80s Comics News Blog:
2/14/2023
Happy Valentine's Day! Hopefully, your special someone gave you the gift of Thundercats.
I hope that you've noticed lots of new things happening on the website. We added a bunch of pictures, a new gallery format for the new updates, new issues of G.I. Joe, Transformers, and The Warlord, and more.
I've (Mark) still been tinkering with the video format and gave the "classic" 80s Comics spin to my newest review of "King Size Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot.".
The short-form 80s Comics show has been growing on the unlikeliest of places called TikTok @80sComics. You can follow and keep up to date with the goofy dailies.
Longer 4K videos are going up here as website exclusives. It's something I'm still messing around with.
There will be 80s Comics Guidebook updates starting to appear in a week or two, the first issue is nearly complete.
1/31/2023
Yo Joe! Lots of new reviews added recently. We also scanned and added a slew of new comics (lots of Warlords) with more on the way. A new image gallery should accompany all of the issues by the end of the year.
The 80sComics channel on TikTok has been growing rapidly, which has been a source of much merriment and joking around the CGR Publishing office. Seriously? TikTok has been a lot of fun. It's great to see people enjoy the comic book stuff.
I broke ground on the 80s Comics book and the 80s Comics drawing guide this week. These are still months off, but prepare to lounge around in your Transformers jammies while digging some 80s Comics literature.
More comics are on the way. Lots more.
1/15/2023
I'm running behind on news updates like usual!
The 80s Comics website is back up and running. Behind the scenes, I reconfigured some old studio space into the new 80s Comics set and comic book storage area. My plan is to slowly work my way back through piles of comic books for archive photographs and text reviews. This is slow going, but the new 80s Comics show takes place in 2282, so there's no rush.
The video part of 80s Comics has grown quickly as the animated series takes off on TikTok, which is surprising because it's the least TikTok-ish thing I could think of. You can follow along at @80sComic.com to see the virtual world take shape and watch confused robots talk about comics and get into trouble.
It's pretty clear the days of filming a thing and talking about it "review" style are over, so I pivoted the show into an abstract mixture of Blade Runner and Mystery Science Theater 3000 with comics because why not...? It's been pretty amusing so far. The review part of the show takes place in the articles.
Widescreen cuts of the series are (will) become available on this site as I continue to organize and develop it. I'm looking at a larger series in the future as I figure out the animation software.
Mark
12/29/2022
In the excitement of new videos, a new studio, and new Omega Ronin songs I forgot to clarify that there IS an 80s Comics book in development for 2023.
I don't have much information yet, but it'll be informative, hilarious., sarcastic, and very silly. And with any luck, the first of many. Stay tuned for updates.
12/28/2022
Producer and director, Mark Bussler, is rebooting 80s Comics in 2023 with a brand new series featuring the best of 1980s comics and manga combined with Edit-Station 1's charm, wit, and terrible personality.
"I'm rebooting the 80s Comics video series to compliment the website and new articles. The old series was a lot of fun to make, but I got pulled into some bigger print projects and had to shift my focus. This time around, thanks to Omega Ronin and the new animated series and manga in production, 80s Comics can shine in the same synthwave universe that you'll be reading about in print soon. I'm launching it on TikTok and as a website exclusive. Edit-Station 1 will be handling the directing, performance, and editing once I prep the series for daily or every-other-day production. You'll also get to see some of the rough animated clips for Omega Ronin mixed in, combined with music in development. It'll be a good time. I'm sure it'll evolve quickly once we start working on it."
"I was hoping to bring it back early 2022, but the studio took a while to build and I got into 3D animating to compliment the music videos and it just kinda came together. Like everyone else, we're dropping YouTube and going with TikTok. I'm pretty sure it'll be an interesting mix with the demographic, but I like the optimism and positive vibe on TikTok. I'd love to inspire some younger viewers to start collecting baller comics like Sectaurs and MERC. If you're over 40 and still watching on VHS, you can also see the videos on 80sComics.com along with some widescreen original content. I've got my eye on a Blu-Ray / Laser Disc cut too."
"Personally, I find the vertical aspect ratio a bit odd to film, but it works well for the comic books now that I'm seeing edits. It'll be fun and quirky, nothing more serious than that."
Music in the 80s Comics series will be scored and performed by Bussler's synthwave band, Omega Ronin. OmegaRonin.com
Series debuts on TikTok @80sComics and at 80sComics.com
12/27/2022
Something is amiss in 80s Comics Headquarters. Who can say what will maybe might happen or whatevers?
There are rumors of a studio setup with comics and ED-209. There have been whispers of Omega Ronin laying down some smooth 80s synth tracks for videos. It has even been said that Edit-Station 1 might un-break his broken break key....
12/26/2022: Happy holidays from 80s Comics! This is the first site update in well over a year. I'm the guy who writes and manages 80s Comics (Mark Bussler,) a boring husband and father who grew up in the 80s on a steady diet of G.I. Joe, Transformers, Star Wars, and all things 1980s. I am the president of CGR Publishing (the 80s Comics parent company) and have plans to reboot the 80s Comics site and productions for 2023.
80s Comics started out in 2008 as an experiment on my old YouTube channel called Classic Game Room. In those days the gaming stuff took over until it didn't, and then 80s Comics spun off into its own hobby show and brand on YouTube in 2018-2020. Sadly, the show didn't catch on and we got sick of our company inbox filling up with juvenile hate comments from viewers every day, so it was canceled and I shifted production elsewhere.
These days YouTube entertainment-based channels and social media are in decline as a new generation moves elsewhere away from hate-for-profit tech giants and (hopefully) back to some real artistic content. Additionally, I'm launching a new fleet of books based on illustrating, art, drawing, manga, and design for '23 and '24. The more time I spend on a drafting table means the more I am reminded about how much I love classic comic book art from the adamantium age of the 1980s.
Honestly, I can't tell you I have a clear plan for 80s comics because I don't! It's just going to happen how it happens. I always thought it was a great concept, but a few years ago couldn't support an experimental project that wasn't growing. Things are different now, and I think 80s Comics has a lot of opportunities to grow as a positive and creative outlet for those of us who love classic comics and media franchises. If you're looking for "I'm so angry you don't like this as much as I do" content then please go elsewhere. We're here to talk about how rad Shockwave is, not how angry you are that we didn't respond to your stupid Twitter comment (we no longer use Twitter or Instagram, and, as it turns out, neither does anyone else. Good riddance.)
80s comics are fun and affordable to collect. 80s comic books are awesome art references. 1980s comic books are great to share with family and kids! Yo Joe!
I'm starting off the 80s Comics reboot with some new text articles and have plans to re-launch the TikTok channel with light, fun content to support the articles (@80sComics). The CGR Publishing team will start to re-organize the site a bit more. I have a video studio and room devoted to storage and filming setup, so I guess all we need to do now is dive in and have fun. My synthwave band Omega Ronin will be providing the music, and upcoming print projects will be handled by CGR Publishing.
Thank you and stop by often to see what's new!
Mark Bussler
