Kromlech – Wizard’s Workshop Bookshelf I

While I have a wide ranging selection of topics for this week, I don’t have a ton of hobby progress to share. Unfortunately, I’m finding the bookshelf to be a little slower and a little more tedious than I expected. The big challenge I have is I like to pick out a couple of books at a time, basecoat them and then wash them before moving on to highlights. Every time I apply a wash, I have to let it dry of course and I can’t work on the bookcase any further until that happens. That causes a fair bit of downtime and at least one night, I applied a wash and lost interest in painting which isn’t something I typically do. Fortunately, I’m pretty close to being done with the books which should make the rest of the process faster. Here’s where it stands currently.

The other reason my painting was slow is that I lost some painting time because I sold the MESBG goblins on eBay. They sold quickly and I got what I think is a pretty good price for them so that was nice. Most importantly, it seems like the buyer is happy with what they bought and how everything was shipped. While I’m still proud of the work I did on the goblins (and my persistence in getting roughly 40 of them painted up), I’m not sad to see them go. They’ve been sitting around not getting used for years and I also freed up room for more Fallout miniatures in my Citadel foam case. I still intend to change how I store my miniatures and might even use some of the money I made to that end but for now anyway, I can add anything new I paint in there and that feels like a win because for a while there, I just didn’t have room in the case for anything else which was demotivating.

Before I transition to some other topics, I did want to share a cool bust I spotted this week from FER Miniatures. There are plenty of Lovecraft-inspired miniatures out there but most busts (besides several H.P. Lovecraft ones) do not attempt to depict actual elder gods. This one does and while its a fairly busy sculpt, it does look really awesome. I’m not sure if its one I’d ever go for as it is a big project to say the least but either way, I thought some of you out there might like to see it all the same.

In less happy news, I saw that Marjane Satrapi passed away earlier this week. She wrote and drew the incredible, Persepolis, which is one of the best literary graphic novels I’ve ever read.

Satrapi and her family left Iran and Persepolis reveals what life in Iran was like in the past, why her family left, and how they adjusted to life in Europe. I haven’t read it in many years now so I can’t write a better pitch than that but I would like to read it again as it is considered one of the best modern entries in literature and deservedly so. I think I might still have a copy in my childhood home and so I’ll have to rummage around see if I can locate it when I visit later this summer. I was saddened not only that she passed away at 56 (which isn’t THAT many years older than I am) but she apparently died of a broken heart after her husband passed away a couple of years ago. I feel like some people like to romanticize when that happens with older couples and I understand why but it seems like a really sad situation all around to me. So that compelled me to mention Persepolis because it is a great read and really helps you learn a lot about Iran and its rich history. I believe that Persepolis helped inspire a wave of graphic novels since then and she can rest easy knowing that she made the world a better place with her art which is something few of us achieve.

In happier news, I read quite a few interesting comic books this week and I want to talk about two of them. The first of which is a real shock to me as I haven’t read any Star Wars comics in years and haven’t read any by Marvel that I’ve enjoyed (though I only read some of their early releases, to be fair). On Wednesday, aka New Comic Book Day, I went to my local store and saw that Marvel is doing a series of Rogue One one-shots and the first is Jyn Erso. Dark Horse did something similar for Phantom Menace which makes me nostalgic to think about and I think it is a cool way to celebrate Rogue One’s tenth anniversary (is it really that old already!?). While I can’t say I like much of Disney’s new Star Wars content, Rogue One is easily my favorite and so this was a pretty easy purchase.

The story itself is pretty straightforward since it is a single issue plot. Jyn is serving time in an imperial prison camp which seems like a work yourself to death situation not unlike the ones North Korea currently run. Some people approach her about an escape plan and things kick off from there. It is a pretty simple and satisfying story that is pretty grim. I feel like that is very fitting considering how Rogue One goes. The art is really excellent too. There are a lot of details in the background and Jyn looks a lot like Felicity Jones. So much so that I wonder if the artist uses some tracing to nail the likeness so well. This way of working is definitely controversial among comic fans but I tend to be open-minded towards it and its done really well here.

So that was a nice surprise as someone who has pretty much completely drifted away from Star Wars in recent years. I know there are a few Star Wars fans who visit here regularly so I thought I’d pass this one on, in case it piques any of your interest. The next issue will be about Saw Gerrera, who is a great choice for further exploration, just like Jyn is.

And finally, I read something else that I really enjoyed. It is what you might call a “hidden gem” as I think a lot of people will never read or know about it so I wanted to spread the word in case it inspires someone out there to check it out. The book I’m talking about is Lands Unknown: The Skinless Man by Ben Stenbeck. The Lands Unknown series is a newish one from Dark Horse Comics where people who work on Hellboy can write non-Hellboy stories about whatever they want. This is a great idea as Mike Mignola, Hellboy’s creator, can do whatever inspires him and it will probably be good. Ben Stenbeck happens to be one of the better artists that draws Hellboy and so my attention was certainly piqued when I saw this one. Truthfully, there aren’t many good fantasy comics out there in the last few years other than Conan so if you like that genre, that is a good enough reason alone to check this one out.

Based on the cover, the Skinless Man might seem like it has something in common with the Mandolorian and Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) or Lone Wolf and Cub. It turns out the Skinless Man actually isn’t a nice person at all and he wants to take the baby’s skin to make his skin less ugly as he looks like a ghoul from Fallout. The twist is that the magicians he needs to help him accomplish this task betray him and take the baby for their own nefarious ends. Thus, he has no choice but to hunt them down and try to get that baby back. In a way, the Skinless Man is pretty reminiscent of Conan in that he only acts for himself, although the Skinless Man has even worse intentions than Conan normally would. The book blends fantasy, horror, and mythology really nicely into something pretty unique. The story comes to a satisfying conclusion considering that its only two issues long as well.

The fantasy setting also reminds me of Conan in that many elements are familiar like Middle Eastern fashion and architecture but there’s also a lot of fantasy elements that make it feel distinct from our own world. The art is excellent in my opinion, especially if you like Hellboy’s art at all. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Hellboy but I would also think that fans of the Cimmerian will find a lot to like here as well.

So there you go, a couple of comics worth hunting down, if you’re so inclined!