Tag Archives: comics
Comic book showcase: Octobriana
So I went to go see a movie called The Death of Stalin over the weekend.
It was a legitimately funny movie about a very terrifying and violent subject matter that I find very interesting and fascinating to study and while I might complain that the entire cast all spoke with impeccable British and American accents, I don’t think any other group could have made something as terrifying as Stalin’s purges so funny.
Also, it’s based off of a much more serious comic book so yeah, it does have a place on this blog.
This inspired me to go looking for another Russian superhero to write about and let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Russia is not a land where comic books thrive. For starters, comic books are a modern American thing, and the people running the Soviet Union at the time couldn’t have such a vulgar, capitalist art form corrupting their youth.
It’s also worth mentioning that Russia’s contribution to literary art isn’t the comic book. It’s the incredibly long, and incredibly depressing novel.
Finally, the simple fact of the matter is that when comic books were becoming a thing, Russia was in the middle of fighting for its life,
It’s difficult to care about an upbeat, optimistic superhero when you’re fighting in your neighbor’s abandoned house for scraps of food.
That’s not to say that Russia doesn’t have superheroes. A few years ago they introduced the world to the Guardians, Russia’s first superhero team.
Heh, Man Bear.
But that doesn’t exactly fall under the purview of this blog. Granted, neither does today’s superhero but she’s interesting and this is my blog so I can make the rules.
Today we’re going to talk about Octobriana, underground hero of the Soviet Union and the leggiest blonde in the entire USSR.
Origin and Career
So strap yourselves in for a long ride, because her origin is a doozy.
This is the cover of Octobriana’s first appearance in the West, a book entitled Octobriana and the Russian Underground.
The author of this book was one Petr Sadecky.
I have no idea if this is him, it’s just the best image that came up.
Sadecky claimed that Octobriana had been created by a secret dissident political group that had cells across the Soviet Union called the “Progressive Political Pornography”.
Apparently the group believed that the current Soviet government had betrayed the ideals of socialism and sought to return the Soviet Union to its original and pure form. They fought against the system by publishing Octobriana stories in hand printed samizdat publications, which was literature published by hand and distributed from person to person in secret.
Also, the PPP claimed to be descendants from Vikings.
If this sounds a bit ludicrous it’s because it is. Her actual origin story was that Petr contracted two Czech illustrators to create a comic strip with him about a comic strip, but he wound up screwing the artists over and fleeing to the West, where he tried to sell the book on his own. When it didn’t work, he gave the book a more political bent and it wound up becoming a success.
It’s kind of a shame that she wasn’t the product of a top secret anti Soviet political movement because Octobriana is nuts.
The closest thing I can compare her to is Wonder Woman, but Diana ain’t got nothing on this Soviet babe, even with her invisible jet,
Octobriana was the child of Viking,
and Toltec people.
How the hell the Vikings made it to Mexico and South America I have no idea.
Anyway, Octobriana was given radiation treatments to make her immortal (huh?) and she leapt into a radioactive volcano which made her a superhuman.
Her stories involve her kicking all sorts of butt across history. In one particularly famous instance, she…”swims into a radioactive volcano to kill a walrus with her kris.”
And how about that costume? There is no way those scraps of cloth could keep everything covered, especially when fighting a walrus.
So what happened?
She was an independent comic book character published in the West, based off of stolen artwork and spouting far left political ideals…there just isn’t that much of an audience for that. Also, since it was allegedly published in a top secret underground comic book scene she wasn’t copyrighted. That’s right, anyone can use her.
The two Czech artists that Petr had screwed over sued him in court and won, although they never got their artwork back.
As for Octobriana herself, she did get something of a cult following in certain social circles, especially in Great Britain. The late great David Bowie was a fan,
and Billy Idol actually has a tattoo of her on his arm.
Also, since she is definitely available for anyone to use, various artists have used her in their stories. She appeared in the Luther Arkwright series,
and she had a story in the British comic anthology 2000 AD.
But if you ask me it’s not enough. Like I’ve stated before, she’s definitely free for anyone to use and let’s face it, we could certainly use a little bit more of a blonde haired, long legged, time travelling, amazon goddess spreading the word of Marx and Lenin in our lives and I say it’s time she got the attention that she deserved.
So go forth comrades! Spread the word to the mountains, the valleys, from the coldest depths of the oceans to the hot and steamy jungles yet unexplored by man! Spread the word to the masses and bring down the oppressive bourgeois!
Long live socialism! Long li…okay I may be getting ahead of myself here.
Anyway, Octobriana is awesome and deserves more attention.
The Secret Lives of Villains #305
Golden Age Showcase: Jill Trent, Science Sleuth.
It’s funny that popular culture doesn’t associate women with the sciences, and it’s especially interesting when you consider that women have been responsible for huge advances in science from early mathematics and astronomy,
to creating the genre of science fiction,
to taking us to the moon,
and basically inventing the whole idea of computer sciences and programming.
Interestingly enough, the comic book industry had a female science hero to call their own in the 1940’s, and I thought it might be fun to talk about her today.
This is Jill Trent, Science Sleuth.
Origin and Career
Jill Trent made her first appearance as a back up story in Fighting Yank #6 in 1943.
She was created by artist Al Camy, a man who had done a lot of work for Standard Comics including work on one of their most popular heroes, the Black Terror.
The setup for each story followed the standard Golden Age setup with not a lot of attention paid to the backstory and not a lot of effort being put into explaining how Jill makes a living. She’s just a genius who invents stuff and solves crimes with them.
As you can see from the page above, Jill Trent was a genius inventor and scientist. Not only did she develop a way to see through walls, she presumably figured out a way to defy gravity as well.
To help her with her adventures Jill had a friend named Daisy Smythe, who was her confidant and sidekick throughout her adventures. This were their sleeping arrangements.
Sure those are double cots placed side to side and it’s no different than what Batman and Robin were doing around this time,
but let’s face it, your mind already went there didn’t it?
Not only was Jill a genius, but both ladies were actually very capable fighters and had no qualms about defending themselves by any means necessary.
Also, they weren’t above the use of guns either, especially in one particular adventure when they were fighting off a bunch of goons over a copper bedframe.
Granted, the crooks were trying to get the bed back because it had a large stack of money in it but still, it certainly puts a vicious spin on customer complaints.
Despite being a bit controversial Jill and company were actually reasonably successful. They appeared in two issues of Fighting Yank and were then moved to a title called Wonder Comics where they appeared in twelve issues.
So what happened?
Her publisher suffered with the rest of the comic book industry in the 1950’s and she was cancelled in 1956.
With that being said, she may have been cancelled but she hasn’t been forgotten. She’s actually in the public domain and free for anyone to use, although the sources I’ve checked have said to be careful since there still might be some legal issues.
However, legal grey area or not, that hasn’t stopped the independent comics scene from reviving the two heroines. In 2015 a Kickstarter was launched to give Jill a modern update and it was incredibly successful.
Sadly, I have no idea where you might be able to buy this if you’re interested. If anyone knows, please post a comment.
Jill Trent isn’t just progressive and potentially subversive, she’s pretty awesome as well. She throws down like Wonder Woman, she’s dedicated to the pursuit of scientific knowledge like Einstein, and she has the ability to come up with more gadgets than Q from James Bond.
She would make a genuinely fantastic modern heroine and more people deserve to know about her.
Crowdfunded comics that deserve more attention: The Arcane Cocktail Enthusiast
Today we’re talking about a Kickstarter comic called The Arcane Cocktail Enthusiast.
The comic is written and created by Jeff Rider and drawn by Dave Puppo.
The story is about a bar owner named Lark Leraar.
She owns an establishment called The Archanist, which she also uses as a base and secret lair to practice magic.
The comic is seeking funding for its first issue and at the time of writing has raised $1,883 out of $3,500 with fifteen days left to donate.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloudwrangler/the-arcane-cocktail-enthusiast-print-edition-comic?ref=av0qnc
Why I like it
I don’t drink very much.
Sure I’ll indulge a bit in social settings, but when it comes to the consumption of alcohol I am a complete lightweight and too poor and too busy to explore the subtle differences between types of scotch.
But while the idea of a magical bartender serving magical drinks doesn’t excite me personally, I do find it incredibly interesting from a historical point of view, and and if you ask anyone who knows me in the slightest they will tell you that I do loooove me some history.
Let me explain. Since the beginning of human history we have spent a lot of time trying to figure out new and exciting ways to get drunk.
The Egyptians invented one of the earliest recipes for beer and even paid laborers with booze.
The Babylonians took their beer so seriously that if they caught a brewer tampering with his or her product, they killed him by drowning the offender in it.
And during the Middle Ages most of the brewing, distribution, and sale of booze was done by women. You could always tell who was a brewer with their trademark pointed cap, a broom like whisk for filtering out lumps of material from their cauldron brew, and a cat to help keep away rats and mice from the grain.
If the above image looks like a stereotypical witch you’re not wrong. There are some who would say that our modern interpretation of witchcraft was a widespread propaganda campaign to get women out of brewing beer.
The point is that the creation of alcohol has had an important, almost magical, place in human history. Makes sense really, booze made you feel good and anyone who could get you drunk better than anyone else must have seemed like a wizard.
The Arcane Cocktail Enthusiast takes this idea and gives it a modern update and I think that is really cool.
Not only does it put a modern twist on this idea, it uses it to tell a story about an awesome lady who goes out and fights a manticore with nothing but her magically enhanced hands.
That’s pretty awesome.
Why you should donate
Of course, these days we’re not big fans of magic and coffee has become the dominant brain altering drink of choice.
But while we may be men and women of science and rational thought, we still have our own brand of sorcery that we use to turn certain people who make our food into insanely rich gods.
I am, of course, talking about celebrity chefs.
Sure, these guys aren’t witches or warlocks, but you have to admit that there’s something magical about watching food being prepared.
Hell, we love this so much that we have entire channel on the television where we just watch people cook and eat food.
But if we have dedicated all this time and effort into praising the accomplishments of the people that make our food, what about the people who prepare our drinks?
Where are our celebrity brewers and bartenders?
As I stated in the previous section, our ancestors practically worshiped the creation and consumption of alcohol. Today? Not so much.
Don’t get me wrong, we still hold a place of reverence for things like microbreweries and bartenders who can but a bit of flair into their job,
but I think it’s safe to say that the bartender and brewer has been greatly overshadowed by the chef in today’s culture.
Don’t you think it’s time that bartenders got the same respect and attention that we give celebrity chefs? Don’t you think it’s time that we elevated the people who serve us alcohol to the place of respect that they once held? Don’t you think it’s time to put the magic back into a beverage that has been so important to human history?
I sure as heck think so.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloudwrangler/the-arcane-cocktail-enthusiast-print-edition-comic?ref=av0qnc
The Secret Lives of Villains #304
Comic book showcase: The Flaming Carrot
You know what? I think it’s time to take a break from the Golden Age this week.
The Golden Age of Comics was an age of ridiculous comic book characters and a “well let’s just throw things against the wall and see what sticks” attitude, which is the main reason why I started this blog in the first place, but I’d like to branch out and see if there might be other characters that could be just as ridiculous and crazy.
Sure, we’ve talked about comic book characters from different time periods before, but there has to be something there that’s crazy, bold, and…
oh hello, where have you been all my life?
Screw tradition, this is the Flaming Carrot.
Origin and Career
The Flaming Carrot made his first appearance in a small comic called Visions which was published by a convention called the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1979.
A bit of context here: the early 1980’s were a time when the independent comic book scene was really starting to take off. Creators were often ditching the big publishers of Marvel and DC to self publish their own stuff or with smaller publishers who were much more generous with their checkbooks and willingness to share credit.
For a bit more context, this was the time period that gave us the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The Flaming Carrot comic would later be self published through a company called Killian Barracks Press and then find different homes through various publishers over the next thirty years.
He was created by comic book author and illustrator Bob Burden.
The hero was meant to be a parody of superhero comics at the time.
he got his powers by suffering from brain damage after reading 5,000 comics in a single sitting.
Just goes to show you, comics are bad for you and will rot your brain.
How did his head turn into a carrot?
Don’t ask such stupid questions.
The Carrot lived in the fictional neighborhood of Palookaville in Iron City. He didn’t have any superpowers but he would often win the day through grit, determination, and sheer dumb luck. Also, he had a toy chest of gadgets to help him along with a gun, which he used without hesitation or remorse.
His enemies were equally ridiculous, as you can see below.
You’ll notice that a lot of the interior artwork is in black and white. It was like this to cut down on art and printing costs. Believe me, I know.
Over the course of his career, the Flaming Carrot developed a cult following and became pretty popular. He even found some time to create a team of working class heroes known as “The Mystery Men”
We’ll touch on that later.
So what we have here is an independent creator, publishing a black and white comic, that parodies super hero stories, and is self published without any help or support.
Can’t imagine why I would relate to something like that.
Side note: did you know that we actually have another web comic up and running? It’s called “Questing 9 to5” and it’s on our Tapastic account which you can find here
So what happened?
It’s actually kind of difficult to pinpoint the exact time and moment when Flaming Carrot ceased publication ended. Despite its success as an indie hit, it ceased being an ongoing title when issue #31 was released in 1994.
The hero would make various appearances in one shots and crossovers over the course of the 1990’s, including a crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1993.
Sadly, this did not make it into the show.
In 2004, the character was picked up by Image Comics and four more issues were published.
His last appearance was in 2006 and to this date, Bob Burden hasn’t published anything else.
Thankfully, Flaming Carrot was just crazy enough, and just popular enough, to garner attention from Hollywood, and in 1999 Burden helped create a movie based around Flaming Carrot’s teammates. The movie was called Mystery Men,
and it failed spectacularly. It’s actually kind of sad really, the movie has some great actors who would go on to better things, so it was clear that there was SOME effort put into it. Although, it had Dane Cook in it which was just…
ugh.
However, there was one thing about the movie that has stayed with us and has gone on to pop culture immortality.
You know that one song by a band called Smash Mouth? The one that was really REEEAAALY popular in the early 2000’s and everyone knew as “that song that plays at the beginning of the first Shrek movie”?
Yep, this is the movie where that song came from and why the introduction has a whole bunch of ridiculous superheroes…and Dane Cook.
You’re welcome.
I’m going to level with you, Flaming Carrot is that kind of ridiculous cheesiness that makes comic books the unique and wonderful medium that they are. He was a rough and tumble, blue collar, scrappy hero with the kind of gimmick that would make you roll your eyes and groan.
But it was very clear that there was a lot of heart and effort put into The Flaming Carrot, and although he was ridiculous, he was drawn proof the the wonderful and heartfelt insanity that could only occur in comic books.
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: Prison Witch
Today we are going to talk about a comic book project seeking funding on Kickstarter called Prison Witch.
The project is a seventy page graphic novel about a woman who works to control her latent magical abilities in prison with the help of a secret coven of witches.
At the time of writing the project as already hit its funding goal with $8,651 out of $8,500 raised and has 14 days left in the campaign.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248241887/prison-witch-a-graphic-novel-about-magic-love-and?ref=category&ref=discovery
Why I like it
For starters the artwork is fantastic.
The comic is created by husband and wife team Pat and Amy Shand, with Erica D’Urso providing the artwork. Her ability to convey tiny little moments of great emotion is awe inspiring and you can tell the book is going to be an emotional roller coaster without any words.
But what really intrigues me about this book is the possibility of combining the subject matter with the setting.
I like to dabble in storytelling from time to time and for me, magic is a way to build a character without having to rely on boring exposition.
A wizard who controls fire will probably have a different personality than a wizard who can raise the dead. Magic is an extension of its user and can be used as a sort of visual shorthand for their personality and beliefs.
Prisons are supposed to be a place where people who have done something wrong go to reflect on their deeds and work towards reforming themselves.
In some countries the intention is to turn criminals into functioning members of society, in others it’s a place where dissidents and critics of the status quo are sent to…change their mind. Here in America it clearly isn’t the case because if it was, we would be the most introspective and thoughtful nations on the planet.
Yes, the land of the free does put way to many people in prison.
So what happens when you have a collection of people who have their personalities displayed through spells and witch craft stuck in a place that is designed to change and mold a person into something different?
I have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.
Why you should donate
I don’t know if anybody reading this post knows this, but during the 1970’s there was a very specific and popular genre of films specifically about women in prison.
With a poster like that it’s quite apparent that these movies were somber, thoughtful affairs that talked about the harsh realities of prison life and gave a voice to some of the most vulnerable people in modern society and…
nope. The movies were porn with a bit more attention on the plot and slightly higher production values.
Now to be fair, it wasn’t like all the films were total trash. Johnathen Demme, the man who made Silence of the Lambs,
got his big break after directing a Roger Corman prison film called Caged Heat.
The film was actually pretty well reviewed and it did delve into some actual social commentary, but it was still a bunch of pretty women with no hope, no way out, and almost no clothing.
Rather thankfully, times and tastes change and I say it’s time for the women in prison genre to get a modern update that treats its characters like actual human beings and uses its subject matter to talk about important and socially relevant issues.
Okay, so there’s that but I bet there isn’t a comic that does…
dammit.
Okay, so revising the women in prison genre for modern tastes is well trodden ground, but Prison Witch takes the genre and does something different with it.
By combining the wonder and mystery of magic with the drama and emotional pain of prison life, Prison Witch is set to create a story filled with wonder, mystery, introspection, and one hell of an emotional gut punch.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/248241887/prison-witch-a-graphic-novel-about-magic-love-and?ref=category&ref=discovery
The Secret Lives of Villains #301
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: The Kugali Anthology
So I thought the Black Panther movie was awesome,
and if the box office numbers have anything to say, everyone reading this is probably thinking the same thing.
I’m willing to bet that the creators of today’s Kickstarter comic looked at the release of the movie and thought that now would probably be the best time to try and raise money for their project: The Kugali Anthology.
The Kugali Anthology is a collection of comic stories and characters written and drawn by black creators, with an emphasis on creators from Africa.
The comic is being funded out of Britain, so any funding information is converted into American dollars. At the time of writing this comic has currently raised $5,922 out of $13,782 and has 26 days left in its campaign.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kugalimedia/the-kugali-anthology?ref=discovery
Why I like it
Before we start I should make one thing incredibly clear, I am not an expert on Africa and I have no ancestral or familial ties to Africa. Outside of a few close family friends and an extremely brief section of my school’s history curriculum, my knowledge of African history and culture is very limited. I am simply writing as a very curious, and very white, comic book fan and tourist.
From the looks of it, this particular anthology is focusing on fantasy stories and folk tales.
I will admit that I could be wrong, but even if I am, the very idea of having a magazine that brings more attention to creators and artists from Africa telling stories that are based in African culture and history is incredibly exciting and makes me very happy.
What little I do know has been enough to pique my interest in Africa for a while and I find its history absolutely fascinating. Africa is a vast,
and incredibly diverse continent filled with larger than life places and people. Stories about great kings such as Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire,
the East African spice ports,
and the life and exploits of Shaka Zulu,
have captured my imagination and I have been trying to learn more ever since.
Heck, Africa is home to one of the first and greatest civilizations in Western history, a civilization that some historians devote their entire lives to studying.
Again, I will admit that I am writing this from a place of relative ignorance but let me ask you this: If my limited knowledge of Africa can demonstrate that the continent is more than a collection of unfortunate stereotypes, that there is more to it than poverty, disease, and violence, what do you think we could learn from people who actually live there?
This leads me directly into my next point…
Why you should donate
Because the world is getting smaller and introducing people to entertainment influenced by different cultures just makes sense. Plus, it can provide creators with a much needed infusion of new ideas and aesthetics.
I’m going to explain by picking on the fantasy genre for a minute. To be clear, I love a good fantasy story but let’s be honest, the second you read the word “fantasy” your mind probably brought up images like this:
or this,
or maybe this if you’re a Japanophile:
Sure, some creators have helped audiences branch out by introducing fantasy worlds that aren’t influenced by Medieval Europe or Japan.
but European and pan Asian cultures are not the only places that have stories worth telling and interesting aesthetics.
Africa has so many stories, characters, and themes to offer the world and it’s high time that African creators took their rightful place on the cultural stage and shared their voices with the world.
The Black Panther movie showed us that audiences are ready for stories that uphold the idea of a strong and confident Africa and that African themes and aesthetics can be a viable source of entertainment.
Let’s take the next step and introduce audiences to the wonderful world of African comic books.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kugalimedia/the-kugali-anthology?ref=discovery
Cambrian Comics 