Matrix Repeated

Last night, the gang trooped to Greenhills Theater Mall for our first (and last) viewing of Reloaded as a group. We watched the Last Full Show and got nice reserved seats. Some of us came in looking simply for eye-candy (Hi Carl!), which suited them perfectly. Some of course, were utterly horrified by the film (Hi, Dean!).
I came in for my second viewing of the film, and went away with several things. I finally got to see the Matrix: Revolutions trailer at the end of the credits, I finally was able to understand the Secret of the One more or less.

I still found that Reloaded suffers still from a glaringly boring first third (ALL of the Zion sequences are BAD. Morpheus' speech, the 'Rave', the talk with the councillor, Link and his wife, etc.). The fights go on too long (never thought I'd say that), much of the writing is just masturbatory (writers went wild thinking their stuff is hot shit) and again, the movie's climax comes long before the end of the movie, leading to a boring lull and a horrible exposition section at the end. Oh well.

The Revolutions trailer looks nice, and it all just convinces me that Matrix is probably better as a manga. Maybe someone should do that... have a great manga artist adapt the trilogy into printed form. It would probably ROCK as a comic; far better than as a film.

Movie Review: The Matrix Reloaded


Milli Vanilli returns from the dead in Reloaded.

Some spoilers but no plot-specific stuff. Basically, if you’ve seen the trailers, you shouldn’t be worried.

I seemed to have lucked out today; our department went out on a ‘creative excursion’ to watch the hottest movie of the season… The Matrix: Reloaded. Unfortunately, thanks to some delays and traffic, we missed out on a few minutes at the front of the movie (which warrants that I see this flick again) and the supposed Matrix: Revolutions trailer at the end of the credits. Oh well.
Reloaded is set some time after the end of the original film; Neo, Morpheus and Trinity are still fighting the good fight both in the real world and in the make-believe world of the Matrix to protect the last remaining free human city of Zion. We finally get to see this human stronghold (WOW!) and see the bigger picture of the struggle which was just talked about but never seen in the first film.
At the end of the original, Neo (Keanu Reeves) becomes The One, a human who has heightened perceptions within the Matrix, allowing him to bend it to his will. This pretty much translates to him being able to fly (making Reeves look like a black-garbed Superman), fight on a level above the more powerful Agents and other computer programs and beings in the Matrix, and do other… stuff. Despite gaining his incredible powers and able to kick Agent butt pretty much at will, Neo isn’t perfect and the fact that everyone else on his side is still mortal and perishable makes the battle just as costly as before. It doesn’t make any matters easier when the opposition they face ups the ante as well. Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) returns, seemingly from the dead, with an ability that will make you see double and then some. Then there are the rogue programs; vastly more powerful computer beings that are as deadly or even deadlier than the ever-present and even tougher Agents. This pretty much just translates to a bunch of martial artists- which convinces me that at it’s heart, without all the psycho and technobabble, Matrix is just a kung-fu flick. Heh.

Anyway, the battle for Zion’s survival gets revved to high gear when a threat of invasion is detected. Of course, Morpheus believes the solution lies in Neo and the mysterious prophecy. They believe that the true weakness of the machines lies inside the Matrix… contrary to the belief of other Zion elements that want a more direct, physical defense for the city. This politicking and adding of various characters, council meetings and a ridiculously long RAVE sequence are baggage which for me just bogged the action and pace of the story down. Get on with it already!
Once Neo and gang get sent on a path, it’s a race against time and evil programs to find the answers, or Zion and the human race is doomed. Predictably, along the way there are action sequences aplenty, culminating in an awesome chase and battle along a crowded freeway.

That’s the movie. Oh, and it doesn’t end conclusively, since this IS the middle of a trilogy… but unlike The Two Towers which let you pause and breathe for the next film, Reloaded will have you screaming “NEXT MOVIE, NOW!!!!”.

Which brings me to the nitty-gritty. Did I love it? Or are those many disappointed reviews on the Net in the right?

First of all, the film has incredible visuals. I mean, you go into a movie like this with that pretty much a sure thing.
YES, the characters still look cool. DAMN I want to be able to wear something like Neo’s long black costume. He looks cool and moves cool. Yeah, Keanu Reeves isn’t the most perfect actor in the world but he’s awesome as Neo. Not invincible, but I actually like that they still have martial arts since turning this into a Dragonball/Psychic Powers/Akira thing would probably turn Matrix into something like Dark City… which is NOT a good thing. Yeah, it’s weird to see him fly but it’s also darn awesome; Matrix so far bags the best-looking flying sequences; I want my Angel Ace to fly like him. Woooh.

Trinity kicks butt still, but while she sees more action here than in the first film, her bad assedness isn’t as great, which is sad since Neo kicks butt so effortlessly and Morpheus gets to look good a lot in Reloaded. And I have to say that while Carrie-Anne Moss is damn sexy, she’s not the most beautiful woman in the world (with competition like Monica Bellucci's Persephone I would indeed be worried if I was Trinity), and she looks even worse with blood and stuff all over her…

Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Niobe and the cannon-fodder Zion fighters… Guess I have to play the videogame before I care for them…

Agent Smith is back, and I love it. Smith gives the villainy of The Matrix a face (and a voice) which is cool. The Merovingian and everyone else on his gang don’t hold a candle to Smith. Without a doubt, the most fun segment in Reloaded has to be that BIG BRAWL between Neo and an escalating horde of Smith clones. However, after the fiftieth or so clone appears, I suddenly began expecting them all to start dancing in a synchronized production number. The choreography just seemed to look… choreographed. All those suits... all those identical faces, no blood or bruises... surreal. It would have looked funny set to Keystone Kops music, I think. Heh.

Bullet Time, zippy cuts, slow-mos… still here. Nothing terribly new.

The Twins. Cool, scary and challenging. Like most every cool henchmen, they don’t really stay too long onscreen but they will probably be the first action figures kids want.

Zion… in some ways awesome, with cool touches and stuff… in some ways laughable. Some segments reminded me of those HORRIBLE Flintstones movies. That RAVE thing just went too long… Just a vehicle to make the Neo-Trinity love scene more sensuous…

LOTS of stuff to nitpick about, to talk about… lots of stuff I liked and disliked… but in the end what I disliked was…
The pacing was erratic, jumping from martial arts fight to boring lull to Matrix to real world and back and again. The first third of the movie is abysmally slow, with council meetings and ultimately useless infighting/feuds to give the conflict a real-world factor.

Then there are the confusing and heavy technobabble and psychoblahs which will overwhelm you the first time. When the revelation finally comes, don’t be surprised to suddenly say…

SO THAT’S THE SECRET OF THE MATRIX!!!

And then say…

Um… I didn't get it.

Yep, I missed whatever it was. Flew over my head. I consider myself pretty sharp and I enjoyed the stuff from The Oracle and other science gobbledy-goo the film threw at me… but when The Colonel , er I mean, The Architect started talking… Ah… What the?

Have to watch it again to listen to it again. Well, whatever the secret of The Matrix was, bottom line is, it was bad and the result is another movie to wait for in November. Heh.

Ultimately, Reloaded’s erratic pace has all the best action finishing long before the actual end, and then saddling the audience with high-faluting dialogue that only tech geeks will fathom the first time around. And THEN it ends at a cliffhanger. AAAAAAHHHHHHGGGHHH!!!

Yep, I was disappointed. Disappointed that the story has as many flaws and holes and iffy parts as there are bullet holes in the movie.
Fortunately though, they are still offset by the movie’s undeniable COOL factor, tons of very fun action sequences and the fact that given the quality of the first film (which Reloaded ultimately fails to surpass, I think), I’m in for the long haul. Yep, I’ve taken the red pill and have no choice but to watch Revolutions. And Reloaded again. And maybe again. DARN!

The Matrix Reloaded

This is THE hot movie of this season. Proof of this is the fact that several major theaters have already been booked solid in advance from opening day (TODAY!) till the weekend. Thankfully, I will be watching this much-anticipated sequel later this afternoon at the Power Plant mall with most of my department (we're treating it as a kind of creative excursion. That's the ticket!).
I'll be putting up a review (with proper spoiler warnings, if needed) as soon as possible. Heh.

Pickpocket in my dreams!!!

Yep, it's true. Early this morning I had a dream that I was in some sidestreet in Cubao, outside some store. I felt a tugging at my side and I caught this kid on a bike trying to lift my phone from its holder. I collared the kid but eventually let him go.
Then I woke up. Hmmm.
Well, aside from that failed phone theft (the real one, not this dream), I've been pickpocketed once before; I lost my wallet, with some cash, IDs and cards. Once that happens to you, I think you get paranoid. But I didn't think I'd even be careful in my dreams. Weird.

Animated Angels

No, I haven't won the Lotto and gotten my own Angel Ace anime. Taking a cue from The Matrix's animated shorts, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle will be having some online-only animated prequels released before the movie reaches theaters in June. So if you've been dreaming of seeing cartoon versions of Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz, this is your lucky day. There are six episodes to be eventually released, which should be fairly quick in coming since there's only less than a month to the movie's showing.
Anyway, I've seen the first episode and I have to say; It's no Animatrix. The animation is fair but the cartoon Angels look nothing like their real-life models, the story's pretty basic and the character designs are generic. However, there's a lot of action, and the cartoon DOES use some real voice samples from the real actresses (perhaps grabbed for use in this side thing rather than an actual dubbing session).
Anyway, you can download the first free episode of the animated Charlie's Angels here.

Phone Theft

Last week, an officemate of mine had her cellphone stolen. It was made all the more painful since her phone was a relatively new Sony Ericsson P-800. Yep, that spiffy PDA/Internet Surfing/Digital Camera phone. She said that it probably happened in the ladies' room at the Greenbelt Mall, where a woman had gotten close to her bag (she didn't think of it too much at the time). Right there, she lots an invaluable piece of equipment both for business and personal use worth over 36K. DAAAAAMMMMNNN!!!!

I can't fathom losing such a costly item so easily. The same way I can't fathom carrying around something so expensive as a matter of course, on just any day. If I owned such a thing, I'd keep it close to my body at ALL times. Trouble was, my officemate was a girl and she, like most women, usually kept things at a distance, in purses or handbags.

I've had my phone, a Siemens M35i, for over 3 years. Even after all this time I think it's still pretty neat. The size and shape are perfect, it feels durable and sporty, and simple goes well with someone like me who is out on the street walking around as much as I am sitting at a desk. The signal and sound are great, and it just works perfectly all the time. My only complaint? That I actually got the thing years ago for the WAP functions, which are totally, utterly, unforgiveably WORTHLESS. WAP is CRAP.
Anyway, the phone isn't worth anywhere near a P-800, but just the same losing this phone would ruin my day. It would crash me for weeks. It wouldn't be easy to get another phone.

And to think that years ago, it actually got STOLEN. Yep, I was victimized by cellphone thieves as well. Unlike my unfortunate friend though, I got my phone back.

It happened on the MRT. Me and my friend Brandie had left the office early. We were on the train, joking and chatting about stuff. At that moment, the MRT operator's voice sounded on the speakers.
"Please keep your belongings safe and watch out for pickpockets." He warned.
At that moment both of us laughed, joking that the pickpockets would have to invest in stored value tickets to be able to make their getaway. We were still chuckling when our stop at Megamall came, and we stepped closer to the doorway. As we did, other passengers crowded along with us.

The doors opened. I stepped off the train and immediately ran my hands over my pants pockets (which was my SOP) to check my wallet and cellphone. Wallet... check. Cellphone... Cellphone...

What the HELL?!? My pocket was empty!!! My phone was GONE!!!

Immediately, I turned to face the open doorway of the MRT car I had just exited. Brandie had stopped behind me, not knowing what was going on. Actually I didn't either. All I know is, I started yelling.

"PUTANG INA! (Son of a BITCH!) There's a PICKPOCKET on this train!!! My phone has been stolen!!!" I shouted. "GUARD!!! GUARD!!! Pickpockets on this train!!!"

All this time, Brandie was probably nervously looking around, and perhaps an image of my cellphone, sitting safely on top of my desk back at the office came to mind.

To their credit, the MRT security acted en punto. A guard kept the train from running, and several ringed the outside of the car. I, on the other hand, had entered the car again and was scanning the men in the immediate radius. I looked for the most suspicious one I could find.

"YOU!!!!" I snarled, at a short guy wearing a cap. I immediately started FRISKING him. To HELL with right to privacy. MY PHONE HAD BEEN STOLEN! I had deputized myself.
Of course, I found NOTHING.

I stepped back, and nodded. "Okay."
Then, I looked for another vic- er, suspect.

At that point, there was a commotion behind me, and I turned. I saw one of the passengers, a guy, pointing to a guy he collared. Immediately, guards came in and held the suspect. They led the thin man outside the train, along with some other dubious-looking youths.
One of the guards held up a familiar-looking object he had recovered from the man. It was my phone!!!

I approached the guard, declaring it was mine. He asked what the phone number was. I said it. He handed it to me. I HAD MY FREAKING PHONE BACK!!! BACK FROM OBLIVION!!!

Apparently, according to the witness (a guy named Dante; bless you, wherever you are), he had seen the phone get lifted from my pocket. When I started frisking people, he said that the phone was passed around by the gang. In panic, the unfortunate guy left holding the phone tried to just drop it into his pants (Eewww...) and let it fall to the floor where it was to be found. Good plan, but someone had seen him, so tough.
Anyway, the bad thing was, once they had their confirmed suspect, the guards let everyone else go, and let the train on its way. That included, I think, the OTHER gang members. Why they let that happen I will never know. Anyway, we had a criminal in custody, and that was that. Brandie, me and the witness accompanied the guards and the suspect back to the MRT police headquarters to file charges. There, I spent an hour, seeing other captured pickpockets being charged, and acting out a scene straight out of a police drama. Surreal.
It ended soon after. I left and never looked back. It was too much trouble to file charges, attend court and what have you. I had my phone, and a pickpocket was at least caught and his picture put up for reference in the MRT stations. Since then, I keep my phone in a proper holder at my belt, not in my easily-accessible and vulnerable pants pocket.

Love that story. Been telling it countlessly. I wish my friend was as lucky as me, but them's the breaks.

What a world we live in. Sigh.

Cute Vampire Girls sucked my Blood!!!



Expecting nothing more than dinner and a chat, I was waylaid and bloodsucked tonight at Comic Quest. I spotted a couple of special statues/figurines of anime anti-heroine Vampire Princess Miyu and her manga-only creation, Vampire Princess Yui. I could not resist their exquisite detail, from the folds of their costumes to their scuplted faces, hands and feet... DAMN YOU VINNIE!!!! AAAAAHHH!!!!
Anyway, after I shed blood for them, I later discovered that they require assembly... DAMN YOU VINNIE!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!! Once put together though (the pieces fit nicely), they look nice, with Miyu in a kneeling pose while Yui is standing (the position showing off nice folds of her costume). They look so nice atop my desk in the Sanctum... DAMN YOU VINNIE!!!! AAAAAHHHH!!!!

Vampire Princess Miyu is all about the adventures of an immortal, ever-childlike vampire who battles evil creatures known as Shinma who prey on humans. Unlike your usual girly-heroine anime though, Miyu's episodes rarely end happily, and always have a macabre twist. A 4-episode OAV and a 24 episode TV series is available, along with manga for both VPM and Vampire Princess Yui.

Takaw-Mata (Hungry Eyes)

Visual stimulus is important to me. Extremely important. When I eat, I prefer to do so with an appetizing portion about food or eating playing on TV. Or with a book opened to a page where a lavish feast is being described. Does anyone here love watching Globe Trekker (formerly Lonely Planet)? I actually taped their Food around the World special so I can play it while I eat. My favorite parts include the earlier segments; where Ian Wright has a Japanese breakfast eating a raw egg mixed with rice. Or when Justine Shapiro eats the sour veggie stew called Samba with soft buns for breakfast on a houseboat. Or the many other sundry delicacies shown throughout the hour-long feature. That's a great thing to watch while eating (though I will probably turn it off when the 'worst' meal segments come along- Gak... kangaroo tails and sheep eye...).

Well anyway, there was that steak sequence from The Matrix that I saw last night; and when I went out to have lunch I was looking for a bloody raw steak like Cypher (Joe Pantoliano) was eating. So when I went to Food Choices at Greenbelt I ignored the dozen or so Thai and Asian food kiosks and had my eyes focused on Tender Bob's. I ordered roast beef, and had several bloody cuts sloshed with gravy. To be honest though, I had the meat seared well-done before I had it. Can't take bloody meat. Screw the juice.
Anyway, the meal was good, and I enjoyed mouthing Cypher's dialogue ('Ignorance is bliss...') as I chewed the meat. Heh. In a way, it's true I guess. Enjoyment and appetite are all in the mind. But good meat never hurts.

The Matrix Reloaded (into my DVD)

Last night I popped in my copy of The Matrix into the DVD and sat back to re-visit the original movie in preparation for Matrix: Reloaded later this week. The movie is still slick and sharp and cool as it was when I first saw it. High points still include Trinity's opening chase, the dojo battle between Neo and Morpheus, the hallway shootout and the exciting (albeit in my opinion, unnecessary and futile) fight between Neo and Smith. A personal favorite scene of mine in the film is where Cypher is eating steak as he betrays Morpheus to the machines. DAMN that steak looked good. Heh.
The fight scenes are still cool and the gunplay rocks. From the trailers of Reloaded, it's obvious that the Wachowski Brothers have revved up the action by ten; the brawl between Neo and the hundred Agent Smiths brings to mind similar scenes of one-versus-many in Hong Kong movies like Jet Li's Once Upon A TIme In China. Only this time, CG effects stands in for most of the slam-bang action. Still pretty awesome just the same though.
Sad to say we don't have any premier showings lined up; we're going to have to wait till opening day like everyone else. Can't wait. Reloaded is going to rock. It's just a matter how much.

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day today. Greeted mom. Not planning anything extravagant, but at the very least, I'll be treating dinner tonight with maybe a pizza. Will be staying home for the day. Want to rest, draw, play and just chill (literally; I'll be keeping the aircon on).

The Quest begins!



Questers is an action/fantasy/sci-fi comic coming soon from a small but growing US-based comic company called Manga Graphix. Mixing magic and technology, Questers stars Team 325, a young but hungry party of questers, or adventurers, who seek treasure, magic and fame in dangerous otherdimensional worlds and monster-infested dungeons. No release date yet; the only info we have on this is that pencilling and inking chores will be done by someone named Marc Dimaano. Heh.
I hope this nice little side job pans out well. Check out Lone Wolf and Cherub for updates on this one as it develops. Or, you can go visit the official Manga Graphix site to check out info and art of Questers and their main comic, Witch Girls.

Silent Hill 3: Made to Scare You


Bearing a striking resemblance to actress Cate Blanchett (or is it Gwyneth Paltrow?), the mysterious Claudia plays a crucial role in Silent Hill 3.

Yesterday I went over to the Black Market in Makati Cinema Square and was surprised to see a copy of Konami's latest scare-fest, Silent Hill 3. The copy I have is the European version (the game has yet to be released in the US), and gives you multiple language options. Otherwise, the dialogue and text is in english, so it's fine to play.
Unlike the first two games, SH3 puts you in the boots of a teenage girl named Heather. She's been on a trip of some sort and is at a mall headed home when she starts having strange dreams of being in a weird, bloodstained, monster-filled place. As she's headed home, she is met by a detective who tells her he knows something about her birth. Soon after, she suddenly finds that the beasts from her dreams are real...
Silent Hill 3 has PS2 quality graphics, even better than the Silent Hill 2; the character models are very close to each other, from the CG cut-scene models to the in-game characters. The real-time model for Heather may seem a bit grimy-faced compared to the CG model, but the game is pretty... well, as pretty as a bloodstained, rusted, rotting corpse can be. As for the sounds, the effects are chilling... and I don't mean the voice acting (which is not bad- though the dialogue is kinda stilted)... creepy sounds like muffled voices, rusted hinges and moaning monsters will surely be more frightening than anything else in the game.
Controlling Heather is very similar to Resident Evil; 'up' in the directionals is always forward, 'down' is always back, left and right will turn your character. It will take getting used to, but after a while moving will be easy. Fighting monsters will take up your time a lot, but ammo is limited so choose your battles or risk fighting brutes with just a little knife.

Silent Hill 3 is still scary, though I have to say perhaps not as scary as the first one. Pretty much so because despite the fact that SH3 has more gore and blood, and the monsters are more twisted than ever... but we've seen it before, and we know what to expect. From experience I've found out that when you've got more than enough ammo, and have gotten the monster-killing technique down pat, it's all a matter of just going through the paces to kill the bosses and get to the twisted ending. Still, Silent Hill 3 is sure to have many deranged moments and creep-out chases.

Highly recommended to mature PS2 owners who want a good scare and a chill...

Textmen 2 arrives in stores!

The second issue of Textmen is now available at Comic Quest. The cellphone-wielding heroes go on a brawl at the Greenhills Theater Mall with their nemesis, the La Buena Familia. Story by Nikki Alfar, Art by Armand Canlas (Armor Troopers), tagalog translation by Dean Alfar (heh). Textmen is created by Jason Banico of Dynatica.

Chatting at Kitchen

After closing down Comic Quest, the gang (sans Vinnie, Jason and Cams) settled on the fusion cuisine of Kitchen at the Megastrip. It's a funny place that I describe as a prison cafeteria for rich people, where you order stuff with descriptions that make your mouth water at the start but suddenly turn you off when you see the end. Think black squid ink with pork. Eew. Oh well, it's a challenge to decide (though I usually order something I ordered before) what to eat there. This night though both me and Gig ordered the same thing Carl did; A dish called Buttered Up, which is the catch of the day (gindara) served with rice and lots of butter sauce. Now, the servings at Kitchen are served on huge plates which I likened to bucklers, and you use either chopsticks or huge spoons that would be used as serving spoons at my house. It was a good meal, but just too much. And the butter demanded a countertaste soon after. Bleh. Anyway, the talk over the meal gravitated from our probing again of Carl's life, to writing and our group's upcoming little comic project.

We adjourned slightly after midnight. I am so tired. Glad that this week's finally over. It wasn't a hard week, but a long one, seemingly. Have to catch up on sleep and get to draw a bit. Thanks to the Questers comic gig I seem to have bagged, I may be in for some busy art chores in the next few weeks; that's on top of continuing Angel Ace and other stuff. Whew. Gonna have to keep downing those vitamins. Can't afford to break down anytime soon.

Dare to enter the Underworld

Yet another black leather-clad movie is lurking around the corner. Underworld takes us into a shadowy no man's land where a war is raging between Vampires and their ancient werewolf enemy, the Lycans. In the middle of this fang-baring, guns blazing, sword slashing, wall crawling action/blood fest, romance blooms between a beautiful young vampire (played by Pearl Harbour's Kate Beckinsdale) and a powerful Lycan. Blade the Vampire Hunter meets Romeo and Juliet?
The film has a stylized look, and there seems to be some cool weapons and fighting scenes. Miss Beckinsdale gets to wield two guns like that Tomb Raider babe, and she's hot in black leather. But how many more black leather / monochrome-black films like The Matrix, X-Men 2 and Equilibrium can we take before we have to run for a copy of The Wizard of Oz? Sigh.

More DOA! MORE! MORE!!!
The Xbox is the Dead or Alive fan's console of choice.

Tecmo of Japan has announced that they are coming out with Xbox remakes of the earlier Dead or Alive fighting games this summer. Entitled Dead or Alive Online, the remakes will come in one volume, or disc, and will include a port of the Saturn version of the original Dead or Alive, and a graphically-optimized and updated Dead or Alive 2. No word yet on any new elements, though it is pretty obvious that DOA2's enhancements will include DOAX-quality character models and animation, and new details to the stages like falling snow. It's not clear if the new characters from Dead or Alive 3 or DOAX will be included in the remakes, or what extras will make it into these games.

Tecmo was also quick to point out though that DOA Online is NOT Dead or Alive: Code Cronos, which is yet another upcoming game in Tecmo's flagship franchise. More light should be shed on these games at the upcoming E3 Entertainment Expo 2003.

Me, I'm doing cartwheels at this news, though it's pretty disappointing that the divine Playstation version of the original DOA seems to be snubbed in the remake (since it IS a Sony game and DOA Online is for the Xbox). The Saturn version's fine; but the PS game has better animation and more good stuff. Then again, the Saturn game has Lei Fang in a string bikini, so that's not bad... Heh. As for Code Cronos, it's anybody's guess what THAT is.
On a final note, it seems as well that Tecmo is also working on a sequel to the very successful Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. This time around I hope they answer all the flaws and shortcomings of the first game. Oh well. That's for the future... Mmmm...

Darna # 2 lands in stores

The second issue of Mars Ravelo's Darna by Mango Comics arrived last night in Comic Quest in the nick of time (just before closing time). Thanks to the fact that the store was in the thick of the weekly bloodletting, I was able to sneak in a copy into my stash of other purchases, including a copy of Official Xbox Magazine, Playstation Magazine and R.A. Salvatore's Demon Wars#1. Anyway, this is about the local comic, so here it is.

In the second issue, Darna encounters the evil that is surrounding her in the Amor Concert, originating of course from the arch-villainess Valentina. As the snake-goddess's plot begins to unwind, can Darna save her friends as well as her own life against her well-prepared and ruthless nemesis?
Artist Lan Medina takes over the reins of the pencilling chores, and it is a marked improvement over the last issue. Not to say that Ryan Orosco's art was in any way ugly; it's just that you could pretty much see much more in terms of substance, emotion and gusto in the second issue's art. Perhaps it is also in the way the writing and panelling is done; improved and containing a fair effort to give characters more expression. Darna in particular shows more humanity and doubt in her thoughts, which makes her more engaging as a character. Some lines of dialogue and text still sound iffy, but overall gets the job done well.
Of course, being the story's middle, this is where Darna meets the villains in earnest, and action ensues. Yet again there is quite a bit of skin and fan service, but that's not a bad thing, especially in the context of the situations they are presented. The action's still not as hot as I'd like, but that's just me expecting detailed action and fight scenes in every comic I buy. Oh well. A good middle makes me look forward to the finale, in a month or so.

Mars Ravelo's Darna from Mango Comics is now available at Comic Quest. Full color, Php 120.00.

Which X-Man am I?


You are Jubilee!

Though you may be young and inexperienced, you have
great potential and will someday become an
admirable figure. For that to happen, though,
you must overcome your juvenile belief system
and adopt a more mature view on life.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
brought to you by Quizilla

LXG trailer now up!

The obscure comic (well, obscure to me) League of Extraordinary Gentlement or LXG is coming this summer. Not too sure about the exact plot, just that master hunter Allan Quatermain (played by Sean Connery) is asked to lead the newly-formed League in order to stop a madman known as The Fantom who's threatening the world with 'unstoppable assassins'. The League of course is composed of various individuals who come from other works of great literature, such as a grown-up Tom Sawyer who's now working as a spy; a vampiric Mina Harker; an invisible thief named Rodney Skinner; the tormented doctor Jekyll (and his bestial 'partner, Hyde); scientist and submariner Captain Nemo; and finally, the immortal adventurer Dorian Gray.
Though reknowned, most of these characters are flawed, sinister and nowhere near being squeaky-clean. Can the free world rely on the League in its time of greatest peril? We'll find out later this summer when LXG hits the screens. The movie looks... well, extraordinarily cool, with lots of fireworks, a very-stylized Nautilus, big brawling battles and quite a few CG beasties.

Download the first full trailer of LXG here.

Castle in the Sky DVD redux

As I noted yesterday, I got a copy of the Disney-released Castle in the Sky anime, and I have to say that it doesn't work as well as the Spirited Away dub. I just felt that James Van Der Beek is too old to play the young hero Pazu; Anna Paquin's performance as Sheeta was negligible, and Mark Hamill's Muska sounds far too close to his Joker voice in the Batman animated movies. It didn't help as well that the copy I got was missing a pivotal part of the film towards the end- have to have it replaced.
By no means is it horrible... but disappointing given that I really like Laputa's story and given it's Jules Verne/European character, an excellent english dub would have been great. With the so-so dub, it doesn't shine as brightly. Oh well.