Sign Here, Please: Jeremy Dale

With so many people who've contributed to G.I. JOE comics over the years at HeroesCon 2009, I had a stash of books to get signed. The first artist I located Friday morning was Jeremy Dale, artist on six of the twelve books that were included in the 25th Anniversary comic two-packs. There are no credits in the books, which were written by Larry Hama, but he recently posted a list of which ones he drew here. I was armed with issue #36½ (featuring Tomax and Xamot) and issue #7 (featuring Destro, Baroness, and Iron Grenadiers).




Not only was Mr. Dale kind enough to sign those books (and seemingly surprised that they were in as good condition as they are), but he also had G.I. JOE prints for sale. How could I resist? The guy's artwork is fantastic, so I had to add these to my collection.




Jeremy Dale is currently offering original artwork from his G.I. JOE comics, so be sure to check out his site.

Sign Here, Please: Jeremy Dale

HeroesCon 2009 In (Very Few) Pictures

Okay, so I know I said I was going to take more photos at HeroesCon this year. I really intended to do it, too. The best laid plans, and all that. Of course, I'm usually shopping for action figures, busts, statues, and various other collectibles at least as much as I'm shopping for books, but that wasn't the case this year. I only came home with seven or so action figures this time, which is less than I usually buy the first day. It wasn't for a lack of trying, either. The selection of stuff I didn't already have just wasn't there. No, I spent most of this year with my face buried in boxes of books, coming home with a dozen or so trade paperbacks and hardcovers and around 400 single issues. Sorting through all those books is a big part of why I haven't updated the blog yet. I did manage to snap a few photos, though, but I'll have many more pics of what I brought home than from the con itself. Anyway, here's what I managed to get:

This is the con floor from the seating area over near the concessions. That crowded booth in the background under the "Aisle 200" sign had just dropped from ½ price trades to $5 trades, so they were having a busy Sunday.


Here's the Sci-Fi Genre booth. I visited their store in Durham last year, and I've ordered from their online store several times. What a great, friendly group of people they are. Looking back, maybe I should have bought that $6 Supernova figure hanging there.


These next two photos are of The Outer Rim Collectibles' booth. He had a good selection of 25th Anniversary and "Modern Era" G.I. JOE figures available.




This guy was walking around in a Storm Shadow costume, so when he was standing next to me at the DC Comics booth, I decided to take a photo.


And here's a shot of Jennifer with a guy in a Cobra Commander costume. She's 5'6", by the way.


You can see larger HeroesCon 2009 photos on my Flickr, but that's pretty much it. As I mentioned, I'll have plenty of photos of stuff I brought home from the convention to post throughout the week, but those were the only photos of the actual con I managed to take. From what I've seen on the web, there were several attendees in recognizable costumes, but I didn't see many of them. I guess I was too busy digging through $1, fifty-cent, and even ten-cent comic boxes and wondering why no one had any recent DC Direct releases (or Marvel Universe, or JLU, or any of the pricey G.I. JOE variants). Where I failed, though, others succeeded. Here's the official Heroes Aren't Hard To Find convention set on Flickr. Seriously, I never even saw this Cobra Commander & Baroness or any of these guys. Here's some more HeroesCon costumers on ComicBook.com, too. While I did see the GL from a distance, I never caught so much as a glimpse of Wonder Woman, Cassie Hack, Renee Montoya, or that Batman. I've seen that Harley before, though, and I hope to never, ever see her again.

Twenty-, Twenty-, Twenty-Four Hours To Go

HeroesCon 2009 officially kicks of in twenty-four hours, at least for those of us shrewd enough to purchase a three-day advance pass. I'm happy to see that Sci-Fi Genre is on the list of exhibitors. Unfortunately, I don't see many of the vendors from the Northeast who used to set up shop at HeroesCon up until a few years ago. I was hoping that with gas prices down from what they were last year, some of those guys might make the trip again, but it looks like mostly regional dealers from the Southeast. That's how it's been for the last few years, and the prices and selection suffer for it. There will still be plenty to buy and lots of great deals to be had, but the days of $5 DC Direct figures and $30 long boxes full of comics seem to be gone for good.

I always take my camera with me to the convention, but I never end up taking many photos. I'm going to make an effort to do better with that this year, so I'm hoping to have plenty of pictures to share here and on Flickr. I'll try to get shots of comics and toys at dealer booths, the DC and Marvel setups, some of the talent, and some of the costumers. And of course, I'll have images of whatever figures, books, and other goodies I bring home from the con.

Seven Days in Sunny June

With just one week to go until HeroesCon 2009, the Event Schedule has been released, and here's a look at the DC Comics panels:

From the HeroesCon 2009 Event Schedule Friday, June 19 2:00 PM DC UNIVERSE | Room 213BCD Join DC's Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, Editor Brian Cunningham and countless DCU talent for a panel that's not to be missed. With "Blackest Night" looming, what lies ahead for your favorite universe? Find out here! Saturday, June 20 1:00 PM DC NATION | Room 213BCD The NATION calls out once more to the DC Faithful! DC's Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler and Editor Brian Cunningham lead a list of A-list talent to talk all things DC. Come one, come all, the DC NATION welcomes you!

For anyone who may prefer an inferior universe, here's a look at the Marvel panels:

From the HeroesCon 2009 Event Schedule Friday, June 19 1:00 PM MARVEL COMICS :: PINT O' C.B. | Room 217BCD He’s one of the most recognized persons in the comic industry, at the center of many things Marvel. He’s C.B. Cebulski, Writer and Marvel Talent Liaison, and he’s joined by the top writers in the industry to take on all questions and drop a few surprise announcements! Join Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man), Matt Fraction (Invincible Iron Man), Ed Brubaker (Captain America), Mark Waid (Amazing Spider-Man) and more! Saturday, June 20 2:00 PM MARVEL: DARK REIGN | Room 217BCD He lost, they won. They are the new Masters of the Marvel Universe, and they are NOT nice people. The villains finally have their day, now hear from the folks pulling the strings what happens next. This panel will have the announcement of the next big chapter in Marvel history, so be there for it! Featuring Brian Michael Bendis (Dark Avengers, New Avengers), Matt Fraction (Dark Avengers/X-Men), Jonathan Hickman (Secret Warriors), and editor Jeanine Schaefer.

And on the G.I. JOE front, Herbe Trimpe was added to the guest list on Tuesday. Mr. Trimpe was the artist on issues #1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 of the original Marvel series.

And while you're at the show, be sure to stop by booth #145 and check out the local Charlotte artists of the God City crew.

The Milestone Mission

Two weeks and counting until HeroesCon '09, and I'm going through books and making lists of what I need to complete titles, or even just stories in some cases. In addition to supplementing my Marvel and DDP G.I. JOE collections, a big priority this year will be trying to finish off runs of several Milestone Media titles. I'm specifically trying to pick up the few issues of Blood Syndicate, Hardware, Icon, and Static that I'm still missing. I'd like to pick up some Xombi and Shadow Cabinet books, too, but I'm very close to full sets of the other four, so they'll be the focus of my search efforts.


With Static and other characters from the Milestone Dakotaverse making their way into the DCU, I'd like to get reacquainted with them, so I'll be looking to fill out the holes in my collection when the convention starts on June 19. I've gone through all of my single issues, so now it's on to my hardcovers and trade paperbacks to see what else I'll be trying to acquire.

Plaxi-no

Well, I've removed the image of my McFarlane Sports Picks Plaxico figure from the site graphics. I decided to do it as soon as the Giants released him, but I just got around to starting it over the weekend. He did catch the game-winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLII, and all, so he'll stay on my NY Giants shelf. He's no longer a member of the team, and he'll most likely end up playing elsewhere before his career is over, so I couldn't keep him on the site.

Stupid, stupid Plaxico... Deadpool might do something dumb, but I shouldn't have any trouble out of Snake-Eyes.

Here Comes The BOOM: Monkeywrench

Cock the glock to your head, let off about two in it. Yeah, it's a dirty job, but I just love doin' it...

Joining the ranks of my 25th Anniversary collection now is Monkeywrench, who was first introduced to the G.I. JOE line in 1986. Almost immediately after I bought a couple of figures for parts to work on this character, he showed up in Wal-Mart's inventory system as part of a forthcoming two-pack in the Rise Of Cobra movie line. I was annoyed at first, but also happy that a proper version was on the way. A few days later, images of a figure with a repainted Outback head were revealed, and I was suddenly happy I'd started gathering the pieces. I'm all for sensible reuse of tooling to create new characters from existing molds, but the key word there is sensible. Outback's head on Monkeywrench doesn't qualify.


I did more kinds of war crimes, more times than in war times, went way before times...

With many thanks to customizer Mandingo Rex for the inspirational recipe:

• Torso, waist, legs, and upper arms: comic pack Torch
• Lower arms: comic pack Ripper
• Head: STAR WARS Legacy Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Bandolier: 2009 five-pack Snake-Eyes
• Vest & sunglasses: Mutt Williams (deluxe version w/ motorcycle)
• Weapon: ARAH Monkeywrench weapon

The hole in the bottom of Obi-Wan's head is bigger than the ball on Torch's neck, so I used Handi-Tak Reusable Adhesive to compensate. It will hold the head in place, but it's not permanent, so I can turn his head back and forth without removing it.


You know what's sad, man? That I'm such a madman, bad man, with that BOOM you never had, man...

Here Comes The BOOM: Monkeywrench

21 Days

With just three weeks to go before HeroesCon 2009, here's a breakdown of some of the guests who'll be at this year's convention:

• Mark Bagley
• Brian Michael Bendis
• Ed Brubaker
• Cliff Chiang
• Frank Cho
• Tommy Lee Edwards
• Matt Fraction
• Cully Hamner
• Adam Hughes
• Jamal Igle
• Steve Niles
• George Pérez
• Karl Story
• Ethan Van Sciver
• Dexter Vines
• Mark Waid

You can check out some of what Steve Niles and Ethan Van Sciver were kind enough to do at last year's HeroesCon.

Both of the Big Two publishers will have a presence there, and hopefully lots of information and goodies for everyone.

• DC Comics
• Marvel Comics

And for G.I. JOE fans, this year's convention is going to be fully stocked with talent who've contributed to the property over the years:

• Robert Atkins - Artist on IDW's 2009 G.I. JOE reboot.
• Jeremy Dale - Artist on several of the comics released in 25th Anniversary two-packs.
• Marc Deering
• Tom Feister - Cover artist on IDW's G.I. JOE Origins.
• S.L. Gallant - Artist on IDW's G.I. JOE and the movie prequel books.
• Michael Golden - Artist behind the incredible cover of G.I. JOE Yearbook #2 (which I can't wait to get signed).
• Rick Ketcham - Inker on IDW's G.I. JOE.
• Eric Layton - Inker in DDP run.
• Pat Quinn - Artist on G.I. JOE Declassified.
• Rod Whigham - Artist on about two dozen issues of Marvel's G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero.
• John 'Waki' Wycough - Inker on IDW's G.I. JOE.

And that's just a sample of who will be there. See the complete guest list for yourself, and start making plans to attend.

One Month And Counting

Spark Mad Izm

Natch.

G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra Destro In-Hand

Okay, so I never do this, buy figures from China before they're officially released at retail. It's something I've always resisted, but when eBay seller ws_toys listed the movie version Destro figure on eBay, I gave in to temptation. The figure looks enough like the Destro I grew up with to make me want it, and for $15 shipped, I just couldn't pass on the opportunity. I was considering a similar item from another line last week, but when it broke the $100 range, I rediscovered my sense of willpower.


When I'm finished, the world will never forget...

The figure itself is topnotch. All the paint is exactly as it should be, and the joints are nice and tight, but none of the articulated pieces stick. The design and constrcution picks up right where the 25th Anniversary line leaves off, with double-jointed knees and articulated ankles, hips, hands, elbows, shoulders, and neck. His shirt and coat collar are a separate piece, which gives Hasbro options if they want to use this body again. The head is not the reflective chrome look of the past, but closer to the metallic gray used in the Cobra five-pack from 2007. His dog tag stand has a Cobra emblem on the bottom, the kind of thing I'm sure I'd have worn around the neighborhood when I was eight years old. Like or not, collectors, there are going to be kids who love these toys.


What did you say your unit was called?

Destro comes with four weapons: A black pistol that fits in his removable shoulder holster, a gray pistol, a modular gray rifle that can be broken down into two parts, and a spring-loaded rocket launcher. I'm sure that last one will get some blood boiling, but the great thing about those weapons is that you can chuck them into the trash if you don't like them. I know that won't stop people from getting online to complain about them, but the option is always there. The gray pistol and rifle have pegs that fit into small holes on the sides of Destro's legs. From what I've seen, most of the movie figures share this design element. I think that would be my only real issue with them, when a holster would have made all the difference in the world.


Destro with spring-loaded, rocket launching action...

I'm not expecting anything like The Dark Knight or Watchmen when G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra hits theaters in August, nor would I have ever thought we'd get something like that from G.I. JOE, regardless of who writes, directs, or stars in a live-action version. It might be just fun enough to enjoy seeing some familiar concepts brought to the big screen for a couple of hours, though, especially when the ninjas take the spotlight. I'm not overly optimistic, though. That said, some of these toys that are coming out in the movie line look like a blast, and hopefully Destro here is just the beginning. I'm looking forward to seeing these at retailers this summer and adding a few more characters to my collection. If nothing else, I'm glad to see Hasbro giving movie lines the 3¾" treatment. Between these and the comic series X-Men Origins: Wolverine figures, it's a great year for the scale.

So stop your complaining about what Hasbro and Paramount are doing to your childhood, and just try to have some fun with the toys. Besides, your childhood was asking for it.

G.I. JOE: The Rise Of Cobra Destro In-Hand

Move Over, G.I. Jane

Although I found it a little irritating that Hasbro invested in tooling to release a new Lady Jaye figure this year, despite the fact she was already one of only three female characters in the 25th Anniversary line, it provided an opportunity to do something with the new body. This wasn't something I'd have bothered to do with the wave 2 Lady Jaye, since I already used that figure's upper torso for my custom 25th Zarana. It wouldn't have made a lot of sense to have multiple females running around Cobra Island with that same look, but this new body invited an easy repaint.


Behind a gun, I'll make my final stand...

The 2009 G.I. JOE five-pack Lady Jaye's green uniform was painted blue, and her boots, gloves, belt, and knees were painted black. She wasn't originally intended to have kneepads, but black paint and the double-jointed knees make for a simple conversion. The removable belt, knife sheath on her chest, and satchel from the five-pack Shipwreck were painted burgandy. Top it off with a head swap from the single carded Viper, and she's ready to lead her guys into a firefight.


Bad Company, till the day I die...

The Female Viper Officer is armed with a Heckler & Koch XM8, available from Marauder "Gun-Runners" as the High-Tech Assault Rifle w/ Removable Ammo clip.

Move Over, G.I. Jane

All In The Family: Conclusion

While I spent more time than I care to admit working on these customs, I'd happily toss them in a box and stuff it in the back of a closet if Hasbro would release a properly updated version of Zarana and finally get around to producing a Zanya figure. I haven't yet decided if I'll attempt to come up with Zartan's brother, Zandar. I have a base body set aside for it, but I'm just not sure I'm up to the challenge. I think some actual sculpting would be required just to make it passable, and I had enough difficulty with the painting. That's what keeps me from trying customs of Monkeywrench (check out this one by Gunslingercbr to see how he should look), Road Pig, and Thrasher, too. My only real hope for those characters is that Hasbro decides to kick out with some more Dreadnok goodness once they decide to explore some classics again after the upcoming Rise Of Cobra film.


A snapshot in the family album...

Speaking of the movie toys, I have some ideas I want to try with some of those characters. I haven't seen a figure yet that look as though it will work in my display as is (a couple of the vehicles are another story), but I can definitely appropriate some of the new heads. I'm really looking forward to the Heavy Duty figure, and not because I want Heavy Duty, but because I think his body style and uniform have a lot of potential for something completely different. Depending on what Marvel Universe releases in the way of female characters, I'm hoping that I'll be able to come up with a decent recipe for Jinx.

All In The Family: Conclusion

All In The Family: Zanya

Once I was nearly finished with Zarana, I still had a desire to continue. I knew I wanted Zartan's daughter, Zanya, to go with my Dreadnoks, but where would I start? There are only three females in the line, and I've already combined parts from Scarlett and Lady Jaye to create Zarana. Baroness is the only remaining female, and she's really not much of a starting point for Zanya. It then occurred to me that I really didn't need the same articulation as what's used on the 25th Anniversary G.I. JOE figures; the most important thing was scale. I ventured into my collection room, started digging through some loose figures, and found my base: the "Arena Escape" Padmé Amidala from Attack Of The Clones. Sure, she's one of those figures that's already posed, but that was more than acceptable for my purposes. She'll eventually be used in a diorama, and she likely would have ended up in a similar pose, anyway. Not a perfect solution, but certainly better than any alternative Hasbro has offered in the modern G.I. JOE line.

I used this Dreadnoks poster and images from the pages of Devil's Due Publishing's Dreadnoks: Declassified for reference. I painted her shirt (including Padmé's sleeveless arm) purple first, and then painted over that with black, intentionally leaving the black coverage thin in some areas to recreate the effect of the colors in the DDP comic series. Her pants were painted with two coats of green, and I removed a little bit of paint from a couple of spots by touching it with my finger to create "holes" in them. I went back over those areas with a flesh color. The boots were painted black, followed by some drybrushing with brown to create the "dirty" look. The belt, holster, hands, and hair were painted black, and then I went over parts of her hair with green after that was dry. Getting the lips and eyebrows right was the most difficult part, but I've since invested in some brushes that will make that sort of thing easier in the future.


I've been a bad, bad girl...

Faced with my severe artistic limitations yet again, it was now time to add a DDP Dreadnoks logo to her shirt. What you see is actually my first attempt, and it came out better than I had expected. A découpage solution would have been preferable, but the surface of her chest wasn't smooth enough to accomodate it. I wasn't going for precise detail, but just a recognizable shape, and I think I managed to accomplish that.


Feelin' like a criminal...

Zanya's bike is the Fat Ride from Mattel's Hot Wheels 1:18 Moto line, with Cobra decals from ReproLabels.com.

Zanya is armed with an M1911A1 45, available from Marauder "Gun-Runners".

All In The Family: Zanya

All In The Family: Zarana

When Hasbro made it clear that they had no plans to release an updated version of Zartan's sister, Zarana, in the 25th Anniversary G.I. JOE line, I looked back at the photo I took of their custom figure of the character from JoeCon 2007. The parts were easy to identify: Scarlett's head, arms, and legs, and Lady Jaye's torso. That was a good start, but I really didn't like the way Scarlett's arms looked when painted to be sleeveless. I thought Zarana could use a bit of an update, too, so I decided to go with a combination of the original look and the Devil's Due Publishing design. I switched to Lady Jaye's arms and substituted Scarlett's lower torso for Lady Jaye's, which allowed for a crop top. I painted her boots black with a bit of brown drybrushing to give them a "dirty" look. I also added Lady Jaye's removable holster belt and painted the handle of her pistol pink so Zarana could accessorize a little. I originally used Scarlett's head, but since she was one of the few members of the G.I. JOE team I had opened for my display of loose figures, I really wanted a unique head for Zarana. That led me to this head from Alyosha's Broken Arrow Toys. Here's the end result:


I know you're a bad, bad woman...

One of the things that distinguished G.I. JOE from other toy lines in the '80s was the diversity of the characters, but that hasn't been reflected as well as it could have been since the 25th Anniversary line was introduced in '07. So far, we have three black males (Roadblock, Stalker, and Alpine), three white females (Scarlett, Lady Jaye, and Baroness), four male characters of Asian ancestry (Storm Shadow [Japanese-American], Quick Kick [Japanese and Korean], Tunnel Rat [Chinese], and the Hard Master [Japanese]), two Native American males (Spirit Iron-Knife & Airborne), and one presumably Polynesian male (Torpedo). That's a total of thirteen characters, ten of whom are males. Compare that to nearly sixty unique white males, not to mention the armies of white Cobra Troopers, Officers, and Vipers in all their various incarnations. Honestly, how hard would it be for Hasbro to thrown in a few black Cobra Troopers here and there? No new tooling is required. Anyway, the line desperately needs more female characters, which was part of my motivation for trying my hand with Zarana and the subject of my next entry, which I'll post in a day or two.

As I mentioned the other day, I truly lack even a hint of artistic ability, so the concept would definitely benefit from having a more skilled painter at the other end of the brush. For my purposes, though, Zarana will suffice, at least until Hasbro finally gets around to releasing an official version. If they don't, though, my display will be fine with this attempt at Zartan's sister.


Good enough for me...

Zarana's bike is the Psycholoco from Mattel's Hot Wheels 1:18 Moto line, with Cobra decals from ReproLabels.com.

Zarana is armed with a Heckler & Koch UMP, available as the Tactical Assault Rifle w/ Removable Ammo clip from Marauder "Gun-Runners".

All In The Family: Zarana