Thursday 31 May 2012

Hero Talk Episode 6

Check out Episode 6 of HERO TALK with me, James Lundy and Mat Guy. This week we discuss Comic Book Video Games, Gay Superheroes and in Comics of Future Past James reviews 28 Days Later, London Horror Comics and Hoax Hunters!

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Book of the Month Club - May 2012 - TRIGUN!

Since March of 2009, myself and a group of like minded comic enthusiasts have been meeting each month to discuss a book that has been picked by a member of the club to be read that month. We have read and discussed a variety of titles including; Watchmen, Preacher, Daredevil - Guardian Devil, Superman - Red Son, Judge Death - Boyhood of a Superfiend, Bakuman, A Right to be Hostile, GI Joe vol 1 and Neverwhere.
I would like to invite you all to join us, either physically each month if you live in the Kettering area and can attend the meetings, or virtually via this blog by reading the chosen book and voicing your opinions in our comments section. Each month I will post our thoughts on the pick as well as posting the name of the next months book.

This months pick...



TRIGUN - by Yasuhiro Nightow

A futuristic Sci-Fi/Comedy/Western, Trigun follows the adventures of Vash the Stampede, a man accused of destroying a city and a large bounty on his head. Constantly under attack, Vash, the quickest draw on the dusty, desert planet setting, is also a pacifist, which leaves him with the dilemma of kill or be killed, even if he really doesn't want to kill anybody. He is accompanied by Meryl and Millie, two insurance company representatives that are determined to keep him from destroying too much property.

Our thoughts on the book...

Mario - I thought the premise of the book was good, but the delivery was lacking. It may have been down to the translation of the book, which seemed pretty terrible at times with confusing garbled sentences that seem to come out of nowhere. Also, the art was too busy in places and it was difficult to make out the scenes in many of the panels, especially the action sequences, which were often. We don't often read Manga for a book club pick and I don't think I would recommend this particular title over Ranma 1/2 or Deathnote, a couple of my personal favourites.  -  4/10

Frankie - I find one big problem with Manga, it just doesn't translate very well. The whole story may be cohesive as one big arc, but the panel to panel nitty gritty just doesn't flow. The art work is OK - I know they produce it at the speed of light - but it's just OK, not deeply engaging. Nice quirk that the lead is a pacifist, but Manga just seems to leave me underwhelmed. 7/10

Lainy - Wow! I thought it was shocking! Just awful. The entire story and all the dialogue was disjointed and hard work. The artwork is chaotic and indecipherable more than a few times. I actually had to force myself to read it.
The main character just seems to dip in and out with no explanation to who he is or what on earth (or any other planet) his purpose is. The same can be said for all the rest of the characters. The book just seemed to be about them trying to kill each other and failing. None of the characters had any depth and therefore weren't relateable or enjoyable for me.
The back story of the world was my only point of interest, and because it was only really lightly touched on through the book it was tough to follow. I'd give it a 2/10 and a waste of an afternoon.

Alex - The premise of the worlds most wanted criminal being a pacifist is brilliant, but the book doesn't really live up to it. The layouts and backgrounds look nice, though I wasn't a fan of the character art due to the style and I'm not a fan of the inconsistency of faces.
I wasn't really clear what was going on most of the time, at points I wasn't sure how something had happened. It would probably benefit from being in colour as it'd help you track the action better. I didn't read it all, so it might improve with going further. 6/10

Stephen - I've not read too much Manga. This is too fast paced for me. There is loads of action in what felt like a Western vibe, but I didn't feel for the characters. The art work is OK, but I can't really see any distinction between Manga art styles.
Basically, I couldn't follow the story, too much was going on. Though I read it in only 40 minutes, which is fast for a near 400 page book. 3/10

Lou - I love this series I think it's witty, funny and different. I love the interaction of the characters and the mystery that's surrounding them as you get to know a little about them a piece at a time. I also love the combination of science fiction and cowboys and the underlying sub-tones relating to poverty, war, violence, families, loss and personal journeys are glaringly obvious without being rammed down your throat.
I gave this book a 7/10 as although I like Manga and love this series I can't help but wish it were a graphic novel with more depth than can be gained from Manga. Although having said this I do also feel that this style of drawing suits Vash's personality. Another reason is that as the story progresses past the first volume I love it more so a good start with much more to give further on.

Lee - A deep emotional plot covered with comedy action and a scifi cowboy setting. Volume 1 is a rough introduction to a greater on going series. Many Manga suffer from slow starts and Trigun is no exception, leaving Vash the Stampede an unexplored character.
Though the start is stale and hard to get through, I highly recommend reading the whole of Trigun and Trigun Maximum. Once the series finds its pace and starts its journey you'll see its more than a funny space cowboy action comedy and begin to understand what makes life so precious to the main character and what it takes to be a pacifist with a gun. 8/10

So, those are the thoughts of some of our Book Club members. Why not think about joining us! Our next book to be read is SANDMAN vol 1 - PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, and the meeting will take place on the 18th of June (please message me for more details).

M X


Friday 25 May 2012

Hero Talk Episode 5

Check out Episode 5 of HERO TALK with me, James Lundy and Mat Guy, along with special guest John-Paul Bove. This week we discuss KAPOW, the upcoming N.I.C.E. convention and in Comics of Future Past I review DC Comics Presents #47, AvX #4 and Transformers Re-Generation One!




Wednesday 23 May 2012

It's not a review. It's just my opinion! #1 - GHOST RIDER

I read a lot of graphic novels, more so than floppies. So I have decided to tell you all what I am reading and what I thought about those particular books. I want to stress though that I am not looking to review these books in the style of a critic, or to give them a rating, only to express my opinions as a fan of what I personally thought of what I have read. Please do not let my opinion sway you in any way, as I have always lived by the credo that I will make my own mind up about something and so should you. Plus, they say that critics are people that can't actually create themselves and that aint me.
Finally, this is my actual reading pile. All the books I have bought myself for the purpose of my enjoyment and as I am not tieing myself down to any kind of formulated structure, you may notice that I read whatever takes my fancy, rather than switching characters or publishers etc...

Anyhoo... GHOST RIDER!!!


I have always been fascinated by the character of the Ghost Rider, as a fan of horror comics, but also because of that captivating iconic look. Who doesn't think that a skull engulfed in flames looks cool? No one, because it's badass! But I had never really read any comics featuring the character before Garth Ennis came along and teamed up with Clayton Crain on their first mini series. I had loved the New Fantastic Four as a kid, as well as the Hearts of Darkness/Dark Design crossover with Wolverine and the Punisher, but these were my only real exposure to the character and concept of the Ghost Rider.

Road to Damnation & Trail of Tears - (w) Garth Ennis (a) Clayton Crain

Road to Damnation and Trail of Tears are my favourite stories in the series. Road to Damnation begins in Hell, where Johnny Blaze is trapped, doomed to be chased over and over by an endless hoard of demons and nightmare creatures as he attempts to reach the edge of the pit and escape from eternal damnation. Every night though he is caught and torn apart by the demons only to reform the next day and start all over again. Approached by an angel named Malichi, Blaze is told that a demon called Kazaan is about to be loosed upon the Earth and that he will free him from Hell if he can stop him. There is a catch though. An Archangel of Heaven called Ruth and a Bounty Hunter Demon called Hoss, are both also on the case and Blaze has to stop Kazaan before either of the two get there. He accepts and the Ghost Rider is on the case, only there seems to be something fishy going on behind the scenes and Malichi can't be trusted.

Trail of Tears is a stand alone story featuring a previous incarnation of the Ghost Rider. Set just after the American Civil War, Travis Parham, a confederate soldier, is saved from the battle field by an ex-slave called Caleb who has bought his freedom and some land and was settling down with his wife and two children and starting a life as free people. Nursing Travis back to health, the soldier has time to reflect on the horrors of war and sees that his fighting is futile. Once healthy, Travis stays with Caleb and his family and helps him to prepare his land for farming and in doing so strengthens his bond with Caleb. After a while he decides to ride out west and seek a new life for himself, though he promises to come back for Caleb and his family as soon as he settles down.
Travis returns after two years to find that a gang of bigots have brutally murdered Caleb, his wife and his children. Travis immediately sets out after the gang looking for justice, but he isn't the only one seeking them out. A mysterious dark rider is also searching for this gang of thugs, only it is vengeance, not justice, that this Ghost Rider seeks.

Both are dark tales, written well with phenomenal artwork to accompany it by Crain, who can make the most innocent of images look sinister. Road to Damnation didn't set my soul on fire though and the Angel vs. Demon angle is a cliché that when done in an interesting or original way (see Preacher) can be amazing, but this just seemed a little same old, same old. A good read, but not the best introduction to a character I have ever read.
Trail of Tears on the other hand was a gut wrenching tale of vengeance that had me really feeling for the characters and emotionally invested in the story. I was torn between the missions of both Travis Parham and the Ghost Rider, not knowing who to route for as both had a valid argument as to why their path was the righteous one and I hated the villains with a passion. They are written so well that they made me feel sick at their deeds.I would recommend this book to anyone, fan of the Ghost Rider or not, doubly so if you are an Ennis fan.


Vicious Cycle, The Life & Death of Johnny Blaze, Apocalypse Soon and Revelation - (w) Daniel Way & Stuart Moore (a) Javier Saltares, Mark Texeira, Richard Corben & Ben Oliver

These four trades cover the Daniel Way run on Ghost Rider and includes issues #1-19 of volume 3 of the ongoing run and Annual #1.
This run starts once again in Hell with Johnny Blaze forever trying to escape. He stumbles across Greexix, a slug like being who convinces Johnny that he can dig his way out of Hell. Blaze frees Greexix from the Devils clutches and they set about on their way to freedom. But the slug isn't all that he seems. As they reach the edge of Hell and their freedom, Greexix reveals himself as the Prince of Lies and Johnny accidentally brings the Devil back to Earth with him. On reaching the mortal plain, Lucifer splits his soul into 666 pieces and embeds them into the bodies of the recently deceased, resurrecting them as evil re-animated versions of their previous selves and it is up to the Ghost Rider to kill all 666 of them and send the Devil back to Hell where he belongs.
But there is a catch. Split into 666 pieces, the power of Satan is split also and initially these zombie puppets are easily defeated, but as each one falls the remaining group grows stronger as they consolidate the remaining essence of evil. You may be wondering why the Devil doesn't just kill himself, or at least 665 of himself leaving an all powerful final host body? But suicides go to Hell and so would the Devil if he tried.

The premise for this run is genius and after reading the first volume I was excited to see where it would go and how Johnny would solve the final problem when it got to the eventual final confrontation between the Ghost Rider and the Devil. With 666 adversaries out there, this run could last for years, with the destruction of the devil as the ongoing back story whilst Johnny Blaze seeks out vengeance on the evil and wicked. Unfortunately what starts out as a great premise, becomes a little repetitive with the emphasis being pushed solely towards the destruction of the Devils host bodies and not much else. Volume 3 - Revelations, is one of the worst graphic novel purchases of all time too, not because of the content of the stories, but because of the fact that it only contains two issues of the regular series (the World War Hulk tie-ins) and the Annual. Three issues?!?!?
The end of the run is wrapped up fairly quickly for my tastes and even though the final defeat is done in a clever way, I still can't help thinking that they missed a trick with this book. Still, it held my attention to the end, so it can't be all bad.


Hell Bent & Heaven Bound, The Last Stand, Trials & Tribulations, Addict and Heaven's on Fire - (w) Jason Aaron & Simon Spurrier (a) Roland Boschi, Tang Eng Huat, Tony Moore, Mark A. Robinson and Javier Saltares

These five trades cover the Jason Aaron run on Ghost Rider and includes issues #20-35 of volume 3 of the ongoing run, Annual #2, the Danny Ketch mini-series Addict and the Ghost Riders: Heaven's on Fire mini-series.
During the final battle with the Devil in the Revelations graphic novel, we discover that the Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance, isn't actually a demon at all but force from Heaven created by the Angel Zadkiel. Not only this but Zadkiel is a rogue Angel looking to overthrow God, take over the Kingdom of Heaven and usurp the throne and he has been using the Ghost Rider as a pawn in his schemes. Johnny is pissed and decides to find a way into Heaven, storm the gates and have his revenge on Zadkiel. Along the way he encounters and has to battle the minions of Zadkiel who have been tasked with stopping the Ghost Rider in his tracks, including his brother Danny Ketch (the Ghost Rider from the nineties series, volume 2) who has gathered a group of villains and murdered the Caretaker, the "watcher" of the Ghost Riders if you will. He is replaced by his Granddaughter, Sara, who eventually joins forces with Johnny in the battle against Danny and his evil allies. But Danny also possesses the power of the Ghost Rider, which leads to the revelation that he isn't the only Spirit of Vengeance, but only one of many weapons that are scattered across the globe. Danny has been tasked by Zadkiel to eliminate them all until he is the only one left, but he too is being played as a pawn in the rogue Angels game and not long after Zadkiel's forces take Heaven and he ascends to the throne. Johnny and Sara must now join forces with Danny (along with Daimon Hellstorm, the Son of Satan) in a last ditch effort to defeat Zadkiel, but they will have to save the Anti-Christs life in the process to do so.

The final run of this series just didn't sit right with me. It just seemed a little unimaginative. Ghost Rider is the Spirit of Vengeance, yet the only person he seems to want to avenge is himself. In the process of trying to find Zadkiel he gets into mishap and adventure, but unlike Swamp Thing, which is another contemporary horror comic set in a universe of super-heroes, there doesn't seem to be a different mission each arc or issue that would have kept my interest going. Instead we have 27 issues of the same unwavering mission, the same obstacles and nothing to distract him along the way.

Road to Damnation was a story of Angels and Demons, Daniel Way's run was Ghost Rider vs. The Devil and Jason Aaron's run was Ghost Rider vs. An Angel! And if there ever were any Zombies or Ghosts or Vampires, it was all still a part of the same story. I used to love the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer because even though each season had a Big Bad that was the underlying threat, there was plenty of monstrous variety to distract her during the season. That seems to be missing from this series though, which is a shame as for the most part it is very well written and has amazing artwork.

M X




Monday 21 May 2012

Haters Be Hating!

This blog has had almost two thousand hits, I have had numerous positive comments, it has been featured on BleedingCool.com and has been extremely cathartic for me as I get a few personal things off of my chest. All in all it has been a very positive outlet for my thoughts and I will endeavour to continue sharing my personal feelings and experiences for as long as there is interest in it.



But...

On Saturday I decided to have a look at the comments that had been posted on the Bleeding Cool forum in regards to the article and I came across the following post;

"That store in Kettering was doomed before it even opened.

When I first noticed the store I couldn't believe that someone was deluded enough to think that it could ever have succeeded - the town's way too small to support a small niche store like that, never mind that it was tucked away in a side street on the periphery of the town centre. Absolutely no surprise whatsoever that it closed down.


I'm not going to lie, I did go in there once and wasn't impressed - it seemed pretty cliquey to me, just the guy and his mates ignoring the only potential customer they had until I walked out again! Regardless, it could never have suceeded - up the road in Northampton maybe, but a town like Kettering's way too small" 


At first I was taken aback. I'm Italian and have a quick temper and I felt insulted that someone would post this comment. Then I noticed this guys post count and it read "1". Whoever this person was, they had deemed it necessary to sign up to an online forum with the single purpose of making their feelings for Apocalypse Comics heard. I stopped feeling angry and began to ponder this notion. What had I done to make this person so angry with me? Were we cliquey? I didn't think so, I used to pride myself in my customer service, but at the same time, we used to have large groups of friends in the shop and that may have been intimidating to new potential customers. Maybe I wasn't in that particular day, maybe I could push the blame onto someone else? But to be fair, Danny, with all of his faults, had great customer service skills and if Brendon ever seemed like he was ignoring someone, it would have been because he was snowed under with work.

So I re-read the post and realised that I was so pissed off with the "cliquey" comment, that I had overlooked his initial statement and the proceeding paragraph. This Mr Know-it-all seemed bitter or angry and was straight up just being mean for the sake of his own superiority complex. This immediately made me feel better. For that moment before, whoever this person was had succeeded in their mission to make me feel like shit, but that moment had subsided and was replaced with pity. My recent downfall and subsequent misery was a victory for this enigmatic rogue who obviously couldn't wait for the perfect opportunity to tell the world how right they were that a comic shop couldn't last in Kettering and how deluded I must have been to even try, and here was the forum for him to get up on that soapbox and declare his victory to mankind!!!



Unfortunately, this master of stating the apparently obvious did not leave his name so that I could send him his prize for outwitting me. I have a package with my dignity in it, just send me your name and address and I'll wing it straight over to you.

How sad. Seriously though, how sad and bitter and lonely and pathetic must you be to anonymously pass judgement over someone when you obviously don't have the guts to get out there and try to make something of your own life. I feel sorry for you as a human being and flattered that you would go out of your way to sign up to the forum just to talk about me and my shop.

Don't worry, this isn't a pity party. I'm not attempting to garner sympathy for this post, I just wonder why people feel the need to hide behind their computers and talk shit about other people just to make themselves feel superior. And its not just other people they feel the need to critisise. As a self confessed and proud badge wearing geek, I am very opinionated. I have opinions on everything I do and consume, from comics, to movies, to music, you name it, I'll give you my opinion on it. But I like to think that my opinions are somewhat educated and come with an ounce of common sense. Recently, I saw numerous posts on Facebook regarding Hawkeye in the Avengers movie and how he wasn't shooting his bow correctly. Apparently a group of archers had taken it upon themselves to analyse the actor Jeremy Renner's arm positioning and lambaste him for not doing it properly, claiming that most of his shots were off! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!? We are talking about the same movie that features a green giant, alien gods and a man who has been frozen in time for seventy years, but your gripe was that the bow shooting wasn't accurate?!?!?!? Have you people nothing better to do?



The success of The Avengers has also brought out the Batman haters who are claiming the Avengers as a victory for Marvel and the demise of the Nolan Batman universe. I have read multiple comments online stating that The Dark Knight Rises will be pants. I just don't understand this. A couple of years ago this series of movies was hailed by most as being the best of the super hero big screen outings and now certain members of the same group of people are blasting a film that they haven't even seen yet? I would love nothing more than for DKR to be a brilliant film that finishes off a brilliant series of movies. I want my £15 that I give to the cinema to be worth it and for me to come out of the pictures with a smile on my face. But most importantly, I want this movie to be so good that it motivates a few movie goers to pop into their nearest comic book shop and pick up a copy of Batman.



Then there is Before Watchmen, the new series' of comics that will tell prequel stories of the main cast of characters from the classic comics Watchmen. This controversial project has literally split the comic book fan base in half with one side excited at the prospect of new Watchmen comics and the other side angered that DC would even contemplate publishing them. Everyone has their opinions why, either for or against and most opinions seem reasonable and fair to their respective sides. The thing that I can't abide though are the people whose only argument/justification for the publication of these comics is that Alan Moore, the genius creator behind the original series who is vehemently against this new series, is weird. That's their argument. That he isn't normal. He is a recluse. He's eccentric. Fuck Off!!! We as geeks are the ultimate outsiders. The "norms", the people that watch Football or spend their time at the pub or those that read "proper" books, some of them think that we, as comic book fans, are a bit weird and eccentric. Before the Big Bang Theory made it cool, I had to justify myself and my hobby to those that didn't understand it. Who are we to make judgement on a man, a man who has given us some of the greatest stories in the history of the medium, just for not living the way we expect him to. That's just crap and bullying and not the point of the argument.



We all live in a virtual society where it is very easy to hide behind our screens and keyboards and be shitty to one another, but that doesn't make it right. Maybe if we all spent a little more time being positive and constructive with our critique of one another, the world would be a better place to hang out.

M X


Sunday 20 May 2012

<a href="http://www.hypersmash.com">www.Hypersmash.com</a>

Saturday 19 May 2012

FLASHBACK - So... where do you envision yourself in five years time?

This is actually my second attempt at being a blogger. I, like many other folk at the time, had a My Space account and for a time decided to share my thoughts and feelings with the world. I thought it would be fun to look over my old posts and see what I had written and how, if at all, my writing had evolved and it was there that I stumbled across this little ditty from almost exactly five years ago. I thought, given the content of my first post in this new blog, that I would re-post this as sort of a book end for my Apocalypse Comics days, this being the start of the journey. So unedited from 2007, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and all...



2007, Life and Comics

OK, so the first month of the new year has already come and gone and now so has my 25th Birthday. I have spent a quarter of a century on this planet and I have begun to wonder if I have actually done anything worthy with my life. And the simple answer is... HELL MOTHA FUCKIN YEAH!!!!! If you thought this blog was gonna be a downer about my lowly existence, then you soooo don't know me at all!!! I did however want to talk about the love of my life, my passion, my destiny, my calling... COMICS!!!!!!
For those of you who don't know, I am Kettering towns Biggest comic geek (and I'll challenge anyone for the title). I have been a fan since childhood, spending many hours reading Beano, Dandy, He Man and Transformers, but I really fell in love with the medium in my late teens/early twenties after realising that this art form is not aimed at children, but is indeed written and created by and for intelligent adults who want to be challenged by explosive artwork and gripping story lines.
I became so infatuated with them that I decided that I had to work somewhere within the industry. My only two problems were that I have no patience for writing and I can't draw for shit, so working directly towards the creation of the books was out of the question. So I decided that I am going to open a comic and collectibles shop with my best friend and business partner Brendon. We made that decision 5 years ago and I'm still working at the fucking train station. Not a week goes by that somebody doesn't ask me "Whats going on with your shop, when is it gonna open?" and I always say the same old shit back "We're working on it, it's coming!" and the years have gone by and the excuses have kept on coming and now I get the feeling when I talk to these people that most of them are thinking "If you were going to do it, why haven't you done it already?"
The truthful answer is, we have spent the last five years soaking up as much knowledge about the industry as we possibly can. Trying to learn tricks of the trade and coming up with solid strategies and business plans. Five years ago we could have rushed into this business as naive kids who didn't know fuck all and had to learn everything as we went along only to go out of business in a year. Now we are ready to enter the industry as business men with good heads on strong shoulders still willing and able to learn new things every day, but also focused enough to think more towards the future of our business.
Over the past few months we have been working feverishly toward getting our website together. We have somewhere between fifteen and twenty thousand comics in stock and each one has to be individually logged and the cover scanned. We are now two weeks away from completion and as soon as we are done we can hand all that data to the guys who are putting our website together and they can get cracking. Meanwhile, we will be looking into bank loans, tax & national insurance, advertising and everything else we need to get this show on the road. It is going to be a long hard year, but it will be totally worth all the effort in the long run.
For everyone who has had faith in me and the shop, backed me, helped me to learn, taught me new things about the industry that I couldn't do without, from the bottom of my heart Thank You!!! I promise to do you proud.
For everyone who doubted me, thought I would fail, said I was too lazy and that I should shit or get off the pot....
WWW.APOCALYPSECOMICS.COM  is coming!!!! February 2008!!!!

Thursday 17 May 2012

Hero Talk Episode 4

For those of you comic book fans out there that respect my opinion, or want an excuse to tell me that I am full of it, check out the HERO TALK PODCAST!!!! Starting with episode 4, I am now a co-host along with James Lundy and Mat Guy and in this latest episode we talk about the British convention scene, The Avengers movie & the DCnU and I review Marvel Team-Up Annual #3, Green Lantern #9 and talk about the upcoming Spider-Men mini series. Please download it and check it out :)

http://www.heroesandidols.com/htalkpodcast.xml

Tuesday 15 May 2012

The Miracle of Alex Kidd's World



It was rapidly approaching my tenth birthday and I knew that a milestone, such as the celebration of the first decade of my existence, would warrant an extra special present that year. I had never gone without as a child, but I was far from spoilt and this year I could take some extra liberties with my gift request. So I grabbed the Argos catalogue and delved into the Toy section, scanning the pages for that extra special something that would distract me from the stresses of the world, because as a nine year old there are obviously way too many things to be stressed over. But then I came to the page that made my eyes widen; the video games section!!! Consoles weren't the must have accessory in 1992 that they are now and I knew hardly anyone that had one. I had never thought about asking for one before, I was always content with action figures, but recently I had found them to be appealing and I knew the time was right to explore the world of pix elated characters. I skipped past the Nintendo straight to the big blue four letter word that ushered me in like a siren - SEGA. At that age I couldn't really tell the difference between the Mega Drive and Master System, but I knew that the former was a lot more expensive than the latter and I also knew better than to push my luck when asking for gifts. So I asked for a SEGA Master System II, I marked the page in the Argos book for my Mum and I waited patiently for the 25th of January 1992.

It was a Saturday morning, so no school. No distractions. Whatever goodies awaited me downstairs wrapped in colourful paper that was soon to be shredded and scattered over the carpet, would be all mine, all day uninterrupted. I jumped out of my pit and ran downstairs to see a wrapped box on the living room table waiting for me. It was bigger than one of my Dads shoe boxes, but was that relevant? I was lucky enough to be given Castle Grayskull and Snake Mountain a few years prior and they were both bigger than the package that lay in front of me, but I had never seen a boxed console before and wasn't sure what to expect. There was nothing left to do but unwrap the gift and see if my 8-Bit fantasy was about to become a reality. The paper peeled away to reveal a white box with a grid pattern and it was soon clear to see that I had gotten what I wanted, a SEGA Master System II.



Ecstatic, I opened the box and pulled out the slick, black console with the curved letterbox shaped gate on the top of the machine. It was beautiful. I was still unaware of its capabilities, but with the help of my Dad it was hooked up to the television set and tuned in. I had no cartridges to go with it. The system was expensive enough as it was and I was extremely lucky to have it, so I wasn't going to push my luck and ask for additional games. Not that it mattered, there was a game built into the console called "Alex Kidd in Miracle World". I was set up and good to go and it was time for the moment of truth. I flicked the power switch to the on position and the snow on my TV screen changed to solid black and those big marvellous blue letters in that distinctive font spelled out SEGA across the middle. A tune then kicked in that would forever be indelibly lodged in my mind as part of the soundtrack of my life as the title screen prompted me to push the start button. Looking down at my control pad with all of its two buttons, the first of which was marked "Start", I shoved a pudgy digit toward it and the title screen disappeared making way for a map to unravel on the screen with a Lord of The Rings, fantasy style setting of caverns, lakes, volcanoes and castles. This was going to be fun.



The game itself was an absolute joy of colour and music. As Alex, you were on a quest to find and free your brother, Prince Egle, from the clutches of the evil Janken the Great. You fought your way through each level using the martial art of Shellcore to break rocks that blocked your path, open boxes that could contain useful a item or a dangerous obstacle and defeat enemies that were usually in the form of vicious animals. It seems that the Miracle World is not the safest place to be, especially amongst the wildlife as you defend yourself from birds, fish, octopi, frogs, bats, bulls, scorpions and monkeys amongst other various threats. You travelled across the levels mostly on foot, but some levels had you riding a motor bike, flying a helicopter or cruising in a speed boat to get to the end. Sometimes though, just getting to the end of the level wasn't enough as you had to face Janken's henchmen; Stonehead, Scissorhead and Paperhead in a deadly game of Rock, Paper Scissors before you could pass. At the end of each level you were rewarded with a tasty burger that you chomped on as the map reappeared to let you know which part of Miracle World you would be exploring next. It would be eleven months before I would be given another game to play, but I wasn't bothered as I spent hours engrossed in the adventures of Alex Kidd as I pushed closer to the end of the game each time. Little did I know that my life would be turned upside down before those eleven months were out.



My Mum had told me to play my computer game, which was odd as she was usually asking me to switch it off as I monopolised the TV time, but I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth so on it went and Alex was there to greet me as I endevoured to accompany him on his adventures. There was arguing going on upstairs between my Mum and Dad. It wasn't unusual for them to be fighting. I had the door to the living room closed to block out noise from the rowing and I carried on with what I was doing. The noise got closer as my Mum and Dad came down stairs, but by now I could hear my Mum crying. Not just sobbing as if something had upset her, but hysterically bawling. My Dad had a suitcase with him and was standing by the front door. The next few moment are a bit of a blur to me, but I remember trying to ask Mum if she was ok and my Sister insisting that I carry on playing my game. It was confusing and upsetting, but as I said before, I had gotten used to the arguments and was almost becoming desensitised to it. This seems awful to me now, but my ten year old brain was unable to process what was happening. The front door opened, my Dad walked out, the front door closed and he was gone leaving behind a hyterical wife, his sixteen year old daughter who was desperatly trying to comfort her and me, his ten year old son who was scared, confused, but thankfully distracted by a computer game. How ridiculous is that? It seems so to me as I type this, but I often wonder what my reaction would have been if not for that distraction. I'll never know I suppose. 

It didn't sink in for a long time. The details are still a blur, I can't remember when I was told that Dad had left, if it was the same day or if it was later on. I remember not being mad at my Dad for a long time as I didn't really realise the extent of the ramifications of his actions. He was my hero for the longest time, though looking back now, I can't remember why. He never took me to the park for a kick around, we never went to watch a live Wrestling show together. He worked hard from what I remember, but when he came home I seem to remember him spending an awful lot of time in front of the TV. I'm not bitter. In a way I am grateful to be able to learn from his mistakes and I hope that means that I won't be doomed to repeat them when I eventual become a father myself.

My Mum used to tell me that the theme tune for Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the song that fills me with joy whenever I hear it, used to make her sad after that day. It reminded her of the day her husband walked out on her. 

It has been twenty years, almost to the day, that my Dad walked out on us. Most of those twenty years have been fairly difficult both finacially and emotionally, but if I could turn the clock back, with all the mistakes and regrets in my life, I wouldn't change that day. Knowing the man that my Father is now, I'm not sure if I necessarily would have wanted him to be the guiding hand through my teen years. I am happy with the man I have become, even if the path that got me here was less than ideal at times.

Twenty years on and Alex Kidd still means the world to me. I can finish the game in less than half an hour with a full caché of weapons in store and have fun with it the whole way. Though I will perhaps be forever grateful to it for being the beautiful distraction on the ugliest day of my life.

M X


Saturday 5 May 2012

Rappers R N Danja - RIP MCA

Yesterday, Adam Yauch aka MCA of the pioneering Hip-Hop crew The Beastie Boys passed away. One more link to a golden age of music gone and one more step deeper into the abysmal quagmire that Hip-Hop has become.



Starting in the Bronx, New York in the 1970's, Hip-Hop began when DJ Kool Herc began playing the local parties and bringing his Jamaican dance hall influences to the inner city. Avoiding the bourgeois disco tracks that were dominating the clubs of downtown New York and didn't speak to the ghetto culture of the Bronx, Hip-Hop was a rebellious movement with closer similarities to Punk.



When Afrika Bambaataa, former leader of the infamous gang The Black Spades, threw his hat in the DJ ring, he understood the potential power that this movement had. A power to liberate the disenfranchised and give a voice to a youth culture that was often ignored or berated. He formed The Zulu Nation, a group of former gang members that worked diligently to organise events to help raise cultural awareness and knowledge. He also created the four elements of Hip-Hop; DJ'ing, Emceeing, Breakin and Graffiti. These are the basic components that make up Hip-Hop, not just rapping which is the common misconception.



Commercial success followed with huge chart hits like the Sugarhill Gang's 'Rappers Delight', Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's 'The Message' and the aforementioned Afrika Bambaataa's 'Planet Rock'. But Hip-Hop really took off with the release of RUN DMC's debut self titled album, the first Hip-Hop album to go Gold and their video for the single 'Rock Box' was the first Hip-Hop video to be aired on MTV.



Finally, the streets had a voice. An outlet to tell their stories to not only their peers, but a generation of suburban kids who now had a fascinating insight into the urban culture.

A slew of groups and artists followed. In the mid 1980's, Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, brother of Run from RUN DMC, formed a record label called DEF JAM and began producing records for LL Cool J (the Lady Lover), The Beastie Boys (the party animals) and Public Enemy (the political activists). Later in the decade, artists began to emerge from California bringing their own message and stories with them. Ice-T, a former gang member turned Army veteran, created what became known as Gangsta Rap, using more abrasive and hardcore lyrics to paint a picture of gang life in Los Angeles. His lyrics were more of a warning than an attempt to glorify the violence and he preached that knowledge was a more powerful weapon than a gun. Shortly after, NWA or Niggas with Attitude, a crew from Compton comprised of; Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, DJ Yella and Eazy E, released their first album entitled "Straight Outta Compton", a no holds barred, take no prisoners look at the gang culture with a 'Fuck It' attitude. Their track 'Fuck The Police' garnered the group a warning letter from the FBI, which only made them more fierce when re-entering the studio.



The 1990's opened the floodgates to Hip-Hop as it became a much more commercially viable art form. It was no longer rare for albums to reach multi-platinum sales figures and with the exception of a few pop releases, the message and story of the streets remained embedded in the lyrics.

The mid 90's saw the rise of two mega stars, the likes of which had never been seen before; The Notorious BIG and 2Pac. Biggie from New York and 2Pac from California, these two Hip-Hop Heavyweights were close friends, until an attempted assassination of 2Pac left him bitter and angry at Biggie who he blamed for trying to kill him. This feud between two men was blown way out of proportion by the media who dubbed it a war between the East and the West Coast and Hip-Hop stars from both sides of America were being drawn into an uncomfortable war of words as threatening lyrics were hurled backwards and forwards. In September of 1996, 2Pac was shot and killed after leaving a Tyson fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Less than six months later, the Notorious BIG was also shot and killed in LA whilst promoting his upcoming album, the darkly ironically titled 'Life After Death'.



This is where the history lesson ends and my opinion begins, because to me, this was the death of Hip-Hop.

Shortly after the death of Biggie, Big L, a young star on the rise with the most amazing knowledgeable lyrics and Big Pun, who along with Biggie proved that in Hip-Hop you didn't have to conform to a body image to sell platinum records, both died. Sean 'Puffy' Combs, Biggies "best friend" capitalised on his death by using it as a tool to promote himself as a brand, a gaudy throw back to the bourgeois scene that Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa were dismissive of when creating the movement. The success of Jay-Z and his lyrics focusing on being incredibly rich, was an overly obnoxious spit in the face to the origins of Hip-Hop and the message of the streets that it was intended to bring to the uneducated. Now instead of saying "I have nothing, this is my life, this is how I survive", rappers a more inclined to brag about their incredible wealth and patronising their audience with an attitude of superiority. And then there is Kanye West... what a prick! Someone needs to beat some humility into this arrogant diva. He is a disgrace to the term Hip-Hop!



I have been told that I should be happy that these guys are able to make a very good living off of Hip-Hop and that it has made it to the heights of success that it has. But I can't be happy that it got to that level of success by selling out its values. The message has been sacrificed for wealth and greed and the corporations that own the record labels have twisted Hip-Hop into a more profitable, marketable business rather than letting the poetry speak freely. I would be happier if KRS-ONE, DJ Jazzy Jeff or Public Enemy had that level of fame and wealth as they don't deviate from their objectives.



Others argue that Hip-Hop isn't dead and that I should look to the underground for the true message. But a message only has power if it is heard. Jeru Tha Damaja warned us that "Ignorance is a poison", but we didn't acknowledge it and now the ignorant masses control the market and the underground stand alone in a dark room talking to themselves. There is no revolution coming because the people have been bought off. No more HHC magazine, no more YO! MTV RAPS and Tim Westwood sold out years ago and is happy to endorse N-Dubz as a legitimate Hip-Hop crew! What the Fuck! Oh, and by the way, for those of you that didn't know, DEF JAM signed N-Dubz to their label in 2010. What has the world come too!!!



Hip-Hop is DEAD!

I truly am saddened by the passing of Adam Yauch. He was a pioneer in Hip-Hop as a boundary breaker as well as a straight up talented EmCee. Knowing that there will never be any more fresh Beastie Boys music that at least includes MCA is a massive blow to Old School fans like me who find their options for what to listen too dwindling as time moves forward. We have lost one more piece of the puzzle and the bigger picture is becoming increasingly harder to make out.

Mario C


Friday 4 May 2012

Wrestlers vs. Zombies: An Imperfect World!!!

I had a seed of an idea in my head. It always starts as a seed. "What if this would happen to such 'n' such person in that environment? How would they react? What got them there in the first place? how would they escape what seems to be certain peril?" My idea was to pit Wrestlers against Zombies and have the fight/action sequences play out like an actual wrestling match.

Already I can hear a collected groan from the cynical and jaded fanboys. "Zombies are so three years ago!" And I empathise, I do. The whole "vs" thing was so played out after both Freddy vs. Jason and Alien vs. Predator, the two most anticipated cinematic battles since King Kong vs. Godzilla, sucked major balls! And Zombies are so passé! Even the Walking Dead, arguably the greatest zombie comic of all time, focuses on the human drama and emotion whilst the zombies just shuffle along in the background and attack once in a while. But there were two things going on in my head that made me give in to this played out cliché of an idea; 1) Stick with what you know, and I know more about both Wrestling and the Horror genre than most people have forgotten. And 2) You don't have a name yet! Which I don't. Nobody knows who Mario the comic book writer is yet, so if I attempt anything too pretentious or high brow, whats to say that anyone will actually go out of their way to read it. Exploitation!!! That's what I need!!! A good old fashion exploitation book that I can sell to people on the promise of a fun action romp with great characterisation, funny banter and a nice bit of gore to boot! So Wrestlers vs. Zombies it is!!!



I already had a cast of characters ready to go. You see, I used to be a Wrestling manager for a British independent promotion called East Anglian Wrestling (or EAW) and during my time I had co-created a stable (a stable for the uninitiated is a group of wrestlers, usually three or more, that fight together under the same banner or for the same cause - See The Four Horsemen, nWo, D-Generation X and the Freebirds for the best examples of said groups) along with my buddies Danny and Jason called the Imperfects. We were a misfit group of sideshow freaks, personified as various clichéd gimmicks; Danny as the Mr J the Clown, Jason as Mister Monster the... Monster and myself as the evil ringmaster Mario the Apocalypse! We ran riot over EAW for all of three months, at which point the promoter saw the unique likability in what we had created and decided to make us good guys, or babyfaces. I was not happy. The gimmick that we had designed screamed "Bad Guy", it was fun to be bad! Taking the piss out of the crowd, mocking the other wrestlers, playing the coward. That was my job, whilst Mr. J and Mister Monster took care of business in the ring, I was on the outside working the crowd up into a rage and giving them a reason to hate us. Being a team of do-gooders meant there was nothing really for me to do. So I quit the company. I felt like Alan Moore probably does now in regards to Before Watchmen, my creation was being bastardised by someone who really didn't care about the concept in any artistic fashion, only in how much money he could make from it. So I took my proverbial ball and went home.



But I was still proud of what I had helped to create. Too often on the indie wrestling scene you see amazing athletes and technicians that don't gain any popularity because they don't have a unique or selling gimmick. As a wrestler, your job is to put a butt in every seat and if you are just Joe Bloggs wrestling another Joe Bloggs, wearing nondescript kit in a match that isn't telling a story, then you're never going to get very far. The Imperfects though have a unique gimmick and charisma to carry it across and I can proudly say that I helped to establish that and I still wanted to be creative with those characters.



So I had my seed, I had my characters and I had fleshed out the plot. What I didn't have was time. Whilst the shop was still up and running I had hardly any time to sit and write, especially towards the end when all was extremely stressful, so I sat on the notes that I had made hoping that one day I could make a script out of it.



Then the shop closed. All of a sudden I had all the time in world and no excuses to put it off any more. I took a couple weeks after the shop closed to clear my head and let the dust settle. The shock wouldn't actually set in until a while later and at the time I felt perfectly fine. On the 24th of January 2011, the day before my 29th Birthday, I began writing Wrestlers vs. Zombies. I would walk into town every morning with my laptop, go into Costa, grab a latte and sit in the corner and type. It was joyous. I found myself falling into the work effortlessly and the words seemed to pour out of my fingertips, through the keyboard and onto the screen. It was a labour of love in the truest sense of the term. On the 13th of February 2011 I had wrapped up the script for my first 90 page original graphic novel. I sat back, sipped my coffee and admired my work. I had an extra skip in my step on my way home that evening. Script done! That's the hard part over. Right? I wish!



My script was finished 15 months ago, so you may be wondering why you haven't seen a finished product yet. That's a bloody good question! You see, it is a book that is guaranteed to be published. Regardless of which publishing companies I pitch it to, I can publish it through Reaper Comics, an independent British publishing company. Sounds to good to be true right? You'd think an artist would snatch the opportunity to boost their portfolio with a piece of professionally printed work! That sadly is not the case and leads to the first bit of advice that I would give to other aspiring writers; prepare yourself to be let down by artists constantly. They will not have the same passion and drive for something that you have created as you have, so don't expect them to work as hard as you. Also, writing may not necessarily be easier than pencilling, but it is certainly quicker, so when you do finally find an artist to work with, be realistic on deadlines, especially if they have a day job too.



All of that would be fine if the artist is straight forward and honest with you. I have collaborated with three artists this past 15 months who all swore that they were committed and on board with the project, only to let me down, curse them!

The book has been called "Wrestlers vs. Zombies" from day one, right from the get go once I decided to make the book an exploitation affair, but unfortunately a year after the script was finished I discovered that a movie was in pre-production with the name "Zombies vs. Wrestlers". I was admittedly in a fluster when I heard. I attempted to get in touch with the Director to ask him to change the name, only to be ignored. The last I heard the name had been changed to "Wrestlers vs. Zombies", which only made things worse. I looked into the production and found some footage online. I immediately wanted to distance myself from the production as the footage I discovered was not anything that I would want to be associated with, even by mistake. Begrudgingly, I changed the name of the script to "An Imperfect World". It wasn't as difficult a decision as I thought as the best thing about the script, in my opinion, is the characterisation of the cast.



Finally, I found an artist for the gig who has begun to breath life into the book. His name is Grim Rascal and his work is phenomenal. He understands wrestling and the movement of the bodies as they fight. He gets the humour and the horror. His work and his genuine enthusiasm has reinvigorated my faith in this project and in working towards creating indie comics in general. I hope that we garner at least a modicum of success and that we are able to continue to work together in the future.
I also have Allan Palmer on colouring duties and Casey Coller will be creating the cover. I will show you more work in the coming months and I hope to have a finished product before the year is out.

Mario X

Thursday 3 May 2012

That was then...

It has almost been a year and a half since Apocalypse Comics, the comic shop that I built from the ground up, closed its doors for the last time, and I miss it like crazy.

We had moved into a new premises in the March of 2010 with hopes of bigger sales due to a bigger presence, but our customer base hardly grew at all. Our bills did though, unmercifully stacking themselves up, looming over us and threatening to weigh us down month after month. Each time we would come up with a new money making scheme, but most of the time we were just robbing Peter to pay Paul and it lead us right back to square one. We should have taken the business back home, with no overheads and keeping as much of our customer base as we could from Tattoo Inc, instead we took a risk and rolled the dice and they came up Snake Eyes.

It wasn't always doom and gloom. It started off with just me and Danny packaging up eBay sales in my bedroom at my Mums house. Starting with as little as 30-40 packages a week, we would take hours to stuff the envelopes with the comics that we had sandwiched between two hand cut pieces of card. It all seemed like so much hard work back then, though I think about it now and long for those carefree days. After packaging up the comics, we would take them in carrier bags to the Post Office and stand in line waiting to be served, hopefully by one of the ladies that actually knew how to smile, hand her the packets and that would be us done for the day. On the sunny summer days we would walk to the park, picking up an ice pole on the way, sit on the swings and talk nonsense about comics and/or wrestling. It was a happy time. On Fridays, which was the day that Diamond used to deliver our new books, we would break open the boxes, sort the comics into piles to be bagged and boarded for our small group of subscribers, grab the best or most anticipated comic of the week, sit back and read! Little did I know then how hard business would become as we expanded.



We began to deal at conventions and shows all across the country and made a killing. We had the best selection of graphic novels at every show we went to. Dealers that were old stalwarts of the shows began to dislike our dominating presence as we expanded. They couldn't compete with our selection and we would walk away from each show with a big fat pocket full of cash. And even though we were completely naive of the business pitfalls ahead of us, our youthful exuberance and enthusiasm had us bantering with customers and having a giggle, where some dealers came across as miserable and not bothered as long as they were making money.

Then we started to produce retailer exclusive variant covers. We had experimented with a couple of covers, one Army of Darkness variant for Dynamite Entertainment and a Transformers movie tie in variant for IDW. They had done relatively ok, not selling like gangbusters, but shining a bit of a spotlight on us as a comic shop to look out for. It wasn't until we produced the variant cover for Transformers: All Hail Megatron #1 that people really sat up and started to pay attention. The cover was beautifully crafted by Casey Coller and is a homage to the classic cover for Batman The Killing Joke by Brian Bolland.
Casey flew over to London from the states and we released the cover as a convention exclusive in conjunction with the London Film and Comic Con. The weekend was incredible, we made a lot of money as well as new friends. This was the highest high highlight of the shop. The cover, which was limited to only 1000 copies soon sold out and we thought we could do no wrong.



Shortly after we began renting the ground floor of Tattoo Inc. Because we were subletting, the rent was very cheap for a high street store front and we began building our customer base as well as making some great new friends. We began a monthly book club, where we would get together each month with a bunch of the regular customers, take it turns to pick a graphic novel, read it and talk about it. The book club is still running to this day, an achievement of which I am extremely proud of. My main objective was to introduce new books to people who may not have read them otherwise and I think it has worked. The club has turned Marvel fans onto DC titles, mainstream fans onto indie books and fans of the obscure onto Superhero books.
Our time at Tattoo Inc was great. Though there were ups and downs, I still think of those days fondly. The overheads were so small that we could take certain risks without too much worry of repercussions... and that lead to our downfall.

I had begun to amass a substantial debt. I wasn't paying enough attention to the amount of money that I was spending in comparison to what we were making and leaving the finances to Brendon to sort out. We began to cut back massively and slowly but surely began eating away at the debt we were in. We weren't worried, even chipping away at it slowly was better than it growing and besides, business was good and the rent was cheap. Unfortunately, we had to leave Tattoo Inc. Because of a contract stipulation that I won't bring up here in public, we had to leave. We were faced with a choice of either going back home and running the business from my flat, or trying to find another shop to rent. Unfortunately we went with the latter.

February of 2010 we had finished our contract negotiations for our new premises on Market Street. It was a lovely pink shop that needed a lick of paint and a bit of elbow grease, but it had a tonne of potential.

We had negotiated a very fair deal for our rent and we were ready to open up for business and on the 20th of February 2010 the Mayor of Kettering cut the ribbon officially opening Apocalypse Comics for business.

It can't be fun and games all the time though. I was naive to underestimate the cost of opening a high street store, especially without taking into account the limited amount of interest in such a specialist store in the small town I opened up in. Kettering Town Centre was a booming, bustling, vibrant place to be ten years before. I have fond memories of hanging out in the town with my friends every Saturday morning as a kid, but I had unfortunately forgotten to take my rose tinted glasses off and take a good look at what the centre had become. You can't walk ten feet with coming across another empty shop. Most of the empty shops in town have remained closed for months, in some cases years. In fact, as I write this nearly 18 months after the shop has closed, it still remains empty from our last day on the premises.
The customer base that we had built at Tattoo Inc remained loyal, for which I will forever be grateful. We had the best customers in the world, which sounds like a cliche, but a lot of them are now friends, some of which still come to book club every month. They were there at the Gran Opening of the shop and they were there on our last day of business, which along with Free Comic Book Day in May were our three most profitable days. Unfortunately we couldn't expand our pool of customers and whilst the bills mounted up, increasing upon that ever looming debt, the takings weren't growing along with them.

We had one last ditch effort left in our arsenal that would literally either make us or break us. New York Comic Con was coming up and we had commissioned two Convention Exclusive Variants for the show. Another Transformers cover and one for GI Joe. We booked Michael Bell, who had voiced many characters in both original cartoon shows to attend and sign autographs, as well as cover artist Casey Coller and cover colourist John-Paul Bove. If we sold a substantial amount of comics, I could come home, pay off my debts and start again fresh and ready for 2011. By Saturday afternoon it became pretty apparent that that was not going to happen and I had to make the phone call home to Brendon letting him know that we were up shit creek without a paddle. I made the most of my trip to New York. I had good friends with me that helped me let my hair down and not become consumed with depression. We hit the bars, ate some great food, found the Ghostbusters firehouse and I even managed to show my All Hail Megatron #1 variant to Brian Bolland who was incredibly impressed with it, endorsed it and autographed my copy.

So I came home and we began to wrap things up at the shop. It didn't feel sad at the time. We had been struggling for months and it was time to let all of that stress go. We set a closing date, invited everyone and they pretty much all turned up. It felt good, like everything we had worked so hard for was worth it. The people is what I miss the most, the interaction and conversation. The debates we would have over certain characters, creators or publishers. That's the best part about being a geek is sharing your passion with other like minded geeks, even when you disagree, its fun! And I was lucky enough to be able to do that every day for a while and like I said, it is what I miss the most right now.

But I need to move on. I need to close this chapter once and for all and begin anew. I have spent the past year and a half diligently working on becoming a comic book writer. I have written, and continue to write, a tonne of scripts, three of which are being worked on right now by three separate artists which I will talk more about in future posts.
My good friend Frankie convinced me to start this blog to stretch my writing muscles and to hopefully gain a following. From here on out I will post as often as I can about my life, my opinion, what has excited me, what has pissed me off and I will keep you updated as my comics work progresses.

I will say that I am not a professional writer. I am literally starting from the bottom right now and am attempting to claw my way up, so why not tag along and join me for the ride. I may eventually succeed, in which case you can say that you were here with me the entire time. Or I may fall flat on my face and fail, in which case, maybe you can learn from my mistakes. Regardless, this is me. I was worried at first about how I would come across on here or if anyone would give a shit, but I just need to be me and not worry about being who I think people would want me to be. No apologies.

Thank You for reading.

Mario X