A Preview of 'Deadly Liaisons"

We're preparing another entry in the NUELOW Stock Art Collection. It's got a pulp-action theme, and it's tentatively titled Deadly Liaisons.

Art by Nick Cardy

Art by Al Avison

Art by Joe Doolin

And since we make an effort to include a little actual content in our promotional posts, here's a random table to help you generate a femme fatale's secret agenda/motivation. (This table might also be a useful companion to the d20 material in NUELOW Games' Devils in Petticoats.)

WHY DID SHE HAVE TO WALK INTO YOUR GIN JOINT?
(Roll 1d6 on the tables below.)

Who is She?

1. An heiress in trouble.
2. A government agent in need of assistance.
3. An enemy spy wanting to defect.
4. A farm girl in the big city for the first time.
5. A gangster's moll on the run.
6. A thrill-seeking adventuress.


Who is She to You?
1. A total stranger.
2. A childhood friend.
3. A teenaged crush.
4. An ex-lover who broke your heart.
5. An ex-lover who had her heart broken by you.
6. A rival who once betrayed you.


What Does She Want?
1. Someone to protect her.
2. Someone to rid her of the men who are after her.
3. The key to a cypher, which will unlock the location of a: 1. vast treasure, 2. cache of blackmail material on members of Congress, 3. a mystical artifact of importance to a deadly cult, 4. dimensional gate to Atlantis, 5. formula for returning the dead to life created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein, 6. map to Shangri-La.
4. To uncover and bring to justice traitors hidden in government and industry.
5. To get revenge on the fascists that killed her family.
6. To find and destroy: 1. a master vampire and his cult, 2. the Cult of the Black Pharaoh before they trigger the end of the world, 4. a clan of werewolves, 5. a band of Ninjas bent on assassinating the nation's political leaders, 6. the mob boss who killed her father.


Who is After Her?
1. Roll two more times on this table, ignoring any additional times 1 is rolled.
2. Corrupt cops.
3. Government agents.
4. Foreign spies.
5. Death cultists.
6. A supernatural force: 1. A master vampire and its minions, 2. A mummy and cultists who worship it, 3. A pack of werewolves, 4. Druids, 5. A genie, 6. A demon.

Retro Sci-Fi with NUELOW Games!

While we haven't done much in the sci-fi genre, we think that what we have done is very high quality, and all great sources of inspiration for sci-fi roleplaying game campaigns. The most concentrated sources of inspiration are the collections of royalty-free art that is yours to use in almost any fashion you can think of once you've purchased one or more of them. We've just released the fourth one--NUELOW Stock Art Collection #15: Fantastic Frontiers--and to celebrate, we're giving you an even more concentrated source of inspiration: A series of tables that will let you generate the framework for an alien invasion campaign--Who Are The Aliens?, What Do the Aliens Want?, How Are They Going to Get It?, and How Does Humanity Ultimately Defeat Them! (We've used the covers from our art collections to illustrate this post because, well, we hope you'll go buy one or more of them at RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, DriveThruComics, or DriveThruFiction.)

Art by John Celardo

Who Are the Aliens?
Roll 1d12 to determine who the aliens are!
1. Red Martians (Sexy and Savage)
2. Green Martians (Six-Armed and Savage)
3. Venusian Amazons (Sexy and Commanding)
4. Tentacle Monsters from Alpha-Ceti Six (Sexy. Ew.)
5. Bug-Eyed Swamp Men (Slimy and Smelly)
6. Nordics (Tall, Buff and Blond Boozers)
7. The Greys (Short, Skinny, and Fond of Giving Anal Probes)
8. Lizard People (Shapeshifters)
10. Atlanteans (Mystical Super-scientists)
11. The Immortals (Masters of Time and Space)
12. Caedens (Cat People)

Art by Will Eisner

What Do the Aliens Want?

Roll 1d12 to determine what the aliens want!

1. Peaceful coexistence, with human society and theirs exchanging knowledge and comingling freely.

2. Peaceful coexistence, so long as humanity recognizes their status as superior beings.

3. Peaceful coexistence, so long as humanity doesn't encrouch upon their well-defined dominion of worlds that have long been recognized by other intelligent species.

4. Help from humans in defeating a vicious enemy... that wil be coming for us next if the aliens are defeated.

5. Help in defeating a rampaging, intergalactic robot army. (Roll 1d12 again. 1-6: The robots contact humanity and offer alliance and peaceful coexistence if we help defeat the aliens; 7-12: The robots contact humanity and vow to wipe us out along with all other non-mechanical life in the universe. ("EXTERMINATE!"))

6. The return of an artifact that will save their people and which is lost somewhere on Earth. If we fail to help locate and turn it over, they will invade with the intent of destroying us as their last act as a dying species.

7. Our bodies, to house the minds of their young.

8. Our mineral wealth, especially gold and diamonds.

9. All water, be it in the sea, in the air, or in human bodies.

10. All children under the age of 3, so they can be nutured and modified into superior beings--and any infants born in the future.

11. To save the whales.

12. Our Women!

Art by Dan Zolnerowich

How Are They Going to Get It?
Roll 1d12 to determine how they're going accomplish their goals.
1. Take control of humanity by infiltrating our political leadership.
2. Take control of humanity by infiltrating our academics.
3. Take control of humanity by infiltrating our arts communities.
4. Replace important humans with robot doubles.
5. Orbital Mind Control lasers
6. Orbital Weather Control Satellites
7. Destroy Earth by launching meteors at us.
8. Invade Earth with a massive alien army.
10. Taint food sources so they only poison humans and other mammals.
11. Turn all plant life against
12. Roll two more times on the table. The aliens are conducting a two-pronged attack!

Art by Joe Doolin

How Does Humanity Ultimately Defeat Them?
Roll 1d12 to determine how humanity will ultimately defeat them.
1. Through the power of love.
2. Through our never-say-die spirit.
3. By finding a way to their home world and bringing the war to them.
4. By discovering the aliens secret and deadly allergy to (roll 1d12: 1. KFC's Secret 11 Herbs & Spices, 2. Dos Equis Beer, 3. Keystone Beer, 4. Gluten, 5. Justin Beiber Music, 6. Slim Whitman Music, 7. Barbara Streisand Music, 8. Roseanne Barr, 9. Axe Body Spray, 10. Hipsters, 11. The Common Cold Virus, 12. An ancient weapon, uncovered at the last minute).
5. Chuck Norris
6. Alien rebels become our allies.
7. Professor Fiend develops a super weapon (that has a serious downside, but still....)
8. Santa Claus Comes to the Rescue (he don't take crap from no aliens!)
10. Stardust the Super Wizard comes to our rescue
11. Bill Clinton seduces their leader.
12. Flash--he's for every one of us, he'll save every one of us!

The LEAST popular clip art packs from NUELOW Games

We take some pride in everything we release, so when something doesn't do well, we hope it's because you out there just didn't notice. Today, the spotlight is on the LEAST successful art packs released as part of our NUELOW Stock Art Collection.


First up, there is NUELOW Stock Art Collection #13: The First Americans. This is the first set that the creator of ROLF!, L.L. Hundal, edited for us. It features art by the same contributors you'll find in our sci-fi themed packs like Rockets & Rayguns. However, it didn't do as well... maybe clipart featuring Native Americans is too narrow a niche to have a market or audience?

Then, there is NUELOW Stock Art Collection: The Werewolf by Pablo Marcos. This small collection of werewolf action shots also under-performed. Was it because we released it at Christmas time when people were thinking of elves and sugar plums? Are werewolves like Native Americans in the sense that the set is targeted at too narrow a niche? Whatever the reason, we think that's a shame, because we love Pablo Marcos's art, and we think it would look great in projects out there.

Does anyone out there have an opinion on NUELOW Games's art collections? Do you want to make a comment? We'd love to hear from you--and that goes double if you have a theory regarding the lack of love for NUELOW Stock Art Collection #13: The First Americans and NUELOW Stock Art Collection: The Werewolf by Pablo Marcos.

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.

Art pack featuring work by Paul Gattuso available now

If you purchased a copy of The Black Dwarf by Paul Gattuso (with Dana Dutch, Steve Miller & Rob Garrita) before 1800 PST on 9/9/2015, you should have gotten an email from NUELOW Games inviting you to download a copy of NUELOW Games Stock Art Collection: Paul Gattuso.

Rocketgirl vs Roc, by Paul Gattuso,
on the cover of NUELOW's latest art pack

However, roughly one-quarter of the purchasers have set their Onebookshelf accounts to disallow email. If you bought a copy of the book before the time mentioned above, and would like to claim your free art pack, contact us. We will try to work something out with you.

If you like, you can click here to learn more about the set. You can see previews under the "Quick Preview" and "Full-Size Preview" links.

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #8 is now available!

Art by Bob Forgione

If you're looking for high-quality, horror-themed artwork for your website or publishing project, you might find something to fill that need in NUELOW Stock Art Collection #8: Killers and Cultists. The set features blood-chilling illustrations from Lee Elias, Jack Sparling, Matt Baker, Steve Ditko and many other great talents!

As with most of our art packs, the included illustrations have been adapted from the covers and interiors of comics from the 1940s and 1950s that have slipped into the public domain. The license included with your purchase grants you nearly completely unfettered use of these derivative works.

Click here to see a preview of the index booklet included with the set (under quick preview) and to read the text of the license (under full preview). As always, if you use any of the artwork we provide in a project, be sure to let us know! We'll give you a plug either here on the blog or on our Facebook page.

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #8: Killers and Cultists is available at DriveThruComics, DriveThruRPG, and RPGNow.

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!

Do you need some horror art for Halloween?

Look no further than NUELOW Games' royalty-free art packs for your horror art needs! Each contains a variety of color and black-and-white line art that was adapted from Golden Age comic books. They are released under a flexible license that gives you pretty much permission to use these illustrations in whatever manner you want -- be it to spruce up your website with spooktacular art, or to illustrate that chilling ebook you're releasing.

Stock Art Collection: Cruise of the Dead

Most of the illustrations are provided at a resolutions only fit for digital use. However, they are generally provided in large enough size that if you are a wizard with Photoshop, you may be able to squeeze 300dpi out of them. Each collection features dozens of illustrations (except for "The Mystic" and "Cruise of the Dead" which is are special sets presenting high resolution art by Alex Schomburg and Tony Mortarello respectively). Click here to see the entire selection of NUELOW Games art packs, or click on the individual titles below for details on each set.

Stock Art Collection #2: Dames, Danger & Death

Stock Art Collection #3: Beauties and the Beasts

Stock Art Collection #5: Visions of Beauty and Nightmares

Stock Art Collection: The Mystic

Now Available: Character Portraits for Your Home Game or Publication!

The latest in NUELOW Games' series of stock art collections is the NUELOW Fantasy Character Stock Art #1: Spellcasters & Sorcerers. As with past stock art releases, your purchase and download of this product grants you a generous license to use the artwork in any personal or commercial product you choose. The only real restrictions are that may not resell the stand-alone illos individually or as part of a clip-art package, and when you use the art in products or public websites, you need to acknowledge the copyright of the artist in a way spelled out in the license.

Cover art by Darrel Miller (compiled using illos in the set)

 NUELOW Fantasy Character Stock Art #1: Spellcasters & Sorcerers contains 14 different character portraits (12 by artist Darrell Miller), 12 of which are presented both in color and grayscale. As always, individual jpg files are included, but this time around they're at 300dpi so you can use them in print products if you like.

Click here to check out previews of the set, or to download your own copy. (Be sure to let us know if you use the art in any publications or websites... we will give you a link here on the blog!)

In Memory of the Great Lee Elias

On this day in 1920, May 21, Lee Elias, one of the great Good Girl artists of the Golden Age of Comics was born. He was the primary artist on the original Black Cat, and he was the first to give form to amnesiac Indian Princess Firehair... and as adept as he was at drawing beauty, he drew horror just as well, as shown by the man horror covers he drew.

In memory of Lee Elias, we are offering Black Cat Shows You How to Do Judo Tricks at half of the usual price. It's a book showcasing both Elias' Good Girl art, as well as his faithfulness to realism when it came to drawing martial arts moves in the Black Cat comics.

And even bigger treat is the fact that we're giving away NUELOW Stock Art Collect #1: The Black Cat in Action for free. This package of art adapted primarily from Elias's art is a treasure trove of Black Cat illos that you are able to use for whatever purpose you like, so long as you follow a few simple licensing restrictions.

These special prices are good through the end of Memorial Day, May 26, 2014.

Free stock art (through Memorial Day)!

Black Cat and RPG martial arts rules!

NUELOW Stock Art Collection #4 now available!

We've just released our latest collection of artwork from our archives for your enjoyment and publishing projects.

 NUELOW Stock Art Collection #4: Scenes From Yesterday's Future: contains 38 color and black-and-white drawings, most of which have been adapted from the covers of Gold Age comic book such as Planet Comics and Space Adventures. Click on the link to see previews of the set, or to get your own copy and start adorning your website or retro sci fi projects with illustrations by Joe Doolin, Dick Giordano, and others.

Coming this later this week...

We're releasing another collection of drawings from the NUELOW Games stock art files. Adapted from Golden Age comic book covers (and other sources), this horror themed collection is being released just in time to help you with your October RPG games or online publications, as the 30+ color and black-and-white drawings are being offered under a liberal license that lets you do pretty much anything you want with them.

Look for NUELOW Games Stock Art Collection #3: Beauties and the Beasts at all the usual outlets day after tomorrow. (Meanwhile, check out Stock Art Collection #2: Dames, Danger & Death.)

Use our stock art package, get a link!

One thing that we've been forgetting to mention is that if you purchase any of our stock art packages (of which there is only one, but more will be coming) and let us know about any website or product you use one or more illos for, we will plug your effort here, on Facebook, and via our Twitter feed.

Just email or PM the link to us. Once we've checked out what you've made, we'll give you a plug, as a thank-you for being a customer!

(Click here to check NUELOW Stock Art Collection #1: The Original Black Cat in Action. It's 25 percent off through 7/28/2013.)

Write Black Cat stories and use classic art to illustrate them!

Do you want to be writer? Do you want to put your story out there for people to read? Sure you do!

 With NUELOW Games Stock Art Collection #1: The Original Black Cat in Action, you can draw inspiration from art by Lee Elias and you can write stories accordingly. And when you're done, you can post them online, fully illustrated with artwork that you have license to use. Pictures draw people's attention, so they will be more likely to read your story.

If you're just looking for some art to use in hour home projects, such as hand-outs for players at your weekly table-top RPG session, you might find the headshots by Karl M. useful,

Whatever your reason for getting this set, it is almost certain to fill any need you may have for illustrations of a girl wearing a swimsuit and pirate boots while beating up bad guys. (And just to show we're not complete sexist pigs here at NUELOW Games, this collection also includes the cover illo from ROLF!: Bathtime on Bear Creek.)

NUELOW Games Stock Art Collection #1: The Original Black Cat features 28 line drawings (with four presented in both black-and-white and color, for a total of 32 images) that are being made available under a simple, royalty-free license. Once you buy this set, the art is yours to use as you will with a few simple restrictions. To make the set easy to use, the download includes a pdf format booklet that indexes all the images and a zip archive with separate jpg files for each one. (The booklet also contains Black Cat trivia for the true hardcore fans--of which there is probably only one, and his name is Steve Miller.)

Oh... and if you do write some Black Cat fiction, we might want to publish it in a future issue of Film Fun Comics. Remember, the NUELOW Games version of Black Cat isn't limited to the 1940s. With the revised background for her that we presented in Film Fun Comics Vol. 2: The Black Cat vs. HIM! and ROLF!: Bat Meets Cat, Black Cat stories can be set any time from the 1700s through today.

Drop us a line if you have any questions or comments... we love to hear from our audience.