Thought-provoking, humorous, and only a half-step away from reality, this collection of short stories by Donald Artz tours the reader through a world of delightfully flawed characters, bizarre scenarios, and overly bureaucratic solutions. The pieces span genres and history, offering a diverse look at the types of problems that have niggled humanity since the beginning of time. The first two stories are fun Western spoofs, taking us to the town of Haywire, where cowboys wearing overly tight hats use their guns and acting skills to settle age-old debates concerning physics and the cosmos. The next chapter stars a former military and maritime rescue helicopter pilot who, shortly after his retirement, is faced by absurd rules and outlandish claims that interfere with his ability to help others. In Chapter 4, people in the great country of Um are facing national unrest due to greed, which has caused economic inequality, homelessness, and all-around misery. Everything seems to go well when the government abolishes all greedy behaviors—that is, until a mysterious space object triggers some old feelings. The final chapter takes us back to 1495 BCE, where the Shaw’k Mou’-ned, captain of the Pride of Sidon, makes an unfortunate (but completely understandable) error in judgment that leads to some lessons learned. Short, sweet, and packed with allegories, Gunfight at the Haywire Blacksmith Shop will make you laugh as you ponder the joys and follies of being human.

Essential survival advice from a former U.S. Army Intelligence Corps Officer and the world’s preeminent expert in preparedness. For years, James Wesley, Rawles has lived a self-sufficient lifestyle along with his family on a property surrounded by National Forest. In his earlier bestselling nonfiction book, How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, Rawles outlined the foundations for survivalist living. Now, he details the tools needed to survive anything from a short-term disruption to a long-term, grid-down scenario. Here, Rawles covers tools for every aspect of self sufficient living, including: • Food preservation and cooking • Welding and blacksmithing • Timber, firewood, and lumber • Firefighting • Archery and less-than-lethal defense tools • And more... Field-tested and comprehensive, Tools for Survival is a must-have reference for anyone who wants to know how to prepare for the worst.

Hunting Under the Full Moon The night is full of beasts - beasts that walk as men and women, that prey on those who stray from the herd, that hunger for blood and flesh when the moon rises. We will not be the sheep to these wolves. We will hunt the wolves ourselves. A Chronicle Book for Hunter: The Vigil[[ o A Hunter's look at shapeshifters: those who form lunatic tribes, those who steal their power from the Devil or from animal skins, those who become infected or cursed. This book also looks at spirits from a hunter's perspective. o Three new compacts and one new conspiracy: the confederation of spirit cults known as Les Mystres. o New tools in the hunter's arsenal for hunting shapeshifters and spirits, and rules provided to create both powerful hunter protagonists and frightening werewolf antagonists. o Hunting Ground: Philadelphia takes a look at the hunter-werewolf struggle that has been going on in the City of Brotherly Love since the Revolutionary War.

Deadlands: The Weird West, Pinnacle's award-winning game of supernatural horror in the Old West continues to roll along. In 2000, new products allow players to take on the role of operatives for the Agency, wrestle with the curses of lycanthropy and vampirism, and learn the secrets of the latest developments in the New Science. Mad Scientists and their weird gizmos are the focus of this jam-packed sourcebook done in the format of a certain famous catalog of yesteryear. Alongside traditional weapons and equipment, player's can find rules for fantastic devices and the madmen (um, geniuses) who create them.

Before Marvel, before Captain America, before Simon and Kirby, and before comics there was Joe Simon. Born in 1913, the son of an immigrant tailor, he's been an artist all his life. A newspaper writer, photographer, and cartoonist, and the first editor at the company that became Marvel Comics, he was the man who hired Stan Lee for his first job. Entering the fledgling industry the year after Superman appeared, Simon instantly made a name for himself as a writer, artist, and editor. He and Jack Kirby created the iconic Captain America-their first blockbuster-before America entered World War II. More hits followed, including a bestselling military adventure series, the first romance comic created for an audience of young girls, and Simon's own satire magazine that was a favourite of Lenny Bruce. His exciting chronicle covers ten decades. It includes a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II, as well as his encounters with such colorful personalities as author Damon Runyon, prizefighters Max Baer and Jack Dempsey, comedian Don Rickles, Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller, and actors Caesar Romero and Sid Caesar. This is the comprehensive autobiography of an illustrator, an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a pioneer. Profusely illustrated with photography and artwork, much of it heretofore unseen, this is the chronicle of an American original.