Friday, November 9

Where It Counts

So here I am, watching cable. On one channel is Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace. On another, there's Serenity, the movie sequel to the short but sweet Firefly sci-fi western series by Joss Whedon.

Easy to see how superior writing, characters and direction make the smaller sci-fi epic far, far, far superior to the overblown, woodenly-acted, horribly scripted and directed big-timer. I'll fly with the Serenity over any Pod Racer anytime. Hahaha.

Back to work then.

Thursday, November 8

Slammin' Artworks


The gang's all here.

The last time I bought a book from Udon, the rockin' band of artists who made Streetfighter and other Capcom franchises cool in US comics, it was the Eternal Challenge: Streetfighter Art Book which I love immensely. And so, even though this newest volume from them- Udon: Art of Capcom- costs a whoppin' 3K, I got it without batting an eye. Okay, I shed a tear of blood, but that was it. In any case, the hefty volume full of lovely full-color, videogame-inspired, action-packed art is just right up my alley- and also that of quite a few other guys since this volume is promptly selling out at Comic Quest.

For the most part, the book is composed mostly of Street Fighter, which is great since that's my favorite of Capcom's properties. Aside from the images of Chun Li and company, there's a bit of Darkstalkers, the supernaturally-themed brawler, a bit of the Feudal Japan adventure Onimusha, a bit of Resident Evil (No Milla Jovovich though), quite a bit of Rival Schools and some other cool odds and ends. Thankfully, aside from the tons of cover art for Udon's comics, there are gobs and gobs of stuff never seen outside of the book, so I consider this a good purchase. Certainly, it's great reference material for hot, butt-kicking babes and that alone is worth the price of admission.

Great stuff! Now, back to cranking out the comic pages...

Wednesday, November 7

Mangaholix Presents Issue 3


Coming on the Kon.

Here's the cover for the third issue of Mangaholix Presents, and this is extra-special for me since it contains the first episode of Ninja Girl KO!, written by Yours Truly with art by Kriss Sison. It's not yet available in stores, but you can grab the hot-off-the-press copies on the day of the 4th Komik Convention at the UP Bahay Alumni in UP Diliman, on November 17. Gloriously, I'll finally be at a Komikon again with something I did, instead of just walking around just buying stuff. Now I'll be there hanging out with the Groundbreakers and signing copies.

Aside from MP3, things look good on the little something I'm whipping up specially for the Kon- it's a one-shot K.I.A. story entitled The Prize that I'll be putting out in a special Komikon-only Ashcan edition. It'll be at least 12 pages but could be as long as 22 depending on how things go. Basically, it's one long fight scene, and brings back a familiar character to anyone who got the K.I.A. anthology comic.

Things look cool! Can't wait for the Kon! See you all there on the 17th!

Tuesday, November 6

Empowered 2


Emp and friends return!

A pleasant surprise greeted me when I came home tonight... my copy of Adam Warren's Empowered 2 arrived today! Like the first issue of this black-and-white graphic novel anthology, I had to order it from Amazon since local comic stores were unable to acquire it for me. The second compilation of short stories about the misadventures of Empowered or Emp for short, a C-grade superheroine with self-esteem issues and an extremely destructible and exposing super-suit brings more R-rated bondage and cheesecake, along with pages and pages of Warren's luscious pencil art. The sophomore volume also supposedly delves deeper into the other members of the cast aside from Emp herself, including her thuggish but unerringly chivalrous and supportive boyfriend/mercenary Thugboy, her hard-drinking gal pal Ninjette and the guys and gals of Emp's super-team, the Super Homeys.

I wonder how many people in this country have this book? I'm pretty sure there are lots of Adam Warren fans around, and it's certainly his best work so far. It just takes a lot more effort to grab this book, making it one of my more valuable comics as yet. I'll be sure to give it a read-through as soon as possible and bump it up to the head of my horrendously long overdue list of unread comics... Sigh.

Monday, November 5

Creepy Fun

As I've always said, I love spooky shows. This past Halloween, I have to say I was kinda disappointed that I wasn't able to watch a lot of Ghost Specials on local TV (I missed the Magandang Gabi, Bayan Halloween episode, I think) save for the one from the daytime show Noypi, which featured some footage of some supposedly 'dancing little shadow people' on a foray in a cemetery (I couldn't discern anything). Good thing though I got my creepy fix anyways- six hours of Ghost Hunters in their Halloween 'Live' special.

Basically, the Live show, which started off with an episode last year, has the TAPS Team (The Atlanta Paranormal Society) taking viewers online and on TV along for the ride on a real-time ghost hunt. Last year, it was at the Stanley Hotel (the place that inspired Stephen King's The Shining). This year, TAPS returns to the Waverly Sanatorium in Kentucky, a now-decrepit and abandoned tuberculosis hospital where thousands are known to have passed away from the illness. The place is made infamous mostly by the presence of a 'Death Tunnel', a long downward passageway or body chute where corpses are literally slid down for cremation. YEESH.

The Ghost Hunters had quite an active investigation the last time they were in Waverly, with a mysterious running form showing up on camera, and various creepy sounds all over the place. This year, the team, along with ECW superstar Elijah Burke contended with more sounds and creepy paranormal phenomena. The six-hour special wasn't as eventful for home viewers as the previous year, but it was still weirdly engrossing to watch even though like 80 percent is just the hunters and their guests chatting and walking in dark corridors. The best parts of the special were the previews of the Fourth Season of Ghost Hunters, and of Ghost Hunters International.
Ghost Hunters International (GHI)is a spinoff show that features familiar faces from the TAPS team, including Brian Harnois and Donna La Croix. They'll be going all over Europe and other countries investigating haunted spots and applying the tried-and-tested TAPS methods of debunking and evidence-gathering... it looks pretty creepy cool, so that's double ghost hunting fun to be had. GHI is set to debut in January 2008.

There's no shortage of ghost hunting hi-jinks in the near future. Now if only there was a second season to the anime Ghost Hunt, I'd be really happy. And scared.