Tag Archives: WWE

The Saturday Comics: Wrestling Comics

1 Sep

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.

Spotlight: Allan Keyes- Fun With the Internets: News from Comic Con

30 Jul

July 30. 2012


Spotlight Week is here! All week we’ll be reading a variety of guest posts from some generous and creative people, all of whom have generously donated their time and efforts. I appreciate them all.

Starting us off is no stranger to The Tepid Ride, Mr. Allan Keyes. Mr. Keyes is my real-life brother and I  am very glad he’s taken a regular Monday gig here. He needs no further introduction, so here we go!

Anyone here play video games?  I’ve been a video game addict since I was a kid. I was playing games back when Pac- Man was single.  My current favorite is the Gears of War series. How could it not be? Look at the featured weapon:

                       

That’s right. It’s a high-powered assault rifle equipped with a chainsaw! Combine the killing power of a high-caliber weapon with the killing power of a buzzing chainsaw and this is what you get. How to describe the resulting instrument of gory, over-the-top violence? Royal diesel.  After all, who among us HASN’T wanted to create something like this?
 Thus affirming my belief that America is the greatest country in the world. We’re so well-armed that we can combine our weapons to maximize our destructive power in imaginative new ways. TAKE THAT CHINA!!!!

Anyway, I’ve been following the news from ComiCon, and there were several announcements of eagerly-awaited video game releases that I think are worth sharing with all you, even if you’re not quite as hardcore a gamer as me:

5) MAYHEM! MADNESS! MURDER! 

I think the title is a bit redundant though. I mean doesn’t mayhem usually follow naturally as a result of a rampage? I can attest that mayhem has indeed accompanied each of my rampages. Of course, my rampages have also been accompanied by getting tasered and then soiling myself in the ensuing convulsing, so let’s call it good.

Anyway, I like this game because it reminds me of an awful wrestler from back in the day – yes, he was a wrestling accountant:
 

This gentleman wrestled as Irwin R. Schyster.   Hey, IRS! Get it! GET IT!??! I’ll say this for Vince McMahon, he never made the mistake of being too subtle.  Of course, this is a perfect segue to the next high-profile release for Xbox:

4) WWF vs. WCW

 …..hey wait a minute. This isn’t new, it’s kind of old and busted. We’ve seen quite a few WWF vs. WCW releases over the years.  What’s the deal? Oh……………….not this WWF:
 

THIS WWF:

 

I gotta admit I like this one better. I think that panda can take the Hulkster (they both sport the same ‘stache and beard).  But this is a blatant rip-off of AWESOME FOX reality show Man vs. Beast: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_vs._Beast , a show that pitted men in feats of strength against champions of the animal kingdom.  Here is just one synopsis of the competitions held:

“A group of 44 dwarfs lost a race against an Asian elephant to see which could pull a commercial jet a certain distance first.”

And this is why you come to MR. BTR folks. There’s very few places on the net where you could ever hope to read about something like this. What drugs was the creator of that show on?? Who even thinks of having dwarfs challenge an elephant at anything!??!?!?  I’m drooling just reading those words. I MUST SEE IF THIS IS ON DVD ANYWHERE.  You don’t get quality TV like this anymore, though Hardcore Pawn comes close.

 

3)  Everything old is new again!

An old classic gets a facelift:

 

You all knew this was coming.  For classic game fans, this is also available as part of a GameStop-exclusive “Before and After” two-pack along with another updated classic:

  

2) Get Your Freak On!

Love the Kinect. It allows you to play your game by moving your body in the appropriate way. So I have to admit, this one is an absolute natural:

 

This game has several unique levels. You can master solo play, or get up for group mode, where you can play with up to 5 people. Sure to be an orgy of fun! (This game requires a special controller, which is sold separately in adult shops near you)

Did you know that this is not the first pornographic video game? Not by a longshot. I present to you Custer’s Revenge:

 

Good lord. Folks, this is real and was available for the Atari 2600! The video game industry was so new, Atari couldn’t keep 3rd-party pornsters from manufacturing for its system. Good times my friends, good times. Anyway, the “plot” of this game was pretty straightforward: Custer arose from the grave (in more ways than one) and got his “revenge” on those damned injuns by molesting a squaw while arrows rained around him. No, seriously:

 

How’d he get his pants off over his boots? I must say, this is the hottest use of pixels since I learned that I could use an upside-down calculator to spell the word boobs. Gameplay was easy: Custer earned points for each……thrust. Sometimes an arrow capped him and ended the level.  “Swedish Erotica” my a$$.  This is about as erotic as a pair of batwings:

 

 And the most exciting release announcement from Comic Con….(and maybe containing a few future spoilers):

1) Hitting Rock Bottom:

 

 

Nowhere to go but up, right?

 

UGH. Maybe not. Nevermind that loser with the cheeseburgers, I’m the one who suffers for his art.