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comicreadingorder · 4 years

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X-Factor by Louise Simonson Reading Order

When this series started the main X-Men team was full of all new people while Angel, Iceman and Beast had left to bump around between college and groups like the Champions, Defenders and Avengers. Jean was dead, and Cyclops ceded leadership of the team to Storm before retiring to Alaska with his wife and newborn son. ...But fans missed the originals so Marvel jumped through some silly hoops and retconned everyone back to their original versions.

The basis of the team is that X-Factor advertises themselves as humans who hunt down mutants, taking advantage of prejudice to get people to call on anyone they suspect of being a mutant. Once alerted the team would confront the person and, if they actually were a mutant, try to help them by inviting them back to base to stay and learn their powers.

While I wrote lists for other X-Men runs, each is supposed to function by itself rather than part of some master list. I’m sure you could piece them together easily enough if you wanted, but this is made with the mindset of someone only reading X-Factor. Bold=important or official part of the story Italics=optional with a note to let you decide for yourself

Avengers 263, Fantastic Four 286 -- These issues set up the return of the main team and lead into X-Factor 1.

X-Factor (V1) 1-4

XF Annual 1

XF 5-8 -- Louise Simonson takes over with 6 and lasts through 62.

Mutant Massacre

This was the first of the big 3 crossovers uniting the X titles. Despite being the newest, it really thrived during these crossovers, telling such big stories that they almost felt like the main title.

Uncanny X-Men 210, XF 9, UXM 211, XF 10, NM 46, Thor 373, Power Pack (V1) 27, UXM 212, Thor 374, XF 11, UXM 213

XF 12-16

Thor 377, 378 -- A big change to Iceman that lasts through the entire run.

XF 17

XF Annual 2

XF 18-20

Incredible Hulk 336, 337 -- XF 20 leads into these 2 issues. It doesn’t lead back into their title or get mentioned again but they ARE a significant part of the story.

Fall of The Mutants

The second “crossover” of X-titles, except they all pretty much tell their own story in different, unrelated parts of the world so I didn’t include everything. Hulk is just a transition issue for UXM, PP shows an extended XF fight, Cap closes up a loose end, FF is an epilogue. The UXM issues are there because they’re mentioned in Inferno, where the two titles come together.

XF 21-23, UXM 220-224, Incredible Hulk 340, XF 24, 25, PP 35, UXM 225-227, Captain America 339, XF 26, FF 312

XF 27-29

XF Annual 3 -- Part of the Evolutionary War Annuals crossover but each annual’s story is pretty self-contained to their title.

XF 30-34

Inferno

Here the titles cross-pollinate heavily, ending up with some characters jumping over to other books. New Mutants also tells a significant part of Inferno that mostly precedes the XF/UXM issues, but I felt like the X-Terminators miniseries explained enough of that story. Plus there’s already so much convolution in this event that I wanted to narrow the view. UXM 239, X-Terminators 1, XF 35, XT 2-3, XF 36, UXM 240-241, XF 37, XT 4, UXM 242, XF 38, UXM 243, XF 39

XF 40

NM 76

XF 41, 42

XF Annual 4 -- Part of Atlantis Attacks, works as one-shot, follows up on the previous NM issue.

XF 43-58*

Days of Future’s Present: FF Annual 23, NM Annual 6, XF Annual 5, UXM Annual 14

XF 59

XF: Prisoner of Love -- Self contained one-shot about Beast. Mostly just adding to let you know it exists; as far as I know it’s never mentioned again.

X-Tinction Agenda: UXM 270, NM 95, XF 60, UXM 271, NM 96, XF 61, UXM 272, NM 97, XF 62 -- The last big X-over of the three titles during the Claremont era, also the last issues written by Simonson.

XF 63-64**

UXM 273 -- X-Tinction Agenda epilogue by Claremont, also the last issue of his original run where he did both the plot and script.

Kings of Pain: NM Annual 7, New Warriors Annual 1, UXM Annual 15, X-Factor Annual 6 -- Story across annuals about NW and X-Force with backups about Freedom Force. Totally skippable if you’re not reading those. Put here for breathing room between it and the Muir Isle saga.

XF 65-68

Muir Isle Saga: UXM 278-279, XF 69, UXM 280, XF 70

X-Men (V2) 1-3 -- This serves to show all the characters together before they split into teams.

At this point Peter David takes over writing and creates an entirely new team, starting a run that’s popular in its own right.

To follow Cyclops and Beast continue with the Blue team in X-Men (V2) 4.

For Jean Grey, Iceman and Archangel jump to the Gold team starting with Uncanny X-Men 281. See Also:

*X-Men Legends 3, 4 -- X-Men Legends is a 2021 anthology title that had original creators return to tell stories set during their era. The Simsonsons wrote this to take place immediately “before 43″ but like every prequel type thing it spoils later stuff.

**X-Factor Forever 1-5 -- Out of continuity mini from 2010 by Simonson set after her departure in XF 64, it allowed her to show what her future plans for the team were before leaving. Best read after you've finished everything, like a deleted scene or bonus content.

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thenightling · 4 years

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Films and shows to get you ready for Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is getting adapted into a series by Netflix. Though this is a DC comics property, The Sandman is NOT like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. The Sandman is a gorgeous and surreal fantasy that only partially takes place in the human world. A big part of it takes place in the fantasy realm known as The Dreaming.

There is very little combat action though there is horror. To give you an idea of what you are in for (Or if you are a Sandman fan already and want something to hold you off) here are twenty-five films and shows that share some of the traits (or atmosphere) you might find in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

25. The Raven (1963 film). This might seem like an oddball one to list since it’s a Gothic Horror fantasy comedy from the 1960s but it gets referenced in The Sandman by Matthew imitating Peter Lorre and later Matthew compared Cain to Vincent Price. I think it’s safe to say Matthew was a Price (or Roger Coman) fan.

24. Death. Death is a short animated film from DC and was featured as bonus content for the Blu Ray of the animated movie Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.

Though she looks younger (appearing about nineteen-years-old) Death is the older sister of Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless, the main protagonist of The Sandman. She was first introduced in The Sandman issue 8, The Sound of Her Wings.

23. Stardust.

Stardust is a fantasy film based on the novel (and graphic novel) by Neil Gaiman. Though there are liberties taken, this should give you some idea of what his fantasy writing is like.

22. Beetlejuice the animated series.

If you want an idea of what The Dreaming (realm of Dreams) is like then I urge you to check out the surreal Neither (that’s not a typo) World from the Beetlejuice animated series. The monsters that inhabit this realm are the stuff of fantasy and nightmares. Some are living puns. And they are ruled over by a broody Goth who makes it rain when he’s depressed and feeling melodramatic, much like a certain Dream Lord from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman...

21. Bonus listing: The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

One major antagonist of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is a nightmare entity known as The Corinthian who escapes into the waking world and becomes a serial killer. Had Sandman been adapted in the mid-90s I think many would have loved a crossover with Freddy Krueger.

20. Return to Oz.

If by some weird chance you have never seen The Wizard of Oz or any faithful (read: Not 2010) version of Alice in Wonderland I would recommend those first. But under the assumption you may have already seen those I would suggest watching Return to Oz. Return to Oz features an adorable Jack-o-lantern headed character called Jack Pumpkinhead. Jack Pumpkinhead was the loose inspiration for the grounds keeper dream entity character of Mervyn Pumpkinhead in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

19. Tales from the Crypt (TV series).

Issue 2 of The Sandman is called Imperfect Hosts because all of the characters introduced in that issue are former horror host characters from horror anthology comics. Cain and Abel were DC’s answer to The Crypt keeper and The Vault Keeper. For a good idea of who Cain actually is (assuming he’s in the show along with his House of Mystery) I strongly recommend checking out the TV show Tales from the Crypt.

18. Tales from the Cryptkeeper (animated series)

In the mid-1990s there was an animated series adaptation of Tales from the Crypt called Tales from the Cryptkeeper. Season 2 featured the three original EC comics horror hosts of the Cryptkeeper, Vault Keeper, and the Old Witch. These storytellers might give you an idea of who (or what) some of Morpheus’ Nightmare minion are in The Sandman.

17. Hocus Pcous.

I chose to put this one here because the three witches of Hocus Pocus very much remind me of the Hecatae version of The Three-in-one from The Sandman Issue 2. There’s also a powerful Grimoire that is a plot catalyst.

16. The 10th Kingdom.

The 10th Kingdom was a fantasy mini-series that aired on NBC in 2000. It dealt with a twenty-seven-year-old young woman who discovers that her estranged mother is the evil queen in a faery tale world. It is very much a story about stories (much like parts of The Sandman) and shows you the original dark and unvarnished versions of some classic faery tales as well as how those characters (and their descendants) carry on centuries later.

15. Once Upon a Time (TV series. Particularly seasons 1 through 3.)

Much like with 10th Kingdom we have here a story about stories and those characters from classic stories trying to live in the human world with varying degrees of success. You see how important their stories are and how carefully and intricately each tale was interwoven with each other. (...Until around season 4 that is...)

Also it begins with a very powerful creature imprisoned and later undergoing an extremely long redemption arc and a sense of guilt tied to the death of his own son.

14. Constantine: City of Demons.

John Constantine appears in one issue of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. Issue 3. Constantine: City of Demons gives a good crash course on who Constantine is and where he comes from. John Constantine’s ancestor, Johanna Constantine is a recurring character in The Sandman.

13. Justice League: Dark animated movie.

Justice League: Dark is the first animated movie to feature The House of Mystery. The House of Mystery is a building whose roots are in The Dreaming in The Sandman.

12. Constantine (2014 series).

In 2014 Constantine got his own live action series but it only lasted for one season.

11. Locke and Key.

Only recently did I learn Locke and Key will be doing an official crossover with The Sandman Universe.

10. Lucifer TV series.

The TV show Lucifer is an oddball thing since it was based on a comic that is actually a spin-off of The Sandman. The storyline that introduces us to Mazikeen, where Lucifer quits ruling Hell, opens Lux, and takes up playing Piano all come from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

When Fox got the rights to Lucifer no one thought The Sandman was going to be getting an adaptation, at least not in the near future. As a result several conversations and key pieces of dialogue that originally passed between Morpheus and Lucifer in The Sandman comics now went to Lucifer and his therapist, Linda, and his angel-brother, Amenadiel.

Bonus: If at all possible check out the Crisis on infinite Earths event from the CW as the real Crisis on Infinite Earths (original comic event) eventually gave way to things like The Sandman.

9. The Witches (1990) and Coraline (2009) I couldn’t decide which one to put here so I put them both.

The Witches is a children’s horror film based on the book by Roald Dahl. I suggest this here for its darker themes and you get a group of dangerous, child-killing witches attending a meeting at a hotel, much like The Corinthian’s Serial Killer convention in The Sandman.

Coraline is a stop motion fantasy / horror story for children and can give you some idea of what certain aspects of The Sandman are like, as it is by the same author.

8. Pan’s Labyrinth.

The Sandman is very much part fantasy and part Gothic horror and no director alive quite fits that criteria now better than Guillermo del Toro and possibly Tim Burton. Pan’s Labyrinth has the surreal beauty and darkness you are likely to see in The Sandman.

7. Doom Patrol.

Doom Patrol was the first DC show that made me have faith that yes, they CAN adapt Sandman respectfully and unafraid of the strangeness it might entail. Doom Patrol seemed unafraid to tackle the strange, quirkiness of it’s own content. From a talking roach, to gender-queer sentient street named Danny, Doom Patrol was not afraid to be strange.

6. Swam Thing (2019 TV series from DC Universe Streaming Service).

I mostly suggest this for one character in particular. Matthew Cable. After Matthew died in The Sandman comics he chose to spend his afterlife as Morpheus’ raven.

Besides featuring a character from The Sandman Swamp Thing gives a very good Gothic atmosphere and supernatural content, giving you an idea of the sort of horror DC can do.

6. Justice League Action: Trick or Threat. And Justice League action: Supernatural adventures in Babysitting.

The episode of Justice League Action called Trick or Threat features Cain, a nightmare character from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, as well as The House of Mystery. This was Cain’s first appearance in media. The version of Cain in the TV show Lucifer is nothing like his comic book counterpart. This cartoon is the first and only faithful adaptation of the character from the comics.

The episode of Justice League Action called Supernatural Adventures in Babysitting features the Magdalene Grimoire. This is the grimoire used to summon Morpheus in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. It also features John Constantine.

5. She-Creature: The Mermaid Chronicles (2001 film)

This is an odd from about some humans have a captured mermaid. The majority of the film is about her escape and revenge on her captors. You will see something similar to that with Morpheus in the very first episode of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman.

4. The Company of Wolves.

The Company of Wolves is a story about stories. In the ontemporary world a pubescent girl sleeps during her first period. She dreams that she is Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother tells her horrific stories about werewolves. The wolves become metaphors For puberty, masculinity, and waking sexuality. Toward the end Rosealeen (the protagonist) becomes one of the wolves. You get random stark reminders that this entire film is set in a dream world, and yet it’s still strangely easy to forget.

3. The Nightmare before Christmas.

The Nightmare before Christmas is a fantasy musical about the king of Halloween. Though he’s adored by his subjects he longs for more. The surreal landscape and strange creatures can be reminiscent of The Sandman.

2. Labyrinth.

One of the earliest efforts to talk me into reading The Sandman entailed someone telling me that Morpheus was “Like a Goth Jareth.” This effort (at the time) failed to entice me though I do love Labyrinth.

1. Over The Garden Wall.

I only saw Over the Garden Wall for the first time about a year and a half ago and loved it very much. This is a strange animated mini-series about two brothers lost in a forest called “The Unknown.” The setting has been debated among fans as to if it’s purgatory (a place between life and death), a dream realm, or something else entirely. I choose to believe that though it may be a place between life and Death that it’s also a part of The Dreaming, especially with so many surreal and Gothic visuals, and characters and creatures directly out of vintage seasonal cards.

#The Sandman #Neil Gaiman's The Sandman

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theonyxpath · 5 years

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Thanks everyone who commented on our blog posts last week. Hearing from you was both informative and very helpful. As you might imagine, we spent a fair amount of time during this week’s Monday Meeting discussing the reactions we’ve encountered.

End of the day, we’ve tried from the beginning of Onyx Path‘s existence to bring in new and diverse creators onto our projects, and now that we’re starting to make that work, we’re not going to let them feel threatened here.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Sam Denmark

While it might seem like a tonal shift to now start talking about the Lunars Kickstarter; all of last week and into the meeting today we looked to this KS as an awesome positive example of what we do in the midst of a lot of negativity.

Gotta have light shining in the dark, gotta have the good with the bad.

Part of why we’re grooving on the Kickstarter and all the great comments and posts about Lunars as we “leak” out parts of the manuscript, is that we’re hearing so many folks enjoying what they are reading. That’s great, and it is what we hoped for, as there’s always been a feeling on the creative level that the last two editions just didn’t do full justice to the Lunars.

As per the blog title: 3rd time’s the charm. (All the puns and allusions intended).

Here’s hoping everyone’s enthusiasm stays stoked once all the text is revealed by the end of the Kickstarter – we certainly think it’s all great!

Trinity Continuum: Aeon art by Gunship Revolution

Something else that I’m personally thrilled by is the Scarred Lands game being played by Devil’s Luck Gaming on their Twitch channel here:https://twitch.tv/videos/385880467

For me, I was very impressed by the costuming and design of the promo I saw, but started chortling when I saw the Slitherin ratman all made up and squeaking! See, I was the one who originally wrote their first descriptions in the first Creature Collection.

And no, I did not name them after the House. I had not even read those books when I gave them that name, but boy did I realize how it sounded after I did! I was going more for the feel of them slithering up out of the ground and from sewers, with dirty jagged daggers in hand.

So it’s an absolute thrill to see one of them being played, and played so well. Check it out if you can.

Dystopia Rising: Evolution art by Marco Gonzales

Finally, we talked about the Onyx Pathcast interview with Eric Zawadzki about his work on Deviant, and how he has stepped into Dave Brookshaw’s shoes as developer of the book.

You can hear Eric’s enthusiasm for Deviant, and how infectious that is during the interview, and we’re all extremely excited to be getting closer to presenting this new kind of supernatural for Chronicles of Darkness.

Eddy notes several times how the themes of Deviant are very basic, very grounded, and very evocative for our current time. Deviants are very accessible as characters, and very flexible in what could inspire them. There are just so many pop culture references that could be drawn from, as well as classical stories of quests for revenge and payback.

Take a listen, if you have the time, and I think you’ll agree just from listening to Eric, Dixie, and Eddie talk about the game. Link down below in the BLURBS! section.

Until next week, remember:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

Two weeks into our Kickstarter for the Deluxe version of EX3‘s Lunars (that funded in less than 40 minutes) and we are over 300% funded and have over 1777 backers! Multiple Stretch Goals have already been achieved, and we’ve just gotten started. So c’mon and get your beast-form on and join the fun

The Story Told Podcast has a wonderful interview about Lunars: Fangs at the Gate: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-5-exalted-lunar-ks-interview-with-eric-minton

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast has our Terrifying Trio taking a break from TTRPGs to look at card and board games that they know and love. https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

If YOU have a podcast, YouTube or Twitch channel, or talk about games on a blog or other website, and want to perform actual plays or make reviews of our games, please reach out to the Gentleman Gamer on the Onyx Path forum. From there we’ll share emails and get you started, so when you do start producing content we’ll be able to promote it on our blog and YouTube channel!

The Story Told Podcast started on their character creation session for Wraith: The Oblivion, which you can find here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-21-wraith-character-creation

On our channel, we uploaded the first episode of Red Moon Roleplaying’s Changeling: The Lost actual play: https://youtu.be/vNlAmsFrMiQ

Not only that, but we continued the They Came from Beneath the Sea! actual play, also run by Red Moon Roleplaying: https://youtu.be/fY7sRVqiOl0

Ah yes!

Devil’s Luck Gaming have just commenced their Scarred Lands campaign on Twitch, named Pirates of Blood Water. It’s for mature audiences only and we hope you enjoy! https://twitch.tv/videos/385880467

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking!

Here’s an update from the App devs:

Onyx Dice! We’ve recently released the Changeling: The Lost, Trinity Continuum: Aeon dice, and now the Geist dice. Next up on our radar is: Demon: The Fallen, Mummy: The Resurrection, Kindred of the East, Vampire Dark Ages, and Mummy: The Curse.

We have a serious issue on the Pixel and Motorola phones that prevent the user from using the app correctly. A fix is coming shortly. A temporary workaround is to minimize the app without shutting it down, and then restore it.

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue you bought it from. Reviews really, really help us with getting folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

And available this week! Deluxe Changeling: The Dreaming and Deluxe Beckett’s Jyhad Diary! The additional books we have after the Kickstarter ship-outs are done are now at IPR!

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday, we’re offering our monthly Exalted 3rd PDF releases!

CONVENTIONS

UK Games Expo: May 31st – June 2nd Gen Con: August 1st – August 4th Save Against Fear: Oct 12-14 GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year. n!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval:

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Editing:

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Post-Editing Development:

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Indexing:

Ex3 Dragon Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

The Realm – Gong’s and Yiyhoung’s stuff in… Gunship and Priscilla are working.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Chicago By Night – AD’d.

Aeon Aexpansion – Emailing artists.

They Came From Beneath the Sea!

EX3 Lunars – KS going.

Signs of Sorcery

Hunter: The Vigil 2

Shunned By the Moon – All artists contracted again.

Book of Oblivion – Sketches coming in slowly but surely- some finals.

Contagion Chronicle – AD’d for KS.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Dystopia Rising: Evolution

Proofing

M20: Gods and Monsters – Satyr Phil inputting backer errata.

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats

Adventures for Curious Cats

Trinity Core – Mind Meld.

Trinity Aeon – Mind Meld.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – Indexing.

Geist 2e – 2nd Proof.

C20 Player’s Guide

False Images – EX3 novel – Finishing inputting backer errata.

In Media Res

At Press

Scion Hero – Getting printer proofs this week.

Scion Origin – Getting printer proofs this week.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Scion Screen – At Studio2.

Fetch Quest – At Studio2

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE:

Today in 1971, Sean Astin was born and then was raised by Gomez Addams. Later, he searched for pirate treasure with his goony friends, played football, and became a gardener for the Baggins family. After a long journey to return a particularly memorable piece of jewelry to the manufacturer’s facilities for a refund, he was elected Mayor of his town of residence. Let’s hear it for “our Sam”!

#Onyx Path Publishing

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daleisgreat · 6 years

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Eric Bischoff: Wrestling’s Most Controversial Figure

Eric Bishoff has made the rounds over the years since leaving WWE in 2005 to tell his tales of the business. He wrote a pretty good biography under the ‘WWE Books’ banner in 2006 called Controversy Creates Cash that ranks high up on the wrestler autobiography curve. He has done countless DVD ‘shoot’ and podcast interviews over the years, and he is currently a co-host of the 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff podcast alongside acclaimed wrestling podcaster Conrad Thompson. Needless to say, there are a lot of ways to find out about Eric’s life in wrestling. In 2016, WWE released their official BluRay/DVD with a documentary of Eric’s life and career with the standard array of full-length bonus matches and promos. It is called Eric Bischoff: Wrestling’s Most Controversial Figure (trailer). First off, shame on WWE for that awful home video cover art. When this video was first announced it showed a serious looking Eric on the cover, but I imagine Vince McMahon must have had one last grudge he was fuming over and went out of his way to find the most smug, arrogant looking headshot of Eric and slapped it on the cover. Worst off is the disc cover art where it is modern-day Eric duct taped and hands tied. I would not put it beneath Vince to be of the mindset of ‘Dammit, if I am going to make money off of Eric we are going to at least make him the most pathetic looking person all over the box and disc artwork!’

Bizarre artwork aside, this is actually a surprisingly respectful and serious documentary about Eric Bischoff. The feature interviews Eric on his ranch in Wyoming which provides a serene backdrop throughout and it is apparent the production crew went out of their way to interview Eric in several different spots on the ranch, including a great closing scene with Eric reflecting on his legacy around a campfire. The 95 minute feature is the perfect length for covering his career. The prerequisite ‘before-wrestling’ part of the doc is handled well with Eric detailing how he bounced between Detroit and the Twin Cities and his early business endeavors in landscaping, modeling and aspiring entrepreneur. I forgot about him making a commercial deal with the AWA to promote his Ninja Star Wars game which was the catalyst to him forming a relationship with Verne & Greg Gagne that eventually lead him to receiving a job in the AWA which paved the way for him landing in WCW. There are a lot of interviews with family, friends and peers of Eric throughout. Most prominent are Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page, Sonny Onoo, WCW boss Harvey Schiller, business partner and Wonder Years alumnus Jason Hervey and Eric’s wife Loree. Nash and DDP have a lot of insight on Eric’s rise up the ranks in WCW and how he revolutionized Monday nights with WCW Monday Nitro. They and Schiller also have a lot to say about Eric lost control of WCW first with Time Warner/Turner acquisition and eventually all together with the AOL/Time Warner merger. There are also archived past clips of Eric’s detractors stating their side. I have seen countless takes and read just as many perspectives on the rise and fall of WCW, but to see Eric’s side-of-view is still worth seeing as how he ultimately blames backstage politics with the mergers and acquisitions for the fall of WCW and his eventual ousting from the company in 1999.

I dug Eric looking back on his three and a half years as the first RAW General Manager, and there is a nice montage of moments Eric was part of along with interview snippets from Steve Austin and Chris Jericho sharing their memories of Eric being their boss. I was not surprised to see them omit and not even mention Eric’s four years in TNA/Impact. I was thinking there would be a passing reference like in the Dudleyz or Sting’s WWE documentaries, but it was probably for the best that his time there trying to reignite the ‘Monday Night Wars’ with the Hulkster be best forgotten. One part in the documentary I got a ton out of I always wanted to know more of was Eric’s friendship and business partnership with Jason Hervey. I know the two have been longtime friends and formed a business together, but not much beyond that. Here they have a candid interview with the two breaking down their history and entrepreneurial ambitions and projects they have worked on over the years. Really good stuff here and it shows how Eric is keeping himself busy. It is apparent that Eric is not dwelling on the past and has obviously moved on from his tumultuous days in WCW, especially with that pivotal closing scene with him being introspective around the campfire as a great way to close the documentary.

As with most WWE Home Video releases, the BluRay is packed with bonus content. There is 37 minutes of bonus ‘stories’ aka deleted scenes that were not deemed worthy of the main feature. Highlights include Bishoff’s hunting tales, reflecting on the Turner/Warner merger and Jericho’s memories of going 17 months in WCW without a contract. A couple years ago WWE Network ran a two part Eric Bischoff interview special with JBL that ran for just over 90 minutes combined. It hits a lot of the same bullet points as the documentary, but in a different ‘shoot’ style format with JBL pressing Eric on some of his most controversial decisions. It is highly recommended supplementary material. To finish off the first disc there is another Eric Bischoff feature from WWE Network where Eric counts down and analyzes his top ten most controversial moments. On the second disc there is nearly four and a half hours of full-length past interviews, promos and matches from Eric’s career across AWA/WCW/WWE. About an hour and a half of those are BluRay exclusives. Some of these extras are followed up with brief, modern-day reflections on that moment/match from Eric. There is a lot of gold in here from when Eric was a junior C-list announcer for the AWA and his early WCW years with him interviewing Sid, Larry Zybysko, Vinnie Vegas, DDP, Vader and attempting to get an interview out of Missy Hyatt in the shower. There is a lot of great content here from his days leading the nWo from 97 and 98. I completely forgot how awesome the sketches with Bischoff firing referee Randy Anderson were and Eric went on in the extras to share how WCW got complaints how some fans thought it was legit. Bishoff’s calling out Vince McMahon to a match at Slamboree ’98 and Vince no-showing the match are both standout moments of the Monday Night War that I was delighted to see make the cut for this compilation.

There is a wide array of his top moments as RAW GM in their entirety, and there quite a few standout spots here I completely forgot about. Eric donning the disguise that fooled everyone as the pastor who ruined Billy & Chuck’s wedding is priceless and must-see. Austin messing with Bischoff at Judgment Day 2003 from their time as co-GMs of RAW is also amazing material. The best moment/match on this second disc is easily ‘The Trial of Eric Bischoff.’ It is 35 minutes of gold where WWE’s style of comedy rarely worked where Vince McMahon presided as the judge to determine if Eric could build a compelling argument to keep his job as RAW GM. After nearly a half hour of off and on witnesses throughout RAW, the episode culminated in one of the best sendoffs of an authoritative figure in WWE history! Amazing work that holds up tremendously today! There are a handful of matches included that Eric participated in such as his much anticipated bout with Larry Zybysko at Starrcade ’97, squaring off against Vince on a 2004 RAW and putting his hair on the line against his nephew Eugene from Taboo Tuesday ’04! Sadly, the times Eric did the honors for Ric Flair at Starrcade '98 along with celebrities Jay Leno and David Arquette in tag matches are not included. High marks for this collection! Just keep in mind this is Eric’s take on his side of history, so expect a little bit of spin from him on justifying his actions. The documentary covers all the pivotal points of his life and career (sans-TNA/Impact) and there is a treasure trove of extra features to get lost in and relive a ton of great moments from the ‘Monday Night War’ and Eric’s run as RAW-GM. Eric Bischoff: Wrestling’s Most Controversial Figure is a worthy addition to any fan’s video library! Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania 3: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

#Wrestling #eric bischoff #Vince McMahon #jason hervey #Diamond Dallas Page #Kevin Nash #WWE #awa #wcw

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theonyxpath · 5 years

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Friends, this has been a tough week.

So we’re going to actually provide you with all the usual material that comes after the Blurbs!, but this upper part of the blog where I try and ramble through some useful stuff; I’m keeping this short.

In fact, the topic I’m really writing about this week is on another blog post that I’m going to link to. The post concerns Matt McFarland and why we are no longer working with him, and further connected issues:

http://theonyxpath.com/?p=11633

Why? Because the topic is an ugly one. It’s not what I normally post about, and it’s not what you probably expect from your weekly MMN blog. But it is an important one, and it needs to be written.

But after discussing it during our monthly meeting, we decided on this method of delivering it to you. This way, the topic isn’t just sitting on top of wacky Blurbs! and business as usual, because that would be inappropriate to the subject matter.

At the same time, we think it is important for our community to read this even while it might run counter to the expectations of some of our folks who come here specifically because this is a relief from real-life issues, or even more importantly, for some of those people who are actually affected by the matter in question.

We really do not wish to minimize what they have gone through in any way.

Along the same line of thought, I’m not including any art up here, just this message. We’ll have lots of art next time. Finally, I’m putting some space between this and our usual tagline. Not because it is no longer appropriate, but because it represents what we can all achieve together in a cheerleading sort of way that is important, and we’ll get back to, but which isn’t right at this time.

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

A week into our Kickstarter for the Deluxe version of EX3‘s Lunars (that funded in less than 40 minutes) and we are almost at 300% funded and have over 1500 backers! Multiple Stretch Goals have already been achieved, and we’ve just gotten started. So c’mon and get your beast-form on and join the fun!

The Story Told Podcast has a wonderful interview about Lunars: Fangs at the Gate: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-5-exalted-lunar-ks-interview-with-eric-minton

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Illustration by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is an in-depth interview with Eric Zawadzki, writer and a developer on Deviant: The Renegades. I’m told it’s just chock full of spoilers. https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Lots of media today!

First up, we have Caffeinated Conquest‘s Scion actual play, which has proven very popular and entertaining: https://youtu.be/MqCNQq6a7gs

High Level Games continues their actual play of Pugmire! For those of you who love adventurous tales of dogs and cars, check out their video: https://www.highlevelgames.ca/podcastingnetwork/pugmire-actual-play-episode-3

Matthew Dawkins and Red Moon Roleplaying continue with their actual play of They Came from Beneath the Sea! both on our channel and their website: https://youtu.be/FL_v0OfJ3n4

The Story Told Podcast has a wonderful interview about Lunars: Fangs at the Gate: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-5-exalted-lunar-ks-interview-with-eric-minton

Travis Legge continues with his superb Myths and Matchmakers Scarred Lands actual play too: https://youtu.be/W-_szpegJpc

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING:

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=296

And available this week! Deluxe Changeling: The Dreaming and Deluxe Beckett’s Jyhad Diary! The additional books we have after the Kickstarter ship-outs are done are now at IPR!

DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

This Wednesday, we’re releasing PDF and PoD versions of the new Map of Stygia for Wraith20 on DTRPG, as well as Changeling: The Lost 2e T-Shirts on our Onyx Path Redbubble store!

Also we will be adding two new Art Packs to the Slarecian Vault community content site for the Scarred Lands!

CONVENTIONS

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM FAST EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let The Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Redlines

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Ready Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Development

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

CofD Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Manuscript Approval:

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Editing:

Aeon Aexpansion (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Tales of Excellent Cats (Monarchies of Mau)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)

V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Wr20 Book of Oblivion (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel: Cup of Dreams (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Scion Jumpstart (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development:

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Night Horrors: Shunned by the Moon (Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition)

Indexing:

Ex3 Dragon Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

The Realm – More sketches in. Some finals finalized.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff –

Chicago By Night – Notes and contracts going out.

Aeon Aexpansion

They Came From Beneath the Sea!

EX3 Lunars – KS going.

Signs of Sorcery

Hunter: The Vigil 2

Shunned By the Moon – All artists contracted and then one bailed.

Book of Oblivion – Sketches coming in slowly but surely- some finals.

Contagion Chronicle – AD’d for KS.

Marketing Stuff

In Layout

Dystopia Rising: Evolution

In Media Res

Proofing

M20: Gods and Monsters – Finishing backer errata.

Pugmire Roll of Good Dogs and Cats – Gathering backer errata.

Adventures for Curious Cats – First proof corrections in.

Trinity Core – Inputting Errata. Cross referencing with TC: Aeon.

Trinity Aeon – Inputting Errata. Cross referencing with TC: Core.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – Indexing.

Geist 2e

C20 Player’s Guide

False Images – EX3 novel – Finishing and inputting backer errata.

At Press

Wraith 20th – Shipping to KS backers.

Wraith 20 Screen – Shipping to KS backers.

Scion Hero – To press.

Scion Origin – To press.

Scion Dice – At Studio2.

Scion Screen – At Studio2.

Fetch Quest – Shipping to US.

Wraith 20th Stygian Map – PoD and PDF versions on sale this week.

Slarecian Vault Art Pack 01 and 02 – Available this week.

TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE:

And another US holiday: boom, on top of last week. Presidents’ Day! Well, we’ve had a mixed bag with these guys, but some actually made a difference and set us on better paths because they were in office. And in this world…that’s worth a celebration!

#Onyx Path Publishing

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