K.I.A. Review



'K.I.A.' pride
Posted 09:21pm (Mla time) May 01, 2005 By Ruel S. de Vera / Inquirer News Service Editor's
Note: Published on page D2 of the May 2, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=35584

"K.I.A. Vol. I, Kai: Indomitable Assassin"
Created by Marco Dimaano 2005, 160 pages

EVEN when Marco Dimaano introduced her as the preeminent rival to the titular begoggled super-heroine in his "Angel Ace" comic book, the raven-haired, flinty-eyed assassin Kai Mishima (a.k.a. Agent K) always stood out from her introduction very early in the series.

Unlike the cookie-cutter, super-powered protagonist, Kai had a darker, edgier side to her, as Agent K had lost her memory and was all business all the time. Dimaano portrayed her as a rather thoughtful, intelligent and ultimately tragic figure, one that seemingly met her doom near the end of the last arc, "Angel Ace Next."

Now Agent K steps into the limelight, obviously alive and very much kicking (and stabbing and chopping, among other deadly movements). The self-published "K.I.A. Vol. I, Kai: Indomitable Assassin" features 13 short stories plus pinups in an affordable, black-and-white manga-sized anthology.

Dimaano writes most of the stories and illustrates three of them. Meanwhile, he has assembled a talented roster of other writers and artists to join in what is effectively an assassin's jam: Gerry Alanguilan, Dean Alfar, Nikki Alfar, Jeremy Arambulo, Arnold Arre, Michael Banting, Chad Cabrera, Karen Cheung, Joel Chua, Andrew Drilon, Honoel Ibardolaza, Jon Mallari, Marvin del Mundo, Elbert Or, Jennyson Rosero, Michael Seludo, Edgar Tadeo, Taga-ilog, Wilson Tortosa and Anthony Yap, indeed a murderer's row of Filipino comic talent.

"K.I.A." effectively provides not only the further adventures of Agent K and a satisfying explanation of her otherwise surprising survival following her apparent death. In "K.I.A.," we see Agent K at her busiest, doing the one thing she knows: killing.

From ingenious new ways of getting to the target to having to dispose of entire gangs of opponents, "K.I.A." gives what amounts to a workaday view of Kai as the consummate professional. We will doubtlessly see more of these elements in the anthology's future installments as Dimaano uncovers more of Kai's back story.

Strong art

Dimaano's clean, strong art combines western comic book influences and a more obvious manga effect: the resulting product really is something else altogether. It is funny and sardonic at times, and grimly action-oriented at other times. Indeed, "K.I.A." is a survey of the hitperson at work, so it is fiercely, unapologetically violent with much bloodshed and graphic blade work.

It's always something else when Dimaano gets to write and illustrate the adventures of his darker creation. There is a fluidity, a focused intensity, even delight to Dimaano's handling of Kai's stories in "The New Girl," "Mouse Trap" and the essential "A Shock To The System," all welcome departures from the cheerful escapism of "Angel Ace."

There's the tragic anime-flavored "Dreamkiller" and the cartoon-laced "Battery Included." The edgiest story is "Zindernuef," which refers to both Kai's inner fears and some of the unseen dynamics of the K.A.L.I. organization.

The book's depth is also derived from the fact that Kai herself is a compassionate lady liquidator-a contradiction she lives with constantly, particularly when it comes to the up-and-comers who seek her place as the top assassin. And the book's energy comes from Kai's acrobatic dance of death as her killer moves fly across the page like spinning shurikens.

Similarly, "K.I.A." also shines with the combined diversity of its cast of capable contributors, be they writers or artists. The varying styles and interpretations of Agent K maximize the power of this particular format, with something for everyone.

The revelation of "K.I.A" is artist Jennyson Rosero, whose story, "Intercept," vibrates with dynamism and elegance. A tale of Kai's escape with a purloined item from a well-guarded building, "Intercept" is the story that skews most closely to Japanese manga conventions as well as a taste of the evolution of a beloved character as portrayed by others, done to great effect.

With a few witty light moments thrown into the mix and Dimaano confidently leading the cast behind a fabulous character now deservedly on her own, "K.I.A. Vol. I" deploys solid, unabashed butt-kicking action in a world where the killer ladies have killer bodies, the battles are furious and all the roads available are forked.

Dimaano ties all the disparate stories together, weaving the tangents and the mythology into a very efficient book with different looks, much like Agent K herself, a hitwoman with all the right moves.

Available from all Comic Quest branches

Enchanted Realms


Sunshine Dizon stars as a fiery warrior in Encantadia.

Tonight I caught the tail end of the primer program for Encantadia, the newest fantaserye (fantasy drama series) from GMA 7. While I was quite skeptical from the start (and rightly so) with the much-hyped superhero crapper Darna, I am actually quite impressed with this new title.
Starring a host of lovely actresses/models as four princesses of four powerful kingdoms that make up the magical realm of Encantadia, the show boasts quite impressive visuals, in terms of costumes and sets; these are easily the equal of any Filipino fantasy movie (which is not saying much really but it's still surprisingly good). The show certainly looks pretty, but of course it all falls to the story, the performances and the characters to really show off the quality of the show.

However, the sight of armored warrior-vixens, dwarves, magical spells and some pretty nice-looking art direction has me wanting to catch the show already. I'm a sucker for both epic fantasy and local mythology, and I have enjoyed fantasy-tinged local films like Ang Panday, Once Upon A Time and even comedic clunkers like Pedro Penduko. And now, Encantadia. I have good vibes with this... Let's see how it goes. The show starts tomorrow on GMA7's primetime slot.

Angel Ace: Tenchu

'Tenchu' is a word that anyone who plays videogames should be familiar with, thanks to the ninja stealth-action series of the same name. The word means 'Heaven's Punishment', and that sounds like a very good subtitle to this particular Angel Ace story that I am now thinking of pushing through.

We ended Angel Ace Next with the tragic, sudden death of Kai at the hands of her commander, Seta. Of course, since then we know that Kai doesn't really stay dead- in fact, she emerges stronger than ever and has her own title, to boot. However, it remains a fact that Kai was liquidated and has since gone through hell (and back). And through all this, Angel is happy and care-free in Newhaven, with a new life and new friends and a bright future.

Well, not anymore.

What would Angel do if she found out that her best friend in the world, a person closer to her than a sister, someone who trusted her even when no one else would, was murdered in cold blood? How would she react? What would she do? How far would she go?

Tenchu will no doubt surprise, if even shock, readers who have to date seen Angel only as the smiling, ever-friendly and light-hearted girl-next-door. But then, we have to remember that angels aren't just cute winged infants that shoot arrows of love. They're also Heaven's soldiers, and it is to angels that Heaven's Punishment- or Tenchu- is assigned to dispense. Here's a side of Angel that has never been portrayed yet on the page.

I am quite excited at the prospect of doing this issue. The action and fight scenes should be the most intense yet, and it'll be pushing the character to her limits and beyond. Plus, I think this is a story that has to be told- vital to the relationship of both Angel and Kai, and their two respective titles and storylines. Needless to say, this issue should also push the overall Angel Ace plot forward (Jayce will be happy) by showing a lot of the series' villains and explaining some of the background of the 'master plan' unfolding behind the scenes.

More on this as it happens. I start writing the scripts and drawing the pages soon.

Brawl in the Sprawl


Namco does streetfighting.

Namco, the creators of Tekken and Soul Calibur, are coming up with a new fighting game called Urban Reign. Similar to Sega's Spikeout Extreme, this street brawler puts you (and up to three other friends) in leather streetwear out to bust some skulls in the mean streets of an urban sprawl.

There will be a large number of characters to choose from (up to SIXTY!), with various specialties and skills. Aside from beating up enemies all by your lonesome, you can team up for over 50 double attacks, 30 special attacks and 50 team attacks. Urban Reign hasn't been given an exact release date, but it IS expected within 2005 so it will definitely be on present consoles.


Urban Reign will have its share of tough but sexy babes.


Hey, it's Kadaj from Final Fantasy Advent Children!

I've seen the trailer for this game, and it looks cool, though Namco is plainly using stuff from their other games- there are moves from Tekken (one fighter was using Capoeria) and even Soul Calibur (weapon moves). I've never been a fan of these 'Final Fight' or 'Double Dragon' type of brawlers, since they tend to have shallow move lists and characters, and the drab (albeit detailed) urban settings kinda bore me. However, this IS by Namco so maybe there's more to it. If you can customize wardrobes and characters, have more options than your usual walk-and-beat 'em up game and have good animation and action, I may check this one out.


Ganging up on opponents is the way to win.

Megaphone


Good as gold for music lovers: The Nokia N91.

Nokia recently launched their new N91 mobile phone, their first music-oriented device. Yes, the phone comes with dedicated music buttons and is in effect a Series 60 platform device. Yes, the phone comes with video and a 2 Megapixel camera for really good pictures. But that's not all.

The clinker for this glamorous-looking mobile is that it comes with a 4 Gigabyte Hard Drive (OH MY GOSH) which will allow users to load up to 3000 songs. That's a lot of music... and supposedly, you'll be able to play tunes continuously for 12 hours from a full charge. WHOA. The N91 is most probably Nokia's answer to Sony Ericsson's Walkman Phone which is also coming very soon.

Well, the camera and the Series 60 stuff is good, but again, this is beneath me... I'd rather take a 4 Gig memory card instead. But DAMN... 4 Gigs on a PHONE! Boggles the mind at what can be possible in the next several months. Or next year. Hmmm. The Phone Whore in me is begining to rumble again. Heh.

Beyond Star Wars

Even though the Prequel trilogy ends with Revenge of the Sith, we can count on more adventures in the Star Wars universe from George Lucas, as revealed recently in the Star Wars Celebration event. There will be a new Clone Wars animated series, albeit this new series will feature full-length 30-minute episodes done in CG animation. Now, Genndy Tartarovsky set a high mark with the first Clone Wars cartoons, so it remains to be seen how Lucasfilm picks up the pace from the 2-D CW.
Moving on, there will also be a live-action Star Wars TV series! This series will be set in the time of the Empire, between ROTS and A New Hope. There will be few, if any, appearances of characters from the prequels; exact details are yet non-existent.

Hmm. The last time I remember Star Wars on TV was in that old, old, Star Wars Christmas special, and a Muppet Show episode featuring Mark Hamill. Needless to say, both were painful affairs to watch... fun, but painful. We'll see what happens when it happens.

Reel Deals

The classic Konami horror game Silent Hill will be creeping into theaters through Tri-Star Pictures. The game-to-film adaptation is already in production and will concern the investigation of a mother and daughter of the secrets in the ghostly titular town. Sean Bean of The Lord of the Rings and a shitload of cool movies has been signed on to play the female lead's husband. I'm hoping that Mr. Bean gets to play a good guy this time around, and perhaps someone who doesn't die before the end of the movie. Look for Silent Hill in moviehouses in 2006.

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith kicks ass, at least according to comic big name Kevin Smith. The comic and movie scribe/actor posted a gushing review of the last Star Wars prequel after watching a special screening of the film held recently. Smith commented that ROTS is the film Star Wars prequel-haters have been waiting for (well, we'll see) and is many times darker than even the acclaimed Empire Strikes Back, and therefore benefits greatly from this. Silent Bob's early, spoiler-filled review can be seen here.

Another cool film to wait for is Kingdom of Heaven, according to our friend Ruey de Vera. Ruey already watched this Crusades-flick (lucky...) starring Orlando Bloom. The film features huge battle scenes that involve hundreds of thousands of combatants, placing it in the league of the LOTR battle scenes. As this is coming from Ridley Scott, we can expect grit and visuals that may parallel the director's past work in Black Hawk Down and Gladiator. KOH hits Manila theaters in the next couple of weeks.

Saw the latest Batman Begins trailer and I expect good things from this latest incarnation of the caped crusader on the big screen. Christian Bale looks good, Kati Holmes looks even better, and Ken Watanabe is bald and reminds me of John Lone. Hmmm. Anyway, this looks like a load of fun and I can't wait for June.

Still no word of Sin City hitting locally, which sucks...

Digital Manga

Seven Seas, the publisher of recent new manga titles worked on by some of our very own local artists like Honoel Ibardolaza, Jennyson Rosero and Kriss Sison, have taken a trailblazing step into digitizing the comic biz. The company has now made for FREE download samples of their titles (Blade for Barter, No Man's Land) in PSP format. Yep, the pages have been specially sized for viewing via the Playstation Portable's photo viewer. To date, Seven Seas has reported thousands of downloads of their new offering.

This is pretty cool new development! And the fact that some of our local artists are now viewable on such a widely-popular device such as the PSP is even cooler. Hopefully other manga and comic companies will follow suit and use the digital medium of phones and pocket pcs and PDAs for the distribution of grafiction.

You can check out the free PSP-format manga downloads at Seven Seas' website, here.

And I thought K.I.A. couldn't get any smalller... Heh.

Live and Kicking


Adam Warren and Rick Mays team up for Live Wires.

I've always been a fan of Adam Warren, ever since I was blown away by his art for Dirty Pair: Fatal But Not Serious and later, the two Gen 13 mini-series he put together. I've always been struck by his distinct, cute big-eyes style, which boasts very clean lines and great action and detail (especially in his later works). I have some issues with his writing- how his stories are a bit too text heavy sometimes, and his characters don't just talk banter in the middle of fights- they talk whole volumes. Nevertheless, I love the man's work, along with all his anime-pop culture references and the sexy babes and his wacky, if sometimes dark, plots.
I first saw Rick Mays art in David Mack's Kabuki series, and again it just impressed me with his clean lines and lovely panels chock full of movement and detail.

Bring together these two and what do you get? Livewires, of course. This title, written and laid out by Warren with pencils by Mays is a 6-issue mini-series about a team of artificial life-forms, or constructs (Don't call them 'robots', it's impolite), created by a secret, ultra-black government lab for the express purpose of taking out other secret weapons projects.
At the start of the first issue, we find a young girl apparently being taken on for a ride with one of these construct super-mecha, code-named Cornfed (since he's basically white-trash). In a typically straight-faced Warren method of exposition, he explains the situation to the girl as he drives the humvee they're riding into a heavily-guarded complex complete with fiery giant robot guardians.
Soon we are introduced to the rest of the team. Social Butterfly is a shape-shifting female whose specialty is affecting human emotions and reactions. Gothic Lolita is the team's powerhouse; a bruiser in black lace and eyeshadow who can punch holes in armor plated walls with her bare hands and feet. Finally, there's Hollowpoint Ninja (gotta admit that's a damn cool name), the stealth and infiltration expert. Then of course, there's the hapless tag-along girl herself, who's a lot more than she first seems to be...

Wild code-names, over the top action and clever banter, lots of pop culture in-jabs and pretty cool tech stuff are what dominates this title, which means it's Warren at what he does best. The art is very much like Warren's own; Mays does a great job of emulating the more popular style of his writing partner, but there are some rough points every now and then. Overall though, the pages rock with vibrant color, non-stop action and eye candy, and come across with likeable characters that have that edge to be considered a 'Next Gen' title for Marvel. It's cool, it's pretty, it's techy and sexy and it's darn fun. My kind of book!

So far I've got three issues of this title, and it just gets getting better. I can only hope that Live Wires doesn't fizzle out after the sixth issue, and that Mr. Warren and Mr. Mays see fit to continue the adventures of these trigger-happy 'oids.. however, I fear that few, if any, of the characters will survive Warren's bonafide mean streak which often ends up killing off characters quite ruthlessly. All I can say is... KEEP GOTHIC LOLITA. And Hollowpoint since his name is damn cool.

Get your copy of Livewires at Comic Quest or other well-stocked comic shop in the Metro.

Pizza from the Windy City


Pizza, Chicago-style!

Today I escaped The Salt Mines for lunch out and after juggling various possibilities, settled down for a meal at Sbarro's. Now, I haven't eaten at this pasta and pizza place for months, but seeing a huge poster advertising Chicago Deep Dish Pizza just reeled me in. I saw this lavish, overstuffed, layered pie some time ago on the pizza episode of the show Follow that Food, and I've been curious about Deep Dish Pizza ever since.
Of course, despite the fact that the pizza is a slab that they give you, I still had to order a pasta dish on the side (I really should cut down on my multiple course meals). But my attention for the meal was squarely on the pizza. It's actually quite good as a meal in itself- lots of ham and sausage in every bite, and the thickness is just sinful. Perhaps a bit too excessive and much- I don't see myself getting another anytime soon. Still, it was an experience. Now, if only someone opened an authentic, oldworld pizzaria locally, I'd be interested. Heh.

Killer Elite



One of my chief sources for inspiration in doing action and fight scenes is anime. Some of the fiercest, coolest and most eye-popping fights and duels to the finish I've ever seen are in animated form, in various action anime. Magnificently visualized in some ways that live-action can't quite match, these are some of the most thrilling moments of action I've seen onscreen (in no particular order of importance)...

Mikura versus The Black Scissors (Mezzo DSA episode 1)
Pastel-clad, pigtailed super-sprite Mikura, the heroine of this action-packed anime takes on the Black Scissors assassins, a squad of big, mean, nasty killers in facemasks and black spandex. This fight is the first and best in the whole Mezzo DSA series, with fantastic animation that shows off Mikura's agile martial arts skills and gunplay. It's all done in fantastic fashion, with walls and bricks crumbling from punches, bodies getting smashed through walls and an explosive ending that has bodies and debris raining everywhere.

Kenshin versus Saito (Rurouni Kenshin episode 30)
Mild-mannered rurouni Kenshin Himura faces off with a ghost from his past, former Shinsengumi Third Squad Leader Saito Hajime. This is, in my opinion, the best fight in the entire RK TV series, a title known for impressive action. Other fights are just too long, too drawn-out and fantastic- this confrontation between Kenshin and Saito lasts only for less than an episode but what a duel. There is true tension, deadly moves and a truly menacing air of danger throughout.

Nausicaa versus Torumekian ShocktroopersA (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
This isn't really a fight; it's more of a slaughter. In the post-apocalyptic environmental epic, the peaceful Valley of the Wind is invaded by an army from the hostile nation of Torumekia. Lead heroine Princess Nausicaa rushes home to find her father dead, a squad of rifle-toting soldiers standing over him. What follows is a terrific assault as Nausicca literally explodes at the assassins, laying waste to hardened troops in a few deadly seconds. It was this moment that inspired me as to how my own heroine, Angel Ace, could be when she really gets pissed.

Jubei versus Utsutsu Mujuro (Ninja Scroll)
Ninja Scroll is for many, me included, the definitive action anime film. One of the best fights in the movie is also the single formal duel, between two matchless swordsmen; Kibagami Jubei, the former ninja turned wanderer, against the blind swordsman Utsutsu, of the Eight Devils of Kimon. Again, a masterpiece of animation and action with great atmosphere (bamboo forests are great for swordfighting!), well-defined attacks and a solid (and final) resolution. Like real samurai swordfights, intense, brief and to the point.

Chun Li versus Vega (Streetfighter II: The Animated Movie)
Besides the obvious pleasure of seeing hot videogame/anime babe Chun Li in her undies throughout this vicious battle with the acrobatic 'Spanish Ninja', this long and drag-out fight pulls no punches and is simply awesome and I haven't seen its equal to date. The definitive girl vs guy anime fight. For best atmosphere, watch the one with the more somber, Japanese music score instead of the US dubbed version with rock music.

Ryu and Ken versus M. Bison (Streetfighter II: The Animated Movie)
The final showdown between the Shotokan boys and the Master of Shadaloo is often forgotten thanks to the Chun-Li/Vega fight, but I have to say that the two-on-one handicap match at the end of the SF2 movie simply rocks. The fight choreography is perfect, with the karate skills of the heroes put to the ultimate test against a seemingly unstoppable enemy. When Ken finally lands that first punch on Bison, you just have to cheer. Like the other SF2 anime fight, I prefer the version set to the original Japanese score, not the rock music US version.

Yu Ominae versus Fat Man (Spriggan)
The Spriggan movie should be a lot cooler than it really is; it's based on a pretty awesome manga. However, the best part is the first half of the film, as 'Spriggan' agent Yu Ominae and his comrades in ARKHAM take on the U.S. Mechanized Brigade, led by cyborgs Fatman and Little Boy. The climactic battle between Yu and his former boss Fatman is the high point of this anime feature, which is sad since it happens only at the middle of the movie; the rest of the time is then spent on boring scientific gobbledy-goo and a telekinetic brat with a baseball cap. Oh well, it's still a kick-ass fight.

A-Ko vs B-Ko (Project A-Ko)
This rivalry between childhood rivals escalates throughout this classic anime movie, between super-strong schoolgirl A-Ko and spoiled genius richgirl B-Ko, with the prize being the 'love' of the ditzy C-Ko. The final stage has A-Ko squaring off against B-Ko in her seemingly indestructible (and sexy) super-suit, set against the backdrop of an alien invasion (!). A bit dated now in terms of animation, but still this is anime fighting at its best and craziest.

The Paper versus Otto Lilienthal (Read Or Die OAV episode 1)
The Read Or Die OAV rocks, but really, the best part is the first episode (the next two episodes drag a bit). The climax is a truly masterful aerial action sequence between paper-flinging bookworm Yomiko Readman and crafty 'glider king' Otto Lilienthal (a true historical figure, btw) over the New York skyline. Perfect.

Jubei versus Gemma (Ninja Scroll)
It's only proper that one of the best anime action films has a suitably satisfying final battle, and this fight between Jubei and the leader of the Eight Devils of Kimon certainly qualifies. Bloody, bone-breaking, relentless and brutal from beginning to end, this deadly battle between vengeful swordsman and unkillable iron-armed fiend set on a burning ship features a great 'panning camera from behind a window grill' shot that blows me away everytime I see it. And the ending is just pure gold. Heh.

Try to check out these scenes for yourself. Next time, I'll go for best fights in live-action films! Heh.

Lazy Daze

Over the weekend a somewhat depleted gang (me, Vin and Andrew) spent the night at Chili's chilling. Talked about nonsense like reasoning behind the Jedi, the crappiness of the first two Star Wars prequels, and the upcoming Episode III movie, though admittedly I am actually kinda excited to see it. We also talked a bit about the storyline for the next Angel Ace comic, which was pretty cool to discuss. I intend to start writing down the actual script (which will be necessary this time around) in the next week or so. I want the next AA issue to be great. And I fully intend to draw the actual story pages myself- no shortcuts this time, I think.

Sunday was hot and stuffy, and I spent pretty much the whole day just cooped up in the climate-controlled borders of The Sanctum. Didn't write. Didn't do anything even vaguely productive. Just watched TV, watched an episode of Grenadier (Girl with Gun Anime in Ancient/Fantasy Japan which is pretty cool), played some rounds of Dead or Alive Ultimate and just vegged out. Which is pretty cool to do every now and then. Well, the week's in and it's back to the Salt Mines. Oh well.

Angel Ace: Fall from Heaven

I am actually contemplating on doing THIS story for the next Angel Ace release, instead of the previously-announced Angel Ace JET.

As this story goes, Angela Gale is living quietly in Newhaven with love interest Mike and the Scott siblings, Rip and Tip. All seems well, despite the occasional adventure (such as a trip to Manila, dealing with the return of The Sorcerer and whatever), the gang is more or less doing great. But then comes a new bulletin on air letting all know that Gallowglass Mass Industries' famous young President Mondebaine Gallowglass is going to unveil a world-changing device very soon... and he's doing it right in Newhaven!

Unfortunately, this great invention is something that has many dangerous and powerful forces worried. So worried that they they won't stop at anything to destroy it, the GMI leader and coincidentally, anyone and everyone near him to keep it from being released.

So when the action starts exploding in the skies over Newhaven between GMI and their enemies, Angel is forced to move in order to save lives in danger. Will she be able to keep her secret? Or will this be the end of her quiet life in Newhaven?

This is a BIG plot mover in the Angel Ace series, plus it has the distinct advantage of involving the series' main heavies, GMI. I have tried so many times but so far failed to put out stories that include the main villains of Angel Ace... perhaps I'm unconsciously resisting it? Well, if I go this route for the next issue, it should start the road for the series' endgame. And seeing that I've been doing the title for almost ten years, maybe it's a long time coming.

We'll see what happens.

Incredibly Disappointing

A week ago I bought an original copy of The Incredibles dvd. The 2-disc set includes extras like a new animated short starring the Incredibles' youngest, baby Jack-Jack, the 'Bounding' animated short that was shown right before The Incredibles in the theaters, Files and info on 'The Supers', bloopers and outtakes, an old-style superhero cartoon entitled "Mr. Incredible and Pals', lots of behind the scenes features and more.

Incredibly enough though, I was pretty disappointed by a lot of the stuff. The 'Mr. Incredible and Pals' cartoon was not funny, no matter that the cheeziness and retro-ness was intended... it just wasn't funny. The Outtakes and Bloopers reel consists of just glitchy vids or re-done footage set to music and a laugh track which again didn't entertain as much as the makers may have expected it too (I found the 'orchestrated' bloopers from the Toy Story and Bug's Life credits a lot more endearing). The BTS features aren't as interesting as you'd think- it actually gets kinda boring with just Pixar people patting themselves on the back and shit. Oh well... I guess the best thing about the DVD is the actual movie, which isn't bad... but then, I could have just been satisfied with my bootleg disc then. Grrr.

Another disappointing recent DVD release is Kung Fu Hustle (region 3), which has no extras at all... perhaps I'll need to look for the region 1 or the original HK discs to see good stuff.

The MADman DVD reviews! I buy bad DVDs so YOU don't have to! Hazzah!

100 Kills


Blade gets it's hundredth notch.

In all my years of collecting comics on and off, one title has been there for almost forever. It's Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal, the samurai epic with street punk sensitivities and bad-ass characters, blood showers and flying body parts. It's a tale of revenge, loyalty, love, tragedy, deception, honor, dishonor and a one-eyed samurai with worms in his blood. It's about a girl caught in a cycle of revenge that she has to see through to the bitter end, no matter where it goes. It's about a genius swordsman ready to take on the order of an Empire for his ideals, and the loyal comrades who would die to meet that goal. It's about lots of swords and predictably, lots of killing. It's not for everyone but it's something I truly enjoy... even though I can finish reading a single issue in the time it takes to cross a room.

Blade's strength is in it's characters and the kinetic action. It's not hard to like Immortal hero Manji, or young and naive Rin. But strangely enough you also find yourself liking the villains of the series as well, from the idealistic and driven Anotsu to the pragmatic Magatsu and the invincible Makie. But when you hate someone, you hate them totally, such as the monster Shira (whose demise is hopefully permanent). But this love for the characters also comes with the unfortunate knowledge that some of these favorites may meet their end as well. In the latest issues, this may very well come to pass. Well, all I can do is read with bated breath and hope for the best.

I often think about why after all this time that BOTI hasn't seen an anime release; apparently Mr. Samura doesn't believe that anime can bring his visions to life. Perhaps a live-action film? Well, the closest I've seen to Blade's look is the recent anime Samurai Champloo. Perhaps someday we will see Manji, Rin, Anotsu, Makie and the rest in motion. For now though, there are a hundred issues of Blade of the Immortal to look back on and appreciate, and hopefully a hundred more at least to come. Darn... that's gonna be a whole lot more bodies...

Fun on the Job

It's really cool when you have a client that has a product you believe in and are into, and you're in a position to do cool stuff for. Yesterday we had a big meeting that got things done, things in motion and things looking good for the future. Heck, there's even an opportunity to write something really out of the box and unconventional and that should be pretty fun. These are the perks that often come in The Job. They don't come often, but when they do it's pretty awesome.

Sinful DVD


The coming Sin City DVD is gonna be loaded.

When Sin City hits the dvd shelves, and I mean the original dvd release, fans of the film will have a lot of treats in store. Since the theatrical release of the movie pretty much melded three of Frank Miller's graphic novels together, the dvd will give viewers the option to see each chapter- That Yellow Bastard, The Big Fat Kill and The Hard Goodbye- as one separate film, complete with opening and ending credits and new footage not seen in the movie theaters. The scenes aren't just throwaway footage, insists director Robert Rodriguez; there will be terrific scenes both for plot and action that will await dvd viewers. These scenes will be familiar to readers of the comics, such as a scene where Marv (Mickey Rourke) visits his mom to get his gun.

Sin City fell to Number Four this week at the US Box Office, after debuting at Number One a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, the movie has made quite a bit of cash at a supposedly relatively low cost of production (it's a Robert Rodriguez film after all). I hope this means that more Sin City books will be forthcoming. Gosh, I wanna see Miho in action again. Heh.

Back in the Saddle

After a two-day absence, I'm back in the Salt Mines. Of course, I have to deal with lots of stuff right off the bat. Well, time waits for no one. Fortunately, everything seems to be working well. Still have lots of stuff to think about, stuff to write, stuff to figure out and stuff to keep in mind. It's a good thing that despite everything, I still enjoy doing advertising. Writing scripts and taglines, troubling over products, ideas and concepts, brainstorming and presenting materials to the boss or to client... it's all work that's so familiar yet in some ways something new every time. Ya gotta love this business to stay in it. Having a great place to work and people you like around you helps too. A lot, actually.

What can I say? I'm a lucky guy to love my day job and have my nights with my passions. How many people can say that? Heh.

Slashing Sequel


Rau and Tati battle to stop the Rise of the Kasai.

The original Mark of Kri was a little-known gem of a game- conceivably what would occur if Disney did Conan the Barbarian. Well, the sequel, Rise of the Kasai had some lofty ideals guiding it's production. Some worked, some didn't, but in the end this is a pretty cool stealth-and-slash action title.
You take the role of the Rakus, a clan of valiant warriors whose duty is to defend the hapless innocents who have been marked with evil tattoos. These vile body paintings are all part of 'the Mark of Kri', an evil magic sigil sought after by some very evil forces- particularly the titular Kasai. In the previous game, Rau, the tank-like hero, slew an evil necromancer in defense of his sister, Tati, who is revealed to be a bearer of one of the cursed marks.

Well, the saga continues ten years later, and something is wrong. Rau is dead. Or, he will be, unless a key event- a life-altering moment, is changed. In order to effect this change, the player must step play through various stages as one of two teams of Raku warriors- as Rau and Tati in the present day, and as their mentors Baumusu and Griz in the past. Only then can you unlock the secret of Rau's death and somehow try to avert this event and stop The Rise of the Kasai.

Players choose one member of the two pairs to play through a stage, while the other character will be controlled by the CPU. Originally, ROTK was meant to be a 2-player cooperative affair, but this factor was eventually scrapped for the final game. In this lies pretty much the game's main weakness- your A.I. partner is often inadequate, sometimes getting caught in a wall or glitch, freezing up or spoiling your plans for stealth when he/she decides arbitrarily to go in all guns blazing (or blades flashing, as the case may be).
Otherwise though, it's not that glaring, aside from a couple of hiccups. The game still shines through with excellent character designs and fluid animation, large stages and pretty straightforward goals. Fighting is deep, with the ability to lock onto foes and assign targets to buttons on the controller. It can get a bit frustrating sometimes when enemies block all the time when you're hurrying to hack them to pieces, but overall the action is fast, satisfyingly brutal and slick.

Beating through the stages is just part of the game. Hidden goodies are unlocked by accomplishing 'challenges' through every stage. These extras are cool- such as artworks from the game developers, and nice extra outfits to see your Rakus in through your second or third time through the game (my favorite is 'Evil' Tati in the thong and tattoos).

But what really makes Rise of the Kasai fun is the cool story, told well through good voiceovers, lovely art and really pretty 'paint brush' cinemas. If only for the story, ROTK is worth the price of admission, but adding to the fun is solid gameplay, sexy visuals and some brutally fun action. Rise of the Kasai is now out for the PS2. Mark a copy now for yourself and get chopping!

Putting up with Crap

Stayed at home sick with a stomach bug. Thanks to that, finally got to watch an episode of the much-hyped Darna TV series.

The story- well, there really is no story save what has been established. Narda (Angel Locsin) is a witless, spineless, vapid doormat of a girl who works as a janitress who is continually being harassed by primadonna Valentina (Alessandra de Rossi), her cousin and sworn enemy (in both of her personas) who manipulates the slow-witted heroine to her pleasure and that of her equally irritating evil dona of a mom. Then we are introduced to Carmina Villaroel as Valentina's rival, who looks really pretty at least. In perhaps the stupidest scene in the show, Narda drops the power stone when Carmina bumps into her. Carmina picks up the stone, and then asks Narda if she can keep it. Spineless Narda can't even say anything to get the stone back- Carmina practically gives it back on her own. DAMN this is bad writing.

Oh, and Narda's in love with EFren (who doesn't remember her since he has amnesia) who tries to talk a suicidal bum from jumping off a building. He manages to save the psycho's kid, but then suddenly the guy pushes him. The guy must be damn strong or Efren just damn clumsy since he ends up dangling from a flagpole even though they were all safe in the middle of the building's rooftop a second before. Narda finally realizes that she should swallow that rock since it's almost time for the episode to end and the title character hasn't been seen at all. And so for about 30 seconds, Darna finally appears to save the day, but sadly not this crapper of a show.

The scenes are overlong and dragging as hell. Never mind the damn acting or crappy effects. The show is boring and braindead and I just want it to die already. Choke on a fricking stone.

BAH.

Sin Eater

Darn it! Say it isn't so.

I've heard a rumor that the reason why we Pinoys haven't been seeing any sign of Sin City in any local theaters is because the showing of the film is being held up since the MTRCB is insisting on cuts to the mature comic book movie. Sure, there are a lot of stuff that's pretty nasty- decapitations, dismemberment, implied cannibalism, violent deaths and gunfights, stabbings, explosions, a couple of scenes with naked breasts, a tastefully-done sex scene and one nasty castration, but darn... most of the stuff is really not gratuitous, but more stylish. And having most of it in black and white reduces the gore even more. Just enforce the ratings and keep kids out! We adults want to see this opus in theaters, damn it.

Sigh. Yeah, we can all just rush to our beloved dvd stalls and get a good copy to watch, but this film just NEEDS to be seen in a theater, with an audience and booming sounds. It just needs to. I hope this all gets straightened out soon...

Doing the AshCan-Can

Several of us comics guys (and maybe gals) are planning to do something for next month's Free Comic Book Day. It'll be a little thing, an ashcan-type comic that we can easily put together without too much fuss. The last time we thought of something like this was with a thing called That Magic Moment, which included 8-page stories from several of us, all following the title's theme. It wasn't earthshaking stuff, but it was a nice bunch of yarns. However, we never really were able to get that one out- hopefully this year's little project will happen. The theme, which I'll keep under wraps for a while, is pretty fun... something I think I'll enjoy a lot. We'll see what happens next in the next week or so.

Heaven and Eggs

The gang discovered a new eatery over the weekend care of Ralph. It's called Heaven and Eggs, a quaint resto that specializes in steak and egg dishes, with pasta, Asian meals and pancakes/waffles in between. The pricing is supposedly cheaper than equivalent places, such as Country Waffles, and the portions are generous. The place also serves several kinds of bottomless drinks, including an odd Flower Tea (which actually has petals and stuff floating in it- only for the adventurous) and classic tea (which you have to sweeten yourself with syrup). The place has a cozy, white color scheme, and the waitresses wear cute wings on their backs.
Anyway, I tried out a steak meal with scrambled eggs, and the place's classic pancakes. The food was good, and I was pretty much satisfied. The others were probably happy since they were near their singing place. Well, to each his own. After the meal, I headed off home and played away the wee hours of the morning with Rise of the Kasai.

Seven Ways to Die



When you hear the title Killer 7, what comes to mind probably may be a movie, such as the European 'Survivor with Guns' flick Series 7. Or maybe the newest, bloody and controversial Japanese film in the vein of Battle Royale. Well, actually you're not too far off... at least, if you see the trailer. The images are graphic and pretty disturbing. Various individuals, obviously experts in murder, stalking about and shooting or slashing apart various demonic beings that shatter into countless little spheres of blood. There's a man in a luchador's mask (Mexican Wrestler) blowing away baddies with shotgun in each hand. A town explodes with a force like a nuclear blast. A woman in a bloodstained white dress stalks monsters armed with a pistol with a ridiculously large telescopic sight. Maniacal laughter follows as the hideously grinning creatures are blown away. An old man in a wheelchair aims a sniper rifle at a target in the next building- a cute, seemingly innocent schoolgirl with angel wings sprouting from her back. It all seems like a nightmarish TV show.

What the Hell?

No, you're not in Hell. These are just images from Killer 7, an upcoming action-shooter adventure game from Capcom, the makers of Streetfighter and Resident Evil. Described as a "Post-Modern Action Drama", Killer 7 tells the story of Harman Smith, a 60-something senior citizen confined to a wheelchair. He's been hired by a 'U.S'-type government to assassinate Kun Lan, the leader of a powerful terrorist organization that is behind the sudden appearance of Heaven Smiles, the aforementioned hideously grinning monsters which are in effect walking time bombs. So how's a 60 year old cripple going to stop an army of exploding monsters and the terrorists that created them? Well, it's not appearances that counts- just what he has inside. Harman's got a unique condition- he's got seven distinct personalities inside his brain- seven deadly killers who can actually step out of Harman's grey matter and take actual physical form to dish out some pain.

The Seven members of the "Smith Alliance" are a varied bunch. There's Garcian, a dapper dude in a suit who's pretty much a take-no-prisoners agent and Killer 7's front man. He has clairvoyant powers and can sense Heaven Smiles when they are close. Then it's all a matter of blowing them away. Garcian is also 'the cleaner', and as such he cleans up the messes the other personas leave- so if they get killed, it's Garcian's job to collect their remains so they can be put back good as new. Cool, huh?
Dan is your all-around tough guy with the ability to ignite deadly fires. Coyote is a sneak thief who, like Jill Valentine from Resident Evil, is a 'Master of Unlocking'. Con is a blind kid who nonetheless can fight pretty well and move faster than lightning. Mask looks like a luchador (Mexican wrestler) with his mask and big physique- he's got the most firepower and the muscle to back it up. Then there's Kevin, who's a bit of an outcast, who uses exclusively knives to lay targets low.


Man, this game would make a great movie.

Finally, there's Kaede, the only babe in the bunch. She's a shy, introverted young lady who appears usually dressed in a lovely white sundress that seems perpetually splattered with blood. Oh, and while she's armed with a pretty large and imposing pistol, her main power is the disrupt enemy energy barriers and other obstacles by slitting her wrists (Yeesh) and spraying the surroundings with her virus-infused red stuff. Well, that explains the dress. Obviously, Killer 7 is an cinch to have a Mature rating.

Killer 7's visuals are pretty cool stuff, exhibiting the same cel-shaded look last seen in Zelda: The Wind Waker and the shooter XIII. However, the mad characters and the odd direction have me gripped. It's all so twisted and weird, like how the interface between your characters looks like an old style TV, and how thhe disjoined scenes in the trailer make it look like a movie.
The game will be played from mostly a 3rd person perspective, but actual shooting will switch your view to first person. The camera angles are also unusual, giving interesting views (which coincidentally give players a nice view of Kaede's bare legs as she runs down corridors).
I'm hoping though that all this weirdness still gives way to an understandable story, though the producers have said in some interviews that the game is meant to have an "open-ended" story (which means ya gotta watch it several times to get it). I've actually got high hopes for this game- a combination of those wild Japanese live-action movies and gritty anime (like the disappointing Gantz) where you can be the hero. Or better yet, SEVEN heroes.

This is pretty out-there stuff, and I love it. The best thing is that it's coming very soon! Killer 7 will be coming to both Gamecube and PS2 in early June 2005. Yummy.

Angel Ace JET



The next Angel Ace story I'll be working on publishing will be entitled Angel Ace JET. As the story goes, Angela Gale aka Angel Ace has been staying at Mike's place in Newhaven. Things are just peachy for the adventurer-fugitive-turned-everyday girl-next-door. Well, that is, until the pizza guy comes in with a salami special laced with plastique. It soon turns out that The Sorcerer is back and he's aching for revenge against those who put him in the slammer several months ago. And when the masked menace finds out that Angel is still alive, he ups the ante and brings in some heavy artillery to take down the Flying Princess once and for all.

This is a much more action-packed story than anything else, and will show off Angel's skills fighting in the air against multiple enemies. It was pretty cool drawing this the first time around at least a year ago, since I've never really drawn Angel doing aerial battle sequences until that time. Good thing that the pencils have grown well- I'll have to touch up several pages, but I think I can use most of the art for the release.

With K.I.A. looking like it's selling well (which is good for the book's price), I'll start working seriously on JET probably starting May. Things go well, we should be seeing the book come out later this year or early in 2006. Yep, Angel's gonna fly again... and then some.

To Market! Market!


Doing lunch at China Star.

Today, the denizens of the Salt Mines threw off their yoke and hied off to the sunny land that is Market! Market! I've heard a lot of things about this huge mall complex, particularly about how jologs it is. Well, imagine my surprise to see a nice, roomy and fun-looking place with lots of places to eat and have fun. I'd love to get a chance to really explore the location- perhaps when I take a break or something. But for now, it was just fun to enjoy an office-sponsored lunch (celebrating our favorite suit-person Neenu) and then to make an ocular inspection of places to put ads. Still, afterwards I felt really sleepy after gorging myself on dimsum, hot-and-sour soup, stewed pork, tofu and shrimp. Darn, that was good.
Of course, the fun didn't last and soon the overlords had us marching back to work. Oh well. It was great while it lasted. Heh.


The wildlife here is pretty interesting... AAAAHH! MY ARM!!!

Megalomaniacally Hilarious

Read this.

Nuff said. Heh.

Gaming Bits

Went over to the gameshops after lunch. While other gamers were going ga-ga over Grann Turismo 4 or Doom 3, I got myself a copy of Rise of the Kasai, the sequel to the stylish stealth-action fantasy adventure, Mark of Kri. This hack-and-slasher puts you in control of the various Raku warriors- main man Rau, his vicious sister Tati, and their seniors Baumusu and Griz in a story that spans both past and future to save a hero's life and soul. The game, once touted to have an online component and/or two-player cooperative play, is not limited to a one-player experience, with players fighting alongside a CPU-controlled ally. This has it's share of hang-ups, mainly because of the A.I. partner's tendency to space out and act like a doofus when you least expect it.

Still, I'm pretty excited to play through Kasai mainly to see the intriguing story unfold through beautiful cinematics that have been described as 'oriental brush paintings come to life'. If only for that, I'll be happy.

In some other gaming news...

The next Xbox, or Xbox Next (Nextbox?) will probably have no shortage of cool fighting games, since a newly-released list of publishers for the upcoming platform includes fighting heavyweights like Capcom, Sega, Namco, Tecmo and Konami. Tekken is almost certainly a Sony exclusive, as much as Dead or Alive is sure to be a Microsoft Ace in the Hole. Virtua Fighter, Soul Calibur, Street Fighter... hopefully we'll see where these flagship fighters end up when more is revealed this coming E3 in May.

More and more Playstation Portables are appearing in local stores. But you won't be seeing me plunk down the 17K for a unit anytime soon, what with games having questionable quality AND a high price of about Php3,000+ a UMD. This plus all those rampart rumors of dead pixels and screen glitches. Nah... I probably won't get a PSP until the fourth or fifth generation of games. Time will tell.

Where IS the next Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XII? The game seems to have totally slipped every schedule or due date so far given, and we've seen nothing on the game or it's characters. I really didn't find the art or designs so far revealed to be that intriguing at all, so if the game's been sent back to the drawing boards, fine. Has the vein of gold that was FF finally run dry? Once again a waiting game. Sigh.

Can't wait for the weekend to try out some new Cheats with my new Action Replay disc. Nice stuff, like, all characters and costumes unlocked in the raunchy Rumble Roses. Or fiddling with character models in Tekken 5. This should be fun. Heh. For tonight though, I'll try to slip in a session or two with Tati and Rau. Chop-chop!

Body Clock

It never fails. If I have something at work that requires me to go early in the morning, I usually make it a point to go to bed a lot earlier than usual- say, midnight or so.

The odd thing is, eveytime I do so, I end up waking up too early, at which point I go back to bed and then wake up a couple of hours later, groggier than ever. BAH.

I had a nine o' clock thing today, so I got to bed at about midnight. Woke up at about 2 AM. Bile, bitter-sweet bile, rose to my throat and you know, that really SUCKS to have that taste in the back of your mouth. I go to the bathroom to gargle and try to clear my throat of the taste. My Dad hears me and then he thinks I have a throat thing like I did weeks ago and he says that I am still having that throat thing (which I don't) because I don't follow his instructions to gargle thoroughly hot salt water and swallow it after (Ugh). Well, I didn't, really, but then I didn't have the throat thing either. I tried explaining this, but gave up after a couple of fumbling words.

"No, no, it's not my throat- well it is but not what you think. It's just that bile rose up..."

My words trail off and I drink some water to clear my throat. My brain wasn't working well. It's darn 2 AM and I woke up five hours too early.

Flopped back into bed. Woke up again at 6:30 AM, an hour before my alarm clock rings. The thing is with airconditioned rooms, it seems to suck out all your moisture so my lips and throat are parched. I go out and have a drink of cold water, then flop back in. I hover between sleep and waiting as the seconds tick to the loud alarm.

So when it finally does come, I'm groggy. Can't complain though... I'm up and sleep has more or less given its quota. Off to take on the rest of the day. Yay.

Mindless Action

Over the weekend I got myself a couple of below-par fighters/beat 'em ups for the ol' Xbox.

One is Iron Pheonix, an oriental fantasy-themed multi-player weapons fighter. The game is set in a land that kinda resembles ancient China. As the story goes, a meteor crashes into the kingdom, and the metal found at the crater is soon made into powerful, magical weapons. It is in these weapons, and on the hands of those who wield them, where the fate of the entire realm will be decided. That premise is all the story we're going to get since Iron Pheonix doesn't have a Story Mode like most fighters. There's just basically an offline mode for non-Xbox Live players, and the more copious options for online play. Well, for the most part the game looks nice, but I've seen much better. With no real meat to the characters (which range from various males and females and the odd undead) and this game is just not my style. Probably cool for party gamers, but again, the lack of character, substance and presentation just communicate dull, dull, dull.

The other title I got is Spike Out Extreme, a title originally from Sega. This basically is a Final Fight-style battler, with players taking their chosen brawler out to put paid to various thugs and the occasional boss. There's a story mode, where you play as a main character chosen to save his estranged dad and defeat an evil gang. For the most part, the game looks good, albeit a bit retro. The action is all about using your punches, kicks and combos to get from one end of a stage to the other to fight a boss and break down a gate. Sega fight fans may appreciate the retro feel of the game- and the easy gameplay should please anyone looking to let off a bit of stress. The cheezy in-game cinemas are pretty hilarious, like an eighties American karate revenge flick- and we all know how good those things are. Well, I gave up after an hour. Wow. That was time well spent.

I guess I really can't express any more grade-A titles on the Xbox... or perhaps even on PS2 anymore. Soul Calibur III seems to be the last great fighter coming to the present crop of consoles. The next generation of games are already being produced right now as we speak, to so far unseen consoles and platforms. Can you say... Dead or Alive 4 on Xbox Next? Heh. We'll see. Anyway, I still have some cool games right now to look forward to playing: Rise of the Kasai and Brothers In Arms. Those should take up my time better. WHEN I finally get a chance to play them, that is.

M.I.A.

Went to Comic Quest yesterday and looked over the comic rack. I looked for the sample copy of K.I.A., which I assumed had been mixed up with the other books. It wasn't in the rack. It wasn't in the nearby comic book bin or the big magazine rack for Summit publications.

Maybe someone stole the K.I.A. sample copy!

I'd actually feel flattered, instead of irritated, if this happened. But probably the copy was just misplaced. Still, wouldn't it be cool if someone actually took the effort to steal an issue? K.I.A.'s a steal! Heh.

Seen City


Best. Comic-Movie. Ever.

Walk down any alley in Sin City, and you can find anything.

That’s a line you’ll hear Mickey Rourke’s character Marv utter from the movie Sin City, and this seems to also hold true for here in Metro Manila. For literally, in some back-alley, I found myself a dvd copy of this Robert Rodriguez-Frank Miller opus. Now, suffice to say that I would NEVER go through the lengths I did for just any film (the only other film I can think of is Final Fantasy Advent Children). But this was Sin City, a movie that is touted to be THE most true translation of a graphic novel to cinematic form, and I just could not resist the temptation. It’s fitting, I think. Anyway, I did promise myself that I would NOT watch the film if the copy was bad- well, the picture is obviously a film transfer, but it is actually quite watchable- thanks to the fact that most of the film is in black and white anyway. It was the sound though- very good sound- that got me going forward and watching the whole thing.

My gosh. What a rush.

Sin City is a visual feast. It is, literally, a graphic novel, a comic translated into film seemingly panel-for-panel, image for image, character for character. It also seems to have gone through word-for-word, since the film has tons of dialogue- monologues, comic booky-lines and paragraphs of text uttered as blatantly as text boxes. However, it works. You watch the rich images onscreen and absorb every word and it works.

Suffice to say that this film is not for everyone. It doesn’t shirk from the expected violence gleaned from the source material. The hard hits are toned down by the fact that blood is often of a different color than red, or the comical reactions of some characters to getting perforated by bullets or impaled by arrows. Stilll, it’s not for the squeamish, though all of us movie geeks who loved Kill Bill will feel right at home.
As for the nudity, there are several scenes with frontal nudity, which I feel will get the censors’ scissors… get the DVD, people, for the full view of Carla Gugino’s perfect bumpers. Heh.

The blood and T&A aside though, Sin City is a menagerie of dark stories, interconnected slightly as characters from each of the three chapters appear throughout. The best of the three is easily The Hard Goodbye, involving concrete-hard thug Marv’s relentless, shake-heaven-and-hell hunt for the murderer of his ‘angel’, Goldie (Jamie King in a double-role). As I’ve heard and read in reviews, the casting of Elijah Wood in the role of the silent but deadly Kevin is a master stroke.

The Big Fat Kill comes in second, relating the attempt of shadowy good guy Dwight (Clive Owen) to protect the Ladies of Old Town (gun-toting, self-protecting hookers) when a fragile truce is endangered. This has tons of ladies in leather and skimpy outfits with guns, though it’s head superbitch Gail (played by Rosario Dawson who looks a UNIVERSE away from her character in Men In Black 2) and mute super slayer Miho (a thoroughly ninja-licious Devon Aoki) who own the screen. My only gripe is that Michael Clarke Duncan’s villain Manute isn’t given enough screen time or explanation. Otherwise, this chapter has girls, guns, swords, IRA hitmen and Devon Aoki jumping around with swords. DAMN!

Finally, there’s the chapter devoted to adapting That Yellow Bastard. This story is split, both beginning and ending the film. It’s mainly about aging honest cop Hartigan (Bruce Willis at his most intense) trying to protect the life of lovely Nancy Callaghan (Jessica Alba), a girl targeted by the titular Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl from Terminator 3). Some say it’s the sweetest yarn, a love story between an old soldier and an innocent angel, and it is easily the most dramatic- though I reserve the sweetest for Hard Goodbye. Still, Jessica Alba is radiant, while Bruce Willis is at his most brooding best here. Can’t say no to that.

Overall, the movie is the same as the comics- dark, brooding and often depressing. But with the depression and despair comes courage that defies all odds and ultimately wins redemption for the blood-spattered souls in Basin City. It’s not hard to see why the Sin City books are so popular. I’m already a fan just from watching the movie.

Sin City delivers. Yes, I agree with the gushing reviews. Yes, this is THE most perfect comic to movie translation yet. It’s true, it’s true. The casting and imagery perfectly capture the comic. The performances vary, but all in all this shows solid work by an incredible emsemble cast. The men are men, the ladies and ladies and damn sweet. Ah, the ladies.

Darn great watch. Right up there with Kung Fu Hustle for my fave movies of the year so far. Gonna watch this film again with the gang at the theaters. Gonna get the DVD. Might even get the comics. What can I say? Sin City ROCKS. We want more, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Miller. MORE!

It Came From The Cyberzone...

Went around the Cyberzone at Megamall last night. The Nokia 3230 smartphone is already available at the shops for about 22K, which makes it a lot cheaper relatively to phones like the 7610 and 6630 did when they debuted. For that, you get a nice 1.3 Megapixel camera, a big screen, cool multimedia and an FM radio, and more. The form factor's actually a bit odd... it kinda looks like a TV to me, with the scrunched-up keys at the bottom, but it's a cool phone. I winced when I saw displays of the O2 XDA II Mini and the I-mate JAM (which are basically the same)... the smallest PPC phone is already being advertised on TV, and from what I can follow it's pretty popular. Which is GOOD since that will hopefully drive prices down a lot later this year, when I MAY consider upgrading to one. Mmm.

What else... no new games... I am still looking to get a copy of Rise of the Kasai despite some reviews mentioning some faulty AI. I really want this game, so there. Got a copy of EGM, which was pretty cool... but I am reeling from how crappy the DVD of the latest PSM Magazine was. BAH. Well, whatever. I'll try to go to Greenhills this weekend and get me a Clone Wars dvd and a game or two. Oh, how I love my breaktime.

Better Late than Never


Mike Banting and me at Comic Quest.

The first time I met Mike Banting was apparently two years ago, at the C3Con. I do remember him, though I'm horrible with names so I couldn't connect very well faces with names. Anyway, it was during that Con of Cons that I formulated the idea for K.I.A. and started recruiting people like Hai, Wilson Tortosa and Gerry to do stuff for the anthology.
I saw the work of Mike and Chad in their ashcan, and I was particularly struck by an artwork of a martial arts girl they drew. I liked the style and so I e-mailed them, asking them if they would like to join the K.I.A. project. They were very enthusiastic and sent in cool art and pages. All our communications were through e-mail, so it was pretty cool that, almost two years later, with K.I.A. finally a reality, I was able to meet them. Well, at least Mike, since Chad is out of the country. Too bad they missed out on the pizza and chicken and meeting the other Team K.I.A. members, but we'll have another meet and greet someday.

It was really nice to meet such talented and enthusiastic comic people, and to be able to have their talents on board to make stuff like K.I.A. what it is now. Thanks, Mike! Let's all work together again soon.

Old Favorite



Last night, it was just me and Vin, and for dinner we took a drive over to Countryside restaurant over at Katipunan. This place is an institution in the area. No ambience, really- though it does possess a simple, back-to-basics provincial charm- but the barbecue is divine. We ordered our staples- me just simple sticks of pork barbecue, while Vin has his chicken gizzards and pork ears. But the capper for us was the chicken sotanghon soup, which we both loved and first tasted at least a year or two ago. Since that first time we haven’t been able to get an opportunity to order the soup again (it was either not in stock or in one instance, even forgotten), but tonight was a reunion.
The soup had that comforting, strong flavor- may be a bit salty for other people, but we both were getting second and third helpings. Yum. This was something to be savored, since we probably wouldn’t get this meal again anytime soon.

On the television in the common area, we watched the funeral of Pope John Paul II. We talked about stuff both about the Pope and about the world at large. Good things, bad things, weird things. But in the end it was all about that yummy chicken sotanghon soup. If only every problem and argument could be solved or at least forgotten over a meal. Oh well.

Tightening Belts

Though K.I.A.'s out, I am still paying for it. The balance for the printing is due at the end of the month, and so I have to cut down costs when I have to. This past week had me paying bills, and more will come next week. But really, things should go smoothly, so long as I minimize extravagant expenditures. So I just have to...

Minimize my morning taxi rides- which come at about Php200 from home to the office

Resist any bloodletting at the Blood Bank that's not a priority title or book

Avoid going to Comic Alley or anime shops and keep my eyes away from any Gashopon figurine sets

Resist getting any DVD sets or splurging on large numbers of anime VCDs

Just following these four items should help get me through the month comfortably enough. I still see myself getting my bare essential comics every week, and maybe a game or two this weekend at Greenhills. After everything's said and done I can finally think about other stuff and maybe even be a Phone Whore again. HOHO! We'll see.

Battle Stations

This whole week has been a bit of a storm of work. It was so busy, I couldn't afford to not come to the office, though a couple of days I was teetering on the precipice of getting sick. Usually I'd come home and stay up for a while, enjoying replays of primetime series on AXN after midnight... but for this whole week I came home, just watched the news and was in bed by midnight. However, this has its drawbacks too. Going to bed early makes me get up early. I'd suddenly bolt up at about 5:30 AM, take a bathroom stop, have a glass of cold water and flop back into bed. Then I'd wake up from the alarm clock groggy and befuddled as if I'd gone to bed at 3 or 4. BAH.

Anyway, thankfully I didn't get totally sick. Taking vitamins helped, and though I felt like a rotting zombie by Wednesday, a couple of pills and some more rest helped a lot. Ya gotta love drugs. Mahahaha!

So by now, I'm almost normal. Still busy though. And that should carry through for several more weeks. Sigh.

At leat this week's about to end, thank goodness. Looking forward to a pause in the action, even for a little while.

FedExecution

Jeremy posted this COOL K.I.A.-themed strip to celebrate the arrival of his copies. Awesome, Jeremy! So if you haven't gotten your copy of Kai's debut comic yet, take a jaunt down to Comic Quest and grab a copy. Especially since having K.I.A. delivered seems to be pretty dangerous...


K.I.A. Delivery by Jeremy Arambulo.


K.I.A. Vol. 1 - Kai: Indomitable Assassin is now available at Comic Quest, for Php195. Get your copy now!

More Manga



This is a pleasant surprise. The last time I saw Cherry Blossom High was last, last year, during the C3Con. This project, helmed by Jason, got a bunch of us together (including me, Vin, Dean, Elbert, Hai and Joel Chua) to produce a manga anthology for girls (shoujo manga). Yep, this predates Mango JAM, though admittedly we may be at a disadvantage since NONE of us are girls (at least, I think). Well, it's now out so we hope you give it a shot.
The four stories inside range from Buffy-like supernatural action (Crystal) to fantasy (Clockwork), mystery (Beach Blossoms) to teen romance. The art's pretty good, the stories nice (in a girly way) so check it out!



Jason and Armor Troopers' artist Armand Roy Canlas bring you a one-shot about a youth thrown into a war between magical fighting machines and aliens.

Both of these books are priced at Php80 and can be found exclusively at Comic Quest, your indie comic source! Go get 'em! And a copy of K.I.A. in case you haven't gotten one already. Heh.

Tomb Raider Legend


The New Lara Croft.

Despite a thoroughly horrible second movie (which not even uber-babe Angelina Jolie could make interesting) and lackluster games, Lara Croft is still a hot character, and she's just waiting for that big score to strike it rich again. That just may be the next game, Tomb Raider: Legend, which has been officially announced by Eidos. The game will be a 'return to the roots' for the character and the games, and to support this, original Tomb Raider designer Toby Gard has been brought on board in the development. Supposedly, the new game will return to the 'fundamental exploration and solve' experience which made the first games so addictive.

Thankfully, despite a 'back to basics' theme, the next Tomb Raider won't be featuring the original graphics of the first game. As you can see from the image above, Lara will be a LOT more detailed, featuring lots of spry and sexy new animations and moves, and an arsenal of new tomb-raiding stuff.

Tomb Raider: Legend is set for release on PS2, Xbox and PC. We'll see then if Lara still got the goods.

Ding! Nakakabato!


Angel Locsin takes flight as Darna!

It's been hyped to death in full page print ads on the broadsheets, preceded by TV documentary features and even segments on GMA news. This week, the wait ended for Pinoys as the much-anticipated Darna TV series finally went on air. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch the 30-minute pilot episode, since the show's at the primetime slot in evenings, at a time when I'm out on the road or having dinner at Megamall. Well, the first episode is THE talk of the town right now at the Alamat mailing list, and it's pretty hilarious. I mean, the mailing list is pretty full of comic book people who are VERY fickle and have high standards. Of course you'd expect them to say if crap is crap.

Well, the word on the first Darna episode is pretty clear. It's the same old, same old. Expecting something fresh and new and groundbreaking that will appeal to both masa and comic-book fan alike?

What the hell were you thinking?

We've got the rich vs. poor angle yet again, perpetuating the fact that this tripe really is just for the masa who love rooting for the underdog. Rich people burn down poor people's houses, harrass and oppress them and generally gives a young Narda the reason to kick their asses once she becomes Darna (of course that won't happen since she's a good guy). BAH.

You've got CRYING, SCREAMING, BAWLING and more CRYING. CRY, CRY, CRY. This is a superhero adventure, not a tearjerker drama, DAMN IT. Get the the action!!! Give us strength, give us faith! Don't give us more reasons to hate rich people!

You've got designs of spaceships ripped from Star Wars. Hmm. Maybe Lucasfilm is using Darna to hype Episode III?

You have cheesy acting and cookie-cutter characters. Well, that was pretty much expected.

Darna doesn't even show up in the first episode! Wow, I guess a lot of Angel Locsin fans were disappointed. Heh.

Even in the office, people are saying that so far the first couple of episodes are slow, slow, slow. And I thought our scriptwriters learned something from all those fast-paced and addictive Korean/Mexican series that are gobbling up ratings? Take two steps back...

Anyway, I still want to see an episode, if only so I can rant more effectively. But then, if this is like Mulawin, I'll probably lose interest if nothing but boring dialogue or flirting happens for five minutes straight. Moving on...

Around the World in 80 Girls

Watched an episode of Oprah which was pretty interesting. It featured segments from all over the world and showed what the life of a 30-year old female was like in countries aside from America. It was pretty fascinating to see and learn stuff like...

Women in Kuwait live like royalty, getting free education, world-class health care and cash gifts from the government. The Kuwaiti woman featured owns her own fleet of luxury cars, has her own home and can shop and buy anything she likes. The only con? She can't vote. Poor baby.

Women in Mexico don't diet or watch their weight since Mexican men love curves. Unfortunately for the tequila-drinking, siesta-taking Mexicanas, infidelity is rampant and the law heavily skewed in favor of the philandering males.

Women in England are very available since there are 4 women for every man.

Women in Australia have to take lots of sun block since Down Under is the Skin Cancer capital of the world...

Women in Brazil work more on their bodies and beauty treatments than much anything else.

As for women in The Philippines, our local lasses are personified on the episode by model Angel Aquino, who talked about how we Pinoys enjoy breaks like merienda, and how we love our coffee (we have 67 Starbucks!).

It's not all sweet and light though; women in Iraq have to contend with the danger of rape, murder and the constant lack of order and basic necessities like electricity and water. Good thing some women can pack an AK-47 to defend themselves.

The climax of the show was the feature of a 30-year old woman in Ghana, where a terrible act of genocide almost massacred an entire race of people. The woman survived and escaped the murderous militia that killed her entire family, and went on to become a mother to her child and two adopted orphans. Oprah finished the show by having the woman on her show and granting her most fervent wish- to attend college.

Wow. I should watch this show more often. Heh.

Local Comic Buzz

Over pizza and chicken during the K.I.A. Meet and Greet, I was able to chat with old and new friends, and learn about stuff that's going to happen in the future. Well, since the people I chatted with are all Komikeros and grafictionists, the range of predictions is limited to this arena. Sorry, no Lottery combinations.

Anyway, Arnold Arre is working on a gaggle of stuff, including a collaboration with Lastikman scribe Gerry Alanguilan for a super spin-off title starring their new heroine Atomika, a remastered edition of his classic Mythology Class complete with all-new scenes, fleshing-out of character and other goodies (think the Star Wars sequels but a LOT better acting and no Jar Jar Binks) and the mysterious Martial Law Babies book.

Dean Alfar has been teased into taking out his first, though as yet incomplete, comic project, The Lost from the back burner and hopefully into the light as a trade paperback/collected release.

Jennyson Rosero showed off his lovely lovely No Man's Land manga from international publisher Seven Seas, and we can probably look forward to at least several more issues of this Witchcraft meets Wild West title. More BABES, Jen! More BABES!!!

Marvin del Mundo and Michael Seludo are still working on Ignition Comix, their cool anthology comic-zine, with issue 3 on the way.

While he was conspicuously absent during the Meet and Greet, Baylans master Jason Banico has secured the release of a couple of Psicom-published local manga comics- the teeny-bopper anthology Cherry Blossom High (which the gang worked on), and the fantasy-mecha adventure Mystic Machine Maharlika.

As for what's next for me? The beginnings of the next volume of K.I.A. is already being worked out in my head. What about Angel Ace? I am trying to work out how to keep both characters running, if not both books. We'll see what comes out... suffice to say, Kai and Angel are forever linked, and you can never really have one without the other... at least not for too long. Flip book? Cross-over? Somehow, someway, I'll make it work. I guess only time will tell. Heh. Yeah, I AM a tease.

The Week After

Ah. It's Monday again.

In the storm of releasing K.I.A. and holding the Meet and Greet, I wasn't able to give much attention to other stuff. Well, that's going to change since the book is out there already and it's all a matter of maintenance from now on. Not as hectic, but I should keep myself on my toes to keep promoting the book and hopefully get word around.

But thankfully, this also means I can get back to my regular scheduled blogging. Heh.

Anyway, of course while I was busy with the comic, the world mourned or rejoiced at the passing of Pope John Paul II. I have never been a really religious person, but the Papa was a good man, a great man, and he was the only Pope I've ever known. I remember reading the comics about his life when I was in elementary school, remembered the times that he visited here, rolling around in the Pope Mobile. I remember that terrifying assassination attempt, and his conciliatory meeting afterwards with his would-be murderer. He was always there, and now he's gone back to God. We'll probably never see another one quite like him.

Oh well. Life goes on.

Meet and Greet


Team K.I.A. at Shakey's.

Today is one of those days that reminds me why I do comics. It's the opportunity to meet and work with great people like the wonderful guys and gals that helped me put together K.I.A. This day wasn't really a Launch for the comic, but just a way for me to thank all these people who gave art and words freely to make the project work. Over pizza, chicken and iced tea at Shakey's Megamall, we chatted the afternoon away and enjoyed each others' company. It was with great pleasure that I passed around everyone's complimentary copies of the book, and had these artists sign one copy for posterity.


The best thing about the K.I.A. cover is that there are lots of space to sign!


Jonas and his new copy of K.I.A.

My only regret was that several members weren't able to make it, but I'm sure they were with us in spirit. Another regret was not taking more videos, since my O2 XDA II takes pretty good clips. Anyway, I took a whole bunch of pics, which I posted at My Phlog. Check them out!

Again, thanks to everyone who came, and a BIG thanks to Camille Portugal who was invaluable to making these last few days happen smoothly. Thank you thank you thank you, Cams!


Cams put the whole day together. Yay!

Let's do it all again sometime! WOOHOO!!!

K-Day


Unstoppable. Implacable. Invincible. AVAILABLE.

All righty, then!

K.I.A. Vol. 1 - Kai: Indomitable Assassin is on sale NOW at Comic Quest Megamall. By next week or so, it should also be in stock in Comic Quest Alabang Town Center and Comic Quest SM North EDSA. The black-and-white, 160-page anthology comic book costs Php195.00. Buyers will get, as a bonus, a FREE copy of Angel Ace NEXT, the latest Angel Ace comic and a prelude to K.I.A. (while supplies last)

K.I.A. has been almost two years in the making- originally meant for release in 2004, things just got extended and we had to push it back time and again. However, everything eventually fell into place and here we are. I am just so lucky to have gotten such a cool bunch of people together to work on the book, and hopefully this will not be the last time such a convergence takes place.

I'll be at Comic Quest in the late afternoon until closing, hanging out and signing any copies. Lucky customers will probably get their copies signed by several members of Team K.I.A who may be around as well.

See you all there!

Gaming Bits

With movies like The Godfather and Scarface coming soon to consoles, the latest crime film to make the jump to videogaming is Goodfellas (the Ray Liotta/Robert De Niro starrer). You'll play the game as real-life ex-gangster Henry Hill, starting off as a snot-nosed kid bashing in car windows with a baseball bat, and working your way up to gangster and later, cocaine dealer. Mini-games will include cooking pasta, getting a wife and dressing her up as the perfect mobster's wife, and disposing of dead bodies. Just don't get whacked!

The lackluster Suikoden IV did little for fans of the franchise, so Konami has announced that the next game, named aptly Suikoden V, will be a return to the roots for the series. Expect loads of familiar faces to return, such as "Blue Lighting Flick", Viktor and the McDohl heir. Better hope you still have that original Suikoden save...

The unthinkable has happened... Streetfighter vs Mortal Kombat will bring together the flagship fighters of the two landmark beat 'em ups in one fiery package. There will be two modes of visual style, which will allow players to choose either hand-drawn sprites for their characters, or digitized graphics using live-actors. Capcom of Japan has denied that they will cut corners and use footage from the old, old Streetfighter the Movie game. It is unknown whether or not Ryu will have a fireball fatality, or if the Mortal Kombat crew will get super combos. The game is slated for an early 2006 release on various consoles.

Sony has announced plans for the PSPDA, a Pocket-PC hybrid with their existing Playstation Portable. In addition to playing UMD games, you can surf the web via WIFI and save games on the device's hard drive. A battery pack, built into a belt accessory, will provide the additional power supply needed to keep the convergent device working.


Oh, and of course...

Happy April Fool's Day!

Old Favorite

Back when I was a college student in UP, one of the MUST places to have a meal was Rodic's. It's a tapsilog place that specialized in this sweet-savoury tapa (cured meat), rice and fried egg meals which just hits the spot everytime. The Rodic's in UP Shopping Center was almost always full of hungry students, and the cramped but cozy interior had lots of character, if not ambience.
Well, it's been years since I've had a Rodic's tapsilog, but that changes today. Amazingly enough, a branch has opened about a discus throw away from the office (and from all accounts, it's doing brisk business), so the office gang decided to get ourselves some tapsilog delivered for lunch. Yummy. This should bring back memories of those university days. Heh.

Getting Ready

It takes more than packing comics in plastic to ensure a good release. I also bought a nice hang-on rack for the book, which fits nicely in front of the CQ comic rack... fellow comics, sorry but we just can't just drop K.I.A. into the rack as is- it's so small, it'll sink and be lost. Aside from the posters and some other little stuff to promote the comic, I'm damn lucky to have Cams in my court as PR Dominatrix. Well, all of us in Alamat have in the past always been helped by Cams whenever we would launch a comic. She's got connections in all the radio stations, knows literally hundreds of people to talk to and get stuff done, and she's all systems go to get the book the hoo-hah factor it needs to sell.

So if you hear K.I.A. being promoted on the radio, or surf to the 99.5RT website and see Kai there, it's thanks to Cams.

The release this weekend will give the comic to readers, but it's really not a big launch. I'll be around, and I'll chat and sign every copy sent my way. If things look great, I'll try to put together a real Launch Event. We'll see.

Things look good though. The local comic community seems expectant of the book (met comic dude Jonas and dudette Jac tonight, which was pretty cool), but the real test will be getting the walk-in customers and casual readers to take a gander at our product. But darn, I feel great. It should be cool and it's really nice to have your efforts pay off. Anything else from now on is gravy. Heh. Optimism is good.

WTP

Last night saw me packing away, inserting things into plastic jackets and seeing things rise. I could have brought in a couple of the household help to help me pack, but I really just had to pack by myself tonight.

Yep, I made myself busy putting copies of K.I.A. into plastic bags, and then organizing everything into neat piles. I packed no less than 75 copies, about two-thirds of which are Comic Quest stocks, while the rest are for the members of Team K.I.A. Generally, I am pretty happy with the stocks... so far, I've seen only five copies which I do not want to sell since they have some damage- a couple had spots on the cover torn away by some adhesive, and a couple had folded parts. Nothing really horrible.
I remember the second original Angel Ace issue had more than HALF the stocks with defective qualities- misregistered cover images, covers missing lamination... it was a nightmare. The horrid thing was that we, neophytes then in this publishing thing, paid the bastard printers in FULL. And they just gave us a half-hearted consuelo de bobo reparation. That was the worst.

Well, about five books later, I'm still a relative neophyte in printing comics, but having a good printer seems to work wonders since K.I.A. looks great, and I am really excited to get the copies out to the store and into readers' hands.

Whew. I'm tired from packing all night (okay, ENOUGH). If I was a smoker, I'd probably be having a drag right now. Instead, I just have a can of Pepsi, a cookie and watch the latest Amazing Race.

Hey, it's tomorrow already. Less than two days to K.I.A. Saturday. Yay!

Smartly-priced Smartphone


A budget smartphone?

The next smartphone to come from Finnish phonemakers Nokia will be the 3230, a well-rounded Series 60 model that thankfully seems free of the queer keyboard syndrome that plagued most of the earlier Nokia models. The phone will come with a 1.3 megapixel camera, a large 176 x 208 color screen, video capture and editing, push-to-talk, Bluetooth and other bells and whistles. The 3230 will supposedly be priced at an affordable range- I'm not sure though how that will translate here in the Philippines though. Anyway, this latest smartphone has all the goods from the later released Nokias such as the 7610 and the 6630, in a pretty and compact frame. So those out there looking for a nice new smartphone need not go for the aging 6600 anymore. The 3230 is set for release later in 2005.

K.I.A. Saturday


She's coming for You this weekend.

This Saturday, April 2, 2005, comic-lovers will be able to grab their own copy of K.I.A. Volume 1- Kai: Indomitable Assassin at Comic Quest Megamall. Soon after, stocks will be available at other CQ branches. The 160-page, b/w comic anthology will have a cover price of Php195.00. Customers who buy K.I.A. will also get a free copy of Angel Ace Next (which is a prologue to the new book).

Spread the word, everyone. Fly, fly, fly.

Cool Wars

As mixed my feelings are for the Star Wars prequel movies, I am a total fan of Genndy Tartarovsky's Clone Wars microseries. The action is great, the Jedi and ARC troopers badass, the villains scary and the acting is a lot better! Darn, cartoon Padme and Anakin are a hotter couple than the live ones. Sigh.
Anyway, I was able to download both seasons 1 and 2 last year, and it bites that I somehow deleted the files along the way. I guess I'll just have to get them on VCD or DVD someday.
In the meantime, while waiting for ROTS, the 3rd season of Clone Wars looks awesome. The longer (at 12 minutes per ep) episodes will bridge the gap to Episode III, and chronicle the Separatists' attack on the Republic's capital at Coruscant, and the battles of the Jedi versus the new and deadlier threat of General Grievous.

Clone Wars will be shown on Cartoon Network locally, though you can view the new episodes NOW from Starwars.com. Check them out!

Nicked


I'd love to have Fairy Godparents to make my every wish come true...

Over the holidays I found myself liking a lot of new things. I bought myself a copy of the New Avengers though I have never liked the government-sponsored superteam. I have also now apparently become a fan of a couple of Nickelodeon cartoon shows, or 'Nicktoons'; My Life as a Teenage Robot and Fairly Odd Parents.

My Life as a Teenage Robot is all about the adventures of XJ9 or simply Jenny, an almost invincible super robot who has to juggle being a teenager and Earth's greatest defender. The character design of Jenny herself is cute, with big eyes and nice ponytails that give her quite a bit of anime flavor. I guess I like the series as well since it reminds me a lot of my own Angel Ace- in another world, Angel's adventures would be like Jenny's, and her character is very much like Angel's.
Fairly Odd Parents is just hilarious- I love the wacky situations and the fast-paced stories, with the many wishes of hero Timmy Turner asked of his fairy-godparents Cosmo and Wanda almost always snowballing into some crazy consequence. The episodes aren't as braindead as the more popular Spongebob Squarepants (which I don't like probably since it's about non-human characters), and there's quite a bit of sophistication in the writing. But I think what really made me like Oddparents is the recently-shown Channel Chasers special/movie, which was quite excellent. The spoofing of every cartoon from The Simpsons to Tom and Jerry to Speed Racer was just so cool. Darn, I wonder if this means I'll be looking for DVDs or VCDs of these Nicktoons... even more stuff to stockpile in The Sanctum again.

Oh well. Broadening Horizons is always good. Right? Sigh.

Lord of the Rings Extended Version

They're showing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on GMA7 right now. It's the extended version. Nope, not the DVD-only cut with an extra hour of additional scenes. This is the theatrical cut with an additional hour of COMMERCIALS. Well, I guess there are still people out there without dvd or vcd players who will still watch this, despite having the cinematic experience broken every now and then by an ad for Max Fried Chicken or whatever. Heh.

Angel Update


Hopefully, Angel won't be sitting idly for too long.

With all this effort I'm throwing into K.I.A., I've been often asked by people if I'm still coming out with Angel Ace. Readily, I say 'yes'. Angel was my first comic, and while I'm still doing comics I'll continue to develop her story until her saga is done. That's a pretty big task to do, honestly, since her story is epic, to say the least. We haven't even reached anywhere near the foothills of the mountains of high drama that Angel's story will reach. That's something that cannot be hurried, I have to say... the need to flesh out a character, to show her many adventures and filler episodes before that final stretch of major plot that will lead to the endgame.
It's going to be hard, and I'm not sure I can do it. But I will give it the good ol' college try. Somehow, someway.

What's next for Angel? A nice stand-alone adventure. It's a matter of deciding what story to do; the long-in-the-making 'Philippines' story or a rematch with The Sorcerer. I'll be able to decide soon after I finish the business with K.I.A.

Happy Easter!

The end of yet another year's Lenten Season. And one fine vacation period, if I may add. It was nice to just kick back and relax, just read and watch and sleep the whole day long. But then again, just sitting around the house, snacking every so often makes me feel the calories just pile up. I'd much rather have a vacation where I can go out and enjoy the town, instead of being cloistered at The Sanctum.
Well, today's one more day to me before work begins yet again for a stretch, until the Christmas vacation. Most probably I'll just stay indoors, do some more writing, reading and watching until the day runs out. Then progress on the impending release of K.I.A. will continue. Which makes the end of the holiday a bittersweet affair. Oh well.