Review: Tinieblas Jr. #1

Giant tongued monster babies, lion headed gatekeepers, and martial arts practicing Yeti's? If I have your attention, then The Lucha Verse is right up your alley.

Masked Republic's Luchaverse from Chido Comics is a series of one shots featuring some of the biggest stars in Lucha Libre.  Tinieblas Jr. is the second of the Luchaverse one shots I've covered and both have been an absolute blast to read.  Check out my previous review of Rey Mysterio number one here.

Tinieblas Jr. is the son of legendary Luchadore Tinieblas (obviously).  Tinieblas Sr. was a huge star in the 70's who was featured in his own comic book series and films like the lucha star studded '"Los Campeones Justicieros"' so it's very fitting that Junior receive his own comic book.  

Tinieblas Jr., in the comic, not only inherited the mask, but the position of Monster Hunter.   The tale sees him on a quest to discover a map that will aid Rey Mysterio in his quest for the mask of the first Mysterio.  Another legend, Konnan has a brief cameo in the story.  Konnan has his own issue in the Luchaverse. And of course Tinieblas' Mascota Alushe makes an appearance as well.

During the quest, which starts in Las Vegas and takes him from ancient  to Nepal  Tinieblas Jr. have confrontations with giant tongued demon babies, and run ins with both a lion headed gatekeeper with ties to Tinieblas Sr., and a horned man trained in Lucha Libre. The last panel sets up some craziness with martial arts trained Yeti.  I will forever love this series because it lets me type the words "martial arts trained Yeti"

He's swinging the monster by it's tongue!!!

The art and pace are great in this series, the scenes drawn by artist Diego Simone are too much fun, and the monster designs are very cool.  I personally want a print of Tinieblas Jr. swinging the baby monster by it's tongue.

I cannot recommend this series enough, especially if you like Lucha Libre, monster comics, or are a fun of fun old sci-fi movie craziness.

You can purchase the comics at the Chido Comics website.  

Tinieblas Jr. #1 $3.99

Chido Comics/Masked Republic
Story and Script: Mario Lopez & Ivan Plaza
Art and cover: Diego Simone

Review: Rey Mysterio #1 from Masked Republic's Luchaverse

He's the most famous masked wrestler of the modern era, and one of the most famous Luchadores of all time, he's Rey Mysterio and it's very appropriate that he now has his own comic book!

Rey Mysterio #1 is a part of Masked Republic's series of "Luchaverse" comics.  The line is a shared universe featuring many legendary Luchadores including Konnan, the Lucha Brothers and of course Rey.  I picked up the first four comics in the series, at the time of purchase the Konan comic hadn't released yet.  I will be picking that book up soon so I can review the whole series. Currently you can purchase all five titles as well as a collected issues of the original one shots.

The comic establishes Rey as the most recent of a long line of legendary Mysterios who are champions of the people, trained to battle a great evil that is destined to return.  To prepare for this, Rey and a group known as "The Ambassadors" are on a quest to find the mask of the first Mysterio, a mythical object that is needed to battle the returning evil.  Along the way we get a glimpse at Mysterio's training, battles with undead killer cat people, and quite possibly the coolest priest of all time, who happens to be  well versed in submission wrestling. 

I loved the world set up in this book, there is a craziness that hearkens back to the classic Lucha movies featuring the likes of Santo and Blue Demon.  I'd LOVE to see the Luchaverse turned into a movie.  And let's face it, if WWE films had any sense, Rey Mysterio should've already had a series of Lucha movies. I can't be the only one who wants to see Rey give a 619 to some Alien Vampires on Mars.

This comic book came out before Rey returned to the WWE in 2018, so I hope that doesn't ruin plans for future stories in the line. The listing for the collected edition refers to these one shots as "Luchaverse Prelude Arc" so there is hope for more.

Being part of a shared universe, there are references to the other heroes in the line, as well as the undertones of a bigger story we have yet to uncover.  All of this adds to the fun of the book.  I'm looking forward to the others in the series.

If you like Rey Mysterio, Lucha Libre or Lucha movies, pick up this book, it's worth the read for sure.

You can purchase the comics at the Masked Republic Luchaverse  website.  

Rey Mysterio #1 $3.99

Chido Comics/Masked Republic
Story and Script: Mario Lopez & Ivan Plaza
Art: Ben Harvey