342: Yes Spurrier
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Ethical
Si
Undertow, Overtow, Wombling Free
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It’s that time again. It’s pre-orders for the Issue 12 of The Power Fantasy (on Monday!) so now is a good time to talk to your retailers. Here’s a teaser we’ll be dropping later. Though I guess that you’re reading this means it’s dropping now.
As you see, we finally remembered to change the dimensions to become more instagram friendly. Oh, for swearing fans, here’s the uncensored version.
Here’s my introduction to The Power Fantasy, for those who don’t know. If you’ve read the second trade, you’ll know why you may want to try this in single issues. One of the goals of the book was to write this monthly ongoing pop-comic, which just hits. I think we’ve done that, but along the way we’ve also placed all those dominoes and start to make the fall, and we move up a register.
Anyway – speak to your retailer, pre-order if you want it. It is appreciated, and I think following it monthly is going to really reward you. And if you haven’t started, now is a great time to ask for the first two trades too.
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After Zinezilla last week, I’m doing another con. And going abroad for it. Lawks. I’m going to Aviles in Spain.
I’m only doing two days, as I can’t afford to really take any more time away this month. Which is a shame for many reasons, not least that everything I hear about Avilles sounds absolutely charming , healing and chill. I could do with spending a couple more days with these guests, talking life and comics. That it has the people it has there says a lot about its reputation as a con a creator would like to be at.
Hopefully see some folk there – my event is 5pm on the Saturday.
Also I am very entertained with the translation of Si Spurrier to “Yes Spurrier”.
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Ed announced this in his latest newsletter – they’re doing a Christmas-timed Criminal Special, only available physically in comic shops. He asked me if I’ll be interested in writing a short RPG for it, and I said yes. I’m still writing it at the moment – It should exist in a draft next week, after I’ve cleared the present script. It was also a great excuse to re-read all of Criminal and dig into what Ed and Sean have been doing across all the volumes. If you haven’t re-read it (or even read it at all) it will reward your time enormously.
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The plan is to drop the frst Script Club mail at the end of September, if you want to jump aboard. As some folks have wondered why it says “daily billing” when you sign up for it. That means it will bill you the day a mail is sent. It won’t be billing you every day. Even I wouldn’t be that shameless.
First script will be The Wicked + the Divine #1. If you’ve got any ideas of what you’d like to see, do say.
TL;DR: $5 for a no-more-than-monthly newsletter, which includes a script. Give me coins.
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Ex Tenebris Kickstarter has launched, from Black Armada Games. It’s a post-Grimdark fantasy detective game – a space empire has fallen and society is rebuilding. You play agents trying to ensure it doesn’t collapse – the inspiration is from the Inquisition in 40k, but with a setting tweak, and the mechanics as an interesting expansion of the line of thought the Carved By Brindlewood games into a whole new system. I really like what I’ve seen, and am going to write an adventure for it as part of the KS. My basic concept if the Wicker Man meets Dark Star. Go back!
Image has a 00s bundle up at Humble Bundle, collecting a whole lot of excellent material and also the first two Phonograms. This was one of the foundational periods of the modern anglophone comic scene, I think – you see Image transforming from the company it was in the 90s, to the company which became in the 2010s. I remember Phonogram being very surprised that Phonogram was on Image when it dropped, for example. That simply wasn’t true five years later.
Jay Dragon has been busy this week, dropping an Expessionist Games Manifesto, which is very sharp and clarifies a lot of what Jay is finding interesting in games. She’s also in conversation with Cameron Kunzelma about her work and theory as part of Emily Friedman’s fall programme.
Russell Hillman is a mainstay of the British small press and his latest anthology homaging and celebrating 1970s-style Horror is in its last week of crowd funding. It has just over £500 pounds to go, and that would be really good to get.
Oh – I linked to the Gerrymandering: cheating or good strategy? Article last week, except I messed up the link. As said last time, I thought this was very good in using the structure of games to look at politics to illuminate what repulses us and damages society.
The Parlour Tricky’s A Blessed Unrest is available in fancy Vinyl again. Go listen and consider giving money!
The Horus Heresy in 40k started as a reason to justify two sets of identical big robots (not a robot) bashing the living hell out of each other. It ended being 64 novels. Cripes. Wyrd Science interviews Dan Abnett about bringing it home.
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I’m a little more chirpy this week (though that ten minutes ago I just turned to tell Chrissy “I’m actually excited about going to this con!” says how I’m still incapable of looking up). I suppose this means everything is a surprise present. See - looking for a silver lining. I must be more upbeat.
Still – the week remains crunched. The Power Fantasy’s new arc means we’re beating the drum for it – see that above, and we’ll be on a call to retailers tomorrow to talk about the book. I want to reach out to retailers. Hell, if I have time today I may see if I can do a teaser video for it – I suspect I won’t have time, but I have an idea I want to see if I can execute. At the same time, I’m making sure that I’m on top of DIE: Loaded – I’m writing issue 7 at the moment, so Stephanie can have it when she needs it (basically early next week). That I’m so far ahead of you means it’s obviously hard to talk about in any way – but there’s one idea that really charmed me, which I’m clearly going to make awful by the ends of the episode. As well as that, I’ve got a bunch of calls – a general meeting in London tomorrow on the way to Spain, plus a whole calling into a thing on and off.
When I get back from Spain and clear DIE: Loaded #7, I’ll be trying to write and the playtest the Criminal RPG. I have an idea which I think is quite elegant and very Criminal-y, but I’m also aware it may implode, and I have a less ambitious (but also fun) idea I can fall back to. Basically, Honey Heist, but with two stats – Criminal and Criminal. I’m joking. Or am I?
To the Moon And Back has just turned up on an old play list, so I’ll leave you with a bit of Fever Ray at their most upbeat. Hope you’re doing well. As in, you’re in good spirits. Not that you’re having sex with a well. Though if you are, who am I to judge? No-one, that’s who.
Speak soon.
Kieron Gillen
Bath
10.9.2025