September 1, 2012
Wrestling is filled with larger than life figures who run around in colorful costumes so a wrestling comic is a natural. Isn’t it?
Yes, but also no.
Heck, I think it is more no than yes.
I’ve been to many WWE shows going way back to the days where they still called themselves WWF. And this is true, I was at Summerslam when Macho Man married Elizabeth at Madison Square Garden. I’ve been to house shows, I been to Raw and Smackdown tapings, and I’ve attended pay-per-view events. Trust me- the fun of wrestling is in being there. Watching it on TV is fun too and no, I have never taken it seriously, believed anything was real (although yes, they get very hurt) and I never, ever, was stupid enough to jump off a roof through a table because I saw it on TV.
But the fun of wrestling is totally lost when you try to translate it to the comic page.
The Big Boss Man and The Mountie. Mainstays of 80’s/90’s WWF. The Boss Man is best remembered (by me) for cooking Al Snow’s little dog and serving it to him disguised as dinner. He also towed the Giant’s father’s casket behind his police car at the funeral while the Giant rode it like a whale rider at Sea World.
Stupid as all that sounds, at least you could watch it happen on TV. But to take that action and translate it to a comic page? And set in the woods? Nah. But hey- that comic included a free 12-page catalog! Back then they sold Hulk Hogan teddy bears!
That is an actual photo of legitimate badass wrestler Big Van Vader. And yes, he wore that thing to the ring. When he took it off he was wearing some sort of face gear that made it look like he was wearing a jock strap on his face. So how successful was that comic? The cover promotes that as “the last SENSE-SHATTERING issue!” And please note the look of terror on Rick Rude’s face as Sting prepares to slam him to the mat in the upper left corner.
Here’s our buddy The Big Boss Man getting tossed out of The Undertaker’s mansion. What, you don’t believe The Undertaker would live in a mansion? Why not? Even an undead satanic zombie with mystical powers who worshipped an urn with undisclosed ashes inside and seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with lying in coffins had to live somewhere.
Here’s the Undertaker again and this time they’ve gone in the completely opposite direction. And way too far. Um, this is a wrestling comic, right?
The zombie apocalypse upon you? Who better to have at your side but Triple H, John Cena, and The Undertaker? Hey Vince McMahon- The Walking Dead totally ripped you off!
I can spend a whole week just on the bizarre loon who legally changed his name to the Warrior. Want to have fun? Google him and look for the issue of his comic where Santa got raped.
Yeah, you read that right.
But my purpose here is to marvel in disgust in that awful Rob Liefeld-style art. This begs the question- can someone ripping off Rob Liefeld’s style be worse than Rob Liefeld’s actual art?
The Question is Imponderable.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
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