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Artist Spotlight

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Danny Givens Brings Anime Energy and Comic-Book Power to the Independent Scene

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff0 comment

Independent comics continue to provide a home for artists willing to push beyond familiar formulas, experiment with bold visual styles, and bring new worlds to life. This week, Serpentor’s Lair sits down with artist Danny Givens, a traditional and digital illustrator whose work blends the dynamic influence of Japanese anime with the powerful visual language of American comic books. From highly detailed line work and character commissions to sequential storytelling, variant covers, and his work on KROOM, Givens has developed an immediately energetic approach built around strong composition, expressive characters,…

'NOW YOU KNOW' With Yorktownjoe

Now You Know With Yorktownjoe: Operation Monster Force Phantom Corps Full Review!

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffaction figures, Big Bad Workshop, Operation Monster Force0 comment

This Week: A FULL review of Operation Monster Force Phantom Corps Figure! Be sure and like share and subscribe if you enjoy my videos and follow me on X @Yorktownjoe!

Are We Doing Ewoks Again?! | G.I. Joe: Satellite Down | G.I. Retro

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffaction figures, G.I.Joe, Hasbro0 comment

A G.I. Joe spy satellite crashes in an unexplored region, and both G.I. Joe and Cobra race to recover it. But they are not alone. A primitive missing link tribe called the Primords gets there first, and they have some very strong feelings about their new “god”. It leaves me asking: are we doing Ewoks again? Plus maybe the greatest entry in the Spirit and Storm Shadow rivalry as they engage in another battle of physicality, wits and words! Orto! Orto! Who is YOUR pick for MVP?What was YOUR favorite…

This One is Truly Outrageous

September 13, 2026September 13, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s toy cartoons, Barbie and the Rockers rivalry, Christy Marx Jem, Jem 1985 cartoon, Jem 2015 movie, Jem Amazon Prime series, Jem and The Holograms, Jem and the Holograms history, Jem Hasbro toys, JemCon 20260 comment

By: R.A. Rayne The early ‘80s were dominated by space adventures, action films, and MTV. Boys’ action cartoons dominated the afternoons and Saturday mornings. While the Care Bears, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, and Rainbow Brite aired, they could not compete with the toy-driven G.I. Joe, He-Man, and the Transformers. Following the success of G.I. Joe and Transformers, Hasbro came up with a truly outrageous idea. They wanted to launch a new line of fashion dolls to compete with Mattel’s heavily dominant Barbie line. Hasbro planned to create a multimedia…

UNBELIEVABLE Finds! Top 10 Vintage GI Joe ARTIFACTS We Found

September 12, 2026September 12, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffaction figures, G.I.Joe, Hasbro0 comment

Today Ken from ToyKennections gives us a look at 10 incredible G.I. Joe artifacts! Check out the video below and share your thoughts with us in the comments. As always be sure to subscribe to ToyKennections channel on YouTube for all of Ken’s latest videos!

Before He-Man Had the Power: Blackstar’s “Search for the Starsword” Turns 45

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s Saturday morning cartoons, Blackstar 1981, Blackstar cartoon review, Filmation cartoons, forgotten 80s cartoons, He-Man precursor, John Blackstar, Search for the Starsword, Starsword and Powersword, The Overlord Blackstar0 comment

Before Eternia, before Castle Grayskull, and before the phrase “I have the power” became part of every 1980s kid’s vocabulary, Filmation took viewers to the strange and dangerous planet of Sagar. On September 12, 1981, Blackstar arrived on CBS with “Search for the Starsword,” a wild science-fantasy adventure that feels like a missing link between Thundarr the Barbarian, Star Wars, and the later explosion of toy-driven action cartoons. The premise gets right to the good stuff. John Blackstar is an astronaut from Earth who has been swept through a black…

Hanging With My Brothers and Getting That G.I. Journey

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s nostalgia, action figure collecting, Destro Designs, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe collecting, G.I. Joe collectors, G.I. Joe community, G.I. Joe nostalgia, Serpentors Lair, Viper Den Studios0 comment

By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios As we close in on the weekend, we take another step toward having Adam, the creator of this glorious site, step into Viper Den Studios and get down with his G.I. Journey while talking about the road that led to creating The Lair. Whenever somebody comes on the show for the first time, I like to have the show center around their G.I. Journey—all the things that shaped them as collectors and everything that went down throughout the years while growing up. Whether…

Why Were Halloween Costumes Like That?

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1970s Halloween costumes, 1980s Halloween costumes, Ben Cooper costume history, Ben Cooper Halloween costumes, classic Halloween nostalgia, collectible Halloween costumes, retro Halloween masks, vintage Halloween costumes, vintage plastic Halloween masks, vintage pop culture costumes1 Comment

Story by @GIJoeRepairShop Jerry Seinfeld famously said about Halloween costumes: “Cardboard box, self-made top, mask included. Remember the rubber band on the back of that mask? That was a quality item there, wasn’t it? That was good about 10 seconds before it snapped out of that cheap little staple they put it in there with. You go to your first house: ‘Trick or…’ Snap! ‘It broke. I don’t believe it!’ … So I’m going out trick-or-treating but the mask’s rubber band keeps breaking and keeps getting shorter. I’m fixing it, it’s…

G.I.Joe Half The Battle

“The Traitor Pt.1” REVIEW ON HALF THE BATTLE!

September 10, 2026September 10, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffaction figures, G.I.Joe, Half The Battle, Hasbro0 comment

On this weeks episode of G.I. Joe Half The Battle, We review the Sunbow G.I. Joe Cartoon Episode, “The Traitor Pt.1!” Check out this week’s video below and join in the conversation. And as always be sure and subscribe to my YouTube channel for all my latest videos!

G.I. Dave’s Cartoon Realism: Silly or Gritty? “My Favorite Things”

September 9, 2026September 9, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffaction figures, G.I.Joe, Hasbro1 Comment

Story By @G_I_DAVE Alright G.I. Joe friends, huddle up. G.I.DAVE here. Season 2 Episode 19, “My Favorite Things.” I sat down for another Sunbow pass expecting a Serpentor episode. What I got was a scavenger hunt with a face-swap filter. This one DEFINITELY got silly as all hell quick, so were gunna take a different approach here and try to kill it the same way it cut me! Serpentor is supposed to be the end product of history’s hardest military minds stacked in one body. Sun Tzu, Alexander, Caesar, Khan,…

37 YEARS OF PAIN: BLOOD, SWEAT, BROKEN GLASS AND THE MAKING OF VAN DAMME’S KICKBOXER

September 9, 2026September 9, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff1980s action movies, 1980s martial arts movies, 1989 action movies, classic martial arts films, David Worth, Dennis Alexio, Jean Claude Van Damme movies, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kickboxer 1989, Kickboxer anniversary, Kickboxer behind the scenes, Kickboxer filming locations, Kickboxer movie, Kickboxer movie trivia, Kickboxer production, Kickboxer Thailand, making of Kickboxer, Mark DiSalle, Michel Qissi, Muay Thai movies, Paul Hertzog, Stan Bush Kickboxer, Tong Po, Van Damme Kickboxer1 Comment

By the fall of 1989, Jean-Claude Van Damme was no longer simply another martial artist trying to break into Hollywood. Bloodsport had made audiences notice him, but Kickboxer helped turn the “Muscles from Brussels” into a full-fledged action star. What makes the movie even more fascinating today is how much of Van Damme’s own personality, athletic background and creative influence ended up on the screen. Kickboxer was produced by Kings Road Entertainment, with Mark DiSalle producing and sharing directing credit with David Worth. Van Damme was far more involved than…

Sub-Teams Part 2: Mad Marauders

September 7, 2026September 7, 2026 Serpentorslair StaffBarbecue Mad Marauders, Destro Designs Viper Den Studios, Footloose Mad Marauders, G.I. Joe Classified figures, G.I. Joe Classified Series, G.I. Joe collectors, G.I. Joe Mad Marauders, G.I. Joe Night Force, G.I. Joe Python Patrol, G.I. Joe sub-teams, Hasbro G.I. Joe, Low-Light Mad Marauders, Mad Marauders Armadillo, Mad Marauders Classified Series, Mad Marauders Equalizer, Mutt and Junkyard Mad Marauders, Sgt. Slaughter Mad Marauders, Sgt. Slaughter Warthog, Spirit Mad Marauders, Vintage G.I. Joe0 comment

By Destro Designs – Viper Den Studios G.I. Joe Mad Marauders is a pretty cool concept. Take the Sarge and give him a crew of great soldiers to bring it to Cobra. What’s not to like? It’s definitely very cool, and despite being a little outside my normal color palette, I can still get down with the flavor. When I was young, Mad Marauders wasn’t nearly as cool to me as the Classified versions of these figures are today. With that said, I feel like the vehicles they had back…

“Billie Jean Wasn’t His Lover—But She Wouldn’t Go Away”: Inside the Bizarre Paternity Claims and Stalking Case That Followed Michael Jackson for Decades

September 7, 2026September 7, 2026 Serpentorslair StaffBillie Jean Jackson stalker, Billie Jean song inspiration, Billie Jean true story, Lavon Muhammad Michael Jackson, Lavon Powlis, Lavon Powlis children, Michael Jackson $150 million lawsuit, Michael Jackson 1980s controversy, Michael Jackson Billie Jean, Michael Jackson celebrity stalkers, Michael Jackson Encino home, Michael Jackson paternity lawsuit, Michael Jackson stalker story, real Billie Jean Michael Jackson, Thriller Billie Jean story0 comment

Few songs in pop history have inspired as much speculation as Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Its story of a woman insisting that a superstar fathered her child sounded so specific that listeners naturally wondered whether Billie Jean really existed. Decades later, one woman became publicly associated with that nightmare in an extraordinary series of lawsuits, trespassing cases and paternity claims. Her name was Lavon Powlis, also reported as Lavon A. Muhammad and later Gabriella Jamilla Jackson; she repeatedly called herself “Billie Jean Jackson.” One important fact must come first: there…

Artist Spotlight

Artist Spotlight: Wildstrokes — Bringing Characters, Emotion, and Imagination to Life with Ismail

September 7, 2026September 7, 2026 Serpentorslair Staffartist spotlight interview, character illustration commissions, commissioned artwork, custom character artwork, digital artist interview, digital character illustration, fan art artist, independent artists, Ismail Wildstrokes, OC commissions, original character artist, Serpentor’s Lair Artist Spotlight, Wildstrokes art, Wildstrokes artist, Wildstrokes commissions1 Comment

In this edition of Serpentor’s Lair Artist Spotlight, we sit down with Ismail, the artist behind Wildstrokes, whose character-driven illustrations combine expressive linework, atmosphere, emotion, and visual storytelling. Whether he is developing an original character, interpreting a familiar favorite through fan art, or transforming a client’s concept into a commissioned illustration, Ismail approaches his work with an emphasis on personality and story. His goal is not simply to create an attractive image, but to make each character feel as though they inhabit a larger world beyond the boundaries of the…

'NOW YOU KNOW' With Yorktownjoe

Now You Know With Yorktownjoe: A FULL Review of SKELETRON RED SHADOWS 6″ CYBERIA

September 7, 2026September 7, 2026 Serpentorslair Staff6 inch action figure review, Cyberia 6 inch figure, Cyberia figure review, Red Shadows action figure, Red Shadows Cyberia, Red Shadows toy review, Skeletron action figure review, Skeletron Cyberia, SKELETRON Red Shadows, Yorktownjoe0 comment

This Week: A FULL review of SKELETRON RED SHADOWS 6″ CYBERIA! Be sure and like share and subscribe if you enjoy my videos and follow me on X @Yorktownjoe!