Creator Alert!
Just a heads up — next Tuesday, September 12, at 8PM-ish, Uel is set to have his first ever live discussion with Joe Casey on the Fantastic Comics YouTube channel, although technically we did have a “pre-tape” interview with Casey from last year. I asked Uel what kind of prep he was doing — was he brushing up on writer’s issues? Pondering what the changing media landscape means for a working writer? Nope. So apparently Joe Casey is a big fan of 70s rock group KISS, and Uel wants to have a KISS joke in his back pocket ready to bust out at the opportune moment, so if you’ve got a great KISS joke, let Uel know the next time you see him.
Autobot Alert!
Uel’s been a big booster of Daniel Warren Johnson from his days on Extremity and notably the wrestling-themed Do a Powerbomb, and with his distinctive art style, Johnson’s always been threatening to break out in a big way. What does that even mean though, considering he’s since worked on the excellent Beta Ray Bill mini-series and Wonder Woman: Dead Earth (a divisive, but in my opinion, awesome stand-alone future tale)?
Working on DC and Marvel books is about as “making the big time” as you can get, right? But there does seem to be a bit more buzz than usual on his impending run on Transformers. The ashcan edition from San Diego Comic Con is fetching ridiculous prices. This might have something to do with Robert Kirkman being given the keys to start his own TF/GI Joe comic universe, which makes this the flagship title. Now that the Bayverse is in its sunset years, if there’s going to be a welcome return to form, this just might be it.
By return to form, I mean the classic 80s Transformers, and from the looks of this preview, Spike Witwicky has been gracefully de-Shia’d (de-Beoufed?) and if nothing else, let’s also celebrate the graceful de-beefing of Shia from the Indiana Jones franchise.
That’s not to say every Transformers iteration that deviates from the original is an unenjoyable train wreck. I’d argue the 90s Hong Kong English dubs of the Japanese Headmasters series is a highly enjoyable train wreck.
Speaking of train wrecks, did you know there was a Transformers train combiner? I’d only caught a glimpse of the original languishing in import toy shops, because few folks stateside wanted, much less heard of a choo-choo line of Transformers, but Hasbro decided there was enough of an audience to issue a $165 Masterpiece version, and they were right because this Train Transformer sold out!
Uel is planning to order a decent amount of this decidedly much more affordable at $4.99 number one issue, but if you’re interested, definitely put it on your hold list just in case.
Speaking of stocking issues…
You may have heard of Funko binning $30 million of merchandise rather than paying for warehouse storage. I guess perennial meme stock favorite, GameStop, saw the writing on the wall and started clearing out some FunkoPops as well.
Fantastic Comics was never a big Funko Pop seller even back in the Shattuck days, but among some of the merch was a ginchy Transformers/GI Joe metal lunchbox (that also happened to contain two random Transformers/GI Joe FunkoPops). I strong-armed Uel into getting five of these, making Fantastic Comics temporarily a vendor of GameStop exclusives!
I’ve already shucked one of these for its awesome shell, but its juicy innards are ready for harvesting, and thankfully diverted from the FunkoPop dump in the figurative sky but literal ground in Washington.
If you can’t afford a trip to a Washington dump, come by Fantastic Comics and pick up an awesome holiday gift!
My next award- Freeform Dumpster diving 2023