Amado Rodriguez and Bud Burgy, proud editors of the Muscles and Fights line of anthology comics.

January is a pretty dull month for comics conventions. So how do cartoonists get out and see each other? They throw anthology release parties, of course.

Muscles and Fights came into being because a typical comics fan once looked over Bud Burgy’s Meatfist and Gronk at a convention and said, “I like it when they have muscles, and they fight.” The fan walked away unmoved, having felt cheated by the comic’s title. Meatfist and Gronk are just two dopey guys, being muscled or aggressive is just happenstance. But Burgy heard the call loud and clear that what fans want is more muscles and more fights. That’s just what he and collaborating members of the indie comics community are prepared to give them.

In a 1-2 knockout punch, Burgy and his co-editor Amado Rodiriguez have just released their second MF anthology in seven months. If you’re interested in getting on board for volume 3, you might just be too late. The cut-off date was January 19th. However, I imagine Burgy and Rodiriguez could be sweet-talked if you’ve got a truly killer idea. I also imagine, at this rate, MF 4 can’t be far off.

At the release there were signings, of course. Drinking, indeed. But the highlight of the evening had to be when Jon Sloan (Sa-Bom Jim) performed some Taekwondo and even sliced through a tatami mat with a giant sword. At the last release party, they had a fire eater. If there’s something to be said for this anthology, it’s an event. A cataclysmic event.

Jon Sloan: first we make the voo doo, then bring down destruction.

Muscles and Fights 2 (AKA Musclier and Fightier) costs $12 and features cartoonists Zander Cannon, Steve Stwalley, Tim Sievert, Danno, Bob Lipski, Kevin Cannon and Ryan Dow, among other flunkies.

-Sarah Morean