great entertainment this Christmas (not to mention a whole mess of battle scenarios featuring Santa and other Christmas mainstays!

Click here to learn more about NUELOW's Christmas Box--and to get the goodies it contains!

Get to know Kim Jong-Un

Thanks to the cowardice of American theater chains and international media conglomerate Sony Entertainment, Kim Jong-Un and the turd-blossoms who service him in North Korea have been put in charge of what you may and may not consume in mass media.

As a public service announcement, NUELOW Games wants to introduce you to the pudgy little assclown who is the new global guardian of Right and Wrong.



If you want to use Kim Jong-Un as a character in your ROLF! games, click here to see a post featuring stats for the legend himself!

THE Unauthorized Adaptation of 'The Interview'

The turd-eating bastards who hacked Sony's computer's have issued a threat of violence against theaters that screen The Interview. The threat (via Variety) is as follows:

Warning

We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places “The Interview” be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to.
Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made.
The world will be full of fear.
Remember the 11th of September 2001.
We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time.
(If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.)
Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
All the world will denounce the SONY.

More to come…

While Sony's lawyers are too busy suing news outlets for covering the leaks of emails, film scripts, and personal information about the studio's employees and contractors, we here at NUELOW Games are proud to present the ROLF! Adaptation of The Interview.

After you go see the film on opening night--because you're not going to let some fucking terrorists scare you into not seeing a movie, right... you're not even going to give them the satisfaction of claiming they scared you away, right?--you can relive the film or make up your own adventures using ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters and these characters.

THE INTERVIEW: 

AN UNAUTHORIZED ROLLPLAYING GAME ADAPTATION

By Steve Miller 

(Characters Used Without Permission... or it wouldn't be unauthorized)

KIM JONG-UN (Male?)
Brawn 11, Body 7, Brains 3
  Traits: Improv Master
  Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Murderous Mitts, Strike Pose
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Snazzy Uniform (Armor. Absorbs 1 point of damage). Outrageous Hairdo (Provides a -1 modifier to Strike Pose ATT checks)

DAVE SKYLARK (Male)
Brawn 11, Body 14, Brains 5
  Traits: Cowardly, Dumb
  Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dodge, Run Away, Strike Pose, Withering Insult
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, Four shots. Deals 2 points of damage that ignore armor)

AARON RAPAPORT (Male)
Brawn 12, Body 11, Brains 6
  Traits: Improv Master, Nimble
  Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Debate Philosophy, Double Strike, Disarm, Dodge, Seduce
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon. Four Shots. Deals 2 points of damage that ignore armor)

AGENT LACEY (Female)
Brawn 14, Body 14, Brains 8
  Traits: Coldblooded, Dead-Eye
  Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Disembowel, Double Strike, Murderous Mitts, Seduce, Strike Pose, Sure Shot
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Spy Gadgets (Two Small Weapons, each deals 2 points of damage, Melee OR Ranged)

SOOK (Female)
Brawn 15 (Includes +1 Hat Bonus), Body 15, Brains 6
  Traits: Improv Master, Nimble
  Combat Maneuvers: Backflip, Basic Attack, Castrate, Disarm, Dodge, Murderous Mitts\
  Important Stuff Worn/Wieded: Snazzy North Korean Military Uniform (Clothes, Thigh-High Boots (Armor, absorbs 1 point of damage), Uniform Cap (Hat, provides +1 Brawn while worn)



And for good measure, a bonus character!

DENNIS RODMAN (Male)
Brawn 18, Body 15, Brains 3
  Traits: Too Sexy for My Shirt, Nimble
  Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Signature Move, Run Away
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Massive Dildo (Medium Melee Weapon, deals 3 points of damage)




(For the record, we all here at NUELOW Central suspect this movie is absolute garbage. When the dickless wonders known to the worlds as the "Sony Hackers" say "soon the world will see what an awful movie Sony Entertainment Pictures has made," we believe them. But they've made sure that we will be going to see it. And we'll try to convince others to do the same. We knew that The Love Guru would suck, but we went to see that one, too. Look for Steve to post a review -- assuming it screens somewhere he can get to see it.)

A Very NUELOW Christmas!

We love Christmas here at NUELOW Central. We love Christmas music. We love having fun with Christmas (as our several Christmas Specials show) and we love music and art that has fun with Christmas. And they don't get much more fun than this...

(No game content or plugs this time around... just a post in anticipation of Christmas! Because we love this time of year! [And I particularly love this video because I always appreciate a good call-back.)

Final word on 'Gamergate: The Card Game' and Onebookshelf

Last week, I expressed concern about the news that Onebookshelf.com (the exclusive distributor of titles from NUELOW Games) appeared to have dropped a product from Postmortem Studios in response to pressure from another publisher. The product was Gamergate: The Card Game, which I talk a little about in this post.

Today, Onebookshelf's Steve Weick sent out an email (which was also posted to Facebook, so you can read it here) about the situation. For me, the most important statements in it were:

"Some publishers also complained about this title, and a few publishers let us know they would not be interested in continuing to work with us if we carried it on our store. We will not allow any publisher to dictate content policy onto any other publisher, explicitly or implicitly. If any publisher ever decides to discontinue business with us because our content policy errs to the side of being too open, rather than restrictive, then we will respect their decision to leave our marketplaces and wish them well. To be clear, no publishers’ comments had any bearing on our decision to discontinue.selling this title."

Good for Steve Weick and Onebookshelf.

A distributor has the right to carry whatever they please, for whatever reasons they please. And no publisher should try to use their business relationship with said distributor as a club to force them to drop products from other publishers.

I can't say I'm completely happy with the end result. My sympathies are with designer James Desborough, but I can't fault Onebookshelf for the decision or their reasons for taking the steps they took. I do fault ANY publisher who approached Onebookshelf in an official capacity and said "pull that, or we pull our products."

I am occasionally troubled by our all-ages comics appearing next to porn comics on the DriveThruComics homepage. But I would NEVER (even if I felt I had the clout) be the kind of jackass who writes to Onebookshelf with threats.

It makes me a little sad that in the industry I love, there are people who are the sort of thugs that do.