Available at DriveThruComics.com

The first thing you have to ask yourself is where this game fits on a horror-themed website. It’s a fair question, no doubt. There are two specific ways that come to my mind. First, the game uses the Mutants and Masterminds D20 variant. This means that, with a little work, you could have a group of dungeon-crawling adventurers stumble upon a cult as they summoned forth their deity-infused messiah (with Black Adam stats) or a vicious demon (with Etrigan stats). I’ll be the first to admit that those two options are a bit on the overkill side, but horror sometimes works out that way. Secondly, this volume includes tons of entries for a horror-based supers game.

The artwork for a licensed project this size had to be daunting, especially with standards set unbelievably high by games such as Evil Hat’s Dresden Files. 90% of the art came from DC’s archives and were some of the best options available. The artwork is also generous, giving the book a feel much like DC’s classic Who’s Who series. The layout kept to a simple pattern that worked well for the book. It had to deal with fifty years of back history and roughly a page per character. What exactly does a writer put into a four paragraph blurb about Batman?

Keeping that in mind, the writing was damn crisp, both entertaining and educational (I might pass a course in contemporary DC History now thanks to this read.

All in all, this is by far the kind of super hero game book I feel the market has been missing for awhile. I’m not a huge D20 fan, but the vast material put out for this line and the M&M line are just too lucrative to pass up. The story-driven angle Smallville and Marvel opted to take their systems this go around just helped make the decision easier. When it comes to roleplaying supers, I’m a fan of the old school, which is what this volume delivers.

I should point out for those hoping to buy this volume and jump right into that game that you cannot do that. These are just stats for characters (half the alphabet at that). To really get engaged into this world, it will take three books. However, it’s totally worth it.

Review by Todd Cash

Tags | green ronin