above: the cover to Micronauts #5 by Chris Bachalo

Pat's leaving the series seemed to come as somewhat of a shock to fans. "Pat's departure from the series was a disappointment to us. His work on issue 3 was/is spectacular, and in fact, we asked him to stay through the end of the current story arc (issue 6). However, we completely understand his rationale for leaving and wish him the very best on his new endeavor. I've only seen 8 or 9 pages of issue #4, and I know they're running late…so that's all I know."

Pat's input to the new series seemed to breathe new life into the book, and some of his new character designs, such as the "Bug"-like "Kitokk" character in issue #3 were a pleasant surprise. "I know he (Pat) originally wanted to re-design the cast almost entirely, but Devil's Due and Character Vision wanted to maintain a sense of continuity- so we wanted to keep what was there, but wanted Pat to feel comfortable…"

"At the time what we had been suggesting was, as opportunities arose, Pat would adjust the character designs. So if there was a logic to the adjustment…I know that there's one robot in particular whose gonna undergo a major overhaul…he's gonna get damaged…" and when asked to expand a bit further on who that would be, Dana had only this to say "I'm not gonna tell you! (laughter) "Robot X" gets damaged and re-built…when he comes back it'll probably be closer to the original toy design." Which should please those fans that thought that the toys weren't getting the proper coverage.

And while he couldn't really comment on the movie aspect of the property, Dana has said that "I know that the people who have optioned it are excited about it, and I know they did a TON of research and reference gathering." One person being Dal Walton of Emmett/Furla Films, who is also working as consultant to the movie in conjunction with Gale Anne Hurd's Valhalla Motion Pictures, "I had to find out what the eBay screen names were for the production company, so I wouldn't bid against the crew working on the movie!"

So is Dana also buying Micronauts off eBay? "Yes, I have in fact been filling in the gaps. Here's my tragic Micronauts story; I had a table, a rickety old card table in my parent's basement where all my Micronauts toys were, and Metal Men, and Star Wars, etc, but my sister…my younger sister…and her friend…goofin' around in the basement… knocked over the table, and most of my Micronauts went the way of the Dodo. Fists went flying, feet were never found…" As Dana's voice began to trail off, I knew that the interview had come to somewhat of an end, "The Astrostation survived, one Time Traveler survived, and I still have the head, arm, sword and Spy-bird of a green Acroyear."