SUPER TRASH CLASH is one of the latest release from Top Shelf Productions and is a heartwarming reflection on what gaming means to us, crammed full of Easter eggs and tributes to the games that shaped our culture from Mexican rising star and award-winning comics creator, Edgar Camacho.
This nostalgic, heartwarming story filled with a lot of love for oldie video games, tells the story of Dul wanted the hottest new video game for her birthday, but her mom accidentally buys her Super Trash Clash… one of the worst games ever made.
Flashforward years later when an older Dul finds the game cartridge in a vintage store, memories come flooding back: simpler times when she could disappear into electronic worlds or spend hours battling with friends and enemies, and the love and sacrifices that bound her family together.
Comic Watch Preview: NEWS WATCH: Top Shelf Productions Releases SUPER TRASH CLASH a Heartwarming Reflection on the Nostalgia of Video Games
Edgar Camacho is a comics writer and artist born in 1989 in Metepec, Mexico. He has received multiple comic and illustration awards in his homeland (in-cluding the SecuenciAr prize for Summon’s Alley and Mexico’s first National Young Graphic Novel Award for Onion Skin), and also built a devoted fanbase with his webcomic series Tiras sin Sentido (“Senseless Strips”).
Edgar was kind enough to answer a few questions for Comic Watch about his original graphic novel and the inspirations behind it:
What was the first comic book you picked up or the one that got you interested in the medium?
When I was a child, one of the comics that made me completely interested in the
medium was Mad Love, by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. A great story, in-depth and
skillfully told.
When did you know or what inspired you to start making comics?
When I read Mad Love, that was when I realized that I wanted to do comics. I was
already a fan of Batman: The Animated Series and Mad Love opened the door to a
whole world of comics I didn’t know existed.
What creators influence your work (writing and art)?
There are too many! But to mention a few: Mignola, Bruce Timm, Mcfarlane,
Katsuhiro Otomo, Patricio Betteo, Tony Sandoval, Raul Treviño, Stephen King are some of my influences that accompany me day by day.
What would you say the elevator pitch for Super Trash Clash?
I practiced it a lot, because in Mexico this comic was a finalist in a contest and I
had to present it in a few minutes. Super Trash Clash is about nostalgia and the
adventure of growing up. Our protagonist, Dul, is given one of the worst games in
history for her birthday. She trades it for another, only to later regret it and try to
get it back.
What was the inspiration for the book? Was there a particular video game from your childhood
that you were thinking about when you came up with the idea for the book?
I’ve always loved video game legends, like the one about the buried cartridges of
E.T. in New Mexico, or the arcade of Polybius. Besides the Angry Video Game
Nerd reviews, where he showed how difficult or ridiculous some games were, I
wanted to take that essence to create a game that had all of that combined. Being
bad and being considered one of the worst in history.
Who are the main characters and a brief overview of the story?
We have Dul, a girl from the 90’s, who loves to play videogames. At that time, it
was not well seen for girls to play games, and she is the best of all. However, in
this adventure, she has to learn to value things and grow.We also have Misa, her best friend and sidekick, who accompanies her on this adventure.
Lastly, we have Dul’s mother, who wants to see Dul happy even though she doesn’t understand or know anything about video games.
In this adventure, Dul trades the game that her mother gave her for another one and will do everything possible to get it back.
Was there one character that you were particularly drawn to be it initially or as your work
progressed?
Definitely Dul. I think she is the most interesting character in the story. We will see
her failures as well as her skills and how she uses her skills to get ahead in this
adventure. I would also like, in the future, to tell one more of her stories as she
grew up in the 90’s and in the 00’s. Our current world has moved on and is a completely different world from that one she grew up in.
What would you like readers to take away from reading Super Trash Clash?
I would like them to see the tons of references to video games and popular culture
from that era, and to get the essence of the story, which is growing up.
Where can people find you and your work (Social Media, website, etc.)
I can be found on Facebook and Instagram as @tirassinsentido (for the moment).
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SUPER TRASH CLASH, the heartwarming story filled with a lot of love for oldie video games that helped shape us., is perfect for gamers and comics lovers alike who will be digging their old gaming consoles out of the attic after reading it and is now available for purchase from TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS.