Stormbringer

Elric: Stormbringer

Blondel*Cano*Telo*Recht*Poli

Graphic Novel

64 Pages

Titan Publisher

$14.99

$9.74 at Amazon http://amzn.to/29429Xf

I read the reimagining of Michael Moorcock’s Elric novel, The Ruby Throne a while ago and looked forward to the follow up, Stormbringer.

Little baffled by the decisions made here.

Elric is far more bloodthirsty and well, useless than he’s been in different incarnations. This ranges from his crippling obsession with Cymoril to his callousness in wiping out a village.

It’s not that these things aren’t “acceptable” or aren’t suitable for Elric. It’s just such a different exaggerated take of him that I’m not sure I like it.

There are other liberties the series takes. For example, the rune swords Stormbringer and Mournblade are gifted to Elric and his cousin and are the Prince of Sword’s “Daughters” as opposed to being what they originally are.

In the context of the story, it works. In the greater whole? If they ever decided to go on? There would either have to be more liberties taken or it would have to continue to diverge more and more.

On one hand, watching A Game of Thrones, I can easily see this version being adapted for a HBO style 4 part series/movie or something.

On the other? Still digesting it.

The good news though, is that art is fantastic. The visuals are stunning. Much of the setting, especially on Elric's home island, could be straight from a Clive Barker Hellraiser book.

The layout and wording and coloring all work to move the story forward. It’s well done and visually appealing. These version of Elric and his people will stand out in the mind as the modern interpretations.

Further good news? It’s inexpensive. Under $10 for either the digital version or the print version is a good deal for quality art like this.

If you’re a fan of sword and sorcery and want to see what a modern version of Elric is like that doesn’t cleave to the story as rigidly as previous comic adaptions have, this one is for you.

Rat Queens: Volume One: Sass and Sorcery

When it comes to comics, the field is dominated by super hero titles. At least in America. The good news though, is that there are a lot of independent publishers, well, how about the non-BIG TWO (Marvel and DC) that dip their toe into other waters quite often.


Among those publications, I've heard good things about a fantasy comic called Rat Queens. Seeing that Amazon had the first volume, Sass and Sorcery that collects issues 1-5 with some bonus material for $6.38 (almost 40% off!). Looking over my edition, it must be doing okay because this is a second printing. Good for Image.  I added that to a recent order of some Pathfinder gaming material.


It does not disappoint. It's like the authors are long term Dungeons and Dragons players.


We have the following characters:


Betty: A smidgen (Halfling/hobbit) rogue
Dee: Cleric of a giant flying squid.
Hannah: Elf magic user.
Violet: Dwarf fighter.


The action takes place in a city that houses a fair number of mercenary groups that don't necessarily get along. The story starts with a bar brawl that's broken out into the streets of the city Palisade, getting the five 'gangs' arrested: Rat Queens, Peaches, Four Daves, Brother Ponies, and Obsidian Darkness. Their penance is various low key missions that the city doesn't want to expend its own forces on ranging from clearing out goblins to 'clean the shitters at the winding pass barracks.'


Oh, and there's swearing. Adult language! For the most part it comes off as adults speaking which is well done. There's also a lot of 'slice of life' bits that fit into the overall story but I suspect in more standard comics would've been cut.


The story includes a few 'random' battles and an overarching theme that's to be continued as the readers are introduced to various individuals from the different groups. By not having the book focus entirely on the heroes, the Rat Queens, the author allows the setting to be large enough to throw multiple plot hooks into the air that can be continued one at a time until they become the main stories.


For anyone who role plays games like Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons, it's almost like a quick how to manual.


Kurtis J. Wiebe is the author here and he does a nice job of handling the characters like you'd suspect such characters would act. The interesting thing to me, is if you changed all of the female characters to men, you wouldn't have to change that much dialog or well, anything else.


That's great because to me, it means the author focused on making the characters interesting as opposed to making them 'women' if you will. Maybe that didn't come out right, this being the internet and all, but I'll take strong characters over characters put up in a specific gender role any day of the week.


Roc Upchurch, whose Deviant Art page is here, does the art including the covers and since there is no colorist listed, I have to think he does that as well. Great job all around. If you like the cover for example, you'll enjoy the interior art. The interesting thing to me, is that Roc isn't afraid of showing the characters taking a beating. There is horrific violence inflicted on them, but he doesn't flinch from showing it.


Mind you the long term ramifications of such violence are minimized as there is magical healing about but to show it in the first place? Usually violence against women is minimized despite all of the 'women in the refrigerator' we see in super hero comics.


I hope that after the graphic novel collection for volume two comes out the price will go down a little. Compared to volume one's low price it's almost double. Ah, the internet spoils me with its variety in shopping terms.


If there are any Pathfinder gurus out there, you should try to license this comic out. The art is already there and a quick book of NPC's and quick maps is always a welcome addition to the game.


For fantasy comic fans and comic fans, this is a solid volume and very affordable with some great art and a story that wraps up the main plot while continuing to advance the story of the characters.

Elric The Ruby Throne

Huge fan of Michael Moorcock's creation Elric over here. I've read the old comics when they were published by First and Dark Horse. I had read the books long before that.

This volume, which is a slim hardcover that goes for $10.01 on Amazon, slipped by me until another fantasy fan showed his own copy arriving. Didn't take long and I had ordered my own.

This volume covers the point we're introduced to Elric till the time he summons Arioch. I'd say what, a third of the book?

The story is familiar since I've read the novel and the old comics, but it's different as well. I don't know if that's because the author and artist took some liberties with the material or I'm senile. The good new though, is that even the material I don't remember being here, fits in well with the overall theme and arc of the character of Elric.

Now one of the things I like about this version? It really puts a new spin on things for me. The artists, Robin Recht and Didier Poli are fantastic. While I'm not sold on all of the character designs, the overall graphic design and choices made in the book are fantastic and powerful.

For example, let's start with the Ruby Throne. I'm probably not alone when I say I've always thought of the Ruby Throne as being, well, a throne made of one solid ruby or something of that nature. Here, the artist creates a massive throne of which the chair portion is the smallest. The throne is the type that could not physically be moved so large is it. I can see a question to break off a part of the throne for use in a spell component or ritual but actually stealing the whole thing?

At the end, when Elric summons Arioch, who appears in this instances as a child, he does so with numerous blades surrounding him. This gives Arioch a 'anima flare' if you will that fits in well with the character and his name as the Prince of Swords.

There's also the common cruelty of live in the empire. For example, Doctor Jest here looks like he could be from a certain mercenary faction in Warmachine with his artificial limbs that are dissecting prisoners. Elric's fiance feeds him blood and souls in order to empower him, because he is a sickly creature. It's far more graphic then I recall but it fits with the theme of a demon worshipping society.

There are other little bits that don't match my memory. For example, when Elric leads his kinsmen against a raiding party, when some seek to escape, Elric summons the demonic depths of the sea to handle them. This leaves him weakened at which point he is dragged by one of the raiders over the ship and his evil cousin has opportunity to save him. I recall it being his cousin who pushed him.

Minor things and they don't effect the story at all.

This book is perfect for any fantasy fan who wants to have some fantastic art work. The story is short enough that it leaves you wanting the second book, which is also available for pre-order. Hope I remember that one!

Amazon and Dark Horse Comic Sales

Those who've read my blog here know that I enjoy comic books. Due to physical limitations in terms of housing though, a lot of comics I buy these days are in digital format.

Today only I believe, Amazon has several graphic novels on sale to get you into the DC New 52 series for a low price. Good stuff if you enjoy comics or wanted to see what was 'new' at the time.

Green Lantern: Jokes on you sucker! Remember how I said 'New 52'? Turns out that DC has some intelligence and didn't reset everything. Green Lantern and Batman got to essentially keep going with what they were doing to begin with. Still, this collection of the first arc is by Geoff Johns whose well known and opinions of him are easy to find.

Wonder Woman vol 1: Blood: Everyone is taken by how awesome her new origin is. I think she's now the daughter of Zeus or something. For me that's more blah than her old origin. Her old origin was used a few times in interesting ways. Having super powers because you're the scion of some one? M'eh. It's worked for Thor for hundreds of issues so clearly there can be validity to the process.

Aquaman Vol 1: The Tench. Okay, I know, "He talks to fish!". It's still funny to me. Aquaman can be more than that and often is, but between him and Submariner, overall Subby wins. The later is a often a colossal bastard whose ego gets him into all sorts of trouble. Aquaman is the guy whose son died and is otherwise a nice guy. Except when they make him 90's vicious. There was a brief sword and sorcery run but I think they pretty much nuked that into oblivion. Aquaman as he's done would probably be a better fit in his own setting as opposed to the DC one. It's all like, "Yeah, but Superman!" Poor bastard.

Justice League vol 1: Origin. I already own this one. Fantastic art by Jim Lee but really feeling the crapitude of 'The New 52'. Other people love it so take my opinion here with a grain of salt.

Justice League Dark vol 1: In the Dark. Okay, I got nothing here. I bought it for $2.99 because hell, I'll try most things for an introductory price but really? Did DC see Marvel absolutely stomping them with dozens of Avengers and X-Men titles and was like, "Hey, Justice League rolls off the tongue right? Right?"

Shazam Vol 1. I feel bad for DC here. It's like they can never do this character justice. He's had some great stories like one of the retellings of his first meeting with Superman, or his time with the Justice Society of America, but when you have Superman, and your ownership of Shazam came about directly because you claimed he was a copy of Superman, what's left for Shazam do to? Still, for $2.99 I wanted to see what Geoff Johns did with him. Man, is that guy on everything these days?

Superman: Action Comics Vol 1. Superman and the Men of Steel. Grant Morrison tackles Superman and his 'new' origin or at least his new stylings. It was a nice change of pace even though, like Spider Man, it nullified his marriage to Lois Lane. Still, it, like Spider Man's annulment, has lead to some interesting stories and they start here.

Green Arrow Vol 1. The Midas Touch. Haven't read it yet, but for $2.99 I'm there. With the popularity of the television show Arrow, I'm surprised that DC hasn't been pushing this character more.

But not all comics hail from DC comics! In terms of Dark Horse, every now and again they put their Star Wars comics on 'blow out' prices. I'm a little worried about it but I believe there has been mention that while they will stop selling them, you will be able to access them.

Darth Vader XL Bundle: A ton of comics featuring Darth Vader aka Anakin Skywalker for $24.95.

Captain Midnight Bundle: 255 pages of pulp science brought into modern day times? For $2.99, I bought it and will check it out. That's a hard deal to pass up for a comic fan. Individual issues have previews of the material, so for example, if you go here: https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/3479.captain-midnight-1-felipe-massafera-cover/ , you'll see the preview avialable for that issue and can use those previews to decide if it's worth the $2.99.

Keep those sales coming you magnificent bastards! Memory is cheap these days and I can always download more!

For those who've already read this comics, any particular favorites? Any that you'd look at this list and warn people away from?

As usual, if you know anyone that would benefit from the sale here, +1 and share it among the peeps. Save the comic fans a few $$$$.

Age is Not Just A Number

When creating characters, either as Game Master and breathing life into NPCs or as a player, think about the age of the character. What does it say about the character?

While reading Harold Lamb's Wolf of the Steppes, the age of the main character, Khilt the Cossack, made me ponder the value of age. In this case, Khilt is not quite the Old Man of the Mountaint, but is an older man. In some of the tales, he notes that these days, he survives more than the use of tactical genius rather than sheer brawn.

Those who encounter him often have one or two thoughts. One, he's an old Cossack and that makes him dangerous. Warriors don't live to a ripe old age on the steppes. Two, he's old. He's no longer a threat.

In a fantasy game, that might be a little more difficult to acheive because there are so many options in terms of what a character can do. However, if playing something like Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, making the character a martial class whose primary ability isn't in fighting, such as say a Warlord, may allow the character to speak openly and mour about his lost fighting prowess but at the same time inspire the youth of the next generation to take up arms.

On the opposite end of the specturm, we have Marvel Comic's graphic novel, The Gunslinger Born, in their line of The Dark Tower series. Here, Roland is a pup. Few take him seriously. While he manages to excel at his tasks, while his skill with the gun is not rivaled, his youth makes him brash and perhaps foolish. It allows other to prompt him to take action instead of thinking.

Roland manages to break records and strives to "remember the face of his father" but thanks to his youth, manages to fall victim to things an older individual, like Khilt, may have avoided.

In any game system, it's often easier to role play the brash youth. The trick thought is eventually showcasing some grwoth in the character based on events that happen to him.

Backstory Begets Backstory

In The Hidden Temple, the crew visits Cade's uncle. Here is more backstory. Not everything Cade knows is dead.

While there, Cade is visited by Azlyn Rae, another bit of Cade's past. A fellow student who appears to be a bounty hunter but is in fact working for the empire.

So while some have allied with the old emperor that Azlyn serves, spying on old friends tends to make them... trust you less no matter how good the good times were.

This can be problematic at times when the character's backstory continues to influence the current course of the campaign. However, when running a non-standard dungeon crawl campaign, the Game Master may need to expand his own ranking of NPC's and having the characters make backstory allows the Game Master to hang more backstory onto them.

The first thing the GM should do in these cases is explain that the character's backstory is 'open' and that you'll occassionally be adding bits and pieces that mesh with the bits and pieces they've added to it already. This allows the player to have an uncle whose got all sorts of skills, but then allows you to add another contact that the character once knew and who served under the uncle giving the character a solid in to the setting.

In terms of the Hidden Temple itself, it acts as a focus for this book in many ways. First, it's a place of refuge for Cade who has a bounty on his head. Players should have some type of safehouse that allows them some downtime, even if it's not in the best and brightest of situations.

Two, it allows the GM to parade out other NPCs who may be useful in the future. There are a few more potential easter eggs in the jedi that Cade finds waiting for him.

Three, with those NPCs, it allows the GM to showcase one opinion and force the player to take his own action. In this case, Cade suggests assassinating the Sith Lord. With a bounty on his head and the Sith Lord committing genocide, he figures it's time for the jedi to do make some tough decesions.

The jedi debate it, but the outcome is never really in doubt. If you want to do the job, do it yourself.

This is one of the important elements to think of when players may want to question why someone else isn't doing something that they could do. In games like the Forgotten Realms, where there are a lot of powerful NPCs, why aren't they always out saving this or doing that? Sometimes, it may simply be that it's not their way.

That to take direct action isn't their philosophy and that it's better to move through others.

Sometimes it may be a deliberate ruse to see if the enemy will act.

Sometimes it's because to act would be a suicide mission.

Here, while the Jedi might be able to take out one Sith, they don't know who will rise to replace him and they don't have the numbers or manpower to take out all the Sith as a Jedi army. Even though many of these Jedi have shown themselves to be more powerful than the average dark force user, even though they could probably inflict some horrific damage to the enemy, to do so would be their end.

In some cases, the players don't need to know why the NPCs aren't taking care of things, all they'll know of it, is that they're not taking care of things. If the players wish to spend time pursuing why the NPC's aren't taking care of it, then that in and of itself can become an adventure.

For example, I ran a Champions campaign using the Palladium setting of Nightbane. Many of the super heroes quickly started working with the invaders. The players initially couldn't figure out why until they began to follow the American. In the campaign, the America was essentially a Superman clone. What they discovered was that the Night Lords kept the American's family under constant surviellance and that any disloyalty by the heroes would result in family member's torture and then death. This was something the players accidentally caused to happen in their own explorations.

It didn't matter to most of the players, because that group was a Wolverine love child where there were no parents or children or relatives or DNPC (Dependent Non-Player Characters) to be found on the character sheets.

That campaign took a few interesting twists and turns but it showed that sometimes even the powerful factors have their hands tied by things that have nothing to do with their own innate abilities.

Even as you give the players a safehouse to rest and recover, to debate and analyze, remember that they're not filled of the motivations and methodology of the Non-Player characters and that motivations for anyone outside of their own group may be far different than they know.

Actions Lead To Consequences Which Lead to Actions...

Legacy Volume 4 brings two things to mind for me.

The first is that action begets action. There is a bit of rebellion and it leads to the Sith lord declaring genocide. This of course is an action and reaction bit, but it has further consequences down the road.

Next up, is that to be as stupid as the Sith are, you have to be really powerful. Much like Vader from the original trilogy of movies, the Sith here have no problem in killing high ranking military officers.

This would be a tremendous lack of motivation but yet, they keep coming.

In such cases, if the players ask why, the Game Master should have some reasons.

1. Overwhelming arrogance. How many bad guys think that they aren't the guano? How many top teir villains are going, "Man, I'm so happy at rank three, I hope this goes on forever." Most of the time it's an arrangement of failures by multiple tiers that cause the top bad guy to fail in the first place, but hey, I won't have that problem right?

2. They had it coming. Similiar to the arrogance factor, these individuals may not think of themselves as being better as being top bad ass, but may think of themselves as being better in that they and they alone are surely indespensible and nothing would ever happen to change that.

3. No other option. When you're the number two man and the number one gets axed for failing to live up to his job, what do you think they'll say if you go, "No, I'm good here." These types of organizations tend to be move up or move out.

There are other bits here and there. The former Emperor, a military man with a touch of force training and a carde of elite knights, also with their own force training, is still in rebellion against the Sith Emperor. This leads them to an alliance with the old Alliance... It's just about as classic as curse you for your inevitable betrayal but as I've mentioned in other posts, it's a classic for a reason. The immediate needs of the many take priority over the urge to kick the snot out of that foe whose done you a personal wrong.

Of course not all players may see things that way so be aware that when trying to set up such an alliance that things may not work out as you envision them. In a purely mercenary game or one with highly driven plots determined by the players, all of whom might not be on the side of angels, one of them taking the time for some personal sweet revenge isn't that far out of the line. There's more than one classic story of the 'hero' winning through his initial plot only to go back for seconds because of someone that did him a personal wrong in order to finish it. Sometimes the hero doesn't make it out of those situations...

Star Wars Legacy continues to build on the previous issues by expanding the scope and range of the universe with new characters and different viewpoints. Keep the plots of the game wide and far reaching and allow the players to pick their own paths.

Easter Eggs and Other Surprises

In volume 3, we get the name of the Sith master, A'sharad Hett. For those who've been following various other Star Wars books, set in different time lines, this is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. Indeed, by using sith techniques to prolong life and spending time in statis, Darth Krayt has managed to live through the Clone Wars, the movie's time line, and this time line, set over a hundred years after the movies.

This allows the authors to use the expanded universe to its fullest and bring in individuals that the reader may care about. It also allows the authors to use various other trappings and add little so called Easter Eggs all through the series allowing the reader to enjoy the ones they like and skip over those they don't know.

In a role playing game, this has to be done off of previous experiences in the actual game itself. If none of the players are familiar with any of the old Non-Player Characters or haven't played with your gaming group before, bringing out some of the most interesting and well loved characters of the past campaigns as villains will have no shock value and no real emotional impact.

In the 'greater' realm of the shared experience on the other hand, the greater experience of the Dungeons and Dragons game, Wizards of the Coast does this all the time ranging from book titles, to updating magic items, to updating concepts that fall into and out of favor. For example, demons. During second edition, demons and devils were given the boot, the demon lords removed from the game until they were brought back later on, still during second edition, and even allowed players to have a huge potential role in the bringing back of one of the most famous of the big bads, the demon prince of the undead, Orcus himself.

By using the wider mythology of the Dungeons and Dragons game itself, Wizards of the Coast and back in the day, TSR were able to try and bring bridges to gap not only the edition differences, but also the differences in years from when various people may have started playing the game. This allows people who haven't played with one group to still have some background elements in common thanks to the shared background of the game, to share those elements in the game that nether has played before.

When planning out encounters, and using characters that may make multiple apperances, let synergy by your guide. Nihl was one of the Sith that killed Cade's father and cost Cade's mentor his arm. Here, Cade cuts off Nihl's arm. Tit for tat but also synergy in how wounds dealt may come back. Showcase how past actions may be reflected in the game as it continues to unwind.

This doesn't always have to be true though. For example, many characters have a masked identity. This ranges from the modern era of Super Heroes and Pulp Heroes to older heroes like Zorro. What if the players have an ally whose actually an enemy or an enemy that's actually an ally? Masks, methods of preventing detection, and other methods, can go a long way in concealing someone's identity. Give the players a start next time they hire on a torch bearer who is actually the mayor of the town.

For combat, don't forget the social aspects of it. When Cade fights against the Sith master, the Sith taunts Cade numerous ways. When Cade returns the favor, it drives the Sith into a near berserk rage that makes him forgo any style or panache and costs him the fight and drives the Sith lord onto a horrible plot for revenge latter. If the players are able to get under the skin of their enemies, give them some type of bonus. Perhaps the bad guy doesn't use his best attack. Perhaps he only targets one of the players instead of all of them. Perhaps he targets the rogue with the glib tongue even though the fighter gets a free attack by doing so. Don't let the game mechanics dictate everything. Let combat unflow through the use of social and martial methods.

In terms of character opportunities and role playing potential, Cade Skywalker works with the Sith while trying to determine what he is going to do. Doing so is potentially dangerous for anyone as the whole Force and Dark Side bit tends to be addicting. As the Darth master himself notes, "What we pretend to be we often become."

In terms of character planning, the author shows the readers a recuse attempt being crafted and how the characters go through equipment and use their skills to insure that no stone goes unturned. It works well. This is not to say that there should never be an issue, some surprise, some last minute problem that crops up, but if the players are smart and spend the time and resources and back those plans up with the abilities, allow that planning to go through.

The Lesser of Two Evils Is Still Evil

Volume Two, Shards brings the reader an Empire torn apart. See, the old Emperor was betrayed by the Sith and civil war tears apart the lands.

So there are numerous factions that the people in the middle may have to deal with, and not all of them are completely dedicated to the cause, some of them not dedicated to the cause at all, and some of them loyal not to an idea or to personal power, but to their allies and personal friends.

In looking at Shards, if the Game Master is not running a dungeon or site based campaign, that campaign needs to have numerous enemies and threats within it to motivate the players. The actions of the players against those various factions can lead to different elements coming into play.

For example, the Skywalker viewpoint here, Cade, is responsible for a jedi being caught and he sees a vision of that jedi being tortured. So now Cade has an oracle inspired mission. Well, not an oracle, but it's something that the Game Master can use, in this case, the Force, to 'nudge' the player along.

In typical fantasy games, the Game Master always has the use of dreams, omens, prophecy, priests, ancient texts, and other things that may tie to a character and that character's recent actions that can be used to spur the party onto the next big thing.

For example, say the party meets and defeats a group of bandits on the road. Unknown to the party, that group of bandits was part of a fallen group of knights being lead by the younger brother of a knight in retirement who now wants vengance against those who've done his family wrong.

Or the party meets a group of bandits on the road and avoids them to betraying their own travelling allies and handing them over to the bandits only to be troubled by visions and dreams that those comrades they've betrayed may have been more important to the party than they initially realized.

When leaving the dungeon, personal motivation, the acts of the characters, the ripples those characters have on the setting, ranging from their backgrounds, weapon choice, career choice, and current methodology, all become tools necessary to keep the campaign flowing.

Tortured Heroes with Berserk and the Goon!

Most of the material I've mentioned has been taken from books. These are, for the most part, books I've read this year and am in the process of reading. Part of my Appendix N kick is to read material I don't normally read, read material that is older and may be at the genesis of modern fantasy fiction, and to read books I've had piled on my shelves for years that is simply taking up space.

However, there are a wide variety of resources to draw material from.

At the blog site, B/X Blackrazor, he's mentioning 'tortured heroes'. His definition is a little tight for some, but for the characters I'm going to talk about, it probably fits.

First, let's look at Guts.

He could probably fit most people's definitions. From the cover alone, you may not be able to tell, but his left arm is mostly mechanical. An unfeeling piece of metal. His body is riddle with scars. His right eye is gone. In addition, he has a brand on his neck that reacts to the presence of the supernatural.

In and of itself, these elements make for strong descriptor elements. They make him a memorable character based on description. In Hero, he'd have distinctive features as a disadvantage.

However, his scars and wounds are not the only distinctive things about him. His sword is huge. One of the dreaded blades like those found in Final Fantasy VII used by Cloud and his ranged weapon is a reapeating cross bow mounted on his mechanical arm. These are also distinctive weapons. They are useful in terms of making a character stand out.

In the first volume, and beware, the spoilers are going to start hot and heavy here. If you're interested in the idea of Berserk, check out Dark Horse Comics here for a preview and more descriptions.

The series starts off with Guts in the act of lovemaking on the side of the road. Sounds a little weird right? But then it gets stranger as the woman turns into a massive demon only to fall prey to Guts who apparently knew what she was all along.

So for Game Masters out there, remember, things aren't always what they seem. Most often shapechangers fall into the demon, magic user, or creature with innate ability to transform into something else. In this case, the apostales as their called, have a normal guise and a demonic guise where their full strength in in power.

Guts encounters some hard times and eventually gets to the goal of fighting what he's there to do so. But in the process, many of the townfolk are killed. Guts notes that you can't worry about the ants beneath your feet or you'll never be able to walk.

I've mentioned before that sometimes characters are so powerful that their mere presence can cause issues. A standard encounter for a character of Guts level is indeed enough to decimate the town.

Guts has some similiar elements though to another character that also comes out of the Dark Horse stable. This time however, instead of manga, we get comics collected into Graphic Novels featuring the man known as the Goon! For those interested in learning more about this character, check out Dark Horse here!

Perhaps not obvious from the cover, the Goon also suffers physical injuries. What's more, he's a man with a 'hard' personality whose concerns are generally only for his corner of the world and his friends. Or are they? Perhaps the tortured hero with a conscious would be a better descriptor for the Goon.

The Goon lives in a world where zombies, pulp super science and other elements walk hand in hand with pulp noir action and is broad enough to have a crossover not only with Hellboy, but with the old boys from Metallocalypse.

In looking at tortured characters, figure out what makes them tortured. If it's just a single element that they could easily solve, why are they still tortured after that? If it's just a case of angst, move on!