So two of the three big surprises are a Red Stalker and Red Baroness!!! There are less than 10 Red Stalkers known and this is only the THIRD Red Baroness ever found! They are still a little dirty, I haven’t had the time to clean them up yet. I also will swap the Red Baroness’ head with a regular Funskool Baroness I have to make it display a little better. Enjoy!
The surprises are in hand! (Well two of the three are here.) I won’t get a chance to post the reveal until tomorrow because it is the wife’s bday and that has to come first, haha. I will clean them up a bit and take some pictures!
I’ll keep it short and sweet, there are a lot of kids out there who aren’t fortunate enough to have the great Christmas days that many of us, including myself remember. So, if you can, please that the time to donate to Toys for Tots. Even just one toy will make a big difference.
While I was in Cleveland, I came across a store selling Iron Man, Star Wars, and Transformers toys all for $5, so I couldn’t resist and bought some and dropped them into a Toys for Tots box.
As a bonus, Infinite Hollywood will MATCH your donations if you send them a picture of you donating toys to Toys for Tots. I sent them a picture of my donation and they contacted me back right away saying they will match my donation. Click on the banner below to check out their sight and have them match your donations!
I just pre-ordered a signed copy of the new GI Joe reboot for 2013! Its signed by Fred Van Lente and is available at Dynamic Forces, check it out! A scan of the cover page is below. While I was there, I also picked up the GI Joe #1 variant cover signed by Mel Rubi! It is a cover exclusive to Dynamic Forces.
I spoke with one of their community managers and asked him a couple questions about the difference between Blue, Black and Red Labels:
The difference is typically in the art. We commission the artists to do more elaborate, more time intensive work.
Blue Label is also stamped with the Blue foil imprint, bound in blue and has a blue satin bookmark ribbon. So there’s some really nice small touches.
The GI Joe art should be in the office soon and we will definitely be passing along previews of it. Can’t wait to see it!
So 2 of the 3 big items that I just bought have been shipped and now I’m just waiting and tracking the package until they arrive!
I also snagged some cool stuff from IDW Limited and when that arrives I’ll post pics.
JOECON 2013 Just Announced 2013 April 4th-7th At Indianapolis – Indiana
3 3/4-inch Nocturnal Fire convention set (whatever that means… Maybe Night Force?)
Comic Book Resoures has a great interview with Chuck Dixon about the IDW comics. Specifically, he talks about an homage to Hama’s #21 silent issue with Dixon and Atkins creating their own silent issue for Snake Eyes #21. He also talks about the upcoming reboot. Take a look by clicking the link or read the relevant GI Joe text below:
CBR News: Chuck, catch people up on what’s been going on lately in “Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow.”
Chuck Dixon: It’s been crazy. Snake Eyes was believed dead by the G.I. Joes but in actuality he’s returned to the Arashikage — the ninja clan that raised him. Due to his actions with his old clan, the G.I. Joes discover Snake Eyes is alive and working for the bad guys, although all of his operations with his ninja pals has harmed COBRA only. Still, he’s seen as a security threat to the USA and the G.I. Joes. That brings us to the arc “Target: Snake Eyes” in which the Joes (led by Scarlett) go to take out their friend. “Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow” #21 is an aftermath to the events in that arc.
Why homage the classic silent issue from “G.I. Joe” #21 in “Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow” #21?
IDW asked me if I was up to it. I wasn’t sure but took the challenge and it worked out well — I have [artist] Robert Atkins to thank for that. To make a wordless comic story work, an artist with strong storytelling chops is essential. I didn’t work like Larry Hama did on the original “G.I. Joe” #21 — I wrote a full script. Larry actually drew the layouts for his classic issue.
In the original story, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were at each other’s throats. Is this the case once more?
To tell you anything about the issue would give too much away. I will say Storm Shadow and the Hard Master meet for the first time in a long time.
Did you read “G.I. Joe” #21 when it first came out? There was nothing else like it at the time coming from a mainstream publisher.
Absolutely, I read it when it came out. It’s a real landmark. I was blown away when Jim Sterankoopened “Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” with three wordless pages, and here was Larry doing an entire issue only in pictures. I think it should have had more impact on mainstream comics; a return to pure visual storytelling, but Larry was seen as an outlier in comics. Pioneers always are, right?
Does this new story tie-in to the continuity of the original at all, or is this a completely new universe next to the old Marvel title?
I think of it as a soft re-boot or re-imagining. I’m really not changing a whole lot. I suppose the biggest change is roping in some stuff from the cartoons and making them comic book canon for this continuity, but the G.I. Joes are the ones you know and COBRA is just as badass. I took an “if it ain’t broke…” approach to this issue.
How does writing a silent issue change your creative approach to storytelling?
More panels. Grid only. It has to look like a sequence of static images telling a story, not simply a comic book story with the word balloons left out. There’s a big difference. I have to have a lot happening in order to give the reader the feeling they haven’t been cheated by the lack of words. Also, lots of visual tricks and plenty of rewards and surprises for the reader. These kinds of issues rely on a lot of action, but the action must carry a through story with a payoff or it’s just an extended action sequence.
Have you done silent issues in any of your other comic book work?
I did a wordless issue once before when I was working on “Way of the Rat” at CrossGen, so I knew what I was in for. I also did a couple of wordless stories when I was working on “Batman,” but they were short stories.
What else is coming up in your “G.I. Joe” comics?
We’re shaking things up a bit on the “G.I. Joe” titles. I’ll be starting (or re-starting) “G.I. Joe: Special Missions” — it was always my favorite “G.I. Joe” title and it’s cool to get a shot at it. My first arc is Scarlett and her Spec Missions team against the Baroness in an underwater heist story. Paul Gulacy is on the art, so I’m thrilled.
So, it looks like my items won’t arrive until late next week or the week after….. Hate waiting but I am very excited to post pics of some things that are rarely seen. One item is (I believe) only the second example ever seen. Merry early Christmas to me haha!
News has been slow lately, so there isn’t much to talk about. There are some really nice carded auctions on eBay right now. Satan, Ninja Ku and TNT are all ending in a couple hours. The Satan and Ku are unpunched and all three cards are in great shape. If I hadn’t bought what I just did, I would be in on those.
There are also some nice Brazilian joe auctions up at the moment, but I don’t have much interest in them. While I am a completist for the US run (at least in terms of figures from 82-94) I do not feel the same urge with international joes. Partly because of how crazy hard it is to track down certain figures and the huge amount of variants (with many largely undocumented) especially involving Funskool. I have also heard that there are some really crazy Mexican repaint figures, but the only one I have heard that has them is of course Aire. And I’m not quite on the same level as her haha.
Just added something else to the big score I just picked up. Will reveal it when I have it in hand! This third one may not be as flashy as the other two but in terms of rarity its right up there.
Leaky Suit Brigade 