In our short history, one thing we’ve learned at Super Art Fight is that one night can change the course of a competitor’s entire career.
Just ask Michael Bracco. Debuting at our second event, Super Art Fight in September 2008, Bracco lost in his debut, in an opening bout. As your SAF ranking is based not only on your win/loss ratio, but also where on the card those wins and losses were obtained, Bracco believed his career was going to be short-lived. Cut to Super Art Fight 3 in December. Michael Bracco won two matches back to back, starting with a 4 person Battle Royale, then a special challenge tag match. This amazing turn of events made him the number one contender, which lead to his shot at…and win of…the Super Art Fight title this past July.
You know who else understands the importance of one show? Chris Impink.
For Impink, it was looking pretty lean. With a 0-2 record, it appeared that he might get dropped off the live show entirely. So on July 16th at the Ottobar for Super Art Fight 4, he took a chance. Stepping into an open challenge against Jamie Baldwin, she, with the 2nd best record in the company at the time, Chris was either going to make his name in a night, or drop to an unheard of 0-3 record.
Chris Impink took the victory that night, finally gaining his much wanted win. But what was the true surprise, was the rest of the wins that night. One look at the rankings page after SAF4 told the story…CHRIS IMPINK WAS GOING FOR THE TITLE AT SUPER ART FIGHT 5.
On Friday Night, October 9th, at the Metro Gallery, the creator of Iron Artist, the show which inspired Super Art Fight, Chris Impink battles against the artistic Supernova, our champion, Michael Bracco.
Can Impink stay on the winning path? Can Michael Bracco be the first Super Art Fight champion to have a successful defense without losing the title?
Earlier in this fine month of August, once we had our new venue lined up, members of the Super Art Fight staff decided to head to a show at the Metro Gallery to plan out how we’re going to setup on October 9th.
In a great coincidence, that evening, our good friends in Karmella’s Game happened to be playing the venue!
They rocked the house as always, and as the evening wound down, we talked with them.
“So, when are you guys going to be playing out next?”
“Not entirely sure yet, I think maybe the first weekend of October?”
“Oh! Awesome! We’re playing here on October 9th, and we need a musical guest!” “…”
“…Please?”
After hours of begging, pleading, and possibly the most exorbitant performance contract we’ve ever willingly signed over, the deal was made.
FRIDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 9TH, AT THE METRO GALLERY…
Super Art Fight will present….
Karmella’s Game!
Fresh off the release of their new album, You’ll Be Sorry, KG will be bringing the rock as only they can. Don’t let yourself be sorry, make your plans now so you can join us for Super Art Fight 5!
Fresh off the wire, Super Art Fight will be making a promotional appearance on September 12th at the Ottobar, doing a mural during the Peelander-Z show!
All panels of art will be available for purchase during the show, and if you have a recommendation for what you’d like to see drawn, leave it in the comments!
Confirmed to be appearing at this show:
-Nick “Ghostfreehood” Borkowicz
-Jami “Angry Zen Master” Noguchi
Details:
ARTJAM @ Peelander-Z
The Ottobar
2549 N Howard St
Baltimore, MD 21218-4506
Way back in the year of our lord, 1994, Baltimore was all aflutter with the first football franchise in ten years, the Baltimore Stallions.
While not an NFL team, as Baltimore citizens hoped for, the Stallions were just as good, a prime franchise in the growing Canadian Football League. While this franchise was a point of pride for Charm City residents for all two of the years it existed, in Canada, the reaction was quite different.
It was bad enough that the United States were getting a team in their league, the Stallions then proceeded to win the Grey Cup (the CFL’s equivalent to the Vince Lombardi Trophy) in their second and final season of existence. The Americans had invaded…won their championship…and no retribution would be had.
Given the FOURTEEN years of anger and angst over this Grey Cup victory, it should come as no surprise that on August 1st at Connecticon 2009, the first Art Fight clash between an artist who calls Canada his home and a Baltimore resident lead to a bout for the ages.
The match was scheduled as a tag, with the Canadian team of Lar DeSouza & Alina Pete battling Super Art Fight co-founder (and Baltimore resident) Nick “Ghostfreehood” Borkowicz & his partner Steve Naperski. Despite the presence of partners, the real battle lay between Borkowicz and DeSouza. Lines were drawn, ink was splattered, canvas was punched and artists were attacked. As the smoke cleared, the Canadian duo of DeSouza and Pete had their hand raised.
For Borkowicz, this was a slap in the face…Super Art Fight is his baby, and in its Connecticut debut, he should’ve had another mark in the win column. For DeSouza, a Canada native, this was a small mark of retribution for the Baltimorian slight years earlier.
Incensed by his loss, on Monday, August 3rd, Borkowicz immediately petitioned the SAF Championship Committee for a one-on-one rematch with DeSouza to take place at Super Art Fight 5. The request was approved, and a letter of interest was sent to Lar immediately. After going through the United States Postal Service, sitting over a week in Canadian customs, and then making it’s way through the Canadian Postal Service, DeSouza received the letter of intent on August 17th.
DeSouza then sent his response via a Canadian dog sled team, which arrived at the Super Art Fight offices this past Friday. The note read simply…”Yes.”
So, in the war to settle the score, it will be, for the first time ever, one on one…
The Borkowicz v. DeSouza rivalry looks to be one for the Canadian/US ages, joining such rivalries as Hart v. Michaels, Canadian Bacon v. Real Bacon and Timbits v. Munchkins.
Will the Charm City native Borkowicz take the victory? Will DeSouza gain his first singles victory on the Art Fight stage?
Find out the answers to that, and many other questions as we invade The Metro Gallery for Super Art Fight 5, on Friday, October 9th 2009! Tickets on sale soon!
As the video above so clearly demonstrates, Super Art Fight 5 is coming, and it’s gonna be at a brand new venue!
On Friday night, October 9th, 2009 (that’s the night before Baltimore Comic-Con, for those of you keeping track), Super Art Fight invades the Metro Gallery (pictured below) for our senses-shattering fifth event.
A whole slue of details are still to be revealed, including the show roster for the evening, the card, the musical act, and so much more, but mark your calendars now so you can join us on October 9.
A big thanks to Todd from the Ottobar and Sarah at The Metro Gallery for making this show happen.
So, what do you think will happen at Super Art Fight 5? Give us your thoughts, opinions, dream matches and more in the comments. And most importantly, keep an eye on this site, our Twitter, our Facebook and more as we announce details leading to SAF5!
On July 16th, 2009, Super Art Fight arrived to the Ottobar with something to prove. SEVEN MONTHS since our last appearance, we knew we had to deliver, and I think it’s safe to say, we did in spades.
Now, thanks to this fantastic music video (cut together by the super talented Christina Crawley), you can relive the magic from Super Art Fight 4, or experience it for the first time!
The super rad podcast Geeknights just released their Connecticon 2009 episode, and within it, they had some very kind words to say about our little show here, Super Art Fight.
The latest episode is available for download here, and the talk of Super Art Fight kicks in at the 1hr, 12min mark, give or take a bit. Give the rest of the episode a listen, too, as these guys were behind a metric TON of panels this past weekend in Connecticut, and the show gives you a really unique insight into being involved in a large convention from the programming side.
The Front Row Crew has been handling programming at conventions for some time (infact, members of the Super Art Fight roster were part of “Anime Match Game” a few Katsucon’s back), so to get their kudos is a great beacon of where we’re heading.
I know we updated on Sunday to this effect, but here we are, 72 hours away from the madness that was the Super Art Fight debut in Connecticut as part of Connecticon 2009, and we are still both shocked and humbled by the amazing audience reaction.
Since Day One, we’ve prided ourselves on providing an entertainment alternative from the typical convention material, and you made your voices heard, with a Standing Room only audience filling our scheduled panel room to the brim.
More than that, it was an epic clash of Super Art Fight talents, existing and new, with existing Super Art Fight roster members colliding with new talent from the world of webcomics. Battles were fought, but most importantly, new bonds were created, with no less than 5 new people hitting the SAF canvas and impressing the crowd.
Here’s what went down on Saturday, August 1st at the Convention Center in Hartford, CT.
Match #1: Yuko Ota defeated Joe Dunn
The co-creator of Johnny Wander came in with a strong, established fanbase, but Joe Dunn was not to be ignored, bringing the pain with such artistic attacks as an incredible rendition of Bruce Campbell wearing a Cosby Sweater! Ota may’ve taken the win, after some time away from the SAF canvas, but Dunn impressed enough to have an open invite for any future shows.
Match #2: Obsidian defeated Garth Graham
Possibly one of the best one on one bouts to ever grace the Art Fight Stage, Garth Graham proved that while he may be a former champion, he’s going to work his way back up to the top on talent alone. Despite this, Obsidian was able to work the crowd into a frenzy, and the man from Colombia (yes, the country) proved too much for Graham, and took the victory.
Main Event: Lar DeSouza & Alina Pete defeated Nick Borkowicz & Steve Naperski
In what was easily the most wild bout to ever be featured under the Super Art Fight banner, the scheduled singles match between Borkowicz and DeSouza grew into an epic tag match for the ages. Dark, disturbed My Little Ponies were drawn; canvas was used as a weapon; injuries occurred and, suffice to say, Connecticon will never be the same. Team Canada (DeSouza and Pete) took the win, but it’s safe to say all 4 competitors made their names this evening.
In addition to new talent seen on stage, the staffing also saw a few new faces, with Super Art Fight referee Jackson Gill making his debut, along with a 3rd commentator, in James Hatton.
As what should come as no surprise, all competiors new to SAF on this evening now have an open invitation to return to fight at any time.
We entered Connecticut with a plan. A plan to make a name for Super Art Fight. But you, the fans, you made us feel bigger than we ever could imagine. And now we aim to continue to please. See you at future cons. See you whenever we can. But most importantly, we aim to return to Connecticon in 2010. Be there.
Finally, to keep the memories of the evening going, here’s a selection of crowd sourced images from the show, thanks to the magic of Twitter. Thanks (and credit) go to Blondie (who also provided the panorama up-top), Pierski, Elorg, Lartist, and Schezar.
If you have more images (or video?), please leave a note in the comments!
Holy wow. We knew we had something special with our Connecticut debut, but we had no idea this would be so much a success.
As this is being written via a portable Internet device, I cannot go at too far a length, but I can report that we performed to a STANDING ROOM only crowd, and probably broke a fire code or two.
I’ll update on Monday with a full report, but I thought I’d take the time this morning to thank everyone who came out to the show, and to Connecticon for having us.
