while reading through the
first few issues of the original 1950's serial on video48, i learned some stuff that today's typical darna fan, having grown up on the TV series and/or mango comics revamp, may be surprised to find out:
1.) narda and ding were beggars.
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| i wonder if narda knew "sa may bahay..." |
narda would sing for pocket change while ding played the harmonica. they supported themselves as well as their grandmother this way.
2.) darna's magic stone was hallucinogenic.
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| the stone was actually three feet away; narda picked up a mushroom by mistake. |
upon first finding the stone, which fell to earth from outer space, narda is approached by a gang of kids also looking for the meteor. not wanting to share, narda hides the stone in her mouth and proceeds to trip the f out (also, the stone stays in her system permanently. apparently darna's alien gut makes her constipation-proof).
3.) seeing narda transform for the first time, her grandmother's first words were, "SUSMARIA SANTISIMANG INA NG AWA!"
which, i think, is a phrase that ought to be used more often in mainstream entertainment.
4.) darna may be a martian.
.png) |
| women are from venus, men are from...wait. |
she comes from the planet "marte," which is spanish for "mars." no idea if ravelo meant the actual planet mars, or if he was just making a reference to his own given name.
5.) darna is missing for more than half the entire story.
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| "sssssssscreen time!" |
after the first chapter, darna abruptly disappears as the plot focuses on valentina's birth and career in small-town evil (bonus trivia: valentina's ultimate aim is to return the earth to the age of the dinosaurs). neither darna nor narda reappear until chapter 16.
considering that the series came out twice a week, that means the title character went AWOL for
about two months.
which, i think, is a phrase that ought to be used more often in mainstream entertainment.
ginagamit pa rin ni nanay ung susmaria santisimang ina ng awa. at marami pang ibang pang 1950s nga.
ReplyDelete- lucy
pagdating ng panahon, magiging quaint and outdated din kaya ang "k whatevs?"
ReplyDeleteThe most tragic fact that most people never know about Darna: she was co-created by Nestor Redondo, who was the original Darna artist.
ReplyDeletetrue... same with "ang panday" and steve gan, and basically any other major komiks character of the atlas period. at least wikipedia seems pretty good with crediting artists as well as writers. hopefully a generation or two from now things will be different.
ReplyDeletethanks for writing the article and focusing on Darna.
ReplyDeleteby the way, Darna's persona did came from Mars. it was also affirmed (and expanded) in Mango comics' official take on Darna 2003 which was drawn by Gilbert Monsanto.
Sana naman hindi nila binago yung original story na si Narda at Ding ay parehong bata. One story difference, sa original yung bato ay minsan lang nilunok ni Narda at permanente na ito sa loob ng sikmura niya. Hindi na niya ito nilulunoK-luwa in every transformation TO DARNA OR NARDA. Sisigaw lang siya ng Narda Or Darna in every metamorph.- REDHOT STACKCHIP
ReplyDeleteDalaga na si Valentina ng madiskubre ni Narda ang bato para maging Darna. Bata rin si Narda ng mag-Darna siya at mamatay si Valentina. sA MGA BAGONG VERSION NGAYON, DALAGA NA SI NARDA NG MAKA ENCOUNTER SI vALENTINA. sA u.s., GUUMAGAWA RIN SILA NG RETCON TO IMPROVISE THE MISSING ELEMENTS BUT NOT TO CHANGE THE BIG STORIES LIKE YUNG BATANG SI nARDA AY GAGAWING DALAGA.- REDHOT
ReplyDeleteBakit binago nila? Sa u.s. pareho lang ng katauhan yung alter ego at kasing edad nila gaya ni superman (CLARK KENT)at wonder woman (PRINCESS DIANA). PAREHO LANG SILA NG KATAUHAN AT NAGPAPALIT LANG NG COSTUME. nagsusuot lang ng salamin to disguise PERO SA DARNA, SI DARNA AY DALAGA AT TAGA-IBANG PLANETA (MARTE) PERO SI NARDA AY TAGA EARTH AT BATA. DI BA UNIQUE? SAYANG AT BINAGO NILA. GINAWA NILANG DALAGA SI NARDA AT IISA LANG NG MUKHA SI NARDA AT DARNA. PATI, NAWALAN TULOY NG ORIGINALITY PILIPINAS AT NAWALA ANG ORIGINALITY NI MARS RAVELO. SANA AY IBALIK NG KAPAMILYA ANG ORIGINAL- REDHOT STACKCHIP.
ReplyDelete