Going Hyper

If I had a marketing budget, I'd follow the suggestion of some of the gang and really work on marketing K.I.A. to the high heavens when it comes out in a couple of weeks. Yeah, yeah, there will be the customary posters and hanging mobiles for Comic Quest, but then I was suggested to do a BIG launch event.

We'd have a venue, and food and waiters and shit, and the biggest thing would be a real-live Agent K, standing right there! We'd get a sexy model, have her hair cut to Kai's style, have her wear the green and black battle bikini and the cloth wraps and have her standing in front of the venue, glaring at people.
Yeah, she'd have to be gorgeous since the darn outfit doesn't allow for anything but a damn perfect bod. Of course, we'd have to have someone standing by and keep any weirdos from getting too close to her or molesting her... or, better yet, we'll get a model who actually knows martial arts so she can beat up anyone who pisses her off, true to the character!

Unfortunately for her, she'd have to stay in character and look slightly angry and hostile all the time (which I imagine would be tiring after a while), not to mention she has to stay half-naked and barefoot in the cold mall environment- and it just won't do to have the unkillable, indomitable super-assassin sneezing or shivering in front of onlookers. Maybe we can have her stand on a nice carpeted area? Or have her wear a trenchcoat, and just show off her bod during key moments of the launch? Well, whatever. These are the things you can think about with reckless abandon since they will probably never come true. Merchandising glitz is waffle, and unless you have the actual comic or product, they're all useless.

Which reminds me of that whole fiasco with Taekwondogs, several years ago. Ask any local comics veteran in Alamat about it, and you'll get rueful smiles. Created by Gil De Palma, a self-described 'surfer dude', the 'comic' was about a bunch of half-dog, half-human heroes who fought evil with their power-barks(!). Their names I think were Yip, Rouf, Brrk and Arf... I forget. Anyway, they fought enemies named WaWeWiWoWanda, King Aeiou, Boom-Sharka-Larka-Lark the Shark-headed Dog and other crazy shit- easily some of the crappiest-sounding characters and concepts I've ever heard- this was, seriously, like some BS you can think up while taking a crap.

The whole thing sounded crazy, but somehow Mr. De Palma SOLD this concept and had a whole bunch of people working on the book. There was merchandising, figurines, a big event at Megamall and lots of hype. But the most this thing ever had was a 200-page sourcebook which was horrendously produced (abysmally bad use of fonts and layouts, and the book practically self-destructed due to crappy binding) and was filled with stupid (if entertainingly stupid) drivel.

By the time the hoopla was over though, the actual comic was nowhere to be seen. Mr. De Palma was gone, leaving a lot of pissed-off artists and people who were never paid for their services, and sellers waiting for product which never arrived. The hype that Taekwondogs generated was a first in it's time, making comics seem like big business... on the downside, that it turned out to be ultimately vaporware ensured that sponsors would be wary of any such venture ever again.

Well, at the very least, I'll have a comic in my hands before I do any marketing or hype. Yeah, I have no budget. Just some cash from the pocket to do a couple of posters and mobiles, and the magic of Internet mailing lists and word-of-mouth to help sell K.I.A. But then, right now I'm happy at having done this thing, to be able to tell a story and bring a character to life... and that's worth the money and effort I've put into this. If it sells well, and I'm able to continue, then I'll consider this a success.

Otherwise, it's just another page in the sordid saga of this storyteller. Moving on then. Heh.

Crashed

First it was Questor. And now, I’ve heard from hearsay that the mega-popular Culture Crash comics/manga-zine has closed down, and that the latest issue (which came out months ago) was the last one. Correct me if I’m wrong, people.
Now THIS is a pity, since I have heard from Vin that issues of CC regularly sell very well. The quality of the art and production has remained pretty much constant throughout, and the story was JUST getting to the meaty parts (which was long in the coming since the series had 15 or so issues already out). But then, the publishing and selling of comics as a business is a very complex and unpredictable road, so no one is really immune to problems. While indie guys like me, or Oliver Pulumbarit and others can release books every now and then, supporting an actual company with regular employees isn't the easiest thing to do. Still, it would be a pity if CC was gone, considering that they would leave their stories and characters drifting.

So far, after 15 issues, the state of the CC stories are as follows…

Pasig
A major confrontation between hero Dante and a group of enemies has been resolved (I think). Nothing developed between him and the female lead. No development on any overall plot. Nothing really revealed of the characters’ feelings for one another, if any. No sign of where this is going.

One Day, Isang Diwa
We are introduced to the guys and gals at a high school where fairies and mystical creatures also wander about. Recently, the Lead guy puts himself in the hot seat after kissing lead female (an event which actually rocked the boat and made this more interesting). This led to a fight between the Lead Guy and Other Lead Guy, which had no real resolution. Nothing has been resolved. The fairy angle has also been downplayed, and no resolution or development on that end.

Cat’s Trail
JUST getting to the meaty part of a big battle between royal guards, the heroes and a sexy ninja chick. Nothing resolved.

Kubori Kikiam
I have no clue what’s going on here…

If I had released 15 issues of Angel Ace, her story would be DONE by then. I’d have moved on to other characters. But CC… after all this time, they are barely getting their characters introduced. I would be incredibly disappointed if they suddenly disappeared (well, they have… question is, will they stay that way?), leaving so much undone. I pretty much know at least some of them are still doing work with Seven Seas Publishing, but aside from that… will CC release another local issue? Well, that’s all up to their Big Boss, James Palabay, who is their producer and driving force. Perhaps when they get their issues straight, we’ll see.

Videogame Night

Tonight the gang's going to converge in The Sanctum for some retro-gaming fun. It's something that Dean and Vin planned a couple of weeks ago, and now we're pushing through. Of course, we won't be playing any of the new stuff- lined up will be classic games like Bushido Blade, Samurai Shodown, Super Street Fighter II and games from the Sega Genesis like Toejam and Earl. I don't exactly know how things will work out, but we'll have chips and softdrinks and hang out till the gang gets a hankering for some singing in the wee hours of the morning. Heh.

Found


Forty castaways. An island. A monster. Whoa.

Finally watched LOST last night. I've been hearing of this popular hit series from Dean for a long time now, but it was only last night that it debuted on AXN.

From J.J. Abrams, the director of Alias, comes this series which seems to be a cross between Survivor, Alive, Gilligan's Island and Jurassic Park. A plane mysteriously crashes on an island somewhere in the middle of nowhere. As the forty or so survivors pick themselves out of the wreckage, they soon have to contend with various issues, and not just mundane stuff like getting food and surviving the elements... they have to contend with the possibility of a murderer in their midst, discover the truth about the crash and the growing fear that they may never get rescued.
All this and there seems to be a MONSTER on the frickin' island. A big, hulking, growling, flesh-rending monster... that seems to be invisible as well, since no one seems to have ever seen it... at least, not seen it and lived.

It's an intriguing premise, and the cast looks likeable and interesting to watch. They even have Dominic Monaghan (Merry from LOTR) in it... I wonder if he lasts long though...

Anyway, LOST is showing every Thursday on AXN. Find it if you can.

Triple X

There has been quite a lot of hubbub around the future of the X-men movie franchise, especially after director Bryan Singer defected to the DC movie Superman, taking with him several actors (notably James "Cyclops" Marsden). Anyway, a new director for X3 has been named- never heard of him though- and there will be new characters joining the X-crew for the third film.
Joining Professor X, Wolverine and the rest will be the furry Beast, Cajun card-flinger Gambit and... get this... a FEMALE Angel. OOOH! Seeing as how a winged femme fatale was so cool in Constantine (a bitchy Gabriel, care of Tilda Swinton), I'm actually excited to see the girl-version of Warren Worthington. Heh.

Well, no word on the story, though judging from movie 2 the Dark Pheonix saga may be the thing that's in for the next one. As long as they still have Rebecca Romjin-Stamos as Mystique, I'm still in for it. Heheh.

Darna

As if in response to my recent interest in the upcoming Darna TV series, I got a reminder of how stinky the franchise can get via probably THE worst movie with the Darna title, the Anjanette Abayari-starrer, Darna: Ang Pagbabalik (I say probably since I am not sure if the one starring Nanette Medved was worse).

This movie just hits everything wrong. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE- from a campy Cherie Gil as Dr. Valentine (original villainess Valentina's daughter) who just goes hammy in her scenes as a demagogue/preacher complete with green-caped dancers and henchmen- to pretty much everyone from guards and passersby or crowds of extras who are just supposed to look up and gawk. The only one who doesn't overact is lead actress Anjanette herself- who UNDERacts. Plus, the portrayal of Darna herself is pretty stupid. She poses, she acts arrogantly and never seems to have any personality aside from smiling and looking sweet when she's being cheered by the masses. In one particular scene, she faces off with a gun-toting pretty boy named Magnum, who pretty much has shot over a dozen people (well, all of his gang). Instead of collaring this killer, Darna just exchanges some banter, then drops the guy in a garbage truck and laughs. Never mind that he gets away. How stupid is that?
Anyway, I've given up on director Peque Gallaga long ago, after crappers like his Magic Temple/Kingdom series, and all of his later Shake, Rattle and Roll films. And well, Anjanette was most probably selected for her ability to fill a bikini, not act (or speak tagalog, I think). Oh well.

Heh. Rant over. For now.

Poisonous Repast

What IS it with the cases of Food Poisoning these days??? First there was that horrible poisoning and death of over 28 students from cassava, and NOW there's this thing about a HUNDRED more people getting downed by party food in Tarlac. What is this... Deadly Food month? I honestly have never seen stuff like this before. Filipinos eat all sorts of crap each day- so why's this fad suddenly up and about?
Darn, just when you thought it was safe to eat some fishballs again...

Fruition

Tonight, I went to Comic Quest to pick up not only the week's new reads, but some page and cover samples of K.I.A. left by my one-man-band print production manager, El. I was kinda worried about how the art- much of it being heavy on black and tones- would look on the paper. Seems like my worries were for naught since the pages look simply excellent. That's what you get with quality printers and production people.
Based on how the pages and the printed covers (on the actual paper stock to be used this time) looked with the samples, the final books should look pretty slick. I just can't stop staring at them. Heh.

Anyway, I've been told that the books may be finished just before the Holy Week proper starts, but of course the first twenty copies I get will be earmarked for the members of Team K.I.A. who made this project possible. I should get down to producing the posters and any other display items I'll need for when we actually get the book on the comic racks in early April or so.

Just a little bit more. Wait for it.

Why are you eyeballing me???

I was just checking out the Angel Ace website, and then the K.I.A. cover art, and then the material for the K.I.A. webpage.
In the Angel Ace site, Kai's eyes are brown. In K.I.A., Agent K's eyes are GREEN.

GYAAAH!!!

Kai has always been an oriental/Asian character, and brown is always the base color. But then, I've always thought of her having green eyes... I love green. It's my favorite color and it's always been the color of Kai's outfits in all her incarnations and designs. I guess deep inside I've always thought that her eyes should be jade or emerald of hue.

Well, this inconsistency can easily be explained. After she was liquidated and sent to the place where she was to be 'changed', her identity was totally erased. Her fingerprints are removed and her eye color changed as well. We could also theorize that perhaps the change in eye color was caused by the process that gave Kai her heightened physical abilities and powers of regeneration. Perhaps... she's now actually part plant! Heh... Hmm. That's actually not a bad idea...

Whatever. Anyway, her peepers are green now. Moving on...

Brutal Fantasy


Rau and Tati are set to bloody your PS2 this April.

I've so far been very happy with my recent gaming acquisitions. Yeah, Champions: Return to Arms was really just more of the same, but Tekken 5 is simply awesome and Street Fighter Anniversary gives me my favorite Streetfighter III: Third Strike on the PS2. The next game I'm looking to own and enjoy is the sharp-looking Rise of the Kasai.
A sequel to The Mark of Kri, ROTK continues the story of Rau, the great Raku warrior-hero who bashed in skulls and impaled enemies with brutal efficiency. Well, he's back... sort of. ROTK is both prequel and sequel to MOK, taking place both ten years before and after the events in the first game. Apparenlty, in the present time, Rau has been mysteriously slain, so now his younger sister Tati, one of several new playable characters, takes up the quest to find out the circumstances around his death- and get some bloody payback while she's at it. Tati was a ten-year old in the first game, but in ROTK she's a hot 20-year old thong-wearing assassin chick who could give my own Agent K a lesson or two in looking mean. Anyway, the story revolves around Tati and the fact that she has been tattooed with a Mark of Kri- an evil spell that gives her great power at the cost of her soul.
Aside from the intriguing story of a whodunit-howdidit murder mystery and the internal/external struggles of the heroes, Rise of the Kasai will impress with it's odd combination of Disney-esque character designs and Conan the Barbarian-class death-dealing. Add to that stealth mechanics and a buddy-system (your character teams up with a CPU-AI controlled ally) and you get a game that mixes action and strategy in one sexy mix.

Rise of the Kasai is set for an early April release on the PS2. I can't wait to cut me some throats. Ooh, crispy!

Overtime

It's the third day of the week, and the third day we're doing overtime at The Salt Mines. It's not really that bad, but you do get positively pooped. I've had the case of the sniffles since Monday, and thankfully regular doses of vitamin C and rest have kept my nose from running completely wild. Anyway, it's great that we're able to accomplish stuff, and hopefully all this work will bear fruit later.
Still, I am DAMN glad that the Holy Week is just around the corner. Looking forward to just turning off my brain and pursuing some of my base desires... Darn, that sounds dirty. And during the Semana Santa too. Heh. Just gonna read comics, watch TV (gotta love cable) and dvds, play games, think about comics and marketing K.I.A. and all that jazz. Oh, and I'm gonna sleep. Sleep as much as I want. Mmm.

Lipad, Darna, LIPAD!


Angel Locsin dons the red bikini for the Darna TV series.

It's been revealed recently that the much-awaited Darna TV series will star actress Angel Locsin in the title role. Alessandra de Rossi as Darna's nemesis, Valentina. The series, to be shown on GMA7, will be directed by Dominic Zapanta. I had the opportunity to interview Direk Dom several months ago, and he seems to have lots of cool ideas... hopefully this will show in this ambitious series.
Darna TV will take on recent shows like the popular Mulawin (a saga of good vs evil birdmen) and perhaps Darna's most direct competition, the superhero series Krystala with Judy Ann Santos. There will be CG effects, flying, and fantastic foes from classic Darna characters to all-new enemies created just for the series.

According to Budjette, Valentina now looks like a female Omega Red, as she has but one snake on her head (instead of a nest of snakes, Medusa-style) and uses two snakes as whips. Another villain is Molekula, a shape-shifting character whom Budj describes as similar to the movie version of X-men's Mystique (is she naked, too? Heh).

I have to admit, I want to see this show, at least at the start. I wanna see if the story, effects and fights are any good.

We'll see if it flies. Heh.

The Darna TV series is set for release next month on GMA 7.

The Best Medicine

Last night I came home tired and feeling positively sick. My nose was all clogged up, My eyes ached and even my lips hurt. After having a shot of Vitamin C, I flopped into bed to get some rest since I couldn't NOT go to work the next day. Just before I nodded off, I turned on the TV and saw America's Funniest Videos on the Disney Channel. Of all the clips of people tripping, falling, slipping and sliding, the one video that had me laughing my eyes out was a really cute and funny clip entitled 'The Quad Squad'. The clip is from the home videos of Steve Mathias of his identical quadruplet baby girls, and has the doting father making faces to make his kids laugh, which they do- with identical laughs in unison. The sight of three identical babies laughing together was so infectious that I was literally laughing myself to tears (the cold helped).

Anyway, apparently the Quad Squad video won the grand prize for that season of America's Funniest Videos, something I am not surprised at. It was a nice image to see going to sleep, and perhaps it helped me recover from my stupor. Laughter really does help. Heh.

Revenge of the Trailer

Just saw the full-length trailer to Revenge of the Sith. FINALLY, the saga will be complete. The circle will be closed on this controversial trilogy. Yeah, it's a paradox. We all know it's got as much lousy acting, boring sequences and ungainly storytelling as it does cool CG effects and lightsaber duels, but we're still ALL going to watch it.
Anyway, the finale to the prequel trilogy looks to be the best, or the least worst, in that we will at last see the answers to the many questions that have been flitting since the fracas began. What will eventually push Anakin (Hayden Christensen) to the Dark Side? How did Palpatine/Sidious/The Emperor hide his presence from the Jedi even though audiences have known since Episode One? What will happen to the long-suffering Amidala (Natalie Portman) before she vanishes into the mists of obscurity into Episode VI and beyond?

ROTS promises lots of carnage- battles aplenty and a reckoning between the Jedi and the Separatist leaders Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and the new enemy, General Grievous. Jedi being hunted down like dogs by their former allies, the Clones. And the evil Sith in action. For the action alone, I'm looking forward to this. Acting? Story? We'll see. Maybe we'll be surprised. Or maybe not.

The Sith take their revenge on May 19 in the US, with the rest of the world following (hopefully) soon after. We'll see then.

Fickle

Last night, some bug seemed to hit my little gadgets, particularly my laptop, memory cards and PC. I usually ferry files between my PC and my Mac using a combination of my communicator (O2 XDA II) and a card reader, with either a Memory Stick or my 1 Gigabyte SD Card. Well, for some reason last night my Mac suddenly started refusing particular kinds of files, and things were hanging here and there. My card reader wouldn't register on the Mac. I had to restart and reboot my computers again and again, and it was infuriating.
Perhaps it was a all caused by the heat- it was damn hot and the laptop was steaming like a toaster. I had wanted to save a bit of electricity and do without the climate control, but you really can't do that when you have computers working.
Well, today everything seems to be working fine again... perhaps, like me, the technology just had a bit of the flu. Nothing a couple of vitamins and a good night's sleep can't handle. I hope.

Mock Up


K.I.A. in my hands... not.

No, the printers aren't finished yet. The K.I.A. issue in my hand is just a mock-up made with a sample print of the cover and the paper stock being used. Anyway, I know what's inside, so having this dummy is almost as good as having the real thing! Heheh... Right. It's just my way of coping with the wait. Gah.

Anticipated Flicks

Here are some of the upcoming movies I'm pretty excited to see...

Sin City
This film adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novels about a gritty, crime and corruption-riddled burg and the colorful characters that reside in it looks like it was ripped straight from the page. A unique visual presentation, a cast of big-name actors and lots of sexy ladies makes this a must-see. I actually haven't read the comic yet, but I may soon enough.

Cool Stuff: Seeing Elijah Wood take an evil turn as a twisted psychopath Kevin. Watching deadly ninja babe Miho (Devon Aoki) in action. Seeing a comic book come to life in what director Robert Rodriguez touts as the most faithful adaptation ever. We'll see.

Batman Begins
Shedding off the gaudy silliness that marred the last film in this franchise, this latest caped crusader flick brings the story back to the beginning, focusing on the origin of Batman (Christian Bale) and his development from traumatized billionaire heir to masked, caped vigilante. New cast members fill in old roles- Michael Caine is Alfred, while Gary Oldman is James Gordon. Last Samurai's Ken Watanabe plays the devilish Ra's Al Ghul. Where's Talia though? Oh, and is Liam Neesonacting as a Jedi Master AGAIN?

Cool Stuff: Batman's new ride is more battle-ready than something chicks would dig. And what could be cooler than Batman versus ninja?

Mr. and Mrs. Smith
It's Spy Vs Spy in a domestic setting, but substitute gender for the sides of the struggle. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are a happy but bored couple who are in actuality each high-level assassins but unaware of each other's identities. When they are hired to off their spouse, fireworks ensue.

Cool Stuff: Seeing Achilles take on Lara Croft. It's intriguing to see how they actually handle this story- will it be comedic or dead-serious? And will we actually see either Pitt or Jolie (or both) bite the bullet? Probably not, but it'll be fun to see.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Yeah, I admit it. I want to see this. However, it's more to see whether George Lucas saved the worst or the least worst for last.

Cool Stuff: Seeing Sith in action and kicking those namby-pamby goody-two shoes stoopid Jedis butts. HAH!


On the Other Hand, I'm not too hot about these...

Robots
Boooorrrrriinng. From the makers of Ice Age comes this yarn about a country botkin going to try his luck in the big city. Yawn. Yeah, the animation and design should be interesting... if you're a robot enthusiast. I don't even like robot anime, so this really isn't for me.

Fantastic Four
"Five go into space. One will become BAD. Four will become... FANTASTIC!" Geh.

Madagascar
I don't like robots, and I don't like animals either...

All in all, the future looks good for MAD movies in the next few months. Hopefully I'll have time to visit the theaters when the good ones hit.

Killer Inevitable Anticipation

It never fails. I can tell when I'm close to releasing a comic. I've done it a lot of times and it's always the same thing. Last night, I just stayed in The Sanctum, pacing back and forth, alternating between staring at a mock-up of the final comic, and reading issues of past local indies that I've collected.
Maybe I should bring out the ol' comics more often, and read through them more. It's fun- like going back in time, when enthusiasm for making comics was at an all-time high, when stories and art didn't seem to need to be technically sound, when everything seemed to have to stop at a cliffhanger.
I took a ton of them out from the shelf- oldies like the pioneer comics- Flashpoint, Shadow/Scions, P-Noise/Indigo Valley, TKS: The Killstalker/Age of the Valkyrie, Alamat 101, Memento Mori, Exodus. Then there are the later books- Myth Class, Wasted, Dhampyr, Pantheon, Horus, K2K... all the way to the more recent Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, Trip to Tagaytay, After Eden, Siglo: Freedom, Darna, Lastikman and the latest releases of Ignition Comix, Chips and the latest indies. Looking back at where local indies started from is always important for me, prior to releasing anything new. It's a way for me of gauging I guess how far I have come, how much I have learned or changed, and what I have to do to improve even further.
Gosh. Those were the days.

Anyway, things are so different now. Artists and creators are so much better, with a better command of art and technique. Competition is not as intense as before, since there are fewer releases, but it will always be there. Every release is a challenge to others to do better. And I relish this... I love getting better at what I do. And I love doing comics.

Darn, next week can't come soon enough.

When Worlds Collide


No, it's not a fantasy. It is truth.

First it was Marvel VS Capcom. Then, the unthinkable happened with SNK VS Capcom. And now, we have Namco VS Capcom, putting the two makers of arguably the two most popular fighting game franchises (Street Fighter and Tekken) together in one game.
But unlike previous Capcom Versus games, Namco X Capcom (tentative title) is not a fighting game, but an RPG. We don't know the story yet, but the game will bring together characters from the various titles and franchises of each company's stable. So, expect characters from Streetfighter, Resident Evil, Megaman and more to interact with personages from Tekken, Xenosaga, Tales of Destiny and other Namco games.
No word yet if or when the game will hit a US release, but the popularity of both companies should make this a no-brain release for the world.

Another Crossover Collision coming in the near future- Nemesis, which brings characters from Marvel Comics up against a new wave of characters created by Electronic Arts entertainment. This will result in not just a game but actual comics. Interesting stuff... we'll see if any of them are worth squat when they all come out later this year.


From Right to Left: Ryu from Streetfighter, Jin Kazama from Tekken and Hideo from Rival Schools. And some robot dude.

Fatality

In a bit of tragic videogame-related news, five boys aged 13 to 16 have been arrested in Latvia for the murder of one of their friends. The boys apparently beat the 16-year old victim to death using moves and techniques emulated from Mortal Kombat. Now, the Latvian authorities aren't wholly blaming videogames, citing also violence on TV and movies, and of course the suspects probably had their reasons for the heinous act.
Anyway, I've always heard stories about little kids doing 'Hadokens' and Dragon Punches in play, sometimes getting hurt in the process. It's a parent's responsibility to keep an eye on their kids, not particularly to focus on videogames, but on their kids' behavior and upbringing in general.

Gantz


Pick your weapon.

Last night before going to bed I watched one episode of the controversial anime Gantz. This show was supposedly heavily-edited before it was shown in Japan TV because of the gory violence and stuff, so I was actually kinda pumped to see it. Unfortunately, I don't have the first two episodes, so I had to start with episode three.
Anyway, the show is about a youth named Kei Kurono who gets run over by a train with his pal. While the gory way they get run over is one of the controversial bits, I've read that the real cause for the hubbub is how this show portrays how people act as impassive voyeurs when their fellow men are in danger, treating death as a spectacle and little else. This pretty nihilistic view is questionable in my view, but whatever.
After getting killed, Kei and his friend suddenly find themselves in a small sealed apartment, with some other people (also recently deceased) and a BIG black ball. The ball, known as The Gantz, has various alien weaponry inside it (and also apparently a human body) which it distributes to the 'contestants' for the game. This game is pretty clear- they have to kill or dispatch some hidden aliens. The contestants have a limited time to complete their missions; failure means permanent death. Survival and terminating the aliens means continued play.

Well, my comments on the first episode are mixed. For a Gonzo anime, this show looks pretty BAD. The computer effects aren't too impressive, and the character animation, even little things like how they talk, is awkward and badly done, to the point that I thought this was made at best by less-skilled Korean animators, or at worst an amateur, fan-made feature. I don't know if this was intentional or what, but it just looks BAD. The voice acting is also on the annoying side; the dialogue is irritating with lots of awkward filler and your usual anime cliche speak with the whiny hero, the screechy girl and the shady, amoral practical guy. The talking went a bit like this...

Kei: WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!!!
Other Guy: I don't have to tell you.
Kei: YOU HAVE TO TELL US!!!
Other Guy: Okay, I will.
Kei: I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!
Other Guy: You don't have to believe me. You're all hypocrites.
Kei: I'M NOT A HYPOCRITE!!!

Bah.

Maybe it's not fair to judge the show on this one episode (and episode three at that), but really, I wasn't that impressed. However, I'm willing to watch the next couple of episodes to see if it's going anywhere, and if the quality of the visuals and audio improves. Anyway, the third episode didn't blow me away particularly to be controversial or anything... in fact, the most horrifying thing I saw was the substandard visuals and animation given that this is by Gonzo, one of my favorite anime production houses. Well, with them doing a G.I. Joe OAV, a Witchblade anime and probably tons of other stuff, maybe they're spreading themselves a bit too thin.

Cameraphones

Yesterday night, while talking over details about the K.I.A. webpage with my friend Drew, I got a text from El asking 'Aside from MMS, Phlogging and Wallpapers, what can I do with photos taken with my cellphone?'

Hmmm. Well, last night all I could think of was 'reference'. I mean, if you found something you like- a design or a certain artwork or piece of architecture, you could snap a pic and take it back with you. Thinking it through though, here are some other uses for cameraphone pics...

Identifying crooks! If you recognize someone as a shady character featured in the classifieds, snap a pic as proof and show it to the cops. You may even earn a reward!

Be an instant Paparazzi! On those rare occasions that you cross paths with a tinseltown personality, sexy screen siren or other media luminary, you can remember this momentous occasion with a click of the phone. And with the magic of Photoshop you can even show yourself getting intimate with 'em. Heh.

Call for help! If you get lost, you can take a pic of some landmark and send it to your peeps to help them send the cavalry to pick you up.

Ghost Hunting! Find yourself in a creepy building? Make the most of the situation by snapping pics and who knows... you could catch some spectral activity and have your pic featured on 'Wag Kukurap.

PORN. Even better with a videocam feature. Nuff said.

There are probably lots and lots more uses for the nice, low-res but ubiquitous photos you can take with your trusty cameraphone. I still think that iimage capture is still one of the best developments in mobiles, not the least of which is that it turned all of us into voyeurs and released the potential stalkers in all of us. YAY! Isn't technology grand?

Cab Story

On the way to work today, I took a cab and halfway to the office the cabbie talked to me about how gas prices are going to go up again today. The talk eventually led to his situation at work, where in one of his jobs (where he has been working for 17 years) he hasn't been paid his salary for 11 months. Though I was only half-listening at the outset, hearing this made my hackles rise. I can't fathom not getting paid for one month- HOW THE HECK CAN YOU SURVIVE WITHOUT BEING PAID FOR ALMOST A YEAR??? Well, apparently the guy has other works that keeps him and his family (he has four kids) from starving. But sometimes, they fall short and sometimes had to practically beg the company to dole out some cash (the last time being to pay for their kid's medical bills). Of course, their company has assets and their boss supposedly has NINE cars and all the upper management people are well off.
Well, after taking all that shit they finally got together to go to the Department of Labor to help them out. I pretty much told him to keep at it until they nail their frickin' corrupt bosses to cough up what's due. It's just crazy.

Anyway, got down and got to work. Damn, do I feel lucky.

Hell and Back Again


Koff-koff... HAAAHHKK... Guhk...

FINALLY got to watch the movie Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz, and based on the comic Hellblazer. Now, I'm not really a fan of the comic, though I've seen the character in stuff like Books of Magic. Basically, John Constantine is a cigarette-smoking mystic who spends his days exorcising demons and sending evil half-demons back to Hell if they go out of line and break the truce between Heaven and Earth. The reason for this is hardly altruistic on John's part- because of a sin he committed years ago, he's condemned to damnation when he dies (which is SOON, since he's just been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer), so now he's trying to 'buy' his way back to Heaven. However, according to the Angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton), he's got about as much chance as an ice cube in an inferno.
But when a police detective (Rachel Weisz) comes to him asking to look into the supposed suicide of her twin sister, he finds himself in a race to stop a plot to unleash Hell on Earth.

Perhaps it helped that I'm not a fan of the comic book, or perhaps it's just that I really don't have any biases against Keanu Reeves' movies... but I really just liked this movie. The story's not bad, the effects are pretty slick, and the action, suspense and atmosphere make this a particularly hellish experience to watch- which in this case is not a bad thing. Anyway, for a two-hour movie it went by quite quickly without any real slow or boring parts. I'm quite glad I was able to watch it in the theaters, instead of at home on DVD.

Anyway, watched it at Cubao's Gateway Mall- and I have to say that the central Cubao area looks pretty awesome, with lots of nice restos and bright lights. The Gateway Mall theaters are also quite nice. I'd probably go and watch more movies there again when I can.

Book For Barter


Hai's and Jason DeAngelis' Blade for Barter.

I woke up today with a pleasant surprise- a package arrived from ol' Hai. I opened it to find a brand-spankin' new copy of Blade for Barter, one of the first wave of new manga from Seven Seas Publishing.
The book is about the adventures of Ryunosuke Washington, a samurai-for-hire living in New Edo, a city which appears to be a mix of New York and Ancient Japan. We follow Ryu as he tries to walk the straight-and-narrow path in a world gone crazy, clashing with baddies like the corrupt Samurai Union, the Mafuza (Mafia-Yakuza?) and a Mad Overlord named Lord Hoseki. The series is written by Jason DeAngelis with art by Hai.

The book looks like a load of fun, with Hai's clean lines resulting in pages that are light and cartoony, but at times maddeningly detailed and full like something you'd see from Larry Alcala's Slice of Life cartoons. It kinda gives me the impression of how Sergio Aragones' Groo would look done in manga. Cool stuff.

It's a really slick first-release from Seven Seas, and it shows how this new publisher has their act together. They're ready to take on the biggie Tokyo Pop. I'm pretty excited to see what they come up with next. Good work, Hai!

Copycats

I find it pretty funny how local TV is aping the current popular trends on cable and foreign channels. The demand for horror started by Asian movies like Ringu resulted in Nginiig: The Hidden FIles and rival Walang Kukurap. The reality-TV craze spawned things like Extra Challenge and other star-making vehicles. I find particularly funny is one show about dancing that is imitating American Idol, with a panel of judges who make comments and throw barbs or challlenges at the contestants. The crappy thing is, WHO are these judges? Do they have a right to even judge these contestants?
Another pretty apish new local show is Kamao, a reality-TV boxing show which is an obvious imitation of the about-to-be-shown The Contender with Sylvester Stallone. Wow, that was fast.

Well, whatever works and sells, I guess. The local channels really need to make money.

I suppose it could be worse. In another world, we might have Alyas, a drama-action series about a female deep-cover NBI agent posing as a courier in a crime syndicate who likes to wear red wigs... or maybe Ligaw, which has an ensemble cast of characters stuck on a deserted island with bloodthirsty aswang... or maybe CSI Manila, with local techniques like torture substituting for forensics and technology. Hey, these things actually don't sound that bad. Heh.

Pause

Now that K.I.A. is going to print (saw the paper stock we're using last night), I'm here at a bit of a calm before the storm. I think I have a bit of time to rest, but that's probably wishful thinking. Still gotta think of the K.I.A. website (though someone else will be doing it- I'll just be writing the text), posters and display materials for use at Comic Quest, and the inevitable need for PR and exposure in any and every anime, comic or hobby event there is from March onwards to the end of the year. And I STILL want to hold that Grand Launch with all the creators and contributors (well, almost all) together. And I want T-shirts. We'll see what we can pull off.

But for now though, I think I can spare the weekend for some recharge time. New comics are due tonight (latest Fallen Angel and Shanna the She-Devil), and I gotta catch up on some reading, some more hours of Tekken 5 playtime (It made me remember why I love the franchise) and anime watching. Lots of things, so little time. Story of my life. Oh well.

Oscars

This year's Academy Awards came and went. Didn't see any of the featured movies, 'cept maybe for minor entries like Spiderman 2 (which won for Best Special Effects... Yay!) or The Incredibles. The best parts for me were the Edna Mode cameo- though I wonder if they did it to compensate for Pierce Brosnan's raspy throat- and the 'In Memoriam' segment (kinda morbid, I know). I miss Billy Crystal. I miss Lord of the Rings. Oh well. Next year, I hope Kung Fu Hustle makes it in for any award. Heh.

MAD About Tacos


Tacos to make you go 'Ariba!'

The best taco in town isn't found at Taco Belle, despite what the billboard along Katipunan says. Nope, in the rare times that I was actually able to taste the fare at the popular Gateway Mall branch, it was really nothing special. If you want great tacos, you don't have to crowd with the throngs that clog TB in Cubao. Just head on over to any Pancake House- they've been serving great, delicious tacos for years and years. And they make good side dishes to a plate of flapjacks. Or, you could try the tacos at Magoo's pizza, which is actually quite good. For me, it's all in the mix of the shell, the veggies, cheese and savoury meat, and how they all remain distinct as you crunch into the snack.
But really, my best discovery in tacos recently just has to be the delicious fare at Kamicos, a snack kiosk at Shoppesville Plus in Greenhills. They say they've got the 'Best Tacos in Town', and what can I say? After tasting one a couple of weeks ago, everytime I go to GH I am compelled to buy a couple. The meat is juicy and savoury, the veggies crisp and the cheese plentiful on top. Heap on the hot sauce and enjoy! Better yet, the shells they use are crispy but firm, and eating is not messy. Have a couple or one with a pasta dish- it's great!
So if you got a taco craving, no need to go to those big-name Mexican places. There are other places for to sate that crispy craving. Just have a try and crunch away.

Iron-Fisted


Namco saves the best for last.

Got Tekken 5 for the PS2 a couple of days ago, and it's pretty awesome. I've also played the arcade version, and all I can say is that the conversion is spot on. Graphically, it's almost identical- save for stuff that only a hardcore Tekkenhead would miss. As for gameplay, it's tight and pretty cool... it takes off the unwelcome additions made in the unpopular Tekken 4, giving it a bit of the old school feel from the better past games.
Anyway, the gang's back, including some oldies like Wang Jinrei and Bruce Irvin, and the offspring of the original Roger the Kangaroo. There are three totally new competitors; power-hungry, amoral kung fu badass Feng Wei resembles an oriental Paul Pheonix with his hard, brutal hits, while ninja superspy Raven enters the fray with his deceptive moves. Finally, teen dream Asuka Kazama is the spiritual successor of Tekken 2's Jun Kazama, with her graceful moves and counters.

The PS2 version gives the customary home extras, but revs up the juice with stuff like the arcade versions of the first three Tekkens, playable in the disc in the game's Arcade History mode.
Playing through Story Mode is now a lot cooler thanks to new and improved voice acting for all the characters- Namco did a great job, and the characters sound great, some even speaking in their native languages. It helps a lot that the Story mode has some nice extra scenes along with the opening narration and ending CG... you CAN actually make heads and tails of what's going on... though often what's going in is pretty crazy.
The best part of the Story Mode is of course the CG endings, of which every character has one. Despite the serious storyline shown in the Opening CG, any of the endings are pretty funny... if not downright comedic. My only gripe is one ending- which shows off a couple of the Tekken MEN in skimpy skimpy thongs(!). Now, Namco has resisted putting their babes in bikinis... but WHY oh WHY do they have no compunctions in putting Heihachi in a thong? EH? Gah, my eyes.

Aside from all the fighting, there's an action side-game starring Jin Kazama called The Devil Within. where you guide Jin through various corridors, fighting guards and the occasional boss. It's pretty repetitive and kinda boring, but worth a shot for some extra goodies.
Another great new thing is the ability to accessorize your characters and buy new colors and stuff for your fighters with money you earn in the various modes. It's a page borrowed from Virtua Fighter, though hopefully in the future they'll add more stuff and more costumes (take a hint from Dead or Alive too, Namco).

Aside from a few little nitpicks and the inclusion of a totally cheesy and cheap end boss, Tekken 5 PS2 is the BOMB. It's loads of fun and totally cool. A great way to cap the PS2 with perhaps the last and best fighting game on the console. A MUST-buy for any gamer. Get. NOW!

New Anime

Got some new Japanimation to check out. There's Sanbouzou, which is quite unusual to say the least. It's an ecchi-laden action-comedy set in the future, when man's deeds have reduced the world to a desert wasteland. Even in this day and age, evil men still prey on their fellows, and trouble is commonplace. Enter Sanbouzou- a diminuative little bounty hunter who is feared among the outlaws and lawbreakers. The odd thing here is that Sanbouzou isn't exactly your usual anime hero. In fact, you apparently never see his face. The character seems perpetually wearing his bulky gas mask and straw hat- making him kinda look like an oriental jawa. Anyway, he kicks butt with a shotgun that fires explosive rounds and a wealth of gadgets and traps. Oh, and Mr. Sanbouzou loves the ladies... something that's pretty much a part of the show's copious fan service as various sexy babes cross the Japanese Jawa's path, for better or ill.
If you asked me, this looks like your anime surrogate for ecchi-loving viewers. Sanbouzou is faceless, so particularly imaginative otaku can picture themselves as the little hero- kinda like how usually the faces of guys in porn vids aren't shown. But then again, so far Mr. Sanbouzou hasn't gotten any, but we'll see how it goes in later episodes.

Also got several episodes of the new Oh! My Goddess TV series, which isn't as nicely-drawn and animated as the original OAVs from long ago, and seems very leisurely in it's pace (it takes the series three episodes what the OAV did in one). Looks kinda cool... we'll see.

Finally, got some episodes of the controversial Gantz, but ARGH I'm missing the first two eps. I guess I gotta set them aside until I fill in that gap.

Ah. Lots of shows to enjoy and see. That and I still haven't touched Casshern, Cutie Honey the Movie and Wonderful Days yet. Well, with K.I.A. out of the way I should have time to watch now. At least, I hope. Heh.

Out of my Hands

That's what K.I.A. is right now. I've given it off to the printers, so now it's a matter of production. Crossing my fingers in the hope that the book comes out as great as it should look. I can't wait to have a freshly-printed copy in my hands. DARN. A couple of weeks to go. Sigh.

Retro Gaming Part Deux

WOOHOO! I struck gold yesterday. Though I failed to get a copy of Tekken 5, I did get my hands on an ultra cool Xbox game disc which contains an archive of literally dozens and dozens of games from the Sega Genesis. This includes games from the early to mid-nineties, which enthralled our generation back in the 16-bit era, when the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis were THE gaming consoles to have. There are tons of games on the disc, including adventure titles, action games, run and jumps, shooters, rpgs, beat 'em ups (including the cool Eternal Champions and Namco's classic pre-Soul Edge hack-and-slash fighter, Weaponlord) and more.

The ability to just play these retro classics is just awesome, I'd say. A good chunk of gaming history right there, and what a coincidence- right after the gang talked about holding a retro-gaming tournament in the near future. Coolness. Or should I say, groovy? Next time, I should get that Atari Games Anthology disc too. Heheh.

Fighting Games

It's funny, I think, how there are factions of gamers that are polarized between games like Tekken, Virtua Fighter and DOA. Tekkenheads say all other games are shit. VF claims to be the deepest and the most technique-heavy. DOA says that theirs is the best.
I pretty much like all three games- Tekken is flashy and has that comic book-feel. VF is great because of the realistic techniques and the hardcore feel of martial arts. DOA is fast and fluid and the most visually impressive, and the sex appeal doesn't hurt at all. In my opinion, Tekken could do without the constant down-hits, and it could look nicer. VF is hard to learn and a bit on the mundane side in terms of flash and coolness. DOA could do with more tactics and toning down of elements like too-strong counters and the inclusion of more throws and throw-counters.

They all have their flaws and strengths- the best way is just to enjoy them all for what they bring to your table. But I guess, some people out there have very narrow tables.

Anyway, a recent interview with Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki has him doing his customary Tekken-bashing, which is pretty funny. Predictably, Tekkenheads over at various Tekken websites and forums are up in arms. Itagaki has been a very vocal opponent to Tekken, and Namco's team are equally as venomous in their comments about DOA. It's perhaps one of the most icy rivalries in gaming. Perhaps someone should hold a boxing tournament and put these developers in a ring to settle their differences.

Whatever. I enjoy my DOA Ultimate, have a copy of Virtua Fighter Evolution and am getting Tekken 5 soon. I'm happy. Can't we all just... get along?

Retro Gaming

Tonight, after a Japanese dinner and over fudge sundaes at McDo, the gang's talks went to stories of the lovely, lovely games we used to play in the 24-bit era of the original Playstation. Those were the days... the days when videogaming started to become 'cool' instead of being just geek entertainment... when games arrived weekly for the taking at Virra Mall, and when the games were GREAT overall instead of often just looking great these days.
We reminisced about our common favorites... Final Fantasy, Streetfighter, Suikoden, Bushido Blade... darn, the mid to late nineties were THE time for gaming. These were the days that set the foundation for our generation's love for interactive entertainment. I honestly see myself playing games years and years from now. These games will keep my mind sharp and alive, hopefully, even when I'm retired and in my golden years.

Playtime

FINALLY got to play Tekken 5 at the arcade. There was FINALLY a gap where none of the hardcores were there on one of the two machines, and I was able to play a couple of games. Someone challenged me using Ling Xiaoyu. Even though I was still pretty much a newbie using my chosen character Asuka Kazama, I won pretty easily (HEY! Someone worse than me). Alone again after that, I played a couple more games until my Powercard ran out of juice.

That's probably the last time I'll play Tekken 5 in the arcade... I'll hopefully be getting a copy of the PS2 version soon, maybe even as early as tomorrow, and then playing to my heart's content in The Sanctum from then on in.

Darn. Winning is fun. Heh...

Battling Babe


Maki Aikawa AKA The Air Master, packs a nasty kick.

Just watched several episodes of the fighting anime Air Master. The series is all about the embattled life of streetfighter Maki Aikawa, a former competitive gymnast who now finds her only true joy while engaging in brutal, hand-to-hand combat. Maki is so skilled in the use of aerial attacks and techniques, she can almost fly, hence the name 'Air Master'. As yet undefeated, Maki continually searches for stronger and more dangerous opponents. Can anyone defeat her? What is her purpose for fighting?
That's pretty much all that Air Master is about- well, the series is no Serial Experiments Lain. There is a wealth of sidecharacters though, ranging from the obnoxiously bratty little Renge (who looks like a ten year old child but is actually in HIGH SCHOOL), the innocent and HUGE boobed Mina and Maki's continual loud-mouthed nemesis, Saeko. Maki herself is similar to most fighting game heroes- usually taciturn and silent, slightly naive but turning into a totally different beast when she engages in combat. Thankfully, she's not unlikeable, and is perhaps the most likeable person in the cast of airheads in Air Master.
One thing that you will notice first off though in Air Master is the art style; the characters look reminiscent of Go Nagai designs. Maki herself looks a bit on the mannish side at times, and can hardly be considered kawaii thanks to her standing over six feet tall and having slitted, small eyes (something usually reserved to slinky, evil characters in anime). Still, I watch wrestling so I actually find her attractive, so no big- viewers who enjoy the cute battle babes of titles like Variable Geo, Aika or the recent Ikki Tousen might find Air Master's female characters unattractive, or even ugly. To me though, Maki LOOKS the part of being a tough gal, and DAMN is she bad-ass.
Which brings us to the best stuff in Air Master (aside from the frequent panty flashes)- the fighting. Maki goes up against a variety of enemies, and so far the battles are brutal kick-and-punch heavy affairs that are both hard hitting AND graceful.

This series isn't for everyone; I would say that if they prettied up Maki a bit (though I like her as is) and took away some rather risque elements (constant boob jokes, the lesbian angles), this would be more accessible to more people. However, as it is, it's a pretty cool fighting anime- which means it delivers on the blows and the blood without resorting to power blasts and super attacks, and quite a bit of spicy fanservice as well. Those looking for deep plots and rich characterization should look elsewhere though. In other words, Air Master is pro-wrestling class anime. Heh. Anyway, I like it, and maybe some of you out there will too. Maybe.

Holiday

It's the day of the EDSA Revolution. I'm pretty glad that we have this break and all, but I really think they should stop holding the celebratory events. Every year the people who actually attend the 'festivities' grow fewer and fewer- and even then, most are probably just hired for appearances' sake... it's just embarrasing. The EDSA Revolt was a great milestone in our history, but politicians should stop trying to milk it and hype their roles in it. Let's remember the past, but stop wallowing in the past glory. Filipinos have this incredible flaw for resting on their laurels. Onward, ever onward people. Anyway, the three-day weekend's cool, in any case. Yawn.

K.I.A.

It's final. I'm giving out K.I.A. Volume 1 for submission to the printers out tonight. It's been over a year in the making, and now it's done. Now, all the work will be for getting the word out about the book, putting up the website and so on. Here's to a print production process with no problems, since this is the first time I'm doing a book this thick, with perfect-binding; that means the usual binding for most books with spines, instead of 'saddle stitching' for phamphlet-style comics with staples. Well, all I can do is hope for the best. We have a great printer, and they've done great work on a previous comic book publication, so everything should go well.

Anyway, here are the final images of K.I.A's exteriors.


Look for K glaring at you from the comic racks this March.


Back cover art by Jennyson. Awesome, isn't it?

Still haven't set down a cover price yet, but we may settle on something like Php180.00 for the 160-page book. We'll set down everything once everything's final, soon.

Tekken Home

Starting today, the PS2 version of Tekken 5 will already be in the hands of some lucky bastards. I'm hoping to find bootlegs already, but I'll be getting an original copy whatever happens. Anyway, from the many reactions online, the game looks spot on- perhaps one of the best home conversions ever. The included versions of the first three Tekkens are reportedly direct ports from the original arcade versions- which shouldn't be a problem for the PS2 since they were built on System 11 hardware (glorified PS One). It'll be really cool to have all the coolest Tekkens in one disk, since Tag Tournament was kinda blah and Tekken 4 is pretty much something we all want to forget.
A nice surprise are the extra costumes made specially for the home version. These fancy duds were designed by various artists in Japan, and some are pretty slick. In particular are the 3rd costumes of new girl Asuka and veteran Yoshimitsu. Asuka's can pretty much be described as a Yakuza mistress, with a revealing, high-slitted black, spiderweb motif-kimono and cloth wraps/tapes around her torso. Not quite the costume you'd expect... awesome! Yoshimitsu, known for having bizarre, alien-like appearances, is given a black, fanged look which makes him appear as a blackened dried zombie from Brendan Frasier's Mummy movies.

Can't wait to get my copy. Lots of Iron Fist fighting's coming. And with K.I.A. finally going out of my hands, I'll actually be able to have some time off to play. YAY!

Brutal Anime

I've been seeing a lot of the new anime known as Gantz recently. This series has raised a lot of controversy in Japan because of truly horrific violence and bloodshed- enough so that the episodes had to be extensively re-edited, cropped and censored to be allowed to air.
Of course, on dvd or vcd we don't have to worry about any cuts, so anyone wanting to see the brutal glory of Gantz need only get the series for themselves. I haven't seen this around yet, but I am intrigued. However, the write-ups about Gantz have stressed that the violence may be offensive to some viewers. I've seen a lot of bloody anime before, and I've yet to see truly stomach-turning stuff... let's see how Gantz revs up the meter.

Also, the series is produced by Gonzo (Last Exile, Gatekeepers), one of my favorite anime production houses, which is another reason why I want to see it. Let's see if Gonzo truly can do no wrong...

Gantz is the story of Kei Kurono, a Japanese youth whose life is prematurely cut when he is run over by a train. But instead of the afterlife, he finds himself in a strange room, in which dwells a strange black sphere known only as The Gantz. Soon after, Kei and many other recently-deceased resurectees are sent on a deadly game- to exterminate various alien beings in human guise throughout the world. If they fail, they die again. So if he's to survive, Kei's gotta do a whole lot of killing...

I'll post my comments once I pull a copy from someone's bloody hands...

Cramping my Style

There's nothing more irritating than waking up in the morning, stretching your leg and then suddenly feeling the muscles in your calf KNOT UP harder than a piece of gnarled wood. Like what happened to me this morning. AAAAAEEEEHHHHH!!!! This probably happens to me every several months. Maybe I should try limbering up gently before going to bed. Sigh.

Future Fighters


The Streetfighter Series Four lineup from SOTA Toys.

SOTA Toys has finally announced the lineup for their fourth wave of Streetfighter action figures. Series Four will consist of Bruce Lee-lookalike Fei Long from Streetfighter II, moody Goth-guy Remy from Streetfighter III, fan favorite evil master Akuma, chain-wielding bruiser Birdie and last but not the least, Ibuki the ninja schoolgirl from Streetfighter III!
I don't really know if my little e-mail campaign helped since Ibuki was pretty much of a shoe-in given her popularity and the relative obscurity of her competition (Rose and Rainbow Mika from the Streetfighter Alpha games). But just the same I'd like to thank everyone who answered my call and voted for my favorite Streetfighter character. WOOHOO! Ninja action figure on the way! Heh.
The fourth wave of SOTA Streetfighter toys should hit by late 2005.


SF fans wanted her and they got her.

Movie Villain

On the way to work, I heard that former congressman and actor Dennis Roldan has been arrested on suspicion of heading the Kidnapping Gang that abducted a 3-year old Filipino-Chinese boy. The family of the child couldn't pay the more than 100 million peso ransom, and eventually turned to the police after the kidnappers threatened to wound the boy and let him 'bleed to death'. One rare unbotched rescue later, the gang was taken into custody and Roldan fingered by the suspects as the mastermind.

Wounding a 3-year old kid and letting him bleed to death.

A couple of things come to mind. The kidnappers' heads and a that big honking morning star Mel Gibson used to cave in a traitorous noble's face in the movie Braveheart.

Back

I haven't been able to update recently since all I've been doing for the past several days was scrambling to finish everything K.I.A. in time. Despite having over a year to develop, gather together people and material for this project, it still eventually came down to me sprinting the final lap to get everything done finally. In the end though, I am really happy with how the pages are now composed.
Anyway, long story short, K.I.A. Book One is pretty much done. All that remains are some finishing touches- a couple of text materials and one page of extra stuff that I'll finish today or tomorrow. Then it's off to the printers to simmer for a couple of weeks.
The numbers are impressive. 19 contributors. 12 hot pinups, 13 cool stories, 160 pages and one deadlysexy femme fatale. It's been a ride, and I'm just so glad it's coming to fruition. Yipee!

Now, back to our regular scheduled blogging. Heh.

Tekken Ultimate

I'm probably one of the biggest Dead or Alive fans around, and I totally LOVE DOA Ultimate for giving me videogame bikini battles... but this time, it seems that Namco's Tekken 5 for the PS2 really IS an ultimate package for videogame fans.
Aside from a very close translation of the recently-released arcade version of Tekken 5, the PS2 version will come with a TON of extras and bonuses.

Arcade-perfect translations of Tekken 1, 2 and 3 are coming in the disc. The arcade versions (sans any home extras from the PSOne translations) will be included in Tekken 5's History Mode. Not only do you get the latest Tekken, you get the first three games (and the best games, actually) free! Is that COOL or what???

An action minigame starring main character Jin Kazama entitled Devil Within. Similar to the previous Tekken Force modes, you control the fighter as he brawls, jumps and battles his way past various oppoinents. Ala Devil May Cry, you can turn into Jin's diabolical self when a special power meter fills up. Too bad you can't choose the other fighters, but what the hey?

The classic arcade shooter Star Blade will be playable during loading screens, similar to how Galaga played while the classic PSOne Tekken loaded.

Taking a cue from DOAU and Virtua Fighter 4, there will be new accessories to heap on your characters, as well as several all-new costumes designed especially for the home game. We're hoping to see Nina Williams or Asuka Kazama in bikinis, but we're not holding our breath.

New CG cinematics for each character in Story Mode will be available, so you can understand the whole convoluted Tekken 5 storyline. Okay, at least we can TRY. Heh.

That's a whole lot of stuff. And best of all... Tekken 5 for the PS2 will be out later this month! The best Tekken yet is coming home, so make room on your PS2. WOOHOO!!!!

FINISHED!

WOOHOO!!!!

I've done it. I've finished ALL my art chores for K.I.A. There's nothing more for me to write, draw, ink or render on Photoshop for the book. All is done save the organization of the book and laying out into pages for the printers.

Well, there IS that one story still coming, but I expect that within today. Crossing fingers.

Darn, it's so close I can almost see it. Touch it. Taste it.

Looking at the art and the material lined up, I'm pumped. I want to get it out and let people see what we were able to accomplish. But really, there's still a bit of work left, though this time more on the print production side and issues involving getting the word out on the book once it's available- stuff like making posters, seeing a K.I.A. webpage up and figuring out how to get into upcoming events. Still quite a bit to do, actually.

But we've passed a major checkpoint. The finish line is in sight.

Here's to the hope we make the final sprint without tripping over ourselves.

Break

I've decided to spend the rest of the week to finish K.I.A. Even if and when the final contributor pages are sent in, I've still got to finish the touches on a couple of stories AND organize everything into the final book. Anyway, as before, the final book will have 160 pages, with various pinups in between stories and another art gallery at the end. It should be something to see, once it's all together.
Anyway, aside from doing to book I'll try to get in some R&R... perhaps watch Constantine, from which I've read a couple of good reviews. Maybe I'll also get down to playing some hours of Suikoden 4 and a recently-acquired copy of Champions: Return to Arms.

The rest of the week is all mine, so it's pretty cool. It's rare to have a breather like this... I should make it count.

Iron-Fisted

I finally got to play Tekken 5 after several days of watching freaky Tekkheads who seem to spend both their salaries AND working hours ON this thing. The really irritating thing about there being only ONE machine is that you have to share it with these blasted pro-level players. You spend almost 20 pesos only to get your ass kicked by some jolog who has dedicated his motor skills to mastering infinite combo juggle strings. It's CRAZY.
Which reminds me my most hated thing in Tekken- how someone can just pound you again and again and again before you can ever even stand the frick up. It started in the horrible Tekken 4, and it's still here. It's just wrong to spend dozens of pesos for seconds of game time since you get KILLED by someone using the same move again and again.

Anyway, as I reported earlier, the supposedly deceased Heihachi IS indeed alive... somehow the old geezer survived getting blown up in Honmaru temple by attacking Jack Robots. I guess after all this time, his flesh is so hard it's indestructible. Anyway, once old Hei's unlocked, he's the third to the last character you face in the Story/Arcade mode, right before Devil Jin and End Boss Jinpachi.
Characters I've seen kicking arse are Hwoarang, Nina and Jin... fast characters who have easy and safe combos and moves that just hit and hit and hit seemingly without any recovery time.

PAH. When I get the home version I won't NEED to play in the frickin' mall with these blasted fanatics. I can beat up people in the comfort of The Sanctum as much as I want. Late February can't come soon enough.

Narrow Margin

Yesterday, I left the office at about 6:30, getting on a bus and heading for home. Curled up in a seat in the cool airconditioning, I zoned out staring at the passing traffic of Ayala avenue and later EDSA.

I stopped by at Megamall and finally played my first games of Tekken 5.

After getting my arse severely kicked several times, I got a text from Budj, informing me about the bombing incident near the LRT station at the corner of EDSA and Ayala.

In another world, another reality, I could have been near that horrific incident, alongside the stricken bus, among the hapless victims bloodied and savaged by a some terrorist bastard's bomb.

DAMN these bastards. No Vanishing Ray for these murdering cowards. PIANO WIRE. I'd do it with fricking PIANO WIRE. DAMN them all to whatever Hell there is.

Be careful and be vigilant, everyone.

Invitation

I've finally finished all the art for my collaboration with Dean in K.I.A. Entitled "Invitation", the 12-page story is about how a mysterious group of female assassins set their sights on having Kai join their ranks. Unfortunately for them, all Agent K wants to do is finish her job and go home...

Enjoy the full story when K.I.A. comes out. For now though, here are some samples of the finished art.


The Five Seasons have set their eyes on K.


You really shouldn't bother someone when they're busy kicking faces in.


If Sauron had a girlfriend, she'd look like Miren here.


Ji'an doesn't see much action in the story, but isn't she cool-looking?

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY


Have a Ninja Valentine's Day!

Even though the 'Day of Hearts' is just a merchandising ploy started by businesses to sell countless boxes of candy, flowers and cards to innumerable hopeless romantics, we hope everyone's sappy and happy today. Happy Valentine's, everyone! And remember, if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. Heh.

Princess Party

Today is the birthday of Sage, Dean and Nikki's little princess! So all of us Uncles and Aunts are heading off later this afternoon to attend her Disney-themed birthday party. Gotta be out of the house soon after lunch since I gotta shop for her gift, and then maybe head on down to the Tekken 5 machine. Believe it or not, I haven't played a single round yet. But well, I can wait. I'd rather spend my money on the PS2 home version than burning it against hardcore Tekken fanatics who seem to live ON the machine. Anyway...

Happy birthday, Sage! May you have more Princess Parties to come.

Sequestered

I gave up a night out at a new Chinese restaurant with the gang to stay home and work on the pages for K.I.A. The pages for the collaboration with Dean are done in the paper stage- now all there is left is shading and lettering on computer. I see the story being put away by tomorrow or early this week, then it's on to the book's epilogue and one more story.
I'm counting on the last remaining loose ends to be wrapped up this week, and for the pages on digital media to be submitted to the printers by next weekend. That is if the CDs don't get confiscated by some security guard at the MRT.

On the other aspects, I'm also having revisions on the soon-to-be up K.I.A. webpage, and re-doing the layout and look of the online site to match the new cover. The webpage will contain info like contributor bios, samples of the pinups (low-res) and the general storyline. I'll aslo be putting up contact info and directions for ordering in case people from overseas or outside Metro Manila want the book but are thousands of miles away from the nearest Comic Quest branch.

Should keep working into the wee hours of Sunday morning and beyond. I'm tired, but am I happy that I can still do this. This is damn fun. Heh.

Gestapo

Apparently, someone in government (supposedly the VRB or Video Regulatory Board) thought it would be a bright idea to have guards and checkpoints confiscate everything that looks like a pirated CD or DVD or any recordable media they get their pokey sticks on at the MRTs and LRTs.

Well, all this Gestapo-like tactic is doing is getting people MAD as hell. It's pretty stupid, almost as stupid as the notion that bombers will actually walk up to a mall's front door with a time bomb complete with ticking clock, sticks of dynamite and red wires just ready to be seen once their bag is opened.

I've been so far lucky to not be subjected to this, but it seems to be true according to guys like Jonas and recently, Elbert. So if you're bringing stuff of this sensitive nature, better take a cab or a bus. And spread the word, so this black-ops harassment can just die a much-deserved cease and desist. Feh.

Underwhelmed

I just got the latest PSM Magazine and watched the included dvd. The disc primarily has stuff on the PSP, including a pretty cool run-through of the system's menus and almost an hour of clips from the various games. Sad to say, the games so far failed to impress me.
I mean, Ridge Racer looks like Ridge Racer. Metal Gear Acid looks boring and it's just NOT cool to have turn-based, card game mechanics run a stealth action hero like Solid Snake. Darkstalkers? DARKSTALKERS? You've got PS2 Tekkens, DOAs, Streetfighter III Third Strike and you launch with an OLD niche fighter like Darkstalkers? FEH.
Other stuff like Dynasty Warriors, the puzzle games and the starter RPGs just don't get me thinking "I have to get my PSP now!" Which is actually good in a way since I have a lot of other stuff to spend my money on.

Once again, I don't see myself buying a PSP anytime soon. Incredibly enough, I'm not too excited about it. It's plainly cool to see and hold and it's a great device, but without hot games, it's just an expensive not-a-phone gadget. Yawn.

Which does not mean I won't be doing cartwheels if I suddenly get gifted with a PSP, or find one lying in the street. But if I have to spend twenty plus thousand on it, I'm gonna have to be wooed by something better than the stuff so far revealed.

PSP Dead or Alive. Mmmmm.... Am I dreaming? Well, we'll just have to wait and see.

Kai: Impending Arrival



The K.I.A. anthology comic is going to print in the next couple of weeks, by hook or by crook. If we allow about three or four weeks of printing and production, copies hot off the press should be in my hands by early to mid-April. This time though, I want to give ample time and preparation for the release- I want a launch event with all or most of the contributing artists, writers and creators. I want the website up and running. I want special extras ready for giving away with the comic. I want it present in every anime or comic event that pops up this year. All in all, even with the printing coming up, I may delay the Grand Launch till a good, sizeable event. Though I'll probably have copies in the stores as soon as possible. We'll see.

Everything's possible, as long as we put in all the due sweat and elbow grease. With all the effort that's gone into this thing, I'd better get it right. We only have one shot at this, so this time we have gotta make it count.

The Godfather (the Game) Part II

I've just seen clips of this game in development, and I have to say it looks pretty good. But then again, so far all that's been shown are CG vids of the cinematics and non-interactive visuals. But still, what's already been shown seems to be of top notch quality, as videogames go.
For one thing, Electronic Arts (the game producers) are actually using the original voice actors to reprise their roles; the video I saw had Robert Duvall and James Caan recording dialogue between their characters, Corleone consiglierie Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone. Though the two actors are a LOT older, they still sound pretty much the same. The teaser trailer for the game, which simply shows you an eerily lifelike Vito Corleone addressing you and giving you an offer you can't refuse, is pretty cool. I can't tell though if they got a Marlon Brando Sound-alike or if they used the voice from the movie.
The last vid I saw showed a CG re-enactment of the scene in Godfather where the Don gets ambushed while buying fruit. There were two characters NOT in the movie who seem to be in a position to intervene and perhaps change movie continuity- are these guys the players' surrogates in the game?

No gameplay yet- still, I wonder how they'll handle this. In the case of the Don's Assassination Attempt, will you shoot it out with the two assassins, or will you face a TON of gunmen to make things longer and more videogamey? And will you be able to change huge events from the movie, and alter fates of various characters?

Intriguing stuff. I guess we'll all have to wait till the game arrives in Fall 2005.

It is HERE.

Tekken 5 is in Manila!!!

Yep. Last night, I found the latest King of Iron Fist tournament brawler, surrounded by gamefans and hardcore players trying out the new game, complete with memory cards for you to save your records, acquired items and accessories. The game looks great, although still a bit too much of the lackluster Tekken 4 seems to linger in the graphics. The gameplay though looks pretty cool, if a bit too combo and juggle heavy for my tastes. Contrary to what has been stated, it appears that reports of Heihachi Mishima's demise are greatly exaggerated- The machine had all the unlockable characters selectable from the get-go, and old Hei's one of them.
I got my memory card and my game card ready, but I wasn't able to play yet, since the rabid Tekken fanboys and giddy weirdos were all over it like bees on honey. We'll try tonight... anyway, this is just all prologue to the PS2 version, due in a couple of months. WOOHOO! Tekken fever's back in town.

Ninja vs Hackers

It's been reported that Tecmo has finally gotten around to sueing the pants off the guys over at Ninjahacker.net, a forum/board/website specializing in modding and hacking various games, not the least of which are Tecmo's Dead or Alive games, including Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, Ninja Gaiden and more. The mods have included the ability to show the various female characters in the game nude, or near-nude, among other things.

Tecmo seems ready and willing to take this as far as it can go. Beware, hackers! Ninja are coming after you.

The Future of Advertising

Yesterday night, me and Vin and Andrew went up to the fourth floor of Megamall to the exhibit area where advertising students were holding their thesis exhibit. We met up with Elbert to congratulate his beloved and future art director Camy on a thesis well done.
Most of the exhibit area was packed with slick-looking booths festooned with advertising materials, posters, ads and merchandising paraphernalia. Some of them even looked real! It's a testament to the times that a student these days can whip up good, professional-looking ads with just a computer and a good printer.

Back in my day (cue in old geezer impression), we didn't have fancy-smancy printing shops or all-in-one typesetting programs and layout stuff. We had to guess-timate font sizes, use the basic enlarge/reduce functions in copier machines and manually draw copy blocks for our ads. Computers were rare, and the programs weren't as complete or as easy to use as today. Yeah, the young whippersnappers these days have it easy. All you really need is a good PC/Computer with scanner, a Photoshop program and Freehand to make ads.

Oh, and of course, creativity doesn't hurt at all. In fact, that's the best thing to have, and something that wil set apart the real future advertising greats from the rest of the pack.

Hot Anime


Rei faces his destiny in Steamboy.

Here's probably one of the most anticipated anime movies to come in many years.

The latest work of master animator/director/manga-ka Katsuhiro Otomo is entitled Steamboy, a fantastic action-adventure set in a Steampunk version of Nineteenth-Century Europe. The protagonist, young inventor Rei Steam, is about to attend the first World Expo when a mysterious device called The Steam Ball arrives at his doorstep from his father in the US. Soon after that, mysterious and sinister forces close in on Rei to capture the Steam Ball and it's awesome powers. Of course, these evil forces didn't reckon with a spunky, never-say-die kid who won't let the baddies take the day without a fight.

This movie seems to have it all- spies, armored troops, jetpacks, cool vehicles, flying fortresses AND a pretty heroine for Rei to fall for. All done with the trademark LOVELY animation you'd expect from the director of the legendary Akira. Refreshingly, Steamboy looks to be a whole lot more whimsical, humorous and uplifting than Otomo's most famous film.

Haven't found a local copy yet- but the film is set for a March release in the US, so perhaps we can expect this anyday now. I can't wait.

Show of Hands

I finally got to read the six-issue mini-series Elektra: The Hand. It's a nice little story detailing how the infamous ninja cult in the Marvel Universe had it's origins. That it came from being a sword school driven to become an all-powerful underground organization by its vengeful, foreigner-hating leader is cool, but quite a bit is unrevealed- like how they got all that mystical stuff like resurrection, and how they eventually become worshippers of The Beast. It actually kinda reminds me of the Itto-Ryu sword school from Blade of the Immortal.
The art isn't spectacular, but very nice. The action is pretty good, and overall this is a cool story for Elektra and ninja fans in general interested in learning more about some of the coolest villains in the Marvel Universe. Especially in light of that crappy Elektra film. Heh. Yeah, yeah, flogging a dead horse... hehehe...

Ghost Photo?

My officemate Fabo went on a shoot in the province last week, and being the camera buff that he is, he was snapping away at every opportunity.
While they were inside an old church, he came upon a flight of stairs leading to the choir loft. They were told that the area was off limits, and that it was locked up.

So Fabo off-handedly took one shot of the stairs, looked away for a second and took a pic of a nearby wall, and then took another pic of the stairs.

Imagine his surprise later when he finds something that wasn't there before in the second photo of the stairs.


Before...


After...

If you close in, it's obviously a little kid, a little baby girl in a fancy red dress holding what appears to be a rattle that covers her face. Fabo's pretty positive that he didn't see anyone at the top of the stairs. Thinking back, he remembers that the day he shot this was a Tuesday- not a day for a kid to be dressed up. Plus, he can't think of WHY any parent would allow such a small child to be walking ALONE atop such a high flight of stairs.

Is it just actually a small kid alone at the top of a supposedly closed section of an old church, or is it something else?

Brrr...

The Next Bloomin' Epic

I've just seen the trailer for Kingdom of Heaven, and WOW. It's an epic film about the Crusades, or the war between Christians and Moors during the Middle Ages. The film stars Orlando Bloom as a young knight quested with protecting Jerusalem from the heathens. From the pretty lengthy trailer you can see HUGE battle scenes, with hordes of horses, masses of knights and warriors, siege engines casting flame, great fortress walls and lots of swords and armor being readied. Could this be the next epic?
Yep, we've had epic blunders recently (Alexander), and slickly-edited trailers make films look a lot better than they really are, but the scenes shown just simply rock. Plus, the film is being directed by Ridley Scott, a man not unfamiliar with helming mammoth productions. So this might actually be pretty good, if not great.
Kingdom of Heaven will also star Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson and David Thewlis. It's set for theaters in the US in May. Something to look forward to, I hope.

K.I.A. : Kai's Infinite Acronyms


"How about... Kai Is Annoyed?"

Last Saturday, over coffee and tea in UCC at Tomas Morato, the gang winded down and talked about- surprise, surprise, comics! Really, it's been a long time since we talked about local publishing and creative projects involving our passion in graficion and panels, so it was pretty refreshing.
Funny though, that after talking about upcoming projects, we eventually settled into the subject of my own soon-to-be-released K.I.A. anthology... particularly what the acronym K.I.A. should stand for. There were the TONS of variations of the letter 'I', which ranged from Illogical to Impractical to Incorrigible to Ignorant to Introspective and God knows what else.
Then there were the really weird ones, like Kai Is Assassin (which strangely enough I kinda like), or Kai: I'm Assassin! (which I do not). Needless to say, Dean, Vin, Jason, Nikki and I were all laughing our heads off (broken by occasional moments of silence when we thought 'Hey, that actually sounds cool'), probably to the irritation of the other customers. Heh.

Anyway, it just got me even more pumped to release the anthology, which is on the last leg of submissions. Soon, very soon. Promise!

New Games

Got some additions to the ol' gaming library.

There's Suikoden IV, the latest game in Konami's popular RPG. You play yet another hero scarred with a rune of power and seeking to bring together the 108 Stars of Destiny to take down an evil regime. This time, the action's at sea.

Playboy: The Mansion is a Sims-like game except this time you're given the role of Hugh Hefner, head of the Playboy Magazine mega-empire. Shmooze guests, hold parties, set up photo-shoots and publish racy magazines in your bid to big bucks and a bigger sofa.

Tenchu: Fatal Shadows is the latest ninja stealth-action game in this popular franchise. This time, two female protagonists take the stage as ninja he-man Rikimaru goes missing. Veteran Ayame crosses paths with the limb-twisting, neck-breaking Rin as they seek to punish evildoers with their deadly skills of ninjitsu.

Death by Degrees is the action-adventure spinoff from the best-selling Tekken series, starring blonde Irish assassin Nina Williams. The bombshell is on a sneaking and killing mission on a cruise ship controlled by an underworld organization. Expect lots of fighting moves, weapons, puzzles, cannon-fodder goons and rippable costumes.

Lotsa stuff to play with. Oooh. Heheh.

Can't Believe It

What the HELL is up with Ripley's Believe it or Not? Every week they now seem to have this weird segment with Kelly Packard reporting on some stupid competition with gross or crazy stuff- things like eating scorpions or the most hotdogs or breaking wooden planks with their heads. Why are they suddenly aping Fear Factor?

Arrrhhh... How I miss the days of Jack Palance...

A Date with the PSP

The US release of the Playstation Portable is now set for March 24. The handheld will be sold in a 'Value Pack' that will include, aside from the PSP itself, a headset/remote control, sample UMD disc, 32 mb memory stick, battery pack, AC adapter, a soft case, cleaning cloth AND a bonus UMD disc of the recent blockbuster movie, Spiderman 2. Wow! I would have preferred FFVII Advent Children, but that's nice. However, the bad news... the bundle will retail for $249.00. YOUCH! The price is a lot higher than industry experts predictions, which tagged the price at about $200, to match the Japanese retail price.
The launch lineup seems to be similar to the Japanese games... no real headturners for me. Damn, that's expensive. I guess that 20K peso-plus price is pretty much what we'll be seeing, though after a while a price below 20K should be possible eventually. Well, for me, it's wait and see. It's all about the games for me, so unless a title gets my interest, I'm holding out for now.

Good Girl Art


The much-awaited Frank Cho Shanna remake arrives.

I've been waiting for this to come since last year, when Mr. Cho broke the news on his site. Some may argue that Frank Cho's art has a 'soft' look to it and that his women all have but one face, but DAMN what a face. And what a body. I've been into the Cho art style since last year (though I've tamed down my desire to Cho-ize all my stuff), and it's all culminated with the release of the mini-series.
Slated for 7 issues (NO! MORE!!! MORE!!!), the new Shanna series arrives sans Marvel hubbie Ka-zar and other baggage like environmental activism. In fact, Shanna arrives sans clothing. She's first seen floating in a tank inside an apparently abandoned Nazi science installation, discovered by a group of commandos and a professor. Soon afterwards, the explorers meet the other denizens of the lab, and they look like they've come straight out of Jurassic Park.

The first ish is a fast read- the text isn't heavy and things move pretty fast along the pages. To go with the copious amounts of skin Shanna flashes (still censored though- DAMN), there's a fair bit of bloody violence which startles given Cho's 'clean' lines. Refreshingly though, Cho still manages to fit in some moments of humor, showing off his comic strip mentality with some quick little gags. All in all, the story tantalizes but I really want the next issue right now. It's fun, sexy and well worth the hefty price- at least for me it is.

Funny though, I found myself thinking of the Hellboy movie after reading Shanna- commandos, Nazi experiment, befuddled professor, and a naked main character found... same structure, eh? It's really intriguing what Mr. Cho has in mind for Shanna, given that there are only 7 issues. I'm really hoping they extend or continue this title and the character, with the Monkeyboy at the helm, indefinitely. This is pretty much a title that will stand as long as the prime elements (Mr. Cho, half-naked girl) stay together. But we'll see.

Shanna the She-Devil #1 is available NOW at Comic Quest and other comic specialty shops. Grab it before I get them all. Heh.

The MADman's Nastiest Ninja in Movies

The Octagon was one of Chuck Norris' better flicks, and it had him going up against a ninja cult holding underground death duels. The best fight in the film was a one-on-one duel with the Octagon's champion- a scary, nameless and masked ninja who kept coming and coming until Chuck threw him into a fire. And even then he still jumped out! The guy wasn't the head villain, but he was mean and he hissed. Heh.

Ninja III: The Domination was a pretty corny ninja flick with supernatural flavor starring Sho Kosugi, but it had great ninja action. The main villain was a master ninja who gets killed near the start of the movie (but only after taking down about a dozen cops and getting pumped full of enough lead to cast him a life size statue). Before finally expiring, the ninja transfers his spirit into a young woman who later becomes his vessel for revenge against the cops who offed him. Towards the end of the movie, the ninja returns to his body (!), goes up against Sho (whose wife he killed years ago) and showing powers like mind control over large numbers of people. The guy even causes earthquakes! How's that for deadly?

The Hunted is my favorite movie showing ninja in modern settings. Christopher Lambert stars as Racine, an American exec who, while vacationing in Japan, meets a beautiful woman (Joan Chen) who is actually the woman of a powerful and vindictive Yakuza. When she is killed by a powerful ninja master named Kinjo (John Lone at his most formidable), Racine witnesses the murder and thus becomes The Hunted. The situation escalates as Kinjo isn't alone- he's the head of the Makato- a whole village full of trained, ruthless killers who fear nothing and won't stop at anything to carry out their mission. Racine soon gets help from a modern-day samurai who is fighting an ancient war against Kinjo.
The high points in this flick are a deadly chase on a train, where the Makato board the bullet train after Racine, and start slaughtering everyone in their path to get at their target. The finale is a free-for-all battle between samurai and ninja in an ancient castle. Coolness! This flick really showed off how deadly ninja could be, updated to modern-day Japan.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, well, at least the first movie, was actually pretty cool. The ninja here are The Foot clan (which is, actually, a spoof and a nod to Marvel Comic's The Hand), portrayed as delinquent youths trained and brainwashed by The Shredder. They had cool uniforms and their great numbers made for cool fight scenes with the Turtles. A bit on the funny and cartoony side, but this was nice for the time. And still cooler than the Hand in the Elektra movie.

You Only Live Twice has James Bond teaming up with Ninja. Classic.

The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise features a ninja attack on the rebel samurai village, and it is considered by many as one of the film's best parts. The fighting here is fast, brutal and bloody cool.

In contrast, these films are a disservice to the ninja coolness...

American Ninja. Well, what can I say? ALL these films are crappy, which is probably because a couple of them may have been filmed or produced here in the Philippines. Ninja getting killed off like common thugs in huge numbers, a ninja master with a LAZER and more corny stuff with Michael Dudikoff. Bah.

Three Ninjas. It had Hulk Hogan. Nuff said.

Ninja Kids. OOH! A home-grown title. Actually a fun watch. But still crappy as a ninja movie.

Elektra. From a powerful mystical cult of master killers, we get a boardroom full of suits, two guys who get skewered by Jennifer Garner and later a whole bunch of ninja who are stupid enough to get killed by the oldest trap in the book- the old, "Leave the Gas on and Throw a Candle in as All of the Stupid Ninja Crash in the Room" trick. Sigh.

MAHAHAHAHAHA!!! So where will ninja go next in movies? We'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps when X-Men 3 comes out, it will have Psylocke and have some ninja sidestories. Well, I can dream can't I? Sigh.

She's Baaaaaack...


Death can't keep a good bad girl down.

Got my comics yesterday.

Suikoden III is actually growing on me again. The art's been consistent and quite lovely, and the story is moving quickly. I guess I'll be staying with this one until the bitter end. Perhaps I should start re-playing the game before I get spoiled with the manga.

Haven't read Blade of the Immortal's latest ish yet, and I don't expect to until I amass about three or four more issues. So at least I can look forwward to sitting down with it and warming the seat at least before I finish. Heh.

Battle Vixens looks cool, but I've got to catch up since I actually haven't read this since the third book.

Uncanny X-men 455 brings back a certain sexy ninja-telepath of English descent with an killer Asian body... Yep, Psylocke's back despite being gutted and put in a body bag some time ago. Maybe she was found by the same guys who resuscitated Kai? Anyway, there's talk that the hottie X-man was killed off and stayed dead because of Joe Quesada. Well, apparently that's changed and she's back courtesy of Chris Claremont. And there's talk that she might actually show up in the next X movie, which explains quite a bit. Heh.

Shanna the She-Devil is finally in my hands. It's a lot more expensive than the usual comics, which prevented me from buying an extra copy. Anyway, the art is GORGEOUS... Frank Cho can really draw women. Anyway, the issue is a fast read, and it's pretty easy to see that this new Shanna isn't your daddy's jungle girl. It seems she's an experimental super-soldier created by the Nazis, and now discovered by some explorers. Well, thanks to Mr. Cho we'll be seeing the blonde goddess in a makeshift bikini instead of Nazi fatigues. I hope this series sells so well that Shanna becomes a regular series. DROP THE FRIGGIN' SILLY ANIMALS AND DRAW JUNGLE GIRLS FULL TIME, MONKEYBOY!

Ah. So many comics. So little blood. It's a wonder I can still type...