May 2008 | Boom!

Writing: Matt Forbeck
Art: Lads Helloven
Colour: Lads Helloven
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover: Lads Heloven | Moritat

It’s the Bad Bay Hackers versus the Orcland Raiders in the ultimate grudge match. There’s more than just the game, to worry about, there’s an assassin on the Hacker’s team. In order for him to get a chance to take out his target, the Hackers must advance.

I’m a huge fan of Games Workshop and practically everything they produce. I remember playing the Blood Bowl game with friends over lunch breaks and while I’ve never been a fan of football, playing this violent strategic version was always great fun. It’s been years, though, since I’ve had anything to do with it. I had sold all my miniatures off a long time ago. Seeing this comic on the shelf, I thought I’d give it a go. It left me grinning.

The comic opens in the middle of a Blood Bowl game between the Bad Bay Hackers and Orcland Raiders with some wonderful violence and commentary.

What I love about this comic is how true it is to the game. It isn’t Blood Bowl without death, extreme violence, and some heads mistaken for footballs. It really brings back some fond memories. Matt Forbeck has done some great writing, especially with the commentary, and I like the care he’s taken to flesh out the world and place this sport in the fantasy setting where it lives. Thousands of spectators watching the game in their crystal balls, it’s just so creative, and the sponsors got a chuckle from me, too. It was a fun read.

Those undead teams get all the best players — eventually!

The messy style of art goes well with the brutality of the game and the gore is quite satisfying. With a cover like that, I was certain I’d be pleased with the interior.

All-in-all, this was entertaining — purely gratuitous, but entertaining. I’ll likely pick up more of this mostly to see what the next team like, but I must admit I am curious to know more about our killer’s contract.

Some great news from Angry Robot! Not one new-author announcement, but 3!

Press Release
15th June 2009
For Immediate Release
Angry Robot is presented today by the letter “M”s

Maurice Broaddus is one of the real good guys, so why the hell his fiction is so terrifying is beyond our understanding. The three books of the KNIGHTS OF BRETON COURT series is a modern retelling of the King Arthur cycle, set among the drug gangs of inner city America. Told through the eyes of King, as he tries to unite the crack dealers and do the right thing, it’s a stunning, edgy work, genuinely unlike anything we’ve ever read. Cheap movie analogy for you: Gilliam’s Fisher King meets The Wire. The first volume will be published by Angry Robot in summer 2010, with the remaining parts at six month intervals. Extraordinary. Check out more about Maurice here.
(Sounds awesome!)

Matt Forbeck… well, where do you start? Multiple award-winning fantasy game designer, computer game creative, writer of so many novels and comicbooks across all the major genre properties… So it’s about damn time someone allowed him free reign with his own novels, no? And we have a pair of stunners. AMORTALS, to be published November 2009, is set just a few years in the future. After a cop is killed, his reincarnated clone must find out who did the deed. Double Indemnity meets Altered Carbon? Roxor!
That’ll be followed late spring 2010 by the equally fabulous VEGAS KNIGHTS. It’s Oceans Eleven meets Harry Potter as three student wizards use Spring Break in an attempt to break a Vegas casino using magic. Only… the casino has its own sorcerers, and they’re not going to hand over all the moolah to a bunch of twenty year-old wandwavers. Check out more info on Matt here.
(Another sure-fire winner!)

Mike Shevdon is the Brit in our pile, and our debut novelist. The immense SIXTY-ONE NAILS and its sequel THE ROAD TO BEDLAM follow Niall Petersen, everyday guy, from a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks just beyond the surface of everyday life. The Untainted, the darkest of the Seven Courts, have made their play for power, and unless Niall can recreate the ritual of the Sixty-One Nails, their dark dominion will enslave all of the Feyre, and all of humankind too. A massive rollercoaster ride from a stunning new talent, the first volume will be in stores worldwide from November 2009. Check out more info on Mike here.
(Gimme more books like A Madness of Angels and I’m a happy man!)

Also in (older) Angry Robot news, here’s the cover for J. Robert King’s Angel of Death!

All in all, great news from Angry Robot!

Be EPIC!

Matt Forbeck (Writer) and Lads Helloven (Art and Colors)

Blood Bowl: Killer Contract #1 tells the story of the Bad Bay Hackers team and their game against the Orcland Raiders. What game you ask? Well it is sort of like football except there is a large amount of killing, maiming, and general chaos thanks to the inclusion of weapons, medieval style football pads, and a general disregard for any solid set of rules. It brings to mind the old Sega Genesis game Pigskin Footbrawl or even Mutant League Football from back in the day. Truth be told, the concept is a lot of fun and the brutality on display really is something to behold. However, the book is not without its shortcomings as it feels as though it tries to do too much within too few pages.

To be honest, I am still trying to sort out exactly what the focus of this comic even is. We have the football game going, some locker room assassination plot, a team relationship, some tension between the coach and the star, some daddy issues, and, to top it all off, some pretty ridiculous dialogue and action that does little to help make sense of it all. I wanted to sit back and enjoy the ride, but far too often I found myself going back over what I had already read because I lost track of what was going on. It just moves way too fast for its own good. Now, part of me understands why this is since this is only going to be a five issue mini-series, but pulling out a plot thread or two would have done wonders for both the pacing and flow of this story.

The writing by Matt Forbeck is admirable in the sense that he attempts to juggle all these plot elements in a little over twenty pages, but it never feels like he has any control over what is going on. I liked the clever names and the campy humor, but it needs more than that to tie everything together. Maybe those that have an interest in the tabletop game that this comic is based on will have a better understanding of the events, but, for me, this was a chore to read.

The artwork makes up for some of the books shortcomings, but it also suffers from a general lack of direction. I enjoy some full-blown chaos and this book puts it on display in quite an impressive fashion, but the actual game being played is just a mess. I assume that we are supposed to follow the game between the Hackers and the Raiders, but it is next to impossible. I know some people scored, but there was absolutely no flow to the action at hand. It felt like a bunch of cool scenes lumped together without any idea of where they fit in the overall scheme of things. It looks fun, and some of it genuinely is, but closer inspection will make you realize the less you scrutinize, the better. I like what is on display here, but it needs to be reeled in so that the action can unfold in a manner that compliments the game being played and the story being told.

Blood Bowl: Killer Contract is fun, but it really needs some structure and less chaos. The less you think about it, the better this book is. Check it out if you are interested in the concept, but make sure to shut your brain off before diving in. (Grade C-)

-Kyle Posluszny