Iowa Comic Book Club Presents I-Con 2013

Fall is coming, and around here in Central Iowa that means I-Con is coming soon.  What's I-Con, you say?  Well, I'll tell ya, I-Con is Iowa's largest comic book convention, and is put on every year by the good folks of the Iowa Comic Book Club.  This year's I-Con will be held on Saturday, October 19th, at the Forte Convention Center in downtown Des Moines.

I will once again be there this year, selling action figures and comic books, stop by and say "Hi" and get your NGA discount!

For more info, check out the ICBC website:

 http://www.iowacomicbookclub.com/

The Awesome Power Records Batman Book & Record Set

The 1970's were a great time to be a kid.  GI Joe was still in his 12" incarnation, on TV you could watch The Six Million Dollar Man and Space:1999, and you could see Planet of the Apes and Jaws in the theaters.  Mostly I remember the Super Heroes.  Both DC and Marvel were going churning out great stories, and not just in comic books.  Power Records, a spinoff of Peter Pan Records, was churning out Book and Record Sets of super hero adventures.  The first ones to hit the market were the Marvel ones.  Those first sets were just slightly relettered stories that had previously appeared in comic book form with a 45 rpm record full of dialogue and sound effects.  The first one I ever got was in 1974, and was the Fantastic Four, in fact writing this I can still here the "Bing" the let you know to turn the page.

 

From the back of the Book & Record Sets, featuring the first four Super Hero sets.

Not long after the Marvel ones hit the market, DC followed suit with their own Book & Record Sets, but with one noticeable difference.  While the Marvel ones were reprinted from already published stories, the DC ones were all-new adventures.  My favorite of the bunch was a Batman story titled "Stacked Cards", which I just found in my basement, in a box of comics.  Looking through it really brought back the memories, and if you've never seen one, here are a few highlights.  Like the TV show, this seemed a lot more serious when I was seven.

 For a buck and a half, you couldn't beat it!

 The first thing you notice is the art.  I still can't tell if it was done by Neal Adams of Dick Giordano, but the art is fantastic and really captures the look of the 1970's Batman.  The "Splash Page" really stands out to me.

 Greeting from 1975!

The story begins with a rock being chucked through a window in Commissioner Gordon's office, an amazing feat considering he's on like the 20th floor of Police Headquarters.  The rock is retrieved by Chief O'Hara, er, Inspector Mulligan (The voice actor doing Mulligan sounds just like O'Hara.  Remember, the Batman TV show only went off the air 6 years earlier.).  

 Yeah, super-powered vandals! And nice shoes, Inspector!

It turns out the note is from none other than the Joker, bragging about his escape from Arkham Asylum (Take that, people who thought it was created by Grant Morrison!).  In no time at all he's on the hotline to the Batcave.

Note the cheerful-looking Batman, the Dark Knight Returns is still 10 years away.

It seems the Joker wants to steal a Picasso from the Gotham Museum of Fine Arts, so into the Batmobile they go.  Along the way, Robin share his ideas for dealing with the Joker.

He also wants to have Catwoman spayed.

It's not long after arriving that Robin uses his junior detective skills to find evidence that the Joker had been there.

 Robin trips not two seconds after Batman tells him not to......

The Joker attacks and Batman uses all of his superior mental abilities to draw the him out of hiding.....

  He also called him Mr. Poopy pants.

 

......which leads to this epic battle.

I wanna know how that "Zap" sound is made.

During the fight, a fire somehow breaks out, fortunately Robin is once again able to draw on his powers of observation and notice it.

 The smoke is right by that large column of flames.......

The Joker tries to escape......

 Who knew Arkham had a swimming team?

With the Joker detained, Batman has plenty of time to dive back into a burning building to rescue the Picasso, and look badass doing it.

  Hooray for Batman, what a swell guy!

Batman and Robin share a smile, content in another job well done.

 "Seriously, think about that lobotomy..."

 

 

If you want to hear this and other Power Records audio, click here.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Struck

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents have had an interesting history to say the least.  The characters have been around for almost 50 years and have bounced around from publisher to publisher, disappearing for years at a time before suddenly reappearing.  I have been a big fan of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents since I first discovered them in the early 1980's, and in honor of their recent relaunch at IDW here's a quick look back at some of the many faces of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

Introducing Menthor, Dynamo, and NoMan

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents first appeared in 1965.  Published by Tower Comics, each issue was double the size of regular comics and carried a price of 25 cents. The Agents consisted of Dynamo, Menthor, NoMan, Lightning, Raven, Undersea Agent, and the Thunder Squad.  The art was done by a who's who of silver age legends: Mike Sekowski, Gil Kane, and Wally Wood.  I don't think Wally Wood doesn't get enough credit these days, if it wasn't for him Daredevil would have been running around in that hideous red and yellow outfit.  Anyways, back to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, the series introduced the comic world to The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves were people whose occupations were super heroes, and the devices that gave them their powers come with a price.  Wally Wood's pencils are some of the best of the silver age, and the stories in many ways were a precursor to the modern type of storytelling that we take for granted today.  Back issues are still very affordable, do yourself a favor and track these down, they are worth it.  After issue 20 in 1969 the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stopped publication and quietly faded away.

 

For almost 15 years the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were dormant, then in 1983  they returned in John Carbanaro's JC Comics.  As great as it was to have them back, the series only lasted 2 issues, and once again the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents were off the shelves, but this time the hiatus was very short lived.

Some time in 1983 the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents appeared in the Justice Machine Annual #1 published by Texas Comics.  This was the only comic ever published by Texas Comics, and its more known for being the first appearance of Bill Willingham's the Elementals. I own two copies of this book, and this is the issue that got me hooked on the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.

N.D

 Less than a year after JC Comics folded, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents returned, this time published by Deluxe Comics.  Like the original Tower Comics version int he 1960's, the art was done by some of the best artists of the 1980's.  George Perez, Dave Cockrum, Keith Giffen, Steve Ditko, Jerry Ordway and others contributed to the fantastic art in every issue, but as with all other versions, this one didn't last long either.  John Carbonaro sued Deluxe Comics for copyright infringement and with that, this versionof the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was done after five issues.

In 1987 an outfit named Solson Publications published one issue of a series titled T.H.U.N.D.E.R..  It was a black and white book, which told a different tale of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and to be honest, its the weakest of all stories involving the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, if you can find it in a quarter bin it might be worth the two bits, but not any more.

The 80's saw quite a few versions of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, but as the decade drew to a close, so did their adventures, and for over 20 years nothing more was heard from them.

In 2010 the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents got their most high profile release to date when DC Comics published their first adventures in the 21st Century.  This is the only version of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents I have never read, but thanks to IDW my interest have been renewed and I look forward to tracking these down at a convention real soon.




  

  
Now in 2013 it's IDW's turn to publish the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and I am extremely excited for this.  Not only because of the characters, but for who will be writing this series.  I have known Phil Hester for over 20 years, ever since he first came into the comic store I was part owner of.  He is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in the comics industry and always has time to meet with the fans.  In fact, the logo I use for the Next Great Adventure was drawn by Phil, as part of a trade I made with him for a customized action figure.  The figure? Dynamo.  I still remember having conversations with him about Wally Wood and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and I could tell back than what reverence he had for the characters, and that's how I now the book is in excellent hands.

My quest to find this cover begins.....now!

Another reason Phil Hester is one of the nicest people around is the endless patience he has shown in accommodating my many requests for sketches.  One of the sketches he did for me 20 years ago was Dynamo and Magnus Robot Fighter making scrap metal our of a bunch of robots, and it remains one of my favorite pieces in my collection.  

Do yourself a favor, pick up IDW's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and track down some of Wally Wood's originals, you won't be sorry!  

A RAW Evening

Last Monday my son and I went to the live telecast of RAW from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.  We had 2nd row seats, which put us close to the action.  The total show was close to four hours long, and was quite an experience.  I took a camera along to record the show, and for the most part the pictures turned out like crap, but there were a few that were okay, and here they are.

Fandango and the Miz in an early match.  A few minutes after this was taken the Miz messed up a kick and broke Fandango's nose.  The match was stopped for 5 minutes or so while a doctor treated him.  Once the match was back underway the Miz won.

Dolph Ziggler making his entrance to the ring.  While he was waiting for his opponent to come out, another wrestler, Dean Ambrose, ran right past us and attacked Ziggler.  After the beatdown, Ziggler's opponent came out.......

......Goldber, er, Ryback.  Ryback then proceeded to finish of Ziggler....

....and leave him on his back, looking up at the lights of Wells Fargo Arena.

The main event saw Daniel Bryan take on the Big Show.  The Big Show did not want to face Bryan, but the evil Triple H made him, and then forced him to knock him out after the Shield worked him over for what seemed like the 348th time in the past few weeks.  And with that, RAW was over......

.....or was it?  After the show went off the air we had a "Dark" main event.  Wrestling's Evil Genius, Paul Heyman and his client, Intercontinental Champion Curtis Axel, had a no disqualification handicap match with CM Punk.  It was a short match, and Punk picked up the win.

Here is CM Punk celebrating the victory with the fans, or trying to fly, I'm not quite sure which.

It was a fun night, and the next time the WWE rolls into town I'm pretty sure my son and I will be going again, although I don;t know if we'll be this close again.

So My Wife is Finally Reading the Walking Dead....

I have been reading the Walking Dead since 2006.  I wish I could say I've been on board since the beginning and have all of the issues back to number one, 'cause that would mean I have several thousand dollars worth of Zombie comics, but I don't.  What I do have are all of the hardcover editions collecting a years worth of TWD comics.  Book 9 comes out in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to jump back into the Zombie Apocalypse with Rick Grimes and his crew of survivors.

On the opposite side of the zombie fence is my wife.  She's been aware of the Walking Dead for a while now, but has preferred to read up on sparkly vampires and the like.  But as those series are (thankfully) at an end, she has been looking for something else to dive into, so last Sunday I mentioned giving the Walking Dead a try.

C'mon, what woman wouldn't find this cover appealing?

So, not really having any other options readily at hand, she gave in and started reading Book One.  I could tell she was hooked after about 20 minutes, when she asked if I had all the rest of the books. Happily I went and got her Books Two and Three, and she proceeded to tear through them in no time at all, quite a feat when you consider they are around 300 pages each.  She's currently on Book Four, which is the most emotionally devastating part of the entire series.  Really, it's a tough read and I'm already anticipating having a few discussions with her about it.

A side benefit to her reading the books is she can now join me in noting all of the differences between the books and the TV show.  It's just no fun bitching about why certain characters are still alive in the book and not on the show, and vice versa all by yourself.  

Monday will be RAW!

This Monday my son and I will be celebrating Labor Day by attending Monday Night RAW in Des Moines at the Wells Fargo Arena.  We have really good seats, 2nd row floor, right behind the timekeeper.  The shows have been really good lately, and I'm really looking forward to seeing CM Punk, Paul Heyman, and Daniel Bryan perform live.

Say what you will about professional wrestling, but these wrestlers are some of the finest live performers in the world.  I plan on doing a full report right here the Tuesday after the show, stay tuned.

GI Joe Through the Decades Signature Board

The 2010 GI Joe Collectors Convention in Providence, Rhode Island was memorable for many reasons.  The Hasbro Tour, the chance to meet up and hang out with old friends, and just having the opportunity to be around all things GI Joe is something every collector should do at least once it their life.  But what really sticks out to me is the one of a kind collectible I picked up at the Awards Dinner auction on Saturday night.

Due to gambling regulations in the state of Rhode Island the usual casino night and auction was replaced by a regular auction, with the proceeds going to Hasbro Childrens Hospital.  Looking over the usual line up of interesting and unique items up for auction, one thing in particular caught my eye.  The day before at the tour of Hasbro Headquarters the different stations of the tour were marked by signs roughly 12"x18".  Each sign was labelled with a description of the part of the tour you were currently at, Design Shop, Model Shop, etc.  Out of the ten or so stations on the tour, four of the signs were brought to the dinner as auction items.  I knew the second I saw them that I wanted them, only I didn't know if they were going to auction them off individually or as a set.  I set sight my sights on getting them as I made my way back to my seat as the auction began.

Long story short, at the end of the auction I was lucky enough to walk away with the sign to "Station-2 Timeline GI Joe Through The Decades".  The sign had already been signed by John Warden, Desing Manager for Hasbro, and another person whose signature I don't recognize, if you know, drop me a line.  That got me to thinking, this convention had a lot of Hasbro employees past ans present in attendance, why not make this sign really represent GI Joe through the decades and get it signed by as many as possible?  So on the last day of the convention I went around and got as many people who worked on GI Joe as I could to sign it, and I have been getting them to sign it ever since.

As of today, this is what it looks like:

 

 And here are the names of the signers, as well as the year I got them to sign it.  So, from the top we have:

Mary MacDonald-Lewis (2013) The voice of Lady Jaye of the Sunbow GI Joe Cartoon.

Bill Ratner (2013) The voice of Flint on the Sunbow GI Joe cartoon.

Robert Atkins (2013) Artist on the IDW GI Joe Comic.

Ron Wagner (2012) Artist on the Marvel and IDW GI Joe comics.

Virginia Perry Gardner (2010) Scuplted the heads for the GI Nurse and the GI Joe Soldiers of the World figures.

Larry Selmon (2010) Painter who has done boxes for the GI Joe Classic Collection and GI Joe Collectors Convention boxes.

Dwight Stall (2010) Hasbro designer.

Larry Hama (2010) Writer of GI Joe comics for Marvel, Devil's Due, and IDW, also worte most of the filecards for th 3 3/4" Real American Hero figures.

Sam Petrucci (2010) Painter who did many of the vintage boxes from the 1960's.

Ron Rudat (2010) Artist who designed many of the early Real American Hero figures.

John Warden (2010) GI Joe Brand Manager.

Sam Speers (2010) Designer of the orignal 11 1/2" GI Joe body.

Bob Prupis (2010) Vice Presidentof Boys Toys and one of the major players in the relaunch of GI Joe as a 3 3/4" action figure.

Janet Downing Taylor (2010) Credited with coming up with the name "GI Joe".

Norman Jacques (2010) Package designer for the early GI Joe figures and accessories.

Kirk Bozigian (2010) Marketing Director for GI Joe A Real American Hero.

There are three I can't identify, if you know whose signatures they are please let me know so I can give them proper credit.

 The Mystery Signatures

I've tried to get as many signatures from all form of GI Joe that I could, the only media I am missing is from the GI Joe movies, and I'm working on that!  I'm also trying to get a few more key signatures from GI Joe's past, such as:

Derryl DePreist

Alan Hassenfeld

Don Levine

If anyone has any connections, hook me up!

Stuff From My Collection: Astro City Confession Hardcover

I'm a big hardcover collector, in fact, most of the comics I read today are hardcovers.  I have no patience anymore to wait 5 or 6 months for a storyline to conclude, I'd rather wait a few months more and get a hardcover and read the entire thing in one sitting (that reminds me, I have to hop on Amazon and order Volume 9 of the Walking Dead).  Besides the convenience of having an entire storyline in one place, I just like the way hardcovers look, and with that I bring you one of my prized hardcovers, Astro City: Confession.

Published in 1998, this hardcover collects the Confession storyline, featuring the Confessor, an Astro City hero and his sidekick, Altar Boy.  The story mixes super heroes and horror, and is one of the best Astro City stories out there.  It also includes on of the best and most emotional stories ever, "The Nearness of You" from Wizard's Astro City 1/2.  For a short story it packs an emotional punch, and stays with you long after you finish reading it. 

 


The Confession hardcover is also the rarest Astro City hardcover, limited to 1200 and featuring a signature plate signed by Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, and Alex Ross, my copy is number 964.

My favorite part about this hardcover is the story behind how I got it.  Back in the Summer of 1998 there was a comic convention in Des Moines, and one of the guests was Brent Anderson.  Mr. Anderson was the artist on the comic book that got me into collection, X-Men Annual #5, so I was definitely going to see him.  When I met him at the convention I want all gushing fanboy, telling him how influential he was in turning me into a Geek and all that.  He was very nice and accommodating, as I am sure he had heard all of that before hundreds of times.  As I finished my gushing, I noticed the Confessions hardcover he had brought and I asked him if it was for sale  He said it was just a display to show people that it had just been published.  a bit dejected, I thanked him for his time and went off to enjoy the rest of the convention.

As I wandered around looking for bargains, my eyes caught a glimpse of another Confession hardcover at a dealer table.  Not wasting a second, I produced $50 and scooped up my new prize.  I immediately made my way back to Brent Anderson.  When he saw that I had found a copy not five minutes after we talked, he was a bit surprised. and I decided to use that surprise to make my copy an even more limited edition.

I asked Mr. Anderson if he would do a quick pencil sketch of the Confessor, and he was gracious enough to comply, even though he told me it had been a while since he had drawn him.  He took my copy and a few minutes later I had a beautiful sketch of the Confessor, which really looks great on the parchment of the pages.

There is no substitute for going to a comic book convention, large or small, and it's moments like this that really make it worth while.  Thank you to Brent Anderson, I really hope I said that enough back them in 1998!

 

 



 

My Disney Infinity Review

So last week I bought the new Disney Infinity game for the PS3.  This is kind of a big deal since I am notoriously cheap when it comes to buying video games, the last new one I bought myself was the Collector’s Edition of Uncharted 3, and I only but that because it was 75% off.  Ok, so we’ve established that I’m cheap, but every now and then I will pony up the buck and get a new game like I did last week with Disney Infinity.  So, $75 later, my kids and I have a new game to play together, and long story short, it was worth every one of those 7500 pennies.

Here's what I started with, one week ago.......

Before I get too far into my review, I do have one gripe with the PS3 version of Disney Infinity.  While my kids and I were playing it for the first time it froze up, corrupting the save file we had, so we had to delete everything and start over.  This meant going through the 12-minute long introduction again since there is no way to skip it.  So we got through that and it froze up again.  So another round of deletions and introductions followed, as did another freeze up.  At this point I was getting a little miffed so I hopped online and found that there was an issue with the PS3 version.  Apparently with patch you download at the beginning was causing the issue, so it was advised that you do not download it until an updated patch is released.  So I turned off the internet connection, and we haven’t had a problem since.  At this point I’m a little leery about installing anything, I really don’t want to lose all of our progress.

Disney Infinity’s basic setup is a lot like Skylanders, only with some major differences.  Like Skylanders, you can put different characters into the game by placing a figurine onto the portal, but in this case you can have two players in there at the same time, which really adds to the fun.  The Starter Set comes with three figurines, Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean, Mr. Incredible from the Incredibles, and Sully from Monsters University, the game, a portal, and one Power Disc.  The figurines are approximately three inches tall, and are really well built, I can see some people get into collecting just the figurines and not play the game.  My favorite out of this lot is Mr. Incredible, I don’t even think I’ve played the other two yet.

...and where we are currently.  I'm such a sucker!

Also sold separately are additional figurines and play sets from various Disney properties like Cars and the Lone Ranger, and it’s real easy to just start buying them up in bunches, I know, less than a week into it we already have 9 figurines!  

You can also buy Power Discs, which enable you to power up your characters, change the play environment, or put extra accessories into the game.  One Power Disc comes with the Start Set, and you can buy additional Power Discs in blind bag packs of 2 for $5.  The discs feature an eclectic array of properties like TRON, Tangled, Alice in Wonderland, Lilo and Stitch, Wreck It Ralph, and so on.  Much like the additional figurines, it’s easy to get hooked on buying the Power Disc bags, I know we already had to but an album to keep them all in, remember, these haven’t even been out a week yet!

 Power Discs with album (Sold Separately, of course!)

             Ok, other than showing you what an easy mark I am for these type of things, I haven’t even touched on how the gameplay is.  Well, it’s fantastic.  Disney Infinity gives you two modes of play: the Play Set Mode and the Toy Box Mode.  The Play Set Mode lets you play in a particular character’s world and complete various missions for coins and accessories.  In Play Set mode only characters from that world can be used, so forget having Captain Jack Sparrow and Sully roaming around the Monsters University campus together.  The missions themselves are relatively short, and can be completed fairly quickly.  Hidden throughout the work are capsules that contain additional accessories that you can use in the game or in the Toy Box (More on that later).  The Starter Set has a Play Set adventure for all three figurines included, and so far there are additional ones available for Cars and the Lone Ranger, which run about $35 each.  We’ve already bought the Lone Ranger Play Set (The Lone Ranger has always been one of my favorite characters, so I had to get it!), and it’s the one Play Set we’ve played so far.  I thought when I started playing it that we would finish it quickly, but three hours later we are still going with no end in sight.  By itself, the Play Set Mode is very fun and interactive, and would probably be worth the $75 itself, but it’s the Toy Box Mode where Disney Infinity really shines.

             The majority of the time we have been playing Infinity has been spent on the Toy Box Mode.  This mode allows you to build your own world, and your only limit is your own imagination.  It’s a lot like Minecraft, only with much better graphics and more possibilities.  You start off with a blank terrain square, adding more terrain, buildings, people, objects, etc., as you see fit.  I recently began building the world I call Wally World, so far it has Cinderella’s Castle, an ESPN soccer stadium, and Epcot’s Spaceship Earth, and I’m just getting warmed up.  You can also earn spins which you can use to get more items to customize your worlds, and with over 1,000 items, you’ll need a lot of spins!  This is the kind of thing I can lose myself in and spend weeks playing, and is the reason I bought Disney Infinity in the first place.  My kids are into this too, and it has already become an effective incentive for getting homework done quickly, so for that, thank you Disney!

             As with the Toy Box, the possibilities for Disney Infinity are practically limitless.  They have already announced a second set of figurines featuring Jack Skellington, Wreck It Ralph, Toy Story, and characters from the upcoming animated feature Frozen.  I can’t help but hope that Disney’s recent acquisitions of Marvel and Lucasfilm mean that we can have those characters show up at some point in the future.  If you’re a Disney fan I highly recommend picking this up, and even if you aren’t a fan you will still enjoy this game immensely. 

Always Search TJ Maxx

A TJ Maxx store is like going to a brightly lit garage sale that is going on all the time.  When you walk in you never know what you are going to find, and this evening was no exception.   I had to buy a shirt for my son's school pictures, so while he was getting his hair cut I stopped in at a TJ Maxx to see what cheap clothes they had.  I managed to score a polo shirt fairly quickly, so I made my way to the toy section and browsed around, seeing the same Star Wars, Avengers, and Battleship Kre-O sets I have seen over and over.  Feeling like this was going to be another strike out, I took a quick glance at the clearance shelf, and saw a figure I didn't recall seeing before.  Upon closer inspection I saw that it was a Sorcerer Fury Loki, a figure that I had never seen in the wild.  Looking at the back, I saw the hard to find Sif figure, and thought to myself how cool it would be to finally get one of those, and then I saw Sif herself laying on the shelf below Loki.  Faster than you could say "Great Odin's ravens!" I scooped them up and headed for the register.

The best part?  Both figures were on clearance for $4 each!  So I guess the moral of the story is,always be sure to check out TJ Maxx, you'll never know what's there!

 

Eight Bucks well spent!

The Mighty Kwinn!

After only 31 years, Hasbro finally released a Kwinn figure in his khakis, and now he is mine!  

With GI Joe's presence in the toy aisle wasting away to almost nothing, I bit the bullet and ordered a full case from Entertainment Earth, and I'm glad it did.  The full case of 12 Wave 3.5 figures was $114.99 and had free shipping, so not only did it save me the hassle of trying to find these figures at retail, I got them for less than they would have run me at the store to boot!  So if you haven't ordered these babies online already, do it now, you won;t be sorry!

I would love to stay here and go on and on about how cool these figures are, but I still have an entire case of these figures to open up and play with, so if you will excuse me, I have some liberating to do!