Category Archives: Vatoman and Ruben

The Misadventures of Vatoman and Ruben | Born in the East side of Silliness, California, Victor (aka Vatoman and Ruben) were raised by their “Nana,” a scrappy early-on activist during the formative years of the UFW (Unintentional Field Workers) in the Silliness Valley, always fighting for the rights and well-being of her people.

With the UFW finally a going concern, “Nana” feels free to retire and travel the globe in search of her own adventures, sending back pictures and postcards to keep V&R up-to-date along with her own peculiar brand of insightful wisdom and moral support (examples?) which she intuitively provides without being asked. So, although Nana is still very influential on them as young adults, they just don’t see much of her.

Growing up in the East side of Silliness, Vatoman and Ruben were into a lot of things (mostly mischief!), and sometimes they dressed up and tried to solve their problems acting like the super heroes they saw in comics and on TV. They even imagined an adult future for themselves as superheroes dedicated to making a difference in the community. Like many ambitious dreams of youth, over time these slowly faded away.

However, Victor and Ruben did achieve modest success early on, with Ruben becoming a self-made mechanic and Victor an accomplished soup kitchen chef. But when massive faulty vehicle recalls close down the Cookies Auto dealership, and the Glady’s soup kitchen’ grant money funding dries up, Victor and Ruben move back home to Nana’s, broke and broker, in search of a new livelihood.

But the old neighborhood is no longer the same. The occasional gang violence they barely recall is now non-stop, commonplace, overwhelming– encouraged by the unwillingness of law enforcement or C.H.O.P.S. (City Hogs On Patrol) and citizenry to get involved. Fearful for their Nana and the community at large, Victor and Ruben remember their youthful ambitions and vow to fulfill them, one determined to take back the neighborhood, the other to gain fortune and fame in the process.

By day, they work as business partners in a small startup DBA to make ends meet. one where Victor can display his culinary talents and the Ruben his mechanical expertise. Utilizing a taco truck trailer (try saying that 10x fast..)and an auto shop partition combined called, “Tacos N’ Tune-Ups” (What else. ) But, at night (or during the day) Together they suit up (or wear what they already have on, who has the money for clothes nowadays) to become:
VATOMAN AND RUBEN! – COMMUNITY CRIME FIGHTERS dedicated amateur vigilantes eagerly seeking justice (and fame and fortune would be okay, too).

Incredibly inexperienced in the art of crime fighting, they dig into the resources at hand: video games, books, movies, dance moves, 1-2 day seminars, comics–and from these come their first lessons in Crime fighting 101. (Explain origins of the name Vatoman.) With a background like this, this team’s a sure bet for exciting adventures.

To rush to crime scenes, Ruben builds the “Vato-mobile,” a custom (work in progress) primer low-rider vehicle complete with crime-fighting artillery and gadgets (that don’t always work as planned) entirely from used car parts hung together with baling wire, “Bondo” and “duct tape” (of course, what else!) or whatever else Ruben finds in Nanas garage. And Vatoman– well, he tries to use his good looks and strength to sell a doubtful public and skeptical police department on the worth of their outside-the-box crime fighting tactics.

This daring duo of Vatoman and Ruben! learns as they go, and time is always of the essence in their war on crime. Punctual or not, Victor was born to this role. Thus begins the saga of two Primos learning real world crime-fighting by the seat of their pants in gang-ravaged East Silliness and all on a low budget.