LIFE
MAXX COMIC FIRST DAY CHARITY SIGNING (11/07)
 On
Sunday, November 18, 2007 America's newest superhero sensation, LIFE
MAXX, will take flight during a mall-wide charity event at the Southern
Park Mall, in Boardman, Ohio. "An Evening Of Giving" will allow holiday
shoppers to get a head start on their gift list buying with lots of
huge store discounts only available between 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM...
AFTER THE MALL HAS CLOSED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. Shoppers who want to
enjoy these money saving private shopping hours can do so by making a
$10.00 donation at the door which goes directly to support the numerous
local non profit organizations from the Mahoning Valley and The Simon
Youth Foundation. One of the organizations that will benefit from this
event is THE R.O.C.c.K. CHILDREN'S CHOIR and the A WAY WITH WORDS
FOUNDATION, INC. whose young people will be performing selections from
their newest 15 song CD release, "Compilation of Talent Donated for
Cancer". The choir is made up entirely of children cancer survivors.
For more information on this dynamite organization visit: www.awaywithwordsfoundation.com
or www.lifemaxxhq.org
Look out citizens! During this event the R.O.C.c.K. CHOIR kids will be
wearing their own LIFE MAXX super hero survivor gear complete with
capes, masks, and LIFE MAXX T-shirts! Why? Because this is the night
that the all new LIFE MAXX comic book will be released to the planet
for the very first time! Award winning painter, writer, and LIFE MAXX
co-creator CHRIS YAMBAR will be signing copies of this first edition
printing for anyone making a minimum donation of $5.00 to the A WAY
WITH WORDS FOUNDATION during this charity event. YAMBAR and the
R.O.C.c.K. CHOIR will be located in front of MACY'S Department store.
(Yes, he'll have plenty of BART SIMPSON comics on hand too!)
You won't want to miss out on this great night of giving, shopping,
savings, and having super fun... to the MAXX! What a great way to kick
off the holiday season.
The Southern Park Mall is located at 7401 Market Street in Boardman,
Ohio.
NATIONAL COMIC DEBUT
OF LIFE MAXX COMIC AT 2007 MID-OHIO-CON (11/07)
 "I can't think of a
better place to unveil a new super hero comic for charity", LIFE MAXX
creator, Chris Yambar announced from his secret lair, "The Mid-Ohio-Con
is famous for being one of the most family oriented, fan friendly, and
professionally run comics and entertainment conventions on the planet.
Every year Roger Price and his staff go out of their way to host a
unique charity opportunity for the crowd in attendance and this year
will be no different. Behold, the first issue of LIFE MAXX!"
Although there will be over 100 comics and entertainment celebrities at
this years Mid-Ohio-Con there will only be one place to get your signed
copies of the 24 page first edition LIFE MAXX comic book: the joint
booths of Chris Yambar and George Broderick Jr. (Booth #s 221 &
320). Comics will be available for a minimum donation of $5.00 per copy. 
Fans will want to get a good look at the attractive Mid-Ohio-Con staff
and security who will be sporting all new LIFE MAXX T-shirts during the
show too. The official LIFE MAXX T-shirts and mugs will soon be
available on the LIFE MAXX Head Quarters site sometime early after the
first of the year.
What a great way to get a cool collectable and do some real good at the
same time.
This years Mid-Ohio-Con will be held Saturday Nov. 24 (10 AM-6 PM)
& Sunday Nov. 25 (10 AM-5 PM) at the Battelle Hall in the Greater
Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. For more information on
the Mid-Ohio-Con visit: www.midohiocon.com
For more information on the A Way With Words Foundation visit: www.awaywithwordsfoundation.com
or www.lifemaxxhq.org
SUCKULINA
- VAMPIRE
TEMP PRE-RELEASE MUG OFFERED AT MID-OHIO-CON (11/07)
 Wrap 2007
up right by taking an early bite out of the new year...on it's neck!
Everyone loves an exclusive and this year Mid-Ohio-Con has got one
that's sure to give you shivers in all the right places. Behold! It's
the all new SUCKULINA - VAMPIRE TEMP coffee mug by creators Chris
Yambar and George Broderick Jr. You're going to scream with delight
when you see these bleached bone white 11 oz. ceramic mugs and their
blood red wraparound design that features a smiling SUCKULINA, her
logo, and the words, "MY JOB SUCKS!" Each of these mugs is printed with
the a special 'pre-release' tag line that will separate it from all
future firings making it an instant collectable.
In January 2008, MOONSTONE COMICS will stick it's neck out and publish
the first 40 page issue of SUCKULINA - VAMPIRE TEMP which is sure to
please horror and humor fans alike. Who is SUCKULINA? She's only the
cutest Torture Princess in Hell's history! Her techniques are so
smoking hot that there's a sign up list for fallen souls just praying
to taste a lash from her unforgiving whip. Even Satan has to take a
number to get his butt paddled. But, alas, poor SUCKULINA has grown
bored with her wicked ways and is hungry for a career change. So, she's
packed her sun block and has headed for the surface world where she has
taken on the vocation of an average office temp worker. How long can
even she last before yelling, "My Job Sucks!" at the top of her lungs?
(Retailers and fans can order this book right now from the NOV.07
edition of PREVIEWS. It's found on page 296. Buy multiples!)
For those of you who can't make it to this years Mid-Ohio-Con but who
REALLY want one of these awesome mugs, free to send your request,
address, and a check or money order for $15.00 (in U.S. funds) to:
Chris Yambar, Re: Suckulina Mug, PO Box 1260, Youngstown, Ohio
44501-1260 USA
YAMBAR THROWS OUT
OPENING PITCH WITH SCRAPPERS (08/07)
 As we all know,
Chris Yambar's work on Bongo's SIMPSONS comic line keeps him
more than busy making
appearances
across America.... but not too busy to make a special stadium
appearance with the MAHONING VALLEY SCRAPPERS in Niles, Ohio for
SIMPSONS DAY on August 26th, 2007. In addition to throwing out the
games opening pitch (a textbook sinker), Chris spent plenty of time
meeting and greeting diehard Simpsons fans and signing copies of his
comic books during the first three innings of the game. Yambar
encouraged fans to bring out any Simpsons items that they would like to
have signed and as usual he ended up signing a lot of vintage Burger
King Simpsons dolls on their butts too.
"What a thrill it is to team up with the MAHONING VALLEY SCRAPPERS
again," stated Yambar who threw out an opening pitch back in 2000,
"It's great to be a part of their success and be counted among their
many fans. Wow! The SIMPSONS and the SCRAPPERS on the same bill.
And I got to hang out with the team mascot too. Grrr! For this
Youngstown boy it doesn't get better than that!" (Photo by Jordan)
"SIMPSONS
SUMMER
SHINDIG #1 ALERT!" (06/07)
Leave it to Bongo Comics to
give
you an all-new, full-color,  super-sized,
summer fun themed Simpsons
comic book just in time so that you'll have something to read
while waiting in line to see this years sure to be
animated
blockbuster: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE! Due out in May, this 48
pager will
feature tons of fun-in-the-sun comics and a huge 25 page lead in
story
written by our own CHRIS YAMBAR entitled, 'Mid-Day on the
Midway'.
"For as long as I can
remember my folks always took the Yambar kids to
the Canfield Fair", Chris explained,"That event always
signaled the end
of summer and the beginning of the new school year. We'd go wild!
Eating everything fried and sugared, going to see the sideshows, riding
the rides over and over again by ducking down, buying off colored
T-shirts that we'd hide until we got home, making fun of the
4-H displays, seeing how many times we could get our names
announced
over the fairground speakers for being lost... we ruled! In this
issue
of SIMPSONS SUMMER SHINDIG #1, I get to relive those magic moments
and
go even further into villainy with Bart, Lisa, and just about everyone
else who lives in Springfield. There's even a surplus war robot running
amok after Professor Frink and
Homer who's dressed in a makeshift pig suit. Just wait until you
see
the lineup at the Freak Show!"
You heard it here first people! Make sure that you pick up your copy of
SIMPSONS SUMMER SHINDIG #1 before they are all sold out! Without a
doubt it's a blue ribbon winner in every categories!
( Copyright 2007 Bongo Entertainment, Inc. The Simpsons are copyright
& TM TCFFC. All rights reserved.)
YAMBAR
POSES AS BATMAN VILLAIN (06/07)
 How this item has
remained under our radar for this long nobody knows. The year was 1994
and Yambar had just moved his infamous BANANA RODEO GALLERY from its
original downtown Youngstown, Ohio, location to a huge second-story
sprawl in Austintown, Ohio. There it joined Starship Comics and Big
League Sports Cards, making the co-habitation a hotbed for lovers of
all things pop culture and collectable. One of the gallery exhibitions
held there featured the art of award-winning fantasy and comics
illustrator P. Craig Russell. When the show had run its course, Yambar
made the trip to Russell’s home to return the artwork and soon found
himself posing for the artist. As it turned out, Russell was looking
for someone stocky to photograph for storyboards he was working on with
co-artist Michael T. Gilbert.
“I guess all of Russell’s friends in Kent, Ohio, were on the thin
side,” Yambar joked. “I always figured that being a big strapping Slovak would pay off
somewhere down the road. I just wish I’d have been asked to pose for
Killer Croc or Bane instead of the Penguin. But hey! Batfans can’t be
choosy!”
The results of that photo session can be found in the pages of DC
Comics’ SHOWCASE ’94 #7 where writer Peter David pits the fowl foe
against the second toughest man in Gotham City - James Gordon (who
beats his ass). Proof that Yambar was the subject can be spotted  throughout the story
where the Bat-villain can be found without his classic pointy bird nose
drawn in. Talk about results of the dreaded deadline doom!
Luckily, this closet classic can still be found in the cheap section of
your favorite comics shop, so make sure that you snag a copy and have
Chris sign it for you when you catch him on the road. Make him show you
his powerful calves, too. This boy has been working out!
RARE BART SIMPSON
VARIANT COVER
DISCOVERED IN GERMANY ( 03/07)
 BART SIMPSON’S
HORROR SHOW
#9 - We don’t normally list all the foreign reprints of Yambar’s
Simpsons work, but this particular issue stands out as being something
really special! This Variant Cover Edition from Germany not only
reprints the contents of BART SIMPSON’S TREE HOUSE OF HORROR #10 but
has a day-glo green cover image of Bart dressed as KISS bassist Gene
Simmons …AND it has an ultra-limited print run of 666 copies worldwide.
Talk about rare! These routinely sell at shows for $50 or more a
pop. Happy hunting!
- “This special Monsters of Rock issue includes two stories co-written
by Yambar with Gene Simmons and Alice Cooper (drawn by Bill Morrison
& inked by Ken Wheaton), as well as a stories featuring Rob Zombie
and Pat Boone (co-written by Morrison). ROCK ON, SPRINGFIELD!”
SHISHO GOES MEOW
WOW! (11/06)
 elementary
school) are coming to the the pages of MEOW
WOW! #2 making it their first comic book appearance
anywhere. Talk about kid power - SHISHO has got it! The
two sisters, Midge (age 6) and Vivian (age 9) and their musical
mentor, the mysterious Professor PeuShu, are making waves all over the
place. In 2004, the Pickerington, Ohio based band did a cover of
the classic DEAD MILKMEN single, 'Punk Rock Girl' which landed them
heavy rotation on the indie radio scene in Cleveland, Ohio and the
distinction of being tagged with having crerated "one of the best
new songs of 2004". This was followed by
several original band tunes including "Get Behind Me Santa" in
2005 which landed the band a recording deal with the British label
'Filthy Little Angels'. The band decided to take the act live and
were a big hit at this years Gratis Fest in Indiana. When MEOW WOW!
creator CHRIS YAMBAR heard the band he flipped. "These kids have a
tremendous energy level. I just love their abstract thinking and
over-the-top creativity! When I heard the music on their myspace
page I was completely knocked out! Adult bands struggle to get this
free. With SHISHO it's all natural and refreshing. This band was doing
everything musically that I was attempting to do with my MEOW WOW
comicbooks. I just had to get them involved in the project." Soon
YAMBAR and SHISHO came up with a story that had them meeting and
rocking out with the lead character, ITSI KITSI-HAPPY ADVENTURE CAT.
The story, drawn by indie comics legend, LEVI KRAUSE, is fast paced and
turns the band into frogs at the end. "ITSI KITSI is all
about the energy", YAMBAR continues, "The character is like a manic
little H-Bomb on a sugar rush. All these kids needed were tails!"
In addition to having the band sign copies of MEOW WOW! #2, special
First Day Certification will be available to the first 100 fans and
collectors who purchase a copy at the Mid-Ohio-Con on Sunday November
26 (12 to 3 pm). SHISHO will be CHRIS YAMBAR's special guests
Thanksgiving weekend at the MID-OHIO-CON 'Ohio's Best Comic Book &
Pop Culture Collector's Show' which will be held at Battelle Hall in
the Greater Columbus Convention Center. For more information about the
convention go to www.midohiocon.com
For more information about SHISHO visit www.myspace.com/shisho .
There's never a dull moment in this litterbox. The proof is in the
purrrring!
NATO
PILOTS HONOR GROENING
AND YAMBAR (7/06)
You just can't go anywhere these days without running into fans
of The Simpsons ! Who knew
that a
simple shopping binge on ebay would lead Bart Simpson Comics writer, Chris  Yambar , right into
a hive of elite NATO
fighter pilots - and one of the coolest military finds
anywhere.
Cooler than the officially sanctioned Homer Simpson Astronaut Sperm
Patch used by NASA
a few years back? Yes. When Yambar spied the Ralphy Wiggum flight patch
he bid on it immediately. When he asked the seller where he found such
an unusual item he learned that it was an actual uniform patch designed
for use by the heroic team of ENJJPT Class 06-06 who trained at
Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas
from May 2005 until June 2006. As it turned out the pilots in the group
were getting awfully bored with all of the standard skulls, eagles, and
related power images that the other teams were designing for their
uniforms and decided to do something different - very different. The
result was an 'on model' image of Ralphy Wiggum sticking his head out
from his fighter jet as he races through the sky uttering the words,
"When I grow up, I wanna be a fighter pilot... or a caterpillar."
How
cool are the people at EURO-NATO JOINT JET PILOT TRAINING ? They are
the absolute coolest! A month after the purchase the pilots shipped Simpsons
creator Matt Groening and Yambar identical plaques featuring official
uniform patches, a photo of the team, and the engraved words, "It
tastes like...burning jet fuel." and the honor "To the Simpsons
Team,
Thanks for the Inspiration." Over the top behavior? Isn't that what air
pilots do?! ENJJPT CLASS 06-06 we salute you!
 HOMEMADE
6th GRADE COMIC BOOK BY YAMBAR NETS
$296.56 ON
EBAY! (10/05)
Now, here's something that you don't see
everyday listed on Ebay: YAMBAR 6th GRADE HOMEMADE COMIC. 1973. MAD
BOMBER'S COMIC FAIR #3 (Vol.1) "This hand-made comic book (on notebook
paper) from the 6th grade at Austintown Middle School features
contributions from several people, all working for Chris. Created with
pencil, magic marker, watercolor, and ink, its one page comics feature
"MAD BOMBER" before he became "SUPER BOMBER" and then part of 'DOODIE
(sic) and DITTO.' The Editor's Note identifies Chris as President of
YAMBAR COMICS. Measures 10 ½" x 8 1/4" (including cover on
watercolor paper). Includes 8 comics, 2 Pin-ups, Jokes, and MAD BOMBER
CLUB NEWS. Only a handful of these were ever made. This may be the only
surviving copy. A must-have for the die-hard Yambar fan!"
"Imagine my surprise," Yambar laughs. "First, to ever see one of these
things again and second, to watch it go out for nearly $300 on an
international auction block. Talk about a rush! Wow!"
Yambar explained how, at 11 years old, he and some of his classmates
made and sold their own handmade comic books: "We were all big comics
and MAD magazine readers and had the bug to make comics of our own.
We'd go to the movies and see all the big special effects shows, build
all the new monster models that came out at K-Mart, and collect weird
crap from gum ball machines. We'd trade stuff with each other in class.
We were junkies.
"I used to share my locker with this kid named Terry Wolf, who'd moved
here from Cleveland. He was big-time into Planet of the Apes and King
Kong anything. We hit it off from the start. He was the studious type,
while I was in school primarily for the ice cream bars and adventure.
So naturally I made him the VP of my comic book empire.
"Everyone who contributed to YAMBAR COMICS had to sign a lifetime
contract and promise not to work for anyone else ever. I would write
and design and draw. Terry would draw and color. The other guys would
help assemble the pages and go out and sell them. They were tougher
kids than we were. We'd make a master copy for each page and trace
copies onto other paper using tape and a window as our light table. We
didn't have access to copy centers or equipment back in those days, so
everything was done by hand. Our numbering system was inventive, too.
The Vol. # was based on the school year of the company. Sixth grade was
our first year, so it was Vol. #1.The issue # was based on the actual
copy sold during that year. It's hard to believe that with that type of
logic I managed to stay drug free.
"The Mad Bomber character would just fly to the moon or run up to a
mailbox and blow it up. I don't know why I thought that was funny.
Maybe it's because I'm part Irish and part Slovak. Who can know. But it
does figure that my first character would turn out to be a mysterious
hairy terrorist with a hat. Terry gave him shoes and gloves. By the
way, Terry went on to become a dentist.
"How Terry thought to hold onto this item for so many years and keep it
in good shape is a mystery to me. I'm glad he did. We got together over
breakfast a week after the bidding and had a good time talking about
how powerful we were as a company. It felt good to flex.
"I asked the winning bidder, Tornado Toth, what he was thinking by
bidding so much for this comic and he just smiled and said, "You had
the drive and the focus way back then and knew that publishing comics
was what you wanted to do. You didn't wait around. You did it. Now
you're working with Bart Simpson and publishing your own characters.
You're still doing YAMBAR COMICS!"
Toth plans to have the comic professionally graded and slabbed, a
process that may place the book in permanent price guides. The comic
sold during the month of October, 2005. We'll keep you posted.
 YAMBAR’S COMICS USED ON THE
SET OF UPCOMING INDEPENDENT
FILM - HERO TOMORROW! (02/05)
Movie fans will be thrilled to know that copies of THE MR. BEAT SHOW,
EL MUCHO GRANDE, and SUICIDE BLONDE comics will be easily detected in
the comic shop scenes of the upcoming film, ‘HERO TOMORROW’ which is
nearing completion under the direction of independent movie maker, Ted
Sikora. Yambar had the opportunity to read a copy of the script earlier
this year and put the film maker in contact with other self-publishing
comic creators as well as have his own character properties included.
“I think that the film has original creative drive and will develop a
strong cult following when it is released for public viewing”, Yambar
states, “It’s fashionably tragic, obsessively romantic, authentically
hip, and perfectly twisted in all the right places. Sure to be a crowd
pleaser!”
In February 2005, Yambar and the Mrs. appeared on the
chilly set of HERO TOMORROW and worked as extras in the movie's
soon-to-be-classic "dream sequence," which included an angry talking
squid, a godlike sea captain reciting from an ancient book of wisdom, a
group of beatnik musicians performing atop an antiques and oddities
shop, and a less than tolerant dream-crowd packed into a theater of the
mind. Wait until you see how adorable Maureen looks in her beret! Watch
the scene closely as the ill-tempered squid drinks his coffee. Is that
a MR. BEAT mug there in his tentacle? Vanity. Vanity!
To find out more about HERO TOMORROW visit the official
site at http://www.swingingcane.com/.
YAMBAR
AND ALICE COOPER KILL THE SIMPSONS! (09/04)
And while we’re on the subject of Bart Simpson’s Tree House Of Horror,
let’s also mention that Chris co-wrote a second story for said
comic with legendary snake lord and rock icon Alice Cooper which was
illustrated by none other than Bill Morrison! “There was nothing
nightmarish about working with Alice,” Yambar joked. “In fact, he was
an absolute dream to work with. Alice was incredibly story-driven and
had a great plot idea from the very beginning. I just had to add some
Simpsonized gore-meat on his story bones and punch up the banter. There
were times during the creative process that we had to take a break
because we were laughing ourselves to death. This is one twisted tale!
Alice is not only one of the craziest monster guys on the planet, he’s
also a very funny guy. Bill (Morrison) has also been a rabid Alice fan
since the 1970s, so it was a double hip moment for him to be able to
provide the art for this story. Y’know, it doesn’t get better than
this!” Yet another great reason to pick up a copy of this creepy-cool
Fall annual from our good friends over at Bongo Comics!”
“BART SIMMONS?!!”
(10/03)
Simpsons comic fans flipped when they found out which other Monsters
of Rock had thrown their hats into the ring for the issue! This
is one Bongo Comics moment you don’t want to miss!
SUICIDE BLONDE AWARDED BEST
COMIC WRITING OF 2003 BY CINESCAPE MAGAZINE.
 When Chris and artist George Broderick, Jr., began
collaborating on
SUICIDE BLONDE in the pages of COMIC LIBRARY INTERNATIONAL #7 - BIG
SPACE COMICS in 2001, they had no idea that it would be such a sci-fi
cult favorite among fans of the genre or that a mere two years later
CINESCAPE MAGAZINE would be awarding it honors as the BEST WRITTEN
COMIC OF 2003! The magazine originally announced the win via an e-mail
press release during the Summer, but made it more than official in
issue # 74 when it published photos and a Q&A with Chris and the
other winners of its annual contest.
“I was surprised to win CINESCAPE MAGAZINE’s award for the BEST COMIC
WRITER OF 2003 , but I wasn’t surprised that it was with SUICIDE
BLONDE,” Yambar stated. “George and I put a lot of thought and creative
sweat into this title. The project was extremely personal for us and I
think that it shows.
I’m glad that our efforts were taken more seriously than most of
the bad/good girl comics out there today. Rather than be exploitive,
George and I set out to create a character that was just as intelligent
and individually empowered as she was beautiful to look at. We’ve had a
flood of positive response to the character from female readers who are
glad to see the direction of the series. Readers are catching a lot of
the social and political commentary of SUICIDE BLONDE as well. I’m glad
that some saw beyond the yummy chocolate coating and got to the
delicious free prizes hidden inside. That alone was prize enough.”
Chris and George were further honored for their efforts by having
SUICIDE BLONDE act as the official convention shirt mascot of the 2003
Mid-Ohio-Con where the two debuted the second half of the series to a
very enthusiastic convention crowd.
SIMPSONS MANIA TRADING
CARDS TO INCLUDE YAMBAR CARD ART (1/01)
When INKWORKS releases the all new  SIMPSONS
MANIA
premium trading cards later  this year
independent comics and pop art
fans will be happy to find a special Chris Yambar chase card in the
mix. As is the tradition with collector card sets there will be lots of
hard to find bonus subsets including black light cards, Split
Personality Fold' Em Cards, Packy Wacks, Treehouse of Horror Cards, and
the exciting Bart Gallery
where you'll find Yambar's graffiti punk image of everyone's favorite
native Springfield son - Ralphy Wiggum.
Chris will be joined in the subset by Peter Kuper, Sergio Aragones,
Tony Bennett, Robbie Conal, Dan Brereton, Craig Bartlett, and Bill
Morrison. "I love the fact that they let me create this image
completely off model and crazy," Yambar states, "You get a pretty good
idea of what its like to actually BE Ralphy Wiggum. On the other hand
it might be a way to enjoy an acid blotter without the fear of getting
arrested. Say 'NO' to drugs. Say 'YES' to a complete Simpsons Mania card collection!" On
sale globally soon!
Click Here to read
the
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