HISS Tank boards member Roshan has returned from the Canadian Joe Con, where HISS Tank boards member MWB was in attendance. IDW‘s announcement that they were planning to release reprints of the GI Joe Special Missions comics in the future was delightful news for fans, and Mark Bellomo has been added to the mix. What’s in store? Hit the title bar!*
*Updated 8/10; Mark Bellomo has elaborated upon his plans and he is pitching a new Special Missions series, as opposed to 1 actually being announced. To view the complete update, hit the title bar.
What’s in store? A new series(possibly)! Here’s what Roshan had to say:
I had to pass out out for a couple of hours so I missed the Hama and Zartan panels, but I got to make the Bellamo presentation and he let everyone know that he will be scripting the new GI Joe Special Missions comic for IDW. The best news of it was that it will be set in the old continuity, so he has access to all the marvel run characters and the 80’s filecard information.So for fans of Classic GI Joe, you’ve got more goodies coming your way!**
**Update by Mark Bellomo:
My statement at the Canadian Joecon was (and I’m paraphrasing here): “I am in the midst of putting together five PITCHES to Carlos Guzman at IDW for a Special Missions one-shot. Carlos is receptive to read these pitches, yet there is NO guarantee of this book seeing print whatsoever.”
Roshan says
I'm finally awake from my 11 hour nap after my three day trip to the Canada Joe Con has come to a close. This year I was able to stay awake for the majority of it unlike last year.
Everything was bigger this year, bigger show room, more guests, more con pieces to choose from, and what felt like a bigger crowd (although I haven't seen the numbers on it)
I managed to convince my wife to go with me on this one in exchange for a day in Niagara Falls so after the trip we made it into the Sheraton Hotel late Friday afternoon just before the show opened. The con preview night was a nice way to get things started casually. I think there was maybe 15 of us milling around, bugging the dealers as they slowly put stuff out. Got to meet Pdaat, Turner's families, and got to chat with blitzkrieg and grunt-4-mvp. This year was a step up in selection over last year in terms of rare stuff. I didn't see this much high end stuff last year, I was able to pick up a carded Tiger Force UK Hit N Run, a Funskool Zap and passed up on a MIB Bronze Bomber set, full set of Brazil MOC Sky Patrol and Brazil MOC Eco Warriors just to name a few. It's gotten to the point, like at US Joe Con, you can go in there and find almost anything.
Got a bit of sleep and woke up at 1 am to go get in line for the Con set. Unfortunately Tim Hortons does not make new timbits at 1 am even after I requested to buy 100 of them, so I went to the line empty handed. The line this year grew in quick bursts. We had about 25 form up betweem 12:30-1:30, the next 25 came in between 4-5 and the final 40-50 hit right at 6 am. It was hilarious how one guy brought his entire family (no joke, his mom, grandmother, like 8 people) within the first 50 trying to get a ridiculous amount of these. But his plans were foiled by the one per family, per household rule.
Time flew by pretty quick though with a five hour GI Joe Monopoly session and everyone gathering around Kuukuusan's amazing 97-2006 GI Joe guide. He had a working copy there to show off, and it is by far the best GI Joe guide made to date when it comes to figuring out what goes where. Once this guide comes out it's going to create a renaissance for the 97-06 era.
Around 7 am they handed out wristbands, but this year we had to continue to wait til 9 am to make sure we got the first 50 SNAKE Armor. That's pretty much the only gripe I had about the con. A lot of us were dead on our feet waiting in line all night, and it would have been nice if we could have dispersed after getting our wrist bands to be able to take a two hour nap before the con opened.
The high point of this year's con set to me was actually the con comic. If you haven't read it, I won't spoil it for you, but it was well done, and showed that the Con team is committed to a progression of the Cobra North/Joe Canuck mythos and is building on new layers each year to flesh out the characters they've created in the past. The comic also turned Snake Byte from my least liked figure of the con set, to my favorite of the con set.
The Saturday portion of the show was well arranged. After you picked up your set there were free timbits for all the con guests were in the big hall leading to the show room so they were nicely seperated from the hustle and bustle of the dealer room. I had to pass out out for a couple of hours so I missed the Hama and Zartan panels, but I got to make the Bellamo presentation and he let everyone know that he will be scripting the new GI Joe Special Missions comic for IDW. The best news of it was that it will be set in the old continuity, so he has access to all the marvel run characters and the 80's filecard information. Should be a great series.
Even though Hasbro was unable to attend this year, they sent the full set of wave 1 of POC both vehicles and figures to be shown at the con and given away as a grand prize for all attendees which was won by xhairs. gunzlinger won the 6 month cobra capture classic Terrodrome drawing and Kuukuusan won the trivia contest getting 46 out of 50 questions correct to win by one point.
I'm probably getting long winded at this point so I'll wrap it up. Thanks to the show staff for putting on another awesome show at a new location, you could see how little sleep some of them had got over the weekend with all the work they put into it. Thanks to all the new friends and old friends I met up with this weekend. Next year we need to get a passport drive for a lot of the US collectors to keep making this thing a bigger crowd next year.
Desert Cat says
Get any exclusives?
THE RED SHADOWS says
a special missions comic? wow this is the first I have heard of it
Roshan says
Monkeywrench says
sounds awesome
georox says
Real question: Is sleeping while in line allowed?
Roshan says
If you do it next year, you really don't have to worry about falling asleep and losing your place in line. Con staff try to take pictures around 2 or so, and there are plenty of us who are socializing and doing contests all night to know who goes where. Once you get your place set in line you can pretty much amble about and socialize all night long. It's a very relaxed atmosphere.
THE RED SHADOWS says
I would like to see the obscure characters used, Im sick of seeing the main guys all the time
MAJOR BLOOD says
Let's get some pics of the SNAKE armor!!
NeoDragonKnight says
Keep reading: Canadian Joe Con report - Page 2
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