I love Tuesday's because that's when I get to scour the Internet for underground comics that I have yet to read. Its digital spelunking for pure illustrative gold and the payoff is ever so sweet. This week's lode of comic gold is a web comic by Arthur De La Cruz entitled, "KISSING CHAOS" and if you're fans of David Mack, Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and Dave McKean then you are going to love this black and white comic that states, "You're too young to be this empty!"
Nothing says the history better then what I found on his website;
Kissing Chaos first saw the light of day in 2001 as an 8 issue mini series published by Oni Press. In 2002 Arthur De La Cruz was nominated for an Eisner award for KISSING CHAOS, and was listed as one of the Top Ten Comics of the year from Ain't It Cool News. Kissing Chaos: Nonstop Beauty, was a 4 issue follow up series, featuring an all new cast. This story shed more light on the ominous conclusion to the first. Arthur De La Cruz plans to continue pumping out the KC via this website http://kissingchaos.com/, continuing the series with a story arc titled KISSING CHAOS: 'TIL I DIE. As well, he plans to unveil a top secret animated story arc sometime this year. stay tuned.
To see how beautiful these illustrations are and to see why this is my underground pick of the week follow this link: http://kissingchaos.com/tx/?p=153 Arthur states the hiatus is over for more KISSING CHAOS, I do hope so. I missed it the first time around and don't want that to happen again.
His name is JEF, that's right one "F" and his last name is CZEKAJ-that's pronounced CHECK-EYE he states and most people say it like SAJAK you know like PAT from Wheel of Fortune-wrong. Jef lives and works in Somerville, MA. and is a cartoonist, children's book author and illustrator, and musician. His comic, Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters, ran in Nickelodeon Magazine for more than 10 years. A collection of the first three years of the comic was published with the help of a Xeric Foundation Grant and distributed by Top Shelf. Im still having a blast on JEF'S website which is a very fun interactive adventure-JEF opens up the labyrinth of his mind and shares it in virtual form and I'm still spraying graffiti all over a giant rock via a small bumble bee while listening to hip hop, yea that's right you heard me! HIP & HOP AND YOU DON'T STOP is a creation of JEF'S and features the creatures of SLOWJAMZ SWAMP and BREAKBEAT MEADOW. It's a modern re telling of the Tortoise and the Hare this time its taken to the streets of free style jams and hip hop warfare. What happens next could change OLDSKOOL COUNTY forever! It's an all ages book that deserves your attention and respect as the rap off of the year gets underway. And don't forget to check out Grampa and Julie: Shark Hunters, R2D2 is an Indie Rocker later retitled Hypertruck and the Circulatory Story.
You can read a great interview with Jef at this link
http://reglarwiglar.com/RWone_two/jefczekaj.html
or visit his website at : http://www.czekaj.com/index.html
Well I'm not sure if drawing really does cure cancer but looking at Ryan LaMunyon's drawings cure me of my ills as I'm transported away into the frenetic, amped up world of Ryan's twisted imagination. Ryan is in the process of his first comic which I have included an image. Be at Coast City Comics on June 19th where I hear he might be debuting this amazing new body of work! I first met Ryan over coffee a year ago and was blown away by his electrifying style that feels like the page is plugged into an amp and cranked up to 11. All of his sketches have a reverence to European classical styling but given a modern make-over, infused with a introspective humor that will make you want to take it in over and over again!
I wish there were shelves full of Ryan's artwork in graphic novel form but we can only wait patiently until that day arrives and it may not too far away! In the meantime check out Ryan's blog and his website where you can see the variety of illustrations he's been working on for the last few years!
http://www.ryanlamunyon.comhttp://ryanlamunyon.blogspot.com/
I love Tuesday's because that's when I get to scour the Internet for underground comics that I have yet to read. Its digital spelunking for pure illustrative gold and the payoff is ever so sweet. This week's lode of comic gold is a web comic by Arthur De La Cruz entitled, "KISSING CHAOS" and if you're fans of David Mack, Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and Dave McKean then you are going to love this black and white comic that states, "You're too young to be this empty!" 
