Issue 281: Mr. GoMerryButtons
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If you’ve ever visited me at a convention—in particular Planet Comicon, Tremendicon, or HeroesCon, but a few others, too—there’s a good chance you met my dear friend Josh Roberts. Josh is a longtime comic book fan, a former comic retailer, a terrific writer, and one helluva guy. Whenever time and schedule allow, he joins me at comic conventions, helping me carry boxes and sell books and generally keep my sanity intact.
I call him Mr. GoMerryButtons, but he might murder anyone else who does so.
Josh has always been supportive of creators, supporting campaigns, offering encouraging words, making sure (when he was running his shop) to stock indie and self-published titles.
Often, he serves as the guest host of Whiskey and Words, having popularized the phrase, “And we all laughed like bastards!” for all attendees. He’s been focusing more and more on his own writing, and he has short stories in Swords in the Shadows and I’ll Kill You Last. He just won a convention’s short story contest and he has placed a sword and sorcery novella with a publisher for publication soon.
He is extremely knowledgeable about comics, sports, music, history, and science. He’s essentially a scientist. He is one of the co-hosts of a weekly sports radio show on 104.7 the Cave. He is a founding member of the Shakma 2000 trivia team, which would not have its name if not for Josh’s love of that baboon-on-a-rampage movie. And, yes, he missed that one musical question that one time…
It was the fucking Bauhaus, Josh!
…but we’ll forgive him just this once.
And that’s because ol’ Josh genuinely cares about people. For all his gruff and bluster, he’s empathetic and supportive of others in a natural and uncompromising way. He may not realize it, but he is a positive force in the lives of so, so many people.
He’s also the toughest guy I know.
But even the toughest of people need a little help every now and then.
In the last several weeks, Josh has been living through a nightmare scenario. His mother has been very ill. Sadly, she passed away just last night. While Josh has been caring for her, he received some frightening medical news. Josh was recently diagnosed with a highly aggressive, rapidly growing, high risk form of Prostate Cancer. This diagnosis comes after months of uncertainty and stress, but he now has a course of action mapped out.
He will be having surgery in the next couple of weeks. It will involve a couple of days in the hospital, a few days in another city, and several weeks of recovery. While he has the security of knowing his employer will hold his position for him, he is going to have to be without an income during his time off.
Cindy has set up a GoFundMe to help Josh with some of the expenses and bills during this difficult time.
Pretty much anywhere we go, someone knows and loves Josh. If you know him, if you are able, please consider supporting him in these difficult times. Times are tough for everyone right now, I know, but if we can ease his stress for a little bit, we should.
Now on to far less important matters.
It’s difficult to tell what the future holds. Now more than ever. All around me, everything is changing, mutating, metamorphosing, transmogrifying, faster and faster with every day. Sometimes in unexpected ways, sometimes in accordance with life’s natural order. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Sometimes it’s exciting, sometimes it’s terrifying.
Based on conversations this past week, though, one thing I can say for certain that the future holds is more Quill & Codex.
Quill & Codex is, for those of you who might not know, is a role-playing system that I developed a little while back. It’s quick and simple to play. It’s designed to focus on story rather than clunky rules. The Base Rules are completely free to download on the Outland Entertainment website.
This week, I spent a lot of time talking to Team Outland about what’s next in terms of Quill & Codex.
The answer is—a lot.
The core rules will continue to expand in the coming months. Monsters, spells, combat, NPCs—we have supplements for each of these topics in the works. We also have Daemonrot and several setting-specific supplements on the way.
Outland will also be releasing Weird Alchemies, a series of zines featuring art by up-and-coming illustrators, new RPG settings and ideas, and new lore that can be used in almost any game. Quill & Codex rules will be included.
I’m building something here. Quill & Codex is an imperfect system. It was always meant to be. It was intended to remind gamers of the days when they weren’t quite sure what they were doing and they just made it up as they went along. With every supplement, we’re refining and improving the game. Once we’re through the Base Game stage, the system will be ready for Outland to launch a number of games, all powered by Quill & Codex.
Speaking of role-playing games, it was announced that I’ll be writing one of the scenarios for the upcoming Diablo RPG from Glass Canon. Seems just about right. I’ve loved Diablo since the early days. I wrote the Diablo comic that is currently running. And you know I love gaming. Glass Canon is running a crowdfunding campaign for the game, and there is a pre-launch page (with a ton of information) you can join now.
I’ve been promising some new events for a while now. Here is the first of them. In late September, I’ll be attending Cursed City Con in San Antonio. I’m really looking forward to this convention. I think JimmyZ is coming with me this time around, so make sure to being copies of The Tick or Subspecies if you’re in the area.
Over on Fangoria’s website, they have posted an article on 13 Killer Slasher Comics and How to Get Started. You might notice your girl Jumpscare in the mix. There are some other fun picks on the list, too!
This one is from Josh Roberts, used at one of the past Whiskey and Words:
You receive an anonymous text that reads “Don’t forget, you’re next.”
Go!
I was out of town most of last week. I was crazy busy, so I didn’t do a lot of reading or viewing. I did play a board game called Hive Mind that I really, really enjoyed. It’s a great party game in which you are given questions and you try to match your answers with as many people as possible. It’s not the type of game I expect to enjoy, but I had a blast with it.
While traveling, I found this gem at Back in Time Comics and Toys.
The small version is the copy I’ve had on my shelf for a good long while. The large version is the book I had when I was a kid. I lost it over time but have been seeking a copy for a while. The book is part essay, part RPG. I remember playing it at the library in Goldsboro, NC. My character got killed by a puma.
Finally, this is your reminder that cinema peaked in 1987.
To this day, I think this is one of the best cold opens of all time.
Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming convention appearances, signings, and other events. Keep in mind, all appearances are subject to changes and cancellations.
September 27 - 28, 2025 - Cursed City Con, San Antonio TX
May 29 - June 1, 2026 - Tremendicon, Springfield MO
LINKTREE - Links! Links! Links! This will get you everywhere worth visiting!
PATREON - Here, I post a serialized novel, a serialized comic book, short stories, and other cool materials.
THE CULLEN BUNN DISCORD SERVER - A place for fans to hang out and talk about comics, books, movies, games, collecting, and whatever else strikes their fancy.
MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE - Listen. You should always shop at your local comic and bookstore first, but if they don’t carry the books you want, you might be able to get them here. And, if nothing else, leave some reviews of the books you love!
