 And we are live. We are live with Austin huff from power comics. Hello everyone. Thank you for being patient Thank you for waiting Just a little bit longer than than usual just make so so that we can make sure that we were ready because We've got a lot a lot lot to talk about Austin huff is with power comics and they have a new Kickstarter For super joe unlimited and there's a link in the description of this very live stream Which you can check out as soon as we're done here. It is it the Kickstarter is live right now So let's start with talking with Austin Austin if you could Introduce everyone to you and tell everybody what you're doing. It's a pretty exciting project Hey everybody. Thanks for having me on the show Brian Austin huff power comics We stumbled into the wonderful license of super joe and We're able to come up with a comic book based on super joe Which is a wonderful opportunity, you know, if there's any line of of toy Especially something that's so significant as part of gi Joe cannon that really Doesn't have a backstory fulfilled. It is definitely super joe. So we're looking You know very excitedly at being able to fill in this major gap And what we think is the greatest toy light in the history of toy lights and Super joe, I'm pretty familiar with super joe I think folks who know the history of gi Joe are familiar with super joe But for the for the uninitiated What what's your just brief breakdown of what super joe was back in the 70s? And you know kind of what you're bringing forward to today Sure Well, as most people know or maybe they don't know gi joe Went from being a military toy to being the adventure team probably most likely from what everybody talks about due to the The the the hatred towards the vietnam war Hasbro took it in a different direction made it more Big jim like as as I like to call it, you know more adventure more fun More athletic things like that But then around 1975 1976 they abandoned the 12 inch format And shrunk it down to the eight inch format or eight and a half inch format very similar to the old migo action figures Which at the time migo was the leader in action figure toys So it seemed to make sense Also, it probably was getting to be cost restrictive or prohibitive to do a 12 inch action figure line with the cost of oil The economy was in the tank. It was just not a good time financially economically in the united states unfortunately When they shrank the toy line down to eight and a half inches And on top of it, they took it to outer space. They gave it more of an outer space theme We're taking the super joe adventure team To all corners of the galaxy was pretty much their motto And instead of you know fighting, you know in war or doing adventure team stuff. They were battling Monsters in the galaxy darkon and gore and whatnot You know it was really cool, but unfortunately It only lasted for about a year and a half two years Even though when you look at the the line if you go to the 3d joe site on the internet um Man the the the action figures were great. They had fist pumping action, you know the one two punch They all lit up. They had like like almost like pulsar rays like iron man on their chests It was a great line and the accessories and the outfits and the action packs that went with it Were, you know very much in the the vein of the the gi joe adventure team But the line failed and I think most action figures lines failed at that time Me go ended up going out of business hasbro cut off super joe in the late 70s Um star wars kicked everybody's butt. They just did you know, um Star wars was you know, we'll call it the the the first one to to go into outer space and everybody tried to follow suit And everybody failed You know, disney came out with the black hole which was made into action figures. They failed abysmally, right? Or dismal a uh star trek came back with the motion picture those action figures Which were also in 12 inch like the black hole figures Those died a miserable death um Even uh james bond Uh went to outer space and moon raker. I mean Outer space was the big thing in the late 70s into the early 80s You know the space shuttle columbia was brand new so Space was a big thing, but the only The only license that really made an impact was star wars at sea Yeah, I it's hard to overestimate the impact that star wars had I mean as a game changer in in the toy industry and the entertainment industry um, but uh Super joe like a lot of others Tried to capitalize on that I think most of our audience probably is familiar with um with me go at least I hope you guys are familiar with with me go uh, so we're talking about um Average eight inch figures pretty well articulated Uh cloth goods uniforms. So super joe Was in that vein but also had like these electronic Action features the the lights and such that you mentioned so You but you're actually you have been in The me go fan community for a while right you you are a big fan of me go as well Yeah, absolutely. Um me go As a kid I collected uh adventure team. I collected matel's big gym. I collected me go. I collected star wars and as I grew into adulthood and rediscovered all of my toys I decided that I was going to focus solely on me go's world's greatest superheroes for the most part Or I probably would have you know been broke and gotten divorced a lot earlier in my my life um, so I focused on uh me go's world's greatest superheroes And specifically on creating my own custom me go's because when I was a kid me go stopped producing new Super hero action figures in 75 or 76. I think the last line they came out with Was the teen titans Which at the time, you know, wasn't really a big deal They were about an inch and a half smaller than the traditional me go George Perez hadn't gotten his hands on the comic book, you know the new teen titans yet That was about, you know a good eight to ten years away So they kind of just you know ended up, you know going away And they never made a lot of characters that I loved a hawk man green lantern red skull, um, dr. Doom lex luther and on and on and on So when I rediscovered all of these, uh toys up in my parents attic One day back in like the late 90s maybe 96 97 Um, I was already married. I had a child. I had another one on the way And the internet was brand new brian. I mean it was in its infancy And I got online and I found the me go museum dot com And I found there all of the I mean it was like a historical record of everything me go did Right And on top of it. They had a section called custom me go And there were all these people on there who were doing all of the things that I always wanted to do as a kid I wanted to make my own hawk man my own daredevil my own doctor octopus figures But I didn't know how to do it. Well, all of these people into adulthood had figured out what to do and they left instructions on the me go museum And to tell us what to do and how to do it. Well, I haven't stopped ever since that day And I probably have made well over 650 to 700 Individual distinct different customs for my collection And uh a couple of years ago. I think it was about 2018 or 19 I founded the custom me go hall of fame on facebook Nice. So, um, you know, I'm kind of like a big fish in a little pond And that is the world of customizing me go action figures um For those who haven't seen me go uh figures or kind of handled me me go figures There they are uh quite good for customization. They're so versatile and so Super joe Yeah, super joe is sometimes a forgotten gi joe line we talk a lot about you know the 12 inch gi joe and The three and three quarter inch gi joe in the 80s But there there was this um this in between gi joe series of super joe That is that was that's still part of the legacy and that's what we're uh what you're bringing it for now So I want to talk about the campaign because that is live now Uh, so tell us what you're doing. Uh, what what your super joe Kickstarter comic book is Tell us about the campaign tell us what they can get And let's talk some about like the specifics of it because I know from speaking with you earlier You got some really cool people involved. Yeah, absolutely. So We we get the opportunity to do a super joe comic book And it's like a blank canvas brian. There's there's really no history. There's very little history Um, there there was a A form letter that was sent out to adventure team members Letting them know that they were taking gi joe to outer space and they were renaming them super joe And you know four corners of the galaxy yada yada yada stuff and it was signed by mike triumph and super joe Other than that, there's really not a lot of history or origin backstory to this stuff So we could have taken this in a million different directions And the way we decided to take it with the um, uh, with the blessing of uh, jason shearmeyer and steve stovall from super joe unlimited action figures um, what we're going to do because Before a real american hero all of the joes whether it was super joe adventure team gi joe military They all were similar You know to the point where were they all clones of each other, you know It that's just the way they looked so, you know every kid could have a super joe And they would all look the same and it wouldn't be though the super joe is we're calling him tony Well, no, we're not he's his name is joe. He's super joe So we looked at this and said why don't we take The characters that are out there from from vintage super joe And we claim that they are actually clones And there were a cloning experiment that was done Decades decades earlier And they've had to bring them out of hibernation so to speak because all of a sudden there's this threat In in on earth and that's led by dark con and gore And the point of the story is they've had they they developed these clones And felt that they didn't need to use them Because The world had become such a peaceful place I equate it similarly to that that old movie demolition man with sylvester stalone and wesley snipes Where everything on earth was peaceful And then they thought out wesley snipes and all hell broke loose, right? Yeah Similar to that but We're not thawing out gore and darkon gore and darkon are coming from another place Because you know the universe of boar is a vacuum right and nothing lasts forever So if you have peace for too long a time We got to bring some we got to bring some war into the the story And then they're going to have to figure out. What do we do? We haven't had to fight any kind of an evil force for decades And then one of the scientists pipes up in the the conference room right with all of the all of the heads of the world And says, you know We were working on this top secret project that we called super joe way back when but we put the kibosh on it For a number of different reasons. Maybe it's time. We thought out these guys So, yeah, you mentioned that there really wasn't a lot of Super joe media Back when the toy line was out So that does give you a lot of freedom to kind of create Based on these figures and these characters characters that you have so Uh, so you've got the this kick started going and I have it pulled up here and it looks like you are You were almost at halfway When I checked last year so close so close to the halfway point Uh for just being oh uh being up for a few days Yeah, um, so Uh, so but this is a comic book. It's a visual medium. Um, what do you get? Who do you have in terms of artists doing doing the work doing the covers? Who do you got involved man an all-star lineup? You know, uh, when I originally threw out the teaser to announce this brian I know you remember this and I know everybody listening probably remembers this as well Um, I threw up a copy of the cover of issue number four of a real american hero back in 82 Right created by a personal friend of mine and a guy that I've worked with in the past on my comic series the master's bob hall Right and I reached out to him and said hey bob. I've got this opportunity to do Super joe. I know you don't know anything about it But what I want you to do is I want you to take your issue number four cover And I want you to take the super joe characters as I have them laid out on on your cover and I want you to recreate it almost do a tribute to yourself and he was more than happy to do it And it's just a spectacular thing. So I've got bob hall doing the cover On the interior page is doing the art. I have steven butler Who has done everything from silver sable to spider-man to sonic the hedgehog? But you know what? I got distracted with steven butler first and I want to go back to bob hall So I I put that that that image up of the 82 cover right the cover number four I remember and all of a sudden there's just this avalanche of tweets and social media posts facebook instagram I was getting emails from people Asking me that if I did I pick up the a real american hero license As god is my witness And out my heart I had no idea there was so much Controversy and turmoil going around with a real american hero and id w and and is it going to keep going on? What what's happening? I had no idea. So when I put that up I just wanted to tease everybody say hey, I'm going to redo this cover with super joe And let them know in three days what we're doing, right? well I just got this incredible backlash from people that you know If you're going to do real american hero, you better do this and you better hire larry hama And you better hire this guy and you better not screw this up and who the hell are you and all kinds of stuff but The thing is is that You know as I was about to type in A response that says hey guys, I don't have this license etc. Etc. I kind of set back and let it play itself out You know and I say I say this all the time brian the internet's got internet. Yeah, it's yeah It will happen Yeah, you had no you didn't know I guess at the time everything that was going on the timing Was it it raised a lot of eyebrows because at that time people were like well Who is getting the gi to license? I after id w? well Is larry going to continue these were all questions and then here you come with a gi joe Headline a little teaser. All right. Well, you certainly got everyone's attention. So if that's what you're trying to do Uh mission accomplished. Well a few days later when I posted the super joe cover You know, there were a lot of people who were like, oh, wow, this is really cool There were also a lot of people who were like you're a troll Shame on you I'm telling you right now brian. That was not my intention but What I did learn from this was number one that gi joe are real american hero comic book fans and toy fans Are rabid and passionate about gi joe The second thing I learned was that they have very very strong opinions about who they want to see Working on gi joe related comic books So I started making a list of the people that they mentioned. I started researching on my own cover artists interior artists colorists letterers Writers create anybody who touched gi joe in specifically the last 20 years But I I even went back to the beginning of marvel days in the 80s you know when you know Who was doing covers back then everybody from al milgram to bob hall. I think uh, uh, Bob mcclough did some covers michael golden did so. I mean everybody I mean who's who right? Yeah, I probably I probably Reached out to no fewer than two dozen creators To Ask them if they wanted to be involved in this project The first guy that I brought on was a guy who actually reached out to me. His name is jim brown He has colored no fewer than 150 idw a real american hero comic books And he made a post on one of my threads on facebook And I recognized the name from the research I did and I reached out to him and I said, hey man Would you be interested in doing this because I thought I want to I want to do right by super joe I want to do right by the property And I want to give it that bronze age feel but man. I would really like to give it that modern day zing And the colorists if you get the right colorists They're going to give you that modern day feel and jim as i'm looking through his portfolio I'm like this is the guy that I want to color these books So I reached out to him and he was the first guy who Said, you know, yeah, this is a great idea. I'd love to do it so Letting the real american hero fans out there know that you know, I'm not just stuck in my ways. I'm listening to The the the advice that you gave me, you know do this don't do that. Hey, man I love this. It's a passion project project for me, but I don't want to be the only one who reads it and likes it I wanted to appeal to the masses So I get jim brown And I start contacting all of these other guys to see if they're interested I I contacted guys back in the 80s I contacted guys who, you know, we're working all the way up to the end with idw And we were we were able to land A number of guys to do alternate covers and things like that we picked up Um, I'll read off this list of names. So this is like a freaking all-star list Okay of artists that have worked on gi joe We picked up nitho deas nitho has done covers and interiors For idw. He's doing an alternate cover for us. Actually, we wanted to do A free preview comic originally like a real short eight page comic book And give it away at all the joe cons this summer But I looked at and I thought you know what I'd rather take all that money to give something away for free and put it into A real official number one issue So even though we still have all of the pages laid out for this preview issue We're not going to produce it unless we reach a certain goal on the kickstarter and then we're going to give it away for free Nice. So we've got nitho deas who's done a ton of stuff for idw with gi joe Inking nitho is theago gomez. Both of those guys are from brazil. So I've really got to you know brush up on my portuguese Okay Um, and they just they just finished the cover for the preview issue, which we're calling issue number zero So if you go on any of my social media instagram twitter Power comics on facebook. You'll see it. It's amazing. Again. I mentioned jim brown doing the colors We pulled out a couple of veterans from the 70s. We pulled in to do some work. We pulled in bob hall Who not only did the cover which everybody has seen now But we also he's also going to be doing sketch cards As an add-on on the kickstarter joining him is going to be jeff isherwood Fantastic marvel artist from the 80s and the 90s and the 2000s probably most famous for namor Uh, dr. Strange and conan Um, a few more modern guys that I was able to pull I was able to pull in ron joseph. He's done covers for gi joe for idw I was able to pull in brian shear He's done covers for gi joe and idw and robert atkins as well and actually when I was at joe fest I was able to uh Finally meet robert and brian because I'd only talked to them on the phones, but These comic books here that are autographed by robert There's a couple beauties right here These are going to be up for add-on status on the kickstarter soon I just need to get pictures of those and here's a real nice one from brian shear You can see his autograph right here And also if you look closely you'll see larry the legend larry hama Right over i'm sorry. I'm backwards on the camera I'll see it right here And he did sign it to me so I may have to keep this one now that I look at it So you're you're dropping a lot of names that um gi joe fans real american hero fans will be familiar with it. I mean those are artists that we've seen a lot so we uh, I mean we've grown to know and love their artwork. I mean robert atkins brian shear these are Well known names to us. So so there's a lot familiar here that seems like there will be a lot familiar to um 80s 90s gi joe fans um and to like 70s mego fans so you've got you've got appeals to both groups but you also have something new you have a fresh story um Fresh ideas. So yeah, that's that's a fascinating combination of the old and the new that's really it's it's an intriguing project Thank you. Um, I'm really excited about it having Guys like robert and ron and brian and nifo and fiego doing these alternate covers Is is is a thrill But there's there's one more person that I need to announce and I hope I can announce it on your show that we're adding This this is the breaking news. This is the exclusive With all this with all this other breaking news today. I hear that a real american hero is actually being published somewhere Did you hear about that? I did I did and larry's back writing it. Yes. That's what we've all been waiting for Uh, we're we're pretty happy about that. That's wonderful. Well, I'm gonna make an announcement right here live on your show Are you ready? I'm ready. Okay So I have been talking to this uh creator for a few weeks And at joe fest I confirmed that larry hamah Is in for an alternate cover on super joe That's really cool. So larry hamah This guy right here larry hamah Here's my there's my autograph super joe or gi joe treasury edition larry hamah is in for an alternate cover and uh Gentlemen, I mentioned earlier. Jeff isherwood will be inking him That's that is awesome. So I think I have a picture of you here with larry I mean, uh, there we are. Nope. There there we go That's the guy and and what's really funny is if you look closely at the picture with larry I actually made a a brand new Cover just for him above super joe unlimited. It says larry hamah presents Nice Just as a tribute to him That's awesome. So this is this That's a new announcement larry hamah will be doing An alternate cover for super joe. You know, it's extraordinary about that. Is it kind of links? Uh larry to all three eras to the 12 inch era because he brought that into Real american hero with joe colton and now it'll be bringing him into the super joe era. That's uh, That's groundbreaking. That's really cool. Now. Here's here's another thing that I want to add for your audience to know all of the alternate covers Are unlocked at certain levels of commitment So, you know, we're our goal is 10 000 and 15 000 it unlocks a cover 20 25 30 something like that we're going to do or we have in place. I should say The cool thing about the new alternate covers And we've got to we've got to find a place a space to put larry and we're probably going to want to put him lower So we reach that goal right away. By the way, uh, the Kickstarter just went over $55 000 Yeah, so what what we're doing it and I don't I don't think I've ever seen this anywhere else. This was my idea If we reach a specific goal, let's say 15 000 unlocks larry hamah's cover You can buy larry hamah's original artwork for a set price And if you do if you buy that as an add-on You will be able to consult with larry and create that cover The same thing goes for robert atkins and brian shear and ron joseph I I talked to all of them about it. They all thought it was a great idea So if you want to buy the larry hamah cover or the brian, uh shear cover or whomever You will actually be able to consult with them And within reason put together the cover of your choice because you're the one who's going to be buying the original art Yeah, and again within reason, but I think that that's a fun idea. That's a fun interactive idea So that's very cool. Well, you know, again, it kind of goes back to You know Give give the public what they want You know the reason why we take this to kickstarter the way we do is because Just because I like this idea and think it's great doesn't mean that 10 000 other people think it's great I might be the only guy So when i'm looking at all of the comments on social media about Who should be working on this project and what they should be doing and you should talk to so-and-so Hey, I just want the fans out there to know that I listen You know, I listen to your constructive criticism those who called me an a-hole I kind of pushed to the side But if you want to give me constructive criticism, I'll be the first guy to listen to that You know, I think I think self-awareness is a very underappreciated trait in today's society And I like to think that i'm self-aware Uh, we can use yes, we can use more of that and and uh, Congratulations for tipping over halfway as we are speaking. That is awesome. Um, so, uh, but let's talk about What people will be getting so you have uh, some different supports or pledged tiers Uh starting at I believe it was what five dollars for the digital copy. So I might sketch a digital. Yeah, so that's that's that's that's pretty easy But let's talk about how What people can expect to get at the at the different tiers? Like I said, the link is in the description of this So hopefully people will be going to check out that as soon as we're done here But what will people see and what will they want to try to get in on? Well, we have a lot of exclusive action figure related toys So every reward level you get at least one comic book But you get different rewards like we have an exclusive Action figure set called the sting of the scorpion which I have right here If you can see super joe adventurer with his big machete And I believe you did send me a picture of that. Is this yeah and it comes with the scorpion So you've got a scorpion you've got there it is. Yeah, that's a better picture of it So the sting of the scorpion we have 15 sets. We're down to three 12 have already been claimed We have this awesome radar table That's from a uh, I don't know if you can see that. I think I sent you a picture of it The orange radar table. Yeah, let me find it here. That's from our buddy jim eggner Tk 5 6 0 on etsy. He does all kinds of amazing 3d printed Joe stuff And this is he does stuff in super joe scale I mean a real american hero scale 12 inch. He does fantastic stuff Then we've got some really cool again action figure related stuff some DIY add-ons we have a really cool super joe commander Like like almost like a captain kirk console chair You know from the the deck of the the starship enterprise, which is neat This really cool launch pad and those come from there you go Those come from my buddy my buddy randall wall Good old canadian He does a lot of stuff through cotswolds So if you get the cotswold catalog and you know greg brown who puts on dfw You're gonna know randy's work The launch pad is fantastic, especially because the original super joe Had an action pack called the helipack Which was actually fantastic and if you look closely at the cover of super joe unlimited number one We actually put a joe with the helipack on in the background. Let me see if that let's see is this Well, they're right here. Yeah, that's yeah, there we go That's our Kickstarter ad it's similar to the cover similar similar Similar, but you definitely get the helipack guys back there. There's super joe commander and of course The new version of gore Um other things. I mean it's like I said it's action figure heavy There's for 150 you get a set of four Super joe commanders with accessories For 150 bucks you get a set of super a set of four super joe adventurers With accessories there's all kinds of original art. Obviously we mentioned all of the All of the Additional covers that we're doing those are all for sale The art that you just showed for the ad that steven butler did is for sale Uh nitho de as his art is for sale Um, we have autographed bob hall 11 by 17 posters of the cover that are available Um, just just a ton of stuff and if we run out of things We'll find stuff to add You know, we already somebody already backed the the kickstarter for 300 bucks and got a carded vintage super joe commander figure Those are not hard to find Or those are hard to find. I'm sorry. I should say they are very hard to find. Yeah Oh the other thing that we have that I want to push because I'm sure you know steve charlton He does a lot of work with toy lanta And joe lanta the joe lanta people were were nice enough to give me Five reduced price passes. They're only 10 bucks and joe lanta is coming up in uh, august I think they're typically 15 or 20 bucks Um, we're blowing them out. We've got five. They're only 10 bucks a piece. You can add those on You can you know, if you have a family of five, you can buy them all and save yourself probably 50 of the cost to go to joe lanta Uh, that's great. I one thing I like about this project is that obviously if you if you want the comic book You can get the comic book, uh, but you've got other uh tangible items That can go with it. So you've got figures. You've got um play sets you've got Other items that that you can pick up and me being you know, a toy guy I like that, you know, the tactile experience of having the objects in in my hand. So uh I think that'll appeal to to some of the toy guys even if they're they're more toy guys than comic book guys Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think we're developing a story that is going to Captivate the gi joe reader and the gi joe toy collector Two other things that I think are really cool that I want to mention before I forget is we're doing a set of Laser engraved coins Both of them have the super joe unlimited logo on the back side And on the front side one will have the super joe commander And the other will have dark hot Nice, we've got this really cool laser engraved coin set And also what I think is super cool is Getting yourself drawn as a character in the comic book Now we only have four of these left And I would love somebody to grab all four and not just because I'm selfish and greedy Okay, but because I think it'd be really cool if somebody grabbed all four Like maybe there's like a group of four buddies out there that are big-time gi joe or super joe guys Right, or maybe you know a father and three sons or a mother father and their two kids or Something like that that you want to do or you want to do it for somebody that you think is a real big joe fan And this is kind of like a gift to them getting them in the comic book. I think that's a really cool thing I think I that so you can be in the comic book and Hear me out this this I think this is a brilliant idea. Yeah same guy Gets all four Yeah, the clone you just draw them four times. You know, I think this is a brilliant plan Uh, I know I'm kidding. I'm just like I was gonna see that's a pretty expensive thing there for That Yeah vanity project. I admit vanity. Um, but I think that's another interactive thing that you have That uh, that can get people actually involved and influence the book Like being able to have some influence on The specialty covers as well. So that's kind of that kind of interactive interactivity is is nice to see Yeah Well, again, it goes back to listening to your fans Understanding what they want and trying to give them more of what you think they would like And and if and if some of these things don't work out if some of these things are, you know, duds We won't offer them next time. We'll try to find something else So, uh returning to just the sub the general subject of super joe In at least in the the 3 3 quarter inch gi joe real american hero community There is a lot of interest in the history of the line Even including the 12 inch going back to the 60s. Uh, so For those like like myself i'm i'm very interested in the history of the line Super joe it needs to be examined more I think a lot of times we can skip over super joe when we're talking about gi joe But this was part of it and I think it deserves more attention so, um, yeah, I uh I'm hoping that those who are Interested in the history of gi joe, but maybe don't know as much about super joe. We'll we'll take a look at it Um, so I guess let's let's talk it. Let's let's for those for the uninitiated. We talked a little bit about what super joe was but you you Super joe was in your era, right super grab that was in your real wheelhouse. Absolutely Uh, so what was the appeal of super joe, uh at that time? Well, the appeal of super joe was that you know, it was still a gi joe You know licensed product I was a big gi joe collector when I was a kid. I was born in 1969 So I was born right at the time where they were transitioning to adventure team Uh, my all-time favorite toy and this is out of all of my toys. Okay Was the gi joe adventure team skyhawk It was a kite that you put gi joe on And it was essentially it looked like a hand glider, but you flew it like a kite. Yeah, I've seen that I've never I never ever got it off the ground. My father and I in a near west suburb of chicago Would run down the alley and try to get that thing up in the air never ever could Okay, and to this day it is still my all-time favorite toy. I I have the most fond memories with that toy So, you know super joe comes out And I was still collecting megos at the time And star wars was just getting traction, but I wasn't into star wars probably until closer To when empire came out. So around 1980 um So the super joe They they they fit in with all the the megos whether it was star trek or planet of the apes The accessories were great the rocket command center What I did with the rocket command center was I converted it into a fantastic four spaceship Instead of putting on the rocket command stickers. I put fantastic four stickers on there So I've got two I've got a A super joe rocket command center still in its box. Then I bought another one to customize for my mego fantastic fours The the accessories were fantastic. You know, uh, the helipack alone Think about who doesn't want to put a helicopter backpack on themselves or fly around town So I I thought that that line really did not get it's just desserts I know there's a bunch of people out there who agree with me um Revolutionary technology you press a button in the back and it would you know punch You know that kind of stuff wasn't seen until the superpowers line came out in the 80s When you you push like the flash together and his legs would spin or superman would punch or whatever Not to mention they all came with those lights on their chest And then you had the the night fighters luminos and shield Those were some pretty for for not originating in a comic book or a cartoon series Those were pretty creative characters um and for For a guy that used to be able to play with the toys as a young person to now Have a shot at creating something new for that property just what's um Talk to us about how you feel about that and just um What that feels like to be revisiting that now After all these years and actually being able to contribute something to it You know it's such it's such an honor and a privilege And I know those words get thrown around a lot by a lot of people But i'm being completely sincere when I say this It's an honor and a privilege to be able to Become or become part of history Help fill in the gaps in history um You know, I think I think a lot of creators Would feel the same way if they were given this opportunity You know, um It's it's like being approached by dc or marvel and say hey, we want to reintroduce A new batman or we need a new costume for thor or captain america Or or spider man back in the 80s. I mean how cool was that to be able to Hey, how about how about we give spider man a new costume and they approach mike zek and they say hey What do you think and boom this is what he comes up with the next thing you know It's one of the most iconic covers in the history of comic books So I I feel so honored and privileged to be able to to be involved in this As a guy who right now in my life specifically I only collect migo world's greatest superheroes And I I have my reasons, okay But if if everybody who's listening Will understand and I say this to anybody who who can hear me Uh my younger brother he's seven years my junior He was totally into a real american hero I mean all of his gi joe toys are still in our parents basement Back in suburban chicago to this day, okay um That that line the a real american hero line and the gi joe line in its entirety In my opinion is the single greatest action figure line of all time Just because I don't collect them as others collect them Doesn't mean I don't see how important they are In the history of action figures let alone in toys in general specifically the real american hero line they were It was a a landmark action figure line with the articulation With the uh the box art, you know, I've told this to people before You know you have star wars and we know how big that was but they had a movie to go with it And when they did the packaging all it was was a photograph of what was in the box The the the card art the file cards The box art. I remember there was one that I see all the time at the shows And I think it's called the bug the cobra bug maybe I love that art the colors the purples the magentas the greens the the the domes on the I mean, it's just a fantastic Art and I know the gentleman who did most of that passed away not too long ago Yes, and and I know that a lot of that was reused and there's all kinds of legends and stories about that And it's unfortunate if any of those are true But the the a real american hero line for my money is the single greatest action figure line of all time Of all time. I don't think there's anything even close it revolutionized everything Uh as a fan, of course, I agree You mentioned the the artwork for The gi joe real american hero line and our friend karson the taxes from 3d joe's Is working on an omnibus Of all of that artwork from the various artists Which is gonna be coming out soon. That's a Kickstarter that he did. I'm extremely happy to see that Coincidentally, um, that was kind of my introduction or you know refresher on super joe and maybe a lot of other people too because A while back karson picked up some super joe figures and kind of showed them off and that was kind of I think a reminder to a lot of us that hey, this is this is a part of gi joe's legacy and lore and history And uh, maybe deserves to be talked about. So, um, yeah, this this could be hopefully um kind of a launch of A resurgence, I guess Of of interest in super joe um, so Those of you who are wanting to Get into collecting super joe figures too late prices are going up. Sorry guys Should have got in on it last year too late, right? Um, but uh, but yeah, um, so you've got Kickstarter's already already launched Already going uh, we pull it out here real quick one more time take a peek at it. Um, did did you ever see did you ever see this? You know what? Um fat heads are right those big giant Posters of like players that call fat heads. Yeah. Well, there was something in the late 70s And i'm gonna look for this photograph for you. Uh, it was called wall busters And they did like spider-man superman evil kaneval wonder woman Kirk and spock. I think but they also did super joe and excuse me legendary Marvel artist john busema Did the art for this And I want to send this to you. I want you to put this up on your screen. Sure. Sure. I'm gonna send it to you Uh via facebook messenger if that's okay. Gotcha. Hold on. All right So i'm gonna copy this image and get it to you. I want you all to see it um, it's on Cut and paste there we go There you go. If you can grab that real quick, but um This is Just a spectacular piece of art. You want to talk about history? I don't think a lot of people know that this exists I've never seen one in person. I've only seen one in images on on the internet and um What we're going to be doing with our Kickstarter is we are going to be Recreating this One of the artists that has worked with me quite a bit on my other series the masters tom morgan He has signed on to recreate this and we're going to Get it all drawn up and colored and then we're going to produce it as a window cling to put in your car All right, that's the one that's the one there we go. Yeah So that's that's fascinating. I do remember these uh, Wallbusters or what I think was that why they were called? Wallbusters. Yeah. Wallbusters. I vaguely remember these because I believe I've seen like the spider-man the the hulk Had no idea that they did this for super show. That's that's uh fascinating. Yeah, right? They also did evil keneval. They did track. They did I think king kong There's a bunch of them out there. I have them saved somewhere on my computer but This one It's clearly john busema doing the art And I confirmed that with people who would know And it's just going to be a beautiful recreation colored I'm really looking forward to that. But when you mentioned karson, I've had Facebook messenger conversations with karson about what he's doing And it's just spectacular stuff. This is something that is is part of super joe history You know, they even made halloween costumes of super joe when we were kids they made They think they made a dark con. They made a gore And I think they made either the shield or luminos one of the night fighter guys and you know, it's It's amazing because you think man this toy toy line really didn't do much But it kind of checks the boxes and all of the pop culture stuff You know the the wall posters the The halloween costumes and things like that they even made super joe jewelry If you go to that 3d super joe.com website, you'll see all kinds of stuff. They did Um, I'm surprised. They didn't make like a super joe bed Like remember those car beds they had when we were kids in the 70s? Yeah, yeah So, you know super joe Even though it was around for a year and a half two years It had a decent impact on pop culture from my vantage point. They got to do a lot of cool stuff And I guess for hasbro. This was uh, their attempt to carry joe forward So this was this was gi joe for them at the time. So they they put the effort into it. So that It's nice to see it getting some attention as and as someone who appreciates the history of gi joe in all of its iterations I'm thrilled to see somebody doing something with it um, so Yeah, we're closing in on or at least we're getting pretty close on An hour here. So I'll wrap it up pretty soon. But before we wrap it up. I want to basically just turn it over to you For anything else you want to say to remind everyone to check out the Kickstarter and and just Give your your thoughts and comments to anyone who might be seeing this and it might be interested in The super joe unlimited comic Yeah, you know, I appreciate any and all support Um, you know the the comic book the plot summary the story the art I think everybody's going to fall in love with it. I think everybody's gonna Be eager to read issue number two and then three and then four and so on and so forth Support the action figure line. I know that the cotswold just got in Boxed super joe commanders and boxed dark cons. Uh, just in the last couple days I know I've been seeing people posting on facebook today. They they're just getting theirs mailed and shipped to them all around the country So this is an exciting time to be a joe fan whether it's 12 inch eight inch three and three quarter Or anything in between super joe a real american hero this is And will always be the the greatest action figure line in the history of action figure lines I I don't think anything even comes close to it You know and we're trying to do as much as we can with it and this is an opportunity for us To fill in that void because there is definitely a void between 76 and 82 And as god is my witness i'm going to fill in that void And hopefully it's with your help Absolutely. Yeah, there's a void. Um that we we need to Look at it. Not a real void. It's something that we just don't pay enough attention to so Thank you for for being on the show. Uh, thank you for your efforts With uh with the super joe comic. I hope you guys have all the success. Thank you for letting us know that We should be getting larry hama In involved in this that is very exciting Absolutely. Now all I have to do is coax them into helping me write the script Yes, that's uh Good luck Uh, no, we we love larry larry has written our favorite comics for decades now. So, uh, it's it's a thrill It's a thrill to to see him involved with this project. So yeah, it really is. Thank you So, yeah, uh, that's I think we'll wrap it up. I will say to to those watching I know that I usually pay more attention to The live chat. I didn't uh follow it as much this time, but I do recognize you guys are here It's really great to see you guys. So thank you for showing up Again, the link is in the description of this video so you can pop over there right now And I think that's all I got for you. Thank you very much. Austin. Sorry. I missed you at joe fest I'm sorry. I missed you at joe fest. Uh, what was it next year? Next year. Yes Ed Schumacher puts on a great show people if you get to go to joe fest Do it It was a lot of fun a lot of fun. All right. Well, uh, thank you again, austin and uh, I guess we'll sign off and everybody go check out Kickstarter for super joe unlimited comic from power comics Yo joe Super joe super joe