Any other comic geeks out there? You need to get OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL
Above: cover for Ookla The Mok’s new album, OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL. Cover art illustration by Art Baltazar, an American comic book artist whose Tiny Titans won the 2011 Eisner Award For Best Publication For Kids.
I’ve known Rand Bellavia and Adam English of Ookla The Mok for many years; my music group (Urban Tapestry) and Ookla (they were just called Rand and Adam back then) became friends when we were both just starting out. Our paths don’t tend to cross that often anymore, but we’re looking forward to seeing them both next month at FilKONtario. If you don’t know what filk is, feel free to check out my What Is Filk? post.
Anyway, this album has been playing nonstop in my basement office for the past month.
I used to read & collect print comics (Dr. Strange, Power Pack, Elektra, The Dark Knight, Swamp Thing, Elfquest, Chester Brown, Seth, others) until I started to rethink (1) the amount of money I was spending, and (2) the amount of storage space I had. I gave most of my comics to a friend who was thinking of starting up a comics library, but I did save some of my favorites as well as buying compilations to replace some individual issues. I still read comics, but mostly digitally.
Anyway, OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL is pure fun, focusing entirely on Evil and Bad Guys. Tons of geek culture references throughout, not just from comics but also other media, from Stars Wars to Disney to Doctor Who. Catchy earworm melodies and strong lyrics make this a must-have album for the comics fan.
You can download the lyrics from OOKLA THE MOK VS EVIL from the Ookla The Mok website, and you can listen to the entire album before buying.
Sidenote: Rand is a librarian! Or rather, a Library Director. You can listen to a song I wrote for him many years ago: Library Boy.
Related links:
Ookla The Mok official website
Review: Ookla The Mok Vs Evil (Word Of The Nerd)
Ookla The Mok on CDBaby | Ookla The Mok On Amazon | Ookla The Mok On iTunes