Stand-up comedians Anthony Dominguez of Lakewood and Donald Barker III of Compton got to talking after performing one night and found they shared a passion — comic books.
After more performances and more discussions, they came up with an idea for a new comic, one that would come from a completely different point of view than most comic books on the market; they wanted the villain to be the star.
"It's a labor of love. We were hanging out together, and decided that we wanted to do our own comic book," explained Dominguez, who also works as a graphic designer at Anderson & Dominguez Designs in Long Beach. "We wanted to write our story from a supervillain's perspective."
That supervillain is a Latino character named Angel, and the comic book the two created is "Fallen Angel."
The two share creative duties: Dominguez, 29, writes the story lines and handles the inking and coloring, and Barker, 27, does the illustrations. Dominguez said he has already written the story lines for the first three editions of "Fallen Angel."
Dominguez and Barker have formed their own company — Evil Elephant Ink — and plan to print 1,000 comics a month, beginning in three months.
Not bad for two comedians who have performed their stand-up routines all over Los Angeles.
"In one of our first editions, Angel goes after a superhero by the name of Pigeon," Barker said with a big grin. "I won't say what superpowers Pigeon has, but I will tell you that Angel is an ex-Secret Service agent and there is an interesting twist at the end."
Dominguez and Barker will be among local comic book creators who will discuss their works beginning at noon on Sunday at Pulp Fiction comic book store in Long Beach in what is being billed as a "Super Signing Weekend." Also scheduled to appear Sunday are Christopher Long and the creative team from Damage Comics in Lynwood.
Long, who lives in Costa Mesa and works in Long Beach, will discuss his graphic novel "Easy Way." His book is for mature readers and tells the story of four recovering drug addicts, a drug-sniffing dog and a deranged drug trafficker.
The creative team from Damage Comics will discuss their graphic novel "Ashes." The new series questions the myths behind vampires and reinterprets the condition as a viral disease that has been romanticized over the years.
On Saturday, Stan Sakai, the creator of Usagi Yojimbo, a popular samurai rabbit character, will be on hand for a presentation and book signing. The Pasadena resident will discuss how to create comics and will be available for questions and autographs. As part of the presentation, a cartoon co-starring Usagi Yojimbo will be shown in the store.
The "Super Signing Weekend' is just one of the many special events scheduled by Pulp Fiction, a store that co-owners Ananya Mullane and Michael Lerner said they want to be more than just a store.
"I like to think of Pulp Fiction as a bookstore that sells comics," Mullane explained. "This is a great place for collectors who love to read graphic novels to come and hang out."
The small store is stocked with every type of comic book and graphic novel you can think of. DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics are just some of the publishers represented. All the superheroes have their own titles — from Batman to Superman.
Mullane and Lerner keep a collection of rare comics in glass display cases, including "Miracleman' and "The Rocketeer," both priced at $200. That's quite a bit more than the new comics, which cost between $2 and $3. The more sophisticated graphic novels for older readers run around $10.
And the graphic novels, Mullane said, are very well written. The film "The Road to Perdition," starring Tom Hanks, was originally a graphic novel, Mullane pointed out.
"Many of the most popular television series have been turned into graphic novels. 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and '24' sell very well," Lerner said.
The store's Graphic Novel Book Club meets at 10 a.m. on Sundays to discuss the book of the week. Last week, the group discussed "Watchmen' by Alan Moore. On April 17, they will debate the merits of "Sin City' by Frank Miller, whose work was made into a feature film, starring Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba and Mickey Rourke, that opened on Friday and was No. 1 at the box office over the weekend, earning $28.1 million.
People unfamiliar with the genre may want to join the Pulp Fiction Library. Mullane said the store lends out books for one week at no cost. The library books can be found in a small bookcase in the front of the store.
"The books are usually the first in a series, so patrons can check them out and see if they like the style of that particular series," she said.
Pulp Fiction also has regular art classes for comic book fans ready to take that next step — to create their own comics. On April 30, a beginner's class on how to draw manga will be held. Manga is the Japanese word for comic book, and often refers to the Japanese style of comics. The class costs $20, including two hours of instruction and art supplies. Pre-registration is advised because class sizes are kept small to allow one-on-one teaching.
David Ung of Long Beach is one of the art instructors for the class. The 23-year-old received an art degree in animation from Brooks College.
"I'm from the old school of animation. I like the traditional form of drawing animation," Ung said.
The young art instructor said he loves teaching at Pulp Fiction.
"Comic books are my passion. You could say they were my redemption because they saved me from a lot of problems when I was a teenager," Ung said.
Lerner and Mullane also invite everyone to come to the store on May 7 for free comics. The local bookstore will participate in the Free Comic Book Day event held across the country every year celebrating comic books, an original American art form created in the early 20th century. Many major comic book publishers will participate. Readers will recognize many of the titles: "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith' from Dark Horse Comics; "The Batman Strikes!" from DC Comics; "Betty and Veronica' from Archie Comics; and "Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four' from Marvel Comics.
