New Waves/First Kills
Lucky Lucien and the Horror (art by Joseph Tenney)
“New waves crash against the line of beach where you sit and watch out for great monsters in the deep who never come up from darkest blue to swallow heavy chunks of the real air in front of you.-”
Joseph and I recently dug up an older 4-pager that was first published as part of Bastards of The Infinite 3 called Crossing The Border. In this storyboard-styled piece, The Matador chases criminal and Mexican speedster, El Coyote down into Northern Mexico from Southern California. Old Lucky Lucien takes the issue to the grave only to uncover the aromatic flower of death, pure regret and a blissful “roll in the hay.” The story was originally done in a “no frills” fashion, and we decided the simple allure of the tale was appropriate at the time.
A year later we’ve come to the conclusion that the Mexican adventure was worth a second look. Joseph has reworked the art and I’ve rewritten a bit of the script, all the while keeping in mind the original “no-bells” kind of feel for the thing. The concept of redux has always been intriguing to me….a topic of controversial tigers and serpents. There is something to be said of a work’s original incarnation, but I think its a hell of thing to see where things end up when given a second thought. Here, we’ve posted both versions for your pleasure: The Matador #97: Crossing The Border- Revisited.
In the fair beginnings of spring, new waves crash against us while we continue to work for our precious weekend mentality. It’s been mentioned to me that motivation is equal if not greater to the importance of natural talent (granted, possibly a justification for a lack thereof), and because of this, a certain pairing of control and recklessness must be acquired in order to accomplish things freely and steadily. A pace must be found. Frank Herbert said something about seeking liberation within restraint. He might have been onto something. Rise up from the grave and claim your living, oh dead and buried!
-K