Preview of BI's Next Comic book Release

Welcome folks. Here are a few preview pages of the BI's next title. Enjoy.

Open publication - Free publishing - More bocas

Jake Estrada

PROMO TO BI'S NEXT COMIC RELEASE

Hey everyone, hope everyone is doing well. Well here is a special issue of Bocas I am premiering with BI. I hope you will enjoy the cover. The actual comic will be released within the next few days.

This is a very special issue that holds a special place in my heart, and has a special message to everyone. Here is the upcoming comics cover.

Bocas is a violent no-holds barred vigilante who kills his prey. There is no escaping this urban boogeyman that has made it his mission to destroy sinners, and in the process atone for his own evil actions. Bocas, legend is known throughout the world.

See you folks soon.

Jake

THE ADVERSARY REBORN

First issue!

We begin with the murder of an angel at the hands of a demon. So bold are the agents of Hell, so convinced of their own dominion over earth, they now feel they can slay angels with impunity. The cold war between heaven and Hell heats up.

In response, the former Archangel Michael goes on his own murderous rampage, taking down a score of demons. In the process he hears of the presence of a fallen demon of sorts here on earth. He hatches a plan that might make good use of her.  Her name is Yae-el. Stripped of her powers, eternal youth and beauty, she is trapped in a prison of ruined flesh and banished to earth.

She is The Adversary.

The Adversary: Reborn is now available at DriveThruComics.com!

Asylum of Horrors #1 and #2 are Now in Print at DriveThruComics.com!

You can get these collections in PDF or full color softcover formats today and more Asylum Press print titles are on the way!

R.I.P Spain Rodriguez

R.I.P Spain Rodriguez

Spain Rodriguez

Spain Rodriguez's 

Trashman

Spain, born Manuel Rodriguez, known to the world as Spain, has passed on today. (March 22, 1940-November 28, 2012),

Spain was an underground artist that came to attention back in 1968, called Zodiac Mindwarp by East Village Other.

Spain was a founder of the United Cartoon Workers of America and had his hand in creation several characters, but most notably his stellar Trashman series reminds on top. He had been currently still working for Salon’s on going graphic novel, The Dark Hotel.

The world has lost a genius and we here at The Broken Infinite will mourn such a powerful and pivotal artist within the underground scene.

Jake Estrada 

The Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki infringement issue update

The Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki infringement issue update

I reported about a possible case about a comic artist being ripped off here: Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki.

Dave Alvarez's Kike to the left, and Ed Rodriguez's version on the right. 

 Talking with Dave Alavrez regarding this issue I learned that Ed Rodriguez was made aware back in 2010 when he debuted his character that there was a Kike Koki already established.

Point one:

Yet back in 2010 Borders covered up the existence of Kike Koki in their Puerto Rico story, along with not having any of the Kike Koki books from Dave Alvarez’s Kike Koki book in  stock that day, considering he had released two tomes of his book just recently there himself. 

 Point two:

Dave, having recently contacted an attorney and upon visiting the attorney he learned that the attorney represented one of the many merchandise distributors that handle Kiki, and he couldn’t represent him directly yet was told that his client knew about the complaints of being similar and possible infringement laws being broken, yet the client could not careless about Dave. He told Dave, that thousands of hundreds of dollars are being spent to back Kiki creator, and with this he has the power to defend himself while Dave has basically no money. He just has the sympathy of the public, which many see as the original creator of the character. Now we know that’s not enough, but sometimes it is. He was told in closing, that he has to keep fighting.

Point three:

This is a Coqui known as
the Guajon, one out of 17 types
on the island of Puerto Rico.

Kike Koki is based on a Coqui that comes from the Dorado subset on the island, yet there are over 17 different types on the island of Puerto Rico alone. Somehow, Ed Rodriguez chose the same exact Coqui species and colored the character very similar in design, when confront with this knowledge he did not change the name; give him another color design he did nothing. In fact he could have even gone out his way and given Dave co-creator rights. Yet what irks me even more. Dave’s strip had been running all over online and on El Nuevo Dia paper, and Ed supposedly had visited the island several times, shouldn’t he have known about this character? Shouldn’t he have done a check to see if there were any similar characters out there? One has to consider this seeing as the Coqui is a huge symbol to the Puerto Rican people of the island and Nyoricans, and other Puerto Rican descents for decades. So a simple search would have given Ed a heads up. Yes? No?

Point four:

Why hasn’t Ed come forward besides his wimpy excuse of stating, “There is no rip off here. Coqui frogs are golden in color (searchCoqui Dorado) and koki is the Taino spelling for coqui.”and try talking with Dave more in-depth with this issue now? Because he is engaging in cover-up tactics now?

Ed Rodriguez.

One has to consider that Ed Rodriguez knew about copyright law seeing as Ed Rodriguez has worked professionally as an artist for over 20 years, with various companies such as Disney, MGA/Little Tikes and Spin Master. Running his name through Amazon you would find quite a bit of his books through the system from various Disney books. He has worked with consumer products; he has a basic knowledge in copyright and what infringement involves. Unless he took everything he learned from Disney, which is a company we know that has infringed on other creator rights throughout the decades with various works of animation, and he figured he could take advantage of a fellow brethren?

I can’t talk about the state of mind of Ed Rodriguez of course, because who really knows his true motivations here.  Only Ed can answer these questions now, but he refuses to comment any further.

Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki: You decide!

Character Theft? You decide!

Have you ever stolen someones work? Is it right or wrong? You decide!

 Hello folks how are everyone doing. I have come here to talk about Character theft. This is the simple case of one person stealing someone’s character and getting away with it. Or is it? You decide!

Dave Alvarez created his Kike Koki back in 2005.

November 19th, 2012 I went onto facebook and I was smacked in the face by an image about Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki and how the one created was being ripped off and which showed how another creator  had benefited in this theft, while the original creator was struggling to make ends meet.

Kike Koki created by Dave Alvarez in 2005.

 The character in question is a character called Kike Koki (Kee Kee Koki is another variation of the name), this character first appeared in 2005 as a strip over on Deviant Art, then went onto a strip at Federator for Nickelodeon, to being featured in El Nuevo Dia through 2005-2011. Too also having two separate comics having been published about the title character, all created by David Alvarez

Kike Koki 2005.

This is Ed Rodriguez. Behind him is one of the plush toys
 based on his Kiki Koki. 

 Now on September 14, 2010 an Ed Rodriguez released a Kiki Koki character that had a similar color, and almost a similar appearance. Ed’s site states that the, “Kiki Koki is about an enchanted legend about the coqui frog as created by Ed Rodriguez. In addition to the storybook KikiKoki.com offers plush, apparel and art. It continues to add products for Coqui lovers of all ages.”

So when I did this research I was totally with Dave Alvarez at this point because the two characters at first glance of course don’t look like carbon copies but if you look at the two side by side you have to measure it equally with weighted eyes. Of course I am no judge, but my perception of the matter makes me suspect deeply that Ed stole Dave’s character.

Let’s do a side by side comparison and you can decide:

Do you see how both characters share a similar name, and share a similar appearance? You decide!

The original Kike Koki.

Kike Koki vs. Kiki Koki

Kike: Is a Coqui.

Kiki: Is a Coqui

Kike: Has bug eyes.

Kiki: Has bug eyes.

Kike: The color is yellow, white, green and red.

Kiki: The color is yellow, white, green and red.

Kike: Kike Coqui

Kiki: Kiki Coqui

You get my drift here?  There are way to many similarities here because they both share a similar name, the same appearance and someone that say followed Dave’s character caught the Kiki Coqui book, they would just assume it was the same character, and this would cause brand confusion. Yet the buck doesn’t stop there at all.

See how similar Kike is to Kiki?

You’d think if the creator of Kiki Koki was told this that he would have altered the character further that there would be zero similarities. I had to contact the creator of Kiki Koki about this. This is what I initially said to the creator in a message over on YouTube.

Yo if this is a rip off of an established character, not cool.

Hey Jake

There is no rip off here. Coquí frogs are golden in color (search Coqui Dorado) and koki is the Taino spelling for Coqui. Check out Kike Koki for yourself and compare it toKiki Koki, outside of color there is no similarity in design, content and story.

Then I email him, I asked him to clarify his stance further and this is what he tells me in his email:

Here is Ed explaining to me why his character is not a rip-off. You decide!

Hi Jake.

Ed Rodriguez's Kiki Koki as a plush figure. 

Congratulations on your blog and Comic books. Best of luck on printing your book. I have some experience in that area, I would be happy to share any lessons I've learned along the way if you have any specific questions.

As far as the "controversy" I really don't have anything further to say about it.

Thanks

Ed

You see it there; he then takes off right as he started the email. He did not defend himself further, he figured by giving me that wimpy excuse that he wasn’t a rip off because Coqui frogs are golden in color, and that Koki is the Taino spelling for Coqui, and tells me to compare it for myself, which I did they look a lot alike. Sure the stories maybe different but they look alike.

The creator with the faux Kiki? You decide!

At first when I heard this story I thought what if this guy didn’t know about the other guys creation and he went on to create his own story using the Coqui and the particular color scheme came about, but that thought quickly diminished with that particular response he made directly to me.

Furthermore, I spoke with Dave directly myself, and he told me that he did indeed confront Ed Rodriguez and told him that he was infringing on his characters branding and he showed him what he had, and he was told that he would stop with the character but that never happened because Ed was backed up by a Agent and to much money was invested into the character at this point? Dave, was dismayed because he said that Kiki was infringing on his character Kike, creating branding confusion and he was losing money because of this and he had to stop it. He told me he was consulting with an attorney.

You see Ed's success, is this right? Or is it wrong?
You decide!

If you go look at the Kiki Koki website you will see that Ed Rodriguez has made shirts, plus toys, had stage plays and cartoons using this character. Ed Rodriguez has committed fraud and he continues to commit such fraud, and hoping that Dave Alvarez is gullible enough to do nothing about it. That is only my opinion, and I do hope and pray that Dave is smart enough and he defends his property. He must because if he leaves this unchallenged then Ed will continue to abuse this mans creation.

Look it over folks, make your own informed opinion and share this story on. Thank you.

Jake Estrada

SCREW PHILLIPS OUT NOW!!! MATURE READERS

WELCOME FOLKS

 Hey folks. I hope everyone is doing well. By now many reviewers have seen my name pop here time to time doing reviews of other comics, web comics and such. Well finally I am proud to present you a new web comic series I have done that is being directly released digitally before it comes to print. This is the first book to be specifically released and published by The Broken Infinite. I have known Frankie Rodriguez for years now. Frankie and I are old college friends, and I remember the old conversations we used to have about producing comics, and the like. I’d just like to thank my old friend for letting me to release this under his imprint. Thanks again buddy. So without any further ado. Here are a few preview pages, and I will also be providing a few links for people to view the digital release of SCREW PHILLIPS. I hope to get reviews, and hope everyone enjoys.

SCREW PHILLIPS

He was once a special agent and good at his job. But then he committed the ultimate sin and let his personal greed get the best of him. Viewed to the rest of the world as a rogue agent - gone bad. Locked away and forgotten for several years, now released to the world, prowling the wastelands of Bridgeton, an outlaw working for the system, killing other outlaws to claim his piece, and known on the streets as SCREW PHILLIPS. 

To view: Click here

THE HUMAN VIRUS by Jake Estrada

 ON SALE NOW

What would you do if you woke up one morning to discover that the world you knew no longer existed? That is what happened to an average man in The Human Virus.

He went out to cut his grass one morning and discovered that his friends and neighbors were zombies. He knew that he had to protect himself and his significant other. What would you do? How would you survive? Follow this man as he battles the zombies and fights to save his life and the life of his significant other. Will he survive? Witness his struggles and his descent into a new hell. See how it all ends. This story is a gripping page-turner from start to finish. It’s definitely not the typical zombie story.

The story starts on the cover and is a taunt nail biting horror. Comic is black and white book with a color cover.

Written and Drawn by Jake Estrada

Edits by Beth Sipps.

You can NOW can purchase THE HUMAN VIRUS, which is just in time for Halloween this year. A taunt horror that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Order now!

All this for $3.99 plus shipping and handling. If you wish for an autograph please let me know I will sign it once you purchase the title.

Furthermore, you can also purchase the title here digitally if you wish: The Human Virus

You can also like us over at facebook here: The Human Virus  

 

Under the Net # 22

Under the Net with Jake Estrada

Unicorn soup

Welcome to the 22nd edition of Under the Net.  

I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.

One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.

Today, I am doing a review of a web comic series that is basically about two guys writing and drawing about how they feel about current events around the world, and I must say it is quite good. The series is by Jack Janney and Jim Pezzetti.

The Art

The art is black and white. It is done nicely, has a great mixture of humor and movement and is very east to read.

ART: 4 STARS

The Writing

The writing is very good as well. I enjoyed it a lot. I love the tone of the writing because each page is a different story that has to do with gaming or some sort of genre. Sometimes the writing has dark humor. For example, a guy is writing a story, and he is working hard. When he is happy, he has a cat in his hands, and he is naked and the ladies walk in to see this. In one story, a baby and a man finally head into work to tell his boss to see the other guy. There are subjects about people having to use their real name and address if they were gamers, and the other player talks about how much of a nightmare this would be because it would bring out all the weirdoes and nerds doing stupid things like appearing to make out with women, or one standing over a person’s face in victory.

WRITING: 4 STARS

Originality

 The art was nice, the writing was great, and there are several stories in the book. The originality to the series is great because you never know what you will get on any given update.  

ORIGINALITY: 3 STARS

The Pros

The book has great humor, great writing, and great art.

The Cons

The only con is that the web comic doesn’t have a set storyline.

Cut the Cord. Enjoy!

My Final Word

If you want something funny, something to read and have a little fun, then this is the series for you because you will laugh. J

The comic updates here every Thursday:

http://www.unicorn-soup.com/

Enjoy folks!

Jake Estrada

Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website suggestions. Thanks.

Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at http://graphicly.com/estrada-media and other fine online stores.

Robot God Akamatsu webcomic review

It's Jeremias back with another review! This time I'm taking a look at the webcomic Robot God Akamatsu. Written by James Biggie with art by Frankie B. Washington, Robot God Akamatsu is a webcomic that is a throwback to classic super robot anime series complete with retro manga-like art style.

Review by Jeremias de Leon

Story

The story of Robot God Akamatsu is, like, the classic series it's inspired by it's about a robot saving humanity from evil giant monsters. Of course there's more plot to it than that. An inter-dimensional gate opens which lets a monster loose and destroys Boston. During this the main character Jin, is put into a coma for a year and during that year scientists are hard at work in making sure Jin and two other people named Adele Angavi and Connor Aleju. On top of the story on Earth with these people there's also a plot about where the robot comes from and the evil people invading earth from there. It seems there's more to the "Robot God" than people think. There's a lot building up here, so there's more content here than just robots smashing evil monsters. Though to be honest I would be just fine with that.

Art

The art by Frankie B. Washington is quite something. It's definitely inspired by classic giant robot anime but it doesn't feel at all like it's trying to rip them off, it still looks like it's a unique style that belongs to him and not "Go Nagai clone #301", The black and white pages are quite nice with this style of comic in a way it lets the details stand out more. Your eyes get drawn to peoples features and the designs of the machines. Robot God Akamatsu itself looks like a giant robot from the 70s and since that seems to the point the design has done it's job.

All in all it's a really cool, stylish art style that leaves an impression

Characters

The characters in this comic are pretty quirky, and that's a good thing. None of them seem like they're bland or 2 dimensional which is can be uncommon in these types of stories. The main character Jin has plenty going on for him, he seems to be a bit aloof but also has a sense of humor. The other pilots are something as well, Adele is a strong no non-sense woman and Connor is a laid back guy but he also seems to have a work ethic as well, he isn't so laid back to the point of being incompetent.

Jin's father is a scientist but unlike most scientists shown in media isn't just some stuffy lab-coat, although he does always wear one. He shows to care for his son a lot and even shows that he, too has a sense of humor. The other characters although not shown too much do clearly show they're unique characters Frankie the other scientist who is close to his Jin and his father's friend is shown to be a kindhearted man and Jackie one of the mechanics/engineers is pretty distinct with his New Yorker/Bostonian/Irish(???) accent.

Verdict

Robot God Akamatsu is an on-going webcomic that is a really fun read. It's building up to something great, the art style is great to look at, and the action is fantastic. If you're a fan of mecha like I am there really is no reason to not read this. I had a blast going through the chapters. It's a rocket punch to boredom go and read this right now you will not be disappointed.

Robot God Akamatsu gets an emphatic 9 out of 10.

You can read Robot God Akamatsu here http://robotgodakamatsu.blogspot.com/

If you feel like knowing more about my thoughts on comics, games, anime and the like follow me on twitter @ikariradio and listen to my podcast the Ikaricast, which is on iTunes.

Under the Net #20

Under the Net

with Jake Estrada

RIP #1

Story by: Joseph Pais
Art by: Christhian Zamora
Letters by: Patrick Meeker
Publisher: Black Snake Studios

 Welcome to the 20th edition of Under the Net.  

Okay, I am still on my tour with the comics at drivethrucomics.com, and I found another suitable title to review. The comic has a sort of flare to it that tells me they may have been inspired by Frank Miller. Here are the rules of my review. J

I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.

One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.

The Art

The artwork is done in a black and white style with red thrown into the mix. The style reminds me of Sin City or some type of comic done by Frank Miller, and I will say that it does work. It holds the story together well since this is a story about hunters trying to kill the vampires they hunt, and it shows us the very bleak world these heroes and villains live in. You can see the depression creep in as they go on their murderous rampage through the city to get to the root of the issue.

ART: 4 STARS

The Writing

The writing is not too bad. The story has our hero RIP cutting a swatch of bad guys in half, and gives him this very dark outlook on life as he makes his way through the city to kill these vampires. At times, the story gets sort of bogged down as it goes back and forth in the past some, and it gets kind of hard to understand what is happening, but it moves forward never forgiving and only terminating its villains, and it shows you how the world is on the verge of total destruction. However, RIP won’t let this impurity continue, and he tries to become the human race’s only salvation.

WRITING: 3 STARS

Originality

We have all seen vampire slayer stories and revenge stories. Yet, this one takes the two concepts and puts it back together like many other classic tales. The vampires stole his love, and RIP wants her back. RIP will do anything to get his love back, and he will even enhance himself by taking drugs to stop these vampires. So, in essence, he will become a monster to kill the monsters he hates so much. The story can get bogged down, but it doesn’t stop. It continues to flow to the bitter end.

ORIGINALITY: 3 STARS

The Pros

The art is nice and the story is solid as it flows on the page. It is very engaging, and you don’t stop looking until the end.

The Cons

The lettering can get kind of muddled and hard to read.

My Final Word

If you like vampire stories with a bite, give this story a chance as it may RIP you in half. J Keep up the good work.

The Free cover. 

To read the first issue go here:  

http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/product/84986/Rip-%231-Free-Edition

Enjoy folks!

Jake Estrada

Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website/story suggestions. Thanks.

Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at http://graphicly.com/estrada-media and other fine online stores.

Under the Net #18

Under the Net with Jake Estrada

Mucho Man

Welcome to the 18th edition of Under the Net.  

Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of Under the Net. This is Spanish title known as Mucho Man. I was scoping out the net looking for hidden gems and came upon this title. Here is my review.

I will be rating the elements of the book on a scale of one through five.

One is poor, two is mediocre, three is fair, four is good, and five is excellent.

The Art

The art was very nice. I liked how the comic was drawn; it had all kinds of crazy things thrown in for good measure that gave me a 1970’s comic vibe. The comic is in black and white. We get the exploits of many characters in the comic, and it was wonderfully put together artistically. The use of spreads was nice. They had a clear understanding of panel dynamics. 

ART: 4 STARS

The Writing

The story at times flowed nicely, but at some points, it dragged. The story opens with the El Pistolero. He has a very huge hat, fires guns, and is considered Mexico’s first and greatest hero. As I said, at times it flows nicely and other times I had to force myself to read the story. The action picks up some and eventually he is presumed dead.

 When we get to the brunt of the story, we soon get to a wrestling match, and I did lose interest in the story at this point. I had to push myself to read the comic further to give it a proper review.

Then we were introduced to Mucho man, and saw him punching fish. Fish were instantly dying, and it gave me this huge wtf moment as I busted out laughing reading these panels. I was like, “Oh man, this is so much like a bad 1970’s Santos movie!” as our masked hero went to town with killer fish from outer space or some other crazy idea. I was like, “This is nuts!” I kept pushing forward.

Then, Fish Man appears, throws some sharks and other things, and that issue ends.

I have to say that the writing is okay. It gives us a basic story, but I felt like maybe we needed to be introduced to Mucho Man sooner, and he should have been fighting the fish a heck of a lot faster. But, I give the crew my props. Keep writing your crazy tales. We need more comics that go out on the limb like this sometimes. J 

WRITING: 3 STARS

Originality

The series is based in Mexico. It is great to see a different setting and the use classical-type characters such as Mexicans and wrestlers to be heroes. It has that 1970’s vibe and certain B’ness to it. It comes from a source of comics I haven’t seen a while. It also reminds me of other classic hero comics. I love the fact that it has an ethnic cast, and it plays with its stereotypes well.

ORIGINALITY: 3 STARS

The Pros

The art is nicely done. The visuals are great, and it flows very well. You can see that a lot of work has been put into this comic to give it a very professional, polished look. The effects work great and each page illustration adds to the layer of the comic. With no dialogue, it flows well.

The Cons

With the dialogue, it gets bogged down. It slows it down, and it makes it a long, boring read at times. If you can get past some of the scenes and get to the ultimate fighting fish fight, you will laugh at least. Now, that’s if you can get past the wrestling match. I think many people may just not get past it, and it would be a shame. I would tell my readers to check it out and give it a chance, at least for the fighting fish part.

My Final Word

If you want 1970’s masked wrestlers who will kick your door down and kill your living fish, then read this comic!!

To read the first issue go here:  

http://www.mucho-man.com/

Enjoy folks!

Jake Estrada

Email me at estradajake@yahoo.com for website/story suggestions. Thanks.

Jake Estrada is a published author who holds degrees in Multimedia Design and Criminal Justice. He is a father to three wonderful children and married to his beautiful wife, Beth. You can find his comics at http://graphicly.com/estrada-media and other fine online stores.