The best things in life...still cost a buck

Since I would probably make a poor Comicon correspondent, I'm gonna make this as painless as possible on myself. Let's just say that the 12th annual Phoenix Comicon came and went, and that I had a very good time while I was there.

Unfortunately, I only attended three days of the four-day event (Thursday thru Saturday). Still, I'm certain that I got to see the very best that the dealers, presenters and fans of comics, anime, manga, sci-fi and fantasy had to offer.

Tons of caped (and non-caped) crusaders were to be ogled everywhere: From Batgirl and Captain America to Vash and Willy Wonka, fanboys and fangirls of every age were there wearing their needle-stitching hearts on their sleeves.

As for the kung fu pimp, my costume consisted of a 1-inch Green Lantern pinback button pinned to a beige Timberland baseball cap. But my business there had at nothin' at all to do with the Comicon catwalks. St. Paco had a hot date with the long boxes.

Just like last year, the Phoenix Comicon offered me lots more of the kinds of books that I never brought back from San Diego–bronze age dollar comics. Then, too, such books may not have been my primary interest then. But they are now and I'm happy to say that Ed's Comics of Mesa, AZ was there once again to feed my need.

Without actually preparing a want list of books, I roughed together a vague idea of the kinds of books that I wanted to buy. My instincts were leaning towards one or two titles from which I could put together a decent sequential run of 6-12 comics that would give me a nice chunk of particular vintage flavor.

As fortune would have it, hiding within Ed's boxes was a decent smattering of early Power Man and Iron Fist comics. The books I snagged would immediately allow me to quench my old school thirst like a Slurpee™does for a fat kid on a hot summer's day in...well, Phoenix.

The modest pile of about twenty books that I walked away with on Saturday included three reprints of iconic books that my piggy bank will not yet permit me to purchase, as well as a bunch of original issues for which I probably should have paid much more than a buck each.

Posted below are cover scans of ten of my spine-tingling buys. Read 'em... Well, see 'em and weep.

Oh, yeah. I actually paid $10 bucks for this last one. But it's the second issue of Iron Fist, whadda' ya expect?!

Who's the fairest con of all?

Fair San Diego Comicon,

Tis' a shame how long it hath been since I last saw thee.

Ahhhh, twas' a time once when my heroic heart gazed out merrily o'er the rainbow bridge with much longing for my summer sojourn hither! But nay, fair maiden! No more doth mine eyes look upon thee. Nay, nay, I say!

Alas, tis' that those formidable giants of Tinsel Town hath made thy pearly doors near impossible for e'en this thunder god to breach. And in the vast span of days that hath passed since I looked upon thee last, methinks thy place in mine heart hath been filled.

Aye, 'tis indeed another Comicon that has gratefully received my summer sojourn. And though she be not as fair as thee, she is fair enough that I am pleased. In every way she is a Phoenix arching over the smoldering ashes of a desire that I, like a fool, believed could ne'er burn for any but thee!

What a fool thou hadst made of me, temptress.

And lo, seated there at her well-attended tables this year were none-other than Sir Patrick of Stewart, Lavar of Burton, Will of Wheton, Mirina of Sirtis, Michael of Dorn, Brent of Spiner, William of Shatner, Edward of Asner, Louis of Ferrigno and many more that I ne're would hath expected to cast mine eyes upon.

How is it that she accomplished such a heroic feat...lest it be a mere bewitching trick? Nay, I trust it to have been only a portent of the greatness that is to yet to come from her. And by my hammer, it doth make my heart swell. Zounds! By my hammer, it does!

Aye, and as I once did ere long for thee, San Diego Comicon, I look now forward with an eager heart to what the fair Phoenix Comicon mayhap prepareth for me and mine in the years that are to come. Aye, indeed.

[Press-N-Play] Renegades of Funk

Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force - Renegades of Funk (1983)

...A Thousand Words

Yes, yes. I've been neglectful of the blog as of late. Fortunately, the Phoenix Comicon starts tomorrow, so perhaps I'll have something interesante to blog about soon. In the meantime, in the absence of words, howz about lookin' at sum purty pictures?

The photograph above, which features some stunning graff work by Meggs, is one of several cool photos in my favorites gallery on Flickr. I hadn't rummaged through the collection in quite some time, and was really taken aback just now by the amazing images that I've bookmarked over the years.

Wanna see? Well, click here and be dazzled. Dazzled, I say.

No Sleep 'til Brooklyn

There's Somethin' About Shiro

 

Words & Collages: St. Paco

When considering content for the fifth issue of Kung Fu Grip! zine, it quickly occurred to me that an interview with Shiro, a prolific graffiti artist from Japan, would be a cool inclusion to pursue. I became an instant fan of her work when I saw it on a viaduct wall during a trip to back home to Chicago, and have followed her character-based graffiti ever since.

By way of Myspace, I dropped Shiro a line to request an interview and looked forward to hearing back from the artist. But I never got a response, and didn’t feel at all slighted about it either. Some artists don’t feel all that comfortable about being nailed down in print–particularly graffiti artists.

Despite the high frequency at which Shiro "gets up," and despite the fact that many of the artist’s pieces are legal murals that she received permission to paint (like that one on a viaduct in Chicago), there’s still something very discreet about Shiro. Something mysterious even.

For instance, in nearly all of the photographs that I’ve seen of her, the artist usually has a two-finger ‘peace’ sign raised to obscure her face. Sometimes a spray can has been held up to block the view. At still other times, the bill of one of the hats that she always seems to wear has been tilted down to partially conceal her visage.

And what exactly is it that the artist is trying to hide? It can’t be her identity, because everyone knows it’s Shiro. More often than not, the photographs in which she stands posed are posted right on her blog. So it’s clearly no secret who the artist is–or what she looks like.

Speaking frankly, the artist is also as cute and as stylish as any one of her painted characters. So it’s not even a case of hiding from the world the kind of face that only a mother or father could love. Is it possible that Shiro is just shy? Well, I wouldn’t believe it for a minute, even if she told me that she was.

Perhaps it’s all just done in a mostly symbolic effort to preserve an alter ego that the artist still wants to try maintaining somehow: Shiro Miyakami, aerosol can brandishing super-heroine by day, mild-mannered nurse by night!

An article that I once read mentioned that when she isn’t painting, Shiro works part-time as a nurse in her hometown of Shizuoka. I’m thinking that maybe she should just buy a pair of thick, dark-rimmed glasses; that trick always seemed to work for Superman. And Wonder Woman, too.

Whatever it is that this not-so-masked woman is hiding, the images that she leaves on walls across the globe reveal a lot. Her letter forms, though stylized and colorful, are usually simple enough that even a grandmother could read and appreciate. Still, grandma might actually take issue with some of Shiro’s super-sexy characters that show up on public walls as naked as topless dancers.

 

Shiro’s colorful cast of characters includes mermaids, sword-wielding geishas, bikers, b-girls, masked wrestlers and bat-carrying ball breakers. There are mini-dress donned divas, baseball cap wearing homegirls, bikini garbed hell’s angels and even a veil-covered Virgin! And they all rock manicured nails, lipstick, earrings and hairstyles that run the gamut; from bone straight and ponytails to cornrows and cameo afros.

Shiro’s art embraces the characteristics of every woman. And that might be partly why the artist conceals her face. Like those characters (and Chaka Khan & Whitney), Ms. Shiro, too, is every woman, and chooses to limit how much she shares of herself because she’s more woman than most of us can handle.


– Originally printed in Kung Fu Grip! #5 (Preview & order here)

Ah, what the hell...Chaka Khan, CHAKA KHAN!

C'mon. You know that you have the song playin' in your head now, so go on and give it a listen. In fact, here are the Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston versions, linked below for your listening pleasure.

Chaka Khan - I'm Every Woman (1978)

Whitney Houston - I'm Every Woman (1992)

Kung Fu Grip! #3B: Super Special Edition

When I was a snot-nosed third grader, I was super envious of one of my classmates who had this folder that he'd decorated with the Marvel Comics Super-Hero stickers. Between 1974 and 1976, the Topps Chewing Gum Company produced a senses-shattering assortment of Marvel hero decals sold in wax packs like baseball cards–complete with a flat pink slab of chalk-flavored bubble gum.

Three decades later, in the fall of 2007, I hand produced a limited edition series of two-hundred covers for the third issue of Kung Fu Grip! (The Stick & Move Special Edition). Featured on the front of each copy was a sticker collage made up of "slaps" that had been sent to me over the years by slap-taggers and street artists from around the world.

Quite often, though, while working on that cover series I would remember that childhood classmate's folder, and I thought about trying to recapture that vintage flavor on one of my sticker collage covers. But I never got around to actually doing it. Now five years later, though, the idea still continued to haunt me.

And so, last week I made up my mind to place a conservative bid on a small collection of Marvel super-hero decals (circa 1975) that I found on Ebay. A few days later, the assortment was mine. Muahahaha!

Now, cuz I don't want you to be super envious, I ain't gonna say just how utterly cheap I got the collection for. But only a few years ago, the price I paid would've been completely unheard of. (Or perhaps it was the hand of fate that tipped the bidding in my favor...)

Anyway, as you can see from the scans included with this post, I wound up producing two "super special collector's edition" covers. One of these will most certainly be kept in my personal collection, but the other will likely be offered for sale at the underground publishing & art show that I plan to curate later this year.

This past January, I decided to put together an exhibit in order to commemorate a decade of my continuous zine production between 2002 and 2012. And whenever I envisioned the covers of my zines on a wall, I would see half-a-dozen copies of the KFG3 special edition also on display. Among them, I could also see a cover like this one hanging on the wall.  When the time comes, it really will.
 

NOW SHOWING...

 

Your Kung Fu Sucks! Grindhouse Cinemas™ is proud to bring you another Knuckle-crackin' Saturday Matinee™, featuring Sister Street Fighter, which stars the absolutely stunning Sue Shiomi. Oh...and Sonny Chiba, too! As always, a free MP4 download is available courtesy of the good folks at Archive.org. Or feel free to watch this eye-gougingly good flick front-row-and-center at the YKFS blog!

Rock Steady #3: Shaolin Breakbeats!!!

Kung Fu Grip! zine, in association with the TROY blog, brings you Mr. Wiggles' classic Rock Steady Mixtape #3: Shaolin Breakbeats. That's right, b-boys and b-girls, this vintage cassette has been digitized and donated to the web for your listening pleasure by the dynamic duo of dirt_dog and St. Paco. So download this baby pronto and prepare yourself for nearly one hour of old school martial-arts-marinated music, bad English dubbing, fight sound effects, and the ill mic skills of Mr. Wiggles and Ken Swift of the legendary Rock Steady Crew.

Mr. Wiggles – Rock Steady #3: Shaolin Breakbeats (1996)

Who loves ya, baby?

St. Paco, that's who.

Still rockin' steady, baby

Somehow, I forgot to provide a follow-up to my posts last year about the Rock Steady mixtapes that I put up for auction on Ebay (read about 'em here and here). At the time, I mentioned that one of the cassettes had been purchased by a dude named Sahin in Germany who'd been on a quest to find a copy of the first of those cassettes for sixteen friggin' years. Well, the story of Sahin's quest and it's happy ending – thanks to yours truly – was detailed in an interview in the Fall/Winter edition of Backspin (issue #107), Germany's oldest hip-hop mag. Shown below is a fuzzy cameraphone shot of the two-page spread that was proudly posted to Sahin's Facebook page.

Breaking and the New York City Breakers

If Spraycan Art, the book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, is considered the bible of graffiti, then Michael Holman's Breaking and the New York City Breakers might be the equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls of hip-hop–because copies of this publication are extremely effin' rare today. Released to magazine racks back in 1984, Holman's visionary trade paperback documented the short history of the Floor Masters, the b-boy crew that he would groom and rename the New York City Breakers. In the process, Holman explores the roots of hip-hop music, dance, graffiti art, language and fashion, and renders a vivid portrait of this vibrant culture in its incredibly defined infancy. Of all of the artifacts in my archive, Breaking and the New York City Breakers is one of my most treasured. As you can see from the cover, my copy is as tattered and torn as a thousand-year-old religious scroll. But since most modern disciples of hip-hop culture have probably never heard of, let alone seen this rare gem, it seemed like a good time to share a few of its pulse-pounding pages.

So sayeth

St. Paco

Funky Flyer Junkie

Phase 2 - April, 1981

Maur – March, 1981

Buddy Esquire - November, 1981

It could easily be argued that one of the most indispensable, though under appreciated, elements of early hip-hop were the industriously-made handbills (aka flyers) that were produced to promote hip-hop parties throughout the New York metro. Phase 2, the most prolific flyer rocker of the time, writes that between 1978 and 1979, flyer production reached its creative zenith with the pieces made not only by himself, but skilled designers like Buddy Esquire, Sisco Kid, Eddie Ed, Maur, and others.

In October of 2004, soulstrut.com would feature on its website a staggering collection of roughly 150 of those classic flyers from the personal archives of a collector called Dustykid. And as others have most certainly done, I downloaded the collection to my own archives. But I think that I may have taken things just one step further. 'Cuz I'm geeky like dat, I wanted to be able to examine the flyers in a more accurate historical context, so I actually organized 'em in chronological order.

I should mention now that it wasn't exactly easy. In fact, many of the flyers only included the day and date of the event, but no year. So the task frequently required my referencing a digital calendar, to determine in which years various days and dates coincided.

The earliest flyer in the collection dates to June of 1979, and the last dates to October of 1986. (Okay, I might have left out the three flyers from '87 that didn't live up to my standards!) Because Dustykid was good enough to share the collection with the world wide web, at some future point I plan to share my chronologically sequenced set with those who might also be interested in such geekery.

In the meantime, feel free to click the link below to download one of my favorite recordings from the period when the funkiest flyers were being made. That's right, true believers, the L Brothers vs. the Herculoids, live at the Bronx River Center! I found this and a few other vintage recordings like it on the interwebs some years back. People often like to tout the phrase "real hip-hop," but this recording audibly illustrates what real hip-hop actually sounds like.

The L Bros vs. The Herculoids at the Bronx River Center (1978)

So veddy soddy

Dear YKFS readers,

We would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the recent spate of blog posts. We do realize that it may have been a little irresponsible to have unleashed such a large dose of freshness upon unsuspecting readers in such quick succession. We are deeply sorry for this, but these recent posts were inspired by forces beyond our control. Nevertheless, we take full responsibility for them. If any our postings have provoked strong physiological reactions, including but not limited to: heart palpitations, shortness of breath, depression, or thoughts of blog-o-cide, we ask that you turn off the monitor immediately and take a break from the YKFS blog.

Sincerely,

The Management

NOW SHOWING...

Your Kung Fu Sucks! Grindhouse Cinemas™ proudly presents another Knuckle-crackin' Saturday Matinee™, featuring The Bodyguard (aka Karate Kiba), which stars Sonny Chiba. A free MP4 download is available courtesy of the good folks at Archive.org. Or feel free to watch this eye-gougingly good flick front-row-and-center at the YKFS blog! But bring your own popcorn.

Magneto and Titanium Man

Paul McCartney & Jack Kirby

Mark Evanier's Kirby: King of Comics holds a slew of cool anecdotes between its covers. One of the coolest tells of a day in 1975 when Paul McCartney met Jack Kirby. At the time, Paul was touring with his band, Wings, promoting the release of their new album that included "Magneto and Titanium Man," a song boasting the influence of three Marvel super-villains. During a concert at Southern California's Forum Theater, Kirby, who had been invited by Paul's record company, presented the ex-Beatle with a pencil illustration that showed Paul and his wife, Linda, under the control of Magneto. During the concert, Paul would later introduce and dedicate his song to Kirby–all to the thunderous applause of the audience.

Wings - Magneto and Titanium Man (1975)

[Book Report™] Kirby: King of Comics

The bad thing about big coffee table books is that they don't always get read. Oh, sure, you'll read a few pages. Maybe even a few chapters. But what you'll often wind up doing is reading the captions placed beside and below the book's abundant illustrations. And why? Because the writing isn't all that engaging. So that impressively-sized publication quickly becomes this massive thing with a lot of unread words in it. And how does that make you feel? Yeah, just like you're in pre-school again, because you have another book that's as tall as your torso, and all you've managed to do is to study the pictures.

Well, true believers, Mark Evanier's Kirby: King of Comics is another coffee table tome that you will also not read. No, this is one that you're actually gonna devour, hungrily, like a densely populated planet on the soup spoon of Galactus. Well, that is after you've removed the dust jacket to keep it in minty fresh condition. And in your cover-to-cover consumption of this fitting tribute to Evanier's friend and mentor, you will learn far more about the history of comic books in general, and Kirby's king-sized place in the art form, than you could ever have imagined. Kirby: King of Comics is a pulse-pounding portrait of one of the most important figures to ever apply pencil lead to a multi-paneled page. A man whose space-spanning imagination may not have been fully comprehended or appreciated until now. Long live the "king."

P.S. The bad thing about this book, is that is is so profusely illustrated with stunning full-page illustrations (8.75" x 12") that you will constantly wanna tear 'em out and to tape 'em to the wall. If you're thinking that you won't be able to fight the urge, Barnes & Noble currently has Kirby: King of Comics on the clearance table for $12.98 (SRP $40). You can pick up two copies for less than the price of one! 'Nuff said.

Click to enlarge

I don't know about you, but 'I Am Bruce Lee'

"If someone says that they can't watch a Bruce Lee film, then I can't talk to 'em."
- Reginald Hudlin

Word, Reggie. And 'nuff said... 'cause I can barely think...or speak...or write after seeing this trailer. To get more information on this amazing-looking film, visit the I Am Bruce Lee website.



P.S. I just popped by the Bruce Lee Facebook page and according Shannon (his daughter), the film will air on March 7th on Spike TV. Additional information about limited theatrical screenings are available at the I Am Bruce Lee website.

The Blackest Terror #1

Remember that scene in the movie Chasing Amy where the leather-clad black militant comic book creator whips out a fake pistol while he's on the stage at a comic book convention? And remember how he fires a blank round at a heckling audience member (his buddy Banksy), and then continues to fire off a few more rounds to the cackle-inducing call of "Black rage! Black rage!" Well, the debut issue of The Blackest Terror is a lot like that scene–except that when this guy's gat goes off, somebody catches a bad one.

Written by Eric M. Equivel and illustrated by Ander Sarabia, The Blackest Terror is a cool-looking book that I mostly just spotted on the rack at the local comic book shop some weeks ago. Unfortunately, that particular copy was the very last one on the rack and had been so manhandled by curious customers that I wasn't gonna fork over my hard-earned ducats for something that looked like sloppy seconds, or worse.

To my fanboy surprise, when I stopped in to visit the shop again yesterday there was a dozen or so new copies of The Blackest Terror on the rack. Right on. I promptly added one of the minty fresh copies to the short stack that I was carrying and made way for the cash register. When I got back to the lab, The Blackest Terror was the first book that I pulled from the pile.

Now, since I'm not one for spoilers you're just gonna have to do what I did and judge this handsome book by its cover: It's called The Blackest Terror, for Pete's sake, and boasts a mask-wearing brotha' with a skull and crossbones on his chest, passin' out knuckle sandwiches and free-toes at a Klu Klux Klan rally. (Well, I will actually say there aren't any Klansmen in the story, but do not let that keep you away from this righteously written and illustrated comic book.

Verdict: The Blackest Terror's kung fu does NOT suck.

St. Paco
Kung Fu Grip! zine

"There's no place like..."

"It's just about 12:30 in the morning and I'm on my way home from work. Great peaceful quiet walk to the Metra. Thought it was worth taking a picture. "



My new homie dirt_dog sent me this sweet snapshot from Chicago's downtown area. It's a great nighttime capture that almost makes me homesick–which is something I haven't felt in a while.

[Sigh]

Happy 'Subway Art' to Me

Image from Subway Art, 2009. Courtesy of Chronicle Books.

At Barnes & Noble today, I chanced upon the 25th Anniversary Edition of Subway Art sellin' for the discounted price of $9.99. That's right, true believers, the super-sized version of Subway Art (original SRP $40.00) is sellin' for the low, low price of $9.99.

Well, the book had actually been in the virtual discount bins at barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com since last year, if not even earlier. But it was still really cool to see it in the discount section of a brick-n-mortar store. This is especially true when considering that I've been draggin' my shell-toes about buying a copy since its release in 2009.

I know, I know. Blasphemous, right?

Well, after 'oohing and ahhing' through the copy that my homeboy Mikey picked up back when it first came out, I wasn't in any rush to get my own copy. Maybe it was stubborn sentimentality that just kept me referencing the original copy that I purchased way back in the 1980s, beat to utter crap though it may be.

With my birthday coming up (on Friday), and for the price, I figured it was finally time to make my move. But I still haven't cracked the cover yet. In fact, the book is still in the B&N bag. Like I said, my b-day is just around the corner and since I've waited nearly three years for it, I can wait another 48 hours, can't I?

NOW SHOWING...

Your Kung Fu Sucks! Desktop Cinemas proudly presents Return of the Kung-Fu Dragon (1976), starring the beautiful-but-deadly Sun-Kuan Rin-Feng, aka Polly Kuon (Dragon Gate Inn).



Free MP4 downloads of this film available courtesy of Archive.org.

The Art of Biting (What's Your Style?)

Enter the Dragon (1973)


Enter the Dragon (Production Still)


Fury of the Dragon (1979)


Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)


The Empire Strikes Back (1980)


The Dragon Strikes Back (1972)


Return of the Jedi (1983)


Return of the Dragon (1972)

Jim Jarmusch on originality.

The RZA & Jim Jarmusch

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) with be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery–celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It's not where you take things from–it's where you take them to.'"

–Jim Jarmusch