Rudy McBacon

Who is Rudy McBacon? Rudy McBacon can most easily be defined as a baseball player. A right handed pitcher with considerable potential but limited athleticism and questionable common sense. McBacon’s pitches mirror his personality. His ninety mile an hour fastball matches his straight forward, no bullshit approach. A pitch that overpowers hitters, the heater is McBacon’s blue collar simplicity, hit it if you can. McBacon also throws a knuckleball, however, which reflects his uncontrollable nature and mimics his all too frequent trudges home from the local tavern. McBacon is a hair-trigger temper, inebriated beer farting, whiskey belching, ashtray stinking, hot wing chomping, cheap whore buying, all American lunatic. Some of McBacon’s actions are as inexplicable as how his knuckler ever finds home plate. If Rudy McBacon is ever to succeed, he needs to master both of these pitches. He has to overcome his inconsistencies and learn to get the knuckler to compliment the heater.

Rudy McBacon first appeared in the hills of West Seattle in 1999. While recklessly mixing alcoholic beverages and cheese sandwiches, two unemployed artists stumbled upon magic while playing a video game. Creating a pitcher with the shortest allowable height and maximum body weight, Rudy McBacon was born. He quickly developed a complex personality that refused to be contained within a video game system. One that goes beyond sports, probing the day to day travails of winning and losing in life itself. “The Legend of Rudy McBacon” first appeared as comic in the debut issue of the independent magazine “Die Spinne”. McBacon received mixed reviews, but remained a staple of the magazine until its demise in the fall of 2000.

McBacon was reborn in July of 2004, the first full length comic was printed. Over one hundred copies were given away to comic book shops, convention goers, and homeless people. This clever marketing scheme backfired, as very few comics found their way into the hands of appreciative fans. In February of 2005, the second issue of Rudy McBacon’s comic was distributed on a limited scale to loyal fans of the first comic. The legend of Rudy McBacon began spreading by word of mouth. “What’s Rudy McBacon?” most curious people would ask, spitting the words out as if they could taste them. With the help of a new website, McBacon began finding a niche among kids, alcoholics, disgruntled Dodge Neon owners, and world weary misanthropes.

Although McBacon’s popularity was growing, his luck remained the same. Two months before the 2005 San Diego ComicCon International, Rudy McBacon Enterprises’ application for a small press table at the convention was rejected. It seemed as if Rudy McBacon was being expelled, like a splinter on the ass of society. The third issue was completed a month later, and work on a fourth issue is ongoing. The future of Rudy McBacon the comic is as uncertain as the future of McBacon himself. One thing is for sure, however, the legend is growing.