ZINE FEATURE: THE ILLUSTRATED HALL OF DARK LORDS

After a few rounds of proofs and edits and tweaks, the printer officially has begun printing up ELECTRIC ANT #1 as of this afternoon.



Hopefully without annoying everyone with countless posts, I thought I would highlight a feature a week from the first issue, leading up until Alternative Press Expo (11/1 & 11/2). I'll be debuting the zine at The Bang Gang's table and launching an easy way to buy it direct via http://electricantzine.com that weekend. The first feature I want to talk about (and the first one that came together) is...

THE ILLUSTRATED HALL OF DARK LORDS
My favorite cartoonists take us on a tour of the darkest lords that ever lived!


[Page 25: IHODL Title Page, illustration by Evan]

IHODL is an illustration feature, with 17 pages of raw, wicked, and retarded villains of yore. I think once you witness the list of Dark Lords you can grasp the theme; once you witness the list of contributors you will grasp the awesomeness. The Hall features...

KRULOS (dino-riders) by Anthony Wu
MUMM-RA (thundercats) by Derek Yu
FAT CAT (chip & dale rescue rangers) by Alice Kim
MOJO JOJO (powerpuff girls) by Michael DeForge
GARGAMEL & AZRAEL (the smurfs) by Calving Wong
M. BISON (street fighter: animated series) by Mimo
SHREDDER (teenage mutant ninja turtles) by Jenn Yin
KRANG (teenage mutant ninja turtles) by Hellen Jo
ROCKSTEADY & BEBOP (teenage mutant ninja turtles) by MC Lars
DOC TERROR (the centurions) by Root Studio
LORD ZEDD (mighty morphin power rangers) by Matt Lock
RITA REPULSA (mighty morphin power rangers) by Gea
COBRA (g.i. joe) by Evan Hayden
BLOTH (pirates of dark water) by Ryan Sands
SKELETOR (masters of the universe) by Derek Kirk Kim
HORDAK (masters of the universe) by David Murray
PHYLLIS ‘PIZZAZZ’ GABOR (jem) by Michaela Colette

A few quick previews to whet your appetite(s):

KRANG by HELLEN JO

GARGAMEL & AZRAEL by CALVIN WONG

See any cartoonists or DARK LORDS that you're particularly into? Or have a favorite DARK LORD that I should have included in the feature? Let me know in the comments!!

DANCE! KREMLIN PALACE! by SHINTARO KAGO (CHAPTER 6)

Fear not, Kago fanatics! After a long and deserved break, our buddy Rizzah over at Wanted: Cheap Manga has blessed us by posting the latest chapter of his scanlation collaboration with Anonymous K -- Dance! Kremlin Palace! by Shintaro Kago.



This chapter just may rank as my least favorite to date, but still... it's hard to complain. New Shintaro Kago in English is always a very, very good thing. This chapter takes a very specific premise as its jumping off point-- Namely, that all the stress of 1960s Cold War tension was a ploy to turn on and get off Khrushchev's masochistic, alopecia-loving mistress...

As Rizzah describes chapter six,

I’m happy to release the next chapter of our ongoing Russian soap opera, Dance Kremlin Palace. This chapter focuses on the harmful (or pleasant) side effects of stress brought on by the cold war. Poor Khrushchev… The things one man does for love.

Click to download Chapter 6 from Wanted: Cheap Manga!


ENJOY!

NEW YOKOYAMA & NEMOTO FROM PICTUREBOX

For those Same Hat readers not (yet) financially-devastated by the past few week's global meltdown, PictureBox Inc out of Brooklyn has just released two incredible art manga books! These officially debuted at SPX two weekends ago, but according to the PB blog, will be shipping out to buyers in the coming week or so. Here is a quick recap and preview images of these fantastic titles:

+TRAVEL by Yuichi Yokoyama


A wordless graphic novel, I picked up and read the Japanese edition of Travel this past spring at a Book-Off in Kyoto. It's more linear and direct in some ways than PictureBox's other Yokoyama release, New Engineering, but also a bit more more cereberal. Not to slag off PB, but the production for the book (being wordless) must have been quite easy. That said, Yokoyama fills the end of his books with dozens and dozens of dense footnotes and commentary, which are preserved and translated here. The sad bit for us not at SPX, according to their site is that, "All SPX copies are signed with a drawing by Yokoyama." From the PB description:

In Yuichi Yokoyama’s Travel, the storyline is as linear as it is sharp: it is the long, silent and crystalline description of a train ride undertaken by three men. The subject Yokoyama depicts here is less the landscape around the train (the distance covered, the regions travelled through) than the actions within the train itself. As the train moves, the three men walk through the string of cars and are confronted with the vehicle’s architecture, its machine-like environment. By above all, they are confronted with the stares and the physical presence of other passengers. Travel is a journey into the contemporary Japanese psyche – a brilliant, wordless graphic novel.

Bookforum has written of Yokoyama: “Concerned with phenomena rather than character and narrative, his comics resemble the output of a drafting machine: sequences that present multiple views of an object in action and look like exploded product diagrams. Yokoyama seems to enjoy the resulting images as much for the strange shapes that are generated as for what they reveal.” This edition features an introduction by cartoonist and historian Paul Karasik and commentary by the author.

A shot of the book itself, from the PB site

Visit the PictureBox page for more details.

+MONSTER MEN BUREIKO LULLABY by Takashi Nemoto


From the PB description:

“Nemoto is the undisputed master of filthy comics. His work is brutal and horrifying and sure to shock even the most jaded comics reader. And yet underneath all his absurd depravity is a beautiful and touching story of a father’s love for his giant mutant sperm son.”-Johnny Ryan

At long last, this underground Japanese classic has been translated into English. A seminal work of manga from the mid-1980s, Monster Man Bureiko Lullaby is a Candide-esque tale–if you can picture Candide as a mutated sperm brought to life by radioactivity. Unremittingly explicit, this is the comics equivalent of Henry Miller at his best: direct, honest and insightful while simultaneously beautiful and grotesque. Tokyo-based Takashi Nemoto, who was born in 1958, has been called the R. Crumb of Japan: Nemoto and Crumb share a similar, surreal drawing style and pessimistic, satirical stance, for which both have faced their share of negative criticism. Due to his unapologetically squalid subject matter, Nemoto has long been a controversial figure in Japan–clashing violently with mainstream Japanese morals–and is just now receiving some critical success there.

In addition to being a fascinating and utterly unique read (nestled in the growing but still genre-deficient US manga market), the book itself was designed by heta-uma King Terry. The book production and hand-lettering was done by artist (and new friend of Same Hat) Jon Vermilyea. I only have the shots from the PB site to go on so far, but it looks to be a masterful and badass bit of lettering.

Visit the PictureBox page for more details.

"DISCOVERING MANGA" EVENT IN LONDON (10/23)

This is for our UK readers (or others with a private jet and massive amounts of disposable income). I received a notice from Paul Gravett, manga expert and author of the luxurious and large creator-focused book, Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics. Next week, he will be holding a presentation and lecture in London about manga that might be of interest to ya'll:



He says,
"The idea is whether you're a novice or a serious otaku, it promises to be a fun night celebrating the diversity and quality of Japanese comics today. I've put a flyer below and people can come to my site for more details and to book tickets via PayPal (people must book ahead of the evening)."

When:
Thursday, 23rd October 2008, 7pm to 9.30pm
There will be an interval with light refreshments.

Where:
St Albans Centre, Leigh Place, Baldwin Gardens, London, EC1N 7AB
Tube: Chancery Lane. Venue web-site here. Map available here.

Tickets:
£10.00 available in advance, only from his website (above).

TWO RAD IGNATZ AWARD WINNERS

Old news by a few weeks, but I wanted to post a quick congrats to two awesome artists that won Ignatz awards at the Small Press Expo (SPX). The Ignatz Awards are "intended to recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. "

Two minis on my favorite comics of 2007 list were awarded... Congrats guys!!

Outstanding Mini-Comic
Bluefuzz by Jesse Reklaw

"Like the mentally challenged but nobler little brother of Dungeon, Bluefuzz sets the bar scarily high for what kind of story a minicomic can pull off. The interspersed color paintings of Bluefuzz's "great deeds" are icing on the cake."

Jesse is on tour right now promoting his book of Slow Wave dream comics, "The Night of Your Life" and will be attending a release party with Hellen Jo the first night of APE.

Outstanding Artist
Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream by Laura Park

"Her minicomic collection is part sketches and part strips that hint at longer form storytelling. Aside from have a sweet (but not saccharine) sense of humor, DNDMKD shows off Laura's warm and incredibly rich draftsman0like style. She is a real talent to watch, and it'd be a major gaff for the indie scene if someone doesn't sign her to do a book in 2008."

A sketchbook page by Laura was included in the Ivan Brunetti-edited "An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume 2", and her contributor bio mentions that she's working on finishing a collection!

Click to check out the full list of winners.

UMEZU CHECKS OUT THE UMEZU SHIRT

Quick TGIF clip that I guarantee will make you smile a little (unless you're dead on the inside). From Umezz's YouTube channel, here is footage of him visiting MANGART BEAMS and checking out their Umezu graphic t-shirts in person at BEAMS shop in Daikanyama!

DEREK & MATT IN GAMER ART SHOW AT GRSF

This just announced on the Giant Robot SF blog... They will be hosting a new gallery show this month featuring art from two of my favorite artists (and friends), Derek Yu and Matt Lock! The show is titled GAME OVER, and features art inspired by video games by the gamer generation:



This is cool news, and I'll be swinging by to check it out this weekend. In a bit of shameless self-promotion, I've got to note that both these artists are also featured in Electric Ant #1 (just sayin'!!).

Here is a pic from his blog of one of the two pieces Derek has in the show:

Die, Allied schweinehund!!

TOKYO ZOMBIE REVIEWS IN NEO & ZRC

Many thanks to reader Karen for letting us know that Tokyo Zombie has been reviewed in the November issue of UK anime and manga magazine, Neo!



Karen was rad enough to send a scan of the review, which looks to appear on page 77. Click the image here for the full scan:


The review says (in part):

If you have a thirst for the macabre, love bad taste zombie stories, don't mind smut and can turn a blind eye to Hanakuma's rather unusual illustration style, check out this title, which is on the shelves now.

Also! A zombie site called Zombie Reporting Center has posted their review of the book too. Here's s short preview:

While this is a very silly book, it’s also contains some very heavy underlying comments on the social politics of class warfare. Politics, slap-stick and gore! Perfect! This has definitely become one of my new favorite zombie comic of all time.

Tokyo Zombie was just published this year in English for the first time ever by the awesome people at Last Gasp. I can’t recommend the book enough. Everybody who loves zombies should read this.