Crashing Back

The 15th issue of Culture Crash, the mega-popular local mangazine, is now available. Last night I got my copy along with the other comic buys. It was actually a bit of a close shave for money-short me; my withdrawal left my bank account hollow and empty, but that should change by today. WOOHOO!!! To quote Revolver Ocelot, I'm ALIVE again.
Anyway, the issue picks up from where the last ish left off LAST YEAR... yep, the last CC issue came out during the C3Con last Christmas, and now it's halfway past October already. Now, publishing is a fickle and difficult enterprise, and not even the CCCom Crew are immune to hiccups every now and then. I'm just glad they're still cooking. And from the looks of the latest release, they haven't lost their touch.
Anyway, issue 15 still has the usual suspects- Pasig by Taga-Ilog, Ryan Orosco's take on One Day, Isang Araw is getting more comfortable, Elmer Damaso's Cat's Trail revs up more action, and the talking streetfoods of Kubori Kikiam are still at it. There's a cool fanga based on the Pasig world, and very substantial anime and manga articles round up the rest of the zine with more material and style than any other local publication. Nice to see CC hasn't degraded after their hiatus.

On other local comic news, Edgar Tadeo has released his first ashcan comic, entitled YEW STUPID BASTARD!. I can describe it as excellently-drawn and laid out, but the jokes are a bit on the corny side. Still, it's worth checking out if only for the Ed's cool lines and the bare-faced good natured enthusiasm in the production.

The second issue of Jaime Bautista's CAST from Nautilus Comics is also out this week- Editor Elbert isn't slacking off on his job even though he's been making the rounds in interviews and workshops. CAST chronicles the drama and interactions that occur in a school production of an Arthurian Play, so it should appeal to teens and those into multi-faceted drama-comedy titles.

Expected out later this year are Lastikman from Mango Comics, written by Gerry Alanguilan and drawn by none other than Arnold Arre. So far I've seen the cover art, and heard comments that this is Arnold's best work yet. Can't wait to see it.

Siglo: Passion is almost complete, with just one or two holdouts left unsubmitted. I've seen the artwork for the other stories, and I have to say that the range of art styles runs the whole gamut from indie-style abstract quirkiness to international-quality graphic novel stuff. This is going to be an incredible thing to see once it comes before year's end. Will we top the first one? In quality, without a doubt. Let's see if we can win another award with it. Heh.

AND of course, K.I.A. Just a couple more stories to go- I will be working on my own requirements this weekend and into next week... If I actually pull this monster off, it'll be over 160+ pages, with art I'd stake my reputation on, and a gaggle of cool action stories laced with nice, spicy fan service. I've already asked someone to do a webpage, and once the pages are in, don't be surprised to see a sexy poster at Comic Quest to announce Kai's return.

WOOHOO!!! Lots of stuff to do still. The year's not yet over- there's still time to pull off something awesome. Wait for it. Heh.