After nearly three months of ignoring it, I’ve finally updated the site’s Table of Contents page. Other than adding the newer articles, I’ve added Hoatzin’s section, got a better picture for the “Ruining the Moment” section and added the Juggernaut.

See? Cain can be seen dashing into any articles deemed suggested reading by 4th Letter’s writers or readers.

In other news, CHIKARA has a new contest based on their DVD covers. By sending in your own artwork, you could possibly have it grace the cover of their yet-to-be-named November 07 event and win a bunch of free crap. The requirements:

– .jpg or .psd file
– 200 dpi
– RGB mode (NOT CMYK!)
– Measuring 5.125” (width) by 7.25” (height) inches
– Keep it family friendly

Send the entries to lfchikarason@gmail.com with your name and address. You can enter as many times as you want. I’m going to try and break out the pencils for the first time in years and see what I can do with this.

Finally, I made a couple purchases yesterday for the next series of articles that I’ll get to once I finish the Professor Marc’s Homework Trilogy. All I can say is that despite all the comics I’ve read over the course of this site’s history, nothing… NOTHING… has made me fear for my sanity more than what I have in store. Stay tuned.

About a month ago, CHIKARA did an awesome show in Conneticut called Showdown in Crisisland. You’d think they’d do one of their comic-based DVD covers, what with “Crisis” being in the title. Instead, they passed over it by doing a meh cover based on the least entertaining match on the card.

It’s all right. Two weeks later, they did another show in Philly called Maximum Overdraft. Now they’ve released the DVD cover for that and it makes up for their previous folly.

Based on Avengers #4, the famous issue that brought Captain America to the present, the main image of the cover includes Tim Donst, Jigsaw, Shane Storm and Moscow the Communist Bovine. With them is popular referee Bryce Remsburg. In the opening match, these four wrestlers teamed up to take on the team of UltraMantis Black and the Southern Saints. Great opener.

Having Moscow wield a hammer and sickle is absolutely brilliant.

The Black Tiger made a special CHIKARA appearance, where he went up against Mike Quackenbush. Quack had recently acquired the NWA Junior Heavyweight title and decided to defend it here in his own fed.

The show is pretty stacked and worth looking at. La Parkita, a skeleton midget, fights a normal-sized guy named Payaso del Futuro (Clown from the Future) in what can only be described as a drunken trainwreck of a match. Ring of Honor’s tag champs the Briscoe Brothers visit CHIKARA to take on their tag champs Team F.I.S.T. And also, I almost got ejected during the third match. Heel Eddie Kingston and I got into a wacky little confrontation prior to his match and he asked that I be thrown out of the arena. One of the security guards thought he was serious and really did want me gone. Luckily, I talked him down. Hopefully that shows up in some form on the DVD.

Like always, you can get your CHIKARA shows at Smart Mark Video. They’re having a couple shows this weekend, but I have a wedding to attend. I’ll definitely be around next month, September 21st, when they go back to Philly for their next show called Lettuce Entertain You (And Other Puns).

hermanos is off covering that E3 thing for that magazine he does, so that leaves me to hold up the fort. It’s all right because I have quite the treat. Regular readers know that I’ve been talking about the pro wrestling federation CHIKARA to the point of annoyance in the last few months. And with good reason!

Moving to the next step of fandom, I’ve secured an interview with “Lightning” Mike Quackenbush himself. Quackenbush, nicknamed “The Master of a Thousand Holds” (though to be fair, I’m sure he’s probably sorta kinda good at eight or nine more), is a 16-year veteran of the ring and is the man who co-founded CHIKARA back in 2002. He’s a wrestler, a trainer to wrestling hopefuls, occasional commentator, writer, and possibly the next surprise identity of Ronin. He’s also one of the best performers I’ve ever had the honor of watching wrestle.

A rare image of Mike Quackenbush that doesn’t involve him shoving someone’s left knee into their right ear.

Not to mention that he’s a major comic fan. So this is, you know, still on-topic for the site.

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I know what CHIKARA is and you certainly know what CHIKARA is, but let’s play it safe and say that whoever’s reading this doesn’t know. Can you give us a little description of what it’s about and what sets it apart from all the rest?

– CHIKARA is a group of pro-wrestlers/luchadores/ninjas/ would-be-super-heroes that get together and enact the age-old struggle of “good vs. evil” within the context of a wrestling universe that permits elements of science-fiction and fantasy beyond what is currently considered “acceptable” or “mainstream” by wrestling fans at large. I hope, when the final word on CHIKARA is written, that our effect on the wrestling performance genre will be akin to the effect Monty Python had on British comedy, or Jack Kirby had on comics.

Quack as part of Eddie Kingston’s Cibernetico team, based on the first issue of Justice League International

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Another update on the CHIKARA/comic connection, I’ve discussed twice before. This time, it’s Young Lions Cup V Night 3, taking after New Teen Titans #1.

Top: Super Xtremo, Moscow the Communist Bovine, Hydra
Bottom: Soldier Ant, Amigo Suzuki, Lince Dorado, Player Uno the 8-Bit Luchador

Why, oh why, does Hydra have to be Donna Troy in this? Ten bucks says those chains he’s wielding are really the ultra-light plastic kind they use in kids toys.

I was never big into the Titans, so this doesn’t do all that much for me. It is a nice little homage, though, even if the artist forgot to replace Kid Flash’s speed trail with that building’s windows.

I did go to this show and it is totally worth buying. Not a single bad match on the card. Some matches, like North Star Express vs. Olsen Twins and Jigsaw/Hallowicked/Shane Storm vs. Cannon/Sweeney/Boyer, are great enough individually to make this worth getting. I didn’t get to go to the other two nights, but I have those on the way. Sadly, no comic artwork covers.

Stay tuned, 4L readers. Tonight I should have a new installment up of Deadshot’s Tophat. Good God, it’s been a while.

As a little addendum to my look at the comic-inspired CHIKARA Pro Wrestling covers, today they have revealed the cover for one of their latest events, Anniversario?. The question mark is part of the title.

Nice little homage to Dark Knight Returns #4. It’s extremely appropriate due to the backstory here. Chris Hero and the goddamn Mike Quackenbush are practically the top guys in CHIKARA. They used to be a tag team until Hero turned on Quack. Hero, being the cowardly heel, ducked out of any attempts at a grudge match. This somehow lasted two years.

So much like Superman vs. Batman in DKR, this is indeed a long time coming match between two old friends. Plus, as you probably have already noticed, their logos are based on Superman and Batman. I haven’t seen the match, but I hear nothing but exceptional things. I already ordered my copy.

I also had to order Anniversario!, the event that took place a day later. Not a comic cover, but a reference to those old MUSCLE figure posters. There’s a part at the show where I appear and share the most awkard high-five with the Retail Dragon and I need to not only see it on DVD, but need it in gif form. I’ll keep you updated on that.

Time for something a little different. A few weeks ago, I talked about the World Championship Wrestling comic, discussing a horrifying clash between comics and wrestling. Of course, I’m not done. I have to cover WWF Battlemania, after all. Plus I have a guest article on the way covering a comic that’s very concept causes my brain to explode.

Mixing comics and wrestling isn’t always a bad thing, though. I’d like to talk to you about CHIKARA, an independent wrestling federation that lives out of Pennsylvania. I had heard of it a while ago, but only recently have I given it a look. A couple weeks ago, I was invited to tag along to their show Rey De Voladores and I was basically blown away. It’s got everything I want in wrestling. The wrestling talent is there, giving us innovative and exciting match-ups. It’s got enough story to get by without making it more important than the actual matches. Even when the match is lopsided and the winner is blatant, they don’t make it a one-sided match that lasts two minutes. The match-ups aren’t entirely stuck on good vs. evil. Two heels can fight without having to worry about the crowd not knowing who to cheer for. Two tag partners can compete against each other without some forced storyline about them breaking up.

Most importantly is the fun factor. A lot of these guys are just weird. There’s a guy named the Hydra, who wears a monster mask, but is so skinny that he has to draw a six-pack onto himself with a sharpie in a desperate attempt to make himself seem menacing. There’s Chuck Taylor, once a smiling good guy, now driven mad by success and ego as he physically threatens children and the elderly on a regular basis. He also has a random love for dolphins and has the theme from Pete and Pete as his entrance music. There’s Player Uno, the 8-Bit Luchador, who usually wears tights that resemble overalls, as well as a lucha mask and a cap. During some matches, he’ll even kick a turtle shell into his opponents.

Others I’ll get to later.

The point of this article is the DVDs. Since CHIKARA doesn’t have a TV deal, they mostly get by with their DVD sales. This is actually what got my initial attention, as many of the DVD covers are based on classic comic book covers. The homage covers are done by Marco de Alfonso (possibly spelled wrong) and he does an amazing job.

Let’s have a look.

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