What's in a Name?

So, why "Reluctant Zero"? I'm sure a few of you have been wondering about the title, or perhaps you've figured it out on your own, or perhaps you are more interested in our content then the package? In any case, today I'm going to explain where the title came from and how it relates not only to our comic, but to all nerds.

"Reluctant Zero" is essentially the way society views Memo and his friends (all nerds, really). No one sets out to be a loser, or a "zero". We are labeled these things by others who don't understand our obsessions. The funny thing is we all have our obsessions, but only some of us are considered zeros. This is one of the many themes they wish to showcase within the pages of the comicbook.

Hopefully that was interesting for you guys and gave you a little more insight into where we're coming from.

Till next time,
~ Angelica P.R.

The Start of Summer and Some Much Needed Help

The thumbnails are almost finished, and all of our finals are finally over this week. We're celebrating summer by drawing and creating, how are you guys celebrating?

We would also like to announce that we have acquired the services of both and inker and a letterer, we do all our lettering by hand, both of whom are close friends and fellow artists. This way, once Cristian finishes each panel he'll be able to hand it off, to our inker and then to the letter, hopefully increasing our production rate so we can get the comic to you guys faster!

Mario is making headway on the second issue, so we'll be able to move seamlessly into that once we finish the first one.
And we also have one perspective carrier for our comic as well, stay tuned for announcements once we get closer to go time for information on how or where to purchase the comic.

And make sure you check our twitter for fun updates about the creators and myself, as well as cool nerdy stuff, and interesting things happening here in the city.

Till next time,
~Angelica P.R.

The Story of Memo

Today I have something special for you all, which we posted on our Facebook Page last week, but haven't put up here just yet.

It's Mario's official summary of the comic book! Hopefully after reading it and watching the accompanying interviews that we have posted here, you'll all have a better sense of what our story is about and what the message of the comic is, enjoy!

"Guillermo “Memo” Morales, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is a nerd in the truest sense of the word. By day, he works various odd jobs to make ends meet. By night, he dreams of starting a family and supporting them with a t-shirt company starring his sketches as the main design. He lives with two roommates. Stan “The Circumstance” Green is a young man obsessed with the opposite sex. He lies to no end in attaining his goal. His other roommate is Malik Strong, a brilliant man who is slowly and surely withdrawing from society. Memo’s love interest is Isla Song, the very personification of beauty, brains, and brawn.
Memo lives the life of a poor man. He wears the same clothes from high school and often eats the cheapest thing he can find. His furniture is from thrift shops. He walks everywhere and avoids transportation in order to save money. He is a simple man with simple interests. However, deep within lies the heart of a warrior. Often times, his art reflects the power developed by the many years of ridicule from supposed “cool people”. This all reinforces the theme of the story : Nerds posses an internal strength that shines in times of crisis."
-Mario T. Lanao

The thumbnails for the first issue are almost done as well, soon Cristian will be able to start putting them down on the comic book paper and since the weather outside is awful this week, it's only more incentive to stay inside and draw!

See you all next week!
~ Angelica P.R.

Latino Comics Expo 2011

As you all know, we attended the first ever Latino Comics Expo this weekend right here in San Francisco at the Cartoon Art Museum, and we had a blast!

The first day it was just Mario and myself manning our makeshift table at the front along with our friend Ed who is working on his own graphic novel because Cristian wasn't able to get the day off. I manned the booth most of the day while Mario networked and attended panels. I did get to attend the "History of Latino Comics" panel, which was really interesting since I am both a history major and a fan of comics.

Sunday was a blast though, we had a table in the main room and the whole team was there promoting and networking like crazy.

Cristian and Mario got some great publicity and signed quiet a few posters, including someone's guitar!

They also participated in a panel about self-publishing comic books along with some other comic book artists, Jaime Crespo, Rafael Navarro, and Javier Hernadez. The panel was about an hour long and went really well, hopefully we can get the video up and running soon.
Hooray for Reluctant Zero's first panel!We all had a wonderful time socializing and meeting other Latino artists and spreading the word about Reluctant Zero to an audience which doesn't often get as much notoriety as it should. We can't wait for the next Latino Comics Expo!

~Angelica P.R.

Supper Club Dinner for the Latino Comics Expo

All of us here at Reluctant Zero attended a "kick-off" party for the Latino Comics Expo at the Supper Club here in San Francisco on Harrison St. The venue was really cool, and I really liked the design, with a loft area in the main dance room, and all the disco balls over the main bar as well. The seating in the main room was very strange, so I didn't sit down, who knows where those beds have been! haha
The entertainment was pretty cool, one woman did aerial acrobatics on a rope and another group did Latin drumming, accompanied by dancing.
It was a little hard to network due to the setting, but it was a fun experience nonetheless, besides, who doesn't love dancing?

Of course we did have to leave early, because we went to watch the midnight premier of Thor, which turned out being really good! Though the Japanese character seemed a bit out of place among the Gods, and Natalie Portman's acting was a little off.
What did you all think of it??

Goodnight from Reluctant Zero!

~Angelica P.R.

May is Gonna be a Busy Month

It's May, so you know what that means...Cinco de Mayo and the end of the semester are almost here!

Unfortunately the fact that the semester is winding down means that all of us here at Reluctant Zero have a lot of papers to write and tests to study for, but as soon as it's done you can count on us being way more productive.

As for Cinco de Mayo, we will be attending a party hosted by the Latino Comics Expo at the Supper Club here in San Francisco. It's supposed to be a bit of a meet and greet and networking opportunity, so we're all pretty excited. The venue seems very interesting, it has beds instead chairs or couches and live entertainment, we'll post some photos of it so you guys can get an idea of what it's like there.

We'll have to leave the party early though, because the midnight premier of Thor is that night as well, and being true comic book lovers, you know we can't miss that right?

As you all know we're going to be attending the Latino Comics Expo at the Cartoon Art Museum this Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. And on Saturday, Mario and myself will be speaking at a panel at 2:30, talking about what it's like attempting to break into the comic book industry. If you have any questions, that would be a great place to ask them, hopefully we'll see you all there! We'll also be handing out more preview issues, so if you didn't get one at WonderCon, stop by and grab one this weekend!

See you all this weekend!

~Angelica