Top 10 books, Jan through March

I've posted these occasionally, though I'd do it again for those interested.

Top Selling Books for January, 2011

1. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 2
2. Moreau-1 Files (tie); Battlescenes: Death from Below (tie)
4. Stormtroopers of the Deep
5. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 1 (tie); The Ice Palace (ICONS)
7. Crown Guard: Heroes of WWII (BASH) (tie); Battlescenes: Der Panzer Ritter
9. Battlescenes: Operation Bookbinder (tie); Battlescenes: Werewolves of the Gestapo

Top Selling Books for February, 2011

1. USHER Dossiers
2. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 2
3. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 1
4. Wargames: Heroes and Villains of the Cold War (ICONS)
5. Battlescenes: Gorilla Warfare
6. Eugenics Brigade: Villains of WWII (M&M 3e)
7. Crown Guard: Heroes of WWII (M&M 3e)
8. Moreau-1 Files Second Dispatch
9. Vigilance Force: Heroes of WWII (M&M 3e)
10. Battlescenes: Death from Below

Top Selling Books for March, 2011

1. Wargames: Heroes and Villains of the Cold War (ICONS)
2. Wargames: Copperhead Guard
3. Wargames: The Globalist
4. USHER Dossiers
5. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 2
6. Field Guide to Superheroes, Vol. 1
7. Wargames: Battle Czar
8. People's Revolution: Villains of WWII (M&M 3e)
9. Eugenics Brigade: Villains of WWII (ICONS) (tie); People's Revolution: Villains of WWII (ICONS)

So, if anyone is wondering why Vigilance Press has thrown so much support behind ICONS, well, wonder no longer.

Wargames: Death Mask (ICONS)

Wargames: Death Mask (ICONS): "Wargames: Death Mask (ICONS)"

The next in our ongoing series of Cold War themed supers for ICONS is the devious, steel-headed villain Death Mask! Death Mask (aka James Moraity) is a brilliant but twisted genius.

While posing as a legitimate businessman, he channels his billions into P.H.A.N.T.O.M., a private terrorist force that uses subtle manipulation and corruption to weaken its enemies and increase its power.

Homefront Heroes: We Can Do It!

This is my personal favorite of the Homefront Heroes art pieces. I always loved propaganda posters from WWII from an art standpoint.

Homefront Heroes: Speed Racers

More art!

Homefront Heroes: Rooftop Patrol

Coming soon from Vigilance Press: Homefront Heroes

Coming soon from Vigilance Press.

In the Golden Age of comics, most of the heroes were not actually "over there". This new book in our WWII line, written by gaming legend Steve Perrin of Runequest fame, incorporates those heroes left behind.

Though they are not in the war, there is still adventure to be had, fighting enemy saboteurs and collaborators.

They are Homefront Heroes.

Loving on Jack

And to be clear, in case you're in the midst of writing me an email, loving Stan does not mean I have any less respect for Jack.

Jack Kirby is the greatest comic artist of all time. John Byrne comes next in my book, but the gap is HUGE.

Part of what I was trying to say (probably not well) in the Stan post is that I never felt I needed to pick a side when it came to Stan and Jack.

Hating on Stan Lee

Apologies in advance for a longish, rambling non-gaming post.

This is an attitude I encounter occasionally, and it always sort of floors me when I run into it.

A lot of the dislike Stan Lee gets seems to be that he did better than many of his contemporaries. He got the money, he has lived a long life, he has become a mainstream icon and he seems genuinely HAPPY.

Especially compared to Jack Kirby, who certainly didn't get the money or the fame that would have come with comics exploding onto the mainstream like they have. Or compared to Ditko, who just seems really unhappy in a lot of ways.

For someone who doesn't have a financial interest, worrying about the deals that someone else made always seemed really silly to me. Stan should have gotten the money. So should Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, etc etc.

Just because some of them didn't get the money doesn't make Stan a bad guy cause he did.

But beyond this, where I *really* tend to get irked is people who seem to want to disparage Stan's talent. This line of argument seems to be that it was Jack, ALL JACK. I have even heard people say that Stan was "a glorified scripter".

Well, even if you are in the "all Jack" camp, someone wrote the actual words, and no one seems to think that wasn't Stan. Whoever wrote the actual words is, imo, the best comic writer of all time.

As an aside, I'd also put Roy Thomas, Chris Claremont, David Micheline, Roger Stern, Gerry Conway, Grant Morrisson and Mark Millar on the list of best comics writers ever.

I have studied Stan Lee, as a writer, and as a marketer. I think his marketing genius is profound, and he frankly tends to get more props as a marketing genius. But he is also an amazing writer and I think without Stan, our culture would be much poorer.

Vigilance Press is turning 9

Ok, so here's what we'll do:

If you'd like to help me celebrate VGP's 9th birthday, send in a supervillain, with ICONS stats and a full background.

I'll pick the winner, and commission a full color picture of the villain from Jon Gibbons.

That villain will then be featured in an upcoming Vigilance Press product, The Forever War, written by me.

If I get enough entries that I like, I might declare multiple winners and make them a villain team.

Besides being featured in the first USHER-centric adventure written by me, maybe we'll do something else for the winner, like have them as a guest on the VGP podcast.

Vigilance Press' Birthday is coming

During a conversation with a friend, in which we were talking about just how long I have anticipated technological changes, like really good e-book readers with built-in Wi-Fi, it occurred to me the other day that I've been doing this e-book thing a long, long time.

So I did some digging through my records, and it turns out Vigilance Press will be nine years old in April.

I'm actually pretty jazzed about that idea, and am trying of something to do for the anniversary more creative than a 25% off sale.

If you out there in blogland have any ideas, feel free to drop them in the comments.