Why is no one talking about this??? Margaret Weis Productions (the fine folks behind the Vortex system which you may know as the system behind the Serenity RPG) has announced not one, but two licensed products:

• Leverage is a great little show from TNT about a group of grifters, burglars, hackers and con artists who are brought together to by a guy who used to catch them for a living in order to bring down people who take from the poor and innocent. The RPG will use MWP’s in-house Cortex system, but the design team is what really stands out on this one: Rob Donoghue, Clark Valentine and Matt Forbeck just to name a few (in fact, this is nearly the same crew that’s working on the Dresden Files RPG coming out this summer from Evil Hat). Leverage will be available in June, though there’s an introductory adventure with the basic rules available now for $5).
• You may have heard of a little show called Smallville – the long-running series about the teenage life of Superman, notorious for cameo appearances of characters from all over the DC comic universe. Smallville will also use the Cortex system and will be available in August of this year.

Of the two, Leverage is the one that really works for me – this title really fills that “Mission Impossible” void that the RPG scene has over the past few years, but I’m sure that Smallville will be very attractive to a wide range of people.

[Hat Tip: Chris Hanrahan and Fred Hicks of That's How We Roll for pointing out the tragedy that these titles aren't getting more play]