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.

A Game with Soul


Character Creation is the hottest new feature in Soul Calibur III.

Continuing the coolness roll they’ve had since releasing Tekken 5 a couple of months ago, Namco of Japan is set to release their next landmark fighter, Soul Calibur 3 later in 2005. The game will continue the saga of the many brave and deadly warriors whose lives revolve around the cursed sword Soul Edge, and it’s nemesis weapon Soul Calibur. Apparently the last game’s story ended with the rapier-wielding Raphael getting hold of the evil blade, thus turning him into an evil version of his former swashbuckling hero-self. Three new characters join the struggle- Setsuka is a geisha armed with a bladed parasol, looking to ‘avenge her master’. Tira is a green-haired wild girl who has a fetish for large, circular blades and ripped clothing (mmm), and finally Zasalamel is a scythe-wielding Egyptian who seems to be behind some of the sinister goings-on in the plot.
However, the biggest news in Soul Calibur III isn’t the new cast members- in fact, if you don’t find killer hula-hoop girls and slashing geishas sexy, you can create your own perfect blade warrior in SC3’s spiffy new Character Creation Mode.


Finally, you can make your dreams of a Barmaid of Doom come true.

Taking the character customization feature found in Tekken 5 to the next level, SC3’s Creation Mode lets you construct a new character from the ground up. You select from several character occupations, including Knight, Dancer, Assassin, Ninja, Guardian, Barbarian, Monk, Samurai, Pirate and Thief. Choose your fighter’s gender and you’re off! Incredibly enough, you’ll be able to customize your created character’s looks literally from head to toe- from hairstyles to facial features to layers of clothing to footwear and weapon- it’s your call.


When Custom Characters Go Wild.

Amazingly, the graphical quality of the characters seem to be on par with the more established cast, so this should result in quite a lot of designs. It’s almost certain that you can use your created character in some of the modes, as well as a special mode created specifically for customized warriors. I’m hoping we have as many options for actual gameplay as we seem to have for creation- it would be a shame to create a character and not use them to their fullest.


Dancing over an enemy’s corpse takes a new meaning.

Anyway, I’m really lookin forward to Soul Calibur III… perhaps the last and greatest PS2 fighter. But even then I’m licking my chops at the possibilities in the future. Will we see character creation in a future Tekken? On PS3? Daaaaaamn. It’s good to be a gamer. Heh.

The End is Here


Spielberg brings us a modern re-telling of the classic nightmare.

Last night, I just needed a break so I made it a point to catch War of the Worlds in the theater after work. Despite a bit of overtime, I was able to catch a last full show of Steven Spielberg’s latest and greatest.
While waiting for the main show to start, I got the nifty treat of catching several cool new trailers. One was for Zathura, which is pretty much Jumanji except with a pulp science fiction theme (which is not surprising when you consider it’s from the same writer). Then there was a trailer for Peter Jackson’s upcoming remake of King Kong, which looked pretty impressive. The effects and production look pretty slick, and Naomi Watts looks especially fetching in the role made famous by actress Fay Raye. Plus it was surprising to see Jack Black in a role other than that of geek/loser/weirdo/comedian.

Anyway! Onto the main feature. SPOILERS AHEAD.

War of the Worlds is of course based on novel by H.G. Wells, and perhaps taking off from the infamous radio play that caused Americans to panic several decades ago, as well as the classic movie. Of course, the new version revs up the action and pushes everything into a contemporary setting and the point of view of an everyman, Ray Ferrier, played by Tom Cruise.
Ray isn’t a perfect guy. He’s an exceptional worker and he earns well enough to support a bachelor’s lifestyle. He’s got his hot car and a suitably messy place with no food in the fridge. But then, Ray isn’t a bachelor… he’s divorced, with two kids staying mostly with his wife (LOTR’s Miranda Otto) and her new and better husband (great house, family car, everything). Ray’s failure as a husband and a father is a sore spot with him, despite his façade. Anyway, during one weekend when the wife leaves the two kids- hot-headed teen Robby (Justin Chatwin) and pre-teen Rachel (Dakota Fanning)- with him for the weekend, little did Ray know that his fathering skills would be pushed to the breaking point by an alien invasion.

The attack is heralded by freakish lightning strikes, which hit the ground repeatedly. The buildup is tense and quick as the ground suddenly breaks, revealing… perhaps some of the most terrifying imagery of aliens yet seen in modern cinema. It’s not just the weird and cool and slick designs of the alien ‘tripods’… it’s the stark realness of it all. The things look real, and set against an everyday cityscape, they look all the more freakish and… real.
Anyway, soon after the first tripod appears, Ray decides to pack some stuff, grab the kids and get the hell out of Dodge… and that turns out to be a pretty good idea since everything behind them soon turns into dust and destruction. Now, with only the elusive hope of finding some sanctuary in Boston with the ex-wife (who may or may not be there at the end), Ray and his kids must somehow survive not only the menacing alien war machines but the simple madness that humanity tends to sink into when the proverbial shit hits the fan.

This is easily one of Spielberg’s darkest films yet- easily on par with Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan and to an extent, his classic Duel. He does still keep his standards- the blood and gore is never gratuitous, but there are images and implications here that are truly disturbing and macabre- which leads me to believe that impressionable youngsters should NOT see this film- it’s that scary.

That said, it’s one hell of a ride. The tension, the action and the performances are spot on. Cruise is pretty good as the slightly obnoxious Ferrier, perhaps one of his more intense roles in his career. Dakota Fanning is the image of childish smart alecness and innocence thrust into a madhouse of fear, and you can just imagine a real kid reacting as she does to the horror that she sees- I wouldn’t be surprised to see an Oscar nod for this kid. As for Justin Chatwin, I really disliked his character, but I think he did a fairly good performance. While the monstrous special effects lord over most of the screen, the reactions of the cast are what sells the sights and this pays off in spades in making the tension and chaos onscreen believable.

Did I like it? Hell yes. I was thrilled, scared, amazed, appalled and thrilled again. The film has a relentless pace, though it noticeably slows at one point, when Ray meets the kooky Ogilvy, played by Tim Robbins. I do not agree too much with the resolution of this particular subplot- I think the end of it was unnecessary, but I guess it adds that much more grittiness to the movie. That aside though, I was absorbed with every second and I did have a bit of fear in the back of my mind that when we exited the theater it would be to a burnt-out wasteland with alien tripods looming over us…

Leave the kids at home. Watch this in a theater. And thank God that this is just fiction.

Crash

My PC went haywire last night, refusing to load. I found myself staring into a 'You Must Reinstall Windows' message, and only my boundless self-control kept me from doing an Al Capone on the CPU with a baseball bat. Damn it. And everything was running so well. I may have to accept the fact that I am running with a pretty old computer, and it may eventually stop running altogether. Certainly a brand-new PC is not impossible, but it will take time to save up for that. That's a 'project' class acquisition- easily on par with a new phone or a gaming console.
Anyway, I'll just reinstall and see what happens. If we crash a couple more times it may be time to put the old beige box to rest. Darn it.

Fat-astic Food

Watched an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on ETC. It had The Chin Man doing a sort of cooking segment with some guy who apparently runs a diner or resto that specializes in a couple of incredibly high-cholesterol delicacies.

How high? Well, the first dish they put together was a hamburger patty grilled and topped with bacon and cheddar cheese put in between a sliced, slightly grilled Krispy Kreme donut (with glaze). Whoa. Talk about mixing flavors. Anyway, the donut burger was pretty wild... but it was the second dish that went a bit over the top.
How over the top? How does a hotdog wrapped with hamburger meat stuffed into a bun smothered with chili and topped with bacon, onions and a fried egg sound? Mmmm.

Yep. A nightmare for diet-lovers. But DAMN... I want to taste these things at least once. I doubt any resto here will try them on their menu though. I guess I'll have to grab a box of Gonuts Donuts, some burger patties and make my own cholestereats.

Heh-heh...

War of the Worlds

I've had a ball in the cinemas recently. Mr. and Mrs. Smith was a certitied treat, and Batman Begins was pretty good. Now, while I have no plans to watch Fantastic Four, I am quite excited with the upcoming Steven Spielberg opus, War of the Worlds.
Tom Cruise stars as a divorced father who takes his two kids out for the weekend, not knowing that their world will forever be changed shortly by the sudden arrival (or unearthing) of malevolent alien invaders. As buildings start exploding and humanity falls apart at the seams, one man must somehow keep his sanity and his family together through it all.
The most intriguing thing about WOTW is... everything! There's been a fairly heavy veil of secrecy throughout the film, in most of the trailers and it is pretty exciting. Perhaps 98 percent of the action and the movie's drama, including what the aliens look like, has been held in secret- something unusual in these days when the best stuff is usually thrown into epic trailers.

I don't expect several members of the gang to share my excitement though- I'll try to catch the War when I can, after it debuts this week. Later!

Ad-mad

If you have Sky Cable, you'll probably have seen some of those ads they've been airing for themselves. There's one which is about 'Smart Kids', and has a mom reprimanding her kid (via voiceover as various scenes from educational programs run).

Mom says: Your teacher said you told your classmates to eat their money??
Kid: I just said that coins are minted.
Mom: Well, she also said you were teasing a classmate.
Kid: I just called him a homo sapien.
Mom: Michael! You shouldn't call your classmates names!

Okay, there's a big difference between being intelligent and being SMART. Now, despite the fact that 'homo sapiens' is the same word as 'human beings', there's a reason why we DON'T really use that term in everyday speak. So... unless young Michael wants to get his arse- or glutius maximus- royally kicked by some pissed-off peer, he should know when not to use some words.

Oh well. Just rambling. Moving on... Moving on...

The First Filipino Lion

RP entry wins Silver Lion in Cannes ad festival
FROM: The Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 26, 2005

Cannes, France -- The Consuelo Foundation and the United Nationsl childnre's Fund (Unicef), together with their advertising agency BBDO-Gurrero Ortega and film director Ditsi Carolino, won the country's first Cannes Lion for Film in the 52 years of the Cannes Advertising Festival.

The Silver Lion was won for the television commercial entitled "Bunso".

You can view the commercial at the other winners at the Cannes Lions web site:
http://www.canneslions.com/winners/film/win.cfm?award=0

Congratulations to my former boss, David Guerrero, and BBDO-Guerrero Ortega for this momentous win! Hopefully this will be the start of more Pinoy wins in the international ad circuits. Hooray!

Demons at School

No, it's not a sequel to that "Ghostbusters meets Anime" series on Animax... it was a feature shown this night on Magandang Gabi, Bayan. Apparently in some school called Wireless Elementary School, several students started seeing a DEMON in the classroom. According to the kids, the demon was dressed all in red, had ugly, wrinkled skin and two horns on its head. Of course, the show had its requisite re-enactment to show us the cheezy/creepy event. The most disturbing part of the feature was when the students, on camera, suddenly started seeing demons again in the middle of an interview, inside the principal's office. Of course, the cameras didn't see any horned incarnation- just lots of kids screaming their heads off and some woman crying out 'The Mighty Power of Jesus Commands You!" at the top of her lungs.
Were the kids really seeing demons? Was it just mass hallucination? Or just a publicity stunt? Well, it made for interesting television, that's for sure.

Intruder

DAMN IT.

A roach is in The Sanctum. And it's a frickin' FLYING roach. Darn it. I had a chance to squash it and I messed up. Now it's in here somewhere, perhaps waiting for me to get to bed before flapping its parchment-crisp wings and flying into bed with me. They ALWAYS do that. They can't resist it. These flying roaches must have kamikaze blood in them. I hate this. I wish I could just squash these frickin' irritating, invasive bugs from afar. But they're protected by shadows and corners and I can't reach 'em. But just give me a chance and I'll give them their just desserts. I'll have my chance and I'll be scraping off roach bits from a slipper sole. Just you wait. I'll bide my time for now and play nice. Once slip up, roaches. SPLAT. Bastards.

Please Let it be so...


Is FFVII indeed coming to PS3?

Now I want this. I really, really want this. According to EGM's (Electronic Gaming Monthly) Rumor Corner, a PS3 version of the classic Final Fantasy VII is being worked on, a conversion that will include graphical enhancements to bring it up to par visually with the upcoming CG movie, Advent Children. Now, would anyone be interested in a PSOne RPG spruced up with some fancy CG and graphics?

HELL YES. I'd buy it in a second. Just streamline the gameplay and transitions, make the in-game character models the equal of the cinema models, have seamless interweaving into the cinematics and insert the FFVII Advent Children as an extra IN the disc (or unlockable for playing after you beat the game, as a sequel to the FFVII ending), and I am sold. I am still a firm believer that FFVII is, bar none, the best FF out there. Arguably FFVI comes close in terms of sheer gameplay fun, great cast of characters and story, but FFVII revs up everything with probably the most involving story, graphics and gameplay of the tiime. Everything else afterwards just doesn't measure up. Not the sugary-sweet Final Fantasy 90210 (FF8) that tries very hard to equal the magic but fails miserably to even tell a cohesive story. Not the totally forgettable Final Fantasy IX. Final Fantasy X has a pulse, a great story and ups the ante with voice acting and great eye candy, but still falls short. FFXII? I'm not even excited over it, really.

FFVII on the PS3. Darn... let it be true. Let it be true.

Busybody

GYAAH!!!

Sorry if I've been remiss in updating the ol' blog lately. Work at The Salt Mines has been particularly hellish in the last couple of weeks. We've had to pull double duty twice as often and I've been hopping here and there like a headless kangaroo. Anyway, suffice to say that if I just get through this week in one piece, I'll be darn happy. Heh.

So I'll just go the E-mail Digest route and sum up odds and ends that have been happening recently...

Andrew Drilon just released two ashcans in Comic Quest recently, The Germinator and Subwhere. Check out the offbeat art and storytelling from this young upstart in the comic bin at Vin's. Still on Buddha Boy and the Big Little Boy- Vin and Andrew are going on the air at Monster Radio RX 93.1 tonight at 9pm to talk about- what else- comics. And other stuff, I imagine...

Got a new anime-themed fighter for the PS2. Inu Yasha Ougi Ranbu is a 3-d fighting game with shades of the classic Power Stone. Choose one or two from the popular cast of anime characters and fight it out in single or two-character team combat in various stages. The graphics and sounds are true to the anime, though the fighting is a bit on the shallow side. Still, Inu Yasha fans should grab this one up for the sheer pleasure of kicking Naraku's poisonous butt.

Livewires 5 just hit shelves at CQ and as I expected, the characters are dropping faster than flies in a gas chamber. I can only hope that a hunch that I have- that one character in particular will survive at story's end- proves to be true. Stilll, the art's still great and the story interesting enough for me to read it to the bitter end.

On another front, Frank Cho's Shanna the She-Devil still delivers in terms of art... DAMN Shanna is one sexy babe... but the story's pretty blah and it's all just one long, slightly boring trek and I find myself not caring whether or not Shanna nad the Doc get back in time to save their faceless friends. All I want is... MORE scenes with Shanna doing stuff. Any stuff. Anyway, with just two issues left, I am not looking for a big plot twists to suddenly pop up. I just wanna see more skin before this is over. Then let's have the regular Shanna series announced, please?

Ben Dunn's back in the saddle of his flagship Ninja High School series, and I just have to get back into it. I can't explain it... the guy's storytelling is often off and he uses religious figures too blatantly and his art isn't that great... but I just have to watch how he does things. Perhaps I see something of myself in him. Perhaps I wish I had as great an audience as him. Or maybe it's just that he's always stuck to his guns, done things his own way, no matter what. Or maybe it's just that I just can't resist a ninja title. Oh well.

Been watching more Basilisk and it's still as brutal as ever, with the body count of super-powered ninja growing with each episode. Will the Kouga or Iga come out on top? This series just may keep us all guessing up to the last episode.

Bah. Back to work. Gotta finish this all so's I can get even a bit of sleep tonight. Whatever.

OH MY GOSH!


The NEW Fallen Angel, art by J.K. Woodward.

Thanks to El, I found out about this SMASHING bit of news. It's already been confirmed that my favorite and recently-cancelled DC Comics title Fallen Angel would be continued under IDW Publishing. Well, more concrete proof of Lee's resurrection has been revealed with the first artwork from the comic coming this December. The new artist for the upcoming Fallen Angel comic is J.K. Woodward, whose work includes Digital Webbings' Crazy Mary. I've never heard of this guy or seen his stuff before... but DAMN, I like it!

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, the quality of the art above won't be limited to cover images- according to writer/creator Peter David, readers can expect the same quality with interior pages as well. DAMN! My only hope is that Mr. Woodward can keep to the comic's supposed monthly schedule, churning out great art like that (he pencils, inks and colors everything himself, apparently).

WOOHOO!!! This is the best news I've heard so far in comics all month. I can't wait to get my hands on the New Fallen Angel later this year.

Fallen Angel is the story of Lee, a mysterious super-powered vigilante/enforcer/bounty hunter/avenger for hire in the shadowy, crime-infested city of Bete Noir. At times fighting against underworld figures, at times sleeping with them, the only thing sure about the Fallen Angel is that you don't want to be on her bad side. Written and created by Peter David, art by J.K. Woodward, coming this December from IDW Publishing.

Still on the topic of Angels though, there have been some developments in my own personal comic book angel, Angel Ace. My good friend and comics compatriot Dean has already more or less pre-empted a new AA book (heh), and this is true. And then some. But the circumstances, plot and magnitude of the next AA book will be totally unexpected and may bowl some people over. Details in a future post when I gather my thoughts about it.