What's up, 'Combies?! Your peeps in the Hideout are back in 2013 with
a new episode and a new spin! Joined by Imaginos Workshop's two newest
members, Danielle and April and, special guest/homie from the "Geek
Fights" podcast, Tess Craft, the peeps take counter culture head on by
going through the more negative sides of it starting with the
unmistakable gender inequality within it. This is the first installment
of the "Counter Culture Shock" series, so prepare to laugh but, also and
foremost, prepare to think.
For those that wish to read it for themselves, here's a link to "Bleeding Cool's" article on Tony Harris' cosplay-girl rant:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/11/13/hey-quasi-pretty-not-hot-girl-you-are-more-pathetic-than-the-real-nerds-tony-harris/
For the "Geek Fights" podcast which both Joe and Tess have appeared on:
http://www.geekfights.net/
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.
Last time we talked. I spoke about how a plethora of art from the 70's help to inform my artistic mantra's as a whole. I want to get a bit more specific now as to some of the direct influences of Juda Fist: 7 Deaths of the Yobi.
I didn't get a chance to mention earlier that I am a HUGE HUGE player of Pen and Paper role playing games. I first played Dungeons in Dragons in 1979 and I was hooked. I loved the challenges and the imaginative aspect of the game. I was also fascinated with the possibility that though played in the ethereal world of the mind, that I could bring my characters into the real world , albeit 2 dimensionally, through drawing.
In 8th grade I got into a unique educational summer program called Horizons Upward Bound. It was there that I finally became serious about comic books. My roommate was a comic fanatic and he introduced me to Marvel Superhero Secret Wars. From then on I was hooked. I loved the fact that most of Marvel's key where in this series. It was with Secret Wars that rediscovered Wolverine. (A character I previously encountered in an X-men themed episode of Spiderman and his Amazing Friends.)
It was also through my further exploration of Wolverine that I discovered The Uncanny X-Men, and it's penciller and Co-plotter JOHN BYRNE. I never seriously thought about comics, or drawing, as a career choice until I read John's take on this superhero team. Byrne's art had gravitas, his backgrounds and characters felt alive and the stories made me feel for mutants as a whole. This book had DRAMA, and I mean GREAT Drama. It is a crying shame that most of that drama was dismissed in Marvels later attempts to capitalize on it. From this point I devoured anything Byrne did,
I thought that Wolverine was far more visceral than anything that I was familiar with from my early cursory comic readings. He fit the 80's action motif of big dudes, ninjas and impossible action heroes to a tee and I love every minute of it. It was also at this point where my new found comic book fanaticism lead me to a product that was the perfect marriage of comics and pen and paper rpg's, TSR's MARVEL SUPER HEROES RPG.
I really loved the fact that I could create and play my own characters against those from the Marvel Universe. This gave me a huge amount of freedom. It was in this paradigm that I created my very first superhero character, the enigmatic cosmic sentinel and( rip off of Starhawk from Guardians of the Galaxies) Force Phantom.
I also began to realize that Marvel and DC didn't an shouldn't have a monopoly on cool characters. Later, the catalyst for what would become the most pivotal event in my artist career took root. The discovery of PALLADIUM BOOKS HEROES UNLIMITED RPG. It was in this game that I created THE YOBI a character specifically created to counter Wolverine, to whom over exposure had begun to diminish my favor toward.
In Part 3, we are going to jump head first into two of the most influential mediums of all as it relates to Juda Fist and my process. ANIME and HIP HOP!!!!
A few days ago, I finally got a chance to do my influence map. It's a really cool excercise that makes you think alot about what it is that excites you about being creative. After I finished I just stepped back for a minute and surveyed my life. I have been drawing and creating stuff since I was 3 years old. Then I was a kid whose primary influence was a dynamic family, television and encyclopedias. Man how I loved Ultraman, Giant Robot ( Giant Robo) Godzilla and encyclopedias. I only had a cursory knowledge of comicbooks back then. My uncle Greg, himeself a talented artist , used to draw characters from the comics and since Greg and my youngest uncle Aaron (AD r.i.p) where more like big brothers than uncles, I wanted to do everything they did lol.
Even at that age, I knew good stuff when I saw it. So I remember at about age 7 seeing the animation "Battle of the Planets"(Gatchman). It was different from most of the animation out there. I had superhero type characters and it took place in space, that was a wrap for me. I had no idea that I was watching the first of many early imported Japanese ANIME at that point. Sorry, I failed to mention that at that age I wanted to be an astronaut lol. So when I also use to watch stuff like Shazam and Isis, Jason of Star Command and movies like Logan's Run I would imagine myself and my friends in those movies, not as the main characters but having our own adventures in that world. I would ultimately draw some of these adventures. Its funny to remember that back then it seemed like myself and my friends, no matter what the backdrop in terms of sci fi tech in these worlds, always dressed in Chinese "Bruce Lee" Suits and or Karate Gi's and we always carried the latest laser guns. We also traveled in one ever the most spectacular, tank tracked, vehicle most popular in sci fi that day LOL. Even back then I was quite creative. Oh, also in my imagination, we never got a spec of dust on our uniforms and we always had perfectly picked Afros picked to the back lol.
Then it happened. Star Wars and it's television sister Battlestar Galactica, I had no IDEA what the hell I was seeing. NOBODY DID. It is also the first movie that I remember VIVIDLY because it changed my perspective. Then to get that level of special effects on TV in the form of Galactica. I was in HEAVEN at this age. Coolness without end. Still, though my cousin Chris in Akron would let me read his comics when I went to visit my Aunt Della with my Grandparents during our annual trip down south, they still didn't figure prominently into my creative process. That still was all TV and Movies. Then in 1979 another lightening bolt hit, a film by Ridley Scott called Alien. Yeah it scared me to death as it was REAL SCI FI HORROR. The likes of which we haven't seen since, and the Tech was cool.
I plan to continue this diatribe over the next few days, as I want to talk a bit more about what makes a guy like me and how that has prepared me for working with Imaginos Workshop. Mark
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
This year we did five cons; C2E2, Motorcity Con, Motorcity Black Age, Detroit Fanfare and Youmacon.
Youmacon was a lot of fun as we not only got a chance to make new fans with our sketchbook DIRTY WEAPONRY, which we gave out and went like hotcakes...
...but we were also able to get some very important feedback. We got to spread our working philosophy via our How To Create Comics Panel Discussion, which went really well. And we were able to debut Mutare Ludum, the fantasy horror webcomic from two of Imaginos' newest student-turned-members, Danielle Todd and April Cox.
We kicked off our Kickstarter and made the decision to suspend it in lieu of taking more time to cement our identity in the local comics community. We took at lot of footage for our fledgling YouTube network IMAGINOS TV and made some slight but welcome changes to our podcast, the Honeycomb Hideout.
We also got a bit closer on our script, which we are trying to sell. So whats next?
Well, by year's end we need to have all 18 pages of the Imaginos Sampler penciled and lettered. We have to get penciling work done on the various posters and other swag for our push next year, and we have to get started shooting our new Kickstarter video. Remember the new Kickstarter initiative is going live FEB 15th, 2013.
We also have to sit down and tighten up the podcast even more and make sure that it is more informative than it is now, and get ready to start taking live callers via Google Plus. I would also like to see regular updates and interviews on IMAGINOS TV.
We are planning on getting our film script done and ready for final edits, along with other super secret things going on in the TV Arena, so stay tuned. We are starting to get our ancillary stuff like T-shirts, Stickers, Business cards and the like ready for C2E2. We need to utilize social media far more effectively than we have to start connecting in a more meaningful way with our fan base. Finally, we are getting ready to solidify our educational drive by preparing to teach a comic book and storyboarding course at Youthville, in Detroit's New Center Area and at Comic City Pontiac.
The work is never done. We are working to build something really strong here and its going to take everyone involved to do so. I am confident that we have what it takes to make it happen.
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.
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