Table of Contents RKYV # 34 {March 2010} RKYV LOGO - David Marshall {current} RKYV LOGO – r. j. paré {modified} RKYV LOGO – Roy G. James {original} Virtual Cover # 34 - Art by Giovanni Medina - Layout by David Marshall Interior Art - By De Tourist, r. j. paré [& family], Trevor Yarmovich, Josh Bowe, Carl Haynes, Engin Korkmaz, Lee-Ann MacDonald, Mykl G Sivak Editorial Column - “At the Outset: A Few Thoughts from the Editor” - By r. j. paré World View - A Canadian Living in the USA - By Tom Rossini
Featured Artist Review – Giovanni Medina - By r .j. paré Short Fiction - Another Wacky Anja Moment - Bliss - The ‘alleged’ attack of the 500 ft marmoset - By Marie Lecrivain Poetry - By Frances Nichols Vargas, L. A. Raven, r. j. paré Pop Culture - “Comic Book Review” - By Brad Bellmore - “Raised on Saturday Morning Cartoons” - By Pauline Paré
<- Genevieve, Chantel & Lady – by r. j. paré
At The Outset A few thoughts from the Editor By r. j. paré “And in the end we lie awake and we dream of making our escape.” “Death and All His Friends,” Coldplay
Meanwhile… Dick Giordano The title of this column, as any comic fan of a certain age should know, is a nod to the monthly editorial written by Dick Giordano during his tenure as an editor with DC Comics. I didn’t know Mr. Giordano but I knew his work. How could I not? Growing up in the 1970’s I was a regular “Johnny DC” FANatic. I could not wait to spend my allowance on the next issue of Green Lantern, Justice League of America or Teen Titans. Dick Giordano played an instrumental role in creating these fables of my youth. As such, I was deeply saddened the other day to learn of his passing. At an age when many are putting their feet up and retiring to fishing poles and rocking chairs Dick was still an active part of the Comic Industry. From his work as an Inker, an Editor and a champion of Creator’s Rights, Dick Giordano made an impact on the industry, his peers and of course the vast populous [of which I am proudly a part] known collectively as “The Fans.” I was fortunate enough to start reading comics when Giordano was, arguably, at the zenith of his talents as an inker. His collaborations with Neal Adams on his seminal early 70’s Green Lantern run are a milestone that marked the end of the Silver Age and the beginning of the modern age of comics and comic book story telling. He was, for all intents and purposes, DC’s “go-to guy” on many milestone comic projects during this period.
As an inker his finishing work, embellishments & shading can be found on everything from the aforementioned, critically acclaimed, GL run to the media event / pop culture occasions of Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man and Superman vs Muhammad Ali. By the 1980’s DC recognized this award winning talent by promoting him to Vice President and Executive Editor a position he would hold throughout the next decade. He was instrumental in relaunching the Teen Titans as they would go on to out-sell their Marvel counterparts the X-Men for the first time in their published history. And then, of course, came ‘the event’ that would spawn all future ‘event comics.’ In 1985, the limited series cross-over that re-defined how DC would tell stories and publish comics forever – The Crisis on Infinite Earths – was published. Marv Wolfman [as writer], George Pérez [as lead artist – penciller] & Dick Giordano [as inker] – produced an epic tale of struggle, tragedy and heroism that was as much BANG for your buck as you could conceivably hope for in a comic book. Like Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye” & The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper,” it is the yard stick by which, even to this day, other projects have been measured. Every year re-issues of Crisis continue to be purchased and enjoyed by multitudes of fans. A critical, financial and pop culture success it is an example of, one of those rare moments, when an artist [of any medium] creates something that lives on and continues to have an influence long after them. I highly recommend you seek out his works, if you are unfamiliar; they are among the finest examples the medium has to offer. For more on Dick Giordano:
www.dickgiordano.com
***
This month RKYV ONLINE is pleased to present an up and coming comic artist in the person of… GIO! In a recent interview Giovanni Medina took the time share some background info with us, a selection of his art and his thoughts on being a struggling artist in his chosen profession. I hope it as much fun for you to read as it was for me to write. In addition our returning columnists, Tom Rossini, Brad Bellmore & Pauline Paré once again provide witty insights and reviews on subjects ranging from sports to comics and TV. I would also like to thank all of the contributing artists & writers for sharing their wonderful pieces with us and I invite you, dear reader, to turn the page and enjoy them for yourself. I’d like to sign off this month by lifting a line [the sincerest of compliments] from the esteemed Mr. Giordano. ‘Back in the day’, he wrapped up each month’s DC editorial column a succinct and professional:
“Thank you and good afternoon.”
Requiem {July 20 1932 – March 27 2010}
Untitled â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by Engin Korkmaz
Take Me Out To The Ball Game... By Tom Rossini Did you hear that... “OH SAY CAN YOU SEE...” and the ever popular 7th inning stretch song “Take me out to the Ball Game...” they can only mean one thing: Spring is here and so is Major League Baseball. Today April 5th is the opening day for many Major League Baseball Teams which is about 1 week later than normal and as a sidebar... it is the most popular day for one to call in sick. “A good cigar is like a beautiful chick with a great body who also knows the American League box scores.” ~M*A*S*H, Klinger, “Bug-Out,” 1976 So, who were the lucky ones that were chosen to throw out the first pitch? To no one’s surprise, at the Washington Nationals' season opener, the first pitch this year was thrown out by US President Barack Obama. In doing this, he continued a tradition that began 100 years ago. Hank Aaron added to the Opening Day excitement at Turner Field on Monday by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. The 76-year-old Hall of Famer made a strong throw to Heyward, the Braves catcher. Over in Citi Field Darryl Strawberry is to throw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Mets Opening Day. Baseball was made for kids, and grown-ups only screw it up. ~Bob Lemon Baseball is a favourite past time for many American's. I would not consider it to be the Canadian's favourite past time as I personally feel that Hockey is their passion and out of the 29 major league baseball teams only 1 is from Canada - The Toronto Blue Jays. So, I guess it’s no wonder that Baseball is as American as Baseball, Apple Pie, and Chevrolet. Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America. ~Bruce Catton
PLAY BALL !!
Leaches â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by Mykl G Sivak
The Lighthouse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by L A Raven
Featured Artist Review Giovanni Medina By r. j. paré I have had the pleasure to collaborate with Mr. Medina over the last year and allow me a moment to share with you, the RKYV audience, a little bit about the artist, I know as GIO. The man is a talented artist but more importantly he is a gem of a collaborator. In this medium, where story telling is achieved through creative partnerships between writers, multiple artists [pencils, inks, colours] and editors – well that is truly a remarkable skill / talent. His story suggestions are valuable to me as a writer and he really listens to input when finding a way to adapt imagination [ie: scripts LOL] into visual reality.
r. j. paré: Have you always known that you wanted to be or, rather, were an artist?
Giovanni Medina: Well, when I was in Kindergarten, I used to love drawing cars. Even though they didn't look like any cars you'd ever seen back then (actually funny thing is, my car drawings looked like those Astro Minivans you see running around. I thought that was funny when I saw the commercials) I loved doing it. And even the teachers liked it. I loved hearing that praise, and the feeling I got from completing it. Middle school came around and I was still drawing like crazy. I actually used to make fun of my Principal through a comic character I came up with called Turtle Boy. I remember, once, I was showing everyone that comic and they were laughing. Then a teacher saw us laughing. It was Mr. Thompson. That guy HATED me! He took it to the principal, thinking that the Principal would punish me, but the Principal wound up laughing! He told me to keep up the great work. He was actually a pretty cool Vice Principal after that to me {so many memories}. But yeah, basically, always knew, and never gave up drawing. I actually got in trouble a lot of times, because of drawing in class instead of doing my work.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Nightmare Media Used: Sketchbook, hard lead pencil, Photoshop CS3, Manga Studio Size: 8.5” x 11” landscape Date Created: month ago I think
rjp: Did you study or major in art while in school? GIO: Well, I did go to Collins College of Art and Design for 2d Animation once, but I only lasted 2 weeks. The reason was because of my mental illness, in which my medication wasn't balanced off at the time. I wasn't mentally fit to stay, so I got kicked out, unfortunately. Ever since then, I've been learning on my own, and taking the advice of great artists that have taken the time to help me. rjp: Who was your primary source of encouragement, as a child, in pursuing art? GIO: My parents Willie Medina and Marilyn Medina, My Tio (Uncle) Sile, other family and my close friends. My father in particular always thought I had craziest imagination, and always loved (still does) looking at what new things I worked on. rjp: What is your favourite media to work with? GIO: My Pencils, sketchbook and especially my Micron Ink Pens. Also, my coloured pencils.
rjp: Do you use any special tools and techniques to create your art? GIO: Hard lead pencils and Photoshop.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Omnigon Henchmen character ink Media Used: Sketchbook Ink, hard lead Size: 8.5” x 11” Date Created: awhile back
rjp: What inspires you to create art? GIO: Comics, Manga, cinema, books and cultures world wide. And most of all, things that happen in my life. My mood especially inspires my work. And the music I listen to (hardcore underground hip hop like Wu Tang Clan, Onyx, Beatnuts, Big Pun, N.O.R.E., Pharoah Monch, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Etc.) is definitely necessary. It may sound strange, but this music is essential to get the proper energy I put into my work.
rjp: How would you categorize your artistic style? GIO: I used to categorize is as Manga, but nowadays, I've sort of given up trying to appease to that genre. A lot of people have spoken harsh opinions in the past of me calling my project Eternal Manga, and now, those statements have sort of soured my passion in trying to cater to that audience. Don't get me wrong, I love Manga, and always will. And it most definitely influences my work heavily. For now, I chose to label it as a "Passionate Style". In the way the art mirrors everything I feel in my heart and soul. From my anger to my love, that's all I can call it for now.
rjp: Would you say that there is a "message" or "unifying theme" in your work? GIO: Intensity, high energy, dark, gothic, some hope, love, hate. Highly styled action. There's no one uniform theme in my art, each piece is as varied as my own moods. One day I'll draw a Spongebob holding a kitty for my daughter, the next I'll be drawing Dora slamming Ramone's face into the ground.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Peaceock Scythe Media Used: Sketchbook, Hard Lead 4h Pencil, GIMP Size: 8.5” x 11” landscape Date Created: Middle of Last Year
rjp: Which famous artists / creators or styles have influenced you? Why? GIO: Oh wow, Sam Keith (The Maxx), Yasuhiro Nightow (Trigun), Shirow Masamune (Ghost in a Shell), Frank Miller (Sin City) and Tite Kubo (Bleach, Zombie Powder). I like Sam Keith's use of heavy inks to set a dark mood, and his unique characters. Plus he was the first artist to create a comic that made an average normal everyday guy (he was a mentally ill homeless guy, that actually was the hero of the story) Yasuhiro Nightow's artwork is full of stylized action and over exaggerated poses, his work just OOOZZES with over the top action and style from every pore of its collective pages, ink lines and tones. Shirow's deep complex storylines and attention to detail are what I strive for and what I dream of accomplishing some day. Frank Miller's use of noir-ish adult themed storytelling makes me drool. Marv is the man! and his quirky characters inspire me to no end. The same with Tite Kubo. His ink patterns actually launched me on my way to redesigning my characters for Eternal's One Shot (which I want to pitch to Dark Horse when I finish working on it)
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Eternal Promotional poster Media Used: Sketchbook, hard lead pencil 4h, Photoshop Size: 5” x 8” Date Created: A few weeks ago
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Eternal pages 1 & 2 Media Used: Bristol Board, Blue lead mechanical Pencil, Ruler, Different Micron Ink Pens, Paint Brush and ink well Size: 8.5” x 11”
rjp: Would you rather have an engaged & loyal but, ultimately, small Indie readership or work on the latest Spidey, Wolverine or X - book? [The old Art vs Commerce question.]
GIO: It all depends if I could support my wife and kids. They are my main priority. Ultimately, I'd love to work on my own stories for Dark Horse. Seeing as Dark Horse is sort of indie, and their comics have been made into movies and animations, then yes, indie all the way. rjp: With advancements in computer graphic tablet technology, some artists are now creating their work directly in the digital medium and releasing it in purely digital formats... are the days of paper & pulp doomed to the realm of fading memories? GIO: Never. I have a sort of loyalty to traditional mediums. I was raised on my sketchbook and pencils. I take my sketchbook everywhere I go. I like to get rough with my sketchbook when I draw. I could never do that with my tablet pc. Although I do believe digital is the way to go for speedy high quality artwork when an artist needs to meet a deadline. Even more so if you're on a limited budget and can't afford paints, ink pens and hard leads every time you run out.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Eternal page 4 Media Used: Bristol Board, Blue lead mechanical Pencil, Ruler, Different Micron Ink Pens, Paint Brush and ink well Size: 8.5” x 11”
rjp: What do you think of the term "starving artist"? GIO: I think you should look it up in the dictionary, read the last definition there, BAM, says my name! GIO! And on the example picture, BAM there's my face! :) Only kidding. My point being, you have to have a sense of humour in this field of work, or else you'll go crazy with feelings of inadequacy as far as your art goes, and if you are wasting your time. To be honest, I'm plagued with those feelings at times, thank God my wife Rina is here for me, and when she wasn't there, my close friends and family were there to tell me my work is great, and I just need to keep my head up. rjp: Do you feel more a sense of community with other artists or a sense of competition? GIO: I'm so glad you asked me this Randy, because now I get to express my thoughts on this in public. I used to go to conventions, and I'd walk through artist's alley, and I'd see all these artists. First thought in my mind is, "Finally! I'm amongst my own people!" But what happened when I walked up to an artist's table and tried to talk shop? He acted like I wasn't even there. I offered up the chance for us to trade portfolios and compare pieces, maybe inspire one another, but he just said " I'm not good at critiquing others art" I was shocked and sort of insulted at his attitude. And it wasn't that he was busy, he wasn't even working on anything. But there have been other artists that see me as I see them. And that is, a brother in our war against the mundane. Brothers and sisters in bringing life to a world filled with death and sadness. To bring excitement into their lives. This may seem like an over-the-top statement, but I'm a strong believer in art being therapeutic and good for the mind and soul. Did you know all colors have a Psychological affect on the human psyche? For example, red brings about anger in our minds, which is the reason prison Cells are coloured Taupe or White. These are calming colours. The visual arts are almost on the same level as prescription drugs in my eyes.
rjp: How do you market yourself? GIO: Not very well unfortunately. I tried Promoting myself over the past 6 or 7 years, and I've found lately it's impossible to promote myself and continue work at a steady pace. I'm not sure if this makes any sense, but I get "On a roll" with my work. For instance with Eternal, I used to actually finish One Chapter at a time, Pencils, ink, tone and letter, over the course of 1 1/2 all the way through. Once I finished, I would post all 24 pages up. During this 1 and a half months work period, no pages were put up. Meaning I wasn't promoting myself at all. I had no time to. After I finished, I would spend weeks trying to get the word out. I also tried Viral marketing, and putting out a Youtube video. This worked to an extent, but putting together an adequate video I could be proud of, took me awhile as well. All this time, adding up to a month or half a month of promoting, I could have been working on another chapter. On top of that, I also had to crank out new CGs. Anyone that has seen my work, knows I do digital illustration as well as Sequential art. To more easily answer the question, Facebook, Youtube, and word of mouth. It's hard when you're on a limited (sometimes nonexistent) budget.
rjp: Do you find it difficult to stay motivated/inspired? GIO: There aren't enough exclamation marks and bit enough FONT to describe the big fat YES I have to answer for that one. That may be because of my current situation. That may be alleviated in the future.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Eternal page 5 Media Used: Bristol Board, Blue lead mechanical Pencil, Ruler, Different Micron Ink Pens, Paint Brush and ink well Size: 8.5” x 11”
rjp: While traditional publishing and distribution has become a difficult goal to achieve for the modern Indie comic creator, what do you think of the impact that social networks and POD services have had as an alternate means of connecting you, your work and your audience?
GIO: I think these Print on Demand sites are a great asset to all artists, whether they are sequential artists of all genres… down to even Digital painters. To me, underground is where it's at, and also, where a lot of great franchises these days get their start. They are not only great, I feel they are essential.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Azure Ceera Media Used: Sketchbook, Ink, hard lead pencil, Photoshop CS3 Size: 8.5” x 11” portrait Date Created: half a year ago
rjp: What other interests do you have, besides art?
GIO: Basketball, writing raps, MCing, trying to be a good husband, father, as well as oldest son and brother, playing video games when I'm not drawing or working on something
rjp: You are a member of a cooperative creators studio, Speakeasy Primates, what is that like?
GIO: Mr. Paré is really good people. He's been really helpful, and I look forward to hanging out with everyone. Unfortunately, I may not be able to make it to the SPACE con this year, but hopefully, that will change if I get any commissions between now and April 25th *hint, hint everybody* ;)
rjp: Do you have any big plans, shows or Cons coming up? GIO: I plan on being at Dragon Con, Momocon and AWA (Anime Weekend Atlanta) mainly because it's just up the highway from me. (We live 30 mins south of Atlanta.) Anything out of town, I'm not 100 percent on yet.
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Necrohound Media Used: Sketchbook, Ink, hard lead pencil, Photoshop CS3 Size: 8.5” x 11” portrait Date Created: half a year ago
rjp: How would you like your art, and by extension yourself, to be remembered? GIO: I want my art to be remembered as something detailed, and that people will be able to tell I put my all into every single thing I drew and worked on. My father told me a story long ago that stuck with me to this day. There was this guy that used to work in a warehouse. His sole job was to sweep that entire Warehouse. It was a crappy job. Nobody else wanted it. A lot of people took the forklift jobs, the foreman jobs and even the warehouse managers. This guy had to sweep all the warehouse. It was what a lot of people call a "Dead-end" job.
But one day, the actual OWNER of the place came by and saw that he was working away, and that ENTIRE floor was clean as a whistle, not a spec of dust to be found on the ground. The owner of the place went to the security cameras to see if this guy had help, NOPE. He took his 20 min break, and got IMMEDIATELY back to work. Every day making sure he did his best, for the "Worst job in the world". And you know what? That owner made that guy his RIGHT hand man from that day on! The owner figured if this guy was a workhorse for next to NOTHING, he would do WONDERS for a lot more. And I took that story, as one of my Philosophies. As for what I want to be remembered as? I realized long ago, titles are like material things. Best Rap Star Alive, Best Artist Alive, Best Artist EVER, really, even when your ALIVE, that's not even necessarily true. By what standard ARE you the best? And even if EVERYONE in the world DID think I was the best Artist alive at that time? When I die, SOMEONE will take my place when I die. I can't take that title with me to the grave anymore than I can my radio (death is boring I'd imagine, may as well have some music to keep me company). So my goal is on a broader scale and at the same time simple and compact. I don't want to be the best artist in the world. I just want to be memorable. I want to teach aspiring artists, learn from greater artists, and even work with great artists. I want to touch as many lives as possible whether it is through my art or through one on one conversation. And when I die, the whole world may not remember me, but the one's I've impacted, damn sure will my friend. ;)
Artist’s Name: Giovanni Medina Title: Nemesis Nurse Media Used: Sketchbook, Ink, 4h Hard lead pencil, Photoshop CS3 Size: 8.5” x 11” Date Created: not too long ago
rjp: This was a piece GIO created for use as a trading card, by Speakeasy Primates, for the character Nemesis, a shape shifting assassin. The unique low POV and amazingly cool blur effect mad it an easy choice as cover art for this month’s RKYV.
For more on GIO please visit: http://1000degrees.yolasite.com/ & http://www.wix.com/speakeasy_primates/speakeasy-primates [and use the staff tab to navigate to GIO’s profile page]
Raised Knee Study [Abstract] – by Josh Bowe
Short Fiction RKYV ONLINE is pleased to present the following three [very] short fiction pieces, vignettes if you will, by the talented Marie Lecrivain. The first two, having never been published, are premiering here. The third piece originally appeared in poeticdiversity: the litzine of Los Angeles.
Another Wacky Ajna Moment People with a future instead of a face. – Tomas Transtromer
Lady – Acrylic, by r. j. paré What do I see at 4:44 am, curled on my side, fingers woven into the blankets before the Sun starts to make his way over the international dateline of my consciousness? My eyes are closed… my eye is… open; swirling purple lines of fire branch out into the microcosms of my neighbourhood and attach themselves to the shifting dreamscapes of those who lay in their beds… a child is a brave, bruised flower, her petals arching upward to catch the silvery drops of rain falling from a tangerine sky… this man is a spindly, creaking coat-track, fighting to stay strong under Sisyphean heaps of umbrellas and coats and bags… the woman is an eggshell cup, cracking at the base… a husband is a quivering mouse, sited in the predatory gaze of his feline, whiskered wife… the wife is a dandelion seed, blown into a concrete crack of the sidewalk whose jagged sides are pressing down… this sister is an orange slice, separated from her tangy siblings by grasping, insistent fingers … the dog is a dog, barking at a pair of flip-flops shuffling by the gate… a cypress tree is the lone warrior, tilting at windmills… Who am I to imagine myself as the nexus… the arbiter of all possible pasts, presents, and futures? It's amazing… isn't it… the absurdity of it all? copyright 2008 marie lecrivain
bliss “I’m sorry. I forgot your name again,” she said. Faith is a product of the Venice Beat poetry scene. Tall, silver-haired, late sixties, or early seventies; she can’t remember exactly. (She can tell you-down to the last detail-all the times she partied with Allen Ginsberg). Her smile is my cue to forgive her. I tell her it’s okay and reintroduce myself. She relaxes and confides: “It’s too hard. I’ve decided to stop fighting the memory loss.”
Chalk Landscape – the Paré family [on picnic table]
That’s what she said the last time. And the time before that. Our conversation is always the same; the backdrops might be different (this time we’ve met at a book signing), and the time of day may vary, but our responses to each other over the last three years have become ritualistic. “I remember...” Faith closes her eyes, her face strains under the burden of recall. The lines around her eyes have deepened since the last time she said this, six weeks ago. “Okay, I remember now... a show I saw, about mothers with Alzheimer’s. It’s hard when the children, especially their daughters, pressure their mothers to remember the daughters’ names. The yelling, the screaming... how awful!” I tap her arm gently. Faith opens her eyes and sighs. “I’m glad not to fight this anymore,” she says. “It’ll almost be a joy to become a blithering idiot.” She mentions that she’s planning to host a weekly poetry reading at her house. I give her my business card so she can email me the details. I glimpse the wadded-up cocktail napkin poking out of her purse with my email address scribbled on it. Faith takes a long look at my business card, and she then puts it away. “I should remember your name. It’s my middle name.” This is her cue to say good-bye. Faith leaves my side, and to drift into a conversation with a young, be-whiskered poet. She flashes him the same smile. The young poet nods his head in reply, just like before. copyright 2006 marie lecrivain
Untitled â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by Engin Korkmaz
the â&#x20AC;&#x153;alleged attack of the 500 ft marmoset marmoset In Bizzaro World, marmosets are 500 feet tall. One day, a marmoset named ElMar was sucked into a vortex at the bottom of a mailbox while sending off a cereal rebate to Mills General. He was transported to Los Angeles, a favorite with 500 ft marmosets in Bizzaro World. In Angeles Los, marmosets treat mini-humans with love and kindness while taking endless pleasure in watching the mini-humans indulge in their favorite past timethe film making process, particularly the Verbal Gladiator Venture Capital Games. It was quite a shock for El-Mar when he landed on Hollywood Blvd. His hairy left foot accidentally smashed down and obliterated the red towers of Groman's Chinese Theater during a premier of The Marmoset Wars. El Marâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s faulty landing resulted in the deaths of 300 guests, 200 fans, 65 paparazzi, and three stars of Marmoset Wars, two of which-that night-had formed a suicide pact while the third had previously planned to file for bankruptcy.
The crowd near Groman's was suitably impressed with the bloody carnage. Naturally, they all assumed El-Mar was an expensive publicity stunt engineered by MGM for the premiere. Imagine their collective surprise as El-Mar turned, still confused by the effects of inter-dimensional travel and blinded by the many searchlights, opened his mouth and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;folks, that about Sorry. Me am hell the Where? home get Me do How? searchlights annoying those off turn to as kind so be please someone Could? you Thank.â&#x20AC;? Normally, marmosets from Bizzaro World keep their chatter with mini-humans to a whisper, so as not to frighten them. What the crowd heard was a 3,000 decibel level screech, the likes of which cannot be produced in this narrative, and is better not heard, written, or described. With thousands suffering from perforated eardrums, the crowd started to flee. They stampeded their way back to parking structures, fumbled for their car keys, and screamed into cell phones. The screeching of the marmoset was so deafening that many 911 operators immediately hung up, and left the panicked callers on hold. Meanwhile, El-Mar, having stamped out the pesky searchlights, activated his infrared night vision to attempt to save those unfortunates who were in danger of being trampled. He picked up one small boy wearing glow-in-the dark striped Nikes and a Marmoset Wars shirt. The boy, the son of the executive producer of Marmoset Wars, laughed. He was happy to be so high in the air in the protective grasp of a friendly monster until a stray bullet from an LAPD helicopter flying around El-Mar's head accidentally pierced the boy's skull. He collapsed in El-Mar's paw without a sound. Annoyed, El-Mar gently backhanded the helicopter. The velocity carried the remains of the helicopter through the air in a northwesterly direction, where it landed in the middle of State Street in Santa Barbara and destroyed three sports bars, an Urban Outfitters, and the favorite local coffeehouse. Off the boardwalk â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by De Tourist After this unfortunate incident, the city council (many of them former patrons of the aforementioned sports bars) passed a town ordinance that forbade the ownership of marmosets, and in a wise move, imposed a three minute time limit at poetry open mics.
El-Mar spotted a platoon of helicopters coming his way. Ignoring the screams, he gently set the boy back down on the pavement (El-Mar was not aware that the boy survived, and that after many years of therapy, he found employment as a copy boy and stock person at Kinkos instead of becoming the Rhodes Scholar and U.N. diplomat he was destined to be). In two giant strides, he stepped over three sets of buildings and made his way down Sunset Blvd. The damage that his footprints had left behind destroyed the MTA's plans for westward expansion of the Red Line, and backed up traffic on Fountain Ave. for two years. This lowered the property values in West Hollywood between Fairfax and La Brea, which caused a mass exodus of upwardly mobile industry folk, Russian émigrés, Orthodox Jews, and Queer Nation advocates to relocate to Sherman Oaks and Reseda. In less than five minutes, El-Mar was in Pacific Palisades stomping straight into the ocean. The last anyone saw of him on the Left Coast was the tip of his green tail (in Bizzaro World, the colors of 500 ft marmosets are lavender, electric green, and canary yellow) sinking down like a periscope into the waters of the Pacific. Twelve hours later, a tired, but hopeful El-Mar emerged from the ocean onto the shores of Kobe, Japan. El-Mar had lived in Kobe for a few years, and has a certain affinity with the mini-islanders. Realizing this wasn't a Tamogoche nightmare, the residents of Kobe looked up at the giant marmoset looming over the horizon, scratched their heads, and said to each other, “Oh great. We JUST got rid of that pesky Godz-...” copyright 2006 m. Lecrivain (previously appeared in poeticdiversity, August 2006) “Act passionately; think rationally; be Thyself.” - Liber Librae “What you risk reveals what you value” – Jeanette Winterson
MJ’s legs – by Carl Haynes
bio: Marie Lecrivain is the executive editor and publisher of Dashboard Horus: A Bird's Eye of the Universe, and is a writer in residence in her apartment. Her work has appeared in Askew Poetry Journal, Leaf Garden Press, Re)verb, RKYV, The Bicycle Review, The Los Angeles Review, The Toronto Quarterly, and is forthcoming in Spillway, and Beside the City of Angels: An Anthology of Long Beach Poetry (World Parade Books, Spring 2010). Marie's poetry collection, Antebellum Messiah, (copyright 2009 Sybaritic Press), is available through Amazon.com.
Untitled â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by Engin Korkmaz
People Master â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by Mykl G Sivak
Poetry Selected Poems By Frances Nichols Vargas Our Angel You are the tiny bits of heaven raining down on a dark day To spread your message of hope in your special way You may be gone of this earth but Your memory and life will forever live on in the lives you touched You may be gone from our warm touch but The feel of your love and embrace are still very strong and amazing Your brief but precious memory will never be erased Forever in our hearts Forever in our thoughts
A canoe trip view, while resting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by L A Raven
The Cocoon Dangling from a fragile branch Retreating for solace and rest Lying in my place of comfort Waiting for my metamorphosis Unable to resist the changes Happening deep within me Eager to see what is waiting once I leave Each day growing stronger Awaiting the wings that will give me flight The wings that will introduce me to my new life Soaring high in the sunshine and spring air Fluttering away from all the familiar Exploring the beautiful landscape Leaving behind the cocoon and ugly times Tasting the sweet nectar From all the variety of flowers Zipping across the lakes With majestic beauty Avoiding raindrops and dark skies Fluttering and enjoying life.
Photos - by France Nichols Vargas
Selected Poetry By L A Raven
Fairies of Happiness Little fairies all around Some fly up and some swoop down All a sparkle, all a glitter None who see them can feel bitter Only smiles, laughter, joy Positivity they employ Sadness, pain, depression, grieving all negativity on earth is leaving Little fairies, they are here Well damn it all, it's just the beer.
The Stone fence and the kettle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by L A Raven
Paré’s Poetic Perspectives By r. j. paré
I believe ---------- That is, I want to believe, ----- in as little as necessary and as much as possible. But maybe, I don't wanna believe ----- in packaged enthusiasm ---------- shoved down my throat. Check that, who really believes? ---------- Did cheers by Pepsi Co ----- "Eh, OH" I wanna go throw up in a red & white can. Can you? ----- Will we? ---------- Do I? I believe - I don't believe good night.
One arm reaching up – by Josh Bowe
Greena Arrow & Merlyn © DC Comics – by Trevor Yarmovich
Pop Culture Comic Book Review By Brad Bellmore Pixie Strikes Back
Thumb Partly Up Marvel’s new miniseries featuring Pixie from the X-Men is written by Kathryn Immonen and drawn by Sara Pichelli. The story follows Megan Gwyn, aka Pixie through a typical day in a typical high school. If you are a mutant. If your high school is a slice of hell.
Spoiler alert: I will give away a big plot point by the end of this review. Many more people will be able to relate to the hellish high school experience than the mutant experience, however, anyone on the outside will be able to relate to the mutant factor. Therefore, the proven staying power of the X-Men and the various titles spawned from that: they reflect that more of us connect to being on the outside than being on the inside. Back to that hellish high school. Again, more people have a similar view to their teen years as a slice of hell than the best days of their lives which is why so many stories – both in film and in print – feature this motif. If it weren’t true for enough people, it would become cliché. Instead it just becomes an old story that another writer tries to tell in a new way. And we find ourselves in high school with Pixie to explore that. Instead of this being a teen angst saga that is metaphorically hell, Megan is actually in hell. Or at least tasting it anyway. This isn’t ultimately revealed until the end of the first issue, but you get plenty of hints along the way. Actually, that probably isn’t as big a spoiler as I set it up to be, but I did give something away.
Megan calls her mother to come pick her up at school after she ends up in the nurse’s office. Her mother ends up in Utopia, trying to find her and learns that the X-men are also looking for her. She is quite displeased and she is definitely not the person you want displeased with you. There will be hell to pay by the time this through. Of course, that seems to be exactly what the demonic principle wants. The art in this book is a bit campy, but does a great job of creating a sense of place in how surreal the high school is and then a slightly different style used for interactions on Utopia. The art lets you know where you are and how real were you are is. Overall, I enjoyed this. It hints at Hellboy which is good but doesn’t quite deliver the darkness nor the whimsy of that title. That aside, it is one of the better journey’s though the spiritual or through a character’s head that I’ve seen portrayed on the comics page. I think if you are the type that enjoys X titles or prefers the surreal and demonic, this title is worth a peek. It won’t be the best thing you read this year, but it will be above the majority of the stuff out there.
Daffodil
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Soleil, in conjunction with Marvel comics, released a new series titled Daffodil. This title is written by Frederic Brremaud (yes it really is spelled that way) and drawn by Givanni Rigano. For those of you who don’t know, Soliel is a pre-eminent comics publisher in France and they have joined forces with Marvel to distribute their work here. They have brought some spectacular titles across the Atlantic and some that are average. They also typically print what we consider double issues in every issue they make.
Daffodil is vampire noire tale. I suppose any tale of the undead should fall in the noir category, but this story seems to work hard at it. There is a bit of difficulty in grasping some of what is happening here but that may be that part of it is lost in translation. It may also be that Soleil likes to offer there books in three issue chunks and call the miniseries when they are really an ongoing story. It is easy to pick up issue 4 and think you are reading issue 1. This however, doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to be the case here. Which is slightly disconcerting. The main character is Daffodil, who is a vampire and seems to be something like a cop of the vampires. At the least, she and her friends Globuline and Achilles are enforcers for the top vampires in the world, making sure the dark and the damned are only as evil as they want them to be. The primary concern seems to be that too many vampires are siring rather than merely eating which is knocking the food chain out of balance. Soon there will be too many feeders and not enough food. So the enforcers set out to save the world armed with their vampire powers and their sexy lingerie. The thing that appealed to me originally on this book was the art evoked fond memories of Smile Time. The vampires in this book look like the puppet version of Angel and Spike when they had their runins with the evil TV show both on TV and in the comics. I looked forward to some campy chuckles that I never found. The look of the book is both cool and disturbing and not in the cool disturbing way that I like form my vampire tales. There was too much of a cartoon-y feel for me to be comfortable with the sultry and sinister side of the book. I loved dark wash of every page adding to the darkness of the story. For those more comfortable with the Euro style of story telling or like their vampires barely dressed, this is probably worth the read. For the rest of us, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s probably worth waiting for the trade paperback collections to appear in your library.
Raised on Saturday Morning Cartoons By Pauline Paré
Farewell to Old Friends I love it when a series ends on its own terms after a successful run. This seems to be more prevalent with sitcoms but not unheard of in television drama. I love the shocker ending (Rosanne), the sweet ending (Friends) and the confusing yet controversial ending (Sopranos). When a show becomes an icon, the ending can be bittersweet (M*A*S*H, Cheers). Of course, my favourite ending has to be the blow my mind, exciting ending (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). There are 2 major series winding up this year and both have the potential for a ‘blow my mind’ kind of ending.
Lost has presented us with many mysteries and much to discuss over its Six year run. Every time ABC gives me the countdown of the finale episodes of Lost, I get a shiver up my spine. The characters have become like friends or at least strange acquaintances over the years and I am rooting for my favourites to survive and the nastier ones to get what is coming to them. No matter what, I know I will be thrilled and hopefully the ending prompts many discussions for years to come. I am intrigued at this new, sideways time line that has sprouted up for all the characters and the glimpse at the characters behind the island (Joshua and The Man in Black). I hope that Hurley is OK because I am kind of fond of the big guy. Whether Jack survives or not, I hope that all is not in vain and he becomes to some extent the hero he always tried to be. I hope that Jin and Sun will finally be reunited (enough already). Most importantly, I hope that Sawyer loses his shirt again at least once before the series ends. (A girl has needs!) On March 26th, the official news was released that this is the final season of “24”. The whole cast has reworked the final 8 episodes to; hopefully, give the show an ending worthy of its dramatic 8 year run. Kiefer truly created an icon in his character of Jack Bauer, whether you love Jack or hate him. He has certainly done his share of dirty deeds in the name of saving the United States but he was a complex character that was worth rooting for. The concept of realtime in “24” has kept many glued to the television with each action packed episode. I hope for the kind of exciting, action ending that will blow my mind and cement “24”s position in television history. All things must come to an end except for maybe Simpsons (19 seasons so far) and Law and Order (20 seasons and counting). Let us hope that more of our favourite shows end with a bang!