This Week in Nerd News: Cancelled Quests, Cosplay Glory & Alan Moore’s Eternal Grump Because the nerd world never sleeps… it just respawns with patch notes.
Tabletop Turbulence: The Quest That Wasn’t
Remember that super hyped Dungeons & Dragons co-op game called Project Baxter? Yeah… turns out the devs looked at their calendar, their budget, and possibly their will to live — and decided, “Nah.” Project cancelled. The team’s heading back to their cash cow, PAYDAY, because apparently fantasy dragons can’t compete with robbing digital banks.
But don’t grab your pitchforks just yet. D&D fans got a shiny consolation prize: Demeo × Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. It’s a new game headed to PC, PlayStation, and Meta Quest — because nothing says “immersive fantasy” like waving your arms around in VR while your cat judges you.
And for the analog crowd, Asmodee announced a new Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth expansion, while Stonemaier Games dropped Origin Story, a tableau-builder that probably involves way too many cards and rules you’ll pretend to understand by turn three.
Comic Book Corner: Ghost Riders, Crossovers & Alan Moore’s Eternal Side Eye
Let’s start with the real drama: Alan Moore. He’s back, peering down his wizardly nose at modern fandom and calling it a “grotesque blight.” Classic Alan: part sage, part cranky old man yelling at clouds. His main gripe? Fandom has gone from curious and creative to nostalgic and entitled. Basically, if you’re tweeting at a writer over the shade of Superman’s belt, Moore thinks you need a hobby. Honestly, he’s got a point.
Echo: Seeker of Truth
Meanwhile, Marvel is keeping the wheels spinning. Echo: Seeker of Truth is dropping soon — co-written by Taboo of the Black-Eyed Peas, no less — giving Echo a new power and a new storyline. Missing cousins, cults, and conspiracies, because apparently every superhero’s day job involves family drama and mysterious artifacts.
And if that’s not enough to make your head spin, Marvel is also releasing Spirits of Violence #1, a Ghost Rider team-up extravaganza featuring Johnny Blaze, Robbie Reyes, and Danny Ketch. Think of it as the supernatural Avengers, with more chains and fire skulls.
In another shocking move, Marvel & DC are teaming up for a Superman/Spider-Man crossover in 2026. Each company will publish its own version of issue #1 — which seems like a polite way of saying, “let’s see who can sell more variants before the multiverse collapses.” And yes, Jim Lee’s art is involved, because if you’re breaking the multiverse, you go big or you go home.
Image Comics is also showing comic shops some love by releasing collected editions 27 days before bookstores or digital platforms get them. In other words: support your local comic shop or risk being left out of all the cool lore conversations online.
And for those of us who like our comics a little weirder, gothic, or punky, Tim Burton’s Return to Sleepy Hollow is landing October 29. Ichabod Crane is back — 15 years later, still brooding, still mysterious, and still somehow more interesting than most of our group texts. Also, Hothead Paisan: Homicidal Lesbian Terrorist is getting a full reissue — raw, anarchic, and unafraid to punch the status quo right in the gut.
