Skyworld: Apocrypha

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.

THE STORY:

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.

DC’s New 52: First Two weeks releases (Part II)

BATMAN & ROBIN #1
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Pat Gleason
Cover by Pat Gleason

To be honest, this is the first issue that I’ve ever read with Batman and Robin. A kid being subjected to a world of crimes and killings does not entice me on reading it before. But a lot of YA dystopian novel kind of prepared me and set my mind into thinking that this is just ok. And let me just tell you, I’ll be picking up the next issue because I’m interested to know more about this sick kid, son of Batman, great in combat, and he would not even think twice of killing bad guys. The name is Damian Wayne. Some of my favorite lines coming from him are “Life’s a battlefield, father. Good people meet horrible fates the same as the bad ones” and “grief and remorse are a disease of the weak. You wage war and destroy your enemies before they destroy you.” It’s just some lines if you think about it but coming from a 10-year-old kid? Hhhmmnnn

ANIMAL MAN #1
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Travel Foreman & Dan Green
Cover by Travel Foreman & Dan Green

This is also the first time I’ve ever heard of Buddy Baker – Animal Man. So I read this with a clean slate on my head and an open mind. I didn’t even picked it up immediately like Action Comics #1 fresh out of its delivery box. The ravings of other comic enthusiast did and I’m glad I listened to them. At first, the I was distracted by its art. A bit rough for my taste (the first half, just want to clarify that) but the story telling was flawless so I continued reading. The info dump at the beginning was a bold move too but I liked it. It gives me a feel as what and who Buddy Baker is. The dream sequence erases all my doubt to the capacity of the artist to pull this through. Great job there, both the writer and the artist. And the ending was just . . . freaky. Hehehe. I’m definitely gonna pick up the second issue. 🙂

On Spotlight: Miles Morales, the New Spidey!

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor
Lettering by Cory Petit
Published by Marvel Comics

The new Spidey, Miles Morales, is out now. Amidst the release of DC’s new 52, I think this issue will not go unnoticed. I know that the press release of the half-black, half-latino web slinger caused a havoc to Peter Parker fans but I think after reading Spider-Man #1, Miles Morales would do just fine.

What do we know about Miles Morales:

We do know that Miles Morales is poor. His parents are good people who wants the best for him so they take a chance in a lottery that could win him a slot to a good school. Sara Pichelli could really draw emotions and with that we could say he is a meek and humble kid. After winning a slot Miles said “It shouldn’t – – all these other kids. Should it be like this?”, we already knew that he’s got a good sense of what’s right and wrong.  

What I like about it:

Story

This issue did not start with web-slinging, crime-fighting, cars-exploding panels and I like it.  Brian Michael Bendis takes time to introduce you to what environment Miles was in. It focuses on his family and on how it would affect him as to what he would become, I think :P. You could feel the warmth and love of a parent to their son on this issue. Bendis is making us know that the family would play an integral part to this series.

Art

Sara Pichelli should also be praised with how this first issue turned out. She accomplished to put real emotions to the characters on how exactly they should look like at every panel. Another one is on how unique every character was drawn. It shows that she really put time on the details. The color was also spot on. It helps to transcends what Pichelli has drawn.

Overall

It was a great first issue and it would be a mistake to not buy it because you don’t want Marvel’s decision of killing Peter Parker. With just the first issue, Bendis already got me caring and rooting for Miles Morales. Great job guys! 🙂

DC’s New 52: First Two weeks releases (Part I)

It’s been a great start for the DC’s New 52. I saw a lot of comics enthusiast grabbing a copy of the new titles right out of its delivery box (uhm, am I one of them?) :). Here are some of my comments to the ones that I’ve bought.

Action Comics #1

Written by Grant Morrison
Art by Rags Morales
Cover by Rags Morales

I’m not really a Superman fan but I would have to say that Grant Morrison started Action Comics with a bang. DC gave him Action Comics and he delivered. It started with a chase, and it kinda felt a little bit Batman-ish, not in a bad way but just different from what I was expecting before reading it. I never thought I would hear Superman say “Catch me if you can” but yup, he said it. I still don’t know where he would go (Morrisson) with it but that would be one of the reasons why I would be reading the next issue. To see what he would do next with it. A panel after panel full of action and that is enough reason for you to grab a copy. 🙂 

Superboy #1

Written by Scott Lobdell
Art by R.B. Silva & Rob Lean
Cover by R.B. Silva & Rob Lean

Before reading this, the only thing I know about Superboy was what I’ve watched from the “Young Justice” cartoon series. It somehow did nothing to make me interested to pick up a comic book about him. With the release of DC’s New 52, many where saying that Superboy is the one that you should not miss. I was surprised as to how good Scott Lobdell executed the story. He gave enough background for new readers and at the same time, creating something new for the Superboy fans. The last page makes me so excited as to what would happen in the next issue!

Justice League #1

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Cover by Jim Lee & Scott Williams

This is my long overdue comment on the Justice League issue #1. Comic Bloggers are clamoring that the first issue of Justice League did not live up to readers’ expectation. With all the hype and it being the first of the DC’s New 52, much has been said. Some says that the story should start where the Justice League already exists or the issue should have been a full story. I would have to disagree to them. I think Geoff John starts a very solid 1st issue here. If you’re looking for a full story, you should have bought a graphic novel instead. You could not expect that the writer could squeeze all the characters there on the first issue. This is the way to go, a scene where he makes a dialogue with two or even three of the characters as a way of introduction. The readers, specially the new ones, would have a feel of who the characters are. Like what he did with Batman and Green Lantern, who would disagree to me that it was an awesome banter between the two characters? Yup, I knew it, NO ONE. If he could sustain that great writing all through out, I’m quite sure that Justice League would sell like hotcakes in all comic stores. With that said, I think it is worth it to grab the second issue of the Justice League.

So there you go. I did put a part I at the title and hopefully I would be able to finish writing some of my comments to the other comics that I’ve got during the first 2 weeks of DC’s New 52. Till next time, I mean next post. 🙂

Intro to Komix Korner: Why Do I Read Comics?

Looking for something to write on my intro to Komix Korner, I stumbled upon a question raised on newsarama.com. “Why do you read superhero comics? . . . . . . . . . . . I pause for a minute (to think) . . . . . . . . Uhm . . . . . . aahhh . . . . . . oh god that’s a tough one.  I think I always asked that whenever I’m at the cash register and about to pay for my comics. Leafing through them, at the back of my mind, I always settle for the simple “you like them comic books dude” answer. But now, I guess I should give it some thought and answer the question.

• Escape . . . ? – I would really settle for the “I like them comics” than to admit that in some ways, it is a form of escape. But, yeah IT IS. You are so frustrated with how mundane your life is, that you’d rather believe a person can really fly and be sucked into a story that the superhero would come and save the day. You’d rather focus on the conflicts of super-villains and heroes, them fighting, reach it’s climax and the heroes win (or sometimes die). See the use of “YOU” instead of “I”? hehehe
• Collectability – I would stare at it for quite some time whenever I’m at my room and feel satisfied. I’m not like other collectors of comics who does it for the money. Keeping it in mint condition, not even touching it because of the acids (sweat and other stuff) on their hands that could damage the goods. I like reading it again if I feel like it and sometimes just looking at their pages. But going back :P, it is more of liking the feeling whenever I completed a series.
• I like the Art – Whenever a comic is well drawn (sometimes not even needing a balloon to convey the story), I would really stare at it and say, AWESOME! Seriously, if the illustrator is that good, it could really blow your mind. I envy them (illustrators) when this happens. I wish I could be like them (awesome job by the way).
• Story – For me, I consider comics as a short story written in balloons that is so concise, that a writer should convey what he/she wants to say in one to two sentences. And believe me, that is hard. It could also be considered as script writing. The story would be written in the form of a dialogue. But either way you look at it, it is still a story. I think a story with pictures of superheroes are the best stories ever told (coming from a child’s point of view :P).

I seriously tried to put a reason as to why I read comics but still the bottom line is “I like them comic books” :). As a show of love to the world of comics, every week I would TRY (emphasis on the word try) to post comments about the ones that I’ve read. Not that long, and not as thorough as what I’ve read on other blogs (serious comic bloggers) but my own point of view as to how I see it. You might see a lot of the DC’s new 52 because that’s the one that I’ll be anticipating this coming months. So there you go and for the lack of better words to end it, I’ll just say ta ta! 

NOTE: The sketches are not mine (obviously). It is available through the net, and I do not claim any of it. 🙂

DC Comics: New 52

I’ve been excited for about two months now because of this. DC Comics  would re-launch 52 of their titles back to issue #1. For a new comic collector, this is good news. I would have to admit that before, I would prefer buying a graphic novel than grab a copy of one of those on-going monthlies (Oh good, I got The Flash #163! Now I have to look for #01-162). 

Check out the trailer of DC’s New 52:

Source: Comics66channel

If you wanted a complete list of all the titles that DC would re-launch, comicbookresources.com got it covered. Click here . 😉

As for me, I’m planning to collect the following comics listed below. So from time to time, I might post some reviews or comments about the said comics. 🙂

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Cover by Jim Lee & Scott Williams

 

 

 

THE FLASH #1
Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Cover by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato

 

 

 

GREEN LANTERN #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Doug Mahnke & Christiam Almy
Cover by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

 

 

 

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF TOMORROW #1
Written by George Perez
Art by Jesus Merino
Cover by George Perez

 

 

 

BATMAN #1
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo
Cover by Greg Capullo

 

 

 

BATMAN & ROBIN #1
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Pat Gleason
Cover by Pat Gleason

 

 

 

AQUAMAN #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis
Cover by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado

 

 

 

HE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1
Written by Tony S. Daniel
Art by Philip Tan
Cover by Philip Tan

 

 

 

GREEN ARROW #1
Written by JT Krul
Art by Dan Jurgens
Cover by Brett Booth

 

 

 

TEEN TITANS #1
Written by Scott Lobdell
Art by Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund
Cover by Brett Booth & Norm Rapmund

 

 

That’s it. I hope that the DC’s new titles I’m planning to collect would not be just another sales idea gone bad. I already got a copy of the Justice League #1, and I’m planning to write something about it this weekend. Cheers! 🙂