Animated Goods: Pryde of the X-Men

As a kid I had a VHS of Pryde of the X-Men, a lone episode featuring Marvel's most popular fighting team. It even came with a live-action PSA about voting starring Spider-Man, no wonder I'm such a good person! I didn't know why it was only one episode as it was action packed, featured a litany of familiar heroes and villains, had terrific animation and of course a killer theme song. After the Pure Fandom launch party at Coin-Op in San Diego and playing the similarly styled and themed 1992 arcade game, I watched Pryde in bed the next day before heading to the show. In 22 minutes we're introduced to the X-Men (Cyclops, Dazzler, Colossus, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Professor X and new recruit Kitty Pryde) as they train in the Danger Room, hang out at the mansion then take on their old foes (Magneto, Pyro, The Blob, Juggernaut, The White Queen, Toad), end up in space on Asteroid M, it's awesomely ridiculous. Toei does an immaculate job with the animation, each character gets their bit and fans forever would wonder why the Canadian Wolverine was suddenly Australian (apparently because it was the fad at the time, Crocodile Dundee, Melly Ass Gibson, you know).

In a bit of full circle, the show was one of Marvel Productions' last projects and much of the team who did G.I. Joe and Transformers for Sunbow worked on Pryde. Which means the likes of voice director Wally Burr, producer/storyboard director Larry Houston, Cyclops voice actor Michael Bell and Nightcrawler Neil Ross, some of my fantastic guests at the Sunbow Celebration, were people I could ask about it! Duke himself and all around funny guy Michael Bell couldn't remember how it came to pass but recalled having a lot of fun recording it. Shipwreck and Rambo Neil Ross elaborated a bit, stating that Wally Burr put out the call, at the audition Burr wanted Nightcrawler to be Bavarian and the recording session was the longest he could remember at 12 hours. The cast was told it was a pilot for a series but everything ground to a halt due to Marvel's financial issues leaving only Muppet Babies in production. Of course a few years later, Fox found success with their fun if not as well done or good looking X-Men cartoon that ran from 1992 - 1997.

Sadly, former World War II tank commander turned veteran voice actor and director Wally Burr suffered a stroke earlier this summer. Burr has worked on the likes of Inspector Gadget, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem, My Little Pony, Exosquad, Bucky O'Hare and countless other titles. Outpouring from fans and colleagues has been strong and you can send a note to kdelwallis@gmail.com to wish him a hearty Yo Joe and get well soon!

Paneled Goods: G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero # 228

Today we're joined by guest writer Diana Davis, a G.I. Joe expert and owner of Gallery of Duke. We met while putting together the awesome Sunbow Celebration at The Egyptian Theatre where the movie, comic book and Joe aficionado set up some terrific pieces from her extensive collection of G.I. Joe field leader Conrad "Duke" Hauser that included rare design sketches, toys and more.

Earlier this month, comic book history was quietly made. Comic fandom was given exactly what they’ve been asking for, and most of the ones doing the asking probably missed it. Was it the fault of the publisher or IP holder? Was it the faults of the thousands of fans who should have been reading, but for whatever reasons reality and experts unearth- haven’t? No matter the hows or the whys, the Larry Hama scripted G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero # 228 was 100% female, and hardly anyone noticed. The protagonists were women. The antagonists were women. The incidental characters were women. Not one man, in one panel, on one page for the entire book. You know what else was missing? T & A. No booty shots or boob windows. No licking the barrels of guns with fingers frighteningly placed on the trigger. No need to take the cover back to the artist and demand he cover up any leather-clad asscheecks with M-16 clipart. 

This is a comic you can hand to your daughters. Or your son without wondering if the pages will be sticking together when he gives it back. Full disclosure: I’ve been a GI Joe fanatic since 1983. Second disclosure: I am a female. Let’s get this out of the way. Comic readers are by far people in an age bracket that fully embraces romance and sexuality. Both male and female heroes can sport skin-tight costumes that reveal attractive bodies that are enjoyed by male and female readers. The real issue for me is the gaze, and the context. Does the costume or pose make much sense? Many make no sense, and not just because they’re drawn by men who like skin tight costumes on a cold lonely night. Sometimes, they’re just silly- like the jacket craze of the nineties. But if there’s no real reason to draw a character, male or female, butt in the air or boobs in your face, beyond giving Jimmy a little boost through puberty, than it’s kind of an obvious kowtow to the male gaze. …and if the women in the comic don’t actually do anything but pose, sleep with, get rescued by/tied up/seduce and cling to the men, then I’m not only not buying it, I’m going to have a twingey, eye-twitchy moment when I walk by it on the rack or by you at a con. But that’s not really a problem with any GI Joe comic, save for a few issues in the aforementioned nineties when they barely dodged the “everyone gets a trenchcoat” phase but not the amazingly mobile hair and insectoid body with inflated boobs and tiny feet trend. 

The modern era of Joe, from 1983 on, has been remarkably open minded and fair when it comes to representing a spectrum of characters as actual human beings and not token guest appearances or condescending “girl power” PSA episodes. Having a massive cast and a solid team of writers on the comic and cartoon provided the kids of America with a Joe who not only looked like them, but acted in a fashion they could aspire to. We’ll just forget about that baseball issue, shall we? And yes, the Baroness is a cavalcade of male fantasies tied together, but not in her actual on screen or on page form. You can thank the fanboys and a few toy sculptors for that. Just please stop asking voice actor Morgan Lofting to record dirty phone voicemail messages. She doesn’t like it. (She doesn’t. Really.) Still, the history of GI Joe in the media has, in fact, been one that stands above the rest in terms of representation in terms of gender and ethnicity. So I really didn’t expect Larry Hama to do anything less than tiptoe up to a stereotype and smash it to tiny pieces. Such is a comic like GI Joe, A Real American Hero # 228, published by IDW, drawn by Shannon Gallant, and inked by Brian Shearer and colored by J. Brown. Gallant, Shearer and Brown also collaborated on a set of covers that I would love to hang on my wall.

Con-Man: Star Wars Celebration 2015 Friday

We didn't make it down for Thursday's trailer unveiling with J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy and cast but we did show up Friday afternoon for some floor walking at Star Wars Celebration. If you'll recall, I bought tickets for this sumbitch 20 months ago! 20! Originally, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was scheduled to open in May but has since been pushed back to December. Abrams, Kennedy and cast were on hand to show off a goosebump inducing trailer and the show is expected to net 60,000 fans overs four days. We got a sweet suite over at The DoubleTree and walked over to check out the floor for a bit. Surprisingly not a ton of cosplay, mostly Storm Troopers and Han Solo's thus far and lots of peeps brandishing light up light sabers. The floor is spaced pretty well with not as many vendors or an artist alley a la WonderCon. The autograph section is huge and there's various stages for video games, Star Wars shop and Funko's.

Right away we were distracted by the FULL BAR on the floor so we got some Jack and Gingers where our homeboy bartender gave us a little extra and making them into doubles. Thanks, pal. Hope that three buck tip helps you out cause you deserve it. Although we only had about 30 minutes to walk the floor we ran into one Travis Moody from GodHatesGeeks! The Trav showed up to the Sunbow Celebration of Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Movies and here's hoping we collaborate on something soon. Some more walking around and we passed the Tattoo area, a surprising if not surprising rising addition to the convention scene where goers can immortalize their favorite popular culture characters on themselves while being surrounded by like minded peeps.

The Arena has become the Main Stage for panels and events and there's tons more seating on the floor than at WonderCon. Our emcee was voice actor something something who has a panel tomorrow night preceding Mark Hamill's and does the voice for Obi-Wan as well as Fred Flinstone! We were there to embrace one Anthony Daniels aka C-3P0 who came out to the stage then left, then came out again through the audience, shaking hands and getting people excited. I can't really tell you what happened over the nearly 60 minute panel besides it being a lot of fun. Did you know there was a C-3PO cereal and Star Wars Underoos? The gold robot even became the subject of a frigging tape dispenser, that someone in the audience had one of! Questions were asked at random from numbered envelopes and Daniels was a true showman, making jokes, engaging the crowd and thanking them for making his near 40 years with the Star Wars franchise such an enjoyable two way street. Apparently he came out and greeted the huge lines of fans waiting to get into the convention center today.

During his panel, Daniels talked about the enthusiasm of the fans, getting a call from Kathleen Kennedy asking if Daniels would take a call from Abrams and being offered the chance to only voice C-3P0 before declining and performing the part as well. There was the story about the Star Wars Christmas song that saw Daniels hop a Concorde flight to New York, perform the song then hop back on the Concorde and head back to England. Much of it seemed planned out but it was very entertaining. The new trailer was played again and it looks great on the big screen.

It was a fun start to the weekend with incredible energy and a good vibe all around. Looking forward to walking more of the floor tomorrow, picking up some swag and seeing more panels. Until then, I'll see ya over at Tocshe Station picking up some power converters!

Ask Me a (Video) Question: Transformers and G.I. Joe Sunbow Celebration

Just a quick update for your Friday. Hopefully it's beautiful and sunny where you are as it's frigging blazing and 80 something out here in Los Angeles. The positive fallout from the Sunbow Celebration double feature of The Transformers & G.I. Joe: The Movies keeps on coming as video from the evening has surfaced. To get you primed for Sunbow, first watch this awesome video of the opening credits from both films. Turn it up loud!

I missed the pre-show panel with writers Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon, voice actors Bill Ratner (Flint), Neil Ross (Springer & Shipwreck) and Michael Bell (Prowl & Duke) and voice director Wally Burr as I was out in the lobby schmoozing and making sure things were running smoothly. Michael Floyd stepped in last minute to moderate:

After Transformers, it was time for our main panel with a whopping 9 guests: Don Jurwich (G.I. Joe director), Buzz Dixon, Flint Dille, Larry Houston (storyboard artist/director), Bill Ratner, Wally Burr, Hank Garrett (Dial Tone), Neil Ross and Michael Bell. These guys were great guests and so gracious with their time over the evening doing these panels and meeting attendees. The key to a panel this big is knowing your shit and doing your best to engage each guest and get a conversation going. I meant to ask about Starscream and Cobra Commander voice actor Chris Latta as I heard the stand up comedian and actor was totally nuts in the best way as well as ask how professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter got involved, next time:

Many thanks to all who attended, our guests and YouTuber RealistikkVideos for posting.

Ask Me a Question: The Transformers & G.I. Joe

What a night. That's about the best way I can summarize the amazing evening that was the Sunbow Animation Celebration double feature of The Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie at the Egyptian Theatre. Buzz on the night had been immense from the get go. Thanks to Hiss Tank, Nerd Reactor and Loot Crate, the message spread quickly and 100 tickets sold in less than a day. Going into the night we only had 100 tickets left, this would be my biggest audience yet for a Dammaged Goods Presents event. Setting up the lobby, Mr. Hank "Dial Tone" Garrett arrived early and he was great. He's lead such an incredible life from being a stand up comic opening for Tony Bennett to being a New York based actor appearing in Three Days of the Condor, Serpico and Death Wish while somehow also being a renowned martial artist and professional wrestler. Author and comic book artist Bill Forster joined us as did G.I. Joe collector and Duke expert Diana Davis. The co-author of Transformers: The Ark and G.I. Joe: Field Manual, Bill had several of his books available as well as some artwork while Diana had a collection of figures, prints, scripts and sketches. Then it was the team from Serenity Place Animal Rescue, personal friends of Mr. Michael "Duke" Bell and the man himself showed up with autographed photos and Voltron DVD's to raffle off. Michael has a great sense of humor and was in a film called Damaged Goods back in the day about a rock singer who gets an STD in Los Angeles!

Artist Livio Ramondelli brought his incredible prints and copies of some of the comic books he's worked on while Flint Dille set up for People to People, an organization that sends students around the world to build leadership skills and global awareness. Flint was amazing through the entire process. He was the first guest I asked and the first to accept. From there he recommended this person and that like G.I. Joe writer Buzz Dixon and storyboard artist/director Larry Houston. Just a really sharp guy with ideas for days. We're working on some follow up events now. Springer and Shipwreck himself Neil Ross arrived and donated a few signed photos to Serenity Place as well. Neil was instrumental in securing guests like Bill Ratner and Bell, so double thanks for attending and connecting the dots. Voice Director and legend in the field Wally Burr had been the one Maybe but he showed up and was ready to mingle. Sadly series writer Donald F. Glut couldn't make it as his home was being used as a film location. Deep-Six and the Predator Hal Rayle was struck by the Con-Fluenza from Long Beach and had to bow out as well. Next time! We had various reporters and writers on tap like That Hash Tag Show, Variety's Matthew Chernov and Stauros Entertainment.TV's Tyronne Tann documenting the evening and interviewing our guests.

We had a line into the courtyard to Hollywood Boulevard waiting when the doors opened at 6:30 PM with several attendees in costume. The lobby mini-con was a huge success with every table bustling. Animation expert, voice over actor and Cinematheque programmer Grant Moninger was originally scheduled to lead the pre-show panel but like me had fallen ill during the week. Luckily, #MovieBro and animation guru Michael Floyd was ready to party as I enlisted him to do the Damme thing. Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Bill Ratner, Michael Bell, Neil Ross and Wally Burr all joined him for a casual conversation about writing, animation and working at Sunbow. Someone else will have to fill me in on what they discussed because I was in the lobby! We raffled off two autographed Voltron sets then as my usual, I had a VHS copy of Transformers signed by our guests as a prize. The question? Name all 5 Dinobots. Grimlock, Slag, Snarl, Swoop and Sludge! The Audience nearly turned on me when I wasn't sure which 4 were actually in the movie...

With Lion's rendition of The Transformers theme song blaring, the awesome audience erupted into applause as Grant and I took our guests to do some more interviews. I was also happy when "Oh shit, what are we gonna do now?!" got a round of applause. The print was absolutely beautiful and watching Hot Rod open the Matrix to become Rodimus Prime to the rock-synth soundtrack awesomeness of Stan Bush and Vince DiCola was just too perfect. Larry Houston and then Joe director Don Jurwich showed up and it was great chatting with them. I almost can't believe how many shows Larry has worked on from Joe to Exosquad to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to X-Men. He also spearheaded the one off Pryde of the X-Men, a bitching animated version of Marvel's premiere title. Don had been great the entire process as I called every week sounding like a telemarketer to give him an update. An alumni of Hanna-Barbera, Don oversaw the G.I. Joe series and movie. Now retired, he paints and was excited to have his grandson check out Joe on the big screen.

Between flicks I grabbed the mic for our main panel, first bringing back writers Flint Dille and Buzz Dixon who both came onto the movies out of nowhere. Buzz explained that they were on a 65 episode freight train that wasn't going to stop. Flint and producer Jay Bacall banged out a revised script in a week then later on holed up in a hotel for months drafting a new version. Basically, Dille and Dixon wanted to make the cinema screen adventures something big, wild and exciting. Buzz wanted to kill off some characters to show that war had consequences. Lead character Duke was chosen to be cycled out, a death scene was written and Hasbro liked the idea so much they decided to kill off Optimus Prime in Transformers. A young boy locked himself in his room for two weeks after seeing Prime die. Flint was still surprised at how out there the film was. Don Jurwich joined us next and told us how he had been working on the show, heard about the movie and said he wanted to direct it. One thing he recalled was how difficult it was to introduce so many new characters. Larry joined us and talked about the big, kick ass opening of G.I. Joe that was tasked to him by Jurwich. Influenced by anime, Houston threw everything he could into the opening and basked in the feature budget resources compared to the daily show and mini-series.

Wally Burr then Flint took us through some of their recently lost colleagues from the era like Leonard Nimoy, Gary Owens and Gordon Kent. Neil Ross talked about getting the role of new character Springer through audition and lucking out as he had already voiced him in some new episodes thus saving the role from a celebrity voice a la Judd Nelson, Robert Stack and Orson Welles. Ross talked fondly of Lionel Stander who played Kup and how during their recording sessions, Stander needed to look other actors in the eye so Ross would play off the old school actor to get through a scene. Hank Garrett explained how he did Italian gibberish for some producers who believed he was from the mother country. Honing his skills from listening to the radio, Garrett went on to do commercials before landing G.I. Joe. Bill Ratner was used to an hour or 90 minutes over at Hanna-Barbera but would put in double and triple that for tough director Burr. Ratner and Lady Jaye voice Mary MacDonald-Lewis learned from a fan at JoeCon that Flint and Jaye had an illegitimate daughter who shows up on Transformers. This lead to Buzz and Flint admitting they came real close to having fellow property My Little Pony show up in the Transformers and G.I. Joe universes. Don commented on trying hard to give the new villains of Cobra-La a believable atmosphere while Buzz publicly apologized for naming it Cobra-La after Hasbro became infatuated with it and not caring about the connection to Shangri-La. Michael Bell had no idea Duke was being killed off and figured his toy wasn't selling well anymore. New Joe addition Don Johnson was busy with hit series Miami Vice so Wally Burr traveled to the Florida set where Johnson recorded his dialog in his trailer. Afterwards the TV star was supposed to do a photo shoot but said he had a party to get to and bounced. Classic.

I asked Larry, Bill and Michael what it was like to come back to G.I. Joe for the recent episode of Community and Bill let us know the producers reached out to his agent asking if he was still alive! Larry's directive was to draw the show as if it had never gone off the air in the 80's. One of the greatest moments of the panel was Ross recalling some of Bell's outrageous comments. On Inhumanoids, a half dozen actors were playing flesh eating something or others and to make the voices, the actors sucked on their own arms to which Bell commented that it sounded just like Ernest Borgnine's wedding night. Several of our guests told stories about Orson Welles who didn't appreciate line readings and jokes turned into rumors that Wally starved him to death. I asked about the fabled Comic-Con 1987 screening where Don told us he thought the projectionist was drunk as the second reel was loaded first. Flint said he didn't even notice, it was the 80's...Bill may or may not have said that the Sunbow crew smoked crack before work...Buzz is working on an e-book and lost episode that can't come soon enough. With that it was time for intermission and then G.I. Joe: The Movie on the big screen for the first time in who knows how long if ever. An autographed VHS went to the the gent who knew the names of Sgt. Slaugther's Renegades; Mercer, Taurus and Red Dog.
  
The opening of G.I. Joe: The Movie takes place on and around the Statue of Liberty with a million characters fighting it out and a rocking rendition of the theme song that looked just oh so awesome on the big screen. It was a truly fantastic evening with a full house of passionate fans. Driving home I thought it really couldn't get any better than that. Our attendees had fun, our guests had a great time, the response has been tremendous and we're working on a follow up.

"Til all are one" and "Yo, Joe!". Thanks to everyone who attended, our guests in the lobby, on the panels, Michael, Grant, Christian, Tammi, Andrew, Travis, Jeremy, Oliver and the staff at The Egyptian.

(Almost) Ask Me a Question: Transformers and G.I. Joe

Less than a week until the Sunbow Animation Celebration double feature of The Transformers and G.I. Joe: The Movies! Response has been great with online Joe powerhouse HissTank being very supportive and subsequent shares from the likes of Nerd Reactor and LootCrate. It all goes down Saturday, March 7th at the Egyptian Theatre at 7:30 PM. Doors will be open at 6:30 PM as we've got a lobby full of fun and a pre-show you won't want to miss. In addition to our already terrific line up of special guests, excited to announce even more Sunbow Alumni in addition to writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut, storyboard director Larry Houston and Joe director Don Jurwich:

Bill Ratner - Voice of Flint on G.I. Joe, also heard in video game series Mass Effect and is an author with an Amazon #1, Parenting for the Digital Age.

Michael Bell - G.I. Joe leader Duke as well as Prowl on Transformers. You've also heard him on The Smurfs, Voltron and Rugrats. Aside from his 300+ acting credits, Bell supports local charities like animal rescue.

Hank Garrett - Dial Tone from G.I. Joe. On screen you've seen him in Three Days of the Condor, Serpico, Death Wish and Max Headroom. Besides acting, Hank is also known in the worlds of bodybuilding, professional wrestling and martial arts. These days, Mr. Garrett speaks at prisons to help inspire troubled youths as he himself was going nowhere before Sammy Davis, Jr. set him straight.

But that's not all, not by a long shot! Arrive early to check out our mini-Sunbow Con in the lobby:

Diana Davis - G.I. Joe expert and collector, Diana will be showcasing some of her awesome personal collection including portfolios, press books, official design sketches and more.

Livio Ramondelli - IDW, Google and video game artist who will be selling and displaying Transformers prints. Pick one up to have our guests sign as a keepsake of this sure to be crazy event.

Bill Forster - Comic book artist and co-author of the Transformers AllSpark Alamanacs, Ark Books and G.I. Joe Field Manuals. Bill will have some of his books and research materials on display. Sadly, Forster's writing co-hort Mr. Jim Sorenson won't be able to make it.

We'll also be supporting the following charities and programs:

People to People Ambassador Program - School trips and adventures to introduce students to new cultures, create global awareness as well as develop leadership skills and prepare them for college. Sunbow writer and special guest Flint Dille will be selling some of his personal memorabilia to support People to People.

Serenity Place Rescue - A volunteer group that rescues and rehabilitates cats and kittens offering advice, assistance and education on responsible pet ownership. Voice actor Michael Bell will raffle off a personalized signed photo to help raise money for Serenity Place.

Wounded Warrior Project - With a mission To honor and empower Wounded Warriors, the Project raises awareness and provides service to injured veterans addressing mental, physical, financial and family. Actor Hank Garrett will be selling signed photos and autographing items with all proceeds going directly to the Wounded Warrior Project.

At 7:00 PM, a pre-show with writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut and voice actor Bill Ratner will accompany the mini-con and incoming attendees. They'll be talking about writing, animation, acting and the various other properties they've been a part of like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, comic books, video games and more.

7:30 PM it's time to Transform and roll out to the awesomely 80's synth and guitar soundtrack of Vince Di Cola and Stan Bush as the Autobots face the evil Decepticons and a new threat; the giant, planet eating Unicron!

Between films it's a Sunbow Celebration panel with writers Flint Dille, Buzz Dixon, Donald F. Glut, voice actors Neil Ross, Michael Bell, Bill Ratner and Hank Garrett, G.I. Joe storyboard director Larry Houston and director Don Jurwich!

And then it's time for G.I. Joe: The Movie where America's elite take on Cobra and their ancestors from Cobra-La, a secret society hidden in the mountains looking to take over the world with mutant spores.

It's going to be a great night, we'll see you there. Yo, Joe!

Tickets and info here!

Con-Man: Long Beach Comic Expo

After a night of birthday celebrating it was down to Long Beach for the Comic Expo on Saturday. This is usually the smaller of the two LB shows but this year expanded so much that they had to move it to another section of the convention center. There was some science technology summit or other happening where LBCC usually is so we were around the back by the Performing Arts Center and Aquarium. Replica cars from Knight Rider, Jurassic Park, The Blues Brothers and Back to the Future welcomed you, it was a breeze to grab tickets and head inside. Right away we saw one Lance Henriksen at the non-RAW, RAW booth with The Lone Gunmen actor Dean Haglund along with a local artist. I immediately searched the floor for NECA's new Bishop figure and took it over to Mr. Henriksen to sign. Having already bought his book last year, The Lance was still just too Damme cool and gracious, chit chatting about Alien 5 (He hasn't heard anything) and how he actually hadn't seen the new figure yet. Again, just a great guy and here's hoping I put together an event he can attend. Why was it the non-RAW, RAW booth? Well convention specialist Mike was on hand, the RAW Studios banner was up, but neither Messrs Thomas Jane or Tim Bradstreet were attending. The Jane is still shooting new show The Expanse up in Canada while Bradstreet was also out of town. Here's hoping the duo return to Long Beach soon as their previous years have been outstanding with screenings and panels.

From there we walked the floor which was nice and padded with carpet checking out comics, toys, arts and crafts, Big Trouble in Little China ReAction figures and Funko's were around. I recognized some vendors from previous shows, guess we're becoming regulars huh? The floor boasted over 165 exhibitors and artists but strangely didn't feel much bigger than previous shows. Star Wars Laser Tag was set up in the back, there was a signing area where Futurama's Phil LaMarr and martial arts heroine Cynthia Rothrock were set up near a new addition, video games projected on a big screen. Street Fighter and Super Mario Brothers action ensued. Writing legend and X-Men mainstay Chris Claremont showed up and had a line at his table the entire day.

11:00 AM marked our first and only panel of the day, G.I. Joe Cartoon Voices! Hosted by combat fatigue clad Flint aka Bill Ratner, the panel included Keone Young (Storm Shadow), Hal Rayle (Deep-Six), Mary McDonald-Lewis (Lady Jaye), Jerry Houser (Sci-Fi) and Neil Ross (Shipwreck). There was a great camaraderie between the actors and they started things off with a reading of a funny G.I. Joe skit where Cobra ninja assassin Storm Shadow is actually trying to help the Joes. The panel included much talk of working for Wally Burr who would push his actors to provide a realistic, non-obvious cartoony performance in sessions that went 7-8 hours versus the typical 4. Basically if you didn't leave blood on the music stand, you weren't doing it right. Burr also strove for authenticity and instead of having an actor play ethnic, he'd just go out and get a person from the community aka Asian or black characters being played by Asian and black actors. Many a tale spoke of Megatron voice actor Frank Welker who would help the young guys while also being able to give you the sounds of a rocking chair or a male or female dolphin! Lewis was proud that her character wasn't fetish-ized and her action figure was the first female toy to have short hair. Lewis was great, very cool, very smart and just a ball of fire. She made sure everyone was involved during the panel and offered some terrific insight into being a positive force in the world. This was Houser's first time at a convention and he was really funny with a voice you swear you recognize but don't know why. Rayle went into Deep-Six and I immediately thought he was doing Charles Bronson, which he was! Rayle based the voice on Bronson as Tunnel King Danny in The Great Escape.

There was some enlightening stuff like the script girl encouraging the cast to buy Hasbro stock as the toy giant knew FCC regulations were changing so the cartoons could have commercials for their products during the run-time essentially make it a 30 minute advertisement. Ratner said if he would have invested $1,000 dollars in 1985, it would have been worth $28,000 just a few years later. Jokes about their figures selling poorly leading to being featured less on the show were common place during sessions of 10-12 voice actors. Houser said Sci-Fi was really good at sitting still in silence...I asked when the panel realized they had jumped generations and started going to cons with Lewis and Ratner saying they'd only known about the show's impact in the last ten years. Frank Welker couldn't make it but doesn't believe people still love the shows 30 years later. Rayle has only been going for a few years and is headed to Australia for a show soon. A few passionate fans spoke of their love for the show and Lewis shared that the percentage of first responders and EMT's in the Joe community is extremely high when compared to the rest of the population. She and Ratner also attended the official G.I. JoeCon where they watched the new live action movies and Lewis mentioned that there wouldn't be cons for those in 30 years. Young was asked about working for supposed tough guy writer-director Kurt Sutter on Sons of Anarchy to which he responded he'd worked with guys like Billy Wilder so Sutter was nothing and that was the point of being a professional. I ran into Young in the hallway after and asked him about Surf Ninjas, he said it was a lot of fun and they shot it in beautiful Thailand. On and on it went, just a really great time, lots of laughs, stories and heart. If that weren't enough, Neil Ross gave next week's Sunbow Celebration a shout out, Yo, Joe!

It was off to get our Dublin Donkey's on across the street at The Auld Dubliner and next door to collectible store Geeky Mamas where they have an awesome selection of toys old and new, accessories and clothes. I totally meant to get a Transformers or Joe shirt for next week but didn't see any good ones...Back at the show we walked the floor some more, checking out artist alley and digging through random boxes. That Hashtag Show is coming to Sunbow Celebration and I introduced myself, cool guys who like Long Beach the same as I do for it's chill vibe, guest approachability and nice surrounding area. Grabbed a few Captain America Annuals and Sgt. Rock issues from a 3 for 1 booth as well as a collection of time traveling mutant soldier badass Cable for a solid $5! Created in "1990, the dawn of the most action-packed decade in comic-book history" by Louise Simonson and wunder-kid Rob Liefeld. "Body-Slide by one". I would have liked to stuck around to see Claremont's panel, it had been a full and fun day so we headed home. Just when I thought Long Beach Con wasn't evolving, they shut my face by putting on a terrific show. Here's hoping to an even bigger one in the fall. Bring on Emerald City!

(Pre) Ask Me a Question: The Transformers & G.I. Joe The Movie

"Autobots! Transform and roll out!" To the Egyptian Theater on Saturday, March 7th at 7:30PM. Or, "Yo, Joe!" The Transformers and the G.I. Joe animated movies are playing at a Sunbow Celebration! And end my infomercial...

Dammaged Goods Presents is back, this time celebrating another glorious aspect of the 80's, cartoons! Try and tell me you didn't grow up on Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Transformers, My Little Pony, Jem, Duck Tales and the like. One of the main contributors to the era of animated toy commercials that became so much more is Sunbow Entertainment, an animation studio that ran from 1980 to 1998 founded by Griffin-Bacal Advertising out of New York. Working with toy giant Hasbro and comic book mainstay Marvel, Sunbow gave the world G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem, Inhumanoids, Visionaries, My Little Pony and Bucky O'Hare among other series. While the main goal was to sell toys, Sunbow managed to create worlds and mythologies that have lived on 30 years later.

From these daily animated series, four films emerged: The Transformers, My Little Pony, Inhumanoids and G.I. Joe. The first two titles would be released in theaters to weak box office thus relegating the remaining titles to go straight to video and sliced up for broadcast. I grew up on Transformers and G.I. Joe though and their movies have a special place in my heart. In a weird twist I watched more Joe episodes and followed the brand through comic books, toys and whatnot more so than Transformers. But when it comes to movies, I know the tale of Robots in Disguise just about front to back. From the opening scene where a planet is devoured by the mysterious Unicron to the awesomely 80's heavy metal soundtrack, Transformers: The Movie has just always been a treasured part of my life that opened up my imagination as a kid while also making realize that life is beautiful but life is also sad when Optimus Prime died. Although it's lived on through midnight and anniversary screenings, I've never seen it on the big screen. And in all my years I've never heard of G.I. Joe playing on the big screen. So here I am rectifying the situation and putting on a Sunbow Celebration to honor those who gave us so much wonderful entertainment as kids. While the shows were attacked for being glorified toy commercials, the worlds, characters and messages of good VS evil helped shape a generation of kids.

Taking place once again at The Egyptian in Hollywood, site of both Dolph Night and An Evening With Carl Weathers, we're doing our best to make this more than just a double feature. So far guests include:

Donald F. Glut - Writer and actor who scripted episodes of Joe, Transformers, Shazam!, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, G.I. Joe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Go-Bots, Transformers, Duck Tales and Robocop, phew! Glut also wrote the hit novelization of The Empire Strikes Back among his 65 published books as well as comic books.

Flint Dille - Writer and director whose resume includes Garbage Pail Kids, Mister T, G.I. Joe, InHumanoids, Transformers and Visionaries. Dille was credited as Story Consultant on Transformers: The Movie hashing out the story and pounding out a new script. Also worked on video games Diablo III, Ghostbusters, Transformers and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.

Buzz Dixon - Writer on Thundaar the Barbarian, Alvin & The Chipmunks, Transformers, Jem, Visionaries, Bionic Six, Story Editor of G.I. Joe and Story Consultant on the movie.

Larry Houston - Storyboard Artist and Director on EVERY FRIGGING CARTOON YOU'VE EVER SEEN AND LOVED! Seriously, The Incredible Hulk, Spidey and His Amazing Friends, Defenders of the Earth, G.I. Joe, Jem, The Real Ghost Busters, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Pryde of the X-Men, C.O.P.S., James Bond Jr., Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain Planet, X-Men...is that enough? He still has more.

Neil Ross - Voice of Shipwreck from Joe and Springer from the Transformers Movie, also worked on Voltron, Kung Fu Panda, Spider-Man, Garfield and Friends and many, many more.

Don Jurwich - Director, writer and producer. Veteran of Hanna-Barbera and Sunbow with Smurfs, SuperFriends, Jabberjaw, Hong Kong Phooey, The Flintstones and acted as Supervising Producer on the Joe series and directed the movie.

We'll have memorabilia on display and for sale in the lobby from personal collections, trivia and prizes! Tickets are only $11 or $7 for American Cinematheque members and are available here. Yo, Joe!

Animated Goods: Jem and The Holograms

And now, in typical Dammaged Goods non sequitur fashion, let's talk about 80's cartoon Jem and The Holograms.  Why?  Because I just went to BotCon and saw the voice of Jem herself, Samantha Newark on a panel then all 3 seasons are on Netflix.  You mind?  I was only 3 years old when the show first aired in 1985 so I honestly don't remember much except for pastel hair.  Produced by Sunbow Productions, the same studio that gave us 80's animated classics like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, My Little Pony and Visionaries, Jem was a powerhouse in the syndicated cartoon and toy doll market.

In the first episodes we meet Jerrica Benton, a young singer whose father dies and leaves half of his record company empire, Starlight Music, to her.  But an evil corporate guy in a leisure suit is determined to have the company to himself and plots to push Jerrica out.  I don't recall what kind of music Starlight is known for but Evil Leisure Suit Guy introduces us to The Misfits, "tough" chicks who ride motorcycles and sneer at everything led by Pizzazz.  Fighting a losing battle, Jerrica is visited by a hologram, Synergy, who was designed by her father to be the ultimate audio visual synthesizer and can project realistic holograms that change the appearance of her target.  Jerrica learns more about her father's private life as Synergy is based out of a secret lair where elaborate costumes and music equipment await Jem and her band mates, The Holograms.

Evil Leisure Suit Guy organizes a Battle of the Bands but only invites horrible acts so The Misfits will win and ride the hype to become the next big thing.  But Jem and her Holograms set up their own stage and rock out, wowing the crowd and winning the rigged competition.  This leads to some weird ass shit and musical cues as each episode contains at least 2 songs/music videos that play out like nightmares with the bands riding around on musical bars, playing on a star in outer space, being chased by sledge hammers, flying into a castle in the clouds and navigating booby traps.  You heard me.  Anyways, Evil Leisure Suit Guy bets Jem that The Misfits will be a bigger deal in 6 months and whoever wins will get the record company.  Then, movie producer Howard Sands happens to be there and offers a movie deal and mansion(?!) to the winner to up the stakes.  Oh yeah, forgot to mention that Jem's boyfriend Rio is always around to help out.  He seems cool and has beautifully styled long purple hair.  Wish I had purple hair.  Or a long green ponytail a la Doc Samson...

I don't know what today's cartoons entail but Jem is surprisingly open about death as her father's passing sets up the whole series.  We also used to eat dirt and didn't die so grow up, America.  Jem was a hit with 2.5 million viewers a week after school and selling 3 million dolls that came with cassettes which is the equivalent of being a Triple Platinum selling artist.  The show was canceled after Mattel used the show's advertising time to sell Barbie to viewers but has lived on like her Transformer, G.I. Joe and My Little Pony siblings.  A new low-budget movie is in the works from G.I. Joe: Retaliation director Jon M. Chu and if it's anything like Josie and The Pussycats, should be a good time.  Voice of Jem Samantha Newark was only 15 when she landed the part and has enjoyed a successful voiceover and recording artist career that started when she signed her first record deal at 7 years old.  Newark has contributed to multiple video game and television show soundtracks and has released 2 albums of original tunes.