REVIEWS
By Alex Ness
AlexanderNess63@Gmail.Com
February 2, 2023
I was having a bit of confusion writing this, for numerous reasons. I had more health issues that don't need for me to go further into, but each health issue came with new meds, each med had interaction features with others. I had a broken rib and felt like another happened, but it was something inside me that wasn't a bone that was causing a problem. At the moment I can't discuss what it was, not only because I don't know, but because speculation is often a lot darker than the real thing. I had more than known health issues. I was dealing with issues related to mourning my sister who passed in January 2022 after a rapid decline following a cancer diagnosis, and my mom, who passed away in 2012. It'd become such an obstacle to writing, I just couldn't focus. I muddled through, but it was never easy. Combined with this came something new. I'd to drive my son to a business oriented event in Ohio and on the first night arriving we got notified that my brother, 2 years older than me, had passed away. We finished the event and came home but I was a mess. Everything I read, listened to, and watched just made the sorrow inside me worse.
Not many people realize, even those who have experienced grave loss far worse than my own, that grieving and loss act as PTSD, causing inability to focus, inability to perceive, and more. My health issues made my grieving worse, and for the first time in a 20 year period of writing, writing a lot every single day, and writing with purpose, I felt blocked, unable to write. And to be honest, I had a neck that was broken (without having the spinal cord torn, broken or cut) and in June of 2022 I had a series of events where my muscles and bones caused me to be unable to move my neck and the pain was such it was completely debilitating. This happened once again during December, and a number of times in January, and each time required some rather powerful meds to relieve and restore function. My doctor was responsible for me making it through this, with proper meds, due care, and advice. She even went out of her way to find some info for a friend of mine who needed some references. I am grateful to her.
This isn't all about me being depressed, and being in pain. It was that I could barely write due to my mental anguish, my body responded with extreme pain and lack of use of parts of my body, and while I had written far into the future, I found prose writing to be almost impossible during the mourning period. So, I am here, and I am going to present some fun items, but some of the reviews are late, and my ability to fully respond to them might be limited. But I thank Lys Fulda for sending me items for review, and to Mike Baron who sent a comic for consideration.
MONSTER HUNT: LET's GET KRAKEN
Mike Baron & Matthew Weldon
And assistance from Doug TenNapel
Color, 48 pages
Published by Mike Baron
Available from MBaron for 25 postage paid
Find Mike on Twitter & on Facebook
A team up made up of independently owned characters, in a deluxe paper special. This work is first off entertaining, and it combines some masterful writing and illustrating. For me what worked best is how very reminiscent it is to the Badger and Nexus meet ups or team ups from Baron's golden era of work. His ability to write different characters than his own, perfect depictions of his own, and humor, action and fun make this work one that goes way beyond a normal or monthly issue of any comic book. The art manages to capture the occasional zaniness of Baron stories, but it also tells a story with rather convincing expertise. What is that story it tells? Well Lonestar and his Unknown Soldiers, Bigfoot Bill and Nexus are on the trail of a universe threat by the name of Gourmando. With that mixed group of heroes, loners, and the powerful righteous assassin Nexus, have to destroy, stop or at least cause Gourmando to go far away from their own galaxy... if they do, and/or how they do so, makes for an entertaining ride.
OFFWORLDER
FANATIC COMICS Book 1
Mike Baron, Ben Henderson, Jordi Armengol
Quite a different book than Monster Hunt, Offworlder features a Highland style clan involved in a galaxy spanning tale. As Vikings and Highlanders fight in ancient Scotland, the end approaches, as do strangers, from strange lands, who take the Highlanders off the field, to safety, but for what purpose. This work involves aliens, gods, alien gods, Earth gods, historical Earth cultures, and a lot of action, with bloodshed and violence in abundance. The art is well done, I definitely liked it, it was on occasion rather stiff or looked posed rather than in depicting images of live action, however, that is a not a flaw. In fantasy art I've noticed it more than elsewhere, so, it doesn't seem out of place, I am just mentioning because I noticed it. I believe that there are many more chapters, so if book two completes the saga or not, I am uncertain. But the story from the mind of Ben Henderson brought to life by the writing of Baron is certainly entertaining enough to keep reading.
---
I was sent this PR 4 months ago, during a deeply problematic health event. And a month later one of the products arrived for review. I was in a very bad place, couldn't write much as mentioned above, and had just been told I had reasons for major surgery, but the surgeon wasn't interested in going forward. It took until January to be able to write a review of it, but first, here is the PR piece regarding it...
Nordo Room Service And A Different Kind Of Trick Or Treat
(September 6, 2022 ) In 2020 Cafe Nordo the Seattle immersive theater experts created three different interactive at home box experiences that reflect their signature blend of mystery, intrigue and dessert! Their initial goal was for customers to be able to enjoy entertainment at home as the world struggled with covid. Their innovation has now yielded a new type of Halloween tradition! Fans everywhere are picking one of their themed interactive experiences to enjoy a little spooky fun that only Nordo Room Service can provide.
Ordering is easy at https://www.cafenordo.com/room-service choices include:
The Witching Hour casts you as a new initiate to the Society of Nocturnal Mysteries. You begin by lighting a candle and choosing a powerful crystal from an embossed velvet bag, (all included in your box.) You toggle from object d’art, to interactive website with short films, to artisanal cocktails, and whoopsie-daisy! Your docent accidentally rips the Fabric of Darkness. It’s up to you to decide whether to put the Army of Fears you have unleashed back in the bottle or recruit them to be your allies in this astral plane. Like the pages of any good ancient grimoire, the spells are rich in riddles, secret codes, and ciphers to be solved. Check the calendar for a Waxing Gibbous Moon and salt your doorways, The Witching Hour is coming for your next night in!
Curiouser and Curiouser: The Interrogation of Alice Some may call it a prequel but that’s only if your mind works forwards. In Wonderland, the memory works both ways and in this deliverable Room Service Experience you are asked to solve the future crimes of Alice, with Mad Hatter’s Tea and Eat Me’s, of course. Inspired by the puzzles and riddles of Lewis Carrol and British procedural crime dramas, The Interrogation of Alice is a mash-up of mystery and nonsense told through crime scene photos, portmanteaus, and pugilistic Tweedles.
Take the riddles of the Mad Hatter one step further with our Room Service Experience box. You’ll be delivered the private case file of Alice’s interrogation by the Red Queen. The usual suspects will come to vivid life in filmed segments inspired by British procedural crime dramas. You won’t think of the Tweedles, the White Rabbit, or Alice in the same way again.
Do Not Disturb: "Unlock The Spectral Curse of Cafe Nordo" A box arrives. It is addressed to you but the hand is unfamiliar. On the outside a key. This key opens the door from this dimension to the next, where the spirits have brushed the shoulders of Hotel Nordo guests since 1927. Peer through a digital portal where ghosts battle monsters of their own regret, guiding you through the gifts, letters, and news clippings inside your box. You’ll need a cocktail to get through this, and luckily the box provides all you need to shake up the classic Aviation! Clues and puzzles help unravel the long-hidden truth behind the original tragedy that began with a wedding... and ended with a murder. And what goes best with both? Cake, of course.
What others are saying about Nordo’s Room Service:
"Cafe Nordo’s Room Service team has built out a charming mythology across the puzzles, handouts, and videos that make up the narrative of The Witching Hour. A fun world of fairies and fears which is anchored well but the quality of the graphic design and other elements inside the box. While the tone is delightfully comic, the commitment to the bit is absolute." noproscenium.com/
"The Interrogation of Alice" by Café Nordo is a fabulous and wonderful adventure that took the story of Alice in Wonderland and infused it with detective mystery and puzzles we can sink into." -EscapeTheRoomers.com
"You will solve mysteries, perform “rituals,” and decipher clues along the way. Nothing too difficult, but lots of fun. You can even get the final answer wrong though, so pay attention!"
-Nerd News Social
Check out everything Cafe Nordo has to offer at www.cafenordo.com
So What did I get and Did I like it?
For a point of reference, I know there are a number of different cities with similar events, and there are other boxed games such as Hunter Killer and a few others. An outlayer but similar in ways, would be Tony and Tina's Wedding is similar, where the audience experiences a planned but often spontaneous and ad-libbed version of visiting a wedding with humorous results.
So, similar to Hunter Killer, this is a boxed game, meant to evoke an experience found at the Cafe Nordo, in real life. Live theatre mysteries or events, and as such I'd suggest that anyone enjoying that sort of mystery or live action immersive theatre, would very much enjoy this. Here you are given objects, papers, artifacts and clues to solve, using found texts, known facts, solving unknown facts, that help the individual or team experience dark crimes, sinister occult cults causing problems, and more.
The quality of product of what I was sent was great. I'd suggest anyone who loves a mystery or mysterious things, would enjoy it. Some for the story, others for the special desserts and special drinks offered, ala room service at a prime hotel.
I received the Room Service Experience box, My box included vintage era physical props, items served in that era, clues to a "real" murder prior to your visit, and tons of clues to confuse or enhance your knowledge, depending upon how you play your game. More than one person could play this, in fact I think more should play, but I'd say it would be at least an hour of your time, and worth that time.
GETTING REVIEWS?
I
can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email
Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at
any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street
address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them,
but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these
at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry
that I'd dispense them for free to others.
My Creative Blogs:
My 5000 poem Blog AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com
Cthulhu Alien Horrors CthulhuDarkness.Blogspot.Com
Atlantis & Lost Worlds AlexNessLostWorlds.Blogspot.Com
My Published Work AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html
My Amazon Author Page Amazon.com/author/AlexNess
Support: Poplitiko.Blogspot.Com/2022/06/for-sale.html
All images are copyright © their respective owners, use is simply as fair use and no ownership rights asserted.
No comments:
Post a Comment