Uncanny! Insider News

Uncanny! Declares March 2^nd Power Rangers Appreciation Day

Uncanny! pays homage to the Power Rangers legacy and to its fans by declaring March 2^nd to be Power Rangers Appreciation Day.

To celebrate Uncanny! King of Prussia mall will host a cast autograph signing for Saban’s Power Rangers Movie, in theaters March 24^th. The March 2nd cast signing begins at 3:30pm all are welcome to attend; arrive early to secure a place in line.

"For nearly 25 years, fans have enjoyed Morphin ever so Mightily with the Power Rangers. Uncanny! provides fans the opportunity to join forces like the Megazord and show their appreciation on this monumental day. Go Go Power Rangers!"

- D. Best, Uncanny! ASM King of Prussia Mall

 Power Rangers Appreciation Day (March 2nd) will be an all-day celebration featuring cos-players, a special one day only sale (King of Prussia location only), and a late afternoon autograph signing with Power Rangers Movie cast members Becky G. ("Trini" the Yellow Ranger) and RJ Cyler ("Billy" the Blue Ranger).

Uncanny! is proud and honored to be partnering with LIONSGATE and Allied Integrated Marketing to bring this event to the King of Prussia Mall, and Power Rangers fans of all ages.

When most think of Uncanny! they think of graphic novels, games, and geek gear, but now on any given Friday night or Saturday afternoon they'll know them for bands; live local music for your listening pleasure.

 Dustin Best, Assistant Manager of the King of Prussia location had this to say about bands playing in their store, "Uncanny! has always seen the link between music, comics, and pop culture, it's a mix that works, maybe it has something to do with using the same creative energy but in different ways. It's no secret that many musicians are comic book fans so it makes sense to provide a venue for them to perform."

Uncanny! has hosted a few bands over the years, including Dorkosaurus,Cupid's Victim, Action Man, Pocket Dial, and Gangstagrass.

Recently Dorkosaurus had an incredible show at our store debuting their new singer/songwriter. We've been a fan of this band for the last three years, and their drummer Britt Meyer is a long-time comic book subscriber.

These guys are definitely worth a listen, so check out Dorkosaurus playing live Uncanny!

Come on out for our next music event!

You can stay up to date on all of the events that are happening at your favorite Uncanny! location by going here.

Uncanny! King of Prussia Mall has partnered with Philadelphia-based Mothership Art Gallery and Designer Toy Store to bring a one-of-a-kind art exhibition to the greater Philadelphia area. "Art is a staple of the comic book and pop culture scene; toys, statues, and other collectibles are a 3D extension of the culture. Who doesn't want to own a cool piece of art from their favorite comic book, television show, anime, or movie? This partnership just made sense and allows us to bring unique products into our shop." said Rob McFee, Manager of the Uncanny! King of Prussia location.

Alex Rivera aka "Playful Gorilla" is Manager of Mothership Art Gallery and Designer Toy Store, and also one of the world's premiere toy designers. He has over 7,000 followers on Instagram and can be seen at conventions all over the world, most recently featured at the Philadelphia Auto Show. When asked about the partnership with Uncanny! he had this to say, " We are very excited about partnering with Uncanny! Their stores are amazing! We are looking forward to bringing their community unique art that will celebrate their fandom and captivate their minds."

The show is called "Pop Cult. Insanity" and will be on display at the Uncanny! King of Prussia Mall location throughout the month of February, beginning with a "First Friday" Event on February 3rd from 6pm-9pm.

Some good news for comic book retailers and readers alike, especially now when some titles cost more than a gallon of gas and avid readers are wondering if the trip to their local comic shop is worth the fuel they are using.

Marvel announced that beginning February 1^st, fans who enter the doors of their local comic retailer will now be rewarded when they purchase Marvel titles with a digital code that unlocks existing stories in the Marvel Universe they may have missed in the past.

Starting with Marvel Universe titles (excluding all-ages comics), the Marvel digital code will be upgraded to unlock two or more additional digital Marvel comics – stretching your dollars’ worth! Once again this offer is only available within your local comic shop. 

"Marvel is continuing our commitment by offering our fans the best value in comics along with honoring our cornerstone of the comic book industry – the retailers,” said David Gabriel, SVP of Sales, Marvel Publishing. "Our intent in evolving our digital code program is to offer our fans more value per dollar spent.  Replacing the free digital copy, our BONUS DIGITAL COMICS will offer fans free entry points for current on sale collected editions and, in turn, invite additional and repeat traffic into our trusted retailers.”

This news presents an excellent opportunity for new and veteran readers to expand their comic book horizons and try titles they may not have thought about reading because of cost. I wonder if DC comics will follow? Let's hope so, but for now "make mine Marvel."

By Joshua Lucas

Will Rogue One Be Any Good?

In just a few short weeks, we will be viewing the first Star Wars Story film under the new Disney era ownership of our favorite science fiction fantasy.  Rogue One will be the first non-episodic film to come out other than the Clone Wars animated movie.  The film’s production has been closely followed by Disney and the media, and it has seen many ups and downs.  Fan anticipation is high, but it remains unclear if this film, which attempts to forge into unknown territory, will be a success or not.

I’m going to use the verbiage that makes everyone nervous, but is none-the-less true.  This film is a prequel.  I know, it kind of incites a certain reaction for people, but the fact remains that we are once again being shown a story that takes place before A New Hope.  Now, the ending of this movie is supposed to run right up to ten minutes before Episode IV, but it will tackle something that was barely touched on in the original film. This is, of course, the attainment of the plans to the Death Star, which was a single line in the opening crawl of the original film.  The hope that Disney has is that this “Tarantino” type of storytelling will be met with higher praise than Episodes I, II, and III.

For my own part, I’m not convinced that the marketing department working under the Mouse has done a good enough job to hammer this point home.  I’ve personally heard far too many people asking if this will continue the story of Rey and Kylo Ren.  Hard core fans knew about this movie around the same time we learned of the title to Episode VII, but the hard-core fans make up a very small part of the movie going audience.  The financial success of this film depends upon its ability to reach a wide audience.  I’ve talked about his at great length on my YouTube channels and on social media in general, but the truth is that we as fans NEED this movie to be successful more than we need it to be good.

I made it a point to bring this up around the time that we started hearing about the dreaded re-shoots.  Now, every major blockbuster film has scheduled re-shoots built into their production, but don’t be fooled.  The re-shoots for Rogue One were a bigger deal than what happens on most movies.  I don’t want to dive down this rabbit hole right now, but just look at the schedules for the actors and the fact that the film is now scored by a different conductor.  They took a lot of time to make it more friendly to a wider audience, much to the hard-core fan’s chagrin.  When the internet erupted in protest, I told my nerdy brothers and sisters to calm down, because if the brand can sustain big profits on movies that don’t have the main characters we will be rewarded with harder edge content in the future.  As I said earlier, this is the first attempt to do such a thing under the Disney flag.  For now, it is in all our best interests to have this movie make boat loads of money.

Now, it may seem as though I’m coming down hard on Rogue One, and maybe I am to a degree, but it’s time for me to share my raw optimism about this film.  I truly believe that Rogue One has the potential to be the coolest friggin Star Wars movie OF ALL TIME! Seriously, I believe that.  The war like nature that Gareth Edwards set out to capture seems on point.  The utilization of familiar ships and soldiers in unfamiliar settings seems intriguing to no end.  The expansion of the lore around Jedi, the Force, and the Rebellion has me foaming at the mouth.  These things could add up to a movie that will make a lasting impact on my fandom and better inform the canon that I think is the best attribute of the post-George Star Wars era. I. Am. Pumped!

Uncanny! Insider just received confirmation that world re-known comic book artist and "Preacher" co-creator Steve Dillon has passed away. The veteran comic book phenom known for his work on "Preacher", "Hellblazer", and "Punisher" has died at age 54. There are no details currently available on the cause of his death. News of his passing was all over social media this morning and was confirmed by his brother Glyn Dillon in a Twitter post shortly after 10am (eastern standard time).

Steve Dillon was an English comic book artist, from Luton, Bedfordshire, best known for his work with writer Garth Ennis on Preacher, Hellblazer, and Punisher. Dillon also created the character Dogwelder featured in Ennis's series Hitman.

Dillon began his professional career at the age of 16, drawing the title story in the first issue of Hulk Weekly for Marvel UK he would follow up later with the Nick Fury comic strip. Dillon also drew for Warrior and Doctor Who Magazine where he created the character of Abslom Daak. In 1988 Dillon started the comic magazine Deadline which ran for seven years; but it's the Garth Ennis, Steve Dillon critically acclaimed series "Preacher" that made us all fans of the artist. The series ran for 66 issues and wrapped in 2000, and though it's 16 years since the final issue went to print, it remains a sought after and top selling trade paperback. It has become a staple in every comic readers library.

Steve Dillon one of the best, you will be missed. Thank you.

By Rob McFee

I had the awesome opportunity to meet and speak candidly with DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio, at a recent Diamond Comics Retailers Summit in Baltimore, Maryland. 

I first have to say that meeting Dan DiDio, a name synonymous with DC Comics was a little intimidating, but after a firm handshake and a warm smile I was instantly put at ease. I first congratulated Dan on the success of DC's "Rebirth" after which like most of us who work hard for our money; he gave a big sigh said "thank you" but assured me that there was a lot of work still to be done.  What could be left to do? DC comic sales are up. The comic community has embraced "Rebirth." "DC Rebirth" issue one is up to its umteenth printing. What's left?

"Toys must go back in the toy box the way you found them"

Dan shared with me his personal goal of returning the DC characters to their former glory. He shared his frustration of going to "Con's" and fans reminiscing about the way the characters used to be in the 90's and 80's ; when the stories were good and heroes were heroes. He stated that as kids our parents always told us that "the toys must go back in the toy box the way you found them", and his goal was to do the same for the DC characters, to give them back their core values; that which makes Batman, Batman should never change regardless of the story or situations the writers put them in, their core values, their essence will always be the same. I found his words profound and hopeful.

So what does it all mean? It means that Batman will never kill, he will be dark and brooding, but he will never kill; that's not what Batman does. It means that Superman will always be a boy scout, our hope filled alien protector showing us mere mortals that with all the powers of a god, kittens still need saving from time to time. The world as we know may become a dark and scary place; society may demand that our heroes bow to the ways of these darker times, but, I will take solace in knowing that we can look to the son of Krypton for hope and know that Batman is always watching from the shadows.

By Rob McFee

Every comic book fan has their short list of creators they want to meet. I got a chance to meet Jim Lee no.2 of my top 5, at the Diamond Retailers Summit in Baltimore.

Jim Lee A Brief History

Jim Lee  born August 11, 1964 is a Korean American comic book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He entered the industry in 1987 as an artist for Marvel Comics, drawing such titles as "Alpha Flight" and "The Punisher War Journal", before gaining popularity on "The Uncanny X-Men". "X-Men" No. 1, the 1991 spin-off series premiere that Lee penciled and co-wrote with Chris Claremont, remains the best-selling comic book of all time, according to Guinness Word Records.

In 1992, Lee and several other artists formed their own publishing company,Image Comics, to publish their creator-owned titles, with Lee publishing titles such as"Wild C.A.T.S."and "Gen 13" through his studio Wildstorm Productions. Eschewing the role of publisher in order to return to illustration, Lee sold Wildstorm in 1998 to DC Comics, where he continued to run it as a DC imprint until 2010, as well as illustrating successful titles set in DC's main fictional universe, such as the year-long "Batman: Hush" and "Superman: For Tomorrow"  story lines. On February 18, 2010, Jim Lee was announced as the new Co-Publisher of DC Comics with Dan DiDio, both replacing Paul Levitz.

He has received a Harvey Award, Inkpot Award and three Wizard fan Awards in recognition for his work.

Meeting the Legend

To be honest I was quite surprised to see him at the Baltimore Diamond Retailers Summit especially since the DC comics offices have moved to the west coast, but there he was,Jim Lee live and in color standing at the DC Comics booth; after doing a double take and confirming with my co-worker that it was indeed Jim Lee, we promptly made our presence known. So what do you say to someone who has changed the comic industry in so many positive ways? What do you say to someone whose inspired and continues to inspire artists to join the rank and file of comic book creators?  I don't know what you'd say, but I simply shook his hand and said "Thank you for everything; all of the hard work; the inspiration; you are truly appreciated." What happened next was awesome.

Jim politely said thank you and then we talked, like two old friends catching up after a few years apart, we spoke about the industry and how it's changed; about the future of the art form and it's impact on pop culture. He then looked at me and said I have an idea and I'll start with you. Jim took out his phone and told me to tell the world the name of my store and where it's located. He would later post this on his Instagram which has well over 250,000 followers. That kind of exposure to any comic shop is amazing and to be the first was an honor. Meeting a legend in any industry is great, discovering that they're good people makes it even better.