It’s not enough to make the guy unmask, ya just gotta be a prick about it, too, huh? Why yes, that’s kind of why he’s El Bastarde and not, like, El Pleasant Guy To Be Around. That would be a pretty funny character, though.
Also, in breaking sort-of-news, HEAT is going to be over for a while after this story arc ends. Over the coming weeks I’ll expand on what exactly that means.
Next Week: Filmed live in front of a studio audience! Read it early on Patreon!
And thus, the mask match ends with El Bastarde claiming his first mask. Will he beat Doctor Pain’s total of one? I mean, that’s not a high bar, but he still needs one more to take the lead.
Next Week: Bombard unmasks. Find out if he wore the mask because he’s ugly RIGHT NOW by becoming a patron on Patreon!
This strip exists because of a line in my notes that was a reminder to reference the awesome/annoying air horn chants that are common in Arena Mexico. If you haven’t watched any lucha, it’s worth finding some Arena Mexico (CMLL) stuff online just to hear the audience. Their chants are all accompanied by rhythmic air horn blasts that seemingly go on throughout the entire match. That felt like a very distinct lucha libre element, and I wanted to make sure it was brought up in some form during this story arc. The three key elements for this arc were a six-sided ring (a AAA thing), masks and apuestas matches, and trios matches.
Next Week: More striking, more blood, and more words! Read it now by supporting HEAT on Patreon!
The time between writing this strip and drawing it was long enough that I had the hardest time remembering what the duck-under-springboard-arm-drag sequence was originally intended to look like. The end result probably wasn’t all that close to what I was imagining when I wrote it, but it did what I needed it to do.
What did you guys think about the Royal Rumble last night? I saw it get a lot of flak on the internet, but I thought it was awesome. Then again, I watch WWE pay-per-views drunk with a bunch of funny people, which means they’re always really entertaining. I also don’t care about WWE booking AT ALL, so I’m more invested in the thing I watch being exciting than the matches ending the way I want them to and my favourites getting pushed. It seems like most of the people who complain about WWE have this idea that their favourites deserve to win all of their matches and get Hulk Hogan in 1985 level pushes, and I have no idea why, because that idea is insane. Nobody at the party was complaining that Orton won, we were actually happy for my friend who picked him to win, because it meant he wouldn’t have to chug ANOTHER beer and probably ruin our host’s toilet. WRESTLING.
Next Week: I up the ante on the blood so as not to disrespect the gore-soaked nature of the lucha libre brawl. Patrons can read each HEAT strip a week before it goes live on the website!
As much as it’s a terrible and unsafe thing to do, I LOVE the visual of garbage being thrown into the ring when a heel succeeds. Think about how much atmosphere it adds to the Hulk Hogan heel turn promo from Bash at the Beach 1996. The ring is full of trash, and then people started throwing garbage into it to highlight that. HEYO.
In other news, I just finished a six page short story for an upcoming book called Squatchthology, which is an anthology about sasquatch. I’m told that will be out in April, so keep an eye on the web store for that. Speaking of which, if you want to buy some books, hit up the “Buy Stuff” link in the menu bar. It works now! I filled some orders from it prior to Christmas, so it definitely works, unlike the previous attempt at a store. It’s almost like the folks at Square know what they’re doing, and I’m just an idiot who draws comics and has no idea how to do other things.
Next Week: The third and final fall begins – one of these men will lose his mask. Patrons can read it right now!
Chain wrestling transitions are the hardest goddamn thing to draw. Moves get easier through repetition, but chain wrestling is something that’s so fluid that it never really gets easier. Even though the anatomical elements get easier, figuring out how to convey the movement that’s happening never gets any easier, because it’s always a little different.
Next Week: The beers are as acrobatic as Bombard. Find out what that means a week early on Patreon!
The title is a fact. Falling into crowds of people that hate you will be a bad time. Avoid it when at all possible. And especially don’t let a luchador dropkick you off of something into that crowd. I mean, really, you probably shouldn’t let anyone dropkick you ever, but wrestlers are crazy people.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table at the Calgary Expo Holiday Market and helped make that show far more successful than I could have imagined. That was my last show in 2016, so thanks for sending this convention season out on a high note!
Next Week: Being in that crowd of people who hate you is really not a good situation. Just ask El Bastarde. Find out the details by reading the comic early on Patreon!
I kind of want to hide a Space Mexican advice column called mASK somewhere in the background now. That train of logic probably doesn’t make sense to anyone who can’t read my thoughts, which I assume is all of you, since I’m wearing my tinfoil hat.
Apologies for the update being a few hours late. My second day in a row of Canadian Thanksgiving and a meat-related need to nap resulted in me forgetting what day of the week it was. As someone who works from home, I can tell you that’s not an uncommon phenomena. If RAW stopped airing there’s a possibility I would forget that Mondays are even a thing.
Next Week: Entering the Bull Ring. Read it now by supporting HEAT on Patreon!
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Renegade Arts Entertainment booth to say hi and pick up some books and art! It’s always nice to put faces to the website traffic statistics and be reminded that those numbers are actually humans.
Speedlines had a different name in the script, but then I started trying to design a luchador whose gear made him seem fast, and went with putting speed lines all over it. Then I thought about how dumb the name “Speedlines” was and decided it needed to be canon.
Next Week: Winning a mask match is kind of like winning a title. Except meaner. Read it a week early on Patreon!
