Well Now It’s a Party!

Back on April 30, 1993, the Large Hadron Collider run by CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) located in Meyrin, Switzerland went online. Since then there has been a running internet conspiracy theory gathering steam that the mere activation of it shifted us into an alternate dimensional timestream which is why all of the very odd things that have occurred since (specifically the election of trump as U.S. president in 2016). While we ae not entirely certain of the validity of that line of thought, we are not entirely willing to discount it either. Which brings us to today, and to Ray Felix.

Ray, as I have posted elsewhere, is my personal Superhero. Ray Felix is a comicbook professional who has staged comicbook shows, written, illustrated, and published comics. Back in 2013 or thereabouts, he successfully sued both Marvel and DC comicbook companies over the word “superhero” (Marvel & DC had previously trademarked the word, which Felix had used in the title of one of his comics under the banner A World without Superheroes (Cup o' Java Studio/Bronx Heroes Comics), making him something of a celebrity in the world of independent comicbook creators.

Over the years Ray has managed to world build a very entertaining, and thought-provoking a line of superhero comics where he postulates a very different type of superhero than what we, as readers have become used to reading about in Marvel, DC, Image, Valiant, and other publishers. His heroes were, well, more damaged than perhaps most of us were used to reading, still his books were not only engaging but thought-provoking as well.

Well, in Felix's newest book, Bronx Heroes in Trumpland (Arsenal Press), written and illustrated by himself, Tom Sciacca, and Tom Ahern, his Bronx Heroes take on no less than president donald j. trump himself in what can only be described as a bold yet hilarious subversive tome that mercilessly skewers the twitter-in-chief. While it is extraordinarily clear that none of the creators (including this writer — a noted comicbook historian in his own right — who penned the scathing forward, Satire is so not Dead) are no fans of the sitting president, and go on to make certain that their voices are heard loud and clear in this very funny book.

In the book, Astron Star Soldier — an alien astronaut and warrior, who first appeared in Tom Sciacca’s independently-published Astral Comics #1 back in 1977, along with Black Power — an African American superhero, Vietnam war veteran, and former boxer who first appeared in Ray Felix’s comic A World Without Superheroes in 1993. These heroes join forces to confront their greatest foe ever — an evil supervillain named donald trump.

In this book, trump is a toupee-wearing scoundrel who, after first conquering the five boroughs of New York, is now plotting to use mind control in order to vanquish America. The villainous trump is working in concert with the help of the evil prince, Putin and a MAGA hat-wearing goon named Gorka. The three of them are determined to build walls, create divisiveness, and destroy the media. Astron Star Soldier and Black Power resolve to defeat trump and his acolytes so as to restore order. Unfortunately, they initially hypnotized into helplessness by trump’s scheming FLOTUS, whom they must also overcome.

In this book, trump is a toupee-wearing scoundrel who, after first conquering the five boroughs of New York, is now plotting to use mind control in order to vanquish America. The villainous trump is working in concert with the help of the evil prince, Putin and a MAGA hat-wearing goon named Gorka. The three of them are determined to build walls, create divisiveness, and destroy the media. Astron Star Soldier and Black Power resolve to defeat trump and his acolytes so as to restore order. Unfortunately, they initially hypnotized into helplessness by trump’s scheming FLOTUS, whom they must also overcome.

While you may rightly wonder if the Bronx Heroes and succeed where Mueller, Hilary Clinton, and the entirety of the U.S. Congress failed, well, you are just going to have to purchase the book to find out. And yes, you should rightly be concerned if they can save the nation from its own evil influences.

What Ray and Sciacca have wrought is an outlandishly harsh and recklessly funny, graphic novel wherein the Bronx Heroes must fight their way through Trumpland in order to defeat the villainous trump and make you, the reader, believe in America once again. In crafting this 120 page-book, Ray and both Toms deliver to the reader a thoroughly engaging, and entirely thought-provoking story that is more than just guys in spandex bashing each other in the head with hammers and blasting everyone with repulse rays. This book puts trump and his minions on notice that they are simply not above reproach and it is time for them to buckle in as the rest of his time in office is going to be a very bumpy ride.

Needless to say, we here in the real world (as we do in fiction) want our heroes to be triumphant over the evil that infects both, on one level, we are rather certain how one story will end. We can only hope that the other story winds up in a similar fashion.

Bronx Heroes in Trumpland can be acquired online from both Amazon ($8.99 Kindle/$11.95 Paperback), and Barnes & Noble ($11.95 Paperback).