Good News For HeroClix Fans?

Could the epic game of miniature comic book combat be on its way to a revival? Saveheroclix.com's Jake Theiss (also part of the producton staff of Pinata Games) made an announcement on their website on March 10th. Part of said announcement follows here:

1) We (Pinata) have reached a deal in principle with the new game company formed to purchase HeroClix. We're on-board and once their deal with Topps closes, we'll be back working fulltime on HeroClix. Whew!

The new company will staff up to support the transitioning brands, and Pinata will be one component of the new company's operations. We'll still be based out of Seattle, and we'll spend the vast majority of our time planning for and relaunching HeroClix.

2) Hammer of Thor will be the first product release post-relaunch. We're working with several vendors now to see how fast we can get it to market (without sacrificing any quality).

So basically, while a new company will have the rights to HeroClix, Pinata appears to have a deal with them in place to work on the property. And on top of that, the Hammer of Thor set is still slated to come out at some point. Later posts have asked site members what they might want from a starter set, so at the very least ideas for future sets are still being discussed/bounced around.

I'm usually the first to say I'll believe something when I read it definitively, but seeing as just a few weeks ago they couldn't say anything regarding any deals, this at least sounds like a positive sign. Even another set or two woul dbe a welcome addition to my army of tiny warriors.

Music Lives! Music Lives!

(And by 'music', I mean HeroClix... maybe... sort of.)

For the uninformed and uncaring, a brief recap. Many will remember the events of November 10th, where beloved comic book minitatures game HeroClix ceased all operations, leaving me very not happy with the state of my gaming world. Much has gone on in the past few weeks. Several former WizKids employees banded together to create a new company, Pinata Games, with the express purpose of acquiring the up for grabs rights to HeroClix. They even made a website dedicated to saving HeroClix entitled, oddly enough, Save Heroclix (and I'm sure it was har dto come up with the web address, too).

Flash forward to today, where the afforementioned website made this post referencing this announcement. Again for the link-hopping impaired and/or lazy:

Two companies that were making a play to acquire HeroClix from Topps in the wake of its WizKids shutdown (see “Topps Shuts Down WizKids”) have joined forces. Catalyst Games, which announced that it had made a bid for all of the WizKids properties (see “Catalyst Bids on WizKids Properties”) and Pinata Games, formed for the purpose of acquiring HeroClix (see “Interview with Pinata’s Jake Theis”), have formed a strategic alliance, contingent on Catalyst’s successful acquisition of the WizKids properties.

So basically, Catalyst (which by the sounds of it was in a much better position to make a bid for the property rights) has teamed up with Pinata (which by the sounds of it is in a much better position to handle the game property) and created a win/win situation. Assuming, of course, that they actually make a successful bid. But the good news here is that there are definitely people at work trying to keep the game up and running. So that should count for something.

And now, because I can, I will show you a promotional piece that someone somewhere dug up when what would be the next HeroClix set, Hammer of Thor, was first being promoted. And while I can't verify that 100 percent of the poster is technically accurate, I can verify that it most certainly should have been, as it no doubt would have sold many a case of 'Clix.

Hype Machine: Canine Heroes Edition

Now that I've dusted off the old Hype Machine, I might as well put it to good use and actually, you know, hype something of some import. Or at least of relevance to someone else.

I know a young man by the name of Rashad Doucet. He's a cool enough guy. He's sensible, funny, and a Clix compatriot (although clearly, I am the superior Clix warrior... but I digress). The important thing here is that he's an artist, a very good one in fact. And after years of practicing his craft, he has a product.

The book is entitled "My Dog is a Superhero" and is published by Artic Wolf Publishing. And while many of you will assume that's self explanatory and move on, I will indulge you and quote the product description:

Ashleigh Bryce was just you average 10 year-old fashion diva wannabe until she discovered a cute little blue dog, who turned out to be the kid hero WOLFBOY. Together the two must set aside their differences and catch evil aliens disguised as pets. In this volume: All Ashleigh wants to do is go to school, and then to a concert featuring her favorite pop-star, but along the way she and Wolfboy bump into the villainous KID SQUID, the super-fast SABER SQUIRREL, and the just plain mean FROGBOY. It just may end up being, the LONGEST DAY EVER!

Now, I haven't had the pleasure of reading said book yet, but it sounds cool enough. And hey, the guy's a pretty good artist so far as I can tell. I'm no expert, but check out a few preview pics of his book for yourself:

You can check out some more preview pics (and a bit more of Rashad's work) here in his gallery or at his webpage. My Dog is a Superhero is on sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For the more locally inclined, it apparently is also on sale at the Waldenbooks at Savannah Mall. So toss a little local support for an up and coming artist, pick up a book that looks like it might be cool to you, or just burn some cash on it because you're inexplicably inclined to do whatever I tell you. I've got a few copies on the way, and I'll no doubt be talking about the book a few more times before it's all over with (that is, after all, what good Hype Machines do).

What a Great Monday.

Sarcasm intended.

First of all, I have to go into work on my vacation day to handle something that only I can handle (ah, the joys of promotions). This ends up taking the better part of morning, and is not counting the entire day (still from my vacation time) that I'll have to spend Thursday conducting interviews.

But on top of that, after I've finally managed to unwind a little, I go to drop by the site of my favorite miniatures game HeroClix and read this. Long story short, the game's kaput. And while sales and such gives it a chance to be picked up by some other company, there's absolutely no telling what they'll decide to do with it or when, if anything.

I want to say I'm broken up about it, but I'm actually okay. Sensible people have always known that this could happen, and most can accept that the game has had a more than viable run for more years than some games can ever hope to have. Still, I can't help but feel like somewhere in the next day or so, I'm going to have one of these moments:



I better stay away from fragile objects.