All cartoonists have a secret passion project they cultivate on their spare time. Spare time i don't have anymore as i got an extra full slate of huge books to produce for many years.
This one was mine, i use the past tense here because i doubt it could see the light of the sun one day. It's time to let go and show it to you... at least the few bits i produced.
It is the comics adaptation of a short story written by the great Paco Ignacio Taibo 2, intituled "MASK AZTEK" or in it's original mexican version "Mascara Azteca y el doctor nuebla". I resume it shortly as 'a mexican V FOR VENDETTA'.
We see the infamous writer José Daniel Fierro returning in his native Mexico to fight against the dictature. He stole an aztek mask in the museum and naked only wearing it, he is photographied and became the symbol of the resistance.
What's not to like with a story like that, except if you are a fascist scum...
Mask Aztek don't pose bomb or such, he make the enemy ridicule, as a stoopid giant who can't close an umbrella before boarding a plane. He of course shoot one or two fascists spawns to defende himself but he mostly organize the uprising of the people.
I worked with my all time favorite novelist on this wonderful story full of wit, action and political chess and it was awesome. I produce an handful of the best pages i ever did. But nobody wanted to publish it. Comics is still a bad word in France, fuck.
So now , after 12 years i decide to stop dreaming and show it to you...
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to MASK AZTEK!
I did some teasers for it and even an animated gif... who ended becoming the animated title of the greek documentary LATIN NOIR who is about mexican noir authors, which i also did the logo for. It had also Paco reading the first chapter of CUATRO MANOS* while my pages were seen on screen.
*(the book adaptation we worked on before our editor went chapter 11, and noone would continue with us...)
Here the poster that Mask Aztek paste on the wall of mexico D.F. at night on top of the dictature propaganda...
And also some teasers...
And some inking drawing.
You can see that this project is so old, i did it on paper...
So long Mask Azek...
