Here are my favorite stories/pages of Profesor Furia and Luchadoritos from the upcoming Lucha Libre 7. Both series are the most stylistically distinct of the anthology. In some ways I see these two series as the bastard siblings to Lucha Libre. Profesor Furia is all about finding humor in the crudest scenarios with the most amoral individual that can be imagined. Luchadoritos is in a completely different realm. It's about childhood, a time of innocence, trivial pursuits, and boredom. Unlike Tequila, the Lucadores Five, and Tikitis, these two comic strips have more in common with newspaper comic strips than comic books. Every story is completed in 1 page strips. They both build upon the larger personalities that exist in each series.

Pom Pom Ninjas and Pili Pili. There's absolutely no way you can go wrong with that delicious combo!

As we near the Lucha Libre 7 release date (next Wednesday!), I wanted to show you a few of my favorite pages from Tequila. Art by Gobi. Story by Jerry Frissen.

Gobi does both his pencils/digital inks and colors. I think something really wonderful comes from having an artist handle all the art on his own. The mix of illustration and painting becomes a cohesive means of expression that a team of artists cannot replace. The only thing that isn't Gobi's on the page is the letters... and that's done by Jerry; so essentially you're looking a something that has been done by a team of two (story, letters by Jerry; art by Gobi).

Imagine a live action movie with Spider-man, Santos, and Captain America. Never could happen, right? Wrong!

Believe it or not, that very film was made back in Turkey back in 1973. We should ignore the fact that the film was made without permission from either Marvel Comics or Santos and just appreciate the wackiness. In "The Dev Adam" (roughly translates to "Three Mighty Men") Captain America and Santos attempt to capture a maniacal murderer in a Spidey mask.

Cap and Santos make a fitting team. I just feel bad for Spidey's publicist.

You can see more information and screen grabs on the always awesome COMIC BOOK LEGENDS REVEALED column (CLICK HERE).

Here are some clips from the film:

Our beloved Jerry Frissen's other comic book series, ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD, is currently being released in English by Devil's Due. Issues 1-3 of the 8 issue miniseries can be found in stores now. Jerry's hilariously twisted take on a zombie filled future is illustrated by Guy Davis. Guy Davis is an amazing American cartoonist whose comic pages bring life to vivid worlds. Guy Davis has done some amazing art on comic series like HELLBOY'S BPRD, THE MARQUIS, and SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE. But I feel that Guy's art goes to another level of brilliance in ZOMBIES. Guy is at his best when he's able to build worlds from the ground up. It's interesting to see the comic republished in the US at this time. ZOMBIES was written during the George W Bush era of the United States. Can a Zombie-Dark-Comedy-Sci-Fi Comic have relevance today, a time when Obama Cover comics are more popular than Superman? :-)

Here I have combined the official pictures of Tequila Original and Tequila 2.0. This should give you a better sense of the similarities and differences between the two figures. Please keep in mind that the pictures are not to scale. Upon comparing the 2 Tequilas in hand, I'd say that Tequila 2.0 is about 1-2% smaller than Original. Both figure casts/molds were made from Monster5's original sculpt. The difference in shrinkage is attributed to the different materials used in the prototyping process by our 2 factories. Interestingly, despite being a hair smaller than Original, all of Monster5's sculpt details have come out way sharper on 2.0.

After spending time with his recently purchased copy of Street Fighter IV, Gobi (cartoonist and character designer of Tequila and El Panda) decided to reenvision the Street Fighter IV that could have been. Gobi sees the latest entry in the Street Fighter series as a regression in both gameplay and character design in an effort to reach a more International audience.

It appears that Capcom has consciously been homogenizing their style to reach a massive global audience. Calculated efforts have been made to take away the stylings that make their fabulous character designs both Japanese and Capcom-like so that Capcom games can fit naturally next to franchise juggernauts like Halo, Gears of War, and Grand Theft Auto.

I can understand the decision. But considering the great imprint Capcom's art style has had on a global scale, it's all a bit depressing. Before the rapid proliferation of manga and anime, Capcom videogames singlehandedly brought the Japanese big-eyed style to children worldwide. As a child, I wasn't all too familiar with Tezuka's Astroboy... but I knew and LOVED the many amazing robot designs from Mega Man. I had a vague familiarity with Kenshiro and Fist of the North Star, but I thought that FINAL FIGHT was the purest encapsulation of bad-assery!

Obviously, I wasn't the only one to feel this way. Many of the more popular US comic artists of the mid-90s like Ed McGuinness (EMC2) and Joe Madueira (Mad!) openly acknowledge the huge influence that Capcom (and Street Fighter in particular) had on their illustration styles. To this day, both artists have large loyal followings that carried over into their recent runs on Marvel's HULK and ULTIMATES 3 becoming two of the more popular comic series of the past year. Even our Lucha Libre artists give credit to the Capcom artists. Look closely at Tequila and you'll see quite a few design homages to Street Fighter's Akuma.

Included below is Gobi's revision of Ryu for the Street Fighter IV that exists in his brain (as originally posted on his art blog). In Gobi's ideal gaming world, Street Fighter IV would be a HD 2D sprite game that takes the animation nuance of Street Fighter 3 to the next level. Ryu is a bit older in the game (hence the white hair), but continues to train and hone his craft as one of the World's premiere fighters. Even after a debilitating injury to his right arm, Ryu continues to fight in the World Tournament. His adaptation of his fighting style using only his left hand, would result in a new take on the classic Ryu gameplay (it's also a nod to Gobi's favorite SF3 character: Oro).