Hot Thing Summer: Regal's Fantastic Four trading card set

Let me tell you a little bit about the Regal Cinemas 4DX theater experience. It's like you're on a roller coaster, but you still have to watch a movie, and also you get misted with water every few minutes. If you can manage to not be forcibly ejected from your seat during a screening, you get some trading cards afterwards. Maybe? Or was that just me? In any case, I braved the mechanical bull that was the 4DX theater in early May for one reason and one reason only: because there was some Fantastic Four: First Steps promotional merchandise to be had.

The start of Marvel's summer movie season was its Thunderbolts* film, released at the beginning of May. On this same day, the company put out a social media advertisement that showed off Fantastic Four trading cards, and not much context. I eventually figured out that these were real, and that you could get them at very specific Regal Cinemas locations. I looked it up and learned that there were only two of these 4DX locations in the entire state of Pennsylvania, but what do you know, both of them were about an hour away from me. Did I immediately get my car keys? No, I waited several whole minutes to do that.

I thought that the Thunderbolts* movie was pretty good. The Fantastic Four teaser in the post-credits scene is a little confusing after having seen the First Steps movie, but whatever -- I saw the Pogo Plane (they're probably not calling it that) and I liked it. I was one of five people in the fully automated theater, wearing 3D glasses and being jostled around in my seat as chairs all around me were seemingly filled by ghosts, but I was determined to get those cards. I got them, and, um, I might have talked myself into getting a few more packs on the way out. Listen, I deserve this.

The packs were pretty nicely made. They felt like the wax packs of yore and they maintained the retro theme that much of the FF advertising had throughout the buildup to the movie. The back of the package had the company branding on it and there were five cards inside, with all four members plus H.E.R.B.I.E.

The backs of the cards are all the same, with the "4" logo and movie date. These cards were really great and boy, am I glad that I found some locally and didn't have to pay to buy 'em on eBay after the fact. I got to keep a sealed pack and open one up. This was a great success.

This happened to be Free Comic Book Day weekend, so I grabbed the very first Fantastic Four FCBD title in the event's 25-year history, which means it was a big day. Around this time, Diamond filed for bankruptcy, and the Free Comic Book Day brand is owned by them, so maybe this was also the last FCBD? At least with that specific title and logo? Who knows.

A few months later, there were four more First Steps promo cards to be had, these ones from Topps at their Comic-Con booth in San Diego. They released one each day of the show, from Thursday through Sunday.

And in the months since, Topps has put out a bunch of sets that include some FF movie cards. Most of them use the standard promotional art and images, and they're hard for me to keep track of. The trading card industry shares a lot of the same ills as the comic book industry, in that it's caught up in another dumb speculation boom, and thus there are variants and shiny, metallic versions and, like, pop up versions or whatever. I picked up a Thing card from eBay recently and it has 82/125 stamped on the back, and I'm thinking to myself, is this good? Do I care about this? And then I settle on, "well, this is dumb," and then there's a voice that whispers in my ear, "it's the same with comic books and variant covers" and I try to suppress that as much as I can. Ah hem.

Anyway, the Regal cards were a great promotion, and I was happy to chase them down. I'm not sure if it would have been better with a stick of gum included.

Fantastic Four: Trapped in the Data Vortex original art by Allan Patrick and Marcio Loezer

I have a soft spot for promotional comics. Most of 'em are cheesy and silly, but every once in a while, one surprises you and ends up being a sought-after book. Fantastic Four: Trapped in the Data Vortex is...absolutely not one of those books, but since it stars the FF, I naturally grabbed it when I could. A few weeks ago, all of the interior artwork from this eight-page story popped up on eBay, and I managed to get two of the pages. So let's take a look!

"Trapped in the Data Vortex" was published in 2011 as a promotional comic for Hitachi Data Systems. The story is about what you'd expect: the company is highlighted throughout the book, and the superhero action is just a thin cover for company promotion. The art, though, really stood out in this story. Publishers usually send in the B (or C) teams when packaging something like this, and books usually suffer as a result; even though Allan Patrick and Marcio Loezer aren't names I'm familiar with, they really knocked the art out of the park for this short story. Industry mainstay Greg Land provided the cover for this short comic.

The better of the two pages I got is the last page of the story, where the team (with indispensable help from Hitachi Data Systems!) wraps up their mini adventure. Ben, Sue and Johnny return from the Data Vortex to find that Reed has taken care of things in this dimension by dispatching M.O.D.O.K. and some AIM henchmen.

Even though I've got a decent number of original Fantastic Four pages, I don't often get pages with all four main characters on it, and to get a nice, half-page splash of some "off into the sunset" superhero action really adds to the deal. Plus, Johnny is on fire, Reed stretches, Ben, uh...smokes a cigar...and they all ride off in a Kirby-designed "flying bathtub" Fantasticar. It's a win all around in my book.

Here's how the page was published. Some of the middle pages were printed with a 3-D effect (whilst inside the Data Vortex, of course). My copy of the book didn't come with 3-D glasses, and I'm not really sure how those were distributed in the first place.

Even though it's not quite as impressive, I was able to add the first page of the story for almost nothing, so I grabbed it as well. At some point, the first panel was cut off and replaced with a second, finished version.

Although there's no Fantastic Four on this page, there is a really nice shot of a menacing M.O.D.O.K. Look at how surprised this office worker is! I sure hope that Hitachi Data Systems can get him out of this jam.

The establishing shot at the top of the page clearly shows the Baxter Building, which made this page worthwhile. The water in the distance doesn't really mesh with this being 42nd and Madison, but I'll let it slide. The Data Vortex messes with perspective sometimes. 

Pencils for this story were drawn by Allan Patrick and inks were added by Marcio Loezer. They gave it their all on what might otherwise be a throwaway promo story that not many people outside of the company have read. The line work is fine and detailed, and the FF are all on-model in their classic suits. I'm definitely glad to add these two pages to my collection.

Let's take a look at this custom Thing bust by Mark Valentine

I'm always on the lookout for interesting Thing items, and I recently came across a really great one - it's a resin bust of the Fantastic Four strongman that I had never seen before. This guy popped up in my eBay feed with a low starting bid. I decided to take a shot and ended up being the only bidder - I'm sure the seller was disappointed, but I got a great deal and am happy to show it off.

It's an unpainted resin Thing bust with a stand. Check it out!

The bust itself can stand alone and is mightily impressive. The figure work is excellent for what I understand is a custom piece, not officially licensed. I don't consider this to be a bootleg figure since I believe this is a 1/1 item.

The detail work on the rocks is really something. This is better than a number of licensed Thing items.

The base also comes unpainted and is a white resin. It's got a peg at top for the bust to sit on. The base shows off some wreckage from an apparent brawl that went down on Yancy Street.

The street sign is there and is a nice feature.

The back looks like...wait a minute...is that...

Okay, here's a strange and kind of unexpected addition - it's the Impossible Man! Or at least his head. Or at least an image of his head. Does this imply that the base is actually the man from Poppup? Is he just hiding out amid the rubble? This was an odd choice, but hey, I'm happy to get another FF character included here.

Another fun surprise is on the bottom of the base, where the original sculptor, Mark Valentine, both signed and drew a great Thing sketch.

I'd love to know more about this unique item - whether this is truly a 1/1 item and why Mr. Valentine made it. It reminds me of one of the '90s-era Thing model kits in size and function. I suppose that this was meant to be painted, but I don't know if I could bring myself to do it. The bust, anyway, strikes an imposing figure as it is. In any case, it makes a fine addition to my Thing collection, and I'll happily put it on display.

pictures from the 2021 New York Comic Con, part 1

I went to the New York Comic Con in October - 23 months after the last time I had been to a comic book convention. It was weird. I was anxious about going. But ultimately, I had a good time and I took a bunch of pictures. Let's take a look at NYCC 2021!

I'll admit that I was a little worried about going to this show. I was able to get a professional pass and I live within driving distance, so the decision to go or not was decidedly low stakes, but I still wasn't sure if I was making the right choice. Beyond the obvious fear-for-your-safety worry, I didn't even know if the show would have anything interesting to see.

Even though the event returned to the Javits Center in Manhattan, there were very few big-name guests or vendors in attendance - no Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, etc., and very few media properties, either. The show was operating at a limited capacity, and it's my understanding that Saturday was the only day that sold out. But when Friday came around, I grabbed my bag and hopped on a train to Penn Station, where I immediately saw a guy crossing the street get into a heated argument with someone trying to direct traffic. New York was back, baby!

I made it to the convention center after 1:00, and I walked right in. There were clearly and noticeably fewer attendees than in 2019 or years past. I usually enter at one of the left entrances, near what is usually the Funko booth and the small press publisher section. Nickelodeon's Star Trek: Prodigy had one of the biggest displays at the show.

The longest wait in line for the weekend was probably at the Chucky ice cream truck, which had some interactive displays and, from what I hear, actual ice cream.

I heard that two people got engaged at this bridge over the weekend. That's definitely a choice you can make.

This was the strangest thing to see at the show - not Captain Carter, but the empty space along the walls along the main floor. 

Most of the floor space was used, even if vendors were certainly allowed to spread out more than in previous years. But there were also these empty spots in some places that would've been packed any other year. How crazy was this to see at one of the world's biggest conventions? I naturally understand the reason, but it was still something to see.

There were plenty of folks in costume. Here's Mal and Zöe from Firefly!

Omni-Man had the good idea of putting his mustache on the outside of his mask. 

I think this is Dragonball, right? There's a werwolf in the show? Okay. Anyway, this 30-foot statue was an imposing figure on an otherwise scaled-down exhibit floor.

I read some of NYCC's COVID rules on their website, and a big one stated that protective masks must be worn, and that costume masks that covered up your face (so you couldn't see if you were wearing a protective mask) were not allowed. That rule...was not enforced.

This space is near where the Funko booth usually is, and is usually packed full of people waiting in lines. This year, there were a bunch of comic book longboxes! It was a big departure. I was glad to flip through some comics at the show.

Maybe the most popular booth at NYCC was, if you can believe it, the eBay booth. eBay was one of the few booths at the show with giveaways that people wanted, including a Dr. Strange comic book with cover art as seen here on the left.

Here's some space cowboy.

I was surprised that I didn't see anyone wearing a facehugger as a mask - but this costume is pretty great, in any case.

While waiting in line, I saw my friend Maryellen, who absolutely nailed this Masters of the Universe: Revelation Teela and Orko!

I wonder how she got the spear inside. Still, another great costume!

Griffin Newman, "Arthur" on Amazon's The Tick show and Orko on MOTU: Revelation, did a signing at the FYE booth on Friday.

It was great to see Griffin again. I'm very happy for his success on this new show.

What are our thoughts on the new Netflix Cowboy Bebop show? I'm hesitant to give it a shot, given how great the cartoon was. I guess we'll see how it is!

Prodigy probably had most of the banner space at the show.

Hey, it's Lego...Carnage...

I got an autograph from William Shatner in the afternoon. This was taken directly before his handler said, "no pictures, kid!"

This was probably the best costume I saw at the show. It's not just Doom, but Doom 2099?! Amazing!!

It's not Doom 2099, but these were okay, too.

The bowls of gak were a nice touch.

After about 6:00, the floor really cleared out. I've never been at NYCC with so few people walking around. This guy behind me thought it'd be okay to start eating a red pepper like it was an apple. Just real nonchalantly and everything. This was one of the highlights of my trip.

Here's a very involved Death Metal Wonder Woman!

Don't feel so down, murder guy.

What If...? Spidey!

If you have a dog at a comic convention, I want to take a picture with it.

There's a weird courtyard-like area out in front of the Javits Center that is technically still part of the show - you have to have a badge to be there. There were a few things happening there. Also here's Simon and Gunther.

Danny, the Doom Patrol ambulance, made his presence felt at the show.

Near the end of the night, I decided to check out the Prodigy display one more time. Things had really died down and I was able to walk through with almost no delay. There were a few activities - a VR-style game and a t-shirt station, but I mostly just wanted to sit in the chair and see the display.

So I did!

This was a promotional image they sent to you as you made your way through the booth. I don't know what kind of pose I'm making here. Don't try to make sense of it.

Look at this suit. I really hope they make one with the Thing at some point.

Walking back to Penn Station after the show, I came across this, which, at first glance, appeared to be a space dedicated to playing ping pong in downtown Manhattan.

And what do you know? That's exactly what it was. PingPod is a 24-hour ping pong center. You rent time and play. Wild.

I got some pizza and ate it on the steps across from Madison Square Garden.

I also witnessed some Weird Al-related vandalism. Who would do such a thing??

That's it for now. Saturday's pictures await!