Cobra VS Croc
Cobra VS Croc
unknown
Other names
vandalism
Hobbies
“Los Angeles natives can take inspiration from Cobra and Croc. Art. Is. Self. Care.”
- Clockwork: Making your own hours, by Alexandra the Great
Cobra VS Croc is a collaborative art project by pseudonymous street artists Cobra and Croc. The pair have a faux, ironic feud over various neighborhoods throughout east Los Angeles. In reality, the pair are friends. It is known they are female lizard people, but their identities are secret.
Emergence and Style
During an interview (in which the artists’ anonymity was preserved), Cobra said she and Croc started the project “to relieve stress during the Lizard Apocalypse.” Their pieces started appearing in Highland Park, Eagle Rock, Echo Park, and Silver Lake, and dominated graffiti conversations.
The feud has been compared to the Flameboy vs. Wet Willy artwork World Industries put on skateboards in the mid 90s. Cobra is a fierce and aggressive character in their artwork, while Croc is cartoony, wry, and sardonic. Artwork frequently features one character getting the better of the other in their own particular style. For example, Cobra is often depicted biting Croc or coiling around her, while Croc typically uses a cartoon hammer or anvil to smash Cobra.
Anti Lizard King Content and Response
Towards the latter half of the Lizard King’s reign, the two characters were more frequently shown working together to cause harm to a caricature of the Lizard King. The pieces became bigger and bolder. Eventually, a giant, dilapidated billboard above the I-5 was covered with an image of the Lizard King tied to train tracks, sweating profusely, as a rather malevolent-looking Thomas the Tank Engine bore down on him, driven by Cobra and Croc together.
When the Lizard King saw the billboard, he placed a bounty out for Cobra and Croc’s capture. The pair eluded the bounty hunters, partly due to their anonymity and cleverness, but also as a result of the general public’s dislike for the Lizard King. Whenever a new piece appeared and locals asked for information on the artists, it was a running joke to pretend not having noticed the graffiti until that very moment. Don Iguana, leader of the Iguana crime family, delivered two hooded lizard people to the Lizard King as Cobra and Croc. The Lizard King shot them personally. When he removed their hoods, it was two of his own warriors. The Lizard King dropped the bounty after that.
Cobra and Croc became popular due to their anti Lizard King content. When the billboard began to fall apart and was deemed too unsafe to remain where it was, socialite vampire and possible renaissance artist Vampire Mike purchased the billboard for several million dollars — much to the Lizard King’s chagrin. Even Clawsco employee and West Virginia cryptid Mothman, who typically frowns upon street art as “base iconoclasm,” admitted his appreciation for Cobra and Croc as “a necessary pasquinade of an illiberal directorate.”
Other Content
Cobra and Croc have made art featuring the goddess Ishtar, Doctor Doomlittle’s Extra Spicy Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Pepper Salsa Dip and Transmission Fluid, ancient fungus woman magician Fungini, Crab Lord, time traveling self-help guru Alexandra the Great, and many others. Their work has appeared many places, including the Young Lizards’ Christian Association (YLCA), the walls surrounding the Grand Shellac Course, and buildings on the campus of Pasadena City College of the Dead.
Documentary
England-based street artist Banksy made a documentary about the pair, called Exit Through the Gift Shop 2. Critical response was positive, albeit with a consensus of bewilderment about the title. The documentary debuted at Lizard Sundance.