ONE WORD: BANGIS!
What a way to start a great epic story. I still can’t get over how good it felt to me, as a reader, the way the storytelling and the art seemed to compliment each other. Whenever “Makabo” narrates, it was like poetry being vividly described by the panels. I hope that you guys can hear me clap right now because Mervin Ignacio and Ian Sta. Maria deserves it.
Quick fact here . . .I almost believed it! (The part about the Skywold and how it was almost forgotten before the Spaniards came to our shore) Going back to the story now. 😛 The world building was loosely based on some Filipino folklore mainly the characters like the tikbalang and aswang. It was like a two-door closet style of telling a tale. When you open it, inside you can find the back story. Read it and you’ll get what I mean. 😀 The characters? Makabo; a kick-ass tikbalang, Rianka; diabolical and deceitful aswang, and Kaptan; a winged-god would take you to a place like no other, Skyworld.
THE ART:
It’s really a challenge to be an artist of a Pinoy graphic novel. You have to be creative enough to express the story with what you got. Publishers are still wary to go all out (hardcover, glossy paper and colored). With that said, although it would have been nice to see Skyworld in full color, it didn’t hinder the artist to show how great a story Skyworld is. My fave part is when Rianka deceived Kaptan. They just let the panels tell you the story.
OVERALL:
Again, BANGIS! That sums it up.If you see a copy of this comics, you better grab it. I waited for Komikon just to have one. A perfect mix of Filipino folklore, lyrical storytelling and panel by panel action packed sequential art to satisfy your craving for Pinoy komiks.