ComiCentric

Going back as far as I can remember Andres Cervantes or “Dre” as we know him, was a staple in my early days of collecting comics. At the time he was the rudimentary comic clerk in the full sense of the word. He started working in comics at Comic Galaxy at the tender age of 14. Getting the keys and the responsibility of a store at a young age molded him into the clerk I meet over 20 years ago. In the pre-internet days, he had nothing to do but to absorb all the comic book titles, thus granting him, vast knowledge of every aspect of the comic world.

Without him I wouldn’t been put on my path of the comic clerk. Eventually he had to get a real job and was only there part time. Giving peter and I a chance to step up and take the mantel. He taught us how to run the register and imposed a bit of wisdom before he took off for greener pastures. Though he was still part of the background, he was a prominent member of the Galaxy team.

While Dre was looking for his niche in the real world. A road that took him through many jobs with big companies from Frys’s electronics to the conglomerate known as Nintendo. Comics where still part of his life. He would keep coming back. He would just be hanging out, playing heroclix and talk comics into the afterhours. Bringing with him his wit and charisma leaving behind words of wisdom. Dre was very knowledgeable whether it was comics, movies, video games, and or sports. A straight up mentor and great freaking friend.

With all his knowledge it was only natural that he starts his own podcast.  With DresGeekPhilosphy he was able to express himself all over the interwebs. After working at the Nintendo where he felt stifled and censored. Dre was unemployed and no longer in the nerd community, so he needed an outlet. And thus, his online Facebook rants blossomed into what we know as DresGeekPhilosphy a place for him to let loose and express himself. Doing the podcast now for over 5 years. Dre has come into his own voice and is really one of the reasons I am on this podcasting journey myself. He is an inspiration.

Dres’ latest path is that of a nerd dad. Teaming up with his life partner, they have brought into this world a lil fusion. As he brought his son Tiger into the recording, I feared having a child wild card on the podcast. But seeing Dre handle as a dad with calming dad tones was a trip. No longer the man that once yelled at me to get out of the store, he is now the man who makes sure a living human being is being taken care of. A good trip that made me realize that fatherhood is only as scary as we make it. Being in the situation changes a person, and to see someone fixed in his ways change is the most fascinating part. Feeling like an early Father’s Day episode. He will tell us what it is like to be a nerd dad in this day and age.

Life is transition. Life has many twists and turns we just got to bend with them less we break. So join us as Dre talks to us about the past, present, and future.

And don’t forget to follow him @DreGeekPhilosophy for more content.

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. We start today with a false start. That really sets the tone for our very funny and charismatic guest:  Valeria Ontiveros is an excellent artist born in Los Angeles and raised in Mexico. She had a knack for drawing at a young age. She, like many artists, started by drawing on the first thing she could draw on, the wall of her house. Moving onto a more serious medium took some time, she originally wanted to be a Spanish teacher but opted for a career change towards the end of high school. When she took that one art class that changed her life’s direction. Going to the art institute of North Hollywood Valeria leaned towards character creating and story boarding. Learning how to create in her own way.

Valeria started reading comics when her sister came home with mangas. A form of comic that most of us are familiar with, she enjoyed the art and stories such as Rama ½ , Inuyasha, and One Piece. Getting her western comics from the local library she started with the usual Batman & Superman. But she really enjoys the grumpy characters with a soft heart like Wolverine and Ironman. She also enjoyed a sequential medium known as cartoons. Looking forward to the weekend for Saturday morning cartoons.

Valeria is the head artist and straight-out co-creator of Gordo: The Teenage Flying Saucer, a comic started by Peter and Valeria. They were brought together by sheer serendipity. While Peter was setting things up for the East LA CAPE, Valeria was given the heads up by a family member on getting a table to vend at the show. Coming down to meet Peter to ask for a table application , she was given an opportunity to table at Nostalgic Comics free comic book day.

After the first CAPE and having the original artist drop off the book, Peter met up with Valeria to discuss the Teenage Flying Saucer. She graciously agreed and feverishly went to work on creating characters for the book. The book debuted at the following year's East LA CAPE where she also created the promotion poster.

So take a listen as we discuss more about Valeria and the origins of the Gordo: The Teenage Flying Saucer with our friend peter.

While we have fun. We are also seriously working towards building our brand and participating in events such as the Latino Comic Expo. Held in Long Beach after 2 years of being held back by the world catching fire. The return of this event proved that people want to go out, take part and have fun. We were able to vend and showcase our wares. It felt like a high school reunion in a weird way. Seeing old faces that one hasn’t in over 2 years. It was a blessing; we are thankful for being able to participate.

The following weekend we Had Free Comic book day. A day when the big wigs give us lonely people some funny books to take home at no charge to them. This also was affected by the pandemic. For the first year there was no FCBD. Last ast year they tried to make it a month off, but this also was met with a very unsuccessful outcome. And since this year it was in full swing, we were able to get some artists in the store. Even though we all had masks on and tried to keep our distance. This didn’t stop people from showing up. This felt more of a family reunion.  Seeing faces that we haven’t seen in years. People that only show up one a year. And the new faces that we never meet but look forward to seeing again.

While this must seem like too much for some. We have been at it since early 2000 doing events such as the monthly Los Angeles Shrine auditorium to the yearly annual migration known as ComiCon in San Diego. We are vets in a sense, yet there are always new challenges and old hurtles to get over before we can truly say we got this down. It never stopped us before, and it will continue not being an issue in the future.

Here at comicentric we are people too, we do more than just talk into the void; we also try to have a little fun. In the last few weeks, we have been able to go out and see the latest and greatest movies. And some not so great. We pride ourselves in being able to, for better or worse, watch and analyze pop culture movies. We talk a little about that in this episode.

There is this strange resurgence of the old being new, with new people discovering for the first-time movies and comics. AS this new generation is growing and consuming media faster and faster. Finding that there is no place to go besides waiting for the next piece of media to consume. They find themselves going back and discovering old movies and making a spectacle of it. Fresh to them but old to some of us old vets we are astonished and please that this old media is making a comeback.

This is prominent and easily seen with the latest Dr. Strange movie. And how people are loving it and going back and watching Sam Raimi films. A Director/writer Known for his Evil Dead series and the first Spiderman trilogy. His ability to mix horror and comedy is legendary. He delivers something so tangible and edible that people who are seeing his old films are loving them.

So, we talk a little more than we wanted to about one of his cult classics DARKMAN. A true pulp superhero movie in a time where superhero movies were seen as non-viable fruitless ventures. He makes strides in showing us what a good superhero movie could consist of. That movie had an excellent cast, including one of Bruce Campbells first cameos, CGI that was still not abbreviated called Computer Generated Graphics, and a soundtrack to rival that of BATMAN by the great Danny Elfman.

Growing up nerdy Patrick will discus how comic shops changed in the hood. And how he ended up working for a comic shop himself. Meeting Patrick around that time we  grew a bond playing a comic role playing game.

We also talk about music, a subject that Patrick also knows much about. Growing up a nerd in East Los Angeles has to have a soundtrack.

In this issue we talk about our moms. Our view on how they take on our nerdiness. Learn to accept or live with it and eventually become part of it. Mothers are an essential part of all our existence. They are our first teachers and mentors. Without them we might not be the big nerds we are today.

In the second segment we talk with the or pals Marisol’s mom Maria. We cover such topics as growing up a nerd in the 80s. what type of media was consumed. She watched cartoons every Saturday growing up. Read books that were filled with fantasy. And was into classic films going all the way to silent films. As much media as there is now. Back then there was less to consume but she made the best of what she got.

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Marisol is one of our fellow members of the nostalgic team a decade younger with knowledge that can rival any eccentric in the pop culture world. She enjoys cosplay, power rangers, Digimon, comics and manga and digital arts. She also shows talent for marketing and has help with the stores graphic design.

She grew up in a family that embraced certain aspects of nerd culture. From a father who was a jock that played D&D to a goth mother who was into the fantasy and cartoons never stopped.

While she started reading comics due to family having easy access to the literature. She recants us with her origins of how she dove deeper into comics. And how she was molded into the giant nerd she is now.

We also talk about the upcoming Free Comic Book Day May 7th2022. a return to normality and where to get some free comics.

Thanks for joining us on this second issue of ComiCentric This week. we try to tackle the age-old question Marvel-cetric people V D-Centric comic collectors.

While this is an age-old question that has been asked. Who is s better? why do some people choose to only collect one or the other. Talking from the range of comics, the shows, the movies. Even discuss the weird world of Amalgam Comics. A great experiment that could be seeing a resurgence. A mainstream battle does that leave room for other publishers to thrive? While we just graze the tip of the iceberg. We get this issue out the way early.

We also talk Captain America and the Winter Solider. Marvels Truth and a prequel that changed everything. Also we discuss Daniel Radcliff as wolverine and recent movies Sonic2 and Morbius. 

Join us and let us know what you think? 

ComiCentric: Take control of the narrative one panel at a time.  

OH! Hello there... and welcome to comicentric. Where we will be dealing with comic books and the eccentricities of people those who read them.  Remember when being weird wasn't okay.  Recollect growing up stifled and withdrawn from life, never really fitting in? Recall the first time you read a comic and felt this is where I belong? Reassure yourself you are not alone you are just a ComiCentric person.