Two new releases in the 'NUELOW Stock Art Collection'

There are two new releases for the NUELOW Stock Art Collection, our series of low-cost, royalty-free art covered by a license so generous you can use the covered material for almost any conceivable project. Whether you need something to illustrate your home game, your website, or that grand RPG you've designed, one of our genre-focused art packs may contain just the art you need. And our low prices make them even more attractive.

Art by Everette Raymond Kinstler

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #12: Restless Spirits focuses on the vengeful dead, as brought forth by illustrators Everette Raymond Kinstler and Lee Elias.

Art by Maurice Whitman

NUELOW: Stock Art Collection #13: The First Americans is our first to focus on the western genre, specifically Native Americans in this case. Most of the art in this set consists of great drawings from Maurice Whitman, but there are also a few that have been adapted from NUELOW Games' Warrior Maiden Starlight by Ralph Mayo.

Each set comes with a  PDF that carefully indexes each illustration included in the set. Most of art files are included in both 72ppi and 300ppi resolutions, the latter being good for many print projects.

Now Available--'Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Major Victory & Yankee Girl'!

Leave it to us geniuses at NUELOW Games forget to mention our Fourth of July release on our very own blog!

Art by Charles Sultan & Ralph Mayo

Just in time for America's Independence Day, we published the completely patriotic Complete Golden Age Oddballs: Major Victory & Yankee Girl.

This fifth entry in the Complete Golden Age Oddballs puts the spotlight on two great characters from the production studio of comic book industry pioneer Harry "A" Chesler. It includes every one of the original stories (illustrated by great talents like Ralph Mayo, Al Plastino, Ralph Mayo, and Charles Sultan) and covers featuring the characters. It also includes all-new material for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big, Dumb Fighters and OGL d20 Modern.

Click here to see previews, or to purchase your own copy, of this totally patriotic collection of classic comics at DriveThruComics. You can also get it at RPGNow or DriveThruRPG.

For additional previews of the book, click here to visit our sister blog Shades of Gray.

We went rummaging through the art archive again...

... and the result is another batch of artwork that's being made available for you to use in any project you can conceive of, personal or  commercial.

Art by Ross Andru (included, logo-free, in collection)

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #7: The Deadlier of the Species contains illustrations from the pens of Art Saaf (of Judy of the Jungle and Princess Pantha), Matt Baker (of Voodah and News Hounds), Ross Andru (long-time Spider-Man and Wonder Woman artist), Alex Schomburg (who Stan Lee described as "the Norman Rockwell of comic books"), and others. Five of the illustrations are included in both black-and-white and color versions.

Click here to see previews of the set, or to get your copy. Start illustrating your website or books with drawings from some of the greatest talents to ever contribute to American comic books!

New Stock Art Collection -- Jungle Girls!

We bring you another selection of material from the NUELOW Games archive. This time, it's artwork featuring Judy of the Jungle and Princess Pantha by those who drew them best -- Alex Schomburg, Ralph Mayo, and Art Saaf.

Art by Alex Schomburg

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #6: Jungle Girls features some 20 drawings--some presented in both color and black-and-white--adapted from the original comics sources. The versions here are derivative works that are being released under a license that contains few restrictions, so you can use them in any project you choose.

The drawings are included in a PDF index and as individual jpgs in a zip archive, which are provided along with the license when you purchase and download the set. The art files are mostly in 72dpi jpgs (fit for use on websites and in e-books), but there are also some that are included in 300dpi resolution (which are suitable for use in print).

Click here to see previews of NUELOW Stock Art Collection #6: Jungle Girls, or to get your own copy of this collection of portraits of women of action in action!

Now available -- "Princess Pantha: The Footsteps of Fate"

We've just released the stand-alone sequel to Princess Pantha: The Hunt for M'Gana. It continues the exciting chronicle of an animal tamer turned adventuress, with illustrations by Art Saaf, Gene Fawcette, and Ralph Mayo, all behind a cover by Alex Schomburg.

Painting by Alex Schomburg

Princess Pantha: The Footsteps of Fate sees Pantha and her lover Dane Hunter face danger and treachery in Central America, Central Asia, and other exotic locations. In addition to the classic comics by great creators, the book contains a complete supplement for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game by yours truly and L.L. Hundal.

Click here to see previews of the book, and to get your own copy. Please be sure to let us know what you like and don't like about it. We can't make the next book better if we don't know what you thought of this one!

Coming Soon: Warrior Maiden Starlight

We're currently putting the final touches on our biggest book yet -- a color collection of the complete "Starlight" series by writer Ann Adams and artist Ralph Mayo. Mayo was also the primary artist on NUELOW's Judy of the Jungle books, as well as being a collaborator of Frank Frazetta on Kathy.

Warrior Maiden Starlight collects all six Starlight episodes for the first time between two covers. The series debuted in Indians #2 and lasted through Indians #8, appearing and disappearing during the second half of 1951. Set during the mid-16th century, in a time prior to contact with European settlers, the series follows the adventures of a a rebellious Huron girl who is out to prove that she can out-hunt, out-fight and outsmart any warrior, any day. She was the last of the strong female lead characters that were a staple among Fiction House's anthology titles, with the premiere among them being Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.

A number of critics have said that the only reason Fiction House published comics with female leads was so they had an excuse to present page after page of T-and-A, as their "strong female characters" usually appeared in very skimpy outfits. However, Starlight puts a lie to that theory in every way. She is always fully clothed, even in scenes that provide a perfect opportunity for her to strip down and provide some "fan service," so there's no question that this character exists to be a strong and positive leading lady figure. In Mayo's drawings, she's always beautiful but never turned into a sex object... something contemporary comic book artists should try. If they really were interested in presenting "strong female characters" (as the claim so often goes) they'd draw their female characters more like Starlight and less like Hustler Magazine centerfolds.

Warrior Maiden Starlight will be the biggest RPG/comics hybrid product from NUELOW Games so far, with a pagecount clocking in around 70. We hope you'll decide to check it out when it becomes available. In the meantime, here are ROLF! stats for Starlight, and a draft of the cover. The final cover will feature the full logo, as well as slightly different artwork.

STARLIGHT (Female)
Brawn 20, Body 17, Brains 7
Traits: Dead Eye, Nimble
Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Dodge, Double Strike, Sure Shot, Run Away
Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Bow (Medium Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points of damage). Knife (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).

Where NOT to 'Tangle With Romance'.... A Battle Scenario starring Kathy and her Boyfriend Hank

NUELOW's lead editor and creator of the ROLF! game, L.L. Hundal, has been on a Golden Age teen comedy kick since we produced the Ginger and Snap book earlier this year. In recent weeks, she's sent me about two dozen teen humor stories that we're going to be doing collections of. Some will be along the lines of the Ginger and Snap collection, others will end up as part of an entry in the Complete Golden Age Oddballs series (like we've already done with Martin Filchock's "Teen Toons").

One book that we're set on is a collection of the "Kathy" stories drawn by Ralph Mayo and Frank Frazetta from the pages of Thrilling Comics. And even if all the stories were badly drawn and unfunny--which the Mayo/Frazetta ones aren't--we would at the very least be doing SOMETHING with this splash page:

That picture and the blurb that states that Kathy "tangles with romance" immediately made me think "choosing a graveyard as a place for that wasn't very smart"... and then a ROLF! battle scenario came to mind. A couple, actually...

Since it's been a while, here's a complete ROLF! battle scenario, with everything you need to play but rules. It's one of the ones inspired by that splash page, but drawing upon the "Kathy" series in general.

KATHY TANGLES WITH ROMANCE AND NECROMANCY

A ROLF! Battle Scenarios for 2-3 Players

By Steve Miller

BACK STORY 

On a balmy summer eve, as the full moon beams from a clear sky, Kathy suggests to her boyfriend Hank that they leave the soda shop and head for the picturesque cemetery off Old Church Road. 

   "It's such a beautiful place, and the full moon... it's so romantic," she says. "It's a perfect night for something I've been wanting do with with you for a long time.".

    Hank, barely able to contain his excitement, immediately agrees. The teens steal into the cemetery, and Kathy heads of a bench on a slight rise that is bathed in moonlight. The two sit, and she squeezes Hank's hand, smiling and looking into his eyes. "This is going to be something special," she tells him. "I've never done this with anyone else before."

   "Of course not!" Hank says emphatically.

   "This is going to be something very special." Kathy turns away to get something from her purse. She feels his hand on her shoulder, and she turns to smile at him... but her smile freezes on her lips, her eyes grow wide and her mouth drops open. During the brief seconds was reaching into her purse, Hank had managed to take off all his clothes! She gasped, she gulped, her gaze slid down his torso and then snapped back to his face as she shouted: "What are you doing?!"

   "Getting ready... I've wanted to--"

   "I wanted to read poetry with you!" She holds up a book. "I come out here some nights and read poetry. Oh my Gosh! You thought--"

   "Oh my Gosh," Hank says at the same time as her. He is mortified, horrified, at his mistake, and he reaches for his clothes--and find them floating in midair, suspended in what appears to be a wisp of fog. A skull-like face takes form in the mist and a hollw-sounding voice, that seems to make Hank and Kathy's very bones vibrate, says, "You care disturb this place with your carnal activities?!"

   "Jeepers!" Kathy says.

   The ghost throws Hank's clothes at him, and then attacks.

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

These characters are used in the battle scenarios above. Kathy and Hank The traits and combat maneuvers not in the ROLF! core game are drawn from ROLF!: Bullets to the Head or ROLF!: Creature Feature. If this were an actual published products, they would be repeated here for each of reference.

ANGRY GHOST (Spooky!)

Brawn 20, Body 5, Brains 3

Traits: Dead, Natural Weapons (Claws)

Combat Maneuvers:: Basic Attack, Hypnotize, Slime (S

Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Claws (Small Natural Weapon, deals 1 point of damage. Cannot be disarmed).

KATHY CRANE (Female)

Brawn 16, Body 18, Brains 5

   Traits: Comic Relief, Improv Master, Irrepressible Optimist

   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dance Move, Dodge, Strike Pose, Walking Disaster Area

   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Cute blouse and skirt (clothes), Book of poetry titled Romantic Verse for Moonlit Nights (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage OR One-shot ranged weapon that deals 2 points of damage). Purse (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage)..

HANK DANIELS (Male)

Brawn 17, Body 18, Brains 5

   Traits: Nimble

   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dance Move, Disarm, Dodge, Murderous Mitts

   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Literally nothing... he's in his "birthday suit."

HARUMON THE NECROMANCER (Male?)

Brawn 7, Body 6, Brains 7

   Traits: Coldhearted, Dour, Too Sexy for My Shirt

   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Debate Philosophy, Disembowel, Spellings (After Me, Die Die Die!, You'll Only Hurt Yourself), Strategic Bleeding

   Important Stuff Worn/ Wielded:  Necromancer Robes (Armor, Absorbs up to 1 point of damage). Ceremonial Knife (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).

THE BATTLE SCENARIOS

These scenarios can be played by two or three players, with one player controlling Kathy and Hank, and the other controlling the ghost and Haruman the Necromancer. If three gamers are player, Kathy and Hank are each controlled by a different player, while the third plays Haruman and the ghost.

Battle Scenario One

Kathy and Hank must defeat the angry ghost attacking them in the cemetery. The battle continues until either both Kathy and Hank are defeated, or the ghost is. If the teens win, they are restored up to one-half their starting health (if applicable), including if one should have been defeated, at the start of Part Two. If the Ghost wins, see "Aftermath" below.

Interlude

How did this ghost come to be in the cemetery? Well, Haruman the Necromancer was also enjoying the full moon while practicing a little black magic. Attracted by the shrieks and screams of the teens vs. ghost fight, he finds Kathy and Hank over the dissolving remains of his latest summoning.

   "Meddling kids," he cries. "It was made clear that I have the cemetery on the full moons in months with 31 days--you damn druids need to keep your naked moon-dancing to your own time!"

   "Wait," Kathy says. "This isn't what it looks like. At all."

  "Yes," Hank says. "We're not doing naked dancing!"

  "You want me to believe you came all the way out here just to fornicate?" Harumon snarls.

  "Yes!" Hank exclaims.

  "No!" Kathy shouts, smacking him on the head with her book of verse.

  "You will not make the fool of me," Harumon says, the black energy of evil magic crackling on his finger tips. "You will be taught respect and the meaning of keeping to an agreed-upon schedule."

   With that, he attacks.

Battle Scenario Two

Kathy and Hank must defeat Haruman. The battle continues until one side is defeated.

Aftermath

If Hank and Kathy are defeated in either scenario, they wake up on the ground in front of the bench as dawn is breaking, cold and sore and confused. Hank is still naked.

   Hank quickly gets dressed. He says, "Let's never mention this to anyone, okay? And I'm really sorry."

  "You should be," Kathy says coldly, remaining turned away as Hank dresses, but still stealing a glance. "I can't believe you thought--"

  "I'm really, really sorry!" Hank wails.

  "This place is great for reading poetry, but that other sturff? Too creepy."

   "What?"

   "You need a car, Hank Daniels. Don't you know anything? Now, how are we going to keep from getting grounded for life?"

Second Judy of the Jungle book now available

The next installment in NUELOW's Judy of the Jungle series has just been released through all the usual outlets.

Judy of the Jungle: Warriors of the Laughing Hyena features three comics illustrated by Judy's creator Ralph Mayo, and one by the legendary Frank Frazetta, as well as two short stories by Charles S. Strong. The book also contains all-new OGL d20 Modern game material geared for use with jungle adventures.

 Click here to see previews of the book, or to get your own copy.

Y is for Yankee Girl

Among the obscure superheroes that came out of Harry "A" Chesler's production studios perhaps Yankee Girl is the most obscure--but also among the most well-known. She had two appearances, none of which were in titles Chesler himself was involved with publishing and one of these sat undistributed in a warehouse from around 1947 until 1964. However, she was revived by AC Comics in the 1990s, and she was most recently seen in a 2012 graphic novel titled Stars and Stripes Forever. I don't know anything about the AC version, other than they seem to have explained where her magic powers came from.

Yankee Girl takes flight. Artist ID uncertain, but maybe Ralph Mayo

Yankee Girl is secretly socialite Lauren Mason, who, when she utters "three magic words" of Yankee Doodle Dandy, is transformed into a flying, super-strong defender of truth and justice. The source of the magic she draws upon, and the extend of her powers are unknown, but it is established that she is not invulnerable, as she knocked unconscious by bad guys in her first appearance. Or maybe she is invulnerable in some cases, as she seems sturdier (perhaps even bullet proof) in her second appearance.

Yankee Girl first took flight in Dynamic Comics #23 (from Superior), with her second adventure showing up in Danger #16 from I.W. Publishing where she was featured on an excellent cover by Ross Andru and Mike Espostio.

The writer and artist on the Yankee Girl stories is (are?) unknown. Ralph Mayo is credited as the writer and aritst on both her appearances by some sources, but I think someone else whas doing the inking when I compare the on Yankee Girl to his many Judy of the Jungle stories, especially the ones we're including in Judy of the Jungle: Warriors of the Laughing Hyena..

Our discovery of Yankee Girl was the final piece we needed to firm up our plans for volume of Complete Golden Age Oddballs to coincide with the Fourth of July this year. She'll be joined by Major Victory, and we'll be revealing the REAL source of her magic (at least in the NUELOW Heroes and Villains universe.)

And, just for fun, here's a totally off-the-cuff Talent Tree for use with the OGL d20 Modern superpowers system featured introduced on this blog, and expanded upon in Madden's Boys and the Complete Golden Age Oddballs series. This hasn't been play-tested and it amounts to little more than me typing thoughts as they occur. If someone DOES have an opinion on this talent tree and its playability (or lack thereof), please speak up; That's what we have a comments section for! (The rest of the post is Open Game Content and may be reproduced in accordance with this license.)

NEW SUPER TALENT TREE: MAGICAL TRANSFORMATION
You have transformative powers!
   Prerequisite: Any one Minor Power Feat.
   Simple Transformation: When you utter a magic phrase, your clothes become your superhero costume. The transformation lasts until you say the magic word again.
   Minor Transformation: Same as above, but you gain +1 increase to two stats of your choice (determined when this talent is chosen).
   Prerequisite: Simple Transformation
   Major Transformation: Same as above, except you gain an additional +1 increase to your chosen stats, as well as two Minor Power feats (determined when this talent is chosen).
   Prerequisite: Minor Transformation.
  Total Transformation: Same as above, but all attributes are increased by +2, you gain 2 bonus talents, and two bonus feats, Minor Power feats or any others available in the campaign).

Welcome to the Jungle!

With Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon, NUELOW Games launches a new 3-volume series while digging into the once-popular jungle adventure genre.

The cover for NUELOW's first Judy of the Jungle book.

During the Golden Age of Comics, jungle adventure series were all the rage. Jungle heroes tended to either wear hunting togs and pith helmets, or little more than loin cloths, and as early as 1937, Will Eisner and Jerry Iger hit on the notion that a female jungle hero couldn't help but be popular with the core comic book audience. So, into existence came Sheena, Queen of the Jungle... and shortly after that, the first example of "fan service" was likewise published.

Sheena spawned many imitators, but none ever matched her popularity, nor have any had her staying power. Hundreds of Sheena comic book stories have been printed--with brand-new ones appearing within recent years--and she has been the subject of two feature films and two separate television series.

 Judy of the Jungle debuted in 1947, ten years after Sheena. She first appeared in Exciting Comics #55 where she became popular enough to knock long-time title star Black Terror from the cover within two issues of her debut. She enjoyed a 15-issue run, before fading into history.

 Judy may not have been the most groundbreaking of characters, but she was visually distinct from all the other Sheena wanna-bes--where they all wore some variation of an animal skin bikini, Judy's attire was a tattered cocktail dress. She may also have the most unique set of "daddy issues" in all of comicdom. Even better, her adventures never wanted for action. And her series is titled Judy of the Jungle.

This was a comic that was begging for a NUELOW Games edition.

 Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon features the first four Judy adventures, and the debut adventure of the first black jungle hero--Voodah.

Voodah is actually a more historically significant character than Judy. As already mentioned, he was the first black jungle hero... and he happens to be the creation of one of the few African Americans who worked as a full-time artist on American comics during the 1940s. However, I suspect that Voodah being black was more of an accident or perhaps spontaneous editorial rebellion, because when one compares Voodah's face to the way Baker drew other black characters, the features are very different. He seems to have been drawn as a white person, but then colored as black. My theory is further strengthened by the fact that Voodah was only black for this first three appearances (Crown Comics #3 - #5) after which he turned into a visual Tarzan clone, appearance-wise. There's also the curious detail that even when he appeared as a black man in the interior of the magazine, he never was when he appeared on the cover. Either the editorial mistake was caught by the fourth story, or the act of rebellion was squashed by higher-ups at publisher McCombs.

Voodah: White on the outside, black on the inside.

We may never know the real story at this late date, but it gives us a reason to still care about an otherwise uninteresting Tarzan knock-off that hasn't weathered the passage of time very well. With the exception of the one story illustrated by creator Baker--the one included in Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon--.and a second where he fights a dinosaur, the art on the series is as clunky and uninteresting to the modern eye as are the stories.

In addition to 38 pages of great comics, the book includes an all new talent tree and starting occupation designed to bring jungle action to your d20 OGL Modern games..

Check out previews of Judy of the Jungle: The Lords of Memnon, or perhaps even get your own copy, by clicking here. As always, if you get the book, let us know what you thought of it. We can't improve if we don't know what's right or wrong about our products!

Cover drafts from upcoming NUELOW Games releases

We're intending to release three Judy of the Jungle books this year. Here are drafts of the covers for them. They may be used as they appear here, they may be altered, or they may be replaced entirely if a better idea presents itself between now and release time).

By Alex Schomburg

By Ralph Mayo

By Alex Schomburg