i'm not sure i understand the implication of the puppet controlling device (whatever that's actually called!); but my first reaction is that, while i like the shadows and treatment of the graphic, it's doesn't make any sense for my brand.
been thinking about this one a bit. while the puppet thing doesn't work, i really like the feel of that black and white 3-dimmensional image. i'm wondering about heavy, block, 3-dimmensional letters, stacked up (you could play with how "the" fits in: either small on top, or sideways beside 'youth', or other options); but with the same feel as the hand and sticks in your earlier entries.
hey, i like it. can you try a couple slight variations for me: 1. beef up the saturation or something so the left edge of the C in Cartel is visible. it's a little difficult to see the C as it is (without knowing what the word is ahead of time). 2. let's see what it looks like if the "The" is a bit smaller. 3. put a little flair on the ends of the cross in the O, so it has a slightly gothic feel to it.
entry #41 is great, because, with the gray, it doesn't need the left edge darkened. but, we give up some of the punch of that over-saturated black and white.
i think i might actually like your original (#35) better than the new one with the darkened left edge (#41). the line on that left edge is too pronounced now.