The boys are back and they're bringing a new young entrepreneur into the Hideout! Ervin Johnson, of Shining Otaku, share with the boys his new community oriented manga platform and forthcoming plans. However, it doesn't take long for Ervin to join in on their antics as they discuss numerous up-and-coming bits in pop culture from Batman v. Superman to the new Ghostbusters film. This one goes pretty up and down so be sure to brace yourself (sides and all!).
In part 2 we talked about the influence of a lot of early 80's pop culture on my artistic development and on what would later be called , Juda Fist:7 Deaths of the Yobi. Being black in Metro Detroit, another of the biggest artistic influences of the early 80's to really fire my imagination was the proliferation of Hip Hop Culture.
Hip Hop culture, which consists of breaking B -boying( breakdancing), Graffitti( writing), Djing(turtablism) and MCing (rapping) began in the South Bronx of the mid 70's. DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambatta are credited with being the pioneers of the musical art forms that would one day become hip hop music as we know it. Spawn from Jamaican DJ Culture where Sound Systems ( Jamaican Style DJ's) would use (Toasting) to hype up the crowd at live block and park parties where the DJ's would steal power from the streetlights to drive their equipment.
Kool Herc
Afrika Bambatta
the DJ and Rapping components were complemented by the visual styles of Graffitti writing, with notables sucha as Lee Quinones, which consists of bombing ( mural size pieces) and Tagging ( small personal labels which served as both signature and brand). As DJ culture was beginning to take shape, the dance component of hip hop also began to form. Afrika Bambatta, a member of the infamous Black Spades Street Gang and founder of the iconic ZULU NATION, tired of the endless gang wars and envisioned a new form of battle to settle disputes. Combined with the dance styles influenced by popular martial arts films and an African martial art known,in Brazil is Capoera , as well as popular moves of such luminaries as Cab Calloway and James Brown groups like Rock Steady Crew would bring B-boying to the public consciousness.
Rock Steady Crew
This vibrant culture spread from urban center to urban center and began to mold the imaginations of the young people it touched and I was one of those kids. Hip hop culture, which included cultural references to
the comic books I liked and to the martial arts films I loved, as well as harkening back to the blaxplotation era of the 70's was a perfect backdrop for my stories of black superheroism and as I was raise in an Afrocentric home, the struggle against THE MAN. LOL.
The drug culture of Metro Detroit also had a direct influence on me creatively, as I saw my cousins and friends going from playing basketball and football on the block to wearing 200 dollar Max Julian Leather Coats and Boots and driving big Caddies. One of the most infamous of the crews at that time was a crew started by a group of Teens and made even more infamaous by an ex con by the name of Butch Jones, called Young Boys INC. known in other parts as YOBI's. Thinking myself cleaver I decided to turn a negative into a positive and name the protagonist of my superhero stories of the time THE YOBI, with Butch Jones as his alter ego. So goes being clever. I would later discover that Yobi has meaning as it relates to the Yoroba and the Pantheon of the Orisha , particularly Obatala Elun Yobi which as a term means to "Protect his children and those of his enemies, and brings harmony in the home...".
Rollin Detroit: Gangs, drug dealers, decline of the economy-directed by Al Profit
The second most pervasive influence on me and, in turn, Juda Fist has to be ANIME. I had been watching Japanese Kaiju( Giant Monster) and Sentai(super task force) shows since the 70's. As I mentioned earlier, Gatchaman, Kimba, Ultraman and Giant Robo shaped my childhood. However, I had no idea that a lot of these animations had thier genesis in Japan. Until 1983, I had no idea that these animation constituted a genre , and that what I was seeing was merely the tip of the iceburg.
In summer '83 I was introduced to anime by my homie Vic Green. He showed me Vampire Hunter D, Monster City and Macross: Do You Remember Love and I was like "DAMN!! What the hell is this." The storylines were slower and well paced and allowed for so much character development than anything else that I had seen at that time. Anime also took on genre material that was only broached by live action TV and movie here in the states. Over the years Vic would give me 8 hour super long play video tapes that his brother would bring from Japan.
Vampire Hunter D
Macross: Do You Remember Love
With the discovery of Anime I also discovered MANGA. It was the stuff that Studio Proteus would translate for companies like ECLIPSE COMICS and COMICO that would allow me to see a lot of these stories in thier initial manga form. I notices again that the attention to story was far different than with western comics and also the genre choices showed me that I could do anything.
So with Sci Fi, Fantasy, Hip Hop, Manga, Anime and Afrocentrism the foundation of my work and my seminal story Juda Fist came to fruition. I have more specific influences than this but they all lead back to these early elements. I am very proud to have had these experiences and of having the open mind to be able to recognize the importance of what I was taking into my psyche. It has taken me very far in my creative life and I hope will continue to allow me to differentiate myself from the rest of my peers. These influences have given me a voice, one that I use in more than just drawing but in writing and animation as well.
Youmacon 2012 gave Imaginos Workshop another awesome opportunity to spread the word about our work and talk with fans of comics, anime, manga and storytelling. Youmacon, a relatively young anime convention in downtown Detroit, attracts an enthusiastic crowd of die-hard fans and creative cosplayers. I was impressed with the huge number of people cosplaying in Detroit for the weekend. I'm new to the world of anime and manga, so a lot of the costumes went over my head. But I could appreciate the time, money and creativity of the cosplayers, and there was some crossover: I saw characters from movies and video games as well, along with several Doctor Who's and Walter Whites. The con itself showed some serious growing pains. Registration for many was a lengthy and confusing process, and one that involved waiting in lines, wandering various floors of registration, and walking back and forth between Cobo and the Ren Cen. These are organizational problems that will hopefully get worked out as the convention grows and perfects itself. Despite these issues, the overall attitude at the convention was one of conciliatory excitement.
Star Wars maintained a presence amid the anime and manga cosplayers.
Imaginos Workshop handed out posters, flyers, business cards, stickers and our new "Dirty Weaponry" sketch book. We talked as much as we could with people, and tried to make inroads with a crowd that wasn't our normal demographic: an anime convention is not the same thing as a comic convention, but people still seemed encouraging of our work. This convention also marked our first official, public collaboration with the girls producing the webcomic Mutare Ludum. Their names are Danielle Todd and April Cox, and they've evolved from Mark's students to peers and promising young artists. They are developing a webcomic that is parts fantasy and horror; you can check out their blog here. Probably the most encouraging part of the whole weekend for me was Imaginos Workshop's public panel How To Create Comics, led by our own Mark Dudley. He led a panel that quickly turned into a fun, interactive discussion on constructing, writing and drawing comics from start to finish. We had good attendance and the people there were enthusiastic and engaged. Nick and Joe also contributed to the panel by leading some of the discussion and answering questions. Even Danielle and April were able to add some words of wisdom. Unfortunately the panel was cut shorter due to an oversight on the part of the convention planners (not the last time that happened over the weekend) but it was still a good experience. After the panel ended, a group of artists, fans and writers hung out and talked with us about creating stories and drawing. It was fun and informative, and it gave us all some great connections and interactions with people that are all part of the wide web of creative industries in Michigan.
Mark Dudley leads the How To Create Comics panel.
We are still working on our Imaginos Plus comic book, part of which will be sent to Image Comics on completion so hopefully we can get a publisher for our work. We also have movie scripts and video projects in the works, and we want to continue pushing our online presence and interacting with what we hope will be a growing and loyal fan base. Jon
It's Friday night at 2 AM and the arcade in the Ontario Room of the Renaissance Center is humming. The lights are dim and groups of people crowd around the glow of flat screen TV's or stand, mashing buttons at old-school arcade kiosks. Here, after the main events of Youmacon's second day have ended, people show no signs of sleep just yet. There is a truly eclectic mix of games present, creating a hybrid sort of arcade that sits old school and new school side by side. Players can get a heavy dose of nostalgia with classics like TMNT, Captain America: and The Avengers and the 6-player X-Men arcade. These occupy the same space as popular newer series like Halo, Call of Duty and Gears of War. Gamers crowd around several TV's of Super Smash Bros, both on the GameCube and the Wii. For gamers and curious cosplayers, the Ontario room arcade represents an intoxicating and unique time warp, representing decades of gaming all in one room.
The Renaissance Center shares hosting duties with Detroit's Cobo Hall.
Youmacon, Detroit's fastest growing anime convention also attracts fans of manga, comics, video games and movies. 10,000 people attended the convention last year and the event has been growing since its inception in 2004. The event held in downtown Detroit brings out passionate fans and a remarkably high number of cosplayers: the variety, quality and uniqueness of the costumes are impressive. After the convention's normal hours wrap up and artists' alley closes down for the day, many attendees are just getting started. There are panels and events well into the night, and places like the arcade room never close down. It is a four day, 24-hour long event, and the Renaissance Center is completely booked for it.
Friday was a busy and eventful day at the event, and we spent the first part of the day at our Imaginos Workshop tables, talking with people, taking pictures and handing out swag like posters, stickers and sketch books. We recorded an interview with veteran anime voice actor Sonny Strait, who is most known for his work on Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist and One Piece. He has also done voice acting for video games including Splosion Man and Borderlands 2. Later, we held a panel on creating comics and stories: the process from beginning to end. By that point in the night it was time for many to get some much needed rest. For many others roaming the halls and rooms of the Renaissance Center, and sitting down to play some of their favorite games of yesterday and today, the night was still very young.
Well, here we go again! Mark, Nik and old Hideout veteran Jane Lane
send the train right off the tracks this time around! Topics like comic
and anime conventions are at the forefront with discussion on the
conventions of conventions (for good and ill) as well Jane Lane's own...
interestingly unconventional conventions are brought to the table. An
exercise in self-contained chaos this one.
Oh, and for some context, here are links to the images that the gang talks about this episode.
Alright, homies of the underground, we're doing things a little bit differently this time around. This episode... we get political and cultural! The gang (Joe, Mark, Nik AND Jon) are all here to weigh in on the topic of lack of cultural definition in the youth of America. Past that, you gotta hear it to believe it! So come on down and learn something!
.JPG)
