Mar 25, 2009
Mr. Jay Payne
Artist, Jay Payne wanted to share some additional material he's been working on for "Bamn." This is mostly promotional materials and some random dickery.
Mar 18, 2009
Horrors of War Preview Art
Switching it up this week. I figured I'd treat you kids to a preview page of "Disposable Heroes," A short story by the Bamn crew. It is slated to be featured in the "The Horrors of War" anthology book, presented by Dr. Dremo's Taphouse (R.I.P.) and the fine people of the DC Conspiracy.
The premise for the short is based on a true life account...but, yes, that is a Star Wars homage that you are seeing below. The story revolves around SPC Sergio Estavia's experience on Christmas during the Iraqi general election. A seeminlgy quiet evening for his convoy gives way to a fiery act of revenge.
Jay did the layouts, David did the final art, and I (me) did the typos. The book is due for an April release and will be available in comic shops around the D.C., Maryland, Virginia.
You can find out more here: http://dcconspiracy.com/
Click for a larger image.
-Troy
Mar 11, 2009
Getting to Know You with Ron Cristobal
In an attempt to create content for this little corner of the internet, I got the obvious idea to interview Bamn’s creative team.
Below are the highlights from a pair of interviews I threw from one side of the web to the other. Jay, Ron, and Dave caught them via e-mail and responded with a collection of typos that seem like responses to my questions (I know, I shouldn’t talk about typos).
Up next is…Ron Cristobal! (Ron actually gave the best interview of the 4 of us) Ron is Bamn’s editor, musician, and soon to be M.D. What’s he doing making a comic book? I dunno, but we are lucky to have him.
(Be sure to click on the previous blogs to read any other interviews you may have missed.)
-Troy
What is Bamn about?
It’s about sex, money, and murder. It’s about life
What is your role in Bamn?
I am the editor of Bamn. I’m not sure if I’m really qualified to do this (laughs)…but I did ALOT of writing and proofreading of other people’s writing in high school/college/grad school. Like the other guys, I have a love for comics and pro-wrestling….so I mostly know where they are coming from in terms of the art and writing. The guys use my place as one of their meeting places to discuss the direction of the book, and I’ll throw in my own two-cents from time to time. I feel like we are like the guys in HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords”, but smarter…not by much, admittedly, but still smarter.
Now that issue #1 is available (http://www.comixpress.com/), what would you have done different?
I probably would have had more Filipino characters and probably more scenes of girls in bikinis… They wouldn’t listen to me, but hey at least I get to look at the grammar and sentence structures of the characters. There’s still time to incorporate more Filipino characters and bikini scenes, guys!
Which character in Bamn do you identify with the most?
As a child, I probably would have identified with Art the best. Even though he knows what the wrestling business is all about (i.e., predetermined outcomes, drugs, sex, etc), he still seems to have a child-like wonderment about Pro Wrestling that I think all of us had or still have.
What was SPX like?
I thought it was AWESOME, and I wish I had been there for more of the days. It was really great seeing the creative community of the Tri-State area.
Any good indy stuff (besides your own) that you got from SPX?
A lot of good free stuff. I picked up “Scars and Bars” by William Rees and Jason Moser and was really impressed at the quality of the book – great packaging, great art and writing. They could have used me as an editor, though because there were quite a few typos (laughs). But that was one of the best things I’ve read, independent-wise.
What comics are you reading right now?
My favorite book right now is “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. It’s just unnerving to see Wolverine as a broken-down pacifist who won’t fight anybody. Reminds me of Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven”.
I also love Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s take on the Fantastic Four. Hitch is the best artist going today and Millar’s writing is excellent as ever.
During the past year, I also really enjoyed “Avengers: The Initiative”, and “The Immortal Iron Fist”. I’m also looking forward to “War of Kings” – Black Bolt is a badass!
Besides eat, poop, and sleep, what do you do when you’re not working on Bamn?
Well, I’m currently finishing up medical school and looking to go into child/adolescent psychiatry, someday. I’m somewhat of a musician and will sit in at jazz-bars, and I’ve also had the good fortune of playing around the area in different bands. I have even performed at the 930 Club, twice! Because of school, I really haven’t been that musically-active this year, but may have a big show coming up in April. I’ll keep you all informed.
Why a wrestling comic? Those never work.
Why NOT a wrestling comic book? I don’t think there’s ever been a comic book that makes note of the behind-the-scenes stuff like this book does. And it’s a great story about a man trying to find his self-respect, again. I know it’s kind of been done with “The Wrestler”, but I’ve known these guys for a while and they had this idea down well-before Mickey Rourke’s movie. The best way I’d describe the book is “The Wrestler” meets “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” meets “The Bad News Bears” meets “The Karate Kid”. Sound interesting? Check out the book!
Do you remember The WWF comic books from Chaos? They were godawful.
That must have been one of the short periods in my life when I wasn’t into comics. I remember Undertaker having one of his own books, though.
Did you ever Backyard wrestle?
No, but my brother and I used to love to perform wrestling maneuvers on my sister’s oversized, 4-foot teddy bear…poor thing. I also used to put my brother in the Figure-four-leg-lock. In college, I was known to powerbomb my poor college friends onto various articles of furniture. And I even put my college roommate in the Human Torture Rack (Lex Luger’s finisher, and also the most useless move in pro-wrestling).
What was that like?
It definitely entertained our friends.
Did you have a gimmick or wrestling name?
If I did, it would have been the Filipino Machino.
Anybody get hurt?
Putting the Figure-four Leg Lock on someone hurts you just as much as it hurts the other guy!
You remember the first comic you ever read?
It was either a comic book adaptation of Tarzan or a “Just Say No to Drugs and Smoking” book that featured Power-Man, Iron-Fist, and Spiderman.* One of those books had a free-subscription thing you could send out for 12 issues and I ended up choosing “Power Man and Iron-fist” for my first series. I chose it mainly because it sounded cool (laughs), but it was so well-written. It even delved into serious issues like terminal cancer, which you normally wouldn’t read about in a comic book in those days.
Some general questions…
Favorite color?
Green
Favorite character?
Hulk
Favorite movie?
If I had to name one, it would be John Woo’s “The Killer”. I actually wanted to be Chow Yun-Fat in high school. I even dressed like him on occasion…with the sunglasses and trenchcoat. Although today if you dress like that, it’s not a good look. People think you will go Columbine on people or whatever. Other movies include “Coming to America”, “Anchorman”, “Rocky”, “Halloween”, “Terminator 1 and 2”, “Tropic Thunder”, and all Zombie Movies.
Favorite penciller?
Without a doubt, Dale Keown. His version of the Hulk in the 90’s will forever be the version I know and love. That dude has an imagination; I just wish he would stay off the drugs and come back to work full-time! I also am a big fan of Bryan Hitch and John Cassaday, and Stefano Caselli
Favorite musician?
Stevie Wonder, Clifford Brown (Jazz Trumpeter), James Brown, Jay-Z, and Jeff Buckley
Favorite wrestler?
As a child I was a big fan of Dynamite Kid (one of the original British Bulldogs). He was so intense in the ring and he made it look REAL. So when I grew up…and I may catch some hell for admitting this today….but I really took to Chris Benoit. He looked and wrestled just like Dynamite Kid x 100! He was not very good on the mic, but he certainly let his wrestling do the talking. It’s just so f’d up what happened with him and his family. Truthfully, after the whole Benoit thing, I kind of got away from pro-wrestling for a bit. But I’m kind of getting back into it…and helping edit a pro-wrestling comic book certainly helps one get back into pro-wrestling, too! I was also a big fan of The Great Muta, Sting, Ric Flair, the Road Warriors, and Booker T/Harlem Heat. I guess you could say I was a big WCW/NWA fan.
What is the meaning of life?
To crush your enemies…see them driven before you…and to hear the lamentation of their women! Haha…I wish I could take credit for that, but that is Conan from “Conan the Barbarian.”
If you could blow somebody up who would it be?
I don’t have that type of ill-will towards anybody. But I would love to tie up some deserving people to the “Tree of Woe” as the American Dream, Dusty Rhoades would say.
Where can we find you online?
Hit me up on facebook (Ronald Cristobal) or check some of my music out at www.myspace.com/ronaman35 . I haven’t had time to write a lot of music lately, but will hopefully be updating the site, soon.
(*Troy’s note: “I had that book too! They gave it to us in elementary school!”
What is Bamn about?
It’s about sex, money, and murder. It’s about life
What is your role in Bamn?
I am the editor of Bamn. I’m not sure if I’m really qualified to do this (laughs)…but I did ALOT of writing and proofreading of other people’s writing in high school/college/grad school. Like the other guys, I have a love for comics and pro-wrestling….so I mostly know where they are coming from in terms of the art and writing. The guys use my place as one of their meeting places to discuss the direction of the book, and I’ll throw in my own two-cents from time to time. I feel like we are like the guys in HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords”, but smarter…not by much, admittedly, but still smarter.
Now that issue #1 is available (http://www.comixpress.com/), what would you have done different?
I probably would have had more Filipino characters and probably more scenes of girls in bikinis… They wouldn’t listen to me, but hey at least I get to look at the grammar and sentence structures of the characters. There’s still time to incorporate more Filipino characters and bikini scenes, guys!
Which character in Bamn do you identify with the most?
As a child, I probably would have identified with Art the best. Even though he knows what the wrestling business is all about (i.e., predetermined outcomes, drugs, sex, etc), he still seems to have a child-like wonderment about Pro Wrestling that I think all of us had or still have.
What was SPX like?
I thought it was AWESOME, and I wish I had been there for more of the days. It was really great seeing the creative community of the Tri-State area.
Any good indy stuff (besides your own) that you got from SPX?
A lot of good free stuff. I picked up “Scars and Bars” by William Rees and Jason Moser and was really impressed at the quality of the book – great packaging, great art and writing. They could have used me as an editor, though because there were quite a few typos (laughs). But that was one of the best things I’ve read, independent-wise.
What comics are you reading right now?
My favorite book right now is “Wolverine: Old Man Logan” by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. It’s just unnerving to see Wolverine as a broken-down pacifist who won’t fight anybody. Reminds me of Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven”.
I also love Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s take on the Fantastic Four. Hitch is the best artist going today and Millar’s writing is excellent as ever.
During the past year, I also really enjoyed “Avengers: The Initiative”, and “The Immortal Iron Fist”. I’m also looking forward to “War of Kings” – Black Bolt is a badass!
Besides eat, poop, and sleep, what do you do when you’re not working on Bamn?
Well, I’m currently finishing up medical school and looking to go into child/adolescent psychiatry, someday. I’m somewhat of a musician and will sit in at jazz-bars, and I’ve also had the good fortune of playing around the area in different bands. I have even performed at the 930 Club, twice! Because of school, I really haven’t been that musically-active this year, but may have a big show coming up in April. I’ll keep you all informed.
Why a wrestling comic? Those never work.
Why NOT a wrestling comic book? I don’t think there’s ever been a comic book that makes note of the behind-the-scenes stuff like this book does. And it’s a great story about a man trying to find his self-respect, again. I know it’s kind of been done with “The Wrestler”, but I’ve known these guys for a while and they had this idea down well-before Mickey Rourke’s movie. The best way I’d describe the book is “The Wrestler” meets “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” meets “The Bad News Bears” meets “The Karate Kid”. Sound interesting? Check out the book!
Do you remember The WWF comic books from Chaos? They were godawful.
That must have been one of the short periods in my life when I wasn’t into comics. I remember Undertaker having one of his own books, though.
Did you ever Backyard wrestle?
No, but my brother and I used to love to perform wrestling maneuvers on my sister’s oversized, 4-foot teddy bear…poor thing. I also used to put my brother in the Figure-four-leg-lock. In college, I was known to powerbomb my poor college friends onto various articles of furniture. And I even put my college roommate in the Human Torture Rack (Lex Luger’s finisher, and also the most useless move in pro-wrestling).
What was that like?
It definitely entertained our friends.
Did you have a gimmick or wrestling name?
If I did, it would have been the Filipino Machino.
Anybody get hurt?
Putting the Figure-four Leg Lock on someone hurts you just as much as it hurts the other guy!
You remember the first comic you ever read?
It was either a comic book adaptation of Tarzan or a “Just Say No to Drugs and Smoking” book that featured Power-Man, Iron-Fist, and Spiderman.* One of those books had a free-subscription thing you could send out for 12 issues and I ended up choosing “Power Man and Iron-fist” for my first series. I chose it mainly because it sounded cool (laughs), but it was so well-written. It even delved into serious issues like terminal cancer, which you normally wouldn’t read about in a comic book in those days.
Some general questions…
Favorite color?
Green
Favorite character?
Hulk
Favorite movie?
If I had to name one, it would be John Woo’s “The Killer”. I actually wanted to be Chow Yun-Fat in high school. I even dressed like him on occasion…with the sunglasses and trenchcoat. Although today if you dress like that, it’s not a good look. People think you will go Columbine on people or whatever. Other movies include “Coming to America”, “Anchorman”, “Rocky”, “Halloween”, “Terminator 1 and 2”, “Tropic Thunder”, and all Zombie Movies.
Favorite penciller?
Without a doubt, Dale Keown. His version of the Hulk in the 90’s will forever be the version I know and love. That dude has an imagination; I just wish he would stay off the drugs and come back to work full-time! I also am a big fan of Bryan Hitch and John Cassaday, and Stefano Caselli
Favorite musician?
Stevie Wonder, Clifford Brown (Jazz Trumpeter), James Brown, Jay-Z, and Jeff Buckley
Favorite wrestler?
As a child I was a big fan of Dynamite Kid (one of the original British Bulldogs). He was so intense in the ring and he made it look REAL. So when I grew up…and I may catch some hell for admitting this today….but I really took to Chris Benoit. He looked and wrestled just like Dynamite Kid x 100! He was not very good on the mic, but he certainly let his wrestling do the talking. It’s just so f’d up what happened with him and his family. Truthfully, after the whole Benoit thing, I kind of got away from pro-wrestling for a bit. But I’m kind of getting back into it…and helping edit a pro-wrestling comic book certainly helps one get back into pro-wrestling, too! I was also a big fan of The Great Muta, Sting, Ric Flair, the Road Warriors, and Booker T/Harlem Heat. I guess you could say I was a big WCW/NWA fan.
What is the meaning of life?
To crush your enemies…see them driven before you…and to hear the lamentation of their women! Haha…I wish I could take credit for that, but that is Conan from “Conan the Barbarian.”
If you could blow somebody up who would it be?
I don’t have that type of ill-will towards anybody. But I would love to tie up some deserving people to the “Tree of Woe” as the American Dream, Dusty Rhoades would say.
Where can we find you online?
Hit me up on facebook (Ronald Cristobal) or check some of my music out at www.myspace.com/ronaman35 . I haven’t had time to write a lot of music lately, but will hopefully be updating the site, soon.
(*Troy’s note: “I had that book too! They gave it to us in elementary school!”
Mar 4, 2009
Getting to Know You with Jay Payne
In an attempt to create content for this little corner of the internet, I, Troy Jeffrey Allen, got the obvious idea to interview Bamn’s artistic duo, David (The) Dean and Jay (The House of) Payne (apologies to Stan Lee).
Below is the highlights from a pair of interviews I threw from one side of the web to the other. Jay and Dave caught them via e-mail and responded with a collection of typos that seem like responses to my questions (I know, I shouldn’t talk about typos).
Up next is Jay Payne, artist to the stars (Well…just his dog, really.)
What is Bamn about?
Bamn is about the world of wrestling and the people who live in that world.
What is your role in Bamn?
I illustrate the comic book for Bamn.
Now that issue #1 is available (www.comixpress.com), what would you have done different?
Nothing.
Which character in Bamn do you identify with the most?
I identify with all the characters. They all carry a small personality of mine, and of my closest friends. Some of them even carry a fantasized idea of who I would like to be.
What was SPX like?
It was very overwhelming and one of the happiest moments of my life.
Any good indy stuff (besides your own) that you got from SPX?
Sadly, I didn’t check out the other tables while I was there. Don’t tell anyone.
What are comics you reading right now?
“All-Star Superman.”
Besides eat, poop, and sleep, what do you do when you’re not working on Bamn?
I’m either sketching new ideas or sketching for fun. Watching movies, and playing "Street Fighter."
Why a wrestling comic? Those never work.
It’s too expensive to make a movie.
Do you remember The WWF comic books from Chaos? They were godawful.
Yes they were.
Did you ever Backyard wrestle?
No...not I.
What was that like?
Don’t know.
Did you have a gimmick or wrestling name?
It would’ve been “House of Payne!”
Anybody get hurt?
They would’ve gotten hurt.
You remember the first comic you ever read?
It was a Spiderman comic book. I don’t remember which one though.
Some general questions…
Favorite color?
Lime Green
Favorite character?
Superman
Favorite movie?
Saving Private Ryan
Favorite penciller?
Adam Hughes
Favorite musician?
Michael Jackson
Favorite wrestler?
Bret “The Hitman” Hart
What is the meaning of life?
Don’t know yet.
If you could blow somebody up who would it be?
M. Night Shyamalamas!
Where can we find you online?
http://www.bamncan.com/
Below is the highlights from a pair of interviews I threw from one side of the web to the other. Jay and Dave caught them via e-mail and responded with a collection of typos that seem like responses to my questions (I know, I shouldn’t talk about typos).
Up next is Jay Payne, artist to the stars (Well…just his dog, really.)
What is Bamn about?
Bamn is about the world of wrestling and the people who live in that world.
What is your role in Bamn?
I illustrate the comic book for Bamn.
Now that issue #1 is available (www.comixpress.com), what would you have done different?
Nothing.
Which character in Bamn do you identify with the most?
I identify with all the characters. They all carry a small personality of mine, and of my closest friends. Some of them even carry a fantasized idea of who I would like to be.
What was SPX like?
It was very overwhelming and one of the happiest moments of my life.
Any good indy stuff (besides your own) that you got from SPX?
Sadly, I didn’t check out the other tables while I was there. Don’t tell anyone.
What are comics you reading right now?
“All-Star Superman.”
Besides eat, poop, and sleep, what do you do when you’re not working on Bamn?
I’m either sketching new ideas or sketching for fun. Watching movies, and playing "Street Fighter."
Why a wrestling comic? Those never work.
It’s too expensive to make a movie.
Do you remember The WWF comic books from Chaos? They were godawful.
Yes they were.
Did you ever Backyard wrestle?
No...not I.
What was that like?
Don’t know.
Did you have a gimmick or wrestling name?
It would’ve been “House of Payne!”
Anybody get hurt?
They would’ve gotten hurt.
You remember the first comic you ever read?
It was a Spiderman comic book. I don’t remember which one though.
Some general questions…
Favorite color?
Lime Green
Favorite character?
Superman
Favorite movie?
Saving Private Ryan
Favorite penciller?
Adam Hughes
Favorite musician?
Michael Jackson
Favorite wrestler?
Bret “The Hitman” Hart
What is the meaning of life?
Don’t know yet.
If you could blow somebody up who would it be?
M. Night Shyamalamas!
Where can we find you online?
http://www.bamncan.com/
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