Book Update: A Sparrow's Roar Up For Pre-Orders

A Sparrow's Roar is almost here! Filbar's is now accepting reservations for this comic.

Just go to www.filbars.com.ph/comics and pre-order your copy now.

Let's continue to support our local works so that our stories will continue to be seen by a wider audience around the world.

A Sparrow's Roar by C.R. Chua and Paolo Chikiamco was first published by Studio Salimbal in 2015. It got picked up by BOOM! Studios under its BOOM! Studios' BOOM! Box imprint which will be made available on October 16, 2019. It will also be available online on various digital platforms such as ComiXology, iBooks, Google Play and BOOM! Studios app.

Synopsis of A Sparrow's Roar published by BOOM! Studios

"Per and her older sister Elena are both knights in the land of Esterpike. But while Per is a mere knight-in-training, Elena is a war hero and the revered commander of the most famous soldiers in all the land, the legendary Lions of Esterpike. When disaster strikes, Per must do the unthinkable and pretend to be her sister in order to travel to the capital and rally the troops against an incoming invasion that only she knows about. It'll take all her strength, cunning, and a bit of help from her sister's second-in-command, Amelia, to pull it off but with the fate of the people in her hands, Per has no choice but to step into Elena's boots in order to save the kingdom."

Book News: Sparrows' Roar Goes BOOM!

Another local comic got picked up by a foreign publisher. This time its Sparrows' Roar's turn. Created by C.R. Chua and Paolo Chikiamco in 2015, it was first published by Studio Salimbal. Its once grayscaled pages will soon be seen in color as BOOM! Studios gives it a new look for 2019.

From the 10 paged preview that was released by BOOM! Studios, most of the pages have been retained. There were just some minor alterations by adding or changing some lines to further improve the story telling.

A Sparrow's Roar, a BOOM! Studios' BOOM! Box imprint will be available on October 16, 2019. It will also be available online on various digital platforms such as ComiXology, iBooks, Google Play and BOOM! Studios app.

Let's continue to support our local works so that our stories will continue to be seen by a wider audience around the world.

A Sparrow's Roar Update:
Filbar's Online Pre-Order

Synopsis of A Sparrow's Roar published by BOOM! Studios

"Per and her older sister Elena are both knights in the land of Esterpike. But while Per is a mere knight-in-training, Elena is a war hero and the revered commander of the most famous soldiers in all the land, the legendary Lions of Esterpike. When disaster strikes, Per must do the unthinkable and pretend to be her sister in order to travel to the capital and rally the troops against an incoming invasion that only she knows about. It'll take all her strength, cunning, and a bit of help from her sister's second-in-command, Amelia, to pull it off but with the fate of the people in her hands, Per has no choice but to step into Elena's boots in order to save the kingdom."

Comics: Bravos ~ Manila

Story by: Paolo Chikiamco

Illustrated by: Butch Mapa

Letterer: Wilson Dela Fuente

Studio Salimbal

(4/5 ★★★★☆)

"In a word where only the Philippines has superheroes, a young Bravo is thrust into the spotlight when Mega Manila is attacked while the Datus -- the world's most powerful super team -- is away."

The Good:

The cover alone will get one's attention, especially to those who love stories of humans with superpowers. Aside from the great illustration, it's the concept of having dozens of superheroes in this story.

The organization of how superheroes work and the different rankings within that organization was an interesting idea. It also appears that each superhero has a classification which is based on their power.

The initial villain, Bertong Bangungot, that was introduced has a unique power. Hopefully, in the future, we will be introduced to more great villains that the good guys would have to beat up.

The Bad:

The initial fight scene was confusing to follow. It was a bit hard differentiating the two super powered girls in some panels.

The story needs more issues to follow up the last few panels involving the Consejo Supremo and Bertong Bangungot. However, this is a one-shot comic so the continuation of Kit Kamao's character might not be dwelled upon on the future Bravos stories.

The Verdict:

The Bravos story is another interesting world presented to us by Chikiamco. After throwing our local mythological creatures up in space, he repaints our country as the sole country that is able to produce supers.

This one-shot story gives us a possible scenario of what-if our population were mixed with individuals with amazing powers.

But despite a country full of superheroes, we still get to see the same old country that we know. We have the bad guys underneath the good guy image. Experimentation. Secret Plans. And basically the control for power.

The Bravos universe is the next thing to be look out for in komikons.

The preview could be seen at:
Studio Salimbal Comics: Bravos: Manila

Magazine: Bookwatch ~ 2015 Vol. 19 No. 1

Edited by: Paolo Chikiamco

National Book Development Board

(Cover by Bong Sinaban)

Bookwatch is the official publication of the National Book Development Board (NBDB). This issue, which was edited by Chikiamco (co-creator of Mythspace), gives an insight on the current status of the Philippine Book Industry. It also shows how much has changed throughout the years. This is in regard to the books that we publish and the continued increase of Filipino readers, that encompasses those who read books in print and electronically. Some of the interesting things that I had read are about the 1st Bulilit Festival, the death of Martha Cecilia (writer for Precious Hearts Romance) and the upcoming titles of new books from the different publishers.

Feel free to read this magazine digitally for free. Just click on the link below which was provided by the editor through his twitter.

Free Digital Copy (pdf): Book Watch ~ 2015 Vol. 19 No. 1
Buqo Bookstore: http://www.buqo.ph/Shop/Magazine/Issue/a07cd32d-07b7-4c77-98c5-ef4c27f561e2

Comics: Mythspace: Lift Off ~ Part 3

Story by: Paolo Chikiamco

Illustrated by: Koi Carreon

Mythspace
(5/5 ★★★★★)

"Part 3 of Lift Off! Bros Magkalas is dead...

or, at least, he should be. Instead, he has an

alien artifact embedded in his chest,

and power beyond his wildest dreams.

But will that - and a few unlikely allies --

be enough to take down the battleship

of a Laho warlord?

There's only one way to find out..."

The Good:

The cover's design is still a big plus points for getting interested. The creators of mythspace has managed to keep their covers really attractive as they incorporate the sci-fi theme in it.

Story has been great for this 3 part series of Lift Off. It was also really funny reading on one page the line "One surrender after". Way to go to speed things up and to make us smirk as events fast forwarded.

The Bad:

The conclusion of the story of Bros' first encounter with aliens comes to an end in this last part of Lift Off. The search for his family will probably start off or be told in a different series, in which, I'm not sure where it will be continued. The back stories of the legacies and Lewenri are also not further told as it might be used for a different story line.

The Verdict:

Lift Off is a great mini series to introduce to us the world of Mythspace. It might have that vibe of Guardians of the Galaxy due to the cast of characters except it lacked one more guy. But scrap off that. Mythspace might become bigger than Guardians of the Galaxy. It has the potential to explore the stories of our mythologies as we put them in outer space.

Mythspace's Lift Off definitely launched us to a world beyond Earth. A place where a kapre, tikbalang and a mananangal could be our protector against the other aliens. It definitely left a mark for bigger things to come.

More of Mythspace can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Mythspace"

Twitter: @mythspace

The creators can be seen at:

Paolo Chikiamco

http://www.rocketkapre.com

Twitter: @anitero

Koi Carreon

http://www.eclectic-lights.blogspot.com

Comics: Mythspace: Lift Off ~ Part 2

Story by: Paolo Chikiamco

Illustrated by: Koi Carreon

Mythspace

(4/5 ★★★★☆)

"Picking up right where Mythspace #0 left off;

After years of thinking his Lola was a loon,

Ambrosio "Bros" Magkalas has been abducted by...

a mecha driving Nuno and a gun-toting

Manananggal?! Faced with the realization

that his Lola's tale of what happened to his parents

may not be a delusion, Bros is determined to seek

the truth... but outside Earth, humans have no rights,

And Bros is about to learn this the hard way..."

The Plot:

Aboard the Battleship of Akkatizatizamon, Grand Aegis of the Ymos City Protectorate, a presentation of three rarities are being held. This is done in order to get the entitlement of Free Trade Licenses that aims to give exemptions from planetary taxes and licensing fees for life. Thus, the galaxy's finest bounty hunters have searched the universe for unique items. This has led to Bros capture by Qu, a mecha driving Nuno, and Va-Lis-Ya, a gun-totting manananggal.

The Good:

It continues to amaze us in this story telling of the world of mythspace. The illustrations really help a lot in describing this universe that goes beyond earth.

The cover is still impressive as it maintains that sophisticated futuristic artistic look for a comic book.

The Bad:

Bros is already out in space with Winter-Ice-Thawing, a tyho or a shapeshifter, who gives a quick orientation of the world of mythspace. Despite of the new found information from Winter-Ice-Thawing, there are still lots of questions that remain unanswered as more surfaces.

The Verdict:

Amidst those questions that pile up due to the limited number of pages in the comic book format, the mythspace universe is still an awesome series.

Chikiamco and Koi takes us to new worlds as the universe of mythspace is slowly unveiled in part 2 of Mythspace: Lift Off. This is one comic series that is highly recommended to be read.

This could be purchased at:
Gumroad: Mythspace: Lift Off #2
Storylark.ph: Mythspace: Lift Off #2: Lift Off 2

More of Mythspace can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Mythspace"

Twitter: @mythspace

The creators can be seen at:

Paolo Chikiamco

http://www.rocketkapre.com

Twitter: @anitero

Koi Carreon

http://www.eclectic-lights.blogspot.com

Comics: Mythspace: Lift Off ~ Issue 0

Story by: Paolo Chikiamco

Illustrated by: Koi Carreon
Mythspace
(5/5 ★★★★★)

"Nothing lasts forever, Iho.

So let lola have her hug, okay?" - Aling Nena

This comic attempts to present to us a different view on Philippine mythological creatures, such as the kapre and the tikbalang. It also shares some views regarding aliens.

The story centers around Ambrosio, a child that grew up with tales of mythological creatures that lives alongside with us in the universe. These were stories that his grandmother told him as he grew up. Stories he didn't believe in until he himself got abducted by these same creatures that was narrated by his grandmother. This story aims to tackle differently on familiar things that we had come to know as a child. Things such as our knowledge on our local mythological creatures are theorized to be aliens in this story. The author has really given us a different spectrum and wild idea of how aliens could look like.

The story and art are really nice. But the most catchy thing for me is the cover art of this comic. Overall, this is one of the few titles wherein it is an original concept that is good to follow. It was well written and the art was nicely drawn. The colors of the cover art was also nice. This is one of those comics that you should own especially if you have a fascination with stories that involves Philippine mythological creatures and/or aliens.

"You are wise to doubt the tales of your youth...

... but all myths, all monsters, are founded on truth."

Free Digital Copy:

Rocket Kapre: Mythspace 0.pdf
Gumroad: Mythspace: Lift Off #1

Storylark.ph: Mythspace: Lift Off #1: Lift Off

More of Mythspace can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Mythspace"

Twitter: @mythspace

The creators can be seen at:

Paolo Chikiamco

www.rocketkapre.com

Twitter: @anitero

Koi Carreon

www.electic-lights.blogspot.com