Comic Report: Final Faction #1

Recently we took a look at Churro, the flying chihuahua with guns from the Final Faction toyline. In case you missed it, Final Faction is a toyline exclusive to Dollar Tree stores in the US and Poundland in the UK. Inspired by the 1980s version of G.I. Joe and similar action figures, the line’s gimmick is a series of accessory packs used by the heroic Final Faction and the evil invading alien Karn for control of Earth’s resources. Churro is a chihuahua with a canine mech suit, the FD-O, that you can attach various weapons to, but the human and alien figures have those as well. There are also a set of vehicles and robots for the heroes while the villains’ troop builders come in the form of synthoid robots.

On my last shopping trip I went to see if there were any more accessory packs that might work for the FD-O in case I wanted to alter Churro’s load out now and then for display, since it’s the only thing in the line that interest me. I saw some that I want to look into online to make sure they’re compatible (I saw one that was actually reviewed on the FD-O and I may end up getting it, giving it VTOL engine wings and machine guns) but what surprised me was a comic book based on the toyline. I mean, that’s nothing new. Over at my other site I review comics on the daily, sometimes twice a day, and between regular and pack-in minicomics I’m certainly used to it. I just wasn’t expecting it for the $1.50 toyline. So I figured I’d check out the first issue at least and see if it’s any good. Plus it’s the origin so we get to see how best doggy got his robot. And I have a review format that I use on my other website for the deeper reviews (you’ve seen it here during filler posts), but there will be spoilers for this comic. I mean, it’s for your kids. Were you going to read it? If you’re like me, probably.

I wonder what the first faction was?

Final Faction #1

Dollar Tree (2022)

“First Impact”

WRITER: Toby Osborne

ARTIST: Chris Rarrinan

INK ASSIST: Luis Rivera

COLORIST: Mimi Simon

LETTERERS: John Heebink & Mike Manley

SPOOF AD PAGE ARTIST: Pete McDonnell

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Toy Report: Final Faction’s Churro and Air Assault accessory pack

Yes, I know this site and the project that spawned it is supposed to be about having less junk than more but here me out. I’ve had a terrible few weeks. I’m not even going into all of it because I seem to be coming out the other end of a bad time, I’m hopefully almost done with doctors and tests after tomorrow (I wonder if I should call this “doctor visit season”?), and I’m ready to get back to work. The last two weeks have been videos of someone else cleaning. Trying to snag the photos for this was a larger chore than it should have been. Point is I’m not having a good time and something needs to make me happy. This was still cheaper than a “pity Transformer”, something I had my eye on for a while waiting to come out, and it doesn’t take up a lot of space. It’s not something I’m going to do a lot of and it’s time for projects that may lead to more removal so I’m giving myself a pass on this.

If that’s not enough: chiwawa in a flying mech suit with guns. Argument over.

Final Faction is kind of a throwback to 1980s action figures like G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. It’s exclusive to Dollar Tree, a former dollar store that just went $1.25 on my last trip out there earlier this week because (or so I heard) some influential and greedy boardroom member doesn’t understand what a dollar store is for, especially as the economy gets worse with the idiots in charge of said economy. Then again I’m not sure how an extra quarter is going to boost their revenue. There are two episodes of a CG cartoon that shows either this is meant as a humorous homage or someone doesn’t know how the 1980s worked as it’s kind of goofy. I first heard about the line from an episode of the YouTube channel Retroblasting (here’s the video if you want to know more about the line) and it sounded neat but not something I was interested in. Then I saw the first episode of the promo cartoon.

Still not interested in most of the line so I probably won’t get anything else from this series but one thing stood out immediately: chiwawa in a mech suit that’s also a dog that it uses to fight alien invaders. I’m too much of a geek to say no to that, especially given what I’ve been through as of late. Sadly fans of this idea would have to wait until wave 2, which just recently came out around here. (Connecticut is notoriously slow for getting new toys, which really used to annoy me when I could collect Transformers.) So for under three bucks I have this silly thing and the accessories seen in the episode. I’ll explain that as we move into the review.