As you know I am interested in movies, comics and toys, but there is something else I that some how always seems to cover all of these things.... POKER!!!  Poker is something that has been one of my favorite things for awhile... I know it probably seems kind of strange that a dude who draws and collects comics, toys and has seen every movie in the world( psst I'm lying about the seeing all the movies thing) plays cards... In fact, a lot of my artist friends over the years have kind of looked down on my playing like it wasn't "suffering sad artist" enough, but I love to play and I would rather just be a dude how likes to make stuff than a pouting- patty- painter. ( I'm sorry. I get carried away) So how does this effect my art? I guess that's what I am going to try and explain. 

My brother and I, as you know, have always loved movies and when we were younger and still lived at home he and I would go out and catch a lot of them or even go to "Block Buster" and rent them! (Hey kids, before I-tunes and Pirating peoples artwork/creative properties on the internet, there were places called "video stores" where you could get "rectangular" shaped boxes that had little movies living inside them...It was a magical and mysterious time of great wonder)  When you see as many movie as we have over the years you become a bit of critic and some movies are better than others... But every now and then a movie will change your life... In 98' that movie was Rounders starring two up and coming actors, Matt Damon and Edward Norton. It was one of those movies we didn't know much about going into see it, but we were more than pleasantly surprised. It is, of course, about playing poker, but not just any poker, No Limit Texas Hold em'.(I would explain it, but you'd get pissed off and punch your computer screen.)  It centers around a guy named Mike working his way through law school playing cards... when we meet him he goes bust and loses his whole bank roll. BUT like many of the best stories he over comes his own demons and other adversities to do something great and live his dream. Now, my brother and I weren't really super interested in cards until we saw this film... The problem was, we were the only people we knew who were wanting to get into playing. So sometimes we would play each other. And we had fun, but we would always talk about how cool it would be to have a group of guys to play cards with. 

It was around 2005 or so and I had been dealing w/ my own personal demons, which involved breaking up being hard to do, college drinking, art school and lack of motivation/depression. Somehow, my brother and I ended up starting a weekly poker game w/ some of the new friends we had made and old ones too. At the time, I was a very different person and even more shy than I am now. I was taking a summer drawing class w/ Hali my then friend and now girlfriend, when one day this brooding redhead dude and I started talking about stuff... I knew this guy from my illustration classes and we had talked before about comics and whatnot, but I couldn't tell if this dude was a dick or if he was just more shy than I am...( he's both... mostly a dick ) So when he engaged me in conversation w/ a smile of his face I was pretty shocked, and somewhere in our yammering we started to talk about poker. Doug aka: "Conan Doug," aka: "Old red," aka: "Big red," as I would come to know him had a weekly poker game every Sunday night, and he invited me to come. To a normal person this would be great news... I mean I had a potential new friend, a poker game and an excuse to drink a few beers. (Few meaning 11) But I didn't really know this dude... He was brooding in the corner of illustration all the time... he could be some sort of sicko.(I was right about that) But some how I ended up going one night and I met some pretty great guys... Like Ben aka: "pappy," aka: "Six Flags," aka: "Bluff master," which for the record, is the worst name ever to have at a poker table.... and who can forget old Matt Thompson aka: "the Juice" aka: "Thompson" aka: "All in," which again is an awful name for sitting at a poker table. We all instantly clicked and they made me feel like I had been sitting at that table w/ them for years... Course that could have been all the beer too... everything just seems a little better w/ beer. 

Kevin and I had gone from no poker games in 98 to having two a week and eventually more in 05. But the best part was making these new friends. We took things so seriously in those days, tempers flared and we would literally sit around a table for 8 to 10 hours for a 50 dollar pot... and the best part is that 10$ of that would go to second. I would get home at 6am after playing on a Sunday and even my own weekly game that all these guys started to attend, started to get out of control at times. It was pretty intense, but more than anything it was fun. I have seen or at least listened to movies like Whites Chicks w/ the Waynes brothers and so many other horrible movies Doug made all of us watch. We talked about sports, superheroes, movies and anything else you could possibly imagine. I think every time we sit around card table eventually we will start talking about "messed up movies" that we can't forget... And we always-always end up taking about Requiem for a Dream, which is one of the absolute most disturbing films ever made! DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM! Unless, you are trying to quite heroin, prevent someone from using heroin or you simply want to destroy someones life!!! Poker isn't just about cards it's about friendship, respect and laughs! Every time I have ever been at a game I will, at some point, laugh extremely hard at something that is said or a story that one of the guys tells. (Unless Doug says something... then everyone pretends they didn't hear) It is great fun!,

So how is this important to things that I make, my artwork? For one, Doug is one of the best artists I know and we both have helped to push ourselves into the creative directions we want to be in, which is comics. Doug is an awesome colorist and draftsman and when he and I get around a poker table, eventually we will talk about comics and our passion for them.(and all of the other guys are annoyed and keep saying call or fold, dumb asses!!!) One of the big things that cards has helped teach me is patience. It is never about the sprint... it's about the marathon. At a card table if you can make good decisions and hang around long enough amazing things will happen... I know for a fact this is true in life... If you "grind" it out and keep focused on what you want, it will happen. I have seen it in cards and I have seen it in life. We have this illusion of control in our day to day lives, but there is one thing we actually do have control over, US! Ourselves... We have the ability to make or break ourselves w/ the way we think, the way we act and the choices we make. These are some of the things that I have learned while being alive, but somehow they become more clear at a poker table on a smaller level.  The last thing that truly helps my work is the great friends I have made through playing cards. Doug and Thompson have become two of my best friends and I love them dearly. We don't see each other near enough, but even if it's been awhile, we pick up right where you left off, like you saw each other yesterday. I don't know where I would be had I not met these guys when I did? 

Poker is a very special thing that is fun, challenging and social. It has given me a lot over the years and taken some of my money too. But more than anything it has given me great friends, patience and introspection. And some great insights into movies we seem to discuss every time we see each other. So Guys if you are reading this lets get a game together again one of these days, and exclude Thompson:) I even have new friends to invite into the circle!

Preacher has been following me around in my life lately so I thought I would talk about that this week. For those of you unfamiliar w/ Preacher it is one of the best comics ever created. I am not kidding the story and characters are that good!!! I have to talk about this series because it changed comics for me, and I think it's important to the way I think about them today. I will probably try not to have any major spoilers in here for those of you who haven't read this book, but I am not making any promises.... Those of you who read these know I can get a little... "detailed" and "sanely challenged" when it comes to talking about this stuff:) So here does.


About 10 years ago or so I was in Downtown Comics in Castleton and met a really nice guy named Doug. Although we are no longer in contact he and I became pretty good friends. I would go and hang out w/ him because sometimes it was kind of quiet during parts of his shift there... We would talk about comics, of course, movies and toys all the stuff I love and he did too. In my life I rarely have known people who were into comics and all the other stuff  I enjoy, so meeting Doug was refreshing and fun. He even liked Sushi:)  Anyway, he had access to all of these amazing comic treasures and we would talk about stuff we had read or were reading, but one day he asked if I had read or been reading Preacher. Now I had heard about this book for awhile and  it was finishing up its run w/ say 10 or 12 issue left to go. I have always loved superhero books because it is what I was raised on, and I wasn't completely sure how I felt about reading something new and out of my comfort zone. BUT when Doug pitched me the book I became very interested. He Told me it was about a Preacher who has the voice of God, but here is the best part of how he explained it to me... He said that he has the voice of God but that he rarely uses it throughout the series. To me that is the coolest thing I have ever heard because to have the voice of God would basically make you the most powerful person on earth... you could do anything because everyone would listen to everything you said. I simply had to read this series after he explained that small piece of this EPIC story to me.( And I mean epic like the word epic should be used not "cool" like everyone seems to use it today but a Legendary Journey of a hero -a massive story that is difficult to contain!!! Freaking Epic) Anyway, Doug loved this story so much that he did something comic guys don't always feel comfortable doing... He loaned me his copies of the trade paperbacks to read. And every time I saw him he reminded me to give them back when I was done... as he should have! 


When I finally sat down to begin the story I was instantly sucked in. In the first few pages we find out how Jesse gets the "voice" as it's called in the book, but we don't know the details as to why he gets it or what the point is of him having it. The way I would describe Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's Preacher is a revisionist western meets a Tarantino film like True Romance! The tone is serious, absurd and offensive... This story is not for kids or anyone who is uncomfortable with weird sexual situations and religious examination and satire. The really cool thing about this book is that the characters are so great and it really becomes more about them and their relationships than the overall journey they take. Jesse Custer is the main character, who I have said before is seriously one of the greatest characters ever created, He has all of the elements of a great hero. He's kind, Two-Fisted, has a plan of action/impossible task and the love of a good women. He means what he says and he has John Wayne as his personal adviser. Plus, he comes from great adversity, which will always please a crowd. Cassidy, Jesse's best friend with a secret, is one of the the most likable but easy to hate characters I have ever followed in a story. He is at times sincere, loving and loyal to a fault, while other times he is cold, calculating and slimy! But the whole time you care for him and want to see him do the right thing. AND he does very heroic things at times in the story. Tulip is Jesse's one true love and she is a great female lead. She is strong, sexy and doesn't take shit from any man... that is my kind of lady! She and Jesse have a story of both tragedy and triumph and we learn what it is to love someone "until the end of the world." There are other great supporting characters like Arseface, and one of the greatest anti-heroes ever created The Saint of KIllers! These two guys couldn't be anymore opposite from each other, but they both grow and change throughout the story. All of the characters do, and they all have resolution their individual stories. 

I feel like lately all I do is talk to people about this book to some degree, which is why I have to tell people about it on here this week. For one, ANYTIME I talk to anyone about comics I will ask if they have read Preacher. If I am talking to a fellow comic person many times they have read it or it's on their list. I am here to tell you Comics or not this book transcends genre. As I said before I didn't know comics could be what the Preacher is because I had never read anything like it or since. It is a completely unique story...many comics have tried to capture it's tone and have failed. Garth Ennis can only write like Garth Ennis:)  This comic changed the way I wanted to create comics... don't get me wrong I still enjoy the superhero genre, but I learned that there are other ways to tell a story w/ fantastical elements and that characters could feel more real, while still being over the top and silly. Many superhero books and films effect me emotionally(cause I'm a sissy) but there are time in the pages of Preacher where my eyes will tear up over moments that are as moving as a comic book like Amazing Spider-man 33: the final chapter.( Spidey has to lift this this Super heavy metal off of his body in order to save his Aunt May! It doesn't seem possible but he does it)... You just can't believe what a character is dealing with or what a character went through to be who they are in the book when you are reading it.

So that about wraps it up I guess... oh... BUT there is just one-more-thing.... And I have to bring this up because I can't stop thinking about it since the Indiana Toy and Comic Expo... I was setting up my booth the night before the show when Chris Hogan one the the volunteers comes by to check on me and say hi, since I had the pleasure of meeting him once before. So we chat a little bit and he is very positive and kind in regards to the work I had displayed and what not but then he brings up the Preacher comics he is trying to sell at the show... I being a glutton for punishment just had to ask what his price for the first 7 issues was... He told me and was willing to give them to me right then.... and what did I do you ask? I told him I couldn't buy them right now, which was true... I wanted to make sure I was going to make my table fee back before started thinking about the COMICS I AM ALWAYS ON THE FREAKING HUNT FOR AND JUST LANDED IN MY LAP!!!!!! Damn I wish I would have just stopped being a little baby and bought them, but no I have to be responsible and practical at the show and not go crazy... (THANKS MOM!!!)  Okay, so anyway Preacher is awesome  and I hope you read it and if you ever have the chance to buy the First 7 issues... For the love of Jesse Custer-TAKE IT!!! 

I have so many great things happening in my life right now I couldn't possibly be happier. So this weeks Blog I have really been thinking about a lot. These Blogs are important to the art I do, both the media element and the personal, so this week I want to share a story about two of my favorite films and how they influence my life back in the day and up to now. This story involves my brother Kevin a lot. He is the best dude I know... For the most part we have always gotten along and one thing Kev and me have always shared is a love of film. Anyway, back when we were kids there were two movies we couldn't get enough of...( Actually there are too many to name... so lets say these movies were important.) Back to the Future and The Karate Kid. These two films are very important to when I was a kid and up to now. And so was our Betamax. 

I remember going to Muncie, IN to visit my Aunt Susie in 85 or 86 with my brother and my mother too.(this was before she started to throw all our cool stuff away) Susie was and still is in social work (I am too) and lived up near Ball State I think,and we would go up to see her quite a bit when we were little kids. It was always a fun time... There was a cool Children's Type Museum there and a bunch of other cool stuff I can't recall right now... BUT one thing I will always remember is Susie telling us about this movie called Back to the Future, which as a 6 or 7 year old kid I remember thinking sounded weird and didn't make sense to me... I mean how the hell could you go "back" to the "future." I wasn't an idiot... My parents talked to me and told me what stuff meant. (Kevin was an idiot though:) Anyway, this was one of those mind blowing experiences you have at certain times in your life that you just never really get over... The movie was awesome... we talked about it like the whole ride home... It is my first memory of time travel related stuff  and I loved how "heavy" everything was due to the excessive use of the word heavy and of course being "erased from existence"... It was true family entertainment and Kevin and I knew Michael J. Fox from Family Ties on TV, we thought he was cool... Months later, I don't really know when or how it happened, but my dad had been working at this video equipment store called Video Concepts and he comes over to visit one day with a box with another box inside, that you put little rectangular box-like things in that had movies inside them... You might think I just described something from the old days called a "VCR" but what my dad had brought us was called a "Betamax... " The Betamax was supposed to be superior to the "VCR" in picture quality and other crap my dad said then. But the cool thing was that you could tape stuff right off of the TV just like the more well known VCR... And my mom had figured out how to do it... so she taped everything all the time! (It was insane:) ) She ended up taping The Karate Kid and Back to the Future, which led my brother and I down a dark path of fun and insanity few could have survived. (Kevin was lucky he got out alive)

Once Kevin and I knew that we had The Karate Kid and BTTF on tape we watched them all the time... (commercials and all... they were both Sunday night movies or something on one of the local channels) And I mean all the freaking time... I personally was so obsessed w/ these films that I would actually record parts of them on my "boom box" (that was a radio and tape deck... a tape deck is like a "cd player"... a cd player played those "disc things" that were around (and still are around) right before mp3 players and ipod.... siiigh my head just exploded.) I would tape it and then play my favorite parts back like " Oh my god... they found me... I don't know how but they found me... RUN FOR IT MARTY!!!" and " What happens to us in the future... what, do we become assholes or something?" and of course "GET HIM A BODY BAG, YEAH!!!! HUHUHUHUHUHUH!" ( Kids used to do weird stuff back then... kids) Anyway, Kevin and I would reenact both films all the time... Kev is my younger brother so when we were kids, I would be Johnny for the all of the scenes Daniel got beat up and then at the end when Daniel kicks everyone's ass Kevin would switch to Johnny. The same was true for Biff and Marty anytime one of them was getting their ass kicked or eating manure Kev played that part... Masterfully I might add:)  The thing about Kevin is that he has always been extremely patient with me. For whatever reason I used to punch him in the arm whenever I thought he said something stupid (I must have been a meathead back then)... even when he would make up hilarious lies like " hey look Matthew, Michael Jackson is on the  waterslide at Boogie mountain."(as we drove by Boogie Mountain, an old water park not far from where we grew up) "PUNCH." See what I mean patient both to a fault and a strength. But it wasn't always me being a jerk the truth is I love the hell out of my little brother both then and now, and one of my favorite times with him was at the condo in Florida that a family member let us use... We were acting out BTTF at the pool that was right out side our door.( it was awesome) It consisted of one of us saying..." We've gotta go back..." Back to where?" "Back to the Future!!!" we would then run as fast as we could and jump into the pool... This went on for the whole week and it never seemed to get old. It is a great memory. Other than the beating up Kevin part and being a jerk, these where all great times w/ my brother.

Today my little brother is all grown up and has a kid, who is no doubt going to be extremely cool, since he already is at a year old!!! Kevin and I still love to talk about movies and sometimes we laugh about when we were kids. Most the time Kev doesn't remember, which is probably due to the beatings he took playing Daniel, Johnny, Biff and Marty, but he always remembers when we would run around grandma's basement playing the SpaceBalls song and screaming over and over when everyone in the film is abandoning ship... I guess he has some good memories too. Anyway, My mom and grandma always said that someday I would be happy to have a brother... And they were right. Kevin has always been there whenever I need him and even though I am his older brother and it's my job to look out for him... He looks out for me a hell of a lot! Love you Kev and I can't wait till Leo is old enough to hear these stories and you can share these movies we grew up with!!!

I have done many lists since I started this crazy blogging adventure, but toys haven't been touched on so far... Sure I think anyone who reads these knows that I love toys and have a nice collection of some of my most favorite ones... But I think that a list is in order and not just any list of toys, mind you... AN 80's LIST!!!!! For my money it is, to this day, the best time for toys! There aren't really any mass produced toys today that have even a fraction of the heart the 80's toy has, and I think when I get through w/ this list you will see I am right, whether you were a parent buying toys for your kids then or a dude like me who got to grow up both receiving and also buying said toys of the time with my own money!!! So here goes The Best 80's Toys EVER: Top 10!!! As always I don't want to rank these, but I will let you know my personal favorites.( most of which you already know)

1.) Masters of the Universe: For the love of all that is sacred... Is there a cooler sounding name for a toy? When I was a kid playing with a toy called Masters of the Universe made your imagination run wild, plus there was even a cartoon to help give the characters even more personality!!! These were some of the earliest toys I remember as a kid, and I also remember having a lot of them. (and I also remember that one day I didn't have any...MOM!!!) They just don't make them like they used to. These guys were so cool looking and not one looked the same as the other (unless there was a point to it... Like Faker) They were and are to this day super durable and even if they are beat up they still look and feel cool. They even went "back to the well" in the early 2000's with a new He-Man cartoon that was actually pretty good, and added more depth to the characters we grew up with... Anyway, this is just a bad ass toy... I look at them and they make me smile! (this is one of my personal favorites)

2.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: These sort of came out in the "golden years" of when I was a kid collecting toys. But I do remember having a solid amount of these guys. I knew nothing of the comic unfortunately, but I probably wouldn't have fully gotten why it was so important to comics anyway.( at least at that time and age) All I knew is that the cartoon was cool and mainly the awesome song and that the toys were equally cool. (the cartoon doesn't really hold up very well if you ask me) If there is any theme of the 80's toy it has to be built to last! These guys were tough too and could take a beating... The toys designers cared about the kids man. Or Maybe things have just gotten cheaper?  The cool thing about many of the 80's toys is each characters individuality. They all sort of had their own style. (Well the Turtles themselves looked pretty much the same, but you get what I'm saying.) Anyway, these guys probably aren't one of my most favorite of this time, but they were crazy popular and very cool! (and I remember my Uncle Steve taking me to Toys R Us for my birthday and telling me to pick any two toys and I picked two of these party dudes.)

3.) ThunderCats: Okay, Hali and I own the ThunderCats First season of episodes and we still both "feel the magic and hear the roar." The back story of the show and characters is like Superman- meets Star Wars- meets Xmen.(or some crap like that) AND the show itself is so weird and imaginative and did a good job of reinventing older ideas... All that being said this is about the TOYS!! And these toys were awesome... They... like the Turtles and MOTU were damn near indestructible and also had rich individual back stories and histories. The paint looked great and they had a kind of "Barbarian style" type of body somewhat (I stress somewhat) like the MOTU figures, which really is always a crowd pleaser. I haven't mentioned this yet, but all of the 80's toy had great vehicles and accessories as well. I didn't have near enough of these guys, but I always thought they were really cool!

4.)  Marvel Secret Wars: Okay... These may be a surprise to some of you because these figures didn't have the best articulation or the best and most lasting paint jobs... BUT I remember loving to play w/ these toys so much as a kid. I also remember them being around for years! I mean as I grew up I would find them in weird places around my house or at my grandmas, and when I would they would always make me happy. I think I just enjoyed how unique they were because they were so "low-tech." They all looked cool too and there was even a freaking Baron Zemo! That in itself is super cool! He is such a cool lesser known Captain America villain and he is Pink-ish too!!! Anyway, these guys deserve to be on my list simply because I loved them so much as a kid and would chew on their feet and somehow they never really got damaged that bad:)

5.) Star Wars: I know, I know... They started in the 70's... BUT ended up in the 80's and either way you look at it they heavily influenced the 80's toy... Both MOTU and ThunderCats have some similarities to the Star Wars Universe and you can bet that wasn't by accident... Star Wars was super hot during this time period and had to be influencing anyone creative who made up stories for toys!!!! ( Star Wars influences my life, like, seriously everyday) Anyway, these toys are not the best toy ever made in terms of aesthetic, but they were really the first of the highly collectible 3 3/4 in figures... And they, like many of the toys from the 80's were just so diverse! The vehicles are so cool and make up for the stiff and easily scuffed up figures tenfold! And again, these guys set the stage and honestly... I love them and have almost all of them!!! And I like how they look and feel personally... But from a critical stand point they are pretty rough and ancient seeming... And that is probably one of the reasons I love them too!!!! Someday we/man will finally blow ourselves up ,and the mutant- animal- human- alien -hybrids will find all our figures and theorize about the "Star Wars" religious idols we worshiped. 

6.) Transformers: These guys are truly "more than meets the eye!!!" Now, I have to be honest... I was not a Transformers kid at all. I thought they were cool and everything, but mainly I think they were just out of my parents and my price range. Joes were like 3 bucks or something many of the Transformers would get into the double digits. Plus, I was sort of ADD and would lose interest in trying to "transform" them:) I am a more organic type of person... A Transformer was just out of my play time comfort zone. That doesn't mean that I didn't think they were very cool, because I did. I always liked Soundwave and Starscream a lot. I just wanted to play and they took too much time in my "little non-focusing kid world..." Very cool though!

7.) COPS: This was another show that I watched as a kid... And this is another toy that was in the twilight of my kid collecting years... But all the figures looked cool and they had the "Joe" style bodies... However, they were even more stylized. The figures had more varying shapes and sizes and all looked quite interesting. This is another toy I didn't really get deep into, but I had a few of the figures and liked to play w/ them. Mainly, I think these guys should be included on this list because they did sort of take the Joe bodies a step further and had some pretty cool characters. And I don't think kids get toys that are very cool anymore... Everything just looks too realistic and is all digitally scanned... I like when toys were stylized and more imaginative.( That is how I like my comics too.) Maybe these are a bit obscure, but I think they deserve to be here.

8.) Madballs: I loved these when I was a kid... There were so cool... I mean it's a simple concept, "let's make balls creepy, grotesque and weird." It was like taking Garbage Pail Kids and making them into balls. Anyway, I won't spend a lot of time on these guys, but they were definitely a big deal when I was a kid and they are super unique to the 80's toy! And they are the only non- action figure I find worthy to be on my list.

9.) WWF Wrestlers:( and yes kids it was WWF in my day) Yeah that's right these guys deserve to be here and I HAD and a bunch of these, MOM! I loved these guys, I had the ring and everything and would have matches with my brother, friends and cousins! I even remember taking these guys in the shower w/ me and that was a privilege that only my Joes got. (please remember I was a kid and not a sick bastard taking my toys in the shower to have... "play time.") These again are another super unique 80's toy... "I'm Vince McMahon I have an Idea for a toy... let's make them out of solid rubber, slap some paint on them, and then sell them to kids... MMYEAH SEE."  I love this idea! And it was so much fun!!! Each character was a stylized version of a real wrestler. They weren't hyper realistic like today they had character and heart, which made them more fun to play with. Plus, they were impossible to break... The worst things that could happen was that the paint would chip/rub and honestly that took a lot. These were great toys that are again completely unique to the 80's!!!

10.) GI Joe: The Real American Hero: Best toy ever... Hands down! (I know I'm not ranking, but I truly believe this)This was toy articulation at its finest! Everything moved on these guys. And it was awesome. You could take them apart and put them back together if you wanted to or fix them if they broke. Each character was super unique, interesting and diverse. The cartoon ,in my opinion, is the best cartoon ever made and added so much to my play time experience! I played with these toys by myself and with my friends for what seemed like endless amounts of hours! They were just the right size and you could set them up anywhere! Joes where the only toy that I remember most of my friends having some sort of carrying case to hold them all in. My brother and I each had our own separate Joes in out own separate cases with our own systems for getting them all back into said cases. Joes would get mixed up w/ my friends collection and theirs would mix into mine and I wouldn't care!!! The Joes are the only toy that my mom never gave away. I think that she knew how much I loved them and could never bring herself to give them away. And to this day I still collect them and love the hell out of them! They are definitely my personal favorite.

Honorable mention 11: The  Remco and Lanard corps figures: I think these guys deserve some sort of mention if not directly on my list... I had these guys find there way into my Joe collection over the years, and they have always been a pleasure to play with! There bodies are only slightly different from the the Joes so people would sometimes mistakenly get them for me... I even remember buying some because I thought they were cool and would fit in with my Joes. In fact, as a collector today I look for these guys and think a lot of them are super bad ass! (Like Lazer Force) Anyway, I have to say that although these figures aren't as mainstream or popular as some of the other figures on my list they deserve to be talked about on here, because they have a special place in my heart. ( and I am probably not alone)

Well, that pretty much wraps it up for my 80's toys list, and man was it a fun one! As always please share any toys you love during this time period as there are many I didn't include because I never had any or simply didn't know about, in my little kid world. Thanks for reading and I hope I inspire some of you to go to your moms house and start digging through old boxes in the garage... You never know what you might find.

Comic show you say!? Count me in! There is so much to love about comics that it is tough to single out one part... But recently I have been lucky enough to attend several comic cons this season. And there is nothing quite like it... whether it's looking through long box after long box until you find"it",digging through loose figures for that one illusive "Joe" you have been looking for years but it has never been the right price. Or maybe it's finding a new creator whose work you instantly love and are inspired by... Anyway you look at it Comic shows are a special place... So I started to remember my first comic show from when I was a kid and how much fun it was just to be there! And that is what I have to share today because everyone who loves anything has had a "first time." 

If there is one thing my dad ever gave me it's comic books. As a little kid, I remember riding in the car and asking him about different super heroes, and him telling me the origin or a story involving the specific hero I was asking about. And he always seemed happy to do it. He would just talk to me, not like a kid, but like a dude talking to another dude about comics! I remember being a very little kid and doing this... I couldn't even read yet, but I knew all the superhero stories because my dad told me about them! Eventually, I started to read about these heroes for myself and just fell in love w/ comics even more. And it wasn't just the stories... It was the art and the words and the way it was all put together that amazed me! I mean how long would something like making a comic take? Why are there so many people working on it? It just fascinated me... I already loved drawing so it was a natural fit to pick up comics. I wanted to know about them... maybe, meet comic artists and so on... So eventually my dad took me to a Comic Show.

It was a Sunday... Dad kept saying that one of these days he is going to take us to a comic convention. And at the time I remember really being into them a lot. (I really never remember not collecting and reading something over the years.) I would go to my buddy Mike Jones house down the street and we would make up story lines for comic ideas and do "concept art" and design characters, that were basically new XMEN characters. I think we called them Magic-X or something? Anyway, One day my dad came over to pick us up and said that we were going to the Comic Show! It was awesome... I remember  being super excited and nervous at the same time.( Because I was a weird kid and over thought everything.) And the cool part was that the show wasn't really even that far from my house... When we got there I remember two things... Wall to wall comics and SMOKE!!! (see kids at one time people could pretty much light up anywhere... "light up" meaning smoke.) It was like heaven and there were so many cool tables to stop and see! 

The tables all pretty much had comics of course, but some of them had "Video Tapes",(for VCR'S) toys, prints/posters and ARTISTS as well. Most of the booth's w/ "Video Tapes" were bootleg( or pirated material) which I do not approve of at all... But at the time I didn't know it was wrong to blatantly steal people's artwork in any way shape or form... so when this dude told me he had a studio copy of the early 90s Captain America movie that never saw the light of day, you can be sure that I bought it "property of 21st century fox" warning at the bottom of the screen and all. But that isn't all I bought there... I also got Issues 298 and 299 of the Amazing Spider-man, which was Todd Mcfarlane's first time ever drawing him. Mr. Mcfarlane was my favorite artist at the time so this is a very memorable day for me and I still have the very same issues in the very same plastic and boards they came in, to this day. It wasn't just about the cool stuff I bought though I actually got to meet a real comic artist too... And I have to say in was underwhelming...

I don't even remember who the guy was, but he did these amazing Punisher paintings. And he worked on them right there at the table, which was awesome... And when I say it was underwhelming I don't mean his work at all, like I said the dude was awesome! I just mean that he acted real annoyed the whole time I asked him questions and wasn't really very encouraging when I told him I drew too and wanted to make comics. ( I was a kid) I am sure that maybe it was because he didn't think I was going to buy anything or whatever, but that shouldn't be what it's all about. At last I don't think so. I mean sometimes it should just be "be nice to the little annoying aspiring artist kid..." It was still inspiring to meet a guy working in comics, but it was just sort of a let down. I am just really starting out with the comic show scene, but I think it is important to always be kind/nice no matter what the situation. But that's just me I guess... Until, Dalton (Road House) let's me know when not to be "be nice."

Sunday June 29th, 25 yrs later give or take... I went to a show... But not just any show... the Ash Comics Show... the first show I ever went to as a kid... the one I just mentioned up top... And guess what... It was a first all over again. See art for me is a constant work in progress not everything I make is going to be incredible and I will have days where I just can't draw a certain thing very well. But I keep working at it to get better,  more confident and happy with the work that I make. And I have worked a long time to feel like I was ready to have a table at a show, and today... I was ready! And the whole time I was there in the same room I was in yrs back, w/ some of the same faces I have seen over the years coming back to visit the Ash show, all I could think was I am glad that I waited until I felt ready. And I am glad that I am back where it began. (and that I'm glad it's smoke free)

So that's my story and it feels good to tell it. I would love to hear any stories that you may have about something coming full circle or something just cool that happened to you! Either way be "Excellent to each other."