I don’t really have much to say about the Torg Citybooks, I think, but I wanted to post about them because every time I think about doing a week of Torg, I pull them off the shelf, then wind up putting them back, and I’m just sort of tired of that. They’re weird books, though (the whole Torg line is weird, if we’re being 100% honest) and I think it’s just time to pop ‘em on the feed, come what may. This is Los Angeles Citybook (1992), the first of the group chronologically (Tokyo should have come out first, but, well, didn’t).

I think part of my fascination with the Citybooks is the covers. What the heck is going on here? I like the stark white, but the pin-up painting is…a weird choice. This one is by Peter Palombi, a hyper-realistic airbrush artist whose work reads as very ’80s thanks to a strong nostalgia for elements from the ’50s. He did a lot of album covers and pin-up stuff that is just shy of being smutty. Like this cover! I refuse to believe this was commission work, it had to be licensed and I wish I was privy to the argument why this particular painting had to front this particular RPG book.

It’s a city sourcebook from the ’90s, which should give you a baseline on what’s inside. LA is caught between three invading realities — the prehistoric Living Land to the east, Nippontech’s encroaching influence from Japan and a bastion of Thakholdu (technodemons, lol) from beneath. Because of this, day-to-day existence is destabilized to the point that various factions are pretty much all rival gangs. I feel like the intent here is parody, but given that this was published in the June following the LA riots it feels pretty ick to me, all told.