Comic cons have been a real revolution over the decades, with a dedicated comic-con in nearly every major city in the United States now. From humble beginnings that focused exclusively on comic books to a current focus on all forms of popular culture, these events have something for everyone. For our Kung Fu community, there is always something for us at these events, albeit not as much as we usually hope for. Our community has been waiting for a revolution of sorts, and we just saw a step in the right direction.
While San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) may be the mecca of all comic cons, there are alternatives that can hold its own against this juggernaut. One of these is Comic Con Revolution (CCR), which held its sixth annual two-day event on May 20-21 of 2023. I had the pleasure of attending this convention this year on both days. It was my second time attending this convention, my first being last year. While last year’s event did not feature much in terms of Kung Fu, this year was revolutionary in what they offered.
With an upcoming Netflix live-action adaptation currently in production, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is one of the few successful Anime and Kung Fu inspired American animated series that has fans of all ages despite its initial target demographic being children. In living up to its name, CCR proudly announced the main voice cast of AVATAR as part of their guests who attended a special panel that required a wristband even for attendees with a pass. This panel occurred on Day 1 and featured Olivia Hack (Ty Lee), Jennie Kwan (Suki), Cricket Leigh (Mai), Greg Baldwin (Uncle Iroh), Grey DeLisle (Azula), Jessie Flower (Toph), Dante Basco (Prince Zuko), Jack De Sena (Sokka), Zach Tyler Eisen (Aang), and Mae Whitman (Katara). This was the first time that the main cast reunited for a public event, so the hype was very strong.
Seeing this unique opportunity for AVATAR, I tried to arrive at the convention as early as possible. Unfortunately, the combined “qi” of the AVATAR fandom beat me to the rush, as there were no more wristbands after waiting in line for an hour! Their combined “qi” was so strong that it went into the exhibit hall where the cast had the largest lines formed, which unfortunately hindered me from interviewing the voice cast. While I was a bit disappointed, I walked towards my next path being happy that AVATAR still has such a fanbase and I have nothing but great anticipation for more Kung Fu inspired franchises like it in the future.
With the release of MIGHTY MORPHIN’ POWER RANGERS: ONCE & ALWAYS on Netflix, CCR featured a few select cast members as guests such as Walter E. Jones (Zack Taylor, Black Ranger), Catherine Sutherland (Kat Hillard, Pink Ranger), and Karan Ashley (Aisha Campbell, Yellow Ranger). The original series was so ingrained in 90’s pop culture and inspired a generation of children to learn martial arts. Consequently, I took this opportunity to interview Walter E. Jones (WJ).
Interview with Walter E. Jones (Zack Taylor, Black Ranger)
BC: So this year is the 30th anniversary of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
WJ: That is correct.
BC: ONCE & ALWAYS was a hit on Netflix. It was number two, actually.
WJ: It hit number two on Netflix on the TV shows. Globally, I think we're like number four or something like that.
BC: It's been 30 years since the show premiered. We know that you've been very active in the community and going to different conventions, especially Power Morphicon. Prior to ONCE & ALWAYS, how did you get contacted to do the role?
WJ: They contacted me through my agents. Actually, I received the email stating that they were interested in having me be in the show. They wanted to know if I was interested. I said “yeah” and they told me it was Screen Actors Guild. This is perfect. That was the only thing that kept me from going there before. So, Screen Actors Guild and New Zealand for a month. I was excited to go there.
BC: Since this was shot in New Zealand, as opposed to the original series that was shot in California, what would you say was the difference between shooting in Southern California versus New Zealand?
WJ: Well, the area is definitely rainy in New Zealand and the culture of the land is very different. But, the biggest difference that I noticed is just the technology we used to shoot with. The kind of cameras that we shot with were like a single camera and we had to check the gate. We had to look at the dailies the following day, but now everything's digital so you can shoot so much. The two cameras that get to close up, your coverage, all the stuff. It was awesome. You can actually see an immediate playback of the scene, which is very cool. 30 years passed, and you know technology has changed.
BC: So one of the things that's different about this special compared to the original series is that this special is 100% American footage.
WJ: Yes.
BC: Were there any differences or any more challenges because of the fact there were no Japanese footage used?
WJ: Oh no, I mean they've been doing RANGERS for 30 years so they've got it all down to a routine. And the stunt team is amazing. Those guys are awesome, they know exactly what they're doing. Everything's well thought out and well planned and they were very fun to work with.
BC: That's nice, that's nice. One of the things that caught my attention was Hip Hop Kido returning.
WJ: Yes.
BC: Was that your idea or whose idea was that?
WJ: Well, I definitely mentioned to them that I wanted to do Hip Hop Kido and they were very open to the thought. They were like, "Oh, that's awesome". I mean, it's been 30 years, so maybe they didn't know if I could still do it, but obviously Zach don't crack, so. [laughter]
BC: It's the 30th anniversary, and there's also an upcoming series for the franchise as well, COSMIC FURY. Was there anything that fans can look forward to from you?
WJ: For me, actually, I continue to do a number of works on television and film. I do have a music project for now. It's under the name Trey Emmanuel, which we'll explain later, but I'm going to be releasing my first single in the next two weeks.
BC: Thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.
WJ: Pleasure to meet you.
Cobra Kai Never Dies – Interview with Sean Kanan (Mike Barnes, The Karate Bad Boy)
In the 80’s, another cultural franchise inspired a generation of children to learn martial arts: THE KARATE KID. While the franchise was mostly associated with people growing up in the 80’s, the sequel series: COBRA KAI ensured that a new generation of fans in the late 2010’s would appreciate the franchise. With COBRA KAI Season 6 in development, CCR featured Sean Kanan (Mike Barnes, The Karate Bad Boy) from THE KARATE KID PART III & Season 5 of COBRA KAI. Contrary to the role he portrayed in PART III, Sean (SK) was very easy to approach and he was more than happy to be interviewed.
BC: I love your booth, very COBRA KAI inspired.
SK: Yeah, that seems to be what most of the people want to see. You know, we got a little stuff from the soaps that I've done but primarily COBRA KAI and KARATE KID though.
BC: You were in COBRA KAI for a few episodes; however, your character had a pretty big arc in there. One of the things that was very interesting was that Mike was a very one-dimensional villain in THE KARATE KID PART III. From what I understand in past interviews, you say you wanted this character to evolve and become a better person.
SK: Wasn't necessarily concerned with him becoming a better person. You can evolve, or I guess de-evolve, and he could have become a worse person. I just wanted to see that there was growth one way or the other, that it wasn't just this one-dimensional thug that he was in the third installment of THE KARATE KID. Even if he became worse, in 30 years of life experience, he's going to be a different individual. I wanted that to be represented in how he was portrayed.
BC: Were there any real-life inspirations as to why you wanted to see such a change in over 30 years?
SK: I just think that time changes everyone. I just felt that needed to be represented in the character. I really loved what the big three came up with because I had the best of both worlds. I got to have a redemptive arc. I also got to play the return of the bad man. So for me, I couldn't have asked for a whole lot more.
BC: One of the great things about COBRA KAI is not just that these characters return, but you see how they've evolved over the past 30 years. So, it's great to see that you actually had some input on that.
SK: We were very considerate and we had a Zoom meeting before I went down to Atlanta. It was really wonderful and they asked me what some of my thoughts were. I wanted to make sure that we infused some humor into the character of the village.
I think that that happened with the whole Chozen Toguchi and all that stuff.
BC: I understand that when you auditioned for the role, you were suggested by Sensei Fumio Demura.
SK: Yes.
BC: I know he passed away earlier this year.
SK: I was at his viewing last night. His funeral is today and I was at the viewing last night. Very sad.
BC: Sorry to hear. I have met him before at the Martial Arts History Museum. Wonderful and exceptional gentleman. Prior to his passing, did you speak to him much about COBRA KAI?
SK: He didn't speak particularly about COBRA KAI. I was actually with him about two months ago at his last tournament. Now, we didn’t speak about COBRA KAI. He's someone that I consider one of my teachers and he had a tremendous impact on my life. He's somebody that will always have a place in my heart.
BC: I hope he rests in peace.
SK: Yes, absolutely.
BC: One of the things that some people may not know is that you were on the WALKER TEXAS RANGER series and the episode was Eye of the Ranger.
SK: Eye of the Ranger, yes. That was amazing; working with Chuck Norris was a dream come true.
BC: Were there any memorable moments from that time?
SK: Just the memorable moment was stepping off the plane, showing up at set, and there's Chuck. I remember as a kid, my dad met Chuck Norris somewhere and he brought me an autographed photo of Chuck that said, "Sean, keep on kicking". Then 37 years later, there I was doing a fight scene with Chuck Norris on WALKER. It was surreal and wonderful and an incredible experience.
BC: Is there anything coming up that fans can expect from you?
SK: Professionally, yes. They can watch me on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL Monday through Friday on CBS. I have a new film out right now called Colonials, which is on all of the VODs. My other show, STUDIO CITY, is on Amazon Prime. My recent book, Welcome to the Kumite, just came out and that's available at WayoftheCobra.com.
BC: Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
SK: Thank you Brian, I appreciate it. It was great talking to you.
The Comics – Interview with Chris Mancini, author of Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master
What would a comic con be without actual comic books? As I wandered around the convention, I spotted a table featuring Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master, a graphic novel written by Chris Mancini (CM). In addition to being a writer, Chris is a director, comedian, and podcaster who was also in attendance. As I spoke to him, he mentioned that he was inspired by John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. Hearing this, I took this opportunity to interview him about Rise.
BC: Please tell me more about Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master.
CM: Well, I grew up watching all these great Kung Fu movies and Black Belt Theater. I studied martial arts when I was younger. I loved 80’s movies, buddy movies, and I love BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA. I wanted to combine all of those things together, all the things I love growing up, and put them into a graphic novel that was funny, had action but also good characters and heart. Also, dragons and a lot of uppercuts too.
BC: You mentioned that you're influenced by movies shown on Black Belt Theater and such, which movie is your favorite?
CM: I would say BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA is the one that I loved, with how it combined everything. When you get into the more classic movies, it's 36 CHAMBERS OF SHAOLIN that are super more authentic. CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is probably one of my favorite, more modern films, but there's a lot to pick from. The thing you can always count on is that there's going to be a master making his apprentice and disciples go up a mountain carrying water. That's the one thing you can definitely count on, which is always fun. I wanted to bring all of those great moments, but also the humor that some of these other projects would have and put them all kind of together, which is what I wanted to do with the graphic novel. There's so many great movies and so many classic ones. There's just more of a library to go back on. Now with streaming, you can go back. I'll never forget as a kid just turning on the UHF that doesn't exist anymore, and hearing the logos and having these movies just come on. Even though everyone complains about the dubbing, it's part of the process. I love it.
I absolutely love everything about these movies growing up.
BC: I'm looking at Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master and I already see the influence from BIG TROUBLE LITTLE CHINA on the cover. Tell me more about this person who appears to be the protagonist.
CM: Yes, that's Rick and he's a very sloppy fight club fighter. He's angry all the time so there's a thousand different anger issues. Everything is always someone else's fault, so one of the things I also wanted to see is if I could have a character who has a very, very far way to go and is at pretty much the bottom of the wrong. He is a small time criminal and we wanted to see how far we could make him bark when he has a Western anger philosophy that meets an Eastern philosophy. Can he find peace even though he's getting mixed up in this ancient battle between good and evil in China that he has no business being mixed up in? But can he also overcome that anger and can he find that peace? what does the anger and violence truly mean and is it serving any purpose other than just making him angry?
BC: You mentioned the influences of the movies that went behind this graphic novel. Were there any other influences from your personal life, other people that you know, or experiences you have that went into this graphic novel?
CM: Yes. I took Karate as a kid all the way through to a teenager and I think I stopped in college, but it taught me a lot of things about self-discipline & managing it, and working with your body and learning. Then as an adult, my son and I joined the Shaolin Temple in Los Angeles. We have a Shifu, but honestly I do mostly the Qigong. He knows the Kung Fu because I'm a little older now. But to be immersed in that, even at a later age in life, I've learned so much just from the philosophy of my Shifu, from just drinking tea and listening to him, and hearing his stories and all of these great things. You'd never think that there was a Shaolin temple in the middle of Los Angeles next to a Starbucks, and a sushi restaurant on Ventura Boulevard, but that's where we go. My son actually most recently became a disciple; I'm very proud of him. It's also a way to take the ancient and rich history and bring it into the modern world today with the Shaolin Temple.
BC: What can fans expect from you later on professionally?
CM: The full deluxe version just got finished, so we're in the process of promoting that out there. You can get that everywhere from the White Cat Entertainment website to Amazon. Working on another couple of volumes, and I hope to make it a trilogy as you can imagine from the title Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master. It is a tongue-in-cheek comedy as well as a martial arts action book. If you're a fan of 80s movies, you can kind of guess what the next two titles of will be: Fall of the Kung Fu Dragon Master and Return of the Kung Fu Dragon Master. That's what I have planned, but it's gonna take a while.
BC: Awesome, thanks so much.
The Comics – Interview with Matt Yuan, author of Inspector Oh
The influence of Kung Fu in comics is strong, and I had a feeling I would find another title. As I continued onward, I noticed the booth for First Comics where the graphic novel Inspector Oh was present. Its cover featured a character wearing Hanfu (traditional clothing worn by the majority ethnic Han people of China prior to the Qing Dynasty) and wielding a Jian (straight sword), so I got very curious. I spoke to one of its writers, Matt Yuan (MY), and he went over how classic Hong Kong films such as MR. VAMPIRE inspired him and his brother John Yuan (collectively known as the Yuan Twins) to write this. Hearing this, I took the chance to interview him and Matt was very happy to do so.
BC: I see here we have Inspector Oh, which I see is based on Chinese culture. Could you please tell us a little bit more about this?
MY: Inspector Oh basically follows the adventures of the eponymous character Inspector Oh and his niece Ziyi, who are the foremost exorcists in medieval China. It started out with my brother and I when we were growing up. We loved those Hong Kong action movies. There wasn't a lot of Chinese culture in the rest of pop culture and we decided that when we grew up we were going to fix that.
BC: You mentioned Hong Kong movies. Could you tell us which are your favorite? Which ones influenced this specifically?
MY: Oh, by far, our most favorite is going to be MR. VAMPIRE. That movie and its sequels are just amazing. The funny thing about that is, when we were growing up, we do not speak Cantonese. And the movies that we watched were not subtitled in English, but in Korean, which we do not read. So for decades, we had no idea what specifically was going on, and it wasn't until we were in college that we were like, "Oh, that's what they're saying." It was a magical few years that we finally figured out what was going on.
BC: MR. VAMPIRE is definitely a classic that spawned multiple spin-offs, sequels, and even two Hong Kong TV series. I did notice in the pages some Joss papers and also some shoutouts to Journey to the West. Could you tell us a little bit about more on how you decided to incorporate those references in there?
MY: Okay so we incorporated those references because we wanted the reader of the book to come away with a little bit of greater appreciation of the culture that spawned a pop culture. As I mentioned, growing up, there wasn't a lot of Chinese based pop culture What there was was really watered down and almost useless from an educational standpoint. So we hope to sort of introduce the reader in much the same way that Usagi Yojimbo does for Japanese history and culture; that Inspector O will serve as a gateway for the readers into Chinese culture.
BC: How did you first get started with Inspector O?
MY: We self-published titles back in 2012. It was called Declan and Chang, and it was just based off of an RPG campaign we had with some friends. When we met Steve Stern, he introduced us to first publisher Ken F. Levin, who was an executive producer on THE BOYS for Amazon Prime. When that happened, all of these ideas that we had, all of a sudden, became possibilities for books. Inspector Oh was the one that we felt really passionate about and that's where that came from.
BC: I see here there's a Volume 1. Is this the only one that's released so far?
MY: Volume 1 is the only one released so far. Volume 2 is due in the first quarter of next year.
BC: Can you tell us a little bit more about the main character of Inspector O?
MY: Inspector O is medieval China's premier exorcist. He is the best at what he does, but being as brilliant as he is, he is somewhat absent-minded. It is left to his more practically-minded niece Ziyi to keep him safe from the more immediate threats while he himself is dealing with the larger picture five or six steps ahead. He tends to be blind to what is immediately threatening him. She's the one who has to engage in the physicality of martial arts to keep him alive.
BC: Very exciting. Besides the movies that you grew up watching, were there any influences from your own personal life that went into Inspector O?
MY: I would say that a lot of the stories came from our own personal interpretation of what was happening in a lot of these Hong Kong action movies, as they were not dubbed or subtitled in English. We were left to make up our own stories. So a lot of this stuff is gonna come from our imaginations. We're like “this is a story that happened” and we were completely wrong. Now we get to use it.
BC: I understand that the second volume's coming out soon. Is there anything else that fans can expect?
MY: Fans can also look for our other titles issued through First Comics and that is Serving Supes, which is about process servers that serve court documents and deadbeat superheroes and supervillains. There's also Love Town which is about a supernatural noir setting wherein it follows the adventures of the only vampire detective on the Love Town police force.
BC: Alright, well thank you so much for your time. I greatly appreciate it.
MY: Thank you so much for having me.
With the conclusion of the interviews, I browsed around and enjoyed the rest of the convention for Day 1. As Day 1 came to a close, so did my Kung Fu search as I could not find more Kung Fu related matters. Despite this, I was still excited for Day 2 as the crowd was still energetic and it was very laid back compared to SDCC. On Day 2, I attended the POWER RANGERS and Sean Kanan panels. While my interview questions mirrored those asked by fans, I still greatly enjoyed these and even purchased Sean Kanan’s Way of the Cobra and Welcome to the Kumite self-help books. Once these panels concluded, I bade farewell to new friends.
Comic Cons are like a vacation, as people travel far for a few days. For those who live within a 50-mile radius of Ontario, CA and have any interest in what they offer, I cannot recommend this convention enough. Lines for entry move quickly, and its smaller nature allows fans to better interact with creatives. This year’s event offered more in terms of Kung Fu, and I was not disappointed. Until the next comic con…
