There's an Erik Mona day. Shouldn't there be a James Jacobs day?
Creative Director
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Most memorable character you've ever played as well as most memorable character death (your own or any other)?
By the way, I've enjoyed your answers very much, thank you.
Shensen's my most memorable character, although Tyralandi comes close. I played Shensen a lot longer though so she wins out in the end, which is why I picked her for my character to show up in the NPC guide. (Imported into Golarion from Jason Nelson's highly homebrewed Forgotten Realms campaign.)
I think that the most memorable character death I've seen (although Mike McArtor getting killed by the same dragon three times over the course of two sessions was pretty classic) was Jason Nelson's character at the end of a Savage Tide game I was running. The PCs were all 20th level by the end, and Jason's character was fond of using time stop to do all sorts of terrible things. But when he tried the time stop trick against Demogorgon, he found out that Demogorgon had the Epic level Spell Stowaway feat, and all that time stop did was put his character an Demogorgon's character into, essentially, a steel cage match.
Demogorgon went first, and killed Jason's character with raw physical damage + Constitution damage. He then used his gate spell-like ability to open a gate to the negative material plane and kicked Jason's character's body through the gate and then closed the gate. Demogorgon then had 2 or maybe it was 3 rounds of stolen time stop to cast prep spells against the rest of the party. Good times!
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Creative Director
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Even F.A.T.A.L. players? :PDon't be a jerk to other fans of RPGs. We are all part of a niche hobby, and when we get snarky and argue and fight it does no one any good. Accept the fact that other people like other games, and learn to accept that as a benefit rather than something to get angry about.Haha, only the future will tell yeah?
If you could give one general piece of advice to new players of rpg's (any, since we are talking general here) what would that be?
Yes.
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Creative Director
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Actually, on the paladins of Asmodeus question, I was sort of getting at what happens next if a horde of gamers turn up having seen the TVtropes site expecting to be able to play Paladins of Asmodeus in the same way that in another setting some players seem to want to play drow rangers? Until it becomes the norm, something which stands out and is unusual by the conventions of a setting has a fascination for some players...
Sorry for not being clearer.
Edit:
And, congratulations, the thread with your name on it has now reached 5,000 posts.... :)
Won't happen.
Paladins of Asmodeus have one minor mention in an article in Pathfinder, and are not going to be supported by Paizo does. Comparing that to the popularity of the most popular Forgotten Realms character, who is also the main character of several New York Times Bestselling novels, is actually kind of ridiculous.
In any event, clinging to and worrying the Paladins of Asmodeus topic isn't going to do anything but annoy me, so let's just drop the whole thing, okay?
Are you excited or worried for the Green Lantern movie??
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Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
James, is there any way to erase a post from my memory once I've read it?
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James, is there any way to erase a post from my memory once I've read it?Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
What about me, I was there.
Eerrg.
What is a good cure for insomnia?If you find one, let me know!
(Fight Club doesn't do it for me... quite the opposite!)
Fight Club offers a solution to insomnia, and an outcome if you don't get some sleep.
Most memorable character you've ever played as well as most memorable character death (your own or any other)?
By the way, I've enjoyed your answers very much, thank you.
Shensen's my most memorable character, although Tyralandi comes close. I played Shensen a lot longer though so she wins out in the end, which is why I picked her for my character to show up in the NPC guide. (Imported into Golarion from Jason Nelson's highly homebrewed Forgotten Realms campaign.)
I think that the most memorable character death I've seen (although Mike McArtor getting killed by the same dragon three times over the course of two sessions was pretty classic) was Jason Nelson's character at the end of a Savage Tide game I was running. The PCs were all 20th level by the end, and Jason's character was fond of using time stop to do all sorts of terrible things. But when he tried the time stop trick against Demogorgon, he found out that Demogorgon had the Epic level Spell Stowaway feat, and all that time stop did was put his character an Demogorgon's character into, essentially, a steel cage match.
Demogorgon went first, and killed Jason's character with raw physical damage + Constitution damage. He then used his gate spell-like ability to open a gate to the negative material plane and kicked Jason's character's body through the gate and then closed the gate. Demogorgon then had 2 or maybe it was 3 rounds of stolen time stop to cast prep spells against the rest of the party. Good times!
That death story is great!
Howdy,
1) If you weren't working in the RPG industry, where would you imagine you would be working?
2) If you weren't working in the RPG industry, what would be the worst job (for you) to have?
3) If a T-Rex ninja is standing at the front door impersonating a lovely female elf and trying to get me to open up, how do I make him go away? (He's got the voice down cold and he covered the peephole in the door, but I can see his giant feet through the cat door.)
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Creative Director
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Are you excited or worried for the Green Lantern movie??
Neither. Not having grown up reading superhero comics (that time was spent instead reading horror comics like "House of Mystery" and dinosaur comics like "Turok"), I have nothing invested in the Green Lantern. I guess the best way to describe my feelings for it are curious.
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Creative Director
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Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
It is indeed weird. On the scale of wrongness, this one ranks a 6.2.
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It is indeed weird. On the scale of wrongness, this one ranks a 6.2.Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
What is this "Scale of Wrongness" and how does the rating system work?
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Creative Director
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James, is there any way to erase a post from my memory once I've read it?Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
Words go in, nightmares come out.
AKA: Nope. What's done is done. The internet is not for the squeamish. :-)
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Creative Director
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Howdy,
1) If you weren't working in the RPG industry, where would you imagine you would be working?
2) If you weren't working in the RPG industry, what would be the worst job (for you) to have?
3) If a T-Rex ninja is standing at the front door impersonating a lovely female elf and trying to get me to open up, how do I make him go away? (He's got the voice down cold and he covered the peephole in the door, but I can see his giant feet through the cat door.)
1) I would HOPE to be working as a novelist. Maybe a comic book colorist or a commercial fisherman (both jobs I did for a while back in the day... both seemed quite intriguing).
2) The worst job I ever had was the one I had right BEFORE I started working at Wizards of the Coast; that was working at an insurance company in phone support for the company's agents. AKA: Whenever an insurance agent had problems with his commission checks, they'd call my department to yell at us and we had to take it and then solve whatever problem there was. So... anything directly involving phone support where the people calling in are pre-disposed to be angry at you, I guess, would be a bad job. Although the majority of the dirty jobs on "Dirty Jobs" would also qualify.
3) Are you mad? Invite him in! Because either way... WIN!
James,
I just finished reading the Inner Sea Primer. Why isn't the World Guide out yet?? and can you make it come out any faster??
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Creative Director
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What is this "Scale of Wrongness" and how does the rating system work?It is indeed weird. On the scale of wrongness, this one ranks a 6.2.Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
The "Scale of Wrongness" is a universal scale that categorizes things as wrong or right. A "5" is neutral, no more wrong than right. As numbers edge toward 0 or 10, they become exponentially more wrong or right... A 4 is 10 times as right as a 5, while a 3 is 100 times as right, a 2 is 1,000 times as right, a 1 10,000 times as right, and a 0 100,000 times as right. And reverse in the other direction.
At a 6.2, that puts the previous example at pretty wrong, but relatively innocuous in the grand scheme of things.
Genocide would approach a 10, but wouldn't reach a 10. World peace would reach a 0, but wouldn't reach it.
Not sure what would reach a 0 or a 10, actually. Not sure I want to know, because knowing either would depress the hell out of me.
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Creative Director
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James,
I just finished reading the Inner Sea Primer. Why isn't the World Guide out yet?? and can you make it come out any faster??
It's not out yet because we're masters of underestimating how long it takes us to make things.
I've done all I can to make it come out faster. At this point, I suppose I could go find the ship it's sailing here on and personally oversee an airlift of the cargo directly from the ship to your house, but alas, I don't have a jet right now.
James,
I just finished reading the Inner Sea Primer. Why isn't the World Guide out yet?? and can you make it come out any faster??It's not out yet because we're masters of underestimating how long it takes us to make things.
I've done all I can to make it come out faster. At this point, I suppose I could go find the ship it's sailing here on and personally oversee an airlift of the cargo directly from the ship to your house, but alas, I don't have a jet right now.
Why don't you have a jet right now?? is it because your Demonic masters are too chaotic to offer much in the way of financial stability, unlike say the richness found within the vaults of Erebus??
What is this "Scale of Wrongness" and how does the rating system work?It is indeed weird. On the scale of wrongness, this one ranks a 6.2.Is it very weird and wrong when two men walk into a public bathroom together and continue their conversation through the cubicle walls as they each ‘do their thing’? Is it even weirder when the cubicle in between them is occupied by someone else?
Where does this rank on a wrongness scale with one of the guys (after the conversation has died down) beginning to sing a little ditty to himself from the (non-) privacy of his cubicle, the lyrics of which appear to be “lookin’ at my junk, my junk.”?
The "Scale of Wrongness" is a universal scale that categorizes things as wrong or right. A "5" is neutral, no more wrong than right. As numbers edge toward 0 or 10, they become exponentially more wrong or right... A 4 is 10 times as right as a 5, while a 3 is 100 times as right, a 2 is 1,000 times as right, a 1 10,000 times as right, and a 0 100,000 times as right. And reverse in the other direction.
At a 6.2, that puts the previous example at pretty wrong, but relatively innocuous in the grand scheme of things.
Genocide would approach a 10, but wouldn't reach a 10. World peace would reach a 0, but wouldn't reach it.
Not sure what would reach a 0 or a 10, actually. Not sure I want to know, because knowing either would depress the hell out of me.
How close would all of Lovecraft's stories being turned into musicals and instead of any of the horrific beings the "monsters" are instead variations of everybody's most hated purple singing "dinosaur" be to a 10??
How close would all of Lovecraft's stories being turned into musicals and instead of any of the horrific beings the "monsters" are instead variations of everybody's most hated purple singing "dinosaur" be to a 10??
Something like this?
Howdy,
[snip]3) If a T-Rex ninja is standing at the front door impersonating a lovely female elf and trying to get me to open up, how do I make him go away? (He's got the voice down cold and he covered the peephole in the door, but I can see his giant feet through the cat door.)
Reminds me of a classic SNL skit with a shark.
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How close would all of Lovecraft's stories being turned into musicals and instead of any of the horrific beings the "monsters" are instead variations of everybody's most hated purple singing "dinosaur" be to a 10??Something like this?
Haha. That's awesome. The song has been around for a few years, but I've never seen that vid before.
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Creative Director
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What is your favorite type of food? I am looking for both genre and dish. What is your favorite type of Asian cuisine?
Favorite type of food is the all-powerful sandwich.
Favorite food itself, though it can be a sandwich, can be SO MUCH MORE: Abalone.
Favorite Asian cuisine = sushi.
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Creative Director
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Why don't you have a jet right now?? is it because your Demonic masters are too chaotic to offer much in the way of financial stability, unlike say the richness found within the vaults of Erebus??James,
I just finished reading the Inner Sea Primer. Why isn't the World Guide out yet?? and can you make it come out any faster??It's not out yet because we're masters of underestimating how long it takes us to make things.
I've done all I can to make it come out faster. At this point, I suppose I could go find the ship it's sailing here on and personally oversee an airlift of the cargo directly from the ship to your house, but alas, I don't have a jet right now.
The last three jets I had were all eaten by monsters (mega shark, the Flying Claw, and langoliers, in that order). My fourth jet's still being built, and it won't be ready, alas, until some time after the Inner Sea World Guide ships out.
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My favorite TV Sci-fi setting is Lost.
James, I am a huge fan of Lost and have some questions for you about what you think about the show:
Favorite character(s)?
Any general thoughts/opinions/reactions to the finale? I know some were quite disappointed but I thought it was a satisying end to the series.
Which season(s) is/are your favorite? Any particular episodes you're fond of?
Is it just me, or did you get the feeling the show was going one direction during the first three seasons (my favorites, but I enjoy them all in different ways) and then sort of changed gears fundamentally for the final three? I just get a sense that setting an end date for the show, combined with the writer's strike in Season 4 led them to adjust heavily on the fly and that meant some storylines and themes they were working on had to get short shrift as a result.
It's not a criticism, I'm fascinated by the process the writers and producers of that show went through every single season, but I wonder how that compares to the development of Adventure Paths at Paizo? Are you guys ever surpised at the route you take over the course of six modules to get to the ending that was envisioned? I know the creators of Lost always got a lot of lack for "making it up as they went along" but to me it's simply an organic, creative process that is sort of misunderstood by many.
Why don't you have a jet right now?? is it because your Demonic masters are too chaotic to offer much in the way of financial stability, unlike say the richness found within the vaults of Erebus??The last three jets I had were all eaten by monsters (mega shark, the Flying Claw, and langoliers, in that order). My fourth jet's still being built, and it won't be ready, alas, until some time after the Inner Sea World Guide ships out.
{watches a bunch of stuck-up time-traveling angels "appropriate" Jacobslon 4 to stop the Shado-, er, Zon-Kuthon} Looks like it's time to draw up plans for #5.
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Creative Director
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Favorite character(s)?
The fact that I'm having a hard time just picking one or two characters as favorites is telling... there's SO many cool characters on the show to choose from. Overall though, probably Ben Linus.
Any general thoughts/opinions/reactions to the finale? I know some were quite disappointed but I thought it was a satisying end to the series.
I was quite satisfied with the end. VERY compelling final shot for the show, and it wrapped up the major story arc in a satisfying way. Did it leave some stuff unanswered? Sure. But one of my favorite parts about the show was trying to figure it out. The fact that they didn't explain everything means that I can still entertain my own theories as to what was going on. It wasn't the BEST series end to a show I've ever seen (that honor goes to "Six Feet Under" I think), but it was certainly satisfying.
Which season(s) is/are your favorite? Any particular episodes you're fond of?
That's also a hard one to nail down, but I think MAYBE it was season 4, when things really started to pick up with the story. That said, I was also pretty fond of season 2, which had some really cool stuff going on with the further exploration of the island and what lies below it. My favorite episode is probably the one where...
Is it just me, or did you get the feeling the show was going one direction during the first three seasons (my favorites, but I enjoy them all in different ways) and then sort of changed gears fundamentally for the final three? I just get a sense that setting an end date for the show, combined with the writer's strike in Season 4 led them to adjust heavily on the fly and that meant some storylines and themes they were working on had to get short shrift as a result.
It's not a criticism, I'm fascinated by the process the writers and producers of that show went through every single season, but I wonder how that compares to the development of Adventure Paths at Paizo? Are you guys ever surpised at the route you take over the course of six modules to get to the ending that was envisioned? I know the creators of Lost always got a lot of lack for "making it up as they went along" but to me it's simply an organic, creative process that is sort of misunderstood by many.
Nah, I think the show had a pretty good idea of where it was going. I mean, from the very first few episodes, we had themes introduced that would play key roles throguhout the series. I think that the fact that the creators of the show had no real idea as to how long they'd have to play out their story was the main problem; could be one season, could be a dozen. The reason that it might have seemed like it changed focus at around Season 4 was, I suspect, because that's when the creators had an end date. They knew how many seasons they had, and by extension exactly how many episodes they had, and thus they had a focus point to keep things rolling. Had they known exactly how many seasons they had to tell their story from the first episode, I suspect that shift would not have been as noticeable. The writer's strike certainly had an effect as well, I suppose, but it was knowing how much time they had that really set things in motion.
The differences between shows written for TV (especially NETWORK TV) and adventures written for a Paizo AP are many, but a key one is that when we create an adventure path, we KNOW how many books we have to tell the story. We know down to the number of WORDS how long we have to tell the story. The creators of lost didn't know the analogous information until halfway through their story.
Creating a multi-part storyline like an AP or a TV show without knowing how long you have to TELL the story has to be fantastically, mind-numbingly stressful. The only way to do it without going crazy and still keep things cool, I suspect, is to have a story that you can end at the drop of a hat. That's actually the mindset I took on the last half of Savage Tide, since I knew that, although WotC had said they'd give us until issue #150 to finish the AP naturally, they could have ended it arbitrarily whenever they wanted. So for the last half of that AP, I had about 5 or 6 different endings in mind, depending on what the final issue of Dungeon actually ended up being. It wasn't very fun.
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Creative Director
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What are your top ten movies of all time? They can be any genre.
1: Alien
2: John Carpenter's The Thing3: Halloween
4: Jaws
5: Seven Samurai
6: Lord of the Rings
7: The Exorcist
8: Godzilla (1954)
9: Cloverfield
10: Psycho
And although you didn't ask for them... the next 10 as well:
11: Yojimbo
12: Pulp Fiction
13: The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
14: Lilo & Stitch
15: Schindler's List
16: Jurassic Park
17: King Kong (1933)
18: Tarantula
19: The Blair Witch Project
20: Dawn of the Dead (1978)
And then here's the next 10...
21: Conan the Barbarian
22: Big Trouble in Little China
23: Ran
24: Audition
25: Re-Animator
26: Gangs of New York
27: Valley of Gwangi
28: Evil Dead II
29: Aliens
30: Aguirre: The Wrath of God
I could go on until 100, but I'd worry about leaving out number 101...
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Favorite character(s)?The fact that I'm having a hard time just picking one or two characters as favorites is telling... there's SO many cool characters on the show to choose from. Overall though, probably Ben Linus.
Ben wasn't my favorite, but he was certainly one of the most interesting characters on the show.
Who was you least favorite character?
Are you excited or worried for the Green Lantern movie??Neither. Not having grown up reading superhero comics (that time was spent instead reading horror comics like "House of Mystery" and dinosaur comics like "Turok"), I have nothing invested in the Green Lantern. I guess the best way to describe my feelings for it are curious.
Sweet! Have you ever read the Nextwave series from marvel? it's written by warren elis and has a talking T-Rex in it (which is the only reason i'm asking/telling you about it).
What's your five favourite faery-tales?
Five favourite myths?
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Creative Director
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Favorite character(s)?The fact that I'm having a hard time just picking one or two characters as favorites is telling... there's SO many cool characters on the show to choose from. Overall though, probably Ben Linus.Ben wasn't my favorite, but he was certainly one of the most interesting characters on the show.
Who was you least favorite character?
** spoiler omitted **
John Locke was probably my third favorite character... maybe my second favorite, but it helps that I've been a fan of Terry O'Quinn for a while now, and it was cool to see him get such a key, meaty role in the show.
My least favorite character? Hmmm... that's a tough one, but probably Paulo.
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Creative Director
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Speaking of Lost, and given the obvious Lost influence on the first instalment of the Serpent’s Skull AP, is the dude depicted on the cover of Vaults of Madness (Aspis faction leader I think) supposed to resemble a skinnier John Locke?
Not on purpose. The artist might have decided to make the character look like Locke, but we didn't order the art that way.
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Creative Director
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Sweet! Have you ever read the Nextwave series from marvel? it's written by warren elis and has a talking T-Rex in it (which is the only reason i'm asking/telling you about it).Are you excited or worried for the Green Lantern movie??Neither. Not having grown up reading superhero comics (that time was spent instead reading horror comics like "House of Mystery" and dinosaur comics like "Turok"), I have nothing invested in the Green Lantern. I guess the best way to describe my feelings for it are curious.
Nope... never read it. Barely even heard of it.