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Wacky Wizard Games Imprint and Three New Games Announced by @wwizardgames

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Wise Wizard Games announced the launch of Wacky Wizard Games, a new brand imprint focused on family-friendly, lightweight games. Three games are planned for release in 2024 as part of this new brand imprint: Star Realms Academy, Caution Signs, and Pack the Essentials. If you are interested and attending PAX Unplugged they will have prototypes of Caution Signs and Pack the Essentials. "We are super excited to be adding this new family friendly product line to our catalog. We wanted to maintain the focus of Wise Wizard Games on strategy card and dice games with geeky themes, and have created Wacky Wizard Games as an umbrella for lightweight games with a more whimsical, cute vibe," shared Debbie Moynihan, COO of Wise Wizard Games. Star Realms Academy Forge your own star realms, overloaded with cuteness! A kid friendly but still fun for grown-ups version of the popular Star Realms deckbuilding game for 2 players. A little less math, no reading necessary, but still tons of fun! 

Guest Reviews: @BatWatcher @DCComics Red Hood and the Outlaws #17, Batman Incorporated #8, Teen Titans #17

Red Hood and the Outlaws #17 CoverBatman, Incorporated #8 CoverTeen Titans #17 Cover

Here are today's "Guest Reviews" by Jeremy Sims from Batwatch. Included are DC's; Red Hood and the Outlaws #17, Batman Incorporated #8, & Teen Titans #17. I have also added my rating after each review. If you have any questions about my rating or want to discuss anything just leave me a comment.


See the Review Rating Overview page for more information on how I rate each comic.



Red Hood and the Outlaws #17 - Don't Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out


In the wake of “DEATH OF THE FAMILY,” Bruce Wayne confronts Jason Todd!


You DO NOT want to miss this!


Preview



Don't Let the Door Hit You on Your Way Out!


Nightwing's follow up issue to Death of the Family was quite satisfying, so now I am curious if Red Hood and the Outlaws will get a similarly great story. I was not particularly impressed with RHATO's crossover with Death of the Family though it had some moments. It will be nice to see this trio of antiheroes reunited since Roy and Jason have been on separate adventures and Kory barely received any face time in the past couple issues. Does RHATO #17 bring the team together for a moving follow up to Death of the Family, or does it play the easy route and just leap back in to the regular flow of things without any sort of emotional resolution?

In this issue, Jason invites the Outlaws to Wayne Manor as he prepares to head out, Damian makes friends in his own unique way, Starfire and Nightwing avoid each other, Arsenal runs his mouth, and Batman acts fatherly.

Okay, Wow

After a bunch of Death of the Family tie ins which were mostly fun but largely irrelevant, it seems the aftermath of these events, at least in the case of Nightwing and RHATO, are actually really awesome. Honestly, I believed Death of the Family could be used to move characters forward, but I didn't really expect it to happen, but holy crap, we have an entire issue which is ninety-five percent character development. Once more allow me to say, “Holy crap!”

I'm not going to accuse many of interaction in this book of being extremely profound, but they are all sincere and moving. Lobdell does a great job of capturing the essence of each of these characters, zooming in on their best parts, and giving them the chance to shine. We get to see Roy be his goofy, good natured self. Damian is a little snot who is all jaded on the outside but just a kid at heart. We get to see a different side of Nightwing though his role in this issue is brief. Alfred is portrayed excellently, and as always, Lobdell does Jason justice. Even Kory seems she might be moving in a positive direction. Earlier in the series, Lobdell wrote her as if she was incapable of remembering her past, yet she clearly remembers Nightwing in this issue which means this is either a minor retcon, or my understanding of Kory's mental abilities has become incorrectly skewed at some point.

Read the rest of Jeremy Sims' review on Batwatch

My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 4/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 3/5
Story - 4/5
Verdict - 3.6



Batman, Incorporated #8 - The Boy Wonder Returns


Everything Grant Morrison has been planning since the start of BATMAN, INCORPORATED leads to this stunning issue!


You must not miss this one!


Preview



The Boy Wonder Returns


So, I'm super stoked about this issue. As most of you probably know, it promises big, big, horrible things, and I'm game. Perhaps Death of the Family and its aftermath has wet my appetite for a game changing event, and that is exactly what we are going to get here. (watch as I dodge spoilers. It's a delicate dance full of love for the BatWatch community and the purists who have worked so hard not to ruin the reveal) I have a lot of speculation and theories, but I cannot voice them without revealing the story, so let's move on to the meat and potatoes of this review. Is Batman, Incorporated #8 a staggeringly triumph or a devastatingly disappointment?

In this issue, Robin flies in to save his father, Nightwing follows Damian to keep him safe, and Red Robin takes on the forces of Leviathan.

The Death

(Spoilers for entire section) Let's address the main question on everybody's mind first. Does Damian die?

Yes, and he dies hard, painfully, and brutally. I have a feeling some Damian Wayne haters will probably frame some of these panels on their bedroom walls...which is kind of a disturbing thought now that I've typed it out, but given the level of vitriol I've heard for some, my comment stands.

There is so much to say about this scene that I find it difficult to know where to start.

In comic book deaths, you know that the death itself is practically meaningless. At most, it means a character might be out of circulation for about a decade. I can think of no modern deaths that have lasted longer than that, so the significance is less about the death itself and more about the purpose the death served. You want a hero's death to be both heroic and tragic, and in that sense, Damian's death hit the right notes though it focused more on the tragedy than the heroism since his death did not serve any greater purpose.

Read the rest of Jeremy Sims' review on Batwatch

My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 3/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 2/5
Layout & Flow - 3/5
Story - 3/5
Verdict - 2.7



Teen Titans #17 - Grey Matters


Welcome aboard the new art team of EDDY BARROWS and EBER FERREIRA!


The team is finally reunited in the wake of “DEATH OF THE FAMILY”—but something is very wrong with Red Robin! What did The Joker do?


Preview



A Tale of Light and Dark


There are books I love reviewing every month, and there are books I hate reviewing every month. I never know which Teen Titans is going to be. Teen Titans #15? Meh. Teen Titans #16? Really cool. You just never know.

Batman and Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood and the Outlaws all set a pretty high bar for what we can expect as fallout following Death of the Family. So far, Batgirl is the only one who just kind of glazed over the otherwise huge event. Nothing really happened to Tim in Death of the Family, so I don't have very high expectations for this issue, but Tim's is looking awfully down on the cover, and Batman, Incorporated's big news is now fair game to discuss, so maybe we will see some fallout from either Death of the Family or Batman, Inc.

We also have some other big events shaping up for this series. Raven, terrible costume and all, is heading for Teen Titans supposedly to become a new member, and I cannot say that excites me much. We already have too many characters with too little development, and the last thing I want is more added to the mix. Also, based on the silly costume change, I'm going to bet I will not like other new DCNU changes to her character. We've also been promised a Deathstroke crossover, and Teen Titans are guest starring in Firestorm this week. Kurt Lance has been popping up and messing with Solstice periodically, and we have been promised, not for the first time, that Tim will finally have a team meeting and discuss the future of the team which has been sticking together for no particular reason ever since the conclusion of The Culling. Does Lobdell manage to take all these disparate story lines and pull them together to make a coherent story, or is this issue, like this team, held together by the thinnest of threads?

In this issue, Tim has an important talk with the team and shows them their new pad, and at least one evil force is growing in power.

I Hate Tim More Every Day

Okay, so there are some things that happen towards the end of this issue which I will leave alone for the moment, and it appears that Tim is not responsible for those actions, but he is clearly responsible for the section where his inner monologue is going, and even there, he is a major dick.

Read the rest of Jeremy Sims' review on Batwatch

My Rating


Cover & Solicit - 3/5
Art, Colors & Inking - 3/5
Layout & Flow - 2/5
Story - 3/5
Verdict - 2.9


Purchase Red Hood and the Outlaws #17
Purchase Batman Incorporated #8
Purchase Teen Titans #17
Jeremy Sims is a blogger at https://batwatch.squarespace.com/ and a comic book reviewer at Comic Vine. The use of this review has been authorized by the original author.

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