Holiday sale in the JAVZILLA Web Shop!

Hello friends and fans!


Been awhile since I last blogged here. Had a variety of things going on lately, in addition to giving myself a bit of a break after the many events I had going on during the month of October. I've used some of my 'down time' to catch up on watching movies and reading comics, and it's helped inspire me to evaluate certain things in my own storytelling that will help me move my art forward to where I want it to go.


More about that later, but for now I'd like to call your attention to some special pricing I'm offering in my Web Shop here on the blog. For the next week, from Sunday, December 5 through Saturday, December 11, I've cut prices on several of my products, so you can get some good discounts on comics, my sketchbook and the EL MUERTO DVD. The sale has been extended until Sunday, December 19th! I've also reduced my shipping fees to help convince you to spend some of that cash you keep holding onto!

If you want to get yourself a well-deserved holiday gift, or want to get one of your friends hip to my comics, this week is the place to shop! And unlike Black Friday, you don't have to sleep in a cold, dark parking lot overnight for the good prices! Start your holiday comic shopping here!


Thanks very much for your continued reading of my blog, and keep coming back for more JAVZILLA. A very Merry Christmas to all!

Agimat Sweet + Evil art show

GEEKS Comics in Whittier last night was the host to the 'Sweet + Evil' art show from Agimat Entertainment. Agimat is the endeavor of Adonna and Arvie Villanueva,  a couple whose products range from web comics to video games.

The art show was also a launch party for their newest video game release, E-VILLE, which is available via iTunes for play on the iPad and iPhone. E-VILLE is the follow-up to their first video game, SHADOWCANDY.

I realized once I got home I didn't take any photos of Arvie's paintings! But, Adonna and Arvie have done such a brilliant job in branding, their character were seen everywhere during the show. Paper dolls or custom cupcakes, they had their creations everywhere!

They also DJ Todd Tochiokaz (who doubles as a comic creator himself!) spinning tunes all night, as well as J-pop singer Stephanie Yanez:

CRYING MACHO MAN web comic creator Jose Cabrera actually voiced the main character in E-VILLE, Jim Bob! Here's Jose getting himself killed over and over again....

 

In addition to all this fun stuff, Agimat also had an open call to artists to customize DEEGO figures, a new line of blank vinyl dolls from Spanish toy maker DEEGO TOYS. The dolls had to be designed as one of Agimat's many characters, but the materials were open to whatever the artist wanted to use.

 My own contribution was to take their MUMMY character from the new E-VILLE game and dress him up in with the accessories from their ninja character HIRO from their first video game, SHADOWCANDY.

I

The show was a real event, and believe, I've been involved in plenty myself at GEEKS over the last 2 years or so, and I have to say that this one is one for the record books! Tons of great art, music, food, video games.... And lots of very friendly people to talk to. 

My 5th season: DIY comics and EL MUERTO

The other day I was talking to my friend and fellow artist Jim Lujan (cartoon filmmaker), and I was telling him about all of my current Day of the Dead events I had lined up, which I use as a place to sell my El Muerto comics. Jim told me that I was lucky to have a "5th season" in which to sell, what with the natural tie-in EL Muerto has to the Dia de Los Muertos celebration.

I immediately thought of the Taco Bell campaign, where they mention "The Fourthmeal, the meal between dinner and breakfast"! Yeah, I guess I do have an extra season in which to really market and sell my El Muerto brand. Just this past weekend, I was involved in two separate events that were very different in nature, but which were perfect places for me to be at.

On Friday, Oct. 29, I was in East LA for the FEAR FIESTA, the inaugural entry of a film festival honoring Latinos working in horror movies. The event was held at Casa 101 Theater, founded by playwright/screenwriter Josefina Lopez (REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES). EL MUERTO was chosen to be the Opening Night film, and myself and producer Larry Rattner were invited to speak at the Q&A following the screening.

 Me, with the first-ever FEAR FESTIVAL Award, and producer Larry Rattner with a Certificate of Appreciation.

We haven't had a public screening of the film since it's initial film festival run back in 2006-2008, and it was nice to be the Opening Night feature.


On Saturday, Oct. 30 I was in El Monte for the 1st ever Dia de Los Muertos El Monte, produced by the Nuvein Foundation. I'm on the Board of Directions of the Foundation, and have been working with them since about 2007. I was talking to fellow Board member Renato Aguirre one day about how we should host our own local Day of the Dead event, and next thing I know, we're forming a committee!


I could write a book on how much work it took to get the festival going. We had to contact the city government, council members, various art commissions, as well as propose the event to the Downtown El Monte Business Association (DEMBA). We had to reach out to the local vendors and businesses, contact the various schools in the area, mobilize local artists and performers. Then there were the various fundraisers and proposals to local businesses for sponsorships. Suffice to say, with everyone's tireless efforts, we had a show that surpassed all our expectations. Even the much dreaded rain that was predicted to fall that day only lasted until about 7am, the very morning we began setting up the venue at the parking lot.

 Grasiela Rodriguez, a fellow Board member, even ran an art show during the event, right out of a U-Haul truck she rented!!

Check out her blog for photographs of the exhibit! It was big hit with everyone. Great job, Gras!!

On Sunday, Halloween, I went back to FEAR FIESTA. At the Corazon del Pueblo gallery located a few doors down from the Casa 101 Theater they were holding a children's event. Some kid-friendly films were playing on a television, and I had volunteered to conduct my comic book demonstration where I have the kids in the audience participate in creating a one-page comic story. This turned out to be extremely popular, and I made sure each kid got a drawing to take home.


Here's a photo of me with the founder of Casa 101, Josefina Lopez, her husband Emmanuel Deleage, and their two children.

Josefina actually talked to me about a project she wanted my input on, and I in turn suggested what a cool idea it would be to create some type of El Muerto stage play!


The El Monte festival was my 3rd Dia de Los Muertos event in a week, and I did a pretty good amount of business. This has always been a key point of mine in that I reach new readers all the time at these type of events. Some are comic fans already, who have not heard of my comic book. But most are folks who don't read comics, much less attend comic shops or conventions. People in the comics biz are always saying that publishers have to reach out beyond the comics base, something I've been doing actively since I started publishing my own work back in 1998.


I had events every single weekend in the month of October. A solo art show at GEEKS Comics, spent a weekend at the Latino Book & Family Festival and spent another weekend in San Francisco for the Alternative Press Expo. With this past weekend's EL MUERTO film screening, and 3 Dia de Los Muertos events the last two weekends, I can honestly say it's the busiest month in terms of the sheer number of events I've attended since I started as a self-publisher. Busy in terms of selling my work, and also making new fans. The inevitable 'networking' takes place too, potentially opening up new opportunities for me as an artist.


I do comic shows and other events all year long. But with my signature character based on Aztec mythology and the Day the Dead folklore, the whole 'season' surrounding the November 2nd celebration provided me with many outlets. Adding to the mix that mid-September through mid-October is Latino Heritage Month, I have a pretty good stretch of months in which to flourish. Those of us who make and publish our own comics have to take full advantage of opportunities like this, as well as see what events in the 'mainstream comics world' make sense to pursue as well.


I didn't create El Muerto because I saw an opportunity to capture an entire market through a comic book. I came up with the idea because I specifically wanted to use both Aztec mythology and the Day of the Dead folklore as elements in story. These were things I had great interest in, and I also thought that there was, in my opinion, and underwhelming use of these idea in the mainstream culture. The fact that I could use my creation in very advantageous situations is something that I, as a self-published artist, could not have resisted. Obviously, the way I conduct my self and my business is part of my branding, so sincerity and a genuine talent in connecting with people goes a long way.


For me, as with most of the DIY comics creators I know, our production and brand management runs all year long, for the most part. 7 days a week, 12 months a year! So getting that extra season is a very welcome opportunity and I build on that as much as I can.

Dia de El Ditko: Steve Ditko's birthday!

A very Happy Birthday to Steve Ditko, comic book creator extraordinaire!
 
(Mort Todd's colored version of his cover to DITKOMANIA #72)

Steve Ditko, as artist, is the co-creator of Spider-Man & Dr. Strange, and on his own has created such characters as The Creeper, The Question, Shade the Changing Man and his signature character, Mr. A.

 (Larry Blake's cover to DITKOMANIA #75)

Born November 2, 1927, Steve Ditko continues to create new comics, published by himself and Robin Snyder. His latest book was DITKO #5-FIVE ACT, featuring such characters as The Madman, The Outline and The Cape! At age 83 his physical output has slowed down, and he's not going to be drawing at the same level he was 20 or even 30 years ago. But his determination to create new stories, and publish them himself, remains for me a continued source of inspiration.

For the last year or two, I've been contributing to the DITKOMANIA zine on a regular basis. My most recent illustration was this one for their Halloween issue, featuring a review of Ditko's sole Tomb of Dracula story, published in the late 70s.

The fact that Ditko was born on November 2, the same day as my character Diego de La Muerto, a.k.a. El Muerto (which is also El Dia de Los Muertos) surprised me when I made the connection years ago. My first exposure to Ditko's work was back in the mid-seventies, with reprints of his early Spider-Man & Dr. Strange stories available in Marvel reprints at the time. His work has always struck me for it's combination of quirky cartooning and surreal imagery, combined with his knack for innovative storytelling devices and layouts.

Happy 83rd Birthday, Steve Ditko!

To order Ditko's self-published comics from the last 20 years or so, visit this page, courtesy of the Ditko Comics Web Blog run by BobH.


To order copies of the DITKOMANIA zine, edited & published by Rob Imes, visit this page.

Meet an El Muerto junior fan!

I'm currently teaching a comic book class at an after school program in Los Angeles. The class is once a week, and runs for an entire quarter.

Last week, one of my co-workers gave me this little paper doll: 

  
El Muerto with an awesome pompadour! This is from a young boy in the Arts & Craft class, who had recently seen EL MUERTO on cable. I was flattered that he picked El Muerto as a subject for his project. He doesn't even know that I'm teaching a class at the program, so it's not like he made it to show me.


Last night, my co-worker sent me to this photograph:

Last Friday they had a Halloween party at the school, and guess what our little Muerto fan asked for at the face-painting table?

I'm sure his only exposure to my character is through the movie, but we know the impact movies have on people in out modern culture. Whatever audiences a comic book can't reach, movies & television can more than make up for it. I've said it before, but even a relatively small production like our movie, once it hits circulation via television, attains a certain level of saturation in the public consciousness. Over the last month or so of non-stop events I've been exhibiting at, it's been very evident to me by the amount of people who stop by my table and say "Oh, I've seen this movie on TV" (which invariably leads to some comic sales) .


When I go back to the class on Tuesday, I'm going to give a small package of Muerto swag to my co-worker so she can give to this El Muerto fan. Believe me, if there were hundreds or even thousands of kids doing this, I'd have to hold back on the gift packs, but when I run across the occasional fan like this, I think it's certainly worth some type of appreciation on my part.


Moments like these are really uplifting to me. It's not the primary reason I create comic books, but it's certainly an after affect that I enjoy and appreciate.

EL MUERTO film screening & Dia de Los Muertos:El Monte

In what's been an extremely busy last couple of months for me (two comic book conventions, a solo art show, several Dia de Los Muertos events, teaching new comic book workshops and doing the occasional batch of laundry!), there are two more major events coming up this weekend. 

On Friday, Oct. 29, EL MUERTO will the the Opening Night feature for the Fear Fiesta, a new film festival which spotlights Latinos in horror movies. The festival takes place at CASA 101 THEATER, a non-profit organization providing cultural & educational programs in theater, digital filmmaking, art and dance to East Los Angeles residents.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A with myself, producer Larry Rattner, and screenwriter/director Brian Cox. The film begins at 8:00 pm, but I'd suggest getting there at least a half hour early to get a seat. Admission for the screening is FREE! Here's the entire schedule for the 3 day event, featuring more movies and panels, an art gallery, and a children's event on Sunday (which I'll be there for as well). CASA 101 is located at 2009 East 1st Street, East Los Angeles, 90033.

On Saturday, Oct. 30, I'll be at the DIA DE LOS MUERTOS EL MONTE event, organized by the Nuvein Foundation. It's El Monte's first Day of the Dead event, and as one of the Directors of the Nuvein Foundation, it's very exciting to be launching what we hope to be an annual tradition. 

 (My design for the official poster)

The event is FREE to the public, and will be held from 1pm-5pm. The event will be held in the parking lot located off of Valley Blvd, between Granada Ave and Monterrey Ave. Here's a map of the area. 
There will musical performances including Martin Espino, Tina Flores & her Trio, folkloric dancers, dramatic readings by Christopher Trevilla and more. Also, there will be altars by local High Schools and an art show in a U-Haul truck curated by Grasiela Rodriguez! Plus lots of food vendors and artists selling their works. And yes, I'll be there with the full Muerto catalog!

It's a very busy month in LA for sure. With the normal hoopla over Halloween this weekend, and the explosion in Dia de Los Muertos celebrations that seems to have erupted this year, there's so much to do. But hopefully I'll see you at one of these events.

Looks like I may be due for some time off next month, no....? 

Dia de Los Muertos in Whittier, and memories of Greenleaf

Yesterday, Sunday the 24, I spent the day at the Uptown Whittier Dia de Los Muertos festival. They've been running this for a few years now, and this is the first time I've signed here in a couple of years. They closed off two blocks of the main street, Greenleaf Ave., and had artist booths, food vendors and music to help celebrate the occasion.

I was stationed in front of GEEKS Comics, right on the sidewalk, courtesy of my good friend Sal Felix. 

A couple of the kids from my current comic book workshops came by to visit, including Matthew, a talented artist and fashionable dresser:

One thing that became clear to me, not just this day but at Saturday's Dia de Los Muertos event in nearby Rose Hills, was the amount of saturation the film EL MUERTO has made in the general public by now. First released on DVD in 2007, the film, always an independent underdog, has had an extremely long life on cable. I had various people stop by my tables both days and mention that they had seen the film on television, some had even caught one of the local screenings we had played at a few years ago.


Obviously your standard Hollywood film gets a wide release and usually is known by a certain percentage of the public. But our independent film EL MUERTO seems to have built up a slow but gradual audience in it's time. While I always assumed this would be the case, to have these encounters with people still catches me by surprise.

I had one guy stop by and recognize me immediately. Apparently, he had interviewed me back in 2003 for his college newspaper (or it may have been High School). He mentioned that at the time I had talked about getting a movie option, and now years later he sees me selling the DVD of the film. I'll often meet up with people who had met me years before at an event, and then years later we catch up once again. Things like that don't make me feel necessarily older, but they do remind me that what I do, my life as an artist, is such an integral part of my existence, like getting up in the morning and brushing my teeth. 


The view of Greenleaf from my table:

Ah yes, good ol' Greenleaf. When I look at this photograph, I look at those trees and realize they must be the exact same trees that were there back in the 70s, when my parents would take me and my siblings to Ambrose Pizza, the 'best pizza in the world' I would proclaim with all the authority of a 10 year old. When I was in my early teens, I would ride my bike to Greenleaf and spend a day visiting the numerous books stores, both for new books and used books (mostly comics, actually). Bookland, just a few doors up from where GEEKS is now, has been closed for probably 10 years or so. But I used to go there and buy my new comics when I wanted to see what was available beyond the spinner racks at the supermarkets and 7-11 stores I'd normally buy my books at.


It was at Bookland that I used to sometimes buy the trade paperback
collections that Stan Lee (Marvel Comics creator) would write, such as ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS and BRING ON THE BAD GUYS. Those books, which offered the behind-the-scenes stories of the early Marvel classics, were so instrumental in my realizing that I also wanted to create my own comics. I'll have to post about those particular books at a later date.....

Besides Bookland, there were about 3 used bookstores on Greenleaf and the surrounding streets. The Little Old Bookshop, Ames Used Books and one other store. All of them had small sections set aside for used comic books, dating back about 5 or 10 years. Just digging through those little piles of comics was such a treat, never knowing what you would find by flipping through the issues. That was my Ebay back then, without the Paypal fees! Sometimes I'd find some books from the 60s (the ancient stuff!), and slowly build up my collection and knowledge, of the characters and equally important to me, the creators.


In the 1984, one afternoon after High School, I discovered that an actual comic book store had opened..in Whittier, on Greenleaf. The Fortune Bookie, owned by John Franco (who later on became a good friend of mine). To have finally been able to walk into an honest to gosh comic book store as a High Schooler was just a milestone! Plus John also carried movie memorabilia, which worked out well for me (and him too!) as I was becoming a huge James Bond film fan and picked up a cool A VIEW TO A KILL teaser poster at the shop.

There was a time in the late 80s that Hollywood came to visit Greenleaf. They actually filmed several scenes of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE there, and me and my friend Rick O'Neil would hang around the evenings and watch the proceedings. Skeletor's spaceship was hovering over the streets of Whittier those evenings, and it was a total trip to have been there when it happened!



(The trailer for MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE. Check out Greenleaf in it's moment of glory! And for those reading this blog post via Facebook, here's the Youtube link)

Flash forward years later, to about 2004 or so, and I find myself working for John Franco at the latest incarnation of his store, The Hobby Connection. I was between jobs, and for about 8 months or so I worked as a salesclerk in the comic shop. I actually enjoyed the experience, as it gave me an insight into the comic book world I hadn't yet experienced, the comics retailer angle. By now I was already publishing my own comics books, and having been a fan, and buyer of comics, working as a retailer was another rung on the ladder to being a total comic book junkie!


In 2008, I even had the chance to screen EL MUERTO at the Whittier Independent Film Festival, for which we actually won Best Feature! After the screening, we held a Q&A at GEEKS Comics with myself, director Brian Cox and Co-producer Susan Rodgers.

In the last two years or so, either on my own or with other artists, I've had numerous events here at GEEKS. Art shows, live art, seminars, classes. These and all the various experiences I've had along Greenleaf or the surrounding streets adds up to a lifetime of memories. Greenleaf, and the city of Whittier, is named after poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who never set foot in our street or town. But I'm glad to have a well-traveled journey along these streets, and expect to have lots more stories to tell about Greenleaf.

Didn't plan to turn this Dia de Los Muertos event review into an 'Ode to Greenleaf', but there you go. The muse called and I answered.

Me at the Rose Hills Dia de Los Muertos event

Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary, billed as the world's largest memorial park, held their first ever Dia de Los Muertos event on Saturday, October 23. My friend Janelle Gonzalez (Luna Sol Books) invited me to sign at her booth, and considering Rose Hills is just a few miles from where I live, how could I resist?

The grounds here are enormous, and the actual event was held way up the hills by a chapel. The entrance to the chapel had this nice looking skull greeting you as you entered: 

Inside the chapel, the featured artist was none other than Lalo Alcaraz, the cartoonist behind the La Cucaracha newspaper strip. I told Lalo that he had now hit the big time, literally holding court in the Church of Lalo! He told me he felt like he was burning up....

 Outside the side door of the chapel was were the majority of the event was taking place. Luckily, while the temperature was cool and cloudy, it never rained, much less sprinkled.

I imagine because of the name recognition behind Rose Hills, there were throngs of people, mostly of the family variety, with lots of kids in attendance. Similar to the feelings I had a few weeks ago at the Latino Book & Family Festival, there was a great sense of culture, history and community in the air. Just last weekend I was up in San Francisco at an independent comic book convention, and now I was in the middle of an event celebrating one of the most unique of Mexican cultural traditions, one on which I took plenty of inspiration from in the creation of my comic book.

Some of the people who stopped by had actually seen the film on cable or at one of film festivals we exhibited at. I actually had a few people look very surprised to find comic books, as they hadn't read any in years and years. Being the only comic book at an event is very advantageous, and having a comic that specifically intertwines the character's origin directly into the Day of the Dead is even better! I met a lady who remembered me from about 5 years ago when I spoke at a Career Day at a local elementary school, and she asked me for my contact info to invite me back. I actaully told her that I always remembered that event, because when they marched the little 3rd & 4th graders into the auditorium where I was speaking there eyes were starring at me excitedly as they walked to their seats!

I think the thing that really stood out to me at this event though was the numerous ofrendas that were on display. Ofrendas are the altars that are built in memory of loved ones who have died, and really that is the cornerstone of what Dia de Los Muertos is about. Taking the time once a year to commemorate a loved one with an ofrenda filled with memories and mementos of that person. Each ofrenda I saw was very well made, they were simple yet beautiful displays of love.

One of my uncles is actually interred in Rose Hills, not that far from where the event was held. Uncle Manuel passed away in 2007.

It was a particularly difficult time for our family because exactly one week after Unlce Manuel's funeral, my Uncle Greg passed away.

Greg & Manuel were actually the two Uncle's that I was closest to, having lived in our area pretty much all our lives. Manuel was my mother's brother, and Greg was married to my mother's sister.


Greg always reminded me of a Mexican Archie Bunker, with a sharp wit and a lovable heart of gold. Manuel was more of a loner, always on the move but always taking time to visit us.


I'd like to dedicate today's blog post to their memories. Looking through some old photos of the two of them reminded me how much they're missed. But also, as long as I remember them, they're still part of my life.