‘G.I. Joe #1’ (written by Paul Allor - review) at Forces of Geek
As one gets with ‘your favorite thing’, when a new edition comes out, you approach skeptical by nature, speculate on merits, and if you have a generous heart and mind, you ‘give it a shot’ at least. Star Wars, Star Trek, Mad Max, whatever it is that floats your boat, you hope the new folks don’t muck it up too badly.
READ THE REVIEW: https://www.forcesofgeek.com/2019/09/g-i-joe-1-review.html
Read MoreFOG! Requisitions Answers From Newly Enlisted ‘G.I. Joe’ Writer Aubrey Sitterson - FORCES OF GEEK
He may be the latest-born writer on a regular G.I.Joe property, but Aubrey Sitterson has distilled his interpretation of the team into a military sci-fi property that earns the title “The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe”. With a Transformer on the team and an awesome new headquarters, Aubrey joined us today to talk G.I. Joe, The Hasbro Universe and what we can expect after the latest Hasbro event First Strike!
* * * * *
FOG!: Yo, Joe! Thanks for taking the time to talk Joe with us! What brings you to the IDW Joe Universe? How did you end up taking over for this season?
Aubrey Sitterson: Last year I wrote the fan-favorite Street Fighter x G.I. Joe, which was not only beloved by readers, but by Hasbro themselves. They dug the high-energy take on the Joes, one where they all felt like unique characters, so when it came time to launch a brand-new G.I. Joe series, IDW knew exactly who to call!
Following Revolution, we’re seeing a brand new take on IDW’s Joe properties, certainly different than the ongoing Larry Hama G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero continuity. For one, it is integrated into the other Hasbro titles, as “The Crown Jewel of the Hasbro Universe”. Tell us what it is like to write a Transformer, Skywarp, on to the team.
What kind of question is that? How is it to write a big, mean, surly transforming robot that happens to be on a team with people he could literally crush beneath his foot? It’s AMAZING, Clay.
FOG! Chats With Writer Mairghread Scott and Editor David Hedgecock About ‘First Strike’, A Hasbro Comic Book Event at FORCES OF GEEK
The original G.I. Joe, Joe Coulton, takes his fight to Transformers home world of Cybertron, tying together the Hasbro Comic Universe event of 2017, First Strike!
Today we spoke with writer Mairghread Scott and editor David Hedgecock to talk about Hasbro post-Revolution and how Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and ROM fit into this epic story.
Earth formally joins the Cybertronian Council of Worlds but there can’t be universal peace with Dire Wraiths and Cobra out there for the Joes and Transformers to take on!
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FOG!: For those not caught up in the Hasbro shared universe, where is a good place to start to get caught up on Revolution that can carry you to the events of First Strike?
Mairghread Scott: Well let’s start with what First Strike is. Cybertron and Earth are having their first joint diplomatic event. Explosions, fighting, no one knows what’s going on and before anyone on Earth can figure it out the feed cuts out. All we know is that it looks like Cobra is laying waste to Cybertron and there’s seemingly no way to get there.
But a little thing like interstellar travel isn’t gonna stop Scarlett and her team of G.I. Joes, who gather all the help they can to make it to Cybertron and try to save day. Unfortunately, the Cybertronians they’re trying to defend are often as much of a threat to them as the people they’re fighting.
We’ve got Optimus vs. Destro. Storm Shadow and her ninjas cutting down Decepticons. This is the story where you get to see the world’s most elite soldiers riding and dying with the universe’s most powerful warriors.
So what do you need to read get onboard?
Nothing.
G.I. Joe are the good guys, Cobra are the bad guys and the Transformers are everything in between (literally). But of course, if you want to go back and read our previous issues, they’re totally worth it and available on Comixology now.
FOG! Chats With The SATELLITE FALLING Creative Team of Steve Horton & Stephen Thompson at FORCES OF GEEK
When Satellite Falling fell like Sputnik into our hands the other day, we passed it around the office like the hot ore potato that it is. Books can still break out of the mold while nodding to the familiar and continue to impress. Space bounty hunters, space stations, holographic imaging disguises and more fill up this first issue of Satellite Falling from IDW.
Writer Steve Horton (Amala’s Blade) and artist Stephen Thompson (Future’s End, Batman Beyond) join us on the Cosmic Treadmill this week to tell us about his sci-fi tale of Lilly and her life in the past, present and future.
Pick up the first issue today!
FOG!: Thanks for joining us, guys! First of all, gorgeous book! How long has this been in development? Do you guys work together often?
Steve Horton: It’s been in development about a year! Facebook Memories notified me the other day about the first pitch pages that I showed everyone last summer. We actually put the pitch pages together fairly quickly, but the pitch process was very lengthy. Since the book ended up getting green-lighted, we’ve been working on it ever since. This is our first book together, but hopefully not our last.
Stephen Thompson: This is our first time working together. We produced the first five pages or so as a pitch at some point last year, so it’s been quite a while.
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. March 25, 2015
COMICS
Truly Outrageous! That’s right, Jem is back with her Holograms in a brand new #1. Facing the neon and non-devilock sporting Misfits, girls and boys will be stoked on the fashion, music and comic fun for the modern age! … Continuing our Hasbro theme, how about jumping on to Transformers: Windblade Combiner Wars #1 as Windblade defends her homeworld. …Not to be forgotten from this IDW toy-based comic celebration is Snake-Eyes in Agent of Cobra #3! What, did we think Hasbro would send the Dig Offices a crate of free toys for all of these plugs? I dunno—did we? … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!
$75 Fandango Customizable Gift Card
Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. FEBRUARY 11, 2015
COMICS
The League has a great interview up today with Tom Scioli, writer/artist on Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #5 things are really heating up on Cybertron! … Spoiler Warning - we suggest Machete Order if you MUST include the prequels in your Star Wars viewing experience. Today, heavy breathing Daddy Darth Vader gets a new comic set right after the events in IV (A New Hope). … Lots of bad guys this week as Gail Simone’s Secret Six #2 returns to get to the bottom of Catman’s secret!… Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!
Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. FEBRUARY 4, 2015
COMICS
Don’t forget Scott McCloud at the Brattle on Thursday celebrating the release of The Sculptor and his return to comics. Read our interview with Scott on DigBoston.com. From the mind of comics master Richard Corben (Heavy Metal) comes Rat God #1. …Yo Joe! The Autobots face both The Decepticons and Cobra in this all-out psychedelic Kirby-esque space battle in Transformers vs. G.I.Joe #5. Hear an awesome interview at LeaguePodcast.com with Tom Scioli! … Picks this week from League Podcast!
Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. JANUARY 28, 2015
COMICS
Image keeps on reaching milestones. This week, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn hits #250, bucking trends to renumber everything! This celebration of all things Spawn includes the return of Al Simmons! …Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit #1 comes from Rob Anderson featuring cute but dangerous panda-dogs! If we’re lucky, Mud Man #8 & 9 ship this week from Paul Grist. Kick off your boots before you come in here! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!
Dig Boston and League Podcast Comics Picks of the Week for Wed. JANUARY 28, 2015
COMICS
Image keeps on reaching milestones. This week, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn hits #250, bucking trends to renumber everything! This celebration of all things Spawn includes the return of Al Simmons! …Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit #1 comes from Rob Anderson featuring cute but dangerous panda-dogs! If we’re lucky, Mud Man #8 & 9 ship this week from Paul Grist. Kick off your boots before you come in here! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com!
CREATURE COPS Creator Rob Anderson Takes a Walk on the Cosmic Treadmill at FORCES OF GEEK
Back in July, IDW Publishing and online comic book college Comics Experience penned a deal to publish creator owned books.
The first of these is Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit by Rob Anderson.
Rob joins us today to talk about the hybrid critters in the book and the cops that wrangle with them!
FOG!: Rob, thanks for joining us! Tell us about Comics Experience & IDW’s publishing collaboration, Creature Cops! Are you the first book?
Rob Anderson: Creature Cops is, indeed, the first book coming out of the recently announced publishing alliance between IDW and Comics Experience. I’m pretty excited to be first out of the gate.
Creature Cops: Special Varmint Unit is about animal control officers in a near-future world similar to our own, where gene-spliced animals are commonplace.
It’s an ensemble-style police drama, where the animal cops just happen to be dealing with panda dogs, gator-snakes…and griffins!
Comics Experience is an educational company and runs an online community for comic book creators called the Creators Workshop.
I developed Creature Cops in CE courses and the Workshop, and all the creator-owned books IDW/CE will be published are coming out of that “talent incubator” (as CE founder Andy Schmidt likes to call it).
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
Cosmic Treadmill: IDW & HASBRO AT NEW YORK COMIC CON 2014 at FORCES OF GEEK
You’ll see all the news this week about NYCC beating out SDCC this week in attendance, so it’s notable that I got my ass to the Con on a Yo! Bus for four days of bumping into fans, dizzying cosplay and one heck of a good time. For an early evening panel after spending my whole day traveling, the seats at the Javits Center welcomed us for one of my favorite publishers.
We took a look at the popular licensed properties held by IDW from the IDW & Hasbro: Transformers, Ponies & More panel at New York Comic Con, Day 1 - Thursday, October 9 2014 at 6:15pm.
My only question is, why did my favorite book for life - G.I. Joe get relegated to peeling potato duty. I mean, “ & More”?
That’s a bit insulting to our nation’s Special Mission Force!
But Senior Editor John Barber and Mike Costa made up for it — by announcing Snake Eyes: Agent of Cobra, the next installment in the Cobra Files seasons.
Plus, some more “Truly Outrageous” announcements, nearly missed by the regular Friday through Sunday Con visitors!
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JC DE LA TORRE’S STAR MAGE: FROM KICKSTARTER TO IDW at 13th DIMENSION
Last week saw the debut of JC De La Torre and Ray Dillon’s Star Mage from IDW. We caught up with JC for a MIGHTY Q&A about his influences, the Kickstarter process and merging a classic war-in-space tale with magic to give us an identifiable teenage hero!
Clay N. Ferno: Thanks for joining us, JC! Care to tell us how you got from Kickstarter to IDW with Star Mage? It seems like the response so far is spectacular!
JC De La Torre: Thanks so much for having me. It was such an interesting process to get to where we are now. The story of Star Mage actually started out as a novella that I was dissatisfied with. It just didn’t feel like it was coming together as I hoped. I happened to be reading an IDW Doctor Who comic and that dim light bulb of mine had a momentary flicker and I realized that Darien’s story belonged in a visual medium — what better place than with comics?
I started doing research and whatnot. I knew I wanted high quality artwork and I can barely manage stick figures — so I needed to hire an artist. I went through several potentials before realizing that if I truly want the best art, I needed to pay for a pro. I found Ray Dillon and he was exactly what I was looking for. I paid for the first issue out of my own pocket but to continue the series we were going to need some help, so we turned to Kickstarter. If our Kickstarter failed, Star Mage would have been DOA. It was thanks to those supporters, my defenders of the realm as I like to call them, we kept the lights on and allowed us to continue to develop the series.
IDW knew of the project thanks to Ray, who had previously done work with them and got some of the artwork of Issue #1 in front of Chris Ryall of IDW. There were a ton of starts and stops in the first year and a half developing Issue #1. There were days where it truly seemed like we’d never finish — but IDW stood by us through and through. When we finished Issue #1 and realized due to his demanding schedule Ray wouldn’t be able to finish the series, they trusted me to find another artist of the same caliber. Franco Cespedes took over and once we got our first three issues in the can, the IDW machine began churning.
Response to Issue #1 has been overwhelming. We’re very close to a sell-out of our initial run and we just had a signing at Heroes’ Haven Comics in Tampa where the line was out the door, the store sold out of their copies and we actually had to dip into our convention stock to be able to support the masses. The reviews have been mostly positive so it appears to really be well liked.
It’s very exciting.
[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION.COM]
MIGHTY Q&A: A G.I. JOE #200 EXTRAVAGANZA! - INTERVIEW WITH TIM FINN OF HUB COMICS AT 13TH DIMENSION
Tim Finn is a G.I. Joe expert. He’s also the owner of Hub Comics in Somerville, Mass. He’s also giving away 200 copies of G.I. Joe #200, starting Wednesday, the book’s release date.
CLAY N. FERNO has the interrogation!
Clay: What was your first Joe comic?
Tim: Issue #90, which I got a few weeks before heading to summer camp. The cover shows two Joes about to get brainwashed, so I couldn’t not buy it, even though I wasn’t into comics. And the “Next Month” blurb shows a ninja fight, but that issue was off the stands by the time I got back home from camp, and it was two years before I tracked it down. Those brainwashed Joes are fine, by the way. More or less.
What does Yo Joe Cola taste like? I think R.C. Cola, not The Big Two.
Yeah, RC or a supermarket generic. I always liked that the Joes had their own cola to counterbalance the Dreadnoks loving grape soda so much, even though it makes about as much sense as Delta Force having its own line of jeans.
[READ MORE at 13th DIMENSION]
UPDATE: Picked up by ROBOT 6 at CBR!
DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for March 5, 2014
COMICS
Rogue Trooper #1 from IDW brings the classic blue-skinned genetically modified soldier to the States from the pages of 2000AD. A must read for fans of Judge Dredd and the Terminator! …An All New Wolverine and the X-Men #1 hits shelves as Jason Latour and Mahmud Asrar (Supergirl) take over the book and Wolvie and Storm take over the Jean Grey School. …The Fox #5 is the finale for this great pulp series celebrating the the fun to be had in a comics series. Good for all ages! …Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.
Cosmic Treadmill: RED LIGHT PROPERTIES by Dan Goldman (Review) at FORCES OF GEEK
Last December, we interviewed Dan Goldman about his psychedelic ghost hunting real estate comic Red Light Properties on the Cosmic Treadmill.
And you thought Jack ‘King’ Kirby could get weird!
Imagine the apartment or house you lived in came with a ‘Green Light Certificate’, after the regular inspectors do their thing, the folks at Red Light Properties come in and do a clean sweep to make sure poltergeists are not hanging around (quite literally in chapter one, double hanging suicide).
We’ve had some time with this 200 page remastered and recolored Red Light Properties — it had it’s first life as a webcomic — and on February 5th, IDW’s paperback version hits the stands.
Ahh Florida. My last trip there was mostly for the attraction parks, but I fondly remember the hours spent driving around in the muggy heat, the big box stores, trucks filled with oranges. When visiting new places I often imagine living there. That was tough to do for Florida. It was fine enough, I suppose, but so foreign to my snow-shoveling-Yankee-flannel ways that I couldn’t find myself there. 
But imagine if…I got a cheap place! What Red Light Properties the company does is provide a ghost busting service unlike the one you are thinking of. This Mom and Pop operation is a money making venture.
If you’ve seen The Wolf of Wall Street, think of these property lists as the pink sheets, or the leads from Mitch and Murray in Glengarry Glen Ross. The reason the apartments are undesirable is that they are haunted. Husband and father Jude has an extrasensory vision that allows him to break through the membrane and see the ghosts and eradicate them from the premises.
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
TARDIS on The COSMIC TREADMILL – A Look at IDW's 'DOCTOR WHO 2013 SPECIAL #1' - FORCES OF GEEK
After a visit to the town called Christmas in the Time of the Doctor, Who fans are sure to miss Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.
Just the day before, on Tuesday, December 45th, IDW Publishing marked its regeneration cycle by releasing a 53 page year end special in tribute not only to Matt but to the publisher’s claim to the Time Lord.
Since 2008, IDW was the first US publisher to have the comic rights through the BBC to new stories with the tenth and eleventh doctors, and this book is a sign off for them. Written by longtime Doctor Who television and comics writer Paul Cornell and drawn by Jimmy Braxton (Cornell’s partner on Batman: Knight and Squire).
Rarely does a single issue deem itself worthy of a run on the Cosmic Treadmill, but as the New Year, a new Doctor, and the next 50 years of Doctor Who are all converging on a timey wimey convergence, this one is definitely worth picking up.
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
The Cosmic Treadmill Takes a Look at Monkeybrain's EDISON REX at FORCES OF GEEK
I like myself some Superman, heck, I even like Lex in a way.
When it comes to new superhero comics, I have a go-to theme that I like too, and that’s of the Superman gone bad vs. the world and the super villain gone good to stop him.
While that’s not exactly the case here, as seen in The Mighty or Irredeemable, but Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver’s Edison Rex (Monkeybrain comics) transforms the world’s most formidable super bad guy into the man who will save the world. It won’t be easy for him, and it also won’t be easy for him to shake his bad public perception as he puts on the hero hat. IDW Publishing has released the first volume of the digital first Monkeybrain comic, a great independent comics gift idea this season.
When Valiant, Protector of Earth, is exposed to knowledge of why he is really here (aliens from a doomed planet sent his RNA here to conquer our race) by criminal genius Edison Rex, he chooses to kill himself instead of wait to be activated by his doomed planet’s signal. Fans of recent issues of Superior Spider-Man will catch this trope immediately, as Edison Rex makes an equally hard decision. No longer having to use his inveterate hate for Valiant, he decides to take up the mantle of superhero! Of course his loyal female sidekick M’Laizz has her eyes set on world domination still, and needs some convincing. Much like Strax the Sontaran from Doctor Who, M’Laizz does go along with the plan, no matter how helpful to the puny human race!
This comic is like rolling around naked in a million dollar bills on your bed, or a million comics (though you could probably guess my preference as to the best paper to roll on!). Roberson has tapped into and referenced so many comic stories from the Silver Age to now, and not just Superman, but Thor, Howard the Duck, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bizarro Superman, Invincible, Fantastic Four, Fortress of Solitude, Cerebro, Superman robots, throw a little Grodd and The Venture Bros. and you have got just the first volume! Rao only knows what’s in store next! (Actually, the next six issues are available on ComiXology, Issue #12 drops on Wed. Dec. 4!)
[READ MORE AT FORCES OF GEEK]
ADS:
EARTH PRIME TIME: G.I. JOE AMERICA’S ELITE: DISAVOWED VOL.
As a scholar of all things G.I. Joe and a bit of a snob when it comes to what is or shouldn’t be considered canon by Joe fandom, I was surprised to see IDW Publishingsolicit a reprint of what many comic fans consider to be the darkest of years, the post-Larry Hama G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero (1982) Devil’s Due era. I’ve dismissed these books in many a longbox and skipped over some great original artwork from convention portfolio bins before asking myself if this book has what it takes to be my America’s elite fighting team. Hasbro itself disallows this run from being canon, but Devil’s Due owned the license from 2001—2008, so there are plenty of Yo Joe! Colas to be downed as the reprints trickle into stores. G.I. Joe Americas Elite Disavowed Vol. 01 hits shelves today.
We heard shortly before New York Comic Con this year that Fred Van Lente will be leaving the regular ongoing G.I. Joe book after issue #11, and that got us thinking about the franchise and who might take over. No rumors have circulated yet, but our vote would be for Nathan Edmondson ofThe Activity and Who is Jake Ellis?. This is all before Marvel announced snatching up Nathan for newPunisher and Black Widow books at Marvel NOW!
The Devil’s Due writer from 2001-2005 starts with company founder Josh Blaylock, and his Real American Hero run became known as an alternate universe named “Disavowed.” In the universe, another terrorist organization known as Red Shadows was introduced as a threat to the Joes and Flint’s compatriot Lady Jaye dies after 43 issues of the new Disavowed continuity.
[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]
TUE 8/6 - @Musiquestria #Brony Musicians - All Ages - *NOTE: 5:30pm Doors #MYLITTLEPONY #BRONIES #MLP
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Picks of the week appreciated! Feel free to ask me any questions/requests. Thanks for your continued support.
Post- BOSTON COMIC-CON, brony meetup at Middle East.
All Ages - *NOTE: 5:30pm Doors
WATCH THIS VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFrUblp28uc#at=106
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Musiquestria is a month-long pony music tour spanning the entirety of the United States. LEAGUE PODCAST presents this first ever tour of BRONY Musicians coming to the Middle East Upstairs on Tuesday, August 6, 2013. Early Evening All Ages Show.
Musiquestria is a month-long pony music tour spanning the entirety of the United States, from Everfree Northwest in Seattle, WA to cities in the New England area. During these four weeks we hope to visit as many major cities as possible across the country, bringing incredible live performances of some of the community’s most talented musicians to you.
Bronies have already infultrated so much of pop culture. This first-of-its-kind tour will take us to the next level! If this series of epic events are successful, this tour will become an annual event bringing up-and-coming brony musicians right across North America and into your home towns!
FAQ: What’s a Brony? http://whatisabrony.com
TUE 8/6/13 - MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS
EARLY EVENING SHOW:
LeaguePodcast Presents:
Musiquestria Tour - 8 Brony Musicians - All Ages $10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show *NOTE: 5:30pm Doors
Silva Hound
F3nning
Bejoty
Tarby
Poni1Kenobi
Replacer
Donn DeVore
Automatic Jack
TUE
8/6/13 U: EARLY EVENING SHOW: LeaguePodcast Presents: Musiquestria Tour - 8 Brony Musicians - All Ages $10 Advance / $12 Day Of Show *NOTE: 5:30pm Doors
MIDDLE EAST UPSTAIRS
472 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge MA 02139
“Musiquestria is a month-long pony music tour spanning the entirety of the United States.”
Musiquestria is a month-long pony music tour spanning the entirety of the United States, from Everfree Northwest in Seattle, WA to cities in the New England area. During these four weeks we hope to visit as many major cities as possible across the country, bringing incredible live performances of some of the community’s most talented musicians to you.
Bronies have already infultrated so much of pop culture. This first-of-its-kind tour will take us to the next level! If this series of epic events are successful, this tour will become an annual event bringing up-and-coming brony musicians right across North America and into your home towns!
FACEBOOK EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/669486943067477
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BLOG: mideastclub.com/blog
Publicity / Promotions - Cambridge, MA USA
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