Destroy Boys: A Hanabie Concert

October 9, 2024

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A multi talented Japanese band playing different rhythms, revealing not only proficiency but respect for the music they play. The show took place at Reggies, a venue that highlights the Chicago local scene.

Image: Comic cover featuring an edited photograph and displaying the strip's title, Destroy Boys: A Hanabie Concert by Carlos Matallana.

Image: A comic image using a photo of the band, "We weren't invited" and with the following text bubbles, "What do you mean we weren;t invited? That's the band's name! 'We weren't invited.' Well, they are killing it. They need to be invited more often...Bad Joke An only boys band opening to an only girls band. Does that matter?" The lead singer is highlighted with a blue hue within a star.

Image: a mostly black and white comic image made using a photograph shows a band performing in orange and blue hues with a text bubble coming out the lead singers mouth, "Everyone who supports war, KILL YOURSELF!! Save the world!!!" The bottom of the image shows a portrait of a man who is mid sentence saying, "I'm Robbie, I was born and lived in Chicago till I was 11, then my mom moved to Florida, where I started working at a record store when I was 17, there I learned the trade. Moved back to Chicago when I was 22, my buddy and I opened up Record Breakers in the Chicagoland area, we used to have bands play there every Sunday since 1988. And that's when I got the idea: I wish we had a venue and a record store. I named the venue after Reggie Jackson, my favorite baseball player when I was a kid."

Image: A black and white image made using a photograph of a Reggies concert crowd with Tio and his two gender non conforming family members illustrated onto the image having the following conversation: "Well, this band really knows how to have fun. Contagious fun! Somehow it reminds me of the band Destroy Boys I don't know about Destroy Boys, too whiny for my taste. Rock is whinning! Being early tto a show gives you a glimpse of all the people working behind the scene. PINCHE CONCHUDO! exclaims Tio"

image: A comic image showing an illustrated Reggies School Bus graphic in full color. The bus has the following text bubble, "I got our first bus four months before Reggies opened. My cousin Mitch helped me out a lot, and my buddy T-Bone painted it Reggies style. We took it to Lollapalooza and we filled the bus up. We were just driving around on the bus, jamming music and nobody had any idea where they were going and neither did we."

Carlos Matallana Portrait made by his teenage children Marcela and Samuel Matallana, 2021.

About the artist: Carlos Matallana’s (He/Him) illustration tool is ink/pen on paper, He relies on high contrast and its expressionism qualities. Like an anonymous quiet observant, he prefers to illustrate his characters from the back. He enjoys illustrating full body characters standing or in movement, revealing attitudes and feelings through posture or even clothing instead of facial expressions. He published the graphic novel Brea https://manualofviolence.org/ in 2018. Instagram @tropipunk