K.I.A. On the Way


Here's an early look at K.I.A.'s cover art due next year.

I'm really getting into the K.I.A. special for next year. Nikki has already submitted her script, and it's uber-cool. I've already started work on other stories and artwork for this girl-power anthology, thinking up storylines and stuff I can throw at my lovely anti-heroine.

"DDT KIA" will throw K into the squared circle as she piledrives, drop-kicks, frankensteins and elbows her way to the championship of an underground fighting league to flush out a shadowy crimelord.

"Minion Labor" has Agent K doing a 'Shego' by working as a henchwoman for an incompetent 'evil genius'. Hell, she even wears green! What can I say? I love Shego. Heh.

"Battery Included" turns our main girl into a teeny-tiny action figure with killer karate chop action. Why? How? You're just gonna have to wait and see. Suffice to say, it should change the way you look at little dolls...

Still thinking up more stories. Angel Ace Next clocked in at 80 pages... K.I.A. should be even BIGGER. More on this as we think it up.

Lookee! Lookee!


Here's an artwork I did of Kagura from Inu Yasha. You can find it in this year's December issue of Newtype USA.

It was a pleasant surprise to see another one of my artworks to make it into the fan art gallery of Newtype USA. This is my second published work in the anime mag, the first being my 'Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Pillowfight' artwork. It's been awhile since I submitted the pic... Lucky. Heheh.

Fly, my pretty! FLY!

It’s out of my hands.

I just came from the office of Questor. I submitted the first installment of the Kunoichi Boy manga, which will be appearing in the pages of Questor Extreme Mangamania early next year.
The popular and widely-circulated manga anthology presently contains four stories; Sidesweepers is an action-comedy about a team of cops/sanitation experts operating in a future Manila. Cante Ista is a serious and dark fantasy-drama about ancient totem spirits and the people who carry their powers into an inevitable conflict between good and evil. Free Spirits is a shoujo-style (girls comics) romance-comedy/drama story about a barkada of teenagers and a mysterious haunted house. And finally, there’s Camp Big V, which takes up the story of the Volt fighters years after the end of the events of the popular Voltez-V anime, with a decidedly lighter tone.
Kunoichi Boy is a fantasy action-adventure story about the adventures of a cross-dressing ninja warrior. Think Ninja Scroll crossed with Ranma 1/2 and Inu-Yasha. KB will apparently be replacing Cante Ista in the Qextreme lineup, which will be wrapping up in the next issue or so.

Coming Soon

I haven't watched a good movie... scratch that. I haven't watched a movie in weeks. Here are some titles I am stoked to watch...

The Last Samurai- this Tom Cruise-starrer is being described as Dances with Wolves in ancient Japan. Still, with epic battle scenes, awesome swordplay, a much-talked about battle between samurai and NINJA, this seemingly understated film about the waning samurai culture in turn of the century Japan looks pretty interesting.

Troy- this adaptation of the legendary war of myth stars Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and a whole lot of other big-name stars. It also features MAMMOTH battle scenes and production values that just scream EPIC. This is still a ways off... DVD buffs can get a preview of sorts by grabbing the Helen of Troy movie from the local dvd stalls...

Hellboy- a film version of comic artist Mike Mignola's demonic hero, with Ron Perlman (Vincent from the Beauty and the Beast TV series) as the titular devil-turned humanity's defender against evil. Add in a pyrokinetic babe, a reptilian sidekick, a host of Lovecraftian horrors and some formidable Nazi adversaries and you may have either the next big superhero movie or 2004's answer to LXG. Ulp.

Return of the King- It's still up in the air whether we'll luck out and get some tickets for some premieres or if we have to wait with most people till January for the LOTR film to end all films.
It's the final part of the War of the Ring and everything is at stake. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Samwise (Sean Astin) literally crawl and fight their way to Mount Doom even as Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the rest of the sundered Fellowship try to unite the forces of light against Mordor's several hundred thousand-strong army of darkness.
Despite the no-brainer that this film's going to kick ass, there have been some hiccups, such as the absence of actor Christopher Lee's Saruman character from the precedings (the sequences detailing the fallen wizard's fate will appear in the ROTK extended dvd set), that may make this less than perfect. But damn, I'm going to see this film and LOVE it.

Hoo-hah! Lots of movies. Gotta make it a point to get myself a mutant dvd player over Christmas. Gonna be running the ol' player to the ground I think. Heh.

A Brief Respite

My gosh. It's been a hectic last couple of months.

For weeks and weeks now I've been rushing this or that comic book project, staying up till 4 AM burning my retinas staring at a monitor, infusing my veins with Coke and even missing a Saturday foray to Greenhills or two! (EGADS!) But in the end, it was all worth it.

This December, in a few days time, we will be seeing the first result of our labors.

Siglo: Freedom, an anthology of comic stories set in various decades of Philippine life, will arrive into our groping hands.

Next week, on the same day as the C3Con, I will be getting my own personal project, Angel Ace Next, the latest release in my original manga series. It's 80 pages of art, stories and more art that features the talents of some of the best local artists I know and am lucky enough to call my friends.

Cherry Blossom High is a shoujo-style manga anthology I worked on with Jason Banico and a bunch of other cool artists and writers. It's all about cute schoolgirls who kick butt, make you go 'ooh' and 'aah' and more.

Right now, I've just finished my first project for NEXT year, Kunoichi Boy for Questor.

I think I'll allow myself a little breather before I throw myself into K.I.A's world of femme fatales, martial arts and intrigue.

Maybe I can get back to playing Gladius on Xbox, or Final Fantasy X2 for PS2. Or give Anito another shot. Or maybe I should just watch anime and reduce the number of unwatched Inu Yasha, Scrapped Princess, Last Exile episodes that are piling up.

Or maybe I should just get some shut-eye.

Ah, choices, choices. Heh.

Kunoichi Boy

Here are some images and samples from Kunoichi Boy, my newest manga creation that's set to come out in the pages of Questor Extreme Mangamania early next year. Wait for it!


Jin Dragu and Mikoto may be cuddly sweet in this pic, but they start off trying to bash each others' brains in.


The Pink Ninja is Jin's alter ego. When he dons the pink costume and fake boobs, he/she's almost a different person altogether.


The tough-as-nails Mikoto is actually a ninja but she's more used to breaking than sneaking.


Mikoto knows how to make an impression.


Even in his mild-mannered everyday garb, Jin is a hero through and through.

Comic-making Machine

Yesterday was spent mainly working on pages for Kunoichi Boy, my latest manga creation. I finished inking late in the afternoon and started doing grayscale work and lettering on Photoshop after dinner. The work proceeded well, and I was able to finish 9 pages. Tonight, I expect to finish the rest and be done with the whole thing. So, I should make my deadline with a couple of days to spare.

Kunoichi Boy is an action-fantasy adventure which I see as a cross between Ranma 1/2, Ninja Scroll and Inu Yasha (some of my favorite anime). It chronicles the adventures of the land of Tao's only MALE Kunoichi (a Kunoichi is, FYI, the Japanese word for female ninja). This new series is probably my most action-oriented so far; it's given to lots of exciting sequences and strategy-laden fights as hero Jin Dragu aka The Pink Ninja must use both his skills and wits to defeat various enemies, many of whom are a lot more powerful than him. Aside from being my first actual 'ninja' series, KB is also my first with a male lead (though he's dressed as a girl half the time).

Unlike Angel Ace or even next year's upcoming K.I.A., Kunoichi Boy will not be a self-published venture. I am pleased to say that readers will be able to follow the series in the pages of Questor Extreme Mangamania, one of the most popular local manga publications. If all goes well, we'll be seeing KB debut this January. Wait for it! WOOHOO!

You Dare to Eat? Itlog ng Butiki

I ate butiki (lizard) eggs!!! Hehehe.

No, really. Well, actually they're just little spherical candies I found at a nearby Ministop convenience store. They're from a company called Nicefoods, and they come in at least two flavors- chocolate and strawberry. At just nine pesos a bag (smal bag though), it's pretty affordable. You bite into them and feel a slight air rush as the little balls crack with a sugary tang. I guess it's supposed to emulate what happens when you bite into real reptile eggs... Heh.

Fear Factor candies. Cool.