mababang langit

ej fiestan's crazy metro is a funny, lushly-illustrated manga webcomic about a bunch of hunky roomies. it also occasionally spins off into crazy mashups, like, say, evangelion vs. taal volcano monster. it's the best cameo "eva"!

komiks veteran, magazine editor and self-described heartthrob kc cordero posted some nice things on his blog about operasyon: Malikot ang mga anggulo ni Macoy at malinis ang mga execution ng bawat frame. Maging ang characterization ay akma sa mga hayop na ginamit niya sa kuwento gaya ng bihag na si Boy Hito (hito) na nagpakita ng tensyon sa posibleng pagsa-salvage sa kanya, at ang astig na si D’ Boss (kalabaw) na maging ang mga dialogue ay barako ang pagkakabitaw. Wala rin akong masabi sa mga teknikal na aspeto gaya ng balloons at sound effects na ginamit niya sa mga frames na nakatulong nang malaki sa storytelling. It’s a good read . read the full review here .

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the pinoy superheroes universe blog marked FPJ's sixth death anniversary by featuring the character many of us associate with him the most: ang panday. among the tidbits and video clips presented by aris panganiban is a link to the first two chapters of the 70's komiks series. here's page one: in these first two chapters, flavio is really just a small-town do-gooder rather than a fantasy world messiah. all he does is beat up a trio of local thugs and tie them to a tree for the constabulary to find. no magic swords, no manananggal nor sand ninjas, no max alvarado. his weapon or choice is a sledgehammer and his catchphrase is "tinutuwid ang matitigas na bakal!" fourteen chapters later , he's recovering from some mishap at some mansion. still no sword n' sorcery to be seen, but he does engage in some alarmingly freudian tag-team tree-chopping with a man who knows his "secret".

one thing about having fellow comics-makers as friends: brutally honest criticism is hard to come by. people generally let me know when my comics get it right, but what i did wrong is a little harder to find out. it's the same with my readers: the only comments that have reached me so far are the positive ones. critical remarks, ones that may hurt my feelings but i might also learn from, go unsaid. so i'm trying out this little experiment: i've set up a formspring account and i want people to post their negative feedback there anonymously. what did you not like about my comics? what can i do better? please let me know. i can take it. really. here's the link . on a side note, during the better living through xeroxography event last weekend, someone gave me her e-mail address to add to my newsletter mailing list. i didn't have a mailing list, so now i've started one. you can subscribe to it on the sidebar. i won't sell you viagra or ask for help claiming

i'll be there this saturday tagging along with some komikon folks, polluting the minds of the youth selling comics. they have a d&d event there too. i might check it out... if the kids are willing to let an old fart join.

tabletop gaming, specifically D&D-type rpgs, is one of those things i've always wanted to try but never got the chance. my college roommate was a DM but for some reason or other i never did get to sit in on any of his gaming sessions. so, i just played my final fantasy or online mmorpgs or whatever, learning to be content with these electronic, graphical crutches for the imagination. and then i see this vid on youtube: and i am deeply, deeply inggit . what fun!

sputnik comics shop recently released its top 5 indie sales lists for all the months of 2010 but december, and i am happy to report that each of my comics made it to at least one of those lists. the overall champ was louie cordero's nardong tae #1, which topped the charts for four out of eleven months. if this and alamat ng panget didn't keep running out of stock there wouldn't be any other titles at the #1 spot at all. as it is, alamat and my school run each hit #1 thrice. luckily for me, the ranking was based on number of units sold rather than peso sales, because, well, my stuff is cheap. major props to chez santander and the rest of the sputnik gang for compiling and releasing these lists, on top of all the other ways they've supported indie comics through the years. mabuhay kayo! sputnik on facebook

“SENIOR YEAR” is a refreshing and welcome departure from both the cotton candy romcoms churned out by mainstream cinema regularly as well as from the depressing poverty porn sometimes offered by the indies. “The film is simple and honest. Like the graduation speech of the valedictorian, the film is not pretentious, nor over-reaching but just sincere in its quiet little space and in its intention and execution." “Credit goes to Director Jerrold Tarog who also wrote and edited the film. His direction is superb as he has great mastery of his subject with effortless handling of his actors.” “The script is well structured with praiseworthy attention to characters. Dialogue and characters are very natural.” “The film captures the essence and vagaries of high school life and gives a taste of what may happen 12 – 14 years later. The screenplay captures the spirit and fun of the senior year as well as the uncertainty and fears that are up ahead in college." looks promising.

so some lizard in australia has switched , before our very eyes, from laying eggs to bearing live young. big big news. meanwhile, the neighborhood dogs seem to have lost their turd-burying instincts and leave their business in our yard for all to enjoy. yeah, darwin with a hand trowel.

I read about an Eskimo hunter who asked the local missionary priest, 'If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' 'No,' said the priest, 'not if you did not know.' 'Then why,' asked the Eskimo earnestly, 'did you tell me?' - Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, 1974 via

(lyrics NSFW)

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photo by francis quina photo by adam david first there was adam david's better living through xeroxography event at ilyong's in cubao. the place was packed with literary-slash-artistic types, with indie komiks represented by michael david, the QBCCC crew, head honchos ria lu and martin jimenez of komikasi, ron tan, hub pacheco, silent sanctum manga, gerilya komiks, paolo sorne and myself. as a "small small press expo" it was a big success, with people buying stuff and crowding tables well into the night. but i think the true strength of the event, and from what i hear adam will be building on this in the future, is its potential as a confluence point for different self-publishers. already that night there were people exchanging production and marketing tips, suppliers, etc. and i think there might be talks and whatnot next time. networking and cross-pollination ftw. photo by michael david about halfway though the event, cherry and i snuck out and dropped b