mababang langit

i was this month's guest on hub pacheco and teddy pavon's WIPforIT podcast , the one and only podcast show covering the local pinoy indie komiks scene. we talked about the creation of ang maskot , indie komiks' 'growing pains', manga in malaysia, and my chinese descent (?). also we read out a few of the more entertaining answers to a komiks survey i did several months back (which i haven't properly tabulated yet). check out the podcast here , and the award-winning webcomic for which it is named here !

I always think about how unhealthy the life of a comic book artist is, especially when you reach any level of success. You basically spend all day in a room, having fun drawing pictures, and then a lot of your social interaction comes when you go to a convention and people stand in line to tell you you’re a genius. I can’t think of a better way to turn someone into an asshole.  -  Brandon Graham

coming out in the second issue of the quarterly bathroom companion comics compendium , an indie comics anthology edited by a group of extremely talented and physically attractive people with impeccable taste. if you want to see the bleeding edge of philippine comics, this is where you'll find it. the launch party is on saturday at sputnik comics in cubao!

THIS VIDEO IS JUST SO AWESOME BECAUSE IT BEGINS WITH three words you  never hear the mainstream media say about the pinoy komiks industry: "buhay na buhay." one thing i don't understand about the video, though, is why the voiceover person sounds like a 12-year old girl and calls everyone "kuya". do they mean to imply that this stuff is for kids? another thing is why as of writing the video only has 124 views. spread it! spread it for the love of komiks!

turns out masashi kishimoto's manga naruto is turning ten this year, and a bunch of popular mangaka made some tribute pin-ups to celebrate.  from the ones i've seen i like this one by toriyama the best: but eichiro oda's version kicks ass too: tite kubo's piece just looks like ichigo cosplaying as naruto... and this one by hirohiko araki, i guess, is "drag queen naruto." you can see all the other pictures here. 

is GMA even trying?! seriously. two years ago, it was this . in 2011, we have these: yep, it's the motherlovin' wicked witch of the east. also: the sand ninjas. still there. i'm pretty sure GMA films didn't intend it, but those sand ninjas are a perfect representation of their production philosophy at the moment: they keep trying the same old tricks over and over, hoping maybe this time they'll finally score a hit. EDIT: since this post is getting so many hits, i decided to add some more of the "borrowing" that people have noticed. also, if you're familiar with the "marlboro man" theme from way back, you'll probably hear it in the trailer below at around 1:45. i don't know how much swiped music made it into the movie itself. my guess is that people immediately noticed, and that's why the producers had ely buendia rush out that awful theme song. "flavio 'wag kang matakot"? you gott...

sweet mother of micron pens just look at this maskot drawing by carlo clemente . now say something about it, because i can't. i am speechless.

1.) her name is al od ia, not al oi da. her parents wanted her her name to be different from all the aloidas, but not different enough to not be confused with aloida. 2.) she dresses up for a living. 3.) she used to look like this:  . now she looks like this: ... makeup. 4.) she used to date luis manzano.  5.) she wakes in the morning fully made-up, and spends the next fifteen minutes immediately after making cute faces at no one in particular.

one thing you should know about this book: very little actual crimefighting takes place in it. second: the fact that the protagonists (sandra, charlie, "double-taking" koontz and "chopped liver" noel) all work at the same call center doesn't really affect the story much. third: it is awesome. writer noel pascual 's sendup of the scream -type horror formula is pitch-perfect in its sardonic glee. it begins with the standard setup: friends on a road trip pick up a gruesome-looking hitchhiker, the hitchhiker turns out to be a psycho killer, he chases them into an abandoned house, they are trapped and must find a way to escape and/or defeat him. in one of my favorite moments, the heroes pile every available piece of furniture in front the door to make a barricade to keep the killer out. suddenly one of them has a burst of inspiration, reaches into the pile, and locks the doorknob. the book is littered with random,occasionally surreal, comedic gems like th...

i've never been sure about cellos. they're like huge, unwieldy violins, and you play one by holding it between your legs and rubbing a stick across it. but i do admit yo yo ma does some pretty awesome things on the cello, and in the hands of a capable jedi, well...   via

josel nicolas ' windmills is a multi-volume collection of autobiographical vignettes detailing the life and thoughts of the author's anthropomorphic alter-ego, simply named "bear". this fourth and latest issue, i'm gonna be-ar , opens with a touching farewell at NAIA, setting up a bittersweet romantic separation between bear and his girlfriend mimi that informs the rest of the book. on the visual side, i'd say nicolas' stuff has never looked better. he's taken to mangastudio like a duck to water, and his excellent use of screentones and varying line widths has given his art a new richness and tonal depth. plus, the digital prints photocopy very well--a crucial factor in making good-looking indie comics. my favorite bits in the book are the slice-of-life stuff: bear on his daily commute; bear rubbing his smelly feet at the end of a tiring day; bear staring at the stringy potted plants he's placed just under the outdoor faucet for maximum wa...

why does that make me depressed as hell. could be worse i guess, could've been a businessman-politician.

at komikon a couple of weeks ago, my tablemate josel nicolas asked me what i would do if a local tv network offered to turn school run into a series. my initial reaction was to blank out for several minutes. and then i asked, "which station?" because frankly i think 7's teleseryes are crap. so channel 2 it is. "what if...?" hm.... the role of maki would without a doubt go to xyriel manabat. why? because she is awesome, that's why. pipoy would be aaron junatas: makisig morales as kulot: aaliyah benisano as gwen:  john manalo as robert: and finally, baron geisler as mang karl. yes, baron. because there is no way i am hiring this guy.

"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi A stalk of the newfound fungus species  Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani , grows out of a "zombie" ant's head in a Brazilian rain forest.  The fungus species can infect an  ant , take over its  brain , and then kill the insect once it moves to a location ideal for the fungi to grow and spread their spores. that thing. growing out of its head. eaaarrrgh from national geographic's top ten weirdest life-forms of 2011

sez the author of girl trouble and dumot : Ang Maskot  was crisp and clean. A man uses his own frustrations to bring happiness to others, which eventually sets himself free from his own problems. Also: the parts without dialogue are quite magical. Operasyon  was my favorite. The creator makes the statement “mga hayop tayong lahat” very clear in my opinion: a fable to take to heart during these media-saturated and “I-was-left-with-no-other-choice” kinds of times. his full list of fave komikon 2011 reads is here . check it out!

photo by katkat munoz for comics people, there is no high like a convention high. it's such a high that sometimes it takes a week for stuff to sink in and one can actually think about the experience objectively. so, that's my excuse for this late post. some personal notes: - record number of indie komiks participants: 42 groups, some 100+ new titles (i failed to get my hands on a catalog so i'm not sure about the exact number) - sales on an individual level seem to be down compared to last year, judging by the lack of "sold out!" remarks from comics creators, although this could be due to the increased competition and better inventory management on part of the creators. - my own sales were decent but not as good as last year's. - realization: if you want to make money as an indie komiks creator, release new stuff. pretty obvious, yeah? my sales during summer komikon (when i had no new releases) were about a third of what they were this time arou...

november komikon 2011 is next week! the list of new indie komiks titles is said to be around 100, which blows my mind. here are a few that i (hastily) grabbed from the indie komiks manila facebook group. enjoy this sampling of what to expect in a few days! WIP 2 by hub pacheco & teddy pavon F-HATE #1 UP Syndrome  by Edward Jener  B.A.T.A.  by Amjie Love My Love Is A Stapler  by Toni Jayne Buang  by Cyrus Romanes Magusta  by Fredirick David Greywing  by Lex Jordan prologue & weather-weather lang by norby ela various titles from ice cream indie manga various titles from inkjinks curtains for hire by joanah calingo kanto inc. #3 by calingo, calingo & kilayman various titles from revel circle various title s from hyper comics starstruck (game) by komikasi patintero #5 & #6 by kai castillo kulas compilati...