I am so damn jealous right now. Chris does a post about the Marvel Roleplaying Game over at 2 Guys Buying Comics and who else, but Jeff Grubb, the guy who designed the game, comes over and comments. Not only does he comment, he even says he's been lurking there for a month! Chris didn't even play the Marvel Roleplaying Game, but some Ultimate/Diet version of it. No one reading this gives two damns, but Jeff Grubb is awesome. Why? Because he give this little nerdy kid a means to explore his imagination like nobody else could. Say what you want about roleplaying games, but just remember that you're here because you read comics and comics are for nerds. You want to get all tough guy about comics, take that wanna-be macho shit to Listen To Us, We're Right where the usage of idiotic acronyms reign supreme. Here, we talk about the New Warriors, Racist X-men, G.I. Joes, Faux molestations by Silver Age comics, Alan Moore's John Ratsatine, Barry Windsor-Smith, and the gat damn Starman.

Today we're going to talk about the Marvel Super Hero Roleplaying game. Right now, I'm sitting in an office that over looks Oxnard, CA, of all places. In the desk next to me are the printouts for every source book, character guide, and adventure supplement for the Marvel Super Hero Roleplaying. I haven't rolled a ten sided dice and consulted my Judge's Screen in over ten years, and still there is a part of me that begs for the time and place for when I can put aside my foolish notions of being a "mature adult" and play again. When I was growing up comics were these little magazines in which the covers exploded from the stands at you with action, drama, excitement and humor. Inside, it only got better. With the Marvel Super Hero Roleplaying game, I had every opportunity to create my own super hero story with whoever the hell I wanted. Curious to see who would win in a fight against Thor and Silver Surfer? Roll some dice and find out. (Silver Surfer. Sorry, but he's got the Power Cosmic.) If the Masters Of Evil attacked the X-men, could they take them, or would the Avengers need to come in and clean house? (Yay right, the Masters Of Evil are puss.) Even though all these scenarios are a bit campy and ill-thought out, they allowed for kids like myself to use the one of the only things we could call our own: imagination. While writers and artists created new and exhilirating worlds on paper, Jeff Grubb gave us the chance to ours on our table tops and in our heads. Even though the level of story telling may never have been all that deep or complex, we did get a chance to knock some heads while talking smack like only kids can do.

Really, isn't that what super hero comics are all about?