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sArkhaven is the new Castalia House imprint which will be responsible for publishing comics and graphic novel series like Alt★Hero, Alt★Hero Avalon, QUANTUM MORTIS, and Wodehouse, among others. It will be publishing in both digital and print editions, and we’re pleased to announce that the first Arkhaven digital comic is now available today: QUANTUM MORTIS A […]
Sensor Sweep: Elfland’s Daughter, Magic the Gathering, Dell Horror, and Last Jedi (again).
Monday , 8, January 2018 Sensor Sweep 1 CommentFiction (Pulp Rev): “He is not wrong. This is the Second Coming of the Pulps. The difference is that the hustle is even harder now than it was the first time around, both in competing attracts and in the scope and scale of the playing field (truly global). The role of the pulp magazine in […]
An Excerpt from AN EQUATION OF ALMOST INFINITE COMPLEXITY
Sunday , 7, January 2018 Fiction, Publications Leave a commentWhen the devil moves in next door to Cooper Smith Cooper’s house, Cooper doesn’t know what to make of him at first. But when the unexpectedly neighborly Scratch helps the unemployed actuary find a job at a local insurance company with the help of some inside information into the activities of Death, Cooper decides the […]
Jeff Jones (1944-2011) was one of the most important illustrators of sword and sorcery fiction. He started out with Canaveral Press’ I am a Barbarian by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1967. Donald Wollheim (again) jumped on the new talent for paperback covers. Jones provided art for two of Jack Vance’s “Planet of Adventure” series and […]
Not too long ago, I wrote an article about why we don’t see many good science fiction movies or television series. Is the medium of comics better? At first glance, it should be vastly superior, as the two main weaknesses of motion pictures don’t apply. Comics might not be as intellectually deep as books, but […]
Science Fiction New Release Roundup: 06 January 2018
Saturday , 6, January 2018 Fiction Leave a commentThis week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction features an intrepid reporter trying to discover the source of the bio-plague sweeping her galaxy, villainous secrets in a science theme park, and a starship of Neanderthal ancestors seeking sanctuary on Earth. * * * * * […]
We’re just about ready to proceed with our first print tests and we’ve already successfully constructed our first digital comic book, which is Quantum Mortis #1. We’re also very close to wrapping up the inkings on the first Alt★Hero and Avalon comics, so we should be in pretty good shape to hit our February time […]
Short Reviews – The Seal Maiden, by Victor Rousseau Emanuel
Friday , 5, January 2018 Uncategorized 2 CommentsThe Seal Maiden, by Victor Rousseau Emanuel originally appeared in the Nov 13, 1913 issue of ”The Cavalier”. It was reprinted in the February 1950 issue of A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine. It can be read here at Archive.org. Okay, one of the more knowledgeable old-timers here at Castalia needs to help me out. There has […]
We continue reading Robert E Howard’s Conan yarns in publication order, and noting how they have improved with age. Often dismissed as a mere boyish adventure tales, adult eyes rereading these alleged boy’s stories will see depth to them.
Two thousand years ago, aliens destroyed Earth. Our fleets shattered. Billions died. The last humans fled a burning planet, heading to the stars. Today we are still refugees. Hungry. Afraid. Our enemies hunt us everywhere. So we hide. On distant asteroids. In rundown space stations. In deep caves on frozen worlds. And we dream. * […]
A Song of Frustration and Fun (But Mostly Fun)
Wednesday , 3, January 2018 Tabletop Games, Wargames 3 CommentsThe multi-dimensional balancing act of wargame design has led to a proliferation of titles. The huge number of variables that have to be juggled in even the simplest of wargames presents a huge number of opportunities for wargame designers to seek out the “sweet spot” in everything from level of detail to movement schemes to […]
WARGAME WEDNESDAY: Avalon Hill’s The Battle of the Bulge (1981) – Part V
Wednesday , 3, January 2018 Wargames 1 CommentPlay 4 | Allies – Dad/Axis – Me | Outcome – Overwhelming Axis Victory (Allies concede Antwerp Victory as inevitable) This playthrough we used the following: No roll for Paratroopers No roll for 150 Commando 2x SS Panzer Divisions can participate in morning Blitz In some ways this was very similar to my strategy in […]