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My friend Joe the Lawyer and I are having a live discussion about the Northern Marches, along with other OSR and RPG topics, tomorrow, Sunday at 5 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

I hope you will join us. Feel free to ask Joe and me questions during the livestream. If you are unable to make it, post your questions in the comments on the post or video, and I will try to answer them.

Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms the Northern Marches

 Integrating the sprawling, chaotic, and infamously lethal mega-mansion Tegal Manor into Hyperborea requires shifting it from a traditional funhouse dungeon into a surreal cosmic horror anomaly.In this adaptation, Tegal Manor is an ancient, shifting megalith built over a localized tear in reality. It doesn't just house ghosts; it drifts across space, time, and the bizarre alien dimensions Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

I have been fighting the world’s worst case of startitis for a couple of weeks now. At least a couple of times a day I find myself wandering over to the ball winder and swift, sometimes even with yarn in my hands. I’ll think to myself that all of my problems would be solved if I just cast on a new project… a fun project, a fast project, a project that’s going to be different than all my other projects and then I’ll suddenly snap to my senses and plunk the yarn down on the piano near the swift and exercise every ounce of self discipline I’ve managed to grow in my life and walk away. (There is getting to be quite a pile there now.) The canopy of the stash – that uppermost layer that is made up of recently bought yarn or yarn that’s surfaced from the depths because I think I’m going to use it soon… that layer is no longer just the icing on a yarn pile or the garnish on a shelf of stuff. I’ve rootled through it like a wild pig hunting truffles so many times looking for the exact yarn for the perfect project so many times that it’s like someone took a giant shaker full of yarn and sprinkled it round the place. It is yarn chaos.

There are two skeins of yarn on my desk, waiting to be a Ranunculus because I saw the one that Ann knit in a yarn that I just happened to have the yarn for, plus Ann said it was fast and I thought “Oh I bet it is” and the next thing you know I’ve got the yarn in my hands and I’m drifting to the winder again. The next day someone complimented a yellow top that I made a while back and I remembered I had some grey (and blue) and could make another one (or two) of those. That yarn’s on the piano. (The blue is in a basket by the tv.) There’s sock yarn everywhere, stationed around the house like I’m throwing a party and they’re the canapes. There’s a sweater’s worth in a bag by the back door. Yay verily I have even ordered more yarn in a desperate attempt to scratch the itch, and as I type there’s a rainbow themed project sitting right beside my laptop and I was just telling myself that it would be stupid not to start (and finish) that right now because it is Pride, after all. If not now, when?

Now, normally I don’t fight back this much. The urge comes over me to start something new and I go with it. It’s not a moral victory to control that urge, it’s not like I believe that good people are monogamous knitters and bad people are… me. Knitting is my passion and it makes me happy and if I can’t indulge in it whenever and however I want then what’s the point? It’s supposed to be fun. Cast on whatever you want. Do it. Do it now. So.. why am I resisting?

Meet the two projects I’ve promised myself that I’ll finish before I start anything new. This here? That’s Elliot’s Birthday sweater. Yeah, yeah his birthday is in early April. Usually if i wasn’t feeling a project I’d set it aside, come back to it later – but Elliot’s asked after this sweater, sweetly inquiring if I’d finished it yet and that sort of affection for knitwear should be rewarded. We’re trying to build a certain kind of person, one with a respect for the textile arts and if the kid wants a sweater, I believe that the grandmother code dictates that I have to knit one – and before he outgrows it while it’s still on the needles.

The thing is… I hate it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the yarn (Double Sunday) and it’s a hoodie with a dragon on it so I really dig the idea of the finished sweater too, but I am so not grooving on the intarsia that it’s been sitting in a bag forever. When I started it was like it always is with a new love and everything that is intolerable now was charming then. The pattern’s only in french? J’adore. Fantastique. I’ve been meaning to practice anyway. Who needs Duolingo when you can knit in french? There will be a million ends? No problem, why else am I on earth but for that? Time wore on, the back flew and then the dragon got me. I started setting it aside for longer and longer periods and the more I did that the more complicated it seemed to pick it back up and spend three minutes figuring out where I was. Anyway- last week Elliot asked if I was almost done and the guilt washed over me like a wave. (Especially since I’ve just finished a sweater for me.) I’m done the front and back, I just have to visit Sleeve Island and wander the wastes of Hood Holm.

It’s better than dealing with this – the argyle socks that were supposed to be my May SISC pair have made little progress. (See the way I blame them there? Like they’re the ones who don’t have it together?) These were started promptly after the dragon sweater even though I had already started to remember that I don’t love intarsia, never mind intarsia in the round which is a complete pain in the arse. I’ve restarted these three times and I’m not any happier with them. I know now it’s that I’m using the wrong yarn – this is a vintage Shibui sock yarn from … oh, 20 years ago? At the time of the purchase I remember wondering sort of absently if I’d like a superwash 2-ply for socks and it turns out that suspicion was valid. I don’t like it at all, but I feel like I’ve made a commitment to these socks. I’d like to say that I’m no quitter but I sort of am, especially when it’s something as unimportant as whether or not I finish a pair of socks but somehow I’ve decided that this is a hill I’ll die on. Not only are they not finished, I’ve let them derail my June socks as well, since I was supposed start those when these were finished and well. You see where we are. I blame the yarn and the knowledge that this is what happens when you’re not true to yourself. I knew how I feel about superwash 2-ply for colourwork. I (mostly) remembered how I feel about intarsia. I dwell now in the land of regret, but I’m going to dig myself out. Soon. Right now I’m leaving now to go ride my bike 100km (I am behind on training for the Bike Rally) and I’ll write about Team Knit in the next few days (I am behind on that too.) If you were contemplating a donation today would be a great day for that.

By Stephen Green
Moonwhisper Magic
OSE
Level ... 3?

The world is shattered, the wizards are gone, and the sea swallows the ruins of their age. Scattered across the waves lie the broken islands of a forgotten empire places of fire, frost, and ancient magic. Among them stands the Isle of Ruk, a frontier of black sands, steaming jungles, and secrets buried beneath volcanic stone. […]  The wizards are dead. Their secrets are not.

This 64 page adventure uses about seven pages to describe about fifty encounters in two dungeon on an island, with all of the supporting pages being abstracted worldbuilding. There’s a whole lot of generalizations and could be’s in here with actual encounters and locations that don’t come close to realizing the designers vision, I suspect. 

This is an island with a couple of towns on it, a barrow field with sixteen locations, and a three level dungeon with about 45 or so rooms. With got this world where WIZARDS fucked up, they are all gone now but the world is blanketed in ice except for these volcanos around that keep things warm. A pretty decent number of pages is used to describe all of this, although it plays little to no import on the adventure. It’s just an island with a couple of towns and a couple of adventuring locations. The ice and volcano doesn’t really come through much. There is a volcano/volcano cultists/fire spirits, especially in the main dungeon, but that theming is still not really present at all.

The main town is described in a somewhat interesting way, at least in the keys for it. “1. Church of Foki has a large cauldron and offers free food for all.” That’s the first line for the temple location, in bold, as a kind of a location header. It’s an interesting way to embed the crux of the location in to the key title, allowing you to know immediately what the main thrust of it is. There’s a related concept with dungeon keys that I sometimes talk about, where instead of “11.” or “11. Bedroom” you put something like “11. Mildewed Victorian Bedroom.” In that instance you are framing the room encounter, preloading the DMs mind, so they interpret what is to come in the description with a “Mildewed Victorian Bedroom” mindset. It’s not exactly consistently used in the town descriptions, but it is present in places and does a great job when it is present.

The rest of the adventure is much murkier in its descriptions. 

There’s this abstraction going on, a bit different than other abstractions I generally see. It’s written almost like a regional guide that introduces mysteries without explanation. This is pretty consistent in the overviews of the various areas, which do seem to take up the bulk of the adventure. It comes off with a hefty lean to the purple side of the spectrum. “Thin wisps of yellow smoke coil lazily from the darkness within, carrying the acrid tang of sulphur and old fire. The mountain air snatches them, pulling them apart and scattering their scent into the breeze, but the trace remains a lingering reminder of whatever festers in the depths beyond.” That whole last sentence, with the snatching and scattering and festering in the depths beyond. It’s clearly going for inspiration for the DM, but there is FAR too much of it, especially considering the depths beyond don’t really live up to the concepts introduced. It certainly feels like the bulk of the adventure is made of these general overarching theme writing sections that meet more novelization rather than turning in to something concrete. 

This can then be contrasted with the actual location descriptions in the adventuring sites. “3.7 Firedrake (1) has made its lair here.” That’s not much of a description, eh, for a festering depth? Or, for another one “Black stone walls. In the middle of the room is an ancient ashy corpse. A Shadow (1) preys on adventurers.” A little more to this, but still not really living up, I think, to the vision the designer had in their minds when putting this down to paper. 

And then there are a few out of place things present. One room on the second level has a table and two chairs and a wardrobe in it. And a sad eyed bard sitting at the table drinking. Uh … there are fire spirits. Fire cultists. Gomens. Shadows. And dude is just sitting there in his cups? A dungeon population table can help inspire us to encounters but it does needs to be placed in context. Lost his party? Just hanging out for funsies? Refuge from a cult? The framing here, or complete lack of it besides him drinking in a room with a wardrobe, just is out of place. Minimal keying would have the DM making things up, as they would if populating from a table. A word of two of context would allow the DM to riff. I’m not really sure what to make of something so seemingly out of place. “Uh, there are a bunch of civvies on level eight of the balrogs lair having a format dance? Uh …”

There’s just this disconnect. The page count is devoted to the world and generalized framing that is leaning purple while the actual dungeon keys are less than thrilling in the capacity they serve. The vision presented in the world building never really comes to pass.

This is $5 at DriveThru. The preview is four pages and doesn’t really show you anything, just a brief overview, this is what an RPG is type of things. We need some meat in a preview to understand if the product is right for us.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/568698/dungeon-module-isle-of-ruk?1892600

 At 3rd level, the Techno’s calibration capacity transitions from utility gadgets and personal defenses into heavy military ordnance. These schematics consume significant power and thermal cooling capacity, essentially turning the Techno into a walking heavy-weapons platform. This blog post picks right up from Integrating Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) with the legendary,Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – Daily Straits, 2026 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

The Abraxad Academy of Magic is the oldest institute of arcane study on the continent of Parsulan. Nestled within the protective boundary of the Weird Wood, the magi of Abraxad preserve magical traditions from the Age of High Magic and work to expand the bounds of traditional magic without resorting to magitechnology as has taken of the instruction at other institutions. "Magic is Art, not Engineering," the faculty proclaim with pride.

The Academy is entwined with the city of Abraxad, a municipality that is home to a number of former graduates, and practitioners of allied arts, as well as the typical artisans and workers found in any thriving town. Relations between the Academy and the townsfolk has never been better, owing to the unique structure of governance that unites the needs of both Academy and city under a central authority. Though historically there may have been tensions, students of the modern era are always welcome in local establishments.

Each student will join one of the Academy's seven colleges which are smaller academic communities within the larger whole where they will learn the fundamentals of magical practice and begin advancement within a particular school of magic. Each college has its distinct traditions and history of which new students will become forever a part. 

No discussion of the school would be complete without mention of the Archmagus, Verraine has presided over the school longer than many of its magi have been alive. Though none would be so rude as the enquire regarding the Archmagus's actual age, the older townsfolk are fond of pointing out fading wall mural in the over 300 year-old One-Eyed Grimalkin Tavern depicts an elvish woman who broadly resembles the Archmagus assisting in driving out a Fomori raiding party at the end of the Demon War.

 Here is a comprehensive D100 random space encounters table tailored for the Cepheus Engine (and classic 2D6 sci-fi roleplaying).To keep this massive table highly scannable and practical for a Referee mid-session, it is broken down into thematic categories by roll.D100 Space Encounters Table01–15: Commercial & Civilian VesselsRollEncounterDetails & Referee Hooks01–03Subsidized Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – Doctor Who: Multi-Doctor Adventures, 2026 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

The Ridgeline Stripes Crochet Cowl Tutorial walks you through every step of creating this gorgeous neckwarmer in two different styles! Whether you prefer a simple circle or the trendy bandana style, you can crochet along with the right and left-handed video tutorials below! Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. Be sure to scroll down past […]

The post Ridgeline Stripes Crochet Cowl Tutorial appeared first on moogly. Please visit www.mooglyblog.com for this post.

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Circuit Breaker begins! Osgood is Calling the Doctor and about to get a shock and a very different Time Lord responds Today is the day! The first chapter of Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker is now LIVE, launching a connected Doctor Who story that will unfold across audio, publishing, comics, gaming and digital platforms throughout the summer. The adventure begins on the UNIT website with Calling the Doctor, written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson. Circuit Breaker follows Osgood (Ingrid Oliver) and Andrew (Omari Douglas) as a mysterious threat emerges from UNIT’s Black Archive, leading them to seek help from the Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin). Future chapters will continue across Titan Comics, Doctor Who Magazine, BBC Audiobooks, East Side Games, Puffin, BBC Books and Big Finish. Circuit Breaker can be followed via the Doctor Who website, the official Doctor Who channels and The Whoniverse Show. Here is the full release schedule for the rest of Circuit Breaker:

• 8 July: Adversary of the Daleks – Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
• 23 July: The Honourable Society – Doctor Who Magazine issue 632, written by Jason Quinn and illustrated by Anthony Williams
• 30 July: The Deadliest Weapon – BBC Audiobooks Audio Original written by Steve Lyons, narrated by Jo Martin with David Banks as the Cyber-Leader
• 4 August: Dawn of the Daleks –Titan Comics, written by Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters, with stunning art from Roberta Ingranata and Sami Kivelä
• 6 August: Castling – East Side Games written by Mario Mentasti
• 17 August: Don’t Blink! – UNIT website written by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
• 20 August: The Doctor and the Three Witches – Puffin book written by Janelle McCurdy
• 27 August: Moment Mori – East Side Games written by Mario Mentasti
• 31 August: The Black Archive Files – Circuit Breaker DVD release
• 3 September: The Kaleidoscope – Penguin Random House book by Jo Martin, published by BBC Books
• 22 September: Full Circuit – Big Finish audio story written by Robert Valentine
• 24 September: Short Circuits – Two Big Finish audio short stories including: Battleships by Alex Hewitt and Get Rich or Die Trying by Alex Hewitt, from a story by Natasha Siegel

 

Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #1. Art by Jay Anacleto (c) Titan Comics Circuit Breaker continues with Adversary of the Daleks, from Titan Comics on the 8th of July

The post Calling the Doctor! The new Doctor Who Epic Begins appeared first on Blogtor Who.

MooglyCAL2026 Block 13 marks the start of the second half of this year's crochet along! Kelly Baum-Sehon of Cocky Crocheter has designed the smooth, sleek T.G.I. Phi-Day Square with simple stitches and a mathematically minimalist result. Get all the details for this free crochet along, and the free pattern link below! Disclaimer: This post includes […]

The post MooglyCAL2026 Block 13 appeared first on moogly. Please visit www.mooglyblog.com for this post.

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 While the Upper Bastion houses the military frontlines and the Lower Caverns hold the wild, subterranean wilderness, the Caverns of Quasqueton feature several isolated, deeply atmospheric sub-locales. This literally picks right up from Meditations on the classic In Search of the Unknown (Module B1, written by Mike Carr in 1978) module Adapted To OSR Rpg systems especially The Needleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11243274667834930867noreply@blogger.com0

The post Video of the Day – The Chase, 2026 appeared first on Blogtor Who.

I have written about Psi*Run before. My most detailed description of it can be found here from 2018. It is my favorite one-session pick-up game.

I originally discovered it as an Ashcan edition that I played at Gen Con back in 2007, and it completely fascinated me. I have run it with my regular weekly group more than once and brought it to the Puerto Rico Role Players Geeknics a few times as well.

The core idea, psychics (or supers, if you prefer) waking up after an accident with amnesia, running to escape from their captors while exploring their powers, and trying to piece together their past, is incredibly compelling. I have run it in a modern city, in a steampunk setting, right here in Puerto Rico, and even on a spaceship! I love the concept and the system. Honestly, I am sincerely surprised I haven’t run it more.

Now, there is a Kickstarter campaign for a 2nd Edition! Check out the campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1179631078/psirun-second-edition

According to the campaign page, here is a breakdown of what to expect:

What’s Changing?

The focus for this edition is on refinement rather than a complete overhaul. The creator is taking 15 years of play feedback to heart, specifically focusing on:

• Clarified Rules: The text is getting an expansion to answer common questions and address the edge cases that have popped up over the last decade and a half.
• Polished Mechanics: Expect some tightening of the existing systems. The core “Otherkind” dice pool, where you balance your goals, your memories, and the encroaching danger, remains the engine. You are still rolling that handful of dice and making those classic, agonizing decisions on the Risk Sheet. You can read about the “Otherkind” dice poll rules here.
• New Visuals: The aesthetic is getting completely refreshed with all-new art and cartography.

Sketch by  Jabari Weathers shared on the Kickstarter page.

The Stretch Goals

The campaign is also looking to expand the game’s utility, particularly for modern play. If they hit their higher funding targets, there will be a write-up for playing Psi*Run online. Specifically, it will feature an experimental format designed for social media platforms like Bluesky, where you play the Runner while others take on the role of the world around you. I would absolutely love to see this in action.

I am already a backer and wholeheartedly recommend this game. Go check it out!

Happy late June, all! Summer is officially underway, and it's time for another Crochet and Catch Up with Moogly. We'll chat about all the crochet goodness on Moogly, from new patterns and projects to upcoming events and favorite finds. I'll be live on YouTube and Facebook, sharing updates, answering questions, and showing off a few […]

The post Crochet and Catch Up with Moogly - June 24, 2026 appeared first on moogly. Please visit www.mooglyblog.com for this post.

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By Matt Gullett
The Long Con Press
OSR
Levels 1-2

The adventure starts in the rough-and-tumble port city of Warrenburg during the revels surrounding the imminent hanging of a notorious pirate. The Player characters are enlisted to explore the enigmatic cave system some locals refer to as the Caverns of the Dead god.

This 28 page adventure uses about thirteen pages to describe a cave/dungeon full of cultists who just LUV insects. It’s heart is in the right place with a decent amount of interactivity beyond stabbing, supported by a some weirdness and some good use of language in places. It’s lacking just a little in the setup vibe, but the major pitfall is layout nd the need for a HARD edit to bring the rooms in to better focus. Your highlighter is going to go a LONG way with this one.

First off, while listed as OSR, this is clearly a DCC adventure, down to Luck and other terminology. That’s not such a high hurdle, and I used to review many a DCC adventure before finding them a little linear. There’s nothing inherently linear in DCC though, and its nice to see a more traditional crawl trying to cross game system boundaries. 

The setup here has some interesting qualities. We’ve got a town of 3,000 people which has swelled to 4,000 for some festivities: an infamous pirate is about to be hanged. At the same time a group of teenagers has gone missing, including the son of a local magistrate. Did I fail to mention the new priests in town who are giving out food and items to the poor? The swelling of the towns population gives a decent enough pretext to why the town isnt looking for the teens; a riff on the old “the kings armies are engaged with a neighboring kingdom” thing. The hanging and town swell offer a nice slice of life to the adventure and are great examples of specificity leading to things that the DM can riff on to add local colour. The hooks, or perhaps “quest givers”, also have a decent mix, from the magistrate to the sheriff to a do-gooder to a local worried that HE’LL be blamed if the kids show up dead. A nice mix of chaos and town “factions” I guess you could call them. Beyond the verbosity of the town/background section, my only complaint here is the lack of a few more specific situations for the DM to riff on during play. Hirelings and rumours are well covered, but a few street scenes would have gone a long way to helping reinforce the chaos of the town swell, the jubilant and chaotic atmosphere of the hanging, etc. 

The caves are a relatively simple affair, in a mostly star layout on the map. Nice use of things on the map to lend information, like curtains and statues and the like, but noting lights and sounds on the map, as well as creatures, would save me the trouble of having to note them myself. Entry is through a hole with a rope, always a personal favorite of mine. Unrealistic, but fun! This also seems like a good place to note that the cultists inside don’t really have an order of battle. There is a general note that they will prepare for return expeditions and set traps, but nothing more beyond that. 

Interactivity inside is decent. We’ve got status and curtains and porculii to mess with. There’s a spinning gizmo, like a gem, in one room, and a smokey archway in another. Riddles are present, which are NOT a favorite of mine; I like my riddles a little more engrained into the adventure and more subtle than the old say the answer thing. But there’s no question it’s a classical element. Also present is a gem inside of a skull … that you feel a certain compulsion to swallow. I think the last time I saw a swallowed magic gem was in, what, Dungeon of the Bear? Wonderfully non-standard! You do get your fair share of stabbing here, cultists and bugs, but this leans heavy in to the non-standard OD&D vibe. I wouldn’t want to say it goes too far down that path, but there is a sense of wonder here and there that I generally only get from those OD&D centered adventures. 

Language use is generally good as well. It’s hidden, sometimes, in the verbosity of the entries, but you do really get the sense that a scene has been painted and/or situations have been brought to life. In one room, were you find captives, “The door here is barred. This darkened cavern reeks of the eye-watering smell of filth. A dozen gaunt, reeking individuals huddle here, shielding their eyes from your light as you fight back the urge to gag.” (There’s no real read-aloud here, in spite of the use of the word “you” in a couple of places. I’ll forgive it as poetic license.) The cavern REEKs. Eye-watering. Gaunt. Huddled. And then, with one of them, “wet, rattling breaths speak of imminent death.” Just a couple of words to really bring home an awful situation. The usual “captive are here” is done more with, and then a situation is introduced, tersely, and not elaborated upon. This is what specificity buys you. Not only a great mental image but also one that you can then riff on as a DM. And this is not a cherry picked example, the use of language can be startlingly good in many of the areas.

But I’m not going to recommend this. It’s because of the layout, formatting and editing. I want to give you a mental image. Imagine a full page of text that is all center justified. So you have both a wall of text issue and the center justified issue to contend with. Now, this is NOT what the adventure layout is doing, but I think it’s the closest mental image I can describe that relates to the issues. This is all a single column, which of course contributes to the issue. When a paragraph is a sentence or so long and it ends a word or three in to the newline then you get this weird effect that almost mirrors a center justify. Especially when combined with a CRIMINAL lack of blank lines to help separate thoughts and sections. Almost a complete lack of bolding, or other elements to help orient the reader and help them locate information. And then a certain verbosity. It’s not appears to be, or room histories or motivations or anything like that, except it is all of them, and more, contributing line after line in very small ways. Things that build up, word after word and sentence after sentence, combined with the lack of formatting and single column. 

This needs a REALLY hard edit to focus in without losing the specificity and vibrancy hinted at, combined with some small efforts in formatting, bolding, white space and so on to call out aspects of the rooms, combined with nearly ANY other layout style. Were that done this would be a pretty decent adventure. As if, though, you’re gonna need a box of highlighters. 

I am hopeful. The interactivity is decent and the language use, what I think is the hardest aspect of writing, is good. Layout and formatting and ruthless editing can be learned easily enough.

This is $9 at DriveThru. Alas, there is no preview. A good preview of a dungeon room or two gives potential buyers a chance to judge the adventure for themselves before purchasing.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/566897/caverns-of-the-dead-god?1892600

I'm reading DC Comics' output from January 1980 (cover date) to the end of Crisis! This week, I read the comics on sale on June 27, 1985.

Detective Comics #554: The cover by Janson actually goes with the backup story by Cavalieri and Moore/Patterson. It proclaims this is the debut of the new Black Canary costume "the first time anywhere," but as I've mentioned is this series, it has appeared in both Who's Who and Crisis prior to this.  
Following the events of last issue, Black Canary searches for the reason she froze in the battle with Bonfire and comes to believe it was imprinted memories of her mother's fear when she fought a villain named Pyra. Deciding that the only way conquer her fear is to break with the past, Dinah designs a new Black Canary costume for herself, then goes out looking for Bonfire. After a difficult battle she defeats the villain with her canary cry--something her mother couldn't do. She and the late-arriving Green Arrow take Bonfire into custody and discover the fire marshal Ollie was sure was corrupt was doing his job all along.
The main story is an unexceptional but well-crafted action/crime piece by Moench and Janson. Batman, Robin, and Bullock team-up to deal with an ocean liner from Sicily that is being held in Gotham Harbor under suspicion of smuggling. Forces on the liner are trying to get the police cordon opened with a scuba diver with a bomb. Batman and friends win the day, and it's discovered the whole plot was for nothing. The plan was not to smuggle anything in but to smuggle a person out--a person ordered deported on that ocean liner.
We also see an ad in this issue for Outsiders that explains that that group will be getting the same treatment as the Teen Titans and the Legion and receiving a direct market book on better paper, too. No mention of why Batman is no longer in the title, though.

Action Comics #571: Great cover by Bolland for a mediocre issue. The editorial note at the beginning of this story by Maggin and Saviuk/Hunt helpfully tells us that this story takes place before the "Clark Kent--Fired" storyline appearing in Superman. It starts by paralleling a robotic alien scientist on another world with an Earth genius, both of whom are attempting a breakthrough to benefit their people. The robot scientist winds up coming to Earth to find an essential element to save his people, and it turns out to be in the formula the other scientist invented. Meanwhile, the Earth scientist is embittered by her perception that she was snubbed for the Nobel Prize and winds up causing havoc. There's also a subplot about a robot appearing on TV to fill-in for Clark Kent which is where the cover comes from.

Ambush Bug #4: Giffen, Fleming, and Oksner bring this series to an end with some goofing on Thriller facilitated by an appearance by Scabbard. When Scabbard storms off, embarrassed to have been in the wrong book, the creative team is forced to improvise, giving us some one-page gags. Then, we get a second story, one of the most amusing in the series, where Ambush Bug must face the villainous singlet sock in a metal mask, Argh!yle. Finally, Ambush Bug gets his long-promised confrontation with Darkseid--an inflatable Darkseid that he just deflates. 
Rereading the series, I think it holds up today in that it's still amusing. I do think 4 issues might be a bit much, but maybe that's an artifact of how many of these old comics I have to read week after week. Regardless, I think a one-shot might have been the right amount.

Arion Lord of Atlantis #35: Kupperberg and Duursema continue the story from last issue. After Arion was engulfed by the shadow bat, the evil sorcerer, Rhajeem, wastes no time in declaring himself king of Atlantis. He's counted Arion out too soon, though. He comes bursting out of the shadow being and two again engage in magical combat until Rhajeem casts Arion through a portal. He begins to declare himself ruler in front of the populace, but no, Arion is back again this time being followed by a monster from the other realm. It gobbles up Rhajeem before Arion banishes it. With the threat ended, the conclave selects D'Tilluh's recently returned son M'Zalle as the next king.
The last page reveals the next issue (coming in two months) is the double-sized conclusion of the series. It seems likely this came as something of a surprise to the creative team as they were steadily introducing new characters and subplots up to the end.

All-Star Squadron #48: Dr. Occult makes an appearance for the first time since 1938. Like the All-Stars, he's a captive of Wotan. Wotan is in league with Hitler and unleashes the Shining Knight and his Camelot robots on British troops. Hourman and Blackhawk manage to snap Shining Knight out of it by waving a Union Jack at the right moment. 

World's Finest #319: Cavalieri and Delbo/Alcala have Superman seeking help from Batman as his sleep is continuously disrupted by disturbing dreams. Using a Kryptonian device, Batman enters Superman's dreams and finds out the culprit is Rem who looks like the evil cousin of Rainbow Brite and sneakily quotes a lot of stuff in his dialog, including Shakespeare, the Beatles, Eurythmics, and Catch-22. Rem has a plan to drop a bunch of psychedelics in the Metropolis reservoir so he can get control of the populace's dreams too, and the issues cliffhanger has him dropping Batman into the reservoir from the airplane, as well! Meanwhile, the surviving members of the Network have the feeling that Cathode is still alive within them somehow, and a shadowy figure called the Powerbroker (not the Marvel one) makes his move.

Batman and the Outsiders Annual #2: Barr and Ross/Adkins invite us to the wedding of Rex Mason and Sapphire Stagg. The cover had me a little worried, but it's just a tease. Sapphire isn't killed and the wedding goes on. Things don't go smooth, though. Before the ceremony, the venue is attacked by a power-stealing android on a mission for a Maxwell Tremayne, an old foe of Simon Stagg. Sapphire is kidnapped, and our heroes must pursue. The other Outsiders and Batman do battle with the Masters of Disaster (last seen in issue 10) while Metamorpho rescues his fiancée. 

V #8: I've never seen this issue, but I remembered the ads DC ran promoting it with the tagline "I could have had a V 8!" which I suppose they thought was too good to pass up. The actual story involves a group of our protagonists making contact with a printing facility in a rural area that went from printing comics to churning out resistance literature. Unfortunately, it's got a problem with Visitor infiltrators. The team has to flush them all out before they can sabotage the presses. 
The editorial addresses fan concerns that NBC might cancel the TV series. It reassures us the series will finish the storyline whether  there's a TV show or not. As it turns out, the show had already aired its last episode on March 22.

Vigilante Annual #1: My brother and I had this issue as kids. It was our first introduction to the character. Kupperberg and Cown/Maygar tell an untold story of "times past" before the current craziness in the ongoing title. This is a bit more grounded in style that that series and uses detective fiction inspired first-person narration like Miller would do in Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One. That and Cowan's artwork make Vigilante seem a more "realistic" Batman without the gestures at meditations on vigilantism and the psychological breakdown of the main character like in the series.
When a college friend of Marcia's is arrested for the murder of a neighbor, Chase helps out by investigating as Vigilante. He discovers it was a mob hit, and must race against time to stop another crime boss from mistakenly having an assassin hit Marcia's friend in jail as reprisal.

Wonder Woman #327: This is the second ever Crisis crossover, but the tie-in is pretty weak.  Newell and Heck just use the red skies and cosmic storm as a convenient explanation for why Wonder Woman loses control of her plane and somehow ends up in the Central American jungle where Tezcatlipoca is. In some weird either other dimension or timeless realm, she and a group of pre-Columbian Indians witness the "death" of Keith Griggs three times, as the god demonstrates his power to create a time loop for some reason. Wonder Woman manages to break the loop and free herself and her three friends from Tezcatlipoca's grasp. Meanwhile, on Paradise Island, the Amazons begin debating whether or not to choose a new queen.