Wrasslin'

Jack TV is my friend. Aside from finally giving previously unseen episodes of X-Play finally every weekend, It gives me so much wrestling every week. I get my WWE fix reasonably close to when it happens stateside (about two weeks delay). I've always been a WWE fan, so it is with quite a bit of disappointment that I won't be watching the WWE Raw Tour over the weekend. It would have been great to see old faves (Triple H, Sean Michaels) and new faves (John Cena, Carlito) in action, in the flesh, even thought it kinda sucks that the Smackdown guys won't be around.
But then again, I'd probably have only gotten the less expensive tickets, which would give me a seat that would make the huge wrestlers look like teeny-tiny action figures (videowalls and projection monitors regardless). Anyway, a friend of mine is going so I'll hope to get a review from her. And hopefully there will be reviews or reports on the Philippine shows online soon after the fact.

Hellish Fun


A bloody good manga.

Recently I've gotten myself addicted to the manga version of Hellsing. I've probably mentioned this title in the past- it's a horror-action series set in a dark, gothic England where creatures of the night are beginning to pop up all over the place like bad cavities on British people. To combat the bloodthirsty vampires and their resulting ghouls, the government turns to the mysterious Hellsing Institute. Led by the imposing Sir Integra Van Hellsing, a young but stern woman who inherited the post from her father, the soldiers and agents of the Institute set out to exterminate the undead scourge in the name of god and country.
Of course, a couple of things stand out in Hellsing. One is that the Hellsing Institute's 'trashman', or their most potent weapon against their targets is a vampire himself- Alucard, an awesomely powerful vampire whose terrifying powers are matched only by his loyalty to Integra (the reason for which should be revealed in the manga in time). Aside from Alucard, there's Victoria Celes, a young rookie policewoman and newly-created vampire (she was vampirified by Alucard to save her life from a vampire vicar in the first episode) who tries desperately to hang onto her humanity as well as getting used to her new undead existence. Oh, and there's of Walter, Integra's butler and former Hellsing trashman who's almost as deadly as Alucard despite being a normal human.
The second thing that you'll notice about Hellsing is that they take religion pretty seriously. Hellsing itself is a Protestant-backed organization, and that puts them into competition with the Catholic faith- embodied of course their opposite number on the Vatican's side: The sinister Iscariot Organization whose agents also work to stamp out undead in the name of Christianity. The competition between the two rival organizations makes for some pretty violent action and even some humorous banter (and insults), but you just know that when real evil makes it's appearance, these two parties will have to come together.
And Big Evil WILL indeed make an appearance, in the form of the enigmatic Millennium, a cabal of Nazi Vampires who are out to remake the world in their own fanged image. These are pretty cool villains previously glimpsed only in that awesome Hellsing MTV included in the US-released DVDs (the bespectacled guy in the shadows who mockingly claps Hellsing's efforts is the Big Boss), and includes a female villain named Rip Van Winkle- How cool is that? Heheh. Will there be any good, or at least humanity, left after all is said and done? We'll just have to see.

A cool extra in the manga is a side-story at the end of each book on the adventures of a pair of Iscariot agents: Gun expert Heiffer Wolfe and Yumiko, a shy nun who, when danger calls, unleashes a persona known as Yumie- a 'berserker' like swordswoman who can use a katana like a bloody Stradivarius. Radical.

Hellsing the Manga is a hellishly good read- it's a lot better than the original Hellsing anime (which diverged from the manga's story after the first several episodes) story and gets deeper into the characters. Integra in particular comes off as a bit kinder and more human in the manga than in her first anime appearance. The art is sharp though with parts looking a bit too cartoony particularly when Victoria's case. Still, this is a great manga with both black humor and action satisfying to the extreme. Anyway, I'm two book deep into the series, and three chapters are already lined up for reading (the series so far has 7 installments out).

You can get Hellsing manga graphic novels at Comic Quest or at Fully Booked. Anime enthusiasts can also look forward to a new Hellsing OAV (based on the manga) from Gonzo later this year. Lots of dark, bloody good fun coming very soon. Hoho!

Heroes Farewell


The sun sets on the best superhero animated series ever.

I've been a fan of Justice League Unlimited from the first episode I saw, and it tears my lungs out to know that this groundbreaking and dynamic series is now ending (or ended) with the 13th episode of the show's 3rd Season (as JLU). The third season, which should be known as the 'Legion of Doom' season, ends with a two-part finale that culminated with an invasion of Earth by the forces of the awesomely evil Darkseid and an alliance between the Justice League and their opposite numbers led by Lex Luthor.
It's really sad to see such a quality series go... a title filled with great storylines, outstanding action and fight scenes and tons of great vocal performances that truly succeeded in bringing to life the DC Universe. Easily, I consider Justice League Unlimited as THE Best US Cartoon ever. Kudos to the animators, writers and producers of this great show, and I hope that somehow, someday the JLU will somehow, someday return for more adventures.

Well, for now though, us fans have three great seasons of JLU (and two of the original Justice League cartoon) to always enjoy.

The Adventure Continues!

Ready for Battle



Recently, a couple of cool images have popped up online as Arnold Arre gets closer and closer to releasing his latest comic/graphic novel work. Entitled Andiong Agimat, this darker, grittier story from the author/creator of Mythology Class, Trip to Tagaytay and After Eden takes on the quest of the titular hero and other characters as they try to rescue someone from the grimy fingers of a menacing Metropolis. I've seen images which seem to refer to this story on Arnold's site, and it looks pretty cool- lots of dirty, polluted scenery populated by harsh, punkish characters with cyberpunk or pseudo-future designs. Of course, the heroes though are Pinoy through and through. It's been remarked that Agimat is very much distant from Arn's previous stories... I can't wait to see and review the finished book (waiting for my copy, Arnold! Hehe).
Andiong Agimat is set for an April 2006 release. Wait for it.

Upgrade Complete

Yesterday I finally went the big step and finished the other half of my home PC upgrade. Several months ago I turned my old PIII into a Pentium 4-powered beast. After that, my once-gargantuan 80 Gig-Hard Drive turned into a barely-usable 30+ Gig HD, for some reason. Well, with me doing video conversions and captures all the time, space is a big priority. So I hied off to Greenhills and got the remaining stuff to make my PC a viable tool again- a 200 Gig Hard Drive, new 64mb Video Card and a spiffy new case.
As always though, having your computer put together by hacks at the Computer Shop eventually results in things not working once we get it home and me having to fly in my tech support team (Andrew and Pot) to help me get things into working order. Well, it took us the whole evening but now, my Windows XP PC is looking and working fine.
Aside from all the work and effort, it cost me quite a bit too, all the day's expenditures costing me about 12K (that includes several Hellsing tpbs which I got instead of a DVD Drive... Heheh). Anyway, this should be worth it. I'm hopefully gonna do a lot of stuff with this baby. Yep. Till the next upgrade!

Portabrawls

Following the resurrection of Cassandra Cain... is the news of Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSP. Yep, a Tekken title is headed for the Playstation Portable. No silly 2-D rip like Tekken Advance was for the gameboy advance... this is full-blown 3-D fighting, with PS2 quality looks and gameplay. TDR for the PSP will be based on the recent arcade upgrade Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. All the included characters, including newcomers Dragunov and Lili will be playable.

WHOA. A true, handheld Tekken. That's reason enough for me to buy a PSP. Well, let's see it happen first before I start grabbing one of them toys. Look for Tekken PSP to hit later this year. Now, if only Capcom would port SF3 Third Strike to PSP...

Ends and Beginnings


The cover to Batgirl #73.

I've been in a depressed funk recently thanks to the possibility that DC is killing off my favorite bat-femme, Batgirl AKA Cassandra Cain. Well, last night I finally got some closure with the final issue of the series.

I have to say that the ending surprised me in some ways, disappointed in some ways but in the end I got what I was looking for.

Issue 72 ended with Cassie obviously DEAD (that happens when someone shoves a knife through your chest). It also ended with a regretful Shiva taking Batgirl's body and apparently heading off to a nearby Lazarus Pit.

I had actually been running so many scenarios in my head... what if the Lazarus Pit fails to revive Cass? What is something stops Shiva from using the pit? What if Cassie emerges from the pit like the most recent dunkee, Mister Freeze's wife... a raving, insane and dangerous monster?

Well, to my mixed relief and disappointment, Cassie comes back from the dead via the Lazarus Pit with no more ill effects than a momentary urge to strangle Shiva. She calms down fast enough for the rest of the issue's revelations to unfold.

All throughout this final arc, readers have been teased on the identity of who Cassie's mother is. The latest speculation was that it was the deceased Carolyn Woo-San, sister of Sandra Woo-San AKA Shiva. But it turns out that the easy answer was the right one- Shiva is Cassie's mom. The revelation also shows how twisted Shiva really is- having the child and sparing the man who killed her own sister and then becoming a ruthless killer afterwards.

Finally, the two old foes- Cassie and Shiva- have their final battle. They fight, and the duel ends with a SNAP. I am shocked that they would actually kill off Shiva, a major Bat-villain, but then again she's been so overexposed lately she's long overdue for an absence. From how it was framed, this death looks to be permanent, but you never know- Cassie DID leave her body hanging over the Lazarus Pit, and bodies left hung tend to fall off eventually... I would much rather that Shiva stay dead though and pass the torch of the Deadliest Female Alive in DCU to Cassie.

Now where to? Cassie has obviously shed the Bat-mantle now, given the events in the finale. She's now simply known as Cain, the most skilled martial artist in the DCU. Obviously, such a powerful figure won't or can't be quiet or inactive for too long. I'm almost certain that Cassie will be joining Birds of Prey, which is great since I am already buying that title anyway.
Which leaves to question just who the upcoming 'Batwoman' is... and who the heck is wearing the Batgirl costume in the upcoming issues of Robin?

Anyway, all things said, I am finally out of my Batgirl depression funk. I'm probably gonna go off to get some Batgirl trades of the early issues, and the Batman: War Games TPBs. Sigh. Moving on, moving on. Heh.

Book Daze

Today, amidst a flurry of work that had me and my art director 3sha running from one end of the city to the other, we managed to find time to have about an hour to peruse the shelves of Fully Booked at Rockwell. All I can say is... DAMN. This was the first time I'd been at the place since it was moved from the ground floor up to the third (or fourth) floor of the Power Plant mall. The new FB branch is HUGE and covered with books from top to bottom. Needless to say, the bibliophile and graphic novel geek in me was slobbering in glee.

Unfortunately for my wallet, I found myself unable to resist grabbing up several books. I purchased three Blade of the Immortal books, and the first two chapters of the Hellsing manga. These five books alone cost me almost five thousand smackers. DAAAAAMN! But really, I could easily... EASILY... spend double or triple that amount in the place (well, at least I'd have a Fully Booked discount card then). There are so many things I want to buy. Hellboy. How To Manga books. Film books. Fantasy and fiction novels. Magazines. Even reprints of darn Hardy Boys and scabs of children's and young adult books were tempting me severely.

GYYYAAAAHHH!!!! All that and I STILL had the week's comics to get later in the day. GYYYYAAAAHHH!!!

Anyway, I finished up work and rushed off to Mega afterwards to get the phamphlet stuff- The LAST issue of Batgirl chief among the acquisitions, along with the latest issues of JSA Classified, Justice, New Avengers and a copy of Wizard Anime Insider. Lots of reading stuff. More money out from the ATM.

Well, I can't really complain. I don't really regret buying books and comics. These things, along with food, videogames, the occasional movie and pleasant conversation make life that much more pleasurable. Oh well.

Third Time's the Charm



I got to Comic Quest yesterday to grab my copy of Trese #3, but was told it was sold out. I had to buy the display issue, but it was worth it. Hey Budj, time to restock. Heh.

Trese is the supernatural/crime comic series by Budjette Tan and Ka-Jo Baldisimo. In the third issue entitled "Our Secret Constellation", Alexandra Trese is hot on the trail of a mysterious killer with unearthly powers... perhaps even more power than the supernatural investigator and her formidable henchmen, the Kambal, can handle.

I have to say, the idea and plot twist in this issue made me quietly go, "Whoa."

A ballsy story and a great homage rolled into one. My only gripe is that this story could have been longer, perhaps with more pages to thresh out the action which is a bit truncated. This story deserved more detail to the content. Heck, it could have been a 'Trese: The Movie' issue.

That aside, this is the best story yet in Budj and Ka-Jo's works, and a must-read for indie and local comic enthusiasts/readers. For a preview, you can check out Budjette's blog for the comic, here. Copies of the issues are available at Comic Quest Megamall.

Birthday Bash

Last night, the gang got together to celebrate the birthday of Jaime Bautista. The Nautilus head honcho and creator of Cast invited us all over to dine on pasta and KFC at his posh pad, which was a veritable display of cool action figures. There were cabinets filled with tons of great toys, but of course all of us could easily notice which hero really had Jaime's heart- Iron Man! The Geek in all of us surfaced when we all got to grab and try on for size a life-size Iron Man helmet (yeah, as Andrew would say, we were alll reeking of geeking at that point).
Anyway, the night was pretty cool with good food and good gossip and conversation before the party adjourned just after midnight. Coolness, Jaime! Let's do it again next year.

Strike Three


The Brotherhood is back for the finale.

There's been quite a bit of flack being thrown at X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Aside from the initial hubbub that ensued when former X-director Brian Singer left the set to work with DC's Superman Returns, there has since been great criticism of the third movie's script. SPOILER WARNING!
The third movie will supposedly be about a new serum that 'de-mutates' mutants, stripping them of their powers. This is apparently produced from the body of a mutant called Leech. This serum is the focal point of the conflict in X3, along with the resurgence of Magneto (Ian McKellen) and a much larger, more powerful Brotherhood of Mutants. Standing against them as well as being continually hounded by the government are the embattled X-men. What has caused uproar among fans is the supposed early death of Cyclops (James Marsden), a victim of the uncontrollable powers of a newly-returned and seemingly resurrected Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), who eventually does an Anakin and turns to the Dark Side. Aside from Scott Summers, at least two other big name characters will supposedly bite the dust in X3. Hmmm.

Anyway, there are new members to the team that had only cameos in the previous installment, such as Colossus, Shadowcat and Jubilee. New to the films and making their debut are Angel and Beast (the latter played by Frasier's Kelsey Grammer).

Still, I'm waiting for this finale with excitement, despite the early negativity. Hopefully the final product will at least have action aplenty, including some mammoth scenes of carnage from Magneto (one of the films' best points). We're expecting X3 to hit in May 2006.

Issues and more Issues

Anyway, on the side, I've been pencilling pages for the 2nd issue of Kunoichi Boy. This all-new story (which wasn't dredged up from the foiled release in Questor Mangamania) has our heroes Jin and Mikoto sauntering into a quiet town... perhaps too quiet for a town. Well, there's something sinister going on in this sleepy little hamlet, and it's gonna lead to quite a bit of action before long. I'm intending for quite a bit of ninja girl-on-ninja girl/boy fighting in this one, so it should be pretty fun. I'll see about getting this issue finished and out on the Comic Quest rack in a month or two.

Meanwhile, you can check out the latest issue of Budjette Tan's supernatural series, Trese! The third issue is now available at Comic Quest, and so far I've heard good things. Budj is getting better and better with his dark heroine, and the art by Ka-Jo is as cool as always. I'll be sure to pick this up when I get the chance, and I think you guys should too!

Overtime

It's past midnight and we're still in the grind, shooting the TV commercial. Circumstances forced us to leave the southern mall and continue the rest of our shots in the confines of a studio. Unfortunately, the act of uprooting and setting up again ate up a lot of time. So now, it's early in the morning of the weekend and I'm still on the job. Should be done in an hour or two though... which should mean I'll be in bed by about 3AM or so. Gosh, I need some shut-eye. Oh well. It's a living.

Shooting South

The past two days have been spent on a TV commercial shoot down south, in the very nice Alabang Town Center. I seldom ever come this far south, which is a shame since the sprawling mall/shopping complex is really cool... literally. There are so many big trees around the plaza area, it reminds me of the ol' college campus of UP. It's a nice place to relax at as well as shop and dine.
It was fun to just walk around and window-shop during lulls in the shoot, and a I ended up buying a couple of magazines to take home. Anyway, it's been a smooth, relatively problem-free shooting, thanks to a pretty great production house (which kept us well-fed and served throughout, even having our own air-conditioned tent! Yipee!). We'll be wrapping up the thing this evening and I'm looking forward to a restful weekend. Fun work is still work. I'm pooped.

Feeling Nutty

On a whim, I had a very different kind of dinner the other day. I went to NY Diner (or something like that)at the Food Court in Cubao's Gateway Mall and tried their Bacon-Banana Peanut Butter and Jelly Twister sandwich. This is very similar if not the same sandwich that was supposedly THE favorite of 'The King' himself, Elvis Presley (who reputedly ate several sandwiches in single sittings).

How does a bacon-banana-peanut butter and jelly sandwich taste like? Actually... NOT BAD. Weird, definitely weird... and I really felt pretty queasy eating something that seemed to be a cross between a savoury and sweet concoction. But the bacon was there, the banana sort of quelled the otherwise very sweet peanut butter and the jelly was just... there. All in all, I felt strange eating it, but a day later I am actually not averse to repeating the experience. No, I'm not craving it, but I'm quite ready to eat it again. Though probably next time as a snack, and not dinner.

Oh, and I probably won't be eating this too often... knowing how Elvis ended up. Heh.

Jackpot

After weeks and weeks of searching, I finally bagged a copy of Munich, the latest Steven Spielberg flick. As I've maybe written about before, it's a real-life cloak and dagger film about the events initiated by the murder of Israeli athletes by Black September during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Particularly, it centers on the five MOSSAD agents sent to assassinate the ones perceived to be responsible for the crimes, and on the personal cost that service to God and country takes on the actual men who pull the triggers or press the detonator switches. It's supposed to be pretty violent and holds little back, doing for espionage films what Saving Private Ryan did for war movies. Been waiting for this for some time, and I'm gonna watch it asap. The film stars Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy), David Craig (Tomb Raider, the next James Bond), Goeffrey Rush (Pirates of the Carribbean, Mystery Men), Ciaran Hinds (Rome) and more.

Also got copies of Zathura (Jumanji in space!), Doom (why not...) and King Kong, which I amazingly have NOT yet seen, Peter Jackson epic regardless.

Nice stuff to watch. Hopefully I'll have time to see them all soon, despite a big shoot coming on me in the next couple of days. We'll see.

Bogus Bento

Recently I saw the new KFC commercial about the new KFC Chicken Tempura meal (ninja-like waiter serves the dish shuriken-style), and when I got the chance to dine at the prime chicken place, I was set to order it. However, when I looked at the menu, my eye was caught by the new 'bento meal', which seemed to have the chicken tempura and a couple of extras.

Well, I ordered it and lo... I got this styrofoam package containing a meager serving of spaghetti (about three forkfuls), 2 pieces of chicken tempura, rice and a brownie.

This is probably the most un-bento bento I have ever seen. Well, the food wasn't bad but presentation-wise it was pretty crappy. It looked like those handout meals you give volunteers or extras on a TV shoot. Bleh. Just goes to show you that you should never go to a chicken place when you're in the mood for Japanese. I think.

English Dud

I remember months and months ago, I was dreaming of watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, devouring every trailer and snippet of information. Then, some time later, the Japanese DVD came out, and the movie became available online. Later, it became available on VCD and DVD locally.

These days, I either have the whole movie or the best scenes loaded on my mobile for anytime viewing. Yeah, I am a softie and sentimental goof, and I just love the world of Midgar.

And STILL the darn english dub isn't out yet.

Yeah, it's amazing but the US still doesn't have their version of Advent Children out yet. Delay upon delay has moved the release date back again and again. Ads for the DVD and UMD have come out in recent magazines, but still the movie isn't out yet.

The latest announcement has it coming out 'before 2006 ends'.

They say this is due to the development of supplemental materials (extras) for the release. Darn, those had better be damn good extras. Anyway, I'm sure the disc will be a hit on release regardless of the fact that, oh, everyone has seen the film already by now. Anyway, I'll be getting it as well, but man oh man, is it late or what? Sigh.

XPedience

I finally made the jump from using Windows Me to Windows XP last night. Of course, being the PC noob that I am, I needed to bother my brother just hours before he had to rush off to the airport to get the stuff started. Afterwards though, I had to find my way through the rest of the installation myself. Still, after a bit I finally got the PC working on XP and already it's working far better than before. I had delayed going XP for the longest time since my old Video Capture Card only worked on Me... but with my new AV700 doing all my video capturing, that was no longer a reason.
My only glitch now is the weird way that my 80-Gig Hard Drive suddenly turned into a miniscule and only-barely adequate 35-Gig one. I'll probably upgrade to a bigger HD and have a nice new case for my PC (which sports a new Pentium 4 chip) very soon. Gotta start making the plans on that.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Early this morning, at about 4:00 AM, I got up after about an hour's worth of shut-eye to join the trip to the airport to see off my brother and his two little girls.

In two vehicles we went convoy style, a van with most of the family and 3 balikbayan boxes, and a car with my bro and his friends. The two girls, Pam and Pat, sat with two of their cousins in the rear seat of the van, while me, my parents and my sister and her husband sat up front before them. We engaged each other in various conversation, but it was impossible to ignore the girls in the back seats as they alternately laughed and cried. The cousins were naturally very close and I guess is was finally dawning on them that it would be a while... a long, long while, before they conceivably would meet again. My mom tried to cheer them up continually with jokes that if she won the Lotto, we'd be there to visit in the US in a second.

We got to the airport and it was a blur of motion then. We unloaded the boxes, and quick farewells were given. Me and my brother hugged and he told me to take care of our parents. The girls were almost speechless and could only half-smile and hold back the tears as they went off into the terminal and on to the future.

The long drive home was brightened only slightly by a breakfast from McDonald's. But of course, all of us had our own internal thoughts.

I didn't shed any tears, but I felt the leaving inside. I'll miss having the kids around and pestering me (a bit). I'll miss having my brother around and being a kindred fan of tech, toys, games and dvds. In a way, we were always distant, but in many other ways we were so very close.

Of course, being far away need not mean out of touch. I'm going to have to keep busy soon, fixing up my mom with the PC my brother left behind, getting a broadband internet connection so we can keep the lines of communication close. Darn, I feel like I'm in one of those telecom ads. Well, it's only now that I finally identify with those maudlin commercials.

By now, they're probably halfway there. Good luck and God Bless, Jun, Pam and Patricia. I'll see you all again someday.

The Night Before

Tomorrow morning, my brother Jun and his daughters Patricia and Pamela will be flying off to the US, where they will be reunited with Jun's wife Mylene. Conceivably, we may not be seeing them in the flesh anytime in the near future. I've never really been overly emotional or sentimental, but I will miss them. Even if the kids drive me crazy every time they invade The Sanctum, the house will be a slight shade less lively without them.

When my sister and her family leave in a few months (maybe) for Canada, it'll be just me and our parents left to live in the country. I don't see myself flying off and leaving Metro Manila behind anytime soon, so I'll be around for a while. Things are going well anyway... and hopefully they'll stay that way. All we can do is just hope for the best, take on every test and let God do the rest. And all that jazz.

The Only Constant Thing

Sometimes... no, many times, I wish that you could just stop time and preserve a status quo forever.

You reach a point where everything seems right, you're having so much fun and you wish it could all just go on forever. Well, maybe not forever, but for a while. I think that's a sign that you were or are happy. That you've found contentment with the things around you and you could just stay there in that pocket of eternity for the duration.

But that really isn't possible, is it?

Time marches on regardless of how people feel or act or decide to act. Change comes relentlessly, either as a thief in the night or as a marching band blazing on at full volume. Whether it's a shock or a whisper, change enters our lives and the effects are things that we must deal with in order to continue living.

A lot of things have been happening lately. These events have rocked my world in significant ways. The most distinct recently was the fact that my friend Vin, the genial and jovial shopkeep of Comic Quest has entered a new chapter in his life... and that chapter apparently does not involve him being the CQ shopkeep anymore. It's a big thing, considering that 'The Store' has been more or less the center of my social life for the past, oh, six or seven years. Now, it's no longer that... it's just the place where I get my comics every week. Weird. Really weird.

But this shock of a change isn't the only thing that has hit me in terms of the gang I run with. Lately, we haven't been going out as much. The Saturday Night Outs that we once looked forward to as oasis of discussions, creative mixers full of laughter, anecdotes and experience-sharing aplenty are now few and far between. As people grow older, it seems, they grow more focused on their own interests and their own paths. Some people have left us seeming for dead. Some are about as rare to find as chicken teeth. Others are there but might as well not be.

Don't get me wrong. We still meet, and I still look forward to each time we do. Just not as religiously. Perhaps when some creative urge, opportunity or project appears and beckons, perhaps the old magic will well up and like Musketeers in hiding from Cardinal Richelieu (sorry, I saw it on Star Movies last night), we'll take up our swords and uniforms once again and meet all for one and one for all.

But damn.

Do I miss the days when we didn't NEED to have a hopeless cause or a ridiculous project to rally around to meet each other. When we just enjoyed to meet because of each others' company. When it was enough to just talk and laugh about things for little or no reason aside from it was just for the sake of talking about it.

Maybe we're just getting old. Nah.

That's the way it is, isn't it? You just try to fit in as well as you can. Even if you don't really fit in, you try to give what you can because that's what friends are for. To be there when it counts, or to just be there, period. That's all there is to it. This is as good as it gets.

There are stories to tell and lots of things still to do. I believe this. I really do.

It's just that if I knew that it would all come to this, I'd have recorded and videotaped all those nights out we had before. Archived them on optic disc or memory crystal and put them in a safe at The Sanctum, where I can just bring them out and try to find warmth in the memories for just a little while.

Damn. That's pathetic.

Again, the point of this post. Change happens, like shit. It happens and there's not a damn thing we can do about it but roll with the punches. Change anything that's wrong with you and keep on trucking. Move on as others move on and just find a place where there's more heat and warmth to partake of.

Because while there's really no point in crying over spilt milk or spoiled milk, there's even less point in crying over milk that you actually got to drink and enjoy. You've pissed it all out by now and so you've got to find a new quart to fill that thirst.

I miss the good times.

But I know there will be other good times.

And I'll be damned if I don't squeeze all the enjoyment I can with what I am lucky to have right now.

So this really isn't a rant. It's just an affirmation that I'm still here.

I'm still working at The Salt Mines (and hopefully getting better). Still dreaming about the next big Xbox360 game. Still getting a kick out of finding gems in the ol' DVD bins. Still working on bringing out The Last Angel Ace Story and the further adventures of Agent K and The Pink Ninja. Still counting on the next Project Hero and whatever else comes my way. Still kicking back in The Sanctum to enjoy loot from Comic Quest or Greenhills.

I'm still here and looking forward to the future. That's all I can do.


Moving on. Moving on.

Fantasizing

I've more or less decided on my entry to the Fully Booked fantasy fiction writing contest. At least, for my prose entry. Not yet too sure about what 8-page comic story to send. That will certainly have to be self-contained, totally new and affecting even in the very short page count. Certainly, I have to give this one the good ol' fashioned college try. I'll do my best to start my efforts on this one come the first day of February. Then, we'll see what happens then.

Ready to Rumble


Rumble Roses XX's new Create-a-Babe mode.

The first Rumble Roses game on the PS2 was a mixed affair. Obviously taking a stab at the niche established by the rival Dead or Alive series, the titillation-heavy all-female wrestling game from Konami had it's ups and downs. For one thing, it had a cast of female grapplers who fit a wide variety of fetishes and persuasions. You had the usuals (bubbly anime heroines, blonde cowgirls and S&M dominatrixes) and quite a few unusuals (megalomaniacal doctors, slutty judo champions) in the roster, with good and evil personas. As wrestling games go, the multitude of holds and grapples were perfect for putting the female characters into some pretty compromising situations. There was even some DOAX-type fanservice in the form of voyeuristic Watch Modes and even some iffy mudwrestling.
Unfortunately, even with all the eye candy and fan service, the game had limited appeal in terms of gameplay modes and variety. There simply wasn't enough game to get in this title. So while it provided a bit of bang, there was little to come back to after the initial play.

Well, a couple of years later, Konami is still at it with their DOA-killer, now aiming for the Xbox360 next generation console with Rumble Roses XX. Now, before you get any ideas, the 'XX' stands for tag team play, not for anything lewd (right).

Aside from the obvious assumption that the game will surely look tons better than the PS2 game (each character model will consist of 50,000 polygons, making for some very smooth and curvy characters), the game will rev up with new modes and gameplay elements. For one thing, there will now be two-three and four way fights, playable on or offline. This should make for some really interesting tag-team or triple threat matches.
What will really please creative types will be the new Character Edit/Creation Mode which will allow players to make up their own wrestling babe from scratch or edit/modify the existing 40 characters. In terms of editing, this entails everything from giving your babe more muscles, more boobage (yes, you read that right), changing hair and skin color, applying makeup or switching wardrobes. It seems that Character Creation is THE mode to have for next-gen fighters (except for snobby DOA). XboxLive users will be able to show off their Frankenstein-esque creations online. Don't worry though; developer Akari Uchida guarantees that you cannot create monsters or ugly wrestlers with his game- they'll always be babes. Wow.

Speaking of the 40 characters, there actually are just 10 base characters, each with three additional personas/versions; there's Face (good), Heel (evil) and the new Superstar versions of Face/Heel. The Superstar versions are flashier, stronger and more fab versions of the wrestlers, with all-new moves and over-the-top ring entrances. As before, the end boss seems to be the mechanical madame, Madame X. No Story Mode this time around, but with all the new stuff, we won't be missing the terrible dialogue or weird plotlines.
Also added will be a new 'Queen's Match', which seems to replace the now-missing Mudwrestling Mode. Losers in QM will have to go through DOAX-like penalty games, which are meant to embarass or put them into a titillatingly humiliating experience- from doing the limbo to bouncing on skippy balls or dancing some lewd dance. Weird but oddly compelling.

THis game certainly isn't for the easily offended or the weak of heart; it's really beyond being suggestive- the characters are just as good at being wrestlers as they are exotic dancers, it seems, and the game really doesn't care about depicting females in a pretty chauvanistic way (athletic as they may be, the girls act all girly and prissy in other situations). It's got it's own code and humor, but safe to say guys should keep this hidden away when offendable female friends are in the vicinity.

Behind all the tons of fanservice though, once again I hope they do the basic steps right, by putting in great wrestling gameplay and animation. When all is said and done, it's the wrestling and grappling that will keep this game in play as much as the T&A. Really. Well, we'll see when the game comes out in a couple of months in March 2006 on the Xbox360.

Evolution


Selene returns to kick Lara Croft's butt.

The first Underwold film was a slick piece of work- while it was often mentioned as a Matrix-wannabee, it did have a cool concept (Vampires fighting Werewolves), nice production values and visuals and the singular genius of having the radiantly gorgeous Kate Beckinsale as the leather-clad vampire warrior, Selene. Apparently, while the first UW was a modest success in theaters, it was a relatively low budget film that suddenly had a big pay-off in DVD sales. As a result, the title gets a new lease on life and a chance for bigger things with the sequel, Underworld: Evolution (which has since gone on to become the number one film at the US box office).

Evolution kicks off right after the events of the first film. In fact, it mops up the loose ends from before quite bloodily quick. But before we actually get into the current affairs, Evo opens up with a flashback to the 12th century. There, we see a small army of vampires in Lord of the Rings-like armor (a bit like vampire elves, actually- which is quite cool) taking on a village infected by the Lycan breed. We learn of the origing of the two warring races, and in particular the fates of the two brothers who started it all- the prime vampire Marcus, and the head werewolf, WIlliam.

The action then shoots back to the present, as Selene and her half-lycan/half vampire lover Michael (Scott Speedman) are on the run. Their opposition, however, quickly changes from ordinary gun-slinging vampire goons to the now-awakened, mutated Vampire Elder, Marcus (Tony Curran), who has his own evil agenda. In order to survive AND stop the world from being consumed by mad vampire/lycan mutants, Selene and Scott will have to ally with a mysterious third party and risk it all for the sake of the future. They must evolve... or die.

This is a pretty slick and well done action film, though I have to say that you need to watch the first film to really make heads or tails of it all. The names and events just fly at you as fast as the flash edits.

Still, the action is quite easy to understand, and the bad guys are pretty easy to see. The production values are more ambitious this time around (more and bigger werewolves with niftier transformations), thanks to a bigger budget, and the film retains the blood and blue look of the first. Performance-wise, Miss Beckinsale's Selene is an awesome action heroine (she could give Angelina Jolie a run for her money)... did I say she was darn gorgeous? I'll say it again. Selene is HOT. Oh, and girls get Michael- Scott Speedman's reluctant superwolf/vamp is pretty kick ass. The two make a great, perfect couple and a subtle cheer for mixed race relations.

All in all, Underworld: Evolution is a worthy sequel/climax to the original film, ending with a pretty optimistic view. The next film in this series, if director Len Wiseman has his way, will supposedly be a prequel showing more of the history of the ancient vampire/lycan war.

While there are some rough spots, I certainly liked Underworld Evolution enough to try and find the first film again and watch it, and have this sequel on DVD when I can. An exceptionally cool franchise which gets a shot in the arm with this hot sequel. Again, I recommend watching the first film before heading to the theaters to catch this bloody good action flick.

Fear Factor

It's great to be a scare-fan lately, with lots of cool, creepy shows on offer. Which is great since I haven't watched Nginiig! in months ever since they started doing more and more celebrity 'possession' shows than actual ghost or mystery features.

Ghost Chasers is a pretty cool show, featuring the exploits of a duo of plumbers who moonlight as paranormal investigators. Together with a seemingly ever-changing support crew, TAPS (The Atlanta Paranormal Society) sets off all over the country visiting and investigating haunted sites. The cool thing about Ghost Chasers is that they often DO seem to catch evidence- be it the odd light 'orb' or even actual footage of moving objects or unexplainable apparitions. Which is a WORLD away from local shows that show nothing but bad acting. Anyway, the show's already on it's 3rd season in the US (the 2nd season is showing locally on Star World) and seems to be going strong. If anyone knows if the DVD of the first season is available locally, please tell me.

A Haunting is a new show on The Discovery Channel which takes a detailed look into some really creepy, real-life supernatural encounters. The show takes great pains to recreate the accounts of the actual people involved and revs up the precedings with flash edits, scary sound effects, suspenseful music and basic special effects... all in all resulting in a pretty scary show that should satisfy your scare-cravings.

Ghost Chasers is shown on Saturdays (9PM, 12:30AM Sunday) on Star World, While A Haunting is shown every Wednesdays (10PM) and Saturdays on Discovery Channel. And be prepared for a chilling good time.

Idolatry

As anyone in The Gang would attest, I'm not into singing... and certainly, I've never really been into the show American Idol. However, for some reason every time I catch the show on TV these days, I am inexorably engrossed in watching it. Seeing all these nobodies and wannabees get grilled, speared, shish-kabobed and sauteed by judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson is just so... entertaining. It's like gladiatorial games, yet without the action but triple the cries of anguish and despair, with the requisite 'Aye' or 'Nay' from the Emperor. Or Imperial Council, as the case may be. I don't know if I'll still be as engrossed when the actual competition starts, but we'll see. For now though, it's good watching.

Buyer Beware

Have you heard about the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan film, The Lady in the Water? It's billed as a 'bedtime story' that Mr. Sixth Sense tells to his daughters, and stars actor Paul Giamatti as the main hero Cleveland Heep (a building super who finds the titular lady) and Bryce Dallas Howard (from M. Night's last film, The Village) as Story, a 'Narf' or aquatic creature whom Cleveland must somehow help get back home. It sounds weird and wonderful on paper, and I'm pretty curious to see how this film turns out.
Imagine my surprise to find a DVD titled Lady in the Water on the DVD stalls a few days ago. WOW! Maybe it was an ultra-ultra-ultra advance copy, with no effects and shit. WHOA! So I scooped it up. No matter that I wasn't able to preview the thing. I had found a gem.

Later at home, I popped it into my mutant dvd player and the movie started. It wasn't Lady in the Water. It was She Creature, this b-movie mermaid/horror film from a couple of years back.

Sigh. Well, you get lemons as often as gems with the bootleg biz. Had me a bit of a laugh and this blog entry, so it's not a total loss. Heheh. Gah.

Weird Dreams

Lately I've been having really strange dreams. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I often come home pretty pooped and just aching to get some shut-eye. Now, I've had odd dreams countless times before. It's just that these days I seem to remember them a lot more even after waking up. Perhaps they're visions. Then again, perhaps not. But I guess it might make some interesting reading for me to jot them down when I can.

Here are some of the recent ones.

One dream had me flying a dragon with Harry Potter (yeah, Daniel Radcliffe in character) trying to get it back home. Unfortunately, it was a particularly slow species of dragon, so we eventually had to go and take a train since flying it home would take several months. Unfortunately, I didn't meet Hermione anywhere in the dream.

Another dream had me in a Star Wars-esque setting, among a troop of captured rebels or perhaps conscripted workers drafted to serve the Empire. We stood in formation as we watched Imperial Stormtroopers file out of a ship and past us in a long line. The weird thing here is that the troopers were BURNING. Yep, burning stormtroopers, or firetroopers (the flames looked pretty nifty, and they didn't seem to be bothered). After these burning soldiers passed, they were followed by ICE troopers, all frosty and foggy.
To compound the weirdness, after the military parade my troop was sent to have our meal. We waited in line as an officer approached each of us, serving some sort of gruel. The rest of my group each had a meal tray... however I inexplicably had only a newspaper. EH?
Realizing this, I worriedly stared and waited with dread as the Imperial officer serving the food came to me. He stopped and there was silence as I thrust out the periodical. Luckily, before anything else happened I was woken up by our maid- It was lunchtime.

WEIRD.

I think there are profound messages in these dreams. Messages that may mean the difference between my success or failure in my endeavors.

Or not. What the heck. They're pretty funny in any case.

Doing a 360, Part Two



So far, my new XBox 360 has been working fine. No sign of any bugs or defects, or signs that the rumors of overheating and other crap are happening to my unit. It works fine, especially the cool wireless controller. Yesterday, in anticipation of my running out the included batteries, I got the XBox360 Charge and Play Kit which consists of a rechargeable battery pack, and a USB charger cable (you plug it into your PC or the Xbox to charge it up).

My only game so far is Dead or Alive 4, which was my first and only choice for an initial game (it came free with my unit). The game looks incredible, though at first glance it looks very similar to the previous XBox entry, DOA Ultimate. However, as you see more of the game you will notice the increased level of detail and realism in the graphics, the new animations and tons of little nuances which make it a whole new game and pretty much the most playable and technical game in the franchise.

In terms of Story and cinematics, DOA4 impresses with a collection of probably the best CG endings so far seen in a videogame fighter. These somewhat lengthy movies range from the bizarre and funny (ever think you'd see Kasumi the Ninja Heroine as a mermaid? Or how Hitomi spends her mornings? It's here...) to the silly (Leifang overreacts anime style, Zack in a slapstick quest ala Harryhausen/Indy Jones) and the plain weird (Brad Wong goes tripping). Several though are epic, and center mainly on the ninja characters' quest to destroy the evil DOATEC corporation once and for all (which result in some righteous ninja butt-kicking). If you finish all the initial characters' Story Modes, you will unlock DOA4's ULTIMATE Ending movie, which belongs to the character of Helena, the opera singer turned new CEO of DOATEC. Her movie reveals a lot, begs the asking of some questions and finally brings this chapter of Dead or Alive to an end. My advice... don't turn off the movie until the credits end.

In terms of gameplay, DOA4 is a whole new ball game given that several key mechanics have been refined and made more robust. Counters are now harder to do and cause less damage, giving fights a bit longer life span (which is good) and minimizing the winning of bouts due to random countering and luck. Fighting against the CPU is now more challenging given the fiercer A.I., who WILL counter you if you just rail out the same attacks again and again. There is no Easy Mode, so right off the bat you'll be in a fight.
Oh, and at the end of the Story Mode for most characters (and at the end of Time Attack) is Alpha 152, a glowing, transparent, crystalline or metallic female Kasumi clone (think Dural from Virtua Fighter but with hair) who is the new Boss of DOA. Forget Raidou. Forget Tengu. Forget Genra. Alpha 152 will kick your butt and then some with teleportation, super-long combos and some scary throws that can take out half your life bar in a flash. Sparring mode will do you good.

My main gripe with DOA4 is an aesthetic one... I hate the choices Team Ninja made for the unlockable costumes. In fact, I believe they got a bit lazy or rushed things. Many of the characters sport palette-swap outfits (the same outfits but with different colors) and a lot are shortchanged again on the size of their wardrobes. Where are the bikinis? The cool choices fans were given in DOAU are sadly lacking in DOA4.
That aside, DOA4 plays great, looks beautiful and is easily the best of the lot in terms of gameplay. Now, if only Team Ninja gets to working on additional costumes for download, it'll be perfect. As it is though, you can't get any better than DOA4 when it comes to fighting games on the Xbox360 (there's no other fighter anyway), though as it is DOA4 fails to top my current fave game, Soul Calibur III for the PS2. Still, it's one of the best reasons to get an Xbox360. Though Rumble Roses XX is coming late March. Hoho.

Yes, the Filipino Can!

Congratulations to The Pacq-man, Manny Pacquiao, for winning his long-awaited bout with Mexican pugilist Eric Morales. This day Manny was truly powered by the faith of his people as seemingly every Pinoy was watching the match. Late in the day, me and my friend Pot went to the malls in Greenhills and we found the usually-filled up parking buildings virtually EMPTY. It seems that most of the population was glued to TV sets watching their champion do battle.

Congrats, Manny. You earned it.

Doing a 360

Before the weekend, I finally got my very own Xbox 360 console. I opted to get a less expensive Japanese version, which I intend to have modified eventually if and when the system is busted open. It’s still pretty early in the life of the device, so it’s quite pricey- however, my set comes with the complete package that includes an optional Hard Drive, wireless controllers and one game. The whole kit and caboodle cost me just as much as much as the Archos AV700 I got late last year, which is fine considering I’m getting a machine that will be providing me tons of next-gen entertainment in the next couple of years.

This early I have to say that I am pretty impressed by how slick the whole thing is. It just looks so futuristic and smooth, like it wouldn’t look out of place in a sci-fi movie. I am particularly blown away by the wireless controller. It’s amazing to feel this freedom after a lifetime of playing games with controllers tied by wires and cables to the central console. It’s incredible, like playing a PSP or handheld save your screen is the big TV. WHOA. The down side though is that the controller is battery operated, so either I’ll be buying batteries every so often or I may have to invest in rechargeables and a battery charger.

The system looks great, and on my first play time seemed to drift off and before I knew it, it was dawn and I was still raring to play. Oh well. I don’t want to keel over so I’ll be sure to have rest (and give the box rest as well) every now and then. I’ll also see about getting a broadband connection so I can connect to the Xbox Live marketplace eventually.
My review on DOA4 to come soon. For now though, I have to log on a few more hours of playtime. While the batteries last.

Best Videogame Movie Yet?



That's the impression I got after watching the latest trailer of Silent Hill.

Whereas the first teaser spot was kinda... off... the full trailer makes me totally excited in this movie adaptation of the classic survival-horror game series from Konami. In a contrast to the Biohazard/Resident Evil games which basically puts players in the shoes of trained combat professionals on missions, Silent Hill throws in hapless souls out of their daily humdrum lives into a horrifying mystery quest. The frights are more visceral, more twisted and less monster than they are nightmares grabbed from the darkness inside the human mind. At stake are their very souls, and the souls of their loved ones, typically lost and missing in the all-consuming fog.
The new trailer has it all... the innocent victims at the start, the inevitable accident that traps them into the realm of shadows that is Silent Hill. There's the protagonist- a young mother (Radha Mitchell) seeking her missing child (Jodelle Ferland). There's Cybil, the hot lady cop straight from the first game (Laurie Holden), a with-like woman named Dahlia (Deborah Kerr Unger) foretelling doom, and a worried father (Sean Bean, hopefully as a real hero this time) trying his utmost to actually get IN Silent Hill to find his wife and child. Apparently the town's being consumed by something terribly evil, and people are actually being forced to hole up and run from its grasp or be utterly destroyed. The key to it all is the spectre of a young girl (yes, another evil young girl to inspire terror), with which the protagonist must somehow deal with if she is to save her child...

By the latter half of the trailer, the imagery turns to the familiar horrors of the game- ghastly apparitions, dark realms of shadow, rust and blood, bandaged walking and grasping abominations. And the sirens... those evil sirens are blaring by the end, and the familiarly creepy Silent Hill music is playing... They got it. They got it all.

The director of Silent Hill is Christophe Gans, who may not be a popular director but megged the very atmospheric Brotherhood of the Wolf, and that will surely aid in the creepy feel of SH. I can't wait to lose myself in this film. And it looks to work, thanks to the recent craze in creepy films. Silent Hill may just have what it takes to be the most successful and at least, faithful videogame to movie adaptation yet.

Silent Hill sweeps into theaters this April 2006.

To see the awesome trailer, click here.

K.I.A.



The events in the latest Batgirl comic seems to have put me into the mood for sexy, petite Asian girls with perfect killing-machine beautiful bods. Yep, I feel like doing another K.I.A. comic, and soon. Hopefully focusing on the adventures of my own Kai will make me forget the travails of Cassandra Cain.

Anyway, I ended the first K.I.A. anthology release with Agent K suddenly remembering her real name- Kai. Then what? It's conceivable that she would then go about trying to learn all she can about herself; aside from still wracking her brain for the shards of memory that are flitting about, just out of reach, she may try to track down some of the faces in her head. Foremost of course, is Angel, whom she has been seeing everywhere faintly until 'Shock to the System'.

Would Kai trust Vanya and KALI enough to openly ask for their help in finding her past? Probably not. As Agent K, she has learned to be more cautious... she'll do her probing on her own. This will lead to abruptly ask for a vacation (the simple act of which I have already written a script for) to have time to do her sleuthing. But what will this search uncover? Angel Ace? The SIVA? What happened in the time between Kai's 'death' and rebirth as Agent K? What role did Vanya and KALI play in the current situation of Agent K/Kai?

All these we'll try to take up in the next K.I.A. release (and perhaps with a mission story or two). I really would like to continue Kai's adventures in smaller sizes than the original anthology (so I can do it more often), but still with colored covers and good production values (instead of making it a Xerox book like Kunoichi Boy). As I said, it's my favorite. Heh. We'll see what happens, soon.

There. I've forgotten about Batgirl already. DOH!!!

Comics in Crisis

Some comic bits...

Darn, Infinite Crisis is a doozie of a read. Four issues and I'm still reeling with each new reveal, with the pull-no-punches action and the cataclysmic developments. It's enough to make me want to go out and grab a new copy of the Original Crisis on Infinite Earths to relive the events that set the seeds for all the dire situations happening presently in the DC universe. Whoa. Gotta pause... Whoa. This issue is so far the best in a so far outstanding and appropriately grim and universe-changing series.

The latest issue of Batgirl is cataclysmic in a smaller way. WHAT THE FOCK!!!!! HOW CAN THEY DO THAT!!?! SPOILER ALERT. Yeah, they killed Batgirl AKA Cassandra Cain. The spunky, coolly awesome little oriental girl in the batsuit gets stabbed through the chest in this penultimate issue. And no, she's not on her last legs as the issue ends- she's DEAD, as in, she breathes her last breath, says her last words then trails off into silent stillness with her eyes open DEAD.

Then Shiva comes, picks up her limp body and takes her to.. where? Well, there's a Lazarus Pit nearby just begging for Cass to take a bath in, but we'll just have to see how this ultimately ends. Will Cassandra Cain remain dead (which SUCKS since she was pretty awesome and is so similar to my own Kai) or be resurrected? One thing's for sure, whether she's alive or still dead at the end of the next ish, the Batgirl series is over. As for the character of Cassandra Cain, we'll just have to see. I do hope that if she does stay dead, they don't just forget her. She mattered, damn it. I want to see her live on and continue, hopefully as one of the new members of Birds of Prey. Darn, it's going to be a long wait to February...

Waiting for Armageddon


The many, the proud, the deadly.

I never thought I'd be excited over a Mortal Kombat game, but I am. Yeah, the previous couple of installments- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and MK: Deception are collecting dust, unplayed, in The Sanctum- but I find myself quite in a tizzy over the upcoming Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

The latest issue of Game Informer magazine has released the first solid info on the upcoming MK title. Contrary to expectations, the latest MK will not be a next-gen title. Yep, it will instead be coming out on the older PS2 and Xbox. The reason for this is so Midway can tie up all the loose ends left in the current storylines before moving onto the Next Gen platforms.
Aside from that though, there's little revealed about what will be in store in terms of story. What is revealed is more about the gameplay, features and perks that are coming with Armageddom.

First of all, MKA will feature over 60 characters. Yep, you read that right. More than 60 kombatants- which is literally almost everyone who has ever appeared in an MK game, in all the released platforms. This includes even obscure titles like MK Mythologies Sub-Zero and MK Special Forces. The only character to perhaps miss the proverbial boat though is the centaur-like sub-boss, Motaro, who apparently might not make the cut (good riddance).

If 60 of the baddest, meanest bastards and bastardettes in Outworld and Earth Realm aren't enough for you... then KREATE your own! MKA will include a Kreate-a-Kombatant mode which will allow you to create your own death-dealer from the ground up. Dress him or her up from head to toe, customizing everything from eye color to breast size (Yes, you read that right too). Not only that, but you'll be able to select each of their special attacks and moves, and even name your special techniques yourself. Yeah, like Soul Calibur 3 it will be Attack of the Bikini Fighters all over again, but darn, it's gonna be fun. Hoho.
Tired of the usual Fatalities? MKA will also have Customizeable Fatalities. It's not clear though how this will be implemented. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to represent EVERY twisted fatality dream out there (particularly anything to do with pouring hot oatmeal down some orifices), but we'll just have to see.

In terms of other modes and extras, MKA will feature a redone Konquest Mode (which was basically a mini-adventure in previous games) that will be more similar to the recently-released and quite excellent Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Unlockable secrets and extras, once accessible only from Konquest, will now be reachable by play in other modes, and will be found in the game's new Vault (which replaces the old 'Krypt' as the storehouse for goodies).
As for actual gameplay changes, all we know is that the fighting system will be overhauled. You can customize combos and there will be a new way to do air combos. You will also be able to control where you throw opponents, adding a bit more strategy to environmental dangers like deathtraps and stage-specific dangers.

WHEW! That's a lot. A damn lot. And I am giddy with glee. There's a cool fighter coming still to the present platforms, so fighting game fans looking to see what may be the best MK ever would do well not to sell off their PS2s or Xboxes just yet.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is set for release on Xbox and PS2 in October 2006.

A Lion in Winter

I finally got to watch Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last night. After a pizza dinner at Greenwich (yummy original crust pizza), I made a beeline for Gateway Mall's nice theaters. I caught the last full show and had my choice of pretty much everywhere to sit since there were only about a dozen people in the spacious theater. And good thing too, since the goddamn idiots behind me kept talking and talking even after the movie started. I walked off and found myself a nice seat near the front, nearer to the screen, away from cinematic barbarians.

Anyway, Narnia is the first in what may be a series of films based on C.S. Lewis' fantasy novels. Actually, I haven't read the actual book, but I DID watch the classic animation movie based on The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe shown years and years ago. So, yeah, I knew what was going to happen even before getting in the theater.
The four Pevensie children- Lucy, Edward, Peter and Susan- are living in London during The Blitz in World War II. After a night of bombing from above, their mom sends them packing off to the countryside where they'll be safe. They are sent off to stay in the rather large mansion of one Professor Kirke, along with the McGonagall-like housekeeper, Mrs. MacReady (Elizabeth Hawthorne). While exploring the mansion during a game of Hide and Seek, Lucy (the youngest) discovers a huge wardrobe closet which turns out to be a portal to the fantasy world of Narnia.
There, she meets Mr. Tumnus (a quite well-cast James McAvoy), a faun, and has a bit of tea with the hoofed halfling creature. However, fun and lightness soon turns into menace when Lucy learns of the White Witch, Jadis (played note-perfect by Tilda Swinton), a tyrannical sorceress who has locked Narnia into an eternal winter. Eventually, all four Pevensies enter Narnia, and there is some drama as younger brother Edmund finds himself making some pretty daft decisions involving sweets called Turkish Delights. Ultimately, the children unite with Narnia's Lion King, Azlan (voiced by Liam Neeson), and together fulfill a prophecy to vanquish Jadis and bring summer and justice to the land.

First off, comparison with the more mature and sophisticated LOTR trilogy are unavoidable- the effects (or at least some) were done by WETA Workshop, which also did LOTR's eye-popping FX. The flavor and mood of Narnia however is more storybookish and whimsical compared to the midieval pseudo-history of Middle Earth. While LOTR makes you feel that you walked into some lost chapter of earth's history, Narnia is a trip into a fairy tale.

This makes for the more ecclectic look of Narnia's creatures- the armies of both good and evil are made up of half-man, half-whatever races, or even actual animals like cheetahs, rhinos and beavers (ah, the Beavers...), wolves and foxes. While the faun and centaur warriors certainly look awesome, the armies look mismatched and motley compared to the armored humans of Middle Earth. Don't expect gritty combat- this is simpler by a long shot (with armies led by children, what do you expect?) but still you can expect some pretty exciting battle scenes by the end- a big pay off for a pretty long film (going a bit over two hours).
In terms of acting, the Pevensie kids are pretty good, though I have to say there's a bit of woodenness to some scenes. Lucy's (Anna Poppenwell) face is definitely button cute and perfect for the role, while Edmund (Skandar Keynes) has the sullen look befitting his character. As expected, Tilda Swinton own ever scene she appears in as the icy queen, even more so in her climactic fight scenes- that girl can swing a sword and make it look serious... I wonder if she can do it as a protagonist, eventually?

Worth watching certainly despite my nitpicks, Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a respectable entry into the fantasy film genre. Give Narnia a visit in theaters now in the Metro.

Kick Ass Babe


Milla Jovovich is the ultimate ass-kicker in Ultraviolet.

WHOA! I just saw the newly-released trailer for the film Ultraviolet, and I have to say I'm anticipating this film with eager beaver glee. The film is set in the future when genetics have allowed for the development of mutant, superhuman beings. However, these beings were hunted down when the ruling government saw them as a threat. The last remaining mutated supersoldier is, of course, the titular Violet, and she's got a bone to pick with humanity.
The film stars Milla Jovovich as the pistol-packing, shades-wearing, bodysuit-hugging super agent, which is kinda fitting since the psychedelic, dazzling and comicbook-like visuals of the futuristic world Ultraviolet exists in bears a bit of resemblance to the Fifth Element, which Jovovich also starred in. The visuals also bring to mind the look of the videogame Killer 7, which I really, really dig.

The fight scenes look pretty amazing, with UV taking on literally armies of black-suited thugs, so this will be a feast of carnage (though maybe bloodless) and lots of supergirlpower action.

Will this be something awesome or just all flash and sizzle? We'll just have to wait and see. I'll be sure to give this a big lookee-lookee when it comes slamming in later this year.

To see the awesome trailer, click here.

The Final Countdown

I guess I'll have to at least try to give that Neil Gaiman contest at Fully Booked for comics or fantasy literature a good ol' fashioned college try. 100,000 smackers isn't something to sneeze at. We've all got until the end of February (the original deadline was extended from end of December) to come up with some extraordinary stuff. Of course, I'll have to start wracking the noodle for some new stuff... I know something's still in there untapped. Just have to tickle it a bit and milk the head udders. Maybe I should get some inspiration by watching something cool- hopefully Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in a nice, big theater. We'll see what the grey macaroni pumps out soon.

Shootout

Finally, I'm able to update. It's been a pretty busy weekend for me: I had to attend a shoot for one of our major clients. It was an MTV/Promo TV commercial, starring lovely local singer/actress/model/VJ Iya Villania and quite a few attractive young women as well. We shot the spot in two days of shooting inside a studio, which meant long hours of sitting around as the crew set up the shots, and take after take was filmed. Yeah, I and my art director Trish had to spend hour upon hours on duty (sipping sodas and nibbling on chips and candies periodically placed before us), but it was cool to be on the client's seat and see everything done well. The Production House was great, the talents were marvelous and the director hilarious. By the time we finished it was early morning Monday, but what the hey... it looks like the commercial/MTV's gonna look great and that's all that matters.

One funny little thing- to pass the time during some of the longer setups, I actually watched the whole Aeon Flux movie on my O2 Mini. It's actually the first time I actually watched a full-length movie on my mobile, and it wasn't half bad. It's a great way I guess to see some films that you ordinarily don't have time to see. And I still had lots of power left over till the shoot packed up. Coolness. My thoughts on the film? Well, here's a mini-review for the mini-watch. Cool story with some nice mysteries and a bit of the psychobabble and philosophizing morality plays from the original cartoon. I would have liked Trevor Goodchild to have been blonde though- the actor wasn't bad but he looked kind of non-descript. Miss Theron gave a great performance, but I still hate her costume. Not bad at all, and perhaps I'll give it a watch when it slips into Manila theaters.

Teaser


The face of things to come from Arnold Arre.

The rather sinister image above was emailed to me by none other than Mr. Myth Class himself, Arnold Arre. It's a teaser for his upcoming comic project, which is his take on Pinoy superheroes. When I first saw the pic, the first thing that popped into my head was the Alagad ni Kalantiao TV series of long, long ago. It was a local series about a trio of motorcycle-riding, leather vest-wearing, baton-swinging, martial arts-kicking vigilantes sent out by the titular wise man/hermit to fight evil. I remember it only vaguely, but it was pretty cool at the time.
It will be a kick to see what Arnold has done to reimagine the title (since he, or specifically his better half Cyn, has more or less confirmed that I was correct in my assumption). The project has apparently been 3 years in the making- look for it to make another big splash in the local comics scene very soon.

UPDATE: Arnold's latest creation is apparently titled Andong Agimat, and will be released under his own Tala Studios (meaning, he's spending for it with his own money instead of a publishing house like Adarna). The gritty superhero/supernatural tale will concern the titular hero's search for the goddess Maria Makiling, who has apparently lost her memory and is now wandering a dangerous Metro Manila. Hmmm. Interesting. Veeery interesting. Wait for this one, very soon.

Wounded Animal

DARN IT! Like his Raw counterpart, Dave 'The Animal' Batista has also lost the WWE Heavyweight Championship Belt.

The former champion incurred another injury (a ripped tricep, I believe) during a bout with wrestler Mark Henry, which is even more serious than his earlier injury. Batista had been performing full time on WWE Smackdown despite not yet recovering 100 percent from his earlier injuries in order to keep the shows and storylines going in the wake of Eddie Guerrero's death, but this time there's no way out of it.
In the latest Smackdown show, an emotional Batista was forced to relinquish his title to General Manager Teddy Long. The WWE Heavyweight Championship was then fought over by other WWE superstars in a Battle Royale. The winner?

SPOILER ALERT.... The new WWE Heavyweight Champion is none other than Raw's Kurt Angle, who surprised all by showing up on the Smackdown set. The outsider was then attacked by other Smackdown superstars, but eventually survived to eliminate Mark Henry and become the new WWE Heavyweight Champion.

EDITED:
Dave Batista's surgery to his ripped tricep was a complete success, which will probably ensure that he'll be back in a big way after he recuperates. Here's to you reclaiming the Belt, Gentle Giant.

Dysfunctional

I've seen a couple of episodes of the Animax show, The Family Defensive Alliance. The show started late December and was billed as 'The Incredibles of Anime'. Well, it's about a family in Japan that has more or less been drafted into being the defenders of the planet by a race of secretive aliens. Now, using special cards in their possession, the family members transform into supersuit-wearing 'superheroes' employing galactic-class weaponry against various invading alien monsters.

The schtick here is that the family, The Daichis, are about as dysfunctional as a family can be. The Dad, Mamoru, is an overweight, meek, indecisive wimp. Mom (and one hot momma at that) Seiko is about as sensitive and sweet as a chili pepper and is overbearing to the hilt, especially to shy daughter Nozomi. Finally, the youngest son Dai is a gross little brat. The financial situation is dismal. Mom wants a divorce. The kids are at each other's throats. And they're supposed to save the world?
It's this very manic family situation paired with giant monster invasions that will either drive you away from this series or keep you watching episode per episode. This is a lot more gritty than Pixar's film ever was, which is actually cool in a way as it should make any sentimental pay-offs that much more meaningful. However, it probably will get a lot darker before it gets better since several aliens in, the family is heavily in debt (they earn money for victories but have to pay for every weapon they use!) and they're still not the picture-perfect album material. Well, deep inside they probably really do love each other. Maybe. Oh well.
What this series does have is really slick and cool animation, pretty lovely character designs and a moody ending song that makes you wonder if there's a happy ending in there somewhere. Hmm. We'll just have to see. The Family Defensive Alliance is shown every 8AM on weekdays on Animax.

NOTE: This series is actually an anime originally titled The Daichis: Earth's Defense Family. Good luck in finding this obscure title in anime shop's, since I haven't been able to track it down.

RAW Deal

In the just-concluded WWE Pay-Per-View, New Year's Revolution, WWE Champion John Cena became a former champion. While he was able to weather through the brutal Elimination Chamber match with competitors Kurt Angle, Sean Michaels, Carlito Carribean Cool, Chris Masters and Kane, he lost the title subsequently when Edge cashed in his 'Money in the Bank' clause for an instant WWE Title Match. Two spears later, the heel Edge won to earn his first WWE championship.
I know for a fact that part of the reason why The Doctor of Thugganomics lost was due to the insistent amount of negative reactions he has been getting from crowds at WWE shows and PPVs. While Cena is certainly one of the more likeable champs since his face turn (he started off as a heel in the WWE), he consistently gets booed and booed a lot by crowds of assholes in the WWE shows.
Anyway, perhaps it's time for a bit of rocking the boat, at least. I hope that Cena retains his bad-ass face persona, instead of turning heel. We need more bad-ass good guys more than assholes in the WWE. Perhaps in the future, Cena will recapture the WWE belt, as well as the favor of these blasted nay-sayers. He's a young superstar, so he should have lots of years of FU-ing the competition to come in the theater that is the WWE.

Dark Resurrection


Tekken 5 Barbie!

The arcade update to Tekken 5, subtitled Dark Resurrection is now available in local arcades here in the Metro. The update features primarily two new characters: Dragunov is a Russian soldier/Marilyn Manson-lookalike who specializes in the commando sambo fighting style (lots of heavy punches and kicks, grapples) while Lili is a young woman with long, blonde hair (and a panty-flashing short skirt) who dances her opponents to defeat. Aside from these newcomers, the game also has the return of fan cult-fave Armor King, the jaguar-masked master of dark wrestling. The veteran characters also get lots of new colors and items for customization.

I didn't actually get to play, being content to just watch the fights. The two new fighters didn't impress me too much... not that I saw much of them since the players were predictably using their favorite boring fighters.

I don't expect Dark Resurrection to make it to the PS2, it seems mainly an incentive for the arcade crowd to keep playing. I'm much more interested in seeing the next real Tekken game- hopefully with an itineration still on PS2, with a character creator function like Soul Calibur 3 did. And Tekken Tag Tournament II on PS3. We'll see how the Iron Fist saga goes later this year.

Quest 2006

Last night, the Comic Quest Gang met for the first time this year at UCC Coffee. Along with the 'pillars' of the gang, Vin, Dean, Nikki there were veterans (me and Andrew) and our new-vets, Alex and Kate. Yeah, the roster has changed a bit, but that didn't lessen the bouts of uncontrollable laughter and the intelligent, irreverent and thoroughly entertaining conversations. We talked about life, love and quirks that make each person unique and how in this day and age if you want to make something of yourself you have to take the first steps yourself, or let yourself be helped.

The night ended in the wee hours of the morning after a very early breakfast/food trip at an all-night McDonald's, and then we were off into the night for home. A great way to start the year for the gang. Later, people.

Rising Angel


"Fallen Angel" Lee returns in a big way.

One of my favorite comics in the past couple of years was a DC title known as Fallen Angel. It was an odd title- not quite your regular superhero title, though the protagonist, Lee the Fallen Angel can kick butt with well-nigh invulnerability, super-strength and the ability to psychically EXPLODE anyone who pisses her off. Set in the crime-ridden, corrupt and shadow-cloaked city of Bete Noir, the comic explored Lee's complex relationships with other shady characters, such as her friend/confidante Dolf, hoodlums like the laschivious Asia Minor and the city's untouchable 'magistrate', Juris. Oh, and there's a lot of action too.
Unfortunately, while the comic was a cult hit, it didn't pull in the cash quite like DC's frontrunners like Batman or JLA... so after the 20th issue, Fallen Angel was cast into the dark. However, the creator-owned title has found new life in IDW Publishing, thanks to creator Peter David's hard work as well as the support and encouragement of many, many fans.

Now, the NEW Fallen Angel from IDW Publishing has hit shelves. The character and story are the same- only the title is now set 20 years after the end of the final issue of the DC run. Yep, 20 years. What effect has this on the Fallen Angel and the other members of the cast? Not much- while appearing with a bit of gray in her hair and some wrinkles when in her daytime guise as a PE Teacher, Lee reverts to her young and still damn strong red-haired, red cloaked form at night when Bete Noir comes alive. And business is still booming for the vigilante/mercenary/bounty hunter/ass-kicker known as the Fallen Angel.

The first issue of Fallen Angel features pretty impressive art from new artist J.K. Woodward, whose painted, photo-realistic panels bring to mind the work of Alex Ross. While some action scenes may look a bit stiff, the quality of the art is undeniable and even gives Fallen Angel the look of a TV series- a darker, more visceral Buffy, save with Angels and Devils instead of Slayers and Vampires. Oh, and Peter David reveals a lot in the first ish- past speculations that Lee is none other than a resurrected Supergirl are all but quashed, as the nature of the Fallen Angel's true past is finally shown in a crucial flashback and key dialogue. This pretty much makes issue 1 a superb jumping on point/origin story for new readers, yet still reassuring longtime fans that Lee is still alive and kicking.

I highly recommend this to comic book lovers looking for a more unusual kind of superhero comic, fans of kick-ass female protagonicts, Buffy and Xena fans and cool comics in general. Get your copy now at all branches of Comic Quest.

As of this writing, Fallen Angel #1 has received rave reviews from critics, and the sales of the first issue have pleased IDW Publishing so much that the title is now assured to continue past issue 5. Here's hoping that it's all downhill from here. Go, Lee, GO!

X-babe


Mutie!

Some news from the upcoming X3. A new villain has been added to the cast: The femme fatale Psylocke AKA Betsy Braddock, will join the legions of evil mutants in Magneto's Brotherhood for the third film of the X-men movie franchise. Comic fans of course know that the British-born, purple-haired telepath turned ninja assassin is a good guy (er, girl) in the ongoing Uncanny X-men comics, having re-entered the world of the living recently after being seemingly killed in battle. This may be the first time Psylocke has appeared in any medium aside from the comics and videogames, which is amazing given that she's quite a popular character. What her exact role is in the film is still unknown.
Psylocke will be played by Meiling Melancon (pictured above), a Philippine-born actress whose sole notable prior acting appearance was in the film Rush Hour 2, as the 'girl in car'.

Looking at that pic, I'm certainly looking to see her in action. Hmmm. The X-movies seem to have a penchant for evil Asian girls. I hope she doesn't bite it like Deathstrike did. Wait for X3 by mid 2006.

Sword of Gideon

One of the films I am looking forward to seeing is Steven Spielberg's latest and probably most controversial film. Munich is a thriller based on the events following the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics. In retaliation for this atrocity, the Israeli government sends a squad of assassins to take out the 11 Palestinians said to be responsible for the massacre. Aside from meticulous recreation of the Mossad's assassinations, this also delves into the personal cost and toll this mission takes on the men who carried it out.

I'm very curious about this movie- already shown in the US but still pretty much unknown here (which is odd given that it's from such a well-known director like Steven Spielberg). It's supposed to be 3 hours long and doesn't hold back on the violence- something that may cause it to be censored (though Schindler's List got through without cuts only after some controversy). It's also been lauded for not being partial to either the Israeli or Palestinian side.

The cast is pretty strong: Eric Bana, who has starred in some high profile movies (Hulk, Troy, Blackhawk Down) and always performs admirably in every role, plays the leader of the Mossad squad. Supporting him are Geoffrey Rush (Casanova Frankenstein in Mystery Men, Barbarossa in Pirates of the Carribean), Ciaran Hinds (Caesar in HBO's Rome) and Daniel Craig (the Next James Bond, Tomb Raider). Also appearing is Michael Lonsdale, whom Bond enthusiasts may remember as Hugo Drax in Moonraker.

I'm scouring the DVD shelves for this one. Who knows, it may just pop up before the inevitable (and hopefully not long from now) local theatrical release.

NINJA ATTACK!



Kunoichi Boy #1 is now available at Comic Quest Megamall. This is basically a reprint of the issue that debuted at last year's Komikon, but now with an added foreword and afterword. The 32-page story relates the first meeting between travelling artist/ninja crossdresser Jin Dragu and brawling babe Mikoto in the feudal Japan-esque fantasy land of Tao.
Mixing elements of Ranma 1/2, Inu Yasha and Ninja Scroll, Kunoichi Boy is a fantasy/action/comedy series that I'll be working on producing and releasing throughout 2006. Check it out!

Kunoichi Boy #1 is 32 pages, B/W, Php40.00 at Comic Quest Megamall.

Baking Anime


Kazuma and his passion for bread star in Yakitake! Japan.

Now I've seen everything. Surely, after seeing Yakitake! Japan it's pretty much definite that the Japanese can make an anime out of ANYTHING.

Yakitake! Japan is a series about baking bread. BREAD. How mundane is that? Well, apparently not mundane at all, given how passionate and driven the characters are about kneading, baking and producing the Holy Grail of dough-based products. The series is all about young Kazuma Asuma, who as a young boy growing up in Japan was inspired to love bread while he was a kid by his older sister and a friendly neighborhood Frrench-trained baker. The baker instills in Kazuma the belief that Japan, like many other countries in the world, deserves its own national bread. At that young age, Kazuma also discovers that he has the almost legendary 'Solar Hands'- supernaturally warm and strong hands that can produce the finest and most delicious of breads.
So, ten years after that first meeting, Kazuma goes to Tokyo to start his quest for Japan's national bread. Along the way, he'll have to compete in various baking competitions, meet rivals, make allies and friends and do a lot of kneading before he reaches his goal.

Yakitake is certainly very similar to series like Cooking Master Boy and Grander Musashi, titles which take otherwise boring or unexciting professions and inject into them over-the-top anime flavor to make them more acceptable to wider audiences.
This involves always having a young, good-looking lead with incredible talents, give him cartoony rivals and enemies of varying levels of antagonism (from friendly competition to megalomaniacal psychos) and make the products of the profession (in this case, the bread) be delicious to the point of delirium. As in Cooking Master Boy, eating bread made by Kazuma seems to induce hallucinations and visions of pleasure... you'll wonder what kind of weed he's using in his baking. Brownies, anyone? Along with reactions to bread that border on orgasmic, the series also inserts real facts about baking and breadmaking which are strangely interesting, though probably not very useful unless you find yourself hankering to bake your own pandesal sometime.

Despite the cookie-cutter (heheh) template tendency, it's hard not to enjoy the good-natured and hilarious premise of this series. I have to admit, this is a bit more particular than Cooking Master Boy was (which I really enjoyed), but I certainly find it quite watchable, if not thoroughly entertaining. This is probably not surprising given that I AM a bread lover myself.

I'll probably try and get me some VCDs of Yakitake! Japan if I get the chance, despite the HERO channel dub being quite good (I've really gotten used to tagalog anime, unfortunately), if only because I can't wait to see the episodes. Fortunately, the series has been out for a while, so it's readily available in most anime shops in the Metro.

I recommend watching Yakitake! Japan with a big bag of freshly-baked goodies from Bread Talk and a cold glass of soda. Enjoy!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

It's yet another year forward! MY GOSH! Where did the time go?!

The family spent the eve of the dawning of 2006 together in the homestead, feasting on Mom's Best Spaghetti and embutido on hot, toasted pandesal. Simple but satisfying to the extreme. Afterwards, the kids stormed into The Sanctum for some PS2-powered WWE Wrestling. Whether it's because our time together is now limited or whatever, this was probably the longest time the extended families spent together on a New Year or weekend... it was well past 1 am before everyone called it a night and retired for the New Day of the New Year.

Darn. I'm gonna miss this. Hopefully next year won't be at all lonely. Somehow, someway.

Greetings to all out there who made it into 2006 in one piece! My best wishes to all of you out there: My friends in the Comic Quest gang: Vinnie, Dean, Nikki, Andrew, El, Camy, Dino, Alex, Kate, Charles and Ralph. Also greeting our comic compatriots: Carl, Budjette, Arn and Cyn, Gerry, Wilson, Jennyson, Jeremy, the members of Team K.I.A., Project Hero and Siglo.

Best wishes as well to my fellow slaves at The Salt Mines. Yet another year of hard mining! Woohoo!

Special greetings to the more-or-less regulars here on STARK RAVING MAD... Sheila, Ferres, Ran, Zemzelett and all the rest of ya. Thanks for tagging or commenting in every now and then.

I'm looking forward to another year of cool gadgets, exciting movies, good eating, lots of laughs, comics-making and whatever surprises fate has placed in store for me.

Looking forward to releasing Kunoichi Boy issues every so often. Number 1 is in the can and should be in Comic Quest this week. Issue number two is in progress.

The Last Angel Ace Story is still in development. I want it to matter. I'm sitting on this until it's right. Hopefully it'll be out within 2006. We'll see.

The New Year is upon us. I hope all of you guys came into it with all digits intact. God Bless You all!

ONWARD, EVER FORWARD!

Retrospective

On the verge of making the leap to the New Year, I looked back at 2005 and hey, I guess I didn't do too bad.

At the Salt Mines in the vast mountain known as the business of advertising, us miners worked to turn around the situation at the start of 2005 to reap pretty nice rewards at the end of the year. From zero to hero is a pretty cool way of putting it, modesty aside.

In the field of local comics, I participated in a couple of notable projects which came in at a photo finish near the close of 2005; the much-delayed Siglo: Passion and the soon-to-be continued Project: HERO. Along the way I was able to debut another much-delayed title of my own: Kunoichi Boy, at the quite successful First Philippine KOMIKON.

In the area of gadgets, two nifty toys stood out; my O2 XDA II Mini PDA phone which I got in the middle of the year and look to keep for quite a while... it's turned out to be the perfect phone and media device for me and continues to be my favorite tech toy despite inevitable new models coming (like the XDA Atom and XDA Exec). If there's a new phone coming this year to unseat this from my belt holster, I have not seen it.
The other device I totally dig from 2005 is my spiffy Archos AV700 DVR Recorder/Player. I haven't used it on the road yet, but hours of movies, anime and gaming vids have already passed through it into my phone. Lovely, lovely. I just hope it stays working for a long, long time.

In the field of movies, this was a forgettable year. Big films came late in the year; I was charmed and thrilled by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (IMO, the best Potter film yet), while the last installment of the lackluster Star Wars prequels just capped the trio of monumental mediocrity. I've yet to watch the biggie of 2005, King Kong... I guess it will become the first biggie of 2006 for me then. Funny enough, the last film I watched this year was a local film, Exodus, which is kinda fitting in terms of the title, don't you think?

On the Political Front, the country continues to labor along even with the ridiculously obvious corruption of the government. There were a few bright spots; the seeming stability of the economy and rising of the peso over the dollar towards the end of the year. The second, the Philippines' victory in the recent SEA Games.

At the home front, all is well though we do end 2005 with the melancholy possibility that within the next year the Sanctum's surroundings will be a lot quieter as my siblings and their families migrate to the States and elsewhere. Well, again, thanks to the wonders of modern media, we'll be able to keep in touch even across the miles.

As for the Comic Gang, 2005 saw us having fun as we had years before but eventually mellowing out our 'paint the town red on Saturdays' cycle. Some guys left, maybe never to return. New faces became old faces and thankfully there are still enough of us to bunch up together to do stuff every now and then despite our own individual pursuits.

Once again, not a bad year. Not a great year, but not bad. Not bad at all. And in these times, that's good.

The Grudge, WWE Style

Lately, an 'angle' or storyline on the WWE Smackdown show has young heel (bad guy) Randy Orton being 'haunted' by The Undertaker, whom he supposedly 'killed' (left the guy on a burning car that exploded). One of the recent shows had Orton being continuously harassed by supernatural encounters- from clocks spinning backwards to his father, 'Cowboy' Bob Orton appearing with blood dripping down his face and apparitions of the Undertaker appearing in mirrors.

The clinker that had me laughing out loud was a segment where a reporter suddenly gets 'possessed' and starts speaking with Taker's voice. Bad spirits? More like bad acting. Hoho...

Darn, when the WWE gets corny, it can get totally corny.

There's even a bit of gross-out Fear Factor stuff with the arrival of the wrestler known as The Bogeyman, who eats live worms and nightcrawlers and SPITS them onto his defeated opponents. GROOOOOSSSSS.

Well, whatever. Still a hoot to watch after all this time.

The Wait Begins

Okay.

Dead or Alive 4 is on the verge of widespread release. It's already apparently available in Asia, at least in Japan and probably elsewhere like in Hong Kong. The US will probably get theirs by tomorrow or later today. Online, forum boards are starting to trickle in with new pics and videos.

Doesn't change the fact that Xbox360s are horribly expensive here locally right now, or presently unavailable. Unless the stocks of the console go up and the prices go down, I won't be playing this next-gen brawler anytime soon. Hopefully in a couple of months... maybe. Darn. For now, I'll have to content myself with the new info and any media I can grab.

Darn. Oh well. Everything comes to he who waits.

BUT DAMN IT I HATE WAITING...