Vintage Comics - Beware, Issue. 15: The Crystal of Time, Your Number is Up (Cover - 14)

First, apologies for the lack of color correction. I just got a new version of Photoshop elements, and like every edition before - - it's completely different from the last one I used, and every function is yet another learning process. On the bright side, the podcast may be getting a new logo when I figure this silly thing out. Anyway, onto the comic...BEWARE, ISSUE 15! Yet another vintage comic where the writers forgot they didn't need to describe every detail. Very much like the narration of a radio show, this may be a fun interactive little comic if you could get someone to read the dialog aloud.

The first story is more sci-fi romance than horror, which somehow seems to bring to mind Army of Darkness. I wonder if Sam Raimi was a fan? The second, a twisting tale of greed and numbers - - that actually cuts off before it gets really good. Ah well, the last frame is cartoonishly charming.

Spooky Board Games: Ask Zandar

Can it be? At long last, another board games entry? Originally marketed in 1992, this game was the kind that you'd gradually lose every piece to...except the crystal ball. That's right, the crystal ball. Sort of like how you may not have every piece for Pretty Pretty Princess, but you'd damn sure keep that black ring.

So if you're wondering why this little piece of nostalgia is classified as spooky, look at it from the perspective of a six-year-old little girl who clung to each and every prediction this pre-programmed talking doll in a plastic bubble made. I was going to get a phone call? 2 weeks later, I got one. HOW DID HE KNOW?!!!

1-4 players, not one of the larger interactive games, this one makes an excellent companion for a slumber party. Afterwards, maybe a bedtime story from the Necronomicon.

"Bad luck and extreme misfortune will infest your pathetic soul for all eternity. Next question."

Picture the 8-ball, but you draw cards to ask it, then make bets on whether Zandar will answer in the positive or negative. Your goal is to collect all of your colored gems, and you only get them by getting Zandar's answer right. You get it wrong, you lose a gem. Don't worry if he starts talking in Latin backwards, though. That just means he's happy.

Since it was made in the 90s, you're not going to see much appreciation in value for a run-down copy of the game. If it popped back on the shelves, it would probably be in the 15-20 dollar range. Still, it's fun, and it can get kids talking. That's kind of the whole point, really, just to stimulate chit-chat. Perfect for the Halloween season.