the pulp (Issue 10, November 2014)

Issue 10, November 2014

Issue 10, November 2014

magazine

The People of the Hour!

Editor Talk Christmas is just around the corner, so we’ve done the predictable thing and included a little gift guide in this issue. If you enjoy pop and nerd culture, you’re guaranteed to find something in the guide that piques your interest. I mean…what’s not to love about a floppy disk pillow? Am I right?

Check it out on page 10.

Cheryl Cottrell-Smith, Editor-in-Chief Writer/editor. Fan of comics, video games, and cosplay. Hopes that one day they’ll bring back Playdium. @CottrellSmithC

We’ve also got a great interview with Herschel Hoffmeyer, creator of the Kickstarter-funded Apex Theropod deck building card game. Russ explores Hoffmeyer’s reasoning behind the campaign for this game on page 15.

Russ Dobler, Game/Science Columnist Known as "Dog" to friends and weirdos; wannabe scientist; beer lover. Blogs at thoughtfulconduit.com/whatdoesthismean.

Erin examines 2013’s How I Live Now, a film and novel adaptation that presents an alternative storyworld to the current trend in popular heroine-heavy YA fiction. Her thoughts on this film can be found on page 8.

And head to page 4 for Allan’s monthly column, One Too Many, which covers 1986’s King Kong Lives and the career choices of Dino De Laurentiis.

Enjoy the issue this month and stay tuned for next month’s The Meaty Bits—a collection of our favourite pulp articles from this past year.

Cheryl Editor-in-Chief thepulppress.com

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Cover image: Prints by Cherry Sauce Clothing; photo by Cheryl CottrellSmith. Back cover image: Xenomorph Canvas Print by Kaytlyne Dewald; photo by Cheryl Cottrell-Smith.

Allan Mott, Lit + Film Columnist Film enthusiast and blogger at vanityfear.com.

Can be found giving opinions on films and other cultural paraphernalia @HouseofGlib.

Erin Fraser, Lit + FIlm Columnist Film curator and cinephile, comic aficionado, and pop culture commentator. Found at erinefraser.com or @erinefraser.

Issue 10, November 2014

CONTENTS lit + film

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One Too Many: King Kong Lives (1986) – Allan Mott

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Alternative Takes: The YA Heroine and Kevin MacDonald’s How I Live Now – Erin Fraser

nerd culture 10

2014 Geek Gift Guide – Cheryl Cottrell-Smith

gamertown 15

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Metaphor Come to Life: evolution on display in Apex Theropod – Russ Dobler

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Issue 10, November 2014

One Too Many:

King Kong Lives (1986) Graffiti Bridge (1990) 4

Written by Allan Mott | Images courtesy of De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Issue 10, November 2014

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Dino De Laurentiis belongs to that small group of film producers who became as infamous as the work they left behind—the hucksters and con artists of cinema who carried on the tradition started by P.T. Barnum in which the showman was as important as the show itself.

But he didn’t start out that way. He produced his first film, L’amore canta,in his native Italy in 1941 and established himself as a powerful behindthe-scenes force in European cinema over the next three decades, financing Frederico Fellini arthouse films and big Hollywood co-productions like King Vidor’s War & Peace and Roger Vadim’s Barbarella, Queen of the Galaxy.

He was hugely successful but, apart from the nerds who paid attention to film credits and movie posters, he wasn’t even close to being a celebrity.

That all changed when he made the decision to remake one of Hollywood’s most beloved classics.

There’s a reason why no one calls the film that resulted “John Guillerman’s King Kong” and that’s because the hype that preceded this 1976 blockbuster was so perfectly orchestrated to showcase the brazen chutzpah of its producer, that to attribute its existence to anyone else would seem wrong.

In fact, 38 years later, this hype is often better remembered than the film itself, which is usually mistakenly dismissed as a flop and an embarrassment. This is because the promises De Laurentiis made about his remake were so outrageously confident of its greatness that no film could ever live up to them—much less one that had to settle for Rick Baker in an ape suit, instead of the life-sized animatronic marvel of engineering that cost millions and millions to create and never actually worked.

The thing is, though, those of us who can look

engineering that cost millions and millions to create and never actually worked.

The thing is, though, those of us who can look past this one huge flaw all tend to notice the same thing—De Laurentiis’ (sorry, John) King Kong is a truly fun and even sometimes great movie. Some of us assholes (I’m looking at myself in a mirror right now) would even go so far as to insist that it is the best film in the Kong franchise—(slightly) less dated and thematically richer than the original; less padded with useless character development and self-indulgent childhood wish fulfillment than Peter Jackson’s only-occasionally transcendent 2005 attempt; and even goofier and more entertaining than the 60s bootleg Japanese versions featuring Godzilla and a mechanized version of King Kong that couldn’t be blamed on Carlos Rambaldi.

Also, it gave us Jessica Lange—the human equivalent of sunshine!

Despite its reputation to the contrary, De Laurentiis’ King Kong was a hit, which was more than could be said for many of the films he followed it up with, including 1979s Hurricane, a forgotten flop whose lost millions were a loss leader for the millions more he made building the on-location tropical resort used to house the film’s cast and crew.

Into the 80s, he found success with the Conan franchise (turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into a movie star in the process) and a whole lot of failure with Dune, which he foolishly attempted to market as a new Star Wars, instead of an ambitiously weird David Lynchian take on an ambitiously weird stoner sci-fi literary franchise (as an amends to Lynch, De Laurentiis’ production company financed and distributed his much more influential follow-up, Blue Velvet).

franchise (as an amends to Lynch, De Laurentiis’ production company financed and distributed his much more influential follow-up, Blue Velvet).

And somewhere during all of this, 10 years after it all started, it was decided that they would return to the great big ape once again. The temptation is to assume that this was a desperate attempt to return to a project that had worked so well before after a series of embarrassing disasters, but the fact is that De Laurentiis’ biggest money-loser of that period—the James Clavell adaptation Tai-Pan—was released the same year and made concurrently with King Kong

Lives.

Instead, one gets the sense that beyond the money he expected to make, De Laurentiis wanted to return to the movie that made his international reputation, albeit in a much smaller and less exorbitantly expensive scale. There was—of course—a major hurdle that had to be cleared first. How do you make a sequel to a film that ends with the very final death of the only character anyone in the audience gives a shit about?

When the producers of the original King Kong faced this same problem, they retroactively made their star a daddy and had The Son of Kong found on Skull Island by the same dudes who stumbled upon his father. But screenwriters Steven Pressfield and Ronald Shusett had an advantage the original filmmakers didn’t— significant advances in the development of lifesustaining surgery.

In their screenplay, Kong’s seemingly fatal fall from the World Trade Center wasn’t enough to stop university researchers from successfully restarting his heart and keeping him alive via medical machinery for the decade it takes to build the artificial heart required to save his life and get

Issue 10, November 2014

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restarting his heart and keeping him alive via medical machinery for the decade it takes to build the artificial heart required to save his life and get him ambulatory again. Unfortunately, the surgery is declared impossible by head doctor Amy Franklin (a post-Terminator/pre-Beauty and the Beast Linda Hamilton), who determines it cannot proceed without a large supply of plasma that does not exist, since Kong is the only creature of his kind in the whole wide world.

Fortunately for the university that invested millions in the creation of the artificial heart, a jungle explorer in Borneo named Hank Mitchell (handsome journeyman Brian Kerwin) literally sits down on the world’s only other giant ape—a gigantic female ape who should probably be called Queen Kong, but is instead called Lady Kong because she and King are not married yet.

For an exploitative jungle mercenary, Hank ends up having a heart of gold—especially when he realizes that Lady Kong has a bit of a crush on him. As much as he appreciates the cash he gets from the university, he’s still genuinely concerned about how Lady is treated—as much as Amy is concerned about the health of King and the possibility that having a hot female Kong around might lead to unpredictable shenanigans.

Speaking of, pretty much as soon as King gets his new heart, he uses it to get a boner from the smell of Lady in the distance. He easily escapes and frees Lady so they can cavort together in the wilderness in a scene that doesn’t at all seem like two dudes in ape suits pretending to be carefree lovers on an impromptu picnic.

As disappointing as Rick Baker’s ape suit was after all of De Laurentiis’ hype regarding the technical advances of the first movie, it still featured an important element missing from King

after all of De Laurentiis’ hype regarding the technical advances of the first movie, it still featured an important element missing from King Kong Lives—Rick Baker inside of it. There were many moments in King Kong where the combination of suit, effects and performer broke through the uncanny valley and created a character that felt real and true-to-life, but this never happens in the original, where the two ape characters barely rise above the level found in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

In fact, the biggest disappointment found in King Kong Lives is that it never manages to find a real moment of cinematic beauty amongst all its abundant fakery. Director Guillerman (returning for the sequel) had previously been able to inject some moving and visually impressive set-pieces in The Towering Inferno (Robert Wagner’s burning man ballet) and Kong (the scene where Kong bathes Jessica Lange and gently blows her dry— a moment so surprisingly poetic that Pauline Kael singled it out in her positive review of the film), but nothing here rises to that level. Those other two films were B-movies that occasionally transcended their origins to feel like something greater than they were, while this one is a Bmovie that often feels like it was made for syndicated TV. A major part of the problem is that the film never finds the right balance between the inherent pathos of a Kong movie and the need to showcase acts of rampant destruction. King Kong Lives ups the ante with a quartet of gun-crazed rednecks who go after Kong and behave so stereotypically badly that we’re meant to cheer when he tears one in half and laugh when he eats another and has to dig the man’s hat out of his teeth. The problem is that we can feel the

when he tears one in half and laugh when he eats another and has to dig the man’s hat out of his teeth. The problem is that we can feel the manipulation required to make us excuse these murders. The movie wants us to enjoy this violence, while also acknowledging that Kong isn’t a monster, but an innocent creature transported into a civilization not capable of dealing with his existence. And it doesn’t work.

But if I had to guess why King Kong Lives failed at the box office and faded from public memory (apart from how—when it was made— Dino appeared to be the only person alive who remembered that the first film had been a success), I’d have to blame it on the biggest hit of that same year—Top Gun. The 1976 King Kong—as written by Lorenzo Semple Jr.—was very much a product of its time (it even features a Deep Throat reference), especially in the way it depicted authority figures as essentially corrupt and untrustworthy. The film’s villain was oil executive Charles Grodin, who saw the big ape as the ultimate way to promote his company’s product and superiority. This same sense of anti-authoritarianism found its way into the sequel, but times had changed and in the Reagan-era audiences wanted to cheer for the military that kept them safe from the commies (a la Maverick and Ice Man) and not see them portrayed as sadistic, battle-happy Ahabs like John Ashton’s Lt. Col. Nevitt.

It was no longer fashionable in 1986 to portray soldiers as bloodthirsty buffoons, which probably meant any King Kong movie would have been doomed to fail at the time—since we can’t cheer for the dudes whose job it is to kill the big ape we love.

King Kong Lives ends with Kong smashing

Issue 10, November 2014

cheer for the dudes whose job it is to kill the big ape we love.

King Kong Lives ends with Kong smashing Nevitt into the ground (a moment the marketing team used as the capper of their trailer and TV ads) before his artificial heart gives out just in time for him to share one brief moment with his newborn son (it is to the filmmakers’ credit that they spare us the scene of the child’s conception).

Lady Kong and Kong Jr. are safely transported to a safe-haven in Borneo in what is meant to be a happy ending, but feels more like a threat for a third film that never came.

As this is being written, Legendary Pictures is working on Skull Island, a kind-of sequel to Peter Jackson’s take on this material. Like De Laurentiis, they seem to be moving forward on the fact that the first film did well at the box office, even though Jackson’s King Kong is a film few people seem to love or talk about nine years after it was released (and like De Laurentiis’ film, is largely regarded as being a bomb because it failed to be the biggest success of all time). Will history repeat itself? Who knows? Skull Island may end up being awesome. One thing I do know is that it’s going to have to try really hard to be as underwhelming as King Kong Lives.

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Issue 10, November 2014

Written by Erin Fraser | Images courtesy of BFI Film Fund, Cowboy Films and Film4

Alternative Takes: The YA Heroine and Kevin MacDonald’s How I Live Now Alternative Takes looks at a prevalent trend in popular culture and recommends an alternative, lesser-known work.

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Young Adult fiction has become one of the biggest trends in not just the publishing world, but now in Hollywood. With The Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games, Divergent, and The Fault in Our Stars all making big splashes at the box office and inspiring devoted fandoms, it’s never been a better time to find young and empowering women on screen. This month marks the release of the third Hunger Games film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (can we all pause to appreciate how ridiculously arcane the titles of these movies have become?), arguably the biggest crossover franchise of the recent trend. Set in a dystopian future, the series follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class, Winter’s Bone) a young woman chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, where teenagers are forced to kill off one another in a Battle Royale-esque competition that is broadcast live across the country. But presumably, as you’re reading this article, you already know all of this, and you probably already know if you’re going to see Mockingjay or not. So instead, I’d like to examine a different film, one you may not have heard of: 2013’s How I Live Now. Set in the near future, How I Live Now follows Daisy, an American teenager sent to live with her cousins in the English countryside. Soon after Daisy’s arrival, the third World War breaks out and Daisy has to find a way to survive in this new and dangerous environment. Played by critically acclaimed Irish actress Saoirse Roan (Hanna, The Host), Daisy is at first an insufferable teenager. She comes into the film with a chip on her shoulder, as well as some deep underlying psychological issues.

She puts up a tough front, but ultimately she feels cast off and abandoned by her father and is also suffering from an obsessivecompulsive disorder.

Her cousins, Isaac (Tom Holland, The Impossible), Piper (Harley Bird, Doctor Who: “In the Forest Of The Night”), and Edmond (George MacKay, Pride) are often times left to their own devices and live an idyllic laissez-faire existence in the

(Harley Bird, Doctor Who: “In the Forest Of The Night”), and Edmond (George MacKay, Pride) are often times left to their own devices and live an idyllic laissez-faire existence in the countryside. Their days consist of eating junk food, playing games, and swimming at their favourite spot. At first, Daisy tries her hardest to be left alone, but as she develops a connection with Eddie, she slowly lowers her defenses. Their guardian, Aunt Penn (Anna Chancellor, The Hour) is away when the war breaks out, so the children live in a state of blissful denial, continuing their daily lives isolated and carefree. Daisy finds happiness with her cousins, and love with Eddie. For perhaps the first time she feels that her life has meaning.

But this paradise can’t last; sooner or later the turmoil of the outside world encroaches and breaks up their seclusion. At first slowly, then all at once. Daisy and Piper are separated from Eddie and Isaac and forced to go work at a farm far away from their home. When the military comes to take them away, Eddie makes Daisy promise to meet him back at the house no matter what happens; this mission becomes the hope that drives her throughout the rest of her adventure.

A series of harrowing ordeals follow, forcing Daisy into survival mode with not only her life on the line, but also Piper’s, who she finds herself having to protect. The film doesn’t flinch away from presenting war-torn Britain as a brutal and ruthless place. Without the hope of reuniting with Edmund and the responsibility she feels towards Piper, she would surely succumb to the cruelty of her situation and break down.

Adapted from the award-winning novel by Meg Rosoff, How I Live Now is a deeply-felt film. British director Kevin MacDonald (Touching The Void, The Last King of Scotland) allows Daisy’s journey, both physically and emotionally, to lead the film. MacDonald externalizes Daisy’s internal struggles: he always places her in the frame in such a way that echoes her changing relationship with the other

Issue 10, November 2014 emotionally, to lead the film. MacDonald externalizes Daisy’s internal struggles: he always places her in the frame in such a way that echoes her changing relationship with the other characters and her surroundings. He uses voiceovers to make you feel the anxiety and disorder that consumes her. As she begins to open up to the world around her, the film opens up, taking in the warm and vivid countryside and slowing down to pause on simple moments. Similarly, when she finds herself drawn into the war effort, the images become drab again as desperation takes over. During her and Piper’s long journey through the wilderness to get back home, MacDonald brings the camera back and shows how small she is compared to the vast and dangerous landscape that is consuming her.

The film is largely unconcerned with world-building: we know nothing of the reasons for the conflict and everything we see is filtered through Daisy’s experiences. The story doesn’t have aims to make larger allegorical statements about youth in society, as other speculative YA fiction does, but is concerned with the human condition, how love can change us, and the struggle to survive. It is about one young woman’s transition from selfishness to selflessness. Daisy doesn’t start out as a strong character; she isn’t innately special in any way but deeply flawed and fragile. It’s her journey that changes her and forces her to develop a sense of strength and perseverance.

The film brings up larger questions for me about what we mean when we ask for more “strong female characters.” In many ways, Daisy is a weak character, she doesn’t effect great change in the world around her or stand up to her oppressors. But she is emotionally and psychologically rich and she undergoes a real transformation—she becomes something more, something greater. Personally, it is this self-actualization arc that I want to see in my heroines. Not how functional or stylish their uniform is, not how they inspire others, and not how special they are. I want to see young women becoming themselves from the inside out, taking control and finding meaning in their lives.

Whether or not you’re planning on checking out the latest film in The Hunger Games series, I strongly encourage you to seek out How I Live Now, which is currently streaming on Netflix Canada. It’s a rare breed of genre film that focuses on character and features one of the most compelling heroines that YA has to offer.

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desperation takes over. During her and Piper’s long journey through the wilderness to get back home, MacDonald brings the camera back and shows how small she is compared to the vast and dangerous landscape that is consuming her.

The film is largely unconcerned with world-building: we know nothing of the reasons for the conflict and everything we see is filtered through Daisy’s experiences. The story doesn’t have aims to make larger allegorical statements about youth in society, as other speculative YA fiction does, but is concerned with the human condition, how love can change us, and the struggle to survive. It is about one young woman’s transition from selfishness to selflessness. Daisy doesn’t start out as a strong character; she isn’t innately special in any way but deeply flawed and fragile. It’s her journey that changes her and forces her to develop a sense of strength and perseverance.

The film brings up larger questions for me about what we mean when we ask for more “strong female characters.” In many ways, Daisy is a weak character, she doesn’t effect great change in the world around her or stand up to her oppressors. But she is emotionally and psychologically rich and she undergoes a real transformation—she becomes something more, something greater. Personally, it is this self-actualization arc that I want to see in my heroines. Not how functional or stylish their uniform is, not how they inspire others, and not how special they are. I want to see young women becoming themselves from the inside out, taking control and finding meaning in their lives.

Whether or not you’re planning on checking out the latest film in The Hunger Games series, I strongly encourage you to seek out How I Live Now, which is currently streaming on Netflix Canada. It’s a rare breed of genre film that focuses on character and features one of the most compelling heroines that YA has to offer.

Issue 10, November 2014

Written by Cheryl Cottrell-Smith | Images courtesy of mymimi, Happy Harbor Comics, allthingsharry, Cherry Sauce Clothing, Black Milk Clothing, Kaytlyne, EB Games, Walking Illustrations, CouldBeeYours, and BioWare

2014 Geek Gift Guide of Johnny Canuck

More socks? Gag me with them. An endless supply of cheap shower gel and bath salts? Let me bang my head against the wall for a while. A box of Toffifee? I'm just going to set this down next to the four other unopened boxes you’ve given me over the years.

Sure, it’s the thought that counts, but don’t you wish these gift givers had put just a little more thought into it? The people you love should know what you’re interested in, right?

Geek Gift Guides rule the internet during the holiday season because, let’s face it: everyone’s a geek. Whether you’re a Game of Thronesian, Comic Fanatic, Pokémon Enthusiast, or Traditional Techie, there are a million online stores filled with trinkets to suit your tastes.

Here are some of our favourites, geared towards the Edmontonian with impeccable taste. Use this Gift Guide either to please the lovable geek in your life or to give a blatant hint to those people who are just terrible at buying presents. We’ve even included the links for each item that will take you to the online store (except for DAI, obviously--you can find your own local video game store for that one).

BUY NOW: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/238277874

The One Ring (Etsy - allthingsharry) There’s no reason for you not to want this. I have one. I rarely take it off. Even though this ring was forged in the low hills of the Netherlands, the shipping is faster than the eagle flies. I dare you to buy this and not say “my precious” at least once.

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Custom Comic Book Flats (Etsy - Walking Illustrations) Love comic books so much that you can’t stand to be away from them? Why not wear them on your feet? Walking Illustrations takes your pop culture fandom and puts it out there for everyone to see (and judge, based on your choice of comic).

The best part is that you don’t have to surrender your favourite comics to get the shoes made—just let the seller know which one you’d like and she’ll buy it for this purpose.

BUY NOW: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/ 208484289/custom-comic-bookflats?ref=shop_home_active_1

Issue 10, November 2014

Mad Catz® Arcade FightStick for Xbox One (EB Games) How do the good folks at Microsoft expect you to play Tekken and Mortal Kombat without a fightstick? Take this guy home and you’ll feel like you’re 16 again and hogging the Street Fighter line at Playdium. Oh, the days.

BUY NOW: https://www.ebgames.ca/Xbox%20One/Games/715225/mad-catzarcade-fightstick-tournament-edition-2-for-xbox-one

Floppy Disk Pillow (Etsy - mymimi) If you’re old enough to remember floppy disks, you’ll remember the delightful sound they made when being read by your primitive computer. You’ll also remember how ridiculously easy it was to rip games for your old Commodore PC. Ah, the floppy disk. Commemorate its fall into historical obscurity with this happy floppy pillow.

Game of Thrones Eddard Stark Latex Sword (Happy Harbor Comics) A geek’s house should already be adorned with numerous swords from numerous beloved forms of media. If not, here’s a solid one to start the collection.

Sure, it’s made from latex, but think of how many ‘Winter is coming’ memes you can make holding this bad boy.

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BUY NOW: http://happyharborcomics.com/

BUY NOW: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/74340726/decorative-pillow-floppy-disk-nerdygeek?ref=sr_gallery_21&ga_search_query=geek&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

Chain Chomps Earrings (Etsy - CouldBeeYours) Everyone loves Mario, but those who take it one step further with Mario paraphernalia are A-OK in my books. These Chain Chomps earrings are a great way to show unique style alongside a love for all things Nintendo. We know…you’re chomping at the bit to order these right now.

BUY NOW: https://www.etsy .com/ca/listing/9 3734204/originalchain-chompssupermario?ref=sr_ga llery_4&ga_sear ch_query=ninte ndo&ga_search_ type=all&ga_vie w_type=gallery

BUY NOW: http://www.kaytlyne. com/product/thorcanvas-print/

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Thor Canvas Print (Kaytlyne) As you get older, unmounted posters and prints become more and more out of place in your sparsely decorated apartment. Gallerywrapped prints soon catch your eye, but they’re often covered in cheesy paintings of Paris or sickening inspirational quotes. You need something on the next level: enter Kaytlyne.

This local artist paints stunning portraits of pop culture icons over comic book and novel pages.

The result is a unique conversation piece that looks great on any wall.

Sirius Black Dress (Black Milk Clothing)Issue 10, November 2014 Black Milk Clothing has some amazing pop culture-inspired dresses at the click of a mouse and this one is no exception.

There’s nothing better than looking smoking hot while Sirius Black’s crazy face is plastered all over your body.

BUY NOW: http://us.blackmilkclothing.com/collections/ dresses/products/sirius-black-dress

BUY NOW: http://www.cherrysauceclot hing.com/collections/1408homepage/products/6990569 -arm-cannon

Issue 10, November 2014

Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare) You own this game, right? No? Then we’re no longer friends. But seriously—if you or someone you love is a fan of open-world role-playing games, then this one HAS to be on the list. A brand new release for this year’s Christmas season, become immersed in BioWare’s complex narrative storyworld with the latest game in the Dragon Age series. Just be sure your Xbox can handle it, 360-ers (9GB needed).

Megaman Arm Cannon T-Shirt (Cherry Sauce Clothing) Cherry Sauce/Filthy Casual clothing is quickly becoming a staple at Canadian comic conventions, so show your support for these local boys with a brilliant new shirt. Their clothing is unique, edgy, showcases your geekdom, and MAY have been touched by Jessica Nigri (but 13probably not).

Daenerys Lunchbox (Happy Harbor Comics) Unless you shoot down your prey and eat it as it lies, you probably use some form of lunch box or bag on a regular basis. Why not make it something that’s easy on the eyes? Just try to keep it free of horse's hearts--on behalf of those with delicate constitutions, of course. Alternatively, this lunchbox would make a great display piece for your home, reigning over a shelf in your living room.

BUY NOW: http://happyhar borcomics.com/

Issue 10, November 2014

issuu.com/thepulp

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Issue 10, November 2014

Written by Russ Dobler | Images courtesy of Herschel Hoffmeyer

I recently wrote about how a tabletop card game can be a lot like evolution through selection. First-time game designer Herschel Hoffmeyer has taken the next logical step and created a hotly-anticipated deck builder that puts you in the role of a ferocious dinosaur that literally evolves and gets stronger as the game goes on.

Apex Theropod lets you control one of seven carnivorous beasts as you try to eat, grow, and dominate the landscape. The solo or multiplayer game was more than 1000% funded on Kickstarter earlier this year and features 600 cards with over 100 different computerrendered images.

I caught up with Hoffmeyer to get the lowdown on Apex and to see what’s next for the man who says he’s “obsessed with creating and designing.”

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Metaphor Come to Life: evolution on display in Apex Theropod

Issue 10, November 2014 Dobler: What kind of a game is Apex? How would you define it?

Hoffmeyer: Straightforward—it’s a deckbuilding game, but the whole time you’re trying to adapt…the game’s pretty much trying to kill you throughout the entire game. And it’s trying to limit you from growing your dinosaur, so all you’re doing is countering that and trying to react to the game trying to kill you, at the same time [you’re] trying to build up your species.

If you’re playing with other friends, they’re trying to do the same but, at the same time, now you’re working against the game itself and the other player. I tried to create the actual world like it is. It’s not like you’re strictly after any specific dinosaur—all you’re doing is trying to become the apex predator.

Dobler: Why dinosaurs in particular? What made you think that would be suited for this kind of game?

Hoffmeyer: Well, I knew I had the capability to go my own way, do my own thing with games, but I wanted to start with something that would really grab people’s attention, something that hasn’t really existed. I always wanted a dinosaur game as a kid, and there really wasn’t any that I wanted, or thought there could be. As much effort as people put into all types of games, I felt like the dinosaur genre hasn’t been taken that far. It’s always been too playful, not really complex. I just felt like [Apex Theropod] would grab a lot of people’s attention. I mean, there’s just not a dinosaur game out there like it.

Dobler: It’s obvious you really did your research for this. There’s a lot of different species, a lot of different animals, right?

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Hoffmeyer: I studied a lot of dinosaurs as a kid, but that was 15 years ago or so. A lot has changed since then, so I had to do a lot of research, but I also listened to a lot of my [Kickstarter] backers and people that were interested in the game that knew even more

Hoffmeyer: Well, I knew I had the capability to go my own way, do my own thing with games, but I wanted to start with something that would really grab people’s attention, something that hasn’t really existed. I always wanted a dinosaur game as a kid, and there really wasn’t any that I wanted, or thought there could be. As much effort as people put into all types of games, I felt like the dinosaur genre hasn’t been taken that far. It’s always been too playful, not really complex. I just felt like [Apex Theropod] would grab a lot of people’s attention. I mean, there’s just not a dinosaur game out there like it.

Dobler: It’s obvious you really did your research for this. There are a lot of different species, a lot of different animals, right?

Hoffmeyer: I studied a lot of dinosaurs as a kid, but that was 15 years ago or so. A lot has changed since then, so I had to do a lot of research, but I also listened to a lot of my [Kickstarter] backers and people that were interested in the game that knew even more about dinosaurs than I did. So I applied changes. They always let me know if something didn’t look right. I just wanted to make sure it’s as up-to-date as possible.

Check out those feathers!

interested in the game that knew even more about dinosaurs than I did. So I applied changes. They always let me know if something didn’t look right. I just wanted to make sure it’s as up-to-date as possible.

Dobler: You said that you always wanted something like this when you were a kid. Do you think this is suitable for children, or is it aimed at more of an older audience?

Hoffmeyer: I aimed it more at an audience for people—say, if I go back to my childhood, I wanted a dinosaur game. But I’m grown up now, so I aimed it more at the grown-ups now, who wanted that game when they were a child. But I would say a young teenager, or maybe a little bit younger could play it, but it’s just really complex. Like I said, I wanted to get out of the playful dinosaur game genre and into a more complex, adult-oriented dinosaur game.

Dobler: Tell me a little bit of the details of the gameplay. What are you trying to do throughout the game?

Hoffmeyer: Well, the first thing you’re trying to do is [that] you start with very basic babies— hatchlings [and] juveniles—and you’re trying to grow your species throughout the entire game. So the first thing you’ll do is try to hatch some eggs, to where you bring those up to actual dinosaurs, but you have to hunt the entire way. Starting out, you’re only going to be able to hunt small prey, but that’s your primary resource…food. So you’ve got to hunt

Issue 10, November 2014 actual dinosaurs, but you have to hunt the entire way. Starting out, you’re only going to be able to hunt small prey, but that’s your primary resource…food. So you’ve got to hunt what you can but, as you grow bigger and stronger, you can hunt bigger and better prey.

But the whole time, other predators are trying to hinder you while you’re going up against other players, as well as bosses that are trying to pretty much eliminate you, so [that] you’re no longer competition to their supply line.

And, at the same time, you have the environment, the harsh environments, trying to kill everybody.

Hoffmeyer: The thing with Apex was [that it was] a childhood dream of a dinosaur game, where Inferno is more of an adult’s dream of a game. It’s like a no-holds-barred, shoot-‘emup, hack and slash [game]. It’s going to feature a little bit of graphic content, but not over the top. It’s basically everything you’d want from a hack and slash, into a board game, which I really haven’t seen done. I’ve seen some stuff approach it like that, but nothing like where it feels like you’re actually there, being able to see all the moves happen, as you play it out. You’re going to be going up against waves and waves of enemies.

Dobler: The Kickstarter was a big success, it seems like. The name of the game is “Apex Theropod.” Do you feel like you might have boxed yourself in a little bit? Do you think there’s a constraint on possible expansions now?

Dobler: What is the setting?

Hoffmeyer: I’m debating on if I want to do an expansion or if I want to completely revamp the game. This game was not supposed to take off as big as it did. I set a $4,000 goal hoping to get funded, but that was the initial plan, that the game was really small. I wanted to start off small, get some experience in, and then pursue a bigger project. This blew up really big, so I had to adapt quickly and make it that big. I don’t know if I’m going to do an expansion or revamp it and rebuild it entirely with miniatures and take what I have from the deck building and make it into something even bigger and more fun. It just depends on how the community reacts to what I’ve built so far.

Dobler: Is there anything else you’re working on?

Hoffmeyer: Yes, “Inferno.” What would you like to know about that?

Dobler: What can you tell us?

17 Hoffmeyer: The thing with Apex was [that it was] a childhood dream of a dinosaur game,

Hoffmeyer: I don’t want to give away too much of the story, but they do find something under the ocean. The Earth has been manufactured and the center [of the Earth] is not what we thought. There’s still magma down there, but

there’s something else that exists down there. We find out the entire history of humanity, the universe, and what we thought of Hell was not really Hell, but [that] there are higher beings that created the universe.

We’re just drones in their path.

Dobler: Now that’s ambitious.

Hoffmeyer: And if it does well, we plan on expanding it to a comic book.

You can pre-order Apex Theropod until December 1, at which point it will only be available in very limited quantities in retail outlets. Another print run is possible if demand is high enough. Pre-orders will also include two bonus non-theropod predators, the ancient crocodile Sarcosuchus, and the giant, flying reptile Quetzalcoatlus.

there’s something else that exists down there.

We find out the entire history of humanity, the universe, and what we thought of Hell was not really Hell, but [that] there are higher beings that created the universe. We’re just drones in their path.

Dobler: Now that’s ambitious.

Hoffmeyer: And if it does well, we plan on expanding it to a comic book.

You can pre-order Apex Theropod until December 1, at which point it will only be available in very limited quantities in retail outlets. Another print run is possible if demand is high enough. Pre-orders will also include two bonus non-theropod predators, the ancient crocodile Sarcosuchus, and the giant, flying reptile Quetzalcoatlus.

Issue 10, November 2014

Thepulppress.com

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