GaryCon VI Odyssey, Part 2

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, March 25^th through April 1^st… Part 2!

Rising on Thursday morning was a beautiful event, with some quick printouts and character prep done for the GaryCon Tournament Open event, The Tower of Akbaba, with Luke. More attendees were filing in, to a surprising degree. It seemed as if Thursday’s numbers were going to be quite large, which is nice to see. I ran by the giant white board and “marshaling area” in the lobby, quickly making sure that “Steal Dale’s Coffee” was still properly notated on the board, as it somehow kept getting removed. I had enough time to grab some breakfast grub from the Resort restaurant, as well as much needed water and coffee before stumbling to the 10am First Round Tournament event that I was running. It was a good time, with great players, but the competition and scoring was fierce this year and they sadly didn’t make it to Round 2.

I have to say that, since becoming involved with the Tournament Open last year, the players I get are wonderfully inventive, work great together and always – always – make it a great experience for me as DM. So, thanks all, for gaming with me.

I believe I took a desperately needed nap after the game, as I was still bleeding peat out of my pores from the previous evening’s fun. Once that was finished off, I returned to the late afternoon festivities and listen to Dale kvetch about his missing coffee mug. I had a meal, chatted it up for a while, and then turned in early as I wanted to be all fresh and neat for my Friday 8am game.

“It’s Not My Fault” was the title of the adventure I ran on Friday morning, an idea I had that I’m hoping to flesh out fully in the near future. I ran it using AD&D 1e rules, with a small city setting, and all thieves as characters. The idea is to allow it to have a tournament-style adventure for low-level thieves, and then have more detail for a longer campaign, if wanted. The four guinea pigs, er… players, that showed, definitely put me to the test, as well as put their all into the plot. While it was mostly a character-driven adventure with little combat, I think it was a successful first test. I plan on finishing the entirety of the adventure over the next few weeks, with publication a goal. It won’t go under the title here, but keep an eye out.

I grabbed a Spotted Cow and a pizza before heading to my next game, all while dodging Luke, who was trying to get me to run another first round of the tournament later in the day. I was secretly hoping not to, as I had an old friend from the Chicago suburbs coming up to visit, and I hadn’t seen him in a few years. Before that though, I had to hit the noon ‘Don’t Give up the Ship’ gathering, which I got into at the last second and was looking forward to as I’d never played it and had always wanted to. I was amazed at how many players were already at the area, as well as amused at the concentration of yellow VIP badges waiting to play. I was speedily handed a rules sheet to read through and a stat sheet for the ship I’d be captain of. The GM was Mike (last name redacted to protect the guilty), who welcomed this newbie to the game with aplomb, introduced the setting to all the players and assisted everyone with as much speed as he could, considering the size of the group. We split down the middle, with my side playing the British and the opposing side as the French, representing an historic battle of 1808. Each of us was allowed to captain a single vessel, with the exception of one player who piloted two French ships. I and a VIP named Michael were the British frigates shadowing “the most foul French” while the Fleet Commanders prepared their capital ships that were sailing in formation. Four hours later, the French had the upper hand on the British, though if there had been another hour or so, the wind may have changed to favor the Brits. I had a fantastic time playing, fully enjoying the setting, my fellow captains and the complete lack of ego at the game. Two ships of the same side collide? Whoops! Better luck next round. The complete and utter chaos of it, coupled with the fun everyone was having just topped my Friday. While there were many minutes of standing about waiting for your orders to be followed through, it was never boring. Mike didn’t allow for much communication between ships due to distance and noise, which could have been detrimental for hardcore gamers. It was extremely pleasant to see everyone willingly accept this and just enjoy the game. My most specific observation from the event would be the median age of the players. I’m guessing here that the average age would have been near 55, a first for me. It certainly leant to some colorful and amusing anecdotes, quotes and language. The game itself is simple in style, yet complex in feel, and I urge all that have interest in an Age of Sail setting or even miniatures battles, to give it a try sometime. Great experience.

After, I discovered the need for me to run another tourney slot dissipated, so I was able to meet up with my friend Bob and his wife Lynn, who came up to the resort for dinner and see what I came out to every year for. Bob is a gamer too, so we shall see if I’ve enticed him enough to attend next year! Once we parted company, it was time to take a walk to one of the villas for further socialization. That evening will remain as [REDACTED]!

Saturday morning had me up and grabbing a quick bite from the table down by the registration desk, after once again making sure Steal Dale’s Coffee was up and on the marshaling area white board. I wonder who kept erasing that? Cheeky. The lack of real sleep was catching up on me though, so I reenergized with java and water as much as one could, before the next event I needed to run: Round 2 of the Tournament Open. The boys and one girl were not in my round one event and most were returning champs from GaryCon V, which was a cool factoid. These players were an oiled machine and came up with some fun ways to get around the second portion of the tournament, losing only one party member in the final outcome. This group went on to be the champions of the tournament, by a close margin. It may come that either Luke or I will run an adventure for this group next year, provided time allows. Congrats again, folks. It may be time for you to name your group!

I attempted a nap that refused to come to me, then headed out with friends Bryan and Jason to Popeye’s again for a bite before my next event, my annual Cyberpunk 2020 game. Since GaryCon II I’ve been running a somewhat connected ‘Punk game, with interested parties allowed to keep their characters and return the following year. I’ve had a handful of people that come back every session and always allow for new players, including first timers to Cyberpunk. This year I not only got new and first time players, but a young lad who came with his brother. Usually I add an age disclaimer to this particular game, due to some of the rather vile things that occur during play. Cyberpunk is not for the squeamish and can bring out a person’s inner psychotic. As I didn’t want to turn him away, (having not made the disclaimer in the game description), I made sure the boy’s brother was okay with the blood and guts of play, and the rest of us toned down the language and… other situations that occur during game. Considering that a number of the characters provided have cybernetic implants to enhance their sex, physique and appearance, all while being detrimental to their psychosis, it’s not always easy to do! Regardless, the game went off, with all too little combat. Those pesky gamers always go in directions you never intend – good thing us gamemasters can roll with their oddities. One other thing I’ve noticed about Cyberpunk, and this happens every year for me as well, I always – always – get women to play. This year we had a total newbie to the game, a woman from Canada, who joined us, picked one of the most violent characters to play, and had the entire table in stitches when it came to her decisions in game. If I’d had a table vote for best player, she’d have won, hands down. We stretched the game to more than the time I’d thought the game would last, just to slide in some last-minute brutality and weapon recovery (as I’d limited the arms that each character had – much to the returning players’ surprise). One of my players, we’ll call him Dr. Lovemore, graciously handed out miniatures to all those at the table, ending my Saturday for me. I headed on to bed shortly after, done in for the night.

I didn’t attend the auction this year, spending the time getting my new players prepped for Cyberpunk. In all previous years, the game usually ended by the time the auction started, or has been interrupted by it. I chose this year to run the game after the auction and I think I’ll do so from here on in. It went smoother and allows everyone to get their auction goodies with plenty of time. I’m not even sure how much was raised for Ernie and Jim this year. Anything helps, though. I hope the improved GaryCon website can host a donation window for continued aid.

Sunday had me up early, what with my first full night of sleep in days. I was a little rough around the edges still (scotchy-scotch-scotch recovery is lingering ever longer these days) but happy and ready to be playing in my only day of not running any games. I was looking forward to the Top Secret scenario with game creator Merle at 10am, so I wandered around, socialized, purchased items at the registration desk I’d been neglecting to and waited for the vendor room to open. I made sure that the SDC ending time was on the white board (what a shock – it was erased again), knowing full well that Dale wanted coffee badly. (Insert evil laughter here)

I purchased a few items from the vendor room, quite pleased to see it so busy on a Sunday morning. It seemed like everyone I spoke to had a lucrative con, which is great to hear. There was plenty I wanted, but being on a budget and having promised (as well as begging to make sure there was one for me) to purchase a box set of WHISPER AND VENOM (www.lessergnome.com), it limited me somewhat. I’m good with that; baggage space was at a premium. After, I went to check on table assignment for Top Secret, only to discover that the game was at 8am, not 10! Needless to say, I was rather annoyed at myself. I’d have felt better if I’d overslept! It was the one game I had intended not to miss, and here, I did. Hopefully Merle will return to GaryCon so I can try again.

The rest of the day was spent saying goodbye to those leaving early, passing contact information around, packing up the stuff lying about the room and enjoying a few Spotted Cows, as I wouldn’t be returning to the Constitution State with any this year. That, and anticipating the final game of GaryCon, the original Civilization, run by Mark of Creative Mountain Games (www.creativemountaingames.com). I’m a huge fan of the old Civ game and have been wanting to play with people whose gaming style I don’t know. I was very happy to see that the game didn’t get bumped due to lack of players and that we were able to get it moving to a good clip, finally calling it at around 2am Monday. Mark packed up the game, I packed in the remainder of the cider that Tom gave to me and I wandered around a bit, realizing I was the last attendee in the lobby at 2:30am. Weird feeling.

Monday had Cliff, Nick and I eating a late breakfast at Daddy Maxwell’s, a fine eatery just a hop and skip away from the resort, in Williams Bay. A few years back, when the resort wasn’t offering a breakfast of any kind to attendees, an infamous gamer known as The Keeper and his wife were cheerily handing out menus, and we of the Fond of Justice (League) have made it a “must do” ever since. For those of you that have yet to try it, do so when you’re in the area. Its cash only, but they know how to feed you. And entertain you, if you’re in the mood for it. We high tailed it back to the resort to see off Bryan and Jason, as well as a few others that we got to know this year, and a few known since GaryCon I. The rest of the day was spent shipping things out for easy travel, eating at Carver’s and being begged to run another Cyberpunk session… which barely happened at all. Afterwards, Luke and [REDACTED]!

A late rise on Tuesday had us checking out, saying goodbye to those still around like us (Nick) and trying to get everything not shipped fit into baggage. I had brought a rather large gift from my collection for Jolly of Knights of the Dinner Table fame (www.kenzerco.com), leaving me with what I thought would be plenty of room on the return. It was a tight fit and I ended up popping the seams on two pockets of my duffel. Time for a new one! Our return flight was redirected, having us stuck at a layover in O’Hare for a couple of hours. Considering our plane at Mitchell was delayed 30 minutes, it was probably a good thing. Heavy winds over the lakes caused a bit of turbulence but overall, it wasn’t a terrible trip. The individual TVs on everyone’s seat annoyed the hell out of me, though.

We arrived back at Bradley International Airport about 15 minutes earlier than expected, finding the temperature here to be quite comfortable. After a nightcap at a favorite pub, I was back in HovelHouse around 11pm. Another GaryCon was completed, rife with great times, some forgotten, some [REDACTED], and grand ideas for next year.

Once again, I thank everyone who assisted in my return to Wisconsin. It’s an event I will not miss and have come to appreciate far beyond my means to express. Gary gave us gamers much and GaryCon is just the smallest of ways to remember that, which I will. Besides that, I want a GaryCon exclusive d20 in 14 years to complete my set.

Charlton Lives!

Comic book characters have become big business outside of their original print form over the past few years. Marvel Comics (or, if you will, Marvel Studios) has proven that fact with their massively successful films of characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Spider-Man. While a lot of the interest may lie in that few of these characters have been portrayed in live action, it certainly brought a new focus on comic books as a moneymaking bonanza from both television and movies. Blockbusters like AVENGERS and the Batman series only solidified that point. Regular comic book fans are not unaware of the potential of these great creations; they’ve been following some of them for their entire lives. They have watched larger and larger companies swallow up their favorite heroes as the income wrought by what may be thought of as kid entertainment grows enormous. The two largest and oldest comic book companies, DC and Marvel, are owned by two of the largest entertainment houses in the country, Time/Warner and Disney, respectively. It makes a comic fan, and Connecticut resident, what would have been if the state had stayed as big a part of the comic book business as it once had been.

Once, it could be argued, that Connecticut was a reigning force in the production of the four-color magazines. (Four-color being a printing process using three primary colors of cyan, magenta and yellow, with black added as needed.) Soon after comics started hitting the newsstands in the late 1930’s, an impressive number of companies in the state jumped aboard this new cash cow, as the successes of Superman and Batman sparked off a phenomenon. Many made few, disappearing quickly. A much smaller number survived to make a heavier mark on fandom, collectors and history, with one being Derby’s own Charlton Comics.

The Charlton Comics line came about in 1946, a segment of the Charlton Publications company organized by John Santangelo, Sr. and Ed Levy around 1940 (previously known as T.W.O. Charles Co.), starting with the popular “mystery men” styled stories. From their beginning and until the early 1980’s, Charlton produced, printed and distributed comics from one massive building on Division Street, a near aberration in the comic book world, as most printing and distributing was and remains outsourced. Continuing with their belief that ‘in house’ was best, they employed their own drivers and owned their own fleet of trucks, which is unique in the annals of comic book history.

Charlton produced comic books in nearly every genre: science fiction, romance, Westerns, humor, TV and movie tie-in, horror and war. Super hero titles, such as the fondly remembered “Action Heroes” line of the mid-1960’s, were never a major center of revenue for the company and tended to be short-lived. The newsstands were extremely crowded at times, and Charlton sometimes had difficulties getting onto the racks, thereby maintaining sales. Series would end abruptly and other titles would pick up the sequential numbering from the previous title as they were excised from the line. So, a series such as CAPTAIN ATOM never had an issue numbered one, it picked up sequentially from a previous title and continued from there, then being renamed. Charlton was essentially, then and now, known for two primary concerns: speed and efficiency. They wanted their comics produced quickly and cheaply, so they spent little and kept the presses running 24/7, as an idle press made them nothing. Strangely enough, though they would never be known for their high rate of pay, they seemed to always find quality artists who would not only willingly work for them, but happily and loyally do so. It’s been said that editorial freedom allowed some of these artists to experiment, trying new techniques or styles. It may not have been noticed by readers at the time, but it is in retrospect.

Fans of Charlton Comics are an interesting breed. The company produced some very oddball comics, few of which are seen as “historically significant” i.e. the first appearance of Superman, Batman or Spider-Man. Charlton fans love the search for that rare issue that didn’t see wide distribution or sales, with a short story by their favorite artist, such as Steve Ditko or Sal Trapiani. They enjoy the difficulty in discovering high quality copies, as the comics were known for their lesser grade paper and tend not to weather the years well. There are fans that collect only the monster titles or the humor books or certain television titles they enjoy. No matter what era, what genre, what artist or writer, interest in Charlton seems to grow every year, even though the comic books were phased out of production at the plant by 1985, and with hardly any tears.

There are numerous web-based groups that are wholly Charlton-centric. Some collect every bit of Charlton oriented ephemera created, photos or news clippings. Some are active discussions with many of the surviving creators that once worked for Charlton and indeed, still live in Connecticut. One Facebook group, THE CHARLTON ARROW, has gone one step further and will be producing comic books by fans and professionals, including some of the aforementioned former Charlton artists and writers.

THE CHARLTON ARROW began as a tribute fanzine by the mysterious Fester Faceplant, whose secret identity must be kept or democracy as we know it may end. The project started “snowballing last summer and a lot of pros and fans got onboard... 'cause everyone loves Charlton, right?” says editor/publisher Mort Todd. Initially intended as a black and white magazine, Mort felt it needed more. “Fest was gonna do a black & white publication but I felt it deserved the color treatment, so I ended up taking the publishing reigns, with Fester and Roger McKenzie as co-editors with me.”

THE ARROW will be a 44 page extravaganza of talent, including well known names as John Byrne, Paul Kupperberg, Joe Staton and Batton Lash, alongside a host of artists and writers that are aficionados of Charlton Comics. All of the stories within the issue will include characters that have lapsed into Public Domain, in all new, exciting adventures. Future issues of THE ARROW plan to include characters wholly owned by their creators, as well as unpublished stores from collected Charlton archives.

“Charlton had a pretty unique vibe, more than many publishers, even the "better" ones,” says Mort. He has a point; the history of the company alone is a curiosity, not just in the annals of Connecticut business, but in pop culture. Some of the characters still exist in print, in some form, at DC Comics. The majority of the “Action Heroes” of the 1960’s were purchased from Charlton in the early 1980’s and integrated into their worlds. They’ve gone on to appear in comics and animated television shows since. It’s also well known nerd trivia that these same “Action Heroes” were the basis for the bestselling story THE WATCHMEN (serialized in comic form at DC between 1986 and ’87, collected in 1987), which was adapted for the screen and released in 2009. Charlton continued publishing certain genre comics longer than many of the other company. They held the rights to print comics on many different television shows, from Space:1999 to Emergency! to The Partridge Family, and yes, even Hee Haw. They absorbed titles and characters from defunct companies, a tradition that continues with comic book houses today. Charlton Comics seem, even now, to have that feel of the company that just about had major success in their grasp. You can’t help but want to urge them on, even 30 years after their demise.

THE CHARLTON ARROW, aiming for a bi-monthly publishing schedule, is a solid way of recalling what was while enjoying good, solid fun from the unsung characters once of a third-rate, defunct outfit from Derby. It can be obtained from Mort’s website, http://morttodd.com/charlton.html. Also coming soon from Mort Todd’s ACE Comics is a collection of Charlton's Classic Hot Rods and Racing Car Comics by Jack Kellar, shot from the original stats! See http://morttodd.com/hotrods.html for more information.

THE CHARLTON ARROW, Mort Todd and others will be part of an NPR radio and print report in the next few days. Watch for it!

The Connecticut Beer Trail

Three days in and already two of my topics regard a lovely, bottled craft that folk like me will never stray far from. What can I say, it's "Social Media Day" and I aim to draw a little attention towards a fine organization called the Connecticut Beer Trail.

Let's start simple. Many states, places, areas, counties and probably even municipalities have great focus on another fine beverage: wine. There are wine trails, literally trails of vineyards, wineries, fine wine sellers and makers in many of the aforementioned, most even stamped out on maps for the curiosity seeker or aficionado. A lot of these wine trails are funded by federal grants or state monies to assist in the possible added income from out-of-area vacationers. Basically, your tax bucks at work. Some places have gone a bit further in this idea, in that some people just Don't Like Wine. For these DLW'ers, they've created trails that are more to their liking, such as bourbon trails or candy trails or moonshine trails (well, maybe not moonshine). Then of course, is that elusive Beer Trail. Beer. The "working man's drink." I'm not sure if I subscribe to that particular description, I just know that Beer = Good.

So Connecticut has a wine trail. It shouldn't be a surprise, there are a rising amount of vineyards and wineries all across the U.S. Why then, as there is a great amount of small label beer companies, home brewers and beer lovers of all walks of life, should there not be a beer trail in the Nutmeg State? Bryon Turner thought so, going as far as to create a fantastic website for all of us beer lovers and makers, beer sellers and tappers. Over at the CT Beer Trail (http://ctbeertrail.net/) you can link in to great events, tales of woe, tales of success, brewmaking excellence, pubs with extremely good beers, fun chats and occasionally, notes regarding the State of Connecticut recognizing the CT Beer Trail as a potential draw to the state itself. Oh, revenue and the almight dollar, curse your inevitible focus on good beer! Success is a many armed beast! The beer drinking Connecticut masses will... drink with you and welcome you with open arms!

In all seriousness (with a smirk) the CT Beer Trail is a great organization with many fine points. It is good to know most of the representatives of the state agree and want to make the trail as actualized as the wine trails have become. I can heartily recommend to all fans of good beer to head on over, join up and become a trailblazer of a new type. You'll like it, have fun and probably discover a good new beer or five.

Consider this the first Public Service Message of A Leaf on the Wind. It won't be the last.