Hey Kids, Comics! #159 - Toylandia: Rise of the Indys

Welcome to the penultimate issue of the latest story arc, "Toylandia"!  After tackling everything from Superman to Marvel/DC toy rivalry to Mego's amazing toys, this arc has taken your hosts a lot of different places.  And now they will go where no toy was ever expected to go, the independent comic book!

In the 90s something unique happened.  Independent comic book characters became commercially viable beyond the pages of their requisite books.  Obvious choices like Spawn would be joined on the toy and comic shop pegs by toys based on such titles as Usagi Yojimbo, Strangers in Paradise, and Scud, The Disposable Assassin over the last few decades.  

The success of cartoons based on once obscure indys, most notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, opened the door for a broader interest in comic book characters that were not world famous.  What began solely in the direct market would grow to expand into the mainstream toy store market.  This week Andrew Farmer and Cole Houston discuss the steady evolution of the indy comic toy from the "hot chick" title characters to fully realized versions of characters from dozens of small press publishers.