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This is my initial “vision board” (using Apple’s new Freeform program) for a new family project that will take us into next year, up to my 40th birthday! Since Tom DeLonge debuted his new Starcaster custom guitars back in December as part of his return to blink-182, the community has been all over doing mods to Squier models on the cheap and doing high-end replicas. I had the itch myself, but then I got the idea to have Carly do her own take for me, something that sums up all my favorite things from my first four decades. The pets, comics, Star Wars, Transformers, NASCAR, the Yankees, all those passions, and my buddy Allan Corona out in San Diego will seal it and put it together.

In the short term, I’m rewatching the West Wing on Max, reading Star Wars Inquisitor Rise of the Red Blade, grinding to build up to fight the final Ganon battle in Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, just discovered Praising Petey on Hulu (originally airs on Freeform), and checking out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem this weekend!

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve podcasted (in my hold life, I hosted & edited over 300 episodes of a decently successful show), but it was like riding a bike when I jumped on with Brian & Kip from Zero Dark Nerdy to review Bardenheimer and point out their comic book connections! The episode should be out tomorrow and I’ll be popping by once a month or so to talk about all the goings-on in the funny pages.

Today was my nephew Nash’s 3rd birthday, and the party was Spidey & His Amazing Friends (& Paw Patrol) themed! I didn’t realize until the soundtrack was playing in the background that Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy sings the opening number to the Disney Junior show, and at that point it’s just too many of my worlds colliding since I’m deep-diving back into emo at the moment while reading Chris Payne’s Where Are Your Boys Tonight? I was also tickled that the assortment of superhero costumes he got from his aunt as one of his gifts included a Venom and a Deadpool outfit (you know, for the kids).

Lois’s “Signing” Tour for our Scrapper #1 Ssalefish Exclusive Variant by Jacob Chabot & Landis Blair continues tomorrow down at the Concord store from 12 PM - 2 PM! I hope Colton doesn’t give her fleas…

In all seriousness, I think Scrapper is a bonafide Image hit that just needs some more word of mouth to reach the level of Stray Dogs, so we’re all in on the ground floor of this thing!

I’m currently waiting on the FedEx delivery of our Scrapper #1 Ssalefish Exclusive Variant so I can ferry them around the state to all the other Ssalefishes in advance of its release next Wednesday, but I also wanted to remind everyone about the July Warehouse Sale taking place tomorrow, Friday, July 14th from 3 PM - 7 PM & Saturday, July 15th from 11 AM - 4 PM at 929 North Church Street!

Stephen’s So-Called Emo Life!

• Black Mirror Season 6 - the first three episodes really live up to the legacy of the show!

• Color of Magic - after reading Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchet for the first time before season 2 of the show comes out on prime later this month, I decided that the 22 books in the Discworld series should keep me busy for a while.

• Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - with just one sage left to unlock, I feel like I’m finally starting to actually enjoy the game instead of it feeling like work.

Some more cool stuff is on the way to compliment our Scrapper #1 Exclusive Variant featuring Lois, due at the shop on Wednesday, July 19th (a week earlier than I had thought)! Please help us show everyone’s favorite Frenchie the love during her “signing”!

Beyond that, we’ll be buried in the boxes getting everything ready for our July Warehouse Sale taking place next Friday, July 14th from 3 PM - 7 PM and Saturday, July 15th from 11 AM - 4 PM! We’re not even kidding when we say that tomorrow we’re adding 20 new boxes to the already overflowing selection.

This weekend, instead of our usual monthly Warehouse Sale, we’ll be doing a $1 Comic Pop-Up at Nerdbombers in Friendly Center near Barnes & Noble on Saturday, June 24th & Sunday, June 25th! Colton & I ferried over 70 short boxes of new stock today for Michael and the gang to get staged, so don’t miss out on your first shot at these deals! The regular Warehouse Sale at Field Trip, including premium back issues for $5 each or 10 for $25 AND the $1 books, will return the weekend of July 14th & 15th.

Last Thursday it was announced that this past week’s release of Void Rivals by Robert Kirkman & Lorenzo de Felici and their promise of a new shared universe at Image Comics is actually the start of their publishing plan for Transformers & G.I. Joe at their new publishing home. Even more exciting for me personally is that Daniel Warren Johnson (Extremity, Do A Powerbomb, Murder Falcon, Beta Ray Bill, Wonder Woman Dead Earth) will be writing the More than Meets the Eye title starting in October!

It feels awesome to be so pumped for a new title after reading constantly for the last 20 years, that while sometimes it seems like you’ve seen it all, comics still finds a way to surprise you. Pretty excited about Ultimate Invasion next week by Jonathan Hickman & Bryan Hitch, but more on that below!