mababang langit

i finally got to see chris costello and mihk vergara's adaptation last saturday at cinemanila 2013 at sm aura in taguig. it was a tiny audience--just 30 seats(!)--but what an experience it was. with its stellar cast, liberal use of SFX (the little bird was animated by arnold arre!), and awesome music (including an actual jholliebird jingle, variations of which were used as theme music throughout the film), ang maskot feels like either an overachieving short or a full-length feature crammed into twenty minutes. the filmmakers are planning on additional screenings early next year, and a DVD release some time after. i can't wait for the film to be shown to a wider audience. here's a comic i made about my viewing experience:

well, chris costello and mihk vergara's short film adaptation of "ang maskot" unfortunately did not make the cut for this year's cinemalaya festival.  the directors, however, have their sights set on november's cinema one film festival, so we will be crossing our fingers that the film will fare better there. direk chris says the film's chances are pretty good, so, positive thoughts, visualizing, asking the universe, etc. that said, after the cinamalaya rejection, and with reboots being all the rage these days in hollywood, i think i'd like to do a reboot of "ang maskot," you know, to make it more palatable to local film fest judging panels. NOTES FOR ANG MASKOT: SOCIAL RELEVANCE EDITION 1.) instead of a fastfood restaurant mascot, the protagonist is now a gay dancer working in a seedy furry fetish gay bar, in which all the lights are tinted red. 2.) the manager is mean to the protagonist because the latter rejects the former...

it's 4 am and my brain is refusing to let me go back to sleep because it wants free comic book day to last a few extra hours longer. photo by chino andin FCBD at fully booked today/yesterday had something of that first komikon experience feel, only with air conditioning: new venue, new audience/market, and things were laid back enough to allow some pleasant jibberjabber with seatmates (doc carlo san juan and the QBCCC /flipreads crew--noel pascual, aj bernardo, josel nicloas, and later in the afternoon, trizha ko and charles tan). things i overheard: the first person in line outside fully booked had arrived at 1 am that morning the free comics ran out sometime past noon and they had to send some of the people waiting in line home empty-handed :( photo by mel casipit when i arrived at 11 am, things were already in full swing: the line outside snaked around the block, and inside, the building was jam-packed. i'd brought a laptop to play the  ang maskot  m...

TLDR: 1.) a 30% entertainment tax levied by the government throttled local cinema output and creativity in the 90's. bong revilla wrote a bill cutting that tax to 10% in 2009, so things are on the upswing of late. bong, you are forgiven for ang panday 2 . but only that. 2.) i wish diokno had talked more about how a screen quota system can be made to work in the philippines. i think it's disgraceful that iron man 3 is playing on 3 out of 4 of our neighborhood screens but when a man loves a woman   it takes a man and a woman  only played on one. 3.) films aren't just fluff. they bring jobs and contribute to the GDP. they advertise the philippines (philippine products, culture, tourism) to the world. and the world is starting to take notice. 4.) use your money to change pinoy cinema. watch good films. give negative feedback on bad ones.

flipreads is handing out the free comic book day edition of "ang maskot," which is a slightly sanitized version of the first half of the story. a pretty good way to check if it's worth buying the whole comic. thanks to charles tan and co. for helping get this comic out there! photo by renejoshua while you're at flipreads, be sure to also download the FCBD editions of robert magnuson's if-richard-scarry-did-superheroes book kuting magiting #1 , and josel nicolas and ej galang's lovely meditation on commuting, taking the train . both are excellent reads, and both are FREE .

photo by danry ocampo just dropped off a few copies of ang maskot and school run at comic odyssey's new shop at the basement level of robinson's galleria. note that the school run are sold in full sets of issues 1-5 for P200 each.

editor, writer, blogger, and world fantasy award nominee charles tan recently had some nice things to say about my comics: "Snappy and upbeat,  Ang Maskot  captures an element of the Filipino zeitgeist and weaves an adult narrative around it without falling into the temptation of cynicism. While it doesn't have as much depth as School Run  (and appropriately so since this is a self-contained story), it highlights many of the strengths of Macoy's comics. There's a lot to love about Macoy's  School Run . The art alone is an interesting juxtaposition between the bleak setting and iconic characters. But don't let the simplicity fool you: over the course of each issue, Macoy packs depth into his characters, at the same time imagining a setting that organically resonates with Philippine pop culture, such as the parallelism between the zombie outbreak and typhoons ( "Signal #1 Laaang? Sayang!" ). Or something as simple as naming a cat as Catniss....

all kinds of awesome. can't wait to see the inevitable talent show ripoff.

this blog is now complete. via

i'm very impressed with andoyman 's development as an artist and storyteller, from his journeymanish debut work, " foodcourt ," to the charming " palimos ng kulangot " (writtten by ronibats), to the considerably more sophisticated series he is currently collaborating with SuperGi on, " ang sumpa ." the protagonist, arman darte, has senators and the president of the philippines for childhood buddies, yet is "merely" an NBI investigator, so you know he's a man of honor. issues 1 and 2 establish a central mystery: the president of the philippines is found dead under strange circumstances. a birthday party held by senator edgardo hernandez introduces the rest of the barkada and the president's ostensibly loving wife (presumably the suspects), and gives darte the opportunity to show off his powers of deduction and observation. andoyman's visual storytelling is deft, confident, and well- paced. i love his semi-realisti...

free comics! and i don't mean one or two copies, i mean a fat bag full of lovely comics you get to take home without forking over a peso. no, check that, TWO fat bags. at left is the cover of this year's comic odyssey sampler, to which i contributed a 2-page story. the sampler will be available at the fully booked/comic odyssey event at the bonifacio high street branch of fully booked. also at the event will be the following comics folks: Dr. Carlo Jose San Juan (Doc Callous) Frances Luna III Illustration Firm (Manila Accounts 1081): Rh Quilantang (Hipon Gamay) Wan Mañanita (Ang Morion) Kai Castillo (Patintero) Mel Casipit (Mukat) Paul Michael Ignacio (Astiging Boy-Ipis) Aaron Felizmenio (Gwapoman 2000) Freely Abrigo (Kapitan Tog) Jon Zamar (Codename: Bathala) JP Palabon (Puso Negro) Macoy (School Run) Manix Abrera (Kikomachine) Melvin Calingo (Pasig) Michael David (Kubori Kikiam) Nelz Yumul (Shatter Space) Noel Pascual & AJ Bernardo (Crime Fighting Call Center Agents...

random footage by pinoy tekkie gerry alanguilan's komikon vid. 0:37 shows part of the The Great Komikon Proposal, featuring cartoonist lovebirds omeng estanislao and ails casis a feature on a trio of comics personalities, care of jerald uy and rappler.com more links and discussion over at sir gerry's summer komikon 2013 roundup post .

the "ang maskot" short film just got featured on yahoo! philippines, including a curse-free version of the trailer (the middle fingers stayed in, though) and some chitchat with the directors: "I wanted to make this movie the second Mihk [Vergara] showed it to me,” says [Chris] Costello. “It was a great story that was full of great funny moments, and was full of heart. It was also already structured like a movie—it was so visually appealing." The 20-minute film required a grueling, nonetheless fun, three-day shoot. Vergara explains, “All our friends and family who helped out really came through for Chris and me.  It's less tiring if you're surrounded by people who really, really get you.” Costello also has a bigger vision for their short film. “My dream is to get a producer interested in further producing it as a full-length film.” UPDATE: front page, baby!

GRABE ANG GALING NG MGA ROBIN DUDE FAN ART!!!  WOW!! ASTIIIIIGGGG!!!!! AT ANDAMI DING NAGKO-COSPLAY BILANG ROBIN DUDE! ANG GALING MO TALAGA ROBIN DUDE!!!!! ROBIN DUDE ROCKZZZZ!!!

click on the "short comics" button on the sidebar to read some of the quick one-shots i've done. i just added "parinig man," in case you haven't read it yet.

" [Macoy's] drawing style comes closer to the cartoonish/no nonsense side. Medyo simple pero why complicate things when you have some seriously funny and down to earth boy-meets-girl story to help you out. Don't try too hard to resist his works when you see them." thanks for the kind words , dennis!

"Jollibee’s famous 'Chickenjoy' was found to be the best fried chicken in Singapore , based on a simple blind taste test conducted recently by Yahoo! Singapore. The blind taste test involved a panel of six – Singaporeans, Malaysians, a Filipino and an Indonesian – who were asked to assess chicken dishes from Jollibee, KFC, Popeyes, Texas Chicken and 4Fingers. Jollibee’s Chickenjoy got three out of six votes."

aside from selling komiks again, the other thing that got me really excited about this komikon was the release of the first trailer for chris costello and mihk vergara's "ang maskot" short film:  both chris and mihk were there, and thankfully mihk brought his laptop because the AV guy's laptop couldn't read chris' USB stick for some reason. photo by bien del rosario i think we got a pretty good crowd reaction, considering that not many people know about my comic. i think having a super-recognizable cast really helped pull in the otherwise uninterested. the second time they rolled the trailer got a much better pop, so i suggested to our host, sherry baet-zamar, that we loop the trailer for the remainder of our allotted time. she just laughed; i think she thought i was kidding. after a quick Q&A, carljoe javier and bogart the explorer took the stage to unveil a trailer and crowdfunding pitch of their own. and then i went back to my ind...

a respectable haul, but i missed so many good titles :( after missing both indiekon and winter komikon in 2012, it felt really good to be back behind a table selling komiks again at the bayanihan center yesterday. it was my first time at the indie tiangge since it got moved to a separate room away from the main hall, a decision that aroused quite a bit of controversy within the indie komiks community last year. the good bits: - the laid-back atmosphere.  the indie tiangge occupied two conference rooms and was never crowded or noisy. you could chat with people without having to yell. some people took advantage of this and used the area as a place to rest before plunging back into the crush of the main hall. - security. much-improved security this year; i haven't heard of any burgling incidents so far. still, not having a crowd to cover their movements kept prospective thieves away from out little nook. - my sales were good. better than last year's, in fact. the n...

a woman starts posting fan fiction online, gains an enthusiastic readership, and the "online novel" gets picked up by a major publisher. sounds familiar, right? now imagine it happened in the philippines . apparently, summit is, um, taking a page from the 50 shades of grey phenomenon by way of meteor garden: It all started when 17-year-old Athena Dizon unwittingly plays a trick on resident heartthrob and bad boy, Kenji de los Reyes. All of a sudden, she finds herself pretending—unwillingly at that—to be his girlfriend to make his ex-jealous. Now, not only does she have to deal with dirty looks from the girls in school who want Kenji for themselves, but her supposed boyfriend is getting on her nerves. He's hotheaded, never seems to agree with her on anything—and everything about him screams gangster. Has Athena gotten herself into more trouble than she can handle? Or has she actually found herself a boy she can call hers—gangster be damned? from what i'...

IN WHICH: - robin dude is kind to old ladies who cannot act - radagast is attacked by a werewolf - robin dude shoots a magical arrow that turns into a bucket - robin dude shoots a magical arrow that turns into a garlic bulb - a bunch of other crazy sh*t happens i don't know. i don't care anymore.

all the kids are doing it. alodia's done it. you know know you want to learn it.  and so, here are the steps: got it? now put them all together, with music:

'Romeo slapped me hard across the face, much harder than I had been slapped all night. Then he shocked me with a stun gun. Then Cody doused me with cold water, which was the worst part by far. When you get hit with a stun gun, it lasts a second. When someone throws cold water on you, it makes you miserable for hours... "I know this was originally meant to be a fake kidnapping," the voice said. That's right. "And I know that you guys did your homework on me, and that you know I went to prison for a while." I do know that. "But there are other things about me that you don't know, Drew. And the reason you don't know them is because you never asked." Oh shit.' Read More  http://www.gq.com/news-politics/mens-lives/201304/how-to-be-kidnapped-abducted#ixzz2PiCI4yEs

no, TV 5. just no.

1.) use a bombastic title sure to arouse controversy, for example, "I HATE FILIPINO CULTURE;"  just be sure to take back your words in the actual post. "i don't actually hate filipino culture. what i really meant to say was..." 2.) gather up a bunch of the worst stereotypes you can think of and condemn the hell out of them. who'd disagree? 3.) preface everything. for example, every elitist remark should begin with, "i'm no elitist, but..." do the same for all your colonial mentalitist and other -ist statements. 4.) don't be afraid to fudge your definitions. after slamming "filipino culture," later describe said culture as "not filipino culture." 5.) make things easy on your reader. who needs nuanced arguments when emotional appeals are so much easier to read and like and share? 6.) open the post with a lot of "them," but close with a lot of "we." 7.) above all, ignore the fact that you...

BY  BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ AND LIAM FRANCIS WALSH from the new yorker

on mealworms bursting out of lizards' stomachs and the wonder that is fistulated cows. http://boingboing.net/2013/04/01/dinners-revenge-mealworms.html

my favorite part of being a storyteller is putting a bunch of characters into a situation and then hitting the "play" button in my mind.

Biting Elbows - 'Bad Motherfucker' (Insane Office Escape 2) from Ilya Naishuller on Vimeo .

La surconsommation from Lasurconsommation on Vimeo .

it's like they asked a four-year-old to design a wedding gown for a yeti princess. the ruffles have ruffles have ruffles. j-law is an awesome actress but i can definitely detect some of that george lucas "kill me now" look in her eyes.

the sequel to "ender's game" made me realize how guilty i am of that sin we so often ascribe to the unthinking hollywoodized seeker of entertainment: the sin of wanting to experience the same thing, over, and over. there is almost nothing in "speaker" of what made me enjoy "ender" so much. no battle school (no battle of any kind, actually), no urgent save-the-world tension to the plot; ender is still a lonely genius but is all but drowned out by the rest of the cast. in fact, he doesn't act or sound like the ender i knew from the first book until the last act of this one, which is a shame. there's a lot of pretty cool concepts in "speaker," but what i really wanted was more of the tortured boy genius. oh well, i guess i'll be reading the synopses of the rest of the series on wikipedia.