World War II was truly global; this week we go beyond the traditional WWII narrative.

It is a bit odd thinking about it now, but when I was born, World War II had ended less than 35 years prior; it was still fresh in the minds of many. We still had living veterans, and those that clearly remembered its after effects. I imagine that for this generation, the mindset of war never really ended as they also witnessed the Korean War, and had just witnessed the end of the Vietnam War.

Of course, World War II books and movies really dominated the war genre (and still do to this day). With many great examples to choose from, there is one common element. Regardless of the story or the approach, the narratives tend to focus on the US, Russia and Germany, with the U.K., Japan, Italy and Canada playing supporting roles.

When looking at these great WWII stories, I was intrigued when I came across Elisio – a true story of Brazilian World War II combat veterans. Yes, you read that right – Brazil.

When we think of Brazil, it’s easy to think of Rio de Janeiro and its party scene, political corruption and crime, and of course soccer. Brazil has had a huge impact on culture worldwide, with its soccer stars being the idols of youth around the world. But a lot of this fame seems newfound; it’s almost like the world didn’t care much about Brazil before 1950, and certainly I had never heard anything about their involvement in World War II. When I first encountered stories about the Cobras Fumantes (or, the Smoking Snakes), I thought that maybe this was some kind of parody, or clever hoax. After all, I’ve read WWII books and comic books, watched pretty much every big movie about the Second World War, and along with my dad watched hours of documentaries on the History Channel. So, why hadn’t I heard any of these stories before on what is probably the most covered, documented and historically significant war in our history?

To be honest, the firefights involving the Smoking Snakes are likely just a blip on the grand scale of things. The thought of Brazil’s Expeditionary Forces might feel more like a show of support than an actual threat to enemy combatants. After learning more about these brave soldiers, it is sad to think that there could be literally hundreds of these stories around the world – lost, even though they are tied to such a pivotal event.

Before I jump in to more details on the Smoking Snakes, I wanted to give you a bit of background on how I encountered this story and why I was immediately drawn to it. I was contacted a couple of years ago by an agent for AVEC – an amazing indie press out of Brazil. I immediately loved their catalogue, and Artur Vecchi (Chief Editor) had some great titles to show me. During his presentation, I saw a brief glimpse of a war book. I asked him to back up a few slides. He stopped at Elisio and said “No Rodolfo, you don’t want this one.”

“What do you mean? Why not? It’s gorgeous!”

“Yes, it is” he replied. But no one outside of Brazil will care. Nobody cares what we did during World War II.

Despite his warnings that the book wouldn’t sell, I insisted on seeing the complete story. The more he warned me, the more I wanted it. He insisted that I take some other titles – basically anything but Elisio. Fortunately, I stood my ground. This was something I really enjoy not only as a publisher, but as a fan: a comic book story you won’t find anywhere else. Combined with beautiful art by Renato Dalmato made this an easy choice for me.

Now that I had this beautiful book, I just had to figure out how to get it into English. It’s one thing to have a book about Brazilian WWII soldiers and hope it will sell in North America; it’s another to hope that it will sell in Portuguese! Fortunately, my lovely wife’s family were able to assist and Elisio was on its way to being ready to share with the world.

Elisio follows the story of our hero, who seems to live a life of middle class in Brazil as a solider. While at the movies with his girlfriend, he sees a news reel highlighting the Nazi threat, and Brazil’s formal declaration of war becomes apparent. Eliseu, who as a Brazilian soldier imagined himself too far removed from World World II to ever see combat, will now be sent off to war.

Similar to how many might view and even ridicule the idea of Brazilian soldiers, the Smoking Snakes find few true allies. Ostracized by the Americans, and a welcome target for the Germans, the struggle for our Brazilian soldiers is not an easy one. Along the way Eliseu engages in several firefights, finds (and loses love), and is eventually captured by enemy forces, where we might say that his real struggle begins.

The story of Eliseu is one of tragedy and trauma, but above all else, it is an important record of a lost part of our history.

Be sure to join us next week as we begin to explore alternate realities that could have been.

p.s. Are you into manga? Do you love murder mysteries? Be sure to check out Bitemark here.

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Imagine being part of your team’s dream run

I grew up in a typical Mexican household that really only cared about two sports – Futbol (or soccer here in Canada) and Lucha Libre (pro wrestling). Sure, there was some F1, Boxing and American Football in there but usually that was about it. 

Fast forward to the early 90s, and like most other boys my age, we were crazy about baseball. My parents didn’t really get it, but didn’t really mind that I suddenly had a huge interest in it. I still remember a lot of the greats, and the Blue Jays winning back to back World Series. 

Fast forward 30 years later, and comic books have brought me back to baseball thanks to my friend and writer, Roberto Mercado. A fellow Lucha Libre fan and author of the Azteq series, he is a basebal fan who got to live out a childhood dream. After all, which little boy has never dreamed about being part of their favourite team’s dream run?

Roberto is a native of Puerto Rico, and if you are fortunate enough to have Puerto Ricans in your life, you know that they LOVE baseball – and I mean REALLY LOVE baseball. Puerto Rico is home to several successful MLB players including hall of famers Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Ivan Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez. Fast forward to today, and we have current stars such as Yadier Molina, Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa. You probably know that MLB has always had a strong Puerto Rican influence, but what you may not know is that Puerto Rico actually has its own, very successful (and competitive) domestic league.

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (previously known as Liga de Béisbol Profesional de Puerto Rico) is the top flight of baseball in Puerto Rico, and really a proving ground for many MLB stars. Founded in 1938, the LBPRC consists of 6 teams, and one of its most beloved are the Indios de Mayagüez. The Indios have 19 league titles to their name, along with 2 Caribbean World Series. The team enjoyed extraordinary success after winning the 1978 edition of the Caribbean World Series, which brings us to the 1987-88 season and the dream season that Roberto enjoyed.

Roberto got to live his childhood dream, basically as a child. He was lucky enough to become a batboy for the Indios, where he would get to know his idols and some future hall of famers. He held this position for years, all the while earning the trust and respect of his teammates, who would foster his lifelong love of béisbol.

Roberto was faced with a tough personal choice: pass up the chance to go to University, or give up his life as a batboy for his favourite team. The real world won out, and so Roberto let his team know that after years, this would be his final season as a batboy. Little did he know that he would receive a fantastic send off.

The season began strong, and Roberto was presented with a special prize in recognition of his service during the last regular season game – but the Indios had already clinched a play-off spot, and so the Indios would need his services a bit longer. Trying to balance his love of baseball with his personal life, the Indios kept winning, and narrowly avoided elimination in the final series, where they forced a game 7 and captured the league title.

So, after 8 years, the dream would end here, right? This dream run would continue and the Indios went on another Caribbean World Series. Unfortunately, the dream would end here, where the Indios would narrowly lose out to Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Republic.

Even if you’re not a baseball fan, what kid didn’t want to be part of their favourite team’s success? I know that being a batboy for the Indios will always be a cherished memory for my friend, and I was honoured when he chose us to help him tell this story for the first time in a comic book format.

Be sure to join us next week as we highlight a very unique story – a Brazilian WWII combat veteran.

p.s. Are you into manga? Do you love murder mysteries? Be sure to check out Episode 3 of the Bitemark Files here.

Was Macbeth the Tyrant, a tragic figure, or the greatest of all Scottish Kings?

Shakespeare fanfic defined this figure.

Sure, we all love fanfic and at some point probably thought of, or even wrote our own; some fanfics have become huge in their own right.  50 Shades of Grey began as a Twilight fanfiction, and while this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, you can’t deny it’s success.  So, 50 Shades is the most successful fanfic of all time, right?

Wrong – that honour goes to one William Shakespeare.  You might be surprised that a certain bard did the exact same thing as comic book fans that decide to write their own She-Hulk comics.  Yup, William Shakespeare himself decided that Mac Bethad mac Findlaích (in the Gaelic language) would be far more compelling as a tragic, lunatic tyrant who would become the protagonist of his Macbeth.

If you grew up in the western, English speaking world, you probably read Shakespeare’s classic in highschool, and even if you didn’t, you’ve probably heard about him and maybe have even watched a contemporary adaptation or two of this tragedy.  So, was Macbeth really a Tyrant, driven to madness by the events that Shakespeare wrote?  Did three witches entice a brave Scottish general with the prospect of a throne, driving him into a murderous rampage?  Maybe that explains why he attacked a sleeping Duncan like a coward, to make this destiny come true.  Becoming increasingly paranoid, Shakespeare’s Macbeth does everything he can to hold onto power.  He decides to consult the witches once again, to find out if his enemies will ever reign over Scotland. This descent into madness continues until the final act, where we learn that Macbeth can only be slain by one who was not “of woman born”.  Enter Macduff, born from an “Untimely rip” from the womb (the 17th century version of a caesarean section) and we have a loophole which finally allows the tyrant to be dethroned.

In reality, relatively little is known about the true Macbeth, and especially his early life.  This is where tenacious writers like Shaun Manning come in.  Over several years, Shaun pieced together a new story about Macbeth; part biography, and part a direct contrast to Shakespeare’s infamous work.  Gone is the lunatic; instead we see a compassionate figure who truly cared about his people, and genuinely wanted to increase the prosperity of Scotland. 

This Macbeth raised his slain enemy’s son as his own (after marrying his mother of course), gave to the poor, and even had an audience with the pope.  While very much like his literary/imaginary counterpart, history agrees with the bard that Macbeth met a tragic end, although historians believe that this was at the hands of Malcolm III, rather than Macduff. 

Examining Macbeth through this lens paints a completely different picture from Shakespeare’s classic, where he definitely decided to spice things up a bit to create a story which was not completely fair to the person that Macbeth really was.  This allows us to not simply accept the label of Macbeth as the tyrant, but rather to consider Macbeth the renowned.  The Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history which presents itself as a form of prophecy, describes Mac Bethad as “the generous king of Fortriu“, stating:

“The red, tall, golden-haired one, he will be pleasant to me among them; Scotland will be brimful west and east during the reign of the furious red one.”

Why does any of this matter? After all, most people will never have a notion of the true Macbeth. But I find that in these undiscovered stories, we can create something new, like we did with Macbeth: The Red King.  This allows for a new, broader perspective that goes beyond some of that stuff that led to you zoning out during your highschool English Lit class.

Next week: Fulfilling a childhood dream! 

p.s. Looking for a good murder mystery? Don’t forget to read Episode 02 of The Bitemark Files!

Want to support Lucha Comics & Undiscovered Stories? Check out Bitemark on kickstarter.

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Forgot Batman v Superman. Instead, here’s Attila the Hun vs. Pope Leo I.

Wait, what? From Batman to Pope Leo? And who even was this guy?

Before I jump into this story and why it’s inspired a new project, I wanted to talk a bit about the title of this series – Undiscovered Stories.

For those that know me, my motivation to start Lucha Comics was simple: I wanted to bring new stories to people like me. That’s it. All I know of comics was as a fan. I had no idea as to how comic books get published – after all, how hard could it be? Well, it didn’t take me long to find out that it’s really hard. It takes time, money, and a lot of heart. Even once you’ve found some great talents to work with and come up with a brand (which in itself is a chore!) then you need to really decide what kinds of stories you want to tell. Fortunately, I have friends like the talented B.J. Mendelson to remind me when I am thinking way too hard, because clearly, my thing is undiscovered stories. Whether it is a true biography of Macbeth, a Latino Superhero kids book, or something in between, Undiscovered Stories are what I love to dive into to. So, what does this have to do with Pope Leo?

Pope Leo I was a Roman aristocrat, the first Pope to be given the title of “the Great” and credited with developing the modern ideas of papal authority. His work led to the foundation of Jesus Christ being a hypostatic being – that is, both divine and human without confusion or division. This in itself is worthy of historical recognition, but there is something far more interesting about his 20 year reign in the middle of the 5th century.

Enter the antagonist of this story: Attila the Hun was running roughshod over Europe, conquering everything in his path. Ready to take Italy, Attila and his forces marched to the gates of the Vatican, ready to plunder and demand its complete and total surrender. Attila had already forced the Eastern Roman Empire to pay him a tithing of 700 pounds of gold a year, but the deal soon fell through the the Huns continued their vicious assaults on the Romans.

Attila and his forced made their way to the Vatican, where they would surely pillage one of the richest stores of treasure of perhaps any era. Even in 450AD, the wealth of the Catholic Church was staggering to say the least; countless priceless treasures would already be taking up residence within the walls of the Vatican. But perhaps most importantly (and easily overlooked) was the fact that the Church directly owned every one of its dioceses, paid zero tax worldwide on its revenues and assets, and even had its own armed forces. The Vatican’s combined wealth and influence in spheres of faith, government and even banking (google Knights Templar sometime) are unfathomable by today’s standards.

Surely, facing such an unprecedented threat – the Huns largely had free reign of the Eastern Roman Empire as few could stand up the them – the Vatican would deploy its entire armed forces, right?

As Attila was ready to storm the Vatican, Pope Leo walked out, alone and unarmed, where he spoke briefly to Atilla. The would be conqueror turned and left, never to return again – leaving Vatican City untouched.

Tune in next week for the Story of Macbeth: The Red King.

Want to support Lucha Comics & Undiscovered Stories? Check out Bitemark on kickstarter.

Special thanks to Matti Silver of Dark School, our resident occult and theological expert. I’d also like to give a shoutout to B.J. Mendelson, all around great guy and author of All Social Media is Bullshit.