Kukuburi

We step through the white picket gate
Picking up on the fantastic
Sculpting the diamond clouds
Against the platinum skies
Flying with hat riding high.
This laughing cadaver cavorting with my creations
As monsieur chapeau cries battle stations
Riding the cavalry
“Battle Whale? Awesome”
Circled by the manta
Rays of light cascading from a plummeting girl’s goggles
And her Quixotic press-on snail
“Oh, thank goodness,
L’Academie des Chapeux,
Rendo will know where to go”
Zomgz breaks out the Newton
Bringing chaotic calculations to fruition
Ensuring some demolition
As you watch me pull this bomb into my hat
Tricky like a fox
Fast thinking on his lack of feet,
He’s an octopus folks
Though his pipes don’t smoke
Besmirching the air with bubbles instead.
“No pink skies, but pretty spectacular
In its own weird way.”
Now Reggie enters the fray
Diminutive, distinguished
With goggles down, a mighty little ram
“Zub zub zubram zam!”
The fly buzz-bombs the Tillywhump
Till he’s dizzy in a tizzy and eating nothing but dust
As the whale breaches
Not beaches in this star dust sea
“Oh look, a lil’ you
Splenderific.
Allow me.”
To follow the exploits and exercise my imagination
With her as my avatar.
“Burned in the Realtime.”
But aren’t we all
Since the dawn of time,
Since the fall of man
Two sides locked in struggling embrace
Fighting against the darkness,
Like white words printed on black screen
Like his polished rib used to beget her
That begat these nightmares
“They are agents of him”
Looking grim,
Boney and thin
And shiny, almost perfect
“Like a Miami Vice reject”
Like his smile, very skeletal
“Wow, what a cliché”
“Do you wish to play?”
“But I’m nothing if not persistent”
Though updates are slow, slowing, while traveling
I keep on through the maelstrom
And darkness rising
For the Technicolor dream wakes me from my sleepy slumber
Hypnotically entrancing me with a glorious display
“Like the child’s imagination that blossoms or withers away”
To break from the norm…
Allied with some chaps in chapeaus
I bravely open that white picket gate
And step with swagger into the world unknown.

[thank you for the beautiful words kristofer. ramón.]

this beauty comes from łukasz okólski, not only is he talented but he is a super nice guy to boot. it was thanks to the wheels set in motion by łukasz that i was able to attend the komiks festiwal in łódź-poland earlier this month. check out łukasz’ blog which has links to his various other comic creations as well! there’s only one catch… it’s all in polish.

the komiks festiwal holds many great memories for me. i met a lot of great people which i now happily call friends.

another fine fellow i met is robert sienicki, who i believe if memory serves, also collaborates with łukasz from time to time. well, robert was kind enough to send along this awesome piece of art [click to enlarge] to your left. i’m really curious where mr. bojangles got that lightsaber…

* this weekend sees me in lille france for the lille comics festival, for more information check out my travel-blog.

i can imagine rendo’s voice clear as day in the last panel and it makes me chuckle everytime i read chris’ comic strip! chris in fact actually did two guest strips for me and could decide which to send me, so he sent both, i on the other hand couldn’t pick just one cause i loved both. so below, for your perusal, is chris’ other bit of kukuburi love. just give it a click and make it grow… :)

you can find other tidbits of chris’ talent here.

also, if you happen to be in europe or the uk i might just be in your neighbourhood sooner than later, peruse my convention travel-blog for up to date adventures and notifications! this weekend sees me attending FIBDA – Festival International de la BD de Amadora – in Amadora, Portugal.

this wonderful gem is by the ever talanted alison acton (i keep wanting to write “action”… alison, i think you should definitely add an “i” to your last name) who i met at the toronto fan expo a couple of years ago. i have been inspired by alison’s art and dedication in creating (and publishing!) her own demented (and i mean that in the nicest of ways!) webcomic bear nuts.

also, if you are in the vicinity of frankfurt i will be attending the book fair there this weekend. check my blog for more details.

i can’t say enough how much i love nadia in this wonderful pinup by mary. i think it’s the rosy cheeks that do it for me. if you’re loving this as much as i am you should check out mary’s own webcomic kiwi blitz!

this past weekend i had the joy of attending the łódź komiks festiwal… i cannot even begin to put into words how much fun i had! but i’ll try, and you can read so here if you’re so inclined ;)

now whilst the story is on pause i will still be updating, for which i would like to open up the stage to you, the audience. If you are so inclined, whether you be 10 or 60, i would love for you to share your art, stories or inspirations related to kukuburi. it could be a simple pinup of the tillywump or a creature of your own design,  a short story starring lenny or a telling tale of ‘la brigade du chapeau, a finger painting of him or perhaps a rendo sock puppet… whatever it might be. my only asking is that nadia, mr. bojangles and “him” are, for stories, off limits. i will try and post all that comes my way… but please be patient :)

now where will i be during this absence? glad you asked. i will be embarking on a comics festival tour of Europe and the UK beginning in Łódź Poland and ending in Leeds England. this will be an adventure the likes of which i have never experienced before. so if you happen to be in Łódź, Frankfurt, Amadora, Lille, Paris, Andenne, Milan, Dublin, London or Leeds for any of their respective festivals this fall good chances are that you will see me there. since the trip is rather long i will be traveling light and will be unable to carry much swag, though i will try and have kukuburi prints and stickers as well as butternutsquash comics on hand and will obviously be doing sketches.

the details of the tour are listed on my travel-blog, Cranial Percolations, which i will be using as a journal of sorts, posting my experiences, sketches and what-not. the tour will also be listed in the TX Forums, as i will eventually be traveling with karl kerschl (of the abominable charles christopher) and cameron stewart (of sin titulo).

i look forward to meeting one and all on this adventure, in the cities listed above and some others i might manage to meander to, or surfable couches that might come a calling.

the stage is yours dear friends… let’s have some fun :)

i’m at a local ‘coffeeheaven’ here in warsaw poland enjoying a doppio espresso and seeing the city’s sites before i venture of to lodz later this week for the komiks festiwal. for more on my euro/uk festival schedule please check out my blog, which lists all the dates, and which will showcase my ramblings, travel photos, sketches, and much more.

now, due to the frequency of which i’m not finding the internet i think i will only be able to update kukuburi once a week till i return my regularly scheduled life. but in the meantime i will bring as many wonderful creations that people have sent me. speaking of which…

joseph emailed me a few weeks back after he stumbled upon kukuburi and was inspired to re-envision some of the characters in origami! let me say i was floored when i received his email and clicked the link to his ever expanding kukuburi gallery! this is perhaps one of the most unique interpretations i have seen of my beloved characters. i sit in anticipation awaiting joseph’s next re-envisioning…

to see more of kukuburi’s cast interpreted in origami you can visit joseph’s kukuburi gallery.

and to see more of his own creations visit joseph wu origami.

till next weeks update, unless you happen to see me in lodz this weekend!

cheers,

ramón.

…and now we pause.

perhaps the worst things i could do with dedicated readers waiting for the coming climax along with all the new readers filtering in from PvP, but fate has played her hand. i had hoped to build a buffer to continue the story in my absence, but unfortunately my workload did not allow this to happen.

that said kukuburi will return december 1st 2009, whereupon we will enter the final arc and conclusion of chapter one.

now whilst the story is on pause i will still be updating, for which i would like to open up the stage to you, the audience. If you are so inclined, whether you be 10 or 60, i would love for you to share your art, stories or inspirations related to kukuburi. it could be a simple pinup of the tillywump or a creature of your own design,  a short story starring lenny or a telling tale of ‘la brigade du chapeau, a finger painting of him or perhaps a rendo sock puppet… whatever it might be. my only asking is that nadia, mr. bojangles and “him” are, for stories, off limits. i will try and post all that comes my way… but please be patient :)

now where will i be during this absence? glad you asked. i will be embarking on a comics festival tour of Europe and the UK beginning in Łódź Poland and ending in Leeds England. this will be an adventure the likes of which i have never experienced before. so if you happen to be in Łódź, Frankfurt, Amadora, Lille, Paris, Andenne, Milan, Dublin, London or Leeds for any of their respective festivals this fall good chances are that you will see me there. since the trip is rather long i will be traveling light and will be unable to carry much swag, though i will try and have kukuburi prints and stickers as well as butternutsquash comics on hand and will obviously be doing sketches.

the details of the tour are listed on my travel-blog, Cranial Percolations, which i will be using as a journal of sorts, posting my experiences, sketches and what-not. the tour will also be listed in the TX Forums, as i will eventually be traveling with karl kerschl (of the abominable charles christopher) and cameron stewart (of sin titulo).

i look forward to meeting one and all on this adventure, in the cities listed above and some others i might manage to meander to or surfable couches that might come a calling.

the stage is yours dear friends… let’s have some fun :)

greetings all,

i would like to extend a welcome to all the new readers that meandered over from my guest strip over pvp last week. a thanks to scott as well for giving me said opportunity!

apologies for not updating last week, the days somehow got pulled out from under me as i wrap up various contracts and prepare to embark on my upcoming “euro-tour.” a special thanks to all the people extending me offers of accommodations during my travels as well. if i’m in your hood i might very well drop you a line ;)

i will be posting my european convention/festival schedule with hopefully my next update. i had hoped to build a big enough buffer to allow me to update kukuburi in my absence. but as the days grow short it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. what i would like to do is open up the floor to you the readers. i am going to try and post tidbits while i travel, but perhaps you might have a sketch, doodle, story, or something you’d like to share…. i have a few gems to share already…. but i’m always open to more!

This week also sees the premiere of TX journalist Alex Hoffman who asks the question “Should webcomics be so thoroughly separated from the rest of the industry?”

till tomorrow my friends….