The saga concludes!!! The end of the “El Loco”  preview is here!!!

You can also check out the rest of the 5 pager now at your local comic book store here in Tucson.

Heroes and Villains

4533 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ (520) 321-4376

website: http://www.facebook.com/HeroesandVillainsTucson

Owner: Mike Camp

Charlie’s Comic Books

5470 E. Speedway Boulevard Suite A-107, Tucson, AZ, 85712 (520) 320-0279

website: http://www.popshoponline.com

Owner: Charlie Harris

Fantasy Comics

2595 N. 1st Ave, Tucson, AZ (520) 670-0100

website: http://www.fantasycomics2595.com/

Owner: Tom Struck

Arnie Bermudez

“That dog is a killer. She will corner you and  lick your face off.”- Me

It’s  with a heavy heart that I write this blog. It’s not funny and it’s not a witty post. Today is a horrible day. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to meet many civic leaders through my job as a cartoonist and  member of the Tucson Citizen Editorial Board.  Although, I disagreed with many I was always very gracious for the opportunity I had to meet with them and the ability to question them over the issues concerning our society. One of those civic leaders is Gabrielle Giffords.  Gabby, however, stood out from the rest of them. The quality that stuck with me about her was sincerity. Gabby, shot from the hip and was very direct, which is unusual for a politician and extremely courageous in my opinion, most politicians can’t give you a straight answer to save their lives.  She was also extremely accessible. Often times she would stay after the edit board meetings and talk with the staff. Many times she joked around with me about the cartoons I drew and the caricatures I made of her. After meeting her once she remembered my name and would always call me out and greet me whenever she ran into me at a restaurant or even jogging around the park. She saw me at the Shanty once and asked if I had landed on my feet after the closing of the print edition of The Citizen. I disagreed with her political views on many aspects and I supported her a lot in others, but she was always willing to take the time and discuss them with me one on one no matter how busy she was.  Other times we would just talk about random things, she gave me dating advice and I would ask her if she could ask her husband about what it was like to pee in space. When I finally summed up the courage to take a picture with her she happily obliged with one condition, that she take it arm wrestling me. I was astonished, I thought I would get the usual standing next to me pose, but Gabby’s other outstanding quality is her incredible sense of humor. Godspeed to your recovery, Gabby.

Arm wrestling the congresswoman

The current political environment in Arizona is partly to blame, as of late it has been fueled by fear and hate. Today, that pot boiled over. Today, we lost many members of our community to that fervor. Today, a woman I looked up to and admired was almost killed, her life hangs by a thread at the moment I write this.

Our legislature has made a political strategy out of targeting people, the Russell Pearces and Jan Brewers in our state have decided to not only make laws espousing fear and hatred, but a whole campaign, a movement was created and it is taking hold of our citizens. People are listening to our leaders, as misguided as their intentions may be or as untrue as their statements are, their constituency is listening. There is a rise in prominence, as of late, of hate groups and demonstrations of fear and no one is taking action and today we experienced the results. I recently saw a truck on the road between Nogales and Tucson with a Swastika on their rear windshield.  JT Ready and his Neo-Nazi friends are frequently demonstrating near the capitol in Phoenix and our new President of the Arizona Senate is a close personal friend of that guy! No one is concerned!?  He’s making the laws that govern our lives!! The Chicano center at the U of A was also vandalized today. Yet we have people like Sara Palin putting cross hairs on her opponents, knowing full well what that implies. The maniac that shot Gabby and killed the 9 year old girl was afraid and paranoid of his government, this was obvious from his online rants.

So am I blaming the Republicans for today’s tragedy? Yes, in part I am, mostly just the ones in our state. I’m going to take a page out of the Gabrielle Giffords play-book and be very direct. Your recent movement of ”fear the Muslims, don’t give the gays rights, persecute the Mexicans and exploit the poor” has yielded these results. Every election cycle you promote a campaign strategy of fear and hatred to win elections and get voters to the polls, well here’s proof that people are listening. You see, these people, the ones responsible for these tragic acts don’t have to be your constituents to listen to your hate speech, all they need are ears. They could be nonvoting individuals, but if they are listening to the inflammatory “news casts” of Fox “News” or the extreme right wing radio stations that you use as platforms then thats all the motivation they need. It’s rare when fear and hatred yield positive results. Maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy.

Arnie Bermudez

The crazy saga continues!!!! An apology to everyone I have been a little behind on my deadlines as I was away from my computer for the holidays.

Page five will be up in 2 weeks for the conclusion of the first chapter.  You can also check out the rest of the 5 pager now at your local comic book store here in Tucson.

Heroes and Villains

4533 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ (520) 321-4376

website: http://www.facebook.com/HeroesandVillainsTucson

Owner: Mike Camp

Charlie’s Comic Books

5470 E. Speedway Boulevard Suite A-107, Tucson, AZ, 85712 (520) 320-0279

website: http://www.popshoponline.com

Owner: Charlie Harris

Fantasy Comics

2595 N. 1st Ave, Tucson, AZ (520) 670-0100

website: http://www.fantasycomics2595.com/

Owner: Tom Struck

Arnie Bermudez

“Divorce, is just one more reason why people shouldn’t get married.”- Me

The saga continues…

Page four will be up on the 29 of December.  You can also check out the rest of the 5 page preview now at your local comic book store here in Tucson.

Heroes and Villains

4533 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ (520) 321-4376

website: http://www.facebook.com/HeroesandVillainsTucson

Owner: Mike Camp

Charlie’s Comic Books

5470 E. Speedway Boulevard Suite A-107, Tucson, AZ, 85712 (520) 320-0279

website: http://www.popshoponline.com

Owner: Charlie Harris

Fantasy Comics

2595 N. 1st Ave, Tucson, AZ (520) 670-0100

website: http://www.fantasycomics2595.com/

Owner: Tom Struck

Arnie Bermudez

“One of the many similarities between little kids and soda, is that if you shake them they both empty out their contents.”- Me

This past weekend at the Tucson Comic Con something special happened. Aside from the huge gathering of creative forces that inundated the Hotel Arizona and took over downtown.  No, the special part was the debut of “El Loco”. A project I had been working on with my friend and writer Henry Barajas.  He had been hounding me about working on a project together for a while. For whatever reason the stars had not aligned and I just wasn’t available, then Russell Pierce and Jan Brewer hooked up and gave birth to the malformed and degenerate, inbred conservative child that is SB1070. Then Henry called again and pitched me a story. A Hispanic, field-working superhero.  As we spoke at Chipotle, of all places, he explained the origin and his concept for the character. Well, that lit a fire under my behind, and regardless of freelance projects, side gigs, nine-to-fives, trips, relatives visiting, I hunkered down and worked on Henry’s story. I must say it was one of the most invogorating things I have ever done.  The project was a success and we were able to debut a 5 page mini at the con to a great response. Every two weeks I will post a page up here and keep it going.  Here is an article about El Loco written at ComicBookTherapy.com. There is also a video interview done by KGUN here. That’s right we was on the “telly”. Anyway, enough bragging, here it is, enjoy.

Page two will be up on the 26 of November.  You can also check out the rest of the 5 page preview now at your local comic book store here in Tucson. 

Heroes and Villains

4533 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ (520) 321-4376

website: http://www.heroesandvillainsonline.com

Owner: Mike Camp

Charlie’s Comic Books

5470 E. Speedway Boulevard Suite A-107, Tucson, AZ, 85712 (520) 320-0279

website: http://www.popshoponline.com

Owner: Charlie Harris

Fantasy Comics

2595 N. 1st Ave, Tucson, AZ (520) 670-0100

website: http://www.fantasycomics2595.com/

Owner: Tom Struck

Arnie Bermudez

“That guy very much reminds me of myself, back when I was younger and less awesome.”- Me

New campaign to help people realize Mexicans are just regular folks and not a weird religious cult.

Arnie Bermudez

“I ran for 30 minutes the other day, then I came to the realization that I am old enough to drive now.” – Me

* Before I get hunted down by any Jon Justice fans, Minute Men, Sheriff Babeu, Lou Dobbs, The Republican Party, Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, The Tea Party or The KKK, this is intended for humor and entertainment and is a total parody of the “I’m a Mormon” ads, and not actually real.

It’s a good thing I’m not allowed to curse on this blogsite, because after the results from the primary elections I really want to just write a blog full of four letter words. Mostly because the senatorial race comes down to these two guys.

Rodney Glassman

John McCain

 The problem is this, we are left to choose between the old guy that tells you stories about walking up the hill  to get to and from school and the moron who sat next to you and breezed through school because his dad paid for the new gym. Well, come November I will become the Independent many voters fear, you know the type, the one that splits the vote.  The one Democrats blamed for Gore losing against Bush, because they voted for Nader. Come November, Dems, I’m voting for Johnny Mac.  McCain may be out of touch and supports SB1070 but at least he’s upfront about being a jerk, where Rodney will deny it and fake it. At least McCain is predictable.  

Arnie Bermudez  

“My kitchen isn’t “cute,” it’s “manly”. We painted that wall with testosterone.” -Me defending my man-cave

I know I’ve been very inactive recently, mostly due to my daytime job and the freelance projects I have to turn in under deadline so the blog takes a back seat.  Recently, I was alerted to a very important film showing here in the Old Pueblo.  The film was done by local director Luis Carlos Davis and is being shown at different film festivals and has garnered plenty of attention due to the current political climate that we are currently in. The title: 389 Miles “Living the Border” .

The film will be screening at the University of Arizona at the Gallagher Theater September 8th. The film has already created plenty of buzz in several film festivals and won the Audience Award for Best Film at the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival. Go enjoy and take a friend, a relative, a member of congress or your governor (Jan Brewer I’m talking to you).  In fact, all jokes aside, if you are involved in government and are making laws about immigration it is your responsibiity to go see this film. Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives go get informed and check it out, if anything at least to see the human smuggler that conducts his interview in a Lucha Libre mask.

UPDATE: The showing will be at the Gallagher theater at the U of A on Wednesday September 8, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. and its absolutely free!!!!

Arnie Bermudez

“You should only wear white jeans on certain occasions, like if its 1987.” – Me telling my brother why he shouldn’t wear white jeans.