FROM THE CREATOR OF "CRAP" AND OTHER BODY SUBSTANCES!

Watching Out For The Watchmen

2012-02-06T13:30:00.000-06:00

DC Comics has shocked the comic book medium with the confirmation this last week of the Before Watchmen "prequels" and an alarming lack of comprehension and respect for comics as an art form. Forgetting about the latest gimmicks of the editorial staff through out the last year, I would consider this a new low for the people that once were at Image robbing ideas (WildC.A.T.s) or almost drove Marvel Comics to bankruptcy (Heroes Reborn), not to mention their egos are flying high on very little merits (merits that should go out to other legendary people in the field). It's not the first time that Jim Lee capitalizes over the work of Alan Moore, since he was the one that made America's Best Comics a success, not Lee as a publisher.
Anyway, for starters, I'm a writer, and from my perspective, it is nearly impossible to write a Watchmen prequel. Call me shortsighted if you will, but the mythology constructed by Mr. Moore is so vast and meticulous, starting in the beginning of the 20th Century, that other than writing about how Hollis Mason was conceived by his parents, I don't see room for growth, we already know what we need to know about the characters from the original 12 issues. Nothing this "geniuses" write will affect in any way the original neutron star-tight Watchmen mythology. Folks, don't let this clowns fool you, what we have is what we call in the biz filler (all fat, no muscle).

"After twenty five years, the Watchmen are classic characters whose time has come for new stories to be told. We sought out the best writers and artists in the industry to build on the complex mythology of the original" -Jim Lee & Dan Didio, DC Comics Publishers-

Did you now? It is obvious Scott Snyder and Grant Morrison are the best writers DC has to offer right now, why aren't they in on it? Neil Gaiman? Kurt Busiek? Rick Remender? Mark Waid? Warren Ellis? Joss Whedon? Terry Moore? Even Kevin Smith turned the idea down a couple of years ago, and he hasn't put out a decent comic book since his Black Cat/Spidey series, and I'm pretty sure a lot of good folk in the medium did the same, I could bet that most of the names listed above were approached and turned this travesty down. But let's see who is on board:

J. Michael Straczynski: He is not a bad writer, plus, he even made an excellent Watchmen copycat for Marvel called The Twelve. In all honesty, his work is not nearly as good as its predecessor (and I love the hell out of that comic book, I even wrote about it and interviewed the penciller Chris Weston for Comikaze). JMS may think he can write as well as Alan Moore does, but he has never done it in his whole career.
Brian Azarello: He is very good, when working with his own creations, but the man has never been strong with franchise characters to begin with, and just like JMS, he thinks he is that good, well, I doubt it.
Darwyn Cooke: Certainly my favorite of the lot, a man with love for the mythology of the characters, he should know better. His stuff is usually amazing, but still, not one of his works has been a game-changer for the industry.
Len Wein: The man that called Alan Moore to fix The Saga Of The Swamp Thing (his very own creation) in the first place. Seriously?

I'm not leaving out the pencillers, but their craft is something I can't dissect since I am not good at drawing, and, well, the script is the part of the medium that carries the weight of the piece. I know these cats all want cash, DC is obviously desperate for it, but one thing is to rehash their only parlor trick (multiverse reboot), and a very different one is to take the comic that pushed the envelope for the superhero genre and showed the world that comics is a craft just as relevant as anything else in the world of art! What's next, are they "correcting" Hamlet? Is Rob Liefeld putting shoulder pads and guns to the Mona Lisa? This is not the way to do things, and I am specially disgusted when it comes to putting up the banner of "we are trying to keep the medium alive," if you want to do that, YOU HAVE TO BE CREATIVE, you can't rely on cheap marketing schemes that wear thin every six months. Seriously, DC Comics, you are alienating more fans than the ones you are generating, you are alienating the hardcore fans, the ones that have paid the bills for 40 years.

"I don’t want money, what I want is for this not to happen. As far as I know, there weren't that many prequels or sequels to Moby Dick." -Alan Moore when interviewed by the New York Times-

It takes three to tango in this case, and we should talk about why Mr. Moore deserves better. Many of the defenders of the Before Watchmen gimmick cast stones saying that, well, Moore has worked with many characters created by others, even the Watchmen characters, which are based in Charlton Comics characters. This is all true, but, they are forgetting he always had the consent of the creators (and not one ever objected), he works with public property characters and their creators are gone, and the most important situation, he is not trying to alter or fill-in the original story where the characters were conceived, he has always created a new universe of his own and made an original mythology for them. DC is not incorporating the Crimebusters and the Minutemen into the new 52 scheme with their rebooted origins, they are directly leeching off the original story like parasites.

"The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire." -Dave Gibbons when interviewed by the New York Times-

And then there was Dave Gibbons, the prodigal child with little interest for his legacy. Always cowardly neutral, and obviously partial to the paycheck. He gained notoriety for drawing DC stories that Alan Moore penned, and this is how he reacts. I think that this speaks of how small of a person, an artist, and a friend he is.
Anyway, let's talk about what DC is really concerned with, the bucks. They are putting out the 4 part miniseries Rorschach, Nite Owl, Dr. Manhattan, and Silk Spectre, and the 6 part miniseries the Comedian, Ozymandias,and the Minutemen, all of this issues will include the back-up story Crimson Corsair, plus a one-shot epilogue. 35 issues at $3.99 a piece gives us the grand total of $139.65. You can get a brand new Absolute Watchmen (first printing) for $125.00, the most luxurious printing of the original story (an over-sized hardcover with extras), you do the math... will you be watching out for Before Watchmen???

Talkin' About The "Barney Generation"

2011-12-07T07:35:00.001-06:00

There's something wrong with the world today... a lot, Aerosmith might not know the cause, but when talking about human problems, people and their education are the usual suspects.

Young adults, born in the late 80s and early 90s, are engraving their cultural notions on pop culture, just like every generation since the birth of pop culture has left their mark. However, unlike any generation before, there is a pronounced an alarming lack of vanguardism and iconoclasm in modern pop culture. Why is this alarming? you ask, well, for starters I think that it is a symptom of conformism, and given the current state of affairs of the world today, that is really something that needs to be addressed, we are being bombarded with sterile, gentrified, childish, ignorant ideas from all fronts.

Even in a day and age with the internet as a household service, the diversity of ideas seems to be a dead scene, and ignorance goes rampantly through every social strata today, even when information is one click away; of course, it doesn't matter how much you read, intelligence only thrives in open-minds (which doesn't mean "accept any idea", but it means explore diverse ideas with critical and objective eyes to get the best result possible), it's not found in any book or movie, it is something you apply to the world, not the other way around.

Where does Barney the Dinosaur fit in the scheme of all this, you ask? Well, this kids had the misfortune of being indoctrinated (seriously) with the shallow education from children programing from Barney to Disney. The influence dominates the mainstream; the nursery rhymes in the phrasing of songs, made-up nostalgia, the mediocre beats and MIDIs, the abuse of editing programs, the color schemes, the messages, the lexicon, movies and TV seem to be hour-long photographs or FX catalogues instead of being used to tell stories. Even the small medium of comics has had a boom in lousy storytelling and fans protesting the craft (seriously, how do you protest about a subjective subject-matter)...

In this self-celebrated "pink" points of view (devoid of any type of antagonism), virtues aren't learned or earned, but taken for granted. This hippie nightmare has mindfucked the kids really hard, and now they think any paradigm can be resolved with simple gestures like, wearing glasses to be smart, or, that any stupid idea deserves respect just because it exists... merits and content don't seem to matter anymore. This, at least the way I understand things, is a serious problem, how the hell do we expect them to distinguish facts from fiction?

The 30s had horror features, Superman, and hardboiled & pulp fictions.
The 40s had the Beat generation, post-war literature, Swing, and a golden period for cinema.
The 50s had rogue comic book artists, Elvis and the Rock N' Roll pioneers, Johny Cash, Rod Serling, and Pop Art.
The 60s had psychedelic rock, the Marvel Age of comics, John Lennon, Jim Morrisson, independent arthouse/B movies, and Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV.
The 70s had Kiss, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, feminism in politics, video games, Star Wars, Bruce Lee, Punk Rock, and Splatter features.
The 80s had American Hardcore & alternative independent music, extreme Metal, High Concept cinema, Pop royalty, Hip Hop, and grim & gritty comics.
The 90s had an alternative mainstream, the rise of Black Metal, sitcoms, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Manson, alternative comics and cartooning, neo-Noir films, Grunge, SoCal Punk, Industrial & cyberpunk culture, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The XXI century has had auto-tune, shallowly ripping-off and re-frying stuff from other decades, a rise in fundamentalism, making classic monsters gay, painfully slow movies, the glorification of people that literally do nothing, the loss of privacy and some other basic rights, mass manipulation of media, and so forth. And it's not that there was nothing wrong in the previous century but, back then there were this figures who thought different, leaders that would stand against rampant mediocrity and stamp a message of diversity in their work. The closest to that from this century is Lady Gaga, whose entire revolution is imitating Madonna and dressing funny while pretending that's art, that is all that culture today can provide us with.

What do we have to look forward to? Paranoia about 2012 being the end of the world due to misinformed fucks (the Mayans made no such predictions)? Ignoring the dangers of religion and accepting the consequences under a hypocrite "liberal without a cause" banner? A pronounced vegetative state in the arts? Turning into planet Wuss? Seriously, what's up with the acceptance of this authoritarian corporatocracy as a parental figure, and the complete lack of interest in anything that doesn't have bright colors? What's with this Kindergarden state of mind where most choose to remain ignorant of the world around them as long as they are pampered by conformist patronizing media?

"When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jack-boots. It will be Nike sneakers and Smiley shirts" -George Carlin-

Nerd VS Geek (No, They Are Not The Same).

2011-08-29T13:58:00.005-05:00

Well, as many of you might have noticed, I'm a bitter asshole with hints of an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and that is my cue for getting deep into what a nerd is: it's a term that refers to an intelligent[sic] but single-minded person obsessed with a non-social hobby or pursuit (like comic book collecting, computer programming, playing RPGs). This, in turn, has pushed the nerd away from social acceptance. along with other types of different people without marked social skills by the more mainstream yuppies. When this happened, they were all equally referred to as geeks (a word that was used in the freakshows that denotes someone that will behead a live chicken with their mouth).

This word was used in the highschool hallways as a derogatory way to call someone a freak and an outcast, regardless of said person being a nerd, a booger-eater, someone with some kind of speech impediment, an over-sensitive chronic crier, a retard, someone that peed their pants... long-story short, it was a form to mock alienated people that the jock/bully types adopted to screw with you.

Then came the 21st. Century and the world's identity crisis with what I like to call "The Barney Generation" who adopted the hipster self-celebrating (which I have dissected before) culture as their own. These kids grew up thinking that a geek was the same as a nerd because, learning from the socially-driven side of the equation, they assumed that when they saw their big jock brother shoving some nerd into the lockers and calling him a geek, that's what it represented.

Self-proclaimed geeks today very rarely show the characteristics of the nerd types of people: They claim to like comics and such, but most of them don't read (let alone buy) comics, they mostly know the characters from the blockbuster films, plus, in a double-moral standard they tend to think comics are as ridiculous as Adam West's Batman portrayal, and that comic book fans are weird. They are not usually above your average computer user, they don't really seem to know any films that aren't mainstream (and if a movie is indie, it doesn't imply it's not mainstream), most of them are unfamiliar with what an RPG is, they are almost never science literate, their boutique nerd notions are very obviously taken from The Big Bang Theory show (whose characters I like to think of as boutique nerds), and when they claim they are a Star Wars geek, they know nothing other than having watched the films, and not even the names of characters in them like Bib Fortuna or Grand Moff Tarkin. It's ok to not know this, by all means, most yuppies are OK with it, I just think it's moronic to claim to be a nerd to fit in, in fact, the only thing they seem obsessed about is social acceptance, being precisely something nerds don't do

It still isn't cool to be a nerd, it's just cool to think you are one. Well, I'm sorry to say this, hipsters, but wearing glasses doesn't mean you are smart, having a Wonder Woman shirt doesn't imply you are a comic book savant (and much less if you don't even know what Themyscira is), everybody who listens to music knows who Led Zeppelin is (lets not pretend it's an underground band)... just get it through your head, if that obsessive-compulsive take on things is not there, you are not a nerd, because it actually takes a lot of effort and time (and money), it's not a matter of putting on glasses and a DC Comics shirt.

Finally, reading the Wikipedia entry of a comic book character is not the same as reading comics!!!

"People like us have built this culture on a century of oppression, and loneliness, and now it’s been cocted by a bunch of neo-nerd, hipster, douchebags for profit!"-Zero Charisma trailer-

DATE A SUPERHEROINE QUIZZ

2011-08-02T17:16:00.002-05:00


Your Results:
	Scarlet Witch 100% Scarlet Witch has altered the probabilities and has given you a chance to date her. If you're into chaos, magic, and tight corsets, she's the girl for you. Just be careful, you might find yourself in an alternate reality...or dead if your date goes poorly.
	Mary Jane Mary Jane is the super hot girl next door. She's honest, hardworking, faithful, smart and motivated. You'd better be a boyscout if you think you can keep Mary Jane! And thanks to Joe Quesada, she's not married anymore!	99%
	Moondragon Moondragon has been around the galaxy and once had the mind gem. Don't try to pull a fast one her. (You checked the Crazy-Britney style hair didn't you?)	78%
	Rachel Summers You're into sexy red heads. Marvel girl is young and charismatic. She's from the future too!	77%

MY LIST OF OVER-RATED COMIC BOOK WRITERS

2011-08-01T00:41:00.004-05:00

This was originally a post I made at www.comicvine.com and I thought, it could work here too:

Obviously, the following writers have made some awesome comics, but, to me, their status seems unjustified.

Brian Michael Bendis: I love his Daredevil and Powers, but his run as Marvel's master of ceremonies was stupid at best, and his take on most titles read like it was Clerks.

Grant Morrisson: All-Star Superman is one of the best Supes reads ever, and Animal Man was nothing less than brilliant. That being said, I hate his tendency to make everything over-the-top for the sake of it like what happened with New X-Men, he really didn't get what the X-Men are about, and Joss Whedon had to jump on board to clean his mess. The Invisibles to me were a hippie mess that tried to be revolutionary but didn't know how to, and to me his take on Batman was childish at best, not to metion the out of time thing and the bullet could be a rip-off of what happened to Captain America. Also, his tendency for obscure references is mere fan service, not genius...

Geoff Johns: He is a solid writer overall, but, he basically is obsessed with fan service and Silver Age revival, and that tends to get in the way of good ideas he has that turn out to be less than spectacular.

Stan Lee: Don't get me wrong, the man had great ideas and was a master of PR, but most of his great ideas were executed and taken to the goal line by others.

Kevin Smith: The Golden Nerd Boy used to do such great things like Green Arrow and Daredevil. After Batman; Cacophopny, I am AMAZED he still has a job in the comic book industry. He obviously understands Batman less than Tim Burton does, his take on the Green Hornet was insulting, and I'm not a fan of the Six Million Dollar Man, but I bet the fans will get pissed.

Mark Millar: His best work is interesting, like Red Son and 1985, but they aren't like groundbreaking legendary by any means. Kick-Ass was moronic, it wasn't realistic at all, or how many Hit Girls do you know? If you call that realistic, my next door neighbor should be Bruce Wayne!

Hipsters; Why Are They A Bunch Of Comformist Douchebags?

2011-06-28T01:23:00.002-05:00

First of all, let's define what the word hipster means and where does it come from: to my understanding, the word virtually means "fashion chaser" (hip or hep were terms used in the 40s in the Jazz circles to describe something hot and new), and it was used to describe the beatnik kids that were trying to emulate the Beat generation in a very superficial way, completely oblivious of any intellectual depth and cultural meaning. In my opinion, the post-war generation of the atomic era had a severe identity crisis.

The above paragraph describes also what "poser" means, though this term became more popular in the 80s and 90s. They never really disappeared, they just remained around being hippies (derived from hipster), or became attached to any number of subcultures in a desperate attempt to find a sense of belonging, and in turn, after a period of time, the mainstream assimilated part of this subcultures through these hipster filters.

It was up to this century that the hipsters took off as a culture by themselves. To my knowledge, thanks to two factors: kids born in the late eighties and early nineties that grew up immerse in stuff like Barney and Happy Meals; and the internet, that made a lot of stuff very accessible without any effort for their entire life. This, in turn, created the stupidly immense identity void the world has to deal with now. Why? Because this generation was brought up to believe everything is worthless, meaningless, and transitory (don't be a wise-ass associating this to the cosmological fact), take that bravado, and put it in the middle of the fastest changing cultural and social paradigms any civilization has ever faced, and you get a bunch of morons that celebrate themselves while stealing ideas from other types of people (like the ugly looking big specs or the 80s tight pants) because they are mostly just mindless consumers incapable of original thinking that need to be embraced and accepted by their peers. Some even think this trends, the music... are something original, while in fact, anyone older knows that they are just stealing 80s synth-pop and the tired chord patterns of the Velvet Underground that have been a constant in music since the 70s. Plus, they don't mind mutilating the message, the scene, the concepts, why? because it came very easy to them, they literally only had to move a finger, downloads are one click away.

I remember being a fanboy since an early age, obsessed with comic books and music, the difference is that there was no internet and the other communication facilities we have today, so, trips to the library, spending hours in bookstores, magazine stands and record stores was quite common, and some stuff was basically unattainable, to get like, demo tapes or b-sides and stuff, you basically had know the band personally. And to get Wednesday comics in Mexico City? It was hell, you had to hunt down the issues through all the stores that carried american magazine publications, and there never was any sense of order. Not to mention, none of this was cheap. You basically bought 1% of the stuff you wanted. TV and movies? They took forever to come (if they actually were broadcasted here), and there was always the factor that they were edited, or filled with commercials. If you liked a song, well, you listened to the whole album, as the artist intended, not to mention that in most cases you had to pay for them, unlike now that people claim to like a band but only have like one mp3 of said music talent, and they got it for free.

That's why I get mad when hipster kids tell me they like comics because the downloaded Watchmen (and probably didn't get much out of it, since they aren't accustomed to reading comics or understanding their context and background), or when they regurgitate the Wikipedia article of some band, when they haven't even listened to more than a couple of songs by them. I'm not saying it is mandatory to be passionate about this things, but don't claim to be a nerd and hijack the scene, when you have no fucking clue whatsoever, not even of who you are as an individual, let alone culturally. Don't tell me you are the art vanguard when all you do, is just a re-fried version of stuff older than yourself, or consider yourself an informed critic when you still think the Beatles are a groundbreaking act (they were, 50 years ago). Just because this kids don't have a clue, it doesn't make it right to treat what some of us do love and have invested time, money, effort, and our hearts into, like a cheap whore.

This kids have interesting behavior patterns (beyond auto-celebrating every stupid, tired "ideas" they "come up" with). For example, it appears that calling a hipster "hipster", is an insult, kind of like calling Tony Hawk a "skater" in a derogatory fashion (if that is actually possible), what's so hard about accepting you are a hipster? And funny enough, they see themselves as misunderstood geeks, thinking geek means nerd, when geek was actually intended to be a derogatory term, and not really for intellectual types, but for the smelly, booger-eating freaks that lurk around high-school, the term comes directly from the freakshow geeks, that ripped off chicken heads with their mouths. There is also the "art" factor, no one has ever really defined art, except for them. apparently. They all take photographs (or is it the camera that does that?), they are all music-savant DJs (apparently, pushing buttons on a console is art), produce and enjoy mind-numbingly slow, plotless, derivative, unexciting movies (that would work better as photographs), but in no case you will find them pushing the envelope, perfecting their craftmanship (that's too pretentious, and trust me, these people KNOW pretentious).

In conclusion: Most kids today seem to be hipsters (even if they don't want to acknowledge it) that ruin everything for everyone else and don't have respect for anything other than their own egos, even though ironically enough, most lack a personality of their own. By the way, I found this fun poster you can enjoy, even if I don't exactly concur with the Emo part.

MY MOMMY IS SO PROUD OF ME!

2011-01-26T15:07:00.002-06:00

Wrote this in one of those silly Facebook games, the point is you have to make sentences using words that start with the same letter. I know a dog could have crapped a better one, but I liked it so fuck-off!

Dawn, Dug Dottie, Decaying & Defleshed, Dumped into my Dodge. Darling, Death Doesn't Disuade Damn Depressing Dopes from going Down, Drooling.

MUSIC CHANNEL UPDATED!!!

2011-01-12T13:36:00.002-06:00

My newly improved music channel is now up and running, if you want to kill some time and think I listen to awesome music, stay a bit and check it out ;) check it out at the bottom of this blog (the thing that looks like an iPhone).

MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF THE DECADE.

2010-12-28T10:01:00.015-06:00

Hey good lookin' ladies and gents of the internet, it's the Spike again, with another unfounded opinion. This time I write about my favorite releases of the decade. Unlike stupid magazines for stupid people, like Rolling Stone or Spin, I don't pretend that this is the selection of best music ever, since there is no such thing. It's just the stuff I enjoyed for whatever reason, that kept my faith in music alive through out this awful decade of non-creativity and non-originality.

KATATONIA - LAST FAIR DEAL GONE DOWN (2001)

Named after a song by legendary delta Blues singer Robert Johnson, and introducing Mattias Norrman on bass, and Daniel Liljekvist on drums. This disc brings a more technical side to Katatonia's music, without straying away from their late 90's depressive signature sound, and keeping similar production values from it's predecessor 'Tonight's Music', also with the amazing lyrical work of Jonas (that I personally thought, was lacking on later releases). This CD is a must have for fans of goth music, depressive music, obscure alternative music.

DARLING VIOLETTA - PARLOUR (2003)

The second full-length album by California's so-called Dark Pop heroes. This one is a concept album telling a very noir, pulpy story. Mixed with ambiance tracks, groovy and sometimes retro music, even hitting psychodelic scales at times.
If you are not already fan of Darling Violetta, don't hesitate to check out all of their CDs, and there is a new one coming out sometime soon, it's been a long wait, but my expectations are quite high!

BELVEDERE - FAST FORWARD EATS THE TAPE (2004)

Alberta's hard- working Punk Rock foursome released their most technically challenging production this decade, being also their last release.
Fast Forward Eats The Tape is an epic 15 track release full of speed, energy, and melody. Not to mention Graham's drumming puts to shame the drumming of names such as Travis Barker.

MELISSA AUF DER MAUR - AUF DER MAUR (2004)

Formerly known for her work with Tinker, Hole and Smashing Pumpkins, Missy Auf der Maur is a creative force that could not be contained. Upon the release of her first solo album, she demonstrated that not only she could make an album on her own, she also proved to be the Alternative Rock diva people like myself suspected her to be ever since we listened to her worked with the aforementioned bands. This is one of the few, actually-hard, Alternative Rock releases of the decade with quite an original approach.

DISSECTION - REINKAOS (2006)

Jon Nödtveidt came back with a vengeance to the Metal scene, after being in prison for 11 years. Dissection wen for an inventive, melodic sound (rather than just clone their previous music) and Jon proved himself to be like the Swedish godfather of melodic Metal with his beautiful and harmonious songwriting, which is quite odd of an extreme Metal musician. Sadly, Jon committed suicide on August 13, 2006, making this CD, the final chapter of Dissection's music, which is no secret, I am a big fan of.

MILLION DEAD - A SONG TO RUIN (2003)

The first full-length by this (old school) Screamo foursome featuring the former singer of Kneejerk; Frank Turner; is a brilliant mix of intricated chords and the best-written lyrics I have ever encountered in my life. By those facts alone you should check this CD, it has a potent mix that will fall into the category "art that will actually contribute with a message to your life".

THE BAD PLUS - THESE ARE THE VISTAS (2003)

The second studio album by the acclaimed Experimental/Post-Bebop Jazz trio, is a further immersion into their punkish perspective on Jazz music, featuring both original songs and excellent "versions" of Alternative Rock songs like Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', or my personal favorite, Blondie's 'Heart Of Glass'.
Recommended specially for chaps that want to listen to Jazz that doesn't sound out of the 1940's.

ARSIS - UNITED IN REGRET (2004)

The first international release by the American Death Metal heroes, unlike most melodic Death, this isn't only beautifully sounding up-tempo guitar riffs, it's also devastatingly challenging musicianship. From start to finish, the devastating attack on the instruments is brutal, beautiful and original. Sadly I can't say the same of their latest release, but, their first three albums, I already consider Death Metal classics!

STAR OF ASH - ITER.VIATOR (2002)

Translated from Latin, "Iter Viator" literally means "road traveler", and it is precisely what this CD represents in the life of Heidi S. Tveitan, formerly known as Ihriel in the avantgarde Metal band Peccatum from Norway, where she worked with her Husband; Ihshan; of the acclaimed Black Metal band Emperor.
In spite of her background in the extreme Metal scene, Star of Ash explores ambient music in a wide range of styles with a creative genius I cannot wrap my head around it!
Specially recommended for the adepts of darkish music.

THIS IS A STANDOFF - BE DISAPPOINTED (2009)

Back to breaking the mold, Steve and Graham, of Belvedere fame, prove that they can still push further the envelope with this masterpiece of up-beat, progressive, metal-fused melodic Hardcore record. I had a hard time picking one of their two releases!

FRANK TURNER - LOVE, IRE & SONG (2008)

This man I don't hesitate to call the contemporary Bob Dylan. Like he did with Kneejerk and Million Dead, Frank's lyrics continue to be a smash for everyone's brains.
This Folk Punk record should be in everyone's player, it's all about honest and introspective music that can make you laugh and cry.

SNAPCASE - END TRANSMISSION (2002)

Following this trend of intelligent Punk Rock, Straight-Edge NYHC heroes' last studio release to date ravashed the airwaves with fierce music filled with actual content and integrity, while musically escaping the pattern of the genre. We (the royal) are just damn glad this guys are back!

RED HOUSE PAINTERS - OLD RAMON (2001)

Though originally recorded in 1997, for some reason this release didn't hit us until this decade. Continuing the tradition of Mark Kozelek's Slowcore virtuosity, it can be said it might not be as gloomy as the previous records, but this one stands out for being very nostalgic. If you are alone in your room, just crawl into your bed and listen to this.

SATANIC SURFERS - UNCONCIOUSLY CONFINED (2002)

Sweden's godlike Punk Rockers delivered another masterpiece of fast melodies, even with Rodrigo leaving the drums in benefit of the singing, everything you love about the Satanic Surfers is still there, and even sounding clearer than their Fragments & Fractions CD. This goes without saying, if you are into Swedish Punk, you should be listening to this!

THE SUICIDE MACHINES - WAR PROFITEERING IS KILLING US ALL (2005)

The last release of the Detroit Skacore legends, after years of reinventing themselves, could also be their strongest in terms of sound and ideology (and I am not underminding Battle Hymns, it's just, and as much as I LOVE that record, wasn't as mature and complete) and this release shows exactly what the whole career of the Suicide Machines was all about. Sadly form me, they split up weeks before their first ever show in Mexico City...

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE COOL STUFF?

2010-07-22T15:11:00.010-05:00

Hello lost people of the internet. Yes, I'm back with a brand new ramble, about an epoch in culture I think it was way better, the 90s. Though it all started in the last couple of years of the 70s, with the Hardcore Punk movement and the begining of underground, independent music. Many of the Hardcore artists started exploring new forms rock music, including more content than ever seen before in any music scene, sometimes even political and philosphical.

This reflected in the early 90s when this alternative culture suddenly became the mainstream (because of popular demand, and lets remember, according to actual studies, this generation was the best educated), and kids like me and every other regular Joe could easily be aware of alternative music that had a more honest approach (it was very introspective and humane, it talked about things that could go on in our everyday lives that mattered to some extention, easily relatable in a broader sense). MTV had shows like PostModern, 120 Minutes, and Alternative Nation, but well, you didn't even had to go that far. Being a kid here, in Mexico City, in national, open TV you could easily watch videos like Meat Puppets' 'Backwater' in the middle of the afternoon! Even the intro song to the mediocre, generic talk show 'El Calabozo' was In Bloom by Nirvana. Kids in my elementary school were sporting Alice in Chains and Metallica t-shirts, and I am talking second grade.

But it wasn't all about music, we had (what used to be considered) alternative TV shows and cartoons like the Simpsons, Beavis & Butt-Head and all that good stuff from Liquid Television, Rocko's Modern Life, Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Whedon yay!) X-Men, Batman, and what I consider the alternative masterpiece; The Adventures of Pete & Pete; which was basically a grunge TV show for kids. Then, in cinema there was Clerks (indie becoming strong and mainstream, in a different medium), the Crow, Singles (which other than being the base of 'Friends', I think it was pretty significant culturally), Reality Bites, and the neo-noir stuff like The Usual Suspects. Plus, all this then new, FX oriented and excellently written stuff like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Toy Story (Whedon yay!). Even the comic book medium saw the uprising of the independent stuff, in a more DIY trend like with Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise, Hepcats by Michael Wagner, Jeff Smith's Bone, amongst others.

How did all this translate into the mainstream? Well, the Friends TV show for example, which was the watered down version of the Singles movie, was a massive cultural influence. The Simpsons revolutioned cartoon concepts and started the adult cartooning trend in TV, and in that same medium, shows like My So-Called Life, Buffy, and the Practice, changed the way to make TV. In music, even with Pop products like Take That and Spice Girls, there was also plenty of other stuff to choose from and, what I like to call Alternapop, which was easy-listening music but with brains and heart in it, like the Wallflowers, Matchbox 20 or Lisa Loeb (who was the first independent artist to have a Top 10 Billboard hit single; 'Stay', from the Reality Bites soundtrack), and on that matter soundtracks featured a lot of different and mostly good artists.

For a time people seemed to be more open minded, there wasn't this new wave of religious fundamentalism, at least it wasn't very 'in your face', people, I think, used to practice more objective and critical reasoning, they were less conservative for no reason, and tried to be more introspective before judging others, hell, the internet came from all that. Well, what the hell happened to that?

My hipothesis? It was a mix of average people being introspective and finding either nothing, or something scary, that made them prefer stuff that didn't mean anything and could easily be forgotten or recycled, that, and well, the inability to take-in the real world, stuff like 9-11, corporate globalization, the central banking system... and draw the line (fight that shit? why bother, I rather have them pour me a latte, and clothe me cheaply at the expense of enslaved, little Asian children and my life quality). Something to think about huh?

By the way, check my version of an alternative music show right below in my iFuck's playlist!

"You want answers?"-- "I want the truth!"-- "You can't handle the truth!"

-A Few Good Men-

A little conversation with Clayton Crain (Marvel Comics graphic artist).

2009-12-10T00:58:00.008-06:00

Well folks, just last weekend I ran into Clayton Crain, artist for Marvel Comics' hit title X-Force, and some Ghost Rider soon-to-be classics like Road to Damnation and Trail of Tears. Had a wee bit of conversation, and it's transcribed right here for your fanboy pleasure ^^

Spike: Hey man, having a nice weekend?

Clayton: Yeah, just ran 8 miles and I'm feeling good.

Spike: Cool!

Clayton: How are the new books looking?

Spike: I just bought my Necrosha poster. Well, I haven't gotten everything yet, I live in Mexico City, I have up to Necrosha One-Shot and New Mutants.

Clayton: Well, thanks for paying my bills.

Spike: I´ve been very into your stuff since I read your Ghost Rider work.
Hahah no problem dude, just keep 'em coming man!
How long does it take you to finish a 24 page issue?

Clayton: I've finished an issue in three weeks. My average is 5 weeks.

Spike: Damn, that´s not bad at all, specially for the high detail in your stuff.

Clayton: If I get a script all at once I can take a week to get through all the pages. Then two weeks to render what is necessary. I know a Mexican artist, Humberto Ramos, I met him in Calgary. He seems like a real decent guy.

Spike: Cool! Ever found yourself with a very confusing script (I am a scriptwriter myself, and I've seem some weird ones :P)

Clayton: When there are more than 10 characters, it gets harder.

Spike: The JLA syndrome I like to call it.

Clayton: When I started X-Force I had to go back and change so many people.

Spike: Really? And where did the black costume idea came from?

Clayton: Too many bad guys. Marvel and the writers wanted black opts costume.

Spike: Ooh, specially that issue where every bad guy comes back to life :P That was an impressive spread page.

Clayton: I liked GR, one bad guy vs one even more bad Guy.

Spike: I remember when I bought the Trail of Tears hardcover, my cousin wanted to get a tat of that old school GR on the horse. That panel alone must have taken quite some time

Clayton: Not much on that issue, took over 8 hours

Spike: Really? It has so much detail I thought otherwise!
Which has been your favorite title? that you have worked in of coursrse.

Clayton: Ghost Rider for being the most detailed and X-Force now and then is enjoyable.

Spike: It has been a good X-Force run let me say, and your art I think has defined much of the essence of this new approach to these mutants, in my opinion. And that rainbow cover, hilarious! :P

Clayton: The first 6 or so pages took some time on GR; Trail of Tears.

Spike: ToT was an interesting read, like when you first opened it and got the civil war was like 'what the...' but it all wraps up very nicely. I really enjoyed it, it's very emotional for a GR comic book.
Ok man, have a nice day and keep up the good work!

"Yeah I'm good, feels like my skull´s on fire, but I'm good." -Johny Blaze/Ghost Rider-

2012

2009-08-19T01:24:00.005-05:00

-El 21 de diciembre del 2012, astrónomos de la NASA y otras agencias independientes descubrieron Némesis, una estrella fallida, enana marrón, que lentamente orbita con el sol, durante el alineamiento que este tuvo con el centro de la galaxia... -Apaga eso- dice Santiago Gracia Vega a su hija. Hasta ayer, el era un padre de familia, campista y publicista; ahora, es un Robinson Crusoe del siglo XXI que escapa al bosque desde el anuncio de que el asteroide Apophis colisionara con la tierra en 6 meses, esto causo una revuelta a nivel global.
-Niños ¿recuerdan que les enseñe cuando salimos de campamento? -Como olvidarlo... te la pasabas gritoteando. Contesto Dany, el hijo mayor. Santiago siempre supo que el hombre retomaría esa inteligencia instintiva, totalmente opuesta a lo que ahora se considera estilo de vida.
-Lo niños ya están en su sleeping. -Dijo Laura. -Bueno, por lo menos hemos encontrado un poco de paz, y espero en Dios que esta situación mejore pronto.
-¿Paz? Esto no es paz, esto es un intento de... oye ¿que es eso? -Se interrumpe a si mismo Santiago, cuando sus ojos ven una nave extraña estacionada. De ella salen 2 seres grandes, llevan una armadura con algunos grabados parecidos a las artesanías mayas. Laura y Santiago están catatónicos.
-Administrando una corriente en las criaturas humanas, 75 voltios, 1 miliamperio… Completado, signos vitales regularizándose. -Informa la criatura. Santiago se recupera, mientras Laura cae desvanecida. El se hinca para ayudarla. La rabia asciende a sus pensamientos.
-¡No se si me entienden, pero les advierto que si algo le pasa mi familia, no solo averiguare como destruirlos, sino que haré que dure hasta el fin del mundo. Se que les parezco poca cosa, con sus armaduras o lo que sea, pero, si hay algo que sabemos los humanos… –interrumpe la criatura -Conocemos esa faceta humana, y no se preocupe, nosotros solo hemos venido a presenciar de primera cuenta el ballet cósmico que se llevo acabo anoche.
Laura se incorpora, y va a checar que los niños estén bien. -Así que la muerte de billones es para ustedes solo como un show, son tan superiores y no harán nada por evitar esta devastación. Seguro con solo las armas de sus trajes podrían evitar esto... espera un minuto ¿como es que puedo entenderlos?
-Conocemos los idiomas de la Tierra, aunque llamamos a su mundo Xipinuhuexel. Nuestros trajes han sido implantados biomecánicamente en nuestro organismo. Estos están conectados en tiempo real a una matriz warp de datos con cobertura en 4 galaxias, desde su Ofiuco. Y para concluir, nuestros trajes no poseen herramientas bélicas.
-¿Que es Ofiuco mamá? -No lo se Ingrid. –Respondió Laura. -Ofiuco es como llaman al conjunto de estrellas que consideran zodiacales, que se encuentra entre su Escorpión y Sagitario, humana pequeña.
-Solo hay doce signos del zodiaco, cosa, y Fiucio no es de ellos- Respondió Daniel, el sabelotodo.
-Curioso que una especie regida por arbitrariedades hechas basándose en lo que ven en su firmamento, no este bien informada de ello, pero ha llegado nuestra hora de partir.
-¡Esperen! ¿Tienen algún nombre? Pregunto Santiago, a lo que le contestaron -Si, pero tu sistema de 24 dígitos no puede pronunciarlo, llámame Tom y a mi compañero Jerry. Una vez llego su señal a un viejo transistor que tengo en la nave y lo observe. Impresionante desempeño surrealista.
-Ok, Tom, oye ¿podrían ayudarnos a salir de esto? solo somos 4 pasajeros, o mejor aun, podrían hacer algo sobre el asteroide… -No. Sostuvimos relación con los Mayas, en Chichén Itza. Lo que nos mostraron fue la capacidad bélica del hombre, que los llevo a desaparecer. -Explico Jerry a los humanos, de manera gentil.
-No somos superiores, sino diferentes. Entendemos que el progreso y la supervivencia deben ser encaminadas a la armonía entre todo. Heron de Alejandría invento el motor de vapor, llamado "eolípila", hace un par de milenios humanos. Pudo haber iniciado su revolución industrial. Se vio truncado por el principio de que es mas barata la esclavitud de su misma especie, que hacer un progreso para todos. A diferencia de la nuestra, su tecnología no existe por necesidad o progreso, sino por codicia.
Dany comprendió la situación, y desesperado busco la vieja Colt 45 de papà para el cuidado de la familia, si titubeos, el pequeño jala el gatillo.
-¡Ayúdennos he dicho! -grito a todo pulmón, a lo que contesto Jerry -El metal fundido de tu arma no me hará ningún daño, humano. Veo como funciona su mente, buscan destruir en vez de buscar soluciones constructivas para el beneficio de todos. Como los acontecimientos actuales de su planeta. Hay un par de cosas que destruirán su especie; una catástrofe cósmica o ustedes mismos. La pregunta real es ¿que lo hará primero?

FIN DE LA HUMANIDAD

GREETINGS FROM MURDERVILLE

2009-06-20T17:31:00.003-05:00

Hello beautiful people, how do you do? Well, this is a first one here, this is going to be an actual "Dear diary..." post, and I'm going to keep it like that from now on, let's be honest, who wants to hear me complain, more than the usual. If you want my opinion about something, you can always ask for it ^^

As many of you know I'm very into comic books and for the last couple of years I have been wanting to break through the biz. Been working with Benjamin Estrada since November of last year in Greetings from Murderville, a sci-fi tale about vampiric politics and human revolution. I also have been writing "Sin Comentarios" (haven't decided the title in English yet) which is a comedy inspired in sitcoms and the life my cousin Chachi and I had back when we worked in a convenience store a couple of years ago (and yes, it is quite different from Clerks), filled with rather bizarre, funny and somewhat interesting experiences and reflections. Sadly, as much as I love this little enterprise, it hasn't found a conceptual certainty, home or visual artist. Plus I myself have been having trouble on defining the style, in an ideal world, this is meant to reflect alternative scenes as they work in Mexico City, but since well, there is an intimate relationship on my behalf to America and well, Mexico draws a lot from it as well.
It's been a hell for me deciding what could work or not in context, or for the audience; other thing that worries me, most people here, don't give a fuck about comics, hence why it must also be made available for the English speaking community in the Internet, but I am afraid they will have a hard time identifying with the comic. Any comments regarding anything are always welcome.

I have no idea when the Golden Age was, but as far as I'm concerned, wherever I am is the Golden Age! -Stan Lee-

Badabing/Mkopke/Benji presentan:

2009-03-30T15:03:00.003-06:00

Köpke y Benji (buenos amigos y dibujantes, con los que estoy trabajando en Sin Comentarios y Greetings from Murderville, respectivamente) pintaran "en vivo" un mural el la bohemia tienda de comics Badabing (del buen Giacomo), en la Zona Rosa.

Entrada libre, estara rocker, yo ya vi el diseño y ROCKEA BRUTAL (Wells style!). Deberian ir a ver que onda y pasarla brutal antes de salir a fiestear el sabado!

SHE (a little something I am working on).

2009-03-28T03:52:00.004-06:00

She, always hiding behind trees, like butterflies in August, delicate and colorful, and I can see through - the net of course.
I get some smiles and she flies back in flirty irony, always to close but never close enough. As always I could feel your breath but never your sweat. Because to tell the truth, there are all these rules written between the lines, and hide and seek we must analyze, find the patterns an summarize the numbers in eloquence. trying to find the answer of why?
Always a nice time but never a significant one, looking for catharsis in mischievous smiles.
As quick as a bat - they all fly, ideas, emotions, delusions and deals made to the femenine side of the succubi kind, walkyries if you like. Barehanded they can all rip a heart aside from the torax, and never keeping in mind that the wound is mortal, they smile. She, sneaks in silence, and though I know she is behind me I never can quite see her smile.