7th Annual Comic Images “The Year Ahead” Meeting

While many think Raw Deal is created in WWE’s plush Titan Towers in Stamford or in the even swankier Comic Images headquarters in Saddle Brook, the reality is Mike Foley and Barron Vangor Toth craft each set from their respective homes in Connecticut.

This means Comic Images and its game designers don’t communicate face-to-face, but rather via phone and email. Because of this, throughout the year, everyone makes it a point to get together, have a meal, and discuss everyone’s favorite topic: WWE Raw Deal.

One such meeting just occurred: the annual “The Year Ahead.” CI President Alan Gordon invited Mike and Barron to come to CI HQ to spend the day discussing what Raw Deal would have in store for its fans for 2007, 2008, and beyond, looking towards its 10th Anniversary at Gen Con 2010.

Mike and Barron arrived at Comic Images late morning—game designers are seldom up before the crack of ten, let alone an hour from their homes by that time—and were greeted by a wall of confetti, noisemakers, balloons, and even disco lights. Zev likes disco; don’t ask.

“What the #### is going on?!?!” Barron wondered (before he’s had a half-dozen—donuts and/or cups of coffee—he has a bit of a potty mouth).

He then was distracted by the large vanilla cake wrestling ring with sweet frost for ropes decorated with a Revolution logo and surrounded by pastries. The sparklers for the corner-posts may have been a bit much.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Head Honcho Hank hailed. “Right this way.”

“No, really, what’s going on?” Mike asked.

“You’ll see,” Webmaster and Graphics Guru Ron Ferrari said, picking confetti bits out of his thick mane. He ushered the group down the long hallway towards the two large warehouses.

The smaller room was marked “Pre-Revolution Raw Deal and Other.” The larger room, guarded by a thick ornate door, was marked “Revolution.” Before another word could be spoken, it was opened and the fellowship entered its depths, finding—

—nothing.

Finishing a donut, his hunger (and vulgarities) slaked, Barron asked, “Where is all the Revolution?”

“Gone,” Alan said. “All of it.”

“No, the combo boxes with the starters are sold out,” Mike corrected. “But you still had pallets and pallets of booster cases.”

“You said the operative word: ‘had’,” Hank said.

“We are one-hundred percent sold out,” Ron added.

“But—”

“Don’t worry,” Alan interjected, calming Mike. “Distributors still have stock to replenish the needs of various hobby shops. Plus, many online merchants have both booster and combo boxes. For now.”

“But once that’s gone?” Barron asked.

“We have Revolution 2 hitting stores before WrestleMania 23,” Alan said.

“Everything going well with playtesting?” Hank asked.

“We’re almost wrapped up,” Mike said. “Our playtesters are thrilled with how the four new WWE Superstars—Edge, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, and Kane—integrate with the previous Revolution 1 Superstars. Plus, the four new Extremists in the tournament kit are a lot of fun, too.”

Barron added, “Everyone will get a kick out of how the Extreme maneuvers and cards dealing with Targets integrate into the evolving Revolution landscape. And we’re setting up a number of combos that won’t be fully realized until people see Revolution 3 over the summer. Plus, it creates extra tactical and strategic interaction in All Axxess and Afterburn, bolstering those formats.”

“Stores are getting in their orders now for Revolution 2,” Ron said. “Hopefully they’ll keep in mind what a phenomenal success Revolution 1 was and up their orders appropriately.”

“I don’t even remember the last time anything we made sold out completely!” Hank said. “Congrats, gentleman. Revolution, despite a few bumps along the way, truly lived up to its purpose. Almost everyone that has given it a try has seen how it pumps new lifeblood into this game of ours.”

“It’s great for current players regardless of what formats they enjoy,” Mike chimed in. “New people have been emailing saying how much they like having the easy entry point. Plus we’ve heard from lots of previous players—like Neil Gow and Raj DeVore—how it’s gotten them back into the game.”

“Absolutely tremendous news all around,” Alan said. “But the big question is: Quo vadimus?”

“Where are we going?” Barron asked, translating the Latin. “Do you mean where are we going after Revolution 2 and 3? Because for Revolution 4, Mike and I have plans for this amazing—”

“No,” Ron corrected. “I think he means: where are we going … for lunch?”

After an hour of arguing in the vast empty warehouse, the group decided to go to Fuddruckers: a restaurant that, amusingly enough, no one wanted to go to except Hank.

But since he offered to pick up the tab…