Anthology: Balik Tanaw

Illustration and Story by: Ardie Aquino

Ardie Aquino Comics

(4.167/5 ★★★★☆)

"Ang librong ito ay koleksyon ng mga komiks na nagawa ko noong 2015. Ito ay anim na kwento na tungkol sa paghanap ng kaligayahan, pagluto ng sinigang, pag-hingi ng extra rice, lihim ng kasama mo sa bahay, pagkain ng bawal at pagbalik tanaw sa buhay. Sana sa bawat paglipat mo ng pahina ay madama mo din ang mga emosyon na nadama ko noon."

The Good:

Ardie's craft really has improved. This could be seen from the changes that he made with the Extra Rice with Extra Tries story as an example. His illustrations also improved, if one would compare this 2020 version to the 2015 original.

Balik Tanaw is a new story included in this 2020 remastered edition of Ardie's 2015 comics.

The best story in this compilation is Ang Roomate Kong Aswang. It tells about the battle between a human and an aswang, which mostly centers on the aswang pictured as a bad roomie rather than his identity.

Reading beyond the surface of this story would give the picture that every person is different and unique. It could be due to gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality and even species. Despite these differences, what really matters is how a person interacts with others. Being angry to an individual does not need to be discriminatory but rather it could be plainly due to his or her awful demeanor towards others.

The Bad:

This anthology would have been better if the layout was improved. Some pages are hard to read due to the parts that are near to the spine of the book. This problem is already evident on the foreword page.

All stories exists in the same world except for Balik Tanaw and Hipon sa Hapon. It would have been interesting if they were connected in some way.

The story that didn't do well was the bonus story, Balik Tanaw. Its never ending story didn't work with me. If your future self went into your past to try to save your past self from doing the same steps, why on earth would you repeat the same things. It could have easily worked out by not helping the character find the crystal in order to prevent the same things from happening once again.

The Verdict:

Ardie's throwback to his previous works by creating an updated and better version of them is a good concept. It measures the growth you have achieved with your craft in doing so.

This anthology is a gateway to Ardie Aquino's weird and absurd ideas. Be sure not to miss it.

He can be seen at:

Facebook Page: Ardie Aquino

* Breakdown of Rating:

★☆☆☆☆ -

★★☆☆☆ - 

★★★☆☆ - Balik Tanaw

★★★★☆ - Burn Baby Burn, Sinigang: Kwento ng Lumbay, Extra Rice with Extra Tries

★★★★★ - Ang Roomate Kong Aswang, Hipon Sa Hapon

Comics: Extra Rice with Extra Tries

Illustration and Story by: Ardie Aquino
Ardie Aquino Comics
(3/5 ★★★☆☆)

The Plot:

We all have our own inner demons.

The Good:

The illustrations from Ardie are consistently great. He truly owns this weird chibi style of illustration.

The Bad:

The extra rice that was the title and main focus of the cover page illustration of this comic was not part of the main story. It only serves as an addition in the epilogue.

The Verdict:

This comic, as I percieve, is a motivational one. It tries to convey that no matter how much life scares us, even through our inner demons, we must always get out of bed and fight the day out.

Our dream serves as our refuge. A place to heal and regroup our thoughts on how to fight once we wake up again.

He can be seen at:

Facebook Page: Ardie Aquino

Comics: Sinigang: Kwento ng Lumbay

Illustration and Story by: Ardie Aquino

Ardie Aquino Comics

(3/5 ★★★☆☆)

The Plot:

A Filipino pork stew cooked to perfection with MeTube as a guide.

The Good:

The illustrations are becoming a trademark of Ardie Aquino's simple and neat artwork. It can be seen on how the ingredients were drawn.

The story is simple and could remind readers of memories of love and care through cooking.

The Bad:

Based on the flow of the story or recipe, an ingredient was missing from pages 1 and 5. Pepper was not included even though it was used on pages 12 and 13.

The Verdict:

Sinigang is a simple comic book that takes a look at our past. It gives that comforting feeling after engulfing a warm and delicious pork stew on a cold and rainy day.

The food brings beautiful memories as one savors each spoonful of pork stew. This is our Filipino dish  story equivalent to the Ratatouille dish of an American film.

He can be seen at:

Facebook Page: Ardie Aquino

Book News: Trese's Book Releases for 2020 and 2021

 

Budjette Tan made a huge announcement for Trese fans as he revealed upcoming books that we should watch out for.

The first one is a new series titled BLOODLINES. It is an anthology set in the Trese universe which would probably tackle Trese's other family relatives. The first volume would include stories by David Hontiveros, John Amor, Brian Balondo, Mark Gatela, Marvin del Mundo, Brandie Tan, and Jb Tapia. It will also include a new story from Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. This is set to be launched this December 2020.

The second volume of BLOODLINES will be a treat for the fans since it will include stories solicited from readers. Selected stories will be drawn by Kajo Baldisimo. This is set to be released in 2021.

Another treat that will be coming out in 2021 is the Avenida Edition of Trese Books 1, 2 and 3. It is said to contain new artworks and additional pages that will further expand the stories of each arc.

The Trese volume definitely keeps on expanding to our wonder and amazement.

More information about the Avenida Edition of Trese books can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Avenida Books"

Trese Books 2021 Update:

Book News: Budjette Tan Reveals Upcoming Trese Books

Comics: The Graveyard Shift ~ Issue 1

Illustration and Story by: Chelsea Oleta

(4/5 ★★★★☆)

 "A little magic never hurt anyone."

The Good:

It has a nice cover. The illustrations were clean and neat to look at. Representation of the common skin tone of our people was represented well in this comic.

The Bad:

I know its a cliffhanger, but the last panel was not clear on whether the creature was a werewolf like monster or a lion like beast.

The Verdict:

Mayo, a witch or mangkukulam, is an interesting character. Her story of travel to the United States is one to look forward to. Hoping that the story of Maya the teenage mangkukulam impress us on the next issues.

She can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Oletarts"
Tumblr: Oletarts
Twitter: @oletarts
Instagram: @oletarts

Book News: Re-releasing School Run

A comic title will resurface once more, as the story of a group of school children fight for their lives in a zombie virus infected world. School Run was initially created by Macoy and lasted for 7 issues, School Run Part 7 titled as Casualties of War! was the last issue. The last issue was a total cliffhanger since no follow-up issues was released afterwards.

This surprise collaboration between Macoy and Ardie Aquino, creator of Random! Comics and Ang Roomate Kong Aswang!, makes it clear that they want to finish this story and want a new generation of comic-readers be exposed to this wonderful story crafted years ago.

No further details if this will follow the stories of Robert, Maki, Pipoy and the rest of the gang as they survive the zombie typhoon headed towards their school bus, or if it will be a fresh story that will just use the same concept.

This was set to be released at Summer Komikon 2020, but has been postponed at a later date.

Comics: Suicide Squid

Story by: Lian Martecio

Illustration by: Albert Custodio

(2/5 ★★☆☆☆)

 "A group of inked creatures were trapped in an aquarium

after a boy fancied catching them in Gotham Sea-ty.

  His last catch was cunning JoeQueer who masterminded

an escape plan.

Makakapuslit kaya ang mga pusit?"

The Good:

This is a nice superhero satire themed comic. It plays a nice pun to the Suicide Squad team by having Gotham Sea-ty and a kid name Bruce along with his dog, Wayne.

The Bad:

It was just an average comic. Not that bad, but it was not that exciting though.

The Verdict:

Hats off to Martecio and Custodio for coming up with this witty and superhero satire filled comic.

Hoping to read more works from them.

More of the creator's works can be seen at:

Lian Martecio
Instagram: @lianxious

Albert Custodio
Instagram: @mandawyun