Back to School


The Mythology Class is back.

The first time I read Arnold Arre’s Mythology Class was years ago, in parts, even before the comic reached the printing presses. Back then, when me and Arn were in college (UP Fine Arts), I’d immediately go “Pa-Xerox! Pa-Xerox! Pa-Xerox!” whenever he came up with a chapter of his incredible, personal comic project. And being the friendly guy that he was, and is, he’d oblige. I still have those Xerox-copies of the original Myth Class somewhere in The Sanctum, locked away under lock and key, with half-aswang, half-kapre guards ever watchful.
Myth Class hooked me at the time initially thanks to the fact that about 95 percent of the characters in the book are based on real people in and around our college (including me, in a very short, very small role…heh). But while I came for the art, I stayed for the story, and never left.
This new, collected Special Edition of Myth Class is a mix; the ‘Lucasisms’, or revisions, are sporadically sprinkled throughout. They range from different treatments of scenes (and some discreet censorings…), to slight modifications of dialogue, to totally new segments that, thankfully, fit in well with doses of humor and levity to the already light banter of the Class. There’s even some updating of technology- originally equipped with audio cassettes, the techie members of the Myth Class are now packing CDs to make with the times. There’s no texting though, strangely enough. Heh.

For the most part, The Mythology Class is a wonderful re-presentation of Arnold’s classic, easily one of the most impressive local works of graphic storytelling in recent times, and even after more than six years I still consider it my favorite among Arnold’s works. Not because of art, but by sheer volume, depth, detail and the spirit that was infused in every page and character.
At more than 350 pages, it’s a lengthy, immersive read, full of fantastic images, witty dialogue, impressive action and a wide-eyed sense of wonder that Arnold always infuses in his comics.

Arnold’s original, self-published run reached a lot of people, but this new, collected release by Anino looks to reach even more. The only bottleneck is the inevitable high price, since it IS a 350-plus page monster of a book… but it’s still cheaper than any foreign graphic novel, and you’re getting a LOT of bang for your buck. Highly recommended to any fans of local pop culture and comic readers in general. Class is in session. Attendance is a MUST!

The Mythology Class tells the story of a band of travelers from antiquity, their epic, endless quest, and the wonderful mish-mash of unique youths they gather to join them in the adventure of a lifetime. Story and art by Arnold Arre, soon to be available in major bookstores and comic shops in Metro Manila.

For more information and a view of more art based on the book, visit the Mythology Class Website.

Reunion


Arnold and Cynthia Arre with MY copy of the Mythology Class Special Collection.

Not a rumor. Not an urban legend. Not a myth. Wait a minute, it is. Ah, whatever. Anyway, have you all been hearing that the Mythology Class comic book by Arnold Arre is being collected into a single, mammoth collection? Well, it's true. Now fans of the cult local independent comic book can rejoice in a remastered, refurbished, rejuvinated Myth Class, complete with new pages of art and even new dimensions into this modern komiks classic. And those long-suffering fanboys who've been asking and searching for in vain for elusive First and Second issues of Myth Class can finally see what they've been missing.

I know. Cause I HAVE A COPY RIGHT IN MY HANDS RIGHT NOW. WOOHOO!!!

Arnold and Cynthia passed by today at The Salt Mines, for a chat and to give me my free sample copy. Oh my! The truly monumental Special Collection clocks in at over 350 pages of story and extras that include colored pinup/past cover art, sketches and artist notes, and some nice odds and ends. Arnold took the time and effort to smoothen out some parts of his original masterpiece, along with some all-new pages and some changes to update the Class for the times (the gang now sports cellphones and CDs).

I expect to dive into the book as soon as I can, to see what has changed and what has remained the same of this comic opus.

Anyway, the LAUNCH of the Myth Class Collection will be on September 16, 2005, evening (6-7ish) at Rockwell. Expect to see Arnold and Cynthia there with a boatload of engkantos- er, enchanted fans. Also, you can check out the New Mythology Class Website that's loaded with new pieces of fan art, including a couple of pieces from me. Yay!

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a Tikbalang to run down. Hoho!

The Mythology Class is released by Anino Publishing. Catch it soon at bookstores and comic book shops everywhere in the metro.

Advent Voices

Just for fun and otaku giddiness, here are some info on the voice actors (Japanese) for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and info on their previous anime roles. Some interesting stuff.

Cloud Strife, the main man and seemingly eternal imo boy, will be played by Takahiro Sakurai. The actor said in an interview that he really loved FFVII and Cloud in particular, so he was literally floored when he was asked to play the role. His previous anime voice credits include Shun Ukiya from Gatekeepers and Arihiko Inui in Lunar Legend Tsukihime. He's also played a villain, as Kagami Kyouji in Getbackers.

Tifa Lockheart is played by lovely actress Ayumi Itouh, who looks just as pretty as her CG/game counterpart (look for her online). She has been cast in the films All About Lily Chou-Chou and Swallowtail Butterfly.

Yuffie Kisaragi is played by Yumi Kazaku, whose previous anime roles include Aya Mikage from Ayashi no Ceres, and other roles in Full Metal Alchemist, Raxhephon and Initial D.

Aeris Gainsborough is played by none other than Maaya Sakamoto, who's basically a megastar in anime and Japanese music. Her previous roles in anime includes the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki from Escaflowne.

The Wheelchair-bound Man is played by Tohru Okawa, who also voiced Roy Mustang from Full Metal Alchemist. Interestingly enough, Wheelchairman's bodyguard, the red-haired Turk Reno, is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara, who played Mustang's best friend and subordinate Maes Hughes in FMA.

Sephiroth will be given his villainous voice by veteran seiyuu Toshiyuki Morikawa, whose past vocal performances include game characters Kazuya Mishima in Tekken 4 and Heishiro Mitsurugi in Soul Calibur. He also voiced the mega-villain Naraku from the Inu Yasha anime.

For me, the optimal way to watch Advent Children will be with the original Japanese dialogue and subtitles, but that's just me.

I wonder who the english voice actors will be? Speculating on that would make a great topic by itself. Heh.

Advent Reading



In but a couple of weeks, FFVII: Advent Children will be released on DVD and UMD (PSP Format) in Japan. But forget about the Nippon for a bit; if we’re going to be jealous of someone, it should be with the Italians. That’s because the final, 100-minute cut of FF7 AC has already been shown in Venice Italy.

I don’t really mind spoilers, so it was fine for me to read a super-detailed report on the movie, with tons o’ spoilers. And so, without necessarily spoiling details for the rest of us FF7 AC virgins, here are some bits of info.

FF7 AC is Cloud’s show. It’s all about him, his internal conflicts, his ongoing turmoil even after the story in the game. Everyone else is secondary, with most of the cast (including the other FF7 heroes) in roles that are little more than cameos. This is to be expected, as Advent Children originally started out as a 30-minute feature that really just focused on Cloud and little else.
For the most part though, it is apparent from the script that Aeris the Flower Girl will have a huge impact on the story, beyond the simple flashback. Next, Tifa and Vincent will also have good screentime, as will members of Shinra and The Turks.

Bottom line, there are cool moments aplenty for pretty much all the fan favorites.

Expect LOTS of fanservice like signature attacks from the game shown in full CG loveliness. The battle scenes and fights are supposed to be beyond awesome. Well, we’ll just have to see them for ourselves.

The story though is not without flaws- nothing extremely world-changing really happens, and it’s all pretty linear and not unexpected really. However, it should be stressed that you really can’t expect to satisfy everyone; by all indications though, this movie is going to rock. Fans of FFVII should expect to be majorly impressed by perhaps the ultimate in fan service ever. Everyone else who enjoys a good sci-fi fantasy adventure with unparalleled animation, drama and action should be in for a treat.

FFVII: Advent Children takes place a couple of years after the end of the story in the classic Playstation RPG. The heroes and villains of the world of Midgar must now face a new threat together- the deadly disease known as Geostigma, and the dangerous group of Silver-haired Young Men who plan to resurrect the world's most dangerous enemy- Sephiroth. Cloud Strife, fallen hero, must find it in himself to rise up and defend what he values, or die trying.

Damn, I can’t wait to see this movie. NOW. NOW. NOW.

Wild Week

Yet again this week was pretty hectic. And not without a hiccup or two. Well, there's nothing else to do about it but learn from the experience, take it all in stride and move on. All in all though I still count this week as being pretty good, and myself still pretty lucky.
Maybe next week won't be as hectic as this one was, maybe not. I remember a week or two ago, Vin asked me why I was still looking blasted after coming off a hard week of work. It's really not like after a straight run of overtime and finishing a week's worth of Job Orders that your boss will come to you and say, "Marc, you did a great job. Here's a ton of cash. Take a month's off and enjoy yourself!" It's really more to the tune of, "Marc, you did a great job. Here's some more work."

It's not like back in school when you knew when breaks came, and you could look forward to long, long periods of vacation and relaxing. I kinda miss those days, but I'm not the kind of guy who'd like to go back to school. I love working and earning my own money. I like being the master of my ship. I like not having periodical exams. I like not having to answer to some crummy professor who's more bark than real bite. Ooh.

But whatever... I'm still thankful for weekends. Those lovely oasis of calm between these hectic weeks. Without weekends, I surely would go mad. But then again... I'm already MAD aren't I? MAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Eye-OK

My mom had her operation today, and it went well. Thanks to everyone who gave in their prayers and well wishes. I'm sure they all helped a lot.

Things they didn't teach in Roman History


Agrippa knows how to handle the ladies.

Another of the PS2 games I've been playing recently is Shadow of Rome by Capcom (hey... Capcom's been putting a lot of games out recently. Where's Streetfighter 4??!). It's loosely based on the history of the Roman Empire. I say loosely because most probably any history professor who watches the stuff happening onscreen will most likely throw up his hands in dismay at how this game pretty much cuts up historical fact with abandon.

But then again, SOR is all about cutting up stuff- particularly people. Well, mostly enemy gladiators, at least. Set in an alternate Rome which is without a doubt greatly influenced by Ridley Scott's Gladiator movie, the game puts you in the leather sandals of two individuals and friends. Agrippa is a centurion who, after finishing a major campaign against the Germanic tribes, finds his world tumbling into a nightmare when his father is accused of assassinating Julius Caesar.
Yeah, Julius Caesar gets assassinated in Shadow of Rome. But taking a big historical flip, in the game the Roman emperor is killed not by a bunch of senators but by apparently a lone assassin in the shadows of a hallway in Caesar's house. Agrippa only learns of his father's plight after he races home. Prior to that, his friend and the game's other playable character Octavianus (who looks all the world like a Roman version of Metal Gear's Raiden) starts his own investigation into the great lord's murder.

About two thirds of the game is all about gory arena fighting- Soon after he comes home, fate throws Agrippa into the role of a gladiator, in order to somehow save his father. You then take command of the burly Roman warrior as he tries to survive waves of deadly fighters, mainly by turning the opposition into tiny bloody chunks with various weapons and tools of death. Suffice to say that SOR is probably one of the goriest and bloodiest games you'll see; decapitations, dismemberments and severing of limbs is pretty commonplace, and you get high scores for the more stylish kills. Ouch. Well, it's all in good fun (?) and desensitized kids will probably get a laugh out of this... for responsible parents though, keep this out of youngsters' hands.
If SOR was just all about fighting, this would be a solid title. But then, a third of the game consists of sneak-and-hide missions with the fey, effete Octavianus as he tries to uncover the conspiracy behind Caesar's murder. You spend several chapters infiltrating mansions and buildings guarded by patrols of careless legionnaires, occasionally conking some poor buster on the head with a pot or choking them unconscious so you can grab their toga. These missions aren't all that bad, though it kinda sucks that if you're ever seen, all it takes is one hit from any enemy to kill you and end the mission- throwing you back to the start of the round. If you know what to do it's all about getting from point A to point B, but still the action just grinds to a bit of a stop when Octavianus answers the curtain.

It's much better to just kick butt with Agrippa, sometimes fighting sexy gladiator babes, most of whom sport thongs and a couple, high heeled shoes which are probably years ahead of their time. It could easily turn into a mindless button masher (which has good points), but there are techniques to master which will turn you from a simple killler to a virtuoso of gore.

Historical blunders aside, Shadow of Rome is a fun, mature action title for the PS2 that those looking for some bloody stress relief would do well to check out. Et tu, Brute?

Superhero Students and Fanservice-laden Car Chases

I just said in a recent post that there seemed to be a shortage of nice films to watch in recent weeks. Well, that may change this week. Just opening today are a couple of fun-looking flicks: Sky High and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Sky High is about a high school for would-be superheroes, and has the cool casting of Kurt Russell as a superheroic dad and Linda 'Wonder Woman' Carter as the school's principal. The main plot is about Kurt's son who is still trying to find his niche either as the next big superhero or as a second-class sidekick. Though this is released by Disney, it looks pretty slick with cool special effects and a storyline that just oozes comic book appeal.

The Dukes of Hazzard is a movie remake of the old 80s TV series about some car-riding outlaw brothers (this time around played by Sean William Scott and Johnny Knoxville), their hot sister in cut-off jeans (this time played by Jessica Simpson, who looks DAMN fine) and their continuing tussles with the local sheriff and his evil boss, Hogg (now played by Burt Reynolds). Lots of car chases, Miss Simpson showing off skin and white trash humor.

Hoho! I'll try to catch Sky High soon. As for the Dukes... maybe the DVD's out already?

Phoneman


The Sony Ericsson W800i.

A friend at The Salt Mines just got herself a spiffy new Sony Ericsson W800i, more popularly known as The Walkman Phone. I got to see it (after grabbing it from her with grasping hands like claws) and it’s pretty neat.

The gadget can’t be any larger than the older, classic T610 but darn, it’s got tons of goodies and functions up the wazoo- a great camera (2 megapixels make for great shots) with video and of course the much-touted musical functions. Unfortunately, while the phone is supposed to play great through earphones, sound through the phone itself isn’t too loud (‘cept when there are rings or text tones… pretty cool) for music. I expect though that, like an I-pod, it would suffice as a pretty decent music source if you plug it into a good sound system. And with about 15 or so hours of playtime, that’s a lot of music to enjoy.

Anyway, the reviews have said that the W800’s good enough as a music player against real, stand-alone mp3 players, and that I can believe. It’s compact, gives you a really nice camera, videocam, gaming device (though the two pre-loaded titles are pretty blah) and music jukebox. And the 512mb Memory Stick (included) is pretty cool.
Still, I’m not budging a centimeter from my lovely O2 Mini (hehe). The screen’s far too small, there’s no OS for me to run my apps and Betaplayer videos, and no phone Java game beats 32-bit Playstation 1 games. HOHO. As for music, I have Windows Media Player and ultra-small WMAs. It was nice to see the new device, and feel a bit of the giddiness of something new. But, well… it’s beneath me.

To anyone else not into smartphones though, the Walkman phone’s highly recommended. Run, don’t walk… to your nearest store for your own.

Interesting Times in the DC Univers

I FINALLY got to read a good-sized chunk of the new comics I’ve been purchasing. The stuff consists of DC Comics, particularly those in the direct OMAC Project and build-up to the Infinite Crisis storyline. Now, Vin and Dean have been raving about this, and I guess I have to agree.

The more dangerous atmosphere of the DC universe these days makes for gripping reads, what with villains coming together to form super-syndicates, heroes learning dirty secrets that lead them to mistrust each other and an army of secret anti-superhuman agents ready to pop up anytime to zap anyone, bad or good. Dangerous times make for great comics.

Though I have to say I’m not totally convinced by some of the story elements- such as the whole issue with (SPOILERS) Dr. Light and the big SIN the JLA members did to him and in the course, Batman. Yeah, it makes it all more human and gritty and raises issues of morality but come on… they’re villains. Expect bad things to happen when you call yourself a baddie. Anyway, I like it, and I guess I’m in for the ride. I’ve been a DC fan ever since the original Crisis (on Infinite Earths), and this new hullabaloo coming for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and their ilk looks to be a humdinger.

Anyway, I don’t want to be the only one out of the loop when the gang starts talking about the latest Infinite Crisis buzz. Heh.

Dead Air

Is it just me, or there just no good movies anywhere right now? I mean, after watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Fantastic Four, things just kinda... stopped. There's nothing much to look forward to in the next couple of months, I think. Perhaps everyone is saving their eggs for the holiday season. That's when stuff like King Kong and Chronicles of Narnia come out. Still, they're nowhere in the league of a LOTR or any similar movie event. The only things that tempted me to even consider watching recently was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Great Raid. I guess it's just as well... don't have much time to go to a theater these days. Hopefully that, and the fare in cinemas, will change soon. Sigh.

New Challengers


Singer/martial artist Lili joins the Tekken crew.

More info on Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. The two new playable characters are named Dragunov and Lili. Dragunov is a decidedly evil-looking man in a militaristic uniform who is described as a 'human weapon'. Lili is a singer who uses her dance moves to fight. Meanwhile, aside from the newbies, all of the characters will be getting more costumes and accessories. Now, if we'll be getting bikinis for Nina and Asuka, I'm sold. Heh.


Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection is set for a late 2005 release in Japan arcades. No telling on a home version yet, but we'll just have to see first whether it's worth taking home or not.

The Haunted

’
Fiona Belli, the heroine of Haunting Ground, performing one of her special moves- laying unconscious and helpless.

Capcom has given us a lot of survival-horror games, primarily through their flagship series, Resident Evil. Usually though, it’s not so much horror as it is monster-fighting action as you take the roles of various take-no-prisoners, kick-butt heroes who take on mutant beasties with both eyes open. And so it was with a bit of surprise and refreshment that Haunting Ground for the PS2 appeared.

Similar to the Clock Tower series, Haunting Ground puts you in the boots of 18-year old Fiona Belli, a lovely (if deathly pale) young lady who wakes up one dark night in a cage, dressed only in a bed sheet and surrounded by the sprawling expanse of a creepy castle. Soon afterwards, she finds herself being chased by a hulking man-monster named Debilitas, and encountering an eerily beautiful maid named Daniella. A mystery voice calls out from the walls, telling her that she will be his. Fiona doesn’t have a clue why she’s here, what this castle is all about and why this crew of freaky denizens are after her… all she wants is to get the hell out of Dodge.
Unfortunately, Fiona isn’t a veteran special forces agent, or even a member of the local martial arts club… she’s just an ordinary college student, home from university before a frightful event that caused her to get into this mess. She can’t really fight save for a weak kick and tackle- the best thing she can do is RUN… and hide, given that there are tons of places to huddle behind, under or against in the shadowy castle. But if things get really hot, her panic level gets bad and things go blurry and wild and then Fiona’s in real deep goo as she’s practically helpless.

But then, not all’s dead roses- assuming that Fiona survives her first hour or so in the castle, she’ll hook up with Hewie, an odd and intelligent albino dog that soon becomes Fiona’s best friend, guardian, constant companion and fellow escapee from this gothic madhouse. Only by befriending and building a relationship with Hewie and using his abilities to help her can Fiona have a chance of defeating her pursuers and unlocking the secret of the nightmare she’s in.

Now, a game where the heroine you play isn’t a deadly femme fatale who can do high kicks and kill with her thighs is different for me, but it’s actually cool. Haunting Ground especially strikes a pretty good tone as a survival horror game, with a refreshing new way of keeping tension and mystery.
First of all, the game is freaking gorgeous. Apart from the incredible CG cinemas, the real time graphics are simply exquisite, with the characters appearing and moving better than most other PS2 games you’ll ever see; Fiona herself is animated incredibly well, and will please fanboys as she’s as bouncy as the DOA girls.
The castle itself is a great gothic maze to explore for some scary fun. And the mechanic of the game being pretty much a deadly game of hide and seek- is pretty slick. Best of all, the cool relationship-building game between Fiona and Hewie, and how you can use the dog to fight back, is just awesome. Haunting Gorund gives back a bit of replay value with unlockable costumes, extra endings and surprises that make going through the adventure multiple times desirable.

Haunting Ground’s graphics and gameplay are simply superb- it’s a great contrast to most other Survival Horror games out, and I highly recommend this to gamers who want a mature adventure romp with suspense and quite a bit of fanservice on the side. Don’t be scared away by the Damsel in Distress scenario; this is a scream of a good time.

I AM STILL HERE!!!

Whew! The storm that was This Week is finally over. I can finally breathe a bit.

It was touch and go early this morning, as we fine-tuned the presentation and waited for the minutes to tick by. After the client meeting (and pretty much half the day) I was freeeeeee....

My first act of freedom was to hie off to the nearby Subway's and have myself a late lunch (at 4:30PM). Next was to start blogging a bit, seeing as how I've been neglecting the web community for a while.

On my plate.

To start reading the pile of DC Comics Vin recommended to me.

To get the new stocks of comics stuff for this week.

To grab a copy of Haunting Ground for the PS2 and any other new game that catches my eye.

To keep playing Darkwatch.

To watch some anime and dvds over the weekend, including the Kim Possible movie.

To start doing art and pages for Project Hero.


Darn... I'm just as busy in the break as I am at work! WAAAAHHH!!!

Dark Resurrection

Woooooh...

An arcade upgrade to Tekken 5 has been announced for release in the next couple of months. It's called... of course, Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection and will feature some newly-rendered stages, customization items and, oh joy, two additional playable characters. But wait- don't expect anything earth-shattering... most probably one will be a playable Jinpachi Mishima, the hulking, demonic end boss with the screen-high fireballs and automatic-dizzy moves (which makes him totally cheap and unbalanced). As for the other, who knows? Rumors are of course flying around at who may be added to the roster- from female ninja Kunimitsu to Armor King (who is deceased so probably no go) to the Ogre from Tekken 3.
Anyway, it's not confirmed if Dark Resurrection will make it to home consoles- or even if it's worth getting for the home if all we get is a cheap playable boss and some spiffy new background effects. We'll just have to wait for the release for the truth.

You can't handle the truth!

Sprint

I'm still at the office. The fastbreak-nonstop rush of work that has been going on all month climaxes tonight and tomorrow. On the bright side though, I'm looking forward to a good rest over the weekend, to read some comics and enjoy a couple of new games. But I still have to get through tonight. Geh.

Passing

An officemate of mine, one of our graphic artists, passed away early today. It came as a shock to the department since he seemed to be doing fine the last anyone heard from him (through a text... yeah, in this day and age last words can come through text). I didn't particularly know him that well, but I work in the same area as him, and often I've hovered at his shoulder looking over copy for final artwork and rendering. Now that he's suddenly gone, it feels odd. I can't say I'm too affected, at least not as much as people who really knew him were. But then again, when death hits near you just can't NOT be totally unfazed. That's what makes us human and humane, I think.

I didn't know him that much, and anyone else reading here not at all. But I think he's worth mentioning here.

Paalam, Onat. It was nice working with you.

Grasping at the Future

Last night, after the gang's farewell dinner blowout from Jason at North Park, we all spent the night at UCC Coffee having our palms and fortunes read by Andrew.

My results? Well, I'll most probably be spending the rest of my working life in advertising, which is very likely (unless I someday give up on the Philippines entirely and move to the States and become a Star Comic Book Creator... Feh). I'll live to middle age, which is likely given that I don't eat much vegetables, love softdrinks and don't engage in regular exercise but at least don't smoke or drink. I've met one of the two GREAT LOVES of my life- which was probably not a real person (it's a matter of interpretation, fortune reading). We all seem to agree that the first great love of my life was Angel Ace, my own creation and first ever original printed comic book character... which is kinda sad since she's not real, and kinda nice since Angel's the perfect girl. Sigh.
Furthermore, I'll be having an eventful life, and while I'm be in a lot of confusion about relationships, apparently when I do find a person I love, I'll stick with them to the end (which will probably be middle age).

Eerie stuff, and pretty much dead on I think. Well, whatever. I don't think the future's set in stone (I hope), so things may change... a little. Maybe I can just start living a little healthier and maybe I can push my life to late middle age or early old age. Whatever. We play with the hands we're dealt.

Sight

Eyesight is perhaps the most valuable sense. Really. There are so many things you can appreciate with sight that taste, hearing, smell and touch just can't capture or appreciate. Perhaps it's because I'm nearsighted and astigmatic with eyes murkier than Manila canal water that I seem to keep awake as long as I have to, devouring eye candy like I have an eternally-itching eye-sweet tooth.

Well, I learned recently that my Mom, the light of the family, has some trouble with her eyesight. She's got cataracts in one of her eyes, and it's been steadily giving her trouble. Lately, her vision's been getting blurred in that eye, so that she's now practically blind in it at night. She had it checked today with my sister and we found out that it's not a problem that's going to go away. In fact, it can only get worse. If untreated, her eye could go totally blind in several months. After that, her other eye may be affected as well.
So she's getting an operation. I heard how much it will cost and I am flabbergasted. Fortunately though, the insurance of my sister and I will help a bit, at least. I think that we can all handle this thing no problem, no matter what. I just hope everything goes well and this will all pass shortly. I just can't see anything else happening other than that. I just can't.

Prayers and well wishes will be appreciated.

GGRRRAAAAAAAHHH!!!

I've been frickin' busy all week. All MONTH seems like. Haven't been able to go to Mega and chill at all this whole time. And it looks like the darn load will spill into the weekend and not let up until mid-week next week.

Yikes. On the bright side though, things, while hard, seem to be proceeding smoothly. Gotta just keep things under control, keep all the bases covered and not let anything sneak up on me. Sheesh.

Have to start work on Project Hero stuff soon. Gotta read that pile of DC Infinite Crisis stuff Vin made me buy. Gotta relax and play. Gotta rest.

Soon. Soon. SOON. I hope.

Appetizers

Recently, I discovered a cool little program for the PC called PSXVideo that lets you view (and convert to AVI format) CG movies and FMV in various Playstation 1 games. Now I don't have to play through games like, oh, Parasite Eve (which I played years ago) just to see the pretty CG. Speaking of pretty, it's funny to watch the videos of intros and endings of classic PS games and see how nicely (or badly) they've aged. These days, CG intros to games are about as complex, detailed and epic as full-blown movie trailers (check out the Tekken 5 and DOA Ultimate intro movies)... but there are still classic intros that still stand up to the test of time and make me want to dust off the old PS1 discs for a re-play.

Soul Edge


The Soul Edge intro. Still as sharp as ever after all these years.


The best scene: Siegfried escaping a crushing fate.


Sophitia's nudity was censored in the US version.


Taki kicks demon butt while showing off hers.

The opening CG movie of the original Namco weapons fighter is, in my book, perhaps the greatest intro movie of the PS era. No other PS1 game can equal the rocking opening movie- a series of various scenes showing the game's cast of warriors, assassins and weirdos engaged in battle or in bathing (as in the case of Sophitia). Set to a rocking, fast-paced song, the video just gets your heart racing and your hands aching for the controller. Too bad the game's sequels (Soul Calibur 1 and 2) ditched CG intros for realtime demos... Oh well. This is a great vid to just watch every now and then.

Tekken


Law being assaulted by fireflies, looks like.


The original Nina Williams in action.

Yeah, these days the Tekken series is known for great CG. The series' intros and endings from Tekken 3 onwards pretty much solidified Namco's claim to fame as masters of the videogame movie. However, they weren't always like that... The original Tekken intro really looks first-generation CG. But hey, to get to where they are now, artists and videogame creators had to pass by these stages, right? For me though, the original Tekken intro has a cool nostalgia factor which I love even to this day. Really.

Suikoden II



No fancy CG here, except for some simple scenes... most of the intro to arguably the best chapter of this beloved RPG series is made up of various character art. But still, the direction of the scenes and the GREAT music just makes for a rousing opening for an epic quest. This is one of my favorite intros, and the game itself is one of my favorite RPGs of all time. Recognize.

Ehrgeiz
We took fighting game intros for granted a lot during the days of the PS1, since there were so many of them. Still, not every game is a Tekken or a DOA, and some of the less-known brawlers had cool CG. One of the better ones was the intro for Ehrgeiz, a free-moving fighter from Squaresoft (Makers of Final Fantasy). Showing off the various fighters in cool situations made for an awesome introduction to a pretty cool game overall.

Final Fantasy 8
While I still believe that Final Fantasy VII is the best FF ever, and that the sequel FF8 is a piece of trying-hard, unadulterated pap trying to capitalize on the previous chapter's thunder, I have to admit that the CG movies in the 8th Final Fantasy game are pretty incredible. The battle between Seifer and Squall, the lovely Rinoa Heartilly, and the promise of an epic story of love, magic and adventure was excellently set by the intro movie... unfortunately the game turned out to be more teenybopper than epic, and the story incomprehensible. Aaaah, what the heck. The intro was awesome. Moving on.

There are tons more cool PS intro and CG movies worth mentioning... the cinematics of Final Fantasy VII, the great creepy videos of Silent Hill... ah, those were the days when it was like Christmas every week and coolness resided in every CD. They don't make 'em like they used to anymore.

Perhaps these days we're all a bit harder to please, or maybe we've seen it all. It takes a lot more to please us these days, but whatever happens, the gamer in me will always love and enjoy a good intro. Whether or not the game after it is worth the bucks we paid for them. Heh.

Advent Figure


FFVII AC's Tifa action figure.

Over the weekend me and my college friend Pot went off on our occasional Sunday jaunt to Greenhills, and our general agenda was looking over the various model and hobby shops. In one of the places we went to I saw the new Tifa Lockheart action figure as she looks in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Advent Children movie. You know what? I really like the characeter but come on... why did they have to change her duds? I mean, lots more skin shown in her old outfit aside, Tifa is the only character apparently who had to change her look... everyone else looks the same, from Cloud to Yuffie to Cid to Barret and Vincent. And why the frumpy overalls? In fact, her present look just makes Tifa look too similar to Rinoa Heartilly from FF8. My secret hope is that when Advent Children actually hits, Square changes Tifa's duds back to her REAL costume. Oh well. We can dream. Or play FFVII or Ehrgeiz to see the real Lockheart look in action. Heh.

Darkwatch

Picked up a game over the weekend- the brand new first-person shooter Darkwatch. This supernatural, western-themed action game puts players into the boots of outlaw Jericho Cross, train robber extraordinaire who gets in waaaaay over his ten-gallon hat-topped head when he jumps on board a strange train for his last score. For inside the armored boxcars isn't a load of gold... it's a force of ultimate evil known as Lazarus. Thrown together with a young lady named Cassidy, Jericho soon finds himself afflicted with vampirism, in danger of losing his soul and hot on the trail of a devil on earth. It's gonna take tons of bullets, dynamite and lots of killing undead hordes before Jericho somehow saves or damns his soul... which will it be?
I'm not really one for shooters, but this is actually a pretty good game. Thankfully, it has a 'greenhorn' difficulty level which lets a total FPS spacecase like me to wade through enemies and continue when I die (a lot). The story seems pretty cool and it's getting me to keep going on even though the odds seem insurmountable. And I am finding it pretty fun to engage skeletal bandidos in gunfights... though often I just wade in and take their heads off with a well-placed rifle butt. The controls are pretty slick, though there are some irritating jumping segments that are maddening to navigate- good thing there aren't any one-hit deaths... so far.

This is a pretty cool game, although a bit on the mature side. Want some gunslinging action with a supernatural twist? Join the Darkwatch and see if you've got what it takes to take on your dark side.

Pocket Arcade


This is how dates work in the Fatal Fury world.

PS games now installed on my PPC Phone: Dead or Alive, Tekken, Star Gladiators, Ehrgeiz, Real Bout Fatal Fury, Time Crisis: Project Titan, Tactics Ogre, Suikoden II.
It’s no Street Fighter III, but Fatal Fury Real Bout is a darn pretty 2-D fighter, and I love the characters and the action. The fact that you can assign special moves to single buttons makes this totally playable.

YES, Suikoden II. Is it actually playable? You’d be surprised. Will I actually play it on the dinky little screen? Not for long (eyestrain will kill me and battery power is limited), but you can’t beat an addictive RPG for time killing if you’re not in the mood for mindless fighting games. The best thing is, I’ve installed it with a save from the original Suikoden, so NOW I can probably try to unlock a certain sidequest that I wasn’t able to do before. Hoho!

Want MORE PS games to rip… more… gotta catch them all…

Rainy Weekend

It’s been raining and raining and raining and raining all week. All I want to do is just lie in the dark and the cold and just snuggle in and sleep. It’s the expectation of having this desire fulfilled that I look forward to the weekend. Most of the gang will be heading off to windy Tagaytay for a break, but I’ve elected to stay for now. Just want to rest and vege out. Maybe do some drawing. I’ll probably post more art for Samurai Sis very soon, and some other odds and ends. We’ll see. If I can tear myself from the bed, that is. Heh.

Seven Swords


Epic.

What is it with the number seven? Apart from the number five, there's no other number for a group of heroes as heroic as seven. It all started with Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which probably was the template for every other seven-man army film since; from cowboys (The Magnificent Seven) to space warriors (Battle Beyond the Stars), the group of seven has been seen in epic struggles of the few and courageous good versus far greater numbers of evil.

Well, yet another epic film of seven heroes comes to the screen, via Tsui Hark's Seven Swords. The film is an adaptation of the first part of a series of Chinese novels, so we can expect more to come if Mr. Hark has his way. Anyway, Seven Swords is the director's answer to the past wave of Wuxia films, which includes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers (each of which have varying levels of goodness for me...).

Seven Swords' premise is classic- in ancient China, the emperor has decreed that martial arts will be banned to preserve the peace. To enforce his edict, armies of mercenaries have been empowered with the freedom to kill and pillage as they please, to bring the heads of any known martial artists (bodies not necessary) to the emperor. Of course, this is not something that can just go about without getting people rightly angry, so seven heroes soon come together to protect a village being threatened by a madman and his army of bloodthirsty killers. Each of the heroes wields a weapon of power- a sword, each with a name like 'Celestial', or 'Dragon'. As you can imagine, these swords can kick butt and they will see a lot of evildoers sliced to ribbons before this epic first chapter of the series is over. Given that Tsui Hark has directed stuff like Once Upon a Time in China and other martial arts classics before, Seven Swords should be something to see.

The film hasn't been released stateside yet, but with the recent successes of Asian films, it's sure to make it over here soon. Look for this in the DVD bins... this looks pretty cool.

Winners

Congratulations to my good friends Dean and Nikki Alfar for winning in the 2005 Palanca Awards! Dean won the Grand Prize in the Novel category, for his work Salamanca, something he wrote in 30 days last November as part of the NaNoWriMo. Nikki, on the other hand, won the 3rd prize in the Short Story for Children in English category for her short story Menggay's Magical Chicken.

And to think I meet these people usually every week and just goof around with them. Heh. Congratulations again, Alfars!

Stylus Shooting


Time Crisis on my Mini (actual screenshot).

Recently I finally got myself a working copy of Time Crisis (or to be more exact, Time Crisis: Project Titan, the PS-only sequel to the original TC) and then ripped and converted it to the ISO format for my mobile phone. And what do you know? It works like a charm. Years ago, I struggled to play Time Crisis on my PS using only the standard controller (I was too scrimpy to shell out for a Guncon), and ultimately failed. Now, I can get back at Time Crisis' pixel perps with my deadly stylus (or just with my finger if I'm too lazy). The game's excellent to play, and despite this seeming to be ultra-easy given that all you have to do is touch the screen to shoot, there's actually a challenge due to the need to be accurate and quick. So far I haven't actually progressed that far yet, but I look forward to those little downtimes when I can step into the shoes of Richard Miller, the Time Crisis hero and kick butt with my pistolus. Well, perhaps after I finish unlocking everything in Dead or Alive I'll have more time. Heh.


There's nothing quite like blowing away shady terrorists with your finger.

TV Viewing

These days I find myself 'jacking off' to Jack TV's lineup of raunchy shows and wrestling programs. It's irritating to watch re-runs every so often, but I also find myself pretty fond of Mad TV, but alienated by the more 'American' comedy shows/stand-up comics. I love Drawn Together and Stripperella (though these short series are soon exhausted), and watch an episode of South Park every now and then. I'm still mystified that they're actually showing some of these shows- some of them are pretty raunchy.
ETC provides more 'classy' fare; The Tonight Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien are now my nightly stapes- I only wish that Entertainment Tonight had more stuff about movies and showbiz than tabloid-style bits, but hey... learning about so-and-so star's new cancer makes for gripping TV, I guess.
Animax continues to mix some gems with their schedule. I should really like Samurai 7 but for some reason I find it slow and would rather think about it and feel that it's nice instead of actually watching the show. That's also the exact same way I feel about Lost- I know in my heart it's a great show, but I can't actually bring myself to watch it for some reason. Oh well.
Discovery Channel and National Geographic have had a bit of a tussle recently- on Tuesdays Discovery showed True Horror with Anthony Stuart Head (cool while it lasted) and later NG countered with a series on The Mafia. Hmmm. Monsters vs the Mob... tough call. The Mythbusters are still a favorite when they appear, and the ever-reliable New Detectives and a default watch on weekends.

Ah, the idiot box these days is pretty interesting. Which is just as well since I don't have any big game right now to keep myself off the channels, nor do I find myself going out of my way to get any new DVDs lately. Still, it could all be better... if only Sky Cable got Discover Travel and Leisure back, I'd be happy as a clam again with Globe Trekker and A Chef's Journey. Sigh.

Samurai Sis


Samuraisis is a lover and a fighter.

Here are the first character designs for my new title, Samurai Sis, which will be coming out in our group's upcoming comic project. It's been awhile since I've drawn stuff, so I hope I still have it... Feh. Whatever. Anyway, Samuraisis, or 'Samurai Sis' as she will be known more, combines the classic 'Isis' look (from the old TV series and the new comic adaptation) with elements of a Japanese ronin, or shugenja (warrior monk). She's not only packing martial arts skills but demi-goddess-ish powers over the elements. That and she packs several magical weapons- her katanankh (shown held) and her longer naginatankh (not shown). She's a tough cookie, but of course deep inside she's just a teen who is struggling to keep it together even with problems like missing parents, high school angst, a bratty kid brother and a noodle-wrapped undead warlord trying to take over the world.


Ramen Hotep. A villain who can really use his noodle.


Part shadow, part ninja, part snake, part paper... all EVIL.

Look for our new heroes and heroines later this year. Heh.

Anticipation

It's August, and that means we're a lot nearer to the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the long-awaited, much-drooled over CG movie that will hopefully fulfill the dreams of countless fans and wipe away the smudge that was the Spirits Within movie. Recently, several new trailers were supposedly premiered at some of Square-Enix's events promoting their upcoming games and products.

Aside from FFVII AC, there's a lot more adventure in Midgar to be had with Dirge of Cerebus, the shooter/action-adventure starring mysterious Vincent Valentine. The latest news on Dirge's front is that there will be many cameos and appearances from other characters in the FFVII world, such as Barret, Cid and Yuffie the ninja. Also appearing is Caet Sith, the mascot-type character who was originally controlled in FFVII by Shinra exec Reeve. Just what Sith's role in DC is remains a mystery, deepened even more so by Reeve's apparent death (or at least, being gunned down) in the latest trailer.
Also figuring prominently is FFVII Crisis Core, which will feature anime cut scenes including some never-before-seen visualizations of some of FFVII's most dramatic scenes- such as the first meeting of arch-villain Sephiroth and his alien mother Jenovah, and the battle between Seph and Zack, Cloud Strife's mentor.

Advent Children has already been confirmed for a September 8 theatrical release in Japan, and even now I can imagine the screams and gasps of countless otaku at seeing this fantasy epic come to life finally in complete form on the BIG screen. I hope that anime shops here will have the Advent Children DVD as soon as they can... if only AC would be shown here in Manila in theaters as well. Fat chance of that happening, but DAMN that would be cool. No, that would be AWESOME.

One more month to go...

Pocket Playstation

An addendum to the earlier post... I finally discovered how to get the sizes of the files down with another freeware app. Now I don't have to compromise space and having my PS fighters along for the ride. My favorite Dead or Alive is now at an itty-bitty 42.1 mb size, making it no longer a bother to put in my card (previously, it was a humongous 422mb, which is almost half of my 1 gig storage space). Also, I was able to rip the original PS Tekken and now the Iron Fist fighters are sitting alongside the DOA girls in my SD card (the Tekken rip came to about 101 mb). Still trying to find copies of PS games to convert, a priority being Time Crisis which should be a riot to play with a stylus. Heh.

Bouncy Brawling in my Pocket


Sexy 3D fighting just became portable.

Okay, I have finally validated my status as a Dead or Alive fanatic. I not only bring around videos of Tecmo’s flagship fighter around for anytime watching, or use wallpapers of the DOA girls from time to time… now I can actually play DOA on my phone. Yep, ON MY PHONE. The original game on the Playstation 1 (and my all-time favorite of the series, honestly). It’s all thanks to fpsece, a cool freeware Playstation emulator that’s available online. Install this baby on your pocket pc and you’re good to go. Well, not really… you also have to track down several things, like all the apps you’ll need to create your own ISOs (basically the actual PS1 game compressed into a readable format, which are not easily found), some files that will make the app usable, and of course the know-how to actually do these things.

It took me several weeks (I discovered it all some time ago), but I finally found everything and was able to put together a virtual PS1 in my O2 XDA II Mini. And of course, I also managed to get the damn program working properly (basically the hardest part was actually getting playable ISOs) so now, I’m dandy. The game actually looks incredible on the Mini’s screen, hi-res and pretty smooth- albeit pretty much in slow motion- but it’s actually pretty cool… like fighting in bullet time. Heh.

Not only that, but I actually have made three games portably playable- not just Dead or Alive but Final Fantasy Tactics and Capcom’s cutesy but cool Pocket Fighters. I created the ISOs myself, and now I can load them anytime I want. The only flaws being that DOA is pretty huge (at 471mb, compared to only 62.2mb for Final Fantasy Tactics and 38mb for Pocket Fighters) and the games tend to play verrrrryyyyyyy slooooooooowly…. But still playable.

Of course, I have to consider that the Mini doesn’t have too many buttons, which makes strategy games like FF Tactics easy to play. Also, games using overly complicated joypad motions will probably be too hard to appreciate.
Anyway, DOA is basically all forward-forward movements, plus a button or so. It’s not like Streetfighter that has diagonal directions (which are impossible to do on the PPC controls), so it’s also pretty good as a fighter; you have a wealth of moves you can do even if some of the more elaborate moves are unusable.

Now I’m raring to get my hands on as many PS1 games as I can to rip and turn them into the portable format. Final Fantasy VII? Suikoden II? Soul Edge? Mmmm. We’ll see.

It’s just so awesome. Who would ever have thought it possible? Playstation games on a damn phone!!!

WHO FRICKIN’ NEEDS A PSP?!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Taxi Talk

Last night, I got into a cab going home from work. I wasn't feeling particularly well and I had to come in early the next day so I decided to spend a bit for a relaxed, one-shot trip back to The Sanctum. Within the first minute inside the cab, the driver spoke to me three times, so I resigned myself to giving up on having a restful drive and instead having a conversational journey. Well, it turned out to be a quite interesting talk as the driver was pretty articulate.

In fact, he was apparently a former salesman before he became a cabbie (he also quoted the interesting mantra of the salesmen- "Salesmanship begins when the customer says no."), and he apparently uses the communication skills he got from his former profession as a cabbie. Particularly, he finds himself often educating passengers on how some cab drivers cheat through tampered meters (which also launched a long talk about the infamous Wallis taxi company). Apparently, these horn-swaggled devices have special switches attached which the cabbie triggers (to add pesos to the price) by pressing buttons either on the radio (seen this) or near the gas or brake pedals (hmm). He himself never used the things, though he confessed to driving cabs with the cheating devices installed.

He also told me the reason why I find it sometimes hard to get a taxi to drive me all the way to Makati to work from Quezon City. It all has something to do with taxi boundaries, gas and the distance... well, I didn't really bother to understand aside from the apparent fact that taxis often don't earn from long journeys if they have to drive back and use up gasoline in the process. Well, tough... I can't, as a passenger, change the places I have to go, so we all have our crosses to bear. We also talked about how some taxis try to get passengers to ride by contract, and how he usually just get by with asking for additional fare if the passenger is inclined to do so (if they refuse, no problem).

Anyway, in the end, I got off at home, paid the guy extra for the good service and the chat (and since I was inclined to- maybe the guy has Jedi powers?), and that was it for another one of those interesting taxi talks. If only there were more drivers like that guy. Like... a million more. Maybe this country would be getting somewhere.

Sexy Next Level Gaming

There was a recent Xbox Gaming Summit held recently in Japan, and it showcased a lot of the upcoming games and developers working on the upcoming Xbox 360 system. Of course, the games that matter for me are the sexy action games, and joy-oh-joy there are some tidbits.
Dead or Alive 4 isn't the only game coming from Tecmo of Japan. The DOA babes continue to be the company's breadwinners, with no less than at least three games coming within the franchise. The flagship fighting sequel DOA4 was shown in a slightly-tweaked trailer (disappointingly too similar to the original DOA4 E3 showing), while a sequel to the hilarious Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball has been confirmed. The sequel, titled presently Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, will feature more sports aside from volleyball. Just WHAT these other activities will be remains unknown. DOA Basketball? DOA Tennis? DOA Track and Field? Is there nothing the DOA girls can do?

Another title long in development limbo is Dead or Alive: Code Chronos which was formerly for Xbox but now firmly slated for Xbox 360. Aside from Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki himself, no one has an idea of what this non-fighting DOA game will be all about. All that is known is that it will star ninja babes Kasumi and Ayane, and will explain more of the DOA world.

Yet another Tecmo title is simply known as Project Progressive and is totally an enigma. Feh.

Finally, another rumored game being worked on by Team Ninja is Ninja Gaiden 2, the sequel to one of the best action games of last year (if not the most graphically striking).

On another company's sexy gaming offering, Konami showed off the first peek into the sequel to their raunchy all-female wrestling title, Rumble Roses. The sequel, known provocatively as Rumble Roses XX will apparently feature tag-team modes and the return of the cast of sexy grapplers. Hopefully better play mechanics and more modes, new femme fatales and next-gen graphics will make RRXX something to look forward to.

Well, DOA4 is supposedly on track for a holiday release as a launch title with the Xbox 360. Given Team Ninja's tendency to miss deadlines, I'm not too confident in this. Bah. As long as they load in a gazillion costumes along with all the bells and whistles ala DOA Ultimate times ten, I'll be happy. It all starts later this year, by end 2005. I

Why Nokia suddenly released the 6681 right after coming out with the 6680...

Culture Crash


Off to it's honored place in Comic Book Heaven.

The dream is over.

After months of speculation, the truth is finally revealed by Pasig artist/creator Taga-Ilog on his Deviantart Page.

After 16 issues and 2 great conventions, Culture Crash, the local manga zine that made a mark for itself has finally called it quits. Apparently struggling all this time to continue to operate totally on their profits and sales without the benefit of ad funding has taken its toll, and now Culture Crash is no more.

The zine has had its large number of supporters, and fair amount of detractors, but I have to say that I consider their achievements significant and a welcome thing in the local comic book field. I consider the Culture Crash Crew my friends and peers in the art of graphic storytelling, and I am myself a fan of their work. It's really sad to see that they stopped short of ever finishing any of the storylines they began, and even sadder to speculate what could have been if things had gone better with the country's economy. The saddest thing is the implications this has on comics as a business- that even Culture Crash, with good content and excellent production, could not be sustained indefinitely. Well, I don't treat comics as a business, so what the heck. Perhaps that's the way to go, ultimately. Anyway...

I'd like to think that in another world, Culture Crash would have continued, the stories would have been completed and moved on, and issues would come every month with great art and improving storytelling.

Perhaps Dante of Pasig will eventually make peace with his enemies and settle down happily with Mina.

The students of One Day, Isang Diwa will continue to have magical adventures with their fairy friends.

Airi of Cat's Trail will someday find the big score and maybe give Butler the time of day, finally.

The Kubori Kikiam things will finally get eaten. Whatever.

Of course, the guys at CCCom will probably still be in comics- I know a fair number of them have already moved on to work with Seven Seas Publishing (No Man's Land, Blade for Barter), and people like Taga-Ilog will without a doubt continue to work their magic in art and pages in other forms. Or perhaps, if things really do well, maybe we'll see a reunion or resurgence someday? We'll just have to see. But for now though, it's goodbye.

Well, I have 16 great issues to remember them by. It was great while it lasted, Taga-Ilog, James and the rest. I hope that you guys don't totally leave comics. Let's work on something again, someday.

State of Flux

I downloaded and watched a featurette on the upcoming Aeon Flux movie starring Oscar winner Charlize Theron (Yeah, that's the ticket... after winning the Academy Award, go for a cartoon adaptation!). The short piece shows some footage of Miss Theron still in the un-sexy black outfit doing various jumps and stunts. Yeah, she has the hair down but come on... there could have been a way to show off more skin without having to resort to the original cartoon's g-string and little scraps. But then again, stars have always been able to swing non-nudity clauses or alter designs based on their preferences. Take Jessica Alba in Sin City... she should have been nude in her dancing scene. Oh well. Anyway, Aeon Flux is still looking TV movie-ish, but I'll probably check it out, fan that I am of the old Peter Cheung Liquid Television series. Or maybe I'll be better off watching the AVI episodes I got from Buddha Boy. Whatever.

Long Weekend

YAY! Yeah, it's an appeal to our apathy of the current horrible state of affairs in our country, but darn... holidays are great. Now I can look forward to finishing Killer 7 over the break (easily one of the slickest mind-fuck games I've had the pleasure to experience... DARN the story's cool), watch some anime, rest and recharge as well as start work on some comic projects. Thank God it's Friday.

Sex, Lies and Videogames

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from Rockstar Games has had it's share of controversy- of course, you'd expect that from the latest installment of a game series that puts you in control of a gangsta brother out to carve out an empire for himself in any bloody way he can. Well, aside from the ability to gun down civilians and car-jack anything on wheels in the streets, you can apparently woo ladies and have sexual intercourse in a hidden minigame.

The whole hullaballoo (love that word) started with the PC version of GTASA, apparently through a mod called Hot Coffee. In the regular version, all you'd get for hitching up with a girlfriend in the game was an invitation for some coffee, and then having imagination fill in the blanks afterwards. In the Hot Coffee mod, PC players are shown a full-on interactive sex scene, where they interact by pressing buttons in specific rhythm to get your girl into orgasm. Sorta like Dance Dance Revolution, except with no dancing and all sex.

The discovery of this hidden minigame of course caused a big stir among parents and politicians, as GTASA is a commonly-available game on both the PC and PS2. Rockstar then denied having the game in, alleging that the Hot Coffee mod was something put in the game by malicious hackers. But after some research, gaming site Gamespot revealed that the sex minigame was already IN the game even before any hacking- in fact, it even exists in the PS2 version (reachable only by hours of play and the use of special codes and a Gameshark peripheral).

Well, anyway, the game's now been given a new rating of Adults Only, and controversy in gaming rages on. Oh well. Hey... maybe there's a sex minigame in Final Fantasy VII too... I mean... getting close to Aeris has to yield more than just a crummy date on a carnival ride, right? Heh... just kidding.

Going Mexican


And these are just appetizers.

I am often told by my blogmates and friends to put up a food blog, since I seem to have a knack for posting about good eats. Well, I would love to blog more about the cool restos and meals I experience, but the fact is, I haven’t been able to go to new eateries lately- often, we just go to the tried-and-tested favorite haunts, as opposed to striking out to new territory and trying some new place. Anyway, I’ll try my best to post more about good eating, without having to put up a Starving Raving Mad blog.

Anyway, it was an out-of-the-ordinary event that actually got me and some friends at the office to dine at a new place. A day or two prior, the same group had to go through some torture of the eating kind- we had to endure going without dinner at the proper time while passing through Timog Ave- which is basically overflowing with cool restaurants. I actually saw it as a literal nightmare- seeing great places to eat pass and your starving self not able to do a single thing about it. Sigh.

So it was that earlier this week the group again came from a meeting which flowed into lunch. On our way back to the office, we decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal. But as we drove through Jupiter Avenue, we couldn’t seem to find any viable place to dine in. So it was perhaps an act of fate that we found ourselves selecting the Three Amigos Mexican restaurant for a meal.

Now, none of us had eaten here before, and really, I shouldn’t actually want to eat there since we did have a Mexican eatery at the office building (the more fast-foody Mexicali). But go in we did, and at first we thought we hit a bad one. The place was empty of any other customers, probably because the place specializes more in dinner or evening business. Anyway, we were welcomed in and got a nice spot near the window. As our eyes got accustomed to the light, I saw that it was a nice place- really well-furnished and actually quite posh, in a cozy Mexican-type way. Whatever that means.

Well, any doubts we had were quashed when the appetizers plate arrived, brimming with quesadillas, mini-tacos, nachos, flautas (cheese-filled rolls) and taco pizzas, with salsa and hot sauces on the side.

For me, how good a Mexican resto is rests on the basics- the nachos and tortillas. In that, Three Amigos simply delivered, and then some. We found our taste buds pleased by the hot salsa, the savoury meat and the crunchy but not too brittle or too hard taco shells and tortillas. When the set meals we ordered individually came, we were even more pleased by large portions and tasty helpings. Yum!


Tacos, cheese, beans, salsa and more. Oh, my!

So if you’ve got a Mexican craving and pass by Jupiter in Makati, don’t hesitate the visit the hombres over at The Three Amigos. Great stuff. And hot!

Seven in One Blow


Killer game for the PS2.

I’ve got my hands on one of my most-anticipated games here in the golden years of the PS2, the wildly artistic, unusual and mature post-modern action-adventure shooter, Killer 7. I fell in love with this game after seeing the wild character designs, read about the complex, twisted storyline and the mature, artistic presentation. Well, it’s been quite a wait but I have it and I’ve already gotten my hands bloody in the first hour or so. There’s still quite a bit of killing to do but I guess I can write about this unique game.
The first thing you’ll notice about Killer 7 is the graphic presentation- it has a cel-shaded look which may lead you to believe it’s an earlier-generation game, but this visual style goes a long way in giving the game it’s own mood and comic book style-feel (something like a colored Sin City). The second thing will be the control scheme and gameplay.
Basically put, Killer 7 can be considered an ‘on-rails shooter’. This means you don’t have full, unfettered control of your onscreen character. After you start a mission and gain control of your assassin, you either press a button or a directional to make him/her move forward. Pressing down will turn your character around. When you reach places where there are branching paths- to various rooms or to talk to certain characters, you choose the option you want with the left or right directionals.
Combat, which takes more than half of the game, is in first-person mode. Your primary enemies are the weird, walking mutated time bombs known as Heaven Smiles. Invisible at first, their presence can be sensed by their eerie laughter. Once Smiles are known to be in the area, a presson the R trigger puts you in first-person combat mode- a tap on the L trigger scans the area, showing the Smiles before you. From then on, it’s a matter of you bringing down these monsters with your character’s firearm before they reach you and explode.

Variation is attained through your characters’ different weapons, speed, special moves and attacks, and the different types of Heaven Smiles. Like zombies in Resident Evil, Smiles can take quite a few hits before reaching you, so if you want to bring them down instantly you’re going to have to aim for their weak spots (signified by a yellow glow on their bodies). Killing Heaven Smiles gains you blood (ew) which you can use to either cure your injuries or transmute into serum which can be used to ‘level up’ your assassins’ abilities and powers.

And that’s pretty much the gameplay. Oh, and there are the occasional puzzles that come your way, from incredibly simple ‘light the candles in the order of which they are numbered’ to some more esoteric stuff in the vein of Resident Evil (well, they’re both Capcom games anyway). And you’ll need to pick up and use some crucial items every now and then.

If this sounds boring and repetitive, perhaps Killer 7 may not be the game for you. Granted, there’s not much more than what I just wrote but there will be many, including me, who will most probably be driven to finish this odd game to the bitter, bloody end. And that’s because of the story and the eye candy.

Killer 7 is set in a world on the verge of peace- airline travel has been outlawed, nuclear weapons have been disarmed. But in the midst of this flawed utopia-in-the-making comes a new threat. The Heaven Smiles appear and start spreading death and destruction. With the police and armed forces powerless, the governments of the world turn to an unusual source of aid- the seemingly unstoppable, omniscient and implacable force of assassins known as the Smith Syndicate, AKA The Killer 7.

What makes the Killer 7 so odd is that they aren’t a gang of simple mercenaries. From all appearances, the group is actually composed of just one person- Harman Smith, a 60-year old man confined to the use of a wheelchair. The rest of the seven-man (well, six men and one woman) syndicate seem to be the different sides Harman’s psyche. In short, Harman’s a schizo but he also has the ability to materialize his various personalities into physical form.
They’re a varied lot- Garcian is ‘The Cleaner’ and is the group’s front man- the only member of the group who actually meets and interacts with other people, and with Harman himself. His main role is that of body retrieval- should any of the other Killers die, it’s his duty to move in, grab the corpse (which strangely enough appears as a brown paper bag) and resurrect them. Should Garcian die though, it’s game over. Next up is Dan Smith, also known as “The Hellion”. He’s a loose cannon- a truly cold-blooded killer who is pretty well-balanced and deadly with his rapid-fire revolver. Coyote Smith was a former thief and his special ability is unlocking things and super-high leaping ability. Con Smith, a youngster who’s perennially wearing a helmet and headphones, can run at mach speeds. Kevin Smith can’t write comic books, but the silent albino is the fastest attacker with his deadly knives (since he doesn’t reload). Then there’s Mask de Smith, the big bruiser in the luchadore mask who can take out obstacles (and Smiles) with his twin grenade launchers. And last but not least, there’s Kaede, a lovely young woman and the only female playable character. Never mind that she carries around a huge pistol equipped with a sniper scope, wears a blood-spattered white dress or runs around everywhere barefoot. What makes her truly odd is her special barrier-breaking power- activated by slitting her wrists and showering the whole area in her own blood. Ouch.


Kaede loves the smell of blood in the morning.

Since you are able to switch between these seven (once you unlock them) during gameplay, part of the challenge is telling which of the Seven you should need in order to solve a situation, whether it’s finding a way around or through an obstacle, or to defeat a particular enemy or boss.

With all this, the cream on the top of Killer 7 is the twisted, mature plot. From the simple goal of defeating the Heaven Smiles, the player is taken on a truly twisted and twisting tale involving cloning, body-snatching and high-level conspiracy. It which will probably mystify, baffle and confuse. But it’s also sure to intrigue and keep players glued to the screen- thanks to awesome anime cinematics that the game has an abundance of.
Is this all real? Or is it all taking place in Harman’s mind? Who are the Killer 7, really? Why the odd TV interface? What is the link between the Syndicate and the Heaven Smiles? Who is Kun Lan? Is there a way to get Kaede in a bikini?
I don’t have any illusions that I can make heads or tails ot the story, at least the first time- but we’ll see.

Of course, it has to be said that Killer 7 is rated mature, and this is for a reason. There is violence (the bloody headshot kind), sex and mature situations aplenty. Not for kids, really… but perfect for the mature gamer. Well, for the mature, open-minded gamer. Not everyone will like this game, but for those willing to look beyond the odd mechanics and the wild story, this is a gem and perhaps one of the last great games for the ol’ PS2. Sony’s blue box is going out with a bang, ain’t it?

Ninja Flick


Ninja on Ice!

I finally got to watch a new anime! Yay! Anyway, it's Naruto the Movie, the first theatrical release of this wildly popular Ninja-themed anime. I can't really consider myself a Naruto fan, though I have to say I do like the series. I don't find myself collecting the loads of paraphernalia now available (like ninja headbands, shuriken keychains and whatnot), but I do own a VCD set of over 100 episodes of the show. However, I haven't gone past episode 20 yet- just hadn't had the time or the mood to watch. Oh well. Story of my life.

Anyhoo, luckily anime movies are generally placed in a limbo place when it comes in relation to the running series- which means that movies are either totally separate entities from the TV show continuity, or can be placed anywhere. In Naruto the Movie, we have the core characters onstage: fearless never-say-die Naruto, cool-headed Sasuke, winsome Sakura and their teacher Kakashi. As the story goes, Naruto and his team are assigned to escort a star actress named Yukie as she goes on location to the isolated Snow Country in order to shoot the final scenes of her latest film. Naruto is of course totally infatuated with the star, who turns out to be far different from her onscreen persona. In short, she's a bit of a bitch and a brat. But what can a ninja do but carry out their mission? But as they enter the frozen wastes of the ever-cold Snow Country, they soon find themselves locked in a struggle between rebels and the evil ruler, Dotou. Soon it's jutsu versus jutsu as Naruto and pals strive to save the Ice Princess and her country!

Naruto the Movie is a surprisingly watchable feature. The story is pretty simple, and a bit predictable of course, but it's nicely executed thanks to really lovely and colorful visuals, nice animation and some pretty awesome ninja magic action. I'm really more of a hands-on person- I prefer fighting hand to hand instead of with giant magical beasts and super energy blasts, but the special attacks and jutsus were so well-animated here, I was having a ball.

In the end, what makes this pretty cool is seeing the characters kick butt, and have Underdog Naruto eventually get his just desserts at the end of the movie. At about an hour and a half, this movie doesn't wear out it's welcome, with a good amount of action, some drama and a few laughs. Naruto fans of course have eaten this up, but anyone who wants a good action anime movie can do a lot worse than watch this ninja flick. Get it at your local anime dealers in the Metro.

Of Saving, Bangus, Taxis and Go Go Yubari

I usually go through payday cycles pretty comfortably, single guy that I am… eat meals pretty much anytime, pretty much anywhere non-five star. Splurge on comics or any odd thing or toy that piques my interest, take taxi cabs to work in the morning, the works. But when unusual purchases hit, it jars me. So it was that I had just spent a bundle on my PC, right after I splurged on quite a few DVDs and comics at the Blood Bank. Suddenly I had an uncomfortably small amount of resources compared to time till next payday. No problem, I thought. I still had more than enough to get through.

I made plans. No more cab rides to work. Comic purchases limited to bare essential titles. Meals to economical and dinners eaten at home if possible. Tightening belts was the order of the day. I had done this before, in order to get K.I.A. moving, albeit to a lesser degree. It seemed to work for the first few days.

Then, in the middle of the week, I got an email from a local anime shop that they got a copy of Azumi 2, the samurai/ninja sword-slashing sequel starring Aya Ueto and featuring Chiaki ‘Go Go’ Kuriyama. Hey… something to get next payday.

Of course, I couldn’t wait till pay day.

That same afternoon, I got off work relatively early so I did what my desires told me to. I got into a cab and made my way to Greenhills.

Of course, it was in rush hour traffic from Makati to San Juan, which took about an hour and about 120 pesos. I raced against the light, knowing that the shop closed at about seven-ish. But I was confident I’d make it. My cab got into Greenhills just after seven.

Goddamn shop was closed.

GYAH. Disappointed and angry that I wasted the cab ride, I just wanted to go home and save the day with rest. But then, I was hungry, so I decided to eat out. Somewhere economical and delicious. My hunger led me to Bangus, a new resto in one of the many new mini-malls in the GH area. I ordered sizzling bangus (milkfish) fillet, rice and a drink. Good meal. But it cost almost three hundred pesos.

ARGH!!! Economical!!! Must… save… money… must…

Aaah. What the heck. Defeated, I hailed ANOTHER cab (another hundred off there) to get me home.

And so it was that during my time of scrimping and saving, I spent an extra day’s worth of money for pretty much nothing.

Oh well, in the end, the meal was good and you really shouldn’t regret food. And anyway, payday finally came and I reached it with some cash left over. Things didn’t work out totally as I planned, but they worked out anyway. Sometimes you just have to let things flow, let things go, let stress off and just live a little. Or, you can just avoid situations like what I just related to you and be better off. Your pick. Heh.

Inhuman Torture

Well, actually, I went to see a dentist today.

I have had a toothache which grew from a negligible spot to a radiating source of excruciating, gum-irradiating torment night after night for the past week or so. Since my cash flow was kinda dead, I had to endure till I was back in the black before I could have my teeth looked at- apparently my darn medical card doesn't have dental in mind. FEH.

Anyway, I had my teeth cleaned and the main problem area capped with a temporary cover... but I will probably have to come back for a root canal in the near future. Guh.

I can't tell you how terrifying it is... the scraping of drills on teeth, the horrid smell of burnt bone, the sensation of probing metal going dangerously near sensitive nerves... it sends shivers up my spine whenever I think of it. Anyway, it's not unbearable but it's also not something I am looking forward to. But then, the pain has subsided, thankfully enough. Now it's just a matter of taking the problem out completely when I can. Sigh.

My kingdom for some adamantium choppers.

Political Storm Signal No. 3

Didn't go to work today since the admin called the day off on account of political rallies at Makati. Ayala Avenue's closed off and rallyists will be all over the place.

Still, some jobs don't care whether or not there's a work day. Have some stuff to write and send out within the day. Still, I'm glad to avoid heavy traffic and spending any more of my mostly-depleted cash. I'll be staying home and doing some writing, some reading and a bit of fooling around with the PC and the TV. We'll see.

Deadly Dress

Just saw a CSI New York episode where a bride-to-be dies on her wedding day from mysterious causes. An interesting case, but I saw the solution a mile away. Nah, I’m no sleuth… I just watch Discovery Channel a lot.
It is eventually revealed that the young victim succumbed to chemical poisoning from formaldehyde in the lining of her wedding dress, which was apparently taken off from a corpse by an unscrupulous mortician.
This “deadly dress” story is actually an urban legend, which was shown on one of my fave shows on Discovery Channel, Urban Legends Revealed: Not-so-true Stories.
Anyway, from what I remember, the story wasn’t really true and formaldehyde traces on clothing shouldn’t really be lethal enough to kill… though on the CSI episode you’d think there was a biological weapon on the clothing. It’s cool to be able to see the connection between shows… but then I always think that the CSI shows originated from Discovery Channel’s forensic detective shows that went on long before Grissom, Horatio and Taylor ever showed up. Ah, those were the real CSI shows. But then, none of the detectives were babes like Sara Sidle or Calleigh Duquesne, so whatever. Heh.

Dead Tired

I just spent the whole of Sunday at a TV shoot, from early in the AM to just past midnight, Monday morning. Needless to say, I'm tired as heck (though not tired enough to not blog... heh). The whole day was spent watching and waiting as the Production Crew worked their trade, setting cameras and equipment in place to capture shots in various angles, as a chosen model tried her best to bring a storyboard to life. It was an outdoor shoot, so we prayed for sunlight (especially since recent days have been sodden with rain)... and our prayers seem to have worked too well, since it was positively sweltering and I had to keep my liquid up or risk getting sunstroke. Really, I was guzzling glass after glass of cold drinks all day and I only went to the toilet to pee ONCE. Darn.

Anyway, the worst part was of course standing and standing and standing around and waiting and just getting tired waiting for your sweat to dry and just imagining the pleasures of a cold shower and a soft bed. Well, I'm taking the day off today and enjoying these things... even for a while as work will still intrude for a bit. But only after I get enough sleep, dammit.

Ah. You gotta love this bizness. Heh.

Sword Raving Mad

Is Soul Calibur III going to KICK ARSE or what? Not only will it feature a totally out-of-this-world Character Creation mode, but according to the latest video released by the official site, SCIII's Story Mode is set to blow every other fighting game's namby-pamby excuse for this primary gameplay mode.

According to the Soul Calibur III developers, SCIII's Tale of Souls mode will be unique to each character. Each fighter will have a story that he or she will play through, and the mode will have them going through not only through the usual duels but interactive cinematics where they will be able to either make friends or enemies out of various supporting characters. There will also be paths to choose, so you can create your own tale and follow your warrior's adventures one way or the other. This non-linear, interactive and story-intensive way of doing the Story Mode is revolutionary considering that every other fighter so far basically just has a line of fights broken up by short, non-interactive cinemas as staple fare.

Darn. It's official... Soul Calibur III is the PS2's last, greatest fighting game. Let's hope every other fighter from now on follows its bloody magnificent trail. The slashing starts later in 2005, exclusively for the PS2.

No Man's Land


Cowboys and Demons.

WOOHOO!!! Got a copy of the awesome No Man's Land from Seven Seas, by the uber-artist and K.I.A. alumnus Jennyson Rosero. Better yet, I got it free! Thanks, Jen! The art of course is DAMN awesome, as always, with Jen's incredibly clean and precise lines bringing this supernatural western to life. My one single gripe is that there are about as many babes in the book as there is water in a desert. You have to keep practicing on drawing women, Jen, or you may get your babe-drawing skills dulled. Draw Kai every now or then, okay? Heheh.

No Man's Land is available now in good comic book shops in the Metro (or you can ask for it at Comic Quest). The book is written by Jason De Angelis and drawn by, of course, Jennyson Rosero. Check it out for some awesome western manga action.

My Hero!

It's a bit early, but here's my idea for our group's upcoming comics endeavor, Project: Hero (tentative title).

SAMURAI SIS

When young archaeological buff Sissy Sobek accidentally breaks a mystical seal, she unleashes a horrible force from antiquity into the world. But soon after, she finds herself possessed of the powers of the Warrior Goddess Samuraisis, patron of love and war (eh?)! But can this fledgeling goddess, even with powers over Sky, Earth and Sea, have any chance against the Horror of Ra Men Ho Tep, the Japanese Mummy?!

Mixed-up mayhem, action and comics fun and archaeological absurdity ensue! See it in the pages of Project: Hero, later this year. Heh.

Country Angst

A funny, albeit very true e-mail was forwarded to me today by a co-worker. It was a letter of disgust by some person named Jawbreaker who describes himself as an average worker and taxpayer who just doesn't want to pay taxes anymore. The title of the e-mail is "Walang Kwenta ang Pilipinas" or "The Philippines is worthless", and he goes on to cite the recent ills of corrupt politicians and the economic crisis that is plaguing the country. But that's not all. He also goes on to berate elements of society that don't pay taxes- including the 'masa', NPA rebels and insurgents and so on. It's true, actually- why do politicos always cite 'the Masa' as the most vital part of society, when tax-paying people and the ordinary Juan are the ones who are keeping this drowning nation afloat through their hard-earned pay? The letter is very angry and fiery, and sad to say, I agree with every single word.
It's sad, but if I was the one to write that angry letter, it would be entitled not 'The Philippines is worthless', but instead 'The Filipino is worthless'. We're a crappy race that does horrible things to our own country and people. And the worst part is, the silent majority who just want to live well and let live can't do shit about it since we're too busy working and tired at the end of the day to protest or go rebel or make a commotion in the news.

At least, not yet. We'll see what happens when the boiling point is ultimately reached.

Anyway, DAMN it to heck that my Vanishing Ray isn't working. DAMN.

Fourplay

Yep, despite my saying that I wasn’t going to watch The Fantastic Four, I found myself getting a ticket and heading into the theater. Perhaps it was just that I had some time and I was in Gateway Mall, which is a pretty neat place to watch movies. So, instead of watching War of the Worlds again, I instead chose to watch the latest Marvel Comics movie.

And guess what? I actually had fun.

Surprisingly better than I thought and easy to get into, the FF movie generally follows the same route as the original, with quite a few liberties. Anyway, the performances were okay. Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffud) was kinda sorta ‘just there’, though the character gets cooler and better towards the end of the movie. Jessica Alba gives in a decent performance, and is hot as always (which never hurts), and while she seems to young to play the wife of Reed Richards, she is younger and single in this outing. Chris Evans’ Johnny Storm AKA The Human Torch is pretty much spot on, as is Michael Chiklis’ The Thing.

Julian McMahon’s Doom is suave and cold, starting off as seemingly good but revealing evil underneath- kinda like his own Cole Turner from Charmed. Yeah, turning him into a corporate mogul who turns into a cross between Colossus and Electro is pretty iffy, as are the circumstances around his rise to power (why the ‘Norman Osborn’ template again?). But he’s a pretty good villain and if they make a sequel, I hope he comes back as Doom with all the Latverian trimmings (and he will, judging from the ending).

The CG and effects are pretty cool, and better than in the trailers. Most of the action is in the latter half and end of the movie, but thankfully the pace is quick for the most part. All in all, this wasn’t a painful watch at all- in fact, I enjoyed it and even had a chuckle or two, thanks in most part to a very receptive audience which was laughing at all the slapstick antics of a clumsy Thing and a prank-happy Torch.

How good is Fantastic Four? Surprisingly, I rate it just as good as the debut X-men and Spiderman films. Better than X-men United, but not as good as Spiderman 2. FAR better than Hulk, Daredevil, Elektra and The Punisher. Sadly, Elastigirl is cooler and slicker than Reed Richards though.

All in all, surprisingly good and not a waste of time to see in a good theater. Grab three friends and watch it in theaters now for some good-natured, easy-to-watch superhero fun.

The Last Angel Ace Story



It may come as a shock to some of my readers and longtime Angel fans, but yes, this is the theme, if not the actual title, of the next Angel Ace issue and the next comic book/graphic novel I will be producing. Given how long it may take to conceptualize, write, draw and fund a big project (take a look at K.I.A.), expect this to appear sometime next year.

Angel Ace was my first real comic- my first original character that I actually flew with (pun intended) and the one that earned me readers who await each issue and installment with unfailing fervor. Would that there were more of them.

The truth is, each comic I release is a big undertaking, and financially exhausting. It is my passion, and I will definitely continue to work and create comics indefinitely, but I have to say that a continuing, sustained title like Angel Ace is far too difficult to carry out in the way that it should. That is, having to put out many, many episodes or issues, side stories and what not and slowly build up to the epic endgame and the Mother of All Confrontations waiting at the end. I see the road from Angel Ace Next, the latest issue, to the Finale taking oh, at least 12 or so issues.

Even if I were to put out an issue of Angel Ace twice a year (which I cannot), it would take six years. A more realistic run of an issue a year would see us finally having Angel’s final destiny coming after 12 years of waiting.

Now, while as much as I’d love to see myself still doing indie comics 12 years from now, I think that this is just not going to happen.

And so, I would like to say that I am going to give the finale a little bit earlier.

Yes, it will be a bit rushing it since after the first story arc, we only had a interlude issue before the endgame issue… but then, I guess it is fitting that Angel Ace Next is indeed a bit of a rest issue. It all comes with the one that’s coming after.

But, longtime readers, do not fret. This is not just any issue. To say it now, I will be handling this project all by my lonesome. I'll be drawing it myself, every panel and cover. This thing has to be done by myself and myself alone.

The Last Angel Ace Story will be big. It will have a mammoth page count, perhaps even more than K.I.A.. It will be a self-contained book, so new readers can actually pick it up and read it and have a complete story. For longtime fans, it will flash back to all the previous releases, fill in the gaps between the issues, and have sufficient build-up to the inevitable reveal of THE BIG PLOT and the final battle between Angela Gale and her nemesis, Mondebaine Gallowglass.

It will reveal stuff like- who IS Angel really, where did she come from, why she has her powers, who GMI and Baine really are, the link between them and the SIVA and the details of Angel’s life before the first book (Lone Wolf and Cherub), the first story arc and the last book to the finale. We’re filling in all the holes.

And awaiting the end is a big resolve- the Big Bad taking their plans to fruition, and the heroes taking up their guts for their stand. There will be action, there will be big explosions and fighting, Kai gets back at Seta and we’ll finally see Baine do evil stuff.

And someone very important will die. (and no, villains don't count, and no, it won't be Kai with her regeneration powers).

At the end of all this, I hope that the point of Angel’s existence will finally be revealed and her destiny fulfilled.

It was not an easy decision to make, but I think the readers and the characters have been waiting far too long. This story has to be told, and it will. After this, I can walk away from Angel and be happy in the knowledge that I did not leave her life incomplete (compressed, maybe, but at least not untold).

But will it be truly the last time we see Angel? We’ll just have to see.

Next year. Promise.

Thank you, Captain Obvious

Sometime last week, I was with Vin on a weeknight at Comic Quest. We had dinner, talked about this and that, and then at the stroke of nine-something, Vin got ready to shut down the shop.
As always, I got my stuff and looked about as Vin closed all but the back-room light in the store. He did his orasyons, paid homage to the frog diety and gathered up the receipts and stuff he was taking home. We exited the half-closed entrance and I stood back beside some guy who was browsing the stiore window as Vin pulled down the metal grate cover. Vin took out his two mammoth padlocks and clicked them into place, sealing shut the Blood Bank for the night.

At which point, the guy standing next to us asked, “Closed na kayo?” (“Are you closed?”)

All together now… Ngeh.

Okay, Vin, being the shopkeep and the guy being a potential customer, politely answered ‘Yes…’

If I was to answer though, I may have responded more along the lines of…

“Noooo… We’re just going for a coffee break for the night. If you want anything, please wait here and we’ll be back to service you in an hour or two…”

Heh.

Upgrade

The ol’ PC died over the weekend, forcing me to scramble and replace the most vital innards of the beige box. Now, while I do have the spiffy Powerbook, there are certain things that a PC can give that a Mac cannot- at least, not inexpensively. So, to retain my stuff for video capture and conversion to mobile media, as well as the use of a scanner and other irreplaceable functions, I had to spend quite a bit. I got the full bit- a new Pentium 4 chipset motherboard, with a new power supply and memory to match.
Perhaps after I get my cash flow going well again, I’ll get a new CD drive and perhaps a DVD-burner and some other stuff.

Anyway, my PC’s now more or less on track with the times and has a new lease on life… I wish I could say the same for my budget though. From now on until next pay day I’m going to have to watch the spending and resist any splurges and unnecessary expenditures. Darn.

Well, on the good side, If I make it to next payday without begging for a loan, it will be cool and maybe a sign that I’ll be able to save more. And another cool thing is that I’m ready for Age of Empires III if and when it arrives. Heh.

Alter Egos

Last night, we talked about our latest comic project as a group. The theme will be about 'Superheroes'. Despite this probably being a cheap photocopy or risograph comic, it will be pretty big at about 70 or so pages (given all the contributions of the various members). I'm hoping that the stories and art will be good enough that we can pitch it to a publisher to do it justice and print it nicely. A sort of Siglo: Super Powers? Well, we'll see what happens when the art and stories come piling in. Hopefully, we'll see the book by late this year or early next year. I've got quite a bit of time, but this early I should start thinking of my future superheroine (yes, I'm gonna go with a sexy babe), her origin, powers and nemesis. Heh. This should be fun.